June 21, 2012 by Al Watan Daily

THURSDAY, JUNE 21, 2012

@alwatandaily

Issue No. 1468

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Constitutional Court reinstates former Parliament Decision prompts mass resignations

Staff Writers and Agencies

KUWAIT: Kuwait’s constitutional court on Wednesday declared February’s legislative polls in which the opposition swept to victory illegal opting to reinstate the former dissolved 2009 parliament instead. The court will look into 35 challenges of the results of the most recent February elections and the legitimacy of the voting of a number of MPs. This unprecedented development in the country’s political arena has apparently created a state of shock within parliamentary circles. Members of the Majority Bloc, who served in the previous Parliament, scrambled to announce their resignations, arguing that they are not obliged to sit in a Parliament rejected by the people. However, constitutional sources have indicated that the resignations should be decided by the Parliament once it assumes its duties. Leading opposition MP Mussallam Al-Barrak described the verdict as “a coup against the constitution” and called for the opposition to take a united stand. Al-Barrak went on to say that it is a “farce that the bribe-takers will be returning to Parliament to resume their roles,” while MP Mohammad Al-Dallal affirmed that the court ruling would be upheld, though discussions will be made on how to handle it. For his part, MP Saleh Ashour commented by stating that the Constitutional Court’s verdict came as thunder, stunning some, while

urging that state security and stability should be maintained. MP Adnan Al-Mutawa said, “Those who threatened to take to the street should respect court rulings.” MPs Jamaan Al-Harbash, Musallam Al-Barrak, Khaled Al-Tahous and Al-Saifi Al-Saifi announced that they had decided to resign from the 2009 Parliament which, according to them, has been rebuffed by the nation. “We don’t feel obliged to be part of it,” the MPs assertively said during a press conference. Political activist Safa Al-Hashem, in the meantime, welcomed the decision. “I congratulate the people of Kuwait on the integrity of our judicial system... I am proud of our great Constitution which avails me the opportunity, as a citizen, to resort to the judiciary to seek legal redress.” In the wake of the announcement, MP Obeid AlWasmi handed over his ID and Mercedes Benz car to the Parliament’s General Secretariat in compliance with the Constitutional Court’s verdict. “See you at the university,” he jokingly told reporters at the National Assembly. Following the announcement, Kuwait’s Cabinet discussed the “implications” of the constitutional court’s ruling. Rulings by the Gulf state’s highest court are final and cannot be challenged. “The cabinet has reviewed steps and procedures needed to be taken in the execution of the mentioned ruling, in relation to its implications on the annulment of the election process and the invalidity of its announced

Amghara Scrap Yard arsonist arrested

Staff Writer

KUWAIT: Investigations indicated that the series of blazes which broke out in the Scrap Yard at Amghara, and other locations, have been set by an organized group of people, who appear to have set the fires from time to time for material reasons and personal interests. These individuals use people in need of money and with dependencies on drugs to commit said crimes on their behalf. This was proven Tuesday when an unemployed drug addicted citizen was arrested while he was attempting to set fire to a blot full of wood in Amghara area. The defendant confessed that he was the one who set fire in a wooden house used as a shelter for some workers in the scrap yard of Amghara. He also confessed that he set fire to rubbish containers two days earlier. Police found a gasoline jerry can containing flammable materials in one of the two cars, which he used to commit his crimes. A car which was being parked near the scrap yard aroused the suspicions of policemen who checked as a precautionary measure. Sometime later, police patrols saw a man driving a 4X4 car driven by a person who happened to be the owner of the first car. Policemen followed the car until the driver pulled over near a plot full of wood and tried to ignite fire, however police arrested him before he could start the fire and referred him to the investigations department. The defendant confessed that he was the one who ignited the fires two days earlier. The man will be interrogated in order to find out who urged him to sit fires, especially since he More on 2 has no motive but to make money in order to buy drugs.

CBK issues new guidelines on governance at Kuwaiti banks

Egypt election result may be delayed, says official

CAIRO: Egypt’s election committee said on Wednesday it may not be ready to announce the results of a run-off presidential vote on Thursday as planned because it was still reviewing appeals from the two candidates, both of whom claim to have won. Egyptians voted at the weekend to choose a replacement for Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted in a popular uprising last year. The race pitted the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsy against Ahmed Shafik, a former air force commander who was Mubarak’s last prime minister. “We cannot announce when exactly the timing of the announcement of the election results will be because now we are at the stage of listening to the representatives,” said Committee Secretary-General Hatem Bagato. “The committee will meet afterwards to decide on whether to accept the appeals or not. After that there will be a time set to announce the final result,” he added, speaking by phone. Any lengthy delay in announcing the results risks prolonging uncertainty and stoking tension at a time when it is unclear how big a role the military will continue to play in leading the country. On

Mali Islamists want Sharia not independence

BAMAKO: Mali’s Islamist rebel group Ansar Dine, which jointly controls the country’s north, said Wednesday it was not interested in proclaiming an independent state but only in the implementation of Sharia. “We have handed (regional mediator) Blaise Compaore a letter by Iyad Ag Ghaly,” said a source close to the Ansar Dine delegation which has been holding talks with the Burkina Faso president in Ouagadougou. “All we want is the implementation of Sharia” in Mali, he said. “We are against independence.” Compaore was appointed as mediator by the Economic Community of West African States after a March 22 coup in Bamako created a vacuum that allowed Tuareg rebels and Ansar Dine to conquer the vast desert north in a matter of days. Iyad Ag Ghaly is Ansar Dine’s top leader, a historic figure in the Tuareg’s decades-old struggle for independence who is believed to have developed close ties with Al-Qaeda’s North African franchise. He was not part of the Ouagadougou delegation. The Islamists and Tuareg rebels both fought to

winners, along with reinstating of the constitutional authority of the dissolved National Assembly by the power of the constitution,” Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah said in a press statement. The remarks were made after an urgent Cabinet session held to discuss the matter at Bayan Palace. The court’s decision was taken in regards to a “procedural oversight” in the December Amiri decree to dissolve the former parliament, the Cabinet statement added. The Cabinet intends to continue evaluating the matter in an early Thursday session, during which it will take into account the assessment of both the Ministry of Justice and the state’s Fatwa and Legislation Department. His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad AlSabah issued a decree in early December dissolving the parliament following youth-led street protests calling for reforms and for the sacking of former Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. A few days later, the Amir issued another decree inviting Kuwaitis to elect a new parliament on February 2. The court ruled that the second decree was “unconstitutional”, thus nullifying the results of the general elections in which the opposition scored an impressive victory. The previous parliament was controlled by a pro-government majority. The Kuwaiti parliament has been dissolved four times since 2006.

seize northern Mali earlier this year in an often uneasy relationship as each group pursues their own ideology and objectives. However Ansar Dine took the upper hand and began implementing Sharia, or Islamic law, in northern towns such as Gao and Timbuktu. Women have been forced to wear veils, people caught smoking have been whipped and cartons of cigarettes destroyed. Brief plans between the two rebel groups to merge and create a breakaway Islamic state fell apart in recent weeks over the implementation of Sharia. The main Tuareg rebel group, the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), wants the independence of Azawad, which they consider their ancestral homeland, but describes itself as a secular group. Ansar Dine said on Monday after a meeting with Compaore that it was ready to negotiate a peaceful solution to the crisis in Mali, which has left the landlocked country effectively partitioned. -AFP

Tuesday, a US election monitoring group said it was unable to say if Egypt’s presidential election was free and fair as it had not been given sufficient access, accusing the military leadership of hampering a transition to democracy. Beyond the election itself, the group the Carter Center - said a court’s decision to dissolve the Islamist-dominated parliament and a decree from the ruling military council limiting the future president’s powers increased the risk that Egypt was not becoming the democracy that many had hoped for. Omar Salama, a legal advisor and member of the election committee’s secretariat, said Morsy had filed over 150 complaints against his rival Shafik. Al Ahram newspaper said on its website that Shafik had submitted 221 complaints about the results. No official figures have been announced, but candidates had representatives at polling stations and were able to make their own tallies. “We must give both sides all the time they need to ensure that the process is fair and prevent any claims later on that not enough time was given to both sides,” Bagato explained. -Reuters See also 3

G20 backs Europe’s overhaul to fight crisis

LOS CABOS, Mexico: Europe won support from world leaders on Tuesday for an ambitious but slow-moving overhaul of the euro zone, even as pressure built in financial markets for quicker solutions to its debt crisis that threatens the world economy. Europe told a Group of 20 summit it intends to work on concrete steps to integrate its banking sectors, a major step long pressed by the United States and other nations to break the cycle of debt-laden countries bailing out their troubled banks which only pushes governments ever deeper into debt. US President Barack Obama said the sense of urgency amongst European leaders was clear and they knew what steps were needed to “break the fever” of an escalating debt crisis. “None of them are going to be a silver bullet that solves this thing entirely ... in the next week or two weeks or two months, but each step points to the fact that Europe is moving towards further integration rather than break-up,” Obama told reporters at the end of the twoday summit in a Pacific resort. -Reuters

Opposition MPs Musallam Al-Barrak (center), Jamaan Al-Harbash (right), Khaled Al-Tahous (left) and Saiﬁ Al-Saiﬁ (third left) speak to the press on June 20, 2012. (Al Watan)

Fresh sanctions on Syria, ICRC attempts evacuation of Homs

Greece unveils new coalition as bailout battle looms

ATHENS: Conservative leader Antonis Samaras was sworn in Wednesday as the prime minister of a new Greek coalition, as he took up the challenge of trying to revise the terms an unpopular EU-IMF bailout deal. “With God’s help we will do everything we can to take the country out of the crisis,” the 61-year-old former foreign minister told reporters after a formal ceremony at the presidential palace that ended two months of political deadlock. Samaras warned Greece was in a “critical” situation, saying: “Tomorrow, I will ask the government to work hard to give tangible hope to the Greek people. “I have the majority to form a long-term government of stability and hope,” he said, as the Greek economy struggles through a fifth year of recession. Outgoing premier Panagiotis Pikrammenos told the new prime minister: “You have many battles ahead of you, both inside and outside Greece.” Samaras and his New Democracy party, the winners of an election on Sunday, are the senior partners in a coalition with the socialist Pasok party which will also have the parliamentary support of the small Democratic Left party. The agreement comes after three days of intense international pressure for Greece to act quickly and get its reform programme back on track after an election that eased fears of an imminent euro exit for Greece. Pasok leader Evangelos Venizelos said the new government would begin “a major battle” to revise the bailout at an EU summit in Brussels next week. Democratic Left leader Fotis Kouvelis also said he expected the cabinet to “release the country from the painful terms” of the multi-billion loan. New Democracy took 129 of the 300 parliamentary seats including an extra 50 seats given to the winner and Syriza took 71 seats. Pasok took 33 and Democratic Left won 17, which gives the new government a majority of 29 seats. -AFP

Misbehaving particles poke holes in reigning physics theory

World leaders open Rio summit on ‘green’ economy

Killings of environmentalists appear to be on rise

Indigenous men walk past Brazilian National Guard soldiers at the KariOca village constructed by indigenous peoples as a counterpoint to the Rio+20 conference on Tuesday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (AP)

BANGKOK: The eulogies called Chut Wutty one of the few remaining activists in Cambodia brave enough to fight massive illegal deforestation by the powerful. The environmental watchdog was shot by a military policeman in April as he probed logging operations in one of the country’s last great forests. Nisio Gomes was the chief of a Brazilian tribe struggling to protect its land from ranchers. Masked men gunned him down in November; his body, quickly dragged into a pickup, has not been seen since. Around the world, sticking up for the environment can be deadly, and it appears to be getting deadlier. People who track killings of environmental activists say the numbers have risen dramatically in the last three years. Improved reporting may be one reason, they

caution, but they also believe the rising death toll is a consequence of intensifying battles over dwindling supplies of natural resources, particularly in Latin America and Asia. Killings have occurred in at least 34 countries, from Brazil to Egypt, and in both developing and developed nations, according to an Associated Press review of data and interviews. A report released Tuesday by the London-based Global Witness said more than 700 people - more than one a week - died in the decade ending 2011 “defending their human rights or the rights of others related to the environment, specifically land and forests.” They were killed, the environmental investigation group says, during protests or investigations into mining, logging, intensive agriculture, hydropower dams, urban development and wildlife poaching. -AP

Brazilian activists from the Affected by Environmental Disasters Movement (Monades) march during the People’s Summit at Flamengo Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 20 June, 2012. (AFP)

PARIS: World leaders kicked off a three-day summit on environment and poverty in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday to a warning from UN chief Ban Kimoon that “time is not on our side” for fixing a mounting list of problems. Ban formally opened the Rio+20 summit on sustainable development which brings together 191 UN members, including 86 presidents and heads of government. The high-profile event comes 20 years after Rio’s first Earth Summit when nations vowed to roll back climate change, desertification and species loss. The summit was launched to a three-minute movie, “State of the Planet: Welcome to the Anthropocene” that gave a visual trip through the dramatic changes in the environment since the Industrial Revolution. The Anthropocene is the name given by many scientists for a new era in Earth’s history. It derives from Greek words to indicate the era of humans. Summit participants then heard a moving appeal by Brittany Trilford, a 17year-old student from New Zealand, challenging leaders to lay the foundation More on 8 for a more sustainable world.

ALWATAN DAILY

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THURSday, JUNE 21, 2012

Amghara Scrap Yard arsonist arrested

Commerce Minister expresses readiness to discuss commercial companies draft law KUWAIT: Minister of Commerce and Industry Dr. Anas Al-Saleh expressed wiliness to discuss today, Thursday, a draft law concerning commercial companies, upon the request of the National Assembly’s committee of financial and economic affairs. Al-Saleh on Wednesday told the press, “I am happy to discuss a draft law regarding commercial companies upon the invitation of the National Assembly’s financial and economic committee during its meeting tomorrow.” “We are ready to hold as many meetings as possible to finish up the drafting of this law in order to be lifted to the National Assembly,” the minister noted. -KUNA

KTS prepares draft law for organizing electoral constituencies Mervat Abduldayem

Staff Writer

FILE- Photo of one of the cars used by the arsonist taken on Tuesday June, 2012. (Al Watan) Staff Writer

FILE: Photo showing the gasoline jerry can containing flammable materials which was found in one of the two cars by the police on Tuesday June 19, 2012. (Al Watan)

later, police patrols saw a man driving a 4X4 car driven by a person who happened to be the owner of the first car. Policemen followed the car until the driver pulled over near a plot full of wood and tried to ignite fire, however police arrested him before he could start the fire and referred him to the investigations department. The defendant confessed that he was the one who ignited the fires two days earlier. The man will be interrogated in order to find out who urged him to sit fires, especially since he has no motive but to make money in order to buy drugs. It is worth mentioning that Jahra police has earlier arrested a Bedoun (stateless Arab) in the area with a gasoline jerry can in his possession, which aroused suspicions that some people are being used to set fires in return for money. The defendant said to police, “The man who is burning his own people every day is free and safe but you arrested me because I burned some stuff”, referring to a president of an Arab country. The suspect is a Kuwaiti man who was born in 1966, and lives in South Jahra. He is unemployed and has

a criminal record. In previous news, the Interior Ministry has announced that thirty-one suspects were arrested in connection with the Amghara junkyard fires. Undersecretary for Public Security Affairs at the Ministry Major General Mahmoud Al-Dousiri told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) after a meeting that 30 suspects were Asian nationals while one was an illegal resident. Meanwhile, Minister of Commerce and Industry Anas Al-Saleh said, “The fire set in Amghara was deliberate and is a systematic sabotage of public and private interests, but we still do not know the motive or the reason.” This came in a press conference held Sunday May 13th at the Public Authority for Industry, located in South Surrah. Al-Saleh said that a committee was formed upon the instructions of His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah to discover the reasons behind the fire of tires in Rahiya area and to submit recommendations and suggestions which help to avoid the occurrence of such incidents.

Further inspection campaigns to be launched by ministry of electricity, water Khalid Al-Otaibi

Staff Writer

KUWAIT: Ministry of Electricity and Water had launched an inspection campaign in Jeleeb Al-Shuyoukh area recently. The campaign led to cutting electricity from 10 estates in violation of the conditions of obtaining electricity. Shortly, the ministry launched another campaign in Bneid Al-Gar area and cut power from another 10 violating estates. Meanwhile, the ministry confiscated cables that are used for providing the violating estates with electricity and asked all owners of estates to visit consumers` affairs department at the ministry if they wish to get power back for their estates. Furthermore, the Chairman of Consumers` Affairs Department Engineer Salem Al-Qasba said in a press statement that the ministry will pursue launching campaigns until eradicating all violations especially in the areas where expatriates live. He added that the ministry has already warned owners of all violating houses and estates to settle violations through visiting the sector and paying fees or fines before cutting electricity. Al-Qasba disclosed that the sector submits different services for customers to facilitate the process of paying fees and employees of the sector are available in the morning shifts as well as

France, Kuwait sign military agreement KUWAIT: Chief of General Staff of the Army Lieutenant General Khalid Jarrah Al-Sabah signed here on Wednesday with his French counterpart a bilateral cooperation agreement on military aspects. A press statement of the army said on the occasion of the return of Chief of Staff and the military delegation accompanying him from France concluding an official visit, that the delegation held talks with French officials discussing the most important matters of common concern, particularly relating to ways of promoting bilateral military cooperation. -KUNA

Seats for Kuwaiti students at University of Colorado next year: diplomat

LOS ANGELES: Five seats for Kuwaiti dentistry students available annually at the University of Colorado as of next year in accordance with an agreement with the university, said the Kuwaiti culture bureau here Wednesday. Head of the bureau Dr. Ali Abdulrazzak said that this agreement was achieved via extensive talks with officials at the university, affirming that the bureau was very keen on developing the academic and professional skills of Kuwaiti students in order to enable them to become an asset to their country. The official thanked Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education Dr. Nayef Al-Hajraf and ministry officials for their efforts in this field. -KUNA

Kuwait to lure Indonesian investments

KUWAIT: Secretary General of the Union of Investment Companies, Dr. Ramadan Al-Sharrah said here on Wednesday that the Union would initiate cooperation with Indonesia in the areas of industry, agriculture and oil, as well as investments associated with the operation of investment companies, especially the portfolios. Al-Sharrah told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) after meeting with the Ambassador of Indonesia to Kuwait that the meeting revolved around ways of cooperation between the Kuwaiti investment companies and public and private sectors in Indonesia. He said the two sides agreed that the Indonesian embassy in Kuwait host Indonesian investors to present investment opportunities available in their country and to encourage Kuwaiti investment companies to invest in different investment areas in Indonesia. -KUNA

Kuwait supports UN report on importance of improving quality of education Inspectors during a campaign in Jeleeb Al-Shuyoukh point out cables used for providing violating estates with electricity on Tuesday, June 19, 2012. (Al Watan)

the evening one in order to help customers pay their bills. He said that the campaigns also aim at

raising awareness and help people to abide by the law and to all conditions.

Internet users make up 69 percent of Kuwaiti population: Expert KUWAIT: The number of internet users in Kuwait has remarkably snowballed to 69 percent of total population till last April, Online Media Expert Scott Rewick revealed. In a seminar organized Wednesday here by the Kuwait’s Central Agency for Information Technology, Rewick said that internet users in Kuwait totaled 75 percent of Kuwaitis and nonKuwaiti residents according to the statistics of the renown world research firm (Ipsos). He stated that 66 percent of Kuwaiti males use the internet on daily basis compared with 49 percent of females. Rewick estimated the internet users constitute 80 percent of Arab expats in Kuwait. He pointed out that this coincides with ever

KUWAIT: The Chairman of Kuwait Transparency Society (KTS) Salah AlGhazali announced that the society has prepared a draft law on electoral constituencies in Kuwait. The draft law consists of four sections including 12 articles.The first section focuses on the suggested number of constituencies, the right of running in the parliamentary election and the right of voting too. The first article of the draft law stipulates making Kuwait as one electoral constituency for 25 MPs and making each Kuwaiti city or governorate as an independent electoral constituency for the other 25 MPs. The same article gives candidates the right to choose whether they will nominate in the first system or the second one in which the first system assigns Kuwait as one constituency while the second assigns Kuwait as six constituencies.

The second article stipulates that each Kuwaiti citizen has the right to vote for one candidate of the first system which has one constituency and another vote for the second system wherein the voter will vote for a candidate from his electoral constituency. The second section indicates that candidates of the first system should run in elections through a group or list of candidates while those who want to run as independent candidates can nominate by the second system. The society has also attached an explanatory memorandum to the draft law which says that dividing the country into constituencies is considered as one of the most important factors of justice. It added that voting for list of candidates or an independent candidate causes voters to be more interested and keen on voting for the qualified candidates as well as enhancing collective work, surveillance and legislation.

growing internet users around the world. Moreover, the member of the social networking site facebook.com members steadily grow, the expecting their number to hit one billion shortly, the online media expert said. He noted that companies advertisement over the internet have climbed, saying that facebook.com site circulates 400 billion ads per month. Rewick added that the most used internet browsers are Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Firefox, with each make up 36, 26 and 17 percent of users in the Middle East respectively. Apple’s IPad tops list of Tablet PCs used in the region. He stated that online advertising has grown

up in the past few years to have huge share of the world advertisement industry. Rewick said number of smart phone users around the world reached 4.6 billion, adding that companies and government are trying to reach out the users of these phones through a several smart applications. For his part, Director General of the Central Agency for Information Technology Abdullatfi Al-Sarea said the seminar is part of the CAIT’s efforts to raise awareness about information technology among all Kuwaitis. He added that the information technology application now has a great role in promoting values and address the challenges facing the society. -KUNA

GENEVA: The State of Kuwait supported Wednesday the report issued by the United Nations (UN) Rapporteur Kishore Singh on the right of education which states that “providing education is not enough but more important is the quality of education.” Member of the Kuwaiti Permanent Delegation to the UN in Geneva Malik Al-Wazzan delivered the speech on behalf of Kuwait before the 20th session of Human Rights Council, in which he valued the efforts of the Rapporteur. Al-Wazzan said, “The State of Kuwait is one of the leading states in providing free education services in all stages starting from kindergarten up to higher education such as post graduate education”. He stressed that Kuwait’s literacy program was successful and it provided services to students with special needs through involving some cases in general education or private schools design specifically for them and their needs. Al-Wazzan said that Kuwait has contributed to a number of researches on occupational health at regional level as it took part in the Gulf Conference on Occupational Health and also hosted an Occupational Health Conference in which experts from all over the world took part in. -KUNA

Egyptian-Kuwaiti media council established: AMF KUWAIT: The Arab Media Forum (AMF) announced Wednesday the formation of the Kuwait-Egyptian media council, gathering media experts from both Arab nations in order to bolster ties between the two nations. The AMF said in a press release that the council was formed to develop media cooperation in all its forms between Egypt and Kuwait, noting that various meetings were held between experts to outline the goals and purpose of the council. The council would still eager to accept members into its ranks to further develop Arab media. -KUNA

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thursdAY, June 21, 2012

Egypt’s Mubarak in coma as tension spikes over successor CAIRO: Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak was in a coma on Wednesday after being moved to a Cairo hospital, with security officials saying that he was taken off life support and his heart and other vital organs were functioning. Tension has spiked over who will succeed him as president amid moves by the ruling military to extend its powers. The uncertainty over the health of the ousted leader comes at a time of fresh political upheaval, with both candidates in a presidential vote claiming victory and the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) granting itself sweeping powers. Mubarak “is not clinically dead,” a medical source told AFP. “He is in a coma and the doctors are trying to revive him.” “He has been placed on an artificial respirator,” the source added, in an account confirmed by a member of Egypt’s ruling military council, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity. Egypt’s state television carried a ticker item saying Mubarak was in “a coma and is not clinically dead.” State news agency MENA had earlier said the ousted strongman, 84,

had been declared clinically dead after suffering a stroke in prison and being transferred to hospital. “Hosni Mubarak is clinically dead,” the report said. “Medical sources told MENA his heart had stopped beating and did not respond to defibrillation.” News of Mubarak’s failing health came as Egypt wrapped up a presidential election runoff and faced “the most critical 48 hours in its history,” said the state-owned daily Al-Ahram. The electoral committee begins Wednesday looking into the appeals filed by both sides, state television said. A group of independent judges - headed by the ex-head of the Judges Union, Zakaria Abdel Aziz - who monitored the voting process confirmed in a news conference that Mursi had won, according to their tally. The new president, irrespective of the result, will not wield the nearabsolute authority Mubarak enjoyed for three decades, after SCAF issued a constitutional declaration on Sunday claiming sweeping powers. The SCAF’s document said it would retake legislative powers from the Islamist-dominated parliament after

the country’s constitutional court on Thursday ordered the body dissolved. And it grants the military council veto power over the drafting of a permanent constitution, angering activists who denounced the declaration and an earlier order giving the army power to arrest civilians, as a “coup.” The Brotherhood also rejected the declaration, insisting the parliament retains legislative power, and pledging to participate in “popular activities” against it. On Tuesday night, they joined a mass demonstration in Cairo’s Tahrir square, which attracted over 15,000 protesters, some celebrating Mursi’s win as much as denouncing the military move. The demonstrators were still in the square as the conflicting details of Mubarak’s condition filtered in. “It’s divine retribution,” said Saber Amr, a teacher. “God doesn’t forgive those who do wrong to their people. God doesn’t forgive those who kill innocents.” Nearby, Abdel Mottaleb, a Brotherhood supporter, offered a more conciliatory tone. “We are Muslims. We respect the dead regardless,” he said. “God will judge him.” -Agencies

Fresh sanctions on Syria, ICRC attempts evacuation of Homs BRUSSELS/DAMASCUS: The EU will slap fresh sanctions on President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime next week and clarify the rules on insuring items embargoed for delivery to Syria, including arms, EU diplomats said Wednesday. European Union foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg on Monday are expected to announce an asset freeze and travel ban on five Syrian firms and one individual, in what will be the 16th round of restrictive measures against the Al-Assad regime. They will also state “in black and white” that insuring arms deliveries to Syria is banned under an arms embargo decided last year, one source said. The wording of the statement, which diplomats said was agreed Wednesday by ambassadors of the 27 EU nations, follows an incident this week involving a British-insured Russian cargo ship, allegedly carrying attack helicopters for Syria. The United States alerted Britain to the consignment and British se-

curity services told insurers Standard Club that providing insurance for the shipment would breach EU sanctions, reports said. Standard Club then cancelled insurance for the ship as well as others in the fleet owned by Russian cargo line Femco, forcing the vessel to head home. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Wednesday it was trying to evacuate civilians stranded in and around Homs amid fighting in the central Syrian city. “Our first priority, together with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, is to evacuate the wounded and the sick to safer areas, where they can be treated,” said Beatrice Megevand-Roggo, ICRC’s head of operations for the Near and Middle East. The humanitarian agency said it made a request for a temporary halt in fighting on Tuesday to government and opposition groups. Both parties said they would respect the pause. “The ICRC and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent are ready to enter the old city of Homs and

the neighborhoods of Al-Qarabees, Al-Qusour, Jurat Al-Shayyah and Al-Khalidiya,” Megevand-Roggo said. “We also want to evacuate civilians who have been unable to flee the conflict area, and bring in much-needed aid and medical supplies to the local Syrian Arab Red Crescent branch.” Troops loyal to the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad have been bombarding parts of the city for days with a view to retaking the rebel stronghold. Hundreds of people are believed to be trapped in the old city and are unable to flee or find shelter because of the fighting, the Geneva-based agency said. The Red Cross action follows a statement by the UN’s peacekeeping chief Herve Lasdous that UN observers will stay in the country despite the risks. The 300-strong mission was suspended after it came under attack. Monitors estimate that 15 months of fighting have claimed the lives of more than 14,400 people, the majority of them civilians. -AFP

Jordan Islamists plan election boycott over new law AMMAN: Jordan’s Islamists said on Wednesday they plan to boycott early polls expected this year over a “provocative” new electoral law, as analysts warned against an “official rigging” of the process. A day after MPs endorsed the law, the Muslim Brotherhood said it was “in touch with centrist political parties and other groups to form a ‘shadow government’ and ‘shadow parliament,’ which means a definite boycott of the general elections.” “We expect many to boycott the polls. Those who bet on the participation of the Islamist movement in the vote are wrong and delusional,” Zaki Bani Rsheid, deputy leader of the powerful Brotherhood, told AFP. The new law increases the number of parliamentary seats to 140 from 120, including an expanded quota for women to

15 from 12. It will go into effect after King Abdullah II approves it, giving voters the right to cast two ballots: one for individual candidates in their governorates and one for parties or coalitions nationwide. But only 17 seats can be contested by party and coalition candidates. “This is retarded and provocative... it will not produce representative lower house deputies. It does not honour those who have been demonstrating for reform since last year. It will kill political life,” Bani Rsheid said. According to the constitution, elections take place every four years, but Jordan held early polls in 2010 after the king dissolved parliament. The Islamists boycotted those elections in protest at constituency boundaries, saying they over-represented loyalist rural areas at the expense of urban areas seen as Islamist strong-

holds. “Under this law, the elections will turn into a crisis, instead of a solution,” Bani Rsheid warned. The king is pushing to hold crucial elections before the end of 2012 as Jordanians have held relatively small but persistent Arab Spring-inspired demonstrations almost every week since last year to demand sweeping reforms. “(The) focus should be on the participation of all powers in the parliamentary political process,” King Abdullah told the London-based Al-Hayat daily in an interview published Wednesday. “The coming elections will be a test of intentions and plans,” said the monarch. He added that the Islamists’ position on reforms “has become dictated by subjective considerations and regional inputs. This is the political reality in the region.” -AFP

Iran impasse to stir sanctions pressure, tensions MOSCOW/LONDON: Western diplomatic efforts to curb Iran’s nuclear program may not have breathed their last but the troubled process appears to be on life support after talks this week failed to resolve a row stirring regional tensions and unsettling oil markets. Mindful of a possible Israel strike, both Iran and its negotiating partners are keen to pursue even a minimal level of contact to shore up the process despite the failure of the negotiations in Moscow on Monday and Tuesday. A technical discussion is scheduled for July 3 in Istanbul, but no further political talks have been agreed. The West, suspicious Tehran is working towards a nuclear bomb, is due to introduce hard-hitting trade sanctions

in the two weeks before that. “Diplomacy in now on a respirator,” said Cliff Kupchan of the Eurasia Group consultancy. “Both sides underestimated the difficulty of moving talks forward. How little progress was made underlines how far apart the sides are on substance.” US-based Iran expert Trita Parsi said if a compromise was not vigorously pursued, “war will become far more likely.” “It really does seem like the Iranians just haven’t made the decision to accept limits on their nuclear program,” a Western diplomat said. “If they haven’t made that decision then all the talking in the world really isn’t going to get us anywhere.” “Iran really pressed for this experts

meeting and Russia wanted it so we agreed to do it. It doesn’t feel to us like there is a lot of progress that is going to be made even there. “(But) nobody is going to shut the door entirely.” The six powers - the United States, China, Russia, France, Britain and Germany - want Iran to scale back its nuclear work and, in particular, stop enriching uranium to levels that could bring it close to making an atom bomb. Last month, and again in Moscow, the powers asked Tehran to shut down the Fordow underground facility where uranium is being enriched to the 20-percent level of fissile purity and ship any stockpile out of the country. -Reuters

Police, protesters clash again in Sudanese capital

KHARTOUM: Sudanese riot police armed with batons and tear gas fought with student protesters in Khartoum on Wednesday, said witnesses, in a fourth day of anti-government demonstrations. Student groups, who have led the Khartoum rallies against planned government spending cuts, have sought to leverage anger over rising prices into a wider protest movement, but previous demonstrations have failed to gain broader momentum. The Arab-African nation has faced soaring food prices and a weakening currency since South Sudan seceded a year ago, taking with it about three quarters of the country’s economically-vital oil output. On Wednesday, riot police carrying batons blocked off a major road and chased scores of students in the streets around the University of Khartoum, activists and two witnesses said. The smell of tear gas hung in the air. The student demon-

Egyptians read local newspapers headlining the health situation of ousted president Hosni Mubarak who has been transferred from Tora prison, to Maadi Military hospital, on the outskirts of Cairo on June 20, 2012. (AFP)

strators chanted “the people want to overthrow the regime” and threw stones at the police, the witnesses said. There was no immediate comment from the police. President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir said on Monday Sudan would gradually abolish fuel subsidies, cull the number of civil servants on its payroll, and raise taxes on consumer goods, banks and imports to plug its budget deficit. Also on Wednesday, Sudanese authorities released an Agence France-Presse correspondent after detaining him at the University of Khartoum, the French news agency said. British national Simon Martelli had been detained at around midday on Tuesday while taking pictures and talking to students. He was held for more than 12 hours without charge, AFP reported. Officials at the security services and the Foreign Ministry were not immediately available to comment. -Reuters

Yemen foils plot against embassies in Sanaa SANAA: Yemen’s security forces have foiled a militant plot to attack embassies in Sanaa, state news agency SABA said on Wednesday, just days after the army forced Al-Qaeda out of bastions in the south. “Security forces have managed to foil a terror plot targeting foreign embassies in the capital,” SABA said, citing a top security official. The official said “three suspects armed with weapons, explosives and maps showing the location of foreign embassies” were detained. He said the residences of “military commanders and other important people” were also marked on the maps. The report comes two days after a suicide bomber killed Salem Ali Qoton, the general who spearheaded a month-long offensive against AlQaeda in Yemen’s Abyan and Shabwa provinces in the south. The offensive, launched on May 12, ended more than a year of Al-Qaeda control in a string of towns and villages in the troubled south and east. The jihadists are believed to have fled to the lawless mountainous regions of the eastern

Hadramawt province. Meanwhile, in the southern province of Bayda, security forces killed local Al-Qaeda leader Salah Al-Jawhari and two other “suicide bombers who were preparing to target military and security commanders in Bayda,” SABA cited the same official as saying. Jawhari was “in charge of Al-Qaeda suicide cells in both Sanaa and Bayda,” the official said.0 Security forces also arrested Majed Al-Qulaisi, “a member of the (Al-Qaeda) cell that planned” the deadly suicide attack that killed more than 100 troops at a military parade rehearsal in Sanaa last month, he said. A Tunisian, “one of Al-Qaeda’s most dangerous foreign nationals in Yemen,” Nizar Abdel Rahman, was also arrested Wednesday, the official said.After taking office in February, President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi has pledged to destroy Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the network’s local branch, which is considered by Washington as the group’s most active and deadly. -AFP

ALWATAN DAILY

OPINION / VIEWS

THURSdAY, June 21, 2012

How to nurture emerging leaders

Opting for a civil state over a religious one

To make the transition successfully, executives must navigate a tricky set of changes in their leadership focus and skills, which I call the seven seismic shifts. Supporting Cast Member to Lead Role

Michael D. Watkins

Reuters

arald (not his real name) is a high-potential leader with 15 years of experience at a leading European chemical company. He started as an assistant product manager in the plastics unit and was quickly transferred to Hong Kong to help set up the unit’s new Asian business center. As sales there soared, he soon won a promotion to sales manager. Three years later he returned to Europe as the marketing and sales director for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, overseeing a group of 80 professionals. Continuing his string of successes, he was promoted to vice president of marketing and sales for the polyethylene division, responsible for several lines of products, related services, and a staff of nearly 200. All of Harald’s hard work culminated in his appointment as the head of the company’s plastic resins unit, a business with more than 3,000 employees worldwide. Quite intentionally, the company had assigned him to run a small but thriving business with a strong team. The idea was to give him the opportunity to move beyond managing sales and marketing, get his arms around an entire business, learn what it meant to head up a unit with the help of his more-experienced team, and take his leadership skills to the next level in a situation free from complicating problems or crises. The setup seemed perfect, but a few months into the new position, Harald was struggling mightily. Like Harald, many rising stars trip when they shift from leading a function to leading an enterprise and for the first time taking responsibility for a P&L and oversight of executives across corporate functions. It truly is different at the top. To find out how, I took an in-depth look at this critical turning point, conducting an extensive series of interviews with more than 40 executives, including managers who had developed high-potential talent, senior HR professionals, and individuals who had recently made the move to enterprise leadership for the first time. What I found is that to make the transition successfully, executives must navigate a tricky set of changes in their leadership focus and skills, which I call the seven seismic shifts. They must learn to move from specialist to generalist, analyst to integrator, tactician to strategist, bricklayer to architect, problem solver to agenda setter, warrior to diplomat, and supporting cast member to lead role. Like so many of his peers, Harald had trouble negotiating most of these shifts. To see what makes them so difficult, let’s follow him through each of them, as he confronts unnerving surprises, makes unwarranted assumptions, encounters entirely new demands on his time and imagination, makes decisions in ignorance, and learns from his mistakes. The seven seismic shifts Specialist to Generalist

Understand the mental models, tools, and terms used in key business functions and develop templates for evaluating the leaders of those functions. Analyst to Integrator

Integrate the collective knowledge of crossfunctional teams and make appropriate trade-offs to solve complex organizational problems. Tactician to Strategist

Shift fluidly between the details and the larger picture, perceive important patterns in complex environments, and anticipate and influence the reactions of key external players. Bricklayer to Architect

Understand how to analyze and design organizational systems so that strategy, structure, operating models, and skill bases fit together effectively and efficiently, and harness this understanding to make needed organizational changes. Problem Solver to Agenda Setter

Define the problems the organization should focus on, and spot issues that don’t fall neatly into any one function but are still important. Warrior to Diplomat

Proactively shape the environment in which the business operates by influencing key external constituencies, including the government, NGOs, the media, and investors.

Exhibit the right behaviors as a role model for the organization and learn to communicate with and inspire large groups of people both directly and, increasingly, indirectly. Harald’s immediate challenge was shifting from leading a single function to overseeing the full set of business functions. In his first couple of months, this shift left him feeling disoriented and less confident in his ability to make good judgments. And so he fell into a classic trap-over-managing the function he knew well and undermanaging the others. Fortunately for Harald, this became crystal clear when his vice president of HR gave him some blunt feedback about his relationship with his sales and marketing VP: “You are driving Claire crazy. You need to give her some space.” Harald’s tendency to stay in his functional comfort zone is an understandable reaction to the stresses of moving up to a much broader role. It would be wonderful if newly appointed enterprise leaders were world-class experts in all business functions, but of course they never are. In some instances they have gained experience by rotating through various functions or working on cross-functional projects, which certainly helps. (Read the following paragraph “How to develop strong enterprise leaders.”) But the reality is that the move to enterprise leadership always requires executives who’ve been specialists to quickly turn into generalists who know enough about all the functions to run their businesses. How to develop strong enterprise leaders Early in their careers, give potential leaders...

• Experience on cross-functional projects and then responsibility for them • An international assignment (if it’s a global business) • Exposure to a broad range of business situations: start-up, accelerated growth, sustaining success, realignment, turnaround, and shutdown When leadership promise is evident, give high potentials...

•A position on a senior management team • Experience with external stakeholders (investors, the media, key customers) • An assignment as chief of staff for an experienced enterprise leader • An appointment to lead an acquisition integration or a substantial restructuring

Shamlan Yusuf Al-Eisa

he Egyptian Constitutional Court issued a historic verdict through an official statement declaring that the recently held parliamentary elections were invalid and ordered the immediate dissolution of the parliament. It also said that an article that prohibits former parliamentarians from contesting the presidential elections was illegitimate. It is worth mentioning here that influential Islamist personalities had earlier debarred presidential hopeful Ahmed Shafiq from contesting the presidential elections since he was one of the key personalities in the previous regime. It is common knowledge that serious problems are always sparked whenever our leaders are at loggerheads with each other; with each and every personality insisting that they are on the right track and lay the blame squarely on others. Ever since the issuance of this verdict, the war between political Islamists who call for the establishment of a religious state and those who support a civil state that is governed by the Constitution has only intensified further. Liberals are witnessed calling for the enforcement of law on equal terms on one and all without any discrimination and respecting human rights. Is that too much to ask? Aren’t citizens and leaders in countries across the world treading on the same path and have successfully managed to implement laws that do not impede or trespass on the constitutional and legitimate rights of others? Are we in the Arab world the only ones that are immune to such laws? I am not an Egyptian citizen and hence; do not have the legal right to elect a president -- but on the other hand; in my capacity as an Arab who loves Egypt and one who wishes to see it stable and politically prosperous, I simply cannot bear to see Egypt being transformed into a religious state - one that is governed and dominated by an elite group of religious scholars instead of the law and the Constitution. I also cannot comprehend the reasons why we always insist on dragging religion into politics despite being fully aware of the fact that both are two entirely different ideologies? I simply do not want Egypt, or any other country for that matter, to be governed by Islamic groups - taking into consideration the underlying fact that they simply do not know the meaning of democracy and worse; do not want to understand its concepts and ideologies. This is evident in the fact that

At the first enterprise promotion, place them in units that are...

• Small, distinct, and thriving • Staffed with an experienced and assertive team that they can learn from What is “enough”? Enterprise leaders must be able to (1) Make decisions that are good for the business as a whole and (2) Evaluate the talent on their teams. To do both they need to recognize that business functions are distinct managerial subcultures, each with its own mental models and language. Effective leaders understand the different ways that professionals in finance, marketing, operations, HR, and R&D approach business problems, and the various tools (discounted cash flow, customer segmentation, process flow, succession planning, stage gates, and the like) that each discipline applies. Leaders must be able to speak the language of all the functions and translate for them when necessary. And critically, leaders must know the right questions to ask and the right metrics for evaluating and recruiting people to manage areas in which they themselves are not experts. The good news for Harald was that, in addition to assigning him to a high-performing unit, his company had strong systems in place for evaluating and developing talent in key functions. These included well-crafted systems for performance reviews and 360-degree feedback, and for collecting input from corporate functions. His heads of finance and HR, for instance, while reporting directly to him, also had dotted-line reporting relationships with their respective corporate departments, which assisted Harald with their evaluation and development. So he had plenty of resources to help him understand what “excellence” meant for each function. • Michael D. Watkins is a Reuters correspondent. The views expressed here are his own.

“DEVELOPMENT MECHANISM” they simply contradict any views or opinions that differ from their own outdated and outmoded ideologies. It is clearly evident that their limited perceptions are more constricted in scope and vision than their minds and this is the main reason why they are against all forms of art and artists; moderation and freedoms. Bearing in mind their penchant for all kinds of limitations, restrictions and reservations; Egypt will be doomed to destruction if these Islamists ever gain power and rule Egypt. Egypt is an ancient civilization that has always been home to a host of cultures and religions wherein its citizens have always lived alongside one another in peace and harmony while most importantly; respecting each others’ religions as well. This is a delicate fabric that has been guarded and promulgated by Egyptian society and hence; if even a fragment of a rupture is witnessed in that delicate fabric, the entire country will be devastated and torn to pieces - the remnants of which can never ever be assembled or weaved together again. Egypt can never succeed as a democratic state nor will it be able to ever flourish economically in the event that it is governed by members of Islamic parties that are opposed

to Christians simply because the Copts are Egypt’s original inhabitants. It is common knowledge that Islamists nurse the firm belief that democracy is secularism, since democracy isolates religion from politics; and this is blasphemy to them. They also believe that liberalism is morally indecent, since it grants people the freedom of belief to do precisely what they believe in. However, the main question that is literally dangling on everyone’s minds is: “Will the current crisis witnessed in Egypt that is hindering its progress and development be resolved soon after the presidential elections or will it explode into a massive catastrophe that will simply rattle the pillars of society and take the country and its citizens down a deep, dark and dangerous abyss from which there is no easy way out? Past experience and the current reality of the situation simply gives us the inkling that the elections will certainly not witness the end of conflicts between religious and civil currents or institutions; but could trigger a series of arguments and debates after the president is elected to office. In fact a bigger battle is looming ever so large in the background and which is pertinent to the Constitution.

Euro membership in balance as Greeks vote

Before their first enterprise promotion, send rising stars...

• To a substantial executive program that addresses such capabilities as organizational design, business process improvement, and transition management, and allows them to build external networks

Ali Farzat

Dina Kyriakidou

Reuters

n upstart radical leftist is racing neck and neck with the conservative heir of a prominent Greek family in an election that will decide if Greece stays in the eurozone and which could spread turmoil across global financial markets. Voters fed up with the harsh measures prescribed by international lenders in a 130 billion euro bailout punished mainstream parties in an inconclusive May 6 election and appear split over the choices offered in the repeat vote. Conservative New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras, 61, has run on a strong pro-European ticket, warning Greeks angry with five years of austerity that giving up obligations agreed in the EU/ IMF bailout keeping Greece afloat means a return to the drachma currency. “These elections are about our children’s future - whether we stay in the euro or not,” Samaras told supporters in northern Greece on Wednesday. “That is what is at stake on Sunday.” Radical leftist SYRIZA party leader Alexis Tsipras, 37, has vowed to scrap the deal that plunged Greece into its worst recession in decades, to nationalize banks and stop privatizations, sending shockwaves across EU capitals and financial markets. His message has resonated among Greeks desperate with record unemployment of nearly 23 percent and rounds of spending cuts. The first vote catapulted him from fringe obscurity to leader of the second biggest party in Greece. EU partners have warned that no more bailout money will be handed to Greece, which is expected to run out of cash in weeks, unless it meets its budget and reform pledges. Tsipras says the EU is bluffing and that he wants to keep Greece in the euro. “If one country leaves the euro,

the eurozone collapses,” he told Greek TV on Thursday. “If they don’t give us the next loan installment, the euro zone will collapse the day after.” The last opinion polls published two weeks before the vote ahead of a ban, showed the two running a tight race. Five polls put Samaras slightly ahead and two put Tsipras in the lead. Pollsters say the numbers have not changed dramatically since. Once again, no party is expected to win outright and the biggest party is expected to launch negotiations to forge a pro-bailout or anti-bailout coalitions. Analysts say it will be a Pyrrhic victory for whoever wins - Samaras will find it hard to govern for long with an empowered Tsipras protesting at the gates and Tsipras will realize he is inheriting a state on the verge of bankruptcy without bailout funds. “It’s possible that we will have a collapse no matter who is in government,” said Yanis Varoufakis, a professor of economics at Athens University. “There is no easy solution.” Unemployment hit 22.6 percent in the first quarter of the year amid a 6.5 percent contraction in the economy. Shops and businesses are shutting down by the dozens and the number of homeless lining the streets in Athens are multiplying. Anger against an entrenched political class blamed for the crisis is running high. “They’ve turned Greece from a sunny paradise to hell,” said Dimitris Skizas, a 69-year-old whose pension has been cut. “People have lost their smiles, they are in despair and committing suicide. This is worse than the war in the 1940s.” Euro Versus Drachma

Samaras, the scion of one of Greece’s most prominent families that has included politicians, authors and benefactors, misjudged public anger at politicians for decades of corruption and mismanagement and insisted on the May 6 vote he lost. He initially opposed and then backed international aid for Greece by joining the Socialists in a coalition government under technocrat premier Lucas Papademos last

year. Confident in his victory, he forced the election by tacitly pulling support from the coalition but paid the price for his mixed message and a campaign targeted against the once powerful Socialist PASOK, whose crushing defeat left the two parties without enough support to forge a pro-bailout coalition. An economist with a Harvard MBA, Samaras staged a more effective election campaign this time around, coming closer to voters in casual walkabouts and driving in his gloom and doom message if Greeks voted emotionally against the bailout. “The euro versus drachma debate has managed to dominate the election agenda,” said Costas Panagopoulos, head of ALCO pollsters. “The SYRIZA positions appear less realistic - cancelling the bailout and staying in the euro.” A former Communist party youth-wing member whose political acumen was forged in 1990s student protests, Tsipras was unprepared when he was swept by a huge wave of discontent at established parties to the forefront of Greek politics. The youngest Greek political party leader, Tsipras is at the helm of the SYRIZA coalition of 12 leftist and human rights groups. His youthful looks and refusal to wear a tie appeals to young urbanites.Aides said his first concern if he wins Sunday’s election and manages to form a governing coalition is to keep the near-bankrupt state running. Critics warn that supporters who believe his message of a painless adjustment will be quickly disappointed and may soon abandon him. “I may disagree with parts of his program but that doesn’t worry me too much because no party applies its program once it’s in power,” said Varoufakis, a SYRIZA sympathizer. “What worries me is that he creates the impression among the Greek people that all their suffering will end if he gets elected on Monday. That is not the case.” * Dina Kyriakidou is a Reuters correspondent. The views expressed here are her own.

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ALWATAN DAILY

WORLD

thursdAY, June 21, 2012

Man claiming Al-Qaeda link takes hostages in France TOULOUSE: A man who said he was a member of Al-Qaeda and armed with explosives was holding several people hostage in a bank in the southwestern French city of Toulouse on Wednesday, police said. The man, known to police for a record of petty offences and psychological problems, released two female hostages after receiving food and water in the early afternoon, police sources said. The man took the hostages, who included the bank manager, in a branch of French bank CIC around mid-morning and fired a shot after an attempted armed robbery apparently went wrong, UNSA police union official Cedric Delage said. Two police sources said a second shot was fired in mid-afternoon. “The man has made clear that he is not acting for money, but for religious reasons. He want us to make that message clear,” Prosecutor Michel Valet told reporters. Police believed four hostages were involved in the latest drama to hit the Toulouse region since a young Al-Qaeda-inspired gunman shot dead three soldiers, a rabbi and three Jewish children in March. The hostage-taker asked for the elite RAID commando unit to come to the scene - the same squad which shot dead 23-year-old gunman Mohammed Merah in March after a long standoff at his home, which was just meters from the site of Wednesday’s siege. “By choosing to carry this out where the Merah affair took place, it shows that this makes sense for him and has a particular symbolism,” said Christophe Caupenne, a former commando at the RAID. “The Merah affair was a psychological trigger for him so at some point he would act.” Toulouse, a university town which does not have a reputation as a hotbed of religious or militant tension, has been hit in recent weeks with a number of short-lived hostage situations, including a drama last week at a local weather forecasting office, but none resulted in casualties. Anti-terrorist police were brought in from the nearby cities of Bordeaux and Marseille and the area was sealed off. Motives

“You have to ask why somebody who claims

NEWS IN BRIEF Norway to rename Bomb island near Breivik killings OSLO: Norway plans to rename tiny Bomb island, near Utoeya island where Anders Behring Breivik brutally gunned down 69 people last year and plans to hold a contest to select a new name. “We have to do all we can to make life easier for those who will struggle with this for the rest of their lives,” local mayor Per Berger said on Wednesday. Residents of the area now consider Bombeya, a name given after World War Two when Nazi Germany bombed the island, inappropriate in the wake of the Breivik killings and the municipal authorities want locals to propose a more positive name to honor victims Berger told Reuters. Breivik killed 77 people last year, first detonating a fertilizer bomb at government headquarters in Oslo and killing 8, then gunning down 69 people, mostly teenagers on Utoeya at the ruling Labor Party’s summer camp. -Reuters

Chinese police warn Ai Weiwei to avoid tax hearing

Police block the street at the scene where a man, claiming to be a member of Al-Qaeda, has taken four hostages in a bank in Toulouse June 20, 2012. (Reuters)

to be from Al-Qaeda would go to a bank when there are better locations to target if you have a grudge against the state,” Delage added. Police sources said the police had identified the hostage-taker and brought in a friend and his sister to help with negotiations. He declined to speak to either of them. One source said the suspect had a name of North African origin and had spent time in a psychiatric hospital. A bomb disposal team was also sent after

the man told them he had explosives. Officials at CIC and the Interior Ministry declined to comment. Britain and Spain have been hit by Al-Qaeda attacks over the past decade, following the US-led NATO intervention in Afghanistan, but France has not seen a major attack on its soil since the mid-1990s. At that time the Algerian Armed Islamic Group (GIA) carried out a spate of attacks, including the bombing of a commuter train in

NATO troops among casualties in Afghan suicide bombing KHOST: A suicide bomber struck a security checkpoint in Afghanistan’s city of Khost on Wednesday, killing at least 21 people and wounding 37, police said, the latest attack to raise questions about stability in the volatile eastern region bordering Pakistan. A spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said the casualties included foreign troops, but declined to say how many and whether that meant deaths or injuries. Sardar Mohammad Zazai, police chief of Khost province, said the bomber, riding a motorbike, detonated his explosives at the checkpoint manned by local and foreign security forces. The attack took place near a mosque in a crowded part of the city, which lies near the border with Pakistan. Women and children were among the wounded, local officials said. Khost is a main area of operations for the Taliban-linked Haqqani militant group which the United

States says has been behind a string of bombings in Kabul as well as attacks on foreign forces in the countryside. A witness said that NATO and Afghan troops were using biometric data to screen residents of the provincial capital when the bomber struck. “Then suddenly there was an explosion. I saw many killed and wounded including Afghan police and foreign troops. We carried some of them to the hospital,” said Gul Mohammad, whose shop was near the scene of the blast. Earlier this month, the Taliban claimed responsibility for an assault on a US base in the same province. That attack killed one US soldier, a US contractor and one Afghan civilian, NATO officials later said. US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta blamed the group for the attack on the base and vowed to fight them. -Reuters

Senegal police detain ex-interior minister for questioning DAKAR: Senegalese police on Wednesday detained former interior minister Ousmane Ngom for questioning amid a probe by the new regime into graft by officials from the previous government. “Police officers went to Kolda (south) to take him in,” a police source said without giving the reasons for Ngom’s detention. The ex-interior minister, with the Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) was taken in by an elite police unit in the southern Senegalese town of Kolda where he was campaigning ahead of July 1 legislative polls. “He was not ill-treated by police,” reported the Senegalese news agency APS. Ngom was among several officials from Abdoulaye Wade’s former regime who were recently summoned for questioning in relation to a probe into ill-gotten gains. However he had

left the courthouse after a long wait to be questioned. He then said he would not comply with any police summons before the holding of the legislative elections, urging other former regime officials to follow suit. Ngom came under fire during March presidential elections for the repression of opposition protests which sparked near-daily riots in Dakar amid anger over Wade’s disputed bid for a third term in office which left about six dead. Wade was roundly beaten at the ballot box by Macky Sall in a second round of voting. Sall’s new government recently opened a special court to look into fraud and ill-gotten gains. He has also sought support from the United Nations and western nations to recover public assets moved abroad under the Stolen Assets Recovery (STAR) Initiative launched in 2007 by the World Bank. -AFP

1995 which killed eight people and injured 150. The rise of Al-Qaeda has posed a new challenge to French security services more used to watching Algerian-related militants. France raised its terrorism alert in late 2010 after Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden singled the country out as one of the worst offenders against Islam. There have been a number of kidnappings of French citizens abroad, and officials say several plots to launch attacks on French soil have been foiled by intelligence services. -Reuters

Suu Kyi says ready to lead Myanmar to democracy

LONDON/OXFORD: Myanmar’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi announced in Britain on Tuesday that she was prepared to take the helm as the leader of her people, the strongest signal yet she saw herself as someone who could lead her country one day. Myanmar’s then-ruling junta freed the Oxford-educated Nobel Peace Prize laureate from house arrest in 2010, ushering in a period of reform and enabling her to travel abroad for the first time in decades. Asked by the BBC if she was prepared to lead her people, given the prospect of national elections in 2015, Suu Kyi replied: “If I can lead them in the right way, yes.” Even so, any bid for Myanmar’s presidency looks unlikely, since it would require changing a junta-drafted constitution designed to protect the country’s still-powerful military. Now a symbol of non-violent political resistance, Suu Kyi, 67, left her two sons and husband in Britain in 1988 to nurse her dying mother in Myanmar, where she was swept up in pro-democracy protests that the military brutally crushed. She languished under house arrest for much of the next two decades, unable to spend much time with her sons or be with her husband before he died of cancer in 1999. She was released in November 2010 after an election that installed President

Thein Sein’s quasi-civilian government ending nearly 50 years of military rule which has launched a series of dramatic reforms. These included holding by-elections in April in which Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won 43 seats in Myanmar’s fledgling parliament. While Thein Sein, a former general, announced on Tuesday a “second wave” of reforms, Suu Kyi was hailed as a hero on her visit in Britain as part of a broader European tour. Given star treatment on her 67th birthday on Tuesday, she received a standing ovation when she addressed a packed auditorium at the London School of Economics at the start of her emotional comeback to Britain. “It’s all of you and people like you that have given me the strength to continue,” she said, to whoops and cheers from the audience. “And I suppose I do have a stubborn streak in me.” In her London speech, Suu Kyi spoke about the importance of the rule of law in Myanmar. “The reason why I’ve emphasized the rule of law so much in my political work is because this is what we all need if we are to really proceed towards democracy,” said Suu Kyi, who was sworn into Myanmar’s parliament last month. “Unless people see that justice is done and seen to be done, we cannot believe in genuine reform.” -Reuters

BEIJING: Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei said on Wednesday police had warned him to stay away from a court hearing his company’s lawsuit challenging a demand for 15 million yuan ($2.4 million) for tax evasion. Beijing’s Chaoyang District Court agreed last month to hear the case brought by the company that markets Ai’s work, a departure from consistent refusal by the courts, strictly controlled by the ruling Communist Party, to give dissidents any hearing. His supporters say the case has been trumped up, part of a drive to muzzle the outspoken social critic.The hearing was still in progress late in the evening. Ai said that despite the courts’ acceptance of his lawsuit, police warned him not to attend the hearing, and sent several patrol cars to park outside the studio where he lives. China’s official media has not reported the lawsuit. But the Global Times, a popular tabloid owned by the People’s Daily, said in a commentary on Monday that the recognition given to Ai by the West “is not acknowledged among the majority of Chinese”. -Reuters

Violence in northern Nigeria kills at least 80 KADUNA/ABUJA: At least 80 people have been killed since Monday in clashes in northern Nigeria triggered by Islamists waging an insurgency against the government, figures from police and the Red Cross showed on Wednesday. The violence - some of which was sparked by church bombings over the last three Sundays - has heightened sectarian tensions in Africa’s most populous country, which is evenly split between Christians and Muslims. Boko Haram insurgents waged gun battles with security forces in the remote northeastern city of Damaturu, near the radical sect’s heartland, throughout Tuesday, police chief for the surrounding Yobe state Patrick Egbuniwe told Reuters. He said 40 people were killed, 34 insurgents and six security personnel. His organization was helping collect bodies and treat the wounded, following riots in which Muslim youths fired AK-47 rifles, burned tires and destroyed a church in Kaduna. -Reuters

‘Important’ Al-Qaeda leader captured in Pakistan: Officials ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has captured an “important” Al-Qaeda leader in an operation near the Pakistan-Iran border, officials said on Wednesday, amid criticism from the United States the country was not doing enough to fight militancy. US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said during a trip to Kabul that stabilization efforts in Afghanistan would remain difficult as long as militants had safe havens in neighboring Pakistan, and that Washington was “reaching the limits” of its patience with Islamabad. Pakistani officials said the captured Al- Qaeda leader was Naamen Meziche, a French national of Algerian origin, who is believed to have links with militant groups based in Europe. Media reports say he may have played a role in the 9/11 attacks. Meziche worked closely with another Al-Qaeda leader, Younis AlMauritani, who was responsible for international operations, Pakistani officials said. -Reuters

WikiLeaks’ Assange seeks asylum at Ecuador embassy QUITO/LONDON: WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange has taken refuge in Ecuador’s embassy in London and asked for asylum, officials said on Tuesday, in a last-ditch bid to avoid extradition to Sweden over sex crime accusations. Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said his country would weigh the request from the self-styled anti-secrecy campaigner, whose website is famous for leaking hundreds of thousands of US diplomatic cables. The appeal for protection was the latest twist in Assange’s 18-month fight against being sent to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning about allegations of rape and sexual assault made by two female former WikiLeaks volunteers. The situation threatens to inflame tensions between the government of Rafael Correa, Ecuador’s leftist and ardently anti-Washington president, and US authorities, who accuse Assange of damaging its foreign relations with his leaks.

It is also an embarrassment for Britain, whose foreign ministry on Tuesday confirmed the 40-year-old Assange was beyond the reach of its police in the Ecuadorean embassy. “Ecuador is studying and analyzing the request,” Patino told reporters in Quito. He added that any decision would be made with “respect for norms and principles of international law”. The Andean nation in 2010 invited Assange to seek residency there but quickly backed away from the idea, accusing him of breaking US laws. Since his detention,Assange has mostly been living under strict bail conditions at the country mansion of a wealthy supporter in eastern England. His associates say that amounts to 540 days under house arrest without charge. Breach of bail conditions is potentially a criminal offence. “While the department assesses Mr. Assange’s application, Mr. Assange will remain at the embassy, under the protec-

tion of the Ecuadorean Government,” the embassy said on its website. “The decision to consider Mr. Assange’s application for protective asylum should in no way be interpreted as the Government of Ecuador interfering in the judicial processes of either the United Kingdom or Sweden.” Assange arrived at the embassy in London’s exclusive Knightsbridge district asking for protection and complaining that his home country of Australia had abandoned him and refused to defend him, according to a statement from Ecuador’s Foreign Ministry. The Swedish Prosecution Authority said it had no information other than that which had appeared in the media. The lawyer for the two female former WikiLeaks volunteers who made the complaints against Assange said he was not surprised by Assange’s latest move but expected Ecuador to reject the asylum request. -Reuters

FILE - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange speaks at a news conference in London on Feb. 27, 2012. (Reuters)

BUSINESS

m ar ket watc h KUWAIT

DUBAI

QATAR

OMAN

0.48% 5917

0.18% 1477

0.08% 8307

0.19% 5690

OIL MARKETS

ABU DHABI

BAHRAIN

EGYPT

SAUDI

0.87% 2490

0.05% 1129

0.51% 4108

0.3% 6838

US Crude $84.12 $0.09 London Brent $95.36 $0.44 Kuwait Crude $92.46 $1.84 Information Courtesy: KAMCO

Kuwaiti crude down $1.84, settles at $92.46 Brent oil slips, Europe worries weigh

CAPITALS: The price of Kuwaiti crude oil went down by 1.84 US dollars on Tuesday’s oil markets to settle at $92.46 per barrel, compared to $94.30 on the day before, said Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) on Wednesday. Oil prices retreated in global markets amidst increasing fears regarding Spain’s borrowing high costs which have driven investors away from taking any risks. Despite the 100 billion euro bailout, Spain’s financial crisis might persist to increase. In more news, Brent crude oil fell on Wednesday, pinned near 17-month lows, hit by worries over Spain’s high borrowing costs and prospects for global demand growth. Brent oil for August delivery was down 20 cents at $95.56 per barrel by 1156 GMT. It fell as low as $94.86 earlier, near Tuesday’s trough of $94.44, its lowest since January, 2011. US July crude futures, which expire onWednesday, were up 25 cents at $84.28 per barrel. Expectations that the US Federal Reserve’s policy meeting may result in stimulus for the world’s largest economy gave some lift to US crude, but failed to halt a slide in Brent, which has tumbled around 22 percent this quarter, its biggest fall since late 2008. “Oil has really decided it has no interest in the FOMC, it has not priced in any significant stimulus,” said David Morrison, analyst at GFT Global. The US central bank will release a policy statement at the end of its two-day meeting later on Wednesday, followed by a briefing by Chairman Ben Bernanke at 1815 GMT. “It must be because investors are looking ahead and seeing that the situation in Europe isn’t going to get any better, while the outlook for demand in the US is poor and China is slowing too,” Morrison said. He added that there was little technical support for Brent crude above the $87.50-$88 per barrel level. Others pointed to ample supply of crude oil in a market where demand growth is slowing. “The Fed might provide some short term

A woman walks near a residential area under construction in Chongqing municipality. Asia’s top companies are less upbeat on their business outlook than in the first quarter, with mounting concern over the euro zone crisis and a slowdown in China’s growth, according to the latest Thomson Reuters/INSEAD Asia Business Sentiment Survey, published on June 20, 2012. (Reuters)

support but there is a fundamental over-supply of light/sweet crude oil in the Atlantic Basin that neither the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) nor the Fed can resolve,” said Olivier Jakob, at Petromatrix in Zug Switzerland. Traders said they were not focusing on supply disruption risks posed by sanctions on producer Iran over its disputed nuclear program. Brent crude ended lower on Tuesday after negotiations in Moscow to defuse the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program led to plans for technical talks to be held in Istanbul on July 3. A deal had not been widely expected and although experts said the sides were far apart, they welcomed the fact talks had at least not broken

down completely. Analysts think that there is little chance of substantive progress from the talks. The market waited for an inventory report from the US government Energy Information Administration on Wednesday later in the day for trading cues. Oil prices could be supported by a projected drop in US crude oil stockpiles for a third straight week. On average, crude stocks are forecast to have dipped 1.1 million barrels in the week to June 15, according to a Reuters survey of 12 analysts. The American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday said domestic crude stocks fell by 550,000 barrels last week, with crude imports down 82,000 barrels per day. -Agencies

with the global economy, as well as other factors. The instructions covered the main topics in bank governance such as the role played by the board. There was stress the board must honor its obligations to the overall institution in full, and this includes defining strategic goals, constantly improving governance standards, actively taking part in management, protecting shareholders’ interests and those of all parties involved, and focusing on risk management, as well as buttressing internal supervision and the systems for internal and external auditing. The instructions stress independence of the board to ensure issues are discussed and decisions are taken objectively, without compromising the interests of the minority. There is also stress on the board’s duty to promote confidence in bank management by making sure profitability is not the lone concern but one which goes hand in hand with interests of depositors and overall monetary stability. On the supervisory role of boards and active supervision on executive management, he said there was proposal on formation of committees stemming from the board of directors to monitor the bank’s sensitive operations. The CBK governor also pointed out there was an update on regulations regarding allowances and bonuses and the need to assess these in proportion

to bank performance and long-term risk management, as well as short-term risk management. This is in addition to bolstering transparency and enhancing announcement of data criteria, along with stressing values and ethics as important factors where governance is concerned. The bank had conducted surveys to assess local banks’ assessment and observations regarding the new regulations, he noted, and the feedback was considered as seen fit. Dr. Al-Hashel said the new guidelines are effective as of July 1, 2013. Till then, banks are required to present CBK with quarterly reports on policies, measures, and adjustments introduced as of September 2012 leading to the “timely and full implementation” of the new criteria. The governor expressed confidence the banks would be able to implement the new regulations, since they are in effect the minimum acceptable in governance, stressing that adequate governance is essential for consolidating trust in the banking sector on local and international level. This implementation also entails, he said, improvement in banks’ operating environment and enhancing overall local economic performance. He pointed out those interested in the specifics of the regulations may access the information via the Central Bank of Kuwait website ‘www.cbk.gov. kw’. -KUNA

Zain Jordan pumped $1 billion into country’s markets CAPITALS: Zain Jordan, subsidiary of Kuwait’s Zain Group, has pumped into the country’s markets one billion US dollars worth of investments in the past 16 years, Zain’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ahmad Al-Hanandeh said on Wednesday. Al-Hanandeh told KUNA that Zain has allocated $120 million, for the year 2012, to develop and expand its internet and optical fiber networks. It also spent $42 million, in the first quarter of 2012, to complete its wired broadband network. Zain’s investments have yielded $1.8 billion into the country’s budget since the establishment of the mobile telecommunication company until 2011, Al-Hanandeh noted. By the end of 2012, Zain’s networks would expand ever further to cover 99.9 percent of inhibited areas. Data usage increased 60 percent in 2011 compared to that of 2010, especially, after the launch of Zain’s HSPA+ services. In March 2011, meanwhile, broadband database has drastically jumped from eight percent to 37 percent. The company’s subscribers have exceeded 2.9 million, out of the country’s population of 6.5 million, in the first quarter of 2012, Zain’s CEO

CURRENCIES US Dollar

British Pound

Saudi Riyal

Qatari Riyal

Indian Rupee

Buy 0.2796 Sell 0.2797

Buy 0.4406 Sell 0.4408

Buy 0.0745 Sell 0.0746

Buy 0.07680 Sell 0.07680

Buy 0.4978 Sell 0.498

Euro

Japanese Yen

UAE Dirham

Bahraini Dinar

Philippine Peso

Buy 0.3551 Sell 0.3552

Buy 0.3542 Sell 0.3543

Buy 0.0761 Sell 0.0761

Buy 0.7415 Sell 0.7418

Buy 0.00663 Sell 0.00664

Prices in Kuwaiti fils. As of June 20, 2012. Courtesy: KAMCO

Egyptian pound bid at lowest in more than 7 years

CAIRO: Egypt’s pound was bid at 6.0507 to the US dollar on Wednesday, its weakest in more than seven years, following a week of political turmoil. Over the last few days, the country’s new parliament has been dissolved, both candidates have declared victory in last week’s presidential election run-off and the drawing up of the country’s new constitution has floundered as politicians bicker. The Egyptian currency later strengthened to 6.0495 to the dollar, which was still weaker than its close of 6.0470 on Tuesday. -Reuters

Kuwait’s trade surplus with Japan shrinks 1st time in 13 months

CBK issues new guidelines on governance at Kuwaiti banks KUWAIT: “Within the effort aimed at keeping up with the latest in international banking supervisory criteria meant to bolster governance criteria at banks, the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) Board agreed in its meeting June 19, 2012, to issue new directives regarding ‘governance rules and regulations at Kuwaiti banks’,” said CBK Governor Dr. Mohammad Al-Hashel, Wednesday. The governor added the new directives are to over-write the instructions issued by CBK on ‘sound management principles for banks and financial institutions’ back in May 3, 2004. In remarks to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), Al-Hashel said the new instructions include improvements on the regulations in view of the global financial crisis and the recent governance regulations adopted around the world. It specifically incorporates findings and information included in the Basel Committee’s paper on “Principles for enhancing corporate governance”, issued in 2010, the Financial Stability Board’s principles on allowances, and the World Bank team report on assessment of governance criteria at Kuwaiti banks issued late 2010, commissioned by CBK. Al-Hashel added that the instructions also kept in mind the structure of the Kuwaiti banking sector, the basic peculiarities of the national economy, and the level of the Kuwaiti economy’s integration

thursDAY, JUNE 21, 2012

noted. He further said that the company has been connected to optical fiber networks to provide better performance for its customers. In the next phase of the company’s future would involve creating more service to the public and making more partnerships with other companies. Since customers tend to use the internet more often than voice services, he stressed the next focus would be in developing the internet services to create more resources of income for the company. Furthermore, Al-Hanandeh highlighted some of the challenges that face the telecommunication sector such as competiveness in prices and services. Therefore, he empathized that there is a dire need to keep up with the latest technology used is the field of telecommunication by providing for the public the latest smartphones, tablets and the cheapest internet data plans. In more news, Goldman Sachs upgraded Saudi Arabia’s Etihad Etisalat Company (Mobily) to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral’ citing a four-fold increase in its mobile broadband subscriber base last year. The brokerage expects Mobily, Saudi Arabia’s second-largest telecoms operator by market capitalization, to benefit from faster mobile data

adoption, superior network quality, and strong consumption trends in the country. It expects Mobily to sustain its superior returns and raised its price target on the stock to 87 Saudi riyals ($23.20) from 58.8 Saudi riyals ($15.68). Goldman also upgraded landline operator Turk Telekom to “buy” as it expects the company to sustain growth and returns due to its superior positioning in a benign fixed-line and broadband market in Turkey. It upgraded Zain to “neutral” but expects the Kuwaiti telco to continue to experience execution difficulties in its major markets such as Kuwait, Iraq, and Sudan. Goldman raised targets on African companies such as MTN Group, Vodacom and media group Naspers Ltd as it expects high growth and cashflow generation potential for companies exposed to fast-growing African economies. Goldman cut price targets on several other telecoms companies in Central Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa saying in a volatile macro environment there will be a greater dispersion in valuation multiples for companies depending on their industry positioning and earnings visibility. -Agencies

TOKYO: Kuwait’s trade surplus with Japan narrowed 6.7 percent in May to 85.3 billion Japanese yen (1.1 billion US dollars) from a year earlier, shrinking for the first time in 13 months. Kuwait registered trade surplus with Japan for a 52 consecutive month of black ink, though the margin shrank for the first time since April 2011, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday. Kuwaiti overall exports to Japan edged down 0.2 percent to 95.0 billion yen ($1.2 billion) for the first decline in 13 months, while imports from Japan surged 151.6 percent year-on-year to 9.8 billion yen ($124 million) for the eighth consecutive month of growth, the ministry said in a preliminary report. The Middle East’s trade surplus with Japan widened 6.2 percent to 924.0 billion yen ($11.7 billion) last month, with Japan-bound exports from the region rising 12.3 percent from a year earlier to 1.103 trillion yen ($14.0 billion). Crude oil and petroleum products, which accounted for 98.1 percent of the region’s total exports to Japan, grew 12.6 percent on the year. Among resources, liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments from the Middle East marked a 35.2 percent rise. Imports from Japan also rose 60.5 percent to 179.5 billion yen ($2.3 billion), thanks to robust shipments of automobiles, vehicle parts and steel.

The world’s third-biggest economy posted a global deficit of 907.26 billion yen ($11.5 billion) in May for the third straight month of red ink and rose 5.4 percent from a year earlier on soaring energy costs and weak exports to Europe, the ministry said. It was the third biggest trade deficit since comparable data became available in 1979. The value of exports grew 10.0 percent to 5.235 trillion yen ($66.4 billion) for the third straight monthly gain, thanks to strong shipments of automobiles and auto parts, mainly to the US. Imports grew 9.3 percent to 6.142 trillion yen ($77.9 billion) for the 29th consecutive month on rising purchases of crude oil, LNG and petroleum products. Resource-poor Japan is buying more fossil fuels for thermal power generation as all of the nation’s 50 workable nuclear reactors are currently idled due to safety concerns in the wake of the radiation accident in March 2011 at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which was triggered by the massive earthquake and tsunami. Japan logged its first ever trade deficit with the 27-member European Union since 1979 on the impact of the European debt crisis, while its trade deficit with top trading partner China also widened. The trade data are measured on a customs-cleared basis before adjustment for seasonal factors. -KUNA

KSE ends session in red indices KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange’s KSX 15 index ended Wednesday’s trading session with a loss of 4.45 points to read 962.27 points. The price index shed 28.35 points to 5,916.73 points. The weighted index loss 1.89 points to 397.58 points. Trades came to 3,648 transactions, worth 15,937,192.878 Kuwaiti dinars and volume reached 171,521,620 shares. Top share for the day was that of Pearl of Kuwait real estate company. The biggest loser was Arkan Al-Kuwait real estate company and top volume share was that of Gulf Finance House. The 14 sector indices were mixed upon closing. Kuwait Stock Exchange indices were red, on Wednesday, an hour after trading started. The price index read 5,943.15 points, a down of 1.93 points. The weighted index read 398.86 points, a loss of 0.61 points, and the KSX 15 index also showed a drop of 2 points at 964.72 points. Trades came to 1,287 transactions by that time, worth KD 6,957,506.427, with 70,717,690 shares changing hands so far. -KUNA

Boubyan Bank backs $2.1 billion NBK offer DUBAI: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) moved a step closer to a takeover of Kuwait’s Boubyan Bank on Wednesday, but a disputed stake held by another bank remains an obstacle to the 2.1 billion US dollars deal. The Boubyan Bank board gave its backing to its main shareholder, describing NBK’s offer for the 52.7 percent stake it does not already own as “fair and suitable”. However, NBK must still resolve the issue of a 19.2 percent stake held by Commercial Bank of Kuwait. Investment Dar, a struggling Kuwaiti firm that is undergoing restructuring, sold the stake to CBK in 2008, with the right to buy it back. In 2009, CBK said Dar had lost that right and tried to sell on the open market, a move blocked by a Dar-requested court order. “For NBK, its a matter of getting the

CBK stake sorted out and gaining regulatory approval,” a banking source said on Wednesday. “They have the support of Boubyan, so it’s a done deal if these two things are taken care of.” NBK, Kuwait’s largest lender, last week offered to pay 630 Kuwaiti fils per share for the 52.7 percent of Boubyan it does not own as it tries to boost its presence in Islamic banking in the Gulf region. If the tie-up is completed, the combined entity would hold assets worth about $57 billion. Boubyan has hired consulting firm Protiviti to advise on the transaction, it said in a bourse statement on Wednesday. Boubyan shares were trading down 1.6 percent at 620 fils on the Kuwait bourse Wednesday, while NBK shares were down 1.9 percent at 0915 GMT. -Reuters

UAE’s NBQ wins delay in $250 million Global case DUBAI: National Bank of Umm Al Qaiwain (NBQ), a bank in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), said on Wednesday it had won a delay in a 250 million US dollars judgment against it in a case involving Kuwaiti group Global Investment House. The sum was placed with NBQ in August 2008 as the first part of Global’s purchase of a 20 percent stake in the bank through a 2.36 billion UAE dirham ($643 million) convertible bond issue. As markets slumped in late 2008 and Global faced debt problems which forced it into a restructuring, it cancelled the planned purchase and asked for the money back. But NBQ said it was entitled to keep it. In May this year, a Dubai appeals court ordered NBQ to pay Global the money plus $79 million interest. A court of cassation in Dubai has now suspended enforcement of that judgment until Sept. 4 when another appeal by NBQ will be heard, the bank said on Wednesday. -Reuters

ALWATAN DAILY

BUSINESS

Japan, China to import Iran oil after EU ban

TOKYO: At least two of Asia’s four top buyers of Iranian crude will keep imports flowing, though at overall reduced rates, as they find ways around an EU ban on insuring tankers carrying the Islamic country’s oil. Asia needs oil to feed growing demand and top consumers are reluctant to entirely halt imports from Iran and depend entirely on top exporter Saudi Arabia, especially given that output from other alternative suppliers such as Libya and Iraq has not stabilized. Japan has secured a parliament approval that allows the government to provide insurance cover, while China is asking Iran to take on the risk and deliver the crude on their ships. South Korea and India have yet to find a way out. Together, Japan and China have nominated loadings for as many as 620,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Iranian oil next month, sources said on Wednesday. A year ago, the Islamic Republic was selling around two-thirds of its crude exports, or roughly 1.45 million bpd, to these four Asian buyers. In less than two weeks, the four Asian buyers who are Iran’s biggest customers will lose access to European insurers that cover 95 percent of the world’s tankers for oil spills and collisions, as western countries seek to curtail Tehran’s disputed nuclear program. India’s government, which has won an exemption to US sanctions, has been trying without success to figure out how it will get around the EU sanctions. South Korea will halts imports due to the insurance ban, industry sources have said. Seoul, like Tokyo, has lobbied the EU to delay or get a waiver on implementing the ban on insurers. It is not considering state guarantees, according to government sources. Those lobbying efforts have so far failed. The European Union will not cancel or delay the embargo on Iranian oil tankers, EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said at an industry conference a week ago. The International Energy Agency said last week that Iran’s crude exports in April and May have fallen by one million bpd since the end of 2011 to 1.5 million bpd and that Tehran may need to shut in production. Worries about a supply disruption from Iran had boosted oil prices to a high of over 128 US dollars a barrel In March. Prices have come off those highs, and are nearly down 25 percent in part due to increased supplies by Saudi Arabia and concerns about a slowdown in the global economy. China finds a way

Unipec, the trading arm Sinopec Corp, requested Iran to deliver July-loading crude cargoes to Chinese ports, sources

thursdAY, June 21, 2012

said. One source estimated Sinopec will lift about 500,000 bpd for July, a level similar to the average amount the top Asian refiner bought from Iran last year. The Unipec request suggests that China hasn’t worked a permanent way to cover China-flagged tankers which have been transporting at least part of the Iranian oil. “Short-term this may work, but that is not a long-term solution. The government needs to come up with a plan soon to coordinate on this matter,” said an industry official. China is the only major buyer that hasn’t got an exemption from US financial restrictions on doing business with Iran. A senior Chinese oil executive told Reuters last week that the European insurance ban would not pose a problem, and that Iran delivering the crude on its own tankers would be one of the options. The executive also said Sinopec has since April been lifting a steady amount of Iranian oil versus last year, although for the whole of 2012 the refiner would import 16-20 percent less than 2011. Japan

Japan has been able to continue with the imports as the country’s parliament on Wednesday approved an unprecedented law that allows Tokyo to provide cover of up to $7.6 billion for incidents involving tankers bringing Iranian oil to the country. Japan, which needs more oil to fire power stations after the Fukushima disaster shut the country’s nuclear capacity, nominated loadings of 120,000 bpd for both June and July, sources said, unchanged from May. Japan’s biggest buyers of Iranian oil, Showa Shell Sekiyu KK and JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corporation, are to load a total of four vessels in June, steady from May, with shipments arriving this month and next, traders said on Wednesday, Showa Shell is Japan’s top buyer of Iran oil this month, they added. Neither company would comment on their oil dealings with Iran. Japan’s law on covering shipments will take effect on June 27, a government official who requested anonymity said on Tuesday. Overall crude oil imports rose about seven percent in May from a year earlier, government data showed on Wednesday. Iranian oil accounted for nearly nine percent of Japan’s crude imports last year. Japan has reduced the flow already to comply with US sanctions requiring buyers to make sizeable cuts, but wants to avoid more drastic reductions that could drive up energy import costs and hurt the world’s third-largest economy. It is the first time Japan has sought to provide guarantees on marine shipments, an official in the country’s transport ministry, which sponsored the legislation, said earlier. -Reuters

Dexia Asset Management presents its economic, financial outlook CAPITALS: Since late 2011, global growth has subsided. It should, nonetheless, gradually reaccelerate in the emerging regions. Indeed, they benefit from lower agricultural commodity prices and will not hesitate to take advantage of their substantial monetary and fiscal leeway. Brazil and, more recently, China, have, in fact already initiated such policy easing. This was stated in a press release this week. United States: still growing

In the United States, the recovery is on a more self-sustained path: for several months now, monthly job creations have exceeded 150,000 and nominal wages have been increasing at four percent annual rate. The moderate real gross domestic product (GDP) growth expected in 2012 (+2.3 percent) and the thin economic policy margins leave, nonetheless, the economy at risk ... all the more so as, without a compromise between Republicans and Democrats, a major fiscal tightening (3.5 GDP points) would take place for 2013. Anton Brender, Chief Economist at Dexia Asset Management, believes that, “Even if the uncertainty about the extent of fiscal tightening in 2013 will likely not be dissipated before the end-of-year elections, the United States should still display pragmatism and adjust the pace of the public deficit reduction to the strength of the recovery.” Euro zone: recession-bound

In the euro zone, growth has clearly weakened since mid-2011 and the consequences of the simultaneous deleveraging of the private and public sectors are now becoming manifest. Far from following the American strategy, the Euro countries have, one after the other, set themselves dangerously ambitious budgetary objectives, neglecting the consequences these may have on growth: where public deficit reduction objectives have been stepped up most, activity has been severely depressed ... with substantial social (and sometimes political) repercussions. If the ECB interventions - its three-year refinancing operations in particular - were able, for a while, to halt the negative feedback loop between government bonds prices, weaker growth and the banking system, they haven’t come close to breaking it. The acute political crisis in Greece and the discussions about the country’s possible exit from the euro zone should now lead the European authorities to revise their strategy. Installing bigger and bigger firewalls will not be enough to restore either confidence or growth. Florence Pisani, economist at Dexia Asset Management, adds that: “If governments don’t want the negative feedback loop to resume, they must prevent Greece from leaving the zone and agree to slow down the pace of budgetary rebalancing for most countries.” Even if they did commit themselves to this, growth would, at best, be slightly negative in 2012 and remain perilously weak in 2013 (just under one percent). Both Anton Brender and Florence Pisani conclude that, “We haven’t seen the last of the Euro sovereign debt crisis!”

Wednesday 20 June, 2012 Index Price index Weighted Index KSX 15

Security

Change ź ź ź

High

-28.35 -1 89 -1.89 -4.45

Low

Volume

Closing

Last Closing

High

Low

5,916.73 397 58 397.58 962.27

5,945.08 399 47 399.47 966.72

5,948.35 399 71 399.71 969.18

5,896.22 396 21 396.21 958.18

Trades Value (KD)

Trades

Last

Change

Security

Volume Value (KWD) Number of Trades

High

Low

Volume

172,179,990 15 965 243 15,965,243 3,671

Trades Value (KD)

Trades

Last

Change

MARIN

00 0.0

URC

106

22 297 22,297

2 363 2,363

106

IKARUS

182

170

1,094

193

182

2.0

NRE

128

122

172,024

21,387

126

0.0

IPG

325

320

30,000

9,650

320

-5.0

SRE

265

13,640

3,615

265

0.0

NAPESCO

0.0

PEARL

267,181

8,749

2.5

AREFENRGY

0.0

TAM

0.0

GPI

496,217

24,858

-0.5

AREEC

148

2,500

370

148

-10.0

ABAR

0 527,311

0 34,701

0 37

0 927.85

ŷ ź

0.0 -1.75

MASSALEH ARABREC

0 36

0 35

0 345,597

0 12,004

0 12

0 35

ŷ ŷ

0.0 0.0

UREC

0.0

110

108

55,500

6,016

110

0.0

ERESCO

140,145

12,613

-1.0

KFOUC

285

38,000

10,830

285

0.0

MABANEE

1,000

990

86,500

85,660

990

-10.0

BPCC

600

590

778 476 778,476

459 302 459,302

600

0.0

INJAZZAT

1 500 1,500

1.0

0.0

INVESTORS

4,791,350

87,923

-0.5

ALQURAIN Basic Materials

190

188

388,604 1,260,580

73,831 549,978

22 58

190 932.40

ź ź

-2.0 -1.88

IRC ALTIJARIA

42 82

41 81

865,200 85,932

35,898 7,001

32 8

41 82

ź ŷ

-1.0 0.0

SANAM

0.0

KCEM

395

5,000

1,975

395

0.0

AAYANRE

195,500

15,981

-1.0 -5.0

Oil & Gas PIPE

ALKOUT

-2 0 -2.0

REFRI

162

156

394,310

62,304

158

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AQAR

5,000

445

CABLE

1,120

29,500

33,040

1,120

0.0

ALAQARIA

0.0

SHIP

190

184

122,100

22,874

188

-2.0

MAZAYA

104,368

7,339

-1.0

PCEM

870

860

52,330

45,027

870

0.0

ADNC

7,718,278

236,963

119

0.5

PAPER

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THEMAR

0.0

132

75,000

9,900

132

4.0

GRAND

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ACICO

0.0

TIJARA

37,500

1,444

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GGMC

MRC

600

560

300

173

560

10.0

TAAMEER

1,200

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HCC

0.0

ARKAN

12,900

1,134

-9.0

KPAK

0.0

ARGAN

166

164

145,000

23,970

164

8.0

KBMMC

0.0

ABYAAR

4,897,201

206,735

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NICBM

265

610

162

265

-25.0

MUNSHAAT

2,758,600

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EQUIPMENT

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50,005

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NCCI

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KBT

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GYPSUM

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SALBOOKH

178,082

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0.0

MENA

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385

375

363,355

137,980

385

5.0

ALMUDON

0.0

EDU

100

2,000

200

100

0.0

MARAKEZ

30,302

1,183

-2.5

CLEANING CITYGROUP

114 500

110 500

1,595,105 500

176,368 250

103 1

110 500

ź Ÿ

-4.0 15.0

REMAL Real Estate

375

370

1,489,595 26,485,855

556,356 1,526,826

44 540

375 933.05

ŷ ź

0.0 -9.68

KGL

321,400

29,644

-1.0

KCPC

0.0

KINV

25,000

2,475

0.0

HUMANSOFT

0.0

FACIL

0.0

NAFAIS

0.0

IFA

3,460,500

129,452

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SAFWAN

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NINV

106

104

1,959,358

206,172

106

2.0

GFC

10,010

250

-0.5

KPROJ

325

800

260

325

0.0

6,647,628

138,648

0.0

1,200

84,486

101,383

1,200

-20.0

MTCC

50,000

4,300

UPAC

ALAFCO

280

1,007,000

281,960

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MUBARRAD

525,683

27,347

MAYADEEN CGC

COAST

4,042,495

174,840

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TII

0.0

SECH

0.0

IIC

0.0

-5.0

SGC

0.0

-2.0

IFC

0.0 0.0

LOGISTICS

218

214

392,389

85,400

218

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MARKAZ

SCEM

19,000

1,444

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KMEFIC

350

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GCEM

100,000

9,020

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AIG

0.0

QCEM

39,645

2,320

0.0

ALAMAN

0.0

FCEM

200,000

15,000

-3.0

ALOLA

136

134

226,000

30,636

136

2.0

RKWC Industrials

106

104

24,100 12,239,533

2,516 1,195,491

3 402

106 920.92

Ÿ ź

2.0 -3.27 3.27

ALMAL GIH

40 29

38 28

4,326,712 5,541,444

167,197 155,908

104 77

38 28

ŷ ź

0.0 -0.5 0.5

AAYAN

0.0

BAYANINV

20,350

723

-0.5

KSH NSH

0.0

GLOBAL

0.0

PAPCO

0.0

OSOUL

1,084

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CATTL

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KFIC

DANAH

20,000

1,660

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KAMCO

0.0

236

220

241

236

6.0

0.0

1,260

1,240

11,000 31,000

13,660 15,320

6 8

1,260 917.50

ŷ ź

0.0 -1.50

MHC

ATC

YIACO Health Care

0 0

0 0.00

ŷ ŷ

0 0.00

KCIN

950

100

950

KHOT

1 172 2

172 1 2

1,302 1 302

224

172 1 2

TAMINV

SULTAN

102

662,373

66,874

102

-2

EXCH

0.0

TAIBA

0.0

POULT FOOD Consumer Goods

CABLETV

NIH

0.0

ISKAN MADAR

0 0

ŷ ŷ

0.0 0.0

ALDEERA

660,226

21,612

-0.5

ALSAFAT

0.0

ALSALAM

206

200

5,799,654

1,174,694

274

206

8.0

EKTTITAB QURAINHLD

71 0

69 0

3,222,734 0

226,888 0

117 0

69 0

ŷ ŷ

0.0 0.0

ALMADINA

3,864,010

189,838

106

1.0

NOOR

0.0

162

0 0.0 0

EYAS

KSHC

40,250

1,088

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IFAHR

275

759

209

275

-25

STRATEGIA

0.0 -1.0 1.0

MASHAER

255

250

150,010

37,503

250

-5 5

KCIC

176,179

10,923

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350

325

734,681

255,936

350

MANAFAE

0.0

GNAHC

818,550

33,975

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MUNTAZAHAT

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380

13,188

5,184

380

-20

AMWAL

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FUTUREKID

ALIMTIAZ

5,216,582

468,079

162

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ALNAWADI

MANAZEL

14,570,231 14 570 231

429 375 429,375

213

-0.5 05

ALRAI

NIND

210

208

517,791

108,096

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-4.0

ZIMAH

UIC

396,784

35,314

1.0

UFIG

BIIHC

31,843

1,805

-3.0

KOUTFOOD Consumer Services

0 1,562,413

0 366,024

0 73

0 942.64

ŷ Ÿ

0 0.43

SHOP SENERGY

0 65

0 60

0 763,000

0 48,081

0 32

0 60

ŷ ź

0.0 2.0 -2.0

AGHC

134

20,000

2,680

134

-4.0

720

700

2,879,500

2,042,790

145

710

ALSAFWA

0.0

2,100

2,080

38,157

79,767

2,080

KPPC

102,343

7,472

0.0

3,142,000 6,059,657

219,167 2,341,723

81 240

69 866.35

ź Ÿ

-1 0.84

TAHSSILAT JEERANH

0 0

ŷ ŷ

0.0 0.0

JAZEERA

ZAIN NMTC

HITSTELEC 71 Telecommunications

EKHOLDING

0.0 0 0

GFH

47,919,252

1,802,305

336

-1.0

INOVEST Financial Services

1,456,000 105,179,773

72,111 5,502,138

41 1,829

49 860.05

ŷ ź

0.0 -1.73

MAREF 0 Investment Instruments

0 0

0 0.00

ŷ ŷ

0.0 0.00

0.0

-2.0

NBK

1,040

1,020

242,616

250,068

1,020

-20

GBK CBK

415 770

405 770

215,348 2,607

88,277 2,007

14 1

415 770

ŷ ŷ

0 0

ABK

560

15,090

8,450

560

ALMUTAHED KIB

0 260

0 255

0 174,173

0 45,015

0 5

0 260

ŷ ŷ

0 0

BURG

420

415

166,240

69,811

415

-5

KFIN

700

690

1,233,675

863,540

700

ASC

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630

620

4,116,519

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-10

SAFTEC

80,110

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UGB AUB ITHMR

FUTURE

192

150,000

28,800

192

-10.0

168 37

168 35

235,000 235 000 10,989,139

39,480 39 480 393,053

4 213

168 35

ź ź

-2 2 -2

HAYATCOMM Technology

118

114

467 467,101 101 697,211

53 53,884 884 88,041

45 52

118 1088.77

Ÿ ź

2 2.0 0 -11.95

17,390,407

4,312,044

399

950.58

-8.03

Banks KINS

BAREEQ

0.0

AFAQ

0.0 0.0

GINS

0.0

ALSHAMEL

AINS

0.0

SAFRE

0.0

WINS

110

17,880

1,967

110

-6.0

AJWAN

272,570

9,005

0.5

KUWAITRE

0.0

SPEC

0.0

FTI

0.0

MASAKEN

0.0

WETHAQ

70,000

2,940

-2.5

DALQAN

0.0

ARIG

00 0.0

ALEID

00 0.0

BKIKWT Insurance

0 87,880

0 4,907

0 10

0 912.88

ŷ ź

0.0 -11.69

MIDAN FLEX

0 68

0 200

0 14

0 2

0 68

ŷ Ÿ

0.0 5.0

THURAYA

400

-9.0

AINV

KCLINIC

25,200

1,512

0.0

SOKOUK KRE

0 49

0 2,246,540

0 110,017

0 48

0 49

ŷ ź

0.0 -0.5

AMAR Parallel Market

360,000 658,370

17,480 28,050

2 23

48 983.93

ź Ÿ

-2.0 2.0 1.14

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

LIFE

thursdAY, June 21, 2012

It’s not just summer, world keeps warming: studies NEWYORK: Several new climate studies reveal various aspects of the same foreboding problem: the atmosphere continues to warm, glaciers continue melting and seas keep rising reports LiveScience. But there is a tiny bit of good news -- the United States and Europe have been able to cut their heat-trapping industrial emissions by switching to less-polluting natural gas, driving fewer miles and of course, sinking into an economic recession where fewer factories are working across much of the globe. And while North America’s mild winter, warm spring and, in some areas, hot June can’t be blamed on global climate change, extreme weather events do grab the public’s attention. Even though it’s not entirely accurate to link climate and weather, perhaps that’s not a bad thing, says Gavin Schmidt, a climate researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Science Center in New York. “People spend a lot of time talking about the weather and love to do so,” Schmidt said. “It’s an odd thing because as scientists we are using people’s interest in weather and weather extremes to talk about something that is connected, but isn’t quite the same.” Schmidt said that rather than focusing on extreme blips in weather, it’s instead important to look at changes in temperature over the long term. Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are doing just that, and reported that the past 12 months from June 2011 to May 2012 were the hottest since record-keeping began in the 1880s. The month of May 2012 was the second-hottest on record (2010 was first). And it looks like 2012 will barge into the top three hottest calendar years on record as well. At the same time, there is occasional “noise” in the Earth’s climate system, explained Ronald Prinn, professor of atmospheric sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. That means that the linear warming trend could stagger a bit from year-to-year, or decade-to-decade depending on the cooling effects of cloud cover or the ocean’s ability to soak up heat. “If you take a 10-year running average,” Prinn told Dis-

FILE - Earth, seen from space. Reports show the planet is still warming. (Agencies)

covery News. “It’s clear that world has been warming for a hundred-plus years.” Some climate skeptics have pointed to the world’s forests as a likely carbon “sink” that could suck up heat-trapping carbon dioxide, methane and other such gasses from burn-

World leaders open Rio summit on ‘green’ economy

PARIS: World leaders kicked off a three-day summit on environment and poverty in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday to a warning from UN chief Ban Ki-moon that “time is not on our side” for fixing a mounting list of problems. Ban formally opened the Rio+20 summit on sustainable development which brings together 191 UN members, including 86 presidents and heads of government. The high-profile event comes 20 years after Rio’s first Earth Summit when nations vowed to roll back climate change, desertification and species loss. The summit was launched to a three-minute movie, “State of the Planet: Welcome to the Anthropocene” that gave a visual trip through the dramatic changes in the environment since the Industrial Revolution. The Anthropocene is the name given by many scientists for a new era in Earth’s history. It derives from Greek words to indicate the era of humans. Summit participants then heard a moving appeal by Brittany Trilford, a 17-year-old student from New Zealand, challenging leaders to lay the foundation for a more sustainable world. “I stand here with fire in my heart. I’m confused and angry at the state of the world. We are here to solve the problems that we have caused as a collective, to ensure that we have a future,” Trilford, winner of the “Date with History” youth video speech contest, said. “I am here to fight for my future... I would like to end by asking you to consider why you are here and what you can do here. I would like you to ask yourselves: Are you here to save face? Or are you here to save us?” A total of 191 speakers are expected to take the floor until Friday when the summit leaders are to give their seal of approval to a 53-page draft document agreed on by their negotiators Tuesday. The draft outlines measures for tackling the planet’s many environmental ills and lifting billions out of poverty through policies that nurture rather than squander natural resources. In his remarks, the UN secretary general praised Brazil, the summit host, for securing a deal on the summit’s final draft statement. “I am pleased that negotiations have reached a successful conclusion... We are now in sight of a historic agreement,” the UN chief said. “The world is watching to see if words will translate into action as we know they must. Rio+20 is not an end but a beginning. It’s time for all of us to think globally and long term, beginning here now in Rio, for time is not on our side,” he said. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who was elected president of the conference, said she had no doubt “that we will be up to the challenges that the global situation imposes on us.” As the summit got under way, eight multilateral development banks announced that they would set aside $175 billion to finance sustainable transport systems over the next decade. The pledge was made jointly by the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, African Development Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, CAF-Development Bank of Latin America, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Investment Bank and Islamic Development Bank. Transport is one of the fastest-growing source of greenhouse gases, driven especially by urban growth in giant emerging economies. Around a billion people are likely to move to cities over the next 20 years, which means traffic congestion, air pollution and road accidents will become major urban challenges. Some of the most contentious issues discussed at the conference were proposed measures to promote a green economy and the “Sustainable Development Goals” that are set to replace the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals after they expire in 2015. Connie Hedegaard, the European Union commissioner for climate change, said Europe had pushed for a more ambitious text. “I think that many Europeans, including the ministers, the presidency, the commission, fought for more ambition, fought for more commitments, more deadlines,” she told AFP. “We do not get everything we want, but we secure progress. Environmentalist groups were scathing in their criticism of the draft. “We were offered a common vision of inaction and destruction,” Daniel Mittler, political director of Greenpeace International, told AFP. “There’s absolutely nothing there for people and the planet,” he added. The leaders, including French President Francois Hollande, South African President Jacob Zuma, Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh of India and Wen Jiabao of China, will hear a message from astronauts in the International Space Station on Wednesday. But US President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will be absent. -AFP

ing fossil fuels. But a new study by researchers in California found that scenario might not be so simple. As soil warms up, they found, it releases carbon dioxide made from microbes that decompose dead leaves and fallen trees. About one-third of that release comes from older soil,

more than 10 years old. “While that older material is not going to decompose really fast, there’s an awful lot of it,” Susan Trumbore, a University of California, Irvine, scientist who led the study, told The Washington Post. That means that at some point in the future, the world’s temperate forests could switch from a carbon sink to a carbon faucet, increasing the vicious cycle of rising CO2 causing even more CO2 to be released. Another new study finds that Chinese officials may be cooking the books when it comes to carbon emissions. United Kingdom-based researchers found the gap between what Chinese state authorities report as the nation’s industrial emissions and the aggregate of provincial reporting has widened to 1.4 gigatons, that’s about 5 percent of the world’s entire CO2 emissions budget. Local officials may be padding the books to show more industrial output, while national authorities want to appear more environmentallyfriendly to the West. Either way, the new figures wipe out any gains elsewhere. “The trends are pretty bad,” Schmidt said. “All of the flattening in Europe and the U.S. are being more than matched by increases in China and India.” Despite the recent gloomy news, experts say there are solutions: replacing individual dung-burning stoves in Chinese homes with more efficient centralized power plants; developing more efficient cars, homes and light bulbs in the West; and continuing to shift away from coal as a prime energy source in both the United States and China. “Nobody wants (another recession) as a solution to the climate issue,” Prinn said. “We don’t want to be hurting our economies. We need to develop new energy sources.” Unless the world gets a handle on its fossil fuel habit, experts say there’s likely to be more extreme events like floods, droughts, heat waves and tropical storms. “Without climate change we would be seeing extreme heat waves once every 100 years, now it’s more on the order of 10 times in 100 years,” Schmidt said. “That’s going to increase. The dice are loaded, and we’re loading them even more.”

Misbehaving particles poke holes in reigning physics theory NEW YORK: The reigning theory of particle physics may be flawed, according to new evidence that a subatomic particle decays in a certain way more often than it should, scientists announced according to LiveScience. This theory, called the Standard Model, is the best handbook scientists have to describe the tiny bits of matter that make up the universe. But many physicists suspect the Standard Model has some holes in it, and findings like this may point to where those holes are hiding. Inside the BaBar experiment at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Menlo Park, Calif., researchers observe collisions between electrons and their antimatter partners, positrons (scientists think all matter particles have antimatter counterparts with equal mass but opposite charge). When these particles collide, they explode into energy that converts into new particles. These often include so-called B-bar mesons, which are made of both matter and antimatter,

specifically a bottom quark and an antiquark. If that wasn’t too much of a headache, this process has the impenetrable moniker “B to D-star-tau-nu.” The BaBar researchers were looking for a particular decay process where B-bar mesons decay into three other particles: a D meson (a quark and an antiquark, one of which is “charm” flavored), an antineutrino (the antimatter partner of the neutrino) and a tau lepton (a cousin of an electron). What they found is that this process apparently happens more often than the Standard Model predicts it will. “The excess over the Standard Model prediction is exciting,” BaBar spokesperson Michael Roney of the University of Victoria in Canada said in a statement. “But before we can claim an actual discovery, other experiments have to replicate it and rule out the possibility this isn’t just an unlikely statistical fluctuation.” While the BaBar findings are more sensitive than previous studies of these decays, they are not statisti-

cally significant enough to claim they present a clear break from the Standard Model. To confirm the findings, more data will be needed from other experiments, such as the Belle project at the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK) in Tsukuba, Japan, which also produces B mesons. “If the excess decays shown are confirmed, it will be exciting to figure out what is causing it,” said BaBar physics coordinator Abner Soffer of Tel Aviv University. “We hope our results will stimulate theoretical discussion about just what the data are telling us about new physics.” The BaBar experiment observed particle collisions between 1999 to 2008, but physicists are still analyzing the data. Researchers from the team presented their findings at the 10th annual Flavor Physics and Charge-Parity Violation Conference in Hefei, China, and detailed them in a paper submitted to the journal Physical Review Letters.

Mission probing Universe’s Nearly 15 million people displaced by disasters in 2011 dark secrets gets go-ahead

PARIS: The first-ever mission dedicated to looking for dark matter and dark energy, two mysterious entities believed to explain the composition of the universe as we know it, will be launched in 2020, the European Space Agency said Wednesday. The 800-million-euro ($1-billion) Euclid project was given the final go-ahead by the agency’s science program committee, a body composed of ESA member states that decides which missions are flown. “We’re one step closer to learning more about the Universe’s darkest secrets,” said Rene Laureijs, Euclid project scientist. The satellite will use a 1.2-metre (four-foot) diameter telescope and special cameras to map a third of the known universe, a 3D reconstruction of up to two billion galaxies and dark matter associated with them, the agency said in a statement. “Euclid is optimized to answer one of the most important questions in modern cosmology: why is the Universe expanding at an accelerating rate rather than slowing down due to the gravitational attraction of all the matter in it?” Dark energy is a term used to explain the accelerating expansion of the universe, while dark matter is what is believed to hold it all together, exerting a gravitational force. Dark matter is believed to comprise 83 percent of matter in the Universe, but it cannot be detected by the naked eye or by existing astronomical techniques. -AFP

Europe tackles ethics of biobanks

FILE - A Buddhist monk cleans up an area at a temple inundated by flood waters in Bangkok in 2011. (AFP)

PARIS: Floods, storms, earthquakes and a tsunami displaced 14.9 million people last year, 89 percent of them in Asia, according to an estimate by two Norwegian-backed agencies issued here Tuesday. “The 10 largest disasters in terms of the amount of people displaced all took place in Asia, including multiple events in China, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Japan,” said Elisabeth Rasmusson of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). The worst were the prolonged flood disasters in China and Thailand, which together displaced over five million people.” The estimate, issued on the sidelines of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio, applies to people who are inter-

nally displaced within a country. But an accurate total of how many of the 14.9 million remain displaced is unclear because data is so sketchy, its authors said. In northeastern Japan, 492,000 people fled their homes after the March 10, 2011 mega-quake and tsunami, according to the report, compiled with the Swiss-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC). One year on, 344,000 of them still live in temporary accommodation, it said. In terms of the proportion of national population, Sri Lanka was worst hit, for 685,000 people, or three percent of its populace, were uprooted from their homes by heavy seasonal rains and back-to-back floods. -AFP

PARIS: Collections of human biological samples used in medical research should be governed by clear rules that safeguard ethics while advancing knowledge, scientists said Wednesday at a Council of Europe symposium. The council, a 47-country organization founded to promote democracy and human rights in Europe, plans to release new recommendations on such collections, known as biobanks, after this week’s meeting of experts at its headquarters in Strasbourg, France. The text will replace a set of recommendations adopted in 2006. Biobanks “are now recognized as very important to advance research,” said Laurence Lwoff, secretary of the council’s bioethics committee. “A consensus is emerging on the need for a coherent framework on biobanks, between restrictive legal measures on fundamental principles and less strict codes of conduct to allow them to develop,” she added. Key questions include protecting donors’ personal data and addressing what samples can be used for. At the moment, not all the council’s member states follow the same rules on getting donors’ consent or informing them what becomes of their samples. “We need to establish confidence with the donors, and convince them that biobanks are a research tool,” said Christian Chabanon, head of the Paoli-Calmettes Institute’s cancer biobank in the French city of Marseille, home to almost 250,000 specimens. Chabanon said months or years can pass before a sample is used, so initial consent given by donors should specify if the samples would be used only for a specific type of research or for all kinds of research. -AFP

ALWATAN DAILY

CULTURE

THURSday, JUNE 21, 2012

Up to 27 million people living in slavery: US FRANCE: Up to 27 million people are living in slavery around the world, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton estimated as the US unveiled its annual report into human trafficking. But the report showed that as governments become more aware of the issue, instigating tough new laws and programs to help victims, progress is being made in wiping out what it called the “scourge of trafficking.” “The end of legal slavery in the United States and in other countries around the world has not, unfortunately, meant the end of slavery,” said Clinton. “Today it is estimated as many as 27 million people around the world are victims of modern slavery, what we sometimes call trafficking in persons,” she said at the unveiling of the report at the State Department. “Those victims of modern slavery are women and men, girls and boys, and their stories remind us of the kind of inhumane treatment we are capable of as human beings,” said Clinton. “Whatever their background, they are the living, breathing reminders that the work to eradicate slavery remains unfinished.” As America prepares to mark the 150th anniversary of the proclamation of the emancipation of US slaves, people must reflect on “how much further we have to go to free all these 27 million victims,” Clinton added. Out of the 185 countries included in the 2012 report, only 33 complied fully with laws in place to end human trafficking, putting them at the top of a four-tier ranking system. But five countries had moved up from the bottom blacklist known as tier 3, including Myanmar and Venezuela, to be included among the 42 countries now on what is known as a tier 2 watch list. Myanmar was removed from the blacklist because the government “took a number of unprecedented steps to address forced labor and the conscription of child soldiers; these steps amount to a credible commitment to undertake anti-trafficking reforms over the coming year,” the report said. Syria however fell onto the blacklist for the first time, in a move which could cut off any US aid and make it harder to get US backing for funds from organizations like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. “The government of Syria does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so,” the 2012 Trafficking in Persons report said. Among the 16 other countries on the blacklist were Algeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya, North Korea and Saudi Arabia. Kenya slipped down onto the watch list for the first time in five years, while Nigeria lost its place on tier 1, moving down a notch as the report highlighted that women and children were forced into labor and sex trafficking. But Clinton hailed the fact that a total of 29 countries had been upgraded to a higher ranking, “which means that their governments are taking the right steps.”

Royal Ascot redefines concept of fashion police

Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton presents Azezet Habtezghi Kidane, also known as Sister Aziza, an Eritrean nun with a plaque as she is recognized at the release of the 2012 Trafficking in Persons Report, June 19, 2012.During the past two years, Sister Aziza has lead Physicians for Human Rights - Israel (PHR-I) efforts to call attention to human trafficking in Sinai, Eygpt, including sexual slavery and the torture of hundreds of African asylum seekers. (AP)

They included Bangladesh, which was bumped up to tier two for making significant efforts to comply with minimum standards, including passing “a comprehensive anti-trafficking law” in December. Ambassador Luis CdeBaca, director of the office to combat trafficking in persons, said while the number of people officially identified as victims of trafficking and slavery had gone up by 28 percent since last year to 42,291, the numbers of prosecutions in 2012 had also increased by 10 percent to 3,969. So while countries “still have a little ways to go” there was “the beginnings, I think, of a real trend,” he said. This year’s report focuses on how to better protect the victims, and urges governments to meet the challenge head-on. “Traffickers are criminals. Governments --

her playing, she also won over the largely British crowd of some 2,500 by referring to the evening as a special night not because of her performance, but it coincided with England meeting co-hosts Ukraine at the Euro 2012 football tournament. Lisitsa, who began playing the piano at the age of three in Kiev, began promoting herself on the video-sharing website five years ago when she posted a video of herself playing the Rachmaninov etude. What happened next took the musician completely by surprise. Five years later, her 180-odd videos have garnered nearly 50 million hits. She has been signed by the Decca Classics label owned by Universal, and her concert Tuesday was broadcast live over YouTube in a historic first for classical music. “Its word of mouth,” she said of her grassroots success. “I learned how to make videos. You have to be honest, there’s no fake stuff.” Admitting she had been completely “illiterate” about social media prior to 2007, she put much of her popularity down to engagement with her fans.

LONDON: Ladies, forget those flimsy fascinators and get yourself a proper hat: one that has a base of at least 4 inches in diameter. So says a new dress code coming into force at this year’s Royal Ascot, the annual horse-race meeting attended by Queen Elizabeth and a highlight of high society’s summer season. “Strapless, off-the-shoulder, halter-neck, spaghetti straps and dresses with a strap of less than 1 inch are not permitted,” says the dress code for lady racegoers lucky enough to have tickets for the exclusive Royal Enclosure. The document states that ladies’ dresses should be “of modest length”, defined as falling just above the knee or lower, while gentlemen should wear grey or black morning dress, which must include a top hat, waistcoat and tie -- but no cravat. Fashion has always been a feature of Royal Ascot and spotting the most daring outfits is as much of an attraction as watching the races. But the new dress code suggests organizers felt some race-goers were becoming rather too risqu. They have trained a team of “dress code assistants” who will stop transgressors from entering the enclosure and supply them with emergency items to bring their outfits into line -- waistcoats, ties, pashmina shawls and the like. The British media were quick to dig out photos of women at Royal Ascot in previous years sporting short or otherwise revealing dresses that would fall foul of the sartorial squad. Particular attention was focused on the issue of fascinators, a type of headpiece attached to women’s heads with clips or pins and often adorned with feathers, lace or netting. Fascinators have long been a popular item at smart British weddings, but they shot to greater fame after Kate Middleton, then the future wife of the queen’s grandson Prince William, wore one during her first official engagement with her fiance. The couple married in April last year and the now Duchess of Cambridge has made her mark on the global fashion map -- yet her favored fascinators have been banned from the Royal Enclosure. “The most beautiful girl in the world, Kate Middleton, has skirts halfway up her thigh and usually wears fascinators,” said Jilly Cooper, best-selling author of racy novels with names like “Riders” and “Jump!”. “But I think you’ve got to have very, very good legs,” Cooper told BBC Radio 4, suggesting that Royal Ascot organizers were quite right to regulate for those women not endowed with legs as attractive as those of the duchess. The chief executive of Ascot dismissed suggestions that the dress code might come across as an attempt to restore archaic, aristocratic decorum, as opposed to a more provocative style of dress favored by some people from less exalted backgrounds. “It isn’t a question of elitism and not being modern in a world where there is less and less requirement to dress smartly - far from it,” said Charles Barnett. “We want to see modern and stylish dress at Royal Ascot, just within the parameters of formal wear,” he said. There will be no excuses for those who get it wrong. All ticket holders were sent reminders of the new dress code including “style guides” with photos giving example of appropriate looks. -Reuters

which alone have the power to punish criminals and provide legal recourse to survivors -- cannot waver in their efforts to confront modern slavery,” the report says. But it also argues that human trafficking takes many guises and it is not just about moving people across borders to trap them in prostitution. “The United States government, and increasingly, the international community, view ‘trafficking in persons’ as the term through which all forms of modern slavery are criminalized,” it says. “The essence of the trafficking experience is the denial of freedom, including the freedom to choose where and how you live, the freedom to work or choose not to work, the freedom from threats, and the freedom of bodily integrity,” the report says. -AFP

YouTube piano sensation makes London debut FRANCE: A pianist who launched her career by posting videos of herself on YouTube translated her online success into reality with a solo performance at one of the world’s most famous music venues on Tuesday. Ukrainian-born Valentina Lisitsa dazzled a crowd of thousands at London’s Royal Albert Hall, her fingers flying through a two-and-a-half-hour virtuoso performance. The blonde 42-year-old, known as the Justin Bieber of the classical music world because of her route to fame, had advertised the concert on her YouTube page and website, allowing fans from around the world to pick her program. The final selection included two pieces that are among her most-viewed hits on YouTube, Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” and Rachmaninov’s etude, popularly known as “Little Red Riding Hood”. The experience had been surreal, she told AFP after the concert, adding “I’m relaxed... I’m coping.” While holding the audience spellbound with

“I write a short description about most pieces and answer comments,” she told AFP. “It starts a conversation.” It also made her accessible to her fans in a way many classical musicians are not -- a concept illustrated by her interaction with two young, starstruck fans backstage after the concert. “Are we Facebook friends?” she asked the excited girls. The transition from a computer screen to a live solo concert before thousands was “difficult”, she admitted. “Not everything that looks beautiful on YouTube translates. You have to jump twice as high.” The pianist laughed at the Bieber comparison, but said she took the young pop star’s rise from YouTube wannabe to one of the biggest acts in music in the world seriously. “I remember reading about him in the Wall Street Journal,” she said. “I thought, how did it happen? He seemed normal... He was looking for his niche, and he found it. I thought, ok. Good thing to learn.” -AFP

Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi (left) leaves the Bodleian Libraries after receiving an honorary degree at Oxford University in Oxford, northwest of London, on June 20, 2012. Suu Kyi was awarded an honorary doctorate by Oxford University on June 20 in the city where she studied and brought up the family she would later leave behind. (AFP)

Racegoers arrive for the first day of racing at Royal Ascot in southern England June 19, 2012. (Reuters)

16th century French queen’s pin found in toilet

PARIS: It may be the Renaissance equivalent of a royal flush. A hairpin belonging to 16th century French Queen Catherine de Medici has been discovered at a royal residence outside Paris. What has conservators scratching their heads is exactly where it was found: down a communal toilet. Officials said it’s the first time in modern history that a possession of the Renaissance royal has been found at Fontainebleau Palace. Though the queen was renowned across Europe for her lavish jewelry, much of her collection has been lost, sold or stolen over the centuries. The rare 9 centimeter pin was identified easily because it bore interlocking C’s - for “Catherine.” After the age-old soil was cleaned off, Fontainebleau Palace’s conservator Vincent Droguet also noted a finish of white and green, known to be Catherine’s colors. Less easy for the experts, however, was to explain why the personal possession of a queen known for luxury would end up in a Renaissance-era communal toilet - as opposed to her royal one. The artifact was found by accident as archeologists dug around the toilet to prepare the surrounding area for restoration. Droguet called the find a “mystery.” “But what would Catherine de Medici be doing there? Maybe it was a ladyin-waiting who took it. Perhaps it was stolen, and just fell in.” -AP

This recent undated photo provided Tuesday, June 19, 2012 by the Seine et Marne region council shows a pin recently discovered at Fontainebleau castle, south of Paris. (AP)

ALWATAN DAILY

ENTERTAINMENT

Song Of The Day

Fahad AlSabah Staff Writer

Song: Te’ebt Mennak Artist: Elissa Album: As’ad Wahda Genre: World In short: On her latest record, Elissa covered a song by the late Warda, and another by the late Salwa Katrib, but her most daring moment is on the rock-tinged “Te’ebt Mennak”. Fans of music, be it Arabic or English, will surely find something to their liking on As’ad Wahda. To listen to the song visit www.alwatandaily.com E-mail your feedback to falsabah@alwatandaily.com

The Buzz Houston’s mother to perform tribute: Source Whitney Houston’s mother will perform a tribute to her late daughter alongside other female singers at the upcoming BET Awards. A source familiar with BET’s plans said Tuesday that Cissy Houston will take the stage at the July 1 awards show to honor her daughter. Cissy will be joined by “a few top divas,” the source said, though the source could not give their names. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because the tribute has not been officially announced. Whitney Houston died at age 48 in February. Authorities called her death an accidental drowning, complicated by heart disease and cocaine use. The BET Awards airs live from The Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Kanye West, Beyonce and Jay-Z are the top nominees. -AP

THURSday, JUNE 21, 2012

Without Michael, Jacksons prepare to tour

BURBANK: Guided by a thumping bass line from their backing band, the Jackson brothers strut forward to a row of four microphones, thrusting their pelvises along the way, before launching into “Can’t Let Her Get Away,” a song their superstar sibling released on his “Dangerous” album. If they had afros and matching powder blue suits, it might feel like 1977 again. It doesn’t. They’re casually sporting sunglasses, workout gear and a few more pounds than when they, along with the future King of Pop, were simply known as the Jackson 5. (Also, “Can’t Let Her Get Away” was released in 1991 after the group fizzled out.) Nearly three years since Michael died while preparing for his comeback tour, four of his brothers - Marlon, Jermaine, Tito and Jackie - are set for their own return to the stage as The Jacksons. It hasn’t been easy. “The brothers don’t know this, but I’ve broken down several times and cried during rehearsals,” said Jermaine during a recent rehearsal break on a soundstage in Burbank, Calif. “I’m so used to Michael being on the right and then Marlon, Jackie, on and on. It’s just something we never get used to.” The brothers are launching their “Unity” tour on Wednesday, five days ahead of the third anniversary of Michael’s death from an overdose of the anesthetic propofol on June 25, 2009. “For me, this cycle that comes around every year - this day, that day - that doesn’t affect me because it affects me every day,” said

FILE - This June 12, 2012 file photo shows, from left, Marlon Jackson, Jackie Jackson, Tito Jackson and Jermaine Jackson during a rehearsal in Burbank, Calif. (AP)

Marlon. “When that day comes around, it’s the same. You learn to live with it. I still wake up sometimes and go, ‘Jeez. I can’t believe my brother’s not here.’” Following Michael’s death, the four brothers appeared in the A&E reality series “The Jacksons: A Family Dynasty,” which chronicled their loss and attempt to stage a comeback before their brother died.

Jermaine said the brothers have wanted to reunite on their own for years, but after Michael’s passing, they needed time to heal - and the tour is another step in that process. They’re rearranged their classics to suit their voices, and Jermaine said the group plans to pay tribute to Michael during their shows with a slideshow and medley that will conclude with the tune “Gone Too Soon.” “There’s certain songs that make you feel

Russian police detain punk band Pussy Riot supporters

Breaking Bad movie not far-fetched: Cranston “Breaking Bad” star Bryan Cranston says the possibility of the AMC series spawning a movie is “not far-fetched.” “I wouldn’t mind visiting that possibility,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “And this is coming from a guy who doesn’t know anything of how the show’s going to end. If it doesn’t end up in a total apocalypse, who knows? Maybe we could revisit Walter White a year down the road and see where his life has gone. If he’s still alive, that is.” The series returns for the first half of its fifth and final season on July 15. It will be broken into two eight-part installments. Cranston, winner of three Emmys for his portrayal of chemistry teacher-turneddrug kingpin Walter White, won a Best Actor in a Drama Series award on Monday at the Broadcast Television Journalists Association’s 2nd Annual Critics’ Choice Television Awards. Giancarlo Esposito, who portrayed meth mastermind Gus Fring on the show, won Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. -Reuters

Heard, Hemsworth may get cuddly in Paranoia Amber Heard is in talks to star opposite Liam Hemsworth in “Paranoia,” the film adaptation of Joseph Finder’s novel, according to an individual with knowledge of the situation. Robert Luketic is directing IM Global’s thriller from a script by Jason Dean Hall. Barry Levy first took a crack at adapting Finder’s book. Heard will play the main love interest for Hemsworth, a blue-collar worker who becomes a corporate spy to better his employment prospects. Gary Oldman, Harrison Ford and Lucas Till have already been cast. Emjag Productions’ Alexandra Milchan is producing with Scott Lambert of Film 360 and Deepak Nayar. Production for “Paranoia” is set to start in July. -Reuters

Ray Romano to guest on Parenthood Ray Romano is coming back to the small screen. At least for a little while. The former “Everybody Loves Raymond” star has signed on for a multi-episode arc on the upcoming fourth season of the NBC drama “Parenthood,” the network said Tuesday. Romano will play a photographer and former photojournalist who becomes friends with Lauren Graham’s character, Sarah Braverman, and subsequently complicates her relationship with Mark Cyr (played by Jason Ritter). Romano’s character will be introduced during the season premiere, which airs September 11 at 10 p.m. -Reuters

Rupert Friend joins Homeland for next season Rupert Friend has joined “Homeland” as a regular for its second season. The “Young Victoria” star will play a straitlaced CIA analyst named Peter Quinn on the series. The terrorism drama, which stars Claire Danes as CIA officer Carrie Mathison and Damian Lewis as Marine sergeant/possible terrorist Nicholas Brody, returns for its second season on September 30. Friend’s upcoming big-screen projects include the Kat Dennings/Chad Michael Murray drama “Renee” and the comedy “Meet Me in Montenegro.” -Reuters

People write messages on a wall in support of the detained members of the Russian all-girl punk rock band Pussy Riot in Prague June 19, 2012. (Reuters)

MOSCOW: Russian police hauled away 15 supporters of all-women punk band Pussy Riot on Wednesday for protesting against the detention of three of its members who burst into a cathedral and sang a protest song against President Vladimir Putin. The 15 men and women were dragged off for violating public order when a crowd of about 300 whistled and chanted “Freedom” outside a Moscow court before a hearing at which the band members’ pretrial detention was widely expected to be extended. “They are violating our constitutional rights,” a woman in her late 40s shouted before being dragged in to a police van. There were no scuffles, but the crowd held banners demanding the release of the three women over an impromptu and

unsanctioned performance in short dresses and colorful masks at the altar of Moscow’s Christ the Saviour Cathedral. Their rendition of a punk prayer called “Holy Mother, throw Putin out!” was a protest against the close relationship between the Orthodox Church and Putin, whom it backed in the presidential election he won in March. The Church’s support for Putin, whose rule has been described by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church as a “miracle of God”, has angered many members of the anti-Putin protest movement that has sprung up in the past seven months. Maria Alekhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina Samutsevich could face up to seven years in jail for hooliganism over an act that offended some Russian Orthodox believers.

Defense lawyers for the jailed women see the case as political and said they had filed an appeal against their detention to the European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday. One of the jailed band members said she expected the court to extend her pre-trial detention by another month on Wednesday. Tolokonnikova’s husband said he expected a further two months detention In April, Amnesty International urged Russia to release the women and criticized the severity of the response by the Russian authorities. It also called for respect of people’s right to freedom of expression. But some Orthodox believers have called for tough punishment of the women over an act they regard as blasphemous. -Reuters

the sorrow,” said Tito. “Then again, there are other songs that bring so much joy and happiness, such as ‘ABC’ and ‘I Want You Back’ and the up-tempo stuff like ‘This Place Hotel.’ I just imagine how he used to walk and spin and do all these things. You can feel his presence here.” The Jacksons’ tour kicks off at Rama Casino in Ontario, Canada, and is scheduled to end July 29 at the Snoqualmie Casino Amphitheater in Snoqualmie, Wash. Other stops include Detroit’s Fox Theatre, Los Angeles’ Greek Theatre and the Harlem’s sold-out Apollo Theatre, where the Jackson 5 won an amateur night in 1969 before rocketing to fame. Jackson 5 were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. While various combinations of the brothers have reunited to perform over the years, including at last year’s “Michael Forever” tribute concert in Wales, “Unity” will mark the first time the brothers have toured together since their final “Victory” outing in 1984. (Marlon said Randy, who officially joined The Jacksons in 1975, elected not to join the tour but noted that the youngest Jackson brother was welcome at any time.) “We have a certain magic,” said Jackie. “Once we get out here and run it down a couple times, it comes back to you. I’m not (moving) like I used to, but we still got it.” Will the fans think so - and will they turn out to see The Jacksons, whose ages now range from 55 to 61, perform their hits without Michael. -AP

Susan Tyrrell, known for offbeat film roles, dies DALLAS: Oscar-nominated actress Susan Tyrrell, known for roles in offbeat films including John Waters’ “Cry-Baby,” has died. She was 67. Tyrrell died Saturday in her sleep at home in Austin, her niece told The Associated Press on Tuesday. Tyrrell, who received a best supporting actress Oscar nomination for her role as barfly Oma in John Huston’s 1972 boxing movie “Fat City,” appeared in more than 75 movies and television shows. “She had a larger than life personality,” said David Zellner, who directed Tyrrell in the movie “Kid-Thing,” which is currently making the rounds at film festivals. “She had more adventures and experiences in her life than most anyone I know.” The movie is about a 10-year-old delinquent girl who lives in the Texas countryside and happens across a mysterious woman, played by Tyrrell, in a well, said Zellner. Her niece, Amy Sweet, said her aunt moved to Austin to live near her. She said Tyrrell’s legs were amputated below the knee 12 years ago as a result of complications from a blood clotting disorder. Sweet said her aunt’s passions ranged from rap music to animals, and that she even had a bug collection. “On the night she died, she’d found a dragonfly she was excited about. Everything was a huge deal,” Sweet said. A Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office official said a cause of death was pending. Tyrrell was born Susan Creamer on March 18, 1945, in San Francisco, though she eventually changed her last name to Tyrrell, her mother’s maiden name, Sweet said. Tyrrell grew up in Connecticut and then got her start in acting on the stages of New York City before moving to Los Angeles, Sweet said. Sweet said she plans to celebrate her aunt’s life with a showing of “Fat City” next week at an Austin movie theater, followed by a gathering there to recognize her aunt’s “unbridled irreverence and love for life.” The movie showing and memorial will be open to the public, with a cost of $5 for those who aren’t friends or family. -AP

Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis split after 14 years LOS ANGELES: “Pirates of the Caribbean” star Johnny Depp has separated from his partner of 14 years, French singer and actress Vanessa Paradis, a representative for the actor said on Tuesday. “Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis have amicably separated. Please respect their privacy and, more importantly, the privacy of their children,” Depp’s publicist Robin Baum said in a statement. The announcement follows widespread reports earlier this year that the couple’s relationship was on the rocks, although Depp denied rumors of a split to British newspaper The Sun in

May. Depp, 49, began dating Paradis, 39, in 1998, following his split from British supermodel Kate Moss. The couple appeared together in Roman Polanski’s 1999 film “The Ninth Gate”. Depp and Paradis have two children, LilyRose, 13, and 9-year-old Jack, and set up homes in France, Los Angeles and on a private island in the Caribbean. The couple never married, although Depp has been married once before, to Lori Anne Allison between 1983 and 1985, and had a highprofile relationship with actress Winona Ryder in the early 1990s. -Reuters

Singer Bobby Brown remarries in Hawaii American singer Bobby Brown has remarried in Hawaii, four months after the drowning death of his ex-wife Whitney Houston, People magazine reported on Tuesday. Photos of Brown, 43, a member of the New Edition band, his new wife and manager, Alicia Etheridge, and their wedding party were posted on Instagram by the singer’s teenage son, Bobby Jr. People magazine said the couple tied the knot on Monday, a day after Brown performed a New Edition concert in Honolulu. Brown and Etheridge have a young son together and became engaged on stage in 2010 - three years after Brown’s acrimonious divorce from “I Will Always Love You” singer Houston. Brown and Houston were married for 15 years, during which Houston developed a heavy addiction to cocaine, marijuana and crack. -Reuters

FILE - Johnny Depp, best actor Oscar nominee for “Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” arrives with Vanessa Paradis at the 80th annual Academy Awards in Hollywood on Feb. 24, 2008. (Reuters)

This June 14, 2012 image released by Disney Enterprises, Inc., shows actress Angelina Jolie in the title role of “Maleficent,” the villian from the 1959 classic “Sleeping Beauty.” The film reveals the events that hardened her heart and drove her to curse the baby, Aurora. Production on the feature film directed by Robert Stromberg, began on June 13, and stars Jolie. Elle Fanning, Imelda Staunton, Miranda Richardson and Juno Temple. “Maleficent” is scheduled for a March 14, 2014 release in 3D. (AP)

ALWATAN DAILY

SPORTS

thurSDAY, june 21, 2012

Basketball

Miami Heat one win away from second NBA title MIAMI: A hobbled LeBron James hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 2:51 to play as the Miami Heat rallied to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 104-98 to move within one victory of the NBA title. James had 26 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds, while Dwyane Wade and Mario Chalmers each scored 25 points for the Heat -- who took a 3-1 stranglehold on the best-of-seven championship series. “Four or five plays, that’s what this series is coming down to,” said Miami coach Erik Spoelstra. “That is what this game came down to. “This is competition at its fiercest.” The Heat, who won the title in 2006, can win their second championship in franchise history with a victory in game five on Thursday in Miami. With James on the bench suffering from bad leg cramps in the fourth, Chalmers helped secure the victory with a layup with 44 seconds left that made it 101-96. The victory spoiled a brilliant offensive performance by Thunder guard Russell Westbrook, who finished with a game-high 43 points. Kevin Durant had 28 points for the Thunder, who got off to their best start of the series in the first quarter but couldn’t execute as well as the Heat down the stretch. “They made a few extra plays down the stretch,” said Thunder coach Scott Brooks. “Experience has nothing to do with it. We never use that as an excuse. “LeBron came back in after his injury and made a great play, made a tough three, and they made some plays at the end.” James nailed a three-point shot to break a 94-94 tie late in the fourth. The basket came about a minute after he had re-entered the game, having injured his left thigh earlier in the quarter when he slipped on a drive to the basket. He sat out for just over a minute the first time he hurt

Miami Heat’s Mario Chalmers shoots and scores between Oklahoma City Thunder defenders in the second half during Game 4 of the NBA basketball finals in Miami, Florida, June 19, 2012. (Reuters)

the leg, returned to action and sank the crucial three pointer. He then had to be helped to the bench a second time and stayed there for the final minute of the game to get treatment from the trainers while his teammates closed it

out. Spoelstra said James’s problem wasn’t serious but it caused him a lot of pain in the final minutes of the fourth and he couldn’t risk leaving him out there. “LeBron had cramps,” Spoelstra said. “We talked

Cricket

Zimbabwe shock South Africa in T20 tournament

about playing with an intensity until you had nothing left by the end of the game and he did. It was warm in the building. He just had some cramps at the end.” It was a physical contest with huge momentum swings in the first half as the Heat had to overcome a 17-point deficit in the first quarter. Westbrook was the catalyst for the Thunder, scoring 17 points in the fourth, including 13 straight Oklahoma City points during one stretch in the final quarter to keep the score close. With Westbrook igniting the offence, the Thunder had stormed out of the gate by shooting 62 percent from the floor in the first quarter. Westbrook scored 10 points as the Thunder led 33-19 at the end of the period. Wade and James answered for the Heat, pacing the attack in the second as the Heat went on a 13-0 scoring run to the start the quarter and tied the game 35-35 in the first four minutes. Miami never led in the second quarter but they closed the gap to 49-46 at the intermission with the help of seven points by Wade and James who almost had a triple double at halftime. After their blazing start, the Thunder shot just 30 percent from the field in the second quarter. The Thunder finished off the scoring in the third quarter with a three-point play to cut the Heat lead to four, 79-75. With just three seconds left, Westbrook hit a jumper and Durant was fouled in the paint then made the free throw. “We were just trying to stay in attack mode,” Westbrook said. “Shots were falling. But it really doesn’t mean nothing. We didn’t come out with the win.” For the first time since game one of the series, Durant wasn’t in foul trouble in the third. He had just two fouls heading into the final quarter so was able to stay in the game during key stretches in the third as the Thunder kept the score close. -AFP

Tennis

Djokovic, Sharapova top seeds for Wimbledon LONDON: Champion Novak Djokovic and French Open winner Maria Sharapova were named as top seeds for Wimbledon as the grasscourt grand slam mostly followed the rankings to draw up the list for the championships that begin on Monday. In the men’s side, Rafa Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray completed the top four while defending women’s champion Petra Kvitova was seeded forth. Serena Williams was seeded sixth but her sister Venus, champion five times in southwest London, will be the one player the majority of the

seeds will want to avoid as she missed out on a top 32 placing since she is currently ranked 55th. Rising talent Bernard Tomic was the main beneficiary of Wimbledon’s policy to take grasscourt form into consideration and the Australian was bumped up to 20th seed from his world ranking of 27. Three-times men’s runner-up Andy Roddick squeezed into the seedings following the withdrawal of world number 15 Frenchman Gael Monfils through injury. The American, ranked 33rd, was named as the 30th seed. -Reuters

Zimbabwe’s Vusi Sibanda (left) bats as South african wicketkeeper Dane Villas watches the ball on June 20, 2012. (AFP)

HARARE: Zimbabwe shocked powerful neighbors South Africa by 29 runs at Harare Sports Club on Wednesday in the third game of a non-cap Twenty20 tri-nation tournament. The home team posted 176-4 off 20 overs and restricted the visitors to 149 in 19.2 overs before a large, delirious crowd used to seeing Zimbabwe suffer heavy losses against one of the top cricket nations in the world. Unfortunately, the Harare tournament is unofficial so the result will not enter the record books, but the outcome can only boost Zimbabwean morale ahead of an ICC World Twenty20 clash between the countries on September 20 in Sri Lanka.

Zimbabwe top the table halfway through the mini-league phase having defeated Bangladesh by 11 runs in the opening match last Sunday while hot tournament favorites South Africa had 39 runs to spare over the Tigers Tuesday. While the Proteas’ bowling and fielding left much to be desired against Bangladesh, they flopped in all departments against Zimbabwe with Colin Ingram (48) and opener Richard Levi (40) the only significant run contributors. Bowler Wayne Parnell, who was dismal against the Tigers, fared better with 2-33 off three overs on a cool, clear winter afternoon in the Zimbabwe capital, but the attack never wrested control from the Zimbabwe batsmen.

“We leaked 20 runs too many and did not build partnerships,” admitted South Africa skipper Hashim Amla, who failed to match his good form of Tuesday and was out for a meager 11 runs in the third over. Top-order batsmen Vusi Sibanda (58), Hamilton Masakadza (55) and captain Brendan Taylor (38) set up a competitive Zimbabwe total on a wicket that has favored sides batting first as it tends to slow as a game goes on. While South Africa will point to the absence of rested stars AB de Villiers, Johan Botha, Jacques Kallis, Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn, injuries have sidelined top Zimbabwe duo Tatenda Taibu and Raymond Price. -AFP

FILE- Serbia’s Novak Djokovic hits a return to Switzerland’s Roger Federer during their semifinal tennis match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium, on June 8, 2012. (AFP)

Olympics

Nadal to carry Spain flag at opening ceremony

Vettori puts hand up for Twenty20 World Cup

FILE- New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori bats against South Africa on the third day of their second international cricket test match at the Seddon Park in Hamilton, New Zealand, Saturday, March 17, 2012. (AP)

WELLINGTON: Former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori has declared himself available for the Black Caps’ World Twenty20 campaign a year after bowing out of cricket’s shorter formats to prolong his test career. The 33-year-old all rounder played his last Twenty20 international in May 2010, but is likely to stroll into New Zealand’s squad for the tournament hosted by Sri Lanka in September and October. “Dan was the number one ranked Twenty20 bowler in 2009 and is widely regarded as one of the best Twenty20 exponents in world cricket,” New Zealand Cricket chief executive David White said in a media release on Wednesday. “His availability is a real boost for the Black Caps with his style of bowling well suited to conditions in Sri Lanka.” The left-arm spinner has claimed 35 wickets in 28 Twenty20 internationals at an average of 16.57, with a miserly economy rate of 5.36 runs per over. -Reuters

FILE- Rafael Nadal of Spain (right) and Li Na of China pose with French Tennis Federation (FFT) President Jean Gachassin (center) during the draw ceremony for the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris May 25, 2012. (Reuters)

MADRID: Gold medallist Rafael Nadal will carry the Spain flag at the opening ceremony for the London Games, the country’s Olympic committee (COE) said on Wednesday. The world number two, who recently won a record seventh French open title, has won 11 Grand Slam tournaments. Nadal was the unanimous choice of the COE board and local media reported he was chosen ahead

of sailing duo Iker Martinez and Xabi Fernandez who have a gold and a silver from the Athens and Beijing Games in the 49er class event. The 26-year-old will be attending his third Olympic Games. Nadal competed in the doubles in Athens in 2004 and won the singles in Beijing four years ago. World number one Novak Djokovic will carry Serbia’s flag at the opening ceremony on July 27. -Reuters

Football

SPORTS

Italy’s ‘Gerrard’ hopes to explode against England

Italy’s soccer player Daniele De Rossi listens to reporter’s question during a news conference during the Euro 2012 in Krakow June 20, 2012. (Reuters)

KRAKOW, Poland: Daniele De Rossi is arguably Italy’s most English-style player, relying on power rather than finesse, but the midfielder acknowledges he has not yet “exploded” ahead of Sunday’s Euro 2012 quarter-final against England. Sometimes described as the Steven Gerrard of Serie A, the AS Roma player started the first two games at Euro 2012 in the unusual position of central defense before returning to midfield in the 2-0 win over Ireland which sealed second spot in Group C. De Rossi is happy to be in the middle of the battle where he looks set to lock horns with England captain Gerrard, a player he rates highly just like Roy Hodgson’s side. “Gerrard is the symbol of their team, he has been playing for 10 years. Gerrard is the symbol of this ‘universal’ player because he can play well in defense and in attack,” he told a news conference on Wednesday. “Unfortunately, I haven’t seen England much at this tournament. They have young, very strong wingers. It won’t be easy. “The coach has had a career which also brought him to Italy. They know how to be defensive but to attack. They are a strong side.” The once wild child of the Italy squad has calmed down markedly in recent years but asked why he had

not yet “exploded” in a positive sense in Poland and Ukraine, De Rossi was candid. “I don’t know, really I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t know in what role or what formation I will explode.” Coach Cesare Prandelli hinted he played De Rossi in a new three-man defense for the group openers to make his side wake up after three friendly defeats before the tournament, but he is likely to stick with the 4-3-1-2 system from the Ireland game. Italy could have met France in the last eight but De Rossi said there was no preference between the two, even if England will bring lots more fans to Kiev than France would have done. Hard-up Italian fans are also notoriously bad travelers. “Italy is living through a delicate time economically. England have a tradition of bringing lots of followers en masse,” he said, shrugging the issue off as a problem for the Azzurri. De Rossi also hailed former England manager Fabio Capello, who left under a cloud in February, for nurturing him during their time together at Roma but he thought the late change in England coach made little difference. However, he added that in terms of preparation and motivation “Capello could scare you”. -Reuters

Uruguay back in Olympic football after 84 years

FIFA president Sepp Blatter (left), greets Uruguayan national footballers Cristian Rodriguez (center) and Diego Godin, as he participates in the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of Nueva Helvecia, a city 120 km west of Montevideo where most of the Swisscommunity living in Uruguay resides, on June 14, 2012. (AFP)

CAPITALS: For nearly a century, Uruguay has been waiting for the chance to add to its two Olympic football titles. The time is nigh. The two-time World Cup champions won back-to-back Olympic gold medals in 1924 and 1928, but have not managed to get back into the tournament until this year’s London Games. And to prove just how much they want a third gold medal, the Uruguayans chose veteran Oscar Tabarez as coach. “After the World Cup, the Olympic Games is the most important tournament there is,” Tabarez said recently. “The games have exemplified sportsmanship and brotherhood since ancient times and have a very popular feel about them. To be able to experience them in the flesh is a gift of life.” FIFA considers the 1924 and 1928 Olympic football tournaments to be world championships because they predate the first World Cup in 1930.And with their titles at the inaugural World Cup and the 1950 edition, Uruguay wears four stars on its national team jersey. Tabarez coaches both Uruguay’s national team and its Olympic team. And since taking over the national team for the second time in 2006, he has overseen a rebirth of Uruguayan football. The 65-year-old Tabarez guided the country to a fourth-place finish at the 2010 World Cup, a 2011 Copa America triumph and a No. 2 spot in the FIFA world ranking. Known as “El Maestro,” or “The Teacher,” he wants his pupils to learn from the Olympics and take that experience to other major tournaments. In the early part of the last century, the Uruguayans were a potent force in international football. Although they have not been a major player in years, the country won its record 15th Copa America title last year. Now, Tabarez is hoping the London Olympics will provide the same springboard for future success as the 1924 Paris Games and 1928 Amsterdam Games did for the country’s football team back then. “Don’t

forget that it was through the Olympics that Uruguay became the first South American country to compete in Europe,” the coach said in an interview with FIFA. “They were world tournaments in their own right and they marked the start of a period of international dominance in which Uruguay went unbeaten in the first half of the 20th century. “Some people disparagingly refer to that period as prehistory, but I think we’ve been able to build on and establish a link with those successes.” Tabarez has a solid crop of young players to choose from for the Olympics and also has several options to pick from for the three spots allowed in each squad for players over 23. Forwards Luis Suarez (Liverpool), Edinson Cavani (Napoli) and Abel Hernandez (Palermo) are on a preliminary list of players recently released by the Uruguayan football association. Inter Milan striker Diego Forlan was a notable omission. The final 22-man Olympic squad will be announced on July 6. “If we do pick an overage player, we might well do it to cover positions where we don’t have everything we need to put together a truly competitive team,” Tabarez said. “We know everyone wants to be there, and that’s why they’re on the preliminary list, but they know what I’m saying here.” Uruguay’s first match of the tournament is against the United Arab Emirates, before taking on Senegal and then host nation Britain in Group A. “It’s a real challenge because in theory the hosts have always got a better chance of doing well,” Tabarez said. “The responsibility of being the host nation of the Olympic Games is going to be a factor, and then there’s their foot-balling heritage.” But Tabarez is just happy to be leading the team to the Olympics, a job he never dreamed he would have the opportunity to take. “Reality is stranger than fiction a lot of the time,” Tabarez said, “and that’s the case here, and with the Uruguay team in general lately.” -AP

THURSDAY, june 21, 2012

Czech captain Rosicky hopeful in fitness battle WARSAW: Czech Republic captain Tomas Rosicky is hopeful of featuring in his side’s Euro 2012 quarter-final with Portugal on Thursday after his Achilles injury showed signs of improvement, the player said on Wednesday. Playmaker Rosicky missed the Czech’s final Group A game against Poland, returning to Prague for treatment before rejoining the squad. “After training the chance of me starting tomorrow is bigger,” Rosicky told a news conference at the National Stadium. “I have trained today but we will have to see tomorrow if I am able to play. We will decide on how the injury reacts.” The midfielder has been having intensive treatment since injuring his foot in the second group match against Greece. He was replaced in that game by Daniel Kolar in the creative role behind Milan Baros. The Czechs reached the last eight as Group A winners, rebounding from an opening 4-1 defeat by Russia to beat Greece and co-hosts Poland. -Reuters

Czech Republic’s Tomas Rosicky attends a training session for the Euro 2012 at Wroclaw’s Oporowska Municipal stadium, June 20, 2012. (Reuters)

Didier Drogba signs with Shanghai Shenhua BEIJING: One month after sealing Chelsea’s victory in the European Champions League final, Didier Drogba signed with Shanghai Shenhua on a two-year contract that will reportedly make him China’s highest-paid player. Shanghai confirmed the signing on Wednesday, and Drogba said on his website he will join the Chinese Super League team in the country’s financial hub next month. No details were given on Shanghai’s offer, although local media reported the club was willing to pay as much as 15 million US dollars per year. “I studied all the offers I’ve received in recent weeks and I feel that going to Shanghai Shenhua is the right direction for me now. I’m looking forward to this new challenge, to discover a new culture and I am very enthusiastic about the development of the Chinese football league,” Drogba said in his online statement. On its website adorned with pictures of Drogba against a background of Shanghai skyscrapers, the club lauded the 34-year-old former Chelsea striker as the most dominant player ever to join a CSL team. “You can see from the online response, the fans are crazy about him,’’ Shanghai spokesman Ma Yue told The Associated Press. “There has never been a foreign player who has stirred up such a reaction in China. It means a lot to Chinese football and will be of immense help in spreading the CSL brand.” The announcement comes days after a reported visit to Drogba’s native Ivory Coast by Shanghai’s owner, Zhu Jun, an online gambling magnate whose fortune has already facilitated the hiring of former Argentina coach Sergio Batista and another former Chelsea player, Nicolas Anelka. On his Twitter feed, Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand said he looked forward to playing against Drogba when

International football player Didier Drogba gestures during a press conference at a function in New Delhi on June 17, 2012.

they travel to Shanghai on July 25. Drogba’s move to Shanghai had been speculated for months. He was also approached by Al Wasl of the United Arab Emirates, coached by Diego Maradona, but its bid was believed to be less than Shanghai’s. Drogba capped his Chelsea career by scoring the tying goal and then the penalty shootout winner in Chelsea’s win over Bayern Munich in last month’s European Champions League final. Prior to his nine years at Chelsea, he had spells at French clubs LeMans, Guingamp and Marseille. Chinese soccer has long been dogged

by mismanagement and corruption, with the level of performance trailing well behind that of neighbors South Korea and Japan. But rapidly escalating salaries are beginning to attract big-name players while authorities have ramped up measures to stamp out match fixing. Shangahi sits in 12th place in the 16team Chinese Super League, 15 points behind leader Guangzhou Evergrande, which itself broke the Chinese transfer spending record to sign Argentine playmaker Dario Conca for 10 million US dollars from Fluminense, reportedly making him the third-highest paid player in the world. -AP

Wigan offer to double Moses’ wages to foil Chelsea LONDON: Wigan chairman Dave Whelan is ready to double Victor Moses’ wages in a last-ditch bid to persuade the Nigeria winger to snub an approach from Chelsea. Whelan revealed this week that he had rejected a four million British pounds (6.2 million US dollars) bid for Moses from the European champions and now he has offered to give the 21-year-old a substantial salary increase. Moses, who has won three senior caps for Nigeria after representing England at youth level, is out of contract at the end of next season and Whelan is aware Chelsea are keen to snap up the former Crystal Palace player. But Whelan won’t sell on the cheap and he believes it would be better for both Moses and the Latics if he stays at the DW Stadium for at least another year. “We’ve made him a very good offer - involving a doubling of his wages - over the next three years,” Whelan told the Evening Post. “It’s down to whether the lad himself listens to sense, or whether he listens to his agent. “The player has to realize that it’s his future we’re talking about not his agent’s. “Agents want cash out of players, that’s all, whereas we want the lad to realize his potential and reach the highest level he can. “If we have to sell him, we will do so reluctantly - but not for the money that is currently on the table.” Whelan claims Moses owes his rapid

development since his 2010 move to the astute influence of manager Roberto Martinez and he doesn’t believe the Kaduna-born star is ready for a top club like Chelsea yet. “I personally have told Victor he requires another 12 months minimum under Roberto’s guidance before he thinks about moving to a top club,” Whelan added.

“He has come on so much in the last two years - and that is purely down to Roberto’s help. “I told him when he signed for Wigan that we’d let him go when the time was right and a big club came in for him. “In my opinion he’s not quite ready for that yet, but another year working with Roberto and he might be.” -AFP

FILE- Nigeria’s forward Victor Moses (right) vies with Namibia’s midfielder Angula Dacosta during an African zone of World Cup 2014 qualifier football match Nigeria vs Namibia at U.J. Esuene stadium in Calabar on June 3, 2012. (AFP)