June 17, 2012

SUNDAY, JUNE 17, 2012

@alwatandaily

Issue No. 1464

12 PAGES

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150 Fils with IHT

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince passes away

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, next in line to rule Saudi Arabia, has died just eight months after becoming heir to 89-year-old King Abdullah, the royal court said on Saturday.

Analysts and former diplomats said the succession process was likely to be stable, however, with the king and a family council expected to start work on the appointment of a new crown prince, who would probably be another brother of King Abdullah.

“With deep sorrow and grief... King Abdullah mourns his brother... Crown Prince Nayef who passed to the mercy of God on Saturday outside the kingdom,” said a royal court statement carried by state media.

State TV said Nayef had died in Geneva where he had been receiving medical treatment for an unknown problem - he was thought to be 78. State television said the burial would take place in Mecca on Sunday.

His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Sabah sent a cable of condolences to King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud expressing his heartfelt sorrow over the loss of Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, and declared a three-day mourning period as of Sunday in the wake of his passing.

The king of neighboring Bahrain also ordered a threeday mourning period, Bahrain News Agency said.

In a statement, British Foreign Secretary William Hague expressed his government’s condolences, saying he was sad to hear of Nayef’s death.

“He served the Kingdom for many years with great dignity and dedication and his contribution to the prosperity and security of the Kingdom will be long remembered,” said Hague.

Nayef, interior minister since 1975, was appointed crown prince in October after the death of his elder brother and the previous heir Crown Prince Sultan. He had a reputation as a steely conservative who developed a formidable security infrastructure that crushed Al-Qaeda.

The crown prince’s death was not expected to trigger any major changes to the kingdom’s energy policy or to key relationships with the United States and other allies.

“The fundamental principle that the Saudis operate under is stability. So they will I’m sure develop a consensus among the senior members of the family over an orderly succession. That has likely been forming in recent months in any event,” said Robert Jordan, US ambassador to Riyadh from 2001-03.

Defense Minister Prince Salman, 76, has long been viewed as the next most senior prince after the late

Government to mull options

Staff Writers

KUWAIT: During its weekly session tomorrow (Monday), the Cabinet is expected to discuss its stance over the recent escalation on the part of lawmakers who are calling for the resignation and reshuffle of Cabinet whereby members of the Majority Bloc are included in a new lineup.

The ministers are also due to iron out the best approach for dealing with the interpellation motion filed by MP Mohammad Al-Juwaihel against the Minister of Interior Sheikh Ahmad Al-Humoud Al-Sabah. In this vein, an informed source has affirmed the government’s inclination toward deferring this interpellation considering that the minister is currently overseas.

In the meantime, the source indicated that the Cabinet will equally assess its position vis-ˆ-vis a number of reports compiled by the Parliamentary Legislative Committee including one concerning lifting the immunity of MP Waleed Al-Tabtabaie over case filed against him. The lawmaker faces charges of storming the Fire Service building.

It has been gathered that the Cabinet will equally examine its position over proposed amendments to certain provisions of the consti-

tution and the Internal Charter of Parliament.

However, there have been reports of disharmony among members of the majority where some of its members are against the resignation of the current Cabinet while others are eying Cabinet positions. Reportedly, the Popular Action Bloc has its sight set on the finance portfolio, while the Islamic Constitutional Movement (ICM) is eying the education portfolio. Whereas the Justice Bloc is looking forward to the Awqaf portfolio, reports have emerged that the government is still adamant that Cabinet should include only one MP. It has been reported that members of the majority have been facing difficulties in setting an agreeable agenda, and that the Bloc is awaiting a breakthrough.

In a related vein, MP Khaled Al-Sultan asserted that the Majority Bloc has yet to arrange its agenda for forthcoming meetings.

In another development, the chairman of the parliamentary panel investigating the alleged multi-million deposits is said to have filed a request with the Parliament demanding that the panel’s probe be further extended until the beginning of the next legislative term.

Nayef. If he became king, analysts believe he would continue King Abdullah’s cautious reforms.

“He supervised the security affairs of the state for more than 30 years. He scored a lot of successes there.

Especially in fighting Al-Qaeda,” said Khalid Al-Dakhil, a Saudi political analyst.

Prince Salman, his likely successor, was made defense minister in November and had served as Riyadh governor for five decades.

The conservative Islamic kingdom emerged from last year’s Arab uprisings as one of the most stable Middle Eastern states.

Although most Saudi watchers say it is very likely that Salman will become the kingdom’s leader after the deaths of Abdullah and Nayef, they say it is uncertain who would then be seen as next in line.

Under Saudi law, the line of sons must be exhausted before moving on a generation. Under succession rules drawn up six years ago, a new king has to nominate his choice of crown prince for approval by a family “allegiance” council.

Although the council was involved in the appointment of Nayef as crown prince in October, it is not clear whether it voted on Abdullah’s choice or was simply informed of it. -Agencies

6000 housing units soon available

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Egyptians choose new president amid political chaos

CAIRO: Egyptians were voting on Saturday in a run-off presidential election between an Islamist and ousted leader Hosni Mubarak’s last premier amid political chaos highlighted by uncertainty over what powers the winner will have.

Some 50 million Egyptians are eligible to cast ballots in the two-day poll, which sees Ahmed Shafiq vying for the top job against Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Mursi.

Queues had already formed outside some voting stations before the polls opened at 8:00 am (0600 GMT), with police and army deployed outside, according to AFP reporters.

“I will vote for the one who will guarantee security and safety for our community,” said Makram, a Coptic Christian voter, from a polling station in the Shoubra neighborhood.

Over in Manial, an island in the Nile, a crowd that included veiled and unveiled women waited to cast their ballots.

“I’m voting for Mursi because I don’t want Shafiq to win. I’m scared of Mursi but I’m more scared of Shafiq,” said More on 3 Nagwan Gamal, 26, a teaching assistant.

UN suspends Syria monitoring as violence rages

Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi signs the guest book at the Nobel institure in Oslo on June 16, 2012. Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi said today that winning the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize while under house arrest “opened up a door in my heart,” encouraging her to continue her struggle. Giving her Nobel lecture in Oslo 24 years on, she said the award committee “were recognizing that the oppressed and the isolated in Burma were also a part of the world, they were recognizing the oneness of humanity”. (AFP)

New device powers gadgets through walking

Japan approves two reactor restarts, more seen ahead

TOKYO: Japan on Saturday approved the resumption of nuclear power operations at two reactors despite mass public opposition, the first to come back on line after they were all shut down following the Fukushima crisis.

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, his popularity ratings sagging, had backed the restarts for some time. He announced the government’s decision at a meeting with key ministers, giving the go-ahead to two reactors operated by Kansai Electric Power Co at Ohi in western Japan. The decision, despite public concerns over safety

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after the big earthquake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima plant, could open the door to more restarts among Japan’s 50 nuclear power reactors. “There is no such thing as a perfect score when it comes to disaster prevention steps,” Trade Minister Yukio Edano told a news conference after the announcement.

“But, based on what we learned from the Fukushima accident, those measures that need to be taken urgently have been addressed, and the level of safety has been considerably enhanced (at the Ohi More on 5 plant),” he said.

FILE - In this Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2012 file photo, Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef is seen during an interview with The Associated Press at his office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (AP)

BEIRUT: United Nations observers monitoring the turmoil in Syria suspended operations on Saturday in response to escalating violence which threatens to kill off a tattered peace plan brokered by international mediator Kofi Annan.

Chief monitor General Robert Mood said the fighting posed a threat to his unarmed observers, one of whose patrols was fired upon four days ago, and prevented them from carrying out their mandate to oversee Annan’s widely ignored April 12 ceasefire. “There has been an intensification of armed violence across Syria over the past 10 days,” Mood said in statement.

“The lack of willingness by the parties to seek a peaceful transition, and the push towards advancing military positions is increasing the losses on both sides.”

Diplomats say Mood is expected to brief the United Nations Security Council on Monday or Tuesday about the unrest in Syria, which head of UN peacekeeping said this week was now in the throes of full-scale civil war.

The five veto-wielding Security Council members are expected to have discussions on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Mexico, which starts on Monday, aimed at breaking deadlock on the issue of international sanctions against Syria.

Mood said the violence posed “significant risks” to the 300 unarmed members of the UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS), who have been operatMore on 3 ing there since late April.

Czech 1

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Poland 0

Greece 1

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Russia 0

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Today’s Matches:

Denmark vs Germany & Portugal vs Netherlands

At least 25 dead in Pakistan car bomb blast

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China sends first woman into space

Compiled by Al Watan Daily

JIUQUAN, China: China launched its most ambitious space mission yet on Saturday, carrying its first female astronaut and two male colleagues in an attempt to dock with an orbiting module and work on board for more than a week.

The Shenzhou 9 capsule lifted off as scheduled at 6:37 p.m. (1037 GMT) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on the edge of the Gobi Desert. All systems functioned normally and, just over 10 minutes later, it opened its solar panels and entered orbit.

The launch was declared a success by space program chief Chang Wanquan, a People’s Liberation Army general who sits on the ruling Communist Party’s powerful central military commission - underscoring the program’s close military ties. Female astronaut Liu Yang, 33, and two male crew members - mission

commander and veteran astronaut Jing Haipeng, 45, and newcomer Liu Wang, 43 - are to dock the spacecraft with a prototype space lab launched last year in a key step toward building a permanent space station. All three are experienced pilots and officers in the Chinese air force.

Two of the astronauts will live and work inside the module to test its lifesupport systems while the third will remain in the capsule to deal with any unexpected emergencies.

China is hoping to join the United States and Russia as the only countries to send independently maintained space stations into orbit. It is already one of just three nations to have launched manned spacecraft on their own.

Another manned mission to the module is planned later this year, while possible future missions could include sending a man to the moon. More on 8

Violence shuts 300 Bangladesh garment factories DHAKA: The owners of 300 Bangladesh garments factories shut their operations indefinitely on Saturday after days of violent pay protests by workers, threatening the country’s biggest export already impacted by the global downturn.

The decision to close all factories at Ashulia, one of the country’s biggest industrial zones on the outskirts Dhaka, came as talks between workers and owners had failed to break the deadlock.

“We have been compelled to close down all our factories at Ashulia,” said Mohammad Shafiul Islam, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.

“We tried to resolve the issue (of wage increases and other benefits) amicably through discussion but the efforts did not produce any results,” he told a news conference.

Witnesses said police had fired teargas and rubber bullets and used water cannons to disperse rampaging work-

ers during five days of clashes. About 250 people including police have been injured and activists have vandalized dozens of vehicles and barricaded a vital highway.

“We had to take harsh actions to restore order as the defiant workers would not stop the violence,” an Ashulia police officer said.

Workers are demanding higher pay following a rise in food and utility prices.

After violent protests in 2010, Bangladesh nearly doubled the minimum wage for millions of garment workers to 3,000 taka (37 US dollars) a month.

Authorities on Saturday deployed extra police at Ashulia fearing the shut factories could be attacked and vandalized by restive workers.

Garments, which made up $18 billion of Bangladesh’s record $23 billion exports in the year to June 2011, offer a crucial lifeline to the poor South Asian country, along with remittances from expatriate workers. -Reuters

Garment workers throw pieces of bricks during clashes with police in Kanchpur, Dhaka June 16, 2012. The owners of 300 Bangladesh garments factories shut their operations indefinitely on Saturday after days of violent pay protests by workers, threatening the country’s biggest export already impacted by the global downturn. (Reuters)

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ALWATAN DAILY

local

sunday, JUNE 17, 2012

POLO, OWWA repatriate distressed Filipino workers “The zero ward policy inhibits the agencies to deploy further, unless their cases of runaway workers have been resolved,”

so as to avoid congestion and curtail anxiety, which workers go through while waiting for their repatriation. He also encouraged returnees to focus on developing and enhancing their skills so as not to remain working as household worker. He told them to attend the integration programs of OWWA and seek employment on higher status.

Prior to the departure of the workers Monday evening, their personal belongings such as mobiles were retuned. “I thank the staff of POLO and OWWA for their care, kindness and generosity during my stay in the shelter. I surely will miss the enriching activities that contributed to my knowledge, skills and spiritual needs. I am thankful to the quick assistance and attention given to us and resolving the legal issues, which I had to go through.

The idea of the shelter was different from what I have heard and I thank them for taking care of us,” commented JM, a deportee from Cotabato City.

Another deportee told Al Watan Daily that she was charged with “Love Case”, which was one of the most difficult legal charges to resolve.

“I never thought I can make it till today and I am very thankful that I am now going home to be with my family. Kuwait is worth remembering but for now seeking employment outside the country is not my priority and I am hopeful that POLO and OWWA will help me find a suitable program, which will be beneficial for me and my family,” concluded OM, a deportee from Samar.

Ricky Laxa Staff Writer

KUWAIT: The Philippine Embassy of Kuwait, Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO), Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) in cooperation with the Kuwait’s Ministry of Interior repatriated seventy Filipino distressed workers and endorsed twenty three to the deportation center in Talha to undergo final clearance prior to their repatriation.

Al Watan Daily spoke to the Philippine Labor Attaché David Des Dicang who gave details of the repatriation process.

Labor Attaché Dicang expressed his gratitude to the Philippine Embassy, Kuwait’s Ministry of Labor and Interiors assisted by hard working staff of POLO, OWWA and recruitment agencies, which were responsible for the workers’ deployment. Dicang added that the number of workers in the shelter has simmered down to less than a hundred and such number is the lowest ever in the records of the shelter.

“The staff of POLO, OWWA and the Philippines Embassy has worked harder to make this

Photo of seventy Filipino household workers with Philippine Labor Attaché David Des Dicang, Assistant Labor Attaché Ching Ardevilla, Welfare Officer Norlita Lugtu and other officials of POLO and OWWA in Kuwait prior to their departure to Philippines Monday evening. (Al Watan Daily)

large number of workers repatriated quickly and the implementation of zero wards for recruitment agencies. The zero ward policy inhibits the agencies to deploy further unless their cases of runaway workers have been resolved,”

Kuwaiti leadership expresses condolences over passing of Saudi Crown Prince KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah sent a cable of condolences to King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud expressing his heartfelt sorrow over the loss of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz.

Prince Nayef died earlier today while being treated abroad in Switzerland.

His Highness the Amir described the deceased as “a dear brother,” whom he had “great admiration and respect” for.

Further, His Highness the Amir recalled the stellar record of the deceased in the service of his country as well as the Arab and Islamic nations, noting the deceased’s penchant for contributing boundlessly to any cause of benevolence to the Saudi people or the Muslim people worldwide.

Kuwait’s Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak AlHamad Al-Sabah sent similar cables of condolences. -KUNA

added Dicang.

In response to the question of why the number of run-away workers increase during the Holy Month of Ramadan, ML a secretary and administrative officer of a recruitment

agency said that during the month, household workers were given less time to rest and difficult adjustments to fasting schedules. Dicang added that his staff will work double time to ensure that quick repatriation is maintained

6000 housing units soon available: Housing Authority

Abdullah Al-Shemmari Staff Writer

KUWAIT: Sources confirmed to Al Watan that the number of housing plots of land at the Seventh Ring Road situated between the boundaries of Kuwait International Airport (KIA) southbound and the boundaries of Abdullah Al-Mubarak city will not be less than 6,000 units.

The agreed size of each plot of land is 400 square meters for each housing unit. The total size of the housing plots of land will be eight square kilometers which means that the 750 housing plots of land will be occupying one

square kilometer. This will also include the public facilities such as schools, cop-society, and public parks. It is estimated that the housing units alone will occupy more than 30 percent of the total area.

As for the improvement of infrastructure of this city, sources added that this will be done soon and specifically after a meeting scheduled to be held shortly.

The meeting will include representatives from the Public Authority for Housing Welfare and the Kuwait Municipality as well as others state departments such as the Ministry of Electricity and Water, the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), Environmental Public Authority (EPA),

New road network EPA urges business owners to be careful with flammable materials to be established soon: Al-Naqqi KUWAIT: The Environment Public Authority (EPA) said Friday fire incidents have been occurring every two or three weeks, the recent of which was Saturday’s fire in a plastic factory in Amghara’s industrial area.

EPA Deputy Director General Captain Ali Haidar said the fire broke out in the 6,000-square-meter factory which includes many highly flammable materials which caused columns of smoke consisting of toxic gases. Fires in the Amghara scrap-yard area were extinguished by the Kuwait Fire Service Directorate (KFSD), said a statement here Saturday.

Head of the Jahra Al-Salmi areas’ fire directorate Colonel Mohammad Al-Kanderi told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that the fires occurred earlier Saturday in an area of around 2,000 meters, adding that the fire-

fighters managed to control the blazes in a period of an hour and half.

No injuries have been inflicted among the firefighters, affirmed the official.

A similar incident occurred Friday within the scrap-yard and the KFSD managed to put out the fire.

The smoke covered many areas of Saad Al-Abdullah residential area and Al-Jahra City, Haidar told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).

The degree of pollutants in the smoke were high, he noted, prompting EPA to warn inhabitants of staying indoors and not to leave their houses but in emergency.

With the change of weather, said Haidar, the danger faded away.

Haidar said owner of businesses should be more careful in using flammable materials. -KUNA

Divers install bouys around Garo Island

Photo of a diver installing bouys around Garo Island Saturday, June 16, 2012.

(KUNA)

KUWAIT: The Kuwaiti Dive Team of Environmental Voluntary Foundation has set up buoys around the island of Garo to protect its coral reefs.

Faisal Al-Herban, in charge of the operation, said in a press release on Saturday that the navigation marks were set up at the four sides of the island to make it easy for visitors of the island to navigate easily.

Although the island was declared a natural reserve in 2008, its surrounding reefs have been targeted with harmful activities by fishermen and divers.

Alluding to efforts to safeguard the island and its surroundings, Al-Herban said 80 tons of harmful materials had been lifted from the reefs, in addition to dumped fishing nets. The teams had also planted new reefs since 1999. Kuwait’s territorial waters are dotted with several islands, major attractions for sea goers and divers.

The State has drawn up plans to develop some of these islands. -KUNA

Mervat Abduldayem

Ministry of Defense and several other state organizations.

Asked about the exact dates for submission of housing applications, sources were unable to provide such dates saying that many old applicants have postponed their applications previously for reason of their own but perhaps partly because they were not in need then for state houses or perhaps because there was an illegal impediment which made it difficult for them to proceed with their housing applications namely the ownership of real estates and thus if they have real estate of their own then obviously priority would be given to those applicants without.

Ambassador Al-Bader inaugurates Abdulrazek Al-Hanif Mosque in Albania

Staff Writer

KUWAIT: The Minister of Public Works and the Minister of State for Planning and Development Affairs Dr. Fadhil Safar will conduct a field visit today (Sunday) to the project of the bridge that links Subiya area with Bobyan Island.

The minister will be accompanied by the undersecretary of ministry of public works as well. The minister and secretary will be at the site at 10 a.m. meanwhile Public Relation Department at the ministry set aside transport means to take journalists and other figures to the site.

On the other hand, the assistant undersecretary of ministry of public works for road sector affairs Engineer Saud AlNaqqi told Al-Watan that the ministry will carry out leading projects in the next stage such as establishing regional roads and developing the current roads to keep pace with the new organizational structure.

The undersecretary added, “The new roads are a part of a network which will link the south of the country with the north as well as linking the east with the west”.

He unveiled that the new projects include developing some current roads like Abdali and Salmi roads, indicating that the new roads will start from Salmi borders between Kuwait and Iraq-north the country to Nuwaiseeb Borders between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia in the south.

The projects include extending the seventh ring road in which the road will be 70 kilometers long although the road doesn’t exceed 23 kilometers now.

Al-Naqqi said that the ministry has another important project for establishing a road to be named ‘6.5’ that will submit great transport services to West Jeleeb area and Kuwait International Airport too.

He emphasized that the ministry will start executing these projects within the next year and it has already started working on the designs of the projects.

Egyptian-Kuwaiti relations witness unprecedented growth: Ambassador Soleiman

CAPITALS: Egyptian-Kuwaiti relations are witnessing unprecedented growth as Egypt’s exports to Kuwait increased by 36 percent last year to reach 1.453 million Egyptian pounds.

This would open wide horizons for cooperation between the two countries not only in the trade sector and joint investments but also in integration to jointly act in the nearby countries, especially Africa which enjoys numerous investments and trade dealings opportunities.

Egypt’s ambassador to Kuwait Abdulkarim Soleiman said that Kuwaiti businessmen welcomed the proposal to establish a businessmen council with Egyptian businessmen, to increase Kuwaiti investments in Egypt which now accounts for almost 16.4 billion pounds distributed in 805 projects mostly in the real estate sector. -Agencies

Ambassador of Kuwait Najib Abdulrahman Al-Bader (right) opening Abdulrazek AlHanif Mosque in the presence of the Head of Municipality of the area and officials of the Islamic Chiefdom and charities Saturday, June 16, 2012. (KUNA)

SARAJEVO: The Ambassador of Kuwait Najib Abdulrahman Al-Bader inaugurated Abdulrazek Al-Hanif Mosque in the presence of the Head of Municipality of the area and officials of the Islamic Chiefdom and charities.

The President of the Islamic Chiefdom in the Republic of Albania Sheikh Selim Mocha praised the charitable and humanitarian contributions of the people of the State of Kuwait who have always been known for doing good in all Islamic countries.

Sheikh Mocha said that Kuwait continuously supports the process of development and construction in his country through the adoption of many development, cultural, relief and educational projects in a way which highlights in civilization of the State of Kuwait.

On his part, Ambassador Al-Bader expressed in his speech delight to participate in a “valuable occasion which is the open-

ing ceremony of a mosque in which the name of God is mentioned.”

The Ambassador said that the project is part of the charitable Islamic projects implemented by a number of State organizations and charities in Kuwait as well as a number of benefactors. He added that the people of Kuwait have always been known for doing the good and sharing concerns of other Islamic countries.

Ambassador Al-Bader said that such projects boost bonds among Islamic countries, stressing the keenness of the State of Kuwait to implement such charitable projects such as building mosques, schools and hospitals in a number of areas in Albania.

For his part, the Head of Municipality Mans Pojar Huggi, on behalf of the people of the region, thanked the family of Abdulrazak Al-Hanif for their response to the needs of Muslims in this region, praising the role of State of Kuwait in support of development projects in the his country. -KUNA

ALWATAN DAILY

WORLD A Prayer for Egypt

By Hossam Fathi

May God protect Egypt from all evil and sedition!

It is also hoped that Egypt will move beyond its current critical political circumstances that might lead to sedition, which would undermine the security of the whole country. I fervently wish that the wise figures of our country will exert all possible efforts to defuse this matter of possible sedition through eradicating any of the events that might contribute to stirring things up.

May God aid the best figure to reach power in Egypt, because we need a strong individual to lead the country towards a safe and secure future! I fervently hope that a faithful person will attain the seat of power, as such a person will more than likely feel that he is serving God during his term of power, and out of piety he will do his best to serve the people and the country.

It is our hope that any corrupt individuals will not have any chance of reaching power, because they will only contribute to increasing the problems of the country and they will never work at putting an end to the suffering of the poor people. Furthermore, what we need now is a strong and sincere leader to hold the president’s position to protect the people as well as the wealth of the country. hossam@alwatan.com.kw Twitter:@hossamfathy66

SUNdAY, June 17, 2012

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Egyptians choose new president amid political chaos CAIRO: Egyptians were voting on Saturday in a run-off presidential election between an Islamist and ousted leader Hosni Mubarak’s last premier amid political chaos highlighted by uncertainty over what powers the winner will have.

Some 50 million Egyptians are eligible to cast ballots in the two-day poll, which sees Ahmed Shafiq vying for the top job against Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Mursi.

Queues had already formed outside some voting stations before the polls opened at 8:00 am (0600 GMT), with police and army deployed outside, according to AFP reporters.

“I will vote for the one who will guarantee security and safety for our community,” said Makram, a Coptic Christian voter, from a polling station in the Shoubra neighborhood.

Over in Manial, an island in the Nile, a crowd that included veiled and unveiled women waited to cast their ballots.

“I’m voting for Mursi because I don’t want Shafiq to win. I’m scared of Mursi but I’m more scared of Shafiq,” said Nagwan Gamal, 26, a teaching assistant.

The race has polarized the nation, dividing those who fear a return to the old regime under Shafiq from others who want to keep religion out of politics and fear the Brotherhood would stifle personal freedoms.

It comes against the backdrop of two controversial court rulings on Thursday, allowing Shafiq’s candidacy to proceed despite his role in the old regime, and invalidating Egypt’s elected parliament.

What many see as a lose-lose proposition has given impetus to the boycott movement, which was largely ignored in the first round, with celeb-

Egyptians queue outside a polling station in Cairo on June 16, 2012 to vote in a divisive presidential runoff pitting ousted strongman Hosni Mubarak’s last premier Ahmed Shafiq against Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Mursi, two days after the top court ordered parliament dissolved. (AFP)

rities and high-profile activists calling on Egyptians to abstain or void their ballot.

Others believed boycotting would waste a historic opportunity. “Everyone should participate in the election. I don’t believe in boycotting,” said Diana Adel, 26, in Manial.

“I think it will be fair, and I do think it will be historic because we’re choosing a president ourselves,” she said.

The winner will be the first freely chosen president in Egypt’s history and will succeed Mubarak, who was forced from office by a popular revolt last year and turned power over to

the military. Activists said the court rulings were the final phase of a military coup that takes the democratic transition back to square one.

“Back to where you were,” read a huge red headline in the independent daily Al-Shorouk after the Supreme Constitutional Court said certain articles in the law governing parliamentary elections were invalid, annulling the Islamist-led house.

It also ruled unconstitutional the political isolation law, which sought to bar senior members of Mubarak’s regime and top members of his now-dissolved party from running for pub-

Iraq car bombs targeting Shiite pilgrims kill 32 BAGHDAD: Car bombs targeting Shiite pilgrims in the Iraqi capital killed at least 32 people on Saturday, officials said, marring commemorations for a revered Shiite imam attended by tens of thousands.

An interior ministry official said a car bomb exploded at about 12:15 pm (0915 GMT) on a highway near Shuala in north Baghdad, killing 14 people and wounding 32, while a second car bomb exploded at the Aden intersection near Kadhimiyah about 2:00 pm, killing 18 people and wounding 36.

A medical source said Baghdad hospitals had received nine bodies and 47 wounded people from the first attack, and 25 bodies and 105 wounded from the second.

The attacks came as tens of thousands of Shiite pil-

grims flocked to the Kadhimiyah area for the climax of commemorations marking the death in 799 of Imam Musa Kadhim, the seventh of 12 revered imams, who is said to have been poisoned.

Fadhel Al-Anbari, secretary general of the Imam Kadhim shrine, said at a news conference that six million people had participated in the commemorations which began about a week ago.

The Baghdad Operations Command said in a statement that the first attack was a suicide bombing, and that security forces had arrested a man who accompanied the bomber but got out of the vehicle before the explosion.

And a police first lieutenant at the scene of the second blast said that it was also a suicide bombing that hit a

UN suspends Syria monitoring as violence rages BEIRUT: United Nations observers monitoring the turmoil in Syria suspended operations on Saturday in response to escalating violence which threatens to kill off a tattered peace plan brokered by international mediator Kofi Annan.

Chief monitor General Robert Mood said the fighting posed a threat to his unarmed observers, one of whose patrols was fired upon four days ago, and prevented them from carrying out their mandate to oversee Annan’s widely ignored April 12 ceasefire. “There has been an intensification of armed violence across Syria over the past 10 days,” Mood said in statement.

“The lack of willingness by the parties to seek a peaceful transition, and the push towards advancing military positions is increasing the losses on both sides.” Diplomats say Mood is expected to brief the United Nations Security Council on Monday or Tuesday about the unrest in Syria, which head of UN peacekeeping said this week was now in the throes of fullscale civil war.

The five veto-wielding Security Council members are expected to have discussions on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Mexico, which starts on Monday, aimed at breaking deadlock on the issue of international sanctions against Syria. Mood said the violence posed “significant risks” to the 300 unarmed members of the UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS), who have been operating there since late April. “In this high risk situation, UNSMIS is suspending its activities. UN observers will not be conducting patrols and will stay in their locations until further notice,” Mood said, noting the decision would be reviewed on a daily basis.

Last Tuesday shots were fired at a car carrying UN observers who were turned away from the town of Haffeh by angry Assad supporters throwing stones and metal rods at their convoy. Three UN cars were also damaged in May when they were caught up in an attack that killed 21 civilians in Khan Sheikhoun.

Syria’s Foreign Ministry said it had been informed of Mood’s decision on Friday evening and told him it understood his concern for the safety of the monitors, blaming the attacks on rebels fighting government forces.

Since the start of the ceasefire deal the “armed ter-

rorist groups” - the label Damascus gives to anti-Assad fighters - had escalated their “criminal activities, which have often targeted the UN observers”, a foreign ministry statement cited by state news agency SANA said.

Many hundreds of people, including civilians, rebels and government forces, have been killed in the two months since Annan’s ceasefire deal was supposed to come into effect.

But the violence has increased sharply this month, with rebels formally abandoning any commitment to Annan’s ceasefire and government forces using attack helicopters and artillery to pound opposition strongholds into submission. The pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 22 civilians were killed on Saturday, most of them in army shelling on the eastern suburbs of Damascus. Activists also reported gunfire in the Mezze neighborhood of the capital, and bombardment of rebel strongholds in the central city of Homs which they said killed five people.

“There has been heavy shelling in Homs since early morning,” a local activist who declined to be named said by Skype. “Since 4 a.m. (0100 GMT) there was mortar and artillery shelling of Khalidiya, Old Homs, Jouret Al-Shiyah and Qusour districts,” he said. Syria restricts access to international media, making it hard to verify accounts by activists and authorities.

The British-based Observatory, which monitors violence in Syria through a network of local sources, said 1,000 families were surrounded in the Homs districts under fire from Assad’s forces on Saturday.

Dozens of wounded people were in danger because of lack of medical equipment, it said.

France said on Friday night it was seriously concerned about what it said were reports of an imminent large-scale operation against Homs.

“The bloody repression led by Syrian authorities, which is intolerable and has caused tens of deaths in recent days, must come to an end,” a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said.

“Bashar Al-Assad’s regime continues to violate commitments under the Annan plan and threatens international peace and security. Sooner or later, the Security Council will have to reckon with the consequences.” -Reuters

Suicide blast hits Somali base outside capital MOGADISHU: An Al-Shabaab suicide bomber rammed a vehicle packed with explosives into the gate of a government base in Afgoye outside the Somali capital on Saturday causing casualties, the police and rebels said. Al-Shabaab said its suicide bomber had “killed dozens” while the police said the blast had only wounded three soldiers.

The figures could not be independently verified.

Many parties in the Somalia conflict tend to exaggerate enemy losses and minimize their own.

Government and African Union troops seized Afgoye from Al-Shabaab rebels at the end of May. The town is about 30 km (19 miles) from Mogadishu on a key road that links the capital with rebel-held regions in the south of country.

“The suicide car bomb tried to follow our vehicles entering the base. But it could not. It exploded at the gate. So far only three of our soldiers are injured,” Colonel Nur Hayr, a police officer, told Reuters.

Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack.

“Our fighter managed to enter with his car bomb inside government forces base in Afgoye.We killed dozens,” said Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, the spokesman for Al-Shabaab’s military operations.

“The car was heavily laden with explosives. It is a great victory for Al-Shabaab,” he said.

Since Al-Shabaab withdrew from the capital last August, it has increasingly turned to suicide bombers and grenade attacks to target government and African Union positions. -Reuters

minibus carrying pilgrims.

An AFP journalist said there were four burned cars and two minibuses at the scene of the first blast, one of which was completely destroyed. Car parts were blown more than 100 metres (yards) from the site.

“We took many people out from the buses, and all of them were burned,” one man who had been serving water to pilgrims said, declining to give his name. Some people were screaming, while others appeared to be dead, he said.

“I saw the explosion and... things were thrown in every direction,” said a man from one tent near the site of the second blast where food and water is served to pilgrims. “We went to help the victims and there were many

lic office for 10 years. Shafiq had initially been barred from standing, but the electoral commission accepted his appeal last month, permitting his candidacy and referring the case to the court.

On Wednesday, the justice ministry decided to grant army personnel the right to arrest civilians after that power was lifted when a decades-old state of emergency expired on May 31.

SCAF, “the head of the counter-revolution, is adamant to bring back the old regime, and the presidential elections are merely a show,” six parties and movements said in a joint statement.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whose country provides Egypt with 1.3 billion US dollars a year in foreign aid, called for a full transfer of power to elected civilians.

“There can be no going back on the democratic transition called for by the Egyptian people,” she said in Washington.

The State Department said separately it was “troubled” by the court ruling ordering parliament annulled and was studying its implications.

“We are continuing to monitor the situation in Egypt,” spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters. “If in fact the conclusion is that there need to be new parliamentary elections our hope is that they can happen swiftly and that they reflect the will of the Egyptian people.”

Meanwhile, US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta called Egypt’s military ruler, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, to stress the “need to move forward expeditiously with Egypt’s political transition, including conducting new legislative elections as soon as possible,” the Pentagon said. The two men “agreed on the importance of the US-Egyptian strategic relationship,” while Panetta underscored “the need to ensure a full and peaceful transition to democracy.” -AFP

killed and wounded,” he said.

The AFP journalist said there were a number of military and emergency vehicles at the scene of the second explosion, which had already been cleaned up.

Saturday’s ceremonies began at about 8:00 am (0500 GMT) at the shrine, with a religious leader telling the story of the imam, while people in the crowd wept.

Pilgrims then marched with an empty coffin symbolizing the imam, repeating religious chants, as some hit their chests and heads with their hands in a sign of mourning.

Security measures in Kadhimiyah were tight, with antiterrorism special forces deployed. Pilgrims were searched at various points, as helicopters clattered overhead. -AFP

4

ALWATAN DAILY

OPINION / VIEWS

SUNdAY, June 17, 2012

FOR HUMANITARIAN

PURPOSES ONLY

Joseph S. Nye is a professor at Harvard University and author of The Future of Power.

The road from Chernobyl

Adequate measures for insulating buildings or devising new energy-savings systems could reduce our electricity bills by 20-40 percent.

Alexander Likhotal Project Syndicate

L

Ali Farzat

N

W

hen should states intervene militarily to stop atrocities in other countries? The question is an old and well-traveled one.

Indeed, it is now visiting Syria. In 1904, US President Theodore Roosevelt argued that, “there are occasional crimes committed on so vast a scale and of such peculiar horror” that we should intervene by force of arms. A century earlier, in 1821, as Europeans and Americans debated whether to intervene in Greece’s struggle for independence, President John Quincy Adams warned his fellow Americans about “going abroad in search of monsters to destroy.”

More recently, after a genocide that cost nearly 800,000 lives in Rwanda in 1994, and the slaughter of Bosnian men and boys at Srebrenica in 1995, many people vowed that such atrocities should never again be allowed to occur. When Slobodan Milosevic engaged in large-scale ethnic cleansing in Kosovo in 1999, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution recognizing the humanitarian catastrophe, but could not agree on a second resolution to intervene, given the threat of a Russian veto. Instead, NATO countries bombed Serbia in an effort that many observers regarded as legitimate but not legal.

In the aftermath, then-UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan created an international commission to recommend ways that humanitarian intervention could be reconciled with Article 2.7 of the UN Charter, which upholds member states’ domestic jurisdiction. The commission concluded that states have a responsibility to protect their citizens, and should be helped to do so by peaceful means, but that if a state disregarded that responsibility by attacking its own citizens, the international community could consider armed intervention.

The idea of a “responsibility to protect” (R2P) was adopted unanimously at the UN’s World Summit in 2005, but subsequent events showed that not all member states interpreted the resolution the same way. Russia has consistently argued that only Security Council resolutions, not General Assembly resolutions, are binding international law. Meanwhile, Russia has vetoed a Security Council resolution on Syria, and, somewhat ironically, Annan has been called back and enlisted in a so-far futile effort to stop the carnage there.

Until last year, many observers regarded R2P as at best a pious hope or a noble failure. But in 2011, as Colonel Muammar Al-Gadhafi prepared to exterminate his opponents in Benghazi, the Security Council invoked R2P as the basis for a resolution authorizing NATO to use armed force in Libya. In the United States, President Barack Obama was careful to wait for resolutions by the Arab League and the Security Council, thereby avoiding the costs to American soft power that George W. Bush’s administration suffered when it

where approving, granting or rejecting loans is concerned. Let us hypothetically imagine that the government has no problems with MPs interfering in the internal policies set by the establishment.

And if that is indeed the case, then the first demand that will be made by those MPs will be to grant Taliban militants sizeable loans to fight and defeat NATO’s nonIslamic forces. They will also call for granting Pakistan loans to set up Islamic schools that actually encourage young Pakistani children to tread on the right path to Islam, based on the visions conceived by Salafists and the Muslim Brotherhood. In Africa, they will demand loans to be disbursed to Islamic militants in Somalia simply because they seek to impose the Islamic Shariah in Somalia.

I firmly believe that members of the Majority Bloc are demanding the impossible.

They are seeking the imposition of absurd and irrational laws that are in violation of the statutes enshrined in the Kuwaiti Constitution. The people of Kuwait must join hands and refuse to be intimidated by these people because if they do not, they will only stand to lose all those virtuous qualities that they have been striving for; for far too long.

They must stand united as one in the face of all adversities without fear and reservation and make the country and fellow citizens proud of their heritage.

There is a huge difference between being selfless and being a spendthrift. The selfless are those that are pure in heart and humane while spendthrifts are those that just want to flaunt their wealth in public.

It is far better to b placed in the first category than in the second.

O

Project Syndicate

strengthening friendships between these countries and the State of Kuwait. On the other hand, Kuwait’s contributions to other international development institutions, such as the Arab Fund for Economic Development, the African Development Bank, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, and the International Development Association, are normally provided through KFAED and through the agency’s own resources. Financial aid offered by similar establishments in affluent and resourceful countries to third world countries has now become a practice that represents the success of small, yet financially sound countries, like Kuwait. This in turn encourages those countries to establish friendly ties with countries across the world. There cannot be a shadow of doubt that through such acts, Kuwait has gained international recognition that is simply priceless not to mention the other fact that Kuwait is always commended for its abundant generosity towards countries that are less fortunate.

Taking all these positive aspects into consideration, I cannot comprehend the reasons why MPs that are affiliated to political Islam always insist on interfering with the policies of the fund? Why do they always insist on being granted the authority to either approve or reject those loans? Would they, in any way, stand to benefit from being granted such an authority? Do they even know what they are talking about or are they mistaking those loans for freebies that are disbursed by the government as and when it deems appropriate?

Those MPs have absolutely no right to interfere in the policies of the establishment

TI

Joseph S. Nye

intervened in Iraq in 2003. But Russia, China, and other countries felt that NATO exploited the resolution to engineer regime change, rather merely protecting citizens in Libya.

In fact, R2P is more about struggles over political legitimacy and soft power than it is about hard international law. Some Western lawyers argue that it entails the responsibility to combat genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes under the various conventions of international humanitarian law. But Russia, China, and others are reluctant to provide a legal or political basis for actions such as what occurred in Libya.

There are other reasons why R2P has not been a success in the Syrian case.

Drawn from traditional “just war” theory, R2P rests not only on right intentions, but also on the existence of a reasonable prospect of success.

Many observers highlight the important physical and military differences between Libya and Syria that would make Syrian no-fly zones or no-drive zones problematic. Some Syrians who oppose President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime, pointing to Baghdad in 2005, argue that the one thing worse than a cruel dictator is a sectarian civil war.

Such factors are symptomatic of larger problems with humanitarian interventions. For starters, motives are often mixed (Roosevelt, after all, was referring to Cuba). Moreover, we live in a world of diverse cultures, and we know very little about social engineering and how to build nations. When we cannot be sure how to improve the world, prudence becomes an important virtue, and hubristic visions can pose a grave danger.

Foreign policy, like medicine, must be guided by the principle, “First, do no harm.”

Prudence does not mean that nothing can be done in Syria. Other governments can continue to try to convince Russia that its interests are better served by getting rid of the current regime than by permitting the continued radicalization of his opponents. Tougher sanctions can continue to delegitimize the regime, and Turkey might be persuaded to take stronger steps against its neighbor. Moreover, prudence does not mean that humanitarian interventions will always fail. In some cases, even if motives are mixed, the prospects of success are reasonable, and the misery of a population can be relieved at modest expense.

Military interventions in Sierra Leone, Liberia, East Timor, and Bosnia did not solve all problems, but they did improve the lives of the people there. Other interventions - for example, in Somalia - did not. Recent large-scale interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan, though not primarily humanitarian, have eroded public support for military action. But we should recall Mark Twain’s story about his cat. After sitting on a hot stove, it would never sit on a hot stove again, but neither would it sit on a cold one.

Interventions will continue to occur, though they are now more likely to be shorter, involve smaller-scale forces, and rely on technologies that permit action at greater distance. In an age of cyber warfare and drones, the end of R2P or humanitarian intervention is hardly foretold.

I

n a recent development that made headlines in local newspapers, MPs Osama Manawer, Mohammad Hayef, Abdullah Al-Turaiji, Mohammad Al-Hatlani and Bader Al-Dahoum submitted a formal request to His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah to prepare a detailed report over the actual reasons for granting loans to other countries, the amounts to be disbursed as well other details like how the governments of recipient countries intend to spend the money. It is only after all these details are listed in the report, can the premier be permitted to submit it to the National Assembly form perusal and subsequent approval.

I just can’t bring myself to comprehend the actual reasons behind the issuance of such inane draft laws? I also cannot understand why members of the Majority Bloc always insist on interfering in the powers of the executive authority despite being aware of the underlying fact that the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) which was established in 1961 has disbursed $12 billion in concessionary loans and technical grants to 102 countries worldwide since its inception.

With Kuwait’s willingness to share its wealth with others, KFAED has achieved much progress and is now Kuwait’s main channel for foreign assistance, far surpassing United Nation targets for development support in relation to national GDP. Kuwait has always played an active role in the international arena; a role that expresses its goodwill and peaceful aspirations. It is for this very reason that KFAED supports international initiatives and institutions that are aimed at achieving international development and stability.

In fact, KFAED actually complements Kuwait’s foreign policy through its development cooperation with more than 100 developing nations. It also contributes to

EC

exploited the resolution to engineer regime change, rather merely protecting citizens in Libya.

Kuwait has always played an active role in the international arena; a role that expresses its goodwill and peaceful aspirations.

Shamlan Yusuf Al-Eisa

SP

Russia, China, and other countries felt that NATO

Politicizing the loans disbursement issue

IN

The intervention dilemma

ike a modern-day Pompeii, the streets and buildings of Prypyat stand frozen by a disaster. But, unlike the eruption of Mount Vesuvius nearly 2,000 years ago, Prypyat was destroyed by a manmade - and thus preventable - catastrophe. Weeds and grey desolation are all that thrive in this once-bustling community, which housed the workers of Chernobyl’s doomed nuclear power plant, whose devastating meltdown 26 years ago still inflicts physical and socioeconomic harm on many in Ukraine and nearby countries.

Back then, the world was, for an instant, shocked by the folly of nuclear technology. But, as with Hiroshima, Three Mile Island, and last year’s Fukushima meltdown in Japan, the spike in global dismay was all too fleeting. This myopia is a symptom of steady population growth, coupled with consumption-driven economies and ever-increasing demand for cheap energy. But the risks clearly outweigh the alleged benefits. While nuclear energy’s advocates often claim that there have been only two major calamities, a very different picture emerges if we consider other “accidents” that caused loss of human life or significant property damage.

Between 1952 and 2009, at least 99 nuclear accidents

met this definition worldwide, at a cost of more than 20.5 billion US dollars, or more than one incident and $330 million in damage every year. This recurrence rate demonstrates that many risks are not being properly managed or regulated, which is worrying, to say the least, especially given the harm that even a single serious accident can cause. The meltdown of a 500-megawatt reactor located 50 kilometers (31 miles) from a city would cause the immediate death of an estimated 45,000 people, injure roughly another 70,000, and cause $17 billion in property damage.

During a visit to Chernobyl in April, I learned about a new project to build, by 2015, a “shelter” to lock in the radiation still emanating from the reactor. The price tag is estimated at €1.5 billion ($1.9 billion). But this sarcophagus is no more than a wildly expensive Band-Aid, which will be ripped off a still-festering wound in 100 years, by which point, it is hoped, a permanent solution will have been found. A 30-kilometer exclusion zone still rings Chernobyl, leaving once-fertile land unable to be tended by local farmers. In Belarus alone, roughly 8,000 square kilometers of farmland, an area almost the same size as all of Switzerland’s agricultural terrain, has been rendered by radiation unusable for ages.

Then there is the issue of who pays to build such facilities.

In principle, private capital does not flow to non-profit activities. In fact, it is flowing to renewable energy sources, not atomic.According to a 2012 Pew Charitable Trusts report, the United States, for example, invested more than $48 billion in renewable energy in 2011, up from $34 billion in 2010, regaining first place in the global clean-energy investment rankings. It is governments - and thus taxpayers and bondholders - that finance nuclear plants. Moreover, the alleged “cost-savings” of nuclear power never include the price tag for direct and indirect governmental subsidies, decommissioning of aging facilities, and emergency clean-up and remediation of impacted communities when disasters occur - all, again, at taxpayers’ expense.

At Fukushima, for example, the bill will include the costs of the heroic efforts by hundreds of workers to cool down the plant’s reactors; the protracted loss of economic output in the 20-kilometer exclusion zone (estimated at $128.5 billion by Roubini Global Economics); decommissioning and clean-up costs; and the costs of replacing 4.7 gigawatts of generating capacity. On top of that, there is the possibility of healthcare costs resulting from exposure to radioactivity.

All of these hidden costs make the price of nuclear energy higher than the price of shifting to renewable energies

and improving energy efficiency.

Of course, with 15 countries relying on nuclear power for 25 percent or more of their electricity, we cannot abandon it overnight. On the contrary, nuclear plants will be with us for years to come. But steps can be taken. For example, it is estimated that adequate measures for insulating buildings or devising new energy-savings systems could reduce our electricity bills by 20-40 percent. With roughly 15 percent of global electricity supplies produced by nuclear plants, energy-saving measures could go a long way toward diminishing the need for them. Countries like Brazil, which has a rapidly growing economy and relies on nuclear generation for 3 percent of its power, are moving in this direction.

Officials there announced in May that the country would not develop its nuclear sector for the next decade, partly because of Fukushima. Brazil has thus sent a clear message to other emerging economies - like Russia, India, and China that sustainable growth must rely on renewable, safe sources of power. Brazil’s step is also timely, coming before the June 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, or Rio+20. This meeting - despite some misgivings - is crucial. We have no choice but to embrace change, and rare events like Rio+20 offer an opportunity to get the global community out of harm’s way.

Alexander Likhotal was an advisor to Mikhail Gorbachev when he was President of the USSR, and is currently president of Green Cross, the environmental foundation based in Geneva.

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ALWATAN DAILY

WORLD

SUNdAY, June 17, 2012

Japan approves two reactor restarts, more seen ahead TOKYO: Japan on Saturday approved the resumption of nuclear power operations at two reactors despite mass public opposition, the first to come back on line after they were all shut down following the Fukushima crisis.

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, his popularity ratings sagging, had backed the restarts for some time. He announced the government’s decision at a meeting with key ministers, giving the go-ahead to two reactors operated by Kansai Electric Power Co at Ohi in western Japan.

The decision, despite public concerns over safety after the big earthquake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima plant, could open the door to more restarts among Japan’s 50 nuclear power reactors.

“There is no such thing as a perfect score when it comes to disaster prevention steps,” Trade Minister Yukio Edano told a news conference after the announcement.

“But, based on what we learned from the Fukushima accident, those measures that need to be taken urgently have been addressed, and the level of safety has been considerably enhanced (at the Ohi plant),” he said.

Edano, who holds the energy portfolio, said the government policy to reduce Japan’s dependence on nuclear energy in the medium- to long-term was unchanged despite the decision.

The decision is a victory for Japan’s stillpowerful nuclear industry and reflects Noda’s concerns about damage to the economy if atomic energy is abandoned following the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

The push to restart the two Ohi reactors, before a potential summer power crunch, also underscores the premier’s eagerness to win backing from businesses worried about high electricity costs that could push factories off-

Anti nuclear activists raise their fists in the air to protest against the government’s approval to resume nuclear plants in western Japan, on June 16, 2012 in front of the prime minister’s official residence in Tokyo. (AFP)

shore. Kansai electric says it will take six weeks to get both reactors running fully.

But the decision risks a backlash from a public deeply concerned about nuclear safety.

As many as 10,000 demonstrators gathered outside Noda’s office on Friday night amid a heavy police presence to denounce the restarts, urging the premier to step down and shouting

“Lives matter more than the economy.”

“Prime Minister Noda’s rushed, dangerous approval of the Ohi nuclear power plant restart ignores expert safety advice and public outcry, and needlessly risks the health of Japan’s environment, its people and its economy,” environmental group Greenpeace said in a statement.

“I imagine there will be a fair number of

At least 25 dead in Pakistan car bomb blast

NEWS IN BRIEF Demined land returned to Senegalese in restive Casamance

(reactor) restarts by next year. The government under Noda is surprisingly eager,” said Jeffrey Kingston, director of Asian studies at Temple University’s Japan campus.

Nuclear power supplied almost 30 percent of electricity needs before the March 2011 disaster, which triggered meltdowns at Fukushima, spewing radiation and forcing mass evacuations.

The accident destroyed public belief in the “safety myth” promoted by Japanese nuclear power advocates for decades.

Activists have collected more than 7.5 million signatures on a petition urging an end to atomic power. Protesters have poured into the street almost daily over the past week.

All 50 reactors were shut down for maintenance or safety checks in the months since the accident. The government had placed a priority on gaining the approval of local communities for the Ohi restarts to avert July-August power shortages. Parliament’s lower house on Friday approved legislation to create a new atomic regulator, but getting it up and running will take months. That could force the government to go slower on restarts, though some politicians are keen to forge ahead.

“We can no longer go back to a life that depends on candles,” ruling party heavyweight Yoshito Sengoku said in an interview with the Sankei newspaper this week.

The Nuclear and Industry Safety Agency, the current watchdog, has approved stress tests for Shikoku Electric Power Co Inc’s 890-megawatt No.3 reactor in Ikata, southern Japan.

Next on the list for possible approval are two Hokkaido Electric Power reactors in Tomari, northern Japan and Hokuriku Electric’s two in Shika, western Japan. -Reuters

Philippines pull ships from disputed shoal due to weather MANILA: The Philippines has pulled back two vessels from a group of rocks disputed with China because of bad weather, a foreign ministry spokesman said on Saturday, ending a two-month standoff between the two sides, at least for now. Lightly armed Philippine coast guard ships had since April taken turns to escort a civilian fisheries boat guarding the mouth of Scarborough Shoal, a group of rock formations about 124 nautical miles west of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon. At one time, China had nearly 100 civilian surveillance ships, fishing vessels and smaller utility boats in the area, raising tension in the South China Sea, threatening trade, tourism and political relations between the two sides. On Friday, the Philippines said China still had 26 ships and fishing boats in Scarborough against the two from the Philippines - one a coast guard vessel and the other a fishing boat. “Last night, President (Benigno) Aquino ordered both of our ships to return to port due to increasing bad weather,” spokesman Raul Hernandez told reporters, quoting Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario.

“When weather improves, a re-evaluation will be made.”

China has territorial disputes with the Philippines,Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan across the South China Sea, each searching for gas and oil while building up their navies and military alliances. -Reuters

Pakistani security officials and local residents gather at the site of a bomb explosion in the main bazaar of Landi Kotal in Khyber tribal district on June 16, 2012. (AFP)

PESHAWAR: A car bomb ripped through a market area in a northwest Pakistan tribal town near the Afghan border on Saturday, killing 25 people including three children, officials said.

“The death toll is 25,” from the blast in the main bazaar of Landi Kotal in Khyber tribal district, local administration chief Mutahir Zeb told AFP, adding more than 50 people were injured, some of them seriously. Hospital officials confirmed the toll. Zeb said there were 18 bodies at the Landi Kotal hospital while seven victims had died while being taken for treatment in Peshawar, the main town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The dead included three children aged nine, 10 and 12, he added.

Motor mechanic Sajidullah Khan, who was wounded in the leg, forearms and face, told AFP: “I was checking a car when I heard a huge blast nearby. I knew nothing afterwards and came to in the hospital.”

Shakoor Jan, an electrician, said he was sitting in his shop when the blast rocked the whole area. “There was fire in several shops,” he said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Islamist militants have carried out several attacks in the area.

Since July 2007, a Taliban-led insurgency concentrated in the northwest has fought Pakistan’s US-allied

government. Arshad Khan, a local administration official, said the blast appeared to be aimed at members of the pro-government Zakha Khel tribe, who oppose a local warlord, Mangal Bagh.

Bagh’s Lashkar-i-Islam group has links to Islamist militants and criminal gangs. “The bomb was planted in a pick-up truck parked near the bus stand,” Khan said. Six shops were gutted and several damaged in the blast, which also destroyed at least eight vehicles, he added.

In the last five years, attacks blamed on Islamist bombers have killed more than 5,000 people in Pakistan according to an AFP tally. US officials consider the country’s semi-autonomous tribal belt a safe haven for Al-Qaeda and insurgents fighting both in Pakistan and across the border in Afghanistan.

Last week a bomb ripped through a passenger bus, killing 19 people, including seven women and a child, on the outskirts of Peshawar. It was the deadliest attack in months on Peshawar, which has long been a flashpoint for the insurgency. Pakistan’s relations with the United States are in disarray and it has imposed a blockade on NATO supplies crossing overland into Afghanistan since US air strikes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers along the border last November. -AFP

5

ZIGUINCHOR: Residents of six towns in Senegal’s troubled southern Casamance region were handed back their land after it was cleared of 235 landmines, officials said. The handover took place as a ceremony in the village of Gounoune, 25 kilometers (15 miles) outside the regional capital Ziguinchor on Friday attended by foreign diplomats from France, Britain, Belgium and the United States. “This act we are carrying out allows the populations to rediscover an asset, land, whose exploitation undoubtedly guarantees conditions for personal and collective development,” Foreign Minister Alioune Badara Cisse said. He added that the mines had slowed development in the region by limiting access to arable land. The Casamance is separated from the rest of Senegal by Gambia and since 1982, the Casamance Movement of Democratic Forces (MFDC) has fought for independence. -AFP

Bomb damages tax office in southern Italy ROME: A homemade bomb exploded in front of the main tax collection office of a southern Italian town on Saturday, police said, the latest in a string of attacks against tax authorities in the country. The overnight explosion in Lamezia Terme caused no injuries but shattered a window and damaged the entrance to the building, a police spokesman said. No claim of responsibility has been made. Three explosive devices blew up outside the Naples offices of a state agency that collects overdue taxes and fines in January, and two letter bombs were sent to the same agency’s offices in Rome in December. An anarchist group said it had carried out the Rome attacks, and police in central Italy made more than 40 arrests last week for the attacks, including the letter bombs. -Reuters

France extradites alleged credit card trafficker to US WASHINGTON: France has extradited to the United States a 27-year-old Russian alleged to be one of the world’s most prolific traffickers in stolen credit card information, the Justice Department said.

Vladislav Anatolievich Horohorin, aka “BadB” of Moscow, appeared before a federal judge in the US capital on Friday and faces multiple US criminal charges, the Justice Department said in a statement. French law enforcement, working with US agents, identified Horohorin in Nice, France, and arrested him in August 2010 as he was trying to board a flight to Moscow. He was extradited to the United States on June 6, and arraigned before a US judge in Washington the following day, read the statement issued late Friday.

Horohorin faces 62 years in prison if convicted on all five charges contained in two indictments, according to the Justice Department. -AFP

Officials sacked after 16 killed in Paraguay land clashes ASUNCION: Replacements are set to be announced Saturday for two of Paraguay’s top security officials after 16 people were killed in bloody clashes between police and squatters.

President Fernando Lugo late Friday fired Interior Minister Carlos Filizzola and national Police Chief Paulino Rojas after armed clashes earlier in the day at a privately owned forest reserve in Curuguaty, 250 kilometers (155 miles) northeast of the capital Asuncion.

Lugo also ordered the army to the area to support police in helping restore calm.

The violence erupted when more than 300 police officers arrived at the reserve to evict 150 peasants on land owned by Blas Riquelme, a wealthy supermarket businessman, former senator and Lugo opponent.

The peasants however were armed and opened fire. In the end, seven police officers and at least nine peasants were killed, officials said. Herminio Davalos, a

member of congress who represents the region, said that the peasants opened fire when eight officers went forward to try to talk to the protesters. “There were sharpshooters in the trees,” said Davalos.

“That’s where the seven policemen fell. One saved himself.”

The protesters were armed with weapons stolen months earlier from riot police, according to opposition lawmaker Jose Lopez.

“Shots were fired and the police had to respond,” Filizzola said in justifying the use of force. “We acted in accordance with the law.”

Local police official Walter Gomez said the peasants “shot cleanly” and described the situation as critical.”

The peasants have high-caliber weapons like M16 rifles,” Gomez told television network 13. At one point police surrounded the peasants with the help of helicopters.

The clashes took place in a region

close to Paraguay’s borders with Brazil and Argentina that is considered to have some of the country’s most fertile soil.

The regional governor, Cristina Villalba, called Filizzola irresponsible and said she had warned that the eviction would result in the loss of lives. In a brief statement earlier in the day, Lugo had expressed his “absolute support” for the police and offered his condolences to the families of the victims.

Lugo summoned Filizzola and his defense minister, as well as the head of the armed forces, to assess the situation. The country’s senate, meanwhile, held an extraordinary session and called for a report to be drawn up about what happened.

Replacements for Filizzola and Rojas are expected to be announced Saturday, Education Minister Victor Rios said after a cabinet meeting. Territorial disputes are not unusual in Paraguay, where two percent of the population holds 80 percent of the land -AFP

50 dead as Myanmar counts cost of communal unrest SITTWE: Fifty people have been killed in communal clashes in western Myanmar, state media said Saturday, as the UN warned of “immense hardship” faced by thousands displaced by rioting.

State mouthpiece the New Light of Myanmar said 50 people had died with 54 injured between May 28 and June 14 in Rakhine state, which has been convulsed by violence between local Buddhists and Muslim Rohingya.

The report did not say whether the updated toll included 10 Muslims beaten to death on June 3 by a Buddhist mob in apparent revenge for the rape and murder of a Rakhine woman, which sparked the violence. Rights groups and other local sources believe the real number of dead in Rakhine’s remote villages could be much higher.

Sittwe was calm but tense on Saturday, with the New Light saying security forces were “restoring peace, stability and security” overnight after the unrest, which poses a serious challenge to Myanmar’s reform-minded government.

Nearly 32,000 people from both communities are being housed in scores of camps across Rakhine, officials in Sittwe said on Thursday, after thou-

sands of homes were set ablaze. A United Nations team witnessed the turmoil on a two-day visit to the region, saying that around 10,000 displaced people were sheltering in Sittwe alone.

“These people are facing immense hardship,” it said in a statement late Friday, describing them as both Rakhine and Muslim. Pledging help for the affected area, UN special adviser Vijay Nambiar praised the government for its “prompt, firm and sensitive” response to the clashes but urged a “full, impartial and credible” probe into the unrest.

The shells of torched houses were all that remained of the mainly Muslim neighbourhood of Narzi, where charred belongings and corrugated roofing spilled into the road amid a heavy military presence, an AFP reporter said Saturday.

Thousands of residents have fled to safety as communities have been devastated by the violence.

“It’s impossible to live together again,” Hein Nu, an ethnic Rakhine housewife living a few homes away from Narzi told AFP. A Myanmar official requesting anonymity said 40 boats carrying Muslims apparently to neighboring Bangladesh had “asked for help” from Myanmar’s navy Saturday and were escorted back to

Rakhine.

Bangladesh has been turning back Rohingya boats arriving on its shores since the outbreak of unrest. Decades of discrimination have left the Muslim Rohingya stateless and viewed by the United Nations as among the most persecuted minorities on the planet.

About 800,000 of them live in Myanmar, according to the UN, mostly in Rakhine. The Myanmar government considers the Rohingya to be foreigners, while many citizens see them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and view them with hostility.

The violence poses a dilemma for opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, currently on a historic trip to Europe, who has faced pressure from Rohingya to speak up on their behalf but risks angering Myanmar’s Buddhist majority.

Suu Kyi only referred to the unrest in passing when she spoke in Oslo on Saturday to finally accept her 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. The Buddhist Rakhine and Muslim Rohingya in the region have accused each other of violent attacks, and recent days residents have been seen on the streets wielding knives, swords and sticks.-AFP

Rescue workers clear debris from destroyed houses following days of sectarian violence in Sittwe, capital of Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine on June 16, 2012. (AFP)

BUSINESS

SUNdAY, June 17, 2012

Kuwaiti crude rises $0.95, settles at $94.87 KUWAIT: The price of Kuwaiti crude oil rose 0.95 US dollars in Friday’s oil markets to settle at $94.87 per barrel, compared to $93.92 the day before, said Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) on Saturday.

The rise in oil prices was due to an upward trend of optimism that major central banks across the globe would work, simultaneously, to save any negative aftermaths of Greece’s elections. Greeks are facing elections tough dilemma after which they will decide whether they keep the euro as currency.

Meanwhile, a meeting on that day saw the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) oil ministers concurring to leave intact the production ceiling at 30 million barrels a day. OPEC vowed to eliminate overproduction in order to stick by its output ceiling and boost its members revenue.

The market was also supported by hopes that the US Federal Reserve would step in with new stimulus measures to bolster the world’s largest economy, traders said.“Oil futures rose as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to keep its collective oil output ceiling unchanged” at a meeting in Vienna on Thursday, Phillip Futures said in a market commentary.

OPEC decided in the Austrian capital, where the 12 nation cartel is based, to cut total production by 1.6 million barrels per day to meet the group’s 30 million bpd production ceiling agreed last December.

Smaller output could meanwhile give a boost to prices. Brent crude oil has tumbled from $128 a barrel in early March - mainly on expectations of weaker demand caused by the eurozone’s troubles and a slowing Chinese economy.

OPEC Secretary General Abdullah El-Badri said that the world economy would not be threatened by oil prices as high as $110 a barrel, despite fears among consumers that more expensive crude would hinder global economic recovery. “$110 dollars a barrel is not a threat for world economic growth,” El-Badri told journalists in Vienna on Friday.

OPEC, whose members include Saudi Arabia, Iran and Nigeria, pumps out about one third of the world’s oil.

Meanwhile, Kuwaiti Oil Minister Hani Al-Hussein reaffirmed his country’s commitment to its role as a credible oil producer and contributor to the balance of the global market.

“Fossil fuel will remain the main source of energy

Afghan men work at their blacksmith’s trade in Herat city on June 16, 2012. Poverty and still poses a threat to the stability of the country. (AFP)

in the future,” the minister said in an address to the Fifth International Seminar of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

“Kuwait continues its role in ensuring sufficient supplies to the global oil market in the framework of a long-term strategy for expanding its production capacity and the development of environment-friendly

products,” Al-Hussein affirmed.

“The government set aside $170 billion for the hydrocarbon development projects in the coming ten years, leveraging the hi-tech applications across the energy sector, the development of the heavy oil fields, and tapping into the renewable energies such as the solar energy,” he pointed out. -Agencies

Banking union could revive money markets, says ECB’s Coeure FRANKFURT: A European banking union could help revive money markets by restoring confidence in the creditworthiness of banks and governments, European Central Bank (ECB) Executive Board member Benoit Coeure said.

Coeure, who is in charge of market operations on the ECB’s board, called for closer integration as “uncoordinated national reactions to heightened uncertainty could be collectively lethal to the single market for capital”.

The ECB is one of the main supporters of such a union, which would involve the introduction of a single European supervisory body, a pan-euro area deposit guarantee scheme and a resolution fund to wind down banks if necessary.

European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said he believed a banking union could be in place within a year, but European paymaster Germany says it will not support one unless it is preceded by fiscal union within the euro zone.

“Restoring proper market functioning requires a series of actions to rebuild confi-

dence in the creditworthiness of banks and governments, as well as the taking of decisive steps towards a banking union,” Coeure said in a text of a speech released on Saturday and prepared for Morgan Stanley’s annual global investment seminar.

Money markets have been impaired since the onset of the financial crisis as banks began to lend less to each other in the market for fear of not getting their funds back, relying instead increasingly on central banks.

To ease such strains, the ECB injected more than one trillion euros into the banking system with twin 3-year loan operations in December and February, but there is growing concern that banks are becoming too reliant on central bank support.

“Central bank intermediation of interbank funds was necessary to ensure a smooth transmission of monetary policy across the euro area and to avoid a major credit crunch. However, it may have come at the cost of crowding out some market activity,” Coeure said. A banking union could help revive the market by restoring

trust among market players, Coeure said.

“The adverse feedback loop between banks and sovereigns - in which doubts about the solvency of the sovereigns feed doubts about the solvency of the banks, and vice versa - will be broken more readily by the establishment of a true banking union,” he said. Coeure also said Europe’s permanent rescue fund, the European Stability Mechanism, should be able to inject capital directly into banks.

“The emergence of truly pan-European banking institutions, provided they are properly controlled, would attenuate asymmetric shocks within member states and favor risk-sharing,” Coeure said.

Another key aspect was to strengthen banks’ balance sheets and Coeure called upon regulators to make sure that banks would have sufficiently high capital buffers in place. “Leverage in the euro area banking system must be reduced. The aggregate leverage (asset-to-equity) ratio of large euro area banks remains comparatively high by international and historical standards,” Coeure said. -Reuters

Fitch downgrades Egypt over political uncertainties CAPITALS: Fitch Ratings said it had downgraded Egypt’s longterm foreign currency rating from BB- to B+ with a negative outlook because of increasing uncertainties over the political future of the country.It also downgraded the long-term local currency rating from ‘BB’ to ‘B+’, also with a negative outlook, while affirming the shortterm foreign currency rating at ‘B’. The downgrade and negative outlooks “reflect increased uncertainties surrounding the political transition following (Thursday’s) ruling by the Supreme Constitutional Court to annul parliamentary elections and dissolve parliament,” a statement said. Whatever the outcome, “the political and policy-making process has been complicated, delaying the likely implementation of the comprehensive macroeconomic and structural reforms needed to kick start recovery and ease financing strains” said Richard Fox, head of Middle East and Africa sovereigns at Fitch.

On Thursday, Egypt’s transition to democracy was thrown into further disarray after its top court ordered parliament dissolved and allowed a disputed candidate to remain in a divisive presidential runoff due to take place Saturday and Sunday.

Activists and political figures described the rulings as the final phase of a military coup that takes the transition back following the ouster last year of president Hosni Mubarak back to square one.

Fitch said that, before the latest events, “the economic situation had shown some signs of easing with, in particular, international reserves rising slightly in April and May after several months of sharp decline. “However, the need to re-run parliamentary elections will, at the very least, delay the emergence of a workable and inclusive governance structure. Popular reaction to the dissolving of parliament remains unclear at this stage. “Although the incumbent, militaryappointed government will remain in position for the time being, it will need to come to a working arrangement with whatever president emerges from this weekend’s elections.

“This will add a further element to Egypt’s already complex political equation. Meanwhile, the re-writing of the constitution will be further delayed with the result that the new president’s powers will be unclear and the longevity of any new parliament uncertain.”

It said the ratings “will remain under downward pressure until political uncertainties begin to resolve, a functioning governance structure begins to take hold and an economic adjustment program is put into place. “A sustained outbreak of political violence or other political setbacks that make the transition to political stability longer, more uncertain or ultimately less likely to succeed would lead to a downgrade.” It added that a downgrade could also occur if there were evidence that the prolonged political uncertainty was exerting a greater cost on the economy. “By contrast, the emergence of a stable governing structure, which could focus on key economic and structural policy decisions, including progress toward an IMF agreement, would help to stabilize the rating.” -AFP

South Africa eyes new oil sources as Iran sanctions take hold CAPITALS: South Africa is looking at alternative sources of crude as tough US sanctions slapped on countries importing oil from Iran are days away from taking effect, a senior government official said on Friday.

“We intend to look especially in Africa, mainly Angola and Nigeria, but of course we are going to continue to import from Saudi Arabia,” which produces a crude type close to that of Iran, said Nelisiwe Magubane, the director general for energy.

South Africa was among seven emerging countries that were granted a six-month exemption against the Iran oil sanctions that come into effect on June 28.

Nigeria and Angola are the continent’s top oil producers.

The United States and European Union have tightened sanctions in a bid to force Tehran to abandon its contested nuclear program, and nations which import crude oil from Iran could run foul of the measures.

Under a law approved last year, the United States will penalize foreign financial institutions for transactions with Iran’s central bank, which handles sales of the country’s key export.

The exemption allows South Africa to continue dealing with Iranian banks for the next six months.

“The exemption period is 180 days and is potentially renewable, provided there has been a significant reduction of the crude oil from Iran during the period of the exemption,” government spokesman Jimmy Manyi told reporters.

South Africa says the sanctions hurt its refineries due to increased costs to enable them to refine different types of crude.

Magubane said talks are underway with the EU, which provides insurance on petroleum products during shipping to South Africa.

“There is going to be a meeting in Moscow quite shortly which we believe is going to provide a breakthrough with regards to the sanctions, because we put our case in manner that indicate that sanctions are not going to only impact the South African economy but is also going to impact those of our neighbors.”

Most of southern Africa depends on refined oil from the regional powerhouse. Magubane said she was “cautiously optimistic” of a positive outcome from the talks with the EU. -AFP

Can communications services providers earn their customers’ love?

Domenico Azzarello, Partner & Vice President Mark Kovac, Partner Abdulrahman Addas, Partner Bain and Company Exclusive to Al Watan Daily

Ask a friend whether he would recommend his mobile phone, Internet or cable provider, and chances are you won’t be convinced to sign on with that company.The truth is, across all three markets, customers typically go with the least-objectionable provider rather than one they feel strongly about.

As long as subscriber numbers continued growing, providers could accept being “good enough” in customers’ eyes. But with penetration flattening and competition intensifying, companies in all three markets must fight harder for market share. To succeed, communications services providers now will need to earn their customers’ love so that they remain loyal when tempted by competitive offers.

One effective way to improve customer enthusiasm is with the Net Promoter system.

Companies start by asking customers a single question, “How likely are you to recommend [this company or product] to a friend or colleague?” The resulting score measures how many customers are promoters, detractors or are passives. To understand the value each promoter brings to a communications service provider, Bain & Company recently surveyed almost 3,000 US customers in the wireless, fixed Internet and pay-TV markets. We found an empirical link between profitable growth and a company’s NPS relative to its competitors’.

In the wireless market, for example, promoters generate on average nearly 80 percent higher lifetime revenue than passives and nearly two and a half times more revenue than detractors. And their churn rates are lower. Just as important, promoters also lower subscriber acquisition costs with recommendations that essentially do some of the marketing.

The same survey helped us understand what companies could do to gain ground with customers. We learned that customers want companies to satisfy their basic needs in the areas of price, network coverage and customer service. But to gain a competitive advantage, operators must differentiate themselves by exceeding expectations on some elements of the customer experience. Providers need to figure out which areas matter for their customers and determine where there is significant value in over-delivering.

For example, in wireless, we found that many customers like being notified if they go over plan limits. In fact, they find such notification as attractive as a four US dollars monthly discount on their bill. By analyzing customer data for all product and service elements, we identified the 10 critical dimensions of the customer experience that give companies the biggest opportunity to win, delight and keep their customers. For some, communications services providers already have found a winning formula. For others, they can learn from winners in different industries. * Find out what excites different customer segments, and create a value proposition to satisfy them. This is what MetroPCS

Communications does by tailoring its service to customers who simply want the least expensive deal-it’s all prepaid, with no surprises.

* Get the customer to talk about your positive attributes to the right people, especially on social media. Dell Computer is a great example of a company that uses social media to create buzz and referrals.

As one element of a broad social media strategy, the company’s @DellCares service allows the company to interact with potential customers online and facilitates interaction between satisfied customers and potential customers. * Be passionate about educating customers when you sell to them, and make installation and activation as smooth as possible.

Unlike its competitors, a Saudi-based mobile operator uses the sales process to build long-term loyalty. Store specialists and customer care agents are very knowledgeable about the company’s newest products and services and help new customers on how to use them so that they’re proficient before leaving the store. In addition, their user-interface for their broadband products is well-designed and easy to use, even for the beginner, driving take-up and loyalty. * Deliver an exciting product experience that differentiates you from competitors in at least one area important to your customers. Create a “wow” product experience by introducing new features as Netflix did with its adaptable video-ondemand interface or by differentiating an aspect of the product experience such as

user-friendliness.

* Nobody likes getting bills, but keep customers from complaining with clear and accurate bills. By making the billing process less painful, companies avoid frustrating customers to the point of defection-with the positive result of increasing satisfaction. * Be a champ about resolving issues. This is a critical customer pain point. Communications services providers could learn from Amazon.com’s “call me now” and “call me in five minutes” options, designed to tackle problems quickly. * Create pleasant and effective processes for upgrading, cross-selling, renewal and relocation services. To increase satisfaction, SK Telecom helps customers purchase the latest handset by offering rolling subsidies that allow customers to buy new phones before the end of their contract or spreading payments over the remainder of their contract. * Let your high-value customers know it and shower them with rewards. Longterm customers often are frustrated by deals that apply only to new customers, which is why US Cellular uses tenure as the basis for awarding loyalty points redeemable for desirable products and services. * Know how to proactively detect when your customers are disappointed-and how to change their minds. One wireless provider identified at-risk customers and offered them customized solutions such

as no-fee plan switching, a strategy that reduced churn and lowered deactivation calls by 15 per cent in the first six months.

* When customers opt to cancel, have a plan for bringing them back-at least the ones you want to keep. One provider monitors competitors to detect enticing offers before or when they hit the market, then reacts with equally attractive counteroffers. * Knowing these ten dimensions is the first step.Winning companies create their own vision and roadmap for earning customers’ love. That involves defining the case for change, understanding the causes of defection, and redesigning the customer experience. They create a “wow” effect by determining what will make a difference to customers and having a laser focus on excelling in those areas. Delivering requires building supporting processes and platforms and transforming the organization and culture - ensuring that the people behind the effort are well trained and enthusiastic. Understanding what customers want and creating offerings that exceed their expectations is difficult. But communications services providers that can get their customers to love them and become vocal promoters will outpace their competitors over time.

Disclaimer: Please note that the views and opinions presented in the column are the company’s own and do not necessarily represent those of Al Watan Daily and its staff.

ALWATAN DAILY

BUSINESS

7

SUNdAY, June 17, 2012

KSE closes week with 1.53% retreat, KSX-15 drops 0.21% Kuwait Stock Exchange’s Weekly Activity, June 7, 2012

KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) ended last week in the red zone. The price index ended last week with a decrease amounted to 1.53 percent, while the weighted index declined by 0.73 percent compared to the closings of the week before, where KSX-15 Index decreased by 0.21 percent. Furthermore, last week’s average daily turnover decreased by 23.37 percent, compared to the preceding week, reaching 18.45 million Kuwaiti dinars, whereas trading volume average was 234.70 million shares, recording decrease of 23.08 percent. Despite its losses, KSE managed to set a resistance level for its retreating path, after crossing couple of support levels during the past two weeks before the last week, as some buying deals were done on several stocks, especially those which suffered previous excessive losses.

As far as the annual Indices performance, two of the market main indices recorded losses, while the Price index recorded gain of 4.90 percent, in spite of its losses during the last weeks.; On the other hand, the weighted index recorded loss amounted to 0.96 percent

Sectors’ activity

and KSX-15 index retreated by 3.26 percent.

By the end of the week, the price index closed at 6,099.3 points, down by 1.53 percent from the week before closing, whereas the weighted index registered a 0.73 percent weekly loss after closing at 401.7 points. Moreover, the KSX-15 index recorded 0.21 percent weekly loss after closing at 967.4 points.

Sectors’ indices

All of KSE’s sectors ended last week in the red zone except for one sector. The Insurance sector headed the losers list as its index declined by 6.65 percent to end the week’s activity at 1,043.53 points. The Basic Materials sector was second on the losers’ list, which index declined by 3.56 percent, closing at

India’s industrial production expands Economic output to grow and inflation to remain high

India: inflation, IP growth & repo rate Since 2009

%chg, YoY 16

% 8.5

Why is this graph important?

12

Economic growth in India slowed to 5.3 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) in the JanuaryMarch quarter, much lower than last year’s 9.2 percent y-o-y and the lowest growth rate in nine years. For the fiscal year through March 2012, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth came down to 6.5 percent y-o-y, far worse than expected and much lower than Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) below-potential forecast of 7 percent.The manufacturing sector, which is about 15 percent of GDP, contracted 0.3 percent y-o-y for the quarter, down from 7.3 percent y-o-y in the first quarter of 2011.

Industrial production (IP), a good gauge for the manufacturing sector, illustrates the sector’s slowdown. As the graph shows, IP contracted in March, but a rebound in April suggests an improvement in the Indian industrial sector. If the industrial sector continues to expand, albeit at a slow rate, Indian economic growth could bottom out this quarter.

India’s manufacturing sector has been weak primarily due to high interest rates. With the objective of taming inflation, the repo rate - the central bank’s (RBI) main policy rate - has been raised gradually for nearly two years, and has been kept at a lofty 8.5 percent rate in 2012. The strong monetary tightening stance

8 7.5

8

7 4

6.5 6

0 IP growth

Benchmark

ź KSE - Price Index ź KSE - Weighted Index ź KSE - KAMCO TRW Index Ÿ Saudi Stock Exchange (TADAWUL) Ÿ Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange Ÿ Dubai Financial Market ź Qatar Exchange ź Bahrain Bourse ź Muscat Securities Market Total GCC Equity Markets

Closing

5,907.7 393.8

2,544.7

6,744.5

Weekly

What does the indicator tell us?

IP is a measure of economic activity, surveying factory production, related manufacturing processes and mining. IP reflects the consumer sentiment and interest rate conditions because

1,463.7

8,252.4

1,130.2 5,708.9

2,940,293

675,236

(0.77%)

(0.19%) (1.32%)

ź 5- Boubyan Bank ő 7- United Ahli Bank

5.1%

1,676,908

9,686,877

1.8%

246,495

102,567

8.2%

592,648

166,187

(6.0%)

46,354

313,186

(1.2%) 0.2%

5,134 25,861

2,613 30,185

5,533,692

10,976,850

Ÿ 5- Kingdom Holding Co. Ÿ 6- Saudi Arabia Fertilizers Co. ź 7- Al-Etihad Etisalat Co. Ÿ 8- Samba Financial Group Ÿ 9- Riyad Bank Ÿ 10- SABB

Ÿ 5- Abu Dhabi National Energy Ÿ 6- Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank ő 7- Union National Bank ź 8- National Bank of Ras Al-Khaimah ő 9- National Bank of Fujairah ő 10- AL DAR Properties Co.

(408)

(0.33%)

(31) (154)

(0.19%) (0.88%)

3,541

0.49%

(000's KD)

P/E (X)

P/B (X)

Yield (%)

4,441

0.690

(1.4%)

2,954

0.405

0.0%

1,066

2,004

3,416

3,512

14.7

1.9

3.5%

3,264

2,257

10.4

1.3

8.5%

7,820

5,476

24.9

1.6

2.0%

3,547

1,422

34.8

2.5

0.0%

1,637

977

NM

4.3

0.0%

0.600

(1.6%)

1,049

207

426

2.9

1.1

2.4%

0.870

0.0%

1,029

154

134

32.6

3.9

1.5%

3

2

NM

1.8

0.0%

847 785

37 1,108

20 185

16.8 9.2

1.7 1.0

2.5% 5.3%

1.0%

1.3%

3.7% 0.0%

1,048 967

90.25

73.75

39.10

12.95

Return (%)

0.3%

3.9%

(1.0%) 0.8%

Market Cap.

(SAR Mln)

270,750

110,625

78,200

53,957

Volume

(000's shrs)

Value

(000's SAR)

Trailing

P/E (X)

Trailing

P/B (X)

Dividend

Yield (%)

24,185

2,197,682

9.3

2.0

5.5%

5,118

375,951

15.0

3.4

4.4%

2,631

103,310

10.0

1.7

5.1%

11,322

146,366

24.3

1.0

5.4%

87,836

70.7

1.8

1.0%

12.20

16.2%

45,212

7,454 306

53,118

10.7

5.4

7.4%

62.50

(0.8%)

43,750

1,859

117,358

8.6

2.4

5.2%

381

17,270

9.5

1.5

3.6%

1,082 806

24,777 27,354

10.9 11.6

1.1 2.0

5.7% 1.7%

175.75

45.50

22.85 33.60

2.0%

2.5%

0.7% 1.8%

43,938 40,950

34,275 33,600

9.24

8.31 7.97

3.19

1.20

3.08

2.80

4.10

4.95 1.11

Weekly

Return (%)

4.8%

(7.3%) (5.8%) 1.6%

2.6%

0.7%

0.0%

(1.2%) 0.0% 0.0%

Market Cap.

(AED Mln)

73,021

32,198 23,910

17,850

7,470

7,283

6,988

6,248

5,445 4,534

Volume

Value

Trailing

P/E (X)

Trailing

P/B (X)

1.87

3.8%

31.03

0.89

2.8%

9.08

11.67

10.32 12.69 13.83

1.00

5.2%

1.75

3.8%

0.90 1.59

5.2% 4.3%

1.48

3.8%

Important Disclaimer: The information contained in this report is prepared by the Research Department of KCIC Investments and is believed to be reliable, but its accuracy and completeness are not warranted. Research recommendations do not constitute financial advice nor extend offers to participate in any specific investment on any particular terms.

Investors should consider this material as only a single factor in making their decisions.

AprͲ12

FebͲ12

DecͲ11

OctͲ11

AugͲ11

(AED)

ő 1- EMAAR Properties

Beta

1.49

1.58 1.48

0.88

1.50

1.21

ROE YTD Price

3.9%

12.9%

(16.1%)

6.2%

(15.5%)

7.1%

(16.5%)

3.3%

1.7%

39.6%

9.8%

12.0%

18.0%

0.2%

(3.8%)

0.72 0.59

10.3% 10.6%

(8.6%) (2.6%)

Beta

1.23

1.06

0.83 0.76

0.83

1.07

0.99 0.68

0.74 0.73

Dividend

(000's shrs)

(000's AED)

Yield (%)

10,073

92,042

12.5

1.9

7.6%

1,427

11,994

8.7

1.2

2.7%

5,023

41,285

6.4

0.9

6.3%

4,471

14,167

5.9

0.8

6.3%

1,289

1,525

9.9

0.6

8.3%

1,414

4,351

6.3

0.9

7.9%

2,618

7,341

4.6

0.5

5.4%

100

410

5.2

1.3

5.5%

0 52,061

0 58,471

19.4 7.1

2.6 0.6

2.0% 4.5%

Beta

1.00 1.17 1.31

1.30

1.34

1.24

1.13

0.14

NA 1.52

Ÿ 5- Dubai Financial Market Ÿ 6- Dubai Islamic Bank ź 7- Commercial Bank of Dubai ź 8- Arabtec Holding P.J.S.C. Ÿ 9- Air Arabia Co. Ÿ 10- Aramex

2.790

(0.4%)

3.01

(1.0%)

65.000

(3.0%)

0.960

0.7%

1.880

0.5%

2.760

(3.5%)

2.820

(0.4%)

0.588 1.780

2.3% 0.6%

17,360

15,506

13,760

10,990

7,680

7,138

5,626

4,427

2,744 2,606

Price

(QAR)

ź 1- Qatar National Bank Ÿ 2- Industries Qatar Ÿ 3- Ezdan Real Estate Co. ź 4- Qatar Telecom. (Q-Tel) ő 5- Masraf Al Rayan ź 6- Qatar Islamic Bank ź 7- Commercial Bank of Qatar ź 8- Qatar Electricity & Water Co. Ÿ 9- Qatar Fuel Co. (Wokod) ź 10- Doha Bank

130.80

Return (%)

(0.9%)

133.60

1.1%

19.80

1.3%

109.70

(2.6%)

27.00

0.0%

77.00

(0.8%)

Market Cap.

(QAR Mln)

91,525

73,480

52,519

25,099

(6.2%)

ő 1- Ahli United Bank (Price in USD) ő 2- Aluminum Bahrain

22.5%

6.1%

16.7%

15.7%

ő 3- Bahrain Telecommunications Co.

4.3%

(6.8%)

ő 4- Arab Banking Corp. (Price in USD)

2.5%

37.9%

Ÿ 5- National Bank of Bahrain

50.1%

(0.1%)

Ÿ 6- Al Baraka Banking (Price in USD)

27.6%

19.0%

ź 7- Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait

15.3%

(2.4%)

ő 8- Investcorp Bank (Price in USD)

10.4% 16.8%

(1.9%) (17.4%)

ő 9- United Gulf Bank ź 10- ITHMAR Bank (Price in USD)

0.0% 0.0%

0.474

0.0%

0.460

0.0%

0.540

1.9%

1.000

5.3%

0.380

(4.5%)

796.950

0.0%

0.23 0.125

Chg. (%)

(OMR)

14.8%

1.2%

ź 1- Bank Muscat

14.0%

2.5%

ź 2- Oman Telecom Co.

13.9%

3.2%

ź 3- HSBC Bank Oman

13.7%

14.7%

6.0%

0.0%

13.5%

(2.5%)

ő 6- National Bank of Oman

11.7%

(3.1%)

ź 7- Raysut Cement

25.6%

8.2%

13.6% 9.1%

8.8% 71.0%

ź 4- Bank Dhofar ź 5- Omani Qatari Telecom (NAWRAS)

ő 8- Shell Oman Marketing ź 9- Oman Cement Co. ź 10- Ahli Bank

0.567

1.320 0.247

0.430 0.508

0.289

1,111

3,091

6.1

0.4

7.2%

7,455

22,718

12.5

2.2

5.0%

1

92

13.4

0.9

3.1%

16,702

16,184

NM

1.0

0.0%

7,821

14,762

7.1

0.8

6.6%

264

729

6.8

0.9

6.9%

11,701

33,351

17.0

1.5

1.7%

64,815 4,918

38,014 8,673

9.0 12.3

0.5 1.4

7.7% 2.8%

0.0% (16.7%)

Return (%)

(11.3%)

(1.3%) (0.8%)

(1.6%) (1.4%) 0.0%

P/B (X)

Dividend

(000's QAR)

Yield (%)

284

37,303

12.2

2.2

2.8%

546

72,742

9.3

2.8

5.6%

25

489

152.0

1.9

0.8% 4.1%

200

15,453

13.3

1.6

5.8%

513

35,187

8.9

1.2

8.9%

96

12,729

10.1

4.4

4.9%

69 333

16,010 18,428

10.6 9.1

2.6 1.6

3.4% 8.2%

18,195

13,190

Market Cap.

(BHD Mln)

Volume

Trailing

243

53

9.9

1.2

4.8%

500

270

3.6

0.9

12.4%

261

124

8.5

1.3

8.4%

462

0

0

7.0

0.4

0.0%

79

43

10.1

1.7

5.6%

324

8

3

8.6

0.8

8.0%

391

149

10.2

1.4

6.6%

0

0

121.3

0.6

0.0%

0 654

0 33

352.1 NM

0.9 0.6

0.0% 0.0%

767 683 539 382

240

195 132

Market Cap.

(OMR Mln)

1,019 990

Volume

P/B (X)

Dividend

(000's BHD)

1,164

P/E (X)

Trailing

Yield (%)

(000's shrs)

(000's OMR)

2,842

1,602

Trailing

P/E (X)

Trailing

P/B (X)

Dividend

Yield (%)

8.7

1.2

3.8%

494

392

521

8.9

2.0

7.6%

1,403

345.7

27.4

2.8

2.2%

331

53

23

33.8

2.1

1.4%

1,418

725

7.0

3.0

7.5%

448

129

9.4

1.1

5.9%

40

53

17.8

2.6

3.8%

473

320

266

0.670 0.198

(1.2%) (1.0%)

222 189

251

1.40

5.7%

10.9%

7.2%

(5.1%)

0.61

0.98

0.06

1.61

1.14

0.27

1.31

1.01 1.10

Chg. (%)

17.6%

4.2%

6.7%

(36.0%)

-0.1%

14.3%

11.1%

(3.1%)

13.0%

(4.8%)

8.8%

77.4%

5.8% 11.2%

0.3% (1.1%)

Beta

0.85 1.07

0.53

0.64

0.85

1.03

1.14

0.79

0.71 1.04

ROE YTD Price

Chg. (%)

17.9%

(5.1%)

30.2%

(0.8%)

1.2%

(11.4%)

12.4%

2.6%

16.6%

(3.2%)

12.2%

(8.5%)

13.2%

(19.0%)

42.9%

(5.8%)

24.0% 17.5%

18.5% (13.4%)

Beta

2.10 0.22 0.93

0.76

ROE YTD Price

Chg. (%)

12.2%

(11.3%)

26.2%

(18.2%)

15.8%

20.9%

0.57

5.7%

9.5%

16.6%

(6.1%)

0.34

9.8%

(8.3%)

13.4%

(8.2%)

0.77 0.48

0.51 1.20

0.5%

0.0%

0.3% NM

(22.0%) 92.3%

Risk & Return

Valuation Multiples

Value

ROE YTD Price

Risk & Return

Valuation Multiples

Value

(000's shrs)

(0.8%) 0.0%

P/E (X)

Trailing

(000's shrs)

Weekly Trading Indicators

Weekly

Trailing

Beta

Risk & Return

Valuation Multiples

Value

2.1%

1.330

2.510

4.5%

2.4

Top 10 Largest Omani Companies by Market Cap Price

0.6

1.2

Muscat Securities Market (MSM)

ROE YTD Price

9.7

Weekly Trading Indicators

Return (%)

0.540

106,202

9.6

12,292 11,327

0.590

37,020

14.4

0.5% (1.4%)

(BHD)

Yield (%)

59,495

Top 10 Largest Bahraini Companies by Market Cap

Chg. (%)

(000's AED)

30,825

236.50 54.80

Weekly

P/B (X)

Dividend

(000's shrs)

Volume

P/E (X)

Trailing

278

16,752

(2.7%)

Trailing

2,207

(2.6%)

Price

Value

20,250

67.70

131.90

Volume

Weekly Trading Indicators

Weekly

Bahrain Bourse

ROE YTD Price

21.2%

0.0%

(AED Mln)

Top 10 Largest Qatari Companies by Market Cap

Chg. (%)

13.0%

1.03

0.81

ź 4- Mashreq Bank

2.850

Return (%)

Market Cap.

Risk & Return

Valuation Multiples

Weekly Trading Indicators

Weekly

Qatar Exchange (QE)

Risk & Return

Valuation Multiples

Weekly Trading Indicators

14.08

Risk & Return

Valuation Multiples

Weekly Trading Indicators

Weekly

3.1%

Risk & Return

Valuation Multiples

(000's shrs)

(AED)

Ÿ 4- Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank

728,346

(0.20%)

(KD Mln)

Price

ź 3- First Gulf Bank

16,487 17,450

1.24%

(96)

Return (%)

Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX)

ź 2- National Bank Of Abu Dhabi

122,052

882

(KWD)

Top 10 Largest Companies by Market Cap in Abu Dhabi

Ÿ 1- Emirates Telecom. Co.

46,653

1.52%

Dividend

(SAR)

Ÿ 4- Saudi Electricity Co.

72,204

5,325

Trailing

Price

ź 3- Saudi Telecom

356,285

Trailing

(6.8%)

1.23

Yield (%)

ź 3- Emirates Integrated Telecom.

Weekly Trading Indicators

(1.9%)

22.08

P/B (X)

Price

(1.6%)

Saudi Stock Exchange (TADAWUL)

Ÿ 2- Al-Rajhi Bank

(1.99%)

P/E (X)

Dividend

Dubai Financial Market (DFM)

Top 10 Largest Companies by Market Cap in Dubai

ź 2- Emirates NBD

Top 10 Largest Saudi Companies by Market Cap

Ÿ 1- Saudi Basic Industries Corp

(1,978)

Value

0.560 0.166

Ÿ 9- Ahli Bank ő 10- Ahli United Bank

(%)

Volume

0.760

Ÿ 8- Commercial Bank of Kuwait

(USD Mln)

Market Cap.

2.080

Ÿ 6- National Mobile Co.

Trailing Trailing

Weekly

0.690

ź 3- Kuwait Finance House ő 4- Gulf Bank

Weekly Chg.

Price

1.020

ź 2- Zain

97,215

Valuation Multiples

(2.9%)

Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE)

Top 10 Largest Kuwaiti Companies by Market Cap

ź 1- National Bank of Kuwait

Market Cap. (USD Mln)

0.00%

Last month was a turbulent one for India. Apart from slowing economic growth, the Rupee has been depreciating to unprecedented levels. A weakening Rupee means that it becomes more expensive for India to import goods. Given that the country imports 80 percent of the energy it consumes, because it is heavily subsidized, the government will ultimately pay the price. If the government reduces its exposure to energy expenses, as it did last month when gasoline prices were hiked, inflation could accelerate further.

The Indian central bank cut the repo rate by 50bps last month and another one is expected soon, in spite of accelerating inflation. However, business activity and IP are expected to be more robust here on, driving economic growth. The industrial sector,

17-June-2012

(000's USD)

0.28%

Prepared by Camille Accad - For more information please visit: www.kcic-asia.com / www.asiyainvestments.com or email research@asiyainvestments.com. KCIC Investments is an Asia-focused investment company.

Licensed and regulated by the Central Bank of Kuwait, it facilitates capital flows between the Middle East and emerging Asia by providing financial and advisory services, and managing third party capital.

What are the economic and financial implications?

14-Jun-12

(000's shrs)

2,446.4

levels of production are highly sensitive to those factors. Because of these qualities, forecasters use IP to understand future economic activity. IP is a coincident indicator, which means that it reflects the current state of the economy. If production activity speeds up rapidly, this could mean the economy is recovering or growing, but also can be a warning sign of up-coming rising inflationary pressures. On the other hand, if prices accelerate and the central bank undergoes monetary tightening by raising interest rates in order to curb inflationary pressures, IP, as well as economic activity, is bound

which is sensitive to changes in interest rates, is expected to benefit most, whilst exportoriented industries could flourish given the competitive prices. However, RBI interventions and its latest measures, as well as an improved economic environment in India, could help strengthen the Rupee, reduce inflationary pressures and encourage further rate cuts

by RBI. For the second half of the year, GDP growth is expected to accelerate, but the longterm inflation problem may persist.

KAMCO Research

Return (%) YTD-12 Return

1.25%

to decelerate due to more expensive credit.

As the graph shows, IP growth peaked in the first quarter of 2010, while robust business activity and strong domestic demand drove prices higher and inflation hit double digits. In response, RBI started hiking the repo rate in order to reduce business activity by making credit more expensive. The higher the repo rate, the more restricted business activity became, and the less IP grew. However, as the chart shows, inflation only eased to around seven percent this year.

KAMCO Research Current

(1.30%)

JunͲ11

www.kcicͲasia.com/research

has considerably hurt investment and business activity, hence exacerbating the slowdown of the industrial sector, while inflation has remained above RBI’s comfort levels. However last month, RBI cut rates by 50 basis points (bps), a strong signal by the central bank that the focus has shifted to spurring growth.

Value

(1.98%)

AprͲ11

Source: KCIC Research on DataStream, 2012.

Volume

1.6%

FebͲ11

DecͲ10

OctͲ10

AugͲ10

JunͲ10

AprͲ10

FebͲ10

DecͲ09

OctͲ09

AugͲ09

JunͲ09

4.5

Benchmark

(3.14%)

Market capitalization

Repo rate (rhs) Ͳ8

Disclaimer: This report has been prepared and issued by the Studies & Research Department @ Bayan Investment Company on the basis of publicly available information, internal data, and other sources considered reliable. While great care has been taken to ensure that the facts stated are accurate, neither Bayan Investment Company nor any of its employees shall be in any way responsible for the contents. This report is not an offer to buy or sell any of the securities referred in the report.

KSE total market capitalization declined by 0.82 percent during last week to reach KD 27.30 billion, as all of KSE’s sectors recorded a decrease in their respective market capital-

5

Weekly Trading Indicators

Index

5.5

WPI inflation

The Financial Services sector dominated total trade volume during last week with 571.34 million shares changing hands, representing 48.69 percent of the total market trading volume. The Industrials sector was second in terms trading volume as the sector’s traded shares were 21.21 percent of last week’s total trading volume, with a total of 248.92 million shares.

On the other hand, the Financial Services sector’s stocks where the highest traded in terms of value; with a turnover of KD 30.45 million or 33.02 percent of last week’s total market trading value. The Real Estate sector took the second place as the sector’s last week turnover of KD 20.25 million represented 21.96 percent of the total market trading value.

Ͳ4

GCC Week No.24 GCC Equity EquityMarkets MarketsReport Reportforfor Week No. 23 GCC Equity Markets Weekly Performance

ization except for one sector. The Health Care sector headed the decliners list as its total market capitalization reached KD 219.99 million, decreasing by 2.20 percent. The Basic Materials sector was the second in terms of recorded decline with 2.10 percent decrease after the total value of its listed companies reached KD 637.54 million.

The third place was for the Technology sector, which total market capitalization reached KD 78.48 million by the end of the week, recording a decline of 1.47 percent.

The Telecommunications sector was the least declining with 0.04 percent recorded decrease after its market capitalization amounted to KD 3.80 billion. On the other hand, the Oil & Gas sector was last week’s only gainer as its total market capitalization increased by 0.86 percent to reach, by the end of the week, KD 384.50 million.

953.33 points, followed by the Banks sector, as its index closed at 959.68 points at a loss of 2.42 percent. The Oil & Gas sector was the least declining as its index closed at 948.63 points with a 0.57 percent decrease. On the other hand, the Industrials sector was last week only gainer, which index grew by 1.03 percent, closing at 942.72 points.

5

11

19.9

8.4

4.7%

525 48

353 10

17.3 10.4

1.5 1.6

4.5% 0.0%

Beta

1.21

0.88

1.00

0.66 1.29 1.02

0.97

0.38

0.99 0.81

ROE YTD Price

Chg. (%)

13.5%

(26.0%)

22.6%

0.8%

10.4%

(11.8%)

6.1%

(21.4%)

28.4%

(21.8%)

12.2%

(9.7%)

14.6%

75.0%

42.1%

4.9%

8.6% 10.9%

55.1% (25.3%)

LIFE

sundAY, June 17, 2012

China sends first woman into space

Who is China’s first female astronaut?

Compiled by Al Watan Daily

JIUQUAN, China: China launched its most ambitious space mission yet on Saturday, carrying its first female astronaut and two male colleagues in an attempt to dock with an orbiting module and work on board for more than a week.

The Shenzhou 9 capsule lifted off as scheduled at 6:37 p.m. (1037 GMT) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on the edge of the Gobi Desert. All systems functioned normally and, just over 10 minutes later, it opened its solar panels and entered orbit.

The launch was declared a success by space program chief Chang Wanquan, a People’s Liberation Army general who sits on the ruling Communist Party’s powerful central military commission - underscoring the program’s close military ties.

Female astronaut Liu Yang, 33, and two male crew members - mission commander and veteran astronaut Jing Haipeng, 45, and newcomer Liu Wang, 43 - are to dock the spacecraft with a prototype space lab launched last year in a key step toward building a permanent space station. All three are experienced pilots and officers in the Chinese air force.

Two of the astronauts will live and work inside the module to test its life-support systems while the third will remain in the capsule to deal with any unexpected emergencies.

China is hoping to join the United States and Russia as the only countries to send independently maintained space stations into orbit. It is already one of just three nations to have launched manned spacecraft on their own.

Another manned mission to the module is planned later this year, while possible future missions could include sending a man to the moon.

The space program is a source of enormous national pride for China, reflecting its rapid economic and technological progress and ambition to rank among the world’s leading nations. The selection of the first female astronaut is giving the program an additional publicity boost.

On a state visit in Denmark, President Hu Jintao congratulated everyone connected with the mission.

“I urge you to carry forward the spirit ... and make new contributions to advance the development of our country’s manned space mission,” Hu said in a statement read to technicians at Jiuquan.

The astronauts are expected to reach the module, called Tiangong 1, on Monday. Now orbiting at 343 kilometers (213 miles) above Earth, the module is only a prototype, and plans call for it to be replaced by a larger permanent space station due for completion around 2020.

FILE - Liu Yang, China’s first female astronaut, waves during a departure ceremony at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Gansu province, June 16, 2012. (Reuters)

That station is to weigh about 60 tons, slightly smaller than NASA’s Skylab of the 1970s and about one-sixth the size of the 16-nation International Space Station.

China has only limited cooperation in space with other nations and its exclusion from the ISS, largely on objections from the United States, was one of the key spurs for it to pursue an independent space program 20 years ago.

China first launched a man into space in 2003 followed by a two-man mission in 2005 and a three-man trip in 2008 that featured the country’s first space walk.

In November 2011, the unmanned Shenzhou 8 successfully docked twice with Tiangong 1 by remote control.

Shenzhou 9 is to first dock with the module by remote control, then separate and dock again manually in order to fully test the reliability of the system. The astronauts are to conduct medical tests and various other experiments before returning to Earth after more than 10 days. -AP

Voyager space probe reaches edge of solar system LONDON: The Voyager 1 space probe has reached the edge of the solar system, extending its record for being the most distant man-made object in space.

According to a statement from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, the spacecraft is sending back data to Earth showing a sharp increase in charged particles that originate from beyond the solar system.

“Voyager scientists looking at this rapid rise draw closer to an inevitable but historic conclusion - that humanity’s first emissary to interstellar space is on the edge of our solar system,” NASA said in the statement.

Voyager 1, along with its sister spacecraft Voyager 2, was launched in 1977 and is now about 18 billion kilometers from the Sun. It is moving at a speed of about 17 km per second and it currently takes 16 hours and 38 minutes for data to reach NASA’s network on Earth. Voyager 2 is about 15 billion kilometers from the Sun. Between them, the probes have explored all the giant planets of the solar system; Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, as well as 48 of their moons.

They both carry a greeting for any extraterrestrial life they may bump into, a phonograph record and 12-inch gold-plated copper disk with sounds and images of life and culture on Earth selected by a group chaired by the famous space scientist Carl Sagan.

The charged particles hitting Voyager 1 originate from stars that have exploded elsewhere in the gal-

axy. They have been steadily rising as it approaches interstellar space but that trend has become sharper in recent months.

“From January 2009 to January 2012, there had been a gradual increase of about 25 percent in the amount of galactic cosmic rays Voyager was encountering,” said Ed Stone, Voyager project scientist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

“More recently, we have seen very rapid escalation in that part of the energy spectrum. Beginning on May 7, the cosmic ray hits have increased five percent in a week and nine percent in a month.”

The exact position of the edge of the solar system is unclear but another indicator that Voyager has entered interstellar space is expected to be a change in the direction of the magnetic fields around the space craft. NASA scientists are looking at data from the craft to see if this predicted change has occurred.

“The laws of physics say that someday Voyager will become the first human-made object to enter interstellar space, but we still do not know exactly when that someday will be,” said Stone. “The latest data indicate that we are clearly in a new region where things are changing more quickly. It is very exciting. We are approaching the solar system’s frontier.”

The plutonium power sources on the Voyager probes are designed to last until 2025. When they die, the probes will keep hurtling through space towards other stars in the Milky Way but they will no longer transmit data back to Earth. -Reuters

Vitamin D plus calcium tied to longer life NEW YORK: Older adults who take vitamin D and calcium supplements may live a bit longer than their peers, a new research review suggests.

Researchers found that older adults who were given vitamin D and calcium supplements were 9 percent less likely to die over three years than those given placebo pills.

Vitamin D on its own, however, showed no effect on death rates.

The findings are based on data from eight past clinical trials -- where people were randomly assigned to take vitamin D (with or without calcium) or get inactive placebos for comparison.

Those types of studies offer the strongest kind of evidence on whether the supplements have health effects or not, said Dr. Lars Rejnmark, the lead researcher on the review.

A 9 percent dip in death risk over a three-year period might sound small. To put it in context, Rejnmark’s team -- some of whom have connections to supplement makers that market vitamin D and calcium products -- estimates that to prevent one death, 151 older adults would have to take vitamin D and calcium for three years.

But that effect is “at least as pronounced” as the benefits linked to cholesterol-lowering statins and blood pressure drugs, said Rejnmark, an associate professor at Aarhus University in Denmark.

“In my view, a 9 percent reduced mortality in the general population of elderly is of major impor-

tance,” Rejnmark told Reuters Health by email.

“Except for stopping smoking,” he added, “there are not many other known interventions that are capable (of) such a reduction in the risk of death.”

Supplements May Carry Risks

For now, Rejnmark said the findings support getting the recommended amounts of vitamin D and calcium.

But that doesn’t mean supplements don’t carry any risks.

In particular, Rejnmark noted, some research has linked calcium supplements (not calcium-rich food) to an increased risk of heart attack in older adults -though it’s not clear if the supplement is to blame.

As for known side effects, calcium supplements may boost a person’s risk of kidney stones. And very high levels of vitamin D can cause symptoms like nausea, vomiting, constipation and poor appetite.

In the US, the Institute of Medicine says people should get no more than 100 micrograms, or 4,000 IU, of vitamin D each day. The upper limit for calcium in older adults is 2,000 milligrams.

People can, of course, get calcium and vitamin D through food too. Dairy foods are rich in calcium; other sources include greens like broccoli and kale, and fortified juices and breakfast cereals. Food sources of vitamin D are relatively few, but include fatty fish like salmon and tuna, plus fortified milk, juice and cereals. -Reuters

The Shenzhou-9 -- China’s fourth manned space mission -- blasts off at 1037 GMT from the Jiuquan space base, northwest China’s Gansu province in the remote Gobi desert on June 16, 2012. (AFP)

Who is Yang, and how - from among half a billion Chinese women - was she chosen to be the country’s first space heroine?

Yang lives in Beijing, but hails from the central Chinese province of Henan, a relatively poor but heavily populated agricultural region. According to Xinhua, the official state news agency, she is an eloquent speaker, an avid reader and a lover of cooking.

She is also married, as per the China space program’s requirements. According to the newspaper China Daily, female Chinese astronauts must be married and preferably be mothers, because of concerns that higher levels of radiation in space would “harm their fertility.”

Yang began reaching for the skies just after high school, when a teacher persuaded her to enroll in an aviation school. Since enlisting in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force in 1997, she has logged 1,680 hours of flight time, earning the rank of major and deputy head of a flight unit. State media once praised her courage after she safely landed her fighter jet following a collision with a bird that covered the cockpit glass with blood, Reuters reported. She also won first place in a military speech contest.

Yang was recruited into China’s second class of prospective astronauts in May 2010. After two years of arduous training, she excelled in testing - Chinese astronauts must score perfectly on a series of tough examinations - and was selected this March as a candidate to crew the Shenzhou-9.

Her selection quickly became the most trending subject on the country’s Twitter-like microblogging service Sina Weibo, with 33 million posts. One user wrote, “Liu Yang, on the eve of becoming our first woman is space, is the pride of Henan.” [7 Notable American Astronauts] At Friday’s press conference, Yang addressed her fans: “I am grateful to the motherland and the people.

I feel honored to fly into space on behalf of hundreds of millions of female Chinese citizens.”

Wu Ping, spokeswoman for China’s manned space program, said having Yang on board will not only help the country’s aspiring space program test equipment designed for women in preparation for the building of an orbiting space station, but it will also expand the social impact of human space missions. Echoing a famous Chinese proverb, Ping said, “Women hold up half the sky. Human space missions without women are incomplete.”

Experts lament poor ocean progress in 20 years PARIS:World governments have made little progress in the past 20 years when it comes to their pledges to protect marine life and reduce overfishing, experts said over the weekend.

With ocean health among the top 10 issues at the Rio 20 summit on sustainable development June 20-22, international experts called for concrete action to avoid “empty ocean commitments.”

Targets set at UN summits in 1992 and 2002 have largely gone unmet, and implementation “has been difficult, ineffective or practically nonexistent,” the authors wrote in the US journal Science.

Contributors came from the Zoological Society of London, Simon Fraser University in Canada, the Pew Environment Group in the United States, the University of British Columbia and the University of Oxford. “Our analysis shows that almost every commitment made by govern-

ments to protect the oceans has not been achieved,” said Jonathan Baillie, director of conservation at ZSL. “If these international processes are to be taken seriously, governments must be held accountable and any future commitments must come with clear plans for implementation and a process to evaluate success or failure.”

An international action plan to end illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing remains voluntary and has not put a stop to the $23 billion per year industry, the article said.

While local level protections of marine biodiversity have improved in some places, the global picture is “bleak” for many forms of sea life, it said.

“Even the most closely watched species -- such as turtles, sharks, and coral reef fisheries -- are not safe.”

Problems and politics have compli-

cated efforts to meet the goals that world leaders have set in the past, and so future efforts should be “more nuanced and context-specific to be realistic and achievable,” the authors said.

The team made three recommendations: to bring global fishing in line with resources in domestic and international waters, redirect harmful subsidies and instead use the money to fund efforts to halt illegal fishing, and implement “even a minimal” ecosystems approach to protect vulnerable species.

“Rio+20 is a unique opportunity for governments to collectively show courage and leadership to reverse the worsening state of the world’s ocean, and to take action to protect the largest reservoir of biodiversity left on our planet,” said Susan Lieberman, deputy director of Pew Environment Group’s International Policy team. -AFP

New crustacean species discovered off Spain NEW YORK: A new species of crustacean has been discovered in the underwater mountains off the northwest coast of Spain, scientists recently announced according to LiveScience.

The squat lobster is orange and a little over 2 inches (5 centimeters) long. Squat lobsters are more closely related to porcelain and hermit crabs than true lobsters. It was discovered at a depth of 4,626 feet (1,410 meters) in August 2011 by the INDEMARES research group and lives among deep corals and sea fans, according to a study published in the March issue of the journal Zootaxa.

The shy crustaceans are abundant in submarine mountains in areas that haven’t been heavily fished; the corals and sea fans amid which they live tend to disappear in trawling zones, researchers said in a statement. Given the scientific name Uroptychus cartesi, the species’ closest relative can be found in the Caribbean Sea, and both species likely have a shared ancestor “who invaded the Atlantic from the Pacific and Indian Ocean a few million years ago,” said study co-author Enrique Macpherson, a researcher at Spain’s Centre for Advanced Studies of Blanes.

The squat lobsters are homebodies and do not spread far, since their larvae spend only a few days in the free-swimming planktonic stage. They feed on smaller crustaceans and particulate matter.

The crustacean is different from other European species mainly because of its shape and the number of thorns on its shell.

Researchers named it after the scientist Joan Cartes, from Barcelona’s Institute of Marine Sciences, who was the first to notice that something about these creatures looked different.

The six specimens captured were handed over to Barcelona’s Institute of Marine Sciences and the National Museum of Natural History in Paris.

FILE - A drawing of the newly discovered squat lobster.

(Agencies)

Natives occupy Amazon dam construction site PARIS: Around 300 indigenous and green activists occupied this weekend the construction site of a huge hydro-electric dam across the Xingu River, a tributary of the Amazon, protest organizers said.

The demonstration at the Belo Monte dam sought to draw attention to the project at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development taking place in Rio de Janeiro, more than 3,500 kilometers (2,200 miles) to the south.“We call on the world to let our river live,” Antonia Melo, head of the Xingu River Forever Alive Movement, said in a statement.

The protesters said they dug a channel at the construction site using shovels and hoes to symbolically restore the natural flow of the river, while some used their bodies to spell out a message reading “Pare Belo Monte” (Stop Belo Monte).

The third largest dam in the world, the 11,200-megawatt scheme is one of several hydro projects billed by Brazil as providing clean energy for a fast-growing economy. Work began a year ago, despite fierce opposition from local people and green activists.

Indigenous groups fear the dam will

harm their way of life while environmentalists have warned of deforestation, greenhouse-gas emissions and irreparable damage to the ecosystem.

The Belo Monte is expected to flood an area of 500 square kilometers (200 square miles) along the Xingu and displace 16,000 people, according to the government, although some NGOs put the number at 40,000 displaced.

The UN conference, which opened Wednesday, is set to climax in a summit of an expected 116 leaders, running June 20-22. -AFP

ALWATAN DAILY

Technology APP OF THE WEEK

Jumanah Al-Ghadban Staff Writer

Staff Writer

App: Press Reader Category: News Price: Free (Subscription) Platform: iOS Works with: iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Briefly: Newspapers have been available digitally for some time now but with this new app it brings them closer to your iPhones and iPads. You can now have the ultimate reading experience when subscribing to any of the 2,100 full content newspapers available from 95 countries in 54 languages all in one app.

When you subscribe monthly at 33.99$ you will get auto delivery of your favorite publications, receive a SmartFlow content presentation design, share stories via email, Facebook, or Twitter. Print full pages or articles, but the most amazing feature is listen to articles using the on-demand audio. Want to try this experience out the download the free app and receive 7 issues for free, if it pleases you then go ahead and subscribe.

TECH TALK First Apple computer fetches $374,000: A rare surviving first model of the Apple computer -- a stripped down, clunky device that bears no resemblance to today’s sleek gadgets -- sold for $374,000 at auction in New York on Friday. The price was more than double the pre-sale estimate, reflecting a two-way bidding war eventually won by an anonymous telephone bidder, Sotheby’s said. -AFP Twitter partners with websites to show more content in expanded tweets: Twitter is giving its users fewer reasons to navigate away from the site. The company has partnered with a number of websites to offer additional content previews when a link to their site is included within a tweet. From Thursday, on Twitter’s mobile platform and website, users will be able to click on a tweet that contains a link to see content previews from websites including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Breaking News, TIME, WWE, BuzzFeed, TMZ, Lifetime and Daily Motion. -AFP Amazon offer Cloud Player app for iPhone: Amazon on Tuesday released its music player app for iPhone and iPod touch, a move that expands the reach of the Internet retail giant for Apple users.

The Cloud Player app allows customers to stream or download music stored in Amazon accounts to the iPhone or iPod touch, play music that is already stored on their device, and manage or create playlists. -AFP

SUNDAY, JUNE 17, 2012

9

Phones gain ability to learn by touching NEW YORK: There’s a form of extra-sensory perception called psychometry, whose practitioners claim to learn things about objects by touching them. Smartphones set to be released this month by Samsung and Sony will have some of that ability: they’ll learn things when you touch them to pre-programmed “tags.”

For example, you can program a tag with your phone number, and stick it on your business card.

When someone taps the phone to the card, the phone would call you. Or you can put a tag on your night stand. Place the phone there, and it goes into “alarm clock” mode, holding your calls until the morning.

Samsung Electronics Co. announced this week that it will be selling these tags in the form of stickers it calls “TecTiles” - $15 for 5 of them.

They’ll work with its new flagship Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone, and several others already in the market, including the HTC EVO 4G. Sony Corp.’s Xperia Ion, to be released soon, will come with the ability to read different coinlike plastic tags that read “Home,” ‘’Office” and so forth. The tags cost $20 for four, and the phone can be programmed to react differently to each tag. The “Car” tag can launch a navigation application, for instance. Tapping “Home” can send a text message to the rest of the family that you’re home, and set the ringer volume to maximum.

The big push behind the technology, which is known as Near-Field Communications, comes from companies that see the phone as the wallet of the future. When touched to payment terminals, NFC-equipped phones can act as credit or

A screenshot introducing the TecTiles technology presented by Samsung.

debit cards.

But turning phones into credit cards is a tall order. Mobile payments already work with a few phones, but broad adoption is being held up while cellphone companies, banks, payment processors and retailers work out who pays for what and who benefits.

New device powers gadgets through walking LONDON: British scientists have built a novel device that converts body movement into electricity capable of powering small gadgets such as GPS trackers.

The device, unveiled this week in the July issue of the journal Smart Materials and Structures, is designed to be worn on the knee and harnesses the energy produced by walking.

The journal said it could be used by the military to reduce the number of heavy batteries -each weighing up to 10 kg (20 lb) -- that soldiers carry on foot patrol.

It was created by researchers at the Universities of Cranfield, Liverpool and Salford, originally with funding from the UK Ministry of Defense.

The researchers estimate it could retail for 10 pounds ($16) if produced on an industrial scale.

The “energy harvester” is based on so-called piezoelectric materials that have long been used in sonar sensors and ultrasound scanners and have become the focus of energy generation re-

search in recent years.

Scientists at Princeton University and the California Institute of Technology used a similar technology two years ago to develop electricitygenerating rubber sheets.

The novelty of the British device is the way it uses the body’s movements to generate power.

An outer ring that rotates as the knee joint moves is fitted with 72 plectra that in turn move four energy-generating arms called bimorphs attached to an inner hub. The vibration generates the electricity.

Michele Pozzi, who led the development project, said researchers were looking at ways to make the device cheaper and more portable. At the moment, the piece can harvest about two milliwatts of power but the researchers believe this could exceed 30 milliwatts with a few enhancements, enough for the latest GPS tracking devices. The gadget could also have uses in medical monitoring devices, he said. -Reuters

This ability to sense things close by is made possible by a new type of communications hardware in phones, complementing long-range cellular radios, medium-range Wi-Fi and short-range Bluetooth. The latest version of Google Inc.’s Android software, known as Ice Cream Sandwich, comes with the ability to use NFC to communi-

cate from phone to phone. When the backs are tapped together, the owners can trade information like contacts.

Samsung takes this one step further with the Galaxy S III. Tap two phones together, and they set up a connection via Wi-Fi. That means the owners can walk away from each other, and as long as they’re in the same room or so, they can transfer photos and even hefty video files between their phones.

There are issues to work out. The Samsung tags can be read by any phone running “Ice Cream Sandwich,” but that doesn’t include the Sony phone. Samsung and HTC phones won’t recognize the Sony tags.

Apple Inc., whose iPhones are trendsetters in many ways, hasn’t built NFC into them - yet.

Its patent filings hint at an interest in NFC, but they’ve given no clue when the technology might show up in iPhones.

For advertisers, NFC tags could replace the so-called “QR” codes - two-dimensional bar codes that need to be photographed with specially downloaded software to be deciphered, so they can send a consumer to the advertiser’s website or earn them a coupon for a discount. QR codes work at a distance, unlike NFC tags, but have significant drawbacks.

Each NFC tag includes a tiny chip, which explains the relatively high prices Samsung and Sony are charging. Those prices will come down as adoption rises. QR codes, of course, have the advantage of being very cheap, since they can be created on a simple printer. -AP

Privacy breach discovered in Internet address bids NEW YORK: The organization in charge of introducing new Internet addresses to rival “.com” briefly suspended access to some of the documents on its website after it discovered a privacy breach.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers said it had mistakenly published the postal addresses of some individuals - information that was meant to be private. The disclosure was limited to cities and countries in some cases, while full street addresses appeared in others.

The discovery came late Thursday, a day after ICANN revealed nearly 2,000 proposals for new Internet suffixes, including “.joy,” ‘’.barefoot” and “.google.” It will be the largest expansion of the Internet address system since its creation in the 1980s.

ICANN posted documents with the proposals to allow the public to comment and raise objections. The documents include bidders’ plans for the new names and full contact information for the businesses involved, but they were supposed

to list only phone and email information belonging to individuals.

ICANN restored those documents after removing the postal addresses on individuals. It was not immediately clear how long that took; the documents appeared to be inaccessible for no more than a few hours. ICANN did not immediately respond to requests for more information Friday.

This spring, ICANN had to suspend access to its system for letting bidders submit proposals after it discovered technical glitches that exposed some private data. That took more than a month to fix and restore. ICANN also goofed during Wednesday’s announcement. It displayed Arabic names left to right rather than right to left, as the language is written.

The latest breach provided more fodder for critics of ICANN and the name expansion. Skeptics have questioned ICANN’s ability to run the program smoothly in the long run, given that technical problems have cropped up early on. -AP

Apple fends off Google with maps, introduces MacBook Pro with retina display

Apple patent bid hints at changeable iPhone lens: A US patent application made public on Thursday hinted that Apple may be toying with the idea of letting pictureloving iPhone users change lenses for the smartphone cameras. Apple’s application for a “back panel for a portable electronic device with different camera lens options” included a diagram reminiscent of an opened iPhone with labeled parts. The application described a design to let users change lenses that typically are fixed in the backs of smartphones to act as eyes for cameras. -AFP Dropbox adds video streaming toAndroid app: Cloud-based file storage and sharing service Dropbox announced on Monday that the newest update for its Android application will include video streaming.

Subscribers to the service who have a device that works on Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0) can now view shared videos without having to download the files first. -AFP

Microsoft to make ‘major’ announcement on Monday LOS ANGELES: Microsoft is being secretive about a “major” announcement it plans to make in Los Angeles on Monday. The company invited media to an afternoon event, but it says it won’t divulge the location until that morning. In an email, the company says, “This will be a major Microsoft announcement - you will not want to miss it.” Microsoft declined further comment Thursday. The venue suggests it has to do with the entertainment industry. In recent months Microsoft Corp. has made more TV programming available on its Xbox 360 video game console. Netflix Inc. is among the offerings on the Xbox, and Netflix CEO Reed Hastings is on Microsoft’s board. Microsoft is also preparing to release a new operating system, Windows 8, that works across laptop computers, tablets and even televisions. -AP

Apple Senior VP of iPhone Software Scott Forstall demonstrates the new map application featured on iOS 6 during the keynote address during the 2012 Apple WWDC keynote address at the Moscone Center on June 11, 2012 in San Francisco, California. (AFP)

WWDC attendees look at the new MacBook Pro that is displayed at the 2012 Apple WWDC keynote address at the Moscone Center on June 11, 2012 in San Francisco, California. (AFP)

PARIS: Apple says it is planning to rev up the software running its coveted gadgets, training its sights on the China market -- and tossing Google Maps aside in the process. Apple used its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco Monday to show off upgrades to the software running iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touch devices including its own Siri-infused mapping technology and features tailored for Chinese users.

The hundreds of improvements in the iOS 6 mobile operating system due out before the end of the year come as Apple seeks to outdistance rivals powered by Google’s Android software.

Apple chief Tim Cook kicked off the California company’s annual WWDC by showing off new capabilities built into software for its hot-selling devices and slimmer, more powerful MacBook laptop computers.

Apple booted Google Maps from iOS 6, opening up another front in the war with the maker of the Android operating system. Apple’s new operating system for the iPhone and iPad includes “an entire new mapping solution from the ground up, and it is beautiful,” Apple’s Scott Forstall told the standing-room only crowd in San Francisco. “We are doing all the cartography ourselves. We are covering the world.”

“Today we’ve updated the entire MacBook line with faster processors, graphics, memory, flash storage and USB 3 connectivity,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing.

The MacBook Air is as thin as 0.68 inches (1.7 centimeters) and weighs as little as 2.38 pounds (1.08 kilos). Its price starts at $999. Improved models will see a boost in speed and memory and cost $100 less than previous versions.

The MacBook Pro line saw similar improvements in faster processors, graphics, memory, and USB 3 connectivity however no change was seen in regards to the pricing. The only difference is that the 17” MacBook Pro has now been discontinued.

The high-performance MacBook Pro will include the “Retina” display used on the new iPads, giving an extra high resolution screen. “With a gorgeous Retina display, all flash architecture and a radically thin and light design, the new MacBook Pro is the most advanced Mac we have ever built,” Cook said. Prices start at $2,199.

Apple said that iOS 6 will also include a better-educated Siri personal assistant, which performs many of the search functions of Google.

Siri, which made its debut with the release of the iPhone 4S, will be extended to recent generation iPad tablet computers, according to Forstall.

Apple’s brand new Passbook app is a great place to store loyalty cards and tickets. Scratch a little deeper, however, and you might find that it signals Apple’s first major step into mobile wallet space.

“The new Passbook app is the simplest way to get all your passes in one place, such as boarding passes and baseball tickets,” said Apple. “Passbook lets you scan your iPhone or iPod touch to use a coupon, get into a concert or check into your hotel.”

Another improvement to the iOS will be to incorporate Facebook in the operating system.

Upgraded MacBook Line-up

Apple also pulled back the curtain on slimmer, more powerful Macintosh laptops. The move keeps Apple, which has been dominating the market for tablet computers like the iPad, in the game against a new line of slimmer laptops using Microsoft Windows or the Google Chrome operating system.

OSX Mountain Lion

Mac OS X Mountain Lion -- the ninth major release of Apple’s desktop operating system (OS) -- will be arriving in the Mac App store in July

priced at just $19.99.

The OS sports more than 200 new features, the most noticeable of which include the Notification Center, a universal Messages app, Dictation, Facebook integration, AirPlay Mirroring, Power Nap, Game Center and the Gatekeeper security feature.

“The pace of innovation on the Mac is amazing, OS X Mountain Lion comes just a year after the incredibly successful launch of Lion,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “With iCloud built right in and the new Notification Center, Messages, Dictation, Facebook integration and more, this is the best OS X yet.”

Power Nap “Automatically updates your Mac (software updates, backups, email, Photo Stream, calendar, reminders) while it sleeps,” said Tweeps who called it the “Best Feature of Mac OS X ‘Mountain Lion’” and also compared it to Microsoft’s Windows SideShow and Connected Standby. Apple is offering a free upgrade to Mac OS X Mountain Lion to customers who purchase a qualifying Mac with OS X Lion on or after June 11.

Equity Research managing director Trip Chowdhry summed up the Apple announcements as “nice refresh, but no breakthroughs.” -AFP

10

ALWATAN DAILY

ENTERTAINMENT

Song Of The Day

Fahad AlSabah Staff Writer

Song: Friend Crush Artist: Friends Album: Manifest!

Genre: Alternative In short: Friends is a Brooklyn-based five-piece band that had some success with a single released in 2011, titled “I’m His Girl”. Their debut album draws inspirations from New York’s dance-punk movement, sounding a bit too close to Santigold at times. “Friend Crush” makes a great impact instantly, prompting listeners to dig more material of the band; If you’re not familiar with Friends, “Friend Crush” should be your gate to their world.

To listen to the song visit www.alwatandaily.com E-mail your feedback to falsabah@alwatandaily.com

The Buzz US basketball star hurt in Drake-Brown brawl Professional basketball star Tony Parker says he suffered a scratched retina on one of his eyes during a New York City nightclub brawl involving singer Chris Brown and members of hip-hop star Drake’s entourage. The guard for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association, wearing dark sunglasses, described the incident Friday in Paris during a news conference posted on YouTube. He said he expects to be sidelined for about a week while the French team prepares for the Summer Olympics. Parker said he was wearing a “therapeutic” contact lens and had to go to an emergency room for treatment after arriving in Paris. Parker said: “I was with my friend Chris Brown and me and my friends took some punches, so I’ll be missing the start of the French team because I can’t do anything for a week except keep the lens in and then take drops.” Police said Brown, his girlfriend and his bodyguard were among several people injured during the bottle-hurling fight early Thursday at W.i.P in SoHo. Parker said “they started throwing bottles everywhere. I don’t know what happened. At first it was OK, but then it started getting worse and when the plane landed it was really hurting so I went straight to the ER.” -AP

Singer Scherzinger named judge on UK’s X Factor Singer Nicole Scherzinger has been named as a judge on the British version of ratings juggernaut “The X Factor”, less than six months after being fired from the US edition of the TV show. The 33-year-old American is replacing compatriot Kelly Rowland, and joins Louis Walsh, Gary Barlow and Tulisa Contostavlos, all of whom appeared last season. “I can’t wait to see what talent the UK has to offer and to help inspire and bring out the best in these artists,” the former Pussycat Dolls singer said on Friday on the official website of the hit show. “The X Factor” is aired in Britain on the commercial channel ITV and has faced increasing competition from the publicly funded BBC’s “Strictly Come Dancing”, which regularly eclipsed it in the viewer ratings last year. -Reuters

Yvette Wilson, ‘Moesha’ actress, dies of cancer Yvette Wilson, a comic who was featured on the 1990s sitcom “Moesha” and its spinoff, “The Parkers,” has died. Her manager, Holly Carter, says Wilson died of cervical cancer on Thursday. Wilson was 48 and lived in Hollywood, where Carter said she had managed a music label and worked in real estate in recent years. Wilson portrayed Andell Wilkerson, owner of the popular hangout The Den on “Moesha.”

The UPN sitcom starred the singer Brandy. Wilson was a standup comic and was featured on “In Living Color.” She also appeared in the movies “Poetic Justice” and “House Party III.” -AP

Lohan treated for exhaustion after film shoot Lindsay Lohan continued to bring drama to the production of her latest film, receiving treatment for exhaustion and dehydration a week after she was involved in a car crash that sent her to the hospital. Lohan’s publicist Steve Honig says producers of the Lifetime film “Liz and Dick” summoned paramedics to Lohan’s hotel room Friday morning after she did not respond for a shoot. The incident occurred after the actress completed an all-night shoot and had kept up a grueling schedule in recent days, Honig said. The actress was not transported to the hospital and will likely return to the set of the film Friday afternoon. The film focuses on the love affair between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. -AP

sunday, JUNE 17, 2012

Kate Winslet, Kenneth Branagh get royal honors LONDON: Kate Winslet has been honored by Queen Elizabeth II for her titanic contribution to the arts.

The actress, who won a best actress Academy Award in 2009 for “The Reader” and made her breakthrough as the feisty Rose in 1997 blockbuster “Titanic,” has been named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, or CBE, in the queen’s Birthday Honors List, published Saturday. Winslet said the honor made her “very proud to be a Brit.”

“I am both surprised and honored to stand alongside so many men and woman who have achieved great things for our country,” the 36-year-old star said.

Actor and director Kenneth Branagh was made a knight and will be known as Sir Kenneth. A respected Shakespearean actor whose films as a director range from “Henry V” and “Hamlet” to the comic-book fantasy “Thor,” Branagh said he felt “humble, elated, and incredibly lucky” to get the honor. It puts him in a pantheon of theatrical knights alongside the late Sir Laurence Olivier, whom Branagh played in “My Life With Marilyn.”

“When I was a kid, I dreamed of pulling on a shirt for the Northern Ireland football team,” said the Belfast-born, 51-year-old actor. “I could only imagine how proud you might feel. Today it feels like they just gave me the shirt, and my heart’s fit to burst.”

The honors are bestowed by twice yearly by the queen - at New Year’s and on her official birthday in June - but recipients are selected by civil servants from nominations made by the government and the public.

Most go to people who are not in the limelight, for services to their community or industry, but they also reward a sprinkling of famous faces.

Songwriter and philanthropist Richard Stilgoe, who wrote lyrics for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Cats,” ‘’Starlight Express” and “The Phantom Of The Opera,” was awarded a knighthood, while golfer Luke Donald was recognized for spending almost a year at the

FILE - In this Sept. 18, 2011 file photo, Kate Winslet accepts the award for outstanding lead actress in a mini-series or movie for “Mildred Pierce” at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles. (AP)

top of golf’s world rankings. The Englishman, who has spent 48 weeks as No. 1 since May last year, was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).

“I am truly honored to be awarded an

MBE by Her Majesty, particularly in her Jubilee year,” Donald said Friday from the US Open in San Francisco.

Those becoming dames - the female equivalent of a knight - include Iraqi-born ar-

Beatles ‘Yellow Submarine’ is relaunched LOS ANGELES: The Beatles’ classic 1968 animated film “Yellow Submarine” has been relaunched on Blu-ray and iTunes for the first time, as well as on DVD, and this remastered version brings fresh details on how the original came together. The movie, featuring cartoons of The Fab Four battling the evil Blue Meanies and their army of odd monsters in the mythical, peaceful world of Pepperland, had been released on DVD in 1999 but that is out of circulation.

Almost as intriguing as the tale told in the film and its restoration is the story of how the milestone in experimental, psychedelic animation was made - especially since The Beatles originally wanted little to do with it, several of the original makers told Reuters.

The group had a three-picture deal with United Artists and the first two, “A Hard Day’s Night” (1964) and “Help!”

(1965), were worldwide hits. But by 1967, the quartet had had enough.

Al Brodax, producer of a popular Saturday morning animated Beatles cartoon on ABC, convinced United Artists and Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein to let him produce an animated theatrical film to satisfy the contract.

“I volunteered the third film,” Brodax told Reuters. “All The Beatles had to do was contribute four new songs.”

But The Beatles disliked the TV show featuring slapstick comedy and cartoonish versions of the group, and initially had no interest in a film, its makers said.

“The Beatles hated the TV series,” the movie’s animation director Bob Balser told Reuters. “It had never been shown in England - they wouldn’t allow it. And they figured ‘Yellow Submarine’ was going to be more of the same.”

Bob Hieronimus, author of “Inside The Yellow Submarine: The Mak-

The Beatles are shown in a scene from the classic animated film “Yellow Submarine” in this publicity image released to Reuters June 15, 2012. (Reuters)

ing of The Beatles Animated Classic” (www.21stCenturyRadio.com), claims director George Dunning brought in top new animation talent for the film.

Many fans have mistakenly attributed the unique design of the film to pop artist Peter Max because his style was reminiscent of the look of the characters in “Yellow Submarine.”

But in reality, it was German Heinz Edelman who came up with much of the look of the film - The Beatles figures, the Blue Meanies, the backgrounds and the film’s many odd characters.

“He designed an amazing array of characters from the Blue Meanies and their army. He really enjoyed creating all their interesting weapons,” said original

production supervisor John Coates. Jack Mendelsohn, one of several writers on the film including author Erich Segal and poet Roger McGough, noted that Max had never gone out of his way to deny he wasn’t involved.

Indeed, once The Beatles saw the work coming out of the studio, and realized it was far from its TV predecessor, they embraced the project and eventually shot a live-action segment that appears at the tail end of the film.

Even though an outline and script were written by playwright Lee Minoff, much of the story was created by the animators. “I think there were about 20 writers on the film, but it was really a huge collaborative effort,” said Balser. -Reuters

Judge says he probably won’t block ABC series A federal judge on Friday said he’s inclined to allow ABC to air its new reality competition series “The Glass House” over rival network CBS’ objections that the show copies “Big Brother.” US District Judge Gary Feess said Friday he was not persuaded that CBS had proved it would be harmed if “Glass House” aired. He said the new show’s audience participation element is likely to make it different from “Big Brother.”

ABC has said “Glass House” contestants will have to curry audience popularity in order to succeed on the series. “The audience involvement in particular in ‘The Glass House’ is a constant role in this show as it proceeds,” Feess said. “I think is very likely to induce quite different behavior than one would expect to see in the ‘Big Brother’ show.” Feess said he would look at issues raised during a hearing Friday, but he didn’t think his tentative decision on CBS’ request for an injunction would change. -AP

Bollywood actors Shahid Kapoor, left, and Priyanka Chopra attend a press conference on their upcoming film “Teri Meri Kahaani,” meaning “your and my story” in Ahmadabad, India, Friday, June 15, 2012. The movie will be released on June 22 locally. (AP)

chitect Zaha Hadid, who designed the Aquatic Center for the 2012 London Olympics, and Labor Party politician Tessa Jowell, who was Olympics minister until 2010.

Musician Gary Barlow, who organized a Diamond Jubilee concert for the queen this month featuring Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder and Elton John, was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, or OBE, for his services to entertainment and to charity.

Sarah Burton, who designed Kate Middleton’s dress for her royal wedding to Prince William last year, received an OBE for services to fashion.

In descending order, the honors are knighthoods, CBE, OBE and MBE. Knights are addressed as “sir” or “dame.” Recipients of the other honors have no title but can put the letters after their names.

Choirmaster Gareth Malone, who inspired thousands to sing with TV shows such as “The Choir” and assembled the best-selling Military Wives singing group, was awarded an OBE, as was actress and 1970s heartthrob Jenny Agutter.

Actress and campaigner April Ashley, one of the first Britons to undergo sex-change surgery, was awarded an OBE “for services to transgender equality.”

Also receiving an OBE was Jimmy Carlson, a former soldier who spent 23 years sleeping on the streets before becoming an advocate for the homeless. The same honor went to Armando Iannucci, the writer and producer behind expletive-laden British political satire “The Thick of It” and White House comedy “Veep.”

“I just hope it’s not an attempt by the government to stop me, because that’s not going to happen,” he said.

Among the hundreds of others honored was Margaret Jackson, who received an MBE “for services to netball” and Kerry Michael and Michelle Michael, awarded the same honor “for services to the restoration of Weston Super Mare’s pier.” -AP

Seger, Lightfoot among Songwriter Hall inductees NEW YORK: Stevie Nicks prefers writing a song over meeting a handsome prince. Ne-Yo claimed songwriting saved his life. And Bob Seger said writing a song is the hardest, yet most rewarding thing that he does.

Converging opinions thrived at the 43rd annual Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction ceremony in New York where Seger, along with Canadian folk rocker Gordon Lightfoot, “Gambler” songwriter Don Schlitz, and Jim Steinman of “Bat Out of Hell” fame became the latest members of the prestigious club. The writers of the long-running musical “The Fantasticks” were also inducted.

Seger opened the show with a spirited version of his 1973 classic, “Turn the Page.” He was then inducted by Valerie Simpson who performed “We’ve Got Tonight” in his honor.

On the red carpet before the performance, Simpson said that steamy track has a very special power. “It’s one of the sexiest songs I know, it put more people in bed than I can imagine,” Simpson said. Ne-Yo was honored with the Hal David Starlight Award. It’s given to young artists who are making a significant impact with their original music.

“To have a person who has written a song that I look up to or that I grew up listening to tell me that I am good at it too. That means the world to me,” Ne-Yo said of Hal David, a frequent songwriting partner to Burt Bacharach.

Then he explained how writing songs saved him. “I was a pretty riled up little kid, and if not for my mom giving me the pad and the pen and telling me to take my emotions and put them there, then there was no telling then I might I have been sticking you up or something,” Ne-Yo joked. After being inducted by Swizz Beatz, NeYo told the crowd of nearly 900 that he didn’t prepare a speech because he still didn’t believe he was standing there.

While Nicks was not inducted, she did honor Bette Midler with the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award, and even performed “The Rose,’ the song made famous by Midler in the 1979 movie of the same name.

“People ask what is your favorite thing to do in a night? Be in a fantastic studio with a great poem and a piano and a little tape recorder. That is my idea of a great time,” Nicks said.

Lightfoot, known for such hits as “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” and “Sundown,” performed his haunting 1970 ode to his failed marriage, “If You Could Read My Mind.”

On the red carpet he explained his motivation: “My life had been a bit of a roller coaster. I think at that time I was going through the lower dip and sort of climbing up again.” Over the years, artists from Barbra Streisand to Johnny Cash covered the song. One of the evening’s funniest moments came from Jim Steinman, who wrote songs for Meat Loaf on his first two “Bat Out of Hell” albums. After Loaf and Constantine Maroulis performed an abridged version of the nearly 10-minute title track, Steinman noted: “They shortened the song so much I felt like I was watching an episode of ‘Glee.’”

The Songwriters Hall of Fame was created in 1969 by a group of established songwriters, including the legendary Johnny Mercer. The organization’s mission is to shine a spotlight on the accomplishments of songwriters. -AP

ALWATAN DAILY

SPORTS

SUNDAY, june 17, 2012

Tennis

Nalbandian sets up Cilic clash in Queen’s final

David Nalbandian of Argentina hits a return to Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria during their men’s singles tennis match at the Queen’s Club tournament in London June 16, 2012.

(Reuters)

Nadal does not regret grass appearance HALLE, Germany: Rafael Nadal does not regret his decision to go straight to grass from his historic seventh French Open triumph despite a shock quarterfinal loss at Halle, a key Wimbledon tuneup event.

World number two Nadal slumped to a 6-3, 6-4 defeat to Philipp Kohlschreiber, his first loss to the German in nine meetings as his build-up to Wimbledon was cut short.

He insisted he was right to play the tournament for the first time since 2005 even though world number one Novak Djokovic decided to rest and take the week off.

“I have played the week after the French Open for eight years with the exception of 2009 when I was injured,” said Nadal, who has traditionally played the Queen’s Club grass-court tournament in his Wimbledon preparation. -AFP

Rafael Nadal of Spain returns a ball to Lukas Lacko of Slovakia at the Halle Open ATP tennis tournament in Halle June 14, 2012. (Reuters)

Cricket

Sangakkara boosts Sri Lanka with 97 LONDON: David Nalbandian reached his first grass-court final since losing to Lleyton Hewitt at Wimbledon in 2002 when he ended Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov’s run in the semi-finals of the Queen’s Club tournament on Saturday.

The Argentine beat 21-year-old Dimitrov 6-4 6-4 and will play Marin Cilic in Sunday’s final after the Croat overcame American Sam Querrey, the 2010 champion at Queen’s, 6-3 3-6 6-3.

“He’s a tough player,” Nalbandian said of sixth seed Cilic. “We have played a few times.

“I know he has a good serve but I think I’m playing good. I’m in good shape and let’s see what happens.”

Both players struggled to hit the high notes in their semi-finals which were affected by gusting winds in west London that made serving difficult.

Nalbandian, seeded 10th here, and Cilic last met in a feisty five-set Davis Cup match in Buenos Aires in April when the Croat registered his only victory in five

attempts over the former world number three.

Cilic remembers how the 30-year-old Nalbandian used to try to unsettle him when he was first making his way in the game.

“I know when I played him first time it was actually my first live Davis Cup rubber in 2006,” Cilic told reporters. “He was ranked number four. I was 17 years old. He was pretty intimidating, having those few tricks of his. “When you are warming up he just hits the ball a little harder, trying to show he can accelerate and push you a little bit to become more nervous.

“But now it’s different.When you are at that age it’s not easy.” Nalbandian has suffered the most from the poor English weather this week, having had his firstround match postponed on Monday and being forced to play twice in one day on Friday. “I was supposed to play Monday, I didn’t,” he said. “So it was a really tricky week. It wasn’t easy but unfortunately that’s the way it is.” - Reuters

Federer beats Youzhny to reach 7th Halle final HALLE, Germany: Five-time champion Roger Federer reached the Gerry Weber Open final for the seventh time by beating Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday.

The second-seeded Federer broke the 31st-ranked Russian twice to wrap up the first set in just 21 minutes. He was in such control that one fan implored him to slow down.

The 16-time Gram Slam champion responded by breaking twice more, before dropping serve to lead 5-3.

Federer wasted three break points in the next game, but sealed the match in the following one with his eighth ace.

“It was nice to come out and play some decent tennis after yesterday’s shootout drill,” Federer said, referring to his tiebreak win over Milos Raonic of Canada in the quarterfinals.

The 29-year-old Youzhny has never beaten Federer in 13 attempts.

“Mikhail played a great tournament, and he deserves respect for the way he fought back in the second set,” Federer said.

Later Saturday, defending champion Philipp Kohlschreiber plays wild card Tommy Haas in an all-German semifinal.

“Both of them are good pals of mine,” Federer said. “Whoever it is, the final will be hard.” -AP

Sri Lankan cricketer Kumar Sangakkara (right) plays a shot during the fourth one-day international (ODI) match between Sri Lanka and Pakistan at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on June 16, 2012. (AFP)

COLOMBO: Kumar Sangakkara hit an impressive 97 to help Sri Lanka post 243-8 against Pakistan in the fourth oneday international in Colombo on Saturday. The left-hander, who had a lucky escape when he was dropped on 35 by Umar Gul off leg-spinner Shahid Afridi, cracked three sixes and seven fours in his 130-ball knock.

Sangakkara went for big shots after completing the half-century, scoring his last 47 runs off just 31 balls. He looked set to reach his 14th one-day hundred before he was caught by Azhar Ali in the deep off spinner Saeed Ajmal.

He added 110 for the fourth wicket with skipper Mahela Jayawardene, who hit four boundaries in his 50-ball 40 before being bowled by left-arm paceman Sohail Tanvir.

Pakistan had put in a disciplined bowling performance as they restricted Sri Lanka to 125 off 35 overs before Sangakkara and Jayawardene stepped up the run-rate and helped their team score 118 in the last 15 overs.

Off-spinners Mohammad Hafeez and Ajmal, and Tanvir each took two wickets.

Sangakkara also added 55 runs for the second wicket with Tillakaratne Dilshan

(24) after opener Upul Tharanga (four) fell in the third over, caught by Younis Khan at second slip off Gul. Hafeez broke the second-wicket stand when he trapped Dilshan leg-before with his first delivery and then bowled Dinesh Chandimal (18) just before the rain stopped play. The five-match series is currently tied 1-1, with Pakistan having won the opening one-dayer by six wickets and Sri Lanka the second game by 76 runs in Pallekele.

The third match in Colombo was abandoned due to rain on Wednesday.

-AFP

Bell ton lifts England to 288 against West Indies Switzerland’s Roger Federer serves a ball to Mikhail Youzhny of Russia during their semi-final match of the ATP Gerry Weber Open tennis tournament in Halle, western Germany, on June 16, 2012. (AFP)

Olympics

India’s Saina Nehwal in Indonesia Open semis India’s Saina Nehwal returns a shot to China’s Wang Shixian during their women’s single quarterfinal badminton match at the Indonesian Open Superseries in Jakarta on June 15, 2012. (AFP)

11

JAKARTA: Two of China’s best women’s players tumbled out of the Indonesia Open Super-series quarter-finals on Friday, boosting the hopes of the rest of the field with the London Olympics six weeks away.

Indian star Saina Nehwal, the fifth seed in Jakarta, beat China’s third-seeded Wang Shixian 21-17, 21-23, 21-19 in a high-quality contest.

And South Korea’s unseeded Sung JiHyun went one better, defeating the second seed Wang Xin 21-16, 21-17, underlining the notion that while unbeatable at home, the Chinese women do not always travel well.

Nehwal and Sung face each other in the semifinals. -AFP

SOUTHAMPTON, United Kingdom: Ian Bell justified his elevation to the top of England’s batting order on Saturday when he overcame a possible fractured jaw to score his second one-day century as the hosts amassed 288 for seven after being asked to bat first in game one of the three-match series against West Indies in Southampton.

Bell struck 126 under cloudy skies at the Rose Bowl, equaling his career-best score, as England capitalized after West Indies captain Darren Sammy had won the toss and elected to field.

Bell was cleared to play in the match moments before the start. He had required 10 stitches to his face on Friday af-

ter being struck on the chin while batting in the nets. Captain Alastair Cook was caught behind in the opening over with England yet to get on the board but Bell and Jonathan Trott (42) combined for a 108-run second-wicket partnership to set the hosts on their way.

As well as Trott, wicket-keeper Craig Kieswetter made a solid contribution with an unbeaten 38 but the departure of Bell saw England lose some of its momentum before some late hitting from Stuart Broad (22) ensured England a more than competitive total.

All-rounder Marlon Samuels was the pick of the tourists’ bowlers, taking two wickets for 43 runs from nine overs while

Denesh Ramdin claimed four catches behind the stumps. Bell’s hundred was timely for him and England who are seeking a new opening partner for Cook following the limited-overs retirement of Kevin Pietersen. West Indies suffered a blow before the start of play when Chris Gayle’s return to international cricket was put on hold after he was ruled out with a foot injury. Gayle, 32, had been expected to play his first match for West Indies since last year’s World Cup after being unavailable due to a falling out with the West Indies cricket board.

“Hopefully he will take part in the remainder of the series,” Sammy told Sky Sports. -Reuters

England’s Ian Bell (right) prepares to hit the ball watched by West Indies’ Denesh Ramdin during their first one-day international cricket match at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton June 16, 2012. (Reuters)

SPORTS

Football Greece 1

VS

SUNDAY, june 17, 2012

Czech 1

Russia 0

Greece tops Russia 1-0, makes quarters at Euro

VS

Poland 0

Czechs beat Poland 1-0 to make quarterfinals WROCLAW, Poland: Petr Jiracek scored a second-half winner to give the Czech Republic a 1-0 victory over Poland on Saturday and a place in the quarterfinals of the European Championship.

Poland, the tournament co-host, was knocked out with its defeat in the team’s final Group A game. The Czechs won the group and will play the runners-up in Group B. Pushing forward in the 72nd minute, Jiracek collected a pass from Milan Baros in the box, cut right past Poland’s Marcin Wasilewski and slotted the ball inside the far post.

Poland, which had to win to advance, immediately brought on two attacking players in the last 30 minutes to push for a goal, but struggled to create any serious threats.

After the final whistle, the Czech players swarmed each other on the pitch. The Poles fell to the ground, covering their faces.

The Czechs pulled off the win despite playing without their captain and playmaker Tomas Rosicky, who was side-

lined with an Achilles tendon injury.

Without his creative skills the Czechs were listless in the first half, struggling to put together any fluid passing and reduced to knocking long balls forward. But as the Poles pushed forward in the second half in search of a goal to put them through to the quarterfinals, more space began to open up in midfield.

That space gave the Czechs the opportunity to strike on the counter, and the punishment came with Jiracek’s second goal of the tournament. He also opened the scoring in a 2-1 victory over Greece.

Poland responded well, though, and the final chances were all for the home team.

A cross from the right was deflected to the far post, where Marcin Wasilewski met the ball with a header that just cleared the crossbar. Minutes later, Jakub Blaszczykowski’s angled effort was cleared off the line by Michal Kadlec as the Czechs sealed their place in the last eight. – AP

Greece’s Giorgos Karagounis (3rd left) shoots past Russia’s goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeev (right) to score a goal during their Group A Euro 2012 soccer match at the National stadium in Warsaw, June 16, 2012. (Reuters)

WARSAW, Poland: Greece surged into the European Championship quarterfinals, defeating Russia 1-0 Saturday on a goal by Giorgos Karagounis just before halftime. Karagounis, making his team record-tying 120th international appearance, sent a low shot under goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeev with the final touch of the first half.

The Greeks, the 2004 European champions, then did what they do best: defend.

Even as the Greeks closed down in front of their net, Karagounis looked to have won a penalty kick when Sergei Ignashevich appeared to bring him down in the area. But Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson instead booked the Greece captain for a dive, meaning he will miss the quarterfinals. Russia, a semifinalist four years ago, was the overwhelming choice going into the match at the National Stadium, but it was again guilty of squandering chances.

The Russians became one of the tournament favorites with their 4-1 win over the Czech Republic in their opening match, then drew with Poland and finally lost to Greece, snapping a 16-match unbeaten run.

Russian players dejectedly tramped off the field immediately after the final whistle, while Greece’s eu-

phoric players hugged one another and then celebrated with their fans.

Giorgos Tzavelas nearly gave Greece a two-goal cushion when he curled a free kick over the Russian wall in the 70th minute, but saw the ball slam against the top of the goalpost.

Michalis Sifakis then ensured his team would advance when he saved a close-range shot by substitute Pavel Pogrebnyak in second-half injury time.

Russia came close several times in the first half. But even as the team laid siege to the Greek goal it was largely restricted to long-range efforts after the break as it went after the equalizer.

Russia forward Alan Dzagoyev came close in the 84th minute with a glancing header off a cross from Andrei Arshavin, but the ball drifted just wide.

Greece, knowing it needed a win to progress after a draw and a loss, started the match with a defensive setup aimed at stifling Russia’s passing game in the midfield. Russia only needed a draw to reach the quarterfinals.

As the minutes ticked off, Greek fans sang the national anthem and the Russians lit off flares before walking out of the stadium. – AP

Loew refuses to underestimate Denmark

Czech Republic’s Petr Jiracek scores by Poland goalkeeper Przemyslaw Tyton and Rafal Murawski during the Euro 2012 soccer championship Group A match between Czech Republic and Poland in Wroclaw, Poland, Saturday, June 16, 2012.

(AP)

Marchisio confident of Spain victory KRAKOW, Poland: Italy midfielder Claudio Marchisio said he is confident Spain will beat Croatia on Monday and help the Azzurri qualify for the quarterfinals.

Italy need to beat Ireland in Poznan in their last group game to stand any chance of making the knock-out stages but even then it will depend to a large extent on the result in Gdansk.

Spain and Croatia are level on points at the top of the group, two points above the Italians. If they draw and Italy win, all three teams will finish level on points and head-to-head records will decide who progresses.

Italy are particularly worried about the other two sides drawing because a score-draw of 2-2 or higher would ensure both Spain and Croatia emerging from the group and send Italy home early.

But Marchisio, 26, has faith in world

champions Spain’s ability to beat Croatia.

“We believe, we have to believe otherwise there wouldn’t even be any point in playing,” he said.

While a Spanish victory would allow Italy to take second place in the group, so too would a Croatian success and Marchisio admits that too is a possibility, although he says it is hard to look beyond the holders.

“Croatia are a very good team but I think Spain are the favorites in that match,” said the Juventus star.

“They’re clearly better, even though Croatia have quality in midfield with Luka Modric and hard-working forwards.”

Although Italy seem more interested in events between Spain and Croatia, they still have their own game to win.

Coach Cesare Prandelli has said he will make three or four personnel changes dependent on who has got the most ener-

gy. Marchisio says that whoever plays, as long as they play the way they did in the first half against Croatia, they will be fine.

“Notwithstanding the changes, we have to try to do what we did in the first half against Croatia, that was the real Italy,” he said.

“We have to do that for the whole 90 minutes without thinking about what is happening in the other game.

“It’s true against Croatia we missed an opportunity but it’s not up to us to decide what to change.

“We’ll talk about it with the coach and our team-mates. It’s normal that when you give a lot there can be a dip in tempo.

“And that is when you need greater balance to overcome your tiredness.

“Croatia were struggling in the first half but in the second it was us who were under pressure because we were too spaced apart.” -AFP

Nigeria defeat Rwanda to make next round

Germany’s national soccer coach Joachim Loew (left) talks to Philipp Lahm at a training session during the Euro 2012 at Ukraina Stadium in Lviv June 16, 2012.

(Reuters)

LVIV: Germany coach Joachim Loew has insisted there will be no underestimating Denmark on Sunday as the Germans look to down the Danes and ensure they reach the Euro 2012 last eight as Group B winners. Germany need a point against Denmark at Arena Lviv to finish top and qualify for next Friday’s quarter-final in Gdansk, their Euro 2012 base, against the Group A runner-up.

After defeat to Portugal, but a shock win over Holland, Morten Olsen’s Denmark can still make the knock-out phase and a draw would be good enough if Portugal lose to Holland in Kharkiv in the other Group B match.

“We will not underestimate them,” said Loew in Saturday’s press conference.

“We have not qualified yet and need at least one point. It will be a tight match.

“Denmark also have hopes of reaching the last eight, we always knew they would be a threat as they’re compact and very dangerous on the counterattack.”

Twenty years after beating Germany to win the 1992 European Championship final in Sweden, Den-

mark have not lost in their last three matches against Germany with the last German victory back in 1996.

Olsen, who has been in charge since 2000, has yet to taste defeat against Germany after two wins and a draw. The last meeting was in August 2010, when Denmark came back from 2-0 down to seal a 2-2 friendly draw. “It is a surprise that Morten Olsen has never lost against Germany,” said Loew.

“We want to make sure we change that statistic.”

With right-back Jerome Boateng suspended, Loew has said he will bring in either Bayer Leverkusen’s Lars Bender or Schalke’s Benedikt Hoewedes on the right side of defense.

Loew has also said he will not make changes to his team to rest players with an eye on the quarter-finals.

Arsenal-bound striker Lukas Podolski is set to win his 100th cap as he looks to add to his tally of 43 goals.

“Lukas Podolski has always been there for us, he is always very fit and he scored lots of goals for us in qualifying,” said Loew. “To be approaching 100 caps at 27 is really great.” -AFP

CALABAR, Nigeria: Nigeria advanced to the next round of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations after they defeated Rwanda 2-0 on aggregate Saturday.

The Super Eagles, who had drawn 0-0 in Kigali in the first leg in February, will move into the final round of qualifying in September and October for a place in the tournament proper early next year in South Africa.

Spain-based striker Ike Uche opened scoring for Nigeria after nine minutes when he fired home from inside the box.

CSKA Moscow winger Ahmed Musa doubled Nigeria’s advantage on 56 minutes after he was set up on the edge of the 18-yard box by Enyimba striker Uche Kalu.

Rwanda goalkeeper Jean Claude Ndori pulled off a couple of saves as Nigeria tried to increase their lead with defender Eric Gasana also outstanding for the visitors.

Rwanda’s best chance came in the 81st minute when striker Meddie Kagere’s header from inside the box beat Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama only to crash against the crossbar. - AFP

Nigerian attacker Kalu Uche (center) tries to beat Rwandan defenders during the 2013 African Cup of Nations qualification match between the two countries in Calabar on June 16, 2012. (AFP)