11th Jul 2013

CR IP TI ON BS SU

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

RAMADAN 1, 1434 AH

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Kuwait, GCC celebrate holy month of Ramadan Saudi to expel foreigners disrespecting Ramadan conspiracy theories

Month of tolerance

By Badrya Darwish

badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net

R

amadan is the month of peace and tranquility.

It is the month of mercy and forgiveness from God. It is a month dedicated to worship, tolerance, self reflection and understanding. It is not a month in which we only refrain from food and water.

It is not meant to just starve ourselves. It is about training and purifying your soul. It is meant to teach you more empathy and patience. Ramadan is about showing our human side which many of us might have ignored or have written off.

Once a year, we have this beautiful month coming to give us a chance to repent and to try to correct our mistakes. Also, Ramadan gives us a chance to reflect on these mistakes.

Continued on Page 13

JAKARTA: Indonesian Muslim women hold prayers on the first night of Ramadan at the Istiqlal mosque in Jakarta yesterday. — AFP

RIYADH: The Muslim fasting month of Ramadan begins in Saudi Arabia today, the royal cabinet announced in a statement yesterday, citing the kingdom’s religious authorities. The holy month during which Muslims fast from dawn to dusk and strive to be more pious and charitable, begins with the sighting of the new moon, which varies from country to country.

Other Arab countries including Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar and Yemen, will also observe the start of Ramadan today.

During Ramadan, Muslims are also required to abstain from drinking liquids, smoking and having sex from dawn until dusk. The fasting is one of the five main religious obligations under Islam. The month is sacred to Muslims because tradition says it is the month in which the Quran was revealed by Allah to the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH).

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia yesterday threatened to expel non-Muslim expatriates who eat, drink, or smoke in public during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. “Non-Muslim residents in the kingdom must not eat or drink in public during Ramadan, in respect to the holiness of Ramadan and the feelings of Muslims,” said an interior ministry statement published by the official SPA news agency.

Foreigners caught breaking the fast in public “will be subject to deterrent measures that include terminating their employment contracts and expelling them from the kingdom,” the ministry said. It added that “companies, corporations and individuals are required to inform their employees” of the rules. Oilrich Saudi Arabia, which applies a strict version of sharia (Islamic) law, is home to eight million foreigners, mostly Asians. — Agencies

Max 48º Min 35º High Tide 02:05 & 12:18 Low Tide 07:03& 20:01

Ramadan Kareem

Ramadan steps

By Umm Ruqayyah

W

ouldn’t you love to enter the month of Ramadan on a real high and have the effects of this beautiful month be a permanent impact on your life thereafter? How can this be done?

Below are the 8 steps for a Legacy of a Ramadan.

Step 1 - Create a Ramadan Count Down Counting down for Ramadan (whether it is done mentally or by keeping physical signs around the home or office) will help create hype and buzz in your mind and amongst the people around you. When you and others are counting down to the same event, it becomes part of regular conversation and excitement spreads.

Step 2 - Seek knowledge about Ramadan This will help you ensure you will do things correctly and perfectly for Ramadan, it will create a hype as there are many motivational aspects and events in the month to look forward to and finally it is a reward reaper. The more you know about Ramadan the more you can apply, hence multiplying your rewards.

Step 3 - Make a Ramadan plan Be it reading the entire Qur’an, ensuring you pray taraweeh every night or inviting families over for iftaar; make a list of things you would like to achieve in the

Continued on Page 13

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

LOCAL

Kuwait drop down on WEF rankings for friendliness Crackdown backlash KUWAIT: Kuwait’s anti-foreigner backlash is in full force as expats are restricted from using public hospitals and driving. At the start of June, the Kuwaiti government barred foreigners from attending a major public hospital in the morning, leaving it free for locals who have complained about overcrowding.

Banning foreigners in the morning at Jahra hospital, west of Kuwait City, is a six month trial to tr y to ease congestion for Kuwaiti patients in a country where expats outnumber locals two to one.

If successful it will be rolled out nationally.

Foreign patients will only have access to medical treatment in the mornings if it is an emergency.

Currently, Kuwait provides free medical services to locals, but expats must pay an annual fee along with charges for certain procedures like X-rays.

The anti-foreigner stance has seen Kuwait drop down the World Economic Forum’s rankings for friendliness to tourists and visitors.

The Emirate now stands at 137th out of 140

countries. As part of a widespread backlash Kuwait will also scrap subsidies it offers foreigners for public services such as electricity and water, claiming they are “a burden on the state”.

Earlier this year the Kuwaiti government said it relied too heavily on expats and wants to reduce their numbers. It plans to cut its 1.8 million expats by 100,000 annually over the next decade.

One British expat who wished to remain anonymous said: “Already the government is

making life hard for foreigners and trying to push them out. Many will jump before they are pushed.”

Kuwait authorities have also tightened their already strict controls on foreign drivers by withdrawing licences from students and housewives.

Under current laws, most foreigners can only drive on public roads if they hold a university degree, earn KD 400 a month and have lived in the country for at least two years. However, students, and housewives

with children were among those exempted from the conditions, along with certain professions like judges and doctors.

But Kuwait’s traffic department is now reviewing the list of exemptions, and has been cancelling licences for students when they graduate and housewives who get a job.

At the same time, more than 1,000 expats have been deported from the Gulf state within the past two months for minor traffic offences and have had their vehicles impounded.

Arabi Group wins ‘Insurance Hospitals’ auction

KUWAIT: Supporters of former Kuwaiti MP Yaqoub Al-Sanea, a candidate in Kuwait’s upcoming parliamentary elections, gather at his election campaign tent in Kuwait City yesterday. Kuwait will hold a second parliamentary election in eight months on July 27 amid a political crisis that has stalled development in the country and a boycott by the opposition. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Eight candidates quit elections race KUWAIT: Eight parliamentary candidates have withdrawn candidancy for the July 27 elections, decreasing number of candidates to 404, the interior ministry said yesterday.

The ministry’s public authority for elections, said in a statement Hussein Sardar Ali Faraydoon, Saud Mathkar Nasser Al-Hajri, Salman Nasser Al-Rashidi and Awadh Khalaf Al-Enezi quit the race in the 2nd constituency.

The third constituency witnessed withdrawal of Ahmad Yusuf AlMulaifi and Adel Jassem Al-Barjas, while Hamed Jafran Al-Husseini quit the race in the 4th constituency and Mishal Bader Al-Otaibi pulled out from the race from the 5th constituency, said the department.

The deadline for candidates to withdraw their candidacy will be on July 20. Meanwhile, candidate of

the second constituency Adel AlKhorafi emphasized on the necessity to participate in the next elections, especially after the constitutional court put an end to differing views, and said all should respect opposing points of views.

He said that the election shall witness large participation which could exceed 50 percent after some have announced boycotting elections, adding that boycotting is of no use and reform comes from the inside of the house and not from the street. He added it is possible that there are some mistakes in the process which could lead to announcing the next Assembly as void, intentionally or otherwise.

He emphasized that “we need specialized persons in legislation and making laws and knowhow to deal with regulations and systems”.

KUWAIT: Arabi Group Holding was selected as a strategic investor in a project to build hospitals for treatment of expatriates covered by a governmental health insurance program after winning an auction carried out by the Kuwait Investment Authority on Monday.

The group had forwarded a KD 66.6 million offer to invest in 26 percent of the shareholding company that will be founded to establish three hospitals with a total capacity of 700 beds and offer integrated medical services to foreigners living in Kuwait.

Its bid was selected over offers forwarded by Kepco (KD53.8 million), Agility (KD32.3 million) and Jebla Company (KD32.3 million) for the share that was

estimated at KD60 million of the total project’s capital of KD230 million.

Meanwhile, head of the founding committee of the Health Insurance Hospitals Company, Mohammad AlMunaifi, announced in a press conference to announce the auction result that preparations to sign the deal is expected to take place within a month or two, followed by the initial public offering for 50 percent of the company ’s share on September or October.

The government will own the remaining 24 percent share of the shareholding company. Al-Munaifi added that the company which will handle works to implement the mega project should start operation by early next year.

Voters’ views differ on candidates

KUWAIT: Reham Al-Jlewe, a candidate in Kuwait’s upcoming parliamentary elections, welcomes her guests at her election campaign tent in Kuwait City yesterday.

He added the government does projects, so the government’s duty not defend thieves but defends is to defend its procedures, otherprojects. As an executive party, there wise it will not get the trust of the are some who benefit from these Assembly.

KUWAIT: Candidates have been launching their campaigns for the July 27 parliamentary elections by using all means at their disposal including sending emails to private accounts of voters.

Some voters do not mind getting these emails because they will save time knowing the programs of the candidates, while others were dismayed because it was their professional email accounts and was purely for work.

Mubarak Al-Banwan, an employee, said emails were good mean to communicate with voters especially with the large number of candidates.

The fact the voting day was approaching, Al-Banwan told KUNA, made it harder for candidates to reach out to their voters. He, however, said the number of candidates’ emails he was receiving was

so far acceptable.

Taiba Al-Khaled, another employee, welcomed the idea of sending emails to the private accounts and that the receiver could either open or delete them.

Thawra Abdulkareem said she was annoyed from the emails getting to her private inbox as they were distracting her from her work.

She said that the large number of emails were filling up her inbox and thus hampered her work.

Hayat Al-Abbasi was against the use of private emails for elections purposes.

She said private emails should be specific for work not for campaigning.

Al-Abbasi further said that official authorities should punish those who use personal emails or phone numbers for campaigning means. — KUNA

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

LOCAL

‘Vote buying’ alleged ahead of NA election ‘Multimillion-dinar fund’ set up KUWAIT: Despite governmental promises to tackle irregularities ahead of parliamentary elections set for June 27, several dailies reported yesterday that primaries as well as vote buying activities are taking place in all constituencies. Al-Jarida daily reported that a vote’s price this year ranges between KD 1,000 to KD 2,000 “after the single-vote system cut the ‘supply’ and increased demand”, according to sources with knowledge of the issue.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the sources said that activity has been detected for buying votes through “blocks of 15 to 20 votes for KD 30,000” in the second and third constituencies.

The same daily had reported earlier this week that a group of politicians and people with influence on the decision making process in the state have set up a ‘multimillion-dinar fund’ in order to support certain candidates with hope of securing a loyalist majority in the upcoming parliament. Yesterday, Al-Jarida added that ‘operators’ of the fund are working on employing an average of 35 persons in each

of the first, second and third constituencies.

These persons will work as ‘electoral keys’, each of whom can secure thirty votes through vote buying, which they can move in favor of any candidate who would find themselves in need of ‘support’ at any time during election day. As for the fourth and fifth constituencies, the sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that people behind the fund are currently contacting winners of tribal primaries “offering their services”.

Concern over vote buying emerged as a main topic of discussion in candidates’ statements Monday, as former MP and minister Ahmad Al-Mulaifi warned of the “spread of political money in the third constituency” where he is running. “People are talking about third constituency candidates who brag about having millions of dinars to buy a parliament seat and people’s willpower,” he said in statements to AlRai. He further criticized the government’s “suspicious silence” over the issue and urged the Interior Ministry to investigate the matter and hold vote buyers accountable.

Kuwait candidates’ speech skills key in campaigns

KUWAIT: French Ambassador Nada Yafi hosted a reception on the occasion of her country’s National Day at Salwa Sabah Al-Ahmed Hall on Monday. A number of diplomats , high-ranking officials and media personnel attended the function.

— Photos by Joseph Shaqra

Housing authority debuts on Twitter KUWAIT: The Public Authority for Housing Welfare announced its debut onto the Twitter social interaction network yesterday with the aim of improving communication with the public and providing the latest news of its services and publishing its latest announcements. It is also to answer inquiries posted through its official twitter account.

Deputy Chairman for Human Development Affairs Nabil Al-Kharafi said a team was set up to administer the account and to handle all inquiries and announcements.

Issues would be raised with the concerned departments, each according to its specialty, to provide the best response. This is hoped to spare citizens much effort and time while providing accurate information, he noted.

“There is no other official account to receive input or responses from the authority”, he meanwhile stressed.

The authority also responds to complaints and observations put directly before Minister of State for Housing Affairs Salem Al-Utheina through the authority’s website, he noted. — KUNA

Kuwait needs to create 1.7 million jobs by 2030 KUWAIT: Ministries and other state departments suffer an underemployment problem which needs to be tackled given its negative effect on the national economy, a senior official in the Civil Service Commission said in a statement Monday.

CSC Undersecretary Mohammad Al-Roumi made his statements during a press conference held to announce plans to launch a national project to organize employment mechanism and job opportunities. “The main goal of the project is to address flaws in the job market and create more job opportunities,” he said. According to Roumi, Kuwait’s labor market suffers an imbalance “when most Kuwaitis opt to work in the public sector and shun away from the private sector”.

“In accordance with the current pace, Kuwait will have to create 1.7 million job openings in the public sector by 2030 for job hopefuls who would be looking for jobs in the government by that year,” he added.

KUWAIT: The art of speech is one of the key communications skills exercised by parliamentary candidates who can persuade voters to change their minds and vote for them. Many candidates spend great sums of money on their campaigns without paying attention to the art of speech, which can have dramatic impact on voters.

“The candidate can change the mind of voter through the art of speech as one of the most sophisticated elements with regards to dealing between human beings,” Abdullah Al-Hajraf, an expert in development and human communications, commented.

Al-Hajraf said art of speech was one of the important elements of communication in Western countries.

In the West, he said, a human being “does not live in isolation from others but in a constant state of interaction with others.” This means, he added, conveying ideas, objectives, causes and information to others by a good selection of words and phrases which would be easily understood by the public.

These ideas and information should be blended with feelings “which will touch upon sufferings and emotions of others who will feel the urge to listen to the speech of the candidate,” he said.

Kuwait’s constitutional court last month annulled the parliament that was elected last December and upheld the one-person, one vote system. Parliamentary elections in the country’s five constituencies will be held on July 27. Al-Hajraf, furthermore, said changing the belief of the voter was not easy. “The candidate should analyze the real life of his voters because this will help him choose his phrases and words that address their problems thus winning their confidence in election day,” he said. A candidate can also shift between issues to avoid boredom, suggested Al-Hajraf.

The candidate, he said, should prepare for this campaign and his speeches, as well as making sure he moved from his introduction to the conclusion smoothly. The candidate, he added, should avoid long speech and vague words. “Words are keys to hearts and minds,” he said. If the candidate realizes that his audience are paying attention to his speech, he said, this would mean his words and phrases were appropriate.

“The proper use of the body language is a very influential element,” he explained. Fatma Al-Enezi, a history teacher, said skills of speech of candidates could influence her to vote for them. “The candidate who has these skills is capable of highlighting problems of voters,” She said.

“The most important thing for me is the candidate’s capabilities and speech skills and how he can interact with the public,” she said.

Mashaan Al-Mutairi, an oil engineer, said there were many highly-educated candidates but incapable of giving speeches.

The successful candidate, he said, “is the one with great speech skills because he will convey problems of citizens to the (government) officials in a proper manner.”

Mohammad Al-Ajmi, a retiree, said he voted for candidates in the past because they had excellent speech skills. —KUNA

Meanwhile, Al-Qabas quoted observers in a report yesterday who expressed suspicions over the motives of mass appointments the Cabinet announced during its weekly session Monday. A Cabinet source who requested anonymity explained that the decisions came to fill voids created when many senior officials opted to retire before a June 30 deadline to benefit from incentives put to encourage long-standing employees to move over. However, a Civil Service Commission source argued that many appointments did not go through the Civil Service Council, mentioning posts at the health and social affairs ministries in specific.

In other news, the supreme judicial committee that was formed to supervise the election process held a meeting Monday in which judges and public prosecution members were briefed about the latest preparations regarding their work program. The committee’s president and president of the appeals court Ahmad AlUjail told Al-Qabas that “all judges on leave have cut their vacations short and will be here one or two days before elections”.

Comparative figures of third constituency electorate KUWAIT: The total number of Kuwaiti citizens with suffrage for the July 2013 elections is 439,715, including 206,096 men and 233,619 women.

In the third constituency, the number of franchised citizens stands at 76,501, with 34,745 males and 41,756 females.

Number of the voters in this district rose 3,436, 4.70 percent of electorate of the elections that resulted in the December 2012 dissolved parliament — 1,743 males voter and 1,693 female voters.

Third constituency’s eligible voters constitute 17.39 percent of Kuwait’s overall electorate of 439,715, with the gender breakdown proportion standing at 7.90 percent males and 9.49 females.

Voters are distributed among 15 areas: Kaifan 7,843 (3,850 men and 3,993 women), Rowda 9,856 (4,546 men and 5,310 women), Udailiyah 6,154 (2,881 men and 3,273 women), Jabriyah 10,223 (4,280 men and 5,943 women), Surra 8,619 (3,531 men and 5,088 women), Khaldiyah 5,527 (2,687 men and 2,840 women), Qortoba 7,225 (2,798 men and 4,427 women), Yarmouk 5,335 (2,316 men and 3,019 women), Abraq Khaitan 7,580 (3,413 males and 4,167 females), New Khaitan 1,441 (1,311 men and 130 women), Al-Salam 1,955 (935 men and 1,020 women).

In Seddeek 14 (10 men and four women), Hetteen 1,752 (782 men and 970 women), Shuhadaa 1,234 (597 men and 637 women), Zahraa 1,743 (808 men and 935 women).

Third constituency electorate for elections of the dissolved 2012 parliament amounted to 73,065 (33,002 men and 40,063 women).

Eligible voters were distributed among 15 areas: Kaifan 7,645 (3,755 men and 3,890 women), Rowda 9,518 (4,374 men and 5,144

women), Udailiyah 5, 933 (2,766 men and 3,167 women), Jabriyah 9,756 (4,024 men and 5,732 women).

Citizens with suffrage in Surra amounted to 8,296 (3,346 men and 4,950 women), Khaldiyah 5,374 (2,613 men and 2,761 women), Qortoba 6,885 (2,243 men and 3,858 women), Yarmouk 5,138 (2,219 men and 2,919 women), Abraq Khaitan 7,511 (3,389 men and 4,122 women), New Khaitan 1,407 (1,304 men and 103 women), Al-Salam 1,623 (763 men and 860 women), Hetteen 1,457 (654 men and 803 women, Shuhadaa 1,045 (506 men and 539 women).

In Zahraa, number of franchised nationals reached 1,477 (665 men and 812 women), but none was registered in Seddeek.

Number of franchised citizens in the third constituency in the polls of the dissolved National Assembly of February 2012 reached 67,063 (30,240 men and 36,823 women).

They were distributed as following: Kaifan 7,395 (3,630 men and 3,765 women), Rowda 9,036 (4,151 men and 4,885 women, Udailiyah 5,570 (2,619 men and 2,951 women), Jabriyah 9,103 (3,654 men and 5,449 women).

Number of the eligible voters in Surra reached 7,606 (2,984 men and 4, 622 women), Khaldiyah 4,978 (2,449 men and 2,529 women), Qortoba 6,101 (2, 243 men and 3,858 women), Yarmouk 4,633 (1,987 men and 2,646 women).

In Abraq Khaitan, the figure reached 7,570 (3,418 men and 4,152 women), New Khaitan 1,383 (1,315 men and 555 women), Hetteen-AlShuhadaa 687 (351 males and 336 females).

Number of the franchized citizens in Zahraa reached 981 (461 males and 520 females) but none was recorded in Seddeek. — KUNA

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

LOCAL

$50 million Kuwaiti grant for Palestinian fund PRDP Fund central in supporting reforms

KUWAIT: Under the patronage of the Ministry of Interior Assistant Undersecretary Gen Ahmad Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and in the presence of the general director of public administration Brig Khalid Abdul Aziz Al-Jinahi, and administration directors, a ceremony was held to hand over certificates of military service medals, which His Highness the Amir has granted to the officers.

WASHINGTON: Kuwait and the World Bank signed yesterday a $50 million grant agreement to suppor t the ongoing Palestinian Reform and Development Program (PRDP).

This amount is in addition to the $230 million that Kuwait has provided to the PRDP World Bank-administered multi-donor trust fund since 2008. The agreement was signed by Kuwaiti Ambassador in Washington D.C. Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and World Bank Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa region Inger Andersen. World Bank Executive Direc tor and Dean of the Executive Board Merza Hasan witnessed the signing.

“The State of Kuwait is committed to suppor t the Palestinian Authority ... and will

remain engaged and committed” to ensure the social and economic well-being of the Palestinian people,” said Sheikh Salem.

The contribution will help meet urgent budgetary needs that the Palestinian Authority (PA) is facing, providing inter alia support for education, health care, and other vital social services for the Palestinian people and support for the economic reforms currently underway.

For her part, Andersen said “the PRDP Trust Fund is central in suppor ting Palestinian reforms and development plans. We are proud of these joint donor efforts to ensure continuity of Palestinian institution-building and better public service delivery.”

“This support from the State of Kuwait will help the Palestinian (Authority) to bolster

reforms to strengthen its fiscal positions and improve public financial management. These are critical building blocks for a future Palestinian state,” said Merza Hasan.

The World Bank PRDP Trust Fund was established on April 10, 2008, when an agreement was signed between the World Bank and the Palestinian Authority.

In addition to Kuwait, the governments of Australia, France, Norway, the UK, and Japan regularly contribute to this fund. With the new contribution from Kuwait, the trust fund will have channeled close to $1.3 billion.

In addition, the World Bank has contributed $200 million of its own resources (through five Development Policy Grants) to support the budget of the Palestinian Authority.—KUNA

EU calls for cooperation with Gulf countries to resolve Egyptian crisis BRUSSELS: The European Union yesterday warned of dangers of serious confrontation and polarization in Egypt and urged for international cooperation to promote a peaceful process to resolve the crisis.

“Egypt is running out of time. We need support and we need to work with regional players like Turkey and Gulf countries, Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to find a way forward,” a senior EU official told journalists in Brussels this afternoon.

“The situation on the ground is very difficult. We insist to use peaceful ways. We will work on a political dialogue. Europe is neutral. The international community should not be seen as supporting one side against the other,” said the official speaking on condition of anonymity.

He, however, underlined that “no military roadmaps are acceptable and that there can be no political solution without the Muslim Brotherhood.”

“The only way ahead is inclusiveness

and dialogue with all sides,” he added.

The EU has conveyed to the Egyptian authorities that “arrests make no sense, closing TV channels make no sense. The Muslim Brotherhood must be allowed to work freely. Criminalisation of Muslim Brotherhood is not acceptable,” he stated.

The official explained that by labeling what happened in Egypt as a military coup or not will not help in finding a solution.

“We are not in the business of supporting one side against the other. It will not change the reality. it is a complex situation and we are trying to find a solution,” he said. The EU official who returned yesterday from Cairo noted that “Salafis are playing a positive and constructive role.

They are tr ying to help Muslim Brotherhood and Liberals to reach an agreement”. “If the Muslim Brotherhood are not part of the political process, it will not work. This is the view of the EU,” concluded the official. —KUNA

Scientific Center timings KUWAIT: The Scientific Center of the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Science (KFAS) announced that starting from the second day of the holy month of Ramadan, it would receive visitors from 9pm till midnight in addition to a morning

period from 10am till 1pm on Saturdays only. The center also announced that tickets would be reduced to KD 1.750 for the aquarium and KD 1 for the exploration hall while the I-Max cinema would be closed for maintenance.

KUWAIT: (Left) Shaikha Al-Bahar, NBK Chief Executive Officer, Khalid Othman Al Othman, vice chairman CEO, Al Hamra Real Estate Company, Mazin Al Nahedh, NBK’s General Manager, Consumer Banking Group and NBK officials cutting the ribbon.

(Right) The new NBK branch at Al Hamra Tower.

NBK opens a premium lounge in Al Hamra Tower for Private Banking and Thahabi customers KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) opened recently a new branch in Al-Hamra Tower. The new branch is a first-of-a-kind premium lounge specially designed for NBK’s Private Banking and Thahabi customers.

The ribbon cutting ceremony was attended by Shaikha Al-Bahar, NBK Chief Executive Officer- Kuwait, Khalid Othman Al-Othman, vice chairman and CEO, Al-Hamra Real Estate Company (Al Hamra) and Mazin Al-Nahedh, NBK’s General

Manager, Consumer Banking Group, along with NBK officials.

“At NBK, we want to ensure that our customers always receive unsurpassed level of service”, said AlBahar. “The Premium lounge is dedicated to serve our Private Banking and Thahabi customers and provide them with exclusive, top-notch services by dedicated personal bankers,” added Al-Bahar. Al-Bahar stressed: “For long, NBK has been renowned for its unique and unrivaled banking solutions. The new Hamra branch

reflects NBK’s commitment to continuously develop its services and to maintain its leading position as the bank of choice for customers.”

NBK’s first premium banking lounge is designed to provide personalized banking services through relationship managers and personal banking officers. It is equipped with the latest communication gadgets coupled with luxurious and comfortable seating area to carry out all the banking activities for premium banking customers. Dedicated

Premium Banking Teller services are also available at this premium lounge. NBK continues to enjoy the widest banking presence with more than 170 branches worldwide. NBK’s international presence spans many of the world’s leading financial centers including London, Paris, Geneva, New York and Singapore, as well as China (Shanghai).

Meanwhile, regional coverage extends to Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Turkey.

Justice panel to monitor voting KUWAIT: Minister of Justice and Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Shareeda AlMuosherji yesterday formed the higher judicial committee tasked with monitoring the July 27 parliamentary elections.

The committee will be headed by chairman of the Court of Appeals Justice Ahmad Al-Ajeel.

Members are Justices Faisal Khuraibet, Jawad Al-Abdullah, Khaled Al-Muzaini and Mohammad Abu Slaib.

Security plan for Ramadan Season MAKKAH: The Saudi Interior Ministry uncovered yesterday the main features of a security plan that would guarantee safety of visitors of the holy city of Makkah during the fastingmonth of Ramadhan.

In a press conference, Major General Saad Al-Khulaiwi pointed out that Minister of Interior Prince Mohammad bin Naif has endorsed this year’s security plan for visitors and pilgrims at the Grand Mosque in Makkah during the peak Umra season in Ramadan.

The plan takes into consideration the ongoing construction works within the giant prayer complex and its external yards which have minimized the amount of space available for worshipers, he said. It includes contingent measures in the event of a range of scenarios to offer the maximum safety to worshipers and pilgrims, while ensuring smooth flow of traffic during circumambulation (tawaf) and other holy rites. Al-Khulaiwi noted as per the plan, the operation room of the Grand Mosque will be tasked to immediately respond to any threats. In the event of an emergency, crowds will be directed away from the area of threat and overcrowding will be minimized. The plan stipulates that the masses would be prevented from venturing close to the critical site and directed elsewhere, he said. He added that the ministry hopes Muslims from across the world would understand the current situation caused by the going on construction, and called on locals to limit their visits to the Grand Mosque during the peak Umra season.—KUNA

The committee also comprises of Justices Ishaq Al-Kandari, Salem AlKhudhair, Mohammad Al-Zubei and Ali AlMutairat, in addition to Justice Ministry’s undersecretary Abdulaziz Al-Majed.

The committee will be nominating the judges and prosecutors who would be responsible for the voting process throughout the election day, in addition to organizing entry of journalists, representatives of NGOs into ballot centers. — KUNA

Strict steps against begging KUWAIT: Ministr y of Interior ’s Assistant Undersecretary Lt Gen Sheikh Faisal Nawaf AlAhmad said that there are strict steps to be taken by the ministry against begging, especially during the month of Ramadan, as some expats make use of the holy month and approach citizens and expats to get money from them.

He pointed out that security campaigns shall continue during the holy month to chase beggars and a security plan has been set up with other concerned authorities to minimize begging and put an end to it completely through patrols and coordination with criminal investigation and other organizations in all

governorates.

Sheikh Faisal warned that any expat caught begging, shall be deported along with his sponsor if the sponsor is an expat for violating the rules. He said some expats make use of visit visas to beg, adding that ministry of interior shall be very strict in this matter.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

LOCAL kuwait digest

kuwait digest

Political immaturity

Leadership and future

By Dr Abdulmuhsin Al-Moqatei

Dr Yaqoub Al-Sharrah

T

I

t appears that the Arab world is still politically immature with regards to ruling and state management affairs, which could explain why the desires of exclusivity, control of power, and inability to coexist with others as partners in running state affairs have been and are still ongoing for decades. There are many signs and practices that point out to these facts and are also being supported with empty justifications that have nothing to do with democracy or the culture of natural political coexistence. Under these circumstances, a wave of political changes swept through the Arab world in what the West for clear political reasons has called the ‘Arab Spring’.

One of the most important changes was changing the ruling system in Egypt following the Jan 25, 2011 revolution.

After the end of the 30-year rule of former president Hosni Mubarak, Egypt moved to an exceptional state of revolutionary thought that combined between a public revolution and military intervention to settle it. The result was some sort of a ‘semi-revolution’ in which a public rebellion movement was mixed with military intervention. As a result, the transitional movement was followed by the election of the first civil president of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi. He was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood which entered the political scene through the Freedom and Justice Party.

Winning the presidential elections which followed winning majority seats in the parliament led the Freedom and Justice Party to experience a sudden state of political euphoria to the point they eventually became affected by arrogance. As a result of that, the party started eliminating others from participating in running the state’s affairs through constitutional amendments the president adopted, and went on to rush a new constitution despite the objection of other political parties who were left out of the job of putting the constitution together. These and other were errors committed by the Muslim Brotherhood or the Freedom and Justice Party - mismanagements that needed to be corrected in order to ensure that all parts of the Egyptian societies take part in power, management and decision making. Despite all these errors, the events on July 3, 2013 in which the military took over power in Egypt is known in constitutional and political context as a military coup against a civil authority whose legitimacy is derived from elections. What is more dangerous than this step is the fact that it was approved by the other political parties under different but weak excuses which had the only goal of overthrowing president Morsi and hand power over to a different party. This reflects how complicated the crisis is in the Arab world when it comes to inability to practice true democracy and coexist.

Everyone had a way out of the table through keeping the president in office while establishing a joint presidential council that works with him in running the affairs of the state through a government of national accord with a set of goals that include preparing for new presidential elections. Either way, no party should rejoice over the ouster of a president elected through democratic elections. Moreover, it is dangerous that the president of the constitutional court was appointed as interim president and assigned to make constitutional declarations. If these declarations were to be challenged, in this case the interim president would be the litigant and judge. — Al-Qabas

kuwait digest

Aftermath of the fall

By Dr Shamlan Al-Essa

T

he fast moving events in Egypt after the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood regime were huge and loud, not only at the domestic level in Egypt, but expanded to the rest of the Arab world. The Muslim Brotherhood is considered the largest and oldest Islamic political organization in the Arab world, founded in Egypt in 1927 by Sheikh Hassan Al-Banna, so it is natural that the fall of the Brotherhood one year after ruling is considered an event or catastrophe for political Islam factions across the Arab world.

We do not exaggerate when we confirm that the fall of the Brotherhood on June 30, 2013 will be the start of the fading of political Islam groups in the Arab world. This reminds us of the Arab world in 1867, which ended the Arab nationalist faction forever. The fall of the Brotherhood in Egypt created a major division in the Kuwaiti society, as the national, liberal, moderate and centrist powers all supported the move of the Egyptian army at the people’s request to remove the religious regime.

Reactions of leaders of political Islam in Kuwait were strong against the new regime in Egypt, contrary to the official stand which was announced by HH the Amir in his cable in which he congratulated his brothers in the Egyptian leadership. Salaf and Brotherhood former members of parliament took clear stands rejecting the toppling of the legitimacy as former MP Jamaan Al-Harbash, a member of the Brotherhood, blamed secularists in Egypt because they failed to reach power through the ballot box.

Former MP Mohammad Hayef considered what happened in Egypt a military coup to get rid of the Egyptian president, and wondered why Morsi was ousted with GulfWestern support within two hours, while Bashar Al-Assad has been spared to kill and destroy for more than two years, and considered the military coup in Egypt as something organized and planned by foreign powers.

Salaf MP Waleed Al-Tabtabaei branded what happened a coup and labeled the Egyptian opposition as the worst opposition as they allied themselves with the remnants of the former regime. He considered events in Egypt proof that ballot boxes alone cannot achieve popular political participation unless they are built on strong foundations, and “this strengthens our stand to boycott the elections in Kuwait”.

How did Kuwait get into Egypt’s issue...do not ask me!

Former Salaf MP Khalid Al-Sultan blamed secularists because they contributed to the fall of the legitimacy in Egypt, and considered them Westernized and tools of the Zionist entity.

Former MP and member of the Muslim Brotherhood Mohammad Al-Dallal was more realistic and calm as he asked all to stay away from violence and stick to peaceful protests. There is no room to mention all stands of political Islam, but what is sure is their feeling that what happened in Egypt will reflect negatively on them, so it is not strange to see them attack Gulf regimes and liberal forces. Because the battle of distancing the Islamists has begun in the Gulf after Egypt. — Al-Watan

he advancement of any nation depends on its ability to predict the positive and negative aspects of the future in order to be able to overcome expected crises which could otherwise hinder its progress. There are Third World countries whose populations amount to more than half of the earth’s population yet live in very poor living standards due to terrible situations that prevent their governments from planning for the future.

The importance of predicting the future inspired many universities to start teaching this concept under the term of ‘future studies’. It is a science that studies ways of putting plans and systems by which a state not only can avoid risks, but can provide protection and sustainability to its development and living standards.

State leadership today requires a great deal of skill, determination and vision to achieve development. Leadership is the engine by which the development process goes forward and cannot be ignored in a world competing for control.

Countries like Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea became examples in economic, political and social development after focusing on human development to improve people’s skills and create leaders.

Meanwhile, Dubai stands as an example in the Gulf region as an emirate that achieved development by which it transformed into a strong economy and a hub for investors in the middle of the desert. Likewise, Qatar is taking steady steps in the path of leadership after investing oil revenues in mega projects inside and outside the country. Qatar put an investment plan that does not focus on per capita income, but depends on investing billions of dollars to buy properties and build factories in countries like France and the United Kingdom. Owning foreign properties secures future incomes and is considered a national treasure.

These examples did not influence our perspective regarding the importance of economy in our lives, despite many history lessons for nations which had fallen after their economies collapsed.

Despite being classified as a rich country because of oil revenues that one day are going to stop, Kuwait has so far failed to invest these revenues wisely and through an approach that reflects future planning. On the contrary, a significant amount of oil revenues is being wasted through corruption on one hand and ill-advised spending on the other. This continues to happen despite many financial studies which predicted a budget deficit by as early as 2019. A collapsed economy means destruction of social and political components of the society if the situation continues as it is now in which oil revenues make nearly 95 of the national income.

These facts should motivate us to start working in order to avoid risks. Efforts in this regard should go in three main directions - protecting financial incomes and investing them in vital and guaranteed projects while limiting financial giveaways on the domestic and foreign levels; creating public awareness regarding people’s responsibility to preserve state services through rationalization of consumption; and most importantly finding economic alternatives in which the private sector plays a major role. Without these factors, our conditions will continue to deteriorate and we could reach a situation in which it would be too late for action. — Al-Rai

kuwait digest

Outcome of Arab Spring

By Abdulateef Al-Muhlim

I

1) Who said these words, “Obey me as long as I obey Allah and His messenger. If I disobey Allah and His Messenger, you are free to disobey me.”

A) Abu Bakr (r.a.)

B) Ali (r.a.)

C) Hamzah (r.a.)

n the past, whenever an American secretary of state In other words, the Arab dictators have forgotten to arrived in any Middle Eastern country, it would be develop their countries and innocent people have paid primetime news. He would meet the highest political for it with their own lives. This is the reality of the Arab figures and his/her visit would be given the maximum Spring.

Everyone knows the truth, but we won’t admit it. news coverage with everyone hoping for an end to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. John Kerry, the current US sec- During the Arab Spring, we saw our real faces in the mirretary of state, came and went and no one knew about rors. It showed that the Arabs were never united and are his many visits. He wanted to restart the negotiation now divided beyond anybody’s imagination. We hate process, but the Arabs are busy with their never-ending each other more than we hate the outside enemy. This is Arab Spring and the Israeli military and political figures why no one in the Arab world showed any sympathy to are in no rush because they are watching Arabs kill each the Syrians when Israeli planes attacked Syrian targets a other. Whenever they have extra time, they watch an Arab few weeks ago. As a matter of fact, even hardcore antiIsraelis wished the Israeli planes had continued eastward TV show called “Arab Idol”.

Ofir Gendelman, spokesman for the Israeli prime min- and attacked the Syrian presidential palace and killed an ister and Avichay Adraee, Israeli Defense Forces Arab leader named Bashar Al-Assad.

In other words, many in the Arab world sided with spokesman, said it is part of their job to watch “Arab Idol”.

I thought their job is to keep an eye on the threat that Israel against an Arab country. After the attack, we saw Arab Spring countries pose to Israel. However, why would many Syrians approach the Israeli-fortified checkpoints in the Syrians have killed hundreds and thousands of their the Golan Heights, not to attack Israeli soldiers, but to own people and displaced more than four million? The seek refuge and get medical attention. I am not talking about simple medical care. I Israelis couldn’t pull someam talking about major surthing like this off, but the Arab Spring did it for them.

It has turned out that the Arab geries like the four-year-old Syrian girl who got a heart According to news media, the Arab Spring caught the Spring is not about a search for transplant at Wolfson world by surprise on Dec 18, democracy, social justice and Hospital in Holon, Israel.

This is the real Arab 2010. I will, however, add that the Arab Spring didn’t come better standards of living. The Spring. Syrians are hurting out of the blue. It is an accu- Arab Spring is all about hate and Syrians and the Israelis are the ones who treat the Syrian mulation of years of political corruption, human rights vio- sectarian violence. The world wounds. Yes, the Arab Spring lations, sectarianism, poor didn’t hear anything about is a joke and I mean a very bad joke. The Arab Spring is education systems and unemployment. To sum it all rebuilding the countries or eradi- not about seeking democraup, the Arabs were not fight- cating poverty. The talk is all cy, it is about Arabs killing Arabs. And this is why Israeli ing the enemy, they were sleeping with it. This is why it about fighting among the same soldiers are busy on the Golan Heights. They are not is impossible to analyze and people from the same country. busy with loading ammuniforecast the outcome of the tion - they are busy picking Arab Spring. The Arab world never looks at mirrors. We don’t like to say mirror, mirror cherries and other fruits. What is more, they are also busy on the wall because mirrors don’t lie and we don’t want to giving guided tours to show the world Syrian planes targeting civilians, Scud missiles destroying villages and know the truth. We can’t handle it.

During the Arab Spring, I read a lot of analyses about tanks attacking schools and mosques. What goes inside the root of the Arab Spring - it is decades of hiding from Syria is more horrific. Syrian men humiliate Syrian women reality, chasing a mirage of enemies, conspiracies and in front of their relatives, rape and kill them. It is not only blaming the outside world. We never blamed our sys- the killing that is ugly. We saw a Syrian kill another Syrian tems for the many failures to develop the Arab mind. We and then open his chest with a knife and take a bite of his talk about Sykes-Picot, imperialism and Zionism, but we heart. It can’t get any uglier.

Now, mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the ugliest of never look at the mirrors on the wall. Some people, howthem all? Well, they are all ugly. It has turned out that the ever, did.

On June 15, 2013, a Saudi columnist whom I have nev- Arab Spring is not about a search for democracy, social er met wrote an article in the Saudi newspaper Al-Sharq justice and better standards of living. The Arab Spring is all about hate and sectarian violence. The world didn’t titled “Israel, the everlasting Arab treasure”.

The columnist, Abdusalam Alwael, is a very highly edu- hear anything about rebuilding the countries or eradicatcated Saudi who gained a bachelor’s degree from a Saudi ing poverty. The talk is all about fighting among the same university, his master’s degree from a university in people from the same country.

Just look at the land of one of the oldest civilizations, California and his doctorate degree from a university in Virginia. He basically said that Israel was a bounty for Arab Egypt. A country that failed to bring one, just one iconic dictators who use the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to rule figure like Nelson Mandela or Martin Luther King - individtheir countries and make a lot of money by just issuing uals who talk about peace and harmony and are respecthollow threats to Israel. Israel is a moneymaking machine ed the world over. Not someone who enjoys destroying for Arab dictators and many Palestinian corrupt officials. his own country and killing his own people.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

LOCAL

Two Egyptians hurt in Jleeb armed robbery Man held with brother’s passport KUWAIT: Farwaniya detectives are hunting a group of men who left a steel merchant seriously wounded and also shot a bystander in an armed robbery in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh. Police were called to Farwaniya Hospital where two Egyptian men were admitted with gunshot wounds. Preliminary investigations indicated that one of the victims had headed to a location where he agreed to meet some people to finalize a KD 15,000 scrap metal purchase deal.

He soon found out that the sellers were thieves when they demanded the money at gunpoint.

The man was shot in the back while he was escaping and the suspects also shot the second man in the foot when he jumped to help the injured man. Investigations are ongoing.

Car theft A search is on for a male suspect accused of stealing his employer’s vehicle according to a case filed Monday at the Salhiya police station.

Local police were approached by the manager of an expor t and impor t company who accused the company’s driver of disappearing with a car owned by the company. Police obtained the Asian man’s information and investigations are underway.

Thieves caught Ahmadi detectives closed thirteen theft cases reported around the governorate by arresting two suspects who admitted responsibility

for the crimes. Investigations had been ongoing for weeks over thefts reported by multiple shops in Ahmadi. After questioning several suspects, detectives identified a Kuwaiti man and a stateless residents as prime suspects, and they were arrested. The two explained that they used to split the loot after every theft. They were referred to authorities to face charges.

Scam Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh police are looking to arrest a man accused of stealing KD 3,600 through scams. A case was filed Monday at the area’s police station where a Kuwaiti man explained that he agreed with an Indian national to open an Indian restaurant in the area and handed him the money as per an agreement. The suspect reportedly disappeared and switched off his phone shortly afterwards. A travel ban and an arrest warrant were issued against the suspect.

Border arrest A man was arrested at the Nuwaiseeb border checkpoint where he tried to use his brother’s passport to exit the country. The Kuwaiti man was held for questioning when officers at the passport counter noticed that the person pictured in the passport he forwarded was not him. The man admitted that the passpor t belonged to his brother and that he resorted to this trick to bypass a travel ban order

against him for money-related charges. The man was taken to authorities for further action.

Search for impersonator Investigations are ongoing in search for a male suspect who stole money from a pedestrian after putting him under the impression that he was a police officer. In his statements to police, the Iranian man said that he got inside a vehicle whose driver stopped him in Qasr and told him that he was wanted for investigations after checking his ID. The man reportedly drove to the police investigations building in Saad Al-Abdullah and led the pedestrian to believe that he went inside the building. He came back to the car where the man was waiting and told him that he needs to hand over his passport. He then drove to the man’s residence where the Iranian went to get his passport, but found after returning that the driver had disappeared along with KD 600 he had confiscated. The man filed a case at the Naeem police station.

Suicide attempt A domestic worker was hospitalized following a suicide attempt in Rawda. The woman had deep cuts on her wrist. Her Kuwaiti employer said that she had used a knife to cut herself for unknown reasons. The maid’s condition was described as stable. A case was filed for investigations.

State needs coordinated effort for welfare of society KUWAIT: The state is in need of collaboration of all efforts exerted towards maintaining social welfare and improving social conditions, said Minister of Information and Minister of State for Youth Affairs Sheikh Salman Sabah AlSalem Al-Humoud Al-Sabah.

This sentiment was the focal point of the minister’s address, read on his behalf by the state

advisor on youth affairs Yousef AlYetama at a ceremony marking the end of Saad Summer Club activities, with Amiri Diwan advisor Dr Abdullah Al-Maatouq also present.

Despite its resources, the minister said, the state cannot face the challenge of the day on its own, but needs the collaboration and cooperation of the private

sector and civil society institutions to create a society that matches ambition and keeps up with the times.

He stressed the state is betting on the creativity of civil society institutions and the devotion of young activists and volunteers to take leaps in human development and in preparing Kuwaitis for the future.

Mexico to host cultural, arts events in Kuwait KUWAIT: Mexican Ambassador to Kuwait Dr. Luis Alberto expressed Monday his country’s wishes to establish joint cooperation with Kuwait in all fields, including Kuwait’s hosting of Mexican cultural activities for raising awareness of Mexico cultural arts.

The ambassador made his remarks in a statement after meeting with Assistant Secretary General of National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL) for Cultural Affairs Dr Bader Al-Duweesh, President of the diplomatic mission of Mexico Jorge Beltran, NCCAL Director of Foreign Relations Hind Al-Qattan.

Alberto expressed admiration to activities organized by NCCAL in literature, culture, and arts.

The ambassador hailed NCCAL host-

ing of various global literature activities in all fields and through festivals which witness huge attendances, expressing wishes to host similar activities during the upcoming visit of the Mexican president to Kuwait in February 2014.

For his part, Al-Duweesh expressed pleasure and welcome to cultural cooperation and bilateral relations, noting on his readiness to coordinate and organize various Mexican cultural activities in the country.

The Kuwaiti official asserted importance of signing a cultural cooperation agreement between the two countries, which Al-Duweesh said would reflect positively on boosting cultural cooperation. —KUNA

Palestinian to launch $10m Arabic online encyclopedia DUBAI: A 75-year-old Palestinian businessman is on a $10 million mission to boost Arabic on the Internet, where it accounts for less than 1 percent of websites despite being spoken by one in 20 people worldwide. If Talal Abu Ghazaleh, owner of the education and professional services firm Talal AbuGhazaleh Organization (TAG-Org), has his way, the end of this year will see the launch of Tagipedia, a free online Arabic encyclopedia with a million entries.

“I see it as a means of building an Arab knowledge society, which is my mission in life ... to contribute to the economic and social development of the Arab world,” he told Reuters. About 350 million people, or 5 percent of the world’s population, consider Arabic their first language, while hundreds of millions more are familiar with it through Islam’s holy book, the Kuran.

Yet only 0.9 percent of websites use Arabic, placing it 13th overall behind the likes of Polish and Dutch, according to the analysts W3techs. “For a language with a great heritage and culture, that is very modest,” said the effervescent Ghazaleh, who says his company has spent more than $10 million developing Tagipedia over the past five years, and will fund its running costs, keeping it free of advertising.

TAG-Org, which has its headquarters in Jordan and 80 offices around the world, began as an accounting firm and has diversified into other sectors including education, information technology, intellectual property and legal services. Ghazaleh describes the website as an act of philanthropy. Unlike Wikipedia, whose content is created by users, Tagipedia will have a more traditional form, with all entries vetted for accuracy and relevance before publication.

Ghazaleh expects it to have 1 million entries by launch, compared to Wikipedia’s 235,000 or so articles in Arabic: “Wikipedia is a great innovation and it helped collect, store and disseminate knowledge, but there has always been a call for enhancing the Arabic content on the Internet.”

University students have been researching the entries, which are then vetted by academics and Tagipedia’s in-house experts. The

United States led the Internet’s growth, which remains skewed towards languages with Latin alphabets, and English in particular.

Only 10 percent of Internet users in the Arab world can interact with English websites, according to Fadi Chehade, chief executive of ICANN, a group that manages some of the Internet’s key infrastructure.

“What about the other 90 percent?” he said. “Some don’t even have English keyboards.”

This may have contributed to Arabic speakers’ relatively small online presence; in 2011, 29.8 percent of people in Arab states were using the Internet, according to the International Telecommunication Union. This compares with 69 percent in Europe and 53 percent in the Americas.

Yet cyberspace, particularly social media, played a big role in nurturing and coordinating the Arab Spring uprisings that ultimately led to the exit of long-standing rulers in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen.

Aware that other countries including Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have tried to nip such trends in the bud by controlling Internet use, sometimes prosecuting bloggers, Ghazaleh is keen that Tagipedia should avoid political or religious controversy.

“Tagipedia is a library, no one has the right to post any information without verification.

The content is vetted for data to be correct, useful and non-offensive to any person, authority, religion, culture or community,” he said. “We have always refused donations or funding because we want to keep our independence.” From late 2013, ICANN will start to release about 1,500 new generic top level domain names (gTLDs) - existing examples include .com and .net - and the roughly 120 non-Latin script names will be given priority, including include some in Arabic.

Although a welcome development, these will not necessarily lead to a sudden increase in Arabic language websites. Some countries including Egypt and the United Arab Emirates already have Arabic country domain names that are little used. “What we’re missing in the Middle East is not so much the domain names as the industry that enables these names to actually flourish,” said ICANN’s Chehade.— Reuters

“While we stress that Kuwait is home to all Kuwaitis who are guaranteed equal rights and opportunities by the constitution, we must also stress youth have responsibilities to bear as part of this equation and we must educate them so that they live up to their duties towards both the homeland and fellow countrymen,” the minister stressed. —KUNA

ABK launches charity initiative KUWAIT: Like every year at this time, at the onset of the holy month of Ramadan, Al-Ahli Bank of Kuwait under its corporate social responsibility banner does its best to provide relief to the underprivileged segment. Each year, ABK provides assistance to lesser privileged families in Kuwait, especially during Ramadan, a month which symbolises the meaning and essence of goodness and giving.

Assistance is provided in the form of relief packages that contain basic food essentials to tide over any shortages that may occur during the month of fasting and prayer. Sahar Al-Therban, Public Relations Manager said, “ This year the activity took on an even more special meaning as we worked with Bibi AlAyoub for the distribution to reach those

who need it the most. Al-Ayoub is well known for her exemplary work in charity, and for reaching help to the most deprived. It was an honor and privilege to channel ABK’s help through Al-Ayoub, we are indeed grateful for her expert involvement.”

Al-Therban added that this charitable innovation came about because, “At ABK we work to support constructive interaction with the community, and the holy month of Ramadan is considered the most auspicious for charitable work, due to its significance in promoting the concept of solidarity and social cooperation.

ABK holds a strong belief in service to society, and will continue providing humanitarian aid as a confirmation of the same.”

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

Corruption worsens in the Arab world since uprisings

Bin Laden’s life on run revealed by Pak inquiry Page 12

Page 9

BEIRUT: Smoke rises from burning cars at the site of an explosion in Beirut’s southern suburb neighborhood of Bir Al-Abed yesterday. —AFP

Car bomb hits Hezbollah Beirut stronghold 53 injured; Tension escalates in Lebanon BEIRUT: A car bomb rocked south Beirut yesterday, injuring at least 53 people in the most serious incident in the stronghold of Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah movement since the start of the Syrian conflict. The blast comes amid spiraling tension in Lebanon over the civil war raging in Syria, where Hezbollah fighters have joined President Bashar Al-Assad’s forces in facing down a revolt by mainly Sunni rebels.

The attack took place in a zone monitored closely by Hezbollah. “A car bomb exploded near a commercial cooperative called the Islamic Cooperation Centre in Bir Al-Abed,” which lies in the heart of Hezbollah’s Beirut stronghold, the military source said.

Lebanon’s Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil said that 53 people were wounded, adding that 12 remained in hospital and two had undergone surgery.

The densely populated Bir Al-Abed neighborhood is home mainly to Shiite Muslims.

Several broadcasters, among them Hezbollah’s Al-Manar, showed firefighters battling several blazes while large clouds of black smoke billowed into the sky. A witness told AFP the explosion was “huge”. “Everyone started panicking. Everyone was running left and right” after the blast, said Carole Mansour, who owns a shoe shop near the affected area. “The smoke was so (thick),” Mansour said, adding that Hezbollah members dressed in civilian clothing were quick to deploy around the site of the blast.

“I started following the sounds of the screams of people. My employees ran to the site to try to see what was happening because they have relatives there,” she added.

“I can’t believe someone would do this on the first day of Ramadan,” said Mansour, referring to the Muslim holy fasting month. Some Shiites started their fasting on Tuesday, although other Shiites and Sunnis will begin fasting either Wednesday or Thursday.

Lebanese politicians from across the spectrum quickly condemned the blast, including President Michel Suleiman who called for an end “to such tactics... and respect for the

security of all Lebanese citizens.”

Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati slammed the blast as “bringing to mind some of the blackest periods of Lebanon’s history.” Former prime minister and opposition leader Saad Hariri, much of whose Sunni constituency in Lebanon backs the Syrian uprising and has been angered by Hezbollah’s intervention, warned that the country must “avoid sliding into wars that will only mean more division for Lebanon.”

Officially neutral in Syria’s conflict, Lebanon is deeply divided into pro- and antiAssad camps. Hezbollah and its allies back Assad, who adheres to the Alawite offshoot of Shiite Islam, while the Sunni-led opposition supports rebels seeking his ouster. In an indication of the extent of the political divisions, Interior Minister Marwan Charbel was attacked by Hezbollah supporters as he arrived at the scene, an AFP photographer said. Hezbollah officials then fired live rounds into the air to disperse the protesters, who were apparently opposed to the visit by Charbel, a member of Lebanon’s anti-Assad camp. Yesterday’s blast is not the first time Hezbollah’s Beirut stronghold has come under attack in apparent retaliation for its role in the Syrian conflict. In late May, two rockets fired from inside Lebanon landed in southern Beirut, wounding four people just hours after Hezbollah’s chief Hassan Nasrallah pledged to fight until victory for Syria’s regime.

In Sunni-majority Tripoli meanwhile, armed men celebrated the Beirut blast, firing live rounds into the air, a security source said.

Tripoli has seen frequent, deadly clashes pitting pro-uprising Lebanese Sunnis against pro-regime Lebanese Alawites. Elsewhere, five children were injured when a bomblet exploded in Wadi Khaled, which lies in northern Lebanon on the Syrian border, a security source said. The source said the children were playing in their school playground when the device exploded, adding that the bomblet had likely been found by one of the children and taken to the school grounds. —AFP

French confusion over the start of Ramadan PARIS: French Muslims were thrown into confusion yesterday after the country’s top Islamic body and officials at Paris’s leading mosque differed over the start date of the holy month of Ramadan. While the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) initially insisted Ramadan began yesterday (9th), the theological council at the Great Mosque of Paris argued it would not start until today (10th). The later date is the day many Arab countries are due to begin the observance. However, the CFCM later reversed its decision.

It said in a statement that “in order to preserve the unity of French Muslims,” it had joined the mosque in declaring Wednesday the start of Ramadan. The holy month, during which Muslims fast from dawn to dusk, begins with the sighting of the new moon, which varies from country to country. The CFCM decided in May that Tuesday would represent the start of Ramadan based on the expected arrival of the new moon. Theologians, however, at the Paris mosque decided on Monday night to put the start off by a day, saying the new moon had not been sighted.

“Mosques were calling us yesterday

until 1:00 am, the imams were in disarray,” said Djelloul Seddiki, the head of the mosque’s theological council. Dalil Boubakeur, who is both the president of the CFCM and rector of the Paris mosque, said the change in date followed an outcry in the community that Ramadan was not starting in France on the same day as in many Muslim countries. “The calculation was not in theory wrong, but we did not take into account the community dimension-the community had decided it would follow the Muslim countries,” Boubakeur said.

He said the confusion had been “a lesson” for French Muslim leaders and that it would be legitimate to start observing Ramadan on either day. The confusion mirrored differences elsewhere across the Muslim world as Sunnis and Shiites began the holy period at different times. During Ramadan, Muslims are also required to abstain from drinking liquids, smoking and having sex from dawn until dusk. Fasting is one of the five main religious obligations under Islam. France is home to western Europe’s largest Muslim minority, officially estimated at more than four million. —AFP

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

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

Syrians say they have given up on US arms Delay shows lack on intention; Violence rages BEIRUT: Members of the Syrian opposition said yesterday that they had given up hope that the United States would deliver promised military aid to rebels as war planes and artillery smashed the central city of Homs. US congressional committees are holding up the plan to send weapons because of fears that such deliveries will not be decisive and that arms might end up in the hands of Islamist militants, US national security sources said.

Both Democrats and Republicans on the committees worry that weapons could reach factions like the Nusra Front, which is one of the most effective rebel groups but has also been labeled by the United States as a front for AlQaeda in Iraq. “The US will not supply the weapons,” said Mohammed Fizo, a rebel fighter. “They come up with excuses for why they are not with the Syrian revolution; because it’s not unified, or that there are terrorists. But what is important is that they are not helping us.”

Yasser, a 42-year-old nutritionist and opposition member who lives in Damascus, said indecision from Washington showed the United States’ true aim was to keep both President Bashar Al-Assad and Islamist rebels busy inside Syria. “It to the benefit of the US that both sides here in Syria continue in a slow war of attrition,” he said.

“Both sides are preoccupied with each other and can’t make mayhem elsewhere.” He said the United States was especially worried by the prospect of an all-out victory for rebel groups, which might allow members of the Nusra Front, a hard-line Islamist group, to attack neighboring Israel once they toppled Assad.

Omar Al-Hariri, an activist from Deraa where the uprising began during the Arab Spring two years ago, saw the

further delay as tantamount to support for Assad, who has kept the Syrian-Israel border relatively quiet for decades.

“Israel is very concerned about who will replace Assad and whether or not they will be friendly to Israel’s interests ... I am sure you are fully aware of how Israel is able to put pressure on the USA to hold onto Assad.”

HOMS SMASHED Rebels have pleaded with their international backers for weapons to battle Assad’s forces. They say they have received shipments from Gulf countries and individual donors, but not enough to tackle Assad’s national army and fighters from the powerful Lebanese militant movement Hezbollah, who are supporting him.

Many weapons used by the rebels appear to be made in China and Croatia. The opposition Syrian National Coalition President, Ahmad Jarba, said he expected a weapons shipment from Saudi Arabia soon but that the rebels’ military position was still weak.

This month Syrian forces have been targeting the central city of Homs, seen as crucial to the government’s attempts to link the capital to Assad’s coastal strongholds and divide rebel units in the north and south.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an anti-Assad Britain-based monitoring group, said central areas of Homs city were hit by air strikes, mortar bombs and tank rounds yesterday. Al-Khalidiya, a northern district that links the outskirts of the city with the centre, was the focus of the violence and the 13th-century Khalid ibn Al-Walid mosque, a prominent central landmark, had been hit. It also said the Krak de Chevaliers crusader castle, once a popular tourist

Corruption worsens in the Arab world since uprisings DUBAI: Corruption has worsened in most Arab countries since their 2011 revolutions, even though anger with corrupt officials was a major reason for the uprisings, according to a public opinion poll released yesterday. The survey by Transparency International, a global non-governmental body which studies bribery around the world, appears to dash hopes that the Arab Spring would produce cleaner government and business in the region.

The Arab public’s continued frustration with corruption may undermine governments’ efforts to restore political stability, while hindering economic growth and foreign investment. Of four countries which experienced changes of government during the Arab Spring, a majority of respondents in three -Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen feel the level of corruption has risen in the past two years, the survey showed.

In Egypt, 64 percent said corruption had worsened; in Tunisia, the proportion was 80 percent. The exception was Libya, where only 46 percent said the country had become more corrupt. Within Egypt, 78 percent of respondents said the police were corrupt or extremely corrupt. The proportion was 65 percent for the judiciary and 45 percent for the military, one of the country’s most respected institutions which ousted Islamist President

Mohamed Mursi last week sparking a wave of protests.

The survey also showed growing public disenchantment in many other Arab countries which did not experience revolutions but where the Arab Spring has increased political tensions. In Lebanon, 84 percent said corruption had worsened in the past two years, in Morocco 56 percent and in Iraq, 60 percent. The ratio in Jordan was 39 percent, while 44 percent said the level of bribery had stayed the same. Christoph Wilcke, Middle East and North Africa director for Transparency International, said the police, judiciary and political parties in Arab countries needed to be reformed in order to gain the trust of the public.

In the social and economic turmoil that has followed the Arab Spring, however, governments have had little time or energy to push such reforms. “There is a contradiction between policy and rhetoric,” said Wilcke. For example, in an attempt to attract foreign investment the Egyptian government reconciled itself with some members of the former regime of Hosni Mubarak who had been convicted of corruption, he added. The survey was based on interviews with about 1,000 people in each country between last September and March this year. — Reuters

War restricts Damascus life to neighborhood confines DAMASCUS: As war rages in Syria, Ruba insists on celebrating her wedding. But rather than hold a lavish reception, she has invited her nearest and dearest to lunch at a small restaurant near her home in central Damascus. Wearing a white dress, she has mixed feelings of joy and pain, as the conflict unfolds just kilometers away. “Every girl dreams of her wedding day, and of celebrating with all her friends and relatives. I’ve had to make do with inviting just those closest to me for lunch,” Ruba said.

The wedding guests make their way home early, among them the groom’s family, who live in an area beset by security problems. Friends living in strife-torn Damascus province, outside the capital, could not make it at all because of checkpoints, nearby battles and “difficulties getting around”, she says. Though the heart of the city is still relatively safe, Ruba feels the danger all around her. But she refuses to let the war ruin her future.

“Life doesn’t wait,” she says. So, like thousands of other Damascenes, she lives day to day by restricting her movements to her neighborhood. Traditionally, Syrian newlyweds honk their car horns as they tour city districts with friends and family, before arriving at the wedding hall.Wedding parties would last till dawn, but at Ruba’s brief celebration “there was no music. The time... is not right” for a full-blown ceremony, she says. War has also changed life for Talal, a 52-year-old engineer.

He lives in the suburb of Dummar with his family, and makes sure he buys his groceries while on his way back from work “so I don’t have to leave the house in the evening”. Talal complains about the lack of mobility.

Before the war, he would go out with friends most evenings, and “visit family every Friday”. His relatives live nearby, but their homes are separated by two checkpoints. Getting past them often means waiting for two hours. Damascus has been fragmented into distinct, self-sufficient security zones, “whose residents are now holed up”, Talal says.

Housewife Munira agrees, reminiscing about the days when she would take her family for weekend excursions to the countryside near Damascus. “We can’t go out any more because of security problems,” she says. Munira describes the family’s trips to the Ghouta area of Damascus province, which has gone from being a destination for flower lovers to a scene of fierce, constant fighting between rebels and government forces.

Today, Damascus residents “have enough with just going out within the confines of their own neighborhoods, whether for recreation or to buy what they need”, says Munira. Frequent shellfire has hit central Damascus and checkpoints at the entrances to the capital as well as at major intersections create endless traffic jams.”It’s true that checkpoints have made traffic slow... but it’s all so that we ensure safety and security for citizens,” says Abu Ali, a soldier inspecting a car near the heart of Damascus.

Already hours late for work, a driver says “checkpoints have sectioned off the city, while doing nothing to stop mortar or car bomb attacks”. Damascus has been hit by a string of car bomb blasts and shelling attacks, killing dozens of people and wounding many more. But some people have benefited from the change in

Damascus’ lifestyle. Some sports clubs are still open, and people flock to their neighborhood gym to exercise.

Cafes that once had few visitors are now packed, as people from the district have little choice but to meet friends near their homes. Just a few hundred meters away from the battle-scarred Jubar district, Ghassan’s cafe is doing better than ever.”Because of the difficulties getting around, and because people are looking for a place to relax... they choose the cafe closest to home,” he says, visibly pleased that his business is booming.

“People used to be reluctant to visit neighborhood cafes. They preferred the parks outside the city. But now, all that is different.” No matter what is going on around them, Ghassan says, “the Syrian people have a real love of life”. — AFP

site in Homs province, was the scene of clashes yesterday.

One hundred and forty km north of Damascus, Homs lies at a strategic crossing linking the capital with army bases in coastal regions controlled by Assad’s Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam that has dominated majority Sunni Syria since the 1960s. The United Nations has expressed alarm at conditions in Homs, Syria’s third largest city, saying last week that between 2,500 and 4,000 civilians were trapped there amid shortages of food, water, medicine, electricity and fuel.

TACIT RULES The White House announced in June that it would arm vetted groups of Syrian rebels, after two years of avoiding

involvement in the civil war which has killed more than 100,000 people. Although the White House does not need specific congressional approval for the weapons plan, tacit rules observed by the executive branch on intelligence matters means President Barack Obama is unlikely to deliver weapons without the consent of congressional intelligence committees. Committee members want to hear more about the administration’s overall Syria policy, national security sources say, and about how arms deliveries will affect the battlefield. Funding that the administration advised the congressional committees it wanted to use to pay for arms deliveries to Assad’s opponents has been temporarily frozen, the sources said. — Reuters

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

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Trial of cruise ship ‘Captain Coward’ begins GROSSETO: Captain Francesco Schettino, dubbed Italy’s “most hated man” by tabloids over the spectacular crash of his cruise ship in 2012 with the loss of 32 lives, went on trial yesterday charged with manslaughter. The 52-year-old, also dubbed “Captain Coward” over accusations that he abandoned ship while terrified passengers were still trapped onboard, looked tense as he arrived for the start of the trial in Grosseto. It is being held in a theatre in the city, the closest to the site of the wreck of the Costa Concordia on the island of Giglio, due to the large numbers of survivors from the tragedy expected to attend.

Schettino, wearing sunglasses and a blue jacket, came in through the press entrance by mistake and was immediately mobbed by dozens of reporters, fending them off and asking to be let through.

Schettino, who is not being detained during the trial, has asked for television cameras not to be allowed in. “Otherwise it would be a film,” he said in an interview with Italian daily Il Messaggero. “There has been media havoc since the tragedy...

This is not some village festival, this is a trial. There are people who died and a man who will try to explain. “I really think the truth will out,” he said.

The hearing was cut short after just a few minutes because of a national lawyers’ strike and the trial was adjourned to a hearing on July 17. With his slickedback hair and macho swagger, Schettino has been portrayed as a villain who was showing off in front of a female guest by performing a risky “salute” maneuver which ended in tragedy. “Madonna, what have I done?” he was heard gasping on audio recordings from the bridge just

after the crash. But his defense team has said that while he made mistakes he should not be the sole defendant, and the ship’s owner Costa Crociere, Europe’s top cruise operator, should share at least some of the blame.

Lawyers for some survivors say he is a scapegoat. Locals in Grosseto also showed sympathy for Schettino. “We cannot just crucify Schettino,” said 28-yearold Maria at a bar in the city centre. As he unloaded groceries outside a store, Giacomo Melluso said: “Maybe it wasn’t all Schettino’s fault.” The prosecution and defense have called hundreds of witnesses for the trial, although a judge will have to rule on the exact number during future hearings.

There are also 250 parties that have asked to be plaintiffs, including the island of Giglio itself. The trial has been long

awaited by the families of the victims and survivors who have complained about the long delays in Italy’s justice system, where criminal trials can last for months or even years. Schettino has been charged with manslaughter, causing environmental damage and abandoning ship and faces up to 20 years in jail. The Costa Concordia crashed into a group of rocks off Giglio on the night of January 13, 2012, with 4,229 people from 70 countries on board.

The ship veered sharply and keeled over near the shore, sparking a panicky and delayed evacuation hampered by the failure of some lifeboats to deploy.

Hundreds of people who had been sitting down to dinner were forced to jump into the sea to escape, many of them still wearing their formal evening wear.

Survivors described scenes “like the

Army gets upper hand in Egyptian media war Several Islamist channels have been shut down CAIRO: When 55 people protesting against the military overthrow of Egypt’s first freely elected president were killed after the army opened fire on Monday, you might have expected the country to unite in condemnation. A surprisingly subdued public reaction, and the independent media’s outright vilification of protesters, reflects in part the depth of political opponents’ distrust of Mohamed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood. But it also represents a triumph for the military’s public relations machine which, aware of its fumbled handling of the turbulent aftermath of Hosni Mubarak’s overthrow in 2011, has moved decisively, and successfully, to gain the upper hand. By contrast, the Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters, enraged by the killings, have struggled to make their voice heard since the army overthrew Morsi last Wednesday.

The state-owned media have reprised their role as faithful mouthpiece of military-backed authorities since then. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they have given fullthroated support to the army version that the pro-Morsi protesters attacked the Republican Guard compound and soldiers fired in self defense. “Terrorists try to break into the Republican Guard,” was the banner headline on the front page of state-run Al-Gomhuria newspaper yesterday morning, referring to the barracks where Morsi is believed to be held and where the killings occurred.

Al-Akhbar, another state-owned paper, splashed front page pictures of soldiers carrying a wounded comrade and an image purportedly showing a protester firing on soldiers. Independent newspapers, many of which were fiercely opposed to Morsi when he was in

power, have been, if anything, more partisan. Daily AlMasry Al-Youm wrote the bloodletting was “the Brotherhood’s responsibility.” Al-Watan decried a “conspiracy by the ‘Armed Brotherhood’ against the army.”

The military says armed men attacked troops in the area around the Republican Guard compound early on Monday morning, and that one officer was killed in the clashes and 42 were wounded, eight of them critically.

DOUBT AND BLAME With television stations sympathetic to the Brotherhood shut down, senior leaders arrested and its newspaper appearing only intermittently, Morsi’s supporters have struggled to convey their view of the killings - that security forces, unprovoked, fired on them while they conducted dawn prayers. “The military coup has showed its hideous face after just six days,” said a flyer handed out by young men at the main pro-Morsi sitin at a mosque in northeastern Cairo. “Were these people firing bullets while they bowed upon their mats in prayer?”

It is impossible to tell exactly where the weight of opinion lies among Egyptians, but the army’s bid to marginalize and isolate the Brotherhood - its longtime rival for influence in public life - resonates on the streets of Cairo. “It’s horrible to spill blood. But, of course, the Brotherhood are terrorists, attacking the Republican Guard,” one woman who works in a bank said, while doing her morning shopping in downtown Cairo. “The Brotherhood want to get Morsi back by all means, even violence. The people want the opposite, not terrorism,”

Ibram Rez, 22, a tourism management graduate, said.

Abdallah Abdel Rayal, 58, a clothes and cleaning product company employee, said he condemned the bloodshed but insisted “the people attacked the army, not the other way around.” As he spoke, a woman walking past shouted: “The people attacked the Guard! May God take them!” Heba Morayef, Egypt director at Human Rights Watch, said the army had improved its public relations machine markedly since the tumultuous 17 months the military spent running the country after Mubarak’s fall.

At that time, many people blamed the army for violent crackdowns on protests and activists, which led the military to make several ill-judged responses. This time, a new army spokesman - the urbane, British-trained Colonel Ahmed Ali - called a press conference to make the military’s case plainly and clearly, using videos taken during the clashes to try to prove his point. Journalists applauded when he finished. “They weren’t under any public pressure, and they knew there wouldn’t be any push back,” Morayef said.

THE SAME CRACKDOWN While Morsi’s supporters call his overthrow a coup, the military says it was merely enforcing the will of the people after millions rallied on June 30 to call for his resignation. At a heated press conference on Monday, supporters of Morsi dumped plastic bags of bullet casings and teargas canisters on a table in front of television cameras and brought a doctor from the protest field hospital to contest the army’s claims. —Reuters

Titanic”. Among those who died were an Italian honeymooner who could not swim, a Frenchman who gave his wife his life jacket before they leapt into the sea and a Hungarian musician who went back to his cabin to get his violin.

Four other crew members and a Costa manager have entered plea bargains with brief prison sentences, which will be heard at a separate hearing on July 20.

“This shows there were other responsibilities,” Schettino’s lawyer, Domenico Pepe, told reporters. Costa earlier admitted limited responsibility as Schettino’s employer and was ordered to pay one million euros ($1.3 million) in a controversial ruling that has excluded it from criminal proceedings. A vast salvage operation is under way to refloat the 290-metre vessel, which is not expected to be completed until later this year or in 2014. —AFP

Royal baby biscuit?

British retailers cash in LONDON: There’s nothing like a royal baby to lift a nation’s spirits-and those of its retailers, who are hoping to cash in on Prince William and Catherine’s new arrival this month. It wasn’t long after the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge was admitted to hospital with morning sickness in December that one enterprising designer starting selling royal sick bags. But that was just the beginning. With the new heir now expected within days, retailers have put a royal spin on everything from biscuits to books and have stocked up on commemorative mugs, key rings and plates. Even Kate’s parents appear to have got in on the act-the Middletons’ Party Pieces online business is showcasing as ‘new’ a range of “I’m a Princess” party cups, plates and napkins. There is no shortage of baby products with a royal theme, from leading British firm Mothercare’s romper suits for a “Prince in Training” to blankets and even dribble bibs adorned with crowns. If they aren’t to your taste, one company has published a book of sewing patterns for traditional bonnets, booties and christening gowns suitable for a future monarch.

The upmarket London hotel, Grosvenor House, has taken it further with a bespoke nursery suite designed “with a royal baby in mind” by the boutique that furnished William’s childhood bedroom.

Costing £2,300 ($3,550, 2,700 euros) a night, the rooms contain handcrafted and painted furniture, including a crib equipped with a regal coronet and canopy. The ivory color scheme may be impractical for babies, but for that kind of money, you would hope someone else would clean up.

Unlike the Olympics, a highly lucrative brand that is fiercely protected by the International Olympic Committee, anyone with an eye for a mar-

keting opportunity can use the royal name.And the new baby, like the queen’s jubilee last year and the royal wedding in 2011, offers a welcome boost for an industry still suffering the fallout of the global economic crisis. “These kind of events lead to a temporary feel-good lift. It will really help to boost particular brands and products,” said Mandy Murphy, a spokeswoman for the British Retail Consortium.

The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) estimates that £199 million ($297 million, 231 million euros) were spent in Britain on souvenirs and merchandise produced for William and Kate’s wedding at Westminster Abbey. Among the memorabilia was a tea-towel bearing the couple’s faces, which William’s Royal Air Force (RAF) colleagues bought and made him use while he was washing up in the mess. The CRR predicts £80 million will be spent this year on royal baby toys and products, and £76 million on books, DVDs and other media related to the royal family. Publishers have rushed out a slew of children’s books about fictional pregnant princesses, the newborn’s crying that might wake up the queen, and even a history of the diapers used to cover royal babies’ bottoms. Mills & Boon, the romance fiction series, has a special release unimaginatively entitled “Royal Baby”, with the tagline: “The prince demands an heir... and what he wants, he gets!” With an eye to those inevitable sleepless nights, several albums are on sale promising to soothe even the most fractious royal heir with classical music and traditional lullabies. Given that 31-year-old William normally listens to hip-hop and dance music, Kate might consider one of those for herself. —AFP

No cutoff in US aid to Egypt army - for now WASHINGTON: The Obama administration has signaled that US national security interests will trump its promotion of Egypt’s budding democracy, stressing the importance of continued aid to the Egyptian military, which overthrew the elected president last week. As violence blazed between security forces and supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, the White House and State Department both urged the military to exercise “maximum restraint.” They also said the military would not be punished with a cutoff of its $1.3 billion in annual US aid for toppling Morsi.

But if the American government makes a legal determination that the removal was done through a coup d’etat, US law would require ending all non-humanitarian aid to Egypt, the vast majority of which goes to the military. Administration officials said lawyers were still reviewing developments to make that ruling. However, the absence of a coup determination, coupled with the administration’s refusal to condemn Morsi’s ouster, sent an implicit message of US approval to the military. And officials said the White House had made clear in US inter-agency discussions - as recently as a Monday morning conference call - that continued aid to Egypt’s military was a priority for America’s national security, Israel’s safety and broader stability in the turbulent Middle East that should not be jeopardized. “It would not be in the best interests of the United States to immediately change our assistance program to Egypt,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said. He stressed that more elements - notably what the United States deems best for itself, its Mideast allies and the larger region - than just the physical removal from office of a democratically elected leader would be considered in the legal review.

“We are going to take the time necessary to review what has taken place and to monitor efforts by Egyptian authorities to forge an inclusive and democratic way forward,” Carney told reporters. “And as we do, we will review our requirements under the law, and we will do so consistent with our policy objectives. And we will also, of course, consult with Congress on that.” Some members of Congress appeared divided on the question.

Republican Sen. John McCain criticized Morsi’s performance as president but stressed that he had been elected by a majority of Egyptians in 2012. “It is difficult for me to conclude that what happened was anything other than a coup in which the military played a decisive role,” he said. “I do not want to suspend our critical assistance to Egypt, but I believe that is the right thing to do at this time.” John Boehner, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, emphasized in comments Monday the important role of the Egyptian military. “Well I think the situation in Egypt is a tenuous one,” he said. “One of the most respected institutions in the

country is their military. And I think their military, on behalf of the citizens, did what they had to do in terms of replacing the elected president. But anything further, I think we’ll wait for consultations with the administration on how we would move ahead.” But some others voiced caution. Democratic Sen Tim Kaine said he had accompanied five Republican senators on a trip to the Middle East last week and that close US allies in the region strongly advised against halting funding for Egypt. Focusing on US spending, Republican Sen Rand Paul tweeted: “In Egypt, governments come and go. The only thing certain is that American taxpayers will continue to be stuck with the $1.5 billion bill.”

At the State Department, spokeswoman

believe his ouster was a coup.

Some officials, speaking anonymously because they were not authorized to describe internal administration discussions in public, said that a “no-coup” finding may become increasingly difficult to justify given the rising violence among Morsi supporters, his opponents and security forces that has led to fears of a civil war. Meanwhile, Egyptian soldiers and police clashed with Islamists protesting the military’s ouster last week of the president. The bloodshed left at least 51 protesters and three members of the security forces dead, officials and witnesses said, and the Muslim Brotherhood’s political party called for all-out rebellion against the army.

The violence outside the Republican

ALEPPO: Opposition fighters carry one of their comrades, who died on the front-line in the Salaheddine neighborhood of Aleppo. —AFP Jen Psaki used similar, if not identical, language to Carney’s to describe the current take on developments, pointing out that the US has long provided significant assistance to Egypt even when it had serious concerns about the actions of its government. She appeared to refer to the tens of billions of dollars in US aid sent to the government and military of authoritarian former leader Hosni Mubarak who ruled Egypt for decades without free and fair elections and under emergency decrees that gave him vast powers.

“The reason we have provided this aid in the past doesn’t mean we have supported, even prior to this, every action taken by the government of Egypt,” she said. “But there are security interests in the region; there are security interests for the United States.” Psaki demurred when asked if deposing an elected leader, placing him under house arrest and appointing a new head of state - as the Egyptian military has done over the course of the past five days - was not a clear example of a military coup. She pointed out that millions of Egyptians opposed Morsi, who had become increasingly autocratic, and did not

Guard building in Cairo - where Morsi was first held last week - marked the biggest death count since the beginning of massive protests that led to the fall of Morsi’s government. The US has condemned the violence and is appealing for restraint from all sides as well as a speedy return to elected civilian governance. In the latest high-level contact between Washington and Cairo, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel spoke again with Egypt’s defense minister, Gen Abdel-Fattah elSissi, on Sunday - the fourth conversation in three days, according to Pentagon press secretary George Little. Little would not disclose details of those conversations, but other officials said they had centered on US concerns that the actions of the Egyptian military might force a suspension in American assistance, something the army relies on. They say that Hagel, and other senior administration officials, have told the Egyptian army brass to appoint a transitional civilian leadership and call for new elections and the drafting of a new constitution so as to give Washington some leeway in its legal review of the situation. —AP

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

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

FBI nominee Comey faces questioning Civil liberties groups expressing concerns

SANFORD, Florida: George Zimmerman sits at the defense table at his trial in Seminole Circuit Court on Monday. — AP

Friends testify it’s Zimmerman on 911 SANFORD, Florida: The dispute over who screamed for help the night George Zimmerman killed Trayvon Martin dominated Zimmerman’s trial on Monday, with five friends saying the voice belonged to the neighborhood watch coordinator and the victim’s father insisting it was his son’s dying plea. The testimony of Zimmerman’s friends, at Florida’s Seminole County Court, lent support to his claim he killed the unarmed black teenager in self-defense. His second-degree murder trial could turn on the identity of the voice heard in the background of a 911 emergency call on the night of Feb 26, 2012, to police in Sanford, Florida, where Zimmerman, 29, shot Martin, 17, triggering a national debate on race and guns in America.

Martin’s mother and brother previously told the jury of six women they recognized the voice of Martin, when the prosecution concluded its side of the case on Friday. They were followed

by Zimmerman’s mother and uncle, who testified for the defense it was their relative pleading for help. That dispute continued in court on Monday, when the five Zimmerman friends said they recognized the screams as coming from him.

The defense team then called two police detectives who had played the audio for Martin’s father, Tracy Martin, in the days after the shooting. The detectives testified they asked Tracy Martin if he could recognize the voice and that he said, “No.” But Tracy Martin contested that account on Monday, saying, “I never said ‘No, that wasn’t my son’s voice.’”

When he had the chance to listen to the recording repeatedly, he said, he believed it was his son. “I was listening to my son’s last cry for help; I was listening to his life being taken,” Martin said.

Tracy Martin’s testimony also gave him the opportunity to grieve about his son’s loss before the jury, saying he lost his “best friend,” and to ask the question, “Why did the defendant get out of his vehicle and chase my son?”

As the defense case neared its end, it remained uncertain whether Zimmerman would choose to testify. Zimmerman faces up to life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder, although either side can request that the jury also consider the lesser offense of manslaughter, with a maximum penalty of 30 years.

In a defeat for the prosecution, Judge Debra Nelson ruled that defense lawyers can introduce evidence that Martin had the active ingredient of marijuana in his system when he was killed. Toxicology tests showed a THC in Martin’s system, and Zimmerman told a police operator just before the shooting that Martin “looks like

he’s on drugs”. The prosecution argued the evidence was prejudicial, and the defense countered that it was relevant given Zimmerman’s observation that Martin could be on drugs.

Medical Examiner Shiping Bao initially reported the THC level was too slight to affect Martin, but Bao testified outside the jury’s hearing last week that his further research in preparation for the trial indicated the drug might have had a slight but unknown effect. Police in Sanford, Florida, at first decided against arresting Zimmerman, who is white and Hispanic, accepting his claim of self-defense. That ignited protests and cries of racial injustice in Sanford and major cities across the United States, as the case came to reflect what many saw as unequal treatment of African Americans before the law.

It also drew attention to Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” self-defense law, which police cited in initially declining to arrest Zimmerman, who was licensed to carry a concealed weapon that was fully loaded with hollow-point rounds.

The screams were recorded in the background of a 911 call placed by a neighbor who called to report two men fighting. The screams end when a shot rings out from Zimmerman’s Kel Tec 9mm pistol. An FBI voice recognition expert testified last week the screams were too short and the audio of too poor quality to apply standard scientific voice identification techniques, saying the next best method to identify the voice was by a listener who knew the person his whole life.

Defense lawyers followed up on Monday by calling the five Zimmerman friends, who said it was Zimmerman’s voice. Among them was John Donnelly, who said Zimmerman was “like a son” and who donated $3,000 to Zimmerman’s defense and bought him $1,700 worth of clothes for his trial. As a medic in the Vietnam War in the 1960s, Donnelly said, he developed an ability to recognize which of his fellow soldiers was screaming for help. “And I wish to God I didn’t have that ability to understand that,” Donnelly said.

The defense also called a gym owner, Adam Pollock, who told the jury Zimmerman was “soft” and lacked proficiency in fighting after taking classes in grappling and boxing for a year.

Although Zimmerman lost 22 to 36 kg, he lacked the muscle or fighting skill to train against an opponent in the ring, he said. The testimony could be helpful in explaining how Zimmerman, at around 90 kg, could have lost a fight to Martin, who weighed 71 kg at his autopsy. Since his arrest, Zimmerman has ballooned to more than 136 kg due to what his lawyer called the stress of going on trial. — Reuters

WASHINGTON: From surveillance to sensitive criminal investigations, the Obama administration’s nominee to become the next FBI director, James Comey, would be stepping into the job at a critical time for the bureau and its 13,000 agents. Comey spent 15 years as a federal prosecutor before serving in the George W Bush administration, where he is best known for facing down the White House over a warrantless surveillance program. The White House made changes in the program when Comey and current FBI Director Robert Mueller threatened to resign.

The Senate Judiciary Committee was holding Comey’s confirmation hearing yesterday.

The FBI Agents Association has told committee chairman Patrick Leahy that it supports Comey’s nomination. Civil liberties groups are expressing concerns that Comey signed off on abusive CIA interrogation techniques for terrorist suspects during the Bush administration. “We urge the Senate to determine the full extent of Mr Comey’s role in the approval and use of torture and abuse before voting on whether to confirm him,” seven civil liberties organizations wrote last week to Leahy and the panel’s top Republican, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa.

The Judiciary Committee will also question Comey about the latest surveillance controversy: the National Security Agency’s mass collection of phone and email records. In the aftermath of the uproar over NSA spying, Leahy has introduced legislation that would improve privacy protections and strengthen oversight and transparency provisions in US surveillance programs. “I have long been troubled by the expansive nature and scope” of US surveillance, Leahy said in a Senate floor speech two weeks ago.

The FBI is investigating Edward Snowden, the former NSA systems analyst who has admitted leaking details of the surveillance programs to the news media. Snowden is charged with two violations of the Espionage Act and theft of government property. To

WASHINGTON: FBI Director nominee James Comey testifies on Capitol Hill yesterday before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on his nomination. — AP

date, he has stayed out of the government’s reach. He is believed to have been holed up in the transit area of Moscow’s main airport since he suddenly appeared there on a plane from Hong Kong two weeks ago.

Civil liberties groups on Monday called on the government to release any reports by the Justice Department’s inspector general on the collection of Americans’ telephone records. If the inspector general has not previously reviewed the program, “We ask that it do so now,” the groups said. On a separate surveillance issue, Mueller told Congress last month that the FBI on rare occasions uses unmanned drones for domestic surveillance. The disclosure has prompted questions from members of Congress in both parties.

Meanwhile, the FBI has been conducting investigations of the Boston Marathon bombings and the attack at Benghazi, Libya, last year that killed four Americans. The Boston bombings probe resulted in a 30-count indictment against suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The Benghazi probe is ongoing.

After leaving the Justice Department, where he served as the agency’s No. 2 official, Comey was senior vice president and general counsel at defense contractor Lockheed Martin. He later became general counsel at hedge fund Bridgewater Associates. His financial assets include $5.2 million in securities and a home in Westport, Connecticut, valued at $3 million, according to financial statements filed with the Senate. — AP

How a train ran away and devastated a town CHICAGO/LAC-MEGANTIC, Quebec: The short length of track, nestled in a dark pine and birch forest in Quebec, is a regular overnight stop for freight trains hauling crude oil and other raw materials across North America. Normally, before retiring for the night, the train operator sets the hand brakes and leaves one locomotive running to power the air brakes that help hold the train in place on the gently sloping track. The next morning, the operator or a relief engineer starts up the train and continues on their way.

Last weekend, the system failed. The locomotive caught fire, so firefighters shut off the engine to stop the flames from spreading. That slowly disengaged the air brakes, and the driverless train carrying 72 cars of crude oil rolled downhill into the scenic lakeside town of Lac-Megantic, derailing, exploding and leveling the town center. At least 13 people were killed and some 37 are still missing, according to Canadian police. Few residents expect any of the missing to be found alive. The catastrophe could force policymakers across North America to rethink the practice of shipping crude by rail - a century-old business that has boomed with the surge in shale oil production.

Based on Reuters interviews with witnesses, fire services and the head of the train company, the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway (MMA), a tale emerges of how the brakes on a train parked on a slope were released leading to tragedy. The accounts also frame the critical questions that investigators will be asking over the next few days and weeks. In particular, whether there was clear communication between the firefighters and the train operator, and whether anyone in authority saw the train start to roll down the hill before it picked up momentum and crashed into the town. According to MMA Chairman Ed Burkhardt, the train operator was an experienced Canadian engineer who had parked the train in the small town of Nantes at a siding, a short length of track where trains make overnight stops. The siding is about 7 miles (11 km) from Lac-Megantic. He secured the train at 11:25 pm on Friday, setting the air brakes and hand brakes, according to MMA. Burkhardt said the engineer set the brakes on all five locomotives at the front of the train, as well as brakes on a number of cars, in line with company policy. Four of the train’s engines were switched off, but the front locomotive was left on to power the airbrakes. The engineer, who Burkhardt declined to name, then retired to a hotel in Lac-Megantic.

Soon after, things started to go wrong. Nantes Fire Chief Patrick Lambert said the fire department got a call about a blaze on one of the locomotives at 11:30 pm. He said the fire was likely caused by a broken fuel or oil line. Firefighters reached the scene within seven minutes. “It was a good sized fire, but it was contained in the motor of the train,” Lambert told Reuters. “By 12:12, the fire was completely out.” But as they extinguished the fire, the 12 volunteer firemen also switched off the locomotive, in line with their own protocols, to prevent fuel from circulating into the flames.

One of the many unknowns in the story is precisely what happened next. Lambert said the fire department contacted the railway’s regional office in Farnham, Quebec, and spoke to the dispatcher. “We told them what we did and how we did it,” Lambert said. “There was no discussion of the brakes at that time.

We were there for the train fire. As for the inspection of the train after the fact, that was up to them.” It was not known what the dispatcher did after receiving the call.

Burkhardt said he was not sure if the dispatcher was told that the engine had been shut down, or what the dispatcher did after receiving the call. The company is still investigating the incident, as are Canadian authorities. “This is all within the scope of our investigation,” said Benoit Richard, a spokesman for the Quebec provincial police.

Burkhardt said the fire department should have tried to contact a local engineer who would have known how to secure the train. The hand brakes alone were not enough to keep the train in place after the pressure leaked out of the air brakes, he said. “If they had actually talked to an engi-

neer he would’ve known immediately what to do about that. I don’t know what they actually said to the dispatcher,” Burkhardt said in an interview in his office, decked out with model trains, rail posters and other railroad memorabilia, in a seven-storey building near Chicago O’Hare International Airport.

Shortly after the firefighters left the Nantes siding, an eyewitness reports seeing the train - some four-fifths of a mile long start rolling down the gentle hill. “About five minutes after the firemen left, I felt the vibration of a train moving down the track. I then saw the train move by without its lights on,” said Andre Gendron, 38, whose trailer and off-the-grid wooden cabin are the only buildings anywhere near the rail siding. “I found it strange its lights weren’t on and thought it was an electrical problem on board. It wasn’t long after that I heard the explosion. I could see the light from the fires in Lac-Megantic.”

Burkhardt said the train picked up speed quickly and was likely going “far, far faster” than the speed limit of 16 km per hour as it reached a curve in the track in the very center of Lac-Megantic at around 1:15 a.m. on Saturday and jumped the tracks. He said the locomotives separated from the buffer car a heavy railcar loaded with stones or rocks or sand - and the tanker cars, which were laden with a free-flowing type of Bakken oil

from North Dakota. Lac-Megantic residents repor ted hearing a series of five or six explosions. The crude caught on fire, spread through the storm drains and spilled into the deep blue lake that the town was named after. “This was a huge derailment. If you have a pile-up of cars like this, you are going to have a multitude of sparks,” Burkhardt said. “The whole train was compressed into a few hundred feet in some spots. And cars piled three high in certain places. It’s awful, it’s absolutely awful,” said Burkhardt, a slender, gray-haired rail industry veteran who is also president of Rail World Inc, a privately held rail management and investment firm that is the parent company of MMA. Pictures taken from the air on Monday show blackened tanker cars concertinaed on top of the space where the popular Musi-Cafe used to be, a night-time hangout that was packed when the train roared into town.

Eyewitness Bernard Theberge, 44, said about 50 people were inside the bar as the train approached, and he was outside on the terrace. “There was a big explosion, the heat reached the cafe and then a big wall of fire enveloped the road.... It all happened so fast, in the space of a minute,” he said. “There were people inside. I thought for maybe two seconds that I should go in, but the heat was too strong to get to the door,” said Theberge, who escaped with second-degree burns. — Reuters

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

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

Asiana crash point of national shame for Koreans SEOUL: When a jet from a Seoul-based airline crashed this weekend in San Francisco, South Koreans took it personally. The president issued a statement of regret. With a low bow, Asiana Airlines’ chief apologized not just to passengers and their families but to all of South Korea. Along with sadness over one of the highest-profile crashes by a Korean air carrier in recent years, average South Koreans expressed shame and embarrassment about how it would reflect on their country. It is a reaction that would be difficult to imagine coming from people in the US or many other countries. The successes and failures of big South Korean firms are intimately linked to this small, proud, recently developed country’s psyche.

“I really think that foreigners see this accident as a reflection on all of South Korea,” Cheon Min-jun, an office worker in his mid-30s, said Tuesday in Seoul. South Koreans take great interest in the global profile of local companies and of ethnic Koreans on the world stage. Many feel pride, for instance, seeing Samsung billboards in New York’s Times Square. And when a company’s stumbles draw international attention, there’s a collective sense of national shame, even for South Koreans who have no connection to the company beyond nationality.

“In the West, the separation between governments and society and businesses is more distinct,” said Robert Kelly, a political science professor at Pusan National University in South Korea. “The large organizations in Korean life are not standing independently of each other; they’re working together, in unity, pursuing a grand vision of Korea Inc.” The attitude may stem from recent economic developments and the cozy link between autocratic political leaders and businesses in the 1960s and 1970s.

After the devastation of the 1950-53 Korean War, Seoul provided easy money to big companies and controlled the imports of certain goods to protect those firms. These government-driven economic

News

in brief

British man jailed over US Facebook massacre threat LONDON: A British online “troll” who sparked a security alert in the United States by threatening on Facebook to kill 200 schoolchildren was jailed yesterday for two years and four months. Reece Elliott, 24, used a false name to post offensive messages in February, including the massacre threat, on memorial pages for two teenagers who had been killed in road accidents in the state of Tennessee. On a page dedicated to Caitlin Talley, 17, who died in October, he wrote: “My father has three guns. I’m planning on killing him first and putting him in a dumpster. “Then I’m taking the motor and I’m going in fast. I’m gonna kill hopefully at least 200 before I kill myself. So you want to tell the deputy, I’m on my way.” The father of one added: “I’m killing 200 people minimum at school. I will be on CNN.” Elliott, from South Shields in northeast England, also posted obscene messages about the two teenagers who had died, which were likely seen by hundreds of people, Newcastle Crown Court heard. When challenged by other Facebook users, he sent private messages including one to a 15-year-old girl which read: “You have been chosen tomorrow at school to receive one of my bullets.”

Japan heatwave kills 3, hospitalizes 2,500 TOKYO: Sweltering temperatures and scorching sunshine have killed three people and sent more than 2,500 to hospital across Japan in a week, the government said yesterday. The mercury hit 39.1 Celsius in Yamanashi in the centre of the country yesterday, while dozens of other spots recorded temperatures of 35 Celsius or more. A total of 2,594 people were hospitalized in the first week of July due to the effects of heat, with three of them dying, the fire and disaster management agency said in a report. More than 42 percent of them were aged 65 or older, the agency said. Incidents of children being hospitalized after outdoor school events were also recorded.

News reports feature frequent reminders to drink plenty of fluids and avoid prolonged periods outdoors, in what has become a regular feature of the sticky summer months. The heat wave struck nationwide this week with high-pressure systems sitting over the Japanese archipelago, bringing an earlier than usual end to the rainy season.

Breakaway Qaeda group behind Niger’s jail break NOUAKCHOTT: An Al Qaeda splinter group founded by Algerian jihadi mastermind Mokhtar Belmokhtar on Monday claimed that it was behind a deadly prison break in Niger last month, a statement published by online news agency ANI said. Belmokhtar is a former leader of the Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which is known for May suicide bombings in Niger that killed at least 20, as well as the dramatic January seizing of a desert gas plant in neighboring Algeria in a siege that left 38 hostages dead. He left AQIM in late 2012 and formed a splinter group, the Signatories of Blood, which claimed responsibility for the June Niger prison break that left three guards dead. “Combatants attacked prison guards and took their weapons before seizing the armoury (...) to secure the prisoners’ exit,” said the statement, adding that the raid was led by a “Abdallah As-Soudani.” The Niger government said on June 2 that several “terrorists” were among the 22 inmates who escaped the prison in the Niger capital Niamey the previous day during unrest.

They included Cheibane Ould Hama of Mali, who was convicted of killing four Saudis and a US citizen.

plans provided crucial early support for companies that have since become globally recognized brands, including Samsung, Hyundai and LG. The dizzying economic rise from poverty - sometimes dubbed the Miracle on the Han, after the river that runs through Seoul - has made South Korea the fourth-largest economy in Asia. Asiana is a large corporation known by many foreigners and “easily falls into the category of flag-carrying national champion,” Kelly said. “No corporation captures

SAN FRANCISCO: An Asiana Airlines flight enroute to South Korea takes off by the wreckage of Asiana Airlines flight 214 as it sits on runway 28L at San Francisco International Airport on Monday. — AFP American imagination and political attention the way Korea’s largest firms do,” he said. “Local nationalism is channeled through successful firms.”

The stories of Asiana crew members heroically working to save passengers have inspired feelings of pride. But even before investigators determine what happened, there’s already a sense of shame that a South Korean company was involved in the

private conglomerate. It has many international routes as the country’s second-largest air carrier, after Korean Air Lines Co., giving it exposure to global consumers and businesses. The two victims were Chinese, both teenage girls. South Korean President Park Geun-hye sent a letter to Beijing, expressing condolences to President Xi Jinping, Chinese citizens and the girls’ families. Park said the

Asiana crash is “regrettable,” something an American politician would be unlikely to say, Kelly said, in part because of fears of possible legal action. The accident was the first by a South Korean jetliner that led to passengers’ deaths since a 1997 Korean Air crash in Guam, according to the transport ministry. South Korean air carriers and the government made efforts to improve safety systems and their reputations after a series of airliner accidents in the 1990s and a downgrade by the US Federal Aviation Administration in 2001 marred the industry. The efforts paid off. South Korea’s two largest air carriers made inroads into the global markets, emerging as renowned airlines in recent years. Incheon International Airport, South Korea’s main international airport near Seoul, was the second-largest airport in the world in cargo transportation volume in 2011 and has ranked tops in airport service for eight straight years by Airports Council International.

The link between the success or failure of South Korean firms and a sense of national pride or shame extends also to the actions of ethnic Koreans who become famous - or infamous. This was true of the 2007 Virginia Tech University shooting rampage in which South Korea-born student Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people and then himself. After the news reached South Korea, many in America were surprised by the outpouring of emotion, which included candlelight vigils in the streets and widespread expressions of shame. Even though Cho left South Korea young and grew up in the US, some South Koreans felt responsibility.

Separately, when the French president appointed Fleur Pellerin, who was adopted by French parents as an infant, as minister of digital economy, the South Korean media aggressively covered her life story, even though Pellerin doesn’t speak Korean and had not visited South Korea before being appointed minister. — AP

Bin Laden’s life on run revealed by Pak inquiry Govt, military ‘incompetent’ • US acted like ‘thug’ ISLAMABAD: Osama bin Laden lived in plain sight for almost a decade and was once even pulled over for speeding but not apprehended, thanks to the incompetence of Pakistan’s intelligence and security services, an official report into his killing said on Monday. The report, leaked to Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera which circulated it late on Monday, offers fascinating details about life on the run for the world’s most wanted man, who, it says, wore a cowboy hat to avoid being spotted from above.

Written by a judge-led commission that the Pakistani government set up shortly after US special forces killed bin Laden in 2011, the 336-page report is based on interviews with 201 sources including members of his family and various officials. In one testimony showing how close bin Laden came to being captured, “Maryam”, the wife of one of his most trusted aides, recounted how his car was stopped by Pakistani police in the Swat region. “Once when they were all ... on a visit to the bazaar they were stopped for speeding by a policeman,” the report says. “But her (Maryam’s) husband quickly settled the matter with the policeman and they drove on.” To avoid detection from the sky, bin Laden took to wearing a cowboy hat when moving about his compound in the city of Abbottabad, his wives told investigators. The inquiry’s findings - which have not yet been officially published - include evidence of incompetence at almost every level of Pakistan’s security apparatus.

The report is also fiercely critical of the “illegal manner” in which the United States conducted the raid. It chastises Pakistan’s leadership for failing to detect CIA activities on its soil, and does not rule out the involvement of rogue elements within the Pakistani intelligence service - a sensitive issue even to touch on in a high-profile inquiry.

“The US acted like a criminal thug,” says the report by the Abbottabad Commission. “But above all, the tragedy refers to the comprehensive failure of Pakistan to detect the presence of OBL (Osama bin Laden) on its territory for almost a decade or to discern the direction of US policy towards Pakistan that culminated in the avoidable humiliation of the people of Pakistan.”

After a decade-long hunt, the CIA finally tracked down the Al-Qaeda leader to a compound within sight of an elite Pakistani military academy in Abbottabad, close to the capital Islamabad. In a night-time mission

by US Navy SEALs, bin Laden was killed on May 2 that year in an episode that humiliated Pakistan’s military and strained relations between the strategic allies Washington and Islamabad. “As for (failing to detect) the CIA network, there was culpable negligence and incompetence,” the report says. “Although the possibility of some degree of connivance inside or outside the government cannot be entirely discounted, no individual can be identified as guilty of connivance.”

Pakistan’s government and security officials could not immediately be reached for comment. Bin Laden’s network killed nearly 3,000 people when Al-Qaeda hijackers crashed commercial planes into New York’s World Trade Center, the Pentagon outside Washington

Japan says faces increasing threats from China, N Korea TOKYO: Japan faces increasingly serious threats to its security from an assertive China and an unpredictable North Korea, a defence ministry report said yesterday, as ruling politicians call for the military to beef up its ability to respond to such threats. The report, the first since hawkish Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office vowing to boost Japan’s defences, was likely to prompt a sharp response from Beijing, whose ties with Tokyo are strained by a territorial row. China is also upset by remarks from Abe suggesting he wants to cast Tokyo’s wartime history in a less apologetic tone.

“There are various issues and destabilising factors in the security environment surrounding Japan, some of which are becoming increasingly tangible, acute and serious,” the

crash, which left two people dead and dozens more injured among the 307 aboard. “It’s a bit embarrassing,” said Son Eun-jung, a 25-year-old office worker in Seoul. “I’m concerned about whether I should be flying on Asiana. If I’m South Korean and thinking this way, I worry what people from other countries might be thinking about Asiana.”

While not in the same league as Samsung and Hyundai, Asiana Airlines Inc. is a flagship company of Kumho Asiana Group, South Korea’s 16th-largest

annual defence white paper said. “China has attempted to change the status quo by force based on its own assertion, which is incompatible with the existing order of international law,” the report said, echoing recent comments

by Abe and his cabinet. “China should accept and stick to the international norms.”

A Sino-Japanese dispute over rival claims to tiny East China Sea islets flared up last September after Japan nationalised the isles, known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China. Japan has been gradually ratcheting up its expressions of concern about Beijing’s military expansion. Last year’s defence white paper, issued before the islands flare-up, flagged the risks of the army’s role in shaping Chinese foreign policy. —Reuters

ABBOTTABAD, Pakistan: In this photograph taken on Feb 26, 2012, young Pakistani children play near demolition works on the compound where Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was slain in this northwestern town . — AFP

and a field in Pennsylvania on Sept11, 2001. Some US officials have voiced suspicions that Pakistan’s intelligence agencies sheltered bin Laden, but Pakistan has dismissed the idea.

The report offers insights into the dramatic night of his death and paints a picture of a restless and paranoid man who often hit the road to avoid being caught. Bin Laden arrived in Pakistan in the spring or summer of 2002, the report says, at one point spending two years in Haripur before moving to the Abbottabad compound with his big family in Aug 2005. “All the places in Pakistan where OBL stayed are not fully known,” the report says. “But it included FATA (South Waziristan and Bajaur), Peshawar, Swat and Haripur.”

It found that he probably crossed into Pakistan from Afghanistan’s Tora Bora area, where US forces were hunting him, sometime in 2002. His family moved from Afghanistan’s Kandahar to Karachi shortly after the Sept 11, 2001 attacks. “They kept a very low profile and lived extremely frugally. They never exposed themselves to public view. They had minimum security,” the report says. “OBL successfully minimised any ‘signature’ of his presence. His minimal support group blended easily with the surrounding community ... His wives, children and grandchildren hardly ever emerged from the places where they stayed. No one ever visited them, not even trusted Al-Qaeda members.”

His wives, in their testimonies, said bin Laden was not fond of personal possessions and had very few clothes. “Before coming to Abbottabad he had just three pairs of shalwar kameez (traditional dress) for summer, and three pairs for winter,” the report says.

“Whenever OBL felt unwell (unofficial US accounts indicate he suffered from Addison’s disease), he treated himself with traditional Arab medicine ... and whenever he felt sluggish he would take some chocolate with an apple.”

He was nicknamed Miskeen Kaka, or “poor uncle” by other children in the house after they were told the reason he never went to the market was because he was too poor to buy anything. All the bin Laden women observed strict purdah, which started for his daughters at the age of three, and extended to not watching men on television. He oversaw the religious education and play of his children and grandchildren “which included cultivating vegetable plots with simple prizes for best performances”. But for nearly six years, abnormalities at his villa, such as no television or telephone lines, no rubbish collection and 5.5 m walls, failed to attract attention from Pakistani officialdom. “How the entire neighbourhood, local officials, police and security and intelligence officials all missed the size, the strange shape, the barbed wire, the lack of cars and visitors etc over a period of nearly six years beggars belief,” the report said.—Agencies

India top court demands action on acid attacks NEW DELHI: India’s top court criticised the government yesterday for failing to formulate a policy to reduce the number of acid attacks on women, which are often carried out by jilted boyfriends or their relatives. The Supreme Court rebuked the government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for failing to consider regulating the sale of acid used in the assaults, which leave the victims permanently disfigured.

“Girls are dying every day and the central government and state governments are not serious,” a two-judge bench comprising justices R M Lodha and S J Mukhopadhaya said in a statement.

According to the London-based charity Acid Survivors Trust International, about 1,500 acid attacks are reported globally each year, while groups in India say the problem is growing locally. The judges demanded that the cabinet prepare a new scheme to curb attacks and provide support to victims by July 16. Otherwise, they threatened to pass a legally binding order compelling the government to take action. An acid called “tezaab”, which is designed to clean rusted tools, is commonly used in assaults, local campaign groups say.

In the wake of a horrifying gang-rape in New Delhi in December, parliament voted to tough-

en laws to protect women including doubling the minimum prison sentence for gang-rape to 20 years. But lawmakers voted against increasing the punishment for acid attackers. They can be jailed for eight to 12 years depending on the injuries inflicted, but the offence is bailable. In one such incident, four sisters walking home in northern India in April suffered severe burns after being attacked with acid by two men on a motorbike. In 2011 neighbouring Pakistan adopted legislation increasing the punishment for acid attackers to between 14 years and life in jail and a minimum fine of one million Pakistan rupees ($10,000). — AFP

NEWS

UAE, Saudi give Egypt cash lifeline Interim rulers unveil quick timetable for elections CAIRO: Egypt’s interim rulers unveiled a quick timetable for elections and won a $3 billion cash lifeline from the United Arab Emirates yesterday, a day after 55 people were killed when troops fired on a crowd supporting ousted President Mohamed Morsi. The worst day of violence in more than a year has left Egypt more divided than ever in its modern history, and added to pressure on the military-led authorities to explain how they will restore democracy after the army toppled Morsi last week.

Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood rejected the proposed plan for constitutional changes and elections to be held in about six months, holding fast to its demand for the reinstatement of Egypt’s first freely elected leader.

Senior Brotherhood figure Essam El-Erian condemned “a constitutional decree issued after midnight by a person appointed by the putchists, usurping the legislative power from a council elected by the people, and bringing the country back to stage zero”.

In an important signal for the transitional authorities, the ultra-orthodox Islamist Nour Party said it would accept ex-finance minister Samir Radwan as prime minister, potentially paving the way for an interim cabinet. The Brotherhood says Monday’s violence was an unprovoked attack on worshippers holding peaceful prayers. But in a sign of the country’s deep divisions, most Cairo residents seemed to accept the official account and blamed the Brotherhood for its members’ deaths. That has left the deposed president’s followers isolated and angrier than ever.

The bloodshed in the Arab world’s most populous nation has raised alarm among key donors such as the United States and the European Union, as well as in Israel, with which Egypt has had a US-backed peace treaty since 1979. Millions of people took to the streets on June 30 to demand Morsi’s resignation, fearing he was orchestrating a creeping Islamist takeover of the state.

To the Brotherhood, his removal amounted to the reversal of democracy a year after he became Egypt’s first freely elected leader. Islamists fear a return to the suppression they endured for decades under autocratic rulers. “The only road map is the restoration of the president elected by the people,” said Hoda Ghaneya, 45, a Muslim Brotherhood women’s activist. “We will not accept less than that, even if they kill us all.”

The streets of Cairo were quiet yesterday but the Brotherhood called for more protests later in the day, raising the risk of further violence.

Ramadan steps Continued from Page 1 month and then how you plan on achieving these goals. It is important that goals are realistic and it is better that your life doesn’t need to entirely take a different road in this month (i.e. take the month off work or change work hours etc.) so that you may continue to do these deeds after Ramadan.

Knowing what you want to achieve in the month will help you stay focused. Ensure you plan your day every night before you sleep when Ramadan starts (try to continue this even after Ramadan).

Step 4 - Know your life Be aware if Ramadan affects anything that is happening in the month or shortly after. Do you have exams during Ramadan? Or is there a major family wedding after Ramadan by a short time? Moving house? If so, plan for these events from now. Study now so that you are prepared for the exams before the month starts. Be packed and ready to go before Ramadan or plan that you do it after so that it doesn’t take time away from your worship. The last thing you want to do is spend Ramadan at the shopping centers. Buy any Eid presents and prepare for any wedding before the month starts.

Step 5 - Prepare spiritually We all know that Ramadan is about Fasting, Praying, Reading Quran and giving in charity. Start these worships early; don’t expect to just click into it as soon as the first day of Ramadan starts. Start doing extra prayers from now, start revising and regularly reading Quran now, get used to being generous and follow the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and fast during Sha’baan.

Step 6 - Prepare your mind Fasting is to refrain from more than just what we consume in our mouth. Start working on your patience; be extra vigilant with your conversations: ensure you are not backbiting, slandering or talking about useless things.

Step 7 - Say ‘good riddance’ to bad habits Know what bad habits you have and stop them from now, don’t wait until Ramadan begins. If you sleep late, start sleeping early, if you are a Facebook junky start cutting down, have a coffee craze, slow it down etc. It might sound much easier said than done, but once you’ve committed yourself, purified your intentions - make sincere dua for guidance. Insh’Allah, these bad habits will be easier done with than you ever expected.

Step 8 - Plan your life around your worship For instance; instead of working through your prayer or setting up meeting etc., at prayer times, plan that you have a break at prayer time. Don’t take your phone with you to the place you pray and forget the world as you stand between the hands of the Almighty Allah (glorified and exalted be He).

Question: Mention 3 of the 8 steps for a Legacy of a Ramadan!

Courtesy TIES Center is a leading non-political NGO promoting relations between Westerners and Muslims through dialogue, friendship and cultural exchange.

For more information. www.tiescenter.net

Month of tolerance Continued from Page 1 The holy month of Ramadan is a month dedicated to contemplation. It is the time to think: How do we spend our life?

Do we waste it in pleasures only or do we pass the time without useful accomplishments?

Look guys, I am not a religious scholar. I am just sharing my feelings as human being and a Muslim living on this planet.

There is a lot of suffering around us. This suffering is caused by us humans. I know that sometimes we cannot correct the whole world but at least we can try to do our best to listen to the suffering of others and lend a helping hand wherever we can and in whichever way we can. If we cannot give a helping hand, at least we should not harm others.

Ramadan is a blessed month that gives us a chance to do all that. It is the time to go back, look at the past and enhance our performance. It is the time to be more spiritual. So, grab this opportunity and do not waste this month. It is so sad to see so much suffering in the world today, especially in the Middle East. I pray to God that this month brings peace and tranquility to Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Libya, Tunisia, Palestine and everywhere else in the universe.

I wish I could see more justice prevailing this month. I pray that this month makes people more humble and sympathetic with the other people around them. I hope people will not only look at their interests and will not be short-sighted. I pray to see peace and tranquility around us. I pray to see more tolerance in Kuwait and the world over. Have a blessed month!

Ramadan Mubarak!

Medical sources confirmed at least 55 people had been killed, raising the death toll in the incident, the deadliest in the two-and-a-half years of Egypt’s political turmoil apart from a riot at a soccer stadium in 2012.

Thousands of pro-Morsi protesters are now camped out at a mosque in northeast Cairo, while elsewhere in the city residents are flying banners from their balconies with portraits of the military commander who toppled him. Egyptian media, mainly controlled by the state and Morsi’s opponents, praised the army and denounced Monday’s violence as the provocation of terrorists. Cairenes seemed to agree. “Of course I condemn this: Egyptian versus Egyptian. But the people attacked the army, not the other way around,” said Abdullah Abdel Rayal, 58, shopping in a street market in downtown Cairo yesterday morning.

Arab states, long suspicious of the Brotherhood, have signaled support for Morsi’s overthrow. UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed became the most senior foreign official to visit Egypt since the army toppled Morsi last week. He brought a promise of a grant of $1 billion and a loan of $2 billion, money that will help Egypt provide food and fuel for its 84 million people. That replenishes funds which have been running desperately short after two years of unrest drove away tourists and investors. Also, Saudi Arabia approved a $5 billion aid package to Egypt yesterday comprising a $2 billion central bank deposit, $2 billion in energy products, and $1 billion in cash, the Saudi Finance Minister Ibrahim Alassaf said. Both Gulf countries had promised money after former autocrat Hosni Mubarak was toppled in 2011 but never sent the aid while Morsi’s Brotherhood was in power. Adli Mansour, the judge named head of state by the army when it brought down Morsi last week, decreed overnight that a parliamentary vote would be held in about six months, faster than many expected. That would be followed by a presidential election. An amended constitution would be put to a referendum.

The military-backed authorities seem to be resigned to restarting politics without the Brotherhood. Instead, they are courting the support of the country’s other main Islamist group, the ultra-orthodox Nour Party, Morsi’s occasional allies. In what appeared to be an olive branch to Islamists that irritated liberals, Mansour’s decree included language put into the constitution last year that defined the principles of Islamic sharia law. — Agencies

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

Interior refers tribal cases to prosecution

By B Izzak KUWAIT: The Interior Ministry announced yesterday that it has referred three tribal primary election cases to the public prosecution for investigation and plans to send the fourth today. The ministry said in a statement that two cases took place in the Fourth Constituency and the third in the Fifth District while the fourth one to be made today is in the Fifth Constituency.

Almost all of the country’s major bedouin tribes hold the so-called primaries ahead of parliamentary and municipality elections in order to boost the chances of their candidates in occupying seats in the National Assembly. In previous elections, major tribes used to nominate four candidates to represent them in elections because each voter was allowed to elect up to four candidates. But the selection system has been changed following the amendment of the electoral law which reduced the voter’s choice to just one candidate.

In last December elections, almost all tribes boycotted the polls and no tribal primaries were held.

Tribal voters normally comply with the choice of their tribes. The ministry is expected to refer more tribal primary cases to the public prosecution as most of the tribes have announced plans to hold their primaries. Tribal primary elections are outlawed under the election law but the overwhelming majority of such cases were rejected by courts for a lack of evidence.

In a related development, the Administrative Court yesterday reviewed another petition calling on the court to freeze the July 27 election and set next Sunday as a date to issue its ruling. Two days ago, the same court set Sunday to rule on a similar petition which demanded halting the election process on the

allegations that the Cabinet is illegitimate for not consisting of at least one elected MP as the constitution stipulates.

Yesterday’s petition called for stopping the polls because the newly-built Al-Nahdha residential area has not been added to any of the five constituencies and accordingly, voters residing there will not be able to vote. The defense lawyer Mubarak Al-Harbi said that the election must be stopped until the new residential area is added to a constituency to allow its residents to exercise their franchise.

In the first petition, lawyer Adel Al-Abdulhadi said that following the Constitutional Court’s ruling on June 16 which nullified the Assembly election in December and dissolved the Assembly, the only elected MP in the cabinet, Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Thekra Al-Rasheedi lost her membership in the Assembly which resulted in rendering the cabinet unconstitutional.

Abdulhadi said that based on the consequences of the ruling, decisions made by the Cabinet will be illegal, including the approval of the election decree.

Accordingly, this could lead to nullifying the next election and lead to scrapping the Assembly for the third time since June 20 last year. Eight candidates withdrew their nominations yesterday leaving just 410 hopefuls in the fray. Withdrawal of candidates remains open until July 19.

In the meantime, the Islamic Salaf Alliance issued two contradictory statements yesterday regarding the election, reflecting serious divisions within the group. A statement issued early in the day said that the Salaf group has decided to boycott the election and criticized those who are taking part, while a second statement issued later stressed the group will participate in the polls and called on voters to take part.

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ANALYSIS

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

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Issues

Egyptian military’s new look challenged

By Hamza Hendawi ed by a savvy commander, Egypt’s powerful military returned to politics with a new look and a new approach. It built a coalition behind the removal of the president and rode a stunning wave of popular support. Now after its troops killed at least 51 supporters of Mohammed Morsi, the military faces the question of how it can thwart a determined Muslim Brotherhood campaign to restore the toppled president without more heavy-handedness that could damage its image and undermine its support.

After the opposition protests of June 30, when millions of Egyptians took to the streets to call for Morsi’s ouster, the military ramped up its ongoing charm offensive, tapping into widespread discontent with the Islamist president and pro-military sentiment among the Egyptian public. To the wild cheers of demonstrators, jet fighters swooped low over Cairo, helicopters flew overhead - trailing giant Egyptian flags and drawing a heart in the sky with red smoke. The chants of “the army and the people are one hand,” rang out in Cairo’s Tahrir Square.

It was a far cry from the resentment pro-democracy groups felt toward the military soon after the fall of Hosni Mubarak in 2011. The military was then accused of mismanaging the transition and of human rights violations, including torturing detainees and hauling more than 10,000 civilian before military tribunals. It is a different army now with a different leadership. The army officer who became Egypt’s ruler in 2011 was Hussein Tantawi, a field marshal in his 70s who was Mubarak’s defense minister for two decades. Tantawi often seemed out of touch with the new dynamics on the streets and showed little of the political acumen needed to run a country shaking off 29 years of authoritarian rule.

Enter Abdel-Fattah El-Sissi, a 58-year-old former chief of the military intelligence who was named army chief and defense minister by Morsi in August 2012, replacing Tantawi, his longtime mentor. El-Sissi was widely expected to be beholden to Morsi, but that soon proved to be an incorrect assumption: The career infantry officer began delivering a series of subtle and not-so-subtle hints that the military was unhappy with the way Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood were running the country.

What distinguishes El-Sissi from the usually dour army chiefs who preceded him is his energy and outreach. His carefully selected public appearances included a televised party dedicated to orphans and a meeting with icons of the local art and literary scene during a military function.

And he was seen in combat fatigues jogging with his troops. All the while, El-Sissi seized every chance to proclaim that the army’s loyalty was primarily to the people, not anyone else - including Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood.

El-Sissi’s social skills and well-oiled publicity machine will need to move into an even higher gear if they want to maintain the army’s popularity and undermine the Brotherhood. The shootings Monday of Morsi supporters prompted questions about whether troops used excessive deadly force, an accusation the military dismissed as unfair.

“What excessive force? We were dealing with people shooting at us with live ammunition,” chief military spokesman Co. Ahmed Mohammed Ali told The Associated Press. “It would have been excessive if we killed 300.”

Confident in the army’s position, Ali asked those at a televised news conference to stand in silence to mourn the dead. Later he expressed regret for the loss of life, but did not accept blame for the killings. Still, the military took seriously the accusations it used excessive force and moved swiftly to debunk the version offered by the Brotherhood: that the victims were killed while praying and the dead included women and children. The two sides spent most of the day fighting a “war of videos,” with each producing footage intended to show the other started the violence.

The independent and state media toed the military’s line, blaming the Brotherhood for attacking troops and police as they moved to clear a sit-in by Morsi supporters.

After the shootings, the networks only aired army footage of the clashes - videos that purportedly showed armed Morsi supporters targeting troops and police with live ammunition, birdshot and rocks. The Brotherhood, meanwhile, using social networking sites and sympathetic TV networks, distributed video showing tens of thousands of Morsi supporters rallying in Cairo, some weeping hysterically, while speakers cried out about martyrdom and their fight against a brutal military dictatorship.

“We’re still investigating how this started. I don’t think the killings were necessarily intentional, but we’ve seen how the smallest spark can provoke an excessive lethal response on the part of the military,” said Heba Morayef, the Egypt director of Human Rights Watch. “We know that there were some guns also on the Brotherhood side.”— AP

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

The editor reserves the right to edit any submission as necessary.

Key issues in US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue op US and Chinese officials will meet in Washington this week for the annual US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, a process launched five years ago to help the world’s two largest economies manage an increasingly complex relationship. US Secretary of State John Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew will host Chinese co-chairs, State Councilor Yang Jiechi and Vice Premier Wang Yang. All four officials are new in their positions and leading their first S&ED talks, which include the heads of 14 US government agencies and 16 Chinese state bodies. The meetings, a month after an informal summit between President Barack Obama and new Chinese President Xi Jinping in California, will give both sides a chance to turn agreements there into practical policies. Following are the main items in a large menu of issues to be discussed by the two countries:

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CYBER SECURITY The United States has been complaining about hacking of US government and corporate networks originating from China - and meeting Chinese denials - for nearly a decade. The dispute grew more complicated with former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden’s revelation of US hacking into the backbone server at Tsinghua University in Beijing and Hong Kong University.

China is expected to demand an explanation for these activities.

The United States wants the focus to be on theft of trade secrets and other intellectual property, often through sophisticated cyber attacks, which analysts say cost the US economy as much as $320 billion a year. In a case last month indicating a tougher US approach to IP theft, the Chinese wind turbine maker Sinovel Wind Group Co and two of its employees were charged with allegedly stealing trade secrets from US-based AMSC by the Department of Justice.

NORTH KOREA The United States is seeking to solidify the recent tougher line on North Korea taken by China after a nuclear test in February and other provocations by Pyongyang. China has joined the United States in saying it won’t recognize the North as a nuclear state, and the state-owned Bank of China cut its ties with North Korea’s Foreign Trade Bank, sanctioned by Washington for its role in Pyongyang’s nuclear program. Some US analysts caution, however, that China’s shift has been tactical and does not reflect a fundamental change in its commitment to keep an often troublesome neighbor afloat.

ASIAN MARITIME DISPUTES China is embroiled in maritime sovereignty disputes with the Philippines and Vietnam over islets in the South China Sea and with Japan over small islands in the East China Sea. Both sets of disputes, in which Taiwan shares China’s claims, are decades old

but have flared up dramatically in the past several years. The United States is neutral on sovereignty questions, rejects any role as a mediator between parties, and urges claimants to handle the disputes peacefully and avoid actions that harm freedom of navigation. China points to the fact that Japan and the Philippines are formal military allies of Washington and asserts that the Obama administration policy of rebalancing its forces to Asia emboldens those countries to challenge China.

BILATERAL MILITARY RELATIONS Military-to-military dialogue has in the past advanced only in fits and starts, subject to suspension by China in response to US arms sales to Taiwan or other issues. But military relations between the two powers have thawed considerably in the last two years, with a brisk pace of high-level visits and meeting at regional meetings. China has accepted a US invitation to observe the 2014 Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) naval exercise.

CLIMATE CHANGE Climate change has re-emerged as a priority for the two countries that are the leading producers of greenhouse gases as Beijing battles severe air pollution and Obama has recently renewed a stalled climate change agenda, promising new rules to cut carbon emissions from US power plants and moves to support renewable energy. In their first talks in June, Obama and Xi agreed to phase out production and consumption of greenhouse gases known as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), working under the UN’s 1987 Montreal Protocol. The new US-China Climate Change Working Group, agreed in April, will make specific recommendations for boosting bilateral cooperation on climate change and work to advance the HFC agreement, the State Department said.

INVESTMENT US investors face barriers or ownership limits in about 90 Chinese sectors, restricting their opportunities in the world’s second-largest economy. Chinese companies seeking to invest in the United States fear a political backlash in Congress or rejection on national security grounds by the secretive Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. US lawmakers have expressed concerns about the implications for food safety of a proposed sale of Smithfield Foods Inc, the world’s largest producer and processor of pork, to the Chinese meat company Shuanghui International for $4.7 billion. The proposed biggest takeover of a US company by a Chinese firm will be reviewed at a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing on Wednesday, during the S&ED meetings. Officials are expected to hold preliminary discussions on a bilateral investment treaty during this week’s talks, but any such pact is likely to take years to finalize.

ACCOUNTING US regulators late last year charged the Chinese arms of the world’s top five accounting firms with securities violations, which experts say could kill off US stock exchange listings for Chinese firms if not resolved. The Securities and Exchange Commission wants the firms to supply documents relating to the audits of USlisted companies, but the audit firms say they are blocked from doing that by Chinese state secrecy laws. The United States won a partial victory in a related case in May, giving US regulators access to Chinese companies’ audit documents and opening the way to probes of bungled audits after a two-year stand-off. But the ruling applies only to enforcement cases against auditors, not against China-based companies suspected of accounting fraud.

AGRICULTURE China is the largest market for US agricultural products, but still has many barriers that frustrate US farmers. The United States wants China to allow more imports of US beef, pork and poultry.

China also has restrictions on imports of US apples, pears, potatoes and strawberries that the United States says are not based on sound science. China’s slow approval process for new varieties of genetically modified crops is another frustration, although China last month approved another two strains of genetically-modified corn for imports to keep up with rising demand from animal feed producers as the world’s most populous nation consumes more meat.

CURRENCY The United States believes China’s yuan currency, also known as the renminbi, is significantly undervalued, giving Chinese companies an unfair price advantage in international trade. US efforts to take a stronger stance on China’s currency moves have faded due to an increase in the value of the yuan, a big drop in China’s global trade surplus and a rise in labor costs that has made Chinese products less competitive. The US Treasury Department in April declined to label China a currency manipulator and noted that the yuan had risen 16.2 percent against the dollar in inflation-adjusted terms since June 2010, when China moved off its exchange rate peg. But the persistently high US trade deficit with China set another record in 2012 at $315 billion, fueling complaints in the US Congress.

EXPORT CONTROLS China has pressed the United States for years to ease restrictions on exports of high-technology goods that have potential military applications. Washington is in the midst of reforming its overall export control regime, but concerns about intellectual property protection and fears of helping Beijing’s military increase its capabilities could limit new opportunities for Chinese companies to buy US high-tech goods.—Reuters

Confident Assad sees Syria tide turning

By Dominic Evans he road to Bashar Al-Assad’s palace on the edge of Damascus has four checkpoints manned by Republican Guards and plain-clothed police which guests must pass before they reach the main gate. Inside the People’s Palace, in the hills overlooking the Syrian capital, visitors who have seen the Syrian president in the last month say security is surprisingly light for a man who has lost control of half his country to a rebel uprising. Assad’s air of confidence - a constant through more than two years of conflict - appeared almost delusional when rebel mortars and bombs were tearing at the heart of Damascus and fighting closed its airport to foreign airlines late last year. But after weeks of counter-offensives by Assad’s army in the south of the country - against rebel supply routes east of Damascus and most recently in the border town of Qusair - that optimism looks less irrational.

The fall last week of President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt prompted a defiant Assad to proclaim the defeat of political Islam. The Brotherhood’s Syrian branch, already under pressure from more radical opposition groups, was dealt a psychological blow that comes on top of delays to promised supplies of weapons from Washington. Congressional committees are holding up a plan to send US arms to the rebels because they doubt the deliveries will be decisive in the war and they fear the weapons might end up in the hands of Islamist militants, US national security sources have told Reuters.

In an interview in May with Al-Manar, the television station of his Lebanese militant ally Hezbollah, Assad said the tide had turned on the battlefield and repeated an assertion he has made since protests against his rule first erupted in March 2011. “We are confident and sure about victory,” he said. The conflict has killed 100,000 of Assad’s own people, driven a million and a half more abroad as refugees and left swathes of urban Syria in ruins. The 47-year-old president looks little changed since the conflict began apart from a greying of his moustache and deepening frown lines.

From teenage protest in the southern city of Deraa, Syria’s uprising against four decades of Assad family rule escalated into nationwide demonstrations, armed insurrection and finally an increasingly sectarian civil war drawing in regional powers. Throughout, Assad has blamed foreign terrorists for the violence, all the time ratcheting up his own use of force from gunfire to tank shells, helicopters to fighter jets, and from mortars to indiscriminate missile strikes. His Western and Arab foes suspect Assad’s forces have also used chemical weapons.

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Dismissing suggestions of blame for the bloodshed, the man who trained as an eye doctor told parliament: “When a surgeon cuts a wound, the wound bleeds. Do we say to him ‘Your hands are covered in blood’? Or do we thank him for saving the patient?” Preparing for possible negotiations on a political settlement - which now look unlikely given intransigence on both sides - he dismissed his rebel foes as slaves of foreign masters.

30 YEARS AFTER HAMA Assad’s crackdown on the protests against him two years ago drew inevitable comparisons with his father, Hafez alAssad, who seized power in a coup in 1970 and ruthlessly put down an armed Islamist uprising in the city of Hama a dozen years later. Three decades after Hama, in the era of the Internet, camera phones and global media, conventional wisdom said no leader could crush an uprising in the way the elder Assad did in 1982, killing more than 10,000 people, and hold on to power. In Tunisia and Egypt, leaders were toppled within weeks by peaceful protests and when Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi used military force against rebels, NATO forces provided support to help his opponents bring him down. But Assad, aided by powerful security forces dominated by his Alawite minority and shielded by international allies Russia and Iran, has proved far tougher. That stands in contrast to the mood in 2000 when Bashar inherited the presidency aged 34. He was seen then as a reformer. His marriage to a British-educated banker cemented the image of a 21st century couple who might lift Syria out of its Soviet-style political stagnation.

But after flirting with political liberalization Assad abruptly closed the door on his ‘Damascus Spring’ experiment and within five years, relations with the West were in crisis over the assassination of Lebanese politician Rafiq Al-Hariri, which a United Nationsbacked inquiry initially blamed on Damascus. In an early sign of his

resilience, Assad weathered that storm, betting that Syria was too important to be ostracized if the West wanted to make any progress resolving decades of Arab-Israeli conflict or the turmoil in post-Saddam Iraq. He was right. In the summer of 2008 Assad was guest of honor at France’s annual Bastille Day military parade capping his international rehabilitation.

RELIANT ON IRAN Neither the violence nor economic collapse has truly shaken a power base centered on a clan within the Alawite minority, intelligence services and an army bolstered by local militias. But defections have stripped away some of his entourage, including Manaf Tlas, son of the former defense minister, who grew up with the young Bashar. “He was cheated by many of his friends,” said one person who visited Assad in May. “He lost a lot of his friends and the one that upset him the most is Manaf.” But Assad has lost more than friends.

Despite his recent military gains, the north and east of the country, including the eastern oil fields, remain out of his control.

Kurds in the north-east have enjoyed de facto autonomy for two years, much like their brethren in northern Iraq, and it is hard to see Assad ever regaining full control of a country whose Sunni majority is implacably opposed to being ruled by Assad’s Alawite minority, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. Assad has increasingly turned to Shiite Iran for support, evidenced by meetings with senior Iranian officials in the aftermath of a bomb attack last July that killed four of his inner circle.

Iranian money has propped up Syria’s economy, while Iranian officers have helped train the Syrian army and set its counter-insurgency strategy, regional security sources say. The Iranian-backed Lebanese militant movement Hezbollah was also largely responsible for Assad’s forces regaining the town of Qusair in early June - their most symbolic military victory in two years of fighting. “This is really the world upside down,” said Peter Harling of the International Crisis Group, referring to Assad’s reliance on Hezbollah. “It reflects such a change in the relationship between the regime and what used to be its proxy.”—Reuters

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

S P ORTS

Mkhitaryan joins Dortmund

UEFA best player shortlist

BERLIN: Champions league runners-up Borussia Dortmund have paid 27.5 million euros ($35.38 million) to buy Armenian international attacking midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan from Shakhtar Donetsk, the Ukraine side said yesterday. “Shakhtar Donetsk and Borussia have settled all matters on Henrikh Mkhitaryan transfer to the German club. Transfer fee is 27.5 million euros,” Shakhtar said in a statement on their website (www.shakhtar.com) Mkhitaryan, capped 37 times by Armenia, had an impressive season as he helped Shakhtar win the Ukraine league title and reach the Champions league last 16 where they were knocked out by Dortmund. “We are delighted that we got a fantastic new signing for the attacking midfield role in Henrikh Mkhitaryan,” BVB sporting director Michael Zorc told Dortmund’s website (www.bvb.de). Mkhitaryan, who scored 46 goals in 106 games after joining Shakhtar in 2010, is Dortmund’s third signing of the close season following the arrivals of Sokratis and PierreEmerick Aubameyang ($1 = 0.7773 euros).—Reuters

LONDON: Four Bayern Munich players - Thomas Mueller, Franck Ribery, Arjen Robben and Bastian Schweinsteiger - were named on a 10-man shortlist for the 2012/13 UEFA Best Player in Europe award yesterday.

Unlike last year, when the final three contenders came from Barcelona or Real Madrid, only two of the 10 were drawn from the Spanish clubs Barca’s 2011 winner Lionel Messi and Real’s Cristiano Ronaldo.

Tottenham Hotspur’s Gareth Bale was the only British player nominated, with the Premier League also represented by Manchester United’s Robin van Persie. Robert Lewandowski, whose Borussia Dortmund side lost out to Bayern in the Champions League final at London’s Wembley Stadium, was named as was Paris Saint-Germain’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The award, voted for by a jury of journalists from each of UEFA’s member associations, was established in 2011 and was won last year by Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta.

The top 10 players will be whittled down to three candidates in a second vote, with the ultimate winner decided in a live poll on Aug. 29 during the Champions League group stage draw in Monaco. UEFA said in a statement that it had also launched a Best Women’s Player in Europe award, with the first winner to be unveiled on Sept. 5.—Reuters

Maradona thrilled in Dubai DUBAI: Describing Dubai as his second home, Argentine icon Diego Maradona also said yesterday he was thrilled to be hired for another year in his role as global ambassador for the sports-mad, Gulf city.

Maradona was hired last year as ambassador by the Dubai Sports Council soon after he was sacked as the coach of Dubai-based club Al Wasl after only one season. The council said it will extend his contract for another year but offered no details on how much it will pay the football great.

Also, council secretary general Ahmed al-Sharif said Maradona will oversee football academies in the city aimed at raising the quality of football across the United Arab Emirates.

“Diego Maradona ... since the past one year, he has brought in so much added value to Dubai on and off the sports field,” al-Sharif said. “Dubai has been the best and busiest sporting destination in the Middle East.” Maradona has talked of returning to coaching and has been linked to clubs in China and the national side in Iraq during the past year. But with no offers forthcoming, the star of the 1986 World Cup-winning team will continue his low-key ambassadorial job. He said he was happy to help raise the profile of football in the UAE and produce the next generation.—AP

Rangers thrash Orioles BALTIMORE: Ian Kinsler capped a six-run sixth inning with a bases-loaded double as the Texas Rangers beat the Baltimore Orioles 8-5 on Monday in a rematch of last year’s American League wild-card playoff game.

The victory moved the Rangers 15 games over .500 (52-37) for the first time since May 25.

It also improved their road record to 25-18, best in franchise history after 43 games.

Kinsler had four RBIs, including three in the sixth against former teammate Scott Feldman (0-1) when the Rangers turned a 3-2 deficit into an 8-3 lead. Derek Holland (7-4) allowed five runs, three earned, and 10 hits in 6 2-3 innings for Texas. He struck out Matt Wieters and MLB home run leader Chris Davis three times apiece.

RAYS 7, TWINS 4 St. Petersburg, Yunel Escobar and Ben Zobrist homered during a three-run seventh inning as the surging Rays beat the Twins.

Escobar had a leadoff tiebreaking homer in the seventh off Samuel Deduno (4-4), who departed after Desmond Jennings followed with a triple. Caleb Thielbar entered and got one out before Zobrist gave Tampa Bay a 6-3 lead with a two-run shot.

Alex Torres (3-0) pitched a perfect seventh for the Rays, who have won nine of 10 and moved to a season-best 10-games (50-40) over .500.

Escobar also had a sacrifice fly in the eighth.

Fernando Rodney got the final two outs to pick up his 20th save after an RBI single by Pedro Florimon off Jamey Wright.

SAN FRANCISCO: David Wright No. 5 of the New York Mets hits a single in the sixth inning of their game against the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park. —AFP

Giants fall to Mets SAN FRANCISCO: Eric Young scored on shortstop Brandon Crawford’s fielding error with two outs in the 16th inning as the New York Mets outlasted the San Francisco Giants 4-3 in a National League game that ended early Tuesday morning.

Young singled with one out and stole second. After he advanced to third on Daniel Murphy’s groundout, lefty Javier Lopez entered and intentionally walked David Wright. Crawford couldn’t handle pinch-hitter Anthony Recker’s grounder, allowing Young to score and handing New York its first win in a game that went at least 15 innings after losing its first three this season. This one lasted 5 hours, 26 minutes. It was the longest game in time and innings the Giants had played this season.

PHILLIES 3, NATIONALS 2 In Philadelphia, John Lannan tossed fourhit ball over eight innings against his former team and Ben Revere had three hits as Philadelphia beat Washington.

Lannan (2-3) had four strikeouts in his longest outing in four years. The lefty registered 12 groundouts to beat the team he played for his first six seasons in the majors.

Jonathan Papelbon allowed two runs in a shaky ninth to earn his 19th save in 23 tries.

Dan Haren (4-10) came off the disabled list and took the loss after missing two weeks because of right shoulder inflammation.

Haren allowed two runs and seven hits in five innings, striking out a season-high seven.

Revere and Jimmy Rollins, the 1-2 hitters in Philadelphia’s lineup were 5 for 9 with three runs and one RBI. DODGERS 6, DIAMONDBACKS 1 In Phoenix, Zack Greinke gave up two hits in seven scoreless innings as Los Angeles ended the Diamondbacks’ five-game winning streak. Greinke (7-2) struck out seven and walked two in his fourth straight win. He also had a career-high three hits. Hanley Ramirez singled three times to extend his career-best hitting streak to 19 games and was one of five Dodgers with an RBI. Los Angeles, winner of 13 of 16, tied its season high with 17 hits - 16 of them singles.

Randall Delgado (1-3) allowed three runs and 11 hits in six innings. Andre Ethier also had three hits as Los Angeles climbed within 31/2 games of the first-place Diamondbacks in the NL West division.

BREWERS 4, REDS 3 In Milwaukee, center fielder Carlos Gomez robbed Joey Votto of a potential go-ahead homer with a spectacular catch in the ninth inning, saving Milwaukee’s victory over Cincinnati.

Jonathan Lucroy homered for the third consecutive game for the last-place Brewers.

Jean Segura had three hits off Homer Bailey (5-7) in the right-hander’s first start since his second no-hitter in 10 months. Kyle Lohse (5-

6) pitched into the seventh for his fourth consecutive win. Francisco Rodriguez finished for his ninth save and No. 303 of his career, tying Doug Jones for 22nd on the major league list.

Chris Heisey homered for Cincinnati, which has lost three of four.

BRAVES 7, MARLINS 1 In Miami, Justin Upton broke a tie by driving in two runs when he doubled in a six-run 14th inning to lead Atlanta past Miami.

Five Miami relievers combined to retire 24 consecutive batters before Reed Johnson walked to start the 14th against Chris Hatcher (0-1). Jason Heyward walked with one out, and Upton’s double scored both runners.

Gerald Laird hit a two-out, two-run single.

Chris Johnson added an RBI single with the bases loaded, and another run scored when the ball skipped past left fielder Justin Ruggiano for an error. Seven relievers for the two teams combined to retire 30 straight batters from the eighth to the 13th. David Carpenter (2-0) pitched two innings and escaped a jam in the 13th.

ROCKIES 4, PADRES 2 In San Diego, Tyler Chatwood took a shutout into the seventh inning as Colorado handed slumping San Diego its 10th consecutive defeat.

Wilin Rosario hit a two-run double to help the Rockies end a three-game slide with their second victory in eight games. They have won nine of 11 against San Diego this season.

Chatwood (5-2) allowed two runs and five hits in a season-high 6 2-3 innings. Rafael Betancourt worked the ninth for his 12th save in 13 opportunities, retiring pinch-hitter Mark Kotsay with two on to end it. Edinson Volquez (6-7) gave up four runs and eight hits in 5 1-3 innings. The Padres have lost 16 of 20 since winning a season-high seven straight to move two games over .500 on June 17.

INTERLEAGUE ATHLETICS 2, PIRATES 1 In Pittsburgh, Bartolo Colon allowed one run over seven innings as the Athletics won for the ninth time in their past 12 games, beating the Pirates.

The 40-year-old Colon (12-3) shook off a tough-luck 3-1 defeat in his previous start to win for the ninth time in his last 10 outings.

He outdueled Jeff Locke, who had a personal eight-game winning streak broken. Locke (82) lost for the first time since his first start of the season April 10.

Colon moved into a tie for second in the majors in victories, and has the second-most wins by a 40-year-old in A’s history. He allowed seven hits and one walk with five strikeouts. Coco Crisp made a diving catch in left-center to preserve Oakland’s lead in the seventh off a hard-hit sinking liner from Andrew McCutchen with two men on and two outs.—AP

TIGERS 4, INDIANS 2 In Cleveland, Max Scherzer remained unbeaten and Victor Martinez hit a two-run double in the 10th inning as the Detroit Tigers extended their lead in the AL Central division with a win over the second-place Indians.

Martinez doubled off Matt Albers (2-1) as the Tigers won three of four in the series and moved 31/2 games ahead in the division. Drew Smyly (4-0) worked out of a jam in the ninth for the win, and Joaquin Benoit pitched the 10th for his seventh save, striking out Mike Aviles with runners at first and third to end the game.

ROYALS 5, YANKEES 1 In New York, Jeremy Guthrie neatly handled a nemesis and a long rain delay to pitch into the seventh inning and Billy Butler homered as the Royals beat the Yankees.

All-Star Alex Gordon, David Lough and Johnny Giavotella each had RBI doubles, and Alcides Escobar added a run-scoring triple to help the Royals end a five-game losing streak against New York.

Guthrie (8-6) held the Yankees to just three hits over six innings that included a 59-minute delay for a hailstorm in the fourth.

With the bases loaded in the ninth, closer Greg Holland struck out Eduardo Nunez, Brett Gardner and Zoilo Almonte to end it for his 21st save.

MARINERS 11, RED SOX 4 In Seattle, Felix Hernandez held the Red Sox to two runs and six hits over seven innings and Raul Ibanez hit his 22nd home run in leading the Mariners to a victory over Boston.

Hernandez (9-4) walked two and struck out six, maintaining his 2.69 ERA, second lowest in the American League behind teammate Hisashi Iwakuma’s 2.60. Hernandez allowed two or fewer runs for the 13th time in 19 starts.

Ibanez’s home run - on a 0-2 pitch from Boston starter Jon Lester (8-5) - broke a 2-2 tie in the fifth. It was the 41-year-old’s seventh goahead home run and extended his hitting streak to 13 games.

Seattle pounded out 15 hits in winning for the fifth time in seven games. Boston has lost three straight, matching its season high.

BALTIMORE: Manny Machado No. 13 of the Baltimore Orioles slides under third baseman Adrian Beltre No. 29 of the Texas Rangers to advance on a hit a during the first inning. —AFP INTERLEAGUE CUBS 8, WHITE SOX 2 In Chicago, Matt Garza pitched seven strong innings and Alfonso Soriano homered and scored four runs as the Cubs pulled away late to beat the White Sox. Dave Sappelt had a career-high four hits, while Soriano had three. Luis Valbuena drove in

three runs, hitting the tiebreaking two-run double and scoring during a five-run eighth.

Garza (5-1), meanwhile, came through with another terrific outing. He’s 4-0 in his last five starts after allowing two runs - one earned - and five hits, striking out six without a walk. He’s lowered his ERA from 4.98 to 3.22 during this stretch. The Cubs completed the four-game season sweep against their crosstown rivals.—AP

MLB results/standings Philadelphia 3, Washington 2; Oakland 2, Pittsburgh 1; Texas 8, Baltimore 5; Detroit 4, Cleveland 2 (10 innings); Kansas City 5, NY Yankees 1; Atlanta 7, Miami 1 (14 innings); Tampa Bay 7, Minnesota 4; Milwaukee 4, Cincinnati 3; Chicago Cubs 8, Chicago White Sox 2; LA Dodgers 6, Arizona 1; Seattle 11, Boston 4; Colorado 4, San Diego 2; NY Mets 4, San Francisco 3 (16 innings).

American League Eastern Division W L Boston 54 37 Tampa Bay 50 40 Baltimore 49 41 NY Yankees 48 41 Toronto 43 45 Central Division Detroit 49 39 Cleveland 46 43 Kansas City 42 44 Minnesota 37 49 Chicago White Sox 34 52 Western Division Oakland 53 37 Texas 52 37 LA Angels 43 45 Seattle 40 49 Houston 32 57

PCT .593 .556 .544 .539 .489

GB 3.5 4.5 5 9.5

Atlanta Washington Philadelphia NY Mets Miami

.557 .517 .488 .430 .395

3.5 6 11 14

St. Louis Pittsburgh Cincinnati Chicago Cubs Milwaukee

.589 .584 .489 .449 .360

0.5 9 12.5 20.5

Arizona LA Dodgers Colorado San Francisco San Diego

National League Eastern Division 51 38 46 43 44 46 38 48 32 56 Central Division 53 34 53 35 50 39 39 48 36 52 Western Division 47 42 43 45 43 47 40 48 40 50

.573 .517 .489 .442 .364

5 7.5 11.5 18.5

.609 .602 .562 .448 .409

0.5 4 14 17.5

.528 .489 .478 .455 .444

3.5 4.5 6.5 7.5

Puig might make All-Star game fun again NEW YORK: Bruce Bochy wasn’t willing to go with the small sampling size and make Yasiel Puig an All-Star, though he might have been tempted to change his mind after watching the

Yasiel Puig

rookie sensation do a little bit of everything in helping the Dodgers to a win Sunday in San Francisco.

The Giants’ manager wasn’t going to leave someone who has played like

an All-Star the whole season off the National League squad just to put Puig on it, and that’s OK. But Puig is one of the five finalists that fans can still vote on, and that’s a vote Puig should win in a landslide to get a spot on the team. Hopefully, that will make Tim McCarver happy, too. The Fox announcer seemed even more insufferable than usual over the weekend in San Francisco when he said an AllStar can’t be minted in just five weeks, but that if the fans really want the Dodgers’ right fielder on the team he won’t avert his eyes when Puig is at the plate. Make the All-Star game fun and interesting? Well, OK, but only if the fans insist.

That there has been an ongoing debate in recent days over Puig’s selection is probably a good thing for a game that seems to have lost its appeal to all but the hard-core baseball fan. There’s little special about the All-Star game anymore, as evidenced

by the fact it has lost half its television audience in the last 20 years.

But fans are talking about Puig, the Cuban who may well be the truest five-tool player to come into baseball in recent times. They will tune in just to watch him, and they may buy tickets to see him in person the next time the Dodgers are in town.

He’s not going to save the All-Star game because the game itself is such an anachronism. Players like making the team and earning the bonuses that often go with it, but even Bud Selig’s ill-suited attempt to make it relevant by giving the winning league home field advantage in the World Series didn’t move the engagement needle among fans. There was once a time when the All-Star game was really something special. Fans were eager to compare leagues and, aside from spring training and the World Series, the Midsummer Classic was the only place to do it. —AP

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

S P ORTS

Move over Wilt: Kastles can pass Lakers WASHINGTON: Oh, the audacity. A World TeamTennis club is challenging the Los Angeles Lakers for all-time winning streak supremacy.

The Washington Kastles began the WTT season riding a 32-game winning streak, following back-to-back unbeaten championship seasons. They liked to tell anyone who would listen that they were second only to the Lakers among the “longest winning streaks in major U.S. pro sports history.”

That changed Monday night when they won their season opener against the New York Sportimes - in front of a sellout crowd that included first lady Michele Obama - to tie the Lakers’ mark of 33 from the 1971-72 season. Another win Tuesday against the Boston Lobsters would break the record.

Saying the Sportimes, Lobsters and Lakers are on a level playing field might make some chortle - but not the Kastles.

Leander Paes said he cried - yes, cried -

when he had to leave the Kastles for a few games last year to represent India at the Olympic Games. He was fearful that his absence might cause the team to lose. “I hurt for it,” Paes said. “To me, playing the Olympics last year was huge. But leaving the Kastles to go for the Olympics and give it a chance to break the streak, I walked off the court in tears that day.” Still, it’s a tough sell - Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain taking a back seat to a team that plays its entire regular season in 17 days.

Most fans don’t consider WTT to be a “major” sports league. The matches have more of an exhibition feel, with the sport’s top players making only featured appearances on certain nights. It would look more like the majors and less like Triple-A if, say, Roger Federer and Andy Murray were playing ever y match.

Nonetheless, these are professionals who are tr ying to win. And, in the Kastles’ case, they keep doing it. Coming

out on top 32 times in a row isn’t easy in anything.

“It all depends on your perspective,” Kastles coach Murphy Jensen said. “Bjorn Borg, Martina Navratilova, Billie Jean (King), Chris Evert, the best tennis players that have ever played tennis have played World TeamTennis, and no team had gone undefeated. So to think this is anything less than the NBA or the NHL? Seriously? Five years ago, I would say absolutely, but not with the Washington Kastles. This organization is completely different than any other team in the league.”

Asked what makes it different, Jensen and his players have a two-word answer: Mark Ein, the team owner and entrepreneur who has created a winning culture that attends to every need of player and fan. “Mark Ein is the architect, and he’s put together a product that players want to perform and want to play for,” Jensen said. “It is the most professional, elite

World TeamTennis organization ever assembled. There are players knocking on the door that would only play for this organization.”

Jensen and three members of his roster - Paes, Anastasia Rodionova and Bobby Reynolds - were a picture of contentment and camaraderie as they talked and joked while sitting courtside before a practice Monday morning at the Kastles’ immaculate waterfront stadium, which almost always sells out its 3,000 or so seats. Ein stood near the center of the court, his 2009 and 2011 WTT championship rings on his left hand and the 2012 ring on his right hand.

“Teams that are good, like the Patriots - granted they’ve got Tom Brady, but people come and go - they just have the right culture,” Ein said. Ein doesn’t hedge when asked to defend the streak.

“I see what they have done to make this happen and what it means to them, and truly how hard it’s been some

nights,” Ein said. “I really believe, deeply believe, that this streak is as hard as any of the other streaks. Eight of our matches have been decided by one game.

We’ve had 10 match points against us.

It’s not like we’ve killed everyone every night. There have been a lot of close matches, and they’ve managed to pull out the victory.”

The streak - and the debate over where it belongs in sports history - has brought invaluable attention to the Kastles and the WTT overall. That, in turn, has helped WTT promote its spectator-friendly brand of tennis, one that emphasizes the game’s personalities.

The team aspect adds to the atmosphere. As does the streak. Opponents want to be the team that stops the Kastles’ winning run. And each of the Kastles players doesn’t want to be the one that has a bad night that cause it to end. So far, at least, they’ve had each other’s backs.—AP

Long jumper Watt out of world championships

Ethiopia’s long distance runner and marathon world record holder Haile Gebrselassie. —AP

A new race: Gebrselassie to enter politics ADDIS ABABA: Distance running great Haile Gebrselassie is entering politics and may now run for president of Ethiopia - even if his wife is not sure it’s a good idea.

The two-time Olympic gold medalist and multiple world champion in the 10,000 meters told The Associated Press Monday he wants to “reach more people” through politics, a topic most Ethiopians avoid in their restrictive, closely-watched society.

The “big mistake” would be to stay out of politics and miss the chance to do something to help, the famous runner said.

“We are here in our country, Ethiopia. And as long as we live here, we should play our part. We have to sort (out) any problems we have,” Gebrselassie said.

The 40-year-old is used to breaking barriers, having set over two dozen world records in distances ranging from 5,000 meters to the marathon. He said he will run for a seat in parliament as an independent candidate in 2015, a big deal in Ethiopia where there is just one opposition member in parliament. The next presidential election in September is probably

“too soon,” but he said he was considering a future run for that largely ceremonial post so he could use it to unite and promote his East African country.

Gebrselassie is not completely new to this game, either, having helped set up a group called the Elders Council, which brokered peace between the ruling party and opponents following postelection violence in 2005 that left hundreds dead and led to opposition leaders being jailed. Gebrselassie’s influence helped free them. Gebrselassie said that while his wife and other family members are wary of Ethiopian politics, he thinks it’s an important next move to make.

“Some people are advising me against it.

Others say it’s a wonderful idea,” he said. “I respect all opinions . I believe as long as my intentions are positive, you have to support it.”

Asked if he would accept a surprise election to the presidency in September, an office which is voted on by the two elective houses, he replied swiftly and with an impish grin: “Do you have information I don’t?” Gebrselassie has huge draw at home.—AP

MELBOURNE: Olympic long jump silver medallist Mitchell Watt is to miss this year ’s world championships in Russia after a season interrupted by injur y, the Australian said yesterday.

Former world number one Watt, who was runner-up to Briton Greg Rutherford at the London Games, said he would not be able to compete at his full potential in Moscow in August and needed more time to get back to full fitness. “I have been battling ankle and Achilles pain across my early season and this has caused continued trouble for me in practice and competition,” the 25-year-old said in a news release.

“I’m not someone that just wants to show up at an event and given these circumstances I will not be 100 percent competitive this season and need more time to overcome the issue,” added Watt, who also won silver and bronze medals at the 2011 and 2009 world championships.

Watt will remain in Australia to continue his recovery and had targeted 2014 for his return to major competition.

“I’m only 25 and I have already been for tunate enough to win four major championship medals but this was a very tough call,” he said of missing the Aug. 10-18 championships.

“That said, we made the same decision in 2010 when I didn’t compete at the World Indoors and I went on to jump an Australian and Oceania record later in that season.

“I’m already looking forward to being pain free and ready for the World Indoors early next year and the Commonwealth Games as well.” Meanhwile, Turkish athletics, already reeling from a series of high-profile doping cases, is poised to reveal another tranche

Mitchell Watt in action in this file photo. of positive tests after the country was targeted by anti- doping investigators. Media reports yesterday suggested that up to 30 Turkish athletes could face doping suspensions, although suggestions that the results could lead to a ban for the countr y from August’s world championships in Moscow look unfounded.

In May Asli Cakir Alptekein, last year ’s women’s 1,500 metres Olympic champion who had already served a two-year doping ban, was provisionally suspended after abnormalities were detected in her “biological passport” while double European 100m hurdles champion Nevin Yanit tested positive for a prohibited substance.

Another eight athletes reportedly failed tests at last month’s European Team Championships in

England. The I nternational Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) conducted a large number of tests ahead of and during last month’s Mediterranean Games in the Turkish city of Mersin and though neither they or the Turk ish Federation have announced further positive tests, the governing body did confirm the country had been targeted. “ The IAAF is aware of media speculation surrounding recent anti-doping control tests, in and out of competition, of a number of Turkish athletes,” the organisation said in a statement.

“Following concerns highlighted by abnormal biological passpor t values the IAAF, with the national anti- doping agenc y, intensified the testing programme

in Turkey, the results of which remain on-going in accordance with IAAF Rules.” Biological passports work by creating individual blood profiles for each athlete, rather than testing for specific, performance-enhancing drugs.

If an athlete’s blood readings then deviate markedly from previous measures they can face a doping charge. If the suggested numbers of around 30 new positive tests are confirmed, Turkey would rocket onto the “podium of shame”, currently topped by India and Russia, host of the world championships, who both have more than 40 athletes serving suspensions. Widespread doping revelations would also not be welcomed by the Istanbul bid committee hoping to secure the 2020 Olympics.—Reuters

McKenzie charged with shaking up limp Wallabies

Sheikh Talal Al-Mohammad with Bahrain’s Sheikh Essa bin Rashid.

Teams geared up for Futsal challenge

By Abdellatif Sharaa KUWAIT: Kuwait Mini World Futsal Club Tournament matches will start today at Kazma Club with all teams having hopes of achieving their ambitions. The teams that will play the matches today want to win, and have prepared well for the all-important opening round. Egypt’s Al-Makasa and Colombia’s Atletico Huila teams will kick off at 3:50 pm, followed at 5 by Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nasser and Ukraine’s Cardinal-Rivne.

Each match has an Arab team that enjoys a large presence of fans in Kuwait.

Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nasser team is determined to be among the top teams, and it has the tools to do so, besides the presence of Saudi crowds that will back its team today. Egypt’s Al-Makasa presents a special case as it rose with a very high speed in Egypt’s indoor soccer league and emerged champion, and also turned into a mine where national team players are found.

Al-Makasa has the advantage of participating in the World Cup to gain experience and having its players close to world class players. Al-Makasa is also counting on its fans among Egyptians who live in Kuwait.

Chairman of the Higher Organizing Committee Sheikh Talal Al-Mohammad visited an exhibition of Sheikh Essa bin Rashid at Hayat Regency Hotel, where he was warmly welcomed and thanked by Sheikh

Essa for his gesture.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s soccer legend Majid Abdallah arrived in Kuwait yesterday, and said he was highly impressed with the atmosphere and organization of the tournament and described things as “highly accurate”. He said this reflects the professionalism of the organizing committee and its keenness on having things go as planned under the guidance of Sheikh Talal.

The manager of Romania’s City Morris Club said his team is ready for France’s Erder, despite missing some international players who will be arriving later on. He said “my players are young but outstanding, but still I am worried as they lack international experience. He said that he saw several matches of the French team and understood they cannot be underestimated.

Meanwhile, the manager of Bahrain’s AlMuharraq Goga Gustavo said he is confident about the capabilities of his players, despite a strong Argentinean team. He said, “it is for sure that our competitor is very strong and a candidate to win the tournament. He said the Argentinean team has one of the best goalkeeper in the world. Goga said, “We have a good group of players and we brought some Brazilian players too”. The tournament will continue until the 18th of Ramadan at Kazma Club.

MELBOURNE: Ewen McKenzie’s role as head coach of Australia does not involve carrying around a big stick to whip an ill-disciplined and demoralised Wallabies team into shape, the former test prop said upon his appointment yesterday.

But with a clash against bitter rivals New Zealand just six weeks away, most rugby fans Down Under would care to disagree. McKenzie, who takes over from the ousted Robbie Deans, inherits a side with morale near rock-bottom following Saturday’s record loss in the series-deciding test against the British and Irish Lions.

Local media have reported a rift between senior players and the coddled backline duo of James O’Connor and Kurtley Beale, whose repeated disciplinary lapses under Deans steeled the ARU’s resolve to release the 53-year-old New Zealander.

The off-field problems, combined with a growing disenchantment for foreign coaches in the Australian sporting landscape, created a perfect storm to sweep the 48-year-old McKenzie to power.

McKenzie, who turned a moribund Queensland Reds franchise into a title-winning outfit, will be expected to work his magic at test level where his predecessor Deans, a five-times championship winner at provincial level, proved unable.

Australian Rugby Union boss Bill Pulver told reporters at McKenzie’s coronation on Tuesday that discipline would be a “big area” on which he and the bull-necked coach would focus.

The pair had already sat down to start drafting new behavioral principles, he added, following a string of off-field problems in recent months.

McKenzie offered wayward backs O’Connor and Beale, who undermined the Wallabies preparations with a number of discipline breaches during the Lions series, the hint of an olive branch.

“My intention is not to run around with a big stick all the time, my intention is to invest up-front, spend time understanding the players, understanding their total environment,” McKenzie told reporters yesterday, his thick-set frame filling out a grey suit.

However, the 48-year-old, a proud World Cup winner with the 1991 Wallabies, said the era of players living off their reputations was over.

“There is a role model aspect to it, there are young kids that lie awake at night dreaming about the opportunity,” he said.

“We don’t want to be frivolous about the opportunity ... Certainly if people don’t respect it then we

don’t want to be wasting any time. There are other people that are queuing up there to have a crack.”

McKenzie’s appointment will satisfy conservative voices in Australian rugby, who criticised the ARU for hiring a foreigner in Deans in 2007 and whinged throughout his tenure-an Australian record of 74 tests that yielded only one Tri-Nations title and a semi-final exit at the 2011 World Cup. Like Deans, McKenzie brings a successful record at provincial level, international experience as a decorated test player with 51 caps and stints as assistant coach for the Wallabies from 2000-03.

The similarities all but end there, however, and the pair have rarely seen eye-to-eye. Deans’s cagey and often cryptic observations at media appearances led some reporters to brand him ‘Yoda’ in a reference to the ‘Jedi Master’ in the Star Wars trilogy.

McKenzie has rarely been anything but direct, and has not hid his disdain for Deans’s selections, most notably with his recent blast at the New Zealander for not welcoming Reds and former Wallabies flyhalf Quade Cooper back into the fold.

Where Deans has been blamed, sometimes unfairly, for low-scoring and defensive efforts by the Wallabies, McKenzie has endeared himself to rugby

powerbrokers by bringing big crowds to Brisbane’s Lang Park to watch the Reds’ free-flowing rugby.

Like Deans before him, McKenzie has been set the ambitious task of bringing New Zealand’s long domination of the trans-Tasman rivalry to an end and restoring the Wallabies to their glory days of the turn of the century.

Other trophies are on the wish-list, with the 2015 World Cup the ultimate prize. McKenzie will not only be charged with winning, but doing it in style to bring disaffected fans back to a game that has increasingly struggled for relevance in Australia’s crowded sports market.

“Arguably the most important variable of all is that Ewen has the capability of coaching the way the Australian public wants to see the game played, which is smart, creative running rugby,” said Pulver, whose organisation has reported losses totalling nearly A$20 million in the past two years. Still coaching Queensland in their tilt for a second Super Rugby title this year, McKenzie has no time to settle before Australia take on New Zealand in Sydney on Aug. 17. A popular choice now, McKenzie would feel the honeymoon end abruptly with a big loss to the all-conquering All Blacks.—Reuters

BRISBANE: Ewen McKenzie (left) during a press conference to announce his appointment as the Wallaby coach by Australian Rugby Union CEO Bill Pulver (right) in Brisbane. —AFP

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

S P ORTS

Sri Lanka tops West Indies PORT-OF-SPAIN: Kumar Sangakkara struck an unbeaten 90 and captain Angelo Mathews starred with bat and ball Monday as Sri Lanka defeated West Indies by 39 runs in the rain-affected fifth one-day international of the Celkon Mobile Cup. Sangakkara lashed six fours and a six in 95 balls as the visitors reached 219-8 off 41 overs during a rainy morning session at Queen’s Park Oval after resuming on 60-3 off 19 overs from overnight. Mathews, in his 100th match, contributed a vital 30 off 26 balls with two fours and two sixes.

Fast bowler Kemar Roach, who had undermined Sri Lanka on Sunday before the rain, ended with 4-27 while fellow Barbadian Jason Holder grabbed 2-50. West Indies, set a revised target of 230 off 41 overs, fell short at 190-9.

Mathews returned to grab 4-29.

Shaminda Eranga took 3-45, and Lasith Malinga claimed 2-42 to keep the hosts in check.

Darren Bravo top-scored with 70 off 84 balls and shared a restorative fifth partnership of 123 with Lendl Simmons, who scored 67 off 79 deliveries on his return to the team.

West Indies’ pursuit had been rattled by Mathews and Eranga, who shared four early wickets as the hosts slumped to 31-4 inside the first nine overs.

Mathews took the important wicket of Chris Gayle for 14. The dangerous left-hander skewed to backward point off the outside edge.

Eranga struck twice in the next over to further derail West Indies. He pouched a fine, low return catch to remove Johnson Charles for 14 and then induced Marlon Samuels to edge to Mahela Jayawardene at first slip. When Mathews trapped Devon Smith plumb leg before wicket, West Indies were in ruins.

But the two Trinidadians, Bravo and Simmons, in front of an enthusiastic home crowd, gradually brought the hosts back into the contest.

Simmons, after taking 16 balls to get off the mark, eventually started to find his touch and the boundaries with more regularity. He brought up his half-century with his fourth six, off 70 balls, and was soon fol-

lowed by Bravo, who took 63 deliveries to reach the mark.

The crowd was starting to believe again when Eranga and Malinga doused the hopes with two wickets at the same score.

Simmons holed out to deep cover to provide Eranga with his third scalp, while Malinga grabbed his first when captain Kieron Pollard nibbled outside the off stump and edged to wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara. Pollard fell for his third duck of the series.

Malinga also removed the power-hitter Darren Sammy to give Sri Lanka the upper hand again. Sammy skied to the leg side and Malinga held a well-judged running catch.

Bravo, after hitting four fours and a six, holed out in the deep off Mathews. When Mathews removed Jason Holder first ball, the West Indies were 177-9 and needed seven more runs to stop Sri Lanka from gaining a bonus point which would have assured their place in Thursday’s final.

Last pair Kemar Roach and Tino Best ensured that in an unbroken stand of 12.

But West Indies’ hopes of qualifying now rest with Sri Lanka and India, who meet at the same venue on Wednesday in the final group match.

Sri Lanka leads the table with nine points and a positive run rate while West Indies also has nine points but an inferior run rate. India has five points and must win to have any chance of advancing. Earlier, Sri Lanka’s innings was built around Sangakkara’s master class, which started on Sunday’s first day.

The left-hander stretched his fourth wicket stand with Lahiru Thirimanne to 64 once play got under way nearly two hours late on the reserve day.

Thirimanne scored a valuable 23 off 73 balls. Sangakkara and Mathews added a further 46 for the fifth wicket either side of another rain interval.

Roach returned to claim Mathews and Jeevan Mendis and Sri Lanka was at the crossroads at 147-6 with six overs left.

But Sangakkara dominated and the visitors added 72 off the final 36 deliveries to give them the momentum going into the break.—AP

PORT-OF-SPAIN: West Indies cricketer Lendl Simmons raises his bat after scoring his half century during the fifth match of the Tri-Nation series against Sri Lanka. —AFP

SCOREBOARD PORT OF SPAIN: Scoreboard in the fifth match of the Tri-Nation Series between the West Indies and Sri Lanka at Queen’s Park Oval which concluded yesterday: West Indies (target: 230 on D/L Method) The match was reduced to 41 overs-per-side.

C. Gayle c Eranga b Mathews 14 Sri Lanka J. Charles c & b Eranga 14 U. Tharanga c D.M. Bravo b Holder 7 D. Smith lbw Mathews 0 M. Jayawardene c Smith b Roach 7 M. Samuels c Jayawardene b Eranga 0 K. Sangakkara not out 90 D.M. Bravo c J. Mendis b Mathews 70 D. Chandimal b Roach 2 L. Simmons c Thirimanne b Eranga 67 L. Thirimanne b Samuels 23 K. Pollard c wkpr Sangakkara b Malinga 0 A. Mathews c Smith b Roach 30 D. Sammy c & b Malinga 3 J. Mendis c Charles b Roach 8 K. Roach not out 8 N. Kulasekara c D.M. Bravo b Holder 14 J. Holder b Mathews 0 S. Senanayake c D.M. Bravo b Pollard 7 T. Best not out 5 Extras (4lb, 24w, 3nb) 31 Extras: (9w) 9 Total (8 wickets, 41 overs) 219 Total (9 wickets, 41 overs) 190 Fall of wickets: 1-19 ( Tharanga), 2-19 Fall of wickets: 1-25 (Gayle), 2-29 (Charles), 3(Jayawardene), 3-29 (Chandimal), 4-93 29 (Samuels), 4-31 (Smith), 5-154 (Simmons), ( Thirimanne), 5-139 (Mathews), 6-147 (J. 6-154 (Pollard), 7-172 (Sammy), 176-8 (D. M. Mendis), 7-201 (Kulasekara), 8-219 Bravo), 177-9 (Holder).

(Senanayake) Bowling: N. Kulasekara 1.5-0-8-0, S. Eranga 8-0Did not bat: S. Eranga, L. Malinga 46-3, L. Thirimanne 4.1-0-16-0, Mathews 8-1Bowling: Roach 8-2-27-4 (1w), Holder 8-0-50-2 29-4, S. Senanayake 9-0-41-0, L. Malinga 8-2(2nb, 4w), Sammy 9-2-24-0 (1w), Best 6-0-42-0 42-2, J. Mendis 2-0-8-0.

(5w), Samuels 7-0-48-1 (1w), Pollard 3-0-24-1.

Sri Lanka won by 39 runs on the D/L Method

Two Sri Lanka umpires banned over TV sting COLOMBO: Sri Lanka cricket bosses yesterday banned two umpires named by an Indian TV programme last year that claimed they were willing to make favorable decisions during matches for cash. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said it banned Sagara Gallage for 10 years and Maurice de la Zilwa for three years from all forms of the game after a disciplinary hearing over allegations in the television sting.

SLC did not give details of the hearing nor the allegations against the pair, but official cricket sources said the disciplinary panel found sufficient evidence to punish them.

A source close to the disciplinary enquiry said Gallage declined to participate in a hearing. “It is clear from the evidence that the two umpires had negotiations with the Indian party (TV sting) and agreed to provide information for monetary benefit,” the source said asking not to be named.

“But, neither of them were in a position to provide any information because they were not involved in umpiring any of the first class matches at the time.”

A third umpire, Gamini Dissanayake, was demoted to umpiring in a lower domestic league for a period of one year, the SLC said, after the television network said it had approached him to discuss matches.

Dissanayake, the most high-profile of the

three umpires who declared his innocence when the programme was aired in October, has not been directly implicated in any bribery allegations, the source said.

However, he was faulted for engaging in conversation with the Indian party who had offered him money in exchange for information about teams and players.

“From the tapes, it is clear that he did not agree to provide information, but he should have stopped the conversation with the Indian party,” the source said.

Dissanayake officiated at two warm-up matches during the World Twenty20 last year and has also been a reserve umpire for international games when India, Pakistan and other nations have toured Sri Lanka. There was no immediate comment from the three umpires. The undercover investigation by the India TV channel allegedly found six umpires, including one on the international circuit, were willing to give biased decisions or provide inside information on teams in return for payments.

Three of the six named by the TV programme were from Sri Lanka, while two were from Pakistan. The sixth was Nadir Shah, a Bangladeshi member of the International Cricket Council’s international panel which officiates in matches around the world.—AFP

Photo of the day

Sebastien Loeb, nine times WRC Champion prepares for Pikes Peak. —www.redbullcontentpool.com

Inverdale: ‘You’re never going to be a looker’ WIMBLEDON: A glance at the list of men’s singles champions at Wimbledon the last dozen years reveals plenty of pleasant-enough looking chaps, though not a single slam-dunk male model in the bunch. No matter. Each one was instantly fawned over the moment he held the trophy aloft, celebrated for toughness, smarts and the kind of devotion that knows no quit.

Marion Bartoli displayed all of those qualities - and more - on the way to winning Wimbledon in this most tumultuous of years. But because she’s a woman, at least one man behind a microphone couldn’t stop there.

His name is John Inverdale, and even as Bartoli headed toward the spectator’s box where the father who taught her to play tennis sat, Inverdale’s listeners on BBC Radio were treated to some musings about how she came to possess a champion’s ability.

“Do you think Bartoli’s dad told her when she was little, ‘You’re never going to be a looker? You’ll never be a Sharapova, so you have to be scrappy and fight.’”

Inverdale has apologized, of course, though that hardly came off better than his original remark.

The BBC did, too, before reporting that nearly 700 viewers called in as of Monday night to complain. It’s kicked up a row in print, on the airwaves and across social media over in Britain similar to the one that buzzed briefly over here when Brent Musburger awkwardly rambled on about Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron’s girlfriend during the broadcast of the college football national championship.

The principals who find them-

selves the subjects of such remarks rarely make it out of the ensuing media circus gracefully, but the Bartolis are proving themselves rare exceptions.

this whole mess. There actually is a long, very tender and very complicated backstory behind the latest Wimbledon champion and her father that has nothing to do with

Ladies 2013 Wimbledon champion, Marion Bartoli For her part, Bartoli showed up for the champion’s dinner looking like a model - “her dark hair down in a loose wave ... figure-hugging black dress ... sky-high ankle boots,” as one British newspaper breathlessly reported - and then said, “I invite this journalist to come and see me this evening in ball gown and heels, and in my opinion he could change his mind.”

When her father, Dr. Walther Bartoli, was asked about Inverdale’s comments, he simply said, “I am not angr y. She is my beautiful daughter. The relationship between Marion and me has always been unbelievable, so I don’t know what this reporter is talking about.”

Neither did Inverdale at the time - and that’s the real shame in

her “looks.”

Walther Bertoli was Marion’s first coach, largely reponsible for her jarring style. She plays aggressively, but isn’t very fast. She hits two-handed off both sides, a strategy Walther Bartoli insisted she master after watching Monica Seles rise to the top of the heap nearly 20 years ago. His guidance was important enough that only last summer, Bartoli reportedly turned down a chance to represent France at the London Olympics because of national federation rules about having private coaching at a previous event.

But this past February, Bartoli arrived at the same crossroad that a number of great athletes and their parents-as-coaches often do.

She and her father parted ways,

and after some shopping around Bartoli wound up settling on former Wimbeldon champion and countrywoman Amelie Mauresmo.

And indeed, she got fitter and more mobile.

Bar toli didn’t drop a set throughout the past fortnight, an impressive feat when you consider how all the top seeds stumbled, including Maria Sharapova, who actually works in her spare time as a model.

Bartoli was beset by plenty of the same nerves that felled the rest. Watching her hop back and forth awaiting serves can make you twitchy, but it’s one of those things Bartoli relied on since she was young to help cope with the pressure.

Old habits are hard to break, which also explains why she looked often in her father’s direction during her win over Sabine Lisicki in what was a mistake-filled final. Bartoli had been in Lisicki’s sneakers in 2007, when she lost the title match to Venus Williams. No one likely understood better the distance she had traveled since that day than Walther.

No doubt he told her, from the time Bartoli was small, that she’d have to “be scrappy and fight.”

Inverdale got that part right. Plenty of athletes have heard the same thing from one parent or another over and over throughout their careers.

But the other par t, the par t about how she was “never going to be a looker” is not just cruel, it’s stupid. Because if it were true, we’d have precious few champions to fawn over - man or woman - in the first place.—AP

Cook and Clarke play straight on eve of Ashes Test opener NOTTINGHAM: The final chapter of the Ashes build-up ended in predictable fashion yesterday when opposing captains Alastair Cook and Michael Clarke played the straightest of bats ahead of the first test at Trent Bridge.

Australia skipper Clarke was more than happy to accept his team were underdogs going into the start of the five-match series on Wednesday while England leader Cook was confident his side would handle the pressure of being favorites.

“We have been favorites in other series as well and I think it sits well,” Cook told a packed news conference in the pavilion. “But cricket is not played on paper and it is all about delivering on the pitch.

“Australia are a very, very good side. They have some world-class players and I think there is going to be a very good standard of cricket in this series. “We’ve always known it’s going to be one hell of a battle,” said Cook.

Australia’s preparations have been far from ideal, with Darren Lehmann brought in as coach to replace the sacked Mickey Arthur just over two weeks ago.

“We come here as underdogs but that won’t affect our performances,” Clarke said. “Darren and Mickey are two completely different people.

“Personally I have enjoyed talking cricket with ‘Boof ’ (Lehmann) who I was lucky enough to play with. We are all embracing Darren’s style now.”

Cook said the England players could not wait to begin their defence of the Ashes. “Everyone is desperately excited to be here today after such a long build-up,” he said. “There are a lot of nerves and excitement but it’s important not to blow it out of all proportion.”

Clarke expressed surprise England had opted to promote youngster Joe Root to open the bat-

ting with Cook in preference to the more experienced Nick Compton.

“Joe has handled himself in every situation fantastically well,” Cook said. “He has managed to change his style to every situation and is a fantastic young player.”

Both captains said they knew their starting XIs but did not give any clues. The pitch is expected to be dry and the weather conditions warm which might give the batsmen an advantage at a ground where swing bowlers usually perform well.

But Cook, leading England for the first time in an Ashes series, played down the significance of winning the toss. “The toss is important but how you play is more important,” he said. “Our group of bowlers have the skills and experience to hold us in good stead in any conditions.”

Cook said the England players had been inspired by a weekend spent watching the British and Irish Lions win their rugby test series in Australia and Andy Murray’s momentous victory at Wimbledon.

“That was an incredible moment for British sport,” Cook said. “A lot of our players are big tennis and rugby fans and it was fantastic watching as genuine sports fans.”

Clarke said with a wry smile that he was aware of the recent British sporting success but was confident his inexperienced team were capable of winning back the Ashes. “Every one of the boys has prepared to the best of their ability,” he said. “I’ve told them to play with freedom, to back their ability and play their natural game.

“Our preparation is done. Now it’s about what we do on the field.” —Reuters

NOTTINGHAM: England’s James Anderson dives to catch a ball during a practice session at Trent Bridge on the eve of the first Ashes cricket Test match between England and Australia.—AFP

19

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

SPORTS

Rooney in focus as Moyes era starts in Asia BANGKOK: Intense speculation over Wayne Rooney’s future looks set to dominate the headlines this week as Manchester United begin their new era under David Moyes at the start of a bumper series of pre-season tours to Asia.

Moyes’s first outing as United boss, starting with Saturday’s friendly in Bangkok, will be forensically scrutinised for clues about the want-away star, who made a transfer request just before the departure of legendary boss Alex Ferguson.

Britain’s Daily Mail on Tuesday linked Rooney with a 60-millionpound ($90-million) bid from United’s English Premier League rivals Chelsea-who also arrive in the Thai capital this week, led by returning manager Jose Mourinho.

The new starts by Moyes and Mourinho, and the opening of the

July-August transfer window, will put extra focus on this year’s Asian visits with Barcelona, Liverpool, Manchester City and Spurs also among the clubs headed east.

With Manchester City led by incoming manager Manuel Pellegrini, the three biggest powers of English football will all be under new leadership during the pre-season spree, spread over a giant arc from Kuala Lumpur to Sydney.

Arsenal will break new ground by becoming the first Premiership team to play in Vietnam, indicating a widening reach for a competition that is hugely popular in Asia and earns a significant share of its income from the region.

Liverpool’s tour of Indonesia, Australia and Thailand will be under the microscope for news about striker Luis Suarez, while Moyes will also

face questions about the possible return of Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.

It is a sign of the times that Moyes will make his United bow not at Old Trafford or even Oxford’s Manor Ground-where Ferguson debuted in 1986 — but at Rajamangala Stadium in suburban Bangkok, against a Thai All-Star XI. But the ex-Everton manager may be glad to run the rule over his squad, and make inroads towards retaining Rooney, away from the full glare of the English media as he faces the unenviable task of following Ferguson’s 38-trophy reign.

“Whoever was going to take over this job knows what the manager did before,” Moyes said this week. “The manager before was incredible. His achievements, there are no better.

“All I can do is what David Moyes

has done before. I will definitely continue the traditions of Manchester United, but I have to put my own stamp on the club.”

Mourinho is also hoping to build a legacy in his second stint at Chelsea, after forays to Inter Milan and Real Madrid, and is likely to parade new signings Andre Schurrle and Marco van Ginkel during the club’s tour to Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

The Portuguese, styling himself as the “Happy One” after returning to London, is said to be on the look-out for a new target man while he chews over the future of erratic striker Fernando Torres, as well as veteran club captain John Terry.

Manchester United head to Sydney after Bangkok and they will also visit Japan, home country of their forward Shinji Kagawa, as well as Hong Kong. Arsenal are playing in

Jakarta and Hanoi before also heading to Japan, where their games include a fixture against Nagoya Grampus, former club of their manager Arsene Wenger.

Manchester City, Spurs and Sunderland are due to play a minitournament in Hong Kong and Spanish giants Barcelona will visit Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital, in early August.

Many of the players, household names across much of Asia, can expect a rock-star welcome from fans with packed houses for the friendly games, and even their training sessions.

European football has an enormous following in the region with the Premier League set to reap a big increase in overseas TV revenues after the latest round of negotiations.—AFP

Blanc’s PSG debut ends in 3-1 defeat

BAGHDAD: Iraqis celebrate in the streets of Baghdad after the Iraq Under 20 football team beat South Korea in the FIFA Under 20 World Cup quarter-final match at the Kadir Has Stadium in Kayseri, Turkey, on July 7, 2013.—AFP

Iraq football victory a bright spot amid woes BAGHDAD: Iraqis sung, danced and fired guns in the air, celebrating a victory over South Korea in the U-20 World Cup, a small bright spot in the months-long surge in violence plaguing the country.

“People started singing and dancing at the time of victory,” said Ahmed Razzaq, the manager of Jungle Night cafe in Baghdad, which showed the game on multiple TVs. With their win in a tense match that was decided by penalties, Iraq will now face Uruguay on Wednesday in the U-20 World Cup semi-finals in Turkey.

More than 250 people, most of them young men, flooded the Jungle Night cafe to watch the match on Sunday, braving the threat of attacks that have struck Baghdad nightspots.

“In recent months, more and more cafes like mine were the target of bomb attacks, sometimes up to two or three cafes per day,” Razzaq said, acknowledging that he is “very worried” despite the presence of police and guards who searched customers when they arrive.

“Of course I was worried” about watching the match at a cafe, said Fahad, 19, a cigarette seller who declined to give his last name.

“But it will not stop me from returning” to watch the match against Uruguay, he said. On Sunday night, “everyone was in the street-they laughed, they sang, they danced, waving the national flag,” he said. “We had to win for the Iraqis to be happy. God willing, we will win on Wednesday,” Fahad said. Iraqis have had little to be happy about of late. The country has been hit by a surge in violence since the beginning of the year that has killed more than 2,400 people-over 190 of them in the first eight days of July alone.

Iraqi Sunnis accuse the Shiite-led government of marginalising and targeting their minority community, and have held protests for months.

Political crises have deadlocked the government, which has passed almost no significant legislation in years, basic services such as electricity and clean water are lacking, and corruption is rampant.

The football team “gave pride to Iraq, something that the politicians have been incapable of doing for years,” said Yassin al-Abed, 46, who watched the match on television at home.

“I was very happy because we beat South Korea even though our team totally lacks resources,” said Ahmed Mohammed, a 23-year-old who closed his store on Sunday night to join in the victory celebrations, which lasted past midnight.

On Monday, Iraqis exchanged congratulatory messages on Facebook, while newspapers celebrated the the victory of the “Lions,” who, according to one daily, “have eaten Samsung.”

The win against South Korea was even sweeter given other difficulties the country has faced when it comes to football.

FIFA in March lifted a ban on Iraq hosting international football friendlies, but barred it from doing so once again earlier this month due to the spike in violence, which has included attacks on football pitches and cafes where Iraqis gather to watch matches.

In June alone, more than 60 people were killed in at least 10 bombings targeting pitches and cafes, according to AFP figures. And the manager of Iraq’s top local football side quit last month after refusing to travel to Baghdad over fears of violence.—AFP

GRAZ: Laurent Blanc’s first match in charge of Paris Saint-Germain ended in defeat as the French champions were beaten 3-1 by Austria’s Sturm Graz in a pre-season friendly yesterday.

Robert Beric put the Austrians ahead on 26 minutes after capitalising on an error from France under-19 defender Antoine Conte before Marco Djuricin doubled the hosts’ lead two minutes later.

Sturm, who were far sharper having returned to training two weeks before their French counterparts, added a third on 76 minutes through Nikola Vujadinovic, while Hervin Ongenda netted a consolation strike with a fine lob five minutes from time. PSG continue their preparations for the new season with a fixture against Rapid Vienna on Friday.

Meanwhile, Monaco’s newlyacquired Colombian striker Radamel Falcao said yesterday that he wanted to steer the ambitious newly-promoted French Ligue 1 side “to the top of European football”.

Falcao, 27, joined the principality outfit from Spanish side Atletico Madrid at the end of May for a French record 60 million euros ($77.2 million), as Monaco signalled their intent following the club’s return to the top-flight.

“I’m delighted to be part of this project, we want to bring Monaco to the top of European football,” said Falcao as he was presented to the media yesterday. “We have great players, great desire and lots of ambition.

We want to build a strong and close-knit team with the desire to excel and win lots of trophies,” added the Colombian. Monaco

GRAZ: Paris Saint-Germain’s Italian midfielder Thiago Motta (left) vies for the ball with SK Sturm Grazís football player Robert Beric during a friendly football game . —AFP sporting director Vadim Vasilyev admitted the acquisition of one of the game’s top strikers was a real coup for the club.

“We had a lot of competition for the signature of Radamel Falcao. That’s normal and it’s fantastic that he chose to join Monaco.

“We hope to build a team around Falcao. He represents everything we like, he’s a great person and a great player,” concluded Vasilyev.

Falcao’s international teammate James Rodriguez and Portuguese midfielder Joao Moutinho were also unveiled to the press following their arrivals

Sundhage, who made her playing debut for Sweden as a 15-year-old in 1975, combines a combative, unsentimental approach to the game with a warm, endearing manner.

In her dealings with the fans and the media she is as likely to burst into song as she is to offer sharp insights into football and is often critical of players - something she says increases interest in the team.

“It’s good that people understand we’re not just a grey mob but a bunch of different players,” she told the Sportbladet newspaper recently.

Germany are the title favourites and with good reason. They have won seven of the previous 10 championships with only Norway (twice) and Sweden also having claimed the crown.

Sweden’s victory in 1984 was thanks in no small part to four goals in the tournament from Sundhage who also scored in the penalty shootout victory over England in the final.

Despite injury concerns over players and internal strife among her coaching team, a recent 4-1 thrashing of England ended Sundhage’s preparations for the championship on a high note. —Reuters

source.

The Mediterranean outfit were deducted two points, with a third suspended, and ordered to play a game behind closed doors as punishment for their supporters’ behavior during a Ligue 2 match at home to Le Mans on May 17.

Fans set off bangers and flares and invaded the pitch, while one such fan attacked the referee.

Monaco will appeal against the Professional Football League’s decision claiming the punishment was “severe” and didn’t take into account “the work done by the club over several years for the best organisation of home matches”.—AFP

T&T hold El Salvador

Sweden look to coach Sundhage GOTHENBURG: Hosts Sweden will be hoping coach Pia Sundhage has brought her Midas touch home from the US when they kick off their women’s European Championship campaign against Denmark in Gothenburg today.

Governing body UEFA has called the tournament “by far the most important” of the year and for Sundhage there is no difference between male and female soccer.

“There is no such thing as men’s football and women’s football - there is only football,” she told Reuters earlier this year.

Named FIFA’s female coach of the year in January, Sundhage crowned a four-year stint as US boss by winning the gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics before taking charge of her native country at the end of the year.

For the Swedes it was a dream appointment because the 53-year-old is arguably the most well-known and best-loved soccer coach in the country.

After several years of meticulous off-thefield preparation by the organisers for the 12-team tournament, Sundhage’s appointment was the final piece of the footballing puzzle on it and expectations are running high in the host nation.

from Porto.

“I wanted to discover a different league. Ligue 1 is evolving right now and has quite a few good teams such as Paris, Marseille, Lyon and now Monaco,” said the 26-year-old Moutinho.

“The medium-term project of qualifying for the Champions League from this season onwards and the presence of great players, all that appealed to me. We want to show ourselves in Europe,” he added.

Monaco also announced Tuesday that they would appeal their two-point deduction for next season, according to a club

HARRISON: Midfielder Rony Martinez No. 11 of Honduras heads the ball past midfielder Jean-Marc Alexandre No. 16 of Haiti during the first half in a 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup soccer match. —AFP

NEW JERSEY: Trinidad and Tobago striker Kenwyne Jones struck a superb 73rd minute equaliser to earn his country a 2-2 draw with El Salvador while Honduras defeated Haiti 2-0 in CONCACAF Gold Cup Group B games on Monday.

The outstanding Rodolfo Zelaya scored twice for El Salvador and almost grabbed a spectacular winner in what was a pulsating, entertaining encounter at New Jersey’s Red Bull Arena.

Trinidad and Tobago grabbed the lead in the 11th minute when Keon Daniel burst through the middle of the El Salvador defence and confidently slotted home.

El Salvador, playing at high-tempo and making good use of the flanks, drew level 10 minutes later with a magnificent curling 25-yard free-kick from Zelaya.

Rafael Burgos hit the post for the Salvadorians four minutes before the interval but they went ahead in the 69th minute when Zelaya met a perfect cross from Darwin Ceren with a fine diving header.

The lead lasted just four minutes before striker Jones took a long ball down on his chest, broke goalwards and fired in a powerful left foot shot.

Both sides continued to

pile forward and Zelaya almost had a hat-trick and the winner with an acrobatic effort that was tipped over the bar by Trinidad keeper Jan Michael Williams.

In the later group game Haiti, fresh from last month’s friendly draw with Italy and narrow 2-1 loss to Spain, paid the price for their lack of sharpness in the final third.

Honduras took the lead in the fourth minute with Mario Martinez breaking from midfield and slipping the ball inside to Rony Martinez who fired home.

Haiti played plenty of positive attacking football but too often their moves broke down near the penalty area or ended with hasty finishing.

One of their best chances came in the 20th minute when Jeff Louis crossed to an unmarked Leonel Saint Preux but the striker leaned back and blasted over the bar.

The Hondurans rode their luck a little in the second half but made sure of the win with 12 minutes remaining when Marvin Chavez finished off a low cross from Bryan Beckeles. Late yesterday sees the start of Group C action with Costa Rica against Cuba and hosts the United States against Belize in Portland.—Reuters

A new race: Gebrselassie to enter politics

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

17

Cook and Clarke play straight on eve of Ashes Test opener

18

Inverdale: ‘You’re never going to be a looker’

Page 18

FRANCE: The pack rides during the tenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 197 kilometers (123.1 miles) with start in Saint-Gildas-des-Bois and finish in Saint-Malo. — AP

Kittel wins 10th Tour stage SAINT-MALO: German rider Marcel Kittel won yesterday’s 10th stage of the Tour de France in a nervy sprint finish that saw Mark Cavendish nudge another rider off his bike and Chris Froome stay safe to keep the yellow jersey.

Kittel held off countryman Andre Greipel and Cavendish in a dash to the line to win his second stage of the Tour. But Cavendish could be in trouble after appearing to veer into Dutchman Tom Veelers, sending him tumbling to the ground, as they sprinted for home.

“I touched him. The road was bearing left,” Cavendish said.

“Yeah, it was my fault ... I hope he’s OK.” Froome was at a safe distance behind the incident, much to his relief.

“That’s everyone’s worst nightmare. Fortunately I was to the side of that crash and went around it no problem,” Froome said. “I’m feeling really good, today was a great day for us, staying out of trouble, staying at the front. That was one of the objectives today, save the legs as much as possible.”

The 25-year-old Kittel became the first rider to win two stages on this year’s race, after taking the first stage of what has been an incident-filled centenary Tour so far.

“Things went very well with my team,” Kittel said. “I’m very

proud that I could show today how fast I am, how strong my team is and how good we work together.”

Veelers was not seriously harmed and was later able to answer questions outside the team bus. “I had the feeling Cavendish was boxed in my wheel,” Veelers said. “He touched my handlebars and knocked me over.” Peter Sagan, who won the green jersey for best sprinter on last year’s Tour, finished the stage in fourth. The Slovak holds a commanding 83-point lead over Greipel and is 103 clear of Cavendish, who won the green jersey in 2011.

The finish looked tailor-made for Cavendish, who was looking for his 25th career Tour stage win to move level with Frenchman Andre Leducq on the all-time list of Tour stage winners.

“I think this team could’ve done something differently (today) ,” Cavendish said. As the British rider moved into position to attack before the final corner, he appeared to lean into Veelers and send the Argos-Shimano rider flying off his bike. Race stewards were examining the incident.

After seeing a replay of the incident, Kittel gave Cavendish the benefit of the doubt. “I cannot imagine that it was on purpose because it was a very hectic situation,” he said.

After the stage, Cavendish was involved in an incident with a reporter at his Omega Pharma-QuickStep team bus, angrily grabbing the reporter’s recorder when asked if the crash was his fault.

Following a rest day, the 197-kilometer (122-mile) flat trek started from Saint-Gildas-Des-Bois in northwestern France and finished in the walled port city of Saint-Malo, a popular tourist destination on the northern coast of Brittany and the pack set off at a gentle pace.

Froome, who was the Tour runner-up to countryman Bradley Wiggins last year, has a healthy lead over secondplace Alejandro Valverde and two-time champion Alberto Contador. The British rider is looking to increase that in today’s time trial - a 33-kilometer (20.5-mile) dash from Avranches to Mont-Saint-Michel, a walled medieval masterpiece in Normandy.

“Definitely a day where I will try and extend my lead,” Froome said. “It’s definitely a day that could help the general classification. I definitely want to go for it.”

A five-man breakaway attacked from the start, opening up a lead of five minutes, but they were caught with a few kilometers remaining. The 28-year-old Froome took the yel-

low jersey on Saturday with a devastating attack on the last climb of the first Pyrenean stage and then successfully defended it the following day in the face of attacks from his rivals. He stays 1 minute, 25 seconds ahead of Valverde, while Contador is 1:51 behind in sixth. Froome finished last year’s Tour time trial in second place behind Wiggins. But this time none of his main rivals is as quick as him and they face serious time losses.

“With other general classification riders, I don’t think they really like these kind of time trials,” Froome said. “I should be able to hold on to my advantage and maybe get some more time. “ Following the time trial, there will be two flat stages before the Tour heads back to the mountains. There have been several crashes so far and there were a couple of minor ones on Tuesday as the pack hurtled toward the finish line.

The first brought down two riders as the peloton split in two going around a roundabout, and another two fell after locking bikes slightly further on. All of them hopped back on their bikes and continued. “Every day you get through with the yellow jersey is a blessing,” Froome said. “So I’m happy just to tick that one off.” — AP

Friedel prepares for another season at 42 LONDON: Back from his summer break and ready for yet another season in his age-defying footballing career, Brad Friedel is savoring every last second of his time on the pitch.

At the age of 42, the American goalkeeper retains the hunger for the preseason routines and possesses the fight to try and stay in the Tottenham team.

But the player who holds the Premier League record for the most consecutive appearances - 310 - knows he’ll have to hang up his gloves one day.

Away from the pitch, Friedel is spending time back in the classroom, earning coaching qualifications and planning for the future.

“Whether it’s coaching or management or technical director, I don’t know,” Friedel said in an interview with The Associated Press on Monday. “We have to wait to see if someone wants me to do it. But right now I still have my playing head on.

“But it’s while I’m still playing that it’s the best time to do your badges, so that’s what I’m doing. I’m not expecting something around the corner.”

The target is still challenging Hugo Lloris for the spot between the posts when the new season begins in August. “My body feels great, it feels the same as it has done the last 10 years or so, so we’ll see how it keeps going,” Friedel said after being fitted out in Tottenham’s new Under Armour jersey.

“I still want to play until I can’t play anymore, but I don’t want to be a situation where I am done playing and I need to spend two, three years on getting my badges.”

Friedel will have a vast knowledge base to take into dugout one day. His playing career includes the Columbus Crew in his homeland, Galatasaray in Turkey, Brondby in Denmark before making the move to England in 1997. After three years at Liverpool came eight seasons at Blackburn and three at Aston Villa before being enticed by Tottenham in 2011.

Both seasons he’s played at Tottenham has resulted in just missing out on qualifying for the Champions League. In 201112, the crucial fourth place was secured but Spurs’ spot was tak-

en by Chelsea after their London rivals finished outside of the top four but qualified for the Champions League by winning the competition.

Last season, when Friedel featured in just 11 out of 38 Premier League games, Tottenham frustratingly finished fifth after spending most of the season in the top four.

Friedel, though, has been told that there will be investment in the squad to ensure it can try and reach Europe’s elite competition again. With a fortune estimated by Forbes magazine at $4.2 billion, owner Joe Lewis is one of the most secretive owners in the Premier League - in public, at least.

“After meeting on numerous times with a few of the board members, they are ambitious and they will try to strengthen the squad,” Friedel said. “We went out to the Bahamas (for a friendly in May) with Mr. Lewis, the owner, and he showed us exactly how ambitious he is for the club ... and how much he wants us to win and be successful.”

Tottenham has started early on its transfer activity, signing 24-year-old Brazil midfielder Paulinho from Corinthians in the past week, while star forward Gareth Bale looks set to stay at White Hart Lane.

“The season should be very exciting for us - we look to be building and making our squad stronger and stronger,” Friedel said. “We are not a million miles away from reaching some of our goals. We also want to try to win some silverware in one of the cups.”

After the 26-year-old Lloris forced his way into the league team in November, Friedel’s appearances were largely limited to the FA Cup and Europa League.

“I knew that role was coming when I signed my contract (in December),” said Friedel, who plays alongside compatriot Clint Dempsey.

Having made the last of his 82 appearances for the U.S. in 2005, Friedel has been watching from afar as the national team chases a spot at the 2014 World Cup. After criticism of Jurgen Klinsmann’s coaching methods and

Nigeria to probe 79-0, 67-0 scores

LONDON: In this file photo dated March 11, 2007, Brad Friedel of Blackburn Rovers celebrates his sideís second goal against Manchester City during their FA Cup quarter final soccer match. — AP leadership, the team appears to be back on track to qualify for Brazil.

In its six-team CONCACAF qualifying group, the U.S. is two points ahead of Costa Rica and five in front of Mexico with four games remaining. The top three teams qualify automatically.

“I have seen a team that went from being a little bit with their backs to the wall to now being in pole position and looking to qualify with ease,” Friedel said. “Whatever ideas and tactics (Klinsmann) is implementing are now working and they are now working very well.”

One day it could be Friedel in charge of the national team.

“My mind is open to anything in the future,” Friedel said. “But then my mind is strictly on playing still at this moment in time.”

For the next season at least. “I’ll see how my body feels in January and we’ll go from there,” the Ohio native said. — AP

LAGOS: Nigeria’s top football authority has suspended four teams who reported “mind-boggling” results from their playoffs matches, describing the scores of 790 and 67-0 as “scandalous” tallies that must be probed.

Plateau United Feeders and Police Machine FC both needed convincing wins to earn promotions to the Nigeria Nationwide League, but officials immediately rejected the eye-popping results.

In a statement, the country’s Football Federation described the scores as “a mind-boggling show of shame never previously witnessed in Nigeria.”

“Plateau United Feeders somehow manufactured a 79-0 victory over Akurba FC while Police Machine FC demolished Babayaro FC 67-0.”

Federation spokesman Ademola Olajire told AFP a deal was certainly struck among the sides, but the details, including whether any money changed hands, are not yet known.

“We are setting up an investigation.

We don’t know exactly what happened.

We just feel scandalised,” he said. “The four teams involved are suspended immediately and indefinitely,” federation chairman Mike Emeh said in a statement.

Everyone involved in the Monday matches, including officials and staff at the pitch in northern Bauchi state, could face sanctions, the federation said. — AFP

Business

EU hits Russia with first WTO dispute Page 23 Late to China market, Ford aims to catch up Page 25

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

Top Middle East lender QNB names acting CEO

New chief executive at energy giant Shell Page 23 Page 22

DAMASCUS: A Syrian man pours a traditional drink in central Damascus yesterday as Syrians shop in preparation for the holy fasting month of Ramadan. — AFP

IMF cuts global growth forecast Fund sees growth of 3.1% this year, 3.8% in 2014 WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund yesterday cut its global economic growth forecast, citing new downside risks in key emerging-market economies and a deeper recession in the eurozone. The IMF projected the world’s economy would grow 3.1 percent in 2013, down from its April estimate of 3.3 percent. China and other emerging economic powers now face new risks, it warned, “including the possibility of a longer growth slowdown.” The global lender said that growth had been affected by increased financial market volatility and rising interest rates in advanced economies since its last World Economic Outlook report was published in April.

“Emerging-market economies have generally been hit hardest, as recent increases in advanced economy interest rates and asset price volatility, combined with weaker domestic activity have led to some capital outflows, equity price declines, rising local yields, and currency depreciation,” the Fund said in a WEO update. The expected US Federal Reserve’s unwinding of its massive monetary policy stimulus

could trigger sustained capital outflows from emerging-markets, the IMF warned. “Monetary easing can be the first line of defense against downside risks” in emerging-market and developing economies, where inflation was generally expected to moderate, it said. But fiscal policy options may be limited. “Real policy rates are low already, and capital outflows and price effects from exchange rate depreciation may also constrain further easing,” the Fund said. Growth in the emergingmarket and developing economies was expected to slow to 5.0 percent in 2013, instead of the 5.3 percent expansion seen a few months ago. China, the world’s second-biggest economy and a main engine of global growth, would expand by 7.8 percent, three-tenths a point slower than thought.

Growth in the rest of the top emerging-market economies - Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa - was also cut. The forecast for Russia was slashed by 0.9 points to 2.5 percent, and South Africa was cut 0.8 point to 2.0 percent. Lower commodity prices were curbing growth in commodity exporters.

Crude oil prices were expected to fall 4.7 percent, while nonoil commodity prices were projected to decline 1.8 percent.

Some of Sub-Saharan Africa’s largest economies, such as Nigeria and South Africa, face weaker growth in part due to weaker external demand, while in the Middle East and North Africa, growth remains weak “because of difficult political and economic transitions,” the IMF said.

Meanwhile, combined growth in the advanced economies was estimated at 1.2 percent, down a tenth point from the prior estimate. The recession in the eurozone was deeper than expected, the IMF said, citing a toxic combination of low demand, depressed confidence, weak balance sheets and the impact of tight fiscal and financial conditions. The IMF predicted a 0.6 percent contraction in the 17-nation eurozone, down two-tenths a point from the April estimate.

US growth was weakening under pressure from government spending cuts that offset improving demand in the private sector, notably from a recovery in the housing market.

Latvia to join eurozone BRUSSELS: The tiny Baltic state of Latvia received the green light from its European partners yesterday to become the 18th member of the eurozone from next year. In what Latvia’s prime minister Valdis Dombrovskis described as a “good day for Latvia and also for Europe,” the ECOFIN council - made up of the economy and finance ministers of the EU’s 28 member states - gave formal approval to the country’s euro membership. “Yes we are joining the euro as of January 1 next year,” Dombrovskis told a news conference. It had been a long journey for the former Soviet state since it joined the EU in 2004.

And despite the eurozone’s current troubles, membership would bring with it benefits, the prime minister said, pointing to lower interest rates, lower currency conversion costs and increased foreign investment. But it also showed that the crisis-ridden single currency area -which not long ago had been seen as on the verge of disintegrating - was by contrast continuing to enlarge, Dombrovskis said. The official conversion rate of the Latvian lats to the euro was set at 0.702804 lats per euro.

Latvia’s finance minister Andris Vilks said it was a “very symbolic day” for his country, marking the culmination of Latvia’s integration into Europe. “We trust Europe and we trust the euro,” he said, adding that he hoped Latvia would prove to be one of the “best performers” in the single currency zone. Latvia emerged from a crisis in 2008-09 to become the EU’s fastestgrowing economy, having posted GDP growth of more than five percent year-on-year in both 2011 and 2012. But on top of the manifold technical issues now facing Latvia before euro banknotes and coins are finally introduced, Dombrovskis acknowledged that his government still has to convince Latvians that eurozone membership is a good thing. According to a poll released yesterday and carried out in June by the SKDS research firm, 53 percent of Latvians were opposed to euro adoption while 22 percent were in favour. The remaining 25 percent were either undecided or neutral on the matter.

Despite large-scale advertising by the Latvian central bank stressing the benefits of euro membership, polls suggest Latvians remain wary of swapping their currency while eurozone members such as Greece and Cyprus are in crisis. Irina Livchuk from the

Bikernieki suburb of Riga, an acupuncturist at a local children’s hospital told AFP she was opposed to euro adoption at the moment. “I spent seven years living in Spain so I have a lot of experience with the euro and Europe, but look around you,” she said, pointing to an area of waste ground. “It doesn’t look like Europe and it certainly doesn’t feel like Europe. I think this is the wrong time to do this.”

Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said his government “still has to do a lot to convince the public that it’s the right decision. “I’m not entirely happy that more than half of the population do not believe in the euro,” he told AFP. The EU Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn insisted, however, that the experience of another Baltic state, Estonia, which joined the euro in 2011, had proved the economic benefits of the single currency.

“Experience has shown that countries that avoid

macro-economic imbalances do succeed and benefit from the euro,” he said.

Finance Minister Vilks said Latvia also had something it could offer its eurozone partners - the experience of overcoming its own economic crisis. Most important for the single currency area are “bold decisions, fast actions from politicians and very good social dialogue,” he said. And speed is of the essence, the minister added. “If you are delaying this job, it is more and more complicated later on to do something. Europe should do something to get on the track otherwise it will be the loser in a global context,” he said. The situation in the euro area is currently better than before, Vilks added.”Governments are doing the right job in many of the countries, in fact in all of the countries. But it’s very difficult to get good results if it’s going so slowly. The major issue is speed,” he said. — AFP

BRUSSELS: Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovski (right) and Finance minister Andris Vilks give a press conference on the adoption of the euro by Latvia yesterday at the EU Headquarters. — AFP

Growth in the world’s largest economy was trimmed by twotenths of a point to 1.7 percent. Japan’s growth outlook was upgraded by a half-point to 2.0 percent, with the IMF citing the impact of the Bank of Japan’s huge stimulus efforts.

But overall, the IMF was somewhat gloomy, saying threats to growth continue to cloud the future. It called on advanced economies to take additional measures to bolster their defenses, citing the need for the United States to not let politics interfere with a timely, necessary increase in its official borrowing ceiling to avoid a spending crunch. It also said euro area governments need to “do what it takes” to bring back growth and reverse “financial fragmentation.” Generally, all major economies need to undergo structural reforms to spur growth and support global rebalancing, the Fund said.

“This implies measures to sustainably raise consumption (China) and investment (Germany) in surplus economies as well as measures that improve competitiveness in deficit economies,” it said. — AFP

UK switches running of Libor after scandal LONDON: Britain acted yesterday to switch management of the prized Libor exchange rate and restore confidence in it after revelations of market rigging besmirched the reputation of the City of London financial centre. The British Treasury said that the Libor rate, which plays a pivotal role in many areas of international finance, would be supervised by stock exchange operator NYSE Euronext. Supervision would still be based in London, but the switch was intended to restore the “credibility” of the global benchmark, the Treasury said yesterday. “NYSE Euronext is to be the new Libor administrator,” the Treasury said. This came after the British Bankers’ Association was forced to give up its role following the Libor scandal. The announcement followed a tendering process that was launched in late February to find a new administrator for the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor) via an independent committee. Committe chairwoman chair Baroness Hogg said: “This change will play a vital role in restoring the international credibility of Libor.”

Britain’s banking sector was rocked last year by revelations that Barclays bank tried to manipulate the rate, which is used as a benchmark for global financial contracts worth about $300 trillion. Libor is calculated daily, using estimates from banks of their own interbank rates. However, the system has been found to be open to abuse, with some traders lying about borrowing costs to boost trading positions or make their bank seem more secure. In the wake of the scandal, the government launched the Wheatley Review, which called in September for the BBA to lose its key role.

“The appointment of a proposed new administrator is a major step forward in the

reform of Libor,” the Treasury said. “With the transfer of responsibility from the BBA Libor Ltd to the new administrator, one of the principal recommendations of the Wheatley Review, which was set up last year in the wake of the findings of Libor manipulation, will have been implemented.”

Finbarr Hutcheson, chief executive officer of NYSE Liffe, welcomed the decision.

“We look forward to working with BBA Libor Ltd in completing the smooth transition to NYSE Euronext Rate Administration Limited, and continuing the process of restoring credibility, trust and integrity in Libor as a key global benchmark.” The Financial Times newspaper, citing unnamed sources, reported that NYSE Euronext had beaten various groups to the Libor role, including Bloomberg, the London Stock Exchange and research group Markit.

The Libor scandal erupted last year when Barclays was fined £290 million ($470 million) by British and US regulators for attempted manipulation of Libor and Euribor interbank rates between 2005 and 2009. Royal Bank of Scotland and Swiss lender UBS have since also received heavy fines over alleged rigging of Libor - a flagship instrument used all over the world, affecting what banks, businesses and individuals pay to borrow money. Euribor is the eurozone equivalent. “The government is committed to developing a safer and strong banking sector,” added Financial Secretary to the Treasury Greg Clark yesterday. “We want a financial sector that serves the interests of business and helps to drive economic growth. That is why since the Libor scandal last summer we have worked hard to reform this major international benchmark.” — AFP

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

BUSINESS

Top Middle East lender QNB names acting CEO DOHA: The Middle East’s top lender, Qatar National Bank (QNB), has appointed Ali Al-Kuwari as acting chief executive after a government reshuffle saw its previous head named as finance minister. The announcement of a cabinet by Qatar’s new emir last month has sparked a string of appointments in the Gulf state’s financial industry. Kuwari’s appointment may have implications for the bank’s strategy.

Kuwari previously led the bank’s corporate, retail

and international banking businesses, QNB said in a statement on Tuesday.

Ali Al-Emadi, QNB’s previous chief executive, who became the Gulf state’s new finance minister following a cabinet reshuffle in June, was named chairman of the bank’s board of directors earlier this week. Under Emadi, who was the chief executive from 2005, QNB embarked on an aggressive expansion plan that saw the lender acquire Societe

Generale’s Egyptian operations last year and also buy banking stakes in Libya, Indonesia and Iraq.

That expansion saw QNB’s total assets surge to around $104 billion as at end March 2013, making it the largest in the Middle East, North Africa region.

The lender, which is 50-percent owned by sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and has a market value of around $26 billion, said in May it will start operations in India in the third quar-

ter of this year, expanding its reach to Asia’s thirdlargest economy. In December, its chief financial officer said the bank wants its international business to contribute around 40 percent of profit and 45 percent of total assets by 2017. QNB shares have risen 21 percent year-to-date, according to Reuters data. They closed up 0.3 percent on the Doha bourse prior to the announcement of the acting CEO appointment. — Reuters

Turkish lira firms after intervention ANKARA: The Turkish currency, the lira, firmed in early trading yesterday, having rallied on Monday after the central bank intervened on the foreign exchange market. The lira was being traded at 1.9354 to the dollar in mid-morning trading yesterday. On Monday it had fallen to a record low level of 1.9740 to the dollar.

On the government debt market, Turkey’s 10-year borrowing rate eased slightly but remained high at 8.80 percent compared with 8.93 percent late on Monday. The central bank sold dollars to shore up the Turkish currency, as it announced urgent and “strong” action on Monday to defend the lira and clamp down on overheated lending by the financial sector.

The central bank had opened seven

foreign exchange auctions on Monday, selling a total of $2.25 billion, Finansbank said. The central bank said that it would pursue the new measures for as long as the lira was under pressure. But market analysts were sceptical that this policy, which involves using up foreign currency reserves, would be enough to shore up the lira for long and avert an increase in official short-term interest rates. They said that the main factor putting the lira under pressure was the prospect that the US Federal Reserve bank would begin to wind down its special injections of money to stimulate the US economy. This had caused an outflow of some risk investment funds from emerging economies, and the Turkish lira had been hit particularly hard, they said. — AFP

Citroen buoyed by int’l development

F

Move Upmarket Confirmed * DS line: The DS line has sold in 360,000 units in three years and now accounts for 20 percent of passenger-car orders in Europe. The Brand has already taken over 7,000 orders for the DS3 Cabrio launched in January. One in three DS5s sold in Europe is fitted with Hybrid4 diesel hybrid technology (88 g/km of CO2 and 3.4/100 km) * C line: The New Citroen C4 Picasso is off to an impressive start, with 8,000 orders so far. The “Technospace”, with its new EMP2 platform, powerful styling and innovative technologies, is a further illustration of the Brand’s move upmarket, with the two highest trim levels accounting for 80 percent of orders The Momentum is Set to Continue with * The start-up of Citroen C-Elysee production in China in Wuhan in July and the DS5 production launch in Shenzhen in September * The September launch of the New Citroen Grand C4 Picasso, the first Brand model to feature BlueHDi technology, compliant with the Euro 6 standard and the most effective solution for trapping NOx (-90 percent) and reducing CO2 emissions * The extension of the PureTech petrol engine range with turbo powerplants * The Brand’s debut in the World Touring Car Championship (FIA WTCC) with Sebastien Loeb in 2014 - a powerful image-booster to underpin Citroen’s sales offensive * The opening of a DS World in Paris, following Shanghai

rederic Banzet, Chief Executive Officer of Citroen, said: “The brand’s results since the start of the year have been driven by our international offensive and our product offensive. We will pursue this momentum with the production launches of the C-Elysee and DS5 in China and by building on the strong start of the New Citroen C4 Picasso and the arrival of the Grand C4 Picasso. I am sure that all these launches will be successes and contribute to the resurgence of the Brand, that have been impacted by production difficulties for C3. And because creativity and boldness are written into Citroen DNA, we will present in the coming weeks the unveiling of a concept car previewing the first model in our future C line. All will be revealed at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September!”

Highlights * The Brand continues to develop internationally. Sales outside Europe are up 23 percent and now account for 39 percent of the worldwide total * China: Citroen grew sales 30.5 percent, outperforming the market’s 16 percent increase * Latin America: Sales increased at twice the market rate. In Argentina, Citroen posted the strongest growth of any full-line carmaker (+44.4 percent) * Algeria and Turkey: strong growth driven by the success of the Citroen CElysee * Continued launches of the Citroen CElysee and C4 L: the Brand sold 29,000 CElysees worldwide and has already invoiced 20,000 C4 Ls in China. C4 L production recently started up in Russia and Latin America.

SINGAPORE: A Singapore Airlines (SIA) stewardess stands next to a display of the new Singapore Airlines First Class seat during their next generation cabin product launch yesterday. SIA unveiled new seats and other in-flight amenities as part of a sweeping upgrade of its cabins amid intensifying competition in the industry. — AFP

Manufacturing slip shows up UK’s uneven road to recovery Economists say consumption, not exports, driving recovery LONDON: Britain’s recovery from recession is turning out to be an uneven one and the government is still waiting for the shift to an exportdriven economy it promised after the financial crisis. Manufacturing shrank in May at its fastest pace since January and the country’s trade deficit was its widest in six months, according to official data yesterday that tempered recent signs that growth was starting to pick up speed.

But three surveys published a few hours earlier showed rising house prices, improved business confidence and steady growth in retail sales.

And the International Monetary Fund raised its projection for growth in Britain to 0.9 percent this year, up 0.3 percentage points.

The different pace of recovery in different parts of the economy may be a consequence of the emergency stimulus measures taken by the Bank of England and the government, which have included support the housing market. “This is a monetary-policy, low-rate, rising-consumption, rising-house-prices-driven recovery, so I don’t expect the trade balance to improve very much,” said Rob Wood, an economist at Berenberg Bank in London. In 2011, finance minister George Osborne spoke of “a Britain carried aloft by the march of the makers” as he stressed the need to rebalance the economy away from reliance on public and private debt and more towards manufacturing.

Nonetheless, a combination of the crisis in

the euro zone and the government’s austerity push have left Britain still largely reliant on spending by its consumers, much of which is financed by credit. A sharp fall in sterling over the last few years has proved of little help to exporters. Manufacturing shrank by 0.8 percent in May from April, the Office for National Statistics said, much weaker than forecasts for a 0.3 percent rise in a Reuters poll. Output in the overall industrial sector - which makes up about 15 percent of Britain’s economy - was also weaker than expected as it came in unchanged from April. It would have shrunk without the help of completed maintenance work which boosted oil and gas production. “With the UK consumption outlook more positive as a result of the apparent turn-around in the housing market, the risks in the UK seem somewhat tilted to an old-school recovery built on consumer spending sucking in imports,” said David Tinsley, UK economist at BNP Paribas.

Sterling fell to a four-month low against a basket of currencies and British government bond prices rallied after the data, which some investors said could bolster the case for more stimulus by the Bank of England. The central bank announced no new bond-buying stimulus last week after the first policy meeting chaired by new governor Mark Carney, but it surprised markets by warning against premature expectations of an interest rate increase. Now investors

are waiting for Carney to spell out what kind of long-term guidance he will use to show markets, businesses and consumers how long interest rates are likely to stay at their record low of 0.5 percent, something which could help underpin domestic spending in the years ahead.

Economists have said Britain’s gross domestic product is set to grow by about 0.5 or 0.6 percent in the second quarter, picking up a bit of speed from 0.3 percent in the first three months of the year. Berenberg’s Wood said he was predicting growth of 0.4 percent in the April-June period. The weak manufacturing numbers were a surprise given that a survey of purchasing managers found the sector had its best growth in more than two years in June. However, that is a month later than the period covered by yesterday’s release. “Today’s figures feel a little out of kilter with other industry data and what our manufacturing clients are telling us,” said Mike Rigby, who manages Barclays’ banking relationships with manufacturers.

The statistics office said Britain’s goods trade deficit grew to £8.491 billion ($12.68 billion) from £8.430 billion in April. Economists had forecast £8.47 billion. Including Britain’s surplus in trade in ser vices, the overall trade deficit widened to £2.435 billion. Monthly figures tend to be volatile, but over the three months to May, total exports were up 1.9 percent and imports grew 2.3 percent. — Reuters

EXCHANGE RATES Thai Baht Irani Riyal Irani Riyal

Commercial Bank of Kuwait US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian Dollar Australian DLR Indian rupees Sri Lanka Rupee UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi riyals Omani riyals Egyptian pounds US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian dollars Danish Kroner Swedish Kroner Australian dlr Hong Kong dlr Singapore dlr Japanese yen Indian Rs/KD Sri Lanka rupee Pakistan rupee Bangladesh taka UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi Riyal/KD Omani riyals Philippine Peso

.2770000 .4310000 .3680000 .3020000 .2780000 .2940000 .0040000 .0020000 .0771240 .7513970 .3930000 .0720000 .7366120 .0370000

.2880000 .4470000 .3760000 .3170000 .2920000 .3020000 .0069000 .0035000 .0778990 .7589480 .4110000 .0770000 .7440150 .0440000

CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES .2841000 .4338920 .3707360 .3043390 .2795430 .0497330 .0443660 .2963730 .0365940 .2291130 .0029600 .0000000 .0000000 .0000000 .0000000 .0773800 .7538810 .0000000 .0757800 .7382100 .0000000

.2862000 .4370990 .3734770 .3065880 .2816100 .0501010 .0446940 .2985640 .0368650 .2308060 .0028810 .0052870 .0022880 .0029190 .0036810 .0779520 .7594530 .4048090 .0763400 .7436660 .0069870

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. ASIAN COUNTRIES Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso

2.842 4.729 2.872 2.199 2.951 224.380 37.092 3.687 6.582

9.154 0.271 0.273

Omani Riyal Qatari Riyal Saudi Riyal

GCC COUNTRIES

744.04 79.00 76.42

748.000 79.500 76.000

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

76.737 79.068 747.430 764.320 78.368

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash Egyptian Pound - Transfer Yemen Riyal/for 1000 Tunisian Dinar Jordanian Dinar Lebanese Lira/for 1000 Syrian Lier Morocco Dirham

42.950 40.332 1.342 171.530 406.370 1.931 3.126 33.841

EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 287.650 Euro 370.490 Sterling Pound 429.750 Canadian dollar 272.910 Turkish lira 147.850 Swiss Franc 298.700 Australian Dollar 261.470 US Dollar Buying 286.450

Rate for Transfer US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupees Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit

Selling Rate 287.400 274.760 428.985 370.385 298.000 760.910 78.225 78.890 77.505 405.140 40.249 2.198 4.713 2.870 3.690 6.562 705.016 3.836 9.270 4.105 3.040 89.395

GOLD 20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

239.000 121.000 63.000

UAE Exchange Centre WLL COUNTRY Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Euro US Dollar Sterling Pound Japanese Yen Bangladesh Taka Indian Rupee Sri Lankan Rupee Nepali Rupee Pakistani Rupee UAE Dirhams Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Jordanian Dinar

SELL DRAFT 264.43 275.97 306.62 375.10 286.10 441.06 2.94 3.694 4.751 2.190 2.976 2.866 77.96 761.47 40.21 407.18

SELL CASH 274.000 282.000 312.000 380.000 284.500 448.500 3.300 3.670 5.050 2.550 3.250 2.900 78.000 753.000 38.800 410.000

Bahrain Exchange Company COUNTRY British Pound Czech Korune Danish Krone Euro Norwegian Krone Scottish Pound Swedish Krona Swiss Franc Australian Dollar New Zealand Dollar Uganda Shilling Canadian Dollar Colombian Peso US Dollars Bangladesh Taka Cape Vrde Escudo Chinese Yuan Eritrea-Nakfa

SELL CASH Europe 0.4206990 0.0067912 0.0454741 0.3637308 0.0422823 0.4182513 0.0388748 0.2926660 Australasia 0.2504071 0.2143883 0.0001136 America 0.2648617 0.0001463 0.2853000 Asia 0.0036459 0.0031901 0.0458190 0.0166300

SELLDRAFT 0.4296990 0.0187912 0.0504741 0.3712308 0.0474823 0.4257513 0.0430748 0.2996660 0.2624071 0.2243863 0.0001136 0.2738617 0.0001643 0.2874500 0.0037009 0.0034201 0.0508490 0.0197300

Guinea Franc Hg Kong Dollar Indian Rupee Indonesian Rupiah Jamaican Dollars Japanese Yen Kenyan Shilling Malaysian Ringgit Nepalese Rupee Pakistan Rupee Philippine Peso Sierra Leone Singapore Dollar Sri Lankan Rupee Thai Baht Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Ethiopeanbirr Ghanaian Cedi Iranian Riyal Iraqi Dinar Jordanian Dinar Kuwaiti Dinar Lebanese Pound Moroccan Dirhams Nigerian Naira Omani Riyal Qatar Riyal Saudi Riyal Sudanese Pounds Syrian Pound Tunisian Dinar UAE Dirhams Yemeni Riyal

0.0000446 0.0345139 0.0046549 0.0000239 0.0028759 0.0027569 0.0032718 0.0849530 0.0027922 0.0028424 0.0061239 0.0000734 0.2201797 0.0021589 0.0087677 Arab 0.7560397 0.0383105 0.0128812 0.1461639 0.0000800 0.0001839 0.3998699 1.0000000 0.0001764 0.0217453 0.0012267 0.7356152 0.0783000 0.0761200 0.0467410 0.0019598 0.1688615 0.0764400 0.0012972

0.0000506 0.0376139 0.0047199 0.0000291 0.0038759 0.0029369 0.0035018 0.0919530 0.0029922 0.0028824 0.0065939 0.0000764 0.2261797 0.0022009 0.0093677 0.7645397 0.0403405 0.0193812 0.1479539 0.0000805 0.0002439 0.4073699 1.0000000 0.0001964 0.0457453 0.0018617 0.7486152 0.0790830 0.0767600 0.0472910 0.0021796 0.1758615 0.0778900 0.0013972

Al Mulla Exchange Currency US Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar Indian Rupee Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupee Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso Pakistan Rupee Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal *Rates are subject to change

Transfer Rate (Per 1000) 286.850 372.550 431.550 273.850 4.765 40.270 2.192 3.685 6.577 2.869 763.750 78.100 76.550

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

BUSINESS

EU hits Russia with first WTO dispute GENEVA/BRUSSELS: The European Union launched the first formal trade dispute with Russia at the World Trade Organization yesterday, less than a year after Moscow joined the trading club. The EU has told the WTO it held that Russia was illegally protecting its carmakers with a recycling fee levied on imported cars, and had given up waiting for Moscow to change the law. “The European Commission has pursued every diplomatic channel for almost one year now to find a solution with our Russian partners on this matter but to no avail. The fee is incompatible with the WTO’s most basic rule prohibiting discrimination against and among imports,” EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said in a statement.

The dispute follows repeated warn-

ings from Brussels about what it sees as Russia’s non-compliance and loud dissent within Moscow about the merits of being in the WTO at all. Joining the WTO is a compact, with the cost of signing up to tough standards offset by the benefits of gaining access to a globally regulated market with guarantees against protectionism. But Russia’s critics say it has never made good on its obligations, and the car levy, introduced nine days after Russia became a member, is one of a slew of non-compliant policies on goods ranging from alcoholic drinks to combine harvesters.

Importing a car to Russia involves paying a fee to cover the future cost of recycling it, a form of green tax.

Russian-produced cars, however, are not subject to the same charge, mak-

ing it, in the EU’s eyes, in effect an import tax. Cutting import tariffs on cars was a major sticking point in Russia’s 18-year negotiation to join the WTO. Moscow agreed to do so, but the EU says the recycling fee, collected upfront when a car is imported, effectively cancels out the tariff cut.

The EU says the fee has a severe impact on Ä10 billion ($12.9 billion) of annual exports, and says Russia’s own estimates show it generates Ä1.3 billion in Russian government revenues.

“We would have hoped that things could have been solved differently,” said Frank Schauff, head of the Association of European Businesses in Russia. “We have no illusions about the WTO disputes procedure, which can take years.”

Russia’s Economy Ministry said it

had been warned to expect the EU trade action after the Russian parliament failed to pass amendments to the recycling levy before it went into summer recess last week. Under WTO rules, Russia has 60 days to satisfy EU concerns about the recycling levy, by changing or explaining its policy.

After that the EU could ask the WTO to adjudicate, which could force Moscow to change the rules or face trade sanctions. Other members of the trading club are also suspicious of Russia’s commitment to the WTO, where it has yet to appoint an ambassador.

Last month the US Congress told the US Trade Representative to report back within six months on Moscow’s WTO compliance and to keep reporting back annually. USTR said it would “use all appropriate tools,” ranging

from diplomacy to litigation at the WTO. Japan, the United States and the EU are set to jointly air concerns about Russia at a WTO meeting on Thursday.

The souring of the mood in Geneva contrasts with optimism at the time of Russia’s WTO entry last August, when the potential benefits of bringing in the biggest economy still outside the club attracted comparisons with China’s entry in 2001.

But China, which enjoyed a huge trade boom after it signed up to the WTO rules, took more than two years to attract its first trade dispute. Russia took less than 11 months. Russia has warned the European Union in the past that it has its own concerns with EU policies, including restrictions on Gazprom’s control of its European gas pipeline assets. —Reuters

New chief executive at energy giant Shell Van Beurden reinforces gas technology focus

ATHENS: Striking municipal workers march during a protest yesterday. —AFP

Greek outlook bleaker than lenders think: IOBE ATHENS: Greece’s economy could shrink by as much as 5 percent this year, the Athensbased IOBE think tank said yesterday, revising down its previous projection and offering a more pessimistic forecast than the country’s foreign lenders. Athens, which has been limping along on bailout funds since 2010, secured its latest lifeline from its European Union and International Monetary Fund lenders on Monday but was told it must keep its promises on cutting public sector jobs and on selling state assets to get all the cash.

But the austerity prescribed by these lenders to shore up Greek finances is expected to keep the economy in depression for a sixth consecutive year and push already soaring, record unemployment to yet new highs. “The projection on growth must be adjusted downwards - the recession this year will be around 5.0 percent,” IOBE said in its quarterly report. It said it would range between a decline of 4.8 and 5 percent, compared with its previous forecast of a 4.6 percent slump. The EU and IMF expect the economy to shrink by 4.2 percent in 2013; the Bank of Greece projects a contraction of 4.6 percent. The economy shrank 6.4 percent last year.

“Fiscal consolidation and improved competitiveness have not been coupled with successful implementation of the structural reforms program,” the locally influential think tank said. IOBE projected the country’s

unemployment rate will rise to 27.8 percent this year, raising its previous 27.3 percent projection. Unemployment was 26.8 percent at the last count. “As long as the recession persists, the economy isn’t only burning fat but also productive tissue,” said Nikos Vettas, the new head of IOBE. Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’s coalition government is facing stiff resistance to the reforms meant to kickstart the economy, and protests against public sector layoffs have gathered steam in recent days.

Hundreds of municipal workers, including uniformed municipal police furious at EU/IMF-mandated layoffs in the public sector, took to the streets Athens for the second day in a row, sounding sirens and waving “Say no to layoffs!” banners. Greece was granted three-month extension by the troika to put 12,500 public sector workers in a so-called mobility pool - meaning they have eight months to find work in a different department or end up fired - after missing a June deadline.

Some 4,200 public sector workers, among them teachers, school guards and employees at the administrative reform ministry, will be placed on the scheme by the end of July. Newly-appointed Administrative Reform Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, tasked with shrinking and modernising the antiquated civil service, said he had offered to start with cuts in his own ministry, by laying off 50 of 400 staff, mostly drivers. —Reuters

LONDON: Royal Dutch Shell named refining head Ben van Beurden as its new chief executive, picking a man with little board-level experience but broad company exposure and first-hand knowledge of the gas technology it has bet its future on. Van Beurden, who became head of refining, marketing and chemicals in January, has been at the Anglo-Dutch group for 30 years and spent a decade in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry. At 55, the Dutchman is of similar age to Peter Voser, the Swiss national he is replacing, who announced his surprise retirement in May. Though not widely known outside Europe’s top oil company, van Beurden is respected inside it. He also represents a big part of Voser’s vision of its future as a business in the forefront of oil and gas technology thanks to his experience in LNG, where Shell has become the acknowledged industry leader. Van Beurden, who a former Shell executive described as “‘The Quiet Man’ within Shell - but enormously determined,” faces an industry-wide battle to replace reserves and control costs. Some shareholders want Shell to reduce investment and keep more for bigger dividends. Voser told Reuters after his retirement announcement that he was resisting that call.

Like Voser, who will be 55 in August and is leaving in search of a lifestyle change, van Beurden is from the downstream part of the business which wrested control from the upstream oil and gas division in the aftermath of Shell’s reserves accounting crisis of 2003/2004. A chemical engineering graduate, van Beurden had a front seat for the crisis, in which the company was forced to downgrade its oil and gas reserves that top executives had over-estimated for years.

He worked between 2002 and 2004 as management assistant to Phil Watts, the head of company who was sacked in the aftermath of the debacle in 2004. “He (van Beurden) was clearly a high-flyer then, and I am not surprised at all that he’s made it all the way to the top,” said a former colleague who no longer works for Shell. The former Shell executive said: “He (Ben) is recognised as an extremely capable and focused colleague who listens - offending few, rarely excitable and

very supportive. Most importantly his results delivery is always considered, structured and methodical. He will be a ‘steadying hand’ at Shell helm in the coming years.”

Van Beurden joined Shell in 1983 and has held engineering, plant management and operations and commercial roles in the Netherlands, Africa,

This undated handout picture received from Royal Dutch Shell yesterday shows the company’s’ newly appointed chief executive Ben van Beurden posing for a photograph. —AFP Malaysia, UK and the United States. He has held the role of operations manager of Malaysia LNG, and is a former vice president, gas & power, in Mexico. One of van Beurden’s first tasks will be to oversee a plan to retreat further from Nigeria’s eastern Niger Delta, a thorn in the company’s side for decades through oil spills, theft, sabotage and civil unrest. Shell announced a strategic review of the business in June.

Given that he was relatively new to the top

Asiana chief defends ‘very experienced’ crash pilots SEOUL: South Korea’s Asiana Airlines yesterday defended the pilots of the San Francisco crash jet as “very competent” as attention focussed on whether human error caused the Boeing 777 to slam into the runway.

The pilot at the controls was a novice at flying the 777, and his supervising colleague had only just qualified as a trainer, according to Asiana. US investigators say the plane was flying far too slowly when it clipped a seawall short of the runway on Saturday.

Asiana chief executive Yoon Young-Doo said he would travel to California to meet transport safety officials and victims, after US investigators said they had begun questioning the cockpit crew. Two teenage Chinese girls were killed and more than 180 people injured when the flight from Shanghai via Seoul went skidding out of control on its belly, shredding the tail end of the plane and starting a fire.

Yoon said the trainer who was acting as co-pilot at the time of the crash, Lee Jung-Min, had led 33 flights on 777s to San Francisco and had more than 3,000 flight hours under his belt -far more than the 500 required to become a trainer. The pilot who was at the controls, Lee Kang-Kuk, who was still undergoing training on the 777, had also led 29 flights to San Francisco on 747s in the past, he said. “They are very experienced and competent pilots,” he told reporters in Seoul, while adding that South Korea’s number two airline would improve its landing simulation training. “I feel tremendous responsibility for those affected by the crash,” Yoon added. “I am going to San Francisco today to meet with relevant US officials, make

a courtesy visit to the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) to express regret and to meet with those in hospital.”

Passenger Kim Ji-Eun was seated a few rows ahead of dozens of Chinese passengers at the rear of the cabin, including the two girls, and described seeing passengers “being thrown out everywhere”. “It was so scary. The (second) thud was so loud that people started screaming. I blinked once and looked back, only to see no one there,” Kim, 22, told the

Chosun Ilbo daily. “I was so shocked to realise that none of the people who were sitting behind me were there,” she told the newspaper.

Yoon was speaking after NTSB chief Deborah Hersman said the aircraft’s four-man flying crew were being quizzed. Flight data showed the plane had been travelling at approximately 106 knots on impact sharply lower than the target speed for landing. “137 knots is the speed that they want to have when they cross the threshold of the runway,”

INCHEON: Asiana Airlines President and CEO Yoon Youngdoo answers reporters’ questions before heading to San Francisco at the flight gate of the Incheon International Airport west of Seoul yesterday. —AFP

executive level, investors and insiders did not initially consider van Beurden a likely contender.

The early focus of attention was on Finance Director Simon Henry and other divisional heads Marvin Odum, Matthias Bichsel, and Andrew Brown. More recently, though, insiders were saying Henry and Brown lacked breadth of experi-

Hersman said. “The crew is responsible to make a safe approach to the airport.” On Monday, Yoon lashed out at reports that pilot inexperience may have been to blame for the fatal crash, saying the speculation was “intolerable”. Hersman also said it was too soon to blame the accident on human error. “We have to understand what these pilots knew, we also need to look at how they were flying the aircraft - were they hand-flying the airplane? Were they relying on autopilot or some combination of the two?” she said.

But attention on the crew’s experience has intensified after Asiana said the trainer pilot was on his first day on the job, having received his teaching licence for the Boeing 777 just a month before the crash. The airline also said the trainee pilot had just 43 hours of experience in piloting the popular 777, although he had accumulated more than 9,000 hours of experience on other planes. Family and friends in eastern China’s Zhejiang province are mourning the two dead passengers - identified by state media as high-school classmates Ye Mengyuan, 16, and Wang Linjia, 17. One of the girls may have been run over by an airport fire engine rushing to the scene, San Francisco Fire chief Joanne HayesWhite told reporters on Monday.

According to aviation safety databases, the two dead teens are the Boeing 777’s first fatalities in 18 years of service. It was the first deadly Asiana passenger plane crash since June 1993. Shares in the company tumbled nearly six percent on Monday but clawed back some of their losses yesterday to close up 1.14 percent. —AFP

ence. They said Odum was tarnished by Shell’s accidents in Alaska, and Bichsel was too old.

Some had also noted a push to find a Dutch CEO to reassure investors in the Netherlands. The disgraced Watts, and his predecessor in the role, were British, like Henry and Brown. Shares in Shell gained 1 percent by midday yesterday. “Van Beurden looks, on paper, an eminently suitable successor to Voser,” said one of the twenty biggest investors in Shell. —Reuters

M&S pins hopes on new ranges as sales plunge LONDON: British retailer Marks & Spencer posted an eighth consecutive quarterly fall in underlying sales of clothing, piling pressure on management to deliver a swift turnaround when new ranges start hitting the shops this month. Chief Executive Marc Bolland, who later yesterday was to face shareholders angered by two years of falling profit at the firm’s annual meeting at London’s Wembley Stadium, is pinning his hopes on a new clothing strategy based on more stylish and higher-quality garments.

Autumn/winter ranges were unveiled in May by his new general merchandise team, led by former M&S food boss John Dixon, and received mostly positive reviews from analysts and the fashion press. That sent M&S shares, which have also been buoyed by bouts of bid speculation, to a five-year high. The new collections will start to arrive in stores and online from July 25 with a full launch and main advertising push in September.

Investors have said there could be pressure for Bolland to go if the new autumn ranges do not set the tills ringing. They will want to see signs of a pick-up when M&S updates on second-quarter sales on Nov. 5, while a much improved Christmas trading performance is imperative for the Dutchman’s survival. “Investors will be looking for an upturn in general merchandise sales by the end of the year. The new clothes collection was applauded by the fashion magazines, but the key thing is if the collection sells,” one of M&S’s top 10 investors told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

However, Bolland again cautioned the market not to expect too much, too soon.

“We’ve always said that this will be a stepby-step approach,” he told reporters. The 129-year-old group, which serves 21 million customers a week from 766 British stores, said sales of non-food products, spanning clothing, footwear and homewares, at stores open over a year fell 1.6 percent in the 13 weeks to June 29, its fiscal first quarter. That

compared with analyst forecasts for a fall of 0.2 percent to 3.0 percent, according to a company poll of 10, and a decline of 3.8 percent in the fourth quarter of the group’s 2012-13 financial year.

“Despite challenging trading conditions and further intensification of promotional activity in the market we saw some improvements over the quarter,” said Bolland, though he noted market share did dip slightly. Shares in M&S, up 45 percent over the last year, were down 1.8 percent at 0835 GMT, valuing the firm at about £7.4 billion ($11.1 billion). Sales data for the first quarter will be the last to fully reflect garments purchased by the previous buying team. Though the first quarter outcome represented M&S’s best non-food performance since the same period in 2011, when likefor-like sales were flat, the firm did benefit from easy comparative numbers, as in the first quarter of its last financial year like-forlike sales had slumped 6.8 percent.

“Even with what is admittedly a step change on the product and range front, we still harbour concerns over the in-store execution,” said Neil Saunders, director of research group Conlumino. M&S’s food business, which contributes over half of group sales, is performing much better. Its sales on the same basis rose 1.8 percent versus analyst forecasts for a rise of 1.0 percent to 2.0 percent and an increase of 4.0 percent in the previous quarter. The slowdown in growth there reflected Easter falling in M&S’s first quarter in 2012 but in its fourth quarter in 2013 making comparative numbers much tougher. The food business is benefiting from new products, a focus on providing for special occasions and M&S avoiding any involvement in a scandal over foods found to contain horsemeat when they were labelled as containing other meats.

Separately yesterday, an industry survey showed British retail sales rose an underlying 1.4 percent in June as warmer weather tempted shoppers into stores. —Reuters

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

BUSINESS

EU lets Bank of Ireland keep insurance business BOI must sell other businesses BRUSSELS/LONDON: Bank of Ireland has won a battle to keep its life insurance arm after European regulators said it could instead sell other businesses and accept further curbs on its dividend policy to meet the terms of 2009 bailout deal. The European Union in 2010 ordered the bank to sell New Ireland Assurance as part of a series of conditions for approving around €3.8 billion ($4.9 billion) of state aid in the wake of Ireland’s proper ty market crash. However, Bank of Ireland (BOI) has long argued it should be allowed to keep the business, which has consistently outperformed its banking operations and could help its recovery.

“The bank’s preference all along has been not to sell the life insurance business,” US investor Wilbur Ross, who through his investment business owns

9.9 percent of BOI, told Reuters. “This is a good day for Bank of Ireland.” In a rare reversal of a decision to order divestments in exchange for approving state aid, the European Commission said on Tuesday it would no longer require BOI to sell the insurance unit. Instead, it must exit business banking and corporate banking in Britain and also the intermediary mortgage market. It will also sell only part of its mortgage subsidiary ICS, compared with the entirety of that business in the original deal, but will face additional restrictions on its dividend policy when it is clear to resume the payout in 2016.

“It ’s good for Bank of Ireland because it’s (the insurance unit) part of their core business,” said Goodbody stockbrokers analyst Colm Foley, although he did not expect the new

deal to have a big impact on his financial forecasts for the group. At 1350 GMT, BOI shares were up 0.6 percent at €0.167, within a European bank index up 0.5 percent. The only Irish bank to escape majority state ownership after the bursting of a property bubble and the global financial crisis, BOI is currently 15 percent owned by the Irish state.

“In the light of various changes in the market circumstances since the 2011 decision, BOI is in particular no longer required to divest New Ireland Assurance Company,” the EU’s state aid regulator said in a statement. “Such a divestment would negatively affect BOI’s capital and capacity to return to profitability and would slow down progress towards long term viability,” it said. The sale of rival insurer Irish Life

for a better than expected €1.3 billion ($1.7 billion) to Canada’s Great West in February signalled strong demand for assets in the Irish insurance sector.

In 2012, BOI’s life business delivered an underlying profit of €97 million, up from €26 million a year earlier. The overall BOI group suffered an operating loss of €2.1 billion. Its financial reports do not break out separate figures for the British business and corporate banking operations it will now exit. Ross said the British businesses being sold were a good portfolio but did not fit particularly well with the bank’s overall business.

“From an EU point of view, this also creates a good opportunity for a challenger bank to come into the UK,” he said, pointing to the €4.6 billion of assets that will be sold. BOI was

already banned from paying dividends to ordinary shareholders until the end of 2015. The new dividend restrictions cap dividends to ordinary shareholders at half the value of the preference shares the bank redeems from the government that year. The restrictions are lifted when the €1.5 billion of preference shares are fully repaid. The dividend curbs could affect a series of investors including Canada’s Fairfax Financial Holdings and Ross, part of a consortium of investors that bought a €1.1 billion stake in February last year.

While BOI will have to sell or retire ICS’s distribution platform and up to 1 billion of mor tgages and matched deposits, it will retain ICS’s UK consumer banking business including a valuable joint venture with Britain’s Post Office. —Reuters

PARIS: A picture taken yesterday shows clothes and items in a shop of Italian exclusive ready-to-wear fashion group Loro Piana. — AFP

LVMH buys majority stake in Loro Piana PARIS: French luxury conglomerate LVMH will assume control of Italian exclusive ready-to-wear fashion group Loro Piana by buying an 80 percent stake for about €2 billion ($2.5 billion), the company said in a statement Monday. LVMH said that the Loro Piana family will keep the remaining 20 percent share, and that the Italian company’s current directors, Sergio and Pier Luigi Loro Piana, will keep their posts. For LVMH, the stake opens up access to a particularly high-end and symbolic Italian fashion brand that has been in the same

family for six generations.

The Italian fashion house is famed for its high quality clothing by using rare and precious materials such as cashmere. The average price for a Lorna Piana piece of clothing is estimated at around €4,500. LVMH said the change in ownership will have a positive earnings effect as of the first year.

Loro Piana’s turnover for 2013 is expected to reach around €700 million while its pretax profit is forecast to come in at around €150 million. The deal needs approval from regulatory authorities. — AFP

Gulf Bank rewards VISA cardholders KUWAIT: Gulf Bank’s VISA credit cardholders will receive the chance to win travel packages to Abu Dhabi or Gulf Rewards points by using their VISA credit cards in Kuwait or abroad. This promotion is valid through summer and ends on September 5, 2013. Gulf Bank VISA credit cardholders will automatically enter a draw when they used their card to win one of the 16 specially designed travel packages to Abu Dhabi, comprising of two air tickets, three nights stay at a five star hotel, a premium day pass to Ferrari World and another to Yas Water

World for two persons or thousands of Gulf Rewards points. Customers using their VISA credit card will receive 1 chance in the draw for every Kuwaiti dinar spent in Kuwait and 3 chances in the draw for every Kuwaiti dinar spent abroad.

To find out more about Gulf Bank’s latest promotions, customers can visit the Bank ’s bilingual website www.e-gulfbank.com. Customers can also visit one of Gulf Bank ’s 56 branches, or call the Customer Contact Center on 1805805 for assistance and guidance.

Chinese buyer of Lloyd’s Bldg faces vacancy risk LONDON: The new Chinese owner of the landmark Lloyd’s Building in London could face the financial burden of an empty building as the insurance market considers a move out of its high-maintenance home. Insurer Ping An paid £260 million ($388 million) for the Richard Rogers-designed office tower on Monday, but Lloyd’s of London Chief Executive Richard Ward told Reuters the structure’s striking design came at a cost and Lloyd’s wasn’t tied to the purpose-built site that bears its name. Ping An, which has not officially confirmed the purchase, said it did not comment on specific investments.

Commercial property investors run the risk of vacancy as all tenants keep property costs under review. But finding a new occupant for the 14-storey structure would be uniquely difficult. Completed in 1986, the building’s interior is an openplan atrium designed as an underwriting marketplace and its protected status means there are tight restrictions on conversion or modernisation work.

The structure, often referred to as the “inside-out building”, has its ducts and lifts on the outside, in similar fashion to the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, which Rogers designed with Renzo Piano, the man more recently behind London’s Shard skyscraper. “Of course we’d move.

To say never to anything would be absolutely daft,” Ward said. “ We have breaks in the lease and any sensible person would look at what their options are.

I can’t guarantee you’ll get to the ground floor in the lifts because they break down with some frequency,” he said. “That’s the

fundamental problem with this building.

Everything is exposed to the elements and that makes it very costly.” But Ward, speaking to Reuters before announcing his departure after eight years in the job, said there was an “emotional attachment” to the site.

Lloyd’s 16.7 million pound-a-year lease expires in 2031 but it has a break option in 2021 and is investigating the merits of a new purpose-built home as one option, a move that could take seven or eight years of planning, a source close to the situation said. Lloyd’s did not comment on the building’s running costs, which include the service charge and electricity bills, but they are several times higher than a normal office block and the total is broadly similar to the rent bill, the source said. “I think this was a poor deal,” said the source, who added that other potential buyers had been put off by the risks.

Any move would not take Lloyd’s far as it is the epicentre of the insurance industry located in the EC3 postcode area of the capital’s financial district and companies vie to be a short walk from the building, where deals are still done face-to-face.

The area has been one of the few bright spots in Europe’s property market since the financial crash, benefiting from the relatively counter-cyclical nature of the insurance industry versus more muted demand for new offices among banks.

Lettings at the so-called Walkie-Talkie and Cheesegrater skyscrapers, which are under construction and transforming London’s skyline, have received a boost from their proximit y to the Lloyd ’s Building. —Reuters

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

BUSINESS

Gabon challenges China over oil practices LIBREVILLE: Gabon has taken the exceptional step of withdrawing the right of Addax Petroleum, a subsidiary of Chinese oil giant Sinopec, to exploit an oilfield, raising concerns over possible repercussions on the business climate. Production at the southwestern Obangue oilfield, totalling 9,000 barrels per day, has been transferred since the end of last year from Addax to the new state-run Gabon Oil Company (GOC), set up in 2011. Officially, the Chinese firm is being sanctioned for failing to meet “contractual obligations”.

The state’s complaints against Addax include “bad management”, “instances of corruption,” “shortfalls in the respect of the environment” and dodging taxes on oil exports. “After several months of fruitless negotiations ... we decided definitively to withdraw the Obangue field from Addax

Petroleum,” Oil Minister Etienne Ngoubou recently told AFP. The incident is the first of its kind in Gabon and such measures against well-established firms such as Addax, which has operated in the central African country since 1996 and is the fourth oil producer there, are rare worldwide.

Since it was bought by Sinopec in 2009, Addax has been exploiting five oil deposits on a basis of shared production with the Gabonese state, amounting to 23,000 barrels per day. Ngoubou also accused Addax of “unilaterally shutting down” the Obangue field after its rights were withdrawn, forcing the state to get facilities working again. The GOC has been pumping oil since Jan 1. The Sinopec subsidiary has responded by accusing Gabon of undue harassment and has taken the

dispute to the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris. No date has been set for the court ruling. “We challenge the requisition and reject all the accusations levelled against us,” said Hugues-Gastien Matsahanga, communications director of Addax Gabon. “Addax Petroleum has never been the object of a conviction for the slightest failing in its fiscal, technical and environmental obligations.”

Addax states that it wants to go on working in Gabon, which accounts for between 15 and 20 percent of its global production, although the oil minister has threatened to withdraw a second permit for the Tsiengui oilfield, also in the southwest, “if they (the firm) don’t make any efforts” within 15 months. Gabon’s inflexible position has raised concerns among oil sector experts that the climate may

become more hostile for a country where production has declined by 30 percent since a peak in 1997 and now oscillates between 220,000 and 240,000 barrels a day. “We should never have reached this point, above all with an operator like China, which invests so much here, which builds roads,” an oil industry analyst told AFP. “What message does this send to investors?”

The dispute over the Obangue oilfield coincides with a reform of the petroleum sector aimed particularly at giving the new national company more direct control of resources and reinforcing the role played by Gabonese sub-contractors.

President Ali Bongo Ondimba has himself announced that the GOC should enable the state “to have mastery over the whole chain in the oil industry, from prospection

to production, even to marketing”. “Via the GOC, the state means to become more involved in the oil sector,” one oil company executive said. “And it is certain that it plans to issue a certain number of messages that break with the past,” he added, referring to the days when the authorities turned a blind eye to unorthodox fiscal and environmental measures.

“We’re not saying that contracts are too favourable to oil companies, but that unfortunately the benefit to the Gabonese economy is too slim and that (the rules) have rarely been applied,” minister Ngoubou said. With no major oil discoveries in recent years, the Gabonese state plans to issue this month a series of licences for deep and very deep offshore exploration, counting on major finds in the Atlantic Ocean. —AFP

Late to China market, Ford aims to catch up US automaker wants to double market share

JIANGSHAN, China: A farmer checks his cart full of vegetables in this city in China’s eastern Zhejiang province yesterday. China’s annual inflation accelerated to 2.7 percent in June, official data showed. —AFP

China annual inflation picks up to 2.7%: Govt BEIJING: Chinese inflation accelerated to 2.7 percent in June, official data showed yesterday, but analysts cautioned demand remained weak and growth in the world’s second-largest economy may have slowed further. The year-on-year figure for the consumer price index (CPI) - a main gauge of inflation - was up from 2.1 percent in May, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement. It was higher than market expectations of 2.5 percent in a poll of 18 economists by Dow Jones Newswires.

Food price increases hit an annual 4.9 percent in June and remained the main driving force of inflation, according to the NBS. China has set its inflation target for 2013 at 3.5 percent, much higher than last year’s actual rate of 2.6 percent. “Inflation is not a concern yet... and inflationary pressure is mild and under control,” Sun Junwei, a Beijing-based economist with HSBC, told AFP. The Chinese economy grew only 7.8 percent in 2012, its slowest annual pace in 13 years while it expanded 7.7 percent in the first three months of this year. Analysts expect growth in the second quarter to slow further on weak domestic and foreign demand, as well as Beijing’s determination to carry out reforms to reduce the country’s reliance on investment and exports. Threats to economic growth have increased, they say, after a credit squeeze last month, when the interest rates banks charge each other surged to record highs, reflecting the government’s reluctance to loosen monetary policy.

A purchasing managers’ index for China by British bank HSBC, which tracks manufacturing activity in factories and is a closely watched gauge of the health of the economy, hit a nine-month low of 48.2 in June, indicating further contraction. “The recently released data showed that (growth in) the second quarter was no better than the first quarter and a slowing trend has apparently continued,” Sun said. China’s producer price index (PPI), which measures the costs of goods as they leave factories, fell 2.7 percent year-on-year in June, its 16th straight month in negative territory, NBS data showed. “Of raw material purchasing prices, metals and power dropped sharply, showing that domestic demand remains weak and heavy industry still faces pressure to destock,” said economists with China International Capital Corporation in a research note.

In the first half of the year CPI came in at 2.4 percent from the same period in 2012, the NBS said. Bank of America Merrill Lynch economists Lu Ting and Zhi Xiaojia expected authorities to keep monetary policy neutral with “neither easing nor tightening”. “There will be no easing due to recognition of a slowdown in potential growth, the need for controlling debt growth and the task for taming rapidly (rising) home prices,” they said. Authorities have kept their growth target for this year at a conservative 7.5 percent, the same aim as 2012. The government is due to release data on gross domestic products for the second quarter on Monday. —AFP

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Oyu Tolgoi mine, Galsan Batsukh (right), hands in the first sample from the Oyu Tolgoi copper concentrate to the Mongolian Prime Minister Norov Altankhuyag yesterday in the Gobi desert in southern Mongolia. —AFP

Huge Mongolia copper mine begins shipments ULAN BATOR: A huge $6.2 billion copper mine in Mongolia that could transform the sprawling nation’s fortunes has started exports, resources giant Rio Tinto said yesterday. The Oyu Tolgoi project in the Gobi desert, at one of the richest copper deposits in the world, has been years in development and was hit by a series of last-minute delays due to political wrangling. It is expected to produce an average of 430,000 tonnes of copper and 425,000 ounces of gold annually for 20 years, said Anglo-Australian Rio Tinto, which has majority control of the mine. The open pit section will be deep enough to stack the Great Pyramid of Giza on top of itself four times, it said in a statement.

The deepest underground shaft is eight times deeper than the English Channel and the copper concentrator contains enough steel to build three Eiffel Towers.

Mongolia is one of the world’s most sparsely populated countries but is undergoing a resources boom, and the mine is vital to its economy.

At the opening ceremony yesterday, mining minister Davaajav Gankhuyag said it was a “pleasure” to note it would increase the country’s total exports by 30 to 40 percent. The mine will generate up to one-third of government revenue by 2019, according to previous estimates, potentially allowing Ulan Bator to spend heavily on infrastructure and education if corruption can be kept in check. Jean-

Sebastien Jacques, Rio Tinto’s chief executive for copper, said it had taken “the vision and hard work of thousands of people to get to this point”. “We are starting to convert the rich resources beneath the desert into real wealth and opportunity for all stakeholders, including the Mongolian people,” he said.

The outlook for copper was strong, he added, and “with continued development, Oyu Tolgoi will generate wealth for many decades to come”. Exports from the mine were initially planned for last month but were held up by a series of disputes, including an alleged demand by the government that Rio Tinto keep all export revenue in Mongolia, prompting claims of “resource nationalism”. Mongolian officials have denied the accusations, blaming the delays on the mine operator’s unwillingness to disclose its sales agreements. “The stakeholders will sort out in the nearest future every question that might lead to misunderstanding and arguments in the future,” Gankhuyag said at the ceremony, adding that “shared determination and trust” was needed to reach a “better tomorrow”. The mine has also faced objections on environmental grounds, with herders citing its potential impact on livestock due to dust.

The Mongolian government has a 34 percent stake in Oyu Tolgoi while a Rio Tinto-controlled firm has the remaining 66 percent. —AFP

CHONGQING, China: Dave Schoch has one of the toughest jobs at Ford Motor Co: catching the competition in the world’s biggest car market.

When Schoch arrived in China 13 years ago, the government was building eight-lane freeways in major cities, but bicyclists and pedestrians still filled the streets. The Chinese were buying fewer than 2 million cars and trucks each year, a fraction of the 14.4 million sold in 2000 in the US. When he returned to China last year, Schoch was stunned. The freeways were choked with cars, from inexpensive, Chinese-made Wuling minivans to Mercedes-Benz sedans. The red-hot Chinese economy had more than doubled annual wages, giving millions of people the money to buy a first vehicle or move up to a luxury brand.

“Things turned upside-down,” says Schoch, who was named head of Ford’s Asia Pacific operations in the fall. “You have to be here and experience it to believe what has happened in the last decade.”

Last year, Chinese consumers bought 19 million cars and trucks - 5 million more than consumers in the US Ford’s share of those sales was just 3 percent. Years of corporate chaos and financial trouble slowed Ford’s entry into China as its rivals gained a foothold. Together, General Motors and Volkswagen control a third of China’s market. But the race is far from over. China is still a country where just 58 out of every 1,000 people own cars. In the US, that number is closer to 800.

Every year, tens of millions of Chinese are reaching the income threshold they need to buy a car, Schoch says. Many analysts predict annual sales in China of 30 million by 2020, almost double the US forecast of 17 million. It’s up to Schoch to ensure Ford gets a big chunk of that phenomenal growth. “I go home each night thinking, ‘Have I really tried to move the needle? Are we moving the organization fast enough to take advantage of this? Because I really think we have a golden opportunity here,” he says.

Ford wants to double its Chinese market share to 6 percent by 2015. To make that happen, the company is launching six new vehicles in China this year, including two small SUVs called the Kuga and the EcoSport, the Mondeo midsize sedan and the Explorer SUV, which is exported from Chicago. The Lincoln luxury brand will arrive next year. To meet its goals, the company has undertaken its most ambitious growth since Ford went on a post-war building spree in Michigan 60 years ago. Ford is spending $5 billion to build five plants - including three assembly plants, an engine plant and a transmission plant - that will more than double its Chinese production capacity to 1.7 million vehicles by 2015. “They used to be laggard, cautious. But now they’re all in,” says Michael Dunne, president of the automotive consulting group Dunne and Co. in Hong Kong. “They are saying, ‘We have confidence in the China market. We have confidence in our products. We can win here.’”

Ford sold a company record 407,721 vehicles in China in the first six months of this year. But that was only a quarter of the vehicles GM sold.

Volkswagen has six brands aimed at every type of buyer in the vast Chinese market, from the cheap Skoda to the ultra-luxury Bentley. Until Lincoln arrives, Ford has just one. There are other obstacles. Ford cars are expensive. In a market where 70 percent of vehicles sold cost less than $14,500, Ford’s cheapest car is the Fiesta, which starts at $13,300. The Explorer starts around $80,000 thanks to a 25 percent import duty and other taxes.

Ford’s development costs are also steep compared with competitors’ because it still does much of the research and design for Chinese vehicles at its headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, where costs are relatively high. Ford hopes to double its technical workforce in Nanjing to 1,500 people by 2015; GM already employs more than 2,000 people at its technical center in Shanghai. Another complication is the unpredictable Chinese government, which could scramble expansion plans at any time. The government requires foreign automakers to partner with local companies and decides where they can build their plants.

But Ford can’t keep relying on Europe and North America, where it sells 73 percent of its vehicles. The company lost $1.75 billion in Europe last year as sales plummeted in a recessionary economy, and it expects to lose $2 billion there this year. Profits in Asia would have cushioned those losses, but Ford’s Asian operations lost $77 million because of the big investments in new plants and vehicles.

One hundred years ago, Ford was the company with a head start in China. It started selling the Model T there in 1913, and founder Henry Ford explored opening a plant in China in the 1920s. But Ford quickly cooled on the idea because of China’s poor roads and low wages.

The country’s only Ford dealership, in Shanghai,

closed at the outbreak of World War II, and its car industry was cut off to foreigners for several decades after that.

Ford re-entered China in 1997, around the same time as GM. But Ford focused on the commercial van market, which was limited. GM and its Chinese partners - SAIC and Wuling - grew quickly by selling Wuling minivans and Buicks to the mass market. Ford’s attention was elsewhere.

SUV sales were booming at home. The company was buying up luxury brands like Jaguar and Volvo with the profits. No one at headquarters anticipated that the Chinese market was about to take off. “If I had gone to management in Dearborn and tried to convince them that China would be 20 million units in 2013, they would have really started to worry about me,” Schoch says with a laugh.

The company soon realized its error. It formed a partnership with Chinese automaker Changan Automotive in 2001 and began building the Fiesta in China two years later. But with its new luxury brands, high labor costs and bloated bureaucracy, it had a limited amount to invest. In 2006, Ford named a new CEO, Alan Mulally, to help stem its billion-dollar losses and end executive infighting. A few months after Mulally’s arrival, Ford borrowed $23.6 billion and used it to close plants, cut its workforce, improve key products and meld global operations. Mulally sold or discontinued every brand but Ford and Lincoln. By 2009, Ford was profitable again, and turned its sights on China.

scooped up dirt with red-ribboned shovels.

When the ceremony ended, rainbow smoke once again shot into the sky, accompanied by booming golden cannons.

On the wall of his office in Dearborn, Mulally has a copy of an ad that Henry Ford published in the Saturday Evening Post in 1925. The ad was titled “Opening the Highways to All Mankind,” and reflected Ford’s wish to make vehicles available to everyone. Schoch says he’s living Henry’s dream. Schoch, 61, joined Ford in 1977 as a financial analyst. His career includes stints as chief financial officer for Europe and operations manager for Canada, Mexico and South America.

Despite his long international career, the thoughtful, down-to-earth Schoch doesn’t seem jaded. He spends many weekends dropping in on dealerships near the home he shares with his wife in Shanghai. He’s giddy when he sees firsttime Chinese buyers, surrounded by family members, getting their first set of keys. “ Take yourself back to when you were a teenager and you got your first vehicle, and what it felt like, and you can see what it means for the Chinese customer,” Schoch says. Ford hopes its manufacturing base in Chongqing, far from China’s crowded eastern coast, will help it attract rural buyers in the still largely untapped markets in western China. For those buyers, Ford is developing a low-cost car to compete with the $9,500 Chevrolet Sail.

Ford will use Lincoln to make a play for China’s booming luxury market, which is domi-

SHANGHAI: In this photo taken April 20, 2013, David Schoch, chairman and CEO of Ford’s China operations, poses for photos by Ford’s new Mondeo car at the Shanghai Auto Show. —AP Schoch says Mulally asked him in 2011 if he would return to China. Schoch’s only question was whether Ford was committed to the country. Mulally didn’t hesitate. “Yes, from the board of directors on down,” he said, according to Schoch. It was a defining moment for Schoch.

Last month, Mulally visited China for the third time in less than a year. He was there to open a $500 million engine plant in Chongqing, an industrial city of 30 million in southwestern China, where suburban industrial parks are rapidly filling with carmakers and auto suppliers.

Chongqing is now Ford’s largest manufacturing base outside Michigan.

Mulally was also in Chongqing last August, to break ground on Ford’s third assembly plant there, a $600 million facility that will be completed in 2014. During that trip, hundreds of uniformed workers - many of whom are former soldiers - stood in precise rows as Mulally warmly praised local leaders for their “pro-business” policies. Chongqing’s government was the first in China to offer subsidies to residents who buy locally made vehicles, which has boosted Ford’s sales in the region. At the end of the ceremony, confetti rained down and rainbow-colored smoke shot into the air, adding another layer of haze to the city’s thick, yellowish sky.

A few days later, the executives touched down amid the rice fields and large, neoVictorian houses of the wealthy southern city of Hangzhou. Ford is building one of its assembly plants there, in an immaculate new office park on the outskirts of the city. The $760 million plant is expected to produce 250,000 vehicles per year when it’s completed in 2015. In Hangzhou, Mulally and the others were greeted

by Chinese women in traditional silk gowns blue and white, like Ford’s logo - and quickly ducked into an air-conditioned tent to meet with local politicians. Later, the executives

nated by German brands like Audi and BMW. Lincoln used to be the best-selling luxury brand in the US but fell behind when Ford started focusing on other luxury brands. Ford’s effort to revive the brand began this year with the launch of the Lincoln MKZ sedan in the US. “Chinese consumers buy on image and prestige and the message that they project to their family and coworkers and friends,” Dunne said. “With a luxury brand like Lincoln, it gives them a chance to say, ‘Hey, see my American luxury car that I drive? Do you have one of these?’”

Chinese buyers also appreciate a brand’s histor y. That’s why Ford introduced Chinese reporters to the MKZ at a historic temple in Beijing last summer, surrounded by vintage Lincoln posters. GM’s Buick brand - which used to ferry Chinese royalty - is a huge seller with cachet in China even though it struggles in the US. GM sold 401,327 Buicks in China in the first quarter of this year, four times more than it sold in the US. Ford, GM and others also have been helped by a backlash against Japanese automakers in China because of disputes between Japan and China over ownership of islands in the East China Sea. Toyota’s sales fell 6 percent in the first six months of this year.

Su Xiaoling, a sales manager in a Beijing real estate company, said he expects Ford’s share of the Chinese market to climb because it offers newer styles and updates them often. “I think Ford cars are safe. The material they use is good and thick, not like the Japanese cars,” he said.

“But the price is pretty expensive.” Schoch’s goal, he says, is to build Ford’s reputation and convince buyers like Su that Ford’s offerings are worth the price. “Share and profits are important, but they’re a fallout to how our customers perceive Ford,” he says. “This is not a sprint in my mind. This is part of a very, very long journey.” —AP

MANSOORI

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

BUSINESS

Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive launches exclusive Ramadan offer KUWAIT: Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive, the BMW Group importer in Kuwait, has launched a host of exclusive offers to mark the holy month of Ramadan. The offers are in line with the importer’s commitment to provide its customers with outstanding service and afford them the opportunity to drive away with a new BMW or MINI vehicle.

As part of the offer, customers purchasing a new BMW or MINI vehicle will receive a 5 year or 150,000 km warranty on the car (whichever comes first). In addition they will also receive a four year service contract valid up to 84,000 km (whichever comes first), and full insurance for the first year. In addition, all registration costs will be borne by Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive, giving customers a convenient and hasslefree start to their BMW or MINI ownership.

Yousef Al Qatami, General Manager of Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive, said: “The cornerstone of our business is customer satisfaction. Ramadan is a time to celebrate the ‘Spirit of Giving’. In line with this theme, our exclusive offers this year allow us to truly give back to our customers. This Ramadan our customers will enjoy a truly premium ownership experience with an unrivalled value for money - something that Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive takes great pride in.”

Most new BMW vehicles from Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive will feature the introduction of new innovative communication features via BMW ConnectedDrive. This includes a host of new BMW apps which can be accessed via and Apple iPhone as well as the all new BMW Remote App which will be compatible on both iPhone and Android platforms. BMW in Kuwait is

the only automobile manufacturer to offer these technological innovations to the Kuwaiti market.

BMW ConnectedDrive is the BMW Group’s philosophy of exchanging information between the driver, the car and outside world to give driver and passengers the information and services to help make their driving experience safer and more comfortable.

The importer’s Ramadan offers are valid from now until the end of Ramadan at Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive’s BMW showrooms in Shuwaikh and KFH. The importer’s sales team will be available during the special Ramadan working hours from Saturday to Thursday from 10:00 AM 1:00 PM and from 8:30 PM - 11:30 PM. While the after sales units will operate Saturday to Thursday between 08:00 AM-02:00 PM and from 08:00 PM 11:00 PM.

Wataniya launches 4G on routers across limited areas in Kuwait KUWAIT: Wataniya Telecom has announced the launch of its 4G network. Now, customers can enjoy access to high speed 4G/LTE network across the most affluent areas of Kuwait. Wataniya 4G service employs the latest and the best technology available in the telecommunications world. By the end of the year, the extensive 4G service will be covering most of Kuwait.

Wataniya has revealed that it has invested more than $350 million to modernize its network and provide (LTE) technology of the fourth-generation (4G). This advanced technology will not only provide high speeds but come with improved latency, which means users can switch between pages faster while surfing the internet. They will truly appreciate the enhanced latency especially while gaming when movements are smoother and there are no breaks. In order to provide this enhanced experience, Wataniya has upgraded its towers and built new ones which are in line with the highest quality of international telecommunication standards. Wataniya customers can start using the 4G network from today.

Customers can test the 4G service for free as a trial for 7 days prior to

subscription without any commitments. Wataniya believes customers will experience brilliant 4G/LTE speeds, however if customers’ expectations are not met in anyway, they can simply call 6699 6666, and Wataniya shall collect the router and refund their down payment in full.

Wataniya Telecom’s CEO, Engineer Abdulaziz Fakhroo said “We are glad to announce the launch of the 4G network that will provide competitive internet speeds and a seamless expe-

rience to our customers who have been waiting for it. Having this service available to our customers has been a priority to us and will continue to be.” and he further added,” We are keen to provide telecommunication services to our customers that keep pace with the global developments in this market.” Wataniya Telecom continues to invest in new technologies and services as it seeks to satisfy the needs of its customers in order to accommodate the ever-changing trends.

Four Seasons brings together the best of summer in Beirut KUWAIT: There are few things that can beat a summer break in Beirut.

From great cuisine, to lounging by a pool in perfect weather, experience the city like never before with a special Pool Package at Four Seasons Hotel Beirut that brings together the best of Beiruti summer indulgences.

The special package introduces guests to the Hotel’s favourite spots, with a daily full breakfast buffet at The Grill Room, with views out to the sparkling Mediterranean. Guests can enjoy long days lounging by the highest rooftop pool in the city - a quintessential Beirut experience, offering a birds-eye view across the entire city. To make the most of their stay, guests can also avail of an early check-in at 10:00 am and a late check-out at 6.00 pm.

There are other perks in store such as an upgraded room amenity, a 15 percent discount on all spa treats and a complimentary room upgrade on availability. The Pool Package at Four Seasons Hotel Beirut is valid till September 30. Bookings can be done directly through the hotel’s reservation team or online. Complimentary overnight parking included.

Etihad and South African Airways codeshare flights now on sale Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has commenced codeshare services with South African Airways (SAA) following regulatory approval, which enables both carriers to offer codeshare and interline services to key destinations on each others’ route networks. Effective immediately, and under the first phase of the codeshare agreement, Etihad Airways passengers can now travel on Etihad Airways’ marketed flights from Johannesburg to four major destinations on the SAA network including: Cape Town, Durban, East London and Port Elizabeth.

Codesharing on scheduled services to other key destinations, including Livingston, Lusaka, Ndola, Harare, and Victoria Falls is currently pending subject to local government approval.

In return, passengers travelling from Africa can now access SAA marketed flights on Etihad Airways scheduled service from Johannesburg to its hub in Abu Dhabi, and onwards across the airline’s fast growing global network to Bahrain, Kuwait, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. Other major destinations currently pending regulatory approval include Shanghai, Singapore and Jeddah.

Kevin Knight, Etihad Airways’ Chief Strategy and Planning Officer, said: “Increasing our reach into Southern Africa is critical in meeting the demand from growing numbers of leisure and business passengers travelling between Africa and the major emerg-

ing markets in the Middle East, Asia, the Indian subcontinent and Australia. “The partnership agreement with South African Airways reflects our strategy of forming alliances with airlines around the world to enhance the global reach of our network,” he said.

Manoj Papa, SAA’s acting General Manager - Commercial, added: “We are confident that the new codeshare partnership will prove extremely popular with business and leisure travellers who can now take advantage of the greater choice and seamless connectivity across our combined networks and markets.”

Phase two of a wide ranging Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in May 2013 makes provision for the two airlines to explore areas of further commercial cooperation that provide costs saving and operational efficiencies, which can be achieved through synergies and collaboration across a number of areas including reciprocal Frequent Flyer Programme participation, ground handling, procurement and training.

Etihad Airways launched its service between the UAE and South Africa in 2005, and currently operates scheduled services to eight destinations in Africa and the Indian Ocean including: Johannesburg, Khartoum, Casablanca, Cairo, Nairobi, Lagos, Tripoli and Mahe in the Seychelles.

DSG and DED sign agreement DUBAI: Dubai Smart Government (DSG) and Dubai Department of Economic Development (DED) signed an agreement on July 8 under which DSG will provide support services for DED’s electronic shared services.

The agreement was signed by Ahmed bin Humaidan, Director General of Dubai Smart Government, and Sami Dhaen Al-Qamzi, DED Director General.

The agreement is aimed at upgrading Dubai government services and ensuring optimal use of DSG’s government resources for the electronic services used by the DED. According to the agreement, DSG is committed upon the provision of support services to attain the basic performance indicators and achieve the operating objectives as agreed on by both parties. This will be done through the supervision of the Customer Service Section at the Communication and Business Development Department and its follow-up of DSG’s commitment to the agreement. It is also aimed at identifying the levels of such support and the time of response as per the degree of priority through DSG, which provides shared electronic services (ESS) for government and semi-government entities, including training, maintaining data, adding new requirements, improving existing ones and many other support services.

Commenting on the signing of the agreement, bin Humaidan said: “This agreement is an additional step in our strategies aimed at ensuring the sustainability of the high performance of the shared services provided to Dubai government entities and some of the services provided specifically by the government entity to allow its work to continue as per the best practices in line with the directives of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, which call for the services of Dubai government entities to be available round the clock.

While Dubai Smart Government has a sophisticated infrastructure and systems that

all government departments and authorities can benefit from, we hereby confirm our commitment to harness all our potentials to support the government corporate development strategies.”

Bin Humaidan added: “We underscore DSG’s keenness on continuing to provide its various electronic shared services to Dubai government entities including the government resources planning (GRP) systems, government information network (GIN), government service bus (GSB) and many other services as per the world’s best practices. We also underline DSG’s commitment to provide advanced channels for supporting these services with the aim of consolidating our transformation to an integrated and knowledge-based digital community where DED plays a key role in ensuring continuous provision of eServices to the business community in Dubai.”

Meanwhile, Al Qamzi stressed the importance of government excellence as far as services are concerned in implementation of the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, which call for creatively providing government services. Al Qamzi said: “We are pleased to sign this agreement as the support and

channels provided by DSG are regarded as a positive step that adds to the high trust of the emirate’s business community to select Dubai as a regional hub for doing their businesses. Add to this, DED plays a vital role in innovating the latest strategies, systems and policies that keep pace with the world’s best practices, support commerce, retail and export and enhance economic prosperity and sustainability of the emirate’s economic projects.”

The agreement stipulates that regular meetings be held to discuss the commitment to the provision of support for DSG’s services, which include the following shared services: GRP systems, GIN, ePay, GSB, SMS Dubai, AskDubai, eComplain, eSuggest, eSurvey and GeSS. DSG has recently launched the technical support system, which allows Dubai government entities to submit requests for technical support for the afore-mentioned shared services and enables the DSG’s technical support team to monitor and handle such requests, starting with registration through to classification, determining the priority for support, tracking requests and issuing related reports with the aim of enhancing users’ satisfaction with support services.

Nokia, Microsoft welcome Ramadan DUBAI: Followed by the strong interest among the regional app developer community to develop Islamic and Ramadan apps on the Windows Phone 8 platform, Nok ia and Microsoft have jointly announced the availability of a variety of new Ramadan apps this season. The new range of Ramadan relevant applications can now be downloaded directly from the Windows Phone Store. “Developers in the region are very enthusiastic with the opportunities Ramadan apps offer on the Nokia Lumia smartphones with Windows Phone 8 as they constitute a unique ‘economy ’ within the Middle East app ecosystem. There has been a significant increase in this category and we are pleased to announce the availability of some of the most innovative applications relevant for this Ramadan season,” said Ahmed Arab, App Marketing Manager, Nokia Middle East and North Africa.

Commenting on the availability of new Ramadan apps, Michael Mansour, Developer Platform and Technology Lead at Microsoft Gulf said, “This Ramadan, Nokia Lumia users will now have easy access to many of the cherished experiences that Muslims like to be close to,

and keep them connected to Ramadan.

Developers from the region have added various Islamic apps that would let users celebrate this Ramadan with renewed religious fervour and offer Ramadan-specific activities with greater ease and conviction. We are committed to providing Windows phone users with access to innovative applications for seamless experiences on the Windows 8 platform.”

This year’s top new Nokia Windows Phone 8 Ramadan applications are feature packed, and include Ramadan Kareem, Quran Mojawed, Muslim Prayers, Essential Duas, and also Zomato which features a special Iftar and Suhoor section on their website. a. Ramadan Kareem This app is the perfect companion for all Muslims observing the fast. The app gives the time and countdown for both the next prayer and for Iftar. It also covers the prayer times for the entire day, selecting the location manually or through GPS and using one of the multiple calculation methods one can choose under settings. It also offers very useful tools such as Mosque locator, a Qibla Finder as well as a

Quran calculator, to determine the number of pages to be read to achieve one’s reading goal at the end of the Holy month. What is unique about Ramadan Kareem, is the free TV and Radio streams the user can access, a selection of Fatwa and holy reading and not to mention the special Ramadan recipes and non-Muslim section, explaining to do’s and don’ts of Ramadan.

b. Quran Mojawed Quran Mojawed offers the complete Quran in Arabic calligraphy with the possibility to listen to each surah from a different reciter. In addition, the Quran Mojawed offers complete Tajweed guidelines, as well as bookmarks.

Quran Mojawed is developed by veterans ASGATech, who have established themselves as one of the leaders of Islamic apps. c. Muslim Prayers Muslim Prayers stands out of the crowd with its highly customizable options. Every feature, such as prayer times, Qibla or Mosque Locator can be “pinned to the star t ” and accessed straight from the home screen. Its Mosque Locator is directly integrated with Nokia HERE Drive and allows users to make use of the voice guided navigation with one click.

In addition, the app makes beautiful use of live tiles, allowing the user to see the prayer times flickering on the tiles on his/her home screen. d. Essential Duas Essential Duas compiles a plethora of Islamic Duas for Muslims in a neat, clear inter-

face, following the philosophy of Windows Phone design language, and granting the user a simple, yet elegant way to recite supplications on-the-go. Essential Duas also includes transliterations, as well as translations for each supplication, to help users who are not well acquainted with the Arabic language understand and learn the Duas better. Lastly, the app makes it possible to share Duas with friends and family, via SMS, email, and social media. e. Zomato Zomato is one of the most sought after restaurant finder app from zomato.com. It offers one of the biggest selections of restaurant across the UAE, Qatar, India and many more. The app lets the user see menus, pictures and maps for over 95,000 restaurants as well as check ratings and reviews. Zomato and Nokia have introduced a special Iftar and Suhoor section enabling users to easily find out the best eating options available this holy season.

Nokia Lumia users can download these apps directly from the Windows Phone store on their Nokia Lumia device.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

technology

Telcos abandon copper phone lines MANTOLOKING: Robert Post misses his phone line.

Post, 85, has a pacemaker that needs to be checked once a month by phone. But the copper wiring that once connected his home to the rest of the world is gone, and the phone company refuses to restore it.

In October 2012, Superstorm Sandy pushed the sea over Post’s neighborhood in Mantoloking, NJ, leaving hundreds of homes wrecked, and one floating in the bay. The homes on this sandy spit of land along the Jersey Shore are being rebuilt, but Verizon doesn’t want to replace washed-away lines and waterlogged underground cables. Phone lines are outdated, the company says.

Mantoloking is one of the first places in the country where the traditional phone line is going dead.

For now, Verizon, the country’s second-largest landline phone company, is taking the lead by replacing phone lines with wireless alternatives. But competitors including AT&T have made it clear they want to follow. It’s the beginning of a technological turning point, representing the receding tide of copper-wire landlines that have been used since commercial service began in 1877.

The number of US phone lines peaked at 186 million in 2000. Since then, more than 100 million copper lines have already been disconnected, according to trade group US Telecom. The lines have been supplanted by cellphones and Internet-based phone service offered by way of cable television and fiber

NEW JERSEY: In this Friday, May 31, 2013 photo, a wireless device that can be connected to a home phone for service is seen inside Robert Post’s home, which was flooded during Superstorm Sandy last year. — AP photos optic wiring. Just 1 in 4 US households will have a copper phone line at the end of this year, according to estimates from industry trade group US Telecom.

AT&T would like to turn off its network of copper land lines by the end of the decade.

For most people, the phone line’s demise will have little impact. But there are pockets of the country where copper lines are still critical for residents.

As a result, state regulators and consumer advocates are increasingly concerned about how the transition will unfold.

“The real question is not: Are we going to keep copper forever? The real question is: How are we going to handle this transition?” says Harold Feld, senior vice president of Public Knowledge, a Washington-based group that advocates for public access to the Internet and other communications technologies. The elderly and people in rural areas, where cell coverage may be poor or nonexistent, will be most affected by disappearing phone lines, Feld says. “Are we going to handle this transition in a way that recognizes that we have vulnerable populations here?”

Verizon says replacing the lines just doesn’t make

economic sense. When they were originally laid down, the phone was the only two-way telecommunications service available in the home, and the company could look forward to decades of use out of each line. Now, it would cost Verizon hundreds of dollars per home to rewire a neighborhood, but less than a quarter of customers are likely to sign up for phone service and many of those drop it after a year or two.

“If we fixed the copper, there’s a good likelihood people wouldn’t even use it,” says Tom Maguire, Verizon’s senior vice president of operations support.

Verizon also wants to get out of rebuilding phone lines on the western end of New York’s Fire Island, another sliver of sand that was flooded by Sandy.

The island lacks paved roads. It can only be reached by ferry, and its residents are overwhelmingly seasonal. Some of the copper lines still work, but Verizon is no longer maintaining them, to the frustration of restaurant owner Jon Randazzo. “Really, what they ’re doing is abandoning us,” says Randazzo, 30.

There’s no cable service on Fire Island, making it more dependent on Verizon than Mantoloking, where residents can get phone and Internet service from Comcast by cable. The surviving copper phone lines on Fire Island often double as DSL, or digital subscriber line, Internet connections. As a result, Randazzo’s restaurant, The Landing at Ocean Beach, lost Verizon Internet service for a weekend last month, leaving it without a way to process credit cards. The line started working again after four days, but he’s afraid it will go out again for good.

“I had to have my waiters write down the creditcard number, the expiration number and the CVV (security) code. It took me over three and a half hours to process all my credit cards on Saturday.

That’s pretty ridiculous,” Randazzo says.

Verizon provided service to about 2,700 lines on western Fire Island before the storm. But even then, 80 percent of calls to and from the island were wireless. Now, few of the lines work, but the cellular service is fine.New York state regulators have given Verizon provisional permission to consider its wireless Voice Link boxes as stand-ins for regular phone service. Verizon technicians install the 4-inch square boxes with protruding antennas in homes and connect them to the home phone wiring. The home is then linked to Verizon’s wireless network.

When subscribers lift their phone handsets, they hear a dial tone. But the box doesn’t work with remote medical monitoring devices, home alarm systems or faxes. It can’t accept collect calls or connect callers with an operator when they dial 0. It also can’t be used with dial-up modems, credit-card machines or international calling cards.

Post’s house in Mantoloking was built 83 years ago. His wife estimates it has been connected to a phone line for 80 years. Now, to get his pacemaker checked, he heads once a month to a friend’s home in Bay Head, the next town over, which still has a copper phone line. Most of his neighbors in Mantoloking have cable phone service from Comcast Corp. that can do most of the things Voice Link can’t. The service, for instance, could relay Post’s pacemaker information. But Post just isn’t eager to switch to the cable company. He says he doesn’t trust them. And he’s not alone. Customer perception of cable TV providers has historically been poor, due to service outages and annual price increases, according to surveys for the American Customer Satisfaction Index. Post’s neighbor, Garret Sayia, is fine with cable.

“Everybody here wants the cable for Internet and

NEW JERSEY: In this Friday, May 31, 2013 photo, Robert Post (left) and his wife, Jane Post (center) talk to neighbor Gail Kender inside their home, which was flooded during Superstorm Sandy last year.

Robert Post, 85, has a pacemaker that needs to be checked once a month by phone, but the phone company refuses to restore the area’s landlines after they were damaged by the storm.

TV,” Sayia says. “The other thing is - who needs leisure of taking a longer view. It wants to explore what a future without phone lines will look like by wires?” he adds, holding up his cellphone.

Verizon says just 855 of the 3,000 homes it wants starting trials in yet-to-be-decided areas.

“We need kind of a process where we can figure to abandon in Mantoloking had traditional phone out what we don’t know,” says Bob Quinn, one of service before the storm hit.

In other areas, Verizon is replacing copper phone AT&T’s top lobbyists in Washington. “The trouble is lines with optical fiber, which allows the company to not going to be identifying the issues everybody can offer cable-like TV services and ultrafast broadband. see. It’s going to be finding the unexpected issues Water can short out and corrode copper wire, but that you have to conquer.”

At Public Knowledge, Feld agrees with AT&T’s optical fiber is made of glass and transmits light rather than electricity, so it’s far more resistant to deliberative approach. Among the issues that need flooding. But the cost of wiring a neighborhood with to be looked at, he says, is whether consumer profiber optic lines can run more than $1,000 a home. tections that apply to landline phone service should “Everybody would love for us to put in fiber, but apply to whatever replaces it. For instance, if a consumer misses a monthly payment, phone compathat’s just not practical,” Maguire says.

If New York and New Jersey refuse to give perma- nies are prohibited from cutting landline phone nent permission for the switch from landline to wire- service right away.

“There are all kinds of state and federal rights less phone service, Verizon could be forced to rebuild the phone network on Fire Island and in around your phone bill ... which don’t apply to these Mantoloking. Unlike cable and wireless companies, competitive alternatives,” Feld says.

The FCC put together a formal task force on the landline phone companies have regulatory obligations in most states to supply lines at a reasonable issue in December, after AT&T put in its request, and cost to anyone who wants one. They also need fed- has asked the company for more details.

Sean Lev, the FCC’s general counsel, said in a blog eral approval to end service.

In late June, New York State Attorney General Eric post that “we should do everything we can to speed Schneiderman filed an emergency petition with the way while protecting consumers, competition, state regulators to stop Verizon from replacing cop- and public safety.” But he also points out that most per lines with alternatives in the Catskill Mountains phone companies aren’t set to retire their landline equipment immediately. of upstate New York.

The equipment has been bought and paid for, He says seasonal residents who find their phone lines don’t work at their summer homes are steered and there’s no real incentive to shut down a working

by Verizon to its Voice Link wireless product. Only if network. He thinks phone companies will continue the customer forcefully refuses will Verizon restore to use landlines for five to 10 years, suggesting that the copper phone line, he says. Verizon says Voice regulators have some time to figure out how to tackle the issue.

Link is just an option available to customers.

AT&T would like to have all its landline phone In New Jersey, state regulators are talking to Verizon about Mantoloking but haven’t approved equipment turned off by 2020. Verizon’s Maguire the landline-to-wireless switch that Verizon has envisions a gradual phase-out, starting right now. If already started. It could, at least in theory, deny a major telecommunications line fails and there are Verizon’s application and force it to rewire copper hundreds of people connected to it, Verizon would repair it, he says. But the company wants the option phone lines back into the town.

In Washington, the Federal Communications to abandon the failed line and move the remaining Commission is looking at an application from the households to Voice Link. “If you’re one of the few country’s largest landline phone company, AT&T Inc. people on there, and Voice Link seems to fit you, AT&T isn’t dealing with storm damage, so it has the why not?” Maguire asks. — AP

Britain battles to build tech giant

NEW YORK: In this Wednesday, May 15, 2013 photo, customers browse through the Look Boutique store in the Empire State Building. Americans stepped up their borrowing by $19.6 billion in May compared with April, the Federal Reserve said, in its monthly report on consumer credit. That was the biggest jump since a $19.9 billion rise in May 2012. — AP

US consumer borrowing up as credit card use rises WASHINGTON: Americans increased their borrowing in May at the fastest pace in a year.

Borrowing in the category that includes credit cards reached its highest point since the fall of 2010. Increased borrowing typically means that consumers are feeling more confident.

Americans stepped up their borrowing by $19.6 billion in May compared with April, the Federal Reserve said Monday in its monthly report on consumer credit. That was the biggest jump since a $19.9 billion rise in May 2012. Total borrowing reached a record $2.84 trillion.

The category that includes credit card use rose $6.6 billion, also the largest gain in a year.

Credit card debt reached $847.1 billion, the most since September 2010. Credit card debt remains about 16 percent below its high of $1.02 trillion in July 2008 - just before the financial crisis erupted.

Borrowing for autos and student loans rose $13 billion in May. That was the sharpest increase since February. This category of borrowing has been rising especially fast, driven by loans to pay for college.

The Federal Reserve’s consumer credit report does not separate student loans from auto loans. But data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York show that student loan debt has been the biggest driver of borrowing since the Great Recession officially ended. In part, that’s because some unemployed Americans have returned to school for training in hopes of landing a job.

More credit card borrowing could help boost consumer spending, which accounts for 70 per-

cent of economic activity. But some consumers have been hesitant to run up high-interest debt since the recession ended. Some economists say many Americans remain cautious because higher Social Security taxes this year have reduced paychecks for most.

Despite the jump in credit card debt in May, consumers aren’t likely to increase their card use to pre-recession levels, said Cooper Howes, an economist at Barclays Research. Credit card debt is known as revolving credit.

“We expect the trends of student loan-driven expansion ... and only small changes in revolving credit to continue in coming months,” Howes said.

The measure of card debt in the Fed’s report has risen $15.8 billion this year. That compares with annual increases of $25 billion to $50 billion in credit card debt before the Great Recession, which officially began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009.

Rising home prices and steady job growth have helped offset any damage to the U.S. economy from the higher Social Security tax.

Employers added 195,000 jobs in June and many more in April and May than previously thought, the government said Friday. Pay was also up sharply. Over the past 12 months, pay has risen 2.2 percent while consumer prices have increased 1.4 percent.

Consumers boosted their spending from January through March but reduced the pace of their savings to finance it. After-tax income dropped in the first quarter. —AP

LONDON: East London’s technology hub is established well beyond start-up status: Thousands of new web firms now work in the offices around Old Street and on any given day the area’s coffee shops buzz with young hopefuls meeting advisers and investors.

Britain’s government has christened the area “Tech City” and makes no secret of its hope that the entrepreneurial ventures being dreamed up there can spearhead an economic boost to lift the country out of a long recession. But its plan faces a major hurdle: the area touted as London’s answer to Silicon Valley has not produced a single big-name UK-listed company.

Many firms are failing to secure second-round funding while the cream of the crop are being snapped up by US venture capitalists and top names like Yahoo , taking jobs and potential tax revenues with them.

Worried, the government has launched a string of policies to try to ensure that the best of British tech secures the funding and expertise it needs to grow inside the United Kingdom.

“We’ve lost a lot of our best and brightest businesses to the US,” says Joanna Shields, who held management positions at Facebook, Google and Bebo and now runs the government’s Tech City Investment Organisation to encourage inward investment.

As part of the same push, Finance Minister George Osborne launched the “Future Fifty” project to share contacts and advice with companies looking to expand internationally. He has also cut capital gains tax for young businesses.

Prime Minister David Cameron is disappointed that Britain has not yet created a Google or an Amazon. “I want to try and make sure that the next wave, and there will be a next wave, some of those are born and bred right here in Britain,” he said last month.

Securing seed money is relatively straightforward.

Getting subsequent funding is where the real problems arise, says Simon Cook, chief executive of DFJ Esprit, an affiliate of California-based investor Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

“In America, if you start a company and show some progress, you are probably going to get another round,” said Cook. “In Europe, only one in five (companies) can raise any more money.”

The reason? Too many young British tech firms lack the skills to sell themselves as the big global names of the future.

“We see a lot of good companies which have a profitable business model... but either they are in a smaller niche or do not have the ambition to be global,” said Martin Mignot of European venture capital firm Index Ventures.

For Tom Blomfield it was his experience in the U.S. that helped him to secure backing for GoCardless, a company that enables more than 10,000 small businesses to accept direct debits. He spent four months at San Francisco’s prestigious Y Combinator, in effect a boot-camp for start-ups, and says it taught him that to

succeed, a business must solve a problem.

“The thing that really validates your business is users paying for what you are selling, not some mentor telling you that your business plan looks great,” he said.

East London-based Unruly Media, which works with brands like Coca-Cola to get their ads viewed, shared and talked about on social networks, secured $25 million last year from investors Amadeus, Van den Ende & Deitmers and Business Growth Fund. Co-founder Sarah Wood gave three reasons why investors wanted in: global reach, high revenue growth and proprietary technology. But Wood’s story is rare. The list of her promising British peers to have been bought out by established US companies makes depressing reading for Cameron’s team. Internet radio station last.fm sold to CSB in 2007, while games firm Playfish was bought

by Electronic Arts for about $300 million in 2009.

TweetDeck, a desktop for managing social media, was snapped up by Twitter in 2011 and Summly, an app founded by 17-year old Nick D’Aloisio, sold out to Yahoo for a rumoured $30 million in March, only months after it launched.

Persuading firms to stay and grow at home needs more than policies offering advice and hand-holding.

A dearth of British venture capital is a notable issue.

Technology investment is dominated by American venture capital firms, which are comfortable with the risks as well as the potential rewards of the sector, and thus reap returns to invest again. British investors are more cautious and because few have a track record of

success, continue to steer clear. It’s a situation most ambitious British start-ups go along with because of the prestige associated with US involvement and mentoring. And while US investment holds sway, US listings dominate.

Right now payday lender Wonga and software firm Mimecast, both backed by venture capital firm Dawn Capital, are gearing up for stock listings in New York rather than in London. Social gaming company King.com, which has main offices in London and Stockholm, is also eying a US IPO, according to a FT report. In an attempt to break the cycle and keep talent at home, the London Stock Exchange set up a High Growth Segment this year, copying New York’s Nasdaq and letting entrepreneurs list 10 percent of their firms rather than the 25 percent normally required, so they can keep more control of their fast-growing businesses while they raise cash.

The scale of the challenge is significant. According to the London Stock Exchange, the 246 tech companies listed on Britain’s stock markets total $200 billion in capitalisation, compared with $3.2 trillion in the US Meanwhile, investment in London-based tech groups is falling, due possibly to a loss of appetite for the kind of consumer internet companies the city tends to produce. Some 24 London-based companies pulled in 62 million pounds in the first quarter of 2013, less than half the 151 million pounds raised by 29 companies in the final quarter of last year, research from market tracker Ascendant shows. —Reuters

Britain hope that “Tech City’ can spearhead an economic boost to lift the country out of a long recession.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

Brazil lures foreigners to public health posts BRASILIA: Brazil launched a program Monday to lure thousands of foreign doctors to fill vacancies in its public health system, a move criticized by many domestic health care professionals.

Improving public health services was one of the key demands made by hundreds of thousands of Brazilians who staged three weeks of nationwide street protests last month. President Dilma Rousseff said the initiative , which will be implemented by presidential decree, will involve 10,000 posts and an investment of around $1.27 billion.

The government said the three-year posts, with a monthly pay of $4,500, would be filled mainly by Brazilian doctors, but foreign counterparts would also be used to fill the gap. Those selected will begin working in mid-September, mainly in the country’s hinterland and poor suburbs of major cities. “Every Brazilian must have access to a doctor,” Rousseff said. “Brazil is short of doctors. If we don’t have enough in Brazil, we will look for good doctors wherever they are.”

Foreign applicants must come from

countries where there are more than 1.8 doctors per 1,000 inhabitants, such as Spain, Portugal, Argentina or Cuba. But the daily Folha de Sao Paulo reported Monday that the government dropped plans to import thousands of Cuban doctors and instead decided to turn to those from Spain and Portugal. There was no explanation as to why. “It is an emergency measure to resolve a serious and urgent problem,” Rousseff said. “Nobody should be afraid, I will never take away jobs from our professionals or put the health of the population at risk.”

The health ministry said there was a shortage of 54,000 doctors across the country. But Brazilian doctors’ associations last month slammed the plan to lure foreign doctors, insisting that the problem was not a shortage of doctors but rather poor management and a lack of resources in the public health sector.

Doctors, nurses and other health care professionals last month joined the nationwide street protests to express their displeasure over the government program.—AFP

Church begins Philippine birth control battle MANILA: A relentless Catholic Church campaign to derail a birth control law in the Philippines entered its final phase at the Supreme Court yesterday, with the verdict to have a monumental impact on millions of poor Filipinos. The court began hearing arguments against a family planning law that President Benigno Aquino, defying intense church pressure, helped steer through parliament late last year.

It is the last legal recourse for the Church, which for more than a decade led resistance to birth control legislation in the mainly Catholic nation. The Church, which had threatened Aquino and other supporters of the law with excommunication, held prayer vigils, protests and masses near the Supreme Court yesterday.

“We ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten and inspire the lawyers who would be arguing for our position... and enlighten the justices of the Supreme Court,” Bishop Gabriel Reyes told a mass at a nearby church. The law requires government health centres to hand out free condoms and birth control pills, benefiting tens of millions of the country’s poor who would not otherwise have access to them. More than a quarter of the Philippines’ nearly 100 million people live on the equivalent of 62 cents a day, according to government data.

The law also mandates that sex education be taught in schools and that public health workers receive family planning training, while post-abortion medical care was legalized. Proponents say the Reproductive Health law will slow the country’s population growth, which is one of the fastest in the world, and reduce the number of mothers dying in childbirth. “To deny RH services from our people would be a denial of human rights and a grave social injustice, especially against women and the poor,” said Senator Pia Cayetano, one of the architects of the law.

The Supreme Court suspended the law in March so that the judges could hear the

15 formal petitions from a range of Churchbacked groups arguing that it was unconstitutional. The opponents argue it violates various elements of the constitution, including those on protecting the sanctity of the family and guaranteeing freedom of religion. “It is a population control measure that denies the God-given right to reject contraception,” Franciso Tatad, a former senator representing the petitioners, told the Supreme Court judges in opening remarks.

The Church wields strong influence in the Philippines, a former Spanish colony where roughly 80 percent of the population remain Catholic. Church leaders have helped lead two revolutions that toppled unpopular presidents in recent Philippine history, and continue to insist they have a right to influence the parliamentary and legal branches of government.

“When the rights of mother and child are endangered, when the family is being attacked, you can expect the Church to speak up,” Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines head Bishop Socrates Villegas said on Monday. A crowd of about 400 opponents of the Reproductive Health law gathered outside the Supreme Court as the judges began hearing the case, holding banners such as: “Obey God’s will, no to RH bill”. Another read: “RH Bill is abortion”.

They stood on the other side of the road from a smaller crowd of supporters of the law, some of whom carried a banner that read: “Rights and welfare, not the beliefs of a few”. Opinion surveys over many years have shown strong public support for birth control legislation.

And despite criticism from church leaders, Aquino enjoys near record-high popularity ratings half way through his six-year term. It was unclear yesterday how long the legal proceedings will take or when the Supreme Court will make a decision.

Lawyers involved said a verdict could be months away.—AFP

PHILIPPINES: Protesters, mostly students and those affiliated with some type of religion, hold a demonstration outside the Philippine Supreme Court in Manila yesterday, to coincide with the oral arguments by the highest court on the merits and demerits of the RH (Reproductive Health) Law which was signed into law by Philippine President Benigno Aquino III late last year.—AP

Thousands march in Dublin against Irish abortion bill ‘Kill the bill! Not the child’ DUBLIN: Bearing rosary beads and placards declaring “Kill the bill! Not the child,” more than 35,000 antiabor tion activists marched Saturday through Dublin to demand that the Irish government scrap plans to legalize terminations for women in life-threatening pregnancies. Demonstrators from across Ireland, a predominantly Catholic island of 6.5 million, marched for two hours through the capital to Leinster House, the parliament building, where lawmakers next week are expected pass the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill. Speakers demanded that the government put its bill to a national referendum. “Let us vote!” the crowd chanted.

The two-year-old coalition government of Prime Minister Enda Kenny drafted the bill following last year’s death of a miscarrying woman in an Irish hospital. Three investigations since have determined that Savita Halappanavar, a 31-year-old Indian dentist, died from blood poisoning one week after admission for a miscarriage.

Doctors denied her pleas for an abortion, even though her uterus had ruptured, because the 17week-old fetus still had a heartbeat. By the time it stopped, investigations concluded, Halappanavar already had contracted a lethal dose of septicemia.

Justice Minister Alan Shatter said Saturday that, had the bill been law last year, Halappanavar might have received a prompt abor tion and sur vived. He appealed to anti-abortion rebels in the main government Fine Gael party to accept the bill or abstain from the final vote expected Wednesday night. The bill received overwhelming backing in an initial vote this week. Ireland outlaws abortion, a position underscored by a 1986 referendum amending the constitution to declare that the unborn have a right to life. But the Supreme Court in 1992 ruled that the constitution equally defends the pregnant woman’s right to live,

ever, we have developed a device that can give us a profile of the odor in urine. It reads the gases that chemicals in the urine can give off when the sample is heated.” About 72,000 new cases of bladder cancer are diagnosed each year in the United States, and about 10,000 new cases are seen annually in Britain. Smoking is considered the leading risk factor. “It is a disease that, if caught early, can be treated effectively, but unfortunately we do not have any early screening methods other than diagnosis through urine tests at the stage when it starts to become a problem,” said Chris Probert, a professor at the University of Liverpool’s Institute of Translational Medicine. The new device, called ODOREADER, con-

bureaucratic delays meant some women’s medical conditions worsened unnecessarily.The government bill would permit an abortion for a suicidal woman if a panel of three doctors one obstetrician and two psychiatrists - unanimously agree that the woman’s threats are real. Abortion rights advocates say this rule means women in such circumstances still will travel to England, where abortion was legalized in 1967.

But those marching Saturday warned that women would conspire with sympathetic doctors to fake suicide threats, putting I reland on a slipper y slope to wider abortion access. Ireland is just one of two European Union members, alongside Malta, that

outlaws the practice.

Before the march, Catholic Archbishop Diarmuid Martin led a central Dublin church in prayers for Ireland to keep abortion illegal. But in a nuanced sermon Mar tin told the crowd, among them families sitting on the floor beside packed pews, that pro-life campaigners must be careful not to come across as hear tless to those on the other side of the debate. Martin said those seeking to keep abortion out of Ireland must make their case “not through slogans but through the witness of life that we give.” If not, he said, “what we say will appear, to quote Pope Francis, as being cold, impersonal and oppressive for people’s day-to-day lives.”—AP

DUBLIN: Stephen and Pauline O’Brien foreground, hold Catholic rosary beads as they march in an anti-abortion protest Saturday.—AP

Air pollution reduces north China lifespans China ‘free coal’ policy shaves years off life BEIJING: A new study links heavy air pollution from coal burning to shorter lives in northern China. Researchers estimate that the half-billion people alive there in the 1990s will live an average of 51/2 years less than their southern counterparts because they breathed dirtier air. China itself made the comparison possible: for decades, a now-discontinued government policy provided free coal for heating, but only in the colder north. Researchers found significant differences in both particle pollution of the air and life expectancy in the two regions, and said the results could be used to extrapolate the effects of such pollution on lifespans elsewhere in the world.

The study by researchers from China, Israel and the United States was published yesterday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. While previous studies have found that pollution affects human health, “the deeper and ultimately more important question is the impact on life expec tanc y,” said one of the authors, Michael Greenstone, a professor of environmental economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“This study provides a unique setting to answer the life expec tanc y question because the (heating) policy dramatically alters pollution concentrations for people who appear to be of otherwise identical health,” Greenstone said in an email.

“Further, due to the low rates of migration in China in this period, we can know people’s exposure over long time periods,” he said.

The policy gave free coal for fuel boilers

‘Scent’ test can detect bladder cancer WASHINGTON: British researchers said Monday they have devised a test that can detect bladder cancer from certain odors in the urine. The technique was inspired by reports about how dogs may be able to sniff out certain cancers, said researchers from the University of Liverpool and University of the West of England. If wider studies can confirm the test’s effectiveness, the technique could offer a new way to test early for a cancer that is often costly to detect and treat.

“It is thought that dogs can smell cancer, but this is obviously not a practical way for hospitals to diagnose the disease,” said Norman Ratcliffe, from the Institute of Biosensor Technology at UWE Bristol. “Taking this principle, how-

therefore life -saving abortions were legal.

Crucially, I reland’s highest court said this meant a woman should receive an abortion even if the only threat to her life was caused by her own suicide threats.

Six governments since have refused to pass legislation backing that 1992 judgment, leaving obstetricians divided and confused over whether certain lifesaving abor tions can be performed legally. I n 2011, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Ireland’s failure to legislate meant pregnant women in dangerous medical conditions were forced to travel overseas, chiefly to neighboring England, for abortions. It said travel and

tains a sensor that responds to chemicals in gas emitted from urine, said the study in the US scientific journal PLoS ONE. It analyzes the gas and reports on the chemicals contained in urine, which scientists can then read on a computer screen in order to diagnose cancer of the bladder. “We looked at 98 samples of urine to develop the device, and tested it on 24 patient samples known to have cancer and 74 samples that have urological symptoms, but no cancer,” said Probert. “The device correctly assigned 100 percent of cancer patients.” The next step is to expand trials to a wider sample of patients to determine whether it is effective or not for hospital use, the study said.—AFP

to heat homes and offices to cities north of the Huai River, which divides China into north and south. It was in effect for much of the 1950-1980 period of central planning, and, though discontinued after 1980, it has left a legacy in the north of heavy coal burning, which releases particulate pollutants into the air that can harm human health.

Researchers found no other government policies that treated China’s north differently from the south.

The researchers collected data for 90 cities, from 1981 to 2000, on the annual daily average concentration of total suspended particulates. In China, those are considered to be particles that are 100 micrometers or less in diameter, emitted from sources including power stations, construction sites and vehicles.

The researchers estimated the impact on life expectancies using mortality data from 1991-2000. They found that in the north, the concentration of particulates was 184 micrograms per cubic meter - or 55 percent higher than in the south, and life expectancies were 5.5 years lower on average across all age ranges.

The researchers said the difference in life expectancies was almost entirely due to an increased incidence of deaths classified as cardiorespiratory - those from causes that have previously been linked to air quality, including heart disease, stroke, lung cancer and respiratory illnesses.

Total suspended particulates include fine particulate matter called PM2.5 - particles with diameters of no more than 2.5 microm-

eters. PM2.5 is of especially great health concern because it can penetrate deep into the lungs, but the researchers lacked the data to analyze those tiny particles separately. The authors said their research can be used to estimate the effect of total suspended particulates on other countries and time periods. Their analysis suggests that every additional 100 micrograms of particulate matter per cubic meter in the atmosphere lowers life expectancy at birth by about three years.

The study also noted that there was a large difference in par ticulate matter between the north and south, but not in other forms of air pollution such as sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide. Francesca Dominici, a professor of biostatistics at Harvard School of Public Health who has researched the health effects of fine particulate matter in the US, said the study was “fascinating.”

China’s different treatment of north and south allowed researchers to get pollution data that would be impossible in a scientific setting. Dominici said the quasi-experimental approach was a good approximation of a randomized experiment, “especially in this situation where a randomized experiment is not possible.” She said she wasn’t surprised by the findings, given China’s high levels of pollution. “In the US. I think it’s pretty much been accepted that even small changes in PM2.5, much, much, much smaller than what they are observing in China, are affecting life expectancy,” said Dominici, who was not involved in the study.— AP

Unusual pattern of spine injuries from plane crash SAN FRANCISCO: Many survivors of Saturday’s plane crash in San Francisco have a surprising pattern of spine injuries that a doctor says shows how violently they were shaken despite wearing seat belts. So far, two people are unable to move their legs - doctors don’t yet know if the damage is permanent - and several others have needed surgery to stabilize their spines so they can move, said Dr Geoffrey Manley, neurosurgery chief at San Francisco General Hospital who is overseeing their care. Among the worst injuries are crushed vertebrae that compress the spinal cord, and ligaments so stretched and torn that they can’t hold neck and back joints in place, Manley said in an interview Monday.

That 305 of the 307 passengers and crew of the Asiana jet survived the crash is remarkable, and a testimony to

improvements in airline safety in recent years. More than 180 people went to hospitals with injuries, but only a small number were critically injured. Still, Manley said even among those who suffered mild spine trauma, he is struck by a pattern that shows how their upper bodies were flung forward and then backward over the lap belts that kept them in their seats and undoubtedly saved their lives.

The injuries are somewhat reminiscent of the days before shoulder belts in cars, although much more severe, said Dr David Okonkwo of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, who isn’t involved with the survivors’ care. Does that mean shoulder belts in airplanes would prevent such injuries? Okonkwo said that’s simplistic considering how much more speed and force are involved in a plane crash. Shoulder belts might just

transfer that force to the neck, he cautioned. “If you put in the shoulder belt, it might just move the injuries up further.

Your head weighs a tremendous amount,” agreed San Francisco’s Manley. He hopes to study the issue, comparing survivors’ injuries to where they sat. The airline industry says adding three-point seatbelts to airplanes would require major changes to seat design that would mean higher airfares and less comfort. Some business class seats have added a type of shoulder restraint, but those seats are more like beds and often don’t face forward. Meanwhile, Okonkwo said assuming the “crash position” - leaning forward with the head as far down as possible and arms over it - can limit the spine jolting back and forth and offer some protection.

It’s not clear if any survivors of Saturday’s crash had time to do so._AP

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

A break for smokers?

Glitch may limit penalties WASHINGTON: Some smokers trying to get coverage next year under President Barack Obama’s health care law may get a break from tobacco-use penalties that could have made their premiums unaffordable. The Obama administration - in yet another health care overhaul delay - has quietly notified insurers that a computer system glitch will limit penalties that the law says the companies may charge smokers. A fix will take at least a year to put in place.

Older smokers are more likely to benefit from the glitch, experts say. But depending on how insurers respond to it, it’s also possible that younger smokers could wind up facing higher penalties than they otherwise would have. Some see an emerging pattern of last-minute switches and delays as the administration scrambles to prepare the Oct 1 launch of new health insurance markets.

People who don’t have coverage on the job will be able to shop for private insurance, with tax credits to help pay premiums. Small businesses will have their own insurance markets. Last week, the White House unexpectedly announced a one-year postponement of a major provision in the law that requires larger employers to offer coverage or face fines. Officials cited the complexity of the requirement as well as a desire to address complaints from employers. “This was an administration that was telling us everything was under control,” health care industry consultant Robert Laszewski said. “Everything was going to be fine. Suddenly this kind of stuff is cropping up every few days.” A June 28 Health and Human Services Department document couched the smokers’ glitch in technical language: “Because of a system limitation ... the system currently cannot process a premium for a 65-year-old smoker that is ... more than three times the premium of a 21-yearold smoker,” the industry guidance said. If an insurer tries to charge more, “the submission of the (insurer) will be rejected by the system,” it added.

Starting in 2014, the law requires insurance companies

to accept all applicants regardless of pre-existing medical problems. But it also allows them to charge smokers up to 50 percent higher premiums - a way for insurers to ward off bad risks. For an older smoker, the cost of the full penalty could be prohibitive. Premiums for a standard “silver” insurance plan would be about $9,000 a year for a 64-year old non-smoker, according to the online Kaiser Health Reform Subsidy Calculator. That’s before any tax credits, available on a sliding scale based on income.

For a smoker of the same age, the full 50 percent penalty would add more than $4,500 to the cost of the policy, bringing it to nearly $13,600. And tax credits can’t be used to offset the penalty. The underlying reason for the glitch is another provision in the health care law that says insurers can’t charge older customers more than three times what

CALIFORNIA: In this June 11, 2007 file photo, Helen Heinlo smokes outside of a coffee shop in Belmont.—AP

they charge the youngest adults in the pool. The government’s computer system has been unable to accommodate the two. So younger smokers and older smokers must be charged the same penalty, or the system will kick it out.

That’s not what insurers had expected. Before the glitch popped up, experts said the companies would probably charge lower penalties for younger smokers, and higher penalties for older ones. “Generally a 20-year-old who smokes probably doesn’t have much higher health costs than someone who doesn’t smoke in any given year,” said Larry Levitt, an insurance market expert with the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. “A 60-year-old is another story.” The administration is suggesting that insurers limit the penalties across all age groups. The HHS guidance document used the example of a 20 percent penalty.

In that case the premium for a 64-year-old would be about $10,900, a significant cut from the $13,600 if insurers charged the full penalty. It’s unclear what insurance companies will do. A spokesman for America’s Health Insurance Plans, the main industry trade group, said insurers were aware of the issue and expected the administration would fix it eventually. Another workaround for the companies would be to charge the full penalty to both younger and older smokers. In that case, there wouldn’t be any savings for older smokers, and younger ones would see a big price shock.

Levitt said he suspects insurers would keep the penalties low to sign up more young people. Laszweski said he thought they would do the opposite. “It’s going to throw cold water on efforts to get younger people to sign up,” he said. Workers covered through job-based health plans would be able to avoid tobacco penalties by joining smoking cessation programs because employer plans operate under different rules. But experts say that option is not guaranteed to smokers trying to purchase coverage individually.—AP

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

Antibody clue to autism in children PARIS: Researchers delving into the enigmatic disorder called autism said yesterday they had found a group of maternal antibodies that target proteins in the foetus’ developing brain. A study that compared 246 mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to 149 women with healthy children found that nearly a quarter in the first group had different combinations of these antibodies. Antibodies are the foot soldiers of the immune system, latching onto viral or microbial intruders and tagging them for destruction by specialized “killer” cells.

But sometimes, for some unknown reason, these antibodies target our own, healthy proteins, becoming “auto-antibodies.” They play an important role in autoimmune diseases like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. Just as pregnant women pass good antibodies on to their unborn children through the placenta, so too can they pass on malfunctioning ones which can target proteins the baby needs to develop, said study author Judy Van De Water, a professor of medicine at the University of California, Davis. “We discovered that 23 percent of mothers whose children have autism have autoantibodies to certain proteins that are necessary for healthy neuron development,” she said by email of the study published in the journal Translational Psychiatry. “These antibodies are not found in the blood of mothers (whose) children are typically developing.”

ASD describes a broad range of impairments in which a person is unable or unwilling to communicate or interact with others, often cripplingly so.

Some patients have delays in cognitive development, whereas others can have dazzling gifts in specific fields such as maths or music. But the causes of the disease remain unclear. ASD affects about one in 88 children in the United States. Van De Water said the study revealed which seven proteins the autoantibodies latch on to, providing critical clues to the development of some forms of ASD, and possibly boosting the quest for an early, predictive test and treatment. The researchers found 11 different combinations of seven proteins, each posing a different level of ASD risk.

“Very early behavioural intervention is effective in helping children with ASD improve their behaviours and abilities, so knowing this very early will be beneficial,” Van De Water said. “Because this test could be used prior to conception, the women could make a decision to use a surrogate or to prepare for having a child with ASD and undergoing early intervention.” One shortcoming of the study was that the samples from mothers were taken when their children were diagnosed, rather than during pregnancy, said the authors.— AFP

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

W H AT ’ S O N

IKEA launches recipe book

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KEA Kuwait recently launched its third Ramadan recipe book by renowned Manal Al Alem, introducing exciting new recipes to prepare for family and friends this season. With a purchase of minimum KD 25 that is spent at the store, customers can receive a free copy of the book to conjure up these delicious dishes within the comfort of their homes.

The new cookbook is a culmination of popular main course meals, sweets and pastries replete with appetizing visuals for a picture perfect vision of the delightful dishes. With the use of essential tools and utensils, mastering the art of cooking the recipes with complete convenience can be achieved by purchasing the IKEA kitchenware that not only offers cookware for cooking but also tasteful supplements to prepare and further serve and store the dishes safely.

An accomplished culinary expert both locally and regionally, Manal Al Alem has received many accolades for her skills in various forms of cooking and food preparations.

IKEA Kuwait urges everyone to make use of this edible opportunity to guaran-

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hat’s more fun than clicking a beautiful picture? Sharing it with others! Let other people see the way you see Kuwait - through your lens. Friday Times will feature snapshots of Kuwait through Instagram feeds. If you want to share your Instagram photos, email us at instagram@kuwaittimes.net

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hief of the Ajman tribe Sultan Bin Hethleen announced welcoming Ramadan greeters on the sixth day of the holy month, which falls next Monday at his dewaniya in Al-Agailah after the Taraweeh prayer. On this occasion, Bin Hethleen extends best wishes to HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and to citizens and residents in Kuwait.

TIES Ramadan Qur’an competition

Announcements Indian Embassy sets up helpline he Indian Embassy in Kuwait has set up helpline in order to assist Indian expatriates in registering any complaint regarding the government’s ongoing campaign to stamp out illegal residents from the country. The embassy said in press release yesterday that it amended its previous statement and stated if there is any complaint, the same could be conveyed at the following (as amended): Operations Department, Ministry of Interior, Kuwait. Fax: 22435580, Tel: 24768146/25200334. It said the embassy has been in regular contact with local authorities regarding the ongoing checking of expatriates. The embassy has also conveyed to them the concerns, fears and apprehensions of the community in this regard. The authorities in Kuwait have conveyed that strict instructions have been issued to ensure that there is no harassment or improper treatment of expatriates by those undertaking checking. “The embassy would like to request Indian expatriates to ensure that they abide by all local laws, rules and regulations regarding residency, traffic and other matters,” the release read. It would be prudent to always carry the Civil ID and other relevant documents such as driving license, etc. In case an Indian expatriate encounters any improper treatment during checking, it may be conveyed immediately with full details and contact particulars to the embassy at the following phone number 67623639. These contact details are exclusively for the above-mentioned purpose only.

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Issue of online visa

by Indian embassy oreigners requiring visas for India need to apply it online from 16th June 2013.

Applicants may log on to the Public portal at www.indianvisaonline.gov.in.

After successful online submission, the hard copy, so generated, has to be signed by the applicant and submitted with supporting documents in accordance with the type of visa along with the applicable fee in cash at any of the two outsource centres at Sharq or Fahaheel. It is essential that applicants fill in their personal details as exactly available in their passports. Mismatch of any of the personal details would lead to nonacceptance of the application. Fees once paid are non-refundable. All children would have to obtain separate visa on their respective passports.

U Enjoy the taste of true espresso at Vergnano Cafe at Olympia Complex

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he superior quality of the blends comes from the meticulous selection of the best raw materials available, and from an extraordinary production process. Cafe Vergnano is the first to introduce an innovation that brings all the passion and pleasure of the perfect

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8th Expo Pakistan to commence in September he 8th Expo Pakistan will be held from September 26 to 29 in Karachi.

Held annually, Expo Pakistan is the biggest trade fair in the country showcasing the largest collection of Pakistan’s export merchandise and services.

Foreign Exhibitors also use the event to launch their products. Expo Pakistan 2012 was visited by delegates from 52 countries and generated a business of over $ 518 million. A 16 member delegation from Kuwait including reputable companies like Al-Yasra Foods also took part in the last exhibition.

Expo Pakistan 2013 is being held under the auspices of the Trade Development Authority Pakistan. Details about the event can be viewed www.expopakisan.gov.pk.

Further information and details of sponsorship can be obtained from the office of Commercial Secretary, Pakistan Embassy, Jabriya (25356594) during office hours.

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Write to us Send to What’s On upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20

tee a memorable experience this Ramadan .Products at the IKEA Kuwait store represent the local market needs which are innovative, appealing and functional, to stand by its concept of ‘creating a better everyday life for the many people’.

For more information on the new products and services, IKEA customers can visit the IKEA Kuwait store or log on to www.ikea.com.kw or call 18 40 408 to stay updated.

espresso to everyday life at home.

Espresso is now available in Kuwait, through Al-Sanabel Al-Thahabiya Est. Tel: 22413795/98. Espresso Vergnano can be ordered through www.taw9eel.com Espresso Vergnano capsules are compatible with other espresso machines.

thman bin Affan ñ Prophet Muhammadís companion ñ narrated that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, ‘The best among you are those who learn the Qurían then teach it.’ (As-Silsila AlSaheeha 3/168) According to Abdullah bin Amr, Prophet Muhammad said: ‘It will be said to the companion of the Qur’an: Recite and ascend as you recited in the world, for verily, your rank is determined by the last verse you recite.’ (Sunan AtTirmidhi 2914).

Inspired by these sayings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), TIES Center is glad to inform all those interested that it will host a Qur’an memorization competition for

Western new Muslims including men, women and children. Competitors should memorize the following surahs (chapters): Al-Fatihah (The Opening, 1), Al-Ikhlaas (The purity or sincerity, 112), Al-Falaq (The Daybreak, 113) and An-Naas (Mankind, 114).

The first prize will be K.D. 60, second prize is K.D. 50 and third prize is K.D. 40.

All those interested in participating are required to register before the 15th of Ramadan. The competition will be held on the 20th of Ramadan and the prizes will be awarded on the 27th of Ramadan.

For more information, please call 25231015/6 or e-mail: info@tiescenter.net or log onto: www.tiescenter.net

ACCESS students celebrate 4th of July

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n July 2, 2013, US Embassy in Kuwait coordinated a US Independence Day event with over 50 students in the English Language Access Microscholarship Program’s Summer Intensive program coordinated by AMIDEAST. US Embassy’s Charge d’Affairs, a.i Michael Adler welcomed students, parents, and guests. “Today we commemorate the 237h anniversary of the independence of the United States. On the fourth of July, Americans express gratitude for our country and its independence. We also traditionally spend time with family and friends, often engaging or watching sports.

Americans and Kuwaitis share an appreciation of sports and its importance to both physical health and fun.”

This event was a wonderful opportunity to partner with local organizations: Shake Shack, Garrett Popcorn, and Kuwait

Sports Club. These organizations are investing in their local community through their care and generosity by providing hot dogs and ice cream, popcorn, and a great facility

to play sports. Abdulrahman Al-Ansari, head of the media center club Kuwait Sports Club, states that the club is keen on cooperating with other organizations to

organize sports activities and support the community. Kuwait Sports Club is the first to engage the sporting talents of the youth in order to build a healthy community. AlAnsari praised the sports and community activities organized by the US Embassy in Kuwait, pointing out that this activity is only the beginning of a series of cooperation between the club and the embassy.

Shake Shack(r) is a modern day “roadside” burger stand known for its all-natural burgers, flat-top dogs, frozen custard and more. With its fresh and simple, high-quality food at a great value, Shake Shack is a fun and lively community gathering place with widespread appeal. From its ingredients and employment practices to its environmental responsibility, design and community investment, Shake Shack’s mission is to continually “Stand for Something Good(r)”.

Pavendar Khazhagam - Kuwait

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uwait Pavendar Khazhagam Celebrated its l0th kalam on05thJuly ‘13 at Mangaf. The Program was started at 09.45 hrs. with prayer song by Selvi. Jeya Parvathi & Selvi.Nalinaa & Selvi.

Subhashree.

The Program was anchored by B. Sekar.

One Thirkkural was described by Sooraj Kumar. PVKK Kalapaadal was sang by Murugesan. The event under the title “Kathai Kelu Kaniyaku” was performed by Thandayathapaani. The event under the title ‘Mann Isai “was performed by Mrs.

Manjula and Selvi. Jeya Parvathi & Murugesan.

The event under title “Kalaththu Medu” was performed by Selvan. Sanjeev, Selvi.SubhaSree, Selvan. Kittu, Selvan Naveen Kumar Selvi.Preetha.

Munu.Sivasankaran and Viswanathan gave remarkable kavithal (Poems) Ravi applauded the families and members for their wedding day & birth day which falls in month of July. The Special Speech was given by Pazha. Krishna Moorhy under the title “Thiraavida Geetham”. The Kaviarangam

was performed by under the Leadership of Subramani and other participants in kaviarangam were Ravanan, Abu Thakir & Sivamani.

In the kaviarangam, special characters were performed (acted) as Kannaki by Selvi.Jeya Parvathi,as Madhavi by Selvi.

Subashree and as Kovalan by Selvan.

Sanjeev. The children characters and dialogues were well appreciated by audience.

The debate programme was conducted under the headship of Rajasegaran and other participants were Murugesan,

Saravanan, Natarajan and Mrs. Devi Ravi.

Tamiz Quiz was conducted by Mrs.Geetha & Muthukrishnan. The winner was Phzha.Krishnamoorthy and who gave the same award to Selvi Jeyaparvathi who was performed (acted) as Kannaki. The Program was organized by Devi Ravi, Ravi & Siva Mani.

The Lunch was sponsored by Subramani. Pavendar Khazhagam thanked to Subramani & family members for providing lunch. The Program was concluded with national anthem by PVKK Members.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

W H AT ’ S O N

Embassy Information EMBASSY OF AUSTRALIA The Australian Embassy Kuwait does not have a visa or immigration department. All processing of visas and immigration matters in conducted by The Australian Consulate-General in Dubai. Email: info.ausdxb@vfshelpline.com (VFS) immigration.dubai@dfat.gov.au (Visa Office); Tel: +971 4 355 1958 (VFS) - +971 4 508 7200 (Visa Office); Fax: +971 4 355 0708 (Visa Office). In Kuwait applications can be lodged at the Australian Visa Application Centre 4B 1st Floor, Al-Banwan Building Al-Qibla Area, Ali Al-Salem Street, opposite the Central Bank of Kuwait, Kuwait City, Kuwait.

Working hours and days: 09:30 - 17:30; Sunday Thursday. Or visit their website www.vfs-au-gcccom for more information. Kuwait citizens can apply for tourist visas on-line at www.immi.gov.au/e visa/e676.htm. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF CANADA he Embassy of Canada in Kuwait does not have a visa or immigration department. All processing of visa and immigration matters including enquiries is conducted by the Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. Individuals who are interested in working, studying, visiting or immigrating to Canada should contact the Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, website: www.UAE.gc.ca or www.goingtocanada.gc.ca, E-mail: abdbi-im-enquiry@international.gc.ca.

The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24, Al-Mutawakei St, Block 4 in Da’aiyah.Please visit our website at www.Kuwait.gc.ca. The embassy will be closed on Monday July 1st 2013, for Canada Day, and will resume its duties on Tuesday 2 July 2013. The Embassy of Canada is open from 07:30 to 15:30 Sunday through Thursday. The reception is open from 07:30 to 12:30. Consular services for Canadian citizens are provided from 09:00 until 12:00, Sunday through Wednesday.

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GUST’s Al-Abdulajleel completes scholarship with Yale Program

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EMBASSY OF GREECE The Embassy of Greece in Kuwait has the pleasure to announce that visa applications must be submitted to Schengen Visa Application Centre (VFS office) located at 12th floor, Al-Naser Tower, Fahad Al-Salem Street, AlQibla area, Kuwait City, (Parking at Souk Watia). For information please call 22281046 from 08:30 to 17:00 (Sunday to Thursday). Working hours: Submission from 08:30 to 15:30. Passport collection from 16:00 to 17:00. For visa applications please visit the following website www.mfa.gr/kuwait. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF INDIA During the holy month of Ramadan, the office timings of the Indian Passport and Visa Service Centres of BLS International Visa Services Co., Kuwait, situated at (i) Emad Commercial Centre, Basement Floor, Ahmed Al Jaber Street, Sharq, Kuwait, and (ii) Mujamma Unood, 4th floor, Office No. 25-26 Makka Street, Fahaheel, Kuwait, will be from 8am to 3pm from Saturday to Thursday (i.e. six days a week).

Tokens for submission of applications will be issued till 2pm only. Delivery of Passports and Visas will be from 11am onwards till 3pm.

Embassy of India, Kuwait, will maintain its usual working hours. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF SOUTH AFRICA During the holy month of Ramadan, the South African Embassy will be open to the public, Sunday through Thursday from 09:00 am to 14:00 pm. Please note that the Consular Section operation hours will be from 09:30 am to 12:00 pm, Sunday through Thursday. nnnnnnn

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ulf University for Science and Technology (GUST) Alum and current Public Relations employee, Joanne Al-Abduljaleel, completed a twoweek scholarship program with the prestigious Yale University in the US for a PREMBA Global Leadership course in which she and her team won first place in the program business project. As the only representative from Kuwait among only 60 participants from all around the world, GUST was extremely proud of Al-Abduljaleel’s achievements.

The program revolved around a world perspective of business administration and included many intensive courses throughout the two weeks such as: accounting, finance, marketing, management and leadership. With what they learned throughout the course, the 60 students were divided into teams and expected to submit a comprehensive business proposal of an innovative idea using a designated space. Al-Abduljaleel and her team won first place for Best Project. “Team work, a good knowledge

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foundation and hard work will get you everywhere,” Al-Abduljaleel said of her win with her team. In light of the same, AlAbduljaleelsaid: “I learned a lot from my participation in this unique program as it made me more aware and knowledgeable in various business topics and theories. This experience has provided me with a lot of positive influences in the way I think and do things when it comes to my work and education. Also, my interaction with people from different backgrounds boosted my ability to deal with and understand with others in a more effective way.

Al-Abduljaleel noted that it is important for a student in today’s world should keep up to date with the developments in the educational field, not only a specific one, but all of them as a whole. Today’s everchanging world requires people to be knowledgeable in all different fields, “and that is why students should try and explore different fields of study to eventually be able to effectively solve problems in their life no matter how diverse they are.”

he TIES Center is glad to announce that its Ramadan Arabic language courses began on Sunday July 7 and will continue till August 15, 2013. We offer classes for all levels, from beginner to advanced.

Throughout the course, the students will learn how to read, write and speak Arabic in a friendly, relaxed

and welcoming environment. You can still register.

TIES Arabic program highlights: * Lessons are step by step -ranging from basic to advanced level. * Lessons build confidence for speaking, reading, and writing Arabic. * Lessons combine language learning with cultural

insights. * Lessons are specially tailored for expats living in Kuwait. * It is an opportunity to interact with other Westerners, who are taking the courses.

For more information and registration, please call 25231015/6 or e-mail: Hassan@tiescenter.net

EMBASSY OF US Parents of Kuwaiti citizen children may drop off their sons’ and daughters’ visa applications - completely free of an interview or a trip inside the Embassy. The children must be under 14 years of age, and additional requirements do apply, but the service means parents will no longer have to schedule individual appointments for their children, nor come inside the Embassy (unless they are applying for themselves). The service is only available for children holding Kuwaiti passports. To take advantage, parents must drop off the following documents: Child Visa Drop-off cover sheet, available on the Embassy website (http://kuwait.usembassy.gov/child_visas.htm) Child’s passport; The Child’s previous passport, if it contains a valid US visa; 5x5cm photo of child with eyes open (if uploaded into DS-160, photos must be a .jpg between 600x600 and 1200x1200 pixels, less than 240kb, and cannot be digitally altered); A completed DS-160 form; Visa Fee Receipt from Burgan Bank; A copy of the valid visa of at least one parent. If one parent will not travel, provide a visa copy for the traveling parent, and a passport copy from the non-traveling parent with a letter stating no objection to the child’s travel. - For children of students (F2): a copy of the child’s I-20.

Children born in the US (with very few exceptions) are US citizens and would not be eligible for a visa. Parents may drop off the application packet at Window 2 at the Embassy from 1:00 to 3:00 PM, Monday to Wednesday, excluding holidays. More information is available on the U.S. Embassy website: kuwait.usembassy.gov/child_visas.html nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF VENEZUELA Working hours of the Embassy of Venezuela during the holy month of Ramadan 09.00 till 13.30.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

TV PROGRAMS

14:35 15:05 15:30 16:00 16:55 17:50 18:45 19:40 20:05 20:35 21:00 21:30 22:25 22:50 23:20 00:15 01:10 01:35

Border Security Auction Hunters Auction Kings Superhuman Showdown One Man Army Mythbusters Sons Of Guns Deconstruction How It’s Made Auction Hunters Flip Men Spider-Man Tech What Happened Next?

What Happened Next?

Mythbusters Spider-Man Tech What Happened Next?

What Happened Next?

14:20 14:45 15:10 16:00 16:55 17:45 18:35 19:30 20:20 21:10 21:35 22:00 22:50 23:40 00:05 00:30 01:00 01:50

The Gadget Show Tech Toys 360 Moon Machines Storm Chasers Superships Thunder Races Through The Wormhole Moon Machines How The Universe Works The Gadget Show Tech Toys 360 Moon Machines How The Universe Works The Gadget Show Tech Toys 360 Weird Connections Scrapheap Challenge Scrapheap Challenge

00:30 Dr G: Medical Examiner 01:20 A Haunting 02:10 Couples Who Kill 03:00 Deadly Women 03:45 I Almost Got Away With It 04:30 Dr G: Medical Examiner 05:20 A Haunting 06:10 Nightmare Next Door 07:00 Life Or Death: Medical Mysteries 07:50 Street Patrol 08:15 Street Patrol 08:40 Real Emergency Calls 09:05 Who On Earth...

09:30 On The Case With Paula Zahn 10:20 Solved 11:10 Disappeared 12:00 Life Or Death: Medical Mysteries 12:50 Street Patrol 13:15 Street Patrol 13:40 Forensic Detectives 14:30 On The Case With Paula Zahn 15:20 Real Emergency Calls 15:45 Who On Earth...

16:10 Disappeared 17:00 Solved 17:50 Forensic Detectives 18:40 On The Case With Paula Zahn 19:30 Dr G: Medical Examiner 20:20 Nightmare Next Door 21:10 Couples Who Kill 22:00 Killer Kids 22:50 Deadly Affairs 23:40 I Almost Got Away With It

00:00 00:30 01:30 02:00 03:00 03:30 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00

Paranormal Cops Born To Kill Private Crimes I Survived Paranormal Cops Paranormal Cops Panic 9-1-1 Crime Stories The FBI Files Snapped: Women Who Kill Snapped: Women Who Kill Fugitive Chronicles

York 17:00 17:30 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 22:30 23:30 00:00 00:55 01:25

09:00 Crime Stories 10:00 Nightmare In Suburbia 11:00 Crimes That Shook Britain 12:00 The FBI Files 13:00 Snapped: Women Who Kill 15:00 Fugitive Chronicles 16:00 Fred Dinenage: Murder Casebook 17:00 Crimes That Shook Britain 18:00 The FBI Files 20:00 Snapped: Women Who Kill 21:00 Crimes That Shook Britain 22:00 Private Crimes 22:30 My Ghost Story 23:30 The Haunting Of...

03:15 Cooked 03:45 Cash In The Attic 04:30 Bargain Hunt 05:15 Daily Cooks Challenge 05:45 How Not To Decorate 06:30 Cooked 07:00 Food & Drink 07:25 Hairy Bikers’ Bake-ation 08:15 Phil Spencer - Secret Agent 09:05 Bargain Hunt 09:50 Antiques Roadshow 10:45 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 11:30 MasterChef Australia 12:15 Come Dine With Me 13:05 Hairy Bikers’ Bake-ation 13:55 Bargain Hunt 14:40 Cash In The Attic 15:25 Antiques Roadshow 16:15 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 17:00 Phil Spencer - Secret Agent 17:55 Planet Cake 18:25 Tareq Taylor’s Nordic Cookery 18:55 Baking Mad With Eric Lanlard 19:20 New Scandinavian Cooking With Claus Meyer 19:45 Come Dine With Me 20:35 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 21:20 Antiques Roadshow 22:15 Bargain Hunt 23:00 Phil Spencer - Secret Agent 23:55 Cash In The Attic 00:40 Come Dine With Me 01:30 MasterChef Australia 02:20 How Not To Decorate

03:00 Tower Heist-PG15 05:00 A Better Life-PG15 07:00 Mr. Popper’s Penguins-PG 09:00 Big Miracle-PG 11:00 Tower Heist-PG15 13:00 Another Harvest Moon-PG15 15:00 Alvin And The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked-PG 17:00 Big Miracle-PG 19:00 Damsels In Distress-PG15 21:00 Of Two Minds-PG15 23:00 Wrath Of The Titans-PG15 01:00 Prime Mover-PG15

07:00 Winx-FAM 09:00 We Bought A Zoo-PG 11:15 Henry’s Crime-PG15 13:15 Princess Lillifee-FAM 15:00 The Dragon Chronicles: Fire & Ice-PG15 17:00 StreetDance 2-PG15 19:00 The Darkest Hour-PG15 21:00 The Speed Of Thought-PG15 23:00 Husk-18 01:00 StreetDance 2-PG15

03:45 The Bourne Legacy-PG15 06:00 Last Holiday-PG15 08:00 The Makeover-PG15 10:00 The Muppets-PG 11:45 The Bourne Legacy-PG15 14:00 Puss In Boots-PG 16:00 The Makeover-PG15 18:00 The Muppets-PG 20:00 Phil Spector-PG15 22:00 Hanna-PG15 00:00 Love And Other Impossible Pursuits-PG15 02:00 The Muppets-PG

04:15 Rage Of The Yeti-PG15 06:00 Mission: Impossible-PG15 08:00 Mission To Mars-PG15 10:00 Ice Road Terror-PG15 11:45 The Da Vinci Code-PG15 14:15 Mission To Mars-PG15 16:15 Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes-PG15 18:00 The Da Vinci Code-PG15 20:30 Imago Mortis-PG15 22:15 Graystone-18 00:00 Three Kings-18 02:00 Imago Mortis-PG15

08:00 The Naked Gun: From The Files Of Police Squad-PG 10:00 12 Dates Of Christmas-PG15 12:00 The Wish List-PG15 14:00 Police Academy 3: Back In Training-PG15 16:00 12 Dates Of Christmas-PG15 18:00 Mr. Destiny-PG 20:00 Failure To Launch-PG15 22:00 Flypaper-18 00:00 Under New ManagementPG15 02:00 Failure To Launch-PG15

09:00 Planet Of The Apes (1968)PG15 11:00 The Presidio-PG15

Ice Loves Coco Ice Loves Coco E! News Fashion Police E!es Kourtney And Kim Take Miami What Would Ryan Lochte Do? E! News Chelsea Lately Opening Act Style Star THS

THE DARKEST HOUR ON OSN CINEMA 12:45 Dolphin Tale-PG 14:45 Planet Of The Apes (1968)PG15 16:45 The Flowers Of War-PG15 19:15 The Beaver-PG15 21:00 The Hand That Rocks The Cradle-PG15 23:00 School Ties-PG15 01:00 Me And You-PG15

01:30 Super League 03:30 Futbol Mundial 04:00 PGA European Tour Highlights 05:00 AFL Premiership Highlights 06:00 Trans World Sport 07:00 Cricket Friends Life T20 10:00 British & Irish Lions Tour of Australia 12:00 Futbol Mundial 12:30 ICC Cricket 360 13:00 Live Cricket Test Match 21:00 PGA European Tour Weekly 21:30 Inside The PGA Tour 22:00 Trans World Sport 23:00 Rugby League State of Origin

00:00 NRL Full Time 00:30 Futbol Mundial 01:00 Cricket Friends Life T20 04:00 Super Rugby 06:00 NRL Full Time 06:30 Futbol Mundial 07:00 NRL Premiership 09:00 European Senior Tour Highlights 10:00 Golf The Challenge Series 10:30 PGA European Tour Highlights

WRATH OF THE TITANS ON OSN MOVIES HD

11:30 ICC Cricket 360 12:00 AFL Premiership Highlights 13:00 Super Rugby 15:00 NRL Full Time 15:30 Futbol Mundial 16:00 Super League 18:00 PGA Tour Highlights 19:00 PGA European Tour Highlights 20:00 AFL Premiership Highlights 21:00 NRL Full Time 21:30 British & Irish Lions Tour of Australia 23:30 ICC Cricket 360

00:30 01:30 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 10:30 11:30 12:30 13:30 14:30 15:00 18:00 20:00 21:00

Trans World Sport AFL Premiership World Pool Masters World Pool Masters Golfing World Golfing World Champions Tour Highlights Trans World Sport NRL Full Time World Pool Masters World Pool Masters Golfing World World Match Racing Tour Futbol Mundial Rugby World Cup Super Rugby Golfing World Cricket Friends Life T20

00:00 02:00 03:30 04:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 16:30 17:00 17:30 18:30 19:00 22:00 23:30

NHL Mass Participation Adventure Sports UFC The Ultimate Fighter NHL WWE NXT WWE Bottom Line Ping Pong World US Bass Fishing NHL WWE Smackdown Mass Participation Porsche GT 3 Cup Porsche GT 3 Cup WWE Vintage Collection Mobil 1 The Grid UFC Mass Participation Mobil 1 The Grid

14:00 15:00 16:00 16:30 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00 00:00 01:00 02:00

C.S.I. Miami Drop Dead Diva Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show C.S.I. Miami Touch Bones Castle Breakout Kings Awake Drop Dead Diva Castle Breakout Kings

03:00 03:30 04:00 04:30 Leno 06:00 06:30 07:00 08:00 09:00 09:30 10:00 10:30 11:00 Leno 12:00 12:30 13:00 13:30 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:30 16:00

Friends Raising Hope Seinfeld The Tonight Show With Jay Hope & Faith Arrested Development Late Night With Jimmy Fallon Seinfeld Last Man Standing Hot In Cleveland Men At Work Arrested Development The Tonight Show With Jay Hope & Faith Seinfeld Seinfeld Arrested Development Raising Hope Men At Work Hot In Cleveland The Daily Show The Colbert Report

16:30 17:00 18:30 19:00 19:30 20:00 Leno 21:00 21:30 22:00 22:30 23:00 23:30 00:30 01:00 01:30 02:00 02:30

Hope & Faith Late Night With Jimmy Fallon The Simpsons Modern Family Parks And Recreation The Tonight Show With Jay The Daily Show The Colbert Report Malibu Country The Neighbors The Office Late Night With Jimmy Fallon The Daily Show The Colbert Report Seinfeld Seinfeld Friends

13:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 20:30 21:00 22:00 23:00 00:00 01:00 02:00

Doc Martin Moving On The Jeremy Kyle Show USA 60 Minute Makeover Emmerdale Coronation Street Coach Trip Come Dine With Me Ireland Marchlands The Syndicate Moving On The Jeremy Kyle Show USA 60 Minute Makeover Emmerdale

05:15 05:35 06:00 06:30 06:45 07:10 07:35 07:55 08:20 08:45 09:05 09:30 11:05 11:25 11:50 12:15 12:35 13:00 13:25 13:45 14:10 14:35 15:00 15:25 15:50 16:10 16:35 17:00 17:20 17:45 18:10 18:30 18:55 19:20 19:40 20:05 20:30 20:50 21:15 21:40 22:00 22:25 22:50 23:10 23:35 00:00 00:20 00:45 01:05 01:30 01:50 02:15 02:35

Brandy & Mr Whiskers Brandy & Mr Whiskers Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Doc McStuffins A.N.T Farm A.N.T Farm Jessie Jessie Shake It Up Shake It Up Austin And Ally Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam A.N.T. Farm Jessie Jessie Austin And Ally Austin And Ally Shake It Up Shake It Up A.N.T Farm A.N.T Farm Good Luck Charlie Good Luck Charlie Jessie Jessie Shake It Up A.N.T. Farm Austin And Ally That’s So Raven Suite Life On Deck Good Luck Charlie Shake It Up Austin And Ally Jessie A.N.T Farm A.N.T Farm Shake It Up Suite Life On Deck Austin And Ally That’s So Raven Jessie A.N.T Farm Good Luck Charlie Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place Hannah Montana Hannah Montana Brandy & Mr Whiskers Brandy & Mr Whiskers Emperor’s New School Emperor’s New School Replacements Replacements

14:30 Style Star 15:00 Kourtney & Kim Take New York 16:00 Kourtney & Kim Take New

03:00 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 03:25 Food Wars 03:50 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 04:15 Unique Eats 04:40 Chopped 05:30 Iron Chef America 06:10 Food Network Challenge 07:00 Unwrapped 07:25 Unwrapped 07:50 Andy Bates Street Feasts 08:15 Unique Sweets 08:40 Red, Hot And Yummy 09:05 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 09:30 Amazing Wedding Cakes 10:20 Extra Virgin 10:45 Kid In A Candy Store 11:10 Charly’s Cake Angels 11:40 Unique Sweets 12:00 The Next Iron Chef 12:50 Red, Hot And Yummy 13:15 Barefoot Contessa 13:40 Barefoot Contessa 14:05 Tyler’s Ultimate 14:30 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 14:55 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 15:20 Guy’s Big Bite 15:45 Chopped 16:35 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 17:00 Red, Hot And Yummy 17:25 Reza’s African Kitchen 17:50 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 18:15 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 18:40 Guy’s Big Bite 19:05 Charly’s Cake Angels 19:30 Amazing Wedding Cakes 20:20 Chopped 21:10 Chopped 22:00 Charly’s Cake Angels 22:25 Charly’s Cake Angels

Tom Smith, frontman of British indie rock band Editors performs on stage at the Westergasfasbriek in Amsterdam, on July 8, 2013. — AFP

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ames Cameron has reached a new level of grumpy about bad 3D - his latest targets being “Man of Steel,” “Iron Man 3” and the greedy studios who he says waste money converting them.

This summer’s superhero tentpoles didn’t need 3D to begin with, the “Avatar” director said last week at Mexico City’s technology forum TagDF, according to The Film Stage. “If you spend $150 million on visual effects, the film is already going to spectacular perfect,” Cameron said.

Cameron has complained in the years since “Avatar” about how schlocky 3D conversions erode the format - especially when studios take control from directors. Unlike films shot in 3D, he says conversions do not portray the same visual depth.

“One thing is shooting in 3D and another is to convert to 3D,” he said. Ironically, Cameron converted “Titanic” to 3D last year ... but justified that by noting at length how hands-on he was in the conversion process. — Reuters

22:50 23:15 23:40 00:05 00:30 00:55 01:20 01:45

Unique Sweets Unique Sweets Food Wars Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Unique Eats Unique Eats Charly’s Cake Angels

00:00 World’s Greatest Motorcycle Rides 01:00 Off Limits 02:00 Departures 03:00 Globe Trekker 04:00 Inside Luxury Travel - Varun Sharma 05:00 Bizarre Foods America 06:00 Eden Eats 07:00 Globe Trekker

08:00 Departures 09:00 Off Limits 10:00 World’s Greatest Motorcycle Rides 11:00 Hotel Impossible 12:00 Eden Eats 13:00 Bizarre Foods America 14:00 International House Hunters 14:30 International House Hunters 15:00 Inside Luxury Travel - Varun Sharma 16:00 Globe Trekker 17:00 World’s Greatest Motorcycle Rides 18:00 Off Limits 19:00 Departures 20:00 Middle Kingdom Ride 20:30 Middle Kingdom Ride 21:00 Trip Flip 21:30 Magic Outlaws 22:00 Departures 23:00 Inside Luxury Travel - Varun Sharma

THE DA VINCI CODE ON OSN ACTION HD

Classifieds WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

Kuwait

SHARQIA-1 OFFICER DOWN (DIG) WORLD WAR Z (DIG)

TATTAH (DIG) 9:30 PM 11:30 PM

SHARQIA-2 MONSTERS UNIVERSITY (DIG-3D) 9:00 PM WHITE HOUSE DOWN (DIG) 11:15 PM SHARQIA-3 TATTAH (DIG) THE PURGE (DIG)

9:45 PM 12:05 AM

FOR SALE

KNCC PROGRAMME FROM 1st DAY OF RAMADAN TO WEDNESDAY (10/07/2013) 11:30 PM

MARINA-3 MONSTERS UNIVERSITY (DIG-3D) 9:30 PM WHITE HOUSE DOWN (DIG) 11:45 PM AVENUES-1 WORLD WAR Z (DIG) WORLD WAR Z (DIG)

9:30 PM 11:45 PM

AL-KOUT.1 MONSTERS UNIVERSITY (DIG-3D) 9:00 PM WORLD WAR Z (DIG-3D) 11:15 PM AL-KOUT.2 WHITE HOUSE DOWN (DIG) WHITE HOUSE DOWN (DIG)

9:15 PM 11:45 PM 9:30 PM 12:15 AM

AVENUES-2 MAN OF STEEL (DIG)

10:30 PM

AL-KOUT.3 MAN OF STEEL (DIG) THE PURGE (DIG)

MUHALAB-1 THE PURGE (DIG) OFFICER DOWN (DIG)

9:45 PM 11:45 PM

AVENUES-3 TATTAH (DIG) TATTAH (DIG)

9:30 PM 11:45 PM

AL-KOUT.4 TATTAH (DIG) OFFICER DOWN (DIG)

9:45 PM 12:05 AM

MUHALAB-2 TATTAH (DIG) WORLD WAR Z (DIG)

9:15 PM 11:30 PM

AVENUES-4 WHITE HOUSE DOWN (DIG) WHITE HOUSE DOWN (DIG)

9:00 PM 11:30 PM

BAIRAQ-1 WHITE HOUSE DOWN (DIG) WHITE HOUSE DOWN (DIG)

9:00 PM 11:30 PM

9:45 PM 12:05 AM

BAIRAQ-2 TATTAH (DIG) OFFICER DOWN (DIG)

9:30 PM 11:45 PM

10:15 PM 12:15 AM

BAIRAQ-3 MONSTERS UNIVERSITY (DIG) THE PURGE (DIG)

9:45 PM 12:05 AM

LAILA WHITE HOUSE DOWN (DIG) WHITE HOUSE DOWN (DIG)

9:00 PM 11:30 PM

AJIAL.1 SINGAM 2 (DIG) (TAMIL)

9:45 PM

AJIAL.2 SINGAM 2 (DIG) (TAMIL)

9:15 PM

AJIAL.3 POLICEGIRI (DIG) (HINDI)

9:30 PM

AJIAL.4 ABCD (DIG) (MALAYALAM)

9:00 PM

10:15 PM 12:15 AM

METRO-1 SINGAM 2 (DIG) (TAMIL)

9:45 PM

10:30 PM

METRO-2 BALUPU (DIG) (TELUGU)

10:00 PM

MUHALAB-3 MONSTERS UNIVERSITY (DIG-3D) 9:00 PM WHITE HOUSE DOWN (DIG) 11:15 PM

AVENUES-5 TATTAH (DIG) WORLD WAR Z (DIG)

FANAR-1 WORLD WAR Z (DIG) WORLD WAR Z (DIG)

9:30 PM 11:45 PM

AVENUES-6 CINDERELLA (DIG-3D) THE PURGE (DIG)

FANAR-2 MONSTERS UNIVERSITY (DIG) THE PURGE (DIG)

10:00 PM 12:15 AM

=360º- 1 THE PURGE (DIG) THE PURGE (DIG)

10:30 PM 12:30 AM

FANAR-3 MAN OF STEEL (DIG) OFFICER DOWN (DIG)

9:15 PM 12:05 AM

360º- 2 OFFICER DOWN (DIG) OFFICER DOWN (DIG)

10:15 PM 12:15 AM

FANAR-4 WHITE HOUSE DOWN (DIG) WHITE HOUSE DOWN (DIG)

9:00 PM 11:30 PM

360º- 3 WORLD WAR Z (DIG-3D) WORLD WAR Z (DIG)

FANAR-5 TATTAH TATTAH

9:30 PM 11:45 PM

MARINA-1 TATTAH (DIG) THE PURGE (DIG) MARINA-2 WORLD WAR Z (DIG)

9:30 PM 11:45 PM

360º- 4 CINDERELLA (DIG-3D)

9:00 PM 11:15 PM

360º- 5 LAY THE FAVORITE (DIG) LAY THE FAVORITE (DIG)

9:15 PM

360º- 6 MAN OF STEEL (DIG)

10:00 PM

Toyota Yaris model 2008, red color, fog lamp, CD alloy rim, rear bumper sensor, installment possible, 4 cylinder engine. Cash Price KD 1,950. Tel: 99105286 . (C 4454) 8-7-2013 CHANGE OF NAME I have changed my name from Husain, s/o Kosar Godichand, Indian Passport No. H1819475 in future I am known from this name Husain Godichand, s/o Kosar Godichand, Res. Obrimohalla, Sagwara.

(C 4455) 8-7-2013

Prayer timings Fajr:

03:21

Shorook

04:55

Duhr:

11:53

Asr:

15:27

Maghrib:

18:51

Isha:

20:22

TUITION Position available in Kuwait for a teacher/ psychologist.

Qualifications: male, degree in education, experience in behavior modification and or social skills training, excellent command in English. Contact: 99114449/ 99602744. (C 4456) 8-7-2013

112 TUITION I, Ramdas V.M., S/o Kunhiraman M.V., Trikarpur, Kasaragod, holder of Indian Passport No. J 1329697 hereby change my name as RAMADAS. V.M. and this will be effected in all records connected with me.

Objection, if any, may be intimated to the authorities within 15 days from the date of this notice. (C 4457) 10-7-2013

THE PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR CIVIL INFORMATION Automated enquiry about the Civil ID card is

1889988 Ministry of Interior website: www.moi.gov.kw

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

Airlines QTR JZR JZR RJA THY ETH GFA UAE ETD FDB MSR OMA QTR THY JZR DHX FDB BAW UAE ABY RBG KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC QTR IRM FDB IRA ETD QTR UAE GFA MEA IAW MSC IRM UAE MSR THY CLX IYE IRC MSR SVA

Arrival Flights on Wednesday 10/7/2013 Flt Route 148 DOHA 267 BEIRUT 539 CAIRO 644 AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA 764 SABIHA 620 ADDIS ABABA 211 BAHRAIN 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 67 DUBAI 612 CAIRO 643 MUSCAT 138 DOHA 770 ISTANBUL 555 ALEXANDRIA 170 BAHRAIN 69 DUBAI 157 LONDON 855 DUBAI 125 SHARJAH 557 ALEXANDRIA 412 MANILA 284 DHAKA 206 ISLAMABAD 352 COCHIN 302 MUMBAI 382 DELHI 344 CHENNAI 132 DOHA 1186 TEHRAN 55 DUBAI 603 SHIRAZ 301 ABU DHABI 6130 DOHA 4987 DUBAI 213 BAHRAIN 404 BEIRUT 157 BAGHDAD 403 ASSIUT 1188 MASHAD 871 DUBAI 610 CAIRO 766 ISTANBUL 792 LUXEMBOURG 826 SANAA 6692 MASHAD 575 SHARM EL SHEIKH 500 JEDDAH

Time 00:05 00:20 00:40 00:30 01:40 01:45 01:55 02:25 02:30 03:10 03:15 03:20 03:30 04:35 06:20 05:10 05:50 06:30 08:25 08:50 06:25 06:15 08:15 07:25 08:05 07:50 07:30 08:20 09:00 09:10 09:50 09:25 09:30 09:45 10:05 10:40 10:55 11:00 11:35 11:45 12:45 13:00 13:10 13:15 13:30 14:00 14:15 14:30

KAC JZR JZR JZR RJA QTR ETD UAE ABY UAL GFA SVA NIA GFA MSC MSR JAI FDB OMA ABY ETD MEA AXB KLM ALK UAE ETD QTR GFA QTR JAI FDB AIC UAL DLH JAI MSR THY KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC JZR JZR JZR JZR

790 561 359 177 640 134 303 957 127 982 215 510 251 219 405 606 572 61 647 129 933 402 489 417 229 859 307 136 217 146 576 59 975 981 636 574 614 772 1704 788 774 166 786 542 102 538 674 777 357 1773 239

MEDINAH SOHAG MASHAD DUBAI AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA DOHA ABU DHABI DUBAI SHARJAH WASHINGTON DC DULLES BAHRAIN RIYADH ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN SOHAG LUXOR MUMBAI DUBAI MUSCAT SHARJAH ABU DHABI BEIRUT COCHIN AMSTERDAM COLOMBO DUBAI ABU DHABI DOHA BAHRAIN DOHA COCHIN DUBAI CHENNAI BAHRAIN FRANKFURT MUMBAI CAIRO ISTANBUL JEDDAH JEDDAH RIYADH PARIS JEDDAH CAIRO NEW YORK SOHAG DUBAI JEDDAH MASHAD JEDDAH AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA

13:55 12:00 16:45 17:30 15:55 16:15 16:35 16:55 17:10 17:15 17:20 17:20 18:00 19:05 19:15 19:30 19:35 20:00 20:00 20:05 20:05 20:15 20:35 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:30 21:35 21:45 22:00 22:05 22:20 22:25 22:40 23:10 23:20 23:30 23:45 23:20 15:00 19:25 18:40 18:30 18:15 19:35 15:50 19:25 17:50 16:50 20:20 22:30

Departure Flights on Wednesday 10/7/2013 Airlines AIC JAI UAL DLH MSR THY THY ETH RJA UAE FDB MSR OMA ETD QTR QTR JZR FDB GFA RBG THY BAW KAC KAC ABY KAC KAC UAE QTR ETD IRA IRM UAE JZR JZR QTR GFA FDB KAC MEA IAW KAC JZR KAC MSC KAC IRM JZR MSR

Flt 982 573 981 637 615 773 765 621 645 854 68 613 644 306 139 149 560 70 212 558 771 156 117 789 126 787 537 856 133 302 602 1187 4987 358 356 6131 214 56 541 405 158 175 776 103 406 785 1189 176 611

Route AHMEDABAD MUMBAI WASHINGTON DC DULLES FRANKFURT CAIRO ISTANBUL ISTANBUL ADDIS ABABA AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA DUBAI DUBAI CAIRO MUSCAT ABU DHABI DOHA DOHA SOHAG DUBAI BAHRAIN ALEXANDRIA ISTANBUL LONDON NEW YORK MADINAH SHARJAH JEDDAH SOHAG DUBAI DOHA ABU DHABI SHIRAZ IMAM KHOMEINI BEIRUT MASHHAD MASHHAD DOHA BAHRAIN DUBAI CAIRO BEIRUT AL NAJAF FRANKFURT JEDDAH LONDON SOHAG JEDDAH MASHHAD DUBAI CAIRO

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Time 00:05 00:20 00:25 00:30 00:30 02:20 02:40 02:45 03:30 03:45 03:50 04:15 04:20 04:20 04:25 05:15 05:35 06:30 07:00 07:05 07:10 08:25 09:05 09:15 09:30 09:35 09:40 09:50 10:00 10:15 10:25 10:30 10:50 10:55 11:00 11:15 11:25 11:30 11:30 11:55 12:00 12:10 12:25 12:30 12:35 13:00 13:10 13:20 14:00

THY UAE IYE CLX JZR IRC MSR KAC SVA KAC RJA JZR KAC QTR ETD JZR ABY UAE GFA SVA UAL JZR NIA GFA MSC KAC MSR JAI FDB ABY KAC KAC OMA KAC MEA DHX KLM ETD ETD ALK UAE KAC QTR KAC GFA FDB KAC QTR JAI JZR KAC

767 872 827 792 1772 6693 576 673 503 773 641 238 1703 135 304 538 128 858 216 511 982 266 252 220 404 283 619 571 62 120 361 331 648 351 403 171 417 934 308 230 860 381 137 301 218 60 205 147 575 554 415

ISTANBUL DUBAI RIYAN MUKALLA GIALAM JEDDAH MASHHAD SHARM EL SHEIKH DUBAI MADINAH RIYADH AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA JEDDAH DOHA ABU DHABI CAIRO SHARJAH DUBAI BAHRAIN RIYADH BAHRAIN BEIRUT ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN ASSIUT DHAKA ALEXANDRIA MUMBAI DUBAI SHARJAH COLOMBO TRIVANDRUM MUSCAT KOCHI BEIRUT BAHRAIN DAMMAM SHARJAH ABU DHABI COLOMBO DUBAI DELHI DOHA MUMBAI BAHRAIN DUBAI ISLAMABAD DOHA ABU DHABI ALEXANDRIA KUALA LUMPUR

14:10 14:15 14:30 14:45 14:50 15:00 15:00 15:05 15:45 16:00 16:55 17:05 17:10 17:20 17:20 17:40 17:50 18:15 18:20 18:20 18:30 18:40 19:00 19:50 20:15 20:15 20:30 20:35 20:40 20:45 20:50 20:50 20:55 21:05 21:15 21:50 22:05 22:05 22:15 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:45 23:00 23:00 23:05 23:05 23:20 23:50

34

stars CROSSWORD 246

STAR TRACK Aries (March 21-April 19) You do not like making speeches, but when elected as a scheduled speaker, you can plan each word perfectly. You can communicate with great enthusiasm. Words just flow out and are usually followed by an emotional impact that brings them home to your listeners. You have no trouble putting your feelings into words; in fact, you may have to exercise some control over your tongue, for you are quick to say things and everything you communicate packs a wallop. You have a great mental drive and lavish great energy on mental pursuits of all kinds. Ideas, words, books, etc., are pursued with great enthusiasm. This is a time when support and recognition comes from the public, family and friends. Teaching and politics could be the main ideas today.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) A surge of feeling independent, freedom and an interest in trying new ideas, may take hold of you now. You have plenty of enthusiasm and warm up to things and people quickly. You have an inner self-confidence that burns with its own light. You will find yourself very communicative, flexible, mental and other-oriented. If you are in sales, or you teach, people will not be able to resist your proposal. You are a smooth talker with a quick wit and ready tongue. There is a chance to understand those around you and to have a special time with someone you love this evening. You will deal with your feelings for a romantic partner. He or she may push you for a commitment. Consider moving slowly unless you have been together for over a year.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

ACROSS 1. Take in solid food.

4. First woman aviator to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic (1928).

11. A telephone connection.

15. Psychoactive substance present in marijuana.

16. United States feminist (born in 1934).

17. On or toward the lee.

18. A period of time spent sleeping.

19. Softened by the addition of cushions or padding.

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

23. A Turkish unit of weight equal to about 2.75 pounds.

24. Airtight sealed metal container for food or drink or paint etc..

25. An abnormal condition in which a normal opening or tube in the body (as the urethra) is closed or absent.

29. Informal terms for a mother.

31. A state in northwestern United States on the Pacific.

32. (Old Testament) The second patriarch.

33. The act of scanning.

37. Predatory black-and-white toothed whale with large dorsal fin.

39. (Irish) Chief god of the Tuatha De Danann.

40. Swift timid long-eared mammal larger than a rabbit having a divided upper lip and long hind legs.

41. The major mountain range of Bulgaria and the Balkan Peninsula.

44. Valuable source of caviar and isinglass.

45. A waste pipe that carries away sewage or surface water.

48. A nearly horizontal passage from the surface into a mine.

49. An anticipated outcome that is intended or that guides your planned actions.

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

51. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

53. An extravagantly enthusiastic review.

54. An American Indian infant.

57. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

59. Half the width of an em.

60. Tested and proved useful or correct.

61. Submerged aquatic plant having narrow leaves and small flowers.

64. Treated or impregnated with a foreign substance.

67. The second month of the Moslem calendar.

69. Fallow deer.

72. South American armadillo with three bands of bony plates.

74. East Indian tree yielding a resin used medicinally and burned as incense.

75. A sock with a separation for the big toe.

76. An immunosuppressive drug (trade name Imuran) used to prevent rejection of a transplanted organ.

78. Not far distant in time or space or degree or circumstances.

79. By bad luck.

80. Having the characteristics of pitch or tar.

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

DOWN 1. An inactive volcano in Sicily.

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

3. A protocol developed for the internet to get data from one network device to another.

4. A parliamentary monarchy in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.

5. Essential oil or perfume obtained from flowers.

6. Succulent carpet-forming plant having small brilliant reddish-pink flowers.

7. A member of the Sioux people formerly inhabiting an area along the Missouri river in western North Dakota.

8. Used of a single unit or thing.

9. Someone who has red hair.

10. A soft silvery metallic element of the rare earth group.

11. A compartment in front of a motor vehicle where driver sits.

12. In addition.

13. Plant having a large slender white bulb and flat overlapping dark green leaves.

14. A Russian river.

20. Being one more than two.

22. New Zealand timber tree resembling the cypress.

26. A motley assortment of things.

27. Someone who works (or provides workers) during a strike.

28. A rectangular block of hewn stone used for building purposes.

30. Any of various plants of the genus Aralia.

34. Any taillike structure.

35. Of or relating to the ancient Greek city of Argos or its people.

36. Put (things or places) in order.

38. Walk clumsily.

42. Harmony of people's opinions or actions or characters.

43. A river in southeastern Australia that flows generally northwest to join the Darling River.

46. (Greek mythology) An Athenian inventor who built the Labyrinth of Minos.

47. Of or relating to or characteristic of Ghana or its people or language.

52. Any culture medium that uses agar as the gelling agent.

55. Large genus of terrestrial ferns of tropics and subtropics.

56. East Indian annual erect herb.

58. The branch of computer science that deal with writing computer programs that can solve problems creatively.

62. A city in southern Turkey on the Seyhan River.

63. Indigo bush.

65. A translucent mineral consisting of hydrated silica of variable color.

66. A metabolic acid found in yeast and liver cells.

68. A form of magnetic resonance imaging of the brain that registers blood flow to functioning areas of the brain.

70. A flat-bottomed volcanic crater that was formed by an explosion.

71. A river in northern England that flows southeast through West Yorkshire.

73. Term of address for a man.

77. A Mid-Atlantic state.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

Communication, particularly with superiors or authority figures, could prove troublesome if you do not keep notes. Instructions or demands may come quickly. You may be expected to keep up and repeat instructions to others. The lessons you have learned regarding stress relief will prove beneficial. Others value you for your ability to make practical decisions. You have a natural sense of what others need for some project. Clear decisions affecting others could be made now. A social event, perhaps a cultural attraction such as a museum or even a movie, appeals to you. You feel inspired. You enjoy all forms of creativity. Your desires are strong and you will want to enjoy yourself. Romance is very possible.

There is a basic drive to appreciate and taste life.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) Your most essential quality has to do with the very real love and compassion you emit. Your sense of value and sheer appreciation for life are communicated to all who come to know you. Everything points to you taking the initiative today in some efforts to calm, soothe and make others feel secure. You feel a good deal of support from those around you, or circumstances may dictate that you take action. You feel healthy and natural. You love to express yourself and have great stamina—a born entertainer. Your urges for the social life may find you out and about this evening. This is a good time for surrounding yourself with friends and young people and for having fun. General good feelings and a sense of support make this a happy time.

Leo (July 23-August 22) Clear communication is ever important in order to get your needs met. It is time to start thinking about opportunities that will show off your own special talents. You may enjoy your job and be able to express that business side of you, but it is time to show how well you can create. This may be music, crafts or techniques, styles or expressions. You have held yourself back for much too long. You can wait, delay, paralyze yourself or reduce your creativity almost to nothing—but, you cannot abolish it. Everything points to your best qualities this evening, particularly in a social situation. You will have a grasp for unusual as well as spiritual ideas and the ability to present or communicate these to others. You could visit or chat with anyone—network.

Virgo (August 23-September 22) You have strong, stable emotions and tend to draw around you the perfect environment. The thing you need is at hand. In addition, you receive good fortune and much support from friends and relatives. You are sometimes faced with a desire to progress and be all that you can be, versus a tendency to dwell in the past or be a couch potato. Your inner, more domestic side struggles at this time. Consider teaching or taking a class in becoming organized—perhaps a book. This may be the right time to think about changing or enhancing your career. Perhaps something home-based that is creative or teaches others creatively and relieves stress for all. The path or career that you have now may be changed at any time you feel it necessary. Rest early.

Word Search

Libra (September 23-October 22) You may feel left out or passed over just now. Your own requirements may appear to limit and separate you from where the rest of the gang is headed. This is a short-term situation but it needs your attention. All work and no play can be very draining of your energy. Relax this afternoon, take a friend under your wing and invite them to come along and play in some group sports. You could just enjoy a sports event this evening. This may just be the time to break the mold and try what is unconventional, but with real passion or persistence. You put on a more adventurous nature now. Close relationships will take on depth that is more emotional and this may be the time to put your heads together and plan the next vacation.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) This is a great time to be with others and to work together. You may be the one chosen for a particular job. You are very motivated, with a strong drive and urge to do and accomplish. Careful—others could find you a bit pushy if you are left in charge today. You are responsible to the extreme and take on obligations as though you just cannot get enough. You enjoy discipline and limitations are seen as opportunities rather than handicaps. With an eye to progress and the future, you may feel compelled to try for what is just out of your reach. You support authority in all forms. A born coach or teacher, you are at home in the physical and action areas of life. You are able to manage a very active and strong emotional life.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) Your relentless pursuit of anything hidden or secret makes you a researcher or investigator bar none. Emotionally, you are also hot stuff, rushing into areas and handling subject matters that others would never come near. You have the mind of a lawyer, always able to size up a problem and come up with a solution. Using your mind to negotiate obstacles and handle dilemmas of your own or those of others, is a great talent. You have an innate ability to guide and lead others through the hurdles and hassles of life. You could be very much in demand as a therapist. You enjoy solving problems. After uncovering secrets or protecting the community you may decide to become involved in a child’s summer project. It is easy for you to lend a helping hand.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) CAPRICORN Ideas are flowing today and if you have been elected to convince the boss or the planning committee of some changes, you are successful. Your outward seriousness and no-nonsense approach to things are obvious to all. This deliberate sense of responsibility comes across and is central to your personality and the way you relate to other people. Everything moves through your checkpoint to see if it can pass the test. Although you are very creative, you can be a stickler with details. You may be able to enjoy and value the relationships you have with your friends and loved ones this evening. A sense of support makes this a good time for you. Better communication skills are needed while playing games this evening—dominoes anyone?

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) You have plenty of good practical ideas for solving problems in the workplace. You have the ability to communicate with superiors or describe what you see.

Being appreciated for your gifts and talents is a powerful need. You may be asked to help in a particular project. Your management capabilities are in high focus. Rewards await your efforts. You work with real imagination and understanding in areas of the mind that are most personal or private. There are opportunities to help others in a volunteer situation after the workday is over. Children or animals may not know how to tell you they appreciate your efforts but you are pleased at the results of your hard work. Now, set your feet up, lean back and relax.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) Ideas and communications are topics of interest and concern for you now.

Getting the facts and making sure that people get your message straight can make all the difference in the world—and any shortcomings in these areas can cause problems. Travel could be more trouble than it’s worth just now. You have a lot of energy to pour into practical and career decisions. Take a step back and reassess what motivates you. You are original and insightful when it comes to practical matters—job, career and such. Independent, you may have an unconventional approach to work, especially regarding how you organize or manage.

A relationship grows closer because you share the same viewpoint. Building a good relationship takes time and trust.

Yesterday’s Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

Daily SuDoku

Yesterday’s Solution

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

i n f o r m at i o n For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128 GOVERNORATE Sabah Hospital

24812000

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

PHARMACY

ADDRESS

PHONE

Ahmadi

Sama Safwan Abu Halaifa Danat Al-Sultan

Fahaeel Makka St Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd

23915883 23715414 23726558

Jahra

Modern Jahra Madina Munawara

Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 Jahra-Block 92

24575518 24566622

Capital

Ahlam Khaldiya Coop

Fahad Al-Salem St Khaldiya Coop

22436184 24833967

Farwaniya

New Shifa Ferdous Coop Modern Safwan

Farwaniya Block 40 Ferdous Coop Old Kheitan Block 11

24734000 24881201 24726638

Tariq Hana Ikhlas Hawally & Rawdha Ghadeer Kindy Ibn Al-Nafis Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Salmiya-Amman St Hawally-Beirut St Hawally & Rawdha Coop Jabriya-Block 1A Jabriya-Block 3B Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

25726265 25647075 22625999 22564549 25340559 25326554 25721264 25380581 25628241

Hawally

Al-Madeena

22418714

Al-Shuhada

22545171

Al-Shuwaikh

24810598

Al-Nuzha

22545171

Sabhan

24742838

Al-Helaly

22434853

Al-Faiha

22545051

Al-Farwaniya

24711433

Al-Sulaibikhat

24316983

Al-Fahaheel

23927002

Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh

24316983

Ahmadi

23980088

Al-Mangaf

23711183

Al-Shuaiba

23262845

Kaizen center

25716707

Rawda

22517733

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WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

lifestyle G o s s i p

M

ariah Carey is in the hospital for a shoulder injury. The pop star’s representative says the singer went to the hospital in New York late Sunday after injuring her shoulder while filming a music video. Her rep adds Monday that “doctors reset her shoulder” and that “she is fine.” Carey was filming a video for a remix version of her song “#Beautiful” with rapper Young Jeezy. The video was being directed by her husband Nick Cannon. The singer will

still perform Saturday with the New York Philharmonic on Central Park’s Great Lawn for the 2013 MLB All-Star Charity Concert. It will benefit Superstorm Sandy victims. Carey will release a new album this year. “#Beautiful” features Grammy-winning R&B singer Miguel and has peaked at No. 15 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart.

Travis in critical in Texas hospital

D

on’t worry about Paula Abdul; she’s finding work. At least for one night. Abdul, who exited Fox’s “American Idol” and “The X Factor” amid shakeups to those show’s judges’ panels, has picked up a little temporary work via a one-night stand on yet another Fox competition series, “So You Think You Can Dance.” Abdul will guestjudge the series on Tuesday night, Fox said on Monday. Abdul will help critique the Top 18 finalists, a croup that includes Jasmine Mason, Alan Bersten and Mariah Spears.(The latter, by the way, is not a human mash-up of former “American Idol” judge Mariah Carey and former “The X Factor” judge Britney Spears.) Fox Sports personality Erin Andrews will also guest-judge the episode.

A

cruise with Goldie Hawn and her daughter Kate Hudson fetched £140,000 at an auction for the Novak Djokovic Foundation on Monday night .The four-day vacation aboard super yacht Silver Angel - which has a staff of 22 - with the ‘Overboard’ star and her actress daughter was snapped up jointly by three couples, including TV presenter Jonathan Ross and his wife Jane Goldman, for the huge sum. The item was part of an auction at the inaugural tennis-themed dinner held at The Roundhouse venue in London to raise money for the tennis player’s new charity - which aims to help disadvantaged children across the world but especially in Djokovic’s native Serbia. A number of items were sold for high prices during the evening, including a weeklong vacation at the luxurious Gili Lankanfushi resort in the Maldives in an overwater villa which was snapped up by Gerard Butler for £25,000. A Roland Iten ‘mechanical calibre’ solid gold belt buckle “test driven” by Sylvester Stallone was bought by Djokovic for £42,000. Over £1.14 million was raised in

total, and at one during the dinner Goldie and Kate played former Wimbledon winner Boris Becker at tennis. Goldie’s own Hawn Foundation has partnered with The Novak Djokovic Foundation to continue the work her MindUpProgramme has started in Serbia to help kids and she is very proud of their association. Speaking before the event started, the 67-year-old actress told BANG Showbiz: “I’m very excited to partnering Novak’s foundation. Our programs’ aim is to help children to gain confidence, to experience happiness, provide them with optimism and get them ready for the world. There are many ways to help children, and that’s what our program does. It’s a great feeling to be able to do it and that’s why I’m here.” Other guests included Sarah Ferguson, The Duchess of York - who was recently announced as the charity’s Global Ambassador - her daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, Ronnie Wood and Sir Richard Branson.

C

ountry music star Randy Travis was in critical condition Monday in a Texas hospital, a day after he was hospitalized with viral cardiomyopathy. A news release from the singer’s publicist says Travis was admitted to the hospital Sunday in Dallas and is in critical condition.

Kirt Webster, Travis’ publicist, said no other details about Travis’ condition were available Monday. Viral cardiomyopathy is a heart condition caused by a virus. The illness is a continuation of a tough run for the 54-year-old “Three Wooden Crosses” singer after a handful of recent high-profile appearances, including a performance during the Country Music Association Festival’s nightly concert series.

Travis pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated in January following his arrest last year when he was found naked after crashing his Pontiac Trans Am. Travis was sen-

tenced to two years of probation, fined $2000 and given a 180-day suspended jail sentence. He was required to spend at least 30 days at an alcohol treatment facility and complete 100 hours of community service. The Mayo Clinic website describes cardiomyopathy (kahr-dee-oh-my-OPuh-thee) as a disease that weakens and enlarges the heart muscle, making it harder for the heart to pump blood and carry it to the rest of the body. It can lead to heart failure.

Treatments range from medications and surgically implanted devices to heart transplants.

“B

iggest Loser” alum Tara Costa could have a weighty legal situation on her hands. Costa, who appeared on NBC’s “The Biggest Loser: Couples 2” - and lost 155 pounds in the process - is being sued by a fitness company, which claims that Costa violated a business agreement with them. Among the gripes in the lawsuit, filed in US District Court in Florida: That Costa “had gained far too much weight” to make personal appearances on behalf of the company. FC Online Marketing, Inc. - which owns the website I Love Kickboxing - claims that the alleged weight gain ran contrary to a passage in the agreement that Costa “agrees to maintain her current level of fitness and conditioning” during the length of the agreement.

The suit, which also names The Champion Funds, Inc., d/b/athe Inspire Change Foundation, levels other charges. The complaint also claims that FC Online Marketing agreed to pay the Foundation $45,000 for “likeness rights” to Costa - rights that, the suit alleges, were not the Foundation’s to grant. On top of everything else, the suit claims, Costa entered into an agreement with one of FC Online Marketing’s competitors, in violation of the original agreement. The Inspire Change Foundation has not yet responded to TheWrap’s request for comment.

The suit is seeking unspecified damages.

D

avid Schwimmer is coming back to the New York stage - by way of “Detroit.” The former “Friends” star will make his Playwrights Horizons debut this summer in Lisa D’Amour’s play about the tensions lurking under the surface of American life. He will star opposite Tony Award nominee Amy Ryan. “Detroit” is set in a suburb of that city and centers on a couple who invite their new neighbors over for a barbecue only to slowly find their friendship veering out of control. Previews begin Aug 24. The play represents Schwimmer’s first return to the New York stage since his Broadway debut in “The Caine Mutiny Court Martial” in 2006. He also directed “Fault Lines” at the Cherry Lane Theatre in 2008.

A

ctor Jim Carrey, who spoke out against gun violence after a series of deadly shootings in the United States in 2012, apologized to assault weapon rights defenders on Monday. Carrey had tweeted a series of insults at gun owners and gun rights supporters, mainly after a gun massacre at a Newtown Connecticut school that killed 26 people including 20 children last December.

“Any1 who would run out to buy an assault rifle after the Newtown massacre has very little left in their body or soul worth protecting,” Carrey tweeted in February. And in March, he tweeted: “154 BULLETS FIRED AT SANDY HOOK! 2 handguns n a bushmaster rifle on Lanza. 1600 rnds of amo at his house. WE MUST STOP THIS!!” Despite an outpouring of anguish across America over the school shooting, the US Congress voted against passing new gun control measures earlier this year. And on Monday, Carrey took

a different tack on the issue. “Asslt rifle fans,I do not agree wth u,nor do I fear u but I do love u and I’m sorry tht in my outrage I called you names. That was wrong,” the Canadian-born US actor said in a Twitter posting. Minutes later, Carrey added “Btw I don’t need a crisis mgr, just a conscience. Calling ppl names is inappropriate but my position on assault weapons hasn’t changed.” Last month, the actor, 51, said he would not take part in promoting his new film “Kick-Ass 2” saying that after the Newtown shooting, in hindsight, it appeared too violent to him.

Carrey apologizes to assault weapon owners

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

lifestyle F e a t u r e s

A Cambodian vendor preparing traditional medicines for sale at a shop in Phnom Penh.— AFP photos

A professor of Cambodian traditional healers, showing a plant as he teaches students during a trip in Kep province.

A

lizard dipped in wine may not seem like an obvious asthma remedy, but as Cambodian traditional healers strive to turn their ancient wisdom into a professional industry such treatments are finding their way into the classroom. For generations, the secrets of “Kru Khmer” traditional remedies have been passed down by word of mouth-often from father to son-with each expert tweaking the methods along the way. But in an attempt to freshen up the ancient art and better regulate the industry, Cambodia’s Ministry of Health has opened a traditional medicine school, with funds from a Japanese foundation.

Cambodia is home to thousands of Kru Khmer practitionersmedicinal plant experts whose mysterious concoctions of roots, barks and leaves are used to heal common ailments. The school, which opened in 2009, has trained some 345 Kru Khmer so far, with a particular focus on hygiene and anatomy. “It’s good to have training like this because it teaches us correct, safe methods,” said Kraing Dhein, a student at the school. A certain kind of tree bark is said to help breast-feeding women produce enough milk, while the pungent durian fruit is well-known as a treatment for rheumatism.

Other remedies are potentially dangerous-in the worst case, powerful homemade rice wine is known to have been recommended to pregnant women. “This training is more professional than what students learn from their ancestors,” said Kong Sokdina, project manager for CatMO, a traditional medicine organization that manages the courses. “They are taught many subjects, such as the ethical code of treatment... they wouldn’t know otherwise.” During the five months of training, students are taken on regular field trips to study local varieties of plants and learn about their natural healing properties-such as those that can act as antibiotics or have antiseptic qualities.

The final trip on the course is to southern Kampot province, home to many unique plant species. “We can find roots that no longer exist elsewhere,” said professor Ky Bouhang, chair of the Cambodian Traditional Healers Association. Some 80 percent of Cambodia’s population live in rural areas, often in villages with no doctors, let alone a hospital. Even where local healthcare is available, many villagers cannot afford professional medical care. Traditional healers offer a cheaper alternative-and business is prosperous.

A

fter killing off Batman’s Robin and reinventing the X-Men, Scottish comic book writer Grant Morrison is looking for other superhuman legends to transform with his pen. Morrison - who has also taken on Spiderman and Superman in a 25-year career has decided to leave the caped crusader in the hands of other writers after the final issue of his “BATMAN, INCORPORATED” DC Comics series comes out this month.

“The seven years has exhausted everything I ever had to say about the character,” Morrison told Reuters in a telephone interview. Morrison, 53, said his final iteration of Batman had used ideas from the character’s entire journey from the crimefighter created by writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane in 1939 through his slapstick portrayal in the 1960s US TV series to director Christopher Nolan’s brooding 2008 “Dark Knight” film.

“Batman seems to be endlessly pliable and malleable in that he can assume all kinds of guises from the comedy pop-up Batman of the 60s to the very militaristic, realistic, trending Batman of Christopher Nolan,” Morrison said. In his latest guise, the writer created a Robin character who was the son of Batman by the daughter of a master criminal.

Raised by a criminal gang to rule the world, Robin discovered his true father was Batman, decided to become a superhero but died saving the planet at the tender age of 10. “The story was always going to be about this little kid’s journey from being trained by assassins and raised by an evil cabal of people finding out

Thai Savy trainer of Cambodian traditional healers, teaching students in a classroom at the National Center of Traditional Medicine (NCTM) in Phnom Penh.

‘I believe in traditional medicine’ On the outskirts of Phnom Penh’s Orussey Market, many Kru Khmer man tables heaped high with dried plants and animal parts, roots, barks and other traditional treatments. Tauch Sreythoeun opened her stall at Orussey soon after she finished training. “Some (customers) want plants to help reduce fever, for example, so I mix them a treatment from several roots,” she told AFP. Patients usually seek out a Kru Khmer for help with minor gripes, such as stomach aches and exhaustion, which do not demand the attention-and expense of a proper doctor.

“Traditional medicine can help treat the poorest people because people (living) in the country do not have enough money to go to the hospital or see a doctor,” said Soung

that he is the son of Batman and trying to live up to that legacy,” he said. “The story for that character was always that he would die in the end.” Morrison likened his efforts to reinvent the pantheon of superheroes to the evolution of the King Arthur and Robin Hood legends passed down through oral tradition. “I think it’s important to basically find what was the core of the character and then to see how that applies to the way we think in the real world and see if it can be updated and matched to interests and ideas that people have in a contemporary setting,” he said.

His next projects include a re-working of Wonder Woman, and a series called “MULTIVERSE”, where superheroes exist in parallel universes. In one alternative scenario, Hitler won the war and Superman is a Nazi. In another, superheroes have vanquished evil and their gifted children have nothing to do.

Morrison, whose popularity is so vast he had his own comic book convention last year in Las Vegas, said his interest in American comics came out of a childhood spent near a naval base, which once had a huge American presence. “We were getting comics and records and a very strong American influence for a long time, for the entire postwar period right into the 80s,” he said. “Once you consider that, it’s not much of a surprise that I grew up with American culture and American superheroes looming very large in my life.”—Reuters

Cambodian workers filling traditional medicines in plastic bags as they produce medicine at a shop in Phnom Penh.

Kimsath, still a Kru Khmer student. But some adherents claim the discipline is so powerful that it can replace modern medicine entirely.

Pov Rany has regularly consulted traditional healers ever since she discovered she had a cyst in her chest. “I believe in traditional medicine, I think it is effective and good for my health,” she said. “I don’t use modern medicine because drugs contain chemical substances and counterfeit products.” Some doctors warn about the dangers of relying solely on traditional healersespecially for serious illnesses. But in Cambodia, the pull of traditional medicine is strong. Many see it as tried and trusted ancient wisdom in contrast to the country’s myriad local pharmacies, which dole out expensive and often counterfeit

A bakery employee stackts fresh bread at the bakery Plentz in Schwante. — AFP photos

“I

t’s a sense of home,” German master baker KarlDietmar Plentz muses, dipping his hands into a tray of flour and letting it run through his fingers as 26 types of bread bake in the ovens of his 136year-old family business. Behind him a worker deftly kneads two pieces of dough into identical loaves, one in each hand, as they roll off a cutting machine. They belong to a batch of ‘potato bread’, one of Plentz’s specialties that is still partly made the way his grandfather did it.

German bakers are calling for their breadmaking to be recognized by the United Nations’ cultural organization, UNESCO, as “intangible cultural heritage”, alongside Argentina’s tango, carpet weaving from southwest Iran and France’s four-course gastronomic meal.

Pondering why Germany’s rich assortment of bread should be considered a global cultural asset, Plentz, a 46-year-old fourth generation baker from northeastern Germany who grew up behind the Iron Curtain, says “individuality” is important. That’s not necessarily easy with supermarkets and petrol stations jostling to sell bread, cakes and pastries, and a changing on-the-go lifestyle meaning that Germany’s traditional ‘Abendbrot’-supper of bread with cold meats-is on the wane. About 500 bakeries closed over the past year, according to the German Federation of the Bakery Trade. Peter Becker, federation president, said “diversity” was key to the UNESCO bid and would recognize the “pride in our products”, which are often crafted from recipes passed down from one generation to the next and may also reflect a regional identity. “In France there are excellent baguettes, in Italy outstanding ciabatta, but worldwide, I think, only Germany has this variety, from wholemeal bread to good wheat bread,” he told AFP.

Western medicines, with no proper advice or prescription.

The most obscure power of the healers pertains to the spirits. Many Cambodians believe Kru Khmer have the capacity to literally blow bad spirits out of the body. “I cured a woman who had shingles with my magic breath,” said Ky Bouhang. “Today, she can work again in her farm while no other treatment had been a success.”— AFP

A master baker Steffen Haensch prepares the potato bread at the bakery Plentz.

German bread ‘second to none’ Germany is due to become the 153rd state party to UNESCO’s 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage this week, with its 16 regions now collecting proposals for possible inclusion on a national inventory a prerequisite for later UNESCO listing. Germany’s history initially muddied plans to join the convention by raising fears that traditions distorted by the Nazis or the East German regime could be proposed, Benjamin Hanke of the German Commission for UNESCO said.

But other reasons also caused Germany to originally hang back, he said, including a general failure to grasp and clearly define the concept of heritage based on know-how rather than something concrete. The baker’s federation threw its first “Day of German Bread” gala last month, appointing two “Brotschafter”, a neat blend of the German words for ambassador and bread, and trumpeted its ‘Bread Register’. Around 3,000 speciality breads have so far been logged. German bread has enjoyed high-profile endorsements recently.

Outgoing US ambassador to Berlin Philip Murphy’s wife Tammy told reporters it was one of the things she’d recommend to visiting First Lady Michelle Obama.

“It’s second to none,” she enthused, while the frontman of US rock band 30 Seconds to Mars, Jared Leto, told fans at a concert “I love the German bread”. The vast array of bread is partly down to Germany’s varied climate which allows all types of crops to thrive, Becker said. But history and geography too have played a role, he added, explaining that bread had been one way for the small princedoms that formerly dotted across Germany to carve out their own identity. “Germany is located on the way to the sea. Many nations have

come through here, the French for instance. Napoleon stopped over in Hamburg and we have here a ‘Franzbroetchen’ (French bread roll) which certainly originates from the French period. “I believe it has all left its mark,” Becker said. The baker’s trade now uses social media to attract fresh blood after an almost 30percent drop since 2007 in apprentices amid a shrinking and ageing German population and an image problem over the early start to the workday.

“We found each other via Facebook. He wanted to become a baker and we were looking for an apprentice,” Plentz said of Spanish trainee Guellem Xanxo, 24, who begins a two-year apprenticeship in August. With a son and four daughters, Plentz does not know yet to whom he will hand over the reigns of the business he joined from school. It now employs about 100 people and counts five branches in the region around the town of Oranienburg, about 35 kilometers (22 miles) from Berlin. He used to help out as a boy and went into the business after leaving school when the East German regime clipped his ambitions to study due to his Christian beliefs and failure to join communist youth groups.

But he says he has no regrets. He proudly mentions “passion” and “creativity” when describing his work, adorning his bakery with bygone tools of the trade for myriad breads, some of whose intriguing names even he is at a loss to explain. “Kaviarbrot”, it seems, has nothing to do with fish. For Plentz, UNESCO recognition would be a stamp of approval and a celebration of age-old methods such as the wood-burning oven where he bakes on market days on the village square opposite his bakery. —AFP

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

lifestyle M u s i c

&

M o v i e s

T

he lead single from Ciara’s self-titled fifth album, “Body Party,” is an oozing, seductive R&B track that deserves rousing applause - especially when the 27-yearold matches the song with daring and sensual dance moves that scream Janet Jackson, Aaliyah and others that have come before her, as she did at the recent BET Awards. The bedroom groove is easily the best of the 11 tracks that make up “Ciara.” There are others that shine, too: The bouncy “Livin’ It Up,” one of two songs to feature Nicki Minaj, has an empowering feel; the mid-tempo “Read My Lips” is appealing and Ciara’s sweet tone rides nicely over the semi-electronic beat of “Overdose.”

T

he courageous story of the “Flying Sikh” — India’s most successful ever track athlete, who overcame childhood tragedy to seek Olympic glory-is the latest Bollywood biopic to hit cinemas. “Bhaag Milkha Bhaag” (Run, Milkha, Run) charts the journey of young Milkha Singh who lost his family during India’s tumultuous partition in 1947 and went on to compete at the 1960 and 1964 Olympic Games. His rise to elite athlete made Singh a national hero and the film, which opens in theatres worldwide on Friday, joins the Bollywood trend of movies based on or inspired by real stories.

“We all grew up with the folklore of Milkha, he’s a larger-thanlife figure for us,” said the film’s director Rakeysh Mehra. “He’s like what Pele meant to football, or what Jesse Owens meant for track and field for the West.” The movie title refers to the poignant last

words spoken to Singh by his father. As he was dying, he told Singh to flee or he too would be killed in the post-partition riots sweeping the subcontinent-Singh ran for his life and boarded a train with other refugees.

Mehra was drawn to Singh’s story not just for his sporting achievements but for the impact the athlete had on a newborn nation struggling to assert itself. “At that time, we were looking for heroes outside politics. Outside (Mahatma) Gandhi or (prime minister Jawaharlal) Nehru, there were none that the world knew. So he went out there and in a way conquered the world for us,” he explained. “This man never ran away from his fears, he ran along with them.” Singh finished fourth in the 400 metres at the 1960 Olympics in Rome after a spectacular final that was so close it needed a photo finish to determine fourth place.

A devastated Singh, who won gold at both the Asian and Commonwealth Games, never fulfilled his dream of winning an Olympic medal. The director says his film is decidedly “unBollywood”, deviating from the typical plotline that aims to “serve a complete meal” by combining elements of dance, drama, emotion and action into one blockbuster. “Here, drama is the key,” Mehra said. He is the latest Bollywood director to experiment with a biographical story, following a string of true-life movies in recent years that have proven popular with wide audiences. Among the most successful was “The Dirty Picture” (2011), starring Vidya Balan and inspired by the life of a South Indian erotic actress in the 1980s. Last year’s critically-acclaimed sports biopic “Paan Singh Tomar”, starring Irrfan Khan, told the story of athlete Tomar who became a notorious bandit. Currently in the pipeline are movies about playback singer Kishore Kumar and boxing star Mary Kom, a farmer’s daughter who became a five-time world champion and won a bronze medal at the London Olympics. Farhan Akhtar, who plays Milkha Singh in the new movie, said portraying a living person was a huge responsibility that required months of both physical and mental preparation.

“I wanted them to believe that they’ve cast an athlete and taught him how to act, as opposed to the other way around. And that comes from the kind of energy you exude when you walk onto a track and it feels like you belong to this space,” he said. The former sprinter, now 77, told Akhtar he hoped the film would encourage future Indian athletes by showing just how close he came to Olympic glory, and perhaps inspiring them “to fulfill that dream for him”, the actor said. — AFP

Indian Bollywood film director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, of the upcoming Hindi film ‘Bhaag Milka Bhagg’ speaks during an interview.

Indian Bollywood film actor Farhan Akhtar, co-star of the upcoming Hindi film ‘Bhaag Milka Bhagg’, based on the life of Indian Olympian Milkha Singh, speaks during an interview with AFP in New Delhi. — AFP photos

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Chinese journalist said yesterday that he has been conditionally released from detention after five weeks in which he was asked about his book on the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown and a film he made about labor camp abuses. Beijingbased video and photojournalist Du Bin said by phone that state security officials released him Monday evening from the Fengtai District detention center and told him that for the next 12 months, he is restricted from leaving the city without informing the authorities ahead of time, even for domestic travel.

Officials questioned him about a 600-page book he recently published in Hong Kong about the 1989

military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing and a film he made about torture at a Chinese labor camp, he said. The authorities were questioning him to learn if the work he did amounted to the crime of “causing a disturbance,” Du said.

He was not formally charged, however. “From the time I was taken in until I was released, I never felt like I had committed any crime,” Du said.

“What I want to do is to reflect the era that we live in, tell the stories of China’s ordinary people, of when they die abnormal deaths and their joys and sorrows. I’m concerned with humanity.” Du said he was treated with respect by detention center officials and was never beaten and that he enjoyed his

Still, the album doesn’t feel special. While it’s much better than her last two releases the weak “Fantasy Ride” and the subpar “Basic Instinct” - the album is made up of fillers that have you still wondering what kind of singer Ciara is. Like her past records, “Ciara” isn’t cohesive, and instead, sporadic - some hits here, satisfactory work there, but overall, mediocrity reigns. The album, out on Epic Records, is her first album since leaving LaFace Records, her home since she released her multi-platinum 2004 debut, the explosive “Goodies.” She had hits from that album and its follow-up, “Ciara: The Evolution,” but she hasn’t established her own style or sound in the near-decade she’s been on the scene.

Ciara, the person, is still searching for Ciara, the singer. Ciara kicked-off her new album with three different singles - “Sweat,” “Sorry” and “Got Me Good” - that now don’t appear on “Ciara,” a sign of her creative struggles. The album features producers and songwriters like Rodney Jerkins, Mike WiLL Made-It, Livvi Franc and Future, her rapper boyfriend who co-wrote and co-produced “Body Party.” Hopefully, he can be the Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis to her Janet - or she can find someone else to fill that slot. — AP

This film image released by Warner Bros Pictures shows Charlie Hunnam as Raleigh Becket, left, and Rinko Kikuchi as Mako Mori in a scene from ‘Pacific Rim.’ — AP

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uillermo del Toro’s monsters-vs-giant-robots opus “Pacific Rim” hits theaters Friday, and the early buzz is that it’s a visually sumptuous fantasy from the Mexican moviemaker. Critics have largely praised the film as an indulgent but nonetheless tasty piece of popcorn entertainment although a few have groused that it is a soulless enterprise unworthy of the director behind such visionary and dark spectacles as “Pan’s Labyrinth.”

Many top reviewers have yet to weigh in, so it’s possible that the critical consensus could shift in the direction of either turkey or triumph over the next few days. However, thus far “Pacific Rim” commands a solid 72 percent “fresh” rating on critics-aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. The film stars Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba and Charlie Day and centers on a collection of menacing sea creatures called kaiju that terrorize the earth. To combat the toothsome threat, mankind creates massive machines dubbed jaegers to fight the monsters and reclaim the planet. As expected, phrases like “life-like” and “gritty” did not grace many reviews.

In TheWrap, Alonso Duralde carped that the film is overly reliant on computer-generated wonders and faulted del Toro for staging too many set pieces in the rain-streaked night. “One guy in one rubber Godzilla suit stepping on a balsa-wood scale model of Tokyo provides lots more thrills than del Toro’s Monster Armies of the Night,” Duralde wrote.

He added: “Part of the film’s problem is the whole ‘of the Night’ thing: Whenever the jaegers and the kaiju throw down in ‘Pacific Rim,’ it’s at night in the pouring rain-unless they’re both at the bottom of the ocean. What’s the point, exactly, of cutting-edge CG monsters filmed in a way where we can barely see them? Would ‘Jurassic Park’ have worked if our glimpses of the dinosaurs had been fleeting at best?”

Justin Chang of Variety also was enervated rather than energized by the epic battles, branding the film the “clunkiest” of del Toro’s career. He questioned if the $200 million production will arrive in theaters with a strong-enough brand to compete with the superhero films and sequels currently jockeying for space at the local multiplex.

“With this gargantuan passion project, del Toro means to fashion a giddy throwback to the monster movies of yore and restore a sense of pure escapism to the summer movie landscape, an eminently worthy goal for a genre master of such inexhaustible imagination and knowledge of the B-movie canon,” Chang wrote. “Yet while the director’s love for his material is at once sincere and self-evident, it’s the sort of devotion that winds up holding all but the

most like-minded viewers at an uninvolving remove.”

Those attributes that were considered deficits by Chang and Duralde were roundly praised by Film.com’s Jordan Hoffman, who lauded “Pacific Rim” for tickling all his adolescent pleasure zones. “They don’t let 14-year-old boys direct multi-million-dollar feature films, but somehow, perhaps through years of Ramtha-like training, Guillermo del Toro has channeled the interests, attitudes and fears from that mindset with a clarity that far surpasses contemporaries like Michael Bay ... This is playtime and imagination drawn from a number of different sources and it is, when compared to its peer group, of extremely high caliber,” Hoffman wrote.

Empire’s Ian Nathan acknowledged that moviegoers hoping for character development should look elsewhere but praised the film for ably handling the on-screen battles and its director for providing a few flourishes. “Del Toro is giving scope to a boyhood lust for mayhem, the multi-million-dollar equivalent of kicking over sandcastles and torturing insects,” Nathan wrote. “There is something infectiously juvenile in that. Catch his Drift and you’ll have a brawl.”

That’s precisely the experience that Drew McWeeny chronicled in his rapturous review of the film on HitFix. McWeeny’s prose practically pranced, be-bopped and ricocheted off the page as he described his bliss over del Toro’s tribute to monster movies.

“You can practically hear Guillermo Del Toro sitting just out of camera range and cackling at this big, beautiful, weird-as-hell thrill ride,” McWeeny wrote. “Whatever happens with the film when it opens, this is what Del Toro’s heart looks like if you were to cut it open and lay it out for inspection.”

IndieWire’s Eric Kohn gave a tortured appraisal. It’s better than the standard blockbuster fare, he wrote, but it still suffers from a certain soullessness.

“Compared to some of the more leaden spectacles this summer, ‘White House Down’ and the final hour of ‘Man of Steel’ chief among them, ‘Pacific Rim’ has the inventive, colorful textures of a fully realized world,” Kohn wrote. “But that’s only enough to make it a slightly different kind of dumb from the usual messy blockbuster routine.”— Reuters

interactions with other detainees. He said, however, that police had seized his work computer, mobile phone and other and have not returned them to him. Du’s detention had come amid a broader crackdown on China’s small, beleaguered community of rights activists and dissidents launched under new Communist Party chief Xi Jinping. The campaign has dashed hopes that the new leadership might ease controls on civil society. — AP

In this photo released by activist Hu Jia, Beijing-based video and photojournalist Du Bin talks on his mobile phone in Beijing yesterday. — AP

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(From left) Nastaran Ghaffari, Kamyar Shahdoust, Farbod Shirmohammad, Danial Izadi and Hamed Babaei, members of an Iranian band called ‘Accolade,’ practice at the house of one of the members in Tehran.

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Iranian guitarist Hamed Babaei practices for his band called ‘Accolade’ in a basement of a house.

eavy metal guitarists jamming in basements. Headphone-wearing disc jockeys mixing beats. It’s an underground music scene that is flourishing in Iran, despite government restrictions. It isn’t necessarily a sign of rebellion against Iran’s theocratic government, though. Musicians, including a woman violinist who performs underground, say they enjoy the freedom their off-the-record existence provides.

Many musicians fled in the 1980s after Iran’s Islamic Revolution. Today, though gov-

Kamyar Shahdoust with base guitar, from left, Danial Izadi with harmonica, Nastaran Ghaffari with violin and Hamed Babaei with electric guitar practice in a basement of a house.

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etallica will perform during Comic-Con San Diego to help promote a new 3D movie the iconic metal band wrote and stars in, Picturehouse announced on Monday. The film, “Metallica Through the Never,” splices footage of a Metallica concert in Canada with a fictional narrative about a roadie (played by Dane DeHaan). Picturehouse is distributing the movie - its first project since the company

Photo shows female Iranian back vocalist Azadeh Ettehad and violinist Nastaran Ghaffari, both members of a band called ‘Accolade,’ perform in an unauthorized stage performance in Tehran, Iran. — AP photos

ernment minders have allowed some pop concerts to go on, musicians say all the hassles and restrictions make playing underground easier.

“Are we underground because we want to oppose the system? No,” musician Danial Izadi said. “We wanted to do what we loved to do.” — AP

Female Iranian violinist Nastaran Ghaffari practices for her band called ‘Accolade’ in a basement of a house in Tehran.

Iranian musician Ardeshir Jofreh, a member of a band called ‘Accolade,’ performs in an unauthorized stage performance.

relaunched with Bob Berney and his wife Jeanne in charge. The four members of the band (James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo), along with DeHaan, director Nimrod Antal and producer Charlotte Huggins, will appear on a panel at 6:30 pm July 19, debuting a trailer, poster and footage from the film for fans in attendance. The band, making its first appearance at Comic-Con, also will play a private concert at a secret

Iranian musician Danial Izadi performs with his harmonica in an unauthorized stage performance for his band called ‘Accolade’ in Tehran, Iran.

location. Those fans at the panel will learn the location and have a chance to win tickets.

Advance tickets for the movie will go on sale after the panel. The film will open on large-format IMAX screens Sept 27 before moving to additional theaters the following week.

As the New York Times pointed out in a Monday piece on Metallica’s Comic-Con plans, music has never been a focal point of an event dedicated to other cultural industries such

as film, television and comic books. While most of the zealous fans in attendance are usually on the lookout for invites to parties, pictures with celebrities and unique memorabilia, a ticket to that show could become the hottest ticket in town. — Reuters

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hen tornadoes devastated parts of Oklahoma earlier this year, members of Kings of Leon decided to help out the people of the state that’s been a huge part of their lives over the years. They just weren’t sure how, and opening up the bank account didn’t seem the right way to go.

“It just felt like something we could lend a hand to,” Jared Followill said. “We talked about just donating some money.

But you know we just all started talking and we realized we’d probably raise more money by doing a show and it would probably be more fun for us than just writing a check. We can go there and be with the people, be with our family. It was one of those things that we didn’t realize that it could happen.

The people that we work with just made it happen really quickly.”

The Kings of Leon’s Rock for Oklahoma: A Benefit Concert for Oklahoma Tornado Victims will happen July 23. It’s the third big fundraiser in the wake of the storms that killed dozens and uprooted thousands, preceded by efforts that included fellow Oklahomans Blake Shelton, Toby Keith, Garth Brooks, Ronnie Dunn and Carrie Underwood. The Followills invited Oklahoma City residents The Flaming Lips and Jackson Browne and Built to Spill to participate in the concert at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Grace Potter and Ben Kweller will make guest appearances, and there will be a silent auction to win a meet-and-greet with Victoria’s Secret Angels Lily Aldridge and Erin Heatherton.

The concert comes as the Kings wrap up a European tour and prepare to release their sixth album, “Mechanical Bull,” later this year. Known as a Nashville band, the Kings have strong and deep ties to Oklahoma. Half the Followill family band, which consists of brothers Jared, Nathan and Caleb and cousin Matthew, was born in the state. They cheer for Oklahoma sports teams and return every year for a family reunion in Talihina. And their fathers and many family members still live there. Proceeds from the concert will benefit the United Way of Central Oklahoma May Tornadoes Relief Fund.

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“Oklahoma’s been a really huge part of our lives,” Followill said.

“We just have so many roots there and so many friends. A lot ... of people that are close to us were affected in one way or another, so I think it’s just really important for us to do this and give pretty much all we can.”— AP

File photo shows Caleb Followill from the band Kings of Leon performs at the 3rd annual Governors Ball Music Festival in New York. — AP

am Trammell, who plays bar owner Sam Merlotte on HBO’s “True Blood,” has booked the lead role as a junkie in the gritty indie movie “The Aftermath,” TheWrap has learned.

An individual familiar with the project tells TheWrap the film’s tone is a cross between “Winter’s Bone” and “Trainspotting.”

Trammell plays a struggling addict who becomes obsessed with a pendant that he believes will save his marriage. When the pendant is stolen, he plunges into the seedy underworld of his small town in search of it. SSS Entertainment is producing and financing. Tim McCann is directing from a script he co-wrote with Shaun Sanghani, who is also producing. In addition to starring, Trammell will also serve as an executive producer. A July 29 start is scheduled in Alexandria, Louisiana.

“The Aftermath” reunites Trammell with director McCann and producer Sanghani, who recently collaborated on the indie drama “White Rabbit,” which also stars Nick Krause and Britt Robertson. Trammell, who plays bar owner Sam Merlotte on HBO’s “True Blood,” will soon be seen opposite Virginia Madsen in the indie “Crazy Kind of Love.” He has also wrapped “Things People Do” with Wes Bentley and Jason Isaacs, and the comedy “Me” with Jennifer Jason Leigh and Gina Gershon. He’s repped

by Innovative Artists, Untitled Entertainment and Parseghian Planco. — Reuters

Underground music flourishes in Iran

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013

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A Palestinian vendor waits for customers seeking prayer beads and clothes used by Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan at his market in the West Bank city of Jenin ahead of Ramadan yesterday. Muslims throughout the world are celebrating the holy month of Ramadan, where observants fast from dawn till dusk. — AP

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A picture taken on July 1, 2013, shows Palestinian winner of “Arab Idol” Mohammed Assaf performing in the West Bank city of Ramallah. — AFP

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ens of thousands of people packed the streets of the West Bank’s main cities last week to watch a young Gazan singer perform songs that helped him win the prestigious Arab Idol talent show. It was an unexpected and welcome break from the bleak political news that normally dominates the Palestinian agenda, with the mood on the street transformed by a rare sprinkling of home-grown stardust.

Mohammed Assaf, the 23-year-old wedding singer from Gaza who became a national hero when he won the pan-Arab contest in June, ws feted in the West Bank on a victory tour of all the main towns and cities.

Accompanied by presidential bodyguards, the fresh-faced young singer made his debut appearance in Ramallah on July 1, playing to a crowd of 40,000 fans, although the gig was cut short over fears the enthused crowd might storm the stage. “I couldn’t believe the amount of people,” the smiling singer told AFP. “I was very happy with what I saw.” Outside Ramallah’s fivestar Grand Park Hotel where he stayed, thousands of fans packed the streets in hopes of being photographed with him or getting an autograph.

A ticket to the World Cup? Most of Assaf’s concerts were free, but some were ticket only, costing fans up to 450 shekels ($123/96 euros) a seat — around a third of the average monthly wage. “The tickets were completely sold out within 48 hours of being put on sale,” said Munir al-Tarifi, head of Design Solutions PR which organized the tour. “We were in shock. We thought there would be some kind of demand for his concerts, but not to this extent,” he told AFP. The contest in Beirut transfixed the viewing public with Assaf’s story which saw him sneaking out of Gaza, nearly missing his initial audition in Cairo, and then only making it through after a fellow Gazan pulled out. News of his stardom even reached Washington, with US Secretary of State John Kerry remarking on his success in talks with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.

And FIFA President Sepp Blatter, who met Assaf on a visit to the West Bank on Sunday, even suggested he could take part in the opening ceremony of upcoming World Cup. “I think

that Assaf should sing at the opening of the World Cup next year in Brazil,” he told reporters.

“It is absolutely normal for Palestinians to cling to Assaf,” political analyst Abdel Majid Sweilam told AFP. “People are frustrated and depressed from the (political) division, and when they found this symbol that stands for their unity, they seem to cling to it.” He was referring to the bitter divide between the Islamist Hamas movement which rules Gaza and its Fatah rival which dominates the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority.

Born to Palestinian parents in Misrata, Libya, Assaf grew up in the teeming Khan Yunis refugee camp in southern Gaza. There, his singing talent eventually paved the way for a place in the finals of the pan-Arab contest which has captivated millions of viewers across the Middle East. “Mohammed Assaf’s national symbolism is much more important than his singing.

He is a poor refugee who comes from a camp in Gaza,” Sweilam said. “Assaf represents each and every Palestinian.” His June 22 victory sparked unprecedented jubilation across the Palestinian territories, the celebrations continuing in the West Bank last week.

“The staggering amount of people who went to see him perform confirm that the Palestinian people need to be happy,” said culture minister Anwar Abu Aisha. Assaf ’s win completely eclipsed news of another internal Palestinian drama playing out in Ramallah, which would normally have stolen the headlines-the resignation of prime minister Rami Hamdallah, who quit after barely two weeks in the job. As Assaf made his final bid for the title on stage in Beirut, Abbas was locked in talks to try and resolve the dispute with Hamdallah, which ultimately failed.

It was the second time in 10 weeks that a Palestinian premier had tendered his resignation, but the crisis hardly seemed to register.

“The people left the politics to the politicians, while Mohammed Assaf dominated the news which showed the Palestinians need to be happy,” deputy information minister Mahmud Khalifa told AFP. — AFP

iant portraits of the world’s tensest borders went on display yesterday on the longest remaining stretch of the Berlin Wall, in what organizers called a protest underlining the futility of barriers to resolve conflict. The “Wall on Wall” project by German photographer Kai Wiedenhoefer features 36 panoramas taken in Northern Ireland, Iraq, Cyprus, the West Bank, Morocco, North and South Korea and the border zone between the United States and Mexico. The color prints have been glued along 364 meters (yards) of the Berlin Wall, which divided the German city for 28 years until it was toppled in a bloodless revolution in 1989.

“Walls are no solution for today’s major political problems and I think the Berlin Wall is the best proof of that,” he told reporters. Wiedenhoefer, 47, captured the images on more than 20 trips between 2003 and 2012 and said he fought with Berlin authorities for five years until winning permission for the open-air display. The venue is the flip side of the socalled East Side Gallery, a mural-covered expanse of the Wall that draws hordes of tourists eager to get a sense of what the divided city looked like. It recently drew conflict between property developers and protesters.

Wiedenhoefer, who crowd funded the project in part online, has won several international prizes for his work in the Middle East and closely followed the construction of Israel’s West Bank security fence. However his comparisons to the Berlin Wall, which made East Germans prisoners of their own country, has drawn criticism in Israel, which views the concrete barrier as crucial to stop militant attacks. “It’s always a

problem-in November I hung a portrait of the US wall in Mexico here and an American came by and shouted at me, ‘You can’t compare this.’ But for me, it doesn’t matter if it’s a religious, national or economic conflict-the idea that you have a problem and you can solve it by building a wall has simply been obsolete since 1989.”

Wiedenhoefer said the bleak, often heavily militarized ramparts against illegal immigration, like the US fence on the Mexican border and around the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla in Morocco, or along religious lines such as in Baghdad and Belfast, were tragic testaments. “The fall of the Berlin Wall was the best political event in my lifetime and we thought at the time, ‘That is over, we have a free world without walls’, but what you see here are walls that went up after 1989,” he said. “There was a real renaissance of walls in that time, which I find very frustrating. It would be wonderful if the fall of the Berlin Wall, which was peaceful, could serve as a model for the other walls.”

Curator Adrienne Goehler said the barrier built by the US military in Baghdad to keep Shiite and Sunni factions apart was “probably the least-known of these walls”, pointing to an image of an abaya-clad woman peeking through a fallen slab in Sadr City. Organizers say they expect more than 200,000 people to see the exhibition before it is dismantled on September 13. — AFP

Workers put up panorama pictures of German photographer Kai Wiedenhoefer that are part of his “Wall on Wall” exhibition on a remaining section of the Berlin Wall in Berlin, Germany yesterday. — AFP