12th Jun

CR IP TI ON BS SU

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

Pro-Hitler graffiti found at Israel museum

Humble Nadal in seventh heaven at French Open

18

150 FILS

13

Social affairs minister ‘tenders resignation’

40 PAGES

NO: 15476

www.kuwaittimes.net

RAJAB 22, 1433 AH

Cabinet reshuffle seen amid call for broad national govt

Max 46º Min 32º High Tide 06:16 & 17:39 Low Tide 11:58 & 23:39

By B Izzak

Mubarak: ‘They want to kill me’ CAIRO: Egypt’s ousted president Hosni Mubarak, now serving a life sentence over protester killings, said the authorities “want to kill” him in jail as his health deteriorated, his lawyer told AFP yesterday.

“He says: ‘They want to kill me. Save me, Mr Farid, find me a solution,” said Farid Al-Deeb, his chief lawyer in the murder and corruption trial which ended this month with his sentencing. Mubarak’s health has deteriorated since his incarceration on June 2, and he was defibrillated twice to revive his heart yesterday, a prison hospital Hosni Mubarak source said. “His condition is very critical,” Deeb said. “I appeal through Agence France-Presse to all world leaders and NGOs: save Mubarak.”

An interior ministry source had told AFP that Mubarak’s condition was “critical but stable”, as Continued on Page 13

KUWAIT: Protesters - led by ‘minority bloc’ MPs Nabeel Al-Fadl, Adnan Al-Muatwa, Abdulhameed Dashti and Mohammad Al-Juwaihel - gather opposite the National Assembly yesterday to denounce denigrating statements made by some MPs about Kuwait’s national flag. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

KUWAIT: Minister of Social Affairs and Labour Ahmad Al-Rujaib reportedly tendered his resignation at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday, just nine days before he is scheduled to face two grillings. MP Riyad Al-Adasani, who filed one of the two grillings against Rujaib, said he has learned that the minister bid farewell to the top officials at the ministry yesterday morning before leaving the ministry. But he said his information still need to be confirmed.

So far, there has been no official announcement about Rujaib’s resignation because the issue is handled

by HH the Amir who can accept or reject it. The debate of the two grillings against Rujaib are scheduled to take place on June 20. Adasani said he will continue to follow up the issues he raised in the grilling against Rujaib and vowed that he will grill the Ahmad Al-Rujaib next minister if he does not deal with the issues he raised in the grilling.

MP Saifi Al-Saifi, who submitted the other grilling, expressed hope that Rujaib’s resignation will be a lesson to all those who may try insult a section or a group of the Kuwaiti people through racist behaviours that undermine the national security of any country. In his grilling, Saifi charged that Rujaib had written articles in a local newspaper that were deemed highly racial against bedouin tribes, insisting that those articles Continued on Page 13

Ahmadinejad wounded but remains wily

BEIRUT: A general view of the newsroom of Al-Mayadeen, a new pan Arab satellite TV station, is seen yesterday. — AP

New pan-Arab satellite TV channel goes on air BEIRUT: A new pan-Arab satellite television station went on air yesterday, headed by a well-known Tunisian journalist who quit Al-Jazeera to protest what he saw as bias against Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime. The Beirutbased station Al-Mayadeen, Arabic for The Squares, says it aims to counter the influence of the popular Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya networks, both funded by oilrich Sunni Gulf Arab countries that have backed the uprising in Lebanon’s neighbor Syria. It promises to support the Palestinian cause and all forms of “resistance” - a term in Mideast parlance usual-

ly used to describe the power ful Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and other groups that fight Israel.

Al-Mayadeen is headed by Ghassan bin Jiddo, who quit Qatar-based AlJazeera last year to protest its reporting of the uprising in Syria. Since the revolt began 15 months ago, some Arabs accused Al Jazeera of whipping up public opinion against Assad’s regime. The station hopes to capitalize on the schism in the Arab world between Gulf Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, who are at odds with Iran and Syria and Continued on Page 13

DUBAI: Iran’s president hardly seemed like a fading political force at a security summit in Beijing last week. Leaders from China and Russia carved out time to hold private talks with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and gave him center stage to unleash his pet theories about the unraveling of Western power. But Ahmadinejad always seems to catch a second wind on the road. It’s at home where his political wounds are most visible and his expiration date is already factored into high-stakes calculations.

The onetime favored son of Iran’s theocracy - its flame-throwing populist in a common man’s wind breaker or bureaucrat’s offAhmadinejad the-rack suit - is now limping into his last year in office sharply weakened and in the unexpected position as an outcast among hardliners. “It may be hard to believe for those who just pay attention to the theatrics of Iranian politics, but Ahmadinejad has emerged somewhat by process of elimination - as something of a moderate in relation to the archconservatives in the ruling system,” said Salman Shaikh, director of The Brookings Doha Center in Qatar.

“The reformers and opposition have been crushed or silenced,” he added. “That leaves Ahmadinejad and his big political ego.”

Continued on Page 13

SAN FRANCISCO: Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide product marketing Phil Schiller announces the new MacBook Pro during the keynote address during the Apple 2012 World Wide Developers Conference at Moscone West yesterday. — AFP

Apple unveils thinner, more powerful laptops Tech giant launches own maps program SAN FRANCISCO: Apple yesterday unveiled a new lineup of Macintosh laptops, including a revamped MacBook Air, the lightest of the computers, and a thinner, more powerful MacBook Pro. The move keeps Apple, which has been dominating the market for tablet computers like the iPad, in the game against a new line of slimmer laptops using Microsoft Windows or the Google Chrome operating system.

“Today we’ve updated the entire MacBook line with faster processors, graphics, memory, flash storage and USB 3 connectivity,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing. “We’ve made the world’s best portable family even better and we think users are going to love the performance advances in both the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro.” Continued on Page 13

in the

news

Market behavior, oil prices worry OPEC

Syrian rebels deny Kuwaitis with them

Bahrain court releases minor

KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Oil Minister Hani Hussein said yesterday that oil producing countries are concerned over the drop in oil prices and the “strange” behavior of the oil market. “Some of the (OPEC) members are concerned about the prices and what’s happening,” in the oil market after crude prices dropped more than 20 percent during the past two months, Hussein told reporters. “There are some concerns about what direction prices are taking and production,” Hussein said before leaving to attend the OPEC ministerial meeting in Vienna on Thursday.

Asked if there is an intention to Hani Hussaen cut production at the meeting, Hussein said: “Nothing has been set as such, not yet.” He said the issue will be reviewed by the OPEC monitoring committee ahead of the ministers’ meeting.

KUWAIT: Syrian rebel army chief Col Riyadh Al-Asaad denied in comments published yesterday that Kuwaitis were fighting alongside his men against forces of President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime. “Reports indicating the presence of Arab fighters (in Syria) are totally baseless,” Asaad was quoted as saying by Kuwait’s Al-Watan newspaper. “There are no non-Syrian members in the FSA which consists only of Syrian soldiers and officers fighting to protect the revolution,” the Turkey-based commander of the Free Syrian Army said. The Syrian regime is trying to spread such reports to show that “there are jihadists, members of Al-Qaeda and armed groups active in Syria which is harmful to the revolution,” he said. On Sunday, Kuwait’s Al-Qabas newspaper reported that dozens of Kuwaitis have crossed the Syrian-Turkish border to fight alongside the FSA, citing relatives of the fighters. But Asaad insisted that the FSA does not need outside fighters, but only material and financial help.

DUBAI: A Bahraini juvenile court released yesterday a Shiite minor who is on trial for disturbing security by blocking a road outside the capital. The court ordered police to handover Ali Hasan, 11, to his parents, and adjourned the trial to June 20. Hasan was released “to allow time to review a report on him prepared by a social worker,” a lawyer added. Bahrain’s chief prosecutor for juveniles Noura Al-Khalifa said in a statement on Sunday that Hasan was arrested on May 14 while blocking a street outside Manama with garbage containers and wood planks. She said he pleaded guilty, admitting that he blocked the road repeatedly after police would clear the blockade, and that he was arrested on his third attempt to shut the road. She claimed he confessed to have done that after a man accused of stirring trouble gave him and some of his friends three dinars ($8). The interior ministry said Hasan was allowed to sit the final school exams in the juvenile detention centre where he was held.

NABIH SALEH, Bahrain: Ali Hasan flashes the victory sign after his release from a police station south of the capital Manama yesterday. — AP

2

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

LOCAL

Breach of intellectual property widespread on social media No specific law that governs violations

By Nawara Fattahova

KUWAIT: President of Benin Yayi Boni and his accompanying delegation arrived here yesterday for a three-day visit. The guest was received upon arrival by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, ministers and top officials in the army, police and national guards.

Benin president’s visit to cement ties further KUWAIT: President of Benin Thomas Yayi Boni’s visit to Kuwait is the fourth of its kind since His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah took office.

However, the President of Benin had paid three visits to the country, in 2008, 2009 and 2010, resulting in cementing the ties between the two friendly countries and signing 10 accords for cooperation and coordination in the political, economic, social, cultural and educational sectors.

Tangible promotion of these relations was crowned with inauguration of the embassy of Kuwait in Benin in February of this year. It was the first diplomatic mission of a Gulf state to be opened in the African nation.

Some of the major events that marked noticeable progress of these bilateral relations was the visit, paid by H is Highness Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah, when he served as premier, in July 2009. The two sides, during Sheikh Nasser ’s visit, agreed on establishing cooperation in the economic and investment domains. Moreover, they signed accords for aviation services, averting double taxation, swap of labor, as well as

technical and cultural agreements.

Officials of the two countries, over the past years, held talks over prospects of business and investment cooperation, such as oil explorations in the African nation. A memorandum of understanding, in this respect, is expected to be signed soon.

At the private level, Kuwaiti Chamber of Commerce and Industry signed a cooperation protocol in 2009. In September 2011, a number of businessmen from Benin visited Kuwait where they promoted some investment projects in their country.

Furthermore, Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development played a major role in cementing the bilateral relations, granting the nation several loans for development ventures.

KAFED had offered Benin 11 loans between 1978 and 2010, at a total value of KD 28.276 million, financing transport, industrial and communication ventures.

Benin had also a share of the fund for honorable living, launched by HH the Amir in 2009, with the aim of aiding limited resources nations. Private Kuwaiti associations had also contribute to charitable programs and ventures in Benin. — KUNA

KUWAIT: A message, poem or opinion posted on Facebook so that users read and enjoy it.

However, when one finds that his or her writing has been posted by another user, without mentioning the source, a serious offence results - breach of intellectual property.

Most users who have had bitter experiences continue their activities and creations on social media.

Some users complain about their experiences by posting them on the same platform.

Notably, no legal action is taken against offenders. According to attorney Mubarak Mijzea, no cases have been filed against violators of intellectual property on social

media. “I have not heard about such cases being filed at the court in Kuwait. Any user has the right file a case against violators, therefore rendering it useless. The case is shelved or no verdict will be issued,” he told the Kuwait Times.

There is no specific law that governs the violations committed using the social media in Kuwait.

Law number 5/1999 sets a punishment of imprisonment for no longer than a year or fine of more than KD 500 for plagiarizing a text produced by the original author.

This law has not laid down the definition of authorship, which according to some attorneys, also encompasses social media. They argue that the press law may be applied on social media. “It’s hard to apply

the press law on the social media to a breach of intellectual property rights. This is because there is no evidence that certain posts belong to a user. It is difficult to prove the ownership to certain posts. During instances of slander, the general criminal law is applied. We witness many such cases on Twitter,” explained Mijzea.

Usually the intellectual property is registered at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. “There are different certificates issued for different patents or intellectual properties depending on its kind. This protects the rights of the author or creator. In the press for instance, the authorship is registered with a certain name. So, there is an official register to prove the author ’s

rights,” he added. Shaikha, a 20year- old student is an active Twitter user and has hundreds of followers. She has experienced the situation before. “I post about 50 or more tweets ever y day, mostly poems or funny incidents. Many times, I find my tweets posted by other users. Although there is a retweeting option, or even share via Twitter or other social media,(to retain the source name) some people just like to plagiarize others’ creations,” she pointed out.

“In fact I got used to such behavior, and many times I blocked them.

I do not think I should bother myself by filing a complaint at the police station. I use social media for fun, and I do not like to turn it a headache,” added Sheikha.

educating contest on car accidents KUWAIT: Mangaf High School has won the 20th contest, car mechanics and traffic regulations (2012), patronized by First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Ahmad Al-Homoud Al-Sabah.

The technical committee of the contest, organized

by Kuwait Science Club in coordination with the Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Education, along with support from Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS), had examined photos and posters, presented by 45 contenders, depicting traffic jam and resulting accidents. Contending female students of Muaath Al-Ghaffariah School came second and Sabah Al-Salem won third place. The contenders reflected in their works their feelings and reactions toward serious and tragic results of traffic accidents and ideas on best means to limit such painful occurrences on the streets of Kuwait. The event is intended to make the female students aware of responsibility of driving before applying for a license. — KUNA

Govt approves allowance for retired servicemen KUWAIT: Sources revealed that the government will approve new allowances to be added to the retirement salaries of retired servicemen. The allowance will be a fixed amount per month, but the sources were unsure as to whether it would be the same amount for all. They added that details of the allowances are still being studied. There is also a possibility, the sources added, that allowances will also be awarded to military men over the age of sixty.

KUWAIT: Ali Ibrahim Al-Baghli presenting an award to Faris Moussa.

ABK sponsors Mousa’s retirement ceremony KUWAIT: As part of its corporate social responsibility involving support of youth and sports activities, and in accordance with the ongoing CSR campaign “Our Society... Our Responsibility”, Al-Ahli Bank of Kuwait was pleased to support the retirement ceremony of Kuwait’s Volley Ball national team player Faris Mousa, which was held at the Fajhan Hilal Al-Mutairi lounge at Qadsia Sporting Club in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, Sheikh Sabah Khalid Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.

On this occasion Al-Ahli Bank of Kuwait’s Public Relations team attended the ceremony and presented financial support which was handed to Mousa. Ali Ibrahim Al-Baghli, assistant PR Manager at ABK, stated: “We at ABK are keen to support sports and athletes and encourage them even as they go about achieving greater accomplishments for Kuwait. Our sponsorship of Mousa’s retirement ceremony comes in recognition of his excellent achievements in Kuwait’s Volley Ball field.” Moussa thanked ABK for their kind patronage.

US delegation discusses money laundering, terrorism funding KUWAIT: A delegation from the United States Department of State currently visiting Kuwait held meetings with state officials to discuss measures taken to counter money laundering and terrorism funding in the Gulf state, local dailies reported yesterday. On Thursday, meetings will be held with officials from Charity Organizations’ Department at the Ministry of Social

delegation discusses Labor issues K U WA I T: S o u r c e s a t the Ministr y of Social Affairs and Labor revealed that the Wo r l d Labor O rg a n i z a t i o n’s m e e t ings this year concentrated on the rights of laborers, their protection and the importance of providing suitable and comfor table residences for them.

The sources added that negotiations concentrated on issues affecting domestic laborers.

The Kuwaiti delegation gave a detailed report about the steps taken so far to protect the rights of laborers.

They also discussed the construction of new shelters for domestic laborers, which can accommo date more than 700 people.

The delegation noted that steps have also been taken in respect to sponsors, adding that complaints made by laborers have dropped more than 50%. The Kuwaiti delegation also noted that 90% of the bogus agencies littering Kuwait have been closed in an effor t to put an end to the residency trade.

— Al-Anbaa

Affairs and Labor(MSAL). an insider told Al-Qabas. The source revealed that his department detected violations in donations collected to be sent to Syria, “including cash collected from private residences, violating MSAL regulations.” The Ministry requires that prior approval be taken to organize fundraising campaigns before donations are collected. “The

ministry already announced that applications be received to collect donations to Syria,” the source said, adding that no application was received on Sunday. A donation campaign approved by the ministry will take place for a week only after a team from the ministry examines the location. A ministry representatives will supervise the entire process.

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

local

Shaya, Kharafi top Kuwaitis in Arab Power 500

KUWAIT: Salesmen waiting for customers in Mubarakiya Market. These photos are used for illustrative purpose only. — Photos by Joseph Shagra Mohammad Al-Shaya

Badr Al-Kharafi

KUWAIT: Mohammad Al-Shaya and Badr Al-Kharafi topped a list of 26 Kuwaiti businessmen in the latest Arabian Business Power List of 500 most influential figures in the Arab World. Al-Shaya came in 18th place while Al-Kharafi is listed in the 26th place. Saad AlBarrak is the third Kuwaiti businessman mentioned in the list in the 82nd place, followed by Faisal Al-Ayar (92), Husainah Hashim (122) and Sheikha Al-Bahr, Ghaida AlKhalid, Ghusoon Al-Khalid, and Nabil bin Salamah.

Businessman Marwan Boodai came in ninth place among Kuwaiti businessmen (146th in the Arab List), followed by Farouq Al-Zanki (171), Khalid Abu Al-Fadhl and Maha Al-Ghunaim (205). The Top 500 List also includes Emad BuKhamseen in 234th place, Tariq Sultan (255), Hamad Al-Falah (414), Ibrahim Al-Qadhi (452) and Adnan Al-Mislem in the 456th place. Other Kuwaitis in the list are Suad Al-Humaizi, Naif Al-Mutawwa, Rasheed Al-Nufaisi, Dona Sultan, Salam Al-Hindi, Mahmoud AlNouri and Sameer Al-Nufaisi. Kingdom Holding chairman, Saudi Arabia’s Prince Alwaleed, topped the list for the eighth successive year.

KUWAIT: Khaled Al-Otaibi, assistant manager at Gulf Bank receiving a token of appreciation on behalf of the bank from Talq Al-Haim, director general of Ahmadi Educational District.

Gulf Bank sponsors ‘A Nation’s Choice’ KUWAIT: Stemming from the bank’s belief in the importance of supporting educational events and initiatives, Gulf Bank recently sponsored a special ceremony honoring outstanding teachers and principals in schools for the third consecutive year.

The ceremony took place at Garooh Middle School for Girls’ Theatre, under the patronage of the Director General of Ahmadi Educational District, Talq Al-Haim.

The ceremony included students from various age groups performing poetry recitals, national songs, as well as a student play entitled “A Nation’s Choice,” about the Kuwaiti constitution, in addition to a rendition of the Teacher’s Anthem which was performed by students of Fatima Al-Haqqan and Hamad Khaled Elementary schools.

The ceremony concluded with the honoring of school principals, members of the event’s organizing committee, as well as Elementary, Middle and High School teachers and staff.

News

in brief

Egyptian presidential election KUWAIT: Egyptian Ambassador to Kuwait Abdul Kareem Sulaiman said that the after the second round of polling for Egyptian presidential elections were held in Kuwait, Dr Mohammad Muris, emerged winner by securing 38,739 votes. He is a candidate from the Freedom and Justice party. General Ahmad Shafeeq garnered 18,383 votes. The number of void votes amounted to 838 and correct votes stood at 57,121 votes. The percentage of participation in elections amounted to 49.4 percent. Sulaiman thanked the Kuwait government and leader for helping them conduct successful elections.

MoH plans color coded ID cards KUWAIT: The Ministry of Health (MoH) plans to introduce color coded identification cards to be used by doctors, technicians, nurses, administrators and other staff members. Different colors will be used to differentiate holders’ positions. Sources said that ministry will finalize on the colors shortly. Sources at the Ministry of Health said that the ministry has taken necessary precautions to avoid power cuts in hospitals in summer. Arrangements have been made with health zone directors.

Union blasts Al-Barrak KUWAIT: Chairman of the Labor Union at Kuwait Petroleum Organization, Abdulwahad, expressed his sorrow at the lies made by MP Musallem Al-Barrak in attempting justify his escape from the Dow case debate, which the union called for. He added that the Kuwaiti public will not forgive Al-Barrak for his claim that he had understood Dow’s contract. Al-Barrak later complained that the document consisted of over 4000 un-translated pages which, he says, put obstacles in the way of State projects and resulted in a $2.15 billion compensation order.

No shortage of red meat in Kuwait now: Traders Hike ‘prelude’ to Ramadan price increases

By Ben Garcia KUWAIT: According to Kuwait’s livestock traders, there is no shortage of red meat in the country. Prices in Mubarakiya Market sharply increased from KD 2 to KD 2.5 in the beginning of this month, sparking speculation that there may be a shortage. However, two livestock companies told the Kuwait Times yesterday that there is no shortage.

“We don’t know why there has been a price increase, but we have no shortage of red meat. Plus, we have a regular arrivals of sheep from Australia as well as other sources,” said an employee, who asked to remain anony-

mous, at one of the companies. Various traders said that the price increases are a ‘prelude’ to the traditional Ramadan price increases, which are a result of increased demand during the season.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry reportedly plans to carry out random inspections to make sure that the prices of red meat and livestock remain reasonable.

A visit by the Kuwait Times yesterday confirmed a sharp in prices, as a kilo of lamb went up in price from KD 1.75 to KD 2.5.

Imported lamb remains far cheaper than locally produced lamb, with some as priced as low as KD 1.5, said a local merchants.

Whilst livestock traders confirmed that there is not a shortage of red meat in the country, shop owners in Mubarakiya, like customers, assumed that the price increase could be connected to a shortage and the upcoming Ramadan fast, “Prices won’t suddenly go up if there is enough of a supply, so I’d assume it’s a shortage,” one Mubarakiya seller noted.

Some customers, however, said that as long as the quality remains high, the price isn’t important: “I don’t mind about the price as long as the meat is fresh,” said one customer shopping in the market.

While the price of fish is already higher

than usual due to a reduced supply of imports, traders said that there is no connection between meat and fish prices: “They are not connected. The prices of fish increased way before prices of red meat went up. It must be a shortage,” said Majid, a seller in Mubarakira.

“Just to give you one example, Zubaidi from Iran was only KD 7 per kilo over the last three weeks but, now, it’s KD 9,” he added.

Regarding the price of Zubaidi, the seller predicted that it would fall once the ban in place preventing the fishing of Zubaidi is lifted, “I think the ban will be lifted on July 16, which will make it more affordable again.”

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

LOCAL kuwait digest

Local Spotlight

We need more transparency!

Those little smokers!

By Shereedah Al-Mousharji

S

ami Al-Nisf’s article published in Al-Anbaa last Saturday is one of the most important ones ever written about the Dow Chemical Company deal. I recommend that everyone read it.

High-ranking governmental positions that enable an individual to exercise great authority, might cost the state millions or even billions of dinars.

Therefore, they ought to be closely watched more than regular employees whose salaries are deducted if they report late to work by just an hour. What about those that waste the state’s fortunes and reputation? We are not, of course, questioning intentions, nor conspiracy crimes, theft or illegal gains.

We are talking about competence and fatal mistakes that call for immediate disciplinary measures to be taken against violators, in addition to dismissing incompetent, negligent ones or those that act irresponsibly in order to replace them with more competent employees.

Lapses taking place in oil facilities and other governmental establishments responsible for major projects should not go unaccounted for. We need to hold people accountable per each delayed project or losses resulting from mistakes, negligence or hasty decisionmaking.

Politicizing state’s major projects is very risky and usually leads to projects being hindered and costs being multiplied, wasting the state’s chances at increasing revenues or improving public services, not to mention weakening ability to negotiate with international companies and damaging its image as an investment haven.

This should not, of course, hinder politicians from taking follow up actions on projects as long only technicalities are covered.

The best options should be selected for the absolute best of the state. They should also avoid allowing political conflicts that affect major projects or deliberately defaming rivals, which might deviate, waste chances, cause losses for which each party would start blaming the other.

Therefore, the government should work on achieving the highest levels of transparency and law abidance. It should explain the significance, benefits and the course of executing each major project in order to avoid making such projects a mystery even to the most knowledgeable expert. — Al-jarida

By Muna Al-Fuzai

muna@kuwaittimes.net

I

feel angry every time I see a teenager or a young boy or girl holding a cigarette between their fingers. The fact that children find comfort in smoking worries every sensible adult. These days, any youngster who has had no parental guidance takes up smoking. They eventually fall victim to drugs.

kuwait digest

‘Waiting for a House’

By Eid Al-Shahri

T

he ‘Waiting for a House’ campaign began in November 2011 before former prime minister Sheik h Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah’s Cabinet resigned. At that time, a Twitter account was created to post information about housing in Kuwait, gathered through research carried out by volunteers of the campaign. After a while, I was advised to post analysis on the information we gathered so that citizens could have a better understanding of the situation in the housing sector.

Following research that included trips to the Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW) and Kuwait Municipality, I was upset after realizing that the housing sector is not being accorded the attention it deserves by the Cabinet and the Parliament.

The data we have obtained revealed a clear contradiction in state officials’ statements, as well as the reality that an entire generation of young men are silently suffering from the problem of waiting for indefinite periods to enjoy housing care.

There are Kuwaiti families who earn a limited income who pay an average rent of KD 500 a month. This means that a family spends up to KD 60,000 while waiting for ten years until their turn comes to receive their home. Further analysis showed that slow procedures in executing housing projects resulted in a lack of attention to meet

increasing public demand, as well as mismanagement issues. Therefore, it is necessary to adopt proactive measure according to which citizens can make their voice heard. After demands were made by followers to organize public campaigns to increase awareness about the ongoing housing problem, it was decided that demonstrations be held to place pressure on the government so that housing projects are accorded priority.

The first public announcement for peaceful demonstration was made in early May and has since garnered widespread media attention. The campaign focuses now on spreading awareness among the public through media outlets, in addition to asking citizens to gather in large numbers.

From January to the beginning of June, 4,000 Kuwaiti families applied to obtain housing care. On the other hand, 1,000 housing units were allocated during the same period. Latest records indicate that at least 100,000 citizens have registered with the waiting list for housing welfare, and the number is expected to increase by an additional 20,000 applications by 2014.

Sadly, current rates point out that only 3,500 housing units will be distributed by that year. —Al-Qabas l Al-Shahri is an official spokesman of the ‘Waiting for a House’ campaign to push forward housing projects.

In the malls, it is common to see teenagers smoking with the intention of showing off or expressing their manliness. I doubt if girls would be attracted to boys that smoke.

Is it possible to eliminate drug use? It is not natural to die of a drug overdose or contract a disease from infected needles. Some parents overlook the fact their child smoked a cigarette. They fail to realize what the world is like today. When someone finds pleasure in smoking at a young age, he or she will try to look for more sources to obtain it.

In the malls, it is common to see teenagers smoking with the intention of showing off or expressing their manliness. I doubt if girls would be attracted to boys that smoke. I think girls are more influenced by the media. They are into famous heartthrobs or a good looking lad. However, it has nothing to do with cigarettes. They are no status symbols. Boys are stupid to think that it is that way.

Is a smoker parent guilty? I guess so. I think when an adult smoker raises a child, he or she will gradually take up smoking as a natural progression. It is easier for him or her to find a cigarette in the house. So it is a learned habit.

Is the media guilty? Yes, in movies it is common to see the protagonist smoke. Youngsters who watch it are influenced, erroneously believing it to be a sophisticated thing to do. Rebellious teenagers may experience peer pressure, and therefore take up smoking.

Parents are responsible for telling teenagers that smoking is harmful. It even mars physical appearance - staining your teeth. Parents should not allow children to have easy access to cigarettes. I do not expect teenagers to listen. At least, it is worth trying.

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

local

News

in brief

‘MoC legal department fails to perform’ KUWAIT: The Ministry of Communications’(MoC) Legal Affairs Department has failed to perform its duties properly, in terms of taking follow up action on recruiting employees, resulting in considerable losses for the state’s treasury, sources said. They explained that because of negligence, the Ministry was sued and has lost several court cases. They explained that the ministry just paid over KD 57,000 in compensations as per court verdict. “The court order sentenced the ministry to pay a sum of KD 53,000 plus expenses and fees to an employee whose salary was suspended from the period between March 1 2009 till March 31, 2011 simply because he was transferred to another department without being informed.

KUWAIT: Sheikha Amthal Al-Sabah with HH the Amir and HH the Crown Prince.

Sheikha Amthal gets top honor for environment efforts KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah presented Chairperson of Volunteer Work Center Sheikha Amthal Al-Sabah with a top honor in appreciation of her efforts aiming at preservation of the Kuwaiti environment and her voluntary action, after receiving her at Bayan Palace yesterday, in presence of His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-

Jaber Al-Sabah. The Amir praised Sheikha Amthal’s efforts to promote awareness on environment issues and to promote and encourage volunteer work among Kuwaitis, wishing her success in her future initiatives. The honoring was in presence of Deputy Minister of Amiri Diwan Affairs Sheikh Ali Jarrah Al-Sabah.

Sheikha Amthal said the top honor bestowed on her

was an honoring of Kuwaiti women and all those who supported and took part in the activities of the Volunteer Work Center. “This honoring further encourages and motivates us all to exert more effort in the service of our homeland, and to further promote the culture of volunteer action in all fields, including in environment preservation,” she said. — KUNA

Jahra to get new hospital Cabinet holds weekly session KUWAIT: The cabinet held its weekly meeting headed by His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak AlHamad Al-Sabah at Kuwait International Airport yesterday. After the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Sabah Khalid AlHamad Al-Sabah said in a statement that the Cabinet reviewed a letter, discussing boosting bilateral cooperation, from His Highness the Amir to Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud.

The Council also looked into a letter addressed to His Highness the Amir from Mohamed Moncef Marzouki, President of Tunisia, which tackled results of his visit to Kuwait last April.

The Cabinet also took note of the let-

ter received by His Highness the Amir from President of Cyprus Dimitris Christofias, which tackled issues of common interest between the two countries.

The ministers also looked into a letter, from His Highness the Amir to Mexican President Felipe Calderon, which included an invitation to a seminar on creative thinking to address global challenges for the future, due to be held in the city of Los Cabos on June 16.

It also reviewed the two letters addressed to His Highness the Amir from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

The first letter includes an invitation to participate in the annual UN conventions between Sept 24-26 and Oct 1-2 at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York, while the second contains

the report, of the High Level Group on World Sustainability, titled (immunity to humans and the planet together) as the best option for the future and which comes in order to achieve the goals of sustainable development in various countries around the world.

Meanwhile, based on the wishes of His Highness the Amir, the Cabinet entrusted the Health Ministry in collaboration with the Amiri Diwan to take all necessary measures to establish a hospital in Jahra Governorate that includes various medical disciplines to cover the medical needs of the people in the location and surrounding areas.

The ministers also welcomed a later visit by President Dr. Yayi Boni of Benin and his accompanying delegation, which

come to pledge the distinguished bilateral relations between the two countries.

They wished him and his delegation a pleasant stay in the country.

The Cabinet then welcomed the prospective visit to be made by the Prime Minister of Jordan, Dr. Fayez AlTarawneh.

The visit was highlighted as important as it was regarded a good opportunity to discuss bilateral relations, exchange views on issues of joint concern, the latest developments in the region and international efforts to promote security and stability. Next came discussions on the National Assembly, and topics on the agenda of their next session in light of the overall current developments on the Arab and international arenas. — KUNA

Automated check-in service KUWAIT: Kuwaiti low-cost carrier, Jazeera Airways’ new automated check-in service aims to ease the travelling experience considerably for passengers flying from Kuwait International Airport. Passengers of Jazeera Airways will be able to check-in, print their boarding cards and choose their desired seating location over the net or on mobile apps, including Android, Director General of Kuwait’s Civil Aviation Directorate Fawaz Al-Farah said at the launch ceremony of the new service on Sunday.

Chairman of Jazeera Airways Marwan Boodai regards the move as a new step for the airline, which sees it “investing in the latest technology to provide both the best service and value to its passengers.” The airline has also provided automatic check-in machines within Kuwait International Airport, whereby passengers can complete the process ahead of their flight.

Companies to be penalized KUWAIT: The Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for companies affairs and commercial licenses, Dawood Al-Sabej announced the ministry’s intention to cancel the licenses of companies that had not revealed their financial information since 2009 and earlier. He added that the penalized companies would be named later this week.

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

LOCAL

Kuwaiti cross dresser sparks fight in Salmiya Teen killed in Gulf Road crash KUWAIT: A Kuwaiti woman was arrested after a fight between a group of young men took place over her ‘malelike’ appearance. Police rushed to a mall in Salmiya where two shops were damaged after a fight. Officers arrested a number of youngsters who fought with each other after a group confronted another group and harassed a female shopper that was dressed in traditional Kuwaiti dishdasha and ghutra. The woman was arrested and charged with ‘imitating the opposite sex,’ reported Al-Anba.

Road accident A teenager was killed and two others were injured in an accident that took place recently along the Gulf Road. Police and paramedics rushed to the scene early on Sunday morning where a vehicle had flipped over. A 17year-old citizen was pronounced dead on the scene, while his companions aged 16 to 18 were admitted to AlAdan Hospital with multiple injuries.

An investigation was opened, reported Al-Anba.

Shooting suspect A search is currently ongoing for a male suspect who disappeared after opening fire at a Sulaibiya home. The young man, identified as a GCC citizen, reportedly targeted the place of residence of his rival, with whom he had a fight previously. According to the police report, the two were engaged in a scuffle that was broken up by

friends, after which the shooter followed his enemy to his place of residence and carried out the shooting.

Criminal investigators recovered bullets from the scene,. A case was filed at the area’s police station, reported AlRai. Emergency landing A Kuwait Airways aircraft had to make an emergency landing at the Kuwait International Airport half an hour after takeoff to administer immediate medical attention to a passenger who suffered from a severe respiratory problem. Captain of the flight heading to Jakarta, Indonesia contacted the Control Tower seeking permission to land, after flight attendants failed to stabilize a senior female citizen’s condition. After the passenger was hospitalized, the plane took off two hours later, reported Al-Rai. Bootlegger in custody A security guard faces alcohol trade charges after being arrested recently with possession of three liquor bottles in Ahmadi. The Asian man was caught near the building where he works.

After raiding his apartment, 30 bottles of liquor were found. The suspect remains in custody pending trial, reported Al-Anba.

Suicide attempt A man was hospitalized in a critical condition following a suicide attempt.

He committed the act after learning

that his lover married another in his native Sri Lanka. Paramedics and police reached a location in Salmiya where the incident was reported by the man’s roommates. The man’s condition stabilized after an emergency surgery was performed on him to stop bleeding from an abdominal stab wound. A case was filed, reported AlWatan.

Fugitive arrested A fugitive wanted in connection with multiple financial scams was arrested early Sunday morning after being stopped at a Hawally street for speeding. Patrol officers verified the man’s background before letting him drive away. The man, a citizen in his thirties, was placed in custody as soon as officers became aware of his charges. He was then referred to the higher authorities, reported Al-Watan.

Drunks fight Three people were arrested while seven others escaped after police raided an apartment where a fight broke out between drunken residents.

Officers raided a Salmiya apartment late at night after neighbors reported loud noises. Three suspects were arrested while investigations revealed that seven others escaped before police arrived. Investigations revealed that the fight broke out after disputes arose between a group that gathered to drink alcohol behind closed doors, reported Al-Rai.

KUWAIT: MEW officials holding surprise inspections to prevent outbreak of fires in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh area yesterday. A number of violations were found during the raids. —Photos by Fouad Al-Shaikh

MEW cracks down on Jleeb ‘violators’

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: Ministry of Electricity and Water cut power from 10 buildings that are in violation of ministry conditions in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh during a campaign in cooperation with the interior ministry. Director of Customers’ Affairs Eng Salem Al-Qasba said the sector will continue efforts to tackle power violations that are contrary to rules and regulations, especially in “bachelor” areas.

NBK launches Summer Internship Program

KUWAIT: Mazen Al-Nahedh, NBK general manager, consumer banking group, Mohammed Al-Othman, executive manager and AbdulMohsen Al-Rushaid, public relation manager, in a group photo with the Summer Internship Program students.

KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) has launched the first in a series of the 2012 Summer Internship Program two-week courses custom-made for high school and college students aged between 15 and 20 years.

NBK Summer Internship Program is specially designed for high school and college students, as an extension of NBK’s education outreach services and a demonstration of the bank’s

long-standing social involvement as well as its national commitment towards providing the young generations with the appropriate opportunities to experience first hand how the actual professional banking issues and transaction are handled and processed. The five-hour daily sessions of two-week internship featured a mixture of theoretical and practical training dedicated to providing the interns with invaluable knowl-

edge on a variety of subjects such as; the team work, creative thinking, means of self expression and modern banking work procedure, in addition to helping interns to have greater exposure to daily banking work procedures.

NBK regularly organizes and designs events and packages for the youth of the country to familiarize them with the world of banking and make them responsible citizens.

MPs express concern over oil prices decline KUWAIT: Following Iran’s criticism that Kuwait, along with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates(UAE) has contributed to declining oil prices by over-pumping, legislators expressed concern over the effect that price decline will have on the national budget, calling for curbing spending in the public sector.

“The drop in oil prices should lead the Cabinet and parliament to chart out a fiveyear plan that achieves balance between the expec ted oil prices and projec ted spending rates, especially salaries,” said MP Ahmad Lari who asked State Audit Bureau to unify the pay scale in the public sector.

Likewise, MP Abdurrahman Al-Anjari urged the government to draw up ‘long and short term plans’ to deal with repercussions of the drop in oil prices,” reiterating the importance of “finding multiple sources of income.”

Meanwhile, MP Dr Ali Al-Omair warned

that that an imbalance in the state budget created by oil prices reduction “will directly affect the execution of development projects,” calling for more focus to be placed on investment spending as part of ‘serious efforts’ to diversify sources of income.

In other news, MP Marzouq Al-Ghanim urged Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education Dr Nayef Al-Hajraf to tackle “a series of violations” committed at the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAEET). The lawmaker claimed to be in possession of documents that ‘prove suspected forgery,’ including a case in which unnamed PAAET officials allegedly lobbied to improve a graduate’s GPA (Grade Point Average) five years after his graduation.

Meanwhile, MP Nabeel Al-Fadhl asked Parliament Speaker Ahmad Al-Saadoun to take punitive measures, as per the internal regulations of the National Assembly, against “[MPs] who leak information from

parliamentary investigation committees.”

Al-Fadhl was referring to the incident where reports about cash deposits probe was published in the local press.

Separately, MP Dr Waleed Al-Tabtabaei warned Interior Minister Sheikh Ahmad AlHmoud Al-Sabah of ‘overconfidence’ regarding his chances of sur viving a grilling motion filed by MP Mohammad Al-Juwaihel.

“While the interpellation motion has not earned the majority bloc’s approval, [minister Al-Hmoud] should not enter the debate with full confidence,” Al-Tabtabaei explained.

In the meantime, Al-Tabtabaei refused to comment on news that a public demonstration was planned in protest against his derogatory remarks on Kuwait’s flag not being hoisted during the upcoming London Olympics as a result of the ban against the country’s participation in Olympics competitions.

‘National unity will not be compromised upon’ KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah does not suppor t any attempt to alter the form, structure or system of the state, sources said. They underscored that any attempt to amend the Constitution would meet the same destiny as Article 79’s amendment attempt.

Sources said that the Parliament’s majority bloc was launching its first step toward radical change after the parliamentary legislative committee discussed a law to form political groups instead of allowing the formation of political parties, along with a bill to turn Kuwait into a single elec toral constituency.

Furthermore, sources stressed that majority bloc MPs had warned the prime minister that his Cabinet members would fall one after the other. Also, any law that breaches social security or national unity will be rejected the same way as the draft bill on blasphemy law.

“Violating national unity will not be tolerated for leading Kuwait into the unknown,’ stressed sources.

“Speaking about a choosing a prime minister from the public does not need constitutional amendment,” added sources, noting that the Constitution has not mandated that the prime minister be a ruling family member and that it was only out of constitutional norms that this was followed until the premiership and the crown prince posi-

tions were separated in 2006.

“Choosing the prime minister is an absolute right of HH the Amir,’ underscored sources.

Commenting on replacing former finance minster, Mustafa Al-Shamali, sources said that it would be premature to discuss a Cabinet reshuffling at the moment and that the leadership was waiting for the results of the grilling motion filed against Social Affairs Minister, Ahmed Al-Rujaib. “However, the reshuffling will focus on public interest and will not yield to any pressure,” the source highlighted.

Meanwhile, the ‘All But the Nation’ group called holding a rally at the Flag Yard to reject the recent attitude displayed by MPs Mohammed Hayef and Waleed Al-Tabtabae towards the state’s flag.

Commenting on the incident, MP Nabil Al-Fadhl said that he would express displeasure at Hayef’s refusal to stand up while the national anthem was being played. “If he believes that the anthem was nothing but drum beats and rhythms, I tell him that the citizenship is nothing but a piece of paper. Let him tear it and leave!”

On his par t, MP Ali Al-R ashid slammed both MPs’ showing disrespect to the flag by failing to stand up. “Those people will not manage to turn Kuwait into Kuwaitistan!” he argued, reported Annahar.

Lebanese orphans express love for Kuwait through art BEIRUT: The orphan children in Sidon, south Lebanon articulated yesterday their love to Kuwait, through modern creative expression in art, within the activities of Istijaba charitable association.

This came on the exhibition opening of works, craft and heritage at Istijaba school hall belonging to Istijaba Association, which includes activites of orphan students and the poor, during the current academic year. The exhibition is attended by social, media and cultural personalities as well as mosque imams and student families.

Orphan students presented their artwork that mirror gratitude of students and

school administrations for Kuwait’s role in bestowing aid and support to ease any anguish. Sheikh Nadim Hijazi, head of Istijaba said that school organised this exhibition, on occasion of the academic year ending and to show Kuwait gratitude in their charitable role in the field.

The exhibition displays works of wood, craft and oil paintings that symbolizes creativity of orphan children.

Isitijaba Association was founded in 2011, in a ceremony attended by the Kuwaiti ambassador to Lebanon Abdulaal Al-Qenai. The association holds a registry of 900 orphan and poor children. — KUNA

Belgian, Kuwaiti lawmakers underline strong relations BRUSSELS: The Belgian-Kuwaiti Parliamentary Friendship Group met in Brussels yesterday to review the progress of ties and cooperation between the two countries and exchange views on regional and international developments.

The parliamentarians described relations between the two countries as very good and discussed ways to further deepen them. The two sides discussed the latest developments in Syria, Iran, Bahrain, Yemen as well as the situation of immigrants and Muslims in Belgium and Europe and the threat of the rise of extreme right wing groups in Europe.

The six-member Kuwait delegation, led by member of the National Assembly Dr Jamaan Al-Harbash, held the first meeting with Herman De Croo, member of the foreign relations committee and former speaker of the Belgian Parliament. “We had a very frank meeting and the questions put by the Kuwaiti delegation were quite straight”, De Croo said after the meeting.

He said the Kuwaiti MPs asked how Belgium was dealing with the issues of illegal immigration, stateless people, about its position towards Iran’s nuclear programme, and Syria.

“I explained our positions and told them that I am a member of parliament since 45 years and I did a lot to increase the understanding with the world of Islam,” said the 70 year old De Croo.

He is the oldest member of the Belgian parliament and has held several government posts, including minister for education and transport.

De Croo said he initiated the teaching of Islam in Belgian schools and also the creation of a mosque at Brussels airport to promote democracy and tolerance between Belgium and the Muslim world.

When he was the speaker of parliament, De Croos said he visited Kuwait and noted that Belgium was very active in supporting it when invaded in the early 90’s.

“Relations between the two countries are good and it was a very good meet-

ing,” he added. Al-Harbash, chair of the Group, said that the meeting is part of the Kuwait parliament’s efforts to promote friendships with parliaments of other nations.

He noted that Belgium played a noble and important role during the occupation and liberation of Kuwait and it also has a positive position on the Palestine issue. Belgium voted in favour of the recognition of a Palestinian state and also in favour of a seat for Palestine in UNESCO. Al Harbash said Belgium has also a very progressive European position regarding the issue of the Syrian people’s revolution. He said that today’s meeting enriched the experiences of the Kuwait parliamentarians and contributed in explaining the issues of the Gulf region and the support to the revolution in Syria and its people.

They also spoke about the situation of Muslims in Belgium and about the rise of extreme right wing groups in the country as well as Europe, while the

majority in Belgium are against this trend, he said.

Al Harbash underlined that this right wing extremism is a threat to international peace and security.

Abdullah Al Barghash, the vice-chair of the Group, said they were very happy to visit Belgium and to meet and exchange views with their hugely-experienced Belgian colleagues.

“We spoke about the ties that link Belgium and Kuwait and issues of mutual interest such as stateless persons and the position of the Belgian parliament towards Syria, and we found that their position is similar to ours in condemning the crimes being committed in the country and supporting to the people,” he said. They also spoke about the situation in Iran and the dangers posed by its nuclear programme, and we noted the similarity between the two positions, he said. The Kuwait parliamentarians held a second meeting with Patrick Morau, deputy head of the foreign relations committee in the Belgian parliament and

Belgium’s representative at the International Parliamentary Union.

“We have good parliamentary relations with Kuwait and as parliamentarians, we can speak openly without taboo,” Morau said. “ They had a lot of questions, for example they asked about the ban of the niqab in Belgium. We explained our position and they explained their position.

We now know Kuwait better than before,” he said.

“We are going to continue our contacts and perhaps send a Belgian parliamentary delegation to Kuwait to see how democracy is working there.

Relations are very good,” added Moriau.

On his part, MP Mohammad Al Kalifah said they discussed many issues in particular developments in Egypt, Syria, Yemen and Bahrain.

They assured the Belgian side that the democratic system in Kuwait determines the relations between the ruler and the people and safeguards the rights of the people, he said.—KUNA

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

Riots threaten new Myanmar image SITTWE: Northwest Myanmar was tense yesterday after sectarian violence engulfed its biggest city on the weekend, with rival mobs of Muslims and Buddhists torching houses, police firing into the air and Muslims fleeing by boat to neighbouring Bangladesh. At least eight people were killed and many wounded, authorities say, in the worst communal violence since a reformist government replaced a junta last year and vowed to forge unity in one of Asia’s most ethnically diverse countries. The fighting erupted on Friday in the Rakhine State town of Maungdaw, but quickly spread to the capital Sittwe and nearby villages. The United Nations said yesterday it had started evacuating staff from the area after the government announced a state of emergency and dawn-to-dusk curfews.

Reuters reporters saw plumes of black smoke over parts of Sittwe, a port town of mainly wooden houses where Buddhists and Muslims have long lived in uneasy proximity. Some Buddhists were seen carrying bamboo stakes, machetes, sling-shots and other makeshift weapons after Muslims were seen setting alight houses. “We have now ordered troops to protect the airport and the Rakhine villages under attack in Sittwe,” Zaw Htay, director of the President’s Office, told Reuters. “Arrangements are under way to impose a curfew in some other towns.”

The unrest undermines the image of ethnic unity and stability that helped persuade the United States and Europe to suspend economic sanctions this year, while increasing curfews could threaten tourism and foreign investment - rewards for emerging from nearly half a century of army rule. It might also force reformist President Thein Sein, a former general, to confront an issue that human rights groups have criticised for years: the plight of thousands of stateless Rohingya Muslims who live along Myanmar’s border with Bangladesh in abject conditions and are despised by many ethnic Rakhine, members of Myanmar’s predominantly Buddhist majority.

“Vengeance and anarchy” could spread beyond Rakhine State and jeopardise the country’s transition to democracy, Thein Sein warned in a hastily arranged televised address on Sunday. About 100 Rohingyas tried to flee the violence by boat into Bangladesh but were pushed back yesterday morning, said a Bangladesh border commander. “We have stepped up vigilance and will stop anyone trying to come across the border,” he said. That followed about five boatloads carrying about 200 Rohingyas who were pushed back out to sea on Sunday, said Anwar Hossain, a major with Bangladesh’s border guard.

Rohingya activists have long demanded recognition in Myanmar as an indigenous ethnic group with full citizenship by birthright, claiming a centuries-old lineage in Rakhine. But the government regards them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and denies them citizenship.

Bangladesh has refused to grant Rohingyas refugee status since 1992.

“Invaders” In recent days, they have been described as “invaders” or “terrorists” by some Burmese using their newfound freedom of expression and easier access to the Internet to vent their anger on social networking sites and express antiRohingya sentiments that have simmered for decades. The authorities have blamed Rohingya mobs for the violence.

Witnesses from Maungdaw on Saturday described Rohingya attacking Buddhist homes. “It’s just like a living hell. I wonder how long we will have to live like this?” said Mya Khin, a housewife.

Rohingya activists and residents accuse ethnic Rakhine of terrorising their communities. Witnesses in Sittwe said homes were torched on Sunday in at least four places. By late Sunday, tension appeared to be spreading. State-run MRTV announced curfews in three other Rakhine towns, including Thandwe, the gateway to Myanmar’s tourist beaches, and Kyaukphyu, where China is building a giant port complex. Reuters saw residents of a mainly Rakhine village near Sittwe on Sunday set ablaze houses they said were Muslim-owned.

“We are burning Rohingya houses because they live near our village and they gather at night and try to attack us,” said an unidentified ethnic Rakhine man. Planeloads of soldiers arrived in Sittwe on Saturday but residents said the security forces were ineffectual. “A Rohingya mob just set fire to some Rakhine houses just behind Infantry Battalion 357. The soldiers just watched, without doing anything,” said one resident who declined to be identified.

An elderly Muslim man living with his family reported that Buddhist vigilantes armed with “swords and sticks” were roaming the streets on motorbikes. “The security forces are helping them destroy Muslim houses,” the man, a retired government official who also requested anonymity, said by telephone from his house near Sittwe airport. A gang of Buddhists tried to burn his house down, but were dissuaded with help from a Buddhist neighbour, he said.

The western region has been tense for more than a week after the gang rape and murder of a Buddhist woman blamed on Muslims and the reprisal killing by a Buddhist mob a week ago of 10 Muslims. State media said three men had gone on trial on Friday for the rape and murder. The authorities said hundreds of Rohingya went on the rampage in Maungdaw, where about 500 buildings were said to have been destroyed, and a night-time curfew was imposed.

Police and soldiers successfully restored “peace and stability” to Maungdaw and neighbouring Buthidaung district, the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported on Sunday. One woman died on Sunday after police confronted rioters at a Maungdaw market, it said without elaborating. In its editorial, the usually staid newspaper made an impassioned plea for calm, warning that “democracy cannot flourish” where there is “anarchy, stagnation and lawlessness”.

The Rohingya are descended from South Asians and speak a dialect of Bengali. Most are stateless, recognised as citizens by neither Myanmar nor Bangladesh. The UN refugee agency estimates there are about 800,000 of them in three districts of Rakhine state bordering Bangladesh.

They are subject to many forms of “persecution, discrimination and exploitation”, says the United Nations, including forced labour, restrictions on travel and marriage and limited access to education.

Decades of systematic persecution by the Myanmar authorities had made sectarian violence inevitable, said Elaine Pearson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia division. “All those years of discrimination, abuses and neglect are bound to bubble up at some point, and that’s what we are seeing now,” she said. — Agencies

Colorado fires spread

TEKNMAF: Rohingya Muslims fleeing sectarian violence cry as they try to cross the Naf river into Bangladesh yesterday. — AFP

Page 10

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

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

Bureaucracy clogs Libya’s rocky road to democracy TRIPOLI: Libya’s first national election in a generation was designed to heal the divisions laid bare by the revolt that toppled Muammar Gaddafi, but bureaucratic bottlenecks could derail the vote and push the country deeper into chaos. The July 7 election, for a 200-member national assembly which will draft a new constitution, offers Libya the chance to choose legitimate leaders capable of uniting the country for the first time since Gaddafi’s downfall and death last year. But while the bloodshed that accompanied the end of his 42 years in power has receded, blunders in organising the election could touch off the rivalries that lie just beneath the surface. Tribes in the desert continue to fight each other, rivalry simmers between regions and cities, Islamists and secularists eye each other with suspicion, and armed militias pursue their own narrow interests at the point of a gun.

Against this backdrop, the Higher National Election Commission announced on Sunday it was pushing the vote back by 18 days because of logistical and technical issues. On a visit to the commission’s headquarters, it is easy to see why keeping the original date was impossible. Each time one of the 130 people working to prepare the election wants to make a telephone call, they face a problem: the electoral commission headquarters has only two functioning landlines.

Like so much in the new Libya,

workers on the commission are driven by goodwill and energy, and at the same time stymied by a machinery of state which does not work. Nuri AlAbbar, the tired-looking 52-year-old former lawyer who heads the commission, said given the obstacles and the lack of official support, it was remarkable his staff had even got as far as they have. “We have been an afterthought all along,” Abbar told Reuters in an interview a few days before he had to announce the postponement of the election. “We have been dealing with so much disorganization, bureaucracy and crossed messages with the government,” he said.

Borrowed offices The body given the task of organising the election works out of a couple of borrowed floors in the interior ministry building in the capital, Tripoli.

Inside, staff and Arabic-speaking advisors from the United Nations - including some who have worked on elections in post-conflict Iraq - compare notes and logo designs in a busy room strewn with papers and documents. In one large but basic office, with the air conditioner blasting, sits the commission’s deputy director Emad Al-Sayeh.

Outside, workmen erecting a metal sign for the commission over the entrance argue over whether it is hanging straight.

Sayeh got the job after his predecessor, Al-Sagheer Al-Majri, quit not long after the commission was set up

in January. “The pressure and stress of the work has made many on the board resign. It’s just too much,” said Sayeh.

“A transitional government’s foremost duties are to provide security and pave the way for national assembly elections, but it hasn’t been able to do either.”

The biggest problem, he said, is that the commission does not have the resources it needs. When it goes to Libya’s interim leadership, the National Transitional Council (NTC) for help, he said, nobody seems to want to take responsibility. According to his account, when the commission went to the communications ministry, in charge of the telephone system, to ask for more lines in its office, the government asked who would pay and left the issue unresolved. A row over television air-time to promote awareness about the election - crucial in a country where most people have no experience of voting-also illustrates the problem.

“Libyan TV charges us 7,000 Libyan dinars (about $5,500) for a one-hour episode,” said the deputy commission chief. “This should be a free service.”

Security is another worry. At the start of May, a voter registration centre at a Tripoli school had to close after a militia turned up in pick-up trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns to demand more representation for militia men.

Election commission officials say they asked the government for protection in mid-May when candidates

were being registered - a potential flashpoint in the election process. “We looked all around us and there was not one person from government security forces looking out for us,” said Abbar, the commission head. “They didn’t even come to check to see if we were doing something wrong or illegal, or to see if we needed some extra help,” he said.

Healthy distance The government said it was doing everything in its power while maintaining a healthy distance from the commission. “The government has a committee which meets with the commission twice a week to see what they need and we are trying not to interrupt their work so they remain independent,” Deputy Prime Minister Mustafa Abushagur told Reuters. A government spokesman, Nasser alManee, said the ministries of defence and interior had a “strategic plan” for polling day.

Driving through Tripoli, it’s hard to believe Libya’s first direct, multi-party election since 1952 is only days away.

There are no campaign posters or flyers, no photos of hopeful candidates on billboards, lamp-posts or store fronts. Billboards set up by the elections commission a few weeks ago urging people to register and vote are the only outward sign an election is coming. Political parties themselves cannot launch their campaigns because they still await confirmation

that their applications to run have been approved.

“We don’t even know if there will be elections let alone who is running or who we will vote for,” said Siraj Siraj, a Tripoli taxi driver. Yet for all the problems, progress is being made. The voter registration drive was a success, with around 2.7 million people, or about 80 percent of eligible voters, putting their name down to participate. Boxes containing bank ballot papers and indelible ink - used to mark peoples’ fingers so they cannot vote twice - have been delivered from suppliers abroad.

“This is the last batch of election materials to arrive in Libya,” Salem Bin Nahiya, head of operations at the election commission, told Reuters as he inspected the cargo, wrapped in back plastic, at Tripoli International Airport.

Ian Martin, the head of the UN mission in Libya, has experienced Libya’s lack of order at first hand. In April, someone threw a bomb at his convoy in the eastern city of Benghazi, though no one was hurt.

He was upbeat about the vote. He said the decision to postpone it was sensible because it would allow more time to prepare candidate lists, print ballot papers and educate voters about what to expect. “It would be naive not to expect any problems,” he said. “I believe that in general this election, even though it can’t be expected to be without problems, will be successfully carried out.” — Reuters

44 dead as Yemen army attacks Islamist area Month-long operation leaves thousands trapped

BAGHDAD: An Iraqi soldier walks past a poster depicting Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr yesterday. — AFP

Iraq pilgrimage security tight after mortar attack BAGHDAD: Iraqi officials stepped up security yesterday ahead of a major Shiite pilgrimage after a mortar attack on a religious procession in Baghdad killed seven people and wounded dozens. The attacks come amid a sectarian-fuelled deadlock in Iraq’s Shiite-led coalition government, and may further inflame tensions. Security forces have been put on high alert and new measures have been taken to prevent attacks on the tens of thousands of pilgrims expected to gather to commemorate the death of a revered imam, said Dhia AlWakil, a spokesman for the Defence Ministry and the Baghdad operations command.

Pilgrims have already started to arrive in Baghdad for the commemorations for the eighth century death of Imam Moussa ibn Jaafar al-Kadhim, one of the 12 principal Shiite saints who is buried in a mosque in the northern neighborhood of Kazimiyah.

Two mortar shells hit a procession the northern Baghdad neighborhood of Kazimiyah late Sunday, killing seven and wounding 38. The attack came just days before the expected climax of religious observations on Saturday, when pilgrims traditionally walk to the twin-domed shrine in Kazimiyah where Al-Kadhim is said to be buried.

On Monday, all side streets in Kazimiyah and its surrounding areas were blocked to secure the way for pilgrims, an Interior Ministry official said, speaking on customary condition of anonymity. The al-Kadhim procession was struck by tragedy in 2005, when thousands of Shiite pilgrims panicked by rumors of a suicide bomber broke into a stampede on a bridge, leaving some 1,000 of them dead. Police later said no

explosives were found on the bridge and poor crowd control and the climate of fear in Iraq appeared largely to blame.

Officials said Sunday’s attack, like many of the bombings that still plague Baghdad and the rest of Iraq, was intended to stir up animosity between Iraq’s Shiite and Sunni Muslims, the two largest religious groups. A director of an intelligence cell in the Baghdad operation command blamed AlQaeda for the mortar attacks, saying it is the terrorist movement’s hallmark to hit the Shiites to provoke a reaction from them against Sunnis. He said similar attempts at attacks were expected and the government has deployed ground forces accompanied by an air cover. He also spoke on condition of anonymity. The attack came the same day as an attempt to push Shiite Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki out of office failed. The country’s president refused to ratify a petition for a no-confidence vote in parliament because it lacked the needed number of signatures. At the root of the standoff is the unresolved power struggle between Iraq’s three main groups - the majority Shiites and minority Sunnis and Kurds - following the ouster of Saddam Hussein in the US led invasion of 2003. The continued impasse has raised the possibility of renewed sectarian violence and hampered plans for rebuilding the country ravaged by a decade of fighting. Al-Maliki, a Shiite, is under fire for breaking promises to share power with his partners in a unity government that includes the Sunni-dominated Iraqiya bloc, Kurdish parties and loyalists of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada AlSadr. Sunnis believe he is targeting their leaders with politically motivated prosecutions. — AP

UK prime minister leaves daughter in pub LONDON: It’s every parent’s nightmare - get home and realize a child is missing. British Prime M inister David Cameron’s office confirmed yesterday that he accidentally left his 8-year-old daughter Nancy in a country pub after a family Sunday lunch. Officials said the incident happened “a couple of months ago,” as the family was leaving the pub near Chequers, a country house prime ministers use while in office, west of London. Nancy had gone to the bathroom while Cameron and the rest of the family piled into two cars to drive back to the house. Cameron was travelling in one car with his bodyguards and

assumed that she was in the other car with his wife Samantha and two other children.

Samantha assumed Nancy was with her father, and they only realized she was missing when they got home. In a statement, Cameron’s Downing Street office said “the prime minister and Samantha were distraught when they realized Nanc y wasn’t with them.

Thankfully when they phoned the pub she was there safe and well.” Nancy was separated from her parents for around 15 minutes until Cameron arrived to collect her from The Plough in the village of Cadsden, officials said. —AP

ADEN: Yemeni warplanes and troops bombarded the Islamist militant stronghold of Jaar yesterday, officials and witnesses said, part of a US-backed offensive in a country Washington sees as a front line in its war against AlQaeda. At least 44 soldiers and militants were killed as the army launched its most serious assault on Jaar to date and also attacked positions near Shaqra, a coastal town on a major shipping route, and other areas, a Yemeni military official told Reuters.

Yemen is battling to retake towns and territory in the southern province of Abyan that were seized by militants linked to AlQaeda last year during a popular uprising against President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Washington, which helped engineer Saleh’s

replacement by his deputy, is supporting the campaign and has increased drone strikes on suspected al Qaeda members it believes may be plotting attacks from Yemen.

It has also sent dozens of military trainers and increased aid to Yemen where it wants President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to reunify the military and focus it against Al-Qaeda. “The military has just started an assault from three different fronts in an attempt to enter Jaar,” a military official said, adding armed tribesmen were supporting the troops.

The army fought militants overnight into yesterday morning, driving them out of small villages and killing at least 28 fighters and six soldiers, the official said.

The official said he did not expect the army to entre the town yesterday because the feared the militants might have booby-trapped most of the surrounding roads. Residents told Reuters the army used warplanes and artillery to attack the town centre. The army was also gearing up to try to take the southern coastal town of Shaqra, the official said, adding eight militants and two soldiers were killed in clashes near the town. Shaqra is a gateway for Somalis entering Yemen to fight alongside al Qaeda.

The military’s offensive has cut off supplies of food and medicine and forced thousands to flee their homes, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said last week. Tens of

thousands were trapped inside towns like Jaar and Shaqra, the ICRC said. Concerned about the humanitarian and security crisis in Yemen, Gulf Arab states and the West pledged more than $4 billion in aid to the impoverished state last month.

Separately, a Saudi Arabian national, Nasser Abdulaziz AlMahiri, who was kidnapped six months ago by tribesmen in north Yemen, was released on Sunday after tribal mediation, Yemen’s state news agenc y S a b a s a i d on i t s we b s i te.

Kidnappings of foreigners and Yemenis are common in theimpoverished Arabian Peninsula state, where hostages are often used by disgruntled tribesmen to press demands on authorities. — Reuters

Annan ‘gravely concerned’ about Syria amid clashes BEIRUT: International envoy Kofi Annan said yesterday he was “gravely concerned” about the latest violence in Syria, citing shelling of opposition areas in Homs and reports of mortar, helicopter and tank attacks near the coast. In a statement, Annan said there was an escalation of fighting by government and opposition forces. Violence has spiked in recent weeks, with both sides ignoring a UN brokered cease-fire that was supposed to go into effect April 12 but never took hold. Annan demanded both sides “take all steps to ensure that civilians are not harmed.”

Yesterday, activists said Syrian troops attacked a rebel-held town in the center with helicopter gunships and shelled other restive areas across the nation. The aerial assault targeted the strategic river crossing town of Rastan, which has resisted repeated government offensives for months, the activists said. “The regime is now using helicopters more after its ground troops suffered major losses,” said Rami Abdul-Rahman of the Britain-based activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which uses a network of sources on the ground. “Dozens of (military) vehicles have been destroyed or damaged” since the end of May, he said.

Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi recently said that rebels are now using sophisticated anti-tank missiles.

Videos posted by activists over the past week have shown many destroyed tanks and armored personnel carriers. According to videos posted online, fireballs of orange flame and black rubble exploded in the air as waves of

shells pounded residential buildings in Homs yesterday. The sounds of shells whooshed through the sky and there was occasional sporadic machine gun fire. The videos could not be independently verified.

The Observatory and another activist coalition, the Local Coordination Committees, also reported government shelling in the central provinces of Hama and Homs, where Rastan is located, as well as the southern region of Daraa, the

a car rigged with 700 kilograms (1,500 pounds) of explosives in the Damascus suburb of Chebaa.

Experts dismantled it yesterday, SANA said. Syrian activists say 13,000 people have been killed in violence since the uprising began in March 2011. The bloodshed has led to broad condemnation of the regime from the international community, although Russia, Iran and China have stood by President Bashar Assad. Russia and China have vetoed two

DAMASCUS: A handout picture shows a burnt car that was blown up by an armed group in the neighbourhood of Barza yesterday. — AFP northern province of Aleppo, and suburbs of the capital Damascus and Deir el-Zour in the east. The Observatory also said a bomb targeted a security force in the northern city of Idlib, killing seven soldiers and a civilian. There was no immediate confirmation from state media.

In Damascus, the state-run news agency SANA said authorities foiled an attempt to blow up

Security Council resolutions that threatened sanctions against Syria. Russia has refused to support any move that could lead to foreign intervention in Syria, Moscow’s last significant ally in the Middle East.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is scheduled to visit Syria’s ally Iran on Wednesday. In Israel, the deputy military chief warned that Syria’s large chemical

weapons stocks could be trained on the Jewish state. According to Maj. Gen. Yair Naveh, Syria has the largest arsenal of chemical weapons in the world. If the Syrians had the chance, he said, they would “treat us the same way they treat their own people.”

Syria has not acknowledged possessing chemical weapons, so the exact size is not known.

Among other things, Israel is worried that such weapons could fall into the hands of anti-Israel militants should the regime crumble.

Israel has been watching the carnage in neighboring Syria with increasing concern. The two countries have fought major wars and multiple attempts to reach a peace deal have failed. Syria has strong ties to Iran, Israel’s most dangerous enemy, and to Palestinian and Lebanese militants who have fought wars against Israel.

On the other hand, the IsraelSyria border has been mostly quiet for decades under the regimes of Assad and his father. In Germany, the country’s defense minister sharply rejected the idea of military intervention in Syria, referring to those who ask for it as “coffeehouse intellectuals.”

Thomas de Maiziere told yesterday’s edition of German daily taz: “The continued waffling by people who bear none of the responsibility creates expectations in regions like Syria, thereby causing terrible disappointment.” British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Sunday that he could not rule out military intervention in Syria, saying the situation there is beginning to resemble the violence that gripped Bosnia in the 1990s. — AP

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

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

‘I find it shocking’ British ex-PM Brown blasts Murdoch

PARIS: French President Francois Hollande (left) meets his Niger counterpart Issoufou Mahamadou at the Elysee Palace yesterday. — AP

Hollande enjoys strong parliamentary position PARIS: President Francois Hollande’s Socialists and their allies were on track yesterday to win a strong parliamentary majority after a first-round election that cemented France’s swing to the left. A week ahead of a crucial run-off vote, the Socialists and other left-wing parties won about 46 percent in Sunday’s first round ahead of ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy’s right-wing UMP party and its allies with 34 percent, official results showed. With pollsters predicting the Socialists may win a majority of the National Assembly’s 577 seats on their own, party officials yesterday urged voters to keep up the momentum in next Sunday’s second round.

“The essential thing is that the president has a strong majority,” Socialist Party leader Martine Aubry said. Sunday’s vote also saw a surge in support for Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Front, which wants to ditch the euro and battle against what she calls the “Islamisation” of France.

Aubry urged the UMP to withdraw its candidates in constituencies where the far right could win to ensure victory for centrist candidates.

“I call on the UMP to be clear... Many are watching in France and in Europe and I believe we must be clear in defending certain values,” she said. Hollande defeated Sarkozy in last month’s presidential election and now wants voters to give him a strong mandate to enact left-wing reforms as France battles Europe’s crippling debt crisis, rising joblessness and a stagnant economy. However, after a high turnout in the presidential election, voters were less enthusiastic on Sunday with

participation rate at only 57 percent, a record low for a first round.

If the second round confirms Sunday’s results, it will increase Hollande’s status in Europe as champion of the movement away from the German-led fixation on austerity towards growth, and give him a confidence boost in talks with fellow EU leaders this month on the euro-zone crisis. Pollsters say Sunday’s results indicate the Socialists will take between 283 and 329 seats in the run-off, likely enough to secure the 289 seats they need to form a majority on their own.

With the 10 to 15 seats expected to go to the Greens, who are close allies of the Socialists and already in government, Hollande is all but certain to enjoy a majority without needing to turn to the Communist-backed Left Front for support.

With the Socialists already in control of the upper house Senate and almost all regional governments, UMP leader JeanFrancois Cope urged voters to balance their power with a swing to the right in the second round. “All the French men and women who do not want the left to have total power for the next five years must take that decision now,” he said. He also reached out to National Front voters, urging them to switch from the far-right to the UMP to keep the Socialists from victory.

“I am telling the FN’s voters: be careful when you vote for the FN in the second round, you risk putting the left in power,” Cope said, though he rejected the idea of the UMP forming a second-round alliance with the FN. — AFP

LONDON: Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown accused media tycoon Rupert Murdoch yesterday of misleading a government-sponsored inquiry into press ethics with incorrect testimony alleging Brown had threatened war against Murdoch’s company.

“This conversation never took place. I am shocked and surprised that it should be suggested,” Brown told the Leveson inquiry. “This call did not happen. The threat was not made.”

“I find it shocking,” Brown said.”This did not happen. There is no evidence that it happened other than Mr Murdoch’s but it didn’t happen.”

Murdoch had told the inquiry under oath that Brown phoned him in September 2009 after the Sun newspaper started supporting the Conservative Party. Brown vowed to wage war on Murdoch’s company in revenge, he testified. “We were talking more quietly than you or I are now - he said, ‘Well, your company has declared war on my government and we have no alternative but to make war on your company,’” Murdoch told the inquiry in April.

When pressed on how a serving prime minister could make such a threat, Murdoch told the inquiry: “I don’t think he was in a very balanced state of mind”. Brown, who served as prime minister from 2007 to 2010, said that Murdoch was wrong about both the date and the contents of the phone call. Statements submitted to a media watchdog by five of Brown’s advisers, and seen by Reuters, show none of the five heard Brown threaten Murdoch on the call.

Aides to Brown, including his special adviser, director of strategy and deputy chief of staff, said in statements submitted to the Press Complaints Commission last year that Brown made no such threat on the call, which took place in November not September as Murdoch had said. “I listened to the phone call between Mr Brown and Mr. Murdoch in November 2009,” Stewart Wood, special adviser to the Prime Minister’s office, said in a statement dated October 2011 that Reuters has seen.

“At no point in the conversation was threatening language of any sort used by either Mr Brown or Mr Murdoch,” Wood said.

In one of the other corroborating statement, lawmaker Michael Dugher, wrote: “At no time did Mr Brown threaten the position of News International. Both Mr. Brown and Mr. Murdoch were entirely courteous and calm.” A former British leader accusing Murdoch of misleading the inquiry under oath will further tarnish the reputation of the world’s most powerful media tycoon in a country which is home to some of his biggest newspaper and

broadcasting interests. A British parliamentary committee which investigated allegations of illegal phone-hacking by Murdoch publications has already deemed the Australian-born tycoon unfit to manage a major global company. The cross-party parliamentary committee said in May that Murdoch was ultimately responsible for the illegal phone hacking that has corroded his global media empire and convulsed Britain’s political elite.

Brown’s son Brown also challenged a version of events given by Murdoch’s deputy, Rebekah Brooks,

Gordon Brown about a Sun report that Brown’s four-monthold son Fraser had been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. Brooks, a close Murdoch confidante who was charged last month with interfering with a police investigation into the phone hacking scandal, told the inquiry the Browns had given their backing to the story. “I have never sought to bring my children into the public domain,” Brown said. He denied his consent had been given to publish the story.

“I find it sad that even now in 2012 members of the News International staff are coming to this inquiry and maintaining this fiction.” The former prime minister has questioned whether the paper had hacked into his son’s medical records to get the story. Brooks

has denied this and Murdoch has said the story was broken when a father of another child tipped off the newspaper. “A father from the hospital in a similar position had called us, told us,” Murdoch said in his testimony.

But Brown told the inquiry that the National Health Service in Fife had apologised to his family because information about his son came from NHS staff. “There were only a few medical people who knew that our son had this condition,” Brown said. He said the NHS in Fife “now believe it highly likely that there was unauthorised information given by a medical or working member of the NHS staff that allowed the Sun through this middle man to publish this story,” Brown said.

The Sun ran a story in July 2011 under the headline “Brown Wrong” which said the source of the story was a “shattered dad” who had a son with the genetic disorder and that Brown’s wife, Sarah, had given the newspaper consent to run the story. Brooks said on May 11 at Leveson that a small donation was made to the cystic fibrosis charity at the request of the man.

But Reuters has seen a copy of a letter from the chief executive of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, Ed Owen, saying the Trust found no record of any donation by The Sun or News International at the time of the story. The Sun newspaper also reported that its readers had helped Cystic Fibrosis Trust double its donations in the wake of their story about Fraser.

But the letter from the Cystic Fibrosis Trust showed they had seen no significant increase in donations. Regardless of who the source was, the subject of a front page splash detailing the serious illness of a four-month baby is likely to prove unedifying and garner sympathy for Brown, who has rarely appeared in public since he left office in 2010. Murdoch described a relationship with Brown - whose political career effectively ended when he lost an election to incumbent Prime Minister David Cameron in 2010 - that included meals which their wives attended and conversations on topics ranging from charity to the war in Afghanistan.

Brooks told the Leveson inquiry she formed a friendship with Sarah Brown and that they had had a “pyjama party” at the prime minister’s official country residence, Chequers, with Murdoch’s daughter, Elisabeth, and his wife, Wendi. But Murdoch said their relationship worsened after his media companies opposed Brown ahead of the 2010 election. Brown told parliament in 2011 that News International was part of a “criminal-medianexus” that had broken the law on an industrial scale. — Reuters

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

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

California town shocked by family murder-suicide SELMA: News of a murder-suicide that left four family members dead raced through a tight-knit Indian community in a small California agricultural town, as police tried to determine why a former Indian army officer opened fire on his family before killing himself. Authorities said Avtar Singh - wanted for years for murder in his homeland - shot his wife and two children and gravely wounded a third child early Saturday before turning the gun on himself. “Our community is completely shocked,” Rajbir Singh Pannu, president of the town’s Sikh temple, said Sunday. “It’s a really bad misfortune, especially for the children who died. Anybody who takes somebody’s life, in our religion that’s cowardice.”

The Indian community numbers about 15,500 in Fresno County. That includes 750 in Selma, surrounded by vineyards and peach orchards and known as the “Raisin Capital of the World.” The majority of Indians in the area are Punjabi Sikhs, like the family.

It was just more than a year ago that Singh was arrested after his wife said he had choked her. That set off a process that prompted the Indian government to seek his extradition days later in the 1996 death of a prominent lawyer and human rights activist in Kashmir, a disputed region in the Himalayas.

Singh, who in recent years operated a small trucking business in Selma, was released on bail after last year’s arrest. It remained unclear Sunday why he was never extradited. In India, the lawyer and brother of Jalil Andrabi - the murdered human rights activist blamed the Indian government, saying Singh’s family would still be alive if officials 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.” In Selma, community members were also disappointed that police did not send Singh back to India when his warrant came to light, Pannu said. “ They should have taken him then and there, if they had evidence, and not let him kill more people,” he said.

Neighbors and Indian community members said they knew little about the husband’s militar y past. “Not many people knew him. He didn’t tell anybody who he is or where he came from,” said Harry Gill, president of Punjabi Sahit, a Punjabi organization in the Central Valley. “The family didn’t attend any functions. They lived a very low profile life.” News of the murdersuicide reached Gill on Saturday at an Indian wedding attended by about 1,000 people. When Gill asked others about the family, no one knew much about them. Next door neighbor, Barbara Childers, said the family’s three-year-old often rode his bike outside and the wife cooked with her window open. Singh fer tilized

Childers’ lawn a few days ago. “They were the most wonderful family,” she said. “They were helpful neighbors, the sweetest people you have ever met.”

On Saturday, Childers said she heard 11 shots. Soon afterward, the neighborhood was evacuated by police. Singh called police around 6:15 a.m. and told them that he had just killed four people, Fresno County Sheriff ’s Deputy Chris Curtice said.

A sheriff’s SWAT team was called in to assist because of Singh’s military background and the Indian charges against him, Curtice said. The SWAT team found the bodies of Singh, a woman believed to be his wife and two children, ages 3 and 15 in the home. All appeared to have died from gunshot wounds, Curtice said.

The 17-year-old suffered severe head trauma. He remained in critical condition on at a Fresno medical center. On Sunday morning, two dozen classmates of the two older boys - the 15-year-old was known as Aryan and

the 17-year-old was known as Chris ran 5 miles from Selma High School to the family’s house to remember the boys. They said the two were well-liked and members of the school’s ROTC. “Chris was smart, funny and very motivated. He was very easy to get along with,” said 15-year-old Alexis Galindo, his classmate and neighbor. The boys told her that their father kept several weapons in the house, but they never mentioned any problems at home, she said.

Christopher Cano, another classmate, said he last talked to Chris Friday night at the movie theater. “He was with his mom and brothers. They looked so happy,” he said. Cano said he texted Chris when he heard about the incident. “I’m still hoping he’ll text me back,” he said. The only other Indian family that lives on the same street said they also knew little of the Singhs.

Abeda Desai said the family had no relatives in California, but the wife’s siblings lived in Canada, while the husband’s relatives were still in India. — AP

Colorado fires spread Hundreds evacuated, dozens of structures destroyed

In this combo of three file photographs, presidential candidates (from left) Josefina Vazquez Mota, Manuel Lopez Obrador and Enrique Pena Nieto attend different events in Mexico City in 2012. — AP

Mexican front-runner not troubled in tepid debate GUADALAJARA: Mexico’s presidential front-runner Enrique Pena Nieto emerged largely unscathed in a televised debate on Sunday night after his adversaries failed to take advantage of an increase in opposition to his bid. During a two-hour encounter largely devoid of drama, Pena Nieto was barely troubled by his leftist rival Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, whose recent surge in the polls has added an element of uncertainty to the July 1 vote. In the past month, Pena Nieto’s opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) has been hit by a wave of student-led opposition playing on memories of the PRI’s reputation for corruption and authoritarianism during its 71-year rule.

Lopez Obrador has been the main beneficiary of the anti-PRI surge, but he made little effort to rally that support on Sunday night, preferring instead to repeat election mantras and list the members of his planned cabinet. “Lopez Obrador should have said ‘thank you’ to the student protests or ‘We don’t want the PRI’s authoritarianism,’ but he lacked the political intelligence and wasted a golden opportunity,” said Javier Oliva, a political scientist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). “I have no doubt now that Pena Nieto is going to be the next president.”

The jump in support for 2006 runnerup Lopez Obrador has pushed Josefina Vazquez Mota of the ruling National Action Party (PAN) back into third place in most polls. She offered most of the attacks during the debate, trying to brand her adversaries as two sides of the same coin, at turns describing them as corrupt, cowardly and untrustworthy. But many analysts believe she will struggle to finish better than third.

Most polls show Pena Nieto with a double-digit lead, with a survey by polling firm BGC published on Thursday giving him 42 percent support, an advantage of 14 points over both his rivals. Just a few months ago the 58-year-old Lopez Obrador was more than 20 points adrift in most polls. But on May 31, one survey put him just four points behind the PRI candidate. Instead of celebrating his rise in the

polls as he has on the campaign trail, Lopez Obrador sat back and came under fire in the debate from Vazquez Mota who reminded voters that he had once belonged to the PRI before he quit in the late 1980s. Despite her spirited showing on Sunday night, her bid has suffered at the hands of growing disillusionment with the PAN. Having ousted the PRI in 2000, the party has struggled under President Felipe Calderon to cope with drug-related violence and a weak job market, allowing Mexico’s old rulers to regroup.

Student anger Tens of thousands of protestors marched against the PRI in Mexico City on Sunday, holding up banners warning that a Pena Nieto win would bring back the worst elements of his party and benefit entrenched interests like dominant broadcaster Televisa. Some also marked the 41st anniversary of a notorious student massacre in the capital, which alongside the bloody suppression of demonstrations in the city’s Tlatelolco district in 1968 are among the most infamous acts of repression tied to the PRI. Seizing on the fact Lopez Obrador recently held a rally at the site of the 1968 killings, Vazquez Mota said he owed his followers an explanation for why he joined the PRI. “It’s really terrible you brought those young people there when it seems those corpses didn’t matter to you,” she said in what was the final televised debate before the election. Since the first debate on May 6, opposition to Pena Nieto and the PRI has become much more visible, with Internet-savvy student activists organizing protests in cities around Mexico. Trouble began brewing online for the 45-year-old Pena Nieto after May 11, when students at Mexico City’s private Ibero-American University heckled and booed him for his record as governor of the State of Mexico between 2005 and 2011. Afterwards some Pena Nieto supporters questioned whether the Ibero demonstrators really had been students, which only helped to galvanize his youth critics and spur them into action. — Reuters

Supreme Court turns down new Guantanamo appeals WASHINGTON: The Supreme Court yesterday declined to take a new look at the rights of foreign prisoners held for the past decade at the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba. Four years after pronouncing that detainees who face no charges have a right to challenge their ongoing confinement, the justices rejected appeals arguing that the federal appeals court in Washington has largely ignored the high court’s command.

The appeals court has not ordered the release of any detainee and has reversed several lower court release orders. In addition, some appellate judges have been unusually critical of the Supreme Court’s 2008 decision in Boumediene v. Bush. There are 169 foreigners remaining at Guantanamo, including the five men who are facing military trials for their roles in the Sept.

11 attacks.

The justices offered no comment on their orders Monday in appeals from

seven detainees. Lawyers for the detainees criticized the court for refusing to take up the appeals. “By refusing to hear these cases, and any Guant·namo cases since its 2008 Boumediene decision, the court abandons the promise of its own ruling guaranteeing detainees a constitutional right to meaningful review of the legality of their detention,” said Vincent Warren, executive director of the Centre for Constitutional Rights in New York. “Today’s decision leaves the fate of detainees in the hands of a hostile D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has erected innumerable, unjustified legal obstacles that have made it practically impossible for a detainee to win a habeas case in the trial courts. “ The rejected appeals included two detainees from Yemen who won their cases at the trial court level only to have their hopes for release dashed by the US Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. — AP

LAPORTE: An eerie orange dusk shrouded part of northern Colorado, while heavy smoke choked a small community in southern New Mexico - as both regions battled wildfires spreading rapidly through mountainous forest land that have forced hundreds of evacuations and destroyed dozens of structures.

The Colorado fire, burning in a mountainous area about 15 miles west of Fort Collins, grew to more than 31 square miles within about a day of being reported and has destroyed or damaged 18 structures. The fire on Sunday sent up heavy smoke, obscuring the sun in the middle of the day.

The smell of smoke drifted into the Denver area and smoke spread as far away as central Nebraska, western Kansas and Texas.

Strong winds, meanwhile, grounded aircraft fighting a 40square -mile wildfire near the mountain community of Ruidoso in southern New Mexico. Crews were working to build a fire line around the blaze, which started Friday and has damaged or destroyed 36 structures. It wasn’t immediately clear how many of the structures lost were homes.

“We’re still trying to take a tally,” Kerry Gladden, public information officer for Ruidoso, said late Sunday afternoon.

Dan Ware, a spokesman for the New Mexico State Forestr y Division, said the number of Ruidoso evacuees was in the hundreds, but he didn’t have an exact figure. Karen Takai, a spokeswoman for the Ruidoso fire crews, said smoke is heavily impacting the community of Capitan, about 5 miles to the northeast. She said Capitan and others could also face evacuation.

“Any communities around this fire have the potential of being

evacuated,” she said. “If I lived in Capitan, I definitely would be prepared. Don’t wait until the sheriff’s office comes knocking at your door and tells you to evacuate.”

Both fires were dwarfed by the Whitewater-Baldy blaze in southwest New Mexico - the largest in the state’s history - that has charred 450 square miles of wilderness forest since mid-May. But the smaller blazes were especially concerning because they started much closer to more populated areas.

Elsewhere Sunday, firefighters

there was an unconfirmed report of a person unaccounted for, but he wouldn’t elaborate.

Authorities say it’s the worst fire seen in Larimer County in about 25 years. It spread as fast as 1 1/2 miles an hour Saturday, skipping over some areas but burning intensely in trees in others.

Flames were coming dangerously close to deputies who were telling some residents to evacuate, Smith said.

Kathie Walter and her husband helped friends several miles away evacuate from the Colorado fire

FORT COLLINS: Poudre Fire Authority crews battle a wildfire in a mountainous area about 15 miles west of Colorado. — AP were battling a wildfire that blackened 6 square miles in Wyoming’s Guernsey State Park and forced the evacuation of between 500 and 1,000 campers and visitors. Cooler weather was helping firefighters in their battle against two other wildfires in southern Utah. In Colorado, authorities sent nearly 1,800 evacuation notices to phone numbers but it wasn’t clear how many residents had to leave.

About 500 people had checked in at Red Cross shelters. Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith said

on Saturday. When they got home, they were surprised to get a call warning them to be ready to evacuate just in case. But Walter didn’t want to wait.

“Smoke was coming in hard. We could not see flames or orange or black smoke. But we didn’t need to see anymore. We just said ‘Hey, let’s get out of here,’” she said.

They evacuated with their five cats and two dogs. They had a head start. After a wildfire in the area last year, they had left two suitcases packed in their garage.

Elaine Mantle and her family

got a call to evacuate their Bellvue home at 5:45 a.m.

Sunday. It took about 30 minutes for them to get out and reach a spillover shelter at the Budweiser Event Center in Loveland.

Evacuees gathered there for a fire briefing, sipping coffee and eating bananas and powdered doughnuts, in a large gymnasium-like space. It was the Mantles’ first evacuation in the 25 years that they have lived in the mountains, and they were grateful to be safe. “We’re all here, we’re all OK. Our neighbors are all here.

We feel good,” Mantle said.

The blaze also forced the evacuation of 11 wolves from a sanctuary near the fire. KUSA-TV in Denver reported that 19 wolves remained behind at the sanctuary, which has underground concrete bunkers known as “fire dens” that can be used by the animals. The fire is the latest to hit Colorado’s drought-stricken Front Range. In May, a fire set by a camper’s stove charred 12 square miles in the same Poudre Canyon area. In March, a fire sparked by a prescribed burn 25 miles southwest of Denver killed three people and damaged or destroyed more than two dozen homes.

Eight air tankers - including two from Canada - and several helicopters were on the scene to help fight the blaze. Authorities say they’re competing for resources that have been diluted by several wildfires burning across the West.

“Resources are thin right now,” said Nick Christensen of the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office. “We are trying to get more of everything at this point.” Meanwhile, the speed at which the fire has spread has dashed any hopes of containment for the time being. “These folks are doing everything they can, but Mother Nature is running this fire,” Smith, the sheriff, said. — AP

Pastor Dollar denies attacking daughter COLLEGE PARK: Megachurch pastor Creflo Dollar has taken to his pulpit to deny punching and choking his 15-year-old daughter, telling his congregation the allegations made in a police report are nothing but “exaggeration and sensationalism.” “I will say this emphatically: I should have never been arrested,” Dollar said Sunday in his first public appearance two days after police charged him with misdemeanor counts of simple battery and cruelty to children. The pastor got an enthusiastic ovation from the packed church as he took the pulpit at the World Changers Church International in the Atlanta suburb of College Park. He addressed the criminal charges head-on for several minutes before moving on to his sermon.

“I want you all to hear personally from me that all is well in the Dollar household,” Dollar said. The 50-year-old Dollar is one of the most prominent African-American preachers based around Atlanta, with 30,000 members in the Atlanta area and a ministry of satellite churches across the US. He was arrested after his 15year-old daughter called 911 at about 1 am Friday and told a Fayette County sheriff ’s deputy that she and her father argued when he said she couldn’t go to a party. A police report says the girl told a deputy her father charged at her, put his hands around her throat, began to punch her and started hitting her with his shoe. The deputy noted a scratch on her neck.

The report said the deputy also interviewed Dollar’s 19-year-old daughter, who said her father grabbed her sister’s shoulders and slapped her in the face and choked her for about five seconds. She said her sister tried to break free, but did not fight back. When her father threw the 15-year-old on the floor, the older girl ran to get her mother. Dollar’s wife,

Taffi, told the deputy she did not see the fight.

Dollar launched into a lengthy denial of the allegations from the pulpit. “The truth is that a family conversation with our youngest daughter got emotional,” he said. “And emotions got involved and things escalated from there.” He said the mark on his daughter’s neck had been there for about 10 years and was caused by a skin condition, eczema.

“The truth is she was not choked, she was not punched. There were not any scratches on her neck,” Dollar said. “But the only thing on her neck was a prior skin abrasion from eczema. Anything else is exaggeration and

COLLEGE PARK: In this photo, Rev. Creflo Dollar gives his Wednesday night service at World Changers Church International. — AP

sensationalism.” Dollar didn’t publicly display any anger toward his children. “I will never put any fault on my children, as Jesus would never put any fault on me,” he said. Dollar’s wife is a co-pastor at the church. She addressed the congregation before her husband but did not touch on the allegations.

Dollar’s congregation appeared supportive Sunday, giving him sustained applause as he took the stage. As he spoke, people in the sanctuary yelled encouragement: “We love you!” and “We’ve got your back!” As he talked about the difficulty dealing with teenage children in a “culture of disrespect,” many in the crowd nodded in agreement.

Members of the church seemed to close ranks around Dollar even before he addressed them. Dozens of people approached by The Associated Press as they arrived for the service declined to comment, and the few who did expressed support. After the service, many were still reluctant to comment, but those who did said they were satisfied with their pastor’s comments. “When I first heard what he was accused of, I didn’t believe it. I knew there had to be more to the story,” said Phyllissa Wolley, 23, a daycare worker who has attended the church for about five years. “I felt like he addressed the accusations today, and I believe what he said. To hear from him personally, I really appreciated that. I was glad to hear his side of the story.”

Others said the media blew the accusations out of proportion without having all the facts and they felt vindicated after hearing Dollar speak. “I think you’re looking at a bunch of sensationalism,” said George Blake of Ellenwood, adding that he thought the media rushed to tell the story without knowing the full story. The 49-year-old said he never questioned his pastor of eight years. — AP

11

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

international

Scores feared trapped in Afghanistan quake Afghan bomb wounds pregnant woman

KOLKATA: All India Anti-Imperialist Forum activists burn a combined effigy representing Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President Barack Obama during a protest rally yesterday. The demonstrators protested against the presence of the US naval fleet in the Indian Ocean and demanded the immediate withdrawal of the force. —AFP

India, Pakistan in talks on glacier RAWALPINDI: Indian and Pakistani defence officials held a fresh round of talks yesterday seeking to end decades of dispute over the Siachen Glacier, dubbed the world’s highest battlefield.

An avalanche on April 7 killed 140 people at a Pakistani army camp saw Pakistan’s army chief of staff, General Ashfaq Kayani, call for a negotiated end to the stalemate and say that the glacier should be demilitarised. But India, which captured the commanding peaks in 1984, sees the glacier as vital to monitor Pakistani positions below and important for the defence of its part of Kashmir, where a separatist insurgency has killed tens of thousands since 1989.

Pakistani troops have tried but failed to seize control of the sliver of territory, where sub-zero temperatures and high altitude have caused countless deaths. The two days of talks between the most senior civil servants at India and Pakistan’s defence ministries were being held at the Pakistani ministry in Rawalpindi. India’s Defence Minister A.K. Antony has warned against any breakthrough, saying that India would explain its “clear-cut position” on Siachen to the Pakistanis. “Do not expect any dramatic announcement or decision on an issue which is very important for us, especially in the context of national security,” he said last week. Twelve previous rounds of talks between the nuclear-armed rivals on Siachen have all ended in stalemate.

Pakistani officials were also tight-lipped about the talks. “The two sides will discuss Siachen and

other matters related to defence affairs,” Sohail Aftab, a spokesman for the defence ministry, told AFP. The Indian delegation is being led by S.K. Sharma and the Pakistani side by Nargis Sethi.

The Indian visitors also met Pakistan’s Defence Minister Naveed Qamar and a joint statement will be issued on Tuesday, Aftab said.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since independence in 1947, two of them over the Himalayan region of Kashmir, which is divided by a heavily militarised Line of Control and which both countries claim in full. Last year they resumed their tentative peace process, which collapsed after Islamist gunmen from Pakistan killed 166 people in Mumbai in November 2008.

Analysts say there is growing support in Pakistan for rapprochment with India, which could help boost its flagging economy and quell tensions on the eastern border as Pakistan grapples with a deadly Taliban insurgency in its northwest. But India shares increasing US frustration with Pakistan’s unwillingness or inability to clamp down on havens used by Islamist militants who attack US troops in Afghanistan and who pose a threat to India. India’s Cabinet Committee on Security discussed the Siachen issue at a meeting last Thursday, but no details were made public. “Our stand on Siachen is well known to the other side and the talks would continue within those parameters,” an Indian defence official told AFP of the Indian military’s reluctance to withdraw from the commanding peaks. —AFP

KABUL: Two earthquakes destroyed dozens of mud homes in Afghanistan’s mountainous Hindu Kush region yesterday, killing at least three people and trapping others under rubble, officials said. Rescue teams were making their way to the remote Burka district in the northern province of Baghlan where around 20 houses had collapsed, the head of Afghanistan’s natural disaster department, Samim Afzali, told AFP. “We have reports of around 60 people trapped under rubble. We still don’t know whether they are alive or dead,” he told AFP. The head of the provincial disaster management department said several houses and a school had collapsed but he was unable to confirm the number of people trapped. “Our latest report from Burka shows that three people, including two women, were killed and eight injured in the quake this

MANILA: Filipinos sell the national flags along a busy street yesterday. The country marks its 114th Independence Day anniversary today. —AP

Pakistan remands police over rapes ous injuries had been rushed to hospital. “The target of the attack was not immediately clear,” he said. Local officials said a passenger bus carrying pilgrims to Shiite holy sites in neighbouring Iran had passed the motorbike shortly before the blast. “We are investigating if the target was the pilgrims’ bus,” Bazai said. The attack came after 15 people were killed and 30 wounded in a bomb explosion outside a Sunni Muslim seminary in Quetta on Thursday.

There was no claim of responsibility for the latest incident, but the oil and gas rich Baluchistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, suffers from Islamist militancy, sectarian violence between majority Sunni and minority Shiite Muslim communities and a separatist insurgency.

QUETTA: A Pakistani child, who was injured in a bus explosion with his mother, is carried by his father after receiving treatment, yesterday. —AP

ond quake hit in almost exactly the same place, with a magnitude of 5.6 and a depth of 31 kilometres, according to the USGS. Buildings were felt shaking slightly in Kabul, around 170 kilometres to the south, during both quakes. Northern Afghanistan and Pakistan are frequently hit by earthquakes, especially around the Hindu Kush range, which lies near the collision of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates. A 7.6-magnitude earthquake in Pakistan in October 2005 killed 74,000 people and displaced 3.5 million.

In another development, a roadside bomb in Afghanistan killed five people Monday and injured two, including a pregnant woman, when it ripped through the ambulance rushing them to hospital for her to give birth, police said. The woman was wounded but survived and gave birth without

any complications, but four relatives died along with the driver, Sari Pul provincial deputy police chief Sayed Jahnagir Kramat told AFP. The interior ministry in Kabul initially said that the pregnant woman died in the blast in the northern province, which is regularly hit by insurgent activity, but later said it had been misinformed.

“She’s alive and gave birth to her baby,” Kramat told AFP. The dead included a 12-year-old boy, he said, adding that the bomb was planted by Taleban insurgents.

The Taleban regularly use improvised roadside bombs to target Afghan and Western military forces, but they often kill civilians who use the same roads. For the past five years the number of civilians killed in the war has risen steadily, reaching a record 3,021 in 2011 — the vast majority caused by insurgents, the United Nations says. —Agencies

Nepal makes biggest ever drug bust

Pakistan blast kills 3 QUETTA: Three bus passengers were killed and 12 others injured when a bomb planted in a parked motorbike exploded in Pakistan’s insurgency-hit province of Baluchistan yesterday, officials said. The motorbike fitted with explosives had been left on the road linking the provincial capital Quetta with Iran, senior government official Naseebullah Bazai told AFP. The incident happened near Dreengar town in Mastung district, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of Quetta.

“Three people were killed and a dozen others were wounded. It was a remote-controlled bomb,” Bazai said, adding that the bus was badly damaged. Mastung administration chief Shah Irfan confirmed the casualties and said several passengers with seri-

morning,” Nasir Kohzad said.

“We’ve only received a phone call from a villager saying around 60 people are trapped in Mullah Jan village in Burka-our team is about to reach there to see if that is true.” Baghlan provincial government spokesman Mahmood Ahmad said houses had been damaged in three districts-Burka, Jelga, and Nehrin-and casualties were feared. Another 10 houses had been destroyed in Ishkamish district in neighbouring Takhar province, Afzali said, but no fatalities had so far been reported from that area.

The first quake, with a magnitude of 5.4, struck at 9:32 am (0502 GMT) at a depth of 48 kilometres (30 miles) with the epicentre around 160 kilometres southwest of the town of Faizabad, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.

Around 25 minutes later the sec-

Hundreds of civilians have been killed since Baluch rebels rose up in 2004 against the federal Pakistani government, demanding political autonomy and a greater share of profits from the resources in the region.

Meanwhile, a Pakistani court yesterday remanded three border policemen accused of raping five young women and filming the attack, officials said. The women, aged 15 to 21, said they were taken from a picnic resort to a police station in the town of Dera Ghazi Khan, 400 kilometres (250 miles) from the capital Islamabad, where they were raped.

“The court remanded the three policemen into custody until June 14,” said Tariq Basra, of the Border Military Police.

“We are waiting for the medical report to ascertain whether (an) allegation of rape is true or false,” Basra told AFP. The alleged attack, which the women said was filmed by the officers according to investigators, took place last Thursday. After the women went to the police, the accused took refuge with tribal elders, who handed them back to police late Sunday, said district administrator, Iftikhar Ali Sahu.

The court yesterday also refused to allow the girls to return to their parents, saying that they are instead in the custody of administration officials.

“These girls will be produced before the court again today enabling the judge to verify the identity of the parents, guardians,” Basra told AFP. Rape is notoriously difficult to prosecute in Pakistan, where women are often treated as second-class citizens.

In April 2011, the Supreme Court upheld the acquittal of five men sentenced to death in Pakistan’s most famous rape case, that of Mukhtar Mai. Mai was gang raped in 2002 on the orders of a village council as punishment, after her brother, who was aged just 12 at the time, was accused of having illicit relations with a woman from a rival clan. A local court had sentenced six men to death, but a higher court acquitted five of them in March 2005, and commuted the sentence for the main accused, Abdul Khaliq, to life imprisonment. According to the independent women’s rights group Aurat Foundation, more than 800 women were raped in Pakistan in 2011. —Agencies

KATHMANDU: Police in Nepal have made their biggest ever cannabis bust, seizing more than 2.5 tonnes from a jungle on the outskirts of the capital Kathmandu, a spokesman said yesterday. Drug squad officers discovered 2,640 kilograms (5,820 pounds) of the plant packed in 88 plastic sacks and bound for India, police superintendent Sher Bahadur Basnet told AFP. He said the haul had a street value in Nepal of around $155,000 — but would fetch far more on the international market. “We were tipped off about this more than a month ago and we were investigating it. On Saturday, the smugglers were preparing to transport the consignment from the jungle,” Basnet said.

“This is the largest capture of the drug since our office was set up in 1992. We have seized up to 700 kilos before but this is a big deal.” Basnet said one kilogramme of cannabis would fetch 5,000 rupees ($58) on the streets of Kathmandu. Five men in their 20s have been arrested and each face jail sentences of up to ten years and fines of 100,000 rupees if convicted. Nepal has historically had a lax attitude to the possession and sale of cannabis, with its availability attracting travellers from across the world for decades. In 1973 the government, under US pressure, outlawed the drug, effectively signalling the demise of the hippy trail era. However the country has only started to enforce the ban in recent years. —AFP

12

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

international

Aung San Suu Kyi set for historic European tour YANGON: Aung San Suu Kyi takes the latest stride in her journey from an imprisoned activist to a politician on the world stage when she visits Europe this week to give a Nobel speech two decades in the making. The Myanmar democracy icon, who was under house arrest when she was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, will leave tomorrow for Switzerland, Norway, Ireland, Britain and France on only her second overseas foray in 24 years. For more than two decades Suu Kyi did not dare leave Myanmar-even to see her sons or British husband before his death from cancer in 1999 — fearing the generals who ruled the country would not let her return.

As well as the Nobel speech, she will speak at an International Labour Organization conference, address Britain’s parliament and receive an Amnesty International human rights award in Dublin from rock star Bono. Her visit will mark a new milestone in the political changes that have swept through the

country formerly known as Burma since decades of outright military rule ended last year, bringing to power a new quasicivilian government.

President Thein Sein is credited for a series of dramatic changes including releasing hundreds of political prisoners, signing peace pacts with armed rebel groups and welcoming Suu Kyi’s party back into mainstream politics. The former general now faces a major challenge at home from a wave of sectarian violence in western Rakhine state, where a state of emergency has been imposed in response to violent clashes between Buddhists and Muslims.

Suu Kyi, the daughter of Myanmar’s independence hero General Aung San, for her part has called for “sympathy” with minorities in the wake of the unrest. In April the veteran activist won her first ever seat in parliament, prompting Western nations to start rolling back sanctions.

Suu Kyi will deliver a hugely symbolic lecture on June 16 in Oslo to accept the

Nobel Prize, which thrust her onto the global stage and spurred decades of support for her party’s democratic struggle against authoritarian rule.

But the opposition leader may also inject a note of caution: on her first overseas trip in more than two decades, Suu Kyi this month warned world business leaders at a meeting in Bangkok against “reckless optimism” over the democratic reforms. “She will want audiences in Europe to appreciate that the hard work of political reform and economic transformation has only just begun,” said Nicholas Farrelly, a research fellow at Australian National University.

The visit, which is scheduled to last until the end of June, will also allow Suu Kyi to burnish her credentials as an international figure after spending most of the last 22 years locked up in her Yangon lakeside villa. “She could be the next leader of Myanmar, so she will want to reflect that profile,” said Pavin Chachavalpongpun, Southeast Asia

expert at Kyoto University in Japan.

Suu Kyi, who is travelling with rising stars from her National League for Democracy (NLD) party, rather than the elderly senior members, known as the “uncles”, can expect a rapturous reception in Europe’s capitals.

“For decades it’s been an easy issue for the West... Suu Kyi is the good guy resisting the evil generals. There’s been a huge amount of support for her principled stand,” said Gareth Price, an Asia expert at the Chatham House think-tank in London. “But now things are changing. It is becoming more complex.” One challenge for Suu Kyi-and her foreign hosts-is to avoid upsetting Myanmar’s reform-minded government, which still has close links to the military, as she is rumoured to have done by her recent visit to Thailand. “The difficult question for her and the international community is how to encourage a bunch of people (regime figures) into doing themselves out of jobs by continuing the reform

process,” Price added. “Anything that detracts from that will be seen as a misjudgment.” There is also a strong personal dimension to the tour. Suu Kyi will join a “family reunion” in Britain, according to her party. It has declined to say whether that will include seeing both her sons, Kim and Alexander Aris, as well as her grandchildren.

But her security chief Khun Thar Myint told AFP: “I don’t want to disturb the reunion of family members who have been living apart for many years.” While Kim has visited his mother in Myanmar since her release, Alexander has not and he now lives in the United States. Suu Kyi will also spend her 67th birthday somewhere in Europe on June 19. She will also address both houses of Britain’s parliament on June 21 — a rare honour bestowed on few foreign dignitaries-and accept an honorary doctorate at Oxford where she studied and then later lived with her family before returning to Myanmar in 1988. —AFP

S Korea warns of revenge against N Korea command Seoul alarmed by ‘peculiar activities’ SEOUL: South Korea’s military warned yesterday it would immediately retaliate against North Korea’s “core command forces” for any attack, after a series of threats from the communist state. Seoul’s armed forces held an unscheduled readiness drill yesterday due to a “series of peculiar activities”, a defence ministry spokesman said. Cross-border tension has been high since the North’s military on June 4 threatened rocket attacks on the offices of South Korean media outlets for their critical coverage of Pyongyang.

Some of the North’s fighter jets flew threateningly close to the border recently, the spokesman said. Defence Minister Kim KwanJin ordered the drill so the military could “immediately retaliate against sources of provocations and supporting forces as well as core command forces”, the spokesman said.

“This is our warning aimed at discouraging

the North from daring to provoke us,” he said.

Yonhap news agency said the drill involved the South’s ballistic missile command, frontline artillery units and the air force.

The North’s military, in an unusual move, last week listed the coordinates of some media offices and said missile units and other forces had already entered the target information. It accused them of insulting its regime through coverage of a youth event which saw some 40,000 children tearfully vow loyalty to new leader Kim Jong-Un. One Seoul outlet likened the activities to the Hitler Youth.

Another media outlet criticised by the North-JoongAng Ilbo newspaper-became the victim of a major cyber attack on Saturday, which temporarily paralysed its database servers and website. Police are investigating Pyongyang’s possible involvement in the hacking targeting the JoongAng Ilbo and sis-

ter paper the Korea JoongAng Daily, the Daily reported.

“We have never seen a strong attack like this before,” the paper quoted Jong SeokHwa, chief investigator of the national police force’s Cyber Terror Response Center, as saying. Seoul accused Pyongyang of staging cyber-attacks on websites of major South Korean government agencies and financial institutions in March last year and in July 2009. The North denied the charges.

Cross-border tension has been especially high since Jong-Un took over when his father Kim Jong-Il died last December. Pyongyang since then has heaped insults on South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak and other conservative leaders, branding them “human scum” attempting to raise tension for political gains. It has threatened “sacred war” against Seoul for perceived insults. —AFP

Big salaries boost strain health services in Australia

GUIYANG: This picture shows Chinese ethnic minority dancers performing a song and dance routine entitled, “Colourful Guizhou”. —AFP

Taiwan probes ‘stealth’ boat’s missing computer TAIPEI: Taiwan’s military said yesterday it is looking into how a top-secret computer from a “stealth” warship went missing, amid concerns it might have fallen into Chinese hands. The laptop, installed on board a “Kuang Hua No. 6” class guided-missile vessel, disappeared late last month while the vessel was anchored at the southern port of Tsoying, Taiwan’s largest naval base, the military said.

After an initial investigation, the navy was still unable to account for how the computer had gone missing. “We admit that the navy exhibited some flaws in the control of personnel at the base,” a naval spokesman told AFP, adding that military prosecutors have taken over the investigation of the case.

The laptop is owned by a private contractor, but had been installed aboard the vessel for a six-month period during which the ship’s crew carried out a test of confidential communications equipment and procedures. “If China obtained the laptop, it would get the navy’s highly sensitive com-

munications code as well as related missile data,” said Erich Shih, an editor at Taipeibased Defence International magazine.

Taiwan’s navy in 2010 put into service the Kuang Hua No. 6 squadron of 10 missile boats seen by top brass as a major improvement on Seagull vessels which have been in service for the past 20 years.

The boats are all equipped with “stealth technologies”, enabling them to reduce the risk of radar detection, the navy said.

The missile boats are each armed with four locally developed Hsiungfeng II shipto-ship missiles, which have a range of 150 kilometres (90 miles). Taiwan and China have been governed separately since the end of a civil war in 1949, but Beijing still considers the island part of its territory awaiting reunification. Tensions have eased markedly since President Ma Ying-jeou came to power in 2008 on a platform of beefing up trade and tourism with China, but the mainland has still not disavowed the use of force should the island declare independence. —AFP

China crushes dissenting voices: Ai Weiwei BEIJING: Artist Ai Weiwei has again criticized China’s leaders as lacking vision and refusing to permit dissenting voices, saying the government’s mantra of maintaining stability is merely a ruse to protect illicit benefits and special interests. The country’s best known international artist said he would continue to fight for human rights and freedom of expression in a videotaped message posted yesterday on YouTube, which is blocked in China. He said that the form of limited house arrest under which he has lived for months is punishment for his activism.

“Freedom of expression is a very essential condition for me to make any art. Also, it is an essential value for my life. I have to protect this right and also to fight for the possibility,” Ai said

in the message that was shown at an event in Basel, Switzerland, late Sunday. The event was organized by Germany-based Cinema for Peace Foundation and also saw the screening of Alison Klayman’s documentary “Ai Weiwei Never Sorry.”

Chinese authorities view Ai as a troublemaker. They detained him for three months last year and his design company was ordered to pay 15 million yuan ($2.4 million) in back taxes and fines. He is appealing. Since then, he has been refused permission to travel and is under constant surveillance, although he still frequently criticizes the government on Twitter, another website that is blocked in China but accessible to tech-savvy citizens. —AP

MORANBAH: Despite a six-figure salary, Russel Wise is worried he will soon be homeless after receiving an eviction order from the one-room trailer he has rented since taking a job in an Australian coal mine in 2009. “There aren’t too many options around,” says Wise, who like thousands of other Australians, was lured to the little town of Moranbah in the coal-rich northeast by high-paying jobs and in the process triggered a housing crisis of big-city proportions. “The owner wants to build more modern, multi-dwelling units to house more people the mining companies can bring in and out on rotation, so I’ve got to go. Simple as that,” says Wise.

The property crunch engulfing Moranbah and other communities peppering the Bowen Basin, a 60,000-sq-km (23,200-sq-mile) moonscape of open pit mines supplying most of the world’s coal for steel making, is one of a swelling number of downsides associated with the Australian mining boom. Add to the list rising food prices, constant truck traffic, outbreaks of sexually transmitted diseases and near-non-existent health care to name a few, according to town residents, health professionals, mine workers and community advocates interviewed by Reuters.

Jetting in employees on charter flights from mostly large cities to work 12-hour shifts for two weeks straight and then fly them home for a week off has long been commonplace in Australia’s remote mining locations, where no towns exist. But the growing demand for commodities in Asia is encouraging mining companies to dig deeper and faster than ever before near established communities like Moranbah, requiring thousands more workers than local townships can supply. Mining company executives say they are trying to attract more employees to move permanently to the towns with their families to alleviate some of the problems associated with mobile work forces, but it is proving a hard sell.

A recent survey of mine workers suggested at least half have no interest in relocating permanently to mining towns, which can be lacking in social outlets much beyond a local pub and fast-food restaurants. “This place is okay when you’re working, but on a pyjama day I’m bored stiff,” says Richard Spaffey, who is sub-contracted to a mining company based in his hometown of Perth, 3,600 km (2,200 miles) away, referring to a day off. “I’ll head into town and the ratio of men to women will be fifty to one.”

By one government estimate, Australia will need an extra 89,000 mine workers over the next five years. As a result, mining towns like Moranbah are bracing for even greater population growth around the mines. One of Australia’s richest people, Andrew Forrest, who made billions mining iron ore, is heading a group aiming to train 50,000 Australian Aboriginals to work the mines.

Also, despite opposition from unions, Prime Minister Julia Gillard last month said more than 1,700 foreign workers could be brought in to work constructing one mine alone under special visas, underscoring the sector’s dire need for labour and opening the door to further jobs immigration. In the United States and across Europe, jobs fairs promoting work in Australia’s resources sector already draw thousands of attendees.

“What this says loud and clear is that it is important for resources sector companies to be able to offer accommodation options,” says Michael Roche, chief executive of the Queensland Resource Council, which lobbies on behalf of coal mining. Australia is also easing immigration rules for farm workers applying for visas from Pacific islands like Papua New Guinea and Fiji to compensate for an exodus of workers from sugarcane fields to better paying mining jobs. —Reuters

The ruling Democratic Party of Japan lawmakers, Tsutomu Takamura (left in background), Koichi Mukoyama (second left in background) and Yoichiro Morioka (foreground) pose on a fishing boat with the disputed islands in the East China Sea. —AP

Lawmakers push Japan to get tough on isle dispute TOKYO: Japanese lawmakers pushing for a tougher stance in a dispute with China over several uninhabited islands said yesterday the country should allow a team of experts to travel there to study development possibilities and environmental issues. The proposal is the latest move by some influential Japanese to push their country’s claims to the islands, which are called Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese. If carried out, it would likely heighten tensions with Beijing. The idea was debated a day after an unofficial “fishing” trip to waters off the islands by a half dozen national lawmakers. China claims the islands are part of its sovereign territory. Taiwan also claims the islands.

China’s Foreign Ministry protested the lawmakers’ visit, calling it an “illegal and ineffective” action. “Chinese diplomats have already talked to Japanese officials and warned them not to carry on with farces like that,” spokesman Liu Weimin said at a daily media briefing in Beijing.

No decision was made at yesterday’s parliamentary hearing, but several speakers expressed support for an onsite study.

“We need to promote the development of the islands and the possibility of

having people living there,” Taro Kimura, a conservative lawmaker, told the hearing. “I support government approval for these missions.” Surrounded by rich fishing grounds, the islands are a flash point in diplomatic relations between Japan and China. The rivalry heated up again in April, when Tokyo’s influential and outspoken governor, Shintaro Ishihara, announced a plan to use public funds to buy several of the isles from a private Japanese citizen whom Japan says has legal ownership.

China doesn’t recognize that deed, and Ishihara has acknowledged the move is largely intended to put pressure on the national government to play a bigger role in the islands’ administration. He told the hearing yesterday that Tokyo has already received more than 1 billion yen ($12 million) in donations for the purchase, which is expected to cost between 2 and 3 billion yen. Though Ishihara is not a member of parliament, he is a nationally recognized figure and his position is shared by a growing contingent of lawmakers who are concerned that China has in recent years strengthened its own claims to territories throughout the East and South China Seas. —AP

In this photo Alec (right) and Erica Klintworth pose near mountains at an unknown location. —AP

US pair lost in NZ blizzard for a week WELLINGTON: Two US students survived a week lost in a blizzard-hit New Zealand mountain range by taking regular dips in hot thermal springs they had stumbled across, rescuers said yesterday.

Alec Brown and Erica Klintworth, both 21, had planned a two-day trek on the South Island’s rugged West Coast but ended up spending more than a week in the wilderness after a snowstorm hit.

West Coast search and rescue leader Sean Judd said that with the ground covered in thick snow, the pair found their exit from the mountain pass where they were trapped blocked by a swollen river.

Rather than try to ford the river they set

up hammocks and rationed their supplies of peanut butter, rice, fruit and nuts, he said. Judd said they also found some thermal springs, which they sheltered in during the worst of the weather.

“In fact, I think when the snowstorm hit, they were sitting in there and quite comfortable really,” he told Radio New Zealand. Judd said the river eventually subsided enough for them to cross and they walked back to safety on Sunday.

He said hot springs were relatively rare in New Zealand and it was doubtful Brown and Klintworth would have survived had they not been lucky enough to find the thermal waters. —AFP

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

NEWS

JERUSALEM: Israeli workers clean anti-Zionist Hebrew graffiti, some thanking Hitler for the Holocaust and denouncing Zionism, which was sprayed at Jerusalemís Yad Vashem Holocaust museum compound yesterday. — AFP

Pro-Hitler graffiti at Israel museum Ahmadinejad wounded but remains wily “We are shocked and dazed by this callous expression of JERUSALEM: Hebrew graffiti thanking Hitler for the Holocaust and denouncing Zionism was sprayed at Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem Holocaust museum yesterday, with suspicion falling on ultra-Orthodox opponents of the state of Israel. “Thank you Hitler for your wonderful Holocaust that you arranged for us, it’s only because of you that we got a state at the UN,” read one of 10 slogans daubed on walls at the museum, sparking shock in the Jewish state which came into being just three years after the end of World War II. The graffiti was denounced as “a callous expression of burning hatred” by Yad Vashem director Avner Shalev, who pointed the finger at ultra-Orthodox extremists adamantly opposed to the existence of the modern state of Israel.

Slogans were sprayed on the red-brick Wall of Remembrance in Warsaw Ghetto Square, one of which read: “The Zionist leadership wanted the Holocaust,” while another said: “If Hitler hadn’t existed, the Zionists would have invented him.” More graffiti was found on walls near the cattle car memorial, which remembers how millions of Jews were transported from all over Europe to the Nazi death camps. “This unprecedented act crosses a red line,” Shalev said in a statement issued by Yad Vashem, which said 10 pieces of “scathing graffiti” had been found at the site. “The particularly disturbing slurs included poisonous attacks on Zionism. The main motif was that Zionism caused the Holocaust,” the statement said.

burning hatred against the Zionists and Zionism,” Shalev added. Speaking to Israel’s army radio, Shalev said the text pointed to the involvement of ultra-Orthodox extremists. “One of the slogans was signed with the words ‘World Haredi Jewry’,” he said, using the Hebrew word for ultra-Orthodox Jews, indicating that police were checking CCTV footage from cameras positioned around the site. Fuelling suspicion of ultraOrthodox involvement, another slogan read: “The war of the Zionist regime is not the war of the Jewish people.” The red, white and black graffiti was written both in formal Hebrew characters and in handwriting, and signed “The global cynical mafia.”

There are several ultra-Orthodox groups that do not believe that a Jewish state should exist without the appearance of the Messiah. The best-known group is Neturei Karta, whose several hundred members live in Mea Shearim, a crowded ultraOrthodox neighbourhood of Jerusalem. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said that an investigation had been opened but that it was not immediately clear who was behind it.

Education Minister Gideon Saar condemned the vandalism and expressed confidence that the police would catch the perpetrators. “Whoever desecrated and soiled Yad Vashem with these disturbed slogans did it with the aim of harming public sensibilities,” he said in a statement. — AFP

Apple unveils thinner, more powerful laptops Continued from Page 1 The MacBook Air is facing new competition from PCs which have slimmed down for extra portability but Apple boasted about the superiority of the MacBook. “Everyone is trying to copy it, they find it’s not so easy,” Schiller said, adding that the new models will see a boost in speed and memory and cost $100 less than previous versions. The high-performance MacBook Pro will include the so-called retina display used on the new iPads, giving an extra high resolution screen. “It is simply the best computer Apple has ever made,” Schiller said.

The 15-inch MacBook Pro will be 1.8 cm thick and weigh 2 kg and include the retina display, described as the world’s highest resolution notebook display with over five million pixels, three million more than an HD television. “The MacBook Pro with retina display pushes the limits of performance and portability like no other note-

book,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive. “With a gorgeous retina display, all flash architecture and a radically thin and light design, the new MacBook Pro is the most advanced Mac we have ever built.” Prices start at an eye-popping $2,199. The MacBook Air is as thin as 1.7 cm and weighs as little as 1 kg. Its price starts at $999.

Apple also unveiled its own mapping program yesterday for its iPhone and iPad devices, moving onto turf already occupied by Google in the popular software application. Apple’s new iOS 6 operating system includes “an entire new mapping solution from the ground up, and it is beautiful,” Apple’s Scott Forstall told the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. “We are doing all the cartography ourselves. We are covering the world,” Forstall said. Apple has “ingested hundreds of millions of business listings around the world,” he added, saying it has integrated with the consumer review service Yelp for

reviews and ratings. The Apple maps program will include real-time traffic patterns updated with help from users “to keep traffic info fresh and up to date,” he said.

The move means Apple, which is in a battle against devices powered by Google’s Android operating system, will no longer rely on the Google program for its main maps application.

Although the maps application does not generate revenues directly, it often links to searches for products and services such as restaurants or businesses.

Analysts say the Apple maps program could over time move iPhone and iPad users away from Google search and reduce revenues for the search giant.

Apple said its iOS 6 will be in devices shipped in the coming months which also include the Siri personal assistant that performs many of the search functions of Google. “Siri has been out only eight months,” Forstall said. “In these eight months Siri has been studying up and learning a lot more.” — Agencies

New pan-Arab satellite TV channel goes on air Continued from Page 1 have called for international military intervention to oust Assad. “We are not a channel that speaks in the name of Iran or the Syrian regime. We are a completely independent channel which reflects reality as it is,” bin Jiddo said at a news conference in Beirut this week. Still, he said the channel will champion Arab nationalist causes, at the foremost the Palestinians. “We will fight sectarianism and stand against colonialism and foreign intervention. ... The station’s compass will always be turned to Palestine and the resistance,” he said. Syria considers itself part of a “resistance” axis against Israel and the West, together with its allies Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah group.

The new channel is competing with a slew of other allnews Arab TV stations trying to draw viewers at a time of momentous political change in the Arab world. The Arab

Spring uprisings that have swept the region since last year have polarized the media, with journalists accusing each other of taking sides. The station began broadcasting at 1100 GMT yesterday with a pledge from bin Jiddo to uphold a professional and balanced approach to journalism. In the run up to the launch, billboards advertising AlMayadeen popped up across Lebanon with the words: “Reality as it is.”

There has been much speculation over the source of funding for the channel, which employs around 300 workers. Some reports say it will be a mouthpiece for Iran and Hezbollah. Bin Jiddo has denied the charges, saying it is funded by Arab businessmen whose identity he would not disclose. The channel has attracted journalists from across the Arab world and even beyond. George Galloway, an outspoken former British anti-war lawmaker, will host a weekly program called “A Free Word”. — AP

Social affairs minister ‘tenders resignation’ Continued from Page 1 should have prevented his appointment to the Cabinet in the first place. If the resignation is confirmed, Rujaib will be the second minister to resign from the Cabinet formed in mid-February following snap polls in which the opposition scored an impressive victory. Former finance minister Mustafa Al-Shamali resigned last month following a marathon grilling over allegations of wide-ranging administrative and financial irregularities, which the minister categorically denied. Shamali’s resignation has been accepted.

Also, Minister of Awqaf and Justice Jamal Shehab offered to resign but the Amir asked him to continue.

Parliamentary and political sources have predicted a Cabinet reshuffle is expected to take place during the summer as more ministers are being targeted by MPs with grillings. Commenting on the resignation, opposition MP Abdulrahman Al-Anjari called for forming a “national salvation” government with representatives from various political groups or with several ministers from the opposition bloc, which controls the majority in the National Assembly.

Anjari said the national government should include representatives from the majority and the minority in order to

get Kuwait out of its current crisis to achieve stability in the face of regional conflicts impacting the country. He said the current government is weak because it is not backed by the majority and includes ministers from the minority, adding that the next Cabinet should include at least six ministers from the majority. Rujaib and Shamali were repeatedly criticized since the former was included in the Cabinet for the first time and Shamali retained after serving for over four years.

Meanwhile, the administrative court yesterday rejected a lawsuit filed by MP Ali Al-Rashed against Assembly Speaker Ahmad Al-Saadoun over changes in the Assembly’s complaint against MPs who had led the storming of the Assembly building last November. At the time of the incident, former speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi filed a complaint which accused several MPs and dozens of activists of forcibly storming the Assembly and damaging property.

After the February elections in which the opposition won, the new speaker Saadoun and members of the Assembly’s bureau changed the complaint to reduce the level of the charges on those who stormed the Assembly.

MP Rashed later accused Saadoun of “forgery” and filed the lawsuit against him.

Continued from Page 1 Ahmadinejad lost a power struggle last year with the ruling system, which had helped him rise from the relative obscurity of Tehran’s city hall seven years ago and stood by his side in 2009 amid the mass chaos from his disputed re-election. Yet he still has some political ammunition in reserve. How he uses it will set the tone for Iran’s internal policymaking as it struggles with big questions such as: how far to bend in the nuclear standoff with the West, how to counter deepening sanctions and what to do with the combative and ambitious Ahmadinejad after the June 2013 elections to pick his successor.

A pivotal element, analysts say, is whether Ahmadinejad will revive his challenges to the alpha-omega powers of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his backers, led by the Revolutionary Guard. The feud began last year with Ahmadinejad’s drive to give the presidency more sway over key policies such as intelligence and foreign affairs - which are firmly in the hands of the clerics.

That fight is lost. He can still, however, battle for a political ally on the presidential ballot next year, which will be Ahmadinejad’s last in office because of term limits. He also can attempt to nudge Iran’s position in the nuclear talks with the US and other world powers, which are scheduled to resume next week in Moscow.

Ahmadinejad is seen as possibly more open to deals with Washington that would accommodate both sides: allowing Iran to continue some level of uranium enrichment for reactor fuel but giving more room for UN inspections.

The negotiations, however, are completely overseen by the ruling system. And it’s even possible, some analysts say, that Khamenei wants to avoid any possible breakthroughs with the West until Ahmadinejad is out of office - fearing he could use it to gain political mileage.

“Ahmadinejad is a lame duck, and the ruling system wants to keep it that way,” said Mehrzad Boroujerdi, a Syracuse University professor who follows Iranian affairs. “They want to keep him on a short leash. He’ll yank back, though. It’s the classic case of a weak office occupied by a strong personality.” Iran’s presidency guides the mainstream economy and many day-to-day functions. But major decisions, from international affairs to military priorities, are controlled

by the theocracy. This is where Ahmadinejad made his ill-fated gamble last year.

Dozens of Ahmadinejad’s allies were arrested or purged from politics, and he was effectively stripped of his ability to groom a successor.

An angry Khamenei even hinted that Iran could one day abandon the directly elected presidency system in favor of a prime minister. Elections in February reinforced the antiAhmadinejad ranks in parliament. In March, Ahmadinejad became the first Iranian president brought before lawmakers for grilling over his policies and confrontations with Khamenei - whose hardcore followers believe is answerable only to God. It’s left Ahmadinejad politically battered, but still with a sizable base of supporters among Iran’s working classes and rural poor who see the ruling clerics as aloof and out of touch. In a speech in May, Ahmadinejad indirectly took a swipe at the theocracy by praising the 1,000-year-old epic poem “Shahnameh”, which recounts tales of Persia’s pre-Islamic Zoroastrian religion. “Wherever there is justice, freedom and monotheism, there is Iran,” he told the crowds.

“We will witness more hue and cry by Ahmadinejad,” predicted independent Tehran-based political analyst Behrouz Shojaei. This is what worries the ruling clerics. It’s not certain whether they fully sanctioned Ahmadinejad’s most headline-grabbing statements over the years, including calling Israel a doomed state and questioning the extent of the Holocaust. But there is little doubt that Ahmadinejad’s bluster has complicated negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, which Tehran insists is only for energy and medical research.

“Ahmadinejad is not likely to leave a shining legacy,” said Ehsan Ahrari, a Virginia-based political analyst. “His rants about the so-called mythical nature of the Holocaust unnecessarily heightened tensions with Israel.”

Gary Sick, an Iranian affairs expert at Columbia University, also believes all the bluster accounts for the world powers’ tough negotiating stance in the nuclear talks. “The image he has created is that Iran is treacherous and extremely ideological by his loose talk and swaggering around,” he said. “In many ways it’s a false image, but he has reinforced this in the minds of the West.”

Despite the heavy attention on Iran’s external struggles - including

the future of critical ally Bashar Assad in Syria - the coming year could be a highly inward-looking one for Iran. Ahmadinejad will be hunting for some type of post-presidency political role. Meanwhile, the ruling system will be vetting candidates for the next presidential election - with all expectations that only reliable and pliable figures will make the cut. The theocracy holds all the cards. It clears all candidates for the presidency and parliament.

The message these days: Reformists, liberals and any others likely to challenge the ruling system are out.

Frontrunners at the moment include Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and exRevolutionary Guard commander Mohsen Rezaei. All would likely strike a more milder tone on the world stage than Ahmadinejad.

Meir Javedanfar, an Iranian-born political analyst based in Israel, said Khamenei feels particularly burned

by Ahmadinejad after coddling him as the “son he always wanted”. And the Revolutionary Guard “will try their level best to convince Khamenei to choose a yes man”, said Javedanfar, co-author of the Ahmadinejad biography “ The Nuclear Sphinx of Tehran”.

The political freeze -out of Ahmadinejad, however, could free him up for greater grandstanding.

Some believe he could go further with his challenges to the ruling system as a way to cater to his remaining supporters. Still, Ahmadinejad is leaving people guessing. On his website last week, he wrote about how his concept of “justice” means not only facing enemies but also battling a “friend, comrade, partymate and colleague”.

It’s unclear whether this was a warning shot of a new battle with the ruling clerics or a lament about how former conservative allies have abandoned him. Of the five presidents since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, only two have moved onto prominent roles: Khamenei and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who also is a foe of Ahmadinejad dating back to the 2005 presidential election race. Ahmadinejad’s predecessor, Mohammad Khatami, has been neutralized along with his reformist allies. “Ahmadinejad does not want to fade away,” said Sadegh Zibakalam, a Tehran University political science professor.

“Considering his personality and character, it will be hard for him to leave the stage.” — AP

Mubarak: ‘They want to kill me’ Continued from Page 1 officials weighed transferring him to a military hospital in the capital. The 84-year-old former strongman was sentenced to life behind bars for suppressing a revolt against his rule in early 2011 in which nearly 850 protesters were killed. He is currently being held in an intensive care wing of Tora prison on the outskirts of Cairo.

Prison authorities agreed yesterday to allow his son Alaa, also jailed in the same prison on corruption charges, to join him and his other son Gamal. Mubarak’s wife Suzanne and his two daughters-in-law were given special permission to visit him on Sunday following rumours that he had died in prison, state media reported. His family has formally requested a transfer to a Cairo hospital, but such a move could unleash the anger of activists and protesters at a particularly sensitive time in the country. Deeb said he had visited Mubarak on Saturday and found his medical wing under-equipped.

“It is a scandal,” he said.

Elections for Mubarak’s successor are just days away, a highly polarised contest between the ousted president’s

last prime minister Ahmed Shafiq and the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate Mohammed Mursi. Authorities have neither accepted nor declined the request to transfer Mubarak, saying only that he will be “treated like all prisoners”. “Moving him now is very sensitive, with the threat of protests in Tahrir and the elections coming up,” a security official said, referring to Cairo’s iconic Tahrir Square, symbol of the 2011 uprising. Mubarak’s interior minister Habib Al-Adly also received a life sentence in the same trial, but the court acquitted six police commanders.

Mubarak’s defence and lawyers filing suits on behalf of the uprising’s victims have both said his sentencing could be easily appealed after the police commanders’ acquittals. The verdicts fuelled several days of protests around the country. Since his ouster in February last year, there have been contradictory reports about Mubarak’s health, with some saying he was suffering from cancer, heart ailments or depression. Mubarak attended hearings in the trial that started in August last year on a medical stretcher, after being airlifted from his detention on Cairo’s outskirts. — AFP

14

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

opinion

THE LEADING INDEPENDENT DAILY IN THE ARABIAN GULF ESTABLISHED 1961

Founder and Publisher

YOUSUF S. AL-ALYAN Editor-in-Chief

ABD AL-RAHMAN AL-ALYAN EDITORIAL : 24833199-24833358-24833432 ADVERTISING : 24835616/7 FAX : 24835620/1 CIRCULATION : 24833199 Extn. 163 ACCOUNTS : 24835619 COMMERCIAL : 24835618 P.O.Box 1301 Safat,13014 Kuwait.

E MAIL :info@kuwaittimes.net Website: www.kuwaittimes.net

Issues

Scandal could weaken chances of Italian pope

By Jean-Louis de la Vaissiere ntrigue at the Vatican could weaken the chances of the next pope being an Italian, observers said, as memos leaked from the Holy See’s corridors of power lift the lid on tensions between cardinals.

While revealing deep discord within the Vatican administration, the “Vatileaks” scandal has also shown Pope Benedict XVI’s concern with the dayto-day running of the Church despite the 85-yearold’s physical frailty. That has not stopped rumours about a possible successor, however. A quarter of the cardinals that can elect a new pope are Italian and the general view before the scandal broke was that they would help elect one of their own, reverting to a centuries-long tradition of Italian popes.

The last non-Italian pope before the German Benedict and his Polish predecessor John Paul II was Adrian VI, who died in 1523. But that logic is looking increasingly improbable as the scandal has created an impression that the Roman Curia is dominated by Italians more concerned with their ambitions than the greater good of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics. “The side effect of Vatileaks is that it has seriously damaged the prospects for an Italian candidature to the papacy,” Marco Politi, a Vatican expert who writes for Italian daily Il Fatto Quotidiano, told AFP. “Many cardinals and bishops abroad see the incident as an unpleasant Italian affair although it really affects the whole Church,” he said, adding: “A lot will depend on whether Benedict XVI can get a firm handle on the situation.” Leaks of confidential memos - many of them published in a book called “Your Holiness” by Italian investigative journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi - have thrown into question the role of Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone. The scandal led to the arrest last month of the pope’s butler, Paolo Gabriele, as the alleged source of the leaks and has brought public criticism of the increasingly powerful Bertone’s leadership from senior Italian clergy.

Vatican watcher Sandro Magister said: “ The Roman Curia (the central administration of the Catholic Church) has never had a good image.”

Clergy in other parts of the world see it as “a centre of power that creates problems instead of helping.

They now find confirmation of this,” he said. The Italian cardinals are “no single bloc,” he said, adding that no one candidate among them had emerged as a “convincing” possible successor.

Even the rising star of the hither to most favoured I talian candidate, the 70-year- old Archbishop of Milan Cardinal Angelo Scola, has been waning. Scola who has earned plaudits for his dynamism and international initiatives but does not rate highly for his pastoral qualities “has been affected indirectly” by disputes between other Italian cardinals, Magister said. The expert dismissed as improbable Scola’s attempts to distance himself from the influential Catholic movement “Communion and Liberation” which he helped promote but which is now being criticised for its clout in Italian politics.

While papal elections tend to favour “insiders” such as Benedict himself, who headed up the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for 24 years, there is now increased interest in possible “outsider” candidates. One name frequently cited in Vatican circles is that of Canadian cardinal Marc Ouellet, 68, a respected theologian who heads up the world’s bishops. Ouellet speaks several languages and is seen as a “modern conservative” as well as having clout in Latin America - the world’s most Catholic continent.

A similar candidate could be the Archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan, who at 62 is still relatively young for the Catholic hierarchy and whose rhetoric is seen as more in tune with the modern world than that of other prelates. Brazil’s Joao Braz de Aviz, 64, who is in charge of religious orders at the Vatican, is also respected for his openness and his pastoral qualities. Ghanian cardinal Peter Turkson, 63, head of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, and Honduran cardinal Oscar Maradiaga, 69, who leads Caritas International, are also sometimes mentioned but are seen as too progressive. Conclaves - the meetings of cardinals to elect a new pope - can of course always have unexpected results. The most famous example? Karol Wojtyla in 1978.— AFP

I

All articles appearing on these pages are the personal opinion of the writers. Kuwait Times takes no responsibility for views expressed therein. Kuwait Times invites readers to voice their opinions. Please send submissions via email to: opinion@kuwaittimes.net or via snail mail to PO Box 1301 Safat, Kuwait. The editor reserves the right to edit any submission as necessary.

Mother, son separated, begin 25-yr search

By Kristen Gelineau aroo’s eyes snapped open and everything was suddenly, horribly, wrong. The 5-year-old’s tiny body was still curled up on the hard wooden seat of the Indian train, just as it was when he’d drifted off to sleep. The rattle of the train was loud and steady, just as it always was when he rode home with his big brother, Guddu. But Guddu was not there. And the alien landscape flashing past the window looked nothing like home. Saroo’s heart began to pound. The train car was empty. His brother should have been there, sweeping under the seats for loose change. Where was Guddu?

Where was Saroo? It was 1987 and Saroo knew only that he was alone on the train. Soon, he would find himself alone in the world. He wouldn’t know for decades that this fateful train ride was setting into motion a chain of events both fantastic and horrific - events that would tear him away from his family and join him with a new one. Events that would spark the determined hunt of a mother for her son and a son for his mother, brought together only to realize that you can never really go home again.

In the beginning, though, all Saroo knew was that nothing was as it should be. “MA!” he screamed, wild with fear as he ran up and down the empty compartment, tears streaming down his face. “GUDDU!” Only the relentless hum of the train answered his cries. Outside the window, the remains of his old life had faded into the distance.

The train was thundering down the track toward a destination - and a destiny - unknown.

S

••••••• Fatima Munshi was frantic. When she returned to her cramped house after a hard day of work on a construction site, her two young sons still hadn’t arrived. They should have been back hours earlier.

Fatima lived for her children. She had little else to live for. She was born to landless Hindu peasants who worked as near slaves in others’ fields until her father was killed by a heart attack and her mother died a few months later in childbirth. At the age of 10, she was sentenced to one of the most miserable of fates in rural India: That of an orphan girl, with no family to offer support or protection, nobody to arrange her marriage or pay her dowry.

But the little girl had grit. She waded into fieldwork, harvesting crops to survive. Neighbors slipped her and her four siblings scraps. As a teenager, she moved into a construction job, carrying cement in a broad bowl balanced on her head above her petite but sturdy frame. She caught the eye of her supervisor, an orphan himself. In a whirlwind romance rare in tradition-bound India, they fell in love and got married. She converted to Islam and changed her name from Kamla to Fatima.

They moved to the town of Khandwa and found a home in Ganesh Talai, a neighborhood of tiny buildings subdivided into tinier apartments filled with day laborers, vegetable vendors and the cheap domestic workers who kept the town running. She bore three sons in quick succession, Guddu, Kallu, and her baby boy, Saroo. When they grew up, she dreamed, they would live in big homes nearby and each give her 10 rupees (20 cents) a day, so she wouldn’t have to work and could look after her grandchildren.

Then the life she had worked so hard to rebuild collapsed. Her husband stopped coming home, first for a night, then several nights in a row. He stopped giving them money and food. Eventually, even as Fatima grew pregnant with their daughter, he took a second wife. Fatima blamed black magic.

One Sunday, a desperate Fatima, with her baby girl on her hip, confronted him. She beat him with a shoe. He beat her with a stick. Soon the whole neighborhood gathered, and in front of the village elders, they instantly divorced. Fatima stood on her doorstep, back at the bottom where she had started, an abandoned woman with four young children and no family for support. She was the poorest in a neighborhood of poor people, a charity case even for those who had nothing. She went back to work in construction. Guddu, who was about 7, and Saroo, four years younger, took to begging for food and loose change. When the monsoon leaked through their roof and turned the dirt floor of their home to mud, she huddled them into a dry corner to sleep. When the summer heat forced them to sleep outside, she billowed out her head scarf as a thin sheet to cover them. Often there was no dinner, and she put them to bed with a glass of water. “Mom, give us food,” they would beg. “There is none,” she’d answer in shame. “I have nothing,” she thought on those wretched nights, “but at least I have my children around me.”

••••••• Saroo slumped in his seat. How long had he been asleep? It was dark when he’d boarded the train, and now it was bright. Half a day had surely passed. He struggled to think. He remembered how he and Guddu had taken the train from their local station, Khandwa, to Burhanpur, about 70 km away, to hunt for change. When they arrived, a weary Saroo had collapsed into a seat on the platform. Guddu had promised to be back in a minute and walked off.

When Saroo had next opened his eyes, a train was waiting at the platform. Guddu must be on board, he had thought, still in a sleepy fog. So Saroo had boarded the train and drifted off again, thinking his brother would wake him at Khandwa. But now the train was stopping. There was no Guddu, and this was not Khandwa. The doors opened and Saroo stepped out into chaos. Hordes of people, pushing, rushing. Speaking in an unfamiliar tongue. He was in Calcutta, nearly 1,500 km from home. It might as well have been Mars.

He pleaded for help. But he spoke Hindi, and most here spoke Bengali. Besides, he had never been to school; he didn’t know his last name, or the city he came from - only the name of his neighborhood and not how to spell it. No one understood him. No one wanted to deal with yet another child

asking police if they had seen her sons. She widened her search to bigger and further cities. She cried and prayed for their safe return at the holy crypt of the Sufi Muslim saint Tekri Wale Baba. She approached another mystic said to channel the dead saint’s spirit. “There are no longer two flowers,” he said. “One flower has fallen, the other has gone to a far off place. He doesn’t remember where he is from. He will come back, but only after a long, long time.”

She didn’t believe him. Her boys were going to be fine. Then she ran into a police officer she knew.

Guddu was dead, he said. The boy had either fallen off the train or been pushed. Police took photos of the mangled but still identifiable body found by the tracks, and then cremated him.

Fatima fainted.

PART ONE

This undated photo provided by Saroo Brierley shows him as a young boy in Australia. —AP beggar in a country that has millions of them. No one cared. Frantic, he boarded another train, hoping it would take him home. It looped back to Calcutta. He hopped another train, and another, praying he would be carried back to his family. They all returned to this strange, frightening place.

Saroo did this for days, begging passengers for food. This, at least, was familiar; back home, he begged every day for a cup of chai tea or a bite of roti bread. Now, he scrounged together enough morsels to survive. At night, he slept underneath the train station’s seats. Eventually, he ventured into the streets. The mighty Ganges river that snaked through the city reminded Saroo of his favorite waterfall back home, where he had spent so many happy days watching the local fishermen catch their dinners.

But this new river offered no peace; the fierce current and deep water sucked him under when he tried to swim. A bystander plucked him out, but he was terrified. He retreated to the streets, approaching a man who spoke Hindi for help. The man took Saroo home, and gave him food and a place to sleep. Saroo grew uneasy when the man invited a friend over for breakfast. He shivered, without knowing why, under the friend’s gaze. That night, when Saroo was supposed to be washing dishes, he fled. Barefoot, he ran, the men chasing close behind. But Saroo was small and quick. He slipped into an alley, where he hid until they passed.

••••••• When night fell and her boys still weren’t home, Fatima panicked. She took a neighbor she called Uncle Akbar to the station to look for them, but most of the trains had already come and gone.

They searched the nearby market where the boys would beg. She went to the fountain where they liked to play. By morning, her body felt like it was on fire. Her mind raced. Maybe they had been kidnapped. Maybe they were lost. Maybe they were dead.

She had never been on a train before, but she and Uncle Akbar rode to Burhanpur and Bhusawal,

••••••• Miserable, Saroo walked across a bridge to the other side of the Ganges, where he met another man who spoke Hindi. This man took him to a government center for abandoned children. The workers fed him, then moved him to a larger holding area, swarming with lost youngsters. It was hell. The bigger kids picked on him. No one spoke Hindi. He tried to explain who he was, but it was hopeless.

Weeks later, a staffer told him he was moving again.

He was cleaned up, dressed up and transported to the Indian Society for Sponsorship and Adoption.

This place was heaven. There were around 15 children, and no one bullied him. He even made friends. He had a comfortable bed, fresh clothes, plenty of food. The staff hunted for his family, using the scraps of information Saroo remembered. But it wasn’t enough. The government declared him a lost child. Months went by. Then one day, a worker approached him with news. A new family wanted him. And they lived in a place called Australia.

••••••• Where was Saroo, Fatima thought. Her happy son, who would accompany her to work sites and build little roads out of rock. Her sweet boy who insisted his baby sister sit next to him at every meal. She had nursed him through eight days of high fever after he was kicked in the face by a horse, she wouldn’t give up now. She and Uncle Akbar, a Muslim holy man, took to the rails again. He begged for food for their survival. She was repeatedly cornered by passengers, police officers and rail workers who tried to rape her. She would cry and beg for mercy, she was just a mother looking for her missing son, take pity.

They searched the train stations of Bhopal and Sikanderabad, the police stations in Hyderabad, the jails in Bombay. They visited cities three or four times, talking to anyone who might have seen her missing son. But she never went as far as Calcutta.

She couldn’t imagine he had gone so far.

••••••• Saroo was zooming through the clouds toward an island called Tasmania. He chewed anxiously on a chocolate bar and thought about the new family waiting for him. The adoption agency had given him an album with photos of his new parents, his new house, his new dad’s car. His new life. When the plane landed, he was escorted to a VIP area and spotted his adoptive parents. He was nervous and shy; they were patient and kind. They went through his photo album, then took him to his new home.

It was a palace. Four bedrooms, a lounge, a kitchen and a big back yard where he could play.

He had his own room, decorated in cheerful yellows and blues. Atop his bed sat a stuffed koala he dubbed “Koala Dundee”. It became his favorite toy.

The kitchen was stocked with sweets, and his adoptive parents cooked him delicious Indian dinners.

He sometimes ate as if it were his last meal. Sensing his loneliness, they adopted another Indian boy. His new brother.

It was like a story in a book. Very few of the millions of parentless children in India end up adopted by families overseas; the annual number has never topped 1,200 in recent decades, according to India’s Central Adoption Resource Authority. Saroo was given a new last name: Brierley. He went to school, learned English, made friends. But the questions about his past still simmered. The map of India hanging on his bedroom wall, a certain song or something learned in school could ignite a blaze of images from his old life so vivid it felt like he was still there. On restless nights, he thought about his mother. Was she OK? Was Guddu? Sometimes he cried. Often, he prayed: If there is anything magical in the world, he pleaded silently, could you help me find my family?

••••••• After three months riding trains, Fatima was exhausted. She abandoned her physical search for a mystical one. She visited a holy man who pointed to the horizon and said her son was there with a good Hindu family. Every Thursday she walked an hour to a Sufi tomb to offer incense and rose petals in prayer for Saroo’s return. At the Eid festival, when she bought Shakila and Kallu new clothes, she would buy an outfit for Saroo too and donate it to charity. She didn’t buy herself anything. She had pledged not to do nice things for herself, not to enjoy life, until Saroo returned. She dreamed of growing wings and flying to him.

When she slept, sometimes she would see him, pull him on her lap and play with him. Sometimes he was sleeping next to her. When she awoke, he was gone. Kallu and Shakila watched her cry all the time. Kallu refused to pray; he blamed God for destroying his family. Shakila prayed to every God she could find. She went with neighbors to church to ask Jesus to bring her brother back. She prayed for Saroo at the local Hindu temple. She fasted for Allah and bowed at the shrines of Sufi saints.

••••••• Saroo was grown now, a university student studying business and hospitality. His classmates were friendly, and he found himself drawn to the students from India. Years had passed since that awful train ride, but Saroo hadn’t stopped searching for answers. And so he asked his new Indian friends: Had they heard of a train station that started with a B... Bara-something? Lots of train stations in India sound like that, they told him. They needed more information. All Saroo had were the vivid memories of his town ‚Ä” the waterfall he played in, the train station, the fountain near the cinema. The laneways surrounding his house.

His house... he had recently used Google’s satellite feature to get a bird’s eye view of his Australian house. Would it have similar images of his homeland? He sat down at a computer and called up a map of India. He randomly zoomed in on a train track and followed it, scrutinizing stations he passed, searching for something familiar.

He zeroed in on Calcutta, since that was where he’d ended up, and worked backwards. He narrowed down the search area by multiplying the approximate time he’d been on the train by an estimate of how fast an Indian train could have traveled. It was a needle in a haystack, and he knew it. Still, his hunt dragged on for years. His girlfriend, Lisa Williams, watched him hunch over his computer night after night, scrolling and searching. She wondered if this ritual would ever stop. If Saroo would ever stop.

••••••• In Ganesh Talai, Fatima refused to stop as well. She had never touched a computer, heard of Google or seen an airplane up close. But for a quarter century, she remained a regular visitor to fortunetellers.

This time, she brought some rice to a Sufi mystic.

He scattered it on the floor and stared hard at the grains to find her destiny. Your Saroo, he said, is coming home. He will be back in 40 days.

••••••• Saroo’s eyes drifted across an image of yet another train station and froze. The walkover bridge, the water tank - exactly as he remembered. He scrolled further. The waterfall where he used to swim. A familiar tunnel. The fountain. His heart was pounding. He pressed a hand to his forehead. The map listed the town as “Khandwa.” He plugged the name into Facebook. Bam - a group called “‘Khandwa’ My Home Town.” On March 31, 2011, he wrote: “can anyone help me, i think im from Khandwa. i havent seen or been back to the place for 24 years. Just wandering if there is a big fountain near the Cinema?”

The administrator’s response was vague. On April 3, 2011, Saroo tried again: “Can anyone tell me, the name of the town or suburb on the top right hand side of Khandwa? I think it starts with G...” The adminstrator answered the next day: “Ganesh Talai.” Ganesh Talai. Home. He raced into the bedroom, waking Williams with shouts of victory. He told his adoptive parents. Everyone was excited, but cautious. “There’s a lot of water fountains in India,” Saroo’s mother told him. But he knew. And he knew he had to find out what had happened to his family. To Guddu. To his mother.

He knew he had to go back. But what was he going back to? — AP (To be continued)

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

Liechtenstein prince faces vote over veto power VADUZ: It isn’t easy being a campaigner for more democracy in the tiny principality of Liechtenstein.

Everybody knows everybody in this arch-conservative state and the subjects of the last monarchy in Europe with any real power don’t like rocking the boat. Activists who want to end the monarchy’s right to veto popular referendums say they have received threatening letters and seen far-right vandals deface campaign posters with Nazi slogans like “Heil Fatherland” and “Democrats are the death of the people”.

Given the charged atmosphere in this state of just 36,000, few dare to speak out against billionaire Prince Hans-Adam von und zu Liechtenstein, whose family has ruled the 160-sq-km principality since 1699 and is credited with turning a rural backwater into a wealthy banking centre. But democracy campaigners still managed to gather just enough signatures to call a referendum on the prince’s veto right set for July 1 - by canvassing support in private and assuring voters that their names would be kept secret.

“People are worried about being seen as against the prince,” Sigvard Wohlwend, a communications consultant who is a spokesman for the campaign, told Reuters in a cafe in the pedestrianised main street of the sleepy capital Vaduz. Wohlwend said most people don’t want to reopen deep divisions over the monarchy that were triggered by a constitutional crisis in 2003. “Today I argue with a politician and tomorrow I play football with him and I’m probably also related to him somehow. That’s village life,” said Wohlwend, who greeted several passersby during the course of the interview. An attempt to canvas support at his son’s football match did not go down well, he said.

While the prince has far-reaching executive powers beyond the veto right, he rarely has to use them.

All he needs to do to strike fear into the hearts of his

subjects is to threaten to quit the country which carries his name, undermining stability and affluence for all. “God, Prince, Fatherland” bumper stickers are popular around Vaduz and 1,200 opponents of the referendum had their names printed in the national newspaper. “If you speak to young and old it is clear for all that this initiative will be rejected,” said one senior banker, who sported the gold crown lapel pin of the pro-Prince camp but did not want his name used in this article.

“The princely house is a stabilising factor for our country because it thinks for generations and not just for four years.” It’s an argument that carries particular weight at a time when the country’s powerful financial industry is trying to sell political stability as the main reason to bank in Liechtenstein after it came under pressure to stop sheltering tax dodgers.

Wilfried Marxer, director of the Liechtenstein Institute - a largely government-funded research body - said it was hard to have a rational debate about the monarchy. “It is a very controversial issue.

The topic of the position of the monarch in Liechtenstein is not so much rational as emotional.

People don’t want conflict,” he said. “If there is a lack of consensus between the people it is difficult for a society as small as Liechtenstein.”

The July vote is only on the prince’s right to veto the results of popular referendums; he would retain the right to veto decisions made by parliament. The campaign was triggered last year after Crown Prince Alois said he would block the legalisation of abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy if his people approved it in a referendum, held in September after a years-long debate. Alois has run day-to-day affairs in Europe’s fourth smallest state since HansAdam returned to managing his family’s fabulous wealth after winning a referendum to increase the monarchy’s powers with 64 percent of the vote in 2003.

In the end, the father of four, whose wife Sophie runs a charity that supports women who have unwanted pregnancies, did not have to resort to the veto because the proposal was rejected by 52 percent of the largely Catholic population. “Just by commenting, the prince can move 10 or 20 percent of the population of Liechtenstein in one direction or the other. By threatening his veto, he can avoid having to use it,” said Wohlwend. “There is no other head of state who has these powers. He is the most powerful monarch in the Western hemisphere - and will remain the most powerful monarch after a ‘Yes’ in the popular vote,” he said.

Alois, 44, who lives in a fortified castle that clings to steep forested slopes above Vaduz, has said his family would withdraw from political life if it loses the vote. “The princely house will not serve as a fig leaf for policies it no longer supports,” Alois said in a speech at the opening of parliament in March. The prince declined to speak to Reuters for this article.

Hans-Adam managed to head off an attempt to limit his powers a decade ago with a similar threat, suggesting his family could move to Vienna where their ancestors lived until 1938 if their subjects no longer wanted them.

“There is a small group of politically ambitious individuals for whom the monarchy has long been a thorn in the side. First they want to weaken the monarchy and then completely abolish it,” HansAdam, 67, said in February. “Unfortunately in the 20th century, there have been enough examples of monarchies being removed by revolutions and replaced by bloody dictators,” he told the Liechtensteiner Vaterland newspaper in his annual birthday interview.

Vaduz is an odd mixture of modernity and tradition. The quaint postcard shops and cafes that you would expect in any small Alpine town are interspersed with boxy city office buildings, the largest

belonging to banks like LLB and LGT. In a reminder of the not-too-distant past of this country sandwiched in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland, visitors can also still catch the smell of manure in the centre of Vaduz and see the odd tractor chugging through the streets. Gesturing up the hill to the 13th-century royal castle, Wohlwend doubted Hans-Adam would ever really quit Vaduz.

“Why should he give up his enormous privileges?” he said. “He can direct policies that benefit the princely family and its interests. He pays no taxes. He saves millions of francs a year in wealth taxes.”

After the Liechtenstein royal family lost vast tracts of land and castles in eastern Europe at the end of World War Two, they reinvented their country as a tax haven, attracting offshore companies and the savings of wealthy foreigners. That helped LGT, owned by the royal family, become hugely profitable, making the Liechtenstein monarchy the wealthiest in Europe, worth 6-7 billion Swiss francs ($6.25-7.3 billion), according to the 2011 rich list in the Swiss magazine Bilanz.

LGT, the country’s biggest bank with 87 billion francs under management, is run by Alois’ brother Max and offers clients the possibility to invest in a “Princely Portfolio”, using the same broad diversification strategy as the monarchy. The family also owns several palaces and tracts of forest and vineyards in Austria, as well as a valuable art collection. The booming financial sector - the tiny nation has 17 banks and 107 wealth management companies - also helped make Liechtenstein’s citizens among the world’s wealthiest, with national output per person seen over $141,000 in 2012.

The dominance of banking has pushed up property prices: there were no houses for sale under 2 million francs in the window of one Vaduz real estate agent, which also advertised a villa near the princely castle for 5.5 million. But the

industry has been in crisis since 2008 when bank data leaked by a former LGT employee revealed hundreds of rich Germans had hidden assets in the country, forcing Liechtenstein to promise to clamp down on tax dodgers from abroad.

The US Department of Justice is also investigating the second biggest bank LLB for allegedly helping rich Americans to avoid paying tax, one of at least 11 banks - mostly Swiss - targeted in the probe. The Swiss and Liechtenstein governments are trying to get the investigation dropped in return for the likely payment of heavy fines and the transfer of thousands of client names. LLB has said it is working with US authorities to reach a settlement. The tax issue, compounded by rocky markets and a rise in the Swiss franc - Liechtenstein’s official currency since 1924 - slashed assets managed in the country from a 2007 peak of 153 billion francs to 109 billion at the end of 2011.

As the tide of foreign money has turned, the government has been forced to make unprecedented budget cuts, reinforcing support for a stable status-quo. “We have never had real revolutionary times. The prince is seen as a protector rather than an exploiter,” said Marxer of the Liechtenstein Institute. “People see more advantages than disadvantages from the princely house to risk it withdrawing from politics or leaving the country.”

In February, ratings agency Standard & Poor’s confirmed its ‘AAA’ rating for Liechtenstein, saying “stable and conservative policies have resulted in a strong history of managing political and economic challenges which we expect to continue.”

Prime Minister Klaus Tschuetscher, who went to school with Prince Alois and meets him every couple of weeks to discuss official business, said the veto dispute could be resolved by limiting when the royals are allowed to speak out on key topics. — Reuters

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

sp orts Cyclist Hincapie to retire NEW YORK: Five-time Olympian and Tour de France veteran George Hincapie will retire from cycling after the 2012 season, bringing to a close one of the most successful careers by an American rider. Hincapie, who turns 39 on June 29, announced his decision in a statement yesterday. The affable, understated Hincapie was a longtime aide for Lance Armstrong during the mountain stages of the Tour de France, helping him win each of his seven titles. He helped Alberto Contador win the Tour in 2007 and Cadel Evans win the iconic stage race last summer. He’s expected to help Evans defend his title when the Tour de France starts June 30 in Liege, Belgium. Now riding for BMC Racing Team, Hincapie would be riding his 17th Tour de France, breaking the record he shares with Dutch rider Joop Zoetemelk for the most starts in history.

“I came to the conclusion that I want to go out while I can still contribute and make a difference,” Hincapie said. “To be able to compete for 19 years as a professional cyclist has been something I would have never dreamed of doing. But at the same time, it’s also going to be good to spend more time with my kids, who are getting to be the age where they miss me when I’m gone.”Hincapie made his first Olympic team at the 1992 Barcelona Games. —AP

Tamgho out of Olympics

Egypt back as a force CAPE TOWN: Egypt announced their return as a force in the African game after a torrid two years to emerge as the form team in the early stages of the World Cup qualifiers.

After two successive weekends of group matches, Egypt are one of only two teams with a 100 percent record after they posted a dramatic away win in Guinea on Sunday. They now look odds-on favourites to go through to the final round of qualifying playoffs late next year.

Their 3-2 victory in Conakry, courtesy of a late breakaway goal from Mohamed Salah four minutes into stoppage time at the end of the game, came against tough opponents with a growing reputation and gives Egypt a strong platform to finish first in Group G.

It was also a personal triumph for American coach Bob Bradley, whose appointment to the Egypt job last year made for a surprising and unlikely partnership.

“The players tried throughout to dictate the result,” Bradley told French television reporters after the match. “Beating Guinea is very important on the road to the World Cup and will help confidence in the coming games.

Egyptians can believe they are capable of qualifying for the World Cup.” It was the dramatic failure of the Pharaohs in the last World Cup campaign that led to an uncharacteristic slump and the end of a golden era in which they won an unprecedented three successive African Nations Cup titles from 2006 to 2010.—Reuters

PARIS: French triple jumper Teddy Tamgho announced yesterday that he will miss the London Olympics after undergoing “a minor operation” on June 4 to remove a bone excrescence from his right ankle. Tamgho had the operation after a piece of bone had not fully healed following an ankle fracture suffered in July last year. World champion in 2010 and European indoor champion in 2011, Tamgho missed last year’s world championships in Daegu, South Korea after having surgery on the initial injury and had revealed little as to his physical condition in recent months. The world indoor record holder (17.92m) had refused to talk to media ever since reports emerged that he lashed out at amateur female athlete Glodie Tudiesche at a training camp. He is set to appear in court in connection with the incident in September, having already been banned for six months, plus six months suspended, by the French Athletics Federation (FFA).

“I took the decision in mid-May to not participate in the Olympics because of the pain,” said Tamgho, 22. “And my coach (the Cuban Ivan Pedroso) was very understanding. “I asked myself what the right thing to do would be, between trying to force it and show that I could do well, but risk handicapping myself for next season, or stopping and preparing correctly. “I made my choice quickly. My objective is to be one step ahead for next season.” —AFP

Dodgers take series from Mariners with 8-2 victory SEATTLE: Andre Ethier awakened from a recent slump with his fourth career grand slam to cap a six-run second inning and Chad Billingsley pitched the Los Angeles Dodgers past the Seattle Mariners 8-2 on Sunday. Shut down by six pitchers in Seattle’s third no-hitter Friday night, the Dodgers rebounded to win the final two games of the interleague series.

Billingsley (4-4) won his second straight decision, giving up two hits and a solo homer to Kyle Seager in seven strong innings. The righthander struck out eight and walked three, the third time in four starts that he has struck out eight.

He got all the offense he needed on one swing from Ethier, who had just one hit in his previous 27 at-bats before smacking a 3-2 fastball from starter Blake Beavan (3-6) into the right-field seats with two outs in the second.

Yankees 5, Mets 4 At New York, Russell Martin led off the bottom of the ninth inning with his second homer of the game and the New York Yankees took advantage of some shoddy infield defense to beat the struggling Mets for a three-game sweep.

The Mets could not hold an early 3-0 lead, but tied it 4-all in the top of the ninth on Ike Davis’ RBI double off Rafael Soriano.

In the seventh, Martin hit a two-run homer off the top of the right-field wall to pull the Yankees to 3-2 after third baseman David Wright’s throwing error extended the inning.

Mark Teixeira tied it at 3 with an RBI single in

At Atlanta, Brett Lawrie and Colby Rasmus each homered and drove in three runs as Toronto rallied from an early four-run deficit to defeat Atlanta.

The Braves’ six-game winning streak ended even though they led 4-0 after three innings.

Blue Jays left-hander Ricky Romero lasted only four innings.

Toronto took the lead with six runs in the fifth off 21-year-old Julio Teheran, who was called up for his first start of the season, and 37year-old Livan Hernandez (1-1).

Lawrie hit a two-run homer and Rasmus added a homer off Hernandez as Toronto added three runs in the sixth. Carlos Villanueva (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings.

Orioles 5, Phillies 4 At Baltimore, Matt Wieters doubled home the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning and Baltimore beat Philadelphia to extend its run of successive extra-inning victories to nine.

Steve Tolleson hit a three-run homer for the Orioles, who bounced back from a 4-1 deficit to keep Phillies starter Cliff Lee winless this season.

Baltimore took two of three from the Phillies, including a 12-inning win on Saturday. The nine straight extra-inning victories is an Orioles record, breaking the mark of eight set twice previously.

Adam Jones led off the 10th against Joe Savery (0-1) by reaching on a fielding error by third baseman Ty Wigginton. Wieters then launched a drive to right that hit the score-

SEATTLE: Los Angeles Dodgers’ Andre Ethier (second from right) points to the dugout as he returns with Dee Gordon (9), Elian Herrera (37) and Tony Gwynn after hitting a grand slam against the Seattle Mariners. —AP the eighth and Alex Rodriguez gave the Yankees the lead with a bloop single. Martin hit a full-count pitch from Jon Rauch (3-6) to left field.

Boone Logan (1-0) got two outs with runners on first and third in relief of Soriano, who had his first blown save in 10 chances. Soriano is filling in for injured closer Mariano Rivera.

Nationals 4, Red Sox 3 At Boston, Roger Bernadina doubled with two outs in the ninth inning, driving in Bryce Harper for the go-ahead run, and Washington held off slumping Boston to finish a three-game sweep.

Danny Espinosa doubled twice and drove in two runs for the Nationals, a franchise that had never won at Fenway Park coming into the series.

Tom Gorzelanny (2-1) pitched a scoreless eighth and Tyler Clippard earned his third save of the series, striking out Dustin Pedroia to end it. Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine stormed out of the dugout during Pedroia’s at-bat to argue a strike and was quickly ejected by plate umpire Alan Porter.

Rays 4, Marlins 2 At Miami, James Shields allowed one run in 6 1-3 innings to win for the first time in five starts and Tampa Bay capped a three-game sweep by beating Miami.

The Rays outscored their intrastate rivals 227 and have won seven in a row against the Marlins. Miami fell to 0-6 on its homestand and has been outscored 43-10.

Matt Joyce hit his 11th homer and Elliot Johnson hit his third to help the Rays (35-25) improve the best record in the American League. Shields (7-4), who had lost his past three decisions, allowed four hits and struck out five.

Fernando Rodney earned his 18th save in 19 chances with a scoreless ninth and lowered his ERA to 0.94. Anibal Sanchez (3-5), plagued again by lousy run support, pitched six innings and allowed four runs, including both homers. He lost for the fifth time in his past six outings.

Blue Jays 12, Braves 4

board, inches over the outstretched glove of Hunter Pence. The bouncing ball eluded Pence long enough for Jones to score. Darren O’Day (4-0) worked the 10th for the Orioles.

Pirates 3, Royals 2 At Pittsburgh, Andrew McCutchen homered and drove in three runs, A.J. Burnett won his fifth consecutive start and Pittsburgh finished its first sweep of an AL team in more than a decade by beating Kansas City.

McCutchen hit an RBI double in the first inning and a two-run homer in the third, giving Burnett (6-2) and three relievers enough support for the Pirates to win their fourth in a row.

Since May 25, the Pirates have the best record in the majors at 12-3. The Royals have lost four in a row and six of eight. Burnett took a no-hitter into the sixth and was charged with two runs in 7 1-3 innings. Burnett has won his past seven starts and he is 4-0 with a 1.27 ERA at home this season.

With closer Joel Hanrahan getting a rest, Jason Grilli worked out of trouble in the ninth for his fourth career save and first of the season.

Bruce Chen (5-6) allowed three runs in five innings, falling to 0-4 at PNC Park.

Cubs 8, Twins 2 At Minneapolis, Ryan Dempster pitched eight shutout innings to lead Chicago past Minnesota. After an 18-start winless streak dating back to Aug. 11, Dempster (2-3) won his second game this week, another gem for a Cubs team that had the worst record in the majors. He scattered four singles and struck out six, including Joe Mauer three times, to help Chicago win for the fifth time in 25 games.

Dempster lowered his ERA to 2.31, and the Twins lost for the third time in 12 games.

David DeJesus drove in three runs, and Reed Johnson and Starlin Castro scored three times each. Francisco Liriano (1-7) gave up four hits, four runs and three walks in 5 1-3 innings.

Rangers 5, Giants 0 At San Francisco, Alexi Ogando pitched three perfect innings to lead Texas past San

Francisco. The AL West-leading Rangers tagged Tim Lincecum (2-7). The two-time NL Cy Young winner is 0-5 in his last eight starts and has a 6.00 ERA this season.

Robbie Ross (6-0) allowed only a double to pinch-hitter Aubrey Huff in the sixth over four innings. Mike Adams gave up two hits in a scoreless eighth and Joe Nathan tossed a hitless ninth. Josh Hamilton and Ian Kinsler each drove in two runs off Lincecum.

Angels 10, Rockies 8 At Denver, Mark Trumbo hit a pair of threerun homers to set a career high with six RBIs and the Los Angeles Angels beat slumping Colorado for their ninth straight victory on the road.

Torii Hunter added a two-run homer and scored three times to help Los Angeles complete a three-game sweep.

Tyler Colvin and Carlos Gonzalez homered for the Rockies, who fell to 0-6 in interleague play - with all the games at home - and lost their fifth straight overall. Colorado manager Jim Tracy was sent from the dugout in the ninth by plate umpire Greg Gibson, his first ejection of the season.

Ervin Santana (3-7) weaved through 5 2-3 innings. Scott Downs earned his sixth save.

Christian Friedrich (4-2) took the loss.

Indians 4, Cardinals 1 At St. Louis, Jason Kipnis hit a tiebreaking three-run homer off closer Jason Motte in the ninth inning as Cleveland beat St. Louis.

Carlos Beltran homered for the second straight day to increase his NL-leading total to 18, and Joe Kelly allowed one run in five-plus innings in his major league debut for the Cardinals.

St. Louis is the only major league team that has not won a series over the Indians, who are 14-6 overall against the Cardinals.

Vinnie Pestano (3-0) walked three straight batters with one out in the eighth but recovered to strike out No. 3 hitter Yadier Molina and cleanup man Allen Craig. Chris Perez finished for his 20th save in 21 chances. He has saved 20 in a row since opening day. Kipnis hit his 10th homer on a 2-2 pitch from Motte (3-3).

Astros 11, White Sox 9 At Chicago, Justin Maxwell, Jose Altuve, J.D. Martinez and Brett Wallace all homered to lead Houston past the Chicago White Sox. Maxwell’s two-run shot was estimated at 461 feet, curling just inside the left-field foul pole into the second deck. Altuve drove in three runs and stole home on the back end of a double steal. Adam Dunn hit his 20th homer of the season and Paul Konerko added his 12th for the White Sox. Lucas Harrell (6-4) tied a career high by going 7 1-3 innings, winning his first start against his former team. Brett Myers got the last two outs for his 15th save. Phil Humber (24) is 1-4 with a 7.50 ERA since throwing a perfect game on April 21 at Seattle.

D’backs 4, Athletics 3 At Phoenix, Joe Saunders held Oakland to one earned run over six innings and Arizona extended their winning streak to a season-long five games.

Chris Young singled twice and scored both times as Arizona completed a three-game interleague sweep of the A’s. The Diamondbacks have won seven of eight to climb to .500 for the first time since they were 14-14 on May 5.

Saunders (4-4) scattered seven hits, struck out five and walked two. Travis Blackley (0-2) took the loss.

Tigers 7, Reds 6 At Cincinnati, Austin Jackson hit a two-run double off Aroldis Chapman during Detroit’s four-run eighth inning and the Tigers rallied for a 7-6 victory over Cincinnati.

Chapman (4-2) entered with two on in the eighth and the Reds leading 6-3. He gave up a single to pinch-hitter Brennan Boesch that loaded the bases and hit Matt Young with a pitch, forcing in a run.

Jackson’s double tied it and Young scored the go-ahead run on Chapman’s wild pitch, helping the Tigers take two of three in the interleague series.

National League Brewers 6, Padres 5 At Milwaukee Ryan Braun homered and Yovani Gallardo pitched seven innings to help the Milwaukee Brewers beat San Diego.

Gallardo (5-5) gave up five hits and one earned run in seven innings. Anthony Bass (2-6) gave up four runs, five hits and three walks in 5 2-3 innings. —AP

PITTSFORD: Shanshan Feng of China, accepts the trophy after winning the Wegmans LPGA Championship at Locust Hill Country Club. —AP

Feng wins LPGA Championship DEL MAR: Shanshan Feng captured the LPGA Championship on Sunday after firing a final-round six-under-par 67 that made her the first person from mainland China to win a major golf championship.

Feng carded five birdies in a flawless round to finish at six-under 282, two shots clear of Japan’s Mika Miyazato (69), Norway’s Suzann Pettersen (70), Korea’s Ji Eun-hee (72) and American Stacy Lewis (70). “”My goal this year was to win on the LPGA Tour and another was to have a top 10 at a major so I did them both together,” said Feng, 22, who was born just five years after the first golf course was opened in China. “”It means a lot to me. Before last year I had no wins after turning pro so it was three years without winning and I was down a nd I was thinking , ca n I win again?”

Feng, who started the day three shots off the lead, had three birdies in her

opening eight holes to join the main contenders and then drained birdie putts on the 12th and 17th holes for a cushion the others could not close.

She was never fazed and shot the low round of the tournament despite having bigger names World Golf Hall of Famer Karrie Webb and numerous other major winners in the lead pack around her.

With the win at the year’s second women’s major, Feng moves to world number four. Last year’s winner and world number one Yani Tseng of Taiwan finished in a distant tie for 59th with a 13-over-par 301 but still gained praise from this year’s winner. “”She was always my goal,” said Feng, who grew up playing against Tseng on several occasions. “”I was always trying to chase her from junior tournaments to amateur tournaments to the LPGA. ...

“Right now I’m still chasing her but maybe today I got a little closer.” —Reuters

Johnson tunes up for US Open with Memphis win MEMPHIS: A pulled back muscle after trying to lift a jet ski cost Dustin Johnson 11 weeks of golf but in just his second tournament back the the big-hitting American had no problems hoisting the St. Jude Classic trophy on Sunday.

Johnson tuned up for the July 14-17 US Open by carding birdies on two of the last three holes for a one-shot victory in Memphis, Tennessee, while Rory McIlroy squandered a chance at winning with an errant tee shot on his final hole. “”I tried to just play my game today,” Johnson said. “”I’m hitting the ball well. I was just trying to play my game and get as many looks at birdies as I could. And, you know, I did that.”

Johnson was injured trying to lift his jet ski off a trailer and, following a return at last week’s Memorial tournament where he tied for 19th, he fired a four-under 66 in the final round at TPC Southwind to finish at nine-under 271, one clear of fellow American John Merrick (68).

He claimed his sixth PGA Tour title, moved back to 10th in the world and became just the second player after Tiger Woods to win in each of his first five years out of college. “”It feels really good. Especially having so much time off and coming back,” said Johnson. “”Last week helped a lot competing and getting back in the groove of things and then I came out this week and I just played well all week.”

Ryan Palmer (66), Chad Campbell (68), Australian Nick O’Hern (69) and U.S. Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III (69) shared third at seven-under 273.

It was a rollercoaster day for Northern Ireland’s world number two McIlroy, who arrived at the 18th hole tied for the lead only to send his three-wood tee shot into a water hazard and end up with a doublebogey. “”I was missing that three-wood left all day,” said McIlroy, who finished tied for seventh. “”To be honest, I wasn’t really that comfortable with it, but I knew it was the shot that I needed to play and I didn’t hit the way I wanted to.”

Johnson started the final round one shot back of overnight leaders Merrick, O’Hern and Love III but fired a laser approach inside four feet on the opening hole and converted the birdie to join the lead. Back-to-back birdies on the sixth and seventh holes, the first via an impressive

17-foot putt and the next coming from yet another close wedge shot, ensured the 27year-old stayed on top of the leaderboard.

But when he failed to get up and down from the greenside bunker on the ninth hole and posted bogey, his momentum stalled and a handful of challengers leapfrogged him on the board.

Six consecutive pars kept the American in the mix before he made his move, just

MEMPHIS: Dustin Johnson poses with his trophy after winning the St. Jude Classic golf tournament. —AP as those ahead of him faltered. Johnson birdied the par-five 16th to join the lead pack at eight-under and as McIlroy and Campbell sent their tee shots on the 18th into the water, Johnson drained an eightfoot birdie on the 17th to take the outright lead at nine-under.

A routine par on the last proved good enough but it left Merrick and O’Hern, playing in the final group, a chance to tie with birdies.

O’Hern dunked his tee shot into the water while Merrick found deep rough but advanced the ball to just short of the green and almost chipped in to force a playoff. —Reuters

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

S P ORT S

In former rebel camp, Somali athletes eye London MOGADISHU: Training in a bullet-riddled stadium where the remains of a rocket propelled grenade lies discarded on the track ’s edge counts as progress for Somali Olympic hopeful Mohamed Hassan Mohamed. A year ago, Mogadishu’s Konis stadium was a base for Islamist militants and a work out meant at times running through the streets, dodging gun-fire and mortar shells in one of the world’s most dangerous cities.

“It’s easier for us to train now,” said Mohamed. It is a staggering understatement from the 22-year-old, one of four Somali athletes vying for the two slots guaranteed for Somalia at the London games.

For 20 years the capital’s rutted roads were the frontline in running battles between feuding warlords and later Islamist insurgents fighting to overthrow a government propped up by foreign forces and cash.

The Konis stadium served as an al Shabaab rebel training camp until the al Qaeda-linked combatants fled the capital in August last year. Bullet holes pepper the stadium’s concrete stands, which lie in mounds of rubble in places.

Progress, however, is relative. Somalia’s Olympic bid is run on a shoestring. There are no dedicated personal trainers, physiotherapists or nutritionists.

“Our facilities are poor. We don’t have a modern training camp or a modern gym. We should replace our running shoes frequently. Instead, we wash them,” said Mohamed.

For now, the 1,500 metre specialist trains in relative safety, unless the security forces block off the surrounding area in advance of a government delegation on the move, forcing the athletes back onto the streets. That means competing for space with patrolling armoured troop carriers, donkey carts and mountainous piles of garbage. Roadside bombs have become a growing danger.

In April, a suicide bomber blew herself up at a ceremony in the city’s national theatre, killing the popular head of Somalia’s Olympic committee and at least five others.

“The theatre blast was a painful incident. It was a shocking day,” Mohamed said. Somalia has never won a medal at the Olympic games. Its best performance was in 1996 when its most renowned athlete, Abdi Bile, took sixth place in the 1,500

metres in Atlanta. At the time, militia fighters in the lawless capital dubbed their machine gunmounted pickup trucks “Abdi Biles” in a typically Somali mark of respect for the runner’s power and speed.

Somalia is not expected to announce the names of the two athletes who will compete in London until later this month. Unveiling their identities earlier might endanger their lives in a country plagued by kidnappings and targeted killings.

Rarely able to travel to international meets, no Somali athlete qualified for the London Games outright. Each national Olympic committee is eligible for two guaranteed places - one for a man, one for a woman - in athletics.

“Pump your arms. Pump your arms with power,” urged the Somali team coach, Ahmed Ali Abukar, armed with nothing more than a stopwatch.

“Don’t slow up. Keep going until you drop,” he yelled as sweat gleamed on Mohamed’s sinewy body. Abukar earns a salary of just $150 a month.

That comes out of a $2,000 per month pot from the Somali Olympic Committee (SOC) that pays for the four athletes’ accommodation in a renovated school

classroom, their food and transport costs.

Kadija Dahir, president of the Somali Athletics Federation, said a request to the SOC for a further $3,500 a month to fund the training of two athletes failed.

“We need money to produce quality athletes,” Dahir said. “With that money we wanted to do high altitude training in Ethiopia and buy better clothing and trainers.”

Zamzam Mohamud Farah kneels towards Mecca and prays before taking to the hard-packed dirt track in a pair of heavy trainers, baggy tracksuit bottoms and an orange bandana.

One of two women competing for a wildcard entry, she puts her personal best at around 58 seconds in the 400 metres.

The Women’s world record stands at 47.60, a gaping difference that leaves her unlikely to contest a podium finish. In a fractured country fighting to end 20 years of civil conflict, a medal, though, is hardly the point.

“I would not be going there to win, but for pride,” Farah said. “I would be representing my flag, my soil and its people.” — Reuters

Rain seals England-Windies draw

Cullen Jones in action in this file photo

Water safety campaign breathes life into Jones LONDON: Cullen Jones was five when he almost drowned but rather than live in fear of water the American jumped back in with both feet, overcoming his fears to become an Olympic swimming gold medallist and drive a campaign to slash the drowning rate in the United States.

The 28-year-old, who won relay gold in Beijing and hopes to earn an individual berth at the London Games, was put straight into swimming lessons by his mother after the water park accident.

Jones now juggles his training with a campaign to lower the disproportionately high drowning rate among AfricanAmericans and stressed the importance of teaching children how to swim.

“In 2008 the drowning rate for AfricanAmericans in the United States was three times more likely than any other rate,” Jones told Reuters via telephone after one of his training sessions at the gym.

A national research study by the USA Swimming Foundation and the University of Memphis showed 70 percent of African-American and 60 percent of Hispanic/Latino children could not swim.

Recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also showed more than one in five fatal drowning victims are children younger than 14.

“Swimming is a life skill,” added Jones. “ The biggest problem in the United States is people see it only as an activity, as something fun you do on vacation.

But kids are going into the water and drowning. There’s a simple way to stop this.” Jones said he owed a great deal to his parents for forcing him to confront his fears at an early age.

“My dad and I talked my mum into letting me on this ride and I ended up being flipped upside down, almost drowning and needing full resuscitation.

My mum got me into swimming lessons within a week,” he recalled.

“I see tragedy bringing on triumph every day working with Make a Splash.

But so many of their parents don’t do what my parents did. “So many tell their kids to stay away from the water.”

Jones said his work at the Make a Splash programme since 2008 had made him a better swimmer. “I’m able to swim at speeds I wasn’t four years ago. I’m in better shape now and I’ve learned a lot. I knew I wanted to help get kids watersafe, but I didn’t know how much of an impact that would have on me,” he added. “Seeing their faces light up, those are the faces I see when I’m tired or can’t get through the wall.”

Another factor driving Jones forward to the London Games is the hurt of missing out on individual competition in Beijing after he delivered a performance that was far from his best in the 50-metres freestyle at the 2008 Olympic trials.

“That’s been the one thing burning in the back of my head for the last four years. I messed up at the trials and didn’t swim my own race. That hurt,” said Jones. “I love swimming relays but I want to swim an individual. That’s my focal point.”

Jones will have the chance to claim an individual berth at the June 25-July 2 national trials, which he hopes will be the first of two major peaks in his 2012 form.

“Last year I went to the worlds, then I came back and went to the nationals, which was to replicate what it would feel like to go from one meet at my peak straight to another.

“In 2008 I was able to hit a double peak. I think I’m still going to be able to do that, we’ve been training to do that.

My yardage this year has been more than the past three years.

“Hopefully the Olympics will be the stronger peak.” Jones credits 14-times gold medallist Michael Phelps and best friend Ryan Lochte for providing support as well as a rivalry that keeps them constantly striving to beat each other and set new boundaries.

“Ryan and I have been room mates since 2006 when I first made the international team, we’ve been friends ever since. “Last year I had to race one of my team mates to make the worlds team and he was definitely in my corner, along with Michael of course. The three of us are pretty tight.”

The laughter will be pushed aside when the country’s best swimmers convene for the fiercely competitive national trials.

“Because we’re only together for that month, being known as Team USA and walking around like that you just get fired up,” he said. “Knowing that for that month you’re training with the best in your country, you can’t not catch that Olympic feeling.”— Reuters

Banned Saudi riders can compete at Olympics LAUSANNE: Two members of Saudi Arabia’s Olympic equestrian team can compete at the London Games after the Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced their bans for breaking anti-doping rules.

A CAS ruling said Khaled Abdulaziz Al Eid and Abdullah Waleed Sharbatly were guilty of “minor” offenses and cut their suspensions from eight to two months.

The riders, who have been provisionally suspended since February, can compete again immediately.

They appealed against the eightmonth bans imposed by the International Equestrian Federation after their horses tested positive for controlled anti-inflammatory medications at competitions in the Middle East. The court said a single arbitrator decided “that the infraction was of minor importance (and) reduces the periods of ineligibility to two months.”

Al Eid is the 2000 Sydney Olympics bronze medalist. Sharbatly won silver at the 2010 World Equestrian Games. The riders requested a fast-track hearing ahead of the July 27-Aug. 12 Olympics. The appeals were heard in London last Thursday. CAS said detailed reasons for the verdict would be published “in a few weeks.” — AP

BIRMINGHAM: England captain Andrew Strauss insisted he was proud of his side’s efforts after rain had the final say in the drawn third Test against the West Indies at Edgbaston here yesterday.

The final day washout-the third without a ball bowled in this five-day game-left England, the world’s top-ranked Test side, with a 2-0 win in this three-match series after five-wicket and nine-wicket wins at Lord’s and Trent Bridge respectively.

England were left on their overnight score of 221 for five in reply to West Indies’ first innings 426. Ian Bell, attempting to become the first Warwickshire batsman to score a Test hundred on his Edgbaston home ground, was left on 76 not out and nightwatchman Steven Finn nought not out.

The series was a personal triumph for opener Strauss, who answered concerns about his batting form with two hundreds and a series tally of 326 runs at an average of more than 65.

But England, with the series already won, controversially chose to rest first-choice newball pairing James Anderson and Stuart Broad from this Test.

In their places came fellow seamers Graham Onions and Finn. “We played some good cricket in the first two games,” said Strauss. “This game never really got going but I didn’t think it had anything to do with the players that were missing.

“We want to play very near to our best in every game, we weren’t at our best here though.

“I was delighted to see both Finn and Onions back, they both acquitted themselves really well, it shows we have good depth.”

Durham quick Onions, who two years ago suffered a career-threatening back injury, took four wickets for 88 runs in 29.3 overs, with Finn managing three for 109 in 32.

West Indies’ total owed much to man-of-thematch Tino Best’s whirlwind 95, the highest score ever by a Test match No 11 batsman. Best faced just 112 balls with a six and 14 fours on Sunday’s fourth day.

Together with wicket-keeper Denesh Ramdin, who made 107 not out, Best shared a partnership of 143 — the third highest 10th wicket stand in Test history and a West Indies record.

“The joy of getting 95 is joyful and humbling,” said Best, playing his first Test in nearly three years. “You have to enjoy the moment. I’m grateful and honoured. I still feel quick and strong and felt good yesterday (Sunday).”

However, Ramdin was fined 20 percent of his match fee by match referee Roshan Mahanama after celebrating his hundred by waving a piece of paper containing criticism of West Indies great Viv Richards, who’d questioned his performance after the second Test.

England and the West Indies play three one-day internationals and a stand alone Twenty20, starting with Saturday’s 50-over clash at Southampton. “It was a good end to

BIRMINGHAM: England captain Andrew Strauss holds the Wisden trophy (left) and the Investec trophy as the third Test match between England and West Indies was declared a draw. — AP

this series,” said West Indies captain Darren Sammy. “There’s work to do but three times we scored above 300.

“We’re very excited about the ODI series,” added Sammy, whose side will welcome back several senior players for the one-dayers including former captain and dynamic opening batsman Chris Gayle, who has been in international

exile for over a year after a dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board.

“Over the years we’ve had a good dressing rapport so for the guys that are coming in, I don’t see any problems,” said Sammy.

The West Indies warm-up for the limited overs fixtures with a one-day game against Middlesex at Lord’s tomorrow. — AFP

SCOREBOARD Scoreboard on the fifth and final day of the third and final test between England and West Indies at Edgbaston in Birmingham yesterday.

West Indies first innings A.Barath lbw b Onions 41 K.Powell c Swann b Besnan 24 A.Fudadin c Bell b Bresnan 28 D.Bravo c & 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 (b-4 lb-8 w-1) 13 Total (all out, 129.3 overs) 426 Fall of wickets: 1-49 2-90 3-99 4-128 5-152 6208 7-241 8-267 9-283 10-426.

Bowling: Onions 29.3-7-88-4, Bresnan 34-9111-3, Finn 32-6-109-3 (1w), Swann 26-5-85-0, Trott 8-1-21-0.

England first innings A.Strauss c Bravo b Best 17 A.Cook lbw b Rampaul 4 I.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 (b-1 lb-7 nb-3) 11 Total (five wickets, 58 overs) 221 Did not bat M.Prior, T.Bresnan, G.Swann, G.Onions Fall of wickets: 1-13 2-40 3-49 4-186 5-215.

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.

Result: Match drawn England won series 2-0

Do-or-die for NSW to save Origin series

Johnathan Thurston in action in this file photo

BRISBANE: New South Wales will be out to prevent Queensland from achieving an unprecedented seventh straight State of Origin rugby league series in the pivotal match in Sydney tomorrow.

Mal Meninga’s Maroons again have the edge in this season’s series after winning the Melbourne opener 18-10 last month and head to Sydney where they have won five of the last eight encounters at the Olympic stadium. There has been the usual argy-bargy in the leadup to the kickoff of the fiercely-contested interstate series.

Upset by Meninga’s barbs that the Blues lacked the mentality to win Origin, NSW coach Ricky Stuart retorted in his weekend newspaper column: “To be honest, I have had a gutful of Queensland’s smugness and their fake graciousness in victory.”

Queensland have developed an era of dominance over NSW winning 14 of their past 19 encounters since NSW’s last series win in 2005. The Maroons have a settled combination, a Test-strength backline led by Johnathan Thurston and a never-say-die forward pack that lays the platform for victory.

But Queensland have had a setback for game two with Test backrower Sam Thaiday ruled out with a shoulder injury and replaced

by South Sydney’s Dave “Coal Train” Taylor, who has been scattering defenders in club matches this year. “I’m hoping to play for as

long as I can because Origins don’t come around too often,” Taylor said, adding “I’m just looking forward to the first 20 minutes, just ripping and tearing and we’ll see how it comes.”

Blues’ back-rower Greg Bird is lining up for his 10th Origin match and risks being part of a losing series campaign for a fifth time.

“We can’t go out there and play the way we did in game one, we’ve got to go out there and improve on that because if we play the same way we’ll get beat,” Bird said.

“We can’t just expect because we’re playing at home it’s going to happen. We’ve got to go out there and work hard for each other and do all the things right that we train to do.”

NSW are looking to the power up front of rookie Penrith prop Tim Grant to help the Blues level the series, while feisty Manly backrower Anthony Watmough is expected to see plenty of game time off the interchange bench.

NSW won the corresponding fixture 18-8 last year before going down 34-24 in an emotionally charged decider in Brisbane, where Darren Lockyer was given farewell in style by Meninga’s men.

Former Australian Test great Meninga with a winning 14-5 coaching record in Origins has more wins than his legendary predecessors Arthur Beetson and Wayne Bennett, both with 11 wins. — AFP

18

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

sp orts

Winner of F1 driver’s crown is anyone’s guess LONDON: Even commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone, whose ideal Formula One season would be decided at the very last corner, could hardly have dreamed of a championship like this one.

With just over a third of the distance gone, and an unprecedented seven different winners from the first seven races, the ultimate winner of the 2012 driver’s crown is anyone’s guess.

Even calling the winner of the next race in Valencia is tough, with two of the six world champions on the grid Kimi Raikkonen and Michael Schumacher - yet to win in this most unpredictable of seasons. A mere three points separate the top three in the championship standings with the top five split by less than the 25 for a

win and 13 races remaining. “It’s absolutely wide open. It’s a dream for the sport,” declared America’s former champion Mario Andretti after McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton won in Canada on Sunday.

“Formula One for so many years has been quite predictable...that’s out of the window now. Somewhere the rules are working, something is working. So don’t fix it,” he told Sky Sports television. Just when a team believe they have cracked the code, the Pirelli tyres make them think again. “This is what is going to be normal for the season,” Hamilton told reporters after being joined by Lotus driver Romain Grosjean and Sauber’s Mexican Sergio Perez on the podium.

“That’s just my feeling, but then

again my guess is as good as yours...we’re still trying to fully understand these tyres.

“Sometimes you’re overheating them, sometimes you’re not heating them up enough. We don’t understand why sometimes a Lotus is quicker than us, or a Mercedes is quicker than us and then we’re quicker than them another time.

“But I think it’s great for Formula One, it’s great for the fans to see,” said the 2008 champion, while adding that seven was now quite enough different winners. After watching his double world champion Sebastian Vettel qualify on pole position for the second year running in Montreal, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner sounded confident enough. “I feel the

Red Bull technical team are doing a great job to try and understand the new regulations,” he said. “We are starting to get a better handle on what these tyres like.”

On Sunday, with Vettel finishing fourth after a late stop forced on him by tyre wear, there was less optimism: “Perhaps we were just a little bit too hard on the tyres,” said the Briton.

The problem for teams and drivers has been finding the balance that allows them to extract the most from the tyres. Sunday was ultimately a battle between one-stoppers and twostoppers, with McLaren getting it right for Hamilton with a second stop while Ferrari kept Fernando Alonso on one and paid the price. But it goes further than that. Grosjean and Perez did just

one stop each but were able to reel in Alonso’s Ferrari on tyres that still had plenty of life in them.

“We could be really smart here today and say that they messed the strategy up, Ferrari and Red Bull,” said McLaren’s sporting director Sam Michael. “But if you look at Lotus and Sauber, they made that strategy work.

I think that one of those cars had tyres that were over 45 laps old.”

Track temperatures play a big part in the equation, as do driving styles and the timing of the stops. But Pirelli are still keeping everyone on their toes. “I think it’s good. The fact that you have to manage your car and your tyres is part of being a race car driver,” said Canada’s outspoken 1997 champion Jacques Villeneuve. — Reuters

Nadal rules Roland Garros Bags record seventh French Open title

MIAMI: Dwyane Wade No. 3 and LeBron James No. 6 of the Miami Heat speak with the media in this file photo. —AFP

Heat and Thunder vie for NBA title OKLAHOMA: For LeBron James to finally claim his long-sought NBA Finals title, he and the Miami Heat will have to shut down NBA scoring champion Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Two star-studded teams begin the best-of-seven championship series at Oklahoma City late yesterday, ending a campaign shortened by a financial dispute between players and team owners that delayed the season’s start to December 25.

James, this season’s NBA Most Valuable Player, departed the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2010 for Miami to join fellow superstars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh and spoke of not only winning an NBA crown but taking multiple titles.

The Heat lost to Dallas in last year’s NBA Finals but James has worked to reach the NBA Finals for the third time in his career in his ninth NBA season, having also lost with Cleveland to San Antonio in 2007.

James averaged 27.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.9 assists to spark Miami and has produced 30.8 points and 9.8 rebounds a game in the playoffs, but the goal remains another four victories away from the superstar playmaker.

“We look forward to the next challenge,” James said. “Still one more step.”

The Heat and Thunder split two regularseason meetings, each club winning at home. Oklahoma City went 47-19, one game better than Miami, to claim a

home-field edge for the final showdown.

This will mark the first year since scoring king Michael Jordan guided the Chicago Bulls against Utah’s Karl Malone in 1997 that the NBA’s top scorer and Most Valuable Player competed against each other in the NBA Finals.

But Durant, who averaged 28.0 points this season and is netting 27.8 points and grabbing 7.9 rebounds in the playoffs, has some help in the form of fellow 23year-old American Russell Westbrook.

Add James Harden, voted the NBA’s top man off the bench, and Serge Ibaka, the Spanish big man who led the NBA in blocked shots for the second year in a row, and the Thunder bring plenty of confidence they can claim the crown.

“It doesn’t matter who starts or who finishes the game,” James said. “James Harden doesn’t start, but he’s always on the court at the end of the game. It’s who is being productive. That’s what it all boils down to.”

There are some historic links between James going to Miami and the Thunder.

To help clear salary room for making a run at James in 2010, the Heat sent away Daequan Cook and Derek Fisher to the Thunder.

Miami’s Bosh has returned from an abdominal strain but has yet to start since coming back in the Heat’s Eastern Conference finals win over Boston. “I’m going to have my time out there with certain lineups,” Bosh said. —AFP

PARIS: Rain or shine, clay or mud, Sunday or Monday, Rafael Nadal rules Roland Garros.

The man they call “Rafa” won his record seventh French Open title yesterday, returning a day after getting rained out to put the finishing touches on a 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 victory over Novak Djokovic. He denied Djokovic in his own run at history - the quest for the “Novak Slam.”

The match ended on Djokovic’s doublefault, a fittingly awkward conclusion to an emotion-packed final that had plenty of stops and starts, including a brief delay during the fourth set yesterday while - what else? - a rain shower passed over the stadium.

It was a 3 hour, 50 minute match spread over two days filled with momentum swings, outbursts, testy exchanges with the officials and then, finally, a familiar closing act: Nadal, the second-seeded Spaniard, down on his knees, celebrating a title at a place that feels like home.

“I suffered,” Nadal said, “but I enjoyed.”

Wrapping up the match a few minutes after the match’s last rain shower stopped, Nadal broke the record he shared with Bjorn Borg, improved to 52-1 at the French Open and beat the man who had defeated him in the last three Grand Slam finals.

“I don’t know if I am the best or not,” Nadal said. “ I am not the right one to say that. The only thing is, I have probably one of the best results ever, probably in this kind of surface, and for me (that) is great.”

After serving his fourth double-fault of the match, the top-seeded Djokovic dropped his head, slumped his shoulders and walked slowly toward the net - an emotional two-day adventure complete, and not with the result he wanted.

He was trying to become the first man since Rod Laver, 43 years ago, to win four straight major titles. He came up short just as Roger Federer twice did in seeking four in a row - his pursuit also halted by Nadal at Roland Garros in 2006 and 2007.

Nadal won his 11th overall Grand Slam title, tying him with Borg and Laver for fourth among the all-time leaders. Next up on Nadal’s list: Chris Evert? Yes. Before Monday, Evert was the only player, man or woman, to win seven titles at Roland Garros, and Nadal would break that record next if he wins No. 8.

“He’s definitely the best player in history on this surface and the results are showing that he’s one of the best-ever players to play

this game,” Djokovic said.

A match with so much of tennis history riding on it proved awkward and frustrating for both players. Unable to solve Nadal’s mastery of the clay, Djokovic was throwing rackets around early in the final. A bit later on Sunday, Nadal was complaining bitterly as the rain picked up, the tennis balls got heavy and officials refused to stop the match.

“The conditions were really unusual, too,”

French Open since 1973, when Ilie Nastase wrapped up his title on a Tuesday.

“I said, ‘Good, we’ve had some luck. If we hadn’t stopped, we were going home,’” said Nadal’s uncle and coach, Toni Nadal.

“Because Rafael was a bit blocked and Djokovic wasn’t missing any balls. He was hitting them all well. So we had some luck.”

When Nadal and Djokovic came back to Roland Garros on Monday under cloudy skies, they shook hands as they passed each

FRANCE: Spain’s Rafael Nadal poses with his trophy on the podium after winning against Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in their Men’s Singles final tennis match during the French Open tennis tournament. —AFP Nadal said. “The ball was heavier than ever.

At the end, the bounces started to be bad. ...

In my opinion, the conditions were much more favorable for Novak than for me. At the same time, I am playing against the best of the world, the best of the world with good conditions, probably, for him.”

Djokovic rolled through the third set as the rain turned the heavy red clay into more of a muddy paste. He had all the momentum when play was halted, up a break early in the fourth. The weather cleared well before dusk Sunday and Djokovic said he was sitting around the changing room, ready to play.

But officials decided to call it a washout, setting up the first non-Sunday finish at the

other on the practice court. A bit later, the match resumed. Both the surface on Court Phillippe-Chartier and the tennis balls had dried out, and Nadal looked more like he usually does - sliding into his stops, spinning his power ful, looping shots, moving Djokovic around, always getting one more ball back.

“I’m not going back, saying it’s your fault and your fault because I lost,” Djokovic said.

“It’s unfortunate because I was playing better, feeling better on the court in the third set yesterday. Today, he started strong. I started slower. I was a little bit unfortunate in that first game and things turned around.”—AP

Don Bosco Oratory to play DHL in final Arjuna Awardee Bruno Coutinho to attend KIFF League final

Don Bosco Oratory qualified for the finals

DHL FC qualified for the finals

KUWAIT: Don Bosco Oratory (DBO) scripted the perfect plot to down mighty Navelim YC 1-0 in an edge of the seat thriller and go in the final as firm favorites against DHL FC who were lucky to scrape pass United Friends Club in the tie breaker after extra time had ended goalless, in the penultimate matches of the KIFF League Championship organized by The Kuwait Indian Football Federation (KIFF) and played at MOH Grounds in Shuwaikh, last Friday.

In an emotionally charged game, man of the match Michael Dias of DBO was the main architect in his team’s victory and he was ably supported by Alido Gomes in the goal and defenders Godfrey Aguiar, Salman and the robust Roshan D’Souza.

Their midfield too functioned admirably well with Alexandro and Seby supporting the defense to ensure that wave after wave of attacks launched by Navelim YC forwards Cruzedio, Arif Shaikh and Ryan Luis were squashed and DBO held on to claim a famous win against their more fancied opponents.

Both teams had their opportunities and the woodwork came to the rescue on a couple of occasions when Lloyd Mascarenhas’s free kick for DBO and Navelim Ryan’s shots came off the cross bar on either side of the half.

The lone goal was scored by Michael Dias of DBO in the first half when the brilliant Lloyd Mascarenhas playing his first match made one of his many solo runs and was brought down in the penalty area by a Navelim defender and referee Derrick Gomindes had no hesitation in pointing to the dreaded spot.

In the other semi final played earlier,

Manuel of United Friends Club missed a penalty in the dying minutes of the game that would have taken his team to the finals, as his shot was well saved by ‘man of the match’ goalkeeper Manoj Cheruvathoor and after playing extra time without any change in the score line, the match was decided by the tie breaker. Vico, Terence, Ishafaq and Cruz scored for DHL FC, while only Hemanth, Seby and Abdullah could find the net for United Friends Club.

New signings Jai John and Prince gave DHL FC the added boost in the forward line and although United Friends Club controlled long periods of the match, DHL had equal goal scoring chances with Terence hitting the cross bar in the second half.

Hamanth, easily one of the best forwards in the league tried his best to give United Friends Club the lead, but wayward shooting and excelled keeping by Manoj ensured DHL the finals spot. Man of the Match trophies were sponsored by Al Muzaini Exchange Co., and handed over by KIFF President Fidelis Fernandes to Manoj Cheruvathoor of DHL FC and Michael Dias of Don Bosco Oratory.

The grand final between Don Bosco Oratory and DHL FC is slated for Friday, June 15 at 7:00pm. The venue will be announced shortly and the chief guest for the event is the Indian Ambassador to Kuwait, Shri Satish C. Mehta.

Indian soccer icon and Arjuna Awardee Bruno Coutinho, the Jt. Director of Sports Authority of Goa (SAG) is the guest of honor and Naser Omran Kanan of Gulf Cable will be the special invitee.

Man of the Match Manoj

Man of the Match Michael Dias

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

19

SPORTS

Today’s Matches on TV UEFA European Championship

Poland v Russia 21:45

Al-Jazeera Sport +9 Al-Jazeera Sport +10 Al-Jazeera Sport 2 HD Al-Jazeera Sport - Euro

Group

A

Greece v Czech Republic 19:00 Al-Jazeera Sport 1 HD Al-Jazeera Sport +9 Al-Jazeera Sport +10 Al-Jazeera Sport 2 HD

Euro 2012 briefs

Warsaw calls for calm over Russian march WARSAW: Warsaw authorities appealed for calm yesterday ahead of a planned march by around 5,000 Russian fans to Warsaw stadium to watch their team’s Euro 2012 Group A match against Poland, which could be a potential flashpoint of the tournament. The two neighbors have always had complicated relations strained by historical animosity and the Soviet domination after World War II. A plane crash that killed Poland’s president and 95 others in Russia two years ago first brought the nations together, only to push them apart due to disputes over who was responsible.

Around 5,000 Russian fans wanted to march to the stadium today and their representatives told Warsaw officials they wanted only to celebrate “the festival of football”, the director of Warsaw’s security and crisis unit said.

“I’ve asked them for peaceful behavior, not to provoke anyone in the streets,” Ewa Gawor told a news

conference. “We want this festival to be peaceful. We have had such assurances, nevertheless we will be watchful.” UEFA has told Warsaw to expect around 20,000 Russian fans in the city, spread across the stadium and the fan zone. A Warsaw police spokesman said they were fully prepared but declined to give precise numbers of how many officers would be on the streets.

Russia coach Dick Advocaat and the country’s soccer chief laid a wreath in Warsaw on Sunday to commemorate the victims of the plane crash in an attempt to defuse tensions. A group of mostly elderly protesters bearing pictures of President Lech Kaczynski, who perished in the air disaster, prayed nearby. A movement led by Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the ex-president’s twin and leader of Poland’s main opposition party, questions whether the crash was an accident and says Moscow may be at least partially to blame.

Poles also fear the Russian fans

may display Soviet era symbols that remind them of the 44 years under Moscow’s domination behind the Iron Curtain.

“Every little thing brings back all the historical grievances which have not been fully resolved,” said Andrzej Rychard, a sociologist at the Polish Academy of Science.

Russian fans displayed illegal banners and threw fireworks during the team’s opening match against the Czech Republic in Wroclaw on Friday and UEFA has launched disciplinary proceedings against the Russian FA (RFS). The Russian FA has since appealed to its fans to behave.

Beyond isolated incidents, the tournament has so far been mostly calm.

Poland’s interior minister said that out of 905,000 fans attending games at stadiums or in the fan zones, only 72 were arrested, including 41 local fans and 10 Russians.

Tensions are also growing between Russian and Ukrainians in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv,

which hosts three Group B games.

Russian fans scuffled briefly with Ukrainians outside the fan zone after the side’s 4-1 win over the Czechs on Friday. Lviv is in the western and predominantly ethnic Ukrainian part of the country where Russians are identified with the Soviet control from 1939 to 1991.

Mayor Andriy Sadovyi denied there were tensions, telling a news conference on Sunday “we all have fun together - Russian, Ukrainians, Poles. I wish the same for other cities”. He said he was not planning extra police for the fan zone today and blamed Friday’s problems on fans who had had too much beer.

Russian and Ukrainian nationalists exchanged blows in Lviv on May 9, 2011 during ceremonies to mark the end of World War Two. The trouble started when the Russians marched with a Communist flag, which the Ukrainians associate with what they see as the Soviet occupation of their land.—Reuters

Poland tight-lipped as Russia clash looms

WROCLAW: Czech Republic’s Milan Baros kicks a ball during the official training session on the eve of the Euro 2012 soccer championship Group A match against Greece. —AP

Greeks look to down Czechs WROCLAW: Greece can take a giant step towards reaching the last eight if they beat the Czechs, who they beat in the Euro 2004 semi-finals on their way to lifting the trophy, and all but consign their opponents to an early return home in today’s Euro 2012 Group A clash.

The Greeks showed great resolve to come from behind and draw 1-1 with cohosts Poland in their opening match while the Czechs suffered a 4-1 hammering in their opening match against Euro 2008 semi-finalists Russia.

Dimitris Salpingidis Greece’s goal scoring hero in the Poland game is likely to be rewarded by starting after he was brought on at the beginning of the second-half last Friday and got the Greeks back in the game when they were trailing 1-0. And the player, said to be the target of a number of major European clubs, said Greece will need more of the same fighting spirit they showed against Poland to keep alive their hopes of progressing to the quarter-finals. “Both of our upcoming games are difficult, Russia and against the Czech Republic. We will try to do our best and if we manage to qualify, we will all be very happy,” said Salpingidis.

Victory in itself would not guarantee the Greeks a place in the last eight even if group leaders Russia defeat Poland in Warsaw in today’s other match-but it would end Czech hopes of going beyond the group stage.

Salpingidis and Greece’s never-say-die attitude is reminiscent of their style at Euro 2004, when they effectively ground their more flamboyant opponents into submission.

But it has been strengthened by a desire to deliver some much-needed joy to their hard-pressed compatriots back home, who are wilting under horrendous financial hardship.

The Greeks will be without their firstchoice central defensive pairing of Sokratis Papastathopoulos, who is suspended after his harsh sending-off in the Poland match, and Avraam Papadopoulos, who has torn cruciate ligaments. Midfielder Giorgos Fotakis is also ruled out, after limping away from training on Sunday.

But, whilst the lively Czech attack will be hoping to exploit defensive weaknesses, the Greek forwards, too, will be looking to expose their opponents’ defensive failings, which were brutally exposed by the Russians.

In some quarters, the Greeks were criticised for letting three points slip from their grasp, as captain Giorgos Karagounis had a penalty saved.

Experienced striker Giorgos Samaras, though, said such is the spirit in the camp that the roof could cave in and they would still summon up the spirit to dig themselves out. “We never give up and because we never give up, we don’t like to lose games. And that’s something you cannot buy or find. It’s all about the mentality in the dressing room,” said the Celtic striker.

Fighting spirit is all very well when you are down but Greece’s Portuguese coach Fernando Santos says that shouldn’t be needed if his side get off to the punchy start that was missing from their display on Friday. —AFP

WARSAW: With Russia on a high after a hope we will obtain a result similar to the superb 4-1 defeat of the Czech Republic, result of our previous encounter but the Euro 2012 co-hosts Poland are keeping upcoming match will definitely be much their cards close to their chest as they more tough for our team.” brace for their politically-charged match Poland will be without first choice here yesterday. goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, suspendPoland coach Franciszek Smuda, who ed for one match after a red card. In his has dubbed Russia Group A favorites, is place comes substitute Przemyslaw widely expected to make key changes to Tyton, a hero for preventing a Greek win the line-up that drew 1-1 with Greece in by saving the penalty resulting from Friday’s tense European championship Szczesny’s foul. opener.

Sporting encounters between Poland “It’s a maybe,” said team media direc- and Russia always have an extra edge tor and former Poland defender Tomasz due to antipathy spanning the Tsarist Rzasa when pressed repeatedly for com- and Soviet eras, stoked by Moscow’s ment. There is speculation that Smuda resurgence under President Vladimir could start midfielders Adrian Putin.

Mierzejewski and Kamil Grosicki, of There are fears that that could fuel Turkish clubs Samsunspor and Sivasspor. trouble between Polish and Russian They are seen as likely to replace hooligans, as both countries are home to Bordeaux’s Ludovic Obraniak and Maciej a violent hardcore.

Rybus, despite the Terek Grozny player’s UEFA has already initiated proceedfamiliarity with the Russian league. ings against Russia after its fans lit and Smuda’s squad is seen as Poland’s threw fireworks and “Russian Empire” strongest since the longlost 1970s and 1980s glory days, raising fans’ hope. But Smuda, who has set the quarter-finals as his basic target, warns that Poland must not lose focus if they want to bring home any points from today’s clash with the flair-filled Russians, let alone the coveted three.

He and Russia’s Dutch coach Dick Advocaat will be expecting great things from their star strikers both rumoured to be being courted by English Premier League clubs.

Poland’s is 23-year-old Robert Lewandowski, fresh from a stellar season with German double winners Borussia Dortmund, who sent home fans wild when he scored on Friday.

Russia are counting on another sterling perform- WARSAW: Russia goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev saves ance from CSKA the ball during the official training session on the Moscow’s 21-year-old eve of the Euro 2012 soccer championship Group A Alan Dzagoev, their two- match against Poland.—AP goal hero against the Czechs. Poland reckon that having seen flags - seen as deeply provocative in parts Russia in action already is a help. of Eastern Europe that used to be under “We know what to look out for, so we Moscow’s thumb - during the Czech know how to correct our mistakes,” said game and fought with stewards afterLewandowski. “You can expect a com- wards. pletely different game.”

Russian Football Union head Sergey With the Poles gung-ho at home, Fursenko criticised the troublemakers Russia are playing down the chance of a and in a further gesture on Sunday laid a similar scoreline as against the Czechs. “I wreath at a memorial to Poland’s late don’t see any reason that the match with president Lech Kaczynski, who died Poland can be easy,” said Advocaat. along with scores of other Polish officials “We will face opponents who play a in a plane crash in Russia on April 10, completely different style of football. I 2010.—AFP

Un-cooperative ball Portugal have finally got to the root of their goal-scoring problems, saying it is simply the case that “the ball does not want to go in.” “It’s the reality. We have created a lot of chances but the ball doesn’t want to go in,” midfielder Miguel Veloso told reporters.

“The most important thing is to look for a bit of luck because perhaps the ball will go in and we can carry on from there.” His team mate Nani agreed that the ball was not being cooperative.

“The ball will not go in,” he said. “In the next few games, maybe our chances will go in as they have done at other times.”

Can cow replace octopus?

Could a runaway celebrity cow replace the late Paul the “oracle” octopus as the next animal with the ability to foretell the fortunes of Germany’s national soccer team?

German football fans were delighted that Yvonne the cow’s decision to tip Portugal to beat Germany at the Euro 2012 soccer championship in the Ukrainian city of Lviv on Saturday turned out to be wrong. Yvonne shot to fame in Germany last year after she escaped from a farm where she was due to be slaughtered and roamed free around Bavaria for three months, eluding the farmer, hunters, animal activists, Ernst the bull and even her best friend.

‘Joan Lescott’ France started the mind games early ahead of their Euro 2012 opener against England yesterday, as national sports newspaper L’Equipe inadvertently rechristened one of England’s players-and changed his gender. In an article on the daily’s website, England centre-back Joleon Lescott was erroneously referred to as ‘Joan’.

Lescott has been drafted into the team to replace the injured Gary Cahill. The blunder-coupled with the fact that none of the first 10 French fans to comment on the article noticed the mistake-suggests the Manchester City man is still to make a name for himself in France.

Fake England fans The head of the uniformed British police officer squad travelling with England fans at Euro 2012 has said their main concern is that innocent supporters could be accused of trouble caused by foreigners wearing England kits. Assistant Chief Constable Andy Holt told reporters before the team’s opening match against France that fans dressing in England kit made their job harder.

One of the reasons is that the worldwide popularity of the English Premier League has created a generation of fans who support top English clubs as well as their own local teams and many people from neighboring Russia are expected in Ukraine to cheer on England over the next two weeks.

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

Poland tight-lipped as Russia clash looms Page 19

Sparkling Shevchenko gets Ukraine rocking

KIEV: Sweden’s Andreas Granqvist (top) and Ukraine’s Andriy Voronin fight for the ball during the Euro 2012 soccer championship Group D match.—AP

KIEV: Ukraine’s former European Player of the Year Andrei Shevchenko rolled back the years here yesterday as his second-half double inspired the Euro 2012 co-hosts to a come from behind 2-1 win over Sweden in their Group D encounter.

The 35-year-old Ukraine captain took his tally to 48 in 108 international appearances with two superb headers within seven minutes of each other - his opposite number Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s neat 52nd minute finish had give the Swedes the lead.

The victory sees Ukraine - who are co-hosting the tournament with Poland - top the table after the other group match between France and England ended 1-1.

“I feel great - it was an historic game for us, it’s a victory,” grinned Shevchenko, who made his debut back in 1995. “I feel like 20 years, not 35!

“Thank you to everybody who supported me.

It was a very long walk because I had a lot of problems before the European Championships.

“It’s such an important competition - I feel fantastic!”

There had been little indication of the fairytale on the evidence of the first-half as Shevchenko looked way off the pace and when he was found free on the right of the box the 35year-old, who has been struggling with injury for the past year, scuffed his shot and the ball went past the far post.

The Ukrainians carved out the best chances with another veteran Andrei Voronin forcing Andreas Isaksson to punch to safety from long range while one of the younger generation, Andrei Yarmolenko, was also denied by the Swedish ‘keeper at closer range.

However, the Swedes should have broken the deadlock in the 40th minute but their captain

Zlatan Ibrahimovic saw his free header just go the wrong side of the far post.

Ibrahimovic struck in the 52nd minute somewhat controversially as a Ukraine player was lying injured but the Swedes played on regardless.

The Ukrainians failed to clear their lines and Kim Kallstrom managed to lose his marker, collect Sebastian Larsson’s cross and pass inside to Ibrahimovic, who coolly slotted it into the net and embarked on a typical flamboyant celebration, arm raised straight in the air.

The goal had been coming after the Swedes had come out pumped-up after the half-time break with Markus Rosenberg going close.

However, their lead last justed three minutes as Yarmolenko delivered a superb cross into the area and Shevchenko like days of old got ahead of his marker, veteran Olof Mellberg, to head powerfully into the net.

The crowd, the scorer and his team went beserk and they were to even outdo that noise seven minutes later as from an Oleg Gusev corner Shevchenko nipped in ahead of Ibrahimovic, this time to head in at the near post.

The charismatic striker charged down the touchline to embrace his fellow former European player of the year Oleg Blokhin.

Sweden kept pressing for the equaliser with Kallstrom going the closest with a fierce effort from outside the area which the not always convincing Andrei Pyatov fumbled away and was fortunate that Ibrahimovic was unable to put the rebound past him.

The Swedes should have levelled the game in the dying minutes as Ibrahimovic’s divine flick on set up Johan Elmander but showing the rustiness that has seen him only return to action here after a month out he flashed his shot across the post.—AFP

STATISTICS Match statistics for Ukraine’s 2-1 win against Sweden in their Euro 2012 Group D match at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev yesterday.

Goals scored Total shots Shots on target Corners Offsides Fouls committed Yellow cards Red cards Ball possession (percent)

Ukraine Sweden 2 1 13 12 5 6 3 2 2 1 12 20 0 2 0 0 53 47

Pitch complaints GDANSK: Polish FA chief Grzegorz Lato has played down Spain’s complaints about the pitch after Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Italy at Euro 2012, denying the grass was too long and saying the Italians refused to let it be watered. Spain midfielder Andres Iniesta and coach Vicente del Bosque complained that the pitch was too dry, spoiling the Group C game at the PGE Arena in Gdansk for both sides and the fans. Polish media also reported that organisers judged after the match that the grass was too long and ordered for it to be cut. “What nonsense! The grass was the perfect length,” Lato, winner of the Golden Boot as top scorer at the 1974 World Cup, told Polish radio station TOK FM.

France, England share spoils DONETSK: France came from behind to force a 1-1 draw with England yesterday as a cagey Euro 2012 opener between the Group D rivals ended in a stalemate.

Manchester City defender Joleon Lescott headed England into a 30th-minute lead to leave Roy Hodgson’s men dreaming of the perfect start to their campaign on a sweltering night at the Donbass Arena. But Lescott’s City team-mate Samir Nasri struck back with a 39th-minute equaliser, lashing a low shot from outside the area to give France a share of the points and extend Les Bleus unbeaten run to 22 games.

England coach Roy Hodgson was more than happy to have shared the spoils. “I think we played well as we we played against a tough team,” said Hodgson. “We were very disciplined and to finish 1-1 and ask the questions of them we did we’ve got to be happy.

“I’m not frustrated at giving away the equaliser as we kept them at bay really. In fact we had our own chances.” His French counterpart Laurent Blanc believed it was the correct outcome. “It is a worthy draw for both sides,” he said.

“It is not that bad a result. We should have scored the second even if we had only a few opportunities in the secondhalf.”

A cagey opening period saw both sides begin cautiously, and it was 11 minutes before anyone got a shot on goal with Nasri’s low shot flying just wide of Manchester City team-mate Joe Hart’s post. Yet England seemed far from cowed by the occasion, and should have taken the lead four minutes later after Ashley Young slipped in James Milner with a lovely through pass that caught France square.

The Manchester City midfielder rounded Hugo Lloris with his first touch but then failed to find the net from a tight angle. Moments later Yohan Cabaye tested Hart from long range, the City keeper diving to his left to stop his low strike.

Meanwhile Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, a surprise starter on the left side of midfield ahead of Stewart Downing, enjoyed a confident start, dispossessing Adil Rami early on and producing one memorable jinking run.

England’s bright opening yielded its reward on 30 minutes with the breakthrough coming from a setpiece. Captain Steven Gerrard swung in a pinpoint free-kick from the right flank and Lescott took advantage of acres of space afforded him by Alou Diarra to head past Lloris from close range.

Yet the England goal was the cue for a period of dominance from France which lasted until the half-time whistle.

Diarra almost made immediate amends with a header of his own, Hart parrying high after the defensive midfielder met Nasri’s pinpoint freekick.

In the ensuing scramble Franck Ribery headed back across goal but Diarra’s second effort went wide. A French equaliser seemed on though and it arrived through Nasri six minutes from half-time, the forward taking advantage of an English side standing too deep to squeeze a ferocious shot just inside Hart’s post.

England seemed content to slow the pace of the game in the second half, and passed confidently without ever threatening France. Gradually however France’s superior technique began to tell, and England spent long periods of the closing minutes on the back foot.

Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema, well shackled by Scott Parker for much of the match, forced a fine low save from Hart on 65 minutes.

Benzema, who had drawn a booking for Ashley Young on 71 minutes then went close again, curling a shot goalwards which Gerrard headed behind for a corner.

But though England seemed to be tiring rapidly in the final stages, France were unable to find the winner as the match wound down, with Benzema’s late strike parried by Hart.

England will face Sweden in Kiev on Friday in their second game while France face Sweden in Donetsk.—AFP

STATISTICS Match statistics for the 1-1 draw between France and England in their Euro 2012 Group D match at the Donbass Arena in Donetsk yesterday.

France 1 19 15 11 0 9 0 0 61

Goals scored Total shots Shots on target Corners Offsides Fouls committed Yellow cards Red cards Ball possession (percent)

England 1 3 1 4 5 7 2 0 39

DONETSK: French midfielder Franck Ribery (left) vies with English defender Phil Jagielka during the Euro 2012 championships football match.—AFP

Group A standings Euro 2012 Group D table after yesterday’s games (played, won, drawn, lost, for, against, points): Results France 1, England 1 Ukraine 2, Sweden 1 Group D Ukraine England France Sweden

1 1 1 1

1 0 0 0

0 1 1 0

0 0 0 1

2 1 1 1

1 1 1 2

3 1 1 0

Kingdom Holding picks banks for debut bond Page 22

Italy well-placed to ride financial turmoil: FM Page 23

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

Merkel faces tough sell at home over Spanish aid Page 24

Airline industry profits to plummet in 2012: IATA PAGE 25

MADRID: A journalist works in front of the Stock Exchange’s main display while it shows Bankia values in Madrid yesterday. After Spain’s request for a European financial lifeline of up to a 100 billion euros ($125 billion) to save its banks the EU made clear the money is more than just a loan. — AP

OPEC hints at action to ease oil glut IEA hopes cartel will keep pumping more oil VIENNA: OPEC’s president signalled yesterday it could act to reduce a glut of oil that has knocked the price down towards double digits, but said it was unlikely to set individual country production quotas at a meeting this week.

Abdul Kareem Luaibi, who also serves as oil minister of Iraq, said maintaining the price at $100-$120 a barrel was “reasonable and acceptable”, but repeatedly declined to specify what action if any OPEC might take when it meets on Thursday.

Supply from OPEC is running nearly 2 million barrels per day (bpd) above a selfimposed production ceiling of 30 million barrels per day set when ministers last met in December. At the time, individual targets for countries were not allocated.

“It’s very clear there is a tremendous surplus that has led to this severe decline in prices in a very short time span,” Luaibi told reporters. “This will not serve anyone.”

Oil is now trading at about $100 a barrel

after falling back from a four-year high of $128 in March. Worries about the slow pace of global economic recovery have helped depress prices, which had been boosted earlier this year by tension between the West and Iran over its nuclear program. The OPEC president said that ministers of the 12nation group would decide what action to take after a review of market conditions, but declined to give further details.

“We have our own view about the surplus, but it’s not diplomatic to talk about if for the time being,” he said. He did make clear that new individual quotas for countries were unlikely to be agreed, as long as the prospect looms of sanctions on Iran.

“It’s rather difficult at this conference to talk about individual quotas because there are outside conditions beyond the control of OPEC,” he said.

Iran, which has seen its own production sink to the lowest level in two decades as a result of EU and US sanctions, blames Gulf

Arab countries for over-producing and wants cuts to support higher prices. Luaibi said his own country, Iraq, would export 2.9 million bpd next year - up from 2.4 million bpd now. That implies total Iraqi output of 3.4 million bpd, which would allow it to overtake Iran as OPEC’s second biggest producer. Iraq has ambitious plans to expand production held back by decades of war and sanctions.

Iran is especially frustrated by the lofty production rate of Saudi Arabia, which has exceeded 10 million bpd to reach a 30-year high. The kingdom’s aim was to help drive the price down to $100 - a level it feels is ideal - and help cushion consumers from a loss of supply from sanctions-hit Iran.

But there are signs that Saudi Arabia could be turning down the taps. It pumped 9.8 million bpd of crude oil in May, an industry source said on Saturday.Traditional allies of Iran - Venezuela and Algeria - have also criticized OPEC overproduction, with Algiers

even suggesting the possibility of a supply cut. After oil fell below $100 last week, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he was worried about OPEC members violating the agreed production ceiling.

International Energy Agency chief Maria van der Hoeven said yesterday that she expected OPEC nations to decide to keep pumping higher volumes of crude oil when they meet later this week in Vienna. “What they did, especially the Gulf producers in the past few months, is producing a lot of extra oil, bring it to the market, bringing more liquidity to the market and I think that is a very intelligent and responsible approach,” van der Hoeven said on the sidelines of a news conference in Paris.

“I can’t imagine that they’re going to stop it,” added van der Hoeven, whose agency is the energy analysis arm of the oil consuming industrialized nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. — Agencies

World Bank seeks investors for MENA fund Rally withers as investors focus on bailout details NEW YORK: A relief rally after the approval of a rescue package worth up to $125 billion for Spanish banks fizzled yesterday as investors worried about details of the deal and the upcoming Greek election.

Major Wall Street indexes traded lower after an overnight rally in equity futures. Brent and US crude oil futures were negative for the day and the euro pared most of its gains against the US dollar.

Investors were concerned about how the Spanish bailout, struck by euro-zone finance ministers over the weekend, would be financed. A Greek election on Sunday that could put Athens on a path to leaving the currency bloc also limited enthusiasm.

In a blow for Spain, the European Central Bank asked Madrid to review and strengthen its plans to create “bad banks” in which lenders would park their toxic real estate assets to sell them off later. The request will likely delay a planned bank reform in Spain. Spanish and Italian bond yields rose, reversing the decline that came after the financing announcement. Investors worried the move for Spain was a temporary solution that does not address the question of how to kick-start growth in the bloc’s fourthlargest economy.— Reuters

DUBAI: The World Bank is hoping to raise a $500 million fund to invest in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), saying that the region’s needs in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings are more than it can manage itself. International Finance Corp, a unit of the World Bank, is setting up the fund in addition to the $2.2 billion to $2.4 billion it expects to invest in the region over the next year, aiming to take advantage of a surge in investment opportunities since the Arab Spring, its regional director said on Monday.

“We’ve invested $2.4 billion in the past 12 months in MENA countries and expect to do the same range next year,” Mouayed Makhlouf, regional director for IFC in the Middle East and North Africa, told Reuters. “We see an increase in equity investment opportunities and working capital needs in countries like Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan,” he said, adding that the revolutions in the Arab world have brought renewed attention to the economic and political consequences of unemployment.

IFC, which invests in developing the private sector in emerging economies, provides loans, equity investments and advisory services to

companies, with a special focus on small to medium-sized enterprises.

“We’ve realised that the need for investments in the region after the Arab Spring is more than we can support, so we’re now starting to manage third-party money,” Makhlouf said.

IFC will provide $100 million of seed investment for the new fund, which is expected to have a first closing within the next three months. It hopes to attract institutional investors, sovereign wealth funds and development agencies.

The corporation has invested $3 billion in the MENA region since the Arab Spring, Makhlouf said, becoming an important conduit of capital for companies that have been adversely affected by unrest in the region.“Demand for financing is huge now, much bigger than before the Arab revolution,” Makhlouf said, noting that Libya is one of the countries IFC is planning to enter once security issues are sorted out.

The IFC, along with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), said in April that it plans to invest up to $100 million on major infrastructure projects across the Middle East and North Africa. The institutions are contributing $50 million each to the Arab

Infrastructure Investment Vehicle, which is part of the Arab Financing Facility for Infrastructure (AFFI), a joint initiative of the World Bank, IDB and IFC. In the past 12 months, the IFC invested $506 million in Egypt in seven transactions, Makhlouf said, with between $200 million and $300 million earmarked for the country before the end of the year.

The IFC also provided a $50 million loan to cement and construction materials supplier Lafarge last year to support the French company’s cement subsidiary in northern Iraq and spur the country’s post-conflict economic recovery.

It made a $50 million equity investment in Orascom Construction Industries and agreed to lend $200 million to its subsidiary Egyptian Fertilizers Company in July last year.

IFC also agreed in December to invest up to $110 million in Jordanbased Hikma Pharmaceuticals to help to improve access to high-quality generic medicines in the MENA region.

Through its IFC Capitalization Fund, which supports emerging market banks, IFC signed a $170 million subordinated loan agreement with Oman’s Bank Muscat. — Reuters

Dubai index at 3-week high; stocks edge up MIDEAST STOCK MARKETS DUBAI: Stock markets in the United Arab Emirates took their cue from an improvement in global sentiment which tempted buyers and led Dubai’s bourse to its biggest gain in three weeks.

Shares, commodities and the euro rallied early yesterday after euro-zone ministers agreed to lend Spain up to $125 billion to shore up the banking sector and avoid a fiscal collapse.

Most blue chip stocks rose on the Dubai index, helped by real estate and related sectors. Bellwether Emaar Properties rose 0.7 percent as did builder Arabtec . Drake & Scull advanced 2.1 percent. “The strong closing of Saudi (on Sunday), optimism on Spanish news, China rate cuts ... and the rally in Asian markets have all contributed to the positive sentiment,” said Joice Mathew at United Securities in Muscat. The index climbed 1.1 percent, outperforming neighboring markets in its highest close since May 22. “In Dubai, there is no real catalyst but the momentum is there,” said Musa Haddad, head of investment advisory and trading services at National Bank of Abu Dhabi. “These levels are very low and medium- to long-term investors should start accumulating.”

Abu Dhabi’s index also rose, ending 0.4 percent higher. Real estate developers Aldar Properties and Sorouh both gained after updating markets on Sunday about progress on their merger plans.

Aldar ended 0.9 percent higher, and Sorouh added 1 percent. Shares on the Saudi and Qatari bourses advanced, although Doha’s index traded flat for much of the session. Oil prices rose to above $100 yesterday, bringing some respite to volatility and helping lift Saudi stocks. Other Gulf bourses came under selling pressure however on domestic issues.

Investors booked profits in Kuwait where the index slipped 0.6 percent after Sunday’s gains.

Banking stocks came under selling pressure, with Boubyan Bank falling 1.7 percent and Kuwait Finance House slipping 1.4 percent. “I think that there’s a profit taking activity,” says Safaa Zbib, head of research at Kuwait & Middle East Financial Investment Co, adding the majority of Sunday’s trading focused on buying. “In addition, banks stocks are heavily impacting on the market.” Egypt’s index extended losses and fell 1.7 percent to 4,394 points and volumes remained low on continued worries of a prolonged political instability.

“Regardless of any good or bad company or financial news, investors’ worries about the state’s political future will remain this week’s only main mover of the market,” said Tamer Mohamed, a broker at Cairo Capital Securities. —Reuters

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

BUSINESS

Insurance to stop India shippers handling Iran oil NEW DELHI: Indian state-owned refiners will halt planned oil imports of 173,000 barrels per day from Iran when European sanctions take effect in July, unless the government permits them to use insurance and freight arranged by Tehran, industry sources said.

India is the world’s fourth-largest oil importer and second biggest customer of the OPEC member nation, but domestic shippers have refused to transport the oil because of a lack of cover, the sources said. Unlike private refiners, India’s state-run companies need government permission to import oil on a Cost, Insurance and Freight (CIF) basis as federal policy requires refiners to favor Indian insurers and shippers by buying only on a Free on Board (FOB) basis. But Indian shipping firms say they will not lift Iranian cargoes from July as an emergency plan by state insurers to provide limited cover for Iran voyages has been delayed while the insurance regulator

$50 million of cover for Iran shipments from July to cushion against the sanctions, which are targeted at Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and oil revenue. State refiners, which would normally have booked ships for the next month by now, will seek government approval to use Iran insurance, as sovereign guarantees for such purchases look unlikely.

“We are thinking of making some alternative arrangement, which could be asking the government to allow us to lift cargoes on a CIF basis,” an official of refiner HPCL said, adding that it was also not clear whether local insurance firms would cover Iran oil cargoes.

Tighter sanctions by the United States and the European Union on Tehran will bar extending insurance and re-insurance facilities for Iran oil shipments anywhere in the world.

Iran’s other major Asian buyers-South Korea, Japan and China-have either had to halt imports from July or are also

requests more details.

“It is becoming difficult. You settle one clause of the sanctions, then you realize you are trapped in the second,” said one of the sources, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue.

India aims to buy 310,000 bpd of oil from Iran under contracts during the fiscal year from April to March, which includes 100,000 bpd of purchases by Essar Oil, the only private customer.

In July, Indian state refiners were planning to buy about 173,000 bpd of oil from Iran, the sources said, with MRPL aiming to import five aframax cargoes in July, and HPCL planning for two suezmax cargoes. Purchase volumes fluctuate from month to month.

IOC, the country’s biggest refiner, was not planning to buy any cargo from Iran in July, a company source said.

Indian state insurers led by General Insurance Corp (GIC) agreed to provide

scrambling to find alternative insurance options. Iran’s exports have sunk to the lowest in 20 years-about 600,000 bpd less than rates of 2.2 million bpd last year. Indian private firm Great Eastern Shipping Co. last week told state-run Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd it could not ship Iranian oil from July as European sanctions had hit the availability of insurance cover, sources privy to the development said.

“We are evaluating all options. In our contract with MRPL we have a right not to lift cargoes from a load port if there is no adequate cover. We don’t intend to breach any sanctions at any point. We don’t want to take undue risk. If the cover is inadequate we may not go to Iran,” Anjali Kumar, spokeswoman for Great Eastern, told Reuters in an e -mail response.

She did not comment on whether the firm had refused to lift MRPL’s Iran cargoes from July. MRPL has been getting

its oil cargoes covered by Iran Insurance Company, after domestic insurance companies did not extend marine insurance for such purchases.

Sources at Hindustan Petroleum and Indian Oil Corp said their shipper, Shipping Corp of India, had also told them it might not be able to ship Iranian oil from July, due to lack of insurance cover. A Shipping Corp source confirmed this. “Yes we have written to them (IOC and HPCL) ... because there is no indication from General Insurance Corp.”

India, which has been gradually cutting back imports of oil from Iran over the last few years, aims to buy 11 percent less oil from Iran than last year under new deals from April, raising New Delhi’s chances of getting a waiver on Washington’s sanctions. The United States, which has granted a waiver to Japan and 10 EU states, could announce a new list of countries that will receive exceptions this week. — Reuters

Kingdom Holding picks banks for debut bond No date fixed for debt issue DUBAI: Kingdom Holding, the investment vehicle of Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, has picked two banks to manage its maiden debt issue, a local currency bond, two sources said yesterday.

No date has been set for the issue, which is not seen as imminent. The firm, which is 95-percent owned by Prince Alwaleed, a nephew of Saudi Arabia’s king and a shareholder in Citigroup Inc., has mandated Banque Saudi Fransi and Deutsche Bank to arrange the riyaldenominated transaction, the sources said.

“It was mandated a long time ago to the two banks but there are no plans to sell anything

imminently,” one of the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity as the information is not yet public.

Kingdom officials were not immediately available for comment. Kingdom received approval from shareholders in March to sell bonds worth up to 3.75 billion riyals ($1 billion), although no details on timeframe or structure were given.

When the firm does market a deal, it is likely to be below benchmark size, the second source said. A benchmark-sized issue is traditionally understood to be worth $500 million or more.

Kingdom has minority stakes in some of the world’s top companies. Aside from being one of

Global Investment downgrades Batelco

Orascom Construction optimistic for full year CAIRO: Orascom Construction (OCI) expects a surge in fertilizer prices to spur a rebound in earnings this year after Egypt’s biggest company by market value reported a fall in first quarter net income. OCI, which plans to split its construction and fertilizer businesses into two new companies, has benefited from infrastructure growth across the Middle East despite economic turmoil at home.

But lower sales volumes and a drop in prices at its fertilizer business contributed to a 54 percent fall in first quarter net income.

“Our first quarter results have been impacted by lower selling prices for ammonia and melamine,” Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Nassef Sawiris said, referring to the fertilizer business. “We think this is a temporary matter because in April and May, prices recovered.

Today in June, ammonia prices are about 50 percent higher than what they were in February,” he told Reuters in an interview.

Sawiris said that the rebound would benefit second quarter net income and that the firm expected an improvement in earnings for the rest of the year.

The fertilizer business is expanding its projects in the United States and Algeria. The group’s OCI Beaumont plant in Texas in the

the largest shareholders in Citigroup, it also owns stakes in Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp and microblogging site Twitter. A number of Saudi entities have priced their first local currency sukuk this year as interest in the country’s debt market grows on the back of high investor liquidity and a desire to diversify funding sources away from bank loans. The largest of these was a 15-billion riyal ($4 billion) issue from the General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) in January while National Industrialization Co (Tasnee), a petrochemicals company, and diary firm Almarai Co issued 2 billion and 1 billion riyals in March and May respectively. — Reuters

United States sold 38 thousand tons of ammonia during the quarter and is on track to produce 250 thousand tons per year. The Beaumont plant’s methanol line is due to start production in June.

OCI’s Sorfert plant in Algeria has also started production runs for one of its urea and ammonia lines. The company’s shares were down 1.5 percent at 1026 GMT, roughly in line with the benchmark index’s 1.4 percent drop.

The construction business’s consolidated order backlog at end-March grew to $6.5 billion, a 1.4 percent increase from the end-December figure and a 15.5 percent jump from the same period a year earlier. The company had new orders worth $841 million during the quarter, with infrastructure and industrial work making up 61 percent of the construction group’s backlog. OCI has been able to attract projects from across the Middle East to offset a slow-down at home since Hosni Mubarak was ousted in 2011.

A run-off presidential vote to replace him is scheduled for June 16-17. “Everything is on hold. It has been on hold for 18 months. We hope that investment freeze comes to an end after the election,” Sawiris said. He said any economic rebound at home “would depend on the outcome of the election.” — Reuters

KUWAIT: Bahrain Telecommunications Co (Batelco) could continue to face stiff competition, resulting in a decline in its domestic revenue, Global Investment House said, downgrading the stock to “buy” from “strong buy”.

Bahrain’s telecoms sector is arguably the most liberalized in the Gulf, with three mobile operators - Batelco, Kuwait’s Zain and Viva Bahrain, an affiliate of Saudi Telecom Co - as well as about 10 Internet providers serving a population of about 1.3 million.

The launch of Viva Bahrain in March 2010 has had a major impact on the sector landscape, with the new entrant grabbing 27.3 percent of the subscriber base by the end of 2011, analyst Umar Faruqui said.

“Although we expect market share erosion for Batelco to slow down significantly going forward, the competition is likely to remain stiff,” Faruqui wrote in a note to clients. Batelco’s Jordan operations are expected to remain the main revenue growth driver on a likely boost from the launch of 3G services due later this year, he added.

The company, which is majority government owned, has reported declining profits in seven of the past eight quarters and is pursuing foreign acquisitions to offset falling home revenue. — Reuters

NEW DELHI: An Indian vendor carries flowers at a market on the outskirts of New Delhi yesterday. In recent years the Indian flower industry has been shifting from traditional flowers to cut flowers for export, and in the past few years exports of flower products have been valued at 700 million rupees ($20 million). — AFP

UAE CB may exempt bonds from loans cap ABU DHABI: The United Arab Emirates’ central bank has told banks they may be allowed to exclude bonds issued by statelinked entities from planned lending limits slated to take effect later this year, a local newspaper said yesterday, citing bankers.

In April, the central bank expanded its large-exposure limit rules for commercial banks, introducing new caps for loans made to local governments and their entities in the first such change in nearly two decades. The ruling would cap lending at 100 percent of a bank’s capital base to governments of the seven-member UAE federation and their non-commercial entities, and 25 percent to individual borrowers.

Arabic language daily Al Khaleej, citing unnamed banking sources, said the central bank has notified banks on an informal basis that “in principle it does not oppose excluding bonds issued by government companies subscribed to by the banks

from the permitted credit ratio.” The move is to help banks meet the new exposure targets in the appropriate timeframe, the newspaper said.

A number of UAE banks - including the country’s big two, Dubai’s Emirates NBD and National Bank of Abu Dhabi are over the limit and have said they would discuss with the authorities about how to manage their balance sheets in light of the rule change.

In May, the central bank said it may grant exemptions to some banks by potentially extending the September 30 deadline. The UAE is still recovering from its 2009-2010 corporate debt crisis. Banks’ provisions against bad loans rose 25 percent from a year earlier to 55.3 billion dirhams ($15.1 billion) last December, central bank data show. Officials at the central bank were not immediately available for comment. — 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 .4320000 .3510000 .2920000 .2720000 .2770000 .0040000 .0020000 .0764800 .7387280 .3840000 .0710000 .7241910 .0040000 .0430000

CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES US Dollar/KD .2793000 GB Pound/KD .4344790 Euro .3529790 Swiss francs .2937370 Canadian dollars .2736490 Danish Kroner .0474920 Swedish Kroner .0397100 Australian dlr .2787830 Hong Kong dlr .0360020 Singapore dlr .2188700 Japanese yen .0035070 Indian Rs/KD .0000000 Sri Lanka rupee .0000000 Pakistan rupee .0000000 Bangladesh taka .0000000 UAE dirhams .0760720 Bahraini dinars .7411440 Jordanian dinar .0000000 Saudi Riyal/KD .0745000 Omani riyals .7257370 Philippine Peso .0000000

.2830000 .4410000 .3580000 .3010000 .2810000 .2850000 .0070000 .0035000 .0772480 .7461530 .4020000 .0770000 .7314690 .0072000 .0500000 .2814000 .4377460 .3537450 .2959460 .2757070 .0478490 .0400090 .2808790 .0362730 .2205160 .0035340 .0051150 .0021650 .0029960 .0034490 .0766440 .7467160 .3980200 .0750600 .7311940 .0065950

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

280.250 356.500 438.100 276.550 3.570 5.055 46.443 2.138 3.415 6.490 2.979 746.000 76.350 74.800

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

283.38 277.89 297.84 354.99 280.10 438.80 3.61 3.427 5.044 2.149 3.180 2.983 76.33 745.82 46.42 399.06 729.00 77.35 74.90

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

280.450 277.315 437.245 355.140 295.505 742.480

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 283.400 746.110 3.660 278.300 551.000 45.700 48.600 167.800 48.070 356.200 36.830 5.240 0.032 0.160 0.235 3.620 397.580 0.190 91.170 44.100 4.310 221.600 1.817 47.900 726.740 3.140 6.720 77.600 74.910 221.110 36.230 2.673 440.400 40.900 298.500 4.300

9.270 198.263 76.490 280.900 1.350

9.090 76.390 280.500

GOLD 1,682.810

10 Tola Sterling Pound US Dollar

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 438.400 280.500

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

76.335 76.980 74.745 394.775 46.427 2.148 5.074 2.982 3.427 6.522 687.940 4.515 8.935 5.905 3.265 88.500

SELL DRAFT 281.900 746.110 3.426 276.800

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

221.100 46.474 356.700 36.680 5.080 0.031

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

397.540 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

3.200 220.100 728.580 2.995 6.533 77.170 74.910 221.110 36.230 2.151 438.400 297.000 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

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

BUSINESS

Experts ponder Greek drachma ‘D-Day’ scenario ATHENS: As the prospect of Greece leaving the euro turns from a taboo to a real possibility, the race is on for fallout calculations ahead of a June 17 general election critical for the debt-laden nation’s future.

World leaders from US President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and newlyelected French President Francois Hollande have all highlighted the stark choice facing Greeks: to complete austerity reforms or ditch the euro.

But in Greece itself, the key debate is how to redraft the country’s bailout deal with the EU and the IMF, whose austerity provisions are deemed to have killed off the economy.

The conservative New Democracy party, seen to have a fighting chance of winning the vote-albeit without a clear majority-have promised to “renegotiate” the so-called memorandum which has

propped up Greece with billions of euros (dollars), in return for promised structural reforms and deficit cuts. The other main contenders, the leftist Syriza party, have spooked Athens’ European peers by threatening to abolish the bailout deal altogether.

Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras also pledges to halt a spate of measures tied to the rescue, including state privatizations and labor cost cuts. A growing lineup of senior European officials have warned that Greece’s remaining loan payments-vital to the continued payment of state salaries and pensionscould be frozen if this happens.

Greece needs 7.6 billion euros ($9.5 billion) by end-July to cover maturing debt but EU-IMF aid payments have been suspended pending the formation of a new government, and the state’s tax takings are short of target.

Estimates on the cost of a Greek exit from the

euro-termed “Grexit”-range from 150 to 350 billion euros ($188 to $439 billion) according to economists at Barclays Bank, DeKaBank and UBS. And Germany’s Deutsche Bank has warned that loan payments to Greece could stop as early as late June or early July, setting up a risk-fraught summer.

A Deutsche Bank study obtained by AFP says there is no “zero risk” of a Greek euro exit, only differing hypotheses based on Sunday’s election result.

A weak pro-bailout coalition government, seen as one of the possible scenarios, would constitute a “moderate” risk, the study says. Change that to a Syriza-led majority, or a political stalemate, and the risk becomes “high”. Syriza was tipped as a possible winner in a number of opinion polls published last week, the last before the vote.

And an inconclusive vote is not out of the question either. It happened on May 6, when an earlier

general election gave a narrow victory to New Democracy, followed by ten days of fruitless talks on forming a cabinet. “A near-term Greece euro exit can still be avoided but the risk has risen sharply since the May 6 election,” Deutsche Bank warns.

“Any one of a number of ‘sparks’ could precipitate a Greece euro exit event,” it said in the study.

Should Greece run out of money, parliament would have to convene to enact laws on new currency, the bank said. Free capital movement would be curtailed to prevent a bank run and IOU’s could be issued to meet state obligations such as civil servant salaries and pensions.

Deutsche Bank’s chief economist Thomas Mayer has recently spoken about such a scenario involving a hybrid currency, or ‘Geuro’, which would entail offering IOUs to creditors, without formally leaving the euro. — AFP

Italy well-placed to ride financial turmoil: FM Govt always worried about avoiding ‘abyss’

SINGAPORE: A container vessel is berthed at Keppel port terminal in Singapore yesterday. Singapore’s key exports rose 3.2 percent year-on-year in May, driven by shipment of electronic goods. — AFP

Banks okay debt payment delay for Kuwait’s Global KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Global Investment House said yesterday that creditor banks had approved a delay in repayment of principal and interest to November from June, days after bondholders also agreed to extend scheduled payments to later in the year. The company, which is undergoing its second debt restructuring in three years, also has the option to delay both sets of payments to banks for an additional month to December 10 at the discretion of lenders, a regulatory filing said.

“The consent covers almost the entire conventional and Islamic lending arrangements of the company,” it said. “(It) allows the company and its debt holders to continue their efforts to seek a long term solution to the company’s capital structure,” it said.

Last week, Global secured approval

from bondholders to delay the repayment of bonds worth 95 million dinars ($338.4 million) to December from June. Global, which counts the governments of Kuwait and Dubai as major shareholders, asked bank creditors in September to suspend payments on a $1.7 billion plan agreed in 2009. Shares in Global have not traded on the Kuwait Stock Exchange since December, when the bourse suspended the stock after the company’s accumulated losses exceeded 75 percent of its capital.

Like several other Kuwaiti investment houses, Global’s portfolio was hard hit by the global financial crisis in 2008. Sources said in January Global had laid off 17 percent of its staff, or 60 employees out of 350, across the Gulf region as part of cost-cutting measures. — Reuters

CINERA: A miner walks along a road blocked by barricades during a demonstration in Cinera, near Leon, Spain yesterday. Strikes, road blockades, and mine sit-ins continue as 8,000 mineworkers at over 40 coal mines in northern Spain continue their protests against government action to cut coal subsidies. — AP

Finland PM says Spain rescue eases EU risk LOFT, Norway: The weekend rescue plan for Spanish banks has improved the eurozone’s chances of survival by removing the biggest challenge to dealing with the risk of financial contagion, Finland’s prime minister told Reuters. Asked in an interview whether the deal to pump as much as 100 billion euros into Spain’s banking sector had made a euro-zone collapse less likely, Jyrki Katainen said: “Yes, (the risk) has decreased because now we know more about the Spanish situation.”

Katainen warned however that the rescue should not be seen as a precedent, noting that Eurogroup members were only addressing Spain. “The contagion risk is lower because we know now how to deal with it,” he said. “The biggest challenge has been how to prepare for the contagion risk (from countries such as Greece), especially to the banking sector, but we now have an answer after the Eurogroup decided to loan money to the Spanish government.”

Katainen, a key ally of German Chancellor Angel Merkel, reiterated Finland’s opposition to commonly issued euro bonds and said Europe’s debt crisis required longer-term solutions.

“We don’t like the idea of euro bonds in a sense that too many countries have got

too many loans too cheap for too long and we don’t want to institutionalize this unless we know everybody will follow the rules, which hasn’t been the case before,” Katainen added.

Euro zone member Finland, one of the block’s few AAA-rated members, has demanded tougher conditions and guarantees for the Greek bailout. Katainen was also one of the first policymakers to publicly raise the issue of a Greek euro-zone exit.

He said he accepted relatively easier terms for Spain because the government has taken real steps in tackling its structural problems and deserved a break after markets failed to price in hard work.

And importantly, the Spanish action also reduces pressure on others member states such as Italy, giving them time to make their reforms work, Katainen added.

“We have managed to avoid a major crisis but the problems are still there. Sovereign debts is still there and even though governments have done a good job, markets haven’t valued them,” Katainen said. “The pressure on Italy hasn’t been that high and maybe the market has assessed better what the Italian government has done.” — Reuters

MILAN: Measures adopted by Italy so far have put the euro zone’s third-largest economy on a sound footing to face the current financial turmoil, the country’s industry minister said yesterday, dismissing the idea Rome may need external help.

“Italy has done what was necessary to save itself in past months,” Industry Minister Corrado Passera said when asked if Spain’s aid deal meant that a bailout for Italy was likely.

Speaking on the margins of a conference in Milan, Passera told reporters that austerity measures adopted so far have put Italy “among the countries better placed to deal with the financial turmoil Europe finds itself in.”

After the weekend deal in which euro zone leaders agreed to lend Spain up to 100 billion euros to recapitalize its debt-laden banks, many analysts believe Italy may be the next country to seek assistance.

A European market rally early on Monday fizzled out quickly. Italian benchmark bond yields rose above 6 percent at one point, less than half a point below Spain’s levels. The spread com-

pared with safer German Bunds rose to around 4.6 points, compared with a recent low of 2.8 points in March.

Andrea Riccardi, minister for International Cooperation, sounded slightly less upbeat than Passera when asked if the government was more worried about the crisis spreading to Italy following the bailout for Spain’s banks.

“This government has always been worried, our commitment has always been accompanied by our concern to avoid the abyss,” he told Reuters. “Today we are watching what is happening in Spain very closely, but we are much less worried than we were in November” when Prime Minister Mario Monti took office. Monti formed a government of technocrats when a discredited Silvio Berlusconi stepped down in November as Italy seemed headed toward a Greek-style default on its massive debt.

To shore up investor confidence, Monti immediately passed a tough austerity package, including new taxes and pension cuts, which is now weighing on his popularity.

Italy is facing headwinds both from the

broader euro zone debt crisis and the growing domestic difficulties for Monti, who admitted last week that he had lost the support of important parts of the country’s establishment.

He was referring in particular to a front page editorial in Italy’s most influential daily, Corriere della Sera, in which two prominent economists, Francesco Giavazzi and Alberto Alesina, said Monti’s early reform drive had petered out and its policies now seemed very similar to its predecessors’.

The economy is mired in a deep recession which shows no sign of easing and parts of the ruling majority are openly discussing whether it would be better to pull support from Monti and hold an early election before the end of this year.

“We must all save ourselves together (because) no-one can save themselves alone,” Passera said in support of the deal for Spain.

“The cost of not saving Europe and allowing the euro to disintegrate, which can absolutely be avoided, would be higher than the cost of helping the countries in difficulty to make the necessary adjustments.” — Reuters

Irish govt denies Spain has better bailout deal DUBLIN: The Irish government yesterday dismissed claims from an opposition party that Spain was getting a better bailout deal than Ireland secured for its 2010 rescue package. Prime Minister Enda Kenny said Spain’s 100-billion-euro ($125-billion) deal to help its troubled banks was marginally different from the deal granted to Ireland, but denied claims from Sinn Fein that it was on more generous terms.

“The deal in Spain is slightly different than Ireland’s in that a number of years ago Ireland was put into a package which dealt both with the bank recapitalization and the running of the country,” Kenny said.

“In Spain’s case it is recapitalization money for its banks. “Spain has got to pay the same interest rate as Ireland in that regard and will have to underwrite that.

“Spain have to deal with their reduction to 3.0 percent (of GDP) by next year, Ireland has a further year to do that,” Kenny said. He referred to a pledge by Spanish authorities to get their public deficit down to the euro-zone ceiling of 3.0 percent of output by 2013, though the European Commission might push the deadline back to 2014 as well. Meanwhile, junior finance minister Brian Hayes said claims from Sinn Fein, the second biggest opposition party in the Irish parliament, that the interest rate for Spain’s bank rescue funds would be 3.0 percent compared with 3.7 percent for Ireland’s loans was “fundamentally a lie”. “They got the exact same deal that we have-a memorandum of understanding will be put in place, the troika will be put in place,” Hayes told RTE radio.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble confirmed yesterday that the Spanish deal would be overseen by a so-called troika of staff from the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said yesterday the deal would actually be overseen by a quartet, which would include the European Banking Authority (EBA).

Ireland secured an 85-billion-euro rescue deal from the European Union, the ECB and the International Monetary Fund in November 2010, but it came with stringent conditions attached.

The deal is subject to three-monthly reviews by officials from the three organizations, known as the troika. The Irish government has made clear in recent weeks that it wants to re-negotiate the part of the deal that concerns Ireland’s bank debt.

Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore said after Ireland voted in favour of a new EU fiscal pact in a referendum on June 1 that the government wanted to “secure a more sustainable long-term deal in relation to Ireland’s bank debt”.

Hayes added that Finance Minister Michael Noonan stressed after Saturday’s Eurogroup teleconference on Spain that if Spain were given a better deal than Ireland “we will be demanding that we get it and he has been absolutely clear about that”.

Early euphoria on financial markets over the deal for Spain dissipated yesterday as investors punished Spanish bonds and concern grew over the nation’s growing sovereign debt. — AFP

NEW YORK: Trader Michael Iervoline works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange yesterday. Stocks are opening higher on Wall Street, following markets higher across the globe after European countries said they would lend Spain as much as $125 billion to save its banks. —AP

Euro-zone can foot the bill of Spain bailout, for now BERLIN: As Spain joins Greece, Ireland and Portugal in the queue for EU handouts, experts said the total bill of half a trillion euros can be met by the bloc’s existing rescue funds, at least for the time being. At the weekend, Spain clinched a lifeline loan of up to 100 billion euros ($125 billion) for its crisis-wracked banks.

The deal sent global stock markets and the euro soaring after Europe, and its paymaster Germany in particular, had come under intense pressure from around the world to take action to prevent problems in Spanish banks blowing up into a fresh euro-zone crisis.

The cash comes on top of 240 billion euros in aid promised to Greece, 85 billion euros to Ireland and 78 billion euros to Portugal, bringing the overall total since the start of the debt crisis to 503 billion euros.

Astronomic as the sums may sound, they can be absorbed by the current rescue mechanisms in place, without fiscally sounder countries such as Germany having to dig much deeper into their pockets, at least for now. But analysts are concerned whether the Spanish bailout, which currently only involves its banking system, will be enough and the countryEurope’s fourth-biggest economy-may itself need rescuing soon.

“Spain’s banking bailout may help to pull the country away from the centre of the eurozone storm for a while. But we doubt that it is the only support that the country will need,” said Capital Economics economist Jonathan Loynes. While the 100 billion euros was more than twice the minimum required amount estimated by the International Monetary Fund, “there will be suspicions that the full extent of Spanish banking losses has not yet been uncovered,” Loynes warned.

“At the same time, the poor economic outlook will also maintain concerns that Spain will at some point require a government bailout too,” he concluded. The euro-zone has in fact two different bailout mechanisms: the European Financial Stability Facility or EFSF, set up in spring 2010, and its successor, the European Stability Mechanism or ESM, which

is due to come into operation on July 1 and will be a permanent body.

The EFSF has up to 440 billion euros at its disposal to help cash-strapped states, while the ESM’s firepower is up to 500 billion euros and the two will operate in tandem until 2013.

Thus, with Spain now also coming cap in hand to its EU partners, the bloc’s common purse looks at first sight to be coming under increased strain. Nevertheless, that does not take into account aid previously made available by the IMF or coming from other European mechanisms. In addition, around half of the Greek aid is being made available under bilateral agreements, independent of the EFSF or the ESM. “The two coffers are still full,” Berenberg Bank economist Holger Schmieding told AFP. “Member states’ current finances aren’t going to change.” On top of this, member states will only be left to foot the bill if the countries receiving the aid cannot repay the money.

Under the terms of the bailout funds, the stronger a particular national economy is, the greater its exposure. Germany, for example, guarantees around 27 percent of the ESM, France 20 percent, Italy 18 percent and Spain 12 percent. Such guarantees enable the EFSF and the ESM to borrow from the markets at favorable rates and then lend the money on to the debt-wracked countries.

For economists, a key question is whether the Spain will apply for the aid from the EFSF or wait until the ESM is up and running.

Deutsche Bank economist Gilles Moec believes it would be in Madrid’s interests “to make its application to the EFSF,” since the EFSF’s statutes offer better protection to private investors lending to the fund.

Germany, as number-one guarantor, would prefer the ESM take charge of the Spanish dossier because its structure offers better protection to fiscally sound countries.

In the case of the EFSF, the countries receiving aid are excluded from the list of guarantors, leaving financially sound states to bear the burden in case of non-payment. —AFP

24

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

business

Young Greek jobseekers lose hope in crisis

ATHENS: Students and young graduates visit a job fair at the Athens Technopolis 2012, organized by technological firms and students organizations. — AFP

ATHENS: Waiting for his turn at the job centre, Kostas smokes a cigarette, drinks a coffee and buys a lottery ticket. This young Athenian has as much chance of winning that, he reckons, as of finding a job.

One of the masses of young Greeks out of work-the unemployment rate is 53 percent among those under 24 — Kostas, 24, has given up hope of finding employment after a year on the sidelines.

“They’re supposed to help us but they don’t really. We’ll never find a job here,” says Kostas, who like many jobseekers would not give his second name. “None of my friends ever found one here.”

Instead he has come to do the paper work for a computer training course which will bring him a certificate and a precious 500-euro ($628) subsidy. He queues along with other 20- and 30-somethings who take their turn to step up to the one open counter where a clerk puts a sticker on their job

seeker’s card, without a word. The card can help Kostas get training but does not entitle him to benefit payments-those are only for certain categories of laid-off workers.

The second floor of the job centre is meant to be where jobseekers come for career advice or to leave their CVs for potential employers to come and read.

It is empty now. “The companies don’t ask for anybody anymore,” says one employee, who asked not to be named. “This is the case in the construction field for example.

And for the technical jobs, electricians and in tourism, they have their own network” to find workers, the employee added. Resignation has set in among the young, including those older than Kostas in the 25 to 34 age bracket, where the unemployment rate is 29 percent, well above the overall rate of 21.9 percent.

Nicole and Katerina, 27-year-old biology graduates who have been

unemployed for two years, say they are looking to study abroad now and have given up on the job centre.

“It doesn’t help at all,” said Nicole. “They don’t have an efficient way to tell us what to do, they don’t have enough time. We cannot count on them. Now it’s impossible to find a job.”

The front window of the centre displays job adverts-mostly for short-term home-help positions.

Nothing for a young literature graduate like Maria, 22, however often she comes back to look. “I come here every week, even twice a week to look at the positions,” she says.

“We have no future here.” As Greece struggles to get out of its financial crisis through spending cuts and economic reforms, the European Commission has promised to launch an action plan to boost youth employment by the end of this year.

For this it has offered to add 200-250 million euros to the two billion euros of structural funds available to Greece to help businesses and local authorities employ young people and to boost training.

This aid “can make it possible for them to re-enter the job market and help control the explosion of unemployment,” said Savvas Robolis, a director of the GSEE institute.

“But they do not create new jobs.” For him, the answer is investment in public works projects to stimulate activity by companies currently starved of credit.

Those Greeks who do find a job can expect a minimum gross salary of 508 euros or 460 euros for the under-25s. Many would rather go abroad to countries with more job opportunities, says Robolis, and according to him, 23,000 Greek graduates moved to Germany in 2011.—AFP

Merkel faces tough sell at home over Spanish aid Media and skeptics ask if it will be enough BERLIN: Angela Merkel’s government was forced to defend an EU rescue for Spain’s indebted banks on yesterday, with many Germans convinced their generosity is being abused and skeptics warning that promising aid without tough conditions sets a risky precedent. Aides to the German chancellor justified the huge bailout on the grounds that the Spanish economy was not in such dire shape that it required the kind of terms imposed on Greece, and the aid would not be paid directly to Spanish banks but to the government.

“The Spanish application comes from the state, the money will go to the state, the state is liable and the state takes on the responsibility for the stipulated conditions,” Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert said. “It sends a good signal to the markets and Europe’s partners that Europe is capable of acting and now has the instruments at its disposal to deal with crisis events that it did not have two or three years ago,” said Seibert.

But opinion polls reflect growing fatigue among ordinary Germans at their country’s role as paymaster in the euro-zone sovereign debt crisis.

The scale of aid made available to Spain - up to 100 billion euros ($125 billion) - appeared to reinforce warnings from a small but growing band of German euroskeptics that such bailouts have become a black hole for German taxpayers’ hard-earned cash. The mass-circulation Bild tabloid warned that, just as one bailout package was not enough for Greece, “the Spanish patient will also need more help than a one-off capital injection”.

“Is 100 billion euros for Spain really going to be enough, Herr Schaeuble?” it asked the German finance minister. The Mitteldeutsche Zeitung called it a costly “sedative” and high-

brow Die Welt expressed similar doubts that the Spanish aid would stop the rot in the euro zone, despite a positive initial response in financial markets.

“Politicians are once again showing such great optimism that they are closer to solving the problems that the citizens, most of whom have already become skeptics, are even more suspicious,” Die Welt wrote. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said it was a dangerous precedent to drop Germany’s insistence on aid only with strict conditions. “Italy will also be happy to take money without tough conditions and Ireland may demand that its conditions be softened retroactively,” it said.

“The Spanish case shows there is not much left of the ‘German’ principle to allow aid within the euro area only with the toughest possible reform requirements.”

Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble mounted a campaign on television and radio to defend the decision, pointing out that Spain’s debt pile was smaller than Germany’s but its banking problem “had to be resolved with enough capital being added”. With the German parliament yet to give its approval to the Merkel-led fiscal compact for budget discipline in Europe and to the permanent euro-zone bailout mechanism, Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) tried to avoid the Spanish deal providing more fuel to the euroskeptics’ arguments.

“The decisive issue here is that the aid will not be given directly to Spanish banks but to a restructuring fund commissioned by the state, and it is the Spanish state that vouches for it,” senior CDU MP Norbert Barthle told Reuters. He was confident that talks with Germany’s main centre-left opposition on growth stimulus and job creation would enable the fiscal compact and European Stability Mechanism (ESM) to get

through parliament by the summer recess.

“We would certainly need some parliamentary say in Germany over Spain’s bailout aid and I believe that we can get a majority for this,” said Barthle, reflecting confidence that the pro-euro Social Democrats and Greens would support Spanish aid.

This view is supported by Germany’s main industry body, the BDI, whose export-oriented members have benefited hugely from the weak euro and low interest rates in the euro zone.

“The situation in Spain is completely different to Greece - the economy is much stabler and it has traditionally had a fairly low level of national debt,” the BDI’s Markus Kerber told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily, justifying the move to resolve a banking crisis “hanging like a millstone round’s Spain’s neck”. Merkel is squeezed uncomfortably between foreign partners like Washington, Paris and London demanding more decisive action to save the euro and German voters who are no longer convinced the single currency is better than the old Deutsche mark, according to recent opinion polls.

With recent indications that German resilience to the crisis is weakening, the financier George Soros wrote in France’s Le Figaro that a weaker German economy would make it “even more difficult for the Chancellor Angela Merkel to persuade the German public to accept more responsibilities vis-a-vis Europe”. The chancellor is unable to convince even her own back benches, where the views of once fringe euroskeptics like Frank Schaeffler of her junior coalition partners, the Free Democrats (FDP), have become more widely reflected in the German media. “It is now clear that all these firewalls don’t help, they merely create ever greater incentives for countries to take shelter in rescue schemes, as is the case with Spain,” he said. — Reuters

Oil climbs above $100 on Spain banks rescue, Iran LONDON: Brent crude oil rose above $100 yesterday after a weekend rescue package for Spanish banks calmed fears of an imminent euro-zone collapse and a breakdown in nuclear talks between the UN and Iran renewed concerns over oil supplies.

The larger-than-expected Spanish rescue eased some worries over Europe’s debt crisis, boosting stock markets and a range of commodities. But markets remained nervous with the pace of global growth uncertain and elections due in Greece on Sunday.

Brent futures for July rose as high as $102.21 a barrel, up $2.74, and traded around $100.55 by 0850 GMT. US crude futures jumped to as much as $86.64, and were $1.20 higher at $85.30 by 0850 GMT. “The aid for Spanish banks has revived risk appetite, for a while at least,” said Carsten Fritsch, commodity analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt. “This positive market sentiment could last some days although there is still event risk-the Greek elections, Iran-that could prevent big gains from here.”

Euro-zone finance ministers agreed on Saturday to lend Spain up to 100 billion euros ($125 billion), making the country the fourth to seek assistance since Europe’s debt crisis began. Yet, with the economy contracting, one in four Spanish workers out of a job, and Greek elections next weekend overshadowing the entire zone, investors are wary how far the latest deal will go in helping the region tackle its debt crisis.

Leaders of Greece’s two traditional ruling parties warned on Sunday 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. Opinion polls cannot now be published in Greece so the outcome of the June 17 elections is uncertain.

The result will 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. A slide in the dollar also helped boost oil. The dollar index slipped 0.65 percent while the euro steadied.

On the supply front, fears of a disruption to Middle East oil supplies resurfaced with the UN nuclear watchdog and Iran failing to unblock a probe into suspected atom bomb research by the Islamic state, dimming chances for success in higherlevel negotiations between Tehran and major powers later this month. The International Atomic Energy Agency, using unusually pointed language, said no progress had been made in the meeting aimed at sealing a deal on resuming the IAEA’s longstalled investigation, and it described the outcome as “disappointing”. The statement came just weeks after UN nuclear chief Yukiya Amano said he had won assurances from senior Iranian officials in Tehran that an agreement would be struck soon.— Reuters

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan tour guides and taxi drivers demonstrate near hotels demanding higher daily allowances in Colombo yesterday. The Sri Lankan tourism industry has taken off following the ending of the island’s drawn out Tamil separatist war in May 2009, but drivers and guides say their pay has not kept pace with rapidly increasing living costs. — AFP

S&P warns India could lose investment grade MUMBAI: Standard & Poor’s warned yesterday that India could be the first of the BRIC emerging economies to lose its investmentgrade rating unless the Asian giant revives its growth and spurs reforms. The agency’s report, titled “Will India be the first BRIC Fallen Angel?” comes as India grapples with a raft of economic woes including high inflation, slowing growth and a troubled currency.

“Setbacks or reversals in India’s path toward a more liberal economy could hurt its long-term growth prospects and therefore its credit quality,” said Joydeep Mukherji, an S&P credit analyst. In April, the firm downgraded India’s credit outlook to negative from stable, maintaining India’s rating at “BBB-” but warning it faced at least a one-in-three chance of losing its status if its public finances worsened.

“BBB-” is just one notch above “junk”, which carries an increased risk of default and would see India having to pay higher interest rates on its public borrowing. After S&P’s announcement, India’s benchmark Sensex

share index ended down 0.30 percent at 16,668.01 points.

The latest economic growth figures showed the Indian economy expanded 5.3 percent in the January-March period, the slowest quarterly growth figure in nine years.

Other concerns are a gaping fiscal deficit, historic rupee lows against the dollar and annual inflation of about 7.0 percent.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh conceded last week that the domestic economy was heading into “turbulent weather”, saying the government must strive to revive flagging business and shore up confidence among investors in India’s economy. The country’s reform process has been paralyzed by a string of political scandals. S&P had hiked India’s credit rating to investment-grade in 2007, a move that paved the way for global funds to invest in government bonds and other debt in the country.

The other three emerging BRIC nationsBrazil, Russia and China-are also rated investment-grade. — AFP

MADRID: Spain’s Economy Minister Luis de Guindos (left) and Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy talk during a swearing in ceremony for the new governor of the Bank of Spain Luis Maria Linde, unseen, at the Zarzuela Palace in Madrid yesterday.—AP

Spain bank deal may not work: Stiglitz NEW YORK: Europe’s plan to lend money to Spain to heal some of its banks may not work because the government and the country’s lenders will in effect be propping each other up, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said. “The system ... is the Spanish government bails out Spanish banks, and Spanish banks bail out the Spanish government,” Stiglitz said in an interview.

The plan to lend Spain up to 100 billion euros ($125 billion), agreed on Saturday by euro zone finance ministers, was bigger than most estimates of the needs of Spanish banks that have been hit by the bursting of a real estate bubble, recession and mass unemployment. If requested in full by Madrid, the bailout would add another 10 percent to Spain’s debt-to-gross domestic product ratio, which was already expected to hit nearly 80 percent at the end of 2012, up from 68.5 at the end of 2011. That could make it harder and more expensive for the government to sell bonds to international investors. With Spanish banks, including the Bank of Spain, the main buyers of new Spanish debt in 2011 according to a report by the Spanish central bank - the risk is that the government may have to ask for help from the same institutions that it is now planning to help.

“It’s voodoo economics,” Stiglitz said in an interview on Friday, before the weekend deal to help Spain and its banks was sealed. “It is not going to work and it’s not working.”

Instead, Europe should speed up discussion of a common banking system, he said.

“There is no way in which when an economy goes into a downturn it will be able to sustain policies that will restore growth without a form of European system.”

Stiglitz, a former economic advisor to US President Bill Clinton, is a long-standing critic of austerity packages. He also wrote book attacking the International Monetary Fund for policies it has imposed on developing countries as a precondition for emergency loans.

What the European Union has done so far has been minimal and wrong in its policy direction because austerity measures to restore risk have the effect of reducing growth and

increasing debt, he said. “Having firewalls when you’re pouring kerosene on the fire is not going to work. You have to actually face the underlying problem, and that is, you’re going to have to promote growth,” Stiglitz said. Instead, sweeping reforms to make Europe more of a fiscal union are needed to solve the debt crisis, reinforce the single currency and ultimately help Germany which, as the richest country in the union, will have to bear the highest cost of guaranteeing any commonly issued debt and providing more resources to boost public spending.

“Germany keeps saying that the strengthening is fiscal discipline, but that is a totally wrong diagnosis,” Stiglitz said. Germany is expected to propose at the end of June a road map toward a European fiscal union, but Berlin favors joint euro bonds, backed by all the area’s governments, only as a mediumterm goal, once other countries have fixed their high debts and budget deficits through austerity measures so they are not reliant on Berlin’s deep pockets.

“Eurobonds is just one institutional arrangement that could work, there are others: a common treasury,” said Stiglitz adding that ultimately “there has to be a way of raising revenue across Europe, to support the weaker countries in case of an economic downturn.”

While the economies of Spain, Greece, Italy and Portugal are contracting, Germany grew 0.5 percent in the first quarter. The divide in the euro area in many cases reflects austerity programs to tackle debt and deficit problems.

Critics have said the focus on cutting costs is aggravating Europe’s crisis and jeopardizing the future of the single currency. Greek elections next week could bring to power parties opposed to the tough conditions attached to the country’s EU and IMF-led rescue plan and raise the possibility of Greece leaving the euro zone.

“Germany is going to have to face the question, do they want to pay the price that would follow from the dissolution of the euro, or do they want to pay the price of keeping the euro alive?” Stiglitz said. — Reuters

Ferrovial’s BAA refinances London airport loans LONDON: British airports operator BAA said yesterday it had completed a 2.75 billion pounds ($4.24 billion) refinancing of its loan facilities for Heathrow and Stansted airports in London.

BAA, owned by Spanish group Ferrovial, said the new deal was made up of 2 billion pounds in credit and 750 million pounds in standby facilities. The new credit facilities mature in June 2017, and replace similar facilities that were due to mature in August 2013.

The owner of London Heathrow - Europe’s busiest airport - said the bank deal would support its investment program at Heathrow as well as its capital market activities.

“These new facilities provide BAA with the very strongest base for our investment program to continue to improve Heathrow’s critical infrastructure,” BAA’s director of treasury Fred Maroudas said.

“We have put together a new bank group that includes a carefully selected blend of the leading banks from the UK, continental Europe, the US, Canada and Australia.”

The new facilities were heavily oversubscribed with around 4 billion pounds of commitments from 17 existing and new relationship banks from the UK and across the globe, BAA said.

Earlier this year BAA posted a 15 percent rise in first-quarter profit, squeezing more growth from its busy Heathrow hub and reiterated its plea to the UK government for permission to add capacity there. In April, BAA completed the $1.3 billion sale of Edinburgh airport to Global Infrastructure Partners. The sale was forced on it by Britain’s Competition Commission (CC) last year as part of a drive to loosen the firm’s grip on the British airport market. — Reuters

25

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

business

China loans rise, govt steps gain traction BEIJING: China’s bank lending in May rose more than expected, suggesting fast-tracked infrastructure projects were creating loan demand and that measures to counter a sharpening economic slowdown may be taking affect. New loans figures followed a flurry of May data at the weekend, which reinforced the view China is heading for its sixth quarter in a row of slowing growth and helping to explain a surprise interest rate cut last week Beijing’s boldest action yet to underpin economic activity.

The central bank said yesterday that banks issued more than 793 billion yuan ($124 billion) in fresh loans in May, up from 682 billion yuan in April and stronger than 720 billion yuan expected by financial markets. “The rise is due to monetary easing and, more importantly, the government’s quickening approval for new investment projects,” said He Yifeng, an economist at Hongyuan Securities in Beijing.

Premier Wen Jiabao and other policymakers appeared to be jolted by dire economic figures for April, released a month ago. In recent weeks they have approved languishing investment projects and launched a number of reforms to allow private investment into sectors previously dominated by the state.

Since November, the central bank has also cut banks’ required reserves three times to feed cash into an econ-

omy feeling the chill from the euro area debt crisis.

China’s economic expansion is widely expected to dip below 8 percent year on year in the second quarter. He of Hongyuan Securities forecasts growth will be as low as 7.4 percent. That would mark the sixth straight quarter of lower growth and return the economy to the sort of pace seen during the trough of the global financial crisis in 2008/09.

Full-year growth is expected to drop to 8.2 percent, the lowest level since 1999, a Reuters poll showed in May. The government has set a growth target of 7.5 percent for 2012. China is not alone in slowing down. India reported its weakest quarterly growth in nine years and Brazil almost stalled in the first quarter, raising doubts as to how much emerging markets can drive the world economy as industrialized nations struggle with debt.

Thursday’s quarter point rate cut briefly lifted financial market sentiment, although that gave way to suspicions that the timing of the reduction meant May’s data would be worse than expected.

Those suspicions were partly right.

Domestic activity indicators suggested little pick up compared with April, while imports and exports were much stronger than expected. Industrial output picked up slightly from April to rise 9.6 percent from a year earlier. But that was below expectations.

Retail sales were short of expectations, growing at their slowest pace since February 2011, and investment in the likes of real estate, infrastructure and factories increased at its weakest year-to-date pace in close to a decade.

Consumer price inflation eased to 3.0 percent, below expectations and the lowest level since the middle of 2010.

Producer prices fell 1.4 percent from a year ago, the third straight month of producer price deflation.

“The slide in PPI... points to considerable sluggishness in domestic manufacturing activity,” said Xianfang Ren, an economist at IHS Global in Beijing.

But the surprisingly strong trade figures did little to lift confidence given Europe is mired in a widening debt crisis, which claimed Spain this weekend as the fourth country to seek financial support.

“The trade situation is still relatively grim,” China’s Commerce Minister, Chen Deming, was paraphrased as saying by the official Xinhua news agency. “If lucky, we will be able to keep annual growth of around 10 percent.” Imports gained 12.7 percent, more than double expectations, and well above April’s 0.3 percent rise. A big surprise was a surge in copper imports, normally an indicator of economic activity. Three-month copper prices posted their biggest gain in two months after the data.

Crude oil imports hit a record high of 6 million barrels a day. Exports rose

15.3 percent in May from a year earlier, more than double expectations, and up from April’s 4.9 percent rise, leaving an $18.7 billion trade surplus, the biggest since January.

A decline in the yuan against the dollar in May could possibly have helped exports, HSBC said in a client note. Exports to the United States rose 23 percent in the first five months of this year compared with a year earlier, the strongest year-to-date pace in 2012. Shipments to the European Union - China’s biggest foreign customer - grew 3.4 percent on the same basis, the highest since January. The pace of exports to Southeast Asia hit a three-month high.

But reflecting the grim view on external demand, some exporters said they had seen no sign of a pickup. “We haven’t seen any improvements - our orders are not full,” said Chen Lifeng, vice general manager of Ningbo Tengsheng Garments in the eastern coastal province of Zhejiang.

“Our market is Europe and we don’t know whether and when demand will pick up.” Ye Lianghua, deputy general manager at Ningbo Cixi Import and Export, also in Zhejiang, said China’s high exports growth is a thing of the past. “It’s over. It will be good to have a steady growth rate, even if it’s lower than before,” Ye said.

Signs of the domestic economy’s struggle in April and May explain policymakers’ heightened concerns. At the

same time, the fall in consumer inflation to well below the official 2012 target of 4.0 percent gave them room to cut rates, analysts said.

A cyclical drop in pork prices, a staple meat in China, has helped bring inflation down, although fresh vegetable prices remain stubbornly high.

These are key price indicators for policymakers, always sensitive to social stability and more so this year when the Communist Party will select a new leadership.

The transition has already been unsettled by the purge of populist politician Bo Xilai, who had ambitions to be elevated to China’s top decision making body, and the murder scandal surrounding his fall. Beijing wants to bring real estate developers to heel following a building frenzy sparked by a 4-trillion-yuan stimulus package during the global financial crisis, thereby addressing common people’s complaints that housing prices are too high. But equally it hardly wants a sharp downturn to bring citizens into the streets, analysts say.

Beijing could offer more policy support for the economy if needed to combat risks from the euro- zone debt crisis and to promote stability, analysts said. “Monetary policy should continue to lean towards loosening,” said Wang Jun, an economist at the government-backed think tank China Center for International Economic Exchange. —Reuters

Airline industry profits to plummet in 2012: IATA Surging oil, euro crisis to blame

BEIJING: An Audi R8 Spyder car is displayed during the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition in Beijing. Volkswagen’s luxury brand, Audi, reported record sales for May thanks to a big boost from China, the company said yesterday. —AP

China bank executives facing graft probes SHANGHAI: Bosses of China’s postal bank and a regional city lender are among the latest financial bigwigs caught up in spreading corruption investigations. Postal Savings Bank Governor Tao Liming is “assisting an investigation by relevant authorities into a personal ‘economic problem’,” the bank said in an announcement Monday, using the usual euphemism in China for graft allegations.

The announcement on website of China’s sixth-largest bank said another official, Chen Hongping, was also assisting investigations. The notice gave no details, and Postal Savings Bank staff said officials responsible for answering media inquiries were not available.

Separately, the financial magazine Caixin and other reports said Zhuang Yonghui, former chairman of Yantai Bank, was being questioned in a corruption case that has led to detentions of more than a dozen people. Calls to Yantai Bank’s deputy general manager and marketing department director rang unanswered.

Yantai Bank is due to hold an extraordinary general meeting in late June.

Among the items on its agenda is approval of the dismissals from its board of Zhuang and another bank official, and the resignation of a third. The bank’s for-

mer president, Liu Weining, was detained in eastern China’s Zhejiang province in early February on suspicion he embezzled bank funds, the newspaper Global Times reported.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Bank is the largest shareholder in Yantai Bank, with a 20 percent stake.

In one of the highest profile bank corruption cases now under investigation, a vice president at the Agricultural Bank of China, Yang Kun, was detained late last month. Authorities are investigating allegations the lender provided loans to a property developer to help him cover 3 billion yuan ($476 million) in gambling debts in the casino enclave of Macau, Caixin said.

The Agriculture Bank said in a statement last week that Yang was assisting “relevant authorities” in an investigation but that it had no bearing on its own business.

The Postal Savings Bank, which mainly serves rural Chinese and smaller companies, was set up in 1986 and is wholly owned by China’s mail system, the China Post Group. China’s sixth largest bank in terms of assets, it is due to be restructured in preparation for a possible share listing. Researcher Fu Ting contributed to this report. — AP

BEIJING: Airline industry group IATA warned yesterday global profits would more than halve this year owing to surging oil prices and the euro-zone crisis, with European carriers suffering losses of $1.1 billion. Tony Tyler, head of the International Air Transport Association, also hit out at a controversial carbon tax scheme put in place by the European Union, lashing it as a “polarizing obstacle to real progress”.

Tyler told the group’s annual general meeting in Beijing that “2012 is another challenging year. We expect revenues of $631 billion but a profit of just $3.0 billion.” That compares with a profit of $7.9 billion in 2011, IATA figures show. Tyler cited the cost of oil as a reason for “anemic global profitability” and IATA said it predicted an overall average price of $110 a barrel this year using Brent crude oil as a basis, warning political risks could push this up.

Brent is currently sitting at $100 a barrel, although it is down more than $20 from multi-year peaks earlier this year. But Tyler added: “The biggest and most immediate risk ... is the crisis in the euro-zone. If it evolves into a banking crisis we could face a continent-wide recession, dragging the rest of the world and our profits down.”

In a statement released as the AGM began yesterday, IATA said it had downgraded its outlook for European airlines in 2012, projecting losses of $1.1 billion compared with its previous forecast of $600 million in losses. The estimate comes despite figures showing 5.6 percent year on year growth in European passenger traffic in April and predictions global passenger numbers would rise to nearly 3 billion this year compared to 2.8 billion in 2011.

“For European carriers, the business environment is deteriorating rapidly, resulting in sizeable losses,” Tyler was quoted as saying in the statement. But he added that the global picture was “diverse”, with carriers in North and Latin America expected to see improved prospects from 2011, compared with airlines in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.

According to IATA estimates, North American carriers are likely to post profits of $1.4 billion in 2012, a slight improvement on the previous year due to strict management of airline capacity.

Carriers in the Middle East, however, are expected to see profits drop by more than half, as are those in the Asia Pacific region-due in part to slowing Indian and Chinese economies. Growth in China, the world’s second largest economy, slowed to 8.1 percent in

the first quarter of 2012 — its slowest pace in nearly three years.

But yesterday, Li Jiaxiang-head of China’s aviation watchdog-detailed ambitious expansion plans for his country’s aviation sector, pointing for instance to the planned construction of 70 new airports by 2015. Li also reiterated that Chinese carriers would buy an average of more than 300 planes a year from 2011 to 2015 — the country’s current five-year eco-

that it will not back down, despite claims the charge violates international law. Airline executives at the AGM complained that excess taxes and over-regulation were cutting into their bottom line and making it difficult for carriers to be profitable.

“The governments should... try to liberalize, try to cut taxes and try to encourage travel,” Akbar Al Baker, chief executive of Qatar Airways, told the meeting. — AFP

BEIJING: A visitor receives a gift bag near a model of the Airbus A380 passenger jet at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) 68th Annual General Meeting (AGM) and World Air Transport Summit held in Beijing yesterday. Squeezed by high oil prices, the world airline industry’s profit will be slim this year and could be wiped out if Europe tumbles into recession, the global aviation trade group said yesterday. —AP nomic plan. During his speech, Tyler also blasted a controversial carbon tax that the European Union is trying to impose on all airlines-a move that has sparked a backlash from the United States, China, Russia, India and European carriers. Airlines flying to, from or within the European Union are required to monitor CO2 emissions for entire journeys and, if necessary, pay for exceeding their carbon allowances.

The scheme is “a polarizing obstacle that is preventing real progress. Our host country, China, is at the forefront of the opposition to the European ETS (Emissions Trading Scheme)”, Tyler said.

Beijing has repeatedly said it opposes the EU plan and has banned its airlines from complying with the scheme. But the EU has said the carbon tax will help it achieve its goal of cutting emissions by 20 percent by 2020 and

BEIJING: Tony Tyler, International Air Transport Association Director General and CEO addresses the group’s annual general meeting in Beijing yesterday. —AFP

Spain told it will be under ‘troika’ supervision

TOKYO: A woman uses her mobile phone before a share prices board in Tokyo yesterday. Tokyo stocks closed up 1.96 percent yesterday, tracking a broad regional rally driven by the euro-zone’s decision to lend Spain up to 100 billion euros ($125 billion) to rescue its banking system. — AFP

MADRID/BERLIN: Spain faces supervision by international lenders after a bailout for its banks agreed at the weekend, EU and German officials said yesterday, contradicting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy who had insisted the cash came without such strings. Financial markets responded with relief to Saturday’s eurozone deal to lend Madrid up to 100 billion euros ($125 billion) to recapitalize debt-laden banks, with investors scooping up battered financial shares.

The euro and European stocks jumped, with the Madrid stock exchange opening up 5.3 percent and the euro-zone STOXX banking index rising 4.5 percent in early trade. Spanish and Italian bond yields fell after the deal eased fears

of a run on Spanish banks. But previous “bailout bounces” on financial markets have been short-lived, often fizzling within a day or two as investors anticipate the next flare-up in the euro zone’s unresolved debt crisis. Greece’s general election next Sunday could rapidly change market sentiment if radical leftists hostile to the austerity terms of Athens’ EU/IMF bailout outpoll the mainstream conservative and centre-left parties that signed the deal, or the vote ends in another deadlock. Rajoy said on Sunday Madrid had scored a victory by securing aid from euro-zone partners without having to submit to a full state rescue program, saying Spain’s rescue had “nothing to do” with the procedures imposed on Greece, Ireland and Portugal.

But EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia and German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said that as in those other bailouts, a “troika” of the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission and the European Central Bank would oversee the financial assistance.

“Of course there will be conditions,” Almunia told Spain’s Cadena Ser radio. “Whoever gives money never gives it away for free.” The IMF would be fully involved in monitoring Spain’s program even though it was not contributing funds, and banks that received aid must present a restructuring plan, he said.

Schaeuble told Deutschlandfunk radio: “ The Spanish state is taking the loans, Spain will be responsible for

them... There will likewise be a troika. There will of course be supervision to ensure that the program is being complied with, but this refers only to the restructuring of the banks.”

Spanish state finances are already under European Commission surveillance under the EU’s excessive deficit procedure. Dutch Finance Minister Jan Kees de Jager said in a letter to parliament that the loans would add to Spain’s public debt, and he had insisted on full IMF involvement. “It was essential for the Netherlands that the IMF will be involved in the whole process: reviewing the formal support request, determining the conditions, and monitoring progress,” he wrote. — Reuters

26

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

BUSINESS

Redefining class and luxury in the mid-size sedan segment 2012 FIAT Linea KUWAIT: Fiat is redefining performance and luxury benchmarks in the small to med-size segments with its 2012 Linea model. With its assortment of best-in-class features the new Linea is the epitome of Italian design and ingenuity.

The Fiat Linea features a stylish, dynamic exterior: a smooth, essential body shape, a compact front enlivened by elongated dualparabola headlights, a slender profile, a steeply raked windscreen making for improved aerodynamics.

The same care was devoted to the interior, where the lines are harmonious, in complete accord with the body shape, and create a welcoming, bright environment, which is able to ensure outstanding interior habitability and superior comfort in terms of ergonomics and space.

All interior components - from the seats to the pedals, from the facia to the armrest - have been conceived to reconcile appearance and functionality: plenty of space, precisely where it is needed. The steering wheel-pedal relationship is ergonomically positioned to provide an optimum driving position, while gauges and other tactile controls are within easy reach, enabling perfect dynamics for an

invigorating drive. The Linea also offers best-in-class interior roominess - it is 4.56 m long, 1.73 m wide and 1.5 m high, with a luggage capacity of 500 litres.

price point. Features include an integrated audio system from base version, Auto AC, ABS with EBD, alloy wheels, airbags, rain sensing wipers, auto on/off lights and

on the move. Without taking your hands off the wheel you can telephone and listen to incoming SMS messages, consult your phonebook and listen to MP3s by using a series

Linea luxury version adds leather seats, chrome-themed interiors and 16” alloy wheels. Giving the Linea a decidedly upmarket touch are its refreshing interiors that feature a

The Fiat Linea is loaded with innovative and exciting features and is set to delight customers in the Middle East. It offers more features and equipment across the range, providing higher value at every

Blue&Me infotainment star ting from the mid version onwards.

Blue&Me, the result of a collaboration between Fiat Auto and Microsoft, will change the way you communicate and listen to music

of voice commands. Blue&Me supports most mobile phones with Bluetooth technology.

The Linea also has a segmentbest ground clearance of 185mm plus a powerful AC system. The new

new light beige theme for its fabric seats, floor carpet, dashboard and door trims. The Linea is powered by a 1.6 litre MULTI-AIR 4-cylinder engine that develops 115 bhp, with power sent to the front wheels via a

5-speed manual or 5-speed automatic gearbox.

ESP (Electronic Stability Program) prevents the car from swerving and keeps it on its intended trajectory when negotiating bends, and is supplemented by ASR/MSR, a system that prevents front wheel skidding in acceleration and deceleration, enabling the Fiat Linea to move effortlessly on low grip road surfaces. The Linea’s ESP system also includes “Hill-Holder”, a device that lets you stop and start on uphill roads without having to pull the handbrake.

“We’re constantly working to provide customers with new, innovative, high quality vehicles, all of which feature the very latest features and technology that combine to offer eye catching style, driving performance, comfort and functionality,” said Jack Rodencal, Managing Director of Chrysler Group Middle East, which, as a result of the global strategic alliance between Chrysler and Fiat, will manage the Fiat business across the region. “Customer satisfaction is of utmost importance, and we’re always looking at ways to provide class-leading value through our vehicles and after-sales support.”

UAE prepares to host region’s biggest business award event

The MP4-12C is further improved through a host of detailed changes with a wider variety of paint, leather and wheel options to give customers more scope for personalization.

The enhanced 2013 MP4-12C in action.

Even more powerful and usable: The enhanced McLaren MP4-12C KUWAIT: McLaren Automotive, rather than resting on its laurels, has instead announced a package of enhancements that will make its 12C high performance sports car even more invigorating to drive yet even easier to live with.

Headlining the changes is a 25PS (25hp) power increase. It takes the maximum output of the mid mounted, twin turbocharged V8 engine to 625PS (616hp) to give yet more vivid acceleration at track speeds with no loss in efficiency. Modifications have been made by McLaren’s engineers to the 12C’s engine and SSG transmission increasing responsiveness. Ease of use, a phrase not often associated with cars of this type, is further

improved through a host of detail changes while a wider variety of paint, leather and wheel options give customers yet more scope for personalization.

The 12C ’s unique I ntake Sound Generator (ISG) system, which controls the amount of engine intake sound heard in the cabin, is now programmable across three levels in all three Powertrain modes allowing the driver to select the amount of aural drama he or she wants to enjoy, whatever the road. But one aspect that hasn’t changed is the 12C’s purposeful styling ... apart from a subtle revision to the M cLaren Speed M arque badge, that is. This latest iteration of the 12C, which at launch set a new benchmark among its

competitors for power, efficiency and pioneering technology, is available to order now.

Customers who have already taken delivery of a 12C are not being neglected, though. Every 12C owner is being offered a package of upgrades, including the ex tra 25PS (25hp), at no cost, underlining M cLaren’s commitment to its customers ensuring they enjoy owning their 12C as much as they do driving it.

Antony Sheriff, M cLaren Automotive Managing Director said: “Given our racing heritage, it is in our nature to continuously seek out improvements. The team at McLaren Automotive recognizes that our existing and future customers deserve the

very best product and service we can offer, and the launch of the enhanced 12C reaffirms its position as the most powerful luxur y spor ts car among its competitor set. “ We designed and engineered the 12C from a clean sheet of paper, and I am delighted with the innovative technology pack age created for our first sports car. Our customers love driving a car with technologies and systems that have proved successful in Formula 1 and which create an incredible driving experience in a unique new high performance sports car. New and existing customers will now enjoy an even better experience thanks to the upgrades.”

DUBAI: After a two-week nomination campaign, which drew over 10,000 nominations, Abu Dhabi was picked as the venue for the second edition on the Asian Business Leadership Forum Awards. The ABLF Awards will be held on November 27, 2012 under the patronage of the Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, UAE Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research.

For the first time in the business awards industry, the award nominees and winners are determined not by a single institution with its own associations and allegiances, but through a global nomination portal and by a group of independent personalities across the knowledge realms of industry, finance, advisory, media and government, who have global presence, experience and interest in the story of ‘Asia Rising’.

Sixteen illustrious business leaders will be felicitated across five categories in the three regions of the Gulf, India and South-East Asia. Nominations for the ‘ABLF Business Courage Award,’ ‘ABLF Business Excellence Award’ and the ‘ABLF Woman of Power Award’ begin June 10, 2012 and will remain open through till midnight June 30, 2012 on the ABLF Awards website (www.ablfawards.com).

Once nominations end, the Event Architects and ABLF Awards Process Validators, will tally all the completed nomination forms and shortlist six nominees for each award category based on pre-set criteria and parameters, which will then be presented to the ABLF Awards Jury whose decision will be final.

The three winners of the ‘ABLF Lifetime Achievement Award’ and ‘ABLF Statesman Award’ across the Gulf, India and South-East Asia constituencies, and the single award recipient of ‘ABLF Global Asian of the Year’ will be determined only by the ABLF Awards Jury and will not feature the global nomination process. The ‘ABLF Woman of Power’ will be the only category that invites public vote, following the global nomination process and Jury endorsement.

The ABLF Awards Jury is a high profile group of eminent personalities with representation from the world of finance, diplomacy and academia as well as political, economic and legal commentators from across Asia. Malini N Menon, Founder and Managing Director of

Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak AlNahayan, UAE Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, launches the inaugural volume of the ABLF Series coffee table book ‘History-Makers of the New Asian Century - The ABLF Journey of Glory’ with Malini N Menon, Founder and Managing Director of Indian Expressions Management Consultancy, UAE. Indian Expressions Management Consultancy, the IP owners and creators of the ABLF Awards says, “ The Asian Business Leadership Forum Awards were created to showcase the key sectors that drive the global economy - Industry, Infrastructure and Energy. These key business sectors do not have a dedicated award event and it has been our mandate to showcase the high-achieving frontrunners whose success has redefined Asia’s business leadership.”

Supertech - Creating marvels in architecture In nearly a quarter-century of towering presence on the Indian real estate landscape, Supertech has built some of the most modern and finest quality residential and commercial complexes in Delhi, National Capital Region (NCR) and across new urban settlements like Meerut, Moradabad, Haridwar and Rudrapur. Having already converted more than 33 million sq. ft. area of residential and commercial entit y into architec tural landmarks, the Supertech Group, with more than 36 projects accommodating nearly 30000 families under their belt, was recently in Kuwait to showcase some of their prime projects.

Speaking on the sidelines of the show, Jitendra Singh, Senior VicePresident Sales and Marketing at Supertech Group said, “Supertech is known for building several landmark buildings in Nor th India, especially around Delhi and NCR. Now, with our upcoming flagship proper ties, Nor thEye and Supernova, we have established an irrefutable supremacy on the I ndian real estate scene. Our unique value framework puts the customer at the center of every aspect of our business and allows

us to make a paradigm shift with an emphasis on transparency, professionalism and quality benchmark ing. While Nor thEye, the tallest residential building in North India with its 66 levels redefines luxury residences and offers comfor ts and ser vices on an unprecedented level, Supernova is more than just a prime residential

designed luxury residences, intelligently- designed prime office spaces, luxur y hotels, bars and boutique retailing global brands.

Located on the banks of the Yamuna R iver at zero k m from Delhi and along the Yamuna Expressway, Supernova is designed to become a soughtafter lifestyle destination for the

worth Individuals (HNIs) among NRIs in Kuwait, to our upcoming premier luxury projects North Eye and Supernova were nothing short of fantastic. And, we hope to conclude deals wor th between Rs150-200 million in this show,’ said a clearly delighted Bishnu Purohit, General Manager of Sales and M arketing at Super tech

er than other segments, but also that current sharp difference in rupee-dollar exchange rate, makes parking their money in Indian real estate an ex tremely lucrative option,” said Mr. Purohit.

Mirroring the buoyant and optimistic mood of the two Supertech executives, Akash Soneja, Partner in Aashiaana Real Estate Services,

property; it is a luxury destination.

An urban oasis of unmatched scale and splendor, Supernova offers a mixed use premium realty development, featuring the 300m high Spira, India’s glittering new super tower, as well as, Armani

selec t few. Supernova is pure artistry and an architectural wonder in brick and mor tar,” said Singh, describing what is soon to become one of the most desired addresses in India. “ The response from High Net

Group. “The Indian realty scene is witnessing an increased demand from HNIs for luxury segment projects in the right location. These individuals realize that not only is value appreciation on premium property segment relatively high-

the channel partner for Supertech Group in Kuwait and other GCC countries added, “Because of the many, often back to back, realty exhibitions taking place in Kuwait, the general public, who used to wander in only to gawk at proper-

ties and spend time at exhibitions, have thinned out. The visitors to the recently concluded Realt y India 2012 exhibition, where we very successfully exhibited, tended to be mainly serious buyers and investors, looking for investment options in prime locations at the correct price point.”

Supertech, with its high-end luxury project offerings, is an overpowering investment opportunity for investors, as it delivers highquality construction from a reputable and recognized builder, in locations with some of the highest appreciation values in the country.

“Much of the credit for Supertech’s success story goes to Chairman and Managing Director R K Arora and his son Mohit Arora, who now handles the day to day operations of the Group, for their dynamic and pragmatic leadership which has taken the Group to new heights,” said Soneja. He went on to add, “As their privileged channel partner, we at Aashiaana are constantly engaged in interacting with HNIs in GCC with the aim of establishing trust and long-term relationship, enhancing visibility of the Group and ensuring continued reputation of the Group.”

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

TECHNOLOGY

Kaspersky proves Stuxnet and Flame developers are connected

• Kaspersky Lab discovered that a

infection via USB drives. The code of the USB drive infection mechanism is identical in Flame and Stuxnet.

• The Flame module in Stuxnet also exploited a vulnerability which was unknown at the time and which enabled escalation of privileges, presumably MS09-025.

• Subsequently, the Flame plugin module was removed from Stuxnet in 2010 and replaced by several different modules that utilized new vulnerabilities.

• Starting from 2010, the two development teams worked independently, with the only suspected cooperation taking place in terms of exchanging the know-how about the new “zero-day” vulnerabilities.

module from the early 2009-version of Stuxnet, known as “Resource 207,” was actually a Flame plugin.

• This means that when the Stuxnet worm was created in the beginning of 2009, the Flame platform already existed, and that in 2009, the source code of at least one module of Flame was used in Stuxnet.

• This module was used to spread the

Background Stuxnet was the first cyber-weapon targeting industrial facilities. The fact that Stuxnet also infected regular PCs worldwide led to its discovery in June 2010, although the earliest known version of the malicious program was created one year before that. The next example of a cyber-weapon, now known as

KUWAIT: The discovery of the Flame malware in May 2012 revealed the most complex cyber-weapon to date. At the time of its discovery, there was no strong evidence of Flame being developed by the same team that delivered Stuxnet and Duqu. The approach to the development of Flame and Duqu/Stuxnet was different as well, which lead to the conclusion that these projects were created by separate teams. However, the following in-depth research, conducted by Kaspersky Lab’s experts, reveals that these teams in fact cooperated at least once during the early stages of development.

Quick Facts

Duqu, was found in September 2011.

Unlike Stuxnet, the main task of the Duqu Trojan was to serve as a backdoor to the infected system and steal private information (cyber-espionage).

During the analysis of Duqu, strong similarities were discovered with Stuxnet, which revealed that the two cyber-weapons were created using the same attack platform known as the “Tilded Platform”. The name originated from the preferences of the malware developers for filenames of the form “~d*.*” - hence, “Tilde-d”. The Flame malware, discovered in May 2012 following the investigation prompted by International Communications Union (ITU) and conducted by Kaspersky Lab, was, at first sight, entirely different.

Some features, such as the size of the malicious program, the use of LUA programming language and its diverse functionality all indicated that Flame was not connected to Duqu or Stuxnet’s creators.

However, the new facts that have emerged completely rewrite the history of Stuxnet and prove without a doubt, that the “Tilded” platform is indeed con-

nected to the Flame platform.

New findings The earliest known version of Stuxnet, supposedly created in June 2009, contains a special module known as “Resource 207”. In the subsequent 2010 version of Stuxnet this module was completely removed. The “Resource 207” module is an encrypted DLL file and it contains an executable file that’s the size of 351,768 bytes with the name “atmpsvcn.ocx”. This particular file, as it is now revealed by Kaspersky Lab’s investigation, has a lot in common with the code used in Flame. The list of striking resemblances includes the names of mutually exclusive objects, the algorithm used to decrypt strings, and the similar approaches to file naming.

More than that, most sections of code appear to be identical or similar in the respective Stuxnet and Flame modules, which leads to the conclusion that the exchange between Flame and the Duqu/Stuxnet teams was done in a form of source code (i.e. not in binary form).

The primary functionality of the Stuxnet

“Resource 207” module was distributing the infection from one machine to another, using the removable USB drives and exploiting the vulnerability in Windows kernel to obtain escalation of privileges within the system. The code which is responsible for distribution of malware using USB drives is completely identical to the one used in Flame.

Alexander Gostev, Chief Security Expert, Kaspersky Lab, comments: “Despite the newly discovered facts, we are confident that Flame and Tilded are completely different platforms, used to develop multiple cyber-weapons. They each have different architectures with their own unique tricks that were used to infect systems and execute primary tasks. The projects were indeed separate and independent from each other.

However, the new findings that reveal how the teams shared source code of at least one module in the early stages of development prove that the groups cooperated at least once. What we have found is very strong evidence that Stuxnet/Duqu and Flame cyber-weapons are connected”.

Is ur #MD 2 square? Some use e-tech with patients

WASHINGTON: In this June 5, 2012, photo, Bill Leggett works on the Espresso Book Machine, known as Opus, at Politics and Prose bookstore. — AP

Independent bookstores embrace digital publishing WASHINGTON: Clare Dickens only wanted to share her story to help others. But in the process, she became a successful independent author - with the help of a local bookstore and its instant publishing machine. Dickens wrote “A Dangerous Gift” with her son Titus, a memoir of their life dealing with his bipolar disorder. She completed the novel after he took his own life at the age of 25 in 2006. Though Dickens found a publisher in Iceland to release the book in 2007, she still wanted a broader reach. The Espresso Book Machine at Politics and Prose in the District of Columbia enabled her to bring the memoir to local bookshelves and beyond earlier this year. Her book has since become the best-selling, self-published title at the local bookstore and its website. “I didn’t expect to sell any at all,” Dickens said. “I didn’t want to be a best-seller. It’s really about getting my son’s story out there and helping other people.”

Self-publishing has been made easier since the Espresso Book Machine by On Demand Books debuted in 2006. The machine also can make copies of out-ofprint editions. The first machine was installed briefly at the World Bank’s bookstore. Through a partnership with Xerox, the company now has machines in about 70 bookstores and libraries across the world including London; Tokyo; Amsterdam; Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; Melbourne, Australia; and Alexandria, Egypt.

Thor Sigvaldason, chief technology officer of New York-based On Demand Books, said the technology can help book retailers twofold. “It can, potentially, give them a huge virtual inventory so they can have as many books as Amazon, all in a little bookstore,” he said. “It turns independent bookstores into places to get books published.

It’s a new thing for the bookstore to do: not just sell books, but actually create books.”

Dickens’ book costs $10.38 to print and retails for $16. Bill Leggett, a bookseller who co-manages the machine, said about a dozen copies are sold a month. “That’s better than a lot of authors who have major publishers,” he said.

Politics and Prose has produced almost 5,000 paperback books - some in as little as five minutes - since receiving the book

machine nicknamed “Opus” last November.

Leggett said about 90 percent of the books printed on the machine are self-published works by local authors. The others are outof-print editions, millions of titles available in the public domain like Google Books, and digital formats licensed out through major publishers including Harper Collins.

Alfred Morgan Jr was able to get a copy of his father’s out-of-print 1923 aviation guide, “How to Build a 20-foot Bi-Plane Glider”, printed on the machine for $8. The volume was on Google Books. “Many would admit that the physical reality of a book in your hands offers something that you don’t quite get from books on a computer or on a tablet,” Morgan said.

The semi-retired physician, an avid Kindle reader, keeps the paperback copy of his father’s book in his home office. “My father was ahead of his time in many ways.

It’s like a family memento,” Morgan said about the book.

Customers at Politics and Prose have also printed rare editions, or “editions drifted out of print”, by Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson and William Shakespeare, Leggett said. An out-of-print edition of Mark Twain’s “The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson” with a simple cover and more than 400 pages costs about $12.

How the Espresso Book Machine works: The machine uses two PDFs, one for the cover and another for the text. The cover and text, both generated from digital files, are printed simultaneously on opposite sides of the machine.

They meet in the middle section of the machine, where they are bound, before dropping to a trimming station on the bottom. The book is dispensed through a chute.

Interest in producing paper books comes at a time of substantial growth in the electronic book industr y. The Association of American Publishers reported 3.4 million ebooks were sold last year, up more than 300 percent from 2010. Still, revenue from electronic book sales was just a fraction of that for printed books, $21.5 million compared to $335.9 million, the association said. As bookstores continue to close their doors, crippled by ebooks and digital reading devices, more are embracing the Espresso Book Machine.— AP

CHICAGO: Is your doctor a technophobe? Increasingly, the answer may be no. There’s a stereotype that says doctors shun technology that might threaten patients’ privacy and their own pocketbooks. But a new breed of physicians is texting health messages to patients, tracking disease trends on Twitter, identifying medical problems on Facebook pages and communicating with patients through email. So far, those numbers are small. Many doctors still cling to pen and paper, and are most comfortable using etechnology to communicate with each other - not with patients. But from the nation’s top public health agency, to medical clinics in the heartland, some physicians realize patients want more than a 15minute office visit and callback at the end of the day.

Far from Silicon Valley and East Coast high-tech hubs, Kansas City pediatrician Natasha Burgert offers child-rearing tips on her blog, Facebook and Twitter pages, and answers patients’ questions by email and text messages. “These tools are embedded in my work day,” Burgert said. “This is something I do in between checkups. It’s much easier for me to shoot you an email and show you a blog post than it is to phone you back. That’s what old-school physicians are going to be doing, spending an hour at the end of the day” returning patients’ phone calls, she said.

She recently received a typical email - from a mother wondering how to wean her 2-year-old from a pacifier. With a few thumb clicks, Burgert sent the mom a link to a blog post offering tips on that same topic. Sarah Hartley, whose two young daughters are Burgert’s patients, loves having e-access to the doctor and says even emails late in the evening typically get a quick response. “It’s so useful,” Hartley said. “Sometimes parents get concerned about a lot of things that maybe aren’t necessarily big deals” and getting off-hours reassurance is comforting, she said.

Burgert, 36, doesn’t charge for virtual communication, although some doctors do. She says it enhances but doesn’t replace office visits or other personal contact with patients. Colleagues “look at me and kind of shake their heads when I tell them what I do. They don’t have an understanding of the tools,” Burgert said. “For the next generation that’s coming behind me, I think this will be much more common.”

Dr Steven Nissen is from an older generation, but has started to dabble in e-technology. A cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic, Nissen is in his 60s and says he’s hardly a

KANSAS CITY: In this June 8, 2012 photo, Dr Natasha Burgert talks about using social media in her practice at her office. — AP member of “the Twitterati.” But with University of Chicago, doesn’t use obesity prevention advice. The CDC help from clinic staffers, he recently social media sites personally or pro- has almost 2 million followers on its led a live Twitter chat about things fessionally and worries about the social media sites, said Amy Burnett like heart failure and cholesterol permanence of online communica- Heldman, the agency’s social media problems, and found the process tion. “ With anything on the leader. The agency’s leader, Dr Tom “in some ways maybe a little exhila- Internet, it’s there forever. There’s Frieden, has done six live Twitter rating”. “This was an opportunity to no calling it back,” Wolf said. “Ask chats since December, interacting use a different communication any politician.” in real time online with the public. channel to find an audience to talk Hard numbers are scarce on “There’s a way 4 everyone 2 work about heart health,” Nissen said. exactly how many of the nation’s out, u just have 2 find your way “The downside is that we dumb it nearly 1 million doctors use virtual around what obstacles may b in down,” he said. “It’s very challenging communication for patient care, your path,” Frieden tweeted May 21 for physicians, primarily because but anecdotal evidence suggests in his most recent Twitter chat, the messages that we have are not the numbers are rising. A survey about obesity prevention. CDC sciconducive to 14 characters. If you last summer of 501 randomly entists also monitor social media ask me a question, you’re likely to selected doctors found that more sites including Twitter for disease get a five-minute answer.” than 20 percent engaged in emails surveillance.

But with so many young people with patients over secure networks, One instance involved Indiana facing obesity, which can con- and similar numbers had websites measles cases that first showed up tribute to heart problems, Nissen allowing patients to schedule visits a few days before the February said Twitter can be an effective way or download test results. Only 6 Super Bowl. CDC officials monito reach an important audience, percent communicated with tored Twitter and Facebook posts and he plans to use it more. “If it patients through social media; that about rashes and emergency room gets us through to the people who translates to about 60,000 doctors visits to determine if the outbreak need to hear the message, that’s nationwide. was a widespread threat - it wasn’t. great,” Nissen said. The American Doctors’ use of social media and Another involved an outbreak of Medical Association acknowledges virtual communication for patient suspected Legionnaires disease benefits in using social media, but care is expected to increase under among people who attended a also warns doctors to protect the Accountable Care Act, which 2011 event at the Playboy Mansion patient privacy and “maintain encourages electronic health in Los Angeles. Word of that illness appropriate boundaries” with records and the “electronic surfaced when a German businesspatients. In a publicized case that exchange” of health information. A man who attended posted about makes doctors shudder, a state dis- study published online in March his flu-like symptoms on Facebook, ciplinary board last year reprimand- found that 60 percent of state pub- and CDC used social media sites to ed Rhode Island emergency medi- lic health departments use Twitter help locate the illness source - a cine physician Alexandra Thran for or another social media site, mostly whirlpool spa. “unprofessional conduct” and fined to distribute information rather Heldman says using social her $500 after she made comments than interact with patients. The fed- media makes sense for an agency on her Facebook page about a eral Centers for Disease Control and whose goal is to improve patient’s injury. Even though she Prevention spreads its public health Americans’ health. “You’re meeting didn’t name the patient, others messages by Facebook, Twitter, people where they are, where they who read the post figured out the YouTube and text-messaging. It share information with others, identity. Thran did not respond to offers a free service featuring 12 where they go to get information,” requests for comment. Dr Raoul texts a month, including automat- she said. “That’s allowing CDC to Wolf, a pediatrics professor at the ed tips for healthy eating and other have an even greater reach.”—AP

Online freedom: An app for that is coming WASHINGTON: For people living in countries where the government monitors and censors the Internet, help is on the way. It may be in a smartphone app or it could be a clandestine wireless network that looks innocuous but allows people to communicate out of the view of government censors. A project funded by the US government and developed by a Washington think tank called “Commotion Wireless” is being readied for delivery early next year. The effort seeks to promote free expression online and takes advantage of the fact that more people are using mobile devices.

Such a system “is useful for people to communicate in situations when governments don’t want them to,” said Sascha Meinrath, head of the project at the New America

Foundation. While Facebook and Twitter played a role in the Arab Spring uprisings, these networks can also be used by governments to track or harass dissidents.

Commotion is designed as “a secure and reliable platform to ensure their communications cannot be controlled or cut off by authoritarian regimes,” says the mission statement of the open-source software project.

Because it is a “mesh” network, each of those using the system becomes a “node,” making it harder to shut down than a centralized access point. “The mesh network doesn’t live on any single device,” says Preston Rhea, a program associate at New America who has been testing community wireless projects using the technology. One test network was set up in a neighborhood in Washington

where the local hacker community joined in by rigging up a makeshift antenna. “The same technology would be able to help in countries like Syria where the government is trying to crack down on the free flow of information,” said HacDC member Ben Mendis, who helped set up the local network.

The Commotion program became known as the “Internet in a suitcase,” but those involved say it is a misnomer. “This is not a suitcase full of specialized equipment, this is meant to run on whatever exists on the ground,” Meinrath said. “It’s all software.” But even some State Department officials use the “suitcase” term to describe the effort to get a quick, easy way to help people get around filtering and surveillance.

Commotion is one of several projects

being funded by the US State Department to promote online freedom, an extension of other human rights initiatives. The United States has provided $76 million over the past four years for this and other programs for online freedom, and has another $25 million in the pipeline. Ian Schuler, program manager in the State Department’s office of Internet Freedom Programs, said US concerns rose with revelations about repression and shutdowns of Internet services in countries during the Arab Spring uprisings.

Because Commotion can get around Internet shutdowns, he said it appeared to be “a good combination of an emerging technology that met an emerging need. “We saw that people having rights in one realm helps them have rights in another realm,” he said. Some

projects keep a low profile, but officials agreed to discuss Commotion because those working on it have been open about it.

Assistant US Secretary of State Michael Posner said recently that his agency is supporting “a dozen different circumvention technologies” including a “panic button app for mobile phones,” a “slingshot” program to identify censored content, and training programs to help activists in repressive areas to keep operating.

Although the US government funds the Commotion project, it is not making decisions on where to deploy it, officials said. “Our goal is to allow people to express themselves and exercise their rights,” Schuler told AFP. “The goal is not regime change.... We’re not picking who does and doesn’t receive this technology.” —AFP

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

H E A LT H & S C I E NC E

Fitness playlists flow to the beats per minutes NEW YORK: When fitness instructor Shirley Archer plays Annie Lennox’s song “17 Again” for her indoor cycling class, she urges students to connect with the vitality of their inner 17-year-old legs. When she teaches yoga she rolls out the harp solos.

Experts say exercising to the proper music can boost your mood, kick your workout up a notch and channel the energy of a younger you. “Fitness playlists are extremely important,” said Archer, who is also a spokeswoman for the American Council on Exercise. “A number of studies show that music can impact mood, emotions, energy levels, even breathing and heart rates.”

Archer, author of 12 books on fitness and wellness, including “Fitness 9 to 5,” said the research comes from music therapy, sports, surgical recovery and gait training studies for people with neurodegenerative

issues. “Music is powerful because it stimulates different neural pathways in the brain and taps powerfully into our emotions and our memories,” said Archer, who lives in Singer Island, Florida, and Zurich, Switzerland.

Not only can music help people power through workouts, she said, it can distract them from boredom, fatigue and discomfort. “Think about how people who are middle-aged or older find their dancing feet when they hear tunes that were popular when they were in their teens or early 20s,” she said. Also a powerful tool for relaxation, music can help to slow and calm heart and breathing rates, reduce stress and evoke feelings of peace and balance.

A good fitness playlist will match the workout objectives, Archer said. An aerobic workout should start out with uplifting

music at a tempo of about 130 BPM (beats per minute) and build to around 150 BPM. “Studies show that this is a moderate aerobic pace for most people,” she said. “Think of the tunes ‘Stayin’ Alive,’ ‘9 to 5’or Justin Timberlake’s ‘Rock Your Body.’” Toward the end of the workout, she said, the pace should slow again.

Maximum benefit Deekron Krikorian, known professionally as Deekron the Fitness DJ, designs and produces fitness playlists for specific workouts based heavily on BPM. “The typical exerciser listens to music to kill boredom, reduce the perception of pain,” said Krikorian, whose hour-long podcasts, called Motion Traxx, are on iTunes. “The main purpose is to motivate you, but unless you fit the pacing to your workout, you’re not getting the maximum benefit.”

That’s where Krikorian comes in. “Every episode is set at a different BPM. We tweak it. We’re able to manipulate it. Most people don’t have the tools to do that on their own.”

For most people, a power walk would involve 125-135 musical beats per minute, said Krikorian, who started out making fitness CDs for instructors and consumers. He said 135-145 BPM works for an elliptical workout or an easy jog. Above 150 BPM puts you in the running zone. Some Motion Traxx podcasts include trainers to coach you through the workout. The rise of the iPod and iPhone have allowed playlists to become so specific, he said.

“They let us bring music with us,” he said. “Walkmans helped, but the iPod and iPhone have taken things to another level.”Josh Adler, who teaches spinning at the New York Health & Racquet Club, a chain of

fitness centers in New York City and Long Island, creates his own playlist.Pop divas Rihanna, Lady Gaga and Madonna are among his staples, along with music from the 1980s and 1990s he discovered on the dance floor.

“I want people to recognize a couple of songs,” he said. “So the time goes by more quickly.” He said remixes are often ideally suited to the high-intensity interval training of his class. “The first minute is a steady beat, the lyrical hook. Then the music intensifies on the chorus,” he said. “The intervals last 30 to 60 seconds, which is perfectly matched to what your body needs to do.” Krikorian keeps his podcasts fresh by changing them at least once a month. “Music can play a really big role in fitness if used the right way,” he said. “It’s a new twist on an old song that gets them really excited.”—Reuters

Mind, body rest tied to concussion healing NEW YORK: Taking a week off from nearly all mental and physical activity - including television, talking on the phone and visiting with friends - was linked with improved mental performance and fewer symptoms in people who had suffered a concussion, a study said. A week of total rest still had benefits even months after the injury, according to a report in the Journal of Pediatrics. “That’s really important because very often we see patients with post-concussion syndrome months after” their injury, said Rosemarie Moser, director of the Sports Concussion Center of New Jersey and lead author of the study.

Post-concussion syndrome involves headaches, mental fogginess, fatigue and difficulty concentrating or sleeping, among other symptoms. Typically, rest is the main treatment, Moser said, but it’s not systematic or comprehensive and varies according to how the different practitioners define rest. The study aimed to test the results of intensive rest.

Moser’s group ordered 49 high schooland college-age patients to rest for a full week. The prescription was strict: they could not go to school or work, talk on the phone, exercise, watch TV, socialize or work at a computer. Fourteen of the patients started the rest within a week of their injuries. Another 22 patients began resting within a month of the concussion, and 13 patients began the week of rest between

one and seven months after the concussion.

At the beginning of the study, all of the patients had concussion-related symptoms, such as headaches and trouble concentrating - but all saw improvement after the week of rest. Athletes who began the rest within a week of their concussion saw their symptoms fall from a score of 22 on a 132point scale, to seven. Those who began their rest more than a month out saw symptoms drop from 28 to 8.

“All of those symptoms improved dramatically. Qualitatively, you feel better,” Moser said. Moser’s group also had participants take mental tests - measuring memory, processing speed and reaction time before and after they rested, and found that patients did better on all the mental exams after the rest. The researchers did not compare the participants’ improvement to other people with concussions who got no special rest period, or who got some rest but less than the total rest that they prescribed.

The study “provides some evidence to back up a recommendation that’s already out there,” said Willem Meeuwisse, a professor at the University of Calgary and a physician specializing in sports injuries who was not part of the study. But he said it was not clear if the rest needs to be as intensive as it was in the study to provide benefits.—Reuters

Health woes persist for young cancer survivors WASHINGTON: People who survive cancer when they are teenagers or young adults are more likely than their peers who never had cancer to engage in risky behaviors like smoking later on, a US study said yesterday. They also are more likely to be overweight and have mental health issues and financial problems than their cancer-free counterparts, said the research in the journal Cancer, a peerreviewed publication of the American Cancer Society.” There are a lot of factors that play into it,” said lead author Eric Tai of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Cancer. “Part of it may be that adolescent and young adult cancer survivors are not aware of their medical history and they are not aware of the long-term risks associated with their cancer and their cancer treatment,” he told AFP. “Because of that, they may engage in behaviors not knowing the long-term consequences of them.” Also, people diagnosed with cancer between age 15 and 29 are developmentally very different than older cancer survivors, and so they tend to cope with their illnesses in ways that elders might not, he added. Finally, they are not being tracked by health care providers as well as younger and older patients. “There hasn’t been very good follow-up of cancer survivors in this group in terms of screening, health checks, those kinds of things looking for early signs of problems that may come up and also looking at risk behaviors.”

The data for the study came from a nationwide survey known as the 2009 Behavioral

Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS).

Researchers identified people who were diagnosed with cancer when they were adolescents or young adults, and compared their responses to questions about their health to a group of 345,592 cancer-free respondents. A large majority of the young cancer survivors group was female — 81 percent-and the most commonly reported type of cancer was cervical (38 percent) followed by other female reproductive cancers (13 percent) and melanoma (nine percent).

The young survivors were more likely to smoke (26 percent compared to 18 percent in the group that never had cancer) and more of them were obese (31 percent versus 27 percent).Twice as many reported being disabled (36 percent compared to 18 percent) and 24 percent said they were in poor physical health while just 10 percent of the cancer-free group said the same. Poor mental health was mentioned by 20 percent of young cancer survivors, twice as many as in the control group, and they were also more likely to forgo medical care because of the cost (24 percent versus 15 percent). Adolescent and young adult cancer survivors also reported higher rates of heart disease, high-blood pressure, asthma and diabetes. Many of these problems could be avoided with better follow-up care, Tai said. “Health care providers really need to be aware of established follow-up guidelines, which includes information on potential latent effects, risk factors, screening and evaluation, counseling, and other interventions.”—AFP

SOUTH AFRICA: (Left) In this picture some of the 100 children who have lost parents to AIDS in Alexandra township in the north of Johannesburg enjoy a bowl of piping hot corn meal porridge given to them by Mama Portia. (Right) Mama Portia (second right) gives out food and drinks to children.—AFP photos

Mama Portia dishes out help for AIDS orphans 3.5 million are orphans, two million orphaned by AIDS JOHANNESBURG: With woollen hats covering their heads from early morning chills, dozens of children troop into a courtyard for a bowl of hot cereal in South Africa’s impoverished Alexandra township. Most of them have lost parents to AIDS, but thanks to Portia Mongake, popularly known as Mama Portia, they can have a meal or two each day. After she left her abusive husband 16 years ago, Mama Portia found new meaning in life by assisting those who need help the most in her township. Each day she feeds hundreds of children orphaned by AIDS-from toddlers to teenagers. The 52-year-old roars to life at dawn in a courtyard bordered by a church, a row of toilets and her own makeshift house to start preparing food for her big “family”. “The situation they find themselves in is very hard, and very painful. Those who are living by themselves, it’s a problem, because most of the time they don’t know where the next meal will come from,” sighs Mama Portia. “If there’s no food here, then they will sleep without food.”

Around 120 orphans come in for breakfast while twice that number show up for a late lunch served after school. Some eat there, while others take away to eat at home. “Almost everyday, we eat porridge so that we have something in our stomachs because without anything in our stomachs, we can’t learn, we will be lazy at

school,” says Sinah, 15, who will take away to school fruits and doughnuts.

Assisted by her daughter and a handful of volunteers, Mama Portia not only cooks but also helps the children with their homework and organizes activities, thanks to donations from local companies and well-wishers. “We are like a family for them,” smiles Mama Portia, who says she draws strength from her deep faith in God. She founded the “family” 12 years ago when a friend died of AIDS and she immediately took custody of her four children.

‘We haven’t missed a meal since 2001’ Her initiative is just one of many “mama” family groups that take care of children orphaned by AIDS in a country with almost six million people living with HIV and AIDS. Statistics on poor children in South Africa are staggering. Some 11.9 children out of a total of 18.6 million live in poverty, according to UNICEF. More than a fifth of them go hungry. Some 3.5 million of them are orphans, two million orphaned by AIDS. About 10.3 million poor children live off government monthly stipends of 270 rands (32 dollars, 26 euros) each, meaning more than a million others do without.

“We haven’t missed a meal since 2001,” boasts Barry Moyle, a white friend who comes to give

Mama Portia a hand. Companies and individuals donate most of the food as well as clothes, blankets and school supplies. “By the grace of God everything comes, but we need to be organized,” said Moyle, who plans to set up a proper foundation to help with fundraising. Mama Portia’s helping hand reaches out not only to children.

She also organizes support groups, such as one for women who are HIV-positive in this black township north of Johannesburg.

She has expanded her scheme to feed some 50 grandmothers, known locally as “gogos”, who do not have anyone else to turn to. “I just come here so the lady can help me, to give me something to eat. She has changed my life,” says 75year-old Tabia Mofulatsi before the distribution of fruit and the staple corn meal. Still, despite winning an award for her work, Mama Portia faces immense challenges. She was kicked out of her previous home by the neighbors. Along with her children and volunteers, she now squats in what was supposed to be a public garden next to church, nursery school and doctors’ rooms.

She shares her two-room dwelling, consisting of a kitchen and a living room that doubles as an office, with several adults and 10 children-and other creatures. “I sleep here every day,” says Sophie, Mama Portia’s daughter. “You must come here and experience the rats!”—AFP

Turks oppose abortion ban ANKARA: A majority of Turks oppose a ban on abortion as the Islamist-rooted government moves to try and limit the practice, according to a survey published yesterday.

A total of 55.5 percent said they opposed a ban, while the remaining 44.5 percent were for it, according to the Konsensus research centre poll conducted among 1,500 people between May 24 and June

6, Haberturk daily reported. The survey is the first to sound out Turks on planned amendments to abortion laws since Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s controversial comparison of abortion to “murder.”

The ruling Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Part (AKP) plans to revise abortion laws to outlaw the procedure after four weeks of

pregnancy. The current limit is 10 weeks. Experts say the time limitation will almost equal banning abortions, since most women do not realise they are pregnant within the first month.

Erdogan has frequently called for women to have at least three children, and his party intended to criminalise adultery in 2004 but bounced back under pressure from

the European Union. The deputy secretary general of the Council of Europe Maud de Boer-Buquicchio said she raised the issue with members of the Turkish government, and opposed “oppressive measures” against Turkish women, reported the daily Hurriyet. Banning abortion will only pave the way for illegal operations “for those who have the money,” she said.—AFP

Iraq ‘green belt’ front line in anti-desertification fight KARBALA: Trees as far as the eye can see are the weapons one Iraqi province is using in the fight against desertification in a country where decades of conflict have exacted a terrible environmental toll. Karbala, 110 kilometers (70 miles) south of Baghdad, is best known as the site of the shrines of Imam Hussein and Abbas, who are among the most revered figures in Shiite Islam, and sees millions of pilgrims visit every year.

But it is also the location of a six-year-old project aimed at fighting worsening desertification in Iraq: a “green belt”, or a 27-kilometre crescent lined with thousands of young trees in orderly patterns, irrigated by dozens of wells.

KARBALA: An Iraqi man walks past rows of trees forming part of the green belt.—AFP photos

The area had been used as a military encampment but is now the front line of Karbala’s battle against increasingly frequent sandstorms and salinisation of the land. “If we do nothing, the desert will envelop us,” said Hassan Jabbar, who heads the “green belt” project. “So we must go on the offensive, not on the defensive, and we must establish new irrigation projects.” The project has involved the planting of 62,000 olive trees, 20,500 palm trees, 37,000 eucalyptus trees, and 4,200 tamarind trees, all of which were chosen for their root strength as well as for the food some eventually produce.

Karbala province governor Amal al-Din al-Har, himself a former director of the provincial agriculture department, spoke with pride of the project, and said he hoped to widen the belt tenfold from its current 100-metre (330 feet) width.

“For 30 years, Iraq has been combating desertification, but after we established the (national) anti-desertification office, what we have accomplished in Karbala has been the most ambitious and most successful effort in Iraq,” Har said. The country’s environment ministry estimated in 2009 that 39 percent of Iraq’s surface was affected by desertification, while an additional 54 percent was under threat. And while the ministry estimates that 28 percent of Iraq’s territory is comprised of arable land, around 250 square kilometers (96 square miles) are lost every year due to degradation of various kinds.

Tumultuous history Iraq is far from the only country affected by desertification, but its tumultuous history has made it particularly vulnerable.

“Iraq has fought many wars,” noted Mohammed Ghazi Saeed, head of the national agriculture ministry’s anti-desertification

department. “They have greatly damaged the country’s environment.” Saeed said the situation worsened notably after now-executed dictator Saddam Hussein’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait, and the subsequent international coalition that formed to evict him from the neighboring emirate. As Saddam’s forces fled Kuwait, they burned oil wells there, which Saeed said left Iraq “black, literally.” “Of course, this poisoned the soil, the water, and led to the disappearance of many plant areas.”

The dictator’s military vehicles also destroyed green areas in the south and centre of Iraq by loosening the soil as they traversed them, and his forces chopped or burned down swathes of vegetation as part of efforts to track down internal dissidents. This has combined with climate change-Iraq has suffered several droughts over the past decade-to worsen an already difficult environmental situation, with sandstorms in Baghdad regularly forcing the closure of the capital’s airport, and leading to increased hospital visits due to respiratory problems.

In response, the Iraqi government has adopted a roadmap to fight desertification, involving efforts such as the Karbala green belt and planting programs in the areas near the western Anbar desert. But Saeed said that while Iraq had started doing its part, neighboring countries were not pulling their weight, and insisted they had to allocate greater budgets to environmental preservation. He also admitted that while authorities across Iraq were working to combat desertification, he was still not confident they would see the plans through to their conclusion.

“It is not really difficult to plant a tree-what is important is

to let it grow,” he said. “I must admit that the government is not yet fully capable, it is still weak in terms of completing projects.” Har was even harsher in his assessment of how much more needed to be done. “I think Iraq is really far behind when it comes to the fight against desertification, and it really does not have strong measures to push efficient water usage,” he said. “Even today, we do not consider it an essential part of life, and we waste water.” Alluding to the years of violence that racked Iraq from 2006 to 2008, when confessional violence left tens of thousands dead, Har added: “Sandstorms now pose more of a problem than explosions.”—AFP

KARBALA: Rows of trees are seen forming part of the green belt.

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

H E A LT H & S C I E NC E

Corporate in-house psychologist KUWAIT: Today’s corporate world has conflict resolutions consultancy been more fruitful than ever, however between employees, and assist the despite all this progress, many employees’ Human Resources Department with personal problems still get in the way of programs and psychometric assesstheir productivity. To address this issue, ments implemented within the organiemployers all around the world have been zation.

Studies have shown that by hiring an hiring an “In-House Psychologist. in-house psychologist the ”Nowadays, most rate of absenteeism employees face a chaldecreases, employees’ use lenge when trying to balof sick leaves decreases, ance between their career and productivity increasand personal lives. Hiring es. According to the US an in-house psychologist Department of Labor, EAP has proven to be both benhave shown several coreficial to the employees porate benefits which and employers alike. The include: decreased absenIn- House psychologist is teeism, reduced accidents part the Employee and fewer workers comAssistance Program (EAP), pensation claims, greater where a psychologist visits employee retention, fewa company once/ twice or Dr Juliet Dinkha er labor disputes, and sigmore a week to provide nificant reduction in the employees consultancy medical costs arising from and guidance. early identification and By offering an in-house treatment of individual psychologist, employees with mental health and will be able to vent out substance abuse probwhat stresses them in a lems. confidential and safe Since these corporate e n v i r o n m e n t . employee and employer Furthermore, employees ser vices are limited in can speak about what’s Kuwait, Kaizen Centerbothering them to a perBranch 2 is introducing son who doesn’t belong the Employee Assistance to the organization and is Dr Salma Tayeh Program in Kuwait. objective. The in-house Doctoral and Masters levpsychologist will play the role of a mediator between the organi- el psychologists, working at Kaizen zation and its employees. The sessions Center-Branch 2, are hired as in-house offered by the in-house psychologist consultants at several prominent organwill aim to help employees with their izations to provide employees with conpersonal and career problems in the sultancy and guidance.

Thus, it is now possible for business form of life coaching.

For organizations, the in-house psy- corporations in Kuwait to provide such chologist services are indispensable. worthwhile services to their employees These services can range from personal to enhance and increase their producissues, such as divorce and parenting, to tivity. self development trainings and support Website: www.kaizen-kw.com sessions, such as time management and Email:dr.jdinkha@kaizen-kw.com, effective communication. Nevertheless, the in-house psychologist also provides skamal@kaizen-kw.com

Near-extinct turtle bred on Bangladesh beach DHAKA: Zoologists have for the first time bred a critically endangered turtle species using an artificial beach, Bangladeshi specialists announced yesterday. The northern river terrapin, scientific name Batagur baska, is extinct in the wild in Thailand, Myanmar and Vietnam, and survives only in tiny numbers in Bangladesh, India, Malaysia and Indonesia.

But 25 turtles hatched last week at a beach built on the banks of two ponds in Bangladesh’s Bhawal National Park to encourage their parents, which had been captured from the wild, to breed in a safe environment.

“The female turtles laid eggs and last week 25 turtles cubs were hatched,” said S.M.A. Rashid, head of the Centre for Advanced Research in Natural Resources and Management, a private wildlife group. “They are tiny but doing fine.” The organization had “scoured Bangladesh’s coastal districts in the south and collected 14 males and five females”, he said, and worked with the US-based Turtles Survival Alliance, Bangladesh’s forest department and Vienna Zoo. The Austrian institution bred the turtles in a laboratory two years ago and hatched two babies but one later died. In its most recent report on the species in 2000 the International Union for Conservation of Nature listed it as critically endangered because of habitat loss, illegal hunting and export to China. Monirul Khan, Bangladesh’s leading wildlife professor, told AFP the breeding breakthrough gave the species “the biggest hope for survival against all the odds”.—AFP

DHAKA: In this handout photo released by the Centre for Advanced Research in Natural Resources & Management (CARINAM), baby Northern River Terrapin turtles are held over an artificially created beach in Bhawal National Park.—AFP

Even 7-year-olds sometimes hurt themselves CHICAGO: Even children as young as 7 sometimes cut themselves on purpose, according to a small study believed to be the first to examine selfinjury at such early ages. The study was based on interviews with children in the Denver area and central New Jersey, without confirmation from parents or others. But the researchers and independent experts say the results are credible and raise awareness about a disturbing problem.

Overall, almost 8 percent of the third-graders, or 15 kids, said they had ever intentionally hurt themselves by cutting, burning or poking their skin with sharp objects, hitting themselves, or other methods. These children included 8-year-olds and some as young as 7. About two-thirds of the children had done it more than once.

“It’s unfortunately probably more common than we want to think,” said lead researcher Benjamin Hankin, an associate psychology professor at the University of Denver. The study involved 665 kids, including 197 third-graders, and was

published online yesterday in the journal Pediatrics. The researchers had local schools send letters to families requesting that their children participate in the study. About two-thirds of families agreed; there were no differences among those who chose not to participate that might skew the results, Harkin said.

Many kids, even the youngest ones, find that causing physical pain helps them cope with emotional stress, Hankin said. Some researchers believe physical pain releases feel-good hormones called endorphins that can be calming. Family strife, troubles in school and bullying are among reasons some kids hurt themselves; details on what caused the behavior among the study kids wasn’t included in the published report.

Among older children studied, 4 percent of sixth-graders and almost 13 percent of ninthgraders said they had self-injured - rates consistent with those seen in other studies. The rate among third-graders echoes anecdotal reports

from elementary school teachers, and similar numbers of older kids in other studies have said that they started before the age of 10, said Cornell University researcher Janis Whitlock. She was not involved in the current research. Hankin said it’s important for parents to know about self-injury and to have affected children evaluated by a pediatrician or mental health specialist.

Among older kids, those who hurt themselves are at risk for suicide attempts, although most selfinjuring kids don’t cause serious harm, said Wendy Lader, president of a St. Louis-based treatment center and clearinghouse for self-injury information. Children with autism or a major psychiatric disorder that might feature self-injury were excluded from the study.

The children studied were racially and ethnically similar to the general US population, but the study wasn’t nationally representative. Similar results were found in both locations, which strengthened the findings, Hankin said.—AP

30

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

WHAT’S ON Greetings

Sheraton Kuwait celebrates 46th anniversary ne more year has unfolded and the Sheraton Kuwait celebrates yet another year of success marking the hotel’s 46th anniversary. It was in the year 1966 that the Sheraton Kuwait was inaugurated to be the first managed Sheraton property to open outside North America and the first Starwood property worldwide to continue operating under the same management company for over 40 years.

Sheraton Kuwait has proven throughout the past 46 years to be the undisputed pioneer in the hospitality industry, locally as well as regionally. During this journey, Sheraton Kuwait has won tremendous admiration from global leaders and numerous awards from prestigious organizations.

On this special occasion, Fahed Abushaar the Area Director/General Manager of Sheraton Kuwait, expressed his satisfaction at the superlative performance of the hotel and reiterated the importance of being the pioneer in providing high standards of hospital-

O

appy belated birthday to Abu Baker Nissar Pampra. Best wishes from parents and relatives.

H

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 on 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.

O

ity in the region. He also announced that in line with the hotel’s plan to expand its facilities, the hotel will witness the implementation of comprehensive upgrading and renewing works at the lobby.

In addition, the Sheraton Kuwait is planning to open new branches of its specialized restaurants at the Avenues Mall’s new expansion, which is scheduled to open next September. The new restau-

rants include Le Tarbouche; Shahrayar; Bukhar and AlHambra. “Thanks to these developments, Sheraton Hotel will reach new horizons of hospitality in Kuwait, aiming to give the best services for its

esteemed guests”, added Fahed Abushaar, Area Director and General Manager of Sheraton Kuwait.

ESF kindergarten at the circus

KDNA meeting Kozhikode 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 plight of the passengers tomorrow (June 13) at United Indian School, Abbasiya at 7:00 pm.

‘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 to97822021 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.

Adopt a pet

he English School Fahaheel Kindergarten recently presented their eagerly awaited annual production. The production is one of the most colourful on the Lloyd Webber Theatre calendar. This year’s extravaganza was “Welcome to the Circus”. The com-

T

plete stage resembled a circus tent and the costumes were beautifully designed; a big thank you to the parents for all the colourful attire.

The colourful circus scene created by the Kindergarten Department included clowns, jugglers,

elephants, Arabian camels and horses, lions, dancing princesses, ring-masters and the strong man and a strong girl! A big thank you to the Kindergarten Department staff and Head Claire Oraby for a thoroughly entertaining morning!

Precious the GSD mix breed dog Precious is a gentle, affectionate and very pretty three-yearold German Shepherd Mix girl. She likes to play and loves a cuddle. Precious will do great in a family with children aged 10 and above. To adopt Precious, contact K’S PATH at (+965) 67001622 or visit the website www.kspath.org.

Euro 2012 at Radisson Blu Hotel he Radisson Blu Hotel Kuwait welcomes you to watch Euro 2012 Football Championship matches on our large screen TV or projector screen and cheer on your favorite team while enjoying specially created fan-friendly summer dishes at the Rangoli Restaurant. Euro 2012 inspired cocktails and smoothies will be on offer too! We promise to make it the perfect setting to enjoy a great game with family, friends, colleagues or guests. The Radisson Blu Hotel, Kuwait would like to thank the sponsor to the event, LG Kuwait for extending their support.

T

Molly the DSH cat Molly is a one-year-old Domestic Short Haired (DSH) female cat. She loves curling up against a sofa or your leg and purrs for affection. She is gentle, friendly and will be a great addition to a family with children aged 10 and above. To adopt Molly, contact K’S PATH at (+965) 67001622 or visit the website www.kspath.org.

Write to us

Special visit to ESF Send to What’s On upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20

ast week The English School Fahaheel was honoured to welcome the Assistant Undersecretary Mona Loghani from the Ministry of Education on her visit to ESF. Loghani was familiarized with the English education system and the 45 years of educational experience ESF has to offer.

L

The Assistant Undersecretary was also informed of the current exams at ESF and the Cambridge University IGCSE, A/S, A2 and Edexcel examinations for which ESF is a registered examination centre. Loghani was met by the owner and chairman of ESF Ibrahim Shuhaiber, Head of Marketing and PR Adeeb

Shuhaiber, Head of Secondary Cox, Head of Middle School Watkiss, Lower School Head Claire Oraby, assistant heads of departments and a number of teachers.

31

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

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.

British Ladies Society holds annual general meeting he British Ladies Society (BLS) celebrated the end of their social calendar with a dinner attended by over 80 ladies in the Ballroom of the Movenick Al-Bida’a on Tuesday, June 5.

The guests of honour were Mona AlGhanim and Najat Dashti who represented Ruqayah Abdulwahab AlQatami Cancer Foundation and Caroline Barakat representing Help for Heroes, the two nominated charities for the year.

The dinner was opened with a speech from Maria Pilar Fernandez Baker, patron of the BLS and wife of the British Ambassador to Kuwait, Frank Baker. She gave details of the founding of this social group which dates back to 1993. The ladies enjoyed a full buffet dinner with international dishes reflecting the wide variety of nationalities of the 350 members signed up to take part in their activities.

This was followed by a speech from this year’s President of the Committee, Anne Napier, who talked about the

T

importance of the BLS for ladies who come to live in Kuwait and are looking for ways to explore the opportunities of their adoptive home; to discover places to visit, encounter local culture, meet like-minded people and find the friendship and companionship in this new environment freely given by each to the other.

Local businesses were thanked for giving the BLS members valuable discounts as well as sponsoring our events and donating goods and services for our fundraising efforts. This year the BLS owes a debt of thanks to The Avenues, Wataniya and Amec for their sponsorship, together with a long list of companies for donations including Toni & Guy Shaab, Al-Yousifi, Q8Realtor, NBar, Sultan Centre, Ikea, Carluccio’s, Milano and many, many more which can all be found on their sponsors page of the BLS website.

A formal presentation of cheques to Hyatt for Cancer and Help for Heroes were made with acceptance speeches

and photo opportunities. The evening swiftly progressed with a slideshow of the new premises which will open next month which will facilitate expansion in the range of activities offered by this society which include coffee mornings, a place for mothers and toddlers to play, exercise and classes and arts and crafts.

A film showing the ladies enjoying the year’s activities and events played in the background showing the British Tea Garden at the Britain in Kuwait Exhibition, Valentines and Mothers’ Day events, excursions to the Grand Mosque and Kuwait Stock Exchange as well as regular events such as dinners and coffee mornings. Representatives for the charities chosen for the year ahead had the chance to give some background information about the work carried out in Kuwait by The Salvation Army and Cancer Research in the UK. The evening rounded off with gestures of thanks to the hardworking volunteers who form the executive commit-

■■■■■■■

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.

■■■■■■■

tee and introductions to the new group of ladies taking their place, headed by Avril Bailey who will be President leading into their 20th Anniversary year in 2013.

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.

■■■■■■■

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 ■■■■■■■

Kuwait Marriott Hotels launch exciting family summer packages shering in the summer season, Kuwait Marriott Hotels is offering fun family vacation packages to provide a unique experience for its local guests as well inbound travellers visiting Kuwait from the GCC countries. The new offer is valid until August 31 at JW Marriott Hotel and Courtyard by Marriott Hotel Kuwait City Apart from Marriott’s free high speed internet access in guest rooms and public areas, guests are also assured of free

U

access to the health club and swimming pool. Courtyard by Marriott’s renowned Indian restaurant Soul and Spice, offers the perfect blend of Indian spices in a contemporary presentation and an extensive a la carte menu featuring authentic Indian dishes. Meanwhile, guests staying at the JW Marriott Kuwait Hotel can enjoy an exciting buffet at the hotel’s very popular La Brasserie restaurant which features delicious international buffets. For diners who want to

enjoy the experience of fine dining at the hotel, must visit the Terrace Grill restaurant that offers one of the finest Angus beef in town.

George Aoun General Manager of Kuwait Marriott Hotels said, “Travelling in the Middle East is synonymous with the summers season where in people are on the hunt for the perfect get away.

We pride ourselves for continuing to offer a wholesome experience guaranteed to cater to every family member’s

demands .Our promotions are tailormade to ensure every guest leaves with a smile and memories to cherish. We look forward to welcoming families to the JW Marriott as well as the Courtyard

by Marriott hotels, and hope they enjoy their stay, the service, dining and shopping experience with us this summer.”

EMBASSY OF KENYA The Embassy of the Republic of Kenya wishes to inform Kenyan residents throughout Kuwait and the general public that with effect from June 1, 2012 the Embassy has moved from its current location to a new location in Surra Block 1, Street 8, Villa 303. Please note that the new telephone and fax numbers will be communicated as soon as possible. For enquiries you can contact Consular Section on mobile 90935162 or 97527306.

■■■■■■■

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 ■■■■■■■

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

Team picture of Kuwait Oil Company and Shell health, safety and environment team and Ahmad A participant tests the seat belt convincer which Atallah, chairman of Shell companies in Kuwait. simulates a car crash.

Shell, KOC host road safety awareness campaign hell, in partnership with Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), hosted for the second consecutive year their joint road safety campaign titled ‘Seat Belts Save Lives.’ This campaign seeks to continue raising awareness on road safety issues and improve driving habits and encourage the public to use seat belts and avoid any use of mobile phones while driving. In Kuwait, statistics from the Ministry of Interior showed that 493 people were killed in traffic accidents in 2011.

During the same period, 75,000 traffic accidents took place, with an accident rate of 206 incidents per day and 8.5 crashes every hour.

In the campaign sessions, Shell and KOC jointly provide a live demonstration of the importance of the use of seat belts, avoiding any use of mobile phones while driving and committing to the speed limits by using the “Seat Belt Convincer” and “Driving Simulator”.

The campaign which took place yesterday and today features a Seatbelt Convincer workshop in which the attendees experienced the feeling of ‘crashing’ at speeds even as low as eight kilometres an hour while wearing a seatbelt. A driving simulation is also featured to illustrate how various distractions can cause drivers to lose focus while driving.

Ahmad Atallah, Chairman and Managing Director for Shell Companies in Kuwait said: “Road Safety issues

S

affect not only individuals and families, but also indirectly hinder development progress within countries and corporations. People have many excuses for not wearing seat belts while driving, so we have taken the initiative with our local partners to demonstrate the value of seat belts and how they can actually save lives in case of a car accident. We are working to support

A participant tests the driving simulation game. creating a culture where personal safety is a priority.

Improving safety on the road remains a focus, since road accidents account for a large share of incidents globally and in Kuwait particularly.

The ‘Seat Belts Save Lives’ campaign compliments Shell’s ongoing regional ‘Road Safety’ initiative which began in 2008. Shell in Kuwait runs defensive driving

sessions to all staff, partners and drivers annually. Road Safety lectures are also provided to the Kuwaiti youth to educate new drivers that one of the best ways to stay safe in case of a car accident is to wear a seat belt.

Saeed Al-Shaheen KOC’s well surveillance group manager commented: “When adults buckle up, their children learn to buckle up too, reducing the chance of injuries or death. At KOC we believe in the importance of road safety, hence our partnership with Shell where we hope our message comes across to the public. The safety of every individual on the road is our utmost priority and concern.”

At the ‘Seatbelts Save Lives’ stand, attendees were given the opportunity to observe hourly performed demonstrations by Dr. Ibrahim El-Mahdy Kuwait Oil Company Health , Safety and Environment & Road Safety consultant and Noor Al-Assar, Kuwait Shell Health, Safety and Environment Lead. The stand anticipates 800 visitors in the course of the two day campaign. The visitors on the first day had the chance to experience the importance of wearing their seat belts, and avoid using mobile phones while driving on the roads.

■■■■■■■

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 ■■■■■■■

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.

■■■■■■■

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.

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

TV PROGRAMS

00:45 Untamed & Uncut 01:40 Your Worst Animal Nightmares 02:35 Must Love Cats 03:30 Ned Bruha: Skunk Whisperer 03:55 Ned Bruha: Skunk Whisperer 04:25 The Animals’ Guide To Survival 05:20 Shamwari: A Wild Life 05:45 Animal Battlegrounds 06:10 Pet Passport 06:35 Pet Passport 07:00 Escape To Chimp Eden 07:25 Project Puppy 07:50 Jeff Corwin Unleashed 08:15 Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild 08:40 Breed All About It 09:10 Must Love Cats 10:05 The Animals’ Guide To Survival 11:00 Animal Precinct 11:55 Animal Cops Philadelphia 12:50 Safari Vet School 13:15 Safari Vet School 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 Bad Dog 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 Extreme Animals 22:55 World Wild Vet 23:50 Animal Cops Houston

00:15 Come Dine With Me 01:05 Indian Food Made Easy 01:30 Saturday Kitchen 2007/08 01:55 Saturday Kitchen 2007/08 02:25 Saturday Kitchen 2007/08 02:50 MasterChef 03:20 Living In The Sun 04:05 Celebrity MasterChef 04:55 Celebrity MasterChef 05:25 Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey 06:15 Living In The Sun 06:55 Saturday Kitchen 2007/08 07:25 MasterChef Australia 08:10 MasterChef Australia 09:00 Indian Food Made Easy 09:25 Bargain Hunt 10:10 Antiques Roadshow 11:00 Come Dine With Me 11:50 10 Years Younger 12:40 Holmes On Homes 13:30 Fantasy Homes By The Sea 14:20 Fantasy Homes In The City 15:05 Bargain Hunt 15:50 Antiques Roadshow 16:45 The Boss Is Coming To Dinner 17:10 Come Dine With Me 18:00 Rachel’s Favourite Food For Living 18:25 The Hairy Bikers’ Cookbook 18:55 Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey 19:45 Rick Stein’s French Odyssey 20:10 Antiques Roadshow 21:00 Holmes On Homes 21:50 Fantasy Homes By The Sea 22:40 Bargain Hunt 23:25 Antiques Roadshow

00:10 00:35 01:00 01:25 01:50 02:15 02:40 03:00 03:25 03:50

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!

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 14:10 14:35 15:25 15:50 16:15 16:40 17:30 17:55 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

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! Dastardly And Muttley Looney Tunes Puppy In My Pocket Pink Panther And Pals Pink Panther And Pals Tom & Jerry The Garfield Show 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 00:55 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 05:30 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 10:10 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 10:35 Powerpuff Girls 11:25 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 11:50 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 22:00 22:50 23:15 23:40

Cow And Chicken Codename: Kids Next Door Ben 10 Ben 10 Chowder

00:00 Amanpour 00:30 World Sport 01:00 Piers Morgan Tonight 02:00 World Report 03:00 Anderson Cooper 360 04:00 Piers Morgan Tonight 05:00 Quest Means Business 06:00 The Situation Room 07:00 World Sport 07:30 African Voices 08:00 World Report 09:00 World Report 10:00 World Sport 10:30 Talk Asia 11:00 World Business Today 12:00 Amanpour 12:30 World’s Untold Stories 13:00 World One 14:00 Piers Morgan Tonight 15:00 News Stream 16:00 World Business Today 17:00 International Desk 18:00 Global Exchange 19:00 World Sport 19:30 World’s Untold Stories 20:00 International Desk 21:00 Quest Means Business 22:00 Amanpour 22:30 CNN Newscenter 23:00 Connect The World With Becky Anderson

00:15 00:40 01:35 02:30 03:25 04:20 05:15 05:40 06:05 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 03:05 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

IRON MAN 2 ON OSN ACTION HD

Worst-Case Scenario Surviving Disaster Hillbilly Handfishin’ When Fish Attack River Monsters: Special Surviving Disaster How Do They Do It? How It’s Made Gold Rush Chop Shop Mythbusters Ultimate Survival Border Security Auction Kings How Do They Do It? How It’s Made Deception With Keith Barry One Man Army Storm Chasers Border Security Auction Kings 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 Bear Grylls’ Wild Weekend Finding Bigfoot An Idiot Abroad

Mega World The Colony Brave New World The Gadget Show Prototype This How The Universe Works Mega World Sci-Trek Brave New World Head Rush Bang Goes The Theory Sci-Fi Science Sport Science Prototype This The Gadget Show The Gadget Show Mega World Brave New World Mega World How The Universe Works

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 22:25 22:50 23:40

Prototype This The Gadget Show Head Rush Bang Goes The Theory Sci-Fi Science Sci-Trek Sport Science How The Universe Works Catch It Keep It Scrapheap Challenge The Gadget Show The Gadget Show Stuck With Hackett Stuck With Hackett Scrapheap Challenge Sport Science

00:10 Fairly Odd Parents 00:35 Fairly Odd Parents 01:00 Brandy & Mr Whiskers 01:25 Brandy & Mr Whiskers 01:50 Replacements 02:15 Replacements 02:40 Emperor’s New School 03:05 Emperor’s New School 03:30 Brandy & Mr Whiskers 03:55 Brandy & Mr Whiskers 04:20 Replacements 04:45 Replacements 05:10 Fairly Odd Parents 05:35 Fairly Odd Parents 06:00 Fish Hooks 06:15 Recess 06:40 So Random 07:05 Wizards Of Waverly Place 07:30 Good Luck Charlie 07:55 Shake It Up 08:20 Phineas And Ferb 08:45 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 09:10 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 09:20 Handy Manny 09:35 The Hive 09:45 Mouk 10:00 Recess 10:25 So Random 10:50 Hannah Montana 11:15 Fish Hooks 11:40 Jake & Blake 12:05 Sonny With A Chance 12:30 Wizards Of Waverly Place 12:55 Phineas And Ferb 13:05 Phineas And Ferb 13:20 Recess 13:45 Jessie 14:10 A.N.T. Farm 14:35 Good Luck Charlie 15:00 Suite Life On Deck 15:25 Shake It Up 15:50 Phineas And Ferb 16:00 Phineas And Ferb 16:15 Jessie 16:40 A.N.T. Farm 17:00 Mom’s Got A Date With A Vampire 18:20 Jessie 18:45 A.N.T. Farm 19:05 Wizards Of Waverly Place 19:35 Good Luck Charlie 20:00 Good Luck Charlie 20:25 So Random 20:50 Suite Life On Deck 21:15 Jonas Los Angeles 21:40 Shake It Up 22:05 Good Luck Charlie 22:30 Good Luck Charlie 22:55 Wizards Of Waverly Place 23:20 Wizards Of Waverly Place 23:45 Kim Possible

06:00 Kid vs Kat 06:20 American Dragon 06:45 Rekkit Rabbit 07:10 Scaredy Squirrel 07:35 Scaredy Squirrel 08:00 Scaredy Squirrel 08:25 Scaredy Squirrel 08:50 Kick Buttowski 09:15 Zeke & Luther 09:40 I’m In The Band 10:05 Phineas And Ferb 10:15 Phineas And Ferb 10:30 Kid vs Kat 10:55 The Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes 11:20 Aaron Stone 11:45 Rekkit Rabbit 12:10 American Dragon 12:35 Kick Buttowski 13:00 Phineas And Ferb 13:10 Phineas And Ferb 13:25 I’m In The Band 13:45 Kid vs Kat 14:10 Pair Of Kings 14:35 Zeke & Luther 15:00 Pokemon: Black And White 15:25 Iron Man Armored Adventures 15:50 Rated A For Awesome 16:15 Kickin It 16:40 Pair Of Kings 17:05 Zeke & Luther 17:30 Mr. Young 17:55 Mr. Young 18:20 Mr. Young 18:45 I’m In The Band 19:10 Kick Buttowski 19:35 Pair Of Kings 20:00 Zeke & Luther 20:25 Phineas And Ferb 20:50 Kid vs Kat 21:15 Aaron Stone 21:40 The Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes 22:05 Phineas And Ferb 22:30 Kid vs Kat 23:00 Programmes Start At 6:00am KSA

00:25 Kendra 00:55 Style Star 01:25 E!es 02:20 E!es 03:15 Behind The Scenes 03:40 Extreme Close-Up 04:10 Sexiest 05:05 Extreme Hollywood 06:00 15 Remarkable Celebrity Body Bouncebacks 07:50 Behind The Scenes 08:20 E! News 09:15 Scouted 10:15 E!es 12:05 E! News 13:05 Ice Loves Coco 13:35 Ice Loves Coco 14:05 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 14:35 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 15:00 Style Star 15:30 THS 16:25 Behind The Scenes

16:55 Khloe And Lamar 17:25 Khloe And Lamar 17:55 E! News 18:55 E!es 19:55 Kourtney & Kim Take New York 20:55 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 21:25 Giuliana & Bill 22:25 E! News 23:25 Chelsea Lately 23:55 Fashion Police

00:30 01:20 02:05 02:30 03:20 03:45 04:30 05:20 06:10 07:00 07:50 08:40 09:30 09:55 10:20 11:10 12:00 12:25 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 22:00 22:50 23:40

Ghost Lab A Haunting I Married A Mobster Scorned: Crimes Of Passion Deadly Women: Face To Face Dr G: Medical Examiner Ghost Lab A Haunting 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 Street Patrol Murder Shift Mystery ER 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 Killer Kids Deadly Women Dr G: Medical Examiner

OCEANS ON OSN CINEMA 01:20 02:55 04:15 05:50 07:35 10:05 11:45 13:15 14:45 18 16:20 18:30 20:35 22:00 23:30

Some Girls-PG The Lost Brigade-18 Body And Soul-18 Two Moon Junction The Group-PG Chance Of A Lifetime-PG Ghoulies II Mannequin-PG Sketch Artist II: Hands That SeeThe Battle Of Britain-PG Asteroid-U Hunter: Return To Justice She Fought Alone-18 Sometimes They Come Back-18

00:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 01:00 Deadliest Journeys 01:30 Deadliest Journeys 02:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 03:00 Banged Up Abroad 04:00 Treks In A Wild World 05:00 Endurance Traveller 06:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 07:00 Deadliest Journeys 07:30 Deadliest Journeys 08:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 09:00 Banged Up Abroad 10:00 Treks In A Wild World 11:00 Endurance Traveller 12:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 13:00 Deadliest Journeys 13:30 Destination Extreme 14:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 15:00 City Chase Marrakech 16:00 Treks In A Wild World 17:00 Endurance Traveller 18:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 19:00 Word Travels 19:30 Word Travels 20:00 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 20:30 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 21:00 Exploring The Vine 21:30 Exploring The Vine 22:00 Long Way Down 23:00 Bite Me With Dr. Mike Leahy

00:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 01:00 Deadliest Journeys 01:30 Deadliest Journeys 02:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 03:00 Banged Up Abroad 04:00 Treks In A Wild World 05:00 Endurance Traveller 06:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 07:00 Deadliest Journeys 07:30 Deadliest Journeys 08:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 09:00 Banged Up Abroad 10:00 Treks In A Wild World 11:00 Endurance Traveller 12:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 13:00 Deadliest Journeys 13:30 Destination Extreme 14:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 15:00 City Chase Marrakech 16:00 Treks In A Wild World 17:00 Endurance Traveller 18:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 19:00 Word Travels 19:30 Word Travels 20:00 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 20:30 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 21:00 Exploring The Vine 21:30 Exploring The Vine 22:00 Long Way Down 23:00 Bite Me With Dr. Mike Leahy

00:00 01:00 01:30 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00

Megastructures Mystery Files Mystery Files Is It Real? S2 (1 hour) Megastructures Fight Science Hunter Hunted Banged Up Abroad

07:00 08:00 09:00 09:30 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 17:30 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Air Crash Investigation Megastructures Mystery Files Mystery Files Is It Real? S2 (1 hour) Megastructures Fight Science Hunter Hunted Banged Up Abroad Air Crash Investigation Megastructures Mystery Files Mystery Files Is It Real? S3 (1 hour) Megastructures World’s Deadliest Animals Shark Men Lockdown Air Crash Investigation

00:00 01:00 01:55 02:50 03:45 04:40 05:35 06:00 06:30 07:25 08:20 09:15 10:10 10:35 11:05 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 17:30 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00 23:30

Animal Autopsy Crocodile King Hooked Expedition Wild Animal Superpowers Swamp Men Wild Chronicles Wild Chronicles Hooked Expedition Wild Animal Superpowers Night Stalkers Chimp Diaries Chimp Diaries Animal Underworld World’s Deadliest Animals Monster Fish Strike Force Animal Superpowers Striker!

Chimp Diaries Chimp Diaries Maneater Manhunt Hooked Expedition Wild Animal Superpowers Night Stalkers Chimp Diaries Chimp Diaries

00:00 Brotherhood-PG15 02:00 The Eagle-PG15 04:00 Street Kings 2: Motor City-18 06:00 Iron Man 2-PG15 08:15 Tremors-PG15 10:00 Cross-18 12:00 Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within-PG 14:00 Tremors-PG15 16:00 Dick Tracy-PG15 18:00 Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within-PG 20:00 Hustle And Flow-18 22:00 Vengeance-PG15

01:00 Oceans-PG15 03:00 Unanswered Prayers-PG15 05:00 50 First Dates-PG15 07:00 Arthur And The Revenge Of Maltazard-PG 09:00 Oceans-PG15 10:45 Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides-PG15 13:00 Justice For Natalee HollowayPG15 14:30 Stonehenge ApocalypsePG15 16:00 My Name Is Khan-PG15 19:00 Dinner For Schmucks-PG15 21:00 Season Of The Witch-PG15 23:00 Blue Valentine-18

00:00 King Of The Hill 00:30 The Daily Show Global Edition 01:00 The Colbert Report Global Edition 01:30 Louie 02:00 Bored To Death 02:30 The Big C 03:00 The Simpsons 03:30 Raising Hope 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 Traffic Light 10:00 Friends With Benefits 10:30 10 Items Or Less

12:00 Dharma And Greg 13:00 Til Death 14:00 Raising Hope 14:30 Friends With Benefits 15:00 Traffic Light 15:30 The Daily Show Global Edition 16:00 The Colbert Report Global Edition 16:30 Dharma And Greg 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 Mad Love 18:30 Mr. Sunshine 19:00 The Cleveland Show 19:30 Friends With Benefits 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 Eastbound And Down 22:30 Entourage 23:00 The Big C 23:30 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 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

Justified Luck The Closer Suits Rescue Me Good Morning America The Practice Emmerdale Coronation Street The Martha Stewart Show The View The Closer Suits Live Good Morning America The Practice Emmerdale Coronation Street White Collar Royal Pains House The River Lights Out

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 23:00

Psych The Closer Luck Justified Suits Eureka Psych Emmerdale Coronation Street Body Of Proof The Closer Justified Suits Emmerdale Coronation Street Body Of Proof Psych Emmerdale Coronation Street The Protector White Collar Royal Pains House The River Treme

01:00 03:15 05:15 07:00 PG15 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

Alive-PG15 Double Impact-18 Bad Guys-18 True Justice: Deadly Crossing-

00:00 02:00 PG15 04:00 06:00 08:00 PG15 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

Bob Roberts-PG15 A Pyromaniac’s Love Story-

Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost-PG15 Dangerous Flowers-PG15 Planet Of The Apes-PG15 Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost-PG15 Patriot Games-PG15 Icarus-18 Vengeance-PG15 Carrie-18

The Chaperone-PG15 16 To Life-PG15 A Pyromaniac’s Love StoryFinding Lenny-PG15 Addams Family Values-PG The Open Road-PG15 Finding Lenny-PG15 Made In Dagenham-PG15 Last Holiday-PG15 Leap Year-PG15

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 16:45 18:30 21:00 23:00

Mulan: Warrior Princess-PG15 Battle: Los Angeles-PG15 Elevator Girl-PG15 City Of Life-PG15 Bond Of Silence-PG15 Charlie St. Cloud-PG15 Bad News Bears-PG How To Train Your Dragon-PG Bond Of Silence-PG15 The Help-PG15 Arthur-PG15 Munich-18

01:00 Kings And Queen-18 04:00 Mulan: Warrior Princess-PG15 06:00 Passing Strange-PG15 09:00 Mammoth-PG15 11:15 Glitter-PG15 13:00 Celine: Through The Eyes Of The World-PG15 15:00 Mammoth-PG15 17:15 Don’t Look Back-PG15 19:15 The Headless Woman-PG15 21:00 Munich-18 23:45 Wild At Heart-18

00:00 Test Cricket 09:00 Super League 11:00 PGA European Tour Highlights 12:00 Super Rugby Highlights 13:00 Live International Rugby Union 15:45 Live IRB Junior World Championship 22:00 International Rugby Union

01:00 NRL Premiership 03:00 Super League 05:00 International Rugby Union 07:00 Super Rugby Highlights 08:00 PGA European Tour Highlights 09:00 Volvo Ocean Race Highlights 09:30 Darts 13:30 PGA European Tour Highlights 14:30 Volvo Ocean Race Highlights 15:45 Live IRB Junior World Championship 17:45 Live IRB Junior World Championship 19:45 Live IRB Junior World Championship 22:00 PGA European Tour Highlights 23:00 Darts

00:00 PGA European Tour Highlights 01:00 Golfing World 02:00 Top 14 Highlights 02:30 Triathlon 03:00 Triathlon 04:00 Triathlon 04:30 Triathlon 05:00 AFL Premiership Highlights 06:00 Ping Pong World Championship 07:00 Golfing World 08:00 ATP Tennis Aegon Championships 20:30 Live ATP Tennis Aegon Championships 22:30 NRL Full Time 23:00 Mobil 1 The Grid 23:30 Futbol Mundial

00:00 01:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 Cup 18:00 Cup 20:00 Cup 22:00

UFC Unleashed Prizefighter UFC Unleashed UFC Unleashed UFC Unleashed WWE NXT WWE Bottom Line Prizefighter V8 Supercars Extra UAE National Race Day Series WWE Bottom Line WWE Vintage Collection V8 Supercars Live Rugby Union Nations Live Rugby Union Nations Live Rugby Union Nations UFC

Classifieds TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Airlines JZR QTR RJA GFA UAE ETD OMA THY DHX FDB MSR RBG QTR JZR KAC THY DHX JZR KAC BAW KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY QTR FDB IRA ETD IRA GFA MEA JZR MSR MSC JZR JZR MSR KAC KAC GFA FDB KNE QTR KAC SVA RJA KAC KAC QTR JZR JZR ETD JZR JZR UAE UAL GFA SVA JZR JZR ABY QTR KAC KAC KAC KAC FDB MSR MSC ASW KAC KAC KAC KAC JAI KAC AXB FDB OMA MEA QTR GFA ALK KLM JZR UAE ABY QTR DHX AIC FDB GFA UAL JZR DLH JZR MSR THY PIA

Arrival Flights on Tuesday 12/6/2012 Flt Route 185 DUBAI 148 DOHA 642 AMMAN 211 BAHRAIN 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 643 MUSCAT 768 ISTANBUL 370 BAHRAIN 67 DUBAI 612 CAIRO 3553 ALEXANDRIA 138 DOHA 503 LUXOR 544 CAIRO 770 ISTANBUL 170 BAHRAIN 555 ALEXANDRIA 412 MANILA 157 LONDON 416 JAKARTA 206 ISLAMABAD 53 DUBAI 302 MUMBAI 332 TRIVANDRUM 352 COCHIN 284 DHAKA 855 DUBAI 125 SHARJAH 132 DOHA 55 DUBAI 605 ISFAHAN 301 ABU DHABI 619 LAR 213 BAHRAIN 404 BEIRUT 165 DUBAI 618 ALEXANDRIA 401 ALEXANDRIA 561 SOHAG 201 DAMASCUS 610 CAIRO 514 TEHRAN 672 DUBAI 219 BAHRAIN 57 DUBAI 472 JEDDAH 140 DOHA 562 AMMAN 500 JEDDAH 640 AMMAN 678 ABU DHABI 546 ALEXANDRIA 134 DOHA 535 CAIRO 325 NAJAF 303 ABU DHABI 215 DEIREZZOR 787 RIYADH 857 DUBAI 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 215 BAHRAIN 510 RIYADH 177 DUBAI 777 JEDDAH 127 SHARJAH 144 DOHA 542 CAIRO 786 JEDDAH 166 PARIS 104 LONDON 63 DUBAI 624 SOHAG 403 ASSIUT 3217 AL MAKTOUM INTERNATI 618 DOHA 674 DUBAI 614 BAHRAIN 742 DAMMAM 572 MUMBAI 774 RIYADH 389 KOZHIKODE 61 DUBAI 647 MUSCAT 402 BEIRUT 146 DOHA 221 BAHRAIN 229 COLOMBO 415 AMSTERDAM 135 BAHRAIN 859 DUBAI 129 SHARJAH 136 DOHA 372 BAHRAIN 981 CHENNAI 59 DUBAI 217 BAHRAIN 981 BAHRAIN 239 AMMAN 636 FRANKFURT 513 SHARM EL SHEIKH 614 CAIRO 772 ISTANBUL 205 LAHORE

Time 0:15 0:20 2:10 2:20 2:25 2:30 2:50 2:50 2:55 3:10 3:20 3:20 3:25 3:55 4:10 4:35 5:00 6:00 6:15 6:30 6:35 7:15 7:45 7:50 7:55 8:05 8:15 8:25 8:30 9:00 9:20 9:20 9:30 9:40 10:00 10:55 11:05 11:25 12:00 12:25 12:30 13:30 13:40 13:40 13:40 13:45 14:15 14:25 14:30 14:30 14:55 15:05 15:05 15:15 16:00 16:30 16:35 16:40 16:40 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 18:55 19:00 19:00 19:20 19:25 19:30 19:30 19:35 19:40 19:55 20:00 20:10 20:15 20:25 20:35 20:55 21:05 21:15 21:15 21:30 21:35 22:00 22:25 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:55 23:10 23:30 23:35 23:40 23:59

Airlines AIC UAL DLH MSR KLM PIA THY THY UAE FDB DHX OMA RBG ETD MSR QTR QTR JZR RJA JZR JZR GFA THY KAC BAW FDB KAC ABY JZR JZR KAC KAC KAC KAC UAE JZR QTR KAC FDB ETD IRA IRA GFA KAC KAC MEA JZR MSR MSC JZR KAC JZR JZR GFA FDB MSR KAC KNE SVA KAC RJA QTR KAC KAC KAC ETD JZR JZR JZR QTR UAE GFA JZR ABY UAL SVA JZR QTR FDB KAC MSR MSC ASW JZR KAC JAI FDB KAC KAC OMA MEA KAC GFA DHX ALK KLM ABY KAC UAE QTR KAC KAC JZR DHX QTR AXB FDB GFA KAC JZR

Depature Flights on Tuesday 12/6/2012 Flt Route 976 GOA/CHENNAI 981 WASHINGTON DC 637 FRANKFURT 615 CAIRO 411 AMSTERDAM 240 SIALKOT 773 ISTANBUL 769 ISTANBUL 854 DUBAI 68 DUBAI 371 BAHRAIN 644 MUSCAT 3554 ALEXANDRIA 306 ABU DHABI 613 CAIRO 139 DOHA 149 DOHA 560 SOHAG 643 AMMAN 164 DUBAI 200 DAMASCUS 212 BAHRAIN 771 ISTANBUL 545 ALEXANDRIA 156 LONDON 54 DUBAI 677 ABU DHABI 126 SHARJAH 534 CAIRO 534 CAIRO 561 AMMAN 513 IMAM KHOMEINI 671 DUBAI 671 DUBAI 856 DUBA 214 DEIREZZOR 133 DOHA 101 LONDON 56 DUBAI 302 ABU DHABI 604 ISFAHAN 618 LAR 214 BAHRAIN 541 CAIRO 165 ROME 405 BEIRUT 776 JEDDAH 623 SOHAG 404 ASSIUT 324 AL NAJAF 785 JEDDAH 786 RIYADH 176 DUBAI 220 AHRAIN 58 DUBAI 611 CAIRO 673 DUBAI 473 JEDDAH 501 JEDDAH 617 DOHA 641 AMMAN 135 DOHA 773 RIYAD 613 BAHRAIN 741 DAMMAM 304 ABU DHABI 512 SHARM EL SHEIKH 238 AMMAN 538 CAIRO 141 DOHA 858 DUBAI 216 BAHRAIN 134 BAHRAIN 128 SHARJAH 982 BAHRAIN 511 RIYADH 266 BEIRUT 145 DOHA 64 DUBAI 283 DHAKA 607 LUXOR 402 ALEXANDRIA 3218 ALFUJAIRAH 184 DUBAI 361 COLOMBO 571 MUMBAI 62 DUBAI 343 CHENNA 351 KOCHI 648 MUSCAT 403 BEIRUT 543 CAIRO 222 BAHRAIN 171 BAHRAIN 230 COLOMBO 415 DAMMAM 120 SHARJAH 381 DELHI 860 DUBAI 137 DOHA 301 MUMBAI 205 ISLAMABAD 554 ALEXANDRIA 373 BAHRAIN 147 DOHA 390 MANGALORE 60 DUBAI 218 BAHRAIN 411 BANGKOK 528 ASSIUT

Time 0:05 0:25 0:30 0:35 0:55 1:00 2:15 3:40 3:45 3:50 3:55 3:55 4:00 4:05 4:20 4:50 5:40 6:00 6:50 6:55 7:00 7:05 7:10 8:10 8:25 8:25 8:35 9:05 9:10 9:10 9:15 9:15 9:20 9:20 9:40 9:45 10:00 10:00 10:05 10:15 10:20 10:40 10:45 11:30 11:45 11:55 12:15 12:25 13:00 13:05 13:10 13:15 13:20 14:25 14:25 14:30 15:05 15:15 15:45 15:45 15:50 16:15 16:25 16:30 16:30 17:20 17:25 17:30 17:40 17:45 18:05 18:20 :20 18:25 18:30 18:35 18:50 19:05 19:25 19:30 19:55 20:00 20:00 20:05 20:20 20:35 20:40 20:55 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:30 21:35 21:50 21:55 22:05 22:10 22:20 22:25 22:35 22:40 22:45 23:00 23:00 23:10 23:10 23:15 23:30 23:40 23:50

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

SITUATION WANTED Accountant M.Com, PGDCA with 9 years experience (4.5 years in UAE) looking for a suitable job, with residence visa (Transferable) and UAE driving license. Contact: 50295386, Email: jijojamesa@gmail.com (C 4042) Australian man just arrived in Kuwait, speaks Arabic, looking for a senior job in Automotive, Restaurant, Hotel, Overseas buyer building. Contact: 60976100.

(C 4043)

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

ACCOMMODATION Sharing accommodation available for decent bachelor non-smoking, Amman Street, opposite to AlRashid Hospital. Contact: 66232356 / 50223132.

(C 4041) 11-6-2012 MATRIMONIAL Financially-sound ex-NRI parents invite proposals for their son 28/180, fair, B.Com and MBA (Finance) from a respected institution, employed in a reputed bank in Kuwait, from parents of professionally qualified, God-fearing girls, preferably MBA (Finance), M.Com or engineers.

Contact: dr.matt32@gmail.com

No: 15476

POLICE STATION Al-Madena Police Station

22434064

Al-Murqab Police Station

22435865

Al-Daiya Police Station

22544200

Al-Fayha’a Police Station

22547133

Al-Qadissiya Police Station

22515277

Al-Nugra Police Station

22616662

Al-Salmiya Police Station

25714406

Al-Dasma Police Station

22530801

34

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

stars CROSSWORD 703

STAR TRACK

CALVIN & HOBBES

Aries (March 21-April 19) There is a lot of inspired action today. Your dreams and imaginings keep bumping into the real and the actual process of life. You continue to think that you have moved beyond any difficulties but challenges appear to happen, which actually show off your capabilities. Settle down and find books, classes or studies that will help you gain the depth needed to gain confidence in solving problems. A mentor or two is a good thing at this time. Some day you will be able to mentor others. Before you know it, you will be looking for opportunities to solve problems. Keep your positive attitude and understand that tension and stress are only sign posts and not permanent guests. You will find it easier to achieve patience and have a grateful attitude.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) Your ability to discriminate real breakthroughs and to spot new trends makes you able to work in areas at the very fringe of technology. New words to increase your vocabulary know-how can be a fun ongoing activity between you and a co-worker friend. Saying or writing with style comes naturally. A bookstore may be a great place to visit during the noon break. There is a desire for variety with some of your reading material. Others will find you reading while standing in line, waiting in a dentist or doctor’s office, riding public transit, etc. You may find that you are involved with two or more books at once, particularly where it applies to romantic experience and artistic tastes. A sociable, congenial, slightly frivolous orientation sets in this evening.

POOCH CAFE ACROSS 1. A condition (mostly in boys) characterized by behavioral and learning disorders.

5. A Hindu prince or king in India.

9. Point formed by two intersecting arcs (as from the intrados of a Gothic arch).

13. Being three more than fifty.

14. Mild yellow Dutch cheese made in balls.

15. A law passed by US Congress to prevent employees from being injured or contracting diseases in the course of their employment.

16. A slight rounded elevation where the malleus attaches to the eardrum.

17. (prefix) Half or partial.

18. (biology) Shed at an early stage of development.

19. A person of mean disposition.

21. European herb resembling vetch.

23. An attendant who carries the golf clubs for a player.

26. A nucleic acid that transmits genetic information from DNA to the cytoplasm.

27. A dull persistent (usually moderately intense) pain.

29. A constellation in the southern hemisphere near Telescopium and Norma.

30. Being nine more than ninety.

32. Submerged aquatic plant having narrow leaves and small flowers.

38. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.

39. A silvery ductile metallic element found primarily in bauxite.

42. Stalk of a moss capsule.

45. Committee formed by a special-interest group to raise money for their favorite political candidates.

47. Scottish sea captain who was hired to protect British shipping in the Indian Ocean and then was accused of piracy and hanged (1645-1701).

48. A coffee cake flavored with orange rind and raisins and almonds.

52. A colorless and odorless inert gas.

55. A radioactive transuranic element produced by bombarding plutonium with neutrons.

56. A three-tone Chadic language.

58. A tiny or scarcely detectable amount.

61. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

63. A fraudulent business scheme.

64. (used especially of vegetation) Having lost all moisture.

65. A feeling of strong eagerness (usually in favor of a person or cause).

66. God of the Underworld.

67. At or constituting a border or edge.

68. A small cake leavened with yeast.

DOWN 1. A white crystalline double sulfate of aluminum.

2. Costing 10 dollars.

3. A portable brazier that burns charcoal and has a grill for cooking.

4. A genus of the family Droseraceae.

5. Any plant of the genus Reseda.

6. A sweetened beverage of diluted fruit juice.

7. Preserve of crushed fruit.

8. Type genus of the Amiidae.

9. An Indian unit of length having different values in different localities.

10. Irish prelate who deduced from the Bible that Creation occurred in the year 4004 BC (1581-1656).

11. The visual property of something that shines with reflected light.

12. A genus of Ploceidae.

20. A state in the Rocky Mountains.

22. Being two more than ninety.

24. Irritate or vex.

25. (Akkadian) God of wisdom.

28. A compartment in front of a motor vehicle where driver sits.

31. System of measurement based on centimeters and grams and seconds.

33. The capital and largest city of Bangladesh.

34. A state in northwestern United States on the Pacific.

35. English writer and a central member of the Fabian Society (1858-1943).

36. A highly unstable radioactive element (the heaviest of the halogen series).

37. A rare silvery (usually trivalent) metallic element.

40. Reduce to lay status.

41. A piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep.

43. A radioactive element of the actinide series.

44. A master's degree in business.

46. Any of several tall tropical palms native to southeastern Asia having egg-shaped nuts.

49. A unit of dry measure used in Egypt.

50. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables.

51. (Hindu) A manner of sitting (as in the practice of Yoga).

53. A Tibetan or Mongolian priest of Lamaism.

54. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

57. The most common computer memory which can be used by programs to perform necessary tasks while the computer is on.

59. An unabridged dictionary constructed on historical principles.

60. A label made of cardboard or plastic or metal.

62. A flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of an organism.

Yesterday’s Solution

Gemini (May 21-June 20) Continued success on the career level may point to your abandoning some of your dreams. Perhaps you will still be using your talents and abilities, but in different ways. Look for good compromises that will not take away from the family, etc. You have little interest in the spirituality and psychics that are rampant today. You see through that and value the essential unity behind all religions. You could bring imagination and religious understanding to physical and scientific studies. Opportunities will open up for you in a very natural way. Situations are almost tailor-made and it is easy to see which path is the one for you. Decide carefully and remember that there are just so many hours in a day. New and positive habits are in the making!

Cancer (June 21-July 22) You enjoy working hard and being organized and you exercise skill and discipline in anything that affects your career and reputation. You have the perfect combination for an excellent manager position. Consider concentrating on how to firm up any changes in your career. You can find new ways to relate and may be creative in marriage and social conventions as well. You have good insights into all of your interactions. You like to assist others, compromise and otherwise show your breadth of scope—like a coat of many colors. You may think you are in a rut if there is only a small amount of silence . . . even in silence there is interaction . . . think about it. You may enjoy the art of horticulture; you may find it just the thing to un-emotionalize you.

NON SEQUITUR

Leo (July 23-August 22) Mental activity and the world of communication are open to you today. This is the element that binds the rest of you together.

Ideas, mental things, information exchange and the relating of all these are central to your outer makeup. Communication is the glue that holds the rest of you together.

Saying or writing with style comes naturally for you. A desire for variety marks this phase which chiefly applies to romantic experience and artistic tastes. The latter tends to focus on literature in general and poetry in particular. This evening you might enjoy that poetry group or book review group that you have wanted to attend for so long. If you are a writer, you may gain some great ideas for a story line—if you are a poet . . . read your poetry to the group.

ZITS

Virgo (August 23-September 22) This is a good time to let others be aware of your talents and abilities. One key to a career move involves tending to nagging details—whatever you have neglected before. You may be able to move ahead with your ambitions and general life’s purpose at this time. You would make an excellent teacher of philosophy or religion. It is easy for you to elucidate about these subjects to others and enchant all who come to know you. Your understanding of the unity behind appearances, along with the ability to put these thoughts into words, is a rare and valuable gift. You would make a good director, photographer, choreographer, etc.

You like working with mental images. Your inner resources are excellent today: good choices.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM

You might like to ignore responsibilities and do some socializing, but realities may demand that you tend to business and temporarily abandon all else. You make progress, push forward and rise to prominence. It will be hard for you to do wrong, for all the cycles are working in your favor. Your career always seems to get the support you need and your life runs smoothly. You seem to understand what the public wants and mass marketing could be a natural for you. This is also a time when you may marry or take on a new role in the community.

You are a real smoothie when there is a need for good communication. Everything seems to work out for you when you are negotiating. Consider growing an herb garden this fall: an added change of pace.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) Independence on the part of people or events somehow challenges your authority. Even so, the forces of change assert themselves now and then, managing to overrule and overturn whatever you have managed to secure. Observing others, you will find that some people just naturally deal well with upheavals and adjustments, yet others find much difficulty. You have great discipline and may find it enjoyable to teach young people some problem-solving abilities in the area of business, or perhaps a hobby that you have chosen. You can demonstrate great understanding and sensitivity to the needs of others and are in a good position to exchange a few words concerning groups and society in general.

These may be political issues.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) You have a good ability to recognize when there is a need to add a little discipline into your life. This discipline will actually make your business life run much more easily. You are motivated to work and learn how to see things through to the end. This can be quite satisfying. All sorts of professional opportunities are opening to you. You may enjoy working in the area of education, or writing, particularly if you have children and want to get home at a reasonable hour.

Some new life plan can be created this afternoon—time out to think over your plan is a real necessity. Take some time out this evening to relax. If you are not the usual one to cook, consider trying your hand at a little change of cuisine this evening . . . perhaps a grilled salmon or chicken.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

To

You enjoy working with whatever is psychological—the hidden, vulnerable, sensitive areas of the mind and self. You can handle material that is sensitive or taboo without batting an eye. This interest in all that is psychological makes you an excellent teacher in the field. You also have a natural grasp for handling groups and you understand how to get groups to think along your way of thinking; politics is a certainty! Power struggles may come often but you tend to view controversy as a challenge to prove your abilities at problem solving. A yen for variety applies to romantic experience as well as artistic tastes. The latter tends to focus on photography. A new camera and a class in photography would be a smart move on your part.

Yesterday’s Solution Yester

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) Work seems intense today but you possess a powerful, persistent drive and are a hard, steady worker. Others may find you deep, with a sense of mission. You are asked to leave your own work and help others from time to time. Today you view what you see with new eyes. This may mean new equipment or a new co-worker or even a department you have not worked in before affords you the opportunity to see differently. You gain new insight as to the development of the company for which you work. You now may see a few things you can do, or suggest, to increase production or sales. Lucky things happen this afternoon. Whatever it is that you have been worrying over will turn into a positive. Today is a good day.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Word Sleuth Solution

You are friendly and encouraging today as you guide others, perhaps young people, in a learning situation. You can bring out the performer in others. You somehow manage to find a creative environment or the creative in any environment, to provide the most beneficial area in which to work or play.

You have a built-in sense of what the public wants and can always come up with just the right image, particularly today as you are needed to support and encourage others. You are great with kids and big on animals, sports and the outdoors. Your umbrella of warmth, friendship and self-expression is enjoyed by many. Clear decisions affecting others could be made at this time. You find yourself teaching manners and the social graces this afternoon.

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 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

Jahra

24770319

New Jahra

24575755

West Jahra

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 Monday

Ext.: 2627 262 - 2630

11/06/2012

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 light to moderate freshening gradually north westerly wind, with speed of 15 - 40 km/h causing raising dust over open areas

BY Y NIGHT:

Relatively hot with light to moderate north westerly wind, with speed of 15 - 38 km/h causing raising dust over open areas No Current Warnings arnin a

WA ARNING ST TATION T

MAX. EXP P.

MIN. REC.

KUW WAIT A CITY

44 °C

33 °C

KUW WAIT A AIRPOR RT

47 °C

31 °C

NUW WAISEEB A

45 °C

30 °C

WA AFRA

46 °C

32 °C

SALMI

43 °C

29 °C

ABDAL LY

46 °C

28 °C

JAL ALIY YAH A

45 °C

28 °C

FAILAKA A

44 °C

27 °C

AHMADI POR RT

43 °C

33 °C

UMM AL-MARADEM

37 °C

30 °C

WA ARBA A - BUBY YAN A

46 °C

27 °C

SFC. CHART

11/06/2012 0000 UTC

4 DA AYS Y FORECAST Temperatures DA AY

DA ATE T

WEA AT THER

MAX.

MIN.

Wind Direction

Wind Speed

12/06

hot

46 °C

32 °C

NW

15 - 40 km/h

13/06

hot

45 °C

31 °C

NW

15 - 35 km/h

24772608

Thursday

14/06

hot

45 °C

33 °C

VRB-NW

08 - 30 km/h

South Jahra

24775066

Friday

15/06

hot

46 °C

33 °C

VRB-SE

10 - 30 km/h

North Jahra

24775992

North Jleeb

24311795

Fajr

03:13

MAX. Temp.

45 °C

Al-Ardhiya

24884079

Sunrise

04:48

MIN. Temp.

29 °C

Firdous

24892674

Zuhr

11:47

MAX. RH

15 %

Asr

15:21

MIN. RH

04 %

Al-Omariya

24719048

Sunset

18:47

MAX. Wind

N 60 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

00 mm

11/06/12 02:21 UTC

All times are local time unless otherwise stated.

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

Tuesday

Psychologists /Psychotherapists

22418714

Fax: 24348714

Weednesday

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

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

lifest yle G o s s i p

op diva Lady Gaga suffered concussion when a dancer accidentally hit her on the head with a metal pole during her final New Zealand show, reports said yesterday. The US artist was performing her hit “Judas” at Auckland’s Vector Arena on Sunday night when the accident left her seeing stars, 3News reported. Footage of the incident showed her staggering briefly after the pole crashed on the top of her head then re-gathering herself and continuing the concert. “I wanna apologize if I’m rambling tonight, but not sure if you noticed, I hit my head earlier and I think I may have a concussion,” she later told fans, TVNZ reported.

P

icole Richie likes people to be “fearless” with fashion. Nicole Richie the fashion designer - whose brands include House of Harlow 1960 and Winter Kate - says her ideal customer is someone who is willing to take risks with their outfit choices. She said: “I most like seeing my designs worn by anyone who is passionate about what they choose to wear and are excited and motivated by my designs. I always design for women who love to play with fashion. I study what people are drawn to by personally getting feedback from my customers. I admire anyone who is fearless in what they choose to wear.” Nicole - who has two children, Harlow, four, and two-year-old Sparrow, with husband Joel Madden - says she is a huge fan of Kate Moss’ look. When asked by Company magazine who her girl crush was, Nicole replied: “That is so hard to choose. But probably Kate Moss.” The former reality TV star also revealed the inspirations behind her latest collections. She said: “The S/S12 range was inspired by my travels to the Souks of Marrakech, as well as Egyptian Sarcophagus. The feminine qualities are juxtaposed with intricate woven details, saturated colors and hardware that bring the old world to the present day. For A/W12, the collections are inspired by the 1970s and gothic rock.”

N

aris Jackson - the only daughter of the late ‘Thriller’ singer - used to be educated at home alongside her brothers, Prince Michael, 15, and 10-year-old Prince Michael II, who is known as Blanket, but following their father’s death in 2009 it was decided they would attend school.

However, Paris - who is trying to carve out a career as an actress - admits their enrollment didn’t go down too well with the other students and says she was picked on, but refused to let them upset her. She said: “People try, but it doesn’t always work. At school, and some people try to cyber bully me. They try to get to me with words, but that doesn’t really work.”Paris also revealed she is wary of making new friends as she’s not sure if they like her for her or because she’s famous.

She told talk show host Oprah Winfrey: “If I feel

P

Stone worries about dying mma Stone constantly worries about dying. The ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ star Emma Stone - who spent two years in therapy as a child and still has sessions when she feels she needs them - admitted her mortality scares her and she tries to seize every moment because it could all end at any time. She told Style magazine: “I’m close to my mortality, not in a freaky way but constantly. I feel hyperaware that everything could end.

That’s always been in my mind, for whatever reason, since I was very small. “I was in therapy for two years as a kid. As someone with anxiety you’re constantly waiting

E

for the next attack. “I think I tend to worry more when things are good. I know those things will change.” While Emma, 23, is open about getting therapy, she prefers not to discuss her relationship with ‘Spider-Man’ co-star Andrew Garfield because she wants to keep it private.

She explained: “Honestly, the only thing that gives me any release is knowing what I have the power to say. If I never address anything, how much can anyone ever really know the truth.”

someone is being fake to me, I will just push away.”

Paris also spoke about her childhood and said her father - who died of acute Propofol intoxication in June 2009 - wanted her and her brothers to have as much fun as possible because he felt he had missed out having become a singer at a very young age. She said: “He told us that when he was younger he didn’t really have a childhood. He would always be stuck in the studio singing while the kids were out playing. He wanted us to have that.” Paris and her brothers are now in the care of Michael’s mother Katherine Jackson.

he couple - who married at their Texas home on Saturday in a sunset ceremony chose to keep their sentiments private but the 42-year-old actor’s words made the Brazilian beauty cry. A source said: “They whispered them in each other’s ears. No one knew what they said. Whatever they said was very emotional. [Camila] was tearing up.” The couple shunned wedding traditions such as having the ‘Bridal March’ played, being joined by groomsmen and bridesmaids and had two preachers conducting the ceremony. The guest explained to Us Magazine.com: “There were no groomsmen or bridesmaids. And there were two preachers, [a pastor of a local church] and a monk.

They switched off saying remarks.” Though they did not have a traditional ceremony, the couple - who have son Levi, three, and daughter Vida, two, together - donned classic

T

“Don’t worry though, I’m gonna finish the show.”The singer’s make-up artist Tara Savelo took to Twitter after the show to assure fans that the star was in good shape. “Gaga has a concussion but she is going to be okay,” Savelo tweeted. “She wants u to know she loves u. I’m taking care of her. Can’t believe she finished the show.”

Lady Gaga will open the Australian leg of her “Born This Way” tour in Brisbane on Wednesday. She had to cancel her Indonesian shows in the face of threats from Muslim hardliners.

he ‘Rock of Ages’ star loved getting the opportunity to start dancing again for her role in the musical bit admitted she slacks off exercising when she is not working. She told S magazine: “I haven’t danced for a while. I work out and I have a ballet barre in my gym. But every time I do it I think, ‘Why don’t I do this all the time?’ “I get lazy so working on this film was a bit of a shock to the system. It was like ‘OK, I remember those Achilles, I remember those thigh muscles’. All those elements came back and it worked out great.” Catherine, 42 - who is married to screen legend Michael Douglas - also revealed she loved getting the chance to work Tom Cruise on the

T

wedding attire, with the groom wearing a three-piece black Dolce & Gabbana tuxedo, and his 29-year-old bride in a handmade gown created by one of her favorite Brazilian designers. A guest told People magazine: “Matthew looked so handsome, like an Old Hollywood movie star. And Camila was just glowing and beautiful!” The weddings guests joined the couple for the weekend, sleeping in luxury tents put up in the grounds of the property, and enjoyed a low-key celebration that included playing lawn games such as beanbag and ring toss, as well as being served beer while lounging in hammocks.

movie. She said: “He’s awesome. But that doesn’t surprise me. Tom throws himself into every role he does so fantastically well and it shows on film. That’s why he’s Tom Cruise. But to see him in this film is a real treat.” — Agencies

37

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

LIFESTYLE M u s i c

&

M o v i e s

A moody ‘Mad Men’ finale with Don Draper unhappy he fifth season of “Mad Men” ended majestically Sunday night with Don Draper, planted at an elegant bar, approached by a beautiful woman who inquired, “Are you alone?”

On the soundtrack, Nancy Sinatra trilled the theme from the 1967 James Bond film, “You Only Live Twice.” And Draper, more handsome in that moment than any James Bond could be, struck a heroic pose before the show cut to black until next season.

Of course, he’s alone! Then, within moments, the song (with its yearning, sexy lyrics, “You only live twice ... one life for yourself and one for your dreams”) was trending on Twitter. Note: Further spoilers from the finale await.

Season Five of the AMC drama had begun on Memorial Day 1966, roughly seven months after last season’s conclusion.

The season’s breakout character was Megan, the ooh-lah-lah secretary Don married somewhere in between. She channeled the glamour of Jackie Kennedy by way of the emerging ‘60s style of a Jean Shrimpton. On top of that, she proved smart, quickly showing her stuff as a creative force at Don’s ad agency before resigning to become

T

a full-time struggling actress. Even while displaying commitment to Don and their marriage, she displayed an independent streak that threatened and puzzled him all season. Puzzled her, too. In a drunken funk in the finale, she told Don his refusal to support her career was either because he wants her

waiting for him at home each night, or he believes that, as an actress, “I’m terrible. But how the hell would you know?”

By the end of the episode, Don (series star Jon Hamm) had come through for her. He recommended her for a commercial. But he did it with a mixture of pride and foreboding. The

Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce agency was prospering as the season concluded - but not in ways that gratified Don. “You really have no idea when things are good, do you?” Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) asked him a couple of weeks ago when he seemed to be left cold by the agency’s winning Jaguar as a much sought account.

No, is the answer. All season, even with things good, he seemed more tightly wound and detached than ever, with the action mostly swirling around him. Since “Mad Men” began, the advertising industry has continued to change beneath his feet, and the culture, too.

Don struggles to adapt. Megan is hip to the Beatles, but earlier this season when she urged him to listen to the just-released “Revolver,” he tried to make sense of its psychedelic song, “Tomorrow Never Knows.” But he just didn’t get it. Having turned 40, increasingly Don seemed on the wrong side of the Generation Gap. (In the bar scene, he ordered an old fashioned.)

Meanwhile, Pete (Vincent Kartheiser) had a new home in the suburbs and a baby with his wife, Trudy, while emerging as a key player at the agency. But, as usual, he was unsatis-

fied. In the finale, Trudy voiced plans for a backyard swimming pool. But Pete was busy cheating on her (and not for the first time).

Why? “He needed to let off some steam,” Pete said about himself in a monologue of harsh awareness. “He needed to feel that he knew something, that all this aging was worth something, because he knew things young people didn’t know yet.” Worse, “he realized that his life with his family was some temporary bandage on a permanent wound.” Joan (Christina Hendricks) was now a single mother but leveraged her colleagues’ pimping her out to a prospective client into a partnership position in the agency.

Roger (John Slattery), the sardonic, gin-soaked partner, was feeling marginalized at the office. But an LSD trip (in one of the season’s standout episodes) seemed to lift him into some semblance of acceptance of his life. In short, most of the characters ended the season only further entrenched in their identities and roles in the show’s unfolding narrative. But there were exceptions. Stiff-upper-lip British partner Lane (Jared Harris) was caught in a financial scam by Don on last week’s

episode, and, after getting canned from the agency, he hanged himself in his office - a suicide that weighs painfully on Don, while echoing the hanging suicide of his half brother in season one, for which he likewise feels responsible.

And the indomitable Peggy, tired of doing great work and getting too little credit, shocked Don two weeks ago by resigning to spread her wings at another shop, where, in the finale, she was poised to create the branding for Virginia Slims cigarettes. Late in the episode, Don ran into her at a matinee for another James Bond movie, the 1967 spy spoof, “Casino Royale.” He asked how she was doing at her new job. She said fine.

“That’s what happens when you help someone,” said Don, who since the series began had been Peggy’s gruff but devoted mentor. “They succeed and move on.” It sounded like a man who’s unhappy and alone. —AP

‘Battleship’ director admits faults with film attleship,” the high-concept but underperforming action film released by Universal earlier this year, made a surprise appearance in discussions about risky movies and passion projects at the Produced By Conference on Sunday morning. Peter Berg, the director of that film, was taking part in a discussion entitled “Passion Projects: Making Films Everyone Says Will Never Get Made” when he addressed the elephant in the room: that his last film, based on the board game, was the kind of movie generally seen as the antithesis of a passion project.

“I have a movie in theaters right now which has obviously underperformed in many ways,” he said. “When

“B

[a movie] doesn’t work, it’s an... interesting opportunity to look at what went wrong and how it went wrong.” With “Battleship,” he said, the scale of the movie simply overwhelmed everything else. “It was a movie that I tried as hard as I could to get inside of. But the concept is so big and powerful, and the money is so big and so powerful, that the movie is going to run away with itself.”

In the end, he said, he failed to find a personal connection that would make him passionate about the movie.

“I want to get inside the movie’s world and feel like I know it better than anyone, and I couldn’t do that... It was an interesting eye-opener.” His comments about “Battleship” came on a morning when a couple of the biggest panels at

the Producers Guild’s Produced By Conference dealt with the problems of getting risky movies made in an increasingly conservative studio system.

Grazer shared his story about launching “Splash” in the face of a competing mermaid movie that would have starred Warren Beatty and Jessica Lange, and about reviving “American Gangster,” which Universal killed after already spending $28 million. The studio told him to never mention the words “American Gangster” again, he said - but he ignored them and immediately repackaged the Denzel Washington film with a new director, Ridley Scott, and co-star, Russell Crowe, in place of original players Antoine

Fuqua and Benicio del Toro.

Grazer and Berg also talked about their experiences together making “Friday Night Lights,” and about the night Berg tried to get the studio excited about making the film by flying a batch of executives to Odessa, Texas for a Friday night high-school football game. None of them wanted to go, he said - but they reluctantly agreed while stipulating that they’d leave at halftime.

Instead, they stayed until the end and fell in love with the world of highschool football. Then, on the way home, the engines failed and the power went out on their airplane.

“I knew I had the green light, and instead we were going to crash,” Berg said. But the power came back on, they made it home “and by the time we got

off that plane, we had had the communal experience that ignited the particular passion necessary to get that movie made.” Earlier on the same soundstage on the Sony lot, another group of producers spent an hour talking about their own passion projects, and about the future of film production in an era where, as moderator Michael Shamberg pointed out, the annual chart of top-grossers is dominated by sequels and nearly 70 percent of boxoffice revenue comes from international.

“The audience is causing the change,” said Ce·n Chaffin, director David Fincher’s producing partner. “The audience that we want [for serious dramas] is harder and harder to find.”“We

have to be more inventive and resourceful than we ever had to in the past,” added Mark Johnson, who began his career with “Diner” 30 years ago. The session was titled “Game Changers: Where Movies Should Be Going,” but most of the producers admitted that they don’t really know where movies should be going - they just know that it’s difficult to make quality films and difficult to find an audience.

“The most elusive thing is always good,” said Doug Wick, producer of “Gladiator” and the upcoming Baz Luhrmann version of “The Great Gatsby.”“Making something that turns out good is the hardest part.” The panel, which also included “Moneyball” producer Michael DeLuca, talked about dream projects that took years to get

off the ground. For DeLuca, it was “Moneyball”: “It took eight years,” he said of the film, which would have died if Sony’s Amy Pascal hadn’t been a big supporter. “I’ve sworn off dream projects since then.”

Johnson, though, admitted he has a dream project he’s currently hoping to get off the ground: a script from “Breaking Bad” creator Vince Gilligan called “Two Face.”“I still think it’s the best script I’ve ever come across,” said Johnson, one of the producers on “Breaking Bad.”“It’s a comedy about racism, and it’s a very hard sell, but I’m convinced it’s going to get made.” In a discussion of future projects, Chaffin said that she and Fincher (who was watching from the back of the soundstage) are considering a movie that would partially be shot in 3D. “We think 3D should be applied very specifically,” she said.”We’re actually thinking of mixing 3D and 2D in one film.”

Again and again, the conversation circled back to dealing with studios in an uncertain era in which even the old standbys are no longer safe bets. “If you just get a mediocre director and a superhero, it’s not a particularly good equation for a studio anymore,” said Wick. And when a film doesn’t work, the producers agreed that the results can be devastating. Johnson talked about going into a months-long depression after the commercial failure of Alfonso Cuaron’s “A Little Princess,” which he said was “the closest thing to a perfect movie I’ve ever made.”

And Chaffin said she and Fincher were badly shaken by the commercial failure of “Fight Club,” which Fox executives hated and which couldn’t find its market until it was released on home video. “‘Fight Club’ was devastating,” Chaffin said. “All of us who worked on the film thought we had something great.” Throughout the session, Sony’s Pascal received so much praise from the panelists that eventually Shamberg stepped in. “Everybody here loves Amy,” he said, “but we also like the others.”“All except one,” said Chaffin, who declined to specify the one. —Reuters

Baby on board: Civil Wars a trio at Bonnaroo hat’s up next for The Civil Wars after a tour de force at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival? Maternity leave. The acoustic duo of Joy Williams and John Paul White played in front of a few thousand respectful but enthusiastic fans Sunday night, helping close down the fourday festival with a goosebump-raising performance that had Williams’ unborn baby dancing around. Her due date is 10 days away.

“There’s just no sweeter way to sort of bow-tie (the last 18 months) than with Bonnaroo,” Williams said in her trailer after the show. “It was so fun. And the baby was just kicking like crazy. I think all that noise from the crowd in between the songs, there was no time for napping in the tummy. And the adrenaline, as well. I’m sure kept the baby up. It’s bittersweet, as well. I’m kind of emotional about it.

I blame the hormones.”

Williams put together a 75-minute set with White as her husband and the duo’s manager Nate Yetten watched with a beaming smile from the side of the stage. The crowd hung quietly on each song, then responded with overwhelming cheers that continually surprised the duo. The two-time Grammy winners played a selection of their most popular songs, leading a boy-girl sing-along on “I’ve Got This Friend” and took a request for their popular “Billie Jean” cover.

Unsure what to expect with their first child, Williams and Yetten have been taking it easy. They hired backup midwifes for their last five tour stops and had their doula on hand Sunday while watching Kenny Rogers and Lionel Richie and during

W

their performance. “She got to meet Lionel Richie, so she was completely happy to spend the day at Bonnaroo,” Williams said with a smile. She’s also got White to lean on. While it’s a first child for Yetten and Williams, White is a father of four and a good source of information.

“Most of the time I’ll say just have your child and strap in and hold on,” White said. “You’re going

told the Associated Press they recently decided to work with Nashville producer Charlie Peacock again after the breakthrough success of their debut album, “Barton Hollow.”

After touring ceaselessly as they gained popularity, the duo is nervous about the downtime.

They really don’t know what to expect when they return. White called it “a crossroads” and hopes

Music fans react as Bon Iver performs. to try to keep them from dying, especially with boys. Round all edges off of (furniture). It’s just such an instant thing and so you can read about everything and that’s great, but honestly: Just know your instincts are going to be right.” The duo expects to be on hiatus through the summer and could return to the road in the fall. They’ll play it by ear, though, after the baby arrives. They hope to write new material and begin recording. The duo

they can pick up where they left off - with baby in tow. “But much like your parenting advice,” Williams said, turning to White, “I think you just strap in and hold on and hang on for the adventure.” —AP

Mr Bean fans warned over Indonesian film r Bean fans in Indonesia have been warned to beware of a locally made spoof horror film called “Mr Bean Possessed by DP.” that stars an unknown actor that bears a resemblance to the popular character. The official Facebook page for Mr Bean, a comedy about a socially awkward man played by the British comedian Rowan Atkinson, said: “We have just heard that there is a new film out in Indonesia with ‘Mr Bean’ in the title. “Please be aware that it has nothing to do with with your beloved Mr Bean or Mr Rowan Atkinson so please avoid being disappointed.”

The producers of “Mr Bean Possessed by D.P.”, starring the well-known actress Dewi Perssik, denied they were attempting to pass the film off as an original Mr Bean movie. “We never mentioned Rowan Atkinson’s name. We only said the film would star Mr Bean,” producer K.K. Dheeraj, from K2K Productions, told AFP. “There are so many things called bean-coffee, fruit. We can use the name too, if we want.

“For example, in Malaysia there are Mr Bean snacks, but that doesn’t mean they’re

M

Rowan Atkinson’s products.” In the movie released last week, “Mr Bean”, played by an unknown British actor, is a mummy-like ghost shrouded in white who becomes entranced by the buxom Perssik, who is commonly known by her initials DP. Indonesian media reported last month that Perssik said Atkinson would star opposite her in the film, but the popular actress maintained on Monday that she only ever said “a Mr Bean” would play the role.

“It’s a business trick,” she wrote on Twitter in Indonesian. Dheeraj declined to name the male star of the film, saying only that he is British, while Perssik tweeted: “I don’t know his name. I only know him as Mr Bean.” The original Mr Bean, a television and film series that brought Atkinson international fame, is popular in Indonesia, where the character is found on mobile phone covers and pencil cases. —AFP

Tom Cruise: Movie star, not rock star om Cruise attended the European premier of his new film “Rock of Ages” in London’s Leicester Square on Sunday and was joined on the red carpet by fellow stars Julianne Hough, Russell Brand, Paul Giamatti and Mary J Blige. Cruise plays the tattooed - and frequently shirtless - rock star Stacee Jaxx in the tribute to the big-haired, big-riffing glam metal sound of the 1980s.

But when asked if he had the choice between the life of a movie star or a rock star, Cruise said he would to stick with his day job.

“I love my job, and I feel very privileged to be able to do it. It has been a dream of mine, and I love what I do,” he said.

However, the “Mission Impossible” star makes a very convincing rocker, and he had to embrace all of his character’s rock ‘n’ roll habits. These included being hands on with his female co-stars. When asked about this, the ever cool Cruise said he took Jaxx’s characteristics in stride. “It was a character, and it was something where you were trying to find where we can find the comedy. Comedy is different, from Les Grossman to this kind of character, and there is no half way with rock ‘n’ roll. You have to go all of the way, particularly with Stacee,” he laughed.

Based on the musical hit, the movie tells the story of small town girl Sherrie (Hough) and city boy Drew (Diego Boneta) who share a dream of reaching dizzying heights in Hollywood. Their glittery romance is set to a rock ‘n’ roll soundtrack that includes hits from Def Leppard, Foreigner, Bon Jovi, and Poison.

Recording artist Blige, who also rocks out in the film, said she enjoyed embracing rock ‘n’ roll for the part. “It felt good. I mean it is the same energy as a lot of the songs that I sing,

T

so it was very easy to do,” she said. The film has its fair share of intimate moments, with unlikely couples locking lips. Brand shares a moment with Alec Baldwin, with whom Brand appears to be quite smitten. “ Actress Malin Akerman, who gets the pleasure of kissing Cruise, shared her words of wisdom on how to prepare for such a

US actor Tom Cruise arrives for the European Premiere of Rock of Ages, at a central London cinema Sunday, June 10, 2012. —AP moment. “A lot of mints, a lot of mints. You never want to kill your co-star. But you can’t really prepare for that. You know it is going to be a funny moment. I loved it in the script, and you get there on the day and you just go for it,” she said with a laugh. “Rock of Ages” is being released in the US and the UK on Friday.—AP

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

lifestyle A w a r d s

T

John Tiffany accepts the award for best direction of a musical for ‘Once’. — AP photos

Mike Nichols accepts the Best Direction of a Play award for his work on Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman.

he bittersweet musical “Once” captured the hearts of Tony Award voters on Sunday night, winning eight trophies and earning bragging rights as the top musical on Broadway, even as most shows came away with at least something to crow about. “It’s just amazing,” said Cristin Milioti, the female lead in “Once,” of her show’s Tony haul, as she made a quick trip through the elaborate food stations at the gala post-Tony party at the Plaza Hotel. Bruce Norris’ “Clybourne Park,” the remarkably perceptive Pulitzer Prize-winning play about race and real estate, won the best play Tony.

Audra McDonald was named best lead actress in a musical and her “ The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess” was named best musical revival. This is her fifth Tony Award, tying the competitive record held

by Angela Lansbury and Julie Harris. “I was a little girl with a potbelly and afro puffs, hyperactive and overdramatic. And I found the theater, and I found my home,” McDonald said. Looking down at her daughter from the stage, she said her big night wasn’t as wonderful as the night her daughter was born. Her one-time co-star in “110 in the Shade,” Steve Kazee, a 36-yearold rising star and guitar player with matinee idol looks, emerged as best actor in a musical, and broke down thinking of his mother, who died Easter Sunday.

Another new star, Nina Arianda, won best leading actress in a play, beating stiff competition from Tracie Bennett, Stockard Channing, Linda Lavin and Cynthia Nixon.

Accepting the award from presenter Christopher Plummer, Arianda admitted something very personal to the 82-year-old Plummer: “You were my first crush!” she squealed.In perhaps the biggest shock of the night, James Corden nabbed the lead acting Tony Award in a play for his clownish turn in the British import “One Man, Two Guvnors.” He beat out the favorite, Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Death of a Salesman.”

Corden directed most of his comment to his girlfriend, Julia, who gave birth to his son a year ago and whom he intends to marry soon. “I would not be holding this if it wasn’t for her. She made me say ‘us’ instead of ‘I’ and ‘we’ instead of ‘me’ and I love her,” he said. Arthur Miller’s 63-year-old

Bruce Norris, left, and Jordan Roth pose with their Best Play awards for ‘Clybourne Park’.

James Corden, accepts the award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play for his work in ‘One Man, Two Guvnors.’

Cristin Milioti, left, and Steve Kazee perform in a scene from ‘Once’.

masterpiece “Death of a Salesman” won the Tony for best play revival and Mike Nichols won his ninth Tony for directing it. He said the play has a special meaning for those who work in show biz. “There’s not a person in this theater that doesn’t know what it is to be a salesman - to be out there in the blue riding on a smile and a shoeshine,” he said. “As we know, a salesman has got to dream. It goes with the territory.” Christian Borle, who plays the clumsy, overheated pirate who will later become Captain Hook in “Peter and the Starcatcher,” was named best featured actor in a play.

“Thank you for making this so much fun,” said Borle, who also stars in the NBC series “Smash.” He said he was even more pleased that his mother was in the crowd.

The reworked version of the Gershwin opera “Porgy and Bess” managed to come home with more - and more prestigious awards than a revival of Stephen Sondheim’s “Follies.” Diane Paulus, the artistic director of the American Repertory Theater, adapted it for Broadway with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright SuzanLori Parks and Obie Award-winning composer Diedre Murray.

Audra McDonald poses backstage with her award for best actress in a musical for her role in “The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess”.

Martin Lowe accepts the award for Best orchestration in the musical ‘Once’.

Audra McDonald, left, and the cast of “The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess,” perform.

Judy Kaye accepts the award for Best featured actress in a musical, ‘Nice Work If You Can Get It’.

Jeremy Jordan performs with the cast of “Newsies”.

Alan Menken, left, and Jack Feldman accept the award for best original score, music and lyrics.

Donyale Werle poses with the Tony Award for best scenic design of a play for her work on ‘Peter and the Starcatcher.’

Steve Kazee poses backstage with his Best actor in a musical ‘Once’ award.

Martin Lowe accepts the award for Best orchestration in the musical ‘Once’.

Nina Arianda accepts the Tony for leading actress in a play for ‘Venus in Fur.’

Christian Borle accepts the award for best performance by an actor in a featured role in a play for ‘Peter and the Starcatcher.’

Michael McGrath accepts the award for best performance by an actor in a featured role in a musical.

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

lifestyle A w a r d s

Best musical: “Once” Best book of a musical: Enda Walsh, “Once” Best original score, music and lyrics: “Newsies,” Music by Alan Menken, Lyrics by Jack Feldman Best play: “Clybourne Park” Best revival of a musical: “The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess” Best revival of a play: “Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman” Best actress in a musical: Audra McDonald, “The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess” Best actor in a musical: Steve Kazee, “Once” Best actress in a play: Nina Arianda, “Venus in Fur” Best actor in a play: James Corden, “One Man, Two Guvnors” Best featured actress in a musical: Judy Kaye, “Nice Work If You Can Get It” Best featured actor in a musical: Michael McGrath, “Nice Work If You Can Get it” Best featured actor in a play: Christian Borle, “Peter and the Starcatcher” Best featured actress in a play: Judith Light, “Other Desert Cities” Best direction of a musical: John Tiffany, “Once” Best direction of a play: Mike Nichols, “Arthur Miller’s Death of A Salesman” Best choreography: Christopher Gattelli, “Newsies” Best orchestrations: Martin Lowe, “Once” Best scenic design of a musical: Bob Crowley, “Once” Best scenic design of a play: Donyale Werle, “Peter and the Starcatcher” Best costume design of a musical: Gregg Barnes, “Follies” Best costume design of a play: Paloma Young, “Peter and the Starcatcher” Best lighting design of a musical: Natasha Katz, “Once” Best lighting design of a play: Jeff Croiter, “Peter and the Starcatcher” Best sound design of a musical: Clive Goodwin, “Once” Best sound design of a play: Darron L West, “Peter and the Starcatcher” Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre: Emanuel Azenberg (producer) Regional Theatre Tony Award: Shakespeare Theatre Company, Washington, DC. Isabelle Stevenson Award: Bernadette Peters Special Tony Award: Actors’ Equity Association and Hugh Jackman Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre: Freddie Gershon and Artie Siccardi and TDF Open Doors.

Neil Patrick Harris, right, and Jesse Tyler Ferguson perform.

Harvey Fierstein performs.

Producer Scott Rudin, at microphone, speaks as he and the cast of ‘Death of a Salesman,’ including, Linda Emond, center, Philip Seymour Hoffman, third right, and Andrew Garfield, right.

Host Neil Patrick Harris performs with the cast of “The Book of Mormon”.

Corbin Bleu performs with the cast of “Godspell”.

The team condensed the four-hour opera into a two-and-one-half-hour musical, eliminated a lot of the repetitiveness and tried to deepen the characters. Their effort generated headlines when purists including Sondheim complained that a musical treasure was being corrupted.

Theater audiences disagreed, with fans cheering the new work, which features songs such as “Summertime” and “Bess, You Is My Woman Now.” “Once,” a musical based on the low-budget 2006 film about an unlikely romance between a Czech flower seller and an Irish street musician in Dublin, went into the night with a leading 11 nominations. “Newsies” was supposed to challenge it, but only came up with two awards, original score and choreography.

“Once” also won for best book of a musical, orchestration, sound design, scenic design, lighting design and John Tiffany’s direction. Other than Borle’s award, “Peter and the Starcatcher” took home mostly technical honors: best sound design, costume design, scenic design and lighting design for a play. Composer Alan Menken, who has more Oscars than any other living person, captured his first Tony for “Newsies.”

The win is particularly sweet since when he and lyricist Jack Feldman originally wrote the songs for the 1992 film of “Newsies,” he was given another sort of award: a “Razzie.”

Judy Kaye won for best actress in a featured role in a musical in “Nice Work If You Can Get It,” playing a temperance worker who turns out likes to drink and hangs from a chandelier at one point. It’s Kaye’s second Tony - she also won for “ The Phantom of the Opera.”

“I guess chandeliers have been very, very good to me,” she said to a burst of laughter. She dedicated the award to her father, who died last week. Judith Light, who plays an acerbic alcoholic in “Other Desert Cities,” won for best featured actress in a play. Michael McGrath won for best actor in a featured musical role from “Nice Work If You Can Get It.” The show at the Beacon Theatre actually began with a nod to the past, with host Neil Patrick Harris joining with the cast of “ The Book of Mormon” for their opening number of “Hello!” from the 2011 musical winner. The

Tracie Bennett performs.

Sheryl Crow presents an award.

Host Neil Patrick Harris, left, performs with Christian Borle and Kevin Del Aguila from ‘Peter and the Starcatcher’ onstage.

Paul Rudd onstage.

appears

show ended in a weird kind of symmetry when Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the co creators of “Mormon,” handing out the final award. Christopher Gattelli, who thrillingly combined ballet with bold athletic moves in “Newsies, won the best choreography Tony. It is his first award; he previously was nominated for “South Pacific” in 2008.

The three-hour telecast was packed with stars and performances from musicals, plays and revivals. The explosion of performances is an attempt to showcase as much on Broadway as possible. One performance wasn’t even nearby - the song from “Hairspray” was performed from a cruise ship in the Caribbean Sea. The Tony Awards show is serious business and the exposure in front of millions is priceless.

Many shows that are suffering pre-summer slumps are counting on a bump from the telecast. “Godspell” producer Ken Davenport was warned that his production’s future may hinge on making a splash at the ceremony.

Overall, the health of Broadway is good, with shows yielding a record $1.14 billion in grosses this season, and total attendance reaching 12.3 million. The only concern is that audience numbers were flat, meaning higher ticket prices are pushing the overall box office take. — AP

Danny Burstein and fellow “Follies” cast members perform.

Ricky Martin performs with the cast of “Evita”.

Host Neil Patrick Harris performs.

‘Once’ crowned best musical at the Tony Awards

38

TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012

A

File photo shows researchers unearth terracotta statues of musicians and entertainers at the excavation pit of the Museum of Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses in Xi’an, in central China’s Shaanxi province. — AP

C

hinese archaeologists have unearthed 110 new terracotta warriors that laid buried for centuries, an official said yesterday, part of the famed army built to guard the tomb of China’s first emperor. The life-size figures were excavated near the Qin Emperor’s mausoleum in China’s northern Xi’an city over the course of three years, and archaeologists also uncovered 12 pottery horses, parts of chariots, weapons and tools.

“The... excavation on the 200-square-metre (2,152-square-feet) site has found a total of 110 terracotta figurines,” Shen Maosheng from the Qin Shihuang Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum-which oversees the tomb-told AFP. “The most significant discovery this time around is that the relics that were found were well-preserved and colourfully painted,” Shen, deputy head of the museum’s archaeology department, said. He added that archaeologists had pinpointed the location of another 11 warriors but had yet to unearth them. The discovery is the latest in China’s cultural sector, after experts found that the Great Wall of China-which like the Terracotta Army is a UNESCO World Heritage site-was much longer than previously thought.

Shen said experts had expected the colours on some of the warriors and wares uncovered at the site to have faded over the centuries, and were surprised to see how well preserved they still were. The finds also included a shield that was reportedly used by

D

awat, an Arabic word which means ‘Feast’, is a befitting name for Dawat Restaurant, one of Kuwait’s leading restaurants, where you get to relish a scrumptious feast of Indian and Chinese dishes served in splendid ambience and with marvelous hospitality.

Dawat in Arabic also means ‘Invitation’, and at Dawat Restaurant you are invited to not only enjoy the mouth-watering delicacies of Indian and Chinese cuisines, but also experience their genuine warmth of welcome and exceptional level of service and courtesy.

Eating out has gained popularity in Kuwait and, considering the hundreds of eateries out there, finding a restaurant is quite an easy task.

However, when it comes to finding a good restaurant, it is totally different story. There are only a dozen or so that can be classified as good and fewer still that can claim to be out of the ordinary. Dawat belongs to this rarefied group.

When one wishes to dine out and taste something different, in a surrounding where they can enjoy appetizing food while relaxing in an unruffled, cozy atmosphere, the restaurant that springs to mind is Dawat. The expression, ‘Nothing but Dawat, and Nothing beyond Dawat’ gains traction once you have experienced the dining difference at Dawat’s chain of restaurants around the country.

Speaking about the Dawat difference, Nikita Kohli, the Marketing Manager of Dawat chain of restaurants, which operate under the flagship of Sabah & Kohli General Trading & Contracting Co, said, “Our chefs practice perfectionism in preparing every dish; their work is like an engineering craftsmanship, where everything is scientifically calculated and magnificently balanced. This is also the case when it comes to the ingredients of their dishes; portions of everything are perfectly blended, accurately measured and then cooked in accordance to age-old methods, which gives Dawat dishes a unique taste that relishes your tongue and delights your senses.”

“At Dawat we have always taken into account the fact that a dish can be both delectable and healthy for the consumer. That consideration has influenced the preparation of dishes that are tasty and healthy, with recipes that give you a wholesome delicious treat,” said the Marketing

soldiers in the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC), with red, green and white geometric patterns.Qin Shihuang-the Qin emperor who had the army built-presided over the unification of China in 221 BC and is seen as the first emperor of the nation.

The ancient terracotta army was discovered in 1974 by a peasant digging a well. It represents one of the greatest archaeological finds of modern times, and was listed as a World Heritage Site in 1987.The news comes after a five-year archaeological survey found the Great Wall of China was more than double the previously estimated length.The survey-released to the public last week-found the wall was 21,196 kilometres (13,170 miles) long, compared to an official 2009 figure of 8,851 kilometres. Beijing authorities on Saturday also reiterated plans to open two new sections of the Great Wall to tourists and expand two other existing areas to help meet booming demand.—AFP

shotgun that once belonged to Western sharpshooter and entertainer Annie Oakley sold for more than $143,000 at an auction in Dallas on Sunday. The trove of about 100 of the icon’s items headlining Heritage Auctions’“Legends of the Wild West” event brought in nearly $520,000, according to the auction house. The items included several guns, her Stetson hat, photographs and letters. Oakley’s great-grandnieces put up the items and had inherited them from their mother, who died in 2009.

One of those descendants, Terrye Holcomb, said, overall, the auction’s success left her with a positive feeling, but “there’s a little bit of melancholy and sadness that goes with it.” The items had been passed down through generations. Holcomb remembers shooting the guns for target practice on Sunday mornings in California’s Santa Monica Mountains and wearing Oakley’s Stetson hat - which sold for $17,925 - for Halloween. But Holcomb said seeing how excited some of the buyers were with their purchases made her feel good.

One man who flew in from Odessa to bid on one of two Marlin .22 caliber rifles - one sold for $71,700, the other for $83,650 - asked Holcomb and her sister, Tommye Tait, to sign his catalog after buying one of the rifles. “He said his kids couldn’t wait to shoot it,” Holcomb said. The sisters inherited the items from their mother, Billie Butler Serene, who died in 2009 at the age of 95. Serene was raised by her grandparents, and her grandfather, William Butler, was the brother of Oakley’s husband, Frank Butler, a marksman who became Oakley’s manager. Oakley and Frank Butler frequently visited and Oakley taught Serene how to handle a gun. Holcomb said she grew up hearing stories about Oakley without fully realizing her impact. “I’ve not ceased being amazed by her enduring legacy,” she said. Oakley’s Parker Brothers 12-gauge shotgun garnered the highest price, $143,400. Tom Slater, Director of Historical Auctions for Heritage, would not identify the gun’s buyer, but said he was a private collector of Oakley and Buffalo Bill items and had purchased a number of Sunday’s auction pieces. While the guns’ prices met the auction’s expectations, the letters and photographs exceeded what was anticipated by about 50 percent, Slater said. It’s rare for so many pieces with a strong family connection to come on the market, he said.

Manager. She added, “At Dawat, dishes are cooked in a manner which makes them easy to digest and light on your stomach. Spices are never overpowering and used to the extent that none of their preparations make you uncomfortable. Similarly, with regard to oil, it is used so magically that it gives all the dishes their perfect irresistible look and taste, without any of the greasy unhealthiness.”

The dynamic leadership of Nikita Kohli has resulted in the restaurant chain attaining landmark achievements that give a new dimension to the growth and popularity of Dawat restaurants. At Dawat, you are a personal guest of the restaurant where each and every one is treated like a VIP. The staff of the restaurant welcomes you with a smile full of respect, saluting your gracious presence and considering your presence in their restaurant a matter of great pride and honor for them. This creates a mutual bond that develops between the guest and host and evolves over time to grow into a strong relationship. It is this relationship that cements loyalty and long term associations and transforms a simple host-guest bond into a delightful understanding. This transformation of customer loyalty into a legacy is at the heart of customer service at Dawat.

We give a lot of emphasis to our service where we have adopted and developed a unique concept that collects customer’s opinion in an effort to measure the actual level of our customers’ satisfaction. And it has been proven that our hard work and tireless efforts have been extremely fruitful. Our consistency in maintaining the quality of our food and service has always been appreciated and this has prompted us to do even better, said Kohli.

We feel highly gratified and encouraged to work to the highest standards every day to achieve the utmost in quality and service. We also give very high value to our dedicated staff, who are our greatest strength and truly our best asset. Their hard work and commitment ensures that the best services are rendered to our esteemed clients.

On popular demand, Dawat has recently opened a new branch in Farwaniya on the mezzanine floor of Tawfiq Commercial Complex, on Habib Menawar Street, opposite to Alghanim Electronics. The new

Photo shows Annie Oakley is seen as The Western Girl in a Cabinet Photo, signed and inscribed on verso.

“Annie Oakley was arguably America’s first female superstar, touring the US and the world in the late 1800s and early 20th century and demonstrating her legendary Wild West sharpshooting skills,” Slater said. Oakley became famous for her marksmanship while traveling in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show. She died in 1926 at the age of 66. — AP

Photo shows a close-up of Annie Oakley’s 12 Gauge Parker Brothers Shotgun, Serial #48767.

This handout photo, provided by Heritage Auctions, shows a Stetson hat worn by Annie Oakley. — AP photos

Annie Oakley in one of her cabinet photos.

branch serves many of their all-time favorite dishes, in addition to some brand new signature dishes that evoke a sense of bliss in the diner.

Dawat Farwaniya will soon become another shining star among their glittering chain of restaurants that are conveniently located all over Kuwait.

So do not hesitate or be left behind and treat yourself to a regal dining experience by choosing Dawat and enjoying nothing but the best.