24 May 2013

Battle of the bulge gets ‘bloody’

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Heat scorch Pacers in OT

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‘Hijabers’ buy into Islamic economy

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Red-handed rage See Page 10

Local FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

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Local FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

Local Spotlight

Conspiracy Theories

Lost on the way

Oklahoma: Tears in black

By Muna Al-Fuzai

By Badrya Darwish muna@kuwaittimes.net

badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net

L

ately, many people have approached me or sent me emails to complain about mysteriously missing items in parcels sent from abroad. A colleague of mine had ordered a DVD for his daughter.

She had won an online competition and the organizers had sent her a football game. To her disappointment, she received the parcel with nothing inside but the cover of the game. They pursued the matter with the customs. The man in charge informed them that another company was hired to handle the parcel’s delivery.

Another colleague of mine shared a similar story. An eBay order, made six months ago, never showed up in Kuwait. It looks like the Kuwait Times team is unlucky with parcels. A third colleague had ordered a box of books, which, by the way, were not banned in Kuwait - but she never received them. The books could not have been confiscated. A fourth victim had a similar story to tell about a parcel she received from Germany. Her son sent her some clothes and a pair of glasses for her birthday. To her amazement, the clothes were inside the box when it arrived in an open condition, but the glasses were missing. Nobody could tell her what had happened. Nobody took responsi-

bility. The woman went around the post office branches and nobody would give her an explanation or help her with claiming the loss. Most of them discouraged her, telling her to give up as she would never receive it.

Who is accountable for such missing parcels? Why is the post office hiring a separate company to deliver parcels? If the customs takes responsibility for such things, there will be more security. With a private company, the safety level is not the same.

The customs officials have been around for many years. They are experienced. The customs are supposed to open the parcels in front of the receivers. Even if the customs department needs someone to help it out, why does it not have full control over the hired company and ensure that people receive their parcels untouched.

This is unacceptable. This sounds ridiculous to me. I expect somebody to answer me - from customs or from the post office. I am not sure who to turn to for an inquiry about this issue. At the end of the day, this is petty crime. So is the police going to help my colleague find the missing DVD? I know they are too busy tracking illegal residents in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh, but snatching parcels is an illegal matter too.

In my view

It’s my children

By Labeed Abdal

labeed@kuwaittimes.net

T

he life of Kuwaiti women who have to constantly worry about their husbands, sons and daughters facing the risk of deportation for not having permanent residency visas (iqamas) can be likened to a horror movie. There is no need for Kuwaiti wives of a foreigner to suffer from this dilemma. Sadly, they might see nightmares about their husbands and children being taken away from them.

Equality before the law, according to our constitution in Kuwait, means any Kuwaiti married to a foreign spouse should have the right to request for Kuwaiti nationality for a child resulting from the marriage.

According to Article 29 of the constitution of Kuwait, equality and human dignity should be guaranteed regardless of race, origin, gender, language or religion.

Furthermore, in many nationality laws worldwide, a foreigner can be granted the nationality of a country automatically after

getting married to a national of that country. I am totally convinced and I am with the MPs who are proposing amendments to the local citizenship law in connection with Kuwaiti women married to nonKuwaiti men.

The MPs’ proposal calls for granting children resulting from such marriages citizenship after they reach the age of 21, which would allow them to live in the country irrespective of their fathers’ nationalities. The strength of a nation is directly reflected in the way it provides safe and fair solutions in such situations, preventing any unnecessary setback for a national and his or her foreign spouse who should be always treated well for the sake of the institution of family. A lot of global examples can be followed, and there is no need for any type of man-made confusion or for spreading feelings of animosity or partiality.

I

t is always sad to read news of a disaster striking some place, because nothing good comes out of it. It only shows that nature has the upper hand and we can only remain silent about it. A powerful tornado hit Oklahoma City on Monday, tearing down blocks of homes, two schools and leaving people either dead or with a lot of injuries. US President Barack Obama declared a “major disaster” in Oklahoma. It is sad seeing the number of dead and injured people there. It is all tears in black, because everyone either lost someone dear to them or witnessed horrific pain.

In such cases, some would assume, everyone will be aware and know what to do or where to go - but that is not always the case. CNN reported that at least 145 people had been hospitalized, while other reporters saw children being pulled out of the elementary school in Moore, a residential community situated south of Oklahoma’s state capital. I was also sad to know that many kids lost their lives in the tornado. It must be shocking for their parents and friends. Man is weak in front

of Mother Nature. In the beginning, as is usual in such incidents, people were not aware of the number of casualties. The government is already offering aid to the tornado victims. Although some of the recently seen horrible images can be forgotten after the destroyed houses are rebuilt and new facilities are developed, some things that cannot be forgotten easily, such as the loss of a family member or a dear friend.

All the advanced technology we have seems weak in front of the destruction caused by these tornados. Here in our country, we do not know about the difficulties that such disasters can bring about. It is a blessing that we do not have earthquakes or tornados. Both these natural disasters can cause absolute horror and leave behind nothing but tears in black. I offer my sincere condolences to all Americans for the losses and pains they have witnessed because of this tornado, and I wish them well. I need them to know that we share their sorrow and we pray for their loved ones.

Local FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

Clive Miranda and Mohamed Amine Belarbi are seen at the expo.

By Ben Garcia

T

ouched by the ongoing refugee crisis in Syria, student Clive Miranda won the prestigious Clinton Global Initiative University (CGIU) Fellowship award. Miranda, 21, a student of Fahaheel English School, was named among the 30 recipients of the Social Venture Challenge for university students around the world and shared the cash prize of US$100,000 to start the project. Originally from India, Miranda’s parents work in private companies in Kuwait. Together with his Moroccan partner, Mohamed Amine Belarbi, Miranda presented a project called ‘Social Enterprise Response for Refugee Crisis Housing’ (SERRCH), which is aimed at addressing the scarcity of housing units for the Syrian refugees camped along the borders of Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey.

The winners were announced by Chelsea Clinton at the Washington University in St Louis in January.

Students were asked to present projects addressing some of the most pressing problems in the world today and also to implement projects of social impact by turning ideas into realities. The fellowship Miranda won was awarded during a conference called the “Clinton Global Initiative University”, which was hosted by former US President Bill Clinton last month.

Speaking from New York University, where he is currently studying under the CGIU Fellowship program, Miranda revealed his project received $9,000 (about KD 2,600), from a total of $100,000 (KD 28,650) that was to be shared among 30 winners. “With the rising numbers of displaced people around the world, and especially in light of the recent Syrian conflict which has left hundreds of thousands of refugees scattered throughout the Middle East, it became a moral imperative to do something that will change, or at least alleviate, the distress and misery of the Syrian people. Therefore, we made it our project to help the people of Syria, especial-

ly those living in the refugee camps,” he said.

The objective of the project is to tackle the housing crisis by taking a leading role in providing cheap, prefabricated housing units to refugee populations. The housing units will be of better quality than the current ineffective accommodations in place and they will protect refugees from the burden of rents and other unnecessary costs. “A micro-financing system will be put into place to ensure that refugees, once given this housing alternative, will pay back the providing organization in several small instalments over a period of two to three years, the money from which will be used for the distribution of even more housing units as well as amelioration of other problems such as sanitation concerns and education prospects for the youth,” Miranda stated.

Asked about where refugees could get some money to finance the prefabricated housing units, he pointed out that not all refugees are broke; some of them are being integrated into the local community and were assisted by their host countries in making a living for their families, allowing them to buy food, clothing and even better housing. “Plus, there are joint efforts being made with some non-governmental organizations to develop a financing program to ensure that these instalments are paid back in a timely fashion,” he added. “Our theory of change is to harness the power of social entrepreneurship, microfinance and humanitarian relief work in order to provide a suitable environment of growth for the refugee population,” Miranda said.

“We believe that the refugees should not be seen as a hopeless social strata, but as a powerful consumer market niche that should be provisioned accordingly.

The human capital, regardless of the harsh conditions it is put in, will still be a valuable asset that can generate input and profit,” their project proposal was quoted as saying. SERRCH is a new approach to crisis-solving and humanitarian relief work.

Miranda and Belarbi at the awards ceremony.

Local FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

Kuwait’s my business

Good for Kuwait

By John P Hayes

local@kuwaittimes.net

“M

ister, this not America!” my landlady told me a couple of years ago when I complained that a service provider hadn’t shown up at my flat as promised.

Since then, whenever something unusual occurs in Kuwait which is at least every week - I remember my landlady’s words and I sometimes say, “Good for Kuwait!” America doesn’t always get it right (it’s a challenge finding dependable service providers in the USA, too) and I appreciate it when Kuwait does. Or, in this case, almost does. I’m now talking about deporting traffic offenders.

You get what you reward Several months ago I wrote a column headlined: “Kuwait gets what Kuwait rewards,” and I reminded readers of an old management principle that says when we reward people for the behaviors we want most, we get more of those behaviors. However, a reward isn’t always something tangible. It can also be permission, and in cases where we give our permission for the wrong behavior we get more of what we don’t want. For example, bad driving gets rewarded when people get away with it, or when the penalty is insignificant. And nowhere in the world is driving more dangerous than in Kuwait, according to Kuwait’s Traffic Safety Society. It’s that way because Kuwait has rewarded bad drivers. Well, not any more. And I say, good for Kuwait!

I do not agree that it’s “oppressive,” as a human rights group claimed this week, to deport expats for serious traffic offenses.

The group said deportation violates the basic principles of human rights. But who gave people the right to drive recklessly or to disobey laws? Deportation may be “extreme,” but given the circumstances Kuwait may have to live with that label for a while.

Or would you rather continue living with the other extreme: 206 accidents per day, 1.3 deaths per day, and the world’s worst driving record? Reckless drivers cause accidents and that is oppressive to the rest of us. Fear of traveling on Kuwait’s highways because of reckless drivers violates our human rights. Imagine the heart-aching grief that strikes a parent who loses a child in an auto accident. It occurs daily in Kuwait. That kind of grief is oppressive - and it doesn’t go away.

Is the world really watching?

As to the notion that the world is watching Kuwait and these acts of deportation might tarnish the state’s human rights image abroad (so said the same human rights group) - can anyone make that claim with a straight face? Is there any evidence that the deportees are targeted? Are they all from the same nationality? Until they are, people abroad have bigger issues to worry about. And if they truly care about human rights violations in Kuwait, where have they been? Our daily newspapers report real human rights violations every day. It’s ludicrous to think that suddenly the world will turn on Kuwait because the state is giving the boot to bad drivers!

Here’s the real issue The issue here isn’t about deporting people - the issue is about saving lives and improving the state’s driving record. For those noble reasons I would expect more world watchers to say, “Good for Kuwait!” Many of us remain attracted to Kuwait because in certain instances the law is the law and people know not to mess with it. My friends at home, who cherish freedom of speech, think I’m exaggerating when I explain that anyone who insults the Amir will likely go to jail, and that the consequences are worse for blaspheming the Prophet (PBUH). Those and similar restrictions will never exist in America. But many of us appreciate a society that understands the value of certain restrictions as much as it understands the value of certain freedoms. Sensible restrictions create an environment where respect for people remains an honorable concept.

Where Kuwait’s got it wrong But now here’s the problem, and where Kuwait’s got it wrong. Another old management principle that must not be violated tells us to lead by example. It’s fine with me to deport blatant traffic violators, but that only solves the problem if all the blatant traffic violators are punished. Unless someone can prove that Kuwaitis never cause traffic accidents, and never cause highway injuries or fatalities, then there must be serious consequences for Kuwaitis when they violate the traffic laws. Imagine what the world will say when Kuwait announces that its citizens will be severely punished for traffic violations. I expect we’ll hear more of this: “Good for Kuwait!”

Dr John P Hayes heads the marketing and management department at GUST. He feels fortunate to have found a driver who obeys the traffic laws. Contact Dr. Hayes at questions@hayesworldwide.com, or via Twitter @drjohnhayes.

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Local FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

Battle of the bulge gets ‘bloody’ Can blood tests help you lose weight?

By Nawara Fattahova

G

ood nutrition and a healthy lifestyle continue to attract a growing number of followers in Kuwait.

First it was the rice diet, followed by the no-carb diet, and then an all-day chocolate diet. Today, a new craze has taken Kuwait’s kitchens by a storm: the food print diet.

It is a diet that depends on a patient’s blood type.

According to a Kuwait resident, identifying things she was less tolerant to helped her shed three extra pounds off her waist. “Based on my blood tests, I was no longer recommended to eat salt, yoghurt, bread and tomato. Just six months after removing these from my food platter, I managed to lose six kilograms without any effort. I am pretty sure this diet method worked for me,” said a woman in her mid-30s.

For another resident in Kuwait, however, the blood type diet was far from helpful. On the contrary, Rose, 34, who had to shrink her food options by pruning out some 20 food items, said that finding food to replace her staple diet caused her stress and led to weight gain. Rose, who took the test four months ago, had to cut down on bread, milk, eggs, fish, berries and ten other items which were earlier essential for her diet. “I felt so stressed to go through the labels on foods in the store. I could never find anything that could replace the foods I was intolerant to,” Rose said.

A locally-based nutritionist agrees with Rose. According to Farah El-Rifai from the Diet Care, said one of the reasons why a food print diet can be dangerous is psychological.

“Having to go through all the labels and obsessing about the presence of the allergen and not being able to eat “normally” along with others can take a toll on your lifestyle as a whole. In fact, always being on the lookout for substitutes puts a great strain on the psyche and affects an individual’s emotional and mental well being,” El-Rifai said.

Faten Gharzeddine, Head of Dietitians at Diet Center Kuwait noted that the blood type diet was not proved scientifically. “In general, no solid study to support the blood type diet was done. We don’t have any scientifically supported evidence that this diet really works. Even the author of the book didn’t write references. This diet is not approved worldwide,” she said. The Diet Center is not recommending such a diet as part of its programs. “We would rather offer a nutritionally-balanced diet. We highly recommend increasing physical activity at least three times per week, for a minimum of 30 minutes each, and this healthy program will definitely make a difference,” added Gharzeddine.

According to some nutritionists, a blood type diet may be even dangerous. “For instance, in the O type diet, one has to systematically eat red meat and avoid whole wheat.

Those who follow this diet put restrictions without considering other aspects such as in case of people suffering from high cholesterol. Also, red meat does not suit them.

This diet ends up restricting most foods and I see that there is lack of a scientific approach and no proof of its efficacy,” Al-Rifai explained. “A balanced diet is the best option because it incorporates carbohydrates, wholewheat grains, lean protein, and good fats. Also, we should never forget fruits and vegetables in addition to drinking a lot of water. Anyone can follow this diet and ensure that intake amount of food remains proper,” she added.

Due to the contradictory feedback on the issue, nutritionist Gharzeddine advises those who want to start a special diet to first check with a nutritionist because if one approach helps one person, it might harm another. El-Rifai explained the way the food printing works. Food printing is the new trend in nutrition, whereby food intolerances are studied from the view of enzyme deficiency chemical sensitivity or lGg antibodies (immune response markers that cause an inflammation with allergies). The test is carried out on a blood sample collected from a finger-prick.

The test is designed to tell if you have a food allergy or not.

Food printing relates these symptoms to food allergies -

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Local FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

anxiety (acute or chronic), attention deficit disorder, constipation, diarrhea, headaches, insomnia, migraine, water retention, arthritis, fibromyalgia, asthma, bloating, chronic fatigue syndrome depression, gastritis, inflammatory bowel disease, itchy skin, weight control problems, hyperactivity disorder and irritable bowel syndrome.

Food printing, therefore, relates to anyone who might experience these symptoms at any point.

They claim that symptoms can show up within a few hours to a few days after ingesting the allergen. When the allergies are tested and approved and yes, almost everyone will get food allergies in the print test - you go through the process of elimination. Therefore, if you are lactose intolerant for example, you will have to eliminate all lactose sources from your food - milk, cheese, cream and cream-based desserts. That means that weight loss is then inevitable!

“Most patients that follow the food print test lose weight because they are either eliminating a big chunk of their regular food intake, or they are on a calorie controlled diet,” stressed El-Rifai. She explained why food printing may even be dangerous, and explains the reasons. “First, it may lead to lack of nutrition. When you eliminate essential parts of the food guide pyramid, you are missing out on essential vitamins and minerals. If you are lactose intolerant for example, eliminating all sources of dairy puts you at risk of calcium deficiency. Calcium supplements will not give you the same benefits. So unless you substitute this with other foods and in this case, more expensive soy products, you are a definite candidate for osteoporosis,” she stated.

“If there aren’t apparent health issues related with the item, why stop it? For example, unless you have celiac disease, why would you go gluten free?” she wondered. “The symptoms described as caused by food allergies can be experienced by any individual at any point in his/her life. It doesn’t necessarily mean he has food intolerances,” said El-Rifai. Lastly, it is the psychological aspect of food printing already mentioned above.

“To sum it up, we don’t need to be removing items from our daily food platter to become healthier or to lose weight. The more color you have on your plate, the more vitamins, minerals and antioxidants you are getting. The more the quantity is controlled, the healthier and leaner you are. Healthy nutrition is all about moderation and variety and by that we mean, good variety,” El-Rifai concluded.

Today, a new craze has taken Kuwait’s kitchens by a storm: the food print diet.

It is a diet that depends on a patient’s blood type

Midwife seeks to empower mothers

By Nawara Fattahova

M

ost women in Kuwait are afraid of giving birth and prefer to chose other ways than the natural one to avoid pain. They also don’t have the correct information about this process from their mothers, as their mothers also delivered in hospitals and forgot to take the help of midwives as in the old times. Ayeshah Al-Mumaidhi, a Kuwaiti doula, seeks to help women to recognize birth as a key experience the mother will remember all her life. “The word “doula” comes from the ancient Greek meaning “a woman who serves” and is now used to refer to a trained and experienced professional who provides continuous physical, emotional and informational support to the mother before, during and just after birth; or who provides emotional and practical support during the postpartum period,” she told Kuwait Times.

“We forgot the mother and what she wants, everybody is focusing on the baby and forget the mother. I’m

here for the mother. We believe that a child’s birth is a natural, healthy process and the woman is not sick when having a baby. I help educate the woman about their baby, pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding. I aim to make them take good decisions for themselves, rather than let others take the decision for them as they don’t have enough experience,” added Mumaidhi.

“There is a reason that childbirth has become medicated. In our community we were told that we are not strong enough, but it’s not true. We are strong and are designed to deliver babies in a happy setting. As doulas, we help the mother with the birth she chooses. We help her choose the birth method not from fear of pain but what’s best for her and her baby. The doula provides emotional support, physical comfort measures and an objective viewpoint, as well as helping the woman get the information she needs to make informed decisions,” she pointed out.

The doula has nonmedical procedures to deal with pain. “We know how

to help the women in labor. Our mothers were in hospitals too, so they don’t know how to help their daughters as there is a gap - they have forgotten the procedure of natural birth with the help of the midwife,” stressed Mumaidhi. “Some may say ‘I know the risk and I want an epidural’. The power is in the woman’s hand; she can answer when she understands and can reply to the doctor. They can have a positive experience of birth as they are not afraid. They believe in themselves as mothers, and we empower the mother.

It makes the experience much more positive if she is not on drugs while giving birth,” she noted.

Mumaidhi sees that very few women breastfeed in Kuwait. “Breastfeeding is extremely important for the health of the baby and the mother. It decreases the risk of cancer for both of them. We are created to drink mother’s milk and not cow’s milk. Her milk was designed perfectly for the baby, rather than formula (powder milk). They don’t know how the body produces milk, and fail in feeding as they think they have no milk.

If the women understands that it’s a gift of God, she will believe in her body and trust it. Then she will be much better in breastfeeding,” she explained. “We aim to have more natural births and more happy mothers who feel positive of their birth experience. They are afraid of giving birth as nobody is educating them, and they don’t trust their bodies. And this is why we are here, as studies have shown that when doulas attend birth, labors are shorter with fewer complications, babies are healthier and they breastfeed more easily,” she stated.

Interested mothers can contact her to use her service. “I remain with the mother through labor and birth, and visit her how many times she needs for breastfeeding support. I’m able to come within two hours. I offer different packages depending on what the mother wants. Our service is currently limited to private hospitals, but maybe in the future we will be able to also attend in public hospitals,” she concluded. Mumaidhi is a birth doula certified

by DONA International.

p8_p1 5/23/2013 9:18 PM Page 1

Local FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

Parliament delegation holds talks in Helsinki

KUWAIT: His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah chairs a meeting of the Supreme Petroleum Council at Al-Seif Palace yesterday. — KUNA

Gulf tobacco tax rise could fuel illicit trade Experts warn tariffs won’t deter smokers DUBAI: A draft resolution on raising tobacco taxes in the GCC aimed at curbing the increase of smokers could be futile in the six oil-rich states, while the decision could lead to the emergence of illegal trade, experts warned. “I don’t think tax would be the solution to problem,” Head of the AntiForgery section of the Economic Crime Department of Dubai Police Maj Khalid AlHassan said in a report carried by Emirati news agency (WAM) based a round table discussion on the issue held here. Also attending the round table discussion were Chairman of the British Business Group Dubai and the Northern Emirates and Managing Partner of Davidson and Co Jonathan Davidson; Omar Obeidat, Partner and Head of Intellectual Property at Dubai law firm Al Tamimi and Co; and DrBruce Budd, Associate Professor, College of Business, Al Faisal University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Hassan explained that cigarette prices could not be a problem for smokers who reside in the high-income GCC states. “The UAE is a country where the majority of the population has a high income so they don’t care about a price increase,” Hassan said.

“The price of cigarettes is not expensive when compared with other areas of the world. A price increase may affect some nationalities with a low income but, for UAE locals and expatriates, they don’t care.”

The experts said a sharp rise in cigarette prices did not have any effect in six countries including Japan, Singapore and Canada. They warned that a growth in illicit trade, beyond the control of police and customs authorities, as an inevitable consequence of a sharp overnight rise in the cost of cigarettes. “You have to consider that a price increase will invite people to trade in counterfeiting,” said Obeidat. “If you add on top of that the issue of smuggling, which is a by-product sometimes of tax increases, you’re going to have a double impact of counterfeiting increases plus smuggling increases.” Illicit trade creates uncontrolled and unaccountable markets, resulting in children being able to obtain tobacco more easily, and the livelihoods of tobacco retailers being threatened.

The experts underscored that the GCC authorities should mull other measures to downsize the number of smokers such as launching awareness campaigns to warn

people - especially the young - against the risks of smoking and reinforcing tobacco control by putting in place more barriers to smoking in public places to affect the habits of smokers. Hassan called for a phased increase on tobacco duty over five years, as was the case with the 1995 GCC decision. A gradual approach would give customs more time to put in place technology to help disrupt the flow of illicit cigarettes and provide valuable data to analyze smuggling trends, he said.

According to the UAE English daily The National, GCC finance ministers discussed last October in their meeting in Riyadh on increasing tobacco taxes after calls by healthcare professionals in the GCC and WHO. But no decision was reached. The daily noted that the GCC first increased its tariff on tobacco imports in 1995 by 100 percent. In the same year, the council voted to reduce nicotine content in tobacco products, and banned production of them in any GCC state. In 2001, health ministers asked the council to increase the tariff by another 150 percent. The request was rejected and the council agreed to focus on other measures to combat smoking. — KUNA

MOSCOW: A delegation of the Kuwaiti-Finnish Parliamentary Friendship Committee headed by MP Yousef Al-Zalzalah met in Helsinki with senior government officials and parliamentarians over regional issues, developments in the Syrian crisis and Iran’s nuclear program. Zalzalah told KUNA over the phone that the Kuwaiti parliamentarians presented their perceptions to their Finnish counterparts on the latest developments in the region.

He pointed out to the consensus of parliamentarians from both sides on the need to urge the governments of Kuwait and Finland to open embassies in the two countries to give a boost to bilateral relations in various fields. He said that the Finnish side expressed desire to dispatch heads of major Finnish companies to visit Kuwait to work on promoting trade and economic exchanges between the two countries and raise them to the level of political ties.

The MP added that the Kuwaiti parliamentary delegation also held fruitful and important talks with the ministers of health and social affairs in the Finnish government and discussed prospects of cooperation in these two fields. He pointed out that the meeting was an opportunity for the Kuwaiti delegation to become acquainted with Finland’s rich experience in the field of anti-corruption, which ranks first in the field worldwide. — KUNA

KNPC stresses human resources a priority KUWAIT: Managing Director of the Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) Mohammed Ghazi AlMutairi said yesterday that the company has four priorities which it will be working on during the next phase, chiefly the development of the human element. Mutairi told reporters yesterday during a meeting with wellwishers over assuming his new post that priorities also include paying more attention to health, safety and the environment as well as the development of the company’s performance, increasing revenue, achieving better indicators and finally focusing on major projects according to clear-cut plans.

He expressed his thanks to the Minister of Oil and CEO of KNPC for this nomination, expressing optimism in achieving further development at the level of the KNPC and all subsidiary companies through teamwork and according to a specific strategy. He said that “this precious trust requires us to work for the development and modernization of the company’s performance over the long term”, noting that the new leadership team has been shouldered this big task by the government and the political leadership as the oil sector is the backbone of development and the main source of income in the state. — KUNA

This May 21, 2013 US Navy handout photo shows the Kuwaiti navy Um Al Maradim-class missile attack ship Al Fahaheel (P3721) participating in an exercise with Combined Task Force 523 during the International Mine Countermeasures Exercise (IMCMEX) 2013 being conducted in the US 5th Fleet Area of Responsibility. IMCMEX 13 is the largest exercise of its kind in the region and will exercise a wide spectrum of defensive operations designed to protect international commerce and trade; mine countermeasures, maritime security operations (MSO) and maritime infrastructure protection — AFP

Local FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

Job-seekers advised to choose private sector Official warns of job saturation in public sector SHARJAH: Job seekers with tendency for innovation and creativity should try to be employed in the private sector, advised a visiting member of the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Those who desire to be creative, distinctive and able to acquire experience should seek to work in the private sector for it is a field where employees can develop and acquire skills. Moreover, it is not a safe job intended solely for payment, said Khaled Al-Khaled during a session of the third forum for officials of human resources and labor of the GCC states.

On hurdles facing efforts to encourage Kuwaiti citizens to work in the private sector, Khaled indicated at high salaries generally paid in the public sector compared to modest pay in private companies. The Chamber of Commerce is seeking to encourage employment in the private sector because it constitutes the basis of the economy, he added. In 10 years, the public sector in the Gulf states, namely Kuwait, will not be able to absorb new workers, thus many job seekers would be compelled to shift to the private sector, Khaled foresaw.

Kuwaiti Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Thekra AlRashidi is taking part in the forum which started on Tuesday under the patronage of the Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Sharjah Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al-Qasimi, ministers and officials of labor ministries in the six GCC states. She

Member of the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry Khaled Al-Khaled. — KUNA affirmed during yesterday’s session that Gulf countries have challenges represented in the large number of expatriate labor as well as reluctance of many citizens to work in the private sector. — KUNA

Gulf ministers approve Kuwait declaration on chronic diseases

KUWAIT: Three restaurants and a kitchen were shut down and 20 citations were handed out as a result of a field campaign carried out by Ahmadi Municipality emergency team to check shops and food related businesses in Fahaheel and Mahboula. The head of the team, Mishal Aba Al-Safi, said the restaurants were ordered closed because of their failure to comply with general hygiene norms, in addition to the fact that they were using certain areas for which they were not licensed. Some were operating before even the license could be issued. — By Hanan Al-Saadoun

GENEVA: Ministers of health of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have approved the Kuwaiti declaration on fighting non-contagious chronic diseases, visiting Kuwaiti Minister of Health Mohammad Barrak Al-Haifi announced yesterday. He added in remarks to KUNA on sidelines of the periodic meeting of GCC health ministers, held as part of the annual conference of World Health Organization (WHO), that this declaration was endorsed to avoid severe negative consequences from such diseases on people in the Gulf region.

The Kuwaiti Ministry of Health is always ready to offer advices to patients suffering from chronic diseases like obesity, heart diseases, blood diseases, or even smoking via various means such as a hotline (151) or even on social networks, namely Twitter. The Kuwaiti dec-

laration comes in accordance with the international work plan and global reference of fighting non-contagious chronic diseases and its related risk factors, besides spreading awareness through media.

GCC countries health ministers’ adopted Dasman Diabetes Institute, affiliated to Kuwait Institute for Advancement of Sciences (KFAS), as one of the referential centers in dealing with non-contagious diseases, being a comprehensive institution for researches and treatment in its field of specialty.

The GCC countries are following joint approaches in enhancing effort to fight smoking and work hard to spread awareness of its negative consequences, Haifi affirmed. This would include tightening sanctions on smokers in closed areas to protect safety and health of

non-smokers and encourage smokers to quit this bad habit, he added.

The GCC countries health ministers also approved during their meeting a work plan for exchanging information between GCC countries regarding health condition of foreign workers to register any case of physical impairment in any of the Gulf states. Moreover, they discussed efforts exerted in keeping the Gulf region free from malaria, as well as supporting Yemen’s efforts in fighting this disease. Al-Haifi announced on Monday in Geneva that Kuwait had been elected Chairman of the Arab Health Ministers Council’s Executive Office. Kuwait will exert all possible efforts in dealing with vital health issues concerning the Arab citizen, namely non-contagious chronic diseases, he had added. — KUNA

Ban on endangered animals expanded KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR) expanded its ban on the import and possession of endangered wild animals to include carnivores, poisonous reptiles and monkeys of all kinds. The measures are in line with numerous international treaties on the protection of endangered species, including the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) and of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The ban is part of new regulations which include subjecting imports of other non-banned wild animals for personal or commercial purposes to safety, health and environmental requirements of the Department of Animal Health and the Zoo Administration, the PAAAFR explained in a statement. A suitable place should be prepared for the animal before the importation to ensure it will not escape or cause any danger to the environment, it stated. The new regulations also specifically allow the importation or ownership of wild animals only for scientific research bodies, licensed zoos or circuses. But, before doing so, these bodies must be subject to PAAAFR and quarantine authority approvals, the statement added. — KUNA

GENEVA: Kuwaiti Minister of Health Mohammad Barrak Al-Haifi (left) attends a meeting of ministers of health of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries yesterday. — KUNA

FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

Thousands mourn literary giant Achebe at funeral

Refugees and migrants face rising dangers

13

11

With Hezbollah coffins, Syria exporting conflict

15

LONDON: This video grab image shows the body of a man believed to be a serving British soldier lying in the road following the attack in Woolwich. (Inset) An image shows one of the men involved in the attack and murder of a serving British soldier. — AFP

Woolwich knifeman identified New convert to radical Islam; ‘British soldier’ butchered LONDON: Two British men of Nigerian descent accused of hacking a soldier to death on a London street in revenge for wars in Muslim countries were known to security services, a source close to the investigation said yesterday. One man, filmed calmly justifying the killing as he stood by the body holding a knife and meat cleaver in bloodied hands, was named by acquaintances as 28year-old Londoner Michael Adebolajo - a British-born convert to radical Islam.

So frenzied was the attack, some witnesses thought they tried to behead the victim. The attack, just a month after the Boston Marathon bombing and the first Islamist killing in Britain since local suicide bombers killed 52 people in London in 2005, revived fears of “lone wolves” who may have had no direct contact with al Qaeda.

British media said police raided homes of relatives in the city and near the town of Lincoln. Adebolajo and the other man, who may have been born abroad and later naturalized as British, are both in custody in hospitals after being shot by police. Prime Minister David Cameron held an emergency meeting of his intelligence chiefs to assess the response to what he called a “terrorist” attack; it was the first deadly strike in mainland Britain since local Islamists killed dozens in London in 2005.

“We will never give in to terror or terrorism in any of its forms,” Cameron said outside his Downing Street office. “This was not just an attack on Britain and on the British way of life, it was also a betrayal of Islam and of the Muslim communities who give so much to our country. There is nothing in Islam that justifies this truly dreadful act.” He said there would be a review of how intelligence had been handled - Adebolajo had been known to authorities for handing out radical Islamist pamphlets in Woolwich.

One source close to the inquiry said the local backgrounds of

the suspects in a multicultural metropolis - nearly 40 percent of Londoners were born abroad - and the simplicity of the attack made prevention difficult: “Apart from being horribly barbaric, this was relatively straightforward to carry out,” the source said.

“This was quite low-tech and that is frankly pretty challenging.”

Anjem Choudary, one of Britain’s most recognized Islamist clerics, told Reuters Adebolajo, was known to fellow Muslims as Mujahid - a name meaning “warrior”: “He used to attend a few demonstrations and activities that we used to have in the past.”

He added that he had not seen him for about two years: “When I knew him he was very pleasant man,” Choudary said. “He was peaceful, unassuming and I don’t think there’s any reason to think he would do anything violent.” A man called Paul Leech said on Twitter he had been at school in the east London suburb of Romford with the man seen claiming the attack: “Michael Adebolajo u make me sick,” he wrote. “How could someone who was a laugh and nice bloke at school turn out like that. I’m ashamed to have known u.”

The two men used a car to run down the young soldier, whose name was not made public, near Woolwich Barracks in southeast London and attempted to behead him with a meat cleaver and knives, witnesses said, before telling shocked bystanders they acted in revenge for British wars in Muslim countries. A dramatic clip filmed by an onlooker showed one of the men, identified as Adebolajo, his hands covered in blood and speaking in a local accent apologizing for taking his action in front of women but justifying it on religious grounds: “We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you.

The only reason we have done this is because Muslims are dying every day,” he said. “This British soldier is an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” The attack revived fears of “lone wolves”. These

may have had no direct contact with al Qaeda but are inspired by radical preachers and by Islamist militant Web sites, some of which urge people to attack Western targets with whatever means they have.

Images of the blood-soaked suspect - who urged Britons to overthrow their government or risk having their children face the fate of the dead soldier lying just yards away - were splashed across the front pages of newspapers; so too were links to his clearly spoken, matter-of-fact video statement, made as the pair chatted calmly to bystanders before police arrived. In Nigeria, with a mixed Christian-Muslim population and where the authorities are battling an Islamist insurgency, a government source said there was no evidence the Woolwich suspects were linked to groups in west Africa.

The grisly attack took place next to the sprawling Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, a south London working class district which has long-standing historic links to the military and is home to many immigrant communities, including Nigerians. The victim was wearing a T-shirt saying “Help for Heroes”, the name of a charity formed to help wounded British veterans. Britain has had troops deployed in Afghanistan since 2001 and had troops in Iraq from 2003-2009.

Witnesses said they shouted “Allahu akbar” - Arabic for God is greatest - while stabbing the victim and trying to behead him. A handgun was found at the scene. Some onlookers rushed to help the victim and one woman tried to engage one of the attackers in conversation to calm him. “He had what looked like butcher’s tools - a little axe, to cut the bones, and two large knives. He said: ‘Move off the body,’” Ingrid Loyau-Kennett was quoted as saying.

“He said: ‘I killed him because he killed Muslims and I am fed up with people killing Muslims in Afghanistan.’”— Reuters

International FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

In tense Mexico state, vigilantes refuse to disarm COALCOMAN: Farmers wearing bulletproof vests and toting assault rifles ride in pick-up trucks emblazoned with the word “self-defense” to protect this rural Mexican town from a drug cartel. The government deployed thousands of troops to the western state of Michoacan this week, but in some towns like Coalcoman, population 10,000, vigilantes are wary of putting down their weapons until they feel safe again.

“We won’t drop our guard until we see results,” Antonio Rodriguez, a 37-year-old avocado grower and member of the community force said.

Authorities detained four members of a self-defense group in another town called Buenavista on Wednesday, angering about 200 residents, some wielding sticks, who surrounded some 20 soldiers to demand their release. The situation was defused about five hours later, when two of the detainees were released, according to an interior ministry source. Local media reported that all four had been released.

Interior Minister Miguel Angelo Osorio Chong said earlier that the soldiers were merely having a “dialogue” with the residents to resolve the dispute, but he insisted

UAE blasted over tweeter jail term DUBAI: An international media watchdog has criticized a UAE court decision to uphold a 10-month jail sentence for a user of microblogging website Twitter who posted about the trial of 94 Islamists. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) also called for the immediate release of another man it said was arrested in the United Arab Emirates this month on similar charges.

RSF “expresses outrage at the Abu Dhabi appeals court confirmation of the 10-month prison sentence of netizen Abdullah Al-Hadidi,” it said in a statement issued on Wednesday. Hadidi is the son of one of 94 Islamists being tried in the Gulf state’s top court over an alleged plot to seize power. A court jailed him for posting details about the trials “with malicious intent”, according to an activist. Security forces arrested Hadidi on March 21 for publishing “in bad faith false details of the public trial session via the Internet,” Amnesty International had reported.

The appeals court confirmed the sentence on Wednesday.

Another man, Waleed Al-Shehhi, was arrested on May 11 over similar charges after he published “on his Twitter account information on the trial of 94 UAE citizens,” RSF said.

Authorities held Shehhi in secret detention for a week.

“Reporters Without Borders calls attention to the fact that this netizen did nothing more than use social networks to provide relevant public information,” it said. It called “for him to be freed immediately and for the charges against him be dropped.” — AFP

Taleban bomb kills 13 PESHAWAR: The Pakistani Taleban claimed responsibility yesterday for a bomb that killed 11 security personnel and two civilians in the southwestern city of Quetta. Sixteen people were wounded in the attack in the capital of Baluchistan province, and the death toll could rise, police said. The bomb was planted in a three-wheeled auto-rickshaw and blew up as a truck carrying the security men passed by.

“We proudly claim responsibility for yesterday’s blast in Quetta and the target was local police. The Baluchistan police recently arrested and killed some of our colleagues belonging to the Swat Taleban,” said Taleban spokesman Ihsanullah Ihsan. Swat is a region in northwest Pakistan that the militants have tried to control for years. It was the second major attack since the May 11 general election which marked the first transition between civilian governments in Pakistan’s turbulent history after a campaign marred by violence.

Prime Minister-elect Nawaz Sharif has called for talks with the Pakistani Taleban in a bid to end rising militancy, but the spokesman said it was too early to react. “We are waiting for him to form his government and see what type of policies he formulates towards us,” the spokesman said. Separatist rebels battling to control Baluchistan’s natural gas and other resources also operate in the province. The ethnic Baluch separatists have fought a low-key insurgency for decades, attacking gas pipelines, infrastructure and the security forces. They have no connection with the Pakistani Taleban. — Reuters

that the authorities would disarm and detain anyone with a weapon. “The army is there. They asked for security and protection, and they have it. There is no justification to walk around armed,” he told Radio Formula.

Last week, Coalcoman residents packed the main square to show their support for the 200-strong vigilante patrol, making it the latest Michoacan town to take up arms in recent months to combat cartel extortion and violence.

AFP journalists saw civilians Wednesday carrying handguns, hunting rifles and even AR-15 semi-automatic rifles in the town, which lies in Tierra Caliente, a region known as a hotbed of cartel activity. “We got tired of paying the quota,” said Adriana, a 32-year-old woman working in a pharmacy. The “cuota” is extortion money the Knights Templar cartel charges business owners, farmers, taxi drivers and even mayors. “Anyone who didn’t pay would be kidnapped and ‘bang, bang,’ they’d kill him,” said Adriana, squeezing her finger as if pulling a trigger.

In recent months, the self-defense groups detained people they accused of working with the cartels and

clashed with drug traffickers. The gangsters responded by besieging towns and preventing food deliveries.

Michoacan was the first state to see troops when thenpresident Felipe Calderon deployed soldiers and marines across the nation to crack down on cartels in 2006. But the gang violence surged throughout Mexico, leaving 70,000 deaths in its wake by the time Calderon left office in December. The government of President Enrique Pena Nieto sent around 4,000 soldiers and marines this week to Michoacan along with 1,000 federal police to restore peace in the agricultural state.

Military surveillance planes fly over towns while soldiers man checkpoints in Tierra Caliente. But selfdefense groups still staff their own road blocks in some parts of the state. “They should first disarm organized crime, then the people,” said a young man wearing body armor and a white T-shirt inscribed with the words “self-defense group” on the back. Late Tuesday, a vigilante patrol detained an alleged thief in Coalcoman, beating him until his face was bloody and then parading him through the town square in front of residents and dozens of federal police. — AFP

Refugees, migrants face rising dangers Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon slammed LONDON: The world is becoming an increasingly dangerous place for refugees and migrants, Amnesty International said yesterday, as it highlighted the plight of millions of Syrians forced to flee their homes in its yearly report on global human rights. The London-based rights group said millions of people who have fled conflict or persecution, and migrants who have left home in search of work, have suffered abuses at the hands of state authorities or employers.

“The most immediate trigger for this is what’s happening in Syria, where we have four million people internally displaced and 1.5 million refugees,” Amnesty’s Secretary General Salil Shetty said. “A quarter of the country has already been pushed out of their land and their livelihoods, and the numbers are growing.” The Amnesty chief described the international community’s failure to end the bloodshed in Syria as “one of the greatest shames of our generation”. Many Syrian refugees are living in “dire conditions” in camps on the borders with Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, the group said in its review of human rights across the globe in 2012.

There are an estimated 15 million registered refugees worldwide, according to Amnesty, as well as around 214 million migrants. Some 468,000 refugees, mostly Somalis, live in the world’s biggest refugee camp at Dadaab in Kenya, while more than 450,000 people have fled their homes in war-torn Mali. Around 130,000 refugees from Myanmar live in camps along the Thai border. “These are among the most vulnerable people in the world, and it seems that they don’t have a voice,” Shetty said.

“The rights of those fleeing conflict are unprotected. “Millions of migrants are being driven into abusive situations, including forced labor and sexual abuse,

ROME: A young Bangladeshi migrant holds a banner reading “We want to live in Italy” during a protest in front of the Italian parliament in downtown Rome. — AFP because of anti-immigration policies which means they can be exploited with impunity.” Several governments came under fire for their failure to protect the rights of migrant domestic workers, including Hong Kong, Jordan, Lebanon and Kuwait. In Jordan there were reports of foreign maids being “confined to their employers’ homes, denied pay, having their passports seized or being physically, psychologically or sexually abused by their employers”, Amnesty said.

Many of Hong Kong’s 300,000 foreign domestic helpers, it added, are paid less than the minimum wage and are forced to give hefty proportions of their salaries to recruitment agencies. The rights group accused states worldwide of “showing more interest in protecting their national borders” than protecting the rights of people seeking work or refuge there. In Europe, Amnesty

accused governments of “putting the lives of migrants and asylum-seekers at risk” with their border control operations-and warned that foreign workers face increasing hostility there because of job shortages.

“Certainly in the context of the austerity measures within Europe, I would say there has been a ratcheting up of the anti-immigration scapegoating refugees and asylum seekers,” Shetty told a press conference in London to launch the report. “People feel a growing lack of respect for rights for people seeking refuge in the European Union.”

Italy and Greece came in for sharp criticism over the way they dealt with new arrivals. Many Syrians fleeing the conflict were being held in “very poor conditions” in Greece, Amnesty said, while the situation at one Athens detention centre was described as “inhuman and degrading”. — AFP

International FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

US missile defense plagued by technical doubts WASHINGTON: Three decades after Ronald Reagan launched his “Star Wars” project, the costly missile defense program has become a pillar of US strategy despite lingering doubts about its technology. No longer designed to counter a Soviet nuclear attack, the anti-missile network is supposed to thwart a “limited attack” from North Korea or Iran. But numerous experts question if the system even works. While Reagan’s blueprint provoked bitter debate in the 1980s, today’s program is now firmly entrenched in Washington. The project, however, still requires a daunting technical feat-to hit a ballistic missile travelling outside the atmosphere with another missile.

Supported by advanced radar, SM-3 interceptors aboard 26 naval ships and ground-based interceptors in silos in Alaska and California are designed to collide with long-range missiles, including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), as they speed through space. “We do have confidence in the ability of the ballistic missile defense system to defend the United States against a limited attack from both North Korea and Iran today and in the near future,” Lieutenant

General Richard Formica, commander of US Army space and missile defense command, told lawmakers this month.

The US Missile Defense Agency says the SM-3 interceptors-the same weapons used for NATO’s antimissile shield-have scored hits in 25 of 30 tests, though ground-based interceptors have failed in their last two tests. Neither Pyongyang nor Tehran have yet managed to develop an ICBM that can reach the United States, and some scientists dismiss the missile defense project as a technical illusion.

Despite billions of dollars in funding, there is no sign that “any of the fundamental unsolved problems associated with high-altitude ballistic missile defenses have been solved,” wrote professor George Lewis, a physicist at Cornell University and Theodore Postol, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in a 2010 report. The Pentagon’s tests only offer “the appearances of success,” according to Lewis and Postol, as the trajectory, the timing of the launch and the type of missile being fired are all known in advance. The tests are organized in “careful-

ly orchestrated scenarios that have been designed to hide fundamental flaws,” they wrote.

The Pentagon’s testing reports in recent years acknowledged the ground based interceptors-which cost $70 million each-so far have “demonstrated a limited capability against a simple threat” due to an immature technology. As the United States presses ahead to build new versions of the SM-3, which cost $20 million a piece, Congress’s investigative arm-the Government Accountability Office-has voiced concern over “performance delays, and in some cases, performance shortfalls.”

Skeptics of the project say adversaries could undercut the system by launching a barrage of missiles, attacking radars or simply employing decoys.

Aluminum balloons or numerous small wires could be enough to confuse the system, experts said. “You can very easily create light decoys that will very easily fly with the warhead, just balloons for instance. And these are very hard to discriminate from the actual warhead,” physicist Yousaf Butt, of the Monterey Institute of International Studies said. — AFP

Switching from scandals, Obama addresses drones, Guantanamo 4 American citizens killed in drone strikes WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama seeks to draw attention away from a series of domestic scandals with a speech that defends the US use of drones abroad and lays out a vision for closing the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. After nearly two weeks of controversies about his handling of attacks that killed four Americans in Libya, IRS scrutiny of conservative groups, and government targeting of journalists in leak probes, Obama will try to shift focus with an address that emphasizes his commitment to transparency and desire to shut a prison he promised to close years ago.

The speech, scheduled for 2 pm at Washington’s National Defense University, is meant partly to illustrate Obama’s support for civil liberties after recent criticism that his administration is secretive and bullies opponents. It is also aimed at addressing international and domestic pressure over Obama’s counterterrorism policies. US use of military drone aircraft to attack extremists has increased tensions with countries such as Pakistan and drawn criticism from human rights activists at home.

Obama’s inability to make good on a 2008 campaign pledge to close the Guantanamo Bay prison has been highlighted by a hunger strike by more than 100 of the detainees there, dozens of whom are being force-fed to keep them from dying. The White House, which has struggled to respond to the scandals that have dominated news coverage for days, signaled Obama would discuss the “ultimate closure” of the prison while outlining a broad counterterrorism strategy to address threats that have changed since the Sept 11, 2001, Al-Qaeda-backed attacks on New York and Washington.

“Consistent with his commitment to being open and transparent with the American people, he will speak at length about the policy and legal rationale for how the United States takes direct action against al Qaeda and its associated forces, including with drone strikes,” a White House official said late on Wednesday. “He will discuss why the use of drone strikes is necessary, legal and just, while addressing the various issues raised by our use of targeted action,” she said.

Obama has faced pressure from left-leaning supporters and rightleaning opponents to allow greater scrutiny of the secretive decisionmaking process guiding drone use. He said earlier this year he wanted to be more open about the issue. In a precursor to his address, the administration formally acknowledged on Wednesday for the first time that it had killed four Americans in counterterrorism operations in Yemen and Pakistan, including militant cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki.

“You may see some concessions from the president to explain how not only we use and justify targeted strikes but also create procedures and constraints to limit their use,” said Juan Zarate, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a former counterterrorism adviser to Republican President George W Bush. Reuters reported earlier this week that the administration had decided to give the Pentagon control of some drone operations now run by the CIA. That would put the use of unmanned aerial vehicles against al Qaeda in countries like Pakistan and Yemen under greater congressional oversight.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: This photo released by the US Navy shows an X-47B unmanned combat air system (UCAS) demonstrator preparing to execute a touch and go landing on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS George HW Bush (CVN 77) in the Atlantic Ocean. This is the first time any unmanned aircraft has completed a touch and go landing at sea. — AFP Officials said Obama would reiterate his commitment to closing the Guantanamo prison and lay out steps to help achieve that goal. “The president is considering a range of options for ways that we can reduce the population there and move toward ultimate closure, some of which we can take on our own, but some of which will require working with the Congress,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Wednesday.

One option, he said, was to reappoint a senior official at the State Department to renew US focus on transferring or repatriating detainees to their home countries. The White House declined to comment on a report in the Wall Street Journal that the administration was set to restart transfers of detainees from Guantanamo.

Obama plans in the coming weeks to lift the administration’s prohibition on sending detainees to Yemen, the paper reported.

Shutting Guantanamo is fraught with difficult legal and political questions. An aide to House Armed Services Chairman Howard

McKeon, a Republican, said Obama would have to give “concrete answers on what the president intends to do with those terrorists who are too dangerous to be released but cannot be tried; how he would ensure that transferred detainees can’t rejoin the fight; and what he will do to detain and interrogate new terrorist captures or those very dangerous terrorists still held in Afghanistan.”

Thomas Pickering, a former US ambassador to the United Nations who helped form a bipartisan proposal to close the prison, said Obama had to move forward on closing it, even if he faced obstacles from lawmakers. The plan he helped form suggests ways to address the remaining detainees, including trying them in civil courts or finding a way to deport them to countries where they would not face torture. “He has the obligation as president to lead and to take us where he thinks we need to go,” Pickering said of Obama. “My hope is that he would embrace those things or have an even better way to move towards his objective.” — Reuters

International FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

African unity: Half a century’s checkered legacy ADDIS ABABA: Fifty years since African leaders gathered enthusiastically to launch a common bloc, heads of state will meet this weekend to celebrate despite a patchy record and still struggling efforts to unite the continent.

Today’s 54-member African Union (AU) is the successor of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), established amid the heady days as independence from colonial rule swept the continent in 1963.

At the milestone half century, commentators reflect the bloc’s mixed legacy: from the OAU years, when leaders shirked intervention in neighborly nations and treated the organization as a gentleman’s club; to the AU’s harder role in speaking out-and imposing sanctions-on nations not toeing the line. “I’ve been working with the OAU/AU since 1996, and can attest to the progress, particularly in terms of peace and security as well as governance,” said Jakkie Cilliers, director of South Africa’s Institute for Security Studies (ISS). In recent years, the AU’s role in combat-such as its mission in Somalia to battle Al-Qaeda linked Islamists-has shown it can take concrete action, even if the funding for that mission comes mainly from Western backers.

At the same time, the splits revealed by the 2011 conflict in Libya-when members squabbled between those wanting to recognize rebels and those backing Muammar Gaddafi-showed its disunity and lack of global clout. “Libya was a fractious issue with flip-flopping of member states who weren’t quite sure what their position should be,” said Alex Vines, of Britain’s Chatham House think tank. Gaddafi’s death also stripped the AU of a major source of funding. Leaders will discuss finding backers for the cash-strapped body at a two-day summit following Saturday’s anniversary celebrations.

The AU took over from the OAU in 2002, switching its name in a bid to shrug off its troubled past. “Most leaders were internally regressive in terms of democracy and human rights,” said Mehari Tadelle Maru, an independent analyst and former AU program coordinator, referring to the OAU era. “But they were progressive externally because they were spearheading the anti-colonial and anti-apartheid struggle,” he said. OAU non-interference in member states’ affairs allowed leaders to shirk democratic elections and abuse human rights without criticism from their neighbors, he said.

AU FIRMER THAN OAU In comparison, the AU has spoken out against unconstitutional changes of government, suspending members and applying sanctions. Between 2003 and 2012, 12 coups took place in Africa, and the AU suspended eight countries, showing the AU’s “willingness to oppose unconstitutional changes of government”, Vines added.

The AU still has a long way to go, but analysts point out few organizations made up of so many nations can easily find mutual agreement.

“It is an unrealistic expectation to want African countries to speak with one voice on all topics, it’s impossible,” said Paul-Simon Handy of the ISS. “Look at the European Union,” which has half as many members as the AU, he pointed out. For the future, AU Commission chair Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma believes efforts must be focused towards development in Africa. Development indicators on the continent-including health, education, infant mortality, economic growth and democracy-have improved steadily in the past 50 years. “The big challenge for the future is going to be to manage expectations from Africa’s rapidly growing urban population,” Cilliers added. —AFP

Sweden riots challenge image of happy and generous state Swedish social welfare model giving way to inequality

OGIDI, Nigeria: The casket containing the body of late author Professor Chinua Achebe is carried to St Phillips Anglican Church for the funeral service at Ogidi in southeast Nigeria yesterday. — AFP

Thousands mourn literary giant Achebe at hometown funeral OGIDI: Thousands mourned Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe yesterday at the hometown funeral of the man regarded as the father of modern African literature, best known for his seminal novel “Things Fall Apart.” An overflow crowd outside the church where the funeral service was held gathered under tents or in the streets, where they stood atop cars to watch on two giant screens.

Heavy security was in place throughout the small southeastern town of Ogidi, with President Goodluck Jonathan and foreign dignitaries attending the service.

Nigeria’s leaders were often the target of Achebe’s writing and the author rejected national awards in 2004 and 2011, but Jonathan paid tribute to the writer and argued that the country was changing. “All of us must work together so that our children will know there is a country,” Jonathan said at the service, a reference to Achebe’s last book, “There Was A Country.” A number of women mourners wore purple headwraps and white dresses, while some men dressed in traditional shirts adorned with Achebe’s picture.

Access inside the Anglican church was invitation-only, but several thousand people flocked to tents with loudspeakers outside or to surrounding streets, where two giant screens were set up. “I left my house in Asaba (a nearby city) at 5:00 am

this morning in order to pay my last respects for this illustrious son of Nigeria who has done his people proud,” said 31-year-old engineer Sylvanus John. Groups of admirers could be seen dancing and singing in praise of Achebe in the Igbo language spoken throughout the region.

Achebe, who died in the United States in March aged 82, is viewed as an iconic figure in Nigeria and abroad, and his death led to tributes worldwide. Ogidi, in Nigeria’s Anambra state, was decorated with posters of Achebe, while police were stationed throughout the town. A wake was held inside the family compound Wednesday while about 2,000 people packed a stadium in the Anambra state capital Awka where Achebe’s coffin was put on display. His private burial on the family compound occurred later yesterday. “The death of my uncle is indeed a great loss not only to the family but to Nigeria and Africa as a whole,” 64-year-old Obi Achebe said. “He has left big shoes that will be difficult to be worn by anybody.” Achebe had lived and worked as a professor in the United States in recent years, most recently at Brown University in Rhode Island. A 1990 car accident left him in a wheelchair and limited his travel. Nigeria’s Guardian newspaper on Wednesday dedicated an entire page to a poem written for Achebe by Wole Soyinka, the Nigerian writer and Nobel literature laureate.—AFP

STOCKHOLM: Hundreds of youth have torched cars and attacked police in four nights of riots in immigrant suburbs of Sweden’s capital, shocking a country that dodged the worst of the financial crisis but failed to solve youth unemployment and resentment among asylum seekers. Violence spread from the North to the South of the city on Wednesday as groups of youth pushed through Stockholm’s suburbs casting stones, breaking windows and setting cars alight. Police in the southern Swedish city of Malmo said two cars had been set ablaze. Local media said a police station office was set on fire in the southern suburb of Ragsved, where several people were also detained. No one was hurt and the fire was quickly put out.

The attackers have awaited nightfall before setting out, defying a call for calm from the country’s prime minister and damaging stores, schools, a police station and an arts and crafts centre in the four days of violence. “I think there is a feeling that we need to be in more places tonight,” said Towe Hagg, spokeswoman for Stockholm police.

One police officer was injured in the latest attacks and five were arrested for attempted arson.

Selcuk Ceken, who works at a local youth activity centre in Hagsatra, said between 40 and 50 youths threw stones at police and smashed windows, then ran off in different directions. He noted the people were in their 20s and seemed well organized. “It’s difficult to say why they’re doing this,” he said.

“Maybe it’s anger at the law and order forces, maybe it’s anger at their own personal situation, such as unemployment or having nowhere to live.”

The riots appear to have been sparked by the police killing of a 69-year-old man wielding a machete in the suburb of Husby this month, which prompted accusations of police brutality. The riots then spread from Husby to other poor Stockholm suburbs. “We see a society that is becoming increasingly divided and where the gaps, both socially and economically, are becoming larger,” said Rami Alkhamisi, co-founder of Megafonen, a group that works for social change in the suburbs.

“And the people out here are being hit the hardest ... We have institutional racism.”

The riots were less severe than those of the past two summers in Britain and France but provided a reminder that even in places less ravaged by the financial crisis than Greece or Spain, state belt-tightening is toughest on the poor, especially immigrants. “The reason is very simple. Unemployment, the housing situation, disrespect from police,” said Rouzbeh Djalaie, editor of the local Norra Sidan newspaper, which covers Husby. “It just takes something to start a riot, and that was the shooting.”

IDENTITY CHECKS Djalaie said youths were often stopped by police in the streets for unnecessary identity checks. During the riots, he said some police called local youths “apes.” The television pictures of blazing cars come as a jolt to a country proud of its reputation for social justice as well as its hospitality towards refugees from war and repression. “I understand why many people who live in these suburbs and in Husby are worried, upset, angry and concerned,” said Justice Minister Beatrice Ask. “Social exclusion is a very serious cause of many problems, we understand that.”

After decades of practicing the “Swedish model” of generous welfare benefits, Stockholm has been reducing the role of the state since the 1990s, spurring the fastest growth in inequality of any advanced OECD economy. While average living standards are still among the highest in Europe, successive governments have failed to substantially reduce long-term youth unemployment and poverty, which have affected immigrant communities worst. Some 15 percent of the population are foreign-born, and unemployment among these stands at 16 percent, compared with 6 percent for native Swedes, according to OECD data.

Youth unemployment in Husby, at 6 percent, is twice the overall average across the capital. The left-leaning tabloid Aftonbladet said the riots represented a “gigantic failure” of government policies, which had underpinned the rise of ghettos in the suburbs. As unemployment has grown, the anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats party has risen to third in polls ahead of a general election due next year, reflecting many voters’ worries that immigrants may be partly to blame.—Reuters

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International FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

Honeybees trained in Croatia to find land mines ZAGREB: Mirjana Filipovic is still haunted by the land mine blast that killed her boyfriend and blew off her left leg while on a fishing trip nearly a decade ago. It happened in a field that was supposedly de-mined. Now, unlikely heroes may be coming to the rescue to prevent similar tragedies: sugar-craving honeybees.

Croatian researchers are training them to find unexploded mines littering their country and the rest of the Balkans.

When Croatia joins the European Union on July 1, in addition to the beauty of its aquamarine Adriatic sea, deep blue mountain lakes and lush green forests, it will also bring numerous un-cleared minefields to the bloc’s territory. About 750 square kilometers are still suspected to be filled with mines from the Balkan wars in the 1990s.

Nikola Kezic, an expert on the behavior of honeybees, sat quietly together with a group of young researchers on a recent day in a large net tent filled with the buzzing insects on a grass field lined with acacia trees. The professor at Zagreb University outlined the idea for the experiment: Bees have a perfect sense of smell that can quickly detect the scent of the explosives. They are being trained to identify their food with the scent of TNT. “Our basic conclusion is that the bees

can clearly detect this target, and we are very satisfied,” said Kezic, who leads a part of a larger multimillion-euro program, called “Tiramisu,” sponsored by the EU to detect land mines on the continent.

Several feeding points were set up on the ground around the tent, but only a few have TNT particles in them. The method of training the bees by authenticating the scent of explosives with the food they eat appears to work: bees gather mainly at the pots containing a sugar solution mixed with TNT, and not the ones that have a different smell.

Kezic said the feeding points containing the TNT traces offer “a sugar solution as a reward, so they can find the food in the middle.” “It is not a problem for a bee to learn the smell of an explosive, which it can then search,” Kezic said. “You can train a bee, but training their colony of thousands becomes a problem.” Croatian officials estimate that since the beginning of the Balkan wars in 1991, about 2,500 people have died from land mine explosions. During the four-year war, around 90,000 land mines were placed across the entire country, mostly at random and without any plan or existing maps.

Dijana Plestina, the head of the Croatian government’s de-mining bureau, said the suspected devices repre-

sent a large obstacle for the country’s population and industry, including agriculture and tourism. In the nearly two decades since the end of the war, land mines have taken the lives of 316 people, including 66 de-miners, she said. “While this exists, we are living in a kind of terror, at least for the people who are living in areas suspected to have mines,” she said.

“And of course, that is unacceptable. We will not be a country in peace until this problem is solved.” In 2004, Filipovic and her boyfriend were on a fishing trip that took them to a river between Croatia and Bosnia.

“As we were returning hand-in-hand, my boyfriend stepped on a mine,” the 41year-old Filipovic said. “It was an awful, deafening explosion ... thousands of shrapnel parts went flying, hundreds ending up in my body. He was found dead several meters away, while I remained in a pool of blood sitting on the ground.” She sued the Croatian government, saying the area wasn’t clearly marked as a former minefield. “At first I thought I was asleep,” she recalled. “Then I heard the voice of my father. I opened my eyes, and saw nothing. I thought I lost my eyes.” The government admitted guilt in the case for failing to keep the minefield sign, but the court has yet to deter-

Suicide bombers kill 20 in Niger attacks Islamists hit mine, military barracks NIAMEY: Islamist militants staged twin suicide car bombings on an army base and a French-run uranium mine in Niger yesterday, killing at least 20 people and taking several trainee officers hostage in the impoverished west African state. An Islamist group claimed the unprecedented attacks as revenge against the country’s involvement in France’s offensive against militants in neighboring Mali.

They come just four months after Al-Qaeda linked militants seized a desert gas plant in neighboring Algeria in a siege that left 38 hostages dead, also in retaliation against the intervention in Mali. The Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), one of the Islamist groups which seized control of northern Mali last year before being driven out by French-led troops, claimed the near simultaneous bombings at the Agadez army base and the French majority-owned uranium mine in Arlit.

“Thanks to Allah, we have carried out two operations against the enemies of Islam in Niger,” MUJAO spokesman Abu Walid Sahraoui said. “We attacked France and Niger for its cooperation with France in the war against sharia (Islamic law).” French President Francois Hollande vowed to help Niger “destroy” the militants and said France would back “all the efforts of Niger to stop the hostage situation” at the army base. “We will not intervene in Niger as we did in Mali, but we have the same willingness to cooperate to fight against terrorism,” he said.

The first car bomb went off at dawn at the army base in Agadez, the largest city in mostly desert northern Niger.

Eighteen soldiers and a civilian were killed along with four attackers at the army base, Interior Minister Abdou Labo said. “A fifth bomber has locked himself up in an office with several trainee officers as hostages (at Agadez),” Labo said. “We are taking action to arrest the bomber and free the hostages.” About 30 minutes after the first attack, a suicide bomber blew up an explosives-laden four-by-four at the Somair uranium mine and processing facility as employees reported for work at the site, which is majority-owned by France’s Areva.

Areva said one person was killed at the mine located some 250 kilometers north of Agadez, but did not identify the victim.

It added that 14 others were wounded. Labo said however that around 50 people were wounded at the mine, adding that almost all of the victims were security agents. Defense Minister Mahamadou Karidjo described the attackers as “redskins”, in a reference to members of the country’s Tuareg and Arab groups.

Agadez resident Barka Sofa said he heard a strong explosion outside the army base followed by heavy weapons fire, while a local journalist reported heavy damage inside the camp. “All the streets of Agadez are blocked. The army is sweeping the city,” Sofa added. At the mine, an employee told AFP that “a man in military uniform driving a four-by-four packed with explosives mixed in with the Somair workers and blew up his vehicle in front of the power station at the uranium treatment facility.”

“Company managers told us the suicide bomber was killed in the explosion,” he added, saying the blast had caused damage but had not stopped work at the site. Somair is 63.6-percent-owned by Areva and 36.4-percent-owned by SOPAMIN, the agency that manages Niger’s state mining interests. Areva, the world’s second-largest uranium producer, extracts more than a third of its uranium in the impoverished west African country and has operated in Niger for more than 40 years.

The attacks come some four months after the seige in neighboring Algeria that left 38 hostages dead, including 37 foreigners. Areva condemned the blast as a “terrorist attack” on its website and said Nigerien authorities had stepped up security measures at its facilities. Niger is part of the African-led Support Mission to Mali (AFISMA), a regional military mission launched to help reclaim northern Mali from Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb (AQIM) and two allied Islamist groups that seized the vast desert territory in the chaotic aftermath of a March 2012 military coup.

French troops have so far led the operation against the Islamists, which was launched in January and has pushed the radicals from the territory they had brutally ruled. Islamist groups have carried out several kidnappings in Niger in recent years, especially in the north. Seven employees of Areva and one of its subcontractors were abducted in September 2010

by AQIM. Four Frenchmen are still being held by their kidnappers. —AFP

mine financial compensation.

It may be a while before the honeybees hit real minefields, Kezic said. First, they will conduct controlled tests, with real mines but which are marked. Kezic said American researchers have in the past experimented with mine-searching bees, but TNT - the most common explosive used in the Balkan wars - wasn’t part of their experiment because its smell evaporates quickly, and only small traces remain after time. Rats and dogs are also used to detect explosives worldwide, but unlike bees, they could set off blasts on the minefields because of their weight.

Even after the de-miners have done their job in an area, some land mines are missed and remain in the soil, and they are most often the cause of deadly explosions. Once the experiment with bees proves scientifically reliable, the idea is to use them in the areas that have already been de-mined, where their movement would be followed with heat-seeking cameras, Kezic said. “We are not saying that we will discover all the mines on a minefield, but the fact is that it should be checked if a minefield is really de-mined,” he said. “It has been scientifically proven that there are never zero mines on a demined field, and that’s where bees could come in.”—AP

Hollande, Merkel mark 150 years of German centre-left LEIPZIG: Germany’s Social Democrats marked their 150th birthday yesterday, with French President Francois Hollande as guest speaker and Chancellor Angela Merkel paying a rare compliment to her election-year rivals as an “unyielding voice of democracy”. Cheered on arrival, the

LEIPZIG: French President Francois Hollande (right) is welcomed by Sigmar Gabriel, chairman of the German Social Democratic Party, SPD in Leipzig, central Germany yesterday. —AP French Socialist president was to give the keynote address at the anniversary of his centre-left allies, who are battling poor poll ratings as they try to unseat Merkel in September 22 elections.

Germany’s oldest political party has invited nearly 50 current and former

heads of state and government as it celebrates its turbulent history, which saw it advance workers rights, resist the Nazis and win the vote for women. The party will also look to the future as it seeks to relaunch itself at the event in Leipzig, the eastern city where the party’s precursor, the General German Workers Association, was founded in 1863. “The SPD must become more of a social movement again,” said Social Democratic Party (SPD) chief Sigmar Gabriel, who earlier described the celebration as “the largest international political event in Germany this year”.

The SPD, which is campaigning in alliance with the Greens, has presented its most leftist policy program in years, pushing for less austerity in Europe, a minimum wage at home and higher taxes for the rich. The event kicked off in a large hall packed with 1,600 guests and lit in the party’s signature red, to the tunes of “Happy Birthday” by Stevie Wonder.

Former chancellors Gerhard Schroeder and Helmut Schmidt sat in the front row as a giant screen showed tributes from former leaders including Britain’s Tony Blair and Russia’s Mikhail Gorbachev.

Merkel, who attended the event, praised the historical role of the SPD as “a valiant and unyielding voice of democracy in Germany”, writing in the local daily the Leipziger Volkszeitung. “For these services, which cannot be valued highly enough, the SPD deserves my respect and appreciation,” wrote Merkel, the head of the Christian Democratic Union. A worldwide group of about 70 left-of-centre parties-including Britain’s Labor Party, the African National Congress and the US Democrats-had, on the eve of the event, founded a “Progressive Alliance” in Leipzig. —AFP

15

International FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

Refugee influx taxes Lebanese economy BEIRUT: Abu Faruq, a kiosk owner in an upscale Beirut district, does not hide his opinion about the influx of Syrian refugees: “Lebanon is occupied by foreigners,” he grumbled. “They’re ruining us.” As the conflict in neighboring Syria stretches into a third year, a wave of refugees has flooded Lebanon, stretching its economy and testing its resources as well the nerves of its citizens. The United Nations says that at least 474,000 Syrian refugees have entered Lebanon, but experts say the figure could be closer to 700,000, in a country with a population of more than four million.

“May God be with the Lebanese people... Lebanon can’t take them all,” Abu Faruq said. Ali, a taxi driver, is equally incensed, saying the influx threatens his livelihood. “They’re taking our customers,” he said. “Some of them are working as drivers without a licence. No one stops them, no one can say anything.” Economists say the influx of refugees, and the conflict they are fleeing, has had a negative impact on Lebanon’s economy.

Nassib Ghobril, chief economist at Lebanon’s Byblos Bank, reeled off a string of alarming statistics: a 17.5 percent drop in tourist arrivals last year, following a 23.7 percent drop the year before, declining industrial exports, nosediving foreign direct investment (FDI) and a fall in both consumer and investor confidence. “Consumer confidence dropped 37 percent in 2012, after a 29 percent drop in 2011, and FDI in Lebanon decreased by 68 percent in 2012,” he said. “These are record lows since 2007,” he added, saying that inflation was also on the rise.

And yet Syrians inside Lebanon are spending, packing cafes and restaurants in Beirut’s trendy Zaitunay Bay, and encouraging landlords to demand ever higher rents in an already hot property market. Half of the cars parked outside two serviced apartment buildings in the city have Damascus licence plates. But economists says the Syrians’ consumption is not nearly enough to cover the overall losses to the economy. “The impact is certainly a net negative,” Ghobril said. Lebanon’s government is also feeling the pressure directly because it subsidizes basic goods such as bread and flour, and services like electricity and healthcare.

And the refugee population is growing at an alarming rate, with UN figures showing it has more than doubled since January, when it stood at around 200,000 people, to 474,461 in mid-May. Not all those arriving are poverty-stricken. Some came early, rented homes and bought cars, enrolled their children in local schools and even started businesses. In southern Sidon, a former Damascus resident who declined to give his name has set up a supermarket with a Lebanese partner on Quds Street, now home to several Syrian-run businesses.

“I left because of the shelling and the problems,” he said, dragging on a cigarette. “The profits just about cover the rent with a bit to get by, but in the future, if there’s a solution in Syria, I’ll definitely go back with my family.” He said locals have been receptive, and 32-year-old Fady Qambaz, a Lebanese citizen working his vegetable stand nearby, insists he has no problem with the newcomers. “We say welcome to them and I hope God helps them, they’re not doing anything wrong and we have to help them.”

Other Syrians have had less luck and are forced to stretch their savings, stopping daily at local moneychangers to see whether the exchange rate is any more favorable. Others have resorted to selling their valuables to jewelers like Bilal Abu Harb, who has a shop in Beirut’s Hamra district. “They have a child who needs to see a doctor or they need to pay their rent and they don’t have any money,” he said, rifling through a box filled with simple gold rings and pendants. —AFP

With Hezbollah coffins, Syria exporting conflict 75 Hezbollah fighters killed in Syria

HERMEL: On a country road in Lebanon’s northeast, traffic is heavy; ambulances screech by, sirens blaring, and cars packed with mourners follow coffins as Hezbollah brings wounded fighters home from Syria, and its dead. With the bodies from the battle over the border at Qusair, comes the violence, as civil conflict between Syria’s Iranian-backed ruler and Sunni rebels spreads across the Middle East; the Shiite militia’s drive to save Syria’s president is testing Lebanon’s own fragile, sectarian peace and raises the stakes in a broader struggle for power in the region and the wider world.

Having long denied its engagement in Syria behind President Bashar Al-Assad, Hezbollah has committed itself this week to the fight for the strategic small town of Qusair, sending hundreds of men and losing dozens. Seventy-five fighters from Lebanon’s Hezbollah have been killed in Syria since they first became involved in the country’s war months ago, a source close to the Shiite militant group said yesterday. “There have been 57 killed and 18 others who have died of their wounds since the start of its (Hezbollah’s) participation in the war in Syria,” the source told AFP. Their coffins, escorted by stern-faced Hezbollah gunmen and corteges flying the movement’s yellow banner, stream back to Shi’ite villages in the northeastern Bekaa Valley, ending any discretion about its backing for Assad and his Alawite minority. For all that staff at hospitals taking in the wounded around the town of Hermel keep doors closed to journalists and insist “There’s nothing to see”, the war has widened its scope. And with Sunnis and Alawites in the nearby Lebanese port of Tripoli also engaged in the fiercest communal fighting yet, the spread of violence beyond Syria is accelerating.

Already sectarian killing has surged in Iraq, bombs have hit Turkey and Israeli air strikes in Syria targeted Iranian arms for Hezbollah while world powers remain divided among themselves as they try to push Syria’s rivals into holding peace talks. For Rami Khouri at the American University of Beirut, Hezbollah’s Syrian venture risks rebounding into Lebanon and could even in a very worst case - fuel a regional war: “It would vastly increase the likelihood of massive internal Lebanese strife between pro- and antiHezbollah groups, broadly pitting Sunnis and Shi’ites against each other, while also inviting another major war with Israel, or possibly partici-

pation in an American-Israeli/Iranian-Syrian war.”

RISKS FOR HEZBOLLAH Hezbollah, armed by Iran since Lebanon’s civil war in the 1980s, outguns Beirut’s weak central government as well as other factions, including Sunnis, Christians, Druze and Palestinians.

But in nailing its colors to Assad’s bid to crush a Sunni uprising, the Shiite movement has alienated fellow Arabs in the region who once respected it, at least for fighting Israel. It may also irk Lebanese Shiites, who have counted on Hezbollah’s protection locally but are not neces-

groups in the security apparatus here that serve different regional powers or countries,” Nasrallah said. “Hezbollah’s job is to protect Lebanon and its borders, it is doing what it has to do. “This is a decisive battle,” he said of Qusair, near Homs, which rebels have held to secure supply routes from Lebanon and to disrupt movement between Damascus and Syria’s Alawite region.

“Hezbollah believes that this battle is of great strategic importance, and they will bear the consequences,” he added, as reports from Syria indicated Hezbollah fighters and Assad’s troops had made some gains after days of fighting in the

HARET AL-FIKANI: Members of Lebanon’s of Hezbollah Shiite Muslim movement carry the coffin of a killed comrade during his funeral in the village of Haret Al-Fikani in the Bekaa valley yesterday, after being reportedly killed in the ongoing battle of Qusayr in the province of Homs, in neighboring Syria. —AFP sarily enthusiastic about dying for Iran in its rivalry with Arab powers and the West.

Rafik Nasrallah, a political analyst in Beirut who is close to Hezbollah, said the movement had been obliged to intervene in Syria to protect Lebanese interests and it had taken into account the prospect of a violent reaction from rival groups: “There is no Lebanese state, there are

town. On the frontlines, the intervention appears to have hardened sectarian attitudes among rebels fearful of losing a key position: “The fall of .... Qusair will completely change the struggle in Homs province from a revolution into a major assault on Alawites and Shi’ites wherever they are,” said a fighter who uses the name Abu Bilal, speaking to Reuters from Homs. —Agencies

Syria-linked clashes leave six dead in Lebanese city TRIPOLI: Overnight clashes killed six people in the Lebanese port of Tripoli, a security source said yesterday, as a fifth day of violence sparked by the Syria conflict spread to previously quiet neighborhoods. “Very violent fighting took place last night until 5:00 am that killed six people and wounded 40. The clashes and shelling affected several areas of the city, including the centre,” the source said. Violence has regularly broken out in Tripoli since the beginning of Syria’s uprising, pitting residents of the Sunni Bab El-Tebbaneh district against those from the neighboring Alawite area of Jabal Mohsen.

But since Sunday, shelling and clashes have spread to other mostly Sunni areas of the city, killing 17 people includ-

ing two soldiers and wounding 150 others. An AFP correspondent said large parts of the city of 500,000 inhabitants were shut down on Wednesday, with schools and shops closed after the clashes. Troops have been deployed across the city since the outbreak, but this has failed to halt the fighting. The latest violence began as the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad launched a withering assault on the rebel stronghold of Qusayr, near the border with Lebanon.

Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah has been sending fighters across the border to help Syrian regime forces attack Qusayr. And yesterday, a Lebanese source close to Hezbollah said that 75 of the group’s combatants have

been killed in Syria in eight months.

However, Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog, said 104 Hezbollah combattants had died in Syria in the same period, with 46 in Qusayr in the last five days itself.

Amin Al-Qabbut, mukhtar (municipal official) of the Sunni Al-Qobba area, said areas of Tripoli last attacked during the Syrian army’s bombardment of the northern city in 1985 were being shelled again. “This war is the continuation of the 1985 war that Syria waged against us,” Qabbut said. In 1985, the Syrian army clashed with Sunni groups in Tripoli, and bombarded areas of the city, during Lebanon’s civil war. “The political tool used to wage the war is the same, it

is the Arab Democratic Party,” Qabbut said, referring to the party linked to Tripoli’s Alawite community.

The ADP has, in return, accused Sunni groups of starting the fighting.

The Sunni-majority port has been the scene of intense clashes between Sunni supporters of the anti-Syrian opposition and Alawite Muslims loyal to a Hezbollah-led alliance backed by Iran and Syria. Assad, who is fighting a bloody uprising against his regime, hails from the Alawite community, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. The revolt in Syria has exacerbated tensions in Lebanon, which lived under three decades of Syrian hegemony and remains deeply divided between supporters and opponents of Damascus. —AFP

International FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

Outrage grows over scandal-tainted Malaysia state boss KUCHING: Despite earning a civil servant’s salary for three decades, Taib Mahmud, the powerful chief minister of Malaysia’s Sarawak state, is reputed by critics to be one of Asia’s richest men. Taib, 77, and his family are accused of massive corruption and running Malaysia’s largest state like a family business, controlling its biggest companies with stakes in hundreds of corporations in Malaysia and abroad.

A Rolls Royce and flashy jet cover his transportation, while a vast war chest has kept his political authority unrivalled in 32 years in charge of the resource-rich Borneo island state, which remains one of Malaysia’s poorest.

“The amount of control he has is astounding. He has been able to domi-

nate politics and society here for nearly four decades,” said Faisal Hazis, a political scientist with Universiti Malaysia Sarawak. But pressure is rising both at home and abroad for action against a man referred to by his harshest critics as the “thief minister” and viewed as the prime example of a culture of corruption fueling public disgust. Swiss-based activists Bruno Manser Fund (BMF), citing financial records, last year estimated the 77year-old’s worth at $15 billion, which would make him Malaysia’s richest person.

Such revelations are hugely embarrassing for Prime Minister Najib Razak, who faces a slide in support due in part to corruption blamed for bleeding the country of billions of dollars annually.

But Taib, a member of Malaysia’s 56year-old ruling coalition, is widely considered untouchable because the Sarawak parliamentary bloc he controls helps keep the coalition in power.

“We don’t see the political will to address grand corruption like this and it could destroy the country” by crippling economic development, said Josie Fernandez, Transparency International’s Malaysia director.

A 2008 US State Department cable revealed by WikiLeaks called Taib “highly corrupt” and “unchallenged”, saying Taib-linked companies dominate Sarawak’s emerging economy. He and his family are accused of routinely taking kickbacks for lucrative government contracts or awarding the projects to companies they control. A

prime example dominates the languid capital Kuching-the state-assembly building whose swooping, golden roof gleams like a crown in the tropical sun.

A Taib-linked company won the $98 million contract to build the structure, which opened in 2009 and is home to a legislature he controls. A similar story surrounds a futuristic convention centre nearby. Taib’s office declined repeated interview requests. A member of the Melanau tribe, supporters see him as defender of the autonomy of Sarawak-which is marked by Christian and tribal groups-against the Muslim Malay-dominated federal coalition based on mainland Malaysia.

Taib denies wrongdoing, saying Sarawak must be developed for its 2.4 million people. —AFP

Activist charged with sedition; 3 others held

AT SEA: This undated handout photo shows an aerial view of BRP Sierra Madre, a 100-metre amphibious vessel built for the US in 1944 and acquired by the Filipino navy in 1976, grounded at Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands. A handful of marines living on a World War II-era ship that is grounded on a remote, tiny reef is the Philippines’ last line of defense against China’s efforts to control most of the South China Sea. — AFP

Philippines vows to defend its territory

Chinese warship circling a South China Sea reef MANILA: The Philippines vowed yesterday to “defend what is ours” as part of a stand-off over a Chinese warship circling a South China Sea reef which is occupied by Filipino marines. The Philippines this week protested the “provocative and illegal presence” of the warship near Second Thomas Shoal, but China brushed off the complaint with an insistence that the area was part of its territory.

Philippine foreign department spokesman Raul Hernandez said yesterday the warship, along with two patrol vessels and a fleet of Chinese fishing boats, remained near the shoal. “They should not be there. They do not have the right to be there... no-one should doubt the resolve of the Filipino people to defend what is ours in that area,” Hernandez said in a text message to AFP. “Our navy and our coastguard are

mandated to enforce the laws of the (Philippine) republic.”

China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, even waters far away from its main landmass and approaching the coasts of Southeast Asian countries. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also claim parts of the sea, and the area has for decades been regarded as a potential trigger for major military conflict in the region. Second Thomas Shoal is a tiny group of islets and reefs in the Spratly Islands chain, about 200 kilometers northwest of the Philippine island of Palawan, the nearest major landmass.

All claimants, except Brunei, have troops stationed on various islands and atolls in the Spratlys to assert their claims. Second Thomas Shoal is guarded by a handful of Philippine marines aboard a World War II-era ship that was

deliberately grounded there in the late 1990s to serve as a base. It is about 41 kilometers east of Mischief Reef, a Philippine-claimed outcrop that China occupied in 1995. Second Thomas Shoal and Mischief Reef are within the Philippines’ internationally recognized exclusive economic zone, and surrounding waters are rich fishing grounds.

Last year China took control of Scarborough Shoal, another bountiful fishing area far closer to Filipino landmass than Chinese, after a similar standoff ended with the Philippines retreating. China’s announced defense budget of $115 billion this year is nearly 100 times more than the Philippines’.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino this week announced a planned $1.8billion military upgrade to defend the country’s maritime territory against “bullies”. — AFP

KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian court yesterday charged a student activist with sedition, and police arrested three others, including two opposition politicians, on the same charge in what critics decried as a crackdown on dissent.

Prime Minister Najib Razak pledged last year to repeal the Sedition Act, widely seen as oppressive. Critics slammed the fresh arrests under the law, believed to be in connection with calls to protest against alleged election fraud.

Najib’s Barisan Nasional (National Front) coalition won the May 5 election, extending its 56-year rule, but the opposition has claimed that fraud marred the polls and cost them victory. Student activist Adam Adli Halim was charged under the Sedition Act over a statement made at a public post-election forum on May 13, and had been held in custody for five days, said his lawyer Fadiah Nadwa Fikri. After being charged, he was released on bail. The 24year-old is accused of calling on people to protest at the election results, Fadiah said. He pleaded not guilty to the charge, which carries a penalty of up to three years in jail.

Senior opposition politician Tian Chua, his colleague Tamrin Ghafar, and activist Haris Ibrahim were detained yesterday, also for investigations under the Sedition Act, lawyer Malik Imtiaz said. The arrests are believed to be in relation to the same May 13 forum, and the men were expected to be held until Friday, Malik said.

Kuala Lumpur police Chief Mohmad Salleh declined to comment, saying he would make a statement later. Police have previously said they are investigating those who challenge the government over the fraud claims. Fadiah, the student activist’s lawyer, slammed the use of the Sedition Act, which Najib pledged to repeal last year as part of a much-touted drive to strengthen civil liberties, after criticism of its use mounted. “It’s clearly still being used to stifle dissent,” Fadiah said. “The law is open to abuse... it’s an infringement to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.” Meanwhile, the Home Ministry said it had seized some 2,500 copies of the opposition parties’ papers from distributors since Wednesday for failing to meet printing permit regulations. “This operation will be performed on an ongoing basis to enforce the law,” the ministry said in a statement. Chua said earlier yesterday that the threeparty opposition was planning to file election petitions in court to challenge the results for 27 parliamentary seats, which if won would be able to tip the balance in the opposition’s favor.

Barisan won 133 of 222 parliamentary seats, seven seats fewer than in the previous polls in 2008 but holding on to a comfortable majority. But they only gained 46.6 percent of the popular vote. Opposition rallies, highlighting the fraud claims, have drawn hundreds of thousands of people throughout the country. —AFP

International FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

Barred from poll, Rafsanjani calls Iranian leaders ignorant Ex-president blasts authorities for bad management DUBAI: Former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has accused Iran’s leadership of incompetence and ignorance just days after he was barred from standing in an election next month, the opposition Kaleme website reported yesterday. Rafsanjani’s comments appeared to add to the political conflict between those loyal to the leadership and opposition groups who have been marginalized since postelection unrest in 2009.

“I don’t think the country could have been run worse, even if it had been planned in advance,” Rafsanjani said to members of his campaign team on Wednesday, according to the Kaleme report.

“I don’t want to stoop to their propaganda and attacks but ignorance is troubling. Don’t they understand what they’re doing?” Before he was disqualified from next month’s presidential election, the 78-year-old Rafsanjani caused high interest in a ballot many believe was a race between hardliners.

He attracted the endorsement of reformist groups whose leaders had disputed the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Rafsanjani

did not indicate specifically who he was addressing but after the unrest following Ahmadinejad re-election in 2009, he criticized the authorities heavy-handed response and has since been regarded as a threat to the establishment. The two-term president warned of “dangerous” threats from the United States and Israel, which have threatened to use military action against what they suspect is Iran’s development of nuclear weapons. He said he had not realized his candidacy would create a wave in the country but that it was a sign of people’s despair. Now was the time to stay calm, he said.

“In no instance should people despair. There will be a day when those who must come, will come,” he said, an apparent reference to advocates for political and social reforms who have been sidelined.

With Rafsanjani and Ahmadinejad’s close ally, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, now out of the picture, the election field is again dominated by hardliners loyal to Iran’s clerical leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Rafsanjani’s ally Hassan Rohani, a former nuclear negotiator,

and reformist Mohammad Aref, remain in the contest.

Rafsanjani said the experiences of rebuilding the country after the IranIraq war was one that was needed now. He was elected president in 1989, a year after the war ended, and his administration came to be called the “government of reconstruction”, an era when economic rebuilding and reform put Iran back on its feet. “The foreigners called me “easy man” because it took no time before the doors opened. Now that experience could be easily used again, except back then, people were sympathetic.”

According to the report, Rafsanjani - regarded as one of the founding fathers of the Islamic Republic - said he should not have run. “There was a flood of letters and telephone calls from Najaf, Qom and Mashhad, all major clerics for my candidacy. How could I be so obstinate and say no to them, especially to the youth?”

Analysts say he was disqualified from the election because he campaign had already become hugely popular and he was regarded as a threat to the leadership. — Reuters

Kerry begins new round of Mideast peace talks JERUSALEM: US Secretary of State John Kerry began a round of separate talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials yesterday but acknowledged there was considerable skepticism that the two sides would resume peace negotiations. Kerry has now visited Israel four times in his four months in office to try to restart peace talks. The negotiations broke down in late 2010 in a dispute over Israeli building of Jewish settlements on occupied West Bank land that the Palestinians want for a state.

“I know this region well enough to know that there is skepticism, in some quarters there is cynicism and there are reasons for it. There have been bitter years of disappointment,” Kerry said as he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posed for pictures. “It is our hope that by being methodical, careful, patient, but detailed and tenacious, that we can lay out a path ahead that can conceivably surprise people but certainly exhaust the possibilities of peace.” Kerry will meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas later in the day. Netanyahu said he wanted to restart talks with the Palestinians. “It’s something I hope the Palestinians want as well and we ought to be successful for a simple reason - when there’s a will, we’ll find a way,” Netanyahu said. Last week, Kerry telephoned Netanyahu to voice US concern at Israel’s plan to declare legal four unauthorized West Bank settler out-

RAMALLAH: US Secretary of State John Kerry (right) samples some dessert as he visits a shop in the West Bank city of Ramallah yesterday. Kerry admitted there was skepticism and cynicism about his efforts to broker new talks between Israelis and Palestinians, as he made his fourth visit to Israel and Palestinian territories. — AFP posts. Most of the world deems all Israeli settlements in the West Bank as illegal. Israel, which captured the land in the 1967 Middle East War, disputes this and distinguishes between about 120 government-authorized settlements and dozens of outposts built by settlers without official sanction. The main issues that would have to be resolved in a peace agreement include the borders between Israel and a Palestinian state, the future of Jewish settlements, the fate of Palestinian

refugees and the status of Jerusalem.

In his visits to the region, Kerry is also trying to put together an economic package for the Palestinians to go alongside the US political initiative.

European diplomats, in meetings with Palestinian leaders, have been trying to steer them away from any notion the European Union might present a peace plan of its own. British Foreign Secretary of William Hague was also due to hold talks with Netanyahu and Abbas later in the day. — Reuters

Myanmar ‘goldrush’ luring foreigners YANGON: From seasoned investors to recent graduates armed with little more than hastily-made business cards and dreams of striking it rich, foreigners are pouring into Myanmar to stake a claim as it opens up.

It is an expat “goldrush” driven by the promise of an economic boom after the rollback of many sanctions following the end of decades of junta rule.

But some, at least, are also drawn by a commitment to help rebuild the impoverished nation. The onceempty western bars of central Yangon are now doing a roaring trade, hotels are fully booked and networking nights thrum with the chatter of new arrivals hungry for contacts in the city. Every day hotel lobbies teem with foreigners hunched over laptops as they talk via Skype with overseas companies eager to hire boots on the ground.

“Once I graduate I’ll move here for sure,” Peter Morris, a 34-year-old American law student based in Hong Kong, said breezily during a recent week-long reccy for jobs. But the flurry of arrivals are not universally welcomed. Some older Myanmar hands grumble about a type of cocky newcomer all too keen to hand out business cards and discuss pie-in-the-sky plans for the future, despite having little knowledge of the country.

“There are a hell of a lot of sharks in Yangon right now... people looking to take advantage of any opportunities they can and often not for any benefit to the Burmese people,” laments one long-time expat resident requesting anonymity. “(There are) lots of opportunists with jumped up job titles that often don’t exist and ideas that will never come to fruition.” Despite that, akin to frontier markets the world over, the lure of riches and adventure is proving irresistible.

Telecom, automobile, oil and gas, and even cigarette firms are rolling into Myanmar, responding to the end of many sanctions and the introduction of business-friendly reforms by President Thein Sein’s two-year-old government. While many are bringing their own senior staff and hiring skilled Myanmar citizens, many of whom are returning after years abroad, a lack of modern business acumen among locals educated within the country’s threadbare school system presents openings for enterprising foreigners.

Some have years of Myanmar academic, business or field experience-particularly for the legion of nongovernmental organizations-while others are following their noses for the opportunity to spot an opening. “It hit me that there were all these areas where there was nothing... I could quickly identify niches to work in,” says Swedish entrepreneur and consultant Andreas Sigurdsson of his decision to swap a successful banking career in glitzy Shanghai for Yangon’s shabby charm.

Within weeks of his arrival last year the 31-year-old had launched his first venture-listings website myanmore.com-turning an idea “that came up over a beer” into a reality a few days later. Sigurdsson says he is driven by making an “impact” in a poor nation with bags of potential but limited capacity and experience.

“Building new business, training employees, providing jobs and skills... that’s one way to make an impact,” he said. Goodwill generated by the nation’s freedom struggle, embodied by Nobel Laureate and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, has also drawn many to the Asian nation. Designer Karta Healy is bringing his bamboo products business to Myanmar, hoping for a repeat of its successful launch in China. “After 10 years of watching China consume itself, I’m ready for somewhere I can get more involved, explore my design work and give back to somewhere I love at the same time,” he said.

Using community-based workshops to make everything from bamboo furniture to bicycles, he hopes the business will quickly gain ground among a population skilled in working with the material. “Global isolation has forced Myanmar’s people to be the most ‘eco’ (friendly) by default. My dream for Myanmar is that it will become the greenest... wasteless society in Asia, if not the world.” —AFP

International FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

Canadian faces trial in Cuba

Iran to accelerate its uranium enrichment

HAVANA: The trial of a Canadian businessman who has confessed to bribing Cuban officials began yesterday, almost two years after his arrest in a sweeping government crackdown on corruption. The closed trial of 53-year-old Sarkis Yacoubian, originally from Armenia and the owner of import firm Tri-Star Caribbean, was expected to last two days. An associate of Yacoubian, Lebanese citizen Krikor Bayassalian, is a co-defendant. The two men were brought into the courthouse, once a large home in Havana’s 10th of October neighborhood, out of sight of the press, which was not allowed in to cover the proceedings. Canada’s ambassador to Cuba, Matthew Levin, did not speak to reporters as he walked in the front gate. The corruption trials of at least three other Canadian and British executives who were arrested shortly after Yacoubian was taken into custody in July 2011 are expected to follow.

The arrests were unprecedented for Cuba, where foreign businessmen suspected of corruption are usually deported, and are viewed as a measure of President Raul Castro’s determination to clean up a vice he views as a threat to Cuba’s socialist system. They sent shockwaves through Cuba’s small foreign business community where the companies involved were among the most visible players. Cuba’s state-run media, however, has not yet reported the Yacoubian trial, nor mentioned the arrests and crackdown on foreign trade.

After his arrest, Yacoubian quickly cooperated with prosecutors, confessing to bribery and implicating other foreign firms, which sparked an investigation into the communist-run country’s import business. Within months, dozens of Cuban officials and state purchasers were behind bars. “I tried to explain to them (investigators) systematically how things could be done,” Yacoubian told the Toronto Star last week in his only interview from jail. “I gave them drawings, designs. I gave them names, people, how they do it, why, when, where, what,” he said. Yacoubian was expected to plead guilty to bribery, tax evasion and other crimes and could face a sentence of up to 12 years behind bars, the newspaper said.

Bayassalian faces the same charges.

VIENNA: Iran is trying to accelerate its uranium enrichment program, a UN nuclear report showed, but experts said it was unclear when Tehran’s new machines could start operating and how efficiently they would work. The Islamic state’s progress in introducing next-generation centrifuges is closely watched in the West and Israel as it would enable Tehran to speed up accumulation of material that could be used to build atomic bombs.

Iran denies any such aim. Iran has tried for years to develop centrifuges more advanced than the erratic 1970s-vintage IR-1 machines it now runs, but deploying new models has been dogged by technical hurdles and difficulty in obtaining parts abroad. It is now pressing ahead with installing a more efficient version known as the IR-2m at its main enrichment plant near the central town of Natanz, according to the report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). It has also put in place another centrifuge type, the IR-5, for the first time at a research and development facility at Natanz, joining five others being tested there, the report issued to member states late on Wednesday said. The rapid installation of one of them, the IR-2m, at a Natanz production unit since it started earlier this year indicates that Iran can make such equipment, at least to some extent, despite tightening sanctions on the country.

Critics say Iran is trying to achieve the capability to make atomic arms. Iran denies this, saying it needs nuclear power for energy generation and medical purposes and that it is Israel’s reputed nuclear arsenal that threatens regional peace. Iran’s expansion of sensitive nuclear activity breaks UN resolutions and increases concerns about whether its nuclear program is entirely peaceful, the European Union said on Thursday, reacting to the IAEA’s findings. Pointing to the installation of advanced cen-

HIGH-LEVEL GRAFT In September 2011, two months after Tri-Star Caribbean was shuttered, Canada-based Tokmakjian Group, one of the most important Western trading firms in Cuba, was closed and its 73-year-old head, Cy Tokmakjian, also originally from Armenia and a Canadian citizen, was taken into custody.

Yacoubian had worked for Tokmakjian before founding TriStar to compete with his former employer in what became a bitter rivalry for Cuba’s automobile, motorized and heavy equipment market.

In October 2011, police also closed the Havana offices of the British investment and trading firm Coral Capital Group Ltd and arrested chief executive Amado Fakhre, a Lebaneseborn British citizen. Two months later police raided the offices of the powerful military-run Tecnotex trading company, taking its Cuban chief executive Fernando Noy away in handcuffs. Coral Capital’s chief operating officer, Stephen Purvis, was arrested in March 2012. Purvis is a British citizen. A number of other foreigners and Cubans who worked for the companies remain free but cannot leave the island because they are considered witnesses in the cases. Cuban officials and lawyers for the defendants could not be reached for comment. Soon after taking over for his ailing brother, Fidel, in 2008, President Castro established the comptroller general’s office with a seat on the ruling Council of State, even as he began implementing market-oriented economic reforms.

The measure marked the start of the anti-corruption campaign that uncovered high-level graft in several main areas, from the cigar, nickel and communications industries, to food processing and civil aviation. But foreign and Cuban businessmen say the foreign trade sector, which manages billions in purchases annually and is monopolized by a handful of state firms, is perhaps the most vulnerable to corruption. There is no open bidding in Cuba’s international trade sector and state purchasers who handle multimillion-dollar contracts earn just $50 to $100 per month. “You have people who do not make enough money to care for their families handing huge contracts. What do you expect?” a local state administration specialist said on condition of anonymity. “The trial, like the arrests, is aimed more at scaring Cubans then foreigners, but will prove only symbolic if the surrounding conditions do not change,” he said. —Reuters

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Iran installing advanced centrifuges trifuges and other developments in the Iranian nuclear program, an EU spokesman said it “further aggravates existing concerns”.

The IAEA report said 509 IR-2m centrifuges and empty centrifuge casings had been installed since February, bringing the total to nearly 700, none of which were yet operating. In addition, “preparatory installation work” has been completed for many more, it said. Centrifuges spin at supersonic speed to increase the fissile isotope in uranium. Iran said in March it was building 3,000 next-generation centrifuges to produce lowenriched uranium to fuel nuclear power plants. But uranium can also provide the fissile core of a nuclear bomb if enriched to a high level.

INCOMPLETE CENTRIFUGE INFORMATION If Iran can operate that many, a “dangerous threat would develop” as the time needed for a nuclear bomb breakout bid would drop significantly, said Cliff Kupchan, a director and Middle East analyst at risk consultancy Eurasia Group. “In addition, mastery of a faster machine would make use of a clandestine facility more attractive, as fewer machines and a smaller facility could be used to make a bomb,” he said.

But Kupchan and other experts said it was not yet known whether Iran could obtain component materials for thousands of new centrifuges and how well they would work. Whether Iran has “the resources or wherewithal” to deploy 3,000 IR-2m machines is unclear, said the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), a US think-tank. A Vienna-based diplomat familiar with Iran’s nuclear program said electrical and other connections were not yet in place, suggesting the launch of the IR-2m was not yet imminent. —Reuters

Gory killing stirs tension in poor corner of London LONDON: The gory killing of a British soldier at the hands of two suspected Islamist militants has shone a spotlight on Woolwich, the London district where it happened, stirring racial tensions in one of the most ethnically diverse parts of Britain. Tucked away inside a bend of the River Thames to the southeast of central London, Woolwich has changed as quickly as the British capital itself in the last 20 years as successive waves of immigrants attracted by the area’s cheaper housing have made it their home.

“We have worshippers from Africa and Asia, Somalia and Nigeria, you name it,” Saeed Omer, a Somali-born trustee at the local mosque said as a woman wearing a full-length black Islamic chador entered the building behind him.

Woolwich’s local mosque, a red-brick structure crowned by a golden dome on a busy road near the river, has found itself under uncomfortable scrutiny since the murder after one of the two assailants was filmed professing Islamist ideology. “How could this happen here?” a white woman in her 30s with a tattoo on her neck wearing a tracksuit shouted as she walked past the mosque.

“How could Muslims cut the head off a British soldier in broad daylight?”

Jabbing her finger at the mosque and at Omer, she added: “This place is part of it.” The woman then used an expletive to denounce Muslims and shouted a slogan in support of the farright nationalist English Defense League (EDL). More than 100 EDL activists converged on Woolwich on Wednesday night after the murder to protest against what they said was growing Islamisation, stoking government fears the killing could trigger revenge attacks against the local Muslim community.

Omer said he was “100 percent” sure that the two suspects, whose faces have been widely shown on TV, had not worshipped at his mosque and that they were not from the neighborhood.

“This is what we’re up against,” he said of the woman’s outburst.

“Islam teaches peace ... but all this is creating tension between communities. We saw the same after 7/7 and 9/11,” he added, referring to Islamist attacks on London and New York in July 2005 and September 2001.—Reuters

Business FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

European banks stop sending money to N Korea

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British economy returns to growth Page 22

JAKARTA: An Indonesian woman applies lipstick at a Wardah outlet, Indonesia’s Islamic brand cosmetic in Jakarta. —AFP

‘Hijabers’ buy into Islamic economy Call to rename Valentine’s Day to Hijab Day

JAKARTA: Indonesian event organizer Risti Rahmadi wears an Islamic headscarf, uses halal lipstick and knows that it’s time to pray when an app on her BlackBerry emits Quranic verses five times a day. The 37-year-old, who in her 20s would save up for the latest Guess clothes and Revlon make-up, now strictly buys products that show she is a proud Indonesian Muslim - and she hopes to persuade others to do the same.

She is a member of the “Hijabers Community”, an Islamic all-women business network which is part of a Muslim consumer boom jostling for market share with Western firms keen to take advantage of Indonesia’s strong growth. “I think Indonesia has become too Western,” said Rahmadi, who says her business has increasingly won clients who want to host Islamic events since she joined the Hijabers. “Younger Indonesians spend most of their time hanging out at malls, and they forget to pray.”

Many now share Rahmadi’s view that persuading a new class of consumers to buy Islamic is about more than just shopping habits - it is about combating a rising tide of Western influence that threatens to erode traditional Muslim values. They see Western consumerism as inextricably linked to a rash of imported social ills, from greater sexual promiscuity to increased alcohol consumption, and believe Islamic consumerism can be a counterweight.

Successful Islamic products range from celebrity preachers raking in money with live shows to RomantISLAM, a text-message service that gives relationship advice with Quranic references. Designers are increasingly coming up with clothing and jewelry with an Islamic twist, including pieces that rival high-end, imported goods from the likes of Chanel and

Louis Vuitton. In an affluent south Jakarta suburb, jewelry designer and “Hijaber” Reny Feby displays glittering $500 (385-euro) brooches that women can pin to their headscarves, and also has more expensive items such as a diamond ring for $50,000. “Fifteen years ago, no one wanted to buy my jewelry because it was seen as too Muslim, and I used ‘proudly made in Indonesia’ as my tagline,” said the 42-year-old, wearing orange beads and an electric-blue headscarf.

“But now Indonesians are proud to buy local and Islamic fashions, and the elite who buy my pieces use them as status symbols.” The rise in consumption is driven by the fast expansion of the middle class as Southeast Asia’s top economy booms, notching up growth of more than six percent annually in recent years. Annual per capita income has steadily risen in Indonesia from $890 in 2003 to around $3,000 in 2011, World Bank figures show - although millions still live in abject poverty.

A SHIFT TOWARDS CONSERVATISM As people’s spending power grows, they are literally “consuming” their Muslim faith “in a very tangible way”, according to Greg Fealy, an Indonesia expert at Australian National University in Canberra. “A lot of the pious Muslims in the middle class want to show to the people around them they’re living pious lifestyles - through their clothes, schools, the shopping they do and the books they read,” he said. While there was undoubtedly already a desire for products with a Muslim flavor, groups such as the 3,000-strong Hijabers hope to increase this trend.

The nationwide organization, which takes its name from the tradition-

al Islamic headscarf, promotes products such as Islamic jewelry and halal beauty products. They are in the vanguard of the campaign against Western consumerism, most visible in the ubiquitous shopping malls and chains such as Starbucks. The Hijabers protested this year against Valentine’s Day, which they believe is encouraging Muslim couples to be more physically affectionate in public. Inspired by a Pakistani movement to rename it Hijab Day, they handed out pamphlets in several cities instructing women on covering up.

Some of the Islamic consumption clearly fits with a shift towards a more conservative form of Islam that has been growing in Indonesia since the fall of dictator Suharto in 1998. Nevertheless, the overall picture remains complex and contradictory in a sprawling archipelago of more than 17,000 islands. Even as more people buy Islamic products, there has also been an explosion in the popularity of “dangdut” music, an Indonesian fusion of Arabic, Malay, Indian and Western pop notorious for its lewd lyrics and raunchy dance moves.

On the other hand, people are buying up properties in an Islamic housing complex just one kilometer from a concert venue on Jakarta’s outskirts, where pop stars such as Kylie Minogue and Justin Bieber have performed sold-out shows. The Bukit Az-Zikra complex, built around a mosque and study centre funded by slain Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, is a tobacco- and alcohol-free zone and those who live there must dress according to Islamic law. It aims to “compensate for modern life, business and routines that often make people indifferent and inattentive to religious values”, according to its website. —AFP

20

Business FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

Ford to halt car production in Australia MELBOURNE: Ford announced yesterday it would cease making vehicles at its unprofitable Australian plants in 2016 and axe 1,200 jobs, having produced its first car in the country in 1925. Ford Australia chief executive Bob Graziano made the announcement as he revealed losses of Aus$141 million (US$136 million) after tax in the last financial year and Aus$600 million over the last five years. “Unfortunately we will cease our manufacturing operations in October 2016.

As a result, approximately 1,200 jobs will become redundant when those sites close,” he said. Graziano said the decision was the result of local manufacturing being “driven by increasingly challenging market conditions-including market frag-

mentation and the high cost of manufacturing”.

Australia has annual sales of approximately 1.1 million new vehicles, and customers have access to more than 65 brands and 365 models. Graziano said this made Australia one of the most competitive and crowded automotive markets in the world. “Given the fragmented marketplace and the low model volumes that result, we decided that manufacturing locally is no longer viable,” he said, adding that all viable alternatives had been considered.

“Our costs are double that of Europe and nearly four times Ford in Asia,” he said.

“The business case simply did not stack up, leading us to the conclusion (that) manu-

facturing is not viable for Ford in Australia in the long-term.” The jobs will go at Ford’s Broadmeadows and Geelong factories in Victoria state, which will close. While manufacturing will stop, Ford will remain in Australia as an importer and dealer, employing some 1,500 people.

Australian Manufacturing Workers Union national president Paul Bastian said the news was a “disaster” for workers and a “tragedy” for the local and national economies. “We want the government to call a meeting of all the auto players,” he told Fairfax radio. “We want to take the positives out of this. We want bipartisan support to see what we can do to ensure that we have an auto industry, that we have an industry that is sustainable.”

Shares sink on US stimulus pullback Weak Chinese factory, euro-zone data add to concerns LONDON: Share markets fell sharply yesterday as investors piled back into safer assets, unnerved by the twin setbacks of unexpected weakness in China’s economy and signals that the US central bank may soon scale back its stimulus program.

The yen bounced sharply off recent lows and German Bunds rose, gaining support from a shift in sentiment that followed Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s comment that the bank may trim its bond purchases at one of its next policy meetings.

A surprise drop in Chinese factory activity in May, followed by data pointing to a second quarter economic contraction in the euro-zone, added to investors’ worries. The revived concerns about global growth sent Oil and copper prices lower, and MSCI’s world equity index fell 1.2 percent, putting it on course for its worst day of the month. Japan’s main Nikkei share index earlier plunged 7.3 percent, its biggest one-day percentage drop in two years and calling a halt to a rally driven by aggressive stimulus measures that the Bank of Japan unveiled in April.

“All the global developments we see in the markets right now are purely liquidity-driven, they are no longer underpinned by fundamentals,” said Tobias Blattner European Economist at Daiwa Capital Markets. “We must learn to live with that kind of volatility.” Europe’s broad FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was down 1.9 percent at 1,232.59 points, having closed at its highest since mid-June 2008 the previous day. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC-40 fell as much as 2.5 percent.

“The volatile response of equity indices to Fed Chairman Bernanke’s testimony underlines the challenges the Fed faces in communicating its policy intentions,” Ian Williams, equity strategist at Peel Hunt, said. The switch out of equities extended as initial reports on business activity in May in the 17-nation euro area showed the region headed for a second quarter slump - though the data could boost the chances of the European Central Bank cutting rates further at its next policy meeting in June.

YEN SOARS With Bernanke’s comments hitting the dollar, the yen rose more than 2 percent off a 4-1/2-year low to 100.93, and notched up a near two-week high against the euro, reaching around 129.94 yen. Bond markets showed a mixed reaction to the flurry of economic news. German bond futures gained support from the switch out of

equities, adding 35 ticks to 145.09, while Japanese and US government bond markets both saw sharp sell-offs.

The yield on the 10-year Japanese government bond touched a peak of 1.0 percent, its highest in over a year. In commodity markets the Chinese factory data added to concerns about the

outlook for global growth, sending Brent oil down to around $101.25 a barrel, down sharply from a 2013 high of $119.17 reached on Feb 8. Copper prices trading in London fell around 2.6 percent to $7,280 a ton as China is the world’s top consumer of the metal, accounting for 40 percent of refined demand. —Reuters

TOKYO: A man looks at a share prices board in Tokyo yesterday. Tokyo share prices plunged more than seven percent on May 23 on record volumes as investors panicked in the rush to take profit on weak Chinese data after months of sharp climbs. —AFP

Australia’s auto industry is struggling with the effects of the high local dollar, which has traded near or above parity with the greenback for almost two years, squeezing exports and compounding rising production costs.

Though Australia did not go into recession during the global financial crisis, domestic confidence has failed to return to pre-crisis levels, also hitting car sales.

Canberra extended a Aus$3.2 billion bailout to the ailing sector at the height of the global downturn and stepped in with additional lifelines to Ford and General Motors subsidiary Holden last year. Ford first began making vehicles in Australia in 1925, when Model T cars rolled off the production line in Geelong. —AFP

Gold rebounds on dollar, shares slide LONDON: Gold bounced back yesterday from the previous session’s losses as the dollar fell sharply and European shares dropped after weak Chinese factory activity added to concerns about a delayed recovery in the country. The flash HSBC Purchasing Managers’ Index in China for May slipped under the 50-point level separating expansion from contraction, for the first time since October. Spot gold rose 1.4 percent to $1,388.49 an ounce by 1013 GMT. US gold futures rose 1.5 percent to $1,387.70 an ounce.

“Expectation that China’s growth is perhaps not as strong as it was, the equity rally, which has wobbled a bit just in past few hours and dollar weakness are lending support to gold,” Mitsubishi analyst Jonathan Butler said. The dollar index fell 0.5 percent against a basket of currencies, mostly due to a twoweek high in the yen, while European shares fell on concerns over an end to quantitative easing in the United States and weak economic data from China.

Gold holds a traditional inverse relation with the dollar and a weaker greenback makes dollar-denominated commodities cheaper for holders of other currencies. The US currency however remains around 20 percent stronger on the year and is generally expected to retain some gains in the coming months as the country’s economy continues to improve. “Over the coming months the general trend is for a modest economic recovery in the developed markets and that’s going to fuel growth in the equity markets and the dollar,” Butler said.

“This, together with expectations of tightening quantitative easing, should see gold coming under pressure.” Spot bullion fell more than one percent on Wednesday after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said a decision to reduce the central bank’s $85 billion bond-buying program could be taken in the ‘next few meetings’ depending on whether the economy maintained momentum. “It seems the market is now squarely focusing on the September 17-18 FOMC meeting for the Fed to make its move,” ING said in a note.

Gold previously reached a one-week high at $1,414.25 an ounce as the Fed chairman’s prepared testimony to the Congress sounded more dovish. He said a premature tightening of monetary policy carried substantial risks to the economic recovery. The market is turning its attention towards US weekly jobless claims later in the day. The precious metal has fallen around 17 percent since the start of the year, as investors have generally fled to higher-yielding assets such as stocks. Holdings in SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchangetraded fund, fell 0.3 percent to 1,020.07 tons on Wednesday, the lowest in more than four years.

DEMAND CONCERNS Weaker economic data from China, which raises concerns over whether the country can sustain an economic revival this year, come at a time when physical gold demand in Asia has been normalizing. Traders saw record gold demand in price-sensitive physical markets like China and India after the metal fell to a more than two-year low of $1,321.35 an ounce on April 16. But that demand was now tapering off as jewelers had largely replenished their stocks and retail investors satisfied their needs, analysts said. Spot silver rose 1.6 percent to $22.56 an ounce, while platinum fell 0.5 percent to $1,458.24 an ounce and palladium lost 1.4 percent to $733.97 an ounce. —Reuters

Business FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

China urbanization plan hits roadblock BEIJING: China’s plan to spend $6.5 trillion on urbanization to bolster the economy is running into snags, sources close to the government said, as top leaders fear another spending binge could push up local debt levels and inflate a property bubble. Premier Li Keqiang has rejected an urbanization proposal drafted by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), seeking changes to put more emphasis on economic reform, according to the sources, who are familiar with the matter.

Many local authorities have already lobbied to get funding for projects, ringing alarm bells among top leaders in Beijing. State-owned China Development Bank recently pledged to lend 150 billion yuan ($24.47 billion) to southeastern Fujian province to support its urbanization and channel 30 billion yuan into urban projects in central Anhui province, according to Chinese media. “The urbanization plan could be delayed. Top leaders have seen potential risks if the program cannot be kept on the right path,” said an economist at a top think-tank which advises the cabinet. “The leadership aims to jumpstart reforms, but local governments see this in a different perspective - they view this as the last opportunity to boost investment,” said the economist who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the

issue. China plans to spend some 40 trillion yuan ($6.5 trillion) to bring 400 million people to its cities over the next decade as leaders such as Li try to sustain economic growth that slowed to a 13-year low of 7.8 percent in 2012. Li, the driving force behind urbanization, has turned more cautious following warnings from leading academics over the risks, said the think-tank sources who are involved in the policy discus-

sions. The NDRC is racing against the clock to amend the long-term plan in a bid to publish it by the end of June.

STIMULUS HANGOVER Beijing is still nursing a hangover from its 4 trillion yuan stimulus package launched in 2008 to counter the global financial crisis, which left local governments under a mountain of debt and sent house prices rocketing. To fund

BEIJING: People watch a robot dancing show during the China International High-Tech Expo in Beijing yesterday. Manufacturing activity in China contracted in May for the first time in seven months, HSBC said, in another sign of the weakness of recovery in the world’s second-largest economy. — AFP

the urbanization plan, local governments would issue long-term bonds to finance spending on roads, housing and social safety nets, Reuters reported in March, quoting sources with ties to the leadership.

But a fiscal overhaul is needed because local governments don’t have steady tax revenues to back the issuance of bonds. Under China’s tax structure, in place since 1994, the central government gets most receipts while local governments do the spending, forcing them to rely on land sales for survival.

To support the process, Beijing needed to overhaul its land and tax codes as well as free up the rigid residency registration, or “hukou”, system to give migrant workers access to education, health and other services where they work, experts have said. Li wanted more detail on these sorts of reforms in the plan, the sources said.

“The focus of the urbanization drive should be land and hukou reforms. It’s doomed if China continues to rely on local government spending to support urbanization,” said Yi Xianrong, senior economist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), a leading government think-tank in Beijing. Ratings agency Fitch estimates local government debt at 13 trillion yuan, or a quarter of GDP. Government data puts the number at 10.7 trillion yuan. —Reuters

Sanctions hit N Korean foreign exchange bank European banks stop sending money to N Korea BEIJING: European aid groups said their banks in Europe had stopped sending money to North Korea in the wake of US sanctions on Pyongyang’s main foreign exchange bank, leaving them scrambling for a solution short of hand-carrying cash into the impoverished country. Aid groups said if it became impossible to send enough money to operate, donors might withdraw support for their programs. “This could eventually reduce our ability to carry out projects or even force a complete close down,” Mathias Mogge, director of programs for German aid group Welthungerhilfe, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

“If all the agencies had to pull out, it would affect millions of people,” said Mogge, who has just returned from the reclusive state. The biggest problem had been the Bank of China’s recent decision to shut the account of the North’s Foreign Trade Bank, EU officials and non-governmental organizations said. Money to North Korea was routed through China’s biggest foreign exchange bank, they said. Chinese firms doing business in North Korea said they were also finding it difficult because Chinese banks were becoming increasingly reluctant to deal with their North Korean counterparts, whether it was the Foreign Trade Bank or other banks. Washington imposed sanctions on the Foreign Trade Bank in March after accusing it of helping fund Pyongyang’s banned nuclear weapons program.

The measures prohibit any transactions between US entities or individuals and the bank. Experts have said Washington’s move

was designed to make international banks that do business in the United States think twice about dealing with North Korea, in much the same way banks have become wary about having ties with financial institutions in sanctions-hit Iran. All NGOs, UN agencies and embassies in Pyongyang have to use the Foreign Trade Bank, aid workers and other officials have said. One EU source said there were indications some European embassies in Pyongyang were having similar difficulties with transferring funds. A representative for UN agencies in Pyongyang did not have any immediate comment. US officials have urged the European Union to put sanctions on the bank. EU diplomats have discussed the issue but are worried about the impact.

“We are concerned regarding possible unintended effects of certain sanctions such as the designation of the FTB, in particular with regard to humanitarian assistance, and we are looking into possible means to overcome the unintended effects,” said a spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. One source familiar with the matter said a possibility being examined

by EU officials was to issue a so-called “letter of comfort” which would explicitly say funding was for humanitarian and development use. The idea is this would provide cover for a bank to make a transaction, said the source, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue.

‘CASH RUN’ TO CHINA French NGO Triangle Generation

Humanitaire said its French bank would no longer send funds for its operating expenses even though the EU had not yet imposed sanctions, said Anne Trehondart, desk officer in charge of Asia for the group.

“According to the sanctions, it’s not forbidden. This makes plain that some banks are just reluctant to transfer money there,” said Trehondart, declining to name the French bank. A representative from another European NGO, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter, said he had “little hope” that a recent money transfer would reach North Korea. He declined to name the group’s European bank.

The only alternative would be to send an expatriate employee on a “cash run” from China to North Korea - a limited option because Chinese customs only allow foreigners to take a few thousand dollars out of the country at a time, he said. Most of the limited number of flights to North Korea originate in China. Six European NGOs have offices in North Korea.

American NGOs work in North Korea but none have a permanent office in the country. Aid groups in North Korea work to alleviate poverty and malnutrition as well as the impact of natural disasters.

BANK OF CHINA MOVE A BIG STEP The Bank of China announced it was shutting the Foreign Trade Bank account earlier this month. It gave no reason for the move. “So far all our bank accounts with North Korea have been channeled through

the Bank of China. This option is closed now for us,” said Simone Pott, a spokeswoman for Welthungerhilfe. Welthungerhilfe said routine transfers amounting to 300,000 euros ($386,300) had been blocked in recent weeks and attempts to use other international banks had also failed because of the US sanctions.

The Bank of China decision was the first significant step taken by a Chinese entity to curb dealings with North Korea following growing international pressure to punish Pyongyang over its banned nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Washington had raised the issue of the Foreign Trade Bank with China, although Beijing has not commented publicly on the matter. Japan has imposed sanctions on the bank and Australia is expected to follow suit. The latest UN sanctions on North Korea don’t mention the bank, but say all countries should freeze or block any financial transaction or service that could assist Pyongyang’s illicit activities. China has become increasingly frustrated with North Korea. It agreed to the new UN sanctions after Pyongyang conducted its third nuclear test in February. The US Treasury Department has said it had no intention of hindering aid work in North Korea, although NGOs say this is precisely what is starting to happen. “We will work through any concerns that arise related to purchases of humanitarian goods, but it is critically important that we isolate FTB for its facilitation of proliferation activities,” a Treasury official said, repeating an earlier statement on the matter. —Reuters

Business FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

IMF’s Lagarde: global star threatened by court case WASHINGTON: Christine Lagarde smashed the glass ceiling at one of the world’s preeminent institutions when she was named two years ago to lead the International Monetary Fund, capping a shooting-star career. She then led the IMF’s tentatively successful efforts to halt the implosion of the eurozone and-not coincidentally-helped the Fund get past the embarrassing sex scandal left by her predecessor Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

But one key act when she was French finance minister in 2007-2008 - not preventing a huge state payout to controversial tycoon Bernard Tapie-threatens to mar that record and possibly cut short her career on the global stage. A French court was to determine Thursday whether Lagarde should be charged over the Tapie case for complicity in fraud and misappropriation of public funds.

A steady career climb to the top of global finance has long made the deep-

tanned, silver-haired Lagarde a French standout. Now 57, she was born in Paris to academic parents and brought up in the port city of Le Havre. As a teenager she was a synchronized swimming champion and learned to speak nearly flawless English. After earning a law degree, she skipped a French establishment career and instead joined the Paris office of prestigious US legal consulting giant Baker & McKenzie.

Over 18 years she pushed her way up to become chairwoman of the company’s global executive committee in 1999, a first for the firm, and then of its global strategy committee in 2004. She then embraced politics, in June 2005 joining the government of President Jacques Chirac as trade minister. Two years later Chirac’s successor Nicolas Sarkozy named her agriculture minister, and shortly after switched her to the finance portfolio. Though no economist, she proved deft at dealing with the erupting financial crisis that would

threaten euro-zone unity. In 2011, with France in charge of the G20 group of the world’s largest economies, she became the pointwoman on efforts to combat the effects of the crisis and reform the global financial system. That record underpinned her being chosen ahead of strong emerging economy rivals to be IMF managing director after Strauss-Kahn was forced to resign in May 2011. At the IMF, she played a crucial role in renegotiating the second Greek bailout and worked hard to contain the fallout from rescues in Portugal, Ireland, and Cyprus.

Both a tough negotiator and a determined consensus-builder, she didn’t hesitate to cross swords with the very officials she was working closely with in her previous job, even criticizing her successor as finance minister, Pierre Moscovici, of being asleep during one Cyprus crisis meeting. “There are many instances of Lagarde’s courageous truth-telling,” said economist Desmond

EU wants big companies to reveal national tax bills New disclosure rules could be in place by 2015 BRUSSELS: Europe’s top regulatory official is seeking to force large companies to disclose how much tax they pay in each country where they operate, a measure some politicians say could curb tax avoidance. Michel Barnier, the European commissioner in charge of drafting business regulation, said in a speech in Amsterdam that rules which will force banks to report their profits, taxes and subsidies by country from 2015 should be extended to cover other companies. “We will expand these reporting obligations to large companies and groups,” he said yesterday.

Corporate tax avoidance has become a big international political issue over the last year and was given new impetus this week by a US Senate report into Apple Inc. The report said Apple, a multinational business, paid little or no tax on tens of billions of dollars in profits channeled through Irish subsidiaries that were tax resident in no country. The extent to which Apple had avoided taxes had not been made public because companies do not have to report revenues, profits or taxes on a national basis.

Apple said it pays all the tax due in every country where it operates. Tax campaigners, who have been emboldened by public anger at media reports of widespread corporate tax avoidance at a time of austerity, say naming and shaming low tax payers will deter avoidance. US coffee chain Starbucks agreed to pay an additional 20 million pounds in UK tax last year, after a Reuters investigation showed it assured investors the country was a profitable market after telling tax authorities its operations there lost money.

Big business is strongly opposed to country-by-country reporting which companies say would impose unreasonable administrative burdens. It could be made law by simply amending the existing proposal on non-financial reporting, one European Union official said. That would make it possible to introduce the rules by 2015, subject to negotiations between member states and the European Parliament to finalize any new legislation. The EU agreed earlier this year to force European banks to report profit on a country-by-country basis as part of measures to ensure they hold enough capital.

The US and EU have also agreed to force mining and oil companies to publish tax and other payments to resourcerich nations, to reduce corruption. Denmark already publishes information on big companies’ tax payments, tax advisers said. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an international advisory body,

PAMPLONA: The hands of Virgilio, 46-years old of Lithuania, who was working on the construction of buildings in Spain and one more of unemployed since three years ago, rests on his knees, while he begs for alms, with a sign reading: “Without home. Without nothing”, in Pamplona, northern Spain yesterday. — AP has said the practice of companies shifting profits out of countries where they are earned into tax havens was growing. The G20 group of leading economies has asked the OECD to consider proposals to tackle the problem and the think tank is due to issue a report in July.

Prime Minister David Cameron has said corporate tax avoidance will be discussed at the annual summit of the Group of Eight leading industrial economies, which Britain is hosting next month in Northern Ireland. —Reuters

Lachman, a former IMF official. At the same time, she has skillfully managed the shifting currents of power in the Fund, where emerging giants like China are challenging the Europe-USdominated status quo. She has also fashioned herself as an icon to talented women fighting male dominance in large organizations like the IMF. At the same time, the divorced mother of two sons, now in a relationship with her seldom-seen former schoolmate, Marseille businessman Xavier Giocanti, keeps her feelings and personal life hidden beneath a hard shell. Though a smooth talker, she at times has drawn accusations of aloofness. While a minister, she told French complaining about high fuel prices to ride their bicycles. The vegetarian still pushes herself hard in the pool, damaging her knee in workouts last year. “I think in a previous life I must have been a dolphin,” she told The Wall Street Journal. — AFP

Britain’s economy returns to growth LONDON: Britain’s economy expanded by 0.3 percent in the first quarter of 2013, official data confirmed yesterday, returning to growth and avoiding its third recession since the 2008 global financial crisis. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew in the January-March period, after falling by 0.3 percent in the final three months of 2012, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement yesterday. That still left the economy essentially flat over the past six months, but it did avoid entering recession-which is defined as two quarters running of shrinking economic activity.

The unchanged reading was in line with market expectations. “UK gross domestic product in volume terms was estimated to have increased by 0.3 percent between the fourth quarter of 2012 and the first quarter of 2013, unrevised from the previous publication,” the ONS said. The economy grew 0.6 percent in the January-March period compared with the first quarter of 2012. That was also unchanged from the previous estimate and in line with forecasts.

Output was boosted by a strong services sector, which grew by 0.6 percent in the first quarter, despite heavy snow across Britain. The services sector, which makes up about three-quarters of the economy, has now grown every quarter since the end of 2009. The ONS added that “there was little evidence of the bad weather having a significant effect on the services industry” during the first three months of this year.

Added to the mix, strong oil and gas production from the North Sea also helped the economy to avoid a potential triple-dip recession.

However, the data was published one day after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) declared that Britain was “a long way” from a sustainable economic recovery.

In a gloomy report, the IMF also called for the government to boost infrastructure spending in order to accelerate economic growth and offset state austerity. The IMF repeated its call for British finance minister George Osborne to ease the coalition government’s austerity drive, despite his insistence last week that he would stick by his deficit-slashing measures. “The key risk is that persistent slow growth could permanently damage medium-term growth prospects,” the IMF said. “After five years of relatively weak activity, additional measures are needed to raise long-term expectations of potential growth, while rebalancing necessitates a transformation to a high-investment and more exportoriented economy,” it added. —AFP

FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

THEY ARE THE 99!

99 Mystical Noor Stones carry all that is left of the wisdom and knowledge of the lost civilization of Baghdad. But the Noor Stones lie scattered across the globe - now little more than a legend. One man has made it his life’s mission to seek out what was lost.

His name is Dr. Ramzi Razem and he has searched fruitlessly for the Noor Stones all his life. Now, his luck is about to change - the first of the stones have been rediscovered and with them a special type of human who can unlock the gem’s mystical power.

Ramzi brings these gem - bearers together to form a new force for good in the world.

A force known as ... the 99!

THE FASCINATING STORY OF THE 99 The Story So Far: Noora and Baseer respond to a call from Hafiz, in Brazil, and encounter a grotesque monster terrorizing people in the Amazon rainforest. When they investigate, they discover the monster is actually a light-illusion cast by a new

Visit the99kids.com for free games featuring THE 99!

costumed villainess…

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The 99 ® and all related characters ® and © 2013, Teshkeel Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

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THE99Comics

26

Opinion FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

Crackdown on Salafists tests Tunisia’s stability Rupture raises risk of fuelling armed radicals in N Africa

By Tarek Amara

F

or the first time since the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011, relations between mainstream Islamists in government and radical Salafist Muslim activists have reached breaking point, sparking deadly clashes in two Tunisian cities. The rupture between the Ennahda party, the Tunisian arm of the Muslim Brotherhood which governs in coalition with secular parties, and the Ansar al-Sharia movement could have ramifications across north Africa, potentially fuelling armed insurrection in Tunisia and neighbouring Algeria.

Clashes between police and Ansar supporters on Sunday in which one person was killed and dozens wounded highlighted the rise of fundamentalist Salafist groups in the nascent North

in it becoming larger-scale.”

While many Salafists were jailed under the authoritarian rule of former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, they have benefited from the freedom created by the revolution that toppled him in Jan 2011. Ansar al-Sharia is the most radical Islamist group to emerge in what was long one of the most secular Arab countries. It poses a test to the authority of the moderate Islamist-led government and to the stability of Tunisia, a country of 11 million. Zelin estimated that the movement, which is not officially registered, has at least 20,000 activists and is gaining support fast among young people disenchanted with Ennahda’s failure to anchor Islamic sharia law in the constitution, and alienated by unemployment and lack of economic opportunity.

Ansar’s spokesman, Saif Eddine Rais, said last

“Salafists have felt targeted and this has only added to their frustration,” said Alaya Allani, a specialist on Islamist groups. “These events are slowing (Tunisia’s) democratic transition and delaying the recovery from an economic crisis.”

A smaller, more moderate Salafist party, Hezb Ettahrir, had condemned the violence.

Tunisia was the first country to stage an “Arab Spring” uprising, inspiring similar revolutions in Egypt and Libya. It has since sought to ease economic and financial problems. The Salafists, who model their lifestyle on Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and his companions, seek a broader role for religion in public life, alarming a secular elite which fears this could undermine individual freedoms, women’s rights and democracy. In a sign they do not recognise the state, protesters on Sunday burned Tunisian flags and in some

Protesters clash with Tunisian security on May 19, 2013 in Ettadhamen, a poor neighbourhood 15 km west of Tunis, after Salafist movement Ansar Al-Sharia told its followers to gather “in large numbers” near Tunis for its annual congress, defying a government ban. —AFP African democracy, empowered by a new atmosphere of freedom. The violence erupted after the government banned an annual preaching rally in the central city of Kairouan, a historic centre of Islamic learning, and other towns. A young man was killed in the Ettadamen district of the capital Tunis.

“It seems like Ennahda have finally put their foot down, but that shouldn’t be applauded because over the last two years they have tolerated the growth of Salafism and done nothing about it,” said Aaron Zelin, an expert on Tunisia at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

“There is likely to be more confrontation in the short to medium term. There could be a cycle of low-level conflict, but neither side has an interest

week the group had “tens of thousands” of supporters. Easy to recognise in their bright orange vests, its followers engage in proselytising and charity work, providing food, medicines and community support in areas where the state is often absent. The clashes were not the first bout of fighting between Salafists and police.

However this time, the government showed its determination to crack down on the radicals as it deployed mass force to prevent the public meeting.

The standoff came as the army pursued dozens of suspected Al-Qaeda-linked militants near the western border with Algeria. The government accuses Ansar al-Sharia of links to AlQaeda, although the Salafists dispute this.

places replaced them with a black banner in support of Al-Qaeda. Chants included “The rule of the tyrant must fall” and “Join the Muslim army“.

Ansar al-Sharia, whose fugitive leader Saifallah Benahssine - also known as Abu Iyadh is a former Al-Qaeda fighter in Afghanistan, is seeking to establish an Islamic state in Tunisia and says democracy is blasphemous. At a news conference ahead of the planned rally, spokesman Rais said: “Now we have institutions, the structure and we are preparing ourselves to apply the law of God in Tunisia. We will only take part in elections if only Islamists can participate.”

Rais was arrested in Kairouan on Sunday and Ansar al-Sharia has called for protests on Friday to demand his release, possibly setting up anoth-

er round of clashes.

In September, thousands of Salafists attacked the US embassy. Four people were killed in the disturbances, which began as a protest over a film that mocked Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

Benahssine has been in hiding since then.

Salafists have also attacked cinemas and wine vendors, picketed secular cultural events and universities, and burned Sufi Muslim shrines. But so far there have been few arrests despite pressure from the United States and former colonial power France. Police also blame a Salafist who is on the run for the assassination of secular opposition politician Chokri Belaid on Feb 6, which provoked the biggest street protests in Tunisia since the overthrow of Ben Ali. The latest crackdown came after the army said 10 Tunisian soldiers were wounded near the Algerian border in mine explosions in the Jebel Chaambi mountain region where Islamist militants are said to be setting up a training camp. In the past few months, police have found large caches of weapons in Tunis and other cities and arrested 16 militants who they said were seeking to establish an Islamic state. Prime Minister Ali Larayedh said on Saturday Ansar al-Sharia was linked to terrorism, although the authorities have produced no proof. The same day, the regional arm of Al-Qaeda issued a statement urging the group to defy the crackdown.

Many Tunisians say they fear for their peace and civil liberties if radical groups become too powerful. “The revolution gave Salafists freedom and they want to impose their way by force,” said Alia Sassi, 24, who works in a travel agency.

“There is a real fear jihadis will pass onto bombings. We want to live in peace, we don’t want our country to become a new Afghanistan.”

Ennahda faces a balancing act. If it arrests more Salafists and forces Ansar al-Sharia underground, it could drive more young Tunisians towards violence, harming the economy and alienating its own more conservative wing.

Ennahda’s veteran moderate leader Rachid Ghannouchi left the door ajar last week, saying: “I am always for dialogue with the Salafists if they don’t carry arms and want to talk, but there can be no dialogue now with terrorists who are carrying arms in Jebel Chaambi.”

Diplomats say neighbouring Algeria, which fought a decade-long civil war with Islamists in the 1990s in which more than 150,000 people died, is deeply concerned and has reinforced army units at the Tunisian border. “Algeria is clearly very worried and feels almost a siege mentality,” Zelin said, noting that the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya in 2011 and French military intervention against Al-Qaedaaffiliated Islamist rebels in Mali this year had increased the flow of weapons and fighters onto its soil.

Paradoxically, Egypt’s Salafists have taken the opposite direction to their Tunisian counterparts. All the main radical Islamist movements, including those involved in armed struggle in the 1990s and the assassination of former President Anwar Sadat, have renounced violence and joined the political system, and none has lent support to Al-Qaeda militants operating in the lawless Sinai peninsula.

Indeed, the largest Egyptian Salafist group, the Nour party, is seeking to project itself as more democratic and open than the ruling Muslim Brotherhood. —Reuters

FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013 www.kuwaittimes.net

A performer participates in the X anniversary celebration of the El Salvador Museum of Art in San Salvador, El Salvador, on May 22, 2013. El Salvador Museum of Art was founded in 2003. — AFP

Food FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

“A great introduction to culture is their cuisine. It not only reflects their evolution, but also their beliefs and traditions” — Vikas Khanna

M

any Indian restaurants around the globe till late nineties are influenced by North Indian Cuisine. Indian restaurant cuisine has been influenced by Indian chefs who have migrated from north of India specially Punjabi style restaurants. They created a fusion of the two great cuisines-the local and the home bought Indian cuisine by adopting cream sauces in their Indian recipes.

North Indian cuisine is distinguished by the proportionally high use of dairy products; milk, paneer, ghee (clarified butter), and yoghurt are all common ingredients. Gravies are typically dairy-based. Other common ingredients include chilies, saffron, and nuts.

The Mughal influence has resulted in meat-eating habits among many North Indians. Also, a variety of flours are used to make different types of breads like chapathis. rotis, phulkas, puris and naan. North Indian cooking features the use of the “tawa” (griddle) for baking flat breads like roti and paratha, and “tandoor” (a large and cylindrical charcoal-fired oven) for baking breads such as naan, and kulcha; main courses like tandoori chicken also cook in the tandoor. Other breads like puri and bhatoora, which are deep fried in oil, are also common. Goat and lamb meats are favored ingredients of many northern Indian recipes.

The samosa is a popular North Indian snack, and now commonly found in other parts of India, Central Asia, North America, Britain and the Middle East. A common variety is filled with boiled, fried, or mashed potato. Other fillings include minced meat, cheese (paneer), mushroom (khumbi), and chick pea. North Indian curries usually have thick, moderately spicy and creamy gravies. The use of dried fruits and nuts is fair-

ly common even in everyday foods. Dairy products like milk, cream, cottage cheese, ghee (clarified butter) and yoghurt play an important role in the cooking of both savory and sweet dishes. Thanks to the fact that such a rich variety of fruit and vegetable is available at all times of the year, the region produces a dazzling array of vegetarian dishes.

Vegetable oils like sunflower and canola are used mostly while preparing a North Indian dish. Mustard oil is rarely used. Ghee is normally reserved for special occasion cooking. Coriander, cumin, dry red chilies, turmeric, chili powder, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, garam masala and aniseed/fennel are some very common ingredients used. Mutter Paneer (a curry made with cottage cheese and peas), biryani, pulaos, daal makhani, dahi gosht, butter chicken, chicken tikka, fish amritsari, samosas (snack with a pastry case with different kinds of fillings), chaat (hot-sweet-sour snack made with potato, chick peas and tangy chutneys) and motichoor laddoo. Mughlai and Kashmiri styles of cooking used while preparing a north indian dish.

They are not just prevalent but are also popular.

The staple food of most of North India is a variety of lentils, vegetables, and roti (wheat based bread).

The varieties used and the method of preparation can vary from place to place. Popular snacks, side-dishes and drinks include mirchi bada, buknu, bhujiya, chaat, kachori, imarti, several types of pickles (known as achar), murabba, sharbat, aam panna and aam papad.

Popular sweets are known as mithai (means sweetmeat in Hindi), such as gulab jamun, jalebi, peda, petha, rewadi, gajak, bal mithai, singori, kulfi, falooda, khaja, ras malai, gulkand, and several varieties of laddu, barfi and halwa.

When it comes to appetizers, samosa, bhajiya or pakora, lamb kebab, chicken or paneer tikka are common in the North Indian menu. Samosa is a triangular pastries filled with vegetables, subtly flavored with spices and exotic herbs, served with mint/yogurt chutney bhajiya or pakora are slices of onion spiced and coated with chick pea flour batter, deep fried to a golden brown, served with mint/yogurt chutney.

Lamb kebab is lamb chops sprinkled with ginger/gar-

lic extract, mildly seasoned, marinated and cooked over charcoals, served with mint/yogurt chutney.

Chicken or paneer tikka is succulent boneless breast chicken pieces or paneer, marinated in yogurt and spices, cooked in the tandoor oven until tender, served with mint/yogurt chutney. Seek Kebab is minced lamb, marinated with garlic/ginger and exotic spices, skewered and cooked in the tandoori oven, served with mint/yogurt chutney.

Vegetarian Entrees include vegetable jalfrezi, paneer kofta, palak paneer, dum aloo. Vegetable jalfrezi is seasonal vegetables tossed in butter and mildly seasoned with cumin seed, turmeric and cayenne pepper. Paneer kofta are koftas of homemade creamy cheese ground with vegetables, mixed with nuts and raisins, deep-fried, served in a creamy sauce.

Palak paneer is homemade cottage cheese, deepfried and cooked in fresh pureed spinach, mildly spiced. Dum aloo are small potatoes, exotically flavored with fresh herbs and fresh ground spices, sautÈed and cooked in yogurt sauce garnished with chopped coriander leaves dal makhani - lentils cooked on slow fire with butter until tender, mildly spiced & complimented with fresh herbs.

Meat dishes include lamb roganjosh which is a rich lamb curry from Kashmir delicately flavored with exotic spices chicken tikka, succulent pieces of chicken marinated in exotic spices, cooked in the Tandoori oven, finished with tomato, cream and butter sauce.

Some North Indian side dishes include basmati rice, peas pilau, with fresh peas, vegetable pilau, with mixed vegetables, tandoori breads - plain naan, garlic naan roti, cheese and onion kulcha alu paratha - potato and herb paratha lacchader - “flaky” side condiments and raitas: tomato and onion “kachumber” sal-

Food FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

ad cucumber and yogurt raita” , sweet mango “chutney” mango, lime and chili pickles. North Indian cuisine has some typical features that are interesting.

There are popular things like buknu, gujhiya, chaat. daal ki kachauri. Jalebi, imarti, several types of pickles (known as achar), murabba, sharbat. Pana. Aam papad, Poha-Jalebi (from Indore).

There are several popular sweets (mithai) like mallai ki gillori, khurchan (from Mathura), petha (from Agra), rewdi (from Lucknow), gajak (from Meerut), milk cake (from Alwar), falooda, khaja (from Aligarh), ras malai. gulab jamun, laddu, barfi, halwa, gul qand. balusahi. A typical North Indian jneai would consist of chappatis, parantha or poons (unleavened flat breads), pilafs, dais, curries that are mild and made in ghee, thick, creamy dais, vegetables seasoned with yogurt or pomegranate powder, lots of greens like spinach and mustard greens cooked with paneer. Hot, sweet cardamom milk is very common before going to bed. North Indian desserts and sweets are made of miik, paneer, lentil flour and wheat flour combined with dried nuts and garnished with a thin sheet of pure silver. Nimbu pani (lemon drink), lassi (iced buttermilk) are popular drinks of the North.

Tandoori cooking is a North Indian specialty and famous all over the world. Tandoori chicken, naan, tandoori roti, tandoori kebabs are a hit in most Indian restaurants. Northern Indian cuisine has the following main schools of cooking: Kashmiri. Punjabi.

Rajasthani, Marwari, Gharwal and Pahari, UP, Awadh or Luchnawi.

Kashmiri cuisine evolved in the valley several centuries ago and in course of time absorbed some of the

delectable elements of the Mughal art of cooking and thus enriched, acquired a personality of its own. A distinctive feature of Kashmiri food is the generous use of yoghurt in their gravies; the flavours of asafetida. aniseed, and dry ginger for pungency and saffron for the pulaos. Kashmiri food can be both a simple meal or a 36-course wazawan where the nost commonly served items are rista (meat balls), tabak maz (flat pieces of meat cut from the ribs) rogan josh that takes on the colour of the Kashmiri chilies, yakhni (a yoghurt based preparation with a delicate flavour) and the classic gushtaba (pounded meat balls cooked in a yoghurt gravy). For the vegetarians there are aloo dum, chaman or fried paneer and haq saag. The meal concludes with kahva or green tea. The ‘piece de resistance’ is the wazwan, the traditional 24-course banquet with many cooking ways and varieties of meat - some in curry, some dry, some pounded in various sizes. Guests share the meal out of “a large metal plate called the trami: The meal begins with a ritual washing of hands at a basin called the tash-t-nari, which”is taken around by attendants - Seefch kababs of 4 varieties - methi korma, tabak maaz, safed murg and zafrani murg, and the first few courses. Seven dishes are a must for these occasions - rista, rogan josh, tabak maaz, daniwal korma, aab gosht, marchwangan korma and gushtaba.

When it comes to Rajasthani food gram flour or besan is a major ingredient here and is used to make some of the delicacies like khata, gatte ki sabzi and pakodi. Powdered lentils are used for mangodi and papad. Bajra and corn are used all over the state for preparations of rabdi, khichdi and rotis. Sweets include laddoos, malpuas, jalebies, rasogullgs, mishri mawa. mawa katchori, sohan halwa, mawa and many.

Awadh style of cooking is world famous for its tender meat dishes and excellent sweets. The Nawabs of Awadh (now Lucknow) were great gourmets and encouraged their master chefs to create new styles of cooking thus the bawarchis of Awadh transformed the traditional dastarkhwan embroidered or white tablecloth laid on carpets or a low table) with elaborate dishes like kababs, kormas, nahari-kulchas, zarda, roomali rotis and warqi parathas.

Sarson ka saag originates from Punjab. This dish of mustard greens simmered and slow cooked over coals along with rajma, kali ma or lentils and served in dhabas or roadside stalls which many say has the best food in Northern India. The dishes are served with unleavened bread of cornmeal or wheat and a dollop of butter or with steamed basmati rice. Punjabi cuisine can be non-vegetarian or completely vegetarian.

The level of spices can vary from minimal to very prevalent. One of the main features of Punjabi cuisine is its diverse range of dishes. Home cooked and restaurant Punjabi cuisine can vary significantly, with restaurant style using large amounts of clarified butter, known locally as desi ghee, with liberal amounts of butter and cream while home cooked food concentrates mainly upon wheat masalas (spice) flavourings.

North Indian garam masala which translates to “hot blend” is a word that is often used in an Indian kitchen. It is a blend of several spices. It is the most important blend and an absolute essential to North Indian preparations, added just before serving the dish to enhance its flavor. Garam masala is a blend of cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and black pepper.

Masala may be in dry, roasted ground or paste form.

Each state in India has its own blend and each family is partial to their own blend and each cook is partial to his blend which may be many and which change daily. South India has a wonderful blend of wet spices

where the spices are ground with various combinations of spices, fresh herbs and nuts.

North Indian curries and dry vegetables are mostly flavored with whole cumin seeds. Cumin is considered to have digestive properties and is also considered to have cooling properties. Cummin Black, kala zeera, siyah zeera are grown in Europe, Mexico and Kashmir and are used whole to flavour curries and pulaos and in garam masala while Cummin White or Sufaid Zeera is a variety commonly used in flavouring curries, dais, vegetables. It is roasted and powdered to flavour raita. a preparation with yoghurt to which fresh, diced vegetables like tomatoes, cucumber have been added; and as the base for a chutney powder. In summer, a popular cooling drink jaljeera (jeera water) is traditionally served in small teracotta cups (mutkainas) with a cube of ice and a mint leaf.

North Indian curries usually have thick, moderately spicy and creamy gravies. The use of dried fruits and nuts is fairly common even in everyday foods. Dairy products like milk, cream, cottage cheese, ghee (clarified butter) and yoghurt play an important role in the cooking of both savory and sweet dishes. North Indians seem to prefer Indian breads over rice, if the rich variety is anything to go by. This region is home to the tandoori roti and naans (bread made in a clay tandoor oven), stuffed paratha (flaky Indian bread with different kinds of vegetarian and non-vegetarian fillings) and kulchas (bread made from fermented dough). Rice is also popular and made into elaborate biryanis and pulaos (pilafs).

Cooking oils used are mostly vegetable oils like sunflower and canola. Mustard oil is rarely used and only in some states of the region. Ghee is normally reserved for special occasion cooking. Important spices and ingredients are coriander, cumin, dry red chilies, turmeric, chilli powder, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, garam masala, aniseed/fennel, etc. Popular dishes include mutter paneer (a curry made with cottage cheese and peas), biryani, pulaos, daal makhani, dahi gosht, butter chicken, chicken tikka, fish amritsari, samosas (snack with a pastry case with different kinds of fillings), chaat (hot-sweet-sour snack-.made with potato, chick peas and tangy chutneys) motichoor laddoo. Butter Chicken is among the best known Indian foods all over the world. Its creamy gravy can be made as hot or mild as you like. Rogan Josh, the name may sound fiery but as the proverb says, its bark is worse than its bite. Fish amritsari is basically a fried fish which is a great appetizer or side dish. Mutter paneer is a delicately flavored paneer (cottage cheese) teamed with peas, in a tangy gravy.

Rajma (red kidney bean curry) is served with plain boiled rice, Kachu”mbar salad and your favourite pickle. Chole (chickpea curry) is served with pooris/bhatooras (fried Indian bread).Kheer (rice pudding) is a creamy rice pudding is delicately flavored with cardamom and is full of nuts. It’s a great dessert for anytime of the year.

Tr a v e l FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

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n July 1863, the 2,400 residents of Gettysburg had little time to prepare for 170,000 Confederate and Union soldiers who advanced on the town. The soldiers clashed in a three-day battle that would paint its streets and pastoral farmlands crimson in the bloodiest encounter of the Civil War. Today, the town of 8,000 braces for another invasion of as many as 70,000 Americans on July 1, 2 and 3 and a predicted 200,000 during the 150th observance of the Battle of Gettysburg June 28 to July 7. Officials and residents are working hard to be ready for the onslaught.

and county events including the two major re-enactments, a new downtown Gettysburg Independence Day parade and Cashtown’s three-day observance of Lee’s Approach to Gettysburg. It also will cover satellite parking, shuttle routes for the 10-day observance, restroom locations and places to eat.

The printed version will be available at the Convention & Visitors Bureau office and its tourist information tents in town and at satellite parking locations. Although printing isn’t scheduled until midJune, you can download a complete, calendar-style listing of all the 200-plus events for the 10-day observance.

Reading the guides’ information will serve as a printed version of reveille. It’s your wake-up call to the challenges to be faced when deciding which events to attend. “Don’t arrive without a room, if you intend to stay overnight,” says Carl Whitehill, Gettysburg Convention & Visitors bureau spokesman.

Most hotels in Gettysburg already are booked. “The best way to connect with available hotels is to call us at 800-337-5015,” Whitehall says. “We’re keeping a list, so visitors won’t have to make so many calls.” He reported some vacancies in Adams County in early May, but many visitors will wind up in York, Dauphin and Cumberland counties, or even in nearby Maryland.

Day-trippers shouldn’t have any worries, Whitehill says.

Approach Gettysburg via routes 15 or 30 and you’ll encounter electronic signs directing you to satellite parking lots. “Leave your car behind and take free transportation into Gettysburg,” Whitehill advises. “At the in-town depot, you can board trolleys for most of the commemoration’s key observances.”

You will need your car, however, if you’re planning to attend one of the major re-enactments staged on the Bushey or Redding farms.

Ample parking will be available on designated farm fields. Could potential visitors become overwhelmed by so many things to do during the 150th commemoration? “I can’t say I’ve worried about that,” says Cindy Small, spokeswoman for the Gettysburg Foundation, which stages events in conjunction with the national military park.

“We have focused on providing all of the information we could about all of our events, so individuals and families can customize their experience, based on their interests,” Small says. “If they use our guide to do their homework, they’ll know what they want to do when they arrive.”

Besides daily park events for the 10-day observance, the guide also provides maps of park traffic patterns and shuttle routes that will change daily July 1-4, and information about the park’s Visitor Center and other special locations including The George Spangler House, Rupp House and David Wills House.

Cafe Saint-Amand in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, is a charming bistro that makes incredible crepes, as well as hearty French fare for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

“We put pressure on ourselves to make this year very special,” says Katie Lawhon, spokeswoman for the national military park.

“We’ve added many new ranger programs so there will be plenty for everyone to do.” The expanded programming means visitors will spread out to many sites on the 5,000-acre battlefield. The huge reenactments are expected to be the biggest draws, Whitehill says.

Here are more details on some of the other events: Ceremony: Make plans to attend the “Gettysburg: A New Birth of Freedom” ceremony, which starts 7:30 p. June 30. Highlights: country music star Trace Adkins singing the national anthem,

Visitors to the Gettysburg National Military Park often pose with this statue of Abraham Lincoln that sits outside the Visitor Center and Museum in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. — MCT photos A sampling of the blow-your-hat-off experiences for Civil War fans brave enough to advance on Gettysburg during this special time: climbing the cupola where Gen. John Buford plotted his strategy while monitoring Confederates advancing on the town, seeing the official casting of President Abraham Lincoln’s face, viewing 3,550 luminaria on soldiers’ graves, joining thousands of visitors in a walk-the-battlefield special observance of Pickett’s Charge, and watching two major re-enactments involving 10,000 men.

Major events include A commemorative ceremony on June 30 called “Gettysburg: New Birth of Freedom.”

The openings of a “Treasures of the Civil War” exhibit, the Spangler Farm Civil War Field Hospital site and the new Seminary Ridge Museum.

The Blue-Gray Alliance Re-enactment June 29 and 30 at the Bushey Farm, and the 150th Anniversary Gettysburg National Civil War Battle Re-enactment July 4-7 at the Redding Farm. In addition, there are many smaller, more personal events that will bring the battle and its aftermath into focus. These include the Songs and Stories of a Civil War Hospital, in Gettysburg’s Christ Church June 29 and July 6, and Confederates Take the Shriver House, on July 6. So anyone considering a visit needs an organized battle plan. Map out your plan of attack, using two handbooks.

The first, the 72-page Gettysburg 150th Anniversary Commemorative Events Guide, details programming by the Gettysburg National Military Park and its partner organization, the Gettysburg Foundation. It will be available at the Visitor Center and other locations in the park. The second, from the Gettysburg Convention & Visitors Bureau, will be all-inclusive, covering town

• • •

Members of the 9th Pennsylvania Reserves move away from observers to fire their guns on a Gettysburg battlefield.

Tr a v e l FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

The tavern at the Farnsworth House in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, has a case filled with memorabilia from the movie, Gettysburg. keynote speech by Civil War historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, and a Voices of History reading of eyewitness accounts by soldiers and citizens swept into the battle.

Presented in a natural amphitheater on the battlefield, the dramatic setting includes views of Widow Leister’s Farmhouse and Barn, which served as Gen. George Meade’s headquarters, and Big and Little Roundtop. The evening’s finale invites visitors to join a procession from the amphitheater to the Soldiers National Cemetery to see thousands of luminaries commemorating the Union soldiers who lost their lives in the battle.

Exhibit: The new “Treasures of the Civil War” exhibit at the Visitor Center museum spotlights 13 leaders of the era, including Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses Grant, Meade, John Reynolds, George Pickett, Alexander Webb, William Tecumseh Sherman, George Custer, John Mosby, Frederick Douglas and Clara Barton. It includes 94 personal artifacts.

Besides the casting of Lincoln’s face, a few of the other treasures include a lock of Lee’s hair and the mane of his favorite horse, Traveller; Grant’s sword celebrating his victory at Vicksburg; Pickett’s spur; Meade’s slouch hat and frock coat worn at Gettysburg, and Barton’s hair brush. “These belongings help tell great stories about these people and help visitors make personal connections with them,” Small says.

Field hospital site: Spangler Farm, used as a field hospital for 1,900 men during the battle. Although seeing it is free, all visitors must procure a ticket and ride a special park service shuttle to the house and barn. Open 9 a.m. to 6 pm July 4, and 11 a.m. to 3 pm on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays on a few summer weekends, the farm is still undergoing restoration.

“You’ll see the barn where Army surgeons set up their operating tables to treat wounds and do amputations and walk the grounds where injured soldiers recuperated” (outdoors and with little shelter, after the barn was full), Small says. “Two hundred died and were buried on the farm.”

New museum: The new Seminary Ridge Museum will stage preview events June 29 and 30, before its July 1 grand opening, exactly 150 years after it was engulfed in the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg. Located in the former Schmucker Hall at the Lutheran Theological Seminary on Seminary Ridge,

A monument to artillerymen provides quiet testimony to the soldiers who fought at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

The Rupp House in downtown Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, was in the middle of the fighting when the battle spread into the town’s streets. it offers in-depth looks at the first day’s battle, Civil War medicine and moral and spiritual debates of the era.

But these major events are only the beginning of the opportunity to explore the engagements and human side of this heart-wrenching battle that led Lincoln to write his Gettysburg Address and marked a turning point in the war that continued for an additional two years.

Among the many programs presented by park rangers, there are overview hikes, key moments covering events at a specific time and day of battle, living history camps and programs and special evening Voices of Battle programs presented by living historians who bring to life the eyewitness accounts of the soldiers and civilians at 7:30 pm July 2-4.

The Gettysburg Foundation also has created a sunset bus tour of the battlefield and another that focuses on some of the 400 major works of sculpture placed in the military park to honor the men

who fought and died at Gettysburg. But one of the most anticipated special events involving visitors will be the Pickett’s Charge Commemorative March.

At 3 pm July 3, the time and day of Pickett’s Charge 150 years earlier, visitors will be asked to join park rangers to walk the Confederate battle line or stay where the Union Army’s battle line awaited them. When the two groups meet at a stone wall, taps will echo over the battlefield. Lawhon stresses, “This is not a re-creation.

We could never re-create the tragedy and horrors of Pickett’s Charge, which was the last encounter of the battle. Nor would we want to. But walking the ground, listening to taps and envisioning what happened here will be unforgettable.” — MCT

Health FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

Liver la vida loca

By Dr Edward F

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odern society is a sad state that produces many over-processed livers.

When we overeat or eat processed or fried foods, and, anytime we are exposed to environmental pollutants or stress, the liver becomes overworked and overloaded. When the liver is taxed, it can’t process toxins and fat in an efficient way. There are many foods that can help cleanse the liver naturally by stimulating its natural ability to clean toxic waste from the body.

In the past, I have discussed my favorite cleansing foods. This list is a little more specific and focuses mainly on foods that can help cleanse your liver. In addition to taking a livercleansing supplement, and performing at least two liver and gallbladder cleanses per year, eating the following foods is the best way to keep your liver healthy and functioning the way you need it to. I would encourage

14 foods that cleanse the liver

Tips for doing a liver cleanse Other liver cleanse foods not listed above include artichoke, asparagus, kale, and brussel sprouts. Eating the foods listed above is a great way to help keep your liver functioning properly.

However, for best results, I recommend performing a liver cleanse.

Performing a liver cleanse at least twice a year will eliminate any foreign substances that may be trapped in your liver. - globalhealingcenter.com you to incorporate these liver cleanse foods into your weekly diet.

Garlic: Just a small amount of this pungent white bulb has the ability to activate liver enzymes that help your body flush out toxins.

Garlic also holds high amounts of allicin and selenium, two natural compounds that aid in liver cleansing.

Grapefruit: High in both vitamin C and antioxidants, grapefruit increases the natural cleansing processes of the liver. A small glass of freshly-squeezed grapefruit juice will help boost production of the liver detoxification enzymes that help flush out carcinogens and other toxins.

Beets and Carrots: Both are extremely high in plant-flavonoids and beta-carotene; eating beets and carrots can help stimulate and improve overall liver function.

Green tea: This liver-loving beverage is full of plant antioxidants known as catechins, a compound known to assist liver function.

Green tea is not only delicious, it’s also a great way to improve your overall diet.

Leafy green vegetables: One of our most powerful allies in cleansing the liver, leafy greens can be eaten raw, cooked, or juiced.

Extremely high in plant chlorophylls, greens suck up environmental toxins from the blood stream. With their distinct ability to neutralize heavy metals, chemicals and pesticides, these cleansing foods offer a powerful protective

mechanism for the liver. Try incorporating leafy greens such as bitter gourd, arugula, dandelion greens, spinach, mustard greens, and chicory into your diet. This will help increase the creation and flow of bile, the substance that removes waste from the organs and blood.

Avocados: This nutrient-dense super-food helps the body produce glutathione, a compound that is necessary for the liver to cleanse harmful toxins.

Apples: High in pectin, apples hold the chemical constituents necessary for the body to cleanse and release toxins from the digestive tract. This, in turn, makes it easier for the liver to handle the toxic load during the cleansing process.

Olive oil: Cold-pressed organic oils such as olive, hemp and flax-seed are great for the liver, when used in moderation. They help the body by providing a lipid base that can suck

up harmful toxins in the body. In this way, it takes some of the burden off the liver in terms of the toxic overload many of us suffer from.

Whole Grains: Grains, such as brown rice, are rich in B-complex vitamins which are nutrients known to improve overall fat metabolization, liver function and liver decongestion. If possible, do not eat foods with white flour, instead try eating whole wheat alternatives.

Cruciferous vegetables: Eating broccoli and cauliflower will increase the amount of glucosinolate in your system, adding to enzyme production in the liver. These natural enzymes help flush out carcinogens, and other toxins, out of our body which may significantly lower risks associated with cancer.

Lemons and limes: These citrus fruits contain very high amounts of vitamin C, which aids the body in synthesizing toxic materials into substances that can be absorbed by water. Drinking freshly-squeezed lemon or

lime juice in the morning helps stimulate the liver.

Walnuts: Holding high amounts of the amino acid arginine, walnuts aid the liver in detoxifying ammonia. Walnuts are also high in glutathione and omega-3 fatty acids, which support normal liver cleansing actions. Make sure you chew the nuts well (until they are liquefied) before swallowing.

Cabbage: Much like broccoli and cauliflower, eating cabbage helps stimulate the activation of two crucial liver detoxifying enzymes that help flush out toxins. Try eating more kimchi, coleslaw, cabbage soup and sauerkraut.

Turmeric: The liver’s favorite spice. Try adding some of this detoxifying goodness into your next lentil stew or veggie dish for an instant liver pick-me-up. Turmeric helps boost liver detox, by assisting enzymes that actively flush out dietary carcinogens.

Lifestyle FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

In this July 24, 2004 file photo, French singer Georges Moustaki performs in Nyon, Switzerland.

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rench singer and composer Georges Moustaki, whose romantic ballads including the 1958 hit “Milord” won him global fame, died yesterday at the age of 79, his entourage said. Born on May 3, 1934 to an immigrant European Jewish couple who had settled in Egypt, Moustakiwhose real name was Giuseppe Mustacchi-penned some 300 songs, marked by their poetic and haunting quality. “He died early in the morning at 6:00 am after a long illness. He passed away peacefully,” a friend said.

Moustaki’s flowing beard, soft eyes and curly locks gave him a Messiah-like appearance, and his “Milord” sung by Edith Piaf became a worldwide sensation. The song recounted the feelings of a lowly “girl of the port” who falls in love with an elegantly attired Englishman she has crossed several times in the street but who has never noticed her. It was one of the biggest selling songs in Germany and figured on top of the charts elsewhere.

US singer Bobby Darin also did a version with slightly altered lyrics. Moustaki changed his name in honour of his idol, French singer Georges Brassens, after he moved to Paris in 1951, where he lived in the posh Ile-Saint-Louis district, one of two natural islands on the river Seine. His repertoire included songs in French, Italian, English, Greek, Portuguese, Arabic and Spanish. Leading French stars sang his compositions including Yves Montand, Barbara, Dalida, Juliette Greco and Pia Colomba, and his career was crowned with successes.

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Picture taken on April 28, 2008 in Paris, shows Franco-Greek singer and songwriter Georges Moustaki posing for a photograph at his home.

Moustaki quit the scene in 2011 following what he said were “irreversible” respiratory problems that rendered him “definitively incapable of singing.” He left Paris for the sunny southern city of Nice. In his last interview to Nice Matin newspaper in February, he said: “I regret not being able to sing in my bathroom. But singing in public, no. I’ve done it all... I’ve witnessed magical moments.” “I want to write and paint.

Spend my time on things I like doing, as I have always done,” he said. Tributes poured in instantly.

“Georges Moustaki has left us: there’s a great sadness. He was an artist committed to humanist values,” Culture Minister Aurelie Filippetti said on Twitter. “He was a troubadour, a great writer and poet. He left us sublime songs,” said French singer and actress Line Renaud. Moustaki’s other hits included “Le Meteque” (1969), “Sarah”, “Ma liberte”, “Ma solitude”, “Votre fille a vingt ans” and “La Dame Brune”. — AFP

ere’s a rule that only applies to dog beaches: they are all clothing optional. So if you’re one of the rare owners that dress up your dog, designers have options for your beach-bound hound. From bikinis to surf trunks, clothing makers have found a niche to sell garb for the pampered pooch that has almost everything. Tommy Bahama Pets offers a Hawaiian shirt and a dress with a ruffled skirt made with the brand’s traditional hibiscus fabric. Designer John Bartlett makes a canine beach tank top. And Martha Stewart Inc. produces a practical life jacket to give surfing and boating dogs a boost in the water.

In addition to floral bikinis and colorful swim trunks, pet retailers sell wet suits, visors, sunglasses and Doggles (think: goggles for dogs).

While the fashions may be fun they aren’t very practical, said Dr Brittany

Picture taken on November 2, 1982, in Paris, shows FrancoGreek singer and songwriter Georges Moustaki performing on the stage of the Bobino concert hall. — AFP photos

King of Banfield Pet Hospital in Houston. “I’m a big swimmer and so is my dog, Hank,” she said. “While he has his fair share of doggie-friendly swim trunks, they are simply meant for fashion-not function.” Practical beachgoers should do their dog a favor and put sunscreen on furless areas, bring fresh water, treats, a towel and an umbrella for shade. And don’t forget your own swimsuit. — AP

Lifestyle FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

File photo shows German artist Stephan Balkenhol, right, stands besides a part of his Richard Wagner Monument during the installation in Leipzig, central Germany. — AP photos

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ayreuth paid tribute to composer Richard Wagner on what would have been his 200th birthday here Wednesday with a rare concert in the town’s legendary Festpielhaus theatre. While a small crowd of onlookers braved blustery showers and chilly winds outside the theatre that sits atop Bayreuth’s fabled Green Hill, Wagnerians from all over the world rubbed shoulders inside with Bavaria’s political and social elite for one of the main highlights in the Wagner bicentenary.

“We are here to celebrate one of the world’s great geniuses, one who was a legend and a myth even during his lifetime,” said Bavaria’s regional state premier Horst Seehofer in a short speech. “Everywhere around the world from Brussels to Berlin and from Boston to Abu Dhabi, people are in Wagner fever this year.” Built to the composer’s own designs, the Festspielhaus is normally open only for a few weeks each year during the worldfamous summer festival dedicated exclusively to Wagner’s works.

On the anniversary programme were a number of excerpts from his best-known operas. The Bayreuth Festival’s unofficial chief conductor, German maestro Christian Thielemann, directed the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra in a performance of Act 1 of

German maestro Christian Thielemann conducts a concert to celebrate the 200th birthday of German composer Richard Wagner.

“The Valkyrie”, the Prelude and “Liebestod” from “Tristan and Isolde”, Siegfried’s Rhine Journey and Funeral March from “Twilight of the Gods” and the overture to “The Mastersingers of Nuremberg”. The star line-up of soloists, tumultuously applauded, were South African tenor Johan Botha, Dutch soprano EvaMaria Westbroek and South Korean bass Kwangchul Youn.

The waiting list for tickets for the annual summer festival runs to 10 years or more. The process was nowhere so long and arduous for the bicentenary concert, but were still almost immediately sold out when they went on sale last year. “It’s always been our dream to come to Bayreuth. I’ve loved Wagner’s music since I was at school. But we’ve never got tickets before,” beamed Horst and his wife Elsa, both pensioners from Saarbruecken. “This is amazing. I’ve been to Bayreuth once before, but never to a concert. I bought this ticket as soon as it went on sale on the Internet,” said Patrick, from Edinburgh, who was wearing a kilt.

The Festspielhaus with its incomparable acoustics is only rarely used as a concert venue. The last time one was played there was in 2010 in honour of Wolfgang Wagner, the composer’s grandson, who ran the festival for nearly 60 years until his

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man impersonating South Korean entertainer Psy-famed for his dance song “Gangnam Style”-ate, drank and partied with the stars in Cannes for two days, The Hollywood Reporter said yesterday Psy “was spotted all over town, attending festival parties and events and posing for photos with festgoers and other celebrities,” the movie trade daily said in its Cannes edition. “But it turns out that the man was not Psy at all, but rather an imposter using his name and fame to get access to the festival.” The double was dressed exactly like Psy, with his trademark jackets and round sunglasses.

He spent a day at the top-ranked Martinez beach restaurant and partied at night at the A-listers’ Carlton hotel. Those who fell victim to the con was “Skyfall” actress Naomie Harris, who tweeted an image of herself posing with him at a party thrown by luxury jewellers Chopard. The original Psy appears to have been unfazed by the identity theft. He tweeted: “Seems like there’s another ME at cannes...say Hi to him.”— AFP

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Recording artist Psy arrives at the 2013 Billboard Music Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. — AFP

death that year. Before that, a concert of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony-one of the few works not by Richard Wagner to be performed there-was played in 2001 to mark the 125th anniversary of the festival itself.

Wagner was born in Leipzig on May 22, 1813 and died in Venice on February 13, 1883. The favorite composer of Adolf Hitler, Wagner is still a controversial figure because of his antiSemitic views. His great-grandson Gottfried Wagner in a recent interview with AFP denounced him as a narcissist, a womanhater and an anti-Semite. The bicentenary celebrations have been planned long in advance. The festival management and municipal authorities of Bayreuth have nevertheless come under fire because the Richard Wagner Museum, housed in the composer’s former home Wahnfried, is closed for renovation.

Scaffolding also surrounds the crumbling facade of the Festspielhaus itself. — AFP

hen everything around you is stultifying familiar, it’s the tiny variations that catch your attention. And in “Epic,” when the filmmakers take little detours from the reluctant-warrior-accepts-his/her-destiny plot, it brings some desperately needed livening up to what otherwise feels like a crushingly by-thenumbers kid saga. Sullen teen M.K. (voiced by Amanda Seyfried) heads out tothe woods to live with her scientist father Professor Bomba(Jason Sudeikis) following the death of her mother.

M.K.’s parents split over her father’s obsession that the woods are filled with tiny people who have managed to elude being noticed by human beings.

Turns out, he’s right, and M.K.’s arrival happens to coincide with a major once-a-century event: When there’s a full moon on the summer solstice, Queen Tara (BeyoncÈ Knowles) selects a bud in which she will imbue her spirit and from which will grow a new queen. Out to stop this transition of power from happening are the evil Boggans, led by Mandrake (Christoph Waltz), who wants to destroy the forest with blight and rot. (Rot being one of the things that helps a forest stay green, but “Epic” isn’t particularly interested in botany.)

Mandrake attacks the ceremony, and the

dying queen passes the bud along to M.K. (who has followed her father’s three-legged pug into the woods) for safekeeping; clasping the bud in her hands makes M.K. shrink to the size of the tiny forest denizens, and it’s up to warrior Leafmen Ronin (Colin Farrell) and Nod (Josh Hutcherson) to make sure the bud blooms under a full moon, after which M.K. will presumably be able to return home.

Will it surprise you to learn that Nod is a sassy teen boy with an attitude who must learn to use his abilities for the greater good? Or that M.K.’s experiences in the woods help her mend her fractured relationship with her dad? Or that M.K. and Nod fall for each other in a way that suggests “Avatar” for pre-schoolers? Or that two wisecracking gastropods (Chris O’Dowd and Aziz Ansari) are along to provide comic relief?

Anyone over the age of 9 can probably close their eyes and figure out every plot beat of “Epic,” but the movie does toss in enough smart ideas to elevate it above “Rio” or the dreadful “Ice Age” series, previous products of this film’s makers.—Reuters

Lifestyle FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

This 2005 file photo, originally supplied by the Rolling Stones, shows members of the group, from left, Charlie Watts, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger and Ron Wood posing during a photo shoot. — AP photos

O

ver the years, curators at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum have occasionally had trouble coaxing reluctant stars to help put together major exhibitions. Not so with members of The Rolling Stones, who made time in their packed anniversary schedule to help. “Rolling Stones: 50 Years of Satisfaction,” opening Friday and running through March 2014, covers two floors at the museum and contains scores of personal items.

“The timing was right,” associate curator Craig Inciardi said.

“Ordinarily, you would think that working on an exhibit while the artists are getting ready for a major tour would be a bad thing. In this case, it worked to our advantage in that they were all getting together, spending time making decisions in the same room. ... We ended up getting their full cooperation.” The interactive exhibit honoring Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and the band’s other members is a tribute to their work, worldwide musical impact and continued relevance.

It’s more than a celebration. In fact, it’s a gas. With nearly 300 artifacts on display, the exhibit chronicles the band from its birth in England as a blues cover band to its current “50 and Counting” tour.

Rare guitars, stage outfits, concert posters, documents and personal items fill two floors. After stepping through a doorway framed like the Stones’ iconic tongue-and-lips logo - omnipresent in various shapes and sizes on the museum’s fifth and sixth floors - visitors are taken back to the band’s early days, even before founder Brian Jones, Jagger, Richards, Ian Stewart, Mick Taylor and Charlie Watts played their first gig.

There are gems of Stones’ history interspersed throughout the

Rolling Stones memorabilia is displayed at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.

exhibit. Impeccably mounted behind glass, the treasure trove of items includes: Fan questionnaires filled out in the early 1960s by the band. On his, Jagger listed his likes as “girls, eating, clothes” and dislikes as “intolerant people, having my hair cut.”

A silver serving tray the band “allegedly” stole from Station Hotel during a night of drinking.

Jones’ custom Vox teardrop guitar and Ronnie Wood’s Zemaitis electric six-string, which has personalized etchings carved into the silver facing.

Jagger’s floor-length cape stitched out of US and British flags that he wore on the 1981-82 tour.

The 1970 letter the Stones sent to Santana, asking for permission to use footage of the band’s performance at the infamous Altamont concert, which eventually became the film “Gimme Shelter.”

The original artwork for “It’s Only Rock and Roll” and “Their Satanic Majesties Request.” However, this is hardly a staid stroll through display cases and wall hangings. With this exhibit, the hall is hoping to entertain, educate and enlighten. For the first time, visitors can be included in the show with the launch of an interactive project where fans can share photos - the hall has lifted a ban on picture-taking in the exhibit - and other memorabilia at a multimedia display and online.

Fans can upload images to Twitter and Instagram with the hashtag (hash)rockhallsatisfaction to contribute. “This gave us an opportunity to engage the fans a little bit more,” said Todd Mesek, vice

• • • • • •

A 1972 Life magazine cover of Mick Jagger and photo of the band rehearsing.

president of communications. “‘OK, show us your experience with the Stones. Show us your tickets, show us your set lists, and show us your concert photos. What we’re also doing with our new photo policy is letting fans take shots in here and send it out to the world, let them be a part of it.” The exhibit includes three iPad-based interactive kiosks where visitors can put on a pair of headphones and hear the band’s early blues influences, explore the Jagger-Richards songwriting team and see how the band melded influences into its one-of-a-kind sound.

“We wanted to take visitors deeper into the sounds of the Stones and their music and hear it in a way they’ve never heard it before,” said Jason Hanley, the hall’s director of education. “... We had to think about ‘how do we get 50 years of music into three different stations?’ So we came up with the idea of focusing on them as real innovators who were always looking at the world around them and pulling in new things.”— AP

A Rolling Stones rehearsal song list from 2002 is displayed.

Lifestyle FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

A customer gets her hair done at a salon specializing in curling hair. — AFP Photos

N

othing like a good hairdo to fight deeply entrenched racism in one of the world’s emerging economic giants. The tools of battle, such as scissors and conditioners, are being wielded on the outskirts of Rio in a chain of beauty parlors that cater to black and mulata women of limited means. Rather than straighten out their afro-style hair, as many blacks around the world like to do, this chain called Beleza Natural, or natural beauty, transforms it into soft curls. And business is booming. Ditched is the popular conception in this South American powerhouse that afro-style hair will get you nowhere.

About 51 percent of Brazil’s 194 million people are black or mulato (mixed race), and the owners of Beleza Natural estimate that 70 percent of women in Brazil have afro-style hair. “This beauty salon is for the forgotten consumer, the invisible one, to raise the self esteem of low-income customers. Women who are used to serving but deserve to be served and served well,” said company chairwoman Leila Velez, a mulata of 38 who at the tender age of 16 was already managing a McDonald’s.

Velez struggled to set up Beleza Natural 20 years ago with relatives. Today she runs its 13 beauty parlors plus a factory that makes hair care products and provides work for 1,700 people. Every month the plant produces 250 tons of hair care products including the relaxing agent for curling hair. It was created by Velez’s sisterin-law Zica Assis, a former household maid who played around with tropical fruit for 10 years on the porch of her home in a Rio slum to come up with the right formula. Revenues at Beleza Natural, most of whose outlets are on the outskirts of Rio, have grown at an annual rate of 30 percent over the past eight years, says Velez. She will

S

unbathers headed to the beach this summer will find new sunscreen labels on store shelves that are designed to make the products more effective and easier to use.

But despite those long-awaited changes, many sunscreens continue to carry SPF ratings that some experts consider misleading and potentially dangerous, according to a consumer watchdog group.

A survey of 1,400 sunscreen products by the Environmental Working Group finds that most products meet new federal requirements put in place last December. The rules from the Food and Drug Administration ban terms like “waterproof,” which regulators consider misleading, and require that sunscreens filter out both ultraviolet A and B rays. Previously some products only blocked UVB rays, which cause most sunburn, while providing little protection against UVA rays that pose the greatest risk of skin cancer and wrinkles.

Despite that broader protection, one in seven products reviewed by the watchdog group boasted sun protection factor, or SPF, ratings

Leila Velez, 38, one of the owners of a hair salon specialized in curling hair - Afro-style hairdressing - walks among customers.

not talk about profits. The success is such that buses lined up bumper to bumper and packed with women with afro hair arrive at the salons every Saturday from far away cities.

No place to be treated ‘like a princess’ “One hundred percent of the success of this store is linked to the issue of race,” said Victor Cunha da Almeida, a professor at the business school of the Universidad Federal in Rio de Janeiro. “In Brazil there is cultural baggage among black women who do not like their hair because it is not straight, which is the best known standard of beauty”, said Almeida, who co-authored a thesis on Beleza Natural and its support for the bottom of the social pyramid. “And that is the difference with Beleza Natural, which does not want to straighten hair. It wants to relax it, to soften the curls. It says this to a woman: ‘You are beautiful because you are black. You are beautiful because you have hair like this.’”

Bruna Mara, a customer in Cachambi, a working class neighborhood north of Rio, confirmed this. “I always straightened my hair,” she said. “Here they convinced me that my curls would look pretty, and it is more natural,” said the 24-year-old secretary. “There was no place that treated a black woman with afro hair like a princess,” said Cunha. Walk into a Beleza Natural outlet and indeed it is easy to feel like a queen for a day.

Everything is decorated in red and pink, there are mirrors everywhere and spotlights, with fresh cut flowers and free coffee. You could be some place posh anywhere in the world, or on stage in a soap opera. “There are full length mirrors because many clients do not have them at home,” said Velez. Jose Jorge de Carvalho, an

anthropologist at the University of Brasilia, says that even though Brazil is held up as an example of harmonious racial diversity it is actually “very racist”.

“These hair salons are part of an effort to fight racism, to lift the self-esteem of black women of the working class,” said Carvalho. He deplored the use of irons to straighten hair, some of which are heated right over open fires and can “fry the hair”. As it stands, Beleza Natural says it styles the hair of 90,000 Brazilian woman per month. “This is the new middle class, producing for the new middle class,” said Marcelo Neri, acting minister of Strategic Issues, in comments to AFP. The incomes of blacks and mulatos grew more between 2001 and 2009 than those of other races-at 43 and 48 percent respectively, compared to 21 percent for whites, said Neri, Brazil’s leading expert on the middle class. But the inequities are still howling.

Whites in Brazil earn on average nearly twice as much as blacks.

“The lower middle class learned for a long time to live with little, and now they have a little bit extra that lets them do what they want,” said Neri. Getting your hair done at Beleza Natural is affordable but not cheap. It costs 38 dollars (29 euros), which is 10 percent of the minimum monthly wage, and maintaining the look at home requires products that cost $25 a month. Still, most customers pay in cash-yet another sign of the real increase in purchasing power of the new Brazilian middle class. — AFP

above 50, which have long been viewed with skepticism by experts. In part, that’s because SPF numbers like 100 or 150 can give users a false sense of security, leading them to stay in the sun long after the lotion has stopped protecting their skin.

Many consumers assume that SPF 100 is twice as effective as SPF 50, but dermatologists say the difference between the two is actually negligible. Where an SPF 50 product might protect against 97 percent of sunburn-causing rays, an SPF 100 product might block 98.5 percent of those rays. “The high SPF numbers are just a gimmick,” says Marianne Berwick, professor of epidemiology at the University of New Mexico. “Most people really don’t need more than an SPF 30 and they should reapply it every couple of hours.” Berwick says sunscreen should be used in combination with hats, clothing and shade, which provide better protection against ultraviolet radiation.—AP File photo shows Alivia Parker, 21 months, runs through circles of spraying water on a 100 degree day in Montgomery, Ala. — AP

Lifestyle FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

A

n Indian woman who lost her leg after she was thrown from a moving train two years ago has become the first female amputee to climb Everest, expedition organizers said Wednesday. Arunima Sinha, 26, from the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, reached the peak on Tuesday morning after a slow climb from Everest Base Camp. “She left high camp at 6pm on Monday evening and arrived at the summit at 10:55 am (0510 GMT) on Tuesday,” Ang Tshering Sherpa, founder of Asian Trekking, the company that organised the expedition, told AFP.

Sinha’s guides were concerned about her slow pace until the team reached an 8,750metre (28,707 foot) junction that climbers pass through on their way to the top of the mountain, Sherpa said. “But once she got to that point, she gained energy and confidence and started moving really quickly,” Sherpa said. Two years ago, the former national-level volleyball player was shoved from a moving train by thieves when she reportedly attempted to fight them off as they tried to stealing her purse.

A passing train crushed her left leg, forcing doctors to amputate below the knee to save her life. “At that time everyone was worried for me. I then realized I had to do something in my life so that people stop looking at me with pity,” Sinha told Indian TV before leaving for the climb. The Tata Steel Adventure Foundation, which sponsored Sinha’s climb, contacted Sherpa’s Asian Trekking company in 2012 about providing training and guiding for the expedition.

“We knew her story, we knew she recovered well from the amputation because she’s a very active athlete,” Sherpa said, adding that the company trained her on Nepal’s Island Peak during the 2012 spring climbing season. Hundreds of climbers have thronged the world’s highest peak during a window of good weather. May is considered the best time for climbing in the Nepalese Himalayas because of mild weather and some 300 people have reached the 8,848-metre high Everest so far this year.

The mountain has become a popular symbolic pilgrimage site for record-setting, awareness-raising, and pledge drives for charities, which have increased crowds on the peak. Tom Whittaker, a British mountaineer, became the first person with a disability to summit the peak in 1998 after a car crash almost two decades earlier had forced him to have his foot amputated. — AFP

Indian mountaineer Arunima Sinha top-ropes a climbing wall while training at the Asian Trekking climbing wall in Kathmandu.

Indian mountaineer Arunima Sinha is pictured with her prosthetic leg while training at the Asian Trekking climbing wall.

This handout picture taken by Miura Dolphins on May 16, 2013 shows 80-year-old Japanese adventurer Yuichiro Miura, accompanied by his son Gota , leaving Base Camp to begin his ascent of Mount Everest in Nepal.— AFP photos

KATHMANDU: An 80-year-old Japanese man who underwent heart surgery in January reached the summit of Mount Everest yesterday, becoming the oldest person to scale the world’s highest mountain. Yuichiro Miura and his party, including his second son Gouta, arrived at the summit at around 9 am local time, according to Miura’s website, besting the previous age record by four years.

But he may not have his name on the title very long: Nepal’s Min Bahadur Sherchan, the former record holder who turns 82 on June 20, is on the mountain again and bidding to reach the summit.

“I feel like the happiest person in the world,” Miura said in a satellite telephone conversation with his office in Tokyo. “I’ve never been more exhausted than this but I can keep on going even at the age of 80. “I can see the Himalayas below me and it’s beautiful. I have stayed strong, strong and strong to be here,” he said.

His wife Tomoko, 80, told the adventurer: “You’d better come home soon.” “I’m not sure if I am happy or not to have a husband who has so many dreams,” she told reporters. “He is the kind of person who does whatever he believes in, no matter what other people say.” His daughter Emiri, 52, said: “I believe he will keep on going even when he turns 90 or 100.” Miura was on his way back down the mountain yesterday, a Nepalese tourism official said, confirming the successful ascent. “He reached the summit this morning and is currently descending to Camp Four,” the official, Gyanendra Shrestha said from Everest Base Camp.

Banner headlines in Japanese evening papers proclaimed the elderly adventurer’s success and television news carried extensive coverage of the feat, which was widely celebrated in a nation increasingly dominated by older people. It was Miura’s third conquest of the 8,848-metre peak. He previously reached the summit in 2003 and 2008 when he was 70, claiming the oldest summiteer record, and 75 respectively. His 2003 record was broken in 2007 when fellow Japanese Katsusuke Yanagisawa reached the top at the age of 71.

His second conquest of Everest was made in May 2008 but he was beaten to the summit by Sherchan, who had got there just one day earlier at the age of 76. Until yesterday morning the Nepalese had been the world record holder, according to Guinness World Records. Sherchan is at base camp and preparing to make his ascent, Nepalese official Shrestha said, adding time was not on his side since the fair weather summit season is drawing to a close.

Miura underwent surgery to correct recurring arrhythmia last November and again in January

this year, as he did before the 2008 expedition. He was undeterred by a skiing accident in 2009 that left him with a broken pelvis and fractured thigh.

As a seasoned adventurer, he came to worldwide attention in 1970 when he became the first person to ski down Everest. His parachute-aided descent was documented in the 1975 film “The Man Who Skied Down Everest”, which won an Academy Award for Best Documentary.

High-octane endeavors are in his blood-his father Keizo skied down Mont Blanc at the age of 99. More than 3,000 people have successfully scaled Everest but more than 300 have died on the mountain since it was first conquered by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953.

Underlining the hostility of the area, five climbers were reported missing, feared dead on the treacherous Kanchenjunga mountain, tourism officials said yesterday. The climbers-two from Hungary, two from Nepal and one from South Korea went missing on Monday afternoon as they attempted to climb the 8,586-metre (28,169-foot) peak, the officials said. — AFP

80-year-old Japanese adventurer Yuichiro Miura leaving Base Camp.

FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

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LOST Original document Policy No. 633002599 of LIAQAT ALI by the state Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan, Gulf Zone is reported to have been lost. Anyone finding the same or claiming any interest in it should communicate with the Manager, Kuwait State Life office - Ph: 22452208.

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Pets FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

Patrons at the Zoom Room in Hollywood can do a cross training workout with their pooch. Here, Jessie Simondoes a leaping exercise with her Jack Russell Terrier Paxton. (Inset) Louie, a 6-month-old retriever sits next to his owner Mallory Thompson as she stretches.— MCT photos

Exercise class welcomes dogs too ‘It is more of a workout for us, more of a patience thing for them’

By Mary Macvean

M

any people get home from work in need of a trip to the gym or an exercise class. But the list of excuses is myriad, starting with that most precious commodity, time. Factor in a dog - in my case, a rambunctious terrier mix named Beanie - and it’s likely that all thoughts of a workout vanish.

That’s why, on a recent evening, Beanie and I hit the Zoom Room, a studio on La Brea Avenue in Hollywood, Calif., that offers workout classes (four for $120, 10 for $265) for dogs and their people. Together.

There were seven dogs in our crosstraining class. Jaime Van Wye, who started the business and has trained police and bomb squad dogs as well as dogs that work with autistic children, was our teacher.

The dogs are expected to have basic manners: They need to refrain from barking through the class and must be able to sit or lie down on command. Van Wye, whose leggings were covered in dog hairs, taught Beanie in a few minutes another basic task: to touch a palm with her nose when instructed to do so. The reward

for good behavior? Dog treats.

Our class included a loping retriever puppy that had a mind of its own and several dogs that did most of what was asked of them. Dogs were leashed during class to keep them away from one another. “Clearly, Buck is our model student,” Van Wye said jokingly when Buck wouldn’t stop barking. He eventually ended up taking a “time out” away from the class.

The owners, meanwhile, did situps, wall push-ups, steps, lunges and a couple of other exercises at stations around the room. (Equipment includes balls, balance beams, rings and other devices for two- and fourlegged exercisers.) A human could get in 20 or so sit-ups at a time, but rarely without a break to get the dog to do its part: sitting still at the human’s feet.

By the third time through the stations, the dogs were much better at sitting still for the sit-ups or running through a tunnel. Van Wye said it can take a few weeks of classes that focus on the dog’s efforts before a person can fully focus on his or her own workout.

Van Wye said she’s frequently reinventing workshops to suit the dogs,

including an urban herding class (balls stand in for sheep) and a “shy dog” class that’s mostly for skittish rescues. For older dogs or those with hip problems, there’s “Pup-lates.”

“I do CrossFit at home, but he” Paxton the Jack Russell - “also needs

to get fit,” said Jessie Simon, one of my classmates. “It’s a bonding experience with the dog,” said David Essex, holding Windsor, a border collie-cattle dog mix.

“It is more of a workout for us, more of a patience thing for them.”

Beanie loved class. If she didn’t always get the tasks just right, she was game for anything that led to a treat. But she was far from bone tired by the end - our goal when she goes to the park. Zoom Room has franchises around the country.— MCT

David Essex (right) does sit ups with his dog Windsor during circuit training while Jessie Simon (left) does lunges with her dog Paxton.

Stars

FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

Aries (March 21-April 19)

Today you are likely to hit the road for a trip with friends, says Venus in Gemini. This could be a day trip out of town or a slightly longer journey. Either way, you are bound to have a wonderful time on this adventure and will get plenty of photos to remember this trip by. The beauty of this is as it is unexpected you can expect some pleasant surprises along the way. Try and make this an interesting experience. The colour red will bring you luck. 8 pm to 10 pm is indicated to be lucky for you.

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

Venus in Gemini indicates a lucky day for you. There are several opportunities knocking on your door right now. You may be honoured with recognition at this time. You have worked steadily and surely throughout and if there is anyone who deserves this, it is you. Bask in the glory of your achievements instead of worrying about other things. Cheers! Wear something blue to enhance your luck. 10:30 am to 11:40 am is indicated to be lucky. Orchids are indicated to bring you happiness and prosperity today.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

As Venus is in Gemini, you are likely to feel happy and cheerful today; nothing will hold you back. In fact, you may not know it, but this positive attitude will reflect in your work and may even rub off on your colleagues. Make the most of this feeling of being on top of things and get rid of your pending matters. Cheers! Scheduling important work between 9am to 10am will be favourable for you. Wear something in red for good luck.

Gifting roses to the one you love will help to strengthen your bond.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

Venus in Gemini brings social recognition your way.

Your popularity is right on top of the charts throughout the day.

Every now and then, you get to relax and rejoice, thanks in large part to your hard work. Right now, you can tell that things are working out because you had the good sense to organise yourself such that nothing got neglected. Incorporating the colour blue in your attire will bring you luck. The number 7 will be lucky for you. 4 pm to 5pm is indicated to be your lucky time for today.

Leo (July 23-August 22)

Hold your tongue today as you are prone to saying something slightly hurtful if you are not careful. Show restraint in your comments and maintain your focus on the important things in life, like your relationships, cautions Venus in Gemini. It is important today to make sure you do not inflame anyone else with your own comments. Wear something red to enhance your luck. Number 1 will be lucky for you. Try scheduling important work between 8 pm to 9 pm for best results.

Virgo (August 23-September 22)

Since Venus is in Gemini, today is an excellent day to go for a short trip with close family members. Today will be wonderful for families and will have a bonding influence on you.

Make the most of these days, as there will be times in the future when you are not all available to share each other’s company in this same manner. Number 4 will be lucky for you, so try using it in any form. 2 pm to 4 pm will be your lucky time, Virgo. Attract the positive cosmic energies by wearing something in blue.

COUNTRY CODES Libra (September 23-October 22)

You are hungry for spiritual knowledge today, says Venus in Gemini. You feel a strong need to know where you are going internally. All this soul searching will definitely help you touch base with yourself and set things right. Go ahead and look within and bring out the best that is in you. Incorporating the colour yellow in your outfit and scheduling important work between 2pm to 5pm will turn out to be lucky for you. Sunflower will be lucky for you.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21)

Venus in Gemini gets you in touch with your sensitive side. If you have been finding that some frustration has cropped up among your family members, today is the day to root out the problem from its source. Do not let resentments or anger build up in your home. Take today to ensure that everyone relates to each other in a loving, trusting manner. Try using number 2 and colour red in any form to enhance your luck. 9 am to 11 am will prove to be lucky for you.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21)

Venus in Gemini brings you relief from a long standing problem. A legal case may be decided today, after a long wait! You can breathe a huge sigh of relief as finally this situation takes a big turn for the better. All that legal advice of your new lawyer has paid off. Take stock of the situation and take necessary steps to move forward. Close this case completely and put it all behind you. Wearing something blue will help you sail through the day. 5 pm to 7 pm is indicated to be your lucky time.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

If you were hoping to get away soon for a brief trip with friends or family, today is the day to make your final arrangements, indicates Venus in Gemini. You can expect that this trip will be relatively hassle-free and will be full of frivolity.

Whatever issues do crop up, just make a decision and move on.

This is not a day to get into disagreements, so steer clear of petty fights and feuds. Wear red to enhance your luck. 4 pm to 6 pm is indicated to be your lucky time for today.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18)

You find that your self-confidence will be on the rise today, owing to the influence of Venus in Gemini. Use it to your advantage. You will surely be in a position to impress those around you with your positive attitude and self-assurance. You may find that someone you meet today is impressed enough with you to offer you an opportunity that you won`t want to pass up! Scheduling all important work between 4pm to 5pm will bring positive outcomes. Number 5 will be lucky for you.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Today you may find that you are on the lookout for an advisor for some troubles in your family life, indicates Venus in Gemini. This will most probably be a trusted family acquaintance.

It may even be that you search for a competent astrologer who can guide you in the right direction. Make sure you have chosen the right professional so you are not disappointed and lead astray. Do not believe anything blindly. The colour yellow will be lucky for you, so try incorporating it in any form you can. 3:30 pm to 5 pm will bring luck your way

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 Republic 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 Somalia 00252 South Africa 0027 South Korea 0082 Spain 0034 Sri Lanka 0094 Sudan 00249 Suriname 00597 Swaziland 00268 Sweden 0046 Switzerland 0041 Syria 00963 Taiwan 00886 Tanzania 00255 Thailand 0066 Toga 00228 Tonga 00676 Tokelau 00690 Trinidad 001868 Tunisia 00216 Turkey 0090 Tuvalu 00688 Uganda 00256 Ukraine 00380 United Arab Emirates00976

L e i s u re

FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

Word Search

Yesterdayʼs Solution

C R O S S W O R D 1 9 9

ACROSS 1. One-hundredth of a right angle.

5. Membranous tube with cartilaginous rings that conveys inhaled air from the larynx to the bronchi.

12. European cave-dwelling aquatic salamander with permanent external gills.

15. Goddess of the dead and queen of the underworld.

16. Identification mark on the ear of a domestic animal.

17. The former capital and 2nd largest city of Brazil.

18. Load anew with ammunition, "She reloaded the gun carefully".

20. A crime syndicate in the United States.

22. A federal agency established to regulate the release of new foods and health-related products.

23. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables.

27. A canvas or leather bag for carrying game (especially birds) killed by a hunter.

30. A lack of vitality.

34. A member of a seafaring group of North American Indians who lived on the Pacific coast of British Columbia and southwestern Alaska.

37. A stick that people can lean on to help them walk.

38. A constellation in the southern hemisphere near Telescopium and Norma.

42. Propose as a candidate for some honor.

45. A workplace for the conduct of scientific research.

47. Explosive consisting of a yellow crystalline compound that is a flammable toxic derivative of toluene.

48. Taxonomic kingdom comprising all living or extinct animals.

49. An associate degree in nursing.

51. The sixth month of the civil year.

53. (Irish) Mother of the ancient Irish gods.

55. An edge tool with a heavy bladed head mounted across a handle.

56. Fragrant resin obtain from trees of the family Burseraceae and used as incense.

59. Attack someone physically or emotionally.

62. A room equipped with toilet facilities.

63. A Hindu prince or king in India.

67. (plate tectonic theory) A hypothetical continent including all the landmass of the earth prior to the Triassic period when it split into Laurasia and Gondwanaland.

70. A woman hired to suckle a child of someone else.

72. United States comedian.

74. The capital and largest city of Yemen.

75. Prong on a fork or pitchfork.

76. Reprehensible acquisitiveness.

78. A change in the electrical properties of the skin in response to stress or anxiety.

79. Situated in or facing or moving toward the east.

80. The chief city of ancient Mesopotamia and capitol of the ancient kingdom of Babylonia.

81. The organ of sight (`peeper' is an informal term for `eye').

1997).

6. A motley assortment of things.

7. Of or relating to or involving an area.

8. A metric unit of length equal to one hundredth of a meter.

9. An ugly evil-looking old woman.

10. A trivalent metallic element of the rare earth group.

11. Remote city of Kazakhstan that (ostensibly for security reasons) was made the capital in 1998.

12. German musician who developed a system for teaching music to children (1895-1982).

13. Being three more than fifty.

14. Ditch dug as a fortification and usually filled with water.

19. Jordan's port.

21. The conscious subjective aspect of feeling or emotion v 1.

24. The capital and largest city of Yemen.

25. A piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep.

26. An esoteric or occult matter that is traditionally secret.

28. American professional baseball player who hit more home runs than Babe Ruth (born in 1934).

29. A member of the extinct Algonquian people formerly living in northern Indiana and southern Michigan.

31. Not reflecting light.

32. (Sumerian) Consort of Dumuzi (Tammuz).

33. A trademark for a loosely woven cotton fabric that is used to make shirts and underwear.

35. (Greek mythology) Goddess of the earth and mother of Cronus and the Titans in ancient mythology.

36. A very poisonous metallic element that has three allotropic forms.

39. The arch of bone beneath the eye that forms the prominence of the cheek.

40. A disorderly outburst or tumult.

41. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.

43. (Islam) The man who leads prayers in a mosque.

44. An extreme state of adversity.

46. Squash bugs.

50. Goat-like antelope of central Eurasia having a stubby nose like a proboscis.

52. A white metallic element that burns with a brilliant light.

54. Norwegian explorer of the Arctic and director of the League of Nations relief program for refugees of World War I (1861-1930).

57. (folklore) A corpse that rises at night to drink the blood of the living.

58. United States anatomist who identified four pituitary hormones and discovered vitamin E (1882-1971).

60. (usually plural) Valuables taken by violence (especially in war).

61. United States photographer remembered for her portraits of rural workers during the Depression (1895-1965).

64. According to the Old Testament he was a pagan king of Israel and husband of Jezebel (9th century BC).

65. An island in Indonesia south of Borneo.

66. An Arabic speaking person who lives in Arabia or North Africa.

68. Posing no difficulty.

69. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

71. Made warm or hot.

73. A heavy iron lever with one end forged into a wedge.

77. A heavy odorless colorless gas formed during respiration and by the decomposition of organic substances.

Yesterdayʼs Solution

DOWN 1. A releasing factor that accelerates the secretion of growth hormone by the anterior pituitary body.

2. Tall woody perennial grasses with hollow slender stems especially of the genera Arundo and Phragmites.

3. Type genus of the Alcidae comprising solely the razorbill.

4. The longer of the two telegraphic signals used in Morse code.

5. Indian nun and missionary (born in Albania) dedicated to helping the poor in India (1910-

Daily SuDoku

Yesterday’s Solution

Sports FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

Blue Jays edge Rays, red sox roll TORONTO: Jose Bautista homered twice and drove in the winning run with a 10th-inning single, leading the Toronto Blue Jays to a 4-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday. Bautista went 4 for 4 with a walk and four RBIs. Three other players had one hit, but that was it for Toronto’s offense.Facing Cesar Ramos (1-1), Colby Rasmus reached on an infield single to begin the 10th. Rasmus moved to second on Emilio Bonifacio’s sacrifice, then took third on Munenori Kawasaki’s grounder. Pinch hitter Mark DeRosa walked and Kyle Farnsworth came on to face Bautista, who singled into shallow right for the Blue Jays’ first game-ending hit of the season. Aaron Loup (2-3) pitched one inning for the win as Toronto took two of three to win a series against Tampa Bay for the first time since August 2010. The Rays had won their past 15 series against the Blue Jays. The teams were tied at 2 before Tampa Bay got a run in the ninth. Evan Longoria hit a oneout double off closer Casey Janssen, extending his hitting streak to 16 games. James Loney followed with an RBI single. But Fernando Rodney couldn’t nail down the save, yielding a leadoff home run to Bautista in the bottom half.

RED SOX 6, WHITE SOX 2 In Chicago, Clay Buchholz pitched five-hit ball over seven innings to improve to 7-0, and Boston beat Chicago to avoid a three-game sweep. David Ortiz delivered a tworun single in the first off Hector Santiago (1-3), and the Red Sox backed Buchholz with several neat defensive plays on the way to their sixth win in eight games. Jonny Gomes made a sliding catch on Paul Konerko’s line drive to left with two on to end the first. Jacoby Ellsbury raced to the center-field warning track to snag Alexei Ramirez’s liner with a runner on and two out in the fifth to preserve a 2-1 lead.

Boston added to it in the eighth when Will Middlebrooks hit a sacrifice fly to right off Nate Jones after the Red Sox loaded the bases against Brian Omogrosso in the eighth, and Mike Napoli scored on a passed ball by Tyler Flowers to make it 4-1. The Red Sox scored two more in the ninth to put this one away. Buchholz allowed just one run while lowering his American League-leading ERA to 1.73. He also matched the best start by a Boston pitcher since Josh Beckett in 2007 and joined Tampa Bay’s Matt Moore and Arizona’s Patrick Corbin as the only unbeaten pitchers in the majors with seven or more wins.

ORIOLES 6, YANKEES 3 In Baltimore, Chris Davis went 4 for 4, including his ALleading 14th homer, and Baltimore got a three-run shot from Matt Wieters in a victory over New York.

Nick Markakis added a solo home run for the Orioles, who took two of three from New York to pull within three games of the first-place Yankees in the AL East.

Curtis Granderson homered, doubled and singled for New York. Needing a triple to reach the cycle, he drew a walk in the seventh inning. David Adams hit a ninth-inning

homer for the Yankees, his second in three games. The teams combined for 13 home runs in the series, including five in the finale. Yankees starter Hiroki Kuroda left in the third with a bruised right calf, one inning after he was struck in the leg by a line drive off the bat of Manny Machado. Kuroda (6-3) allowed five runs and eight hits in two-plus innings. Jason Hammel (6-2) gave up two runs and seven hits in 6 2-3 innings to even his lifetime record against the Yankees to 3-3. After Kuroda retired the first two batters he faced, Markakis homered. Adam Jones followed with a single and Davis hit a 3-2 pitch over the wall in center.

RANGERS 3, ATHLETICS 1 In Arlington, David Murphy and Adrian Beltre homered in a three-run first inning, Ross Wolf was strong in his first major league start and Texas avoided a sweep with a victory against Oakland. The 30-year-old Wolf was making his first big league appearance since Oct. 1, 2010, as a reliever with Oakland. He retired the first nine hitters and gave up one run with three strikeouts and two walks in five innings. Neal Cotts preserved Wolf’s lead by striking out the side with no outs and two runners on in the sixth. Joe Nathan pitched a perfect ninth for this 14th save.

Jarrod Parker (2-6) was down 3-0 just four batters into the game, but went seven innings. Parker retired 11 of the next 12 Rangers after falling behind 3-0 and allowed six hits and five strikeouts and one walk in seven innings.

TORONTO: Munenori Kawasaki No. 66 of the Toronto Blue Jays grounds out in the tenth inning during MLB game action against the Tampa Bay Rays. —AFP

ANGELS 7, MARINERS 1 In Anaheim, CJ Wilson struck out 10 in eight innings, Josh Hamilton had a two-run single and Los Angeles handed Seattle its season-worst sixth straight loss.

Wilson (4-3) allowed a run and six hits in his longest outing since June 8, 2012, when he also went eight innings in a 7-2 interleague victory at Colorado. The lefthander won for the first time since May 1 at Oakland after losing his previous three starts, including back-to-back 3-0 decisions against Chris Sale of the Chicago White Sox. Seattle rookie Brandon Maurer (2-6) made his first major league start near his hometown of Newport Beach, and it was a disaster. The right-hander, who played his high school ball a few miles away from Angel Stadium, gave up seven runs and 11 hits in three innings. —AP

Brewers and Giants stumble MILWAUKEE: Dodgers manager Don Mattingly criticized his team and benched All-Star right fielder Andre Ethier, then watched Los Angeles beat the Milwaukee Brewers 9-2 on Wednesday. Mattingly, in the third and final year of his contract, discussed his club’s lack of mental toughness and said he wanted a balanced team that has grit and fight. He benched Ethier for the third time in six games and said he was “putting out my lineup that I feel is going to be the most competitive and going to compete the hardest.” Carl Crawford and Scott Van Slyke had two RBIs apiece and Ramon Hernandez hit his first home run with the Dodgers, who took two of three from the Brewers but remain in last place in the NL West.

Hyun-Jin Ryu (5-2) allowed two runs and six hits in a season-high 7 1-3 innings. Milwaukee starter Wily Peralta (3-5) gave up six runs - four earned and seven hits in 1 2-3 innings.

NATIONALS 2, GIANTS 1 In San Francisco, Ian Desmond sin-

gled in Bryce Harper in the 10th inning, helping Washington avoid a three-game series sweep.

Harper hit his 12th homer in the sixth and sparked the winning rally with a one-out double. Ryan Zimmerman was walked intentionally before Desmond came up with his big hit against Jeremy Affeldt (1-1). Tyler Clippard (3-1) pitched a perfect 10th for the win and Rafael Soriano got three outs for his 14th save. He failed to convert each of his last two chances, including Tuesday night’s 4-2 loss. Buster Posey hit a tying RBI single for San Francisco in the eighth. Marco Scutaro went 0 for 3 with two walks, ending his 19-game hitting streak. He flew out to deep left to end the game.

ROCKIES 4, DIAMONDBACKS 1 In Denver, Carlos Gonzalez homered and drove in two runs, Jorge De La Rosa pitched effectively into the sixth and the Rockies took two of three from the Diamondbacks. Dexter Fowler had two hits in his first start in the cleanup spot and Nolan Arenado

added an RBI double as the Rockies caught the Diamondbacks in the standings. Colorado, Arizona and San Francisco are now tied atop the NL West with 26-21 records. De La Rosa (6-3) allowed a run and six hits in 5 1-3 innings. Edgmer Escalona and Matt Belisle bottled up Arizona to get the ball to Rex Brothers, who closed the ninth with Rafael Betancourt sidelined by a groin injury. It was Brothers’ first save of the season. Arizona right-hander Trevor Cahill (3-5) was charged with four runs and seven hits in six innings.

Garcia will have season-ending shoulder surgery this week. The lefty went 5-2 with a 3.58 ERA in nine starts this year, helping St. Louis bolt to the majors’ best record at 30-16. Yadier Molina had four hits and Carlos Beltran finished with three as the Cardinals took two of three from the Padres. San Diego rookie Burch Smith (0-1) failed to record an out in the second inning for the second time in three major league starts. The righthander struggled with his command, walking three before he was lifted with no outs in the second.

CARDINALS 5, PADRES 3 In San Diego, Tyler Lyons pitched seven solid innings in his major league debut on the same day St. Louis lost Jaime Garcia for the season.

Lyons, who was promoted from Triple-A Memphis after Garcia went on the disabled list, allowed one run and four hits. The 25-year-old left-hander was a ninth-round draft pick in 2010 out of Oklahoma State. The Cardinals announced before that game that

REDS 7, METS 4 In New York, Brandon Phillips bounced a bizarre double over first base to snap a ninth-inning tie, and the Reds completed a three-game sweep. Joey Votto homered and Zack Cozart had a career-high four hits, all off Matt Harvey, in a game that featured a little bit of everything - including a testy exchange in the dugout between Cincinnati starter Mat Latos and teammate Jay Bruce. —AP

43

Sports FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

UAE to make doping horses a criminal offence DUBAI: Giving anabolic steroids to horses will become a criminal offence in the United Arab Emirates, Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, who also owns the Godolphin stables where 18 horses have failed tests for the drugs this year, said yesterday.

“I have always believed in the integrity of horse racing and all other horse sports,” Sheikh Mohammed, who is also a ruler of Dubai, said in a statement.

“I have, in light of the unfortunate recent event, directed that a decree be issued making, with immediate

effect, the import, sale, purchase or use of anabolic steroids in horse sports a criminal offence under the UAE penal laws.”

Sheikh Mohammed said last month that he was appalled and angered about the positive tests for steroids at Godolphin’s Newmarket stables in England.

Trainer Mahmood al-Zarooni was banned for eight years by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) after 11 horses tested positive in April.

Seven more horses trained by Zarooni proved positive for the anabolic steroid stanozolol in further

tests, the BHA said last week.

“Regrettably, one of my stables in Europe has recently fallen below the standards that I expect and will tolerate,” Sheikh Mohammed said in Thursday’s statement. Rules on using drugs in horse racing vary around the world.

Under current rules, the use of anabolic steroids is permitted out of competition in the UAE, as it is in Australia. Sheikh Mohammed, who temporarily closed the Moulton Paddocks stables and ordered the testing of all the horses in Zarooni’s care after the positive tests, said

Godolphin would recover.

“As soon as the internal investigations are complete and the requisite pre-emptory rules are put in place, Godolphin will go from strength to strength and lead, once again, adherence to the highest standards in that gracious sport,” he said. Godolphin, which takes its name from The Godolphin Arabian, one of the three foundation stallions imported into England nearly 300 years ago, have won 204 Group One races in different countries since Sheikh Mohammed established training operations in Dubai and England in 1992. —Reuters

New Zealand opt for Bracewell over Vettori

WENTWORTH: World number two Northern-Irish golfer Rory McIlroy watches his drive from the 4th tee during the first round of the PGA Championship. —AFP

McIlroy slumps, Ilonen shines VIRGINIA WATER: World number two Rory McIlroy suffered a late first-round meltdown in almost wintry conditions at Wentworth as he ballooned to a two-over-par 74 in the PGA Championship yesterday. With some players wearing beanies and thick mittens for protection against chilly eight degree temperatures and winds gusting up to 20mph, it was Finn Mikko Ilonen who looked most at home as he grabbed the early clubhouse lead on five-under 67.

Italy’s Matteo Manassero was in second place on 69 with former world number one Martin Kaymer of Germany among a group of players on 70.

McIlroy, still waiting for his first victory of 2013 after winning the orders of merit on both sides of the Atlantic last year, limped home in 41 strokes at the European Tour’s flagship event after bogeying five of the last six holes.

The twice major winner capped a disappointing round with bogey sixes at the 17th and 18th. Playing partner and close friend Graeme McDowell, who landed the World Match Play title in Bulgaria last week, also carded a 74 and fared even worse than McIlroy at the last hole as he ran up a double-bogey seven.

Ilonen, though, sprinted through the pack at the end of his round by picking up birdies at the 14th, 15th and 18th.

“I stayed patient all the way today,” the double European Tour winner told reporters. “It was pretty nippy this morning and we had some hail as well.

“All day I was thinking, ‘Can I get these waterproof trousers off’?...but I couldn’t.” Ilonen, who lifted the Indonesian Open and Scandinavian Masters titles in 2007, has a good chance of staying in front all day because the forecast is for the weather to get even worse later in the round.

“I said to my caddie when we started that this was a good draw because you can get a 3.30 tee time and it won’t be the best time to play,” said the 33-year-old.

“I said to a friend of mine yesterday, ‘I think it’s going to snow tomorrow’ and she started laughing. This is the British summer and we have proof of that.” —Reuters

LEEDS: New Zealand will go with a fourseamer attack and will not risk spinner Daniel Vettori for the second and final Test against England starting at Headingley today, captain Brendon McCullum said. Doug Bracewell, who missed the first two drawn tests of the series against England in New Zealand this year after cutting his foot on glass, and was not selected for the third test, will come into the side. New Zealand lost the first test at Lord’s by 170 runs on Sunday after being skittled out for 68 in their second innings.

Former captain Vettori joined the test squad in England this week after being called up as replacement for spinner Bruce Martin who has been ruled out of the rest of the tour with a calf injury.

The 34-year-old Vettori has not played a test for 10 months, however, and has been recovering from a longterm Achilles injury.

“Dan is out of tomorrow’s game unfortunately. We obviously gave it our best shot but he didn’t scrub up that well today and just the confidence to go into a five-day game, with the workload he’s had, is just a bridge too far,” McCullum told a news conference on Thursday.

“He did not want to let the team down. It’s disappointing but it does give Dougie the opportunity to make his way back after sitting on the sidelines. He’s been outstanding in warm-up games on this tour as well.”

Vettori, New Zealand’s second highest wicket taker with 360 victims, will concentrate on being ready next month’s Champions Trophy in England.

“He’s got a big month and bit coming up. That’s one of the things we looked at for this game... Would we sacrifice the coming few weeks as well?

“It wasn’t the right thing for Dan and it wasn’t the right thing for us,” added McCullum, who will keep wicket for the touring side as he did at Lord’s after BJ Watling suffered the knee injury which has also ruled him out of the Headingley game.

It was the first time McCullum had kept wicket in a Test for nearly three years. With Martin out of the tour, McCullum can also call on part-time offspinner Kane Williamson who captured

two wickets at Lord’s, including Jonathan Trott.

McCullum said it was a “gamble” to select an all-seamer attack but one the Blackcaps had to take. “While it slightly adjusts our balance, we’re hoping that the overhead conditions over the coming few days... that the four seamers is actually a positive option for us,” he said.

“From the games I have played here seamers have prospered but the wicket looks a touch dry underneath the grass covering. It’s a gamble either way to be honest but it’s one, when you are onenil down you have to take.”

McCullum and his troops have spent the time since Lord’s analysing what went wrong on the fourth day when they capitulated against Stuart Broad.

The first three days had been evenly contested on a low-scoring and slow wicket before Broad demolished the tourists with a seven-wicket haul.

“It’s been a delicate balance between not sweeping it under the carpet and acknowledging what went on,” McCullum said.

“Everyone looked at their own mode of dismissal. Some guys know that their footwork was lacking...some guys know that their hands were probably a bit far from their bodies at times.

“Was it the pressure of the situation or a technical deficiency? I don’t think it was a technical deficiency. I do feel we are making some significant gains as a batting group and the other day was a blemish for us, no doubt about that.” —Reuters

LEEDS: New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum makes his way to the indoor nets on the eve of the second International Test cricket match between England and New Zealand at the Headingley cricket ground. —AFP

44

Sports FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

Rosberg clocks fastest time MONACO: Nico Rosberg gave Mercedes a quick start to their Monaco Grand Prix weekend with the fastest time in first practice yesterday.

The German, a local resident who has

qualifying, hat-trick chasing Spaniard Fernando Alonso was second fastest for Ferrari a mere 0.087 seconds slower.

Alonso, winner of his home race in Spain this month, is hoping to become

MONACO: Mercedes’ German driver Nico Rosberg drives during the first practice session at the Circuit de Monaco in Monte Carlo ahead of the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix. —AFP been at home on the twisty streets ever since he was a boy growing up in the principality, lapped with a best time of one minute 16.195 seconds.

While Rosberg will be chasing his third successive pole position in tomorrow’s

Ferrari’s first Monaco winner since 2001 and the first Formula One driver to triumph in the glamour race with three separate teams. Frenchman Romain Grosjean was third fastest for Lotus as he limbered up for his closest thing to a home race in

the continuing absence of a French Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton, the 2008 world champion and Rosberg’s team mate, was fifth quickest, just behind Ferrari’s Felipe Massa on the timesheets, on a gloriously sunny morning with the Mediterranean glinting as a backdrop.

Hamilton was 0.274 slower than Rosberg around the historic circuit that threads its way up the hill and into Casino square before dipping and winding down to the darkness of the tunnel and blasting past the moored yachts on the quayside.

Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado provided the incident-free session’s main surprise, planting his Williams firmly in sixth place after 90 minutes on one of the most treacherous and unforgiving circuits on the calendar.

Williams have not scored a point yet this season, a run of six races in a row including last year’s finale, and are in danger of chalking up their worst ever start to a championship this weekend.

Maldonado has form in Monaco, however, winning junior series races there on his way to Formula One and loving the challenge of keeping out of the barriers.

Red Bull’s triple world champion Sebastian Vettel, who has a four-point lead in the standings over Lotus’s Kimi Raikkonen, was only 10th quickest with Australian team mate Mark Webber — last year’s winner — seventh.

The McLarens of Jenson Button and Sergio Perez were eighth and ninth respectively ahead of what could be another difficult weekend for a team struggling to catch up after starting the year well off the pace. —Reuters

Raonic improves on red dust MADRID: Milos Raonic would probably not feature on most people’s list of potential French Open champions but the two-metre Canadian with the booming serve has been working hard on his clay game in Spain and has the potential to cause an upset.

The Montenegro-born 22-year-old, who will make his third appearance at Roland Garros next week, joined up with Spanish coach Galo Blanco at his 4Slam Tennis academy in Barcelona in November 2010 and believes Blanco’s influence has helped him to improve on the red dust.

Currently ranked 16 after rising as high as 13, Raonic said that under Blanco’s guidance he had progressed in all aspects of his tennis as he aimed to become the first Canadian to secure a place in the top 10. “My clay game has improved tremendously and now I play these clay events, including the French Open, with much more confidence and much more expectation of myself,” Raonic told Reuters at this month’s Madrid Open.

“I’m feeling a lot more confident on clay, so from that sense I enjoy it,” he added. “I understand quite well that if I improve more and more on clay it will help with the rest of my game on other surfaces and that’s important to me. I feel I have the confidence to expect more results.”

Raonic, who turned professional in 2008 and says Wimbledon is his favourite grand slam, made his Roland Garros debut in 2011 and lost in the first round to Germany’s Michael Berrer.

He reached the third round last year before falling to Argentine Juan Monaco. “2012 was much better,” he said. “I came in as a more complete player with a better understanding of what I had to do, with more grand slams as experience but also with more matches as experience on clay courts.”

Blanco, 36, was a top-40 player himself and reached the French Open quarter-finals in 1997, where he was beaten by

Australian Pat Rafter, and Raonic said he hoped to match or better his coach’s feat one day.

“We’ve joked about it a few times,” he said. “It’s hard really to put a date stamp on that but hopefully one day, yes.”

Asked whether he had chosen to work with Blanco because he specifically wanted to improve on clay, he added: “It was part of it but I think it was more that I wanted to improve in everything, him being a former player, him being able to provide a lot of experience and teach me another type of work ethic.

“Obviously the help he can provide on clay was a side benefit but I also think that he can help me as much as he did on clay on hard courts.” Raonic’s clay credentials were given the ultimate test last month when he ran up against Spaniard Rafa Nadal in the last four of the Barcelona Open.

After a fine start against the seven-times French Open champion, when he took a surprise 2-0 lead, his challenge faded badly and he lost 6-4 6-0.

“I have thought about it quite a bit,” Raonic told Reuters. “I think I got a break up early and then started playing a bit too much on his terms and you can’t really do too well against him in those conditions. “I would have hoped to play better but I think it’s still a tough task to overcome Nadal no matter how well you are playing but you have to keep fighting for that.

“A lot of things (need improving) in my game after that match. I think it just gave me more insight...to force myself to go for it more and play big like I did at the beginning rather than hold back as I did towards the end.”

Raonic’s clay season took a disappointing turn after Barcelona, as he fell to Fernando Verdasco in the second round in Madrid and was knocked out by Philipp Kohlschreiber in the opening round in Rome. —Reuters

Preview

FRANCE: Tennis player Rafael Nadal of Spain takes part in a training session before the French Tennis Open. —AFP

Nadal back in old routine LONDON: Watching Rafa Nadal churn his way through the claycourt season over the past few weeks, it seems nothing much has changed since his French Open triumph a year ago despite a lengthy injury layoff.

Titles in Barcelona, Madrid and Rome, where he dropped only three sets in the process, mean the 26-year-old is overwhelming favorite to lift the trophy for an eighth time at Roland Garros when play gets underway in Paris on Sunday.

Only world number one Novak Djokovic, who interrupted Nadal’s claycourt sweep by beating him in Monte Carlo, looks capable of preventing the Spaniard sinking his teeth into the Coupe des Mousquetaires again, but the Serbian’s confidence has taken a knock with early defeats in Madrid and Rome. Roger Federer can be relied upon to add his elegant brush strokes on the Parisian dust and Nadal’s compatriot David Ferrer will strain every last sinew to reach the latter stages while young guns such as Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov and Poland’s Jerzy Janowicz will be expected to make an impression.

All eyes though will be on the force of nature that is Nadal as he returns to a venue that is as familiar to him as his own backyard and where he rightly appears invincible.

Yet, just a few weeks ago in Vina del Mar, next to the Pacific Ocean in Chile, Nadal’s long-awaited comeback from a knee injury that sidelined him for more than six months ended in a final defeat by lowly-ranked Argentine Horacio Zeballos.

With his knee still hurting him and his shots lacking their usual bite, some wondered whether Nadal was damaged goods, whether the aura he enjoyed on the red dust would ever return.

How ridiculous that notion now sounds. Federer, who was given a claycourt lesson by Nadal in the Rome Masters final last Sunday, is not surprised at the Spaniard’s level since returning to competitive action.

“He’s not going to come back 20 percent fit, he’s only coming back when he’s 100 percent healthy,” Federer said. “I am happy for him. He is super consistent and he is winning so many matches and he is improving.”

With only one defeat at Roland Garros to blot his copybook it would be only human if Nadal allowed himself the luxury of coasting through his early rounds.

Complacency does not appear to be in Nadal’s dictionary, however, with the Spaniard relentless in his pursuit of claycourt perfection and records.

“When I go on court I am always thinking that what is happening to me in the past eight or nine years is not forever, nobody stays here forever and nobody wins forever,” said Nadal, who was struck down by tendinitis in his left knee shortly after his march to the title last year.

“I don’t know when this will finish and so I try to take care in every moment to make sure that this happens as late as possible.

I respect everyone and this is why I have a lot of success every year and win a lot of matches on this surface.

“Some days I don’t play my best and I have to fight and run and be humble.” Australian Open champion Djokovic has enjoyed a few more rest days than he might have expected in the run-up to the French Open, after chastening defeats by Dimitrov and Czech Tomas Berdych in Madrid and Rome. Last year’s runner-up will arrive in typically confident mood, however, as he chases the only grand slam not on his CV. —Reuters

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Sports FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

China survive Indonesia scare KUALA LUMPUR: Defending champions China had to dig deep to avoid a surprise defeat to Indonesia, winning 3-2 yesterday in the quarter-finals of the Sudirman Cup. Two days after whipping their arch rivals 5-0 in a group match, China, who have not lost a tie since falling 2-3 to South Korea in the 2003 final, were stunned by a determined and gallant Indonesian outfit.

China will play Denmark in tomorrow’s semi-finals after the Europeans easily defeated underdogs Taiwan 3-0.

At the last Sudirman Cup two years ago, China thrashed Denmark 3-0 in the final. And Chinese supremo Li Yongbo was unperturbed. “We have won it for so many

times-eight times,” the coach said after their match against Indonesia.

“I don’t mind if we lose it as long as my players show their determination and fighting spirit... Sometimes it’s good for other teams to win it.”

Denmark coach Lars Uhre warned China to brace itself for a tough fight.

“They are not invincible. Indonesia proved that today. If we can get a good start, we stand a good chance of upsetting them,” he said. The other semi-final is between Thailand, who upset Japan 3-1 on Thursday, and South Korea, who hammered Germany 3-0.

Indonesia’s Tontowi Ahmad and

Liliyana Natsir gave the 1989 champions a dream start when they defeated the world number one mixed doubles pairing of Ma Jin and Xu Chen in three games.

China’s Chen Long, as expected, levelled the scores when he beat Tommy Sugiarto. But then Rian Agung Saputro and Angga Pratama edged Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng.

The Chinese women then turned on the power as Olympic champion Li Xuerui outclassed Lindaweni Fanetri, and world champions Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli beat Liliyana Natsir and Nitya Krishinda Maheswari. Coach Li blamed “a few bad line calls” for the men’s doubles loss

though he praised the Indonesians for performing “above expectation”.

Technology to review disputed linecalls, as in tennis and football, is being tested at the cup, but it can’t be used to challenge decisions yet.

Meanwhile, South Korea kept up their performance of reaching every Sudirman Cup semi-final when they outclassed Germany.

The three-time champions were simply too strong for the European champions.

“We expected to win and march on, and we all did exactly what we were expected to do,” said Lee Yong-Dae, who played in the men’s doubles. —AFP

Heat scorch Pacers in OT

MIAMI: Miami’s LeBron James made a buzzer-beating layup in overtime as the Heat narrowly escaped a shock loss on their home court and beat the Indiana Pacers 103-102 in Wednesday’s opening game of the NBA Eastern Conference finals.

James finished with 30 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for the Heat - his ninth postseason triple-double. All that mattered was the last shot, which simply saved the Heat after a thrilling contest in which there were 18 ties and 17 lead changes, the last two of those coming in the final 2.2 seconds.

“Two teams fought hard,” James said. “We were able to make one more play.” Paul George made three free throws with 2.2 seconds left in the extra period to give the Pacers the lead, having earlier forced overtime with a miracle 3-pointer.

George pumped his fist gently after the third free throw, then extended his index finger skyward as the teams retreated to their benches to get ready for the final play.

He just left James too much time, and the Pacers left their best shot-blocking option on the bench. Roy Hibbert wasn’t on the floor for the final play, and without a 7-foot-2 barrier to contest him, James slipped down a lane and made the winner look easy.

“Two great teams just throwing punch for punch,” Indiana coach Frank Vogel said. “Our spirit is very high, very confident.

We know we can play with this basketball team.”

Vogel said he left Hibbert off the floor for the final play out of concern of what defending champion Miami would do with Chris Bosh in that scenario. Afterward, he acknowledged he might have different thinking next time. “I would say we would probably have him in next time,” Vogel said. Game 2 is tonight in Miami.

Officials reviewed James’ play at the end, though it was clear he beat the clock, and the Pacers walked slowly toward their locker room, lamenting one that got away - by no fault of George’s. “Gut-wrenching,” Hibbert said. —AP

MIAMI: Norris Cole No. 30 of the Miami Heat dives for a loose ball against George Hill No. 3 of the Indiana Pacers in overtime during Game One of the Eastern Conference Finals. —AFP

OTTAWA: Tomas Vokoun No. 92 of the Pittsburgh Penguins kicks his pads into the air to stop the puck while on his back against Colin Greening No. 14 of the Ottawa Senators and Douglas Murray No. 3 and Brooks Orpik No. 44 of the Pittsburgh Penguins guard against Milan Michalek No. 9 of the Ottawa Senators, in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Semifinals during the 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. —AFP

Penguins rout Senators OTTAWA: Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby was careful not to get too far ahead of himself after helping the Penguins beat the Ottawa Senators 7-3 on Wednesday to take a 3-1 lead in the NHL Eastern Conference semifinal series. “I’m not talking about anything ahead of Game 5,” the Pittsburgh captain said when asked about a potential Eastern Conference final against the Boston Bruins.

But after the result and the manner of victory on Wednesday, it’s hard to imagine Crosby and his teammates aren’t starting to think about facing the Bruins - up 3-0 in their series against the New York Rangers.

Jarome Iginla and James Neal each scored twice for the Penguins while Crosby, Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis added goals, and Tomas Vokoun made 30 saves.

Down 2-1 after the first period, the visitors scored twice in a 40-second span early in the second and added four goals in the first 10 minutes in the third.

Milan Michalek, Kyle Turris and Daniel Alfredsson scored for Ottawa. Senators goalie Craig Anderson was benched after Pittsburgh’s sixth goal, and Robin Lehner finished the game.

“There was a sense like, ‘OK, this might take as many shots as we can muster to break this guy.’ And fortunately, we kept on that mindset,” Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. “It was a matter of, ‘We are going to have to fire anything and everything we can at this guy to get one by him.’” Game 5 is today in Pittsburgh. “I know what we’re going to do,” Alfredsson said. “We’re going to go out and play one hell of a game. That doesn’t worry me at all. We never quit and that’s not going to stop now. We know the odds are against us in every way, but we never quit and that’s going to continue.”

The Senators opened the scoring on Michalek’s short-handed goal at 2:29 of the first period. Alfredsson fed the puck up the

middle to a streaking Michalek, who broke through the defense and beat Vokoun low on the glove side.

It was the Senators’ first lead of the series and it wouldn’t last. Neal tied it with 5:04 left in the period, picking up the loose puck in the slot and putting it in the back of the net.

Turris put Ottawa back in front off a rebound with 3:45 left in the first.

Pittsburgh tied it early in the second when Kunitz got behind the defense and went in alone to beat Anderson. Less than a minute later, Anderson gave up a rebound on Kris Letang’s shot that landed on the tape of Iginla’s stick to make it 3-2.

Neal started the third-period flurry with a power-play goal at 1:59. Dupuis added a short-handed goal at 8:07, Crosby followed at 8:39, and Iginla scored on a power play at 9:53. Alfredsson finished the scoring with a late power-play goal for his 100th career playoff point. —AP

Sports FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

Rome derby Cup final a potential powder keg

Photo of the day

Freddy von Osten performs during the Red Bull Rising High Secret Session in Hamburg, Germany on May 3rd 2013. —www.redbullcontentpool.com

Milan ultras want Allegri to stay ITALY: AC Milan’s influential ultras want Massimiliano Allegri to remain as coach amid widespread speculation that club president Silvio Berlusconi plans to fire him.

The Curva Sud (South Curve) fan group issued a statement praising Allegri for his handling of a young squad last season, when Milan recovered from a poor start to finish third in Serie A and qualify for next season’s Champions League playoff.

“Today, we find ourselves with a project which has only just started and which will soon be dismantled by presidential choice,” said the statement on the group’s website (www.curvasud.it). The fans were especially critical of reports that former Milan midfielder Clarence Seedorf, who has no coaching experience and is playing with Botafogo in Brazil, could be brought in as a replacement. “We can well understand, but not agree, that whoever invests can decide to change coach just for personal reasons,” they said. “But if it’s really part of a plan we must at least start again by putting the team into the hands of an experienced trainer,” the fan group added.

“Certainly not someone like Seedorf or others who have zero experience on the bench and will come in to take in hand

a squad of young players one month before the first official engagement and before the very difficult task which is the preliminaries of the Champions League.

“We hope that there will be respect for Milan as an institution and its fans, with a choice which is not just related to a particular moment, but with the continuation of a project which we decided to support to the end one year ago.”

The fans said they recognised that Allegri was having to rebuild the team after club management slashed the wage bill and held a firesale of top players the previous summer in a bid to cut costs. “The championship started with great difficulty and Allegri’s Milan appeared destined for the abyss. Aware that criticism would be detrimental to the atmosphere in the team, we decided to support Milan at the most difficult moment. “Our choice paid off. We created a sort of tacit agreement between the ultras, the coach and the team, that we would all row in the same direction... we began to reap the rewards with the performances of (Stephan) El Shaaraway and careful management of players from coach Allegri, who we recognise has been carrying this project.”— Reuters

ROME: Racism, bitter local rivalry and dissatisfaction with their own teams will provide a combustible mix in the firstever Italian Cup final featuring neighbors AS Roma and Lazio on Sunday. The match comes barely one month after a meeting in Serie A preceded by violent clashes in the streets of Rome in which several people were stabbed.

Around 200 Lazio fans threw bottles and other objects at officers who responded by firing tear gas and baton-charging supporters. The kickoff for Sunday’s match at the Stadio Olimpico, which offers both teams a last chance to qualify for the Europa League, was brought forward from 2100 local time to 1800 to reduce the risk of trouble and 2,000 police will be on duty.

To add fuel to the fire, fans from the two clubs have both been involved in ugly incidents of racism this season. Lazio were forced to play two home matches behind closed doors in the Europa League after their fans racially insulted Borussia Moenchengladbach players, their fourth racism offence of the season in European football.

Roma have been handed two successive 50,000 euros ($64,400)fines by Italy’s disciplinary tribunal following racist chanting by their fans in the matches away to AC Milan and at home Napoli.

If that were not enough, Roma are also facing hostility from their own supporters after a second disappointing season in a row in which they finished sixth in Serie A, despite some flashes of inspiration from 36-year-old talisman Francesco Totti.

Roma fans have made their feelings clear, unveiling a banner that read “win or run away” during their 2-1 win over Napoli last Sunday while many are also enraged at the club changing their badge on Wednesday, four days before the final.

The new design, mocked by Lazio fans, features the word Roma under the famous depiction of a female wolf, instead of the letters ASR. Lazio fans are also disillusioned after their team who were battling for a Champions League for much of the season before dropping away to finish seventh and miss out on even the Europa League.

High ticket prices have also caused anger in a country plagued by high unemployment and an economic crisis. The cheapest are going at 30 euros ($39) for the areas behind the goals, preferred by the hardcore Ultras, with the most expensive seats up to 120 euroes.

Both teams have closed themselves away from the public, with Lazio travelling over 150 kilometres to Norcia in Umbria.

Roma supporters will at least be buoyed by the likely return of hard-tackling midfielder Daniele De Rossi and defenders Federico Balzaretti and Marquinhos. Lazio have everyone available except the injured Louis Saha. — Reuters

UEFA agrees for tougher sanctions to fight racism LONDON: Players or officials found guilty of racist offences in European club matches or internationals will face a minimum ban of 10 matches under tougher disciplinary regulations approved by UEFA’s executive committee yesterday.

The executive will also propose to their annual Congress in London on Friday that all their 53 national associations adopt the same sanction, although the English FA announced last week it would be imposing a minimum five-match ban for racist offences. UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino told a news conference following the executive meeting in central London that clubs would also face partial closure of stadiums for a first incident of racist abuse by fans and a full closure for a second offence plus a 50,000 euros ($64,400) fine.

There will also be an increased ban for players or officials insulting or assaulting match officials. In the past, a two-match ban could be imposed for insulting the referee or officials but that has been increased to three matches, while the penalty for assault has been increased from 10 to 15 matches.

“We are sending a very strong message that this kind of behaviour will no longer be tolerated in any form,” Infantino said. The new sanctions, adopted by the executive committee, will initially apply to all matches in European competition, with UEFA hoping its members adopt the same punishments for their domestic matches. That will be discussed at the Congress on Friday. Infantino also announced new anti-doping initiatives including the launch of a research study retrospectively measuring the steroid profiles of nearly 900 players who have participated in UEFA competitions since 2008. “UEFA wants to identify the potential relevance of steroid use across Europe by using data from previous doping controls.

The study will be anonymous and there will be no penalties for any player incurring an anti-doping rule violation,” he said. UEFA is also empowering itself to take action should one of its member nations fail to punish “or punish in an appropriate manner offences harming the essence of football notably offences of match-fixing, corruption and doping”, he added.—Reuters

LONDON: UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino speaks to members of the media during a press conference in central London, following the UEFA congress and ahead of the Champions League final match on May 25, 2013. — AFP

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Sports FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

Tradition meets modernism in Wembley showdown BERLIN: The all-German Champions League final tomorrow pits traditional powerhouses Bayern Munich against modernists Borussia Dortmund at London’s Wembley Stadium (1845 GMT) with more at stake than Europe’s premier club trophy.

Bayern, four-times European champions, are Germany’s richest and most successful club, while rejuvenated Borussia Dortmund won the trophy in 1997 but came to the brink of financial ruin in 2005.

The Ruhr valley club have recovered on a sporting level under coach Juergen Klopp, challenging Bayern’s dominance in the past two seasons before the Munich club reclaimed the league title last month in record-breaking fashion.

The Bavarians, in the first all-German Champions League final, are desperate to erase memories of two lost finals in 2010 and 2012 and reclaim their top spot by beating the team that forced them to go two seasons without any domestic silverware.

Last season’s Champions League final defeat in Munich to Chelsea on penalties has been especially bitter to swallow for Bayern but now Jupp Heynckes’ team stands before an unprecedented treble for a German club. Heynckes, who has announced an end to his long Bundesliga career and will be replaced by former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola at the end of the season, could leave after completing a trio of titles including the German Cup, 12 months after what for other teams could have been a back-breaking defeat. “To be able to rise again after such a final defeat last year shows that my players are carved out of special wood,” said Heynckes, who looks set to retire from football.

“That is why I am convinced that we will lift the trophy. We have incredible mental strength, we cannot be pushed over.” For several Bayern players, the final could be the last chance for a major international trophy that has been eluding them with both club and country. Bayern playmaker Bastian Schweinsteiger and captain Philipp Lahm have enjoyed hugely successful footballing careers but, both in their late 20s, they are running out of chances for a big trophy. France international Franck Ribery and Dutch winger Arjen Robben have also had enough runners-up titles in their careers and are eager to avoid being stuck with a loser tag at the third attempt in four seasons. For Dortmund, who lost only one game in the entire competition - 2-0 at Real Madrid in the semi-final second leg - it is the culmination of a sensational three-year spell. They won the German league in 2011, the league and Cup double in 2012 and now get a shot at the Champions League title.

This success has come at a price with Dortmund players, including top scorer Robert Lewandowski, on the wish list of almost every major European club. The achievement of Klopp’s young team, characterised by its counter-punching and offensive style that at times is mesmerising, has even surprised some of his own players.

“If someone had told me before the season that we would be playing in the final, I wouldn’t have believed it,” said midfielder Jakub Blaszczykowski.

“For us, the players and the whole club, it is a great event. Not many of us have had the chance to play in a final like this. This is the culmination of our good season in the Champions League,” said one of three Poland internationals in the team.

Enthusiasm has slightly been dampened for 45-year-old Klopp’s team, with hugely gifted Mario Goetze, who will join Bayern next season, missing out on the final due to a muscle injury.

The offensive midfielder, for whom Bayern paid a reported 37 million euros ($47.63 million), was injured in the second leg of the semi against Real. Dortmund central defender Mats Hummels is nursing an ankle injury but should be fit tomorrow. —Reuters

ITALY: Italian Vincenzo Nibali celebrates on the podium winning the 20,6 km 18th climbing time trial stage of the 96th Giro d’Italia from Mori to Polsa. —AFP

Nibali smashes rivals to tighten Giro grip POLSA: Italian Vincenzo Nibali took a giant step towards his maiden Giro d’Italia triumph by smashing his rivals on his way to winning a rain-soaked 18th stage uphill time trial from Mori to Polsa yesterday.

Australian Cadel Evans began the day only 1min 26sec behind the Italian with two key mountain stages to go, but flattered to deceive on his way to finishing nearly three minutes behind.

Ahead of the two mountain stages in the Dolomites, which may have to be altered depending on the severity of the wintry weather expected at high altitude, Nibali now leads Evans by 4:02.

Colombian Rigoberto Uran is in third place overall at 4:12 with former pink jersey winner Michele Scarponi, who is aiming for a podium finish, fourth at 5:14.

It was Nibali’s first stage win of this year’s race, and third overall, and should

be enough to see him become the first Italian to win the Giro since Scarponi was handed the 2011 title after Alberto Contador of Spain was disqualified for doping.

“I have a significant advantage now and that will allow me to control the coming two stages in more tranquil fashion,” said Nibali, who rides for the Astana team.

Nibali, the 2010 Tour of Spain winner and runner-up on the 2011 Giro d’Italia, came to this year’s race extra determined having been pushed into third place by Bradley Wiggins at last year’s Tour de France.

However few expected the Italian to dominate as he did on a rolling, uphill course that was suited to the climbing specialists.

Spaniard Samuel Sanchez, whose overall victory hopes have faded steadily since the start of the three-week race,

set the early pace from among the big names in a time of 45:27 - when the course was still fairly dry.

It allowed Euskaltel’s team leader to take the provisional lead with a time that was 22secs faster than Italian Damiano Caruso but, despite heavy rain hitting the course later on, Sanchez was unceremoniously pushed into second place when Nibali, punching his arms in triumph, posted a time that was 58secs faster.

Caruso (Cannondale) finished third on the stage at 1:20, with Scarponi (Lampre) fourth at 1:21 and Uran (Sky) sixth at 1:26.

Wiggins began the Giro as Nibali’s main threat, but the Englishman, as well as Canada’s defending champion Ryder Hesjedal, quit the race due to illness last week. The race finishes on Sunday with a mainly flat 197 km stage from Riese Pio X to Brescia.—AFP

AFC nod for Indoor World Cup

Sheikh Talal Al-Fahad and Sheikh Talal Al-Mohammad

KUWAIT: The Asian Football Confederation informed the Kuwait Football Association Secretary General that the Indoor Soccer World Cup Tournament has been approved by the confederation. The AFC agreed to request supervisors and international referees to officiate the tournament in which 16 highly talented teams will participate.

The higher organizing committee said that Egyptian soccer legend Mahmoud Al-Khateeb and Morocco’s Olympian Nawal Al-Mutawakel will attend the tournament along with other dignitaries who confirmed they will be avail-

able during the period from Ramadhan 1st until the 18th.

The committee also signed a contract with well known Tunisian soccer commentator Esam Al-Shawali to cover the tournament for all satellite channels that reached 22 so far. Meanwhile Kuwaiti singer Bashar Al-Shatti will prepare a special song for the tournament and it is expected to be a hit with the fans. Sheikh Talal Al-Mohammad will travel to Saudi Arabia to invite the President of the Arab Football Federation Prince Nawaf bin Faisal to attend this important event.

FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

Nibali smashes rivals to tighten Giro grip Page 47

www.kuwaittimes.net

MIAMI: Indiana Pacers guard George Hill (3) drives against Miami Heat guard Mario Chalmers (15) during the second half of Game 1 in their NBA basketball Eastern Conference finals playoff series. — AP

Heat scorch Pacers in OT Page 45