June 19, 2012 by Al Watan Daily

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

@alwatandaily

Issue No. 1466

12 PAGES

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150 Fils with IHT

Amir suspends Parliament for one month

Staff Writers and Agencies

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Sabah issued a decree on Monday to suspend parliament for one month in an apparent bid to defuse tensions between the government and MPs. The decision was based on an article in the constitution that allows the ruler to suspend parliamentary proceedings for a maximum of a month, said an official statement cited by state media. Earlier on Monday, the cabinet approved a draft decree recommending to the Amir that he enforce the suspension, which is effective from Monday. The decision was taken because of the “need to prepare the political scene to achieve the desired cooperation between the executive power and the legislature,” said a cabinet statement. Tensions have increased between the oppositioncontrolled parliament, elected just over four months ago, and the government controlled by the ruling family. Opposition MPs have repeatedly accused some government members of wide-ranging irregularities, forcing two cabinet ministers to quit since the opposition scored an impressive victory in February snap polls. Finance Minister Mustafa Al-Shamali resigned last month following a marathon grilling in parliament by opposition lawmakers who accused him of squandering public funds and committing irregularities. And minister of social affairs and labor Ahmad Al-Rujaib quit last

week after MPs filed to quiz him over allegations of irregularities. Opposition MPs acknowledged the Amir’s constitutional right to take the decision, but warned of attempts by certain quarters to push for dissolving the parliament. Only the Amir has the right to dissolve parliament. Prominent opposition MP Mussallam Al-Barrak said suspending parliament in this way is an “absolute right of the Amir.” He said the suspension has got nothing to do with MPs, but it appears that “the (reshuffle) of the cabinet is going through a crisis.” “There are influential sides pushing for dissolving parliament and I tell them that their problem is not with parliament but with the people who elected the MPs,” opposition Islamist lawmaker Jamaan Al-Harbash said. Opposition MP Bader Al-Dahoum also spoke of an attempt to dissolve parliament, and warned that “the opposition will mobilize its supporters” on the streets. Unprecedented youth-led street protests last year forced then Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah to stand down in November. Parliament was dissolved a week later and snap polls took place on Feb. 2. Pro-government MP Nabeel Al-Fadl said the suspension was taken because the “opposition has continuously blackmailed the government... and hijacked parliament.” Informed sources have reported that the move is intended to send a warning that all options are on the table,

Cabinet launches probe into Dow Chemical dispute

KUWAIT: The Cabinet approved Monday the line-up of an ad hoc committee, proposed by His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, to probe the repercussions of recent International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce ruling against Kuwait in favor of US Dow Chemical. It pointed out that the four-member committee, headed by Dr. Adnan Ahmad Shehabeddine, will investigate all aspects of the joint venture from the start to the end, especially the clause imposing the huge cost of the compensation on the oil-rich emirate. The International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce has ordered Kuwait to pay 2.16 billion US dollars in compensation to US Dow Chemical over the breakdown of a planned joint venture between the two companies in 2008. The committee will review the negotiations, deal signing stages, and the legal procedures taken during the arbitration to establish why Kuwait lost the case, the cabinet statement added. It will study legal and practical ways to deal with the ruling with the aim at minimizing losses and damages. In December 2008, the Kuwaiti government scrapped a $17.4-billion deal between Kuwait’s state-owned Petrochemicals Industries Company (PIC) and Dow to create a petrochemicals joint venture due to pressure from opposition More on 2 MPs citing the global financial crisis.

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood claims lead in polls

Supporters of Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Mursi, wave national ﬂags as they celebrate in Cairo’s Tahrir square on June 18, 2012 as Islamists claimed victory in Egypt’s ﬁrst free presidential vote since its uprising. (AFP)

CAIRO: Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Mursi claimed victory on Monday in Egypt’s divisive race for the top job, as a military power grab overshadowed the country’s first post-Mubarak presidential election. Two generals from the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF), however, reiterated that the ruling body will transfer power to the new president by June 30 and insisted that he will enjoy full presidential powers. The Islamists’ rival Ahmed Shafiq, a former air force chief and ex-prime minister to ousted president Hosni Mubarak, disputed the Brotherhood’s victory announcement, labeling it “bizarre behavior.” State television also reported that initial counts showed Mursi ahead, however. There were scenes of jubilation at Mursi’s Cairo headquarters, where the candidate himself thanked Egyptians for their votes in brief remarks after the Brotherhood said he had secured 52 percent of the ballots cast. Mursi pledged to work “hand-in-hand with all Egyptians for a better future, freedom, democracy, development and peace.” “We are not seeking vengeance or to settle accounts,” he said, adding that he would build a “modern, democratic state” for all Egyptians, Muslims and Christians alike. Egypt’s ruling military pledged again on Monday to hand power to the winner of this weekend’s election by June 30 and said he would enjoy full presidential powers. The military council will transfer power to the new president, who will swear his oath before the constitutional court, by “June 30, this month,” one of the ruling generals, Mamduh Shahin, said at a news conference. Shahin and fellow ruling council member General Mohammed Al-Assar had called the press conference to respond to criticisms after the military dissolved parliament and took over legislative power with a new interim constitution. More on 3

and noted that although the announcement was made yesterday, the decision was taken some time ago. The source backed up this conclusion with the fact that the Interior Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Humoud Al-Sabah has been overseas on vacation even though he is facing a motion for questioning. After the announcement, MPs have converged on the office of the National Assembly Speaker Ahmad AlSaadoun, with some reportedly expressing fears that the decree might be a prelude toward the dissolution of Parliament. Numerous political blocs have decided to convene to discuss the decree and to keep track of political developments. MP Ali Al-Omair, for his part, called on the executive and legislative authorities to draw lessons from the decision to suspend parliamentary sessions for a month, while questioning the failure of some MPs to fulfill their promises. In the same vein, MP Shaya Al-Shaya voiced optimism that the move would defuse tensions between the government and Parliament, whereas MP Adnan Al-Mutawa affirmed that the enforcement of Article 106 of the Constitution is an absolute prerogative for His Highness the Amir. Moreover, MP Mohammad Al-Juwaihel conducted a rehearsal for the interpellation of the interior minister on Monday at the Parliament’s Chamber before a decree was announced to suspend Parliament’s proceedings.

Minister stresses need for legislation to control use of social networks

Greece’s New Democracy seeks bailout coalition

ATHENS: Greece’s conservative leader began talks to form a government on Monday after winning an election that sets him the task of imposing punishing austerity measures in a near-bankrupt economy while containing rising social tensions. New Democracy conservative leader Antonis Samaras was due to meet Evangelos Venizelos, the head of the Socialist PASOK party, at 11:00 a.m. EDT after he received a mandate to form a government from the president. The once-mighty PASOK, now reduced to third place after the dramatic rise of the radical leftist anti-bailout party SYRIZA, said it would support Samaras but had not yet decided whether to join

the government or just offer parliamentary backing. Samaras’s narrow defeat of SYRIZA caused relief across the euro zone, where countries had said Greece’s future in the single currency depended on its meeting conditions attached to a bailout, which SYRIZA had vowed to tear up. If SYRIZA had won - and claimed the 50 extra seats in parliament for the party that placed first - it would have been impossible to form a government supporting the bailout. European leaders viewed Samaras’s victory as an aversion of catastrophe. But any relief in financial markets vanished within hours as a rally on MonMore on 5 day quickly reversed.

Last chance to stop sub-Sahara food crisis, says EU

CAPITALS: As many as 18 million people are being hit by a growing food emergency in the Sahel region of Africa, international donors and campaigners said on Monday, calling for urgent action to prevent mass hunger in the vast area south of the Sahara desert. Leaders from Sahel countries and donors such as the European Union and the United States Agency for International Development met in anticipation of the region’s “hunger season”, worsened by the failure of last year’s rains across the Sahel belt. They pledged 940 million euros (1.2 billion US dollars) to resolve the immediate emergency, and said they plan to increase resilience to future crises. EU Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva said the meeting created the momentum to double aid commitments to deal with the current crisis. In addition to food shortages, the Sahel faces increased security risks after a rebel takeover in northern Mali emboldened regional militants. The European Commission pledged 40 million euros ($50.5 million) of additional humanitarian aid to the region, bringing the total from the 27-member bloc to 337 million euros, some of which would help provide food and shelter to 400,000 people displaced by the Mali conflict. Regional forces have caused problems in transporting aid, as well as the strain refugees place on surrounding communities. -Reuters

Croatia 0

Spain 1

Italy 2

Ireland 0

MORE ON 12

Today’s Matches:

England vs Ukraine & Sweden vs France

Salman, Saudi Arabia’s new crown prince

RIYADH: Saudi defense minister Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz, who was named heir to the throne on Monday, has a reputation for probity and is a respected arbiter among the ruling family. King Abdullah also appointed Salman as deputy prime minister while keeping him on as defence minister. His full brother Nayef died on Saturday at the age of 79 in Switzerland, just eight months after himself becoming heir apparent after the death of his brother crown prince Sultan at the age of 86. Salman, 76, was considered close to Sultan, whom he accompanied on his trips abroad for medical treatment.The new crown prince became defense minister in October following Sultan’s death, in what was the first ministerial post for Salman who had been the governor of Riyadh for more than 50 years. Until last year he remained at the helm of the capital, winning credit for its development into a modern city. Eleanor Gillespie, a contributing editor of the

London-based Gulf States Newsletter, said that Salman’s job as Riyadh governor has “allowed him to serve as a generally very well respected arbiter of Al-Saud family affairs, as well as overseeing the city’s emergence as Saudi Arabia’s capital.” “Salman has a reputation for probity and for being ‘clean’ when it comes to money,” says Gillespie. Jane Kinninmont, a Middle East and North Africa senior research fellow from London’s Chatham House, said “the new crown prince may adopt a more reformist approach but with the constraints and red lines of the system... But don’t expect change to come quickly or dramatically.” “He will have an opportunity to take a more constructive approach towards addressing the root causes of unrest in the Eastern province, which Prince Nayef always dismissed as the result of Iranian meddling rather than the symptom of local grievances,” she said. -AFP

Syrian forces bombard rebels despite UN warning

Aboriginal rock art is 28,000 years old

PARIS: Aboriginal rock art found in remote Australia has been dated at 28,000 years old, experts said Monday, prompting new speculation that indigenous communities were among the world’s most advanced. Archaeologists picked up the fragment in inaccessible wilderness in Arnhem Land in the country’s north a year ago, and recent carbon dating of its charcoal drawing has placed it among some of the oldest art on the planet. “One of the things that makes this little fragment of art unique is that it is drawn in charcoal... which means we could directly date it,” said Bryce Barker, who found and first analyzed the granite rock. Barker said given it was one of the oldest known pieces of rock art on earth, it showed that Aboriginal people were responsible for some of the earliest examples.

Barker said the find ranks among rock art sites such as France’s Chauvet caves dated at older than 30,000 years and caves in northern Spain now thought to be 40,000 years old. “The fact remains that any rock art that is older than 20,000 years is very unique around the world,” said Barker, a professor at the University of Southern Queensland. “So it makes this amongst some of the oldest art in the world. “And we’re convinced that we’ll find older and the reason is that the site this comes from, we know that Aboriginal people started using this site 45,000 years ago.” The find was made at a massive rock shelter named Narwala Gabarnmang, which is covered on its ceiling and pillars with rock art, and only accessible by a 90 minute helicopter journey from the outback More on 8 town of Katherine.

Vatican official blames media, the devil for scandal

VATICAN CITY: The Vatican’s number 2 accused the media on Monday of trying “to imitate Dan Brown” in their coverage of the VatiLeaks scandal and said the Roman Catholic Church’s latest travails were part of the Devil’s attempt to destabilise it. The interview with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who ranks second only to Pope Benedict in the Vatican’s hierarchy, was the latest attempt at damage control by senior Vatican officials since the leaks scandal began in January. In a rare interview with the Italian Catholic magazine Famiglia Cristiana, Bertone, the Vatican’s secretary of state, accused the media of “intentionally ignoring” the good things the Church does while dwelling on scandals. “Many jour-

Nigeria religious riots kill at least 52

nalists are playing the game of trying to imitate Dan Brown,” said Bertone, referring to the best-selling author of novels such as “The Da Vinci Code” and “Angels and Demons”. “They (journalists) continue to invent fairytales and repeat legends,” he said. The scandal involves the leak of sensitive documents, including letters written to Pope Benedict whose butler, Paolo Gabriel, was arrested last month after a large number of stolen documents were found in his home. Bertone said the media were full of “pettiness and lies spread in these days,” adding that “outside Italy people have a hard time trying to understand the vehemence of some Italian More on 9 newspapers”.

A woman holds a sign reading “Gbagbo: Son of the Virgin Mary” as Ivorians protest in the Hague, Netherlands, against the detention of former strongman and Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo, on June 18, 2012. Over a thousand expatriate Ivorians took part in the protest. (AFP)

ALWATAN DAILY

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Cabinet launches probe committee into dispute with Dow Chemical KUWAIT: The Cabinet approved Monday the line-up of an ad hoc committee, proposed by His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, to probe the repercussions of recent International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce ruling against Kuwait in favor of US Dow Chemical. It pointed out that the four-member committee, headed by Dr. Adnan Ahmad Shehabeddine, will investigate all aspects of the joint venture from the start to the end, especially the clause imposing the huge cost of the compensation on the oil-rich emirate. The International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce has ordered Kuwait to pay 2.16 billion US dollars in compensation to US Dow Chemical over the breakdown of a planned joint venture between the two companies in 2008. The committee will review the negotiations, deal signing stages, and the legal procedures taken during the arbitration to establish why Kuwait lost the case, the cabinet statement added. It will study legal and practical ways to deal with the ruling with the aim at minimizing losses and damages. In December 2008, the Kuwaiti government scrapped a $17.4-billion deal between Kuwait’s

state-owned Petrochemicals Industries Company (PIC) and Dow to create a petrochemicals joint venture due to pressure from opposition MPs citing the global financial crisis. Under the deal, PIC was to pay $7.5 billion to form a petrochemicals firm known as K-Dow in which the two companies would have equal stakes. Meanwhile, His Highness the Premier Minister voiced condolences to the Saudi royal family and people on the passing of their crown prince, deputy premier, and minister of interior Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. He added that the demise of Prince Nayef is a great loss for Saudi Arabia and Arab and Muslim nations. His Highness Sheikh Jaber recalled the role played by the late prince in retaining security and stability in the Gulf region and his resounding success in the fight against terrorism. Earlier, the Cabinet reviewed the messages sent to His Highness the Amir by the leaders of Morocco, Liberia, Bulgaria and Comoros Islands as well as the messages received by His Highness the Premier from his Spanish counterpart. The messages focused on bilateral relations and means to bolster cooperation in all domains. The Cabinet also mulled the latest developments in the Arab and international arenas. -KUNA

His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah heading the Cabinet meeting Monday June 18, 2012. (KUNA)

Amir back home from Saudi Arabia KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah and his accompanying delegation have returned home from Saudi Arabia where he offered condolence to the Saudi leadership over the demise of Saudi Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud. His Highness the Amir was received at Kuwait International Airport by His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, National Assembly Speaker Ahmad Al-Sadoun and His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah. Furthermore, His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah visited the Saudi embassy Monday morning accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Hamad Al-Sabah and relayed their condolences and like sentiments of the Kuwaiti people to the Saud family and Saudi people on the passing of crown prince, deputy premier, and minister of interior Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. The officials wrote words of empathy in the guests’ log assigned for this purpose and recalled the late figure’s great achievements and service to his Arab and Muslim Ummah, and expressed condolences to the Saudi Ambassador in Kuwait Dr. Abdulaziz bin Ibrahim Al-Fayez and embassy staff. -KUNA

Minister stresses need for legislation to control use of social networks Mervat Abduldayem Staff Writer

His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (center) with his accompanying delegation after returned home from Saudi Arabia Monday, June 18, 2012. (KUNA)

Approved employment grading backdated April 1: Assistant Undersecretary Mervat Abduldayem Staff Writer

KUWAIT: The Ministry of Public Works Assistant Undersecretary for Administrative and Financial Hamad Ali Al-Ghareeb said that the increment was approved by the Civil Service Bureau lately 8/2012 regarding the incentives for Kuwaiti employees which constitutes 25 percent of the basic salary. It also approved the 50 Kuwaiti dinars for non-Kuwaitis which will be available in their bank accounts starting Tuesday this month of July and will be backdated April 1. Speaking to Al Watan, Al-Ghareeb said that all employment grading approved by the Civil Service Bureau for the accountants, legal practitioners, clerks in Accountant and Legal Practi-

tioners Department will be paid. It will also pay employment grading IT university degree as well as those with degrees in Chemistry, Physics, Biology and Geology. “Paying allowances for supervisory jobs will be backdated April 1 according to the decision. This new increment will be in the employees’ bank account by Wednesday. This is with the exception of employment grading list which have not been approved by the Civil Service Bureau such as administrative management, media, economy, labs and translation work,” he explained. He went on to add that the ministry regards decisions approved and taken by the Civil Service Bureau and is very keen to implement all decisions and especially in terms of financial and allowances rights.

Special course for preparing instructors in human trafficking field begins Ricky Laxa Staff Writer

KUWAIT: International Organization for Migration (IOM) held an event under the title “Training of Trainers to Combat Human Trafficking and Smuggling of people” on Monday. Head of Kuwait IOM Eman Younis unveiled that a new training course is launched in cooperation with the ministry of interior. The course aims at training national instructors on human trafficking and how to fight both human trafficking and the smuggling of people. The course will last for two weeks starting from today (Tuesday) till the end of the next week. During the course a team of national instructors will be trained and prepared well regarding the sensitive issue of human trafficking in which a number of countries suffer from. IOM and the interior ministry show interest in such course although Kuwait doesn’t suffer from human trafficking cases however, some citizens and expatriates might abuse certain items such as residency to achieve personal gains and profits. Those residency dealers exploit the need of expatriates for obtaining residency in order to make money but such step contributes effectively in distorting the reputation of Kuwait. The course also aims at stopping the abuse of do-

mestic helpers especially those who cannot receive their salaries on time as well as forcing them to work for a long time and disrespecting them. Such practices can be considered as part of human trafficking therefore the interior ministry is highly interested in training courses and forming a national team to follow up human trafficking cases. The ministry also invited relevant authorities in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) to attend the course as well. The course will focus on various subjects including; the international definition of human trafficking, the role of the IOM in fighting human trafficking, the values in enhancing fighting human trafficking, indentifying the victims of human trafficking, prior procedures for investigation, collecting evidences to discover human traffickers, national and international cooperation in the field, protecting the victims of human trafficking and helping them, and preparing instructors well to fight human trafficking. The persons attending the course are also expected to prepare their own researches and lectures about human trafficking. However, famous international instructors will train instructors during the course wherein IOM and the interior ministry expect instructors to benefit from the course and be qualified instructors to conduct further training courses in the near future.

KUWAIT: Minister of Information Sheikh Mohammad Al-Abdullah stressed the need for legislations which controls the use of social websites. He said that Britain, which exported democracy to all countries of the world, had earlier enacted a law which allows the government to shut down social websites or a specific website whenever it wants. In a press statement made following a forum held by the Department of Management of Gulf Media under the theme “Our youths and new media... protection and prevention”, at the Ministry of Information, the minister said that the Kuwaiti government seeks to enact legislations which monitor the social websites. He added that such an issue requires preparing the laws and sending them to parliament for approval. He added that the Ministry of Information and the Ministry of Communication as well as concerned bodies are drafting laws which can enable the technical bodies to organize this issue. Al-Abdullah refused to answer a question on government reshuffle saying that the question should be directed to the one who has the answer.

Regarding the new Media Law in Qatar, the minister said, “We hope that we can benefit from the experiences of friendly countries, especially since the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Joint Production Foundation discussed cooperation among GCC countries and benefiting from experiences, mainly concerning the organization of social websites”. Asked about his opinion about the relation between the Parliament and the government, Al-Abdullah said that the relation between the two authorities is developing toward more stability and prosperity. Al-Abdullah said that the number of Facebook users in the world was 100 million users in 2008 but reached 900 million users in last March. For his part, Foreign Media Researcher at the Ministry of Information Mohammad Al-Dousari said that social websites have become influential. He explained that conventional media used to depend on power and was usually directed by certain institutions but social websites need speed more than power. Al-Dousari said that social websites have negative effects on social connections as people who use the websites do not tend to meet the other party as long as they are connected and chatting through the web.

Kuwaiti, Slovak MPs conclude “fruitful talks” in Bratislava: Al-Harbash BRATISLAVA: Visiting Kuwaiti Member of Parliament (MP) Dr. Jamaan Al-Harbash commended on Sunday the results of the meeting of the Kuwait-Slovakia parliamentary friendship committee held over the last three days. “We’ve held successful talks with Slovak MPs and senior officials during this visit and the previous one,” Al-Har-

bash who led the Kuwaiti delegation to the meeting told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) before leaving for home. “Our visit aimed to demonstrate the desire of the Kuwaiti National Assembly to cement the parliamentary ties with Slovakia and coordinate stances on of the two countries on international issues of common concern,” Al-Harbash

pointed out. “The talks focused on how to advance the bilateral agreements notably in the areas of air transport, preventing of double taxation and cultural exchanges,” he added. Kuwait is the first Arab Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) country to have an embassy in the landlocked Central Europe state. -KUNA

Sheikha Amthal arrives in Brazil for Rio+20 conference

RIO DE JANEIRO: Chairperson of Kuwait’s Volunteer Center Sheikha Amthal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and her accompanying delegation arrived in Rio de Janeiro Sunday evening representing the State of Kuwait at the United

Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Conference, Rio+20. Sheikha Amthal was received upon her arrival by the Kuwait Ambassador to Brazil Yousif Ahmad Abdulsamad, acting chief of protocol at Brazil’s Foreign Min-

istry Fernando Igreja and head of the mission of honor accompanying the head of the Kuwaiti delegation. Sheikha Amthal was also received by Kuwait embassy staff Musaed Al-Dhubeebi and Ahmad Al-Askari. -KUNA

Chairperson of Kuwait’s Volunteer Center Sheikha Amthal Al-Sabah and her accompanying delegation Monday, June 18, 2012. (KUNA)

ALWATAN DAILY

WORLD

tuesdAY, June 19, 2012

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood claims lead in polls

Iran, world powers clash at tense nuclear talks

MOSCOW: Iran and world powers on Monday locked horns in hours of tense talks in Moscow seeking a diplomatic solution to the crisis over Tehran’s nuclear program with no breakthrough in sight. At talks billed as a last chance to find hope of a negotiated solution to the decade-long standoff, the West was looking for signs that Iran could show willingness to scale down the intensity of its uranium enrichment activities. But a member of the Iranian delegation gave a downbeat assessment well into the second session in the afternoon. “So far the atmosphere is not positive,” he said, adding: “Setting up the framework (for negotiation) is the main problem.” Chief Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili was meeting with envoys from six world powers including Tehran’s arch-foe the United States as well as EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton for two days of talks. But the Iranian diplomat said that based on the morning’s talks “it is possible” that the second day would not even be required, without elaborating. Jalili had gone into the talks in uncompromising mood, telling Iranian state television: “These negotiations are a Supporters of Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Mursi (portraits) celebrate in Cairo’s Tahrir square on June 18, 2012 as Islamists claimed victory in Egypt’s first free presidential vote since its uprising. (AFP)

build a “modern, democratic state” for all Egyptians, Muslims and Christians alike. Egypt’s ruling military pledged again on Monday to hand power to the winner of this weekend’s election by June 30 and said he would enjoy full presidential powers. The military council will transfer power to the new president, who will swear his oath before the constitutional court, by “June 30, this month,” one of the ruling generals, Mamduh Shahin, said at a news conference. Shahin and fellow ruling council member General Mohammed Al-Assar had called the press conference to respond to criticisms after the military dissolved parliament and took over legislative power with a new interim constitution. “The elected president of the republic will be vested with all the powers given to the president,” Al-Assar said, amid a furor from activists and the powerful Muslim Brotherhood over what they describe as a military coup. Egypt’s presidential election committee is still compiling results from polling stations and will announce the winner of the country’s first real presidential vote on Thursday, a senior member of the body told Reuters on Monday.

“We have nothing to do with the results being circulated,” Judge Maher El-Beheiry said. He said the committee was awaiting results from polling stations, where he said counting may still be going on. “We will compile the results we receive and look into appeals and in principle we will announce results on Thursday.” Meanwhile, the campaign of Egyptian presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq on Monday angrily dismissed claims of victory by his rival Mohammed Mursi, accusing the Muslim Brotherhood candidate of using false figures. “It’s a stolen victory because you can’t claim to have won a presidential election while the polling stations are still closing,” Shafiq’s campaign manager Ahmed Sarhan told reporters. “It’s an act of piracy to claim victory using totally false figures,” he said. “It’s a false victory,” added Sarhan, saying that preliminary results obtained by the campaign showed Shafiq “still ahead in the vote, with between 51 and 52 percent.” “To our mind, Mursi made this quick announcement so as to be able to claim fraud once the official presidential results are announced,” he added. -Agencies

Syrian forces bombard rebels despite UN warning DAMASCUS: Syrian government forces on Monday shelled rebel bastions in Homs and Damascus, despite opposition pleas for help and a UN warning that such bombardments amounted to crimes against humanity. At least 40 people were reportedly killed in the latest violence a day before Major General Robert Mood briefs the United Nations Security Council following the suspension of his UN observer mission in Syria. On the diplomatic front, US President Barack Obama is due to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin later Monday at a G20 summit to discuss differences over what to do about the bloody conflict. And France said that, after Mood’s briefing, it and other members of the Security Council would examine steps to take in the wake of the suspension of the United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria, or UNSMIS. Home to several rebel strongholds, the central city of Homs has been under intermittent attack by the regime ever since Baba Amr district was pounded relentlessly for a month before being retaken by government forces in March. “Shelling and shooting renewed in Homs city, with explosions heard in the Khaldiyeh neighborhood,” said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which put Monday’s death toll across the country at 40 people. In the southern province of Deraa, considered the cradle of a revolt against President Bashar al-Assad’s rule that erupted in March 2011, the town of Tafas was under siege and shelling by regime troops, according to the Free Syrian Army. “The regular army was able to break

into the town from the southern entrance, where they launched a campaign of raids, but did not penetrate the whole town,” said FSA spokesman Louay Rashdan. “The FSA fighters are still resisting,” Rashdan said, noting that young men from Daraa and Dael came to aid the Tafas fighters in fierce clashes with regime troops. UN rights chief Navi Pillay on Monday demanded the immediate cessation of such bombardments of populated areas, warning that such violence amounted to crimes against humanity. “The government of Syria should immediately cease the use of heavy armaments and shelling of populated areas, as such actions amount to crimes against humanity and possible war crimes,” she told the Human Rights Council in Geneva. Pillay also called for a probe into an attack on a UN convoy a week ago in the town of Al-Haffe in the northwestern province of Latakia. She said those responsible for such attacks on UN observers must be brought to justice. The Observatory said on Monday that seven people, including two rebel commanders, were killed in an explosion in Mohassan town in the eastern province of Deir El-Zor. It said clashes and shelling continued through the night in several areas of Damascus province, including the towns of Douma and Qudsaya which have been under regime bombardment for the past five days. Speaking to AFP via Skype, an antiregime activist who identified himself as Mahmoud Doumani said that there was much “destruction in Douma” and that the “situation is very sad.”

“The army has escalated its operations in Douma in recent days,” Doumani said, adding that families who have not fled the town are in hiding. “Regime forces have destroyed homes, farms and many mosques over the past week. But in the past couple of days, in the absence of the UN monitors, attacks on Douma have become even worse than before.” The UN observers were severely restricted in their movements, Doumani said, “but at least there was some kind of plan. Now the Syrian army is operating without any obstacles whatsoever. This is very dangerous for us.” UNSMIS on Saturday suspended its operations two months into its threemonth mandate, blaming the intensifying violence threatening its 300-strong force. And on Tuesday, General Mood urged the warring parties to “allow women, children, the elderly and the injured to leave conflict zones, without any preconditions and ensure their safety.” Main opposition group the Syrian National Council on Sunday urged the United Nations to pressure the Syrian regime using Chapter VII of the UN charter, which allows measures to be imposed on a country under penalty of sanctions or force. The opposition specifically demanded that observers tasked with monitoring a UN-backed ceasefire - that has been flouted daily since going into effect on April 12 - be armed. Meanwhile, Russia said it is preparing to send two amphibious assault ships to the Syrian port of Tartus where Moscow has a strategic naval base to ensure the safety of its citizens, Interfax news agency reported. -AFP

Suicide bomber kills south Yemen army chief

ADEN: The commander of military forces in the south of Yemen was killed by a suicide bomber in the port city of Aden on Monday, days after troops drove Islamist militants linked to Al-Qaeda from their southern strongholds. The killing of Major General Salem Ali Qatan highlighted the tenuous grip of Yemen’s central authorities on the south despite a month of US-supported bombardments and airstrikes aimed at crushing the militants. The Defense Ministry said a suicide bomber hurled himself at Qatan’s vehicle, also killing two soldiers escorting him. It identified the bomber as a Somali but gave no other details. Pools of blood coated the street where the bomber struck. A doctor at the hospital where Qatan died said 12 other people, nine of them soldiers, were wounded in the attack in Aden, a port city overlooking oil shipping lanes fewer than 100 km (60 miles) from several cities which Islamists flying Al-Qaeda’s banner recently controlled. Most of that territory is in Abyan province, where fighters calling themselves Ansar Al-Sharia seized towns last year, taking advantage of protests against the three-decade rule of then leader Ali Abdullah Saleh. Saleh, who gave way to his deputy in February under a US and Saudi-brokered power transfer, had redeployed some of his forces from the south in a bid to put down protests, ultimately killing hundreds of

demonstrators. Abyan has been the focus of a month-old offensive Yemen’s army mounted with support from the United States, which wages its own campaign of drone and missile strikes against alleged Al-Qaeda members. Washington is increasingly concerned about the militant presence in Yemen and has backed the military with training, intelligence, and increased aid although the Pentagon has declined to give details of the scale of the assistance. The Yemeni military last week said it had driven Islamist fighters from territory they had held for over a year, including Zinjibar, capital of Abyan province, and another city, Jaar. It is now attacking Islamists in another southern province, Shabwa, to where fighters who quit towns in Abyan have fled. Provincial officials said two soldiers were killed in an ambush on Monday in Ataq, by fighters trying to reach the town of Azzan, where Islamists retain a presence. Qatan was a central figure in plans to restructure Yemen’s military, which split into warring factions during the struggle of over Saleh’s fate. His appointment to the southern command was the first move by President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi against the former president’s loyalists in the army. An official in Hadi’s office called Qatan’s killing “a great loss for Yemen and the war on terrorism.” -Reuters

big test to see if the West is in favor of Iran’s progress or against.” The EU delegation spokesman told reporters that world powers were sticking by a previous demand for Iran to halt enriching uranium to 20 percent - a level approaching that needed to make an atomic bomb. Failure of the talks could have heavy repercussions, with the United States and its ally Israel refusing to rule out the option of airstrikes against the Iranian nuclear program and Tehran facing sanctions that could cripple the economy. But Iran made clear ahead of the negotiations that it has no intention of abandoning its right to enrich uranium, a process that can be used to make nuclear fuel but also the explosive core of an atomic bomb. “If this demand isn’t recognized, the negotiations are certainly headed for failure,” an unidentified Iranian official at the talks said, according to state news agency IRNA. Without referring specifically to the talks, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said: “The enemy must know that arrogance and misplaced expectations will lead nowhere against a people who have learned the resistance of the Quran.” -AFP

Protesters, Sudan police clash over spending cuts KHARTOUM: Anti-regime protesters clashed with police in Sudan’s capital on Monday, witnesses said, as President Omar Al-Bashir announced a raft of austerity measures aimed at propping up the country’s ailing finances. Speaking in parliament, Al-Bashir said the government had decided to raise taxation and remove fuel subsidies “step by step,” as well as axing hundreds of positions in the federal and state governments and cutting officials’ salaries. As he was speaking, an AFP reporter saw student protesters outside the University of Khartoum hurling stones at riot police, who fired tear gas to disperse demonstrations scattered around the campus. It was the third time in as many days that protests have been held outside the university next to the Blue Nile river in the centre of the capital, with students chanting anti-regime slogans and denouncing a sharp rise in food prices. Across the river, in Khartoum north, eyewitnesses said a crowd gathered in the street also shouted anti-regime slogans including: “We will not be ruled by a dictator,” and “Khartoum, rise up! Rise up!” as well as burning tyres. Riot police then arrived and beat some protesters with batons. Sudan’s economy is reeling, hit by soaring inflation and a rapidly depreciating currency, with the government scrambling to compensate for the heavy loss of oil revenues after

the secession of the South last July. The government has for weeks been mulling the decision to scrap fuel subsidies which it can no longer afford. Al-Bashir in his speech acknowledged that the move would affect Sudanese citizens, “especially the poor,” but he said the cost-cutting measures were necessary. “We have a gap between our income and our expenses, and we are trying to bridge this gap,” he said. “We have decided to increase taxation and to cut 100 positions in the federal government and 200 positions in the state governments. And we are going to remove fuel subsidies step by step,” he added. Finance Minister Ali Mahmud Al-Rasul will give the details of the latest austerity measures when he announces a new budget in parliament on Wednesday, Al-Bashir said. Pro-democracy group Sudan Change Now accused the government of “heinous crimes,” saying riot police and plainclothes security agents had used violence against protesters “that has not been witnessed in many years in its excess and brutality.” “The deteriorating economic situation is only one of the many examples of the mismanagement and corruption of the NCP as it approaches its 23rd anniversary of ruling the country,” it said, referring to the ruling National Congress Party. -AFP

ALWATAN DAILY

OPINION / VIEWS

TUESdAY, June 19, 2012

The Indian miracle lives

India is looking for $1 trillion in infrastructure development over the next five years, most of it in the form of public-private partnerships.

Shashi Tharoor

Project Syndicate

o hear some people tell it, the bloom is off the Indian economic rose. Hailed until recently as the next big success story, the country has lately been assailed by bad news. Tales abound of investor flight (mainly owing to a retrospective tax law enacted this year to collect taxes from Indian companies’ foreign transactions); mounting inflation, as food and fuel prices rise; and political infighting, which has delayed a new policy to permit foreign direct investment in India’s retail-trade sector. Some have even declared that the “India story” is over. But today’s pessimism is as exaggerated as yesterday’s optimism was overblown. Even as the world has faced an unprecedented global economic crisis and recession, with most countries suffering negative growth rates in at least one quarter in the last four years, India remains the world’s second-fastest-growing major economy, after China. Many reasons have been cited for this success. India’s banks and financial institutions were not tempted to buy mortgage-backed securities and engage in the fancy derivatives trading that ruined several Western financial institutions. And, though India’s merchandise exports registered declines of about 30 percent, services exports continued to do well. Moreover, remittances from overseas Indians remain robust, rising from 46.4 billion US dollars in 2008-2009 to $57.8 billion in 20102011, with the bulk coming from the blue-collar Indian expatriate community in the Gulf. Finally, the external sector accounts for only about 20 percent of India’s GDP. Most of the economy is a domestic affair: Indians producing goods and services for other Indians to consume in India. The Indian private sector is efficient and entrepreneurial, and is compensating for the state’s inadequacies. (An old joke suggests that the Indian economy grows at night, when the government is asleep.) India is good at channeling domestic savings into productive investments, which is why it has relied so much less on foreign direct investment, and is even exporting capital to OECD countries, where it is well able to control and manage assets in sophisticated financial markets. Indeed, India, home of Asia’s oldest stock market and a thriving democracy, has the basic systems that it needs to operate a twenty-firstcentury economy in an open and globalizing world. There are other reasons for confidence that India will weather the storm. Not only does India have considerable resources of its own to put towards investment; as the persistence of global recession drives down returns in the West, foreign investors will look anew at India.

Still, many are inclined to compare India unfavorably with China, so a few macroeconomic numbers are worth considering. Half of India’s growth has come from private consumption, and less than 10 percent from external demand; by contrast, 65 percent of China’s real GDP growth comes from exports, and only 25 percent from private consumption. China is thus far more vulnerable to external shocks. Moreover, India has the highest household savings rate in Asia, at 32 percent of disposable income. In fact, households account for 65 percent of India’s national annual savings, compared to under 40 percent in China. Bad loans account for only 2 percent of Indian banks’ credit portfolios, versus 20 percent in China. And India’s workforce has been growing at nearly 2 percent annually in the last decade, while China’s grew at less than 1 percent. Putting China aside, India’s economy grew by 6.5 percent in 2011-2012, with services up by 9 percent and accounting for 58 percent of India’s GDP growth - a stabilizing factor when a world in recession cannot afford to buy more manufactured goods. McKinsey & Company estimates that the Indian middle class will grow to 525 million by 2025, 1.5 times the projected size of the US middle class. According to last year’s census, the country’s 247 million households, two-thirds of them rural, reported a rise in the literacy rate to 74 percent, from 65 percent in 2001. In just the last two years, 51,000 schools were opened and 680,000 teachers appointed. An impressive 63 percent of Indians now have phones, up from just 9 percent a decade ago; 100 million new phone connections were established last year, including 40 million in rural areas; and India now has 943.5 million telephone connections. Nearly 60 percent of Indians have a bank account (indeed, more than 50 million new bank accounts have been opened in the last three years, mainly in rural India). Some 20,000 MW in additional power-generation capacity was added last year, with 3.5 million new electricity connections in rural India. As a result, 8,000 villages got power for the first time last year, and 93 percent of Indians in towns and cities now have at least some access to electricity. These trends all augur well for India’s economic future. And they aren’t slowing: India is looking for $1 trillion in infrastructure development over the next five years, most of it in the form of public-private partnerships. This offers hugely exciting opportunities to investors. The real picture of dogged progress is far removed from the perception of a government beset by inaction and policy paralysis. As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh modestly put it: “I will be the first to say we need to do better; but let no one doubt that we have achieved much.” Shashi Tharoor, a former Indian Minister of State for External Affairs and UN Under-Secretary General, is a member of India’s parliament and the author of a dozen books.

Sustaining women

Kandeh K. Yumkella Margaret Chan Michelle Bachelet

Project Syndicate

he United Nations “Rio+20” Earth Summit this month will be a staging ground to chart the course for inclusive economies, social equality, and environmental protection. For that reason, it must place sustainable development at the forefront of the global agenda. It is already clear that achieving sustainable development is not possible without sustainable energy. Indeed, access to energy spurs development on many levels - not least in terms of women and their health, safety, and autonomy. Recognizing this, the UN has declared 2012 the Year of Sustainable Energy for All, and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has launched a global initiative to achieve three ambitious goals by 2030: universal access to modern energy services, a doubling of the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency, and a doubling of the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix. These are global issues. But, everywhere around the world, energy is a woman’s issue. It can mean the difference between safety and fear, freedom and servitude, and even life and death. In many places, especially in rural areas, women spend long hours each day finding fuel wherever they can in the absence of sustainable energy sources. Globally, 1.3 billion people still lack access to electricity, and 2.7 billion people, mostly women, rely on wood, charcoal, and dung for cooking.Whether foraging for firewood, which may expose them and their daughters to the risk of rape, or spending their scarce resources on kerosene for smoky, inefficient lighting, women make

ent m a i l Par

he swearing-in of my compatriot, Fatou Bensouda, as the next Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court last Friday, is indeed a source of pride not only for the Gambia where she hails from, but also because the development has set off a state of euphoria in various quarters across the African Continent. Bensouda, 51, is the first woman, Muslim and African to assume this high ranking UN position, and has been acclaimed for her determination, independence and unassailable qualifications. Born in 1961, Bensouda served in various legal positions in the Gambia and rose through the ranks until she became Minister of Justice. In 2000, she became an international jurist, taking part in the international Criminal Court for Rwanda before becoming her predecessor Luis Moreno-Ocampo’s deputy in 2004. Hers was the only name that was submitted to the 120 member states at the UN Headquarters in New York in which the ICC Member States unanimously elected her on December 12 to replace Ocampo, an Argentinean who served in the post for eight years.

Citizen

energy for all will create new opportunities for women elsewhere as well. Solar energy can provide entire villages with lighting, pumped water, refrigeration, and the electrification of health centers, schools, and other public facilities. Moreover, renewable energy can provide a window to the outside world, via access to mobile phones, the Internet, television, and radio, and also power small, medium, and large enterprises. And availability of outdoor lighting can prevent violence against women and girls. Achieving sustainable energy for all requires women’s full participation. Evidence from India and Nepal suggests that women’s involvement in decision-making is associated with better local environmental management. And, according to a global study, countries with higher female parliamentary representation are more prone to ratify international environmental treaties. As the Rio Declaration, adopted at the first Earth Summit in 1992, states: “Women have a vital role in environmental management and development. Their full participation is therefore essential to achieve sustainable development.” Twenty years later, with the stakes even higher, we can no longer afford inaction. That is why we are bringing the principle of gender equality to the forefront of discussions and partnerships to achieve sustainable energy for all by 2030. • Kandeh Yumkella is Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and Co-Chair of the Sustainable Energy for All initiative. • Margaret Chan is Director-General of the World Health Organization. • Michelle Bachelet, a former president of Chile, is Executive Director of UN Women.

v Go

t en m n er

Mohmmed Thallab

Bensouda takes over ICC Mantle, will she prove critics wrong? Basidia Drammeh

difficult decisions every day about household energy resources and usage. It is also women who suffer the disproportionate health impacts of unsustainable energy sources. Exposure to smoke from hazardous methods of cooking, heating, and lighting kills nearly two million people each year, 85 percent of whom are women and children who die from associated cancer, respiratory infections, and lung disease. Millions more suffer from exposure-related diseases. At the community level, a lack of energy at medical clinics impedes the ability of medical personnel to provide adequate treatment and care. It is estimated that 200,000400,000 healthcare facilities in developing countries lack access to reliable electricity. This means that vaccines and blood cannot be stored safely, diagnostic equipment is often useless, and operating rooms cannot function at night. For pregnant women, this lack of reliable electricity poses a significant risk to their own lives and those of their babies. Worldwide, 800 women die each day from complications of pregnancy and childbirth, and the vast majority of these deaths could be averted by providing quality health services, for which electricity is usually required. Today, the long hours of unpaid work that women perform each day searching for firewood and other energy sources rob them of time to engage in more productive activities. That, in turn, deprives poor families of much-needed income. It does not have to be this way. In Kenya, improved wood-burning stoves have reduced fuel requirements by some 40 percent, which has not only lowered women’s burden of unpaid work and reduced deforestation, but has also freed up time that women can devote to education, training, and paid employment, which will reduce poverty. Providing sustainable

Aside from the sense of exhilaration, the new ICC Chief is faced with a mountain of challenges and needs to prove to the entire world that she is up to the job, particularly since Africa has been a longstanding critic of the tribunal. This might explain why the AU threw its weight behind Bensouda’s candidature for the high profile post. Ben Kioko, chief legal advisor for the African Union, was quoted as saying that Bensouda is the best person for the job, not just because she is an African, but because she has good understanding of African issues. The AU has frequently complained that all the seven cases investigated by the ICC are in Africa. The court is currently dealing with cases from Congo, Kenya, the Central African Republic, Uganda with regard to the Lord’s Resistance Army, the Darfur conflict in Sudan, Libya’s Seif Al-Islam Al-Gadhafi and Ivory Coast. As a matter of fact, the court has recently sentenced Liberia’s former strongman Charles Taylor to 50 years in prison for aiding war crimes in neighboring Sierra Leone. In her swearing-in speech, the new ICC chief pledged to proceed with the ongoing investigations. “As I begin my tenure, moving forward in consolidating current practices, the office will continue to forge ahead with investigations and prosecutions.” The court, which began its work in 2002, has been also criticized for being politicized; hence serving as a stooge in the hands of influential countries pursuing certain agendas, and as a result, its independence was brought into question.

Is the appointment a disguise for leading international players to use the court to pursue their own agendas, as alleged by the detractors?

The ICCwatch, a watchdog for monitoring and providing a critique of the International Criminal Court and the broader movement towards transnational governance, quotes the late British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook as having said that ‘”This is not a court set up to bring to book prime ministers of the United Kingdom or presidents of the United States”! Despite my sense of overwhelming joy at Bensouda’s appointment, as a Gambian and an African, I couldn’t compromise the tenet of journalistic objectivity or resist asking myself why she was appointed in the first place. Is the decision related to UN’s efforts toward ensuring gender equality and seeking justice for women? Bensouda often says that gender crimes go unreported and unpunished and the victims are trivialized, denigrated and silenced. “I have always placed a big emphasis on addressing and prosecuting sexual and gender crimes,” she told her audience during the launch of a Gender Report Card cri-

tiquing the court’s work on gender-based crimes at a New York hotel a day after her election back in December. Is it a gesture by the UN that it is there for all; where smaller members also have their share of leading posts? Was the decision meant to silence the ICC critics in Africa by making one of their own daughters the chief prosecutor? Is the appointment a disguise for leading international players to use the court to pursue their own agendas, as alleged by the detractors? Is the decision meant to put more pressure on African leaders to serve justice given that the ICC’s main role is to step in when countries are unwilling or unable to prosecute alleged war crimes? Or is it because, as Kioko said, she has better understanding of African issues? Bensouda herself once told the BBC Newshour program that her African background “would give her an additional insight into life on the continent.” Only time will tell! Congratulations and good luck!

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ALWATAN DAILY

WORLD

tuesdAY, June 19, 2012

Nigeria religious riots kill at least 52 KADUNA, Nigeria: At least 52 people were killed in religious rioting sparked by three suicide bombings against churches in northern Nigeria, where the dead were on Monday piled up in mortuaries and cemeteries in the city of Kaduna. A Reuters reporter visited two hospitals in Kaduna, where the rioting broke out on Sunday after suicide car bombers attacked three churches in northern Nigeria, killing at least 19 people and wounding dozens. Christian youths had set up roadblocks and dragged Muslims from cars or motorbikes and killed them, witnesses said. Although there has been no immediate claim of responsibility for Sunday’s church bombings, Islamist sect Boko Haram, which is waging an insurgency in the northeast against President Goodluck Jonathan’s government, had claimed deadly church attacks on the previous two Sundays, as well as others. Corpses littered the ground in parts of the city. They were piled one on top of the other in an old cemetery, some charred. A soldier guarding the site said there were at least 30 bodies of people killed in the violence at that site. They had been dragged to the secluded cemetery, in a majority Christian neighbourhood, by the mobs, he said. “Some people were killed and dumped down wells. We’ve had violence before, but this is the worst I’ve seen,” he said. A 24-hour curfew imposed by the Kaduna state government on Sunday largely succeeded in restoring order, residents said. The violence stoked fears of wider sectarian conflict in Nigeria, an OPEC member and Africa’s top oil producer that houses the world’s largest equal mix of Christians and Muslims. In the St Gerald Hospital, spokesman Sunday Aliyu confirmed that there were 40 dead bodies in the hospital morgue and 72 being treated for burns and other wounds. At Barau Dikko Hospital, Matron Hassana Garba confirmed 12 dead bodies and two injured people receiving treatment. Mohammed Inuwa said he was lucky to escape with his life. He hid in a bush when rampaging Christian youths pulled Muslim motorcyclists from their vehicles and beat them to death. “They were mostly killing okada riders (motorbike taxis). I was hiding in the bush while all this was going on. If they saw me, that would be it,” the second-hand clothes merchant said, estimating 15 people were killed by the place he was hiding. Inflaming Tensions

Boko Haram church bombings seem calculated to trigger

NEWS IN BRIEF Mediator urges Mali Islamists to break with ‘terrorists’ OUAGADOUGOU: Mali’s Ansar Dine Islamist rebels, who have received backing from Al-Qaeda’s north African franchise, need to sever all ties with “terrorists”, top mediator Burkina Faso said Monday. Ansar Dine’s “action should be contained within Tuareg claims ... and any operational links with terrorist groups should be ruled out,” Burkinabe Foreign Minister Djibrill Bassole said after the rebels agreed to begin negotiations. -AFP

Headless corpses found in Paris picnic spot

Onlookers gather near the bomb-damaged Shalom Church in the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna June 17, 2012. (Reuters)

wider sectarian strife, often striking at the heart of Nigeria’s volatile “Middle Belt”, where the mostly Christian south and Muslim north meet. The Islamists’ leader, Abubakar Shekau, has said the attacks on Christians were in revenge for the killings of Muslims. But they have usually failed to spark sustained conflict in a nation whose Muslims and Christians mostly co-exist peacefully, despite periodic flare-ups of sectarian violence since indepen-

dence from Britain in 1960. The Vatican issued a statement on Sunday condemning the “systematic attacks against Christian places of worship” which it said proved the existence of an “absurd plan of hate” in Nigeria. Religiously mixed Kaduna is near the Middle Belt and has several times been a flashpoint. Riots killed hundreds there in April last year when Jonathan, a southern Christian, defeated northern Muslim Muhammadu Buhari in elections. -Reuters

Greece’s New Democracy seeks bailout coalition ATHENS: Greece’s conservative leader began talks to form a government on Monday after winning an election that sets him the task of imposing punishing austerity measures in a near-bankrupt economy while containing rising social tensions. New Democracy conservative leader Antonis Samaras was due to meet Evangelos Venizelos, the head of the Socialist PASOK party, at 11:00 a.m. EDT after he received a mandate to form a government from the president. The once-mighty PASOK, now reduced to third place after the dramatic rise of the radical leftist anti-bailout party SYRIZA, said it would support Samaras but had not yet decided whether to join the government or just offer parliamentary backing. Samaras’s narrow defeat of SYRIZA caused

China urges restraint as sea row with Philippines eases

BEIJING: China said on Monday it hoped for a further easing of tensions after the Philippines pulled back two vessels from a group of disputed rocks, ending a two-month standoff between the two sides. 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. “We hope there will continue to be an easing in the situation and hope bilateral cooperation will recover and be safeguarded,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a daily news briefing. “We hope the Philippines can exercise restraint.” He added that Chinese fishing boats in the area were heading back to port because of bad weather, the same reason given by Manila for the pull-back. Lightly armed Philippine coast guard ships had since April taken turns to escort a fishing 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. -Reuters

relief across the euro zone, where countries had said Greece’s future in the single currency depended on its meeting conditions attached to a bailout, which SYRIZA had vowed to tear up. If SYRIZA had won - and claimed the 50 extra seats in parliament for the party that placed first - it would have been impossible to form a government supporting the bailout. European leaders viewed Samaras’s victory as an aversion of catastrophe. But any relief in financial markets vanished within hours as a rally on Monday quickly reversed. Samaras still wants a better deal from Europe. He said Greece would meet its bailout commitments, but added: “We will simultaneously have to make some necessary amendments to the bailout agreement, in order to relieve the people of crippling unemployment

and huge hardships.” Germany, the euro zone’s paymaster, gave little sign it was willing accept more than minor changes to the timing of some targets in the 130 billion euro ($164 billion) rescue agreed with the European Union and International Monetary Fund. “The crisis has been postponed, not necessarily averted,” said Theodore Couloumbis, political analyst and vice-president of Athensbased think-tank ELIAMEP. “For this government to last it has to show results. You can’t continue with 50 percent youth unemployment and a fifth straight year of recession,” he said. SYRIZA scored strongly in the election, particularly among young voters, and party leader Tsipras, 37, promised to continue oppo-

sition to painful austerity measures. The election was a rerun of a poll on May 6, which Samaras had forced by withdrawing support from a previous government, but which had left him with too few seats to form a cabinet and Greece in a state of political disarray. Sunday’s victory appears to justify his gamble, at least for now. “The result showed people want the euro, but society remains divided. SYRIZA will be a militant opposition, possibly complicating the new government’s efforts,” a senior New Democracy official said on condition of anonymity. “The new government must deliver a positive development soon - an easing of the bailout terms or a positive sign in the economy - or people will lose trust in a week.” -Reuters

Myanmar planning to free more political prisoners: Minister OSLO: Myanmar’s government is planning to free more political prisoners as early as next month, a minister said Monday in Norway, where democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was on a four-day visit. Speaking on the sidelines of an Oslo conference that was addressed by Suu Kyi, the minister also stressed that the government of President Thein Sein was as committed to democracy as the Nobel Peace Prize laureate. “We also move to the road to democracy,” said Industry Minister U Soe Thane. “We’re going in

the same direction -- tactically different, strategically right, on the same track, in the same boat.” On Suu Kyi’s hero welcome in Europe -- where she is on a five-nation tour after many years of house arrest and isolation -- he said: “I am proud of that, proud of her. A Myanmar lady in Europe, it’s a good thing.” Asked about Suu Kyi’’s call at her Nobel lecture last Saturday to free remaining political prisoners jailed under the former junta, he said: “You better look in July. Maybe, maybe. I’m not the decision-

maker.” He explained that the government was now reviewing cases to ensure no one guilty of a violent crime is released. “We have the idea to release the rest of the people. An idea, not an order... It’s an ongoing process,” he told AFP. On the economy, he said the government shared Suu Kyi’s position that future foreign investment, as Western sanctions are being rolled back, must be made in an ethical, sustainable and transparent way. “A rush is OK, but not a gold rush,” he said. -AFP

PARIS: Police were questioning a couple on Monday about two headless torsos and a footless leg discovered near a popular picnic spot on the eastern edge of Paris. The macabre mystery began when a jogger found a rotting leg in the Vincennes woods earlier this month and a guide dog then unearthed a torso nearby, a source close to the inquiry said. The case took a new twist on Saturday when a couple presented themselves to police and led officers to a second headless torso in the woods. The man and woman, who are in police custody, spoke of a dispute at a Paris flat in which two people were killed. They indicated they had dismembered the bodies and buried them in a panic, said the source, who asked not to be identified. -Reuters

Indian man beheads daughter in rage over lifestyle JAIPUR: Police say a man upset over his daughter’s lifestyle chopped her head off with a sword and then paraded it through his village before surrendering to authorities in western India. Marble miner Ogad Singh’s 20-year-old daughter had been living with her parents in the Rajasthani village of Dungarji after leaving her husband two years ago. Police Superintendent Umesh Ojha says Singh was upset by his daughter having affairs with men, and became enraged when she eloped with one of them two weeks ago. Ojha says Singh forced her to return home Sunday, and beheaded her Monday with a sword. Rapidly modernizing India faces increasing social clashes as youths resist traditions like arranged marriage or limits on women venturing outside their parents’’ or husbands” homes. -AP

Japan braced for powerful typhoon Guchol Japan: Japan’s Pacific coast was bracing itself for a powerful typhoon Monday as it headed northeast along the Okinawa Islands, packing winds of up to 144 kilometres (90 miles) per hour, officials said. The Japan Meteorological Agency warned that the typhoon, named Guchol, could cause thunderstorms, strong winds and high waves as it was expected to push a seasonal rain front north toward the Japanese main islands. The storm system was located about 170 kilometres (106 miles) southeast of Okinawa’s main city of Naha at 6:00 pm (0900 GMT) and was forecast to reach the main southern island of Kyushu midmorning on Tuesday, the agency said. Rainfall of up to 40 centimetres (16 inches) in 24 hours was expected along the Pacific coast, the agency said. -AFP

BUSINESS

m ar ket watc h KUWAIT

DUBAI

QATAR

0.69% 5949

0.68% 1474

0.31% 8277

OMAN

ABU DHABI

0.01% 5709

0.56% 2460

tuesDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

OIL MARKETS

BAHRAIN

EGYPT

0.13% 1130

3.42% 4268

SAUDI 0.79% 6808

US Crude $82.78 $1.25 London Brent $96.01 $1.60 Kuwait Crude $94.72 $1.13 Information Courtesy: KAMCO

Oil prices slide as Greece optimism fades LONDON: Oil prices fell towards 96 US dollars a barrel on Monday, erasing early gains after a pro-bailout vote in Greece failed to ease concerns about the euro zone while analysts said oversupplied crude markets would cope with any loss of Iranian oil. Pro-bailout parties in Greece will form a government after a narrow election victory over the left that eased fears of a sudden exit from the euro. But the possibility that other larger economies such as Italy and Spain may also need to be rescued remains a threat to the euro zone and is driving investors to reduce their exposure to risky assets. “The economic outlook is upsetting people more than security issues around Iran, and they realize that nothing really has come out of Greece, except that the crunch may have been delayed for a while,” said Roy Jordan, an oil analyst at Facts Global Energy. Leaders at a Group of 20 will be under pressure to produce a lasting solution to a debt crisis at a two-day meeting in Mexico. Brent crude were down $1.34 at $96.27 a barrel at 1225 GMT, sliding from a one-week high of $99.50 a barrel hit early in the session. US oil futures were down $1.31 at $82.72 a barrel, off a one-week high of $85.60 a barrel hit in early trade. Falling oil prices are also starting to hit US domestic oil and gas production, according to Commerzbank commodity analysts. “The oil rig count fell last week for the first time again after a record level had been reached in the week before. At the current prices of $75 per barrel for Bakken oil, a number of shale oil projects are likely to become unprofitable,” the analysts wrote in a note. Iran nuclear talks

A meeting between Iran and world powers in Moscow on Monday is unlikely to produce a swift

CNPC says Halfaya oilfield in operation

CAPITALS: Iraq has picked British oil services firm Petrofac for a 95 million US dollar contract to carry out maintenance work for its new offshore terminals and sub-sea pipelines at the Gulf, an Iraqi oil official said on Monday. Under the contract, Petrofac should conduct maintenance work to ensure there are no leakages in the pipelines or any faults at the two new single point mooring (SPM) terminals that may delay the loading of crude, the official said. Three companies were short-listed by the state-run South Oil Company to bid for the project, including Italy’s Saipem and Australian construction firm Leighton Holdings. “Petrofac’s offer was picked up for the service

contract and the one year extendable contract has been referred to the oil minister for final approval,” the oil official, who declined to be named, said. Iraq has planned for four new SPM terminals which are being built by Leighton and are expected to help it in doubling crude output in the next few years. The opening of two SPM terminals this year has eased export constraints and boosted oil exports significantly. Baghdad has signed a series of contracts with foreign oil companies that target total oil production capacity of 12 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2017 - up from about three million bpd. Most analysts see six million to seven million bpd as a more realistic goal. Meanwhile, state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation said the first phase of Iraq’s Halfaya oilfield had started operating and had a production capacity of 100,000 barrels per day.

British Pound

Saudi Riyal

Qatari Riyal

Indian Rupee

Buy 0.4495 Sell 0.4502

Buy 0.0731 Sell 0.0732

Buy 0.07537 Sell 0.07526

Buy 0.006133 Sell 0.006124 Buy 0.006346 Sell 0.006336

Euro

Japanese Yen

UAE Dirham

Bahraini Dinar

Buy 0.396 Sell 0.3965

Buy 0.003416 Sell 0.003421

Buy 0.07462 Sell 0.07471

Buy 0.727 Sell 0.72794

Prices in Kuwaiti fils. As of June 18, 2012: Courtesy: KAMCO

CNPC, which is the first foreign oil company to sign an oil service contract in Iraq after former president Saddam Hussein was toppled, said the Halfaya project had come on stream 15 months ahead of schedule. CNPC has started preliminary work on the second phase of Halfaya, which will bring the capacity to 200,000 bpd, it said on its website on Monday Iraq signed a contract in 2010 to develop Halfaya with CNPC, France’s Total and Malaysian state company Petronas, for a fee of $1.40 per barrel. CNPC has a 37.5 percent interest in the consortium. Halfaya is CNPC’s largest overseas project as an operator. Last year, CNPC completed construction of the first phase of Al-Ahdab oilfield in Iraq, with a capacity of 60,000 bpd. CNPC, the parent of PetroChina, also received its first cargo of crude oil as payment for helping to develop Iraq’s Rumaila oilfield last year. -Agencies

International investors provide KD 73.675 million financing for Amar holding CAPITALS: AMAR Holding, a leading developer and investor in commercial and Global Emerging Markets Limited (GEM Group), a European-based alternative investment group focused on making capital investments in emerging markets including the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, hereby announce the signing of a three-year financing agreement lead by GEM for a total amount up to 73.675 million. This was announced in a press release on Monday. According to the terms of the Agreement, AMAR Holding has the right to access the financing contemplated in the Agreement through the issue of shares and bonds convertible to shares of Remal issued to GEM via a private placement. The Company intends to use the funds to develop real estate projects in the region, particularly in Sharm El Sheikh and Dubai. The funds will be used to effect acquisitions and fully develop projects. The deal was advised by Soter Capital. Soter is a boutique investment bank offering tailored top-tier quality financial services in the Middle East and North Africa.

SICO starts Wataniya with ‘buy’

CAPITALS: SICO Investment Bank started coverage of Kuwaiti telecom operator Wataniya with a ‘buy’ rating and a price target of 3.06 Kuwaiti dinars, saying the company’s operations in Algeria and Tunisia will drive overall growth. SICO expects the two units to contribute 76 percent of the Kuwaiti company’s incremental revenue growth during 2012-2014. “Algeria will likely have a 3G license auction, and a successful bid will enable the company to capitalize on the country’s untapped data potential,” the brokerage said in a note to clients. Nedjma, Wataniya’s Algerian unit, has been providing attractive offers that has led to higher usage and ARPU (average revenues per user), benefiting its revenue and margins. The brokerage expects the trend to continue. Nedjma is also expected to benefit from its significant investments in network infrastructure, helping the company acquire and retain corporate and high value customers. Wataniya’s Tunisian arm, Tunisiana, recently won 3G and fixed line licenses and is aiming to launch 3G services this July, SICO said. Wataniya, with its high earnings growth and free cash flow yield, is expected to more than double its dividend over the next three years, the brokerage said. -Reuters

Negative sentiment adversely impacts GCC markets GCC equity markets overview

KUWAIT: Renewed evidence of a global economic deceleration, emerging-market correction and the intensifying European financial stress remain the major drivers of investor sentiment and the performance of international and regional equity markets. Disappointing US economic data and the market-sensitive European events (Greek elections, distressed Spanish banking system and deeper recession) triggered a sell-off in equity markets across the region and heightened volatility in global and regional equity markets. Drop in oil prices driven by the signs of stagnation in the US gross domestic product (GDP), slowdown in the Chinese economy and the recession in the Euro-zone that has taken a toll on Chinese exports which has hurt manufacturing and retail sales, remains one of the major fundamental factors that will most likely continue to impact the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) economies and financial markets in the foreseeable future. This negative sentiment that has been intensifying since March 2012 adversely impacted the seven GCC equity markets which recorded sharp losses in their combined market capitalization of $42.7 billion following a loss of 17.7 billion US dollars in April 2012. After gaining $88.6 billion in Q1 2012, the GCC equity markets eroded most of this gain and ended the June 6 at $724 billion, just $1.2 billion up from year end 2011. Saudi Tadawul continues to weigh down on market cap losing around $29 billion alone in May and $15.5 billion in April, while Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE), Qatar Exchange and Dubai Financial Market (DFM) equally lost $3.4 billion of their market capitalization during May; Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange followed and shed around $2.7 billion in its market capitalization.

All the equity indices in the GCC region closed on the downside during May; despite the return to growth in Dubai supported by strong tourism, trade and industrial sectors along with the government’s success in dealing with GRE debt, DFM General Index was the worst performer during May losing 9.8 percent and thus eroding its year-to-date (YTD) 2012 gains to 8.73 percent. Saudi Tadawul was the second worst performer with a monthly loss of 7.72 percent, however, during the first 5 months of the year the benchmark remains in the positive territory with 8.36 percent gain. Selling-pressure on petrochemical stocks and the negative general sentiment in the region contributed to these losses. In Qatar, the psychological effects of international events overwhelmed the robust economic growth in the country and Q1 2012 healthy corporate earnings and pushed the market to the negative territory for the second month in a row with a monthly loss of 3.3 percent. In the absence of market catalysts, geopolitical tension and the sharp drop in oil prices with Brent shedding 14.3 percent during May, liquidity in GCC equity markets dropped by 37 percent to $50 billion, versus $79.5 billion recorded in April. In Saudi Arabia, fears from global market turmoil coupled with a slump in crude oil prices pressured the Tadawul All Share Index to the downside and break the critical 7,000 mark. The flight to safety and the major selling spree the market witnessed during May dragged the index to fresh lows. As a result, the TASI fell for the second consecutive month and ended May on a negative note losing 7.72 percent, to close at 6,975.27 points and end as the second worst performing market in the GCC, following Dubai Financial Market, and narrowing its YTD 2012 gains to 8.36 percent from 17.77 percent witnessed in April. In May, Tadawul market

capitalization lost 7.5 percent of its value to 1.37 trillion Saudi Arabian riyals ($365 billion) as compared to 1.48 trillion riyals ($395 billion) recorded in April 2012, as all sectors in the market fell with the exception of media and publishing. Market heavyweight petrochemical industries shed 8.9 percent of its value to reach 459 billion riyals ($122.5 billion) while the banks and financial sector fell 8.3 percent to 330.2 billion riyals ($88 billion). While in Kuwait, despite the introduction of the new ‘X-Stream’ trading system in the Kuwaiti bourse, local political tensions coupled with worries stemming from Europe pressured the market to the downside, ending May 2012 on a negative note after reaching a 10 month high in April 2012. Kuwait followed the lead of its GCC peers as the KAMCO TRW Index shed 2.07 percent of its value, to close at 2,591 points, and narrow its YTD 2012 gains to a marginal 0.22 percent; while the KSE Weighted Index and KSE 15 Index both fell 3.06 percent. Nevertheless, trading indicators gained during the month as compared to April 2012 as volume traded increased 4.2 percent to 9.1 billion shares from 8.7 billion in April 2012 while value traded rose 7.3 percent to 802 million Kuwaiti dinars in May 2012 from KD 748 million in April 2012. As for Abu Dhabi, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange retreated for the third consecutive month in line with global and regional markets which witnessed all GCC exchanges record losses in May. Fears of a global economic slowdown stoked by high Eurozone debt, slowing global growth and geopolitical tensions pressured markets lower, with oil prices under downward pressure falling more than 14 percent in May, which if sustained may weigh down on the economies of the GCC states. The ADX General Index shed 2.51 percent to 2,441.03 eroding its YTD 2012 return to 1.61

Philippine Peso

KUWAIT: Trading ended for Monday with the boards at Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) showing green as the price index came to 5,948.62 points on an up of 40.89 points, the weighted index came to 395.69 points on an up of 1.91 points. The KSX 15 came to 953.94 points on an up of 3.01 points. Trades came to 3,944 transactions worth 19,590,819.399 Kuwaiti dinars with 218,429,694 shares changing hands. Top share of the day was Al-Dar National Real Estate, while biggest loser was the share of Fujairah Cement Industries. Most traded for the day was the Gulf Finance House stock. As for the sector indices, “oil and gas” and “insurance” were the only red marks, ‘utilities’ and ‘investment instruments’ were unchanged, and the rest of the 14 indices were green upon closing. Kuwait Stock Exchange started trading on Monday on a mixed board with the price index reading 5,915.93 points, an up of 8.2 points by 9:38 a.m, the weighted index reading 393.7 points, a loss of 0.08 points, and the KSX 15 index showing a drop of 0.93 points at 950 points. Trades came to 938 transactions by that time, worth KD 3,723,244.102, with 63,160,193 shares changing hands so far. -KUNA

market that protects 95 percent of the world’s tanker shipments against oil spills or catastrophic collisions. This critical side effect of EU sanctions to punish Iran for its nuclear program has so far provided little support for slumping crude oil markets. That’s because the market is oversupplied as economic growth slows and additional exports by Saudi Arabia outweigh the loss of Iran’s oil, analysts and traders say. Brent futures have dropped by more than 20 percent since April, to trade below $100 a barrel for the first time since early 2011. -Reuters

Iraq picks Petrofac for $95 million contract

US Dollar

Buy 0.2741 Sell 0.2744

Kuwait bourse ends day on green boards

A trader looks at data sheets at the Madrid stock exchange June 18, 2012. Spanish bond yields hit a new euro-era high above seven percent and Italian yields jumped on Monday as initial relief after a pro-bailout victory in Greek elections gave way to pessimism about the huge problems still facing the currency bloc. (Reuters)

resolution to a dispute over Iran’s nuclear program, nor prevent an embargo on Iranian oil from taking effect on July 1, analysts said. “Iran’s two central goals, recognition of its right to enrich uranium and significant sanctions relief, will probably not be met. And on balance a deal will probably not occur in Moscow,” Eurasia Group analysts wrote in a note. Iran also wants relief from intensifying economic sanctions, and faces new US and European Union sanctions in the next two weeks. In less than two weeks, Iran’s biggest oil buyers will lose access to the London-based insurance

CURRENCIES

percent. Trading indicators were mixed as volume dropped slightly by 2.8 percent to 1.19 billion shares, while value increased 20 percent to two billion UAE dirhams with a 5.6 percent decrease in deals to 21,528. In Dubai, a regional downturn in equity markets on the back of fears of a global economic slowdown and increasing investor anxiety regarding the Eurozone debt crisis following the French elections, which may complicate economic policy in the Eurozone, coupled with fears of a worsening situation in Greece and Spain, drove market behavior during the month. The DFM General Index suffered its largest one month drop since January 2010 as it shed 9.78 percent to 1,471.49 paring its YTD 2012 gains to 8.73 percent and marked 3-months of corrections following February’s whopping 20.53 percent surge in the index; the exchange has now shed 11.45 percent in the last 60 days and 13.54 percent in the last 90 days, while market volatility has settled down during May to 13 percent as compared to the previous fourmonth average of 23 percent. In Qatar, the QE 20 Index continued to slide for the second consecutive month in line with global equity markets, as concern from the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis resurfaced, to plummet 286.81 points in May to 8,416.83 - a 3.3 percent loss for the month. Trading indicators remained relatively elevated with volume recording a 10.3 percent increase to 305.9 million shares while value recorded a 7.9 percent increase 7.74 billion Qatari riyals ($2.1 billion). Volatility edged up during the month to 6.19 percent but remained low compared to the previous 12 month average of 9.16 percent. Aggregate market capitalization decreased 2.13 percent to 454.6 billion riyals ($124.9 billion) as compared to last month’s market capitalization of 464.5 billion riyals ($127.6 billion).

Whereas in Bahrain, after posting marginal gains for three consecutive months Bahrain Bourse recorded losses for the month of May, as concerns mounted over global economic recovery, lack of local market catalysts, and lower than expected Q12012 earning, the Index ended the month on a negative note losing 1.15 percent and closing at 1,139.58 points. On the GCC front, all markets finished on a negative note during May with the DFM General Index ending as the month’s worst performer with a loss of 9.78 percent followed by Tadawul All Share Index with losses of 7.72 percent. Market capitalization decreased by 0.57 percent during May to reach approximately 6.27 billion Bahraini dinars with heavyweight banking sector losing 2.48 percent of its value. Regarding trading indicators, total volume traded for the month increased by 178 percent to reach 64.56 million shares dinars, while value traded rose by 228 percent to 11.61 million dinars. Finally in Oman, despite the strong Q12012 corporate earnings, overall negative sentiment in the GCC drove the MSM 30 Index lower following other regional markets. Concerns over the well being of Greece and the entire Euro Zone added to fears of oil price instability due to speculations of weakening global demand. By the end of the month, the MSM 30 Index fell 1.95 percent to close at 5,754.69 points with volatility surging to the highest level since August 2011 to hit 12.9 percent from 9.7 percent during April. The MSM 30 Index paired its YTD 2012 gains diminishing them to 1.05 percent. Corresponding to the fall witnessed, trading indicators slumped with volume plummeting 59.4 percent during the month to 241 million shares compared to 593 million in April 2012, while value traded was down 45 percent to 67 million Omani riyals versus 123 million riyals in the previous month.

ALWATAN DAILY

BUSINESS

TUESdAY, June 19, 2012

US dollar rate down against Kuwaiti dinar to KD 0.279

Greenback sees mixed performance against counterparts

KUWAIT: The exchange rate of the US dollar against the Kuwaiti dinar dropped to KD 0.279, whereas the euro rose to KD 0.354 compared to Thursday’s figures, said the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) on Monday. Meanwhile, the exchange rate of the Sterling pound was up to KD 0.438 and the Japanese yen also remained unchanged at KD 0.003, the Swiss franc was up to KD 0.295. In more news, worries over risks emerging from the Eurozone, especially Spain’s debt levels and the Greek Elections combined with disappointing data from major economies spurred volatility across the markets, a specialized report said here Monday. In the United States, the dollar had a mixed performance against its counterparts throughout the week, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) said in its weekly markets’ report. It added that the greenback dropped as investor’s risk appetites were lifted by the announcement of the 100 billion euro to shore up Spanish banks. Investors then quickly moved back to the greenback as fears over the capability of Spain to pay back its debt triggered a sell-off in Spanish bonds, which drove yields higher and closer to the psychological level of seven percent; 10-year Spanish yields reached a high of 6.8 percent. On Friday, central banks from major economies announced that they will stand ready to take steps, including coordinated action, to stabilize markets as world economies prepare for a possible financial storm or public panic after tight elections in Greece this weekend. The euro started the week on a strong footing and reached a high of 1.2671 but quickly dropped as fears from Spain spurred risk aversion in the market. The single currency dropped further as Moody’s investor service downgraded Spain’s credit rating by three notches citing the nation’s increased debt weight and weakening economy driving the euro to reach a low of 1.2441 mid-week. The currency gradually recouped its losses as traders started to cover their short positions in anticipation of the outcome of the Greek elections on 17 June. The currency closed the week at 1.2660, the report noted. The Sterling Pound traded in a wide range throughout the week between 1.5580 and 1.5460. On Friday, the Pound traded in a volatile manner as the Bank of England (BoE) Governor announced to channel subsidized loans to British

borrowers and pump extra liquidity into banks, an effort to curb risks emerging from the Eurozone. The Japanese yen range traded between 79.10 and 79.74 up to Thursday. The yen quickly gained as investors sought it as a safe haven ahead of the Greek elections. The US dollar-Japanese yen dropped dramatically to reach a low of 78.62 and closed the week at 78.75. As for retail sales, they fell in May for a second month in the United States, prompting economists to cut forecasts for economic growth as limited job and income gains curb consumer spending. Sales dropped by 0.2 percent matching April’s downwardly revised figure. Core retail sales dropped by 0.4 percent, the lowest in two years. The smallest wage gains in a year and unemployment exceeding 8 percent are taking a toll on consumer spending that accounts for about 70 percent of the US economy, leaving it more vulnerable to shocks from the European crisis. Federal Reserve policy makers gather next week to decide whether further stimulus will be needed to maintain growth in the economy. Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom, manufacturing fell more than market expectations in April, pointing to continued weakness in the economy at the start of the second quarter. Factory output dropped 0.7 percent from March, led by pharmaceuticals, aircraft maintenance and food production. Similarly, industrial production was unchanged following a drop of 0.2 percent in the previous month. The British government and BoE said that they are preparing a scheme to channel cheap loans to British businesses as part of a range of measures designed to defend the country’s financial system from market turmoil. Mervyn King, BoE’s governor, said that the BoE and UK Treasury were working on a “funding for lending” scheme that would provide multiyear loans at below-market rates “linked to the performance of banks in sustaining or expanding their lending to the UK nonfinancial sector during the present period of heightened uncertainty.” Treasury officials said that the government plan could support an estimated 80 billion pounds in new loans, while the central bank’s separate scheme will provide monthly 5 billion pound tranches of six-month liquidity to banks. Back to Japan, where the Bank of Japan kept the size of its asset-purchase fund unchanged and said it will pay “particular” attention to global markets, referring to the highly anticipated Greek elections. The central bank kept its assetpurchase fund at 40 trillion yen and a credit-lending program at 30 trillion yen. Additionally the central bank kept its key lending rate unchanged at the range of zero to 0.1 percent. -KUNA

Innovation - China’s next advantage?

2012 China Innovation Survey

CAPITALS: Chinese companies are becoming serious innovative competitors and China is becoming an innovation engine, according to the findings of a survey of multinational and leading Chinese businesses released Monday. The 2012 China Innovation Survey, conducted by Booz & Company, a leading global management consulting firm, together with Benelux Chamber of Commerce, Wenzhou Chamber of Commerce and China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), aimed at finding out whether Chinese companies were catching up with global competitors in their capacity to innovate - and if so, what would be the implications for both Chinese companies and multinational companies (MNCs). Steven J. Veldhoen, partner and leader of China innovation practice at Booz & Company says, “The survey’s most surprising finding was just how far many Chinese companies have moved beyond their shanzhai or copycat reputations.” He added, “many global companies perceive Chinese companies as possessing strong innovation capabilities. Among the MNCs interviewed, 45 percent said some of their Chinese competitors were equally or more innovative than themselves.” “One of China’s key objectives is to develop an innovation-based economy, and it seems to be succeeding. Fueled by enormous and growing spending on research and development (R&D), companies, both foreign and domestic, and the government are scrambling to build key advantages in the vast, highly competitive and quickly developing China market,” Veldhoen added. Booz & Company along with its partners interviewed more than 100 leading Chinese companies and MNCs across five sectors - industrials, automotive, health/ life sciences, consumer goods, and chemicals and energy. According to Booz and Company’s annual study on innovation, The Global Innovation 1000, all innovative companies fall into one of three categories: * Need seekers - first movers who proactively discover their customer needs and then use this understanding to shape new products. * Market readers - second movers

who focus on incremental improvement in already existing products. * Technology drivers - deliverers of new technological achievements, who realize both breakthrough and incremental change but have less direct contact with customers. The traditional view that Chinese companies are Market Readers is challenged, as 38 percent of them are actually Need Seekers. On the other hand, 50 percent of MNCs tend to follow a Market Reader approach. Key findings of the survey: * Many MNCs already perceive Chinese companies possess strong innovation capabilities. Of the MNCs interviewed, 45 percent said some of their Chinese competitors were equally or more innovative than themselves. * MNCs see Chinese companies as having key advantages in two separate areas: first, government support, and second, in their ability to deliver products rapidly to markets via their decisiveness, speed-of-action and proximity-to-market. * It was previously established that Need Seeker is the most powerful of the three types of innovation strategies, consistently outperforming Market Readers and Technology Drivers in both profitability and enterprise value. Therefore, by circumstance rather than design, a high proportion of Chinese companies have found themselves in the most powerful category of innovators. 38 percent of Chinese companies are Need Seekers, compared to 30 percent among MNCs and 27 percent of The Global Innovation 1000 average. Remarkably the only other place in the world with an above average number of Need Seekers is Silicon Valley. * While Chinese companies see research into cost reduction as declining slightly in importance by 2022, MNCs see both cost reduction and process improvements as rising significantly. * The importance of China for companies as a regional and even global hub for innovation is clear. Some 40 percent of MNCs surveyed and 50 percent of Chinese companies already develop products in China for markets outside China. This trend is set to intensify, with the survey finding that by 2022, more than 60 percent of all MNCs and local companies expect to conduct R&D in China for global markets.

Monday 18 June, 2012 Index Price index Weighted Index KSX 15

Change Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

40.89 1 91 1.91 3.01

Closing

Last Closing

High

Low

5,948.62 395 69 395.69 953.94

5,907.73 393 78 393.78 950.93

5,948.62 396 92 396.92 959.78

5,907.16 393 29 393.29 948.30

Volume Value (KWD) Number of Trades

218,446,794 19 596 011 19,596,011 3,952

High

Low

Volume

Trades Value (KD)

URC

106

104

245 000 245,000

25 770 25,770

106

00 0.0

NRE

122

20,000

2,440

122

0.0

SRE

265

5,000

1,325

265

0.0

PEARL

0.0

130

0.0

TAM

0.0

2.0

AREEC

0.0

6,984 21,292

9 27

168 938.84

ź ź

-8.0 -0.34

MASSALEH ARABREC

0 35

0 33

0 148,700

0 5,045

0 9

0 35

ŷ Ÿ

0.0 1.0

19,338

108

6.0

285

-15.0

610

10.0

15 45

190 932.35

778

124

1,120

70,941

194

184

PCEM

880

PAPER

High

Low

Volume

MARIN

IKARUS

IPG

NAPESCO

AREFENRGY

130

GPI ABAR

Trades Value (KD)

Trades

Last

00 0.0

0.0

130

90,000

11,700

49,021

2,608

186

166

41,903 180,924

108

104

183,650

KFOUC

295

285

22,873

6,722

BPCC

610

600

674 202 674,202

404 522 404,522

190

186

284,770 1,165,495

53,769 484,351

KCEM

REFRI

160

CABLE

1,140

SHIP

Security

Oil & Gas PIPE

ALKOUT ALQURAIN Basic Materials

Change

Security

Trades

Last

Change

UREC

0.0

ERESCO

117,252

10,243

-1.0

MABANEE

1,000

980

94,000

92,780

980

-20.0

INJAZZAT

130 000 130,000

7 940 7,940

0.0

INVESTORS

10,182,400

188,651

131

1.0

ŷ Ÿ

0.0 4.78

IRC ALTIJARIA

43 82

41 81

4,295,050 36,803

181,053 2,982

127 5

43 81

ŷ ŷ

0.0 0.0

SANAM

151,000

8,931

2.0

0.0

AAYANRE

106,500

8,757

0.0

160

0.0

AQAR

0.0

79,864

1,140

20.0

ALAQARIA

0.0

1,129,460

216,498

194

10.0

MAZAYA

79,372

5,565

1.0

870

4,000

3,505

880

0.0

ADNC

7,649,646

213,585

138

2.5

0.0

THEMAR

0.0 0.0

0.0

GRAND

ACICO

238

1,000

238

8.0

TIJARA

865,100

34,469

1.0

GGMC

550

3,970

2,184

550

-10.0

TAAMEER

2.0

HCC

0.0

ARKAN

100

3.0

KPAK

0.0

ARGAN

0.0

KBMMC

0.0

ABYAAR

8,445,192

350,071

114

2.5

NICBM

285

265

85,386

24,049

285

25.0

MUNSHAAT

6,123,807

191,933

127

2.0

EQUIPMENT

0.0

MRC

166

246,666

40,947

166

-4.0

FIRSTDUBAI

164,050

6,569

NCCI

0.0

KBT

0.0

GYPSUM

0.0

REAM

0.0

SALBOOKH

10,010

345

1.5

MENA

200

2.5

AGLTY

370

365

1,660,737

614,443

370

0.0

ALMUDON

0.0

EDU CLEANING CITYGROUP

0.0

MARAKEZ

35,000

1,540

-2.0

118 480

112 480

1,454,001 500

164,707 240

94 1

112 480

ź Ÿ

-6.0 25.0

REMAL Real Estate

375

365

2,314,611 42,349,960

855,606 2,251,145

39 831

375 939.64

Ÿ Ÿ

5.0 11.19

KGL

1,556,000

146,161

-2.0

KCPC

325

5,011

1,629

325

-5.0

KINV

168,536

16,413

1.0

HUMANSOFT

0.0

FACIL

280

275

1,168,288

326,871

280

5.0

NAFAIS

0.0

IFA

3,421,499

125,655

1.0

SAFWAN

0.0

NINV

104

988,852

102,841

104

2.0

GFC

151,010

3,886

-0.5

KPROJ

320

415,204

132,865

320

0.0

23,334,634

496,590

145

0.5

COAST

1,172,000

49,407

1.0

1,240

1,220

6,500

8,040

1,240

0.0

TII

0.0

MTCC

75,000

6,465

1.0

SECH

0.0

UPAC

0.0

IIC

0.0

ALAFCO

290

285

26,045

7,453

290

0.0

SGC

114

10,330

1,178

114

0.0

MUBARRAD

526,110

26,930

0.0

IFC

0.0

LOGISTICS

220

218

150,000

32,922

220

4.0

MARKAZ

114

6.0

SCEM

4,337

317

-2.0

KMEFIC

0.0 0.0

MAYADEEN CGC

GCEM

41,000

3,737

0.0

AIG

QCEM

385

1.0

ALAMAN

0.0

FCEM

520,000

40,600

-5.0

ALOLA

140

138

350,100

48,314

140

4.0

RKWC Industrials

0 31,063,481

0 1,921,897

0 560

0 926.80

ŷ Ÿ

0.0 3.22

ALMAL GIH

38 29

37 27

2,351,701 14,327,253

88,329 393,414

42 212

38 29

Ÿ Ÿ

1.0 2.0

AAYAN

0.0

KSH

0.0

BAYANINV

10,000

365

0.5

NSH

0.0

GLOBAL

0.0

PAPCO

0.0

OSOUL

108,439

6,615

1.0

CATTL

0.0

KFIC

0.0

DANAH

175,792

14,509

2.0

KAMCO

240

222

700

159

240

10.0

POULT

126

20,000

2,520

126

0.0

NIH

42,932

1,793

-2.5

1,240

22,870 218,662

28,359 45,388

12 19

1,240 916.93

ź Ÿ

-20.0 0.94

ISKAN MADAR

0 0

ŷ ŷ

0.0 0.0

ALDEERA

539,578

17,300

0.5

ALSAFAT

0.0

ALSALAM

212

202

1,648,000

342,237

113

208

0.0

EKTTITAB QURAINHLD

75 0

73 0

4,399,178 0

324,807 0

145 0

73 0

ŷ ŷ

0.0 0.0 0.0

FOOD Consumer Goods MHC

YIACO Health Care

445

430

1,000,020 1,000,020

430,009 430,009

3 3

445 1188.48

Ÿ Ÿ

15 12.35

ALMADINA

5,885,262

278,873

138

KCIN

930

100

930

NOOR

0.0

KHOT

TAMINV

162

0 0.0 0

100

142,506

14,211

100

EXCH

0.0

TAIBA

0.0

EYAS

240

2,981,000

715,440

240

-10

KSHC

25,100

678

1.0

IFAHR

285

100

285

STRATEGIA

5.0

ATC

SULTAN CABLETV

MASHAER

250

246

460,110

114,008

248

KCIC

154,812

9,738

2.0

OULAFUEL

325

300

313,678

101,715

300

MANAFAE

0.0

GNAHC

20,000

860

0.0

390

9,500

3,705

390

AMWAL

0.0

MUNTAZAHAT JAZEERA

MASAR

0.0

FUTUREKID

110

29,780

3,276

110

ALIMTIAZ

1,462,003

126,634

2.0

ALNAWADI

41,350 41 350

3,970 3 970

-6 6

MANAZEL

20,427,145 20 427 145

565 224 565,224

311

2 2.5 5

ALRAI

NIND

208

4,931,563

1,025,765

208

0.0

ZIMAH

UIC

79,209

6,970

-1.0

234

800

187

234

-10

BIIHC

41,034

2,303

3.0

0 3,978,924

0 956,632

0 59

0 926.91

ŷ Ÿ

0 1.65

SHOP SENERGY

0 67

0 64

0 1,013,500

0 66,131

0 29

0 64

ŷ ŷ

0.0 0.0

AGHC

0.0

690

680

838,709

578,624

690

ALSAFWA

0.0

2,100

2,080

56,507

118,235

2,080

KPPC

62,350

4,596

0.0

3,794,000 4,689,216

271,096 967,955

64 134

72 868.33

Ÿ Ÿ

1 3.66

TAHSSILAT JEERANH

39 0

2,051 0

79 0

2 0

39 0

ź ŷ

-1.5 0.0 0.0 0 0

SOOR

UFIG KOUTFOOD Consumer Services ZAIN NMTC

HITSTELEC 73 Telecommunications

EKHOLDING

290

2,175 2 175

631

290

NBK

1,040

1,020

735,315

760,031

1,020

GFH

44,111,100

1,611,897

414

2.5

GBK CBK

410 760

400 750

2,138,742 16,550

865,526 12,548

33 2

410 760

Ÿ ŷ

5 0

INOVEST Financial Services

3,998,500 113,338,505

199,405 5,878,361

62 1,805

50 864.93

Ÿ Ÿ

2.0 11.75

MAREF 0 Investment Instruments

0 0

0 0.00

ŷ ŷ

0.0 0.00 0.0

ALMUTAHED KIB

890 260

880 255

65,251 504,574

57,564 128,666

10 13

890 260

Ÿ ŷ

20 0

BURG

430

420

350,095

147,404

420

-5

KFIN

700

690

939,972

649,262

690

ASC

510

9,850

5,024

510

BOUBYAN

620

600

5,904,372

3,656,137

620

SAFTEC

0.0

UGB

164

160

38,247

6,203

164

FUTURE

212

2,000

424

212

-10.0

AUB ITHMR

168 36

164 34

2,500 2 500 9,724,849

418 341,350

2 187

168 36

Ÿ Ÿ

2 3

HAYATCOMM Technology

0 11,850

0 5,448

0 3

0 1138.65

ŷ ź

00 0.0 -9.63

20,420,467

6,625,109

453

949.94

11.65 BAREEQ

0.0

AFAQ

0.0

ALSHAMEL

0.0

ABK

Banks KINS

280

10,000

2,800

280

GINS

500

690

345

500

-10.0 10.0

AINS

0.0

SAFRE

0.0

WINS

0.0

AJWAN

6,500

211

0.5

KUWAITRE

0.0

SPEC

510

490

10,100

4,951

510

10.0

FTI

500

-4.0

MASAKEN

0.0

WETHAQ

1,000

-2.5

DALQAN

0.0

ARIG

00 0.0

ALEID

00 0.0

BKIKWT Insurance

0 12,190

0 3,234

0 5

0 939.22

ŷ ź

0.0 -12.64

MIDAN FLEX

0 58

0 500

0 29

0 3

0 58

ŷ Ÿ

0.0 5.0

AINV

SOKOUK KRE

0 50

0 49

0 1,141,167

0 55,872

0 33

0 50

ŷ Ÿ

0.0 0.5

THURAYA

0.0

KCLINIC

0.0

AMAR Parallel Market

0 17,100

0 5,191

0 8

0 974.70

ŷ Ÿ

0.0 11.54

For more information, call 1 80 42 42, www.globalinv.net

LIFE

tuesdAY, June 19, 2012

Expanding waistlines threaten planet: researchers

For nations with more than 100,000 people

Heaviest 10

FILE - Collectively, the adult human population weighed at 316 million tons (287 million metric tons) in 2005, researchers calculated. (Agencies)

Humans are 17 million tons overweight NEW YORK: Humanity is 17 million tons (15 million metric tons) overweight, according to a study that calculates the adult portion of the human race’s collective

weight at 316 million tons (287 million metric tons) reports LiveScience. That’s the equivalent of about 170 military aircraft carriers of extra weight. Or in people weight, it’s like having an extra 242 million people of average body mass on the planet. This is more than just an attempt to make the human race feel uncomfortable about its waistline; looking at the

US regains supercomputing crown as world’s fastest

NEWYORK: A US supercomputer has won back the crown in the never-ending battle for the world’s most powerful supercomputer according to LiveScience. Its victory is the latest milestone marking the steady climb of computing power all across the globe. The Top500 industry list gave its No. 1 ranking to the Sequoia supercomputer housed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California - a spot earned by Sequoia’s ability to crunch 16.32 quadrillion calculations per second (16.32 petaflops/s). Such supercomputing power is used by the US National Nuclear Security Administration to simulate nuclear weapons tests for older weapons that have been sitting in the US arsenal. “Computing platforms like Sequoia help the United States keep its nuclear stockpile safe, secure and effective without the need for underground testing,” said Thomas D’Agostino, NNSA administrator. Sequoia’s climb to the top gives the US its first No 1. supercomputer since November 2009. The Chinese Tianhe-1A supercomputer had seized the supercomputing crown in November 2010, but ranks No. 5 on this year’s list - a sign of how quickly the world’s supercomputing power has grown. The Sequoia victory also bumps Fujitsu’s “K Computer” down to second place. The Japanese supercomputer’s 10.51 petaflops/s had ruled the list for the past two years after beating out China’s Tianhe-1A. Two other US supercomputers joined Sequoia in taking three of the top 10 spots this year. The Mira supercomputer at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois took the No. 3 spot, and the upgraded Jaguar supercomputer (the former US champ) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee clocked in at No. 6. [Supercomputer ‘Titans’ Face Huge Energy Costs ] (Both Sequoia and Mira represent the third generation of IBM’s “Blue Gene” project designed to push supercomputing into the petaflop range.) European supercomputers also made a strong showing with German supercomputers taking fourth place and eighth place, an Italian supercomputer taking No. 7, and a French supercomputer ranking No. 9. China rounds out the top 10 with its second supercomputer on the list.

Real-time gene sequencing used to combat superbug LONDON: Scientists have used genome sequencing technology to control an outbreak of the superbug MRSA in a study that could point to faster and more efficient treatment of a range of diseases. The work adds to a burgeoning body of research into better techniques for diagnosing disease more quickly and at an earlier stage to allow more effective treatment and reduce healthcare costs. Much of this is being driven by whole genome sequencing, which has enabled scientists to identify the genetic markers for a range of afflictions. MRSA, or Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, is a drug-resistant bacterial infection, or superbug, and major public health problem. When outbreaks occur in hospitals it can lead to the closure of whole wards and lengthy investigations. The bug kills an estimated 19,000 people in the United States alone each year, and even when the infection is successfully treated it can double the average length of a hospital stay and thereby increase healthcare costs. A team of scientists from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, the University of Cambridge and genome sequencing company Illumina Inc, used samples from a 2009 MRSA outbreak in a hospital neo-natal intensive care ward to recreate and respond to it, as if in real time. They found that genome sequencing produced results in roughly 24 hours, using the latest technology from Illumina, gave much more detailed information. The researchers were able to identify the particular strain of MRSA causing the outbreak, and which strains were not, quickly enough to feed back into treatment and nip the outbreak in the bud faster than current clinical testing methods. “I think we are at the very beginning

of an explosion of evidence to support the use of whole genome sequencing in public health,” Sharon Peacock of Cambridge University, who led the study, told Reuters. Until recently, genetic analysis was more often done after outbreaks of MRSA and other infections to draw lessons for the future, but advances in sequencing have made the process much faster. Experts say current techniques for analyzing MRSA do not give such detailed data meaning they are a blunt tool for dealing with an outbreak. “Quick action is essential to control a suspected outbreak, but it is of equal importance to identify unrelated strains to prevent unnecessary ward closures and other disruptive control measures,” said Julian Parkhill, who worked on the study at the Sanger Institute. The researchers say this kind of fast genome sequencing could eventually form the basis for a regional or national infection surveillance program designed to head off MRSA outbreaks before they happen. It could also be used for outbreaks of food-borne infections like salmonella or E.coli. Genome sequencing was used in an E.coli outbreak in Europe in 2011 but only in the latter stages to help identify the source. But there are a number of hurdles before the new technique becomes a routine part of monitoring in hospitals. Peacock says the next stage is to develop software that interprets the data in a way doctors can both understand and use in a hospital. She also points out that while the study indicates this kind of sequencing is cheaper than existing, less detailed, tests, there will also need to be rigorous cost-benefit analysis. -Reuters

Lightest 10

1. United States

1. North Korea

2. Kuwait

2. Cambodia

3. Croatia

3. Burundi

4. Qatar

4. Nepal

5. Egypt

5. Democ. Rep. of the Congo

6. United Arab Emirates

6. Bangladesh

7. Trinidad and Tobago

7. Sri Lanka

8. Argentina

8. Ethiopia

9. Greece

9. Vietnam

10. Bahrain

10. Eritrea

collective mass of humanity can improve understanding of the effects of population growth, contends a team of European researchers. “[United Nations] world population projections suggest that by 2050 there could be an additional 2.3 billion people,” they write in research published online in the journal BMC Public Health. “The ecological implications of rising population numbers will be exacerbated by increases in average body mass.” The argument is simple. More body mass takes more energy to maintain and move; therefore as someone’s weight goes up, so do the calories they need to exist. This means increases in population counts don’t tell the whole story when it comes to demand for resources, according to the authors. “Although the largest increase in population numbers is expected in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, our results suggest that population increases in the USA will carry more weight than would be implied by numbers alone,” they write. The United States ranked at the top of the “Heaviest 10” category, while the “Lightest 10” list is composed entirely of African and Asian nations. For example, North

America has 6 percent of the world population but 34 percent of biomass due to obesity. Meanwhile, Asia has 61 percent of the world population but just 13 percent of biomass due to obesity. Using data from around the world for 2005, researchers used body mass indexes (BMI, or a measure of body fatness) and height distributions to estimate average adult body mass. They then multiplied these results by population size to get a total mass, referred to as biomass. They evaluated body mass using BMI thresholds of greater than 25 for overweight and greater than 30 for obese. The collective mass of the adult population in 2005 due to obesity was 3.9 million tons (3.5 million metric tons), they calculated. Globally, average body mass globally for an individual was calculated at 137 pounds (62 kilograms). “Our scenarios suggest that global trends of increasing body mass will have important resource implications and that unchecked, increasing BMI could have the same implications for world energy requirements as an extra 473 million people,” they write. “Tackling population fatness may be critical to world food security and ecological sustainability.”

CEOs urge Rio+20 leaders to make water security top priority PARIS: Some 45 corporate chiefs attending the Rio+20 conference on sustainable development on Monday pledged to make water security a strategic priority and called for decisive action by governments. Speaking on behalf of the 45 CEOs, Igal Aisenberg, chief executive of Israel’s Netafim microirrigation company, urged concerted action by governments, the private sector, civil society and others “to tackle the global crisis in water access, quality and sanitation.” Committing to water sustainability were chiefs of global companies such as Pepsico, Coca Cola, Nestle, Saint-Gobain, Royal Dutch Shell, Akzo Nobel, Bayer, Heineken and Pernod Ricard. All have endorsed the UN Global Compact’s

CEO Water Mandate initiative launched by UN chief Ban Ki-moon in 2007. In a statement addressed to the Rio+20 leaders due to debate sustainable development here from Wednesday to Friday, the 45 executives urged them “to take decisive actions during and after this summit on one of our world’s great challenges -- water.” “Problems related to water availability, quality and sanitation are undermining development in many regions of the world - exacting an enormous human cost while also undermining critical life-giving ecosystems,” they said. Roughly 800 million people around the world lack access to safe drinking water, and 2.5 billion lack basic sanitation,” according to the United Nations.

The UN also estimates that two thirds of the world’s seven-billion-strong population will face water scarcity by 2025. Adrian Sym, executive director as the Alliance for Water Stewardship, hailed the CEOs statement “as an act of leadership by the private sector”. “The problems are so vast that governments alone cannot solve them,” he added, stressing that cross-sectorial leadership was a critical piece in solving the problem. Robert ter Kuile, a senior executive at Pepsico, said water was critical to “our entire value chain” and reaffirmed his company’s goal of “a 20 percent reduction (in water usage) per unit of production in (its) operations by 2015.” -AFP

Global research centre on ocean acid launched PARIS: The UN nuclear agency announced on Monday the creation of a new centre in Monaco to help coordinate international efforts to research and combat the serious environmental problem of ocean acidification.“During the past five years, numerous multinational and national research projects on ocean acidification have emerged and significant research advances have been made,” the International Atomic Energy Agency said, “The time is now ripe to provide international

coordination to gain the greatest value from national efforts and research investments,” said Daud bin Mohamad, IAEA Deputy Director General for Nuclear Sciences and Applications. The growing amounts of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere through human activity are being absorbed in the planet’s oceans, increasing their acidity. According to experts, ocean acidification may render most regions of the ocean inhospitable to

coral reefs by 2050 if atmospheric carbon dioxide levels continue to increase, the IAEA said. This could lead to substantial changes in commercial fish stocks, threatening food security for millions of people as well as the multi-billion-dollar fishing industry, it added. The new centre, due to be opened this summer, will be overseen by national and international bodies including the UN Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission and leading scientists and economists in the field. -AFP

Aboriginal rock art is 28,000 years old PARIS: Aboriginal rock art found in remote Australia has been dated at 28,000 years old, experts said Monday, prompting new speculation that indigenous communities were among the world’s most advanced. Archaeologists picked up the fragment in inaccessible wilderness in Arnhem Land in the country’s north a year ago, and recent carbon dating of its charcoal drawing has placed it among some of the oldest art on the planet. “One of the things that makes this little fragment of art unique is that it is drawn in charcoal... which means we could directly date it,” said Bryce Barker, who found and first analyzed the granite rock. Barker said given it was one of the oldest known pieces of rock art on earth, it showed that Aboriginal people were responsible for some of the earliest examples. Barker said the find ranks among rock art sites such as France’s Chauvet caves dated at older than 30,000 years and caves in northern Spain now thought to be 40,000 years old. “The fact remains that any rock art that is older than 20,000 years is very unique around the world,” said Barker, a professor at the University of Southern Queensland. “So it makes this amongst some of the oldest art in the world. “And we’re convinced that we’ll find older and the reason is that the site this comes from, we know that Aboriginal people started using this site 45,000 years ago.” The find was made at a massive rock shelter named Narwala Gabarnmang, which is covered on its ceiling and pillars with rock art, and only accessible by a 90 minute helicopter journey from the outback town of Katherine. Archaeologists were first taken to the site five years ago by its Aboriginal custodians, the Jawoyn, who wanted to preserve the art and at the same time

FILE - A remote Aboriginal rock art site in Arnhem land in Australia’s Northern Territory where a fragment of charcoal rock art firmly dated to 28,000 years old has been found. (AFP)

unlock some of the secrets of its history. “We’ve only excavated a tiny fraction of the site and we expect there will be art older than 28,000 years in the site,” Barker said. He added that the fragment, which likely fell from the rock’s ceiling shortly after it was drawn and there-

fore preserved in the soil, could have been part of a human figure drawn in action, such as throwing a spear. Aboriginal rock art is dotted throughout the vast nation, much of it undocumented, and some have speculated that the images could date back 45,000 years. -AFP

ALWATAN DAILY

CULTURE

tuesday, JUNE 19, 2012

Vatican official blames media, the devil for scandal VATICAN CITY: The Vatican’s number 2 accused the media on Monday of trying “to imitate Dan Brown” in their coverage of the VatiLeaks scandal and said the Roman Catholic Church’s latest travails were part of the Devil’s attempt to destabilize it. The interview with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who ranks second only to Pope Benedict in the Vatican’s hierarchy, was the latest attempt at damage control by senior Vatican officials since the leaks scandal began in January. In a rare interview with the Italian Catholic magazine Famiglia Cristiana, Bertone, the Vatican’s secretary of state, accused the media of “intentionally ignoring” the good things the Church does while dwelling on scandals. “Many journalists are playing the game of trying to imitate Dan Brown,” said Bertone, referring to the bestselling author of novels such as “The Da Vinci Code” and “Angels and Demons”. “They (journalists) continue to invent fairytales and repeat legends,” he said. The scandal involves the leak of sensitive documents, including letters written to Pope Benedict whose butler, Paolo Gabriel, was arrested last month after a large number of stolen documents were found in his home. Bertone said the media were full of “pettiness and lies spread in these days,” adding that “outside Italy people have a hard time trying to understand the vehemence of some Italian newspapers”. He said the Church was “an unequivocal reference point for countless people and institutions around the world” and added: “This is why there is an attempt to destabilize it”. Bertone branded as false the image of the Vatican as a place of intrigue and power struggles, saying: “The truth is that there is an attempt to sow division that comes from the Devil”. At a briefing with the Vatican’s chief spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, an Italian reporter contested

In this image released by the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, Pope Benedict XVI, (center), poses, Monday, June 11, 2012, during a private audience at the Vatican with a group of prelates preparing to serve the Holy See abroad in diplomatic posts. (AP)

Bertone’s portrayal of the media, telling him that the leaks scandal started with a letter in which an archbishop complained to the pope about corruption in the Vatican.

Several leaked documents allege corruption in the Vatican’s business dealings with Italian companies that were paid inflated prices for work in the Vatican, rivalries among cardinals, and clashes over the management

of the Vatican bank. Lombardi said that while he did not want to make “generalized condemnations”, he believed that some of the coverage of the Vatican was “not founded on objectivity”. Earlier this month Lombardi acknowledged that it would take time to restore trust within the walls of the Vatican and to heal the damage to the Church’s reputation caused by the leaks scandal and the subsequent arrest of the pope’s butler. Gabriele was arrested on May 23 and has been interrogated several times by a Vatican magistrate who must decide whether he should stand trial on charges of aggravated theft. Bertone said no cardinals were suspected of involvement in the leaks scandal. He also denied allegations by Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, the former head of the Vatican bank, that he was ousted because he wanted the bank, officially known as the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR), to be more transparent. Bertone repeated the Vatican’s position that Gotti Tedeschi left after a no-confidence vote by the bank’s board because he was a divisive and inefficient manager. Next month, MONEYVAL, the Council of Europe’s monitoring mechanism on money laundering and terrorism financing, will discuss a draft report on whether the Vatican, a sovereign city state surrounded by Rome, is complying with international standards. The MONEYVAL rating and recommendations are used by other organizations, such as the OECD, which refers to it when deciding whether to place states on its so-called white list - a clean bill of health which could help the Vatican move on from a spate of scandals over the last 30 years. Bertone said the bank had been much maligned and that its board was working “to recover the esteem it deserves at the international level” -Reuters

Mistress tells her side ‘Diet or quit’ Pakistan tells pot-bellied police of John Edwards’ affair in book

A Pakistani policeman walks along a street in Islamabad on June 18, 2012. (AFP)

PARIS: A Pakistan police commander has ordered tens of thousands of pot-bellied officers to diet or quit frontline duties, officials said Monday in what one newspaper dubbed the “battle of the bulge”. Habibur Rehman, police chief in Pakistan’s most populous province Punjab, has ordered 175,000 personnel not to allow their waistlines to exceed 38 inches (96 cm), spokeswoman Nabila Ghazanfar told AFP. “I’m on a diet and if I can do it, why can’t you?” she quoted Rehman as telling officials last month in the province.At least 50 percent of Punjab police are overweight, Ghazanfar said. Local daily The News said the number overweight officers in the city of Rawalpindi, the headquarters of the army that has been hit by numerous Taliban attacks, stood at more than 77 percent, adding that “policemen appear to be losing the battle of the bulge”. Police said officers had been given until June 30 to shape up and those deemed too fat from July 1 would not be given jobs in the field. “Police officials are joining gyms, jogging and doing other exercise, including a lot of running to become thin and slim,” Ghazanfar said.

Overweight officers are ineffective and “cannot chase bandits, robbers and other criminals properly”, she added, blaming the problem on under-staffing. “We have a shortage of personnel, what can you expect when one official is doing the job of six people? They don’t get time for physical fitness,” she told AFP. Another official who did not wish to be named said 100 stations were initially singled out for the exercise order, but Rehman later decided to send warning letters to the entire Punjab police force. He said the chief believed people only had pot bellies “if they commit a sin or if they are sick”. “It is my guess that the department will assess progress and if necessary the deadline may be extended,” a senior official said, requesting anonymity. The Pakistani diet is rich in meat, oil and ghee. The country is ranked 165 of 194 on the Forbes list of fattest countries, with 22.2 percent of the population considered overweight despite immense poverty faced by millions in the country. Local reports have put the figure at 25 percent. -AFP

Steel stilettos take over Versailles Hall of Mirrors PARIS: Visitors to France’s Palace of Versailles on Monday were greeted by the unusual sight of a giant pair of stainless steel stilettos as they walked into the celebrated Hall of Mirrors. The installation was put together using saucepans of different sizes by Portuguese sculptor Joana Vasconcelos who became the latest in a series of contemporary artists to have their works exhibited at the chateau. Over a dozen sculptures, many composed of everyday objects, were on display in the grand staterooms and grounds of the palace, once home to the kings and queens of France. Vasconcelos said that in putting together the exhibition she tried both to challenge and to work with the grandeur of the surroundings. “My goal was to be part of it naturally. To use contemporary speech, contemporary textiles and materials of today, but at the same time incorporate the surroundings,” she said. A hot pink helicopter made of ostrich feathers and Swarovski crystals was on display in a room dedicated to King LouisPhilippe, whilst a work sculpted using wood, brass and wigs sat in the corner of Marie Antoinette’s elegant bedchamber. Vasconcelos believed that France’s doomed Queen had an eye for luxury and creativity and so she would have appreciated the works now exhibited in her home. But she said this exhibition was not just for Marie Antoinette, but for all of the women who once lived and

worked in the palace. An artist whose works often consider women and contemporary femininity, Vasconcelos used household objects and fabrics to create large works which dominated the already overbearing surroundings. In the vast Battle Gallery, home to paintings depicting French military victories, hung three textile installations, the soft edges appearing to challenge the images of guns and spears which surrounded them. Vasconcelos said she believed there is a place for such modern works even in this historic setting. “As an artist, I felt we needed to bring more contemporary art here to show that Versailles is alive, and that it is a place which can talk about contemporary issues, not just past ones. That works can exist here and that people can to a certain extent still belong to Versailles today,” she said. The palace’s gardens too were home to her creations with a teapot and a pair of blue glass towers installed in the perfectly manicured surroundings. At the age of 41, Vasconcelos became the youngest contemporary artist and the first woman to have her work on display at Versailles, following in the footsteps of Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami, Xavier Veilhan and Bernar Venet. The exhibition runs until the end of September. -Reuters

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina: Rielle Hunter, John Edwards’ former mistress, writes in her new book that the two-time presidential candidate told her he had at least two previous affairs and also fabricated three other relationships so she would not become too attached, ABC News reported. Hunter’s book, “What Really Happened: John Edwards, Our Daughter, and Me,” is set to be released on June 26. It follows Edwards’ federal trial in North Carolina, which ended in May with an acquittal on one campaign finance charge and a mistrial on five others after the jury deadlocked. The Justice Department announced last week that it would not re-try the former US senator. Edwards, 59, was accused of seeking more than $900,000 from two wealthy supporters to conceal Hunter and her pregnancy with his child from voters during his unsuccessful bid to win the Democratic presidential nomination four years ago. At the time, Edwards’ wife, Elizabeth, was battling cancer. She died in December 2010. ABC News said it had obtained a copy of Hunter’s book, in which she defends John Edwards’ innocence in the criminal case while also revealing that he had affairs with at least two other women prior to 2004. Hunter said Edwards made up three additional mistresses - supposedly in Chicago, Los Angeles and Florida - during the early part of their relationship, which began after they met at a New York City hotel in February 2006, because he did not want Hunter to become too attached to him. She said Edwards told her he had broken up with the fake mistresses before conceding that he had fabricated them. Hunter wrote that Edwards confessed to having the other affairs but that he led

FILE - Former US Senator John Edwards exits the courthouse with daughter, Cate Edwards (left) after the jury reached a verdict at the federal courthouse in Greensboro, North Carolina May 31, 2012. (Reuters)

her to believe that she was the last. Hunter blames Elizabeth Edwards for driving John Edwards to cheat. She describes Elizabeth Edwards in unflattering terms, calling her “crazy,” “venomous,” and a “witch on wheels.” Hunter said she regretted allowing John Edwards’ political aide, Andrew Young, to publicly claim paternity for the daughter Edwards had fathered. “Of all the things that happened in my relationship with Johnny the thing that I regret the most is going along with this stupid idea and allowing this lie to go public,” Hunter wrote, according to ABC News. Edwards eventually admitted the child was his. Hunter later sued Young over ownership of a video of her having sex with

Edwards, which in her book she says she filmed at Edwards’ request while traveling with him in Uganda. Hunter said she wrote the book to provide her now 4-year-old daughter, Frances Quinn, with a truthful public account of “how she came into the world.” She writes that Edwards is involved in their daughter’s life but does not shed much light on the current status of their relationship. “I really have no idea what will happen with us,” she wrote, according to ABC News. “The jury is still out. But I can honestly say that the ending is of no concern to me anymore. The love is here. And as sappy as it may sound, I love living in love.” -Reuters

Route 66 still holds allure for travelers, industry CARTHAGE, Missouri: Route 66 hasn’t been a real highway for almost three decades.

The last section of the fabled US route from Chicago to Santa Monica, California, was dropped as a federal highway in 1984. But its hold on travelers’ imaginations has revived motels, diners, souvenir shops, gas stations and other buildings along the old route. The enduring fascination, along with some federal grants, has helped Route 66 thrive, even as people old enough to remember its heyday die off. “People are looking to see the real America, not Walt Disney’s version,” said Ron Hart, director and founder of the Route 66 Chamber of Commerce in Carthage, Missouri. A Rutgers University study released in March estimated that people spend $132 million annually along old Route 66, which crosses eight states and is marked in some places by ceremonial signs. Visitors encounter attractions like the Boots Motel, which Hart, as property manager, restored to its late 1940s glory ahead of its re-opening last month. Built in 1939 and once visited by actor Clark Gable and singer Gene Autry, the Boots had fallen into disrepair and

become a flophouse for drug addicts and illegal immigrants, Hart said. Under its new owners, five rooms have been renovated and more are set to be redone. Guests are treated to touches like real keys, chrome light fixtures, chenille bedspreads, monogrammed towels, built-in dressers and an old radio tuned to a station that plays 1940s hits. No TVs in the rooms - just a non-working late 1940s model in the lobby. If you want ice, the staff brings it to your room. “We sit in front of the motel every night and wave to the people driving by,” said Deborah Harvey, a historic preservationist and co-owner of the Boots. “People stop, pull up a chair and tell us their stories about the motel.” Route 66 was completed in the mid1920s and gained fame in the 1930s when it was described in the John Steinbeck novel “The Grapes of Wrath” as the “mother road” from the Dust Bowl to the promise of California. It later became the family vacation route to the Southwest and was romanticized in movies, music and on television. “It wasn’t the only highway, or the first or the longest, but through the quirks of pop culture it became famous,” said Mark Spangler, curator of

the Route 66 Museum in Lebanon, Missouri. Tough Navigation

The biggest challenge to modernday Route 66 travelers is staying on the original route, said David Knudson, founder and executive director of the non-profit National Historic Route 66 Federation. Signs are inconsistent along the long route and many are stolen for souvenirs, he said. “It’s hard to follow without a good map,” said Knudson, whose group publishes a Route 66 map and guides. “Some parts of the road have deteriorated, some are in good shape and some parts were removed years ago and replaced with cornfields. About 80 percent of the original route is still drivable.” The route includes quirky sights like the Cadillac Ranch near Amarillo, Texas, which features a series of halfburied Cadillacs with their fins up. In Catoosa, Oklahoma, there is a giant open-mouthed whale built over a popular Route 66 swimming hole. People also travel Route 66 for the scenery of plains, mountains and rivers, Knudson said. It is still the American definition of the open road, especially as it passes through the remote southwestern states, he said. -Reuters

ALWATAN DAILY

ENTERTAINMENT

Song Of The Day

Fahad AlSabah Staff Writer

Song: Oceans Artist: Evanescence Album: Evanescence Genre: Rock In short: Evanescence’s latest record was released eponymously because the band’s leading vocalist, Amy Lee, had fired all other members of the band and replaced them with people who got her vision and did not slack. The album was seen as a return to their roots because it ditches all gimmicks and focuses on great melodies and detailed productions. “Oceans” is one of the songs that stood out upon first listen, and only got better with each play. To listen to the song visit www.alwatandaily.com E-mail your feedback to falsabah@alwatandaily.com

The Buzz Cheryl Cole shoots to top of UK charts Singer and reality TV judge Cheryl Cole sped to the top of the British charts with her single “Call My Name” in its first week on release, the Official Charts Company said on Sunday. The dance number, written and produced by Scottish DJ Calvin Harris, and taken from her new album “A Million Lights”, sold 152,000 copies, making it the fastest selling single so far of 2012. Cole’s success pushed to third place last week’s chart-topper “Sing”, a patriotic anthem marking Queen Elizabeth’s 60-year reign. The track, written by Take That frontman Gary Barlow and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, was recorded by Barlow’s Commonwealth Band and was given a public performance at a concert outside Buckingham Palace during official jubilee celebrations this month. Barlow, who received an Order of the British Empire (OBE) award in the queen’s birthday honors, scored a third week at the top of the rankings with an album of patriotic tunes, including “Sing” and the British national anthem “God Save the Queen”. -Reuters

Mirren, Sarandon top prize roster at Karlovy Vary festival Oscar-winning actresses Helen Mirren and Susan Sarandon are to receive prizes at the Czech Republic’’s 47th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival starting June 29, organizers said Monday. “Helen Mirren will open the festival and Susan Sarandon will close it,” festival president Jiri Bartoska told reporters. Briton Mirren, who won an Oscar for her role of Queen Elizabeth in “The Queen” (2006), and US actress Sarandon, who won the Academy Award for “Dead Man Walking” (1995), will receive the Crystal Globe award for an extraordinary contribution to world cinematography. “They are not only famous and popular actresses, but they are also highly valued by critics,” Bartoska added. Featuring 217 films -- including four world and eight international premieres -- the festival in the western Czech spa city of Karlovy Vary about 120 kilometers (75 miles) west of Prague runs from June 29 to July 7. -AFP

Actress Meagan Good marries DeVon Franklin “Jumping the Broom” actress Meagan Good is officially a married woman, reports US Weekly. The 30-year-old beauty, who appears on Showtime’s “Californication,” walked down the aisle Saturday with DeVon Franklin in Malibu, Calif., her rep confirms to Us Weekly. Good was a “gorgeous bride,” a source tells Us. “[It was] an enchanting wedding.” Franklin, 33, an executive at Sony Pictures Entertainment who moonlights as a 7th Day Adventist preacher, proposed to his love last March in Los Angeles. Two months after getting engaged, Good opened up to Complex magazine about the qualities she looks for in her perfect mate. “It would take someone who is spiritual and loves God. Someone who respects my mind and what I have to offer besides my physical appearance,” she told the magazine. “Someone who actually loves other people and is connected to my destiny. This person has to be walking down the same path as I and want the same thing out of life.” Good and Franklin first met six years ago when discussing a film project.

Former TV writer fatally punches poodle in face Police say a former television screenwriter was arrested after punching his poodle in the face so hard that it died of a brain injury.The New York Post reports Sunday that 51-year-old Ted Shuttleworth was arrested Saturday at his home in Queens. The Post says Shuttleworth punched his dog on May 29 because he was angry with the animal. The dog weighed about four pounds. A spokesman for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says the dog sustained a traumatic brain injury. The newspaper reports Shuttleworth is a former TV writer who once worked for “NYPD Blue.” He could face up to a year in prison. His wife tells the newspaper that the dog’s death was a “horrible accident.” -AP

NYC club where Chris Brown, Drake fought is closed Police have shut down a New York City nightclub where singer Chris Brown and rapper Drake’s entourage got into a bottle-throwing brawl. A New York Police Department spokeswoman says the club W.i.P in the city’s SoHo neighborhood was closed Saturday night because of code violations. The NYPD gave no details on the violations. Chris Brown, his girlfriend and his bodyguard were among eight injured during the fight inside the club last week. Police say members of Drake’s entourage stopped Brown as he was leaving. The fight escalated and bottles were thrown. -AP

TUESday, JUNE 19, 2012

Suu Kyi walks on with U2’s ‘star-struck’ Bono OSLO, Norway: Aung San Suu Kyi and Bono joined forces Monday as the Myanmar democracy activist’s European tour moved from the home of the Nobel Peace Prize to the land of U2. The pair spent more than an hour answering questions at an Oslo conference of peace mediators at the end of Suu Kyi’s four-day visit to Norway. Then they jetted together to the Irish capital, Dublin, for an evening concert in her honor. Bono, who wrote the 2000 hit “Walk On” in praise of Suu Kyi’s long exile from her family and dedicated U2’s 2009 world tour to her, had never met her before. He admitted he found her a wee bit intimidating. Suu Kyi, in turn, said Bono had hit the right note with “Walk On,” which was written from the point of view of her husband Michael Aris, who was not permitted to see his wife from 1995 to his death from cancer in 1999. “I like that song, because it’s very close to how I feel, that it’s up to you to carry on,” said Suu Kyi, who turns 67 on Tuesday. “It’s good if you have supporters, it’s good if you have people who are sympathetic and understanding. But in the end, it’s your own two legs that have to carry you on.” In Norway, Suu Kyi gave two acceptance speeches for awards she received long ago the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 and the Rafto Prize in 1990 - and is set to embrace more time-delayed honors in Dublin. At a celebrity-studded concert, Bono is scheduled to unveil Amnesty International’s top prize, the Ambassador of Conscience, an award for Suu Kyi that the singer announced at a Dublin U2 concert in 2009. Suu Kyi was

Myanmar’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi (left) poses for a picture with singer Bono of the band U2 at the opening session of the Oslo Forum in Norway June 18, 2012. (Reuters)

finally released from house arrest the following year. Also at the Dublin concert Suu Kyi is to receive an honorary doctorate from Trinity College Dublin. And afterward at an outdoor ceremony, she’s to sign the roll of honor proclaiming her a Freeman of Dublin, an honorific title bestowed in her absence in 2000. Amnesty officials also plan to give her a birthday cake and lead the crowd in a chorus

of “Harry Birthday.” Bono said Suu Kyi was exceptionally philosophical and spiritual for a politician. And he expressed admiration over how she had stuck to a position of nonviolence throughout her 15 years in detention. “It’s really her nonviolent position that I find so impressive, because perhaps I find it hard to fathom,” he said, adding: “ I think she

Ozzy Osbourne son diagnosed with multiple sclerosis: Report LOS ANGELES: Reality television star Jack Osbourne, son of rocker Ozzy Osbourne and “America’s Got Talent” judge Sharon Osbourne, has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, celebrity magazine People reported on Sunday. Osbourne, 26, who welcomed daughter Pearl with his fianc Lisa Stelly in April, was given the news of his diagnosis two weeks after his daughter’s birth. “I was just angry and frustrated and kept thinking, ‘Why now?’” Osbourne told People. “I’ve got a family and that’s what’s supposed to be the most important thing.” Multiple Sclerosis is an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system - the brain and spinal cord -- and can affect muscle control, strength, vision, balance, thinking and feeling. Osbourne, the youngest of Ozzy and Sharon’s three children, shot to fame as the rebellious teenager alongside his sister Kelly in the MTV reality TV show “The Osbournes” in 2002, a fly-on-thewall series following Ozzy and his family on their day-to-day lives. The young star, who has been in re-

FILE - Director Jack Osbourne and his sister Kelly pose at a private preview of the documentary “God Bless Ozzy Osbourne” at the Arclight Cinerama Dome in Hollywood, California Aug. 22, 2011. (Reuters)

hab for drug abuse in the past, cleaned up his act and starred in his own show in 2005, “Jack Osbourne: Adrenaline

Junkie,” which saw Osbourne undertaking various extreme sports around the world. -Reuters

Idol winner to make comeback in DC WASHINGTON: America will get to hear from its newest “American Idol” Phillip Phillips as he makes a comeback performance following kidney surgery at this year’s July Fourth celebration on the National Mall. In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press ahead of Monday’s announcement, the 21-year-old from Leesburg, Ga., said he’s ready to perform after focusing on recovering from a serious kidney surgery since the “Idol” finale in May. “I’m getting better each day, so that’s a good thing. I’m just walking around, getting my strength back together,” he said by phone from Los Angeles. “It was tough, you know, those first few days, but I’m getting to where I can pick the guitar back up and write a little bit.” Phillips has revealed he was in crippling pain from a kidney blockage that made it hard to stand at times during parts

of the “Idol” season and was undergoing a series of surgeries during breaks in the competition. His right kidney wasn’t functioning properly, he said, but it didn’t require a transplant. His travels to California and soon to Washington are the farthest Phillips has ever traveled from his Georgia home, he said. The singer’s best memories from “Idol” are the friendships he made, which he hadn’t expected, he said. And being on stage for the first time is something he’ll never forget. “You know, I was so scared to death and, in the end, not knowing if I was going to puke before I went on stage,” he said. “It was just terrifying. I get terrified every time, but that was just huge.” In Washington, Phillips will perform his hit single “Home” for an expected audience of more than 300,000 from the lawn of the US Capitol before the annual

fireworks. The show is broadcast live on PBS and NPR. Phillips will join Matthew Broderick, country singer Josh Turner, “Smash” star Megan Hilty, composer John Williams, US Olympic athletes and others at the concert, along with the National Symphony Orchestra. “It’s probably the biggest thing I’ve ever done besides ‘American Idol,’” he said. “I’m just excited to get out there and do my first real live performance since everything that’s been going on.” While in the nation’s capital, he won’t have much time to look around, but he can always come back to play tourist. Soon he’ll be starting the “American Idol” tour and heading into the recording studio to turn out an album as quickly as possible. “It’s going to be a busy, busy summer,” he said. -AP

Blondie, Devo tap into 1980s nostalgia for upcoming tour LOS ANGELES: Blondie and Devo, two pioneering bands of new wave music played different styles during their heyday, but more than three decades later, they’ve found common ground for an upcoming US tour that vibrates with 1980s nostalgia. Blondie, formed by Deborah Harry, guitarist Chris Stein and drummer Clem Burke in 1975, came up through the ranks of New York City’s punk rock scene in the late 1970s, breaking into mainstream pop with their album “Parallel Lines.” Devo, formed in 1972 by brothers Mark and Bob Mothersbaugh and named for their concept that people of Earth were in a stage of “de-evolution,”

gained a loyal following with their wild costumes and high-energy music epitomized by the 1980 hit “Whip It.” The pair plan to “Whip It to Shreds” - the name of their brief US tour of 13 cities starting September 7. “It seemed like a nice, complimentary fit because it takes us back all the way to the very beginning,” Devo singer Mark Mothersbaugh told Reuters as tickets went on sale last Friday. Harry, the lead singer of Blondie, echoed Mothersbaugh’s sentiments, adding that their music may resonate even deeper with today’s audience - both young and old. “I’ve always really loved their songs and their music and their crazy style,”

Harry said about Devo. “Back in the day, it was very fresh and advanced. I think it’s more contemporary today than it was back then.” While audiences at Blondie shows often expect to hear the big hits - the band has sold over 40 million records worldwide - Harry said her favorite songs to perform are from the band’s lesserknown albums, like “Cautious Lip” and “Bermuda Triangle Blues” from 1978’s “Plastic Letters.” She maintains Blondie’s live shows will be “straight ahead rock ‘n’ roll,” but the band will incorporate some new elements such as visual projections and a “technical look on stage” for their tour with Devo. -Reuters

will be remembered for that kind of spiritual insight really, as much as the sort of nittygritty of her politics, because she’s a tough customer, too.” Suu Kyi spent much of her final hours in Oslo focused on that nitty-gritty: the challenge of coaxing Myanmar’s military-controlled government toward democracy without alienating militants from warring ethnic groups who demand immediate change. Her party, the National League for Democracy, won elections in 1990 only to see the result annulled; boycotted the next elections in 2010; and today has just entered Myanmar’s legislature as a small opposition force. Changing the country’s laws of government requires more than 75 percent support in the legislature - and army members represent a blocking 25 percent of votes. Earlier, she told the audience of international conflict mediators that building unity among Myanmar’s many warring ethnic groups meant she must remain open to talking with those still committed to violence. Suu Kyi said she wouldn’t “disinherit or disown” militant groups based along Myanmar’s borders in Thailand and Bangladesh “because we share the same goals” of creating a proper democracy that respects minority rights in Myanmar. Nor, she said, could she promise them that such goals could be achieved without violent rebellion - but they had both a moral and practical obligation to try. She said her National League for Democracy could “not let go of our conviction that change could be brought about through peaceful means, and in the long run that would be better. -AP

Radiohead drum technician killed in stage collapse TORONTO: Investigators combed through the wreckage of a Toronto stage Sunday to determine what caused the structure to come crashing down ahead of a Radiohead concert, killing the band’s drum technician and injuring three other crew members. The British band said it was devastated over the death of Scott Johnson, a UK citizen in his 30s who was trapped under the rubble and pronounced dead at the scene. “We have all been shattered by the loss of Scott Johnson, our friend and colleague. He was a lovely man, always positive, supportive and funny; a highly skilled and valued member of our great road crew,” the band said on its website. “We will miss him very much. Our thoughts and love are with Scott’s family and all those close to him.” Toronto Police spokesman Tony Vella said a 45-year-old man hospitalized with a head injury was improving and his life was not in danger. The other two crew members were treated at the scene. Officials from the Ontario Ministry of Labor searched through the wreckage for clues to the cause of the collapse Saturday in Downsview Park. They were also investigating whether safety regulations and standards were followed and if staff were properly trained. Ministry spokesman Matt Blajer said the massive structure is “still fairly unstable” and work is under way to make it safe. He said the investigation is “fairly complex” and it could take some time to figure out exactly what happened. Blajer said they have three inspectors and two engineers going through the wreckage. They were provided with engineer drawings. Vella said criminal charges could result but added that it’s early in the investigation. Live Nation, the company that organized the concert, did not immediately return calls seeking comment Sunday. Radiohead’s website had listed the concert as being sold out, with 40,000 tickets sold. The band said fans could get refunds for the cancelled show at points of purchase. Police said the park wasn’t full when the collapse occurred at about 4 p.m. but there was a considerable crowd already waiting for the show amid sunny skies. Mike Kensey, 26, said he arrived at the venue hours early to get a spot close the stage and see the opening act by Canadian band Caribou. “It was like fireworks went off and then boom, the stage just crumbled to the ground in a matter of seconds,” he said. “I had never really seen anything like it.” Many of the disappointed fans headed instead to Yonge-Dundas Square in downtown Toronto, where “Spinner Magazine” was hosting a free concert headlined by the Flaming Lips as part of the weeklong North by Northeast musical festival. Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne paid tribute to Radiohead throughout the show, including performing a cover of Radiohead’s “Knives Out,” which he introduced saying “peace be with their hearts tonight.” “This has been a pretty powerful day. This goes out to the Radiohead family,” he said. -AP

ALWATAN DAILY

SPORTS

TUESDAY, june 19, 2012

Basketball

Heat walk the line to edge ahead of Thunder MIAMI: Miami’s dominance from the free-throw line proved strong enough to quell the Oklahoma City Thunder in a fierce fourth-quarter battle as the Heat claimed a 91-85 Game Three victory on Sunday and a 2-1 series lead in the NBA Finals. The Heat outscored the Thunder 31-15 from the line, making all but four of their attempts as they cashed in on opportunities won with their relentless attacks on the rim, while Oklahoma City made just 15-of-24 from the charity stripe. “This is competition at its highest,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters. “We kept on mentioning that in the fourth quarter. That’s what this is about. We’re facing great competition. We showed some resolve there in the second half.” LeBron James, who led the scoring with 29 bruising points, drained one of his two free throws with 16.2 seconds on the clock to give Miami a four-point lead. After Oklahoma City defensive wizard Thabo Sefolosha threw away an inbounds pass, Dwyane Wade sank two more free throws to cap the victory. “That was a very intense playoff game,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. “They made some plays down the stretch and we didn’t. “We led the league in free-throw shooting percentage, but we missed some tonight and turned the ball over in the second half too many times,” he added in reference to Oklahoma City’s seven turnovers after the intermission. Oklahoma City built a 10-point lead in the third quarter crowned by a four-point play by veteran guard Derek Fisher, who was fouled as he sank a three-point shot in boosting the Thunder to a 64-54 lead after trailing 47-46 at the half. Miami closed the gap with the help of back-to-back fouls by the Thunder on three-point shots that gave the Heat six free throws on their way to a 15-3 run to close the third quarter as Durant sat on the bench with four fouls. Both teams played ferocious defense down the stretch,

and the Heat had to overcome eight turnovers in the fourth quarter to retain home-court advantage. The next two games in the best-of-seven series are in Miami, giving the Eastern Conference champions a chance to claim the NBA crown with a pair of home victories. James, the NBA’s Most Valuable Player, said it was hard to get good shots as Miami’s 37.8 percent shooting attested. “Both teams are very active defensively,” he said. “Both teams make it hard on one another to get shots. “That’s a great team we’re going against, and defensively they have some very active players, so they kind of bring the double team sometimes when I’m in the post or if I’m in the perimeter they kind of put two on the ball. “I just try to take what the defense gives me, try to get into the paint.” Miami surged to an 86-79 lead with just over two minutes to go but the Thunder hit back with six points in a row, turning Game Three into a cliffhanger at 86-85 with 90 seconds left. Miami’s Chris Bosh made a pair of free throws to make it a three-point game before James and Wade finished off Oklahoma City for good from the line after attacking the basket. James shot 11-of-23 from the floor, doing virtually all his damage from inside, and hauled down a game-high 14 rebounds. Wade contributed 25 points for Miami, with Bosh the next highest for the Heat with 10. Kevin Durant, who played with five fouls for the last 3:47, led Oklahoma City with 25 points and Russell Westbrook added 19. “Tough loss,” said three-time NBA scoring champion Durant. “This is not over. It’s not over.” Game Four of the championship series will be played on Tuesday. -Reuters

LeBron James (center) of the Miami Heat drives in the first quarter against James Harden (left) and Kevin Durant (right) of the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game Three of the 2012 NBA Finals on June 17, 2012. (AFP)

tennis

CRICKET

Baghdatis beats Andujar in 1st round at Eastbourne

Mathews stays cool to steer Sri Lanka home in final over

Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus hits a return to Pablo Andujar of Spain during their men’s singles tennis match at the Eastbourne tournament in Eastbourne, southern England June 18, 2012. (Reuters)

EASTBOURNE, England: Marcos Baghdatis beat eighth-seeded Pablo Andujar of Spain 6-1, 6-1 in the first round of the Aegon International on Monday. The Cypriot lost only four points in the final three games of the opening set in the grass-court Wimbledon warmup. He won the first four games of the second set and didn’t face a break point all match. Ryan Harrison of the U.S. edged Canadian qualifier Vasek Pospisil3-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (6).

Among the women, eighth-seeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia downed Anne Keothavong of Britain 6-2, 6-3, and Alexandra Wozniak of Canada outlasted Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (5). Austria’s Tamira Paszek beat New Zealand’s Marina Erakovic 7-5, 6-1, and South Africa’s Chanelle Scheepers defeated Germany’s Mona Barthel 6-1, 4-6, 6-1. – AP

Nottingham title earns Aussie teenager Wimbledon spot

FILE- Ashleigh Barty of Australia serves to Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic during the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris May 29, 2012. (Reuters)

COLOMBO: Angelo Mathews kept a cool head to guide Sri Lanka to a nervejangling two-wicket win over Pakistan in the fifth and final one-day international on Monday. Chasing 248 for victory, Sri Lanka reached their target with two balls to spare to take the five-match series 3-1. One game was ruined by bad weather. Mathews, who arrived at the crease with the total 97 for four in the 25th over, hammered an unbeaten 80 off 76 balls with two sixes and four fours and claimed the man of the match award. Nuwan Kulasekara offered good support, making 10 not out in an unbroken ninth-wicket stand of 36 in 20 deliveries. Sri Lanka began the final over needing 15 runs for victory and paceman Mohammad Sami started it with a wide. Mathews scored 10 off the next three balls and punched the fourth over point for four to settle the issue. Sami, back after missing the previous two games due to a sore thumb, was the most expensive bowler as he conceded 75 runs in 9.4 overs without taking a wicket. Leg-spinner Shahid Afridi seemed to put Pakistan in charge when he removed Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene off successive balls in the 25th over.

Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara (right) is stumped out by Pakistan’s Sarfraz Ahmed during their final One Day International (ODI) cricket match, in Colombo June 18, 2012. (Reuters)

Sangakkara was stumped by wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed for 40 and Jayawardene fell first ball when he offered a tame return catch. Earlier, Pakistan opening batsman Imran Farhat marked his first match of the series by hitting 56 before Azhar Ali

(30), Asad Shafiq (38) and Misbah-ulHaq (32) kept the momentum going. They all batted around Umar Akmal who topscored with an unbeaten 55 off 61 balls containing two sixes and five fours. The two teams next play a series of three tests beginning on Friday in Galle. - Reuters

England add Woakes as Windies lose Darren Bravo LONDON: England added Warwickshire paceman Chris Woakes to their squad on Monday for the two one-day internationals (ODIs) against the West Indies. Woakes was called up into the squad in case, a statement said, Jade Dernbach was unavailable for the remaining fixtures on “compassionate grounds”. English cricket was stunned Monday when promising batsman Tom Maynard, a Surrey team-mate of Dernbach’s, died aged just 23 after being hit by a London Underground train. Fast-medium bowler Dernbach didn’t feature as England took a 1-0 lead in their three-match one-day series against the West Indies courtesy of a 114-run win under the Duckworth/Lewis method at Southampton on Saturday. The second ODI is at The Oval, Surrey’s headquarters ground in south London, on Tuesday. Woakes, 23, has taken seven wickets at just over 21 apiece in his four ODIS, with his most recent appearance against Ireland in Dublin last year. Meanwhile West Indies batsman Darren Bravo was ruled out of the remainder of the series after suffering a groin injury while fielding at Southampton. The tourists said Monday they would not be summoning a replacement. -AFP

FILE- Surrey wicketkeeper Steven Davies fumbles the ball as Warwickshire batsman Chris Woakes looks on during day two of theLV County Championship division one match between Surrey and Warwickshire at The Kia Oval on May 24, 2012. (AFP)

Formula One

Chandhok first Indian to go the distance at Le Mans PARIS: Australian teenager Ashleigh Barty has been handed a Wimbledon women’s singles main draw wildcard after winning the 50,000 US dollars grasscourt warm-up event in Nottingham over the weekend, Tennis Australia said on Monday. The 16-year-old Queenslander beat Tatjana Malek 6-1 6-1 in the final in the East Midlands of England on Sunday, albeit after the German world number 149 had

been forced to play her semi-final earlier in the day. Barty had already been awarded a place in qualifying at the All England Club after winning the girls’ junior title at Wimbledon last year. She made her senior grand slam debut at the Australian Open earlier this year and also received a wildcard for the French Open but lost in the first round on both occasions. -Reuters

LE MANS, France: Karun Chandhok celebrated an Indian first on Sunday after finishing the Le Mans 24 Hours endurance race in sixth place with his JRM team mates David Brabham and Peter Dumbreck. The first Indian to compete in and complete the race, Chandhok had taken his first stint at the wheel with only a few

laps of Le Mans under his belt after the team had problems in qualifying with the Honda HPD car. “Driving for nine of the last 36 hours and sleeping for four makes for a pretty tiring ratio,” said the ex-Formula One driver after multiple stints at the wheel through the night and day. “I ended up doing the graveyard shift

from 2 to 5 a.m. which was very special and exhausting in equal measure. It made me really understand the unique, special nature of this race.” Indian Narain Karthikeyan would have been his country’s first Le Mans racer after qualifying in 2009 but he hurt his shoulder before the start and did not take part. -Reuters

SPORTS

Football Italy 2

Croatia 0

Ireland 0

Cassano, Balotelli send Italy through

Italy’s Antonio Cassano (left) tries to pass the ball against Ireland’s Sean St Ledger during their Group C Euro 2012 soccer match in Poznan, June 18, 2012. (Reuters)

POZNAN, Poland: Antonio Cassano’s first-half header and Mario Balotelli’s spectacular late volley gave Italy a 2-0 win over Ireland which took them into the Euro 2012 quarter-finals as Group C runners-up. Cassano, who missed half the season with AC Milan after undergoing a minor heart operation, headed home 10 minutes before the break and Balotelli brilliantly hooked the ball home in the final minute to leave Italy second with five points behind Spain. Italy, who played with one eye on the Croatia v Spain game, deserved their win although they had to survive an aggressive late rally from Ireland, coached by their wily 73-year-old Italian Giovanni Trapattoni, before substitute Balotelli’s strike. The physical Irish, already eliminated after two defeats, forced a flurry of late free kicks and corners as Italy, who gave up leads in 1-1 draws with Spain and Croatia, again appeared to tire. Having conceded early goals in losses Croatia and Spain, Ireland were determined not to get caught out again and went straight on to the attack. Backed by a vociferous and large contingent in the crowd, they looked briefly threatening against an Italian side which featured four changes to the starting line-up. Italy took their time to get going with Andrea Pirlo getting plenty of the ball but struggling to find openings for Cassano and strike partner Antonio Di Natale who replaced Balotelli.

TUESDAY, june 19, 2012

Di Natale had the first real chance after a break down the left by Federico Balzaretti and there were appeals for handball as his shot was blocked by a defender. Cassano then had a shot fumbled by Shay Given before Italy went ahead from a corner. Pirlo’s in-swinging effort found Cassano at the near post and, although Given got a hand to his header, the ball crossed the line before Damien Duff, making his 100th appearance, could hook it away. Italy kept attacking after the break, Cassano wasting a good chance with a side-footed shot before Daniele De Rossi curled another effort over. A neat combination between Thiago Motto and Cassano then set up Di Natale whose shot from a difficult angle was blocked by Given. Keith Andrews reminded Italy that the game was not over as his awkward long-range shot gave Gianluigi Buffon his first real test of the game on the hour. Italy began looking nervous and there was a rare moment when Pirlo lost possession to Andrews in midfield but De Rossi came to the rescue with a timely tackle to block the Irish midfielder’s shot. Another thumping Andrews shot was saved by Buffon as Italy clung on and the Ireland midfielder was sent off for his second bookable offence moments before Balotelli settled matters with a superb piece of skill, the maverick forward living up to his reputation when he failed to celebrate his stunning goal. - Reuters

Spain 1

Jesus Navas rescues Spain, Croatia bow out GDANSK, Poland: Defending champions Spain are into the quarter-finals of Euro 2012 after replacement Jesus Navas hit the late winner in their nervy 1-0 victory over Croatia, who bowed out on Monday. Spain qualify as Group C winners and will now play their quarter-final in Donetsk, Ukraine, on Saturday against the Group D runner-up, while Italy finish second thanks to their 2-0 win over Ireland in Poznen. Having come on for Chelsea star Fernando Torres in the second-half, Sevilla’s Navas hit the 88th-minute winner after Barcelona’s Xavi Hernandez chipped the Croatian defense and Andres Iniesta provided the final pass. The World Cup winners top the group with seven points after their opening draw with Italy and 4-0 rout of Ireland, while there was heartbreak for Slaven Bilic’s Croatia. Spain coach Vicente del Bosque named an unchanged team, while Bilic abandoned the 4-4-2 formation he used in the opening win over Ireland and the draw with Italy for a 4-2-3-1 formation. As they had done in Thursday’s hammering of Ireland here, Spain started with almost 80 percent ball possession, which never dropped below 60, as Croatia seemed content to hit long balls down to lone striker Mario Mandzukic. On a rare early forage into the Spanish half, Bayern Munich’s Danijel Pranjic fired a shot to the left of Spain goalkeeper Ilker Casillas, who dealt with the left-footed shot comfortably on 25 minutes. Croatia defender Vedran Corluka was booked for dissent

soon after as German referee Wolfgang Stark chose not to award a penalty appeal after Spain’s Sergio Ramos sliding tackle caught Mandzukic’s ankle. It remained goalless at the break and news of Italy’s lead against Ireland raised the tension inside the Gdansk stadium rose noticeably as the second half wore on. Croatia’s best chance came approaching the hour mark when Tottenham Hotspur’s Luka Modric crossed in for Ivan Rakitic’s header, but Casillas parried away their best chance of the game. After a fairly ineffective first 60 minutes, Torres made way for Jesus Navas in the three-man forward line, but both sides squandered chances. With time almost up, the decisive blow came when Xavi Hernandez floated his pass over the defence for his Barcelona team-mate Iniesta to draw Croatia’s goalkeeper Stipe Pleitkosa and put Spain in the last eight. There could be more bad news for Croatia on Tuesday when UEFA are expected to make a ruling over alleged racist chants from Croat fans directed towards Italy striker Mario Balotelli in last week’s 1-1 draw. A stiff penalty is expected given UEFA president Michel Platini’s previous assertions that European football’s governing body has a “zero tolerance” on the issue. European football’s governing body has already imposed the threat of a six-point reduction on Russia’s next European championship qualifying campaign, after missiles and fireworks were thrown at their opening Group A match against the Czech Republic on June 8. – AFP

Spain’s Jesus Navas (right) scores a goal as Croatia’s Luka Modric (center) watches during their Group C Euro 2012 soccer match at the PGE Arena in Gdansk, June 18, 2012. (Reuters)

We must rediscover our pride, says Hamren Cech believes Czechs can upset the odds WROCLAW, Poland: Czech Republic goalkeeper Petr Cech said on Monday despite Euro 2012 quarter-final opponents Portugal being viewed as favorites for Thursday’s game he believed the Czechs could cause an upset. “We haven’t lost yet, of course you can beat anyone on a good day,” said the 30-year-old keeper who helped Chelsea lift the Champions League trophy last month. “We definitely have a chance to advance. It’s sport and anything can happen,” he added. The Czechs advanced as surprise Group A winners along with secondplaced Greece, while Portugal came second in Group B behind Germany after beating Denmark and, in the last game on Sunday, the Netherlands. “They are among the world’s top ten teams. It’s a team full of personalities and outstanding players, and they play very

well. Against the Netherlands on Sunday, they were excellent up front,” said Cech. “They also have enough experienced players. The team has matured and it’s really strong,” he added. Cech also said he reckoned Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored twice in the 2-1 victory against the Netherlands, was one of the world’s top two players along with Lionel Messi, diplomatically declining to say which of them was better. “He has a powerful shot, he can shoot with his left or right, he can score from any place, he’s great at heading,” Cech said. The Czechs, playing their fifth straight Euro tournament, eliminated Portugal in the 1996 quarter-final on their way to the final but lost to the same rival in the group stage of the 2008 tournament. “I hope the result will be different now than in 2008,” said Cech, who has unhappy memories of the 3-1 defeat as

he was in goal. The Czechs prefer to recall 1996 when Karel Poborsky memorably chipped the ball over Portugal’s keeper to hand his side a 1-0 win. “We wouldn’t grumble if it happened again,” said defender Michal Kadlec, whose father Miroslav was the 1996 team captain. “When we have started like this, we don’t want to end up losing in the quarter-final,” added Kadlec, whose stunning header off the line in the dying minutes of the 1-0 win over Poland saved the Czechs from bowing out of the competition. Cech said he hoped for at least a repeat of the 2004 edition hosted by Portugal where the flair-filled side - with him in goal - reached the semi-finals, losing to eventual winners Greece. “We have a chance to emulate that success from Portugal. It’s enough to win one game, and I believe it will be a good game for us,” said Cech. – AFP

Sweden’s national football players listen as head coach Erik Hamren (center) speaks during a training session on June 12, 2012. (AFP)

KIEV: Sweden must seize the opportunity of getting a good result against France in their final Group D match on Tuesday and depart Euro 2012 with their heads held high, coach Erik Hamren said on Monday. The 54-year-old, who hopes he will be retained in the post which he has been in since 2009, said his players were fully focused on the match and getting a result despite the fact they are heading home afterwards having lost their first two games. France by contrast need just a point to confirm their place in the last eight, although they could still lose and go through if England beat Ukraine. Sweden’s 2-1 loss to co-hosts Ukraine and 3-2 defeat to England both came after they were ahead but Hamren said that he was pleased with the way they had performed even if the results had not gone their way. “We want above all to rediscover our pride,” said Hamren. “We feel really good, we are really motivated. “The players want to play at the same level of intensity and will do everything to win, as usual. “We are frustrated not to have achieved the results that we wished for.” However, Hamren, who nevertheless called some of his players cowards for the way they played in the

opening game against Ukraine, said that he was pleased with the manner in which the players had showed a desire to keep on progressing. “I am motivated and I feel the players are too to work harder and to become better,” he said. “The objective is to be happy after a match. We can be content with the way we have played, that is good, but we also want to be happy because we won. “For that reason I am not going to just select someone for the sake of it agaisnt France. “There will be changes, perhaps several,” added Hamren, who will definitely be without injured first choice duo, striker Johan Elmander and midfielder Rasmus Elm. Hamren, a successful club coach in Norway and Denmark before taking the job, said that victory over the French would be the ideal morale booster going into the 2014 World Cup qualifiers. “It’s still the Euro but it is a good way of seeing where we can improve things, so it’s a mix of the two. “But if we win, it will not put three points beside our name in our World Cup qualifying group. “However, it will boost our confidence for the qualifiers.” - AFP

FILE- Czech goalkeeper Petr Cech attends a training session in Wroclaw on June 11, 2012. (AFP)