11th Jun

CR IP TI ON BS SU

MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012

Ex-Indian army officer kills family, self in Calif

40 PAGES

NO: 15475

150 FILS

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RAJAB 21, 1433 AH

www.kuwaittimes.net

Hamilton makes it magnificent 7 in Montreal

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Ministry denies PM’s funds went to singers, designers Transfers scandal gets hotter • Assembly panel OKs legal reforms

Max 47º Min 30º High Tide 05:33 & 16:29 Low Tide 10:48 & 22:57

By B Izzak

Dozens of Kuwaitis fighting in Syria

KUWAIT: The foreign money transfers scandal took a new turn yesterday with some key developments topped by the former prime minister’s rejection to attend a parliamentary probe meeting for the second time in less than a month and the foreign ministry denying reports that some of the money was spent on singers and fashion designers. MP Faisal Al-Mislem, head of the National Assembly panel investigating allegations that former prime minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah transferred tens of millions of dinars of public funds into his private accounts overseas, described the no-show as a “disregard of the Kuwaiti people and its constitutional institutions”.

Sheikh Nasser refused to appear before the committee for the first time on May 14 saying that he is not obliged to be questioned by the panel after a special tribunal trying ministers acquitted him. The committee then set June 9 as the new date for hearing Sheikh Nasser’s testimony on the case but he refused to attend and sent another letter to the Assembly explaining the legal basis for his rejection.

In his letter, Sheikh Nasser insisted that after he was cleared by the special tribunal, he cannot be questioned by the parliamentary panel, which he described as having exceeded its jurisdiction. The letter also criticized Mislem for being a political opponent of the former premier. Mislem however said that the panel has assigned two of its members MPs Obaid Al-Wasmi and Faisal Al-Yahya along with its legal advisors to prepare a response to Sheikh Nasser’s letter and to propose options for action.

Continued on Page 13

Kurd named new SNC leader KUWAIT: Dozens of Kuwaitis are fight- against the government’s bloody ing with the rebel Free Syrian Army crackdown.

Separately, the new head of Syria’s (FSA) after crossing from Turkey, AlQabas newspaper reported yesterday, main opposition group said yesterday citing the fighters’ relatives. The daily the regime is on its last legs, as the said that “dozens of Kuwaitis have death toll in the uprising topped crossed the Turkish-Syrian border with 14,000 amid calls for military defecthe aim of fighting alongside the FSA tions and civil disobedience. “We are against Syrian regime forces”. Relatives entering a sensitive phase. The regime of the fighters said they were in con- is on its last legs,” Kurdish activist Abdel tact with them and that “there are Basset Sayda told AFP shortly after being named the new large groups from Saudi leader of the opposition Arabia, Algeria and Syrian National Council Pakistan” ready to join (SNC). “The multiplying the uprising against massacres and shellings President Bashar Alshow that it is struggling,” Assad’s regime that he said of mass deaths of broke out in March last civilians, the most recent year. of which saw 20 people, According to the mostly women and chilpaper, the volunteers are dren, killed in a bombardgiven Syrian IDs as a prement of the southern city cautionary measure in of Daraa Saturday. case they are arrested, At his first press conferbefore they are armed ence since taking over the and sent to fight in difreins, Sayda called on all ferent locations across Abdel Basset Sayda members of the the troubled country.

The sources added the Syrian rebels Damascus regime to defect, while sent back a number of Kuwaiti fighters reaching out to minority groups by who were less than 18 years of age. promising them a full say in a future, Calls to fight alongside the FSA have democratic Syria. “We call upon all offimultiplied in recent weeks on online cials in the regime and in the institusocial networks in Saudi Arabia. In tions to defect from the regime,” Sayda response, the kingdom’s top religious told reporters in Istanbul.

The FSA meanwhile called for a body issued an edict last week prohibiting Saudis from fighting against campaign of mass “civil disobedience,” Assad’s regime without prior approval and also urged officers and troops in from the government. The FSA consists Assad’s regime to jump ship and join mainly of former troops who have the rebel ranks.

Continued on Page 13 deserted the regular army in protest

Saudis ‘Got Talent’ sans women, music

KUWAIT: Firemen tackle a blaze in a 19-storey building under construction in Mirqab yesterday. The conflagration started on the 17th floor and then spread to the 19th storey. It also spread to three neighboring buildings, a fire squad official told KUNA. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat and Hanan Al-Saadoun

RIYADH: A Saudi city known for its ultra-conservatism has created its own version of the “Arabs Got Talent” television reality show, but with no music and women banned from taking part. Instead, competitors will be permitted to perform religious chants, recite poems and engage in sports events.

The contest is being held north of the capital in the city of Buraydah, known as a centre for Wahhabism, a strict interpretation of Islam that is followed in the desert kingdom, Al-Hayat daily reported yesterday.

Continued on Page 13

Shocked Filipinos weep over Pacquiao’s loss

GDANSK, Poland: Italian midfielder Thiago Motta (top) falls over Spanish defender Gerard Pique during the Euro 2012 championship football match Spain vs Italy yesterday at the Gdansk Arena. — AFP (See Page 20)

Egypt pulls TV ads against foreigners Mubarak in critical condition CAIRO: Egypt’s government has pulled public service announcements that warned against talking to foreigners who may be spies after criticism that the spots fueled xenophobia, a media official said yesterday. The two spots ran on both state and private television stations for a few days before Minister of Information Ahmed Anis ordered them off the air. One opens with a blond-haired young man scanning a cafe while a narrator says: “From the beginning, he knows why he is here and sets up his goal. He won’t have to spend much time getting to know the people in the place.”

The foreigner then spots three young Egyptians and heads over to them, saying Continued on Page 13

CAIRO: This image made from video shows an actor typing on a laptop with a slogan in Arabic that reads ‘every word has a price, one word can save a nation’ during a scene in a public service announcement. — AP

MANILA: The crowd fell into silence for seconds, some wept unabashedly as they stared quietly at a giant screen in a Manila public park after Manny Pacquiao lost his WBO welterweight crown on a controversial split decision on Saturday. Filipinos in cinemas, hotels, public parks and even army bases across the Philippines were shocked, too numbed to react as Pacquiao, winner of eight world boxing divisions, tasted his first defeat since March 2005.

American Timothy Bradley ended Pacquiao’s 15match win streak in the ring, but many Filipinos found it difficult to accept after a fight Pacquiao largely dominated. “I’m so devastated,” basketball coach Charles Tiu, who watched the fight with his family and friends at a bar, told Reuters. People at the bar were stunned by the decision. They were speechless for a moment but there was no big simultaneous outcr y. “I’m shocked and disappointed,” Gina Tubo, a 42-year-old mother, said, wiping tears from her eyes. “The decision was unfair. There was a moment when Bradley was wobbling. How can Pacquiao lose that way.”

Pacquiao was convinced he had done won the fight as the Las Vegas crowd booed the decision, which triggered criticism in the boxing world. British boxer Amir Khan tweeted that the result was a “robbery” while former world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis called it “disgraceful”. There was also frustration etched on the faces of hundreds of soldiers who watched the fight at army bases across the country. Filipinos stood behind their Pacquiao, who was immediately offered a rematch by Bradley. “Manny will remain and will always be our champion,” army spokesman Colonel Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos said of Pacquiao, a lieutenantcolonel in the reserve force.

“God may have other plans for him” Tubo added of Pacquiao, a congressman and widely regarded as the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter. Manila’s streets were deserted before and during the fight as Filipinos were glued to the television.

Continued on Page 13

MANILA: Fans give a thumbs down to protest US Timothy Bradley’s victory over Filipino boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao as they watch the WBO welterweight title match on a giant outdoor screen yesterday. — AFP (See Page18)

Iran cracks down on Web censor-beating software TEHRAN: Iran’s cyber police force is poised to launch a new crackdown on software that lets many Iranians circumvent the regime’s Internet censorship, media reported yesterday. The operation will target VPNs, or Virtual Private Networks, which use a secure protocol to encrypt users’ data, foiling online blocks put in place by Iran’s authorities, according to the head of the specialised police unit, Kamal

Hadianfar. “It has been agreed that a commission (within the cyber police) be formed to block illegal VPNs,” he was quoted as saying in a report originally published by the Mehr news agency.

“About 20 to 30 percent of (Iranian internet) users use VPN,” or more than seven million people out of the country’s 36 million web users, he added.

Legal VPNs would only be used by Continued on Page 13

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MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012

LOCAL

Safar calls for greater role of private sector Bureaucracy main obstacle

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah receives National Assembly Speaker Ahmad Al-Saadoun at Seif Palace yesterday.

KUWAIT: Minister of Public Works and Minister of State for Planning and Development Affairs, Fadhel Safar, reaffirmed the necessity of further participation by the private sector in executing the state’s development scheme. He called for the removal, or at least a reduction, of obstacles facing private entrepreneurs’ partaking in the national development process. In an exclusive interview yesterday, Safar forecast an increase in the role of private companies in the development process in sectors such as consultation and contracting.

Regarding the limited role of private investors in the development process, the minister suggested several causes, namely bureaucracy, controls of the private sector on most utilities, the global economic slowdown, caution of the banks toward commercial companies and the failure of private companies to employ a proportion of nationals in government enterprises.

The minister called for an increase in confidence

between the private and public sector as well as government abstention from granting services to national companies. He also called for supervision of their performance and the injection of funds into the market by means of promoting development projects.

Regarding the ventures executed by his ministry, Safar said that the projects, the cost of which is projected at KD 900 million, include the construction of Jaber Al-Ahmad Hospital, which has been proceeding as scheduled. This, he added, is in addition to six other ventures, four of which are still in the phase of tendering and promoting-such as the new maternity hospital, Ibn Sina Hospital, the new children’s hospital and the new Al-Razi hospital. Regarding Jaber Al-Ahmad bridge, Minister Safar said that it is still being examined by committees of the Cabinet.

He added that the two bridges linking Al-Sabbiah with Boubyan island, one for cars and the other for trains, will be inaugurated soon. He added that the construction of the bridges and new roads is aimed at linking Mubarak Al-Kabeer Port with Kuwait mainland, adding that a railway network will link the northern and southern borders as well as Al-Metlaa in the north with Boubyan. Safar indicated that various barriers both within and outside the Ministry, as well as a long chain of bureaucratic procedures for the endorsement of the ventures, are playing a part delaying the execution of the ventures.

He also cited several other hurdles, such as a lack of sufficient data papers, a lack of experienced personnel, the central tenders law, the law of the Audit Bureau, a lack of coordination among departments, and shortages in financial resources, incentives and equipment.

The minister noted that he has been following up on regular emergence of such obstacles and reporting about their negative effects on the execution of the planned ventures for sake of removing them. — KUNA

‘No sponsorship system mentioned in law’ KUWAIT: The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor’s (MSAL) undersecretary has denied that the word ‘sponsor’ has been mentioned in the article pertinent with law number 6/2010 that governs private sector work.

He said the ministry does not recognize the term ‘sponsorship system,’ because the relationship between employee and employer is based on the contract signed between them.

Al-Kandari said that the ministry is keen on improving services rendered to employees, adding that the proposal to establish a public authority for manpower is pending approval.

He said the Health, Social Affairs and Labor Committee has discussed and approved the law, and has referred it to the National Assembly.

He said that a coordination will be reached between labor sector and an educational ministry authority to test expat workers before arriving in Kuwait thereby ensuring that only trained workers are employed. —Al-Jarida

News

in brief

World’s largest national flag KUWAIT: A Kuwaiti group plans to sew a Kuwaiti flag to make it to the Guinness World Records for the largest national flag in the world, in response to MP Waleed Al-Tabtabaei, who in a recent statement undermined the fact that Kuwaiti athletes are incapable of raising their country’s flag during Olympic competitions. “This group aims to enter Kuwait’s flag in the Guinness Book for World Records as the largest voluntary work”, said Yousuf Zakariya, head of a volunteering group that already formed a team of young Kuwaiti citizens to carry out the project. Zakariya also urged Kuwaitis in his statements to a local daily to “take part in this remarkable feat”. Al-Tabtabaei had argued in a recent statement that the parliament has more issues to focus on “than whether Kuwait’s flag is ever raised” during the upcoming London Olympics.

Zakat house law amendment approved KUWAIT: The Council of Ministers has approved an amendment on ‘the Zakat House law’ which calls for changing the Board of Directors and expanding its power base. The Cabinet will discuss in its weekly meeting headed by His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Sabah, a report about a suggestion to ban usury. The proposition calls for banning banking and financial sector from conducting any financial transaction by levying interests. The proposition calls for formation of a Supreme Authority for Fatwa and Sharia supervision to report to the Council of Ministers, provided that this authority is given complete independence and decisions are taken as being final.

Jaber Causeway pending approval KUWAIT: The Audit Bureau is waiting for the Cabinet’s decision to approve the Jaber Causeway project, sources from the Ministry of Public Works(MPW ) revealed. Special reports and recommendations for this project were sent to the Council of Ministers for final approval. The special committee has confirmed that tenders be floated in accordance with the Central Tender Committee’s (CTC)regulations at the lowest price. Sources added that the cost of construction rose owing to an increase in the prices of construction materials.

Rare migratory bird sighted KUWAIT: The Franklin’s Gull, a migratory bird whose natural habitat is located in the American continents, was recently spotted in Kuwait, a team of researchers told a local daily. “Franklin’s Gull sightings in Asia, northwest Europe as well as south and west of Africa are very rare,” said Rashid Al-Hajji, Kuwait Environment Protection Society member who was first to document the sighting. A Franklin’s Gull is characterized by its distinctive appearance which changes between seasons. “The bird’s head is black during summer, while in winter a small black spot appears between its eyes,” Al-Hajji told Al-Rai, adding that its diet includes insects, rodents, seeds, fish and crustaceans.

MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012

local

Ramadan ‘app service’ for diabetes patients in Kuwait Awareness campaign launched

By Ben Garcia

KUWAIT: His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah received yesterday at Seif Palace Chairman and members of the Board of Directors of Bashayer Al-Khair Society. The Premier listened to a briefing from the delegation on the role played by the society in serving the community, particularly with regard to addressing the drug addiction phenomenon and sensitizing the community to their risks.

Trials of hi-profile cases adjourned

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: The trials of several hi-profile cases were held at different courts yesterday.

The case filed by the State Security Department against a Twitter user (citizen A.J) for blasphemy using social media was adjourned to June 24, 2012.

A.J was formally charged with spreading news abroad from an account he opened on Twitter including slandering Prophet Mohammed(PBUH) with intention to cause sectarian tension. Using the same media, he has been accused of defaming the Islamic faith.

In a different case, the Criminal Court deferred the case filed by State Security Department against Kuwaiti journalist Hamid Buyabis, Editor-in-Chief of Al-Shaab Newspaper, accused of disclosing confidential information of the Ministry of Defense to September 23, 2012. During the session held yesterday, the accused denied all charges leveled against him.

The General Prosecutor accused Buyabis of illegally acquiring secrets, consisting of a letter on the number of tanks, that were sent by the undersecretary of the Ministry

of Defense and a telex message sent from the Maintenance and Technical Support Department to the Contracts Manager.

News about the visit the Kuwaiti defense delegation to two companies in the UK was leaked so was publishing the minutes of the meeting of the committee.

Buyabis published the above mentioned classified information in his weekly newspaper numbers 138 and 139, Published on May 8 and May 15, 2011 respectively. This was also published on Al-Saab’s website.

The prosecutor argued that the published information may cause harm to the state’s interest as published documents include top secret information and data about the Kuwaiti army. Therefore, the Editor-in-Chief is responsible for committing an illegal act, he said.

On the other hand, the Appeals Court deferred the session of the Maymouni case to September 16, 2012. A number of police officers were accused of killing citizen Mohammed Al-Maymouni by torturing him during investigations. The session was postponed to discuss the sixth accused’s medical report that states his health condition.

KUWAIT: A Ramadan ‘app service’ will be made available in Kuwait to better manage diabetes during the holy month, said Andrew Miles, Managing Director MSD (Merck Sharp & Dohme) Gulf region, as he spoke to Kuwait Times on the sidelines of a media gathering to launch diabetes awareness campaign at Holiday Inn, Salmiya. Various endocrinologists and diabetologists in Kuwait made their presence felt at the event.

MSD, a global health care, research and development company offers ‘Ramadan app’ in the form of information/advice to people suffering from diabetes that wish to fast during Ramadan. The MSD also re-introduced Januvia, a Ramadan friendly pill for diabetics, which has been in the market for three years. “Ramadan app is a service dedicated to diabetics in Kuwait,” Miles said. The Ramadan-friendly pill allows patients to observe fasts. “This Ramadan, we want to offer the service that enables patients to allow track their blood sugar levels during the day. We also want to post the location of Makkah when they pray. Many more [app services will be present] but it is crucial for diabetics to better manage their treatment appropriately during the fasting period,” he added.

Many diabetics fast during Ramadan. Miles said that fasting during Ramadan increases hypo-glycemia levels. Blood sugar increases because diabetics do not follow an appropriate diet during the period. However, with the help of Januvia, people with diabetes can continue fast without breaking the sacredness of fasting.

“We studied and evaluated the hypo-glycemic level of patients taking Januvia diabetes pill versus another type of medicine. We found out that Januvia actually helped diabetes patients signifi-

cantly and helped minimize hypo-glycemia levels,” he added. Januvia, according to Miles, helps the body to regulate the blood sugar level. “It stimulates the pancreas to produce more insulin for the body and makes liver reduce the number of glucose production, therefore normalizing blood sugar levels,” he explained.

Specialized in areas like cardiovascular, respiratory, diabetes, allergies, hepatitis, HIV vaccine,

KUWAIT: Andrew Miles speaks at the press conference at Holiday Inn, Salmiya.— Photo by Joseph Shagra MSD has spread the whole gamut of the therapy areas to ensure that people receive appropriate medicines and provide the best health care to reach a broader spectrum of people. The company’s mission and values ensures that they are treated properly. MSD began in the region 35 years ago and has been continuously working

News

in brief

Praise for municipality teams KUWAIT: Ahmad Al-Subaih Director General of Kuwait Municipality lauded the big role inspection and emergency teams played in controlling all food, restaurants, and cooling centres. Al-Subaih said inspectors are doing a tremendous job, and sometimes endanger their own lives in order to stop expired food and those who violate municipality laws including public health. He said the municipality works day and night in order to achieve a high level of hygiene. He said inspection and emergency teams have begun their inspection, especially since the holy month of Ramadan is near and food sales increase during this period.

Cabinet may naturalize 250 bedoons after study KUWAIT: The Cabinet will review the files of 250 stateless residents that are eligible to obtain Kuwaiti citizenship, a local daily reported yesterday. He said that 150 bedoon servicemen will be naturalized only after further research is completed.

“The 250 bedoons have documents dating back to the 1965 census, and includes residents who are highly qualified, long-time workers and relatives of Kuwaiti citizens”, explained one of the sources who spoke to Al-Rai on condition of anonymity.

A list containing the names of candidates is expected to be released by Wednesday “to allow the Cabinet approval during their regular sessions next week.” Commenting on the files of 150 (Interior and Defense Ministries’) recruits, sources explained that their files were to be finalized last month “but criminal records found in some files required further study at relevant security departments,” which will be completed by the end of July, reported Al-Rai. Meanwhile, Al-Jarida reported quoting an insider in the Central Agency for Illegal Residents that new identification cards announced for bedoons will be issued beginning next month. The new cards, which are used by stateless residents as their main form of identification, will be color coded, each referring to the category under which a holder is recognized in state records; including those eligible for naturalization.

A source who spoke to Al-Jarida on condition of anonymity pointed out that 7,800 bedoons are expected to receive red colored identification cards, “including 6,900 who do not have records from the 1980 census or before, and 900 facing security restrictions.”

A red-colored card is valid for only one year and cannot be renewed afterwards, as its holder is required to use this period to legalize their status “or face procedures carried out against expatriates for violating migration laws,” reported Al-Jarida.

Kuwait has a large community of stateless residents who demand citizenship as well as civil and social rights they are deprived of, given their illegal residence status. The government argues that a part of them are Arabs or descendents of Arab people who deliberately disposed of their original passports after coming to Kuwait seeking citizenship in the oil-rich country. The government established the Central Agency for Illegal Residents a couple of years ago with the goal of resolving the issue and finding those that are eligible for naturalization, including residents whose Bedouin ancestors failed to register for citizenship following Kuwait’s independence more than fifty years ago. Last year, the agency adopted measures to grant bedoons several rights that include obtaining marriage, birth and death certificates. The agency was given a five-year ultimatum to resolve the decade-long issue.

with the stakeholders and partners. When asked about specific areas that better serve and help the community and healthcare provider to control diabetes, Miles said. “First we focus on the need; what is the fundamental and underlining need of the population. Then, we address issues collaboratively and pro-actively with the government,” he asserted. According to Miles, Kuwait’s diabetes ratio today is about one in every five people. “This present rate is really enormous and it is a burden to society, economic and future healthcare of Kuwait’s people.

Diabetes has severe complications, although the good news is that if you work on awareness and educating people, the disease can be detected early and you can better manage diabetes,” he added. He said the Ministry of Health has done tremendous amount of work in this area. “The Ministry of Health is aware that this problem cannot be solved tomorrow. The Ministry of Health has taken very firm action to ensure diabetes is controlled/treated.”

Miles emphasized that Kuwaiti government has been very active in formulating an appropriate healthcare policy to address diabetes. “We have been very closely working with the government of Kuwait to ensure that education and awareness is created, diabetics are cared for and we plan to continue doing it. Awareness and education is a paramount on our campaign,” he mentioned.

He advised diabetics to follow a healthy diet, perform a necessary lifestyle check and exercise as much as possible. “In the event that you have detected diabetes, make sure that you get the appropriate treatment early. If necessary, make a lifestyle change to ensure that you can lead a healthy and longer life,” he stressed. MSD supports educating physicians, patients, diagnosis and ultimately supporting treatment.

KU center awarded ISO certificate KUWAIT: The Center for calibration and engineering testing at Kuwait University has won the ISO quality certification from the German (TUV Nord) company. Director of the Center, Dr Abdulathim Falah said in a statement yesterday that the Center has won the certificate, which is valid until May 17, 2015. He added that this certificate consolidates trust in test results carried out by the center. He said the testing center was established in 2006 in the College of Engineering and Petroleum at KU after the unification of all laboratories in the college under a single umbrella, thus, becoming among the largest centers of engineering tests in Kuwait.

KUWAIT: A gas explosion took place in the kitchen of a private school in Salmiya. South Salmiya fire center reached the spot in response to an emergency call. It was headed by Col Mohammad Al-Mahmeed, Hawally Fire Director. No injuries were reported. — Photos by Hanan Al-Saadoun

Saudi delegation in town KUWAIT: Army Chief-of-Staff Lt Gen Khalid AlJarrah Al-Sabah discussed here yesterday with Brig Gen Abdulaziz Al-Shliwi of the Command and Staff College in Saudi Arabia a number of topics of common concern. The meeting was attended by Deputy Chief of Staff Lt. General Abdulrahman AlOthman and Director of Abdullah Al-Mubarak School of Leadership and Joint Chiefs of Staff, Maj Gen Nasser Al-Husainan.

‘Oil’ accusations of Iran compared to atmosphere preceding Iraqi Invasion KUWAIT: Iran’s accusations that Gulf states are causing a drop in oil prices by over-pumping are “illogical and not based on global market’s basis”, a senior official at Kuwait Petroleum Company told a local daily in response to Tehran’s complaint made to OPEC on Saturday.

“The only justification for the accusation is the increasing political tensions between Iran and the governments of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, as well as the sanctions”, the sources said.

The insider further explained that the current production rates are ruled by a quota system which was agreed upon during OPEC’s last meeting. “Prices have dropped after balance between supply and demand was restored at the global market recently following a period where demand exceeded supply”, the source said.

The debt crisis in Europe as well as austerity policies carried out by many European countries and the US are factors which have contributed in the drop on demand. Iran’s OPEC representative, Mohammad Ali Khatibi, said Saturday that Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE have violated their oil production quotas and oversupplied the global market which led to a drop in crude prices.

Meanwhile, several lawmakers reacted on

the Iranian official’s statement, as the most notable comments came from MPs who compared the statements made by Iraqi officials to the ones made before the 1990 Invasion.

“History is repeating itself as these statements remind us of the general atmosphere which preceded the Iraqi Invasion to Kuwait when former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein made allegations against Kuwait pertaining with oil”, MP Mohammad Al-Kandari said.

The lawmaker further told a local daily that “Iran is using baseless accusations to create tensions in the region in order to threaten the security of the Arabian Gulf states”, adding that the recent allegations “fuel calls to speed up operations to announce the confederation union” between Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

MP Falah Al-Sawwagh also argued that there are “other goals” behind Khatibi’s recent statements “as we still realize the real reasons behind the Iraqi Invasion”, whereas MP Badr Al-Dahoum called upon GCC governments to “take the issue to the United Nations in order to warn Iran against interfering in Gulf states”.

Simultaneously, MP Khalid Shukhayyer argued that the recent developments are a part of “Iranian regime’s current plans to keep tensions in the region to protect their rule”.

— Al-Qabas, Al-Rai

KUWAIT: A huge fire broke out at a high rise building under construction outside the Inmaa Real Estate Company in Kuwait City yesterday. The blaze began after construction wood caught fire on the 17th floor. Police cordoned off all roads leading to the site. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

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MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012

LOCAL

kuwait’s my Business

kuwait digest

Kuwait, oil and entrepreneurship

Our only source of income

By Dr Hassam Abbas fter the end of first Gulf War, Iran began signing cooperation agreements with Pakistan and China to revive their nuclear program in 1987 and 1990 respectively. The Iranians ventured into alternative energy resources, knowing that one day they would suffer for depending solely on oil when sanctions are imposed like they are today.

Solar Impulse, the world’s first plane powered by solar energy, completed its first intercontinental trip on Tuesday by flying from Madrid and landing at the Rabat International Airport in Morocco. The project is a SwissBelgian joint venture that began in 2003 with a budget of 90 million euros, with hope or realizing pollution-free air travel.

In 1981, Malaysians were living in the woods and fed themselves with their own agriculture. The average per capita income at the time was less than $1,000 per year.

In that year, people voted a surgeon named Dr Mahathir Mohamad as Prime Minister, who turned Malaysia into a country which makes nearly $33 billion a year from tourism alone (900 million in 1981) and annual exports exceeding $200 billion with an average per capita income that exceeds $16,000. Singapore is a city-state that covers an area of 764 square kilometers, which used

By John P Hayes

A

“T kuwait digest

You betrayed Dow and us

By Abdullatif Al-Duaij

‘All countries improve economically and politically with time,’ was the slogan created by MP Abdurrahman Al-Anjary months ago during the election campaign of then candidate Dr Anwar Al-Shuraian. This was made Al-Anjary’s ‘the main goal’ to run for elections, adding that slow development was the main reason he joined the opposition against Cabinet’s former prime minister Sheikh Nasser AlMohammad Al-Sabah.

awmakers responsible for the cancelation of deal. Moreover, experts indicate that Dow Chemical the K-Dow mega project are desperately trying Company actually gave concessions when it agreed to find a scapegoat to blame for the huge loss on a fixed penalty clause which otherwise would suffered as a result of its cancelation. The self-pro- require a party to pay the entire value of the contract claimed ‘defenders of public funds’ are searching for in case unilateral termination takes place. a victim they can sacrifice in order to cover up for In other words, Kuwait or MPs who put the prestheir mistakes. The Parliament, led by Speaker sure on the Cabinet to cancel the deal ‘betrayed’ Ahmad Al-Saadoun who Dow Chemical Company threatened to file a grilling when Kuwait aborted the motion against the former If you negotiate with a man who project after the American prime minister, is working on offers his house for sale at KD company finalized preparaforming an investigations tions that include taking 130,000 and you offer to buy it loans necessary to fund the committee to probe the reasons that led to the huge at 100,000 instead, customs lay project. Therefore, requiring financial losses which the down that you must make a that Kuwait compensate Dow majority bloc believes only down payment that proves your Chemical Company for damamounts to the $ 2.16 billion willingness to buy. This payment ages resulting from the canfine that Kuwait is required to celed project appears to be pay Dow Chemical Company. is non-refundable if the buyer natural. The party to be They are trying hard to agrees to the offer you put for- blamed is the one that canoverlook the facts that hold ward. This is exactly what hap- celed the project, or precisely, them responsible and blame pened in the K-Dow deal. forced the Cabinet to cancel oil sector officials of acceptthe deal.

Moreover, experts indicate that ing a large penalty clause Does the Parliament have that was included to attract Dow Chemical Company actual- the guts to hold accountDow Chemical Company into ly gave concessions when it able the real persons entering into a joint venture agreed on a fixed penalty clause responsible for the case? with the Kuwaiti governparliamentary inveswhich otherwise would require a Would ment. tigations repor t include In simple words, if you party to pay the entire value of findings that blame Ahmad negotiate with a man who the contract in case unilateral Al-Saadoun or other opposioffers his house for sale at KD termination takes place. tionist MPs? What is the real 130,000 and you offer to buy reason behind the investigait at 100,000 instead, customs tion committee’s formation lay down that you must make a down payment that to find more ways to blame the former Cabinet proves your willingness to buy. This payment is non- and hold oil sector officials responsible, while refundable if the buyer agrees to the offer you put ignoring any responsibilities that lawmakers forward. This is exactly what happened in the K-Dow share. —Al-Qabas

L

large cultural and religious diversity to achieve political and economic success.

‘All countries improve economically and politically with time,’ was the slogan created by MP Abdurrahman Al-Anjary months ago during the election campaign of then candidate Dr Anwar Al-Shuraian. This was made AlAnjary’s ‘the main goal’ to run for elections, adding that slow development was the main reason he joined the opposition against Cabinet’s former prime minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah.

Al-Anjari, the man who says that his main goal is to address the reasons why Kuwait has not developed economically and politically with time, says that he is part of the opposition; the same group who presented a project that forces the government to write off defaulters’ loans, and according to recent reports, and plans to propose that MP Khalid Shukhayyier grant citizens 10 percent oil incomes.

In other words, Al-Anjari is part of the same group of parliamentarians who have been legislating for so long that Kuwait has become completely dependent on oil, which accounts for 95 percent of national income for the last five years, according to the International Monetary Fund. —Al-Rai

kuwait digest

kuwait digest

National unity can shield us

Expats: A bomb that exploded

By Abdullah Abbas Bowair xpats face innumerable problems. We hear about a problem that an expatriate faces once in a while. Let us remember the incident that took place in K haitan when a large number of Arab expats revolted against security forces. This resulted in many police and civilian vehicles being damaged, costing the state millions. Nevertheless, official instruc tions were issued so that expats were not harmed. Later on, a wave of expat demonstrations swept Kuwait, demanding more increments. The following are some violations committed by expats: A few days ago, an Egyptian arriving on a commercial visit visa was arrested at Kuwait International Airport with the possession of 3,000 hallucination pills that were hidden in his clothes.

An Asian was arrested with the possession of 40 illicit liquor bottles after a police patrol vehicle intercepted his vehicle and stopped him.

The bottles were found upon being searched.

We fully respect many expatriates, but only the honest ones who came to this country to make a living. A while ago, there was a story about an Egyptian who stole steel from security men. Large quantities of construction material in Naseem, Jahra were found. Case papers indicate that a police patrol noticed the

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he curse of oil is that it removes motivation,” Dr Usama Fayyad explained. “The less motivated a society, the less entrepreneurial it becomes, and then the less interesting because there’s less to do, because people aren’t initiating new ideas.”

He wasn’t talking about Kuwait as much as he was explaining to me why my students are less entrepreneurial in Kuwait than in the United States. “The US is the extreme opposite (from the unmotivated society),” he continued. “It’s a country that collects immigrants from around the world and enables them to create businesses.”

Similarly, Dr Fayyad is enabling entrepreneurs to create businesses in the Arab world. Specifically, his goal, as executive chairperson of Oasis500 based in Amman is to produce 500 new online companies in five years.

Some 18 months into the project, he’s more than 10 percent to goal.

Fifty-two new start-ups have been “incubated” in Amman, where Oasis500 is creating something of an Arab “Silicon Wadi”, which has snagged the interest of private money. Perhaps you’ve heard of Jamalon.com, the Amazon.com of the Middle East. The entrepreneur behind the idea came from a Palestinian refugee camp (lots of motivation there). Oasis500 funded his project (about $30,000 of cash and in-kind contributions) and within four months he raised $400,000, grew his business valuation 10 times, and recently raised another $2million. He’s expanded from a couple of employees to 20 in less than a year. Jobs! Is that what Oasis500 is all about? Was it inspired by the Arab Spring? “No,” says Dr Fayyad, a former Yahoo VP who returned to his native Jordan because of business and family interests.

“Oasis500 is about changing our culture.”

And it was inspired by King Abdullah II, who called together private sector executives, mostly venture capitalists and technology experts, to ask them how to transform Jordan. What could be done to help Jordanians improve their lives? What could be done to move away from 40 percent dependence on government jobs? Ever mindful that they were speaking to His Majesty, the executives were blunt: Jordan provided no infrastructure to support entrepreneurs.

So King Abdullah told the executives to build the infrastructure. He was willing to help, but the government would not provide the money. Wisely, all parties agreed that giving people money that they don’t know what to do with isn’t the answer. Neither is giving money to people who are not held accountable. So the executives, led by Dr Fayyad, identified a process that includes: training, seed funding, “angel” investor stimulation, and a leadership network that mentors budding entrepreneurs.

Oasis500 created a five-week boot camp to train the entrepreneurs and is now accepting applications for its 13th session. More than 450 applications are expected, from which Oasis500 will select 60. Of that number, perhaps 10 percent will receive investment money. Applicants (at Oasis500.com) are welcomed from all parts of the world. To date, the entrepreneurs have come from Jordan, Lebanon, UAE, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine, India - even the US! But not Kuwait. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon are studying how to create an Oasis500 of their own. Are you wondering if Kuwait could inspire more entrepreneurs if the infrastructure existed here to support them? Or is Kuwait simply unmotivated because of oil?

Time will tell.

(Dr John P Hayes is a marketing professor at Gulf University for Science & Technology. Contact him at questions@hayesworldwide.com or via Twitter @drjohnhayes)

suspect’s vehicle stop near the project. The suspect stepped down and began loading it with the stolen construction material before policemen stopped him.

Dear reader, here is another incident. I was so tempted to give a title ‘Ali Baba And The Forty Thieves.’ An Asian gang competed with a telecommunications company in offering calling facilities. Case papers indicate that a gang of four Asian men were arrested for selling cheap long distance calls in Fahaheel. The main suspec t had equipped a whole building with cabins and computers. Upon being arrested, the suspect confessed to running another facility using DSL connection.

In another strange case, a waiter from a restaurant was accused of sexually harassing a citizen’s domestic worker. Case papers indicate that after having dinner at a Mubarakiya restaurant, the citizen sent his Sri Lankan maid to help his child wash hands. Apparently, one of the restaurant workers tried to touch her but was scared off by her screams. A case was filed and the worker is being summoned.

M ay the Almight y preser ve Kuwait and its people from all evils under the leadership of Sheik h Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah. M ay Allah protect him. —Al-Watan

kuwait digest

By Dr Yaqoub Al-Sharrah deological variations and differences among people are a result of different environments, culture and political systems under which people live. This normally should not be the reason why people fight with each other or fail to tolerate different opinions when a topic of common interest is discussed.

Ideological diversity and multitude of orientations in democratic practice are values that contribute toward a nation’s development and improvement of living conditions.

All achievements in human history are the result of contributions made by multiple societies; in turn enjoying varieties of ideologies and efforts brought together to achieve positive results.

I felt the need for giving this brief introduction before addressing the relationship shared between ideological variations and sectarian problems that thwart the development process in Kuwait.

Maintaining national unity and tack ling communal issues help achieve development. Different opinions expressed on a single topic does not necessarily have to fuel conflict, thereby creating insecurity. The problem is that many cannot tell apart between a different opinion and dispute. The former is

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a necessit y for civilizations to improve, while the latter results when opinions are not tolerated.

History has taught us that fundamentalist views on racism and religious beliefs can be destructive even leading to genocide. Religious fundamentalism has done more damage to religion itself than people. This happens when extremist actions are committed when religious beliefs are misconstrued.

Religion has been abused to the point where it has became unfavorable. Despite variations, all religious beliefs share the same basic principles.

I t is unfor tunate to witness Muslims argue on the fundamentals of their religion when they practice Islamist politics. There is no doubt that sectarianism is a disease that threatens the very foundations of the state. There are stories of several nations that have fallen apart as a result of sectarian clashes; the most obvious being the former Yugoslavia which disintegrated after several wars were waged and thousands of people were killed.

Before we reach a point when we no longer have control over the situation, we need to maintain national unity; the only shield that can protect us. —Al-Rai

Kuwaitization policy’s failure

By Thaar Al-Rashidi t is necessary that every country employ citizens in the government sector. In Kuwait, this policy was begun at least 25 years ago. If we review this policy, we find that it has been ‘ailing’ owing to the manner in which employment is given and the quality of graduates churned out from universities every year. In every ministry, the number of employees are in excess.

Despite the large number of employees, they are unable to finalize on a single file in less than two to eight weeks’ time. Therefore, the nationalization policy is a failure as well. The idea behind the concept is marvelous, but it has not been implemented properly.

Sadly, some legislator continues to push this concept forward as a ‘tool’ to make cheap political gains.

Nothing has been done and things remain as they are.

Some MPs continue to rant about the large number of unemployed citizens, a total of 15,000 in all. In addition, there are those who were fired from the private sector, increasing gradually. This phenomenon has to be researched properly. Strangely, how can we be importing workers from all specialties, degrees and professions? Our citizens are suffering from unemployment.

There are hundreds of thousands of guest workers. Yet, there is terrible unemployment in the country.

Something is wrong somewhere. That is the reason why the nationalization policy has not taken off. Does this mean that our government was lying to us?

NOTE: it is a shame that a country receives tens of thousands of guest workers belonging to all nationalities and professions, yet its citizens are unemployed. No one can be convinced that a country that enjoys economic surplus is unable to employ a few thousand citizens. —Al-Anbaa

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MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012

Local

Police officer arrested for kidnap, rape of Filipina Snubbed stalker lashes out at female driver KUWAIT: An Ahmadi police officer was arrested in connection with a kidnap and rape case reported recently in Fahaheel. Investigations were underway Friday night after local police were approached by a Filipina who said she was kidnapped and sexually assaulted by a male driver in the area. According to her story to officers, the victim was walking alone when the suspect forced her inside his car and drove her to a remote location where he assaulted her before driving away from the scene. The woman was not able to recollect the license plate number of the suspect’s car, but gave officers a detailed description of his appearance and vehicle.

The information was enough to help police identify the prime suspect who was arrested a few hours later in an ambush outside his house. He turned out to be a lieutenant in the Ahmadi security police force. The man is in custody after he denied the allegations.

Woman assaulted Search is currently ongoing for a well-built man who physically assaulted a female driver on Gulf Road recently after she ignored his harassment.

Police rushed to the location Friday night after the victim made an emergency call and found her on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The Kuwaiti woman explained to officers that the suspect forced her to stop at the side of the road before pulling her out of her car, grabbing her ankle and dragging her around on the floor. The suspect then tore her scalp out before getting back into his

American-made SUV and driving away. The woman’s torn clothes and bare hair served as evidence to her story and she was hospitalized before being helped to the Maidan Hawally police station to file the case.

Shooter at large Investigations are on for a shooter who ended up shooting at the living room of a Sulaibikhat resident recently. Sulaibikhat police were approached by a Kuwaiti man recently who said that a bullet smashed his house’s window and damaged his living room wall where his children were playing.

Criminal investigators recovered the bullet from the scene.

Addict escapes A Kuwaiti man was stabbed by his stoned brother when he tried to calm him down. Police and paramedics rushed to a house in Subahiya following an emergency call from a man reporting his son holding his family hostage at knife-point while under the influence of drugs. Police found a young man with a bleeding hand, thanks to his brother.

He was hospitalized and police launched a search for his runaway brother. Investigations revealed that the suspect went berserk after his father confronted him about his drug abuse habits.

Girl forgives brother A Kuwaiti man was released from custody after he was arrested for domestic abuse when his sister

pressed charges against him. Police and paramedics rushed to an Abdullah Al-Mubarak house recently after a woman made an emergency call saying that she was imprisoned and physically assaulted by her brother. The girl was taken in an ambulance to the hospital after her brother allowed officers in - and initially offered to take her to the hospital himself. He was taken to the area’s police station instead where his sister soon joined him to file a case. The girl however chose not to press charges after her brother showed remorse, and explained that he reacted like that over a family dispute. The man was allowed to leave while his sister was taken back to the hospital for further medical attention.

Attempted murder Four people were arrested hours after brutally assaulting a person over old disputes and leaving him bleeding and unconscious. Police and paramedics rushed to a location in Farwaniya where a four-on-one fight was reported. The victim was rushed to Al-Farwaniya Hospital where his condition stabilized after doctors managed to stop bleeding from several stab wounds. After regaining consciousness, the Kuwaiti man gave police information about one of the Syrian suspects who he said had attacked him to settle unfinished disputes. The man was detained at his apartment and lead police to his three accomplices who were immediately arrested. The four are in custody for attempted murder charges. —Al-Rai, Al-Watan

Ten new ambulance stations to be built

KUWAIT: In a traffic campaign carried out at Hawally, at least 80 citations were issued for reckless driving, parking violations and overspeeding. The Ministry of Interior urged citizens and expatriates to abide by traffic rules, regulations and the safety of roads users.

Kuwait contributes to GCC Joint Program Production Institution KUWAIT: Kuwait has played a great role in enriching and supporting the media of the institution over the last 35 years, besides hosting the headquarters of this institution, Executive Director of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Joint Program Production Institution Abdulmohsen AlBannai said yesterday.

Kuwait plays a role that falls in line with recommendations of the ministers of information, who head the Board of Directors. He hailed the initiative of Sheikh Salman Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, Undersecretary of the Ministry of

Information in supporting the press conference to be held next Tuesday in Marina Hotel, celebrating the 35th anniversary of founding the institution, besides launching a new strategy and new production projects. He also hailed the efforts exerted by previous directors at the institution.

The GCC Joint Program Production Institution’s Board of Directors include undersecretaries at the ministries of information and culture of GCC countries. The conference will be attended by media figures and a delegation representing the GCC Secretariat. —KUNA

KUWAIT: Sahar Al-Therban and Ali Al-Bagli with the students.

ABK sponsors KU engineering project KUWAIT: Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait was proud to attend Kuwait University’s College of Engineering and Petroleum exhibition held in the Salwa Ballroom. Under the umbrella of ABK’s ongoing CSR Campaign, ‘Our Society... Our Responsibility,’ which includes support of youth, sports and humanitarian activities, the Bank sponsored the department’s “Steam Blanket Graduation Project.”

Sahar Al-Therban, PR Manager at ABK stated, “We are delighted with the outcome of this innovative project’s sponsorship, and today, our presence here is primarily to support these hardworking students, even as we imbibe great ideas

from their project design and visual presentation.”

Al-Therban continued explaining, “At ABK we believe in today’s youth, in its inherent ability to create and innovate, and we are honored to encourage students to translate their ideas into actual energy saving plans that could well impact Kuwait’s future.”

Al-Therban concluded, “We wish them all the very best, much success in their graduation and in the careers that they undertake in the future.” The students thanked ABK’s team for their presence and generosity which gave fruition to their project.

KAC aims for two-fold sales with new e-packages KUWAIT: Kuwait Airways Corporation (KAC) hopes its newly-adopted e-booking service, which include travel plus lodgings packages, will raise sales considerably by 100 percent in its first year of implementation.

At the launch ceremony of the new service, head of sales and marketing at KAC, Abdallah Al-Qaisi, told reporters that the airline expects its yearly turnover to increase from KD 5-10 million.

The services will add to others already provided, including the First and

Business Class’ Oasis Club Lounge, among others. The new packages are being introduced under ISO aviation standards and in collaboration with Dubai-based leading aviation IT solution provider, Mercator.

The service will be open to passengers in its initial stage to grow broader to include agents and destinations in its second.

Internet sales so far for the company only account for 10 percent, and the airline intend to twofold this figure in the future. —KUNA

KUWAIT: Ten new ambulance stations will be constructed in various areas across the country, said a Health Ministry official here on Sunday. Dr Faisal Al- Ghanem, Head of Emergency Medicine at the ministr y told KUNA in an exclusive interview that the main station will be built in Al-Sabah medical area, adding that other centers in Hawally, Al-Salmiya, and

other residential areas will be constructed.

The new stations will be built to support the 34 stations in order to develop the medical sector in the country and provide better healthcare for the people, said the official. Ambulance stations will be equipped with the latest emergency tools and vehicles, said AlGhanem, noting that employees

will be well-trained to face emergency situations.

He revealed that there are plans to include female staff at stations and revealed that the first batch of female emergency workers would graduate next October. The official asked for increasing the salary and special allowances paid to employees, stressing that their job is of integral importance. —KUNA

MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012

local

KUWAIT: Participants of a workshop organized by the Kuwait Environment Protection Council yesterday.

More tree planting, less complaining key in countering heat: Ramadhan ‘Get-up-and-do-something’ KUWAIT: With the impact of modern lifestyles becoming more and more visible, and global warming ever more noticeable, we are surrounded by more complaining and frustration about the extremely hot weather, including in Kuwaiti urban areas. A more positive attitude regarding the issue comes in the form of a campaign adopted by a host of meteorologists and environmentalists in Kuwait who are promoting the motto, “More tree planting, less complaining!” to encourage people to plant trees to reduce the impact of the heat and the dust rather than just complaining incessantly about the weather.

The ‘get-up-and-do-something’ team includes Kuwaiti Meteorologist Eisa Ramadhan, who said that similar mottos have been adopted by their peers around the globe in an effort to in order to improve the environments in which their societies are living. He noted that studies showed that a single tree could match the cooling effect of up to 10 air conditioners. The expert pointed out what is called the “heat island effect” where over-populated cities are 3-120 degrees hotter than surrounding rural areas or uninhabited areas, especially at night and early morning.

This, he said, is caused by the presence of man-made structures of concrete, cement, and steel which soak up the heat and store it for a

long time, coupled with the absence of plant or other natural covers to neutralize the effect.

Buildings, asphalt roads, parking lots, cars, factories and the like keep emitting heat well into the evening even after the sun sets, he explained.

Regarding the effect of this phenomenon in terms of global warming, Ramadhan said that the effect is small because urban areas are very small expanses of land compared to the planet’s surface. However, there is a severe impact on human populations where it manifests, which is a big problem since the majority of the world’s population resides in cities.

Studies also indicate that cities record less precipitation than surrounding areas where the heat island effect is present. This means that there is a direct link between the phenomenon and a city’s rain-fall average. Regarding solutions, Ramadhan said that there is agreement on increasing plant-cover within cities. He added that it has already been agreed that taking measures to counter the effect of this phenomenon is a shared responsibility. “Every person who has a home can plant a tree in the yard or in front of the house, rather than just build a fencing hedge, and that would make the city more tolerable.

There is also the possibility of planting certain plants on the roofs of buildings which would

reflect the sun and help purify the air at the same time by soaking up carbon dioxide and giving off oxygen. Ramadhan said that the US Department of Agriculture estimates that a single tree could cool the air as much as 10 air conditioners would for up to 20 hours a day. A tree also provides shade, which reduces a house’s power consumption as well as reduces its gas emissions. The shade of a tree, studies also show, has better cooling effects than shade provided by artificial structures due to the moisture produced by its foliage. He added that the shade of a tree is 1125 degrees cooler than the shade of a man-made structure, and the planted roofs are also much cooler than cement or concrete roofs.

Some US studies indicate that a big tree could emit as much as 400 gallons of water into the surrounding atmosphere, which goes a long way in cooling and humidifying the air, a most appreciated contribution particularly in summer.

A middle-ground measure, he added, would be to use light-colored tiles and paint to coat buildings to reflect as much of the sun as possible in the day and guarantee less heat is retained to be emitted later in the evening, “This measure is adopted and even mandatory in many cities around the world,” Ramadhan further noted. — KUNA

Report decries lackluster coverage of Arab media DUBAI: Dubai Press Club has released the fourth edition of the Arab Media Outlook survey in a report themed “Arab Media: Exposure and Transition”.

The report showed that 53 per cent of the interviewees believe that the Arab Media have failed to offer enough coverage to educational, social, health and humanitarian issues.

About 6 percent of the participants said that the Arab Media should shed light on the media outlets’ transparency, political and sports issues.

The report also showed the remarkably increasing number of Arabs relying on social media to get news, about 60 percent of respondents said social media is the source of nearly 30 percent of the news they get while 15 percent get 30-69 percent of news from social networks.

It showed a shocking decline to the number of people who rely on printed press as a main source of news.

Only 3 percent said they followed the recently political upheavals in the Arab region through press compared with 54 percent for the Internet and 43 percent for TV channels.

The fourth edition of the Arab Media Outlook (AMO) has been developed in collaboration with Deloitte, a globally leading audit, consulting and research company, which monitored the statistical research findings.

The report investigated the significant changes taking place in the media landscape across Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Sudan, Syria, Saudi Arabia,

Tunisia, the UAE, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Yemen, and for the first time Libya and Iraq. A majority of these countries have witnessed major shifts in the media sector across new and traditional platforms.

The change was driven by the disproportionate political, social and economic changes sweeping the Arab world.

More specifically, this edition of AMO examines the shifting media consumption patterns in the UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Morocco. The report covers a vast number of media organizations and the youth, marking a first-of-its-kind step in such researches.

The report additionally assesses the impact of increased broadband Internet services and the prolific use of social media networks. In addition to the survey, the report team has conducted interviews with senior representatives of prominent media organizations in the Arab world. The exercise was implemented with a view to gauging the perspective of decision makers of these organizations and identifying their responses to challenges facing the media industry in the Arab world.

The Arab Media Outlook report, as well as the Arab Media Forum and Arab Journalism Awards, are part of Dubai Press Club’s initiatives to drive the growth of the media sector in the Arab world. AMO is regarded a key resource of reliable information and data on media trends in the Arab world for media professionals, public policy experts, governments, students and advertising companies. — KUNA

Boubyan Bank launches Itqan Academy in cooperation with GUST KUWAIT: Boubyan Bank, the fastest growing bank in Kuwait, announced the launch of its Itqan Academy in cooperation with GUST, which will act as a center for developing the bank’s human resources in an academic way by providing the most advanced specialized programs, administrative sciences and programs accredited by international institutions, all in compliance with the bank’s business environment and the shariah.

Commenting on the agreement signed with GUST, Adel Abdul-Wahab Al-Majed, chairman and MD of Boubyan Bank said: “The Management of Boubyan Bank believes in the importance of human resources, being the key driver for realizing any success or achievement” adding that investment in development the staff’s capabilities from all levels and imparting them with required experience is regarded as a cornerstone for the Bank’s plans targeting more development and part of its main strategy to be the bank of choice in the area of Islamic banking services.

Al-Majed stressed the importance of this step which puts the Bank among the institutions giving due care to their human resources, expressing, at the same time, his appreciation of the role to be played by GUST in participating with the Bank in developing its human resources. He also indicated that the launch of Itqan Academy would not have been completed without the cooperation and alliance with a partner with special capabilities and expertise, and therefore our choice fell upon GUST which is accredited by the University of Missouri at

St. Louis (UMSL),and thus signed an agreement with it to act as the Exclusive Academic Partner in Kuwait for establishing Itqan Academy.

Al-Majed pointed out that the Academy aims at qualifying the aspiring the Kuwaiti youth and fresh graduates to work at Boubyan Bank in a way that provides them with opportunities for promotion and building their career as well as giving them the privilege of getting in touch with the Academy’scadre, which are specialized and experienced in giving training programs accredited by international agencies.

In this respect, Dr Abdul-Rahman Al-Muhailan, Chairman of the Board of Trustees at GUST said that the Agreement stems from our commitment and cooperation with civil community institutions and a leading Kuwaiti bank for developing the human capabilities and the best utilization of performance development in the different aspects of life; being the effective factor to upgrade our institutions. The process of development and enhancement of training using GUST’s academic programs such as MBA program as well as advanced technological learning methodologies such as e-learning, which Boubyan Itqan Academy seeks to include within its programs, is indeed a source of pride for us and we appreciate that Boubyan Bank’s Management is aware of the importance of qualifying the promising future generations of this nation.

On his part, GM- Human Resources Group, Adel Al-Hammad said that the Academy will provide training opportunities for a whole year to the

Bank’s staff in many fields such as specialized training programs in financial management, business administration, communication skills, human resources development, self-development as well as advanced, distinguished programs in customer service and professional banking product sales.

Al-Hammad added that Boubyan Bank strives to be the employer of choice for Kuwaiti fresh graduates by providing a work environment encouraging the development of the capabilities of the youth and giving the opportunity for career development to talented trainees within a carefully planned scientific framework under the supervision of Itqan Academy work team. In addition, the programs of ITQAN Academy are based on the Blended Learning Approach comprising training courses, on-the-job training, job rotation, guidance and instruction, e-learning and assessment centers.

He also indicated that the Bank strives to invest in the Kuwaiti youth through providing training programs and academic curricula fitting the banking business and qualifying them to obtain part of the MBA program as the Academy trainees fulfilling specific conditions will be able to obtain 24 accredited academic credits of the MBA provided

by GUST, which represent 53% of the total accredited hours of the program, and these accredited credits will be in match with the basic work requirements in Boubyan. Moreover, trainees will be given the opportunity to complete the remaining accredited credits of the MBA at GUST in order to obtain the certificate, if they so desire.

Arab media lost a giant figure in Tueini

KUWAIT: A motorist was injured in a three-car collision that took place yesterday on the Fifth Ring Road. The man was hospitalized and investigations are continuing.

— Photos by Fouad Al-Shaikh

KUWAIT: Arab media lost a giant of a figure in the passing of pioneer Lebanese journalist and dean of the Lebanese Press, Ghassan Tueini, said the Ministry of Information’s Undersecretary, Sheikh Salman Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah yesterday.

In a press statement, Sheikh Salman said that Tueini helped shape politics and political media, thought, and culture through his writings and treaties and ser ved as an example in free thought, freedom of expression, and defense of democracy and Human Rights.

“This is as much a loss for the Kuwaiti media circles as it is for the Lebanese,” Sheikh Salman noted. He recalled the

late figure’s support of Kuwaiti rights during the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait in 1990 as well as the qualitative leap he brought upon journalism through his work at An-Nahar newspaper, which he build to be among the most successful in the Arab region in the last few decades. He also recalled with admiration Tueini’s determination and devotion to the media institution he chaired again after leaving it for years in the hands of his son, Gebran.

The latter, who was assassinated, was known to criticize Syrian influence in Lebanon at times. The undersecretary extended his condolences to the Lebanese presidency, media field, and people in general. — KUNA

MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012

Ex-Indian army officer kills family, self in California

Gunmen, suicide bomber attack Nigerian churches Page 10

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Anti-Shabaab minister dies in ‘air crash’ Kenya Internal security minister a presidential hopeful Tit-for-tat abductions in Lebanon TRIPOLI: Gunmen abducted yesterday four Syrian Alawites and a Shiite man along the border with Syria after a Sunni Lebanese was kidnapped in the same region, a security official and witnesses said. The tit-for-tat abductions occurred in the Wadi Khaled border region between the two countries, where tensions have run high between supporters and opponents of the regime in Syria, the sources said.

They said unidentified gunmen first kidnapped a Sunni Muslim Lebanese man in the village of Massoudiyeh, which has a large Alawite community, the same sect of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. Afterwards gunmen abducted four Syrian Alawites in the Wadi Khaled region and later a Syrian Shiite

NAIROBI: Kenya Red Cross personnel retrieve a body in the area of the helicopter wreckage after it crashed in Ngong forest, on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya yesterday.—AP

NAIROBI: Kenya’s internal security minister, who was closely involved in the fight against Somali militant group Al Shabaab, was killed when the police helicopter he was travelling in crashed into a forest yesterday.

George Saitoti, his deputy Orwa Ojode, two pilots and two bodyguards were killed when the aircraft came down outside the capital Nairobi and burst into flames, the government said.

A prospective candidate in next March’s presidential election, Saitoti was one of the most outspoken government politicians on the threat from Somali militants, often visiting scenes of Al Shabaab’s attacks and vowing to crush the group. Kenya sent troops across the Somali border last October in pursuit of Al Shabaab, drawing a series of retaliatory grenade attacks on its soil, killing several people. Prime Minister Raila Odinga said investigations into the cause of the crash had started and that the cabinet would hold a special session on the incident.

“This is a terrible tragedy that has struck our country this morning. Nobody knows exactly the cause of this accident. That is why experts will carry out investigations,” Odinga told reporters at the scene of the crash.

“We will do everything possible to ensure we find we find out the cause of this accident, but for now it is just an accident.” Witnesses said they saw a helicopter swaying wildly in the air at about 8:30 am in foggy weather.

“I heard an explosion and I rushed to the scene,” said

25-year old Leonard Njoroge whose house is a stone’s throw away from the crash site. “Others came and we tried to put out the fire using sand but it was too fierce.

It was too late for the passengers. We didn’t know at the time it was carrying prominent people.”

RALLIES CANCELLED Debris of the burnt-out helicopter were strewn in the forest in the Ngong area just outside of Nairobi where government officials and curious locals jostled to catch a glimpse. Saitoti, who was a long-serving vice president under former President Daniel Arap Moi, planned to run for president for President Mwai Kibaki’s Party of National Unity (PNU). “He leaves behind a rich legacy of service to the country,” Kibaki said in a statement of condolence.

Other candidates in the presidential race, including Odinga and his deputy Musalia Mudavadi, cancelled their campaign rallies. The death of Saitot, a former mathematics professor who made a fortune in real estate, came exactly four years after another cabinet minister and an assistant minister were killed when a small plane they were travelling in crashed. The death of Kipkalya Kones, minister for roads, and Lorna Laboso, an assistant minister in the office of the vice president, prompted the government to issue a directive against senior officials travelling in the same aircraft. — Reuters

23 killed south Libyan clashes TRIPOLI: Members of Libya’s Toubou minority and government forces fought for a second consecutive day yesterday, with the death toll rising to 23, tribal sources and a local military commander said. Doctor Taher Wehli said 20 members of his Toubou community, including women and children, were killed since fighting erupted in Kufra on Saturday, with more than 50 other people wounded.

Wissam Ben Hmid, commander of the Libya Shield Brigade which is stationed in the southern oasis city, said he had lost three of his men in fighting sparked by a Toubou attack on one of their checkpoints. He said twelve others members of the brigade-former rebels under government control which were sent to quell previous ethnic fighting-were wounded during clashes. But tribal chief Issa Abdelmajid gave a higher toll saying 28 people were killed in two days of fighting that erupted on Saturday when the Toubou quarter of the town of Kufra came under shelling by the Libya Shield Brigade.

“Twenty-eight dead since yesterday,” Abdelmajid said. The controversial tribal chief accused the government brigade of trying “to extermi-

nate” the Toubou minority and urged the United Nations to pressure the ruling National Transitional Council to “break the siege against the Toubous.”

Another tribal leader in the southern oasis city confirmed that more than 20 people had been killed in Toubou areas. “The situation in Kufra is critical,” said Hussein Sake. He noted that there were no major hospitals in the area and that medics at a basic clinic were struggling to treat the wounded because there was no blood for transfusions.

He also accused the Libya Shield Brigade of pounding Toubou areas.

“The attack isn’t over yet,” he said. Ben Hmid also confirmed that fighting continued yesterday. In February, clashes pitting the Toubou against the rival Zwei ethnic group in Kufra cost more than 100 lives and displaced half the population, according to UN figures. Libya’s nascent army intervened by sending the brigade from the eastern city of Benghazi to uphold a hardwon ceasefire. Kufra, a town of about 40,000, is located in a triangle where the borders of Egypt, Chad and Sudan meet. In April, fighting between the Toubou and the brigade killed 12 people. — AFP

Muslim was also seized, the sources added. The Alawite sect is an offshoot of Shiite Islam and represents only 12 percent of Syria’s mostly Sunni population of 22 million people. Residents of the mostly Sunni region of Wadi Khaled blocked roads and burned tyres to protest against the abduction of the Lebanese national.

Several kidnappings of Lebanese and Syrians have recently occurred in Wadi Khaled, which hosts thousands of Syrian refugees who have fled repression in their country. The opposition Syrian National Council has repeatedly accused the Damascus regime of breaching the border with Lebanon and of launching attacks against Lebanese citizens and Syria refugees alike. —AFP

SUNDAY, JUNE 11, 2012

I N T E R N AT I O N A L

Israel, Palestinian negotiators meet

RAMALLAH: Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have been meeting quietly in recent weeks in hopes of ending a three-year standstill in peace efforts, both sides confirmed yesterday. Officials acknowledged the agenda of the recent talks has been modest, and stressed there is no breakthrough in sight. Nonetheless, the revelations gave a small sign of hope that a formula can be found to restart formal negotiations addressing core issues.

Peace talks broke down in December 2008, and have remained frozen ever since. The Palestinians say they will not resume negotiations until Israel halts settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, occupied lands claimed by the Palestinians for a future state. The Palestinians also want Israel to accept its pre-1967 boundaries, before it captured the West Bank and east Jerusalem, as the basis of a final border. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says talks

should restart without preconditions.

Palestinian officials said their chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, and Netanyahu’s envoy, Yitzhak Molcho, have been meeting on a regular basis in hopes of finding a formula for restarting talks. They said they have not eased their demands, but were open to scheduling a meeting between Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The two men have not met since a short-lived attempt to relaunch negotiations in late 2010.

The Palestinian officials said Abbas is seeking a goodwill gesture from Israel, such as a “significant release” of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. They said Abbas, who is locked in a power struggle with the Islamic Hamas movement, feels he needs a concrete accomplishment from the meetings or risk facing ridicule at home. Israel is holding about 4,000 Palestinian prisoners, and Abbas is seeking the release of several hundred Palestinians, includ-

ing people who were arrested before a 1993 interim peace accord, those with significant health problems, and prominent political figures.

An Israeli official confirmed there have been “ongoing contacts at different levels.” He refused to elaborate, but said Israel is always ready to consider goodwill gestures. He cited Israeli concessions that ended hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners last month, and the recent return of the remains of dozens of dead Palestinian militants to their families.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing a sensitive diplomatic issue. Negotiators Erekat and Molcho also held a series of meetings earlier this year under Jordanian auspices.

But the dialogue failed to produce any breakthroughs because of disagreements over the settlement issue. The Palestinians view settlement con-

struction as a sign of bad faith and say there is no point in talking as long as Israel builds homes for its citizens on occupied lands. More than 500,000 Israelis now live in Jewish settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

Netanyahu, leader of the hawkish Likud Party, has traditionally been a strong supporter of the settlers. But in recent months, he has shown signs of moderation, warning that Israel’s continued control over millions of Palestinians is unsustainable and would jeopardize the state’s future as a democracy with a Jewish majority. Last month, Netanyahu brought the main opposition party Kadima into his government, giving him a coalition that holds 94 of parliament’s 120 seats. The supermajority has reduced Netanyahu’s reliance on hardliners in the previous coalition and raised speculation that he may be planning more significant concessions to the Palestinians. —AP

Israel accuses Assad regime of genocide Israel Minister calls for military action

BAGHDAD: In this Dec 3, 2011 file photo, Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Baghdad.—AP

Iraq prez: PM critics didn’t muster majority BAGHDAD: Opponents of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki have failed to muster enough support to bring him down in a vote of no confidence, Iraq’s president said in a statement posted on his website yesterday. Al-Maliki, a Shiite, faces a growing challenge from Sunni and Kurdish parties as well as other Shiites within his unity government who accuse him of monopolizing power.

But al-Maliki also has allies such as President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, whose office must affirm that a petition for a no confidence vote has enough signatures.

Talabani’s refusal to ratify the no confidence campaign’s letter is a setback for al-Maliki’s opponents, although the constitution gives them other ways of trying for the vote.

Talabani has close ties to Iran, which has been using its leverage in Iraq to keep alMaliki in place. Divisions among the prime minister’s opponents may also be undercutting the no confidence push.

The failure to obtain a no confidence vote averts an immediate political blowup, but perpetuates the sectarian-based deadlock that has been paralyzing the country.

Last week, the prime minister’s opponents said they sent a letter to Talabani with pledges from 176 lawmakers in the 325member parliament - or a dozen more than the 164 needed - that they would vote for the prime minister ’s recall. However, Talabani said yesterday that the letter only has 160 valid signatures. He said 13 law-

makers informed him that they are withdrawing or suspending their signatures.

There was no immediate explanation for the discrepancy between the 176 signatures cited by al-Maliki’s opponents and the total of 173 referred to by Talabani.

The president has urged al-Maliki and his coalition partners to try to iron out their differences. He said yesterday that he plans to leave for medical treatment in Europe next week, further distancing himself from those trying to unseat al-Maliki. Al-Maliki’s disgruntled coalition partners, including representatives of the Sunni-dominated Iraqiya movement, Kurdish parties and supporters of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr were meeting yesterday in the autonomous Kurdistan region to discuss their next move.

The current standoff, which has dragged on since inconclusive March 2010 elections, is holding back attempts to rebuild the country after eight years of U.S. occupation.

Sunnis accuse al-Maliki of targeting their leaders in politically motivated prosecutions, Kurds believe his government is hostile to their regional autonomy, and many Shiites feel he cuts them out of decisionmaking. But his government has also won allies through dispensing patronage, and others think he has provided at least some stability after years of sectarian conflict. Iran is also believed to view him as perhaps the only viable Iraqi national leader at this point - a view that Washington is said to share, according to Iraqi politicians. — AP

JERUSALEM: A senior Israeli minister yesterday made the Jewish state’s most explicit call yet for military intervention to topple President Bashar Al-Assad and accused him of committing genocide to suppress the 15-month-old uprising against his rule. Vice Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz urged world powers to oust Assad in the same way that last year’s Western-backed campaign in Libya overthrew former strongman Muammar Gaddafi. “A crime against humanity, genocide, is being conducted in Syria today. And the silence of the world powers is contrary to all human logic,” Mofaz told Israel’s Army Radio. “Since in the not-distant past the powers chose military intervention in Libya, here the required conclusion would be immediate military intervention to bring down the Assad regime.”

Israel had so far taken a cautious line on the uprising in its Arab neighbor. While the overthrow of Assad would weaken his close ally and Israel’s main enemy Iran, it has been wary of what might happen if the Syrian leader were to be replaced by an Islamist government more hostile to the Jewish state. The military chief, LieutenantGeneral Benny Gantz, said last week he saw a “lose-lose prospect” for Israel whichever way the Syria conflict played out. But with Israeli public opinion appalled by media reports of mounting Syrian civilian deaths, some officials had begun to suggest privately that they would welcome foreign military intervention.

A belief that the uprising may have reached a tipping point and can no longer be rolled back has also given more space to hawks who see in Assad’s fall an opportunity to weaken Iran whose nuclear program is Israel’s biggest security concern. Assad, from the minority Alawite sect, considered an offshoot of Shiite Islam, has close ties both with Shiite Iran and the Lebanese Shiite political and military group Hezbollah, which was originally set up to oppose Israel. But during his rule, Israel maintained what it believed to be a manageable standoff with Syria which might spin out of control were an organization like the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood - ruthlessly crushed by his father Bashar Al-Assad - to take charge next door.

IRAN, HEZBOLLAH HELPING Comments by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday, however, suggested that concerns about Iran may be starting to predominate in Israel’s calculations. “This is a slaughter carried out not only by the Syrian government. It

DEIR EL-ZOUR: This citizen journalism image provided by Shaam News Network SNN, taken on Friday purports to show Syrians chanting slogans during a demonstration in the eastern city of Deir el-Zour, Syria. —AP is being helped by Iran and Hezbollah,” he said in broadcast remarks to his cabinet. “The world should understand what kind of environment we live in.” Iran denies helping Assad to crush dissent. Netanyahu has steered clear of explicitly calling for military intervention in Syria, telling Bild newspaper last week: “That’s a decision for the leading powers who are now talking about it.

The less I say as prime minister of Israel, the better.” Mofaz, a former top general and political centrist who became junior partner in Netanyahu’s conservative coalition government last month, said Israel had limited options on Syria. “We cannot get involved, for understandable reasons. But I think that the West, led by the United States, has an interest in guarding the threshold (so) genocide does not take place.”

Soldiers and militias loyal to Assad have killed at least 10,000 people, including many majority Sunnis, according to UN figures. The Assad government puts its own losses at more than 2,600 dead. It has condemned the killing of civilians in Syria, and blamed the violence on Sunni Islamist terrorism.

Israel’s comments on Syria come at a time of

Coastguards close four Yemeni ports in protest SANAA/ADEN: Yemeni coastguards blocked ports yesterday to protest against the government’s failure to pay financial benefits they said it had promised, halting most shipping. Port officials said the guards prevented workers from entering four main ports, including Aden in the south, Hodeidah in the west and the Red Sea ports of Mokha and Saleef. “Movement has completely stopped in almost all ports,” Sharaf Mohammed, a ship captain at Hodeidah.

Yemen has slipped into a state of chaos during a year of unrest. Former President Ali Abdullah Saleh has been ousted after 33 years of rule and replaced by his deputy, AbdRabbu Mansour Hadi, under a deal brokered by Yemen’s rich Gulf neighbors. The army is pushing ahead with cam-

paign to retake towns seized by Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda during the upheaval.

In Zinjibar, capital of southern Abyan province, where the army has been fighting the Islamist militants for more than a month, at least five militants were killed in battles yesterday with government forces, a local official and residents said. Another four Islamist fighters were killed and two soldiers wounded outside the town of Jaar, military officials and residents of the area said. They said there hade been air strikes on targets including a factory used by Islamist fighters as a base.

Separately, at least one soldier and one member of the southern secessionist movement were killed during clashes

yesterday in the southern province of Dalea, the Defence Ministry and southern activists said. The ministry said in a text message that members of the southern secessionist movement had attacked the soldiers, while the secessionists said the soldiers fired at them without a warning. The incident comes ahead of a meeting later this month in Cairo between Yemeni political leaders and prominent secessionists to prepare for a national dialogue scheduled for August.

The dialogue is an element of the Saudi and U.S.-backed transition deal that removed Saleh from office this year in a bid to avert civil war. South Yemen was formerly a separate state whose 1990 union with the north collapsed into civil war four years later. — Reuters

Libya landmark vote postponed to July 7 TRIPOLI: Libya yesterday announced that elections for a constituent assembly, the country’s first national vote after four decades of dictatorship under toppled leader Muammar Gaddafi, has been postponed to July 7. The election had originally been slated to be held

by June 19. “The date for the elections will be July 7,” the president of the electoral commission, Nuri Al-Abbar, told a news conference in Tripoli, citing “logistical and technical” reasons for the delay. The vote was postponed due to a delay in adopting a law to organize the elections, in order to give voters more time to register and to allow candidates who have been ruled out by the commission to appeal the decision, Abbar said.

He said that the commission started its duties on February 12 which gave it only “128 days to prepare the elections... a very short time, especially for a country that hasn’t seen elections for almost half a century.” Abbar added that a note was sent yesterday to the ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) to explain the decision to delay the vote. A commission member on Saturday had suggested that the vote could be held July 10, also giving similar reasons for the postponement.

Another member of the electoral commission said the postponement had been decided in consultation with UN officials working with

the commission who had “proposed a date during the first week in July.” More than 2.7 million Libyans, or around 80 percent of eligible voters, have registered to participate in the election. The ruling National Transitional Council, having declared the country’s “liberation” three days after the October 20 capture and killing of Gaddafi, launched a roadmap to a new Libya with a 20-month countdown to elections. A transitional government was to organize within eight months the election of a 200-member assembly, or “general national congress.” The NTC is to step down once the congress holds its first session.

Dozens of parties, which were banned under Gaddafi’s iron-grip rule as a “Western invention”, have been founded in the months ahead of the election.

A total of 120 seats on the assembly are reserved for independents, with the rest open to contest by political associations. On June 3, the commission instructed the 4,000 candidates who hope to run in the polls not to launch campaigning before a date is announced. On Friday, the European Union said it has deployed an election assessment team to Libya ahead of the polls, which EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton has described as a “crucial step in the ongoing transition.” — AFP

TRIPOLI: Nuri Al-Abbar, president of the Libyan electoral commission, speaks during a press conference in Tripoli yesterday. —AFP

intense frustration with the west’s failure to curb Iran’s nuclear program. World powers have so far used sanctions and negotiations to stop a program they believe is geared towards producing nuclear bombs. Israel has hinted it could attack Iran preemptively should it deem diplomacy a dead end. Iran dismisses accusations it is secretly developing nuclear arms and has vowed wideranging reprisals if attacked, raising the spectre of a Middle East war in which Syria and Hezbollah would support Tehran against Israel.

Ehud Yaari, Middle East correspondent for Israel’s top-rated Channel Two television, described Syria as a test-case for international resolve in the Middle East. “When you see the lassitude (by world powers) regarding goings-on in Syria, you cannot but draw discouraging conclusions about their readiness to act to stop Iran,” he said. Israeli officials other than Mofaz have preferred to frame prospective foreign intervention in Syria in terms of humanitarian aid.

Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon yesterday offered Israeli relief to Syrian refugees - either in countries like Jordan and Turkey that recognize Israel, or in Israel itself. — Reuters

Mohsen Rezaie to run for Iran presidency again DUBAI: Veteran Iranian politician Mohsen Rezaie, who lost to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a disputed 2009 presidential poll that sparked protests, became the first person to declare his candidacy for next year, Iran’s ILNA news agency reported yesterday. Rezaie initially filed formal complaints over the official results of the 2009 vote, but later withdrew them. At the time, he criticised the authorities for their handling of the election and the demonstrations that followed it, saying that the Islamic Republic could face collapse unless it embraced change.

“My participation in the upcoming presidential election of the Republic is certain. I’m in it to win it,” Rezaie, a former commander of the elite Revolutionary Guards, was quoted by ILNA as saying at a meeting in the capital Tehran. Rezaie, who finished third in the 2009 vote, is also the secretary of Iran’s Expediency Council, a powerful body which advises Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Khamenei endorsed Ahmadinejad after his 2009 reelection, which sparked the worst unrest in Iran’s history, but the president - now serving his final term has since fallen out of favour with the country’s top authority by making his own policy decisions.

Critics homed in on his chief of staff, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, accusing him of leading a “deviant current” bent on undermining the political role of the clergy. Ahmadinejad’s rivals feared he was lining Mashaei up to be the next president.

Influential parliament speaker Ali Larijani, a more moderate conser vative and fierce critic of Ahmadinejad, is also expected to run, as is the mayor of Tehran, Mohammed Baqer-Qalibaf. The spat has set the stage for a tough finale to Ahmadinejad’s presidency, amid tightening international sanctions imposed by Western powers trying to curb Iran’s nuclear activities. They suspect Iran is trying to produce atomic bombs. Tehran says its nuclear programme is purely for generation of power. — Reuters

MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012

I N T E R N AT I O N A L

Catholic faith on line as church rallies in Dublin DUBLIN: An international conference celebrating Roman Catholicism opened yesterday in Ireland against a backdrop of anger over child abuse cover-ups and evidence of declining faith in core church beliefs. More than 20,000 Catholics, many from overseas, gathered for an open-air Mass in a Dublin stadium at the start of the Eucharistic Congress, a weeklong event organized by the Vatican every four years in a different part of the world. The global gathering, begun in the 19th century and last held in Quebec in 2008, highlights the Catholic Church’s belief in transubstantiation, the idea that bread and wine transforms during Mass into the actual body and blood of Jesus Christ.

An opinion poll of Irish Catholics found that two-thirds of Irish Catholics don’t believe this, nor do they attend Mass weekly. The survey, published last week in The Irish Times with an error margin of 3 points, also found that just 38 percent believe Ireland today would be in worse shape without its dominant church. And just three-fifths even knew the Eucharistic Congress was coming to Ireland.

Such views reflect rapid secularization and

alienation with the church in Ireland, where church and state once were tightly intertwined.

The last time Ireland hosted the Eucharistic Congress in 1932, more than 1 million - a quarter of Ireland’s population - packed Dublin’s Phoenix Park for Mass with nary a dissenting voice. This time, Ireland’s opening soccer match yesterday in the European Championship is dominating public attention and excitement. So much so that the congress blog had to point out to visitors that all the Irish flags on display on buildings, shops and taxis represented excitement about the football, not the faith.

And as Catholic pilgrims entered the opening Mass, they passed protesters from Survivors of Child Abuse, an Irish pressure group that has spent more than a decade demanding that church leaders in Ireland and Rome admit their full culpability in the protection of pedophile priests. Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, president of the Eucharistic Congress and the Irish church’s leading voice calling for greater openness on past abuse, said he respected the right of the protesters to gather. Martin said he and other church leaders would address the church’s sins

during sermons this week and expressed hope that the Eucharistic Congress would offer “a moment of renewal and healing within the Catholic Church.”

As part of that process, yesterday’s ceremonies featured the unveiling of a symbolic “healing stone” with a poem written by a victim of a pedophile priest. Martin said the church in Ireland was facing its gravest fight for survival since the early 19th century, when British laws that barred Irish Catholics from political power had yet to be repealed. “The church is in crisis in Ireland, and that crisis is very, very deep,” he said. “But ... we’re turning the corner to be a very different church to the one we were. The difference will be reflected perhaps in the Eucharistic Congress. It won’t resemble the 1932 congress in any way.”

Eighty years ago, Ireland had been independent of Britain for less than a decade. Historians credit the 1932 Eucharistic Congress, with its huge crowds and a Dublin Bay filled with ocean liners bearing overseas pilgrims, as the ultimate expression of how Catholicism served as the central pillar of Irish nationalism. But since the early 1990s the church’s standing in society has been battered

by a series of scandals involving the church’s concealment of child-abuse crimes from police and other Irish authorities. Four state-ordered investigations over the past decade have documented how tens of thousands of children from the 1940s to 1990s suffered sexual, physical and mental abuse from priests, nuns and church staff in three Irish dioceses and in a network of workhousestyle residential schools.

More investigations of other dioceses beckon.

“The return of the Eucharistic Congress offers an escape from the trauma of a decade in which the moral standing of the institutional church has been ravaged by its systematic collusion with the abuse of children. ... But most of those who will come to celebrate at the congress will be fully aware that the identity they cherish cannot be sustained by dreams of a return to the triumphalist Catholicism of 1932. That world is dead,” The Irish Times said in its lead editorial. “Ireland will never again be a monolithic culture in which a single hierarchical institution can enjoy such power and prestige. And nor should it be. The darker consequences of that culture are now all too well known,” it said. — AP

Gunmen, suicide bomber attack Nigerian churches Congregation sprayed with bullets in Borno state

TULLE: French President Francois Hollande holds french newspapers accompanied by his companion Valerie Trierweiler, left, in Tulle, central France yesterday.— AP

French lawmaker election could cement left’s power PARIS: French voters choose lawmakers for the lower house of parliament yesterday, in a poll that will determine whether new President Francois Hollande’s Socialists or rival conservatives control the government. The elections, followed by runoffs a week later, will also show whether Hollande can push his taxthe-rich, down-with-austerity agenda, and how much of a voice the far right will have in policies on immigration and Muslim practices.

Polls show the Socialists with a slight lead but it’s unclear whether they will get the solid majority Hollande needs to fulfill the promises he made to disgruntled voters during his election showdown with conservative Nicolas Sarkozy, whose party currently dominates Parliament. Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigration National Front, buoyed by her strong thirdplace showing in the spring presidential race, is also looking to win a voice in parliament for the first time since the 1980s. Her aims of undoing the euro currency, shrinking immigration, protecting “Frenchness” and fighting what she calls Islamization have won her fans among French voters who fear globalization, and among extreme right movements around Europe. At midday turnout was 21.06 percent, according to figures released by the Interior

Ministry. That was slightly below the 22.56 percent who’d voted by midday in the first round of the last parliamentary elections in 2007. Most polling stations close at 1600 GMT, while those in Paris and other large cities close at 1800 GMT. The first results are expected shortly after the end of the voting.

The legislative race hasn’t garnered nearly the headlines or drama of the presidential race in April and May, and many polls suggest turnout among France’s 46 million voters could be around 40 percent - far less than when Hollande beat Sarkozy. The new lower house serves for the next five years, coinciding with Hollande’s five-year term. Voters are choosing representatives for all 577 seats in the Assemblee Nationale representing mainland France and its overseas territories, from French Polynesia in the South Pacific to Guadeloupe in the Caribbean.

The Socialists and their allies are hoping to get at least 289 seats for a majority.

Candidates who win more than 50 percent in yesterday’s first round win the seat outright.

Many races go to a second round, involving any candidate who garners more than 12.5 percent of the registered voters in the first round.— AP

2 dead in building collapse in Ukraine KIEV: A vertical section of a five-story apartment building in western Ukraine collapsed in the wee hours yesterday, killing two people and injuring one, emergency officials said. The incident took place shortly after 4 am in the western city of Lutsk, some 150 kilometers (90 miles) north of the city of Lviv, which is co-hosting the European football championship.

The Emergency Situations Ministry said eight apartments were destroyed when the load-bearing structure running through the apartments’ kitchens and living rooms collapsed. The accident occurred when most residents were asleep in the apartments’ bedrooms, which were not affected. Eighteen

people, including a 4-year-old child, were rescued from those eight apartments. Television footage showed a giant gaping space in the gray brick building, which was constructed in 1971, as emergency workers wearing jumpsuits and hard hats combed through the rubble. Several dozen residents of the apartment building stood in line for food and drinks at a soup kitchen set up by emergency workers.

Such accidents are frequent in Ukraine, where infrastructure is outdated and safety rules are often neglected. Channel 5 television reported that authorities suspect unauthorized repair works being conducted in the building’s basement were to blame for the collapse. — AP

MAIDUGURI/JOS: Militants attacked two churches in Nigeria yesterday, spraying the congregation of one with bullets, killing at least one person, and blowing up a car in a suicide bombing at the other, wounding 41, witnesses and police said. No one was killed by the car bombing in the central city of Jos, but mobs of youths attacked bystanders in retaliation, killing two, police said. There was no claim of responsibility.

Attacks on churches have become a trademark tactic of Islamist group Boko Haram, which says it is fighting to reinstate an ancient Islamic caliphate in northern Nigeria.

Hamidu Wakawa was at the church in Biu Town in northeastern Borno state when it was attacked. “Three gunmen came to the premises of the church and started firing at people outside the church before going into the main building to carry on their killings,” he said. “Many people have been killed and wounded.” The police

spokesman for Borno state, Samuel Tizhe, said five gunmen attacked the church, killing one woman and wounding three other people, before they fled. Police casualty figures from Islamist attacks are often lower than those given by witnesses caught up in them.

In the attack in Jos, a man drove a car to the entrance of the Christ Chosen Church and then blew it up, said Emmanuel Davou, 53, who lives nearby. Emmanuel Ayeni, police commissioner for Plateau state, of which Jos is the capital, told journalists 41 people were being treated for injuries in a local hospital. “The circumstances of the two killed by mobs is still unclear,” he said.

Boko Haram has been blamed for hundreds of killings in bomb or gun attacks over the past two years. Its leader, Abubakar Shekau, frequently justifies attacks on Christians as revenge for killings of Muslims in Nigeria’s volatile “Middle Belt”, where the largely Christian south and most-

Greek party chiefs fear poll deadlock, urge alliance ATHENS: Leaders of Greece’s two traditional ruling parties warned yesterday of political stalemate after parliamentary elections next week and called for a government of national unity to prevent a repeat of the confusion that followed the last vote in May. The June 17 election could decide Greece’s future in the euro with voters split over a 130 billion euro international bailout which has kept afloat the economy, now in its fifth year of recession, at the price of harsh and bitterly resented austerity measures.

“It seems that we are heading for a deadlock,” Evangelos Venizelos, head of the Socialist PASOK party told a news conference, saying he had written to the other main parties calling for a broadly-based national unity government.

“None of the scenarios after the elections looks like leading to a solution. What they’re leading to is an absence of government.” According to internal party polls cited in two newspapers yesterday, the pro-bailout conservative New Democracy party has held on to a narrow advantage over the radical leftist SYRIZA party, which rejects the deal with the European Union and IMF. No party appears strong enough to form a government alone, however.

The Sunday edition of conservative daily Tipos said the polls showed New Democracy and SYRIZA both gaining votes, with a slight advantage to New Democracy. The weekly Proto Thema said four of the six polls conducted over the past three days gave a lead to New Democracy. PASOK, reduced to a shadow of its former standing as Greece’s biggest party following a wipeout in the May election, trails far behind both New Democracy and SYRIZA but could play a role in a coalition government.

Venizelos said both New Democracy and SYRIZA would have to be included in a unity government to head off the danger of street protests against any new administration struggling with the worst economic crisis in Greece’s postwar history. “Greece cannot be governed with more than half of Greeks against the government,” Venizelos said in his letter, but offered

ATHENS: Greece’s socialist leader, Evangelos Venizelos of the PASOK party makes statements in Athens yesterday. Former finance minister Evangelos Venizelos has called for a broadlybased coalition government to renegotiate Greeceís bailout agreement with its creditors after next Sunday’s election. —AP no detail about how to bridge differences which scuppered efforts to form a government after the May elections.

His call for unity was immediately dismissed

by SYRIZA, which said it was typical of the “lack of clarity” offered by PASOK during the crisis.

However, his warning of disaster was echoed by New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras. “A third round of elections would be suicidal,” Samaras told Mega TV in an interview. “We must have a government by any means,” he said. New Democracy and PASOK both broadly accept the bailout deal signed in March between Greece and the European Commission and International Monetary Fund, although they both want some

Quake hits off southwest Turkey

LUTSK: In this photo released by Emergency Situations Ministry, Emergency Situations Ministry workers clear the site of collapsed building yesterday in Lutsk, Ukraine.—AP

ly Muslim north meet. It was too early to tell if the attacks were coordinated. Security sources say Boko Haram has many different factions that sometimes seem to operate independently.

Moments after the suicide bombing in Jos, Christian youths set up roadblocks and had to be dispersed by police. “Angry youths have gone wild, even attempting to prevent the security personnel from getting to the scene of the incident. They had to force their way out by shooting in the air to disperse them,” said Davou. Boko Haram has linked up with other Islamist groups in the region including al Qaeda’s north African wing and has become the biggest security threat in Nigeria, Africa’s top oil producer. It usually targets security forces, although Christian worshippers are increasingly bearing the brunt. Last Sunday, a suicide car bomber killed at least 12 people at a church in the remote northern town of Yelwa. — Reuters

ANKARA: An earthquake of 6.0 magnitude hit off southwestern Turkey yesterday, said the Istanbulbased Kandilli Observatory, as the local health director reported six to seven injuries but no deaths.

The quake, revised down from an initially reported magnitude of 6.1, struck at 1244 GMT off the small holiday resort of Oludeniz near Mugla province, said the institute.

Provincial health director Cihan Tekin said six to seven people had rushed to hospitals.

“According to information provided to us, six or seven people were admitted to hospitals. They jumped in panic from balconies or windows,” he was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency. “But

we haven’t received any information about any death,” he added.

The mayor of Oludeniz, Keramettin Yilmaz, told the private NTV television network that the quake had caused material damage but that he had no immediate reports of casualties.

Turkey is crossed by several fault lines. A power ful quake shook eastern Turkey on October 23 last year, killing more than 600 people. I t was followed on November 12 by a 5.6-magnitude tremor that killed another 40 people in the same area. In 1999, two strong quakes in heavily populated and industrialised par ts of northwest Turkey killed 20,000 people. — AFP

easing in the painful austerity demands attached to the deal.

In an interview with Proto Thema, European Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn hinted that the lenders may be prepared to offer some flexibility to a country facing rising social unrest at the conditions imposed under the deal. But he called for more effort from Greece itself. “The return to growth is being delayed mainly because of the obstacles to reforms from unions, the lack of national unity and the limited capability of the public administration,” he said. “I know the sacrifices that Greek people have made but they are necessary to consolidate the Greek economy,” he said. — Reuters

5 dead, 15 injured in plane crash near Kiev KIEV: A small plane carrying skydivers crash-landed in stormy weather near the Ukrainian capital yesterday, killing five people and injuring 15, including an Austrian citizen, emergency officials said. The L-410 plane belonging to a pilot school made a “hard” emergency landing during a heavy rainstorm with high winds near the Borodyanka airport some 30 kilometers (20 miles) west of Kiev, said Emergency Situations Ministry spokeswoman Yulia Yershova. No other details were immediately available.

Channel 5 television reported that the pilots decided to return to the airport minutes after takeoff due to the sudden storm, but the plane came down several kilometers (miles) away in the middle of a field.

Television footage showed the white aircraft with blue stripes flipped onto its side in the middle of a thick green field under sunny skies, after the rain gave way to bright sunshine.

The cockpit was badly damaged and debris strewn about, including one of the plane’s wheels. The plane was carrying 17 skydivers and three crew members. The injured have been taken to local hospitals. An investigation has been opened. — AP

MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012

I N T E R N AT I O N A L

Ex-Indian army officer kills family, self in California Ex-officer shoots wife, children

SANTIAGO: Demonstrators holding posters with the portraits of missing or killed relatives stand a protest in front of the Caupolican Theatre in Santiago yesterday. —AFP

Pinochet homage heats up bitter debate over legacy SANTIAGO: The poster makes its plea from one of the pock-marked walls once splattered with blood at Londres 38, a former detention and torture center where 96 people were killed or disappeared during Chile’s long dictatorship. It reads: “Pinochet, may your legacy die.” Yet that legacy is far from dead. Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s loyalists yesterday were holding their biggest gathering since his death in 2006, and it has ignited a national debate about the limits of freedom of speech as groups on the other side seek to block the event.

Police used tear gas and water cannon to try to disperse anti-Pinochet demonstrators protesting the premiere of a documentary about the run-up to his dictatorship years.

The film casts him as a national hero who saved Chile from communism and who died victimized by vengeful leftists who accused him of embezzlement and human rights crimes. The screening was organized

by Corporacion 11 de Septiembre, named for the day when Pinochet seized power in a bloody 1973 coup that brought down the democratically elected government of Marxist President Salvador Allende.

“We want to set the record straight on Pinochet,” Juan Gonzalez, a retired army officer who leads the pro-Pinochet movement, told The Associated Press. “We have stoically put up with the lies and cheating and seen how the story has been manipulated.” Although Gonzalez’s own sister Francisca has said publicly she was tortured

by Pinochet’s forces, Gonzalez disputes that there were human rights abuses during the dictatorship. He says those killed and tortured were casualties of a war against leftist subversion.

“Why can’t we have a documentary if they have their monument to Allende,” he said, referring to a statue outside the presidential palace with Allende’s last words: “I have faith in Chile and its destiny. “ The homage for Pinochet comes against a backdrop of increasing political divisions, with widespread street protests demanding more diversity in political parties as well as free education, protection of the environment and a more even distribution of the country’s wealth.

Chile remains highly polarized over Pinochet and his 1973-90 reign. His thick mustache, spotless dress uniforms and dark glasses, even the mere mention of his name, make many Chileans cringe with the memories of his shutting down Congress, outlawing political parties and sending thousands of dissidents into exile, while his police tortured and killed thousands more.

To his loyalists, though, Pinochet is the fatherly figure who oversaw Chile’s growth into economic prosperity and kept it from becoming a failed socialist state.

The current governing coalition led by the conservative Independent Democratic Union and the center-right National Renovation is the first conservative government since Chile’s return to democracy in 1990. Members of both parties supported Pinochet’s dictatorship and several Pinochet era officials now serve as lawmak-

ers and mayors. Analysts say Pinochetistas like Gonzalez are emboldened by the conservatives’ winning control of the government in 2010.

Still, last year, President Sebastian Pinera’s government officially recognized 9,800 more victims of the dictatorship. That increased the total list of people killed, tortured or imprisoned for political reasons during Pinochet’s regime to 40,018. The government estimates 3,095 of those were killed, including about 1,200 of whom no trace has ever been found. About 700 military officials face trial for the forced disappearance of dissidents and about 70 have been jailed under crimes against humanity.

“There’s obviously an effort to revive and clean up Pinochet’s image,” said Marta Lagos, head of the Santiago-based pollster Mori. “They’re saying: ‘This is really a guy who deserves a tribute.’ So I ask: What would happen in Germany if someone would try to pay tribute to Hitler?” But Lagos says Chileans have a harder time deciding where the line should be drawn because Pinochet died under house arrest without facing trial on charges of illegal enrichment and human rights violations.

“We’re facing an ambiguous situation, especially among the younger generations who were not part of the time and who have never voted or are apolitical,” Lagos said. “The fact that he wasn’t judged turns out to be a major point. They see this man who was never convicted and think, ‘Well, there must be a reason.’” Families of the dictatorship’s victims are outraged over the praise of Pinochet, calling it a dangerous campaign to rewrite Chile’s history.

“We can’t allow this homage because it seeks to vindicate the dictatorship, the state-sponsored terrorism and its crimes,” Mireya Garcia, vice president of the Group of Families of Detainees and Missing People, said at Londres 38. She wore a black-and-white-photo around her neck of her brother Vicente Israel Garcia, a student and Socialist Party member who disappeared in 1977.

“Our family members didn’t die in vain in the struggle for democracy for something like this to be allowed. But Pinochetistas are not the only ones to blame for this. The government must be held accountable for this serious blow against democracy,” Garcia said. Relatives of the disappeared and more than a dozen human rights groups sent a letter to Pinera asking him to ban Sunday’s event. But the government said organizers had the right to express themselves. Human rights groups also appealed to the courts but the request was denied. Guillermo Holzmann, a political science professor at the Universidad de Valparaiso, said the event could bring a needed discussion on Pinochet and his regime. “Chile has to start a new phase of maturity,” Holzmann said.

“This issue must be on top of the table, not hidden under the rug, so that society’s evolution on its own leaves them aside. ... I’m sure that the radical visions on Pinochet don’t represent the opinion of the majority, but that has to be shown.” — AP

Chavez says tests show in good health CARACAS: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Saturday medical tests following his cancer treatment show he is in good health, but provided few additional details about an illness that has become an obsession in the OPEC nation. The former soldier’s health is seen a key factor in his re-election bid because a serious relapse of his cancer could limit his ability to campaign ahead of the Oct. 7 vote and potentially tip the balance toward opposition challenger Henrique Capriles.

Chavez, who has undergone three operations for cancer in the pelvic region, said he had taken exams including a CAT scan and a magnetic resonance imaging scan as part of scheduled checks. “ This was a few hours ago.

Everything turned out absolutely fine,” Chavez said in a chat with reporters at the presidential palace in which he appeared healthy and in good spirits.

“After the operation and the radiotherapy, I feel very good.” He did not comment on whether he would need more treatment or if he planned to return to Cuba, where he has received the bulk of his medical treatment over the past year.

Chavez has steadily increased his public appearances after weeks of keeping a low profile and communicating mostly via Twitter or phone calls to state television as he recovered from grueling radio-

therapy. But this has done little to quell constant speculation about his health among Venezuelans, m any of whom believe his self-styled revolution would struggle to survive in its current form without his charismatic leadership.

Tomorrow, he will officially register his candidacy amid a rally of supporters that is likely to be his biggest since he announced his cancer diagnosis almost a year ago.

Both sides will be closely watching him for signs of how strongly he will be able to campaign for the upcoming vote.

“I have faith in God, in Christ the Lord, in science and in my will to live so I can continue fighting for this country,” Chavez said, admitting the radiotherapy had been “hard.”

Most of the country’s best-known pollsters show Chavez ahead of Capriles, who yesterday leads his own campaign rally.

Polls show two-thirds of Venezuelans believe Chavez will recover. While upbeat and at times almost triumphant about defeating the illness, Chavez has avoided repeating last year’s claim he is “cancer free.” He made that assertion months before he had to return to Cuba for a third operation in the same part of his body as the first two. His actual condition and capacity to carry on with his typically torrid pace of campaigning are still shrouded in mystery. —Reuters

CALIFORNIA: A former Indian army officer wanted in the 1996 killing of a human rights lawyer shot and killed his own wife and two of their children in their California home before apparently committing suicide, authorities said.

A 17-year-old believed to be the man’s son also was shot in the Saturday morning attack and was “barely alive,” Fresno County Sheriff’s Deputy Chris Curtice said.

The ex-officer, Avtar Singh, had been arrested in this central California city last year after his wife said he choked her, and the Indian government sought his extradition days after that in the 1996 death of Jalil Andrabi. But he remained free, for reasons that were not immediately clear.

Andrabi’s brother and lawyer blamed New Delhi, saying Singh’s family would still be alive if the government had tried harder to bring him to justice. “These lives could have been saved if a trial of Maj. Avtar Singh was conducted on time,” said Andrabi’s brother, Arshad. “We have lost that chance now. He was a known murderer and we are appalled that he was even shielded in the United States. It’s a failure of justice at all levels.”

Singh, who owned a trucking company in Selma, called police around 6:15 am Saturday and told them that he had just killed four people, Curtice said. He added that a sheriff’s SWAT team was called in to assist because of Singh’s military background and the India charges against him. When the SWAT team entered the home they found the bodies of Singh, a woman believed to be his wife and two children, ages 3 and 15, Curtice said. All appeared to have died from gunshot wounds.

The 17-year-old suffered severe head trauma and underwent surgery at a hospital where he remained in intensive care Saturday evening, Curtice said. Singh, 47, was arrested by Selma police in February 2011 when his wife reported that he had choked her, Selma Police Chief Myron Dyck said shortly after that arrest. Police then discovered that he was being sought in India, but Dyck said at the time that he could not

keep Singh in custody on the murder charge without a warrant from international authorities.

Several days later, India requested that the United States arrest and extradite Singh. It wasn’t clear on Saturday why Singh had remained free since the request. A request for comment from the Consulate General of India in San Francisco on Saturday was not immediately returned. Dyck didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment Saturday about the 2011 arrest, and Selma police referred questions about the apparent murder-suicide to Fresno County sheriff’s officials. Selma police last had

CALIFORNIA: This photo provided by the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office shows Avtar Singh. Singh, a former Indian Army officer wanted in a 1996 killing in the disputed Kashmir region, killed his wife and their children in their California home Saturday before apparently taking his own life, authorities said. —AP

contact with Singh about two months ago when he called to complain that reporters wouldn’t leave him alone because of the murder warrant, Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims told the Fresno Bee. Jalil Andrabi was killed at the height of protests in Indian-controlled Kashmir, where nearly a dozen rebel groups have fought security forces for independence or merger with Pakistan since 1989. More than 68,000 people, mostly civilian, have been killed in the uprising and subsequent Indian crackdown. Andrabi disappeared in March 1996 in Kashmir’s main city, Srinagar. His body was recovered 19 days later in a local river. He had been shot in the head and his eyes were gouged out.

A police investigation said Andrabi had been picked up from his home by Indian troops and killed in their custody. The probe blamed Singh and his soldiers for that killing and also accused Singh of involvement in the killings of six other Kashmiri men. Singh had been charged in Kashmir only with Andrabi’s killing. Kashmir police had sought permission from the government of India for Singh’s prosecution in the six other killings. Under India’s armed forces special powers act, federal permission has to be obtained before police can prosecute any army or paramilitary soldier posted in Kashmir.

No soldier has been punished for Andrabi’s killing, human rights lawyers say. Singh fled India after he was accused of killing Andrabi.

Hafizullah Mir, a human rights lawyer, said he was tracked to California in 2009 with the help of the Canadian Center for International Justice, a human rights advocacy group, but that New Delhi did not pursue extradition until after his 2011 arrest. In Selma, Singh owned and operated Jay Truck Lines. Alli Adan, a driver for the company, said he had seen Singh the night before the k illings, and that had appeared to be acting normally. “He was a nice guy,” Adan told the Fresno Bee. “I couldn’t believe it because I didn’t think he could do something like this.” — AP

Bodies of helicopter crash victims to be recovered in Peru LIMA: A police unit was climbing up a snowy peak in the Peruvian Andes yesterday in a bid to recover the bodies of 14 people, including eight South Koreans, who died in a helicopter crash last week. “We are on our way to the place where the wreckage and the bodies were spotted,” Cesar Guevara, the local official in charge of the case in the town of Urcos in the southern department of Cusco, told Canal N television by telephone.

He cautioned that “it could take at least four hours to get to the accident site, depending on weather conditions” and the physical strength of team members. The team will likely finish removing the bodies yesterday, Guevara explained. The Peruvian Air Force had tried to reach the crash site by air the previous day, but poor weather forced its helicopters to return to Cusco International Airport by mid-morning Saturday.

A Sikorsky S-58 ET chopper vanished Wednesday while flying in snow and rain in the

mountainous region from the town of Mazuco, in Madre de Dios department, to the city of Cusco. It lost contact with its base in Hualla Hualla between the towns of Ocongate and Marcapata, near the snowcapped Apu Colque Cruz peak. The wreckage was found near Mount Mamarosa, some 4,900 meters (16,000 feet) above sea level, Guevara said. On board the flight were eight South Koreans, a Czech, a Swede, a Dutch citizen and three Peruvians, two of them crew members, according to helicopter owner HeliCusco. All were found dead, police said, giving no details on whether any of the victims survived the initial crash.

At mid-morning Saturday, a special eightmember police mountain patrol team charged with locating the wreckage reached the site where the Sikorsky S-58 ET plummeted to earth. Police General Hector Dulanto earlier told AFP that it took the police mountain climbers seven hours to hike from their base camp to the crash site. The second police team

sent up yesterday were to remove the bodies.

Driving rain and snow had hampered rescue efforts for days. Aerial searches were called off soon after the helicopter was reported missing, and police determined that it would be safer to send a search team by land than risk another crash by sending aircraft in bad weather and into the high mountains where they could face strong cross-currents of wind.

Rescuers also feared that it would be hard to find the helicopter, which was painted white, from the air in the snow-covered area.

In Seoul, the foreign ministry said the South Koreans were engineers and officials from four South Korean companies on their way back to Cusco after conducting aerial surveillance on a possible site for a hydroelectric project near Puno, in southern Peru, close to the border with Bolivia. Two officials from the South Korean embassy in Lima were in Cusco to monitor the search and rescue operations.— AFP

At least 25 arrested in Canada’s student unrest MONTREAL: At least 25 people were arrested late Saturday after hundreds took to Montreal’s streets, protesting against plans to raise tuition fees and Canada’s hosting of the Formula One Grand Prix. The march began peacefully, with some of the 500 protesters banging pots and pans and some wearing carnival masks. But when the marchers neared Crescent Street and its Formula One stands, they were blocked by police who used tear gas to disperse the crowd. Pepper spray was also used as the crowd, jeered, booed and cursed.

Three police cars with broken windows and covered with graffiti were seen. Montreal police said more arrests could follow. An AFP correspondent saw a young man dressed in black handcuffed by police and subjected to a body search. For four months, students in Quebec, along with anti-capitalist and feminist groups have held protests against government plans to increase tuition fees by 75 percent. Students see today’s Grand Prix race as an “elitist event.” But they also want to take advantage of the media presence and international visitors to publicize their fight against proposed tuition hikes.

However, La Classe, the student union considered to be the most radical, reiterated it had no intention of disrupting the Grand Prix.

Negotiations between student groups and the province have broken down, and the protest movement have since morphed into a larger campaign of perceived government corruption, mismanagement and injustice.

“We are in a real social crisis in Quebec.

And at the moment we are witnessing police brutality, for no purpose, really,” Zac Daoust Lefebvre, a student at the University of Montreal told AFP. “The street belongs to us.

The police has no business being here,” said an exasperated university professor who identified himself as Francois but declined to give a last name. The professor said he did not care about the Grand Prix, but he showed up at Crescent Street to protest against tuition hikes and a new law, Bill 178, that sets tough

MONTREAL: A police car is hit by students protesters in downtown Montreal June 9, 2012. At least 25 people were arrested late June 9, 2012 after hundreds took to Montreal’s streets, protesting against plans to raise tuition fees. — AFP

restrictions-including arrests and hefty fineson demonstrators.

Only a few metres away from the unrestbeyond the heavily guarded metal barriershundreds of well-heeled, perfumed party goers danced and drank into the night on terraces and in bars on Crescent Street to celebrate Montreal’s Grand Prix. Many of the merrymakers were either oblivious or dismissed the angry crowd. “We’re just here to have fun,” said a girl in a black mini skirt.

Some party goers watching the stand-off held plastic cups of beer and shook their heads, with a few shouting “get a job” to the protesters.

Earlier in the evening, several hundred students staged their nightly march through the streets of Montreal, before being forced to disperse when they tried to head west to Crescent Street. Along the way, they stopped where the outdoor francophone music festival, les Francofolies, was being held. The spectators cheered on the protesters.

And a group of feminists and their male supporters briefly marched to protest against the spike in prostitution during major sporting events such as the Grand Prix. “Sporting events generally attract a lot of men who seek to sexually exploit women,” Laurence Fortin, a graduate student in sociology told AFP. —AFP

MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012

I N T E R N AT I O N A L

North rejects S Korea’s ‘military spies’ arrests SEOUL: North Korea yesterday criticized the arrests of two men in South Korea for allegedly collecting military secrets for Pyongyang and accused Seoul of staging a “fascist crackdown”.

A 74-year-old South Korean man surnamed Lee and another with New Zealand citizenship were arrested in May for allegedly collecting information on army equipment capable of disrupting global positioning system (GPS) signals.

Seoul police said the pair obtained

the military secrets after meeting a suspected North Korean agent last July in China’s northeastern border city of Dandong.

Lee was sentenced to life in prison for espionage in 1972 and was released on parole in 1990 but still retains allegiance to Pyongyang, police said after his arrest in May. The North’s newspaper Minju Joson yesterday called the latest accusation a political smear campaign against Pyongyang to shore up sagging sup-

port for Seoul’s conservative government. “Whenever they are faced with an extreme ruling crisis, the dictators... resort to the trite method of cooking up shocking cases including ‘spy case’,” it said in an editorial carried by the state-run KCNA. It accused police of arresting “innocent people” as part of a “heinous plot” planned with Seoul’s conservative media outlets. The arrests followed Seoul’s accusations that Pyongyang had jammed the GPS systems of hun-

dreds of civilian aircraft and ships in South Korea from April 28 to May 13.

Seoul said the signals originated from the North’s border city of Kaesong, forcing sea and air traffic to use other navigational equipment to avoid compromising safety. The North rejected the South’s accusations as “sheer fabrication” aimed at slandering the communist state.

The latest flare-up comes amid high cross-border tension as the North, under the new leadership of its young

ruler Kim Jong-Un, increases hostility towards Seoul.

Pyongyang has for months heaped insults on South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak and other conservative leaders, branding them “rats” and “human scum”.

Last week Pyongyang’s army threatened rocket attacks on the Seoul offices of seven media outlets in revenge for critical coverage of an event in which the North’s children tearfully vowed loyalty to Kim. —AFP

Myanmar imposes curfews after riots Unrest threatens to undermine the reforms of new govt

SANGIN: US Marine Cpl. Stephen Perry from Baker Company of the 1st battalion 7th Marines Regiment heads back to their patrol base after conducting a night patrol in Sangin yesterday. —AFP

Minister in Afghanistan after French deaths KABUL: France’s defence minister arrived in Afghanistan yesterday, the day after an attack that killed four French soldiers and an announcement that France would begin withdrawing troops in July.

Shortly after touching down, Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian attended a ceremony to honor the dead soldiers, whose coffins-draped in flags-were at Kabul’s heavily fortified military airport.

Details of Le Drian’s full program in Afghanistan have not been released but he is expected to address French troops and meet Afghan government officials.

Saturday’s attack by a burqa-clad Taliban suicide bomber was the first fatal strike against the French since Francois Hollande took office as president last month. The head of state said the country would pay “national homage” to the dead.

Speaking after the attack in eastern Afghanistan, Hollande, who had already promised to bring combat troops home by the end of the year, announced the withdrawal would begin next month.

Five other troops were wounded in the attack in Nijrab district in Kapisa province, where most of France’s 3,500 soldiers in Afghanistan are stationed, officials said. Three were in a critical condition.

Hollande reiterated his vow to withdraw all combat troops by the end of 2012 — a year earlier than Paris initially planned, and two years before NATO allies-saying the suicide attack had not changed his plans. “What happened does not change anything, it neither accelerates nor delays” withdrawal, he said.

While some have called for the pullout to be sped up, “it is not possible to go faster”, he added.

NATO allies have downplayed the effect of the French departure, saying

Afghan troops were ready to take over, and US General John Allen, the NATO force commander, has said there will be no reduction in security in Kapisa. But there are fears that Afghan forces will not be able to fill the security vacuum. “If France withdraws its troops without a proper plan, without considering its side affects, this will destroy and undermine all France’s achievements and the sacrifices they made in Afghanistan,” said political analyst Younus Fakor.

“Kapisa district security will deteriorate, the Taliban will take over those areas if immediate security measures are not taken, and Kapisa will become a safe haven for the Taliban,” he told AFP. Routes to Kabul from Taliban flashpoints on the Pakistani border run through Kapisa province, and it has proved a tough operation for the French, troubled by turf wars between Islamist insurgents and drug dealers.

On a visit to Afghanistan last month, Hollande said 2,000 combat troops would leave in a coordinated withdrawal this year, but vowed not to abandon the country. Taliban militants claimed responsibility for Saturday’s suicide attack in a text message sent to reporters.

Interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told AFP the attacker was on foot and wearing a burqa. The deaths were the first French fatalities in Afghanistan since January 20, when an Afghan soldier fired on unarmed French trainers, killing five and wounding 15. The death toll for French troops now stands at 87.

There are about 130,000 NATO troops fighting alongside Afghan government forces against the Taliban insurgency. A US-led coalition toppled the Taliban regime in 2001 for sheltering Osama bin Laden after the 9/11 attacks. —AFP

Australia demands release of lawyer held in Libya SYDNEY: Australia demanded yesterday that Libyan authorities immediately release a lawyer detained while arranging the defense for Seif al-Islam, the son of dead dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Australian Melinda Taylor was one of four International Criminal Court (ICC) staff detained in Libya on Thursday. Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr said she was being held for “alleged breaches of Libyan national security”.

“Australia wants Libyan authorities to grant immediate consular access to Melinda Taylor and provide every assistance in securing her release,” Carr said in a statement. Carr said consular officials continued to seek access to Taylor, in coordination with the ICC, Britain and other countries. “This was an authorized visit to Libya by an independent legal team, ahead of international court proceedings,” Carr said.

“Libyan authorities have strongly cooperated with the International Criminal Court to date. “I urge that co-operation to continue, with immediate consular access to Ms Taylor and a swift end to her

detention in Zintan.” Carr said he was concerned about the safety of Taylor and her colleagues “particularly as there has been no contact by consular staff”.

Taylor is understood to be under “house arrest” in Zintan, which lies about 180 kilometers southwest of the Libyan capital Tripoli.

A commander with the Zintan brigade, the former rebel fighters who captured Seif and are still holding him, said one of the lawyers-sources said Taylor had been trying to pass “dangerous” documents to him. Although the ICC delegation’s visit was authorized by Libya’s chief prosecutor, the complaint was that Taylor had tried to deliver the documents without first declaring them.

The ICC wants to try both Seif, 39, and his late father’s spymaster, Abdullah Senussi, for crimes against humanity committed while trying to put down last year’s bloody revolt. But the new regime in Libya wants to put Seif on trial in a local court. Gaddafi was captured and killed by rebel forces on October 20 as his regime collapsed. —AFP

YANGON: Myanmar yesterday imposed curfews in major towns across western Rakhine state, official media reported, amid fears of further unrest following an eruption of deadly sectarian violence. Television and radio reports said the situation was calm after police and the army stepped in to control rioting on Friday and Saturday that saw hundreds of Buddhist villagers’ homes set ablaze and left seven dead in the state, which borders Bangladesh.

The unrest threatens to undermine the reforms of Myanmar ’s new government, which took power last year following decades of outright military rule. “Some people are trying to harm public safety and rule of law. We believe there could be some clashes,” state media said announcing the curfew, which covers the state capital Sittwe and three other towns, and runs for 12 hours from 6:00pm.

Groups of more than five people are banned, as are “giving speeches, marching and inciting unrest or any clashes”, the reports said. Rakhine state is named for its dominant, mostly Buddhist ethnic group but is also home to a large Muslim population including the Rohingya, a stateless people described by the UN as one of the world’s most persecuted minorities. The Myanmar government considers the Rohingya as foreigners and not one of the nation’s ethnic groups, while many citizens see them as them illegal immigrants and view them with hostility.

A cycle of apparent revenge attacks has gripped the state following the recent rape and murder of a Rakhine woman. Last Sunday, an angry Buddhist mob mistakenly believing the perpetrators of the rape were on board a bus, beat 10 Muslim passengers to death.

Rioting then flared Friday when at least four Buddhists were killed in the state, with a second wave of violence in remote villages early Saturday.

Police and military units were deployed to bring an end to the unrest, in which 17 people were also wounded and nearly 500 houses destroyed, according to the official media. A Sittwe resident who declined to be named told AFP he saw an ethnic Rakhine man stabbed and attempts to torch more homes early yesterday, and a standoff between

Rakhine and Rohingya groups near the university in the afternoon. AFP was not able to verify reports of further unrest in the city. “If the situation goes like this, there will be no security for the town’s people. We dare not to stay and are afraid of the night time,” the man

YANGON: Ethnic Rakhine demonstrators and Buddhist monks hold signs as they gather at the Shwedagon pagoda after unrest flared in the western Myanmar state and at least seven people were killed, in Yangon yesterday. — AFP told AFP. Accusing the Rohingya of “invading”, he branded the weekend’s unrest as “terrorist”.

Yesterday around 600 ethnic Rakhine gathered at the Shwedagon Pagoda, a revered Buddhist site in the main city of Yangon, demanding “Bengalis”-a term often used for Muslim communities living near the border with Bangladesh be “removed from Myanmar”. People held up pictures of burning villages and victims apparently beaten in the attacks as well as banners proclaiming “Save the Rakhine”. “(The fighting) harms national security, national interests and the rule of law. This is not only the problem of the country, but also the problem of the whole world,” said Tin

Muslim rebel leader optimistic over Philippines peace deal MANILA: The leader of the Philippines’ largest Muslim rebel group is optimistic about the signing of a peace deal with the government, the group said on its website yesterday. Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chairman Murad Ebrahim acknowledged as a “breakthrough” an agreement signed in April where both sides committed to create a new autonomous political region in the troubled south.

“This document serves as the guide in the discussion over the negotiating table on the details of a peace accord between the two parties,” Murad was quoted by the rebel-controlled www.luwaran.com website as saying.

Murad’s comments were the first since the agreement was reached in April, and showed a “commitment” from the MILF leadership to peacefully resolve the insurgency that has claimed over

Htoo Aung, chairman of the Rakhine National Network activist group.

In an editorial earlier yesterday, state newspaper New Light of Myanmar warned of “anarchy” and a spiral of retaliation in Rakhine, adding conflict creates “an environment

150,000 lives since the early 1970s, the site said.

Murad said no dates had been firmed up for the next round of talks. He added that both sides now had to decide on the “transitional mechanism and authority” of the proposed autonomous region for the talks to move forward. The MILF has waged a rebellion for more than three decades, originally for the establishment of an independent state in Mindanao, the southern third of the mainly Catholic Philippines.

In recent years it has dropped its bid for full independence in favour of autonomous control over large areas in Mindanao, which it claims as Muslims’ ‘ancestral domain’. The government has said it wants to broker a peace deal by next year so that it can be implemented by the time President Benigno Aquino leaves office in mid-2016. —AFP

KARACHI: A Pakistani man speaks on his mobile phone while another rests his head on his lap, on the bumper of oil tanker used to transport NATO fuel supplies to neighboring Afghanistan, and parked with other tankers in a compound in Karachi, Pakistan yesterday. —AP

where peace is totally absent and where democracy cannot flourish at all”. Myanmar’s Muslims-of Indian, Chinese and Bangladeshi descent-account for an estimated four percent of the roughly 60 million population in a country where experts say many people believe Buddhism forms an intrinsic part of national identity.

According to the UN Myanmar has an estimated 750,000 Rohingya, living mainly in Rakhine. Another one million or more are thought to live in other countries. In Bangladesh, authorities said they were stepping up security along the border and in the refugee camps where around 300,000 Rohingya live. —AFP

News

in brief

Two stabbed to death in busy Japan street TOKYO: A man killed two people in a frenzied stabbing attack in the Japanese city of Osaka in broad daylight yesterday, a report said, in a country where violent crime is rare. Police arrested Kyozo Isohi, 36, over the stabbings in the busy Higashi Shinsaibashi shopping district, Jiji Press said, adding he told officers he did not know the victims. The suspect first attacked a 42-year-old man, then a 60-year-old woman before turning back to the male victim, the report said. Both were stabbed several times. In 2008, a man killed seven people in an attack in Tokyo, running over three with a truck and stabbing four to death. In December 2010, an unemployed man armed with a kitchen knife went on a rampage near the capital on two packed buses leaving 14 people wounded, mostly teenage schoolchildren, before passengers overpowered him.

Hong Kong cyclist hit by ex-cop faces trial HONG KONG: A cyclist who trained police on road safety issues will appear in court today charged with careless cycling after being knocked off his bike by a car driven by a former senior Hong Kong policeman.

Martin Turner was on his bike waiting at a set of traffic lights in August last year when he was hit by the car driven by former assistant commissioner of police Spencer Foo, the Sunday Morning Post said.

Turner, 50, was knocked to the ground and taken to hospital to be treated for cuts and bruises and tendon damage while his bike was crushed. The Briton, who is also charged with not having a bell, is chairman of the Hong Kong Cycling Alliance, the Post said.

Reformist Aussie bishop: Quitting was my decision CANBERRA: An Australian bishop who ruffled the Vatican’s feathers by calling for reform says his decision to retire early is his alone and is unrelated to his differences with Catholic Church leaders. Pope Benedict XVI last week accepted Bishop Patrick Power’s resignation five years before the mandatory retirement age of 75. The auxiliary bishop of the Australian capital Canberra said yesterday he has long planned to retire at 70 and will continue to work as a priest.

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MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012

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Issues

Turkish ruling Islamists’ zeal worrying EU

By Michel Sailhan uropean Union diplomats are expressing growing concern at what they see as the increasingly militant stance taken by Turkey’s ruling Islamists. They accuse Ankara of using probes into alleged plots against the government as a tool to jail and silence opponents and compromise the country’s secular credentials by introducing Quran studies in public schools. Other measures include lowering the age at which parents can send their children to Islamic religious schools, increasing pressure on those criticising Islam and restricting abortion.

Turkish authorities accuse the so-called Ergenekon network of being behind several plots to overthrow the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Dozens of retired or serving senior military figures, intellectuals, lawyers and journalists been put behind bars. On Thursday Stefan Fuele, European commissioner for enlargement, cited this and other obstacles in the way of Turkey’s membership bid while in Istanbul for talks. “I have used this meeting to convey our concerns about the increasing detention of lawmakers, academics and students and the freedom of press and journalists,” he said.

Changes due to take effect when the new academic year starts this autumn also have also ruffled feathers. The Islamist-rooted ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government is introducing Quran lessons. And from the end of primary school, more parents will be able to opt out of the secular education system and send their children to Islamic religious schools. Previously these schools could not recruit children under the age of 15: now children as young as 11 will be allowed to attend.

There is concern too over plans by state broadcaster TRT to launch a religious channel and proposals for prayer rooms in newly built public buildings such as creches, theatres and even opera houses. “A series of recent moves show that the conservative tendency has the upper hand and faces no opposition,” said Marc Pierini, a former head of the EU diplomatic team in Turkey. “Civil society exists, but it is hardly audible,” said one Ankara-based diplomat.

“The media are for the most part directly or indirectly controlled by the AKP and the opposition is powerless,” the diplomat added.

Plans to restrict the abortion laws and other moves that critics say will would make Islam a more visible part of daily life are added areas of concern. Comments last month by Erdogan, in which he compared abortion to a botched attack by the military that killed 34 civilians last December, brought a sharp response from a senior EU diplomat. Erdogan had said of abortion: “You either kill a baby in the mother’s womb or you kill it after birth. There’s no difference.” And in a emotive reference to the attack in Uludere, in which Turkish warplanes killed civilians they had mistaken for Kurdish separatists, he said “every abortion is an Uludere”.

“Some politicians made comparisons that are not appropriate,” Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert, head of the EU delegation in Turkey, told journalists. Turkey is preparing a bill to slash the time limit for abortions from 10 weeks to between four and six weeks. Thousands of women have demonstrated against the proposed changes, defending the existing abortion law, which dates back to 1965. Turkey’s acclaimed composer and pianist Fazil Say faces trial in October on charges of insulting religious values in a series of provocative tweets about Islam.

If convicted, he could face up to 18 months in prison.

In April, Say told the Hurriyet daily that he felt completely ostracised by Turkish society since having declared that he was an atheist, an experience that for him highlighted a growing culture of intolerance. One European diplomat in Istanbul remarked: “It’s not just the fact that he is being put on trial, but also what the pro-government newspaper Sabah says, which has made a hero out of the guy who denounced him.” The Islamist newspaper Yeni Akit has lavished praise on the person who alerted the authorities to Say’s comments on Twitter, with one headline describing him as “The man who gives no respite to the enemies of Islam”.

Erdogan has also just announced that a giant mosque is to be built on one of Istanbul’s hills, which will become one of the city’s most visible landmarks. This latest announcement on top of the other developments have been seized on by the critics of Erdogan and the AKP, who suspect the government has a covert agenda to promote Islam - and undermine Turkey’s secular traditions. “He fuelled this debate himself recently with certain utterances, one example being that he and his party wanted to see ‘the emergence of a religious generation’,” noted Semih Idiz, a leader writer for Milliyet newspaper. — AFP

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Spain rescue may bring only brief respite

By Paul Taylor uro zone finance ministers rushed Spain into an EU-funded rescue for its debtstricken banks to pre-empt the threat of a bank run if Greece’s debt crisis flares again but any respite for Madrid and the euro may be short-lived. After weeks of insisting that Spain needed no assistance to recapitalise lenders crippled by bad debts from a burst real estate bubble, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was pushed into requesting an aid package for fear of worse disaster to come, European officials involved in the negotiations said.

The 17-nation currency area agreed to lend Madrid up to €100 billion ($125 billion) for its bank rescue fund, more than an initial audit suggests it is likely to need, in an attempt to reassure investors and erect a new firewall in the crisis. But the euro zone’s latest line in the sand, after bailouts for Greece, Ireland and Portugal since 2010, could be swept away as early as next Sunday by angry Greek voters, rekindling market turmoil that would hit Spain and Italy first.

Rajoy said his reforms had spared Spain a full rescue for its public debt but some analysts say the bank aid may only be a prelude to an eventual bailout of the state. After less than six months in office, the conservative premier is desperate to avoid that stigma, while other European leaders are just as desperate to avoid the cost, which would stretch the euro zone’s rescue funds to the limit. Unicredit chief economist Erik Nielsen said once the banks had been recapitalised, “they have basically addressed the three key weaknesses: banks, regions, and structural weaknesses”.

Others are less confident. “The burden of recapitalising insolvent banks or loss-making acquisitions of solvent banks will fall on Spanish citizens,” said Karl Whelan, economist

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at University College, Dublin. “For this reason, this weekend’s announcement may well end up shutting Spain out of the sovereign bond market.” The euro zone’s fourth largest economy is beset by recession and mass unemployment and still has a weight of national and regional debt to roll over later in the year, although it has got through 58 percent of its borrowing for 2012.

Moody’s Investor Service said last week the debts of euro area sovereigns dependent upon official funding present “non-investment grade risks”, prefiguring a likely cut in Madrid’s credit rating. Fitch Ratings slashed Spain by three notches to BBB last week - just above junk status. The government still needs to refinance €47.3 billion of debt maturing by the end of the year, with a big hump at the end of October, and Spain’s overspending regions have a further €15.7 billion of debt maturing in the second half of 2012.

“We’re very close to junk bonds and we’ll end up in the junk,” Jose Carlos Diez, chief economist at Intermoney in Madrid, said on Spanish television. “In this situation, the key is to look at the reaction of investors and see if capital flight stops ... If the process doesn’t stop, there will be more funding problems and what we will see is a bailout that is starting small become a big one.”

Policymakers feared that what has been termed a “bank jog” from Greece and Spain could turn into a stampede if anti-austerity leftist parties opposed to the terms of Athens’ EU/IMF bailout win the June 17 vote. If leftist SYRIZA party leader Alexis Tsipras tops the Greek poll and forms a government, he has said he will tear up the bailout agreement and demand a renegotiation. That would likely prompt the euro zone and the IMF to suspend aid payments, leaving Greece to default by September, EU sources say. Although Athens

could not be legally forced to leave the euro area, it would lose access to external funding for the government and the banks, plunging it into chaos.

Capital flight from Spanish banks has reached euro lifetime record levels, with a net outflow of Ä66 billion in March, the most recent month for which figures are available.

That was before the government’s sudden, fumbled nationalisation of teetering lender Bankia. Despite Rajoy’s denial that he was pressured, Germany and France, Europe’s two leading powers, as well as the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the IMF leaned heavily on Madrid to request aid before the Greek general election.

A senior German official said Berlin had warned the Spanish government if it did not seek help for the banks now, it risked having to apply for a full-fledged country bailout later.

“Spain is better off in a safe shelter,” the official said, adding that the timing before the Greek vote was vital. Chancellor Angela Merkel publicly praised Rajoy’s fiscal and labour market reforms and said Spain did not need to implement any deeper austerity measures in return for help. French President Francois Hollande, keen to avoid euro zone panic as he seeks a parliamentary majority in elections this Sunday and next, also applied pressure for a swift bailout. “France was keen to see an agreement this weekend, to resolve the situation as soon as possible, but I was not the only one to say that,” Economy Minister Pierre Moscovici told Reuters hours after a tense 2-1/2-hour conference call of finance ministers over how to help Spain.

US President Barack Obama telephoned Merkel, Hollande and other senior European leaders last week to press for urgent action to stem the euro zone crisis, which poses a threat to the US recovery and hence to his re-elec-

tion. Japan, Britain, Canada and the International Monetary Fund all weighed in.

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner called Saturday’s decisions “concrete steps on the path to financial union, which is vital to the resilience of the euro area”.

Aside from the global pressure to stabilise the currency area, Berlin and Paris acted out of self-interest. “If Spain got into a castastrophic situation, you could forget French and German banks,” Luxembourg Finance Minister Luc Frieden told broadcaster RTL on Sunday. Stress has risen again on financial markets as the effects of the ECB’s injection of 1 trillion euros ($1.25 trillion) in long-term cheap loans into euro zone banks in December and February have worn off.

“It feels as if it is just a matter of time before more issues will erupt, especially if growth remains sluggish,” Morten Spenner, CEO of fund of hedge fund manager International Asset Management told Reuters. “To that end, a more holistic and much deeper political and financial solution is ultimately required rather than a continue band-aid by band-aid approach.”

ECB President Mario Draghi acknowledged last week that the interbank market in Europe was “dysfunctional”. Many southern European banks are shut out and totally reliant on central bank money. Investors will be concerned that if the European Stability Mechanism is used to fund the Spanish package, as Germany prefers, bondholders will be subordinated to the permanent euro zone rescue fund and face potential losses in any restructuring, said Gary Jenkins of Swordfish Research. “Considering that sovereign support for Greece required private sector involvement it would be a bit of a turn up for the books if the equivalent for (Spanish) banks did not involve PSI (private sector involvement),” he said.— Reuters

Qaeda down, but not out in Pakistan

By Michael Georgy and Saud Mehsud hen Al-Qaeda leader Abu Yahya Al-Libi arrived in northwest Pakistan several years ago, he commanded so much respect that even some of the world’s most dangerous militants held him in awe. Already a legend in the shadowy world of jihad for breaking out of a high security US prison in neighbouring Afghanistan in 2005, he seemed to promise endless funds, training and inspiration for men who dreamed of unleashing carnage in New York or London. By the time he was killed in a US drone strike last week, he was the latest victim of a series of the unmanned aerial attacks that has crushed Al-Qaeda’s network along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, Pakistani intelligence officials and commanders of militant groups said.

Its finances have dried up, and those who once idolised the group wonder whether it can survive. “Imagine. They used to travel in Land Cruisers and double-cabin pickup trucks a few years ago,” said a commander from the Pakistani Taleban, which is close to Al-Qaeda. “Now, they are riding motorcycles due to lack of resources.” The downfall of the network in the border area started with the killing of Osama bin Laden in a Pakistani town in May last year, and the sustained campaign of drone attacks has further weakened the group. Only about eight hardcore Al-Qaeda leaders are still believed to be based in the lawless borderlands of Afghanistan and Pakistan, compared with dozens a few years ago.

Current Al-Qaeda chief Ayman Al-Zawahiri is among those believed to be hiding in the area. Many Al-Qaeda loyalists have sold their weapons or sought donations to fund attempts to escape to their home countries, the Taleban commander added, speaking in a telephone interview. But the strike that killed Libyan cleric Libi in North Waziristan, and other similar attacks on militant hideouts, have not made the region any safer. Several other armed groups infest the area, and are not noticeably weaker.

While the aerial campaign has weakened Al-Qaeda, its ally the Pakistani Taleban remains a highly potent force despite a series of Pakistan army offensives against its strongholds in the northwest. Seen as the biggest security threat to the USbacked government, the Taleban is blamed for many of the suicide bombings across Pakistan, and a number of high profile attacks on military and police facilities. The Haqqani network, which is strongly allied to the Taleban in Afghanistan,

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also has bases in Pakistan’s northwestern badlands, according to US officials. The group and Pakistani officials however deny they operate from there.

For the United States, however, the leaders of Al-Qaeda, the group that was behind the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington, appear to be the prime target. “We just took down another leader in Al-Qaeda the other day,” US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta told NATO forces during a visit to Kabul last week, referring to Libi, who was Al-Qaeda’s second in command and top strategist. “The worst job you can get these days is to be a deputy leader in Al-Qaeda, or for that matter, a leader,” he added, to laughter.

Residents in the area, Pakistani intelligence officers and former militants said in interviews that the aerial offensive has put Al-Qaeda commanders and fighters on the defensive, restricting their movements and their ability to forge closer alliances with other militant groups. Financing was proving troublesome, since it is traditionally done in cash and in person to avoid being tracked through the banking system. Libi was one of the few Al-Qaeda leaders who kept up personal contacts with commanders from other major militant groups like the Pakistani Taleban.

He used his charisma, and credentials as a theologian, to try and keep Al-Qaeda’s network intact in the face of growing pressure from the remotely-piloted drones. “Libi’s death is a big blow to Al-Qaeda. It is currently facing serious financial problems in the Pakistani tribal areas,” said a Pakistani intelligence official, a view echoed by some diplomats in Islamabad.

“Sending and receiving money has become very difficult for them because most of their channels have been shut down or compromised. That is impacting their operations.” Al-Qaeda commanders who once appeared at training camps to motivate fighters are rarely seen, according to Taleban commanders and Pakistani intelligence officials. “Most of them have gone underground, hiding in bunkers and basements, avoiding contact with the outside world,” an intelligence official in the tribal border areas told Reuters.

One senior Pakistani security official estimates there are only about eight core Al-Qaeda leaders left in Pakistan. But that does not mark the end of Al-Qaeda’s leadership in the porous border frontier area between Pakistan and Afghanistan, which President Barack Obama once called the most dangerous place in the world. “It would be a mistake for anyone to conclude there is no one on the bench. It’s a thin-

ning bench, but there are still bad guys, with bad aspirations in Al-Qaeda’s core group in Pakistan,’ said a US official in Washington. “However, these individuals are not as capable and don’t have the profile or following in the wider extremist movement that Abu Yahya or his predecessor Abu Atiyah had.”

Much will depend on whether the United States can push Pakistan to go after the remaining Al-Qaeda leaders, especially in North Waziristan, where Washington says some of AlQaeda’s most lethal allies are based. But Pakistan is unlikely to commit itself to what could be a bloodbath, especially during a crisis in relations with the United States that has been worsening since the unilateral raid that killed bin Laden. Pakistan says its army is stretched fighting the Pakistani Taleban in other areas and it alone will decide when to fully take on groups in North Waziristan.

US officials have said the drone strikes, which inflame antiAmerican sentiment, will continue despite Pakistani demands they cease. That could undermine cooperation from Islamabad. The senior Pakistani security official agreed the remaining handful of core Al-Qaeda leaders left in Pakistan were most probably hiding in North Waziristan. It’s a small number. But getting to them and their friends, like the notorious Haqqani network, won’t be easy.

Intelligence, especially, is hard to come by. A few years ago, Pakistani Taleban fighters managed to track down a large number of tribal informers for Pakistani intelligence in North Waziristan and slaughtered them. “Many were killed and other people are too scared to cooperate with intelligence agents. It will take a long time to build up a network again,” said the security official. Even if Pakistan decides to mount a full-scale offensive there, that may only offer short-term solutions.

Conditions that breed militancy are still ripe in nucleararmed Pakistan, and they won’t go away until the government implements bold reforms that strengthen the struggling economy. More jobless young men could turn to militancy, which gives them a sense of power through the AK-47 assault rifle. Suicide bomber vests offer a path to paradise, they are told. That message is especially alluring in unruly areas like North Waziristan, where more than 60 percent of the population is between the ages of 15-25, job opportunities are virtually non-existent, and the state has little control. “Every day someone turns 18 in Pakistan,” said the senior Pakistani security official, referring to an ever-growing pool of possible recruits for the jihad. — Reuters

MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012

No elegant technical fixes for distracted driving NEW YORK: When does a smartphone make you dumb? When you’re driving. Dialing or texting on a phone is a proven distraction when you’re behind the wheel. And as “smart” as today’s phones are, they can’t compensate for human folly. Phone makers and software developers are making a valiant effort to create elegant technical solutions, but, try as they might, they’ve yet to solve the problem of distracted driving.

A new survey, released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week, exposes just how severe the problem is - especially among young drivers. In the survey, about 58 percent of high school seniors said they had texted or emailed while driving during the previous month. About 43 percent of high school juniors acknowledged they did the same thing. Thirty-nine states ban texting behind the wheel for all age groups, and an additional five states outlaw it for novice teen drivers. Even so, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said distracted driving is “a national epidemic”.

The industry doesn’t have a surefire cure.

There’s a bevy of phone applications (or apps) that silence a phone when they detect that the device is moving at car speed. Although they carry names like “SecuraFone” these solutions all have limitations that prevent them from being widely adopted. One big shortcoming is that they can’t tell drivers from passengers. Most of the apps assume any phone that’s travelling at more than 10 miles per hour belongs to a driver. Of course, that phone might belong to someone in the back seat, or on a bus or train. That means these apps come with easy override buttons ‚Ä”which could also be used by a driver. The app isn’t “smart”

enough to know the difference.

On the plus side, these apps are “generally reliable”, said Russ Rader, spokesman for the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety. They’re also a lot cheaper than they were when they debuted two or three years ago. At the time, app developers figuring that safety was priceless, charged around $40 for their products, plus recurring fees of around $4 per month.

Now, Sprint Nextel Corp gives away its Drive First app and charges $2 per month for the service.

ZoomSafer and CellControl are two companies that offer slightly more sophisticated solutions: apps that make sure you’re in your car before putting the phone in “driver mode.”

The phone listens for a wireless signal, either from the car’s built-in electronic system or from a proprietary device that plugs into the engine-diagnostics port. The phone is wirelessly linked to the car, so people who don’t usually drive the vehicle can ride as passengers without having their phones go silent.

Using these apps, a driver who leaves his car behind and rides the bus won’t have his phone silenced.

These apps are more difficult to set up, and more expensive. Cellcontrol charges $130 for the device that emits the wireless signal. Rader sees these as possible solutions for employers who manage fleets of vehicles and need to make sure drivers comply with the law. They may also offer some relief for parents of teenagers. But these apps share a shortcoming with the simpler, motion-sensing ones: none of them work with Apple Inc’s iPhone, the single most popular phone in the country.

The iPhone doesn’t let apps run “in the background” - that is, while the user does oth-

er things. That means the safe-driving apps are usually limited to BlackBerrys or those running Google Inc’s Android software. One startup company has devised a novel way of encouraging safe driving, even on iPhones. Its idea is to use an economic incentive: it records users’ behavior and pays them when they leave the phone alone until the end of the trip.

The app appears to have become a victim of its own success. SafeCellApp started out in 2010 by paying $1 per 100 miles, with a maximum payout of $250 per person per year. But last year, it changed that to $1 per 1000 miles, paying at most $20 per year. The app costs $12, plus a subscription fee of $12 per year.

Most reviewers in Apple’s App Store, however, rate it a one -star rating out of five. The National Transportation Safety Board hasn’t weighed in on any apps. Its recommendation is a human solution: Just don’t use your phone at all while driving, even if you’re using a hands-free device.

The Transportation Department is also betting on human, rather than technological solutions. It’s awarding $2.4 million to Delaware and California for pilot projects to combine more police enforcement with publicity campaigns against distracted driving. Similar pilot projects in Syracuse, New York, and Hartford, Conn., are successfully reducing distracted driving, Transportation Secretary LaHood said last week.

Technology may yet bail us out of the problem of distracted driving - not by making us less distracted, but by taking care of the driving. This summer, the government is launching a yearlong test involving nearly 3,000 specially-equipped cars, trucks and buses in Ann Arbor, Mich. These vehicles sense each other

NORTH ARLINGTON, New Jersey: Dylan Young, 18, poses as a vehicle cruises by on June 6, 2012. Young, a senior at North Arlington High, was in a fender-bender accident caused by being distracted while texting and driving. — AP wirelessly, and warn drivers about impending collisions, often before the other vehicle is in sight.

In an even more extreme example, cars may someday soon drive themselves. As part of a pilot project, Google Inc. has equipped cars with sophisticated 360-degree sensors and computers that never get distracted or tired. Its cars have logged more than 140,000 miles on public streets with only occasional human intervention through the brake or

wheel. Driverless cars are now legal in Nevada, though the law still requires a person in the driver’s seat. “If you are really going to look to the future, you are going to have to ask yourself: Is Google right? Should we have driverless cars?” said Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Automotive Safety, a consumer group. “The computer driven car with a GPS system is going to make less mistakes than a human being. The question is, is society ready for it?” — AP

MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012

sp orts Bolt unhurt in car accident KINGSTON: Jamaica’s 100 metres world record holder and Olympic champion Usain Bolt was involved in a car accident near his home yesterday but escaped without injury, his publicist said.

Reports said the 25-year-old triple Olympic gold medallist, who will be the focus of world attention when the London Games start next month, had been returning home from a party in the early hours. “Usain was in a minor accident in the Half Way Tree Area yesterday after 5.00 and sustained no injuries,” Carole Beckford told Reuters. She said the lanky athlete, who was driving a BMW, was resting at home.

Jamaica’s Gleaner newspaper reported that compatriot and sprint rival Asafa Powell was also present, but in another car. Bolt, also the 200m world record holder, and Powell both ran in the Diamond League meeting in Oslo on Thursday and are now preparing for the national trials at the end of June. Three years ago, Bolt suffered minor injuries when he crashed his sports car — also a BMW — on the outskirts of the Jamaican capital Kingston.

In that accident, his car flipped a few times before landing upside down in a ditch. Bolt injured his left foot as he stepped out of the car and was treated at a nearby hospital. He then went on to win three gold medals at the Berlin world championships. —Reuters

Moore leads Lynx to victory

Chile blank Venezuela LA CRUZ: Chile coach Claudio Borghi brushed off his side’s latest bout of indiscipline by steering them to a 2-0 win over Venezuela to top the South American World Cup qualifying group on Saturday.

Chile have strung together three wins, the last two away, to claim pole position in the regional pool for the first time ever. They have 12 points from six matches, two more than Argentina, who had a bye this week and have played a game less.

Argentine Borghi was upset that the media had focused more on incidents of indiscipline rather than matters on the pitch after two players broke a promise and stayed out late on a free day for the squad. “We have virtues and defects but our work is serious. I imagine these things also happen in other national

teams but maybe nothing is said about it,” Borghi told a news conference after the match at Puerto La Cruz.

“In Chile, there is the habit of always looking for problems, which sometimes are true but which complicate (us) quite a bit.”

On the field, Borghi’s team have shown an application to his tactics and solidarity in their play that belies the internal strife caused by this week’s incident and one involving five players, four of them still suspended, last November.

“I asked the players to enjoy the match, to do what they know how to do, play good football,” Borghi said. “We must appreciate that we’re top but we’re only in midstream and we must keep winning to get to the World Cup.”—Reuters

TULSA: Maya Moore scored 26 points as the Minnesota Lynx beat the winless Tulsa Shock 93-73 on Saturday for a WNBA record-equaling ninth straight win to open the season.

The Lynx (9-0) matched the 2001 and 2003 Los Angeles Sparks for most victories to start a season. Moore, the league’s reigning rookie of the year, scored 14 points in the third quarter when the Lynx pulled away to a 70-58 lead.

Monica Wright scored 18 points for Minnesota, while Rebekkah Brunson added 15 and Taj McWilliams-Franklin had 11.

Jennifer Lacy had 15 points, all in the first half, for the Shock (0-8), while Temeka Johnson scored 14 points and Karima Christmas added 11.

At San Antonio, Danielle Adams scored 13 points in a reserve role to help San Antonio beat Seattle. San Antonio’s backups outscored their counterparts 41-30. Ziomara Morrison added 12 points off the bench for the Silver Stars, and Shenise Johnson had 10.

Sophia Young also has 12 points for San Antonio (3-4), and Danielle Robinson added 11. Shekinna Stricklen led Seattle (1-6) with 14 points. —AP

Giants roll past Rangers SAN FRANCISCO: Ryan Vogelsong pitched a season-high 7 2-3 innings and won his fifth straight decision, and Nate Schierholtz hit an RBI triple as the San Francisco Giants bounced back from their first shutout of the season to beat the Texas Rangers 5-2 on Saturday.

Ryan Theriot added an RBI single off Scott Feldman (0-5) while helping Vogelsong (5-2) run his unbeaten streak to seven outings since losing May 3 against Miami.

Giants slugger Pablo Sandoval also hit an RBI single in his first game since May 2, pumping his right fist as he ran it out in the seventh.

Mike Napoli and Mitch Moreland homered for the Rangers, who have lost three of four.

Moreland’s pinch-hit drive landed in McCovey Cove.

in six games. Dillon Gee (4-4) gave up three runs in seven innings.

Angels 11, Rockies 5 At Denver, Albert Pujols homered and singled to drive in four runs and Mike Trout had three hits, including a two-run single, as Los Angeles earned its eighth straight road win.

Torii Hunter had three singles and scored three times to help the Angels to their longest road

Tigers 3, Reds 2 At Cincinnati, Prince Fielder homered in the fourth inning and singled in the tiebreaking run in the eighth for Detroit.

Brennan Boesch started Detroit’s two-out rally against Sean Marshall (1-3) with a double.

After Miguel Cabrera was intentionally walked,

D’backs 8, Athletics 3 At Phoenix, Miguel Montero hit his second career grand slam as Arizona extended its winning streak to four games.

Trevor Cahill outpitched the Athletics’ Jarrod Parker (2-3) in a matchup of starters traded for each other last offseason. Jason Kubel had a pair of RBI singles, Justin Upton doubled in a run and Paul Goldschmidt extended his hitting streak to 16 games for the Diamondbacks, who have scored 33 runs in their four-game streak.

Cahill (4-5) gave up two runs and seven hits in 7 1-3 innings. He had a season-high seven strikeouts and walked three.

ahead run with a groundout during an eventful fourth inning as Pittsburgh earned its third consecutive victory to move four games over .500 at 31-27.

The Pirates are 11-3 since May 25, the best record in the major leagues in that span. Clint Barmes drove in Pedro Alvarez with an infield hit as the Pirates scored five times in the fourth on three singles, only one of which made it to the outfield. Barmes eventually came around to score on Walker’s bouncer. Yuniesky Betancourt hit a two-run homer for Kansas City, which has dropped three straight. Vin Mazzaro (2-1) got the loss.

White Sox 10, Astros 1 At Chicago, Chris Sale pitched eight shutout innings to earn his fifth straight win and Adam Dunn had a grand slam and five RBIs for the White Sox. Sale (8-2) allowed four singles, struck out seven and walked none while throwing 101 pitches. Gordon Beckham had three RBIs and Alejandro De Aza finished with four hits for the White Sox, who sent 10 batters to the plate during a five-run fifth that chased Jordan Lyles (12). Jed Lowrie homered for the third straight game as the Astros averted the shutout in the ninth.

Twins 11, Cubs 3 At Minneapolis, Trevor Plouffe had a double, a homer and four RBIs, and Scott Diamond pitched six scoreless innings for surging Minnesota.

Diamond (5-1) allowed seven hits and struck out five. Joe Mauer added three hits and two RBIs in his return from a sprained right thumb for the Twins, who have won nine of their past 11 games. Alfonso Soriano hit a two-run homer in the eighth for Chicago, his 12th long ball in the past 24 games.

SAN FRANCISCO: Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford (left) tags out Texas Rangers’ Elvis Andrus at second base on a steal attempt during the third inning of a baseball game. —AP winning streak since taking eight straight from July 18-Aug. 2, 2009. Dan Haren (4-6) pitched 5 13 innings to get the victory.

The Rockies hit five home runs, two by Tyler Colvin, but lost their fourth straight overall and fell to 0-5 this season in interleague play.

Dodgers 8, Mariners 3 At Seattle, Jerry Hairston Jr. had a career-best five RBIs and Clayton Kershaw struck out a season-high 12 batters as the Dodgers rebounded from Friday’s no-hit loss.

Hairston had three of the Dodgers’ 14 hits, putting Los Angeles ahead with a three-run homer in the first against Jason Vargas (7-5). He added RBI doubles in the third and in eighth. Kershaw (5-3), the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner, allowed three runs and four hits in seven innings.

Yankees 4, Mets 2 At New York, Mark Teixeira hit a go-ahead home run and Phil Hughes won his third straight decision, sending the Yankees to the victory over the Mets.

Curtis Granderson also connected for the surging Yankees (33-25), who have won seven of nine to move a season-high eight games over .500.

With runners at the corners in the ninth inning, Rafael Soriano retired pinch-hitter Jordany Valdespin on a routine fly to end it. Soriano earned his ninth save.

David Wright hit a long homer and Omar Quintanilla went deep for the first time since 2008, but the scuffling Mets lost for the fifth time

Fielder softly lined a single to center to score Boesch.

Brayan Villareal (2-1) pitched a scoreless seventh inning to earn the win. Jose Valverde worked the ninth for his 11th save.

Braves 5, Blue Jays 2 At Atlanta, Tommy Hanson shut down another American League East team and Dan Uggla hit a three-run homer as Atlanta picked up its season-best sixth straight win.

Braves rookie shortstop Andrelton Simmons hit his first career homer off Drew Hutchison (53) in the seventh. Michael Bourn had three hits.

Jose Bautista hit a two-run homer in the sixth, the only inning the Blue Jays had a runner reach third base. Toronto has lost three straight, including the first two games of the series.

Nationals 4, Red Sox 2 At Boston, Gio Gonzalez pitched 6 1-3 effective innings and Adam LaRoche hit a solo homer as Washington spoiled Daisuke Matsuzaka’s return from reconstructive elbow surgery.

Ian Desmond had a two-run single and Michael Morse added an RBI double during a three-run fourth for Washington. Matsuzaka (01), making his first major league start since undergoing Tommy John surgery last June 10, gave up four runs and five hits over five innings.

Pirates 5, Royals 3 At Pittsburgh, Neil Walker drove in the go-

Orioles 6, Phillies 4 At Baltimore, Adam Jones hit a two-run homer in the 12th as the Orioles won their eighth straight extra-inning game.

Jones ended a season-worst 0-for-18 slump with a single in the ninth, then launched a drive over the outstretched glove of center fielder Shane Victorino.

Chris Davis drew a leadoff walk in the 12th from B.J. Rosenberg (0-1) and Jones followed with his 17th home run, and the second gameending drive of his career. The Orioles won for only the fourth time in 13 games.

Jim Thome, Jimmy Rollins and Hector Luna homered for the Phillies, who have lost seven of eight. Hunter Pence added four hits.

Rays 13, Marlins 4 At Miami, Ben Zobrist homered twice and drove in four runs to lead Tampa Bay to its third consecutive win. Jose Molina and Elliot Johnson had three RBIs apiece for the Rays. Matt Moore (3-5) struck out nine and allowed four runs in six innings. Justin Ruggiano hit a three-run homer for the Marlins, who have lost the first five games of a nine-game homestand.

Cardinals 2, Indians 0 At St. Louis, Kyle Lohse allowed three hits in 7 2-3 innings to outpitch Justin Masterson as Carlos Beltran hit his National League-leading 17th homer for St. Louis.

Michael Brantley had two singles to extend his hitting streak to 17 games for Cleveland. But the Indians had only three runners in scoring position against Lohse (6-1).

National League Padres 5, Brewers 2 At Milwaukee, Ross Ohlendorf had a strong relief outing as San Diego strung together four consecutive singles in a sixth-inning rally.

Ohlendorf (1-0), signed by the Padres on June 4, pitched 4 1-3 innings to earn the victory.

He gave up five hits, one earned run and struck out four as the Padres got their sixth road victory this year against 20 losses, the worst such record in the majors. Huston Street pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his fifth save. —AP

Wiggins wins Criterium du Dauphine CHATEL: British rider Bradley Wiggins cemented his status as a Tour de France favorite yesterday, winning the Criterium du Dauphine race in the French Alps for the second straight year.

The three-time Olympic gold medalist successfully defended his title in the mountainous week-long stage race, finishing 1 minute, 17 seconds ahead of Sky teammate Michael Rogers of Australia. Tour de France champion Cadel Evans finished third, 1:26 behind Wiggins.

Wiggins said he was “not the favorite, but

one of the favorites” for the upcoming Tour de France. “It’s a big win,” Wiggins said. “Everyone talks a lot about the Tour de France, but winning Paris-Nice and the Criterium du Dauphine in the same year, that’s huge. So whatever happens on the Tour, I can already be satisfied.”

Spanish rider Daniel Moreno won the 124.5kilometer (77-mile) seventh stage from Morzine to Chatel after making a late attack on the final climb. Luis Leon Sanchez of Spain and Evans were next.

Wiggins captured the race leader’s yellow

jersey in the first stage on June 4 and never relinquished it. He also won one stage along the way, dominating the 53.5-kilometer (33mile) Stage 4 time trial.

The Dauphine is considered a warm-up race for the Tour de France, which begins June 30 in Liege, Belgium. Wiggins, who crashed out of the 2011 Tour de France, will start as one of the race’s top favorites after winning three of this year’s hardest stage races, Paris-Nice, Tour de Romandie, and the Dauphine. —AP

NEWARK: Los Angeles Kings’ Jonathan Quick watches a goal by New Jersey Devils’ Bryce Salvador score in the second period during Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals. —AP

Devils stay alive, force Game Six NEWARK: Bryce Salvador scored from a deflection off a defenseman as the New J e r s e y D e v i l s d e r a i l e d Lo s A n g e l e s’ Stanley Cup coronation for a second time, beating the Kings 2-1 in Game 5 of the NHL finals Saturday.

Zach Parise ended a five-game goal drought with a rare mistake by goalie Jonathan Quick , and Mar tin Brodeur stopped 25 shots to help the Devils end the Kings’ 10-game postseason winning streak on the road and 12- game run ove r t h e p a s t t wo ye a r s, b o t h N H L records.

Justin Williams scored for the Kings, whose once seemingly insurmountable 3 - 0 s e r i e s l e a d h a s b e e n c u t to 3 - 2 .

Game Six is today in Los Angeles.

“We survived out there,” Brodeur said.

“I don’t think we played our greatest game, but we found a way to win. These are important games to win, especially at home knowing these guys play really well on the road.” More importantly, the Devils have the Kings wondering what’s going for the first time in the postseason.

This marks the first time they have lost consecutive games this postseason, and the Devils are halfway up a mountain that only one other NHL team has climbed in the finals after losing the first three games. Only the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs came back in a best-of-seven finals and won. Three years later, the Detroit Red Wings rallied from a 3-0 deficit to tie the series, but they lost Game 7 to Toronto. Those were the only other two teams to come back from 0-3 to force a Game 6 until the Devils.

“It’s a difficult thing to get yourself ready for games like that,” Brodeur said.

“Now it’s been two (must-win) in a row.

It takes a lot out of you but it is worth it.

I think that’s what the guys have been concentrating on all day, leaving nothing out there. “... Now we are going to LA again to try to ruin the party again,” the 40-yearold three-time Cup winner said. “They

are so close to winning the Stanley Cup that I am sure it is getting to them a little bit, having all these chances and not being able to capitalize a little bit. We’re looking just to stay alive.”

The Kings haven’t played terribly in losing the last two games, but the Devils have made the plays when it counted or gotten the breaks when they needed them.

Take Salvador’s winner, his first goal in seven games. His shot from the left point was deflected right in front of Quick, hit off the chest of Kings defenseman Slava Voynov and rebounded into the net at 9:05 of the second period. It was the second time in this series that a point shot by a Devils defenseman hit off Voynov and caromed past his goaltender.

This one turned out to be a winner because Brodeur stood tall the rest of the way and had one shot hit off the goalpost and had a goal by Jarret Stoll on a second-period power play waved off because he hit the rebound with his stick too high.

Brodeur ’s biggest save might have been with 7.6 seconds to go in regulation when he stopped a slap shot by M i k e R i c h a rd s f ro m t h e r i g h t c i rc l e.

However, there was no overwhelming celebration from the home team. Slaps on the pads, a few head nods, then it was off to the locker room.

The Kings meanwhile, heads down, made a bee line for their locker room.

Quick said the losing streak hasn’t changed the way the team feels. It’s the same as it was after winning three in a row.

“It’s the time of the year, you’re going to l o s e g a m e s, yo u’re g o i n g to w i n games,” Quick said. “It’s the same as after we swept St. Louis, same as after we beat them three in a row. You stay right here, you don’t get here, you don’t get there.” As the crowd filed out, again to the 1984 Bruce Springsteen hit, “Glory Days,” the chants of “Mar-tee! Mar-tee! were loud and long. —AP

MLB results/standings Minnesota 11, Chicago Cubs 3; Baltimore 6, Philadelphia 4 (12 innings); Washington 4, Boston 2; Atlanta 5, Toronto 2; San Francisco 5, Texas 2; Detroit 3, Cincinnati 2; LA Angels 11, Colorado 5; Chicago White Sox 10, Houston 1; San Diego 5, Milwaukee 2; LA Dodgers 8, Seattle 3; St. Louis 2, Cleveland 0; NY Yankees 4, NY Mets 2; Tampa Bay 13, Miami 4; Pittsburgh 5, Kansas City 3; Arizona 8, Oakland 3.

American League Eastern Division W L PCT Tampa Bay 34 25 .576 NY Yankees 33 25 .569 Baltimore 33 26 .559 Toronto 30 29 .508 Boston 29 30 .492

GB 0.5 1 4 5

Central Division Chicago White Sox 33 26 Cleveland 31 27 Detroit 27 32 Kansas City 24 33 Minnesota 24 34

.559 .534 .458 .421 .414

Western Division Texas 34 26 .567 LA Angels 31 29 .517 Seattle 27 34 .443 Oakland 26 34 .433

National League Eastern Division Washington 34 23 Atlanta 34 25 NY Mets 32 28 Miami 31 28 Philadelphia 29 32

.596 .576 .533 .525 .475

1.5 6 8 8.5

Central Division Cincinnati 32 26 Pittsburgh 31 27 St. Louis 31 29 Milwaukee 27 32 Houston 25 34 Chicago Cubs 19 40

.552 .534 1 .517 2 .458 5.5 .424 7.5 .322 13.5

3 7.5 8

Western Division LA Dodgers 38 22 .633 San Francisco 34 26 .567 Arizona 29 30 .492 Colorado 24 34 .414 San Diego 20 40 .333

1 3.5 4 7

4 8.5 13 18

MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012

S P ORT S

Wilson speeds to victory in Texas after Rahal wreck FORT WORTH: When his team owner asked Justin Wilson where he wanted to win this year, the road course expert had an immediate yet interesting answer: Texas Motor Speedway.

Why? Because nobody thought he could win on an oval.

In the end, it was fitting it was Wilson, the leader of the driver group and an active player in working with IndyCar to ensure Saturday night’s return to the first high-banked oval since Dan Wheldon’s fatal accident would be a safe race.

Wilson picked up his first career win on an oval, his first since Watkins Glen in 2009, and made Dale Coyne the first owner besides Penske Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing to win in the first seven events of the IndyCar season.

“Without hesitation I said, ‘I want to win at Texas,’ “ Wilson said. “People think I can’t drive at this track, so I want to put that to rest. This is considered a traditional mile-and-a-half oval, and typically we’ve run flat out here, and the quickest car usually wins as far as straight line speed, not necessarily balance and handling.

“For me, this is a track I seem to have struggled on the most over the last few years, and like every driver I’ve got an ego, so I wanted to put that straight.”

Although he was strong at points in the race - Wilson led 11 laps total - and clearly was very fast at the end, he was still a surprise winner after Graham Rahal wrecked while leading in the topsy-turvy race that took out several contenders. Rahal took control of the race with a strong pass of Ryan Briscoe 28 laps from the finish. Rahal had pulled away from the field and seemed headed to his first victory since 2008, but his car drifted high into the wall as he exited the fourth turn. Rahal bounced back onto the track and kept going, albeit slower, and Wilson charged past him with two laps remaining. The Englishman pulled away from Rahal to snap a 46-race winless streak, dating to Watkins Glen in 2009.

“That’s just fantastic,” Wilson said. “I just can’t believe we managed to pull this off. I saw people sliding around, and knew I just had to hit my marks. I saw (Rahal) sliding more and more every lap. I didn’t think it was much chance, but then when I saw him hit

the way, I thought ‘OK, it was time to go.’ “It was four-wheel drifting all the way into three, all the way out of four.

You were having to hang on out there.”

A disappointed Rahal settled for second, his best finish of the season and best finish ever at Texas. Honda drivers finished first and second.

FORT WORTH: Justin Wilson of England, fires blanks from two revolvers in victory lane after winning the IZOD IndyCar Firestone 550 auto race. —AP “I just messed up, honestly. There’s not much else to say,” Rahal said. “I didn’t expect it, honestly. I own up to it, and we’ll come back and we’ll win one here, and I certainly feel like it should have been today. “Congrats to Justin, because certainly Justin is not known as an oval racer, but he did a hell of a job. I’ll admit, I was surprised when I saw him the second to last stint, saw him come flying up behind me.”

Briscoe was third for Chevrolet and followed by James Hinchcliffe, JR Hildebrand and rookie Simon Pagenaud. Helio Castroneves was seventh, points leader Will Power eighth, and pole -sitter Alex Tagliani and Wilson’s teammate James Jakes rounded out the top 10. The race took several turns, beginning when Scott Dixon wrecked late after leading 133 of the 228 laps, and he was clearly the class of the field. “Just gutted, man, gutted for everybody,” said Dixon, winner last week at Belle Isle. — AP

Union Rags win Belmont Stakes Paynter finishes second, Atigun third

NEW YORK: The glorious unpredictability of horse racing produced a heart-tugging winner of the $1 million Belmont Stakes on Saturday when Union Rags surged to victory in the 144th running of America’s most demanding Triple Crown race.

Just a day after the dreams of a generation of racing fans were shattered when I’ll Have Another’s bid to win the Triple Crown ended prematurely, Union Rags fulfilled another dream with a courageous win. Patiently ridden by John Velazquez, Union Rags (5-2) snuck through on the rails to run down the gallant Paynter in the final strides before the post. Paynter (41) held on to finish second, beaten a neck, after jockey Mike Smith opened the door for Union Rags when he drifted off the rails in the sprint to the wire.

Atigun, a 20-1 outsider, was third, a further 1-1/4 lengths behind the runner-up while Dullahan, who started as the joint favourite with Union Rags, finished a distant seventh in the 11horse field. “I waited for a hole to open up and I got lucky. The horse did it all,” said Velazquez. “At first, the hole was pretty tight, I engaged him to get into the hole - I didn’t know it was going to open up - I anticipated it was going to open up, and he took it.

Once he did, he put in a good fight.” The connections of I’ll Have Another, who won this year’s Kentucky Derby and Preakness

Stakes, joined the throngs of people watching from the stands after retiring their colt on the eve of the race when he injured a leg.

I’ll Have Another still made it to the winner’s circle on Saturday but only for his trainer Doug O’Neill to symbolically take off his saddle for the final time. “There are many fans who travelled from near and far to see I’ll Have Another today, and we wanted to give them a chance to help us send him off to retirement,” O’Neill said. While his scratching robbed the race of chance for the first Triple Crown winner in 34 years, Union Rags gave a compelling illustration of the fluctuating fortunes in the Sport of Kings. Before I’ll Have Another won the first two

legs of the Triple Crown, Union Rags had endeared himself to millions of Americans because of the incredible survival stories of his connections.

His 61-year-old trainer Michael Matz is already a national hero. He won the 2006 Derby with the illfated Barbaro, who was unbeaten before suffering a life-ending injury at that year’s Preakness Stakes. Before starting a new career as trainer, Matz won a silver medal in equestrian at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, but his sporting success was perhaps the least of his achievements.

Seven years earlier, he survived a plane crash that killed 111 people. Matz not only survived, he led three children to safety

ELMONT: Jockey John Velazquez rides Union Rags (right) to victory over Paynter, with jockey Mike Smith, in the Belmont Stakes horse race. —AP

and returned to the burning fuselage to rescue an 11-month-old girl.

“We always thought this horse had Triple Crown potential,” said Matz. “When he has a clean trip and can show himself, is one of the best three-year-olds in this crop. “Whether he could have done something against I’ll Have Another, I don’t know, but it sure would have been fun to see.”

Union Rags’ owner Phyllis Wyeth also survived a brush with death 50 years ago. She worked for John F. Kennedy during his presidency but her world was turned upside down in 1962 when she was involved in a headon car crash that left her paralyzed from the waist down.

Confined to a wheelchair, she became an advocate for helping people with physical disabilities, while indulging in her love of breeding racehorses.

She bred Union Rags then sold him at auction, only to have a change of heart when she dreamt that he would do great things. “I knew he would make it. It was my dream and he made it come true today,” Wyeth said. While the connections of Union Rags were celebrating, there was more disappointment for trainer Bob Baffert, who prepared Paynter. Baffert finished second in both the Derby and the Preakness with his other outstanding three-year-old, Bodemeister. —Reuters

Rudisha runs blistering 800m NEW YORK: Yohan Blake and fellow Jamaican Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce won the 100 metre sprints, while Kenya’s David Rudisha scored a sensational victory in the 800 metres at Saturday ’s Diamond League meet.

Rudisha left a nine-man field far behind as he ran alone from the halfway point to win with a time of one minute 41.74 seconds for the fastest time ever registered in the United States and best time in the world this season.

“ This is my first visit to the United States and I wanted to do something special,” said Rudisha, who holds the world record of 1:41.01. “I was aiming for 1:42, so to run 1:41 was fantastic.”

Rudisha’s time was the ninthfastest ever. Second place went to fellow Kenyan Alfred Kirwa Yego, nearly three seconds behind in 1:44.49.

World champion Blake overcame a slow start with a blistering finish to overtake Trinidad’s Keston Bledman and win the men’s 100 in 9.90 seconds.

Bledman clocked 9.93 followed

by American Michael Rodgers in 9.99. Former American world sprint champion Tyson Gay, in his first race in a year after undergoing hip surgery, won the 100 metres B race in 10.00 into a slight headwind as he strives to prepare for the US Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon.

Fraser-Pryce further delighted the large Jamaican contingent attending the event at Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island by exploding from the blocks and holding off hard-charging

American Tianna Madison to win in 10.92.

Third place in the elite field went to world champion Carmelita Jeter of the US in 11:05, with two-time world 200 metres champion Allyson Felix taking fourth place in 11:07.

Sanya Richards-Ross, the world 400 metres champion, won the 200 metres in 22.09, the fastest time in the world this year and her personal best over the distance.

Fellow American Bianca Knight was second in 22.46. — Reuters

18

MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012

sp orts

Hamilton wins in Montreal

LAS VEGAS: Manny Pacquiao (left) and Timothy Bradley exchange punches in the 12th round of their WBO world welterweight title fight. —AP

Pacquiao loses his crown LAS VEGAS: Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines was stunned by American Timothy Bradley on Saturday, surrendering his WBO welterweight title on a controversial split decision at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

It was Pacquiao’s first defeat since he lost to Erik Morales in Las Vegas in March 2005, ending a run of 15 consecutive wins by the Filipino who has won world titles in an unprecedented eight weight divisions. Fight promoter Bob Arum lambasted the judges afterwards in the postfight news conference. “I’ve never been as ashamed to be associated with the sport of boxing as I am tonight,” he said.

“This is a fight that respected people scored 11-1, 10-2 to Pacquiao. They said that Bradley was trying hard but that this was a mis-match.

“Desert Storm” Bradley, a 5-1 underdog against Pacquiao, improved his perfect record to 29-0 with 12 knockouts, while Pacquiao slipped to 54-4-2 with 38 knockouts.

Judge Jerry Roth (115-113) awarded the fight to Pacquiao while CJ Ross (115113) and Duane Ford (115-113) gave it to the American, but the crowd responded with boos after 12 rounds which the Filipino had appeared to dominate.

“I accept what the result is,” Pacquiao, 33, said ringside. “I respect the judges, I cannot blame them. It is a part of the game. I give thanks to the Lord. I do my best but my best wasn’t good enough.”

Asked if he thought he had won the fight, Pacquiao replied: “Absolutely, yes,” and the crowd erupted with cheers. “It was a good, competitive fight,” said Bradley. “Every round was pretty close.

Pacquiao won some of the early rounds. I controlled the later rounds with my jab. I need to go home and review the tape.

“He is a strong puncher. He rocked me a couple of times in the fight but I held my ground and fought to the end. This is boxing.” The official statistics reflected how much more punishing Pacquiao’s blows had been.

He connected with a higher percentage of punches thrown, 253 of 751 to the 159 of 839 for the American, and landed 190 power punches compared to his opponent’s 108. “It is unfathomable,”

fumed Arum. “These people don’t know how to score. The truth is they’re too damn old to judge any more. What were they looking at? This was not a close fight. It’s not good for the sport of boxing.”

Pacquiao, who had kept his opponent waiting before the start of the fight after watching his beloved Boston Celtics NBA team lose the Eastern Conference finals to the Miami Heat, was initially out boxed by Bradley.

The American landed several early body jabs before the Filipino ended the opening round with a flourish, landing three crunching straight lefts to the head.

Watched by a crowd of just under 16,000 that included former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, Pacquiao continued to dominate Bradley with his probing left hand, then mixed in a series of telling combinations in the third round. As chants of “Manny, Manny” echoed through the Garden Arena in the fourth round, Pacquiao pummeled Bradley with a withering array of body punches and jabs to the head, Bradley doing well to stay on his feet.

Pacquiao maintained control in the fifth round, subjecting Bradley to a flurry of blows on the counter attack and snapping his head backwards with a shuddering left hook late on.

The Filipino kept Bradley back peddling for most of the sixth round, and pinned him to the ropes with another series of body blows punctuated by a searing right hook.

Though Bradley fought back bravely in the seventh round after a couple of exchanges, Pacquaio’s superior power and speed made a telling difference as the Filipino landed considerably more punches.

Pa cq u i a o w a s h i t by a g l a n c i n g head butt in the eighth round but he remained in control while frequently smiling as most of the American’s blows landed wide. Bradley enjoyed his best round of the night in the 10th when Pacquiao appeared to relax but the Filipino came storming back with a late flurr y of telling blows in the 11th. —Reuters

Rain halts French Open final PARIS: Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic were locked in a thrilling French Open final duel yesterday when rain caused a suspension until today, only the second time in history that the tournament has not finished on time.

Nadal, chasing a record seventh Roland Garros title, was leading 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 1-2 when play was halted for a second and final time at 6:50 pm local time (1650GMT) with conditions on Philippe Chatrier Court becoming increasingly treacherous. There had been an earlier 40-minute stoppage from 5:10 pm (1510GMT) because of rain.

The final, already in progress for three hours, will resume today at 1:00 pm local time (1100GMT ) with Djokovic in the ascendancy and serving for a 3-1 lead in the fourth set.

The last time a French Open men’s final failed to be completed on a Sunday was 1973 when it was played on the following Tuesday with Ilie Nastase beating Niki Pilic. Organisers came under fire for starting the final at 1500 local time (1300GMT) on Sunday, instead of an earlier slot, despite the dire weather predictions. Today, too, could be disrupted with the forecast for even more rain. —AFP

KUWAIT: Champion Yousuf Ben Rabaian and his Assistant Engineer Mohammad Al-Awadhi will leave Kuwait today to Kazan City, east of the Russian capital Moscow to participate in the second round of world championship for Formula 1 boat racing, scheduled to takeoff on June 20, with the participation of more than 30 teams. Ben Rabaian will ride a new boat model 2012 and DAC brand, as it was equipped for this event. He added, I am honored to fly the flag of Kuwait and this is my aim.

MONTREAL: Lewis Hamilton made it a magnificent record seven different winners in seven races this season yesterday when he drove with speed and perfect control to win the Canadian Grand Prix.

The 28-year-old Briton produced a superbly judged race to wipe away all fears hanging over the event after a weekend of protests and police action in the city to seize his first win of the year. Police reported the arrests of around 30 protesters in the hours before the race as Canadian students rallying for months over tuition hikes used the Formula One showpiece to highlight their cause. Late Saturday, shield-wielding riot police had pushed back and chased hundreds of protesters amassed in the downtown shopping district, making 28 arrests.

The event itself passed off smoothly, with Hamilton’s triumph coming five years to the day after he had claimed his maiden Formula One victory at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and his third win at what must be one of his favorite circuits.

It was his 18th career victory and it hoisted him back into serious contention for the drivers’ title in this year of unexpected results and unpredictable racing. He now leads the standings on 88 points ahead of Fernando Alonso on 86 and defending champion Sebastian Vettel on 85.

Frenchman Romain Grosjean of Lotus came home second after an equally welljudged race to finish ahead of third-placed Mexican Sergio Perez of Sauber.

Defending double world champion German Vettel of Red Bull finished fourth after a late second pit stop ahead of two-time champion Alonso of Ferrari and sixth-placed Nico Rosberg of Mercedes.

Australian Mark Webber was seventh in the second Red Bull ahead of Kimi Raikkonen, the 2007 champion, in the second Lotus, and Japanese Kamui Kobayashi of Sauber and Felipe Massa for Ferrari.

“Winner, winner! Well done you guys, thank you, thank you,” said Hamilton on the team radio during his slowing down lap after finishing clear of Grosjean by more than 2.5 seconds. Hamilton’s McLaren team-mate, 2009 champion Jenson Button endured another

Heat top Celtics in Game Seven MIAMI: The Heat are headed back to the NBA finals after LeBron James had 31 points and 12 rebounds, and Dwyane Wade scored 23 points to help Miami rallied from as many as 11 points down to beat the Boston Celtics 101-88 on Saturday.

Chris Bosh finished with 19 points off the Miami bench, and made a career-best three 3-pointers - the last sparking a huge Heat run to end Game Seven of the Eastern Conference finals. Next up: The Heat play Game One of the title series in Oklahoma City today.

Dwyane Wade scored and Shane Battier added 12 for the Heat, who won a Game 7 for the first time since 2004 Wade’s rookie season.

Rajon Rondo finished with 22 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds for Boston, which got 19 points from Paul Pierce in what might be the last game of the “Big Four” era for the Celtics.

Boston took out its starters with 28.3 seconds left. By then, workers already had a rope around the perimeter of the court, preparing for the East trophy presentation. When Heat President Pat Riley was shown on the giant overhead video screen in the moments just after the final buzzer, the crowd screamed. Riley finally acknowledged them with some claps, before the 2012 Eastern Conference champions logo was shown as players below the scoreboard high-fived and hugged, all wearing the new T-shirts and caps that marked the accomplishment.

The screams kept coming, first when Alonzo Mourning took the microphone “We still got a lot of work to do,” Mourning said - and then again when he handed the trophy to Heat owner Micky Arison.

“A roller-coaster ride,” Arison said. A roller-coaster game, too. In a roller-coaster season. All worth it - for now, anyway.

The next step awaits, another shot at the finals. In a championship-or-bust season, the Heat board a plane for Oklahoma City late yesterday. “We have been through a lot,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

Down by seven at the half and eight early in the third quarter, Miami started clawing back. An 8-0 run tied it at 59-all, capped by Wade hitting a jumper, and then the fun really started.

There were six lead changes and five more ties in the final 7 minutes of the third. Bosh scored with 29 seconds left for the last of those ties, and it was 73-all going into the fourth.

Six games decided nothing, and nothing was decided in Game 7 until the very last moments, neither team yielding much of anything. Battier’s 3-pointer with 8:06 left in the third cut Boston’s lead at the time to 59-57. And back and forth they went.

For the next 13 minutes, a span of 46 dizzying, unbelievable possessions, neither team led by more than two points.

That finally changed when Bosh his third 3-pointer with 7:17 left. James made a runner on the next Miami trip, and suddenly the Heat had their biggest lead of the night to that point, 88-82 with 6:54 remaining. They were on their way. — AP

troubled race and finished 16th while seventimes champion veteran Michael Schumacher was forced into early retirement by mechanical problems with his Mercedes.

At the start Vettel made a clean getaway from his 32nd pole position. Hamilton and Alonso followed him in file order through the opening laps and the order remained unchanged until lap 16 when the defending champion made his first pit stop.

This gave Hamilton the lead and he pro-

ond stop for fresh tyres on lap 51.

Hamilton rejoined in third behind leader Alonso and Vettel, both on worn rubber, and using his fresh tyres he swiftly reduced their advantage.

It was unclear if the front two were intending to make their tyres go the distance as Hamilton cut the gap from almost 12 seconds to less than six seconds with 14 laps remaining.

By lap 62 of the 70, he was within metres of

MONTREAL: McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, of Britain, celebrates his victory in Formula One Canadian Grand Prix. —AP duced a turn of speed in the clean air to make sure that when he came in two laps later he remained in control.

Alonso took the lead this time and when he came in he rejoined ahead of Hamilton, second behind Grosjean, but only just-and Hamilton, in fine form, set him up for a thrilling passing move that he executed on the back straight on lap 21 to regain second place and, in effect the lead.

This was turned into reality when Grosjean pitted on lap 22 and the 2008 champion Hamilton began to build a lead that stretched to more than four seconds ahead of Alonso before it was reduced before he made a sec-

Vettel’s car and searching for his opportunity to pass the German, a chance that came at the end of the lap when he moved up to second for his final chase after Alonso’s Ferrari.

With six laps remaining, he was less than one second behind the Spaniard’s car and waiting for an error or a chance to sweep past him - again it came on the back straight and he took it with elan, Alonso moving over and back to acknowledge he had no defence.

Vettel, struggling on worn tyres, pitted with five laps left and dropped down to fifth, thus turning the final laps into a battle of nerve and tyre-wear for those in pursuit of a podium position. —AFP

Record-breaker Best strikes after running riot BIRMINGHAM: Tino Best’s astounding 95, the highest ever score by a Test No 11, rocked England at Edgbaston here yesterday.

England, at stumps on the fourth day of the third Test, were 221 for five a deficit of 205 runs and still needing a further 56 to avoid the follow-on with Ian Bell 76 not out.

A West Indies’ 10th-wicket Test record stand of 143 — the third highest in all Tests for the last wicket-of 143 between wicket-keeper Denesh Ramdin, who made 107 not out, and Best took the tourists to 426 all out.

Fast bowler Best’s innings was all the more impressive as this was his first Test in nearly three years, with his previous highest score at this level 27. The Bajan then took two wickets for 37 runs in 12 overs to set the seal on a memorable day. There was no hint of the runfest to come when West Indies, resuming on 280 for eight after losing the toss, saw Ravi Rampaul dismissed three balls into yesterday’s play. Ramdin, himself in Test exile for two years before this tour, was then 63 not out.

But Best made England pay for their controversial decision to rest new-ball duo James Anderson and Stuart Broad, having already established an unassailable 2-0 lead in this three-match series.

‘Stand-in’ seamers Graham Onions and Steven Finn were driven in the style of a toporder batsman by the 30-year-old Best.

Indeed it was Ramdin who was almost out when, on 69, he cut Finn and Kevin Pietersen failed to hold a sharp chance at gully.

Off-spinner Graeme Swann went the same way as the pacemen, cut for two fours in successive balls by the inspired Best. There was no stopping Best, only called up to this tour as a replacement for injured fast bowler Shannon Gabriel, as he completed a 44 ballfifty. Ramdin’s single off Tim Bresnan, after which he nearly hit the bowler’s head as he waved his bat in celebration, took him to a hundred in 160 balls with nine boundaries.

Ramdin, who made 166 against England at Bridgetown three years ago, then produced a

piece of paper from his pocket with “Yea Viv, talk nah” written on it, after West Indies great Vivian Richards had criticised him for failing to deliver on his promise after the tourists’ ninewicket second Test loss.

England were too often ‘chasing’ the game, with captain Andrew Strauss slow to reinforce his ring of close catchers. Best uppercut Bresnan for yet another boundary to top Zaheer Khan’s previous Test best by a No 11 of 75 for India against Bangladesh at Dhaka in 2004 and then drove the seamer for a stunning straight six.

But in sight of a hundred, Best skyed an Onions slower-ball to Strauss at first slip. Best faced just 112 balls with a six and 14 fours. — AFP

BIRMINGHAM: West Indies’ Tino Best avoids a short ball from England’s Steven Finn during the fourth day of the third Test match at Edgbaston cricket ground. —AP

SCOREBOARD BIRMINGHAM: Scoreboard at stumps on the fourth day of the third Test between England and the West Indies at Edgbaston here yesterday: West Indies 1st Innings (overnight: 280-8) A. Barath lbw b Onions 41 K. Powell c Swann b Bresnan 24 A. Fudadin c Bell b Bresnan 28 D. Bravo c and b Finn 6 M. Samuels lbw b Bresnan 76 N. Deonarine c Strauss b Onions 7 D. Ramdin not out 107 D. Sammy c Strauss b Finn 16 S. Narine b Onions 11 R. Rampaul c Prior b Finn 2 T. Best c Strauss b Onions 95 Extras (b4, lb8, w1) 13 Total (all out, 129.3 overs, 448 mins) 426 Fall of wickets: 1-49 (Powell), 2-90 (Barath), 399 (Bravo), 4-128 (Fudadin), 5-152 (Deonarine), 6-208 (Samuels), 7-241 (Sammy), 8-267 (Narine), 9-283 (Rampaul), 10-426 (Best) Bowling: Onions 29.3-7-88-4; Bresnan 34-9-1113; Finn 32-6-109-3 (1w); Swann 26-5-85-0; Trott 8-1-21-0.

England 1st Innings A. Strauss c Bravo b Best 17 A. Cook lbw b Rampaul 4 J. Trott b Sammy 17 K. Pietersen c Sammy b Samuels 78 I. Bell not out 76 J. Bairstow b Best 18 S. Finn not out 0 Extras (b1, lb7, nb3) 11 Total (5 wkts, 58 overs, 245 mins) 221 Fall of wickets: 1-13 (Cook), 2-40 (Trott), 3-49 (Strauss), 4-186 (Pietersen), 5-215 (Bairstow) To bat: M Prior, T Bresnan, G Swann, G Onions Bowling: Best 12-2-37-2 (3nb); Rampaul 14-155-1; Sammy 8-1-22-1; Narine 15-1-70-0; Samuels 9-0-29-1.

Match position: England are 205 runs behind the West Indies with five first innings wickets standing.

MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012

SPORTS

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Ukraine v Sweden 21:45

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Euro 2012 briefs

Top-scorers? What top-scorers? Dutch ask KHARKIV: In the great Dutch goal scoring debate before Euro 2012, the only question was ‘who’ was going to score: Robin van Persie or Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. The question was never ‘whether’ they were going to score.

But on a night of stunning futility in Saturday’s 1-0 loss to Denmark, the two couldn’t manage a goal together for almost half an hour after Huntelaar was thrown into the game alongside failing starter Van Persie.

The Dutch strikers weren’t the only flops on the second day of the European Championship.

Cristiano Ronaldo again failed to deliver at the highest level for his country as Portugal lost to Germany 1-0 in the other match in Group B, arguably the toughest of Euro 2012.

The group was supposed to be hard on defenses, not on the strikers.

Though many big names were struggling, nowhere were the problems more evident than among the Dutch. They created one chance after another in sticky conditions in east-

ern Ukraine, all to no avail.

“It wasn’t only Robin van Persie.

There were maybe four, five, six players who had a lot of chances,” coach Bert van Marwijk said. Yet it was the coach’s decision to start with the Arsenal forward who finished as the Premier League’s top scorer last season - instead of Huntelaar, the German Bundesliga’s top marksman.

Instead, their best efforts were outshone by Michael Krohn-Dehli, a journeyman player from Denmark’s Brondby.

Virtually unknown before he picked up a loose ball close to the penalty area in the 24th minute, Krohn-Dehli left two defenders standing and shot through the legs of Maarten Stekelenburg from a tight angle to earn himself a place in the spotlight.

“It is miraculous how the Danes won,” said Dutch defender John Heitinga, whose team had 28 scoring attempts compared to eight for Denmark. The Dutch, for all their cre-

ative prowess and technical skills, were on target only eight times. By contrast, the Danes had a perfect record with every attempt being on goal. The result left Heitinga unable to decide “whether it is luck for them or bad luck for us - or inability.”

Playmaker Wesley Sneijder, who had a standout game with his probing passes to Van Persie and Huntelaar, also highlighted his team’s lack of return from so much possession. “Dominating doesn’t count,” he said. “This is the proof. We are left empty handed.”

The Netherlands’ sense of frustration was heightened by claims for a penalty in the dying minutes, when Denmark’s Lars Jacobsen appeared to touch the ball with his upper arm in the box during a duel with Huntelaar. “It is such a clear penalty, and then you likely get a draw,” Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk said. The coach also blamed the hot, humid conditions with a game temperature of 27C. “In conditions like

that, it is much better to be the defending team and deny space,” he said. “It costs a lot less effort.”

But by the 24th minute, when Krohn-Dehli put Denmark ahead, the Dutch could already have scored from any of half a dozen chances. By then, the Netherlands could easily have been the team on the defensive, ready to pounce on the counter. “We ran after the facts for almost the entire match,” Sneijder said.

If finding the net against Denmark proved too tough an assignment, it’s unlikely to get any easier when the Netherlands faces archrival Germany on Wednesday. This time around, the Dutch cannot afford to lose. Perhaps, though, they can take some solace from history.

In 1988, they lost their opening game at the European Championship to the Soviet Union by a similar score.

Then, Marco van Basten came into his own and started scoring until the Netherlands won its one and only major trophy. —AP

‘Bread, not games’ Nearly 500 protesters rallied in Poznan, western Poland, yesterday against the Euro 2012 football championships underway in Poland arguing that too much money was spent organising the games, local reports said.

Airing their grievances just ahead of the Ireland-Croatia face-off in the city, the protesters-mostly trade unionists-chanted “Bread, not games!” a twist on the ‘Bread and games’ slogan of ancient Rome. “We’re protesting against the current policy. At a time of crisis, when there is less and less social housing, we are spending millions of zloty on building football stadia,” protest organiser Katarzyna Czarnota said, quoted by the Polish PAP news agency.

Ukraine aim for different approach

DONETSK: France’s forward Franck Ribery (foreground) warms up with teammates during the official training in the eve of the Euro 2012 soccer championship Group D match against England. —AP

Cautious France wary of England in Group D KRAKOW: France have a long unbeaten record to protect as they seek to confirm their renaissance under coach Laurent Blanc by winning Group D to sweep into the quarter-finals at Euro 2012.

But Blanc knows they face a familiar obstacle in old foes England, however their opponents may have been recast by new manager Roy Hodgson, and has wisely been cautious ahead of their group-opening clash in Donetsk today.

It is a fixture to remind him it is much too early for the cockerels to crow before his team face England and unpredictable co-hosts Ukraine plus durable Sweden in a tricky group.

Bitter memories of France’s discordant early exit from the 2010 World Cup finals, as well as happier times, may serve him well if reminders about unity and concentration are required.

Inspired by Michel Platini and Zinedine Zidane respectively, France won the Euros at home in 1984 and in neighboring Belgium and Netherlands in 2000 — triumphs that leave them trailing only three-time winners Germany in the tournament’s history.

This week, they completed their preparations with a 4-0 warm-up victory over Estonia to stretch their unbeaten run under 1998 World Cup winner Blanc to 21 games, including 15 wins.

But Blanc, who had a brief spell in the Manchester United defence in the twilight of his own distinguished playing career, knows and understands English football.

“They are not at full strength, but what concerns me is that England will play in a certain style,” he said. “We are going to have to be extremely strong physically. That is going to be a difficult match.” Strong in defence and blessed with gifted forwards in Franck Ribery and Samir Nasri, and a fine striker in Karim Benzema, France should be favourites, particularly as England are depleted by injuries and Wayne Rooney’s suspension.

Blanc recognises, however, that nothing can be taken for granted in clashes between such old enemies. “England will give everything because, when there are French against English, it raises the game above the normal international match,” he said. “But we don’t fear them more than any other team.” Despite being without striker Rooney for their first two games, as well as injured defender Gary Cahill and midfielders Frank Lampard and Gareth Barry, England are determined to progress and justify their FIFA ranking as the fourth best team in Europe and sixth in the world.

England’s best showing at the European Championship was as losing semi-finalists at home in 1996. After two wins in warm-ups under Hodgson, they enter the tournament with confidence.

“We know we can get a result against France and it is a great opening fixture for us,” said winger Stewart Downing.

“We are not afraid of anybody.”

Ukraine are coached by former Soviet Union winger Oleg Blokhin who guided them to the 2006 World Cup quarterfinals in his previous spell in charge.

Having lost 2-0 in their final warm-up game against Turkey on Tuesday, after a stomach bug swept through their squad, they are expected to struggle in their opener against Sweden despite home advantage in Kiev.

“I used to be an unpredictable player and I’m an equally unpredictable coach,” said Blokhin, declining to reveal if he will rely on captain Andriy Shevchenko to inspire both team and crowd. The striker’s young Dynamo Kiev club mate Andriy Yarmolenko is a more likely threat. Sweden, under low-key coach Erik Hamren, will similarly hope for inspiration from moody striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, a player capable of dazzling moments but often simply frustrating, to add penetration to a solid team built to protect an ageing defence. —Reutesr

KIEV: Ukraine’s stuttering preparations for staging Euro 2012 have provided UEFA with continual headaches and things have not gone much better on the pitch for the tournament co-hosts.

Oleg Blokhin’s side have suffered a series of friendly defeats including losses to Austria and Turkey, who both failed to qualify for Euro 2012, in their final warm-up outings.

To make matters worse, 10 players were then laid low by a stomach bug as Ukraine prepared for Monday’s Group D clash against Sweden while their three top keepers are all unavailable for the finals, one because of a doping violation.

Having reached the World Cup quarter-finals only six years ago, Ukraine have snce slipped from 13th in the FIFA world rankings to 52nd, losing five matches out of six at one stage last year.

A sign of their troubles is that they still look to former AC Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko for inspiration, even though, at 36, he is well past his peak.

Capped 108 times by his country, Shevchenko is promising the home fans an improvement on recent performances. “”I won’t dispute the fact that in the games against Austria and Turkey things happened in our team that were far from what was wanted. But there were reasons for this,” he said. “”I can assure you in the match against Sweden you will see an absolutely different style of play from the Ukraine national team.”

Shevchenko said he was ready to do whatever his country asked of him in the coming weeks.

“”To be honest, I don’t care how many minutes I will be out on the pitch,” he said. “The main thing for me is to do the right things to help the team.”

Most worrying is the loss of Ukraine’s three first-choice goalkeepers, two to injuries and the third, Shakhtar Donetsk’s Olexandr Rybka, to a two-year doping ban after he tested positive for a banned substance in a domestic game.

That leaves Andriy Pyatov as their most experienced keeper with 26 caps while his two deputies, Maxym Koval and Oleksander Horyainov, have only three caps between them.

This may prove problematic against Erik Hamren’s attack-minded Sweden side. The coach recently dismissed suggestions of defensive worries after the Swedes conceded three soft headed goals in two friendly games.

After years of conservative football under the pragmatic Lars Lagerback, Hamren will send out a team that is not afraid to be positive, with skilful players on the wings and overlapping fullbacks.

He has also freed last season’s Serie A top scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic from his target man role, allowing him the freedom to torment opponents all over the pitch.

Ahead of Ibrahimovic in the forward line is Ola Toivonen, whose goal gave the Swedes a shock 3-2 win over the Dutch in their final game to ensure qualification.

Johan Elmander, who has recovered from a foot fracture, is likely to start on Sweden’s right flank, with a licence to cut inside and make the most of his powerful running. —Reuters

Iran women banned Women in Iran are being banned from watching live public screenings of Euro 2012 football games because of an “inappropriate” environment where men could become rowdy, a deputy police commander said yesterday.

“It is an inappropriate situation when men and women watch football in (movie) theatres together,” said Bahman Kargar, Iran’s deputy police commander in charge of social affairs, according to the ISNA news agency.

“Men, while watching football, get excited and sometimes utter vulgar curses or tell dirty jokes,” he said. “It is not within the dignity of women to watch football with men. Women should thank the police” for the ban. The Euro 2012 games underway in Poland and Ukraine are being aired on state television in footballmad Iran.

Lost in translation French coach Laurent Blanc had to think on his feet after a Chinese journalist’s question was only partially translated. “I think the translator took a loo break and only translated the final part of the question,” Blanc mused.

The reporter had among other things asked what the team’ goal was at the event and his own transition from being “le president” in his heyday as France centre half to being in the dugout these days. Blanc said he was sure the different parts of the question were not linked and in any case “what was the question again?”

Dance away

KIEV: Ukraine goalkeeper stops the ball during official training on the eve of the Euro 2012 soccer championship Group D match between Ukraine and Sweden. —AP

Travelling Manchester City supporters will be out to encourage Poland-based England to put on their dancing shoes and dance the (sky) blues at the Euros. City fans were inspired by a Europa League trip in 2010 to Polish side Lech Poznan, whose fans dance the “Kolejorz,” holding on to each other’s shoulders and jumping in the air together. City followers adopted the idea and now shout out “Let’s all do the Poznan.” (AFP)

MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012

Cautious France wary of England in Group D Page 19

GDANSK: Spain’s Sergio Ramos (left) performs a bicycle kick past Italy’s Cristian Maggio during the Euro 2012 soccer championship Group C match. — AP

Holders Spain held by Italy

GDANSK: Holders Spain were held to a 1-1 draw by a dogged and determined Italy at the Arena Gdansk here yesterday in the opening Group C match at the European Championship.

Italy took the lead on 61 minutes through substitute Antonio Di Natale only minutes before the world champions equalised through Cesc Fabregas.

But Chelsea striker Fernando Torres missed two glorious late chances after coming off the bench to replace the goalscorer.

A draw was a fair result as Italy were the better side in the first half and were fearless in taking the game to the world champions.

Both coaches sprung a surprise with their team selections as Vicente Del Bosque opted to go without a striker, playing Fabregas between Andres Iniesta and David Silva.

Italy’s Cesare Prandelli opted for Juventus reserve Emanuele Giaccherini in the left wingback position, a role the forward is far from used to playing.

And the surprises continued until after kickoff as Italy were the better side in the first period. Spain clearly lacked a striker and were guilty of over-playing the ball on several occasions.

Italy kept it tight, dropping into a back five with three in front of them when they didn’t have the ball. But they showed no fear when claiming possession and attacked with gusto.

Andrea Pirlo had the first sight of goal when his low free-kick was palmed away by Iker Casillas on 13 minutes. Claudio Marchisio put Antonio Cassano in down the inside right channel but the AC Milan forward’s shot on the turn from a tight angle screwed wide of the far upright.

Iniesta had a low shot that Gianluigi Buffon gathered comfortably at his near post but otherwise Italy were far the more dangerous.

Casillas spilled a shot from Cassano before Mario Balotelli was harshly adjudged to have fouled Gerard Pique as they tangled over the

follow-up.

Cassano then picked out Marchisio, whose first time volley was spectacular but straight at Casillas.

Spain came alive a minute before the break as Xavi picked out Iniesta inside the box with an arrowed pass but his Barcelona team-mate shot too high.

The chance of the half came in time added on as Cassano crossed from the right and Thiago Motta’s header from point-blank range was somehow kept out one-handed by Casillas.

Del Bosque must have said something to his players at half-time because within five minutes of the restart Fabregas had taken aim and brought a sprawling save out of Buffon. Soon after, Iniesta’s shot from the left was deflected just past the far post.

But then a Sergio Ramos mistake presented Balotelli with a free run on goal but the Italian was too casual and the Spaniard rushed back

to redeem his error.

It was the carefree Balotelli’s last contribution as he was promptly hauled off for Di Natale, and not before time. Di Natale’s first act was to beat the offside trap on 61 minutes to meet Pirlo’s precise through ball and clip home beyond Casillas.

That seemed to wake up the holders, though, and a clever move saw the ball shift quickly from Iniesta to Silva and then the breaking Fabregas to finish under Buffon.

Del Bosque finally brought Torres on for Fabregas but when presented almost immediately with a one-on-one chance he overran the ball and Buffon cleared the danger.

A dinked pass from Sebastian Giovinco, on for Cassano, freed Di Natale but his volley on the stretch went well wide.

From another Italian defensive mistake Torres was presented a glorious opportunity but instead of playing in the unmarked Jesus Navas, he chipped Buffon and the bar. —AFP

STATISTICS Match statistics for the 1-1 draw between Spain and Italy in their Euro 2012 Group C match at the PGA Arena in Gdansk yesterday.

Spain Italy Goals scored 1 1 Total shots 18 10 Shots on target 9 6 Corners 7 2 Offsides 2 3 Fouls committed 12 19 Yellow cards 3 4 Red cards 0 0 Ball possession (percent) 60 40

Croatia thrash Ireland in stirring Euro start

POZNAN: Croatia piled on the misery for Ireland, beating them 3-1 in their Euro 2012 opener here yesterday, with Mario Mandzukic scoring two in a stirring meeting that saw both teams battle hard from start to finish.

Keenly aware that on the road ahead lie heavyweights Italy and defending European champions Spain, both Ireland and Croatia had been clear that they needed a convincing start to the tournament.

Just three minutes in, Wolfsburg striker Mandzukic moved into position for a cross from captain Darijo Srna, stumbling briefly before steadying himself to beat Irish goalkeeper Shay Given with a powerful header. Veteran Given — Ireland’s most capped player with 122 — appeared uncomfortable as he was caught off guard, conceding his country’s first first half goal in 15 matches.

The 36-year-old Aston Villa keeper had been a doubt because of a knee injury but after being able to train fully on

STATISTICS Match statistics for Croatia’s 3-1 win against Ireland in their Euro 2012 Group C match at the City Stadium in Poznan yesterday.

Ireland Croatia Goals scored 1 3 Total shots 13 14 Shots on target 5 8 Corners 1 7 Offsides 2 1 Fouls committed 12 18 Yellow cards 1 2 Red cards 0 0 Ball possession (percent) 45 55

Friday suffered no reaction and was cleared to play in yesterday’s match giving coach Giovanni Trapattoni a boost.

Croatia’s ecstatic fans let off flares to celebrate Mandzukic’s goal, and did so again to mark the ensuing strikes despite appeals from the announcer, meaning the team looks set to be the latest to be fined by UEFA for the behavior of its supporters at Euro 2012. Ireland, roared on by their fans, battled back.

They had a chance to equalise after winning a free kick on the edge of the area in the 11th minute when Gordon Schildenfeld fouled Kevin Doyle, but Keith Andrews’s shot was blocked.

Eight minutes later, however, came a repeat performance, as Doyle was brought down by Vedran Corluka. Aiden McGeady stepped up to take the shot, firing the arching free kick to Sean St Ledger, who nodded past Croatian keeper Stipe Pletikosa.

That put a smile on the face of the Leicester City player, who did not score for his club this season. Ireland’s green, white and orange-clad supporters responded by doing “the Poznan”, a backs-to-the-pitch jumping dance made famous by fans of the city’s top-flight club Lech.

The two teams continued to parry and thrust into the dying minutes of the half, until Croatia packed into the Irish area, with Ivan Perisic crossing to Ivan Rakitic. A touch by Stephen Ward put Nikica Jelavic onside, and he beat Given in the 43rd minute.

Three minutes after returning from the dressing room, Croatia made it 3-1 when Mandzukic fired towards the far corner of the net. The shot hit the post, but bounced off the lunging Given and into the back of the net.

Ireland and their supporters were irate in the 62nd minute when talismanic captain Robbie Keane — their 31-year-old record goal scorer who like Given is at what is likely to be his last international tournament — was brought down by Schildenfeld in what the video replay showed was the Croatian box. But Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers refused to award a penalty.

Ireland came achingly close to an honour-saving goal in the 86th minute as they packed around the Croatian net, but failed to made good on the pressure they applied. —AFP

Group C standings POZNAN: Euro 2012 Group C table after yesterday’s games (played, won, drawn, lost, for, against, points): Results Spain 1, Italy 1 Ireland 1, Croatia 3 Group C Croatia Italy Spain Ireland

1 1 1 1

1 0 0 0

0 1 1 0

0 0 0 1

3 1 1 1

1 1 1 3

3 1 1 0

POZNAN: Croatia’s Nikica Jelavic and Ireland’s Glenn Whelan fight for the ball during the Euro 2012 soccer championship Group C match.— AP

Fan trouble puts teams in the dock

WARSAW: UEFA yesterday said it was taking action against Germany and Portugal for the behaviour of its supporters and team, in the latest disciplinary measures in Euro 2012 after crowd trouble with Russia. European football’s governing body said that its Control and Disciplinary Body would deal with the case on Thursday in relation to events at Saturday’s Group B match in the Ukrainian city of Lviv.

“The German Football Association (DFB) is charged with the throwing of missiles by their supporters, while the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF)

faces proceedings for a delayed kick-off to the second half,” a statement said.

Germany, among the favourites to challenge holders Spain for the European crown, won the match 1-0.

UEFA has already initiated proceedings against Russia after the country’s fans lit and threw fireworks and displayed potentially inflammatory “Russian Empire” flags at Friday’s Group A game with the Czech Republic in Wroclaw, Poland.

It also said it was investigating claims from a racism monitoring body that the Czech’s Theo Gebre Selassie,

who is black, was subjected to monkey chants during the game, which Russia won 4-1.

A police investigation has been launched separately into an attack on four volunteer stadium stewards after the match, with police given the goahead to publish “Wanted” notices, complete with photographs of six Russian suspects. Russian football chiefs vowed to do all they could to prevent a repeat of the violence and officially warned fans to be on their best behavior, saying anyone involved had “dishonored” the country. — AP

Cross-border clout still denied to Islamic banks Page 22

Summer sale on in global jet industry Page 24

MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012

Spanish miners fight for subsidies Page 25

Spain relieved, angry over humiliating bank rescue PAGE 23

LISBON: Historical transporting boats are moored at the Vila Nova de Gaia Port district of Porto. Long kept hidden from the tourist hordes by poor roads, Portugal’s Douro Valley is opening up its port to upscale tourists who are throwing the country a lifeline in a bad economy. — AFP

UAE may face risks from euro crisis: IMF UAE banks moderately exposed to Europe DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates and other Gulf countries could face major financial repercussions if the euro-zone debt crisis spreads from the bloc’s peripheral states to its core and infects global markets, the International Monetary Fund said.

Risks are par ticularly serious for economies that depend on foreign financing and have financial links to Europe, the IMF said in a report dated April 27, which it prepared for consultations with the UAE and released in June.

“While vulnerabilities have decreased since 2008, the results of this analysis nonetheless suggest that the (UAE)

authorities need to remain vigilant to global shocks and continue to strengthen buffers.”

The banking system of the UAE, the world’s No. 3 oil exporter, is only moderately exposed to Europe, the IMF noted.

Foreign liabilities are about 19 percent of its total liabilities, while Europeans hold about 20 percent of UAE banking system assets.

“While the estimated level of financial spillovers to Dubai is once again increasing, it is still below 2008-09 levels.

European countries, Greece in particular, have been key contributors.”

The IMF also said the UAE banking

system did not show any signs of distress now, while the probability that all its banks would experience large losses simultaneously was very low.

However, the repor t added: “ The results of this analysis show that risk is concentrated in a few banks; these banks will need stronger supervision and closer monitoring of their cross-border and their domestic interbank exposures.”

Any worsening of the pressures on euro-zone governments and banks to fund themselves would pose a direct risk for the UAE, the IMF said. Despite solid economic growth last year, Dubai is still

recovering from its 2009-2010 corporate debt crisis. “While the funding situation of local banks has stabilized, a foreign funding shock could generate some liquidity tightening in the banking sector,” the report said. It predicted the asset quality of UAE banks would deteriorate this year and the number of bad loans would rise, although the banking sector would be able to handle a significant increase. Seven out of 26 listed companies in the UAE’s real estate sector, with total liabilities of $12 billion, have operating losses or do not have sufficient operating income to service their debt, it said. —Reuters

Iran feels sanctions pain as oil income slumps LONDON: Iran’s state finances have come under unprecedented pressure and the resilience of ordinary people is being tested by soaring inflation as oil income plummets due to tightening Western sanctions and sharply falling oil prices. Tough financial measures imposed by Washington and Brussels have made it ever more difficult to pay for and ship oil from Iran. Its oil output has sunk to the lowest in 20 years, cutting revenue that is vital to fund a sprawling state apparatus.

Already down by more than a quarter, or about 600,000 barrels per day, from rates of 2.2 million bpd last year, shipments of crude oil from Iran are expected to drop further when a European Union oil embargo takes effect on July 1.

Tehran is already estimated to have lost more than $10 billion in oil revenues this year.

Causing even more pain, oil prices fell below $100 a barrel last week to a 16month low amid a darkening outlook for economies in Europe, the United States and China.

“This is an act of economic warfare.

The sanctions are having a big effect in cumulative terms: Iran is being locked out of the global financial system,” said Mehdi Varzi, a former official at the National Iranian Oil Co. “It does appear that Iran is more amenable to negotiations now than it was a year ago. The West should take advantage of this momentary situation to offer more meaningful concessions - a road map to where this will all end,” said Varzi, now

running an energy consultancy in Britain, Varzi Energy. Diplomats and analysts say Iran may offer the IAEA, the UN nuclear watchdog, increased cooperation as a bargaining chip in its negotiations with world powers, which resumed in April after a 15-month hiatus and are to continue in Moscow on June 18-19.

Basic mathematics dictate that the lower Iran’s oil exports, the higher the oil price it will need to stay in the black.

According to the International Monetary Fund, Iran needs oil at $117 a barrel to balance its budget, set at $462 billion.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said the budget was designed to decrease Iran’s dependence on oil revenues.

Senior Iranian oil officials have acknowledged that sanctions have reduced exports but say the country has long experience of finding ways around them and a drop in oil revenue is not the end of the world.

“Personally, I will be very happy if the dependence of the economy on oil revenue is decreased,” said an Iranian oil official, who requested anonymity. “We can use the sanctions as an opportunity”.

International sanctions have been a fact of life in Iran for decades and Tehran is adept at working round them. But there are growing signs that ordinary people are feeling much more pain from them than in the past as inflation has soared in the last six months.

“I was struck by the high prices when I went to the grocery store yesterday,” said Ahmad, 54, who owns a small fabric shop

in Tehran’s bazaar.

He said the price of apples had more than doubled in the past month and strawberries had almost tripled to 110,000 rials per kilo, or more than $6 at market rates.

“Little by little, even fruit is becoming a luxury.” Inflation is now officially running at about 20 percent, although economists say prices of the goods most Iranians worry about are rising much faster. The country is undergoing what the government has called major economic surgery, in the form of cuts to the multi-billion dollar subsidies which for years have held down the price of essential goods such as fuel and food.

The value of the rial began to slip in January and traded at around 20,000 rials per dollar in February, up from 10,500 rials in December. It now stands at around 17,800 rials at market rates while the official rate is 12,260 rials to dollar. The price of petrol on the domestic market remains stable but taxi and public transport fares have gone up.

Sanctions are also painfully reshaping flows of goods for small enterprises, with one owner of an import company in Tehran saying he was forced to fire some workers recently after being forced to source his purchases from China instead of Europe.

“The shift caused a great deal of financial loss for us. I am not sure how much longer we can go on like this. We certainly will not be able to cope if financial sanctions on Iran intensify,” the entrepreneur, who asked not be named, said.

On the export front, several big European companies have halted purchases of Iranian oil and others are winding down. Iran had hoped that energyhungry China and India, both major customers, would mop up much of the oil left homeless by European clients. That may not be the case.

“Our impression is that China and India have not been as helpful as the Iranians expected,” said a senior Western oil executive, who declined to be identified. “But it’s very difficult to get a clear picture of how much oil is moving because they are deliberately cutting off communication.”

Since early April, Tehran has been hiding the destination of its oil sales by switching off tracking systems on its tankers. But barrels counted upon arrival in Iran’s top four customers - China, India, Japan and South Korea - show a 20 percent decrease, or 357,000 bpd, so far this year, according to government data and industry sources.

That translates into a loss in revenue of roughly $35.7 million a day, or $4.3 billion in the first four months of this year, based on current Brent crude prices.

Iranian crude is sold at a discount of several dollars per barrel to benchmark dated Brent, so the actual losses are likely to be even higher. Some relief has come from soaring prices earlier this year as Brent so far in 2012 is averaging $116 a barrel, up from 2011’s $110, which was a record high. But reduced output and falling prices are making things worse very quickly. — Reuters

Bank Nizwa up on Oman debut; Kuwait, UAE rise MIDEAST STOCK MARKETS DUBAI: Bank Nizwa, Oman’s first listed Islamic bank, surged on its market debut, although traders warn selling pressure from retail investors could curtail further gains in the coming days.The stock ended 12.8 percent higher, with 87 million shares changing hands. The most shares traded on any day on the Muscat benchmark index in the last two years was 47.2 million. Bank Nizwa is not yet included in the index. “It was very impressive.

But there was huge selling pressure on the stock, with a lot of retail investors offloading today,” said Adel Nasr, brokerage manager at United Securities.

Institutions and high net worth investors are buying the stock, Nasr added, but the selling pressure is likely to result in a drop-off sooner rather than later.

“The initial public offering (IPO) was priced at par and therefore most of the market participants expected it to shoot up in the first few days,” Shakeel Sarwar, head of asset management at Securities & Investment Co (SICO), said. “However, since the IPO is dominated by retail investors, I also expect the second round of profit taking to begin soon.” The bank raised 60 million Omani rials ($155.9 million) from its 40 percent IPO last month, which attracted bids worth more than 11-times the size of the issue during the subscription period.

The index dipped 0.5 percent, ending a three-session winning run, as Ominvest, which slumped 5.6 percent, dragged. Oman Arab Bank, in which it owns 51 percent, has postponed its planned initial public offering to September, according to the Oman News Agency. Saudi Arabia’s index made its largest one-day gain since April 21, advancing 1.3 percent.

Kingdom Holding jumped 5.5 percent to its highest close since May 15. Al Rajhi Bank rose 2.4 percent and Nama Chemicals snapped a four-session losing streak to leap 9.9 percent. Egypt’s benchmark index shed 0.4 percent in low volumes amid investor caution before a presidential run-off vote that has polarized the nation and continued political haggling over a new constitution.

“Everyone is waiting for the next 10 days to pass to see what is happening,” said investment analyst Nader Khedr.

“There are no foreigners in the market and there is no liquidity.” In Abu Dhabi, the index gained 0.6 percent.Etisalat climbed 2.8 percent to a 10-week high, extending gains since a local Arabic-language newspaper said the UAE government may soon allow its shares to be owned by foreigners - a story the telco denied in a statement yesterday. Etisalat’s shares are currently restricted to UAE nationals only, with institutions barred. Aldar Properties and Sorouh Real Estate added 1.8 and 1 percent respectively. The pair have appointed advisers for their proposed merger and begun a due diligence process which will take ‘a number of months’, a statement from Aldar said after the close of trading. Dubai’s benchmark rose for a fourth session, up 0.2 percent. Qatar slumps a fresh eight-month low, falling 0.2 percent. The exchange has finished down in eight of its last nine sessions.—Reuters

MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012

BUSINESS Time to buy shares and sell bonds

By Hayder Tawfik KUWAIT: Why should investors lend governments at interest rates which are reaching record lows when they can buy top quality stocks at bargain valuations?

Most governments around the world with top quality credit worthiness have been issuing bonds with the lowest record interest rates ever. These governments have taken advantages of investors fear about a mess which those governments themselves have created in the first place.

Why on earth any investor, being private public Sovereign Wealth etc with sound mind lend to any government at these rates? When investors buy shares, it’s like they lend to those companies. The difference is that companies are accountable to share holders but governments can’t not be accountable till election times. My argument is very simple, investors have the choice, and they are not forced to do anything they don’t want. So why not start accumulating shares which are trading on valuation so cheap it takes them back to over 30 years.

It seems to me that investors are fully aware of how cheap stocks are but as always they don’t want to be the first ones who enter the markets and the mentality of animal instinct still alive. Take the example of last Wednesday, all indices in Europe and US had the biggest gains on the day throughout this year.

Not only biggest gains but on huge volumes too. Two things in the market never lie, Volume and prices. This proves the point. My advices to long term investors is avoid the day to day volatility of the markets and try not to get sucked in but start accumulating good quality stocks at bargain valuations.

US corporate profits have literally doubled over the last 3 years whereas some government’s debt has increased dramatically. Dividends yield on the S&P 500 index is stand at 2.2% and 10 years US treasury bonds yield 1.5%. The choice is not difficult to make at all.

The dividend yield is paid on annual basis and plus potential capital gains on the stock whereas buying bonds, investors return is capped at 1.5% with potential capital loss. Companies in the US benchmark indices are trading at 13.4 times earnings after advancing nearly 100% since the early months of 2009. Not only in the US but other valuations in Europe and Asia such as Japan take us back to the early eighties.

I think valuations are discounting most of the bad news which investors are aware of. Investors worry about hard landing in China is not happening at all on the contrary, the Chinese authority has started taking actions to stop any big slow down in the economy by cutting interest rates yesterday.

The double dip in the US economy has not happened too and the worries about Europe disintegrating have made the official take note and a possible shift in policy is underway.

At last comes the big correction in oil prices and other industrial and agricultural commodities which have been squeezing profit margins and depressing consumption.

This will no doubt gives the officials some kind of breathing space to take away some of the burdens imposed on governments and consumers alike. All of these will add to more rallies in the stock markets like the one we saw on last Wednesday and it will be investors who are clever enough to avoid the herd mentality and accumulate bargain stocks for the long run.

— Hayder Tawfik - Executive Vice President of Asset Management, at Dimah Capital.

Cross-border clout still denied to Islamic banks Growth of int’l networks slower than hoped SYDNEY: Established in 2007, Dubai-based Noor Islamic Bank said it planned to become the world’s largest Islamic lender within five years, and would consider acquisitions to reach that goal.

But the global financial crisis dented those plans, and today Noor Islamic is focused on its domestic retail and takaful (Islamic insurance) businesses, with much of its overseas activity concentrated in Turkey and Tunisia. “There are no plans to acquire any operations,” chief executive Hussain Al-Qemzi told Reuters in an interview. The priority is improving efficiency and cost-cutting, as part of efforts to strengthen the bank’s financial position, he added.

Similar stories have played out across the Gulf. Islamic finance is still growing, but a major aspect is missing: the development of big cross-border banks that could spread ground-breaking products and best practice around the region, as multinational banks have done in conventional finance.

Saudi Arabia-based Al Rajhi Bank, for example, moved into Malaysia in 2006 predicting it would have 50 branches there by 2010. It now has about half that number, and a statement by the bank in March said it was focusing on improving operational efficiency; it did not stress expansion. Al Rajhi, the largest Islamic bank in Saudi Arabia by assets, has also opened one branch in Kuwait and two in Jordan.

Islamic banks’ regional reach generally lags far behind that of big, Western conventional banks operating in the Middle East, such as HSBC Holdings, and major Arab conventional banks including Jordan-based Arab Bank Group, which has a presence in 30 countries across five continents.

One exception is Bahrain-based Al Baraka Banking Group, an Islamic institution which has a presence in 12 countries, such as Jordan, Turkey and Pakistan. It plans to expand its network in North African countries, such as Tunisia, where Islamic finance is being promoted by democratic governments that took power after last year’s uprisings. But even Al Baraka has not expanded much in the Gulf; it has no major, permanent presence in that region outside Bahrain. In Indonesia, another centre of Islamic finance, it maintains only a representative office.

Strains in the global financial system over the past few years are one reason for the slowness of Islamic banks to form wide regional networks. But they are not the main reason; after all, the volume of Islamic finance has managed to continue growing rapidly despite, and perhaps because of, the crisis of conventional banking. Islamic financial assets worldwide rose 150 percent over the past five years to around $1.3 trillion, according to an estimate by financial lobby group TheCityUK. Another factor is restrictions on the entry of foreign banks into many national markets, said Alexander von Pock, principal at consultants A T Kearney.

Capitalization requirements in markets such as Oman and Kuwait limit regional expansion, making it difficult to justify deploying large amounts of capital from alreadystrained balance sheets, a senior Islamic banker told Reuters. Conventional banks have coped with such obstacles in many cases, however.

The underlying problem, bankers and analysts say, is that Islamic banks tend to be younger than their conventional peers and multiple launches have left the sector fragmented, making economies of scale harder to achieve.

Islamic banks now command a 25 percent share of the banking market in the Gulf Cooperation Council, but their average asset base is a third the size of conventional banks, according to Ernst & Young.

Mergers could change this, but Islamic banks have often proved reluctant to merge. In many cases, powerful shareholders have constrained merger plans, fearing loss of control, said Abdul Rahman Mohammed Al Baker, executive director of financial institutions supervision at Bahrain’s central bank.

“Look at the nature of the boards...these are family-held businesses,” he said. Last year Bahrain’s central bank urged five local Islamic banks to merge early in 2012 as a way to strengthen their capital bases. But in February this year, Bahrain Islamic Bank and Al Salam Bank ended their merger talks because of disagreement over valuations, while CAPIVEST, Elaf Bank and Capital Management House have not yet achieved a union.

Some mergers in the Gulf have gone ahead. Last month

Al Salam Bank and Bahraini Saudi Bank, both Bahrainbased, completed a merger of their operations. The Dubai government ordered Emirates Bank and National Bank of Dubai to join in 2007, and the combined entity, Emirates NBD , is now absorbing Dubai Bank, a debt-laden Islamic lender, at the behest of United Arab Emirates authorities.

All these mergers are domestic rather than international, however, and Emirates NBD’s takeover of Dubai Bank was viewed primarily as a way to heal a weak spot in the banking system rather than as a step to expand Islamic banking across borders.

In the long term, the rise of large, multinational Islamic banks is inevitable, many bankers say - but it could take many years. “Ultimately there might be some mergers between small-to-medium sized banks who want to become bigger players regionally,” said Salah Jaidah, head of Islamic finance at Deutsche Bank.

Al Baker at Bahrain’s central bank said governments should consider offering incentives such as tax exemptions or subsidies in order to entice Islamic banks to merge.

Ultimately, competitive pressures may prove to be the biggest factor encouraging mergers. The margin of Islamic banks’ growth above conventional banks’ growth has been decreasing across the Gulf, said an April report by A T Kearney. Meanwhile, staff expenses at Islamic banks have been growing faster than for conventional banks, according to Ernst & Young.

As Islamic banks finish penetrating their natural customer bases of loyal Islamic banking customers, they may need to seek growth by targeting the “floating mass” clients who base their choice of bank only partly on religious permissibility, and are also swayed by factors such as pricing and service quality. To attract these customers, Islamic banks may have to compete head-on with the regional networks of conventional banks.

The need for Isalmic banks to become more efficient will eventually outweigh other factors when they consider mergers, said Moinuddin Malim, chief executive of Dubaibased Islamic lender Mashreq Al-Islami. The rise of regional players will happen when “the industry realises what we are missing,” he said. — Reuters

Aldar, Sorouh in due diligence on merger Goldman Sachs and NBAD to advice

HO CHI MINH CITY: Workers resting on the pavement by a wall adorned with pictures in Ho Chi Minh City. Vietnam’s drive to restructure its troubled banking sector is being derailed by powerful interest groups as the political will needed to force through painful reforms falters, experts say. — AFP

DUBAI: Due diligence process is underway on the potential state-backed merger of indebted Abu Dhabi developer Aldar Properties and smaller rival Sorouh Real Estate, the two firms said, also naming financial advisors for the deal. Aldar and Sorouh said in March they were in talks for a potential merger, with the blessing of the government, potentially creating a company with $15 billion in assets. Goldman Sachs and National Bank of Abu Dhabi are advisors to the steering committee overseeing the proposed tie-up between Abu Dhabi’s top two developers, the companies said in a joint bourse statement.

Credit Suisse is advising Aldar while Morgan Stanley will work with Sorouh.

“A due diligence process is now underway to assess in detail the implications for all stakeholders and this process will take a number of months,” the statement from the companies said.

Reuters reported in May that those banks had been appointed to the roles, adding momentum to the state-backed deal. Ernst & Young will provide accounting advice to the steering committee while property consultants Jones Lang LaSalle will help with valuations.

Aldar, which has relied heavily on the government over the past 18 months for funding, also appointed Allen & Overy as the legal advisors.

The builder of the Yas Marina Formula One motor racing circuit received as much as $10 billion in rescue funds from the government. This is equivalent to the amount Abu Dhabi deployed to rescue Dubai from a bond default in 2009.

Sorouh, which is the smaller among the two firms, appointed Clifford Chance as legal advisors, the statement added. Shares of Aldar and Sorouh closed up 1.8 percent and 1 percent respectively on the Abu Dhabi bourse yesterday, before the announcement. Abu Dhabi’s property market is facing challenges as a huge supply of high-end homes are expected to enter the market this year. Property prices in the emirate are expected to fall another 5 percent in 2012, a Reuters poll showed. — Reuters

EXCHANGE RATES Commercial Bank of Kuwait US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian Dollar Australian DLR Indian rupees Sri Lanka Rupee UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi riyals Omani riyals Philippine peso Egyptian pounds

.2730000 .4300000 .3480000 .2900000 .2700000 .2750000 .0040000 .0020000 .0759460 .7399160 .3840000 .0710000 .7253550 .0040000 .0430000

CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES US Dollar/KD .2790000 GB Pound/KD .4317250 Euro .3492380 Swiss francs .2907610 Canadian dollars .2718370 Danish Kroner .0470040 Swedish Kroner .0391410 Australian dlr .2766700 Hong Kong dlr .0359610 Singapore dlr .2174080 Japanese yen .0035100 Indian Rs/KD .0000000 Sri Lanka rupee .0000000 Pakistan rupee .0000000 Bangladesh taka .0000000 UAE dirhams .0759910 Bahraini dinars .7403480 Jordanian dinar .0000000 Saudi Riyal/KD .0744200 Omani riyals .7249580 Philippine Peso .0000000

.2835000 .4410000 .3560000 .3000000 .2790000 .2820000 .0070000 .0035000 .0767090 .7473520 .4020000 .0770000 .7326450 .0072000 .0500000 .2826000 .4372950 .3537450 .2945130 .2753450 .0476100 .0396460 .2802400 .0364250 .2202140 .0035550 .0051270 .0021850 .0030080 .0034630 .0769710 .7499000 .3997170 .0753800 .7343120 .0065830

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co. Currency

Rate per 1000 (Tran)

US Dollar Pak Rupees Indian Rupees Sri Lankan Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso UAE Dirhams Saudi Riyals Bahraini Dinars Egyptian Pounds Pound Sterling Indonesian Rupiah

281.000 2.982 5.078 2.160 3.429 6.550 76.595 75.090 747.000 46.517 443.000 2.990

Yemeni Riyal Euro Canadian Dollars Nepali rupee

1.550 359.800 280.400 3.190

UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupees Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit

Al Mulla Exchange Currency

Transfer Rate (Per 1000)

US Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar Japanese Yen Indian Rupee Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupee Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso Pakistan Rupee Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal

280.850 354.400 436.500 275.450 3.575 5.065 46.515 2.152 3.420 6.492 2.982 747.000 76.500 74.950

COUNTRY

SELL DRAFT SELL CASH

Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Euro US Dollar Sterling Pound Japanese Yen Bangladesh Taka Indian Rupee Sri Lankan Rupee Nepali Rupee Pakistani Rupee UAE Dirhams Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Jordanian Dinar Omani Riyal Qatari Riyal Saudi Riyal

282.93 277.98 297.41 354.87 280.55 437.79 3.61 3.432 5.069 2.152 3.174 2.987 76.45 747.01 46.49 399.70 730.16 77.47 75.02

288.50 279.50 296.50 354.00 281.50 441.00 3.65 3.550 5.330 2.400 3.850 3.200 77.50 745.50 47.85 396.00 730.00 77.55 75.25

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar

Selling Rate

280.900 274.930 435.840 352.345 293.205 743.670

COUNTRY Australian dollar Bahraini dinar Bangladeshi taka Canadian dollar Cyprus pound Czek koruna Danish krone Deutsche Mark Egyptian pound Euro Cash Hongkong dollar Indian rupees Indonesia Iranian tuman Iraqi dinar Japanese yen Jordanian dinar Lebanese pound Malaysian ringgit Morocco dirham Nepalese Rupees New Zealand dollar Nigeria Norwegian krone Omani Riyal Pakistani rupees Philippine peso Qatari riyal Saudi riyal Singapore dollar South Africa Sri Lankan rupees Sterling pound Swedish krona Swiss franc Syrian pound

SELL CASH 262.300 747.300 3.670 277.100 551.900 45.800 48.300 167.800 48.150 356.200 36.890 5.240 0.032 0.161 0.236 3.640 398.210 0.190 91.170 44.200 4.320 217.500 1.820 47.600 729.910 3.150 6.700 77.630 75.030 220.600 36.290 2.677 438.700 40.300 296.200 4.300

9.270 198.263 76.610 281.400 1.350

9.080 76.510 281.000

GOLD 1,680.250

10 Tola Sterling Pound US Dollar

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 436.700 281.000

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co.

Bahrain Exchange Company

UAE Exchange Centre WLL

Rate for Transfer

Thai bhat Tunisian dollar UAE dirham U.S. dollars Yemeni Riyal

76.455 77.105 74.865 395.410 46.502 2.155 5.061 2.991 3.433 6.504 689.045 4.530 8.945 5.915 3.260 88.640

SELL DRAFT 280.000 747.300 3.432 275.600

Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht Malaysian Ringgit

3.553 5.072 3.053 2.141 3.173 220.090 36.173 3.425 6.439 8.876 89.338 GCC COUNTRIES 74.883 77.158 729.380 745.850 76.464

220.600 46.548 354.700 36.740 5.075 0.031

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

396.180 0.189 91.170

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 48.250 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 46.466 Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.309 Tunisian Dinar 176.65 Jordanian Dinar 396.190 Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.884 Syrian Lier 4.899 Morocco Dirham 32.64

3.200 218.000 729.730 3.000 6.509 77.300 75.030 220.600 36.290 2.154 436.700 294.700 4.300

EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 280.700 Euro 354.52 Sterling Pound 441.820 Canadian dollar 274.79 Turkish lire 152.400 Swiss Franc 295.01 US Dollar Buying 279.500 20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

GOLD 293.000 148.000 75.250

MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012

BUSINESS

Spain relieved, angry over humiliating bank rescue PM says more Spaniards to lose jobs

TRIPOLI: Turkish Economy Minister Mehmet Zafer Caglayan (center left) and Libyan National Transitional Council chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil (center right) talk to the press during the Turkish minister official visit to Tripoli yesterday. — AFP

Could Italy be next?

Concern in Rome after rescue ROME: Even as the global economic community hailed an agreement to rescue Spain’s stricken banks, there was concern in Rome yesterday that investors could now begin treating Italy as the next weak link in the euro-zone.

Those fears have been fueled by a report from Moody’s ratings agency warning that Spain’s banking troubles could be “a major source of contagion” for Italy where lenders are also highly reliant on European Central Bank funding. “Italy is now the only country in difficulty that has not had to ask for a bailout,” said Federico Fubini, a columnist for the top-selling Corriere della Sera daily, after aid packages for Greece, Ireland, Portugal and now Spain.

Without a stabilisation in borrowing costs on the debt markets for Italy and Spain and a Europe-wide agreement on the banking system, Fubini said that “the uncertainty will be very high and scrutiny of Italy will grow ever higher.” Italy’s borrowing costs are lower than Spain’s-indicating greater investor confidence-but they have been moving in line with Spanish ones.

The rate on benchmark 10-year Italian government bonds on Friday rose to 5.745 percent, while the rate on Spanish bonds went up to 6.192 percent. Carlo Bastasin, writing in business daily Il Sole 24 Ore, was also wary on the Spanish deal, saying: “For Italy this represents the removal of the filter that separates our country from the group of other countries in difficulty.”

As has been the case in Spain, Italian banks have bought up large amounts of domestic government bonds in recent months, making up for reduced foreign demand but also increasing their exposure to the sovereign debt crisis. The Corriere della Sera daily said concern about possible contagion drove Prime Minister Mario Monti, who is also the finance minister, to play a key role in negotiations leading up to the Spanish

bank rescue announced Saturday.

“Monti lobbied for Spain not to be lumbered with an austerity plan like the ones for Greece, Ireland and Portugal,” the report said. A headline in the daily described the deal as a “move to stop the contagion.” But Daniel Gros, head of the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels, warned: “After Spain, there will not be the margins to help Italy. It will be defenceless and forced to help itself if the situation deteriorates.”

“For the moment it is holding up. The bond auctions are going very well and the (primary) surplus is significant, but it needs to make more effort,” the economics expert said in an interview with La Stampa daily. Italy’s banking system has proved resilient and has required no domestic or foreign bailouts since the financial crisis first broke in 2008, while several major banks have launched successful recapitalizations in recent months. Italian banks also lack the high property market risk of Spanish ones. But the picture has darkened since Italy’s economy fell back into recession in the second half of last year and Moody’s last month downgraded 26 Italian banks including the two biggest ones-UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo.

At the same time, former European commissioner Monti’s ambitious program of austerity measures and structural reforms has encountered growing public opposition as some of the measures including tax increases begin to bite.

In a speech on Saturday ahead of the Spanish rescue announcement, Bank of Italy governor Ignazio Visco said: “With the political deadlock in Greece and severe difficulties in the Spanish banking sector, tensions have re-emerged.”

“For Italy, the emergency is not over,” he said, emphasizing the need for reforms that could lead to “a surge in confidence” in Italy’s growth potential and for fiscal discipline “even if at the cost of some short-run difficulties.” — AFP

Dubai’s Friendi eyes six markets after Virgin deal DUBAI: Dubai group Friendi plans to expand into six more countries within four years after the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) agreed a strategic partnership with Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, its chief executive told Reuters yesterday.

Under the deal, Friendi will add Virgin Mobile’s South African unit to its existing MVNO licences in Oman and Jordan. The company will be renamed Virgin Mobile Middle East & Africa, with Virgin holding a minority stake to become the largest shareholder in the new entity. No financial details of the transaction were provided.

MVNOs lease excess capacity from conventional telecoms operators and typically pay them a percentage of their revenue. The new company will have more than one million subscribers, with about 300,000 from Virgin Mobile South Africa and the remainder from Friendi’s Jordan and Oman operations. Friendi also provides branding and advisory services to Saudi Arabia’s number three telecoms operator Zain Saudi.

“We have a target of growing to 5 million customers by 2015, so adding about a million customers per year for the next three to four years,” Friendi Chief Executive Mikkel Vinter told Reuters.

“It’s partly growth in existing markets, but also reasonably fast expansion across new markets. We have an ambition to get to 10 markets from the four we have today within a three- to four-year timeframe.”

He declined to reveal which countries the company was targeting. “We are looking at some markets in the Middle East, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and in South Asia,” said Vinter.

“We have an ambition of at least one additional launch later this year.”

The Virgin tie-up will likely be concluded within two months, pending regulatory approval.

“It’s essentially a cash and shares deal where we’re getting the South African business, the brand license and some cash and they’re getting some shares,” he said.

This will also boost Friendi’s plans to launch an initial public offering within the next two years.

“Virgin has an impressive track record of listing its businesses, which will give comfort to the exchanges and investors,” added Vinter. “There are two important parameters - the market needs to be ready, which is currently not the case, and we need to be ready, which is also not the case.” Vinter said no financial advisors had been named for the potential float. — Reuters

Dana Gas shuffles board amid debt talks DUBAI: Sharjah-based Dana Gas, the energy firm which has a $1 billion Islamic bond, or sukuk, due in October, has appointed a new chairman, it said in a bourse filing yesterday.

Adel Khalid Al Sabeeh, previously deputy chairman, replaces Hamid Jafar as chairman, according to the results of an annual general meeting held on June 7. Jafar remains a board member, the company said.

Dana also named Tawfeeq Abdulrahman al Moayed as its new deputy chairman. No reason for the changes to the company’s board were given in the bourse filing. The natural gas producer appointed Blackstone Group and Deutsche Bank as advisers to help it

weigh options for repayment of the outstanding $920 million on the convertible sukuk and said it was committed to finding a consensual solution.

Depending on the outcome of discussions, the company could become the first in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to restructure a bond. Limited communication from the company on the matter has worried investors; Dana shares were trading 2.6 percent lower yesterday at 0842 GMT and are down over 13 percent this year.

The 7.5 percent sukuk was bid at 69 cents on the dollar on Friday, according to Thomson Reuters data, having fallen from around 75 cents at the beginning of May. — Reuters

MADRID: Spain’s grinding economic misery will get worse this year despite the countr y ’s request for a European financial lifeline of up to 100 billion euros ($125 billion) to save its banks, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said yesterday.

A day after the country conceded it needed outside help following months of denying it would seek assistance, Rajoy said more Spaniards will lose their jobs in a country where one out of every four are already unemployed.

“This year is going to be a bad one,” Rajoy said yesterday in his first comments about the rescue since it was announced the previous evening by his economy minister.

The conservative Prime Minister added that the economy, stuck in its second recession in three years, will still contract the previously predicted 1.7 percent even with the help. Small businesses and families starving for credit will eventually get relief as the funding props up banks and they increase lending, but Rajoy didn’t offer guidance on when.

Spain on Saturday became the fourth - and largest - of the 17 countries that use Europe’s common currency to request a bailout - a big blow to a nation that a few years ago took pride as the continent’s economic superstar only to see it become the hot spot in the euro-zone debt crisis. Its economy is the euro-zone’s fourth largest after Germany, France and Italy.

Although Spain has not yet said how much money it would seek, the eurogroup - finance ministers of the 17-country euro-zone, of which Spain is a member - said in a statement Saturday that it was prepared to lend up to 100 billion euros. The funds will be sent to the Spanish government’s Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring (Frob), which would then use the money to strengthen the country’s teetering banks. Spain’s government will make a formal approach for aid once independent audits of the country’s banking industry have been carried out. It is not yet clear whether the money will come from Europe’s current 440 billion euros rescue fund, the European Financial Stability Facility, or the new ?500 billion European Stability Mechanism.

Across the country, Spaniards reacted with a mixture of anger and relief to the news. The full amount of the eurogroup’s lifeline amounts to ?21,000 of new debt for each person - almost equal to the average salary in a country of 47 million where the unemployment rate for those under age 25 is 52 percent.

The country is already reeling from deep austerity cuts Rajoy has imposed over the last six months that have raised taxes, made it easier to hire and fire workers, and cut deep into cherished government programs including education and national health care.

“It’s obviously a shame,” said civil servant Luisa Saraguren, 44, as she strolled on a sunny Sunday morning with her young daughter. “But

MADRID: Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy gives a press conference yesterday at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid. Rajoy said yesterday that the euro-zone’s agreement to provide a rescue loan to Spain’s stricken banks secured the “credibility of the euro.” — AFP this bailout was fully predictable, and the consequences of this help are going to be a lot bigger compared to the cuts we’ve been living with already.” Rajoy took pains to avoid the word bailout yesterday, saying Spain’s rescue package is a line of credit that its most troubled banks will be able to tap. The assistance will not come with the outside control over government macroeconomic policy like that imposed Greece, Ireland and Portugal when their public finances were bailed out.

He said interest rates on the loans will be considerably lower than the rate near 7 percent that Spain has been forced to pay recently on the international debt markets, a level that forced the other countries to seek bailouts.

Spain will regain the economic credibility it has lost by shoring up its banks, which will result in credit being restored so businesses and individuals shut off from loans can start borrowing and the economy will grow again, Rajoy insisted, again without saying when.

Europe’s widening recession and financial crisis has hurt companies and investors around the world. Providing a financial lifeline to Spanish banks is likely to relieve anxiety on the Spanish economy - which is five times larger than Greece’s - and on markets concerned about the country’s ability to pay its way. Spain’s financial problems are not due to Greek-style government over-spending. The country ’s banks particularly its savings banks or “cajas,” got caught up in the collapse of a real estate bubble in 2008 that got worse over the past four years. However, as Spain’s leaders have struggled for a solution to their banking crisis, the country’s borrowing costs have soared close

to the level that forced the governments of Greece, Portugal and Ireland to seek rescues.

Some of Spain’s banks are struggling with by toxic real estate loans and assets amid fears the problem will get worse as more jobless people can’t pay their mortgages. The Bank of Spain says the toxic loans and assets total around 180 billion euros. Nationalized lender Bankia SA, which has requested 19 billion euros in aid, has 32 billion euros in toxic assets. Around four other banks serving the domestic market are considered prime candidates for bailouts.

“I could never get my mind round the scale of consumption in Spain over the past 20 years, having known it in the 1960s when it was still extremely poor,” said Paul Preston, a history professor and expert on Spain with the London School of Economics. “Lots of people enjoyed the consumer boom, but not everybody. Now everybody’s having to pay for it.”

Rajoy blamed Spain’s woes on the previous Socialist administration of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero without mentioning him or his government by name. Zapatero was ousted by Rajoy in a landslide last November by voters outraged over the Socialist handling of the economy.

“Last year Spain’s public administration spent €90 billion more than it took in, this can’t be maintained, we can’t live like that,” Rajoy said. But Socialist Party leader Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said Rajoy should acknowledge that Spain is now in bailout territory.

“The government is trying to make us believe that we’ve won the lottery, that the Three Kings of Orient have arrived, and that isn’t so,” Rubalcaba said. — AP

China exports, imports rise sharply BEIJING: China’s exports and imports shot up in May, but analysts cautioned the better-thanexpected data released yesterday was no cause for joy amid global economic woes and a slowdown in the Asian powerhouse. The strong figures come after China put in a poor economic performance in May and concerned policymakers cut interest rates for the first time in more than three years, as they look to spur growth.

According to the customs agency, exports rose 15.3 percent on-year in May to $181.1 billion and imports increased 12.7 percent to $162.4 billion, slightly widening the trade surplus for the third consecutive month to $18.7 billion.

This compares with a lackluster 4.9 percent increase in exports and 0.3 percent rise in imports in April.

The figures widely defied analyst expectations-a hopeful sign for the world’s second largest economy, which recorded poor data in May such as slower-than-expected growth in industrial output. A survey released by banking giant HSBC also indicated a contraction in Chinese manufacturing activity in May for the seventh consecutive month.

“It is encouraging to see that imports and exports have not collapsed and have actually performed a lot better than expectations,” said Alistair Thornton, a Beijing-based China economist for IHS Global Insight.

“But we had some pretty dismal data out yesterday, and it came off the back of an interest rate cut which really signals that policymakers are extremely concerned about the state of the economy,” he told AFP. “The fundamentals (of the economy) haven’t really changed, and in fact over the past few months, the fundamentals have deteriorated.”

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao last month said greater priority should be given to growth, which slowed to 8.1 percent in the first quarter of 2012 year-on-year-its slowest pace in nearly three years. Authorities have been easing monetary policy for some time in an effort to stimulate growth, cutting the amount of money banks are required to keep in reserve three times since December last year.

On Friday, the central bank also cut interest rates for the first time in more than three years and allowed banks more flexibility to set rates, introducing greater competition in the market.

Ken Peng, a Beijing-based economist at BNP Paribas, said the stronger-than-expected trade figures in May could be due to temporary factors such as extra working days or inventory that needed to be cleared. “May had one extra work day and April had one less than last year, so the comparisons are not very even, and secondly, there are inventory issues-perhaps some of the traders thought they had too much inventory,” he said.

“We’re in a period where external demand is not improving, the RMB (yuan) has increased sharply versus most of its competitors, and especially versus the euro. “So there’s no reason (the

BEIJING: Chinese commuters traveling past the Tiananmen Gate in Beijing. China said its exports and imports shot up in May, but analysts cautioned the better-than-expected data was no cause for joy amid global economic woes and a slowdown in the Asian powerhouse. —AFP rise in) exports should be seen as a sustainable improvement at this point.” Chinese policymakers are trying to place a greater emphasis on domestic demand to stimulate growth rather than maintaining a reliance on exports as the crisis in Europe-the country’s largest export market-rages on.

As such, the sharp rise in imports in May indicates this policy may be starting to bear fruit.

“Rising Chinese imports will... help stabilize a weakening global economy,” economists at ANZ

said in a research note.

But Thornton cautioned against reading too much into May’s trade data. “Next month, I would imagine that things will pull back again and revert to trend levels, which is rather subdued positive export growth for the year, and likewise with imports,” he said. “The domestic economy is slowing quite substantially, and that will feed through into imports over the next few months, so this is likely to be a bit of an aberration rather than a new normal.” — AFP

Abu Dhabi Airports Co board revamped ABU DHABI: Abu Dhabi has appointed a new board to lead its airport operator Abu Dhabi Airports Co (ADAC), the state news agency reported yesterday, the latest in a series of management changes that began last year in the oil-rich emirate.

The new board was appointed under a decree issued by Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahayan and will be chaired by Majed Ali al-Mansouri, WAM said.

The new board will have a tenure of three years, the statement said, without citing a reason for these changes to the board. Abu Dhabi, the wealthiest emirate in the sevenmember United Arab Emirates federation, has been conducting strategic review measures

of its government departments since 2011 to improve accountability in the public sector. It has also seen a shake-up of top management in strategic firm.

Board members in state-linked entities like Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), Mubadala and Aldar Properties were revamped last year. ADAC is overseeing the expansion of Abu Dhabi International Airport.

Last month, ADAC said it had identified Arabtec Holding consortium that includes Greek and Turkish firms as the preferred bidder for an estimated $3 billion contract to expand the airport. Mansouri is currently the chairman of the Abu Dhabi Municipal Affairs Department. He replaces Khalifa Mohamed Al-Mazrouei. - Reuters

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MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012

business

European debt crisis weighing on markets NBK WEEKLY MONEY MARKET REPORT KUWAIT: Last week revolved around several central bank meetings, namely the ECB, BOE, RBA and RBC. The European sovereign-debt crisis is still at the heart of all major financial news, with Spain the key focus for the moment. There was no surprise however as to changes in monetary policy from any of the central banks, except for RBA which lowered its key interest rates by 25 basis points. In the Euro zone, the ECB failed to calm the markets and to provide a clear strategy to fight the ongoing crisis.

Risk sentiment was somewhat positive for the first three days of the week, but turned negative following Bernanke’s testimony before the Congress. The US dollar had a mixed performance following this variability in risk sentiment. The Dollar Index witnessed a drop from an opening level of 82.90 to a low of 81.91, but bounced back after the Fed’s chairman speech and closed the week at 82.51.

The euro had a positive but weak momentum at the beginning of the week, rising from a low of 1.2375 to a high of 1.2625. However, the single currency broke lower afterwards following the negative risk sentiment that Bernanke’s speech implied and the downgrade of Spain’s credit rating by Fitch. The Euro ended the week at 1.2520. The Sterling Pound had a mildly positive performance overall, strengthening from a low of 1.5360 to a high of 1.5600, and closing sessions at 1.5475. The Swiss Franc followed suit with the Euro, range trading between a low of 0.9515 and a high of 0.9700, before ending the week at 0.9600. The Japanese Yen was the major loser last week, with the USDJPY having an upward trend during last week. The pair started the week slowly, trading at levels around 78.50, but broke higher to 79.80, and ending at 79.50.

Gold dropped last week from levels around $1,640 to a low of $1,555, before closing at $1,593.50.

Services industry Service industries sustained their pace of growth in May, showing the biggest part of the US economy is withstanding the impact of the European debt crisis. The Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) index of non-manufacturing businesses, which covers about 90% of the economy, unexpectedly rose to 53.7 last month from April’s 53.5, higher than the expected reading of 53.4. Readings above 50 signal expansion. A pickup in orders, similar to the manufacturing data last week, and the first decline in prices in almost three years ease concerns services will falter as the debt crisis pushes Europe toward a recession.

Fed action In his speech last week, Chairman Ben Bernanke said the Federal Reserve is prepared to take further

steps to lift the US economy if it weakens, but without signaling any imminent action for the moment, adding that the European debt crisis poses significant risks to the US financial markets. He noted that US unemployment remains high and the outlook for inflation subdued, and he expects economic growth to continue at a moderate pace this year. “ The Federal Reserve remains prepared to take action as needed to protect the US financial system and economy in the event that financial stresses escalate,” Bernanke stated. The Fed could buy more bonds to lower long-term interest rates, which would encourage more borrowing and spending, or it could extend its plan to keep short-term rates near zero beyond late 2014. Another looming threat is the “fiscal cliff” legislation in place that could force a drastic cut in government spending and higher taxes for Americans at the year’s end, which could drive the country back to recession if not changed. This socalled fiscal cliff would, if allowed to occur, pose a significant threat to the recovery, Bernanke said.

countries can be better linked ahead of a June 28-29 summit where new ideas to save the Euro are to be presented. In a statement following the central bank’s meeting, Draghi said the ECB stands “ready to act” should the debt crisis damp the area’s economy further, and that “a few” Governing Council members pushed for a rate reduction at yesterday’s policy meeting. Draghi also cast doubt on the impact of further longer term refinancing operations, or LTROs, saying the full effects of previous loans have yet to be felt. Some of the problems in the Euro-area “have nothing to do with monetary policy,” he added.

Euro-area services and manufacturing output contracted at the fastest pace in almost three years in May, adding to signs the economy is suffering under the worsening sovereign-debt crisis. The Composite Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) dropped to 46 from 46.7 in April. While above an initial estimate of 45.9, the May reading is the lowest since June 2009, and has been below 50 - indicating contraction - for four months.

ECB meeting The European Central Bank withheld the stimulus of an interest rate cut last week, keeping up the pressure on Euro zone politicians to take decisive action even as growth predictions worsened and fears intensified that Spain may need help bailing out its banks. The 23-member governing council left its benchmark refinancing rate unchanged Wednesday at a record low 1.00%. ECB President Mario Draghi cited economic growth forecasts for a gradual recovery this year in justifying the decision not to cut rates this time around. Rate cuts are supposed to help growth by lowering business borrowing costs. Some analysts, however, said the bank’s expectations of only a 0.1% decline over the full year were overly optimistic. Analysts say Draghi’s hands-off stance last week was meant to underline the need for action on restructuring the Euro by the 17-country euro-zone’s divided and often slow-moving politicians. He has urged leaders to sketch in a vision of how the economies and financial systems of Euro member

Retail sales European retail sales declined more than economists forecast in April as the worsening debt crisis prompted consumers from Spain to Austria to cut spending. Sales dropped 1% from March, when they advanced 0.3%, and lower than the 0.1% decline expected by economists. European companies are relying on faster-growing economies to bolster sales as the area’s deepening slump erodes consumer confidence and curbs spending.

The Spanish government’s efforts to bring down its sovereign debt was made a little more difficult last week when the credit ratings agency Fitch slashed the country’s long-term rating by three notches to BBB from A due to concerns about the country’s growing level of debt, a deepening recession, and a crisis in its banking industry in particular.

Fitch also highlighted that the likely fiscal cost of restructuring and recapitalizing the Spanish banking sector estimation has increased to €60- €90 billion,

or 6-9% of GDP, from the previously estimated Ä30 billon, or 3% of the GDP. According to the agency, the absence of a credible vision of a reformed EMU and financial firewall has rendered Spain and other so-called peripheral nations vulnerable to capital flight and undercut their access to affordable fiscal funding.

Technical recession The euro-zone narrowly escaped technical recession in the first quarter of 2012 as exports offset a plunge in investment and inventories to produce a flat reading, but it is unlikely to escape contraction again in the second quarter. The European Union’s Statistics Office confirmed its previous estimate that the 17 countries that share the euro had no growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in JanuaryMarch 2012 as in the previous three months. Figures showed that exports contributed 0.5% to the final quarterly GDP figure, exactly offsetting falls in investment and inventories, which took away 0.3% and 0.2% respectively.

The Bank of England resisted pumping more cash into the struggling UK economy today despite mixed signs on the health of the recovery and rising tensions in the Euro zone. The most recent GBP50 billion injection into the quantitative easing (QE) program took place in February but members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) have vetoed increasing the stock of asset purchases from £325bn.

The Central Bank also held interest rates at their record low of 0.50% as the threat from above-target inflation overrode concerns about the risks to the economy. The decision comes as the pressure mounts on political leaders to draw up a firm action plan to tackle the mounting crisis from neighboring European countries, with Spain appearing to move closer to taking an EU bailout and a crucial election in Greece imminent.

House prices in the UK rose in May, according to Halifax, which said values are likely to stagnate for the remainder of the year due to the weak economy.

Prices increased 0.5% from April, when they dropped 2.3 %, official figures showed last week. The average price in May was GBP 160,941 (or $248,500), down 0.2% from a year earlier. A double-dip recession and inflation that has held above the Bank of England’s target for more than two years are putting pressure on consumers and restraining the recovery in residential property, though record-low interest rates are providing some support to mortgage demand.

Kuwait Kuwaiti Dinar at 0.28030 The USDKWD opened at 0.28030 on Sunday morning.

Summer sale on in global jet industry Airbus, Boeing pushing fuel-saving airline models

KABUL: An elderly Afghan potter waits for customers in the artisan’s village of Istalif in the Shomali plains, about 30 km north of Kabul.

Istalif was once a village famous for its pottery, now lies mostly in ruins following decades of war. A small artisan initiative is breathing tentative life back into the village with a small handful of craftsmen, mostly potters trying to revive the ancient crafts tradition. — AFP

Buffett bucks the trend by buying newspapers WASHINGTON: Unfazed by predictions of the death of newspapers, billionaire Warren Buffett is pumping more money into print. In the past year, one of the world’s richest men and sharpest investors has put some $300 million into an industry that some view as heading the way of the horse and buggy.

Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway holding company late last year bought his hometown newspaper, the Omaha World-Herald, along with related assets in a $200 million deal some analysts viewed as a sentimental move. He followed with a $142 million deal last month to buy Media General, a chain of 63 newspapers.

He added $2 million to Lee Enterprises, owner of the St. Louis Post Dispatch and Arizona Daily Sun. That is in addition to other holdings, including The Buffalo News and a stake in The Washington Post Co. “I believe newspapers that intensively cover their communities will have a good future,” Buffett said in a message last month to his newspaper employees.

He said Berkshire “will probably purchase more papers in the next few years” and that he will “favor towns and cities with a strong sense of community.”

Still, the investment comes amid dire predictions for the newspaper industry, which has been battered by sharp drops in print circulation and advertising, and getting only modest revenues from online services. A research note from the financial firm Moody’s earlier this month gave the US newspaper industry a “negative” outlook, saying that digital initiatives are failing to make up for “significant secular pressures.”

“Although newspaper companies seek to capitalize digital revenue through an array of channels, it’s unlikely that these gains will be large enough to offset print losses,” Moody’s analyst John Puchalla wrote. “A complete transformation away from print entirely would eliminate the sizable costs of print production and distribution, but the revenue loss is still

too great for companies to make the switch yet.” Analysts say Buffett, the world’s third richest individual with a net worth estimated at $44 billion, is doing what he does best: making a “contrarian” bet by investing in a company or sector beaten down by negative sentiment.

“Newspapers are one tenth of the price they were a decade ago,” said Ken Doctor, a media analyst with the research firm Outsell.

Doctor said Buffett is finding value in these companies because they often own hard assets, including real estate and broadcast properties, and have a strong brand name in their communities. “These are great community assets, they have great brands,” Doctor told AFP. “Buffett is, at base, an opportunistic investor... See a business, or industry deep in the doldrums, and think you can leverage money out of a deal, one way or the other, and you’ve got an opportunity.”

In an interview with The Washington Post, the 81-year-old Buffett said his move was “not a soft-headed business decision.” But the investor said he sees prospects best for newspapers in smaller cities with “a feeling of community.”

Still, to make the investment pay off, Buffett will have to find a way to stem losses in the news business, and he has indicated he will seek a new “digital strategy” for the companies. “We must rethink the industry’s initial response to the Internet,” Buffett said in his message.

“The original instinct of newspapers then was to offer free in digital form what they were charging for in print. This is an unsustainable model and certain of our papers are already making progress in moving to something that makes more sense.” Dan Kennedy, a journalism professor at Northeastern University, said Buffett’s strategy is not yet clear.— AFP

BEIJING: A summer battle for orders is underway in the global jet industry, which gathers in Beijing yesterday for the first of two crucial events in two months, pitting the world’s largest planemakers against each other in a race for deals worth $50 billion at catalogue prices. The potential deals span all continents and every pattern of powered flight from the largest airliners to warplanes and luxury business jets, shielding aerospace workers from the worst effects of a slowdown spreading from Europe’s debt crisis.

But analysts say Airbus and Boeing are having to offer sporadically hefty discounts to ride out economic uncertainty, especially for maturing models or early batches of new ones like the 787 Dreamliner. Boeing is expected to win the fiercely contested annual order race for the first time since 2006 as it catches up with a decision by Airbus to revamp medium-haul jets, resulting in big fuel savings for airlines on the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737. The dominant civil planemakers are also positioning themselves early ahead of next month’s Farnborough air show, with deals worth $14 billion announced in the past 72 hours.

Both companies have accused each other of waging a price war to win hundreds of orders for the revamped A320neo and 737 MAX respectively, and deny cutting corners themselves. Several industry analysts say pricing is under pressure this year.

“Both sides are heavily discounting,” said Richard Aboulafia, aerospace analyst at U.S.-based Teal Group.

Although the madeover medium-haul jets offer airlines a reduction of 15 percent in fuel, the industry’s highest cost, most carriers remain under financial pressure and some are delaying deliveries to shore up their cash positions.

Airlines meeting in Beijing are expected to hear that their industry body, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), has left its forecast for 2012 sector profit unchanged at $3 billion, but unease is growing as Europe discusses a new bailout and China’s economy slows.

Major characters in the aerospace industry are in the Chinese capital negotiating on the sidelines of IATA’s Beijing summit, which comes weeks before another showcase, the July 9-15 Farnborough air show in Britain. Chicago-based Boeing was relegated to the background during most of last year’s equivalent event as Airbus broke records with sales of the A320neo, but later opted for a similar upgrade.

This year will be different. Boeing is preparing to hit back with a spree that could soon include an order from United Continental for 100 narrowbody jets plus some 70 options, industry sources said. It will want to persuade the top five aircraft leasing companies led

by AIG unit ILFC to put firm signatures on undisclosed draft orders that U.S. aerospace analyst Scott Hamilton estimates at 300-400 jets. These will include an order from GECAS, whose General Electric makes 737 engines.

SUMMER SHOWDOWN If all goes as some in the industry expect, Boeing could double the number of firm orders for its revamped 737 MAX to as high as 1,000 by the end of Farnborough. It may be European Airbus’s turn to be overshadowed, though possibly not without surprises such as a new order for its A380 superjumbo.

Airbus on Friday reached 1,425 sales of the revamped A320neo since it was introduced, giving it a share of 76 percent in medium-haul, the market’s hottest segment. Over time the balance of power is expected to be roughly equal as the duopoly recovers. Boeing has 451 firm MAX sales and its data suggests it has at least 549 draft orders including 414 yet to be identified. The industry’s arch-rivals are also facing off indirectly in the global arms market this summer with a competition to supply dozens of fighters to South Korea. Bids are due on June 18 and industry sources believe a decision may come as early as

September in an $8 billion contest between Boeing’s F-15, the Eurofighter made by a group including Airbus parent EADS, and the Lockheed Martin F-35.

Asia, the Middle East and Latin America are rearming to replace ageing equipment or in the face of regional threats, and Western suppliers are wooing them aggressively to try to offset domestic budget cuts. The global fighter market is pegged at $15-20 billion a year excluding lucrative parts and upgrade deals. The share of exports within this total hovered around 30 percent for the past decade but is moving towards 50 percent, Aboulafia said.— Reuters

WUHAN: A Chinese air passenger getting his photo taken by a poster of the Airbus A380 at the airport in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei province. The debt crisis in Europe and high oil prices weigh on the outlook for airline companies as they meet from June 10 in Beijing for the annual meeting of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). — AFP

Kuwait stocks end mixed KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange’s (KSE) KSX 15 index ended yesterday’s trading session with a loss of 4.39 points to read 963.02 points, while contrast, the price index was up 11.61 points to 6,110.87 points. The weighted index shed 0.59 points to 401.14 points.

Trades came to 4,835 transactions, worth KD 25,401,015.755 and volume reached 333,523,916 shares.

Top share for the day was that of National International Company holding. The biggest loser was Dulaqan Real Estate Company, and top volume share was that of Gulf Finance House. The 14 sector indices were mostly in green with healthcare on top. The biggest loser was the Insurance sector.

Gulf stock markets performed in a “tragic manner” in May and closed the month bearishly, according to a report. Lacking new motivating factors, the stock markets of the Gulf region had to resort to follow-up on

international markets, which also took an alarming bearish path, due to the deepening credit crisis in Europe. Spain was the center point of latest developments in Europe, with Standard and Poor’s lowering credit rating for major Spanish banks.

Saudi market was number-one loser among bourses of the region, falling 7.7 percent, in May, the Global Investment House report said, noting that the bearish trend of the regional markets was forecast to proceed in the summer. The Global report said up to 21.8 billion shares were traded in May, compared to 28.2 billion the previous month, 22.7 percent lower. Total value of traded shares reached $49.5 billion in contrast to $79.4 billion in April, dropping 37.6 percent.

Market value amounted to $721 billion in the end of May. The value of the Saudi market constituted up to 50.5 percent of the overall value of the regional markets. — KUNA

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MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012

business Weekly commodity update

Spain aid deal calms Europe fears

Gold takes flight, falls to earth again

By Ole S Hansen ommodity markets spent the week trying to recover from their dismal performances during May. What helped them along initially were renewed speculation about additional stimulus being provided by the US Federal Reserve following the weak employment report on June 1. Gold jumped the most in years only to tumble the most in two months after the Fed chairman in a testimony in Washington refrained from outlining any additional measures. China lowered its key interest rate for the first time in four years in order to stimulate a weakening economy, but again this failed to ignite the market, as it raised speculation that upcoming economic data could be weaker than expected. Spain, despite managing to issue EUR 2 billion of debt, saw its credit rating drop by three notches as the banking and funding crisis continues. Attention over the coming week will return to Greece ahead of the June 17 election, with the result potentially triggering further speculation about Greece’s future within the euro-zone.

Against this backdrop, riskier and growth-dependant assets like commodities will probably continue struggling until we begin to receive some answers to the questions currently being raised with regard to the near-term prospects for global growth. Adverse weather as witnessed recently could once again be the only factors that drive individual (agriculture) commodities higher.

C

Strong week for agriculture The agriculture sectors were the best performing last week with the DJ-UBS agriculture index returning more than four percent while precious metals index lost two and the energy index lost one percent. In the top sixof individual commodity performances, we find the three major crops, which were all supported by either strong exports or dry weather across the key growing regions, both in the US and in Russia.

At the time of writing the more diversified DJ-UBS Commodity Index was on track to record its first albeit small weekly gain in three weeks, while the much more energy-heavy S&P GSCI index was on track to record its sixth week of losses, the longest weekly losing streak in 11 years. It highlights the aggressiveness of the selloff, especially in crude oil, witnessed since early May. The weak US employment report on June 1 once again raised the prospect of additional US stimulus and gold rallied five percent, moving back above previous resistance at 1,610. Having passed this hurdle, a few days was spent consolidating the gains, and gold reached 1640 in the process, only to succumb to heavy selling by hedge funds following the noncommittal testimony from the US Fed chairman Bernanke on Thursday. The fact that the leverage community off loaded their long positions so quickly is a worrying sign as it shows the limited patience they have when it comes to holding onto positions in this volatile environment. This has once again blown a hole in gold’s credentials as a safe-haven, and attention will once again turn to outside markets, with the dollar once again having the potential for being the main driver in the short term. Although additional stimulus has not been ruled out, the Fed’s window to manoeuvre is getting shorter, as no major initiatives are expected to be announced during the final months of the US presidential election campaign.

We maintain our overall positive outlook for gold, given the unresolved euro-zone crisis, the continued chance of additional stimulus from US or Europe or both, combined with negative real yields, which removes the opportunity cost of holding gold. But for now the exercise of rebuilding confidence commences once again, with the low 1,500’s providing the line that needs to hold in order to avoid further losses.

Oil rally short-lived The economic slowdown witnessed among the world’s three major oil consumers - US, China and Europe - proved too much for any further advance of crude oil this week. Following a few days of recovery from a much oversold situation, sellers returned and traders who had bought Brent crude futures on the move back above 100 quickly headed for the exit once that level gave way again.

Brent crude is currently down almost nine percent in 2012 and trades well below last year’s average price of $111. Tight market conditions witnessed just a couple of months ago continues to ease following record Saudi Arabian production and rising North American production combined with a slowdown in demand, especially in Europe. The additional cuts in Iranian exports once the US and EU sanctions begins on July 1 should therefore only shift the balance slightly and not have any major impact on prices. Iran could even be forced to discount its oil in order to find willing buyers, something that could add additional downside pressure on global benchmarks, such as Brent crude.

OPEC is meeting on June 14 and after the price collapse during May, some interesting discussions lie ahead, especially considering we have reached the level where Saudi Arabia feels comfortable.

Will OPEC make an attempt to reduce supplies thereby stabilizing prices before knowing the full impact of the Iranian sanctions and seasonally higher demand kicks in? Or will they be worried about the current economic slowdown and opt to keep supplies at current levels, thereby risking an oversupply to the system?

As mentioned in my last update, the technical outlook for Brent crude looks pretty grim, with a sustained move below its previous range - which lasted for 16 months - having caused technical traders to set their eyes on a 73 dollar target. For that to materialize, though, we would have to see further deterioration in demand from emerging economies and most likely also a break-up of the euro. Geo-political risks are constantly lurking, and with many oil producers requiring much higher prices now to balance their budgets than before the Arab Spring, a further drop would most likely trigger a response from producers. Ahead of the Greek election, however, traders will probably be on the defensive and a revisit to the recent lows at USD 95.60on Brent and possible beyond cannot be ruled out.

The monthly food price index, which comprises 55 different food commodities, had its biggest drop in more than two years in May, as especially the cost of dairy slumped by almost 12 percent.

The index, which is provided by, United Nations Food and Agriculture, fell by 4.2 percent to index 203.9, a level not seen since October 2010, with the five different food groups all recording lower prices. Although it will bring relief to consumers, many countries who rely on import and who pay in dollars will however not have felt much of an impact, as the dollar strengthened by more than five percent against other major currencies during May. Overall the trend towards lower prices has been in place for more than one year now, and comes on the back of high prices last year, which was met by a strong production response from farmers globally.

The FAO also raised its grain production forecast for 2012-13 by two percent to 2.42 billion tons. Much of that increase relies on good growing conditions over the next couple of months, and as we have seen already, dry weather in central US and Russia continues to cause some concerns for the wheat production, just like dry weather in South America earlier this year caused a sizable cut in the soybean production.

WALL STREET WEEKLY OUTLOOK NEW YORK: US stocks will get a lift today after euro-zone finance ministers agreed to lend Spain up to 100 billion euros ($125 billion) to help its battered banks. The surprisingly large amount of aid removes a huge cloud that has been hanging over financial markets, with investors fearing that a banking crisis in euro-zone’s fourth-largest economy could have compounded the currency bloc’s troubles with Greece.

Though the exact amount to be lent will be decided in just over a week, striking a deal now means Spain has added support in case Greece’s June 17 elections throw financial markets into a tailspin.

“This is a major step in avoiding a contagion,” said Tim Speiss, partner-in-charge of EisnerAmper’s Personal Wealth Advisors Group in New York.

“The amount is pretty high, higher-than-expected. Although we need to get more details, at least for equity markets in the US and around the world, this definitely eases short-term fears,” Speiss said.

US stocks are coming off their best week of 2012, in large part due to expectations that something would be done for Spain’s banks. After a 2-1/2-hour conference call of the 17 finance ministers, which several sources described as heated, the Eurogroup and Madrid said the amount of the bailout would be sufficiently large to banish any doubts.

For Wall Street, anything that diminishes fears over Europe is welcome news. The broad S&P 500 index fell 6.3 percent in May, its largest percentage drop since September, as the euro zone debt crisis worsened in the wake of Greek elections that pro-

duced a hung parliament. In the first Greek poll, a large number of voters voted for parties opposed to the country’s international bailout. The re-run of Greek elections on June 17 could decide whether the country stays in the euro-zone.

“It’s good that the news of the aid come ahead of the Greek elections. There has already been a lot of volatility in the market associated with it (the elections), so it’s a good way to calm the sentiment until we get the elections out of the way,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital in New York. In other parts of the world, news was not as good.

Data showed China’s inflation dipped to a twoyear low in May while economic activity remained weak. This reinforced expectations that further policy easing could be in the pipeline to head off a sharper slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy.

However, the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Saturday was not as grim as the market had feared after China’s surprising interest rate cut this week - the first since the depths of the 2008/09 global crisis. But the numbers still suggested economic activity remains sluggish in China.

There were also concerns that while the economy may stabilize with stimulus measures, growth could slow down further.

Apple Inc kicks off its annual conference for software developers today, and more than ever, the consumer electronics juggernaut finds itself in a pitched battle with the online search giant, Google Inc - in smartphones, cloud computing and the nev-

er-ending competition for the hearts and minds of the best software developers. Apple is expected to announce its own mapping application, challenging the position of Google Maps as one of the most-valued features on the iPhone. It will unveil closer integration of its iPhone apps and iCloud storage service with all its devices, the latest riposte in its battle with Google’s Android smartphone software. Apple shares rose 1.5 percent to close at $580.32 on Friday.

For the week, the stock rose 3.5 percent, but for the month, the shares were almost flat.

Google shares rose 0.4 percent to end at $580.45 on Friday, closing the week with a 1.7 percent gain.

However, for the month, the stock was almost unchanged.

On June 1, the S&P 500 index ended below its 200-day moving average for the first time this year, but it clawed its way back above the key level and rallied later in the week on hopes that Europe would find solutions to its problems. For the week on Friday, the Dow advanced 3.6 percent, the S&P 500 rose 3.7 percent and the Nasdaq jumped about 4 percent - their best weekly percentage gains since December.

The US economic calendar in the coming week includes data on the Producer Price Index and retail sales on Wednesday. Reports on the Consumer Price Index and initial weekly jobless claims are set for Thursday. Data on Friday includes the Empire State manufacturing index, US industrial production and the preliminary reading for June on consumer sentiment from the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan surveys. — Reuters

Spanish miners fight for govt subsidies Protest in dark gallery deep underground SANTA CRUZ DEL SIL, Spain: Seven miners are refusing to leave a dark gallery deep underground at a coal mine in northern Spain unless the government reverses its decision to slash subsidies to the sector. During a visit Friday, the miners, their faces and uniforms covered in soot, played cards to pass the time and keep their spirits up after having already spent 20 days some 800 metres (2,625 feet) below the earth at the mine near Santa Cruz del Sil. “We will stay here until we have a solution. We are determined to keep fighting,” said 45-year-old miner Alfredo Gonzalez as he took a break from the card game. Eight other miners are refusing to return to the surface at two other mines in a similar protest against the cash-strapped government’s decision to slash subsidies to the sector this year to 111 million euros ($142 million) from 301 million euros last year.

Above ground, protests by the miners against the cuts, which began three weeks ago, have become more radical, with striking miners blocking roads and railways and clashing with riot police on a daily basis in northern coal mining regions. Unions argue the subsidy cuts will lead to the closure of Spain’s coal mines and the loss of up to 30,000 direct and indirect jobs, since Spanish coal relies on state aid to compete with cheaper imports.

The miners at Santa Cruz del Sil sleep side by side on inflatable mattresses on the floor of the damp gallery which is decorated with photos of their children and messages of support from outside. “The hardest part is breathing because of the humidity and the dust,” said Gonzalez.

There were originally eight miners but one of them had to leave

because he had bronchitis.

“Now the doctor visits us more often,” said Gonzalez. The miners walk for one or two hours every day in the tunnels of the mine to get some exercise. They also receive food

to hang on out there and we will hang on down here. And that the government can’t abandon us,” said another miner, Jose Antonio.

Above ground hundreds of men with their faces covered invaded a

BEMBIBRE, Spain: Spanish miners burn tyres at the railway station during a demonstration in Bembibre, near Leon, in northern Spain. Spanish coal miners are staging a nationwide strike action organized by unions opposed to subsidy reductions from euros 300 million to euros 110 million. — AFP and drums of hot water each day for road near the nearby town of washing. “Time passes by very slowly. Bembibre and within minutes they What you miss the most is the sun set up a barricade made of tires and fresh air. And of course your fam- which they then set fire to.

“This happens every day, every ily,” said another miner, 40-year-old day”, said 39-year-old Paul Martinez Primitivo Basalo.

“We are very united and we give as he watched the thick black smoke each other strength, if someone is rise into the sky with a group of fellow miners. “It is the only way to get down we give him a hug.”

The miners don’t normally get visi- people to notice that there is a probtors and have no devices to listen to lem here, not just a labor problem but a very big social problem as well,” music or watch movies.

“This is a sit-in. We don’t want peo- he said, adding that if the coal mines ple to think we are on vacation,” said close “it would be a death sentence Gonzalez. The miners said the sup- for this town.”

Spain’s coal mining industry has port of their families and of their roughly 120 co-workers above been contracting for decades, with ground motivates them to keep up its direct workforce shedding more their protest. “We tell our co-workers than 40,000 people over the past 20

years. The country’s roughly 8,000 coal miners began an open-ended strike against the subsidy cuts three weeks ago and their protest actions have become more radical.

The miners use trees, tyres and rubbish bins to set up blockades on highways and railroads, disrupting transport, and then wait for police to arrive. Clashes often follow, with miners using slingshots to throw rocks at riot police who respond with rubber bullets.

“There is more and more violence with the riot police,” said Florencio, a 40-year-old miner who declined to give his last name, as he stood by a blocked road with other miners.

“What we are seeing is that people are becoming more anxious because we are in the same situation as in the beginning.”

The government argues that austerity must be shared by all sectors.

But many miners expressed anger that the government argues it cannot afford to restore the 190 million euros in coal sector subsidies it has cut from the budget this year even as it plans to inject billions into ailing banks. “It seems like a huge injustice to us,” said Basalo, adding this is why they baptized their mascot, a canary which they are keeping with them in a cage below ground, “Deception”.

Spain on Saturday secured a European lifeline of up to 100 billion euros ($125 billion) to save its stricken banks and try to avert a broader financial catastrophe. The cuts to coal subsidies also worry shopowners in coal mining towns like Bembibre. “If the miners don’t work, they don’t earn a wage and if they don’t earn money we don’t eat. That’s the way it is,” said Soraya Moreno, 33, the owner of a sporting goods store in Bembibre, a town of some 10,000 people. — AFP

Investors wary ahead of polls in booming Mongolia

ANHUI: A Chinese bank staff counts the stacks of 100-yuan notes at a bank in Huaibei, east China’s Anhui province. China’s move to allow more competition in its state-dominated banking sector revives a reform shelved for nearly a decade and defies expectations of a policy freeze before leadership change this year. — AFP

ULAN BATOR: Mongolia’s mining boom has transformed the former Soviet state into one of the world’s hottest economies, but an uncertain political outlook before parliamentary polls is making foreign investors wary. With huge untapped reserves of natural resources in the form of coal, copper and gold, and economic growth of 17 percent last year, Mongolia has become a major draw for foreign investment.

But most of Mongolia’s 2.7 million people remain desperately poor, despite the expensive cars that now crowd the streets of the capital, Ulan Bator, where property prices are rising by 25 to 30 percent a year.

The government now faces mounting pressure to grab a larger stake of the resources ahead of parliamentary polls on June 28, and investors have placed new projects and deals on the back burner as they await the result. A new law that requires parliamentary approval for mining contracts for all foreign investments worth more than $76 million has added to the uncertain conditions for overseas companies seeking to work in Mongolia.

But the Foreign Investment Law (FIL) has not been tested yet, and foreign miners

are eager to see how it might affect business arrangements. “The laws here are still forming, so for now, Mongolia is on watch mode,” Sardor Koshnazarov, head of research for Eurasia Capital, told AFP at a recent coal mining conference in Ulan Bator.

“After elections we should have more clarity on laws and the FIL. If more transparent rules are in place, and if laws are perceived as being open to foreign investment, then overseas corporations will look at Mongolia again.” The government, led by the Mongolian People’s Party (MPP), is slightly behind in the latest polls to the Democratic Party-both support the FIL-and the vote promises to be close.

The victors will inherit a government that is seeing increased revenues from mining and foreign investment and will need to steer the country through a critical period when its biggest ever infrastructure projects come online.

The landlocked countr y wedged between China and Russia peacefully shook off communist rule in 1990, and the first democratic elections were held in 1992, but the MPP has remained in control for most of that time. — AFP

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MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012

business Bahrain’s High Criminal Court defers ruling on case against Bank Alkhair’s former CEO MANAMA: The High Criminal Court of the Kingdom of Bahrain has deferred the issuance of a ruling in the case raised against Majid Al-Refai, former Chief Executive Officer of Bank Alkhair, and the Canadian Lawyer, Robert Little, for the forging of the Articles of Association of Bank Alkhair (formerly Unicorn Investment Bank).

The court deferred its ruling following Robert Little’s first appearance in court yesterday, the 4th of June 2012, since the case was filed in February 2012, and has scheduled the next hearing to take place on the 26th of June, 2012. Majid Al-Refai, the primary defendant in the Forgery of the Articles of Association case, has failed to attend any of the court hearings to date in relation to the case, contravening Bahrain’s Criminal Procedures Law, and has been ordered for the second time to appear in front of Bahrain’s High Criminal Court.

In October 2011, Bank Alkhair filed a criminal complaint with the General Prosecutor of Bahrain against Majid Al-Refai and Robert Little for forging the Bank’s Articles of Association, granting Al-Refai the power to prevent the Bank’s shareholders from mak ing any amendment to the Articles of Association that alters his authorities and privileges as the Chief Executive Officer. This provision, which is a clear violation of the Bahrain Companies Law as well as the

Central Bank of Bahrain regulations, was not included in the copies of the Articles of Association provided to the Bank’s shareholders. Subsequent to the completion of its investigation, the General Prosecutor filed the Felony Forgery case with Bahrain’s High Criminal Court.

A number of rulings have been issued against the former Chief Executive Officer in Bank Alkhair’s favor. In March 2012, the Bahrain Chamber of Dispute Resolution dismissed a claim by Majid Al-Refai for compensation of BD1 million for his termination from the position of Chief Executive Officer of the Bank. In May 2012, Bahrain’s Supreme Fifth Civil Court also dismissed a claim brought by Al-Refai and three of his associates, requesting the nullification of the General Assembly’s resolution, issued in October 2010, to remove Al-Refai from the Bank ’s Board of Directors.

Majid Al-Refai is also currently on trial for committing 58 criminal offences during his tenure as the CEO of Bank Alkhair. The criminal offences mainly relate to personally appropriating and squandering Bank funds and shredding and destroying over 8000 critical Bank documents. The High Criminal Court is expected to issue its ruling on the criminal case against Al-Refai during the forthcoming hearing on the 26th of June, 2012.

MIB agents add Hamilton Ventura to iconic uniforms Behbehai Group holds ‘Men in Black 3’ premiere show KUWAIT: Behbehani Group and Hamilton held an exclusive premiere show of The Men in Black 3 movie, for their VIP clients and media representatives at Laila Galler y Cinema. Behbehani Group, the official agents for Hamilton Watches in Kuwait embraces the campaign through several media channels to support the global marketing plan of the brand.

In the highly anticipated action adventure comedy Men in Black 3, the Men in Black will once again add the distinctive Hamilton Ventura watch to their iconic uniforms. As Agent J goes back in time in Men in Black 3, different versions of the Hamilton Ventura help evoke different eras as all MIB agents wear the unique timepiece. Men in Black 3 will be released on May 25, 2012.

In Men in Black 3, Agents J and K are back... in time. J has seen some inexplicable things in his 15 years with the Men in Black, but nothing, not even aliens, perplexes him as much as his wry, reticent partner. But when K’s life and the fate of the planet are

put at stake, Agent J will have to travel back in time to put things right. J discovers that there are secrets to the universe that K never told him-secrets that will reveal themselves as he teams up with the young Agent K to save his partner, the agency, and the future of humankind. Barry Sonnenfeld directs the film. The film’s screenplay is written by Etan Cohen, based on the Malibu Comic by Lowell Cunningham. Walter F. Parkes and Laurie MacDonald produce, and Steven Spielberg and G Mac Brown are the executive producers.

Hamilton and Columbia Pictures are continuing the partnership with a global promotion campaign to support the movie’s international rollout. Hamilton watches also appeared in Men in Black and Men in Black II, and with each film, the scope of promotional activity has increased.

The Men in Black 3 creative campaigns showcases the watch’s versatility and features two contrasting Ventura models: the Hamilton Ventura XXL, appropriately styled

with a black rubber strap and sleek black dial, and the elegant Hamilton Ventura Medium, favored by the Men in Black supporting agents, which complements a black dial with a classically elegant stainless steel case.

Hamilton’s long history with Hollywood includes watch appearances in more than 400 films, but Men in Black 3 represents a new milestone for Hamilton, as the brand loaned more watches to this film than it has to any other title.

Hamilton was founded in 1892 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA. Hamilton watches combine the American spirit with the unrivalled precision of the latest Swiss movements and technologies.

Known for its innovative design, Hamilton has a strong foothold in Hollywood, with products appearing in 400 films. The brand also boasts a strong aviation heritage.

Hamilton is a member of the Swatch group, the largest watch manufacturer and distributor in the world with 160 production sites in Switzerland. www.hamiltonwatch.com

Jazeera Airways launches first self check-in service at Kuwait Airport

X-cite By Alghanim Electronics wins ‘Best Overall Retailer’ at GameStream12 ME awards KUWAIT: X-cite by Aghanim Electronics won Best Overall Retailer at the GameStream12 awards held in association with DISTREE Middle East at Le Meridien Al Aqah, Fujairah, UAE. The GameStream12 awards recognize excellence in games retail and highlights innovation and creativity in the retail sale of game solutions and products across the Middle East.

The award was announced after X-cite had recently opened its all new and expanded outlet at the Avenues mall. One of most attractive sections is the Game zone; uniquely designed with a wide selection of the latest games and accessories.

The gaming section at X-cite showcases a wide variety of multi gaming platforms, state of the art gaming computers with customized accessories in addition to the toys section that displays the latest in high tech toys.

The game zone allows customers to demo the latest customized PC gaming machines and gaming consoles or play network games before buying, giving them a real-time gaming experience rather than just viewing the contents on the box.

Samer Sayegh, Vice President - Alghanim Electronics said “Providing customers with a unique shopping experience has distinguished X-cite as a market leader in the region. This award from Gamestream recognizes our excellence as retailers within the gaming sector across the entire Middle East market. “ X-cite’s active participation with vendors like Sony Playstation, Microsoft Xbox , Razer and Steelseries to introduce the best in gaming and keeping customer’s engaged through in store activities has enabled widespread popularity of X-cite in the gaming market. Our past success events include the launch of Playstation Move, PS Vita and

the Pro Evolution Soccer Gaming challenge in association with Goalna. X-cite competed with last year winners Sharaf DG, Virgin Megastore and Emax to win this award.

After its successful debut in 2011, GameStream12 returned to DISTREE Middle East to give retailers the opportunity to hear from some of the region’s biggest names in the gaming industry. This year’s alliance of Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation, Red Distribution and Pluto provided a cutting edge perspective on the latest trends and products. The event concluded with a gala dinner and was highly appreciated by the attendees consisting of more than 600 retailer, distributor and vendor executives involved in gaming across the Middle East.

X-cite is the largest consumer electronics retailer in Kuwait and the Middle East.

Headquartered in Kuwait, the award winning retailer delivers a modern, dynamic and convenient shopping experience with the primary objective of delighting its customers. With touch and feel displays, cash and carry shopping, a highly trained multilingual sales staff and the latest gadgets and gizmos, shopping at X-cite is an unforgettable experience. Operating a network of 17 stores in addition to the regions premier e-commerce electronics website, Xcite’s customers are offered an unparalleled shopping experience by providing access to amazing range of international brands under one roof. The X-cite experience is further enhanced by providing customers with Easy Credit, 24-hour shopping in select outlets and extended warranty programs with 24-hour free delivery and installation services. X-cite’s shopping experience is also available online at www.xcite.com in both English and Arabic where customers can browse and shop for the latest in technology products.

KUWAIT: Award-winning Jazeera Airways yesterday became the first airline in Kuwait to offer a self-checkin service with the introduction of state-of-the-art kiosks that empower travelers to check-in, choose their seat, and print their boarding pass independently. The service was launched in an event held today at Kuwait International Airport that was attended by the President of Kuwait’s Directorate General for Civil Aviation (DGCA) Fawaz Al Farah, who inaugurated the new service by becoming the first person to officially use the kiosks by checking-in himself and printing his boarding pass.

The President of Kuwait’s DGCA, Fawaz Al Farah, said, “We congratulate Jazeera Airways on the launch of this new service that will surely help enhance travelers’ experience at Kuwait International Airport.”

The event was hosted by Jazeera Airways Chairman Marwan Boodai and Jazeera Airways CEO Stefan Pichler, and was attended by senior directors from both organizations.

The new service is the latest in a series of technology enhancements introduced by the airline. In the last six months, the airline introduced a web-check-in service on jazeeraairways.com, an iPhone booking app, and an android booking app. The apps are available for free in their respective app stores.

Jazeera Airways Chairman, Marwan Boodai, said, “Today’s launch is another milestone in our continued investment in technology for the benefit of our travelers. Our customers can now book pay, check-in, and pick their seat, all independently and efficiently at their own time while using the methods that are most convenient for them. Furthermore, our customers also have the option of checking-in online from the comfort of their home or office up to 24-hours before their flight. Travelers taking advantage of the new service will bypass all conventional ‘assisted-check-in’ procedures, thus avoiding check-in queues and bringing their check-in time down to as little as two minutes.

The self-check-in kiosks are located ahead of the immigration entrance. To check-in, passengers will be requested to enter their reservation number, credit card or passport number.

After which, customers traveling without baggage may proceed directly to passport control, and customers traveling with baggage may proceed to the dedicated ‘baggage drop-off” in Zone 3 to get their baggage tags before proceeding to passport control as well. Jazeera Airways operates a two-class cabin comprising a Business Class and an Economy Class.

Jazeera Airways’ Business Class offering includes a separate cabin for passengers, exclusive check-in counters, Business lounge access at airports, in-flight ‡ la carte menu, and 60 kilograms in free baggage allowance. The airline’s Economy Class offers travelers free baggage allowance of 40 kilograms, free on-board meals with a changing menu every month, and yearround value fares. Jazeera Airways is an IATA-member airline and operates one of the youngest Airbus A320 fleets across the Middle East and North Africa.

Al Tijari announces winners of daily draw with Najma Account KUWAIT: Commercial Bank of Kuwait held the Al Najma Account draw yesterday. The draw was held under the supervision of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry represented

by Saqar Al - Manaie The winners of the Al Najma daily draw are:-

Salman Ali Abbas Ashkanani Anwar Essa Al-Saleh Alawya Hady Sayed Ali Hashimi Azmat Farouq Ali Mohammed Fajer Abdul Naby Khalifa Al-Mujadi

KD 7000, KD 7000, KD 7000, KD 7000, KD 7000.

The Commercial Bank of Kuwait announces the biggest daily draw in Kuwait with the launch of the new Najma account.

Customers of the bank can now enjoy a KD 7,000 daily prize which is the highest in the country and another 4 mega prizes during the year worth KD 100,000 each on different occasions: The National Day, Eid AlFitr, Eid Al-Adha and on the 19th of June which is the date of the bank’s establishment. With a minimum balance of KD 500, customers will be eligible for the daily draw

provided that the money is in the account one week prior to the daily draw or 2 months prior to the mega draw. In addition, for each KD 25 a customer can get one chance for winning instead of KD 50.

Commercial Bank of Kuwait takes this opportunity to congratulate all lucky winners and also extends appreciation to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for their effective supervision of the draws which were conducted in an orderly and organized manner.

World class IPS display technology from LG used by top pro-gamers DUBAI: LG Electronics (LG) has recently announced a sponsorship deal with the top-ranked Incredible Miracle (IM) Team of the Global Starcraft II League (GSL).

The IM Team boasts some of the world’s best GSL gamers, including Jonghyun Jung (Starcraft II ID: IMMvp) and Jae-dukIm (Starcraft II ID: IMNes Tea).

Jung held one of the best records of any GSL gamer last year, picking up big wins at events such as the BlizzCon Invitational, Sony Ericsson GSL (January), MLG Anaheim and the Pepsi GSL, among others. GSL matches are regularly watched by more than two hundred thousand people and on average, more than 1.7 million viewers per day tune in to watch big tournaments from nearly every country around the world.

As one of LG’s on-going support initiatives for the gaming community, LG will offer pro-gamers IPS monitors to use in training, providing a more comfortable viewing experience.

Reducing eye fatigue is a key factor for gamers who play Role -Playing

Games (RPGs) for extended periods of time. The initiative will also offer a range of interactive events to give game fans the opportunity to meet and play special matches with IM Team members at well-known gaming conventions.

“When training, pro-gamers are looking at their monitor for many hours every day,” said D Y Kim, President of LG Electronics Gulf FZE. “IPS monitors have color rendering that is extremely good, and the image processing capabilities are perfect for RPGs. LG’s IPS has also eliminated the blur generated from rapid motion in video games. This puts less strain on my eyes, even when I put in a lot of hours.”

LG has already garnered a strong reputation for demonstrating impressive advances in displays and monitors. It has earned praise for its 3D technology and the benefits of IPS monitors were also recognized at a number of game conventions and festivals such as last year’s LG CINEMA 3D Global Game Festival, held in over 20 countries.

Burgan Bank announces daily winners of Yawmi Account KUWAIT: Burgan Bank announced yesterday the names of the five lucky winners of its Yawmi account draw, each taking home a prize of KD 5,000. Winners’ names will also be announced through Marina FM on a daily basis during their prime shows.

The lucky winners of the five daily draws took home a cash-prize of KD 5000 each, and they are: 1. Fatma Sulaiman Nasser Al Arefan 2. Heather Hashim Dahbour 3. Awad Ghayad Obaid Al Anezy 4. Dr. Hassan Ibrahim Abdul-latif Al Khalil 5. Hussein Hameed Ahmad Mohammed The newly re -launched Yawmi Account is better, easier and faster than any day before. With its new and enhanced features, the Yawmi Account has become more convenient, easier, and faster for customers to benefit from.

Now, customers will be eligible to enter the draw after 48 hours only from opening the account. Customers are also required to deposit KD 100 or equivalent only to enter the daily draw, and the

coupon value to enter the draw stands at KD 10.

The newly designed Yawmi account has been launched to provide a highly innovative offering along with a higher frequency and incentive of winning for everyone. Today, the Yawmi account is a well understood product, where its popularity can be seen from the number of increasing account holders.

Burgan Bank encourages everyone to open a Yawmi account and/or increase their deposit to maximize their chances to becoming a daily winner.

The more customers deposit, the higher the chances they receive of winning the draw.

Opening a Yawmi account is simple, customers are urged to visit their nearest Burgan Bank branch and receive all the details, or simply call the bank’s Call Center at 1804080 where customer service representatives will be delighted to assist with any questions on the Yawmi account or any of the bank’s products and ser vices, or log on to Burgan Bank’s www.burgan.com for further information.

MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012

TECHNOLOGY

Apple courts developers vital to its popularity SAN FRANCISCO: Apple today will spotlight next-generation software for its coveted gadgets as it kicks off its annual gathering of developers whose applications are vital to the company’s success. The Internet buzzed with rumors about what the notoriously secretive maker of iPads, iPhones, iPods, and Macintosh computers will unveil at a keynote event marking the start of the five-day Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). Analysts did not expect Apple to unveil any new devices, believing it will opt instead to focus on improvements to operating software and opportunities for developers to make even better “apps.”

“What keeps people allegiant to and excited about their iPhones and iPads are all the new apps that are available,” said Forrester analyst Charles Golvin. “Appealing

to the developers and continuing to enrich the set of tools and capabilities they have to build great new apps or enhance existing apps is absolutely critical.” WWDC comes less than two weeks before Google’s annual developers conference, which will be held in the same downtown San Francisco conference center. “It is a back and forth between Apple and Google in a battle for hearts and minds of developers; to be their priority,” Golvin said.

“What Apple wants is for them to only develop for iOS,” he continued. “That is not realistic, but they can try to make sure all the exciting new things come to iPad and iPhone first and maybe get to the Android, and Google wants the opposite.” Googlebacked Android software for mobile devices is the world’s leading smartphone

platform and seen as the only formidable adversary for Apple. Banners for iOS 6, the next generation operating system for Apple mobile gadgets, were on display in the conference venue during the weekend.

Analysts suspected iOS upgrades to include improving and maybe even extending Siri virtual assistant capabilities that were a hit after being introduced in the iPhone 4S. Apple is expected to introduce its own mapping program to replace Google Maps software that had been preinstalled on iPhones. In apparent anticipation of the move, Google last week unveiled a revamped maps program that allows mobile users to use the service without an Internet connection. The service, which will be available soon on Android devices, allows users to select an area and

save a local map which can be viewed when a user does not have a data connection. Google Maps could still be downloaded and used on iPhones. Apple would in theory be able to tie its mapping service to the Siri voice-directed personal assistant, which could supplant Google in searching for businesses. “If Apple does a great job (on its maps program) then we will see some substitution and may impact Google search on the iPhone,” said Opus Research analyst Greg Sterling. Apple will also give developers the latest news about the new Mountain Lion operating system for Macintosh computers. Apple is expected to show off revamped MacBook laptop computers power by Intel Ivy Bridge chips. “My opinion is that we will definitely hear an update on Mountain lion and we almost

certainly will hear about iOS 6 with whizzy new mapping technology that is going to replace Google Maps,” Golvin said.

“And the Macbook line hasn’t been refreshed for a while,” he continued. “The big question is are we going to hear anything about Apple TV.” Apple chief executive Tim Cook said recently that the company was putting a lot of energy into its Apple TV boxes for streaming Internet content to television screens. Apple long played the product off as “a hobby” but is believed to be trying to duplicate its success in tablet and smartphone markets in living rooms. “If they are going to push Apple TV from a hobby to something with full-force Apple marketing, I think they will do that in a separate event dedicated entirely to that,” Golvin said.—AFP

Taking a bite out of apple security IT threat evolution in Q1 2012 DUBAI: How botnets are evolving, why Mac is becoming the weak link in corporate security systems and the latest tricks from the authors of Duqu - Kaspersky Lab’s antivirus experts discuss all this and more in our traditional quarterly malware report for Q1 2012. After a quiet 2011, where botmasters failed to come up with anything new, 2012 started with a bang. In Q1, for the first time, cybercriminals used a “fileless” bot to build a zombie-net. We also saw the discovery of a mobile network with infection numbers similar to typical Windows botnets, and a zombie net of 700,000 Mac OS X computers was exposed.

Among the growing malware problems for Macs, we saw the rise of targeted attacks against this OS. Users need to be alert to the risk of cybercriminals targeting organizations which use both Windows and Mac platforms. In the first quarter of 2012, one case involved cybercriminals using two Trojans - one for Mac and another for Windows - to gain access to confidential records. Depending on which OS was running on the target machine, the appropriate malware was loaded. Both Trojans got their commands from a single control center. To make the initial intrusion into the system, the criminals used an exploit that works in both Windows and Mac OS X environments; a successful attack gave them control over the infected machine.

“Judging by the speed with which new malware is being created for targeted attacks on Mac OS X, it is not that compli-

cated for cybercriminals to develop.

Meanwhile, the careless attitude of many Mac users, coupled with a lack of security on their computers, makes Macintosh the weakest link in business security systems,” said Yury Namestnikov, Senior Malware Analyst at Kaspersky Lab, and author of the report.

After a four-month break the authors of Duqu got back to work: in Q1 a new Duqu driver with functions similar to previous versions was detected. The difference in the code was negligible; all the changes were aimed at evading detection. The main Duqu module related to the driver has not yet been found. “We were right in our suppositions: when so much money has been invested in a project, as it was with the development of Duqu and Stuxnet, it is impossible to suddenly just halt that process. Instead, the cybercriminals are persevering as usual - they have changed the code so it avoids detection and will continue to attack,” concluded Alexander Gostev, Chief Security Expert at Kaspersky Lab. The first quarter of 2012 was also notable for the successful joint efforts of antivirus companies and law enforcement bodies: they took over control of the 110,000-strong Hlux (Kelihos) botnet, shut down control centers of several ZeuS botnets targeting online banking users and arrested several Russian cybercriminals. The full version of the report ‘IT Threat Evolution: Q1 2012’ is available at: www.securelist.com.

Cars avoid crashes by talking to each other WASHINGTON: As a safety demonstration, it was a heart-stopper: A Ford Taurus was seconds away from cruising through an intersection when suddenly a row of red lights pulsed on the lower windshield and a warning blared that another car was approaching fast on the cross street. Braking quickly, the driver stopped just as the second car, previously unseen behind a large parked truck, barreled through a red light and across the Ford’s path.

The display at a recent transportation conference was a peek into the future of automotive safety: cars that talk to each other and warn drivers of impending collisions. Later this summer, the government is launching a yearlong, real-world test involving nearly 3,000 cars, trucks and buses using volunteer drivers in Ann Arbor, Mich. The vehicles will be equipped to continuously communicate over wireless networks, exchanging information on location, direction and speed 10 times a second with other similarly equipped cars within about 1,000 feet.

A computer analyzes the information and issues danger warnings to drivers, often before they can see the other vehicle. On roadways today, the Taurus in the demonstration likely would have been “ T-boned” slammed in the side by the other car. There were more than 7,800 fatal intersection accidents on US roadways in 2010. Called vehicleto-vehicle communication, or V2V, more advanced versions of the systems can take

control of a car to prevent an accident by applying brakes when the driver reacts too slowly to a warning. V2V “is our next evolutionary step ... to make sure the crash never happens in the first place, which is, frankly, the best safety scenario we can all hope for,” said David Strickland, administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

V2V technology holds the potential to help in most crashes that aren’t alcohol or drug related, Strickland said. But a lot will depend on how drivers respond to the warnings, and that’s one reason for the Ann Arbor test.

Overall, more than 32,000 people were killed in traffic accidents last year. In addition to warning of cars running red lights or stop signs, “connected cars” can let drivers know if they don’t have time to make a left turn because of oncoming traffic. When driving on a two-lane road, the systems warn when passing is unsafe because of oncoming cars - even vehicles around a curve that the driver can’t see yet. In a line of heavy traffic, the systems issue an alert if a car several vehicles ahead brakes hard even before the vehicle directly in front brakes. And the systems alert drivers when they’re at risk of rear-ending a slowermoving car.

It’s also possible for connected cars to exchange information with traffic lights, signs and roadways if states and communities decide to equip their transportation infrastructure with similar technology. —AP

NEW YORK: A visitor takes a photo using an IPhone of a fully functioning Apple I computer (center) on display with its interfaces at Sotheby’s in New York. — AFP

Sotheby to auction First Apple computer NEW YORK: There’s no screen, it was built in 1976, and the clunky design does not exactly recall today’s iPads, but the first Apple computer is expected to fetch up to $180,000 in New York. Sotheby’s in New York is auctioning the rare piece of computer history, which actually still works, on June 15. The Apple I computer was designed and hand-built by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and marketed

by Steve Jobs at the birth of Jobs’s career

as the world’s computer design guru.

Sotheby’s called the computer “an exceptionally rare, working example with original Apple cassette interface, operation manuals and a rare BASIC Users’ Manual.”

“As the first ready-made personal computer, the Apple I signaled a new age in which computing became accessible to the masses,” Sotheby’s said. The computer first went on sale in July 1976 for $666.66.—AFP

SAN FRANCISCO: Joseph To holds his BlackBerry device in San Francisco. There is talk that the fate of Research In Motion, the company that fathered the BlackBerry in 1999, is no longer certain as its flagship property rapidly loses market share to flashier phones like Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android-driven models. — AP

Canadian technology town feels BlackBerry ’s decline RIM’s hopes now hang on BlackBerry 10 WATERLOO: President Barack Obama couldn’t bear to part with his BlackBerry. Oprah Winfrey declared it one of her “favorite things.” It could be so addictive that it was nicknamed “the CrackBerry.” Then came a new generation of competing smartphones, and suddenly the BlackBerry, that game-changing breakthrough in personal connectedness, looks ancient. There is even talk that the fate of Research In Motion, the company that fathered the BlackBerry in 1999, is no longer certain as its flagship property rapidly loses market share to flashier phones like Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android-driven models.

With more than $2 billion in cash, bankruptcy for RIM seems highly unlikely in the near term, but these are troubling times for Waterloo, Ontario, the town of 100,000 that was transformed by the BlackBerry into Canada’s Silicon Valley. RIM is Canada’s most valuable technology company, an international icon so prestigious that founder Mike Lazaridis and its other driving force, Jim Balsillie, are on an official government list of national heroes, alongside the likes of Alexander Graham Bell.

RIM’s US share of the smartphone market belly-flopped from 44 percent in 2009 to 10 percent in 2011 according to market researcher NPD Group. The company still has 78 million active subscribers across the globe, but last month RIM issued a warning that it will lose money for the second consecutive quarter, will lay off workers this year, and has hired a team of bankers to help it weigh its options. Last July it slashed 2,000 jobs. Of RIM’s 16,500 remaining employees, 7,500 live in Waterloo, a university town 90 minutes’ drive from Toronto, where everyone seems to know someone who works for RIM. John Lind says RIM’s impact on his field, commercial real estate, is enormous. “We talk about RIM in hushed tones in this region because no one wants to be negative about it, no one wants to be seen as not on their side,” he said. “But people are saying, ‘What would this region look like without RIM?’” The decline of the BlackBerry has come shockingly fast. Just five years ago, when the first iPhone came out, few thought it could threaten the BlackBerr y. Now Chief Executive Thorsten Heins says his employees “are getting asked all the time, ‘What’s going on with you guys? What happened? I mean RIM is the star of Canada and what happened to you guys? And how bad is it going to go?’”

RIM’s software is still focused on email, and is less user-friendly and agile than iPhone or Android. Its attempt at touch screens was a flop, and it lacks the apps that power other smartphones. Its tablet, the PlayBook, registered just 500,000 sales to Apple’s 11.8 million in the last

quarter despite a price cut from $500 to $200, well below cost. RIM’s hopes now hang on BlackBerry 10, a new operating system set to debut later this year. It’s thoroughly redesigned for the new multimedia, Internet browsing and apps experience that customers are now demanding. Heins, formerly RIM’s chief operating officer, says he can turn things around with BlackBerry.

He took over in January after the company lost tens of billions in market value and founder Lazaridis stepped down along with co-CEO Balsillie.

RIM was once Canada’s most valuable com-

TOWSON: President Barack Obama uses his BlackBerry device as he and first lady Michelle Obama attend a college basketball game in Towson, Md. —AP pany with a market value of $83 billion in June 2008, but the stock has plummeted since, from over $140 share to around $10. Its decline is evoking memories of Nortel, another Canadian tech giant, which ended up declaring bankruptcy in 2009. “It has to be very sad,” BGC Financial Partners analyst Colin Gillis said from New York.

“I feel for those people up there because what else are you going to do - work at the Apple store that just opened in the mall?” But Waterloo is home to more than 800 tech companies and is certainly no company town, many here insist. Smaller firms like e-learning company Desire2Learn have doubled their head count in the last year, and Google has opened an office here.

Tad Homer-Dixon, chairman of the Center for International Governance and Innovation, a Waterloo-based think tank, likens Waterloo to Rochester, New York, where the blow of Kodak’s bankruptcy filing is cushioned by the network of startups the company helped to spawn.

“They’ve taken an enormous hit because of the collapse of Kodak, and Waterloo will take an enormous hit assuming that RIM ultimately vanishes from the scene, but I think the overall economy and region has been so fundamentally changed by RIM that it will actually do very well,” Homer-Dixon said.

Homer-Dixon says RIM’s impact on the city has been staggering. His think tank was created

by RIM’s Balsillie, and he also is a professor at the Balsillie School of International Affairs at the University of Waterloo. Balsillie and Lazaridis have together donated more than $400 million to the community. Lazaridis has donated $150 million to the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, which he founded in 2000 and which attracts the involvement of such giants of physics as Stephen Hawking. “Ten years from now BlackBerrys will be in the Smithsonian but these institutions will hopefully still be thriving,” Homer-Dixon said.

Lazaridis, 51, remains on RIM’s board.

Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa, a fellow board member, calls the Turkish-born Greek immigrant a genius who pioneered the smartphone.

“It really would be unfortunate if anything happened to RIM, and I’d like to do whatever I can to help,” Watsa said. In an interview with The Associated Press at RIM headquar ters in Waterloo, Heins said he won’t try to compete head-to-head with Apple but will try to build on RIM’s strengths, such as its dominance of the corporate smartphone market. RIM says more than 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies use BlackBerry and that more than a million North American government workers rely on BlackBerry’s software security.

But Heins acknowledges RIM failed to quickly adapt to the emerging “bring your own device” trend, in which employees bring their personal iPhones or Android devices to work instead of relying on BlackBerrys issued by their employers. That’s where BlackBerry 10 comes in delayed but not too late to vie with the new Apple iPhone expected this fall, or so Heins hopes. “At the end of the day if the product is good you can always come back,” Heins said.

“There’s many examples of how that has happened. I’m not that scared about this, frankly.”

Other tech companies have indeed recovered from the ropes. The late Steve Jobs said Apple was less than three months away from bankruptcy when he rejoined it in 1997, and it’s now the world’s most valuable company. — AP

Greenplum Analytics Workbench launched DUBAI: At EMC World 2012, EMC yesterday announced that the Greenplum Analytics Workbench - a 1,000-node cluster that will act as a lab environment for accelerating the pace of Big Data innovation - is now live. One o f t h e p r i m a r y u s e s o f t h e G re e n p l u m Analytics Workbench will be to act as an environment for running scale validation of the Apache Hadoop code base.

Greenplum is actively working with the Apache Software Foundation to ensure that results from the Analytics Workbench are available to the open source community in an effor t to leverage the resources of the Workbench to further accelerate the development of Hadoop as a revolutionary technolo-

gy for Big Data. Technology from some of the world’s leading software and hardware manufacturers is providing the infrastructure for the Greenplum Analytics Workbench.

Greenplum will use the Analytics Workbench to test the limits of scale -out infrastructure technology and also to explore the models for applying Big Data analytics.

Whether that involves working with visionary academic institutions on data-intensive research studies, or collaborating with big data application developers, Greenplum has plans to provide the most innovative thinkers in the data space with access to the Analytics Work bench. Individuals or organizations interested in more information should vis-

ithttp://www.greenplum.com/solutions/analytics-workbench.

The 1,000-node cluster will also be made available to members of Greenplum’s training and certification classes for Hadoop. With the first publicly available courses launching this summer, Greenplum will offer a set of comprehensive Hadoop training programs designed to provide participants with the knowledge and programming skills required to leverage Hadoop. A unique aspec t of Greenplum’s Hadoop training program is that any individual who successfully completes the course will be granted access to the 1,000-node cluster to use as a sandbox environment.

MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012

H E A LT H & S C I E NC E

Bamboo points way to green construction in Bali SIBANG KAJA: Strong, light and cheaper than steel poles, bamboo is ubiquitous across Asia as scaffolding. So much so that in recognition of the material’s versatility, the Indonesian island of Bali has made it an emblem of sustainable construction, replacing buildings of concrete and steel with far greener alternatives. An entire school, luxury villas and even a chocolate factory are the latest structures to rise from bamboo skeletons as the plant’s green credentials and strength are hailed. The factory, which opened last year and produces organic drinking chocolate and cocoa butter, is the latest in a string of buildings on the island, including homes and businesses, to be built of bamboo.

Erected in the village of Sibang Kaja between the resort island’s smoggy capital Denpasar and the forests of Ubud, the factory is the initiative of specialty food firm Big Tree Farms, which claims the 2,550-square-metre facility is the biggest commercial bamboo building in

the world. “Bamboo is unmatched as a sustainable building material. What it can do is remarkable,” Big Tree Farms cofounder Ben Ripple, 37 said. “It grows far more quickly than timber and doesn’t destroy the land it’s grown on,” said Ripple, an American from Connecticut.

“Our factory can be packed up and moved in days, so if we decided to shut it down one day, we’re not going to damage the rice paddies we sit on.”

The 100 hectares of paddies sit inside a so-called “bamboo triangle,” with the factory, school and villas standing at each of the three points. Such ambitious bamboo projects in Bali are mostly driven by eco-conscious foreigners. With studies showing construction to be one of the world’s least sustainable industries-eating up around half of the globe’s non-renewable resources-sustainable construction is slowly taking root around the world. It is among the key topics for discussion at the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on

Sustainable Development, which opens June 20 in Rio de Janeiro.

In Sibang, the tawny brown bamboo buildings with their grass thatched roofs appear to be rising from the earth. The three-storey chocolate factory is pieced together using a complex system of scissor trusses and bolts, thanks to clever architecture. It resembles the traditional longhouses found on Borneo island and was made with more than 18,000 meters of bamboo from Bali and Java. At Sibang’s nearby Green School, the 240 students-most of them children of expatriates-learn in semi-outdoor classrooms decked with bamboo furniture. The school, which opened in 2008 and was the magnet for the other two projects, has 25 bamboo buildings, the main one being a stilt-structure constructed with 2,500 bamboo poles, or culms.

“In Hong Kong and China, they make new skyscrapers of concrete and glass using bamboo scaffolding. But here, the workmen stood on steel scaffolding to

build this bamboo building. That’s always seemed funny to me,” said Green School admissions head Ben Macrory, from New York. “In most parts of Asia, bamboo is seen as the poor man’s timber.” Not, however, in Sibang, where the bamboo villas that nestle between the palm trees are worth $350,000 to $700,000 each. Like decadent treehouses for adults, they have semi-outdoor areas and include innovative bamboo flooring that resembles smooth timber and jellybean-shaped coffee tables made from thin bamboo slats.

Bamboo-technically a grass-has been used in building for centuries because of its impressive strength-to-weight ratio.

Jules Janssen, an authority on bamboo in the Netherlands, says that the weight of a 5,000-kilogram elephant can be supported by a short bamboo stub with a surface area of just 10 square centimeters. One reason bamboo is so environmentally-friendly is the speed at which it grows, according to Terry Sunderland, a

scientist at the Centre for International Forestry Research in Indonesia. “In China, eucalyptus can grow at three to four meters a year, which is very impressive for timber. But building-quality bamboo will grow between six and 10 meters in that time,” he said.

And unlike trees that rarely grow back once felled, bamboo will continue to produce new shoots even after cutting.

But even bamboo has its drawbacks.

Without intensive treatment, it is prone to rotting after exposure to water. It also catches fire relatively easily, which is why many countries limit bamboo structures to just a few storeys. Ripple acknowledged that building with bamboo was not foolproof, but expressed optimism that the technology to protect it from the elements will improve. “A friend we work with here always says bamboo needs a hat, rain jacket and boots,” he said. “We’re lacking on the rain jacket a bit, but we’re looking at non-toxic materials to give it some protection.”— AFP

US FDA delays decision on drug to prevent HIV 1.2 million Americans have HIV

RIO DE JANEIRO: A girl holds a plant before planting it at ‘Sitie’ Ecological Park in Vidigal shantytown in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. For years residents have cleaned up a dump into the wild for an ecological park. —AFP

Rio de Janeiro slum’s green oasis a boon to recycling RIO DE JANEIRO: Monkeys swinging from branch to branch, a special gardening section for children and stunning sea views.

This green oasis finds its home in an unlikely place: a former landfill for a Rio de Janeiro slum that has been turned into a park thanks to a group of dedicated volunteers. The six-year-old project will be showcased at this month’s Rio+20 development conference, expected to draw thousands of delegates from around the world, including government officials and representatives from civil society, to this bustling Brazilian metropolis.

“People came here to get rid of old refrigerators, stoves, tires and even their dead dogs,” said Mauro Quintanilha, a musician and craftsman who started the initiative at the Vidigal favela. “There was a lot of trash and it stank.” The 52-year-old recounted how, 300 years ago, three houses were built in this forested area that was technically considered a protected zone. At one point, city officials expelled the inhabitants.

But that did little to diminish the mountain of garbage that had a tendency of spreading to nearby residential areas. As in other Brazilian slums, dumpsters don’t do the rounds in Vidigal. And the area lacks other public services. That’s when Quintanilha, who lived close by, stepped in.

Together with a group of 20 volunteers, he spent a year cleaning up the area, picking up each and every discarded scrap that could be recycled or repaired. “With the help of friends, we started cleaning up until we got a garden with flowers and a kitchen garden,” Quintanilha said proudly. “It was tough convincing people that this was no

longer a dump,” he said. “We really had to talk to them about it but now they’re helping us.” The effort certainly paid off. Today, monkeys swing from trees in the park where milk bottles serve as flower pots. A special section nearby is dedicated to teaching children how to garden-although it hasn’t made six-year-old Joao Vitor reconsider his dream of becoming a soccer star.

International delegations to the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development are expected to visit the park, reachable via a narrow staircase of old tires filled with rubble, on June 18.

Volunteers, such as Manoel Silvestre de Jesus, hope the attention will turn into funding that will help the group keep up the endeavor-and entice others to follow in their footsteps. “I hope that Rio+20 will bring us partnerships to continue the work we started six years ago,” he said. “The favelas have so much hope in Rio+20... I hope the delegations who come will support us.”

The 58-year-old has converted 120,000 plastic bottles fished from the tons of trash that once rotted here. Working out of his recycling studio, he has used some to decorate benches in the park. He turned others into an array of creations that he sells to slum residents for a little extra cash. Vitor Alves de Souza shares the same passion for transforming trash into treasures. “There’s wealth in our waste,” said the volunteer, 38.

There is certainly a lot of trash to sift through-and it is unlikely to dwindle any time soon. In Brazil, less than 26 percent of the population recycle, although 86 percent consider it a personal duty, according to the IBOPE public opinion institute.— AFP

WASHINGTON: Federal health regulators have delayed a decision on whether to approve the first pill shown to prevent HIV infection, the drug’s manufacturer says. Gilead Sciences disclosed that the Food and Drug Administration will take three more months to review its application for Truvada, after the company submitted additional materials to the agency earlier this month. In May, a panel of experts recommended approval of the daily pill for healthy people who are at high risk of contracting HIV, including gay and bisexual men. The vote was nonbinding, though the FDA often follows the group’s advice.

Gilead said it submitted updated information on its planned safety materials for patients and doctors using the drug. The FDA typically extends its reviews after receiving such information. The FDA is now expected to rule by Sept 14, the company said in a statement. Gilead Sciences Inc, based in Foster City, Calif, has marketed Truvada since 2004 as a treatment for peo-

ple who are infected with the virus. The medication is a combination of two older HIV drugs, Emtriva and Viread.

Truvada made headlines in 2010, when government researchers showed it could actually prevent people from contracting HIV when used as a precautionary measure. A three-year study found that daily doses cut the risk of infection in healthy gay and bisexual men by 42 percent, when accompanied by condoms and counseling. Last year another study found that Truvada reduced infection by 75 percent in heterosexual couples in which one partner was infected with HIV and the other was not.

An estimated 1.2 million Americans have HIV, which develops into AIDS unless treated with antiviral drugs. AIDS causes the body’s immune system to break down, leading to infections which are eventually fatal. Gay and bisexual men account for the majority of cases - nearly twothirds. Because Truvada is on the market to man-

African sleeping sickness shrouded in superstition

HYDERABAD: Indian children swing in front of a slum on the outskirts of Hyderabad. — AFP

Lanka holds mass baby elephant ‘christening’ COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s main elephant orphanage staged its biggest mass ‘christening’ yesterday by naming 15 baby elephants born in captivity, an official said. Thirteen babies born last year and two in 2010 were given names chosen from among thousands suggested by visitors to the Pinnawala orphanage, director Nihal

age HIV, some doctors already prescribe it as a preventive measure. FDA approval would allow Gilead Sciences to formally market its drug for that use. But Truvada’s groundbreaking preventive ability has exposed stark disagreements on prevention among those in the HIV community.

While Truvada’s supporters say the drug is an important new option to stop the spread of AIDS, critics worry that the drug could give users a false sense of security and encourage risky behavior. Groups including the AIDS Healthcare Foundation have asked the FDA to reject the new indication, saying it could reduce use of condoms, the most consistently reliable prevention against HIV. The number of new HIV infections in the US has held steady for 15 years at about 50,000 per year. With no vaccine in sight and an estimated 240,000 HIV carriers unaware of their status, most doctors and patients say new methods are needed to fight the spread of the virus.— AP

Senaratne said. “An astrologer looked at the time of birth of each elephant. He then decided on the first letter of each baby’s name according to its horoscope,” Senaratne said when contacted by telephone.

“The lucky letters were published and visitors were asked to suggest names accordingly,” he

PINNAWALA: A British tourist gestures holding a sign that reads ‘Amali’ during an elephant naming function at the Pinnawala elephant orphanage in Pinnawala, about 45 kilometers northeast of Colombo, Sri Lanka yesterday. — AP

said, adding that yesterday’s ceremony was the biggest ever at the facility since it opened in 1975. Foreign visitors to the orphanage named two of the babies Trinky and Elvina, while the others were given popular Sinhalese names including Mangala (meaning ceremonial), Singithi (small) and Ahinsa (innocent).

The orphanage, in a coconut grove about 80 kilometers east of Colombo, is a major tourist attraction and large crowds were present for yesterday’s ceremony. Babies are fed gallons of milk in public and the entire herd is taken across a main road to a nearby river at bathtime in a ritual that has become hugely popular with visitors. Formally established in 1975, the orphanage shelters 83 elephants, most of whom were abandoned or separated from their herds when they were babies. Many have also been born at the orphanage. Elephants are considered sacred animals and a number of the babies born at Pinnawala have been gifted to Buddhist temples to be paraded during annual pageants.

Sri Lanka’s elephant population remains healthy despite decades of fighting between government and rebel forces in the island’s north-east, the first survey since the end of the bloody civil war showed last year. The survey showed the country had 7,379 elephants living in the wild, despite fears that the population had dwindled to an estimated 5,350. The country boasted 12,000 elephants in 1900. The survey carried out in August last year counted 1,107 baby elephants in the wild, officials said.

The 15 babies were named: Singithi, Ahinsa, Themiya, Wanamali, Trinky, Elvina, Nandi, Mangala, Annuththara, Jeevaka, Kadol, Isira, Bimuthi, Aithi and Gagana.— AFP

KOBITOI: A frail 65-year-old woman sitting under the mango trees in a rural village in Chad suffers from a tropical disease that eats into the brain, and the locals blame on witchcraft. “I’ve been suffering for more than two months now. I have headaches, fever, and I just feel very tired,” said Lea Sadene, who has just been tested and diagnosed. She has Human African trypanosomiasis, commonly known as sleeping sickness, which is transmitted by tsetse flies found in 36 sub-Saharan African countries.

Sadene is in the first phase of the often fatal illness. Without treatment in four months to a year, “the parasite penetrates into the brain, causing serious neurological symptoms, until death,” said Doctor Benedict Blaynay, head of neglected tropical diseases at French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi. “The symptoms can cause a change in personality, mental deterioration, leading to a long sleep or coma,” which gives the illness its name, he said.

Chadian health officials say around 3,300 people were infected between 2001 and 2011 in several areas of the landlocked central African nation, one of the poorest in the world. “With more than 100 cases per year Chad is considered an endemic country,” said Doctor Peka Mallaye, who is in charge of the national program to fight against sleeping sickness. In Kobitoi in southern Chad recently, village women lined up with their children, many with swollen bellies, in the scorching sun as temperatures hit 43 degrees Celsius to undergo tests for the disease organized with Sanofi.

The team found 14 cases of sleeping sickness out of 120 people examined, Mallaye said. “This village is located next to a forest where the tsetse flies live. During the rainy season, people pass through the forest to go fishing or hunting,” he said. “People died like flies, they blamed witches”-Fighting the disease, however, takes more than testing and drugs. For the people living in Chad’s rural communities, the strange symptoms of sleeping sickness have long been shrouded in

superstition about witchcraft and demonic possession.

“Before we didn’t know that it was the disease that was killing people. People died like flies, they blamed witches,” said Alngar Legode, a village mother trying to comfort her eight-month child still crying after being pricked for the blood test for the disease.

“Witchcraft is seen as a real phenomenon in traditional societies,” said sociologist Serferbe Charlot. “They think that a man or a woman suspected of witchcraft is eating away at a person’s soul.” In the advanced stages of the disease the infected person experiences severe neurological problems. “When this disease reaches the brain, the patient loses control of his life, he even becomes violent. That is when the villagers believe that the sick person is possessed by evil spirits,” said Charlot.

“It is up to the health specialists to prove” to the population that it is not witchcraft, he said, adding: “The fight against sleeping sickness calls for raising awareness.” But the World Health Organization says it is not a losing battle. After continued control efforts, the most recent statistics available show the number of cases in 2009 dropped below 10,000 for the first time in 50 years, and the trend continued in 2010 with 7139 new cases reported, the WHO reported on its website. WHO estimates the number of actual cases is currently 30,000.

The most affected country has been the Democratic Republic of Congo, which declared 500 new cases in 2010.

The WHO has established public-private partnerships with Sanofi and also Bayer Healthcare to create a surveillance team and provide support to endemic countries in their control efforts as well as a free supply of drugs to treat the sick. Diagnosis should be made as early as possible before the disease reaches the neurological stage, which calls for more complicated and risky treatment. The chief executive of Sanofi, Christopher Viehbacher, said the main challenge ahead “is to keep up the expertise in diagnosis and treatment in the medical centers, so that the monitoring for sleeping sickness is maintained.”— AFP

KOBITOI: A patient undergoes tests for the disease called Human African trypanosomiasis, commonly known as sleeping sickness. — AFP

MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012

H E A LT H & S C I E NC E

Ex-hunter thrills bird watchers on Ecuador preserve NANEGALITO: After hunting birds for decades, Angel Paz now guides birdwatchers who flock to his forested mountain preserve in Ecuador, home to onesixth of the world’s bird species. In 2005, the 47-year-old farmer traded in his rifle for binoculars after realizing that tourists would dole out large sums to view birds on the private preserve near Nanegalito, some 90 kilometers north of Quito. “I used to hunt. Now I safeguard the birds. I give them food and they allow me to feed my family,” Paz said, boasting of his ability to imitate the calls of 100 different bird species.

Six months after the creation of his

“Peace of the Birds” refuge, it has already attracted ornithologists and “birders” or “twitchers”-bird-watching enthusiastsfrom the United States, Britain, Canada, Japan and India. Paz has patiently gained the trust of his birds by offering them food, and now when he calls out their names select birds will come out of the thick foliage to greet visitors. Minutes after arriving at the reserve, visitors are surrounded by dozens of hummingbirds of different sizes and colors, including rare and endangered species such as the tiny black-breasted puffleg (eriocnemis nigrivestis). “One tourist who really wanted to visit could not believe his eyes when

CT scans could raise cancer risk LONDON: Children who get several CT scans have a slightly higher chance of brain cancer and leukemia in later life, though the risk is still small and probably outweighed by the need to get the test, researchers reported.

The use of CT scans has risen rapidly since they were introduced 30 years ago. For children, they’re used to evaluate head, neck or spine injuries or neurological disorders.

International researchers studied nearly 180,000 patients under age 22 who had a CT scan in British hospitals between 1985 and 2002. They followed those patients until 2008.

They found 74 of them were diagnosed with leukemia while 135 had brain tumors.

The scientists didn’t measure the number of scans, which were mostly of the head, but looked at data measuring radiation doses from the scans. That’s because the amount of radiation received by body parts such as the brain and bone marrow depends on the age and size of the patient. The children who later developed leukemia or brain tumors were compared to a group of people who got a very low dose of radiation to the same parts of their bodies. “CT scans are very useful, but they also have relatively high doses of radiation, when compared to X-rays,” said Mark Pearce of Newcastle University, the study’s lead author, at a press briefing Wednesday.

He said CT scans were warranted in most situ-

ations but more needed to be done to reduce the amount of radiation.

Pearce and colleagues concluded the risk of brain tumors was tripled if children had two to three scans and the risk of leukemia was tripled with five to 10 scans. But he emphasized these were rare diseases and that the higher risk was still small. The risk of leukemia in children is about 1 in 2,000, so having several CT scans would bump that up to about 1 in 600. “This (risk) is important, but the CT scan may be even more important,” said David Spiegelhalter, of the University of Cambridge. He was not connected to the research. “A judgment has to be made,” he said in a statement.

The researchers noted that modern CT scanners give off about 80 percent less radiation than the older machines used in the study. Even at low doses, the radiation can damage genes that may increase the patient’s risk of developing cancer later. The study was paid for by the US National Cancer Institute and the UK Department of Health. It was published online Thursday in the journal Lancet.

In the UK, laws already require radiation from medical scans be kept as low as possible. In the United States, the government is pushing manufacturers to design new scanners to minimize radiation exposure for the youngest patients. —AP

he arrived, and he broke into tears,” Paz recalled.

One of his favorite birds is the endangered tawny antpitta (grallaria antpitta), which he has named after the Colombian pop star “Shakira” because of its unique rhythmic tail wag. He is especially proud of his dark-backed wood quail, a shy, endangered ground bird native to the high forests of Colombia and Ecuador.

There is also a giant antpitta named Maria, which Paz said was difficult to attract to his reserve. Bird paradise of nearly 1,600 species-On his 25 hectares perched 1,400 meters above sea level, virtually on the equator, Paz feeds fruits and earthworms

to more than 220 bird species. On the reserve Paz has el oro parakeets (pyrrhura orcesi) and toucans as well as sparrows, doves, wild turkeys and owls. After the birds finish eating, two olingos-mammals that look like a cross between a monkey, a squirrel and a miniature bear-swoop down to scoop up the leftovers. Thanks to its variety of micro-climates, from rain forests to the snowcapped Andes, the Latin American country is a bird paradise.

“There are in Ecuador nearly 1,600 bird species representing 13 percent of the world’s bird species,” guide and birdwatcher Roberto Cedeno, who has spent 20 years observing birds said.

For comparison, there are 914 wild bird species in the United States and Canada, according to the American Birding Association. There are 130 different types of hummingbirds in Ecuador, nearly half of the 300 species in the Americas.

Hummingbirds are native to the western hemisphere. Tourism linked to birdwatching has flourished in Ecuador in recent years, and Paz says it could take a birder days to find the vast variety he has in his reserve. “The birds are jewels in the forest and there are people who, instead of scanning images, prefer to make their own observations about these small treasures,” said Cedeno.— AFP

Get good out of bad 5 tips to help you deliver bad news KUWAIT: Receiving bad news can be very daunting, but we give little thought to the equally daunting feeling of delivering bad news. Whether you are an expert, a professional, or a friend, being the one to share unpleasant information can be very difficult.

There is no manual to tell you how exactly how to do it, but Dr Rose Logan, a clinical psychologist at Kuwait’s Soor Center for Professional Therapy & Assessment shares five strategies to make delivering bad news a less daunting task.

PLAN IN ADVANCE “Trying to communicate unpleasant news is

already hard enough, but doing it when you are unprepared can create even worse results,” Dr Logan says. Plan out what you want to say and how you want to say it. It is also a good idea to practice in front of a mirror or to record yourself. For professionals, planning in advance also includes preparing any needed information, pamphlets, or tools. “It’s jarring and very uncomfortable to make your patient wait after you’ve shared a critical health diagnosis while you leave to grab a pamphlet,” “Being prepared can also minimize distress to the hearer.”

DIY No matter how difficult and how unpleasant the situation may be, Dr Logan insists that if you have the responsibility in delivering the news, then hold to it. “Though it is easier to delegate this task, most of the time your best friend, client, or patient would rather hear it from you.” “Arm yourself with the right knowledge, especially when you’re delivering medical news,” Dr Logan adds.

“But, don’t add a long-winded introduction. Use the information as back-up to any questions that the person might have.”

ADAPT YOUR DIALOGUE “Talking to an adult is always different than talking to a child,” says Dr Logan. “That’s why it’s always important to adapt your communication skills to better suit the person you’re talking to.” Pay careful

attention to how you’re talking, and take extra care with vocabulary, especially with children. Avoid jargon and abbreviations that might confuse the person. Don’t forget that your non-verbal communication is just as important as what you say. Your facial expressions, eyes, and body language play a major part in how you’re communicating the bad news.

TAKE TIME TO LISTEN You might be able to communicate your bad news in the best way possible, but if you don’t take the time to listen then you are likely to have a bad outcome. “Don’t just dump and leave,” says Dr Rose.

“Make sure you hear out the person’s questions and take in the reaction of those to whom you are communicating bad news.”

PROVIDES ALTERNATIVES In many cases, there are always next steps you can provide to those receiving the bad news.

Providing alternatives can help minimize the discomfort of receiving the unpleasant news. “It also helps to empathize ,” suggests Dr Logan. “while remaining diligent, and helpful to offer possible solutions.” Dr Logan draws on theory, research and clinical expertise to reduce psychological distress and promote psychological well-being. She also provides neuropsychological and cognitive assessments, training, and workshops on mental health and psychology.

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WHAT’S ON Art Sawa hosts exhibition n exhibition called Sense & Sensibilities will be held from May 30 till June 19 at Art Sawa by Hend Al-Falafly explores through her most recent and intimate works” Senses and Sensibilities” the different emotions expressed by the women, usually which are part of her daily life. She strongly uses body language to understand the meaningful silence carried over their experiences and different stories. Hend reflects all its semantic in the facial expressions and movements of the hands, the feet, the look, the clothes, and reveals then the tension, and the emotions repressed. “The pencils are my instruments, my tools, simply to express the intimate relationships of my social circle and, my work is mixed with strong realism which contains symbolism with very expressive meaning in the same time” she says. A different realism inspires her and has great impact in her works, which breaths from an inherent activity revealed through an incredible movement and light. No secret can be kept hidden, all is revealed. info@artsawa.com

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KDNA meeting ozhikode District NRI Association Kuwait (KDNA), registered with Indian Embassy Kuwait, has decided to conduct a public meeting to discuss on Air India strike and the plights of the passengers on Wednesday 13th June 2012 at United Indian School, Abbasiya @ 7.00 pm. Your valuable presence is highly appreciated.

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Kera Abbassiya election e are glad to inform you that the adhock committee has decided to carry out KERA’s unit general body elections for the year 2012-2013.

As part of this, the unit general body elections for Abbassiya unit shall be conducted on Friday15th June 2012 at 5:30PM at successline hall(1st floor/Tandem Building,back side of United Indian school) abbassiya.

The election procedures shall be followed strictly & fully subjected to the draft bye-law formed by the adhock committee, all members from the abbassiya area are requested to attend and make the election grand and successful.

For more details please contact the following KERA officials for assistance.

Jomy Augustine (Mobile: 66874364), Subair Elaman (Mobile: 66900455), Sadashivan PM (Mobile: 66259587), Kalam. U.A (Mobile: 97845697)

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Announcements Open House for Indian citizens pen House for Indian citizens by the ambassador which is being held every alternate Wednesday has been found useful by the Indian community and the embassy. It will now be held on every Wednesday from June 2012 between 1500 hrs and 1600 hrs. in the embassy. During the month of June, 2012 the dates for the open house fall today, 13th, 20th, and 27th of the month. In case Wednesday is an embassy holiday, the meeting will be held on the next working day.

To ensure timely action/follow-up by the embassy, it is requested that, wherever possible, Indian citizens should exhaust the existing channels of interaction/grievance redressal and bring their problems/issues in writing with supporting documents. It may be mentioned that embassy of Indiaís Consular Wing is providing daily service of Open House to Indian citizens on all workings days from 1000 hrs to 1100 hrs and from 1430 hrs to 1530 hrs by the Consular Officer in the Meeting Room of the Consular Hall.

For any unaddressed issues, Second Secretary (Consular) could be contacted. Furthermore, the head of the Consular Wing is also available to redress grievances. Similarly, a labour wing Help Desk functions from 0830 hrs to 1300 hrs and 1400 hrs to 1630 hrs in the Labour Hall to address the labour related issues. There is also a 24x7 Help Line (Tel No. 25674163) to assist labourers in distress. For any unaddressed issues, the concerned attaches in the labour section and the head of the labour wing could be contacted.

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‘Leniency of Islam’ An unprecedented initiative of KTV2 (English channel) is the new program by the name ‘Leniency of Islam’ presented by Shaikh Musaad Alsane and directed by Hamid Al-Turkait. The program is mainly meant to address the expatriates living in Kuwait.

Religious questions are received through the program email qislam@tv.gov.kw and sms can be sent to- 97822021 and answered by the lecturer and Imam in Awqaf Ministry Shaikh Musaad Alsane - a Master Degree holder in Sharia and fiqih from Kuwait University. So don’t forget to watch the program every Friday at 1:00 pm.

Free Arabic course IPC is opening an Intensive Basic Arabic Course for ladies commencing from June 3 to July 8, 2012. The class will be from 5-7 pm for three days a week.

Registration is on! For information, call 22512257.

Write to us Send to What’s On upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20

Kuwait National English school Secondary Graduation uwait National English School held its Secondary Graduation on Saturday 2 June 2012 in the Al Farabi Theatre. The Guests of Honor were Al Sheikha Sheikha Al Abdullah Al Khalifa Al Sabah and the Japanese Ambassador to Kuwait, His Excellency Yasuyoshi Komizo. They both addressed the audience. The Graduation was hosted by the Chairman and Director of Kuwait National English School, Mr and Mrs Gharabally Al Gharabally. Madame Chantal, the School Director, addressed the audience and the Class of 2012.

Madame Chantal praised the graduates for being an exemplary class in

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terms of behavior, attitude and achievement. She said that the quantity of students does not matter but the quality of students does. She is confident that the Class of 2012 will take the right decision and will show responsibility and will put into practice the universal values, which Kuwait National English School has inculcated in them, of Tolerance, Respect, Integrity, Solidarity, Cooperation for the Peace and Welfare of the Human family.

The Prestigious School Chairman’s Award was presented to two long serving members of staff in recognition for their good and loyal service at Kuwait National English School.

In addition to the awarding of diplomas to class 2012, awards were given in individual subjects for achievement and endeavour; the prestigious Student of the Year Award was presented to Dima Mohd Omar Kheir, the ECIS Award for International Understanding and Director Award were awarded to Tala Omar Muassess and Anwar Al Enezi. The Head Girls Mariam Al Abdulsalam and Anwar Al Enezi and School Prefect Fatma Al Othman gave speeches. The Valedictory Address was given by Shahad Shweikeh and the Salutatory Address by Tala Muassess.

Music was performed by the graduat-

ing students as well as students from Year 10. The event culminated in the traditional cutting of the Class 2012 Graduation Cake. The Graduation of Class 2012 was a very successful event which gave the students and their families a chance to reflect on a successful time at Kuwait National English School.

Kuwait National English School would like to thank the Staff and Management for all their hard work and the Parents for their continued support.

ESF, Al Shaya holds art event he English School Fahaheel has a long tradition of working with the community and arranging events that focus around these beliefs. Al Shaya Starbucks in keeping with their tradition of working with the community very kindly offered to hold a third Art related event at ESF recently. The event involved students painting beautiful murals in the new covered play areas at ESF. They were accompanied by Starbucks staff. Students thoroughly enjoyed the event and saw it as an opportunity to further their art skills.

At the end of the day Starbucks staff offered snacks and a cold beverage to all participants.

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MMF Kuwait holds family day alayali Media Forum (MMF), Kuwait, the media platform of the Keralites working in Kuwait, held a family gettogether on Friday evening in an atmosphere of joy and camaraderie. Thomas Chandy, the legislative member of the Kerala Assembly, inaugurated the get-together that was held at the Chachoos Restaurant, Abbassiya. Chandy congratulated the MMF members for their dedication and professionalism they demonstrate in their work. Convener Vinod V Nair presided over the meeting. Convener Girish Ottapalam welcomed the members and family while Gafoor Moodadi proposed a vote of thanks. Sathar Kunnil gave an introductory speech and Malayil Moosa Koya delivered a felicitation speech.

Rashmi Krishnakumar led a media quiz in which A M Hassan became the winner.

Various games were also held for adults and children under the leadership of Arifa Abdul Fattah. Shilpa Sajeev anchored the program.

Family members and children presented various cultural programs on the occasion. A musical orchestra led by Kishore was an added attraction of the evening. Siddique, Valiyakath, Mahmood Apsara, Sam Painumoodu, Thomas Kadavil, Anil Keloth, Mohammad Riyas, Sunoj Nambiar and Noufal Moodadi distributed prizes to the winners.

Nixon George, Abdul Fattah Thayyil, Anil P. Alex, Azeez Thikkodi, Jalin Thrippayar, P P Junoob and Anwar Sadath organized various activities to make the event a huge success.

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WHAT’S ON

Embassy Information EMBASSY OF BRAZIL The Embassy of Brazil requests all Brazilian citizens in Kuwait to proceed to the website www.brazil.org.kw (Contact Us Form / Fale Conosco) in order to register or update contact information. The Embassy encourages all citizens to do so, including the ones who have already registered in person at the Embassy. The registration process helps the Brazilian Government to contact and assist Brazilians living abroad in case of any emergency.

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EMBASSY OF CANADA The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24, Al-Mutawakel St., Block 4 in Da’aiyah.

Please visit our website at www.Kuwait.gc.ca. The Embassy of Canada is open from 07:30 to 15:30 Sunday through Thursday. The reception is closed from 12:30 to 01:00 pm for lunch break. Consular Services for Canadian Citizens are provided from 09:00 until 12:00 on Sunday through Wednesday. The Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi provides visa and immigration services to residents of Kuwait.

Individuals who are interested in visiting, working or immigrating to Canada are invited to visit the website of the Canadian Embassy to the UAE at www.uae.gc.ca.

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Tulu Koota Kuwait Rasamanjari 2012 asamanjari 2012, presented by Tulu Koota Kuwait, successfully enthralls the audience as mesmerizing performances, live enthusiastic music, and extravagant stage settings marked the evening of 25th May 2012 at the American International School.

Tulunadu crowds turned out in large numbers to witness this melodious event. The Audience were warmly welcomed by an elegant classical dance presentation by “Rhythm Scapes”. The event was inaugurated by lighting of the lamp by Chief Guest Lawrence Pinto, a senior citizen and well-known personality in Kuwait, the Management Committee and the Advisory Committee members of Tulu Koota Kuwait.

The President of Tulu Koota Kuwait, Ramesh Kidiyoor welcomed the audience as he sincerely thanked the sponsors, supporters and well wishers of Tulu Koota Kuwait. He updated the audience with the activities conducted by the association, one of them being the commencement of “Tulu Siri” the first ever Tulu speaking classes in Kuwait, for which he urged whole hearted support of the parents. He spoke about the Tulu

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Calendar release in the beginning of the year and emphasized the charitable work done by the Association.

Guest artists, Tulu Nadu Gaana Gandharva and Karnataka Rajyotsva Award Winner Ravindra Prabhu along with Nightingale of Tulu Nadu Reshma Majunath took the audience to dizzying heights with their energetic performances. The crowd went berserk when Ravindra Prabhu went into the auditorium and danced with them on the beats of “OO LA LA”. The crowds also witnessed outstanding performances and foot tapping numbers from our very own local talented singers, Jr Mohamed Rafi, Gladys Lorena, Prakash Shetty, Suresh Salian, Lavina Praphulla, Santosh Kunder, Warren D’Souza and Poornima.

Tulu version of “Kolaveri Di” was also an instant hit. It was a feast to watch the celebrity artists performing on stage with their melodious Tulu, Kannada, Hindi, Beary & Konkani songs.

Lively performances by Dance groups namely Dhoom Dance Group, Kuwait Indian School Fusion Dance Group, United Mangaloreans Kuwait, Kala Dance Group, Jovas XLNC and Ballerine’s were an absolute treat to

watch. United Managloreans Kuwait and the Artists of Tulu Koota Kuwait kept the audience in splits with their humorous jokes. Music maestro Adrian Gomes provided scintillating music, while Anand - Illuminations provided Sound and Lighting and Alban D’Souza did the video and photography.

Ronald D’Souza, in his capacity as a Cultural Secretary of Tulu Koota Kuwait, deserved all the credit as the main Program Coordinator. He successfully executed synchronization of the complete program with perfection along with the help of the Committee members. The Comperes for the evening, Ravindra Prabhu, Deepak Andrade, Shalini Alva, Mohammed Farooq, Shobha Bhandary, Jayalaxmi Karkal very charmingly managed to capture the attention of the audience. Shobha Bhandary & Doris Lobo did the back stage announcements.

The Main Sponsors of the event were Connect Builders & Developers. Gold Sponsors were Pro-Sports, Al Mulla Exchange, UAE Exchange & Oriental Restaurants, while the Silver sponsors were Gulf Ready Mix Concrete Co, Sanbouk International Center, United

Electrical Network, Ibrahim Pinto for Haj & Umra Services, KDD, Raith Engineering & Manufacturing Co, Al Rathath Establishment and Spinn Confectionery.

The Sponsors, Guest Artists and Choreographers were presented with mementos, in the presence of Fr Noel D’Almeida, to thank them for their contributions and support.

The Hall Management was very effectively supervised by Vijay Kairangal and his team, while the back Stage management was handled by Harish Bhandary and his team. The Reception was beautifully designed and presented by Shalini Vijay and her team. Multimedia & Slide display meticulously done by Ramesh S Bhandary & Team. The program was concluded with a Vote of thanks by the General Secretary, Sathya Narayan, an enthusiastic Baila and the National Anthem. Tulu Koota Kuwait wishes to thank all its well-wishers, sponsors, audience, artists and American International School, Hawally Governorate for their generous support in making the event a grand success.

EMBASSY OF CYPRUS The Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus would like to inform the public that from 3rd June 2012 the Consulate section located at the premises of the Embassy has started issuing Visas. Address: Salwa-Block 3, Al-Mutanabbi Street Building No. 35, Tel : (965)25620350, Fax: (965)25620470, Email : info@cyprus-embassy.org.kw Working hours 9:00am till 12:00pm everyday except Friday & Saturday Hence, The Honorary Consulate of Cyprus in Kuwait city will stop issuing Visas from the same date.

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EMBASSY OF KOREA The Embassy of the Republic of Korea wishes to inform that it has moved to Mishref. New Address: Embassy of the Republic of Korea Mishref, Block 7A, Diplomatic Area 2, Plot 6 The Embassy also wishes to inform that it will be opened to the public on the following office hours: Saturday to Thursday Morning: 8:00 am to 12:30 pm Lunch Break: 12:30 pm to 1:00 pm Afternoon: 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm ■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF KENYA The Embassy of the Republic of Kenya wishes to request all Kenyans resident in or training through Kuwait to register with the Embassy.

We are updating our database. This information is necessary in order to facilitate quick assistance and advise in times of emergency. Kindly visit in person or register through our website www.kenyaembkuwait.com. The Embassy is located in: Surra Area Block 6 - Street 9 - Villa 3 Tel: 25353362 - 25353314; Fax: 25353316.

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EMBASSY OF MEXICO The Embassy of Mexico is pleased to inform that it is located in CLIFFS Complex, Villa 6, Salmiya, block 9, Baghdad street, Jadda Lane 7. The working hours for consular issues are from 9:00 to 12:00 Sunday through Thursday. The reception is closed from 14:00 to 15:00 hours for lunch break. The Embassy of Mexico kindly requests all Mexicans citizens in Kuwait to proceed to the e-mail: embkuwait@sre.gob.mx in order to register or update contact information. Other consultations or/and appointments could be done by telephone or fax: (+965) 2573 1952 ■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF MYANMAR Embassy of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar would like to inform the general public that the Embassy has moved its office to new location at Villa 35, Road 203, Block 2, AlSalaam Area in South Surra. The Embassy wishes to advice Myanmar citizens and travellers to Myanmar to contact Myanmar Embassy at its new location.

Tel. 25240736, 25240290, Fax: 25240749, email:myankuwait11@gmai1.com

Kuwait Airways bids farewell to Margabandhu, Subramaniyan ircraft Maintenance Section (Hangar) of Kuwait Airways Corporation (KAC) recently conducted a farewell party to its aircraft maintenance engineers S Margabandhu and Mahadevan Subramaniyan.

The function was organized at Winners Restaurant, Salmiya on 25th May 2012, in recognition to their exceptional services to KAC. It was coordinated by col-

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leagues of aircraft maintenance section and was attended by superintendents, supervisors, engineers, supervisory staff and employees of the department.

Mohan Menon welcomed the guests and Khalid Sebzali, Mustafa Shatti, Hassan Ahmed, RVR Raju, Ali Shatti, Khawar Mehmood, Peethambaram, Mohammad Fadhi, Hussam Al Yousuf, K Sethu, Shaki1

Ahmed, Kochath Suresh and Malcom Dacayana reminisced their association with the departing colleagues.

Vote of thanks was given to all dignitaries, invitees.

Subsequently, meeting organizers Mohammad Shahid, K P Rajees, Salman Arif, Ali Haider for the job well done.

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EMBASSY OF NIGERIA The Nigerian embassy has its new office in Mishref. Block 3, Street 7, House 4. For enquires please call 25379541. Fax25387719. Email- nigeriakuwait@yahoo.com or nigeriankuwait@yahoo.co.uk

Aware diwaniya presentation ou are cordially invited to our diwaniya presentation entitled, “The Power of Water and Words,” by Sharifa Carlo after tomorrow by 7:00pm. Dr Masaru Emoto is a prominent Japanese researcher who has studied and documented the physical power of words. His research uses water and crystal formation as stimulated by key words & phrases. Shariffa Carlo will explore Dr Emoto’s research into words and the physical effects they have on the world around us as it relates to teachings in the Holy Quran and the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad.

Shariffa Carlo is a Professor of English for Engineering at the Public Authority for Applied Education. She has a BA in English, a BS in International Relations, an MA in Composition & Rhetoric. Also she is ABD in Computer Applications of Linguistics. She has an Ijaza (traditional Islamic degree) in General Islamic Knowledge & has lectured world-wide from China to LA and many countries in between on Islamic & political topics as well as Computer Assisted Instruction, Robotic Artificial Intelligence, Rhetoric & other topics. She has published countless articles & researches and has 2 published books. And her most treasured accomplishment is that of mother. For more information, call 25335260/80 or log onto: www.aware.com.kw

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EMBASSY OF NEPAL The Embassy of Nepal has moved to a new location in Jabriya, Block 8, St. 13, House No. 514, effective from 15th April, 2012. Till the new telephone connections are installed, the Embassy may be contacted by email: info@nepembku.org

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EMBASSY OF THAILAND The Royal Thai Embassy in Kuwait, wishes to invite the Kuwaiti companies that deal business with Thai companies or those agencies of Thai commercial companies to visit the Embassy’s Commercial Office to register their relevant information to be part of the embassy’s business and trade database. The Royal Thai Embassy is located in Jabriya, Block 6, Street 8, Villa No. 1, Telephone No. 25317530 -25317531, Ext: 14.

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Pravasee Cultural Congress (I) Kuwait and Indian Overseas Congress Kuwait leaders met the visiting Indian Parliament member and India’s ruling congress (I) party general secretary Rahul Gandhi at Sheraton hotel pavilion.

EMBASSY OF UKRAINE We’d like to inform you that in response to the increasing number of our citizens who work in the state and the need for 24-hour operational telephone in case of emergency the Embassy of Ukraine in the State of Kuwait has opened “hotline telephone number” - (+ 965) 972-79-206.

MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012

TV PROGRAMS

00:45 Untamed & Uncut 01:40 Into The Pride 02:35 Wildwives Of Savannah Lane 03:30 I Was Bitten 04:25 Wildest Africa 05:20 Great Ocean Adventures 06:10 Dogs 101 07:00 Escape To Chimp Eden 07:25 Growing Up...

08:15 Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild 08:40 Breed All About It 09:10 Cats Of Claw Hill 10:05 The Animals’ Guide To Survival 11:00 Animal Precinct 11:55 Animal Cops South Africa 12:50 Pet Passport 13:45 Bondi Vet 14:10 Wildlife SOS 14:40 The Animals’ Guide To Survival 15:30 Shamwari: A Wild Life 16:00 Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild 16:30 Project Puppy 17:00 Jeff Corwin Unleashed 17:25 Dogs 101 18:20 Must Love Cats 19:15 Wildlife SOS 19:40 Bondi Vet 20:10 Escape To Chimp Eden 20:35 Animal Battlegrounds 21:05 The Animals’ Guide To Survival 22:00 Must Love Cats 22:55 Ned Bruha: Skunk Whisperer 23:50 Animal Cops Houston

00:00 Holmes On Homes 00:50 MasterChef Australia 06:35 DIY SOS 07:00 MasterChef Australia 09:15 Bargain Hunt 10:00 Antiques Roadshow 10:50 Come Dine With Me 11:40 10 Years Younger 12:30 Gok’s Fashion Fix 14:05 Fantasy Homes In The City 14:50 Bargain Hunt 15:35 Antiques Roadshow 16:25 DIY SOS 16:50 The Boss Is Coming To Dinner 17:10 Come Dine With Me 18:00 Celebrity MasterChef 19:25 Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey 20:15 Antiques Roadshow 21:05 Gok’s Fashion Fix

00:10 00:35 01:00 01:25 01:50 02:15 02:40 03:00 03:25 03:50 04:15 04:40 05:00 05:25 05:50 06:00 06:30 06:55 07:20 07:45 08:00 08:25 08:50 09:15 09:40 10:05 10:25 10:50 11:15 11:40 12:00 12:15 12:40 12:55 13:45

Duck Dodgers The Perils Of Penelope Pitstop Tom & Jerry Kids A Pup Named Scooby-Doo The Jetsons Puppy In My Pocket Popeye Tom & Jerry Looney Tunes Scooby Doo Where Are You! Droopy: Master Detective Wacky Races The Flintstones A Pup Named Scooby-Doo Popeye Classics Dexters Laboratory Bananas In Pyjamas Baby Looney Tunes Gerald McBoing Boing Ha Ha Hairies Pink Panther And Pals The Garfield Show Dastardly And Muttley A Pup Named Scooby-Doo Scooby Doo Where Are You! The Flintstones Duck Dodgers Tom & Jerry Kids Droopy: Master Detective Wacky Races Jelly Jamm Baby Looney Tunes Ha Ha Hairies The Garfield Show Scooby Doo Where Are You!

14:10 14:35 15:25 15:50 16:40 17:30 18:10 19:00 19:15 19:40 19:55 20:20 20:35 20:55 21:20 21:45 22:10 22:35 23:00 23:20 23:45

Dastardly And Muttley Looney Tunes Puppy In My Pocket Pink Panther And Pals Tom & Jerry The Garfield Show Dexter’s Laboratory Jelly Jamm Baby Looney Tunes Ha Ha Hairies Gerald McBoing Boing Bananas In Pyjamas Pink Panther And Pals Tom & Jerry Looney Tunes Scooby Doo Where Are You! Droopy: Master Detective The Flintstones Wacky Races Dastardly And Muttley New Yogi Bear Show

00:30 Bakugan: New Vestroia 01:20 Powerpuff Girls 02:10 Courage The Cowardly Dog 03:00 The Amazing World Of Gumball 03:25 Ben 10 03:50 Adventure Time 04:15 Powerpuff Girls 04:40 Generator Rex 05:05 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 05:55 Angelo Rules 06:00 Casper’s Scare School 06:25 Eliot Kid 07:00 The Amazing World Of Gumball 07:15 Adventure Time 07:40 Regular Show 08:05 Grim Adventures Of...

08:55 Courage The Cowardly Dog 09:45 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 10:35 Powerpuff Girls 11:25 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 12:15 Ed, Edd n Eddy 13:05 Ben 10: Alien Force 13:30 Bakugan: Gundalian Invaders 13:55 Camp Lazlo 14:45 Powerpuff Girls 15:35 Angelo Rules 16:25 The Marvelous Misadventures...

16:50 Grim Adventures Of...

17:15 The Amazing World Of Gumball 17:40 Adventure Time 18:05 Regular Show 18:30 Ben 10 18:55 Bakugan: Mechtanium Surge 19:20 Hero 108 19:45 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 20:10 Courage The Cowardly Dog 21:00 Ben 10: Alien Force 21:25 The Powerpuff Girls 21:50 Cow And Chicken 22:00 Codename: Kids Next Door 22:50 Ben 10

00:00 00:30 01:00 03:00 03:30 04:00 05:00 06:00 06:30 07:00 07:30 08:00 10:00 10:30 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 19:30 20:00 21:00

Mainsail World Sport World Report Backstory Talk Asia Fareed Zakaria Gps CNN Newsroom Business Traveller World’s Untold Stories World Sport Inside Africa World Report World Sport World’s Untold Stories World Business Today Backstory African Voices World One Fareed Zakaria Gps News Stream World Business Today International Desk Global Exchange World Sport African Voices International Desk Quest Means Business

22:00 Amanpour 22:30 CNN Newscenter 23:00 Connect The World With Becky Anderson

00:40 07:00 07:50 08:45 09:40 10:05 10:30 10:55 11:25 12:20 13:15 14:10 14:35 15:05 16:00 16:55 17:20 18:15 19:10 19:40 20:05 20:35 21:00 21:30 22:25 23:20

00:35 01:25 02:15 02:45 03:35 04:25 05:15 06:05 07:00 07:50 07:53 08:20 08:50 09:40 10:30 10:55 11:20 12:10 13:00 13:50 14:45 15:35 16:00 16:03 16:30 17:00 17:50 18:40 19:30 20:20 21:10 21:35 22:00 22:50 23:40

00:10 01:00 01:25 01:50 02:15 02:40 03:05 03:30 03:55 04:20 04:45 05:10 05:35 06:00 06:15 06:40 07:05 07:30 07:55 08:20 08:45 09:10 09:20 09:35

James May’s Man Lab Chop Shop Mythbusters Ultimate Survival Border Security Auction Hunters How Do They Do It? How It’s Made Hillbilly Handfishin’ When Fish Attack River Monsters Border Security Auction Hunters Ultimate Survival Chop Shop Wheeler Dealers Gold Rush Mythbusters How Do They Do It? How It’s Made Border Security Auction Kings South Beach Classics Hillbilly Handfishin’ When Fish Attack River Monsters: Special

The Future Of...

Mega World Bigger, Better, Faster, Stronger NASA: UFO Or No? Mega World Catch It Keep It Bigger, Better, Faster, Stronger Scrapheap Challenge Prophets Of Science Fiction Head Rush Bang Goes The Theory Sci-Fi Science Sport Science Prototype This The Gadget Show The Gadget Show Mega World Powering The Future The Future Of...

How The Universe Works Prototype This The Gadget Show Head Rush Bang Goes The Theory Sci-Fi Science Sci-Trek Sport Science How The Universe Works Brave New World Mega World The Gadget Show The Gadget Show Brave New World Mega World Sport Science

Replacements Fairly Odd Parents Fairly Odd Parents A Kind Of Magic A Kind Of Magic Stitch Stitch Replacements Replacements Fairly Odd Parents Fairly Odd Parents A Kind Of Magic A Kind Of Magic Fish Hooks Recess So Random Wizards Of Waverly Place Good Luck Charlie Shake It Up Phineas And Ferb Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates Handy Manny The Hive

09:45 10:00 10:25 10:50 11:15 11:40 12:05 12:30 12:55 13:20 13:45 14:10 14:35 15:00 16:40 17:00 18:15 18:40 19:05 19:35 20:25 20:50 21:15 21:40 22:05 22:55 23:45

00:25 Kendra 00:55 Style Star 01:25 Too Young To Kill 03:15 E! Investigates 04:10 Sexiest 05:05 Then And Now 06:00 THS 07:50 Behind The Scenes 08:20 E! News 09:15 Kourtney & Kim Take New York 10:15 25 Hottest Hollywood Cougar Tales 12:05 Kendra 13:05 Dirty Soap 14:05 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 15:00 Style Star 15:30 THS 16:25 Behind The Scenes 16:55 Giuliana & Bill 17:55 Kourtney & Kim Take New York 18:55 THS 19:55 Khloe And Lamar 20:55 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 21:25 Ice Loves Coco 22:25 Scouted 23:25 Chelsea Lately 23:55 Keeping Up With The Kardashians

00:05 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 00:30 Reza, Spice Prince Of India 00:55 Restaurant: Impossible 01:45 Grill It! With Bobby Flay 02:35 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 03:25 Meat & Potatoes 03:50 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 04:15 Outrageous Food 04:40 Unwrapped 05:05 United Tastes Of America 05:30 Chopped 06:10 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 06:35 Gourmet Farmer 07:00 Food Network Challenge 07:50 Andy Bates Street Feasts 08:15 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 08:40 Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam 09:05 Reza, Spice Prince Of India 09:30 Lidia’s Italy 09:55 Extra Virgin 10:20 Everyday Italian 10:45 Unwrapped 11:10 United Tastes Of America 11:35 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 12:00 Food Network Challenge 12:50 Grill It! With Bobby Flay 13:15 Cooking For Real 13:40 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 14:05 Everyday Italian 14:30 Unwrapped 14:55 30 Minute Meals 15:20 Extra Virgin 15:45 Chopped 16:35 Cooking For Real 17:00 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 17:25 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 17:50 Grill It! With Bobby Flay 18:15 United Tastes Of America 18:40 Andy Bates Street Feasts 19:05 Mexican Made Easy 19:30 Food Network Challenge 20:20 Iron Chef America 21:10 Reza, Spice Prince Of India 22:00 Andy Bates Street Feasts 22:50 Gourmet Farmer 23:40 Grill It! With Bobby Flay

00:30 00:55 01:20 02:55 03:45 04:10 04:30 Jones 05:20 06:10 07:00 07:50 08:40 09:30 09:55 10:20 11:10 12:00 12:50 13:40 14:30 14:55 15:20 16:10 17:00 17:50 18:40 19:05 19:55 20:20 21:10

THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT ON OSN ACTION HD

Mouk Recess So Random Hannah Montana Fish Hooks Jake & Blake Sonny With A Chance Wizards Of Waverly Place Phineas And Ferb Recess Jessie A.N.T. Farm Good Luck Charlie Austin & Ally A.N.T. Farm Phineas And Ferb Jessie A.N.T. Farm Wizards Of Waverly Place Good Luck Charlie So Random Suite Life On Deck Jonas Los Angeles Shake It Up Good Luck Charlie Wizards Of Waverly Place Kim Possible

00:00 00:30 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00

Stalked: Someone’s Watching I Was Murdered American Greed Scorned: Crimes Of Passion Stalked: Someone’s Watching I Was Murdered True Crime With Aphrodite Mystery Diagnosis Disappeared FBI Files Murder Shift Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared Street Patrol Murder Shift Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared FBI Files Murder Shift Real Emergency Calls Mystery ER Who On Earth Did I Marry?

On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared

Market Values Market Values Around The World For Free Departures Banged Up Abroad Adventure Wanted

05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 (Pilot) 19:00 20:00

Into The Drink Market Values Around The World For Free Departures Banged Up Abroad Adventure Wanted Into The Drink Market Values Around The World For Free Departures Banged Up Abroad Adventure Wanted Into The Drink Keeping Up With The Joneses

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:15 10:00 11:45 14:00 16:00 17:45 20:00 22:00

The Haunting In Connecticut A Perfect Getaway-18 Avp: Alien vs Predator-PG15 In The Line Of Fire-PG15 Red Faction: Origins-PG15 Snake In The Eagle’s Shadow Iron Man 2-PG15 Red Faction: Origins-PG15 Cross-18 Iron Man 2-PG15 The Eagle-PG15 Street Kings 2: Motor City-18

Deadliest Journeys Don’t Tell My Mother

01:00 Africa United-PG15 03:00 District 9-PG15 05:00 Gasland-PG15 07:00 Tomorrow, When The War Began-PG15 09:00 Africa United-PG15 11:00 50 First Dates-PG15 13:00 Arthur And The Revenge Of Maltazard-PG 15:00 Unanswered Prayers-PG15 16:45 Oceans-PG15 18:30 Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides-PG15 21:00 Unmatched-PG15 23:00 The Crazies-PG15

00:00 Napoleon Dynamite 00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 02:30 The Big C 03:00 The Simpsons 03:30 Last Man Standing 05:30 Til Death 06:00 Dharma And Greg 06:30 10 Items Or Less 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:30 The Simpsons 09:00 Til Death 09:30 Two And A Half Men 10:00 Friends With Benefits 10:30 10 Items Or Less 12:00 Dharma And Greg 13:00 Til Death 13:30 10 Items Or Less 14:00 Last Man Standing 14:30 Friends With Benefits 15:00 Two And A Half Men 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 16:30 Dharma And Greg 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 The Simpsons 18:30 Raising Hope 19:00 Traffic Light 19:30 Friends With Benefits 20:00 Community 20:30 King Of The Hill 21:00 The Daily Show Global Edition 21:30 The Colbert Report Global Edition 22:00 Louie 22:30 Bored To Death 23:00 The Big C 23:30 Community

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 08:30 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Bones Burn Notice Top Gear (US) Covert Affairs Rescue Me The View Good Morning America The Practice Emmerdale Coronation Street The Martha Stewart Show The View Bones Covert Affairs Live Good Morning America The Practice Emmerdale Coronation Street Suits Justified The Closer Luck Rescue Me

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 12:30 14:00 15:00 16:00 16:30 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00

Psych Top Gear (US) Burn Notice Bones Covert Affairs Eureka Psych Emmerdale Coronation Street Charlie’s Angels Top Gear (US) Bones Burn Notice Emmerdale Coronation Street Charlie’s Angels Psych Emmerdale Coronation Street Body Of Proof Suits Justified The Closer Luck

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00

Full Metal Jacket-18 Avp: Alien vs Predator-PG15 Luster-18 Behind Enemy Lines-PG15 Largo Winch 2-PG15 The Losers-PG15 True Justice: Deadly Crossing Largo Winch 2-PG15 Dangerous Flowers-PG15

BEHIND ENEMY LINES ON OSN MOVIES ACTION 18:45 Alive-PG15 21:00 Double Impact-18 23:00 Bad Guys-18

00:00 Inspector Gadget (1999) 02:00 Not The Messiah: He’s A Very Naughty Boy-PG15 04:00 Indian Summer-PG15 06:00 Marmaduke-PG 08:00 Not The Messiah: He’s A Very Naughty Boy-PG15 10:00 16 To Life-PG15 12:00 The Chaperone-PG15 14:00 A Pyromaniac’s Love Story 16:00 16 To Life-PG15 18:00 Bob Roberts-PG15 20:00 Airheads-PG15 22:00 Jack Goes Boating-PG15

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

Defendor-PG15 Good Hair-PG15 Flipped-PG Legend Of The Guardians-PG Battle: Los Angeles-PG15 Country Strong-PG15 Elevator Girl-PG15 City Of Life-PG15 Battle: Los Angeles-PG15 Charlie St. Cloud-PG15 Unmatched-PG15 The Crazies-PG15

00:00 The Prince Of Dinosaurs-PG 02:00 Hua Mulan-PG 04:00 The Adventures Of Elmo In Grouchland-PG 06:00 Freddy Frogface-PG 08:00 The Three Musketeers (2008) 10:00 Mars Needs Moms-PG 12:00 Rh+ The Vampire Of Seville 14:00 Jetsons: The Movie-FAM 16:00 The Swan Princess-FAM 18:00 Mars Needs Moms-PG 20:00 Good Boy!-PG 22:00 Rh+ The Vampire Of Seville

00:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 11:30 12:30 13:00 21:00 21:30

Test Cricket NRL Premiership International Rugby Union Futbol Mundial Volvo Ocean Race Volvo Ocean Race Highlights Live Test Cricket Volvo Ocean Race Highlights Live Super League

01:00 International Rugby Union 03:00 NRL Premiership 05:00 NRL Premiership 07:00 Trans World Sport 08:00 Darts 12:00 Live NRL Premiership 14:00 Futbol Mundial 14:30 International Rugby Union 16:30 Volvo Ocean Race Highlights 17:00 NRL Premiership 19:00 WWE Bottom Line 20:00 PGA European Tour Highlights 21:00 Darts

02:30 Volvo Ocean Race 03:30 AFL Premiership 06:00 Trans World Sport 07:00 Golfing World 08:00 AFL Premiership 10:30 Triathlon 11:00 Triathlon 12:00 Triathlon 13:00 Futbol Mundial 13:30 Golfing World 14:30 Live ATP Tennis Aegon Championships 16:30 Live ATP Tennis Aegon Championships 20:30 Live ATP Tennis Aegon Championships 22:30 AFL Premiership Highlights 23:30 Top 14 Highlights

00:00 02:00 04:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 12:00 14:00 15:00 17:00 20:00 22:00

UFC WWE SmackDown UFC Unleashed WWE Bottom Line WWE Experience Prizefighter V8 Supercars Highlights WWE Experience WWE SmackDown UFC Prelims UFC UFC Unleashed

00:00 World War II: Lost Films 01:00 Treasure From The Dark Ages 02:00 Inside The Body Of Henry VIII 03:00 World War II: Lost Films 04:00 The Universe 05:00 Ancient Aliens 06:00 Decoded 07:00 Pawn Stars 08:00 Ancient Aliens 09:00 Tales Of The Gun 10:00 Pawn Stars 10:30 Pawn Stars 11:00 Ax Men 12:00 Treasure From The Dark Ages 13:00 Inside The Body Of Henry VIII 14:00 Tales Of The Gun 15:00 Ancient Aliens 16:00 Treasure From The Dark Ages 17:00 Inside The Body Of Henry VIII 18:00 Tales Of The Gun 19:00 Ancient Aliens 20:00 Pawn Stars 20:30 Pawn Stars 21:00 Ax Men 22:00 IRT: Deadliest Roads – The Andes 23:00 Pawn Stars 23:30 Storage Wars

00:00 01:00 01:25 01:55 02:50 03:20 04:15 05:10 06:05 07:00 08:00 09:00 09:25 09:55 10:50 11:50 12:50 13:15 13:45 14:45 15:40 16:35 18:25 20:20 22:10 23:05

Wicked Fit Fashion Classics Open House Videofashion Daily Videofashion News How Do I Look?

Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?

Married Away Clean House Videofashion News Videofashion Daily Open House Fashion Classics How Do I Look?

Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?

Clean House Dress My Nest Mel B: It’s A Scary World Bridalplasty How Do I Look?

Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane Big Rich Texas The Amandas Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane The Amandas Fashion Police

00:00 World’s Greatest Motorcycle Rides 01:00 Think Green 02:00 Globe Trekker 03:00 Megalopolis 04:00 Globe Trekker 05:00 Planet Food 06:00 Sophie Grigson In The Home Counties 06:30 Sophie Grigson In The Home Counties 07:00 Globe Trekker 08:00 World’s Greatest Motorcycle Rides 09:00 Intrepid Journeys 10:00 Culinary Asia 11:00 Hollywood And Vines 12:00 Globe Trekker 13:00 Chef Abroad 14:00 Planet Food 15:00 Cruising To The Northern Lights 16:00 Globe Trekker 17:00 Hollywood And Vines 18:00 Culinary Asia

00:40 02:30 04:50 07:00 08:55 10:45 12:10 14:25 16:15 17:55 19:50 22:00 23:55

The Haunting 2001: A Space Odyssey-FAM The Unsinkable Molly Brown Little Women-FAM An American In Paris-FAM Viva Las Vegas-FAM 2001: A Space Odyssey-FAM The Band Wagon-FAM Easter Parade-FAM The Opposite Sex-PG Love Me Or Leave Me-PG Clash Of The Titans Children Of The Damned

00:15 Little Einsteins 00:40 Jungle Junction 00:55 Jungle Junction 01:10 Little Einsteins 01:30 Special Agent Oso 01:45 Special Agent Oso 02:00 Lazytown 02:25 Little Einsteins 02:50 Jungle Junction 03:05 Jungle Junction 03:20 Little Einsteins 03:40 Special Agent Oso 03:55 Special Agent Oso 04:10 Lazytown 04:35 Little Einsteins 05:00 Jungle Junction 05:15 Jungle Junction 05:30 Little Einsteins 05:50 Special Agent Oso 06:00 Special Agent Oso 06:15 Jungle Junction 06:30 Jungle Junction 06:45 Handy Manny 07:00 Special Agent Oso 07:15 Lazytown 07:45 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 08:10 The Hive 08:20 Handy Manny 08:35 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 08:50 The Little Mermaid 09:15 Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 09:20 Mouk 09:35 Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 09:40 The Hive 09:50 Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 09:55 The Hive 10:05 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 10:20 Lazytown 10:45 Art Attack 11:10 Imagination Movers 11:35 Lazytown 12:00 The Hive 12:10 Handy Manny 12:25 Jungle Junction 12:40 Imagination Movers 13:05 The Hive 13:15 Special Agent Oso 13:30 Lazytown 13:55 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 14:20 The Hive 14:30 Handy Manny 14:45 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 15:00 Mouk 15:15 The Hive 15:25 Handy Manny 15:40 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 15:55 Imagination Movers 16:20 Lazytown 16:45 Art Attack 17:10 The Hive 17:20 Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 17:25 The Hive 17:35 Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 17:40 Mouk 17:55 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 18:10 Little Einsteins 18:35 The Little Mermaid 19:00 Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 19:05 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 19:25 101 Dalmatians 19:40 Mouk 19:50 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 20:05 The Hive 20:15 Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 20:20 The Hive 20:30 Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 20:35 A Poem Is...

20:40 Animated Stories

Classifieds MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Airlines JZR QTR JZR JZR ETH RJA GFA UAE ETD THY DHX FDB MSR QTR JZR KAC THY DHX FCX JZR KAC BAW JZR KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY KAC QTR FDB ETD BAB KAC GFA IRC MEA JZR MSR MSC JZR MSR GFA KAC FDB OMA KNE QTR SVA RJA KAC JZR KAC QTR SYR KAC ETD UAE UAL GFA SVA JZR JZR ABY QTR KAC BAB KAC FDB KAC MSC MSR KAC KAC KAC JAI KAC FDB MEA QTR GFA FDB ALK UAE JZR ETD BBC ABY QTR DHX AIC GFA UAL TAR JZR DLH MSR THY KLM PIA

Arrival Flights on Monday 11/6/2012 Flt Route 185 DUBAI 148 DOHA 539 CAIRO 267 BEIRUT 620 ADDIS ABABA 642 AMMAN 211 BAHRAIN 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 768 ISTANBUL 370 BAHRAIN 67 DUBAI 612 CAIRO 138 DOHA 503 LUXOR 544 CAIRO 770 ISTANBUL 170 BAHRAIN 201 DUBAI 555 ALEXANDRIA 412 MANILA 157 LONDON 529 ASSIUT 206 ISLAMABAD 53 DUBAI 302 MUMBAI 352 COCHIN 362 COLOMBO 855 DUBAI 125 SHARJAH 284 DHAKA 132 DOHA 55 DUBAI 301 ABU DHABI 436 BAHRAIN 344 CHENNAI 213 BAHRAIN 6521 LAMERD 404 BEIRUT 165 DUBAI 618 ALEXANDRIA 401 ALEXANDRIA 561 SOHAG 610 CAIRO 219 BAHRAIN 672 DUBAI 57 DUBAI 645 MUSCAT 472 JEDDAH 140 DOHA 500 JEDDAH 640 AMMAN 788 JEDDAH 257 BEIRUT 546 ALEXANDRIA 134 DOHA 341 DAMASCUS 118 NEW YORK 303 ABU DHABI 857 DUBAI 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 215 BAHRAIN 510 RIYADH 177 DUBAI 777 JEDDAH 127 SHARJAH 144 DOHA 542 CAIRO 438 BAHRAIN 786 JEDDAH 63 DUBAI 104 LONDON 405 SOHAG 620 ASSIUT 618 DOHA 674 DUBAI 742 DAMMAM 572 MUMBAI 774 RIYADH 61 DUBAI 402 BEIRUT 146 DOHA 221 BAHRAIN 59 DUBAI 229 COLOMBO 859 DUBAI 135 BAHRAIN 307 ABU DHABI 43 DHAKA 129 SHARJAH 136 DOHA 372 BAHRAIN 975 CHENNAI 217 BAHRAIN 981 BAHRAIN 327 TUNIS 239 AMMAN 636 FRANKFURT 614 CAIRO 772 ISTANBUL 411 AMSTERDAM 239 SIALKOT

Time 0:15 0:20 0:30 0:50 1:45 2:10 2:20 2:25 2:30 2:50 2:55 3:10 3:20 3:25 3:55 4:10 4:35 5:00 5:30 6:00 6:15 6:30 6:40 7:15 7:45 7:50 8:05 8:20 8:25 8:30 8:45 9:00 9:20 9:30 9:35 9:45 10:00 10:15 10:55 11:05 11:25 12:00 12:25 13:30 13:40 13:40 13:45 14:00 14:15 14:25 14:30 14:55 15:00 15:00 15:05 15:15 15:55 16:00 16:35 16:55 17:10 17:20 17:20 17:30 17:40 17:45 18:05 18:15 18:40 18:40 18:45 18:45 19:00 19:10 19:20 19:25 19:30 19:35 19:40 20:00 20:15 20:25 20:35 20:45 20:55 21:15 21:15 21:20 21:25 21:30 21:35 22:00 22:25 22:35 22:40 22:55 22:55 23:10 23:35 23:40 23:40 23:45

Airlines AIC UAL DLH MSR JAI PIA THY ETH THY UAE FDB DHX ETD MSR QTR QTR JZR RJA JZR GFA THY KAC BAW FDB JZR ABY KAC KAC UAE QTR FDB ETD BAB GFA IRC KAC KAC MEA JZR MSR KAC MSC KAC JZR GFA FDB MSR OMA KAC KNE SVA KAC RJA QTR KAC KAC SYR ETD JZR QTR UAE GFA JZR ABY UAL SVA QTR FDB BAB MSC JZR MSR KAC JAI FDB KAC KAC MEA FDB KAC GFA JZR DHX ALK ABY ETD UAE FCX QTR KAC KAC DHX JZR BBC QTR GFA KAC TAR

Depature Flights on Monday 11/6/2012 Flt Route 982 AHMEDABAD 981 WASHINGTON DC 637 FRANKFURT 615 CAIRO 573 MUMBAI 206 PESHAWAR 773 ISTANBUL 621 ADDIS ABABA 769 ISTANBUL 854 DUBAI 68 DUBAI 371 BAHRAIN 306 ABU DHABI 613 CAIRO 139 DOHA 149 DOHA 560 SOHAG 643 AMMAN 164 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 771 ISTANBUL 545 ALEXANDRIA 156 LONDON 54 DUBAI 256 BEIRUT 126 SHARJAH 671 DUBAI 787 JEDDAH 856 DUBAI 133 DOHA 56 DUBAI 302 ABU DHABI 437 BAHRAIN 214 BAHRAIN 6522 LAMERD 541 CAIRO 165 ROME 405 BEIRUT 776 JEDDAH 619 ASSIUT 103 LONDON 406 SOHAG 785 JEDDAH 176 DUBAI 220 BAHRAIN 58 DUBAI 611 CAIRO 646 MUSCAT 673 DUBAI 473 JEDDAH 501 JEDDAH 617 DOHA 641 AMMAN 135 DOHA 773 RIYADH 741 DAMMAM 342 DAMASCUS 304 ABU DHABI 238 AMMAN 141 DOHA 858 DUBAI 216 BAHRAIN 134 BAHRAIN 128 SHARJAH 982 BAHRAIN 511 RIYADH 145 DOHA 64 DUBAI 439 BAHRAIN 402 ALEXANDRIA 184 DUBAI 621 ALEXANDRIA 283 DHAKA 571 MUMBAI 62 DUBAI 331 TRIVANDRUM 351 KOCHI 403 BEIRUT 60 DUBAI 543 CAIRO 222 BAHRAIN 502 LUXOR 171 BAHRAIN 230 COLOMBO 120 SHARJAH 308 ABU DHABI 860 DUBAI 102 BAHRAIN 137 DOHA 301 MUMBAI 205 ISLAMABAD 373 BAHRAIN 554 ALEXANDRIA 44 DHAKA 147 DOHA 218 BAHRAIN 411 BANGKOK 328 DUBAI

Time 0:05 0:25 0:30 0:35 0:50 1:10 2:15 2:45 3:40 3:45 3:50 3:55 4:05 4:20 4:50 5:40 6:00 6:50 6:55 7:05 7:10 8:10 8:25 8:25 9:00 9:05 9:20 9:35 9:40 10:00 10:05 10:15 10:25 10:45 11:15 11:30 11:45 11:55 12:15 12:25 12:30 13:00 13:10 13:20 14:25 14:25 14:30 15:00 15:05 15:15 15:45 15:45 15:50 16:15 16:25 16:30 16:55 17:20 17:30 17:45 18:05 18:20 18:20 18:25 18:30 18:35 19:05 19:25 19:30 20:00 20:05 20:10 20:15 20:35 20:40 20:50 21:05 21:15 21:25 21:30 21:35 21:45 21:50 21:55 22:10 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:45 23:00 23:00 23:05 23:10 23:30 23:40 23:45

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

INTERNATIONAL CALLS Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Anguilla Antiga Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Congo Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Cyprus Cyprus (Northern) Czech Republic Denmark Diego Garcia Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt

0093 00355 00213 00376 00244 001264 001268 0054 00374 0061 0043 001242 00973 00880 001246 00375 0032 00501 00229 001441 00975 00591 00387 00267 0055 00673 00359 00226 00257 00855 00237 001 00238 001345 00236 00235 0056 0086 0057 00269 00242 00682 00506 00385 0053 00357 0090392 00420 0045 00246 00253 001767 001809 00593 0020

Prayer timings Fajr: Duhr: Asr: Maghrib: Isha:

03:13 11:48 15:22 18:48 20:20

El Salvador 00503 England (UK) 0044 Equatorial Guinea 00240 Eritrea 00291 Estonia 00372 Ethiopia 00251 Falkland Islands 00500 Faroe Islands 00298 Fiji 00679 Finland 00358 France 0033 French Guiana 00594 French Polynesia 00689 Gabon 00241 Gambia 00220 Georgia 00995 Germany 0049 Ghana 00233 Gibraltar 00350 Greece 0030 Greenland 00299 Grenada 001473 Guadeloupe 00590 Guam 001671 Guatemala 00502 Guinea 00224 Guyana 00592 Haiti 00509 Holland (Netherlands) 0031 Honduras 00504 Hong Kong 00852 Hungary 0036 Ibiza (Spain) 0034 Iceland 00354 India 0091 Indian Ocean 00873 Indonesia 0062 Iran 0098 Iraq 00964 Ireland 00353 Italy 0039 Ivory Coast 00225 Jamaica 001876 Japan 0081 Jordan 00962 Kazakhstan 007 Kenya 00254 Kiribati 00686 Kuwait 00965 Kyrgyzstan 00996 Laos 00856 Latvia 00371 Lebanon 00961 Liberia 00231 Libya 00218

ACCOMMODATION Sharing accommodation available for decent bachelor non-smoking, Amman Street, opposite to AlRashid Hospital. Contact: 66232356 / 50223132.

(C 4041) 11-6-2012 Sharing accommodation available for decent Kerala bachelor in Abbasiya near German Clinic. Contact: 66941892. (C 4039) 10-6-2012 Sharing accommodation for 2 months in Salmiya, block3, for male bachelors, preferred Indian, vegetarians.

Contact: 50181570.

SITUATION VACANT Required English speaking nanny/maid. Please Contact: 99824597. (C 4040) 11-6-2012

FOR SALE Furniture and accessories including wardrobe, computer table with bookshelf, IKEA double bed with mattress, servicing table, gas burner, chairs etc. for sale.

Please contact: 99546733 / 90032678. (C 4037) 9-8-2012

CHANGE OF NAME Gnanasegaran Rajendiran, son of Rajendiran and Rajendiran Jothi bearing an Indian passport No. G7703114 having an address 23, N.No. 18, Asanampattu Bethlegam, I street MU College RD Reddy THOP, Ambur Vellore 635 802, Tamilnadu had embraced Islam and changed the name as Muhammed Abdullah.

(C 4038) 9-6-2012

34

MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012

stars CROSSWORD 702

STAR TRACK

CALVIN & HOBBES

Aries (March 21-April 19) You may find yourself becoming less interested in recognition of your talents and more interested in the development of your own inner changes. This is not a time to start any great projects. You may wish to consolidate what you have and pull back a bit. There will be an interest in your own psyche, religion and spiritual ideas. In summary, here is a natural breaking point in life, a time to let go of what occupied your energies for the last years and create a new attitude.

You bring order and organization to areas where new development is taking place.

You can teach others to enjoy life with a good attitude, particularly the young ones.

You have a natural talent for finding your way past the pitfalls of life. You may be setting dates for travel soon.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) The world is a sacred place to you and you have an absolute commitment to spiritual ideas. Intuition is a fact for you and you are sensitive, kind and gentle to those close to you. A shopping expedition to a nearby vegetable stand will help you fill the refrigerator with vegetables that are fresh and healthy. You might even find a local jar of honey or some homemade jam. You love all that is musical and artistic and may enjoy the company of your artistic friends this afternoon. Your friends and relationships mean a lot to you and together you make plans for a group vacation or a combined weekend camp-out. This group may consist of people with whom you have a lot in common, like a love of birds or outdoor sports activity. Tonight is for family.

POOCH CAFE ACROSS 1. A unit of length of thread or yarn.

4. Roman statesman and philosopher who was and advisor to Nero (circa 4 BC - 65 AD).

10. Of flax, hemp, or jute, so as to promote loosening of the fibers form the woody tissue.

13. Consisting of or made of wood of the oak tree.

14. A band that fits around the neck and is usually folded over.

15. A constellation in the southern hemisphere near Telescopium and Norma.

16. A sudden loss of consciousness resulting when the rupture or occlusion of a blood vessel leads to oxygen lack in the brain.

17. 20 aspers equal 1 kuru.

19. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables.

21. (Bible) The archangel who was the messenger of God. 23. Physicist honored for advances in solid state electronics (born in Japan in 1925).

25. A very light colorless element that is one of the six inert gasses.

26. The United Nations agency concerned with atomic energy.

29. The dialect of Malay used as the national language of the Republic of Indonesia or of Malaysia.

33. (folklore) A corpse that rises at night to drink the blood of the living.

36. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

37. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.

39. One who works hard at boring tasks.

40. Harsh or corrosive in tone.

42. Lacking or deprive of the sense of hearing wholly or in part.

44. A cord that is drawn through eyelets or around hooks in order to draw together two edges (as of a shoe or garment).

46. A married man.

49. An associate degree in nursing.

51. A soft silvery metallic element of the alkali earth group.

53. A ductile gray metallic element of the lanthanide series.

54. (Akkadian) God of wisdom.

55. A small cake leavened with yeast.

61. A federal agency established to coordinate programs aimed at reducing pollution and protecting the environment.

63. indicate by signs.

64. An informal term for a father.

65. A leisurely walk (usually in some public place).

66. An independent group of closely related Chadic languages spoken in the area between the Biu-Mandara and East Chadic languages.

DOWN 1. English empiricist philosopher who believed that all knowledge is derived from sensory experience (1632-1704).

2. The overhang at the lower edge of a roof.

3. Jordan's port.

4. A contagious skin infection caused by the itch mite.

5. (Greek mythology) The winged goddess of the dawn in ancient mythology.

6. The branch of information science that deals with natural language information.

7. Resembling or characteristic of or appropriate to an elegy.

8. A bottle with a stopper.

9. A colorless and odorless inert gas.

10. Tall perennial herb of tropical Asia with dark green leaves.

11. A member of an Iroquoian people formerly living on the south shore of Lake Erie in northern Ohio and northwest Pennsylvania and western New York.

12. An official language of the Republic of South Africa.

18. Electrical conduction through a gas in an applied electric field.

20. A Loloish language.

22. Any of numerous local fertility and nature deities worshipped by ancient Semitic peoples.

24. A heavy brittle diamagnetic trivalent metallic element (resembles arsenic and antimony chemically).

27. A form of entertainment that enacts a story by a sequence of images giving the illusion of continuous movement.

28. East Indian tree bearing a profusion of intense vermilion velvet-textured blooms and yielding a yellow dye.

30. The elementary stages of any subject (usually plural).

31. Precipitation of ice pellets when there are strong rising air currents.

32. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

34. According to the Old Testament he was a pagan king of Israel and husband of Jezebel (9th century BC).

35. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

38. Give an education to.

39. A colorless and odorless inert gas.

41. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

43. The compass point midway between east and southeast.

45. A white metallic element that burns with a brilliant light.

47. In such a manner as could not be otherwise.

48. Indigo bush.

50. Plant with an elongated head of broad stalked leaves resembling celery.

51. A soft silvery metallic element of the alkali earth group.

52. Loose or flaccid body fat.

56. Having undesirable or negative qualities.

57. An anticipated outcome that is intended or that guides your planned actions.

58. United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters.

59. A defensive missile designed to shoot down incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles.

60. A long thin fluffy scarf of feathers or fur.

62. Unknown god.

Yesterday’s Solution

Gemini (May 21-June 20) You like your life regular and find little value in new trends and inventions for their own sake. However, today may be a day for change—easy does it. Any sort of change may be difficult but you could put forth the old college try, so to speak. Every so often, like those earthquake faults, all hell breaks loose and some of this catches up with you. You are not waiting for an earthquake to hit today. However, the changes that are scheduled will be more conductive to home and perhaps, self-improvement. You enjoy searching out and defining points of transformation: areas for growth. Someone may need your advice and encouragement today. You are not afraid to get into a sticky situation and you always strive to find the positive side

Cancer (June 21-July 22) Your imagination and creativeness are crucial factors for your functioning today. Your artistic talent kicks in and when some project needs a special touch, you are helpful. This is a time of good fortune when opportunities to improve your work, expand your hobby, travel possibilities all seem to fall into place. Write down your ideas or connections that will help your direction. Do not expect to change or accomplish goals overnight. Concentrate on balance and work at creating a balance one day at a time—beginning today. An opportunity to sing or act in a play may become available. The social scene is important during this time and can have a very decided influence on your

NON SEQUITUR

Leo (July 23-August 22) You work with real imagination and understanding in areas of the mind that are the most personal or private—there is depth psychology present. A relative or friend may need help with a recalcitrant child today and you have some helpful suggestions. Certainly, you have a few books in mind. Religion, politics and philosophy are a natural. You enjoy communication with fair, just, frank and broadminded persons. You are sociable and sports-minded as well and if you can get some help to this person with the young person you will be ready to play or watch some sort of sports game. Quick to get the picture, you may find yourself helping others see the benefits that proper mental and physical care can bring. Share—do not push.

ZITS

Virgo (August 23-September 22) Easy does it today. Anytime you make changes in your pattern of living or personality—you could cause others to test your sincerity. When your patterns change, the ones closest to you may have to change in some way as well. Difficulties, blocks and all manner of hot spots may be worked through today—a new understanding. You are brilliant when it comes to insights of the mind, psychology and motivation—yours or others’. Your intensity is obvious and some may prefer to keep their distance rather than subject themselves to your laser eye. Your analytical powers are superb and you will enjoy finding new avenues of inner growth.

You may have recently moved and just now are settling down to a lovely evening and a new hobby.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM

The cycle beginning now will be marked by more of a focus on communication. You may be writing in all sorts of formats. Once you are published, the floodgates will open, so to speak. There is an inescapable need to be expressive and today is the day you will find a focus in this direction. This afternoon you seem to find more responsibilities than usual. Use the practical side of your mind before promising big sections of time to things you may not want to see all the way completed. The good life—all that is fine and luxurious—may be a few future goals.

Careful with budget matters and if you are at a garage sale or auction, look for the investment instead of the amusement. Others may find you fun and witty. A good sense of humor lifts many spirits.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) You could make a career out of community work. Anything involving attempts to bring large-scale and humanitarian dreams and ideas into a reality will be easily understood. Your ideals and inner vision keep what is best for everyone constantly on your mind. You can be charismatic and always manage to enchant others with your words and manner. Your cooking will keep everyone close by your side, if that is what you want, and today it looks like fish is on the menu. Either you have been in a cooking class or you are teaching a class because the line for your food is long. A special seasoning or a special technique of preparing the meal is an attraction and a reason to socialize—big time. What fun to have you as a friend—always something new.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) You are most original when it comes to home and surroundings these days. This could also manifest in unusual ways of supporting yourself. The cardboard animal, made to look like an animal in shadow, is amusing at the front corner of your home. You can make lots of them and sell them in garage sales or flea markets. Out of curiosity, you might just be brave enough to step forward and enter a contest or opt for a particular challenge. You have fun in competitive scenes and without realizing it, can attract the one-upmanship easily. You appreciate the difficulties of others and are understanding of the problems they may be having.

You value a certain amount of self-sacrifice and a giving attitude. You also exercise your ability to heal others through laughter.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) Connections with people on a grand scale—play a bigger part in your life at this time. Education, advertising and travel could play a part in this. You like to show people around town and see the surprise in their faces so it would not be too peculiar to see you as a successful tour guide or party planner in the future. Philosophy and religion influence your lifestyle. You are able to capture the attention of most any audience because of the way you can spin a tale. All of this makes up for a very personable you. You are in the limelight today for many reasons.

You could make your living from the public. This is a period of increased socializing.

Being more in touch with people gives you a sense of belonging. Enjoy the unexpected this evening.

To

Yesterday’s Solution Yester

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) There is an urge to strike out on your own in a new direction, to take on new challenges no matter what the risks. Careful—you can be a bit impatient today. You go where angels fear to tread, perhaps. A short trip or visit with friends may help to bring your Sunday into a better focus. Hey, why not take a hot-air balloon ride; it would certainly quench your thirst for adventure and can be a relatively safe adventure. You are probably very witty and prefer an unusual method of presenting yourself or communicating to others. Your sense of the unity behind things spiritual and psychological is clear and felt by those around you. You are, no doubt, a romantic, at home in the world of dreams and images. Leave time for the family connection this evening.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Word Sleuth Solution

Neighborhood affairs and relationships could come on the scene today. Communication efforts are rewarded and positive strokes from others make this a good day. You may seem older, perhaps wiser than your age and probably treat your elders with great respect. You are very disciplined and perhaps too sober. You may find yourself analyzing and psychoanalyzing life’s predicament with one of your friends this afternoon. You are very innovative in your approach to home, family; the domestic scene and can really see how to get into traditional values. Before dusk this evening you might enjoy a bit of gardening and being with family members. There is plenty of joy to be shared this evening as friends or neighbors drift by to visit.

MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012

i n f o r m at i o n

112 GOVERNORATE

24812000

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

Rabiya

4732263

Roudha

22517733

Adhaliya

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

Keifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salim

22549134

Al-Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Al-Khadissiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Ghar

22531908

Al-Shaab

22518752

Al-Kibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Kibla

22451082

Al-Mirqab

22456536

Sharq

22465401

Salmiya

25746401

Jabriya

25316254

Maidan Hawally

25623444

Bayan

25388462

Mishref

25381200

W.Hawally

22630786

Sabah

24810221

ADDRESS

PHONE

Ahmadi

Sama Safwan Abu Halaifa Danat Al-Sultan

Fahaeel Makka St Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd

23915883 23715414 23726558

Jahra

Modern Jahra Madina Munawara

Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 Jahra-Block 92

24575518 24566622

Capital

Ahlam Khaldiya Coop

Fahad Al-Salem St Khaldiya Coop

22436184 24833967

Farwaniya

New Shifa Ferdous Coop Modern Safwan

Farwaniya Block 40 Ferdous Coop Old Kheitan Block 11

24734000 24881201 24726638

Tariq Hana Ikhlas Hawally & Rawdha Ghadeer Kindy Ibn Al-Nafis Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Salmiya-Amman St Hawally-Beirut St Hawally & Rawdha Coop Jabriya-Block 1A Jabriya-Block 3B Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

25726265 25647075 22625999 22564549 25340559 25326554 25721264 25380581 25628241

website: www.moi.gov.kw

Sabah Hospital

PHARMACY

Hawally

ST TATE T OF KUW K WA AIT

Tel.: e 161

DIRECTORA ATE T GENE GENERAL OF CIVIL AVIA V ATION T METEOROLOGICAL DEP PA ARTMENT DA AY: Y Sunday

Ext.: 2627 262 - 2630

10/06/2012

Issue Time

22545171

Al-Shuwaikh

24810598

Al-Nuzha

22545171

Sabhan

24742838

Al-Helaly

22434853

Al-Fayhaa

22545051

Al-Farwaniya

24711433

Al-Sulaibikhat

24316983

Al-Fahaheel

23927002

Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh

24316983

Ahmadi

23980088

Al-Mangaf

23711183

Al-Shuaiba

23262845

Al-Jahra

25610011

Al-Salmiya

25616368

INTERNATIONAL CALLS

07:00

Expected Weeather for the Next 24 Hours BY Y DA AY:

Hot with moderate to fresh north westerly wind, with speed of 20 - 45 km/h causing raising dust

BY Y NIGHT:

Relatively hot with moderate to fresh north westerly to northerly wind, with speed of 20 - 40 km/h with a chance for blowing dust No Current Warnings arnin a

WA ARNING ST TATION T

MAX. EXP P.

MIN. REC.

KUW WAIT A CITY

44 °C

32 °C

KUW WAIT A AIRPOR RT

45 °C

30 °C

NUW WAISEEB A

42 °C

29 °C

WA AFRA

45 °C

28 °C

SALMI

43 °C

26 °C

ABDAL LY

45 °C

31 °C

JAL ALIY YAH A

44 °C

26 °C

FAILAKA A

44 °C

27 °C

AHMADI POR RT

41 °C

33 °C

UMM AL-MARADEM

36 °C

30 °C

WA ARBA A - BUBY YAN A

45 °C

29 °C

SFC. CHART

10/06/2012 0000 UTC

4 DA AYS Y FORECAST Temperatures DA AY

DA ATE T

WEA AT THER

Monday

11/06

Tuesday

12/06

Wind Direction

Wind Speed

32 °C

NW

20 - 45 km/h

33 °C

NW-N

15 - 38 km/h

45 °C

33 °C

NW-NE

20 - 40 km/h

45 °C

32 °C

NW-NE

10 - 30 km/h

MAX.

MIN.

hot + raising dust

46 °C

hot

46 °C

New Jahra

24575755

West Jahra

24772608

Weednesday

13/06

hot

South Jahra

24775066

Thursday

14/06

hot

North Jahra

24775992

North Jleeb

24311795

Fajr

03:13

MAX. Temp.

45 °C

Al-Ardhiya

24884079

Sunrise

04:48

MIN. Temp.

32 °C

Firdous

24892674

Zuhr

11:47

MAX. RH

18 %

Asr

15:21

MIN. RH

05 %

Al-Omariya

24719048

Sunset

18:47

MAX. Wind

N 50 km/h

N.Kheitan

24710044

Isha

20:19

TOT TAL AL RAIINF FALL A L IN 24 HR.

Fintas

3900322

PRA RA AYER Y TIMES

RECORDED YESTERDA AY AT KUW WA AIT AIRPORT

All times are local time unless otherwise stated.

00 mm

10/06/12 02:35 UTC

V1.00

T1.06

PRIVATE CLINICS Paediatricians

Plastic Surgeons Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf

22547272

Dr. Khaled Hamadi

Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari

22617700

Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed

Dr. Abdel Quttainah

25625030/60

Family Doctor Dr Divya Damodar

23729596/23729581

Psychiatrists Dr. Esam Al-Ansari

22635047

Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan

22613623/0

Gynaecologists & Obstetricians DrAdrian arbe

23729596/23729581

Dr. Verginia s.Marin

2572-6666 ext 8321

Endocrinologist

25665898 25340300

Dr. Zahra Qabazard

25710444

Dr. Sohail Qamar

22621099

Dr. Snaa Maaroof

25713514

Dr. Pradip Gujare

23713100

Dr. Zacharias Mathew

24334282

(1) Ear, Nose and Throat (2) Plastic Surgeon Dr. Abdul Mohsin Jafar, FRCS (Canada)

25655535

Dentists

Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan

22655539

Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami

25343406

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar

22641071/2

Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly

25739272

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed

22562226

22618787

Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer

22561444

Dr. Faysal Al-Fozan

22619557

Dr. Abdallateef Al-Katrash

22525888

Dr. Abidallah Al-Duweisan

25653755

Dr. Bader Al-Ansari

25620111

Dr. Salem soso General Surgeons Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer

22610044

Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher

25327148

Internists, Chest & Heart Dr. Adnan Ebil

22639939

Dr. Mousa Khadada

22666300

Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan

25728004

Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra

25355515

Dr. Mobarak Aldoub

24726446

Dr Nasser Behbehani

25654300/3

info@soorcenter.com www.soorcenter.com

Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman

3729596/3729581

Neurologists Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri

25633324

Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan

25345875

Gastrologists Dr. Sami Aman

22636464

Dr. Mohammad Al-Shamaly

25322030

Dr. Foad Abidallah Al-Ali

22633135

Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa, Ph.D. 2290-1677 Susannah-Joy Schuilenberg, M.A. 2290-1677

25339330

Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari 25658888 Dr. Kamal Al-Shomr 25329924 Physiotherapists & VD Dr. Deyaa Shehab

25722291

Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees

22666288

Rheumatologists: Dr. Adel Al-Awadi

Dr Anil Thomas

Soor Center Tel: 2290-1677 Fax: 2290 1688

Al-Shohada’a

WWW.MET.GOV V..KW

24770319

Psychologists /Psychotherapists

22418714

Fax: 24348714

Jahra

Ophthalmologists Dr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 25622444 Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 25752222 Dr. Masoma Habeeb 25321171 Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 25739999 Dr. Mohsen Abel 25757700 Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 25732223 Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 25732223 Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510 Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660 Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478 Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996 Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988 Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166 Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426 General Practitioners Dr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123 Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312 Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920 Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465 Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528 Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781 Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501 Urologists Dr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534 Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955 Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 22616660 Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120 Dr. Leons Joseph 66703427

Al-Madena

25330060

Dr. Khaled Al-Jarallah

25722290

Internist, Chest & Heart DR.Mohammes Akkad

24555050 Ext 210

Dr. Mohammad Zubaid MB, ChB, FRCPC, PACC Assistant Professor Of Medicine Head, Division of Cardiology Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital Consultant Cardiologist Dr. Farida Al-Habib MD, PH.D, FACC Inaya German Medical Center Te: 2575077 Fax: 25723123

2611555-2622555

William Schuilenberg, RPC 2290-1677 Zaina Al Zabin, M.Sc. 2290-1677

Afghanistan 0093 Albania 00355 Algeria 00213 Andorra 00376 Angola 00244 Anguilla 001264 Antiga 001268 Argentina 0054 Armenia 00374 Australia 0061 Austria 0043 Bahamas 001242 Bahrain 00973 Bangladesh 00880 Barbados 001246 Belarus 00375 Belgium 0032 Belize 00501 Benin 00229 Bermuda 001441 Bhutan 00975 Bolivia 00591 Bosnia 00387 Botswana 00267 Brazil 0055 Brunei 00673 Bulgaria 00359 Burkina 00226 Burundi 00257 Cambodia 00855 Cameroon 00237 Canada 001 Cape Verde 00238 Cayman Islands 001345 Central African 00236 Chad 00235 Chile 0056 China 0086 Colombia 0057 Comoros 00269 Congo 00242 Cook Islands 00682 Costa Rica 00506 Croatia 00385 Cuba 0053 Cyprus 00357 Cyprus (Northern) 0090392 Czech Republic 00420 Denmark 0045 Diego Garcia 00246 Djibouti 00253 Dominica 001767 Dominican Republic 001809 Ecuador 00593 Egypt 0020 El Salvador 00503 England (UK) 0044 Equatorial Guinea 00240 Eritrea 00291 Estonia 00372 Ethiopia 00251 Falkland Islands 00500 Faroe Islands 00298 Fiji 00679 Finland 00358 France 0033 French Guiana 00594 French Polynesia 00689 Gabon 00241 Gambia 00220 Georgia 00995 Germany 0049 Ghana 00233 Gibraltar 00350 Greece 0030 Greenland 00299 Grenada 001473 Guadeloupe 00590 Guam 001671 Guatemala 00502 Guinea 00224 Guyana 00592 Haiti 00509 Holland (Netherlands) 0031 Honduras 00504 Hong Kong 00852 Hungary 0036 Ibiza (Spain) 0034 Iceland 00354 India 0091 Indian Ocean 00873 Indonesia 0062

Iran 0098 Iraq 00964 Ireland 00353 Italy 0039 Ivory Coast 00225 Jamaica 001876 Japan 0081 Jordan 00962 Kazakhstan 007 Kenya 00254 Kiribati 00686 Kuwait 00965 Kyrgyzstan 00996 Laos 00856 Latvia 00371 Lebanon 00961 Liberia 00231 Libya 00218 Lithuania 00370 Luxembourg 00352 Macau 00853 Macedonia 00389 Madagascar 00261 Majorca 0034 Malawi 00265 Malaysia 0060 Maldives 00960 Mali 00223 Malta 00356 Marshall Islands 00692 Martinique 00596 Mauritania 00222 Mauritius 00230 Mayotte 00269 Mexico 0052 Micronesia 00691 Moldova 00373 Monaco 00377 Mongolia 00976 Montserrat 001664 Morocco 00212 Mozambique 00258 Myanmar (Burma) 0095 Namibia 00264 Nepal 00977 Netherlands (Holland) 0031 Netherlands Antilles 00599 New Caledonia 00687 New Zealand 0064 Nicaragua 00505 Nigar 00227 Nigeria 00234 Niue 00683 Norfolk Island 00672 Northern Ireland (UK) 0044 North Korea 00850 Norway 0047 Oman 00968 Pakistan 0092 Palau 00680 Panama 00507 Papua New Guinea 00675 Paraguay 00595 Peru 0051 Philippines 0063 Poland 0048 Portugal 00351 Puerto Rico 001787 Qatar 00974 Romania 0040 Russian Federation 007 Rwanda 00250 Saint Helena 00290 Saint Kitts 001869 Saint Lucia 001758 Saint Pierre 00508 Saint Vincent 001784 Samoa US 00684 Samoa West 00685 San Marino 00378 Sao Tone 00239 Saudi Arabia 00966 Scotland (UK) 0044 Senegal 00221 Seychelles 00284 Sierra Leone 00232 Singapore 0065 Slovakia 00421 Slovenia 00386 Solomon Islands 00677

36

MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012

LIFESTYLE G o s s i p

Lohan back to work after crash indsay Lohan headed straight back to work after being involved in a car accident. The actress was released from hospital on the same afternoon she was admitted, after her vehicle plough into the back of an 18-wheel truck.

A representative says she was brought to Santa Monica UCLA hospital only as a precaution and she had no serious injuries.

Lindsay’s assistant - who was travelling in the passenger seats and went to hospital separately from the star - also has been declared physically fine. The website reports that she headed directly from the ward to her original destination following her checkup. The troubled actress - who is currently shooting her movie return as the late Dame Elizabeth Taylor in ‘Liz & Dick’ - was driving her black Porsche on the Pacific Coast Highway when it hit a large vehicle. According to TMZ.com, the rear bumper was taken off the car and the passenger window was smashed. Lindsay has been trying to get her life back on track after a series of personal problems and legal wrangles in recent years, but recently pulled out of negotiations to star in a biopic about mobster John Gotti, with publicist Steve Honig confirming no agreement could be made.

L

Knightley to get Hollywood makeover eira Knightley has been “working on” movement in ‘Anna Karenina’. The British actress enjoys working with filmmaker Joe Wright - who she previously teamed up with for ‘Pride & Prejudice’ and ‘Atonement’ - because he is “so interesting” but admits taking on the title role in the adaptation of the Russian literary classic was a daunting task. She told Total Film: “It’s a hell of a role to take on. “I love working with Joe - I always find it really interesting. This time, we’re working a lot on movement and a lot on body, because we’re both interested in trying to see how we can do that.” The movie was shot at Shepperton Studios and those working on the film think viewers will be stunned by the “ambitious” visual experience of the production. Producer Paul Webster said: “It’s a very ambitious and outlandish visual concept, which some people might think is absolutely crazy.” Actor Bill Skarsgard added: “I was there when they turned the whole thing into a race with horses. They brought four or five horses inside - it was pretty intense.”

K

McConaughey weds Alves atthew McConaughey married his long term love Camila Alves. The ‘Magic Mike’ actor and Camila - with whom he has three-year-old son Levi and two-year-old daughter Vida - tied the knot in a special evening ceremony at their home in Austin, Texas, surrounded by just a few dozen close friends and family According to RadarOnline the estate was turned into a makeshift campground scattered with tents for guests to sleep in. The couple got engaged on Christmas Day but Matthew, 42, has

M

previously said he had felt married to Camila, 30, for a long time. He explained: “We have homes together, we have family together, we have kids, we’ve built a life together. So we’ve been living a married life this whole time.” Along with keeping the celebrations to just close friends and family, those working at the event had to sign a nondisclosure contract. Camila was due to be honored at the Step Up Women’s Network event in Beverly Hills on Friday but instead sent a video message so she could remain close to the wedding plans.

Cyrus takes trainer everywhere iley Cyrus flies her personal trainer to wherever she is in the world. The former ‘Hanna Montana’ star has recently revealed a new slimline look and sources close to the star say she is willing to

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first class so she can exercise whenever she wants. Miley is quoted by National Enquirer magazine as telling a friend: “I don’t mind flying him wherever I am. It’s worth every cent. I never thought I could look like this.” One reason why the singerand-actress is working so hard on her shape is that she is preparing for her wedding. The star and her 22-year-old boyfriend Liam Hemsworth recently announced their engagement after the actor proposed with a with a 3.5-carat diamond ring from jeweler Neil Lane. Miley said: “I’m so happy to be engaged and look forward to a life of happiness with Liam.”

The ‘LOL’ actress also tweeted: “life is beautiful.” The couple met while working together on ‘The Last Song’ in 2009 and Liam has previously admitted while he wanted to be professional on the film, they couldn’t help but fall in love after working so closely together. He said: “What happened happened, and we’ve been together since. “She makes me really happy. When you start, you want to be professional, but when you’re filming those scenes with someone and pretending to love them, you’re not human if you don’t feel something.”

Moss to make movie debut ate Moss could be set to make her movie debut.

The British supermodel made a cameo appearance in an ‘Absolutely Fabulous’ special charity episode for Sport Relief and show creator Jennifer Saunders enjoyed working with her so much, she now wants her to appear in the forthcoming spin-off film. She told Closer magazine: “Kate got on so well with the team, we’d love to work with her again. “I’m currently writing the movie, so watch this space.” Jennifer previously admitted that Kate was very easy to work with. She said: “Kate’s great, she’s lovely. She behaved so nicely and was such a sweet person. She didn’t have any tantrums or any airs or graces. There was no nonsense.” “We’ve done stuff with Kate before and she’s been wonderful so it was great to work with her again. She’s really good, she’s really professional and she looks amazing. “She comes in, lets the hair and make-up people do whatever they want, she isn’t precious about her appearance at all but I suppose when you look like that you don’t need to. You can put anything on her face and she’ll look good. She is honestly probably the least precious person we’ve had on. I suppose because she doesn’t have all those hang ups about her looks like other people. She just threw herself into it and was wonderful.”

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pay any amount to keep it up, currently shelling out around $25,000 each month.

Miley, 19, currently pays her trainer $200 per hour but when she travels, she flies him

Dame Helen Mirren: Queen Elizabeth ‘twinkles’ ame Helen Mirren thinks Britain’s Queen Elizabeth has a “twinkling” personality. The Oscar-winning actress claims the queen is actually “charming and funny” and is nothing like her serious public persona and wanted to bring her lighter side to the forefront when she portrayed the monarch in 2006 movie ‘The Queen’. She said: “She does laugh. She makes jokes. She twinkles. “I met her once in a fairly relaxed situation at a polo match. She was charming and funny, not at all the serious person we think of. There’s someone else in there and I was desperate to bring that to the screen.” Helen, who lives in Los Angeles with her husband Taylor Hackford, respects the queen because of her “noble” qualities but thinks they have nothing to do with her position as head of state. She explained: “I’m not a great believer in nobility other than in nobility of character. Some people have that and it doesn’t matter what class they are. “The Queen is noble, but that has nothing to do with being born royal.” Queen Elizabeth has just celebrated her Diamond Jubilee after 60 years on the throne.

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Zeta-Jones: Douglas is ‘A1’ atherine Zeta-Jones has said her husband Michael Douglas is now “A1” and that his battle with cancer has made their relationship stronger. Michael beat throat cancer while Catherine overcame her bi-polar disorder last Spring. The actress, 42, admitted their health problems made her realise how stardom is insignificant compared to well-being she said: “I am really happy to report that Michael is doing A1. You know those prayers were answered. “I am very well, Yes I am doing extremely well there is a nothing quite like being hit by a two by four and it was one of those years that was like ‘These things don’t happen to us?’. She continued: “But the reality is that they are happening to so many people all around the world, and we are no different to them, and it gives us a new appreciation of what we can do and how strong a relationship can be. Catherine added: “And the sweeter things in life are much sweeter.” Her husband, 67, is currently learning how to play piano for his role as Liberace in ‘Behind The Candelabra’ opposite Matt Damon. —Bang Showbiz

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MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012

LIFESTYLE M u s i c

Calif filmmakers dominate S

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M o v i e s

Student Academy Awards

tudents from across Southern California dominated the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 39th annual Student Academy Awards. Amanda Tasse of the

(From left) The 39th Annual Student Academy The 39th Annual Student Academy Awards Awards foreign student film category Elmar animation category winners, from left, David Imanov of Germany, Thomas Stuber of Germany Wolter, Eric Prah and Mark Nelson. and David Winstone of the United Kingdom pose at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. —AP photos

The 39th Annual Student Academy Award winners, front row from left, Amanda Tasse, Ellen Tripler, Heather Burky, Mark Raso, Thomas Stuber, Justin Tipping, and rear row from left, David Wolter, David Winstone, Elmar Imanov, Keiko Wright, Eric Prah, Ryan Prows and Mark Nelson.

University of Southern California and David Wolter of California Institute of the Arts were among the five students hailing from Southern California schools. Both received gold medals, the highest honor at Saturday’s ceremony at the motion picture academy’s

Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

Other winners of the gold medal included David Winstone of the University of Westminster in London, Mark Raso of Columbia University in New York and Keiko Wright of New York University. The Student Academy Awards were established in 1972 to support and encourage excellence in filmmaking at the collegiate level. Past winners have gone on to receive 46 Oscar nominations and have won or shared eight trophies.

At the 84th annual Academy Awards earlier this year, 2011 Student Academy Award winners Hallvar Witzo and Max Zahle were respectively nominated in the live action short film category for “Tuba Atlantic” and “Raju.” James Spione, a Student Academy Award winner in 1987, earned a nomination in the documentary short subject category for “Incident in New Baghdad.”

This year’s winners Alternative ● Gold Medal: “The Reality Clock,” Amanda Tasse, University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

(Only one winner was selected in this category.)

Animation ● Gold Medal: “Eyrie,” David Wolter, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, Calif. ● Silver Medal: “The Jockstrap Raiders,” Mark Nelson, University of California, Los Angeles. ● Bronze Medal: “My Little Friend,” Eric Prah, Ringling College of Art and Design, Sarasota, Fla. Documentary ● Gold Medal: “Hiro: A Story of Japanese Internment,” Keiko Wright, New York University, New York. ● Silver Medal: “Dying Green,” Ellen Tripler, American University, Washington DC. ● Bronze Medal: “Lost Country,”

Heather Burky, Art Institute of Jacksonville (Fla.).

Narrative ● Gold Medal: “Under,” Mark Raso, Columbia University, New York. ● Silver Medal: “Narcocorrido,” Ryan Prows, American Film Institute, Los Angeles. ● Bronze Medal: “Nani,” Justin Tipping, American Film Institute, Los Angeles.

Foreign Film ● Gold Medal: “For Elsie,” David Winstone, University of Westminster, London. ● Silver Medal: “Of Dogs and Horses,” Thomas Stuber, Film Academy, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. ● Bronze Medal: “The Swing of the Coffin Maker,” Elmar Imanov, The International Film School, Cologne, Germany. —AP

Rodrigo y Gabriela take int’l sound to Bonnaroo odrigo y Gabriela believes heavy metal is a universal language. The Ireland-based Mexican duo with the crazy-quilt melange of influences took its message to tens of thousands of fans at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, laying down a scorching set Friday night with Latin rhythms, metal riffs on acoustic guitars and a two-piece horn section swirling together into something infectiously danceable. “Metal music belongs to the world and it is all over the world,” Gabriela Quintero said shortly before checking out Radiohead with her musical and life partner Rodrigo

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said. “You can go from Argentina to Canada, it’s in every country in different cities. You can go to India, you can go to China, you can go to Europe, you can go to Japan, you can go to East Europe ...”

“Don’t forget the Muslims,” Quintero said of the democracy movement. “It is truly the one music played all over the world,” Sanchez said. Quintero and Sanchez took an extremely long, circuitous trip to the main stage at Bonnaroo.

They met as teen metalheads in Mexico City and eventually moved to Dublin where they were street buskers who seemed to be from another planet.

Rodrigo y Gabriela and C.U.B.A. perform during the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. —AP photos Sanchez. “In every corner you will find a metal guy. Anywhere you go - you go to Sahara Desert, you will find a Metallica band. That’s a phenomenon.”

Even in southern India, the couple has found more people who know about metal music than Michael Jackson. “This is a one-music phenomenon,” Sanchez

From that base, they traveled around Europe, playing for tips or in small clubs.

“When we did that, it was not planned,” Quintero said. “It was out of spontaneity and it was a lot of crazy decisions, fearful moments, you know? I guess that’s what keeps you alive.” Their passion and dedication never wavered and eventually

their sound began to draw attention, thanks in part to their friend, singersongwriter Damien Rice, who tabbed them to open for him during his rise to international fame.

Their unique style is hard to ignore.

Sanchez’s fingers fly over his guitar, flatpicking with the speed of your favorite metal god as he stands in the classic rock pose, legs splayed, head banging along.

Quintero takes a different approach, using her guitar more like a percussion instrument. She runs her fingernails along the strings for effect, pounds the body for a hollow drum sound and provides a counterpoint to Sanchez’s shredding. Alone, they are a spectacle.

Accompanied by new collaborators C.U.B.A., a 13-piece collective of musicians from Cuba who accompanied them on last year’s “Area 52,” they are a force.

With five C.U.B.A. members in tow two horn players, a bassist, keyboards and drums - on their live show, the music is transformed into something truly international. The sound had fans alternately shaking their hips and head-banging as the sun painted the sky pink, orange and purple on the western horizon. “They all have a background of producing and recording albums and recording with other people, so it’s really amazing for us to just step into this world and then jam with them in our own way, you know,” Quintero said. “This helps us discover new things without knowing exactly what we’re doing, and these things made it more than extraordinary for us. It was like music school without going to music school.” She smiled, and added: “And taking them on the road is crazy.” —AP

D’Angelo performs during the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, yesterday. —AP

D’Angelo makes 1st US appearance in 12 years T

he reclusive R&B singer, D’Angelo, made his first live US appearance in 12 years at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival yesterday, surprising a few thousand fans during Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s Superjam session. “I’ve been waiting 12 years to say this - ladies and gentlemen, D’Angelo!,” Thompson said as the crowd roared. It was his first US show since 2000 and a prelude to an appearance at July’s Essence Music Festival and a European tour with many of the same players who backed him yesterday morning. D’Angelo played live in Europe earlier this year.

D’Angelo and his all-star band powered through a 90-minute jam session yesterday morning that included Jimi Hendrix’s “Have You Ever Been to Electric Ladyland,” Parliament Funkadelic’s “Funky Dollar Bill,” Led Zeppelin’s “What Is and What Should Never Be” and The Beatles’ “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window,”

but no new music. D’Angelo worked from lyric sheets and the band put together a six-hour practice session Saturday before The Roots, Thompson’s regular band, played a gig on Bonnaroo’s biggest stage.

When the crowd chanted “One more song! One more song!” after the set, Thompson told fans they hadn’t learned any others to play. Asked if he would be interested in an interview after the show, D’Angelo said “not yet.”

His only recent public comments were made in a GQ article last month.

Dressed in a black tank top and jeans with a black and white bandanna wrapped around his dreadlocks, D’Angelo was visibly reserved at the start of the set. But he warmed up, kicking into high gear during the Zeppelin portion of the show.

Switching between keyboards and his guitar, D’Angelo’s only verbal interaction with the crowd came near the end of the night when he shouted:

“Do y’all want us to go home yet?”

Thompson, sipping a cup of orange juice, was still fired up after the show. “Man, I want to go to Disneyland, right?” he said. “I’ve been dreaming about this.” Thompson said he had an ulterior motive for luring his friend to Manchester. He wanted to prove D’Angelo was still in fighting shape. “I wanted him to see that,” he said. “That’s a green light. Me doing it wasn’t, like, running out of jam partners. Me doing it was basically showing him, ‘Look, you are so missed you don’t even realize how much you are missed,’ hoping that this will be the adrenaline boost that will finally get him to turn his record into the label.

It’s done, it’s brilliant. I played on it. I know it’s brilliant. Now it’s just time to let his kids go and show it to the world. That’s what I’m here for.” —AP

De Niro says stability, funds needed to boost African cinema S actor Robert De Niro, attending an African development forum in Gabon, said that stability and adequate funding are prerequisites to the future of cinema on the world’s poorest continent. “First ... people have to know (a government is) going to last, that they can come back,” De Niro told a session of the New York Forum Africa in the Gabonese capital Libreville late Saturday.

Secondly, “The money has to be there,” the Oscar-winning actor said.

“You have to have enough money to hire the right people to know what to do as far as building studios, technicians, creative people to start

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The Punch Brothers perform.

coming up with stories,” De Niro said. “Then you have to create the material, stories. What stories come out from the region that are famous, classic stories, what stories ... can be done in such a way that they appeal to other countries, the continent and then worldwide.” The three-day New York Forum Africa, which ended yesterday, is dedicated to development issues across the continent and has gathered senior business executives and politicians from around the world. —AFP

US actor Robert De Niro speaks on the second day of the New York Forum Africa, with some 800 delegates debating African development issues on June 9, 2012, in Libreville. —AFP

MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012

lifestyle T R A V E L

A National Park Service ranger rows backpacker Kevin Horan, rear right, and fellow hiker across the Colorado River as the two ‘hitch-hike’ a ride during their rim-to-rim trek across the Grand Canyon. — MCT photos

Hiking the T

he Grand Canyon’s beauty beckons like gravity, pulling even the timid to the chasm’s edge. But for those committing to the challenge of a crosscanyon hike, there awaits below the rim a reward beyond the spectacular scenery: time travel. Those horizontal stripes on the postcard panoramas trace a billion years of geological history. They are the sediment and fossils of ancient oceans. According to author Scott Thybony, who literally wrote the books on canyon trails, to hike the canyon is to go back an average of 100,000 years with each downward step. As the trail winds and sometimes plummets through layers of hermit shale, redwall limestone and Tapeats sandstone, the canyon deepens and the climate warms. The hiker sheds his outer layers, and even some layers within, when the cell signal is gone, the world is quiet and the mind centers on the simple: food, water and the next footstep.

“There’s something special about being in the canyon,” said Mark Wunner, supervisor at the park’s Backcountry Information Center. “I get excited just thinking about it.” Our party of four wanted just that kind primal peace, and we were willing to burn a lot of cash and fossil fuel in the pursuit. We planned our trip for early October of last year on the historic North and South Bass Trails, which start at the north and south rims and meet at the Colorado River. But we wanted to cross the 18-mile-wide canyon without having to

(From left) Backpackers Byron Moffet, and Scott McNeil, of Langley, Wash, cross Shinumo Creek in the Grand Canyon on their way up the North Bass Trail about two miles north of the Colorado River.

Chris Walker, left, and Kevin Horan look over the Grand Canyon from Powell Plateau.

Grand Canyon rim to rim backtrack to a car. “The point,” explained fellow hiker Byron Moffett, of Langley, Wash., “is to see all the trails without having to repeat them.”

The solution was to break into pairs in different vehicles, each driving an SUV to a trail head. The North Bass party (Kevin Horan, of Langley, and me, from Evanston, Ill.) and the South Bass party (Moffett and Scott Mcneil, also of Langley) would hike down, meet at the river, exchange car keys and hike up the other side to the vehicle left by the other party. Simple.

Except for one thing. How does one cross a fast-moving, cold river?

“The safe way is to hitchhike,” Wunner advised. “You wait for a ride (from rafters), and jump up and down when you see somebody coming. It’s not something that’s written about in the guide books.” OK, we thought. We’ll try that. The Bass Trails are steep, difficult and suitable only for experienced backpackers.

“You’re in a real inhospitable place that can hurt you,” Moffett said. “You really have to be aware and have some map skills.”

There are no trail markers, except at the trail heads.

And those border on rude: “Do not expect to be rescued,” they warn. But the Bass Trails are worth the trouble. Built in the late 19th century by their namesake, prospector and tour guide William Bass, the trails are far removed from the more populated corridor routes. That, and a strict permit system, ensure what

Wunner calls a “high-quality visitor’s experience.”

The North Bass Trail is longer and steeper but more verdant and with more accessible water. A two-day side trip to the Powell Plateau, an “island plateau” forest of high-country ponderosa pines, brings more adventurous backpackers to Dutton Point, with canyon views to test the acrophobic. Five thousand feet below is the archaeological site at Shinumo Camp, where artifacts remain from old man Bass’ time along the clear and frigid Shinumo Creek. It’s where our hiking parties met for the key exchange, a mere ritual because we carried duplicates, but it was a good excuse to break out the whiskey. Earlier, the south party pals had been ferried across the river by rafters after only a four-hour wait. Two days later our north party crossed with gracious Grand Canyon Association rafters. The drier South Bass Trail offered overnight side trips onto terraces of different elevations and environments. Below the Redwall cliffs, the Tonto Trail leads east above the river through vast gardens of low desert scrub to Serpentine Canyon, with 2-inch thorns threatening your ankles with each step. Camping under a full moon, we were visited by a bighorn sheep. The entire hike could be done in five or six days, but our trip of nine days made the pace easier and allowed for those side trips. As Moffett said, “It takes thousands of years for something to happen there, so you have to slow down and appreciate it.”

If you go

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ackpacking on the noncorridor trails of the canyon demands experience, stamina and routefinding skills. There are no trail markers on the North and South Bass Trails, no campfires, and water is scarce.

Hiking in spring and fall will help avoid the canyon’s notorious heat. Required permits become available four months before your desired month, so plan to apply beginning June 1 for an October trip or Dec 1 for an April trip.

They can only be mailed or faxed. Permits are limited and go quickly.

Both trail heads for the Bass Trails are remote and require four-wheel drive vehicles. The North Bass trail head is on the North Rim at Swamp Point. A North Kaibab National Forest map is needed. The South Bass trail head is about 30 miles northwest of Grand Canyon Village. Use a map of the Tusayan Ranger District of the Kaibab National Forest.

There is no water available at the trail heads, so drive it in. — MCT

Byron Allen is listing a place in the Hollywood Hills West area for $8.995 million.

Byron Allen bought this estate in Beverly Hills for $17 million.

Hot property:

Chris Brown lists WeHo party pad

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oining the ranks of teenage homeowners is “Hunger Games” star Josh Hutcherson, who has bought a place in the Hollywood Hills West area for $2.5 million. The 19-year-old becomes another link in a string of celebrities who have called the place home. Known as the Tree House for its setting among sycamores, the house was owned at different times by talk show host Ellen DeGeneres and the late actor Heath Ledger.

The two-bedroom, two-bathroom house, built in 1951 and since remodeled, sits behind gates on nearly half an acre. Features of the 1,861-square-foot home include glass walls, polished concrete floors, an office, beamed ceilings and video security. An outdoor living area of 2,500 square feet contains a movie lounge and barbecue space. Even before escrow closed Hutcherson picked a roommate-he adopted a pit bull named Driver from a rescue group.

Hutcherson stars this year in the horror comedy “Detention” and “Red Dawn,” due for November release. He will continue in his role as baker’s son Peeta Mellark in the 2013 sequel “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.” Public records show the property previously changed hands in 2008 for the same amount Hutcherson paid.

Party’s over in west Hollywood Grammy-winning singer Chris Brown has put his West Hollywood party pad on the market for $1.895 million. The 3,000-square-foot unit occupies the entire top floor of a four-story building. The open-plan penthouse features direct elevator access, high ceilings, a patio and a bar.

There are three bedrooms, an office, a laundry room and 3 bathrooms.

Brown, 23, released “Graffiti” in 2009, the same year he was arrested for assaulting his then-girlfriend, singer Rihanna. They released two collaborative tracks this year.

Brown won a Grammy this year for his R&B album “F.A.M.E.” His latest album is “Turn Up the Music.” Public records show he bought the property last year for less than $1.6 million.

Everyone knows his name there Actor Kelsey Grammer is back at it-trying to sell his home in the Beverly Crest area-this time for $17.999 million. Priced at $19.9 million in 2008, the mansion is described as modern Traditional in style. The two-story house, built in 1980, features a central hall, media room, a

More recently he has been executive producer of “Medium” and starred in the political drama “Boss.” He and his fourth wife, Kayte Walsh, were married last year and are expecting twins. Public records show he bought the property in 2007 for $13.7 million.

Leaving flock in the bird streets Broadcast syndication company head Byron Allen seems to be doing his part to help the Westside Los Angeles real estate market. The stand-up comic and TV show host bought an estate in Beverly Hills for $17 million and is now listing a place in the Hollywood Hills West area for $8.995 million. The contemporary mansion he bought sits behind gates on more than an acre. A two-story entry leads to a living room with retractable floor-to-ceiling glass doors that open to an infinity pool and a terrace. The nearly 13,000 square feet of living space includes a library, a dining room that can seat 18, a bar, a den, seven bedrooms and 10 bathrooms. It previously sold in 2007 for $15.9 million.

The house Allen is selling is a Richard Landry-designed contemporary, built in 1962, in the celebrity-populated Bird Streets area. With 3,540 square feet of living space, four bedrooms and 4 { bathrooms, the house features high ceilings and expansive city views. The third of an acre property includes a motor court, swimming pool and a spa. Public records show he bought the house in late 2003 for $3.2 million. Allen, 51, produces and distributes shows through his Entertainment Studios. He is executive producer for “Comics Unleashed” (2006-present) and the pilot of “The First Family,” a comedy-drama about a black family in the White House.

library, a wine cellar and a service entrance. There are seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms and 10,567 square feet of living space. A swimming pool, a six-car motor court and a four-car garage complete the grounds of more than threequarters of an acre.

Grammer, 57, won four Emmys for his lead role in “Frasier” (1993-2004), a “Cheers” spin-off, and another in 2006 for voice work as Sideshow Bob on “The Simpsons.”

Linkletter estate changes hands It’s the darndest thing. The Art Linkletter estate in BelAir has sold above asking price for $10.6 million. Built in 1957, the 5,000-square-foot Midcentury Modern house includes two atriums, sculptural metal screens, pocket doors, two stone fireplaces and walls of glass. Carports and a motor court can accommodate about 20 cars.

There are five bedrooms and five bathrooms. The 4.6acre city-view site contains a solar-heated swimming pool, a sports court and a lawn dotted with flagstone pathways.

Linkletter, who died two years ago at 97, hosted the longrunning radio and television shows “People Are Funny” starting in the 1940s and “House Party,” which was renamed “The Art Linkletter Show.”

His interviews with children, which aired from 1952 to 1970, led to his 1957 bestseller, “Kids Say the Darndest Things,” and several sequels. His wife, Lois, died in October at 95. They were married for 75 years. The property came on the market at $10.25 million in March for the first time in 40 years. — MCT

MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012

lifestyle T R A V E L

This summer, explore

London’s less obvious side Mexican-themed objects decorate the Church Street Hotel.

us to such little pieces of heaven as Hotel Chocolat, where I learned the proper way to eat good chocolate (take a slice, hold it against the roof of your mouth, let it melt, repeat); Freggo (sample the dulce de leche ice cream with bitter chocolate); Prestat; Laduree; and Charbonnel et Walker (where the violet and rose crËmes became my new BFF). Or you can skip the tour and go directly to Selfridges, which has many of these under one roof in its food hall. It’s a little like eating dessert first, but life is short.

Latino London

St Mark’s church sits along Regent’s Canal in London, England. — MCT photos

By Catharine Hamm

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s a Californian, I had forgotten that you don’t cancel your life just because it rains. If you did, you’d never see anything in London, at least not recently. And there is much to see too much, in fact. It’s a travel buffet, and it’s hard not to load your plate with a plethora of monuments, historic buildings and churches.

It’s important to see that London, but it’s imperative to see the lesser-known London, if only to escape the hordes who are coming here for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee from June 2-5, World Pride from June 17-July 8, the Summer Games from July 27-Aug 9 and the Paralympics from Aug 29-Sept 9.

By stepping away from the famous sites, you see a different, less daunting London. There’s lugubrious London, luscious London, Latino London, liquid London, even low-key and sometimes low-cost London. And if even those get to be too much, there’s always leaving London. So welcome to London for the “L” of it, a sort of suggestion box of ideas for a city about to steal the spotlight and always threatening to steal your heart.

Lugubrious London If you want to torment your soul, go to the Thames on a foggy morning and listen to Big Ben chime the hour. On the right day, it’s bone-chilling and it’s free. If you’d rather focus on someone else’s tormented soul, check out the Wraiths of London, a 2 hour ghost walk in central London, which is said to be haunted by the restless dead.

Guide Alan Aspinall, a newcomer to the crowded ghost-walk field, takes his passion for stories, combines them with history and spins your head around.

He talks about Amelia Dyer, a “baby farmer” in Victorian England. For a fee, she and others of her trade took the offspring from unwed mothers and found homes for them. True to her name, Dyer didn’t place them; she killed them. She was sentenced to death, but before her execution, she told one of the guards, “I’ll see you again, sir.” He did see her again — in a vision, or so the story goes. As Aspinall unspooled the tale, a street sign came loose and clanged on its metal post as we stood across from Old Bailey, the criminal court where Dyer was tried. Coincidence?

Luscious London After hanging with the dead, you may need some antioxidants. Chocolate always works for me, and an organized walk sounded sublime. CityDiscover y ’s Thursday afternoon trek took a group of

On the outside, the Church Street Hotel looks like another stately inn. On the inside? Fiesta! Bienvenidos to a Latin-flavored London, to a hotel so unexpected that you’re apt to ask yourself, “Did I take a wrong turn and end up in Oaxaca?” (Not yet, but hold on and you may.)

Each of its 28 rooms is awash with color (mine was a brilliant beach-day blue), and the knickknacks and pictures say “hola.” If you haven’t come for the decor, come for the price (rates during non-Olympics start at an almost unheard of $145 a night, including breakfast), the quiet and the quirkiness. You pay a price for feeling South of the Border because you’re in what feels like far southern London; it’s a trek into the city, but I grew to love Bus 36.

Note that there’s no elevator, the steps are steep and illumination in my room, at least wasn’t a strong point. Still, the hotel was a bright spot.

The next-door Angels & Gypsies restaurant is more Iberian than Mexican, but it’s hard to resist this small-plates place, where hams hang in the window. The fennel/pomegranate/feta salad alone is worth it, never mind the chorizo tortilla.

If your hambre won’t be satisfied by anything but Mexican, try Wahaca (Oaxaca to the rest of us), which bills itself as “Mexican market eating” with such offerings as tacos, burritos, quesadillas and salads. I tried the green rice (coriander, onion and garlic). To put out the slight sting of the piquant: vanilla ice cream topped with pumpkin seeds and cajeta sauce (lighter than caramel). An indulgence calorically and monetarily but a bueno one.

leave London (see below) or you can remove yourself from the chaos or both.

London is loaded with gardens more than 2,500 of them chronicled at. I sampled several but fell madly for the Royal Botanic Gardens, or Kew. You have to want to visit Kew. I t was a 90-minute bus/train/bus ride for me but the Sturm und Drang is wor th it for the sheer absence of Sturm und Drang.

The 300-acre Kew is dotted with structures (Waterlily House, Kew Palace, the Orangery restaurant and more), each of which is a little magic pocket of surprises. I suggest taking the tram ride around the garden and then putting on your dancing shoes to hobnob with the birds, bees and, alas, the jets that break the reverie.

Admission: $22 adults, free for children 17 and younger. Contrast Kew ’s open spaces with the nine-mile Regent’s Canal, a waterway and towpath enclave that’s a buffer from urban insanity. Start at the Canal Museum, a one-time ice house, near King’s Cross. Its history lesson on ice cream is more interesting than its discourse on the man-made canals.

On the mile and a half walk from the Canal Museum to Camden Town, I encountered bikers, joggers, strollers, moms, babies, dogs, swans, ducks and the occasional graffito. Water trickled through the locks like the tinkle of aquatic piano keys.

The bubble burst at Camden Town, reminiscent of the Orange County swap meet but with more global food offerings and less charm. A sugar infusion at vegan Cookies & Scream buoyed my spirits, as did embarking on the London Waterbus

A different cook takes over each day at Bonnington Square Cafe that serves low-cost vegetarian and vegan meals. ship that in its prime carried tea from China (and later wool from Australia).

Queen Elizabeth II reopened the ship in April, almost five years after a fire gutted it. Now it sits in a steel cradle, its beauty restored, pointing proudly at this section of the 205-mile Thames as if to say, “Landlubbers are lame.” You walk enough in London, and I promise that’s true.

Leaving London

Low-cost London London didn’t make the Economist’s Intelligence Unit top 10 list of the 10 most expensive cities in the world Zurich, Switzerland, can chant, “We’re No 1!” but you may feel penny-pinched compared with pricey LA. as your point of reference.

We don’t, for instance, pay $30 for a oneway express train ride into the city from LAX. Oh, wait. We don’t have an express train. Never mind.

For transpor tation other than the Heathrow Express, here are two words for every London traveler: Oyster card. You’ll save major bucks and time if you have this tube/bus/rail card and perhaps feel a little smug as you place it smartly on the ubiquitous “circle” that gives you safe passage onto your chosen mode of transport. You buy the card and load it with however many pounds you like. For instance, if you’re riding from Paddington to Piccadilly Circus, you’d cough up almost $7 if paying cash but only $3.20 with the Oyster, a budget aphrodisiac for sure.

Meals too can be budget wreckers. I’m tickled at having found a couple of good places near my hotels that didn’t break my bank.

Some critics sneer at Masters Super Fish about a block from the H10 London Hotel, where I stayed for about $220 a night, but my early evening fish and chips dinner was tasty, and the place was full of regulars. If you’re going for the decor, don’t. If you’re going for a nice meal of fresh fish (which doesn’t have to be fried) for about $15, do.

My best find (thanks to Time Out London) was Bonnington Cafe not far from the Kia Oval cricket ground, which puts it off the path. But I did have a sit-down lunch of vegetarian squash/chickpea curry over rice and a nice green salad for $8 (also open for dinner). It’s about the dishes, not the decor, at this community-run eatery. Afterward, stroll around the square and you’ll see Bonnington’s pocket park (and head over to the Harleyford Road Community Garden while you’re at it) because especially in the coming weeks, London promises to be anything but an oasis of calm.

Low-key London Perhaps because we think of London as stately, we also think of it as sedate. This would be incorrect. Victoria station at afternoon rush hour makes an LA. SigAlert look like a garden party. Eventually, you’re going to need to remove yourself. You can

People relax at the Waterside Cafe on a barge in the Pool of Little Venice along Regent’s Canal in London.

What’s more romantic than dinner in London? Just about anything, but definitely dinner in Paris. I’d booked the Eurostar for this fast train trip to France, leaving on the 3 pm. speeder to Paris and returning about 9 pm. (You gain an hour, so you’ll arrive about 6:30 pm. at Gare du Nord station.) The countryside blurred by, fields of yellow rapeseed exploding with color amid patches of vibrant spring green.

From the Gare du Nord, I walked across the street to Terminus Nord I ordered some escargot and a steak with bearnaise sauce and fries, which sound less sinful as pommes frites. Effect: Made me giggle at the silliness of it all. Next time: I’ll stay longer. Or be more adventuresome with my restaurant choice. Or go to Brussels, which you can also do for less than a day.

If you book far enough in advance, a standard nonrefundable ticket for Brussels or Paris can be about $100, round trip.

Leaving London made me long for it, and I returned, happy but tired, just before midnight to log a little more shut eye before continuing one L of a trip.—MCT

Co.’s canal boat bound for Little Venice.

The 50-minute ride (about $12 one way) put me back in the bubble as it glided past Regent’s Park, through the London Zoo and by Italian manor houses, depositing us at Browning’s Pool near the renovated Rembrandt Gardens. There, willows wept but a bride and groom beamed as they posed for post-nuptial pictures. Blue skies and young love does it get better than this?

Liquid London London is all about the liquid the 60 billion cups of tea Brits drink each year, the 27 million pints of beer quaffed each day, the 23 or so inches of rain that fall, on average, in London each year. You’ll find enough tea/coffee houses and pubs (although they’re said to be disappearing at the rate of two a day) to slake your thirst, but your personal shelter from the storm needs a special place, and that place is James Smith & Sons, which sells umbrellas and walking sticks. It’s been a going concern since 1830.

Although it was raining, I didn’t need the umbrella for my trip down the Thames on the Thames Clipper, which is really an enclosed commuter boat. It’s an overlooked way of seeing London like a local a local in a hurry. It leaves slowly from the London Eye, but just past the Tower Bridge, it goes full tilt on its run to Greenwich. No narration, but you can figure out the sites yourself.

It seemed only right on my liquid tour to stop at the Cutty Sark, an 1869 clipper

An Iberian-influenced menu is served at Angels Y Gypsies next door to the Church Street Hotel.

De Niro says stability, funds needed to boost African cinema MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012

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Balinese dancers wearing traditional outfits parade during the annual month-long Bali Arts Festival in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia yesterday. —AP

Photographers explore the South in High exhibition A

tlanta’s High Museum of Art invited three photographers to present their views of the American South, and the results - including slices of urban life, rural portraits and eroding marshlands - will be on display starting this weekend. The exhibition is part of the “Picturing the South” initiative established by the High in 1996.

Since then the museum has commissioned a total of nine photographers - both established names and emerging artists - to shoot photos inspired by the region.

The 76 prints will go on view Saturday alongside an exhibition from The Museum of Modern Art in New York called “Picturing New York.” A related exhibition, “Revisiting the South: Richard Misrach’s Cancer Alley,” is also on view. The three photographers chosen for the latest installment of “Picturing the South” are British documentary photographer and photojournalist Martin Parr, who focuses on the urban setting of Atlanta; Dallas-based documentary photographer and photojournalist Kael Alford, who depicts small communities in eroding marshlands of Louisiana; and Vermont native Shane Lavalette, who chose to explore the relationship between traditional Southern music and the contemporary landscape.

Parr’s photos, with bright, saturated colors, capture his first visit to the South. It seems as if someone gave him a list of sights, institutions and major events in Atlanta and he ticked them off one by one. There are shots of Atlanta’s zoo, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the CNN Center and an exhibition opening at the High, as well as people tailgating before a Braves baseball game,

participating in the Atlanta Pride Festival and enjoying the annual Dogwood Festival. He also looks at the region’s food with a cross section of a rainbow layered cake and a plate heavy with barbecue.

“Ordinary people and ordinary things, like the local supermarket, inspire me with the same passion that leads other photographers to go to war zones,” Parr said. Alford shot foreign conflict zones for a decade before returning to the US in the middle of the last decade. For her commission she chose to travel to a community of about 85 people living on an eroding strip of land in Louisiana’s coastal marshes where she has family roots. The area has been damaged by gas and oil drilling and pounded by heavy storms. Alford sought to record the landscape and the people who cling to it.

As a journalist accustomed to moving from story to story and going where the action is, one of the toughest things was spending a significant amount of time in one place, she said. “The personal connections I made with people are what kept me coming back,” she said. “Because I spent so much time and focused on that one place, I really saw more of the complexities.” Her gallery in the exhibition includes portraits of people, eroding landscapes and a video of a shrimping trip.

Lavalette was born in Vermont and has always lived in the Northeast. His relationship with the South before beginning his project came mainly through the region’s music and depiction in movies. He traveled to places with musical significance and met with gospel singers and other musicians but didn’t want his project to be a strict

telling of the history of Southern music or its current state.

“I like to stress that I was inspired by traditional Southern music rather than doing a documentary about it now,” he said. “I’m really inspired by the landscape and how it in itself is musical and by the people and how they in themselves are musical.”

His images include portraits of a juke joint owner on his 70th birthday and of a man who carves guitars from driftwood, a flock of birds flying up from a field and a video of a man singing gospel in front of lace curtains in his home.

“Picturing New York” is a collection of 154 photographs from MoMA, including works by wellknown artists such as Diane Arbus, Henri CartierBresson, Cindy Sherman, Alfred Stieglitz, Weegee and many others. The photographs capture scenes of life in New York, showing iconic landmarks and everyday moments alike. The exhibition is part of an ongoing, multi-exhibition collaboration between the High and MoMA that launched in 2009.

“The idea of this show is how photos and New York became modern together over the 20th century,” said MoMA curator of photography Sarah Meister. Finally, in “Revisiting the South: Richard Misrach’s Cancer Alley,” Misrach, one of the first photographers selected for “Picturing the South,” shows 21 large-scale prints of photos he shot for his project, which explored the ecological degradation of a corridor of the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans that is home to many industrial plants and is sometimes referred to as Cancer Alley.—AP

This images show photos by Dallas-based photographer Kael Alford displayed as part of the “Picturing the South” exhibit at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta.—AP

American Tourister opens new showroom in Kuwait A

merican Tourister, one of the world’s leading luggage brands with presence in over 80 countries worldwide announced the opening of its showroom at Souk Al-Kabir, Kuwait City.

The new store, part of American Tourister aggressive expansion plans showcases the entire range of American Tourister travel bags, including the latest business collection, backpacks & travel accessories.

The new AT Store is first mono brand outlet in the region. In his comments, Jai Krishnan Vice President - Middle East at Samsonite, said: “We are delighted to extend our exceptional offering and travel luggage solutions to shoppers at Kuwait. It reinforces our ambitious growth plans and

supports our strategic objective of being more accessible to our valued customers.”

In his comments on the new opening, Sujo Francis - Brand Manager, Morad Yousuf Behbehani group , said, “The new store is part of our growth strategy for American Tourister, will offer a finer shopping experience to our customers to choose the latest innovative range both strong and value for money, thus satisfying all the requirements for an easy and comfortable travel.”

He added: “The new stores come as part of our commitment to reach out to our target clients in the Kuwait City. This year will also witness the huge expansion of American Tourister dealer network as well”.