19th Jun

CR IP TI ON BS SU

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

Summit lets Obama, Putin size up the competition

150 FILS NO: 15483

First astronauts enter orbiting China space module

Suicide bomber kills Yemen anti-Qaeda general

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RAJAB 29, 1433 AH

www.kuwaittimes.net

Spain, Italy through as Croatia, Irish head home

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Amir suspends National Assembly for one month Opposition accuses ‘sides’ of pushing for dissolving house

Max 47º Min 32º High Tide 12:35 & 10:39 Low Tide 04:28 & 18:05

By B Izzak conspiracy theories

Thank you, Your Highness!

By Badrya Darwish

badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net

Y

esterday His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah issued a decree to suspend parliament for one month. And nobody else but the Members of Parliament got upset. Everyone else in Kuwait is jubilating this decision. The suspension comes as no surprise, considering that the nation has got tired of all MPs. This parliament did nothing positive for the country since its first session. Nor did the previous parliament.

The honorable gentlemen brought this upon themselves. They have forgotten why we elected them. They thought that we enjoyed their shouting and threats directed at the government and various ministers. They really got carried away with their illusions thinking that bullying, breaking in and using foul language in parliament is an act of heroism.

Their big egos made them act the way they did. MPs even started to interfere in other countries’ affairs, forgetting the interests of Kuwait and its relations with its neighbours.

They lived in their own dreams, thinking that the outside world is a couple of tribes that could be easily intimidated. Messing around with Kuwaiti politics is one thing but playing with other countries is a totally different issue. The honorable gentlemen seem to forget that Kuwait is not one of the so-called veto powers. I am sure that the honorable gentlemen have got the message by now. In all honesty, this parliament should be dissolved. Our MPs are lucky because our Amir has wisdom and patience. I hope the suspension of parliament stretches beyond the holy month of Ramadan. Let the nation fast in peace!

The heat in July is enough for us. The last thing we need during the holy month are empty grillings and acts of heroism of the Wild West and John Wayne horse-riding kind. Thank you, Your Highness!

Follow me on Twitter: @badryaD

KUWAIT: Prime Minister HH Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah arrives at the Saudi embassy to offer his condolences following the death two days ago of the kingdom’s Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz (portrait, left) in Geneva. Saudi Defence Minister Prince Salman (inset) was named the new heir apparent yesterday. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat and AP

KUWAIT: In an unprecedented and unexpected decision, HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah yesterday issued a decree to suspend the National Assembly for one month in a bid to give time for the government and MPs to prepare strong grounds for cooperation. Kuwait’s National Assembly has never been suspended in this way since parliamentary life came to Kuwait half a century ago, but it was dissolved without holding elections twice - in 1976 for five years and in 1986 for six years - in what is locally known as an “unconstitutional dissolution”. The Assembly was also dissolved “constitutionally” on five occasions, the last four since 2006 due to continued political disputes between the government and the opposition.

The government said that the temporary suspension was necessary to prepare a political environment for cooperation between the government and MPs which has passed through turmoil since the Feb 2 snap elections in which the opposition scored a massive victory to control a comfortable majority in the house. The Amiri decree was based on article 106 of the constitution which states that “the Amir may, by a decree, adjourn the Continued on Page 13

Saudi monarch names Salman crown prince RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah yesterday issued a royal decree naming his half-brother Prince Salman as heir to the throne following the death of crown prince Nayef.

The monarch appointed Salman “crown prince and deputy prime minister” while also keeping him on as defence minister, said the decree published by the state news agency SPA. In a simultaneous decree, the monarch promoted Prince Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz to take over from Nayef as interior minister, the SPA said. “This was a cautious moved planned well in advance,” said Sami Al-Faraj, director of the Kuwait Center for Strategic Studies. “It sends the message that the House of Saud is not ready for a major generational change just yet.”

Salman, 76, became defence minister in October following the death of Sultan, the then crown prince and long-serving defence and aviation minister, while Nayef

was named heir to the throne. It was the first ministerial post for Salman who had been the governor of Riyadh for around 50 years. Nayef died on Saturday in Switzerland of “cardiac problems”, a medical source in Geneva said. The kingdom’s security czar, who was behind an iron-fisted crackdown on Al-Qaeda following a wave of attacks in the kingdom between 2003 and 2006, had frequently travelled abroad for medical treatment. By appointing Salman, King Abdullah is following the tradition of keeping top posts in the hands of the first generation of the sons of Abdul Aziz, founder of the desert kingdom.

King Abdullah in 2006 established the Allegiance Council, a commission of 35 senior princes, as a new mechanism to name heirs to the throne of the Gulf oil powerhouse in the long term. But the royal decree showed Continued on Page 13

Egypt Islamists claim victory Shafiq disputes win amid army power grab

CAIRO: Supporters of Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Mursi wave national flags during celebrations in Tahrir Square yesterday after Islamists claimed victory in Egypt’s first free presidential vote since its uprising. (Inset) Mursi speaks during a press conference after his apparent victory at his campaign headquarters. — AFP/AP

CAIRO: Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Mursi claimed victory yesterday in Egypt’s divisive race for the top job, as a military power grab overshadowed the country’s first post-Mubarak presidential election.

Two generals from the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF), however, reiterated that the ruling body will transfer power to the new president by June 30 and insisted that he will enjoy full presidential powers. A confirmed win by Mursi would mark the first time Islamists have taken the presidency of the Arab World’s most populous nation, but military moves that appeared to render the post toothless were slammed by activists as a coup.

The Islamists’ rival Ahmed Shafiq, a former air force chief and ex-prime minister under ousted president Hosni Mubarak, disputed the Brotherhood’s victory announcement, labelling it “bizarre behaviour”. State media also reported that initial counts showed Mursi ahead, however.

“After the counting was finished in all of Egypt’s 27 provinces, indications show that Mohammed Mursi has won 51 percent and Ahmed Shafiq won 49 percent,” the state-owned Al-Ahram said on its website.

There were scenes of jubilation at Mursi’s Cairo headquarters, where the candidate thanked Egyptians for their votes in brief remarks after the Brotherhood said he had secured 52 percent of the ballots cast.

Mursi pledged to work “hand-in-hand with all Egyptians for a better future, freedom, democracy, development and peace”. “We are not seeking vengeance or to settle accounts,” he said, adding that he would build a “modern, democratic state” for all Egyptians, Muslims and Christians alike.

Continued on Page 13

KUWAIT: Former Iraqi prime minister and head of the secular Iraqiya coalition Iyad Allawi (second left) shakes hands with Sudanese presidential advisor and former foreign minister Mustafa Osman Ismail in the presence of former Lebanese premier Fouad Siniora (center) and MP Mohammad Al-Saqr (left) during a meeting of the Arab International Relations council yesterday. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

World powers, Iran far apart at nuke talks MOSCOW: Six world powers and Iran made little progress yesterday at the first of two days of talks on how to end a decade-long dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program and avert the threat of a new war in the Middle East. “We had an intense and tough exchange of views,” said Michael Mann, spokesman for European Union foreign policy head Catherine Ashton who leads the delegation on behalf of the six powers: the United States, China, Russia, France, Britain and Germany. Iran said before the talks began in Moscow that progress would be possible only if the powers acknowledged its right to enrich uranium, a process which Tehran says it uses Continued on Page 13

MOSCOW: EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and chief Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili meet before the start of high-stakes talks on the controversial Iranian nuclear program yesterday. — AFP

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

LOCAL

Cabinet forms panel to probe dispute with Dow Chemical Move to minimize losses, damages KUWAIT: Cabinet approved yesterday the line-up of an ad hoc committee, proposed by His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, to probe the repercussions of recent International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce ruling against Kuwait in favor of US Dow Chemical. It pointed out that the four-member committee, headed by Dr. Adnan Ahmad Shehabeddine, will investigate all aspects of the joint venture from the start to the end, especially the clause imposing the huge cost of the compensation on the country.

The International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce has ordered Kuwait to pay $2.16 billion in compensation to US Dow Chemical over the breakdown of a planned joint venture between the two companies in 2008.

The committee will review the negotiations, deal signing stages, and the legal procedures taken during the arbitration to establish why Kuwait lost the case, the cabinet statement added. It will study legal and practical ways to deal with the ruling with the aim at minimizing losses and damages.

In December 2008, the Kuwaiti government scrapped a $17.4-billion deal between Kuwait’s state -owned Petrochemicals Industries Co (PIC) and Dow to create a petrochemicals joint venture due to pressure from opposition MPs citing the global financial crisis. Under the deal, PIC was to pay $7.5 billion to form a petrochemicals firm known as KDow in which the two companies would have equal stakes.

Meanwhile, HH the Premier Minister voiced condolences to the Saudi royal family and people on the passing of their crown prince,

deputy premier, and minister of interior Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

He added that the demise of Prince Nayef is a great loss for Saudi Arabia and Arab and Muslim nations.

HH Sheikh Jaber recalled the role played by the late prince in retaining security and stability in the Gulf region and his resounding success in the fight against terrorism.

Earlier, the Cabinet reviewed the messages sent to HH the Amir by the leaders of Morocco, Liberia, Bulgaria and Comoros Islands as well as the messages received by HH the Premier from his Spanish counterpart.

The messages focused on bilateral relations and means to bolster cooperation in all domains.

The Cabinet also mulled the latest developments in the Arab and international arenas. — KUNA

Swimming ban continues years after Mishref disaster

KUWAIT: His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah visited the Saudi embassy yesterday morning accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Hamad Al-Sabah and relayed their condolences and sympathies of the Kuwaiti people to the Saud family and Saudi people on the passing of crown prince, deputy premier, and minister of interior Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud.

KUWAIT: A ban on swimming in Gulf beaches imposed since the Mishref sewer plant’s debacle a few years ago is still ongoing after latest tests showed that the waters are still infected with bacteria and other pollutions, the Environment Public Authority reported recently. “The EPA released a decision to announce ban of swimming and fishing at areas restricted since the Mishref plant’s problem which extend from the beach overlooking the Beda’a Roundabout all the way south to the Miseelah Beach”, announced Deputy Managing Director Ali Haidar.

The decision means that the ban extends for the third summer in a row, since the complete breakdown of the Mishref sewer treatment plant late 2009 resulted in a serious marine pollution problem when the Ministry of Public Works was forced to pour tons of sewer intended to the plant, into the Gulf instead following basic treatment.

While indicating that the affected area is seeing improvement, Haidar explained that the ban decision was made “as a precautionary measure to protect public safety”, adding that it is expected to be lifted by summer of 2013.

In other news, a local environmental organization warned from a risk threatening rare plants growing at southern areas in Kuwait “where overgrazing has uncontrollably increased”. “Camel breeders have entered no-grazing zones in Nuwaiseeb”, reads a recent statement from the Kuwait Environment Protection Society, which further warns that “overgrazing could result in extinction of rare plants growing there”.

According to KEPS member Abdul-Aziz Al-Sareea, planting projects carried out as part of desert greening efforts were destroyed by nearly 3,000 camels who were illegally driven to these areas.

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and his accompanying delegation have returned home from Saudi Arabia where he offered condolence to the Saudi leadership over the demise of Saudi Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Nayef bin Abdulaziz AlSaud. The Amir was received at Kuwait International Airport by HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, National Assembly Speaker Ahmad Al-Sadoun and HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak AlHamad Al-Sabah.

Money laundering clearance prerequisite for license KUWAIT: An entrepreneur that wants to obtain a license to begin a new business or renew an existing commercial license should obtain an approval from the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Funding Office at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MCI), a local daily reported yesterday.

The new measure which ministry insiders say “are based on recommendations put forward by a committee formed to tighten the noose on money laundering,” comes as part of efforts to “improve Kuwait’s status in the list of countries in accordance with international standards.”

The office is also required to work on framing a Memorandum of Understanding between state departments including the MCI, Finance Ministry, Central Bank, Public Prosecution, Capitals Market Authority, and Kuwait Banks Association, for data exchange and electronic connection. — Al-Jarida

RIYADH: His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and his accompanying delegation arrive in Riyadh to extend condolences to the Saudi ruling family and people over the passing of the crown prince, deputy premier, and minister of interior Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud. The delegation includes HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, Minister of Information Sheikh Mohammad Al-Abdullah Al-Mubarak, members of the Sabah family, and senior officials at the crown prince and the premier diwans.

Settlement soon to help drop meat prices KUWAIT: The government is nearing an agreement with Kuwait’s primary supplier of livestock on a settlement that will help drop red meat prices to their average levels following a recent unexpected, sharp increase.

“The Kuwait Livestock Transportation and Trading Company (KLTT) reached an agreement in principle with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to revert the prices as long as the Cabinet increases the governmental subsidization to KD16.5 per Australian sheep”, Al-Qabas reported yesterday with knowledge of the ongoing negotiations. The MCI is reportedly mulling other options to help drop meat prices, including providing subsidized meat at 30 outlets across Kuwait where the prices are fixed at KD1.250 per kilogram, and KD1.5 per kilogram of boneless meat. Furthermore, the ministry plans to add red meat in the list of subsidized food

items available to citizens after Ramadan, the sources added. On the other hand, Kuwait’s leading supplier of poultry products to the local market is complaining against the “limited subsidization on fodder” which hurt their capability of meeting the local demand. “Fodder costs take up 80% of production costs in the poultry industry in Kuwait”, said sources familiar with a recent meeting between officials from the Kuwait United Poultry Company (KUPCO) and the Minister of Commerce and Industry Anas Al-Saleh.

KUPCO officials reportedly provided during the meeting a comparison between subsidization in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, which shows that yellow corn is subsidized by KD33 per kilo in Saudi Arabia compared to KD15 in Kuwait, while the Kingdom provides a KD55 subsidies for soybean that is not subsidized in Kuwait.

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

local Currency forgery attempt foiled

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: Customs inspectors at Shuwaikh port managed to foil an attempt to smuggle in a special paper used to forge 100 dollar notes, said security sources.

Case papers indicate that inspectors noticed an Iranian passenger who appeared to be very confused on arrival, which sparked their suspicion. Upon searching his luggage, the forgery apparatus was found. The suspect admitted to smuggling the paper into the country for an accomplice. A case was filed and police are on the lookout for the accomplice.

Drug trader Security sources reported that an Asian expatriate was arrested for drug abuse and trafficking. Case papers indicate that narcotics detectives were tipped off about the suspect, which led them to place him under close surveillance for a while. The suspect’s house was raided following a period of surveillance, during which 100 grams of heroin, 30 grams of Ice and 500 hallucination pills were found.

Road accident A 27-year-old Indian expatriate sustained server back pain when he was knocked over by a speeding vehicle in Jahra, said security sources.

Hawalli fight A 25-year-old Lebanese expatriate sustained a head injury during a fight in Hawalli, said security sources, noting that the he was taken to Mubarak hospital for treatment.

KUWAIT: Eid Shaman Al-Mutairi inspecting the drainage problems with Indian community leaders yesterday.

Solution in sight for Jleeb drainage problem MPW director orders quick action

By Ben Garcia

KUWAIT: A team headed by Eid Shaman Al-Mutairi, Director, Ministry of Public Works Department - Farwaniya governorate paid a visit to Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh yesterday to inspect the malfunctioning in ten drainage systems. The drainage problem has been reported in various dailies months ago, and complaints were lodged by several Indian residents.

After inspection, Al-Mutairi ordered his department to send some drainage

pumping units to the sites. “We are grateful for the action taken by the Ministry of Public Works (MPW) through Al-Mutairi,” S.A. Labba, a community leader told Kuwait Times.

“It was a rewarding day for all especially us living in the vicinity,” Labba said.

Al-Mutairi was accompanied by Labba, along with other Indian community leaders Sharafuddeen Kanneth, Raju Zakaria, Joy Mundakat, Hamza Payyannur and Babu Batheri. Labba admitted that the visit was made possible only after some

Indian embassy officials intervened. “We went to the Ministry of Public Works last on June 13, with some embassy officials.

We sat and discussed our problem and told them how our students are suffering; sometimes walking and wading through polluted water just to go to school and return,” he said.

He thanked Indian Embassy Consular Representative BK Upadhyay who acted upon the directive of the ambassador.

“Now the problem has been resolved.

They promised to drain the water out and

Prison term for Al-Fadhl

By A Saleh KUWAIT: The Criminal Court yesterday sentenced MP Nabil Al-Fadhl to one year in jail and a KD 1,000 fine to suspend the penalty for slander during a TV interview broadcast by Scope TV, that was also fined with KD 3,000.

KUWAIT: The drug trader pictured after his arrest.

Anti-judiciary comments irk legal fraternity

Action taken against 45 bogus companies Implementing the recommendations put forward in Riyadh Al-Adsaniís grilling

motion, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor referred 45 bogus companies to higher authorities in connection with visa trading, said sources, noting that the companies existed only on paper for the sake of recruiting workers to Kuwait for money.

Lari suggests holding TV interviews MP Ahmed Lari suggested conducting special weekly TV programs to interview ministers every three months in order to review their accomplishments and take follow up

action on plans and agendas.

Employees demand increments The Assistant Engineers and Technicians Union recently launched a campaign to collect signatures from supporters demanding salary increments. The syndicate explained that the campaign would last for three days before referring the demand to the Civil Services Commission. It also explained that the total number of members in Kuwait amounted to 27,000.

Summer camp for Fahoodi customers

KUWAIT: Some lawmakers’ opposition to the judiciary and has evoked an angry reaction from the legal fraternity.

They labeled such statements as being offensive. The lawmakers had attacked the judgment passed against the accused in case of MP Obaid Al-Wasmi.

They said that court’s verdict was politically motivated.

Lawyer Faisal Al-Otaibi described the declarations passed

by MPs against judges as being “lead by personal interests.”

He added that the court also acquitted Al-Wasmi who has been accused of slandering HH the Amir in the same case.

“So, was the verdict passed in favor of Al-Wasmi an honest one?” he asked. Lawyer Faisal Al-Majdi said that there are courts of several degrees, and he who objects to the decision should take up matter to the higher court and not criticize it.— Al-Shahed

KUWAIT: Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait announced the huge success of the FCBEscola summer camp that its young Fahoodi customers attended.

The exciting offer included a 40 percent discount for the camp organized by the FCBEscola- Kuwait Academy.

The good news is that a second camp during June 23 to July 12 will

be held, which again Fahoodi customers can benefit from.

Stewart Lockie General Manager, Retail Banking Division at the Bank said, “Close on the heels of the success of the first camp, and encouraged by the positive response, a second camp is being held so our budding Fahoodi footballers can receive some professional training. The sum-

mer camp will be held in the Academy’s football fields for a period of 18 days, where participants will learn new skills of football from trained professionals,” Lockie added,” The offer is valid for existing Fahoodi customers as well as new account holders so visit your nearest ABK branch, open a Fahoodi Account and enjoy the experience.”

US Guard unit gets send-off to Kuwait WILKESBORO: Mothers dabbed their eyes with tissues, young sons clutched miniature American flags and wives sang along to Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” at a deployment ceremony for about 80 men and women of the North Carolina National Guard 875th Engineer Company on Sunday at Wilkes Community College. The unit is based in North Wilkesboro with a detachment in Lexington. Both the Lexington and North Wilkesboro units are headed to Kuwait, where they will build and maintain roads, among other construction projects, for the next nine months as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Sunday’s ceremony at the Walker Center was for the detachment based in North Wilkesboro.

Many of the soldiers were deployed to Iraq in 2005, but that experience doesn’t necessarily make leaving home any easier, said Kyle Turner, who lives in Burlington. Turner has been deployed twice to Iraq. “It gets harder, especially

when you have a family and kids,” he said.

Turner was holding Karsyn, his 21/2year-old son, who was happy to munch on his pacifier and survey the crowd, his hand resting on his father’s broad shoulder. Turner’s wife, Megan, was pregnant when he was last deployed to Iraq.

Asked if having him deployed to the relatively safe country of Kuwait will make the separation any easier, Megan quickly answered: “No.” “It’s still not me at home,” Turner said.

Simeon Bailey, 3, is another little boy who will be without his dad for the next nine months. As a band played “Stars and Stripes Forever,” Simeon, dressed in a camouflage cap and matching shorts, spotted his dad, Bobby, among the stone-faced soldiers filing into the Walker Center.

“Daddy!” he said quietly.

This will be Bobby Bailey’s third deployment. His wife, Rita, expects living without her husband will be diffi-

cult. She plans to keep in touch with him through Skype and hopes to find some support through a network of soldiers’ wives.

She could probably find some help from Ashley Cayton and her mother, Regina Watts, both of Millers Creek.

Watts and Cayton are veterans of seeing off loved ones to war.

Cayton, herself, was deployed to Iraq in 2009, and her father, Thomas Watts, has been to Iraq three times. Cayton’s husband, William, is among the guardsmen heading off to Kuwait.

“It’s still tough,” said Cayton, who was wearing a T-shirt that read: Proud Army Wife.” “But you get used to it.”

Ashley and William Cayton have three daughters ages 4, 2 and 1. “We spend a lot of time together,” her mother, Regina Watts said, “and just talk through it.”

The unit will leave tomorrow for training at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, then ship out to Kuwait in mid-July.

will be back in 15 days to start repairing the drainage system. Hope that everything will be okay,” Labba said.

Jleeb residents have been advised to be careful and responsible in dump trash.

“According to Al-Mutairi, there are residents who carelessly dump waste materials which subsequently block the natural flow of water. I heard from him that they discovered some garbage that blocked the flow of water ranging from carpets, pillows, mattresses and wooden materials,” he said.

Doctor, nurse assaulted at Jahra hospital KUWAIT: A citizen assaulted a doctor and nurse employed at Al-Jahra Hospital while on duty.

Victim Dr Abdul Fattah Abdullah described the harrowing experience.

He happened to hear strange sounds from the adjacent room and stepped out to see what was going on. He saw the nurse being physically assaulted for preventing him from entering the room where bandages were being changed.

He said, “I intervened to stop the attack on the nurse and said ‘she is older than you mother why are you beating her.’

Even before completing the sentence, he kicked me in the abdomen and took a piece of wood from the table. I left the room to avoid assault and locked myself in the room until police arrived.” Dr Abdul Fattah said that he could not treat the patient owing to the attack. A case was registered at Al-Naeem police station. He explained that the assault took place in front of patients and other doctors, and that more than one witnesses are ready to testify. — Al-Anbaa

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TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

LOCAL kuwait digest

Local Spotlight

How to become underdeveloped

Positive changes in Arab world?

By Iqbal Al-Ahmad local daily recently published a report about a proposal that will make many citizens happy. The repor t which appeared in Al-Rai daily states that a legislator has suggested that KD 3,000 be granted to each citizen annually from 10 percent of the annual profit made at the end of each fiscal year.

It appears that lawmakers cannot contribute in any way to Kuwait’s future. They have no suggestions to make to improve the educational, health, economic and social conditions, and to tackle the traffic problem, corruption, overconsumption of electricity and water and many other issues. Instead, he has come up with the proposal that no other country, democratic or otherwise, poor or rich, has ever thought of implementing!

I am not going to lie; I cannot stop myself from laughing while commenting on this subject. It reminds me of the good old grandma stories, like the one about a very rich man who owns a large field and makes a large profit everyday by selling his harvest. Each day, the man met his expenses and distributed the remaining money to his children. The children lived a happy life and loved their father so much for his generosity. This continued, until one day, drought destroyed his crops. Without anything left to give, the man watched his children struggle to cope and deal with the present situation without having any experience in life.

I do not know how lawmakers can devise such ‘ingenious’ ideas. A budget surplus they seek to distribute to citizens can be used to fund profitable projects for the future like diversifying sources of income to provide security in case oil income declines. This scenario could be a reality sooner than we think.

We must think of future generations who will appreciate any effort of wealth saving we can do today.

If, God forbid, this proposal is passed, Kuwait will have created history for its lack of vision, ignorance and inability to make use of a depleting (I repeat, depleting) source of income. I would like to congratulate such MPs, who should soon travel abroad and present seminars about ‘How to Become Underdeveloped.’ —Al-Qabas

A

Muna Al-Fuzai

muna@kuwaittimes.net

he Arab region’s dictatorial regimes have been supplanted or are heaving their last breath. Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria and Yemen are examples. As a Kuwaiti, I don’t think I can pass the right judgment on these countries’ leadership. And if they are really corrupt, I am not in a position to agree or disagree whether all the bloodshed was necessary to bring about a movement called Arab Spring.

Many key players in the political movement like non- Muslim citizens and professional women have not been given their due share of appreciation. I feel very disappointed at the situation in prevailing in the region.

I feel that the Islamic groups are hungry for power, and that worries me. This is because most of us want to live in a liberal atmosphere to exercise their freedom of choice and beliefs.

If a new system, Islamic or not, assume power with the aim of oppressing people, the situation will be akin to replacing one tyrant with another.

Right now, many people in several Arab countries, including Kuwait, are having second thoughts about supporting the Arab Spring.

T

kuwait digest

A successful GCC union

By Abdul-Aziz Al-Towaijri istor y has showed us many examples of successful unions forged between countries. The Soviet Union is an exception, weakened by its geographical expansion and multiculturalism. The European Union and even the United States serve as role models that help forge a potential union bet ween the Gulf Cooperation Council states.

There are many aspects that guarantee a successful GCC union. First of all, GCC countries have taken similar political stances since the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. While some disagreements have taken place, it has never affected the relationship shared between GCC countries.

Even the differences between Saudi Arabia and Qatar fade away when confronted with

H

crucial issues. And if there are disagreements over a proposed unification bet ween Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, these are nothing but an expression of a different point of view. The best example is proposal of a unified GCC currency - some GCC states have rejected it. However, these have never affected their relationship with other GCC countries.

The second aspect I believe is in favor of a GCC unification is the fact that GCC countries have more in common than members of the European Union. In addition to sharing the same history, GCC countries share similar tribal and family ancestry. Members of the same family are citizens of different GCC countries.

The main question is: Is it necessary for a GCC Union? While

this is the most desired goal, reality makes it difficult for it to be realized. First of all, it is impor tant that a countr y approve joining the GCC Union before taking the step. If we hypothetically say that a GCC union starts with a unification between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, this can be a first step for a future union between the six GCC states. Each state can join the union whenever they feel ready.

It is important that a successful union be established on strong economic, social and political basis. From that standpoint, I believe a unification bet ween Saudi Arabia and Bahrain can help improve the latter’s economy given the former’s strong economic situation. —Al-Qabas

kuwait digest

Better future

By Dr Yaqoub Al-Sharrah oth the Cabinet and Parliament are struggling to take steps, given the political turmoil that distracts the executive and legislative authorities from addressing people’s needs. The anti-government bloc had demanded that the former prime minister resign from his post, and be replaced by a new prime minister.

After holding successive grilling motions, they eventually got what they wanted. A parliamentary dissolution was held to create a suitable environment to bring in ‘change.’

Unfortunately, we realize that all these developments created a situation today that is worse than the previous one. The question people ask each other today is - for how long will this troubled situation last? Are there certain circumstances that need to happen in Kuwait in order to create an environment where the government will be able to tackle issues seriously and freely?

In my opinion, I don’t believe a parliamentary dissolution today is the best solution when there are problems that are more serious than infightings between MPs. Corruption, illegal activities and challenging the state’s authority still exist in the Parliament today. —Al-Rai

B

Right now, many people in several Arab countries, including Kuwait, are having second thoughts about supporting the Arab Spring. They fear that this issue will spill over into their region, threatening their lives and security!

They fear that this issue will spill over into their region, threatening their lives and security!

Now, there are many people who ask how much we have benefited from the Arab Spring?

Has it made life easier for the poor? Are women more empowered today? Is human rights and freedom being observed? Is there more tolerance and flexibility in accommodating all nonMuslims who live in our countries?

If no marked changes have taken place, it is time to think and reflect on the damage created. Has a plan been charted out on dealing with the West today, aside from making calls to wage a war against devil West? The French Revolution reshaped the public mind. It is time for some introspection. Are we trying to learn from others’ experiences and history? Are we using our senses to rebel against leadership? Is it eye for eye and what lives by the sword only ends with the sword? How can we control the damage?

I base my judgment by the efforts made to empower women - to attain an education and grant them leadership positions. So far, the situation in Syria has been really worrying. We do not know much of the situation is true. Every TV channel creates its own story to attract more viewers. It bothers me because I can see Syria being equated to Iraq. Clearly, some vested interest groups want to oust the present Syrian regime out of power. The question is, how will such moves bring about peace and security?

In Kuwait, people are affected by what they see and hear on different TV channels. The fact that millions of dollars were collected to help the rebels is making me more confused. Who does this money reach?

There was a media campaign to collect money for Syria but little information was given about who will get it. Anyone who donates money for the Syrian cause should find out more and seek an answer.

I wonder what will happen to the previous achievements made in connection with empowering women, freedom and peace.

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TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

Local

Ministers’ mediation fail to defuse Al-Zour row Govt failed to follow legal procedures

TEC makes KD 1.012 million net profit KUWAIT: The Touristic Enterprises Company made a profit of KD 1.012 million in 2011 with a 48 percent increase compared to 2010, announced Khaled AlGhanim, Chairman of board and Managing Director of the Touristic Enterprises Company.

Speaking about TEC’s general assembly meeting, AlGhanim said that the company’s annual profits rose by 3.76 percent to KD 4.094 compared

to only KD 3.94 in 2010. AlGhanim also noted that TEC was cu rrent l y in t he process of building and reviving touristic enterprises in Kuwait, and that 16 touristic projects at a total cost of KD 250 million are under construction.

Furthermore, Al-Ghanim said that the company has set a five year strategic plan for the years 2011-2015 during which many licenses were being issued.

45 companies charged with visa trading

Kuwait-Tunisia philanthropy forum winds up TUNIS: The first Kuwait-Tunisia philanthropy forum concluded here on Sunday with the adoption of “the Tunis declaration for building better society.” The closing ceremony was chaired by Assistant Undersecretary of the Kuwaiti Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Dr. Motlaq Rashed Al-Qarawi, who led the country’s delegation to the three-day event.

Addressing the closing session in the presence of representatives of the Tunisian Ministry of Religious Affairs and fund-raising agencies, Dr AlQarawi said that the Tunis declaration will have a positive impact on philanthropic activites in Tunisia.

“The document includes recommendations for closer contacts, information sharing and networking among fundraisers from both countries,” he said. Dr. Al-Qarawi thanked the Tunisian government and people for their hospitality. Meanwhile, representative of the Tunisian Ministry of Religious Affairs, Ali Allafi, hailed the declaration as, “Laying the foundations for strategic partnership in philanthropic activities between the two countries.” He thanked the government and people of Kuwait for contributing to the social development in Tunisia in the postrevolution era. —KUNA

KUWAIT: At least 45 companies face legal action after investigations revealed their involvement in visa trading, a crime responsible for many residency violation issues, a local daily reported yesterday.

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor(MSAL) contacted the Ministry of Interior’s General Department for Immigration about the need to arrest individuals responsible for 45 companies that are active in visa trafficking.

“At least 207 workers are registered with 27 bogus companies, while 195 are registered with the remaining 18 companies,” sources added.

Meanwhile, the MSAL announced that 137,842 permissions were granted to issue work permits last year, an increase by more than 42,000 since 2010. However, the number of work permits issued were 81,508; meaning that 81,508 new workers entered the local market in 2011.

The annual statistics show that 558,099 work permits were renewed last year; up by 41,381 from the previous year. Visa transfers within the private sector stood at 185,950. Moreover, sources show that 69,230 residence permits were canceled last year. —Al-Qabas

KUWAIT: A meeting was held between Kuwait Fire Services Directorate’s deputy director for firefighting and human resources Brig Yousif Al-Ansari and representatives from the Fire Services College, UK to discuss bilateral cooperation and local and overseas training courses for the year 2012-2013.

—Photo by Hanan Al-Saadoun

KUWAIT: Parliament Speaker Ahmad Al-Saadoun has expressed dissatisfac tion in procedures undertaken regarding tenders floated for constructing the proposed Al-Zour mega power plant.

According to sources close to Popular Action Bloc (PAB) that AlSaadoun met with Deputy Speaker Khalid Al-Sultan and two ministers, which reportedly took place recently with hope of settling the dispute and pushing projects for ward. The Speaker could not be convinced to change his mind.

Anti-government lawmakers led by Speaker Ahmad AlSaadoun objected to the project on the basis that the government failed to follow legal procedures in floating the tender to establish the shareholding company to build the north Zour power plant.

Although Anas Al-Saleh, the M inister of Commerce and

Industr y and M inister of Electricity and Water, Abdul-Aziz Al-Ibrahim, State M inister of Municipality Affairs reportedly tried to explain the safety of the government ’s measures, “AlSaadoun said.

“Perhaps, the majority bloc will continue to reject the project unless the Cabinet makes changes and re-floats the tender,” sources said.

The Popular Action Bloc(PAB) argues that the Cabinet’s closed bidding on the project’s tender before the Parliament passed a 2010 law that organizes the process of establishing shareholding companies that build mega projects included in the state’s development plan.

The government fears that any delay in the north Zour project will ‘certainly hurt’ the ability to increase electricity and water production by 2014, according to

senior MEW officials.

Meanwhile, Assistant General Director for Housing Planning Waleed Al-Jassem announced details of new housing units, south of the Seventh Ring Road and north of Subbiya.

Al-Jassem said that the first site includes 7,400 housing units each 600 square meters, and the area is west of Abdullah Al-Mubarak residential area and its overall area is 9.27 sq km. The second location, nor th of Subbiya will be in an area of 79.70 sq km and the total number of housing units are 52,625 each 400 square meter.

Al-Jassem said those locations are being approved by municipal council, before handing it over to the Public Authority for Housing.

He pointed that those housing units will help reduce the number of applicants in the waiting list after the distribution of more than 60,000 units.

‘Gulf security of strategic importance’ BRUSSELS: Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Nizar Madani visited the NATO headquarters in Brussels yesterday and met with Secretar y General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

A NATO statement said discussions centred on the political dialogue and practical cooperation activities, which exist in the context of the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI).

“Saudi Arabia is a key player in the region and NATO would welcome the opportunity to engage the Kingdom’s governement as a partner in the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative, ICI”, said Rasmussen.

“ICI and the other partnership with countries in the region the Mediterranean Dialogue, are com-

plementary and yet distinct NATO partnership frameworks,” he noted.

“For NATO, the security of its partners in the Gulf is a key strategic interest to the Alliance,” he stressed.

Rasmussen extended NATO’s condolences to the Saudi Minister for the recent death of Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud.

“Prince Nayef was a strong statesman who served his country with dedication and commitment, working to keep the Kingdom’s national security for many years.

Prince Nayef will be remembered around the world for his steadfast contribution to international peace and security, particularly in the fight against terrorism”, said the NATO chief.

During his visit, Dr Madani also had meetings with the NATO Deputy Secretary General, NATO Permanent Representatives and Alliance officials, who provided him with an overview of NATO’s outreach and cooperation programmes with partner countries in the Mediterranean and in the Gulf region.

This latest visit follows the one

by Prince Turki Mohammed Saud Al-Kabeer, Saudi vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, in April 2009.

Four Gulf countries, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and UAE are members of the ICI which was launched in Istanbul in 2004 to offer bilateral security cooperation between countries in the Middle East and NATO. —KUNA

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

local

Female motorcyclist held for reckless driving Search on for drunk driver

RIO DE JANEIRO: The Chairperson of Kuwait’s Volunteer Center Sheikha Amthal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and an accompanying delegation arrived here on Sunday to represent Kuwait at the United Nations Sustainable Development Conference, Rio+20. Sheikha Amthal was received upon her arrival by the Kuwait Ambassador to Brazil Yousif Ahmad Abdulsamad, Acting Chief of Protocol at Brazil’s Foreign Ministry Fernando Igreja and the head of the mission of honor accompanying the head of the Kuwaiti delegation.

European Parliament honors Al-Babtain KUWAIT: The Vice Speaker of the European Parliament, Giovanni Pittella, is to honor the creator of Abdulaziz Saud Al-Babtain’s Prize for Poetic Creativity in a ceremony in the Belgian capital, Brussels, tomorrow in appreciation of his contributions to the promotion of dialogue among cultures across the world.

Abdulaziz Al-Babtain, a Kuwaiti poet and historian, is also noted for the highly specialized seminars and international conferences he organized in an effort to promote understanding and peace around the world.

The ceremony is to be held in attendance of elite politicians, intellectuals, and media figures. Al-Babtain said, “ This gesture by the European Parliament is a sign that efforts by Arab intellectuals at building bridges of communication and interaction among cultures are taken seriously and recognized, and though it is my person being named as honoree, I view this as a juncture which would greatly shape Arab awareness and consciousness and recognition of Arab cultural

achievements to-date in the field of peaceful co-existence.”

He further expressed his appreciation for the gesture from an institution as prestigious as the European Parliament and said that he hoped it would pave the way for a new higher level of cultural co-existence and harmony between peoples.

The Foundation of Abdulaziz Saud Al-Babtain’s Prize for Poetic Creativity has created ‘The Abdulaziz Saud AlBabtain Center for Inter-Civilization Dialogue’ in 2005. The center collaborates with foreign institutions to supervise the “Abdulaziz Saud Al-Babtain’s Professorship of Arabic Studies” program and to organize training programs in linguistics and historical and cultural tourism.

The foundation took part in the 3rd ‘South North Mediterranean Dialogue of Civil Society Organizations’ by the European Movement International (EMI), which is one of the largest pan and pro-European civil society organizations. The event was hosted in Tunis earlier this month. — KUNA

KUWAIT: A college student was arrested in connection with riding a motorcycle without a license and over speeding. Police also arrested a friend of the female motorcyclist who allowed her to use his motorcycle. Patrol officers chased her down after she ignored orders to pull over for performing dangerous stunts along the Gulf Road. Police, who were caught off guard after learning that a woman was riding the bike, managed to halt her. She was arrested and escorted to the nearest police station. Her male friend was summoned for investigations. The two were later released after their respective families appeared in the police station.

Drunk driver Police are on the hunt for a drunk driver who left his car and escaped after an accident took place at Kabad road. Police and paramedics reached the site soon after the accident was reported, and found a Syrian driver whose truck was rear-ended by a sedan. The truck driver told officers that the other driver escaped in a car that arrived shortly after the accident.

Police found a smashed liquor bottle inside the suspect’s car, leading them to speculate that he was drunk at the time. Police identified the Kuwaiti driver who faces charges in connection with driving while intoxicated.

Stabber arrested A citizen was hospitalized after suffering multiple stab wounds while police arrested a Saudi suspect who attacked him over unsettled disputes. The victim, a Ministry of Interior

employee, filed a complaint with Taima police station after receiving treatment at Al-Jahra Hospital. A medical report shows that he sustained two wounds to the right chest area as well as internal bleeding in the chest cavity.

Charges were pressed against a Saudi man in his twenties whose information was provided by the victim as his attacker. Criminal investigators arrested the suspect who remains detained.

Fugitive nabbed A fugitive was arrested in Shuwaikh after he attacked a police officer following a car chase.

A patrol officer chased him down after he ignored orders to pull over, and eventually gave up and halted in Shuwaikh. The suspect reacted by punching him in the face as soon as he stepped out of his vehicle. The officer and the fugitive then quarreled with each other until backup police arrived and arrested him.

Investigation revealed that the suspect is wanted in connection with multiple assault charges.

Forgery trio in custody Two men were arrested for committing forgery by altering official government documents and reselling them to customers. The arrest took place in Hawally where the Asian men were caught after information about their illegal activity reached Major Brigadier General Mahmoud Al-Tabbakh General Director of the Criminal Investigations General Department.

Soon afterwards, police arrested an Egyptian man who helped provide the suspects with the

stamps he removed from finalized documents.

The three were taken to the higher authorities.

Egyptian dies A middle-aged man was pronounced dead in a mosque in Doha recently and a medical examination confirmed that the death took place due to natural causes. Police and paramedics rushed to the scene after worshippers made an emergency call after learning that the 56-year-old Egyptian national was found unconscious. The body was taken to the forensic department after investigations were carried out.

Teen saved A teenager was hospitalized in a critical condition after she tried to end her life at her Waha home. The 18-year-old girl was found unconscious by a family member before being immediately rushed to Al-Jahra Hospital. A medical diagnosis revealed that the girl suffered complications related to a medication overdose. Her condition stabilized but she remains inside the Intensive Care Unit. A case was filed at Al-Waha police station.

Shooting suspect A search is ongoing for a man who shot his adversary on the foot during a fight reported recently in Al-Riqqa. The Kuwaiti victim was rushed to Al-Adan Hospital. A case was filed at the area’s police station. The suspect, also a citizen, shot the victim with a handgun during a fight.— Al-Rai, Al-Qabas, Al-Watan.

Kuwait Embassy caring for robbed nationals BANGKOK: Since being notified that two Kuwaiti nationals were robbed, Kuwait Embassy here has been following up the legal measures in collaboration with the concerned Thai departments, Charge D’Affaires of the Embassy Omar Al-Kandari said yesterday. “The Embassy tasked its legal team to provide the necessary legal assistance to the two nationals in the framework of the relevant regulations and the instructions of the Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry,” Al-Kandari said.

“The lawyer of the Embassy met the two citizens to discuss how to retrieve the stolen items and the Embassy is ready to issue a temporary travel document to the citizen who lost his passport,” he said.

“The lawyer said we have to wait and see until the Thai prosecution finalizes investigations before suing the hotel where the two citizens were dwelling,” he noted. Al-Kandari noted that the embassy is in close contact with the lawenforcement agencies in Pattaya city, located on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand, about 165 km to southeast of Bangkok, where the accident took place. —KUNA

MoE urged to remedy deficit woes KUWAIT: Dr Mohammad Taleb Al-Kandari, a teaching staff league member at PAAET, demanded for inter vention by His Highness the Prime Minister, Sheikh Jaber Al Mubarak Al Sabah, to deal with the financial crisis plaguing the authority.

The authority currently has KD 4 million worth of deficits in its budget for salaries.

Al-Kandari said that the deficit is astonishing, adding that the severity it has reached indicates the short falls of those responsible for solving such issues. The authority went through similar issues 2009/2010, when the deficit in the budget for salaries reached KD 8 million.

Al-Kandari expressed sorrow for the treatment teaching staff are experiencing and the delays they’re experiencing in receiving their salaries.

The delays were blamed on the deficit in the budget and claims that the Ministry of Finance did not pay the full amount needed by the authority.

He added that all Ministries and educational organizations, including Kuwait University, have received their budget in full except the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET).

He demanded that Minister of Education and Higher Education, Dr Nayef al Hajref, slow down the plans and strategies organized for PAAET until the situation is remedied.

He added that it is not logical to increase the number of admissions of graduate students given the financial deficit of the authority.

KUWAIT: A fire broke out yesterday at the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economical Development building in Kuwait City. Security sources revealed that three fire brigades rushed to the scene and found a basement file room ablaze. Several firefighters were treated on site for smoke inhalation. — Photos by Hanan Al-Saadoun

Kuwaiti, Slovak MPs conclude talks in Bratislava BRATISLAVA: Visiting Kuwaiti MP Dr Jamaan AlHarbash commended on Sunday the results of the meeting of the Kuwait-Slovakia parliamentary friendship committee held here over the last three days.

“We have held successful talks with Slovak MPs and senior officials during this visit and the

previous one,” Al-Harbash who led the Kuwaiti delegation to the meeting said. “Our visit aimed to demonstrate the desire of the Kuwaiti National Assembly to cement parliamentary ties with Slovakia and coordinate stances on of the two countries on international issues of common concern,” Al-Harbash pointed out.—KUNA

International TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

Suicide bomber kills anti-Qaeda general

Page 8

Gratitude and laughs as Suu Kyi meets Bono

Page 10

HOMS: A handout image released by the Syrian opposition’s Shaam News Network yesterday shows Free Syrian Army militants listening to instructions during a training session in an area on the outskirts of the flashpoint city of Homs. —AFP

Syrian forces pound cities Russia readies marines BEIRUT: Syrian security forces pounded opposition areas across the country yesterday, activists said, adding that at least 23 people had been killed in clashes they say have escalated since international observers suspended their mission. Activists said artillery had targeted Douma, a town 15 km (9.3 miles) outside the capital Damascus. The town has for weeks been under the partial control of rebels who have joined the 15-month-old revolt against President Bashar Al-Assad.

“We can’t even accurately count the dead because we have so many injured people to treat, there’s no time to think about anything else,” said an activist in Douma who called himself Ziad. “The army attacks all the time. They have tanks, missiles, mortars, and artillery. Even helicopters have fired on us. People can’t escape because the army is surrounding the town.” The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has a network of activists across Syria, said at least 23 people had been killed by midday yesterday, seven of them in Douma.

In a sign it fears Syria’s conflict could escalate further, an unnamed Russian naval source said Moscow was preparing to send marines to Syria in the event it needed to protect personnel and remove equipment from its naval facility in Syria’s Mediterranean port of Tartous, according to the Interfax news agency. Russia is one of the Syrian government’s staunchest backers and supports Assad’s argument that foreign-backed terrorists are behind the unrest.

Moscow has repeatedly urged Western and Arab countries, who mostly back the rebels, to rein in their support in order to stem the violence.

International outrage over Syria has grown in recent weeks after two reported massacres of nearly two hundred civilians, most of them from the Sunni Muslim majority population that has led the revolt. Assad comes from Syria’s Alawite minority, an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam that has mostly backed the president. Heavier fighting and apparent sectarian killings have led many, including the head of UN peacekeeping forces, to brand the violence a civil war.

The international community’s efforts to halt the violence are deadlocked because Russia and China, which both wield vetoes in the Security Council, have blocked tougher action against Assad. They say the solution should be through political dialogue, an approach most of the Syrian opposition rejects. Western powers have been pushing for stronger measures to be taken against Assad, whose forces have not only used artillery in recent weeks, but helicopter gunships against rebels in civilian areas.

US President Barack Obama is expected to discuss the Syria crisis with Russian President Vladimir Putin when they meet in Mexico yesterday. But few observers expect a breakthrough. Relations between Washington and Moscow have further frayed after a week of Cold War-style recriminations over Syria.

The head of the United Nations observation mission, General Robert Mood, is scheduled today to brief the U.N. Security Council in New York on the violence in Syria. The mission recently halted its operations due to security concerns, and Mood said on Sunday he was worried about

civilians trapped in central Homs. “In Homs attempts to extract civilians form the line of fire over the past week have been unsuccessful,” he said in a statement. “This requires willingness on both sides (of the conflict) to respect and protect the human life of the Syrian people.”

Residents in Homs, the bloody epicentre of the revolt against Assad, said their city has been pummelled daily by mortar and rocket fire since early June. “It’s getting worse

since the UN observers suspended their mission,” wrote Alaa, who said he was a Homs resident but would only give his first name. “There are tanks shooting now and most stores are closed. The streets are blocked by security barriers and cement blocks.” Bernard Valero, a spokesman for the French foreign ministry, said the “relentless repression of the regime, and in particular in the city of Homs” meant it was more necessary than ever for the United Nations to enforce

Kofi Annan’s failing peace plan. France has called on the United Nations to invoke Chapter VII - which can authorise the use of force - to impose the plan brokered by international mediator Annan, including a widely ignored April 12 ceasefire agreement. UN monitors say violence has been escalating rapidly in Syria, where peaceful protests were overtaken by an armed insurgency several months ago in response to Assad’s crackdown on dissent. — Reuters

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TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

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

Non-Orthodox Jews start making inroads in Israel MEVASSERET ZION: With the holy city of Jerusalem visible in the background, a man and woman standing side-by-side lead prayers for about 50 congregants who have come to welcome the Sabbath in this suburb’s Reform synagogue. Their prayer book includes poetry, the women wear prayer shawls, the sermons call for social justice and the songs are performed in a folksy manner to the tune of a live guitar.

This scene, common in liberal synagogues across America, is an anomaly in Israel, where religious life is dominated by a strict ultra-Orthodox establishment that sees such gender-mixing, ordaining of female rabbis and alterations to the traditional prayers as anathema to their way of life and resists any inroads by the more liberal streams of Judaism. But more liberal Jews now see a crack in that monopoly. Following a landmark Supreme Court ruling, Israel’s attorney general recently announced that a limited group of 15 non-Orthodox rabbis will begin to receive government funding like some 2,000 of their Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox counterparts.

The Reform and Conservative movements in Israel are celebrating the decision as a watershed. While the two movements dominate American Jewish life, they are largely sidelined in Israel, where they are derided by the Orthodox religious establishment as second-class Jews who ordain women and gays and are overly inclusive toward converts and

interfaith marriages. The generous government support for the Orthodox rabbis over the years has added to the marginalization.

The debate boils down to the core of religious life in Israel, and the tenuous relationship between state and religion.

It also touches on the essence of the Zionist vision of creating a state that can be both Jewish and democratic. While most Israelis are secular, Israel’s founding fathers gave Judaism a formal place in the country’s affairs. Ultra-Orthodox rabbis strictly govern Jewish practices such as weddings, divorces and burials.

Their monopoly has often forced Israelis to choose between a secular lifestyle that often ignores Jewish tradition and a stringent religious one dictated by the Orthodox that is often out of sync with democracy and modernity.

The current status has also caused tensions with Jews in North America, most of whom identify as Reform or Conservative. Israel grants citizenship to any Jew, including those recognized by the liberal streams. But once in Israel, those who do not meet the Orthodox standards of being Jewish can suffer. For example, they can be barred from getting married or having a proper Jewish burial. Instead, they must go overseas to marry, and special cemeteries are set up to bury non-Jews.

The liberal streams have long fought for formal recognition, with minimal success. They ’ve established syna-

gogues, youth movements, schools and kindergartens. Together, the Reform and Conservative movements have about 100 congregations. A recent survey by the Guttman Center at the Israel Democracy Institute found that 8 percent of Israeli Jews identified as either Conservative or Reform. But most Israelis, and certainly state institutions, regarded them as a somewhat alien offshoot of Judaism imported from North America and not meshed with how religion was practiced in Israel.

The new decision is far short of a fullthroated recognition. The court ruling for the first time classifies Reform and Conservative rabbis as “rabbis of nonOrthodox communities.” But it applies only to 15 heading congregations in farming communities and outlying areas where they were the only rabbis - so they qualified as “community leaders” eligible for state funding. Still excluded are those operating in cities, where Orthodox rabbis are present. To avoid clashing with the strict state-run rabbinate, the financing will not be done directly from the Religious Affairs Ministry but rather channeled through the Ministry of Culture and Sports. And the 15 won’t be able to serve in state capacities like the rabbinate or the military.

But with a precedent established, liberal streams are now aiming for greater breakthroughs. Rabbi Gilad Kariv, who heads Israel’s Reform movement, said

that together with recent strides toward liberalizing the conversion process, the state funding marked the most significant development to date in breaking down the Orthodox monopoly. “It is one victory out of many that are needed in order to reach full equality in Israel between the denominations,” he said.

“The important thing is that the Israeli government will not be able to say anymore that the non-Orthodox denominations do not deserve equal treatment.”

The precedent was enough to spark outrage from the religious establishment and Orthodox political parties, which wield significant political power and often act as kingmakers in Israeli politics. Yaakov Margi, the minister of religious affairs from the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, threatened to resign if forced to provide funding. Ultra-Orthodox lawmaker Moshe Gafni accused the legal system of attempting to “undermine the Jewish infrastructure of the state.”

“All of a sudden, there is money for Reform and Conservative clowns for whom Judaism is a mockery,” he said in parliament. At a charged parliamentary meeting last week to discuss the new funding scheme, an angry Gafni had Kariv removed from the room when he tried to speak. “I have no problem with heads of these communities getting funding for their cultural activities. My problem is with the state of Israel recognizing them as rabbis,” Daniel Hershkowitz, an Or thodox Cabinet

minister, told The Associated Press. “It has been clear for thousands of years how one becomes a rabbi. Just like the state does not decide who becomes a doctor or a lawyer, it shouldn’t be deciding who becomes a rabbi.”

Hershkowitz has demanded an urgent meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to voice his objec tions. The development was made possible thanks to Americanborn Reform Rabbi Miri Gold, who petitioned the Supreme Court in 2005 and demanded equal financing. Gold, born and raised near Detroit, heads a congregation in Kibbutz Gezer in central Israel. Like other members of the Reform movement, Gold also thinks the state shouldn’t be financing religious institutions at all. But she wasn’t ready to have her tax money go to the ultra-Orthodox while liberal rabbis like herself were barred.

“More and more Israelis are taking back their Jewish identity and realizing that Orthodoxy is not the answer,” said Yizhar Hess, who heads the Israeli Conservative, or “Masorati,” movement.

“This is a shift that has yet to materialize in politics, where they have yet to realize that Israeli society is ready for a paradigm shift.” Liberal rabbis don’t expec t the change to happen overnight. “It’s fine with me that there is more demand now for Orthodox rabbis,” Kariv said. “Give me a generation and we’ll change that.” —AP

Suicide bomber kills anti-Qaeda general Attacker a Somali national SANAA: A suicide bomber yesterday killed the army general spearheading a blistering offensive against Al-Qaeda in south Yemen, throwing himself on the officer’s vehicle as he blew himself up, officials said. The attack on General Salem Ali Qoton came as Al-Qaeda fled its last bastion in Yemen’s restive southern and eastern provinces in the face of the military’s month-long withering assault aimed at destroying the jihadist network.

Qoton, chief military commander in south Yemen, was attacked

anonymity, the official said the explosion “killed the general and two of his aides.” A medic, who is related to Qoton, gave an alternative account of the incident, saying the attacker brazenly shook hands with the general before blowing him up. The medic, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the attacker “handed Qoton a paper, shook his hand and then detonated himself,” when the general was walking to his office.

As chief commander, Qoton has led the offensive against Al-Qaeda, forcing the militant group to with-

jihadists “handed over the city late Sunday night to a committee of tribal mediators.” Al-Qaeda had declared an Islamic emirate in the desert town where hundreds of fighters are believed to have sought refuge after fleeing their strongholds in Abyan which fell to army control last week. Bajanoub said the jihadists also fled the neighbouring village of Al-Huta, adding that the army was likely to “enter Azzan in the coming days.”

In the past week, Al-Qaeda has also withdrawn from their three main strongholds in Abyan, includ-

ADEN: Yemeni men look at a destroyed car after a suicide attack in the port city of Aden that killed the Yemeni army General Salem Ali Qoton who was leading the fight against Al-Qaeda in the country’s south yesterday. —AFP while on his way to his office in the port city of Aden, witnesses said.

According to a report on Yemen’s defence ministry website, a military official said the bomber, a “Somali national ... threw himself on (Qoton’s)’ vehicle and then detonated his explosives,” as the general drove through Aden’s Mansura neighbourhood.

Speaking on condition of

draw from a string of towns and villages in Abyan and Shabwa provinces which they had controlled since last year. Late Sunday, Al-Qaeda fled from their last bastion in the town of Azzan in Shabwa province, the last town in Yemen where they had established complete control, the town’s deputy mayor said.

Yaslam Bajanoub said that the

ing the capital Zinjibar and the towns of Jaar and Shuqra. The group’s fighters are believed to have retreated to safe havens in the country’s mountainous regions in Shabwa, Marib and Hadramawt provinces where they enjoy tribal protection.

Qoton was appointed in March just days after newly elected President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi

took office with a pledge to destroy Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the name given to the militant group’s local Yemen branch. The post had been held for decades by General Mahdi Maqola, known for his close ties to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Saleh was accused by his opponents of allowing Al-Qaeda to establish a stronghold in Yemen’s mostly lawless south and east.

Qoton’s appointment was in line with the Gulf sponsored powertransition deal that saw Saleh quit after 33 years in power, and required Hadi to restructure the Yemeni army during a two-year interim period.

Ali Mansur, a senior army commander and close aide to Qoton described the general’s death as “a huge loss for Yemen and its efforts to fight Al-Qaeda.” Speaking to AFP by phone, Mansur said the attack “bears the hallmark of Al-Qaeda,” although no group has immediately claimed responsibility. He gave Qoton full credit for the Yemen army’s victories against Al-Qaeda in both Abyan and Shabwa. “In just three months, Qoton achieved major progress towards chasing down and eliminating” the militants from their strongholds, said Mansur.

In a separate incident yesterday, Shabwa’s governor escaped an assassination attempt, tribal sources told AFP. Hasan al-Ahmad was travelling with a convoy of soldiers on route from the provincial capital Ataq to Azzan when AlQaeda launched an attack. The sources said two soldiers and a civilian were killed in the assault but the governor escaped unharmed. Yemen’s military launched its anti-Qaeda offensive on May 12. A total of 567 people have already died in the campaign — 429 Al-Qaeda militants, 78 soldiers, 26 militiamen and 34 civilians-according to an AFP tally compiled from various sources. —AFP

BENGHAZI: Libyan women attend a training session for electoral workers in Benghazi yesterday in preparation for the upcoming Libyan elections on July 7. The election will be Libya’s first national poll after four decades of dictatorship under toppled leader Muammar Gaddafi. —AFP

Australian minister in Libya over ICC detentions TRIPOLI: Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr arrived in Libya yesterday to press for the release of an International Criminal Court team being held after meeting the son of slain dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Carr is expected to seek the release of the ICC delegation including Australian Melinda Taylor and colleagues from Lebanon, Russia and Spain, who were detained on June 7 as they helped Seif al-Islam choose a defence lawyer.

“I’ve got modest expectations, but I’m here to press the case of the Australian government,” Carr told ABC radio on arrival, according to a transcript released by the Australian consulate in Tripoli. “Melinda Taylor was here working for a respected international organization the International Criminal Court-that work attracts immunity. That role ought to be respected,” he said. Shortly after landing in the capital, Carr met interim Prime Minister Abdel Rahim Al-Kib and was also due to meet other senior government officials, Kib’s office said.

Libyan officials have alleged that Taylor was carrying a pen camera and attempted to give Seif a coded letter from his former right-hand man, Mohammed Ismail, who is on the run.

Carr, who did not comment on the allegations, said he would push for greater consular access and for Taylor to have the capacity to get in touch with her relatives while the issue is being resolved. “We’d like (Ambassador) David Ritchie to be able to to see Melinda Taylor more regularly. We’d like her to be able to phone her husband Geoff in The Hague... and her parents, John and Janelle, in Brisbane.”

“I’m going to continue to press that with the people I meet here and I hope that by

underlining that on this visit we get some progress out of it. “Progress is to see her judiciously released... But in the shorter term, if she’s going to continue in detention, we see that she’s got that consular access and capacity to phone her family.” The ICC wants to try Seif, 39, for crimes against humanity during his father’s rule. Tripoli insists he should be tried locally and filed on On May 1 a motion challenging the ICC’s jurisdiction to put him on trial in The Hague.

Carr said Taylor inadvertently got caught up in that dispute. “There is a broader wellrehearsed dispute here and that is the dispute that Melinda Taylor has inadvertently become involved in. “She is doing her duty for the ICC, but the Libyan authorities, and none more than the authorities in Zintan, are contesting the right of the ICC to do that,” he said. Seif has been held in Zintan, 180 kilometres (110 miles) southwest of Tripoli, since his arrest on November 19 last year. Taylor and her team are being held in the same town.

Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammed Abdel Aziz met Carr yesterday and informed him that Taylor was “being treated well” and “living in excellent conditions,” according to state news agency LANA. “Libya will cooperate with the International Criminal Court to reach a settlement on the issue of its team being held in Libya,” Abdel Aziz was quoted as saying. On Friday, the UN Security Council expressed “serious concern” over Libya’s detention of the four.

It reminded the Libyan authorities that they have to cooperate with the ICC under UN resolutions on the conflict last year that led to Gaddafi’s overthrow. —AFP

Women’s rights law no match for Kurdistan tradition ARBIL: In June 2011, Iraqi Kurdistan passed a landmark law that criminalised female circumcision and domestic violence, but one year on, activists remain frustrated with its patchwork implementation. In what is a conservative society even by Middle East standards, the passage of the law last year was hailed by rights groups and NGOs as a major step forward after years of struggle.

The law punishes physical, sexual and psychological assault committed within the family, creates conditions for the protection of victims and mandates the establishment of specialized courts. It also carries penal and financial punishments for those who promote or practice female genital mutilation.

Kurdistan is a three-province region in Iraq’s north that enjoys great autonomy from the central government, with its own parliament, budget, and armed forces. The region benefits from a markedly more stable security situation than the rest of the country, and an improving economy, two factors

that mean life for women in Kurdistan is widely regarded as better than Iraq’s other provinces. But terrible problems remain, one of which is female genital mutilation.

Though often perceived as a problem mostly prevalent in Africa, the practice is widespread in Kurdistan, according to German NGO Wadi, which published a report in 2010 on the subject, based on interviews with 1,700 women in the region.

According to that report, 72.7 percent of women in the region’s two biggest provinces of Arbil and Sulaimaniyah were victims of female genital mutilation, with the rate rising to almost 100 percent in some areas.

Wadi pointed to a “clear link” between the practice and illiteracy, pegged at 51.1 percent among women in Kurdistan. The adoption of the law marked a “big victory”, said Suzan Aref, head of the Women’s Empowerment Organisation, a local NGO established in June 2004. “At least now we are talking about this,” she said. Pakhshan

Zangana, secretary general of the High Council for Women’s Affairs, a Kurdish government agency, agrees: “In our society, just to recognise domestic violence is very important.”

“Society recognised that, yes, we do have domestic violence, it is a crime. This is so important. “In other societies, it is (considered) the right of the family, that they have the right to do anything,” she said. But both women agree the battle will not be won until the law is fully applied, which appears a long way off. “Yes, we have laws, but... we don’t have implementation,” Aref said. “This is a big problem.” “You cannot find that the numbers (for female genital mutilation) have reduced because of this law, because no one knows about it,” she said, adding: “We need a campaign of awareness.”

‘Women losing hope’ Police in the region are widely seen as reluctant to investigate deeper in to violence against and the causes of apparent

suicides, which may well be so-called honour killings, Aref noted. Women see the law not being applied, she said, and “they lose hope.” Ramziya Zana, head of the Arbilbased Gender Studies and Information Centre Organisation, is more direct. “It has been one year since the law was passed, and it has still not been applied,” she said. “It’s a disaster. Now, you have to either return the law to parliament, or apply it”.

According to her, judges and religious leaders have stood in the way of the law’s full implementation. “Most judges think this is harmful for the family,” and those who apply it “can be counted on one hand,” she said. As for religious leaders in Kurdistan, “there is nothing in the law that they like” and many have called for it to be amended or scrapped. Zangana admitted there have been difficulties in applying the new law, particularly in the creation of special courts, but insisted an implementation plan was being developed with the United Nations, and said patience was needed. —AFP

ARBIL: An Iraqi woman, Ghariba Muhammed, works in a grocery shop in the city of Arbil, in the autonomous Kurdistan region of northern Iraq on June 16, 2012. —AFP

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

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

Summit lets Obama, Putin size up the competition Two men use meeting to claim leverage

ALASKA: In this Saturday photo provided by the National Park Service, rescuers search for four Japanese climbers on Alaska’s Mount McKinley. The National Park Service says it has permanently suspended efforts to recover the bodies of the four climbers killed in an avalanche. —AP

Alaska officials halt search for climbers ANCHORAGE: The search for four Japanese climbers who were caught in an avalanche on Alask a’s Mount McKinley has been halted, with authorities calling the site their final resting place. The National Park Service said Sunday that a shallow avalanche on the mountain may not have k illed the climbers, but the slide pushed them into a crevasse more than 100 feet deep.

The search for them was permanently suspended after a mountaineering ranger found the climbing rope in debris at the bottom of the crevasse, spokeswoman Kris Fister said Sunday from Talkeetna.

“We believe this is their final resting place,” Fister said. The four were identified as Yoshiaki Kato, 64, Masako Suda, 50, Michiko Suzuki 56, and 63-year-old Tamao Suzuki, 63. The avalanche early Wednesday morning also pushed Hitoshi Ogi, 69, into the crevasse. Ogi climbed 60 feet out of the crevasse and reached a base camp Thursday afternoon. Ogi had been attached to the other members of the team by climbing rope as they descended in an avalanche -prone section of the West Buttress Route. The rope broke in the avalanche and fall.

The group was on a section known as Motorcycle Hill at about 11,800 feet, which has a 35-degee slope. Climbers who take a required briefing on the mountain are warned of the avalanche danger there. “This is the first time there have been fatalities,” Fister said. The avalanche likely was set up by new snow falling on rock or hardened snow and ice, Fister said. No climber reached the summit between June 8 and the day of the fall five days later because of falling

snow and wind that limited visibility, Fister said.

The avalanche measured 200 feet wide and 800 feet top to bottom, Fisher said. It created a snow pile averaging only 3-4 feet deep. A 10-person ground crew searched for the climbers Saturday and at first concentrated on the avalanche debris. The patrol included a rescue dog and a handler. Probes turned up no sign of the missing climbers.

“We weren’t certain originally,” Fister said. “ That ’s why we were probing through the snowfield itself. Then when we had the chance to go further into the same crevasse that he (Ogi) had fallen into, they started going further in, probing. Again, there was a lot of ice debris that had fallen into it.” Park Service mountaineering ranger Tucker Chenoweth found a grim sign of the doomed climbing team in the crevasse.

Ogi had emerged from the crevasse with much of his gear missing, and Chenoweth spotted equipment as he descended. At 100 feet down, he dug through ice debris and spotted rope.

It matched about 60 feet of rope that remained attached to Ogi, and which he had carried with him on his descent from the crevasse to the base camp.

Chenoweth continued to dig, hoping to reach the other roped-in climbers, but found the going difficult through the compacted ice and snow debris. The danger of falling ice made it too dangerous to continue an attempt to recover bodies, Fister said. All the climbers were members of the Japanese alpine club Miyagi Workers Alpine Federation. Ogi suffered a minor hand injury, according to the Park Service. He was flown off the mountain Thursday. — AP

Sandusky abuse trial turns to defense case BELLEFONTE: The defense in Jerry Sandusky’s child sexual abuse trial could begin putting its own witnesses on the stand as early as yesterday, and one could be the former Penn State assistant football coach himself. Sandusky’s lawyer has suggested that the 68-year-old may take the stand, although that is a risk defense attorneys usually avoid.

Sandusky faces dozens of counts of sexual abuse of 10 boys over 15 years, allegations he denies. The scandal has rocked one of the country’s most storied sports programs.

Jurors last week heard from eight young men who say he sexually abused them as children. Prosecutors say he met and groomed victims through the charity he founded for at-risk youth.

Prosecutors yesterday dropped one of the 52 counts against Sandusky, citing a timing issue. The encounter involved in the charge occurred in 1995 or 1996, but prosecutors say the statute didn’t apply until 1997. More counts related to the accuser dubbed Victim 7 by prosecutors are still pending.

Prosecutors also told the judge they would call one more witness before resting their case. The accusers say Sandusky

plied them as children with gifts, dazzled them with the prestige of Penn State’s football program and scaled up physical contact, from a hand on the knee or a fatherly kiss to fondling, repeated oral sex and, in some cases, rape. The defense has sought to show how the stories of accusers have changed over time, that they were prodded and coached by investigators and prosecutors, that some are motivated to lie by the hopes of money from a civil lawsuit, and to paint Sandusky’s interactions with children as misunderstood and part of a lifelong effort to help them, not victimize them.

“Jerry, in my opinion, loves kids so much that he does things none of us would ever do,” defense attorney Joseph Amendola said at the start of the trial.

During cross-examination, at least six accusers said they told incorrect or incomplete stories in early contacts with police, and three testified that some of the details only came back to them in recent years.

In some cases, the witnesses said they were embarrassed or did not want to get dragged into the case, while others spoke of recent improvements in what they recall. —AP

LEMONT: Jerry Sandusky walks to his house with Attorney Karl Rominger, Sunday in Lemont, Pa. After four days of testimony that saw eight men from 18 to 28 years old tell jurors that Sandusky sexually abused them as children. —AP

SAN JOSE DEL CABO: President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin need one another, an uncomfortable truth for the superpower leader waging a tough re- election campaign and the newly elected Russian leader who is deeply suspicious of the United States. The two men will use their meeting yesterday, the first since Putin returned to Russia’s top job, to claim leverage. Much of the rest of the Group of 20 economic meeting will be devoted to the European fiscal crisis and the fate of Greece as a part of the euro zone. A pro-euro candidate is trying to form a coalition government following elections Sunday, but the anti-austerity secondplace party has refused.

“I expect that it will be a candid discussion, it will get down to business,” White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said ahead of the lengthy morning meeting between Obama and Putin. “We’ll be able to sustain cooperation in some areas, we’ll have differences in other areas, and we’ll work to try to bridge those differences.”

Obama was also meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel later yesterday. Germany is playing a leading role brokering a solution to Europe’s debt crisis.

The G-20 gathering is a natural forum for sideline discussions of the urgent crisis in Syria as well as diplomatic efforts to head off a confrontation with Iran. Russia is a linchpin in world efforts to resolve both crises, and to US goals for the smooth shutdown of the war in Afghanistan. In the longer term, Obama wants Russia’s continued cooperation in nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation.

Obama made a special project of Russia in his first term and arguably needs Moscow’s help even more if he wins a second one. He is trying to avoid a distracting public spat with Russia

during this election year, as suggested by an overheard remark to outgoing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in March.

Obama told Medvedev he would have more flexibility to answer Russian complaints about a US built missile defense shield in Europe after the November election.

Things got off to a rocky start with Putin, when Obama pointedly withheld a customary congratulatory phone call to Putin until days after his May election.

Putin appeared to snub Obama by skipping the smaller and weightier Group of Eight meeting that Obama hosted later that month at Camp David, and a planned Oval Office welcome for the new Russian leader. The rescheduled Obama-Putin meeting comes the same day as

lend legitimacy to the argument that Iran faces broad international condemnation. Iran usually paints the dispute over its nuclear program as a confrontation with the US and its ally Israel.

Brutal attacks on anti-government protesters in Syria and the threat of civil war in the Mideast nation pose the most immediate crisis. Diplomatic hopes have rested on Washington and Moscow agreeing on a transition plan that would end the four-decade Assad family rule. Russia, as Syria’s longtime ally and trading partner, is seen as the best broker for a deal that could give Syrian President Bashar Assad political refuge. So far, Moscow has said no.

Pressure increased on Russia over the weekend, when the United Nations suspended its unarmed monitoring mission in

LOS CABOS: US President Barack Obama disembarks from Air Force One at the Los Cabos International Airport in Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, on Sunday. —AFP Moscow hosts an international negotiating session with Iran.

Russia has gone along with UN Security Council efforts to tighten some penalties against Iran because of questions about its nuclear weapons ambitions, but has blocked the harshest punishments. Still, the United States needs Russia’s participation to

Pena Nieto keeps wide lead in race MEXICO CITY: Mexico’s presidential front-runner Enrique Pena Nieto has maintained a wide lead over his rivals with only two weeks remaining until the July 1 election, an opinion poll showed early yesterday. The latest survey by polling firm Buendia & Laredo for newspaper El Universal showed Pena Nieto, candidate of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), dipping 0.8 percentage points to 37.0 percent from a previous poll published on June 4.

Pena Nieto was under rising pressure earlier this month from leftist rival Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, whose campaign was boosted by studentled opposition to the prospect of victory by the PRI, which dominated Mexico for most of the 20th Century. Support for 2006 runner-up Lopez Obrador fell 0.4 points to 23.5 percent, the latest poll showed. Josefina Vazquez Mota, from the ruling National Action Party (PAN), saw support for her candidacy dip 1.0 point to 21.4 percent.

The survey was the first for the newspaper since a final televised debate, held on June 10, between the candidates. Nearly a third of respondents said they believed the telegenic Pena Nieto had won the debate, which passed off largely without incident.

Nearly a fifth saw Lopez Obrador as the victor, just ahead of the PAN’s Vazquez Mota. Support for the conservative PAN has been hurt by a mounting death toll in the government’s war on drug cartels, and a failure to create enough jobs for the growing population.

President Felipe Calderon pledged to root out the increasing menace from drug gangs when he took office in December in 2006, sending in the army to bring them to heel. Since then the violence has spiralled, and more than 55,000 lives have been lost in turf wars between the gangs and their clashes with security forces.

A breakdown of the poll results showed that the number of undecided voters had risen slightly and that the only candidate to gain ground was Gabriel Quadri of the New Alliance Party, who is way back in fourth. He polled 3 percent support. Stripping out undecided voters, Pena Nieto had the backing of 43.6 percent of the electorate, good for a lead of nearly 16 points over Lopez Obrador, El Universal said.

The 45-year-old PRI candidate has led polls for more than two years, and his support only began to wobble noticeably during a recent series of street protests against the PRI, which ruled Mexico between 1929 and 2000. Opponents have played on the party’s reputation for corruption and authoritarianism to stir up misgivings about a PRI victory, but latest poll results suggest the damage to Pena Nieto’s candidacy has been contained.

Results of a separate survey by polling firm BGC published on Sunday showed Pena Nieto maintaining support of 42 percent. Lopez Obrador slipped back just behind Vazquez Mota, who was 13 points beh ind th e PRI favorite. The Buendia & Laredo poll for El Universal surveyed 1,600 eligible voters between June 11 and June 14. It had a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points, the newspaper said. —Reuters

Syria out of concern for the monitors’ safety. The move was widely interpreted as a challenge to Russia to intervene with Assad to preserve a UN role Moscow sees as a brake on any armed foreign intervention. The United States has refused to arm anti-Assad rebels in part to avoid a proxy fight in which Iran, Russia and

others arm one side and the US and Sunni Arab states arm the other. Opposition groups estimate 14,000 people have died in violence that the US fears is sliding into civil war.

Putin’s campaign included some of the strongest antiAmerican rhetoric from Moscow in a decade and he openly accused Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton of inciting protests against him. The Obama administration mostly tried to shrug it off, but Putin’s return to the presidency makes it more likely that any help Russia provides in Syria, Iran or other matters will come at a cost. US strategy has favored flattery that may overstate Russia’s influence, especially on Syria, and efforts to highlight areas where US and Russian goals align.

Russia’s membership in numerous world bodies and its veto power at the UN Security Council give it leverage beyond its economic or military power.

Obama holds far greater power and both leaders know it, but Putin can be a spoiler and irritant.

“President Putin clearly is somebody who can articulate where he has differences with the United States, but we can also articulate where we have differences with Russia,” Rhodes said.

“And I think our assessment is that being candid with one another and clear with one another is in the best interest of the relationship. So because the relationship between the United States and Russia is in our interest, it’s in Russia’s interest, but also it’s in the interest of the world community, because when we can work together on issues, again, it opens up the door to much better progress, whether you’re talking about nonproliferation and nuclear security, whether you’re talking about resolving regional tensions as in Syria, or whether you’re talking about the global economy.” — AP

More evacuations as winds fuel wildfire DENVER: Authorities ordered more evacuations as fire crews struggled against powerful winds fueling a wildfire that has charred more than 87 square miles of forested mountains in northern Colorado. The firefighting force has steadily increased and by Sunday night officials said about 1,750 personnel were working on the fire, which was sparked by lightning and was 45 percent contained.

The High Park Fire burning 15 miles west of Fort Collins has destroyed at least 181 homes. The figure represents the most in state history, surpassing the Fourmile Canyon wildfire that destroyed 169 homes near Boulder two years ago.

Julie Berney with the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office said firefighters dealt with winds of 30 mph with gusts of up to 50 mph Sunday. Some rain moved through Saturday evening, but it wasn’t enough to quell the fire.

“The problem is that when you have a fire like this, even if it rains it evaporates before it hits the ground,” Berney said.

Despite the winds, fire officials said crews Sunday were able to maintain most existing fire lines, with the fire chewing through about 1,000 more acres.

Incident commander Bill Hahnenberg said he was pleased with the firefighters’ progress. “A scenario could be we’ll lose some line, and then we just go after it the next day and the next day,” he said.

On Sunday afternoon, high winds prompted fire managers to ground all helicopters working on the blaze and to send 96 notices to residents, ordering the immediate evacuation of the Hewlett Gulch Subdivision in the Poudre Canyon area north of the fire. It was unclear how many homes were affected. Sunday

night, Larimer County officials said evacuations orders were also issued for Soldier Canyon and Mill Canyon areas.

The officials said 331 notifications were sent.

A high wind warning was in effect all day, and crews are expecting more of the same yesterday: winds of 30-50 mph, low humidity and high temperatures. As firefighters try to get the upper hand on the blaze, which has burned large swaths of private and US Forest Service land, local authorities have dispatched roving patrols to combat looting. On Sunday, deputies arrested 30-year-old Michael Stillman Maher, of Denver, on charges including theft and impersonating a firefighter. The sheriff ’s department said Maher was driving through the fire zone with phony firefighter credentials and a stolen government license plate.

His truck was later seen near a bar in Laporte, and investigators say they found a firearm and stolen property in the vehicle. “There’s a handful out there that are taking advantage of others,” said Sheriff Justin Smith, adding that “if somebody’s sneaking around back there, we’re going to find them.” Also Sunday, a fire erupted in the foothills west of Colorado Springs, prompting the evacuation of some cabins and a recreation area near the Elevenmile Canyon Reservoir. US Forest Service spokesman Ralph Bellah told The Gazette that the fire was reported at about 12:30 p.m. and quickly grew to up to 100 acres. Meanwhile, a fire near Pagosa Springs in the southwestern part of the state has grown to 11,617 acres and is 30 percent contained. Hot, dry conditions Sunday are expected to fuel the fire, which was sparked by lightning May 13. — AP

Lima’s unlikely superhero LIMA: It’s not easy being Superman. It only earns about $160 a month for Avelino Chavez, who dresses up daily as the caped hero. But oh, the adventures!

The 52-year-old Chavez can’t fly but does seem to be everywhere in Lima: at political rallies and speeches, at a wedding shoot for Peru’s famed opera tenor Juan Diego Florez, hawking tours and flights on behalf of a travel agency in the central Plaza de Armas. “Hola Superman!” people shout to him. “Hola, Superamigo!” he’ll shout back. Chavez became a superhero 15 years ago after a failed go at bullfighting and jobs as a craftsman, laboratory worker and brothel security guard.

“I lost my job but realized that I could be Superman. I went to the story and bought a blue shirt and a cousin of mine

who is a seamstress sewed the cape, the boots, the belt and the red tights,” he told The Associated Press. He hasn’t lacked for work since. One political party even asked him to run for Congress a decade ago. He agreed, but didn’t win the seat.

Chavez says he tries to “maintain order in the city.” In 2002, he says, he recovered from a thief a purse the man had stolen from a woman. “My Kryptonite is my security,” he says, referring the fictional element that protects the comic book character whose identity he’s fused with his own. As a younger man, Chavez said he sometimes dressed as Carlos Gardel, the Argentine crooner whose tangos “cut to the soul” or wore a beret that made him feel like the revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara. — AP

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

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

Streets deserted after Nigeria church blasts, riots kill 52 KADUNA: The streets of Nigeria’s Kaduna city were mostly empty yesterday a day after suicide blasts on three churches carried out by Boko Haram Islamists and subsequent rioting killed at least 52 people. Banks and offices were shut while rescuers combed through streets looking for the bodies of those killed by armed Christian mobs that targeted Muslims after the blasts at churches in Kaduna city and the nearby city of Zaria.

Boko Haram, responsible for more than 1,000 deaths since July 2009, said the church blasts “were reprisals for the many atrocities Christians perpetrated against Muslims,” in an email from purported group spokesman Abul Qaqa. Suicide bombers attacked two churches in the city of Zaria and one in the city of Kaduna, killing at least 16 people, police spokesman

Frank Mba said in a statement.

After news of the Sunday bombings spread, Christian rioters took to the main highway that leads to the capital Abuja, attacking motorists who looked Muslim. Armed Christian mobs also prowled the streets of Kaduna city, torching mosques, petrol stations, dozens of vehicles and shops, said an AFP reporter who toured Kaduna city with a military patrol yesterday. “As of the last count we have 52 dead bodies picked up from the affected areas. We have more than 150 injured,” said a senior rescue official who asked to not be named as he was not authorised to issue death tolls.

“Most of the victims were those killed in reprisal attacks. We are still doing mopping up exercises,” he added. Following presidential elections last year, Kaduna state saw riot-

ing that left more than 500 people, mostly Muslims, dead. Police termed the latest riots “a momentary breakdown of law and order” in a statement, and announced a state-wide 24-hour cur few that remained in place yesterday.

State government spokesman Saidu Adamu said education officials held a meeting to discuss rescheduling end-of-term secondary school examinations. “Students are likely to miss their exams if the curfew is not lifted,” he said. While banks and shops were closed as troops patrolled the vacant streets, the lock-down did not apply to doctors and nurses, who were allowed to work yesterday, Adamu further explained. “Many of (the injured) need surgery, but a shortage of blood is stalling treatment,” a Red Cross official in Kaduna said. The first blast

struck ECWA Goodnews Church in the Wusasa area of Zaria city early Sunday.

The second explosion went off 10 minutes later at the Christ the King Catholic church in Zaria’s Sabongari area, a police statement said.

The third blast hit the Shalom Church in Kaduna city moments later.

A worshipper said he saw a bomber drive an explosives-packed car into the church building. “Right away the car exploded and killed a soldier and two private security guards guarding the church,” Joseph Emmanuel told AFP. Among the victims targeted by the Christian mobs that formed after the blasts were Muslim motorcycle taxi drivers parked near churches and cobblers that typically repair the shoes of the area’s churchgoers, a Red Cross official said. “Allah has given us victory in the attacks we launched against

churches in (the cities of) Kaduna and Zaria which resulted in the deaths of many Christians and security personnel,” said the Boko Haram statement.

As their insurgency has intensified, Boko Haram’s stated demands and grievances have varied widely, prompting speculation that the group is composed of disparate cells, including a hardcore Islamist wing. The extremists have previously said they intended to create an Islamic state across the mainly Muslim of northern part of Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation of 160 million, where the south is majority Christian. In their latest statement, they denied “a rumour” that their objective is to destroy northern Nigeria and indicated they wanted to restore the Islamic state that once existed there and was “destroyed” by British colonialists. — AFP

Countdown pressure on Greece to form new govt Pro-bailout parties’ win eases fears

OSLO: Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi (C), Norway’s Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere (L) and U2 singer Bono (R) pose before a press conference at the Oslo Forum at Losby Gods in Lorenskog yesterday. —AFP

Gratitude and laughs as Suu Kyi meets Bono OSLO: She wore red roses in her hair, he donned his huge orange sunglassesMyanmar’s democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi yesterday met one of her biggest fans, U2 frontman and activist rock star Bono.

“I’m star-struck,” admitted the Irish singer, who has long supported her freedom struggle and dedicated the song “Walk On” to her, when they met at a peace forum in Oslo, Suu Kyi’s latest stop on a five-nation Europe tour.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi has herself received superstar treatment and been cheered by crowds of many thousands as she visited Norway on her first Europe trip in a quarter-century after years of house arrest. Long isolated, threatened and vilified by one of the world’s must repressive dictatorships, she has recently rejoined mainstream politics in a changing country, while many of her party members have been freed from prison.

Yesterday, Suu Kyi hosted a panel with Bono, who has long used his star power to promote rights and fight poverty, and who recalled a global U2 concert tour where video messages from Suu Kyi were played from giant screens. “Suu Kyi came on the road with us,” the stubble-faced rocker quipped at their joint press conference.

“Seven million people we played to. She was there every night. A digital version, but she’s very good live!

“And she made a real connection with our audience... telling them that their voices were powerful and that they could be heard all the way to Burma.” Bono recalled that at the shows, not everyone in the crowd knew who was behind the initials for the name Aung San Suu Kyi. “We had a few people who would arrive with a T-shirt with ‘ASSK’ on and think she’s a speed metal band from Asia,” he joked. “It’s great that in a U2 crowd not everyone is a political

science student.”

On a more serious note, he spoke of his admiration for Suu Kyi: “It’s really her nonviolent position that I find so impressive.

“You get the feeling with Daw Suu that peace is not the absence of war around us but rather peace is the absence of war within us,” he said, using a Burmese honorific that means ‘aunt’ for Suu Kyi. When Suu Kyi was asked whether she liked Bono’s song about her and her family’s struggle, Bono interjected: “She’s a Bob Marley fan... So am I.” But Suu Kyi was quick to praise his work: “I like the song because it’s very close to how I feel, that it’s up to you to carry on. “It’s good if you have supporters.

It’s good if you have people who are sympathetic and understanding. But in the end, it’s your own two legs that have to carry you on.”

A thankful Bono replied about the song that “I’m amazed that this has been taken to her heart and the hearts of others.” Then he added on a lighter note: “You never know. If the song was shite, it could have made matters a lot worse.”

Suu Kyi, speaking earlier on the need to fight injustice and help people, paid her own compliment to Bono. “I think there is always something that can be done, and we need people like you to do that. We need people like Bono. We must have Bono in on it!” Bono later gave Suu Kyi a lift aboard his private jet to Dublin-where she will be feted at the “Electric Burma” tribute concert hosted by Amnesty International.

The plane took off from Oslo around 1200 GMT. Later yesterday around 5,000 people in Dublin were due at a public event to sing “happy birthday” to Suu Kyi, who turns 67 on Tuesday in her former family home Britain, the next stop of her whirlwind Europe visit. — AFP

Child abuse by clergy ‘a mystery’: Pope to Irish VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict XVI told Irish Catholics on Sunday it is a mystery why priests and other church officials abused children entrusted in their care, undermining faith in the church “in an appalling way.” By describing the decades of child abuse in Catholic parishes, schools and church-run institutions and parishes in Ireland as a “mystery,” the pontiff could further anger rank-and-file faithful in Ireland.

Benedict commented on the scandals of sexual abuse and cover-ups by church hierarchy in a pre-recorded video message for an outdoor Mass attended by 75,000 Catholics, many from overseas, in Ireland’s largest sports stadium. Ireland’s prime minister and president attended the Mass, the final event of a Eucharistic Congress aimed at shoring up flagging faith.

The weeklong Eucharistic Congress, held by the Vatican every four years in a different part of the world, took place against a backdrop of deep anger over child abuse cover-ups and surveys showing declining weekly Mass attendance in Ireland, where church and state were

once tightly entwined. “How are we to explain the fact that people who regularly received the Lord’s body and confessed their sins in the sacrament of Penance have offended in this way?” said the pope, referring to church staff who abused children. “It remains a mystery,” he said. “Yet evidently their Christianity was no longer nourished by joyful encounter with Jesus Christ. It had become merely a matter of habit.”

Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has said the church in Ireland is facing a grave fight for survival. “Your forbears in the church in Ireland knew how to strive for holiness and constancy in their personal lives,” Benedict said in his message.

In a reference to the Vatican’s insistence on Sunday Mass attendance, Benedict said Catholic faith “is a legacy that is surely perfected and nourished” at Mass.

Yet, he said, “thankfulness and joy at such a great history of faith and love have recently been shaken in an appalling way by the revelation of sins committed by priests and consecrated persons against people entrusted to their care.” — AP

ATHENS: Greece raced to form a coalition with broad support by the end of yesterday after an election victory by pro-bailout parties which eased fears of a Greek eurozone exit and brought relief to world markets. “There is a categorical imperative to form the government” today, President Carolos Papoulias said before giving a formal mandate for negotiations to conservative leader Antonis Samaras, whose New Democracy party won the election.

“The country cannot remain ungoverned for even an hour,” Papoulias said. The 61-yearold Harvard-educated Samaras said: “A national agreement is an imperative called for by everyone. We need to resolve the question immediately.” He also said there should be amendments to the conditions of an EU-IMF bailout deal “so the Greek people can escape from today ’s torturous reality.” New Democracy won 129 of the 300 parliamentary seats in Sunday’s vote, opening the path for a coalition with the third placed socialist party Pasok, which has 33 but has called for other leftist parties to be included.

Some Pasok cadres reportedly want to refuse the invitation but socialist former prime minister Costas Simitis yesterday urged them to show bravery. “Courage is called for, not fear,” said Simitis, who served two terms as prime minister in 1996-2004 and ushered Greece into the euro. He said the three parties championing Greece’s EU future -New Democracy, Pasok and the small Democratic Left party-”must cooperate or they will lead Greece to a eurozone exit and the drachma.”

Europe and the United States urged Greece to act quickly to form a new government and proceed with urgent reforms in order to meet the terms of bailout loans that have kept the Greek economy on life support for the past two years. The anti-austerity leftist Syriza party and its firebrand leader Alexis Tsipras came second with 71 seats. It has ruled out joining a coalition, saying the harsh conditions for the bailout deal should be scrapped altogether.

“It would be disastrous to continue salary and pension cuts,” Tsipras said. “There must be a government soon, and we must take on the role of the main opposition party, to keep the government in check,” he said. The eurozone is hoping the result can draw a line under a lengthy period of uncertainty that has unsettled markets. Global stock markets initially rallied after the result and the euro rose against the dollar but those gains quickly petered out.

In foreign exchange deals yesterday, the euro was just up, at $1.2648 from $1.2644 late on Friday in New York. The Athens stock

exchange hit seven percent before midday but the gains were clipped to 2.83 percent in late afternoon trade. “There is no alternative to a coalition between the right and the socialists since the key issue at stake was the formation of a pro-euro government,” Thomas Gerakis, head of the Marc polling institute, told AFP. Political analyst Yiannis Loulis said: “The government will be fragile, with a fragile pop-

ATHENS: Greek President Carolos Papoulias (R) shakes hands with leader of conservative New Democracy party Antonis Samaras before he receives a mandate to form a government in Athens yesterday. —AFP ular base, and I do not think it is going to last very long. “It was mainly a vote of fear against the exit from the euro, not a real support of the reforms,” he said. Sunday’s election was the most critical for Greece since the end of military rule in 1974 and was particularly significant for Europe as Greece is where the debt crisis kicked off in 2009 before spreading across the continent.

“A further lapse into the unknown was avoided” with the New Democracy victory, said UniCredit economist Erik Nielsen. He warned however that the “six weeks since the last election have seen an already very weak economy grind to a halt.” Key players including Germany said as soon as results began filtering through that they were ready to negotiate postponing Greek budget deadlines-an apparent quid pro quo after Chancellor Angela Merkel urged a pro-bailout vote.

Merkel was the first European leader to call Samaras, saying she would work together

French Socialists vow reforms after big poll win PARIS: A resounding Socialist victory in weekend parliamentary elections will allow President Francois Hollande to press ahead with reforms to tame France’s deficit and promote economic growth in Europe, a senior minister said yesterday. Final results from Sunday’s ballot showed the Socialists and their affiliates had won 314 seats, comfortably exceeding the 289 needed for a majority in the National Assembly and freeing them from reliance on the anti-austerity and Eurosceptical far left.

With the Senate upper house already controlled by the centre -left, the Socialists are now turning their attention to a special parliamentary session next month to push through budget legislation, including tax rises for large firms, particularly banks and energy companies. The measures are part of Hollande’s dual drive to balance France’s budget by 2017 while persuading Europe’s paymaster Germany to back his call for a growth stimulus package of some 120 billion euros ($152 billion) for Europe.

Inheriting a stagnant economy and unemployment running at a 13-year high of 10 percent, Hollande faces a delicate balancing act to prevent contagion from the deepening crisis in Spain and Italy spreading to the euro zone’s second-largest economy. Appearing to prepare the nation for possible tough measures, Interior Minister Manuel Valls said the government would stick to its pledge

with him “on the basis that Greece will meet its European commitments.” Tsipras accused Samaras during the campaign of defending “Merkel’s Europe of the past” while Samaras said Tsipras would bring back the drachma currency. Any new government in Greece faces daunting economic challenges in a country where unemployment is at 22.6 percent, and a tricky political balancing act between pressure from the streets and from

to cut the deficit while honouring promises to raise spending on education and security.

With growth at a standstill and the European Commission warning that France needs to trim spending to meet its 2013 deficit goal, analysts see some belt-tightening necessary. The country has one of the highest levels of state spending in Europe and posted a budget deficit of 5.2 percent of GDP last year.

“We need to sort out this country: every Frenchman will need to make an effort but fairly, via a tax reform. It will be difficult but that is the task facing us,” Valls told RTL radio. — Reuters

PARIS: French newly-elected socialist MP Claude Bartolone poses at the French national assembly yesterday in Paris. —AFP

the global financial community.

Victory celebrations were extremely muted in Athens on Sunday with just around 100 New Democracy supporters showing up at a rally with Samaras in central Syntagma Square, the scene of multiple anti-government protests. The sense of disillusionment with the political establishment was also reflected in the strong showing by the neoNazi Golden Dawn party which won 18 seats after capitalising on anti-immigrant fears.

Although the immediate risk of a eurozone exit has receded with Syriza’s defeat, some analysts have warned that the stricken country could eventually still have to leave the euro even with a New Democracy-led government. Greece has been forced to seek bailouts twice, first for 110 billion euros in 2010 and then for 130 billion euros this year. It has also been given a 107-billion-euro private debt write-off.— AFP

News

in brief

South African court postpones Terre’Blanche killers’ sentencing JOHANNESBURG: The sentencing of the two farmworkers convicted in the killing of South Africa’s white supremacist leader Eugene Terre’Blanche was yesterday postponed until August. The court seating in the northwestern town of Ventersdorp postponed the matter to allow a pychologist and police to conclude their reports on the accused, Chris Mahlangu and Patrick Ndlovu. “This matter is then postponed until August 20 to 24,” said Judge John Horn. Last month Mahlangu was found guilty of murdering Terre’Blanche in 2010 on his farm outside Ventersdorp.

His co-accused, Ndlovu, who was 16 at the time of the murder, was only found guilty of a lesser charge of house-breaking.

Vatican blames media for latest scandal VATICAN CITY: The Vatican is blaming the media for fueling the latest scandal over leaked Vatican documents and is insisting that there are no power struggles or problems of unity in the Holy See’s governance. Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone said in an interview yesterday with an Italian Catholic weekly that journalists reporting on the leaks scandal are “pretending to be Dan Brown ... inventing stories and replaying legends.” The Vatican has been on the defensive ever since sensitive documents alleging corruption and exposing power struggles began leaking out in the Italian media in January. A recent book containing dozens of documents from Pope Benedict XVI’s own desk has compounded what many see as a plot to undermine Bertone. Bertone said he enjoys “an extraordinary climate of communion” with his collaborators.

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

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

Philippine ship pull-out calms tensions: China MANILA: China said yesterday it welcomed Philippine President Benigno Aquino’s order pulling out two ships from a disputed shoal and expressed hope it would calm tensions. “ The Chinese side has been urging the Philippine side to take measures to deescalate the situation,” Chinese embassy spokesman Zhang Hua said in a statement. “We have noticed the withdrawal of government vessels by the Philippine side, and hope this action will help ease the tension.”

Philippine Foreign Department

News

in brief

Man beheads daughter in rage over lifestyle JAIPUR: Police say a man upset over his daughter’s lifestyle chopped her head off with a sword and then paraded it through his village before surrendering to authorities in western India. Marble miner Ogad Singh’s 20-year-old daughter had been living with her parents in the Rajasthani village of Dungarji after leaving her husband two years ago. Police Superintendent Umesh Ojha says Singh was upset by his daughter having affairs with men, and became enraged when she eloped with one of them two weeks ago. Ojha says Singh forced her to return home Sunday, and beheaded her yesterday with a sword.

Rapidly modernizing India faces increasing social clashes as youths resist traditions like arranged marriage or limits on women venturing outside their parents’ or husbands’ homes.

China firework factory blasts kill 14 BEIJING: Explosions ripped through two fireworks factories in China killing 14 people and injuring 13, state media reported yesterday. A blast yesterday morning at a factory in Dongtun, in Huaiyang district of central Henan province, left seven dead and 12 injured, Xinhua news agency said, quoting local authorities. The factory was operating illegally as its licence had expired, and the family of the owner had been detained by police, it said. Local authorities have ordered the closure of all fireworks factories in the district, the news agency added. An explosion Sunday at a licensed fireworks factory in Yichun, in eastern Jiangxi province, also killed seven people and injured one. The cause of the blasts was being investigated, Xinhua said. China’s huge fireworks industry is notorious for its lax safety standards, especially among smaller producers.

HK firm vows to fight Macau plan to revoke land HONG KONG: A Hong Kong property company whose billionaire chairman is facing corruption charges is vowing to fight the Macau government’s attempt to take back a land grant related to the case.

Chinese Estates Holdings Ltd. said late Sunday it will be “strongly opposing” the government’s proposal to cancel the contracts for land where it’s building luxury apartments. The Macau government told the company on Friday of its plans. The company said it has already invested 2.8 billion Hong Kong dollars ($360 million) in the project. Macau prosecutors charged Chairman Joseph Lau in May with bribery and money laundering. He allegedly offered a bribe to the Asian gambling hub’s former public works chief to clear the land deal. Lau is one of several Hong Kong tycoons involved in recent corruption scandals.

Nepal protesters stone prime minister’s motorcade KATMANDU: Hundreds of protesters demanding the resignation of Nepal’s prime minister have attacked his motorcade with stones and clashed with riot police. Supporters of the opposition Nepali Congress party attempted to block Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai’s motorcade yesterday as it approached Katmandu’s airport. Bhattarai was leaving Nepal for a conference in Brazil. Riot police blocked the protesters, who pelted Bhattarai’s motorcade with stones.

Two security vehicles were damaged. The protesters later clashed with the riot police. Opposition parties want Bhattarai to step down so a new government can conduct elections later this year.

Philippine leader signs law on terror financing MANILA: Philippine President Benigno Aquino III has signed a law that makes terror financing a crime with a long prison term in a Southeast Asian nation that has been scarred by deadly attacks. Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda says the legislation signed

by Aquino yesterday would be a new weapon against Al-Qaeda-linked extremists, who have been weakened by years of US-backed assaults but continue to pose a threat.

spokesman Raul Hernandez said Aquino ordered the vessels to leave the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea on Friday night as passing tropical storm Gutchol dumped heavy rains across large parts of the Philippines. Hernandez stressed this did not mean the country was giving up on the shoal but he would not say if any Philippine ships would be returning after the weather improved.

He said both China and the Philippines had agreed to pull its ships out of a lagoon of the shoal, but there

was no accord to withdraw from the area permanently. He added that as of the last count on Thursday, there were still seven Chinese ships at the shoal. A statement on the Chinese embassy’s website yesterday meanwhile said Beijing had deployed a vessel to help its fishermen pull out of the shoal as well due to bad weather and a strong tide.

The Philippine vessels had been posted in Scarborough Shoal, which the Chinese call Huangyan Island, over the past two months amid a tense ter-

ritorial standoff. A larger number of Chinese maritime patrol vessels as well as fishing boats were also in the area, according to the Philippines, though both sides imposed unilateral fishing bans in the area during the dispute.

The dispute began after Chinese government vessels blocked Philippine ships from arresting Chinese fishermen near the shoal on April 10. Since then, both countries have maintained ships there to press their respective claims to the area. China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, even waters close to

the coasts of neighboring countries.

The Philippines says the shoal is well within its 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone.

The Philippines and Vietnam have in recent years accused China of becoming increasingly aggressive in staking its claim. The shoal sits about 230 kilometres (140 miles) from the Philippines’ main island of Luzon.

The nearest major Chinese landmass is 1,200 kilometres northwest of the shoal, according to Philippine navy maps. — AFP

Car bomb kills Pakistan students Mostly Shiite Muslim wounded in attack QUETTA: A car bomb tore into a university bus in Pakistan’s insurgency-torn southwest yesterday, killing four people and wounding more than 40 others, mostly Shiite Muslim students, police said. The attack took place on the outskirts of Quetta, capital of the oil- and gas-rich province of Baluchistan that borders Afghanistan and Iran.

“An improvised-explosive device planted in a car parked on the roadside exploded near the bus of the local IT university, killing four people and wounding over 40 others, mostly students,” said city police chief Mir Zubair. “The bomb targeted the bus as it carried a majority of Shiite students,” he added. Zubair identified the dead as three students and one passer-by.

The injured were transferred to a military hospital for greater protection, said Muhammad Nawaz, a doctor at the local Civil Hospital. Baluchistan is a flashpoint for sectarian violence between Pakistan’s majority Sunni Muslim and minority Shiite Muslim communities. There was no claim of responsibility for the latest attack.

Human rights groups have heavily criticised Pakistan for failing to crack down on violence between Sunnis and Shiites, who account for around 20 percent of the population. Thousands of people have died in related unrest since the late 1980s.

In February 2010, suicide bombers targeted first a Shiite procession in Karachi and then the civilian hospital where the survivors were being treated, killing 25 people.

Baluchistan also suffers from Islamist militancy and a separatist insurgency.

Baluch rebels rose up in the province in 2004, demanding political autonomy and a greater share of profits from oil, gas and mineral resources in the region.

It is one of the most deprived areas of Pakistan despite its resources wealth, and human rights activists have accused the military of mass arrests and extrajudicial executions in its bid to put down the separatist insurgency.

Earlier this month, UN human rights chief Navi Pillay voiced concern over allegations of “very grave” rights violations during Pakistani military operations. —AFP

QUETTA: Relatives of a Pakastani student who was injured in a bomb explosion react at the site, in Quetta, Pakistan yesterday. A bomb exploded in a bus heading to a university in southwestern Pakistan yesterday, killing several students and injuring many people, police said. —AP

Police arrested in Kashmir for alleged rebel links

TAKNAF: A Bangladeshi security officer consoles a Rohingya Muslim man, fleeing from ethnic violence in Myanmar between Buddhists and minority Rohingya Muslims, on a boat jetty at Shahporir Dwip in Taknaf, Bangladesh yesterday. —AP

Bangladesh detains 128 refugees fleeing Myanmar COX’S BAZAR: Bangladeshi officials yesterday intercepted an additional 128 Rohingya refugees fleeing sectarian violence in western Myanmar, and said they would be detained for a while and then sent back home. Some 2,000 members of the Muslim Rohingya ethnic group have tried to enter Bangladesh after fleeing violence in recent weeks in Myanmar’s troubled Rakhine state between Buddhists and Rohingyas that has left dozens of people dead.

But they have all been either turned back or detained. Bangladesh says its resources already are too strained and has refused to accept the Rohingyas despite urgings from the United Nations to grant them refugee status. The latest group - mostly women and children arrived yesterday in five boats at an island in the Bay of Bengal near the border with Myanmar, said Lt. Col. Zahid Hasan, commander of Border Guard

Bangladesh. Authorities planned to provide them food and water, and then send them back home at an unspecified later time, he said.

Abdus Sobhan, 52, who was among the newly arrived refugees, said he and his neighbors from the Maungdaw area of Rakhine state headed for Bangladesh because they feared torture by Myanmar security forces in a crackdown following this month’s violence.

The security forces have been rounding up youths in his neighborhood and imposing strict stay-at-home curfews, he said. “We could not go outside for days, they took our boys away,” he said. “How could we survive if we can’t go outside?”

The unrest - trigged by the rape and murder last month of a Buddhist girl, allegedly by three Muslims, and the June 3 lynching of 10 Muslims in apparent retaliation - stems from long-standing tensions. —AP

SRINAGAR: Four Indian police officers have been arrested in Kashmir for alleged links with rebels fighting against Indian rule, the police chief of the disputed Himalayan region said yesterday. The case has rattled Indian authorities who administer the tense region, where insurgents have waged a violent campaign for decades demanding independence or a merger with neighboring Pakistan.

The alleged rebel ties were discovered last week during a routine investigation into a recent shooting attack on a former militant, police Chief Rajendra Kumar said. Authorities have arrested two intelligence officials and two lowranking police officers, and two more suspected officers are still at large, he said. Kumar said the six are believed to have links to Kashmir’s largest militant group, Hizbul Mujahideen. Officials are investigating whether they might have helped rebels stage attacks, procure

arms, avoid arrest or move undetected through the region.

One of the suspects, a constable who has worked undercover infiltrating rebel groups in the past, was arrested briefly in 2008 for allegedly buying cellphone cards used by gunmen in deadly attacks that year in Mumbai.

However, the constable, Mukhtar Ahmed, was released after authorities said he had made the purchase as part of his undercover work. Ahmed’s rearrest follows new evidence that suggests he may have operated outside of his official mandate on behalf of the rebels, Kumar said.

Pakistan also controls part of Kashmir and, like India, claims the entire region. In 2006, three Indian soldiers and two police officers were detained for alleged links with the rebel group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which New Delhi blames for the Mumbai

Myanmar main opposition spokesman ‘could face jail’ YANGON: Myanmar’s main opposition spokesman could face up to six months in prison for making an accusation that ballot sheets were tampered with in April’s landmark election, an official said yesterday. Nyan Win, who is also democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi’s lawyer, is due in court on June 26 for complaining that a thin layer of wax had been put over check boxes for National League of Democracy (NLD) candidates.

A mark made on the wax could later be rubbed off to cancel the vote. Thaung Hlaing, a senior official at the country’s Election Commission, said the body had asked Nyan Win to publicly withdraw the allegation, which “affected the impression of the commission as we had conducted free and fair polls”. However the

NLD failed to respond to the request, leading the Election Commission to submit a complaint to Zabuthiri Court in the capital Naypyidaw, he added.

Suu Kyi’s party went on to win 43 of the 44 constituencies where it fielded candidates, which gave Suu Kyi her first ever seat in parliament. The authorities have said a subsequent investigation by the Election Commission found no evidence of ballot tampering.

“I just want to say that I am not guilty,” Nyan Win told AFP, adding that his lawyers were preparing evidence for the court hearing. He faces up to six months in jail and a fine of 1,000 kyat ($1.2) under section 182 of the penal code, which makes it an offence to give false information to a public servant. — AFP

North Korea accuses US arms buildup, vows to bolster defences

NAVOTAS: Workers transport blocks of ice on floodwaters yesterday at Navotas fish port, north of Manila, Philippines. Heavy rains overnight brought about by typhoon “Guchol” coupled with high tide, flooded low-lying areas of metropolitan Manila and forced the suspension of classes in affected areas. —AP

SEOUL: North Korea accused the United States yesterday of building up military forces in the region and vowed to strengthen its own defences “in every way”.

The comments came one day after the communist state said it would bolster its nuclear deterrent in the face of what it called US antagonism. Tensions on the peninsula have been high in recent months, following repeated threats by Pyongyang against Seoul and the North’s failed longrange rocket launch in April.

A spokesman for the North’s foreign ministry said yesterday the US “arms buildup” is an “open provocation” to Pyongyang and a prelude to a regional war.

The spokesman’s comments on the official news agency cited the disclosure last week that US forces based in the South are seek ing more attack helicopters and

stronger missile defence systems. The spokesman also mentioned a naval exercise involving South Korea, the US and Japan, which will be held Thursday and Friday south of the peninsula.

South Korean and US naval forces, including a US aircraf t carrier, will also hold manoeuvres in the Yellow Sea for three days starting Saturday.

The North also blasted last Thursday’s meeting in Washington between the US and South Korean defence and foreign ministers.

It said their aim was to discuss “making South Korea an advance base for the implementation of the US strategy for domination over Asia”.

Seoul said the ministers had agreed there would be “a very decisive response” to any fresh provocation from Pyongyang. The South accuses the North of torpedoing a

warship in March 2010 with the loss of 46 lives.

The North denied the charge but killed four South Koreans when it shelled a border island in November 2010. Some Seoul analysts believe it may engineer another border clash as new leader Kim Jong-Un tries to bolster his status with the military.

There is also speculation the North will conduct another nuclear test following United Nations censure of its rocket launch, although Pyongyang has said it has no plans at present to do so.

The North said the US arms buildup “is a prelude to a regional war targeting not only the DPRK (North Korea) but also several Nor theast Asian countries...” The Nor th would “increase its self-defence capabilities in every way to protect sovereignty and dignity of the country and nation”. — AFP

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

NEWS

NEGEV DESERT: An Israeli soldier detains an Arab-Israeli after he tried to pass a road block set up by the police south of Beer Sheva yesterday. — AFP

Violence on Israel’s Egypt, Gaza borders JERUSALEM: Militants who crossed into Israel from Egypt’s Sinai desert fired on Israelis building a barrier on the border yesterday, killing one worker, before soldiers shot dead two of the attackers, Israel’s military said. Hours later, an Israeli air strike on the northern Gaza Strip killed two militants on a motorcycle. Islamic Jihad said they belonged to their group. The military said the strike was not linked to the incident on the border. Two Palestinians were killed in a second Israeli air strike on the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanun yesterday, raising the overall toll to four dead, Palestinian medical

officials said. The Sinai attack, launched soon after Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood declared victory in the country’s presidential election, raised Israeli concerns about lawlessness in the area since the fall of former President Hosni Mubarak in 2011. “We can see a disturbing deterioration in Egypt’s control of the Sinai’s security,” Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said, commenting on the attack. “We are waiting for the election results. Whoever wins, we expect him to take responsibility over all of Egypt’s international commitments, including the (1979) peace treaty with Israel and security arrangements in the Sinai,

and to put an end to these attacks swiftly,” he told reporters.

Three gunmen crossed into Israel from the Sinai deser t, the Israeli militar y said.

Spokesman Yoav Mordechai said “a terrorist squad opened fire and possibly also fired an anti-tank rocket at an area where (Israel) is constructing the border fence”. Soldiers who rushed to the scene killed two of the militants but could not find the third, who may have returned to Egypt, the military said. A military source said the worker killed was an Arab citizen of Israel. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack,

World powers, Iran far apart at nuke talks Continued from Page 1 only for peaceful purposes but which could also make weapons material. A series of UN Security Council resolutions since 2006 have demanded that Iran suspend all its enrichment-related activities due to concerns about the nature of the nuclear program. The world powers, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - all of which have nuclear weapons plus Germany, said it was time for Tehran to do more to assure them it was not seeking the bomb. New US and EU sanctions come into force in two weeks, Israel has threatened to bomb Iran if no solution to the dispute is found and oil markets are nervous over the prospect of intensifying regional tensions.

“The main stumbling block is that the sides’ positions are rather difficult and tough to reconcile,” Sergei Ryabkov, a Russian deputy foreign minister and negotiator, told reporters at the end of the first days of talks in a Moscow hotel. An Iranian diplomat said: “Up to now the environment is not positive at all.” One Western official said: “If Iran remains unwilling to take the opportunities these talks present, it will face continuing and intensified pressure and isolation.”

Experts said a breakthrough was unlikely, with the six powers wary of making concessions that would enable Tehran to draw out the talks and gain time to develop a nuclear weapons capability. The Moscow talks follow two rounds of negotiations since diplomacy resumed in April after a 15-month hiatus during which the West cranked up sanctions pressure. As a priority, the West wants Iran to halt enrichment of uranium to 20 percent purity, a level much higher than what is needed for power generation, seen by some experts as a dangerous step towards being able to make bomb material.

In Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tehran would be prepared to stop enriching uranium to a higher level if the six powers agreed to supply the fuel it needs for a Tehran reactor making medical isotopes.

“From the beginning the Islamic Republic has stated

that if European countries provided 20 percent enriched fuel for Iran, it would not enrich to this level,” Ahmadinejad said in comments published on the presidential website. But it is not clear how much influence Ahmadinejad has over the negotiations and whether his remarks reflect Tehran’s position. The president, who stands down at elections next year, has fallen out of favour with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the man who has the ultimate decision-making power over the strategic nuclear program.

Iran is seeking an end to increasingly tough economic sanctions which have in recent months directly targeted its ability to export oil, its economic lifeblood. An EU embargo on Iranian oil takes full effect on July 1 and new US financial sanctions some days before that. Iran’s crude oil exports have fallen by some 40 percent this year, according to the International Energy Agency.

Without progress to ensure Iran does not develop nuclear arms, Israel “could find itself facing the dilemma of ‘a bomb, or to bomb’,” Israeli Vice Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon said on Sunday. “Should that be the choice, then bombing (Iran) is preferable to a bomb (in Iran’s hands),” he said. “I hope we do not face that dilemma.” The six powers hope at least to win assurances that Tehran is willing to discuss concrete solutions. They want a substantive response to their offer of fuel supplies for Tehran’s research reactor and relief in sanctions on the sale of commercial aircraft parts to Iran. At the last talks, in Baghdad last month, they asked Tehran in return to stop producing higher-grade uranium, ship any stockpile out of the country and close down an underground enrichment facility, Fordow.

But Iran’s chief negotiator, Saeed Jalili, has indicated the incentives on offer are insufficient, although EU officials said last week that he had agreed to give serious consideration to the proposal. Mistrust of Iran remains high. The International Atomic Energy Agency failed to persuade Iran, in talks this month, to let it inspect the Parchin military site where it suspects nuclear bombrelated research took place. — Reuters

Saudi monarch names Salman crown prince Continued from Page 1 yesterday that the monarch had taken his decision “after consulting the law of allegiance” without any reference to debating his choice in the council. He did the same when he named Nayef crown prince, since the new system of selecting an heir is not supposed to come into force during King Abdullah’s reign.

Salman is the 25th son of Abdul Aziz and one of seven full brothers known as the “Sudairi Seven,” after their influential mother Hassa bint Ahmad Al-Sudairi. The seven included the late king Fahd and princes Sultan and Nayef. In addition to Salman, remaining Sudairis include Prince Abdul Rahman, Prince Turki and Prince Ahmed, who was deputy interior minister before being assigned the portfolio.

Most of the senior members of the Al-Saud dynasty are ageing, increasing pressure on the family to pass the reins to a younger generation. King Abdullah is 88, while his halfbrothers Sultan and Nayef died at 86 and 79 respectively within the space of a year. Prince Ahmed has served as deputy interior minister since 1975. The eldest son of Prince Nayef, Prince Mohammed, has been assistant to the minister for security affairs since 1999. Seen as more conservative

than King Abdullah, Nayef was a staunch defender of the Saudi dynasty and resisted any opposition, especially from the Shiite minority in the eastern province. He also strongly opposed allowing women to drive.

“I would predict we will see more Saudi activity abroad, particularly considering what is going on throughout the Arab world today,” said Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent former Saudi newspaper editor. “Prince Salman is pragmatic; I think he will not mind dealing with Islamist Arabs like the Muslim Brotherhood.” From 1962 until last year, Prince Salman served as governor of Riyadh, a position that gave him more contact with foreign governments than many other senior royals. That role saw him arbitrating disputes between members of the ruling family, putting him at the centre of the kingdom’s most important power structure.

He also had to maintain good relations with senior clerics and tribal leaders, meaning he has experience working with all the main groups that count in Saudi policy-making.

Prince Ahmed is seen as unlikely to alter security policies at a time when Saudi Arabia faces a threat from Al Qaeda in neighbouring Yemen and unrest among its Shiite minority. “He was always close to Prince Nayef, but he was more involved in administrative matters, not security. He has vast experience here,” Khashoggi said. — Agencies

about 30 km from the Gaza Strip.

Israel is building a fence along the frontier to curb an influx of African migrants and boost security, and hopes to complete it by the end of the year. It will run along most of the 266 km from Eilat, on the Red Sea, to the Gaza Strip. In August last year, militants crossed over the Egyptian border and killed eight Israelis, in the most serious attack in the area since the Egyptian popular uprising. On Saturday, at least two rockets were fired deep into southern Israel, causing no damage or casualties. It was not clear whether they were launched from Sinai.

Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, ruled by Islamist group Hamas, have launched rockets at Israel from the coastal territory in the past. Israel says Palestinian militants have also crossed into Sinai to launch similar attacks on its territory. Late on Sunday, Israeli aircraft carried out a series of strikes in the Gaza Strip in response to rocket fire from the enclave. Medical sources in Gaza said seven people were wounded. Yesterday, Israeli police said a rocket was fired into the Hof Ashkelon region of southern Israel, which lies just north of the Gaza Strip, causing no injuries or damage. — Agencies

Egypt Islamists claim victory Continued from Page 1 A Shafiq campaign official disputed the Brotherhood victory claim, saying their figures showed its man was ahead. “We reject it completely,” Mahmud Baraka said of the Brotherhood claim. “We are astonished by this bizarre behaviour which amounts to a hijacking of the election results.”

Mursi supporters, many tearful, screamed with excitement as several hundred people staged a victory rally in Cairo’s iconic Tahrir Square, the hub of protests that led to Mubarak’s departure in Feb 2011. But their jubilation was overshadowed by the prospect of a looming showdown between the Brotherhood and the ruling military, which granted itself sweeping powers. The SCAF has introduced de facto martial law, given itself control of the legislature and state budget and also granted itself veto power on a new constitution to be written by a panel that it will pick.

“The military hands power to the military,” read the headline of the independent daily Al-Masry al-Youm. “A president with no powers,” said another independent, AlShorouk.

Revolutionary youth movements, which had been split over whether to boycott the election or to vote Shafiq out, denounced the declaration as a “coup”, while the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party said it rejected any military bid to retake legislative power. “The military council, with its unconstitutional coup, gave itself (unprecedented) powers. The military council has never and will never recognise popular legitimacy that contradicts it,” the Coalition of Revolution Youth said in a statement. “The next phase is a very difficult phase,” senior

Mursi campaign official Khaled Al-Qazaz told AFP. “It already started with the military trying to take all power, which requires all Egyptians to continue the momentum of the revolution to make sure the transition is complete.”

The Brotherhood, which was accused of monopolising politics after last year’s revolt, now finds itself increasingly marginalised, and even faces a lawsuit challenging its legitimacy and legal status.

But the military insists it will transfer power to the new president. The election victor will swear his oath before the constitutional court by “June 30, this month,” Mahmduh Shahin, one of the ruling generals, told a news conference. Another SCAF general, Mohammed Al-Assar, said the vote winner will enjoy full presidential powers.

“The president of the republic will be vested with all the powers of the president of the republic,” Assar told reporters.

The presidential election had deeply polarised the country, between those who objected to the Brotherhood’s Islamist agenda and those who feared a return to the old regime under Shafiq. But there is no reason just yet to believe that Egypt will become a strict Islamic state, some say. “Parliament had an Islamist majority and the world did not collapse... If Mursi wins, Egypt will not turn into Afghanistan as some people imagine, but it can however remain undemocratic,” Amr Shoubaki, an analyst with the Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, wrote in Al-Masry al-Youm. The Brotherhood mobilised its formidable network of supporters to garner tallies from polling stations across the country and deliver early unofficial results, but the final official figures are not expected until Thursday. — AFP

Amir suspends National Assembly for one...

Continued from Page 1 meetings of the National Assembly for a period not exceeding one month”. It also states that the suspension can be repeated or extended only once but with the approval of parliament and cannot be repeated again in the same term. Opposition MPs acknowledged the constitutional right of the Amir to suspend the Assembly for a month, but many warned against perceived attempts to push for dissolving the Assembly, while others said it was a move to deal with problems within the Cabinet. MP Jamaan Al-Harbash said that certain quarters are pushing for dissolving the Assembly, adding that “their problem is not with the National Assembly but with the people who elected the MPs”.

MP Bader Al-Dahoum insisted that if the Assembly is dissolved, “we will mobilize our supporters to the Determination Square” opposite the Assembly, in reference to street protests that forced the previous prime minister and his government to resign in November. MP Musallam Al-Barrak also insisted that the suspension is the constitutional right of the Amir, but added that the move has nothing to do with the Assembly or the majority. He said the move appears to be aimed at providing the government sufficient time to resolve the deadlock in its formation after the resignation of two ministers. Tension between the government and the Assembly has escalated in the past few days after the opposition forced two ministers to resign from the Cabinet that was formed just four months ago. Finance minister Mustafa Al-Shamali was forced to step down late May after a marathon grilling in which he was

accused of squandering public funds. Minister of Social Affairs and Labour Ahmad Al-Rujaib also quit after two opposition MPs filed to question him for alleged irregularities.

Also, MPs from the pro-government minority have grilled the prime minister and the ministers of interior and information, all senior members of the Al-Sabah ruling family. Also, MP Mohammad Al-Juwaihel, a member of the minority, filed a second request to grill the interior minister and the debate was supposed to take place today, but it has now been postponed. Pro-government MP Nabeel Al-Fadhl meanwhile held the parliamentary majority responsible for the suspension, charging that the opposition MPs have continued to blackmail the government and have hijacked the Assembly.

Constitutional experts and MPs however differed on what should be suspended. State Minister for Housing and National Assembly Affairs Shuaib Al-Muwaizri said the suspension only applies to Assembly sessions and not to meetings of committees and other functions.

Some MPs said that the suspension means that the Assembly will not meet again this term and will come back only in October. Others insisted that it will resume normal meetings after the one-month suspension with MP Harbash vowing that sessions will be held every week instead of bi-monthly. Also, legal experts differed on whether the lawmakers will keep their parliamentary immunity or not, with the majority of them saying they will lose the immunity and accordingly can be questioned and tried in court. Meanwhile, members of the opposition majority said that a meeting of the bloc will be held today to review the latest developments.

14

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

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Issues

Pro-bailout Greek parties to return to power

By Eleni Colliopoulou coalition that ruled Greece until a few months ago is set to return to power but any new government will be a fragile one and may not last long as it struggles to implement austerity, analysts said. “The new government’s task will not be easy. Its viability will depend on the number of parties that will join it,” said political analyst Thomas Gerakis of the Marc polling company. “There is no alternative other than a coalition between the right-wing and the socialists,” he told AFP. With all votes counted from Sunday’s election, the conservative New Democracy party led by Antonis Samaras took 129 seats in the 300-seat parliament and the socialist Pasok party 33 seats, enough for a workable majority.

The two parties, which have ruled Greece in turns for decades, were partners in a previous government that lasted only six months until April this year and ultimately came apart after New Democracy pressed for elections. While delivering a mandate to keep crisis-hit Greece in the euro, the election also made a clear demand for changes in the EU-IMF austerity blueprint which is deemed to have plunged the country in a recession spiral. The anti-austerity leftist Syriza party and its firebrand leader Alexis Tsipras came second in the elections, with 71 deputies elected and has vowed to stay in the opposition as a voice for Greeks fed up with austerity.

Tsipras said an “unholy alliance” from inside Greece and abroad had tried to stop the party’s march to power. “In any case, everyone should know that the austerity measures and the measures to sell public wealth cannot be implemented since they are deprived of legitimacy,” he said in his first statement after the result. “Tsipras has presented himself as the exterminator of the old political system,” said political analyst George Sefertzis.

The coalition’s best hope will be to enlist the small Democratic Left party of Fotis Kouvelis which elected 17 deputies on Sunday. However Kouvelis, a former Syriza veteran, strongly opposes the austerity policy enshrined in Greece’s loan agreement. Overall, parties opposing the strict conditions of the EU-IMF bailout will have 121 lawmakers in the new parliament.

“It was mainly a vote of fear against the exit from the euro, not a real support of the reforms,” said Yiannis Loulis, a political analyst and blogger. “I don’t think the Pasok will fully participate in the government, only on a technocratic level. The government will also face a strong opposition. “The government will be fragile, with a fragile popular base, and don’t think it is going to last very long,” he said. “Of course, it will be now a kind of honeymoon with the international players, but the country is very fragile,” Loulis said. Greek news reports said Samaras and Greek socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos had already broached the topic of a coalition in a telephone conversation late on Sunday but formal talks were set to start yesterday. The two parties will need additional allies for what promises to be a rocky ride and Venizelos said ahead of the talks that he wanted other leftist parties to join the coalition in order to build a wider base of support. The reactions in Greeks newspapers yesterday were more upbeat with the liberal Kathimerini daily saying: “There is a stable ground for a coalition government.” “A breather of a verdict for Greece,” read a Kathimerini headline.

Centrist daily Ethnos said that a “clear mandate” had been given for a government to keep Greece in the euro and renegotiate the terms of the bailout. The new government urgently needs to unblock loan releases from the bailout package that were halted until the conclusion of elections. “The country does not have a minute to lose,” Samaras said on Sunday. It faces debt repayments of Ä5.6 billion ($7 billion) by the end of July but only has around 2 billion left over in cash, and a tax mechanism some two months behind revenue collection schedule.

As such, it is imperative for Greece’s new leaders to resume contact with the country’s international creditors - the EU, IMF and European Central Bank - that are known locally as the ‘troika’. “As soon as a new government is confirmed, the troika is likely to return to Athens to re-start negotiations. There is much to be done,” analysts at Italian bank UniCredit said in a note.

“The past six weeks since the last election have seen an already very weak economy grind to a halt,” they said. —AFP

A

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Hostility, scepticism mar UN Syria mission

By Oliver Holmes he future of a UN monitoring mission in Syria hangs in the balance after the observers halted work following several attacks on their convoys - but many Syrians lost faith weeks ago in their ability to help stem the bloodshed.

Expectations were high, many say too high, for some 300 unarmed men and women in blue berets who were sent in April to monitor a ceasefire agreement in a country of more than 23 million that was spiralling into civil war. Resentment grew quickly as hopes were quashed. The Syrian government had declared that the monitors would confirm the uprising to be a foreign conspiracy by showing up the opposition as terrorist thugs, and was quickly disappointed.

The white Toyota Land Cruisers, emblazoned with “UN” in large black letters, became regular targets for rocks thrown by pro-government residents and gunfire from unknown assailants. The United Nations said a convoy trying to reach the town of Haffeh, the scene of heavy fighting, had been turned back by crowds who lashed out with metal rods.

Amateur video posted on the Internet last week showed men carrying pictures of President Bashar al-Assad whacking the cars with sticks.

UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous told Reuters that the cars were later fired on. UN video showed one of the Toyotas with bullet marks at head height in the bulletproof glass of the front and back passenger windows. It seems the assailants were shooting to kill. A prominent pro-Assad actor

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posted a call on Facebook for loyalists near Haffeh to block the road in front of the monitors, whom he called traitorous spies, as they were trying to save “the sons of terrorist whores (rebels) from the grip of our brave army”.

There is no doubt that some of the monitors’ reports have embarrassed Damascus. While investigating a massacre in Houla district, in which at least 108 people were killed on May 25, monitors found howitzer shells. Only the government has heavy weapons, leading Ladsous to say that the finger of responsibility pointed “ever so clearly to ... the government”. Ill feeling towards the monitors is not limited to the government, though. First welcomed by downtrodden Syrians as the messengers of their plight to the outside world, the monitors are resented by some opposition members who say their presence, far from curbing the violence, has inflamed it.

“Really, the people of Syria want the monitors to leave,” said activist Abo Adnan, from the city of Hama, where forces loyal to Assad have pounded opposition districts with mortar bombs and tank shells for months. “There is more killing and more shelling since they arrived.” Abo Adnan, like many opposition figures, says the monitors have been followed everywhere by security forces who later return to punish people who complain of army atrocities. “When the monitors came in April, there were no massacres. Now we have massacres,” he said, adding that the monitors rarely ventured into the heart of the most battered districts of Hama, and often did not bring Arabic-speakers with them. “They don’t listen to us. They just say ‘Yes, yes, yes’.”

UN Security Council members said Syria’s allies Russia and China would not allow an armed mission to enforce peace actively. Instead, monitors have played a more passive role, reporting on clashes without interfering. Chief monitor Major General Robert Mood is due to brief the Security Council today. Even UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon admitted that the monitors were being blamed for an increase in violence, and that high expectations had not been satisfied. “There is a misconception, difficult to correct, about the role of unarmed military observers and what they can and cannot do,” he said.

“This puts the United Nations presence on the ground in a perilous position.” In cases such as Houla’s, the opposition concedes that the monitors have gone some way to exposing government actions, but say that benefit is overshadowed by the dangers they bring. The United Nations says more than 10,000 people have been killed by Assad’s forces in 15 months of rebellion. But the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which collates reports of violence, points to more than 2,000 killed since the monitors arrived in April. “The monitors came here to see that the peace plan is implemented but that wasn’t achieved,” said Abu Yazen, an opposition activist from central Homs. “On the contrary, we now have massacres and more shelling.” Sausan Ghosheh, spokeswoman for the monitors, said the anger and frustration were understandable when Syrians were suffering, adding: “Our observers - all 300 - are unarmed. Their security, the security of the mission as a whole ... is the responsibility of the Syrian parties.” For now, the monitors are staying in their hotels. — Reuters

Egypt’s Arab Spring ends not as scripted

By Samia Nakhoul he Egyptian chapter of the “Arab Spring” ended not as it was scripted by the revolutionaries of Tahrir Square. They deposed a military dictator, secured the first free presidential race in their history, and then may have lost it to a die-hard Islamist president. Not only this. The generals who had stood behind Hosni Mubarak remain firmly entrenched. The Muslim Brotherhood claimed its candidate Mohamed Mursi, 60, won the election against military rival Ahmed Shafiq, 60, but a sweeping legal manoeuvre

by Cairo’s military rulers made clear the generals planned to keep control for now - even if Shafiq’s refusal to concede defeat turns out to be justified.

“This is more an episode in an ongoing power struggle than a real election,” Anthony Cordesman, a veteran former US intelligence official and now the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Reuters. “It is unclear who will rule, who the real leaders will be, and who - if anyone represents the people. What is clear is that Egypt is no closer to stability and a predictable path to the future than before.”

In reality, the new president will be subordinate for some time at least to the 20-man military council which last year pushed fellow officer Mubarak aside to appease street protests. In the latest twist on Egypt’s far from complete path to democracy, the generals issued a decree on Sunday as voting ended which clipped the wings of the president by setting strict limits on his powers and reclaiming the lawmaking prerogatives held by the assembly it dissolved last week. “This is their insurance policy against a Muslim Brotherhood victory. It shows the extent to which they (the generals) are willing to go to maintain their interest and their stranglehold on power,” said Salman Shaikh of the Brookings Doha Center.

The power struggle, analysts say, will almost certainly escalate between the two Leviathan powers after the army, which controls swathes of Egypt’s economy, indicated that it had no intention of handing power to its old enemy the Brotherhood. “This is the culmination of decades of rivalry between the army and Islamists,” Shaikh said. “This could really explode. If we see any more aggressive approach then we will be talking about something similar to Algeria,” he said, referring to Algeria in 1992 when the army dissolved parliament after Islamists won a

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vote and 20 years of conflict followed.

Adding to the legal quagmire, a ruling in a case challenging the legality of the Brotherhood, which under Mubarak was banned, could be issued today. The rulings further consolidated powers in the army’s hands, after the justice ministry gave the generals and intelligence service extraordinary powers to arrest, detain and prosecute civilians without judicial warrants. “What happens shows that it is a very deep state not willing to let go. It shows a dark side for this regime,” Shaikh said.

Despite its victory declaration based on initial counts which gave it 52 percent compared to 48 percent, the Brotherhood is not out of the woods yet. There are a number of scenarios under which the Brotherhood victory could be sabotaged. Although monitors have broadly given guarded approval to the vote there may yet be enough reports of irregularities should a determined state wish to use the judiciary to contest the result. The onus, diplomats said, would be on the United States - major patron and paymaster of the army - to pressure Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi to meet his own deadline of July 1 for relinquishing control and allow a civilian president to rule.

The two candidates faced off in a second run-off which polarised the nation and left a section of society, which ousted Mubarak in popular protests, out of the game with neither of the candidates appealing to their liberal or reformist aspirations. Many voters were dismayed by the choice between a man seen as an heir to Mubarak and the nominee of a religious party who they feared would reverse liberal social traditions. The Brotherhood has contested the army’s power to dissolve parliament and warned of “dangerous days” ahead. But their stamina, diplomats and observers said, has been sapped by 16 months of a messy and often bloody transition. Diplomats said the group, outlawed under Mubarak, may well avoid confrontation on the streets for fear of offering its opponents in the deep state a pretext to crack down on them. “What the counter revolutionary forces would like is for the Muslim Brotherhood to throw their forces onto the street then there would be a real pogrom.

That is why I don’t think it will happen,” said one senior Western diplomat. “I think the Brotherhood...would keep their people under control,” the diplomat said.

Tensions flared with the military when the Islamist group reneged on their pledge not to

Supporters of Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Mursi wave the national flag during celebrations in Cairo’s Tahrir square yesterday after Islamists claimed victory in Egypt’s first free presidential vote since its uprising. — AFP

run for the presidency, a U-turn that came hard on heels of a bigger victory in parliament than it had said it would seek. The diplomat said it was “a shock to everybody”, notably the army when the Brotherhood named Khairat Al-Shater as the group’s first choice only to have him disqualified, forcing it to name Mursi instead. Adding to its missteps, legislation proposed by some of its MPs to impose Islamic strictures turned the tide of public support against them. Some Egyptians also looked nervously at Islamist-fuelled militancy and violence in Tunisia.

For many Egyptians their revolution, which followed Tunisia’s, now seems victim of a coup by generals who changed the chief executive, Mubarak, but have not touched the deep state that kept him and his predecessors in power for six decades. Since the army toppled the colonial-era monarchy in 1952, it has built massive wealth and commercial interests across industries, followed by a close U.S. alliance that came with the signing in 1979 of a peace treaty with Israel.

With this web of interests and alliances, it is unlikely it will cede its power.

The worry for the military is that the Brotherhood could eventually challenge their position, just as Turkey’s AK Party with its Islamist has reined in the generals there. The military also worries that Islamists with their fiery anti-Israel rhetoric will weaken the deal with Israel. Regionally, the rise to power of the Brotherhood in the Arab world’s most populous nation would unnerve Gulf Arab monarchies which have managed to avoid being swept away by an Arab Spring that has also toppled leaders in Tunis, Libya and Yemen.

Israel frets that the Brotherhood will embolden its offshoot, the Islamist Palestinian Hamas movement which is at war with Israel. Despite regional and domestic misgivings the election was unprecedented for a nation which has never given ordinary Egyptians the chance to freely pick their leaders in a history that stretches back thousands of years. But a toothless president, a dissolved parliament and an ascendant military in a country without a constitution is not what most Egyptians had in mind when they poured onto the streets to drive out Mubarak at the start of 2011. “It is not the end of the story, but somebody flipped us back to page one,” the diplomat said. “Egypt is increasingly hard-wired for greater chaos and instability. It is an extremely tense and volatile environment. Nobody knows what will happen,” Shaikh said. — Reuters

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

sp orts Cricketer killed by train

Hartley new England captain JOHANNESBURG: Dylan Hartley will captain England in Saturday’s third test against South Africa in Port Elizabeth after Chris Robshaw was ruled out with a cracked bone in his right thumb.

Robshaw suffered the injury in the first test but it was only revealed in a scan after he took another knock at the weekend. “I’m absolutely gutted,” he said in a statement. “I’ve been very proud and honoured to lead this group during the Six Nations and on this tour and it’s a difficult way to end the season.”

Coach Stuart Lancaster said medical advice was that Robshaw should not play. “Dylan Hartley will captain the side. He has been a key part of our leadership group and I know he will step up to the task on Saturday. “”Dylan has always been part of the leadership group, he’s driven training, he’s the first-choice in his position and isrespected by the players.” —Reuters

LONDON: A Surrey county cricketer was killed by a train in London yesterday shortly after police saw a man matching his description run from a car they had flagged down because it was being driven erratically. Batsman Tom Maynard, 23, son of former England and Glamorgan player Matthew Maynard, was hit by the train on the subway network near Wimbledon Park station in the southwest of the capital just after 0400 GMT (0500 BST).

Maynard, tipped as a possible future England player, was pronounced dead at the scene. “Officers stopped a vehicle after it was seen being driven erratically,” Scotland Yard said in a statement. “The male driver

of the vehicle - a black Mercedes C250 - made off on foot. Officers were unable to locate the man. “At approx 0510 BST (0410 GMT) the body of a man fitting the same description was found on tracks near Wimbledon Park station.”

The man seen running from the car has yet to be formally identified, a police spokesman added. The case has been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, a watchdog that investigates all deaths where a person has had contact with the police. British Transport Police earlier said Maynard’s death was not being treated as suspicious and that the case would be passed to the coroner.—Reuters

Police probe tennis ‘assault’ LONDON: Police are investigating a complaint of alleged assault against Argentina’s David Nalbandian after a line judge was injured when the tennis player kicked an advertising hoarding. The 30-year-old was defaulted from the Queen’s Club final in west London on Sunday for angrily kicking an advertising board at line judge Andrew McDougall which left the official suffering a gashed and bloodied leg.

Scotland Yard said yesterday: “We are aware of an incident at the Aegon Championships on June 17. A complaint has been made and the Metropolitan Police Service is now investigating. “The allegation is of assault.”

There was more bad news for Nalbandian, who had already been stripped of his 44,945 euros ($56,802) runners-up cheque and 150 ATP ranking points, when he learned the ATP had fined him 10,000 euros ($12,566), the maximum punishment allowed for his conduct.—AFP

Yankees sweep Nationals WASHINGTON: Ivan Nova pitched effectively into the eighth inning to win his fifth straight start and Curtis Granderson and Robinson Cano hit solo homers as the New York Yankees beat the Washington Nationals 4-1 Sunday for their ninth consecutive victory Nova (9-2) gave up seven hits in 7 2-3 innings, keeping him unbeaten in his last 15 road starts - a streak that’s been going for more than a year. He is 12-0 away from Yankee Stadium since losing to the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim on June 3, 2011.

Granderson homered off Edwin Jackson (3-4) in the fifth to break a 1-all tie. Cano made it a two-run cushion in the seventh against Tom Gorzelanny as the Yankees swept a three-game series between division leaders to extend their longest winning streak since May 2009.

They’ve also won seven in a row on the road and have swept three consecutive series of three games or more for the first time since 1998. Rafael Soriano pitched a perfect ninth for his 13th save.

LOS ANGELES: Dodgers’ Elian Herrera watches the ball fly to right as he gets a sacrifice fly and ties the game in the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox.—AP

MLB results/standings Pittsburgh 9, Cleveland 5; Detroit 5, Colorado 0; Toronto 6, Philadelphia 2; Cincinnati 3, NY Mets 1; Baltimore 2, Atlanta 0; NY Yankees 4, Washington 1; Tampa Bay 3, Miami 0; Minnesota 5, Milwaukee 4 (15 innings); Kansas City 5, St. Louis 3 (15 innings); Texas 9, Houston 3; LA Angels 2, Arizona 0; San Diego 2, Oakland 1; Seattle 2, San Francisco 1; LA Dodgers 2, Chicago White Sox 1 (10 Innings); Boston 7, Chicago Cubs 4.

American League Eastern Division NY Yankees Baltimore Tampa Bay Toronto Boston Chicago W Sox Cleveland Detroit Kansas City Minnesota Texas LA Angels Oakland Seattle

W L PCT 40 25 .615 39 27 .591 37 29 .561 34 32 .515 33 33 .500 Central Division 35 31 .530 33 32 .508 32 34 .485 29 35 .453 26 39 .400 Western Division 40 27 .597 36 31 .537 31 36 .463 29 39 .426

GB 1.5 3.5 6.5 7.5 1.5 3 5 8.5 4 9 11.5

Washington Atlanta NY Mets Miami Philadelphia Cincinnati Pittsburgh St Louis Milwaukee Houston Chicago Cubs LA Dodgers San Francisco Arizona Colorado San Diego

National League Eastern Division 38 26 .594 35 31 .530 35 32 .522 33 33 .500 31 37 .456 Central Division 38 27 .585 34 31 .523 34 33 .507 30 36 .455 27 39 .409 22 44 .333 Western Division 42 25 .627 37 30 .552 32 34 .485 25 40 .385 24 43 .358

4 4.5 6 9 4 5 8.5 11.5 16.5 5 9.5 16 18

Precious cargo: Getting your horse to the course LONDON: They didn’t have to absolutely, positively get them there overnight, but when the US Equestrian Federation sent some of its horses to London for the Olympics, it was a special delivery.

The elite US three-day eventing equine squad landed in London yesterday on a FedEx flight, having taken the red eye from Newark, N.J. They’re not the first competitors to arrive as the countdown to the games clicks to less than 40 days away, but they are among the most pampered.

“They are all special,” said Tim Dutta, who owns the international horse transport company that organized the trip. “We are working on everybody’s dream.”

Bringing these elite athletes across the Atlantic Ocean is a logistical feat - one small example of the many people and efforts under way in the shadows to make the games go off without a hitch. This is particularly true for horses - the only animals that take part in the games which start July 27 and end Aug. 12. Let’s just start by saying that these 10 are not just any old group of horses. These animals have passports that would be the envy of any human wishing to travel the world.

That said, they get used to traveling, and most of the time, they don’t ask for much not even an in-flight meal.

But grooms traveling with Twizzel, Mighty Nice, Arthur and the other seven horses that made the journey would maybe give them a bit of hay.

Horses like these can move in their little boxes quite a bit, unlike human sardines on regular flights. But in case any of them gets bothered by the noise, one of the grooms might stuff some cotton in their ears, says Dr. Brendan Furlong, the veterinarian for the American eventing team. One might worry

about how they will know when to stop walking the aisles - but never mind.

Carrots are always a good way to calm anyone who gets nervous - or even a horse tranquilizer in the rare case a horse gets really edgy. The goal is to get them to London, stress free.

As for the grooms, the vet, and the other humans that cater to these pampered prancers, well, they aren’t exactly going first class. Furlong says he’ll usually ask the pilots to keep the plane kind of cool, so sometimes this crowd finds itself in horse blankets to keep warm. There’s no in-flight movie, so the jokes about whether they choose between “Seabiscuit” and “War Horse” don’t really cut it.

“It’s not a job for the faint of heart,” Furlong said. “You need to have someone who is a very confident flier and who can intervene quickly to calm a stressed horse.”

After all, 1,200 pounds (544 kilograms) of stressed horse can be an intimidating prospect. Furlong says the crews are usually very accommodating - and always want to come back even briefly to see their precious cargo.

But even these horses didn’t escape Britain’s strict rules on quarantine. Furlong arranged to have a farm near Newark’s airport set up as a special quarantine area to comply with the rules - though admittedly the cherished 10 only needed five hours of intense scrutiny to meet the criteria. Nothing but the best for this crowd. Really.

But do they know - do the horses know that it’s the Olympics? That it’s a special event that happens only every four years? Dutta swears they do. “They’re athletes,” Dutta said of horses that jump big big fences and run oh so fast. “They love what they do.”—AP

Orioles 2, Braves 0 At Atlanta, Wei-Yin Chen combined with four relievers on a seven-hitter and Baltimore continued its success in interleague play by beating Atlanta.

The Braves, who have lost six of seven, were shut out in consecutive games for the first time since June 5-6, 2009. Jason Hammel threw a one-hitter in a 5-0 victory for the Orioles on Saturday night.

The Orioles, who remained 11/2 games behind the first-place Yankees in the AL East, have won seven of eight. They are 9-3 in interleague play with series wins over Washington, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Atlanta. Chen (7-2) gave up six hits and a walk in seven innings to outpitch Randall Delgado (4-7).

100 home runs with three teams. Darrell Evans, Reggie Jackson and Alex Rodriguez are the others.

Angels 2, D’backs 0 At Anaheim, Garrett Richards pitched four-hit ball into the ninth inning of his sixth career start, Albert Pujols homered and made two stellar defensive plays and the Angels beat Arizona for their 18th win in 24 games.

Rookie Mike Trout ended a 1-for-20 slump with an RBI double in the seventh inning for the Angels, who posted their major league-best ninth shutout victory.

Richards (2-0) repeatedly escaped trouble in his third start of the season and the longest outing of his short career, striking out five and walking four.

Twins 5, Brewers 4 At Minneapolis, Denard Span had an RBI single with two outs in the 15th inning and the Twins rallied to beat Milwaukee in the longest game played at 21/2-year-old Target Field. Anthony Swarzak (1-4) worked a perfect 15th for the win in a game that lasted 4 hours, 50 minutes.

Trevor Plouffe led off the 15th with a single off Tim Dillard (0-2), and went to second on a single by Brian Dozier. Carroll then lined a single to right field and Plouffe ran through a stop sign by the third base coach and was tagged out in a rundown. Dozier advanced to third base during the play.

Span singled off Juan Perez for the go-ahead hit.

Corey Hart had a three-run homer in the fifth to give Milwaukee a 4-1 lead.

Mariners 2, Giants 1 At Seattle, Justin Smoak’s one-out single in the bottom of the ninth scored pinch-runner Munenori Kawasaki from second when the throw home hit Kawasaki in the back, giving the Mariners a win over

Betancourt had put the Royals ahead in the 14th with an RBI double but closer Jonathan Broxton (1-1) failed to hold the lead. Down to their last strike in the ninth, pinch-hitter Billy Butler homered for the Royals to tie it. Jarrod Dyson began 15th inning with a bunt single off St. Louis reliever Eduardo Sanchez (0-1).

Dyson was sacrificed to second and, after an out, Betancourt hit an 0-1 pitch into the Royals’ bullpen.

Alex Gordon opened the 14th with his fifth walk, equaling the club record he set on July 30, 2008, at Oakland.

Rangers 9, Astros 3 At Arlington, Ian Kinsler had a bases-clearing triple and Adrian Beltre hit a two-run homer in a seven-run sixth inning, lifting the Rangers to a victory over the Astros.

Colby Lewis (6-5) gave up three hits and walked one while striking out 10 in seven innings to win his second straight decision. The Rangers won for the fifth time in six games. Dallas Keuchel gave up four hits and four walks in five-plus innings in his major league debut for the Astros.

Padres 2, Athletics 1 At Oakland, Clayton Richard pitched into the eighth inning for his second consecutive win and San Diego beat the Athletics to avoid a three-game sweep.

Everth Cabrera scored on a groundout in the second and the Padres tacked on an insurance run in the ninth to salvage the finale of their nine-game road trip. San Diego is still 19 games under .500 and last in the NL West. Richard (4-7) scattered five singles over 7 2-3 innings.

Red Sox 7, Cubs 4 At Chicago, David Ortiz homered and Ryan Kalish

Rays 3, Marlins 0 At St. Petersburg, Alex Cobb pitched two-hit ball for seven innings and B.J. Upton hit a leadoff homer to lead Tampa Bay over Miami.

Cobb (3-3), who lost his previous three starts, struck out a career-high 10 and walked only one. Joel Peralta worked a perfect inning and Fernando Rodney earned his 19th save, completing the twohitter.

Josh Johnson (4-5) allowed two runs in six innings for the Marlins, who have dropped 10 of 12. It was his first interleague defeat since June 23, 2007, against Minnesota.

Tigers 5, Rockies 0 At Detroit, Max Scherzer (6-4) struck out 12 in eight dominant innings, rookie Quintin Berry had a career-high five hits and Detroit beat the staggering Colorado Rockies.

Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera each had an RBI double. Gerald Laird added three hits and Berry finished 5 for 5 to help the Tigers win their third straight series, all against National League teams.

Jeremy Guthrie (3-6) was pulled after a 53-minute rain delay in the top of the fourth. The Rockies have lost 10 of 11.

Pirates 9, Indians 5 At Cleveland, Pedro Alvarez drove in a career-high six runs with his second two-homer game in two days, powering Pittsburgh past the Cleveland Indians.

Alvarez hit three-run homers in the fourth and fifth innings for his fourth career multihomer game.

He also doubled in his first game with three extrabase hits. Tony Watson (4-0) worked 1 2-3 innings of relief and the Pirates took two of three for their sixth series win in the last seven tries.

Jeanmar Gomez (4-6) allowed eight runs - four earned - in 4 1-3 innings. Eight runs came directly after three errors by shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera.

Blue Jays 6, Phillies 2 At Toronto, Colby Rasmus hit a two-run homer, Brett Cecil won for the first time in almost a year and Toronto completed a three-game sweep of skidding Philadelphia.

Rasmus went 3 for 4 with three RBIs. He also scored twice and came within a triple of the cycle.

The Blue Jays swept the last-place Phillies for the second time in team history. Philadelphia lost for the 12th time in 15 games.

Kyle Kendrick (2-7) lost his third straight start. Jim Thome homered for the Phillies, making him the fourth player in major league history to hit at least

CHICAGO: Cubs’ Darwin Barney (left) scores on a double hit by Starlin Castro as Boston Red Sox catcher Kelly Shoppach applies a late tag during the third inning of an interleague baseball game.—AP San Francisco.

Sergio Romo (2-1) allowed back-to-back singles to open the ninth before being replaced. After Michael Saunders failed to bunt the runners over, Smoak lined a single to left off Javier Lopez.

Dodgers 2, White Sox 1 At Los Angeles, Juan Rivera tied the score in the ninth with a sacrifice fly - three innings after the Dodgers had one taken away on an appeal play - and Dee Gordon singled home the winning run in the 10th to give Los Angeles a victory.

Tony Gwynn Jr. lined a one-out triple under the glove of a diving Jordan Danks as he charged the ball in left field. Matt Treanor followed with a hard grounder to second baseman Gordon Beckham with the infield in, forcing Gwynn to stay put. Bobby Abreu was intentionally walked and Gordon lined a single to left against Matt Thornton (2-5), whose wild pitch in the eighth inning of Friday’s series opener let in the decisive run. Ronald Belisario (3-0) pitched two hitless innings for the victory.

Royals 5, Cardinals 3 At St. Louis, Yuniesky Betancourt hit a two-run homer with two outs in the 15th inning, lifting Kansas City over the Cardinals.

had a tiebreaking RBI single to lead the Red Sox to victory. Kalish, recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket before the game also scored on Daniel Nanva’s squeeze bunt to cap Boston’s three-run seventh inning that gave the Red Sox a 6-3 lead.

Matt Albers (2-0) pitched one inning to pick up the win. The Cubs loaded the bases against Alfredo Aceves in the ninth, but after David DeJesus hit a sacrifice fly to center, Reed Johnson struck out and Darwin Barney hit a popup to third baseman Nick Punto to end the game.

National League Reds 3, Mets 1 At New York, Brandon Phillips hit a tiebreaking single and made a between-the-legs flip to start a flashy double play, leading Johnny Cueto and Cincinnati over the New York Mets for its sixth straight win.

The NL Central leaders completed their first three-game sweep in New York since 2001 and matched their longest winning streak of the season.

The Reds also finished 6-2 this year in visits to Citi Field and Yankee Stadium.

Cueto (8-3) struck out a season-high eight in seven innings. He also doubled for the first extra-base hit of his career.—AP

England Test places up for grabs, says Lancaster JOHANNESBURG: England coach Stuart Lancaster told his midweek team yesterday that there are Test places up for grabs against the Springboks in Port Elizabeth this weekend.

The ‘dir t trackers’ face the Northern Barbarians-a selection of players from the second tier of the Currie Cup domestic competition at Olen Park in north-west university town Potchefstroom Tuesday.

“We talked today about finishing the tour to South Africa strongly this week and these players have a great opportunity to do this in the second of two midweek matches,” said coach Stuart Lancaster.

“There are still selection deci-

sions to be made for Saturday , but the players’ focus will be on putting in a strong cohesive team performance and building on the positives from last week.”

England lost the first two Tests 22-17 in Durban and 36-27 in Johannesburg and must do without injured sk ipper Chris Robshaw when they try to avoid a whitewash Saturday at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. Left wing Ugo Monye makes his first appearance of the three-week tour and is among six changes to the side that overcome the Southern Barbarians 54-26 in Kimberley last Wednesday.

Monye replaces George Lowe, who had to return home at the

weekend with left ankle ligament damage, and young flier Christian Wade switches wings to the right.

“Ugo is the only player yet to have any game time and I am delighted that he will have a run out to cap what has been a fantastic club season (at Harlequins) for him,” said Lancaster. Lee Dickson replaces Danny Care at scrum-half and Nick Abendanon takes over from Alex Goode at full-back in other backline changes and there are three among the forwards.

Converted centre Tom Youngs gets his first tour start at hooker ahead of Joe Gray, Jamie Gibson comes in on the flank for James Haskell and Ben Morgan at number

eight for Thomas Waldrom. The latter change suggests Waldrom could replace Morgan, who started the first two Tests, in Port Elizabeth after an outstanding two-try showing against the Southern Barbarians.

K arl Dickson and Jonny May, recent call-ups to replace injured scrum-half Ben Youngs and Lowe, are among the replacements for the game at the home of Currie Cup second division outfit Leopards.

Baa Baas coach Jimmy Stonehouse has selected 11 of his Mpumalanga Pumas team, including outside centre and captain JW Jonker, three from Leopards and one from Nor thern Free State Griffons.—AFP

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

sp orts

Rock-steady Furyk fizzles in US Open SAN FRANCISCO: His swing was always loopy. But everything else about Jim Furyk? Rock steady. Furyk was so predictable that his nickname used to be “T4” - shorthand for someone who ties for fourth - because he always sneaked up the leaderboards late without scaring anyone that he might actually win. And then along came that sizzling performance at Olympia Fields in 2003 to wipe away an 0-for-31 stain in the majors and mark Furyk as a force in every tournament where making pars down the stretch mattered.

But on this fog-shrouded Sunday at The Olympic Club, nine years after he won the U.S. Open, Furyk had a second title in his grasp with a half-dozen holes ahead of him - and went skidding down the leaderboard instead. It happened so fast it nearly took your breath away.

“I don’t know how to put that one into words,” Furyk began, “but I had my opportunities and my chances and it was right there. It was, on that back

nine, it was my tournament to win and I felt like if I went out there and shot even par, 1 under, I would have distanced myself from the field. And I wasn’t able to do so.

“I played quite well, actually,” he paused, “until the last three holes.”

Eventual winner Webb Simpson, who was playing three groups ahead, pulled into a tie at 1 over when Furyk made his second bogey of the day at No. 13, then proceeded to trade jabs down the stretch.

Furyk walked off the 15th green with two par-5s still in front of him and plenty of time to deliver a big punch. A nervy par save from the greenside rough at No. 18 left Simpson sitting in the clubhouse with little else to do besides watch. He might have been one of the few spectators at Olympic who wasn’t tempted to cover his eyes as Furyk turned the last three holes into a gut-wrenching ride out of the House of Horror Amusement Park.

It began with a duck hook off the 16th, where the tee had been moved

up 100 yards from the previous day and Furyk’s mind raced through a set of scenarios, none of which he felt comfortable with. He was mad enough with a mishit at No. 12 to turn and swing backhanded in anger. After the disaster off the tee at 16, it’s incredible his wood didn’t go helicoptering down the fairway after the ball.

“I don’t know what to say, other than there’s no way anyone else in the field was prepared for the tee to be that far up. I just didn’t handle it very well. And I’m not sure I hit the wrong club off the tee, but probably hit the wrong shot. ...

“But the rest of the field had that same shot today,” Furyk said, “and I’m pretty sure no one hit as (lousy) a shot as I did. ... I have no one to blame but myself.”

The tee shot wound up well left of the fairway, forcing Furyk to pitch back out. His chance to salvage par there disappeared when he hit a wedge shot, normally one of his strengths, that spun back off the green. Furyk

hadn’t made a birdie all day, but the two holes left were two of the more yielding for the entire tournament.

Instead, he made par at 17 and a hash out of 18, skidding a bunker shot across the green before recovering to post a second bogey that left him at 3 over, two shots behind Simpson in a tie for fourth. While Furyk’s misadventures piled up, TV commentators filled up the minutes by speculating whether fatigue and Furyk’s age had suddenly caught up with him, and whether his “window of opportunity” was closing.

By the time he stepped in front a microphone, it was clear that some of that banter had been played back for Furyk. It wasn’t completely far-fetched; he hasn’t won on tour since 2010 and slipped from No. 2 on the money list in 2010 to No. 53 last year. Either way, Furyk was steamed.

“Two years ago I was the Player of the Year in the United States. I played poorly last year, and all of a sudden I’m middle aged. So I got to be honest

with you with you, that (ticks) me off,” said Furyk, who is 42. “So, yeah, I think I have a few more good years. I’ve been saying it all year and I would like to get another opportunity, whether or not that happens again in a major championship, I don’t know. I know I let one slide today and slip and, hey, Webb went out there and got it, too.”

The questions got easier after that.

Someone asked whether he would take away any “positives” from the week. “Well, yeah, I mean at least I had about 15 minutes to kind of collect my thoughts and I’ve already gone through and said the stuff I shouldn’t have said. Y’all weren’t around, so ... so I’ve had a little time to calm down.”

Furyk was steady again, so much so that you could almost see the anger drain from his face. “But that taste of honey definitely is worse than if I would have come back today and shot 2 under and finished (with) the same score,” he said. “I would be, I’d be walking out here with big smile on my face and a tie for fourth.” —AP

Simpson wins US Open SAN FRANCISCO: American Webb Simpson clinched his first major title with a nerve-jangling one-shot victory at the 112th US Open on Sunday after overhauling overnight leaders Jim Furyk and Graeme McDowell. The 26year-old Simpson, who triumphed twice on the PGA Tour last year, charged into contention with four birdies in five holes around the turn on the way to a two-under-par 68.

On a foggy afternoon at the brutally difficult Olympic Club,

the last three holes than I’ve ever done in my life. It helped me stay calm and get in with two under.”

Simpson, who got up and down from greenside rough to save par at the last, became the ninth consecutive first-time winner of a major, and the 15th different player in succession to claim one of golf ’s blue riband events.

Northern Irishman McDowell, US Open champion at Pebble Beach two years ago, closed with a six-bogey 73 to finish joint sec-

said after being presented with the glittering U.S. Open trophy.

“I couldn’t be happier right now. Congrats to Graeme and Michael for playing great golf.”

McDowell rued a final round in which he hit only three fairways out of 14 off the tee.

“There’s a mixture of emotions inside me right now, disappointment, deflation, pride but mostly just frustration,” the 32-year-old said. “That’s the US Open. You’re supposed to hit it in some fairways. And that was the key today

SAN FRANCISCO: Webb Simpson shows the championship trophy to Graeme McDowell, of Northern Ireland, after the US Open Championship golf tournament. —AP Simpson coolly parred his last eight holes to finish at one-over 281 as the other main contenders faded over the closing stretch.

“It was pretty nerve wracking,” Simpson told NBC television after earning the winner’s cheque for $1.44 million in the year’s second major. “I knew it was a tough golf course.

“I had to go out and do as well as I could. I probably prayed more

ond with little known American Michael Thompson (67).

As Simpson and his wife Dowd watched on television, McDowell had a chance to force a playoff with a downhill birdie putt from 25 feet at the par-four last but his attempt slid past the left edge of the cup. “I thought even though Graeme had a 25-footer, it was probably going to hit the hole or have a good chance,” Simpson

really for me.”

Furyk, US Open champion in 2003, briefly moved two strokes clear and was tied for the lead with three holes to play but bogeyed 16 and 18 for a 74 and a five-way share of fourth place at three over.

The 42-year-old failed to record a single birdie in the final round as he finished level with compatriots David Toms (68),

Wei working hard to make Games MALAYSIA: Badminton world number one Lee Chong Wei is working 12 hours a day on his rehabilitation in the hope he can recover from an ankle injury in time to compete at the London Olympics next month.

Lee tore a tendon in his ankle during a Thomas Cup match last month leaving Malaysian hopes of a first Olympic gold

Lee Chong Wei in tatters. While fans were hopeful he could recover in time, the country’s sports minister said the shuttler needed a miracle.

But rather than depending on hopes and prayers for his recovery, the Beijing Games silver medallist has been working flat out to do all he can to compete

in London. “It’s been tough spending 12 hours daily, from 7am till 7pm, on my rehabilitation,” Lee told Malaysian newspaper The Star yesterday.

“I’m on court at 0730 in the morning for light training before going for physiotherapy. Then I have aqua therapy to work on my upper body strength. I also do gym work later in the evening. This has been my daily routine since the injury.

“Maintaining my fitness under these conditions is tough but there’s no short cut and the thought that I won’t be able to fight for the gold medal drives me on,” he said. The injury to the 29year- old has lef t many M alaysians despondent.

Easily the country’s strongest chance of gold, Lee said he had been reluctant to make predictions when fans ask if he would compete in London. “A lot depends on getting back to my old form and that means extra hard training,” he said. “At times I’m not able to answer as it all depends on how fast the ankle heals. I have avoided making any statements so as not to give false hopes. But the prayers and well wishes of the fans and people from all walks of life drive me on.” —Reuters

Jason Dufner (70) and John Peterson (70), and Ireland’s Padraig Harrington (68).

Furyk struggled to sum up his feelings after the disappointing final round. “I don’t know how to put that one into words, but I had my opportunities and my chances and it was right there.

“On that back nine, it was my tournament to win. I felt like if I had shot even par, one under, I would have distanced myself from the field. And I wasn’t able to do so. I played quite well, actually until the last three holes.”

Three-times champion Tiger Woods, aiming to end a four-year major title drought, never recovered from a bogey, bogey, double-bogey start and tied for 21st at seven over after returning a 73.

“I felt great on the greens, had the perfect speed all day and unfortunately just got off to such an awful start,” Woods said. “I tried coming in, but I was too far out.

“But overall, the way I struck the golf ball, the way I controlled it all week is something that’s very positive going forward.”

The hilly Lake Course at Olympic posed all sorts of problems for the players, especially with its first six holes which Woods has described as the hardest start to any tournament.

However, organizers moved up some tee positions to create scoring opportunities in the final round and the fans were treated to some exhilarating shot-making, along with the relentless grind for pars so typical at a US Open.

One of the biggest roars of the day came when twice former champion Ernie Els rolled in a curling 20-foot eagle putt at the driveable par-four seventh to move into a tie for second. But the smooth-swinging South African bogeyed the next two holes to derail his title bid. British world number three Lee Westwood began the day three strokes off the pace but never recovered from a double-bogey at the fifth where he lost his ball after his tee shot sailed right into trees and never came down. —Reuters

Rohan Bopanna

India’s tennis row escalates NEW DELHI: Indian tennis federation is struggling to find an Olympic partner for Leander Paes after Rohan Bopanna joined Mahesh Bhupathi yesterday in refusing to team up with the country’s number one doubles specialist in London.

“Over the weekend, I was approached by the AITA (All India Tennis Association) with a request to pair with Leander Paes as the AITA’s ‘second choice’ team,” Bopanna said in a statement.

“With all respect and humility, I have been unable to accept AITA’s offer and have communicated my decision to them in writing this morning,” he said.

Bhupathi, who has threatened to skip the Games rather then partnering Paes, and Bopanna maintain they have qualified for London as a partnership based on their rankings and should not be separated. AITA must find another partner for Paes, whose top-10 ranking gives him direct entry, they say. “Since the beginning of the year, I have partnered with Mahesh Bhupathi towards playing together as a team at the Olympics. This was communicated to the AITA at every step and we were encouraged to continue to play together,” Bopanna said.

“Having played alongside Leander Paes only twice during my career, I recognise that as a team we are underprepared

for the demands of the Olympics and ... I could not accept AITA’s offer that we play together,” he added.

The pressure on AITA increased with sports minister Ajay Maken also questioning the logic behind fielding one team in London. “We can send 2 teams, why send 1?” Maken wrote on his Twitter page yesterday. There is also uncertainty over which mixed doubles team India will field in London. Sania Mirza and Bhupathi won the French Open mixed title earlier this month but so far it has yet to be confirmed who will partner Mirza in London.

“Hidden question is on who should pair Sania? Why disturb victorious grand slam mixed double pair?” Maken asked.

AITA chief Anil Khanna, who maintained that India’s best chance of winning a tennis medal in London was through the Paes-Bhupathi partnership, was not available for comment.

Paes has said he was ready to team up with whoever AITA selected. Winner of the singles bronze at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Paes joined hands with Bhupathi to form a formidable partnership in the late 1990s, winning three grand slams. However, the ageing duo are not even on speaking terms after a second acrimonious split last year. —Reuters

Kiteboarding wrong choice for Olympics, says expert BEIT YANNAY: Kiteboarding is “10 times more dangerous” that windsurfing and the decision to include the sport in the 2016 Olympics is a big mistake, a leading kitesurfing expert has told Reuters.

The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) announced the decision to include men’s and women’s kiteboarding at the expense of windsur fing last month, describing it as a “fantastic addition” for the 2016 Games.

However, Amit I nbar, who runs a kitesurfing school, said the ISAF did not appreciate how dangerous the sport was. “I think they have made a very big mistake because I think the people at ISAF don’t really understand the implications of the decision ... and the dangers of the sport,” said Inbar.

Inbar, who represented Israel in windsur fering at the Barcelona and Sydney Games, said there was a real possibility of competitors being seriously injured or killed, particularly at race starts, and when battling for position around marker buoys.

“People have died in kitesurfing ... I’m really scared that we are going to see some very bad accidents ... it is 10 times more

dangerous than windsurfing,” he added.

Inbar said around 130 people had been killed in the sport worldwide and told how he recovered a kitesurfer’s finger from the beach after it was severed by a kite cord.

“A kite has a lot of energy and there are many things that can go wrong ... if you put 100 k ites on a course, the lines in strong winds can be like knives and at the start there are many chances for lines tangle.” While the decision to raise the profile of kiteboarding was the best thing he could have hoped for in a commercial sense, it would not benefit sailing.

“For me, business wise, it was a magical decision, because for the last 12 years I have been working in and teaching kite sur fing, but as a guy who has raced in windsurfing in the Olympics, this was a very poor decision and I really hope it will be changed soon,” he said.

Windsurfing supporters have not given up hope of the decision being reversed at the ISAF annual conference in Ireland in November where a final vote will be taken.

Inbar said the decision to include kiteboarding was based on sailing chiefs’ hopes of making the Olympics more sexy,

but he said it would not be the case.

“Kitesurfing at the Olympics will be the same as windsurfing: sailing around markers, no jumping, nothing sexy, or all the crazy stuff kite surfers do ... at the end of the day it will be exactly the same,” he added.

Proponents of kiteboarding said the sport’s visual appeal, portability and accessibility were ideal to get athletes from emerging economies involved.

ISAF Vice President Low Teo Ping told Reuters last month he believed there would be a tremendous boost particularly from the non-traditional sailing countries in Asia.

Israel’s sailing chief Yehuda Maayan, however, said ISAF’s decision to dump windsurfing in favour of kiteboarding came about as a result of an error by the Spanish delegate to the Melbourne meeting where the vote was held last month. Maayan had told Reuters delegates were probably confused or didn’t understand the motion because of language difficulties. The Spanish Sailing Federation has since admitted its mistake saying its representative voted in favor of kiteboarding in error. —Reuters

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

S P ORT S

Heat rally past Thunder

BIRMINGHAM: Melanie Oudin from the US celebrates with her trophy after defeating Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic 6-4 6-2 in the final of the Aegon Championships. —AP

Oudin bags Aegon Classic BIRMINGHAM: Melanie Oudin of the United States won her first ever tournament after defeating former world number one Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 6-2 in the grass cour t final of the Aegon Classic yesterday. The 20-year-old American came through qualifying and won eight matches to claim her first WTA tour title at the Wimbledon warmup event - and a spot to compete in the All England Club next week. “It was like this came out of nowhere,” Oudin said.

“I’d been working away for a long time and I was waiting for something to happen, and it didn’t. Until now, that is,” she said, adding that she never expected to win her first title on grass.

Oudin was eliminated in the second round of French Open last month by Sara Errani of Italy. Oudin, who has been recovering from an injury, become the first player ranked outside of the top 200 to capture a main tour title

since Kim Clijsters won the US Open in 2009.

Oudin beat two other seeded players on the way to the final against Jankovic of Serbia - tenth-seeded Sourana Cirstea of Romania in the first round and eight-seeded Ekararina Makarova of Russia in the semifinals. She also beat Jankovic before - during their first and only previous meeting in Wimbledon three years ago. Oudin was a 2009 US Open quarter finalist, but has struggled with her form since. Yesterday, Oudin was particularly dangerous with her forehand. She also used slice well on the grass surface, and moved quickly despite playing seven matches to reach the final.

Jankovic struggled with concentration and movement. She appeared tired at times, following the four-hour, fiveset semifinal match against Zheng Jie of China the previous day. —AP

Kvitova in Eastbourne warm-up EASTBOURNE: Petra Kvitova returns to grass for the first time since her Wimbledon triumph when the Czech plays as second seed at the Eastbourne ATP-WTA event, final tune-up for the All England club.

Number four Kvitova, a French Open semi-finalist, won the title in 2008 at Devonshire Park on the blustery English south coast. She is joined in the field by fellow former champions Marion Bartoli (2011), Caroline Wozniacki (2009) and 2004 winner Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Poland’s 2008 winner Agnieszka Radwanska, who lost to Kvitova in the 2011 quarter-finals, heads the field.Also in the field is former number one and sixth seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, who will be trying to win her second match at the venue in three appearances.

On the men’s side, Andy Roddick’s attempt to rescue his grass-court form before the start of Wimbledon won’t be

made any easier by his first-round match.

The slumping three-time Wimbledon finalist will start against compatriot Sam Querrey, semi-finalist at the weekend at the ATP Queen’s club tournament.

Roddick took a wild card for the south coast tournament after losing in his opening match at Queen’s to Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France.

The 29-year-old former number one is desperate to find his tennis again after several seasons of dealing with injury and illness and a rankings fall which has left him at 32 in the world.

“Certainly I’m looking right now,” he confessed. “I’m fit enough to play but there are a lot of things to work on.” Top seed for the tournament is Frenchman Richard Gasquet, with Spain’s Marcel Granollers on second, Italian Andreas Seppi third and Australian teenager Bernard Tomic. —AFP

Man City kick off season at home to Southampton LONDON: English Premier League champions Manchester City will kick off their title defence at home to promoted Southampton on Aug. 18 before facing Liverpool at Anfield the following weekend.

Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United start their bid to reclaim the title at Everton and then host Fulham, while Newcastle United start out at home to currently managerless Tottenham Hotspur.

City clinched their first title in 44 years on an extraordinary last day with stoppage time goals against Queens Park Rangers and they face Norwich City at home in their final fixture on May 19 next year while United will be at West Bromwich Albion.

Roberto Di Matteo, now confirmed as permanent Chelsea boss, takes the Champions League winners on the road to Wigan Athletic before two home games against Newcastle and Reading and then a trip to west London rivals QPR. Arsenal, who finished third last season, start with a home match at the Emirates against Sunderland. Steve Clarke, the former Liverpool first team coach who left Anfield to replace England manager Roy Hodgson at West Brom, welcomes his previous club to the Hawthorns for their opener.

The opening fixtures published on Monday, and subject to changes due to television coverage, also have Liverpool - under the new guidance of Brendan Rodgers - at home to Arsenal for their third match of the season on

Sept. 1.

Former Barcelona great Michael Laudrup’s Premier League managerial debut with Welsh side Swansea City takes his club to QPR managed by Mark Hughes, the former Wales international who also played for Barcelona in the 1980s.

Promoted West Ham United and Reading are at home to Aston Villa, now managed by Paul Lambert, and Stoke City for their opening games back in the top flight.

Southampton end their seven-year absence with a baptism of fire, with games against Manchester United and Arsenal coming as their third and fourth fixtures in September.

“We might as well get it over and done with early, taking the champions on in their own backyard,” former Southampton midfielder Matthew Le Tissier, who spent his entire career with the south coast club, told Sky Sports television.

“Nothing too much to worr y about.” Chris Hughton, who replaced Lambert at Norwich City, takes the Canaries to Fulham for their first game. The Londoner then has games against QPR, Tottenham and West Ham. The first Manchester derby of the season will be at City’s Etihad Stadium on Dec. 8 with the return fixture at Old Trafford on April 6.

The first nor th London derby between Arsenal and Tottenham is on Nov. 17 while Ever ton will host Liverpool in the Merseyside derby at Goodison on Oct. 27. —Reuters

MIAMI: The Miami Heat have been here before, two wins from an NBA title. The difference now? LeBron James isn’t letting his head get in the way of his talent.

James contributed 29 points and 14 rebounds as the Heat took a 2-1 series lead with a 91-85 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday night.

Miami also won Game 3 of the finals last year, but that was its last victory as the Dallas Mavericks stormed to the title. It was a painful failure for James, who seems determined to prevent a similar collapse. “He had a game where he struggled and he kind of let that get into his mind a little bit and he was thinking too much. Now he’s playing, he’s on attack and being very aggressive,” Dwyane Wade said. “He’s playing very aggressive and that’s the difference obviously from last year to this year, and the difference in our team.”

Wade had 25 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Heat, who “carry that pain with us” from last year, according to forward Chris Bosh. “We think about it every day and that really helps us to succeed in this series,” Bosh said.

James’ poor performance was part of the problem then, but he seems on top of his game this time. His 3-pointer sent the Heat to the fourth quarter with the lead, and he scored five straight Miami points when the Heat were building just enough cushion to hold off another late flurry by the Thunder.

“Just trying to make plays,” James said. “I told you guys, last year I didn’t make enough game-changing plays, and that’s what I kind of pride myself on. I didn’t do that last year in the finals. I’m just trying to make gamechanging plays, and whatever it takes for our team to win, just trying to step up in key moments and be there for my teammates.”

Game 4 is today.

Kevin Durant had 25 points for the Thunder, but picked up his fourth foul in the third quarter and had to go to the bench when they seemed to have control of the game.

“It was frustrating,” Durant said. “Of course we had a good lead and they came back and made some shots. We fouled shooters on the 3-point line twice. It’s a tough break for us, man. You know, I hate sitting on the bench, especially with fouls.”

The Heat survived their own fourth-quarter sloppiness - nine turnovers by getting enough big plays from their Big Three. James scored 30 and 32 points in the first two games, his two best finals performances. He fell just shy of another 30-point effort but reached 20 points for the 20th time this postseason, two shy of Wade’s franchise record set in 2006.

Gone is the player who seemed so tentative down the stretch last year in his second finals failure. He’s constantly on the attack now, all while defending Durant in key situations.

“He was great. He’s been great for us all playoffs,” Heat forward Udonis Haslem said. “I don’t know if he looks up at the clock or score sheet, but he knows when we need him to

make big plays and come through for us, and he comes through.”

Bosh had 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Heat, who can win a second title by winning the next two games at home. That’s what they did in 2006, one of just two home teams to sweep the middle three games in the 2-3-2 format.

They seemed out of it when Oklahoma City opened a 10-point lead midway through the third. But Durant had picked up his fourth foul with 5:41 left on Wade’s baseline drive, though there appeared to be little or no contact. Thunder coach Scott Brooks decided to sit Russell Westbrook with him, and the Heat charged into the lead by the end of the period.

The Thunder grabbed their last lead at 7776 on James Harden’s basket with 7:32 left.

James answered with two free throws about 20 seconds later, and the teams would trade turnovers and stops over the next couple of tense minutes.

Wade then converted a three-point play, and another minute went by before James powered to the basket, Durant trying to get in position to draw a charge but watching helplessly as he picked up his fifth foul. James made the free throw for an 84-77 advantage with 3:47 to play.

enced enough as a unit to deal with what came at us,” Wade said. “I just feel like we understand the situations more and we can deal with it better.”

The Thunder were just 4 of 18 on 3-pointers and hit only 15 of 24 free throws, unusually awful numbers for one of the league’s best offensive teams. Harden, the Sixth Man of the Year, shot 2 of 10 for his nine points.

Westbrook finished with 19 points.

James and Wade had some dazzling drives in the second and Shane Battier got free for a pair of 3-pointers in the final 2 minutes, but the Thunder stayed with them the entire way, briefly holding a three-point lead. Westbrook’s 3-pointer with 2.3 seconds left cut Miami’s lead to 47-46.

Oklahoma City started to take control with a 14-2 run early in the third. Durant had the first four points, and Westbrook fooled the Heat with a fake behind the back pass before sneaking in for a layup. Then Durant leaped over James for a follow dunk before nailing a jumper for a 60-51 lead with 6:55 left in the period.

But it was barely a minute later when he drew his fourth foul. The Thunder pushed the lead to 10 on Derek Fisher’s four-point play, but the Heat got right back in it when Battier and then Jones made all six free throws after

MIAMI: Heat power forward Chris Bosh (1) shoots against Oklahoma City Thunder center Kendrick Perkins (5) during the second half at Game 3 of the NBA Finals basketball series. —AP After another basket by James, the Thunder had one last burst - haven’t they always in this series? - ripping off six straight points to get within one before Bosh made a pair of free throws with 1:19 to play. Durant missed badly on a wild shot attempt, and the Thunder missed another chance when Westbrook was off from behind the arc. James hit a free throw for a four-point lead with 16 seconds to go and Wade added two to close it out. “Last year I don’t know if we was experi-

being fouled behind the arc.

Brooks also pulled Westbrook with 5 minutes left and left him out the remainder of the period, leaving the Thunder without their two best players as they tried to hang onto the lead. They couldn’t.

The Heat scored the final seven of the period, Wade making a turnaround jumper and two free throws before setting up James for a 3-pointer that made it 69-67 headed to the final quarter. —AP

Argentinos edge All Boys ARGENTINA: Six players were sent off in a foul-ridden match as Argentinos Juniors ended the title hopes of All Boys with a 1-0 win in Argentina’s Clausura championship on Sunday.

Boca Juniors’ hopes of retaining the title hang in the balance after their shock 3-0 home defeat by Arsenal and the Libertadores Cup semi-finallists need a win at All Boys next Sunday to have any chance of overhauling the leaders. Arsenal joined Tigre, 1-0 winners away to Velez Sarsfield on Saturday, on 35 points at the top of the standings, two points

for dissent at halftime and defender Franco Sosa was shown the red card six minutes from the end for elbowing an opponent.

If two or three of the trio of teams still in the race finish equal on points next Sunday, the title will be decided by playoffs as goal difference is not taken into account.

“We must work on the squad’s recovery to try to reach the (Libertadores Cup) final,” said Falcioni. His team visit Universidad de Chile on Thursday leading 2-0 from the first leg of their semi-final.

“We’re feeling the strain of the semester

minute. Morales was the next player sent off.

He was booked for taking his shirt off to celebrate his goal by showing a “happy father’s day” message to his dad and he earned a second yellow card for a tackle from behind two minutes later. All Boys had two more players sent off in the last nine minutes. Newell’s Old Boys, beaten 2-1 at lowly San Martin on Friday, and Velez Sarsfield, Clausura champions a year ago, also fell out of the title race.

Estudiantes fans gave Juan Sebastian Veron a rousing farewell in his last home match before retirement. — Reuters

Corinthians stumble in league with minds on Libertadores

BUENOS AIRES: Boca Juniors’ Pablo Mouche (right) dribbles past Jorge Ortiz (left) of Arsenal during an Argentina’s league soccer match. —AP ahead of Boca with one round of matches to go. Emilio Zelaya stunned the packed Bombonera by heading Arsenal into the lead in the second minute from Colombian winger Carlos Carbonero’s cross and fellow striker Luciano Leguizamon added two more goals either side of halftime.

Angry Boca fans threw objects at the match officials as they came off at halftime with one hitting linesman Sergio Viola in the face. Boca coach Julio Cesar Falcioni, whose side are also chasing the Libertadores Cup and Copa Argentina, was sent to the stands

but we’re in the final straight and have to make a maximum effort,” he told reporters.

All Boys, five points adrift of the leaders, had four players sent off, three with direct red cards, in a chaotic match at Argentinos’ Diego Armando Maradona stadium.

Referee Saul Laverni began what the sports daily Ole (www.ole.com.ar) called “the card show” by sending off defender Jonathan Ferrari in the 16th minute.

After a player from each side had been sent off early in the second half, midfielder Juan Jose Morales scored the only goal in the 73rd

RIO DE JANEIRO: Corinthians’ poor start to the defence of their Brazilian title continued with a 1-0 defeat away to promoted Ponte Preta on Sunday.

The champions paid the price for resting their first team regulars with an eye to Wednesday’s semi-final, second leg of the Libertadores Cup at home to holders Santos. Corinthians, determined to win the continental crown for the first time, are bottom of the domestic championship standings with one point from five matches. None of the eleven players who started last Wednesday’s upset 1-0 win at Santos in the first leg of the Libertadores semi-final took part in the match against Ponte Preta at Campinas deep in Sao Paulo state. Striker Andre Luis scored the only goal with a header three minutes before halftime.

Santos are only slightly better off in the championship with three points from three draws as they also keep their best players fresh for their bid to win the Libertadores for the fourth time.

They lost 1-0 to Flamengo at the Engenhao in Rio de Janeiro. Argentine substitute midfielder Dario Bottinelli scored the winner with a penalty two minutes from time.

Vasco da Gama, eliminated by Corinthians in the Libertadores quarterfinals in mid-May, stayed top and unbeaten with 13 points after a 1-1 draw away to Palmeiras. Former Olympique Lyon and Brazil midfielder Juninho secured the point when he equalized with a trademark free kick eight minutes from the end. — Reuters

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

SPORTS

18 Euro 2012 briefs

Confusion over head-scratching head to heads

Learning from mistakes Spain boss Vicente Del Bosque revealed ahead of his side’s match against Croatia that he hopes he can draw further lessons from counterpart Slaven Bilic’s experiences at Euro 2008, having already benefited at the 2010 World Cup final. “After (Andres) Iniesta’s goal and with ten minutes or so left in extra-time I often thought about how Bilic had recounted how his men opened the scoring against Turkey in the 119th minute in the quarters of Euro 2008.

“He jumped about, forgetting to warn his team of a possible levelling of the scores in the final minute.

And Turkey promptly scored and won on penalties.

“That stayed with me and I constantly reminded myself of it during extra time in the (2010) final,” said Del Bosque, who kept his focus as he oversaw victory over the Dutch.

KRAKOW: Euro 2012 has again highlighted the arithmetical gymnastics which teams, fans and the media must sometimes perform to work out groups when head to head records come into play but UEFA is sticking with the system for the moment.

Sunday’s final Group B games were a case in point where the list of possible permutations stretched into eight paragraphs and meant fans at Germany v Denmark and Portugal v Netherlands had to repeatedly check the scenarios as every goal went in.

UEFA’s official guidance for Group A included the following line: “The Czechs could even afford to draw unless Greece beat Russia by five goals or fewer.” Poland fan Sabina Kaminska said: “It is too difficult.” Overall goal difference is used in most European leagues to split up teams on the same points but UEFA favours head to head as the first differentiating factor.

If one team beats another and they finish the group on the same points, it is not complicated. But when three teams end up level, the scribbling of sums can be heard in the stadium press boxes as mini-league goal difference is being worked out. UEFA President

Michel Platini backs head to heads which are also used in the Champions League.

“For me it is correct and fair. If you have the same number of points as a team and you beat that team, you have the advantage,” he told reporters on Monday. The system certainly generates tension and Germany, despite winning their first two matches at Euro 2012, were one goal away from elimination for much of the second half in their final group match against Denmark before Lars Bender’s late goal sent them sailing through with a perfect record.

Asked if the head to head rule had actually made the tournament more exciting than complicated, Platini replied: “Yes, if you are a neutral. And I am neutral.

“Perhaps the rules have to be better, we have to decide for the future but until we do, you have to respect the rules of the competition.”

Italy is probably the nation to feel most aggrieved by head to heads, even though Serie A is one domestic league that does use the principle ahead of goal difference. This causes problems during the season as teams have to

play each other twice and no one knows how a table should look if two sides are level but have met only once, meaning league standings often differ among newspapers and websites.

Italy have suffered from head-toheads, though, most notably when the 2-2 draw between Denmark and Sweden at Euro 2004 sent both Scandinavian sides through and dumped out the Azzurri.

Italians suspected a fix but nothing was proved. “Doubts have remained ever since. It is a bad scar,” said Ireland coach Giovanni Trapattoni, then Italy boss. Italy have faced the same fear here after realising a 2-2 draw between Spain and Croatia would knock them out whatever they do against the Irish.

“They should revisit the rules because when you arrive at these situations, it always leaves doubt,” Andrea Palmieri, from the official Italian fans’ embassy at the Euros, told Reuters.

“We are experts in maths thanks to this. In Italy we know the possible combinations better than anyone.” Palmieri acknowledged that using goal difference might not eradicate the chance of “arranged” matches. Not all supporters are against head to heads. Kevin Miles,

part of the England fan’s embassy in Ukraine, said the Football Supporters’ Federation did not have an official line but he sees no problem with the current system.

“It’s not that complicated,” he told Reuters. “People will always find something to complain about if the result doesn’t go their way.

“Once you’ve exhausted all the factors from three games, which is not that much, you’ve got to do it with something. Would you have a shootout?”

Penalties are indeed in the rules for when two teams who play the last match and are the only sides level just cannot be separated but the regulations also leave room for the UEFA national team coefficient ranking system. This rewards the bigger teams who did better in previous tournaments and does not reflect the competition they are in. At the bottom of the list of the possibilities is drawing lots. The Euro 1968 semi-final between Italy and Soviet Union was decided by a coin toss following a 0-0 draw after extra time. The Italians did not complain then and went on to win the title. —Reuters

France in dilemma for Sweden game Viewers enthralled Euro 2012 has proved compulsive viewing for tens of millions of fans across the Old Continent. In Italy, the Azzurri’s match against Croatia drew an audience ten times greater than for Formula One. In Germany, somewhat curiously, the match between France and England drew even more viewers than it did in France - 11.2 million to 10.2 million.

Bookies suspicious Italian Football officials might have dismissed media worries that Spain and Croatia might arrange a draw to put the Italians out of contention in Group C. But the bookmakers appear to think differently.

Hours before kickoff one major online betting firm was offering short odds on a 2-2 draw required for both Spain and Croatia to advance at Italy’s expense, offering punters a return of just a handful of euros.

Trap defends Mario Ireland’s Italian boss Giovanni Trapattoni has defended maverick striker Mario Balotelli by comparing him with the younger version of teammate Antonio Cassano whom he once coached.

Cassano has been long regarded as an enfant terrible of the Azzurri but Trap said: “This is the kind of talent that the tifosi (fans) and media would like to see benched but which the team requires. I had the same difficulties as Cesare Prandelli with Cassano,” whom Trap gave his first caps. “He was like Balotelli, a young man with a natural talent. it seems he has progressed since.”

Pants stunt Denmark striker Nicklas Bendtner has been banned for one match and fined 100,000 euros ($126,200) for revealing the logo of a betting company on his underpants while celebrating a goal at Euro 2012, UEFA said yesterday. Bendtner, who lifted his shirt to show the name of an Irish firm on his waistband after scoring his second goal in the 3-2 Group B loss to Portugal on Wednesday, will be suspended for the opening match of Denmark’s 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign. The 24-year-old Arsenal forward can lodge an appeal within three days. The Danes were eliminated from Euro 2012 after losing 2-1 to Germany on Sunday.

KIEV: France face a dilemma ahead of a game they can afford to lose when they take on eliminated Sweden in their final Euro 2012 Group D match today.

They may have to decide whether they want to top the group and avoid a potential quarter-final against world champions Spain or would prefer to finish second and stay in the comfort and familiarity of their Donetsk base.

Coach Laurent Blanc may also ponder resting his three players who have been booked in the tournament but he was adamant Les Bleus will try to win the game, even though a one-goal defeat could still see them through.

“It is always difficult to play against Sweden and we will prepare to win it,” he told reporters. The balance, however, is difficult to find.

France train at the excellent facilities used by Shakhtar Donetsk and it has been proving beneficial. “It is the ideal structure. We never experienced this before.

Everything is available on site and it helps us gain a lot of time,” said Francois Darras, one of three France physiotherapists.

If France finish top of the group they would need to travel to Kiev from Donetsk early on the day before the quarter-final, losing precious recuperation time.

France, who snatched their first win in a major championship since 2006 when they beat co-hosts Ukraine 20 in their last match, would head the standings if they beat Sweden and England defeated Ukraine without making up an inferior goal difference.

They have four points like England, with Ukraine in third place on three and Sweden on none. A draw in both games would put France and England through with Les Bleus top on goal difference.

With the scenarios favouring France, Blanc could be tempted to rest players or spare those who have been booked. Centre back Philippe Mexes, right back Mathieu Debuchy and winger Jeremy Menez will miss

KIEV: France players run during the official training on the eve of the Euro 2012 soccer championship Group D match between France and Sweden. — AP out on a potential quarter-final appearance if they pick build-up to the tournament, could return in the midup another yellow card today. field for Yohan Cabaye after the Newcastle United playMexes is unlikely to be left out because Blanc will not er picked up a minor knock against Ukraine. want to break up his solid partnership with Adil Rami.

Sweden will be out to restore pride back home after Utility back Anthony Reveillere could come in for throwing away leads in losses to Ukraine and England.

Debuchy and Menez could be rested with Florent “We will go for it. We are playing for honor,” said forMalouda or Mathieu Valbuena taking his place. ward Zlatan Ibrahimovic. “We are going to bring some Yann Mvila, fit after suffering an ankle sprain in the points home with us.” — Reuters

England get Rooney fillip as Ukraine fret on Sheva KRAKOW: Key England striker Wayne Rooney is set to feature at Euro 2012 for the first time today but co-hosts Ukraine could be without their talisman Andriy Shevchenko as they battle to stay in the tournament.

England, with four points from two games, need only a draw to progress to the quarter-finals from their final Group D match while Ukraine must win at the Donbass Arena to avoid the same fate as co-hosts Poland and be eliminated after the first round.

Rooney is available again after serving a two-match ban for his red card against Montenegro in a Euro qualifier last year, but Ukraine are sweating on the fitness of Shevchenko, who scored both goals in the 2-1 victory over Sweden in their opening game.

Shevchenko, 35, missed training on Sunday after suffering two painful blows to his knee in Friday’s 2-0 defeat by France. Ukraine spokesman Oleksander Hlyvinsky said team doctors were draining fluid from Shevchenko’s knee.

In four previous appearances at the stadium, Ukraine have failed to triumph and coach Oleg Blokhin has spoken of his team’s need to break a perceived curse at the modern $400 million arena. England manager Roy Hodgson must choose who makes way for Rooney, with Andy Carroll and Danny Welbeck netting superb goals in the 3-2 win over Sweden, but winger Theo Walcott could miss out with a hamstring injury after an inspired display as a substitute against the Swedes. Rooney said on Sunday that he was delighted to be available again and was sure England had no cautious thoughts going into their final group

game. “The lads have done so well to put us in the position we are in now and hopefully I’ll get a chance to play and try and shine and help us get through the group,” he told a news conference.

“It’s great that we’ve scored a few goals and we’ve got the points that we’ve got. I’m not going to win the Euros on my own — there are 23 players who are going to chip in and help us win the tournament, or go as far as we can.”

Rooney said he was fully-fit and ready to play, a prospect that may enhance England’s prospects and improve the fluency of their attacking play, but will do little to encourage Ukraine.

“Since I’ve joined up with the squad, I’ve took part in every training session,” he said. “I’m feeling good, I’m just feeling ready and excited to get out onto the pitch...”

England’s approach, he said, would be unchanged. “It’s the same as the first two games-we’ll go into the game wanting to win and wanting the three points. If we have to take a point then we’ll happily do that, but we’re going into the game trying to win.”

The natural decision for Hodgson would be to play Rooney with Manchester United team mate Welbeck. The two scored 30 goals between them on the 18 occasions they played for United last season. Hodgson, however, was keen to lift the expectations on his 21-year-old striker. “I would do well to encourage you not to put too much pressure on the lad,” he said. “Before we build him up to the skies to knock him down, we should remember he has a lot of time ahead of him.” — Reuters

DONETSK: Ukraine’s Andriy Shevchenko juggles a ball during the training on the eve of the Euro 2012 soccer championship Group D match between Ukraine and England.— AP

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

SPORTS

Today’s Matches on TV UEFA European Championship

Group

D

England v Ukraine

Sweden v France

21:45

21:45 Al-Jazeera Sport +10 Al-Jazeera Sport 2 HD

Al-Jazeera Sport 1 HD Al-Jazeera Sport +9

19 Euro 2012 briefs

Bells toll as Krakow retains Polish pride KRAKOW: As bells ring from Krakow’s skyline of churches, it is difficult not to imagine they toll for Poland’s Euro 2012 dream and mark a first farewell to departing friends.

In this artistic, historic and religious city, included in the first UNESCO World Heritage List, a dreamy silence has replaced face-painted joy and enthusiasm. Where hordes gathered on Saturday before strolling to the fan park at the symbolic field of Blonia, on Sunday there was only a hushed army of cleaners. In hot sunshine, families sought shade under trees in Planty Park where drunks dozed on benches, untroubled by police or passers-by.

Even the hourly cornet tunes from the wonderful Rynek Glowny square and soaring soprano voices from the Music Academy seemed softer until Monday when a rousing piano solo lifted spirits.

Co-host Poland’s exit after losing to the Czech Republic had been tearful, but the pain was temporary.In Krakow, nobody is down for long.

Despite being overlooked as a host

venue for matches even though the city is home to two of Poland’s top clubs, including Wisla who have won seven titles in 12 years, Krakow embraced Euro 2012 and was an impeccable unofficial host for thousands of fans.

Notable among the ‘sport tourists’ who added to the booming trade at the castle, cathedral, museums, galleries and memorials, not to mention nearby Auschwitz-Birkenau, were supporters of the city’s three official guest nations, England, Italy and the Netherlands. As well as the unofficial followers of Ireland who were neither invisible nor quiet.

Bars that resembled British pubs were draped with flags and banners as they spread their good-natured banter.

The Bar Nic Nowego was engulfed by the craic.

At the Hard Rock cafe, puzzled staff were introduced to the green-andwhite hoops of Scottish champions Celtic and the catholic connections that bound them all together. At times, it was difficult to find more than a few

England fans and barely more than one Italian family. The Dutch, like their national team, struggled to make an impact except via their orange shirts on match days and by Monday were packing to leave. Winless and disjointed, they will not be missed greatly.

“We love football and we love Poland,” said one of a tumultuous group of local Polish supporters before Saturday’s humbling defeat by the Czechs, five hours away by motorway in Wroclaw.

“To have the Euro Championship here is great moment for Poland...”

Invaded and occupied many times, like much of southern Poland, Krakow was also home for 40 years to Pope John Paul II. His face adorns walls, windows and doorways in the old city, a reminder of Krakow’s character and Poland’s experiences, a royal residence and former capital and seat of government.

It was occupied by Czechs, Tartars, Austrians and Russians until World War One in 1918 ended 146 years of foreign rule. The city’s reputation for stubborn

bohemian melancholy is no surprise.

Krakow’s defiant partisans played a key role in the restoration of Poland, providing leading political thinkers, administrative staff and soldiers.

Blonia, where more than 12,000 gathered on Saturday, was the site of a parade of the cavalry of the Second Republic of Poland on Oct. 6, 1933.

A famous painting of that event is one of an estimated 2.5 million registered works of art on show in the medieval old town, Wawel castle and Kazimierz, home to the Jewish quarter.

Krakow, which survived the atrocities of Nazi occupation from 1939-45 and post-war repression by the Soviet Union, has more than enough art, faith and intellectual dignity to survive an invasion of fans.

With Wisla Krakow, multiple champions, and Cracovia, their great rivals, playing at grounds separated by the field of Blonia, just as Liverpool and Everton are divided by Stanley Park, Krakow also has enough football in its heart to survive a snub by Euro 2012. — Reuters

More goals UEFA president Michel Platini yesterday said that having five match officials at Euro 2012 has led to more goals being scored, as not a single nil-nil draw had been played since the tournament began.

“How is that you’re seeing more goals scored in these championships? I think you know the answer: five officials makes things easier,” Platini told reporters in Warsaw. “With extra officials you’re aware of more things: the fear of getting caught is there.

There’s no more shirt-pulling, players know that the referee is there and they can’t commit fouls all the time,” he added.

“With five, officials see everything. They don’t take decisions without being fully aware. There’s also a uniformity of refereeing, for example, they don’t call unintentional handballs. That uniformity has led to more flowing football.”

Rejuvenated Ronaldo looking for an encore

POZNAN: Ireland’s Damien Duff (right) is challenged by Italy’s Daniele De Rossi during the Euro 2012 soccer championship Group C match. — AP

Italy break Irish hearts Ireland bow out of Euro 2012 POZNAN: Antonio Cassano and Mario Balotelli scored the goals as Italy beat 10-man Ireland 2-0 at the Municipal Stadium here yesterday to reach the Euro 2012 quarter-finals.

Spain’s 1-0 win over Croatia meant Italy finished second in Group C and will play the Group D winners in the last eight while Ireland finish bottom with three defeats.

While Italy were worthy winners, Ireland coach Giovanni Trapattoni will have been bemused to see his side concede both goals from corners.

But Italy coach Cesare Prandelli will also have been concerned by his side’s dip in physical condition in the final 20 minutes, just as it did in their previous two games.

Ireland, who showed much willing but little quality, finished the game a man down after Keith Andrews was sent off late on by referee Cuneyt Cakir.

Ireland captain Robbie Keane at least left the tournament in a relatively upbeat mood. “I think we played well tonight.

“We are certainly disappointed we didn’t get anything out of the group. Set pieces did for us again tonight which is so odd as we are usually strong against them.”

Having had their gameplan thrown into disarray by con-

STATISTICS Match statistics for Italy’s 2-0 win against Ireland in their Euro 2012 Group C match at the City Stadium in Poznan yesterday.

Italy 2 Goals scored 27 Total shots 17 Shots on target 12 Corners 3 Offsides 15 Fouls committed 3 Yellow cards 0 Red cards Ball possession (percent)59

Ireland 0 6 2 5 7 23 4 1 41

ceding early goals in their previous two matches, Ireland at least seemed fired up from the off.

Several times Ireland broke at pace and had the Italian defence back-pedalling but they spurned their own chances through either a wayward pass, poor decision-making or running down a blind alley.

Italy soon took command although Daniele De Rossi’s leftfoot volley from outside the box was a touch over-ambitious.

Selected ahead of Balotelli, Antonio Di Natale found space in the box three times only to see his shots blocked by Irish centre-backs Richard Dunne and Sean St Ledger.

Di Natale was giving Italy what Prandelli had asked for as he got in behind the defence to latch onto Cassano’s through ball before rounding goalkeeper Shay Given and shooting goalwards, only to see St Ledger recover to hack the ball off the line.

Moments later Cassano set his sights from distance and although Given had his body behind the ball, he spilled it and was relieved to see it bounce behind for a corner.

That proved a costly blunder, though, as Cassano ran across Andrews to get a flicked-header on Andrea Pirlo’s corner that squeezed past Given and over the line.

Italy kept the pressure on at the start of the second half as St Ledger and Dunne were called upon to block shots from Di Natale and Cassano respectively.

Given then had to get down to his near post to save from Di Natale after a slick Italian passing move that included a clever backheel from Motta.

Ireland created a couple of half chances and Andrews had a sight of goal but from 25 yards his volley dipped straight into goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon’s arms.

As they had done in the previous two games, Italy’s physical conditioning dipped in the final 20 minutes and Ireland started really coming into the game with Andrews having a crack from a free-kick that Buffon could only parry.

Prandelli made a couple of substitutions and switched to a 4-5-1 formation with Balotelli as the loan front man. Late on he did brilliantly to hold off John O’Shea, who had a fistful of his blue shirt, to meet Alessandro Diamanti’s corner with an acrobatic volley to kill the game and put the seal on victory.

The temperamental star seemed angry and started to say something before Leonardo Bonucci covered his mouth to prevent the Manchester City forward creating any controversy — AFP

KHARKIV: Maybe, just maybe, those taunting cries of “Messi, Messi, Messi” that follow Cristiano Ronaldo everywhere will abate now.

Ronaldo led Portugal to the quarterfinals of the European Championship with perhaps his best game on the international stage, scoring both goals in a 2-1 win over the Netherlands on Sunday.

Now the world is looking for an encore - or two or three - and proof he may be bigger than half the man many opposing fans think he is.

Ronaldo’s next job comes Thursday, when the Portuguese play the Czech Republic for a place in the semifinals. The big question is: Will Ronaldo crumble again as the games get ever more intense?

His two goals against the Netherlands was a comeback in itself after he was lambasted for missing clear chances in the first two games.

“Ronaldo got so much criticism in his first games and he is back now,” Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk said. “This is how fast it can change.”

At 27, Ronaldo knows about the fickleness of his form for Portugal all too well. “Our goal was to get beyond the group stage and we did it.

Anything can happen now,” he said.

The Real Madrid star can even start putting some more parity into the rivalry with FC Barcelona rival Lionel Messi. After being dominated by Messi in Spain for around three years, Real Madrid finally won La Liga this year, even if Ronaldo still finished second to Messi in the top scoring standings.

Too often Ronaldo can take personal pride to a level of petulance and fans have latched on to it.

From Bosnia to Spanish stadiums to Lviv, Ukraine, during his second Euro 2012 game against Denmark, he has been taunted with Messi chants.

All too often, Ronaldo’s game appears to be all about himself, harking back to the street football he played on the remote Portuguese island of Madeira - how he can beat defenders for the sake of beating them, his ostentatious posing ahead of free kicks, his hogging of the ball and the braggadocio after he scores.

In comparison, Messi is the consummate team player, happy to celebrate the greatest goals with a simple smile and still come out on top of Ronaldo.

With Messi half a world away, Ronaldo pointed out that the Argentine also often misfires for his country. If Ronaldo wants a second Ballon d’Or to add to his 2008 trophy and break the rut of three successive Messi trophies, he badly needs a great Euro 2012.

After bad games against Germany and Denmark, where some misses begged belief, he had a final chance to put things right against the Netherlands.

This time, he thrived on the pressure. Instead of bickering with his teammates, he was the consummate captain. Instead of sulking in midfield if passes don’t come, he was culling passes, dragging defenders all over the field and beating them at will.

On top of that he scored two superb goals and hit the post twice for good measure. The man of the match heard no taunts of “Messi, Messi” from the thousands of Dutch fans. Ronaldo silenced them all. —AP

Double vision in Zen Polish soccer fans seeking an escape from the galling prospect of Ukrainian success at Euro 2012 while they lick their wounds after early elimination, could be forgiven for seeing double at the Zen restaurant and bar in Krakow.

For there, in the middle of Saint Tomasza street in the heart of the city, working in tandem as they prepare sashimi and sushi for a cosmopolitan clientele, they will find twins Artiom and Sasza, from Kharkov.

During matches shown on a giant screen behind them, they routinely field inquires about their family background-and place of birth-with shy smiles. They give little away.

Asked if they are identical twins, they laugh. “I don’t know,” said Sasza. “I ask my mother and she said the same, but she can tell who we are...”

No repeat of storms No summer storms are foreseen for Ukraine’s Euro 2012 match against England today and temperatures will not be too high during the game, a Ukrainian weather expert said yesterday.

Ukraine, co-hosts of Euro 2012 with Poland, face England in the eastern city of Donetsk (1845 GMT) in a match they have to win to qualify for the quarterfinals. The last match played in Donetsk between Ukraine and France on Friday was halted for 55 minutes due to a thunderstorm and a huge downpour which drowned the pitch at the Donbass Arena.

France won 2-0 after the Group D match resumed.

Singing for absent Poland Co-hosts Poland may have been knocked out of Euro 2012, but they are still being cheered on their absence thanks to fans at fixtures such as Croatia’s crunch Group C clash with Spain here. Launched by a section of locals watching the Croatians in action against the defending champions in the Gdansk Arena, the classic Polish fan chant of “Polska, BialoCzerwoni” was taken up and belted out by the rival Spanish and Croatians.

Sung to the tune of the 1979 hit “Go West” by Village People, which is adapted by fans around the world, it simply means “Poland, the White and Reds”, in a nod to the national colors.

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

England get Rooney fillip as Ukraine fret on Sheva Page 18

Navas rescues Spain, Croatia out of Euro

GDANSK: Jesus Navas scores Spain’s goal as Croatian players claim offside during the Euro 2012 soccer championship Group C match. — AP

STATISTICS Match statistics for Spain’s 1-0 win against Croatia in their Euro 2012 Group C match at the PGE Arena in Gdansk yesterday.

Croatia Spain Goals scored 0 1 Total shots 5 14 Shots on target 3 9 Corners 4 11 Offsides 0 1 Fouls committed 21 16 Yellow cards 6 0 Red cards 0 0 Ball possession (percent) 36 64

Group C standings Euro 2012 Group C table after yesterday’s games (played, won, drawn, lost, for, against, points): Results Group C Spain 1, Italy 1 Spain 3 2 1 0 6 Ireland 1, Croatia 3 Italy 3 1 2 0 4 Italy 1, Croatia 1 Spain 4, Ireland 0 Croatia 3 1 1 1 4 Croatia 0, Spain 1 Ireland 3 0 0 3 1 Italy 2, Ireland 0 Quarter finals line-up Match 1 - June 21 (at Warsaw): Czech Republic v Portugal Match 2 - June 22 (at Gdansk, Poland): Germany v Greece Match 3 - June 23 (at Donetsk, Ukraine): Spain v 2nd Group D Match 4 - June 24 (at Kiev): Winners Group D v Italy

1 2 3 9

7 5 4 0

GDANSK: Defending champions Spain qualified for the Euro 2012 quarter-finals after replacement Jesus Navas hit the late winner in their nervy 1-0 victory over Croatia, who bowed out yesterday.

Spain qualify as Group C winners and will now play their quar ter-final in Donetsk, Ukraine, on Saturday against the Group D runner-up, while Italy finish second thanks to their 2-0 win over Ireland in Poznan.

Having come on for Fernando Torres in the second-half, Navas hit the 88thminute winner af ter Xavi Hernandez chipped the Croatian defence and Andres Iniesta provided the final pass.

“It was a difficult game for us, we had a high percentage of ball possession and we proved we can control the game,” said Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque.

“We were fighting for a victory, not a draw and we have taken a step forward here by qualifying, this is motivation for the quarter-finals.

“The team played well, even though things didn’t go according to plan. “We have no preference whether it is France, England or Ukraine, we have to be ready to take whatever comes.” The World Cup winners top the group with seven points after their opening draw with Italy and 40 rout of Ireland, while there was heartbreak for Slaven Bilic’s Croatia.

Del Bosque named an unchanged team, while Bilic abandoned the 4-4-2 formation he used in the opening win over Ireland and the draw with Italy for a 4-2-31 formation.

As they had done in Thursday’s hammering of Ireland here, Spain started with almost 80 percent ball possession, which never dropped below 60, as Croatia seemed content to hit long balls down to lone striker Mario Mandzukic.

On a rare early forage into the Spanish

half, Danijel Pranjic fired a shot to the left of Spain goalkeeper Ilker Casillas, who dealt with the left-footed shot comfortably on 25 minutes.

Croatia defender Vedran Corluka was booked for dissent soon after as German referee Wolfgang Stark chose not to award a penalty af ter Spain’s Sergio Ramos sliding tackle caught Mandzukic’s ankle.

It remained goalless at the break and news of Italy’s lead against Ireland raised the tension inside the Gdansk stadium as the second half wore on.

Croatia’s best chance came approaching the hour mark when Luka Modric’s cross was met by Ivan Rakitic, but Casillas parried away his header.

After a fairly ineffective first 60 minutes, Torres made way for Navas in the three-man forward line, but both sides squandered chances.

With time almost up, the decisive blow came when Hernandez floated his pass over the defence for his Barcelona teammate Iniesta to draw Croatia’s goalkeeper Stipe Pleitkosa and then feed Navas who made no mistake.

There could be more bad news for Croatia today when UEFA are expected to make a ruling over alleged racist chants from Croat fans directed towards Italy striker Mario Balotelli in last week’s 1-1 draw. A stiff penalty is expected given UEFA president Michel Platini’s previous assertions that European football’s governing body has a “zero tolerance” on the issue.

European football’s governing body has already imposed the threat of a sixpoint reduction on Russia’s next European championship qualifying campaign, after missiles and fireworks were thrown at their opening Group A match against the Czech Republic on June 8. — AFP

Business

Bahrain to kick off roadshows Page 23

India interest rate unchanged

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

Page 23

Disappointing US data triggers sell-off in equity

Australia’s Fairfax Media to cut 1,900 jobs Page 24

Page 25

LOS CABOS: In this photo, activists wearing masks representing G20 leaders (from left to right) Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon, Germany’s Prime Minister Angela Merkel, China’s President Hu Jintao, South African President Jacob Zuma, French President Francois Hollande, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, US President Barack Obama and Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff, sit at a table overlooking the Pacific Ocean. — AP

Business leaders cry for ‘action’ at G20 German flexibility on rescue plan limited LOS CABOS: World leaders were set to pile pressure on Europe at a G20 summit yesterday to outline a lasting strategy to save the euro currency after a victory for pro-bailout parties in a Greek election failed to calm financial markets. US President Barack Obama spoke with European leaders after the Greek vote and requested a meeting with them yesterday evening, underscoring the extent of concern in Washington that the euro crisis could deepen, infecting the fragile US economy only months before an election.

He will also hold separate talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who as the leader of Europe’s biggest economy, faces enormous pressure to take bold new steps to resolve a crisis that has been raging for more than two years. Protected by Mexican navy vessels and troops on the beaches and highways, Group of 20 leaders from major industrialized and developing economies, representing more than 80 percent of world output, began a two-day meeting in this Pacific resort to prioritize growth and job creation against the backdrop of a weakening global economy.

Escalating violence in Syria and the nearcollapse of a United Nations-brokered peace plan also will be in focus when Obama meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the summit yesterday. The two super powers are clashing over arming Syria and UN sanctions. But Europe’s progress toward lasting solutions for its debt crisis will be the focal point when G20 leaders hold their opening session on the global economy.

A narrow victory for the conservative New Democracy party in the Greek election on Sunday eased concerns the heavily-indebted country could exit the euro-zone soon but did little to calm financial markets. The euro fell from a one-month high against the dollar and Spanish bond yields shot above 7 percent to their highest level since the creation of the single currency in 1999.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, who runs the biggest European economy outside the euro zone, was poised to warn leaders from the currency area that they faced “perpetual stagnation” without bold new measures and to call on central banks to protect the

global economy. “We cannot afford for central banks around the world to stand on the sidelines if we are to deliver the growth we need,” Cameron was to say, according to extracts of a speech. “It is becoming increasingly clear in the euro zone that the core, including the ECB (European Central Bank), must do more to support demand and share the burden of adjustment.”

Merkel in firing line Merkel, who touched down in Los Cabos in the early morning hours yesterday, faces intense pressure to take stronger action but has rejected calls for joint euro zone bonds and the creation of a “banking union” in Europe with cross-border deposit guarantees.

Germany has sent signals it could be open to giving Greece a bit more time to get its deficit under control, but it is not budging on the substance of strict budget cuts and structural reforms that Athens has pledged to implement in exchange for two successive EU/IMF bailouts worth a combined 240 billion euros.

That could put Merkel on a collision course

Wider euro-zone issues overshadow Greek vote LONDON: Relief over the Greek election result gave way to concerns about problems in Spain and the wider euro-zone yesterday with European shares and the single currency reversing early gains. Greek voters gave a majority to parties supporting the country’s economic bailout, easing worries about a break up in the euro-zone and initially boosting markets, but investor focus quickly

returned to the finances of other indebted countries. “While Greek euro exit fears have thus eased, this outcome does little to alleviate the weak fundamentals that currently weigh on Spain and Italy,” Michala Marcussen, strategist at Societe Generale, said in a research note.

Spain’s key 10-year government bond yields rose 22 basis points to 7.14 percent, the highest level in the euro era and above the rate at

BP begins drilling in Jordan AMMAN: BP last week began drilling the first well in its concession in the Risha natural gas field in eastern Jordan, near the border with Iraq, the British oil major said yesterday. The drilling follows two years of preparation and a “very successful 5,000 square km seismic acquisition programme in 2011”, BP said. The well is expected to take three to four months to complete, and a number of international oil and gas service contractors as well as local firms are involved, it said.

Jordanian officials hope intensive exploration and drilling at Risha will lead to the discovery of extensive recoverable gas reserves, which will help cut dependence on oil imports to fuel Jordan’s power sector and industries. Risha, which was discovered in 1987, has not delivered encouraging exploration results in the past.

In 2009, BP was given up to four years to spend at least $237 million to explore and evaluate the Risha block, which cov-

ers an area of 7,000 square km, Jordanian officials said. If the exploration leads to the discovery of large commercially viable reserves of natural gas, officials said BP would enter a second phase to invest billions of dollars in developing the field.

BP said the seismic survey “was one of the largest ever acquired in the Middle East and one of the safest and highestproductivity surveys acquired in BP history”. The government strategy calls for Risha to produce 330 million cubic feet of gas per day by 2015. The field has a current modest daily output of about 18 million cubic feet. The kingdom, which imports most of its energy, is struggling to meet electricity demand, which is growing by more than 7 percent per year, due to fast growing population and rising industrial needs. Jordan also plans projects to attract billions of dollars of investments for renewable energy, oil shale and nuclear power. — Reuters

which Greece, Ireland and Portugal were forced to seek international bailouts. Italian 10year bond yields rose 15 bps to 6.08 percent.

Spanish and Italian stock markets also both underperformed the broader European equity market. Spain’s IBEX fell 0.9 percent, while Italy’s FTSEMIB was down 1.2 percent. The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares reversed early gains to be down slightly at 992.88 points. The euro was flat on the day at $1.2636, off a 1-month high reached earlier in reaction to the Greek vote.

Greek vote In Greece the centre-right New Democracy party was trying to form a coalition government with other parties committed to the 130billion-euros ($164 billion) bailout deal after narrowly defeating the radical left SYRIZA bloc in Sunday’s election. However, many investors were concerned that the overall political picture in Greece was uncertain, with SYRIZA vowing to continue its opposition to the painful austerity measures.

“A new Greek coalition government is unlikely to be able to restore economic growth or deliver effective reform without substantial financial help from the rest of the euro area,” said Trevor Greetham, Director of Asset Allocation at Fidelity Worldwide Investment.

He said it would take substantial action from the world’s largest central banks to turn the global growth cycle around.

“In the meantime, we remain cautious on stocks and commodities, preferring gilts, global property and cash in our multi asset funds,” he said. Markets are expected to stay on edge all week due to a heavy schedule of high level meetings among world leaders and global central bankers. — Reuters

with the winner of the Greek vote, Antonis Samaras, who campaigned pledging to renegotiate elements of the rescue and reiterated that stance yesterday. “We will simultaneously have to make some necessary amendments to the bailout agreement, in order to relieve the people of crippling unemployment and huge hardships,” he said.

David Mackie, an economist at JP Morgan, said he expected European governments to ultimately be forced to agree to an “aggressive restructuring” of the loans they have already provided to Greece to return the country to a sustainable path. Merkel has said repeatedly that there are no quick fixes to the crisis and is instead pushing fellow European leaders to agree a road map toward closer fiscal integration that would involve ceding sovereignty over budgets to Brussels and giving more power to the European Parliament.

But her counterparts, notably new French President Francois Hollande, have doubts about transferring powers over fiscal policy, and it appears unlikely that Europe will deliver a “grand bargain” that reassures markets at a

separate summit of EU leaders on June 28-29.

World Bank President Robert Zoellick called it “an absolutely critical time” and warned Europe not to squander this opportunity for decisive action.

“We are waiting for Europe to tell us what it is going to do,” Zoellick said on Sunday at a business meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit. “The danger we’re creating is the danger of policymaking that is increasing uncertainty and making markets more nervous, which has a negative feedback loop.”

Europe’s debt crisis has underscored the need for a bigger war chest at the International Monetary Fund. Leaders are set to confirm they will double the IMF’s firepower with an extra $430 billion in loans even though some emerging nations are frustrated with the slow pace of winning more power at the global lender. The G20 leaders are also expected to adopt a Los Cabos Action Plan, pledging to promote economic growth and jobs, investing in infrastructure and promoting trade, while sticking to its pledges to bring down budget deficits. — Reuters

Egypt stocks hit 5-month low DUBAI/CAIRO: Most Gulf Arab bourses rallied yesterday after Greece’s pro-bailout party won parliamentary votes, while Egypt’s index fell to a near five-month low as a presidential election brought the country no closer to a stable democracy.

Greece’s election results, seen as crucial to European leaders’ efforts to hold the euro together, lifted sentiment globally in early trade but gains reversed later in the day as relief over the results gave way to concerns about problems in Spain and the wider euro zone.

Saudi Arabia’s index climbed 0.8 percent, up for a fourth session in the last six.

Insurance stocks rallied, with the index up 1.4 percent. Saudi retail investors tend to flock to insurance names in times of global uncertainty. Banks led gains with Al Rajhi Bank and Bank AlBilad rising 1.7 and 2.2 percent respectively. The petrochemical index ended 0.5 percent higher, even as oil prices fell towards $96 a barrel yesterday to erase early gains.

“In the short-term, we will be dictated by global economic data and petrochemical prices, which have been weak of late. I expect our market to remain range-bound with volumes on the low side,” said Muhammad Faisal Potrik, research analyst at Riyad Capital.

Markets in UAE and Qatar ended higher but investors remain wary. Dubai’s benchmark climbed 0.7 percent, up from Thursday’s one-week low, and Abu Dhabi’s index climbed. Property stocks rallied as Emaar Properties rose 1.1 percent and Arabtec advanced 1.1 percent. Investors see gains as unsustainable though.

“The rally is short-lived because oil has more downside,” said a Dubai-based portfolio manager on condition of anonymity.

“That said, it’s an opportunity to buy the

dips in the UAE.” In Qatar, the measure rose 0.3 percent, up from Thursday’s eightmonth trough. UAE and Qatar’s markets are under review for an MSCI upgrade to emerging market status, with results expected on June 21. Investors are sceptical a reclassification will occur, but the UAE’s chances are higher than Qatar’s, judging by MSCI criteria.

Elsewhere, Egypt’s main share index dropped 3.4 percent to its lowest level since Jan. 26, extending declines. Hours before the Muslim Brotherhood said its candidate had defeated Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister in the election, the generals issued a decree that set strict limits on the new president’s powers.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which has pledged to hand power to an elected civilian by July 1, had already dissolved the Islamist-led parliament. Its liberal and Islamist opponents denounced a “military coup”. Economists said the deepening political stand-off only makes it harder to drag the country out of an economic malaise and attract sorelyneeded aid from foreign donors. The International Monetary Fund wants to see a political consensus on economic reforms before releasing an emergency aid package. “How can you possibly make these huge economic decisions in such circumstances?” said Exotix economist Gabriel Sterne. “Such events as these only serve to undermine confidence and accelerate capital flight.” Orascom Telecom Media and Technology dipped 2.3 percent, investment bank EFG Hermes 4.9 percent and Orascom Construction 5.4 percent. Kuwait’s index rose 0.7 percent. After the market closed, the emir suspended parliament for one month, the latest twist in the country’s recent political crisis. — Reuters

22

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

BUSINESS

Bahrain aims to attract US investors Bahrain to kick off roadshows DUBAI: Bahrain plans to kick off investor meetings tomorrow for a planned dollar-denominated benchmark bond issue, arranging banks said yesterday, in what would be the kingdom’s first offering of non-Islamic debt since Arab Spring-inspired protests began. Sources have indicated that Bahrain could be looking to raise as much as $1.25 billion from the sale.

The Gulf Arab state, rated BBB by Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor’s, has been hit by anti-government demonstrations in the last year, but managed

to raise $750 million from an Islamic bond issue in November.

That deal was largely supported by a strong local bid as well as tapping into demand for Islamic assets. It was yielding 4.94 percent yesterday, according to Thomson Reuters data.

The latest bond is to be structured under a 144a-compliant format, meaning qualified US investors will be able to subscribe to it. An official told Reuters last month that the bond would have a maturity of between seven and 10 years.

The kingdom, which has the lowest crude oil production levels of the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, is projected to run a budget deficit of 727 million dinars ($1.93 billion) in 2012. It had looked to international debt markets in the past to fill funding gaps. It had external debt worth 38.4 percent of GDP at the end of 2011, according to Bahrain central bank data.

JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup Inc, Standard Chartered and Gulf International Bank are mandated to

arrange the investor meetings, which will run between June 20-26. One team of bankers and officials will begin in Los Angeles and visit San Francisco, Boston, New York and London.

Another team will start in Riyadh and take in the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Hong Kong.

A benchmark bond issue is understood to mean at least $500 million.

Bahrain will be hoping to capitalise on an issuance window as risk appetite improved after Greece’s election

results on Sunday eased investor fears of a euro zone break-up, boosting shares and sending the euro to a onemonth high.

Bahrain’s 5-year credit default swaps, or the cost to insure against default, stood at about 347 basis points on Friday, the latest data and more than 20 basis points tighter than at the beginning of the year. Earlier yesterday, Dubai-based Islamic mortgage lender Tamweel announced roadshow plans for a possible new sukuk. — Reuters

OPEC quota talks at least two years away, says Iraq LONDON: Iraq, gaining on Iran as OPEC’s second-largest oil producer, is at least two years away from reaching an output level that will prompt a debate within the producer group on setting Baghdad’s individual output quota, a senior Iraqi official said yesterday.

Thamir Ghadhban, energy adviser to Iraq’s prime minister, said analysts had spoken of the possibility of conflict within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries after Iraq regains a leading role.

Iraq was outside OPEC’s agreements to set oil output levels for years until December, when it became included in an overall OPEC target to pump 30 million barrels per day (bpd). But OPEC has not divided up that into individual output quotas for its 12 members, baulking at the delicate topic.

“This issue is not of immediate concern within OPEC as we are still two years away from reaching production capacity exceeding 4 million barrels per day,” Ghadhban said at a London energy conference.

OPEC’s quota debate will draw in Iran, which before the 1990-1991 Gulf

War had parity with Iraq. The stated output capacity of Iran is about 4 million barrels per day. At its meeting in Vienna last week, OPEC said it would trim output that members were pumping above the 30 million bpd target to bolster the price of oil, which has slid by $30 a barrel since March to below $98 a barrel yesterday. But the lack of individual quotas could make it harder for OPEC to convince the market it is serious about curbing output.

Eyeing second place Iraq was exempt from OPEC’s output quotas for years because of war and sanctions.

The last time Iraq had a quota was in June 1990, when both Iran and Iraq had targets of 3.14 million bpd, Ghadhban said. Baghdad’s oil expansion programme has already pushed its oil supplies to 3 million bpd - a level last pumped before Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990 - and just a touch below Iran, where output has sunk to a 20-year low because of Western sanctions.

Ghadhban said Iraq’s production capacity will reach 3.4 million bpd by

the end of the year. By 2014, it is expected to hit 4.5 million bpd. “It won’t be long before Iraq takes second place in OPEC,” he said. “The expansion of Iraq’s production and export capacity is now a reality.”

Ghadhban told the conference that Baghdad’s lost capacity over the past three decades had benefited other producer countries and that some producers could not meet earlier output quotas. Iraq needed to ensure it gets an “adequate” OPEC quota when the time comes, he said.

“We are not facing an imminent problem with regard to Iraq’s effort to regain its rightful place in OPEC,” he said.

“It is more constructive to look at the bright side of Iraq again becoming a main contributor of oil supplies.”

Ghadhban also said Iraq was considering lowering its target to expand its output capacity to about 9.3 million bpd from the existing 12 million bpd, seen by some in the industry as too ambitious. Even then, Iraq would still rank second in OPEC to Saudi Arabia, whose production capacity is 12.5 million bpd. — Reuters

KHARTOUM: Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir announces in parliament that the government decided to raise taxation and remove fuel subsidies “step by step” yesterday. — AFP

Sudan to tax more, slash subsidies to plug deficit KHARTOUM: Sudan will gradually abolish fuel subsidies, cull the number of civil servants on its payroll, and raise taxes on consumer goods, banks and imports to plug its budget deficit, President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said yesterday.

The measures are an attempt to tackle a deficit put at $2.4 billion by Finance Minister Ali Mahmoud in May - that opened up after Khartoum lost three-quarters of its oil, the lifeline of the economy, when South Sudan became independent a year ago.

A dispute with Juba over transit fees and recent border fighting between the two former civil war foes has only added to Khartoum’s budget woes. “We will overhaul the government ... cut down the number of ministries ... and shrink regional governments by between 45 and 50 percent,” Bashir told parliament. Advisor jobs and allowances for senior officials would be cut altogether, he added.

Fuel subsides, which diplomats say cost the treasury at least $1 billion annually, would be gradually phased out, he said, while value added

innovator takes water out of showering JOHANNESBURG: With inspiration from a friend too laz y to take a s h owe r a n d a fe w m o n t h s o f research on the I nternet, S outh African university student Ludwick Marishane has won global recognition for an invention that takes the water out of bathing.

Marishane, a 22-year-old student at the University of Cape Town stud e n t i nve n te d a p ro d u c t c a l l e d DryBath, a clear gel applied to skin that does the work of water and soap.

Th e i nve n t i o n , w h i c h wo n Marishane the 2011 Global Student Entrepreneur of the Year Award, has wide applications in Africa and oth-

er parts of the developing world where basic hygiene is lacking and hundreds of millions of people do not have regular access to water.

The product differs from the antibacterial hand washes by eliminating the heavy alcohol smell. It creates an odourless, biodegradable cleansing film with moisturisers. He came up with the idea as a teenager in his poor rural home in the winte r w h e n a f r i e n d o f h i s s a i d bathing was too much of a bother, made all the worse by a lack of hot water.

“He was lazy and he happened to say, ‘why doesn’t somebody invent something that you can just put on

your sk in and you don’t have to bathe’,” said Marishane. It was his “eureka” moment. He then used his we b - e n a b l e d m o b i l e p h o n e to s e a rc h t h ro u g h G o o g l e a n d Wikipedia in pursuit of a formula.

Six months later, he came up with DryBath and a obtained a patent.

The produc t is now manufactured commercially with clients including major global airlines for use on long-haul flights and governments for its soldiers in the field.

Marishane also sees it helping conserve water in the poorest parts of the world.

“DryBath will go a long way in helping communities”. — Reuters

tax and taxes on imports and banking profits would be increased. The decision to target the banking sector comes after taxes on telecoms firms were raised in December.

Bashir said the government would soften the blow of higher fuel prices for citizens by exempting basic food items such as wheat, flour and sugar from the new import tax. He gave no details but said Finance Minister Mahmoud would brief parliament on Wednesday.

Annual inflation hit 30 percent in May; double the level it stood at in June 2011, causing pain for ordinary people who are already tired of years of poverty, ethnic conflicts and US trade sanctions. The Arab African countries avoided an “Arab spring”, but anger is rising in Sudan over spiralling food prices as the cash-strapped government struggles to fund imports.

Around 200 students staged an anti-government protest on Sunday. The International Monetary Fund urged Sudan to enact emergency measures to overcome the “daunting” challenges it faces three weeks ago. — 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 .4310000 .3490000 .2900000 .2700000 .2760000 .0040000 .0020000 .0758640 .7391240 .3840000 .0710000 .7245790 .0040000 .0430000

CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES US Dollar/KD .2794500 GB Pound/KD .4338040 Euro .3515620 Swiss francs .2926330 Canadian dollars .2721030 Danish Kroner .0473120 Swedish Kroner .0398060 Australian dlr .2783180 Hong Kong dlr .0360190 Singapore dlr .2181500 Japanese yen .0035170 Indian Rs/KD .0000000 Sri Lanka rupee .0000000 Pakistan rupee .0000000 Bangladesh taka .0000000 UAE dirhams .0762090 Bahraini dinars .7424700 Jordanian dinar .0000000 Saudi Riyal/KD .0746330 Omani riyals .7270370 Philippine Peso .0000000

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. ASIAN COUNTRIES

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

.2832500 .4420000 .3570000 .3010000 .2800000 .2860000 .0070000 .0035000 .0766270 .7465520 .4020000 .0770000 .7318610 .0072000 .0500000 .2815500 .4370640 .3542040 .2948320 .2741480 .0476680 .0401050 .2804100 .0362890 .2197890 .0035440 .0050850 .0021330 .0029960 .0034560 .0767810 .7480430 .3987270 .0751930 .7324930 .0066640

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

GCC COUNTRIES 74.883 77.158 729.380 745.850 76.464

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 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 GOLD 293.000 148.000 75.250

20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

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

SELL CASH

286.800 744.780 3.660 277.900 550.000 45.700 48.800 167.800 47.990 359.500 36.790 5.200 0.032 0.160 0.235 3.640 396.670 0.189 91.580 44.400 4.310 225.700 1.814

48.300 727.440 3.120 6.820 77.470 74.770 222.360 36.170 2.668 443.600 41.200 299.900 4.300 9.240 198.263 76.360 280.400 1.350

10 Tola

GOLD 1,705.990

Sterling Pound US Dollar

727.260 2.982 6.653 77.040 74.770 222.360 36.170 2.123 441.600 298.400 4.300 9.100 76.260 280.000

COUNTRY

Currency

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 441.600 280.000

SELL DRAFT

285.300 744.780 3.428 276.400

222.400 46.322 358.600 36.640 5.045 0.030

SELL DRAFT

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

283.26 277.39 298.34 355.83 280.25 438.67 3.61 3.428 5.027 2.127 3.155 2.978 76.37 746.22 46.37 399.27 729.38 77.39 74.94

SELL CASH

283.00 277.00 295.00 356.00 281.50 438.00 3.65 3.550 5.200 2.400 3.700 3.200 77.00 746.00 47.75 397.50 732.50 77.75 75.25

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd 396.830 0.188 91.580 3.180 224.200

Rate for Transfer

Selling Rate

US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar

279.950 277.640 440.240 355.905 296.405 741.150

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

76.195 76.840 74.615 394.070 46.344 2.121 5.056 2.978 3.421 6.639 686.710 4.530 8.960 5.895 3.245 88.340

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co.

UAE Exchange Centre WLL

Bahrain Exchange Company COUNTRY

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 Thai bhat Tunisian dollar UAE dirham U.S. dollars Yemeni Riyal

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 Yemeni Riyal Euro Canadian Dollars Nepali rupee

280.000 2.973 5.050 2.130 3.419 6.685 76.340 74.825 744.400 46.290 445.200 2.990 1.550 361.900 279.900 3.190

Al Mulla Exchange Currency

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

Transfer Rate (Per 1000)

280.600 357.500 442.750 276.700 3.595 5.039 46.410 2.126 3.417 6.625 2.978 746.300 76.300 74.850

*Rates are subject to change

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

BUSINESS

India interest rate unchanged on inflation fears MUMBAI: India’s central bank left its key interest rate unchanged yesterday due to inflation concerns, thwarting hopes of a rate cut to kick-start flagging growth in Asia’s third-largest economy. The Reserve Bank of India said the policy repo rate - at which it makes short-term loans to banks would remain unchanged at 8.0 percent, and the cash reserve ratio - the ratio of cash which banks must keep on hand - would stay at 4.75 percent.

“Future actions will depend on a continuing assessment of external and domestic developments that contribute to lowering inflation risks,” the

bank said in its policy statement. It said headline inflation remains “above levels consistent with sustainable growth.”

Most economists had expected a quarter percentage point rate cut, given the recent rush of dismal economic data in India and heightened global uncertainty. India’s growth slowed to a nine-year low of 5.3 percent in the quarter ended in March, with the bank blaming weak investment and decelerating industrial output for the slump.

Slowing growth has not tamed inflation. Rising food prices drove

India’s benchmark inflation rate to 7.6 percent in May from 7.2 percent in April. The steep depreciation of the rupee against the dollar has limited the relief India - which imports threequarters of its oil - had hoped to gain from lower global crude prices.

In April, the Reserve Bank of India surprised markets with a half point rate cut, even as it urged New Delhi to tackle supply bottlenecks, reduce the fiscal deficit and improve the investment climate. “Our assessment of the current growth-inflation dynamic is that there are several factors responsible for the slowdown in activity, par-

ticularly in investment, with the role of interest rates being relatively small,” the bank said in a statement.

“Consequently, further reduction in the policy interest rate at this juncture, rather than supporting growth, could exacerbate inflationary pressures.” The government’s chief economic adviser, Kaushik Basu, said there had been some “back and forth” between the RBI and the government over changing interest rates. He described the bank ’s decision as “within the realm of a difference of opinion.” In India “there is no hammer from the top that every agency of the

government speaks in one voice,” he said. Basu said the economy was going through a “very difficult” phase, which he said was an opportunity for the government to implement crucial reforms and reduce the fiscal deficit.

“There is a groundswell of opinion that the economic reforms have to be pushed through to jump-start the economy. No political party will want to stand up and be counted as opposing reforms,” Basu said.

Ratings agency Fitch threatened yesterday to downgrade India’s sovereign rating, echoing an earlier move

by Standard & Poor’s. — AP

China home price declines sluggish Property shares rise after data

SEPANG: Newly appointed Chief Executive of Malaysia’s AirAsia Aireen Omar poses after her position was announced yesterday. — AP

AirAsia chief to focus on regional expansion KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia chief Tony Fernandes yesterday said he was handing over his role as head of Malaysia operations to shift focus to oversee the budget carrier’s regional expansion.

Fernandes spoke as he introduced his replacement as CEO of AirAsia’s Malaysia operations, part of a change that will see him move to Jakarta to oversee the AirAsia family’s fast-growing core Asian market. In a news conference at AirAsia’s headquarters outside the capital Kuala Lumpur, Fernandes announced he would hand over responsibility for managing AirAsia’s Malaysia-based operation to the company’s finance chief, Aireen Omar.

Fernandes had run those operations since the former music executive plucked the ailing airline from bankruptcy a decade ago and steered it into an industry success story at a time when many other airlines had struggled. The 38-year-old Aireen, whom Fernandes described as “tough”, said she would focus on keeping operational costs down and opening up new markets to prepare the carrier for the Southeast Asian opensky policy in 2015.

The policy will reduce barriers on regional airlines expanding their route networks to other countries and is expected to intensify competition.

Fernandes also confirmed an earlier company announcement that he would move to Jakarta to oversee all group operations. He added that AirAsia’s Indonesian unit would launch an IPO in

the first quarter of 2013.

“We are not abandoning Malaysia. Our homes are here. We do not want to overshadow Aireen. We want a good succession plan and to put our time to develop our regional affiliates,” he said. He added the world economic slowdown weighing on most businesses is a growth opportunity for his cheap, no-frills carrier.

“Definitely, AirAsia will always benefit from a slowdown. We are always growing when things are tougher,” Fernandes, whose maverick style has made him a rising star in the industry, told reporters.

“We are now the beneficiaries of a slowdown. We are always growing when there is a slowdown.” Despite recently abandoning unprofitable long-haul routes to Europe, the airline group’s prospects in Asia are hailed by analysts as bright, and it is refocusing on shoring up its presence in the region against a host of new competitors.

It has set up subsidiary budget carriers in Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, and is planning one that will serve the Japanese market. Besides AirAsia and the other short-haul subsidiaries, the airline group also includes AirAsia X, which operates longer-haul routes of about three hours’ flying time or more. Last month, AirAsia posted a 4.0 percent increase in first-quarter net profit to 168.0 million ringgit ($53.4 million) on record quarterly revenue of 1.17 billion ringgit. — AFP

Italian Moleskine plans Milan float LONDON: Italian notebook maker Moleskine plans to list in Milan this year and has hired investment banks to run the sale of stock in the company, whose thread-bound jotters are based on originals favoured by the likes of Vincent Van Gogh and Ernest Hemingway. Goldman Sachs, Mediobanca and UBS will run the offering for majority-owner Syntegra Capital, aiming to add to the list of upmarket brands which have lured investors in defiance of generally tough stock market conditions. Private equity firm Syntegra plans to file listing documents for Moleskine, in which it owns a 68 percent stake, in early September and is aiming for a market debut in the fourth quarter, said Marco Ariello, a partner at Syntegra.

“An IPO is the right thing for the future of the company,” Ariello told Reuters on yesterday. While a string of flotations worldwide have been blown off course by choppy markets, with German chemical company Evonik the latest casualty, high-end brands have fared better with investor demand boosted by the industry performing well despite global economic uncertainty. In April, Italian cashmere house Brunello Cucinelli and highend luggage maker Tumi Holdings both saw their stock surge on their debuts in Milan and New York respectively, while shares in luxury brand Michael Kors Holdings are more than a third above their Dec. 15 trading debut price.

Premium brand “We need the market conditions to be better, but Moleskine is a premium brand in (terms of ) pricing power and positioning. Valuations and market

appetite for premium brands is stronger than for average brands even at difficult times,” said Ariello. But getting the valuation right will still be a balance. Luxury London jeweller Graff Diamonds was forced to pull its $1 billion Hong Kong offering last month as analysts and fund managers questioned its valuation.

Moleskine, a company which was created in 1997 to revive the style of notebook favoured by artists and writers in the 19th and 20th Centuries, has seen growth of around 25 percent a year since Syntegra bought a 75 percent stake for around 60 million euros ($75.8 million) in 2006. The company takes its name from a nickname given to the notebooks by writer Bruce Chatwin, another customer of the originals made

by Paris bookbinders.

They are actually bound in oil-cloth covered cardboard. In early 2011, when venture capital firm Index Ventures bought a 15 percent stake, the company said its turnover had grown from 80 million euros in 2006 to more than 200 million in 2010. The offering is likely to be made up mostly of existing shares, Ariello said. He declined to comment on potential valuations for the company, or how big a stake would be sold, but said Syntegra intended to retain some of its holding following the listing to benefit from its expected future value.

The rest of the company’s shares are owned by founder Francesco Franceschi and company management. Moleskine, whose products also include journals, diaries and city guides, has grown from 15 employees in 2006 to well over 100 and has offices in Milan, New York and Hong Kong. — Reuters

BEIJING: China’s home prices dipped for the eighth straight month in May but the pace of decline eased, fanning talk that the market may be bottoming out and that recent monetary stimulus could set the stage for a rebound. Home prices in the world’s secondlargest economy have fallen month-on-month since October, after China tightened policy more than two years ago to take the steam out of sizzling home prices. Still, Beijing reaffirmed hours after the data it would keep property tightening measures in place, concerned that inflationary pressures are still a problem even as the broader economy slows.

Prices have declined but the cumulative drop is still mild, analysts say, keeping home prices near record highs and out of reach for the majority of China’s burgeoning middle class. If Beijing moves to loosen restrictions now, it may mean the economy is slowing faster than expected. “Housing prices are stabilising or approaching the bottom,” He Yifeng, economist at Hongyuan Securities in Beijing.

“But we still cannot see any signs of rebounding.”

Average new home prices fell 0.1 percent in May from a month earlier, narrowing from April’s fall of 0.3 percent, according to Reuters calculations based on home price data in 70 cities published by the National Bureau of Statistics yesterday. Only 40 cities saw new home prices fall in May from April, as compared with 43 in April, 46 in March and 52 - the most so far - in December.

The set of year-on-year data told a different story, showing the average new home prices dropped 1.5 percent in May. That marked the third straight month of decline, and compared with April’s fall of 1.2 percent and March’s dip of 0.7 percent. A total of 54 cities suffered yearon-year home price declines in May, by as deep as 14.2 percent in Wenzhou, an eastern city seriously hit by private business failures in recent months due to external headwinds.

After the housing data, Chinese property shares reversed earlier losses, while Chinese developers listed in Hong Kong jumped.

Panic again The People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of China’s ruling Communist Party, said in an analytical report on yesterday that many home buyers worry about a rebound in property prices, as China has relaxed monetary policies, which changed market sentiment and boosted property sales since March. “It seems home prices and tightening policies have reached

their bottom so quite a few home buyers are starting to panic again,” it said. This is reminiscent of 2009 when prices doubled in several months after Beijing rolled out a 4 trillion yuan ($628.43 billion) stimulus package, the newspaper said.

China has relaxed monetary and fiscal policies after a more than two-year long property tightening campaign cooled the country’s redhot property market, at the same time as the euro zone debt crisis hit global financial markets and put a brake on domestic growth. The central bank cut interest rates on June 7, the first such move in more than three years, after it lowered banks’ reserve requirement ratio three times since November.

“Although these measures are not aimed at salvaging the property market, they are a shot in the arm for the cash-strapped real estate

three years this quarter, is fuelling expectations that Beijing will probably have to relax property curbs if external headwinds worsen.

Reinforcing such expectations are local governments’ steps to make it easier for first-time home buyers, by relaxing policies marginally so as not to irritate Beijing while stimulating local housing transactions.

Sales pick up The semi-official China Securities Journal reported yesterday that transactions of new and existing homes combined rose 46.5 percent in Beijing in the first half of June as compared with the same period last year, citing data from the local housing bureau website.

The newspaper also cited local consultancy Home Link as saying that 21 of the 76 new property projects that hit the market so far this

BEIJING: BMW cars are exhibited in the showroom of a newly opened BMW car dealership in Beijing yesterday. — AP market,” the People’s Daily added. Premier Wen year recorded a rise in transaction prices.

Jiabao’s government and its ministries have However, high inventories will cap any quick reiterated no change in its tightening stance rebound in home prices in the near term, it citfor the real estate sector, which affects more ed Home Link analyst Chen Xue as saying.

Vanke, China’s largest developer by sales, than 40 other industries. The latest confirmation of that policy came yesterday, in a Xinhua said earlier this month it would take about 11 months to sell down unsold stocks in key cities report that cited the housing ministry.

An unnamed spokesman from the housing such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. “I’m ministry was quoted as saying that “all locali- not worried about a home price rebound as ties must firmly implement various property long as the government keeps its tightening tightening measures as required by the central stance,” Hui Jianqiang, head of research at the government.” But the weakening economy, China Real Estate Association, told Reuters likely to grow at its slowest pace in more than after the data. — Reuters

Fabricated bank adds to China’s list of fakery BEIJING: In a China awash with fake iPhones, pirated DVDs and knockoff Louis Vuitton bags, rice trader Lin Chunping took fakery to a whole new level: He invented a US bank and claimed he bought it.

The little-known businessman shot to fame in January when state media reported that he had taken over Delaware-based Atlantic Bank. The unprecedented acquisition brought him praise: His hometown gave him a prestigious political appointment and state media called his business experience “legendary.”

The only thing that may have been legendary is Lin’s audacity.

Not only did he not buy Atlantic Bank in Delaware for $60 million as he claimed, but there is no Atlantic Bank in that state. Chinese reporters could not locate an Atlantic Bank or a bank registration by Lin in Delaware. He’s under arrest for an unrelated fraud and has been forced to give up his municipal-level appointment to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the government’s top advisory body.

Lin, who was arrested in early June, could not be reached for comment. But the 41-year-old’s short, spectacular rise and fall shows how fakery has evolved in China, morphing from the manufacture of copycat goods to entire institutions and careers. Last year, officials found five fake Apple stores in the southwestern city of Kunming. The stores were modeled after the US company’s iconic

stores right down to the winding staircase and the staff in blue Tshirts.

In early June, local press in eastern Shandong province exposed a fake university. Students who did not score high enough on the national college entrance exam to make it into university received sham admission letters to the Shandong Institute of Light Industry, a real school. The students paid nearly 30,000 yuan ($4,800) over the course of four years to attend classes at the institute. Weeks before graduation, the students learned they would not get diplomas because they were not officially enrolled at the school but in a private training program that rents space from the institute,

WENZHOU: In this photo, businessman Lin Chunping attends a press conference. — AP

according to the report in the state-run Jinan Times. The program organizer had disappeared, the newspaper reported.

Among students, getting ahead by padding resumes or other subterfuge is common. Zinch China, the Chinese arm of USbased educational networking site Zinch.com, estimates that 90 percent of recommendation letters to US schools are fake, that 70 percent of the essays are written by someone else and that half the transcripts are fabricated. Zinch drew the numbers from interviews with Chinese students, parents and agents.

Experts point to many reasons for the widespread of lack of scruples, from the need to be hypercompetitive to succeed in an overpopulated society to an ancient sage who countenanced lying to achieve a higher purpose.

He Huaihong, a Peking University philosophy professor who teaches ethics, takes aim at China’s politics, specifically the disconnect between an avowedly communist leadership and the capitalist economy it oversees.

“Jargon left from a century of political revolution is so disconnected with reality that the society is filled with meaningless, empty talk,” said He. Lin told Chinese reporters that it took him two years to negotiate the purchase of the US bank, and that the bank had declared bankruptcy in 2008 because of the financial crisis. To add more flair to

the story, Lin told reporters that the bank had been running for 85 years and was run by Jews, who are stereotypically seen by many Chinese as having superior business skills.

Lin’s story was particularly captivating because overseas acquisitions are a point of pride in China, showcasing its rising economic power. Lin’s supposed purchase of an American bank signalled both Chinese triumph and US decline.

His claims also cheered his hometown, the eastern city of Wenzhou, which was reeling from a government-imposed credit crunch that had ruined some highly leveraged entrepreneurs, some of whom fled the city and their debts. A few committed suicide.

“People were shocked that an obscure businessman bought a foreign bank and it was a US bank nonetheless. He wasn’t even a banker to begin with,” said Zhu Xiaochuan, a researcher on China’s financial law at CEIBS Lujiazui Institute of International Finance in Shanghai. “The news must be credible because it was in mainstream media. The public were amazed how wealthy Wenzhou businessmen were.”

A profile on the website of the ruling Communist Party’s newspaper People’s Daily depicts Lin as sharp and hardworking, selling buttons as a teenager, then purchasing a copper and gold mine in Ghana and investing in the rice business in China. The profile is still available online. — Reuters

24

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

business

European crisis continues to weigh hard on markets Euro starts week on strong footing NBK WEEKLY MONEY MARKET REPORT

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani vendor (center) sleeps inside a cart next to his tomatoes, at a wholesale market, yesterday. — AP

Bayt.com exceeds 8m users Bayt.com, the Middle East’s number one job site, announced yesterday that it surpassed a staggering eight million members.

That means that eight million people worldwide have discovered a whole new experience in enhancing their careers during the past 12 years. Bayt.com enables members to build an online professional brand, apply to jobs; read career literature; communicate with employers and other professionals; stay on top of market research; and plan their career projectiles. Featuring a content-rich approach that reflects on the needs of the Middle Eastern job market, culture, and trends, this miles tone reinforces Bayt.com’s position as a powerful platform that provides people - from all ages and educational backgrounds - with the tools and knowledge to pursue the career of their dreams.

The explosive popularity of Bayt.com in the Middle East over the past 12 years prompted the opening of 12 different offices around the region. This provides the company a market base to better serve both professionals and employers, and cement its status as a Middle Eastern job site created by the region, for the region. Employers tapping into Bayt.com’s rich professional community today to fulfil recruitment needs at all career levels and across all industries and job roles range from small and medium corporations and family offices to regional conglomerates, multinational corporations, educational institutions and governments. On an average day over 11,000 jobs are posted on Bayt.com and employers across the recruitment spectrum can avail of the industry’s leading technologies to source, screen, shortlist and rank applicants quickly, easily

and effectively.

“We are thrilled to reach 8 million members. We strive to continue to be a part of the lives and successes of the region’s professional community,” said Rabea Ataya, CEO, Bayt. “Every year we help hundreds of thousands of people find better jobs and in doing so build better lives. With the innovations lined up for the coming year, we are excited that we will have an even greater impact on our community.”

This milestone comes three months after the site underwent a major revamp which saw an enhancement of existing functions, as well as myriad added features such as a mobile application, a reworked, industryleading CV builder; and powerful new jobsearch tracking and CV-analysis tools. The new people-driven format garnered great success, and was built around the company’s core values of leadership, empowerment, efficiency, flexibility & communication.

Bayt.com today beyond its core recruitment platform which has pioneered the online recruitment industry in the region also has a number of complementary platforms directly related to enhancing the lives and livelihoods of the region’s professional communities. These include the Salaries platform which is the region’s most comprehensive online salary benchmarking tool as well as the Virtual Fairs platform where vibrant online job and education fairs are held around the year and the Branded Career Channels platform which empowers corporations and institutions around the region to tap into Bayt.com’s industry-leading technology to power their own career channels and further facilitate recruitment.

Amar Holding receives KD 73.675m financing KUWAIT: AMAR Holding, a leading developer and investor in commercial and Global Emerging Markets Limited (the “GEM” Group), a European-based alternative investment group focused on making capital investments in emerging markets including the MENA region, hereby announce the signing of a three-year financing agreement lead by GEM for a total amount up to KD 73.675 million. According to the terms of the agreement, AMAR Holding has the right to access the financing contemplated in the Agreement through the issue of shares and bonds convertible to shares of REMAL issued to GEM via a private placement.

The company intends to use the funds to develop real estate projects in the region, particularly in Sharm El Sheikh and Dubai. The funds will be used to effect acquisitions and fully develop projects. The deal was advised by Soter Capital.

Soter is a boutique investment bank offering tailored top-tier quality financial services in the Middle East and North Africa.

Tips for graduates to nail the job interview WASHINGTON: Simply put: One of the biggest keys to being asked to join the professional world is looking and acting professional. However, a recent survey of more than 500 human resources and business professionals found that half of all college graduates do not exhibit professionalism at work.

Consistently topping the list of problem areas is inappropriate appearance and poor communication skills.

Because 85 percent of job success depends on one’s level of professionalism, it’s crucial that recent grads know, and nail, the basics of business behaviour. Whatever your chosen profession, here are the top tips for nailing the job interview.

Before the interview: 1. Research the company: Learn the company’s history, mission, and recent activities. Be sure to look at the company’s web site and on-line press room.

2. Clean up your digital image: Remove photos, links, and text that might be viewed as inappropriate from all social media web sites and the web sites of your friends.

3. Listen to your voice mail message: Make sure your outgoing message is clear, concise and not off-putting to potential employers. That means no: “Hey, it’s Jes, you know what to do.”

4. Customize your resume: Your resume should highlight the skills most relevant to the career you’re pursuing. That means including all pertinent job experience such as internships in your chosen profession.

5. Get ahead of the curve: Invest in a personal business card that can be printed inexpensively by one of the many e-retailers or visit your local stationery store. Cards should be kept simple with just your name and contact information.

6. Practice, practice, practice: Rehearse answers to standard interview questions like: “what are your weaknesses?” “what are your strengths?”“where do you hope to be in five years?”

The day of the interview: 1. Arrive early: Busy people do not like to be kept waiting; and it shows disrespect. Arrive five minutes early but don’t rush; you want to be calm and poised for the interview.

2. Dress like you mean business: Wear neutral colors and, if in doubt, err on the side of dressing “too professional.” Women should wear some make-up (it makes you look more professional) and keep jewelry simple. Men should wear suits and well-polished shoes.

3. Turn your phone off: All mobile devices should be turned off completely. Nothing says “this interview is unimportant to me” more than taking a call or looking at a text during a meeting.

4. Connect with people: From the receptionist to the last person you meet, make direct eye contact, 40-60 percent of the time, in-between the eyes and offer a firm handshake to the interviewer when arriving and departing.

Worries over risks emerging from the euro-zone especially Spain’s debt levels and the Greek elections combined with disappointing data from major economies spurred volatility across the markets. The dollar had a mixed performance against its counterparts throughout the week. Initially the greenback dropped as investor’s risk appetites were lifted by the announcement of the 100 billion euros to shore up Spanish banks. Investors then quickly moved back to the greenback as fears over the capability of Spain to pay back its debt triggered a sell-off in Spanish bonds, which drove yields higher and closer to the psychological level of 7 percent, 10-year Spanish yields reached a high of 6.8 percent. On Friday, central banks from major economies announced that they will stand ready to take steps, including coordinated action, to stabilize markets as world economies prepare for a possible financial storm or public panic after tight elections in Greece this weekend.

The euro started the week on a strong footing and reached a high of 1.2671 but quickly dropped as fears from Spain spurred risk aversion in the market. The single currency dropped further as Moody’s investor service downgraded Spain’s credit rating by three notches citing the nation’s increased debt weight and weakening economy driving the euro to reach a low of 1.2441 mid-week.

The currency gradually recouped its losses as traders started to cover their short positions in anticipation of the outcome of the Greek elections on 17 June. The currency closed the week at 1.2660.

The sterling pound traded in a wide range throughout the week between 1.5580 and 1.5460.

On Friday, the pound traded in a volatile manner as the BoE governor announced to channel subsidized loans to British borrowers and pump extra liquidity into banks, an effort to curb risks emerging from the euro-zone.

The Japanese yen range traded between 79.10 and 79.74 up to Thursday. The yen quickly gained as investors sought it as a safe haven ahead of the Greek elections. The USD/JPY dropped dramatically to reach a low of 78.62 and closed the week at 78.75.

Retail sales declining US retail sales fell in May for a second month, prompting economists to cut forecasts for economic growth as limited job and income gains curb consumer spending. Sales dropped by 0.2 percent matching April’s downwardly revised fig-

ure. Core retail sales dropped by 0.4 percent, the lowest in two years. The smallest wage gains in a year and unemployment exceeding 8 percent are taking a toll on consumer spending that accounts for about 70 percent of the US economy, leaving it more vulnerable to shocks from the European crisis. Federal Reserve policy makers gather next week to decide whether further stimulus will be needed to maintain growth in the economy.

Initial jobless claims rising The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits increased last week adding more concerns over the US labour market. Claims unexpectedly rose by 6,000 to 386,000. Economists expected claims to drop to 377,000 from the previously revised figure of 380,000.

Inflation dropping Consumer prices fell in May by the most in more than three years as fuel prices ease, reinforcing the Federal Reserve’s projections that cheaper commodities will help reduce inflation. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) dropped by 0.3 percent more than the estimated drop of 0.2 percent, recording the biggest drop since December 2008. Additionally, the Core CPI, which excludes more volatile food and energy costs, increased by 0.2 percent for a third consecutive month.

A drop in consumer confidence US consumer sentiment fell in early June to a six-month low on worries about deterioration in the jobs market. University of Michigan’s preliminary reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment fell to 74.1 in June from 79.3 in May, falling short of the 77.5 reading predicted. This was the weakest reading since 69.9 in December 2011.

Europe Moody’s downgrades Spain by three notches The Spanish government’s efforts to bring down its sovereign debt was made a little more difficult last week when the credit ratings agency Moody’s slashed the country’s long-term rating by three notches citing the nation’s increased debt weight and weakening economy. Additionally, the agency stated that the newly approved euro-zone plan to help Spain’s banks will increase the country’s debt burden. The country’s rating was reduced to Baa3 from A3 and is on review for further downgrade as it plans to borrow 100 billion euros to

recapitalize its banking system. Finally, Moody’s gave Spain a negative outlook indicating that the door is open for further downgrades.

United Kingdom Manufacturing & industrial production UK manufacturing fell more than market expectations in April, pointing to continued weakness in the economy at the start of the second quarter.

Factory output dropped 0.7 percent from March, led by pharmaceuticals, aircraft maintenance and food production. Similarly, industrial production was unchanged following a drop of 0.2 percent in the previous month.

“Funding for lending” initiative The UK government and Bank of England said that they are preparing a scheme to channel cheap loans to British businesses as part of a range of measures designed to defend the country’s financial system from market turmoil. Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, said that the BoE and UK Treasury were working on a “funding for lending” scheme that would provide multiyear loans at below-market rates “linked to the performance of banks in sustaining or expanding their lending to the UK non-financial sector during the present period of heightened uncertainty.”

Treasury officials said that the government plan could support an estimated 80 billion pounds in new loans, while the central bank’s separate scheme will provide monthly 5 billion pound tranches of six-month liquidity to banks. The Governor also stated that the case for pumping more money into the economy via further purchases of government bonds had increased as the outlook for the economy had worsened, although he again rejected calls for the central bank to buy private assets. He added that the Euro zone’s concerns were leading to a crisis of confidence in Britain, which was leading to a self-reinforcing weaker picture of growth.

Japan Bank of Japan interest rate decision The Bank of Japan kept the size of its asset-purchase fund unchanged and said it will pay “particular” attention to global markets, referring to the highly anticipated Greek elections. The central bank kept its asset-purchase fund at 40 trillion yen and a credit-lending program at 30 trillion yen.

Additionally the central bank kept its key lending rate unchanged at the range of zero to 0.1 percent.

Disappointing US data triggers sell-off in equity KAMCO MARKET RESEARCH Renewed evidence of a global economic deceleration, emerging-market correction and the intensifying European financial stress remain the major drivers of investor sentiment and the performance of international and regional equity markets.

Disappointing US economic data and the market-sensitive European events (Greek elections, distressed Spanish banking system and deeper recession) triggered a selloff in equity markets across the region and heightened volatility in global and regional equity markets. Drop in oil prices driven by the signs of stagnation in the US GDP, slowdown in the Chinese economy and the recession in the euro-zone that has taken a toll on Chinese exports which has hurt manufacturing and retail sales, remains one of the major fundamental factors that will most likely continue to impact the GCC economies and financial markets in the foreseeable future.

This negative sentiment that has been intensifying since March 2012 adversely impacted the 7 GCC equity markets which recorded sharp losses in their combined market capitalization of $42.7 billion following a loss of $17.7 billion in April 2012.

After gaining $88.6 billion in Q1-12, the GCC equity markets eroded most of this gain and ended the 6th of June at $724 billion, just $1.2 billion up from year end 2011. Saudi TADAWUL continues to weigh down on market cap losing around $29 billion alone in May and $15.5 billion in April, while Kuwait Stock Exchange, Qatar Exchange and Dubai Financial Market equally lost $3.4 billion of their market capitalization during May; Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange followed and shed around $2.7 billion in its market capitalization.

All the equity indices in the GCC region closed on the downside during May; despite the return to growth in Dubai supported by strong tourism, trade and industrial sectors along with the government’s success in dealing with GRE debt, DFM General Index was the worst performer during May losing 9.8 percent and thus eroding its YTD-12 gains to 8.73 percent.

Saudi Tadawul was the second worst performer with a monthly loss of 7.72 percent, however, during the first 5 months of the year the benchmark remains in the positive territory with 8.36 percent gain. Sellingpressure on petrochemical stocks and the negative general sentiment in the region contributed to these losses. In Qatar, the psychological effects of international events overwhelmed the robust economic growth in the country and Q1-12 healthy corporate earnings and pushed the market to the negative territory for the second month in a row with a monthly loss of 3.3 percent.

In the absence of market catalysts, geopolitical tension and the sharp drop in oil prices with Brent shedding 14.3 percent

during May, liquidity in GCC equity markets dropped by 37 percent to $50 billion, versus $79.5 billion recorded in April. In Saudi Arabia, Fears from global market turmoil coupled with a slump in crude oil prices pressured the Tadawul All Share Index to the downside and break the critical 7,000 mark. The flight to safety and the major selling spree the market witnessed during May dragged the index to fresh lows. As a result, the TASI fell for the second consecutive month and ended May on a negative note losing 7.72 percent, to close at 6,975.27 points and end as the second worst performing market in the GCC, following Dubai Financial Market, and narrowing its YTD-12 gains to 8.36 percent from 17.77 percent witnessed in April. In May, TADAWUL market capitalization lost 7.5 percent of its value to SAR 1.37 trillion ($365 billion) as compared to SAR 1.48 trillion ($395 billion) recorded in April-12, as all sectors in the market fell with the exception of media and publishing. Market heavyweight petrochemical industries shed 8.9 percent of its value to reach SAR 459 billion ($122.5 billion) while the banks and financial sector fell 8.3 percent to SAR 330.2 billion ($88 billion).

consecutive month in line with global and regional markets which witnessed all GCC exchanges record losses in May. Fears of a global economic slowdown stoked by high euro-zone debt, slowing global growth and geopolitical tensions pressured markets lower, with oil prices under downward pressure falling more than 14 percent in May, which if sustained may weigh down on the economies of the GCC states. The ADX General Index shed 2.51 percent to 2,441.03 eroding its YTD-12 return to 1.61 percent. Trading indicators were mixed as volume dropped slightly by 2.8 percent to 1.19 billion shares, while value increased 20 percent to AED 2 billion with a 5.6 percent decrease in deals to 21,528.

In Dubai, A regional downturn in equity markets on the back of fears of a global economic slowdown and increasing investor anxiety regarding the euro-zone debt crisis following the French elections, which may complicate economic policy in the euro-zone, coupled with fears of a worsening situation in Greece and Spain, drove market behaviour during the month.

The DFM General Index suffered its largest one month drop since Jan-10 as it shed 9.78 percent to 1,471.49 paring its YTD-12

to the previous 12 month average of 9.16 percent. Aggregate market capitalization decreased 2.13 percent to QAR 454.6 billion ($124.9 billion) as compared to last month’s market capitalization of QAR 464.5 billion ($127.6 billion).

Whereas in Bahrain, After posting marginal gains for three consecutive months Bahrain Bourse recorded losses for the month of May, as concerns mounted over global economic recovery, lack of local market catalysts, and lower than expected Q1-12 earning, the Index ended the month on a negative note losing 1.15 percent and closing at 1,139.58 points. On the GCC front, all markets finished on a negative note during May with the DFM General Index ending as the month’s worst performer with a loss of 9.78 percent followed

by Tadawul All Share Index with losses of 7.72 percent. Market capitalization decreased by 0.57 percent during May to reach approximately BHD 6.27 billion with heavyweight banking sector losing 2.48 percent of its value. Regarding trading indicators, total volume traded for the month increased by 178 percent to reach BHD 64.56 million shares, while value traded rose by 228 percent to BHD 11.61 million.

While in Kuwait, Despite the introduction of the new “X-Stream” trading system in the Kuwaiti Bourse, local political tensions coupled with worries stemming from Europe pressured the market to the downside, ending May-12 on a negative note after reaching a 10 month high in April-12.

Kuwait followed the lead of its GCC peers as the KAMCO TRW Index shed 2.07 percent of its value, to close at 2,591 points, and narrow its YTD-12 gains to a marginal 0.22 percent; while the KSE Weighted Index and KSE 15 Index both fell 3.06 percent.

Nevertheless, trading indicators gained during the month as compared to April-12 as volume traded increased 4.2 percent to 9.1 billion shares from 8.7 billion in April-12 while value traded rose 7.3 percent to KD 802 million in May-12 from KD 748 million in April-12.

As for Abu Dhabi, The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange retreated for the third

gains to 8.73 percent and marked 3months of corrections following February’s whopping 20.53 percent surge in the index; the exchange has now shed 11.45 percent in the last 60 days and 13.54 percent in the last 90 days, while market volatility has settled down during May to 13 percent as compared to the previous 4-month average of 23 percent.

In Qatar, The QE 20 Index continued to slide for the second consecutive month in line with global equity markets, as concern from the euro-zone sovereign debt crisis resurfaced, to plummet 286.81 points in May to 8,416.83 - a 3.3 percent loss for the month. Trading indicators remained relatively elevated with volume recording a 10.3 percent increase to 305.9 million shares while value recorded a 7.9 percent increase QAR 7.74 billion ($2.1 billion).

Volatility edged up during the month to 6.19 percent but remained low compared

Finally in Oman, despite the strong Q112 corporate earnings, overall negative sentiment in the GCC drove the MSM 30 Index lower following other regional markets. Concerns over the well being of Greece and the entire Euro Zone added to fears of oil price instability due to speculations of weakening global demand. By the end of the month, the MSM 30 Index fell 1.95 percent to close at 5,754.69 points with volatility surging to the highest level since August-11 to hit 12.9 percent from 9.7 percent during April. The MSM 30 Index paired its YTD-12 gains diminishing them to 1.05 percent. Corresponding to the fall witnessed, trading indicators slumped with volume plummeting 59.4 percent during the month to 241 million shares compared to 593 million in April-12, while value traded was down 45 percent to OMR 67 million versus OMR 123 million in the previous month.

25

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

business

AXA private equity raises $8bn for bank asset buys Expects $40-$50bn of bank assets to come to market

SYDNEY: Women walk past signage in the foyer of the Sydney office of Fairfax Media yesterday. — AFP

Australia’s Fairfax Media to cut 1,900 jobs, erect paywalls SYDNEY: Australian media giant Fairfax said yesterday it will slash 1,900 jobs and erect paywalls on its flagship titles in a major overhaul towards a digital future as print advertising revenues plunge. As part of the plan, the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age in Melbourne will shift from broadsheet format to a more compact, tabloid size and two printing facilities will be shut. Chief executive Greg Hywood called it a landmark event for the Herald, which began publishing in 1831, and The Age, founded in 1854.

“No one should be in any doubt that we are operating in very challenging times,” he said in explaining why 20 percent of the company’s 10,000-strong workforce would be axed. “Readers’ behaviours have changed and will not change back. As a result, we are taking decisive actions to fundamentally change the way we do business.” Fairfax, which has newspaper, radio and digital interests, is the main rival in Australia to News Limited, Rupert Murdoch’s Australian empire, which is also suffering and reportedly preparing for large job cuts.

Like media companies worldwide, Fairfax has faced sliding print advertising and circulation revenues and reported a 44 percent plunge in first-half net profit to December 31. Stock in the company has fallen more than 85 percent in the past five years and management has come under pressure from the world’s richest woman Gina Rinehart to do something about it. Mining magnate Rinehart is Fairfax’s major shareholder and yesterday revealed she had boosted her stake to 18.67 percent from 12.58 percent following a buying spree last week.

The company’s shares rallied more than seven percent to 65 Australian cents, helped by a separate announce-

ment that Fairfax sold a 15 percent holding in its Trade Me subsidiary, raising Aus$166 million ($167 million). Fairfax said it will introduce subscriptions for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age websites in early 2013, similar to News Limited, which already charges for access to its main title, The Australian.

Print versions of those two mastheads will shrink to the size of its Australian Financial Review newspaper from March 4, 2013. The job cuts will come over three years and together with the closure of printing facilities in Sydney and Melbourne will result in annual savings of Aus$235 million from June 2014, the company said. One-off costs associated with the changes will be around Aus$248 million.

The Herald said Hywood had told staff that 20 percent of job losses would be from editorial, setting the scene for possible industrial action. Last month, staff called a snap 36-hour strike after company moves to shift editorial production of several regional newspapers to New Zealand, with the loss of 66 jobs. The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance union said it was seeking urgent meetings with the company while Communications Minister Stephen Conroy called the job losses “terrible”.

“Fairfax have had to make, they say, some very tough decisions to survive as an organisation at all,” said Conroy.

Hywood said the changes had come after “considering the merits of a full range of structural alternatives, including a demerger”.

“The package of strategic initiatives is bold, and several are difficult, particularly as they will impact on some of our people,” he said. “However, we believe that they are in the best interests of Fairfax, our shareholders and ultimately the majority of our people.” — AFP

Foreign farms in Africa bring investment and controversy JOHANNESBURG: Foreign farms are spreading across Africa to grow food and biofuels for global markets, bringing much-needed investments but also new troubles for a continent struggling to feed itself. China, Malaysia, Singapore and Bangladesh are just some of the countries spending billions of dollars in what critics have dubbed a new “scramble for Africa”, a reference to Europe’s 19th century colonisation drive. But Africa holds an estimated 60 percent of the world’s uncultivated, arable land, making the continent a critical component to international efforts to feed the planet’s growing population.

How to achieve global food security is one of the most contentious issues at the upcoming Rio Summit on the environment, where activists are expected to sound the alarm over “land grabs” in Africa. Many of the deals are with private companies, from Asian states seeking to feed large, growing populations to Europeans looking to produce biofuels, and their arrival on the continent has sometimes provoked angry backlashes.

Bangladesh’s government explicitly encourages such schemes as a way to feed its 150 million people, as its own farmland falls to urban and industrial growth.

Bangladeshi companies have deals to grow rice in Uganda and Tanzania, but across the continent in Gambia, the government rejected a deal following an uproar over a foreign farm project in neighbouring Senegal. Last year two people died in protests in Senegal over a 20,000-hectare (50,000-acre) biofuel scheme. The government in Dakar put the scheme on ice. The most dramatic case so far has been South Korean conglomerate Daewoo’s $6-billion (4.7-billion euro) plan to grow corn and palm oil in Madagascar, on an area the size of Belgium.

Public outrage at the deal was one of the sparks to protests that toppled thenpresident Marc Ravalomanana in 2009.

The deal was scrapped after the coup, which tipped the island into an ongoing crisis. Conflicts with local residents, often caused by shady contracts, are one of the biggest problems caused by the largescale deals. Some communities are resettled, others complain about competition for water.

“Recent land acquisitions in Cameroon all look shocking, due to their scale, their low cost (as little as 50 US cents a hectare a year), their length (of up to 99 years), and their secrecy,” said Samuel Nguiffo, of the Centre for Environment and Development. In Liberia, such deals could cover up to half of the nation’s arable land, squeezing the land left for riverside communities to grow food, according to Columbia University’s Center for International Conflict Resolution.

Riots erupted over a 2009 deal with Malaysia’s Sime Darby to plant rubber and palm oil plantations, forcing President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in December to admit to “mistakes” in the $3 billion contract. “I don’t know where I am going to make farm this year. The land my great parents left with me has been taken from me and given to Sime Darby,” said local farmer Fred Dassen, 61, on a recent radio report.

Activists argue that policymaking is tilted toward agro-industry, while Africa should support its own small farmers with better seeds or extension services. African farm productivity is low, about one-quarter the global average, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

Just 8.5 percent of arable land is cultivated, and only 5.4 percent irrigated.

Governments argue that big foreign investment can change that as companies improve infrastructure and train new farmers. New crops can also bring new industry: Liberia hopes its oil plantations will lead to a soap factory.

Gabon has attracted $4.5 billion (3.6 billion euros) in investments in rubber and palm oil by Singapore’s agro-food giant Olam. The government says the company’s new rubber plantation and factory would create 6,000 direct jobs and 5,000 subsidiary jobs.

The company will also build thousands of homes as well as schools and a health clinic. Marc Ona, founder of the Brainforest pressure group, said the concern is more about the lack of oversight of the deals and the impact on the environment and society. “Faced with the challenge of food security, the choice is often geared toward agro-industry, with decisions made in illegal circumstances, without judicial oversight,” he said. —AFP

LONDON: AXA Private Equity has raised a larger than expected $8 billion from investors, much of which it will use to take assets off the hands of banks cutting down their exposure in the face of rampant regulation. Banks, in dire need to fortify their capital buffers, are in a rush to offload private equity assets they spent billions on in the heady days before the financial crisis, causing a flurry in so-called secondary sales.

“AXA Private Equity predicts a significant increase in activity in the secondary market over the next two years,” the investment arm of French insurance group Axa, said in a statement yesterday. The firm expects between $40 billion and $50 billion of bank assets to come up as a result. Axa Private Equity had initially been after some $3.5 billion for its flagship secondaries fund but ended up raising more than double that amount at $7.1 billion. An additional $900 million will go towards its primary fund of funds, the group said.

Traditionally, private equity houses buy companies with large amounts of debt financing. They then aggressively cut costs, improve

performance, and sell it on for a profit, usually through a stock market flotation. If they find no outside buyers, they often flip assets between rivals. The model for AXA Private Equity’s secondaries fund is slightly different in that it takes investment portfolios off the hands of banks.

Last year, it bought a $740 million portfolio of private equity holdings from Barclays and earlier acquired a bumper $1.7 billion portfolio from Citigroup. Its fundraising success follows US Group Lexington Capital, which last year raised $7 billion, then the largest ever fund raised by a secondaries specialist. Rival Coller Capital is seeking to raise some $5 billion.

Big deals vanish Deal-making in the private equity industry - once home to conspicuous multi-billion deals such as KKR’s 11 billion pound ($17 billion) acquisition of Alliance Boots and Terra Firma’s 4 billion pound purchase of EMI - has been tepid ever since the onset of the financial crisis. In the absence of finding new deals, as bank lending for the debt-heavy leveraged buy-outs has dried up, many firms have spent

more of their time buying mid-sized companies from rivals. May saw a flurry of such deals.

Silver Lake and Partners Group bought Swiss tax-free shopping business Global Blue from rival Equistone, while two private equity groups are in the hunt for Europe’s biggest frozen food company Iglo Group, now owned by buy-out firm Permira.

The former head of Britain’s biggest mobile phone company Everything Everywhere approached private equity groups six months ago about an 8 billion pound buyout, but found no takers, sources said this weekend.

Not only have buy-out firms lost their access to funding, it is also harder for them to sell companies to stock markets, which are virtually shut for new entrants because of the weak global economy and the euro zone debt crisis.

The owners of German chemical company Evonik, for instance, are set to scrap plans for what could have been Europe’s biggest initial public offering in more than a year, people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday. — Reuters

Crisis doubts take root among German firms ALPEN: The ploughs that made German farm machinery firm Lemken its name line the factory forecourt like a row of modernist sculptures, with jutting spokes and sinister-looking blades. Based in an agricultural region close to the Dutch border, this is an archetypal German “Mittelstand” company, family-owned over seven generations and still catering to the same farmer clientele served by its founder, blacksmith Wilhelmus Lemken, in 1780.

But after strong growth last year, Lemken, like the wider German economy, is losing its immunity to the debt crisis sweeping Europe and beyond, devouring investor confidence in its wake.

Sales will slow sharply in the second half of the year, as European markets shrink or stagnate and the pace of growth stalls in emerging economies which helped power record German exports in 2011. “Farmers, our customers, worry like every other citizen about the scale of the crisis and the chances of recession,” Lemken chief executive Franz von Busse told Reuters from his modern office in the flat Alpen countryside. “This affects their willingness to make major investments in agricultural machinery like ploughs.”

He expects sales to fall 5 percent in the second half of 2012, after rising 15 percent in the first, giving an annual rise of just 5 percent and mirroring a broader slowdown in Germany ’s agricultural machinery sector. The looming slowdown in Europe’s powerhouse economy is a blow for the continent’s recovery hopes. A lengthy period of stagnation or worse beckons if the debt crisis deepens. Recent economic reports point to rapidly deteriorating sentiment among German businesses as new orders falter and frustration at political inertia over the crisis mounts.

A survey of purchasing managers showed Germany’s factory output contracted at its fastest pace in nearly three years in May. Closely watched business sentiment surveys from the Ifo and ZEW think tanks have also slumped. The reports show building firms with a high reliance on public spending, and retailers, who depend on the mood of German consumers, are being hit hardest.

German healthcare firms such as Fresenius or Biotest have found themselves facing unpaid bills from Greek hospitals, for which they were given Greek government bonds, only to find these written down. Elsewhere in the economy, growth is tailing off as order books take longer to fill. “We will see a flattening this year. Growth is slowing as orders slow, but we should still see mild growth,” said Arndt Kirchhoff, head of the Mittelstand division of the Federation of German Industry, and chief executive of an automotive company.

Germany remains in a better position than its European peers. Its firms have confidence in their products, if not in their political leaders, and are better positioned for external shocks, having reduced their exposure to Europe’s crisis-hit periphery. But the situation is beginning to look more fragile, with worrying implications for Europe.

Germany’s economic momentum will be a key factor in the duration and severity of the crisis.

In a recent study of 4,000 Mittelstand, or small and medium-sized firms, by Commerzbank, three in four said political uncertainty arising from the euro zone crisis was making it difficult to make plans, adversely affecting their business. It is a frustration shared by Ralf Saatkamp, 33, founder of System Trailers GmbH, which makes commercial vehicle trailers. “We see no solutions being put forward. Politicians just come up with ways to push problems aside for a time even if this actually increases them,” said Saatkamp, who is also deputy president of Germany’s Association of Young Entrepreneurs. — Reuters

FRANKFURT: A German flag of a trader supporting the German national football team hangs in front of a board displaying Germany’s share index DAX yesterday. — AFP

TOKYO: A woman passes in front of a share prices board illustrating the figures from various world stock exchanges in the Japanese capital yesterday. — AFP

Japan’s bill to insure ships carrying Iran’s oil TOKYO: Japan’s lower house passed a bill on Friday to allow the government to provide insurance for ships carrying Iranian crude, making the country the first of Iran’s big Asian buyers to find a way to keep the oil flowing despite tough EU sanctions. The bill has gone to the upper house, where opposition parties have the majority but have signalled their support.

A European Union ban on member countries importing Iranian oil is set to take effect on July 1 and includes a ban on EU insurance firms covering Iran’s exports. That is a headache for Japan, South Korea, China and India, who together bought two-thirds of Iran’s oil exports and rely on EU companies to insure them. Here are questions and answers regarding the bill, how much cover it provides and how the insurance scheme works. Answers are based on responses from government and industry officials.

WHY IS JAPAN PLANNING TO PROVIDE A GUARANTEE? When EU sanctions take effect on July 1, the Japan P&I Club (JPI), the country’s main ship insurer against pollution and personal injury claims, would have to cut the cover for a tanker carrying Iranian oil to $8 million from $7.6 billion. That’s because JPI won’t be able to lay off the risk with European reinsurers, which cover around 90 percent of the world’s tankers. With no other means available to obtain the required coverage, Japan’s Iran oil imports will come to a complete halt from next month.

Impor ts from Iran have already declined in response to US financial sanctions, from which the government has received a waiver after reducing Iranian purchases. An initial round of European insurance sanctions earlier this year also forced Japanese insurers from April to restrict coverage to one tanker at a time while in the Gulf, helping cut imports by more than from the level last year. Government officials say they want to avoid cutting Iranian purchases to zero and the cover is being provided to avoid damage to the world’s third-largest economy. If Japan is forced to buy large volumes of crude to substitute Iran’s oil, its energy import bill may rise.

WHEN WILL JAPAN START PROVIDING THE SOVEREIGN GUARANTEE? After the law passes through the upper house, the bill will take effect within two or three days. The sovereign guarantee is scheduled to kick in once European reinsurance becomes unavailable due to the sanctions, probably on

July 1. If EU foreign ministers decide next Monday to delay the introduction of the ban from July, the start of Japan’s sovereign guarantee will be delayed.

Japan and South Korea have been lobbying for an extension or waivers but the chances of the EU backing down are seen as low. If passed before the end of the current session on Thursday, the guarantee scheme would be in place before the end of the month, providing enough time for buyers to book ships and load oil at Iranian ports in July.

At least one Japanese buyer has nominated a cargo for loading in late July to early August. It remains unclear whether other buyers made any nominations for July, but industry sources say some buyers are likely to have booked cargoes for the second half of July. Japanese buyers have this year got an additional force majeure clause in annual contracts so they would be exempt from penalty if global sanctions against Iran prevented them from taking delivery of Iranian oil.

Although Japanese buyers are required to notify Iran 30 days in advance if they invoke the clause to cancel loading, Iran has shown a willingness to shorten the notification period from 30 days. As a result, there will probably be no major impact on loading schedules for next month.

HOW MUCH IS JAPAN SETTING ASIDE FOR THE SCHEME? The government plans to provide up to $7.6 billion cover per tanker carrying Iranian crude to Japan, including bodily injury, damage to property and oil spill liability cover. The bill provides a total guarantee of up to 9.13 trillion yen ($115.97 billion), allowing the government to cover 15 tankers operated by about 10 shipping companies for a year.

The size of the guarantee is likely to decline in future years as Japan curbs Iran imports to comply with the US sanctions that require continued significant reductions. As the flows decline, the number of tankers required to carry Iranian oil will fall.

HOW DOES THE SOVEREIGN GUARANTEE WORK? The government is considering having shipping companies pay an annual fee of around 15 million yen per tanker to receive the guarantee. That will be on top of an ordinary premium of about 20 million to 30 million yen that they usually pay for coverage without any limit on destination. This is an additional cost for shippers that is likely to be passed on to refiners buying the oil. The ship owners are required to report to the government if they load Iranian crude. — Reuters

26

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

BUSINESS Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive distributes booster seats KUWAIT: Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive has concluded its weekend long campaign at Avenues Mall to promote road safety on the streets of Kuwait with the distribution of 50 booster cushions to families with children between the ages of 6 and 11 years and weighing between 22kg and 36kg (the internationally recognised safest weights).

The initiative was part of BMW Group Middle East ‘Stay Alert. Stay

Alive.’ road safety campaign launched in 2010 with the aim to enlighten the public about the importance of using appropriate safety restraints while travelling by car, particularly those for children.

The campaign was a resounding success with thousands of child safety booster seats distributed to parents throughout public awareness events.

“According to the National Traffic & Transport Sector, Kuwait has one

of the highest per capita level of traffic fatalities in the world, with approximately 600 killed and 2,000 injured every year. As a leader in the Kuwaiti automotive industry, we have a responsibility to support the government in their efforts to change driver behaviour and make the streets of Kuwait a safer place,” said Yousef Al-Qatami, General Manager of Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive.

“The success of any campaign

requires the continuous efforts and commitment from the entire community, therefore I urge other organisations to join us in our effort to make the roads of Kuwait safe,” he added. Following its activity at the Avenues Mall, Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive will continue promoting road safety through the distribution of additional child safety booster cushions to qualifying families at its showroom in Shuwaikh during the holy month of Ramadan.

Joyalukkas awarded Superbrand status for third consecutive year KUWAIT: Joyalukkas, the world’s favourite jeweler has been recognised as a Superbrand for the third time and is the only jeweler to win this exceptional brand recognition in 2012. The jewelry retailer was also awarded this status in the year 2010 and 2011.

The announcement was made at the prestigious Superbrands Tribute Event, a high profile, premier marketing occasion attended by the media and peers alike. The award was accepted by John Paul Joy Alukkas, Executive Director on behalf of the Joyalukkas Group.

The brand will also once again be featured in the 2012 edition of the Superbrands UAE book.

The Superbrands organisation is acclaimed worldwide as being an independent authority and arbiter of branding excellence and is committed to paying tribute to exceptional brands and promoting the discipline of branding. Only brands that achieve the level of recognition set by the independent Superbrands Council are eligible for inclusion in the Superbrands UAE book, which traces the history, achievements and acceptance of each of the brands.

“We are honored to be recognised with the Superbrand status for the third time. This only means our customers are appreciating our efforts in delighting them and our various brand building initia-

tives are working. I take this opportunity to convey our sincere appreciation to our valued customers, my fantastic team and the Superbrand council for this recognition. Customer appreciation keeps us going and we will continue to take every effort in delight-

ing them at every occasion,” said Joy Alukkas, Chairman and Managing Director of Joyalukkas Group.

From its inception as a single jewelry showroom to its current stature of a multi-billion dollar global conglomerate, with 85 jewelry showrooms world-wide, Joyalukkas has revolutionized the jewelry retail industry through innovative schemes as well as distinct offerings. In the short span of

around two decades, Joyalukkas has transformed the way the world looks at jewelry and made itself a household name. Today, the global retail chain operates across nine countries and has a loyal customer base of over 10 million customers.

Joyalukkas has set a benchmark

in jewelry, by offering customers a wide range of contemporary, ethno-contemporary and ethnic jewelry in all types of jewelry i.e. gold, diamonds, precious stones, platinum and pearls. Customers get to chose from over one million designs in branded and generic versions at Joyalukkas.

John Paul Joy Alukkas, Executive Director of Joyalukkas Group said, “Being a Superbrand for the third time feels great and

we are the only jewelry brand to be awarded this status. We spend a lot of time and attention to ensure we keep each customer delighted on their every shopping occasion at Joyalukkas. We are also using the online medium, specially our Facebook page, to connect with and keep our huge base of customers and followers updated on a day-today basis on the latest events and happenings at Joyalukkas. I would like to convey a big thank you to our customers, my team members and the Superbrand Council and the judges for this powerful endorsement for Brand Joyalukkas for the third time.”

The global conglomerate, Joyalukkas’s current business interest includes Jewelry, Fashion and Silks, Money Exchange, Luxury Air Charter and Malls.

Joyalukkas is also rapidly expanding its presence in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with their third jewellery showroom set to open in Jeddah this month. The jewelry business of Joyalukkas is one of the most awarded and recognised jewelry retailing chains.

Joyalukkas is also the first jeweler to be awarded the ISO 9001: 2008 and 140001:2004 certifications.

Joyalukkas has been recognised under the Dubai Quality Appreciation Program for strong adherence to quality across all its departments.

KCIC hosts analysts, investors’ meeting KUWAIT: In a closed session for its analysts and investors in Kuwait, KCIC, an investment firm focused on investing in emerging Asia, hosted Richard Gibbs, the Chief Economist and Global Head of Economic Research at Macquarie Group, a leading global provider of banking, financial, advisory, investment and funds management services. During the session, Gibbs shared with the local business community Macquarie’s outlook on the global economy and investment environment in 2012, and delivered an analysis and insights on the current global economy situation and the financial crisis risks that are hindering the recovery, he said: “We are going through a natural credit crunch.”

Euro-zone: Gibbs presented three plausible scenarios for the euro-zone indebtedness: 1. Orderly Rationalisation of eurozone: heavily indebted Euro member states would exit the currency union, and would experience Euro devaluation that will boost competitiveness, while stronger core members will face appreciation that will reduce competitiveness, and risk currencies will fall due to flight to quality.

2. Crash-through and mutualise debt: Indebted stats remain in the EU, and Euro policymakers will mutualise debt. AAA-rated Euro assets would benefit in near term as the Euro currency depreciates, and would boost competitiveness.

Commodities and risk currencies would rally, credit and spending would expand.

3. Everyone for themselves and financial autarky (this would be the worst possible scenario): Countries would opt for a national introspection/protectionism, which would damage regional trade/capital flows, and exacerbating deflationary forces.

The global crisis contagion would encourage countries to adopt a protectionism policy. Long term risk currency assets would outperform which means greater share of global trade flows, but short term flight to quality.

Global outlook Financial markets in 2012 are increasingly characterized by rapid risk reversal and counterparty disengagement. Social unrest and civil dislocation remain a risk as global unemployment rates remain persistently high, and living costs continue

to rise in many regions.

Globally, Gibbs said that the European sovereign debt crisis is yet to be resolved, and bank deleveraging will still have a negative multiplier effect on the Eurozone economy.

In Spain, concerns of a systemic risk of default are increasing as funding costs remain volatile.

In the US, the rise in energy prices remains a risk for its economic recovery, although the prevalence of shale gas is steadily eroding the US’s energy dependence.

China in the other hand, a hard landing is not expected because the economy is decoupling from its

Richard Gibbs reliance on the property sector and is moving more to depend on consumption which remains resilient.

Gibbs added: We believe that China is positioned for a soft landing, monetary conditions are easing when compared to a year ago, however policymakers remain fixed on tight policy for the time being.”

The global business cycle displays many shades of grey and dismay for the European Union (EU), the US and Japan.

The EU periphery is at the lowest point of the economic cycle hit by a recession, while the UK, EU core countries, Japan, and the US face better economic growth in their recession phase. The graph also shows Japan and the US moving towards an upswing. Gibbs said: “Japan entered a recession following the tsunami in March 2012, after which the reconstruction took 12 months. While the US economy is suffering in terms of income as 42 million people live on food stamps right now, with unemployment rates

reaching 8.1 percent.”

The rest of the world is on the other side of the graph, resembling the slowdown phase of the cycle.

East Asia has the highest economic growth, followed by South East Asia, then the GCC, Latin America, India, China, and Australia coming last.

“We see a slowdown in China, but we believe it’s an intended slowdown. The banks were instructed recently to increase their lending, China is easing” Gibbs added.

US Gibbs said that the US is expected to continue growing albeit at a subtrend pace. “Despite the currency and the weakening manufacturing sector, the US economy is expected to keep growing. People in the US don’t have the mobility they had before, they have negative equities that they can’t sell, and they find themselves stuck in their places.” The US’s further monetary stimulus will be directed at bolstering the pivotal housing sector.

GCC Strong growth continues in the GCC with governments’ healthy finances. Growth in oil exporting countries will be supported by buoyant global demand as the GCC compensates for declines in the production of oil from other countries. This strong growth in oil output has also assisted governments in achieving robust budget surpluses.

“Interestingly enough, the non-oil GDP is what drives growth in the GCC”, pointed out Gibbs. In 2011, non-oil GDP has outperformed oildriven GDP, and the trend is expected to continue throughout 2012.

Gibbs said, “The chart would look even more impressive if KSA and Qatar were removed.”

Investment sentiment The investment themes continue to be dominated by defensive strategies. The focus now is on equities offering sustained attractive dividend yields, with long positions in ‘safe haven’ assets of short to medium duration.

The balance of risks for 2012-2013 has four risks, each has its weighted probability: 50 percent probability: Liquidity driven surges in activity characterized by divergent and volatile growth in major economies, a fragile business and consumer confidence, volatile asset markets with

low turnover, sustained low official interest rates and unstable commodity prices 25 percent probability: Flat-lining with deflation driven by low subtrend global growth, stagnant to weaker asset markets, depressed business and consumer confidence, historically low interest rates and bond yields, and deflating commodity prices 15 percent probability: Coordinated global reflation where we see a strong above-trend growth, reflating asset markets and high turnover, buoyant business and consumer confidence, normalising interest rates and rising commodity prices 10 percent probability: Global financial crisis mark II. Commodity Gibbs said that Emerging economies will remain the engine room of industrial production, and specifically Asia countries, which are forecast to register a 7 percent in production in 2012. Production will be supported by increased demand thanks to four main drivers comprising: Industrialisation of major developing economies Rapid urbanisation in major developing economies Technological advances in production and consumer markets Psychology of fear in respect to perceived disruptions to our shortages of supply (especially energy and food), which increases demand for commodities.

China’s share alone of metals consumption is growing fast, as seen in 2011 in comparison to 2008. Trend is expected to continue in 2012.

Commodity prices also reflect demand trends. Oil prices continue to reflect solid demand fundamentals as well as geopolitical risks.

Macquarie forecasts prices to remain in the USD100-120 margin until 2014. Sustained high prices are part of a commodity type trend where Gibbs says, “non-fuel commodity prices typically experience linger bouts of downswings, whereas crude oil prices experience longer bouts of upswings.”

On the other hand, drivers that would negatively affect demand, and drive it to a decreased are a fixed capital formation and refurbishment in advanced economies and the adoption of sustainable economic development policies.

Burgan Bank announces Yawmi account winners KUWAIT: Burgan Bank announced yesterday the names of the five lucky winners of its Yawmi account draw, each taking home a prize of KD 5,000. Winners’ names will also be announced on Marina FM on a daily basis during their prime shows. The lucky winners for the five daily draws took home a cash-prize of KD 5,000 each, and they are: Tahani Jassim Mohammed Hameed; Khalifa Abdulla AlJaber Al-Sabah; Chadi Alid; Hussam Abdul-Rahman Ahmed Mishal; and Sherif Ali Kamel Nazzal.

The newly re -launched Yawmi Account is better, easier and faster than any day before. With its new and enhanced features, the Yawmi Account has become more convenient, easier, and faster for customers to benefit from.

Now, customers will be eligible to enter the draw after 48 hours only from opening the account. Customers are also

required to deposit KD 100 or equivalent only to enter the daily draw, and the coupon value to enter the draw stands at KD 10.

The newly designed Yawmi account has been launched to provide a highly innovative offering along with a higher frequency and incentive of winning for everyone. Today, the Yawmi account is a well understood product, where its popularity can be seen from the number of increasing account holders.

Burgan Bank encourages everyone to open a Yawmi account and/or increase their deposit to maximize their chances to becoming a daily winner. The more customers deposit, the higher the chances they receive of winning the draw. Opening a Yawmi account is simple, customers are urged to visit their nearest Burgan Bank branch and receive all the details.

Zain launches eeZee Connect KUWAIT: Zain, the leading Telecommunications company in Kuwait, announced the launch of the new eeZee Connect prepaid Internet service, with plans that feature flexibility and higher caps at competitive prices, as well as special daily, weekly and monthly packages that will allow customers to enjoy the high speed experience. The new eeZee Connect service is proof of Zain’s commitment to revolutionary technology and enhanced customer services that will enrich the overall customer experience. The new eeZee Connect will allow customers to enjoy continuous Internet connectivity with the choice of cap add-on. .

With the new eeZee Connect, customers can tailor their plans and maintain their experience with convenience and service reliability. For example, the new eeZee Connect portal provides Zain’s customers with accessibility

through handsets and other internet devices such as egos, tablets, hotspots and routers Additionally, it allows customers to view their latest account information, track their usage and change their subscription plans through the portal http://connect.kw.zain.com.

On the occasion of the new campaign, Zain said “We always seek ways to enhance the customer experience and to exceed customer satisfaction. The change of the communication landscape that is largely reliant on mobile services and mobile Internet access has become a lifestyle. That is why our eeZee Connect campaign featuring various subscription plans aims to deliver a service consistent with the new communication environment.”

The new eeZee Connect plan is available since June 5 and can be activated by sending “NET” to 999 or by visiting the portal.

Free vehicle check for Cadillac owners KUWAIT: Staying true to providing a rich ownership experience, Yusuf Ahmed Alghanim & Sons Automotive, the sole distributor of Cadillac vehicles in Kuwait, launched an exclusive free vehicle checkup campaign for Cadillac owners. This special service offered to Cadillac owners confirms Yusuf A. Alghanim & Sons commitment towards offering its customers the best aftersales services.

All Cadillac owners are welcome to bring their Cadillac vehicle to Yusuf Ahmed Alghanim Automotive’s service center, the largest and most advanced in the world, to benefit from the free check up. The free check up service offers Cadillac owners a 21-point inspection of the entire car, a detailed condition report and cost estimate, special discount on spare parts and labor; and a free wash and

vacuum. The free check up is available from June 12 until July 31, 2012. Due to the company’s keen attention on providing customers with an unparalleled experience, Yusuf Ahmed Alghanim & Sons’ service center gives Cadillac owners the opportunity to schedule an appointment by calling 24969000. If Cadillac owners wish to take advantage of this special offer and cannot visit the service center on weekdays, the service center is open every Friday from 2 pm until 7 pm for customers’ added convenience.

Yusuf A. Alghanim & Sons Automotive operates under a simple philosophy to excel ownership experience for owners of Cadillac vehicles and will continue to launch initiatives to suit all of its customers’ needs to ensure high levels of customer satisfaction.

Gulf Bank announces Al-Danah Weekly Draw winners KUWAIT: Gulf Bank held its 23rd Al-Danah weekly draw on June 10, 2012, announcing a total number of 10 Al-Danah weekly prize draw winners, each awarded with prizes of KD 1,000.

The 23rd Al Danah weekly winners are: Ahmed Ibrahem Rayyan; Sulaiman AlRahman Al-Ateyah; Noutha Mohammed Hussain Al-Ajmy; Saad Salah Abdulla Ali AlQattan; Mohammed Marzouq Turkey AlAzmi; Awaad Mobark Ali Mobark; Sheikh Hamad Ali Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah; Saleh Hasan Ajeel Atshan Al-Eneizi; Msaed Mekhlef Malooh Al-Salaili and Saju Thomas Thomas.

Gulf Bank encourages everyone in Kuwait to open an Al-Danah account and/or increase their deposits to maximize their chances of becoming a winner in the upcoming weekly (KD1,000 each for 10 winners). Gulf Bank’s Al-Danah allows customers to win cash prizes and encourages them to

save money. Chances increase the more money is deposited and the longer it is kept in the account.

Al-Danah also offers a number of unique services including the Al-Danah Deposit Only ATM card which helps account holders deposit their money at their convenience; as well as the Al-Danah calculator to help customers calculate their chances of becoming an Al-Danah winner.

To be part of the Al-Danah draws, customers can visit one of Gulf Bank’s 56 branches, transfer on line, or call the Customer Contact Center for assistance and guidance. Customers can also log on to www.e-gulfbank.com, Gulf Bank’s website, to find all the information regarding Al-Danah or any of the bank’s products and ser vices or log on www.e gulfbank.com/aldanahwinners, to find out more about Al-Danah and who the winners are.

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

technology

US firms deploy hacking ‘strike back’ technology WASHINGTON: A growing number of US companies are adopting “active defence” or “strike-back technology” to retaliate against sophisticated hacking attacks. Reprisals range from modest steps to distract and delay a hacker to more controversial measures that in some cases, could violate laws US or international laws, security experts say.

Some companies have reportedly gone to the extent of hiring contractors to hack an assailant’s systems. “Not only do we put out the fire, but we also look for the arsonist,” said Shawn Henry, the former head of cybercrime investigations at the US Federal Bureau of Investigations.

In April, Henry joined new cybersecurity company CrowdStrike, which aims to provide clients with a menu of active responses. Once a company detects a network breach, rather than expel the intruder immediately, it can waste the hacker’s time and resources by appearing to grant access to tempting material that proves impossible to extract.

Companies can also allow intruders to make off with bogus files or “beacons” that reveal information about the thieves’ own machines, experts say.

Henry and CrowdStrike co-founder Dmitri Alperovich do not recommend that companies try to breach their opponent’s computers, but they say the private sector does need to fight back more boldly against cyber espionage.

For example, Alperovich said it was commonplace for law firms to have their emails read during negotiations for ventures in China, giving Chinese firms an advantage in business negotiations.

But if a company knows its lawyers will be hacked, it can plant false information and get the upper hand, he said. “Deception plays an enormous role,” Alperovich said.

Other security experts say a more aggressive posture is unlikely to have a significant impact in the near term in the overall fight against cybercriminals and Internet espionage.

Veteran government and private officials warn that much of the activity is too risky to make sense, citing the chances for escalation and collateral damage.

“There is no business case for it and no possible positive outcome,” said John Pescatore, a National Security Agency and Secret Service veteran who leads research

firm Gartner’s internet security practice.

Nevertheless, the movement shows the deep anger and sense of futility among security professionals, many of whom feel that a bad situation is getting worse, endangering not only their companies but the national economy. “ There’s nothing you can do” to keep determined and well-financed hackers out, said Rodney Joffe, senior technologist at internet infrastructure company Neustar and an advisor to the White House on cybersecurity. Joffe recently looked at 168 of the largest 500 US companies by revenue and found evidence in Neustar forensic logs that 162 of them owned machines that at some point had been transmitting data out to hackers.

Frustration by security professionals is not new. Some privately admitted to rooting for hacker group LulzSec last year, during its unprecedented spree of public crimes, when it broke into and embarrassed Sony, an FBI affiliate and others with routine hacking techniques.

Security professionals said the resulting media coverage finally caught the attention of CEOs and legislators, although tougher cybersecurity laws have yet to pass Congress.

Although some strike-backs have occurred quietly in the past, Facebook popularized going on offense, said Jeff Moss, founder of the influential Black Hat security conferences and an advisor to the Department of Homeland Security.

In January, Facebook named some of the Russian players behind the malicious “Koobface” software that spread through spam on various social networks, earning the gang an estimated $US2 million.

The security industry’s shortcomings were underscored most recently by the discovery of the Flame spying virus in the Middle East.

Mikko Hypponen, the well-regarded chief research officer at Finland’s F-Secure Oyj, said his company had a sample of Flame in 2010 and classified it as clean and later missed another virus called Duqu that was suspected of being backed by Western governments.

“These are examples how we are failing” as an industry, Hypponen told the Reuters Media and Technology Summit.

“Consumer-grade antivirus you buy from the store does not work too well trying to detect stuff created by the nation-states with nation-state budgets.”— Reuters

BEIJING: (Left) In this image made off the screen at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center in Beijing and released by China’s Xinhua News Agency, China’s Shenzhou-9 manned spacecraft, left, conducts docking with the Tiangong-1 space lab module. (Right) In this image made off the monitor screen at the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center and released by China’s Xinhua News Agency, China’s astronauts Jing Haipeng, center, Liu Wang, left, and Liu Yang sit inside the Shenzhou-9 manned spacecraft while conducting docking with the Tiangong-1 space lab module 343 km above Earth.—AP photos

China astronauts complete successful space docking Milestone in campaign to build a space station BEIJING: Chinese astronauts carried out a manned docking with an experimental space module yesterday, the latest milestone in China’s ambitious campaign to build a space station. The Shenzhou 9 and its three-person crew, which includes China’s first woman in space Liu Yang, linked with the Tiangong (Heavenly Palace) 1 module, with state television showing the pictures live. Almost three hours later, the blue jumpsuit-wearing mission commander, Jing Haipeng, entered the module followed by colleague Liu Wang and Liu Yang, the first time China has been able to transfer

astronauts between two orbiting craft. Rendezvous and docking exercises between the two vessels are an important hurdle in China’s efforts to acquire the technological and logistical skills to run a full space lab that can house astronauts for long periods.

During the 13-day mission, the astronauts will work and sleep aboard Tiangong 1, a trial module that includes an exercise bike and a video telephone booth, according to media. The mission has been accompanied by a blaze of national pride and has been given blanket coverage by state media, down to discus-

IBM supercomputer overtakes Fujitsu as world’s fastest NEW YORK: IBM’s Sequoia has taken the top spot on the list of the world’s fastest supercomputers for the US. The newly installed system trumped Japan’s K Computer made by Fujitsu which fell to second place.

It is the first time the US can claim pole position since it was beaten by China two years ago.

Sequoia will be used to carry out simulations to help extend the life of aging nuclear weapons, avoiding the need for real-world underground tests.

It is installed at the US Department of Energy’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.

“While Sequoia may be the fastest, the underlying computing capabilities it provides give us increased confidence in the nation’s nuclear deterrent,” said National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) administrator Thomas D’Agostino.

“Sequoia also represents continued American leadership in high performance computing.”

The computer is capable of calculating in one hour what otherwise would take 6.7 billion people using hand calculators 320 years to complete if they worked non-stop.

Although the US’s efforts helped secure it the lead, its overall tally of three computers in the top 10 was worse than six months ago when it had five.

China and Germany both have two supercomputers, while Japan, France and Italy have one. But IBM proved to be the leading manu-

facturer claiming five out of the top 10 spots.

David Turek, vice president of deep computing at the firm, told the BBC his company had been preparing to retake the top spot for two years. “Substantial planning went into this.

We knew the day would come.” Sequoia is 1.55 times faster than the Fujitsu model, and uses over 1.5 million processors. In comparison the Japanese model has less than half the number of CPUs (central processing units).

The IBM supercomputer is also more energy efficient than the Fujitsu model. Sequoia consumes 7.9 megawatts compared to the K computer which uses 12.6 megawatts. Turek described Sequoia as the “pinnacle of energy efficiency” and said the reaction had been “very enthusiastic.” “Government laboratories in Europe have already expressed interest,” he said. CM-5/1024 designed by Thinking Machines was the first supercomputer on the list. The list is published every six months by German Professor Hans Meuer and US-based Professor Jack Dongarra.

Prof Dongarra told the BBC it was unlikely that another manufacturer would overtake IBM in the next year. “Sequoia is very impressive,” he said.

The first computer to take the top position on the list was the CM-5/1024 in 1993, designed by Thinking Machines. According to Prof Dongarra, Sequoia is 273,930 times faster. “A calculation that took three full days to compute on the Thinking Machines in 1993 today can be done in less than one second on the Sequoia,” he said. — AP

country’s first person in orbit.

The United States will not test a new rocket to take people into space until 2017, and Russia has said manned missions are no longer a priority. But NASA has begun investing in US firms to provide commercial spaceflight services and is spending about $3 billion a year on a new rocket and capsule to send astronauts to the moon, asteroids and eventually to Mars. China plans an unmanned moon landing and deployment of a moon rover.

Scientists have raised the possibility of sending a man to the moon, but not before 2020. — Reuters

Russians design blockbuster video games in Siberia woods AKADEMGORODOK, Russia: In a decrepit building in the wild woodlands of Siberia, young designers work on an online video game that will soon hit the global market.

They work for Alawar Entertainment-a Russian company headquartered in the Siberian town of Akademgorodok, a leafy place created in Soviet times outside Siberia’s main urban centre of Novosibirsk to nurture academics.

Alawar Entertainment may be far from the world’s best-known game manufacturers in Europe and the United States but it is the creator of such best-selling games as “Farm Frenzy”, “The Treasures of Montezuma”, and “Robber Rabbits”.

While not as famous as Tetris-created in the 1980s

by Russian mathematician Alexey Pazhitnov-Alawar’s games have scored over 50 million downloads from Apple Store and Android Market.

A decision to go global rather than focus on the national market led to Alawar’s success at its launch in the mid-1990s, when Russia was languishing in a devastating economic crisis that followed the Soviet empire’s collapse.

“I was a student in Novosibirsk and with my friends we loved playing video games,” recounted Alexander Lyskovsky, Alawar’s 35-year-old chief executive whose initial job was tsunami modelling. Few Russians then had a personal computer, he said, but “there was one

LONDON: This is a file photo of Transport for London’s gondola lift cable car link across the River Thames in London. Transport for London said yesterday it will start operating Britain’s first urban cable car at the end of June - in time for the crowds expected for the Olympics. The cable car will make the half mile crossing between Greenwich and the Royal Docks starting June 28. —- AP

sion on how flying a space ship is a bit like driving a car and how the astronauts will be able to spice up their food with chilli sauce.

China is still far from catching up with the established space superpowers, the United States and Russia.

The Tiangong 1 is a trial module, not the building block of a space station.

But the docking mission is the latest show of China’s growing prowess in space and comes while budget restraints and shifting priorities have held back U.S. manned space launches. This is China’s fourth manned space mission since 2003 when astronaut Yang Liwei became the

in the university and we sat there every night to play.”

They got their calling when a professor suggested they make a case study of video games and thanks to an oil businessman’s sponsorship soon produced their first game for PC. But Russia was hit by a devastating economic crisis in 1998 which forced it to devalue the ruble. Lyskovsky and his friends opted to create Internet-based video games-known as casual gamesto be sold in the United States for safe American currency rather than for depreciating Russian rubles.

Soon Alawar won international recognition and expanded its operations after attracting investment from Almaz Capital, a venture company based in Russia and the USA and specialising in ex-Soviet countries. With an annual turnover of tens of millions of dollars, Alawar today has six studios throughout Russia and in Ukraine and also distributes hundreds of games from other Russian and foreign companies in the United States and Europe. Akademgorodok-which in Russian translates as “little academic town”-may seem an unlikely location for a multinational technology firm, with the regional centre Novosibirsk about a four-hour flight from Moscow. Some 20 km from Novosibirsk itself and built in the middle of the forest, Akademgorodok has a bucolic feel on the edge of the man-made Ob reservoir with the wind rustling in the pine trees. Its researchers and academics led a somewhat privileged existence in Soviet times with better

food and services than the rest of the population and the town earned a reputation for being relatively free thinking.

It fell on hard times after the collapse of the Soviet Union when the elite research system lost much of its state funding. However, the creation of venture capital-funded enterprises like Alawar has led to a revival and earned Akedamgorodok the nickname “Silicon Forest”. Lyskovsky said there were huge advantages in running a business in Russia and especially Siberia, noting quality education and a cheap workforce.

“The farther away you go from Moscow, wages become more normal and one can create for reasonable money quality products,” which would cost much more if made in Europe, he said.

As the market for smartphones and tablet computers grows steadily, Alawar hopes to strengthen its positions at home and covets Asian and Latin American markets. A recent study by J’son & Partners, a Russian consulting firm, said that in 2011 the global market for online games amounted to $20.2 billion and is expected to reach $26.7 billion dollars by 2013.

Russia’s share of the US-dominated global market is currently only three percent.

But as online games is a profitable segment of the Internet business in Russia, the Russian market is to see rapid growth, the study suggested-to $1 billion dollars in 2013 against $668 million in 2011. —AFP

Virtualization: An illusion of security

By Vladimir Udalov (Senior Corporate Product Marketing Manager at Kaspersky Lab)

I

n a bid to boost business efficiency, an increasing number of companies are turning to virtualization technologies.

This is hardly surprising: virtualization brings businesses a number of advantages, including cost reduction, increased manageability and improved performance of corporate networks. However, the advantages always go hand in hand with the risks, which, as practice and statistics show, are often underestimated in many companies.

But those who are security conscious can now find effective protection tools on the market.

Server virtualization has already become a significant trend. This type of technology has long been popular and occupies an important place in the IT infrastructure of all kinds of GCC companies. Desktop Virtualization (Virtual desktop Interface, VDI) has not yet become as widespread, as it is typically used by companies whose employees perform routine, strictly regulated tasks, e.g. call center employees, and bank transaction officers. Only a relatively small proportion of organizations need such work places. On the other hand, desktop virtualization technologies continue to develop, and large GCC companies are increasingly implementing VDI pilot tests. Thus, the circumstances are ideal for desktop virtualization technologies to take off in GCCandstrong growth in the numbers of VDI implementations is forecast for 2012.

To identify the main trends in virtualization across GCC companies, Kaspersky Lab has conducted a survey among IT specialists who are responsible for maintaining and securing the IT infrastructure for organiza-

tions with corporate networks of over 100 desktops. The survey revealed that 61% of the companies surveyed currently make use of server virtualization, or plan to implement it in the coming year. This figure amply demonstrates how popular and recognized the technology has become. Companies recognize the advantages and benefits it brings, and more and more are set to introduce virtualization in the future.

Incidentally, companies in Europe and North America are introducing server virtualization at even faster rates. According to a Forrester survey, 85% of companies already have or plan to implement server virtualization.

Most applications that companies use in virtual environments are business-critical; these are databases, email services, ERP and CRM systems. This setup is the opposite of what we saw a few years ago when virtualization was just starting to gain popularity.

Back then, companies introducing virtualization in their corporate networks moved the least important applications into a virtual environment. This was done in order to get acquainted with the technology and see how it meets the organization’s requirements. Also, virtualization technologies were not as well developed. The fact that many of today’scritical applications have migrated into virtual environments demonstrates that organizations now put great trust in this technology, while the technology itself has reached maturity.

Kaspersky Lab experts have noticed that there is a persistent myth that virtual machines are more secure than physical computers. This was corroborated by the survey we have undertaken: more than half of the respondents thought that IT security risks are lower for a virtual environment than those facing a physical system.

However, this notion about threats to IT security in virtual environments is not only unreasonably optimistic - it is fundamentally wrong. A virtual environment is subjected to lots of the same threats - malicious attachments in emails, drive-by attacks, Trojans, targeted phishing etc. - which physical environments are subjected to.

According to Forrester’srecommendation on “How to get into the virtualization security game”, companies should do the following: 1) apply the Zero Trust Model of information security to their network architecture; 2) consider virtualization-aware security solutions going forward; 3) implement privileged identity management; and 4) incorporate vulnerability management into the virtual server environment.

Kaspersky Lab recently announced the release of its latest security technology to ensure businesses will “Be Ready for What’s Next.” Kaspersky Security for Virtualization built from the ground-up by Kaspersky Lab’s internal team of security experts - is focused on protecting evolving corporate IT infrastructures from malware and cybercriminals.

Kaspersky Lab is the largest antivirus company in Europe. It delivers some of the world’s most immediate protection against IT security threats, including viruses, spyware, crimeware, hackers, phishing, and spam. The company is ranked among the world’s top four vendors of security solutions for endpoint users. Kaspersky Lab products provide superior detection rates and one of the industry’s fastest outbreak response times for home users, SMBs, large enterprises and the mobile computing environment. Kaspersky(r) technology is also used worldwide inside the products and services of the industry’s leading IT security solution providers.

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

H E A LT H & S C I E NC E

Toxic capsules help the medicine go down in China Toxic heavy metal found in capsules in China

WASHINGTON: In a June 11, 2012 photo Dr Glen Stream prepares to examine patient Pete Forsyth in Spokane.—AP

A welcome let-up in health costs that may not last WASHINGTON: Health care spending has eased up recently, a welcome respite for government and corporate budgets. But why has it? And will relief last or are medical costs on a roller coaster, like gas prices? One explanation for the slowdown says it’s a temporary consequence of the recession and an economy that can’t seem to hit its stride. A more hopeful view says American medicine is moving from disjointed solo practice to teamwork models aimed at keeping patients healthier, and that’s a permanent change.

It’s not a stretch to say the future of US health care depends on the answer. If the system can reform itself from within to reduce waste and deliver better results, it will help stave off sharp cuts to hospitals and doctors, as well as more cost shifts to their patients, working families with employer coverage and older people in Medicare. Two doctors - one in Washington state, the other in Montana come to different conclusions about what they’re seeing.

Dr Glen Stream of Spokane, Wash, says he sees the reason for the slowdown through patients in his examination room. A 55-yearold tech worker with diabetes, self-employed and uninsured after being laid off, is unable to afford brand-name medications. A 50-yearold woman at risk of liver cancer is refusing regular MRI scans for early detection.

Although she has fairly good insurance, the copayments are too high.

“Far and away it is related to economic issues,” Stream said. “I see people who have medical conditions who I should be seeing every three months. They tell me they can only afford to come in every six months or once a year.” Dr Doug Carr of Billings, Mont, doesn’t dispute the impact of the economy, but says long-lasting improvements are coming together beneath the surface and will emerge. Carr is medical director for education at the Billings Clinic, in the forefront of developing something called a “patient-centered medical home.” It’s basically general-medicine doctors, physician assistants and nurses who closely follow patients with chronic illnesses to try to keep them from developing complications that require hospital treatment. More than 30 states are experimenting with the model, as are Medicare and major insurers and employers.

“We are seeing in early pilots up to a 10 percent reduction in premiums,” said Carr. The

savings stem mainly from fewer trips to the emergency room and less hospitalization, but also from better coordination that avoids duplicative and pricey imaging tests. “You can pay for an awful lot of doctor visits by avoiding a single MRI,” Carr pointed out. Medical homes embrace computers for tracking blood pressures, blood sugar levels and other vital indicators of how their patients are doing.

So far, the officials keeping score of the nation’s health care costs are skeptical. “It’s too early to say that something significant and dramatic and permanent has occurred,” said Stephen Heffler, director of national health statistics for Medicare’s Office of the Actuary, responsible for economic estimates.

The country’s health care tab grew more slowly in 2009 and 2010 than at any other time in the more than 50 years the government has tracked it closely. Estimates suggest the 2011 increase stayed under 4 percent, in line with overall economic growth. That dry statistic has huge implications because health care costs had been growing about 2 percentage points faster than the economy, a pace that breaks the bank. Unfortunately, Heffler’s number-crunching unit sees an eventual return to the earlier trend as the economy fully recovers.

But one of Washington’s prominent economists says he’s convinced something different is happening. “For the first time, providers are beginning to ask how much their recommended interventions cost and whether there isn’t a way to reduce those costs,” said Robert Reischauer, former director of the Congressional Budget Office. “Younger physicians are more tech savvy and more interested in a balanced work-family life and more willing to work in teams. So there is lots going on that quite frankly never happened in a convincing way before.”

President Barack Obama’s health care law, awaiting a Supreme Court decision on its fate, attempts to nudge Medicare into a leading role in the wave of experimentation. The program is trying various strategies to change the behavior of service providers, such as penalizing hospitals with too many preventable readmissions, offering to share savings with medical networks that can operate more efficiently, and promoting coordination among hospitals, rehabilitation centers and home health agencies.—AP

GOP on health care: No quick replacement WASHINGTON: Congressional Republicans intend to seek quick repeal of any parts of the health care law that survive a widely anticipated Supreme Court ruling, but don’t plan to push replacement measures until after the fall elections or perhaps 2013. Instead, GOP lawmakers cite recent announcements that some insurance companies will retain a few of the law’s higher-profile provisions as evidence that quick legislative action is not essential. Those are steps that officials say Republicans quietly urged in private conversations with the industry.

Once the Supreme Court issues a ruling, “the goal is to repeal anything that is left standing,” said Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., a member of the party’s leadership. Beyond that, “we ought to go step by step to lower the cost” of health care, he added, a formula repeated by numer-

John Boehner ous other Republicans interviewed in recent days. Across the political aisle, neither President Barack Obama nor congressional Democrats have said how they will react to a high court ruling that could wipe out the legislation they worked so hard to enact. “We’re not spending a whole bunch of time planning for contingencies,” Obama said this spring at the annual meeting of The Associated Press. He expressed confidence the court would uphold the law, and neither he nor his aides have said what fallback plans are under discussion. “We will be prepared in any eventuality,” White House aide David Plouffe said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” although he declined to elaborate. Among Republicans, aides to Speaker John Boehner, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and other key lawmakers have convened a series of meetings in recent weeks to plan a post-ruling

strategy. A Supreme Court ruling is expected within the next two weeks on a challenge to the law, which has drawn fierce opposition among most Republicans for its requirement that most individuals carry health insurance.

While three big insurance companies announced plans this past week to retain certain protections for an estimated 40 percent of all individuals who receive their coverage through work, there has been no advance word from the drug industry on how prescription costs for older people might be affected by a finding that the law is unconstitutional. Even so, Republicans say they have no plans for assuring continuity of a provision that reduces out-ofpocket costs for seniors with high drug expenses. This coverage gap is known as “doughnut hole.” “I don’t think anybody intends to get involved” in the portion of Medicare that provides prescription drug coverage. The program is “working better than we designed it,” said Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., referring to studies that show the program’s cost is lower than was originally estimated.

The drug industry has yet to disclose its plans. House Republicans have voted 30 times to eliminate, defund or scale back parts or all of the health law, most recently approving a measure to wipe out a tax on medical devices. Senate Democrats have blocked nearly all of the previous attacks. Forcing another vote would allow Republicans to signal a continued commitment to supporters of repeal, while simultaneously requiring Democrats to take another stand on a measure that has failed to generate significant public support and might by then also have been found deficient by the Supreme Court.

“Democrats don’t want to talk about health care between now and the election, especially Obamacare,” said Don Stewart, a spokesman for McConnell, referring to the law signed in 2010.

Many members of the GOP rank and file campaigned on a motto of “repeal and replace” in 2010 when it came to the law. But now, nearly two years later, they express no urgency to replace a law drafted by Democrats, and one they hope the court will kill, with a different one of their own. “We’re not going to repeat the mistakes made by the Democrats who run Washington when they passed a 2,700-page bill that no one had actually read,” said Michael Steel, a spokesman for Boehner, R-Ohio.—AP

HONG KONG: Hou Zhihui breaks open a coldmedicine capsule, pours the powder on to a piece of steamed dough and folds it together.

He passes the miniature bun to a colleague who pops it in her mouth. That is his response to the discovery of 77 million capsules made of industrial gel containing chromium, a carcinogenic heavy metal, the latest in a series of safety problems blighting China’s healthcare industry, including the widespread manufacture of fake drugs.

The government has repeatedly promised to tighten regulatory systems after safety scandals involving fish, drugs, toys, toothpaste, children’s clothes, tyres, drugs and milk fortified with melamine, used in the manufacture of tabletops.

But little has been done apart from a few, highly publicized arrests. “I read about the capsule problem ... the next morning, a colleague of mine had a cold, so I thought of a way for her to take the medicine,” Hou said.

China announced in May that 254 pharmaceutical suppliers, or 12.7 percent of the total, were producing tainted capsules. At least 10 are listed or linked to China-listed firms, according to the official Chinese media. Of 11,561 batches of drugs tested, 5.8 percent contained excessive levels of chromium. Instead of using gelatine

derived from animal parts, they used cheap industrial gelatine from leather scraps treated with chromium that tans and softens animal hide. The problem is pervasive because of the pressure to produce low-cost drugs and still make a profit, and the popularity of traditional Chinese medicine, which is often made into powders and packed into capsules. Authorities swooped in on 236 capsule makers, ordered 42 of them to stop production, closed 84 production lines, revoked the licences of seven companies and referred 13 to the police.

Health in jeopardy As China revamps its healthcare system to make it more affordable to its 1.3 billion population, bureaucrats have gone all out to lower drug prices in large drug tenders that give winners a captive market spanning several provinces. Toxic capsules have also been uncovered in Hong Kong, where drugmakers source 90 percent of their capsules from China. “The current tendering system of the essential drug list has three major problems: first, essential drug tendering in provinces has become a political competition to depress prices among local governments, which results in constant decreases in prices of some essential drugs,” the Chinese

Pharmaceutical Industry Association said in a report.

“The unreasonably low winning prices directly challenge the safely bottom lines of the essential drugs, put Chinese people’s health in severe jeopardy and affect normal production and supply of these essential drugs.” Analysts say the cutting of corners won’t go away overnight. “It will continue to haunt the market as long as enterpriseshave to make a profit,” said Gideon Lo, analyst at Nomura Equity Research in Hong Kong. “Consolidation must happen and is already happening. It will be good if we can see the number of pharmaceutical makers coming down to 1,000 (from over 6,000) in the next five years.” As for breaking open capsules and taking their contents separately, experts say that is dangerous, assuming the toxic capsules work, as they should, on a timer. “The formulation of some drugs is prepared for sustained release, meaning the drug is prepared in a way to release the drug slowly,” said William Chui, president of the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Hong Kong. “If you break the capsule, you destroy the mechanism of sustained release. The drug will immediately be released and you risk increasing the drug level in your blood and developing side effects.”—Reuters

Plague confirmed in Oregon man bitten by stray cat PORTLAND: Health officials have confirmed that an Oregon man has the plague after he was bitten while trying to take a dead rodent from the mouth of a stray cat.

The unidentified Prineville, Ore., man was in critical condition on Friday. He is suffering from a blood-borne version of the disease that wiped out at least one-third of Europe in the 14th century - that one, the bubonic plague, affects lymph nodes. There is an average of seven human plague cases in the US each year. A map maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that most cases since the 1970s have been in the West, primarily the southwest.

The plague bacteria cycles through rodent populations without killing them off; in urban areas, it’s transmitted back and forth from rats to fleas. There’s even a name for it, the “enzootic cycle.” The bacteria thrive in forests, semiarid areas and grasslands, which plague-carrying rodents from wood rats to rock squirrels call home. Once a coin flip with death, the plague is now easier to handle for humans in the US The national mortality rate stood at 66 percent before World War II, but advances in antibiotics dropped that rate to its present 16 percent.

Central Oregon health officials don’t blame the cat.

“The reality is that, in rural areas, part of the role of cats is to keep the rodent population controlled around our homes and barns” said Karen Yeargain of the Crook County Health Department. The Prineville man, who is in his 50s, remained in critical condition Friday at a Bend hospital. His illness marks the fifth case of plague in Oregon since 1995.

State public health veterinarian Dr Emilio DeBess told The Oregonian (http://is.gd/XkSL7Y ) that the man was infected when he was bitten by the stray his family befriended.

The cat died and its body is being sent to the CDC for testing. DeBess has collected blood samples from two dogs and another cat that lives with the man’s family, the newspaper reported. DeBess also collected blood samples from neighbors’ pets and from animals in the local shelter to determine whether the area has a plague problem. More than a dozen people who were in contact with the sick man have been notified and are receiving preventive antibiotics.—AP

Study warning on population fatness LONDON: The overweight population is threatening future food security, scientists warned yesterday.

Increasing population fatness could have the same implications for world food energy demands as an extra one billion people, researchers said after examining the average weight of adults across the globe.

Scientists from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) said that tackling population weight is crucial for food security and ecological sustainability. The United Nations (UN) predicts that by 2050 there could be a further 2.3 billion people on the planet and that the ecological implications of the rising population numbers will be exacerbated by increases in average body mass, researchers said.

The world’s adult population weighs 287 million tonnes, 15 million of which is due to being overweight and 3.5 million is due to obesity, according to the study, which is to be published here today. The data, collected from the UN and the World Health Organization, shows that while the average global weight per person is 62kg in 2005, Britons weighed 75kg. In the US, the average adult weighed 81kg.

Across Europe, the average weight was 70.8kg compared to just 57.7kg in Asia. More than half of people living in Europe are overweight (55.6 percent) compared to only 24.2 percent of Asian people.

Almost three-quarters of people living in North America were overweight. Researchers predict that if all people had the same average body mass index (BMI) as Americans, the total human biomass would increase by 58 million tonnes. The authors of the study said that the energy requirement of humans depends not only on numbers but average mass.

“Increasing biomass will have important implications for global resource requirements, including food demand and the overall ecological footprint of our species,” they wrote.

“Although the concept of biomass is rarely applied to the human species, the ecological implications of increasing body mass are significant and ought to be taken into account when evaluating future trends and planning for future resource challenges. “Tackling population fatness may be critical to world food security and ecological sustainability.”

Professor Ian Roberts, who led the research at LSHTM, said, “Everyone accepts that population growth threatens global environmental sustainability - our study shows that population fatness is also a major threat. “Unless we tackle both population and fatness, our chances are slim.”—KUNA

PAKISTAN: In this Wednesday, May 30, 2012 photo a Pakistani child is given a polio vaccination by a district health team worker outside a children’s hospital in Peshawar.—AP

World close to ending polio, yet it’s a tough foe PAKISTAN: Less than four months ago the world was cheered to learn that India had gone a full year with no new cases of polio - a landmark that left only Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria on the World Health Organization’s list of countries where the disease is endemic. But the battle is far from over, judging by the WHO’s latest expressions of alarm. It says that in both Nigeria and Afghanistan the number is creeping up, while budget shortfalls are jeopardizing the effort to hold polio at bay in 24 other high-risk countries.

Right now the numbers of new infections are small. But Nigeria’s total has jumped to 38 in the first five months of 2012 from just 10 in the same period of last year. Afghanistan’s went from three to seven. Only Pakistan’s number fell back, from 43 to 18. The polio virus, which usually infects children in unsanitary conditions, attacks the nerves and can kill or paralyze. It can spread widely and unnoticed before it starts crippling children.

On average about one in 200 cases will result in paralysis.

In Pakistan’s poor northwest one of the newest victims, 13-month old Fariha, cried out as her 6-year-old sister Sana struggled to place her on the floor, mindful of her tiny legs wrapped in plastic braces. A laborer’s daughter, Fariha was infected six months after birth.

She has to be carried everywhere. Twice a day her mother exercises her legs, medicines are provided free and a health worker visits occasionally. The braces were donated by a German clinic. There are no guarantees that Fariha will fully recover. Most of the new polio cases in Pakistan are in the northwest, where an insurgency rages, making it difficult for health workers to reach tens of thousands of children.

Elsewhere in the world, a growing number of cases are being discovered and traced back to Pakistan and Nigeria. While the numbers are low today, WHO spokesman Oliver Rosenbauer warned that the disease can quickly regain strength. “If a polio-free country becomes re-infected, and the virus gets into an area with low population immunity levels, we have seen time and again that it can take off like wildfire,” he told The Associated Press.

Both money and manpower is in short supply and if either runs out before the disease can be eradicated in the three holdouts, an epidemic will follow, says Rosenbauer.

“Polio eradication is at a tipping point between success and failure,” he said. “We have the emergency plans in place through end-2013, and full implementation and financing of the plans could well result in a polio-free world by that time,” he said. Or there could be a worldwide resurgence “and within 10 years we could again see 200,000 cases occur each and every year.”

Rosenbauer said WHO’s polio eradication campaign needs $2 billion over the next 18 months. So far it is short $940 million, forcing it to cut back programs in 24 high-risk countries. Every Pakistani and Afghan child under age 5 must be vaccinated several times a year by health workers whose work is often ham-

pered by ignorance, religious extremism, natural disasters and war. Then there is international travel. “We have seen time and again that polio can spread from these areas to reinfect faraway countries,” said Rosenbauer.

Between 2009 and 2011, about half of the 3,506 cases worldwide were in previously polio-free countries, he said. Polio was imported into Indonesia for the first time in a decade in 2005 and traced back to Nigeria, and last year, an outbreak in western China originated with a virus from Pakistan.

One problem is Muslim militants who try to block inoculation campaigns by portraying them as a conspiracy to sterilize and reduce the world’s Muslim population. But in Pakistan and Afghanistan clerics and tribal elders have been recruited to support polio vaccinations, opening up areas of the two countries previously inaccessible to health workers. Shah Mohammed, a WHO worker overseeing vaccinations at a children’s hospital in Peshawar, northwest Pakistan, said that of the parents who reject vaccination for their kids, surprisingly few cite religion or the Taliban. Instead they are driven by distrust of their government or of the West’s counterinsurgency campaign.

“Many just say: We have no gas, no food, and you come to us with this and nothing else. Why should we bother?” said Mohammed. Or they say “On the one hand the Americans hit us with these drones and on the other hand the Americans are giving us these vaccines. We don’t need them.” On Saturday the Taliban in North Waziristan announced a ban on all polio vaccinations until US drone assaults in that area end, effectively ensuring tens of thousands of children under five will not be vaccinated.

A temporary setback was caused by revelations of the CIA ruse to pinpoint Osama bin Laden’s whereabouts by collecting DNA from his household under the guise of performing vaccinations. “The very next (vaccination) campaign there were a lot of refusals,” said Dr Pervez Yousaf, a WHO officer in Islamabad.

But it was temporary and restricted to areas around Abbottabad, where bin Laden was killed, he said.

An alliance of US-based NGOs wrote to CIA chief Gen. David Petraeus, warning him against using humanitarian work as a cover for covert operations. For polio victims in Pakistan and Afghanistan, getting artificial limbs, braces and physiotherapy can be almost impossible, say doctors and health care workers in both countries. Fifteen-yearold Musa lives in a village in Afghanistan’s eastern Paktika province. War rages around it and access for vaccinators is sporadic and difficult. He caught polio at age 3 and went untreated for years. But he says his five brothers and three sisters have all been vaccinated since. He still needs crutches, but is practicing new ways to move. And in little Fariha’s village of Aziz Khan Garhi, where polio had been unheard of before she was diagnosed, health care workers have vaccinated the entire village and Fariha’s grandfather, Yousuf Khan, has led the drive. “After this all our children have been vaccinated,” he said.—AP

H E A LT H & S C I E NC E

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

Unmanned Air Force space plane lands in California Cape Town juggles buffer between humans and deadly sharks CAPE TOWN: Undetected on the mountain slope, Tino Simmerie sweeps his binoculars over the South African bay where bathers happily splash about in turquoise waters.

“They don’t have a clue what’s going on basically,” he said, staring out at the popular Fish Hoek beach where he once saw a shark come up to the shore. “We never know for sure when a shark is going to come into this bay-that’s why we’re every day up here to just keep an eye out.” Armed with a walkietalkie, binoculars and polarized sunglasses to protect against the harsh ocean glare, the 22-year-old is part of Cape Town’s frontline with the Great Whites sharing its seas.

The pioneering program, Shark Spotters, started in 2004 after a spate of bites and sightings by placing human look-outs at busy beachers to give the alert for the sea to be cleared if fins are seen moving in.

South Africa records fewer attacks than other shark international hotspots like Australia and the United States. But the fatality rate is high: South Africa accounts for one-third of the 24 deaths worldwide on the International Shark Attack File for the past three years, despite local bites making up less than 10 percent of all attacks.

The latest victim was a young Cape Town bodyboarder who died on April 19 after his leg was bitten off at a remote surfing spot, which followed a near-fatal mauling in September across the bay at top swimming site Fish Hoek. Attacks in the age of Twitter have sparked alerts of “dinosaur huge” killers-as tweeted by a witness to a 2010 death on Fish Hoek-and fierce debate over theories of why bites are on the increase.

“You can understand, it’s a very emotional issue especially for the people who have witnessed shark attacks,” said Sarah Titley, Shark Spotters project manager.

“Being eaten by a very large fish is a very scary unknown that makes people react in a completely disproportionate way to what the actual sense of risk is. You’ve got a one in 253 million chance of being killed by a

shark.” “So the risk is very small but it’s such a traumatic event for people and it really does cause a lot of hype and hysteria.”

‘Don’t want to kill the sharks’ To counter some of the fears, an exclusion net is on the cards for Fish Hoek, to add another layer to the city’s prevention buffers after the attack seven months ago deepened its deadly reputation on the back of two deaths since 2004. “It’s a series of fixed nets which are very small diameter mesh so that nothing can swim through it,” said Cape Town alderman Felicity Purchase.

“We needed to find something that would be practical, that would not cause damagewe don’t want to kill the sharks, we don’t want to damage the other marine life that comes through.”

Shark nets are controversial and were ruled out years ago, but officials say they need to tackle the damaging economic fallout and that the square-inch sized mesh technology is successfully used in Hong Kong and the Seychelles. “This will provide a safe area for parents who are worried about their children particularly, and for the elderly who are not so fast getting out of the water,” said Purchase, saying two nets will cost 750,000 rand ($93,000, 73,000 euros).

“This will certainly prevent shark attacks in an area which allows considerable swimming space for our bathers. So I believe it could actually be the end of shark attacks.”

Reaching up to six meters (20 feet) in length and two tones in weight, Great Whites are protected in South Africa and listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. They regularly prowl inshore during summer while tracking game fish and have a key winter feeding site of Seal Island in the giant False Bay which is a global Great White hotspot. The city therefore accepts that attacks are inevitable with a population of 3.5 million people sharing its 307 kilometers of beautiful coastline. —AFP

LOS ANGELES: An unmanned Air Force space plane steered itself to a landing early Saturday at a California military base, capping a 15month clandestine mission. The spacecraft, which was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida in March 2011, conducted in-orbit experiments during the mission, officials said. It was the second such autonomous landing at the Vandenberg Air Force Base, 130 miles northwest of Los Angeles. In 2010, an identical unmanned spacecraft returned to Earth after seven months and 91 million miles in orbit. The latest homecoming was set in motion when the stubby-winged robotic X-37B fired its engine to slip out of orbit, then pierced through the atmosphere and glided down the runway like an airplane.

“With the retirement of the Space Shuttle fleet, the X-37B OTV program brings a singular capability to space technology development,” said Lt. Col. Tom McIntyre, the X-37B’s program manager. “The return capability allows the Air Force to test new technologies without the same risk commitment faced by other programs. We’re proud of the entire team’s successful efforts to bring this mission to an outstanding conclusion.” With the second X-37B on the ground, the Air Force planned to launch the first one again in the fall. An exact date has not been set. The twin X-37B vehicles are part of a military program testing robotically controlled reusable spacecraft technologies. Though the Air Force has emphasized the goal is to test the space plane itself, there’s a classified payload on board - a detail that has led to much speculation about the mission’s ultimate purpose.

Some amateur trackers think the craft carried an experimental spy satellite sensor judging by its low orbit and inclination, suggesting reconnaissance or intelligence gathering rather than communications. Harvard astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, who runs Jonathan’s Space Report, which tracks the world’s space launches and satellites, said it’s possible it was testing some form of new imaging. The latest X-37B was boosted into orbit atop an Atlas 5 rocket. It was designed to stay aloft for nine months, but the Air Force wanted to test its endurance. After determining the space plane was performing well, the military decided in December to extend the mission. Little has been said publicly about

the second X-37B flight and operations. At a budget hearing before the Senate Armed Services subcommittee in March, William Shelton, head of the Air Force Space Command, made a passing mention.

That the second X-37B has stayed longer in space than the first shows “the flexibility of this unique system,” he told lawmakers.

Defense analysts are divided over its usefulness. Joan Johnson-Freese, professor of national security affairs at the Naval War College, said such a craft could give the US “eyes” over conflict regions faster than a satellite. “Having a vehicle with a broad range of capabilities that can get into space quickly is a very good thing,” she said. Yousaf Butt, a nuclear physicist and scientific consultant for the Federation of American Scientists, thinks the capabilities of the X-37B could be done more cheaply with a disposable spacecraft.

“I believe one of the reasons that the mission is still around is institutional inertia,” he said. The arc of the X-37 program spans back to 1999 and has changed hands several times.

Originally a NASA project, the space agency in 2004 transferred it to the Pentagon’s research and development arm, DARPA, and then to the secretive Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been poured into development, but the current total spent remains a secret. Built by Boeing Government Space Systems, a unit of the company’s satellite manufacturing area, the 11,000-pound space plane stands 9 1/2 feet tall and is just over 29 feet long, with a wingspan of less than 15 feet. It possesses two angled tail fins rather than a single vertical stabilizer. Once in orbit, it has solar panels that unfurl to charge batteries for electrical power. McDowell of the Jonathan’s Space Report sees a downside. He noted it’ll be tough for the Air Force to send up such planes on short notice if it has to rely on the Atlas V rocket, which requires lengthy preparations.

“The requirement to go on Atlas V is a problem; they may need to look at a new launch vehicle that would be ready to go more quickly,” he said.—AP

This Saturday, June 16, 2012 image from video made available by the Vandenberg Air Force Base shows an infrared view of the X-37B unmanned spacecraft landing at Vandenberg Air Force Base. —AP

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TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

WHAT’S ON Greetings

Delta Gulf CEO Michel Al-Hajj with Vatican Ambassador in Kuwait Archbishop Petar Rajic.

(From right) Waleed Al-Awadhi, Michel Al-Hajj and the Belgian Consul in Kuwait.

Bishop Camillo Ballin receives an honorary plaque from Sheikh Dawood AlSalman Al-Sabah and Michel Al-Hajj.

(From right) Bishop Camillo Ballin, Oman’s ambassador to Kuwait Salem AlMesh’any, and Archbishop Petar Rajic.

appy 18th birthday on June 16, 2012 to my one and only daughter maariana yzabela bagcaoili, may Almighty God bless her with good health and your studies, a bright future, best wishes come from your loving mama Myra Agcaoili, Kuwait.

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IMAX film program Today: 19.6.12 ** 9:30am Showtime Available for Groups Space Junk 3D 10:30am, 6:30pm, 8:30pm, 10:30pm Born to be Wild 3D 11:30am, 7:30pm Fires of Kuwait 12:30pm The Last Reef 3D 5:30pm, 9:30pm Wednesday: 20.6.12 ** 9:30am Showtime Available for Groups Born to be Wild 3D 10:30am, 6:30pm Space Junk 3D 11:30am, 5:30pm, 7:30pm, 9:30pm The Last Reef 3D 12:30pm, 8:30pm, 10:30pm Thursday: 21.6.12 ** 9:30am Showtime Available for Groups Space Junk 3D 10:30am, 6:30pm, 8:30pm, 10:30pm The Last Reef 3D 11:30am, 7:30pm Journey to Mecca 12:30pm Arabia 3D 5:30pm Born to be Wild 3D 9:30pm Friday: 22.6.12 Space Junk 3D 2:30pm, 4:30pm, 7:30pm, 9:30pm Journey to Mecca 3:30pm Born to be Wild 3D 5:30pm, 8:30pm The Last Reef 3D 6:30pm, 10:30pm Saturday: 23.6.12 ** 9:30am Showtime Available for Groups Space Junk 3D 10:30am, 12:30pm, 3:30pm, 5:30pm, 8:30pm, 10:30pm The Last Reef 3D 11:30am, 7:30pm Born to be Wild 3D 1:30pm, 6:30pm, 9:30pm Journey to Mecca 2:30pm Arabia 3D 4:30pm

CEO of Delta Gulf Michel Al-Hajj hosted a dinner for Bishop Camillo Ballin, the Roman Catholic Vicar Apostolic of the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia for being selected the 2012 man of the year.

Marriott Hotels recognizes best in-house talents his year eight associates, a property and one business unit were named “the best of the best” Kuwait, 18th June 2012: Every year Kuwait Marriott Hotels presents awards to associates who have showcased outstanding performance under the umbrella of its Marriott Awards of Excellence. This year, Kuwait Marriott Hotels recognized the excellent work of eight associates, a property and one business unit.

George Aoun, General Manager of the Kuwait Marriot Hotels, commented on the occasion, “It is no small feat to be able to maintain the Marriott International standards, and

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excel in it. We made a promise to our guests to provide them with

‘Approachable Luxury’, a magical and tricky balance, and we

ensure that all our staff is capable. We certainly note those who prove to be more than capable.”

One of the individuals who received an Excellence Award was Mohammad Ramadan, Cluster Visa Supervisor at JW Marriot, Kuwait City. From humble beginnings, Marriott management quickly recognized his talents and invested in training him to make it through the ranks.

“Mohamad has time and again showcased the Marriott Hotels core values, in particular that of putting people first,” noted Aoun. Overwhelmed with the recognition received, Ramadan said, “In a nurturing environment

like the one I work in, it is not very difficult to be dedicated to your job, and give it your absolute best. I am very thankful for the opportunities provided and available for me at the Marriott hotels.”

Established in 1987, the J.Willard Marriott Award of Excellence honors the company’s finest associates for their outstanding service. Presented each year to a select few, this award recognizes associates representing Marriott International’s brands and businesses. Each honoree has demonstrated over a period of time the traits of achievement, character, dedication, effort and perseverance.

Notes: - All films are in Arabic. For English, headsets are available upon request.

- “Fires of Kuwait” is in English. Arabic headsets are available upon request.

- Film schedule is subject to changes without notice.

For information call 1 848 888 or visit www.tsck.org.kw

IIS heralds stupendous achievement in class x tudents of India International School made once again proud all the members by securing incredible performance in the CBSE class X board exams during the year 2011-12.

A total of 60 students appeared for the exam with commendable accomplishment. Kudos to 8 of our students who have given an exemplary performance by securing CGPA(Cumulative grade point Average) of 10.

We are glad to present grade wise transparency of our student its 25 students secured Al Grade (41.7%) 15 students secured A2 Grade (25 %) 6 students secured B1 Grade (10%) 13 students secured B2 Grade (21%) 1 student secured C1 Grade (1.7%) Following is the subject wise transparency of AI grades Subject Grade-A English 15/60 Hindi 15/47 Urdu 3/6 French 4/7 Maths21/60 Science 16/60 Social 29/60 It is indeed a matter of pride for India International School as the students galloping with unprecedented speed towards the ‘Road of Excellence’. Director Malayil Moosa Koya, Principal FM Basheer Ahmed and the staff congratulated students for demonstrating abundance of hard work, commitment and high standards of performance.

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Write to us Send to What’s On upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20

End of school year concert and achievements at KNES ast week, the Early Years Department from Kuwait National English School held the end of school year concert along with the grad-

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uation of students moving from Reception class into Primary next academic year. The theme of the concert fell in line with the school guiding statement

from Kuwait National English School “To Save Our earth Home”, and the little ones conclude the ceremony by singing “Heel the World”. The concert of the Early Years

Department of Kuwait National English School was meaningful, colorful and cheerful. Staff and parents were proud of the performance of the little ones.

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TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

WHAT’S ON

Embassy Information EMBASSY OF AUSTRALIA The Australian Embassy Kuwait does not have a visa or immigration department. All processing of visas and immigration matters in conducted by The Australian ConsulateGeneral in Dubai. Email: info.ausdxb@vfshelpline.com (VFS) immigration.dubai@dfat.gov.au (Visa Office); Tel: +971 4 355 1958 (VFS) - +971 4 508 7200 (Visa Office); Fax: +971 4 355 0708 (Visa Office). In Kuwait applications can be lodged at the Australian Visa Application Centre 4B 1st Floor, Al-Banwan Building Al-Qibla Area, Ali Al-Salem Street, opposite the Central Bank of Kuwait, Kuwait City, Kuwait. Working hours and days: 09:30 - 17:30; Sunday - Thursday. Or visit their website www.vfs-au-gcc-com for more information. Kuwait citizens can apply for tourist visas on-line at www.immi.gov.au/e visa/e676.htm ■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF BRAZIL The Embassy of Brazil requests all Brazilian citizens in Kuwait to proceed to the website www.brazil.org.kw (Contact Us Form / Fale Conosco) in order to register or update contact information. The Embassy encourages all citizens to do so, including the ones who have already registered in person at the Embassy. The registration process helps the Brazilian Government to contact and assist Brazilians living abroad in case of any emergency.

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EMBASSY OF BRITAIN Please be advised that the British Embassy Consular Section will be starting online appointment booking for our consular customers from Sunday, July 1, 2012. All information including how to make an appointment will be available on the embassy website from June 24, 2012.

You will also be able to book appointments on the embassy website from June 24, 2012. Please be aware that from July 1, 2012, we will no longer accept walk-in customers. We will provide regular updates every Thursdays throughout June. For the latest FCO travel advice please visit: www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/middle-eastnorth-africa/kuwait ■■■■■■■

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 ■■■■■■■

ASK class of 2012 graduates he American School of Kuwait celebrated the 46th graduation class of 140 students. The graduation ceremony took place at Courtyard-JW Marriott Al-Raya Ballroom on Wednesday

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June 6th, 2012 with the presence of the Honorable Ambassador of the United States of America in Kuwait and the owner of the American school of Kuwait Wael Abdul Ghafoor.

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.

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EMBASSY OF MEXICO The Embassy of Mexico is pleased to inform that it is located in CLIFFS Complex, Villa 6, Salmiya, block 9, Baghdad street, Jadda Lane 7. The working hours for consular issues are from 9:00 to 12:00 Sunday through Thursday. The reception is closed from 14:00 to 15:00 hours for lunch break. The Embassy of Mexico kindly requests all Mexicans citizens in Kuwait to proceed to the e-mail: embkuwait@sre.gob.mx in order to register or update contact information. Other consultations or/and appointments could be done by telephone or fax: (+965) 2573 1952 ■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF MYANMAR Embassy of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar would like to inform the general public that the Embassy has moved its office to new location at Villa 35, Road 203, Block 2, AlSalaam Area in South Surra. The Embassy wishes to advice Myanmar citizens and travellers to Myanmar to contact Myanmar Embassy at its new location.

Tel. 25240736, 25240290, Fax: 25240749, email:myankuwait11@gmai1.com ■■■■■■■

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 ■■■■■■■

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.

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Dive team members of the Kuwait Science Club donated blood at the Central Blood Bank on the occasion of the World Blood Donor Day June 14th.

Following the donation, the team rewarded Blood Bank staff with a memorial plaque to commemorate their efforts.

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 19, 2012

TV PROGRAMS

00:45 01:40 02:35 03:30 04:25 05:20 05:45 06:10 07:00 07:25 07:50 08:15 08:40 09:10 10:05 11:00 11:55 12:50 13:45 14:10 14:40 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:00 17:25 18:20 19:15 19:40 20:10 20:35 21:05 22:00 22:55

Untamed & Uncut After The Attack Must Love Cats Ned Bruha: Skunk Whisperer Mutant Planet Animal Kingdom Animal Battlegrounds Pet Passport Escape To Chimp Eden Project Puppy Jeff Corwin Unleashed Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild Breed All About It Must Love Cats Mutant Planet Animal Precinct Animal Cops Philadelphia Safari Vet School Bondi Vet Wildlife SOS Mutant Planet Animal Kingdom Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild Project Puppy Jeff Corwin Unleashed Cats 101 Bad Dog Wildlife SOS Bondi Vet Escape To Chimp Eden Animal Battlegrounds Mutant Planet Extreme Animals World Wild Vet

00:45 Indian Food Made Easy 01:15 Saturday Kitchen 2007/08 02:35 MasterChef 03:30 Living In The Sun 04:20 Masterchef: The Professionals 06:50 Living In The Sun 07:45 MasterChef Australia 08:55 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 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 18:30 The Hairy Bikers’ Cookbook 19:00 Rick Stein’s French Odyssey 19:25 James Martin’s Champagne 19:50 Antiques Roadshow 20:50 Holmes On Homes 21:35 Fantasy Homes By The Sea 22:20 Bargain Hunt 23:05 Antiques Roadshow 23:55 Come Dine With Me

00:10 00:35 01:00 01:25 01:50 02:15 02:40 03:00 03:25 03:50 04:15 04:40 05:00 05:25 05:50 06:00 06:30 06:55 07:20 07:45 08:00 08:25 08:50 09:15 09:40 10:05 10:25

Duck Dodgers The Perils Of Penelope Pitstop Tom & Jerry Kids A Pup Named Scooby-Doo The Jetsons Puppy In My Pocket Popeye Tom & Jerry Looney Tunes Scooby Doo Where Are You! Droopy: Master Detective Wacky Races The Flintstones A Pup Named Scooby-Doo Popeye Classics Dexters Laboratory Bananas In Pyjamas Baby Looney Tunes Gerald McBoing Boing Ha Ha Hairies Pink Panther And Pals The Garfield Show Dastardly And Muttley A Pup Named Scooby-Doo Scooby Doo Where Are You! The Flintstones Duck Dodgers

10:50 11:15 11:40 12:00 12:15 12:40 12:55 13:45 14:10 14:35 15:25 15:50 16:40 17:30 18:10 19:00 19:15 19:40 19:55 20:20 20:35

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 Tom & Jerry The Garfield Show Dexter’s Laboratory Jelly Jamm Baby Looney Tunes Ha Ha Hairies Gerald McBoing Boing Bananas In Pyjamas Pink Panther And Pals

00:30 Bakugan: New Vestroia 01:20 Powerpuff Girls 02:10 Courage The Cowardly Dog 03:00 The Amazing World Of Gumball 03:25 Ben 10 03:50 Adventure Time 04:15 Powerpuff Girls 04:40 Generator Rex 05:05 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 05:55 Angelo Rules 06:00 Casper’s Scare School 06:25 Eliot Kid 07:00 The Amazing World Of Gumball 07:15 Adventure Time 07:40 Regular Show 08:05 Grim Adventures Of...

08:55 Courage The Cowardly Dog 09:45 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 10:35 Powerpuff Girls 11:25 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 12:15 Ed, Edd n Eddy 13:05 Ben 10: Alien Force 13:30 Bakugan: Gundalian Invaders 13:55 Camp Lazlo 14:45 Powerpuff Girls 15:35 Angelo Rules 16:25 The Marvelous Misadventures...

16:50 Grim Adventures Of...

17:15 The Amazing World Of Gumball 17:40 Adventure Time 18:05 Regular Show 18:30 Ben 10 18:55 Bakugan: Mechtanium Surge 19:20 Hero 108 19:45 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 20:10 Courage The Cowardly Dog 21:00 Ben 10: Alien Force 21:25 The Powerpuff Girls 21:50 Cow And Chicken 22:00 Codename: Kids Next Door 22:50 Ben 10 23:40 Chowder

00:00 00:30 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 10:00 10:30 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 19:30 20:00 21:00

Amanpour World Sport Piers Morgan Tonight World Report Anderson Cooper 360 Piers Morgan Tonight Quest Means Business The Situation Room World Sport African Voices World Report World Sport Talk Asia World Business Today Amanpour News Special World One Piers Morgan Tonight News Stream World Business Today International Desk Global Exchange World Sport News Special International Desk 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 Shine 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 Shine 16:55 17:20 18:15 19:10

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 Hot Rod Apprentice: Hard Mythbusters Ultimate Survival Border Security Auction Kings How Do They Do It? How It’s Made Bear Grylls’ Wild Weekend Finding Bigfoot Tornado Road Border Security Auction Kings Ultimate Survival Hot Rod Apprentice: Hard Wheeler Dealers Gold Rush Mythbusters How Do They Do It?

00:35 Mega World 01:25 Colony 02:15 Brave New World 03:05 The Gadget Show 03:35 Smash Lab 04:25 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 05:15 Mega World 06:05 Sci-Trek 07:00 Brave New World 07:50 Head Rush 07:53 Bang Goes The Theory 08:20 Sci-Fi Science 08:50 Sport Science 09:40 Smash Lab 10:30 The Gadget Show 11:20 Mega World 12:10 Brave New World 13:00 Mega World 13:50 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 14:45 Smash Lab 15:35 The Gadget Show 16:00 Head Rush 16:03 Bang Goes The Theory 16:30 Sci-Fi Science 17:00 Sci-Trek 17:50 Sport Science 18:40 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 19:30 Catch It Keep It 20:20 Scrapheap Challenge 21:10 The Gadget Show 22:00 Stuck With Hackett 22:50 Scrapheap Challenge 23:40 Sport Science

00:10 01:00 01:50 02:40 03:30 04:20 05:10 06:00 06:15 06:40 07:05 07:30 07:55 08:20 08:45 09:10 09:20 09:35 09:45 10:00 10:25 10:50 11:15 11:40 12:05 12:30

Fairly Odd Parents Brandy & Mr Whiskers Replacements Emperor’s New School Brandy & Mr Whiskers Replacements Fairly Odd Parents Fish Hooks Recess So Random Wizards Of Waverly Place Good Luck Charlie Shake It Up Phineas And Ferb Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates Handy Manny The Hive Mouk Recess So Random Hannah Montana Fish Hooks Jake & Blake Sonny With A Chance Wizards Of Waverly Place

12:55 13:20 13:45 14:10 14:35 15:00 15:25 15:50 16:00 16:15 16:40 17:00 18:35 18:55 19:10 19:35 20:25 20:50 21:15 21:40 22:05 22:55 23:45

00:55 Style Star 01:25 Cheating Death 03:15 Behind The Scenes 03:40 Extreme Close-Up 04:10 Sexiest 05:05 Extreme Hollywood 06:00 E!es 07:50 Behind The Scenes 08:20 E! News 09:15 Scouted 10:15 15 Remarkable Celebrity Body Bouncebacks 12:05 E! News 13:05 Ice Loves Coco 14:05 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 15:00 Style Star 15:30 THS 16:25 Behind The Scenes 16:55 Khloe And Lamar 17:55 E! News 18:55 THS 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

00:05 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 00:30 Andy Bates Street Feasts 00:55 Extra Virgin 01:20 Extra Virgin 01:45 Andy Bates Street Feasts 02:35 Gourmet Farmer 03:00 Gourmet Farmer 03:25 Meat & Potatoes 03:50 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 04:15 Outrageous Food 04:40 Unwrapped 05:05 United Tastes Of America 05:30 Chopped 06:10 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 06:35 Reza, Spice Prince Of India 07:00 Food Network Challenge 07:50 Andy Bates Street Feasts 08:15 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 08:40 Cooking For Real 09:05 Reza, Spice Prince Of India 09:30 Lidia’s Italy 09:55 Extra Virgin 10:20 Everyday Italian 10:45 Unwrapped 11:10 United Tastes Of America 11:35 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 12:00 Food Network Challenge 12:50 Grill It! With Bobby Flay 13:15 Cooking For Real 13:40 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 14:05 Everyday Italian 14:30 Unwrapped 14:55 30 Minute Meals 15:20 Extra Virgin 15:45 Chopped 16:35 Cooking For Real 17:00 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 17:25 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 17:50 Grill It! With Bobby Flay 18:15 United Tastes Of America 18:40 Andy Bates Street Feasts 19:05 Extra Virgin 19:30 Chopped 20:20 Iron Chef America 21:10 Guy’s Big Bite 21:35 Guy’s Big Bite 22:00 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 22:25 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 22:50 Meat & Potatoes 23:15 Meat & Potatoes 23:40 Grill It! With Bobby Flay

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 12:50 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

RESTITUTION ON OSN ACTION HD

Phineas And Ferb Recess Jessie A.N.T. Farm Fish Hooks Suite Life On Deck Shake It Up Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb Jessie A.N.T. Farm Geek Charming Jessie A.N.T. Farm Wizards Of Waverly Place Good Luck Charlie So Random Suite Life On Deck Jonas Los Angeles Shake It Up Good Luck Charlie Wizards Of Waverly Place Kim Possible

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 ER Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared 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

00:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 01:00 Deadliest Journeys 01:30 Destination Extreme 02:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 03:00 City Chase Marrakech

04:00 Treks In A Wild World 05:00 Endurance Traveller 06:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 07:00 Deadliest Journeys 07:30 Destination Extreme 08:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 09:00 City Chase Marrakech 10:00 Treks In A Wild World 11:00 Endurance Traveller 12:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 13:00 Destination Extreme 13:30 Destination Extreme 14:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 15:00 City Chase Marrakech 16:00 Treks In A Wild World

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

Tortured-18 Devil-PG15 Jackass 3.5-R Fighting-PG15 Smoke Screen-PG15 Restitution-PG15 Game Of Death-PG15 Smoke Screen-PG15 Ip Man-PG15 Game Of Death-PG15 Sanctum-18 Enter The Phoenix-PG15

01:15 Sounds Like Teen Spirit-PG15 03:00 The Nanny Express-PG15 05:00 Home-PG15 07:00 Like Mike-PG 09:00 West Is West-PG15 11:00 St. Trinian’s 2: The Legend Of Fritton’s Gold-PG15 13:00 Certified Copy-PG15 15:00 True Story Of Puss’n Boots-PG 17:00 Battle: Los Angeles-PG15 19:00 Just Wright-PG15 21:00 The Roommate-PG15 23:00 Love And Other Drugs-R

00:00 King Of The Hill 00:30 The Daily Show Global Edition 01:00 The Colbert Report Global Edition 01:30 Louie 02:30 Angry Boys 03:00 The Simpsons 03:30 Raising Hope 05:30 Til Death 06:00 Dharma And Greg 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:30 The Simpsons 09:00 Til Death 09:30 Traffic Light 10:00 Happy Endings 12:00 Dharma And Greg 13:00 Til Death 14:00 Raising Hope 14:30 Happy Endings 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 Man Up! 19:00 The Cleveland Show 19:30 Happy Endings 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 Angry Boys 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 Lights Out Good Morning America The Practice Emmerdale Coronation Street The Martha Stewart Show The View The Closer Suits Live Good Morning America Franklin & Bash Emmerdale Coronation Street White Collar Royal Pains House The River Lights Out

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

The Closer Luck Justified Suits C.S.I. Miami Unforgettable Emmerdale Coronation Street Body Of Proof The Closer Justified Suits Emmerdale Coronation Street Body Of Proof Unforgettable Emmerdale Coronation Street The Protector White Collar Royal Pains House The River Rescue Me

01:00 Jason X-18 03:00 Talento De Barrio-PG15 05:00 Circle Of Eight-18 07:00 Triassic Attack-PG15 09:00 Time Machine: Rise Of The Morlocks-PG15 10:30 Salt-PG15 12:15 The Postman-PG15 15:15 Time Machine: Rise Of The Morlocks-PG15 17:00 Age Of The Dragons-PG15 19:00 The Alphabet Killer-18 21:00 Enter The Phoenix-PG15

THE ROOMMATE ON OSN CINEMA 23:00 Lake Placid 3-18

00:00 Cool Runnings-PG15 02:00 Bubble Boy-PG15 04:00 Love Hurts-PG15 06:00 Kung Fu Dunk-PG15 08:00 Bubble Boy-PG15 10:00 Frank McKlusky, C.I.-PG15 12:00 Paper Man-PG15 14:00 The Prince And Me 4: The Elephant Adventure-PG15 16:00 Frank McKlusky, C.I.-PG15 18:00 The Lonely Guy-PG15 20:00 Melinda And Melinda-PG15 22:00 All Night Long-PG15

01:15 03:15 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:15 13:00 15:00 16:45 19:00 21:00 23:00

Brighton Rock-PG15 Takers-PG15 A Family Thanksgiving-PG15 Alabama Moon-PG15 Secretariat-PG15 Get Low-PG15 Lies In Plain Sight-PG15 Despicable Me-FAM Secretariat-PG15 The Romantics-PG15 Your Highness-18 A Single Man-R

00:00 Christopher Columbus-PG 02:00 Moomins And The Comet Chase-FAM 04:00 Shipwrecked-PG 06:00 Ramses Of Egypt-PG 08:00 Alex & Alexis-FAM 10:00 I’ll Be Home For Christmas-PG 12:00 D’fenders-PG 14:00 Shipwrecked-PG 16:00 Cher Ami-PG 18:00 I’ll Be Home For Christmas-PG 20:00 Turandot-PG 22:00 D’fenders-PG

02:00 Trans World Sport 03:00 IRB Junior World Championship 07:00 NRL Premiership 09:00 Super Rugby Highlights 10:00 Masters Football 12:45 Live ODI Cricket 21:00 PGA European Tour Highlights 22:00 International Rugby Union

01:00 IRB Junior World Championship 03:00 Masters Football 06:00 Trans World Sport 07:00 Volvo Ocean Race Highlights 10:00 Trans World Sport 11:00 Darts 15:00 PGA European Tour Highlights 16:00 Masters Football 19:00 Super Rugby Highlights 20:00 Live International Rugby Union 22:00 Futbol Mundial 22:30 Volvo Ocean Race Highlights

01:30 AFL Premiership Highlights 02:30 IronMan 05:30 Futbol Mundial 06:00 Ping Pong World Championship 07:00 Golfing World 08:00 Ladies European Tour Highlights 09:00 AFL Premiership Highlights 10:00 ATP Tennis Aegon Championships 12:00 Golfing World 13:00 Ladies European Tour Highlights 14:00 International Rugby Union 16:00 AFL Premiership Highlights 17:00 IronMan 17:30 ATP Tennis Aegon Championships 19:30 NRL Full Time 20:00 IronMan 20:30 Mobil 1 The Grid 21:00 Futbol Mundial

00:00 01:00 04:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 14:00 15:00 17:30 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00

UFC Unleashed Prizefighter UFC 147 Countdown UFC Unleashed WWE NXT WWE Bottom Line Prizefighter V8 Supercars Extra Mobil 1 The Grid WWE Bottom Line WWE Vintage Collection V8 Supercars V8 Supercars Extra WWE NXT WWE Experience UFC 147 Countdown UFC Unleashed UFC

00:00 American Pickers 01:00 Ax Men 02:00 IRT: Deadliest Roads – The Andes 03:00 Pawn Stars 04:00 The Universe 05:00 Tales Of The Gun 06:00 Ax Men 07:00 American Pickers 08:00 The Universe 09:00 Tales Of The Gun 10:00 American Pickers 11:00 Ax Men 12:00 IRT: Deadliest Roads – The Andes 13:00 Pawn Stars 14:00 Tales Of The Gun 15:00 The Universe 16:00 IRT: Deadliest Roads – The Andes 17:00 Pawn Stars 18:00 Tales Of The Gun 19:00 The Universe 20:00 American Pickers 21:00 Ax Men 22:00 American Restoration 23:00 No County For Old Men

00:00 01:00 01:25 01:55 02:50 03:20 04:15 06:05 07:00 08:00 09:00 09:25 09:55 10:50 11:50 12:50 13:15 13:45 14:45 15:40 16:35 18:25 19:25 20:20

Jerseylicious Fashion Classics Open House Videofashion Daily Videofashion News How Do I Look?

Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?

Clean House Videofashion News Videofashion Daily Open House Fashion Classics How Do I Look?

Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?

Clean House: New York Dress My Nest Mel B: It’s A Scary World Bridalplasty How Do I Look?

Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane Glam Fairy Designer Marathon Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane Big Rich Texas

00:00 World’s Greatest Motorcycle Rides 01:00 Distant Shores 01:30 Essential 02:00 Megalopolis 03:00 Planet Food 04:00 Globe Trekker 05:00 Culinary Travels With Varun Sharma 06:00 Hollywood And Vines 07:00 Globe Trekker 08:00 World’s Greatest Motorcycle Rides 09:00 Travel Today 09:30 Essential 10:00 Culinary Travels With Varun Sharma 11:00 Hollywood And Vines 12:00 Globe Trekker 13:00 Chef Abroad 14:00 Essential 14:30 Distant Shores 15:00 People Of The Sea 16:00 Globe Trekker 17:00 Hollywood And Vines 18:00 Culinary Travels With Varun Sharma

00:10 02:00 04:25 07:00 08:55 10:50 12:25 14:15 15:55 17:50 20:10 22:00 23:30

The Last Run Victor/Victoria Ice Station Zebra-FAM A Day At The Races-FAM Beau Brummell-PG Viva Las Vegas-FAM The Glass Bottom Boat-FAM Hotel Paradiso-PG Mogambo-PG Kelly’s Heroes-PG Young Cassidy-PG The Split Sitting Target

00:15 Little Einsteins 00:40 Jungle Junction 01:10 Little Einsteins 01:30 Special Agent Oso 02:00 Lazytown 02:25 Little Einsteins 02:50 Jungle Junction 03:20 Little Einsteins 03:40 Special Agent Oso 04:10 Lazytown 04:35 Little Einsteins 05:00 Jungle Junction 05:30 Little Einsteins 05:50 Special Agent Oso 06:15 Jungle Junction 06:45 Handy Manny 07:00 Special Agent Oso 07:15 Lazytown 07:45 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 08:10 The Hive 08:20 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 08:50 Handy Manny: School For Tools 08:55 Handy Manny 09:10 Handy Manny: School For Tools 09:15 Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 09:20 Mouk 09:35 Mouk 09:45 The Hive 09:55 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 10:20 Lazytown 10:45 Art Attack 11:10 Imagination Movers 11:35 Lazytown 12:00 The Hive 12:10 Handy Manny 12:25 Jungle Junction 12:40 Imagination Movers 13:05 The Hive 13:15 Special Agent Oso 13:30 Lazytown 13:55 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 14:20 The Hive 14:30 Handy Manny 14:45 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 15:00 Handy Manny: School For Tools 15:05 Handy Manny 15:20 Handy Manny: School For Tools 15:25 Handy Manny 15:40 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 15:55 Imagination Movers 16:20 Lazytown 16:45 Art Attack 17:10 Handy Manny: School For Tools 17:15 Handy Manny 17:30 Handy Manny: School For Tools 17:35 Mouk 17:45 Mouk 17:55 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 18:10 Little Einsteins 18:35 The Little Mermaid 19:00 Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 19:05 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 19:25 101 Dalmatians 19:40 Mouk 19:50 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 20:05 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 20:20 The Hive 20:30 Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 20:35 A Poem Is...

20:40 Animated Stories 20:45 Mouk 21:00 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 21:25 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 21:40 Special Agent Oso 21:55 Little Einsteins 22:20 Timmy Time 22:30 Jungle Junction 22:45 Handy Manny 22:55 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 23:20 Special Agent Oso 23:35 Special Agent Oso 23:50 Lazytown

Classifieds TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Airlines JZR QTR ETH RJA GFA UAE ETD OMA THY DHX FDB MSR RBG QTR JZR KAC THY JZR DHX JZR KAC BAW KAC JZR 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 JZR QTR KAC SVA RJA JZR KAC KAC QTR JZR ETD JZR JZR UAE UAL GFA SVA JZR JZR ABY KAC QTR KAC SYR KAC KAC KAC FDB MSR MSC KAC KAC KAC KAC JAI KAC AXB FDB OMA MEA QTR GFA ALK KLM JZR UAE ABY QTR JZR AIC FDB GFA UAL JZR DLH JZR MSR THY PIA

Arrival Flights on Tuesday 19/6/2012 Flt Route 185 DUBAI 148 DOHA 620 ADDIS ABABA 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 1541 CAIRO 170 BAHRAIN 555 ALEXANDRIA 412 MANILA 157 LONDON 416 JAKARTA 529 ASSIUT 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 200 DAMASCUS 610 CAIRO 672 DUBAI 514 TEHRAN 219 BAHRAIN 57 DUBAI 472 JEDDAH 535 CAIRO 140 DOHA 562 AMMAN 500 JEDDAH 640 AMMAN 257 BEIRUT 546 ALEXANDRIA 678 ABU DHABI 134 DOHA 325 NAJAF 303 ABU DHABI 787 RIYADH 215 DEIREZZOR 857 DUBAI 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 215 BAHRAIN 510 RIYADH 177 DUBAI 777 JEDDAH 127 SHARJAH 502 BEIRUT 144 DOHA 542 CAIRO 341 DAMASCUS 786 JEDDAH 166 PARIS 104 LONDON 63 DUBAI 624 SOHAG 403 ASSIUT 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 539 CAIRO 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 1:45 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 4:55 5:00 6:00 6:15 6:30 6:35 6:40 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 14:20 14:25 14:30 14:30 14:55 15:00 15:05 15:05 15:15 16:30 16:35 16:40 16:40 16:55 17:10 17:20 17:20 17:30 17:40 17:45 18:00 18:05 18:15 18:30 18:40 18:40 18:45 18:45 18:55 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 22:10 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 ETH CMB THY UAE FDB DHX OMA RBG ETD MSR QTR QTR JZR RJA JZR JZR GFA THY JZR KAC BAW FDB KAC JZR ABY KAC KAC KAC UAE JZR QTR KAC FDB ETD IRA IRA GFA KAC KAC MEA KAC JZR MSR MSC JZR KAC JZR JZR GFA FDB MSR KAC JZR KNE SVA KAC RJA QTR KAC KAC KAC ETD JZR JZR QTR UAE GFA JZR ABY UAL SVA JZR QTR FDB SYR MSR MSC JZR KAC KAC JAI FDB KAC KAC OMA MEA KAC GFA DHX ALK KLM JZR ABY KAC UAE QTR KAC KAC JZR QTR AXB FDB GFA KAC JZR

Depature Flights on Tuesday 19/6/2012 Flt Route 976 GOA/CHENNAI 981 WASHINGTON DC 637 FRANKFURT 615 CAIRO 411 AMSTERDAM 240 SIALKOT 773 ISTANBUL 621 ADDIS ABABA 514 HAHN 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 534 CAIRO 545 ALEXANDRIA 156 LONDON 54 DUBAI 677 ABU DHABI 256 BEIRUT 126 SHARJAH 513 IMAM KHOMEINI 561 AMMAN 671 DUBAI 856 DUBAI 214 DEIREZZOR 133 DOHA 101 LONDON 56 DUBAI 302 ABU DHABI 604 ISFAHAN 618 LAR 214 BAHRAIN 541 CAIRO 165 ROME 405 BEIRUT 501 BEIRUT 776 JEDDAH 623 SOHAG 404 ASSIUT 324 AL NAJAF 785 JEDDAH 786 RIYADH 176 DUBAI 220 BAHRAIN 58 DUBAI 611 CAIRO 673 DUBAI 538 CAIRO 473 JEDDAH 501 JEDDAH 617 DOHA 641 AMMAN 135 DOHA 773 RIYADH 613 BAHRAIN 741 DAMMAM 304 ABU DHABI 512 SHARM EL SHEIKH 238 AMMAN 141 DOHA 858 DUBAI 216 BAHRAIN 134 BAHRAIN 128 SHARJAH 982 BAHRAIN 511 RIYADH 526 ASSIUT 145 DOHA 64 DUBAI 342 DAMASCUS 607 LUXOR 402 ALEXANDRIA 184 DUBAI 283 DHAKA 361 COLOMBO 571 MUMBAI 62 DUBAI 343 CHENNAI 351 KOCHI 648 MUSCAT 403 BEIRUT 543 CAIRO 222 BAHRAIN 171 BAHRAIN 230 COLOMBO 415 DAMMAM 1540 CAIRO 120 SHARJAH 381 DELHI 860 DUBAI 137 DOHA 301 MUMBAI 205 ISLAMABAD 554 ALEXANDRIA 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 2:45 3:30 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 7:30 8:10 8:25 8:25 8:35 9:00 9:05 9:15 9:15 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 12:00 12:15 12:25 13:00 13:05 13:10 13:15 13:20 14:25 14:25 14:30 15:05 15:10 15:15 15:45 15:45 15:50 16:15 16:25 16:30 16:30 17:20 17:25 17:30 17:45 18:05 18:20 18:20 18:25 18:30 18:35 18:50 19:05 19:25 19:30 19:55 20:00 20:05 20:15 20:20 20:35 20:40 20:55 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:30 21:35 21:50 21:55 22:05 22:05 22:10 22:20 22:25 22:35 22:40 22:45 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)

ACCOMMODATION Sharing accommodation available for bachelors, families or executive bachelor in Farwaniya, on the 6th Ring road, opposite Sears.

Contact: 97337658, 50540846. (C 4047) 18-6-2012

MATRIMONIAL Orthodox parents invite proposal for daughter (25/158) MBA (finance), Sr. Analyst, Deloitte, Hyderabad. Email: johnsyk2003@yahoo.co.in (C 4048) 18-6-2012

Prayer timings

Fajr: Duhr: Asr: Maghrib: Isha:

03:13 11:49 15:23 18:51 20:23

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

No: 15483

34

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

stars CROSSWORD 710

STAR TRACK

CALVIN & HOBBES

Aries (March 21-April 19) A need to be respected is strong at this time. Work, achievement and ambition mean a lot to you. The business world may call for your ability to build on opportunities. Higher-ups notice you. You have a talent for responding and making something worthwhile out of ideas and insights and whatever is new or challenging. You have a strong drive to understand and to interact with others. Your own requirements may appear to separate you from where the rest of the gang is headed. This is of short duration. On the home front this evening, family members need your time and encouragement. The best way to succeed here is to keep a balance in all your affairs and teach this balance to others. If possible, enjoy some quiet time tonight.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) You find it easy to pour a lot of interest into those around you. You are able to find assistance in whatever career changes you decide to make. The time is right, if you want a total new job change. Success is indicated in the areas of education, politics or the law. You understand how to attack and solve problems, whether they are personal or public. Chances are that your social skills make you popular with almost everyone. You have a natural grasp for the political and for handling the public. Because your passion can be so intense at times, you may experience some power struggles. You may find yourself coaching young people this afternoon; you are an inspiration. The next few days are full of social opportunities.

POOCH CAFE ACROSS 1. A state-chartered savings bank owned by its depositors and managed by a board of trustees.

4. A medicinal drug used to evoke vomiting (especially in cases of drug overdose or poisoning).

10. (informal) Roused to anger.

13. Any of various primates with short tails or no tail at all.

14. Having gaps or spaces.

15. A sweetened beverage of diluted fruit juice.

16. Having leadership guidance.

17. Savory jelly based on fish or meat stock used as a mold for meats or vegetables.

19. Any of a number of fishes of the family Carangidae.

21. A pass between mountain peaks.

22. The (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb.

23. A very loud utterance (like the sound of an animal).

26. A genus of Caltha.

29. A city in northwestern Germany and an important Baltic port.

33. Large burrowing rodent of South and Central America.

34. The law enforcement agency in the Justice Department.

35. The 21st letter of the Greek alphabet.

36. Goddess of fate.

39. A holy war by Muslims against unbelievers.

43. Food mixtures either arranged on a plate or tossed and served with a moist dressing.

46. (formerly) A title of respect for a man in Turkey or Egypt.

47. Of or relating to abasia (inability to walk).

48. Attack someone physically or emotionally.

53. English theoretical physicist who applied relativity theory to quantum mechanics and predicted the existence of antimatter and the positron (1902-1984).

56. A constellation in the southern hemisphere near Telescopium and Norma.

57. American prizefighter who won the world heavyweight championship three times (born in 1942).

58. Type genus of the Annonaceae.

60. A Chadic language spoken in northern Nigeria.

61. A slight amount or degree of difference.

62. African tree having an exceedingly thick trunk and fruit that resembles a gourd and has an edible pulp called monkey bread.

63. Either extremity of something that has length.

DOWN 1. A master's degree in library science.

2. A detailed description of design criteria for a piece of work.

3. English monk and scholar (672-735).

4. An agency of the United Nations affiliated with the World Bank.

5. An archaic name for Easter or Passover.

6. A city in southern Finland.

7. Uncomfortably cool.

8. A former agency (from 1946 to 1974) that was responsible for research into atomic energy and its peacetime uses in the United States.

9. Being one hundred more than three hundred.

10. God of death.

11. Chief port of Yemen.

12. No longer having or seeming to have or expecting to have life.

18. According to the Old Testament he was a pagan king of Israel and husband of Jezebel (9th century BC).

20. Evergreen tree of eastern Asia and Philippines having large leathery leaves and small green-white flowers in compact cymes.

24. A three-year law degree.

25. A board with the alphabet on it.

27. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

28. A digital display that uses liquid crystal cells that change reflectivity in an applied electric field.

30. An ancient Hebrew unit of dry measure equal to about a bushel.

31. A human female who does housework.

32. Scottish sea captain who was hired to protect British shipping in the Indian Ocean and then was accused of piracy and hanged (1645-1701).

37. A tricycle (usually propelled by pedalling).

38. A public promotion of some product or service.

40. Oval reproductive body of a fowl (especially a hen) used as food.

41. An independent group of closely related Chadic languages spoken in the area between the Biu-Mandara and East Chadic languages.

42. Doglike nocturnal mammal of Africa and southern Asia that feeds chiefly on carrion.

44. A promontory in northern Morocco opposite the Rock of Gibraltar.

45. Long-winged web-footed aquatic bird of the gull family.

49. Someone who works (or provides workers) during a strike.

50. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

51. Extremely robust.

52. Relating to or characteristic of or occurring on land.

54. United States musician (born in Japan) who married John Lennon and collaborated with him on recordings (born in 1933).

55. A numbered compartment in a post office where mail is put to be called for.

59. A silvery soft waxy metallic element of the alkali metal group.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) If you have a choice to work late or to join those you love in a social activity this afternoon, you would be wise to choose the social. Loved ones need your attention—your work will still be there tomorrow.

Perhaps you can go into work a little earlier tomorrow. Your family and friends need all of your attention . . . any attempt to avoid confronting life at the personal level is bound to lead to frustration. Your goals and ambitions, along with the social creature that you are, makes up all of you—you will have an opportunity this week to develop your work into a more profitable state. Today is a good day to understand and unite with those you love. Young and old alike need your insights and compassion this day.

You make a positive difference wherever you go.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) Your love of groups and the social scene may find you cooperating within a group today. A large project will be completed because everyone works together well. Many find you unselfish and open to sharing and cooperation. There is an opportunity to learn a new way of working this afternoon. The cycle that begins for you now will be marked by a more intense focus on mental productivity. It’s a time of more involvement with other people and a time for gathering. There is likely to be an emphasis on reading, writing, studying and all forms of exchanging information. Looking for fun ways to relax this evening you may have two or three books going at the same time. It is great to have a library nearby your living quarters.

NON SEQUITUR

Leo (July 23-August 22) You are comfortable with your surroundings and make others welcome when they come to interact with you. It is easy to be your friend and you may find yourself in some sort of political calling. You have been thinking of your career and perhaps trying to decide if it is a calling or just a career. If you are feeling nonproductive and inadequate, it may be time to think about what really floats your boat. If you own your own business, everything seems to be working together in the spirit of cooperation—give the business time to grow. You are creative when it comes to partnerships or lovers—you seem to establish unusual and different relationships. Dinner for two could be planned for tonight. You put a lot of effort into keeping people close.

ZITS

Virgo (August 23-September 22) You could experience some delays today. This, however, is a great day to create an easy flowing frame of mind. Emotions and the feelings of those around you may be very clear. Your life takes on a kind of mystical quality at the instinctive levels. Your very organized self tends to hide behind duties and responsibilities at this time. This no-nonsense approach manages to push aside many opportunities for others to reach out to you and get close. You resist getting personal and tend to avoid issues that are touchy and might result in confrontation and change. There could be eruptions that overturn all of the more orderly rituals. Do not miss the opportunities that come this afternoon for a healing between yourself and a loved one.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) A meeting with someone older or in authority during the lunch break may create some productive results. You may be reminded of your various responsibilities and feel the need to tend to business most of this day.

This is a good time to get down to whatever is unfinished. The future becomes clearer and less intimidating these days. You seem to have control or command over whatever situation you decide to tackle. This could mean you lead a group, volunteer to help someone, or just enjoy your own space where you can be most creative. Others will benefit from your expression of energies all day long. The situation of this day is a natural for your very own self-expression and lends itself to your particular ideas and thoughts.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) Self-discipline becomes an important issue in your life today.

A fear of asserting yourself can hold you back—as can coming on too strong. The trick is learning to make the most of your personal talents and abilities, working within your limitations instead of feeling hemmed in by them.

You are feeling more confident about increasing your abilities—a class may be in order. When you are in doubt about a decision, take a step back in order to see the whole picture. You are in a good position to relate to groups and society.

Charisma, self-transformation and the development of personal power plays a bigger role in your life. Some fun surprises come through communication with young people this evening.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

To

Yesterday’s Solution

You have plenty of enthusiasm and warm up to things and people quickly. You have an inner self-confidence that burns with its own light. This could be a challenging day in that plenty of interruptions and other people’s ideas may sway your focus, although you will manage to be successful at whatever you attempt. You might enjoy entertaining children and adults with enchanting stories late this afternoon. 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, for you like working with mental images. Friends and a social life are in order this evening. It is your turn to enjoy the attention of friends or family.

Career choices and direction seem to indicate a loss of freedom and originality on your part. You may feel stifled and forced to go along if you want to succeed. This could result in a situation building up to an explosive level. Tread with care. Circumstances may urge you to great effort and you will find the energies you need to complete any task before you. There are rewards for your patience. Things are actually working with rather than against you. Letting situations take their natural course should be an easy. Offer your service or talents to others needing your assistance today. If you combine your enthusiasm with a friend or family member in some good cause, you could both make a positive difference in many people’s lives.

Yesterday’s Solution Yester

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) You appreciate your particular situation and enjoy support from those around you. A brilliant idea today may need more work but will eventually bring you a great deal of success. There is a lot of energy available for disciplined work, but if you push too hard, you may break something.

An admirer from work may make advances today and you could be faced with some choices. Be determined to create an attitude of peace. Peace of mind is clearly an internal matter. However, it must be extended outward for it to continue. This afternoon you will enjoy visiting with neighbors. Being more involved with neighbors or sibling(s) satisfies a deep emotional need. Later this evening you may find yourself planning a weekend excursion.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Word Sleuth Solution

There is an emphasis on communication, expression of ideas and the connections between things, places and people. What goes on in your mind is the all-important motivation in your life. You tend towards mental pursuit and admire intelligence. Listening is the key word when it comes to the understanding of an emotional person today. Circumstances can throw you into positions where you must deal with communications, service or enclosed hidden interests— successfully. You may deal with education, psychology, spiritual enlightenment or teaching principles and techniques. Do not start something new just now—it could be a difficult time to gain a focus on your own plans. This evening is a great time to learn more about a young person in your family.

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

i n f o r m at i o n

112 GOVERNORATE

24812000

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

Rabiya

4732263

Roudha

22517733

Adhaliya

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

Keifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salim

22549134

Al-Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Al-Khadissiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Ghar

22531908

Al-Shaab

22518752

Al-Kibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Kibla

22451082

Al-Mirqab

22456536

Sharq

22465401

Salmiya

25746401

Jabriya

25316254

Maidan Hawally

25623444

Bayan

25388462

Mishref

25381200

W.Hawally

22630786

Sabah

24810221

ADDRESS

PHONE

Ahmadi

Sama Safwan Abu Halaifa Danat Al-Sultan

Fahaeel Makka St Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd

23915883 23715414 23726558

Jahra

Modern Jahra Madina Munawara

Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 Jahra-Block 92

24575518 24566622

Capital

Ahlam Khaldiya Coop

Fahad Al-Salem St Khaldiya Coop

22436184 24833967

Farwaniya

New Shifa Ferdous Coop Modern Safwan

Farwaniya Block 40 Ferdous Coop Old Kheitan Block 11

24734000 24881201 24726638

Tariq Hana Ikhlas Hawally & Rawdha Ghadeer Kindy Ibn Al-Nafis Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Salmiya-Amman St Hawally-Beirut St Hawally & Rawdha Coop Jabriya-Block 1A Jabriya-Block 3B Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

25726265 25647075 22625999 22564549 25340559 25326554 25721264 25380581 25628241

website: www.moi.gov.kw

Sabah Hospital

PHARMACY

Hawally

ST TATE T OF K KUW WAIT A

el.: 161 Te

DIRECTORA AT TE GENERAL GENE OF CIVIL AVIA V ATION T METEOROLOGICAL DEP PA ARTMENT

2627 - 2630 Ext.: 262

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 Expected Weeather for the Next 24 Hours BY Y DA AY:

Very e hot h with moderate to fresh north westerly wind, with speed of 20 - 45 km/h causing raising dust

BY Y NIGHT:

Relatively hot with light to moderate north westerly to northerly wind, with speed of 15 - 38 km/h causing blowing dust over open areas No Current Warnings arnin a

WA ARNING ST TATION T

MAX. EXP P.

MIN. REC.

KUW WAIT A CITY

45 °C

38 °C

KUW WAIT A AIRPOR RT

48 °C

34 °C

NUW WAISEEB A

47 °C

33 °C

WAFRA A

49 °C

32 °C

SALMI

48 °C

33 °C

ABDAL LY

49 °C

36 °C

JAL ALIY YAH A

49 °C

36 °C

FAILAKA A

43 °C

33 °C

AHMADI POR RT

43 °C

39 °C

UMM AL-MARADEM

36 °C

32 °C

WARBA A A - BUBY YAN A

38 °C

33 °C

SFC. CHART

18/06/2012 0000 UTC

4 DA AYS Y FORECAST Temperatures DA AY

DA ATE T

WEA AT THER

Wind Speed

32 °C

NW

15 - 35 km/h

31 °C

NW-SE

06 - 28 km/h

30 °C

VRB-SE

08 - 30 km/h

32 °C

VRB-NW

12 - 35 km/h

MIN.

Tuesday

19/06

very hot + blowing dust

48 °C

24575755

Weednesday

20/06

very hot

47 °C

West Jahra

24772608

Thursday

21/06

very hot

48 °C

South Jahra

24775066

Friday

22/06

very hot

48 °C

North Jahra

24775992

North Jleeb

24311795

PRA RA AY YER TIMES

Wind Direction

MAX.

New Jahra

AIT AIRPORT AY AT KUW WA RECORDED YESTERDA

Fajr

03:13

MAX. Temp.

48 °C

Sunrise

04:49

MIN. Temp.

33 °C

Zuhr

11:49

MAX. RH

14 %

Al-Ardhiya

24884079

Firdous

24892674

Asr

15:23

MIN. RH

Al-Omariya

24719048

Sunset

18:50

MAX. Wind i

N.Kheitan

24710044

Isha

20:22

TOT TAL AL RAIINF FALL A L IN 24 HR.

Fintas

3900322

04 % SE 28 km/h 00 mm

All times are local time unless otherwise stated.

PRIVATE CLINICS Paediatricians

Plastic Surgeons Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf

22547272

Dr. Khaled Hamadi

Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari

22617700

Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed

Dr. Abdel Quttainah

25625030/60

Family Doctor Dr Divya Damodar

23729596/23729581

Psychiatrists Dr. Esam Al-Ansari

22635047

Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan

22613623/0

Gynaecologists & Obstetricians DrAdrian arbe

23729596/23729581

Dr. Verginia s.Marin

2572-6666 ext 8321

Endocrinologist

25665898 25340300

Dr. Zahra Qabazard

25710444

Dr. Sohail Qamar

22621099

Dr. Snaa Maaroof

25713514

Dr. Pradip Gujare

23713100

Dr. Zacharias Mathew

24334282

(1) Ear, Nose and Throat (2) Plastic Surgeon Dr. Abdul Mohsin Jafar, FRCS (Canada)

25655535

Dentists

Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan

22655539

Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami

25343406

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar

22641071/2

Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly

25739272

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed

22562226

22618787

Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer

22561444

Dr. Faysal Al-Fozan

22619557

Dr. Abdallateef Al-Katrash

22525888

Dr. Abidallah Al-Duweisan

25653755

Dr. Bader Al-Ansari

25620111

Dr. Salem soso General Surgeons Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer

22610044

Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher

25327148

Internists, Chest & Heart Dr. Adnan Ebil

22639939

Dr. Mousa Khadada

22666300

Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan

25728004

Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra

25355515

Dr. Mobarak Aldoub

24726446

Dr Nasser Behbehani

25654300/3

info@soorcenter.com www.soorcenter.com

Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman

3729596/3729581

Neurologists Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri

25633324

Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan

25345875

Gastrologists Dr. Sami Aman

22636464

Dr. Mohammad Al-Shamaly

25322030

Dr. Foad Abidallah Al-Ali

22633135

Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa, Ph.D. 2290-1677 Susannah-Joy Schuilenberg, M.A. 2290-1677

25339330

Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari 25658888 Dr. Kamal Al-Shomr 25329924 Physiotherapists & VD Dr. Deyaa Shehab

25722291

Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees

22666288

Rheumatologists: Dr. Adel Al-Awadi

Dr Anil Thomas

Soor Center Tel: 2290-1677 Fax: 2290 1688

Al-Shohada’a

WWW.MET.GOV V..KW

24770319

Psychologists /Psychotherapists

22418714

Fax: 24348714

Jahra

Ophthalmologists Dr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 25622444 Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 25752222 Dr. Masoma Habeeb 25321171 Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 25739999 Dr. Mohsen Abel 25757700 Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 25732223 Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 25732223 Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510 Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660 Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478 Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996 Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988 Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166 Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426 General Practitioners Dr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123 Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312 Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920 Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465 Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528 Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781 Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501 Urologists Dr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534 Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955 Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 22616660 Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120 Dr. Leons Joseph 66703427

Al-Madena

25330060

Dr. Khaled Al-Jarallah

25722290

Internist, Chest & Heart DR.Mohammes Akkad

24555050 Ext 210

Dr. Mohammad Zubaid MB, ChB, FRCPC, PACC Assistant Professor Of Medicine Head, Division of Cardiology Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital Consultant Cardiologist Dr. Farida Al-Habib MD, PH.D, FACC Inaya German Medical Center Te: 2575077 Fax: 25723123

2611555-2622555

William Schuilenberg, RPC 2290-1677 Zaina Al Zabin, M.Sc. 2290-1677

Afghanistan 0093 Albania 00355 Algeria 00213 Andorra 00376 Angola 00244 Anguilla 001264 Antiga 001268 Argentina 0054 Armenia 00374 Australia 0061 Austria 0043 Bahamas 001242 Bahrain 00973 Bangladesh 00880 Barbados 001246 Belarus 00375 Belgium 0032 Belize 00501 Benin 00229 Bermuda 001441 Bhutan 00975 Bolivia 00591 Bosnia 00387 Botswana 00267 Brazil 0055 Brunei 00673 Bulgaria 00359 Burkina 00226 Burundi 00257 Cambodia 00855 Cameroon 00237 Canada 001 Cape Verde 00238 Cayman Islands 001345 Central African 00236 Chad 00235 Chile 0056 China 0086 Colombia 0057 Comoros 00269 Congo 00242 Cook Islands 00682 Costa Rica 00506 Croatia 00385 Cuba 0053 Cyprus 00357 Cyprus (Northern) 0090392 Czech Republic 00420 Denmark 0045 Diego Garcia 00246 Djibouti 00253 Dominica 001767 Dominican Republic 001809 Ecuador 00593 Egypt 0020 El Salvador 00503 England (UK) 0044 Equatorial Guinea 00240 Eritrea 00291 Estonia 00372 Ethiopia 00251 Falkland Islands 00500 Faroe Islands 00298 Fiji 00679 Finland 00358 France 0033 French Guiana 00594 French Polynesia 00689 Gabon 00241 Gambia 00220 Georgia 00995 Germany 0049 Ghana 00233 Gibraltar 00350 Greece 0030 Greenland 00299 Grenada 001473 Guadeloupe 00590 Guam 001671 Guatemala 00502 Guinea 00224 Guyana 00592 Haiti 00509 Holland (Netherlands) 0031 Honduras 00504 Hong Kong 00852 Hungary 0036 Ibiza (Spain) 0034 Iceland 00354 India 0091 Indian Ocean 00873 Indonesia 0062

Iran 0098 Iraq 00964 Ireland 00353 Italy 0039 Ivory Coast 00225 Jamaica 001876 Japan 0081 Jordan 00962 Kazakhstan 007 Kenya 00254 Kiribati 00686 Kuwait 00965 Kyrgyzstan 00996 Laos 00856 Latvia 00371 Lebanon 00961 Liberia 00231 Libya 00218 Lithuania 00370 Luxembourg 00352 Macau 00853 Macedonia 00389 Madagascar 00261 Majorca 0034 Malawi 00265 Malaysia 0060 Maldives 00960 Mali 00223 Malta 00356 Marshall Islands 00692 Martinique 00596 Mauritania 00222 Mauritius 00230 Mayotte 00269 Mexico 0052 Micronesia 00691 Moldova 00373 Monaco 00377 Mongolia 00976 Montserrat 001664 Morocco 00212 Mozambique 00258 Myanmar (Burma) 0095 Namibia 00264 Nepal 00977 Netherlands (Holland) 0031 Netherlands Antilles 00599 New Caledonia 00687 New Zealand 0064 Nicaragua 00505 Nigar 00227 Nigeria 00234 Niue 00683 Norfolk Island 00672 Northern Ireland (UK) 0044 North Korea 00850 Norway 0047 Oman 00968 Pakistan 0092 Palau 00680 Panama 00507 Papua New Guinea 00675 Paraguay 00595 Peru 0051 Philippines 0063 Poland 0048 Portugal 00351 Puerto Rico 001787 Qatar 00974 Romania 0040 Russian Federation 007 Rwanda 00250 Saint Helena 00290 Saint Kitts 001869 Saint Lucia 001758 Saint Pierre 00508 Saint Vincent 001784 Samoa US 00684 Samoa West 00685 San Marino 00378 Sao Tone 00239 Saudi Arabia 00966 Scotland (UK) 0044 Senegal 00221 Seychelles 00284 Sierra Leone 00232 Singapore 0065 Slovakia 00421 Slovenia 00386 Solomon Islands 00677

36

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

lifestyle

with sclerosis

Osbourne Diagnosed

G O S S I P

Kardashian’s Christian Louboutin collection

ack Osbourne, son of rocker Ozzy Osbourne and “America’s Got Talent” judge Sharon Osbourne, has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, celebrity magazine People reported on Sunday. Osbourne, 26, who welcomed daughter Pearl with his fiance Lisa Stelly in April, was given the news of his diagnosis two weeks after his daughter’s birth. “I was just angry and frustrated and kept thinking, ‘Why now?’” Osbourne told People.

“I’ve got a family and that’s what’s supposed to be the most important thing.” Multiple Sclerosis is an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system - the brain and spinal cord-and can affect muscle control, strength, vision, balance, thinking and feeling. Osbourne, the youngest of Ozzy and Sharon’s three children, shot to fame as the rebellious teenager alongside his sister Kelly in the MTV reality TV show “The Osbournes” in 2002, a fly-on-the-wall series following Ozzy and his family on their day-to-day lives. The young star, who has been in rehab for drug abuse in the past, cleaned up his act and starred in his own show in 2005, “Jack Osbourne: Adrenaline Junkie,” which saw Osbourne undertaking various extreme sports around the world.

J

im Kardashian owns 224 pairs of Christian Louboutin shoes. The reality TV star loves the designer footwear and can’t resist splashing out on the pricey heels.

Speaking in L’Uomo Vogue’s July/August issue for which she is the cover star, Kim said: “I have a collection of 224 pairs of Louboutins.”

Although Kim, 31, had a privileged upbringing, she claims the reason she can afford the pricey shoes and other luxuries is because she has worked so hard to build her own career.

K

She explained: “Yes I was born rich; it was a classic Californian lineage: lavishness and ostentation, luxury mansions with pools, private clubs, exclusive friendships, and luxury cars. Despite the affluence, at only 31 I’ve been able to build my own empire in the world of entertainment and, although looks and friendships are important, I want the new generation to understand that if you don’t believe in yourself and in your own ideas, you go nowhere.” Kim has dabbled in designing,

acting and singing but admitted a career away from the celebrity also appeals to her along with the simpler things in life. She said: “I would have liked to be a teacher, I always say prayers before going to bed, I would have liked to spend more time with my dad and speak with my fans.”

valuable weapon

onica Bellucci says lipstick is the “most valuable weapon in a woman’s makeup kit”. The Italian actress was recently named as the new face of Dolce & Gabbana’s lipstick range and she says the cosmetic item has always been an essential to her. She said: “Lipstick is the most valuable weapon in a woman’s make-up kit. “It has the power to transform the appearance and mood of the

M

person wearing it, and, at the same time, arouses the admiration of everybody else. “You can’t imagine how excited I am about being Domenico and Stefano’s muse for this collection. The three of us have been friends for a long time.” The limited edition collection consists of six lipsticks all inspired by her. Dolce & Gabbana said in a statement: “ We adore Monica, and we’ve worked with her many times

over the last twenty years. Her beauty is timeless and never ceases to inspire us. “She represents the Dolce & Gabbana woman perfectly.

She’s dazzling - a true Italian icon.” The designers named each of the lipsticks, which range from a creamy beige to an intense red, after the adjectives they commonly use to describe her: Magnetic; Only; Natural; Italian; Chic; and Attractive Monica.

Kutcher doesn’t care for money

Bellucci’s most

Warne blasts R ex-wife

Ringo paints on tour

hane Warne has blasted his exwife for slamming Elizabeth Hurley. Simone Callahan is unhappy that Shane’s fiancee is called “M2” or “mummy two” by their kids Brooke, 14, Jackson, 13, and Summer, nine, but Shane says her complaints in a magazine interview were “out of order” and he would have no problem with his kids having a nickname for her boyfriend Toby Roberts.Speaking on Australian TV show ‘Eddie McGuire Tonight’, he said: “It was out of order to say it was disrespectful for the children to call Elizabeth M2. “If Simone and Toby get married and (the children) want to call him T-Man or T2, go for it.”

And the Australian cricket legend is adamant it is time for Simone to “let it go”. He added: “Don’t come out and do paid interviews - and do 14 or 15 of them - and keep saying it’s disrespectful and having a go. Just move on with your own life. Just accept it and say look how good the kids are.” Shane insists he is happier than he has ever been and a big part of that is because his fiancee - who has a 12-year-old son, Damian, from a previous romance - gets on so well with his kids. He explained: “Imagine if the kids go, ‘Dad, what are you doing with this girl? We don’t like her at all. She’s horrible. She treats us badly and we can’t wait for her not to be there.’ That would be an absolute horror. “So I’m very, very lucky that Elizabeth is so good with the children. The way she is with the children, she’s fantastic. “She takes an interest with them. She takes them to school, helps with the homework, does all those things, and she has fun with them. “I’ve been the happiest I’ve ever been in my life right now. My kids are happy, my family’s happy. “For the first time in my life, I’m really, really happy. “I’m fitter than I’ve ever been. I’m healthier than I’ve ever been. My children are really, really happy. I’m happy.

Everything’s going pretty well. Life’s great.”

S

ingo Starr paints to keep himself busy when he’s touring. The former Beatles drummer began creating artwork in 2005, drawing on his computer before graduating to brushes, and creates most of his pieces while on the road with his group, the AllStarr Band. He told the New York Post newspaper: “It’s something to keep yourself occupied. I work four or five nights a week. I’m always traveling, always on the road, and this is more fulfilling than hanging around hotels all day. With so much down time, not knowing what to do with yourself, it’s better to be creative.”I began drawing in ‘05. I already had my computer. At first I just played around, sketching a few heads. Then I went further and decided to print them up.” Ringo, 72, was then surprised when his teacher compared him to Dutch master Rembrandt, which made him take his artwork more seriously. He added: “I took some lessons, I was using acrylics.

The teacher told me to try actual paint. He said, ‘After all, Rembrandt didn’t work in acrylics.’ Imagine?

Likening me to Rembrandt? “But I figured I’d try paint.

Now I sell what I turn out. Every penny goes to the Lotus Foundation.” The foundation is a London-based organization which funds family, child and animal welfare.

Ringo is currently exhibiting and selling his work at Pop International Galleries in New York, with handsigned pieces retailing at $800, while smaller limited-edition posters are $20. Ringo also released a book, ‘Painting Is My Madness’, in 2008.

shton Kutcher doesn’t care if he loses money. The ‘Two and a Half Men’ actor has recently invested a lot of cash into a portfolio of start-up technology companies and while he’d like it to be a success, he says his main motivation is making people happy. He said: “I’m looking for that thing that’s so magical or so disruptive that you don’t understand how it works. I really think that technology probably has the greatest potential to accelerate happiness of most things in the world. If I don’t make money, but what we deliver to people is love and happiness and connectivity and friendship and health, and whatever it is ultimately leads to people’s happiness, I’m fine with losing my money.” Ashton - who separated from wife Demi Moore last year - also revealed how he looks at his investments as if they’re characters he’s playing. He told silicon Prairie News: “I break down a product the same way I break down a character I’m going to play. I try to get inside the mind of that person - the user, the consumer - and figure out why they’re doing something and what they want from it. I spend a ton of time just using stuff and giving that feedback.”

A

Houghton

gives birth hantelle Houghton has given birth to her first child. The reality TV star and her fiance Alex Reid celebrated the arrival of their daughter on Sunday and both mother and daughter are “doing well”. Alex took to his twitter page to reveal the happy news, tweeting: “I’m delighted to announce the arrival of my beautiful baby daughter early this morning. Both mother and baby doing well. X” The 36-year-old cage fighter - who was previously married to Katie Price - was particularly delighted that his daughter was born on Father’s Day. He added in another tweet: “This really is the most amazing day ever for the 3 of us. Life isn’t good, it’s great. I love my girls so much. Happy ecstatic father’s day! X “ The delighted couple are yet to reveal the name of the tot or any other details about the baby, including her birth weight. Chantelle, 28, had only admitted a few weeks ago that she was “petrified” of giving birth and experiencing the pains of labour. The former ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ winner said: “I must admit, I’m petrified. I told the midwife I don’t feel mentally prepared and she said, ‘I’ve been worried about you because every time I mention the birth, you go all bleary-eyed and quiet!’ “My mum told me I was born within an hour, so I’m hoping my little girl takes after me and comes quickly!” — Bag Showbiz

C

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

lifestyle M U S I C

&

M O V I E S

‘True Blood’ creator says next season will be his last

A

lan Ball, the creative genius behind HBO’s Southern gothic vampire drama “True Blood,” has decided that next season on the show will be his

not being in control. I am a control freak, every showrunner is, but I’m happy to let go of this control.

last.

At the dawn of a new season in which a Vatican-style theocracy takes hold of Sookie’s world, Ball discusses his decision with Wrap editor Sharon Waxman, and explains how Rick Santorum inspired this season’s storyline.

Q: I’m not one of those guys who writes every single word. I empower other writer-producers on staff, they do a better job that way. I don’t want to develop a drug habit to meet the output level. But the nature of horror genre means there is a heightened, visceral, Grand Guignol kind of aspect to it.

A: The vampire idea is basically people feeding on other people. It’s a horrifying concept once you look at. But it is insane and fantastic and ridiculous. Even when we use the vampires as metaphors for the gay and lesbian community, for people of color.

Q: I’m sad. This will be your last season doing “True Blood”?

A: It’s just a question of mental and physical health.

Running a TV show is huge. There’s a reason people take a year off and stuff like that. I’m at the point where the show is very strong. All the writer-producers know what they’re doing. Everybody is operating at the executive producer level. I need a break to clear my brain. Clear the deck. Live as a human for a few months.

Q: It’s not 12 months a year A: It’s close to 10-11 months a year. By the time I’m finishing post (-production) on episode 12 it’s August. And I go to every single spotting, casting session, editing.

After five years of that, it’s self-preservation. I’m ready to move on and work on some different types of things.

Q: Do you feel the show will be able to carry on your voice once you leave?

A: I believe I’m leaving it in very good hands. I’m OK with

Q: When the show started, I remember your giving interviews talking about how “True Blood” was a kind of metaphor for the ostracizing of minorities. Has the show veered away from this?

A: Vampires are mostly crazy and vicious and amoral. I don’t say this is a metaphor for gays and lesbians and transgenders, it’s more about getting to explore the dynamic of ‘fear of the other’ in the way that isn’t really that serious because of the nature of the show. You don’t need a show saying hating gays and lesbians is wrong. “True Blood” is mostly about entertainment and escape, that’s been the joy of five years, after another show (“Six Feet Under”) that looked at mortality.

Q: Why Rick Santorum?

A: What’s terrifying is how many people agree with him.

Chris Meloni comes in, he is the guardian of the blood. Supposedly they have a vial of blood of the first vampire - like a Catholic icon. The governing body of vampires is like the Catholic church plus the Supreme Court for vampires. But it’s a very secret organization.

Q: Does Sooki fall in love this season?

A: We didn’t set out to top ourselves, but we do try not to repeat.

A: For me the jumping off point was watching the Republican primaries, watching Michelle Bachman, Rick Santorum, and asking what would it be like to have a theocracy in America - which is way more terrifying than any fictional monster could ever be. Our jumping off point was “OK, what is a vampire theocracy?” You don’t really see vampires being religious creatures. They are excluded from God. But what if there was a vampire bible? A religion? Theocracy?

How would that impact our human characters, or vampire characters? I haven’t really seen that before.

Q: How did you map out this season?

Q: What other projects do you have coming?

A: I have tons of things I want to write. I have a movie in development at Paramount - “The F Word.” Elan Mastai is the writer - I read his spec script. It’s a big commercial comedy.This movie I wrote, “What the Matter with Margie?” is currently being financed. It stars Elizabeth Banks, directed by Dan Minahan, about a woman who has a bad day and starts fighting back. Dark comedy. I wrote it 11 years ago. We should be shooting in January.

Q: So you want to go back to movies?

A: I’m a little old for the TV grind. I would like to play around in the feature world. It’s a little scary, seems like impossible to do anything these days. But I don’t want to go from being a workaholic to being another workaholic. I need to create more psychic space. — Reuters

Slava’s

SNOWSHOW enthralls at the Bahrain summer festival

MANAMA: Children and adults alike enjoyed world renowned clown Slava Polunin and his company of clowns performing their fantastic ‘Slava’s SNOWSHOW’ in Hall 1B of the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre (BIECC) over the weekend. Organized as part of the Bahrain Summer Festival activities, Slava’s SNOWSHOW is a visual masterpiece combining traditional and contemporary theatrical clowning arts within a beautifully crafted stunning spectacle that held the audience spell-bound in a joyous world of entertainment.

The show, held in Bahrain for the first time, proved very popular, attracting huge crowds of local and regional audiences. The Kingdom now joins more than 30 countries and 120 cities that have hosted this show, which won the Time Out, Olivier and Drama Desk awards for the most unique theatrical experience. Ramesh Punnen, a resident of Bahrain who attended the performance with his family, enthused, “the children didn’t stop laughing. It was really exciting, especially as the performers interacted with the audience in creative ways using instruments and colours that overwhelmed everyone, both children and adults.” Jolly Jacob also attended the show along with her family. “We had a great time and the children really enjoyed the many diverse elements of this performance. We thank the organizers of the Bahrain Summer Festival for hosting this show,” she said.

Ahmed Abdulfattah, a visitor from Saudi Arabia who brought his family to Bahrain to attend Slava’s SNOWSHOW, commented: “It’s an excellent show that really deserves to be seen. Now that we have seen the programme and enjoyed this performance, we are considering coming back to watch other shows within the festival.”

Daily shows of Slava’s SNOWSHOW are scheduled until 19th of June, 2012 and start at 7pm. Other shows planned as part of the Bahrain Summer Festival, which continues until 15 July, include the Wooden Circus by Karromato; renowned Turkish musician, Omar Faruk Tekbilek; Saudi rapper Qusai aka Don Legend the Kamelion in collaboration with DJ Outlaw and Flipperachi; a concert by the young local talent, Hala Alturk, and performances of the UK family favourite, The Sound of Music. The festival also offers a wide range of free-ofcharge cultural, educational and fun activities at Nakhool City in BIECC where visitors can enjoy electronic games; technical colouring; painting workshops; dance sessions; a professional photography camp and a puppet camp for all age groups. Nakhool City is open throughout the duration of the festival from 2pm to 7pm on a daily basis.

Tickets for the Bahrain Summer Festival are exclusively available at Virgin Megastore at Bahrain City Center or electronically through Virgin Megastore’s website virginmegastore.me. Tickets will also be sold at the venues in which the events are due to take place, if seats are still available.

Paul McCartney: Rock’s patriarch still going strong at 70 H

is ballad “Yesterday” is one of the most covered songs in history-but as he turns 70 on Monday, ex-Beatle Paul McCartney shows no signs of settling back to reflect on his extraordinary past. Fresh from wowing huge crowds at Queen Elizabeth II’s diamond jubilee concert and with another headline gig-the London Olympics opening ceremony booked for next month, retirement looks a way off for the British legend. “If I’m really enjoying this, why retire?” the most prolific, most commercially-successful former member of the Beatles told the British music magazine Mojo last year. “People say to me, ‘You work so hard’,” added McCartney. “We don’t work hard, we play music.”

Between his years with the Fab Four, his work with Wings and his solo career, McCartney has written or co-written more than 50 top 10 singles.

Macca, as he is affectionately known, released his

latest album “Kisses on the Bottom” in February, and is just finishing a world tour. And as he bounced onto the stage and belted out a string of hits in the shadow of Buckingham Palace this month, he did not look like a man with eight grandchildren. It may be the singer’s third marriage, to US heiress Nancy Shevell in October, that has put the spring back in his step after his bitter divorce from model-turned-campaigner Heather Mills in 2008. Mills walked away from the six-year marriage with a settlement worth £24.3 million (then $48 million, 30.8 million euros), and perhaps it comes as some reassurance to McCartney that his new bride has a tidy fortune of her own. The Sunday Times Rich List estimates that Shevell, 51, brings £150 million to the couple’s coffers, giving them a combined fortune of some £665 million.

This makes him Britain’s richest performer-but he insists he has never forgotten his roots. —AFP

Seger, Lightfoot among Songwriter Hall inductees

Inductee Bob Seger speaks on stage.

S

tevie Nicks prefers writing a song over meeting a handsome prince. Ne-Yo claimed songwriting saved his life. And Bob Seger said writing a song is the hardest, yet most rewarding thing that he does. Converging opinions thrived at the 43rd annual Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction ceremony in New York where Seger, along with Canadian folk rocker Gordon Lightfoot, “Gambler” songwriter Don Schlitz, and Jim Steinman of “Bat Out of Hell” fame became the latest members of the prestigious club. The writers of the long-running musical “ The Fantasticks” were also inducted. Seger opened the show with a spirited version of his 1973 classic, “Turn the Page.”

He was then inducted by Valerie Simpson who performed “We’ve Got Tonight” in his honor.

On the red carpet before the performance, Simpson said that steamy track has a very special power. “It’s one of the sexiest songs I know, it put more people in bed than I can imagine,” Simpson said. Ne-Yo was honored with the Hal David Starlight Award. It’s given to young artists who are making a significant impact with their original music. “To have a person who has written a song that I look up to or that I grew up listening to tell me that I am good at it too.

That means the world to me,” Ne-Yo said of Hal David, a frequent songwriting partner to Burt Bacharach. Then he explained how writing songs saved him. “I was a pretty riled up little kid, and if not for my mom giving me the pad and the pen and telling me to take my emotions and put them there, then there was no telling then I might I have been sticking you up or something,” Ne-Yo joked.

After being inducted by Swizz Beatz, Ne-Yo told the crowd of nearly 900 that he didn’t prepare a speech because he still didn’t believe he was standing there. While Nicks was not inducted, she did honor Bette Midler with the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award, and even performed “The Rose,’ the song made famous by Midler in the 1979 movie of the same name. “People ask what is your favorite thing to do in a night? Be in a fantastic studio with a great poem and a piano and a little tape recorder. That is my idea of a great time,” Nicks said. Lightfoot, known for such hits as “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” and “Sundown,” performed his haunting 1970 ode to his failed

marriage, “If You Could Read My Mind.” On the red carpet he explained his motivation: “My life had been a bit of a roller coaster. I think at that time I was going through the lower dip and sort of climbing up again.” Over the years, artists from Barbra Streisand to Johnny Cash covered the song.

Lifetime Achievement Award inductee Bette Midler accepts her award. — AP One of the evening’s funniest moments came from Jim Steinman, who wrote songs for Meat Loaf on his first two “Bat Out of Hell” albums.

After Loaf and Constantine Maroulis performed an abridged version of the nearly 10-minute title track, Steinman noted: “They shortened the song so much I felt like I was watching an episode of ‘Glee.’” The Songwriters Hall of Fame was created in 1969 by a group of established songwriters, including the legendary Johnny Mercer. The organization’s mission is to shine a spotlight on the accomplishments of songwriters. —AP

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

lifestyle F E A T U R E S

Cayenne and other spices flavor the potatoes and green peppers in green pepper and potato saute from Ruta Kahate’s book “Quick-Fix Indian.” — MCT photos

T

Indian food in a flash

here’s something so tantalizing about Indian food: the slow-simmered sauces, dazzling colors and aromatic spices. But the first time you cook a curry at home, chances are you’ll be making 12 trips to a specialty market before cooking all day-or so we thought, until Ruta Kahate showed us the way.

Born in Maharashtra, India, this cooking instructor, cookbook author and restaurateur leads a globetrotter’s life. Kahate came to California nearly 20 years ago with dreams of going to aviation school and becoming the first female pilot for India’s international airline. But she soon found herself on a completely different path. These days, the 43-year-old writer splits her time between the Bay Area and Goa in India, leading culinary tours, developing recipes and teaching cooking classes-and raising two young daughters with her husband. And there’s no time in her life for all-day food prep or long, luxurious dinners.

So it’s no wonder that her latest cookbook is dubbed “Quick-Fix Indian” (Andrews McMeel, $16.99, 208 pages), nor that it’s filled with shortcuts and tricks for infusing plenty of flavor in very little time. Naturally, we had questions.

Q: Tell us about Goa and what you’re doing there.

A: It’s a tiny little state on the west coast of India. It’s paradise. We live in a tiny village in the rice bowl of India, between a paddy and a river-and the beach is 20 minutes away. All in all, it’s not a bad deal! We were supposed to be back (in Berkeley) last year, but we’re trying to build a house and eventually a culinary center and we opened a restaurant. It got really busy. But we’re spending the entire summer here, a stone’s throw from our old ‘hood, Rockridge.

Q: What inspired “Quick-Fix Indian”?

A: I had been plotting a very different book, more of a travelogue, but to be perfectly honest, my agent called and said, do you want to write this? You know, this is exactly how I cook these days, this crazy life I lead. I want to do everything possible in this one lifetime, but I’m broadsided-you can’t quite do everything you did when you have little ones.

Q: The emphasis here is on shortcuts and speedy meal prep, which is certainly reflected in your chapter titles-Brisk Breakfasts, Snappy Staples, Rapid Relishes. What prompted all that amusing alliteration?

A: I was sitting on a beach, thinking hmm, I’m supposed to work. (Laughs) I was sipping rum and Coke and then, chapters!

Q: We’ll never underestimate the inspirational power of a cocktail again. Let’s talk about that

Curries in a Hurry chapter. How on earth do you get a long-simmered, ingredient-rich curry on the table in 30 minutes?

A: Curry can mean different things to different parts of India, from a saucy dish to dishes that are slow cooked. Layering of flavors generally is what takes time.

But there are shortcuts: cutting your meat into smaller pieces than you normally would, using canned chickpeas, having garlic paste, garam masala on hand-to use minimally. I don’t like to garam masala all my dishes because then they end up like an Indian buffet.

Q: The book is dedicated to your little daughters.

Confess now, any picky eaters in the bunch?

A: When my children were born, I thought, my kids are never going to eat plain white food. That will not be allowed! I had my baby chewing garlic, ginger and coconut when she was just sitting up. Good lord! What was I doing to this child? Of course, Lola went through a phase, “If it’s a carb, thank you, that’s all I need.”

Q: But she got over it?

A: I told her, “Now you’re old enough. No more tongue scraping and no more gagging and no more looking at me like I’m feeding her seaweed.” Which I also did. I have to say the struggles have completely gone.

She’s evolved and I’m very proud. Sushi, Korean food, super spicy red sauce, I look over and Mira and Lola are chomping them down.

Q: What are your family’s favorite dishes from the book?

A: The Andhra chicken curry and I love the green pepper potato saute. Green peppers are so underutilized, and a lot of grown-ups I know don’t like green pepper.

Q: That’s so wrong.

A: Utterly! Shall we do a menu? The Andhra curry, the green pepper saute, pilaf, black pepper shrimp with curry leaves-it’s one of my latest hot favorites-pickled cucumber and carrot salad.

Green pepper-potato sautÈ Serves 4 2 tablespoons canola or peanut oil teaspoon cumin seeds teaspoon turmeric 8 ounces green bell peppers, cut in 1-inch strips 8 ounces medium Yukon Gold or white potatoes, halved lengthwise and cut into 1-inch strips teaspoon cayenne teaspoon ground coriander Salt Heat oil in a large wok over high heat. When oil just

Ruta Kahate shows a dish of green pepper and potato saute from her cookbook “Quick-Fix Indian.” begins to smoke, add cumin seeds and cover. When sputtering stops, stir in the turmeric. Quickly toss in the bell peppers and potatoes. Toss well, then add the cayenne, coriander and salt. Toss again, cover and cook over medium heat until the potatoes are cooked through.

Andhra chicken curry Serves 4-6 2 pounds chicken thighs and legs, skinned Salt 1 tablespoons coriander seeds teaspoon fenugreek seeds 1 teaspoons cumin seeds 4 whole black peppercorns cup canola or peanut oil 1 teaspoons garlic paste (see recipe) 15 fresh curry leaves (available at Indian markets) 1 teaspoon turmeric teaspoon cayenne, or more to taste 2 cups brown onions (see recipe) 1 cup water cup canned coconut milk, whisked well 1. Dry chicken. Sprinkle all over with salt and set aside.

2. Place coriander, fenugreek, cumin and peppercorns in a spice grinder and pulse until finely ground.

3. Heat oil in a large wok or pan over medium-high heat. Saute garlic, curry leaves, turmeric, cayenne and ground spices, stirring constantly, until fragrant, 3 minutes.

4. Add chicken. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat for 5-7 minutes, until chicken is browned. Mix in brown onions and water; bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer, uncovered, until chicken is cooked, about 10 minutes. Slowly stir in the coconut milk and simmer 5 minutes more.

Garlic paste Makes { cup 4 ounces garlic cloves, peeled 1 tablespoon canola oil 2 tablespoons water Place garlic in a blender. With motor running, add the oil, then water. Blend to a smooth paste, scraping down the sides often. Transfer to a clean glass jar, cover and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

Brown onions Makes 2 cups 2 medium yellow onions cup canola oil 1. Halve each onion from stem to tip, then thinly slice into half-moons. Separate into individual slices.

2. In the largest skillet you own, heat the oil on high until it starts rippling.

3. Add onions and stir to coat. Spread out evenly in a thin layer. Leave skillet on high heat and wait. Do not keep stirring! Slices on the periphery will brown first; stir them into the center and spread everything in a thin layer. Repeat until all the onion slices begin to color.

4. Set heat to medium-low and let them cook, stirring only occasionally and keeping them spread out evenly.

5. When evenly browned and crisp, drain on paper towels. They will crisp further as they cool. Store in an airtight glass bottle in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.

Pickled cucumber and carrot salad Serves 4 2 medium English cucumbers, peeled 2 medium carrots, peeled 2 medium green Serrano chiles, seeded 1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, or to taste Salt teaspoon sugar 1. With a mandoline, slice cucumbers and carrots into very thin rounds. Slice chiles into thin rounds with a knife.

2. Mix all the ingredients together, using your fingers to distribute dressing evenly. Chill 10 minutes, then serve.

Black pepper shrimp with curry leaves Serves 4 6 tablespoons canola oil 20 fresh curry leaves (available at Indian markets) 1 pound large tiger shrimp, peeled and deveined teaspoon freshly ground, coarse black pepper Salt Heat the oil in a work or large skillet over high heat.

Toss in curry leaves and back away-they’ll sputter wildly and turn crisp. Add shrimp and toss. Add pepper and salt and continue tossing over high heat until the shrimp are pink and cooked through, 3-4 minutes. Serve warm. — MCT

Unexpected combinations

can lead to delicious results T

his year’s gardening season has begun to bear fruit, so to speak, with early harvests accompanied by the perennial paradox of having a green thumb: You’ve grown so many fruits and vegetables that you end up with extra. Or maybe the produce at the farmers market or supermarket was so tempting that you bought too much.

One solution for using the food before it goes bad is juicing. (That’s also a good way to use fruits and veggies that are overripe or not as pretty as the rest of your crop.) Juices and their cousins, smoothies, also can illustrate some unexpectedly successful partnerships among ingredients. Take, for example, Creamsicle Juice, where a sweet potato adds a delightful creaminess to a mixture of apple and orange juices.

Creamsicle juice

Yield: 4 servings 4 to 5 peeled, organic oranges 2 to 3 organic pears or apples 1 sweet potato 2 cups ice, optional Process through a juicer one item at a time, then mix juices. To thicken, if desired, put in a blender with about 2 cups of ice and blend

until smooth.

Per serving: 106 calories; no fat; 1g protein; 27g carbohydrate; 16g sugar; 3g fiber; 19mg sodium.

Santa Fe sunshine Yield: 1 serving 1 (1-inch) slice peeled jicama 1 pear 1 apple Cut jicama into strips. Cut pear and apple into narrow wedges. Process the jicama and the fruit in a juicer.

Per serving: 200 calories; no fat; 1g protein; 54g carbohydrate; 36g sugar; 10g fiber; 4mg sodium.

Thank you berry much smoothie Yield: 2 servings 1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice 6 strawberries, stemmed 10 blueberries 4 blackberries 4 raspberries 1 banana, peeled 1 fresh or dried date, pitted and chopped Combine all ingredients in a blender; blend at high speed until smooth.

Per serving: 135 calories; no fat; 2g protein; 33g carbohydrate; 22g sugar; 4g fiber; no sodiIf you get a bountiful harvest from your home garden, or just buy too much at a farmers’ market, turn fresh fruits and vegetables into juice before they go bad to create smoothies and cocktails. —MCT photos

cup sparkling water Crushed ice (optional) 1. Cut peach into narrow wedges; discard the pit. Process the peach in a juicer.

2. Add orange juice and the lime juice to peach juice; stir to combine. Pour sparkling water into a glass (with ice if desired), and add juice mixture.

Per serving: 95 calories; no fat; 2g protein; 23g carbohydrate; 18g sugar; 2g fiber; no sodium; 35mg calcium.

Gingered Beet and Apple Smoothie. um; 25mg calcium.

Gingered beet and apple juice Yield: 2 servings 3 apples 2 beets 1 pear lemon cup sliced ginger Apple wedges, for optional garnish 1. Rinse apples and cut into wedges. Scrub beets; discard tops if wilted (use them if they’re firm and fresh). Rinse and quarter pear. Peel lemon.

2. Push apples, beets, pear, lemon and ginger through a juicer and process until juiced.

3. Stir well; pour juice into 2 glasses. Serve immediately, garnished with additional apple wedges, if desired.

Per serving: 145 calories; no fat; 2g protein; 35g carbohydrate; 24g sugar; 5g fiber; 70mg sodium; 30mg calcium.

Variation: To prepare this recipe in a blender or food processor, core the apples and the pear, remove the seeds from the peeled lemon, peel the ginger and cut all ingredients into pieces no larger than 1 inch.

Summer cooler

Yield: 1 serving 1 peach Juice of 1 orange Juice of lime

Thank You Berry Much Smoothie.

Tools & tidbits Juicers * The juice recipes (not the smoothies) in this article were tested with a mid-range Kenmore juicer from Sears, similar to a Waring Pro blender that sells for about $70. It’s classified as a centrifugal-ejection juicer, using rapid spinning to shred the ingredients and push their juices through a fine strainer. Masticating juicers crush ingredients with gears, then push the juice through a strainer. They tend to be more expensive than centrifugal-ejection juicers.

Blenders and food processors Pureeing fruits and vegetables in a blender or food processor to make juices is called pulping. If you want fairly clear juices, strain the juices after you pulp them.

What to juice Ingredient combinations are virtually endless. Some of the best choices to add sweetness are apples, grapes, carrots and parsnips.

Ramp up the flavor Onion, garlic and herbs can add complex flavors to juice blends.

Green smoothie Yield: 2 servings 1 head romaine lettuce, stem removed cup peeled, coarsely chopped cucumber 1 to 2 cups coconut water packed cup fresh parsley Juice of 1 lime cup cashews, soaked overnight, or 2 tablespoons unsweetened cashew butter avocado, peeled Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and process until smooth, pulsing a few times before running the motor continuously. If necessary, turn off the machine and push down any unprocessed or lumpy areas, then start again to ensure proper mixing.

Per serving: 280 calories; 17g fat; 2.5g saturated fat; no cholesterol; 9g protein; 31g carbohydrate; 13g sugar; 11g fiber; 60mg sodium; 165mg calcium.

Before juicing Wash all fresh ingredients thoroughly, even those that have been sold as “prewashed.” —MCT Green Smoothie.

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

lifestyle F E A T U R E S

Japanese tattooist Horiyoshii III tattoos a flower on the back of a woman at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Tokyo.

In a file picture taken on May 22, 2012, models show their bodies covered with tattoos by Japanese tattooist Horiyoshii III at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Tokyo. — AFP photos

Japan tattooist draws line between

art and underworld F

or tattoo artist Horiyoshi III, the skin into which he sinks his ink-infused needle is a canvas for the myths and legends of Japan-where body art is indelibly linked to the criminal underworld. The mountains and waves of 18th century art, or fabulous mythical creatures are a far cry from the stylized designs so common in the West that might usually draw disapproval from parents and teachers. But the tattoo in Japan has a much worse reputation, associated with the violent gangsters of the yakuza criminal underworld-an association that ink proponents argue is unfair.

Horiyoshi-who uses the modern metal variation of a bamboo stick still favored by some traditionalists-says his biggest inspiration is Hokusai, an artist famed for woodblock prints of a tsunami against Mount Fuji. “But I am also influenced by other Japanese artists,” he said at an exhibition of

his work-with all live subjects-last month in Tokyo, citing Utagawa Kuniyoshi, known for his landscapes, mystical animals and depictions of samurai swordfights. “And of course I do not exactly reproduce their works: I have to adapt their designs to the bodies on which I work.”

Former gym teacher Asada Yoshi is covered with the master’s designs, which retell Japanese mythology on the 52-yearold’s body. “On the right leg, you see a koi (Japanese carp) jumping and on the left leg a creature-half dragon and half koi-and then on the back I designed a massive dragon,” said Horiyoshi, who like a kabuki actor, inherited his single name from his teacher. “It refers to an ancient legend in which the carp turns into a dragon after it swam against a water fall.” Horiyoshi’s German-born apprentice Alexander Reinke, who one day hopes to become Horiyoshi

IV, said he was attracted to Japanese tattoos because of their singularity.

He says, unlike those popular in the West, tattoos in Japan have their own narrative and do not borrow from other cultures. The-often badly-rendered-Chinese or Sanskrit characters that adorn bodies in London or New York would not be found in Japan, he said.

Scared of tattoos “The biggest difference is that tattoos in the West are created to underline a person’s individuality,” he says. “They want to make a statement or remember something they are a really big fan of. “But in Japan some groups get tattoos not to underline their individuality because individuality is not so important in Japan, it’s the group that is important,” Reinke added. That mentality often translates into tattoo clubs where

members meet and show off their designs, just regular people with “normal jobs” who have a passion for body art, he said.

“Usually, a group that is tattooed by the same master kind of forms a little club by themselves, like here today where everybody who is meeting has been tattooed by Mr Horiyoshi and is just having a good time.”

Yoshi concedes, however, that having a tattoo in his old job as a gym coach was “impossible.” “It’s hard to get a tattoo in Japan,” he says. “Most people have big prejudices...But my curiosity and my passion was stronger than prejudice.” Tattooed people are barred entry from scores of venues in Japan, from hot springs to fitness centers, while the mayor of Osaka recently forced city employees to fill out a survey revealing whether or not they have a tattoo. That discrimination is tied to a seem-

ingly unbreakable association with the yakuza, whose members’ distinctive tattoos denote their association to crime families, such as the Yamaguchi-gumi.

The crime clan is believed to have about 50,000 members, who have a reputation for engaging in everything from gambling, drugs and prostitution to white-collar crime and loan-sharking.”Tattoos have a bad image everywhere, but particularly in Japan they are associated with violence and yakuza, even if that is a simplistic view,” Horiyoshi says. “This image is still stuck in peoples’ minds: tattoo equals criminal, criminal equals yakuza. People are now scared of tattoos.” — AFP

Swamp, bears, snakes:

Just another canoe trip on the Roanoke

By Steve Chapman

“D

Aboriginal rock art in a cave in the Australian Outback.

Archaeologist finds oldest rock art in Australia A

n archaeologist says he found the oldest piece of rock art in Australia and one of the oldest in the world: an Aboriginal work created 28,000 years ago in an Outback cave. The dating of one of the thousands of images in the Northern Territory rock shelter known as Nawarla Gabarnmang will be published in the next edition of the Journal of Archaeological Science. University of Southern Queensland archaeologist Bryce Barker said yesterday that he found the rock in June last year but only recently had it dated at New Zealand’s University of Waikato radiocarbon laboratory.

He said the rock art was made with charcoal, so radiocarbon dating could be used to determine its age. Most rock art is made with mineral paint, so its age cannot be accurately measured. “It’s the oldest unequivocally dated rock art in Australia” and among the oldest in the world, Barker said. The oldest known rock art is in Spain, where hand stencils and red disks made by blowing paint on to the wall in El Castillo cave are at least 40,800 years old, according to scientists using a technique known as uranium-thorium dating.

Australian National University archaeologist Sally May, who is not involved with Barker’s research, described his find as “incredibly significant.” “I don’t think it will surprise anyone that rock art is that old in Australia because we know people have been here a lot longer than that and there’s no reason to believe they weren’t producing art,” she added. Barker said he found evidence that the cave where he found the rock art had been occupied for 45,000 years. — AP In this May 2012 photo provided

by Bryce Barker, a fragment of Aboriginal rock art on granite found in Australian Outback is seen on a plastic bag.

Photo provided by Bryce Barker, University of Southern Queensland archaeologist Bryce Barker investigates Aboriginal rock art in a cave in the Australian Outback.

—MCT photos

o you think you think it’s possible to sleep in a canoe?” I said to my companion. In all my years of canoeing, that question had never occurred to me before. But paddling on the Roanoke River in eastern North Carolina, with the sun dipping low in the sky, I was beginning to think my canoeing buddy and I might have to. Ford Worthy and I had set out that morning about 10, some 17 miles from our campsite. By 5 pm, though, we had yet to reach it.

On a normal canoe trip, that would be no big deal. We’d just find a sandbar or a grassy spot and pitch our tent. But Steve Chapman makes a home on a camping platform during a canoe the Roanoke runs through a swamp trip on the Roanoke River. dense with cypress trees, and on either bank, we’ve looked in vain for any hint of dry ground or open space. I had flown into Raleigh the Beyond is a 100-foot boardwalk leading to a raised previous evening, where Ford, who lives in Chapel Hill, wooden platform measuring 28 feet by 16 feet _ bigger picked me up for the drive to Williamston, two hours than some apartments I can recall. Happy to have someaway. He had in mind a restaurant he’s known since he thing solid under us, I raise the tent while Ford heats dinwas a boy-the Sunny Side Oyster Bar, a rustic spot where ner on his camping stove. This time of year it gets dark long before bedtime, and you can’t have a campfire on a you can watch your oysters being steamed.

We were met by Ford’s father, who ordered his shell- wooden deck. Surrounded by an impassable swamp, you fish well done, while his son went with rare. I decided to can’t do much else, either. So we spend the evening try both. As we ate, Ford made a disclosure: “If I had to playing gin rummy by lantern light.

The next morning we occasionally encounter speedpick a last meal, this would be it.”

Lucia Peel arrived, bearing a key to the bed and ing bass boats, on the river for a fishing tournament, and breakfast she operates. “I may be walking the dog when we pass a large pulp mill in Plymouth, a town of 4,000. you get there,” she said. Her father and Ford’s father were About 5, we find our campsite, on a stagnant creek amid fraternity brothers in the 1940s, and Ford met her a cou- a bear sanctuary. One recent camping party, Lucia had ple of years ago at this very place.We then proceeded to informed us, had unwanted company. “The bear showed Haughton Hall, a 1912 colonial house restored in 2003. up during the night and sat outside the tent huffing,” she Lucia has three handsome guest bedrooms. I got the recalled. But eventually it moved on. —MCT Nags Head room, a large, bright space with a private bath, a four-poster bed, antique furniture and an oil painting of the innkeeper. I slept soundly under her gaze.

She claimed she is not much of a cook and not a morning person, but she kept us entertained over a delicious breakfast with stories of the good-ole-boy hunters who stay here. “I call this a breakfast casserole,” she said, “because they wouldn’t eat it if I called it quiche.”

Lucia then put on her other hat: head of Roanoke River Partners, founded in 1997 to make the river a better venue for canoers and kayakers. We chose a canoe from her collection and strapped it atop her Jeep Liberty for the 15-minute drive to Roberson’s Marina, on Gardner’s Creek, a tributary of the Roanoke. The woman running the store has been known to lend paddles to canoers who forget theirs and to refuse payment. Don’t ask me how I learned this.

It’s a cool, bright October day, and Ford and I have the narrow, meandering creek mostly to ourselves. Known as “black water,” it gets its color from tannic acid, from decaying vegetation.

We see some blue herons and an egret, but not much other wildlife. This is not entirely unwelcome: In the spring, Lucia took a nature photographer on an outing in search of snakes. In the midst of mating season, they saw 55. Only about one in every six, she assured us, was poisonous.

As we paddle, Ford tells me his father has several favorite axioms. One is, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” Another, relevant today, is: “Water runs downhill.” Campers must follow a raised walkway to a privy, It’s true when the terrain has a slope, which swamps do where all waste must be carried out, during a canoe not. Lacking a current, we have to paddle. trip on the Roanoke River in North Carolina in Finally we round a bend and spy a small dock. October 2010. — MCT photos

Archaeologist finds oldest rock art in Australia

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

British menswear wraps up event with accolades

B

ritish menswear designers showcased a mixture of transparent florals and detailed paisley prints accessorized with quilted handbags and colored briefcases on the final day of London’s first standalone men’s fashion event on Sunday. The event saw a vast array of collections, presentations and special talks from leading designers such as Paul Smith, Jonathan Saunders and Christopher Kane, with talks already underway on how to develop the London Collections Men further.

“We would love to expand the London Collections. This is the first time, so obviously there will be opportunity to reflect and review,” British Fashion Council CEO Caroline Rush told Reuters. TOPMAN Design Director Gordon Richardson said the event was about finally being able to showcase the best of British men’s fashion. “I really hope it’s a success and that we can maintain this...I think we have to build it up and nurture it. We have to grow it.”

“All those young designers who are showing now are at the stage when they are reaching an international audience.

We couldn’t have done this three or four years ago,” he added. Designers J.W. Anderson and Richard Nicoll showcased collections that included transparent florals and paisley prints accessorized with quilted handbags and colored briefcases, showing a softer side to the usual sharply tailored suits.

J.W. Anderson’s showcase for London Collections Men featured teddy bear prints, sheer floral patterns and knitted ensembles. The models wearing black wigs and headscarves tied to one side carried quilted handbags and branded sketchbooks. Vivid pink and red jackets were seen alongside knitted bell bottom trousers and tops, as well as shirts and shorts with a printed paintbrush effect. A crisp palette of pale greys, white, blue and ochre with neat tailored finishes and contrasting color details were seen at Richard Nicoll’s debut menswear collection. “I thought the color was good.

Good colour, good silhouettes. It looked well made. A lot of collections in London look very worked on but not necessarily well made. This looks chic,” said style blogger Scott Schuman, of The Sartorialist.

Growing fashion sector Leather jackets in teal and aqua with contrasting details also featured alongside rich paisley prints, with models carrying coloured briefcases and duffel bags. The day finished with an exclusive party at Burberry’s flagship store in Knightsbridge, which was attended by Elton John, model Edie Campbell as well as musician Miles Kane who performed at the event.

Creative Director Christopher Bailey said he wanted to make sure the brand was involved in the event in some way, to celebrate the success of menswear in the capital. “We wanted to celebrate the London Collections, we wanted to celebrate menswear, we’ve got our show in Milan but we wanted to make sure we were a part of it,” he told Reuters.

Menswear is the fastest growing fashion sector and the three-day London show has seen a mixture of haute couture and high-street designers showcasing the best of British menswear featuring fashion luminaries such as Tom Ford and Paul Smith. —Reuters

‘Like Father, Like Son’ concept by Vilebrequin

V

ilebrequin, the trend-setting French men’s beachwear company, is today recognized worldwide as the leading name for men’s and boy’s swimwear, beach accessories, and ready-to-wear garments. The brand uniqueness today originates from its rich palette of colors and vibrant prints, as well as from its distinctive high quality and unusual fabrics.

In 1995, the company expanded its product range with a fabulous collection of shirts, pants, shorts and accessories (sun glasses, beach towels and caps), and launched the new “Like Father, Like Son“ marketing concept by creating miniature versions of adults swimsuits for children ages 2-14 available in a large selection of prints.

Today, the popular “Like Father, Like Son“ concept propels a line of matching swimsuits for both adults and children, consisting of over 200 prints in 16 different styles available in many different sizes. Each collection is built around a number of themes which are refreshed every year, the dominant ones being flora, fauna and fruit.

By introducing this new concept into the market, the brand aims at strengthening family ties and advocates the values of beauty and refinement, passing them down from one generation to another. Vilebrequin truly believes that the father and son bond should be treasured since it is reflective of the love they share for each other.

Comfortable, practical and versatile to meet the needs of both father and son, Vilebrequin’s exclusive concept is characterized by its outstanding prints and carefully designed cuts.

The “ Like Father, Like Son “ concept is especially dedicated to all fashion and beach lovers of all age groups who are looking forward to a sizzling and colorful summer.

The creative collections of this legendary swimwear manufacturer are now available in all the major capitals of the world including Kuwait where they have proven to be a true success.

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