June 25, 2012

MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012

@alwatandaily

Issue No. 1470

12 PAGES

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Islamist candidate Mursi wins Egyptian presidency

CAIRO: Islamist Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood was declared Egypt’s first democratic president on Sunday by the state election committee, which said he had defeated former general Ahmed Shafik with 51.7 percent of last weekend’s run-off vote. He succeeds Hosni Mubarak, who was overthrown 16 months ago after a popular uprising. The military council which has ruled the biggest Arab nation since then has this month curbed the powers of the presidency, meaning the head of state will have to work closely with the army on a planned democratic constitution.

Thousands of Brotherhood supporters burst into cheers on Cairo’s Tahrir Square, waving national flags, setting off fireworks and chanting “Allahu Akbar!” or God is Great, greeting a dramatic victory, tempered by the army’s continuing role. “Say! Don’t fear! The military must go!” crowds chanted.

For Mursi, a US-educated engineer who spent time in jail under Mubarak, a spokesman said: “This is a testament to the resolve of the Egyptian people to make their voice heard.”

Shafik, a former air force commander and Mubarak’s last prime minister, offered no immediate reaction. He has said he would offer to serve in a Mursi administration. Mursi, 60, won the first round ballot in May with a little under a quarter of the vote.

He has pledged to form an inclusive government to appeal to the many Egyptians, including a large Christian minority, who are anxious over religious rule.

The military council will retain control of the biggest army in the Middle East, whose closest ally is the United States. Mursi has said he will

FILE - Presidential candidate Mohammed Mursi. (AP)

respect international treaties, notably that signed with Israel in 1979, on which much US aid depends. President Mursi will struggle to control the levers of state,” Elijah Zarwan, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said in Cairo. He will likely face footdragging and perhaps outright attempts to under-

mine his initiatives from key institutions. Faced with such resistance, frustration may tempt him to fall into the trap of attempting to throw his new weight around,” Zarwan told Reuters. “This would be a mistake. “His challenge is to lead a bitterly divided, fearful, and angry population toward a peaceful democratic outcome, without becoming a reviled scapegoat for continued military rule.”

Mursi will not enjoy the extent of modern, pharaonic powers exercised by Mubarak: those have been curtailed by a military establishment which will decide just how much he will be able to do in government. The Brotherhood had said it would press on with protests against the army’s latest rulings.

Still, his victory in the country’s first free presidential election breaks a tradition of domination by men from the armed forces, which have provided every Egyptian leader since the overthrow of the monarchy 60 years ago, and installs in office a group that drew on 84 years of disciplined grassroots activism to catapult Mursi into the presidency.

He has promised a moderate, modern Islamist agenda to steer Egypt into a new democratic era where autocracy will be replaced by transparent government that respects human rights and revives the fortunes of a powerful Arab state long in decline.

Mursi is promising an “Egyptian renaissance with an Islamic foundation”. The Brotherhood believes in establishing an Islamic state gradually and through peaceful means, but Mursi’s focus has been mostly on issues affecting the majority of Egyptians since the revolt, such as the deteriorating economy. -Agencies

Amir to decide on fate of Parliament: Al-Kharafi

Mohammed Al-Salman, Mohammed Al-Khaldi, Osama Al-Qatari and Ahmed Al-Shemmari Staff Writers

KUWAIT: The ministerial committee, which has been tasked with outlining measures for the enforcement of the Constitutional Court’s verdict ordering the dissolution of the 2009 Parliament, on Sunday received the court’s brief.

The committee hence decided to have the ruling published in the official gazette tomorrow (Tuesday).

An informed official source stated that the ministerial committee had scrutinized the circumstances leading up to the verdict and accordingly set out a proper mechanism for enforcing it. The committee is expected to submit a report to the Cabinet, during an extraordinary session on Wednesday, to review the options reached by the committee so that it can decide on the most appropriate one. Meanwhile, the National Assembly Speaker Jassem Al-Kharafi

arrived home on Sunday and is expected to have an audience with His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber AlMubarak Al-Sabah to discuss a mechanism for addressing the political situation in the country and end the current state of “indecision”. Reportedly, the officials will also underscore the need for the convening of the 2009 assembly before it is re-dissolved.

They will also discuss the options at hand to ensure the legitimacy of the Cabinet before it resigns and demands the disbandment of the Parliament, in line with constitutional parameters.

Upon his arrival, Al-Kharafi told reporters that he upholds the court’s ruling and that he is back to enforce it. Reacting to a question about the fate of the current Parliament, the speaker said this issue is not within his jurisdiction; rather it is a prerogative of His Highness the Amir.

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Possibility of no fishing for one full year: Ministry of Commerce

KUWAIT: Sources related to Al Watan said that the committee set up by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to look into the conditions of fishing businesses in the country where they might come up with new recommendations whereby fishing would be banned for an extended period which may reach a full one year.

Sources explained that the reason behind such drastic measure is to give fish ample opportunity to breed.

The committee however is also expected to recommend that alternative ways to make fish available in the market is highly recommended.

The meeting is expected to be attended by several state departments as well representatives of

local fishing businesses. The Environmental Public Authority (EPA) is expected to endorse the decision citing the red tide and its impact on the fish.

Another factor is the presence of sewage water dumped into the sea water which is also fatal to the fishery resources.

On their part, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s representatives is also expected to raise the issue of Mishref Plant and the catastrophic impact it has had on the fish.

Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research and Training (KISR) is also expected to be present to provide detailed account of the situation as well as the possibility of farming fish inland as an alternaMore on 2 tive way.

Fireworks explode as supporters of Muslim Brotherhood’s presidential candidate Mohamed Mursi celebrate his victory in the election at Tahrir Square in Cairo June 24, 2012. (Reuters)

Alonso thrills home fans with Valencia win

Turkey takes jet downing to NATO, Syria tension soars

DAMASCUS: NATO said on Sunday it will discuss Turkey’s accusation that Syria shot down one of its warplanes in international airspace, as Damascus suffered heavy losses and violence scaled new heights. Syria’s surging bloodshed saw at least 63 people killed on Sunday, nearly half of them troops who died in clashes with rebels, activists said. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu warned Ankara’s southern neighbor not to challenge Turkey’s military, as Britain, another member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, offered support for “robust” international action.

“According to our conclusions, our plane was shot down in international airspace, 13 nautical miles from Syria,” Davutoglu told Turkey’s TRT television. “The Syrians knew full well that it was a Turkish military plane and the nature of its mission,” he said. “Nobody should dare put Turkey’s (military) capabilities to the test.” British Foreign Secretary William Hague said: “The (President Bashar Al- Assad) regime should not make the misMore on 3 take of believing that it can act with impunity.

Double leg amputee scales Mount Kilimanjaro

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Firebrand cleric says Iraqi PM should resign

NAJAF, Iraq: The firebrand Iraqi cleric whose followers are a swing vote in the nation’s ongoing government crisis said Sunday that the prime minister should resign if he cannot produce reforms. In a rare and wide-ranging press conference, hardline Shiite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr admonished the Shiite-led government, saying it has shut Iraq’s minorities out of power and failed to fix legal systems and other public services.

As a result, and to jumpstart the nation’s all but paralyzed government, Al-Sadr said he is prepared to direct his party’s 40 lawmakers to support a no confidence vote against Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki - so long as he is assured other political blocs in parliament provide the rest of the 163 votes needed.

His declaration delivers a sharp blow to Al-Maliki’s efforts to hold on to power. The Shiite prime minister kept his job after 2010 national elections failed to produce a clear winner only with grudging support from Al-Sadr, an old nemesis. “If the head is reformed, everything beyond it is reformed,” Al-Sadr said about ways to fix the government. He added: “I do not support a no confidence vote if it hurts the Iraqi people. But the no confidence is not what has delayed the government from doing its duty.”

An adviser to Al-Maliki, Ali Al-Moussawi, declined to comment on Al-Sadr’s statements. -AP

Venezuela cutting oil for Paraguay: Chavez

Chinese technicians at the Jiuquan Space Centre monitor the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft as it prepares to link with the Tiangong-1 module just over a week into a manned space mission which includes China’s first female astronaut, following an automatic docking, on June 24, 2012. The Chinese spacecraft on June 24 successfully completed the country’s first manual docking in orbit, a milestone in an ambitious program to build a space station by the end of the decade. (AFP)

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CARACAS, Venezuela: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says his country will cut off oil shipments to Paraguay to protest the ouster of Fernando Lugo.

Chavez says Lugo’s removal as president last week was illegal and his insists Venezuela will not recognize the new government of Federico Franco.

The Paraguayan senate’s swift decision to oust Lugo has drawn condemnation around Latin America.

Chavez spoke before a military parade on Sunday and compared Lugo’s removal to the 2009 coup that removed Manuel Zelaya in Honduras. Lugo has suggested that national and international clamor could lead Paraguayan lawmakers to reverse his impeachment. -AP

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Tunisia extradites former Gadhafi PM to Libya TRIPOLI: Tunisia extradited former Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi’s prime minister to Libya on Sunday, a Libyan security official said, making him the first senior official to be sent back for trial under the country’s transitional leadership.

Defense ministry official Mohammed Al-Ahwal told Reuters that a helicopter had transferred Al Baghdadi Ali Al-Mahmoudi to the capital Tripoli. “Al-Mahmoudi is now in Tripoli and we are holding him in a prison.” A security official at the prison, who declined to be named, told Reuters that AlMahmoudi was undergoing medical checks.

Al-Mahmoudi served as the Libyan dictator’s prime minister from 2006 until he fled to neighboring Tunisia around the time that rebel fighters took Tripoli in August.

His extradition could establish a precedent for other countries who have given refuge to or arrested members of Gadhafi’s old entourage.

Libya’s government and the International Criminal Court - which indicted Gadhafi’s son Seif Al-Islam in June for crimes against humanity stemming from the crackdown on last year’s revolt - have argued for months over where he should be tried. Tripoli considers it a matter of national pride and a measure of the country’s transformation for Seif Al-Islam’s and other Gadhafi loyalists trials to be held in Libya. But human rights groups have questioned whether Libya’s justice system can meet the standards of international law and say he should be handed More on 3 over to the ICC instead.

Saudis give women Games go-ahead

PARIS: Saudi Arabia, where sports events for women are banned, will allow females to compete in the Olympic Games for the first time, its embassy in London said in a statement issued Sunday.

The Saudi Olympic Committee will “oversee participation of women athletes who can qualify”, the BBC quoted the statement as saying.

The issue of women in sport remains extremely sensitive in the ultra-conservative Muslim state, where women are not even allowed to drive cars and the authorities shut down private gyms for women in 2009 and 2010.

Equestrian jumping contestant Dalma Malhas, 18, is likely to be the country’s only female athlete to qualify for this summer’s Games in London which get underway on July 27. Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei are the only three countries never to have sent women athletes to the Olympics. But Qatar has already announced it will send a three-woman team to London. -AFP

Sea rise faster on East Coast than rest of globe

WASHINGTON: From Cape Hatteras, N.C., to just north of Boston, sea levels are rising much faster than they are around the globe, putting one of the world’s most costly coasts in danger of flooding, government researchers report.

US Geological Survey scientists call the 600-mile swath a “hot spot” for climbing sea levels caused by global warming. Along the region, the Atlantic Ocean is rising at an annual rate three times to four times faster than the global average since 1990, according to the study published Sunday in the journal Nature Climate Change.

It’s not just a faster rate, but at a faster pace, like a car on a highway “jamming on the accelerator,” said the study’s lead author, Asbury Sallenger Jr., an oceanogra-

pher at the agency. He looked at sea levels starting in 1950, and noticed a change beginning in 1990.

Since then, sea levels have gone up globally about 2 inches. But in Norfolk, Va., where officials are scrambling to fight more frequent flooding, sea level has jumped a total of 4.8 inches, the research showed. For Philadelphia, levels went up 3.7 inches, and in New York City, it was 2.8 inches. Climate change pushes up sea levels by melting ice sheets in Greenland and west Antarctica, and because warmer water expands.

Computer models long have projected higher levels along parts of the East Coast because of changes in ocean currents from global warming, but this is the first study to show that’s already happened. More on 8

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monday, JUNE 25, 2012

Elections candidacy only applicable to ‘true Kuwaitis’: MP Dashti Staff Writer

KUWAIT: Member of PArliament (MP) Abdulhamid Dashti called on His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah to issue an Amiri decree introducing new amendments to the existing amendment laws pertinent to the elections of members of the parliament.

The MP stated that the new amendments should stress that only original Kuwaitis can be applicable for elections candidacy and to disqualify those who became naturalized from running in the elections.

MP Dashti explained that such move is in total conformity with the country’s constitution

and laws.

MP Dashti’s new draft bill is related to altering Article 19, item 35/1962 in relevance to the elections of members of parliament. Dashti seeks to alter the text as follows: “It is a condition that whoever wishes to run the race that his name should be listed in one of the elections list and that his father should be a Kuwaiti national tracing his ancestry back to the pre-1920 registration,” he explained.

Dashti argued that the existing text only states that the name of the candidate should be listed in the elections list which as Dashti argues that it is in a direct and blatant violation of Article 28 in the Constitution item A which clearly states that

the candidate should be a Kuwaiti national and that means both father and mother should be Kuwaitis and that they trace their ancestry back to the pre-1920 registration.

“This is not all, the candidate should also prove that they had resided in the country as normal citizens because as it stands the elections regulations regarding the candidates are in contradiction to the laws,” he remarked.

He went on to add that by introducing such amendments this would hamper any attempts by those who were naturalized and at the same time do away with the existing condition that after 20 years of naturalization, a naturalized Kuwaiti would be qualified to run the race.

Possibility of no fishing for one full year: Ministry of Commerce Tarq Orabi

Staff Writer

KUWAIT: Sources related to Al Watan said that the committee set up by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to look into the conditions of fishing businesses in the country where they might come up with new recommendations whereby fishing would be banned for an extended period which may reach a full one year.

Sources explained that the reason behind such drastic measure is to give fish ample opportunity to breed.

The committee however is also expected to recommend that alternative ways to make fish available in the market is highly recommended.

The meeting is expected to be attended by sev-

eral state departments as well representatives of local fishing businesses. The Environmental Public Authority (EPA) is expected to endorse the decision citing the red tide and its impact on the fish.

Another factor is the presence of sewage water dumped into the sea water which is also fatal to the fishery resources.

On their part, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s representatives is also expected to raise the issue of Mishref Plant and the catastrophic impact it has had on the fish.

Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research and Training (KISR) is also expected to be present to provide detailed account of the situation as well as the possibility of farming fish inland as an alternative way.

On their part, the Ministry of Interior is also

expected to be present to define areas where fishing would be permitted and authorized and the time that such activities would be allowed.

Similarly, representatives from the Public Authority for Agriculture and Fish Resources (PAAFR) are expected to be present to discuss the possibility of setting up farms and the needed and required support and subsidy anticipated for such new venture.

Kuwait Oil representative Ismail Al-Khawari would carry out a presentation showing ways and means of farming fishing inland following the resounding success by the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) of setting up 1000 farms ascertaining the great potentials of such experiment and that it would be successful as it has been executed in the country.

Fourth Ring-Road development to decrease traffic: Official KUWAIT: “The development of the fourth Ring-Road is aimed at increasing traffic capacity and avoiding jams,” said an official here Sunday.

Undersecretary for traffic affairs at the Ministry of Public Works Engineer Saud Al-Naqi told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that the fourth ring-road was one of main vital highways in the country, adding that with the considerable amount of urban development within the area, it was imperative to build new structures that help facilitate transport in the country.

“The development project would be executed in three phases that would last for a period of 84 months,” said Al-Naqi.

The development plan would lead to the inclusion of four lanes with no traffic lights for inter-sections. The areas near the fourth ring-road would be connected with each other without being linked to the main-road. -KUNA

Handout image of the Fourth Ring-Road’s diagram.

(KUNA)

First phase of overhauling Kuwait’s aerial sector proceeding: Official KUWAIT: Kuwait International Airport is currently a site of a progressing venture for overhauling infrastructure of the national aviation sector, according to an aviation official.

Some of the major aspects of the project are the installment of a new radar and upgrading automatic landing systems, said Khaled Al-Shayji, Deputy Director General of Civil Aviation for Aerial Navigation Services, in an interview with Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).

Elaborating, he said that the first phase of the venture included a “package” of sub projects designed to bolster the infrastructures of the observation and navigation systems, with installment of latest models of radars, surveillance and power networks, as well as networks of basic services, installations and equipment.

The renovation of the sector is conducted on

bases of standards and recommendations of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), designed for maximum safety, efficiency and order of the aviation operations.

Moreover, “The ventures include training cadres for administration, operations and maintenance,” he said.

As to executed projects, Al-Shayji mentioned the control center, the national monitoring and observation center at the airport, which is the core of the operational systems - building of which is situated on a 112, 500-square-meter plot of land.

Another one is construction of the infrastructure of the power station at the air facility.

He cited other sub projects within the whole overhaul scheme of the air aviation sector, namely construction of the building and system of monitoring and the new radar system for optimum

Diplomat heads to Luxembourg for GCC-EU talks

LONDON: Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Khaled Al-Jarallah departed London for Luxembourg on Sunday to attend a meeting of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and European Union (EU) foreign ministers.

Seeing off the official, who had earlier represented his country in GCC-British talks, was head of the diplomatic corps and Kuwaiti Ambassador to the UK, Khaled Al-Duwaisan, along with embassy staff.

The talks between representatives of the Arab Gulf union and the United Kingdom agreed on cooperation in a number of areas of mutual concern, including attaining safety, security and economic prosperity in the Gulf region, exchanged trade and investment and further diplomatic representation.

Prince Saud Faisal Al-Saud headed the GCC ministerial committee in the talks, while British Foreign Secretary William Hague headed his side. -KUNA

flights’ safety. Al-Shayji added that the authority would work out, soon, two contracts for two more ventures, one for rapid and digital information exchange among the departments and sectors of the facility, and the other for upgrading the backup systems for aiding aircraft for landing in bad weather.

In this vein, he noted that some of the aircraft are specially equipped to land in extremely bad or dusty weather, and hinted that new devices and guidance systems would be installed to aid planes upon landing, particularly those with limited backup systems for such conditions.

The authority is looking forward to finalize first phase of the overhaul process by 2015, in line with the national strategy of making Kuwait International Airport the main air facility in the region.

-KUNA

Kuwaiti charity-funded refugee housing units in Darfur ready

KHARTOUM: Preparations are complete for refugee housing units in North Darfur’s capital of Al-Fashir, funded by a number of Kuwaiti charities, it was announced on Sunday.

The ‘Kuwaiti village’ was funded with money raised by charities the International Islamic Charitable Organization (IICO) and the Kuwaiti Joint Committee for Relief and the Awqaf General Secretariat.

Around two million US dollars were raised by the charities from the people of Kuwait for the project, director of the office of Kuwait’s charity organization in Sudan, Dr. Ahmed Al-Sanusi told KUNA. The village consists of 48 integrated residential units on a 400 square meter area in a addition to a mosque, a school, a water plant, a hospital, a social centre and a police office. -KUNA

‘Strategic alternative’ brings salaries to par according to qualifications: CSC

KUWAIT: “Adopting the ‘strategic alternative’ system regarding employment is one of the viable solutions that would bring to par salaries in different institutions according to professional qualifications,” said Civil Service Commission (CSC) Undersecretary Mohammad Al-Roumi in an interview published here, Sunday. In remarks to an Arabic local daily, the official said that the said system is a systematic and scientific means to reach balance in the state employees’ salaries budget. It offers a long-term vision and a gradual rather than sudden solution for current problems.

The objective of this system is finding a comprehensive framework for the salaries and wages in the government sector that is both fair and all-inclusive, and one which is based on the positions’ specifications adopted by the commission. Al-Roumi noted that the system would bring more justice to the salaries, pay, and allowances and help towards a more just system and processing in terms of promotions and qualification assessment.

“To benefit from the system”, he said, “a standing higher committee under the commission must be formed to manage and direct the new system and to review the financial state of affairs of state institutions every three years. There must also be legislative, political, leadership, and executive support at all state institutions and the recommendations of the said committee must be binding to guarantee success.” There is much effort at present on the part of the Council of Ministers, the Civil Service Commission, and other state bodies all aim at bringing more equality among employees in harmony with the state’s general interest, economy, and overall development scheme. -KUNA

Amir to decide on fate of Parliament: Al-Kharafi

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This comes at a time when the Majority Bloc’s legal committee prepared a statement, which was made available to members of the bloc on Sunday at Ahmad Al-Saadoun’s diwaniya in Khaldiya. The bloc will read out the statement during a press conference to be held in due course.

On the other hand, a number of MPs representing the Minority Bloc met at MP Ali Al-Rashed’s diwaniya to discuss all the developments, as well as the fate of the panels set up to probe alleged illicit financial deposits and transfers.

An informed source, in the meantime, affirmed that most of the members of the 2009 assembly declined to be used by the government to offer constitutionality to its dissolution. The source added that in the event that the disbanded Parliament makes a comeback, a series of sessions must be convened to rectify the violations committed by the 2012 assembly and finalize the budget. He noted that this will be followed by Cabinet’s resignation and a request that the Parliament be dissolved so that fresh elections can be called. Moreover, a number of lawmakers have warned the government against endorsing the budget and amending electoral constituencies through emergency decrees.

For his part, MP Khaled Al-Sultan argued that the decree for the dissolution of 2009 Parliament remains valid and that the Constitutional Court does not have a right to reinstate it. He went to say that there is no need for resignation and that any session to be convened by the dissolved Parliament will be regarded invalid. “The Attempt to have the budget passed by a dissolved Parliament is invalid and unacceptable,” Al-Sultan assertively said.

Further, former MP Rola Dashti said, “We need a discourse that brings people together and build rather one that disunites and destroys...The culture of intimidation, misleading and political tension that we have been witnessing is intended to achieving narrow electoral gains to the detriment of the country’s interests.”

World corporations show interest in water treatment project in Umm Al-Hayman

KUWAIT: Over 15 international alliances and corporations showed interest in and presented qualifications for the construction, operation, and management of the expansion project for Umm Al-Hayman sanitary water treatment station, said the Partnership Technical Bureau (PTB) on Sunday.

The PTB said deadline for application and filing of qualifications by international corporations and local companies and bodies not listed with Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) for said project was last Thursday, adding the project is to be executed in line with law 7/2008. This is a key development project to be executed under the supervision of the Ministry of Public Works, it pointed out.

The initial phase of the project involves treatment of 500,000 cubic meters per annum, and the capacity is to go up to 700,000 in the second phase, along with the urban expansion in the southern region of the country.

After this qualification stage, the KSE-listed companies and bodies are to present their applications for the same project.

The PTB had first announced the project back in January. -KUNA

KFAED grants $5 million for Mali agricultural projects

Mali’s Minister of Finance Tina Kalopala (right) and Deputy Director-General of the Kuwaiti state fund Ghanim Al-Ghunaymaan (left) shaking hands during the signing of an agreement Sunday, June 24, 2012. (KUNA)

KUWAIT: The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) has signed a grant agreement with Mali to finance several small-sized agricultural projects worth five million US dollars, it said here Sunday.

The grant is to be dispensed through its branch in Mali and is aimed at achieving food security and increasing food production through the provision of loans to finance small and micro enterprises in the field of food production, the fund said in a statement.

The agreement was signed by Mali’s Minister of Finance Tina Kalopala and Deputy Director-General of the Kuwaiti state fund Ghanim Al-Ghunaymaan, added the statement. This is the second grant agreement the KFAED has thus far signed with the government of Mali, the earlier of which is worth $2.4 million.

It has also provided the west African nation with 10 loans worth $160.5 million and technical assistance for an economic feasibility study worth $2.7 million. -KUNA

ALWATAN DAILY

WORLD

mondAY, June 25, 2012

Turkey takes jet downing to NATO, Syria tension soars DAMASCUS: NATO said on Sunday it will discuss Turkey’s accusation that Syria shot down one of its warplanes in international airspace, as Damascus suffered heavy losses and violence scaled new heights.

Syria’s surging bloodshed saw at least 63 people killed on Sunday, nearly half of them troops who died in clashes with rebels, activists said. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu warned Ankara’s southern neighbor not to challenge Turkey’s military, as Britain, another member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, offered support for “robust” international action.

“According to our conclusions, our plane was shot down in international airspace, 13 nautical miles from Syria,” Davutoglu told Turkey’s TRT television.

“The Syrians knew full well that it was a Turkish military plane and the nature of its mission,” he said.

“Nobody should dare put Turkey’s (military) capabilities to the test.” British Foreign Secretary William Hague said: “The (President Bashar Al-Assad) regime should not make the mistake of believing that it can act with impunity. It will be held to account for its behavior.”

NATO to discuss issue

NATO said it will meet on Tuesday to discuss the issue following a request by Turkey. “Under Article 4, any ally can request consultations whenever, in the opinion of any of them, their territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened,” a NATO spokeswoman said.

Damascus said it downed the F-4 Phantom on Friday after it violated Syrian airspace. Turkey had on Saturday acknowledged the plane may have done so, in comments seen as a bid to cool tensions between the former allies, but it now appears to have taken a harder stance.

“Syria was merely exercising its right and sovereign duty and defense,” Syrian foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi was quoted as saying on Sunday in a local, a pro-government daily.

“There is no enmity between Syria and Turkey, but political tension (exists) between the two countries.

“What happened was an accident and not an assault as some like to say, because the plane was shot while it was in Syrian airspace and flew over Syrian territorial waters,” Makdissi said.

CNN-Turk television reported that search and rescue teams have located the wreckage of the jet at a depth of 1,300 meters (yards) in the sea, but did not give its precise location or refer to the fate of the two missing pilots. Ankara said it could not confirm the report.

Bloodshed in Syria

At least 63 people were killed on Sunday in Syria, nearly half of them regime troops who died in clashes with rebels, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. At least 16 soldiers were killed in the northern province of Aleppo, while the rest died in neighboring Idlib province and in the provinces of Damascus and Deir El-Zor in the east, the watchdog said.

“The clashes happened almost simultaneously at dawn,” in Aleppo, which borders Turkey, the Observatory’s head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

A handout image released by the Syrian opposition’s Shaam News Network on June 24, 2012, shows Syrians carrying the coffin of a person killed during the Syrian army offensive of the restive city of Homs on June 20, 2012. (AFP)

The fighting took place in the town of Dara Aza and at military checkpoints near the town of Al-Atarib and the village of Kafr Halab, the Britain-based watchdog said. The Observatory reported that following an attack on an artillery battalion also in Aleppo, a number of soldiers defected, taking with them a large quantity of weapons.

In another setback for the regime, rebels captured 11 government soldiers in the central province of Damascus, it added.

“This is one of the bloodiest weeks in the conflict,” Abdel Rahman said. The Observatory also reported that rebels had shot down a Syrian regime helicopter near the Jordanian border.

According to Observatory figures, 94 people were killed in Syria last Monday, 62 on Tuesday, 88 on Wednesday, 168 on Thursday, 116 on Friday and 116 more on Saturday. “It’s like we are in a war,” Abdel Rahman said.

Tunisia extradites former Gadhafi PM to Libya TRIPOLI: Tunisia extradited former Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi’s prime minister to Libya on Sunday, a Libyan security official said, making him the first senior official to be sent back for trial under the country’s transitional leadership.

Defense ministry official Mohammed Al-Ahwal told Reuters that a helicopter had transferred Al Baghdadi Ali Al-Mahmoudi to the capital Tripoli. “AlMahmoudi is now in Tripoli and we are holding him in a prison.”

A security official at the prison, who declined to be named, told Reuters that Al-Mahmoudi was undergoing medical checks. Al-Mahmoudi served as the Libyan dictator’s prime minister from 2006 until he fled to neighboring Tunisia around the time that rebel fighters took Tripoli in August. His extradition could establish a precedent for other countries who have given refuge to or arrested members of Gadhafi’s old entourage. Libya’s govern-

ment and the International Criminal Court - which indicted Gadhafi’s son Seif Al-Islam in June for crimes against humanity stemming from the crackdown on last year’s revolt - have argued for months over where he should be tried.

Tripoli considers it a matter of national pride and a measure of the country’s transformation for Seif Al-Islam’s and other Gadhafi loyalists trials to be held in Libya. But human rights groups have questioned whether Libya’s justice system can meet the standards of international law and say he should be handed over to the ICC instead.

Mabrouk Khorchid, Al-Mahmoudi’s lawyer in Tunisia, said neither he nor the former Libyan prime minister’s family had been given any prior warning that he was about to be extradited. “I believe this is a state crime and is against human rights,” he said. “This is a sad moment for human rights in Tunisia. I think he’s going to be

tortured and treated illegally and believe that those who handed him over bear part of the responsibility.”

Khorchid said he had not been allowed to see his client for 20 days and had heard that Al-Mahmoudi had been placed in solitary confinement and had suffered a nervous breakdown since Tunisia’s justice minister said last month that an extradition was imminent. “We called the presidency and they said they had not signed the extradition order and we were surprised that he was handed over like this,” he said. A Tunisian court ruled as far back as November that Al-Mahmoudi should be extradited. But Tunisian President Moncef Al-Marzouki later said the handover would not happen until the situation in Libya had stabilized and AlMahmoudi could be guaranteed a fair trial after Gadhafi himself was killed by rebels and his rotting corpse left on display. -Reuters

Sudan steps up crackdown on protests CAIRO: Sudanese security forces used tear gas to break up anti-regime demonstrations in Khartoum on Sunday, opposition figures said, as the government vowed to press ahead with economic austerity measures that set off a wave of unrest last weekend. In messages broadcast by the Sudanese state media, the regime threatened “stern measures” against the protests, which first targeted the austerity moves but have expanded to include calls for the ouster of longtime President Omar Al-Bashir. Several hundred students gathered at Khartoum University, where the demonstrations started eight days ago,

said Kamal Omar of the Popular Congress Party. He said pro-government “militias” attacked them. Other opposition figures said police fired tear gas to break up the rally and arrested dozens of students.

The official SUNA news agency reported late Saturday that authorities instructed police to “deal sternly with saboteurs.” The regime is determined that “subversive incidents” would not deter it from implementing recent economic decisions, the news agency said.

Protesters reject a government austerity plan that slashed subsidies and doubled the price of fuel and food. They

also appear to be inspired by Arab Spring uprisings that brought down regimes in neighboring Egypt and Libya and are demanding the downfall of Al-Bashir’s regime. Demonstrations have been concentrated near Khartoum University on the banks of the Blue Nile river but have also spread to the city’s far-flung outskirts and at least one provincial capital.

Representatives of Sudan’s opposition parties say they have been meeting to come up with a unified stand on the protests. Police and security forces have arrested a number of party leaders in the past days, they say. -AP

Warplanes strike Kurdish militants in northern Iraq

ANKARA: Turkey said on Sunday it had carried out air strikes on nine Kurdish militant targets in northern Iraq between June 22-24, days after severe clashes on the other side of the border.

The Turkish military said in a statement that most of the targets were in the Qandil region and were hideouts and caves belonging to Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants.

It said all its planes had returned safely to their bases.

Turkish soldiers and Kurdish militants clashed last week in one the most intense battles this year of the separatist conflict, with 26 combatants killed in fighting at army outposts in southeast Turkey, officials and security sources said.

Up to 100 fighters from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) launched simultaneous dawn attacks on three military

observation points in Hakkari province near Turkey’s mountainous border with Iraq, killing eight soldiers and wounding 19, the sources said.

Masoud Barzani, president of the Iraqi Kurdish region, criticized Turkey’s air strikes, saying that a peaceful solution was the only answer.

“It is unfortunate that we are seeing this kind of deterioration and we are against the operations that are carried out inside Turkey or the air raids that are carried out by Turkey in areas in Iraqi Kurdistan,” Barzani told a news conference in the Iraqi Kurdish capital Arbil on Sunday.

The oil-producing autonomous region of Kurdistan is a potential flashpoint for tensions among ethnic Kurds, Turkmen and Iraqi Arabs. -Reuters

“Sometimes when two countries are at war, not even 20 people are killed a day. But now in Syria it has become normal to have 100 killed each day.”

A Russian ship that tried to deliver attack helicopters to Syria entered the northern port of Murmansk on Sunday after being forced to turn back when news of its mission was leaked. An unnamed Russian diplomatic source said the ship, the Alaed, would soon try again to make the highly controversial delivery under the Russian flag.

The switch appears to be an attempt to avoid security inspections that come when sailing under the flag of a third country.

The Alaed was forced to turn back after its mission was initially mentioned by the US State Department and then reported in the British press. Those reports prompted the ship’s British insurer to withdraw coverage. -AFP

3

Israeli court okays deportation of Ivory Coast migrants JERUSALEM: An Israeli court on Sunday upheld government plans to deport illegal migrants from the Ivory Coast, paving the way for the imminent expulsion of an estimated 2,000 Ivorians.

The United Nations declared Ivory Coast “a crisis state” in 2004 after years of civil unrest. But after fighting ended and economist Alassane Ouattara was president as president in 2011, Israel said it was cancelling a long-standing policy of “collective protection” for Ivorian migrants.

On Sunday, the Jerusalem District Court rejected a petition by 132 Ivorian emigres requesting that their status be restored, or that alternatively each be enabled to apply for refugee status, or given leave to stay on humanitarian grounds.

The petition argued that “based on many international reports, including recent UN reports, the situation in Ivory Coast is still dangerous,” and their status should therefore not change.

But the court ruled that the new policy, based on Israeli foreign ministry evaluations, was reasonable and proportionate.

Sabine Hadad, spokeswoman for the interior ministry’s population and migration authority, told AFP there were approximately 2,000 Ivorians in Israel, and that their expulsion would begin in July.

Last week, Israel flew home a first plane load of 120 illegal immigrants from South Sudan who it said had agreed to be voluntarily repatriated. Since June 10, Israel has arrested hundreds of Africans in a nationwide roundup with the aim of deporting them.

At Sunday’s weekly cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that a second flight to South Sudan would leave Israel on Monday. “Two additional planes will leave next week,” he added.

Hadad said 150 South Sudanese who agreed to leave Israel voluntarily would fly directly to the capital Juba between Monday and Tuesday. -AFP

4

ALWATAN DAILY

OPINION / VIEWS

mondAY, June 25, 2012

When democracies collide

Irrational decisions in a plunging economy

Shamlan Yusuf Al-Eisa

The US example shows clearly that democratic great powers often pursue their interests with little regard for a global common good that others have defined.

Volker Perthes

Project Syndicate

T

he multipolar nature of today’s international system will again be on display at the upcoming G-20 summit in Los Cabos, Mexico. Global problems are no longer solved, crises managed, or global rules defined, let alone implemented, the old-fashioned way, by a few, mostly Western, powers. Incipient great and middle powers, such as India, Brazil, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey, and South Africa, also demand their say.

Some of these powers are still emerging economies. Politically, however, most of them have crossed the threshold that has long limited their access to the kitchen of international decision-making. The five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (the “P-5”) still defend their right to veto resolutions, and their military power is unmatched. But they can no longer dispose of sufficient resources, competence, and legitimacy to cope with global challenges or crises on their own.

Bipolarity is a thing of the past, and it is unlikely to re-emerge in a new Sino-American “G-2.”

It is equally unlikely for the foreseeable future that any one club of countries, such as the G-7 or G-8, will again assume a quasi-hegemonic position.

Even the G-20 in its current composition may not really represent the forces that can and will shape the twenty-first century.

For the United States, the European Union, Japan, and other members of the “Old West,” the good news is that most of the emerging powers that are positioning themselves for a more active global role are also democracies. Within the G-20, only two states - China and Saudi Arabia - explicitly do not want to be liberal democracies, while a third, Russia, has developed into an autocracy with a democratic facade.

The not-so-good news is that these new democratic powers do not necessarily share the Old West’s political agenda. For example, they differ about climate policies, seeing a threat to development. Similarly, while new middle and great powers do not always agree, they are generally more skeptical of both international sanctions and military interventions.

Moreover, some of the most important of these states differ substantially with the US, and often also with the EU, about the right approach toward regional conflicts, especially in the Middle East.

Thus, in 2010, the US found itself in a serious diplomatic dispute with Turkey and Brazil about how to resolve the conflict with Iran over its nuclear program. Without actually admitting it, the US was clearly unhappy that these two states tried to play a diplomatic role of their own in the dispute.

Differences are also apparent where new dem-

T

ocratic middle or great powers have formed new groups or clubs, such as the BRICS, together with non-democratic powers. India, Brazil, and South Africa are using such formats in a pragmatic way to pursue their interests, or simply to demonstrate their increased international weight. There is little agreement between them and Russia or China both P-5 members - with regard to political values or to fundamental questions of international order.

Along with many other states in the global South, however, Russia and China tend to defend the principle of non-interference, and they are generally reluctant to support any US or European attempts to project democracy or defend human rights in other countries. Not a few policymakers in the US and in Europe have reacted with astonishment, or even annoyance, to these emerging democratic powers’ attempts to pursue their own agendas on the world stage.

Such reactions partly reflect old thinking rooted in the Cold War, when democratic countries might differ over details, but would agree about the main questions of international politics. Those who pursued a different agenda on substantial matters were either not part of the “democratic camp” or were not important international players. By contrast, a central feature of today’s globalized, multipolar world is that shared democratic values do not guarantee agreement about substantial questions of international politics.

The more democracies there are, the more conflicts of interests and differences are likely to emerge between democratic countries. There is little reason to react with anger when states like Turkey, Brazil, and South Africa set priorities different from those of Europe or the US, or have different views about how to deal with the Arab-Israeli conflict, Iran, development aid, democracy promotion, or environmental protection. The US example shows clearly that democratic great powers often pursue their interests with little regard for a global common good that others have defined.

In other words, the international order is becoming more pluralistic. The task for established Western democracies is to accept and cope with such “democratic differences” on the international level, and to seek multilateral coalitions to manage or solve problems. In principle, the EU is better positioned than the US (and certainly than China) to take on this task. Europeans are well practiced in dealing with differences and shaping consensus among principally like-minded states.

That said, Europe needs to learn to be clearer and more transparent about the interests underlying its own policies, rather than suggesting that its positions on a specific subject represent the only rational implementation of democratic values and norms.

he civil and political situation; compounded with the business atmosphere in Kuwait has always been such that we have a long way to go if we are indeed serious about realizing all those aspirations, dreams and hopes of the people that the government always claims it will strive to attain. It is clearly evident that the government’s long-held plans of transforming Kuwait into a commercial, regional and entrepreneurial center will certainly not materialize if it stubbornly chooses to stick to its outdated and outmoded policies and procedures that are simply not conversant with the business atmosphere nor are they feasible with the changing times.

Looking at the way the government seems to be playing second fiddle to the tune that the MPs want it to play especially where the private sector is concerned (as is evident in the fact that the government caters to their every whim and fancy) there cannot be a shadow of doubt in one’s mind that the MPs, for obvious reasons, are taking undue advantage of the situation and the helplessness of the government. This is clearly evident in the fact that there have been numerous occasions wherein MPs have issued provocative statements that they are against the private sector simply because that sector is awash with unscrupulous merchants who are just a bunch of marauding thieves that have been, since time immemorial, pillaging and plundering the wealth of people through repeatedly increasing the prices of food and other items.

It is, by now, open knowledge that the new policies of the government are definitely directed towards abusing power and

authority as is evident in the fact that there still exists rampant corruption in most, if not all, government apparatuses. To cite a case in point, it was only last week that the Ministry of Commerce and Industry headed by Minister Anas Al-Saleh, who also happens to be a former member of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, took the terrible initiative of actually shutting down major and reputed commercial companies in Kuwait.

What on earth was he thinking when he took that decision -- bearing in mind the underlying fact that those companies employ over 60,000 employees -- most of whom happen to be Kuwaiti nationals? I just cannot bring myself to comprehend what exactly is going on in the minds of some decision makers in our country - especially in a country that is so resourceful and financially secure.

What I’m trying to say here is: instead of encouraging companies in the private sector to expand and promote their business enterprises, we are deemed to witness the government taking a host of irrational and abusive measures against companies in the private sector. This was clearly evident when news was splashed across the pages of local newspapers recently claiming that the ministry recently shut down two of the major food companies in Kuwait.

The two companies namely; the Kuwait Food Company (Americana) and the Sultan Center in Salwa were shut down for something as trivial as food inspectors unearthing six chocolate bars that had expired a week ago at the Sultan Center in Dajeej, while Americana was shut down after some measly sachets of expired salted peanuts were found on one of the shelves. I personally feel that it is only normal to find some stray cases of expired food items at major whole-

sale stores that deal with an approximate yet staggering 45,000 plus food and various other items on a daily basis.

I also cannot comprehend the reasons why the authorities do not follow standard operative procedures before taking any decisions like (in this particular case) they could have issued warnings to those companies or even penalized them for those irregularities instead of just demanding then to down their shutters at a moment’s notice. Unintended and honest mistakes are witnessed at most, if not all, establishments and hence; there are certain rules and regulations that are usually followed like; shutting companies who blatantly repeat their offences even after the issuance of two or three warnings or fines. In fact; it is a crying shame that that the young minister decides to shut down the stores for an indefinite period of time for a reason as petty as jumping over a fence. It now seems pretty obvious that the government that is represented by the likes of this young minister is trying to appease the National Assembly as best as it possibly can, in desperate attempts to avoid interpellation motions being slapped on it at the drop of a hat. It is pathetic that the government is least concerned over the heavy losses that owners and shareholders of Americana and Sultan Center will be deemed to incur due to the shutdown. It is also unfortunate that the government has turned Kuwait into an oil-dependent country and most importantly; has failed to shoulder its responsibilities efficiently. How can the government even contemplate transforming Kuwait into a financial and commercial hub if it maintains such a stance? I personally feel that Kuwait can achieve that status - but only when the weathered old lady opens her mouth to sing.

Ali Farzat

Volker Perthes is Executive Chairman and Director of Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP), the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, Berlin.

Green from the grassroots Elinor Ostrom

Project Syndicate

M

uch is riding on the United Nations Rio+20 summit. Many are billing it as Plan A for Planet Earth and want leaders bound to a single international agreement to protect our life-support system and prevent a global humanitarian crisis. Inaction in Rio would be disastrous, but a single international agreement would be a grave mistake. We cannot rely on singular global policies to solve the problem of managing our common resources: the oceans, atmosphere, forests, waterways, and rich diversity of life that combine to create the right conditions for life, including seven billion humans, to thrive.

We have never had to deal with problems of the scale facing today’s globally interconnected society. No one knows for sure what will work, so it is important to build a system that can evolve and adapt rapidly.

Decades of research demonstrate that a variety of overlapping policies at city, sub-national, national, and international levels is more likely to succeed than are single, overarching

binding agreements. Such an evolutionary approach to policy provides essential safety nets should one or more policies fail.

The good news is that evolutionary policymaking is already happening organically. In the absence of effective national and international legislation to curb greenhouse gases, a growing number of city leaders are acting to protect their citizens and economies. This is hardly surprising - indeed, it should be encouraged.

Most major cities sit on coasts, straddle rivers, or lie on vulnerable deltas, putting them on the front line of rising sea levels and flooding in the coming decades. Adaptation is a necessity. But, with cities responsible for 70 percent of global greenhouse-gas emissions, mitigation is better.

When it comes to tackling climate change, the United States has produced no federal mandate explicitly requiring or even promoting emissions-reductions targets. But, by May last year, some 30 US states had developed their own climate action plans, and more than 900 US cities have signed up to the US climateprotection agreement.

This grassroots diversity in “green policymaking” makes economic sense. “Sustainable cities” attract the creative, educated people who want to live in a pollution-free, modern urban environment that suits their lifestyles.

This is where future growth lies. Like upgrad-

In the absence of effective national and international legislation to curb greenhouse gases, a growing number of city leaders are acting to protect their citizens and economies. ing a mobile phone, when people see the benefits, they will discard old models in a flash. Of course, true sustainability goes further than pollution control. City planners must look beyond municipal limits and analyze flows of resources - energy, food, water, and people - into and out of their cities.

Worldwide, we are seeing a heterogeneous collection of cities interacting in a way that could have far-reaching influence on how Earth’s entire life-support system evolves.

These cities are learning from one another, building on good ideas and jettisoning poorer ones. Los Angeles took decades to implement pollution controls, but other cities, like Beijing, converted rapidly when they saw the benefits.

In the coming decades, we may see a global system of interconnected sustainable cities emerging. If successful, everyone will want to join the club.

Fundamentally, this is the right approach

for managing systemic risk and change in complex interconnected systems, and for successfully managing common resources - though it has yet to dent the inexorable rise in global greenhouse-gas emissions. Rio+20 has come at a crucial juncture and is undoubtedly important. For 20 years, sustainable development has been viewed as an ideal toward which to aim. But the first State of the Planet Declaration, published at the recent mammoth science gathering Planet Under Pressure, made it clear that sustainability is now a prerequisite for all future development. Sustainability at local and national levels must add up to global sustainability. This idea must form the bedrock of national economies and constitute the fabric of our societies.

The goal now must be to build sustainability into the DNA of our globally interconnected society. Time is the natural resource in shortest supply, which is why the Rio summit

must galvanize the world. What we need are universal sustainable development goals on issues such as energy, food security, sanitation, urban planning, and poverty eradication, while reducing inequality within the planet’s limits.

As an approach to dealing with global issues, the UN Millennium Development Goals have succeeded where other initiatives have failed.

Though not all MDGs will be met by the target date of 2015, we can learn a great deal from the experience.

Setting goals can overcome inertia, but everyone must have a stake in establishing them: countries, states, cities, organizations, companies, and people everywhere. Success will hinge on developing many overlapping policies to achieve the goals.

We have a decade to act before the economic cost of current viable solutions becomes too high. Without action, we risk catastrophic and perhaps irreversible changes to our lifesupport system. Our primary goal must be to take planetary responsibility for this risk, rather than placing in jeopardy the welfare of future generations.

Elinor Ostrom, a Nobel laureate in economics, was Chief Scientific Advisor to the Planet Under Pressure conference and is Professor of Political Science and Senior Co- Research Director of the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis at Indiana University.

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ALWATAN DAILY

WORLD

mondAY, June 25, 2012

Bolivia police deny deal, recommit to ‘mutiny’ LA PAZ: Police in Bolivia rejected Sunday a pay deal between the government and the unions and recommitted to a mutiny that has seen the military deployed onto the streets to keep the peace.

The government of leftist President Evo Morales has accused the striking police of setting the stage for a possible coup attempt by stockpiling weapons and pressuring other units to turn over their arms.

Bolivian Interior Minister Carlos Romero announced overnight that the government had signed a deal on new salary terms and that officers had agreed to end their mutiny in key cities.

“Our dialogue with the police has ended and we were able to reach sound agreements in order to overcome this police crisis that has taken place in recent days,” Romero told a press conference.

“I want to say to our colleagues that we must restore (law enforcement) services, with the commitment that we must provide quality service and professionalism,” said police sergeant Edgar Ramos, a union representative. But within hours any such deal appeared to be falling apart.

“We reject the deal and we are carrying on with the mutiny,” a non-identified officer told a public meeting in La Paz, before a march by some 300 police past the gates of the heavily-guarded presidential palace.

“Police mutiny! Police mutiny!” they chanted, while any officials and employees found in police stations across the capital were being turned out by strike supporters, accused of not joining the movement. Police in other major cities like Potosi, Cochabamba and Beni had also rejected the deal, which would have seen pay packages boosted by 220 bolivianos (32 US dollars) a month, Catholic radio Fides reported.

Refusing to budge from their demand for a minimum pay hike to 2,000 bolivianos ($287), from the current average of $195 a month, police in the capital denounced union leaders for caving in to the government.

“The leaders are traitors, they are salesmen for the government,” one uniformed officer shouted, refusing to be identified because he said he feared government repression. Many of the mutineers wore hoods. Their demands also include full pay upon retirement, a police ombudsman, and the overturning of a law that bans them from publicly expressing their opinions.

In addition, demonstrators are calling for the resignation of the national police chief, Colonel Victor Maldonado. Defense Minister Ruben Saavedra on Saturday announced that the mili-

NEWS IN BRIEF Gunmen kill 3 policemen in southwest Pakistan QUETTA: Gunmen killed three policemen in a drive-by shooting on the outskirts of Pakistan’s troubled southwestern city of Quetta on Sunday, police said.

The shooting comes a day after gunmen on motorcycles shot dead eight men at a laundry in a busy area of Quetta, the capital of oil- and gas-rich Baluchistan province, before fleeing. “Two gunmen riding a motorbike opened fire on a police mobile van, killing three policemen,” senior local police official, Sikandar Tareen, told AFP. He said that the incident happened while the policemen were on a routine patrol in the area. Another local police official Abdul Qayyum also confirmed the incident and casualties. Police and security forces are frequently attacked in insurgency-plagued Baluchistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan. There was no claim of responsibility for the latest incident. -AFP

Zimbabwean police investigate finance minister

Armed mutinied policemen stand on the roof of a police headquarters in La Paz, on June 23, 2012 during a police strike demanding a salary increase. (AFP)

tary was deploying more troops onto the streets to protect private property and ensure public order. “The military police will redouble their personnel in the main cities of the country, with patrols and guards in the streets, to avoid excesses against private property,” Saavedra said in a statement.

Police sergeant Javier Quispe, a spokesman for the strikers, denied any plans for a coup, calling it a “total lie.”

“We want to tell the public it’s not like that. This is a just demand for a fair salary,” Quispe said.

The mutiny began Thursday when protesters took over the

headquarters of the country’s riot police and eight other police stations. It then spread to more than two dozen police stations and command centers across the country.

On Friday, a crowd of some 300 striking police, dressed in civilian clothes and covering their faces, attacked the National Intelligence Directorate, smashing windows, pulling out furniture, documents and computers, and even setting flags ablaze.

Roughly 300 protesters later hurled rocks and smashed windows at national police headquarters. Police on duty outside the building offered no resistance. -AFP

Greek PM to miss Thai ‘red shirts’ EU summit, ‘troika’ rally as constitutional clash looms postpones trip ATHENS: Greece’s new prime minister and incoming finance minister, who have been ill, will miss this week’s EU summit when Athens will propose easing the terms of its bailout and international lenders have had to postpone a first meeting with the team.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras underwent eye surgery on Saturday and Vassilis Rapanos is in hospital after suffering from nausea, intense abdominal pains and dizziness on Friday before he could be sworn in as finance minister.

The foreign minister and outgoing finance minister will attend the June 28-29 meeting to ask for the terms of the 130 billion euro (162.96 billion US dollars) bailout to be loosened.

A European Union official said the unexpected turn of events had forced the postponement of a visit to Athens on Monday by officials from Greece’s “troika” of lenders - the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund.

The officials had been expected to meet Samaras and Rapanos and set a later date for a review of Greece’s implementation of reforms required under the program.

“The troika’s visit has been postponed for a few days,” the EU official said on condition of anonymity. “A new date will be announced in the coming days.”

Samaras’s coalition government, sworn in last week, has called for the renegotiation of the painful terms of the financial lifeline, which is keeping Greece from bankruptcy but at the cost of harsh economic suffering.

The government faces a stern test at the twoday EU summit, with euro zone paymaster Germany particularly resistant to giving Athens any leeway.

Greece will be represented by Foreign Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos and outgoing Finance Minister George Zanias, government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou said.

He said Samaras would leave hospital on Monday after undergoing a successful operation to repair a damaged retina.

“The orders of his doctor are for him not to travel and to stay at home for a few days,” he said. The hospital said his condition was “good and improving.”

“The prime minister cannot travel by car or by plane,” Panagiotis Theodosiadis, chief doctor at the Attika hospital, told Mega TV. Responding to strong public pressure during a fifth year of recession, the government’s program calls for tax cuts, extra help for the poor and unemployed, a freeze on public sector layoffs and more time to cut its deficit.

Greece’s euro zone partners have offered only adjustments to make up for the weeks of paralysis during two elections since early May and a deeper than expected recession.

But there will be no radical re-write, they say. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Greece had already forfeited much of Europe’s trust.

Greece’s new coalition brings together New Democracy, Socialist PASOK and the small Democratic Left in an uneasy alliance facing an emboldened opposition.

Before he could be sworn in, incoming Finance Minister Rapanos was rushed to the Hygeia Hospital. Doctors said on Saturday he had undergone a scanning test and that he was “stable and improving.” He was to continue drug therapy but no further details were available on his illness. -Reuters

5

BANGKOK: Thailand’s “red shirts” turned out in force on Sunday to warn the judiciary they will not stand by if a plan to amend the constitution is rejected, a rewrite critics say is aimed at allowing exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra to come home.

The current prime minister is Yingluck Shinawatra, Thaksin’s sister. Her administration, including leaders of the red shirt protest group, describe the amendments and related amnesty moves as part of reconciliation plans to end a seven-year crisis.

The Constitutional Court is examining arguments that the government’s amendments could threaten Thailand’s constitutional monarchy. A final decision is expected in July, which will determine whether the debate can go ahead in August. The present constitution was brought in under a military government in 2007 after Thaksin was ousted in a coup the previous year. According to police estimates, 35,000 red shirts had gathered at Democracy Monument in central Bangkok by late afternoon, many from Thaksin strongholds in the north and northeast, meeting in a festive atmosphere under light police presence.

A provisional court order this month caused the suspension of parliamentary debate on changes to the constitution, temporarily averting a crisis with all the potential to flare up into another bloody street protest.

“The courts take their orders from the ruling classes. They are an obstacle to true democracy and that is why we are here today - this country still doesn’t have true democracy,” Somwang Assarasee, a red shirt leader, told Reuters.

“If the court decides the charter cannot be amended, we will not listen. We are prepared to defy the court.”

Rallies by the red shirts, mostly drawn from poorer sections of society, and rival antiThaksin yellow shirts have frequently spilled over into violence. At least 90 people died and

A “Red Shirt” demonstrator (left) holds up a portrait with an image of ousted Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra (pictured left) and his sister, current Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, as they gather at Democracy Monument in Bangkok on June 24, 2012 to mark the 80th anniversary of the June 24, 1932 coup. (AFP)

almost 2,000 were injured during a protracted red shirt rally in 2010 that was put down by the military. He has chosen to live in exile rather than return and serve time in prison after being found guilty of abuse of power.

The red shirts say the latest court order shows complicity between the judiciary and a powerful elite around the royalist establishment and the army. The courts have made decisions on several occasions in recent years that have caused pro-Thaksin governments to fall.

“The injunction against the charter amendment bill reinforces the red shirts’ view that the judicial odds are stacked against them,” said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political analyst at

Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University.

“Their street mobilization this time sends signals they will not stand by and be disenfranchised yet again,” he added.

The red shirts chose June 24 for their latest gathering as it marks the anniversary of a revolution that brought an end to absolute monarchy in 1932. Thaksin has been accused of republican leanings - taboo in a country where the king is revered by many - although he has always denied that. To the anger of some red shirts, Yingluck has ignored calls to amend lese-majeste laws that can give lengthy prison sentences to those found guilty of insulting the royal family. -Reuters

UK’s Cameron proposes axing youth housing subsidy

LONDON: British Prime Minister David Cameron on Sunday proposed scrapping rent subsidies for Britons under 25, in a newspaper interview likely to strain his Conservative Party’s coalition with the Liberal Democrats for the second time in a week. Requiring almost 400,000 low-paid and unemployed young Britons to live with their parents if they cannot afford market rents could save just under 2 billion pounds ($3.1 billion) a year, Cameron said in an interview with the Mail on Sunday.

Asked about the proposal in a BBC interview, Lib Dem Deputy Finance Minister Danny Alexander said the coalition had already implemented major welfare reforms including cuts to housing benefit - and that these should be allowed to bed down first.

Separately, the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, leader of more than 80 million Anglicans worldwide and a longstanding critic, accused Cameron of “aspirational waffle designed to conceal a deeply damaging withdrawal of the state from its

responsibilities to the most vulnerable”.

The Conservatives and the centre-left Liberal Democrats formed a coalition in May 2010, and have regular public disagreements, though weak ratings for both parties limit any incentive to end the coalition before elections must be held in 2015.

A YouGov opinion poll released on Sunday for the Sunday Times showed support for the opposition Labor Party at 43 percent, the Conservatives on 34 percent and the Lib Dems on 9 percent. Earlier this week, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg opposed plans from Michael Gove, the education minister, to reintroduce separate exams for able and less able pupils at the age of 16. Such exams were phased out in 1986, partly because they were viewed as reinforcing social divisions. While Cameron said there would be exemptions to any ban on housing benefits for under-25s in special cases - such as for those suffering from domestic violence - he argued that the current benefits system reduced incentives for people to work.

“The system currently sends the signal you are better off not working, or working less. It encourages people not to work and have children, but we should help people to work and have children,” he was quoted as saying. Britain’s unemployment rate stands at 8.2 percent - relatively low given the depth of its economic slump after the financial crisis - but for those aged 18-24 it is 19.9 percent.

The Mail on Sunday said Cameron also favored forced community work for 5,00010,000 people unemployed for more than 2 years who were deemed to be work-shy and unwilling to take part in training programs.

Cameron will announce further details of his plans in a speech on Monday.

One of Cameron’s main themes in the 2010 election campaign was the “Big Society,” which aimed to encourage voluntary community work. It was this that the Archbishop of Canterbury decried as “aspirational waffle” in book extracts published on Sunday by the Observer. -Reuters

HARARE: Zimbabwean police said on Sunday they had launched an investigation connected with finance minister Tendai Biti, and a state-owned newspaper said the probe was over the disappearance of 20 million US dollars in a failed bank. Biti told the Sunday Mail he was not responsible for the missing money, which was part of a 2009 emergency International Monetary Fund (IMF) facility and intended to help distressed manufacturing firms. The paper said Biti had transferred the money from the IMF into local bank Interfin, closed this month due to a liquidity crisis. “Yes the money is missing. The fact that Interfin was appointed the fund manager means it was them who were handling the money and not me,” he told the Sunday Mail. Assistant police commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena told Reuters on Sunday: “There is an investigation going on but I cannot give any details at the moment.”-Reuters

Nigeria’s Boko Haram free 40 in prison break LAGOS: Nigeria’s Islamist sect Boko Haram stormed a prison in their northeastern heartland on Sunday, freeing 40 inmates, police said, in the latest of a string of attacks blamed on the group.

“There was an attack on the Yobe prison this morning, the Boko Haram sect attacked the prison through the Emir palace, 40 inmates escaped,” said Patrick Egbuniwe, Yobe State police commissioner.

“They attacked with rifles, the police and the joint task force confronted them and the Boko Haram members that were shot were carried away by the sect.” He said two of the attackers were shot dead and some policemen were injured. Gun battles between sect members and security forces in Yobe’s capital Damaturu killed 40 people on Tuesday last week. Boko Haram has been blamed for several prison breaks in the past and one of the group’s few demands has been that its imprisoned members should be freed. -Reuters

Pakistan decree to stop challenges to ex-PM’s actions

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday issued a decree to prevent actions taken in the past two months by the ex-premier, recently ousted by judges, from being challenged in court.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the dismissal of Yousuf Raza Gilani as prime minister after convicting him of contempt in April for refusing to reopen Swiss corruption cases against Zardari.

The move was the culmination of a stand-off between the judiciary and the government, and forced the main ruling Pakistan People’s Party to hastily elect Raja Pervez Ashraf as the new premier on Friday in a bid to end the crisis.

Sunday’s decree aims to prevent actions taken and orders passed by Gilani between April 26 - when he was convicted of contempt- and his dismissal this week from being challenged in any Pakistani court, according to the text of the ordinance.

When they ousted Gilani, the Supreme Court said he was no longer prime minister from the date of his contempt conviction, raising the prospect of any actions he took as premier in the past two months being challenged.

“Any actions taken, orders passed, directions issued, advice given to president or appointments made by Yousuf Raza Gilani, shall be deemed to have been validly done,” the ordinance said.

“The provisions of the ordinance shall have, and shall be deemed to always have had, effect accordingly.”

It said that “no suit, prosecution or any other legal proceedings including a petition shall lie in any court or forum including the Supreme Court” against any order made or functions performed by the former premier.

The PPP government, dogged by corruption allegations, has been locked in a stand-off with the judiciary for years.

Zardari was forced to ditch his first choice to replace Gilani, Makhdoom Shahabuddin, after an anti-narcotics court ordered his arrest over a drugs scandal. -AFP

BUSINESS

m ar ket watc h

monDAY, JUNE 25, 2012

OIL MARKETS

KUWAIT

DUBAI

QATAR

OMAN

ABU DHABI

BAHRAIN

1.15% 5834

0.66% 1461

0.29% 8230

0.17% 5656

1.11% 2481

0.36% 1124

EGYPT 3.34% 4166

SAUDI 0.43% 6745

US Crude $80.15 $0.39 London Brent

$91.51 $0.53 Kuwait Crude

$90.12 $1.72 Information Courtesy: KAMCO

CURRENCIES US Dollar

British Pound

Saudi Riyal

Qatari Riyal

Indian Rupee

Buy 0.28 Sell 0.281

Buy 0.4369 Sell 0.4371

Buy 0.0746 Sell 0.0749

Buy 0.07690 Sell 0.07720

Buy 0.4903 Sell 0.4906

Euro

Japanese Yen

UAE Dirham

Bahraini Dinar

Philippine Peso

Buy 0.3519 Sell 0.3533

Buy 0.3486 Sell 0.3487

Buy 0.0762 Sell 0.0765

Buy 0.7426 Sell 0.7454

Buy 0.00659 Sell 0.0066

Prices in Kuwaiti fils. As of June 24, 2012. Courtesy: KAMCO

Greenback rises against Kuwaiti dinar to KD 0.280

In Focus

Zugzwang

Egyptian pound at 7-year low ahead of vote result

Savio S. Gomes

Compiled by Al Watan Daily

Exclusive to Al Watan Daily

CAPITALS: The exchange rate of the US dollar against the Kuwaiti dinar was up to KD 0.280, whereas the euro dropped to KD 0.352 compared to Thursday’s figures, said the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) on Sunday. Meanwhile, the exchange rate of the Sterling pound was down to KD 0.436. The Japanese yen remained unchanged at KD 0.003 yet the Swiss franc dropped to KD 0.293.

Meanwhile, Egypt’s currency, the pound, weakened to its lowest against the US dollar in more than seven years on Sunday as the country waited to see if a former military officer or a member of the Muslim Brotherhood would be its next president.

The pound was bid at as low as 6.055 to the dollar, its weakest since Dec. 30, 2004.

“It is definitely because of the uncertainty surrounding the election results,” a currency dealer at a Cairo-based bank said. “There is heavy selling to local customers. I think there is a lot of panic among local customers.”

The election committee is due to announce the result of last weekend’s polarizing run-off vote at a news conference at 3 p.m. (1300 GMT).

The Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsy says he won the race. If so, it would thrust into power a group which former president Hosni Mubarak spent three decades fighting and which is distrusted by many Egyptians.

A win by his rival, former air force commander Ahmed Shafik, could provoke an angry backlash on the streets, despite his assurances that he also wants an inclusive government.

The cost of insuring Egypt’s debt against default jumped to its highest in 3.5 years last week after allegations of fraud delayed the result of the presidential election.

The dissolution earlier this month of the parliament elected after last year’s overthrow of veteran president Mubarak has also alarmed investors, who fear Egypt will hurtle towards a balance of payments crisis and a currency collapse.

CAPITALS: ‘Zugzwang’ is a term long used in chess, that describes a situation where one in compelled to make a move which one would prefer to avoid. The 21st century business Zugzwang is likely to be a reverse - compulsion not to make a move, when one would prefer to make a move.

There has been a recent rush of US companies to issue low cost debt. Colgate - Palmolive raised 500 million US dollars for 10 years at only 2.3 percent, McDonald’s raised $400 million for seven years at a two percent yield, and Johnson & Johnson borrowed $500 million for two years at just 70 basis points. In many instances the cost of borrowing for US companies is now lower than dividend yields and companies will be tempted to use cheap borrowings to buy back their shares and increase their earnings per share. There are two corollaries to this debt funded buyback of shares. Firstly, a borrowing is a borrowing, however low the cost of borrowing is, and operations must generate sufficient funds to repay. Secondly, the use of low cost debt to fund buyback of shares implies a lack of confidence in management’s ability to invest in operations and deliver a return of at least three percent over ten years. Zugzwang with regard to borrowing seems to be a good policy.

The USA is sore with India on a number of counts. Not the least being that students of Indian origin regularly bag the Spelling Bee contest top spots and, since 2007 an Indian has claimed the world chess championship (the US formerly holding the distinction of dethroning the former Soviet bloc champions). Now, it seems that, adding insult to injury, India is likely to be the world’s largest exporter of buffalo meat.

This sort of turns on its head and even gives a whole new twist to the legendary Buffalo Bill, his Wild West adventures and Red Indians. Given time, these are likely to become adventures of the not so wild east and not so red, Indians. India will be the leading exporter of beef in 2012, ahead of Australia and Brazil. India’s exports of buffalo meat have tripled since 2009, to over 1.5 million tons a year. Outsourcing of beef exports is something America cannot complain about, unlike complaining about call centre (or BPO) operations in India. The west certainly cannot have its beef, eat it and complain about it too.

Yum! (KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell) is quickly attempting to replicates its success in China to other emerging markets. From 600 stores in 2001,Yum now has over 4,000 stores in China, far ahead of McDonald’s meagre 1,400 plus stores.

Yum’s strategy has been to localize the menu where possible, establish robust regional supply chains and extend into both metros and mini metro cities. By 2020, research indicates that the Chinese middle class will exceed 150 million and that over 350 Chinese and Indian cities will be target markets for global brands. The world’s market for luxury goods is set to expand at between seven percent to 10 percent each year on account of the increasing number of millionaires in Asia. The global market for luxury goods is around 1.5 trillion dollars (that in fact exceeds the GDP of Spain and Australia).

You and Me (U and Mii) are the new console and social network respectively of Nintendo, with the promise of another revolution in living rooms. Investors were not impressed and speculation focused on when (or rather how) management would stop offering their 3DS hardware at sharply reduced prices, and whether customers had the time, patience or appetite for yet another technological revolution. It seems to be a good time to play computer games, but not such a good time to play around with the business model.

Uncertainty overshadows Europe

In more news, FX markets lacked a sense of direction last week, with many factors affecting risk appetite. Speculation over another monetary easing from the Federal

A farmer ploughs his field to sow millet seeds against the backdrop of pre-monsoon clouds at Shapur village in the western Indian state of Gujarat June 24, 2012. An average or normal monsoon means rainfall between 96 and 104 percent of a 50-year average of 89 centimeters during a four-month season from June. Monsoon rains are a key factor for global commodities markets, strengthening the output of various crops in India, which could help bring relief to Asia’s third-largest economy in its battle with high food prices. (Reuters)

Reserve and the Bank of England overshadowed the results of the Greek elections at the beginning of the week.

This was stated in a specialized weekly money markets report prepared by the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK).

The euro started the week on a strong footing, with the pro-euro party winning the majority in the Greek parliament.

The single currency opened the week at 1.2715, considerably higher than last week’s close of 1.2636, and continued its rise to reach the week’s high of 1.2747. The euro quickly lost its steam, on worries over Spain’s deteriorating banking situation and increasing talks that the country might need another payment from the European Central Bank (ECB) as soon as the beginning of July.

The euro then closed the week at 1.2570 after Moody’s

downgraded some of Europe’s biggest banks. The Sterling pound followed suit with its European counterpart, as it opened the week at 1.5742 and fell to 1.5663, as the BOE’s meeting minutes showed that more members voted on additional stimulus for the British economy.

Cable plummeted towards the end of the week after multiple downgrades of major banks, and closed the week at 1.5590. The Japanese Yen opened at 78.90, and weakened during the week as the US dollar gained across the board, reaching a 2-month high of 80.56, before closing the week at 80.45. The Swiss Franc witnessed a lot of volatility, as it opened sessions at 0.9448 before reaching a low of 0.9422. The Franc rose towards the end of the week to reach a high of 0.9591, before ending at 0.9555 on Friday night.

Dubai’s Daman sells 22.7% stake, says near to IPO JAFZA repays $2 billion Islamic bond

DUBAI: Daman Investments, the Dubai-based investment management company, sold a 22.7 percent stake through a private placement which values the firm at 440 million UAE dirhams (119.8 million US dollars) and said it eventually plans to offer shares to the public.

Daman, which is active in asset management, raised 100 million dirhams from the sale, by offering 588,235 new shares at 170 dirhams each, the company said in a statement Sunday. No details were given on who bought into the offering.

The sale was part of the firm’s strategy to broaden its shareholder base before an eventual initial public offering in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

“The accomplishment of a successful initial public offering (IPO) to be listed on one of the markets in the

UAE is the clear and focused objective of Daman’s medium-term strategy,” Shehab Gargash, chief executive of Daman Investments, said.

In 2009, Daman said it had attracted a strategic investor who committed to invest 100 million dirhams in the company, and was moving ahead to secure additional equity investment of about 200 million dirhams.

But that fundraising valued Daman at about 850 million dirhams, nearly double the current valuation, signalling the extent to which investment firms in the UAE have suffered post the global financial crisis.

Dubai’s benchmark index has fallen 76.9 percent since its 2008 peak, while Abu Dhabi’s exchange has dropped 51.9 percent in the same time frame.

IPO activity in the UAE has also been scarce since the global financial crisis, with market volatility and a reluctance among retail investors, burnt by the collapse in stock prices from their pre-crisis peak, being cited as the main the reasons for the lack of new public offerings.

The last listing on the Dubai benchmark was Drake

Tokio Marine affiliate soars in Saudi bourse debut DUBAI: Shares in an affiliate of Japanese insurance giant Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Company soared as they listed on the Saudi Arabian stock market on Sunday, showing strong demand for fresh equity among Saudi investors despite the global market slump.

Alinma Tokio Marine traded as high as 100 Saudi riyals, a tenfold increase from its initial public offer price of 10 riyals. It was at 76 riyals after an hour of trading, with 5.5 million shares having changed hands in hectic trade. Many Saudi stocks more than double on listing, because initial public offers (IPO) shares are traditionally sold at cheap valuations by international standards. The government encourages IPOs as a way of distributing corporate wealth to its citizens.

Alinma Tokio Marine’s jump was large even by Saudi standards, however. Even though the overall Saudi stock market has been hit by the global slump - the local index is down 15 percent from this year’s peak many investors remain cash-rich because of the booming Saudi economy and are eager for new investment opportunities, analysts said.

“We will see the price supported for the first few days, and then there will be some selling pressure” as short-term investors take profits, said Tarek Al-Mady, an independent financial analyst in Riyadh.

Alinma Tokio Marine was seen as particularly attractive because, as an insurance stock, it is focused

on Saudi Arabia’s domestic economy rather than the shaky global economy.

The company plans to develop Islamic insurance or Takaful products for both retail and corporate customers; they will be sold through the national branch network of Alinma Bank, a co-founder of the firm.

Islamic insurance has been expanding rapidly in the Gulf although growth has slowed in recent years. The growth of Takaful contributions in Saudi Arabia, which accounts for about half of the global total, slowed to 12 percent in 2010, the most recent year for which data is available, from a compound annual growth rate of 38 percent during 2005-2009, a report by consultants Ernst & Young said in April.

Alinma Tokio Marine’s IPO of six million shares, or 30 percent of the company, raised 60 million riyals ($16 million) and was more than 16 times subscribed, according to Alinma Bank, which was lead underwriter. The company is owned 29 percent by the Japanese parent and 29 percent by Alinma.

Foreign investors can theoretically obtain access to Saudi IPO shares through swap agreements with Saudi financial institutions, but this is expensive and cumbersome. Saudi authorities have been preparing to open the stock market to direct investment by foreign institutions, but analysts think that because of volatility in global markets, the opening may be postponed until next year. -Reuters

& Scull in March 2009, while the Abu Dhabi index has only seen a couple of minor sales since 2008 - the largest being Eshraq Properties’ 55 percent offering in May 2011, which raised 825 million dirhams.

In more news, Dubai state-owned industrial hub Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA) repaid in full a 7.5 billion dirhams ($2.04 billion) Islamic bond, or Sukuk, on June 21, five months ahead of maturity, a regulatory filing from the company said on Sunday.

The early redemption of the Sukuk certificates was expected after the company, a unit of state conglomerate Dubai World, secured agreement from bondholders to change the terms of the notes last month.

The Sukuk was refinanced through a $1.2 billion Sharia-compliant loan, along with a new Sukuk issue of $650 million and the company’s own cash resources.

The timely repayment of JAFZA’s sukuk was a major investor concern this year, but early redemption has helped lift confidence in the emirate’s credit story, as demonstrated by a strong rally on Dubai sovereign and government-related bonds last week. -Agencies

KSE red at end of session

KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange’s KSE15 index ended Sunday’s trading session with a loss of 1.11 points to read 962.97 points. The price index lost 67.59 points to 5,833.98 points. The weighted index also lost 0.83 points to 397.19 points. Trades came to 3,259 transactions, worth 19,065,307.859 Kuwaiti dinars and volume reached 161,259,497 shares.

Top share for the day was that of Credit rating and collection K.S.C.C. The biggest loser was Al-Sawfa Group Company and top volume share was that of Gulf Finance House.

The 14 sector indices were mostly red upon closing.

Kuwait Stock Exchange indices were red, on Sunday, an hour after trading started. The price index read 5,859.95 points, a down of 41.62 points. The weighted index read 396.5 points, a loss of 1.52 points, and the KSX 15 index also showed a drop of 3.36 points at 960.72 points. Trades came to 1,481 transactions by that time, worth KD 7,899,266.286, with 84,934,348 shares changing hands so far. -KUNA

The views expressed above are the writer’s own. and do not necessarily represent those of Al Watan Daily and its staff.

Savio is a financial and management advisor with a background in economics. He has carried outconsulting and management intervention projects in several countries such as USA, UK, Australia, Kenya, Armenia, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia etc. The writer may be contacted on saviosgomes@ gmail.com.

Greece breached bailout rules with staff hiring CAPITALS: Greece breached the rules of its EU-IMF loan agreement by taking on some 70,000 public sector staff in two years, undermining efforts to reduce the state payroll, a report said on Sunday. To Vima weekly said the hirings in 2010 and 2011 were highest in local administration, health, the police and culture, where the number of employees actually increased.

It cited a report from a permanent mission to Athens of the so-called ‘troika’ of international creditors, the EU, IMF and the European Central Bank, and data given by outgoing finance minister George Zannias.

An unidentified troika official told the daily: “While they legislated rules to reduce the number of civil servants, they were bringing people in through the window.” The official added that over 12,000 people were hired by local councils even as a cost-cutting initiative merging municipalities was underway.

Zannias’ report to the new government coalition after June 17 elections al-

legedly reveals that although over 53,000 civil servants retired in 2010, the overall number of state staff was almost steady at 692,000 people, To Vima said.

In this case, most of the vacancies were filled immediately, the daily said.

Similarly, although another 40,000 staff left in 2011, the net reduction on the payroll was only 24,000. By this time, Greece had promised to only hire one civil servant for every five that left.

But over 16,000 people were hired instead of the allowed 8,000, To Vima said.

The report came ahead of an expected EU-IMF audit starting on Monday. Structural reforms pledged in return for billions of euros in EU-IMF loans were suspended in April as the country held two elections in six weeks, with the first on May 6 failing to produce a workable government.

The new government, built around the conservatives and backed by socialists and moderate leftists, on Saturday said it wanted to freeze further civil service layoffs and bargain for a two-year extension to its tough fiscal adjustment.-AFP

ALWATAN DAILY

BUSINESS

Saudi Arabia Islamic finance assets estimated at $94 billion, says Deloitte CAPITALS: A Deloitte Middle East Islamic Finance Knowledge Center (IFKC) report, entitled ‘Empowering Risk Intelligence in Islamic Finance’, addresses and investigates the important issues in practice and regulation in Islamic Finance in the current market challenges.

The report also assesses the impact of Islamic Financial Institutions in different countries, highlighting that Saudi Arabia is one of the main contributors to the Islamic Finance industry, with an estimated 94 billion US dollars in Islamic Finance Assets. This was stated in a press release this week. Based on analysis provided

by Deloitte Middle East Islamic Finance Knowledge Center, the total of the Saudi Arabia Islamic Finance Assets, valued at $94 billion, represent 26 percent out of total Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Islamic Finance assets and 8.2 percent out of total Global Islamic Finance assets.

The report also focuses on the governance and structural aspects of an effective risk management framework in Islamic Finance. It presents new findings in the practice of Islamic Finance risk management that offer guidance to boards in managing risk in troubled times. It is based on a survey and group of case studies developed during the second half of 2011, on 20 leading Islamic Financial institutions from the Middle East and South East Asia, with aggregate assets of more than $50 billion. It also includes several interviews conducted with industry leaders and risk management executives.

“Greater pressure has been placed on financial institutions offering Islamic Financial services to galvanize risk exposure and governance capabilities,” commented Dr. Hatim El Tahir, director of the Deloitte Middle East Islamic Finance Knowledge Center (IFKC). “Global and regional jurisdictional regulatory reforms are continuing. How this regulation will affect the Islamic Finance sector and the role of IIFS in the economy is yet to be seen,” he added.

The Deloitte report finds that Saudi Arabia saw the launch of one the first and most important institutions in the Islamic Finance (IF) Industry. The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) is a multilateral development financing institution established in Jeddah in 1975. Up until today, the (IDB) has contributed over US$ 200 million of technical support to nearly 70 Islamic Financial Institutions (IFI) around the world.

Furthermore, Saudi Arabia saw the establishment of other prominent institutions that played a role in the advance-

ment of IF. This includes the founding of the International Association of Islamic Banks in 1977, with a goal of promoting and facilitating cooperation between Sharia-compliant financial institutions, as well contributing to harmonization of the industry on an international level.

Today, there are four Islamic Commercial Banks operating in Saudi. They include: Al Rajhi Bank, $58.8 billion total assets; Bank Al Jazira, $10.3 billion total assets; Alinma Bank, $9.8 billion total assets and Bank Albilad, $7.4 billion total assets.

Aside from Islamic Commercial Banking, Cooperative Insurance industry evolved considerably in the KSA during the past nine years. There are currently more than 30 Cooperative insurance companies, total assets of over $7 billion with the largest company being The Company for Cooperative Insurance (Tawniya) with total assets of US$ 1.9 billion.The concept of Cooperative Insurance was introduced in KSA in 2003 after all conventional insurance companies were exempted from Saudi Arabia and the Cooperative Insurance regulations were passed, setting the basis of providing insurance on a cooperative basis in accordance with Islamic Shari’a. However there was no detailed guidance as to what constitutes cooperative insurance but it is accepted that there are differences to the Takaful model.

The Sukuk market in Saudi Arabia (the Islamic equivalent of debt) is considered the third largest in the world after Malaysia and UAE, according to the IIFM Sukuk report. Total issue number of 25 with issue size of US$ 17.1 billion up until December 2011. The single largest Sukuk issue ever was issued from General Authority of Civil Aviation in Saudi Arabia in January 2012 with an issue size of $4 billion on a Murabaha. Many Islamic finance forecasts and analysis predicts that Saudi Arabia and South East Asia will dominate the Sukuk market in 2012 with high quality quasi-sovereign issues.

However, in light of the global regulations in the financial services industry, Islamic Financial institutions are being heavily impacted. Islamic Financial institutions and their systems of governance will continue to evolve as new regulations are issued. Executives of Islamic Financial Institutions, along with executive risk offers, will equally play an important role in coordinating risk management implementation and activities between boards and Sharia’a Supervisory Boards and other business supporting units in the institution.

Sunday 24 June, 2012 Index Price index Weighted Index KSX 15

‘Touch’ becomes the new brand for Lebanon’s mobile provider mtc touch

Dari, followed by a live transmission from the Touch headquarters at Charles Helou which lit the skies with its light show.

Zain Group was first awarded its management contract for “Touch’s” network in June 2004 a deal that lasted for a period of four years, and was characterized

by Zain operating and growing one of the two mobile operators in Lebanon. This initial management agreement has been renewed several times since, with the last 12-month renewal coming on Feb. 1, 2012. On the occasion of the rebranding, Hisham Akbar, Zain Group’s Chief Commercial Officer said that ‘Touch - Managed by Zain’ values the close collaboration between Zain and the Lebanese government, represented by the Ministry of Telecommunications, which were both instrumental in facilitating the launch of the new brand.

Akbar said, “Zain Group has come a long way in the past eight years to establish itself as a valued asset to the people of Lebanon. It has done everything in its power to gain their trust, and today as the new brand is introduced, we enter a new era of service to the society, as we strive to offer excellent mobile services.” Akbar continued, “As a brand, “Touch” carries a set of values that reinforce positivity and hope of a new world where each and every one of our customers can dream for and work towards a better life.” Nicolas Sehnaoui, the Lebanese Minister of Telecommunications, said, “I would like to congratulate “Touch” on the launch of its new brand, through which it brings alive people’s aspirations and dreams in line with its “In my New World” campaign.”

Sehnaoui concluded his speech by saying, “We encourage and support communication, especially that the word “Touch” means communication via mobile network.” At the brand reception, Claude Bassil, “Touch’s” General Manager commented, “This is the last time I address you in the name of mtc touch. This occasion takes me back eight years, specifically to June 2004 when our mother company, Zain (then MTC) won the contract for the operation of MIC2, which went on to carry the brand mtc touch all this time.”

“From that time to this, the company has gained the trust of our customers and I am pleased and proud to announce for the first time that the number of customers that “Touch” is currently serving has surpassed two million.”

Change ź ź ź

-67.59 -0 83 -0.83 -1.11

High

Low

Volume

MARIN

0

0

0

IKARUS

0

0

0

320

320

35,000

0

0

0

132

132

Security

IPG NAPESCO AREFENRGY

Closing

Last Closing

High

Low

5,833.98 397 19 397.19 962.97

5,901.57 398 02 398.02 964.08

5,900.97 397 95 397.95 963.80

5,819.19 394 98 394.98 954.30

Trades Value (KD)

Trades

Last

0

0

0

ŷ

00 0.0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

11,200

2

320

Ÿ

0

0

0

ŷ

30,000

3,960

1

132

ŷ

Change

Security

Volume Value (KWD) Number of Trades Volume

161,341,437 19 069 245 19,069,245 3,278

Trades Value (KD)

Change

URC

106

106

326 900 326,900

34 651 34,651

21

106

ŷ

00 0.0

NRE

122

112

280,000

33,360

16

118

ź

-4.0

10.0

SRE

255

255

2,000

510

1

255

ź

-5.0

0.0

PEARL

34

33

51,060

1,706

11

34

Ÿ

0.5

0.0

TAM

226

216

110

25

2

226

ŷ

0.0

51

48

302,000

15,030

20

51

ŷ

0.0

186

186

500 367,500

93 30,283

2 25

186 944.43

Ÿ Ÿ

10.0 10.07

UREC

0

0

0

0

110

108

25,400

2,744

3

108

ŷ

0.0

ERESCO

89

89

50,000

4,450

KFOUC

300

275

13,000

3,600

3

275

ź

-5.0

MABANEE

1,020

1,000

409,626

410,010

BPCC

590

590

1 581 927 1,581,927

933 337 933,337

32

590

ź

-10.0

INJAZZAT

61

59

58 500 58,500

3 515 3,515

INVESTORS

18

17

10,327,370

IRC ALTIJARIA

40 80

39 78

877,600 1,176,347

PIPE

Last

Low

GPI Oil & Gas

Trades

High

ABAR

AREEC

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

MASSALEH ARABREC

0 33

0 31

0 995,500

0 31,712

0 41

0 32

ŷ ź

0.0 -2.0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

2

89

ź

-1.0

31

1,020

ŷ

0.0

5

61

Ÿ

1.0

176,948

138

18

ŷ

0.0

34,256 92,537

26 27

39 80

ź ź

-2.0 -1.0

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

ALQURAIN Basic Materials

188

186

216,198 1,836,525

40,547 980,227

17 55

188 918.01

ź ź

-2.0 -8.11

SANAM

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

KCEM

380

375

85,000

31,900

5

380

ŷ

0.0

AAYANRE

81

77

4,444,525

348,086

81

77

ź

-5.0 0.0

ALKOUT

REFRI

156

156

20

3

1

156

Ÿ

2.0

AQAR

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

CABLE

1,140

1,100

17,500

19,630

9

1,140

ŷ

0.0

ALAQARIA

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

SHIP

184

180

511,490

92,375

27

180

ź

-6.0

MAZAYA

68

67

20,100

1,367

3

67

ź

-3.0

PCEM

860

850

140,541

119,719

47

860

ź

-20.0

ADNC

30

28

9,761,092

283,287

128

28

ź

-2.5

PAPER

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

THEMAR

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

MRC

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

GRAND

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

ACICO

238

230

15,600

3,588

2

238

ŷ

0.0

TIJARA

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

GGMC

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

TAAMEER

44

39

20,713

798

10

41

ŷ

0.0

HCC

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

ARKAN

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

KPAK

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

ARGAN

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

KBMMC

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

ABYAAR

41

39

4,160,618

163,788

85

39

ź

-2.5

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

MUNSHAAT

29

28

3,891,050

109,079

76

28

ź

-2.5

148

148

400,000

59,200

15

148

ź

-10.0

FIRSTDUBAI

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

NCCI

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

KBT

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

GYPSUM

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

REAM

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

NICBM EQUIPMENT

SALBOOKH

34

33

145,000

4,798

6

33

ź

-2.0

MENA

37

33

10,000

331

2

37

ź

-1.0

AGLTY

380

375

648,032

245,690

17

380

ź

-5.0

ALMUDON

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

MARAKEZ

41

36

232,320

8,801

32

39

Ÿ

0.5

CLEANING CITYGROUP

108 0

104 0

760,142 0

81,124 0

49 0

106 0

ź ŷ

-4.0 0.0

REMAL Real Estate

335

330

1,492,000 39,097,432

497,795 2,261,491

61 811

330 912.88

ź ź

-5.0 -12.75

-2.0

EDU

KGL

90

86

238,500

21,139

22

89

ź

KCPC

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

KINV

98

98

45,896

4,498

4

98

ŷ

0.0

HUMANSOFT

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

FACIL

280

280

5,000

1,400

1

280

ŷ

0.0

NAFAIS

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

IFA

37

36

934,502

33,839

25

36

ź

-1.0

SAFWAN

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

NINV

106

102

1,759,715

182,229

54

102

ź

-4.0

GFC

25

23

55,000

1,285

5

25

Ÿ

1.0

KPROJ

325

320

560,928

179,522

38

325

ŷ

0.0

MAYADEEN

21

19

19,924,201

387,611

130

19

ź

-2.5

COAST

43

41

1,006,000

41,500

40

41

ź

-2.5 0.0

1,160

1,160

2,501

2,901

2

1,160

ź

-40.0

TII

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

MTCC

83

83

18,500

1,536

1

83

ź

-2.0

SECH

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

UPAC

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

IIC

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

ALAFCO

280

280

5,400

1,512

1

280

ź

-5.0

SGC

116

116

20,000

2,320

1

116

Ÿ

2.0

MUBARRAD

53

49

537,781

26,803

29

49

ź

-4.0

IFC

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0 -8.0

CGC

LOGISTICS

216

212

199,110

42,580

17

214

ź

-4.0

MARKAZ

110

106

48,565

5,242

3

106

ź

SCEM

72

72

40,000

2,880

1

72

ź

-4.0

KMEFIC

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

GCEM

89

87

173,000

15,187

5

89

ź

-1.0

AIG

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

QCEM

59

57

225,000

13,035

14

58

ź

-2.0

ALAMAN

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

FCEM

76

73

1,398

102

2

76

Ÿ

2.0

ALOLA

134

126

1,684,384

217,866

30

126

ź

-10.0

RKWC Industrials

104

104

20,000 24,163,716

2,080 1,176,678

2 409

104 901.81

ź ź

-2.0 -12.72 12.72

ALMAL GIH

38 27

37 25

590,000 3,755,300

22,095 96,003

14 68

38 25

ź ź

-1.0 -2.5 2.5

AAYAN

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

BAYANINV

34

33

40,200

1,347

4

33

ź

-2.5

KSH

CAPITALS: Zain Group, a pioneer of mobile telecommunications in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), has revealed the new brand name for its management operation in Lebanon. After many successes and accomplishments achieved in the country over the past eight years under the name ‘mtc touch’, the company has unveiled a vibrant new brand - ‘Touch - Managed by Zain’. This was stated in a press release on Sunday.

On this occasion, Zain Group’s Chief Executive Officer, Nabeel Bin Salamah said, “The launch of the “Touch” brand, was supported by a significant promotional campaign using the theme: “In My New World”, which is aimed at supporting the company’s strategic direction. The introduction of the new brand also represents the end of Zain Group’s previous ‘MTC’ branding across all of our operations.”

Bin Salamah continued: “The launch of this new identity represents Zain Group’s hopes and aspirations in Lebanon’s telecommunications sector, in which the company has achieved several milestones and asserted its leading position especially with a customer base which exceeds two million customers.”

To introduce the new brand, “Touch” held an impressive event at a reception venue in Baabdat under the patronage of the Lebanese Minister of Telecommunications, Nicolas Sehnaoui, and numerous Lebanese dignitaries, government officials, and industry leaders including the Minister of Information, Walid Daouk, the Minister of Agriculture, Hussein al Hajj Hassan and the representative of the Lebanese Army, Brigadier-General Jean Kahwaji, Colonel Henry Ibrahim, as well as editors and media figures, business partners and Touch management and employees.

An extensive entertainment program was scheduled for this event, which peaked with a performance from the superstar Ragheb Alameh who performed some of his best songs from his large repertoire. The master of ceremony for this special event was the renowned media figure George Kordahi who was also a guest of honor. The entertainment program also included a show from 8eme art, and an act from “Ma fi Metlo”. Launching this program was the innovative unraveling of the new logo with the laser show from the French performance artist, Theo

7

MONdAY, June 25, 2012

NSH

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

GLOBAL

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

PAPCO

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

OSOUL

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

CATTL

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

KFIC

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

DANAH

83

80

37,500

3,014

6

83

ŷ

0.0

KAMCO

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

POULT

126

126

1

0

1

126

ŷ

0.0

NIH

37

37

45,000

1,643

5

37

ź

-2.5

FOOD Consumer Goods

0

0

0 37,501

0 3,014

0 7

0 913.36

ŷ ŷ

0.0 0.00

ISKAN MADAR

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

ŷ ŷ

0.0 0.0

ALDEERA

33

31

364,154

11,516

15

31

ź

-1.5

MHC

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0

ALSAFAT

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

ATC

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0

ALSALAM

218

212

3,841,782

824,279

147

218

Ÿ

6.0

YIACO Health Care

0

0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0.00

ŷ ŷ

0 0.00

EKTTITAB QURAINHLD

70 0

68 0

2,123,359 0

145,991 0

42 0

68 0

ź ŷ

-2.0 0.0

ALMADINA

50

48

1,286,110

62,798

56

48

ź

-2.5

KCIN

890

890

2,000

1,780

1

890

ź

-10

NOOR

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

KHOT

192

192

5,057 0

971 9 1

2

192

Ÿ

10

TAMINV

164

164

100

16

1

164

Ÿ

2 2.0 0

SULTAN

102

100

210,000

21,400

4

100

ź

-2

EXCH

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0

TAIBA

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

CABLETV EYAS

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0

KSHC

31

27

11,100

299

3

29

ŷ

0.0

IFAHR

300

300

100

30

1

300

Ÿ

10

STRATEGIA

62

62

100

6

1

62

ź

-5.0 1.0

MASHAER

244

244

20,000

4,880

1

244

ź

-6 6

KCIC

63

59

106,221

6,373

9

62

Ÿ

OULAFUEL

350

330

2,315,051

809,788

23

330

ź

-20

MANAFAE

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0

GNAHC

40

37

9,790

386

4

37

ź

-2.5 0.0

MUNTAZAHAT JAZEERA

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0

AMWAL

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

SOOR

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0

MASAR

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

FUTUREKID

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0

ALIMTIAZ

87

83

828,902

70,202

50

83

ź

-5.0

ALNAWADI

100

100

17,500 17 500

1,750 1 750

1

100

Ÿ

2

MANAZEL

28

26

9,371,858 9 371 858

246 323 246,323

156

26

ź

-2.5 25

ALRAI

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0

NIND

208

206

244,500

50,737

13

206

ź

-4.0

ZIMAH

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0

UIC

89

88

871,500

76,702

24

88

ź

-1.0

244

232

2,700

636

2

244

Ÿ

2

BIIHC

62

62

110

7

1

62

Ÿ

3.0

0

0

0 2,572,408

0 841,235

0 35

0 940.88

ŷ ź

0 2.38 -2.38

SHOP SENERGY

0 60

0 57

0 137,602

0 7,936

0 13

0 59

ŷ ź

0.0 2.0 -2.0

AGHC

130

128

60,000

7,760

3

128

ź

-6.0

710

700

1,795,067

1,274,294

39

710

ŷ

0

ALSAFWA

20

18

9,796,760

177,702

132

18

ź

-2.5

2,220

2,120

171,654

376,396

45

2,220

Ÿ

100

KPPC

72

69

373,500

26,092

12

69

ź

-5.0

69

5,293,000 7,259,721

371,535 2,022,225

100 184

69 886.13

ź Ÿ

-2 6.80

TAHSSILAT JEERANH

44 0

44 0

100 0

4 0

1 0

44 0

Ÿ ŷ

5.0 0.0

UFIG KOUTFOOD Consumer Services ZAIN NMTC

HITSTELEC 72 Telecommunications

EKHOLDING

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0 0 0

NBK

1,040

1,020

3,574,815

3,646,321

90

1,020

ŷ

0

GFH

36

35

23,986,924

848,311

247

36

ź

-1.0

GBK CBK

410 790

400 790

760,000 50

308,600 40

22 1

410 790

ŷ Ÿ

0 20

INOVEST Financial Services

49

46

1,030,000 64,939,962

48,615 3,401,558

22 1,239

46 838.76

ź ź

-2.5 -19.38

MAREF 0 Investment Instruments

0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0.00

ŷ ŷ

0.0 0.00

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0

ALMUTAHED KIB

880 255

880 246

25,000 7,807,977

22,000 1,950,753

1 94

880 250

Ÿ ź

10 -10

BURG

425

425

2,415,039

1,026,392

68

425

ŷ

0

KFIN

710

690

1,647,687

1,152,064

63

700

ź

-10

BOUBYAN

620

610

147,143

89,758

15

620

ŷ

0

ABK

ASC

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

SAFTEC

73

63

31,890

2,017

6

63

ź

-5.0

UGB

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0

FUTURE

212

212

100

21

1

212

Ÿ

10.0

AUB ITHMR

0 34

0 33

0 4,570,031

0 150,051

0 132

0 33

ŷ ź

0 -2

HAYATCOMM Technology

116

116

5,000 5 000 36,990

580 2,619

1 8

116 1104.15

ź ź

-2.0 20 -11.57

20,947,742

8,345,979

486

945.69

ź

-4.35

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0

Banks KINS

0

BAREEQ

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

AFAQ

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0 0.0

GINS

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

ALSHAMEL

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

AINS

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

SAFRE

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

WINS

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

AJWAN

31

30

30,670

921

7

31

ŷ

0.0

KUWAITRE

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

SPEC

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

FTI

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

MASAKEN

35

35

10,000

345

2

35

ŷ

0.0

WETHAQ

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

DALQAN

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

ARIG

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

00 0.0

ALEID

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

00 0.0

BKIKWT Insurance

0

0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0.00

ŷ ŷ

0.0 0.00

MIDAN FLEX

0 78

0 77

0 20,170

0 1,573

0 7

0 78

ŷ Ÿ

0.0 5.0

AINV

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0

SOKOUK KRE

0 49

0 48

0 510,001

0 24,480

0 12

0 48

ŷ ź

0.0 -0.5

THURAYA

99

89

1,100

108

2

99

Ÿ

5.0

KCLINIC

0

0

0

0

0

0

ŷ

0.0

AMAR Parallel Market

50

50

20,000 81,940

990 3,937

1 19

50 995.34

Ÿ Ÿ

2.5 15.86

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

LIFE

mondAY, June 25, 2012

Sea rise faster on East Coast than rest of globe WASHINGTON: From Cape Hatteras, N.C., to just north of Boston, sea levels are rising much faster than they are around the globe, putting one of the world’s most costly coasts in danger of flooding, government researchers report.

US Geological Survey scientists call the 600-mile swath a “hot spot” for climbing sea levels caused by global warming. Along the region, the Atlantic Ocean is rising at an annual rate three times to four times faster than the global average since 1990, according to the study published Sunday in the journal Nature Climate Change.

It’s not just a faster rate, but at a faster pace, like a car on a highway “jamming on the accelerator,” said the study’s lead author, Asbury Sallenger Jr., an oceanographer at the agency.

He looked at sea levels starting in 1950, and noticed a change beginning in 1990.

Since then, sea levels have gone up globally about 2 inches. But in Norfolk, Va., where officials are scrambling to fight more frequent flooding, sea level has jumped a total of 4.8 inches, the research showed. For Philadelphia, levels went up 3.7 inches, and in New York City, it was 2.8 inches.

Climate change pushes up sea levels by melting ice sheets in Greenland and west Antarctica, and because warmer water expands.

Computer models long have projected higher levels along parts of the East Coast because of changes in ocean currents from global warming, but this is the first study to show that’s already happened.

By 2100, scientists and computer models estimate that sea levels globally could rise as much as 3.3 feet. The accelerated rate along the East Coast could add about 8 inches to 11 inches more, Sallenger said.

“Where that kind of thing becomes important is during a storm,” Sallenger said. That’s when it can damage buildings and erode coastlines.

FILE - Buildings are seen near the ocean as reports indicate that Miami-Dade County in Florida in the future could be one of the most susceptible places when it comes to rising water levels due to global warming. (AFP)

On the West Coast, a National Research Council report released Friday projects an average 3-foot rise in sea level in California by the year 2100, and 2 feet in Oregon and

China submersible breaks 7,000-meter mark PARIS: A manned Chinese submersible broke through the 7,000-metre mark for a new national deep water dive record on Sunday, state media said, as the Asian giant showed off its technological might.

The “Jiaolong” craft reached 7,020 meters (23,031 feet) in the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific Ocean on its fourth dive since arriving in the area earlier this month, state television said.

The dive came on the same day China successfully completed its first manual space docking, a complex maneuver that will bring the country a step closer to building a space station.

“This (dive) shows the performance of the submersible is stable,” mission chief commander Liu Feng told a live television broadcast from aboard the ship supporting the submersible.

“The level of our technical personnel is getting better and better.”

The Jiaolong -- named after a dragon from Chinese mythology -- carried three men into the Mariana Trench, the deepest place in the world, then returned to the choppy surface after nearly 11 hours.

The same submersible reached 5,188 meters in a Pacific dive in July last year. And in a series of three previous dives since June 15, the craft has gone deeper still. Experts say 7,000 meters is the limit of its design.

Other manned submersibles have gone deeper than China’s craft. Earlier this year, American film director James Cameron de-

scended almost 11,000 meters to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

His effort is believed to have at least equaled the record for the deepest manned dive, set by a US Navy officer and a Swiss oceanographer in 1960, according to Guinness World Records.

China intends to use the submersible for scientific research, such as collecting samples of undersea life and studying geological structures, as well as future development of mineral resources, experts say.

On its third dive on Friday, the crew collected samples of water and sediment and took photos of sea life, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Scientists say the ocean floors contain rich deposits of potentially valuable minerals, but the extreme depths pose technical difficulties in harvesting them on a large scale.

And the stability and durability of the craft presents further difficulties for future operations.

The recent round of dives have seen some technical glitches, such as the breakdown of communications equipment and problems with the adjustable ballast system, state media has reported.

The 7,000 meter dive was previously scheduled for Monday, state media had reported. The reasons for the change of date were unclear but mean the record-setting dive came the same day as China’s landmark space maneuver. -AFP

Washington. The land mass north of the San Andreas Fault is expected to rise, offsetting the rising sea level in those two states.

Animal smarts: What do dolphins and dogs know?

WASHINGTON: It’s not just man’s closer primate relatives that exhibit brain power. Dolphins, dogs and elephants are teaching us a few lessons, too. Dolphin brains involve completely different wiring from primates, especially in the neocortex, which is central to higher functions such as reasoning and conscious thought.

Dolphins are so distantly related to humans that it’s been 95 million years since we had even a remotely common ancestor. Yet when it comes to intelligence, social behavior and communications, some researchers say dolphins come as close to humans as our ape and monkey cousins.

Maybe closer.

“They understand concepts like zero, abstract concepts. They do everything that chimpanzees do and bonobos can do,” said Lori Marino, a neuroscientist at Emory University who specializes in dolphin research. “The fact is that they are so different from us and so much like us at the same time.”

In recent years, animal researchers have

found that thought processes in critters aren’t a matter of how closely related they are to humans. You don’t have to be a primate to be smart.

Dolphin brains look nothing like human brains, Marino said. Yet, she says, “the more you learn about them, the more you realize that they do have the capacity and characteristics that we think of when we think of a person.” These mammals recognize themselves in the mirror and have a sense of social identity.

They not only know who they are, but they also have a sense of who, where and what their groups are. They interact and comprehend the health and feelings of other dolphins so fast it as if they are online with each other, Marino said. Animal intelligence “is not a linear thing,” said Duke University researcher Brian Hare, who studies bonobos, which are one of man’s closest relatives, and dogs, which are not.

“Think of it like a toolbox,” he said. “Some species have an amazing hammer. Some species have an amazing screwdriver.”

Chinese spacecraft docks with orbiting module

Sleep may ease symptoms of Parkinson’s disease: Study

CONNECTICUT: Sleep seems to improve the motor function of people with Parkinson’s disease, researchers have found according to HealthDay News.

This “sleep benefit” occurs for some patients even though they are without their medication while sleeping, the study authors said. However, how sleep helps patients’ motor function remains unclear, and not all Parkinson’s patients experience this improvement, according to the report, published in the June issue of the Journal of Parkinson’s Disease.

“If the subjective experience of sleep benefit is proven to be related to an objective improvement in motor function, this could have considerable clinical benefits,” the study’s lead investigator Dr. Sebastiaan Overeem, of the department of neurology, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior at Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre in the Netherlands, said in a journal news release.

In conducting the study, the researchers questioned 243 patients with Parkinson’s disease about their motor and non-motor symptoms. They also assessed the patients’ symptoms of depression, functioning and quality of life. The investigators found that nearly 47 percent of the patients experienced a sleep benefit, or a clear improvement in their Parkinson’s symptoms after a night’s sleep.

Daytime naps were also taken by 98 of the 243 patients. Of these “regular nappers,” 46 percent did not notice a sleep benefit at all. On the other hand, 20 percent of nappers said they experienced a reduction in their Parkinson’s symptoms only after a night of sleeping, and 13 percent reported an improvement only after their nap. Meanwhile, 20 percent of nappers reported an improvement in their symptoms following both their naps and nighttime sleep.

“It is tempting to speculate whether daytime naps might constitute a possible therapeutic application,” noted Overeem.

While the study uncovered an association between sleep and Parkinson’s symptoms, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

The researchers pointed out that there were no demographic or clinical differences -- such as age at onset of the disease and type of treatment -- between those who experienced the sleep benefit and those who did not. There were also no differences in depression, quality of life, memory, fatigue and sleep quality between these two groups.

The study authors added that their findings are based on patients’ perceptions of a sleep benefit, which are subjective. More research is needed to objectively assess changes in symptoms of Parkinson’s disease after a period of sleep.

“Further study is important to identify possible determinants and underlying mechanisms of sleep benefit, in order to identify those patients most likely to benefit from sleep,” Overeem concluded. “Both our research and previous studies show it’s important to renew research on this intriguing subject.”

The USGS study suggests the Northeast would get hit harder because of ocean currents. When the Gulf Stream and its northern extension slow down, the slope of the seas changes to balance against the slowing current. That slope then pushes up sea levels in the Northeast. It is like a seesaw effect, Sallenger theorizes.

Scientists believe that with global warming, the Gulf Stream and other ocean currents are slowing and will slow further, Sallenger said.

Jeff Williams, a retired USGS expert who wasn’t part of the study, and Stefan Rahmstorf, a professor of ocean physics at the Potsdam Institute in Germany, said the study does a good job of making the case for sea level rise acceleration.

Margaret Davidson, director of the Coastal Services Center for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Charleston, S.C., said the implications of the new research are “huge when you think about it. Somewhere between Maryland and Massachusetts, you’ve got some bodaciously expensive property at risk.”

Sea level projections matter in coastal states because flood maps based on those predictions can result in restrictions on property development and affect flood insurance rates.

Those estimates became an issue in North Carolina recently when the Legislature proposed using historic figures to calculate future sea levels, rejecting higher rates from a state panel of experts.

The USGS study suggests an even higher level than the panel’s estimate for 2100.

The North Carolina proposal used data from University of Florida professor Robert Dean, who had found no regional differences in sea level rise. Dean said he can’t argue with the results from Sallenger’s study showing accelerating sea level rise in the region, but he said it’s more likely to be from natural cycles. Sallenger said there is no evidence to support that claim. -AP

FILE - A photo of the giant screen at the Jiuquan space center shows the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft undergoing the automatic docking with Tiangong-1 module on June 18. (AP)

BEIJING: A Chinese spacecraft carrying three astronauts docked manually with an orbiting module on Sunday, a first for the country as it strives to match American and Russian exploits in space. The Shenzhou 9 capsule’s maneuver with the Tiangong 1 module was shown live on national television. It follows a docking last week that was carried out by remote control from a ground base in China. The Chinese astronauts have been living and working in the module for the past week as part of preparations for manning a permanent space station. They returned to the Shenzhou 9 capsule early Sunday and disconnected in preparation for the manual reconnection.

Wu Ping, spokeswoman for China’s manned space program, told reporters in Beijing that hand levers were used to control Shenzhou 9 and position it to dock with the orbiting module. The maneuver was “precise and perfect” and the three astronauts carried it out “calmly and skillfully,” Wu said.

“This success in manual docking represents a major breakthrough in our space rendezvous and docking technologies,” Wu said.

China’s next goals include another manned mission to the module later this year and replacing Tiangong 1, which was launched last year, with a permanent space station around 2020. Possible future missions could

also include sending a man to the moon.

China’s permanent space station is to weigh about 60 tons, slightly smaller than NASA’s Skylab of the 1970s and about onesixth the size of the 16-nation International Space Station. The Shenzhou 9 crew includes 33-year-old Liu Yang, an air force pilot and China’s first female space traveler. Liu is joined by mission commander and veteran astronaut Jing Haipeng, 45, and crew mate Liu Wang, 43. Their mission, which is expected to last at least 10 days, is China’s fourth manned mission. Shenzhou 9 launched June 16 from the Jiuquan center on the edge of the Gobi desert in northern China.

Wu said the astronauts will spend three to four more days in the module before returning to the capsule and manually separating from Tiangong 1. Once back in Shenzhou 9, they will return to Earth within a day, she said.

China is hoping to join the United States and Russia as the only countries to send independently maintained space stations into orbit.

It is already one of just three nations to have launched manned spacecraft on their own.

Wu said China spent 20 billion yuan (US$3.1 billion) on its space program between 1992 and 2005. By the time the next Shenzhou mission is completed, Beijing will have spent an additional 19 billion yuan (US$3 billion), she said. -AP

For dogs, a primary tool is their obsessive observation of humans and ability to understand human communication, Hare said.

For example, dogs follow human pointing so well that they understand it whether it’s done with a hand or a foot; chimps don’t, said Hare, whose upcoming book is called “The Genius of Dogs.”

Then there are elephants.

They empathize, they help each other, they work together. In a classic cooperation game, in which animals only get food if two animals pull opposite ends of a rope at the same time, elephants learned to do that much quicker than chimps, said researcher Josh Plotnik, head of elephant research at the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation in Thailand. They do even better than monkeys at empathy and rescue, said Plotnik. In the wild, he has seen elephants stop and work together to rescue another elephant that fell in a pit. “There is something in the environment, in the evolution of this species that is unique,” he says. -AP

Plastics chemical linked to obesity in kids

CONNECTICUT: It’s hard to imagine a pacifier or a rubber ducky making your child fat ACCORDING TO HealthDay News.

But new research suggests that chemicals called phthalates, which are found in the plastics that pacifiers and toys are typically made of, may be linked to higher rates of obesity in children.

The chemical, called di-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), is suspected of being able to alter biological functions involved in fat metabolism. In the study, children with the highest DEHP levels had nearly five times the chance of being obese compared with those who had the lowest DEHP levels.

How could a chemical used to soften plastics trigger fat development in a child?

“It may trigger the master regulator of fat creation and lipid metabolism,” explained study co-author Dr. Mi-Jung Park, a pediatric endocrinologist and professor at Inje University College of Medicine, in Seoul, South Korea.

DEHP may do two different things that increase fat development, Park said. It may reduce the effect of androgen – a male sex hormone -- which lowers body-mass index (BMI). It may also disrupt thyroid function, which plays a role in weight gain. Interfering with androgen or thyroid hormones can affect appetite or a person’s rate of metabolizing food, she explained.

Other studies have linked phthalates to breast growth in boys, reproductive problems in men and low birth weight.

The researchers measured blood levels of DEHP in 204 children ranging from 6 to 13 years old; 105 were considered obese and 99 were of normal weight.

Children with a higher BMI, a measurement of body fat, had higher DEHP levels. The increased risk of obesity with elevated DEHP levels was not related to the amount of physical activity they got or their daily calorie intake.

Park said parents should understand that phthalates are virtually everywhere – in food, water, plastic bags and packaging wraps, cosmetics, lotions, shampoo and toys.

Pregnant women, premature infants and young children may be particularly sensitive to the chemical, she said.

“Putting hot water or hot food into a plastic container may be dangerous,” she added.

Johanna Congleton, senior scientist and toxicologist at the Environmental Working Group in Washington, DC, recommends avoiding exposure to phthalates. “It’s a good precautionary measure, and consumer product manufacturers should phase out the use of such compounds,” she said.

ALWATAN DAILY

CULTURE

MONday, JUNE 25, 2012

Zumba no longer just exercise, it’s big business

FILE-Alberto Perez (center), founder of Zumba Fitness, performs on stage during a meeting in Rimini, central Italy May 11, 2012.

(Reuters)

MIAMI: Alberto Perez started out as a street performer and then an aerobics teacher in Colombia, making extra cash on the side teaching the wives of businessmen how to dance in nightclubs in his hometown, Cali.

Today, he stands at the center of the Zumba exercise craze, having helped transform Zumba Fitness, a private company, into a rapidly growing fitness empire with heavyweight investor backing.

“I’m not a businessman, but I knew this had the potential to be something special,” said Perez, who along with two Colombian associates founded the Miami-based company.

Zumba, a Latin dance-inspired aerobic workout, has exploded from a Miami gym phenomenon to infomercial and DVD smash hit into a global craze with some 12 million people taking classes every week in at least 125 countries. Zumba Fitness now boasts being the largest branded fitness program in the world. Started on a shoestring budget in a Miami garage nearly 11 years ago, Zumba Fitness now has more than 200 employees, and a pair of New York investment firms is betting the craze has staying power.

The accidental instructor

Zumba got its start by chance in the 1980s.

Perez, who is known as Beto, was eking out a living as a street performer and salsa and meringue nightclub dancer known for his boyish model looks and muscular physique.

One day the owner of a nearby gym called and asked if Perez could stand in for an injured aerobics teacher. He agreed - but didn’t mention he had never done aerobics and rushed out and bought a copy of Jane Fonda’s Workout Book.

His fitness career was born.

Months later, getting ready for a class, Perez forgot his aerobics music. Instead, he put on his own merengue and salsa tapes and improvised dance moves for a workout, creating what today is known as Zumba.

It proved to be a hit and he quickly developed a loyal following before he moved to Bogota, where he briefly worked as a choreographer with pop star Shakira. In 1999, Perez packed up and headed to

Miami, speaking no English but hoping to make a breakthrough in the Latin-flavored US city with his new dance exercise class.

He struggled before eventually building up a large, adoring fan base of mostly Colombian expatriate women, including the mother of Alberto Perlman.

Then a technology entrepreneur, Perlman lost his job in the dot-com bust two years later and was struggling with what career move to make next.

He co-founded Zumba Fitness and is now its chief executive.

“My mom had been taking his classes for years,” he said. “She would tell me about this amazing class but I never paid attention. When the bubble burst, I went to have dinner at her house and she kept saying ‘Talk to Beto, maybe you guys could start a gym.’”

“I said I’d meet with him but I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with him,” Perlman recalled. But after watching a class, he came up with the idea for a new fitness video he hoped could be an infomercial success.

The men sought to put a name on the exercise, first thinking of the Spanish word rumba, which loosely translates as party, but realized it was already trademarked.

“We just went through the alphabet to see what rhymes with rumba,” Perlman said. “We were getting nervous by the end, nothing sounded good - bumba, kumba. Then we settled on Zumba, it was perfect.”

12 million and counting

Perlman said growing the instructor and student base is the firm’s top priority, with a goal of one day reaching 100 million students, more than eight times the current number.

The company has also launched its own line of brightly colored clothing, Zumba footwear and a glossy magazine named “ZLife”, all designed in its Miami office.

But it is also focused on developing TV shows, pushing into global markets, particularly Eastern Europe, Asia and Latin America, and exploiting a new business opportunity: fitness concerts.

9

Double leg amputee scales Mount Kilimanjaro FRANCE: A double leg amputee has pulled himself up Africa’s highest mountain, disproving doctors who said he would never be a functioning member of society.”

Spencer West, 31, lost his legs as a child after a genetic disorder -- sacral agenesis -- paralyzed the lower half of his body.

But he didn’t let that stop him: the resident of the Canadian city of Toronto arrived at the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, some 6,000 meters above sea level, on Tuesday, calling it an incredible personal feat.

“Reaching the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro was the most mentally and physically challenging thing I have ever done, but in doing so, it reinforced the powerful message of believing in yourself, and believing in others,” West told AFP from Nairobi, Kenya.

“Physically, it was challenging because I climbed the majority of the mountain on my hands, which put a lot of stress on my shoulders and arms,” he said, estimating he hoisted himself up 80 percent of the way.

West was accompanied on the trek by his two best friends, David Johnson and Alex Meers.

Their goal was to raise money for Free the Children, an organization that supplies drinking water to hundreds of peo-

ple in Kenya, which in 2011 experienced its worst drought in 60 years.

Philanthropy aside, West also had the personal goal of disproving doctors who, as of the age of five, told his parents he would “never be a functioning member of society.”

On a blog named “Redefine Possible,” the hikers posted photos and videos of their endeavor, during which they trekked for an average of four hours per day.

Some of the entries reveal that West’s journey across sand and snow contained moments of tribulation and doubt.

On the sixth day, he wrote: “I thought yesterday was hard and cold. It was. But it was nothing compared to today. This was by far the hardest day yet.”

Still, he remained unabashed in his quest to reach the summit.

The next day, on June 19, West announced triumphantly, “This was it. The day that possible would be redefined.

It was an almighty struggle, but ... WE MADE IT!” But the quintessential climber isn’t done.

“Thanks to everyone’s support, we’ve raised more than $500,000 (US$487,852) for Free The Children’s clean water projects in Kenya, but our goal is $750,000 (US$731,778) -- so I’m really hoping to continue my Redefine Possible journey to reach my goal,” he said. -AFP

“I see Zumba Fitness also as an entertainment brand,” Perlman said. “It’s becoming a music, TV and concert platform.”

Fitness fads rise and fall. But two prominent investment firms have made bets Zumba Fitness will avoid going the way of workout has-beens like Jazzercise, Thighmaster and the Ab Rocket.

“You see a lot of feasts and famines in the fitness industry,” said Richard Wells, managing director of New York-based Insight Venture Partners, a private equity and venture capital firm that has invested in Twitter and Tumblr.

The firm made a minority investment in Zumba Fitness earlier this year. “They are just scratching the surface of its potential,” Wells said.

The Raine Group, a media and entertainment investment firm based in New York, also has invested in the firm.

Neither company would reveal the size of its investment.

Perlman said Zumba Fitness hopes to draw on the firms for media, entertainment and technology resources and has no plans to go public.

“While there isn’t a lot we rule out at Zumba Fitness, this is not on our radar at this time,” he said.

The zumba ecosystem

Once Zumba gained exposure on infomercials, fans started asking for more. The company began receiving calls at all hours of the day from people saying “I want to be a Zumba instructor,” said Perlman.

By 2005, the company decided to develop the global instructor network and Zumba took off.

The instructors each pay $30 a month to receive regular installments of new music and dance and exercise steps.

“It’s their ecosystem,” said Wells, the investor.

The network has turned Zumba instructors in the United States and across the globe as far away as South Korea and Norway into entrepreneurs.

“It’s become my small business,” said Betsy Dopico, a native Cuban who moved to Miami from Mexico four years ago and now teaches Zumba classes. -Reuters

This handout photograph obtained June 22, 2012 courtesy of Free the Children shows double amputee Spencer West after ascending Mount Kilimanjaro, at 5,895 meters, the highest mountain in Africa. (AFP)

Milan 2013 summer menswear starts with mixed bag

Philippines’ musicians sing their way out of poverty FRANCE: On a mock-up stage in a Philippine music studio, single-mum Joanna Talibong is singing for her life.

The former church-choir girl is nervous and struggling to stay in key as she battles through more than a dozen takes of the syrupy Olivia Newton-John ballad “Suddenly”.

If she and keyboard-playing friend Jason Panggoy can get their video-demo right, they stand a chance of securing a series of gigs in South Korea that would enable them to start a long journey out of crushing poverty.

“I did not finish college, so I don’t have many job options... overseas I can earn a lot more,” the carpenter’s daughter tells AFP during a break from singing at the studio in a rundown quarter of Manila, the country’s capital.

Roughly nine million Filipinos, or 10 percent of the population, work overseas because there are so few job opportunities in their largely impoverished homeland.

While many toil as largely anonymous maids, sailors, construction workers and laborers in foreign countries, tens of thousands also stand under spotlights entertaining crowds as singers and musicians.

From high-class hotel bars in the Middle East to Las Vegas casinos, ex-pat pubs in Asia and luxury cruise liners sailing the Caribbean, Filipinos are often found performing near-perfect cover versions of almost any genre.

Talibong is desperate to join them, or she will be forced back to a bar in a small northern Philippine city where for the past three months she and Panggoy have played to tobacco traders and travel-

ling salesmen for $3.50 a night.

Adding to her problems is her nine-monthold son, who has a clubbed foot and lives with his grandparents while Talibong pursues her musical career.

Her manager has lined up a six-month booking for Talibong and Panggoy at bars in South Korea that would pay them each $800 a month, and she knows exactly where her first pay cheques would be spent.

“My priority is an operation for my son’s clubbed foot. That’s really my goal. That’s what’s pushing me to work really hard,” says Talibong, who is just 21 years old.

But first the duo’s demo tape -- which also includes a Taylor Swift and Matchbox 20 numbers -- must pass muster with the artist review board in Seoul, a review process that takes about a month.

Their manager, Wilma Ipil, who has been sending an average of two bands to South Korea every month since 2008, concedes the duo may not get the gig, amid growing competition from other Filipino talents trying to make it overseas.

“Previously, even inexperienced musicians got hired,” says Ipil, who sang in Hong Kong, Thailand and China herself before going into band management.

“But now, with the wealth of talent available, promoters have become more discriminating.”

Nevertheless, the demand for Filipino performers overseas is enormous, according to Jackson Gan, the head of the music studio where Talibong is recording her demo.

“Our only competition is ourselves. The whole world knows that if you have a low budget but

need quality, you get Filipino talent,” says Gan, who also acts as an agent for other export acts.

Gan estimates between 25,000 and 30,000 Filipino musicians and singers play in 3,000 clubs, hotels, cruise ships and restaurants around the world at any one time. The pay generally ranges from $800-1,500 a month, according to Gan. Gan attributes the success of Filipino performers overseas to the deep roles music and dance has in local culture.

“Some of my singers were discovered at karaoke joints,” says Gan, a 20-year veteran of the business, who’s scouting regimen sees him serving as judge at singing contests in remote villages across the country.

Gan says Philippine musicians are also wellknown for their warm audience rapport, a reflection of a general easygoing nature for which Filipinos are famous.

“That is a very important part of the music. It’s not just plain singing,” he says.

But there are some inspirational success stories for those who continue to dream of making it big.

The most famous is Arnel Pineda, who for many years fronted Filipino bands in Manila bars and in Hong Kong.

His big break came in 2007 when members of US rock group Journey were looking for a new lead singer and saw clips of him singing the band’s songs on YouTube.

Pineda was hired soon after an audition in the United States, and his first album fronting the band debuted in the top 10 of the American Billboard Charts. Pineda and Journey continue to perform at sold-out concerts around the world. -AFP

Models display creations as part of Dolce & Gabbana Spring-Summer 2013 Menswear collection on June 23, 2012 during the Men’s fashion week in Milan. (AFP)

MILAN: The first day of the Milan menswear shows for next summer was a mixed bag of old favorites and new entries.

The biggest news Saturday was the return of Jil Sander to her eponymous label after an eight year absence. She marked her comeback with a prim and precise collection dotted with color and trendy styles, showing she is willing to update her minimalist trademark.

The Sander event was nearly over-

shadowed by the unconventionally bright Burberry collection aimed at dispelling any British summer gloom.

Dolce&Gabbana, using non-professional models imported from Sicily and harking back to yesteryear styles, showed that summer dressing can and should stay genuine and simple. Luxury comes in the details. Still to come in the four-day preview showings are such big Italian designer names as Versace, Prada, Missoni, Armani and Fendi. -AP

10

ALWATAN DAILY

ENTERTAINMENT

Song Of The Day

monday, JUNE 25, 2012

General Hospital wins big with 5 Daytime Emmys

List of Daytime Emmy Winners:

Fahad AlSabah Staff Writer

Song: Under The Sun Artist: Cheryl Album: A Million Lights Genre: Pop In short: As far as summer songs go, Cheryl’s “Under The Sun” ticks all the right boxes; it’s not groundbreaking, but it’s very well seasoned.

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

The Buzz Girls star Jemima Kirke pregnant with second child Jemima Kirke, who plays free-spirited Jessa Johansson on HBO’s “Girls,” is pregnant, reports Access Hollywood. The actress, 27, confirmed the happy news to the NY Daily News on Wednesday. The impending arrival marks the second child for the British-born star and her husband, attorney Michael Mosberg, who are already parents to 20-month-old daughter Rafaella. The two-time mommy-to-be gave birth to Rafaella just six weeks prior to shooting the “Girls” pilot and was initially hesitant to sign on for the HBO series. “[‘Girls’ Creator] Lena [Dunham] came to me two days before I gave birth--we were just lying on the bed, chatting and she’s like, ‘Will you be in my pilot?’ I said, ‘Are you kidding? I will have just had this baby and be 30 pounds overweight.’ But I did it,” Jemima told The Glow. “She’s got a way with words.

Rafaella was 6 weeks old when I started filming the pilot, so I brought her with me to set. Sometimes we would shoot from 6 a.m. to midnight, or 2 in the afternoon to 7 a.m.” “Girls” will return to HBO with new episodes in January 2013.

Two bodies found at hotel where Whitney Houston died Two bodies discovered at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, where singer Whitney Houston died in February and where the Emmy awards for Daytime television will take place later on Saturday, were believed to be the victims of a murdersuicide, police said. Beverly Hills police said in a statement on Saturday that they responded to a call late on Friday night and found the bodies of an elderly man and woman at the hotel. “Investigators believe they are the victims of a murder-suicide,” said police spokesman Mark Rosen. The identities of the two people were not released and no other details were given. Houston was found dead in a bathtub at the same hotel on February 11. Her death was ruled as accidental. -Reuters

Shakira pregnancy rumors false: Father Belly dancing Colombian pop star Shakira is not pregnant, her father said in an effort to quell rumors that have gone viral in Latin America. “I’ve heard certain media announce the confirmation of my daughter’s pregnancy,” William Mebarak said in a statement. “That’s absolutely false.” Stories speculating that the singer, who famously rollerbladed around a beach in a bikini top for her music video “Loca,” would soon become a mother have been circulating in Latin American media for weeks. According to the reports, the father is Shakira’s longtime companion, Spanish soccer star Gerard Pique. Some media outlets even go so far as to claim the 35year-old’s supposed pregnancy is being complicated by toxoplasmosis, a parasitic infection. Stories were first published by the Colombian and Mexican press, before being picked up elsewhere in the region. Shakira fans say it was her father who first who alluded to his daughter’s alleged pregnancy in a television interview. But Mebarak vehemently disputed that. “I’m hoping for good news, and hope it happens soon, because she knows it will make us all rejoice,” Mebarak said.

“I’ve never said otherwise.” Currently in Poland to watch her boyfriend play in the Euro 2012 soccer championships, the singer is preparing songs for an upcoming album. -AFP

Ann Curry fans petition to save her Today job Ann Curry is reportedly being phased out of her co-anchor position at “Today,” but a group of fans is trying to turn back the tide and persuade NBC otherwise with an online petition. The petition, posted on Change.org on Friday, has so far attracted 500 signatures from Curry loyalists intent on keeping her face on the morning airwaves. “Dear Today Show at NBC,” the petition reads. “We Love Ann Curry! Ann Curry Loves us and the Today Show!” The petition was launched by Phoenix.Ariz. resident Stephen Crowley, an Iraq war veteran who says he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and that Curry’s presence on the “Today” show has had a steadying influence on him. Along with the signatures, the petition has drawn passionate testimony from Curry fans who are distraught over the possibility of her departure. “Ann Curry is the best personality on the show,” one commenter asserts.

“If she leaves the show I’ll switch to ‘GMA.’” “Sorry NBC, if Ann goes, I go,” another Curry partisan vowed. “Cable has much more to offer in the mornings these days, so I won’t stick with ‘Today’ if she’s gone.” NBC has not commented on the reports of Curry’s departure. -Reuters

The cast from “General Hospital” poses after winning the Emmy for “Outstanding Drama Series” at the 39th Daytime Emmy Awards in Beverly Hills, California June 23, 2012. (Reuters)

NEW YORK: The Daytime Emmys showered “General Hospital” with five trophies, including best drama, while giving Regis Philbin a fond farewell as a departing talkshow host. NBC’s “Today” show won as best morning show and the syndicated “Jeopardy!” was named best game show at the annual ceremony Saturday.

“Live with Regis and Kelly” was saluted as best entertainment talk show (its first-ever nod in that category) and for best talk-show hosts. Philbin ended his long run as its co-host last November, with a replacement yet to be

named to join Kelly Ripa as the syndicated series continues. Heather Tom, who won as best lead actress for CBS’ “The Bold and the Beautiful,” made history as the first to win in that category after having previously won as both best younger actress and supporting actress. Anthony Geary won as lead actor for “General Hospital.” The ABC soap also won for supporting actress (Nancy Lee Grahn), supporting actor (Jonathan Jackson), and directing team.

The syndicated “Dr. Oz” was named best informative talk show.

Bill Geddie, longtime associate of Barbara Walters and executive producer of her ABC talk show “The View,” received the life achievement award.

“There’s not a lot of glamour and glory in daytime,” Geddie told the room in his acceptance remarks. “But when you think about it, we’re all here with the best of intentions: We just love making TV!” Held in Beverly Hills, Calif., the 39th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards was telecast on the HLN channel, having moved to cable for the first time after airing on CBS the past

French virtuoso pianist Brigitte Engerer dies at 59 PARIS: French virtuoso pianist Brigitte Engerer, known for her brilliant interpretations of French and Russian repertoire, died in Paris on Saturday at the age of 59, her agent said in a statement.

Engerer “played with some of the very best”, said Concerts de Valmalete, and “brought all of her talent to what was a continual quest for musical truth”.

French President Francois Hollande said in a statement he was “saddened” by the news of her death and said Engerer’s “talent... honored France”.

Engerer always “supported young musicians... while pursuing a remarkable international career”, he said.

“We will all remember her great personal bravery” in “fighting the illness that took her from us.” Engerer had been battling cancer for several years.

Born on October 27, 1952 in Tunis, Engerer started playing the piano at age four and went to study at the Paris Conservatory at the age of 11.

In 1969 she left Paris for the Moscow Conservatory, which gave her a deep affiliation with the works of Russian composers, including Tchaikovsky’s “The Seasons” and Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition”. She would later release recordings of both.

“A part of her became Russian,” her agent said.

Stanislas Neuhaus, her teacher at the Moscow Conservatory, once described Engerer as “one of the most brilliant pianists of her generation”.

“Her playing is characterized by its artistry and romantic spirit, its depth, the perfection of her technique and her innate ability to reach the listener,” he said.

FILE - French pianist Brigitte Engerer thanks the audience after receiving an award of Honor during the 18th Victoires de la Musique Classique ceremony (France’s classical music award) in 2011. (AFP)

Invitations to perform as a soloist with some of the world’s top orchestras took Engerer from Berlin, Paris and Vienna to Japan and New York’s Carnegie Hall, playing under conductors including Daniel Barenboim and Gary Bertini.

Her life was “an unremitting search for musical truth to which she gave all her talent”, the Concerts De Valmalete said.

A fan of chamber music, Engerer also regularly performed with other instrumentalists such as the violinist Olivier Charlier and the cellist Henri Demar-

quette. She was well-known for her highprofile four-hand piano performances with Russian pianist Boris Berezovsky.

Engerer gave her last concert on June 12 at the Champs-Elysees Theatre in Paris playing Schumann with the Paris Chamber Orchestra, 50 years after first playing in the prestigious venue.

She received a number of honors, including the French Legion of Honor, and in 2011 was given a lifetime achievement award by the French music industry.

-AFP

Taiwan rock band Mayday sweep music awards PARIS: Taiwan rock band Mayday won a string of awards, including best album and best band, at the Golden Melody Awards for Asia’s best Mandarin chart music in Taipei on Saturday.

“I want to thank our fans who have supported us for the past 13 years and I want to thank the judges,” Mayday lead singer Ashin told a cheering crowd in the Taipei Arena.

The five-member band also bagged best song of the year, best producer, best

composer and best arrangement for its latest hit album “Second Round.”

Singapore singer-composer Tanya Chua saw off Taiwan pop divas A-Mei and Hebe Tien as well as fellow Singaporean Stefanie Sun to win her third best female singer title.

“I feel like I am dreaming, I didn’t expect to win this award again,” Chua said.

Taiwanese rocker Ascent Chan was the night’s surprise winner when he beat

Drama series: “General Hospital.”

Lead actress (Drama): Heather Tom, “The Bold and the Beautiful.”

Lead actor (Drama): Anthony Geary, “General Hospital.”

Supporting actress (Drama): Nancy Lee Grahn, “General Hospital.”

Supporting actor (Drama): Jonathan Jackson, “General Hospital.”

Younger actor (Drama): Chandler Massey, “Days of Our Lives.”

Younger actress (Drama): Christel Khalil, “The Young and the Restless.”

Drama series directing team: “General Hospital.”

Drama series writing team: “Days Of Our Lives.”

Game show: “Jeopardy!”

Game-show host: Todd Newton, “Family Game Night.”

Informative talk show: “Dr. Oz.” Entertainment talk show: “Live with Regis and Kelly.”

Talk-show host: Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa, “Live with Regis and Kelly.”

Morning show: “Today.”

Culinary program: “Bobby Flay’s Barbecue Addiction.”

Culinary/lifestyle host: Sandra Lee, “Semi-Homemade Cooking.”

Children’s animated program: “Penguins of Madagascar.”

Performer in a children’s program: Kevin Clash (as Elmo), “Sesame Street.”

Legal/courtroom program: “Last Shot with Judge Gunn.”

New approaches in daytime entertainment: “Take This Lollipop” (online).

four better known rivals, including Hong Kong’s Eason Chan and Taiwan pop star and last year’s winner Jay Chou, to be crowned best male singer.

“I actually thought I’d lose. I want to thank Jay Chou... I want to thank the judges and my family,” he said.

Performers from Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore competed in more than 20 categories at the 23rd edition of the awards. -AFP

two years. The awards are bestowed by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

The Beverly Hilton, where the presentation originated, was the site only hours earlier of what investigators believe was a murder-suicide. Police responding to a report of a shooting late Friday found a man and a woman dead from gunshot wounds in a guest room. The luxury hotel was also the site of Whitney Houston’s death in February, when the singer drowned in the bathtub of her room. -AP

Judge details reasons for not blocking ABC show LOS ANGELES: CBS is unlikely to succeed in its efforts to win copyright infringement claims over rival network ABC’s new show “The Glass House,” a federal judge said Friday. US District Judge Gary Feess has refused to block “Glass House,” which premiered Monday, and detailed his reasons in a 16-page ruling released Friday.

CBS wants to stop the show from airing, arguing it violates copyrights and trade secrets from its series “Big Brother.”

Feess, however, noted the unpredictable nature of reality television and said the genre does not generally include plot or other expressions of ideas that are subject to copyright protection.

Ideas alone cannot be protected by copyright, and courts must consider how the ideas are expressed when disputes arise.

Both shows employ dozens of cameras to check in on a houseful of contestants vying for a cash prize, but Feess ruled the shows are likely to play out very differently.

“Until the cameras begin to record, there is no plot, there is no (dialogue), there is no pace or sequence of events, and there are no fixed characters because there is no author,” his ruling stated. “There is a setting, which is hardly novel, and some general ideas regarding the structure of the show, but little else.” “’Reality,’ it turns out, is hard to copy,” Feess wrote.

The ruling is unlikely to end the fight between the two networks. CBS says it will continue to pursue the case and is seeking additional evidence from ABC and “Glass House” producers.

“This is only one preliminary step in a long road; we will now aggressively move two steps forward,” CBS wrote in a statement. The network has argued that nearly 30 former “Big Brother” staffers are now working on “Glass House” and some may have violated confidentiality agreements.

Feess agreed with ABC attorneys who argued that many of the filming techniques employed on “Glass House” are not unique to “Big Brother” and are used in other reality shows.

“We’re pleased the Court agreed with ABC’s arguments that The Glass House is a very different show and people working in the reality television industry should not be prevented from bringing their skills to a new employer,” ABC wrote in a statement. “We are thrilled viewers will now get a chance to continue to enjoy and participate in ABC’s The Glass House.”

The rivalry between the two networks hasn’t just been confined to the courtroom or airwaves.

CBS on Wednesday issued a tongue-in-cheek news release claiming it’s developing a reality series called “Dancing on the Stars” - a jab at ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars.”

CBS described the mock series - staged in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery - as featuring “moderately famous and sort of well-known people” who will compete by dancing on stars’ graves. -AP

ALWATAN DAILY

SPORTS

MONDAY, june 25, 2012

11

Formula one

Alonso thrills home fans with Valencia win VALENCIA, Spain: Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso thrilled home fans by winning an incident-packed European Grand Prix in Valencia on Sunday to take the overall championship lead and become Formula One’s first repeat winner of the season.

The Spaniard was joined on the podium by two former Ferrari champions - Kimi Raikkonen second for Lotus and Michael Schumacher third for Mercedes. The victory lifted Alonso, who had started 11th on the grid, to the top of the standings with 111 points, 20 clear of Red Bull’s Australian Mark Webber, after eight of 20 races.

It was the 29th career win for Alonso, who won his two titles with Renault in 2005 and 2006. Alonso was helped by the mechanical problems that forced pole starter Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull and the Lotus of Romain Grosjean out of the race, while McLaren’s previous championship leader Lewis Hamilton crashed out in the closing laps.

It was still a momentous achievement on a twisty street circuit that had seen three of the past four winners start on pole and nobody win from lower than third place. “It’s maybe the best victory I have had in terms of emotions,” Alonso told a news conference after sharing the emotion with fans and being mobbed by photographers in the Mediterranean sunshine. “Here now, with the European championship of football on, and all the fans, I am feeling very proud to be Spanish at the moment,” said Alonso, who had wiped away tears of joy as he stood for the anthems.

Hamilton was fighting to defend third place when he was knocked off the track by Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado’s Williams, with two laps remaining.

The 2008 champion pounded the steering wheel with his fists in fury, before tossing it out of the cockpit. Seven times world champion Schumacher made his way through the debris to grab third in his Mercedes, his first podium finish since he was at Ferrari in 2006 and first of a comeback that started in 2010. Now 43, he was the oldest driver to stand on the Formula One podium since Australian Jack Brabham finished second at Brands Hatch in Britain at the age of 44 in 1970. “As we crossed the line, I asked my team where we finished,” said the German. “They said third and I couldn’t believe it. I had lost count. It’s a wonderful feeling to be back after such a long time.”

Vettel, world champion in 2010 and 2011, had led from pole and was heading towards his third consecutive victory in the port city when his Red Bull lost power in lap 32. He parked up, tossing a glove at the wall in disgust.

“The engine stalled and switched off and there was nothing we could have done. At the moment it’s not clear what exactly was the problem,” he said after returning to the pits.

Grosjean had been competing for the top spot, and the chance of becoming the eighth different winner in eight races, when the Frenchman also had to retire with an alternator problem when placed second in lap 41 of the 57 lap race. Alonso, who had said after qualifying on Saturday that the ‘podium is out of reach’, defied conventional wisdom to take his second victory after Malaysia in March Marussia’s Timo Glock missed the race after failing to recover from a stomach complaint that forced the German to miss qualifying on Saturday. -Reuters

Ferrari Formula One driver Fernando Alonso of Spain takes the checkered flag to win the European F1 Grand Prix at the Valencia street circuit June 24, 2012. (Reuters)

Cricket

Zimbabwe crush Pakistan favored South Africa in T20 final face tough task to save first test

Zimbabwe’s batsman Hamiton Masakadza in action during the Twenty20 tri-nations final match between South Africa and Zimbabwe at Harare’s Sports Club, Harare, Zimbabwe on June 24, 2012. (AFP)

HARARE, Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe crushed favorites South Africa by nine wickets Sunday as the noncap Twenty20 tri-nations tournament at Harare Sports Club reached a stunning climax.

It was the second time in five days that the host nation put their powerful neighbors to the sword in a warm-up event for the ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka this September and October.

Zimbabwe won by 29 runs last Wednesday in the pool phase of a tournament that included Bangladesh, but lost by six wickets to South Africa Saturday and entered the final as outsiders.

South Africa made 146-6 off 20 overs with Faf du Plessis (66) top scoring and Zimbabwe reached 150-1 with 17 balls to spare thanks to a superb unbeaten partnership between captain Brendan Taylor (59) and Hamilton Masakadza (58).

Many South African cricket writers had argued against the Proteas going to Harare, saying Zimbabwe and Bangladesh were too weak to provide meaningful opposition.

“I am over the moon after beating a quality team and so proud of the boys,” said No 3 batsman-cumwicketkeeper Taylor. “We don’t get days like these very often so we are going to enjoy ourselves tonight.”

“The squad has been working really hard over the past three months and we accept that we must put in more hard yards than some other teams. After losing on Saturday, I just told the boys to remain calm.”

It was a dismal tournament for South Africa opener and captain Hashim Amla as an 88 not out was followed by a string of low scores and he made just three runs in the final after big hitter Richard Levi went for a duck off his first ball.

“I thought 146 was a defendable total so hats off to Zimbabwe,” said Amla. “While Zimbabwe were the better team on the day, we have learnt a lot regarding who should go to Sri Lanka and who should hot.”

Taylor was voted man of the match and the four half-centuries of No 1 batsman Masakadza during the eight-day tournament earned him the man of the series award. -AFP

Olympics

Wariner hangs on to advance to 400 final

EUGENE, Oregon: Jeremy Wariner churned down the track and, believing he was in the clear, coasted toward the finish line. He was simply trying to conserve energy. He nearly went home early.

A tactical error almost cost Wariner in the semifinals in the 400 meters at the US Olympic trials Saturday. After a casual stroll down the backstretch, Wariner had to hustle to the line to earn the fourth and final spot in his heat. “But I made it to the next round,” he said.

He held off a hard-charging Torrin Lawrence, who nearly caught him with a late burst.

Up until that little lapse of judgment, it had been a solid race for Wariner. And despite slowing down, he still turned in a solid time of 45.27 seconds. Even then, he still was well behind top rival LaShawn Merritt, who easily posted the top mark in the semifinals at 44.78.

Wariner knows it’s going to take another gear to make this squad.

“I’m where I want to be at,” said Wariner, the 2004 Olympic gold medalist. “I’ll show you all.”

The final is Sunday.

Wariner insists he’s returning to the Wariner of old, the one who dominated the rivalry with Merritt and captured the 2004 Olympic gold medal.

Lately, he’s been hampered by injuries. He sat out the end of last season as he recovered from a case of turf toe. While on the shelf, he also had an injured knee repaired. Now, Wariner is steadily working his way back. “I got out well,” he said. “My first 200 was perfect and I worked the turn real well. But I kind of eased up down the home stretch and it cost me toward the end.”

Merritt said he knows all about the fine line between trying to save strength and finishing strong.

“You have to go from the gun to the finish line,” he said. “I’ve lost thousands of dollars in prize money by a tenth of a second. “You don’t know where everybody is. People have late surges and everything. You’ve got to run all the way to the finish line, unless you’re clearly in the lead.” -AP

GALLE, Sri Lanka: Pakistan were facing defeat at 36 for three wickets in their second innings at the close on the third day of the first test against Sri Lanka on Sunday after being set a formidable winning target of 510 runs. Sri Lanka, who scored 472 in the first innings, closed their second innings at 137-5, leaving Pakistan with a tough task of batting out 15 overs and the entire two days to save the test.

Pakistan, who were shot out for 100 in their first innings, lost wickets regularly during their run chase.

Nuwan Kulasekera once again broke through the Pakistan batting ranks to finish with two wickets for 13 runs.

He separated the openers when he had skipper Mohammad Hafeez edging a low catch to Mahela Jayawardene at first slip in the fifth over. Hafeez hit only a boundary in his innings. Kulasekera struck again 10 minutes before the close when he bowled the other opener Taufiq Umar through the gate for 10. Rangana Herath picked up the wicket of Azhar Ali for seven when he edged a catch to Thilan Samaraweera at second slip.

Younis Khan (0) and nightwatchman Saeed Ajmal (11) survived the remaining overs but Pakistan still required 474 more runs. The hosts, having decided against enforcing the follow-on, lost three wickets in the afternoon session looking for quick runs. Tharanga Paranavitana (25) and Tillakaratne Dilshan set the tone with an opening partnership of 81 off 20 overs before Saeed Ajmal separated them.

Ajmal won a leg-before appeal against Paranavitana and four runs later, Dilshan fell to Junaid Khan to depart after a 58ball 56 that included nine fours.

Kumar Sangakkara, who was stranded on 199 not out in the first innings, made just one run before mistiming a drive to extra cover where Taufiq Umar held the catch to give Ajmal his second wicket of

Sri Lanka’s Nuwan Kulasekara (second right) celebrates with captain Mahela Jayawardene (left) after taking the wicket of Pakistan’s Taufeeq Umar during the third day of their first test cricket match in Galle June 24, 2012. (Reuters)

the innings.

Sri Lanka lost Mahela Jayawardene for 14 and Thilan Samaraweera for 15 after the tea break before applying the closure to their innings.

Earlier, spinners Herath and Suraj Randiv bowled Pakistan out for 100 at lunch after the visitors had resumed on 48 for five.

Pakistan’s last five wickets lasted just a session as Herath (3-30) and Randiv (4-13) ran through the bottom order.

Left-arm spinner Herath made the first breakthrough of the day by trapping Younus Khan (29) leg before. Younus was clearly unhappy with the decision and television replays later showed him getting an inside edge on to the pads.

Compounding Pakistan’s misery, debutant Mohammad Ayub and wicket-

keeper Adnan Akmal were involved in a mix-up where both batsmen finished at the striker’s end.

Akmal swept Herath to fine leg and set off for a run then called for a second but Ayub hesitated. Akmal found himself at the same end when the throw from Nuwan Pradeep came to Herath, who had plenty of time to take off the bails at the non-striker’s end.

After Akmal departed for nine the end came swiftly. Randiv trapped Abdur Rehman lbw for one and finished off the innings when Umar Gul (two) made a big heave and the resulting top edge was caught by wicket-keeper Prasanna Jayawardene to give the bowler his fourth wicket of the innings.

Herath ended Ayub’s innings at 25, trapping him lbw. -Reuters

Tennis

Federer sets sights on seventh Wimbledon title LONDON: For almost a decade it seemed Roger Federer was guest of honor on finals day at nearly every grand slam event but over the past 12 months Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have conspired to strike him off the guest list.

Between winning his first major at Wimbledon in 2003 and a record 16th slam at the Australian Open in 2010, Federer failed to reach the showpiece match in one of the big four tournaments just five times and contested an astonishing 22 finals.

So regular were his appearances in the finals that, when he was absent, it felt a little like attending a Madonna concert where the Queen of Pop had failed to show up.

Unfortunately for Federer, considered the most gifted player to have swung a tennis racket, his run of success has dried up and he is not happy being just one of the crowd.

Wimbledon, US Open and Australian Open champion Djokovic and Nadal have split the last nine major trophies between them and they have also contested the last four slam finals.

Federer feels it is time someone gatecrashed their party and winning a record-equaling seventh Wimbledon crown would be a good start.

“It’s my time of the year now,” said Federer who was kitted out in a collared, long-sleeved cream jumper complete with purple trim and a green ‘RF’ logo

embossed on the upper right arm.

“I fancy my chances here and at the US Open. It’s exciting times ahead,” he told reporters at Wimbledon on Saturday.

The rivalry between the top three has electrified not just the tennis community but the whole sporting world.

It seems each time one of the trio reaches a final, a host of records are on the line. Over the next 42 days, not only will they will be chasing a Wimbledon crown but the number one ranking is also up for grabs, as is the Olympic gold medal when the All England Club hosts the ten-

nis event during the London Games.

Djokovic is a bona fide member of the top-three club now but he admitted that had it not been for the Federer-Nadal rivalry, he might not have been the player he is today.

“Their rivalry is one of the most respected rivalries in the history of our sport, if not the biggest rivalry,” Djokovic, who will begin the defense of his crown against Juan Carlos Ferrero on Monday, said.

“They’re two great champions, two tennis players that made the history of

Roger Federer of Switzerland trains on the practice courts at Wimbledon in London June 24, 2012. (Reuters)

this sport. Every time you a see a Federer/ Nadal match, everybody is excited. Even I’m excited to see it. “Playing against both of them made me a better player. They also made me work harder.”

It is no wonder that Nadal, who has already bagged 11 majors, relishes the challenge of playing in this era.

“I feel very lucky to be part of these two rivalries. It’s something that brings special motivation to my game, the motivation to keep improving my tennis,” said Nadal who won a record seventh French Open title two weeks ago.

“If you are not able to improve your level you are dead in this very competitive world of tennis.”

Federer is aware many people have written his tennis obituary over the past two years, especially after he was knocked out in the Wimbledon quarter-finals in 2010 and 2011, and he is determined to show he can rise from the ashes.

“I want to do better; I have to do better in this event,” said the Swiss who was beaten here by Tomas Berdych in 2010 and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga last year.

“I could have gone further the last couple of years. Maybe the other guys were just too good. Maybe I wasn’t quite at my best.Who knows what the combination was?

“But it’s up to me to make that difference now and take it to the next step.

Then once hopefully I am there, I can reach for the title. -Reuters

SPORTS

Football England 2

VS

MONDAY, june 25, 2012

Italy 4

Italy beats England on penalties at Euro 2012 KIEV, Ukraine: Alessandro Diamanti scored the decisive penalty kick Sunday to send Italy through to the European Championship semifinals with a 4-2 win in the shootout following a 0-0 tie with England and a spot.

Ashley Young hit the crossbar with England’s third, and Ashley Cole’s attempt was saved by Gianluigi Buffon.

Italy will next play Germany in the semifinals on Thursday in Warsaw, Poland.

Mario Balotelli, Andrea Pirlo - with an audacious slow chip-shot down the middle of the goal - and Antonio Nocerino also scored for Italy. Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney scored England’s penalties.

The match ended 0-0 after 120 minutes of play.

The Italians twice hit the post, but were also let down by poor composure in front of goal. Diamanti clipped the post with a curling cross in the 101st minute, and swept a clear shot wide in the clearest chance of the second period of extra time.

Nocerino, another substitute, thought he had scored from Diamanti’s cross in the 115th but was offside.

Daniele De Rossi hit the post in the third minute, and Buffon saved a shot from Glen Johnson in the

fifth.

For England, it was yet another exit from a major tournament in the quarterfinals after a penalty shootout. England lost to Portugal in the same manner at Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup. Italy dominated the match, which ended 0-0 after 120 minutes of play. The Italians twice hit the post, but were also let down by poor composure in front of goal. Diamanti clipped the post with a curling cross in the 101st minute, and swept a clear shot wide.

The first scoreless match at Euro 2012 was neither dull nor lacking good soccer.

Italy’s attacking desire and creativity under coach Cesare Prandelli had playmaker Andrea Pirlo at its heart. Italy had 35 shots, compared to only nine for England.

England had briefly led the shootout after Riccardo Montolivo missed Italy’s second penalty. His shot went wide of Joe Hart’s right post as the England goalkeeper guessed correctly.

Rooney then sent Buffon the wrong way, firing in his spot kick to the keeper’s right to give England a 2-1 lead.

The momentum shifted after Pirlo’s bold piece of skill leveled at 2-2. – AP

Galaxy blank Whitecaps 3-0 CARSON, California: Mike Magee, Robbie Keane and Landon Donovan scored first-half goals and the Los Angeles Galaxy earned a 3-0 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps for their third consecutive victory.

The Galaxy opened the scoring in the 16th minute when Magee capitalized on a scramble in the box to send home his third goal of the season past Whitecaps goalkeeper Joe Cannon.

After spending the early part of the season mired near the bottom of the league, the win may signify a turning point for the defending MLS champions.

“It’s been a good week. If someone would have said we would have gotten nine points from the games we were playing in six days it would have been nice but obviously it would have been difficult but we’ve done it,” star David Beckham said.

“Vancouver is a good team, they’re a quick team but the first-half performance killed them off completely.We didn’t pass the ball as well in the second half like we did in the first half but it’s a great week for us.”

Making his first appearance for the Galaxy (6-8-2) since returning from Euro 2012 duty with Ireland, Keane went through the Whitecaps defense and doubled the Galaxy’s lead in the 30th minute.

After his goal, Keane held up a shirt that read “RIP James Nolan” paying tribute to a 21-year-old Irish fan,

who died of an apparent accidental drowning while in Poland to follow Keane and the Ireland national team at the European Championships.

“It was just a gesture because the Irish people are very close and they stick with each other through good times and bad times,” Keane said. “He was a big, big soccer fan and it was a shame so it was just a show of respect really.” Keane helped create the third goal in the 40th minute as well when he fired a shot in the box into the hand of Jay Demerit setting up a penalty kick that was converted by Donovan. After watching his team get blanked by the Galaxy, Vancouver coach Martin Rennie was full of praise for Los Angeles.

“The movement of Keane and Donovan, my opinion was like world class. Their movement was fantastic.

They caused so many problems with the way they came out at the backline,” Rennie said. “Tonight I think they were really on form and their midfield’s passing and movement was very good as well. We happened to find them on a good night and they punished us.” Vancouver fell to 7-4-5 on the season. Donovan was pleased with his team’s successful run.

“A great week, a great end to the week. I think we deserved what we got tonight because we put in a lot of work in the last few weeks,” Donovan said. “It was nice to get rewarded for that.” -AP

Italy’s Alessandro Diamanti scores the winning penalty goal against England’s Joe Hart during their Euro 2012 quarter-final soccer match at the Olympic stadium in Kiev June 24, 2012. (Reuters)

Preparation time will have impact: Spain physio

Spain head coach Vicencte del Bosque prepares his team during a training session of Spain prior to the Euro 2012 soccer quarterfinal match between Spain and France in Donetsk, Ukraine, Friday, June 22, 2012. (AP)

GNIEWINO, Poland: The fact that Spain have two days fewer than Portugal to prepare for Wednesday’s Euro 2012 semifinal will have an impact but the world and European champions cannot use it as an excuse, physio Javier Minano said on Sunday. Portugal played their quarter-final against Czech Republic on Thursday, while Spain’s last-eight match against France was on Saturday and Minano said that would give the Portuguese “something of an advantage” over the holders in Donetsk.

“There is no doubt that it has an impact but then again we had a day longer

than the French to prepare for the quarter-final so we can’t use it as an excuse either,” he added in a rare appearance at a news conference at Spain’s training base in Gniewino, northern Poland.

Like all the other national teams competing in Poland and Ukraine, the Spanish players have endured a long, hard season with their clubs and Minano said it was impossible to tell whether they were close to their physical limit.

“A few years ago it was unthinkable that a player could play 5,000 minutes of football in a season, which is the case with some of these footballers,” he added.

“It’s a challenge for them no doubt but it’s the same for other teams and the response has been good.

“Based on that response, the coach is picking the players who he believes can perform the best.”

Spain had yet to decide whether they will return to Gniewino after the semifinal if they get through to the final on July 1 in Kiev, or whether they will head directly to the Ukrainian capital, Minano added.

“The calm and the excellent facilities we have found in Gniewino will certainly play a major role in the decision,” he said.

-Reuters

German Lahm hopes for al fresco semifinal Schweinsteiger could be doubtful for semifinals

Alain Rochat (center) of the Vancouver Whitecaps fights for the ball with David Beckham (right) and Hector Jimenez (left) of the Los Angeles Galaxy at The Home Depot Center on June 23, 2012. (AFP)

Messi scores three goals in World Soccer Masters Tour MIAMI: Lionel Messi scored three goals and helped set up three others for the Masters team in a 7-7 draw with the Stars on Saturday night in the World Soccer Masters Tour. Messi assisted on a goal

by Rondon in the 82nd minute and scored in the 84th minute to tie it at 6.

Edison Cavani’s penalty kick in the

88th minute gave the Stars a brief lead, but Ariel Ortega converted on a penalty kick of his own in the 90th minute to preserve the draw.Luis Suarez had three goals for the Stars. The announced crowd of 48,327 withstood a steady rainfall from the start. It was the third and final stop for the all-star tour that also had events in

Cancun, Mexico, and Bogota, Colombia.

Diego Milito and Didier Drogba also scored for the Masters.

Radamel Falcao, James Rodriguez and Nene added goals for the Stars.

US national players Carlos Bocanegra and Maurice Edu saw action, but did not figure into the scoring. -AP

GDANSK, Poland: Germany captain Philipp Lahm is hoping the Warsaw stadium roof will remain open for their Euro 2012 semifinal on Thursday to ensure cooler temperatures when they bid to book a spot in the final.

The roof had been shut for the tournament opener between co-hosts Poland and Greece, creating a humid greenhouse temperature and atmosphere that was not to every player’s liking. “We are playing an open-air sport so I would wish it stays open to get some fresh air in,” Lahm told reporters on Sunday. “I don’t like it when it is too hot.” “At the end of the day it is not me who makes that decision though.” The Germans will take on Italy or England, who play later on Sunday, in their fourth consecutive semifinal at a major tournament.

European soccer’s governing body has said it will seek to keep the roof open for the rest of the tournament after a much-criticized decision to close it ahead of the opening match due to a thunderstorm.

Polish media and officials complained that humid conditions in the stadium contributed to their team’s poor second-half performance in a 1-1 draw. Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger could be doubtful for the European Championship semifinals because of a lingering ankle injury. Germany plays either Italy or England on Thursday in Warsaw. Schweinsteiger revealed in an interview Sunday that his right ankle hasn’t healed properly after an injury in February and that it’s creating problems in the tournament. The Bayern Munich player has an important role in central midfield. -Agencies

Germany’s Philipp Lahm scores a goal during the Euro 2012 quarterfinal soccer match against Greece at the PGE Arena in Gdansk, June 22, 2012. (Reuters)