19th Aug 2013

CR IP TI ON BS SU

MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013

A mission to empower Kuwaiti women

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Japan activists sail close to disputed islands

UN inspectors arrive in Damascus

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SHAWWAL 12, 1434 AH

Bolt clinches second world treble gold

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36 Egyptian Islamists killed in jailbreak bid

Sisi vows to crush violence as Brotherhood cancels demos conspiracy theories

Lost my way

By Badrya Darwish

badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net

I

have been away from the writer’s desk for a long time. It was not easy to write in Ramadan because people were not so interested to read too. After all, this is the month of prayer. I thought that writing will pick up during the Eid holidays and I will re-communicate with the world.

Come Eid, things in the Arab world started deteriorating, be it in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq or Egypt. Iraq has had bombings for years where 20 people die on an average a day. Even the news hardly mentions such deaths any more. Iraq has become like a slaughterhouse. It has been the place of murder. People there have no more feelings.

Go further down to Syria where things get worse. I have said hundred times that I do not side with anybody — neither with the government’s side nor the opposition. There even the opposition has its opposition, which in turn, has its own opposition. It has become hard to understand the equation. Mind you, all the killings were in the name of Almighty Allah.

They slaughter people there and say: “Allahu Akbar.”

What a shame! Where did the Arabic nation reach?

Lebanon is not in a much better situation.

Bombings, car explosions in residential areas and random murders of people. The situation is similar to Iraq but I hope it will not be as bad as in Syria. And it is unbelievable how all that is happening they claim is in the name of Islam.

We all know what is going on in the land of the Pharaohs - the raging war between the government and the Muslim Brotherhood. What is most hurting is that wherever there is a killing they claim it is for Islam. But Islam is about mercy for people.

One day governments are supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and other times the governments are supporting the opposition. You do not know where to stand anymore. I am not in support of anybody.

Egypt is for the Egyptians; they can solve their own problems. The same applies to Syria. Syria is for the Syrians; let them solve their problems. If you defend either side they will accuse you of being an unpatriotic traitor. I lost the real meaning of what patriotism stands for.

The main problem is that the whole Middle East is involved in Syria and Egypt and I am not sure if they are dragged in the Syrian and Egyptian dilemma.

Nobody knows where anybody is heading.

Now it has also become a media war between the major mainstream news channels be it Jazeera, Arabia or others.

At the end of the day, nobody mentions Israel - the main enemy that has been occupying Palestine for 65 years. We are over-busy killing each other under different pretexts - Sunni, Shiite, Egyptian Coptic, Iraqi Shiite, Syrian I-don’t-know-what or Hezbollah supporters. I do not understand it anymore.

Of course, Israel is a peaceful and good nation. It is not kicking people out of their homes and taking over their land. On the contrary, it is asking for reopening the peace negotiations. Bless the Israelis! I salute them. I do not know when the Arabs will learn their modus operandi.

Kuwait deports nine Egyptians

By A Saleh KUWAIT: Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior Sheikh Mohammed Al-Khaled Al-Sabah ordered the deportation of nine Egyptians for taking part in a demonstration outside the Egyptian consulate last week. The country’s law forbids expats from protesting or demonstrating in the country without prior permission.

It may be recalled that a number of former Kuwaiti MPs and activists had organized a demonstration outside the Egyptian consulate in Roudha to condemn the use of force on pro-Morsi demonstrators in what they described as ‘oppression and killing’ by Egyptian security forces.

CAIRO/PARIS: Egyptian army armoured personnel carriers (APC) are seen stationed in front of the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square yesterday in Cairo. (Inset) A demonstrator shows her hand with the word “peace” written in Arabic, French and English, during a protest in Paris. — AFP

Max 47º Min 29º High Tide 09:20 & 23:25 Low Tide 03:31 & 17:05

CAIRO: Thirty-six Islamist prisoners were killed in Egypt yesterday during an attempted prison break, the official MENA news agency reported.

“A security official has confirmed that 36 Muslim Brotherhood elements were killed during an attempt to escape,” the agency reported.

The agency reported that “unknown gunmen” had tried to aid the prisoners, who kidnapped a police officer. The agency said that gunmen exchanged fire last night with guards of the trucks carrying more than 600 detainees rounded up in earlier street violence between security forces and supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi.

Earlier, the interior ministry said the inmates rioted while they were being transferred to the north Cairo prison of Abu Zaabal, and that police were “dealing with the situation”.

The Brotherhood-led Anti-Coup Alliance, which is pressuring for the reinstatement of ousted president Mohammed Morsi, accused police of killing the prisoners as they were being moved.

“The Anti-Coup Alliance obtained evidence of the assassination of at least 36 anti-coup detainees in a truck transferring them to Abu Zaabal prison today,” the group said in a statement.

“They were reportedly assassinated in their truck with live ammunition and tear gas fired from windows.”

Meanwhile, Egypt’s military leader vowed yesterday that the army will not tolerate further political violence after nationwide clashes that left hundreds dead, as security forces detained Muslim Brotherhood members in raids aimed at disrupting planned rallies.Defense Minister Gen Abdel-Fatah Al-Sisi, who led the July 3 coup that toppled President Mohammed Morsi, again Continued on Page 10

Saudi warns West against pressuring Egypt military Qatar denies aiding Muslim Brotherhood PARIS: Qatar’s foreign minister said yesterday his country had never given aid to Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and that all assistance went to Egypt as a whole.

“As far as Qatar’s support for the Muslim Brotherhood, there are some wrong impressions about the aid Qatar is providing,” said Foreign Minister Khaled AlAttiyah, whose country is perceived as a backer of the embattled Islamist group.

“Qatar has never given aid to an Egyptian group or an Egyptian political

party. The aid has always been provided to Egypt,” he told journalists in Paris after meeting French counterpart Laurent Fabius.

“Qatari aid began immediately after the revolution and continues today,” he added, referring to the Arab Spring uprising that overthrew long-time Egyptian ruler Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

“We do not give aid to any political party.” Qatar on Wednesday forcefully Continued on Page 10

Speedy steps to punish Kuwait visa traffickers

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PARIS: Saudi Arabia yesterday warned the West against putting pressure on Egypt’s military-backed government to halt a crackdown on supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

“We will not achieve anything through threats,” Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal, told reporters through an interpreter during a visit to Paris.

The Saudi official made his comments after meeting French President Francois Hollande, who on Thursday called for a swift end to a state of emergency imposed by Egypt’s military authorities.

EU foreign ministers meet in Brussels this week to review what steps to take following a bloody crackdown since Wednesday on supporters of Morsi, deposed by the military on July 3. More

Saudi prince fires Kuwaiti preacher

Syrian refugee ‘river’ flows into Iraq: UN BAGHDAD: Thousands of Syrians are flowing across the border into Iraq’s Kurdish region to escape battles between jihadists and Kurd forces in their homeland, the UN refugee agency said yesterday.

The UN’s refugee agency reported a “river” of Syrians crossing into Iraqi Kurdistan, after more than 15,000 entered Iraq on Thursday and Saturday, figures which the UNHCR said were unprecedented.

“UN refugee agency staff at Sahela today report what appears like a river of people coming towards the border,” said Claire Bourgeois, UNHCR’s Iraq representative, referring to a border crossing in north Iraq. “UNHCR is witnessing a major exodus from Syria over the past few days unlike anything we have witnessed entering Iraq previously.” The UN refugee agency said in a statement that the 15,000 who crossed into Iraq on Thursday and Saturday were in addition to about 154,000 Syrian refugees already registered in Iraq.

Syrian war refugees’ access to Iraq has been erratic, with local political tensions and fears of a spillover of the conflict leading Kurdistan region authorities to shut the border in May. — AFP

than 800 people have died in the violence.

The United States sharply criticized the violence and cancelled jointed military exercises with is ally that had been due next month. But Washington has not cut its $1.3 billion in military aid and about $250 million in economic aid to Egypt.

Riyadh was a close ally of Egypt’s former leader Hosni Mubarak, toppled by a popular uprising in 2011 that brought Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood to power, and has long feared the spread of the Islamist group’s ideology to the Gulf monarchies. On Friday, Saudi King Abdullah called on Arabs to stand together against “attempts to destabilize” Egypt, in a message of support for Egypt’s military and clear attack on the Brotherhood. — Reuters

A handout photo obtained from the UNHCR yesterday shows thousands of Syrians streaming into the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq.— AFP

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Gitmo prosecutors want 2014 trial for 9/11 case GUANTANAMO, Cuba: Prosecutors in the Guantanamo war crimes tribunal are pushing the judge to set a September 2014 trial date in the 9/11 case, a decision that could hinge on how deeply the defense is allowed to delve into the defendants’ treatment in secret CIA prisons.

A US military judge, Army Colonel James Pohl, will hear arguments on the issue in a weeklong pretrial hearing that begins today at the Guantanamo Bay US Naval Base in Cuba.

Prosecutors want to speed up the hearing schedule and start the death penalty trial next fall for the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 plot, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and four alleged co-conspirators.

They were arraigned on terrorism, murder and other charges in May 2012, more than a decade after Al-Qaeda hijackers smashed four commercial jetliners into the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in the Washington area and a field in Pennsylvania, killing 2,976 people. The court has since scheduled weeklong pretrial hearings about every six weeks, mostly to hear defense challenges.

Continued on Page 10

MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013

LOCAL

Conning trio arrested

By A Saleh KUWAIT: Security officials arrested a gang consisting of a Kuwait, Egyptian and an Asian who traded in domestic help and cheated “clients”. They all were sent for questioning.

Citizens told police that they called a phone number which was registered in the name of a female expat, who offered new domestic help, and provided transport services but were conned as the maids the employed would escape within days of starting work. Information showed that the

receipts given to complainants were in the name of a bogus company. The police moved to arrest the telephone owner who was found to be a Filipina. She confessed that along with her partner, she had formed a gang to trade with maids who would go absconding in a short while.

Police stormed an apartment in Salmiya and found more than 20 women, who said that the Filipina asked them to pretend to be maids and when the time came for them to escape, they would call her so that the Egyptian could go and bring them back to the flat.

Ministry ‘weighs options’ over Egyptian teachers

KUWAIT: His Highness the Deputy Amir and Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah receiving Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Mohammad Al-Khalid Al-Hamad Al-Sabah at his Diwan in Seif Palace yesterday.

KUWAIT: The Education Ministry is considering measures to be taken if the 400 Egyptian teachers who have been employed for the upcoming academic year don’t arrive in time before the schools reopen, a local daily reported yesterday.

Speaking to Al-Rai, a source said that the ministry is already keeping in mind alternative plans to avoid shortage in teaching staff if the ongoing unrest in Egypt prevented 400 teachers hired earlier this year from coming to Kuwait before September. While

‘Speedy steps’ soon to punish visa traffickers Ministries reach agreement KUWAIT: The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor reached an agreement with the Interior Ministry to launch joint efforts within a couple of weeks to start addressing visa-trafficking and pursue individuals involved in the illegal trade, a local daily reported yesterday quoting a source with knowledge of the case.

Speaking to Al-Rai on the condition of anonymity, the source explained that the new operation would see the MSAL refer files of violating companies and employers to the Interior Ministry directly, before the latter refers them to the Public

Prosecution. The plan also calls for ‘speedy’ procedures to punish violators and suspend their hiring capabilities, the source added.

Visa-trafficking refers to practices in which companies or individuals exploit loopholes in the sponsorship system in order to release work permits on fake companies or non-existent job openings, then sell them to unskilled labor forces looking for a chance to work in the oilrich Gulf region. Once they reach Kuwait, workers in most cases end up with no physical jobs, and resort to accepting

hard labor and often live without valid visas.

There are nearly 90,000 people living illegally in Kuwait according to official figures. Crackdowns on illegal residents resulted in thousands of arrests and deportations over the past few months, but no reports came about investigations taken to effectively pursue traffickers.

Moreover, reports suggested that deportations allowed traffickers under certain circumstances to bring even more workers illegally through freed job

openings. The new procedures reported by several dailies yesterday seem to be action taken in response to statements of MP Riyadh Al-Adasani who mentioned visa-trafficking as one of many topics included in a grilling motion he had previously filed and hinted at reviving them since no action has been taken.

Other topics include alleged failure to activate laws placed to encourage Kuwaiti manpower to seek employment in the private sector and alleged irregularities in the co-operative societies’ sector.

admitting that the ministry is left with limited options that include using the help of substitute teachers, the source revealed even this plan may only be a band-aid solution, since the current roster of substitute teachers makes up only seven percent of required male teachers and 20 percent of female teachers. According to the source, the new teachers were employed to teach mathematics, English, chemistry, physics, biology, French, physical education, and music to public school students.

News

in brief

Five-year plan KUWAIT: State Minister for National Assembly Affairs Minister Dr Rola Dashti asked Education and Higher Education Minister Dr Nayef Al-Hajraf to send the ministry’s five-year plan soon, reminding that the plan includes the major strategic projects as well as development, adding that she was supposed to receive it before May 20. The Education Ministry decided not to accept nomination of individuals who spent 30 years on the job for supervisory posts, as it has started to relieve those who spent 35 years in supervisory jobs.

New school timings Well-informed sources at the Ministry of Education said that the ministry decided to reschedule school timetables for the upcoming school year. The sources added that in a bid to end traffic congestion at the rush hour, the ministry decided that primary school kids would end their school day by 12:30 pm, intermediate schools at 12:45 pm and secondary schools at 1:15 pm.

Food imports The annual municipality statistics report said 2,581,162 tons of food were imported into Kuwait via sea, land and air during fiscal year 2012-13 at a total monthly rate of 215,000 tons. The report said that one quarter of these imports was chicken at 485,000 tons, while meat was 78,759 tons. The amount of imported fish was 37,474 tons, adding that most food imports came through Shuwaikh Port which received 2,154,000 tons. Meanwhile, the report said that the citation department of the imported foods directorate issued 2,129 citations and inspected 503 warehouses, eight of which were shut down.

Health ministry study Informed health sources revealed that the ministry is currently studying the possibility of equalizing GCC employees working in the ministry, like doctors, nurses, administrators and technicians, with Kuwaiti employees in all job privileges and allowances. Sources said that ministry will form a team to study how GCC employees can be equalized with their Kuwaiti colleagues in Ministry of Health in a number of privileges job-wise and employment.

KUWAIT: Sales of gold are expected to slow down as the prices of gold marked a recent increase. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat and Joseph Shagra

Good and bad habits

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: Different people have different habits. Some are good while others are bad. Some tend to change their habits over time or when they get older. It’s hard to judge certain habits and compartmentalize them as good or bad as different people from different nationalities and cultures might have varying perspectives on the same.

Mona, a 20-year- old, thinks that judging people without getting to know them is the worst habit. “ This especially applies to women in our society. People pay great attention to looks alone and many believe that if a woman is not wearing a hijab, then she’s not well-mannered. Similarly, in Western countries, people look at hijabis as uneducated or religious

fanatics,” she told the Kuwait Times.

Nidal, a 35-year-old thinks that the worst habit is backstabbing. “When I trust somebody as a friend and he disappoints me, I don’t like it. I think that travelling abroad is a great way to get to know how good a friend is. Loyalty is a very valuable habit, and I remember the story of the dog that was waiting for its owner for 10 years in front of a train station,” he pointed out.

Ahmad, a 24-year-old faces the worse habits on the streets. “Slow driving in the left lane is a very bad habit. Charity and donations are good habits, especially when people collect money and buy meals and food and give it to the people praying in the mosque. Ramadan’s atmosphere in general reminds me of good habits,” he noted.

Osama, a 45-year-old thinks presump-

tion is bad. “When a person takes a certain stand without understanding the full picture and forms opinions based on that, it’s bad. We should hear all opinions before forming a judgment. It’s also bad to not give children space and freedom to express their opinion. Driving without respecting the rules and insulting other drivers is a bad habit. Being ‘two-faced’ is also a very bad habit,” he said.

Abu Ahmad, a 55-year-old, thinks sleeping late is a bad habit. “When I was a kid, I learnt that early to bed and early to rise, makes a man, healthy, wealthy and wise. Helping people in need no matter what is another good habit I like,” he said.

Othman, a 37-year-old said: “Lying and spreading rumors about others between friends is a very bad habit.

Making empty promises, procrastination,

tardiness, lack of manners and being presumptuous and pompous are all very bad habits that people should refrain from”.

John, a 50-year-old John hates friends who only remember him when they need something. “Greediness is a bad habit. A good habit is to remember others’ favors,” he said.

Mohammed, a 30-year-old finds stalking people using electronics is a bad habit. “Smoking and chewing on nails are bad habits. A good habit would be to help colleagues without any expectations and doing things without showing off,” he said.

Ayoub, a 16-year-old, said praying and staying in touch with family are the best habits. “Gossiping, harassing girls, and spitting on the streets are bad habits,” he pointed out.

Roumi Al-Roumi

Expats Hajj registeration on-going KUWAIT: The process of registering expatriates and illegal residents for Hajj is still on-going at the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic affairs, said an official here yesterday.

Head of Hajj Affairs at the Ministry Roumi Al-Roumi told the press that the registration system approved this year was to prevent manipulation in the process of issuing Hajj visas. He indicated that the last date for registering illegal residents (bedoon) would be on Aug 21.

Al-Roumi lauded the Saudi leadership’s efforts for facilitating Hajj procedures. He affirmed that the ministry will carry on its duties to prepare for Hajj this year, adding that authorities in Kuwait will work with Saudi Arabia to ensure the success of this great Islamic ritual. — KUNA

New studies on tourism in Kuwait

KUWAIT: The usually crowded Gulf Road looks abandoned midday yesterday. —Photos by Joseph Shagra

KUWAIT: Assistant Undersecretary for Tourism Sector in Ministry of Commerce Samira Al-Gharib said that the ministry has contracted with international consultants, who have specialized in tourism to prepare reports and studies on tourism in Kuwait, and to make it more compatible with Kuwaiti traditions.

Al-Gharib said that the ministry is looking to establish a specialized unit in statistics which contains information about a number of hotels in Kuwait, pointing that Ministry of Commerce received several applications from local foreign investors to get permission to construct hotels and new hotel apartments in the local market.

The ministry is currently studying the Kuwaiti market and if it can accommodate new hotel establishments during the next eight years.

LOCAL MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013

Health Insurance Company plans being finalized Hospitals for expats KUWAIT: Preparations are currently ongoing to establish a company that will build hospitals for treatment of expatriates covered by governmental health insurance program, and an announcement is expected within a month, according to sources quoted in a local daily’s report yesterday. “The contract to establish the company has been accredited at the Ministry of Justice as necessary procedures with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry are currently being finalized”, said the Kuwait Investment Authority insiders who spoke to Al-Jarida on the condition of anonymity because they are not allowed to reveal details about the preparations before they are officially announced.

The sources further indicated that the KIA recalled 50 percent of the company’s capital worth KD 115 million, and predicted that the date for the initial public offering will be announced shortly after the establish-

ment procedures are finished.

Arabi Group Holding was selected last month as a strategic investor in the project with a KD 66.6 million offer to invest in 26 percent of the shareholding company that will be founded to establish three hospitals with an estimated total capacity of 700 beds and offer integrated medical services to foreigners living in Kuwait.

The government will own 24 percent of the stocks, and the remaining 50 percent will be put in an initial public offering.

The project to establish hospitals used solely by expatriates covered with a government-sponsored medical insurance program is one of a number of mega projects included in Kuwait’s 5-year Development Plan launched in 2010. A ‘mega project’ is one which comes with a capital that exceeds KD 100 million. The project includes building three hospitals that provide full medical services to

Kuwait’s expatriate community, and comes as part of the state’s attempts to reduce pressure on currently overcrowded public medical facilities.

After strategic investors showed no interest when the tender was first put for bidding, the government represented by the Kuwait Investment Authority placed the tender again with new specifications. In general, the project’s capital dropped from KD 318 million to build three hospitals with a total bed capacity of 1,600, to KD 230 million for three hospitals with a bed capacity of 230 each.

While the new tender was opened to local and foreign investors whereas the initial one was only opened for local companies, only local companies showed interest to invest in 26 percent of stocks in the shareholding company. A senior official in the company’s founding committee said last month that the company should start operating by early next year.

KUWAIT: The National Assembly officials meeting yesterday.

NA panels to determine priorities KUWAIT: The National Assembly Office assigned parliamentary committees to determine their priorities in order to be referred to the government; hence, get approved in the next parliament meeting.

The Parliament ’s Obser ver PM

Saud Al-Huraiji told the press that today’s meeting discussed several issues regarding prioritizing the framework of all the country’s sectors to get familiarized with the basic needs and laws concerning Kuwaiti citizens.

Pending issues suggested during the previous parliament are still yet to be determined by the legal and constitutional laws. He noted that there are development and people’s pending issues that the new parliament will push to get them approved. — KUNA

MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013

LOCAL kuwait digest

In my view

Al-Sumait a role model

Give peace a chance

By Ali Mohammad Thnayan Al-Ghanim

By Abdulateef Al-Mulhim

K

uwait’s land couldn’t be more proud when it embraced Abdurrahman Hmoud Al-Sumait in the same way a land embraces a fruitful plant.

Working by the hadith (saying of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH)) which urges Muslims to preach through action instead of spoken word, Al-Sumait was among an elite group of people who chose to take the long road of spreading the noble message of Islam through his behavior. He never sought materialistic benefit from his service as he never allowed a political goal or party affiliation to tarnish the purity of his campaign.

He sought knowledge before worship, because worshipping without knowledge leads to fanaticism. His worship allowed him to realize the essence and true message of the religion, and become acquainted with its tolerance and humaneness. He understood that charity in its true Islamic form must reach all humans without discrimination of gender, race, belief or any other form. Therefore, he embarked on a mission to spread charity and the message of Islam through aid, good behavior and good spoken word. His mission never stopped until illness forced him to become bedridden; yet he never stopped worshipping God or asking about the situations of millions who he loved and who loved him back.

Great people depart our world but never actually leave. Al-Sumait remains with us through his memory which is remembered in Kuwait and Africa, and by everyone who takes the path of Dawah (Islamic preaching). He left our world but his contributions remain: thousands of water wells, hospitals and medical schools and universities, mosques and Quran schools, and more than 11 million smiles on the faces of African people who embraced Islam after seeing what the religion truly is through his actions that include treating the sick, comforting the grieving, aiding the poor and taking care of the orphans - all this while expecting nothing from them in return.

While Kuwait has always been a country men are proud of, Abdurrahman Al-Sumait was truly a man Kuwait can be proud of. He presented a genius example of Kuwait’s giving and moderate nature, and commitment to charity and relief work. Our consolation is the fact that he was a man worth many institutions, and a man who left behind an institution rich with generous men and women.

On behalf of the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry, its members, board and administration, I offer deepest condolences to Kuwait, HH the Amir, and its people, to the Arab and Muslim nations, to Africa’s poor and to philanthropists around the world. I also condole Al-Sumait’s family, and everyone who knew, respected and loved him and has been saddened by his passing.

May God Almighty bestow mercy on his soul, and accept him in His Heaven.

(Ali Mohammad Thnayan Al-Ghanim is the Chairman of the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry)

D

In my view

Egypt at the crossroads

By Ali Bluwi

T

he recent toppling of the Morsi government in Egypt pushes one down memory lane and many questions crop up as to why such events ever take place. The ouster of the Brotherhood-led government in Egypt reminds us of the events that saw Algeria’s Islamic Salvation Front being stripped of the huge mandate in the ‘90s and of what had happened after Hamas won big in the parliamentary elections in 2007.

Would it be correct to assume that the political environment of these countries is not conducive to a democratic disposition? Or is it that a democratic culture is antithetical to the social fabric of these countries? After reflecting for long, one realizes that both the assumptions would be incorrect without deeply studying all the factors that triggered these ousters.

Continuation of democracy and transfer or rotation of power becomes an uphill task in countries where institutions struggle for supremacy over one another. In such a situation, a democratic set-up has to walk a tightrope

to achieve its goals without disturbing the intricate network of loyalties.

Consensus, in such a situation, is the key for survival. At least till the time democracy takes its roots in the society. Monopolizing policymaking, at the initial stages, causes frictions and conflicts that at the end of the day wreak havoc on the country. We can see that happening in Egypt. If a political party, soon after gaining power, embarks on a mission of imposing its values that are seen as challenging the existing social fabric then these moves will provide the traditional institutions like the military in Egypt and Algeria reasons to be apprehensive of the future of the state. It will also set alarm bells ringing for other sects and ethnicities especially amidst a poor law and order situation.

It is now a part of history that since 1952, Egypt has seen a great many ups and downs. Egypt remained a democracy wherein the real power rested with the army and thus saw itself as the defender of the country.

During that period, the Egyptian

society, by and large, enjoyed a degree of freedom. Hosni Mubarak had also allowed a controlled presence of the Brotherhood in the legislative council.

Not to forget the fact that hard-liners remained incarcerated. Then as to why Mubarak’s grip on power loosened is a debate for other time and my focus is on the factors for Brotherhood’s failure.

The Muslim Brotherhood rode a wave of anti-Mubarak sentiment to win the elections in 2012. It seems as if the ghosts of the past continued to haunt the Brotherhood and in a frenzy of imposing its ideology, it lost the trust of socio-political forces in general and the military in particular. It is, however, commendable that they dealt with the West and Israel pragmatically to the extent that Israel had to acknowledge that intelligence coordination under Morsi was better as compared to Mubarak’s regime. The Brotherhood’s policies raised fears among the opposition groups and various moves suggested it wished to undermine the role of the Egyptian army in the country’s politics.

kuwait digest

Kuwait fails to help itself

By Ahmad Al-Sarraf

D

espite growing frustration at the government’s inability to help the country out of its unjustified problems, I believe that there is still a glimmer of hope. Kuwait is not like Egypt, Yemen or Saudi Arabia.

Kuwait could be the only country in the world rich with silly problems and sillier obstacles, but at the same time, possess enough financial and human resources to eliminate them in a relatively short period of time. But despite this, it fails to help itself when all it requires is some wise approach, law enforcement and good execution of development plans.

I was shocked twice last week. The first time was when I was about to give an Eidiya (cash giveaways given to children, as a gift to people or to those in need, on Islamic Eid events) to a lady I used to help on such occasions. She told me that she no longer needs my help because the government pays her KD 600 a month as allowance for being a housewife! The second time I was shocked was when I learned that a Kuwaiti employee in the private sector who has a university degree is entitled to at least KD 700 in allowance paid by the government in addition to his salary!

While similar allowances can be regarded as methods to achieve luxurious living standards that some people argue have to be guaranteed for citizens of a wealthy nation, I believe that these allowances are in reality ‘slowly killing’ citizens. Giveaways are instead supposed to be directed towards actual aspects of a luxurious life that include improving people’s living conditions in the fields of education, medicine, culture, entertainment, etc. How can a monthly KD 600 allowance help a lady when security is absent, medical services are deteriorating and education is on the verge of collapse? That is not mentioning paying unusual allowances drives people to become less productive when they feel that they do not have to ‘earn’ their pay.

And whatever ‘progress’ the government hoped to achieve by allowances to encourage citizens into working in the private sector was wiped out when uncalculated measures to double the pay of oil sector employees sent shockwaves to the public sector where pressure practically forced similar pay increases that sparked manpower exodus from the private sector.

Many people were not surprised by estimations which suggest that the state’s budget could face deficit in the current fiscal year. If you take a closer look into some figures in the budget, you would come to realize that our country is rich in currency but poor in planning. The national income reaches KD 12 billion; 93 percent of which are collected through oil revenues. Despite that, 85 percent of the budget is spent on the public sector’s payroll, subsidies and social security. Yet, no one in the parliament or Cabinet wants to address these dangerous rates which are coupled by nearly non-existent investment spending. And by the way, these estimations are calculated based on an oil production rate of 2.7 million barrels per day and sale rate of $70 per barrel. This is like a taxi driver with a daily income of KD 20 who behaves like he earns KD 600 a month without taking into account the odds of falling sick someday or having his car break down.

Since it is not easy to drop salaries, the issue requires thinking of practical solutions that provide the entrance towards a comprehensive reform program affecting everyone - including the wealthy, the middle class and people with limited income. — Al-Qabas

uring the past few weeks, the Palestinians and Israelis sat down again for a possible peace agreement. Now, the time is different, as a matter of fact, very different. Many people in the Arab world, including many Palestinians and Israelis are not as optimistic as many analysts previously expected. And sometimes we shouldn’t blame them.

They saw the two concerned parties sit down many times in different world capitals. Many say that if the two parties don’t achieve peace this time, then there will be no peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis even in the faraway future.

People around the world saw many negotiations evaporate with nothing resulting in lasting peace.

The Palestinians and Israelis were involved in many negotiations from Madrid to Oslo and many peace proposals were discussed in Washington and other world capitals, but the end result wasn’t up to expectations. But, nowadays, all parties have no choice except sitting down and removing any obstacles on the road to peace.

The atmosphere for the peace negotiation is more suitable for all parties, especially the Palestinians. The American Secretary of State John Kerry, has very sincere intentions to solve the most complicated political issue in modern-day history. Kerry visited the area many times and was successful in persuading the Palestinians and Israelis to restart the peace process.

But, there are many issues, which will be difficult to resolve and time is running out. The most important issue being the Palestinian refugees.

Many people around the world are wondering where would refugees go from Syria, Lebanon and Jordan? Their number is in the millions and even the West Bank and Gaza may not be ready or capable to absorb the millions of refugees if and when they return. The economic situation in the West Bank and Gaza is in need of billions of dollars in financial aid and there has to be massive buildup of infrastructural projects such as schools, electricity, roads and hospital. There is also the governing of the Palestinian territories, because the Palestinians will have to govern all the territories as one entity and there is no room or place for divisions among Palestinians.

And the situation for the Palestinian refugees is not getting any better. Just last week, Lebanon closed its borders in the face of the Palestinians leaving Syria. Also, the Palestinians have to realize that this is the first time they will be in Washington DC for the negotiations without any influence from any Arab capital. The Arab capitals are busy with their own problems. So, it is important for the Palestinians not to listen to bounty hunters who used their agony for their own personal agendas. In other words, it is the Palestinians who are suffering, not someone in an air-conditioned apartment in London or Paris.

The peace process is going to be very complicated and the Palestinian negotiating teams will be hearing a lot of noise and will face many challenges from extremists or from phony nationalists. But the Palestinians have to realize, this is 2013, not the 1960s.

At this stage many in the Arab world have doubts about the Israelis and their intentions, but I think there are many indications that tell us about the Israeli’s seriousness this time. Looking at who is who in the Israeli negotiation team and reading about the recent nomination of the new Israeli ambassador to Washington tell us that the Israelis will offer something and it is up to the Palestinian negotiators to perform the correct political maneuvers.

The Israelis have a full team of personalities who can impress upon the most demanding American media or political networks. The Israelis have a woman, a top lawyer, and a former American citizen as their next ambassador in the United States.

The Israelis have a woman who is very experienced negotiator. She is the Justice Minister Tzipi Livni. She also served as the foreign minister and was very close to becoming the prime minister and she will have no difficulties in talking to the American media and any women organizations.

They also have a lawyer whose name is Yitzhak Molcho. He is acting as the chief negotiator. In Washington, I wouldn’t sit at any kind of political or judicial negotiating table without a lawyer on my side. He will be reviewing every letter and word in any peace agreement.

The last person in the negotiating team may not be in Washington DC till much later, but he might be the most important person who will oversee the details of the closing of any peace agreement. This man is Ron Dermer who was born in the United States. This ambassador will be the boy from the neighborhood for many American congressmen and senators in the Washington DC area. In other words, he will be speaking to America, which has the biggest influence on any peace negotiations. And let us be frank, this new ambassador was a columnist with peculiar thoughts about the Palestinians. And what is more, I would watch any politician who gets transferred from Miami Beach to Washington DC. On the other hand, the Palestinian chief negotiator is Saeb Erekat. And yes, Erekat is a familiar political figure in the world arena, but the Palestinians have to include figures who can have more social charisma and have knowledge about the American social system and have great experience with international law.

In complicated negotiations, one word or punctuation can make a difference. And to this day, I always wonder why there is no woman in the Palestinian negotiation team. There are many Palestinian women who are very highly educated and have talents for public relation speeches, but we never hear about them. Washington insiders, especially the women groups would like to talk to Palestinian women and see what they have accomplished and their future role in future Palestinian governments.

The Palestinians are in Washington not for political talks only, but they will be involved in showing their future plans to run a country. And for those in the Arab world who oppose the peace negotiations, please give the Palestinians other options. And finally, the Palestinians and Israelis must give peace a chance. Sixty-five years of hostilities only brought misery to the area. Many lives have been lost and assets wasted, so why not try peace for once?

MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013

LOCAL

National identity in comprehensive partnership

By Javaid Ahmad KUWAIT: The first official visit by Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang to the United States to discuss the issues in the interest of both sides has marked an important milestone in bilateral relations between the two countries. In this visit, Ha Noi demonstrated the foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, cooperation and development, multilateralism and diversification of relations, desire to be friend with all countries as well as active international integration.

Relations between Hanoi and Washington have now made changes in the direction of further intensively and extensively developing in many areas, creating the basis for the two countries to enter a new development stage.

The signing of decision to establish the Vietnam US comprehensive partnership has laid a basis for stability, cooperation and prosperity for each country, creating cooperation mechanisms in various fields including political and diplomatic relations, trade and economic ties, science and technology, national defense, education and training, health, environment, dealing with the aftermath of war, pro-

tection and promotion human rights. It also demonstrated Vietnam’s autonomy in domestic and foreign policies 40 years after the end of war and 20 years of renovation.

Bilaterally, the two countries pledged to strengthen exchanges of high-ranking delegations, and welcomed the establishment of mechanisms for regular exchanges between the two Foreign Ministers. The two leaders noted that after nearly 20 years of normalized relations, besides improvements in political cooperation, trade between the two economies has been increasing, and this prompted them to commit to cooperation within Trade and Investment Framework Agreement Council on trade and investment as well as the ASEAN enhanced economic engagement initiative and in APEC to increase economic and trade connectivity in line with the bilateral comprehensive partnership.

For multilateral issues, the agreement to strengthen cooperation at regional and international forums such as The Asia - Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), The Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) and The East Asia Summit (EAS) clearly aimed to promote trust between the two countries’ leaders and showed the bonds of the two countries

at many international and regional forums.

Once foes, now in the White House, President Barack Obama voiced his support for independence, sovereignty and international integration of Vietnam, praised the country’s progress in economic reforms, welcomed Vietnam’s decision to participate in peacekeeping activities of The United Nations, and attached importance to the promotion of security and defense cooperation with Vietnam for the benefit of both parties, describing it as an important part of bilateral issues.

Explaining the shift of strategic focus to the AsiaPacific region, the US president expressed concern about the recent developments in the South China Sea, particularly the increase in China’s intimidation and pressure, spoke highly of the way Vietnam handled this issue and expected Vietnam to continue its role. The shift in focus has shown that Washington is paying attention to Vietnam and it is quite able to secure its interests in The Asia-Pacific region.

The two presidents reaffirmed their commitment to complete negotiations on the agreement on the Transpacific Partnership (TPP) in 2013 to promote regional economic integration, promote development objectives, and help create jobs in the United

States, Vietnam and other members. The commitment also shows that the two sides have taken into account the diversity of the participant’s levels of development in the context of a comprehensive and balanced package.

Through this visit, President Truong Tan Sang, as the head of state of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, showed to the world and the region a dynamic Vietnam which rose up after the war and confirmed its position in the international arena.

Comprehensive partnership does not mean that Ha Noi will follow - Washington but, on the contrary, shows to the world and the region Vietnam’s efforts in strengthening its relations with major powers, including United States, to ensure its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity and to bring stability, peace to the region.

The fact that Vietnam and US are strengthening their bilateral and the increasing US presence in the region serve as a certain guarantee of the business environment in Vietnam for investors from Kuwait in particular and from the Gulf countries in general, especially in the oil and gas sector.

Note: This article is based on information provided by officials during my recent visit to Vietnam.

Student promotes equal opportunity for women Passion to play an active role KUWAIT: Ph.D. candidate Shahed Jasem AlTammar is on a mission to empower Kuwaiti women through democracy. The public administration student recently presented at the 2013 Joint Congress of the International Institute of Administrative Sciences (IIAS)International Association of Schools and Institutes of Administration (IASIA) in Bahrain. Al-Tammar’s presentation prescribed recommendations on how to counteract the current obstacles women face, including recommendations for equal opportunity in the workplace and increased political representation.

“Ever since Kuwaiti women obtained the right to vote in 2006, they have started to enter the public sector, own more companies and take on more influential roles in society,” Al-Tammar said. “Kuwaiti women have a lot of potential. They’re highly educated and have the passion to play an active role in society. But they need the guidance and empowerment to do so successfully.”

The presentation was based on a joint research project that evaluates women’s experience in Kuwait in their administrative lives and how their roles have evolved over time. The research was conducted with College of Arts & Sciences Senior Associate Dean and Public Administration Professor Meredith Newman and Al-Jassar Salwa, a member of the National Assembly of Kuwait who also happens to be AlTammar’s mother “Shahed is a wonderful ambassador of our Ph.D. in Public Affairs program. She brings a unique perspective on the role of women in governmental and administra-

Al-Suwaidan terminated KUWAIT: Prince Waleed bin Talal terminated the services of Dr Tariq Al-Suwaidan as General Manager of Al-Resala Satellite Channel, which belongs to Rotana Group, owned by the prince, who said on his Twitter account that there is no place for any Brotherhood member in their groups. Prince Al-Waleed said in his strongly-worded letter that he is very disappointed and condemns the views published by Al-Suwaidan expressing views that are different from what the channel was founded on, and said “We wanted a forum for centrism, that does not belong to any party, faction or adopt the ideology of any group”.

Prince Waleed bin Talal said in his letter to Al-Suwaidan, “We strongly condemn what you said, although we cautioned you several times since you are a part of Al-Resala and you were a manager until the date of this letter. We warned you to focus on bringing people together and stop extreme and unaccepted views, but there was no response whatsoever”. Prince Al-Waleed said “As we did not receive any response, especially during the latest events that hit our beloved Egypt, with our wishes that Allah the Almighty protects it from all evils and strife, we inform you that your services as manager of Al-Resala Satellite channel has been terminated, and you must hand over management to the President of the television sector in our group, Turky AlShabana.” Dr Tariq Al-Suwaidan commented on Twitter: “I thank HH Prince Al-Waleed for the valued opportunity, in which I was honored to manage AlResala Channel until now, and achieve success for the channel.”

tive reform in the Middle East,” said Newman, who also attended the conference in Bahrain. “Those of us who have the opportunity to participate with our stu-

dents perform in the classroom, it is another experience entirely to see them thrive and excel in such a high profile gathering.”

A native of Kuwait, Al-Tammar was

KUWAIT: Al-Tammar, Salwa and Newman met up in Kuwait City this summer after the Joint Congress of the International Institute of Administrative Sciences and International Association of Schools and Institutes of Administration. dents as they present at high-profile conferences, and to visit their home countries to conduct research together, are truly privileged. It is one thing to watch our stu-

exposed to public service at a young age.

Her mother worked in the education, political and youth sectors of the Kuwaiti government. In 2009, just three years after

women earned the right to vote, AlTammar ’s mother was one of the first women elected to parliament. Al-Tammar’s father was involved in political movements and is currently serving the special needs of the Kuwaiti differently-abled population.

Al-Tammar earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from The American University of Kuwait. As an undergraduate, she worked as a youth representative advocating for the need of youth involvement in the public sector. AlTammar also was involved in a variety of networking and advocacy roles in different political campaigns.

“There wasn’t one particular moment or incident that sparked my desire to pursue a career in public administration,” Al-Tammar said. “My parents are influential figures in our country, and I grew up understanding the importance of participating in the political process. Serving as a youth representative also showed me how many of the challenges we face can be resolved through education and active involvement.”

Al-Tammar first came to the US in 2009 to work at an investment advisory firm in New York. She also served as a fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) alongside political science and engineering faculty on public sector reform in Kuwait.

Al-Tammar earned a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Pennsylvania in 2012. As a graduate student, she served in a variety of academic and professional roles in the US, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, and the Republic of Georgia. —FIU News

Sharp increase in patients allowance KUWAIT: The increase in allowance for patients who receive treatment abroad was affected by Europe’s high cost of living and patients had to spend from their own pockets as financial allowance did not cover the cost.

Al-Watan local daily said that prices jumped from 1,500 pounds to 2,500 pounds as weekly rent for three-bedroom apartments, while the two-bedroom apartments were at 2,000 pounds and 1,100 pounds for one bedroom. Citizens think that the higher prices are because of the brokers who learned about the allowance increase for the patients.

Meanwhile, landlords said the reason is the lack of flats in London due to austerity measures adopted by the British government. Officials believe that the solution is for the state to buy residential buildings for patients, and reduce the number of patients who are sent there during the summer, while patients and visitors must follow the instructions of Kuwait Embassy in London to ensure they steer clear of unscrupulous landlords.

MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013

LOCAL

Stray dogs maul second child in chalets area Search on for muggers in Rai

KUWAIT: Kuwait Airport is buzzing with travelers in the summer time.

—Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Kuwait’s $16billion projects sector in spotlight KUWAIT: Kuwait is estimated to be awarded $16 billion worth of projects by the year-end, marking a 60 per cent increase from 2012, according to the knowledge partner of the upcoming The Big 5 Kuwait exhibition.

The Sustainable Design and Construction Conference will be held at the event running from Sept 16 to 18 at the Kuwait International Fair.

Meed, a business intelligence service provider and official knowledge partner of The Big 5 Kuwait expo, estimates that the largest sector to benefit from this investment is likely to be the construction industry, dominated by the newly-sanctioned hospital projects and infrastructure in Kuwait.

While these long-term investments in infrastructure have led to an increase in new business opportunities for Kuwait’s construction and machineries sector, it has also raised questions on overcoming challenges in sustainable design and construction whilst ensuring that the projects are delivered on time and within the allocated budget.

The conference, which has already received great response from industry

professionals, will be held on the second and third day of the exhibition, reported the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

It will provide a dynamic platform for meaningful discussion and practical guidance on how the design and construction industries can best deliver sustainable infrastructure and green buildings in Kuwait.

Kuwait Por ts Authority director of marine operations Tawfiq Shwab will share insights and best practices on Shuwaikh, Shuaiba and Doha Ports.

“The session will be a hands-on discussion highlighting the latest developments taking place today in Kuwait’s ports and terminals,” he said.

“It will identify solutions to the most common challenges one would come across in port construction projects,” he added.

Conference par ticipants will learn about the role of the Kuwaiti Por ts Authority in administering the maritime transport strategy, and their use of new technologies and materials for marine construction and engineering. The discussion will also cover past and current port projects.

KUWAIT: A nine-year-old child was hospitalized after being attacked by stray dogs in the same area where a little girl was attacked in a similar fashion less than two weeks ago. The girl’s condition required intensive treatment at the Adan Hospital over the weekend for a deep shoulder wound inflicted by a dog bite in addition to other injuries and scratches across her body. The case is almost identical to that of four-year-old Aisha who was hospitalized with serious injuries after being mauled by stray dogs at the chalets area south of the country; an incident that garnered public attention and demands to hunt down stray animals in the area and across Kuwait.

Fugitive nabbed A fugitive was arrested in Salmiya on Saturday with drugs and a fake gun he admitted to using to commit crimes. The 27-year-old Egyptian man was pulled over on the street in the area and patrol officers arrested him after

discovering that was charged with five-year imprisonment and deportation earlier. The policemen searched the suspect’s car and found three hashish rolls, 13 drug pills, seven plastic bags filled with meth, drug paraphernalia, in addition to three cell-phones, a fake gun and KD 466 in cash. The man was referred to the proper authorities for further action.

Rai muggers Investigations are ongoing to identify and arrest a male suspect who failed to mug three shoppers at knifepoint at a mall in Rai recently.

The three women were reportedly getting into their car after a shopping trip when they were approached by a man armed with a knife who demanded that they hand over their handbags. The women screamed for help which prompted the suspect to escape. They headed to the Andalus police station afterwards and reported the case.

Meanwhile, Jahra police launched investi-

gations in search for two suspects who failed to mug a person as soon as he came out of a local bank branch. In his statements to police, the victim explained that he was attacked by two people carrying pocket-knives after making his way out of the bank, adding that they escaped after their plan was foiled by his resistance. A cell-phone found at the scene which was believed to have been accidently dropped by one of the attackers was handed over to investigators to help identify the thieves.

Inmates questioned A number of inmates at the Central Jail are being questioned to find the source of contraband found during a recent crackdown. The prisoners were taken into custody after cellphones and drug tablets were found with them during a random operation in their ward. A case has been filed.

—Al-Rai, Al-Watan, Al-Anbaa

KUWAIT: An average day in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh. —Photos by Fouad Al-Shaikh

Fake police badges confiscated KUWAIT: The Interior Ministry contacted the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in order to list police badges as items that require a license to be imported, a local daily reported yesterday quoting a letter exchanged between the two departments in this regard.

Al-Qabas’ report further indicated that the letter was sent after the Interior Ministry confiscated a number of police badges during recent crackdowns.

The letter also indicates that police arrested suspects using these badges to commit crimes

by impersonating the police.

The report does not specify a date when the MCI exactly plans to officially list police badges as ‘contraband’. Meanwhile, sources said that the announcement will come at the same time as the ban on air rifles.

Gulf Bank’s Ramadan TV commercials ‘a big success’ KUWAIT: Gulf Bank announced that its community focused Ramadan TV commercials achieved huge success on its social media channels, whereby it achieved 41,000 views on Youtube dur-

Ebtihaj Al-Roomi

ing Ramadan. The commercials also proved to be a very successful tool that enabled Gulf Bank to increase its Instagram followers by 66% as well as record 21% increase in its Twitter followers.

Ebtihaj Al-Roomi, Assistant General Manager, Marketing at Gulf Bank said: “We are very proud that our commercials received this positive feedback and generated this huge attention on our social media channels by viewers across Kuwait. With our TV commercials, we aimed to highlight the unfavorable phenomena in the Kuwaiti society, and to emphasize that direct communication is best for deepening family bonds. We hope to continue to please our viewers with more creative and socially engaging commercials in the future.”

Throughout the Holy Month of Ramadan, Gulf Bank had a dedicated Instagram page on @Gulf_Bank to build on the TV commercial’s theme in order for them to engage with the public to post messages that encourage real-life communication.

Relief campaign for Sudan flood victims KUWAIT: A $2.5 million relief campaign was launched by the International Islamic Charitable Organization to alleviate the suffering of Sudan’s latest floods victims, advisor at the Amiri diwan said yesterday.

Dr Abduallah Al-Matouq, who is also UN Secretary-General’s Humanitarian Envoy for Kuwait, told the press that the campaign was launched under His Highness Deputy the Amir and the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

Kuwait Relief Society will join efforts with IICO to deliver aid to hundreds of people who have become homeless and displaced due to the heavy flooding that his Sudan last week. The heavy rains also

destroyed many schools, health centers and public properties, he added.

Hence, Al-Matouq expressed his appreciation to His Highness Sheikh Nawaf and the concerned authorities for rushing to help in a natural crisis of such magnitude.

Furthermore, he called on all international aid agencies to take part in this relief campaign to provide the necessary aid in the shortest period of time.

Chief of the Kuwait Relief Society Yousef Al-Hajji also expressed similar sentiments in terms of rounding up more humanitarian relief efforts from public and private sectors to help more than 150,000 flood victims.— KUNA

KUWAIT: Kuwait Fire Brigade officials holding safety inspections in factories yesterday.—Photos by Hanan Al-Saadoun

Kuwait deports nine Egyptians for protests outside Egyptian consulate

By A Saleh KUWAIT: Deputy PM and Minister of Interior Sheik h M ohammed Al-K haled recently ordered nine Egyptians to be deported for taking part in a demonstration outside the Egyptian consulate last week, following the law that forbids expats from protesting or demonstrating without prior permission.

Notably, a number of former Kuwaiti MPs and activists had organized a demonstration outside the Egyptian consulate in Roudha to condemn the dispersing of pro-Morsi protesters and what they described as ‘oppression and killing’ by security forces.

PM to visit NY HH the PM Sheik h Jaber Al-Mubarak is expected to return home by the end of this week and to head the Cabinet meeting on

Monday. Notably, HH is expected to head Kuwait’s delegation leaving for New York to take part in the UN’s General Assembly.

Govt discusses agenda In today’s meeting, the Cabinet is expected to pick up from where its last meeting ended and discuss the government’s priorities pending, referring the agenda to the parliament next month.

New budgets The Finance Ministry recently asked various ministries and government establishments to provide their new budgets and needs before December so that the state’s new 2014-15 budget could be prepared in time. The ministry also requested rationalizing expenses on the new budget by reducing expenditure on conferences, hospitality, foreign delegations,

gifts and senior officials’ privileges.

Biggest public survey Speaker of the house, Marzouq Al-Ghanim announced that he had asked the parliament’s secretariat general to conduct the biggest public survey to probe citizens’ priorities to address them in parliament. He also noted that parliamentary committees would determine priorities next month before coordinating with the government. Commenting on the crisis in Egypt, Al-Ghanim said it was very saddening and called for reasoning and debate. He also extended his condolences to the families of the victims. In another development, Al-Ghanim also denied nominating former MP Adel Al-Sarawi to be appointed in the auditing bureau. “Sarawi is the enemy of anti-reform; he has a long career of achievements”, he said.

KUWAIT: The Operations Room received a call about an expat’s body which was stuck among the rocks opposite the Kuwait Scientific Center. South Salmiya Fire Center, headed by Maj Abdul Hameed Ghloom and Salmiya Marine Rescue Center headed by Maj Ali Abdul Khaleq rushed to the spot. Divers lifted the body and handed it to rescue-men. Present at the site were Hawally Governorate Fire Director Col Mohammad Al-Mihimade and South Salmiya Fire Center Chief Maj Ali Abdul Razzaq.—Photos by Hanan Al-Saadoun

MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013

EU warns will ‘urgently review’ Egypt ties

Spanish fishermen sail in protest at Gibraltar reef

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LONDON: Demonstrators shout slogans during a protest in support of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi outside 10 Downing Street in central London yesterday. Some 100 protesters gathered in support of the deposed leader and the Muslim Brotherhood after some 750 people were killed in the past four days when the Egyptian military and police launched a blistering crackdown on Islamist protest camps, sparking international condemnation. —AFP

UN weapon inspectors arrive in Damascus Syria denies using chemical arms against its people DAMASCUS: A team of UN weapons inspectors arrived in Damascus yesterday for a long-delayed mission to investigate the alleged use of chemical arms in Syria’s civil war.

President Bashar Assad’s regime and the rebels fighting to overthrow him have traded accusations over the purported chemical attacks, each blaming the other side. Negotiations over allowing international experts into the country to investigate the allegations dragged on for months before the UN and the Syrian government finally reached a deal last week.

The 20-member strong UN delegation, led by Swedish chemical weapons expert Ake Sellstrom, traveled to the Syrian capital Saturday by car from Beirut. After arriving at a five-star hotel in central Damascus, plainclothes policemen immediately whisked them away from the crush of reporters and cameraman waiting in the lobby.

The experts are expected to visit three sites where chemical weapons attacks allegedly occurred, but diplomats and chemical weapons experts have raised doubts about whether they will find anything since the alleged incidents took place months ago.

The mandate for the investigation is also limited - the team will report on whether chemical weapons were used, and if so which ones, but it will not determine the responsibility for an attack. This has led some commentators to question the overall value of the probe.

Ahead of the experts’ arrival, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said that the government will offer the UN inspectors its full assistance. “I assure you, on behalf of the Syrian Arab Republic, that we will fully cooperate with this team and provide it will all information we have and all facilities to reach a rational conclusion,” he said.

“Our basic target is for this team to find facts on ground, especially about what happened in Khan AlAssal, because we, as a government, do not know about any other cases other than the case where chemical weapons were used by terrorists there,” he added. Syria’s government refers to rebels fighting its rule as terrorists.

The UN team’s mission is limited to investigating the alleged use of chemical weapons in three areas: the village of Khan Al-Assal just west of the embattled northern city of Aleppo, as well as two other sites that have not been disclosed.

The Syrian government initially asked the UN to investigate an alleged chemical weapons attack on March 19 in Khan Al-Assal, which was captured by the rebels last month. The government and rebels blame each other for the purported attack which killed at least 30 people. Britain, France and the Unites States followed with allegations of chemical weapons use in Homs, Damascus and elsewhere. UN Mideast envoy Robert Serry told the Security Council last month that the UN has received 13 reports of alleged chemical weapons use in Syria.

Speaking to the AP, Mekdad insisted that Syria “will never use chemical weapons against its people.”

“We said that these weapons were used in Syria, and Syria was the first to inform the United Nations that armed groups used these weapons in Khan AlAssal,” he said. “We had wished that the United Nations had conducted the investigation immediately at the time so the team would not find difficulties gathering evidence.” In June, Washington has said that Syria’s government used the nerve agent sarin on two occasions in or near Aleppo - on March 19 in Khan al-Assal and again on April 13 in an attack on the neighborhood of Sheikh Maqsud.

The letter from then-US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, also said unspecified chemicals, possibly including chemical warfare agents, were used May 14 in an attack on the town of Qasr Abu Samrah and in a May 23 attack on the town of Adra.

President Barack Obama has said that the use of chemical weapons would cross a “red line” and carry “enormous consequences.” But he has tempered expectations that the US would act swiftly since Washington first accused the Assad regime of carrying out chemical attacks, saying more information was needed before action could be taken.

DAMASCUS: Ake Sellstrom (center left), the head of the UN chemical weapons investigation team, arrives in Damascus yesterday. The UN team arrived at a hotel in the Syrian capital to begin their hard-won mission which UN officials have said will last two weeks. —AFP

In March, Britain and France told the UN chief they have reliable evidence that the Syrian government used chemical weapons near Aleppo, in Homs and possibly in Damascus.

The British and French ambassadors told Ban Kimoon in a letter on March 25 that soil samples and interviews with witnesses and opposition figures backed their belief that the government used chemical shells that had caused injuries and deaths, diplomats and officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the letter has not been made public. —AP

MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013

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

Tunisia oppn, ruling Islamists hold talks TUNIS: Ruling Islamist movement Ennahda and the opposition Nidaa Tounes said yesterday they have held secret talks in Europe to try to find a way out of Tunisia’s political crisis. Nidaa Tounes leader, ex-premier Beji Caid Essebsi, a sworn enemy of the Islamists, met Ennahda chief Rached Ghannouchi while on a European tour last week, his centre-right party said in a statement.

Ghannouchi himself wrote on Facebook that he had held “positive and frank” talks with Essebsi on Thursday, but he too did not elaborate. The encounter took place in Paris, according to Tunisian media reports. Ennahda has been holding internal talks since Saturday to examine “initiatives” to resolve the crisis which broke out with the July 25 assassination of opposition politician

Mohamed Brahmi.

A second round of negotiations with the powerful UGTT trade union organization aimed at striking a compromise is scheduled for today. The moderate Islamist movement which heads Tunisia’s ruling coalition has offered negotiations with the opposition to bring in other parties and form a government of national unity, but it

rejects opposition calls to step down.

Ennahda’s supporters are determined that after long years of repression under president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who was ousted in Tunisia’s 2011 revolution, the party not be denied a share of power. Last Tuesday, the two sides held rival rallies, highlighting the deep divisions over the balance to be struck between secularism and democracy following the

revolution. Ennahda insists it has the right to lead the government after emerging as the largest party in an October 2011 election for a constituent assembly. The mainly secular opposition accuses Ennahda of failing to take strong enough action against hardline Islamists accused of Brahmi’s murder and the slaying in February of another prominent secular politician, Chokri Belaid. — AFP

Advancing army kills jihadist in Latakia Iran, Hezbollah running Syria: Oppn

Syrian refugees cross the border into the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq yesterday.—AFP

Libyan interior minister resigns over ‘meddling’ TRIPOLI: Libya’s Interior Minister Mohammed Khalifa Al-Sheikh stepped down yesterday in protest against what he saw as interference in his work by the prime minister and parliament, a lawmaker said. The ministry has come under increasing pressure to deal with violence that has persisted since the 2011 war that toppled Muammar Gaddafi. The oil-producing state is still awash with weapons and militias who have clashed with security forces.

Al-Sharif Al-Wafi, a member of the Libyan General National Congress, told Reuters Sheikh had submitted his resignation to the cabinet. “He said that he didn’t have any understanding with the prime minister and that he didn’t have enough mandate to carry out his work,” Wafi said.

“He also complained that some members of the congress interfered.”

He did not go into details about what kind of work had been disrupted. An official at Prime Minister Ali Zeidan’s office said the premier has accepted the resignation and appointed one of his deputies, Sadiq Abdelkarim Abdulrahman Kreim, to step in until a replacement was found.

Sheikh, a former Tripoli police colonel, took up his post in May after his predecessor Ashour Shuail resigned. On Saturday, a bomb blast ripped through the garden wall of the Egyptian consulate in the eastern cit y of Benghazi on Saturday, injuring a security guard who needed hospital treatment, witnesses said. US ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed in Benghazi last year after Islamist gunmen attacked the US consulate during a protest by a mob. —Reuters

Iran has 18,000 uranium Centrifuges: Nuke chief DUBAI: Iran has installed 18,000 uraniumenrichment centrifuges, the country’s outgoing nuclear chief was quoted as saying

by Iranian media on Saturday. The US and its Western allies are pressing Iran to curb its uranium enrichment program, which they suspect is aimed at developing a nuclear weapons capability, but Iran refuses and insists its nuclear activity is for purely peaceful purposes.

New Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, a former nuclear negotiator who oversaw a previous deal to suspend Iran’s uranium enrichment, has welcomed new talks with world powers over the program but has insisted on Iran’s right to enrich uranium.

Iran has 17,000 older “first-generation” IR-1 centrifuges, of which 10,000 are operating and 7,000 are ready to start operations, the ISNA news agency quoted Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani, outgoing head of the

Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), as saying.

A May report from the UN nuclear watchdog indicated that Iran had by then installed roughly 16,600 IR-1 machines in two separate facilities. Abbasi-Davani also said there were 1,000 new, more advanced centrifuges ready to start operations, in a reference to IR-2m centrifuges, which once operational would allow Iran to enrich uranium several times faster than the IR-1 machine.

The IAEA in its last report in May said Iran had installed a total of 689 such centrifuges and empty centrifuge casings.

Rouhani on Friday appointed Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran’s previous foreign minister, to take over the AEOI. Salehi, who once headed the agency, is seen as a pragmatist, as opposed to the more hardline AbbasiDavani. — Reuters

BEIRUT: Fierce fighting raged in Latakia province on Syria’s coastline yesterday, as the army pushed an advance and killed a jihadist leader, a monitoring group said. The regime deployed massive reinforcements to fight rebels in Latakia, which has strategic and symbolic significance because it is the ancestral home of President Bashar AlAssad’s clan.

Rebels positioned in remote enclaves of Latakia’s mountains launched the “battle for the liberation of the Syrian coast” about two weeks ago. Poorly equipped local fighters allied themselves with the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), despite a history of poor relations.

Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the army sent “massive reinforcements” to Latakia to fight the rebels and “bombed rebel areas heavily”.

State television said the army has reclaimed rebel positions in the province, including Kharata, Janzuriyeh, Baluta, Baruda and Hambushiyeh. But according to Abdel Rahman, “the army has only been able to secure the outskirts of some villages. The battles are ongoing and they are fierce”.

“Scores of foreign ( jihadist) fighters are being killed in the Latakia fighting,” he told AFP. Among them was a Libyan emir or local leader of ISIS, said the Observatory. “Confirmed reports emerged of the killing of a Libyan ISIS emir while fighting in Jamusiyeh village,” said the Britainbased monitoring group. The Syrian air force also struck several rebel positions across the country, it added. Among its targets were the Jabal Al-Arbaeen area of the northwestern province of Idlib, Daraya and Zabadani near Damascus, and Deir Ezzor city in the east of Syria and a rebel area nearby.

It also struck a rebel area in Homs province, said the Observatory. Syria’s war has killed more than 100,000 people in 29 months, according to the United Nations. On Saturday alone, at least

BEIRUT: A Kurdish supporter of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, flashes a victory sign as others hold placards and a portrait of their leader Abdullah Ocalan during their protest march against the Al-Qaedaaffiliated Jabhat Al-Nusra in Beirut yesterday.—AP 124 people were killed across Syria, the Observatory reported.

Opposition leader Ahmad Jarba said Syria is now being run by regime allies Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, with President Bashar Al-Assad out of the picture, in an interview published yesterday.

Jarba also told Saudi-owned newspaper Al-Hayat that Syrian rebels have seized control of “at least half ” of the country, 29 months into an anti-Assad uprising.

Assad is “a killer and a criminal, and... he has collapsed,” the National Coalition chief charged.

The opposition leader reiterated the rebels’ insistence that any settlement must exclude Assad, demanding that he be “punished for the war crimes he has committed against the Syrian people”.

More than 100,000 people have been killed since the conflict broke out in mid-March 2011, the UN

says. Assad “no longer runs Syria.

The real rulers of Syria are the Iranian (elite) Revolutionar y Guard... with the participation of (Lebanese Shiite) Hezbollah fighters,” Jarba said.

Tehran is Assad’s main regional backer, while Hezbollah has sent in troops from Lebanon to help the army fight the anti-regime rebellion. Jarba said that supplying the rebel Free Syrian Army with sophisticated weaponry would “change the course of the revolution,” despite Western fears that the arms could land in the hands of extremists.

Meanwhile, President Assad said yesterday he is determined to “eradicate terrorism” which he blames for the conflict raging in his country, according to state news agency SANA. “Syria has welcomed all constructive, genuine efforts to find a political solution to the crisis”

that erupted in March 2011, Assad was quoted as saying. But Damascus “is at the same time determined to confront terrorism and eradicate it,” he added in reference to a rebellion that broke out against him after his regime unleashed a brutal crackdown against dissent. Assad made his remarks during a meeting with a visiting delegation of Mauritanian party leaders in Damascus. He said “the cohesion between our heroic army and the people” would help Damascus defeat the rebellion, according to SANA. Assad’s latest remarks come two weeks after he promised in a rare speech to strike out “terrorism” with an “iron fist”. Despite international efforts to end Syria’s conflict and to bring regime and rebel representatives to the negotiating table, the war has cost more than 100,000 lives, the UN says. — Agencies

Eight killed in Iraq violence BAGHDAD: Attacks in Iraq killed at least eight people including an anti-Al-Qaeda militia leader yesterday, officials said, the latest in a surge of violence plaguing the country. Security forces have in recent weeks carried out some of their biggest operations since the 2011 withdrawal of US forces, but analysts and diplomats say authorities have not addressed root causes of the unrest.

Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki has nevertheless vowed to press on with the campaign in a bid to combat Iraq’s worst violence since 2008. Two roadside bombs targeted a bus stop and a supermarket in two separate areas of Baghdad, killing at least four people and wounding 13, most of them government employees.

And the body of a local council member who was kidnapped the day before was found south of Kirkuk, a disputed northern city. He was shot in the head and his body bore signs of torture.

Also yesterday, gunmen on a motorcycle killed the leader of a local Sahwa, or anti-Al-Qaeda, militia and his three-yearold niece and wounded his 10-year-old nephew near Kirkuk. Sunni militants con-

sider the Sahwa, a collection of Sunni tribal militias which joined forces with the United States from late 2006, to be traitors and frequently attack them. And in Muqdadiyah, north of Baghdad, a roadside bomb killed a teacher while he was driving. The teacher, a Sunni Arab, had fled a Shiite-majority area of Muqdadiyah in 2006 and returned just two months ago.

Iraq was racked by a bloody Sunni-Shiite sectarian conflict that peaked in 20062007, when tens of thousands of people were killed and many more forced to abandon their homes under threat of death.

Lingering tensions between Sunnis and Shiites have been inflamed by persistent violence in Iraq and the civil war in neighboring Syria, and there are growing fears that the country is slipping back towards all-out sectarian conflict. Violence has markedly increased this year, attributed by analysts and diplomats to anger in the Sunni Arab community over its alleged targeting and ill treatment at the hands of Shiite-led authorities. Attacks have killed more than 3,490 people since the beginning of 2013, according to figures compiled

by AFP. — AFP

ALEXANDRIA: Army soldiers stand guard in front of the Ibrahim Mosque in Alexandria yesterday. Supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi cancelled some Cairo marches for “security reasons”, as the military chief vowed to face down violent protests following Egypt’s bloodiest week in recent memory. — AFP

EU warns will ‘urgently review’ Egypt ties BRUSSELS: European Union leaders Herman Van Rompuy and Jose Manuel Barroso warned Egypt’s army and interim government yesterday the bloc would review its ties with the country unless the violence ended.

Further escalation could have “unpredictable consequences” for Egypt and its neighbors, the presidents of the European Council and European Commission said. “This path will not succeed. It is crucial that violence ends immediately,” they said. The 28-nation bloc would continue efforts to promote an end to violence, resumption of political dialogue, and return to a democratic process, the statement added. “To this effect, together with its member states, the EU will urgently review in the coming days its relations with Egypt and adopt measures aimed at pursuing these goals.”

Senior diplomats from the 28 EU nations

will Monday hold emergency talks on Egypt in Brussels in which they are expected to call for a snap meeting of foreign ministers within the next days.

The EU has pledged nearly five billion euros in loans and grants for Egypt for 20122013 and said shortly after the July 3 ouster of president Mohamed Morsi that aid provisions would be “under constant review” as the situation evolved.

“While all should exert maximum restraint, we underline the particular responsibility of the interim authorities and of the army in bringing clashes to a halt,” Van Rompuy and Barroso said. “The calls for democracy and fundamental freedoms from the Egyptian population cannot be disregarded, much less washed away in blood.” They regretted that international efforts and proposals for building bridges were set aside and confrontation

chosen instead, and said there was no alternative to dialogue. “All the Egyptian political forces must recommit to the country’s democratic future and engage in a political process leading to the early holding of elections and the establishment of a civilian government,” they said.

“The violence and the killings of these last days cannot be justified nor condoned.

Human rights must be respected and upheld.

Political prisoners should be released.” The leaders of Germany and France, President Francois Hollande and Chancellor Angela Merkel, last week raised the spectre of the EU rethinking its cooperation with Egyptian authorities and called for a swift meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers. The next scheduled meeting of EU foreign ministers is in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, on September 6 and 7.— AFP

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Madagascar drops president, rival’s wife from vote ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar: Madagascar’s special electoral court has removed the country’s incumbent president, the wife of his longtime rival and a former president from its list of presidential candidates, officials said.

The Special Electoral Court canceled the candidacy of President Andry Rajoelina and Lalao Ravalomanana, who is the wife of Marc Ravalomanana, the leader that Rajoelina overthrew in 2009. Former president Didier Ratsiraka was also removed from the list on Saturday.

The court said neither Ravalomanana nor

Ratsiraka met the physical residence requirements for candidacy of living in the country for six months.

Ratsiraka had fled to France in exile in 2002 and had not lived permanently on the Indian Ocean island since then.

The electoral court said that Rajoelina’s filing for candidacy did not occur during the statutory period. Rajoelina in January said he wouldn’t run in this year’s elections, but then in May filed for candidacy.

He said he decided to run because the candidacy of Ravalomanana’s wife, Lalao, is the same as Ravalomanana running himself. The Southern

African Development Community, a regional bloc of 15 countries, had recommended that neither Ravalomanana nor Rajoelina run as a way of resolving Madagascar’s political troubles. The island of 20 million people has been in political turmoil since former disc jockey Rajoelina seized power in 2009.

Ravalomanana agreed in December not to run.

He lives in exile in South Africa. Five other candidates were also dropped from the list, the court said, adding that they had three days to file replacement candidates. The African Union said it welcomed the Special Electoral Court’s decision for an

“election that would mark the conclusion of the crisis exit process and the restoration of constitutional order.” The presidential election is scheduled for Aug 23. It will be the first held in Madagascar since Ravalomanana was removed from power.

The East African island is hilly and lush with rice paddies. It is renowned for its rain forests that feature a rare level of biodiversity, including endemic lemurs. The country’s tourism industry, however, has been badly hit by the political turmoil, further battering a nation that is one of the world’s poorest countries. —AP

Spanish fishermen sail in protest at Gibraltar reef British carrier HMS Illustrious visits Spanish port

PARIS: Egyptian pro-army demonstrators living in France, protest outside the French Foreign Ministry in Paris yesterday.—AP

UK’s Prescott joins criticism of Milliband LONDON: Former deputy Prime Minister John Prescott joined critics of Ed Milliband’s leadership of Britain’s opposition Labor party, saying the party had “massively failed” in its summer political campaign. His comments followed warnings from other senior party figures that Labor is running out of time to communicate clear policies before the 2015 election.

Labor is still forecast to win a majority but its poll ratings have slipped over its links with trade unions, while signs of economic recovery have boosted the Conservative party which leads the coalition government. Milliband’s personal ratings hit new lows last week.

“This summer, we massively failed to get our case over to the public and hold the Tories (Conservatives) to account,” Prescott, Labor premier Tony Blair’s deputy between 1997 and 2007, wrote in the Sunday Mirror

newspaper. He called on Milliband to sack underperforming members of his leadership team. “Radical change is now required to shape up the policy of organization and delivery alongside a clear set of policies and principles so people know what we stand for.” Earlier this month Labour’s health spokesman Andy Burnham said the party must be bolder to win over the public with only a relatively short amount of time left before the election.

Other Labour lawmakers have spoken out to criticise the party’s lack of a clear campaign message. An opinion poll yesterday showed Labor on 37 percent, 9 percentage points ahead of the Conservatives and up 1 point from the same poll in July, but other recent polls have shown a much narrower margin. In May, Labor was regularly posting a double-digit lead over the Conservatives. —Reuters

GIBRALTAR: Dozens of Spanish fishing boats sailed to Gibraltar yesterday to demand that the British outpost remove 70 concrete blocks it has dropped in their fishing grounds. British naval and Gibraltar police patrols blocked the 38 Spanish boats from entering disputed waters around the concrete reef, which has sparked an angry diplomatic row between London and Madrid.

In the midst of the spat, Britain’s helicopter carrier HMS Illustrious visited a Spanish port yesterday and a frigate was scheduled to dock in Gibraltar today as part of a pre-planned naval exercise.

The Spanish fishermen from the nearby ports of La Linea de la Concepcion and Algeciras set sail on calm waters across the narrow strait, accompanied by a half dozen Spanish police patrols.

The Spanish fleet approached a cordon set up by a total of 14 British naval and Gibraltar vessels, manoeuvring in close quarters but then turning back with no incident reported beyond an exchange of insults. About 500 people watched the one-hour protest from the shores of Gibraltar, many waving Gibraltar and British flags. Spanish spectators gathered in the port of La Linea de la Concepcion, some with Spanish flags and T-shirts reading “Gibraltar Is Spanish”.

“We just want to send a message to Gibraltar,” said Leoncio Fernandez, the head of the La Linea fishermen’s guild. “All we want is to fish where we have always fished.”

Gibraltar police said their main concern was safety. “When you’re working at sea in such close quarters, it can be very dangerous,” a police spokesman said.

The Gibraltar government says the reef will regenerate marine life and that the few Spanish fishermen who raked there for shellfish did so illegally under Gibraltar law. Spanish fishermen, however, say the concrete blocks-dropped into the sea last month without consultation-have cut them off from rich fishing grounds and lowered their already meagre incomes. Britain accuses Spain of retaliating over the reef by imposing excessive cus-

Central Africa coup leader sworn in as president BANGUI, Central African Republic: Former rebel leader Michel Djotodia was sworn in as president of the Central African Republic yesterday, five months after seizing power in the violence-wracked country. The former French colony’s sixth president is tasked with restoring security in the impoverished state and steering the nation through a transition period leading to fresh polls within 18 months. Djotodia swore the oath of office on the Transition Charter, which has substituted for the constitution since the ouster of Francois Bozize, who himself came to power on the back of a military coup in 2003.

He vowed “to preserve the peace, to consolidate national unity (and) to ensure the well-being of the Central African people” before members of the Constitutional Court. After ousting Bozize from power, Djotodia’s Seleka rebel alliance won de facto recognition from the international community and a shot at steering the nation through the transition period leading to fresh polls.

Five months on however, the picture is bleak, with reports of wide-

spread rape, child soldier recruitment and weapons proliferation prompting UN chief Ban Ki-moon to say the country needed the world’s “urgent attention”. Djotodia vowed to combat insecurity in an address marking the nation’s 53rd anniversary of independence from France last Tuesday.

An African peacekeeping force has begun deploying in the capital Bangui, which seems to be stabilizing, even though gunfire could be heard overnight.

But no peacekeepers in the force that will eventually number 2,500 soldiers and 1,000 police officers are stationed outside of the capital, and people in the vast, lawless countryside live in a “permanent climate of fear”, according to the United Nations.

A UN report said that Djotodia’s Seleka fighters, many of whom have not been paid in months, were to blame for much of the chaos and that the group’s hierarchy is doing little to stop them.

It listed “arbitrar y arrests and detention, sexual violence against women and children, torture, rape, targeted killings, recruitment of child

soldiers and attacks, committed by uncontrolled Seleka elements and unidentified armed groups throughout the country.” The International Federation for Human Rights said in July it had documented at least 400 murders by Seleka-affiliated groups since March. Bar a few arrests in Bangui, all those killings have gone unpunished. A group of Bozize supporters calling themselves the Front for the Return of Constitutional Order in Central Africa dismissed the inauguration as a masquerade. “ This swearing in is illegitimate because Mr Djotodia owes his position only to the force of Kalashnikovs and foreign mercenaries,” it said in a statement.

The landlocked nation has 4.6 million inhabitants scattered over a territory larger than France, replete with untapped mineral wealth and bordering other chronically unstable countries such as DR Congo, Chad and South Sudan. The relentless violence since the March coup has forced tens of thousands from their homes, with the UN refugee agency reporting on Tuesday that 4,000 have crossed into Chad over the past month alone.—AFP

Rival hammers Merkel at mammoth campaign rally

A handout photo obtained yesterday from The HALO Trust shows HALO’s Angola Program Manager Gerhard Zank (left) discussing with Britain’s Prince Harry (right), section leader Maria Ilda da Piedade (back, center) and deminer Mateus Canhanga, the future mine clearance priorities while villagers await their land being returned safe and demined in Cuito Cuanavale, Angola.— AFP

BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s struggling rival in next month’s general election attempted to revive his campaign at the weekend by attacking her euro policy at his biggest rally to date. Peer Steinbrueck, candidate for the main opposition Social Democrats (SPD), said Merkel was hurting both Germans and the citizens of the ailing euro-zone countries with an unwavering focus on enforcing budgetary rigor rather than spurring growth.

“Cuts, cuts, only cuts-that is not going to get the (euro-zone) countries out of trouble,” said Steinbrueck, who served as finance minister under Merkel during her first 2005-2009 term in a leftright “grand coalition”. Blasting a yawning wealth gap in Europe’s top economy, he also called for an across-the-board minimum wage in Germany, which has done without one until now. “It’s not only fairer but also makes sense economically because it creates spending power,” Steinbrueck said, in a full-throated, 40-minute speech that was frequently interrupted by applause.

“Freedom, justice, solidarity-those are the values I want to promote as chancellor.”

Steinbrueck, 66, was speaking at a celebration of the SPD’s 150th birthday at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate running throughout the weekend, where the party said up to 300,000 people had gathered on Saturday alone. But he is the clear underdog in the September 22 vote, as a new poll yesterday showed.

Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats have 40-percent support, according to the survey for Bild am Sonntag newspaper, while the SPD scored just 24 percent-one point above its recordlow result in the 2009 election. Merkel’s pro-business coalition partners, the Free Democrats, tallied six percent, potentially giving the allies another ruling majority with five weeks to go until election day.— Reuters

Vessels of the Guardia Civil and Gibraltar police surround Spanish fishermen as they protest in the bay of Algeciras yesterday.—AFP toms checks at the border to Gibraltar, leading to daily hours-long queues of cars.

British Prime Minister David Cameron described the checks as “politically motivated” and has pressed the European Union to send observers to the border as soon as possible.

It is the latest in a string of diplomatic rows over the self-governing British overseas territory, which measures just 6.8 square kilometres (2.6 square miles) and is home to about 30,000 people.

Spain ceded Gibraltar to Britain in perpetuity in 1713 but has long argued that it should be returned to Spanish sovereignty. London says it will not do so against the wishes of Gibraltarians, who are staunchly pro-British.

With Madrid’s prior agreement, British helicopter and commando carrier HMS Illustrious on Sunday stopped at a Spanish naval base in Rota in southern Spain for a technical stop of several hours before leading naval exercises in the Mediterranean. A British naval frigate, the HMS Westminster, and two support vessels are due to dock in Gibraltar on Monday before taking part in the naval exercise, codenamed Cougar ‘13, which was planned long before the latest row broke out.

The British ships will visit several ports, carrying out an exercise with the Albanian armed forces before heading through the Red Sea, Indian Ocean and the Gulf for exercises with other British allies. —AFP

NEWS

MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013

SANAA: A Yemeni man leaps over a camel during the opening ceremony of the Sanaa Summer Festival in the capital Sanaa yesterday. —AFP

US Congress divided on cutting off aid to Egypt Obama govt faces hard choices WASHINGTON: Members of Congress are split over whether the US should cut off military aid to Egypt, highlighting the difficult choices facing the Obama administration amid spiraling violence on the streets of an important Middle East ally.

Obama has denounced the violence, canceled joint military exercises scheduled for September and delayed the delivery of four F-16 fighter jets.

But the White House has refused to declare President Mohammed Morsi’s removal a coup - a step that would require Obama to suspend $1.3 billion in annual military aid. The president insists that the US stands with Egyptians seeking a democratic government. But he says America cannot determine Egypt’s future. Democratic lawmakers have generally supported the president’s approach. “These are very, very difficult choices,” Rep. Eliot Engel of New York, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Sunday. “I’m very unhappy, obviously, with the crackdown. But we essentially have two

choices in Egypt. And that’s a military government, which hopefully will transition as quickly as possible to civilian government, or the Muslim Brotherhood. I don’t think the Muslim Brotherhood is a choice.”

But yesterday, Rep Keith Ellison, a Minnesota Democrat, said he would cut off aid to Egypt. Ellison is the first Muslim elected to Congress and is cochairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. “I would cut off aid but engage in intense diplomacy in Egypt and in the region to try to say, look, we will restore aid when you stop the bloodshed in the street and set up a path towards democracy that you were on before,” Ellison said. “In my mind, there’s no way to say that this was not a coup. It is. We should say so.

And then follow our own law, which says we cannot fund the coup leaders.”

Among Republicans, there were growing calls to eliminate military aid to Egypt. But others were more hesitant. Rep Peter King of New York said curtailing aid could reduce US influence over Egypt’s interim government,

which controls access to strategic resources, including the Suez Canal.

“I’m reluctant to cut off aid,” said King, who chairs the House panel on counterterrorism and intelligence.

King said there are no good choices in Egypt. Morsi, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, was democratically elected. But, King said, the group has not demonstrated a commitment to democracy. The split among members of the same political party illustrates the uncertainty facing President Barack Obama as he tries to navigate volatile developments in Egypt, where crackdowns last week left hundreds dead and thousands more injured.

Sen John McCain of Arizona renewed his call yesterday to stop aid as the Egyptian military continues to crack down on protesters seeking Morsi’s return. “For us to sit by and watch this happen is a violation of everything that we stood for,” said the senior Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee. “We’re not sticking with our values.” The military ousted Morsi on July 3 after millions of

36 Egyptian Islamists killed in jailbreak bid Continued from Page 1 said the army has no intention of seizing power in the Arab world’s most populous country. Al-Sisi removed Morsi after four days of mass rallies by millions of Egyptians who demanded the president step down.

“We will not stand by silently watching the destruction of the country and the people or the torching the nation and terrorizing the citizens,” he said in a speech aired on state television.

The general said that the military didn’t seek power but instead “have the honor to protect the people’s will - which is much dearer (than) ruling Egypt.”

Al-Sisi also said Islamists must be included in the country’s politics moving forward. A military timetable calls for the nation’s constitution to be amended and for presidential and parliamentary elections to be held in 2014.

“We have given many chances ... to end the crisis peacefully and call for the followers of the former regime to participate in rebuilding the democratic track and integrate in the political process and the future map instead of confrontations and destroying the Egyptian state,” he told a gathering of top military commanders and police chiefs.

Meanwhile, Supporters of ousted president Mohammed Morsi cancelled some Cairo marches yesterday for “security reasons”, as the country’s military chief vowed to face down violent protests following Egypt’s bloodiest week in decades.

The latest developments come as senior European Union diplomats were to hold emergency talks tomorrow in Brussels to discuss the situation in Egypt and future EU action. More than 750 people were killed in four days of violence after the military and police launched a blistering crackdown on Islamist protest camps, sparking international condemnation. In his first remarks since the campaign began on Wednesday, mili-

tary chief Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi said security forces would confront further violence from protesters.

“We will never be silent in the face of the destruction of the country,” Sisi told top military and police commanders. “We are very prepared for this,” he said, pledging a “forceful” response to further attacks on police stations and government buildings.

The Islamists said they cancelled “several marches”, citing fears of vigilantes and snipers but that others would go ahead.

“Several marches in Cairo have been cancelled for security reasons,” said Yasmine Adel, a spokeswoman for the Anti-Coup Coalition of Morsi loyalists.

A separate statement by the group said “all nationwide marches and Cairo marches are continuing as planned” with the exception of a rally in the Roxy area of the capital.

At a mosque in the Dokki neighborhood, where one march was scheduled to begin, residents stood guard.

“We are waiting for them. I swear we will kill them if they approach the mosque,” one said. In the evening the interior ministry issued a statement announcing a ban on vigilantes who have formed self-styled “popular committees” and urged citizens to respect a nightly curfew. Al-Sisi’s remarks come ahead of an anticipated harsher stance by the military-backed government toward the Brotherhood. The Cabinet held an emergency meeting yesterday to discuss potentially banning the group, a long-outlawed organization that swept to power in the country’s first democratic elections a year ago. vA possible ban - which authorities say would be implemented over the group’s use of violence - would be a repeat of the decades-long struggle between the state and the Brotherhood. It also would drain the group’s financial resources and allow for mass arrests of its members. That likely would diminish the chances of a negotiated solution to the crisis and push it again underground. — Agencies

Egyptians took to the streets to demand he step down, accusing him of giving the Brotherhood undue influence and failing to implement vital reforms or bolster the ailing economy.

Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who represents the party’s libertarian, anti-interventionist wing, said US aid to Egypt was more likely to “buy a chateau in Paris” for an Egyptian military leader than “bread in Cairo” for the poor.

“I don’t think we’re buying any friendship with the Egyptian people,” Paul said, especially when peo-

ple see tanks supplied by the US to the Egyptian military on the streets of Cairo.

“We are not winning the hearts and minds of the Egyptian people,” said Paul, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “The aid has to end.”

Sen Bob Corker, a Tennessee Republican, had resisted calls to cut off aid. But yesterday, he switched positions. “I think we need to look at the tiers of our aid,” said Corker, top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “Let’s face it, most of the aid has gone out the door

this year.”

Corker said he expects Congress to debate next year’s aid this fall, after lawmakers return from their summer recess. “Look, I condemn what’s happened with the military, but I also condemn what in essence was a political coup by the Muslim Brotherhood,” Corker said. “And we need to move this debate along and this fall hopefully, again, focus on what is our national interests. And there still are things within Egypt that are very much in our national interest. And we need to keep the lines of communication open.” —AP

Gitmo prosecutors want 2014 trial for...

Continued from Page 1 Some hearings were canceled because of computer problems and tropical storms at the remote Caribbean base. Others veered away from the docket to address whether military and intelligence agents were spying on supposedly confidential attorney-client discussions, an issue that is still unresolved. Prosecutors want the judge to set firm deadlines for new filings, hold month-long hearings to work through a backlog of outstanding motions and be ready to start picking a jury on Sept. 22, 2014.

Continuing at the current pace “will result in litigation that is unnecessarily prolonged and does not serve the interests of justice,” prosecutors wrote in court filings. They said they had already given the defense lawyers most of their evidence, including 170,000 pages of unclassified information. The secret evidence will follow once all five defense teams sign “memorandums of understanding” on how to safeguard it, they said. Most of the defense lawyers are holding off on that until the judge clarifies issues such as whether they must treat information as classified when it was not produced by the government and is publicly available through open sources. The judge will take that up at this week’s hearing as well.

Defense lawyers said 80 percent of the evidence they have received so far consists of photos of the destruction from the 9/11 attacks and business records related to the hijackers - matters that are not in dispute. Defense attorney James Connell, who did sign the memorandum of understanding, said prosecutors have not turned over any of the

evidence that will be most in contention, which relates to the years the defendants spent in CIA custody.

“The CIA and (Defense Department) have revealed far more information about what happened during that time to the makers of ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ than they’ve revealed to us,” Connell said.

The CIA cooperated with the makers of the Hollywood movie about the hunt for Osama bin Laden, and has acknowledged one character was “modeled after” Connell’s client, Ammar al Baluchi, an alleged Al-Qaeda money mover also known as Ali Abdul Aziz Ali. He is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s nephew. The movie showed interrogators stringing up the Ammar character with a rope, forcing him to wear a dog collar, waterboarding him and stuffing him into a coffin-like box. The CIA has not acknowledged using those techniques on Baluchi but has admitted using them on other prisoners. Defense attorneys say they cannot adequately prepare for trial unless they know what happened to the defendants between their capture in 2002 and 2003, and their transfer to Guantanamo in 2006. All the defendants have said they were tortured in CIA prisons during that time.

Defense lawyers say once they get the CIA information, it will take a couple more years to investigate it to ensure it is not tainted by torture. If it is, it cannot be used in court.

Prosecutors say they will turn over the information that is necessary and relevant but argue in a court briefing that the defense is “not entitled to every piece of paper in the possession of the United States government that directly or indirectly mentions or pertains to the accused.” — Reuters

Qatar denies aiding Muslim Brotherhood Continued from Page 1 condemned the crackdown by Egyptian security forces on supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and Egypt’s ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi.

More than 750 people were killed in four days after the military and police launched a blistering crackdown on Islamist protest camps, sparking international condemnation.

Since the Egyptian army ousted Morsi last month amid massive protests against his rule, Qatar has repeatedly voiced solidarity with the Islamist leader’s camp. Attiyah called for a “dialogue between all Egyptians” to bring an end to the crisis, a message echoed by his French counterpart. “What’s evident to everyone who’s following the situation in Egypt is how quickly the bloodshed needs to be

stopped and to be able to open an inter-Egyptian dialogue. It’s not easy but all countries must advance in that direction,” Fabius said.

“It’s important we mobilize our energy so that Egyptians find a solution,” he added. “No one-not Qatar, not France, not any country-can impose a solution. It’s up to the Egyptians to make their decisions.” Fabius confirmed European foreign ministers would soon meet in Brussels to discuss the Egypt crisis, giving a timeframe of “undoubtedly toward mid-week”. Senior European Union diplomats are to hold emergency talks on Egypt today and prepare the ground for a possible extraordinary meeting of the EU’s 28 foreign ministers. Yesterday, EU leaders Herman Van Rompuy and Jose Manuel Barroso said the bloc would “urgently review” ties with Egypt’s army and government unless the bloodshed ends. — AFP

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Pakistan court acquits cleric in blasphemy case ISLAMABAD: A Pakistan court yesterday acquitted a Muslim cleric who accused a Christian girl of blasphemy before he himself was arrested on similar charges, a lawyer said. The girl, Rimsha Masih, was arrested in August 2012 for allegedly burning pages containing Kuranic verses but the case against her, which drew widespread international condemnation, was quashed.

Hafiz Mohammed Khalid Chishti, the cleric who made the allegations, was accused of desecrating the Quran and tampering with the evidence against Rimsha. But his lawyer, Wajid Ali Gilani, told AFP: “The court has dismissed all charges against Khalid Chishti and has acquitted him in this case.”

Gilani said the prosecution had failed to prove the charges while all the witnesses had withdrawn their accusations. Rimsha, who lived in a poor, run-down neighborhood on the edge of Islamabad, spent three weeks on remand in one of Pakistan’s toughest jails and could have faced life in prison if she had been convicted.

She and her family were forced into hiding, living under government protection in fear of their lives. Rimsha is now in Canada. Blasphemy is an extremely sensitive issue in Pakistan, where 97 percent of the population is Muslim, and insulting the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) can be punished by death under the country’s penal code.

Even unproven allegations

can provoke a violent public response. Local media previously said Rimsha was as young as 11, but an official medical report classified her as “uneducated” and 14 years old, but with a mental age younger than that.

Pakistani Christian leaders last year paid tribute to Muslim clerics, members of the media and civil society for highlighting the injustice done to Rimsha. In 2011, politicians Salman Taseer and Shahbaz Bhatti were assassinated for demanding that the blasphemy law be reformed. Asia Bibi, a Christian mother of five, remains in prison after being sentenced to death in November 2010 after other women claimed she made derogatory remarks about the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH). — AFP

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani policemen escort Islamic cleric Hafiz Mohammed Khalid Chishti (center) upon his arrival at a court in Islamabad. A Pakistan court has acquitted a Muslim cleric who accused a Christian girl of blasphemy before he himself was arrested on similar charges, a lawyer said. — AFP

Divers find another body on stricken submarine Battle against odds to find 12 remaining men

ALLAHABAD: Indian people prepare funeral pyres on a flooded road as they carry a body for cremation at Daraganj Ghat as the river water level rises in Allahabad yesterday. The monsoon, which covers the subcontinent from June to September and usually brings flooding, accounts for about 80 percent of India’s annual rainfall. — AFP

Pakistan govt stays executions temporarily ISLAMABAD: Pakistan yesterday ordered a temporary stay of executions following objections from the president and rights groups, days before they were due to resume after a five-year moratorium. The new government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in June scrapped the moratorium on the death penalty in a bid to crack down on criminals and Islamist militants in the violence-torn country. But yesterday the government announced that executions, which had been scheduled to begin this week, would be stayed temporarily following objections from outgoing President Asif Ali Zardari.

The stay would last until Zardari returns from abroad to discuss the matter with Sharif, a statement said. “In due deference to the wish of the president, it has been desired that all executions of death sentences may be held in abeyance till the discussion takes place,” it said. Zardari steps down on September 8, to be replaced by businessman Mamnoon Hussain, a close Sharif ally who was elected in July. Pakistan had intended to hang two convicted killers from banned sectarian outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) this

Wednesday or Thursday in the southern town of Sukkur, in Sindh province, officials had said.

Other prisoners on death row had also expected to be executed this week. On Friday, Human Rights Watch and the International Commission of Jurists called on Pakistan to declare commute all existing death sentences and abolish the death penalty once and for all. “A return to executions will derail one of democratic Pakistan’s most tangible human rights successes,” said Sam Zarifi, Asia-Pacific director of the International Commission of Jurists. “Under military rule, Pakistan endured the widespread application of the death penalty. The new government should demonstrate its clear opposition to any use of this ghastly punishment.” The rights groups cited official figures as saying that Pakistan has more than 7,000 prisoners on death row, one of the largest populations of prisoners facing execution in the world. The Pakistani interior ministry has said up to 450 convicts are awaiting execution and that their cases will be examined. — AFP

Pakistani gunmen kill one soldier, injure two QUETTA: Two gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire yesterday on a checkpoint of the paramilitary Frontier Corps in Pakistan’s troubled southwest, killing one soldier and wounding two others, officials said. The attack happened on the outskirts of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province where a separatist revolt has been waged for almost a decade. Frontier Corps spokesman Abdul Wasey, who gave the casualty toll, said one of the attackers was killed when troops returned fire but the other escaped. A police official, Bashir Brohi, confirmed the incident and casualties. Nobody has so far claimed responsibility for the shooting.

Most recent attacks in Quetta have been linked to a Baluch separatist insurgency. The rebels have been fighting since 2004 for political autonomy and a greater share of

profits from the region’s natural oil, gas and mineral resources. Baluchistan is also a flashpoint for surging sectarian violence between Pakistan’s majority Sunni Muslims and Shiites, who account for around a fifth of the country’s 180 million people.

Meanwhile, at least four people were injured including a soldier as a result of firing by Indian troops at Nikial sector of the northern Pakistan side of Kashmir along the Line of control (LoC) early yesterday, Pakistan officials claimed.

According to the officials, heavy shelling continued during the early hours yesterday, wounding a Pakistani soldier and three civilians. On Saturday, two Pakistani civilians were wounded in Nakial sector as Indian troops repulsed ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC). —Agencies

MUMBAI: Indian navy divers have recovered another burnt body from a submarine that exploded in Mumbai as they battled against the odds to find 12 remaining crewmen, the navy said yesterday. The diesel-powered INS Sindhurakshak exploded and sank in a military dockyard early Wednesday, dealing a setback to India’s naval ambitions just days after it unveiled its first domestically made aircraft carrier.

Eighteen crewmen were on board when the submarine went down. “ They located and brought up the body of the sixth crew member just forward of the control room despite” poor visibility “and mangled metal”, the navy said in a statement, adding that the body was discovered late Saturday. Divers also gained access to the forward compartment, which was destroyed in the fire, by “breaking open jammed hatches”, the statement said.

The state of the bodies and conditions within the submarine have led the navy to conclude that finding any surviving personnel is unlikely.

The ship, which had been returned by its original maker Russia earlier this year after a major refit, sank after it was engulfed by a fireball that lit up the Mumbai night sky. The first bodies were retrieved from the submarine on Friday. Samples from the bodies of all six found have been sent for forensic tests and finger printing to establish their identities, Sunday’s statement said.

Samples have also been taken from family members of the crew and forwarded to the same testing laboratory. The navy, which has been providing emotional support to the families of the victims, said divers would continue to make “repeated entries” into the submarine in

the coming days for a comprehensive assessment of the damage.

“The present state of the submarine and various options for salvage are being assessed,” it added.

The navy also suggested that some bodies might never be found because of the fierce temperatures generated in the fire, during which some of the weapons on board-cruise missiles and torpedoes-ignited. —AFP

MUMBAI: Indian Navy divers are pictured at the conning tower of the stricken INS Sindhurakshak, after the submarine sank following an explosion at the naval dockyard in Mumbai. Indian navy divers have recovered another burnt body from a submarine that exploded in Mumbai as they battled against the odds to find 12 remaining crewmen, the navy said yesterday. —AFP

PTI to unveil white paper on poll rigging ISLAMABAD: Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) declared that his party would unveil white paper on August 21 on the alleged rigging during May 11 general elections.

Imran Khan in a press conference said, “Our party has prepared a detailed and evidence-based white paper showing how the elections were stolen through widespread rigging on May 11, which will be made public on Aug 21.” Imran Khan further demanded that military should be deployed inside and outside the polling stations during the elections that are to be held on August 22. Khan further alleged that returning officers and electoral staff were involved in rigging during May 11 elections.

Moreover, the Election Commission of Pakistan has decided to deploy the Pakistan military at all the polling stations in Karachi during by-elections on August 22 and sent a letter to the Sindh chief secretary and Sindh home secretary in this regard. The ECP has declared as many as 819 polling stations sensitive while 365 have been declared the most sensitive.

Earlier, Interioir Minister, Chaudhry Nisar promised to formulate a committee of the members of National Assembly in order to probe into the allegations of rigging during the May 11 general elections.

Election commission of Pakistan (ECP) has scheduled to hold by-elections in 42 constituencies of Pakistan where the seats got vacant by the members of the assembly who won elections from more than one constituency. — KUNA

Sri Lanka army intimidates media over shooting: Rights group COLOMBO:- A Sri Lankan media rights group yesterday accused the military of intimidating journalists who reported a deadly army crackdown on villagers protesting at contaminated water supplies.

The army has been come under pressure after soldiers fired on unarmed locals on August 1 in a village outside Colombo, killing three, as they protested against a factor y which they say polluted their ground water.

The Free Media Movement (FMM) said the army summoned reporters, photographers and video persons to give evidence as part of a military investigation into the incident. “Summoning the journalists who were also badly assaulted by the army to give evidence is seen by us as further intimidation,” FMM convenor Sunil Jayasekera told AFP. “They (the media) were asked to come to an army camp on Saturday, but they did not comply.”

Jayasekera said the rights group was willing to cooperate with a separate police investigation also under way , but not one conducted by the army considering its own soldiers were accused of wrongdoing.

“We have asked the military to tell us under what law are they summoning the journalists to army camps to give evidence.”

Militar y spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya denied troops were intimi-

dating witnesses, and said they issued summonses in the interests of a fair inquiry and to corroborate evidence gathered so far.

At least 26 journalists have fled Sri Lanka in the past five years to escape threats, intimidation, violence and imprisonment, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. At least five journalists have been killed in the same period.

Sri Lanka was ranked 162 out of 179 countries in a recent press freedom index compiled by the Paris-based Reporters without Borders. Media rights groups say journalists have been forced to self-censor their work due to fear of attacks. Residents of Weliweriya, the village 20 kilometers (12 miles) northeast of Colombo, have also told Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Council of their fear of intimidation following army summonses to give evidence, local media reports said yesterday.

The US and the European Union have condemned the August 1 shooting and called for a speedy civilian inquiry to prosecute those responsible. The incident comes ahead of a visit next week by UN human rights chief Navi Pillay, who has demanded an international probe into alleged war crimes by Sri Lankan forces during the final stages of a war against Tamil rebels in 2009. — AFP

Three hurt in North East India blast

Pakistan floods affect 300,000

NEW DELHI: At least three persons were injured in India’s north eastern state of Manipur after a powerful bomb explosion, police said late Saturday. The bomb was detonated near a hotel in Manipur capital, Impahal, the police added. “After the explosion, three persons who were working in the hotel were injured” police said, adding, they were rushed to hospital and their condition was declared out of danger. Several underground insurgent groups are active in Manipur who often carry out militant attacks in the region. The initial investigation reveals that the bomb explosion near the hotel might have been carried out to extort money from the hotel owners, police said, adding, they were investigating the case through multiple angles. Earlier on August 15, a forceful explosion occurred just minutes before the celebrations of Independence Day in the state but no casualty was reported.

ISLAMABAD: Heavy monsoon rains have triggered floods affecting more than 300,000 people across Pakistan in the last two weeks and killed 108 others, disaster management officials said yesterday.

“The rains affected 334,764 people, killed at least 108 people and wounded 104,” a senior National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) official told AFP. The rains have hit 770 villages and completely destroyed 2,427 houses across Pakistan, he said. The NDMA has established 44 relief camps in flood-hit areas to accommodate affected people, the official added.

Pakistan has suffered from monsoon floods for the last three years and has been criticised for not doing more to mitigate against the dangers posed by seasonal rains washing away homes and farmland. Streets in all major cities including Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad suffer intermittent flooding due to downpours, damaging roads and private homes.

In 2010, the worst floods in the country’s history killed almost 1,800 people and affected 21 million. — AFP

ISLAMABAD: Ameer (president) of Islamic political party Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Syed Munawar Hassan addresses a rally in support of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi in Islamabad yesterday. — AFP

MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013

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

After deadly disaster, Philippines asks what went wrong No hopes on missing 82 TALISAY, Philippines: As rescuers plucked more bodies from the sea after a Philippine ferry and a cargo ship collided late last week, killing at least 38 people, a vexing but

familiar question faces a country plagued by an abysmal record in maritime safety: what went wrong?

Authorities say 82 people list-

ed as missing are believed to have died, trapped in the ferry that sank to the sea floor off the central Philippine port of Cebu minutes after Friday’s collision.

A crowd watches as divers continue their search and rescue operation off Talisay coast, Cebu province yesterday following Friday night’s collision of the passenger ferry MV Thomas Aquinas and the cargo ship MV Sulpicio Express Siete in central Philippines. —AP

Divers are trying to cut into the vessel, at a depth of 45 metres (150 feet), and plug an oil leak.

Although a formal investigation will not begin until after the rescue operation, attention is already turning to the final moments in the latest fatal shipping disaster to strike the Philippines, a country of 7,100 islands, where over-crowded or overloaded vessels are common and sea regulations are notoriously hard to enforce.

The MV St. Thomas of Aquinas, an inter-island ferry loaded with 870 passengers and crew, had been at sea for about nine hours after leaving Nasipit, a port on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, when it approached Cebu, a bustling economic zone about 560 km (350 miles) south of Manila. The yellow-hulled MV Sulpicio Express Siete, laden with containers, had just left Cebu’s port with 36 crew.

As they both entered a narrow channel about 600 yards (550 metres) wide in the dark at about 9 pm, they appeared to have strayed onto the same lane from opposite sides, officials said.

Under navigational rules, both vessels must steer to the right if they are on a collision course, Commodore William Melad, head of the coast guard district in the central Visayas region, told Reuters.

The ferry repeatedly blew its horn and sent warning signals, said 2GO Group Inc, which owns the ferry. “They blew their horns several times before the collision,” Bimsy Mapa, spokesman for 2GO Group, told Reuters. Another 2GO Group official, speaking on condition of anonymity because a formal inquiry into the accident is pending, said the ferry could not veer right because the water was too shallow on that side.

“Our options were to turn right or left, but we couldn’t turn right because we would hit shallow waters so we veered left,” the 2GO Group official said. Officials at Philippine Span Asia Carrier Corp, which owns the cargo ship, declined to respond to requests for comment. The vessel remains in Cebu, a gaping hole in its bow.

“We need to review whether both ships followed regulations,” said Melad, the Cebu coast guard

chief. “If they are approaching each other, there should be a safe distance. Otherwise, you signify intention to move to the right and the other should move to the right also, so that there won’t be any collision.”

Melad said the vessels’ speed would also be checked for possible violation. Tug boats typically accompany ships arriving and departing within one km (0.6 mile) from the port, but the accident happened four km (2.5 miles) out at sea, said Greg Castillo, a Cebu city councillor. Authorities have suspended passenger and cargo shipping operations of both companies. The cargo vessel’s owners were formerly known as Sulpicio Lines Inc, which owned the MV Dona Paz ferry that collided with a tanker in the Sibuyan Sea in the country’s main Luzon island region in December 1987, killing 4,375 on the ferry and 11 of the tanker’s 13man crew. That ranks as the world’s worst peacetime maritime disaster. The St. Thomas of Aquinas sank within minutes of the collision on Friday, but 750 people were rescued, mostly by fishing boats. —Reuters

Fallen Chinese political star Bo to go on trial China’s new leader on track to wrap up scandal BEIJING: Disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai goes on trial Thursday on corruption charges in a case crafted to minimize damage to the Communist Party and avoid exposure of party infighting or human rights abuses. Yesterday’s announcement of a trial date for the former rising political star puts China’s new leaders on track to wrap up a festering scandal as they try to cement their authority.

The former party secretary of the major city of Chongqing fell from power last year in China’s messiest scandal in decades. It exposed the murder of a British businessman by Bo’s wife and a thwarted defection bid by his former police chief. Bo will stand trial in the Intermediate People’s Court of the eastern city of Jinan on charges of taking bribes, embezzlement and abuse of power, said a one-sentence announcement on the court’s microblog account. The announcement was also carried by the official Xinhua News Agency. Most trials in China last less than one day and Bo, 64, is almost certain to be convicted. Bo’s downfall followed a failed

crime crackdown. Judges could avoid asking about asset seizures from Chongqing entrepreneurs.

“These charges were tailor-made for Bo Xilai in view of the sentence that they want him to get,” said Zhang Lifan, a historian and political analyst in Beijing. “They decided how long they wanted to have Bo Xilai locked up for, and then according to that sentence, they made the appropriate charges,” Zhang said. “But these charges have left out a lot of things that he is responsible for.”

Bo’s case was the last major unfinished business from the once-a-decade handover of power that began last November. Holding his trial now means the new leadership can wrap up the scandal before they head into a party meeting later this year that is meant to produce a blueprint for China’s economic development.

The outcomes of criminal cases against senior figures such as Bo are usually decided in advance in secret negotiations aimed at securing the defendant’s cooperation. Bo is only the

BEIJING: Bo Xilai, then Chongqing party secretary, attends the closing session of the annual National People’s Congress in the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing. —AP defection attempt by his police chief at a US consulate, which embarrassed Chinese leaders.

The chief exposed a litany of complaints against Bo that gave political rivals ammunition to attack him.

Bo, the son of a revolutionary leader, was a member of the party’s 25-member Politburo. But he alienated other party leaders by aggressively promoting his personal image and launched campaigns in Chongqing that invoked the radical era of the 1960s and ‘70s.

The charges against Bo appeared to be crafted to make him look like a rogue leader brought down by hubris and immorality. That would allow Chinese authorities to avoid questions about how the party ’s unchecked power enabled Bo’s misconduct. The court could avoid allegations of wiretapping conducted by his former top aide and the use of torture in an anti-

third politician at Politburo level to be tried on graft charges in recent decades. “ When the indictment was finally announced, it meant that some sort of agreement was reached between the Politburo’s Central Committee and Bo Xilai,” said Zhang Sizhi, an eminent lawyer who has represented many defendants in high-profile political cases.

Bo’s wife, Gu Kailai, received a suspended death sentence last year after confessing to poisoning a British businessman, Neil Heywood.

Such sentences usually are converted to long prison terms if a convict is deemed to have repented. The party also wants to present a spectacle of justice for the Chinese public and a warning to ambitious politicians not to defy the central leadership.

“They want to say “you have to obey the central leadership’,” said Dali Yang, head of the

University of Chicago Center in Beijing. “It’s not simply about corruption. It’s also about centrallocal relations, about the need for senior local officials ... to pay heed to the central government’s guidelines and not try to build independent kingdoms.”

Authorities are trying to minimize potential disruption during the trial. Fang Hong, a Chongqing forestry official who was put in a labor camp for a year for criticizing Bo, was taken by police to a lodge in the mountains where he was told to stay until the trial is completed.

Fang had said last month on a microblog that he wanted to attend the proceeding. Song Yangbiao, a Beijing reporter in Beijing known as a supporter of Bo, was detained in early August after he posted a call online for people to protest outside the courthouse. A writer who uses the pen name Lu Qi and describes himself as a close friend of Song said the reporter was released on bail after about a week.

Official announcements about the charges against Bo have given no details. But a person with direct knowledge of the case said Bo is accused of accepting bribes amounting to more than 20 million yuan ($3.3 million) and embezzling 5 million yuan ($820,000) while he was in a previous post in the eastern city of Dalian. The abuse of power allegation is related to the coverup of the murder by his wife in late 2011 and the defection attempt by his former police chief, Wang Lijun, said the person. He asked not to be identified further due to the case’s sensitivity.

Analysts say the charges underscore the party’s attempt to keep the scope of allegations against Bo limited in order to prevent his case from undermining confidence in party leaders or their political system. “It’s almost like open heart surgery, or laser surgery,” said Kerry Brown, a former British diplomat in Beijing and head of the China Studies Center at the University of Sydney.

“You want to do the operation with as little collateral damage as possible.”

Questions that appear to have been left unaddressed include whether Bo should be held accountable for waging an anti-gang crackdown in Chongqing that ran roughshod over the legal system. The crackdown resulted in 2,000 arrests, 500 prosecutions and 13 executions, including the former director of the city’s judicial bureau.

Allegations of torture and shakedowns by law enforcement officials were common. Bo also appears to have been spared some of the more serious accusations faced by his former police chief and right-hand man, Wang, including carrying out illegal surveillance.

Wang was convicted of putting people under electronic surveillance, which suggested he used bugging, wiretapping or computer monitoring.

Websites abroad that follow Chinese politics said Wang was helping Bo gather information on other leaders. Zhang, the veteran defense lawyer, said authorities appeared to be avoiding mentioning this charge even though Bo might be to blame in order to skirt larger questions about political factions and party infighting.

“There is no question that Wang Lijun was not acting on his own accord,” Zhang said, adding that acknowledging that would lead to too many uncomfortable questions.

“If they were wiretapping phones, whose phones were they tapping? Why do they want to eavesdrop?” Zhang said. “It would definitely involve many relationships and problems. And right now they are not willing to raise these questions and magnify the problem.” —AP

Thai police seize 1m methamphetamine pills BANGKOK: Thai authorities yesterday seized some 980,000 illegal methamphetamine pills worth almost six million dollars stashed in a truck thought to be heading to the capital Bangkok from northern Thailand, police said.

Acting on a tipoff, narcotics police and local military officials set up roadblocks in Chiang Rai province in the Golden Triangle region of northern Thailand. They found packs of the drug, known as “yaba”, hidden in the roof of a pick-up truck.

“It is quite a big haul-another big haulalmost a million tablets,” said deputy provincial police chief Virat Sumanaphan, estimating the value of the drugs in the capital would be up to 200 baht ($6) per pill. Three men and a woman, all from neighboring Chiang Mai province, were arrested on suspicion of drug smuggling.

The frontier Golden Triangle region, where the remote edges of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet, has long been a drug trafficking hub, with surging methamphetamine smug-

gling now adding to the traditional illicit opium trade. It is estimated that at least 1.4 billion yaba tablets-with an estimated street value of $8.5 billion-are being produced each year in the region, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

The drug is mostly made in isolated mobile laboratories hidden in the forests of Shan state in Myanmar, which is also still the secondlargest global source of opium after Afghanistan. —AFP

North Koreans (on bus) waving to their South Korean relatives as they bid farewell following their three-day separated family reunion meeting at the Mount Kumgang resort on the North’s southeastern coast, near the border.

North Korea said yesterday it has agreed to South Korea’s proposal to hold reunions for families separated since the 1950-53 war. —AFP

North Korea agrees on talks on family reunions SEOUL: North Korea yesterday accepted a South Korean offer for talks on reuniting families separated by war, but proposed separate talks on resuming lucrative tours to a scenic North Korean mountain in an apparent effort to link the two discussions.

Last week, the two Koreas agreed to work toward a resumption of a jointly run factory park in North Korea, raising hopes for improved ties between the rivals. Seoul subsequently proposed Red Cross talks Friday on restarting the reunions.

Yesterday, an unidentified spokesman at Pyongyang’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said the North had agreed on the Red Cross talks. He proposed meeting at the country’s scenic Diamond Mountain, not at the southern side of the border village of Panmunjom as South Korea requested.

The spokesman said via state media that North Korea also wants another set of talks Thursday on tours of Diamond Mountain, a day ahead of the proposed Red Cross meeting. South Korea suspended tours to Diamond Mountain after a South Korean woman was shot dead by a North Korean border guard there in 2008.

The project had provided a legitimate source of hard currency to North Korea before its suspension.

“The North Korean intention is obvious.

It is saying it wants to exchange the

resumption of the Diamond Mountain tours with the family reunions,” said Lim Eul Chul, a professor at South Korea’s Kyungnam University. South Korea’s Unification Ministry said later yesterday that it “positively” views North Korea’s decision to agree on the Red Cross talks but still wants them held at Panmunjom as it initially proposed.

A ministry statement said it will review North Korea’s offer for talks on the mountain tours. Family reunions were a major inter-Korean cooperation program formulated under a previous era of detente on the divided Korean Peninsula. About 22,000 North and South Koreans had brief family reunions before the program stopped in 2010 due to increased tensions between the countries. The reunions are emotional for Koreans, as most participants are elderly and are eager to see loved ones before they die.

Wednesday’s agreement by the two Koreas to push to restart the jointly run Kaesong industrial park could signal a thawing in ties between the rivals. But there’s also skepticism in South Korea about the North’s intentions. North Korea threatened Seoul and Washington with nuclear war this spring, and analysts say the North often follows provocations and threats with a charm offensive meant to win aid. —AP

Japanese activists sail near disputed islands IN THE EAST CHINA SEA: Nearly two dozen Japanese nationalist activists and fishermen sailed yesterday to a small group of islands at the center of a territorial dispute with China.

They were closely monitored by Japan’s Coast Guard, but there were no Chinese patrols in the area and no incidents were reported.

After arriving in waters near the islands, those aboard the five fishing vessels carrying about 20 activists and fishermen began fishing but did not appear to have any plans to try to swim ashore, which is forbidden by the Japanese government and would be seen as a border violation by Beijing.

Both countries claim the uninhabited islands, known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China, and have stepped up patrols to bolster their territorial claims. The dispute, which escalated rapidly after Japan moved last year to purchase them from a family who claimed to be their owner, has soured relations between the countries.

Japanese Coast Guard vessels monitored the ships closely, but an AP video journalist aboard one of them could not see any Chinese vessels. The trip was backed by Ganbare Nippon, a conservative and nationalist group, ostensibly to carry out a memorial ceremony at sea for about 80 civilians who died near the islets toward the end of World War II. The outcroppings in the East China Sea are

controlled by Japan but also claimed by China and Taiwan. It is Ganbare Nippon’s fifth visit to the disputed areas this year, and the 16th time in the last three years. The organization says these trips are necessary to assert Japan’s claims to the islands.

China says the private owners had no legal claim to the islands, and strongly protested Tokyo’s purchase from them last September.

Chinese marine surveillance ships have routinely been patrolling the waters around the islands since then. More recently, Beijing has been sending ships from the Chinese Coast Guard, which was formally inaugurated in July and gives Beijing greater latitude to patrol its claims by centralizing operations in a single body.

Japan has expressed unease about China’s activities near the islands and is bolstering its own surveillance capability - including plans to use drones capable of wide-range, highaltitude monitoring around the clock.

Activists from Hong Kong called off plans to sail for the disputed islands this week, according to Japan’s Kyodo news agency. Members of that group landed on one of the islets last year and raised Chinese and Taiwanese flags before being arrested by Japanese authorities.

No criminal charges were filed. But the landing of Chinese activists prompted Japanese activists to make similar efforts to assert Japan’s sovereignty. —AP

14

MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013

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Issues

Gibraltar still strategic asset for Britain

By Anna Cuenca ituated in sight of unstable north Africa and on the shipping route to the Middle East, Gibraltar has military and intelligence facilities that still make it a strategic asset for Britain, analysts say.

Spain ceded Gibraltar to Britain in perpetuity in 1713 following a military struggle but has since the 1960s fought to have the territory returned to Spanish sovereignty.

Tensions between Britain and Spain over the tiny territory have resurfaced over a concrete artificial reef built by Gibraltar in July. Madrid has said it is considering raising the dispute over its sovereignty with global bodies such as the United Nations. But Britain is determined to keep Gibraltar for communications and intelligence reasons and to monitor traffic in the Strait of Gibraltar which separates Europe from Africa, said Alejandro del Valle, an international law professor at Spain’s Cadiz University. “You can’t forget that much of the territory is occupied by a military airbase, a naval base that is essential for stopovers and as a place to repair nuclear submarines as well as an intelligence base,” he said.

Military facilities are located at Gibraltar’s airport, at the end of the runway which visitors to the British outpost must cross either by foot or by car to enter the tiny city.

The self-governing British overseas territory, measuring just 6.8 square kilometers (2.6 square miles), is home to about 30,000 people, and overlooks the only entrance to the Mediterranean from the Atlantic Ocean. During World War II, Britain’s military based in Gibraltar controlled virtually all naval traffic in and out of the Mediterranean Sea. Its location is still strategic given its proximity to Africa’s Sahel belt, where Islamist extremism is on the rise, and the fact that a large amount of Middle Eastern oil and gas that is consumed in Europe crosses the Mediterranean, said Del Valle. A British naval base in Gibraltar, once the mainstay of the territory’s economy, is now home to fewer than 200 marines but it remains a popular stopping point for ships heading to the Mediterranean.

“It is a permanent port of call throughout the year for frigates as well as nuclear submarines from Britain as well as from the United States on their way to and from patrols in the Mediterranean,” said Luis Romero, a Spanish security expert and the former editor of Europa Sur, a daily newspaper published in Algeciras near Gibraltar.

“A British military commander in Gibraltar said several years ago: ‘If Gibraltar did not exist we would have to invent it, because here we are one thousand miles closer to the threat’,” he added.

British warships have embarked on a routine naval exercise that will see a frigate, the HMS Westminster, dock in Gibraltar today. The stop comes amid an escalating diplomatic row between London and Madrid over stringent car searches by Spanish guards at the Gibraltar border.

Gibraltar is more important now for shipping than for its military role, said Chris Grocott, a lecturer in economic history at the University of Leicester who specializes in Gibraltar. “Historically it was an incredibly important military base. It is less so now.

When you look at the kinds of military operations Gibraltar was involved in the past, like World War II, these were clearly enormous military operations of a scale that does not happen anymore,” he said.

“In terms of its position I think it is more important for its place on the shipping lane, as a refuelling stop.”Britain also values the key role Gibraltar plays in its electronic surveillance operations, said Romero. The Rock of Gibraltar, a massive limestone block whose white cliffs rise up to more than 400 metres (1,300 feet) above the sea, “is a very interesting watchtower for the British, who exploit it for their own benefit as for that of its closest ally, the United States,” he said. Gibraltar’s strategic importance to Britain was underscored during London and Madrid’s failed talks on joint British-Spanish sovereignty in the early 2000s, said Del Valle. “The British of course did not want co-sovereignty for the bases or that they be for joint use,” he said. —AFP

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Insight

Egypt: Graveyard of the Arab Spring?

By Samia Nakhoul s the army ruthlessly crushes the Muslim Brotherhood on the streets of Cairo, having swept away its elected president, Egypt is being painted as the graveyard of the Arab Spring and of Islamist hopes of shaping the region’s future.

This week’s bloody drama has sent shockwaves out of Egypt, the political weathervane and cultural heart of the Arab world. The effect on the region of the army’s power grab will not be uniform, because while countries such as Egypt are locked in a battle over identity, other states, from Syria to Yemen, and Libya to Iraq, are in an existential struggle for survival.

The Egyptian chapter of the Arab awakening began with the uprising that ended the 30year dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak and has moved on to the spectacular implosion of the Brotherhood that replaced him. Having been outlawed intermittently since their founding 80 years ago, the organization won parliamentary and presidential elections, then self-destructed in one year.

Deposed President Mohammed Morsi alienated all but a hard-core constituency by devoting his energy to seizing control of Egypt’s institutions rather than implementing policies to revive its paralyzed economy and heal political divisions, analysts say. “I was surprised by the rapid fall of the Islamists,” said Jamel Arfaoui, an analyst on Tunisia, the birthplace of the Arab Spring uprisings.

“I was expecting that the Muslim Brotherhood would continue long in power and benefit from the experience of the Islamists in Turkey,” where the Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party has won three straight elections. The Egyptian Brothers, or AlIkhwan, now have reason to fear they could be back in the wilderness for decades after the army, with much bloodshed, imposed a state of emergency last week. The last time emergency rule was implemented - after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat in 1981 - it remained in force for more than 30 years.

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TOXIC BRAND? In power, Morsi and his backers in the Brotherhood proved unable to collaborate with either Islamist allies or secular adversaries and fatally alienated an army they first tried to coopt. They have left the country more divided than at any time since it became a republic in 1953.

“They have no understanding whatsoever of the way democratic politics operates,” says George Joffe, an expert on North Africa at

Cambridge University. “It is difficult to imagine how anyone, given the opportunity of power, could in any circumstances have behaved as stupidly as they did. It is staggering incompetence.” The 2011 upheavals promoted Islamist groups affiliated with or similar to the Brotherhood to the heart of politics across the Arab world, and most observers say events in Egypt are not just a national but a regional setback for the organization.

“The Brotherhood have committed political suicide. It will take them decades to recover ... because a significant number of Egyptians now mistrust them. Al-Ikhwan is a toxic brand now in Egypt and the region,” said academic Fawaz Gerges, adding that the damage goes beyond Egypt to its affiliates in Tunisia, Jordan and Gaza, where the ruling Hamas evolved from the Brotherhood.

This has delighted leaders as distinct as King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, traditionally wary of rival flavours of Islam, and Bashar Al-Assad, who greeted last month’s military takeover in Egypt as vindication of his own bloody fight against Islamists. Some say Egypt is a setback for democracy itself in the Arab world. “It delegitimizes the ballot box and legitimizes in the eyes of Arabs that the army is the only institution we can fall back on to protect us against disintegration or Islamists who hijack the state,” said Gerges of the London School of Economics.

Tarek Osman, author of “Egypt on the Brink”, said Egypt represented a clash over whether these states are to be governed according to traditions of secular nationalism or see their rich, ancient identities squeezed into the Islamist strait-jacket of the Brotherhood.

It is “the Islamic frame of reference versus old, entrenched, rich national identities”, he says: “This identity clash is a root cause for the antagonism that wide social segments have for the Islamists.”

IDENTITY AND SURVIVAL The struggle might be about the identity of the state in countries like Egypt and Tunisia, where political structures are relatively strong, but in Libya and Yemen, riven by tribal rivalries and lacking properly functioning institutions, it is about the survival of the state.

“In Libya, the Brotherhood is hardly in the scene,” says Joffe. “The danger is that there is chaos, no centralized government, not even regional authority of any kind.” In Libya, armed militias have filled the vacuum left by the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi. In Yemen, the militant Islamists of al Qaeda have taken over swathes of land, while sectarian, tribal and regional rivalries are tearing the country of 25 million apart.

In Syria, a popular uprising against Assad’s 40-year family rule has evolved into a civil war that has killed 100,000 people and provided a

CAIRO: A relative of Ammar Badie, the son of Muslim Brotherhood’s spiritual leader Mohammed Badie, who was killed Friday by Egyptian security forces during clashes in Ramses Square, cries while attending his burial in Cairo’s Katameya district yesterday.—AP

new opportunity for al Qaeda and a proxy battleground for regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran. And now in Iraq, fresh venom is being injected into the conflict between the country’s Sunni minority and Shiite-led majority.

It is obvious, analysts say, that the future of the East Mediterranean nation states, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, is in danger. These countries were created by Britain and France from the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire after World War One, but their imperial interests took priority over the sectarian and ethnic cohesion of the new states.

The faultlines have since been kept in check by the deep freeze of the Arab security state. The removal of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in a US-led invasion in 2003 and the lethal challenge to Assad has certainly brought Islamism to the fore, and made these countries the front line of the Shiite-Sunni sectarian battle.

“Sectarianism now rules supreme. The Iraq war and its aftermath - effectively dividing the country along confessional lines - and then the Syrian civil war, which is already sending tremors into tense sectarian-ridden Lebanon, create various triggers for potentially wider conflicts. “Now that these nation states have fallen (in Iraq and Syria) and face serious threats (in Lebanon), these realities are crumbling, and the region’s societies are confronting these demons,” Osman said.

Al-Qaeda militants have been quick to exploit sectarian tensions in Iraq, the power vacuum in Yemen and civil war in Syria. They have yet to play a significant role in Egypt, though the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, as part of a push to disseminate the state’s narrative of events, has distributed photos showing, among other things, Muslim Brotherhood members carrying clubs, firearms and a black Al-Qaeda flag. The Brotherhood denies links to the network.

IRREPRESSIBLE YOUTH In the new Arab order, the region’s leaders and generals are finding that their people will no longer roll over in the face of violent suppression. Heavy-handed attempts to stamp out civic unrest led to the ousting of Zine AlAbidine Ben-Ali in Tunisia, Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, Ali Abdullah Saleh in Yemen and Gaddafi in Libya, as well as triggering the revolt against Assad. Although the Brotherhood is the big loser of recent weeks, the war zone in Cairo where young Islamists keep pouring into the streets undeterred by tanks and snipers of the mighty Egyptian army and security forces is a vivid illustration. — Reuters

China’s flamboyant political star faces indignity

By Ben Blanchard he writing was perhaps already on the wall for Bo Xilai, the controversial former top official of China’s southwestern city of Chongqing, when he appeared at last year’s parliamentary meeting, alternately chastened and combative. In earlier annual sessions of parliament, Bo had swept in, all smiles and lanky grace, preceded by a wave of TV cameras and popping flashbulbs. This time he was uncharacteristically restrained.

Bo rolled his eyes at repeated questions from foreign reporters about a scandal involving then-vice mayor Wang Lijun, and the normally effusive state media and parliament delegates kept their distance.

Wang, who doubled as the city’s police chief before his downfall, went to ground in the US Consulate in nearby Chengdu in February last year until he was coaxed out and placed under investigation.

“I certainly never expected this,” Bo said of Wang’s flight. “I felt that it happened extremely suddenly.” News of his own change of fortune came just as suddenly.

A few days after his news conference in March last year, a erse report from the official Xinhua news agency announced that Beijing had sacked Bo from his post, all but snuffing out his chances of rising to the top echelons of the Communist Party.

Now the end appears imminent for Bo, 64, whose long-awaited trial on charges of corruption, accepting bribes and abuse of power opens on Thursday, when he is certain to be found guilty by the Communist Party-controlled court. Bo’s wife, Gu Kailai, and Wang were jailed last year over China’s biggest political scandal in years,

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which stems from the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood in November 2011, a crime for which Gu was convicted.

After first helping Gu evade suspicion of poisoning Heywood, Wang hushed up evidence of the murder, according to the official account of Wang’s trial. In late January 2012, Wang confronted Bo with the allegation that Gu was suspected of killing Heywood. But Wang was “angrily rebuked and had his ears boxed”. After Bo was sacked, he disappeared from public view and has not had a chance to respond publicly to the accusations against him.

Sources told Reuters in February that Bo was refusing to cooperate with the government investigation, had staged hunger strikes and had refused to shave to protest against what he saw as his unfair treatment.

As the outspoken Chongqing party chief, Bo had mounted a daring bid for the nation’s top political body, the party’s Politburo Standing Committee.

He captured national attention with a crackdown on organized crime and corrupt police officers in Chongqing, China’s teeming wartime capital, and brought about stronger economic growth. But he also alienated political peers. The anti-mafia campaign netted thousands of people and tapped into popular anger over the corruption and collusion that has accompanied China’s economic boom.

“Fighting organized crime is for the sake of letting the people enjoy peace and creating a clean social environment in Chongqing,” Bo said at his parliamentary news briefing, defending his record.

“We are sure of ourselves and free of regrets.” Bo, a for-

mer China commerce minister and mayor of the northeastern port city of Dalian where he wooed foreign investors, once had a flair for the dramatic. His directness and independent streak impressed foreigners but annoyed peers, who prefer to rule through backdoor consensus and often stilted slogans.

Analysts have noted that no one in the top leadership had publicly praised Bo or the crackdown on organized crime. Then-Premier Wen Jiabao told his annual news conference last year that Chongqing’s leadership should reflect on the Wang Lijun incident, and also obliquely criticized Bo’s drive to revive songs and culture from the heyday of Mao’s Communist revolution. Bo is a son of late vice -premier Bo Yibo, mak ing the younger Bo a “princeling” - a child of an incumbent, retired or late national leader.

His wife was a lawyer and their son, Bo Guagua, was educated at an expensive, elite British private school and then Oxford University. The younger Bo’s Facebook photos from parties caused their own Internet stir. While wooing investors, Bo also envisioned low-cost housing for rural poor and migrant labourers, designed to appeal to then-President Hu Jintao’s goal of creating a “harmonious society”.

He called his vision “Peaceful Chongqing.” It included text messages with Maoist slogans, singing old-style revolutionary songs by civil servants, who also had to adopt poor families and staff petition offices where citizens can complain. But Bo had difficulty shaking off the suspicion of some critics, both inside and outside the country, that he was more concerned with his own rise than that of China.—Reuters

MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013

S P ORTS

Froome backs life bans

Al Ahli boost CL chances

Akmal out of Pakistan tour

LONDON: Tour de France champion Chris Froome says he would be in favor of permanent bans for cyclists found guilty of using drugs.

The 28-year-old Englishman faced repeated questions about doping during his Tour triumph, amid a climate of suspicion following the downfall of disgraced drugs cheat Lance Armstrong earlier this year.

The Team Sky rider believes the sport has moved on from past scandals, but he says he would feel even more confident if those found to have deliberately cheated were banned from cycling for life. “I definitely think there need to be harsher penalties for people who break the rules,” he told national newspaper the Mail on Sunday. “I’m not so sure they should be allowed back into the sport at all. “Maybe I’d implement lifetime bans for people who did blood bags or (banned blood booster) EPO-or something that you know is 100 per cent cheating. “I think in this day and age, if there are new cases, I would like to see those guys out of the sport.” He added: “I know it’s (the Tour) a race that you can believe in and certainly a race that can be won clean. “I’ve got faith in the testing procedures. We’ve had a few positives this year already and that goes to show those guys aren’t getting away with it anymore.” —Reuters

JOHANNESBURG: Egyptian team Al Ahli won away from home on Saturday to revive their African Champions League hopes amid the internal strife in their country.

Fellow Cairo club Zamalek, however, were left bottom of the same group after a heavy defeat in South Africa. Walid Soliman scored the only goal as Al Ahli won at AC Leopards in Dolisie, Congo to claim their first victory in Group A. Orlando Pirates are top of the section after a 4-1 mauling of Zamalek in Soweto. The South African club have seven points at the halfway stage while Al Ahli and Leopards have four apiece and Zamalek are on one point.

Lennox Bacela gave Pirates a 27th minute lead but Mahmoud Shikabala equalised two minutes later. The Egyptians then wilted in the altitude at the Orlando Stadium and showed the effects of their lack of regular competition as Tlou Segolela, Sifiso Myeni and Daine Klate netted for the home team.

Domestic football in Egypt has been cancelled in the wake of last month’s military takeover, leaving Ahli and Zamalek short of match practice. The two clubs, who have dominated continental club competition for more than three decades, were expected to dominate the group. Leopards were guilty of squandering several chances against Ahli and must now play two of their last three games in Egypt.—Reuters

KARACHI: Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Umar Akmal is out of this month’s tour to Zimbabwe after he suffered an epileptic fit while on duty for Barbados in the Caribbean Premier League.

Sarfaraz Ahmed has been called into the tour squad as his replacement.”Sarfaraz has been included in place of Umar who has been called back from the West Indies for medical checks,” said a Pakistan Cricket Board official.

The official did not elaborate on Umar’s medical problem but a family member who declined to be identified told Reuters that the player was on a flight to Jamaica when he had his epileptic fit.

Umar, 23, has played in 16 tests for Pakistan, scoring 1,003 runs at an average of 35.82. He has also featured in 76 one-dayers and 45 Twenty20s.

Pakistan will play two tests, three one-dayers and two Twenty20s in Zimbabwe. The opening game is a T20 international in Harare on Friday. Test opener Imran Farhat has also withdrawn from the squad, citing domestic problems. He will be replaced by the uncapped Shan Masood.—Reuters

Dodgers blank Phillies PHILADELPHIA: Clayton Kershaw pitched eight dominant innings as the seemingly unstoppable Los Angeles Dodgers won their 10th straight Saturday night, beating Philadelphia 5-0 to keep the Phillies scoreless in two games under new manager Ryne Sandberg.

Juan Uribe hit a three-run homer, Kershaw had an RBI double and the NL West-leading Dodgers improved to 25-3 after the All-Star break. They have won 19 of their last 20 road games and are 42-8 overall since June 22, the best 50-game stretch in the majors since the 1942 St. Louis Cardinals had the same record.

The previous team to win 19 of 20 road games was the 1916 New York Giants, according to STATS. The 10-game winning streak is the longest for Los Angeles since an 11-game run in 2006.

Meanwhile, the skidding Phillies have yet to cross home plate since manager Charlie Manuel was fired Friday in the middle of a second-half swoon. They were blanked 4-0 by Zack Greinke and the Dodgers in Sandberg’s debut and have now lost 21 of 25.

Kershaw (12-7) allowed three hits and lowered his NLbest ERA to 1.80. He struck out eight, walked one and earned his first win in nine career games against the Phillies. Uribe singled and doubled before hitting a three-run shot in the eighth. Kyle Kendrick (10-10) gave up two runs in six innings.

DETROIT: Doug Fister No. 58 of the Detroit Tigers throws a second inning pitch while playing the Kansas City Royals. —AFP

Tigers edge past Royals DETROIT: A hobbled Miguel Cabrera led off the bottom of the ninth inning with his 39th home run, lifting the Detroit Tigers over the Kansas City Royals 6-5 on Saturday night.

Cabrera has been slowed by a strained lower abdomen, injured hip and banged-up left leg, but he was healthy enough to take a victory lap.

Joaquin Benoit (3-0) pitched a scoreless ninth. Aaron Crow (7-4) threw five pitches, with Cabrera hitting a 3-1 offering for an opposite-field homer to right.

Prince Fielder hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the Detroit seventh and made a good defensive play at first base in the ninth.

Hours earlier, Royals infielder Miguel Tejada was suspended 105 games by Major League Baseball after testing positive for an amphetamine. The 2002 AL MVP was already on the 60-day disabled list.

RED SOX 6, YANKEES 1 In Boston, Jacoby Ellsbury had three hits, David Ortiz homered and John Lackey held down New York’s resurgent offense as the Boston Red Sox broke a three-game losing streak by beating the Yankees.

Ortiz, Shane Victorino, Will Middlebrooks, Mike Carp and Daniel Nava each had two hits for the AL East leaders, who won for only the third time in nine games.

Alfonso Soriano singled twice for the Yankees, but was held without an RBI after matching a major league record with 18 over his previous four games. He is 15 for 22 (.682) in his last five games with five homers. Lackey (8-10) gave up one run and six hits over 6 2-3 innings, ending a career-worst four-game losing streak. Hiroki Kuroda (11-8) matched a season high by giving up five runs - three earned - and 11 hits in 5 2-3 innings.

INDIANS 7, ATHLETICS 1 In Oakland, Ubaldo Jimenez carried a nohit bid into the sixth, Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn homered as Cleveland beat Oakland.

Jimenez (9-7) didn’t allow a hit until Josh Donaldson lined a run-scoring single to shallow center with two out in the sixth, ending the pitcher’s night after 105 pitches. He struck out eight and walked five.

Asdrubal Cabrera drove in two runs and Michael Brantley hit a pair of doubles for Cleveland. A day after the Indians matched a season high with 13 stranded base runners, they took advantage of timely opportunities.

Swisher drove the first pitch from Dan Straily over the right-field fence for his 13th home run, staking Jimenez to an early lead in the first. Cabrera later added a run-scoring single before hitting an RBI double in the sixth. Dan Straily (6-7) extended his losing streak to five games.

BLUE JAYS 6, RAYS 2 In St. Petersburg, JA Happ won in his first game at Tropicana Field since an injury three months ago as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Tampa Bay Rays.

Happ (3-2) suffered a skull fracture and sprained right knee when he fell to the ground after getting hit with a liner by Desmond Jennings on May 7.

Happ allowed two runs and five hits over 5 1-3 innings. It was his third start overall since returning from the disabled list.

Adam Lind homered twice for the Blue

Jays. Jose Bautista hit his 28th homer of the season. Roberto Hernandez (6-13) took the loss.

RANGERS 15, MARINERS 3 In Arlington, Jurickson Profar hit an RBI single before scoring in Texas’ five-run inning off Felix Hernandez, as the Rangers went on to a victory over Seattle.

The AL West-leading Rangers, who have won 15 of 18 games, finished with a season high in runs after an eight-run eighth in which Profar had another RBI single.

Profar had a nifty slide to score on the bunt by Leonys Martin that dribbled only a few feet in front of the plate in that secondinning outburst. Seattle catcher Henry Blanco pounced on the ball and reached back trying to tag Profar, who made an elusive move to slide around and slap the back tip of the plate. Rookie left-hander Martin Perez (6-3) pitched into the eighth to win his third consecutive start in August, even after giving up single runs in each of the first three innings.

Hernandez (12-6) had a season-high five walks and allowed five runs and five hits in five innings.

WHITE SOX 8, TWINS 5 In Minneapolis, Dayan Viciedo hit a threerun homer and Alejandro De Aza added a two-run shot as the Chicago White Sox topped the Minnesota Twins.

Chris Sale (9-11) gave up four consecutive two-out hits in the third inning as the Twins scored three times. The left-hander won three straight starts for the first time this season, giving up three runs and nine hits in seven innings.

Addison Reed worked a scoreless ninth to record his career-high 30th save in 35 chances. Andrew Albers (2-1) took the loss after beginning his career with 17 1-3 scoreless innings, a record for a Twins starter. He allowed five runs and eight hits in seven innings.

ANGELS 6, ASTROS 5 In Anaheim, Josh Hamilton homered with one out in the 10th inning to give Los Angeles a victory over Houston. Mark Trumbo also homered and drove in two more runs with his first triple of the season. Hamilton sent an 0-2 pitch from Josh Fields (1-3) to right-center for his 18th home run.

Ernesto Frieri (1-4) pitched two scoreless innings for the win. Brett Wallace homered and drove in three runs for the Astros.

INTERLEAGUE ORIOLES 8, ROCKIES 4 In Baltimore, Brian Roberts and Manny Machado both hit two-run doubles during a seven-run third inning fueled by Colorado miscues, as the Baltimore Orioles ended a four-game losing streak.

Adam Jones had two hits in Baltimore’s highest-scoring inning of the season, which featured an error by shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, two walks, a passed ball and a wild pitch. Six of the seven runs were unearned. Most of the damage came against rookie Chad Bettis (02), who allowed seven hits, four walks and eight runs in 2 2-3 innings.

Bud Norris (9-10) gave up four runs and nine hits over 5 2-3 innings to improve to 3-1 since coming to the Orioles in a trade with Houston on July 31.—AP

NATIONALS 8, BRAVES 7 In Atlanta, Adam LaRoche led off the 15th inning with a home run as Washington recovered to beat Atlanta after blowing a two-run lead in the ninth.

Nationals star Stephen Strasburg was ejected in the second inning. He hit Justin Upton with a pitch in the first and was tossed after throwing two straight pitches behind Andrelton Simmons.

LaRoche lifted a high fly into the right-field seats for his 18th homer off Kris Medlen (10-11), a starter who was pressed into service after Atlanta exhausted its bullpen. The game lasted 5 hours, 29 minutes.

Jason Heyward hit two homers, including a two-run shot with two outs in the ninth as Nationals closer Rafael Soriano blew a 7-5 lead. Brian McCann and Freddie Freeman also went deep for the Braves.

Ryan Zimmerman homered for Washington and Craig Stammen (6-5) worked three hitless innings, striking out five. Dan Haren, normally a starter as well, pitched the 15th for his first career save.

Atlanta hit Bryce Harper with two pitches Friday night, leaving the outfielder bruised and unable to start on Saturday.

DIAMONDBACKS 15, PIRATES 5 In Pittsburgh, Martin Prado went 4 for 5 with a three-run homer, Paul Goldschmidt added a threerun shot and Arizona routed Pittsburgh.

Prado’s 11th homer of the season capped a six-run third inning against All-Star lefty Jeff Locke (9-4) and put the Diamondbacks ahead 8-0. Prado has driven in 13 runs in his past 10 games.

Goldschmidt’s 30th homer came in the ninth and tied him with Pittsburgh’s Pedro Alvarez for the National League lead. Alvarez hit his 30th earlier in the game. Goldschmidt and Didi Gregorius each had three of the Diamondbacks’ 20 hits. Trevor Cahill (410) came off the disabled list and earned his first win since May 17. He went five innings and allowed four runs on seven hits. He had been out since July 1 with a bruised right hip.

CARDINALS 4, CUBS 0 In Chicago, Yadier Molina hit a two-run home and Joe Kelly threw six spotless innings as St. Louis beat Chicago. Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro was pulled shortly after making a mental mistake that let the Cardinals score in the fifth. Kelly (4-3) hasn’t lost since joining the Cardinals rotation on July 6. He allowed

PHILADELPHIA: Clayton Kershaw No. 22 of the Los Angeles Dodgers throws a pitch against the Philadelphia Phillies during the first inning at Citizens Bank Park. —AFP four hits, struck out six and walked three. The Cubs have lost 14 of 19. They have been shut out in five of their last seven games at Wrigley Field. Molina homered off Travis Wood (7-10) for a 4-0 lead in the sixth.

BREWERS 2, REDS 0 In Milwaukee, Yovani Gallardo gave up three hits in 6 1-3 innings and Logan Schafer had a two-run double to snap an 0-for-21 slump and lead Milwaukee over Cincinnati. Gallardo (9-9), who came off the disabled list Friday, struck out three to help the Brewers to their second straight win over the Reds.

Cincinnati threatened in the seventh, but Brandon Kintzler got pinch-hitter Xavier Paul to ground into an inning-ending double play. Kintzler pitched a scoreless eighth and Jim Henderson struck out the side in the ninth for his 18th save in 21 chances. Mat Latos (12-4) pitched seven innings for the Reds, giving up six hits. The two runs he gave up in the fourth ended his scoreless streak at 19 innings.

PADRES 8, METS 2 In San Diego, Will Venable had four hits as San Diego got home runs from Nick Hundley and Jedd

Gyorko in a victory over New York. Mets starter Jenrry Mejia left early with discomfort in his surgically repaired elbow and the Padres took advantage when New York’s bullpen was pressed into service. San Diego finished with 15 hits in snapping a three-game losing streak. Edinson Volquez (9-10) worked five innings for the win and Venable extended his careerhigh hitting streak to 14 games, the longest active run in the National League. Mets catcher Travis d’Arnaud went 0 for 2 with two walks in his major league debut.

David Aardsma (2-2) took the loss.

GIANTS 6, MARLINS 4 In Miami, Matt Cain pitched seven innings and Gregor Blanco hit a two-run triple to lift San Francisco over Miami. Pablo Sandoval also drove in two runs for the Giants, a day after they outslugged the Marlins 14-10. Giancarlo Stanton hit a two-run homer for Miami estimated at 446 feet.

Cain (8-8) allowed two runs and four hits. He struck out five and walked two. Sergio Romo got his 30th save in 34 chances. Henderson Alvarez (2-2) gave up four runs, four hits and four walks in seven innings.—AP

MLB results/standings St. Louis 4, Chicago Cubs 0; Boston 6, NY Yankees 1; Arizona 15, Pittsburgh 5; Baltimore 8, Colorado 4; LA Dodgers 5, Philadelphia 0; Detroit 6, Kansas City 5; San Francisco 6, Miami 4; Milwaukee 2, Cincinnati 0; Chicago White Sox 8, Minnesota 5; Washington 8, Atlanta 7 (15 innings); Toronto 6, Tampa Bay 2; Texas 15, Seattle 3; San Diego 8, NY Mets 2; LA Angels 6, Houston 5 (10 innings); Cleveland 7, Oakland 1.

American League Eastern Division W L Boston 73 52 Tampa Bay 69 52 Baltimore 66 56 NY Yankees 63 59 Toronto 57 66 Central Division Detroit 72 51 Cleveland 66 57 Kansas City 64 58 Minnesota 54 67 Chicago White Sox 48 74 Western Division Texas 71 52 Oakland 69 53 Seattle 56 66 LA Angels 55 67 Houston 40 82

PCT .584 .570 .541 .516 .463

GB 2 5.5 8.5 15

.585 .537 .525 .446 .393

6 7.5 17 23.5

Pittsburgh St. Louis Cincinnati Milwaukee Chicago Cubs

.577 .566 .459 .451 .328

1.5 14.5 15.5 30.5

LA Dodgers Arizona Colorado San Francisco San Diego

Atlanta Washington NY Mets Philadelphia Miami

National League Eastern Division 75 48 60 62 56 65 53 69 46 75 Central Division 72 50 70 52 69 54 54 69 53 69 Western Division 72 50 63 58 58 66 55 67 55 68

.610 .492 .463 .434 .380

14.5 18 21.5 28

.590 .574 .561 .439 .434

2 3.5 18.5 19

.590 .521 .468 .451 .447

8.5 15 17 17.5

Emirates beat Luna Rossa in Louis Vuitton opener SAN FRANCISCO: One powerful gust of wind and a gutsy turn is all it took to once again show how dangerous and daring the lead-up to the 34th America’s Cup has been.

Emirates Team New Zealand tore the trampoline tarp in the center of its catamaran and lost two men overboard before holding on to beat hobbled Italian Team Luna Rossa in a scary opener to the Louis Vuitton Cup finals Saturday.

Grinders Chris Ward and Rob Waddell, who could’ve been crushed by the hulls that crashed down after they tumbled over the side, were lifted out of the water by a rescue boat. Emirates skipper Dean Barker did his best to downplay the incident, saying both men walked away fine other than “some bangs and bruises” and the boat would be easily repaired overnight.

“It didn’t feel like we were ever in jeopardy of tipping it over,” Barker said. “That’s about as hard as you can probably push it and get away with it.” The Kiwis still emerged victorious because their competition bowed out from their own mistakes.

The Italians scrambled to fix a new lifting system around the right daggerboard of their 72-foot catamaran just before the scheduled start. They caught a break when officials delayed the race 20 minutes waiting for the wind to drop below the 18.9-knot limit (21.74 mph; 35 kph).

Luna Rossa’s broken board wobbled up-anddown seconds after crossing the start line, and the team dropped out as it made more repairs. The Kiwis quickly had their boat foiling above the

water, and they seemed to be flying away with an uncontested win until the near catastrophe.

As Barker turned the boat around a marker going about 41 knots, or 47 mph, he said a strong gust of wind occurred. The front of the hulls dipped deep under water, the carbon-fiber fairing on the trampoline peeled away and the two men tumbled overboard.

“We got a big puff at a bad time,” grinder Chris McAsey said. “I held on for dear life. I didn’t realize two guys had gone over until later on. Luckily, they’re OK.” Emirates completed the 9.95-nautical-mile course in 31 minutes, 3 seconds. The second race of the best-of-13 series was postponed because the wind exceeded the 19.4-knot limit (22.32 mph) set for that race — adjusted depending on the tide — giving both teams time to make repairs.

Two races will be held Sunday, wind permitting, and the makeup race will be Monday. The winner of the series will face Oracle Team USA for the oldest trophy in international sports starting Sept. 7.

Regatta director Iain Murray expected the wind to approach — and possibly surpass — the wind strength limit he set for the second race and force a postponement. But wind for the first race, which was not expected to be an issue, teetered on the limit. The frightening scene on the first day of the Louis Vuitton Cup finals is just the latest setback for the troubled regatta.

During a training run May 9, British sailor Andrew “Bart” Simpson was killed in the capsize of

Swedish Team Artemis Racing’s first boat. After Simpson’s death, Murray made 37 safety recommendations. The Kiwis and Italians filed protests over two highly technical issues, and won.—AP

SAN FRANCISCO: Teams Luna Rossa Challenge (right) and Emirates New Zealand (left) begin the first finals race of the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger series. —AFP

MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013

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Europe in sight of Solheim Cup

Devin Logan in action in this file photo.

Logan wins women’s WCup half pipe event QUEENSTOWN: Snowboarder Devin Logan of the United States made a courageous return from a serious knee injury to win gold in a women’s freestyle world cup half pipe event at the New Zealand Winter Games.

Logan was competing for the first time since winning the half pipe gold medal at the 2012 New Zealand event.

She qualified eighth out of 12 finalists and took the gold medal with a score of 84.60 as bad weather reduced the men’s and women’s finals to a single run.

Antti-Jussi Kemppainen of Finland won the men’s event with a score of 86.60 from Aaron Blunck and Taylor Seaton of the United States. Angeli Vanlaanen of the United States had to wait more than an hour before her run in

the women’s final but scored 80.00 to take the silver medal while Mirjam Jaeger of Switzerland took bronze with a solid run of 74.80. Logan said she was delighted with her performance.

“The weather didn’t co-operate as everyone had hoped but I’m stoked to be back from my injury and happy to take the top spot,” she said. “Feeling good!”

Kemppainen said conditions were “pretty tough” but was glad the event was completed on schedule. “It feels pretty good,” Kemppainen said. “I didn’t really expect anything this cool, but it’s definitely a good start for the season and I’m happy.” Qualifying began yesterday and continues today for the men’s snowboard slope style world cup.—AP

PARKER: Everywhere she turned, US captain Meg Mallon saw one great shot after another Saturday in the Solheim Cup. Almost all of them were by the other team.

Mallon was standing behind the tee on the par-3 17th when Anna Nordqvist hit 7-iron into the milehigh air to a back pin, never leaving its target until it bounced into the cup for an ace and an abrupt end to a foursomes match. Nearly eight hours later, she was behind the 18th green and hopeful of getting a half-point out of the last match to at least salvage some momentum going into the last day. Karine Icher rolled in a 45-foot birdie putt from just off the green and yet another European point.

That was the final blow for a European team that stunned the Americans with a shutout in the afternoon for a 101/2-51/2 lead, matching the largest margin in Solheim Cup history and leaving the Europeans on the verge of their first victory away from home.

“It’s obviously my dream to be able to win this cup over here for the first time,” European captain Liselotte Neumann said. “So to make some history, it will be amazing.” Mallon still managed a smile when she sat down to go over the Sunday singles lineup. She removed her sunglasses and said, “Can you see the shock on my face?” Europe owned the day.

Neumann rested her three top players. She sent out five rookies for fourballs, starting with Jodi Ewart-Shadoff and 17-year-old Charley Hull who combined for nine birdies in a 2-up win over 18year-old Lexi Thompson and Paula Creamer. Carlota Ciganda was spraying the ball all over Colorado Golf Club until meeting up with assistant captain Annika Sorenstam on the range. She ended her match with a 12-foot birdie putt for another European point. “Today for the Europeans, it was a magical day for that team,” Mallon said.

The star for Europe has been Caroline Hedwall of Sweden. She is the only player on either team who will play all five matches, with a chance to become the first player in Solheim Cup history to go 5-0.

Mallon can only hope for some history of her own, and it’s a long shot. No team has ever rallied from more than two points behind going into the Sunday singles. The Europeans only need to win three matches and halve another out of 12 singles to capture the cup away from home for the first time, and retain the cup for the first time

PARKER: European team celebrates on the 18th green during the afternoon fourball matches for the 2013 Solheim Cup. —AFP Creamer, Brittany Lang and Morgan that looked good all the way. “I nevsince this event began in 1990. er had a hole-in-one before, so I “It’s a wonder ful feeling,” Pressel out first.

Mallon felt much better after the thought when it pitched on the Neumann said. “These girls played their hearts out. It’s awesome. It morning session of foursomes, ground, I thought, ‘Well, this could when Wie and Lang rallied from 2 be my chance to get one.’ But it was a fantastic afternoon.”

Hull and Ewart-Shadoff were all down at the turn to beat Beatriz rolled up about 4 feet,” Hull said. square when the precocious Recari and Suzann Pettersen, and “And then I was quite nervous over English teen hit 9-iron just over the Lewis won her first point by team- the 4-footer, and then I rolled it in. bunker on the par-3 17th to 4 feet ing with Creamer for a 1-up win. It was just great.”

Still, the dagger came from Icher for a birdie to go 1 up. Ewart- Her team had a chance to tie the Shadoff did the rest, smashing a tee score until Catriona Matthew holed that that remarkable putt. “I just shot some 30 yards by the big-hit- a 7-foot putt as she and Masson tried to find a good speed for the ting Thompson, leaving only a 9- won the last two holes to earn a putt, because I was downhill and iron into the green on the 435-yard, halve. Still, the Americans closed the putt went in,” she said. “So it’s uphill closing hole. Her 10-foot the gap to one point and had very important to have won this birdie putt was conceded, and momentum. It didn’t last long. The match. A half-point is always a halfEuropean blue filled the rest of the Americans didn’t have the lead in a point. Tomorrow it can make the scoreboard. Mallon had spoken ear- single fourballs match on the back difference.”

The Solheim Cup endured lier Saturday about the importance nine.

Leading the way was Hull, who another black eye in officiating, this of the last match to take momenwas dynamic in the best match of time on a different hole. A rules offitum into Sunday.

“Every Solheim Cup, it seems, the day. Hull and Ewart-Shadoff cial allowed Ciganda to take an comes down to that Saturday after- combined for a better-ball score of incorrect drop on the 15th hole noon last much, and momentum 63, making five straight birdies at after a 30-minute ruling on the that happens after that,” she said. one point. Creamer and Thompson opening day. On Saturday, Recari “I’m hoping, in this case, that it’s a shot 31 on the front nine and still and Cristie Kerr both went into the hazard on the 16th hole, and neimomentum of my team turning it trailed.

Hull twice rolled in birdie putts ther player could agree where it around tomorrow. Obviously, it’s daunting. I’m not being Pollyanna around the turn with the Americans entered the hazard. After 31 minabout this, but I really feel like the in close for birdie. Ewart-Shadoff hit utes, they both took their drop. By lineup I have, and this team, can do driver on the 295-yard 14th hole, a then, the entire American team had it. “They all played their hearts out shot that never left the flag and set- gathered around the 18th green to today,” she said. “No one gave up on tled some 25 feet behind the cup watch the finish. It should have me today, not one player. And I for a two-putt birdie to win the known the outcome. Six out of the 16 matches have gone to the 18th know they’re not going to give up hole and regain the lead.

With the match all square, Hull hole, with Europe winning four of on me tomorrow.” She has stacked her lineup, sending Stacy Lewis, hit a 9-iron to a front pin on No. 17 them and halving another.—AP

Fitzpatrick, Goss advance

INDIANAPOLIS: Marc Marquez of Spain and Repsol Honda Team rounds the bend during the MotoGp Red Bull US Indianapolis Grand Prix qualifying. —AFP

Marquez seizes MotoGP pole INDIANAPOLIS: Marc Marquez captured the pole for late yesterday’s Indianapolis Grand Prix with a track-record lap during Saturday’s qualifying at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The 20-year-old Spaniard posted a time of one minute 37.958 seconds to better the previous track record of 1:38.813 by Dani Pedrosa. Saturday’s top four qualifiers — Marquez, Jorge Lorenzo, Pedrosa and Cal Crutchlow — all recorded times faster than the old track record. Pedrosa, Marquez’s Honda teammate, won last year’s title from pole. “ Woo, that’s pretty quick,” said American Ducati rider Nicky Hayden, who was sixth-quickest. “I just hope they don’t go that fast tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow in a hot, a very hot race,” Lorenzo said. Marquez, the 2012 Moto2 champion, is making a phenomenal transition to MotoGP this year.

With three wins in nine races this season, he’s been the sport’s most dominant and most consistent racer. Previously, he took pole at Austin, France and Germany.

He leads Pedrosa by 16 in the points standings. “Tomorrow (Sunday) will be a tough race because everybody is struggling quite a lot at the end of the race with the tyres,” Marquez said. “We are

ready to fight for the win, but for sure, Jorge and Dani will be strong.”

Added Pedrosa: “I think, yeah, tomorrow it’s going to be a very hard race. It’s a track where you move a lot on the bike, so the fitness is very important.”

A mishap during morning practice ended Ben Spies’ comeback plans. The American fell on turn four and got to his feet clutching his left shoulder. Race officials said he suffered a dislocation and will undergo additional exams today.

“I know what that feels like when you’re down on all fours just trying to get air,” Hayden said. “It’s really not fun.

Hopefully, he’s back soon.”

Spies’ right shoulder, surgically reconstructed after a crash at last season’s Grand Prix of Malaysia, was not affected.

Spies finished tenth at this year’s seasonopener in Qatar, but has been hampered by setbacks since then. Spies took pole at Indy in 2010. He started in the top four three consecutive years and has a pair of top three finishes. Scott Redding will have pole for Sunday ’s Moto2 race.

Redding’s 1:43.026 was the day’s quickest lap. In Moto 3, Alex Rins will start from the front after a lap of 1:47.392. Right behind Rins was Alex Marquez, Marc’s brother, at 1:47.686.—AFP

BROOKLINE: Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick took a page out of Francis Ouimet’s book and advanced to the finals of the US Amateur at The Country Club.

With his 14-year-old brother on his bag and opponent Corey Conners sitting in the famous Vardon bunker along the 17th fairway, Fitzpatrick knocked his approach to 20 feet, then sank the birdie putt to win 2 and 1 on Saturday. He’ll play in the 36-hole final against Oliver Goss, who beat fellow Australian Brady Watt 2 up in the other semifinal.

A victory late yesterday would make Fitzpatrick the first US Amateur champion from England since Harold Hilton in 1911.

And he would do it at the course where Ouimet, a local amateur with a 10-year-old caddie on his bag, beat British pros Harry Vardon and Ted Ray in the 1913 US Open in an upset that gave golf its first and biggest boost in the United States.

“It’s a nice position to be in,” said Fitzpatrick, who along with Goss earned a spot in the US Open and an expected invitation to the Masters just by making the finals. “But again, it’s not the end of the world if it doesn’t come off tomorrow.

There is worse things, so I’m just giving it my best, and if I don’t play well enough on the day, then that’s that, really.”

The low amateur at the 2013 British Open, Fitzpatrick fell behind by two after four holes but turned it around with a 30foot birdie putt on the sixth hole, tied it when he chipped in from 25 feet on No. 8 and then added another birdie on the 10th hole to take the lead.

“I think that was sort of a bit of a turning point,” he said.

“Those three holes were the big change, really.” Fitzpatrick took a 2-up lead into the 166-yard, par-3 16th hole, but he landed in the bunker while Conners put his drive about two feet from the pin and made birdie.

Down one on the 17th tee, Conners drove into the same bunker that Vardon found during the playoff against Ouimet in the 1913 US Open. His approach was short of the green, and the next shot was within a foot or two. But Fitzpatrick reached the front of the green - about where Justin Leonard was in the 1999 Ryder Cup - and made birdie to end the match. “He rolled in his 25 foot putt up the hill, which I was kind of expecting from what he’d done all throughout the day,” Conners said. “Any time he was in a difficult place where he had little chance of getting it close, he hit an unbelievable little flop shot or pitch shot and played right beside the hole.

When your opponent does that ... it kind of deflates the tires a little bit.”

Fitzpatrick, 18, has already committed to Northwestern, where he will be a freshman this fall, taking some pressure off this week as he waited the results of his “A-levels” back home.

Now he can focus on Goss, a 19-year-old Australian who reached the quarterfinals last year. Goss, who plays college golf at Tennessee, won the 2012 Western Australia Amateur.

“I’m trying to be as calm as possible, and I’ve got a big day ahead of me tomorrow,” he said. “It hasn’t sunk in yet, all the things that come along with being a finalist like playing in the Masters and the U.S. Open. I’m definitely trying to keep as calm as possible, but it definitely hasn’t sunk in, and I don’t think it will for at least a couple of days.”—AP

GREENSBORO: Patrick Reed lines up a putt on the first hole during the final round of the Wyndham Championship.—AFP

Reed tied with Huh at soggy Sedgefield GREENSBORO: Young guns Patrick Reed and John Huh had their struggles but ended tied for the lead after third round at the $5.3 million Wyndham Championship on Saturday.

On a day when there was little movement among the lead pack, Reed carded a reasonable one-over-par 71 in intermittent rain at soggy Sedgefield Country Club.

He missed a 10-foot par putt at the last, while Huh holed out from a slightly shorter distance to salvage par. Earlier, Huh made just about the worst possible start with a triple bogey at the second hole. Reed and Huh are at 10-under 200, one stroke ahead of Zach Johnson (66), Bob Estes (68) and Jordan Spieth (70).

Eight players are within two strokes of the lead going into Sunday’s final round. PGA Tour rookie Reed dropped three strokes in the first 13 holes as he struggled with his driver, but a good tee shot at the 14th got him back on the track and he reeled off three consecutive birdies.

“I was having issues with the driver, hitting everything left of left but the tee shot on 14, that was a key point,” said the 23-year-old Texan. “I’m very excited (to have the lead) but at the same time I’ve got work to do.”

Huh, who is barely two months younger than Reed, showed composure beyond his years after his disastrous second hole, where he took five strokes to negotiate the final 60 feet. “I pulled my second shot into the wrong

spot and instead of taking my medicine I got too greedy,” said Huh, who could not stop his third shot on the green.

“It was a pretty rough start but I was able to hang in there and get everything together and here I am tied for the lead.” Huh was born in New York but spent 12 years of his childhood in South Korea before moving back to the US. Former Masters champion Johnson made the biggest move, reeling off five birdies before bogeying the final hole, the only blemish on his card, for a 66, equal to the day’s best score.

“There was a lot of precipitation and just a day to be patient,” said Johnson. “The course held up well (and) the greens were still fast.

“I hit it great and didn’t think I was going to sniff a bogey (but then) I three-putted 18 hit two great shots and then a terrible lag putt,” he said.

Less than an hour of play was possible Saturday morning before persistent rain rendered the course unplayable shortly after 8am.

Competition resumed three hours later and despite more rain, officials deemed the course playable all afternoon. The lift, clean and place rule was invoked, allowing preferred lies from the fairways. While the softer conditions allowed for more aggressive approach shots, the course also played significantly longer.—Reuters

MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013

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South Africa in nine-try romp as Argentina wilt JOHANNESBURG: South Africa ran in nine tries as they over whelmed Argentina 73-13 to ensure an easier than expected start to their Rugby Championship campaign at Soccer City on Saturday.

The Springboks bettered the competition record for the biggest winning margin and their own 16-year-old mark for the most points scored in a match with a strong statement of their potential in the four-nation, southern hemisphere competition.

They were rarely tested in the set pieces and at the breakdown, despite fears about Argentina’s growing promise, and ran riot in open play in a one-sided second half performance.

The tries included a record-extending 51st for winger Bryan Habana while flyhalf Morne Steyn slotted over eight conversions and four penalties for 28 points and missed only one kick.

The match started with stoic defence from both teams as they exchanged penalties that saw the Springboks 9-6 up midway through the first half.

But consistent pressure saw referee Chris Pollock award a penalty try to the home team after Argentine hooker Eusebio Guinazu slapped down the ball to intercept an almost certain score in the 29th minute.

A quick counter attack tr y from JJ Engelbrecht and another Steyn penalty ensured a 26-6 halftime lead, with Argentina’s cause not helped by the loss of two players to yellow cards at crucial junctures. The second half was a pure romp as the South Africans easily cut their way through the Argentines, adding tries with regularity.

“We were broken everywhere,” said candid Argentina coach Santiago Phelan. “We need to grow up, obviously losing by this kind of score

Bryan Habana is not good for any team.” Adriaan Strauss pushed over from close-in after 46 minutes and Willem Alberts did much the same eight minutes later.

South Africa captain Jean de Villiers intercepted a loose pass at the back within two minutes and soon after that it was his break through the middle that led to a try for replacement scrumhalf Fourie du Preez on his return to the team.

Habana went over a minute later, followed by tries for Duane Vermeulen and Bismark du Plessis. “We were looking for a special performance, but we need to take cognisance that we

still have five more games to go,” said South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer.

Argentina scored with the last move of the match, a small consolation for captain Felipe Contepomi who scored all their points.

Despite South Africa’s comfortable victory, that try was irritating for their perfectionist coach Meyer, who told reporters: “I’m quite cross about that last try, it detracted from a clinical performance.” The Springboks’ win in the first round followed a similarly impressive 47-29 victory for New Zealand in Australia earlier on Saturday at the start of the competition.—Reuters

Danielle Adams

Stars down Mercury SAN ANTONIO: Danielle Adams and Danielle Robinson scored 20 points each as the San Antonio Silver Stars beat Phoenix 88-82 on Saturday, handing the Mercury their first loss under interim coach Russ Pennell. Jia Perkins added 17 points and Shenise Johnson had 15 for San Antonio (915). Robinson, sporting a pink Mohawk in honor of the team’s Breast Cancer Awareness Night, also had eight assists while going 10 for 11 on free throws in a chippy contest between the Western Conference rivals. Diana Taurasi scored 23 points, Charde Houston had 15, Brittney Giner added 11 and Candice Dupree 10 for Phoenix (13-12), which had won three straight since Pennell replaced Corey Gaines on Aug. 8. Phoenix had 44 points in the paint compared to 28 by San Antonio, but the Silver Stars’ backcourt dominated their Mercury counterparts.

STORM 77, FEVER 70 In Seattle, Tina Thompson scored 14 of her 23 points in the second half to lead the Storm and became the third WNBA player with 3,000 career rebounds.

Tanisha Wright added 16 points and Shekinna Stricklen 15 for Seattle (11-13), which has won two of three and remained two games ahead of San Antonio for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Tamika Catchings had 21 points for Indiana (11-14), which has lost three straight and four of five. Briann January scored 17 points and Eriana Larkins added 14 points and nine rebounds. The Fever fell one game behind third-place Washington in the Eastern Conference, and had their lead over fifth-place New York trimmed to one-half game. —AP

Jerry Sandusky being led to the courtroom in this file photo.

Settlement reached in Sandusky scandal HARRISBURG: A young man who testified he was sexually abused by former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky will get a reported multimillion-dollar payout in the first of what is expected to be dozens of settlements between the university and Sandusky’s accusers.

The Philadelphia Inquirer first reported Saturday that the young man known as “Victim 5,” who took the stand at Sandusky’s criminal trial and sentencing last year, settled for several million dollars.

Attorney Tom Kline confirmed the deal to The Associated Press on Saturday, but would not specify the dollar amount. He said the parties signed off on the agreement Friday.

Kline said his 25-year-old client was relieved and expected to receive the money within a month. The man identified himself for his testimony, but AP generally does not identify people who are victims of sex crimes.

The paper reported the deal is the first of 26 settlements expected soon among 31 young men who have pressed claims over Sandusky’s actions and the school’s response.

Kline told the AP that as part of the agreement, his client assigned his claim to Penn State, effectively giving the university a better chance to recover the money from other parties, such as The Second Mile, a charity for atrisk youth that Sandusky founded.

University officials “left themselves a wide open road to recover a significant amount of this money back from their insurers and Second Mile. And we support that,” Kline said.

Michael Rozen, one of the lawyers brought in by Penn State to resolve the civil claims, told the paper that Victim 5’s case was considered among the more serious because the abuse occurred in August 2001, months after top school officials were informed by a graduate assistant that he saw Sandusky assaulting

a boy in a team shower.

“The pivotal issue from the university’s perspective in dealing with the victims is where the incident occurred and when it occurred proximate to the 2001 shower incident,” Rozen told the paper.

A spokesman for the university declined comment Saturday on the deal, saying the school “continues to make progress on multiple settlements.”

At Sandusky’s trial, Victim 5 testified that he met the coach at a Second Mile camp in 1999 and went to Penn State games with him.

He said that Sandusky groped him in the showers during a workout.

Kline said the agreement does not prevent Victim 5, who lives outside Philadelphia, from talking or writing about his experience, although he has no plans to do so.

“We hope that there is closure, but I can tell you on his behalf that he understands there (are) continuing proceedings, because this case has had, and continues to have, many long tentacles,” Kline said. Victim 5 was among eight young men who testified at Sandusky’s trial about abuse that included fondling and rape, including incidents on school property.

Penn State announced a year ago - the day Sandusky was convicted of 45 criminal counts - that it hoped to compensate his victims fairly and quickly. Penn State’s trustees have authorized some $60 million to be used for settlements.

Sandusky, 69, is serving a 30- to 60-year state prison sentence for child molestation and related offenses. He spent three decades at Penn State under former head coach Joe Paterno, and met some of his victims through The Second Mile, which he continued to operate after he retired from Penn State in 1999.—AP

Miami doping scandal casts pall over Dominican baseball BOCA CHICA: The crack of bat on ball rings out as lithe young men dart around a baseball field hoping to catch the eye of Major League scouts looking for the next multi-million-dollar prospect.

When it comes to talent on the baseball diamond, there is nowhere like the Dominican Republic, which accounts for almost 40 percent of all foreign-born players in the US major leagues.

The Caribbean nation is a powerhouse in world baseball, winning the World Classic championship this year. Yet, for all its success, there is a dark side: doping.

Thirteen major league baseball players were hit with suspensions for doping last month because of ties to a Miami-based anti-aging clinic, and eight were from the Dominican Republic. A ninth player, New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez, grew up in Miami the son of Dominican parents.

Twelve of the players accepted 50-game suspensions in the case, while Rodriguez has appealed a 211-game suspension and denied any wrongdoing.

“I worry about our image in the big leagues because of steroids. We have to avoid that. It’s so common now in baseball,” said Felipe Betemit, 21, a young infield prospect training with the Baltimore Orioles baseball academy at Boca Chica, a popular tourist resort on the southern coast.

To be sure, the latest MLB doping scandal is centered on the activities of a Miami clinic, and has no apparent ties to doping in the Dominican Republic.

But the island nation of 9 million has been the main focus of a drive by the MLB in recent years to crack down on abuse of performance-enhancing drugs by young players.

After years of lax controls, MLB began implementing a series of recommendations in 2010 to improve its operations in the Dominican Republic, as well as Venezuela, including drug testing for signed players.

As a result MLB has made “great progress,” a league spokesman said, noting that the positive test rate for drug abuse in the Dominican Republic has decreased from 11 percent in 2004 to 1.4 percent in 2012, and 0.6 percent in 2013.

But experts say there is still more to be done.

Almost every MLB team now operates an “academy” in the Dominican Republic where hundreds of players aged 16 to 20 are signed every year, although only a handful achieve their goal of fame and fortune.

Despite its tourist beaches and luxury golf resorts, the Dominican Republic is one of the poorest countries in Latin America, with more than 41 percent of the population living in poverty, according to official statistics. Many young Dominicans see baseball as the only ticket out of that poverty.

“This sport is such a big thing here because it gives the players an opportunity to become a millionaire,” said Carlos Valderrama, manager of the San Francisco Giants academy team near Boca Chica.

Young players, keen to catch the eye of professional MLB scouts, often fall under the wing of unregulated local scouts, known as “buscones,” (Spanish for “prospectors”) who operate as independent trainers.

MLB has itself identified the buscones as a concern, with reports that some resort to doping child athletes with a variety of drugs available locally over the counter, including steroids and super-concentrated proteins used by bodybuilders to add muscle mass.

At the same time, MLB has repeatedly said that buscones are an essential part of the baseball industry. “They are the real estate agents of the game.

Some are great guys; others not so much,” said one club consultant familiar with the Dominican Republic who asked to remain anonymous as he is not authorized to speak on the matter.

In 2009, MLB commissioned a report by New York Mets general manager Sandy Alderson on the Dominican academies that highlighted the role of buscones in “facilitating drug use by players,” and concluded that major reforms were needed, while recognizing their importance.

The report found the MLB teams were “hesitant to confront these buscones” out of a concern they would lose access to top Dominican prospects. Some corrupt club employees were taking kickbacks from buscones, it also found, and it proposed background checks for all club personnel.

Enrique Constante, supervisor of scouts for the Baltimore Orioles, said he had hundreds of mobile phone numbers for buscones, noting that the great majority are careful to observe MLB rules.

“It’s a profession that has become a national industry in the Dominican Republic,” he said. The academies have created mechanisms to prevent situations where young people recruited by buscones “slip in without first undergoing an examination to show that they are free from doping,” Constante said.

“Often out of ignorance the buscones give the guys proteins that are not permitted,” he said.

MLB has faced criticism for not doing enough to prevent the buscones from corrupting the scouting system, either by lying about players ages and identities, or encouraging use of performance enhancing drugs or other nutritional supplements that may be legal but potentially unhealthy for children. “We have put a lot of pressure on MLB to improve the facilities and the policies,” said Arturo Marcano, a Venezuelanborn sports management expert and co-author of the 2002 book “Stealing Lives” about the abuse of young Latin American baseball players.

The MLB’s Alderson report recommended “creating significant penalties” for buscones and expanding programs to educate players in the Dominican Republic about the dangers of performance-enhancing drugs, as well as “actively investigating allegations that buscones are facilitating the use of drugs by players” by interviewing “every player who tests positive ... to determine the source of the steroids.” All academy players are now tested for drugs and also educated about the dangers of steroid use, as well as the professional penalties.

Marcano credited MLB with making a serious effort to improve its operations, but said the buscones remained a problem.

“There are still things they could so better, to monitor that the rules are being observed. There are still loopholes,” he said, especially concerning players before they reach the academies.

Betemit, the young Orioles third base prospect, said baseball had transformed his family’s fortunes.

He began playing at the age of 8, influenced by three of his seven brothers, two of whom were signed by major league teams.

He hopes to join his brother Wilson Betemit, a third baseman earning $2 million with the Orioles this year. “When the first of my brothers signed, they gave him good money and our family situation began to change,” he said, describing how he grew up in a poor

Alex Rodriguez

neighborhood in Santo Domingo.

According to official statistics, 56 percent of Dominican wage earners make less than $260 a month. Most young baseball prospects fail to complete basic schooling, and hardly any enter university.

That is what most troubles Charles Farrell, co-founder of the Dominican Republic Sports and Education Academy in San Pedro de Macoris. The town is the cradle of Dominican baseball and home of former Chicago Cubs hitter Sammy Sosa, the only player to have hit 60 or more home runs in a single season three times.

Farrell, 62, has worked with MLB to try to improve the academies, including putting greater emphasis on encouraging young players to complete their high school education.

“We have to change this mentality in poor, young Dominican players that baseball is their only chance of success,” Farrell said. Many young players drop out of school at age 12 to train with the buscones, even though 98 percent will never fulfill their major league dreams, he said.

“If there were better educated kids they would make better decisions,” Farell said. “If they don’t make it to the major leagues they think they are a failure.

That’s a very sad position for a kid to be in.”

It’s also what drives them to steroid abuse. “They think, ‘If I take this pill, I’ll be a better player, and I’ll have a better chance of making it,’” he said.

Signing bonuses have rocketed in recent years, adding to the financial incentive for buscones. “All they see are the dollar signs. Some of them don’t care about the health of the kids,” said Erick Almonte, 35, a former New York Yankees infielder from Santo Domingo who signed in 1996 for only $4,500. A good prospect can now earn a signing bonus of $200,000, with buscones getting their cut, sometimes as much as 50 percent, he said.

One 16-year-old Dominican was signed last month for $1.8 million by the Texas Rangers. So far only one of MLB’s 30 Dominican academies has a mandatory education program, launched by the Pittsburgh Pirates two years ago, although other teams also promote education for players.

MLB says it will be launching in the near future an initiative to provide “increased educational opportunities” for all players, including prospects and released players. “We do not want young Dominican prospects leaving school to play baseball full time with the hope of signing a contract,” MLB said in a statement.-—Reuters

MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013

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Allmendinger hangs on, triumphs at Nationwide LEXINGTON: AJ Allmendinger was so close he could almost envision coasting through his final lap and capturing the checkered flag.

Then, elsewhere on the course, a car spun out and the subsequent yellow flag meant the pack would have to restart behind the pace car in a two-lap sprint to the finish.

But after leading 73 of the 94 laps, he survived that last, late challenge to win the inaugural NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

“In a way, I feel like I’m playing with house money because I never expected to be back here at this level,” said Allmendinger, making another major step back after his suspension a year ago for failing a random drug test. “I’m just taking it all in and having fun with it.”

Allmendinger improved his record to 2 for 2 this year in the Nationwide Series, adding a victory to the one he picked up for Penske Racing in his only previous start at Road America.

He credited his crew, his sponsors and particularly team owner Roger Penske, who stood by him in his darkest hours and gave him work.

“It’s Roger’s world and I’m living in it,” Allmendinger said. “I’ll go back and I’ll celebrate this and enjoy it. And definitely take it all in as it’s happening. But I don’t let it dictate my life anymore, which I used to.” Polewinner Michael McDowell was second, with native Ohioan Sam Hornish Jr. third, Max Papis fourth and Brian Vickers fifth. Hornish took over the season points lead, 13 points ahead of Elliott Sadler. The race was plagued by spin-outs and fender benders.

The last one almost changed the outcome. With everyone racing to the finish and Allmendinger’s Discount Tire Mustang comfortably ahead of McDowell by a couple of seconds, the car driven by Kenny Habul spun out on Turn 11. Out came the caution, with Allmendinger left to make one last stand. “Since I’m out here running for a championship, I feel like a lot of times I’m taking a little bit more than I give,” Hornish said of his willingness to avoid problems in order to keep running and piling up points. “That last restart, I had to take a little bit there.”

Hornish made a run at the leaders almost immediately and also tried to skirt inside McDowell at the first turn.

Allmendinger, who ended up winning by 1.165 seconds, was focused on holding on.

“The only thing about the green-whitechecker was I wasn’t great on restarts,” Allmendinger said. “It took three or four laps for the tires to come in and this place, because you’re sliding around and the corners are so tight, it just invites people to kind of come in and want to move you out of the way.”

But he outgunned McDowell in the home straight, held his ground in the first curve and then played keep-away the rest of the way.

Like all the rest of the leaders, fuel was a consideration since almost everyone hadn’t counted on the extra laps under caution.

“When that green-white-checker came out, I think everybody got pretty nervous,” said McDowell, who captured his second career pole earlier in the day. “ We all worked so hard to save fuel during the caution. Had the caution came back out, and there’d been another green-white-checker, we’d all have been in trouble.”

Allmendinger’s team kept him from worrying.

“The whole time, I was like, ‘Are we good on fuel?’” Allmendinger said of his radio conversations with crew chief Jeremy Bullins. “He’s saying, ‘Yeah, man, you’re fine.

Just keep going.’”

Absolutely no one was surprised there were lots of caution flags, with 40 large, powerful cars racing around a layout with a variety of elevations and hairpin curves that is just 40-feet wide in places.

The first 18 laps were clean but then things started getting messy. Justin Allgaier - who would bounce back to briefly challenge for the lead later - found the sand off Turn 9 for the first yellow.

Trevor Bayne and Regan Smith were among the drivers who had their cars spun, either through contact, aggressive driving or in the heat of the race.

By the end, however, with just 15 or so laps left, the top two had separated themselves, several seconds ahead of third-place Hornish. Almendinger held onto the lead not pulling away but not losing any ground - as they made it a two-car race.

Rounding out the top 10 were Sadler in sixth, Marcos Ambrose, Allgaier, Bayne and Jeremy Clements. Two drivers raced at MidOhio and also planned on being in the middle of the action at yestrday’s NASCAR Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Ambrose was set to start 26th in Brooklyn, Mich., with Austin Dillon set to start a notch behind him. Both were expecting to helicopter between the two tracks. Dillon, who placed 21st at Mid-Ohio, came into the race leading the Nationwide drivers’ standings but is now tied for third with Smith. Allmendinger remained humbled and excited.

He was touched by the kids from the event’s namesake hospital in Columbus, many facing struggles against disease, injuries and illness.

“To have those kids here, it’s an inspiration,” he said. “It’s funny. You see them and you see how excited they are to be here and it puts a lot of things into perspective before you even get into a race car. “It was just a great weekend all around.”—AP

Barker grabs IBF middleweight title ATLANTIC CITY: British middleweight Darren Barker won the IBF championship Saturday night with a split decision over defending champ Daniel Geale of Australia.

Barker (26-1) received winning scores of 116-111 from judge Barbara Perez and 114113 from Carlos Ortiz. Judge Alan Rubenstein scored it 114-113 for Geale (291). Barker leaped in jubilation when the scores were read at Revel Casino-Hotel then collapsed to the canvas while his handlers celebrated in the ring. He won the belt almost two years after an 11th-round TKO loss to WBC middleweight champ Sergio Martinez at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall. Barker prevailed in a grueling fight that had fans at Revel’s Ovation Hall on their feet throughout. “I take my hat off to him,” Barker said. “He’s a very tough man and he came in with the belt.” Geale nearly won the fight in the sixth round.

With about a minute left in the round, he landed a powerful left hook to Barker’s liver that forced Barker to drop to all fours in obvious pain. Barker managed to rise a second before referee Eddie Cotton completed his 10-count and actually mounted his own rally in the final seconds of the round.

“When I was down on the ground, it was all going through my head,” Barker said.

“My wife, my family, my daughter. They made me get up.”

Geale, a native of Tasmania now living in Sydney, was making his United States debut. The 32-year-old married father of three was making his fifth title defense and was hoping a decisive win over Barker will lead to bigger, more lucrative fights against top-rated middleweight such as WBC champ Sergio Martinez. “I put everything

into this fight,” Geale said. “I hit him throughout. It’s very disappointing.”

In the co-feature, Spain’s Kiko Martinez used a relentless, aggressive attack to upset IBF super-bantamweight champion Jhonatan Romero of Colombia with a sixthround TKO. Referee David Fields stopped the fight at 2:40 with a defenseless Romero (23-1) pinned in a neutral corner and absorbing a beating. Martinez (29-4) dropped to his knees in the center of the ring and began to sob while his cornermen hugged him.

“This is a dream for me,” Martinez said through a translator. “(HBO ring announcer) Michael Buffer called out my name (as the new champion). This is a dream. I am so happy. I have no words. Today is a marvelous day. We’re going to have a big party when I get back home.”

Martinez, who is managed by WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (no relation), took control at the outset of the bout and never relinquished it. In the sixth, he rocked Romero with a left hook and right hook early in the round, then unleashed a bevy of punishing blows that left Romero staggering along the ropes.

Romero briefly tried to fight back, but was soon overwhelmed. Martinez pinned him in a neutral corner and continued to fire punches until Fields wisely stepped in.

“I just kept throwing punches,” Martinez said. “I had to keep the attack on and I knew the referee was going eventually going to have to stop the fight.”

Romero was making his first title defense. He won the belt last February, when he gained a 12-round, split decision over Alejandro Lopez in Lopez’s hometown of Tijuana, Mexico.—AP

ATLANTIC CITY: Darren Barker (right) of England lands a right hand to the face of Daniel Geale from Australia in the third round during their IBF Middleweight Championship fight. —AFP

Photo of the day

Veso Ovcharov flies over the Hushe valley in the Masherbrum area of the Karakoram, Pakistan. —www.redbull.com

Nadal defeats Isner to win Cincinnati crown CINCINNATI: Rafa Nadal continued his sizzling hardcourt form beating John Isner 7-6 (8) 7-6 (3) in the final of the Western and Southern Open yesterday, setting up the Spaniard as the red-hot favourite heading into the US Open.

Unbeaten on the surface in 15 matches this year and coming off a win in Montreal, the third ranked Nadal, who will move up to number two today, won back-to-back hardcourt finals on consecutive weeks for the first time in his career.

Nadal needed nearly two hours on a muggy centre court to tame the towering in-form American, who had knocked off three top 10 players, including world number one Novak Djokovic, to earn his spot in the final.

But the big-hitting Isner had no answers for the relentless Nadal, who has now claimed nine titles from 12 events this season. It was the 59th win of Nadal’s career but first in nine tries on the Cincinnati hardcourts. Isner, who has traditionally saved his best for the home crowd with 14 of the his 16 career ATP Tour final appearances coming in the US, had the capacity crowd in his corner and bombarded Nadal with 11 aces but could not crack the Spaniard’s defences failing to convert any of three break chances. Nadal played the entire match without a single break opportunity against Isner but came up big in both tiebreaks taking the first set 10-8.

Eager to avoid a third set against the game Isner, the 12-time grand slam winner was even more aggressive in the second set tiebreak racing to a 6-3 advantage then falling onto his back and leaping into the air when the American’s return slammed into the net. Isner, who will move from 22 to 14 in the world when the new rankings come out, has also established himself as a legitimate threat when the final grand slam of the season gets underway in Flushing Meadows on Aug. 26. Since retiring in the second round at Wimbledon with a left knee injury Isner has been in brilliant hardcourt form putting together a 16-4 match record while picking up his seventh career title in Atlanta followed by a runner-up finish in Washington and Cincinnati.—Reuters

CINCINNATI: Rafael Nadal poses for photographers with the winner’s trophy after defeating John Isner during the final of the Western & Southern Open. —AFP

Serena beat Li to set up final clash with Azarenka CINCINNATI: World number one Serena Williams fought her way to a 7-5 7-5 win over defending champion Li Na to reach the final of the Western and Southern Open on Saturday and close in on one of the few titles to elude her.

The 31-year-old American can fill that hole in her resume on Sunday when she takes on Belarusian world number two Victoria Azarenka, who was a 4-6 6-2 6-3 winner over 2009 champion Jelena Jankovic of Serbia.

Williams, who has been critical of her performance in Cincinnati despite making it to the final for the first time, was not at her dominating best against Li but it was a good enough effort to put herself in line for a $1 million bonus.

Her appearance in late yesterday’s final combined with a win last week in Toronto has put Williams at the top of the US Open Series bonus challenge and sends her to Flushing Meadows with a chance to compete for the largest payout ever awarded at the year’s final grand slam.

Williams can pocket $3.6 million, with the milliondollar bonus supplementing the $2.6 million cheque for winning the women’s singles at the US Open.

In a career that has generated 54 singles titles including 16 grand slams, Williams has won just about everything there is to win in her sport but Cincinnati, one of the WTA Tour’s most prestigious tournaments, is not among them.

“I definitely would not have predicted myself being in the final here at all,” said Williams, who will be chasing a career-high ninth title in a single season late yesterday.

“I came in here not playing my best and then now I’m in the final. It’s just almost weird. “It was definitely a little scratchy but I was able to get through. I just tried to stay positive.

“When I was down, I just got really relaxed and I felt like, you know, Serena, you don’t really have much to lose. So just kind of relax and get through it.”

Li stepped onto center court well-rested having received a walkover into the semi-finals when Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska withdrew from the tournament to attend her grandfather’s funeral.

But the 31-year-old fifth ranked Chinese got off to a sluggish start as Williams recorded the early break to move ahead 4-1.

Li hit back, sweeping through the next four games to pull in front 5-4, but Williams upped her game when needed, breaking her Chinese opponent twice more to take the set. Williams and Li held serve to open the second but the set would soon dissolve into series of breaks.

In the end, Williams claimed the decisive one when Li double-faulted. While Williams and Li may have struggled with their serves, their problems were minor compared to Azarenka and Jankovic, who managed to hold serve a grand total of just four times over three ugly sets.

Of the 27 games played, 23 ended in breaks, with the miserable serving display marred by 20 doublefaults, 11 by Azarenka and nine from Jankovic.

“I don’t care about that,” said Azarenka, when asked about the incredible number of breaks. “As long as I won the match, that’s all that matters, and I didn’t count.—Reuters

CINCINNATI: Na Li of China serves to Serena Williams during the semifinals of the Western & Southern Open. —AFP

19

MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013

SPORTS

All smiles for Mourinho as Chelsea sink Hull 2-0 Chelsea 2

Hull 0

SPAIN: Barcelona’s Gerard Pique (center) and Neymar, from Brazil (right) duels for the ball against Levante’s Hector Rodas (top) during a Spanish League soccer match. —AP

Magnificent seven for Barca MADRID: Barcelona welcomed new manager Gerardo Martino with a stunning display in his first competitive match in charge as they hammered Levante 7-0 at the Camp Nou yesterday.

The Spanish champions showed no signs of early season rust as they ripped the visitors apart with goals from Alexis Sanchez, Lionel Messi (2), Dani Alves, Pedro and Xavi giving them an incredible 6-0 lead at half-time.

There was even more for the home fans to cheer after the break as Neymar made his competitive debut as a substitute and even after Martino had shown the visitors some mercy by withdrawing Messi with 20 minutes remaining, more woeful defending allowed Pedro to round off the scoring with his second of the game.

“It is the best way to start at home with three points, a big scoreline and playing well,” Pedro told Barca TV. “We need to continue like this, we know we have just started and the season is very long. If we keep going like this then we can achieve great things.”

Martino had taken the decision to leave Neymar, Andres Iniesta and Jordi Alba on the bench after their international commitments in midweek and the Argentine’s mark on the side he only took charge of on July 23 was very much in evidence as the hosts pressed high up the field from the off to leave Levante camped inside their own half.

It only took Barca barely two minutes to register their first goal of the campaign as a slick pass from Xavi released Cesc Fabregas through on goal and he unselfishly squared for Sanchez to roll into an empty net.

Messi then got his account for the season up and running as he and Pedro

exchanged a lovely one-two inside the area and the Argentine side-footed home from close range.

The third arrived on 23 minutes as this time Messi’s pressing high up the field proved decisive as he robbed the ball and fed Fabregas and even when Keylor Navas got a hand to the former Arsenal man’s pass, the ball dropped kindly for Alves to convert. Another incredible defence splitting pass from Messi allowed Pedro to curl home the fourth moments later and after Pedro Lopez had stupidly upended Adriano inside the area, Messi stepped up to slam home his second of the evening from the penalty spot.

Barca’s first-half rampage still wasn’t complete though as Xavi marked the 15th anniversary of his Barca debut with a prodded finish from another delightful lofted through ball by Fabregas.

The Catalans weren’t quite as clinical after the break as Navas got down to parry efforts from Gerard Pique, Adriano and Messi.

However, the moment many inside the crowd had been waiting for arrived on 62 minutes as Neymar made his competitive bow in a Barca shirt in place of the impressive Sanchez.

Messi was then also surprisingly withdrawn by Martino for Iniesta with the Argentine boss most likely looking ahead to the first-leg of the Spanish Super Cup to come on Wednesday away to Atletico Madrid. Even without Messi though Barca still had another goal in them as Fabregas pounced on a slack passback by Hector Rodas and after rounding Navas he allowed Pedro to add the finishing touch on a wonderful start to the defence of their league title for the champions.—AFP

LONDON: Jose Mourinho marked his return to the Premier League by guiding his Chelsea side to a comfortable 2-0 victory over promoted Hull City at Stamford Bridge yesterday.

Mourinho was back six years after the end of his first spell at the club and he got the perfect welcome, with early goals from Oscar and Frank Lampard ensuring the Blues made a winning start to the campaign.

With Roman Abramovich, the Chelsea owner, also marking his 10th anniversary at the west London club, there was a mood of celebration around the ground.

And while the atmosphere grew more muted as Mourinho’s side failed to build on their early dominance, there was no doubt this was a satisfactory start to the Portuguese’s second term.

Mourinho’s appearance before kick-off had prompted the expected, rousing response and the manager waved and blew kisses to the fans before taking his seat in the dug-out.

With the formalities over, focus turned to the match and Mourinho’s players soon showed that they had heeded their manager’s warning-written in the matchday programme-that “this game is not a testimonial”. The line-up was familiar, with Kevin De Bruyne, making his Premier League debut after a season on loan at Werder Bremen, the only new face, but the Blues’ play had a freshness and urgency about it that brought early rewards.

Just five minutes had elapsed when Fernando Torres chased a through ball into the Hull area and was floored by Allan McGregor’s attempt to punch the ball clear.

The goalkeeper escaped a red

PARIS: Frenchman Emmanuel Riviere stole his Colombian teammate Radamel Falcao’s thunder yesterday as his hat-trick carried Monaco into joint top spot in Ligue 1 with a 4-1 thrashing of Montpellier. Claudio Ranieri’s expensively assembled side followed up their opening day’s 2-0 victory over Bordeaux to move up to six points alongside Lyon, Saint-Etienne and Marseille and second on goal difference. Ranieri was more than pleased with his sides showing.

“At the moment, it’s perfect, two matches, six points,” said the Italian, whose side trail Lyon by one goal. “I’m satisfied, it’s important to win but also to play well and I’m happy about that. As for Riviere, well he trains every day with character and professionalism and he’s in good shape physically and mentally,” added Ranieri.

The former Premier League and Serie A coach dismissed reports of Falcao making a move to Spain or England. “They are just rumours, always rumours and just to make up stories. Falcao is staying here, he’s happy and his daughter was born here,” he said in reference to the birth of the Colombian’s newborn daughter during the week.

On a glorious afternoon on the Cote d’Azur, hosts Monaco took the lead on 18 minutes when Argentine Lucas Ocampos took off on a weaving run before being hacked down in the box by Siaka Tiene, leaving the referee little option but to point to the spot.

Falcao stepped up and sent Montpellier goalkeeper Laurent Pionnier the wrong way as he made it two goals from two matches since his reported 60 million euro ($80 million) transfer from Atletico Madrid.

The lead lasted just six minutes when a second Colombian, this time Victor Hugo Montano, got the better of defenders Ricardo Carvalho and Eric Abidal before powering home a header from a fine cross from Benjamin Stambouli on the right wing.

The 2004 Champions League finalists then went back in front in controversial fashion on the stroke of half-time when Riviere clearly tugged Montpellier defender Daniel Congre on his way into the box before chipping the ball over the on rushing Pionnier.

Riviere then gave Ranieri’s men a cush-

ion 12 minutes after the break when he kneed the ball home following a corner from Yannick Ferreira Carrasco before the 2012 champions had Congre sent off on 63 minutes. Riviere completed his hat-trick with nine minutes left.

It was his seventh goal in seven matches for the 23-year-old when playing against Montpellier in Ligue 1. Later, Lorient came back from a goal down to defeat newly promoted Nantes 2-1 while champions Paris Saint-Germain complete the weekend slate with their home opener against Fabrizio Ravanelli’s Ajaccio side at the Parc des Princes.

Olivier Veigneau gave Nantes a 17th minute lead with a spectacular strike that began as a cross from the left but flew over the head of Lorient ‘keeper Fabien Audard and into the far corner.

Christian Gourcuff’s side were back on level terms six minutes before half-time when new Cameroonian signing Vincent Aboubakar opened his scoring account with a clean finish from point blank range.

Lorient then took the lead for good on 61 minutes when 30-year-old Frenchman Jeremie Aliadiere found the top corner from a free-kick that ‘Canaries’ keeper Remy Riou will feel he might have kept out.

The Britanny club lost their opening match 1-0 on the road at Lille. —AFP

Matches on TV (Local Timings) English Premier League Man City v Newcastle United 22:00 Aljazeera Sport 1 HD Aljazeera Sport +9 Aljazeera Sport +10 Aljazeera Sport 6 HD

Spanish League Rayo Vallecano v Elche CF 21:00 Aljazeera Sport +7 UD Almeria v Villarreal CF 23:00 Aljazeera Sport +8 Aljazeera Sport 2 HD Celta de Vigo v RCD Espanyol 23:00 Aljazeera Sport +7

card because Torres was heading away from goal and he made amends for his misjudgement by saving Lampard’s well-struck penalty.

Hull were reprieved, but McGregor’s save only delayed the inevitable. The visitors were overwhelmed by the intensity of Chelsea’s forward play, with De Bruyne prominent alongside Eden Hazard and Oscar, operating just behind Torres.

And it was the combination of the three playmakers that brought about the opening goal in the 13th minute. Hazard wriggled his way inside off the left flank and played the ball into De Bruyne, who cleverly stabbed the ball between the legs of centre-back James Chester to free Oscar, and the Brazilian slotted home from 10 yards.

It was a wonderfully incisive move and prompted a fist-pumping celebration from Mourinho.

Lampard, playing alongside Ramires in front of the Chelsea back four but pressing on whenever the opportunity arose, drew another excellent save from McGregor, before Hazard’s backheel almost sent Ashley Cole clear.

Hull seemed in desperate trouble and they were punished once more four minutes later when Lampard took advantage of Chester’s foul on Torres to score the second with a superb, dipping free-kick from 30 yards.

Despite dominating, the home side failed to increase their lead during the remainder of the half.

Branislav Ivanovic came closest, with McGregor clawing his header away from beneath the crossbar.

Hawk-Eye replays using the new Goal-line Decision System proved the ball had not crossed the line.

The urgency appeared to seep out of the game at the start of the second half, and Mourinho dis-

played his frustration when centrebacks Gary Cahill and John Terry completed a triangle of passes with goalkeeper Petr Cech.

The manager clearly was not satisfied with two goals, but Hull had found a way to contain the Blues and the introduction of Tom Huddlestone and Jake Livermorerecent arrivals from Tottenham Hotspur-gave the visitors more presence in midfield.

Chelsea should have been given the chance to make the game safe when Ivanovic appeared to have been pushed by Robbie Brady, but referee Jon Moss ignored appeals for a penalty.

And the party mood at Stamford Bridge was further threatened when Cech was forced to save from Curtis Davies’ free header.

That proved a passing threat, however, and Chelsea eased their way to the final whistle without further scares.—AFP

Soldado gets Spurs up and running C Palace 0

Tottenham 1

Monaco power past Montpellier

LONDON: Chelsea’s Ramires (second left) vies for the ball with Hull City’s Jake Livermore (left) during the English Premier League soccer match. —AP

LONDON: Roberto Soldado marked his Tottenham Hotspur league debut with the only goal of the game at promoted Crystal Palace yesterday.

With Gareth Bale absent through injury and his proposed world-record transfer to Real Madrid still hanging over the club, Tottenham were hoping the Spain forward could make an instant impact. And the £26 million ($40.4 million, 30.4 million euros) signing from Valencia did not disappoint, slotting home a second-half penalty to ruin the Premier League homecoming for the home side.

The Tottenham starting lineup also included Nacer Chadli, who cost a reported £7 million from FC Twente, as part of a three-man attacking midfield behind Soldado.

Brazil international Paulinho, a £17 million acquisition, was also picked as one of two defensive midfielders, while a fourth newcomer, Etienne Capoue, was named as a substitute.

Palace opted to leave former Arsenal forward Marouane Chamakh on the bench and played Dwight Gayle-who was playing non-league football for Stansted a little over a year agoinstead.

Gayle cost the Eagles £4.5 million from Peterborough United of third-tier League One. The home side made an energetic start, but Palace goalkeeper Julian Speroni had to come off his line quickly to get to a back-pass ahead of Soldado, who headed harmlessly over shortly afterwards.

Most of the possession belonged to Tottenham and Mousa Dembele fired in a longrang effort that skimmed the top of the Palace bar before Soldado was off-target again, this time from a near-post flick.

It took Palace a while to regis-

ter a reply, but when Aaron Wilbraham rose highest to meet a free-kick, his header went straight to Hugo Lloris in the Tottenham goal.

The home side were guilty of surrendering possession too cheaply in their own half and Gylfi Sigurdsson almost made them pay with a well-struck effort that Speroni was able to tip over at full stretch. Aaron Lennon was making inroads down the right wing but his attempt to find Soldado when Chadli was better placed failed and Palace breathed a sigh of relief, with Chadli then heading over at the back post.

Palace survived a penalty scare early in the second half when Paulinho went down under Mile Jedinak’s challenge, but the reprieve was short-lived.

Within a minute, Lennon’s cross hit the raised arm of Dean Moxey and Soldado made no mistake from the spot. Oddly, it was Tottenham’s first penalty since the 2011-12 season.

Capoue came on for Dembele for his debut in the 57th minute and the Frenchman immediately blasted a long-ranger almost out of the ground.

Gayle fired over at the other end before Palace manager Ian Holloway made a triple substitution, introducing Chamakh, veteran 40-year-old striker Kevin Phillips and young fans’ favorite Jonathan Williams.

Sigurdsson was guilty of a poor miss when he curled wide after Soldado had set him up, but Palace were looking more potent now Phillips was on the pitch, with Lloris coming out of his area to tackle him at one point.

Lloris failed to catch a corner as Palace pressed but made amends with a smart save to deny Damien Delaney, but the home side again lived dangerously when Jermain Defoe, on for Soldado, emulated Sigurdsson with a poor finish after darting into the box.

Palace carried on pressing for an equaliser and again Tottenham had Lloris to thank for a double save to deny Kagisho Dikgacoi shortly before the final whistle.-AFP

LONDON: Crystal Palace’s Marouane Chamakh (lower) competes with Tottenham Hotspur’s Michael Dawson during their English Premier League soccer match. —AP

EPL results/standings Chelsea 2 (Oscar 13, Lampard 25) Hull City 0; Crystal Palace 0 Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Soldado 50-pen).

Playing Saturday: Arsenal 1 (Giroud 6) Aston Villa 3 (Benteke 22, 61-pen, Luna 85); Liverpool 1 (Sturridge 37) Stoke City 0; Norwich City 2 (Whittaker 51, Van

Wolfswinkel 71) Everton 2 (Barkley 61, Coleman 65); Sunderland 0, Fulham 1 (Kasami 52); Swansea City 1 (Bony 82) Manchester United 4 (Van Persie 34, 72, Welbeck 36, 90); West Bromwich Albion 0, Southampton 1 (Lambert 90-pen); West Ham United 2 (Cole 13, Nolan 76) Cardiff City 0.

English Premier League table after yesterday’s games (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Man Utd Aston Villa Chelsea West Ham Fulham Liverpool S,thampton Tottenham Everton Norwich

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

4 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 2 2

1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 1 1

Man City Newcastle C Palace Stoke Sunderland West Brom Arsenal Cardiff Hull Swansea

0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1

0 0 1 1 1 1 3 2 2 4

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Nadal defeats Isner to win Cincinnati crown

MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013

18

All smiles for Mourinho as Chelsea sink Hull

19

Reed tied with Huh at soggy Sedgefield

Page 16

MOSCOW: (Top left) Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Jamaica’s Carrie Russell, Jamaica’s Kerron Stewart and Jamaica’s Schillonie Calvert celebrate after winning the women’s 4x100 metres relay final. (Top right) Jamaica’s Usain Bolt (right) Jamaica’s Nickel Ashmeade, Jamaica’s Oshane Bailey and Jamaica’s Nesta Carter pose after winning the men’s 4x100 metres relay final. (Above left) Uganda’s gold medalist Stephen Kiprotich (center) Ethiopia’s Silver medalist Lelisa Desisa, (left) and Ethiopia’s bronze medalist Tadese Tola pose on the podium during the medal ceremony for the men’s marathon. (Above right)France’s Gaetan Saku Bafuanga Baya makes an attempt in the men’s triple jump final at the World Athletics Championships in the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow. — AFP

Fraser-Pryce makes history Bolt equals record with all-time greats MOSCOW: Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Usain Bolt ensured they and Jamaica bowed out of the World Athletics Championships on a high yesterday, powering their respective 4x100 metres relay teams to gold. Both were landmark victories.

Fraser-Pryce became the first woman to win the treble of 100m, 200m and relay golds while Bolt’s eighth world title took him level on the all-time list with three Americans-Michael Johnson, Carl Lewis and Allyson Felix.

Fraser-Pryce, who achieved what Silke Gladisch just failed to do in 1987 when East Germany won relay silver, and Katrin Krabbe in 1991, when the now unified German team won bronze in the relay, had the simplest of tasks.

A disastrous second handover by defending champions the United States between Alexandria Anderson and 100m finalist English Gardner took them out of title contention and they ended with bronze. They later moved up to silver after the French were disqualified for a baton handover taking place outside the permitted area while the British got bronze. While Fraser-Pryce said she would cherish her unique achievement, she was hoping that this would serve a bigger purpose and raise the profile of women’s sprinting.

“Sometime yes, I definitely get peeved,” said FraserPryce, also the two-time Olympic 100m gold medallist.

“Women’s sprinting is something the sport should appreciate more. I’m glad it’s taking the course it is.”

Bolt’s path to his record equalling gold was also eased by a fluffed handover by the United States between Rakieem Salaam and anchorman Justin Gatlin, the 100m silver medallist’s right foot straying five times into the Jamaican lane as he struggled to take control of the baton.

That error handed Bolt, who had had a smooth handover from Ashmeade, just the space he needed to unfold his towering frame into an explosive final leg.

Despite equalling a record held by such stellar names, Bolt refused to be drawn on comparisons especially with Lewis, who the Jamaican slammed last year at the Olympics saying he had no respect for the American who had questioned his and his team-mates performances.

“I really can’t say who is better than who. I just get on and do what I do,” said 26-year-old Bolt.

While Jamaica were maintaining their all-powerful grip on the sprints Kenyan Asbel Kiprop restamped his authority on the men’s 1500m.

Only 12th in the Olympics, the 24-year-old had no prob-

lems retaining his world title with a magnificent display of controlled running. “I’m really happy to defend my title that I won two years ago,” said Kiprop. “It was my goal as I was under pressure over these last two years.

“Luckily I managed to survive it and win.” There was more gold for Kenya as unheralded Eunice Sum won the women’s 800m denying Russia’s best hope of a gold on the final day, defending and Olympic champion Mariya Savinova. Savinova’s compatriot Maria Abakumova failed to retain her javelin title, not even a phone call from President Vladimir Putin to her and her husband Dmitri Tarabin on Saturday proving sufficient.

Tarabin finished in third in Saturday’s men’s javelin final but Abakumova insisted that the unexpected phone call, when the country’s leader had told them they were expected to win medals, had not added pressure to them.

“The phone call was out of the blue and surprised Dmitri as he was only hours away from competing,” said Abakumova, who was embraced by her husband after the final. “I talked to him (Putin) and it was unbelievable, very inspiring.” The other final yesterday was the men’s triple jump with France finally getting a gold when Teddy Tamgho jumped a best of 18.04 metres. — AFP

Dortmund top Bundesliga

GERMANY: Braunschweig’s Canadian striker Simeon Jackson (left) and Dortmund’s defender Marcel Schmelzer vie for the ball during the German First Division Bundesliga football match. — AFP

BERLIN: Midfielders Marco Reus and Jonas Hofmann’s late goals sealed Borussia Dortmund’s 2-1 home win over Eintracht Braunschweig to leave the Champions League runners-up top of the Bundesliga yesterday.

The 21-year-old Hofmann grabbed the limelight from Dortmund’s recordsigning Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who made his debut after costing 27.5 million euros (US$36.6m) from Shakhtar Donetsk, when he broke the deadlock seven minutes after coming on.

Hofmann replaced Dortmund’s other key signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, then took a crisp return pass from defender Mats Hummels to drill his shot in off the far post on 75 minutes.

Hofmann was then fouled in the area five minutes from time allowing Reus to drill home the penalty for Dortmund’s second before Braunschweig pulled one back when Kevin Kratz’s 89th-minute corner deflected in off Borussia’s Poland striker Robert Lewandowski.

It was not the way Lewandowski, Dortmund’s top-scorer last season with 24 goals in 31 league games, would have wanted to celebrate his 100th topflight match, while coach Jurgen Klopp enjoyed his 100th German league win with Borussia.

“Braunschweig stuck to their defensive plan, but in the second-half we had lots of chances,” said Klopp, as Dortmund enjoyed 66 percent posses-

sion and 17 shots on goal compared to Eintracht’s four. “Jonas Hofmann turned the game for us in the right direction, so all-in-all, I’m pleased.” After Aubameyang hit a hat-trick on his German league debut in last weekend’s 4-0 rout of Augsburg, the three points leave Dortmund top of the table on goal difference with European champions Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen in joint second.

Japan midfielder Hiroshi Kiyotake crashed in an 89th-minute free-kick to rescue a point in Nuremberg’s 2-2 draw with Hertha Berlin. Nuremberg had taken a 40th-minute lead when striker Daniel Ginczek held off two defenders to set up Swiss striker Josip Drmic to blast his shot home. — AFP

MEDALS TABLE MOSCOW: World athletics championships medals table yesterday, the final day of the 2013 tournament (gold, silver, bronze, total): Russia 7 4 6 17 United States 6 13 6 25 Jamaica 6 2 1 9 Kenya 5 4 3 12 Germany 4 2 1 7 Ethiopia 3 3 4 10 Great Britain 3 0 2 5 Czech Republic 2 0 1 3 Ukraine 2 0 1 3 France 1 3 1 5 Poland 1 2 0 3 Colombia 1 0 0 1 Croatia 1 0 0 1 Ireland 1 0 0 1 New Zealand 1 0 0 1 Uganda 1 0 0 1 Sweden 1 0 0 1 Trinidad 1 0 0 1 Australia 0 2 1 3 Ivory Coast 0 2 0 2 Canada 0 1 4 5 China 0 1 3 4 Cuba 0 1 2 3 Nigeria 0 1 1 2 Netherlands 0 1 1 2 Botswana 0 1 0 1 Finland 0 1 0 1 Hungary 0 1 0 1 Italy 0 1 0 1 Qatar 0 1 0 1 Spain 0 0 2 2 Serbia 0 0 2 2 South Africa 0 0 1 1 Djibouti 0 0 1 1 Estonia 0 0 1 1 Japan 0 0 1 1 Mexico 0 0 1 1 Dominican Republic 0 0 1 1

Business

Kuwait looks to boost foreign investment Page 22 IAG bets on budget carrier to lift Spanish operations Page 23

MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013

Governments face extra debt costs as stimulus dries up

Kentucky plant closure disrupts workers’ lives Page 25 Page 26

MADRID: A protestor shouts slogans during a demonstration against government-imposed austerity measures and labor reforms in the public healthcare sector in Madrid, Spain, yesterday. Madrid’s residentsand medical workers angered by budget cuts and plans to part privatize bits of their cherished national health service protested in front of the Healthcare Ministry. The regional government of Madrid aims to part-privatize six hospitals in Spain’s capital city. —AP

Egypt tumbles 3.9% after bloodshed Petchems push Saudi Arabia to 59-month high DUBAI: Egypt’s bourse suffered its largest one-day drop in four months yesterday after hundreds of people were killed in a crackdown by the army-backed government on supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Cairo’s main index tumbled 3.9 percent to 5,335 points. It had dropped 1.7 percent on Wednesday, when security forces started taking action to disperse protesters, and was shut on Thursday because of the violence.

The market traded for three hours on Sunday instead of the usual four, to give time for people to return home before a curfew.

“Civil war is knocking on the door and lots of lives have been shed and I don’t think it will stop here,” Ali Adou, fund manager at Abu Dhabi investment firm The National Investor, said of Egypt’s political situation.

“It will be a while before people will think of investing in the current environment.” The index fell yesterday below major technical support around 5,450 points, where it peaked in May and July. The next, minor chart support is at 5,275 points, the late July low.

In addition to the bloodshed, the government has threatened to ban the Brotherhood, which could end remaining hopes for inclusive parliamentary elections and a return to civilian rule in coming months.

The closure of some major foreign-owned industrial facilities in the past few days, as well as the fresh blow to the tourist industry, suggest that even if billions of dollars in aid from Egypt’s Gulf allies can keep it financially afloat in coming months, the economy could deteriorate further. The resulting unemployment could worsen social tensions.

The stock market is still up 19 percent from its June low, thanks to hopes that the ouster of President Mohamed Mursi would produce a more effective government. That leaves plenty of room for investors to sell further in order to lock in profits.

Some foreign investors and economists, such as VTB Capital’s Middle Eastern chief economist Raza Agha, are discussing the possibility of Egypt following the example of Algeria, where a military crackdown on Islamists in the 1990s led to a protracted armed conflict.

“With the army and Al Azhar University’s social standing likely damaged given developments since Mursi’s ouster, and Egypt’s Arab and Western bilateral partners having failed, it is not clear if anyone can play a mediation role,” he wrote late last week.

Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia’s benchmark climbed 0.3 percent to hit a new 59-month closing high of 8,157 points, boosted by petrochemical shares. The market is up 20 percent year-todate; the petrochemical sector index rose 1.1 percent on Sunday.

The rally is partly driven by the market’s break this month above 8,000 points, an important level psychologically.

“Investors are adding more risk and the break above the 8,000 level has kept the positive momentum,” said John Sfakianakis, chief investment strategist at Saudi investment firm MASIC. “The short-term outlook is for another leg up as additional liquidity is coming onto the market in selective names, including some banks and petrochemicals.”

Some analysts, however, note the banking and petro-

chemical sectors posted only single-digit growth in secondquarter earnings, and argue this may not be enough to extend the bull run.

“We have started to see the market relatively overvalued,” said Hesham Tuffaha, a Riyadh-based fund manager.

“There are many sectors that are being driven by strong growth but the largest sectors, banks and petrochemicals, have not posted double-digit growth, which is the only thing that can justify the sharp rally in the index.”

The market may therefore come under pressure from profit-taking in the near term, he adds. In the United Arab Emirates, Dubai’s measure slipped 0.2 percent, trimming 2013 gains to 61.9 percent.

Small-cap real estate stocks surged, however, after lagging earlier this year. Union Properties jumped 10.8 percent to a three-month high; it is up 16.5 percent year-to-date. Volume in the stock was a massive 423 million shares, its highest in more than two years.

Deyaar Properties rallied 5.8 percent. “Broad concerns in the real estate sector are dissipating and the discount to market was too much - it was only a matter of time that people looked at it,” Amer Khan, director at Shuaa Asset Management in Dubai, said of Union Properties. “The discount is big enough to run the stock up for a while.”

Elsewhere, shares in Oman’s Al Hassan Engineering jumped 5.5 percent after its part-owned Abu Dhabi subsidiary won a 69.5 million dirham ($18.9 million) sub-contract for construction work. The firm said in a statement that the work would be completed in August 2014, though the project was still pending final approval by the ultimate client.

Muscat’s benchmark climbed 0.2 percent to 6,847 points, marking its eighth straight gain and highest closing level since February 2011. It faces very strong technical resistance at 7,044 points, which capped the market in April 2010 and January 2011.

YESTERDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS EGYPT The index dropped 3.9 percent to 5,335 points.

QATAR The index gained 0.2 percent to 9,910 points.

DUBAI The index slipped 0.2 percent to 2,627 points.

SAUDI ARABIA The index climbed 0.3 percent to 8,157 points.

ABU DHABI The index retreated 0.2 percent to 3,874 points.

KUWAIT The index advanced 0.5 percent to 8,135 points.

OMAN The index gained 0.2 percent to 6,847 points.

BAHRAIN The index ticked up 0.03 percent to 1,201 points. —Reuters

Investors bail out as India’s crisis deepens NEW DELHI: Indian policymakers are looking increasingly panicky as they battle the worst currency crisis in more than two decades, and more worryingly there is no sign their remedies are working.

The rupee lurched to a new lifetime low of 62.03 to the dollar on Friday while the benchmark share index posted its biggest one-day fall since September 2011.

“None of the policymakers’ Band-Aid measures (from capital controls to tightening liquidity) seems to be working. They have not been able to turn the tide,” Rajeev Malik, economist at investment house CLSA, told AFP. “The government and the Reserve Bank of India are taking fire-fighting measures.” The rupee has lost 57 percent of its value against the US currency since it peaked at 39.40 rupees to the dollar in February 2008.

The currency’s strength began unravelling when Lehman Brothers collapsed later that year, triggering the global financial crisis. But pressure on the rupee has mounted in the past two years as investor alarm over a slowing economy and a ballooning current account deficit-the widest measure of trade-has grown.

Part of the reason for the currency’s most recent slideit has fallen 13 percent this year against the greenback-

lies outside Indian policymakers’ remit.

The currencies of emerging markets globally have fallen on expectations that an increasingly buoyant United States will soon roll back stimulus responsible for funnelling big investments overseas in quest of high yields.

But other reasons for the rupee’s drop are homemade-failure to move fast enough on economic reform, a series of government corruption scandals, perceptions of policy paralysis and the record current account deficit, analysts say. Since June 1, overseas funds have pulled out $11.58 billion from India’s stock and debt markets.

Investors worry that despite the long-term growth potential of the country of 1.2 billion people, “things are not in shape in the interim period”, said investment house IDBI research head Sonam Udasi.

As the rupee’s woes have deepened, authorities have responded with a clutch of measures to try to stem its decline and avert a balance-of-payments crisis.

India has painful memories of its 1991 balance of payments crisis when it failed to attract enough foreign currency and was forced to fly 47 tonnes of gold as collateral for an International Monetary Fund loan in what was seen as a national humiliation. Indian Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh, who was finance minister at the time, was moved Saturday to rule out a repeat, saying: “There is no question of going back to the 1991 crisis.”

In the past few weeks, Indian policymakers have hiked short-term interest rates, announced plans to allow state firms to raise foreign funds abroad and curbed gold imports. They have also threatened to imposed higher duties on imported electronic appliances such as fridges, which are made locally.

But it is their most recent step-stealthily announced late Wednesday on the eve of a national holiday-that has fanned the deepest consternation. The central bank sharply tightened controls on the amount of money firms and individuals can send abroad. The move looked to observers like a disturbing throwback to the days before India unleashed its economic liberalisation drive in the early 1990s when Indians’ access to foreign exchange was strictly limited. Confederation of Indian Industry president Kris Gopalakrishnan criticised the move as “retrograde”.

While the capital controls only apply to local individuals and firms, the restrictions may raise worries among overseas investors that they could be extended to foreign companies operating in India, analysts say. —AFP

MUMBAI: In this file photograph taken on January 24, 2012, an Indian policeman stands guard outside the head office of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in Mumbai. Indian policymakers are looking increasingly panicky as they battle the worst currency crisis in over two decades and more worryingly there is no sign their remedies are working. —AFP

MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013

BUSINESS

Kuwait looks to boost foreign investment Improved performance above global average KUWAIT: While Kuwait’s FDI figures were up in 2012, far more capital still leaves the country each year than enters it. However, the government is working to reverse this, in part by improving the legal framework for foreign investment.

According to a report issued by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) at the end of June, Kuwait attracted almost $1.9bn of FDI in 2012, a 117% increase on the previous year. In its World Investment Report 2013, the UN organisation said the Gulf country had not only more than doubled its own FDI total but had outstripped several of its neighbours, including Oman, Bahrain and Qatar. The regional leaders were Saudi Arabia, with $12.2bn, and the UAE, at $9.6bn.

Kuwait’s improved performance was also well above the global average, with worldwide FDI declining by around 18% in 2012, mainly due to “continued macroeconomic fragility and policy uncertainty for investors”, UNCTAD said. The agency added it was expected that there would be only a moderate rise in foreign investment flows around the world over the next two years.

However, the positive result for Kuwait in 2012 was mainly the product of a one-off investment, as Qatar Telecom nearly doubled its stake

in the mobile telecoms provider Wataniya. In October the Qatari firm increased its holding in the Kuwaiti operator from 52.5% to 92.1%, also giving it majority rights in two profitable North African subsidiaries, Nedjma and Tunisiana. To do this, Qatar Telecom committed $1.8bn, representing almost all of Kuwait’s FDI in 2012.

Moreover, funds continue to flow out of Kuwait at a more rapid pace than they enter, with outward FDI totalling $7.5bn in 2012. This was by far the highest of any of the GCC states, with only Saudi Arabia coming close, at around $4.5bn.

Another recently issued report - by Kuwaitbased business consultancy Leaders Group - noted that Kuwaitis appear more inclined to look abroad for opportunities rather than invest at home. According to their analysis, the GCC state attracts 1% of investments coming into the Arab world, while at the same time accounting for 35% of Arab FDI within the region.

The consultancy attributed Kuwait’s relatively weak FDI inflows in part to the difficulties in obtaining approval for projects and the more competitive incentives offered to investors by the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

This conclusion was in line with the findings published in the World Bank’s latest Ease of Doing Business Report, which ranked Kuwait

82nd globally, down from its 77th placing in 2012. The slow pace of establishing a business, difficulties in trading across borders and dealing with construction permits all weighed down on the ranking.

However, Kuwait is moving to boost its investment credentials and improve its FDI profile. At the end of May, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry announced it would press ahead with long-mooted plans to establish a new agency tasked with attracting foreign investments. The new authority will replace the existing Foreign Investment Office and be a part of the ministry.

Among its roles will be to assist in drafting improved legal and economic conditions to promote foreign investment. Under legislation put before the Kuwaiti parliament before the general election on July 27, the time to process business licences will be cut to 30 days, while incentives yet to be defined - will be provided to eligible foreign investors. It will take time for these measures to be refined and implemented, possibly too long to impact this year’s FDI results. Perhaps a better balanced gauge of whether Kuwait has opened the taps for foreign investment flow will come in 2014, when the proposed reforms have had a chance to take hold. — Oxford Business Group

Higher prices sap foreign interest in US real estate NEW YORK: Foreign investors, who rapaciously scooped up US real estate during the 2007-2009 recession, are backing away from the same markets they so eagerly jumped into a few years ago. Real estate brokers say demand from international investors has flagged in locations that have been most attractive to overseas buyers - markets such as San Francisco, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Miami. Many of those markets are back on solid footing after stumbling during the housing crisis.

Property prices have risen, while the dollar - against the Indian rupee in particular, and to a lesser extent the Canadian dollar - has appreciated over the past year, despite hitting a speed bump in recent weeks.

As a result, real estate is no longer the bargain it once was for foreigners.

That is discouraging new sales, while many foreigners who already own property - especially those who bought strictly as investment - are turning into sellers.

Kevin Kieffer, a broker who sells property in San Francisco for Keller Williams Realty, said in that area buying from foreigners has dropped by at least 30 percent in the last few months. “That is partly due to the fact that prices escalated so quickly in the San Francisco area,” he said. “But some of my foreign clients have also mentioned the value of the dollar as another reason they decided not to buy.” At the same time, domestic demand for real estate held steady, he said. Calamitous declines in many of the nation’s housing markets during the economic crisis had attracted droves of international investors seeking to cash in on a weak U.S. dollar and rock-bottom property prices.

Many were attracted to Sun Belt markets that had been battered by the crisis. The opposite trend is now gathering steam, and that will likely

spell the end of the double-digit price gains seen recently in markets such as San Francisco and Miami, say people in the real estate business community. International sales of US residential real estate dropped by $14 billion to $68.2 billion for the 12 months ending in March, the latest data available from the National Association of Realtors. Foreign purchases comprise 6.5 percent of the $1.050 trillion in total US existing home sales. Sluggish foreign economies and unfavorable exchange rates are reasons behind the decline, the NAR said. That hurts cities dominated by foreign buying but has little impact on large stretches of the country.

The NAR recorded buying from 68 countries, with Canada, China, Mexico, India and the United Kingdom accounting for about 53 percent of the transactions in the year ending in March.

At 23 percent, Canada took in the largest share. But real estate website Trulia.com said Canada’s share of foreign-based searches of its site fell 9 percent year-over-year in the second quarter. The dollar is up more than 2 percent versus the Canadian dollar in the last six months. That’s a reversal from 2012, when the dollar fell 2.7 percent against the Canadian dollar, commonly called the loonie because of the image of a waterfowl engraved on the coin. “Due to higher prices and a falling loonie, I decided to hold off on buying in Miami,” said Norm Glick, a Canadian investor who owns property in Lake Worth, on Florida’s east coast. “Miami is no longer the bargain it was a mere year ago.”

About 45 percent of Miami’s real estate is owned by foreigners, said Brigitte Lina Lombardi, an associate at Keller Williams Elite Properties, and home prices there gained over 14 percent year-over-year in May. “About 25 percent of foreign

investors who bought in Miami between 2009 and 2012 are not purchasing anymore because of the increase in price,” she said. “Now they are thinking to sell.”

After hitting a three-year high in July, the dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, has fallen nearly 3.7 percent. But the dollar has kept rising against the Indian rupee, which is down 13 percent against the greenback in the last six months and recently sunk to an all-time low against it. A stronger dollar has “absolutely curbed my appetite to buy US real estate,” said Anant Bokar of Mumbai, India, who has invested in property in the San Francisco area.

“I would much rather hold my money at home and look at buying here (in India) since house prices are low due to higher inventory.” San Francisco notched an annual price gain of 24.5

percent in May, according to Standard & Poor’s/Case Schiller home price gauge, the largest rise in its 20city index. International investors have been backing away from San Diego as well. Karen Van Ness, owner of Ranch and Village Homes, a Coldwell Banker brokerage, said demand there has fallen over the last three months. San Diego prices jumped over 17 percent annually in May. “They are watching, but they are not circling as they were,” she said, referring to prospective foreign buyers. “The international buyers are a financially astute group of individuals and not necessarily fixated on any one location.” More experts expect the dollar to strengthen in the months and years to come as the economy improves and as the Federal Reserve tapers off a bond buying program designed to fuel the economy recovery. —Reuters

NAYPYIDAW: In a picture taken on August 17, 2013 Myanmar farmers collect rice seeds in Naypyidaw. Myanmar was once known as the “rice bowl of Asia” but five decades of military rule, economic mismanagement and international isolation took a heavy toll on its farm sector. — AFP

Winners of ‘Double or Triple Your Miles with ABK Credit Cards’ tunity to enter draws to win Double or Triple their Skywards Miles. To enter the draws you have to spend at least KD 100 using your ABK Emirates credit cards during the specified months of the promotion.

The more purchases you make the more chances you have of winning these valuable miles. The timing of the offer coincides with the travel season, so clients can benefit and double their chances of winning. In addition to the prizes, clients received up to 7 Skywards Miles for every KD 1 spent using their ABK Emirates credit cards.”

Lockie added, “The promotion continues till 31st of August 2013, with 2 lucky winners to be drawn every month. To those who did not win, keep spending as you still have a lot of time, and chances in the coming draw, to win those fabulous Skywards Miles, and get a chance to travel the world for free.” Travel, shop and experience the rewards with ABK Emirates credit cards this summer.

KUWAIT: Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait carried out the second draw for its “”Double or Triple Your Miles with ABK credit cards” summer campaign. The draw was held on the 14th of August, at the main branch, under the supervision of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. “Double or Triple Your Miles with ABK Credit Cards” gives ABK Emirates credit cardholders the opportunity to win, and double or triple their Skywards Miles earned for the month. Cardholders who used their cards locally or overseas for KD 100 or above, between July 1 - 31st were entitled to enter this draw.

The first place prize was won by Manaf Habeeb Hussain from Salmiyah Branch. He will receive Triple the Miles earned for the month and the second place winner Khalid Al Ghunaiman from Head Officewill receive Double the Miles earned for the month.

Stewart Lockie, GM, Retail Banking stated, “We launched the summer campaign for cardholders to gain a wonderful oppor-

GM, BASF reopen in Egypt.

Electrolux extends closure “They (employees) have been instructed to stay at home or at a safe place ever since and the situation is being reviewed on a daily basis to ensure the safety of all our people,” a spokesman for the United Arab Emirates-based firm said.

Other international firms said they were open again for business, with security staff monitoring events closely at production sites mostly some distance from the central Cairo flashpoints.

Carmaker General Motors, which halted operations on Thursday, said it decided to reopen its production plant in 6th October City, 32 km outside of Cairo, as well as its Cairo office, although it was still monitoring the situation carefully.

Chemicals company BASF, which halted production on Thursday, also said its offices in Alexandria and Cairo and a plant in Sadat City 94 km from Cairo producing construction chemicals were up and running again.

Retailer Metro AG closed its two cash and carry stores in Cairo and its Egypt headquarters on Friday and Saturday but said they were open again yesterday.

The group’s security staff were keeping an eye on current events, such as the funeral of the son of Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie, a spokeswoman said. — Reuters

STOCKHOLM/FRANKFURT: General Motors and German chemicals firm BASF reopened facilities in Egypt yesterday while Electrolux extended plant closures until security stabilises.

Electrolux, the world’s second-biggest home appliances maker with nearly 7,000 employees in Egypt, suspended production in the country on Wednesday for five days.

The Swedish company, whose 10 production facilities are on the outskirts of Cairo, said in a statement it would reassess developments continuously. “Operations will be resumed as soon as the security situation stabilises,” it said.

More than 700 people have died, most of them backers of ousted president Mohamed Mursi, in four days of violence during which the army-backed government launched a fierce crackdown on his supporters. Electrolux’s turnover in Egypt was more than 2 billion crowns ($307 million) last year, out of total sales of about 110 billion.

The real estate arm of family-owned conglomerate Al Futtaim Group said on Sunday work on Cairo Festival City - a 3 million square metre residential, commercial and retail development around one hour’s drive from the areas worst affected by violence - was suspended on Wednesday.

EXCHANGE RATES Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht Irani Riyal Irani Riyal

ASIAN COUNTRIES 2.920 4.622 2.767 2.163 2.893 225.840 36.740 3.653 6.506 9.115 0.271 0.273

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

GCC COUNTRIES 76.004 78.312 740.290 757.010 77.619

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 42.700 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 40.677 Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.330 Tunisian Dinar 175.220 Jordanian Dinar 402.490 Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.912 Syrian Lier 3.096 Morocco Dirham 34.325 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 284.900 Euro 383.480 Sterling Pound 449.000 Canadian dollar 279.040 Turkish lira 147.310 Swiss Franc 310.690 Australian Dollar 263.960 US Dollar Buying 283.700 20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

GOLD 246.000 125.000 65.000

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 Omani Riyal Qatari Riyal Saudi Riyal

SELL DRAFT 264.07 279.85 311.68 382.39 284.20 444.29 2.96 3.670 4.623 2.160 2.920 2.778 77.45 756.42 40.35 404.48 739.10 78.48 76.92

SELL CASH 263.000 282.000 311.000 384.000 287.400 443.000 3.000 3.800 5.150 2.700 3.600 2.920 78.000 759.500 41.100 416.200 746.400 79.000 76.300

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd 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

Selling Rate 284.350 279.560 441.895 379.800 308.900 752.820 77.395 78.050 76.690 400.835 40.329 2.157 4.687 2.775 3.651 6.508

Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit

Philippine Peso Sierra Leone Singapore Dollar Sri Lankan Rupee Thai Baht

697.520 3.945 9.270 4.060 3.980 89.575

Bahrain Exchange Company CURRENCY 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 Guinea Franc Hg Kong Dollar Indian Rupee Indonesian Rupiah Jamaican Dollars Japanese Yen Kenyan Shilling Malaysian Ringgit Nepalese Rupee Pakistan Rupee

BUY Europe 0.4369558 0.0065515 0.0468871 0.3741584 0.0441271 0.4351225 0.0396846 0.3023052

SELL 0.4459558 0.0185615 0.0518871 0.3816584 0.0493271 0.4426225 0.0446846 0.3093052

Australasia 0.2515180 0.2227094 0.0001127

0.2635180 0.2327094 0.0001127

America 0.2712460 0.0001447 0.2823000

0.2802480 0.0001627 0.2844500

Asia 0.0036121 0.0031552 0.0454730 0.0164300 0.0000441 0.0341269 0.0045462 0.0000225 0.0028406 0.0028353 0.0031863 0.0821012 0.0027363 0.0027367

0.0036671 0.0033852 0.0504730 0.0195300 0.0000501 0.0372269 0.0046112 0.0000276 0.0038406 0.0030153 0.0034163 0.0891012 0.0029363 0.0027767

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

0.0060656 0.0000727 0.2201121 0.0021210 0.0087156

0.0065356 0.0000757 0.2261121 0.0021630 0.0093156

Arab 0.7480832 0.0386287 0.0126526 0.1446254 0.0000791 0.0001837 0.3956266 1.0000000 0.0001744 0.0222364 0.0012076 0.7278199 0.0774761 0.0753200 0.0462492 0.0019382 0.1717385 0.0760179 0.0012831

0.7565832 0.0406437 0.0191525 0.1464154 0.0000796 0.0002437 0.4031266 1.0000000 0.0001944 0.0462364 0.0018426 0.7388199 0.0782591 0.0759600 0.0467992 0.0021582 0.1777385 0.0774679 0.0013831

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) 284.100 381.400 445.750 280.000 4.605 40.635 2.160 3.653 6.500 2.766 756.400 77.400 75.900

MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013

BUSINESS

China wants fewer curbs in FTZ to lure investment BEIJING: China hopes to suspend its laws governing foreign investment in proposed free trade zones, the cabinet said, in a sign the world’s second-biggest economy could open further to foreign competition.

The State Council, China’s cabinet, will ask senior members of the National People’s Congress, or parliament, for the power to suspend laws and regulations governing both foreign-owned companies and joint ventures between Chinese

and foreign companies in free trade zones, including Shanghai, the cabinet said on its website.

The move is aimed at “accelerating transformation of the government’s role ... and innovating ways of (further) opening up (to foreign investment),” according to the statement, seen on Sunday. It set no timetable, and gave no further details.

Foreign direct investment in China slowed in 2012 but reversed its decline in the first quarter of this year as confidence

Global equities are still attractive KUWAIT: Despite the recent sell off in global bonds, global equities are still attractively valued and should offer good performance within the next few years’ far more than fixed income. Most global equity indices are back to the levels of 2000 and 2007. However, bond yields and interest rates are way below the levels of those years and they no longer offer any protection taking into account the possibility of a turn around in the global economic cycle.

Hayder Tawfik The impressive rally in global equities over the last few years have been based on good improvement in the fundamentals and good earnings. Some sectors have been driven by the massive liquidity that has been building up but the majority of the rally is fundamentally driven. For instance if we just look at US earnings we see that earnings have been the biggest contributor to performance since its bottomed back in the early months of 2009.

During the financial crises earnings fell sharply and it did not recover till the start of 2010. US corporate earnings rebounded by over 90% and that explains the sharp rally in equities. This has been the case with most earnings around the world, but with far less in the Euro zone.

We can easily say that corporate profit recovery accounts for most of the global

equity rally.

It is very obvious that equities have been re-rated way above the trough it reached back in 2009. The very low valuation in 2009 was way to low to be sustainable but the re-rating now is still below the highs it reached in 2000 and 2007. The most obvious drivers of the rerating are pricing out of risk or in another way risk diminishing, also the much waited anticipation of accelerating in earnings growth on the back of economic recovery in particular in Europe and Japan. Much anticipation of a global economic recovery that widelyspread could actually lead to much higher equity valuations even in the absence of improving fundamentals.

Global economic risk to equities has not disappeared completely but it is far less than it was back in 2009 or even last year when there was a real threat of the Euro zone breaking up. This might explain the higher PE multiples given to equities than it was last year. The argument about liquidity driven is most obvious in the fixed income market rather the equities.

The ample global liquidity which has already re-rated most fixed income assets to all-time low yields, is starting to look for better and more attractive places than the fixed income market and that explains the recent big sell off in bonds. If some of this liquidity finds its way into global equities then a more re-rating of equities could be on its way. Re-rating of equities based on liquidity is very much possible at a time when global economic growth is about to pick up. But if this economic growth is very much limited and is not strong enough to be sustainable and lead to job growth then the liquidity argument will continueand we could even see much higher valuation and rerating for equities. A scenario of weak economic growth, low inflation and high unemployment could be the norm and ultimately could push equities into a bubble just as it did with the fixed income market.

Hayder Tawfik - Executive Vice President of Asset Management, at Dimah CapitalHT@dimah.com.kw

Lexus to compete in Japan’s Super GT Series in 2014 TOKYO: Lexus Racing has announced that a new racing car based on the Lexus “LFCC” concept will compete in the top-tier GT500 class of the Super GT Series starting next season. The new race car will replace the Lexus SC 430 that has been used in Super GT races and has secured 17 victories and 44 podium finishes since 2006, as well

as two Season Championships. 2012 was an amazing year for the SC 430, with performances that led to podium finishes in all eight races including four race victories.

The Lexus LF-CC (Lexus Future Captivating Coupe) is a two-door coupe concept with a front-engine and rear-wheel drive, and debuted at the Paris Motor Show in September 2012. It features a dynamic exterior with an emphasis on aerodynamics and cooling performance.

Vehicle shakedown testing for the next season, which begins in April 2014, began at the Suzuka Circuit in Japan on Friday.

Participation in motorsports events is a natural extension of Lexus’ efforts in the performance field and by participating in the Super GT Series, one of the top racing events in Japan, it aims to enhance its performance credentials. Lexus has also participated in several motorsport races such as N¸rburgring 24-hours and Pikes Peaks International Hill Climb. Lexus has built a reputation for outstanding performance through models such as the LFA and IS F, and will further enhance its emotional image through motorsports activities.

Since introducing the world’s first luxury hybrid vehicle in 2005, Lexus today boasts of the widest selection of hybrid models than any other luxury car brand.

Committed to designing better cars that are also environment friendly, “Hybrid” is a core technology at Lexus. It has fine tuned the Lexus Hybrid Drive (LHD) by integrating advanced combustion engine technology and powerful electric motors into one ‘full hybrid’ system, which is the most advanced and sophisticated powertrain technology.

improved. China attracted $38.3 billion in foreign direct investment in the first four months of 2013, up 1.2 percent from the same period in 2012.

China’s financial centre, Shanghai, will test yuan convertibility and cross-border capital flows in the free trade zone pilot programme. The country’s new leaders have signalled they want to speed the process of making the yuan fully convertible over the next few years, as part of efforts to boost the currency’s use in

trade and suppor t wider financial reforms.

Shanghai officials are keen to experiment with freeing up the capital account and yuan convertibility, fearing the city could be left behind as rival centres, such as Hong Kong and Taiwan, move to develop cross-border yuan financial services.

Shanghai stepped up lobbying efforts after the 2012 creation of a special trade zone in Qianhai, near the southern

boomtown of Shenzhen and across from Hong Kong, where yuan convertibility is being trialled. The Qianhai zone, administered by the central bank, the People’s Bank of China, lets banks from Hong Kong offer cross-border yuan-denominated loans to mainland firms. Other initiatives announced in 2013 include trial programmes to smooth the way for foreign firms to move funds in and out of China, cutting the need for approvals and easing bank procedure.— Reuters

IAG bets on budget carrier to lift Spanish operations IAG to axe 3,800 jobs at Iberia LONDON: International Airlines Group (IAG) is betting on its budget carrier Vueling instead of struggling national carrier Iberia to recapture the Spanish market as indicated by a giant order of new aircraft.

IAG, parent also of British Airways, on Wednesday announced firm orders and options for up to 220 Airbus A320 family medium-haul aircraft with a total value of $20 billion (15 billion euros) at list prices.

The bulk of the firm orders has been earmarked for Vueling. Thirty of the current model of the A320 and 32 of the new A320neo are to replace about half of the Barcelona-based airline’s fleet when they are delivered between 2015 and 2020.

Under the deal, Vueling, which today serves more than 100 destinations in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, also has an option for 58 additional aircraft.

IAG also secured 100 options for the A320neo, a more fuel efficient version set to come out in 2015, which could be used by either British Airways, Iberia or Vueling.

The move is highly strategic as IAG works to recover from steep losses in Iberia and a deep recession in Spain which has depressed demand for travel.

The order, and especially IAG’s plan to distribute the new planes, immediately caused strife with unions which threatened strike action, accusing the multinational holding company of boosting Vueling at the expense of Iberia.

“Step by step, they’re trying to implement their dismantlement plan for Iberia,” Manuel Atienza, a spokesman at Spanish aviation union UGT told AFP. Earlier this year, IAG announced plans to axe some 3,800 jobs at Iberia in a bid to try to turn the company around. In the first seven months of the year, the former flag carrier saw its revenue per passenger kilometre plunge by 17 percent, while capacity dropped by more than 13 percent.

Atienza called the latest move a joke, saying “it is pure cynicism because they say that as long as Iberia isn’t profitable, no new planes will be bought”.

Others, however, hailed the deal. “For IAG, this

order represents a structural shift in its short-haul strategy which will replace unprofitable legacy operations with profitable operations from Vueling,” Goodbody Stockbrokers analyst Donal O’Neill wrote in a comment to the deal.

“Vueling currently has a fleet of 70 all-leased A320 aircraft and has been growing at a rapid pace in markets where weaker competitors have been retrenching, particularly in Spain as Iberia has been dramatically reducing capacity,” he said.

In announcing the order, IAG’s chief executive Willie Walsh particularly pointed to the potential of Vueling. “Vueling has managed to successfully expand its business profitably by targeting both growth markets and those areas where weak com-

petitors are reducing capacity,” he said.

“These new aircraft will enable Vueling to continue that expansion and replace some of its older fleet with modern, fuel efficient aircraft, leading to further unit cost reductions.”

Investments have also been made in British Airways. In April, IAG said it had placed a firm order for 18 Airbus A350-1000 long-haul carriers and 18 Boeing 787 planes for the British carrier as well as securing an option for an additional 18 Airbus planes.

The orders-still subject to approval from IAG shareholders-didn’t boost the company’s share price. It closed at 309.2 pence on Friday, down by 1.0 percent from today. —AFP

In a file picture taken October 19, 2007 an airplane belonging to Spanish low cost company Vueling takes off at Barcelona airport. International Airlines Group (IAG) is betting on its budget carrier Vueling instead of struggling national carrier Iberia to recapture the Spanish market as indicated by a giant order of new aircraft. IAG, parent also of British Airways, on August 14, 2013 announced firm orders and options for up to 220 Airbus A320 family medium-haul aircraft with a total value of $20 billion (15 billion euros) at list prices. — AFP

US retail sales raising doubts about economy WASHINGTON: Bleaker outlooks at retailers like Wal-Mart and Macy’s are raising doubts that consumers will spend enough in coming months to lift the still-subpar US economy.

Though the economy is growing steadily, Americans are being hampered by weak pay, higher taxes and tepid hiring. Sluggish overseas economies are also slowing sales for US retailers. It’s a picture the Federal Reserve will weigh in deciding whether to scale back its bond purchases as soon as next month.

“Consumers aren’t going to start spending with abandon until we see much stronger job and wage growth,” says Mark Vitner, an economist at Wells Fargo.

Average weekly paychecks have grown just 1.3 percent since the recession ended more than four years ago. Over the past 12 months, pay has trailed even low inflation.

That’s partly why spending has remained lackluster and why many Americans may be postponing purchases at department stores so they can buy cars, homes and other costly necessities.

Americans increased their spending at an annual rate of just 1.8 percent in the April-June quarter - down from a 2.3 percent rate in the January-March period. Consumer spending is expected to improve in the second half of the year. But most economists foresee only a slight acceleration to an annual rate of 2 percent to 2.5 percent.

Those spending rates are historically weak. And they’re too meager to significantly boost the economy, which grew at an annual rate of just 1.4 percent in the first half of the year. Consumer spending fuels about 70 percent of the US economy. For much of this year, many Americans have made major purchases they had postponed during the recession and the weak recovery.

Auto and home sales have strengthened. Yet that’s left less spending money for discretionary purchases such as electronic goods, clothes and eating out.

“Consumers are very much need-

based,” said Ken Perkins, president of RetailMetrics, a retail research firm.

“If they’re buying a new car, that leaves less money for a child’s wardrobe.” The trend has weakened sales and profits at retailers like Macy’s. On Wednesday, Macy’s reported a disappointing profit for its second quarter and cut its outlook for the year.

And Wal-Mart, the world’s biggest retailer, issued an earnings report Thursday that intensified worries about the strength of US consumers, long a driving force for the global economy.

The Bentonville, Ark.-based discounter said it expects economic strains in the United States and abroad to squeeze its low-income shoppers the rest of the year. WalMart is considered an economic bellwether: It accounts for nearly 10 percent of nonautomotive retail spending in the United States.

The company attributed its gloomier report in part to a Social Security tax increase that’s reduced most Americans’ paychecks this year.

Charles Holley, Wal-Mart’s chief financial officer, said its customers appear reluctant to buy discretionary items like flat-screen TVs. The state of the American consumer will be a key factor the Fed will consider in deciding whether to scale back its $85 billion a month in Treasury and mortgage bond purchases. Those purchases have been intended to keep rates on mortgages and other long-term loans near record lows.

Chairman Ben Bernanke and other Fed officials have said the central bank could start slowing its bond purchases later this year if the economy continues to strengthen. Many economists think a slowdown in bond purchases will be announced at the Fed’s next meeting on Sept.

17-18.

Fears that a slowdown in Fed bond buying will hurt stocks and bonds, coupled with retailers’ gloomier outlooks, sent financial markets plunging Thursday. Many traders worry that less Fed bond

buying will cause interest rates to rise and loans to grow more expensive. The Fed’s aggressive bond buying is credited with helping drive the stock market’s record run.

Vitner is among those who think the Fed will start slowing its purchases in September. He suggested that bond purchases on a scale of $85 billion a month are intended for extraordinary circumstances.

“It’s not something you use when the economy is just struggling,” Vitner said. Retail analysts note that back-to-school sales have been slow so far - potentially a worrisome sign for winter holiday sales late this year.

If back-to-school business falls below expectations, stores could pare their holiday orders, Perkins said. That would slow production at manufacturers.

Michael P. Niemira, chief economist at the International Council of Shopping Centers, expects sales for the back-to-school season to grow 3.1 percent from last year to $42.2 billion. That would be less than the 3.6 percent gain in 2012 and below the 3.3 percent average annual increase for the past decade.

Among consumers who are making tough decisions about where to direct their limited spending money is Lance McConnell of Urbandale, Iowa. McConnell, 33, a teacher, bought a used car a few weeks ago for $23,000. He said the $350 monthly payments mean he won’t be making any impulse purchases for the back-to-school season and beyond.

“I feel overall confident about the economy,” said McConnell, a father of three daughters, ages 3, 6 and 8.

“But we really watch what we spend and how we spend.”

Such sentiment may help explain why Macy’s, typically a stellar performer, issued a dim outlook Wednesday.

Similarly, Kohl’s Corp., a department store chain that serves middleincome shoppers, announced Thursday that its second-quarter net income declined 4 percent. It, too, trimmed its outlook for the year.

Those cautionary reports came

on top of warnings last week from two teen stalwarts, American Eagle Outfitters Inc. and Aeropostale Inc. Both cited the need to discount much of their merchandise to induce shoppers to buy.

Though the economy officially emerged from recession in June 2009, many consumers remain reluctant to buy goods that aren’t discounted, said Sung Won Sohn, an economist at California State University.

Sohn noted that JC Penney’s former CEO, Ron Johnson, learned that lesson the hard way after he eliminated sales at Penney’s. Many shoppers deserted Penney’s, and Johnson lost his job.

Retailers who cater to middleand lower-income shoppers have suffered in part because their customers haven’t benefited as much from the recovery. Rising stock prices and home values have mainly benefited upper-income Americans.

“It’s getting better on Wall Street and in the news reports, but the economy isn’t getting better with the average consumer,” said C. Britt Beemer, chairman of America’s Research Group, a consumer research firm. Yet even some retailers that serve upper-income shoppers are dimming their forecasts. For example, Nordstrom, a barometer of luxury spending, on Thursday reduced its sales outlook for the year.

The company issued its report after the stock market closed, and its stock sank in after-hours trading.

Wal-Mart has said its lowerincome consumers, in particular, have been squeezed by this year’s Social Security tax increase. The tax increase has meant that a household earning $50,000 has about $1,000 less to spend this year.

The company is also being hampered by persistent economic weakness in Asia, Latin America and elsewhere. Wal-Mart said consumers in both developed and emerging economies held back on spending in the first half of the year. It pointed, in particular, to sluggish sales last quarter in Japan and Mexico. —AP

MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013

BUSINESS

Yusuf A Alghanim & Sons automotive launches Cadillac promotion KUWAIT: Yusuf A.Alghanim& Sons Automotive, the exclusive distributor of Cadillac vehicles in Kuwait, knows that any Cadillac promotion should reflect the same exclusive and distinctive qualities that the elegant Cadillac possesses.

Yusuf A. Alghanim & Sons is offering to its customers a KD 1,000 cash gift upon their purchase of a Cadillac of their choice. In addition, all customers who purchase a Cadillac will enjoy the premium care program: Free service and maintenance for four years or 100,000 km, 24-hour roadside assistance any-

where in the Middle East for four years unlimited mileage, warranty to 4 years or 100,000 km plus a replacement vehicle and courtesy transportation.

Cadillac’s special offer includes the CTS, CTS Coupe, Escalade, SRX and the all-new luxury compact sports sedan, the Cadillac ATS. The two distinct vehicles are equipped with the innovative CUE technology, the main factor that establishes the two sedans’ enhanced driving experience as it pairs entertainment and information data from up to 10 Bluetooth enabled mobile devices, USBs, SD cards and

MP3 players with a vehicle infotainment system that reduces complexity through customized information with fewer buttons and larger icons. The comprehensive, in-vehicle experience is designed to be unique for each consumer, starting from an individual who prefers a simplistic, minimal driving experience to one who enjoys a fully connected one. The heart of CUE is a vibrant, eight-inch LCD multitouch screen that is seamlessly integrated at the top of the central instrument panel. It displays CUE’s homepage that is similar to a smart phone’s screen with large, easy-to-target icons

that execute commands.

Adding to the luxury Cadillac offers its customers is Yusuf A. Alghanim & Sons Automotive Service Center that is distinguished by its continuous and successful efforts in providing the highest quality of services. The largest in the world, the service center is equipped with a large variety of the most advanced equipment operated by a team of skilled professionals and effective consultants who ensure

timely service. Yusuf A.Alghanim & Sons Automotive continues to offer exclusive promotions that encourage people to purchase their very own Cadillac so as to experience the limitless benefits and luxury that come along with a Cadillac. Take advantage of this generous offer by visiting now Yusuf A. Alghanim & Sons Automotive’s showroom in Safat to choose a brand new Cadillac that best suits your lifestyle.

China will support Gulf’s oil exports KCIC Weekly Analysis on Asia

T

he energy map of the world is quickly changing. Since the start of the 20th century, the US was the world’s largest energy consumer. In 2010, China took the lead in energy demand, making up a fifth of global energy consumption. Most of the increase came in the last decade: 2010 levels of energy consumption were more than double what they were in 2000. Coal is the country’s main energy source for China, making up more than two thirds of its total energy consumption basket. it is the world’s largest producer and consumer.

However, its overall energy use per capita is still very low compared to others, such as the US, Germany, Japan and South Korea. This suggests that there will be much more demand coming from China in coming years as the country aims to strengthen its consumer base.

In terms of oil consumption, China is also heading for top status. Currently, it consumes around 10.6 million barrels per day, while the world’s largest oil consumer, the US, utilizes about 19 million barrels per day. However, US demand for oil flattened for more than a decade, whereas China’s oil consumption has been constantly rising for nearly two decades - from around three million barrels per day in 1995, at an annual rate of more than 6%, making China the second largest oil consumer.

Given the current, and expected, economic growth rates and the countries’ different dynamics, in terms of population and urbanization, their oil consumption rates of growth are expected to remain unaffected for years to come.

Although it will take a while before China surpasses US’s oil consumption levels, it is inevitable that it eventually will.

In contrast, oil production trends are taking an entirely different shape, especially in the US. Oil production levels were receding for more than a decade, until the recent financial crisis. Since then, the country’s levels of oil output have increased significantly and, given the current pace, could soon outpace Saudi Arabia’s oil production levels. The strong recovery in US oil supply is due to advancements in the extraction of fossil fuel from shale rocks.

The US is currently leading the world

in this technology, and many suggest that it might well be on its way to be energy self-sufficient. This trend has reduced the US’s need to import oil, as the graph shows. In China, oil production levels have been gradually rising, albeit slowly, currently at a level of just above 4 million barrels per day. Given the emerging nation’s fast-growing demand for oil, net imports have been rising, and are expected to keep doing so. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), China is expected to beat the US in terms of net oil imports before the end of this year.

What are the economic and financial implications?

Less net oil impor ts means less reliance on oil exporting countries. This is the case for the US, as its demand for the Arab Gulf’s energy products significantly fell in recent years. We expect that trend to continue in the medium run. However, the Gulf economies continue to export as much oil products as they did before, if not more, but this time it is heading to another region: emerging Asia. This shift took place more than a decade ago, as manufacturing moved to emerging Asia.

As a result, oil consumption in emerging Asia, the Gulf’s main trade partner, has been increasing considerably, and this had to be covered by bolstering the region’s net imports of oil, which benefited the Gulf.

Because of Asia’s rising demand for oil, and in spite of the US’s declining demand for the Gulf’s products, oil prices are not expected to fall below pre-crisis levels.

Emerging Asia’s oil consumption is expected to remain high for years to come due to strong corporate and household demand, as well as resilient infrastructure growth.

This will likely take place due to the continent’s large population, its rising middle income, urbanization, as well as the development in manufacturing. Even if emerging Asia were to prop up its oil supplies, the rate of economic growth and demand for oil expected in the region will continue to support the Gulf’s excessive oil supplies. Expect strengthening ties between the two regions in the medium run.

MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013

BUSINESS

Federal Reserve QE tapering seems already priced in NBK’S Weekly Money Market Report KUWAIT: The US Dollar remained under pressure against all major currencies this week despite the strong data out of the US economy. Indeed, the latest drop in the USD index came despite higher treasuries yield in the US, better economic data, which both supported the speculation that the beginning of the Fed tapering would start in the month of September.

However, it is wise to keep in mind that we are in the midst of the summer trading holidays with a large number of investors currently on holidays and illiquid markets shaping the trading week.

For now, the stream of US data suggest that the odds of a September tapering are continuously increasing and the US bond and equities are suffering accordingly due to the expectation of a decrease in the money supply in the market. On the foreign exchange side, major currencies closed the week at the highest levels seen in weeks. After opening the week at 81.12, the Dollar Index gained almost 1% on strong US figures; however closed the week at the lowest level since June.

The Euro had a strong week despite the better US economic data and the higher yields in the US treasuries. The Euro reached a high of 1.3380 on Friday on light summer trading, however, investors are reluctant to sell the currencies before they see what the Fed has in store during the Jackson hole at the end of August and the September Fed meeting. The Sterling Pound was the best performer on stronger than expected data.

Indeed, the currency was supported this week by the stellar job and retail sales report. The Pound closed at the highest level seen in weeks at 1.5629.

Japanese Yen traders got caught again this week on the wrong foot as the US dollar pushed higher in the beginning the week after talk surfaced that Prime Minister Abe was set to lower corporate tax rates to help mitigate any potentially negative economic effects

from a likely sales tax hike. After reaching a low of 98.65, the Yen staged a comeback along with the other majors and closed the week strong at 97.50 In the commodity complex, while investors thought Gold would tumble again after the strong US data, the yellow metal exploded higher on technical trading. As trading remain illiquid lately, investors sold the metal while establishing stop losses higher than their entry point and got hit on their short positions. Gold ended the week almost $50 higher than Monday’s opening.

The continuous volatile situation in the Middle East and the positive data our of the US continue to put upward pressures on Oil prices, even with the US crude inventory coming higher than expected. Oil prices ended the week at $107.46.

Jobless Data keep getting Stronger Initial jobless claims data continue to surpass expectations in the US, as initial claims fell to 320k in the latest week, consequently pulling the four-week moving average 4k lower to 332k. Both initial claims and the 4-week average are now at pre-recession levels. Since 1990, 320k on claims has been consistent with +230k on payrolls, the level of the 4week is consistent with +200k.

Continuing claims on the other hand declined -54k to 2,969k. The strong data continues to set expectation that the Fed is likely to start tapering its QE program in the September Fed meeting NY Empire Survey Remain Strong The NY Empire sur vey remained strong, and consistent with a faster production in Q3 relative to Q2. The Empire headline came at 8.2 vs. 9.5 previously.

New orders slowed to 0.3 vs. 3.8, as did shipments 1.5 vs. 9.0; both number however remain above their Q2 averages.

Employment rose to 10.8 from 3.3 previously, and the workweek rose to 4.8 from -7.6 in the prior report. The NY Empire

NBK offers customers virtual 360-degree tour of Azimut Yacht KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) offers its customers the chance to experience a virtual 360-degree tour of the Azimut 40 Flybridge Yacht, the luxury grand prize of its Summer Campaign, through the Snipp Khayal mobile application. NBK is the first bank in Kuwait and the Middle East to offer its customers such a tour.

The tour delivers an innovative, immersive experience to NBK customers and can be viewed on Apple and Android devices.

Snipp Interactive Inc., an international provider of mobile marketing solutions, designed and developed the application.

The application can be downloaded for free from Apple and Android stores.

“Every year, NBK rewards its customers with valuable and unrivaled prizes. This summer, all NBK cardholders have the opportunity to win the remarkably elegant Azimut Yacht,” said Mazin Al Nahedh, NBK’s General Manager, Consumer Banking Group. “With Snipp’s Augmented Reality, our customers can now experience a 360 degrees interactive tour of the yacht. We are excited to introduce this new and innovative technology, as our strength lies in continuously astonishing our customers, whether they are nautical enthusiasts or otherwise.”

Atul Sabharwal, Snipp CEO & CoFounder, said, “Augmented reality creates the most interactive and engaging link between the physical and digital world. The National Bank of Kuwait’s AR experience is also deeply

Inflation Remains in Check at 2% The CPI rose 0.2% in July from June, as both food and energy showed moderate gains. Gas prices rose just 1% after jumping 6.3% in June. Over the past 12 months, consumer prices have risen 2%.

Excluding food and gas costs, core prices also rose 0.2% in July. They have increased just 1.7% in the past 12 months, below the Fed annual inflation target of 2%. The recent disinflationary trend in core inflation was due to reach an inflection point, and this appears to have been the case in July. The year-onyear trend in the core returned to 1.7% from 1.6% in June and the 3-month annualized change is now running at 2%, a fact that should put the Fed at ease during the next September meeting.

Europe & UK Europe back into Positive Growth Looking at the latest economic figures out of Europe, it seems that the Euro zone has returned to growth and the worst was avoided for now. Some of the data had already showed improvement, most notably in the PMI reports released lately. Those surveys need to be backed-up with better activity data in order to sustain the Euro strength. As GDP has been negative for six consecutive quarters through Q1 of this year, this week’s GDP broke the trend and showed a modest improvement for the first time this year.

Strong German Figures According to the German press, the German opposition parties accused Chancellor Angela Merkel of lying before elections next month about the risks of a new bailout for Greece. German newspapers also quoted an internal document

prepared by the German central bank as saying that Europe “will certainly agree a new aid programme for Greece” by early next year at the latest. The Bundesbank, which declined comment, also described the risks associated with the existing aid package for Greece as “extremely high”, according to the report, and said the approval last month of a 5.8 billion euro (4.96 billion pounds) aid installment to Athens had been “politically motivated”.

UK Beating Expectations The Unemployment in the UK held in the second quarter at 7.8%, but the outlook brightened as jobless claims fell almost twice as fast as expected and the number of people in work hit a record high. Jobless claims declined by 29,200 to 1.44 million in June, taking the rate to 4.3%, the lowest since February 2009 and the number of people in employment rose by 69,000 in the three months to June to a record 29.78 million, compared to the three months to March.

On another front, retail sales in the UK rose at their fastest annual rate in over two years in July jumping 1.1% on the month almost twice more than expected to give an annual rise of 3%, the highest since Jan 2011.

Asia Australia’s Situation remains Messy Between budget issues, business confidence slowing and housing boom exploding, the situation in Australia seems to constantly worry investors from returning back to the market.

Japan Abe weighs Corporate Tax Cuts Reports out of Japanese newspapers quoted Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe looking at the option of cutting the nation’s corporate tax rate, although the idea is still in its early stages with a number of hurdles ahead.

The corporate tax cut would be a way to cope with any negative economic fallout from a planned sales tax hike sched-

uled to take effect next year. According to the report, Mr. Abe had instructed related ministries to look at the implication of such a move before proposing it to the parliament.

China’s Bad Loan Soaring, However Investors do not Seem Concerned According to the China Banking regulatory Commission, Chinese banks’ bad loans rose for a seventh straight quarter during the April-June period. Non-performing loans climbed by 13 billion Yuan in Q2, reaching 539.5 billion Yuan. It does not seem that this fact has caused any concern to investors as the central government has already demonstrated its willingness to funnel massive fiscal reserves through four state -owned banks to avert such a crisis.

Commodities Gold Losing Its Luster as Better the US Recovery Takes Place When every investors thought that Gold would fall after the strong US figures, Indian news on import laws and news of liquidation of large gold positions from hedge funds, Gold prices exploded to the upside this week to close the week at the highest level in a long time.

Indeed, the news that India announced a ban on imports of gold coins and bars, which constituted about 36% of total demand last year, and will require domestic buyers to pay cash for gold did not put any pressure on gold prices. All imports of gold will now need a license from the foreign trade office and will have to be brought into a customs bonded warehouse.

Oil Prices Rise as Egypt Bleeds Tensions in the Middle East continue to be a big topic for oil investors as the explosive situation in Egypt continue to weight on the market. Add on this the strong US data, oil prices remain supported above the 107$ level.

Kentucky plant closure disrupts workers’ lives 1,000 workers will be pushed out of their jobs

Mazin Al Nahedh immersive - you actually feel like you are inside of the boat. We are thrilled that National Bank of Kuwait chose SnippAR to promote their sweepstakes and look forward to growing our relationship with the bank over the coming months.”

This innovative augmented reality application is launched as part of NBK`s Summer Campaign which will give away the astonishing Azimut 40 Flybridge Yacht as well as up to KD 180,000 in cash prizes in three draws throughout the summer. NBK Cardholders still have the chance to participate in the promotion and earn unlimited chances in the last draw until 15 September 2013.

Land Rover Range Rover achieves highest APEAL score of any model in its segment MAHWAH: According to J.D. Power 2013 Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study released yesterday, the Land Rover Range Rover achieves the highest APEAL score in its segment and of any model in the industry in 2013, which marks the first time a model outside the large premium car segment has done so. The Land Rover brand ranks 4th overall, an improvement of two placements from 6th in 2012.

Land Rover’s Range Rover was the award recipient for Large Premium Crossover/SUV in both 2010 and 2011.

“It’s a fantastic achievement for the fourth generation Range Rover to be ranked highest in the J.D. Power 2013 APEAL Study,” says Kim McCullough, Brand Vice President, Land Rover North America. “This underscores the investment being made to innovation and engineering across the Land Rover product portfolio and into making this vehicle the most refined, most capable Range Rover ever.”

The lighter and stronger 2013 Range Rover takes luxury and capability to a new level, with greater refinement and enhanced performance and handling on all terrains. As the fourth generation of the Range Rover line, this model was developed from the ground up, capturing the innovative spirit and iconic design of the original model which changed the world of motoring when it was launched over 40 years ago. The new Range Rover was launched last October to acclaim, receiving over 20

data confirm that the Q2 soft patch in the factory sector is firming and labor market conditions are improving.

Similarly, purchasing managers’ expectations for the 6-month outlook rose to the high for the year 37.4 vs. 32.0 in July.

awards and accolades globally to date. It is the world’s first aluminum unibody SUV, weighing around 700lbs lighter than the outgoing model.

Since going on sale this past December, the fourth generation Range Rover has been received with strong demand across the U.S. Over 6,000 Range Rovers have been sold in the U.S. this year and sales of the model have led to 28 percent year-over-year increase.

The APEAL Study serves as the industry benchmark for new-vehicle appeal, has been completely redesigned for 2013. The study, now in its 18th year, has been updated to better measure the appeal of today’s vehicles, particularly with respect to the new technologies and features now being offered. Owners evaluate their vehicle across 77 attributes, which roll up into an overall APEAL score on a 1,000-point scale.

The study is used extensively by manufacturers worldwide to help them design and develop more appealing vehicles and by consumers to help them in their purchase decisions.

The 2013 APEAL Study is based on responses gathered between February and May 2013 from more than 83,000 purchasers and lessees of new 2013 model-year cars and light trucks who were surveyed after the first 90 days of ownership. The APEAL Study complements the Initial Quality Study (IQS), which focuses on problems experienced by owners during the first 90 days of ownership.

PADUCAH: Jim Rodgers assumed his job as an electrician at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant would take him all the way to retirement. After all, for six decades the government-owned uraniumenrichment plant was synonymous with job security and some of the region’s best wages. It supported multiple generations and supplied a steady stream of revenue to the community’s restaurants, dry cleaners, real estate companies and other local businesses.

And yet, with a decade or more to go in his working life, Rodgers, 53, is now brushing off his resume and looking for a new job, possibly in another city or state. “It’s not one of these little bumps in the road,” Rodgers said. “It is literally life changing.”

In May, the operators of the Cold War-era plant located a few miles outside Paducah in McCracken County announced they would shut it down. They laid off about 160 employees at the end of last week and expect to let another 100 go in October. Uranium-enrichment work ceased weeks ago.

Altogether, it looks like more than 1,000 workers will be pushed out of their jobs, losing generous salaries that will be nearly impossible to match elsewhere in the region. The McCracken County plant was one of the area’s largest employees, and the average salary for plant workers, including benefits, was $125,000.

The plant opened in 1952 to develop enriched uranium for militar y reactors and to produce nuclear weapons. It began selling uranium for commercial reactors in the 1960s.

The plant has been run by several operators through the years, the most recent being Maryland-based USEC Inc. under a lease deal with the US Department of Energy. USEC announced in May that it was ending work at the plant, citing soft demand for enriched uranium along with steep production costs.

“The plant put Paducah on the map,” said James Harbison, a retired maintenance worker. “And its leaving is going to take it off the map, unless we get something in here.

There are no jobs around here comparable to that one there.”

Workers have few options, Harbison noted: “They’re either going to have to take a cut in pay and change their standard of living - or leave the area.”

Businesses that supplied products or services to the plant are also bracing for a loss of revenue, as are mom-and-pop stores that count plant workers among their customers. Eddie Leigh worries the plant shutdown will hurt his barbe-

cue restaurant, situated a few miles away. Leigh’s father started the eatery before the plant opened, and the two businesses have relied on each other for years. More than a third of the restaurant’s business comes from the plant’s workers, Eddie Leigh said.

Asked if his business can survive the plant’s loss, he replied: “I’m going to try. I’m like everybody else: Do what we can. I can’t answer that question because I don’t know.” Local real estate agent David Nelson worries about a glut of

workers are being sur veyed to gauge their interest in retraining or starting their own businesses.

Other area plants can absorb some displaced workers, and the region recently lured three autorelated plants, said Chris Wooldridge, district director for the small business development center at Murray State University. He predicted that “a fair number” of workers will stay in the area.

“Can we find jobs for 1,100 folks?

That’s tough to take,” he said.

Kentucky’s top political leaders

said. Then he reconsidered. “Really I can’t look at it as unfortunate. It’s a new beginning. You have to be positive, you have to move forward and you have to do what you have to do to provide for your family.”

Barry King, a 56-year-old chemical operator at the plant, said he checked out a job fair recently. He left with a pile of brochures but no certain prospects. He said he might attend a technical college to get retrained.

“I kind of like to work with my hands and build things,” he said.

PADUCAH: This 2009 photo provided by the United States Enrichment Corporation shows workers at a control room in the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Paducah, Ky. In May 2013, plant operators announced they were shutting it down. They laid off 160 workers at the end of last week and expect to let another 100 go in October. Altogether, it looks like more than 1,000 workers will be left without jobs, losing generous salaries that will be nearly impossible to match elsewhere in the region. —AP houses with for-sale signs in their yards.

“It’s going to become a buyers’ market and it’s going to take longer to sell these houses,” Nelson said.

“I’m probably more concerned about McCracken County than I’ve ever been economically.” Charities and churches could lose contributions from displaced workers who once were generous donors. “Those who were at the giving end may be at the need-to-receive end,” said Rodgers, the electrician.

Rodgers has applied for jobs as far away as Oregon but so far hasn’t gotten any replies. But he plans to keep sending resumes until he finds work in new surroundings. His children are grown, so he thinks he will be better able to pick up and leave than his co-workers who have young children.

Area colleges, workforce development officials and government leaders are teaming up to try to limit the economic damage. Job fairs are being offered and plant

have been pushing the federal government to hasten cleaning up the plant and find a new operator to preserve jobs. They’re also insisting that any work to re-enrich depleted uranium material at the plant remain at the Paducah facility.

Union leaders also have been calling for a “decontamination and decommissioning” project to retain the workforce. That work would remove processing equipment inside the enrichment buildings.

The goal is to provide work for several years until a new operator can be found or new nuclear-related work can be secured.

Donald Overstreet, a sheet metal fabricator for 18 years at the plant, isn’t sure what he’ll do if he gets a pink slip. His 18-year-old son is starting college in the area and his 15-year-old son is starting high school. Overstreet would like to stay, but if he does, he’s looking at taking a big pay cut.

“I’m just one of the unfortunate now that things are changing,” he

Like so many others, he never thought he’d have to find new work. Mike Myers has worked for 22 years at the plant as an electrician, and his son and his son-in-law built careers there by monitoring contamination at the facility. All three families live within three miles of each other, but he worries that his children and grandchildren will have to move if the jobs go away.

“What hurts us most, we can survive because we’re older, but our kids, they’ve set up this life working at this plant,” Myers said. “They’re not going to be able to maintain the life they’ve got when that plant goes away.”

His son’s 13-year-old daughter plays on a traveling softball team in hopes of landing an athletic scholarship to attend college. But the family ’s $400 to $500 weekend excursions to watch her play may come to an end if her father loses his job, Myers said. “We feel like our life has gone down the toilet,” he said. — AP

MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013

BUSINESS

Omar Alghanim applauds employee recognition ceremony for KIMMCO staff

Ford Focus remains best-selling vehicle nameplate in the World DUBAI: Ford Focus, the best-selling vehicle nameplate in the world last year, retains that ranking through the first quarter of 2013 with global vehicle registrations up 18 percent compared to the same period in 2012.

Based on analysis of Polk’s latest global registration to date, 288,724 Focus vehicles were registered in the quarter ending March 31 - the most recent figures available. Strong demand in key markets such as China and Brazil fueled the growth. Focus registrations in China reached 104,065 vehicles, up 153 percent compared to the first quarter of 2012. In Brazil, demand rose 18 percent, with 7,227 vehicles registered

during the period. To meet growing customer demand for Focus, Ford has ramped up capacity worldwide. In July, the company’s plant in Pacheco, Argentina, became the latest to produce Focus on a global platform. Focus is now built in nine plants on four continents.

Factories in the United States, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, Russia, Germany and Argentina have a combined capacity to produce more than 1.5 million Focus vehicles annually at a rate of more than two vehicles per minute. Focus is available in a range of models depending on market, including sedan, hatchback, wagon, an electric-powered model and the high-performance Focus ST.

Al Tijari announces winners of Daily Draw with Najma Account

C

ommercial Bank of Kuwait held the Al Najma Account Daily draw on 18th August 2013.

The draw was held under the supervision of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry represented by Mr. Abdulaziz Al Ashkanani The winners of the Najma Daily Draw are: Name Prize Dawood Hamad Al Jarbo KD 7000 Hani Abdullah Obaid Al Shimari KD 7000 Dhuha Ahmad Hussain Al Mahboub KD 7000 AbdulRahman Nawaf Eid Al Shimari KD 7000 The Commercial Bank of Kuwait announces the biggest daily draw in Kuwait with the launch of the new Najma account. Customers of the bank can now

enjoy a KD 7,000 daily prize which is the highest in the country and another 4 mega prizes during the year worth KD 100,000 each on different occasions: The National Day, Eid Al Fitr, Eid Al Adha and on the 19th of June which is the date of the bank’s establishment.

With a minimum balance of KD 500, customers will be eligible for the daily draw provided that the money is in the account one week prior to the daily draw or 2 months prior to the mega draw. In addition, for each KD 25 a customer can get one chance for winning instead of KD 50. Commercial Bank of Kuwait takes this opportunity to congratulate all lucky winners and also extends appreciation to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for their effective supervision of the draws which were conducted in an orderly and organized manner.

KUWAIT: Kuwait Insulating Material Manufacturing Company (KIMMCO), a leading insulation solution provider and a subsidiary of Alghanim Industries, recently held an employee awards ceremony, where employees from across the business were awarded for significant contributions in areas ranging from operational excellence, improving the environment, health and safety of the workplace to improving productivity, good house-keeping, as well as participation in community outreach programs.

Congratulating the employees, Omar K. Alghanim, Chief Executive of Alghanim Industries said: “I am pleased with KIMMCO on the number of employees who are being recognized for their contributions. This showcases the excellent caliber of a well-trained team that goes beyond the call of duty to deliver our outstanding results. This dedication and commitment has helped maintain KIMMCO’s position as the market leader in providing insulation solutions across the region in a highly competitive environment. These awards reinforce our vision at Alghanim Industries to be the most successful and admired company in the region.”

During the employee honoring ceremony, Mr. Hashim Gillani, acting Vice President, Alghanim

Insulation Group, emphasized the need to seek excellence continually in everything that employees do and keep customers at the center of their focus at all times.

The honoring ceremony recognized the following employees: Suliman Bader Kasses as Employee of the month- February 2013,

Mohammed Shamim as Employee of the monthMarch 2013, Cold End Mechanics Team as Employee of the Quarter Q1 2013, Mathews Abraham for the Near Miss Award April 2013, Lohraseb Abbasi and Danilo Estacio for the Near Miss Award May 2013, and Angelito Michael for the Near Miss Award June 2013.

Further awards were presented to employees who managed the ‘White Belt Kaizen Project’, these employees are namely: Robert Francis Menezes, Ivan Monis, Emran Sowaib, Roberto Ramos Torres , Sajan Sebastian, Ceferino Pamplona, Selman Olayan, Abdel Aziz Hamdy Mohamed, and Fahad Farooq.

Kuwait Insulating Material Manufacturing Co., (KIMMCO) was established in 1977 and is a market leading insulation solution provider in the Middle East, Africa, the Far East and other Asian countries. As a licensee of Saint Gobain, Isover, the world leader in fiberglass insulation, KIMMCO manufactures and supplies customized reflective, acoustic and fire resistant insulation solutions for the building and HVAC segments.

The company, a subsidiary of Alghanim Industries, is strongly committed to the environment, health and safety of employees and people in surrounding communities.

Canon strengthens Cinema EOS System DUBAI: Canon Middle East expands the Cinema EOS System with the official launch of the company’s eagerly-awaited 4K cinema camera and two Compact Zoom lenses extending the EF Cinema Lenses line-up. Originally unveiled as a development announcement in April 2012, the EOS C500, the CN-E15.5-47mm T2.8 L S/SP and the CN-E30105mm T2.8 L S/SP join the new EOS C100and ground-breaking EOS C300 in creating Canon’s strongest-ever line-up, offering outstanding quality and performance in a range of different configurations.

Canon’s Cinema EOS System brings together unique expertise from the company’s DSLR, video, broadcast and lens divisions - offering exceptional quality and creative freedom to professionals of all kinds. With the new entry-level EOS C100 and the 4K EOS C500, the system has grown to meet a range of production requirements for users of all levels. Additionally Canon’s new cine zoom lenses provide excellent value and performance in EF and PL variants - offering compatibility with virtually any camera in production today. “This is our strongest-ever professional video line-up” said Hendrik Verbrugghe, Marketing Director, Canon Middle East. “Each of these new products has been developed with the needs of professionals in mind, empowering our customers to be more creative than ever before.

With the EOS C500 and our new cinema zoom lenses, as well as the new EOS C100, we’re extending the range to meet the needs of an even wider range of users - from independent users through to cinematographers.”

EOS C500 - revolutionary 4K video capture Following a development announcement in April 2012, Canon Middle East today confirms launch of the EOS C500, a new digital cinema camera capable of 4K-resolution (4,096 x 2,160 pixels) video output. Designed for motion picture and high resolution digital production industries,

the EOS C500 offers the ability to output 4K-resolution images as RAW data for recording using an external device. The camera’s uncompressed 4K output also unleashes the full potential of Canon’s expanding range of 4K-resolution EF Cinema Lenses, while an EF mount with Cinema Lock makes it easier for operators to switch lenses during shooting. As well as uncompressed 4K footage, the EOS C500 supports 12-bit or 10-bit RGB 4:4:4 output signals for 2K (2048 x 1080 pixels)or Full HD off-board recording - delivering rich colour and high compatibility with image

processes such as chroma key positioning. The camera also supports frame rates up to 120p in both 4K and 2K modes, providing enhanced creative flexibility for high-speed (slow motion) video capture. The inclusion of Canon Log Gamma delivers the high quality video and wide exposure latitude demanded by professional cinematographers.

Based on the same advanced platform as the EOS C300, the EOS C500 delivers exceptional performance, incredible mobility and outstanding expandability. The availability of a PL mount vari-

ant provides support for industry-standard lenses, while the EF mount model is the first Cinema EOS camera to feature a modified EF mount with Cinema Lock. Designed as a result of user feedback, EF mount with Cinema Lock has been developed to make it simpler to swap lenses midshoot. Instead of the user having to rotate the lens, the new mount rotates to lock lenses into place - providing easier operation during studio and field-based shooting.

New Compact Zoom lenses - flexibility, performance and value The arrival of the new EF Cinema Lenses expands the Cinema EOS System further, with each designed to offer premium performance, mobility and competitive pricing. A CN-E15.547mm T2.8 L Swide-angle cinema zoom lens launches alongside new CN-E30-105mm T2.8 L Stelephoto cinema zoom lens, with both available in EF and PL-mount variants. All new lenses offer sufficient resolution for 4K production, making them ideal for use with Canon’s EOS C500 and EOS-1D C cinema cameras - both of which support 4K video capture.

All new lenses offer compatibility with industry-standard Super 35 mm-equivalent cameras, while cutting-edge optical constructions provide superior flexibility for use in a wide range of situations. Each lens features a compact, lightweight body that supports a versatile focal range, making them ideal for handheld shooting, and a variety of design enhancements made in recognition of the way users work, such as a uniform front diameter, standard gear pitch and 300 degree focus travel for precise focus adjustments. Perfectly complementing Canon’s existing Top-End Cinema zooms and EF Cinema primes, these new Compact Zoom lenses offer a greater variety of creative possibilities for cinema and video professionals of all types - whether studio-based or in the field.

Governments face extra debt costs as stimulus dries up

flydubai business class tickets go on sale KUWAIT: Dubai-based flydubai today announced that Business Class tickets are now on sale, with flights offering the premium option commencing in October. It plans to continue adding more Business Class routes across its network in the months to come.

Commenting on the announcement, flydubai’s CEO, Ghaith Al Ghaith, said: “As the evolution of our passenger offering continues, we are delighted to announce that our Business Class routes are now on sale. We are also tremendously excited to be offering the Business Class experience on routes that have not had this option before with any airline, such as Bishkek, Donetsk and Juba. flydubai received its first aircraft with Business Class seats at the start of August, and since then they have been used for testing and training. All new aircraft subsequently delivered will include business and economy classes, while existing aircraft will be retrofitted to include the premium option. flydubai’s first flight offering Business Class will be flight FZ729 from Dubai to Kiev, departing at 0:05hrs on 8 October 2013. Other business class routes starting in October include MalÈ, Istanbul,

Mineralnye Vody and Bucharest.

“Our Business Class option, along with the variety of destinations we now fly to, gives our customers yet another reason to choose flydubai. This moment also signifies the growth of our fleet and with the arrival of our new Business Class aircraft, we plan to add more Business Class destinations to our network by the end of the year. As tickets go on sale today we look forward to welcoming our Business Class customers in this new chapter in flydubai’s history.” flydubai’s Business Class offering includes a comfortable spacious seat and a generous checked baggage allowance.

Seats are fitted with flydubai’s awardwinning in-flight entertainment system with a high-definition, 12.1-inch touchscreen and a choice of internationally inspired menus and refreshments.

Business Class customers will also benefit from a priority check-in service and a dedicated 24-hour customer service team to assist with bookings and attend to enquires throughout a customer’s journey.

For a full list of Business Class flights currently available, please visit flydubai.com

PARIS: Governments face a rise in their borrowing costs due to the winding down of monetary stimulus programmes and as investors bet on central banks hiking interest rates sooner than promised.

Moody’s Analytics warned this week that ‘US rates could rise as the Fed moves to slow its purchases of long-term debt, which in turn could push up the yields on European government bonds.’

That has already begun. The yield on the debt of the United States and top European countries, as well as emerging economies, has risen recently as investors bet that the US Federal Reserve could begin as soon as in September to lower the amount of monetary stimulus it injects into the economy.

The $85 billion (64 billion euros) per month that the Fed has ploughed into the US economy led to lower bond yields in the United States, as well in many other countries as easy money went abroad from the United States in search of somewhat higher risk and yields elsewhere.

But recently, investors have factored in the prospect of the easy money tap being slowly closed down. This has pushed up yields on US Treasury bonds, and has caused some of the money placed abroad to be withdrawn, pushing up sovereign bond yields elsewhere.

The rate of return for investors on 10-year US Treasuries rose to 2-year highs this past week, implying a more than 50 percent increase in US borrowing costs since the beginning of the year.

On Friday, 10-year Treasuries were trading at 2.812 percent, up from 2.689 percent at the beginning of the month and 1.828 percent at the beginning of the year.

Ten-year British gilts were at 2.704 percent Friday, up from 2.401 percent at the beginning of August and 1.990 percent at the beginning of the year.

At the height of the eurozone debt crisis, some eurozone money flowed into less risky bonds, such as French debt. But as the debt crisis eases, bond yields for the countries in trouble have fallen and there are signs that yields on the safe haven countries may rise, with French bonds being closely watched. For Germany, the yield on 10-year Bunds was 1.881 percent on Friday, up from 1.667 percent at the beginning of the month and 1.442 percent at the beginning of 2013.

France’s 10-year bonds yielded 2.400 percent Friday, up from 2.223 percent at the beginning of August and 2.077 percent at the beginning of the year. The drop in sovereign bond yields to exceptionally low levels, thanks to the ultra-low interest rates set by central banks and huge monetary stim-

ulus programmes, have masked the debt problems the countries face.

Now their governments face having to pay more to finance new debt as their borrowing costs rise in line with the yields on the secondary market where debt issued previously is traded.

The rise in sovereign yields has come even though central banks have pledged to keep those near-zero rates for the foreseeable future.

Bond analyst Rene Defossez at French investment bank Natixis said investors are starting to bet that the signs of economic recovery which justify the winding down of stimulus may induce central banks to raise rates sooner than they suggest.

‘The factors which are pushing yields higher are tending to prevail’ over the interest rate guidance issued by central banks. This was particularly marked in Britain this week as the minutes from the last policy meeting of the Bank of England revealed some disagreement over its forward guidance. And there has been an unexpectedly strong rebound by European economies in the second quarter — 0.6 percent in Britain, 0.7 percent in Germany and 0.5 percent in France even though analysts warn that in France a big factor was bad weather and consumption of energy for heating.

‘The prolonged period of exceptionally loose monetary conditions in the UK and other parts of the developed world is on borrowed time,’ analysts at London-based Capital Economics said this past week.

‘We therefore think that real long-term yields are likely to drift up over the next few years as the monetary screws are slowly tightened.’ This is encouraging those who hold long-term bonds to sell while bond prices are still relatively high. Bond prices and yields move inversely.

Those investors who bought bonds in the past couple of years when yields have been low acquired them at a high price. Thus the expectation that yields will rise means the price of bonds will fall. In historical terms, the current price of bonds of the major countries is ‘very, very expensive’, according to Defossez.

‘The potential for the price of the Bund to fall is colossal,’ he said. Another factor likely to bear on investment decisions is relative changes in exchange rates which are highly sensitive to interest rates, and to the size and cost of national debt.

The prospect of outflows of capital because of US policy have pushed the Indian currency down sharply in recent days. — AFP

Al Mulla Exchange Co concludes Gold Promotion

A

l Mulla International Exchange Co., Kuwait’s premier money-remittance company, ended its month-long ‘All that glitters is gold at Al Mulla Exchange’ promotion, with its final draw on Sunday, 11th August, 2013.

Every day during the promotion period, one lucky winner from each branch of Al Mulla Exchange walked away with a gold coin; the exception was Fahaheel branch where two gold coins were given away each day.

Since the ‘All that glitters is gold at Al Mulla Exchange’ was an electronically conducted promotion, with no paper coupons or forms to be filled in, every customer who made a transaction on a given day through any Al Mulla Exchange branch, including those who made online remittances, were automatically entered into the draw.

The uniqueness of the marketing promotion was the automatic selection of the winner by

the system with the winning details being printed on the receipt after completion of their transaction. A total of 1,500 winners were rewarded with gold coins during the one-month long promotion that coincided with the Holy Month of Ramadan.

The promotion witnessed eager participation by customers every day and many expressed their delight at this unique initiative by Al Mulla Exchange. One lucky winner of a gold coin said his win was of special significance as it happened during the month of Ramadan, and he considered it as a blessed reward for his family.

Another regular customer of Al Mulla Exchange thanked the company for giving him the added opportunity of winning a gold coin during the promotion period, while ensuring that his remittance was delivered to his loved ones back home in the quickest possible time with the utmost safety and security.

MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013

technology

Digital wallet apps unfold as smartphone users catch on Mode of payment uses NFC technology

Sound Advice: Large Advent Loudspeakers are keepers

By Don Lindich Question: I have a pair of Large Advent Loudspeakers from the early 1970s. The woofer foam has disintegrated and they need repair. This isn’t the first time this has happened. At this point do you think they are worth repairing, or should I just get something new?

Answer: I recently wrote about products that have “euphonic” qualities, which means they produce pleasant sound that is agreeable to the ear, though it is not necessarily the most scientifically accurate sound.

Euphonic products often do not use the most modern technology. Record players and tube amplifiers are examples of this.

Your Large Advent speakers are another example of this concept. Designed by audio legend Henry Kloss, they were widely respected in their day and still hold up quite well compared to many modern designs. Not only do the Advents sound good, but they do not really make speakers like them anymore. Your speakers comprise a large, sealed box (called acoustic suspension) with a frontfacing woofer of considerable size. Most floor standing speakers sold today are narrow towers that are usually ported, which provides more bass and reduces the speaker’s power requirements. Many listeners prefer the acoustic suspension design for its tight, controlled bass and refined sound. The Large Advent is still sought out on the vintage speaker market because of this.

Given the basic goodness of your Advents and their desirability in the classic marketplace, I would repair them whether you want to keep them or not. You can get a do-it-yourself refoam kit from The Speaker Exchange (www.speakerex.com)

for $8 per woofer. You could fix them for $16 and resell them for $100 or more. If you aren’t confident of your repair skills, try Galaxie Electronics (www.galaxieelectronics.com) which is located inside the worldfamous Jerry’s Records store in your hometown of Pittsburgh.

If you want to try something new there are some great floor-standing speakers that sell from $250 to around $500. My first recommendation is the Pioneer SP-FS52-LR, which sell for a mere $252 per pair. These are great-sounding speakers with a sound that belies their low price, and they work well for music or home theater. Next step up would be the Arx A3c for $539 per pair (www.theaudioinsider.com.) The Pioneers would probably be closest to your Advents as Pioneer’s technology is more conventional. The Arx speakers use exotic leaf tweeters and special woofers that really make the music come alive. If you have the budget for the Arx I would go in that direction, but if you want to keep your outlay low you won’t be disappointed with the Pioneers.

My gut feeling is that you should repair and keep your Large Advents while purchasing a newer pair of speakers to supplement them. The Advents would make great conversation pieces, you can use them as a different room, or you can switch them out with your newer speakers once in a while and enjoy them. There is no rule that you can only have one pair of speakers and classic gear has qualities that often can’t be matched with modern gear. If you part with them you could well regret it later. I speak from experience here as I have parted with some nice stuff in the past, and looking back, I wish I hadn’t! —MCT

SYDNEY: A model holds Sony’s latest waterproof tablet while operating it under water. Sony has introduced its latest waterproof technology, the Xperia Tablet Z, that can work a meter deep in water. —AFP

KANSAS CITY: Mark Logan ordered lunch at Mildred’s Coffeehouse & Bistro in Kansas City’s Crossroads Arts District and stepped to the register to pay. No cash. No check. No plastic. Logan paid with his smartphone. He had previously loaded it with his debit card information, using a mobile application called Square Wallet, and snapped his own picture. To make the payment, Square Wallet sent Logan’s picture to the iPad that Mildred’s uses for a register. The iPad tied his tab to his photo.

The barista, seeing Logan, tapped his photo from among several customers on the screen and told Logan the payment was going through. A second tap - technology took care of the rest. “This is dead easy,” said Logan, whose receipt popped up on his phone.

So why don’t more of us pay with our phones? Mostly, we don’t know we can. A recent survey of smartphone users found that half had never heard of the idea of a digital wallet, let alone downloaded and used one.

And few stores or restaurants take them. All the same, you may be using one soon. Money is making a dash from pockets to smartphones thanks to digital wallets like Lemon, Isis, LevelUp and others. The Carlisle & Gallagher Consulting Group forecasts that within five years, half of smartphone owners will prefer to pay for their gas, food, gadgets and other consumer goods with phones and mobile wallets.

That’s a big leap, and a lot needs to happen for that to prove true. Several technologies are competing to migrate money to smartphones and they don’t mesh.

By one count, perhaps 280 digital wallets or more have sprung up or are in development around those various technologies. Some retailers, notably Starbucks, have built their own apps for mobile payments.

It leaves consumers and retailers both guessing which digital wallet the other will be using. Unless they match, it will be back to cash, check or plastic.

Security concerns pose another hurdle: Shoppers instinctively don’t trust their money to what they don’t know. We are comfortable with credit cards and debit cards. They’re reliable and accepted almost everywhere. Mobile payments have caught on faster in some countries with poor payment systems.

But consumers in Japan also pay with their cellphones more than Americans do, said Ray Ledford, who lives in Japan but spends half his time in the United States on work. “Anytime you’re there you’ll see somebody using it during the day,” Ledford said during a recent visit to Kansas City. “I don’t see that here.” If the digital wallet is really going to catch on here, it has to do more than pay the tab. Advocates say successful digital wallets will need to help consumers save money, become savvier managers of their payment choices, earn discounts and coupons and increase their value as customers.

Besides helping him buy coffee, Logan would like his phone to hold not only his money but also his driver’s license, proof of car insurance, and the other items normally stuffed inside billfolds. “I’d love to stop carrying around a physical wallet,” he said.

Smartphones already have wormed their way into shopping. We use them in store aisles to check prices elsewhere. They allow us to read online product reviews while looking at the product. And who hasn’t snapped a photo and texted it to a spouse or partner for some quick feedback?

Now phones can pay, too, using one of several competing technologies. If that’s news to you, don’t feel bad. It even catches some store clerks off guard.

When and where he can, Jared Jennings shops with the Google Wallet on his cellphone. As the clerk rings up the total, Jennings waves his phone near the machine where others would swipe their credit cards.

Instantly, the payment is made.

“How’d you do that?” is what Jennings said he hears often enough. “Usually, it’s a great point of conversation.” Other digital wallet users recount similar stories because the technology is rarely used even when available. Google Wallet relies on something called near field communication technology, or NFC. It’s embedded on a computer chip in some smartphones.

As the name suggests, near field communication sends the payment information only a short distance to the register’s reader. The customer then gets a receipt, through email if he chooses. Microchip payments are routine in Europe, where credit cards rely on embedded chips instead of the magnetic strips found on American credit cards.

Chips are coming here. They’re more secure, said Carl Bradbury, Commerce Bank’s director of consumer card products. He said Commerce is moving to them.

“They can’t be counterfeited.” The added security means companies that sell register equipment to stores are including NFC technology, anticipating widespread use of those chips.

NFC technology does face one big roadblock: Smartphones are everywhere, but few come with NFC chips. No iPhone does; Apple Inc hasn’t put an NFC chip into any of its phones so far. But Apple’s not a problem for the Square Wallet, because it uses a different technology. It relies on GPS positioning and “geofencing” technology to find the Square Wallets of customers who come in, or happen to be nearby the store’s Square-powered register. The payment changes hands through the Internet - on the cloud, as they say - rather than through direct communication between the register and phone.

The geofence around the store’s register, however, can be bigger than the store. Bryan Merker learned

this a few weeks ago when he fired up Square at Beignet in Kansas City’s City Market where he is the chef and owner. “Someone’s sitting in the coffeehouse next to us or they’re wandering around. I know they’re in the market,” he said.

He knows because their photos pop up on his iPad register but they aren’t in his shop. There are yet more mobile payment technologies. One called radio frequency identification, or RFID, works somewhat like NFC but has a longer range. Another technology compacts the customer’s credit or debit card payment information into a bar code specific to that transaction. The code pops up on the customer’s phone and the clerk scans it to complete the payment.

The craziness right now comes from all the different ways mobile payment technologies are being pitched to consumers. Be prepared for an onslaught of offers.

During a six-month stretch last year, a team of mobile strategy analysts at Citigroup counted 16 mobile payment announcements a day. Not all were new wallets, but it impressed upon the analysts how fast the field was moving. “You can’t do this 200 different ways,” said Dom Morea, senior vice president of advanced solutions and innovation at First Data. The company provides retailers with the technology to accept various kinds of payments. “That will likely skinny down to some handful.”

Peter Olynick, the card and payments practice leader at consulting firm Carlisle & Gallagher, sees an edge for the wallet that can handle multiple technologies, such as NFC, bar codes and through the Internet, rather than just one. The winning handful may have to

lions of users. Thing is, it only works at Starbucks.

Square Wallet also now works at Starbucks.

While Sprint was an early adopter of Google Wallet, it has found acceptance of the digital wallet less than expected.

The lesson, according to Sprint’s Kevin McGinnis, was that mobile payments won’t make inroads in a credit card world without doing more than making payments. “You’re kind of pushing string uphill,” he said. The answer is to use that string to pull in customers with freebies, discounts and other benefits to entice and reward their loyalty.

LevelUp promotes its digital wallet app by telling smartphone users they’ll “instantly get a few bucks to spend” the first time they use it at a new place. Going back means more savings. Loyalty programs like this are old hat in retail. Anyone working on punching that 10th hole on a prize card knows how they work.

Square Wallet punches virtual cards with qualifying purchases.

Much more is possible with mobile payments because they open a two-way communication between consumers and merchants that isn’t possible with other forms of payment. The merchant gains the ability to send real-time targeted ads to individuals, based on where they are at the moment. Digital also means lots of data surrounding the phone owner’s shopping behavior.

Harley Geiger, policy counsel with the Center for Democracy & Technology, said during a panel discussion on privacy that the choice should be left to the consumer. “You ought to give consumers at the app level, at the wallet level, the ability to restrict disclosure

Mark Logan shows the instant receipt for the purchase of his midmorning coffee. The wireless connection on Mildred’s iPad cash register recognized Logan’s iPhone the moment he walked into the cafe. —MCT survive battle on several fronts.

Sprint Corp, the Overland Park, Kan.-based wireless phone company, embraced Google Wallet a couple of years ago. The three other major wireless companies are building their own. Isis Wallet, to which Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile have signed on, is running in test markets Austin, Texas, and Salt Lake City, Utah.

Last August, a group of retailers announced plans to build their own digital wallet under the name Merchant Customer Exchange. Its website lists Best Buy, CVS, Gap, Target, Wal-Mart and others. Some of these have partnered with other wallet apps as well.

PayPal, a big name in online payments, has its version of a digital wallet. Apple’s Passbook is a digital wallet without credit or debit cards. So far it will store and redeem coupons, boarding passes, movie tickets and the like. The only money it takes are gift cards. The two big credit card companies are in the mobile payments game, Visa has V.me and MasterCard has PayPass.

Starbucks has carved out its own deal. Load the app on your phone, put money in the prepaid account and hit the store. At checkout, the phone app creates a black and white image - like the bar code on a package - on your phone’s screen. Starbucks’ reader picks it up and collects the money out of your prepaid account. The app allows shoppers to reload the account through a credit or debit card through their phones.

Starbucks reports that 10 percent of its transactions are paid this way, and the company counts mil-

of their information for anything that is not needed to complete a credit card transaction,” Geiger said, according to a transcript.

Leawood, Kan.-based Front Flip has found a way to use the valuable shopping data made possible by smartphones without collecting shoppers’ money. It collects information instead. Front Flip’s consumer app picks up the name, age and other identity data that helps restaurants and other retailers run loyalty marketing programs.

Diners find Front Flip’s square scan codes at each booth and table of a participating restaurant.

Scan one, and up pops a virtual scratch-off prize card on your phone. If it’s a winner, you might get a free appetizer or half off an entree for that visit. Each scan builds a history for the customer’s visits, giving the restaurant the data to send more prices to customers’ phones to reward or encourage more visits. It makes sense, Front Flip CEO Sean Beckner said, to establish that mobile relationship with the customer before asking for the money. Layer on payments later, he says.

That’s exactly how Rebecca Martin became a Square Wallet user. She’d used Front Flip regularly and was ready to try Square Wallet when a co-worker told her about it about six months ago. She’s a convert now. But there was that one time when Martin’s coworker accidentally paid for her food. Rhett Del Campo said the guy running the register mistakenly thought Del Campo was picking up the tab for both. It could have happened with a credit card, too. —MCT

Brazil moves in to secure telecom, Internet systems BRASILIA: Brazil said it is moving to secure its communications through its own satellite and digital networks to end its dependence on the United States, which is accused of electronically spying on the region. “Brazil is in favor of greater decentralization: Internet governance must be multilateral and multisectoral with a broader participation,” Communications Minister Paulo Bernardo told a congressional panel.

Tuesday, Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota warned his US counterpart John Kerry that the row over Washington’s electronic snooping could sow mistrust between the two countries. Kerry responded by conceding that Brasilia

was owed answers from Washington and would get them.

He suggested that the vast US surveillance program aimed to “provide security, not just for Americans, but for Brazilians and the people of the world.”

But Bernardo Wednesday criticized the “strong concentration of (Internet) traffic” by US firms. Revelations by US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden about the vast scope of US electronic surveillance programs have caused deep unease in Brazil and other Latin American countries that have reportedly been targeted by the spying.

Bernardo said Brasilia was finalizing the selection of companies that will be

tasked with building and launching a geostationary defense and strategic communications satellite. Tuesday, French-Italian group Thales Alenia Space (TAS) said it had won a contract worth about $400 million to build a satellite for Brazil’s developing space program. The order, placed by Visiona-jointly owned

by Brazilian aeroplane maker Embraer and telecom provider Telebras-is for a geostationary satellite for civil and military use. Telebras said that with the satellite, “high-speed Internet will be extended to the entire nation and will ensure the sovereignty of its civil and military communications.” Arianespace has been selected to launch the satellite in 2015.

The deal also allows for a transfer of technology between TAS and Brazil, making TAS the preferred industrial partner in building up Brazil’s space program.

Sinclair Mayer, the head of the army’s science and technologydepartment, told lawmakers that the government was laying underwater cables to link the country with Europe and Africa so that international communication and data traffic does not have to go through the United States.

Bernardo insisted that the NSA was collecting not just metadata-such as duration of calls, their origin and destination-as it claims , but was engaging in “a much deeper surveillance.” Last month,

the daily O Globo, citing documents leaked by fugitive ex-NSA contractor Snowden, reported that Washington snooped on Brazilians’ phone calls and Internet communications.

It also said a spy base in Brasilia was part of a network of 16 such stations operated by the NSA to intercept foreign satellite transmissions. Snowden, who was granted asylum in Russia on August 1 after spending more than five weeks in a Moscow airport transit zone, is now said to live in a safe house in the country.

Washington, who wants to put him on trial for espionage, has expressed strong disapleasure at Russia’s refusal to hand him over. —AFP

MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

Cancer patients forced to camp on Mumbai street A temporary home for years

In this Aug. 13, 2013, photo, Will Gorman plays with a robotic Lego Mindstorms unit shaped like a snake in Redwood City, Calif. Lego's new Mindstorms sets rolling out next month are keenly anticipated by Silicon Valley engineers_many of whom were drawn to the tech sector by the flagship kits that came on the market in 1998, introducing computerized movement to the traditional snap-together toy blocks and allowing the young innovators to build their first robots. — AP

Argentina seeks beef production boost with bovine IUD PERGAMINO, Argentina: An Argentinian veterinarian has designed a cheap and simple device that could revolutionize cattle husbandry on the pampas by preventing pregnant cows from reaching the slaughterhouse.

Enrique Turin, a professor at the National University of Northwestern Buenos Aires, designed and is producing what he says is the world’s first bovine intra-uterine device.

He has patented his invention locally and in the European Union.

The IUD is designed for cows that have already given birth to five to seven calves, and are being fattened for slaughter.

Turin, 47, began experimenting with home-made bovine IUDs 20 years ago.

Today he has a small factory built next to his home in Pergamino — 245 km north of Buenos Aires in Argentina’s livestock and agricultural heartland-to produce the $3.00 devices.

The cheap and simple items have been a success: some 2.5 million bovine IUDs have been exported to places like Brazil - a world beef-producing giant - and Spain.

Spanish officials have even approved one of Turin’s models for use in sows, especially since the castration of boars was recently banned due to animal welfare concerns.

Cows need to reach the slaughterhouse with an empty uterus, but “that’s not the case in Argentina,” said Turin. “There’s a high percentage of females that have finished their reproduction cycle and arrive at the slaughterhouse already pregnant.”

These pregnancies affect five percent of slaughtered cows, which in Argentina-one of the world’s top beef producing countries-means about a one million animals a year. The problem is more than ethical, because 10 kilos (22 pounds) of meat per animal can be lost because the nutrients

fed to fatten the cow are instead consumed by the fetus.

With the IUD “we estimate that five percent more of beef will be produced per animal,” and considering the number of animals involved “it’s a significant figure,” said Turin.

The Argentine government has taken special interest in the invention, and this year agreed to finance the distribution of 440,000 bovine IUDs over two years to ranchers with small and mid-sized herds, said deputy Livestock Minister Alejandro Lotti.

Some 20,000 ranchers with up to 200 head of cattle will benefit from the program, Lotti told AFP. There are currently 58 million head of cattle in Argentina, according to government figures. If widely used this IUD would revolutionize cattle husbandry on the pampas, where bulls and cows freely co-mingle.

Red meat is a staple of Argentine diet, but consumption has dropped 50 percent from 1958 to 2011.

Today average beef consumption per person is 53.4 kilos a year, down from 98.4 kilos, according to the Argentine Beef Promotion Institute, a public non-governmental institution.

Beef production has also dropped. Many ranchers sold off their herds in 2008 and 2009 in the midst of a drought and widespread complaints about government policy. Some of those ranchers switched instead to products like soybeans, today Argentina’s largest export.

Marcos Franco, an expert on animal obstetrics and behavior at the Universidad del Salvador, is impressed by what he has seen.

“I see this as something truly revolutionary,” Franco said. He sees the device as a humane anti-pregnancy device that is “practically inoffensive”. — AFP

TOKYO: This photo taken on August 17, 2013 shows a sunflower “smiling” to visitors in a field in Tokyo. A number of smiling sunflowers amongst some 20,000 greeted visitors during the weekend. —AFP

MUMBAI: Every year, the Tata Memorial Hospital draws tens of thousands of cancer sufferers thanks to its heavily subsidized medical care. But the city’s steep hotel and rental prices force scores to sleep on nearby pavements. “There’s rats, mosquitoes and dirt,” said farmer Suresh Patidar, who stays with his wife Leela, 55, as she undergoes treatment for breast cancer.

“We tried to settle on the other side of the street but the police didn’t allow it. A hotel is very costly. It’s impossible,” he said.

With their home in the central state of Madhya Pradesh at least 12 hours away by train, the Patidars’ cheapest option has been to sleep on the roadside for the past month, despite the regular torrential downpours.

The bandages and surgical masks worn by others on the street betray their common suffering. The Tata centre offers some free or cheap rooms around the city to poor outpatients, and more are being added, but numbers are difficult to manage as cancer cases increase.

“There will always be more people,” said hospital spokesman S H Jafri. “Many NGOs give them food and things on the footpath, so because of that they tend to stay there.”

The pavements have offered such patients and their families a temporary home for years, but there are signs that local residents are growing impatient over their sick neighbours.

At the nearby police station, senior inspector Sunil Tondwalkar said he had written to Mumbai’s municipal authorities asking them to move the sick street-dwellers to more suitable lodgings. Locals have complained they are blocking the pathways, and that “they’re eating and going to the toilet on the footpath and the streets. It’s not hygienic,” Tondwalkar said.

He also wants the streets cleared because he says hospitals can be a “soft target for terrorists”, while “anti-social elements”, such as thieves or beggars, can infiltrate the patients.

Despite their uncomfortable lodgings, the families for now have little alternative.

Few hospitals offer the range of cancer care and cheap costs of the Tata centre, where 60 percent of about 50,000 yearly patients are subsidised and 14 percent are treated for free, according to Jafri.

Those on the street said they were contributing to their medical costs, and had sold their land or livestock to help fund their treatment.

“People living on the streets are people who earn daily, eat daily, so they aren’t people with long-term savings,” said H K Savla, founder of the Jeevan Jyot Cancer Relief and Care Trust.

His charity feeds 600 patients and their families in Mumbai twice a day, and he said 150 to 200 people were usually camped outside the Tata hospital.

“They have to save whatever they have to manage their treatment,” he explained. A hotel is an extra cost that could be more effectively spent.

Now a government-run centre, the Tata hospital began life in 1941 as a philanthropic venture by the industrialist Tata family after a relative died of cancer, despite going to Britain for expensive treatment.

“They said, what about the poor patients in India? So they started this,” said Jafri.

The need for such services is only set to grow in the huge nation, where more than half a million people died of cancer in 2010, according to a study published in The Lancet medical journal last year. Pankaj Chaturvedi, a professor and a head and neck surgeon at the Tata hospital, said cancer is a rising blight as society becomes more affluent.

While breast and cervical cancers are the most common among women, lung and mouth cancers are the biggest killers for men owing to

the widespread use of tobacco-especially chewing tobacco-across the country.

“Increasing tobacco and alcohol use, unsafe food and lack of exercise-these are the four factors that lead to an increase in non-communicable diseases of which cancer is a top one,” he said. On top of these factors, improvements in medical science mean people are living longer, and “the longer you live, the higher the chance of cancer”.

For some however, it still strikes early.

Ponmuth Rajaram Haridas, 22, has been camping outside the Tata centre for four months with his parents while he is treated for blood cancer, having sold off all the sheep on their farm and taken out a loan.

On doctors’ orders that he eats home-cooked food, his small and spritely mother makes him simple meals of rice, dahl and vegetables on a tiny stove in a corner of their makeshift tent.

Speaking through a surgical mask to keep out the germs, he said he hopes to return to their village in another couple of months after he finishes two more sessions of chemotherapy.

“I can’t get to sleep here. The atmosphere is much better at home,” he said. — AFP

MUMBAI: This photo taken on Aug 1, 2013 shows temporary shelters on the pavement outside the Tata Memorial hospital in Mumbai. With just a patchwork of colourful plastic sheets to shield patients from the heavy monsoon rains, a Mumbai street acts as an unofficial ward to one of India’s top cancer treatment centres. — AFP

Healthy food helps to save money, life-years WASHINGTON: More than 127,000 people die every year in America from cardiovascular disease that could be prevented, accruing $17 billion in medical spending.

Heart disease is a “costly killer,” according to the Union of Concerned Scientists , who has calculated “The $11 Trillion Reward: How Simple Dietary Changes Can Save Lives and Money, and How We Get There,” a report published this month.

That $11 trillion opportunity is equal to the present value of lives saved. This arithmetic is based on preventing 127,000 deaths each year due to heart disease, and $17 billion worth of annual medical costs spent on cardiovascular health problems that could be prevented. If that math doesn’t work for you, it could be put quite plainly: eating just one more portion of fruit or vegetables per day (that’s 1/2 cup of either) would add up to $2.7 trillion. The solution to bolstering heart (and overall health) and saving money (medical spending and personal productivity) is in food. We’re not talking about genetically engineering anything special or out of the ordinary. We are talking about making healthy food more accessible to everyone.

The UCS asserts that Americans aren’t eating enough fruits and vegetables. This may sound simple, but behind the phenomenon is a US food system that’s built on subsidies-tax breaks and financial programs-that encourage the growth and distribution of less-thanhealthful foodstuffs. Reforms such as encouraging farmers to increase their yield of fresh produce; subsidizing loans for market infrastructure of grocery stores, farmers markets and food hubs for distribution; and lowering barriers for people trying to redeem food stamps at local markets would improve people’s access to healthy food that lowers the risks of heart disease-the No. 1 killer of Americans. Women, take note: heart disease kills more of us than all types of cancers combined. There is a large evidence base that proves expanding fruit and vegetable consumption lowers all kinds of chronic disease, and especially cardiovascular diseases, such as high blood pressure (hypertension), coronary heart disease and stroke.

How to prevent gout attacks HARVARD: To reduce painful recurrences of gouty arthritis, know your uric acid level and take appropriate doses of medication.

Gout is a painful joint condition that affects 3.4 million American men.

Historically, it was called the “disease of kings” because of its association with excess aristocratic consumption of mutton and mead, but the underlying cause is more down to earth: Gout attacks flare when uric acid, a chemical produced in the body, builds up to an excessive level and starts to form crystals in the affected joint.

This triggers inflammation and severe pain, sometimes with fever, muscle aches, and other flu-like symptoms.

In 2012, the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) issued its first-ever guideline for prevention and treatment of gout. If you are at risk, the key to escaping gout’s excruciating grip is keeping uric acid below 6.0 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL), according to rheumatologist Dr. Robert Shmerling, associate professor of medicine at Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. “If you have frequent attacks of gout,” Dr. Shmerling says, “it’s good to know your number.”

Foods to avoid: High-fructose corn syrup, Organ meats, Excessive alcohol Foods to limit: Large portions or concentrations of meat and seafood, Naturally sweet fruit juices, Sugar, desserts, and salt Foods that are encouraged: Low-fat or nonfat dairy foods, Vegetables, Lifestyle modifications Weight loss if you are overweight, Smoking cessation, Regular exercise Gout attacks come on suddenly, with sharp pain, often in a single joint. The big toe is a common target. Buildup of uric acid can trigger gout attacks. Some people just tend to produce a lot of uric acid. In others, the problem is low kidney function, which can’t keep pace with the uric acid being produced. Taking diuretics (“water pills”) for

high blood pressure may also contribute.

Certain foods can increase the risk of gout attacks. These gouty foods contain chemicals called purines, which break down in the body to form uric acid. The chief offenders are red meat, meat gravies, seafood, and alcohol (especially beer).

Some vegetables also raise uric acid, such as beans, peas, lentils, spinach, asparagus, cauliflower, and mushrooms. High-fructose corn syrup has been linked to gout.

However, only about 10% of the uric acid produced in the body comes from foods. If uric acid is high, changes in diet alone are not likely to lower it to a healthy level. “It’s not terribly effective,” Dr. Shmerling says.

But don’t ignore diet. Keeping your beer consumption to a minimum may reduce gout attacks. In overweight men, dropping some pounds helps. There’s evidence that eating cherries regularly might reduce your risk a bit, although how much it really helps is unclear.

Certain signs point toward the need for daily medication: frequent attacks (two or three times per year), severe attacks that are difficult to control, gout with a history of kidney stones, or gout that affects several joints. The new ACR guideline adds that having kidney disease indicates a need for uric acid-lowering drugs.

The ACR also endorses higher doses of uric acid-lowering drugs to bring levels below 6.0 mg/dL. In the past, doctors prescribed doses of these medications that may have been too low out of concern for the effect on kidney function.

Not everyone with gout needs to take a uric-acid lowering drug. For one thing, just having high uric acid levels in your blood does not always trigger gout. And some people have attacks infrequently, and can control them well by just taking a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) during flare-ups.

Drug safely cuts prostate cancer risk NEW YORK: Long-term results from a major federal study ease worries about the safety of a hormone-blocking drug that can lower a man’s chances of developing prostate cancer.

The drug cut prostate cancer risk by 30 percent without raising the risk of dying of an aggressive form of the disease as earlier results hinted it might.

The new work could prompt a fresh look at using the drug for cancer prevention. Experts say it could prevent tens of thousands of cases each year, saving many men from treatments with seriously unpleasant side effects.

The drug is sold as Proscar by Merck & Co. and in generic form as finasteride to treat urinary problems from enlarged prostates. It’s also sold in a lower dose as Propecia to treat hair loss.

A decade ago, the drug was found to cut the risk of prostate cancer. But there

was a small rise in aggressive tumors among its users. Some researchers said that by shrinking the prostate, the drug was just making these tumors easier to find in a biopsy sample - not causing them. But the concern led the Food and Drug Administration to turn down the drug for cancer prevention and warnings were added to its label.

Now, with 18 years of follow-up from that earlier study, researchers report that men on the drug were no more likely to die than those not taking it.

That’s reassuring because if the drug were truly spurring lethal tumors, there would have been more deaths among its users as time went on, said Dr. Michael LeFevre, a family physician at the University of Missouri.

LeFevre wrote an editorial that appears with the study in Thursday’s New England Journal of Medicine. He is

one of the leaders of the US Preventive Services Task Force, an independent panel of doctors who advise the federal government. The group has not taken a stance on finasteride for prevention but has advised against screening with PSA blood tests.

Screening does more harm than good, the panel has said, because although 240,000 new prostate cancers are diagnosed each year in the United States, only about 30,000 prove fatal.

That means many men are treated for cancers that grow too slowly to be lifethreatening, and often suffer sexual and urinary problems as a result.

The study, led by Dr Ian Thompson at the Cancer Therapy and Research Center in San Antonio, was done to see whether finasteride could lower the risk of prostate cancer in men who were getting screened with annual PSA blood

tests, as many still choose to do.

Researchers assigned 18,882 men 55 or older with no sign of prostate cancer on blood tests or a physical exam to take finasteride or dummy pills for seven years. When the study ended, those who had not been diagnosed with prostate cancer were offered biopsies to check for hidden signs of the disease.

For the new analysis, researchers tracked the study participants for a longer time - 18 years in all since enrollment began. Only about 10 percent of men on finasteride developed prostate cancer versus 15 percent of those on dummy pills. Aggressive tumors were found in 3.5 percent of men on the drug versus 3 percent of the others. Yet 78 percent of both groups were alive after 15 years.

That means the drug cannot be recommended to prolong life, just to ease

suffering by preventing disease, LeFevre said. “You may be preventing cancers that don’t need to be prevented” because so few are life-threatening, but screening is finding these tumors anyway and leading to unnecessary treatments, he said.

Reducing that number is a valid reason to use a prevention drug, he said.

Finasteride’s other impact is financial.

Proscar and a similar drug, GlaxoSmithKline PLC’s Avodart, cost about $4 a pill. Generic finasteride is available for less. Insurers cover it when prescribed to treat urinary problems but may not pay if it’s used solely for cancer prevention. The drug also can cause hot flashes, fatigue, weakness, low sex drive and trouble having sex.

“A man certainly needs to know what he’s getting into if he decides to take this,” LeFevre said. —AP

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013

Erasing the trauma from bad memories NEW YORK: It was a Saturday night at the New York Psychoanalytic Institute, and the second-floor auditorium held an odd mix of gray-haired, cerebral Upper East Side types and young, scruffy downtown grad students in black denim. Up on the stage, neuroscientist Daniela Schiller, a riveting figure with her long, straight hair and impossibly erect posture, paused briefly from what she was doing to deliver a mini-lecture about memory.

She explained how recent research, including her own, has shown that memories are not unchanging physical traces in the brain.

Instead, they are malleable constructs that may be rebuilt every time they are recalled.

The research suggests, she said, that doctors (and psychotherapists) might be able to use this knowledge to help patients block the fearful emotions they experience when recalling a traumatic event, converting chronic sources of debilitating anxiety into benign trips down memory lane.

And then Schiller went back to what she had been doing, which was providing a slamming, rhythmic beat on drums and backup vocals for the Amygdaloids, a rock band composed of New York City neuroscientists.

During their performance at the institute’s second annual “Heavy Mental Variety Show,” the band blasted out a selection of its greatest hits, including songs about cognition (“Theory of My Mind”), memory (“A Trace”), and psychopathology (“Brainstorm”).

“Just give me a pill,” Schiller crooned at one point, during the chorus of a song called “Memory Pill.” “Wash away my memories ...”

The irony is that if research by Schiller and others holds up, you may not even need a pill to strip a memory of its power to frighten or oppress you.

Schiller, 40, has been in the vanguard of a dramatic reassessment of how human memory works at the most fundamental level. Her current lab group at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, her former colleagues at New York University, and a growing army of like-minded researchers have marshaled a pile of data to argue that we can alter the emotional impact of a memory by adding new information to it or recalling it in a different context. This hypothesis challenges 100 years of neuroscience and overturns cultural touchstones from Marcel Proust to best-selling memoirs. It changes how we think about the permanence of memory and identity, and it suggests radical nonpharmacological approaches to treating pathologies like post-traumatic stress disorder, other fear-based anxiety disorders, and even addictive behaviors.

In a landmark 2010 paper in Nature, Schiller (then a postdoc at New York

University) and her NYU colleagues, including Joseph E. LeDoux and Elizabeth A. Phelps, published the results of human experiments indicating that memories are reshaped and rewritten every time we recall an event. And, the research suggested, if mitigating information about a traumatic or unhappy event is introduced within a narrow window of opportunity after its recall-during the few hours it takes for the brain to rebuild the memory in the biological brick and mortar of moleculesthe emotional experience of the memory can essentially be rewritten.

“When you affect emotional memory, you don’t affect the content,” Schiller explains. “You still remember perfectly. You just don’t have the emotional memory.”

The idea that memories are constantly being rewritten is not entirely new.

Experimental evidence to this effect dates back at least to the 1960s. But mainstream researchers tended to ignore the findings for decades because they contradicted the prevailing scientific theory about how memory works.

That view began to dominate the science of memory at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1900, two German scientists, Georg Elias M¸ller and Alfons Pilzecker, conducted a series of human experiments at the University of Gittingen. Their results suggested that memories were fragile at the moment of formation but were strengthened, or consolidated, over time; once consolidated, these memories remained essentially static, permanently stored in the brain like a file in a cabinet from which they could be retrieved when the urge arose.

It took decades of painstaking research for neuroscientists to tease apart a basic mechanism of memory to explain how consolidation occurred at the level of neurons and proteins: an experience entered the neural landscape of the brain through the senses, was initially “encoded” in a central brain apparatus known as the hippocampus, and then migrated-by means of biochemical and electrical signals-to other precincts of the brain for storage. A famous chapter in this story was the case of “H.M.,” a young man whose hippocampus was removed during surgery in 1953 to treat debilitating epileptic seizures; although physiologically healthy for the remainder of his life (he died in 2008), H.M. was never again able to create new long-term memories, other than to learn new motor skills.

Subsequent research also made clear that there is no single thing called memory but, rather, different types of memory that achieve different biological purposes using different neural pathways. “Episodic” memory refers to

the recollection of specific past events; “procedural” memory refers to the ability to remember specific motor skills like riding a bicycle or throwing a ball; fear memory, a particularly powerful form of emotional memory, refers to the immediate sense of distress that comes from recalling a physically or emotionally dangerous experience. Whatever the memory, however, the theory of consolidation argued that it was an unchanging neural trace of an earlier event, fixed in long-term storage.

Whenever you retrieved the memory, whether it was triggered by an unpleasant emotional association or by the seductive taste of a madeleine, you essentially fetched a timeless narrative of an earlier event. Humans, in this view, were the sum total of their fixed memories. As recently as 2000 in Science, in a review article titled “Memor y-A Centur y of Consolidation,” James L. McGaugh, a leading neuroscientist at the University of California, Irvine, celebrated the consolidation hypothesis for the way that it “still guides” fundamental research into the biological process of longterm memory.

As it turns out, Proust wasn’t much of a neuroscientist, and consolidation theory couldn’t explain everything about memory.

This became apparent during decades of research into what is known as fear training.

Schiller gave me a crash course in fear training one afternoon in her Mount Sinai lab.

One of her postdocs, Dorothee Bentz, strapped an electrode onto my right wrist in order to deliver a mild but annoying shock.

She also attached sensors to several fingers on my left hand to record my galvanic skin response, a measure of physiological arousal and fear. Then I watched a series of imagesblue and purple cylinders-flash by on a computer screen. It quickly became apparent that the blue cylinders often (but not always) preceded a shock, and my skin conductivity readings reflected what I’d learned. Every time I saw a blue cylinder, I became anxious in anticipation of a shock. The “learning” took no more than a couple of minutes, and Schiller pronounced my little bumps of anticipatory anxiety, charted in real time on a nearby monitor, a classic response of fear training. “It’s exactly the same as in the rats,” she said.

In the 1960s and 1970s, several research groups used this kind of fear memory in rats to detect cracks in the theory of memory consolidation. In 1968, for example, Donald J. Lewis of Rutgers University led a study showing that you could make the rats lose the fear associated with a memory if you gave them a strong electroconvulsive shock right after they were induced to retrieve that memory; the shock produced an amnesia about the previ-

ously learned fear. Giving a shock to animals that had not retrieved the memory, in contrast, did not cause amnesia. In other words, a strong shock timed to occur immediately after a memory was retrieved seemed to have a unique capacity to disrupt the memory itself and allow it to be reconsolidated in a new way.

Follow-up work in the 1980s confirmed some of these observations, but they lay so far outside mainstream thinking that they barely received notice.

At the time, Schiller was oblivious to these developments. A self-described skateboarding “science geek,” she grew up in Rishon LeZion, Israel’s fourth-largest city, on the coastal plain a few miles southeast of Tel Aviv. She was the youngest of four children of a mother from Morocco and a “culturally Polish” father from Ukraine-”a typical Israeli melting pot,” she says.

As a tall, fair-skinned teenager with European features, she recalls feeling estranged from other neighborhood kids because she looked so German.

Schiller remembers exactly when her curiosity about the nature of human memory began. She was in the sixth grade, and it was the annual Holocaust Memorial Day in Israel.

For a school project, she asked her father about his memories as a Holocaust survivor, and he shrugged off her questions. She was especially puzzled by her father’s behavior at

11 a.m., when a simultaneous eruption of sirens throughout Israel signals the start of a national moment of silence. While everyone else in the country stood up to honor the victims of genocide, he stubbornly remained seated at the kitchen table as the sirens blared, drinking his coffee and reading the newspaper.

“The Germans did something to my dad, but I don’t know what because he never talks about it,” Schiller told a packed audience in 2010 at The Moth, a storytelling event.

During her compulsory service in the Israeli army, she organized scientific and educational conferences, which led to studies in psychology and philosophy at Tel Aviv University; during that same period, she procured a set of drums and formed her own Hebrew rock band, the Rebellion Movement. Schiller went on to receive a PhD in psychobiology from Tel Aviv University in 2004. That same year, she recalls, she saw the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, in which a young man undergoes treatment with a drug that erases all memories of a former girlfriend and their painful breakup. Schiller heard (mistakenly, it turns out) that the premise of the movie had been based on research conducted by Joe LeDoux, and she eventually applied to his lab for a postdoctoral fellowship. — MCT

SYDNEY: Australia’s Prime Minister Kevin Rudd sits with Ronan Martin on his lap as he meets with children and their parents during a visit to a children’s medical research institute in Westmead in the suburbs of Sydney yesterday. Rudd announced a financial commitment for the hospital during his visit to different departments where he met staff and parents. — AFP

MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013

W H AT ’ S O N

AUS becomes first school in Kuwait to offer students Lenovo’s ThinkPad Tablet 2

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he American University School (AUS), Kuwait’s newest Pre-K through 12th grade school announced it will be the first school in the country to equip all students with ThinkPad Tablet 2 from Lenovo, the world’s No. 1 PC provider.

This ground-breaking offer to all AUS students depicts the level of significance AUS places on the infusion of technology into and across the curriculum. Students learn differently today than years ago when courses offered used just workbooks and chalkboards, they are much more visual. American University School views technology as a valuable tool to accomplish its educational vision and mission.

The comprehensive, school-wide technological infrastructure plan is aimed at ensuring that students receive instruction using the latest and newest technological learning tools.

With the opening of the school in September, all students will receive a Lenovo Touch ThinkPad Tablet 2, featuring a 10 hour battery life, weighing less than 600 grams, and is 10.1 inches and .34 inches thick. The tablet includes Windows 8 and Windows 8 applications and offers five-finger multi-touch technologies. A full size USB port enables students to connect to a variety of external devices in addition to wireless accessed devices. Students will also receive a case

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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

Greetings

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any, many happy returns of the day to Shaikh Ayaan. Best wishes from father Shaikh Aslam Basha, mother Tabasum Begum, brother Ashraf, Parvez, uncle Shaikh Anwar Basha, Omar (Haji), aunty Sajida Begum and grandfather Mohd, Khasim, Mastan Saheb grandmother Khatunbee, Beejan Bee and Khader Basha, Abida, Arshad, Asif, Munawar Basha, Famida, Mubashir, Thamanna, Mohd Rafi, Ayesha, Anisa, Anisa near and dear ones from Kuwait and India.

Ernakulam District Association Kuwait (EDA) has selected Saji Varghese Palakunnel as the president. The new president has been chosen to fill the gap of ate president Madhu Warier who passed away last month.

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 ww.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 non-acceptance of the application.

Fees once paid are non-refundable. All children would have to obtain separate visa on their respective passports.

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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

and a dockable keyboard.

“Lenovo was not a difficult choice,” says Dr Jennifer Beckwith, the school’s Director “Once you weigh the support offered in Kuwait by Lenovo, the three-year accidental damage warranty coupled with the functionality of the cutting edge tablet offerings. We have selected the right technology for our students that work within our campus wireless environment and meet the essential necessities within the classroom for our students.”

“After reviewing and comparing many products from different providers for ease of use, size, weight, functionality, warranty, local support, price and adaptability with other selected AUS systems, the Lenovo Touch ThinkPad Tablet 2 was the best product. This was my recommendation to AUS,” says Rusty Bruns, AUS Technology Consultant.

Mohammed Hilili, Lenovo Gulf General Manager, added: “Lenovo has the most powerful and comprehensive solution for the Education sector and we are committed to empower students, across the world, with the latest innovations. We are proud to partner with the American University School and we commend them for their forward vision and their honorable mission to provide students with state of the art technology in order to excel in education.”

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

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.

Pin.Pack.Go: Four Seasons harnesses power of Pinterest

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s more and more travellers take to Pinterest to plan their next adventure, Four Seasons introduces Pin.Pack.Go, a new trip planning service that re-imagines the way travellers share and receive travel recommendations. An industry first, Pin.Pack.Go leverages the power and popularity of Pinterest to connect guests with Four Seasons local experts worldwide.

Knowing the thrill of travel adventure begins long before a guest ever sets foot on a Four Seasons property, Pin.Pack.Go provides new opportunity to engage guests early on in their trip planning process, making Four Seasons a part of the adventure from the very first pin.

Whether guests dream of star-gazing in the Serengeti or martinis on Mumbai’s highest rooftop patio, Four Seasons local experts will point them in the right direction, transforming their dream itineraries into reality.

To receive personalized recommendations from Four Seasons local experts, upcoming guests are encouraged to: 1. Create a Pin.Pack.Go board on Pinterest.

2. Leave a comment on the Pin.Pack.Go pin http://pinterest.com/fourseasons/pinpackgo/ indicating which Four Seasons you’ll be visiting.

3. The Four Seasons hotel you specified will follow you on Pinterest. Follow back and invite the hotel to pin as a collaborator on your board. The hotel’s local experts will pin recommendations filled with insider knowledge and hidden gems.

4. Pack and go!

“Photo sharing platforms like Pinterest are transforming the way our guests plan their trips, share ideas and select travel destinations,” said Elizabeth Pizzinato, Senior Vice President, Marketing and

Communications, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. “Pin.Pack.Go extends the Four Seasons culture of service far beyond our property walls creating new opportunities to provide guests with personalized recommendations and insider knowledge well before their trip begins.”

Four Seasons was the first luxury hotel company to establish a global presence on Pinterest, with a primary Four Seasons page, a Four Seasons Bridal page and more than 70 active property pages across all regions - from Los Angeles to Paris to Bangkok to Bora Bora and beyond.

Four Seasons continues to set the bar in social media engagement, leading the industry with continuous evolution and innovation. In 2013, Four Seasons received three Travel + Leisure Social Media in Travel and Tourism (SMITTY) Awards, including Best Hotel Chain. With a strong presence on Facebook, Twitter,

Instagram, Youtube, Google+, Vine and more, Four Seasons continues to meet guests where they already are, embracing the power of social media to deepen guest engagement in meaningful and relevant ways.

TIES Center film show

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KERA organizes Indian Independence Day celebrations

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rominent NRI association from Ernakulam district, Kuwait Ernakulam Residents Association (KERA), organized celebration of 67th Independence Day of India on 15th August 2013 in Abbassiya. MV Varghese presided the formal meeting in which KERA General Secretary Jomy Augustine welcomed all the attendees. Along with

National Anthem of India played, the National Flag was hoisted by KERA General Co-Ordinator Sadashivan jointly with Jomy Augustine. Ajoy Abraham delivered felicitation and independence day message. KERA arts convener Dennis John thanked the attendees. KERA Membership Campaign Season-II was also inaugurated during the meeting.

IES Center cordially invites all those interested to its movie entitled, “Islam: An American Faith,” today at 7:00 pm. Because of misconceptions, some people believe that Islam and America are not compatible. Some on both sides feel that there is a great divide and that America can never reconcile with Islam. This film aims to dispel that myth. This film shows how Muslims live in peace within America. In addition to that, Muslims are productive, law-abiding citizens that contribute a lot to the wellbeing of American society. If you are interested in the movie, you are welcome on Monday, August 19 at 7:00 pm You are also invited to TIES’ presentation entitled, “Polyglots” - A Linguistic Study by Tony Braun on August 20, 2013 at 7:00 pm. A polyglot is someone who speaks more than one language. Tim Doner is a 17-year-old American who speaks over 20 languages fluently.

Shockingly, there are many others similar to Tim who can effectively communicate in multiple languages. Do they have superpowers, or is there some trick to learning multiple languages? In this presentation, Tony will be examining the methodology of language acquisition.

Please note: Tim Doner will not be

present for the lecture. The presenter is Tony Braun from Canada, who can barely speak his own native language properly (just kidding). If you are interested in the topic, TIES Center is the most appropriate place to visit on Tuesday, August 20 at 7:00 pm If you are new to Kuwait whether teacher or embassy staff, TIES Center wecomes you to its Cultural Orientation course to be presented by Jehan AlHobaishy. Understanding the local culture has proven effective for settling more comfortably in Kuwait. In addition to that, it is a helpful gateway to success in business and social relations here in Kuwait, as well as the other Middle Eastern countries. This one-day course will help you understand appropriate manners and etiquette, which is a very important element of Arab culture.

Who are the Kuwaitis? What is their culture? This one-day course will be offered at 7:00 pm on the following days: August 28, 29 and September 2, 5 and 9.

Prior registration is required. Please indicate the day that you would like to attend.

For more inform about the afore-mentioned events, please call 25231015/6 or log onto: www.tiescenter.net or e-mail: Hassan@tiescenter.net .

EDA declares Onam celebration

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rnakulam District association-Kuwait (EDA) has declared Onam celebration on October 25, 2013, Friday 9:00 am to 5:30 pm at Indian community school, Khaitan. As part of the event, EDA launched raffle coupon on Aug 16, 2013 at Okinawa Karate Academy Hall, Abbasiya. The first coupon was distributed

by Advisory Board Chairman Capt Johnson to the event convener A C Santhosh in the presence of Central Committee members. The raffle coupon is having many attractions with various valuable prizes and also discount vouchers.

MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013

W H AT ’ S O N

Embassy Information EMBASSY OF AUSTRALIA The Embassy of Australia has announced that Kuwait citizens can apply for and receive visit visas in 10 working days through www.immi.gov.au. All other processing of visas and Immigration matters are handled by the Australian Visa Application Centre located in Al Banwan Building, 4B, 1st Floor, Al Qibla Area, Ali Al Salem Street, Kuwait City. Visit. www.vfs-augcc.com for more info. The Embassy of Australia does not have a visa or immigration department. All processing of visas and immigration matters is conducted by the Australian Consulate-General in Dubai. Email: Info.ausdxb@vfshelpline.com (VIS), immigration.dubai@dfat.gov.au (Visa Office), Tel: +971 4 205 5900 (VFS), Fax: + 971 4 355 0708 (Visa Office). Notary and passport services are available by appointment. Appointments can be made by calling the Embassy on 22322422.

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EMBASSY OF CANADA The 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, UAE. 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-imenquiry@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 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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EMBASSY OF UK As of July 22, the British Embassy’s Visa Application Center (VAC) will be extending opening hours to be from 08:00 to 15:00 (previously from 09:30 to 14:30). This will generate more appointments in addition to the ones created from the Iftar opening time from 20:00 - 22:00. This step comes in response to the increasing number of applicants during summer.

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EMBASSY OF GREECE

Kuwait Science Club launches summer program

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he Kuwait Science Club launched its 2013 Summer Courses Program which includes workshops, training sessions, and classes on scientific research, swimming, photography, religion and other topics. Registration are open for children between 8 and 14 years of age, and the courses are scheduled through September 5, 2013.

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, Al-Qibla 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.

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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 DS160, photos must be a .jpg between 600x600 and 1200x1200 pixels, less than 240kb, and cannot be digitally altered); A completed DS160 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 ■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF UKRAINE The Embassy of Ukraine in the State of Kuwait would like to inform that submission of the documents for tourist visa is temporary closed (from August 26 till September 26). Within the above-mentioned period, the visa will be issued only in the case of emergency. In the case of planning travel to Ukraine, please apply for visa before August 20.

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EMBASSY OF VATICAN The Apostolic Nunciature Embassy of the Holy See, Vatican in Kuwait has moved to a new location in Kuwait City. Please find below the new address: Yarmouk, Block 1, Street 2, Villa No: 1. P.O.Box 29724, Safat 13158, Kuwait. Tel: 965 25337767, Fax: 965 25342066.

Email: nuntiuskuwait@gmail.com

MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013

TV PROGRAMS 21:35 22:00 22:50 23:40 00:45 Fur Seals: The Dark Side 01:35 Animal Cops Houston 02:25 Charles & Jessica: A Chimp Tale 03:15 The Animals’ Guide To Survival 04:05 Lion Man: One World African Safari 04:55 Animal Cops Houston 05:45 Wild France 06:35 Wildlife SOS 07:00 Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild 07:25 My Cat From Hell 08:15 The Most Extreme 09:10 My Cat From Hell 10:05 Big Five Challenge 11:00 Animal Cops Philadelphia 11:55 The Snake Buster 12:20 Call Of The Wildman 12:50 Call Of The Wildman 13:15 Call Of The Wildman 13:45 Animal ER 14:40 Big Five Challenge 15:30 Shamwari: A Wild Life 16:00 Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild 16:30 The Most Extreme 17:25 Project Puppy 17:50 Project Puppy 18:20 Must Love Cats 19:15 Going Ape 19:40 Call Of The Wildman 20:10 The Snake Buster 20:35 Shamwari: A Wild Life 21:05 Big Five Challenge 22:00 Too Cute!

22:55 My Cat From Hell 23:50 Animal Cops Philadelphia

00:05 07:00 07:50 08:40 09:30 09:55 10:20 10:45 11:10 11:35 12:25 13:15 14:05 14:30 14:55 15:20 16:10 16:35 17:00 17:50 18:40 19:30 20:20 20:45 21:10 21:35 22:00 22:50 23:40

00:05 00:30 01:00 05:15 05:40 06:05 07:00 07:50 08:40 09:05 09:30 13:50 14:20 14:45 15:10 16:00 16:55 17:45 18:35 19:30 20:20 21:10

Battleground: Rhino Wars Mythbusters River Monsters You Have Been Warned Border Security Auction Hunters Auction Kings How Do They Do It? How It’s Made Fast N’ Loud Overhaulin’ 2012 Fifth Gear Border Security Auction Hunters Auction Kings The Hunger: Death Race What Happened Next?

Magic Of Science Ultimate Survival Deadliest Catch Mythbusters American Guns Auction Hunters Auction Kings How Do They Do It? How It’s Made Gold Divers Alaska: The Last Frontier Ice Cold Gold

The Tech Show Mean Green Machines Food Factory The Gadget Show The Tech Show The Science Of Star Wars Brave New World Mighty Ships The Gadget Show The Tech Show Science Of The Movies Mean Green Machines The Gadget Show The Tech Show Brave New World Prototype This Mighty Ships Smash Lab Cosmic Collisions Brave New World Mighty Ships The Gadget Show

The Tech Show Brave New World Mighty Ships The Gadget Show

00:15 The Aviators 00:45 Final 24 01:35 The Lost Hippos Of Escobar 02:30 Mummy Autopsy 03:25 Mummy Autopsy 04:20 Trashopolis 05:10 Trashopolis 06:05 Trashopolis 07:00 Prehistoric Assassins 07:50 Ultimate Cars 08:15 A Racing Car Is Born 08:45 Mighty Mississippi 09:35 The Aviators 10:00 The Aviators 10:30 Weaponology 11:20 I Shouldn’t Be Alive 12:10 Into The Unknown With Josh Bernstein 13:05 Trashopolis 13:55 Mummy Autopsy 14:50 Hell On High Water 15:45 Prehistoric Disasters 16:40 Weaponology 17:35 Bone Detectives 18:25 I Shouldn’t Be Alive 19:20 Danger Hunters 20:10 Ultimate Cars 20:35 A Racing Car Is Born 21:05 Empire 22:00 Danger Hunters 22:55 Crime Scene Wild 23:50 Murder Shift

00:00 00:45 01:30 02:15 03:00 03:45 05:15 06:00 06:25 06:45 07:55 08:45 09:05 09:30 10:15 11:05 12:15 13:00 14:10 15:30 15:50 16:10 16:35 17:20 17:40 Look 17:45 18:10 19:20 19:40 20:05 20:30 20:50 21:15 21:40 22:00 22:25 22:50 23:10

00:05 00:15 00:40 00:55 01:10 01:30 02:00 02:25 02:40 02:50 03:20 03:40 03:50

Stitch A Kind Of Magic Emperor’s New School Replacements A Kind Of Magic Emperor’s New School A Kind Of Magic Austin And Ally Suite Life On Deck A.N.T Farm Good Luck Charlie Doc McStuffins Mickey Mouse Clubhouse A.N.T Farm Jessie Good Luck Charlie Shake It Up A.N.T Farm Hatching Pete Good Luck Charlie Jessie Shake It Up A.N.T. Farm Austin And Ally Teen Beach Movie First Good Luck Charlie Shake It Up That’s So Raven That’s So Raven 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

Special Agent Oso Imagination Movers Jungle Junction Jungle Junction Handy Manny Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Little Einsteins Special Agent Oso Special Agent Oso Imagination Movers Handy Manny Special Agent Oso Special Agent Oso

04:00 Timmy Time 04:10 Imagination Movers 04:35 Little Einsteins 05:00 Jungle Junction 05:30 Little Einsteins 05:50 Special Agent Oso 06:00 Special Agent Oso 06:15 Jungle Junction 06:45 Handy Manny 07:00 Special Agent Oso 07:15 Jungle Junction 07:30 Higglytown Heroes 07:45 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 08:10 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 08:35 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 08:50 Doc McStuffins 09:05 Doc McStuffins 09:20 Zou 09:35 Henry Hugglemonster 10:00 Lilo And Stitch 10:25 The Little Mermaid 10:50 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 11:20 Sofia The First 11:45 Mouk 12:00 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 12:05 Art Attack 12:30 Doc McStuffins 13:00 Zou 13:15 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 13:30 Henry Hugglemonster 13:55 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 14:20 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 14:45 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 15:00 Lilo And Stitch 15:25 Mouk 15:40 Higglytown Heroes 15:55 Zou 16:10 Zou 16:20 The Little Mermaid 16:45 Lilo And Stitch 17:10 Doc McStuffins 17:40 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 18:10 Henry Hugglemonster 18:35 Sofia The First 19:00 Timmy Time 19:10 Pajanimals 19:25 Doc McStuffins 19:35 Zou 19:50 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 20:20 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 20:25 Pajanimals 20:35 Doc McStuffins 20:45 Mouk 21:00 New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 21:25 Pajanimals 21:35 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 22:00 Timmy Time 22:10 The Hive 22:20 Winnie The Pooh: Tales Of Friendship 22:30 Jungle Junction 22:45 Handy Manny 22:55 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 23:20 Little Einsteins 23:50 Special Agent Oso

06:00 Kid vs Kat 06:10 Iron Man Armoured Adventures 06:35 Kickin It 07:00 Max Steel 07:25 Phineas And Ferb 07:50 Slugterra 08:15 Pair Of Kings 08:40 Kickin It 09:05 Kickin It 09:30 Lab Rats 09:55 Lab Rats 10:20 Pair Of Kings 10:45 Kick Buttowski 11:10 Mr. Young 11:35 Slugterra 12:00 Kickin It 12:25 Max Steel 12:50 I’m In The Band 13:15 Lab Rats 13:40 Almost Naked Animals 14:05 Phineas And Ferb 14:15 Phineas And Ferb 14:30 Lab Rats 14:55 Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja 15:20 Phineas And Ferb

15:30 Phineas And Ferb 15:45 Pair Of Kings 16:10 Kickin It 16:35 Crash & Bernstein 17:00 Lab Rats 17:30 Max Steel 18:00 Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja 18:25 Phineas And Ferb 18:50 Phineas And Ferb 19:15 Slugterra 19:40 Crash & Bernstein 20:05 Pair Of Kings 20:30 Zeke & Luther 20:55 I’m In The Band 21:20 Rated A For Awesome 21:45 Kick Buttowski 22:10 Mr. Young 22:35 Scaredy Squirrel 23:00 Programmes Start At 6:00am KSA

00:05 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 00:30 Food Wars 00:55 Food Wars 01:20 Unwrapped 01:45 Amazing Wedding Cakes 02:35 Amazing Wedding Cakes 03:25 Unique Eats 03:50 Food Crafters 04:15 United Tastes Of America 04:40 Chopped 05:30 Iron Chef America 06:10 Unwrapped 06:35 Unwrapped 07:00 Unwrapped 07:25 Unwrapped 07:50 Andy Bates American Street Feasts 08:15 Unique Sweets 08:40 Reza’s African Kitchen 09:05 Jonathan Phang’s Caribbean Cookbook 09:30 Amazing Wedding Cakes 10:20 Extra Virgin 10:40 Unique Sweets 11:10 Unwrapped 11:35 Have Cake, Will Travel 12:00 Food Network Star 13:40 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 14:05 Tyler’s Ultimate 14:30 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 14:55 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 15:20 Symon’s Suppers 15:45 Chopped 16:35 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 17:00 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 17:25 Tyler’s Ultimate 17:50 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 18:15 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 18:40 Guy’s Big Bite 19:05 Symon’s Suppers 19:30 Food Wars 19:55 Food Wars 20:20 Chopped 21:10 Chopped 22:00 Jonathan Phang’s Caribbean Cookbook 22:25 Jonathan Phang’s Caribbean Cookbook 22:50 Andy Bates American Street Feasts 23:15 Andy Bates American Street Feasts 23:40 Food Wars

00:15 Eat Street 00:45 The Witch Doctor Will See You Now 01:40 Earth Tripping 02:05 Earth Tripping 02:35 Ultimate Traveller 03:30 Banged Up Abroad 04:25 Banged Up Abroad 05:20 Somewhere In China 06:15 Market Values 06:40 Eat Street 07:10 Kimchi Chronicles 07:35 Eat Street 08:05 The Witch Doctor Will See You Now 09:00 Earth Tripping 09:25 Earth Tripping 09:55 Ultimate Traveller 10:50 Banged Up Abroad 11:45 Banged Up Abroad 12:40 Somewhere In China 13:35 Market Values 14:00 Eat Street 14:30 Kimchi Chronicles 14:55 Eat Street 15:25 The Witch Doctor Will See You Now 16:20 Chasing Time 16:45 Chasing Time 17:15 Ultimate Traveller 18:10 Banged Up Abroad 19:05 Banged Up Abroad 20:00 Kimchi Chronicles 20:30 Eat Street 21:00 Market Values 21:30 Eat Street 22:00 Deadly Arts 22:55 Market Values 23:20 Kimchi Chronicles 23:50 Exploring The Vine

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

SHADOW DANCER ON OSN CINEMA

Ultimate Survival Alaska Inside Combat Rescue Family Guns Salvage Code Red One Ocean Dangerous Encounters Salvage Code Red Storm Worlds Ultimate Survival Alaska Inside Combat Rescue Family Guns Salvage Code Red One Ocean Dangerous Encounters Salvage Code Red Storm Worlds Ultimate Survival Alaska Inside Combat Rescue Family Guns Ultimate Disaster Naked Science 2.5 Hunter Hunted Lockdown Blowdown

00:20 Dead Or Alive

A MONSTER IN PARIS ON OSN MOVIES HD 01:10 Croc Invasion 02:00 Fish Warrior 02:50 Outback Wrangler 03:45 Kenny And Zoltan’s Venom Quest 04:40 Untamed Americas 05:35 Fish Warrior 06:30 Outback Wrangler 07:25 Kenny And Zoltan’s Venom Quest 08:20 Bear Nomad 09:15 Secret Shark Pits 10:10 Search For The Giant Octopus 11:05 Wild Case Files 12:00 Snow Leopard Of Afghanistan 12:55 Hooked 13:50 Outback Wrangler 14:45 Secrets Of The King Cobra 15:40 Bears Of Fear Island 16:35 Sharkville 17:30 Search For The Giant Octopus 18:25 Wild Case Files 19:20 Hooked 20:10 Outback Wrangler 21:00 Secrets Of The King Cobra 21:50 Bears Of Fear Island 22:40 Sharkville 23:30 Search For The Giant Octopus

00:00 Paintball-18 02:00 Meskada-PG15 04:00 True Justice: Violence Of Action-PG15 06:00 Darkman-PG15 08:00 Carjacked-PG15 10:00 Metal Tornado-PG15 12:00 Jurassic Park-PG15 14:00 Carjacked-PG15 16:00 Metal Shifters-PG15 18:00 Jurassic Park-PG15 20:00 The Blood Bond-PG15 22:00 Taxi Driver-18

01:00 Like Crazy-PG15 03:00 Shadow Dancer-PG15 05:00 Princess Lillifee-FAM 07:00 My Afternoons With Margueritte-PG15 09:00 Like Crazy-PG15 11:00 Ring Of Deceit-PG15 13:00 Enter The Phoenix-PG15 15:00 Planet Ocean-PG15 17:00 Saving Grace B. Jones-PG15 19:00 Hideaways-PG15 21:00 Powder Blue-18 23:00 Savages-18

00:00 00:30 01:00 01:30 02:30 03:00 03:30 04:00 04:30 Leno 05:30 06:00 06:30 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 09:30 10:00 10:30

The Cleveland Show The Daily Show The Colbert Report Saturday Night Live Friends Guys With Kids The Mindy Project Hope & Faith The Tonight Show With Jay Hope & Faith The War At Home Brothers Late Night With Jimmy Fallon Hope & Faith Hope & Faith Guys With Kids The Mindy Project Happy Endings Brothers

11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 The War At Home 12:30 Hope & Faith 13:30 Brothers 14:00 The Mindy Project 15:00 Happy Endings 15:30 The Daily Show 16:00 The Colbert Report 16:30 The War At Home 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 Men At Work 19:00 Two And A Half Men 19:30 1600 Penn 20:00 Don’t Trust The B In Apartment 23 20:30 Wilfred 21:00 The Daily Show Global Edition 21:30 The Colbert Report Global Edition 22:00 Family Guy 22:30 Cougar Town 23:30 Don’t Trust The B In Apartment 23

01:00 02:00 03:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 09:00 10:00 10:30 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 16:30 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:10

Supernatural Good Morning America American Idol Supernatural Good Morning America Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Once Upon A Time Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Survivor: Philippines The Bachelor Live Good Morning America Survivor: Philippines Once Upon A Time The Bachelor Survivor: Philippines Once Upon A Time The Bachelor Glee American Idol

Revenge Top Gear (UK) Defiance Homeland Psych C.S.I. Revenge Eureka Grey’s Anatomy Defiance Top Gear (UK) Psych Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Grey’s Anatomy Revenge Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Alphas Parenthood Covert Affairs In Plain Sight The Newsroom Homeland

00:00 Disturbing Behavior 02:00 Paintball 04:00 Meskada

06:00 Action 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

True Justice: Violence Of Darkman Carjacked Metal Tornado Jurassic Park Carjacked Metal Shifters Jurassic Park The Blood Bond

00:00 Goon-18 02:00 The Romantics-PG15 04:00 The Naked Gun: From The Files Of Police Squad-PG 06:00 Mrs. Miracle-PG15 08:00 Police Academy 6: City Under Siege-PG15 10:00 Ernest Scared Stupid-PG15 12:00 The Naked Gun: From The Files Of Police Squad-PG 14:00 Police Academy 7: Mission To Moscow-PG15 16:00 Ernest Scared Stupid-PG15 18:00 Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell Of Fear-PG15 20:00 Slap Shot-PG15 22:15 Goon-18

01:00 An Inconvenient Truth-PG 03:00 The Most Fun You Can Have Dying-18 05:00 The Tourist-PG15 07:00 Yona Yona Penguin-PG 09:00 An Inconvenient Truth-PG 11:00 Certain Prey-PG15 13:00 The Way-PG15 15:15 Beneath Hill 60-PG15 17:15 Certain Prey-PG15 19:00 The Debt-18 21:00 The Door In The Floor-18 23:00 In The Land Of Blood And Honey-R

01:00 Coriolanus-PG15 03:15 Why Did I Get Married Too? 05:15 Love Will Keep Us TogetherPG15 07:00 Now Is Good-PG15 09:00 When Love Is Not Enough 11:00 A Monster In Paris-PG 13:00 American Girl: McKenna Shoots For The Stars-PG 15:00 33 Postcards-PG15 17:00 When Love Is Not EnoughPG15 19:00 Joyful Noise-PG15 21:00 Albert Nobbs-18 23:00 Contraband-18

01:00 The Nimbols: Part I 02:45 Crab Island 04:30 Vickery’s Wild Ride 06:00 The Nimbols: Part I 08:00 The Nimbols: Part II 10:00 Daddy Day Camp 11:30 Vickery’s Wild Ride 13:00 Journey 2: The Mysterious Island 14:45 Princess Sydney: The Three Gold Coins 16:00 Wheelers 18:00 Daddy Day Camp 20:00 Elf 22:00 Princess Sydney: The Three Gold Coins 23:30 Wheelers

00:00 StreetDance 2-PG15 02:00 The Odd Life Of Timothy Green-PG 04:00 Deadly Hope-PG15 06:00 The Family Stone-PG15 08:00 Alvin And The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked-PG 10:00 Mission: Impossible III-PG15 12:15 The Odd Life Of Timothy Green-PG 14:00 Perfect Plan-PG15 16:00 Alvin And The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked-PG 18:00 Men In Black 3-PG 20:00 360-18 22:00 The Samaritan-18

01:20 02:45 04:20 07:00 09:15 10:55 12:25 14:25 16:00 17:30 19:55 22:00 23:50

Postman’s Knock-FAM The Omega Man-PG Shaft The Prize-PG The Perfect Specimen-FAM The Naked Spur-PG Jeremiah Johnson-PG Postman’s Knock-FAM The Fastest Gun Alive-PG Anchors Aweigh-FAM A Streetcar Named Desire Brass Target-PG Something Of Value-PG

00:00 Departures 01:00 Departures 02:00 Wild Carpathia 03:00 Globe Trekker 04:00 Bizarre Foods America 05:00 Bizarre Foods America 06:00 Eden Eats 07:00 Globe Trekker 08:00 Man Time: Mancations 08:30 Man Time: Mancations 09:00 Off Limits 10:00 World’s Greatest Motorcycle Rides 11:00 Bert The Conqueror 11:30 Xtreme Waterparks 12:00 Globe Trekker 13:00 Bizarre Foods America 14:00 International House Hunters 14:30 International House Hunters 15:00 Hotel Impossible 16:00 Inside Luxury Travel - Varun Sharma 17:00 World’s Greatest Motorcycle Rides 18:00 Off Limits 19:00 Bizarre Foods America 20:00 Insane Coaster Wars 20:30 Insane Coaster Wars 21:00 Xtreme Waterparks 21:30 Xtreme Waterparks 22:00 Hotel Impossible 23:00 Inside Luxury Travel - Varun Sharma

13:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 20:30 21:00 23:00

Agatha Christie’s Poirot Murdoch Mysteries The Jonathan Ross Show 60 Minute Makeover Emmerdale Coronation Street Coach Trip Come Dine With Me Ireland Lewis Trial & Retribution

Classifieds MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013

Kuwait SHARQIA-1 KILLING SEASON (DIG) KILLING SEASON (DIG) HAMMER OF G’S (DIG) STREET DANCE ALL STARS (DIG) HAMMER OF G’S (DIG) KILLING SEASON (DIG) KILLING SEASON (DIG)

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:45 PM 10:45 PM 12:45 AM

SHARQIA-2 THE WOLVERINE (DIG) DESPICABLE ME 2 (DIG-3D) THE SMURFS 2 (DIG-3D) EL7ARAMY & EL3ABIET (DIG) THE WOLVERINE (DIG) THE WOLVERINE (DIG)

1:00 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:45 PM 9:45 PM 12:15 AM

SHARQIA-3 RED 2 (DIG) THE SMURFS 2 (DIG) RED 2 (DIG) THE LONE RANGER (DIG) RED 2 (DIG) THE LONE RANGER (DIG)

12:30 PM 2:45 PM 5:00 PM 7:15 PM 10:15 PM 12:30 AM

MUHALAB-1 CHENNAI EXPRESS (DIG) (HINDI) 12:30 PM ONCE UPON A TIME IN MUMBAAI DOBARA CHENNAI EXPRESS (DIG) (HINDI) 6:30 PM HAMMER OF G’S (DIG) 9:30 PM PACIFIC RIM (DIG) 11:45 PM MUHALAB-2 KILLING SEASON (DIG) RED 2 (DIG) KILLING SEASON (DIG) THE LONE RANGER (DIG) RED 2 (DIG) KILLING SEASON (DIG)

1:00 PM 3:00 PM 5:15 PM 7:15 PM 10:15 PM 12:30 AM

MUHALAB-3 THE SMURFS 2 (DIG-3D) DESPICABLE ME 2 (DIG-3D) THE SMURFS 2 (DIG-3D) THE WOLVERINE (DIG) EL7ARAMY & EL3ABIET (DIG) THE WOLVERINE (DIG)

1:30 PM 4:00 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:45 PM 12:45 AM

FANAR-1 DESPICABLE ME 2 (DIG) 1:00 PM RED 2 (DIG) 3:00 PM DESPICABLE ME 2 (DIG) 5:30 PM ONCE UPON A TIME IN MUMBAAI DOBARA RED 2 (DIG) 10:30 PM RED 2 (DIG) 12:45 AM FANAR-2 KILLING SEASON (DIG) KILLING SEASON (DIG) HAMMER OF G’S (DIG) STREET DANCE ALL STARS (DIG) HAMMER OF G’S (DIG) KILLING SEASON (DIG) KILLING SEASON (DIG)

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:30 PM 6:45 PM 9:00 PM 11:00 PM 1:00 AM

FANAR-3 CHENNAI EXPRESS (DIG) (HINDI) THE LONE RANGER (DIG)

12:30 PM 3:30 PM

KNCC PROGRAMME FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY (15/08/2013 TO 21/08/2013) CHENNAI EXPRESS (DIG) (HINDI) CHENNAI EXPRESS (DIG) (HINDI) THE LONE RANGER (DIG)

6:30 PM 9:30 PM 12:30 AM

THE WOLVERINE (DIG) THE WOLVERINE (DIG) NO SAT

FANAR-4 THE WOLVERINE (DIG-3D) THE WOLVERINE (DIG) THE WOLVERINE (DIG-3D) THE WOLVERINE (DIG) THE WOLVERINE (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:00 PM 4:45 PM 7:15 PM 9:45 PM 12:15 AM

360º- 1 RED 2 (DIG) RED 2 (DIG) RED 2 (DIG) RED 2 (DIG) RED 2 (DIG)

2:30 PM 5:00 PM 7:30 PM 10:00 PM 12:30 AM

360º- 2 THE LONE RANGER (DIG) THE LONE RANGER (DIG) THE LONE RANGER (DIG) THE LONE RANGER (DIG) RED 2 (DIG)

1:00 PM 4:00 PM 7:00 PM 10:00 PM 1:00 AM

360º- 3 DESPICABLE ME 2 (DIG-3D) DESPICABLE ME 2 (DIG) DESPICABLE ME 2 (DIG-3D) DESPICABLE ME 2 (DIG) DESPICABLE ME 2 (DIG) THE WOLVERINE (DIG)

1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

AL-KOUT.1 THE WOLVERINE (DIG) THE WOLVERINE (DIG) EL7ARAMY & EL3ABIET (DIG) THE WOLVERINE (DIG) EL7ARAMY & EL3ABIET (DIG) THE WOLVERINE (DIG)

12:30 PM 3:00 PM 5:30 PM 7:30 PM 10:00 PM 12:30 AM

AL-KOUT.2 DESPICABLE ME 2 (DIG) THE SMURFS 2 (DIG) DESPICABLE ME 2 (DIG) THE SMURFS 2 (DIG) KILLING SEASON (DIG) KILLING SEASON (DIG) KILLING SEASON (DIG)

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:45 PM 6:45 PM 9:00 PM 11:00 PM 1:00 AM

AL-KOUT.3 RED 2 (DIG) STREET DANCE ALL STARS (DIG) RED 2 (DIG) STREET DANCE ALL STARS (DIG) RED 2 (DIG) RED 2 (DIG)

1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:00 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 AM

AL-KOUT.4 HAMMER OF G’S (DIG) HAMMER OF G’S (DIG) THE LONE RANGER (DIG) PACIFIC RIM (DIG) HAMMER OF G’S (DIG) THE LONE RANGER (DIG)

12:45 PM 2:45 PM 4:45 PM 7:45 PM 10:15 PM 12:15 AM

FANAR-5 THE SMURFS 2 PACIFIC RIM THE SMURFS 2 EL7ARAMY & EL3ABIET EL7ARAMY & EL3ABIET PACIFIC RIM

1:30 PM 3:45 PM 6:15 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM 12:30 AM

MARINA-1 KILLING SEASON (DIG) HAMMER OF G’S (DIG) THE LONE RANGER (DIG) KILLING SEASON (DIG) HAMMER OF G’S (DIG) KILLING SEASON (DIG)

1:15 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM 12:30 AM

3:30 PM MARINA-2 THE WOLVERINE (DIG) STREET DANCE ALL STARS (DIG) EL7ARAMY & EL3ABIET (DIG) EL7ARAMY & EL3ABIET (DIG) THE WOLVERINE (DIG) THE WOLVERINE (DIG) MARINA-3 DESPICABLE ME 2 (DIG-3D) THE SMURFS 2 (DIG-3D) DESPICABLE ME 2 (DIG-3D) RED 2 (DIG) RED 2 (DIG) RED 2 (DIG)

1:30 PM 3:30 PM 5:45 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:15 AM

AVENUES-1 HAMMER OF G’S (DIG) STREET DANCE ALL STARS (DIG) HAMMER OF G’S (DIG) HAMMER OF G’S (DIG) HAMMER OF G’S (DIG) 7:30 PM

1:00 PM 4:00 PM 6:15 PM 8:15 PM 10:15 PM 12:45 AM

2:30 PM 4:45 PM 7:00 PM 9:15 PM 11:30 PM

AVENUES-2 CHENNAI EXPRESS (DIG) (HINDI) CHENNAI EXPRESS (DIG) (HINDI) CHENNAI EXPRESS (DIG) (HINDI) CHENNAI EXPRESS (DIG) (HINDI) CHENNAI EXPRESS (DIG) (HINDI)

12:30 PM 3:30 PM 6:30 PM 9:30 PM 12:30 AM

AVENUES-3 EL7ARAMY & EL3ABIET (DIG) EL7ARAMY & EL3ABIET (DIG) EL7ARAMY & EL3ABIET (DIG) EL7ARAMY & EL3ABIET (DIG) EL7ARAMY & EL3ABIET (DIG) EL7ARAMY & EL3ABIET (DIG)

2:15 PM 4:15 PM 6:15 PM 8:15 PM 10:15 PM 12:15 AM

AVENUES-4 THE WOLVERINE (DIG)

12:30 PM

3:00 PM 5:30 PM

BAIRAQ-1 DESPICABLE ME 2 (DIG-3D) DESPICABLE ME 2 (DIG-3D) THE WOLVERINE (DIG) DESPICABLE ME 2 (DIG-3D) THE WOLVERINE (DIG) THE WOLVERINE (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:30 PM 7:00 PM 9:15 PM 11:45 PM

CHANGE OF NAME I, Juzar Ali, holder of Indian Passport No. E 6573312, have changed my name to Juzar Ali Bohra as per affidavit. (C 4484) 18-8-2013 I, Bhaskar Hungarkatha of Indian Passport No. G 0638528 hereby wish to change my name to JOHN B. ALMEIDA. (C 4482) 15-8-2013

bride/divorcee above 30 years, settled in Bangalore with parents. Staying in Mangaf/Kuwait. Email: narayanakailashshankar@gmail.com

(C 4479) 14-8-2013 Inviting marriage proposal 29 years/CSI girl/B.Sc (N)/working in MOH, invites proposal from God-fearing and well educated boy. Email: jeba_twinkle12@yahoo.com (C 4478) 13-8-2013

LOST Original document Policy No. 633002728-1 of Mohammad Naeem by the State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan, Gulf Zone is reported to have been lost. Anyone finding the same or claiming any interest in it should communicate with State Life Office Kuwait Tel: 22452208.

(C 4483) 18-8-2013 MATRIMONIAL Senior Engineer, south Indian, working for KOCKuwait, looking for Indian

THE PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR CIVIL INFORMATION Automated enquiry about the Civil ID card is

1889988 112 Prayer timings Fajr: Shorook Duhr: Asr: Maghrib: Isha:

03:53 05:18 11:52 15:27 18:26 19:48

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

Airlines QTR THY RJA JZR JZR THY ETH GFA AFG UAE ETD THY RJA FDB RBG MSR QTR THY DHX FDB QTR BAW JZR JZR JZR KAC KAC JZR FDB KAC KAC UAE ABY FDB QTR ETD KAC KAC IRA GFA IRC MEA MSC JZR JZR JZR UAE MSR MSR THY KNE KAC KAC QTR FDB MPH

Arrival Flights on Monday 19/8/2013 Flt Route 148 DOHA 5464 SABIHA 644 AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA 539 CAIRO 267 BEIRUT 764 SABIHA 620 ADDIS ABABA 211 BAHRAIN 416 JEDDAH 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI-INTL 768 ISTANBUL 642 AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA 67 DUBAI 555 ALEXANDRIA 612 CAIRO 138 DOHA 770 ISTANBUL 170 BAHRAIN 69 DUBAI 6130 DOHA 157 LONDON 555 ALEXANDRIA 1541 CAIRO 529 ASYUT 412 MANILA 206 ISLAMABAD 503 LUXOR 53 DUBAI 302 MUMBAI 284 DHAKA 588 DUBAI 125 SHARJAH 55 DUBAI 132 DOHA 301 ABU DHABI-INTL 344 CHENNAI 352 COCHIN 3407 MASHAD 213 BAHRAIN 6521 LAMERD 404 BEIRUT 403 ASYUT 165 DUBAI 561 SOHAG 241 AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA 871 DUBAI 610 CAIRO 579 SOHAG 766 ISTANBUL 480 TAIF 1802 CAIRO 672 DUBAI 140 DOHA 57 DUBAI 93 AMSTERDAM

Time 00:05 00:10 00:30 00:40 00:20 01:40 01:45 01:55 02:15 02:25 02:30 02:50 03:10 03:10 03:15 03:15 03:30 04:35 05:10 05:50 06:05 06:30 06:20 06:25 06:40 06:15 07:25 07:40 07:45 07:50 08:15 08:25 08:50 09:15 09:25 09:30 09:35 09:55 10:35 10:40 10:50 10:55 11:35 11:35 12:00 12:35 12:45 13:00 13:05 13:10 13:20 13:40 13:40 13:45 13:50 13:55

KAC JZR SVA KNE OMA RJA KAC JZR QTR ETD KAC UAE ABY UAL SVA GFA JZR NIA KAC KAC KAC QTR FDB GFA MSC JAI KAC KAC KAC KAC JZR OMA FDB ABY MEA MSR KAC AXB MSC ALK UAE ETD QTR GFA QTR JZR JZR JAI FDB AIC UAL TAR JZR DLH PIA JAI MSR

546 257 500 472 645 640 118 535 134 303 804 857 127 982 510 215 177 251 542 786 104 144 63 219 405 572 674 774 742 618 189 647 61 129 402 618 562 489 401 229 859 307 136 217 146 239 185 576 59 975 981 327 135 636 205 574 614

ALEXANDRIA BEIRUT JEDDAH JEDDAH MUSCAT AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA NEW YORK CAIRO DOHA ABU DHABI-INTL CAIRO DUBAI SHARJAH WASHINGTON DC DULLES RIYADH BAHRAIN DUBAI ALEXANDRIA CAIRO JEDDAH LONDON DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN SOHAG MUMBAI DUBAI RIYADH DAMMAM DOHA DUBAI MUSCAT DUBAI SHARJAH BEIRUT ALEXANDRIA AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA COCHIN ALEXANDRIA COLOMBO DUBAI ABU DHABI-INTL DOHA BAHRAIN DOHA AMMAN-QUEEN ALIA DUBAI COCHIN DUBAI CHENNAI BAHRAIN TUNIS BAHRAIN FRANKFURT LAHORE MUMBAI CAIRO

14:15 14:30 14:30 14:35 14:40 15:55 16:00 16:10 16:15 16:35 16:40 16:55 17:10 17:15 17:20 17:20 17:30 18:00 18:15 18:30 18:45 18:25 18:55 19:05 19:15 19:35 19:25 19:25 19:30 19:10 20:10 20:00 20:00 20:05 20:15 20:30 20:45 20:35 21:00 21:10 21:15 21:30 21:35 21:45 22:00 22:30 22:40 22:05 22:20 22:25 22:40 22:55 23:00 23:10 23:15 23:20 23:30

KLM THY Airlines AIC JAI UAL DLH MSR PIA THY JZR RJA THY THY ETH AFG THY UAE FDB RBG MSR ETD QTR QTR JZR FDB RJA GFA KAC THY JZR KAC JZR QTR BAW FDB JZR JZR KAC ABY UAE FDB KAC ETD QTR GFA KAC IRA KAC IRC MEA KAC MSC KAC JZR MSR MSR

411 AMSTERDAM 772 ISTANBUL Departure Flights on Monday 19/8/2013 Flt Route 982 AHMEDABAD 573 MUMBAI 981 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 637 FRANKFURT 615 CAIRO 206 PESHAWAR 5465 ISTANBUL-SABIHA 502 LUXOR 645 AMMAN 773 ISTANBUL-ATATURK 765 ISTANBUL-SABIHA 621 ADDIS ABABA 416 KABUL 769 ISTANBUL-ATATURK 854 DUBAI 68 DUBAI 556 ALEXANDRIA 613 CAIRO 306 ABU DHABI 139 DOHA 149 DOHA 560 SOHAG 70 DUBAI 643 AMMAN 212 BAHRAIN 1801 CAIRO 771 ISTANBUL-ATATURK 240 AMMAN 545 ALEXANDRIA 164 DUBAI 6131 DOHA 156 LONDON 54 DUBAI 256 BEIRUT 534 CAIRO 671 DUBAI 126 SHARJAH 856 DUBAI 56 DUBAI 803 CAIRO 302 ABU DHABI 133 DOHA 214 BAHRAIN 541 CAIRO 3406 MASHHAD 165 ROME 6522 LAMERD 405 BEIRUT 103 LONDON 406 SOHAG 785 JEDDAH 176 DUBAI 580 SOHAG 611 CAIRO

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

23:40 23:45 Time 00:05 00:20 00:25 00:30 00:30 00:55 01:10 01:30 01:30 02:20 02:40 02:45 03:15 03:40 03:45 03:50 03:55 04:15 04:20 04:25 05:15 05:35 06:30 06:35 07:00 07:00 07:10 07:10 07:20 07:25 07:35 08:25 08:25 08:50 09:10 09:25 09:30 09:50 09:55 10:05 10:15 10:25 11:25 11:30 11:35 11:45 11:50 11:55 12:30 12:35 13:00 13:20 13:50 14:00

THY KNE UAE FDB QTR KAC MPH KNE KAC OMA SVA KAC KAC JZR KAC RJA JZR QTR ETD JZR ABY UAE SVA GFA UAL JZR JZR NIA QTR FDB GFA JZR MSC KAC JAI FDB ABY KAC OMA KAC MEA MSR DHX MSC ETD ALK UAE QTR KAC GFA KAC FDB QTR JAI JZR JZR KAC TAR

767 481 872 58 141 673 93 473 561 646 501 617 773 188 741 641 238 135 304 538 128 858 511 216 982 184 266 252 145 64 220 134 404 283 571 62 120 331 648 351 403 619 171 402 308 230 860 137 301 218 205 60 147 575 554 1540 411 328

ISTANBUL-ATATURK TAIF DUBAI DUBAI DOHA DUBAI AL MAKTOUM INTERNATIONAL JEDDAH AMMAN MUSCAT JEDDAH DOHA RIYADH DUBAI DAMMAM AMMAN AMMAN DOHA ABU DHABI CAIRO SHARJAH DUBAI RIYADH BAHRAIN BAHRAIN DUBAI BEIRUT ALEXANDRIA DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN BAHRAIN ASYUT DHAKA MUMBAI DUBAI SHARJAH TRIVANDRUM MUSCAT KOCHI BEIRUT ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN ALEXANDRIA ABU DHABI COLOMBO DUBAI DOHA MUMBAI BAHRAIN ISLAMABAD DUBAI DOHA ABU DHABI ALEXANDRIA CAIRO BANGKOK DUBAI

14:10 14:10 14:15 14:30 14:55 15:05 15:25 15:30 15:30 15:40 15:45 15:45 16:00 16:00 16:30 16:55 17:05 17:20 17:20 17:40 17:50 18:15 18:20 18:20 18:30 18:30 18:40 19:00 19:25 19:35 19:50 20:05 20:15 20:15 20:35 20:40 20:45 20:50 20:55 21:05 21:15 21:30 21:50 22:00 22:15 22:20 22:25 22:35 22:40 22:45 23:00 23:00 23:05 23:05 23:20 23:25 23:40 23:45

34

stars CROSSWORD 284

STAR TRACK Aries (March 21-April 19) Others may not be as bountiful as you would like them to be when it comes to the social graces. Perhaps the cooperation you seek would be achieved through patience, as you are gracious and make honest compliments that are appreciated, others will be encouraged to behave in gracious ways. A good volunteer program for you is for people that are handicapped. You enjoy teaching, guiding and helping them to join in groups that will welcome them with open arms. There are grateful people all around you—those that need help and those that are helpful. Achieving your best, as you express your talents, may gain yourself and others rewards. Tonight you relax with your favorite animal . . . A few new tricks is where you aim.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) You discover new information that leads you toward out-of-the-ordinary subject matters. Perhaps you are a writer or news reporter or have a good lead on some new and unusual sales technique. Whatever the case, you use that information along with your aggressiveness to improve whatever you are involved with today. This may mean you are working out-of-town, attending a conference or just studying ways in which to strengthen your position in the workplace. You are outgoing, enthusiastic and diplomatic—everybody’s favorite. You really have little to worry over; however, your own experience and education is important to you. You have a natural instinct for making all the right moves. Learn to relax— music, trivia, animals, water games, etc.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

ACROSS 1. Large brownish-green New Zealand parrot.

4. An aggressive salesman who uses a fast line of talk to sell something.

12. (computer science) The rate at which data is transferred (as by a modem).

15. Consisting of or made of wood of the oak tree.

16. The state capital of South Australia.

17. A former agency (from 1946 to 1974) that was responsible for research into atomic energy and its peacetime uses in the United States.

18. The residue that remains when something is burned.

19. Sell (something) again after having bought it.

20. A coffee cake flavored with orange rind and raisins and almonds.

22. An accidental hole that allows something (fluid or light etc.) to enter or escape.

24. Not active or moving.

26. Any of numerous local fertility and nature deities worshipped by ancient Semitic peoples.

27. A silvery ductile metallic element found primarily in bauxite.

28. (Akkadian) God of wisdom.

30. A sharp narrow ridge found in rugged mountains.

31. Bulky grayish-brown eagle with a short wedge-shaped white tail.

33. The basic unit of money in Ghana.

34. A metric unit of volume equal to one tenth of a liter.

35. Large burrowing rodent of South and Central America.

38. An associate degree in nursing.

40. The United Nations agency concerned with atomic energy.

44. A radioactive element of the actinide series.

45. A white soft metallic element that tarnishes readily.

47. A genus of tropical American plants have sword-shaped leaves and a fleshy compound fruits composed of the fruits of several flowers (such as pineapples).

48. A nucleic acid consisting of large molecules shaped like a double helix.

53. Government agency created in 1974 to license and regulate nuclear power plants.

54. Corrupt morally or by intemperance or sensuality.

56. An ancient Assyrian city on the River Tigris and traditional capital of Assyria.

58. A city in southern Turkey on the Seyhan River.

60. Deduce (a principle) or construe (a meaning).

62. A Loloish language.

63. A unit of length equal to one thousandth of an inch.

64. A particular geographical region of indefinite boundary (usually serving some special purpose or distinguished by its people or culture or geography).

66. Being one hundred more than three hundred.

67. Station where transport vehicles load or unload passengers or goods.

69. Of or relating the the Vedas or to the ancient Sanskrit in which they were written.

71. Any culture medium that uses agar as the gelling agent.

75. Imperfect development.

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

78. A Tibetan or Mongolian priest of Lamaism.

79. (Irish) The sea personified.

80. Located in or toward the back or rear.

83. A device for creating a current of air by movement of a surface or surfaces.

84. The compass point midway between east and southeast.

85. A skullcap worn by religious Jews (especially

at prayer).

86. The federal agency that insures residential mortgages.

DOWN 1. Sluggish tailless Australian arboreal marsupial with gray furry ears and coat.

2. An upright tripod for displaying something (usually an artist's canvas).

3. A Loloish language.

4. (in golf ) The standard number of strokes set for each hole on a golf course, or for the entire course.

5. In the Roman calendar.

6. Testacean rhizopods.

7. Rid of objects or obstructions such as e.g. trees and brush.

8. Brought to a halt.

9. Civilians trained as soldiers but not part of the regular army.

10. A public promotion of some product or service.

11. A long projecting or anterior elongation of an animal's head.

12. An imaginary elephant that appears in a series of French books for children.

13. Large dark brown North American arboreal carnivorous mammal.

14. An ordered reference standard.

21. Any of various deciduous or evergreen ornamental shrubs of the genus Abelia having opposite simple leaves and cymes of small white or pink or purplish flowers.

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

25. A ductile gray metallic element of the lanthanide series.

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

32. An international organization of European countries formed after World War II to reduce trade barriers and increase cooperation among its members.

36. (of complexion) Blemished by imperfections of the skin.

37. (Scottish) Bluish-black or gray-blue.

39. An island republic on Nauru Island.

41. A former copper coin of Pakistan.

42. At or near the beginning of a period of time or course of events or before the usual or expected time.

43. (computer science) American Standard Code for Information Interchange.

46. Seed again or anew.

49. A unit of current equal to 10 amperes.

50. An ancient stringed instrument similar to the lyre or zither but having a trapezoidal sounding board under the strings.

51. A hard gray lustrous metallic element that is highly corrosion-resistant.

52. Of or relating to or characteristic of the Jews or their culture or religion.

55. A negatively charged atom.

57. An award for winning a championship or commemorating some other event.

59. Salted roe of sturgeon or other large fish.

61. Being ten more than one hundred ninety.

65. Arm again.

68. Armor plate that protects the chest.

70. Disturb in mind or make uneasy or cause to be worried or alarmed.

72. A spar rising aft from a mast to support the head of a quadrilateral fore-and-aft sail.

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

74. Type genus of the Ranidae.

76. Relating to or characteristic of or occurring on the sea or ships.

81. A dialect of Chinese spoken in the Yangtze delta.

82. An official prosecutor for a judicial district.

MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013

These next few years should be easier—filled with opportunities and friendships. Enjoy them. You will be teaching others about the importance of eliminating judgments and expectations from their lives. 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.

For the next few years, there are energies helping you maintain the stability you enjoy in life.

With the knowledge that weather trends seem to be changing and people are most concerned about travel, you remain interested in some exciting adventure or retreat. The ideas are just forming and some time may go by before you actually make your plans but this is a good time to talk to friends about travel and travel dreams.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) You may be able to bring a group together with words or ideas that transport others. You could be a public speaker or salesperson or travel agent. You are aggressive in the pursuit of gaining insight into all that is new, different and out of the ordinary. Electronics, computers and communications could be a big part of your life. Your love of job and practical skills makes you a fine manager and businessperson. You bring a great deal of love to your work. This evening you may be feeling more inward—more like sharing some time with your lover or with close friends. Close relationships take on a special meaning that is deep, powerful and important. Feeling needed is comfortable. You are moved to express your gratefulness.

Leo (July 23-August 22) The circumstances in which you find yourself today can be found in the environment or support system that surrounds you. This may mean you are present at a reunion or family dinner or an old friend is back in town and wants some social time. You make a few phone calls or walk in a room where peers or family gather and there is instant recognition, communication and either planning or memories that take over as topics. Gradually, you can work in questions about present and future plans that people have. At this time of progress we seem geared for great changes. With your encouragement, you can create opportunities for people to move in a most beneficial direction. Embrace the past, plan the future, live in the present, positively.

Virgo (August 23-September 22) Work, achievement and ambition are on your mind. Perhaps an employee review is in the near future. It is easy for you to work with those in authority. You enjoy working with others and would make a good manager. You can use part of this day to create an employee review for yourself. If you have been keeping a log during the year, especially during special events, you will already have some ideas about the difficulties of the past year and the hopes of a future with the company. This is a positive way to bring situations to the attention of higher-ups. Keeping a log with your notes dated and perhaps signatures of others or copies of letters, etc., will be your ticket to recognition and accountability. Keeping a log each day keeps you focused and on track.

Word Search

Libra (September 23-October 22) Your enthusiasm is strong. You are ready to make an impression that will help to sway a vote or persuade the young to correct their ways. You communicate with consummate skill—it is stimulating just being with you. Your high degree of mental concentration makes you an excellent student, able to study, write and communicate well. The whole concept of value is most important. Financial security and enjoying the finer things in life are what you strive to achieve. Study carefully regarding investments—ask questions! Today you also have the opportunity to focus on philosophy, theology and spiritual values, perhaps through a museum or library. Consider dropping by a kitchen store to see the new inventions for the kitchen.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) There is a sense of testing the limits—you must learn to pace yourself. You could be in a fun touring club, nature club or exercise club and the competition or the push you exert will certainly take its toll on you if you do not take time to enjoy and rest between sets of tasks. This afternoon will find that you are full of wit and sharp insights. This could be a time for real breakthroughs in the idea department. You are in top form when it comes to mental activity as well and a couple of the elder people in your neighborhood or in your family will benefit a great deal from your attention and your feedback. With the elderly, mental stimulation and physical conditioning are very important; you could make your living in this area of life.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) This is a great time to be with friends or family. Although your need for independence is obvious, occasionally there is a need to come back to the basic foundation of your life, such as family or friends, and touch base with these folks. Updating yourself with the happenings of others and noting the dates of graduations, birthdays, etc., are important and gain you the appreciation from others that you and they occasionally need. This is also a good time to begin the habit of balance where your finances are involved. Sometimes you can be very frugal, living on little and at other times you can blow it all in a moment.

Balance is the key. You may find yourself looking for a little romance this evening—at least you enjoy flirtation.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) CAPRICORN Some past event may be on your mind this morning and you may want to capture the good memories. The experience may spur you to write a poem, make a phone call, dive into some hobby, etc. As your day proceeds and you tend to normal chores, you may be inspired to paint a room or a wall or grab the camera and take a few upclose-and-personal pictures. Perhaps you have a lens on your camera that magnifies and you can photograph a bird nest or the center of a flower. Any of these experiences are in your energy field today and what you create each day, as you have now seen, will flow into the next day and help set the pattern for that day. It is wise, therefore, to make each day profitable and positive and inspiring, as much as possible.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) This is a good day to accomplish much. Good eye-hand coordination and a continued effort make almost any task run well. There is a different sort of work situation playing out today than your regular daily work. This could very well be a volunteer position or a position in a religious setting that will help a group to profit or improve or grow spiritually. You are encouraged to lend as much effort as possible and your attitude would best serve you to be pleasant and energy filled. Later today, the day is yours and you will nap, swim, sing, drive, exercise or any other activity that your heart desires. This evening is romantic and you are feeling quite passionate. Music brings an end to a most complete and fulfilling day.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) This is a good day to buckle down and accomplish whatever you set out to do. Any group project should proceed along quite well. In addition, any research or any work that requires digging, searching, investigating and getting beneath the surface can be successful. Today, the main library will be open, the internet is available for research and your own books or the new show at the local museum will have just what you need. This afternoon your taste in art in general is heightened.

Perhaps this is a good time to select merchandise or purchase tickets to a play or concert. There are opportunities this evening to just sit back and enjoy what you have. A movie could be enjoyed before the work week begins.

Yesterday’s Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

Daily SuDoku

Yesterday’s Solution

MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 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

Adaliya

22517144

Al-Jahra

25610011

Khaldiya

24848075

Al-Salmiya

25616368

Kaifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salem

22549134

Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Qadsiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Gar

22531908

Shaab

22518752

Qibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Qibla

22451082

Mirqab

22456536

Sharq

22465401

Salmiya

25746401

Jabriya

25316254

Maidan Hawally

25623444

Bayan

25388462

Mishref

25381200

W Hawally

22630786

Sabah

24810221

Jahra

24770319

New Jahra

24575755

West Jahra

24772608

South Jahra

24775066

North Jahra

24775992

North Jleeb

24311795

Ardhiya

24884079

Firdous

24892674

Omariya

24719048

N Khaitan

24710044

Fintas

23900322

INTERNATIONAL CALLS

PRIVATE CLINICS Ophthalmologists Dr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 25622444 Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 25752222 Dr. Masoma Habeeb 25321171 Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 25739999 Dr. Mohsen Abel 25757700 Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 25732223 Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 25732223 Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510 Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660 Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478 Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996 Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988 Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166 Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426 General Practitioners Dr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123 Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312 Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920 Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465 Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528 Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781 Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501 Urologists Dr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534 Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955 Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 22616660 Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120 Dr. Leons Joseph 66703427 Psychologists /Psychotherapists

Paediatricians

Plastic Surgeons Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf

22547272

Dr. Khaled Hamadi

Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari

22617700

Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed

Dr. Abdel Quttainah

25625030/60

Family Doctor Dr Divya Damodar

23729596/23729581

Psychiatrists Dr. Esam Al-Ansari

22635047

Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan

22613623/0

Gynaecologists & Obstetricians DrAdrian arbe

23729596/23729581

Dr. Verginia s.Marin

2572-6666 ext 8321

Endocrinologist

25665898 25340300

Dr. Zahra Qabazard

25710444

Dr. Sohail Qamar

22621099

Dr. Snaa Maaroof

25713514

Dr. Pradip Gujare

23713100

Dr. Zacharias Mathew

24334282

(1) Ear, Nose and Throat (2) Plastic Surgeon Dr. Abdul Mohsin Jafar, FRCS (Canada)

25655535

Dentists

Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan

22655539

Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami

25343406

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar

22641071/2

Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly

25739272

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed

22562226

22618787

Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer

22561444

Dr. Faysal Al-Fozan

22619557

Dr. Abdallateef Al-Katrash

22525888

Dr. Abidallah Al-Duweisan

25653755

Dr. Bader Al-Ansari

25620111

General Surgeons Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer

22610044

Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher

25327148

Internists, Chest & Heart Dr. Adnan Ebil Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan

22666300 25728004

Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra

25355515

Dr. Mobarak Aldoub

24726446

Dr Nasser Behbehani

25654300/3

Soor Center Tel: 2290-1677 Fax: 2290 1688

Neurologists

22639939

Dr. Mousa Khadada

info@soorcenter.com www.soorcenter.com

3729596/3729581

Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri

25633324

Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan

25345875

Gastrologists Dr. Sami Aman

22636464

Dr. Mohammad Al-Shamaly

25322030

Dr. Foad Abidallah Al-Ali

22633135

Kaizen center 25716707

25339330

Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari 25658888 Dr. Kamal Al-Shomr 25329924 Physiotherapists & VD Dr. Deyaa Shehab

25722291

Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees

22666288

Rheumatologists: Dr. Adel Al-Awadi

Dr Anil Thomas

Dr. Salem soso

Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman

25330060

Dr. Khaled Al-Jarallah

25722290

Internist, Chest & Heart DR.Mohammes Akkad

24555050 Ext 210

Dr. Mohammad Zubaid MB, ChB, FRCPC, PACC Assistant Professor Of Medicine Head, Division of Cardiology Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital Consultant Cardiologist Dr. Farida Al-Habib MD, PH.D, FACC Inaya German Medical Center Te: 2575077 Fax: 25723123

2611555-2622555

William Schuilenberg, RPC 2290-1677 Zaina Al Zabin, M.Sc. 2290-1677

Afghanistan 0093 Albania 00355 Algeria 00213 Andorra 00376 Angola 00244 Anguilla 001264 Antiga 001268 Argentina 0054 Armenia 00374 Australia 0061 Austria 0043 Bahamas 001242 Bahrain 00973 Bangladesh 00880 Barbados 001246 Belarus 00375 Belgium 0032 Belize 00501 Benin 00229 Bermuda 001441 Bhutan 00975 Bolivia 00591 Bosnia 00387 Botswana 00267 Brazil 0055 Brunei 00673 Bulgaria 00359 Burkina 00226 Burundi 00257 Cambodia 00855 Cameroon 00237 Canada 001 Cape Verde 00238 Cayman Islands 001345 Central African 00236 Chad 00235 Chile 0056 China 0086 Colombia 0057 Comoros 00269 Congo 00242 Cook Islands 00682 Costa Rica 00506 Croatia 00385 Cuba 0053 Cyprus 00357 Cyprus (Northern) 0090392 Czech Republic 00420 Denmark 0045 Diego Garcia 00246 Djibouti 00253 Dominica 001767 Dominican Republic 001809 Ecuador 00593 Egypt 0020 El Salvador 00503 England (UK) 0044 Equatorial Guinea 00240 Eritrea 00291 Estonia 00372 Ethiopia 00251 Falkland Islands 00500 Faroe Islands 00298 Fiji 00679 Finland 00358 France 0033 French Guiana 00594 French Polynesia 00689 Gabon 00241 Gambia 00220 Georgia 00995 Germany 0049 Ghana 00233 Gibraltar 00350 Greece 0030 Greenland 00299 Grenada 001473 Guadeloupe 00590 Guam 001671 Guatemala 00502 Guinea 00224 Guyana 00592 Haiti 00509 Holland (Netherlands) 0031 Honduras 00504 Hong Kong 00852 Hungary 0036 Ibiza (Spain) 0034 Iceland 00354 India 0091 Indian Ocean 00873 Indonesia 0062

Iran 0098 Iraq 00964 Ireland 00353 Italy 0039 Ivory Coast 00225 Jamaica 001876 Japan 0081 Jordan 00962 Kazakhstan 007 Kenya 00254 Kiribati 00686 Kuwait 00965 Kyrgyzstan 00996 Laos 00856 Latvia 00371 Lebanon 00961 Liberia 00231 Libya 00218 Lithuania 00370 Luxembourg 00352 Macau 00853 Macedonia 00389 Madagascar 00261 Majorca 0034 Malawi 00265 Malaysia 0060 Maldives 00960 Mali 00223 Malta 00356 Marshall Islands 00692 Martinique 00596 Mauritania 00222 Mauritius 00230 Mayotte 00269 Mexico 0052 Micronesia 00691 Moldova 00373 Monaco 00377 Mongolia 00976 Montserrat 001664 Morocco 00212 Mozambique 00258 Myanmar (Burma) 0095 Namibia 00264 Nepal 00977 Netherlands (Holland) 0031 Netherlands Antilles 00599 New Caledonia 00687 New Zealand 0064 Nicaragua 00505 Nigar 00227 Nigeria 00234 Niue 00683 Norfolk Island 00672 Northern Ireland (UK) 0044 North Korea 00850 Norway 0047 Oman 00968 Pakistan 0092 Palau 00680 Panama 00507 Papua New Guinea 00675 Paraguay 00595 Peru 0051 Philippines 0063 Poland 0048 Portugal 00351 Puerto Rico 001787 Qatar 00974 Romania 0040 Russian Federation 007 Rwanda 00250 Saint Helena 00290 Saint Kitts 001869 Saint Lucia 001758 Saint Pierre 00508 Saint Vincent 001784 Samoa US 00684 Samoa West 00685 San Marino 00378 Sao Tone 00239 Saudi Arabia 00966 Scotland (UK) 0044 Senegal 00221 Seychelles 00284 Sierra Leone 00232 Singapore 0065 Slovakia 00421 Slovenia 00386 Solomon Islands 00677

MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013

lifestyle G O S S I P

Hudgens and Butler getting serious

Price has given birth via C-section

V

anessa Hudgens and Austin Butler are “very serious”. The 24-year-old star has been dating the 22-year-old actor for almost two years and friends say they hate to be separated from each other. A source told Us Weekly magazine: “She spends as much time in New York with him as possible.

They’re both carefree, funny people, who complement each other.” Vanessa recently played hard partying girl Candy in ‘Spring Breakers’ earlier this year, where she had to take part in an onscreen threesome with Ashley Benson and James Franco, which she found stressful, and never wants to do it again. She said: “It was very nerve-racking for me. I told my agent that I never want to do it ever again.” Vanessa doesn’t like to party hard in real life, and prefers nights in at home, dancing in her room to loud clubs. She said: “It’s not my kind of thing, the Spring Break thing. If I want to go crazy I’ll listen to really loud music at home. That’s pretty much it.

“Throw me in a room with some really loud music and some cool lighting and I am a dancing queen.”

Jesy and George are dating?

J

esy Nelson and George Shelley are dating. The Little Mix singer and the Union J star fuelled speculation they are together after being spotted embracing at the Virgin Media V Festival Louder Lounge VIP area at Hylands Park, Essex, south east England, yesterday.

A source told BANG Showbiz: “Jesy and George looked so good together. “They were hand in hand in the festival arena and he had his arm lovingly draped around her for their walk back to the Louder Lounge.

“They make such a cute couple.”

George has previously made no secret of his desire to date the 22year-old brunette, admitting to having a crush on her. When asked in a recent interview who he fancied, he said: “Jesy from Little Mix. Please put that, so I can meet her.” Jesy is thought to have split from Diversity dancer Jordan Banjo and recently shot down speculation she was dating Loveable Rogues star Eddie Brett. She tweeted: “I would once again like to confirm that I am NOT with Eddie from the Lovable rouges much love Jesy #Single (sic)” Several stars also chilled out in the Louder Lounge yesterday including Jesy’s Little Mix band members LeighAnne Pinnock and Jade Thirwall, as well as One Direction’s Niall Horan, Gabrielle Aplin, Tulisa, cricketer Stuart Broad and soccer star Ledley King.

K

atie Price gave birth to her son via emergency Caesarean section after her unborn baby’s heart rate dropped to a dangerous level. The former glamour model welcomed Jett Riviera - who weighed five pounds and two ounces - into the world last week and was rushed into surgery for her fourth child, her first with husband Kieran Hayler. The star’s family holiday in Europe had already become a nightmare after bloody tests showed she had an infection which ran the risk of harming the baby in her womb, Speaking to The Sun on Sunday newspaper, she said: “The baby’s heart rate was also really low. “The next thing I know, a nurse is in my own saying, ‘Get ready now.

You have five minuets to shower. You are having C-section

soon’. “I started panicking. I have a terrible fear of needles and I was dreading the epidural. “I got in the shower in shock. I kept thinking, ‘This will be my last shower before I have my fourth child’. The next thing I knew I was being wheeled into the theatre.” Her fears were made worse when Kieran was told he couldn’t follow her into surgery, leaving Katie “hysterical”. She added: “They wouldn’t allow him in. We pleaded but everything was happening so fast and before I knew it I was forced to say goodbye. “I was sobbing, ‘I love you, I love you’ as the doors swung shut behind me. It was like a scene from a dramatic film. “I carried on pleading but no one could speak English well. I was hysterical.”

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rincess Diana’s death could be re-investigated due to sensational new claims. Scotland Yard have been reportedly passed on new information including an allegation the late British monarch was murdered by a soldier. Diana, 36, and Dodi Fayed died 16 years ago after their driver Hendri Paul crashed their car in Paris and the new claims surrounding their deaths are being assessed for their credibility. A source told the Sunday Mirror newspaper: “A new witness has come forward and seems to be suggesting that Diana’s death could be linked to the British military.

“Officers have a duty to assess all information but their first job is to work out whether this information is credible. “It was passed to Scotland Yard by the Royal Military Police.” According to reports in The Sun on Sunday newspaper, the new claims include allegations Diana was assassinated and make references to her secret diary and the SAS. An inquest in 2008 ruled she and Dodi were unlawfully killed due to their chauffeur’s “grossly negligent driving”. The timing of the allegations come after her son Prince William welcomed his and Duchess Catherine’s first son - Prince George - into the world last month, and just two weeks before the 16th anniversary of Diana’s death.

Princess Diana’s death to be re-investigated?

Gallagher hires McCartney’s divorce lawyer

Jazz vocalist Jane Harvey dies at 88 J

ane Harvey, the jazz vocalist who performed with the likes of Desi Arnaz, Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman, has died. She was 88. A spokesman for Harvey says the singer died Thursday at her home in Los Angeles after a battle with cancer. Harvey began her career as a performer at Cafe Society in New York. She went on to record such songs as “You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me,” “Close as Pages in a Book” and “Only Another Boy and Girl” with the Goodman orchestra. She also recorded “A Rainy Night in Rio” with Arnaz and “A Hundred Dreams From Now” with Ellington. Harvey is survived by her husband, William King, her son Bob Thiele Jr, daughter-in-law Amy Kanter Thiele and a grandson, Owen Thiele.

Cole glad her 20s are over C

heryl Cole is glad her 20s are behind her.

While the brunette beauty - who turned 30 on June 30 - admits her 20s were “amazing”, she is delighted to see the back of them because it was such a hectic time in her life and she now feels able to spend time chilling out. She said: “[Turning 30] always felt like a sigh of relief. I’m glad to put my 20s behind me.

They were amazing - don’t get me wrong - and I’ve crammed so much in, but I’m like, ‘Relax.’

“I’m a woman. I can just breathe now and not worry about life any more. The good, the bad and the ugly ... it’s all character-building and makes the woman you are.” Cheryl - who is dating dancer Tre Holloway and was previously married to soccer player Ashley Cole - feels her attitude to life has changed for the better since she turned 30 earlier this year, and she is focused on looking to the future. She added to HELLO! magazine: “I feel my mentality has changed. I feel calmer and more centered; I feel settled. I’m a grown-up woman now - it’s official.

“I feel much better than I did in my 20s. I look back at 21-year-old me and I definitely don’t want to be her again.”

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iam Gallagher has recruited Sir Paul McCartney’s divorce lawyer for his split from Nicole Appleton.

The Beady Eye rocker has hired Fiona Shackleton - who handled the former Beatles star’s divorce from Heather Mills - to represent him as he looks to protect his “massive fortune”. His marriage started to fall apart last month over claims he had fathered a love child with US journalist Liza Ghorbani, and he is also reportedly is love with his aide and new girlfriend Debbie Dwyther. An insider told The Sun on Sunday newspaper: “Hiring Fiona Shackleton is a huge statement of intent from Liam. “Divorce had been mentioned but

Kim Kardashian wants more kids T

he 32-year-old reality TV star only gave birth to her first child in June but is already talking about having more kids with her partner Kanye West. A source told Life & Style magazine: “She’s told friends she wants to have another baby soon, within a year.

Kim’s a planner and she’s always had a timeline in her head. Even before Kanye came into the picture, she wanted kids while she’s young.” However, her family and friends are not impressed by the idea. The insider said: “If Kim gets pregnant any time soon her friends will think she’s crazy. She was a miserable pregnant lady. “It was as big a relief to everyone else when she gave birth as it was to her because she stopped complaining about how bloated she was.” Kim has also reportedly turned to her sister Kourtney, 34, who has kids Mason, three and Penelope, 13 months, who has provided nutrition advice. A source told Us Weekly magazine: “Kourtney credits her healthy eating more than anything else to her losing the baby weight so she’s more into sharing food tips than workouts.

Kourtney, more than anyone, understands what Kim is going through. “But she continues to tell Kim that the baby needs nutrients so she should be more concerned about the baby’s health than focusing on her weight loss.”

until now nobody knew he would actually go through with it. Now the wheels are in motion. Nicole will be devastated. Shackleton is one of the best. “She is incredibly shrewd in the courtroom. On top of that, she represented Liam’s all-time hero Paul McCartney.

There is every chance this could turn nasty and it looks like Liam will not be giving up his massive fortune easily.” It is also claimed the singer has moved quickly with preparation for divorce proceedings because of his blossoming romance with Debbie, who are said to be “completely in love”. The source added: “They are 100 per cent together and completely in love. As it stands they are living in limbo, hiding away, unable to properly go public with how they feel. “But once divorce proceedings begin Debbie will feel more reassured that Liam is genuinely serious about her and they can start planning for their future together. “With that in mind he is going to sit down with his family in the next few days and tell them just how much he cares about Debbie.”

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MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013

LIFESTYLE G O S S I P

Gomez’s family urge her away

from Bieber

Parker heading for marriage arriage is ‘on the cards’ for Tom Parker. The Wanted singer’s girlfriend of three years, Kelsey Hardwick, says the pair are planning to get hitched in the future, but she won’t let him go down on one knee until he agrees to wear a wedding ring. She said: “Marriage is definitely on the cards, but I don’t know when. Tom told me he can’t wear a wedding ring because he hates anything around his fingers or neck, so I told him I won’t marry him until he agrees to wear a ring.” When they eventually say ‘I do’, the couple plan to have a low-key ceremony, followed by a wild bash in keeping with the band’s partymad lifestyle. Kelsey joked: “I think we’d like to keep [the wedding] low-key, but any party with The Wanted wouldn’t be low-key.” The 24-year-old beauty insists she trusts Tom “110 per cent” and says he would never cheat on her with anyone, let alone a celebrity, because they share the same fun-loving outlook on life. She said: “He may be a pop star who travels the world, but he could cheat on me in our local supermarket ... and I don’t think the lads try and lead him astray. “They know Tom has the best of both worlds. I’m supportive of his career and I like to party.” And it seems the ‘Walks Like Rihanna’ hitmaker knows the way to a girl’s heart as Kelsey revealed he is constantly spoiling her by buying expensive handbags. She added to new! magazine: “He treats me very well. He’s bought me Mulberry bags.”

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elena Gomez’s family have warned her to stay away from Justin Bieber. The 21year-old singer’s mother Mandy and stepfather, Brian Teefey, have urged her not to get back together with the bad boy ‘As Long as You Love Me’ singer, as they believe he is trouble and insist he is putting her relationship with them and her new baby sister, Gracie Elliot, in jeopardy. A source told Life & Style magazine: “They told her Justin was a really bad person. They said she has to get rid of him from her life, otherwise they can’t be part of her life - her new baby sister included.

There were tears from everyone and Selena was devastated.” Selena’s friends are equally

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unimpressed with the 19-year-old singer. The source added: “Her pals can’t stand him, they think he’s a loser.” Justin, 19, has caused controversy recently after he was spotted peeing in a bin and in a separate incident he is said to have instigated a nightclub brawl in New York. According to an eyewitness of the alleged incidents, the 19-year-old star was acting “like he was in ‘Die Hard’” outside the South Pointe club in Southampton, where 22year-old Wayne Rennalls claimed he was beaten up by Justin’s security team after butting heads with the singer over a bow tie.

Taylor-Johnson plans careers around kids

Cuoco overwhelmed by Cavill aley Cuoco was overwhelmed by her relationship with Henry Cavill. The ‘Man of Steel’ star and ‘The Big Bang Theory’ beauty split up last month following a brief romance and friends of Kaley say she found the interest in their relationship difficult to deal with. A source told the US edition of OK! Magazine: “She just got overwhelmed with the very public Superman relationship. She’s not used to that much attention and chaos in her life.” Henry had split from actress Gina Carano earlier this year following a 10-month relationship, while Kaley briefly dated musician Bret Bollinger after ending her engagement to Josh Resnik in March 2012. Kaley also previously dated her ‘Big Bang Theory’ co-star and on/off onscreen boyfriend Johnny Galecki for two years, but the pair managed to keep their relationship a secret for the duration. She has now moved on to tennis player Ryan Sweeting and is much happier with this low-key romance. The insider added: “She thinks Ryan’s a really hot, nice guy. It’s nice that he’s not really an industry guy.”

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Kutcher worked

aron Taylor-Johnson and his wife Sam schedule their careers around their children. The ‘Kick-Ass 2’ star says he and his 46-year-old spouse try to make sure at least one parent is available to look after their four daughters including Wylda Rae, three, and 18-month-old Romy Hero, as well as two children from Sam’s previous marriage - while the other is working. He explained to BANG Showbiz: “We travel as a family. We made a decision a long time ago that’s how we’re gonna do it. The last thing I wanna do is be separated from my wife and kids. It’s important that one of us is with the kids.”

Aaron recently filmed a remake of ‘Godzilla’ while Sam looked after the children, but now she has signed on to direct the eagerly anticipated big screen version of ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’, the 23-year-old actor will take a break from acting. He said: “She’s taken on this movie so I’ve stepped back from taking any other offers. I do one thing a year and that thing can be anything from three- to-six months. Luckily for me, we get the luxury of having a lot more time [off ] than most people do.”

The Hollywood star admits it’s tough to juggle his career and children, but he is happy to have struck a balance. He added: “You balance it like anything good. We travel as a family and we set up home and schools, and make it as secure as possible for the little ones. It’s all about family and being together and it’s grounding [for the kids]. We don’t ever travel anywhere without each other.” ‘Kick-Ass 2’ is in cinemas now.

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Lopez sboyfriend confirms American Idol

return

hard for success shton Kutcher doesn’t take his success for granted. The ‘Jobs’ star, who recently received praise for advising young viewers of the Teen Choice Awards to seize every opportunity, insists he has worked very hard for his Hollywood career. Speaking about what inspired his speech at the ceremony, the 35-year-old actor told Ryan Seacrest on his KIISFM show on Friday: “I think that right now we’re in a little bit of sticky time. “And I felt like you can’t replace hard work and nobody is going to give us anything in this life. [And] it’s important to remember, when you see movie stars ... we all started from the same place and everybody who is there somehow worked their way there. It doesn’t just happen.” Ashton, who is dating his former ‘That 70s Show’ co-star Mila Kunis, added:

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Garth and Facinelli sell house ennie Garth and her ex-husband Peter Facinelli have sold their house for $2 million less than the original asking price. The former couple, whose divorce was finalised in June, sold the property they used to share with their daughters, Luca Bella, 15, Lola Ray, nine, and Fiona Eve, six, in Toluca Lake, Los Angeles, for $3.99 million to ‘The Big Bang Theory’ co-creator and executive producer, Bill Prady. The ‘Twilight Saga’ star and the former ‘Beverly Hills 90210’ actress bought the house in 2003 for $1.35 million and lived there until they separated in January 2012 after 11 years of marriage, according to the LA Times. They then put it on the market for $5.9 million. The property, which was built in 1937 and was previously owned by country singer Tex Ritter, boasts a formal dining room, six bedrooms, eight bathrooms, two master bedroom suites, gym, bar, games room and dual offices. In a joint statement at the time of their break-up, Jennie and Peter, who share joint custody of their daughters, insisted they would stay “dedicated” to raising their children “together”. They said: “While we have decided to end our marriage, we both share the same deep love and devotion to our children. “We remain dedicated to raising our beautiful daughters together. We ask for privacy and respect during this time.”

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“If we want to make the world a better place ...

We are going to have to build it. I just felt like I was given the Ultimate Choice Award and I don’t know how many more Teen Choice Awards I’ll be invited to go to, but I felt like if I didn’t take that opportunity to share what I’ve learned through the process then I was probably missing an opportunity to share something pretty important.” The actor won praise after he told teenagers at the ceremony last Sunday not be afraid to create the life of their dreams. He said: “Everything around us that we call life was made up of people that are no smarter than you.

And you can build your own things and you can build your own life that other people can live in. “So build a life, don’t live one, find your opportunities and always be sexy.”

West shops for wedding rings anye West went shopping for wedding rings on Friday. The ‘New Slaves’ hitmaker, whose girlfriend Kim Kardashian gave birth to their first child, daughter North West, in June, was spotted looking at diamond-encrusted jewellery for their upcoming wedding at Cartier in Beverly Hills. A source told gossip website X17.com: “Kanye was looking really carefully at wedding bands, like he was making a big decision. And by big, I mean, BIG-the stuff he was looking at was the most expensive, biggest diamonds in the whole store.” The 36-year-old rapper left the store empty-handed despite handing over his credit card at the counter and it is believed he ordered a custom-made piece for the ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians’ star, 32, who was married twice before. A source previously revealed that the couple, who were spotted out together in public for the first time with their two-month-old daughter this week, are in the final stages of planning their big day, which is tipped to take place in Paris. The insider said: “He wants something really cool and big and over-the-top. They’ll most likely have a destination wedding. Kanye has never been married before and wants a big wedding. So Kim is getting used to the idea again.”

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ennifer Lopez’s boyfriend has confirmed she is returning to ‘American Idol’. Casper Smart, who has been dating the ‘Dance Again’ hitmaker for almost two years, accidentally let the cat out of the bag while promoting his own new show ‘A Step Away’ on Friday as he thought an official announcement had already been made. Asked if his girlfriend, who is rumored to have signed a $15 million contact with FOX, is returning to the judging panel for the 13th season, the former backup dancer, 25, told E! News: “Yes.” It’s believed the star approached the network about a return as she wants to be based in Los Angeles so she can have a settled life with her five-year-old twins, Max and Emme, as they prepare to go to start school. A source added: “Returning to ‘American Idol’ makes sense for Jennifer this season, as the show’s schedule will allow her to focus on new film and TV projects” at the same time. And, of course, her twins are starting school this year and she will have time for her family.” The 44-year-old singer - who appeared on two other seasons of the show in 2010 and 2011 - was reportedly paid $20 million for her second season and $12 million for her first season on the judging panel. Country music star Keith Urban is also returning to the show while a third member of the judging panel has yet to be revealed. — Bang Showbiz

MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013

lifestyle F A S H I O N

A person poses with bags at Cath Kidston head office in London. — AFP photos

Vintage British homeware firm Cath Kidston blooms T

he world of Cath Kidston is instantly identifiable, full of bright colors, cheerful prints and nostalgia for an imagined English way of life-and has made the homeware company one of Britain’s global success stories. A cult following for the vintagethemed bags, clothes and kitchenware, particularly in Asia, helped the company break through the £100 million ($155 million, 117 million euro) sales barrier this year for the first time. It is a milestone for the brand as it celebrates 20 years since Kidston, an interior designer with connections to the English aristocracy, opened a “glorified junk shop” in west London.

There are now 118 Cath Kidston stores, more than half of them outside Britain. It’s a particular hit in Japan where there are more than 30 stores, while there are a dozen in South Korea and the company has plans to boost its presence in China and expand into Singapore and Indonesia. “ They love the Britishness of the brand-the quirky, quintessential British nature of us. They love the practical nature of our product,” chief executive Kenny Wilson told AFP. “And like customers around the world, they just love the distinctiveness of our print design.”

Cheerful, or twee Kidston was a pioneer of vintage style, and stocked her first shop with second-hand items that she transformed using updated English

heritage designs. Her first creation was an ironing board cover in what became a signature rose print, and the 1,000-strong product line now includes everything from tea cups to towels. They are decorated with hand-drawn designs of flowers, spots and strawberries, as well as cowboys, jolly seascapes, London buses and Buckingham Palace guards. “Our signature look is colourful, cheerful, witty, but never too fussy, too pretty or too twee,” she has wrote in a book marking the 20th anniversary.

The image Cath Kidston projects of England, of country house kitchens and rosefilled gardens, bears no resemblance to most Britons’ lives-but that is part of the appeal. The company was one of the first to cash in on the desire for “glamping”, or glamorous camping, offering floral print tents, gumboots, umbrellas for style-conscious festival-goers. “I love the vintage feel, the floral fabrics are really homely and they are also good quality,” said Rose Baylis, a 33-year-old nurse and mother of two from Oxford.

At an outlet in Tokyo’s hip Shinjuku district, 23-year-old office worker Kaori Nishida picks up a lunchbox, and a parasol to beat the Japanese capital’s sweltering summer heat.

She told AFP she liked the “pretty designsthey’re not radical or avant-garde. It’s attractive without being glitzy.” The kitsch look is not for everyone, and for many, Cath Kidston is the antithesis of cool. Her critics say she promotes a rose-tinted view of 1950s domes-

Cath Kidston CEO Kenny Wilson poses for a picture at the company’s head office in London.

A person poses with kitchenware products at Cath Kidston. ticity that is affordable only to middle-class consumers who have the cash to spend £16 on a floral cookie jar. But the company is thriving in an economic climate that has felled many bigger retailers. Last year the British business grew by 21 percent, and Asian sales grew by almost 53 percent.

Focus on key markets Kidston built the company up slowly, fear-

Centrepoint launches its sensational ‘Back to School’ collection across all stores!

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etting back to school will be even more fun this year as Centrepoint launches its ‘Back to School’ collection across all stores. Get ready to welcome the new school term with juniors latest selection of merchandise dedicated to the world of animation and actionheroes. Featuring the widest range of licensed character merchandise in the market.

Juniors collection includes everything from school bags and water bottles to stationary pouches and lunch boxes. The exclusive range of Superman and WWE back-to-school merchandise promises to win the interest of the boys, followed closely by the likes of Spiderman, Ben10, Monsuno, Smurfs, Disney’s Cars and Planes. Young football fans can also pick from exciting FC Barcelona and Manchester United themed school gear.

Favorites such as Disney Princess, Hello Kitty, Barbie, Dora the Explorer, Marie the Cat (for pre-schoolers), Lulu Caty and Angry Birds are part of the colorful and trendy line-up for girls.

Designed for boys and girls between 3 to 16 years, Juniors “Back to School” range is sure to help make a positive start to the new school year offering a more extensive collection for teens with stylish and welldesigned options. Customers can shop ‘Back to School’ items for KD 20 from teens department and get KD 2.500 gift voucher free.

Lifestyle boasts of all school essentials including trendy school trolley bags and back packs, funky lunch boxes, trendy, attractive pencil cases and striking stationery. The range includes well-known brands like Happy House, Jansport, Esprit, Minmie, Kimmidoll, Ferrari, Ducati,

and O’Neil to name a few. The girls’ collection is designed in pretty cotton candy pink color with charming characters on it while the boys’ collection is more of bold colors like red, blue, and black.

Grab your kid’s favorite collection from our extensive range of “Back to school” collection before the school bells start ringing from your nearest Centrepoint Lifestyle store. At Lifestyle buy for KD 20 from teens dept and get a (lunch kit) free.

As summer vacations draw to a close, high-street fashion retailer Splash has launched its “Back to School” collection, just in time. Taking inspiration from the apparel line, the collection exudes a more mature approach aiming to target varsity students.

Featuring must-haves like school bags, trolley bags, box files, pencil holders, etc the collection finds notable additions such as drawstring bags, side-sling bags and pouches that are not only fashion-savvy but lasting style-statements too.

Youngsters can select from over an assortment that varies from larger than life representations of their favorite brands available at Splash to Varsity inspired ones and right down to the Classics. The collection is available across all

Centrepoint - Splash stores.

At Shoe Mart, “Back to School” gets bigger and better, offering a wide variety of school shoes, bags and other important items for little learners to ensure their ‘must -have’ list is checked.

To begin the new school year in flair, girls can choose from elegant range of shiny leather bowed and flowered pumps and ballerinas, while boys can choose from a number of comfortable casual styles. Remarkable selection of sports shoes for boys and girls will spring school time more delight. With the rich choice of shoes, your child is guaranteed to find a favorite pair to suit and fit every occasion.

A wide assortment of school shoes for girls from Classic Mary Jane’s to black ballet pumps and black school shoes for boys will be available in store as well.

The “Back to school” range offers a selection of school bags, an exciting range of back packs, as well as pencil cases, lunch boxes and water bottles. From practical and simple, to trendy and fun school

bags, children are sure to find what their hearts desire at Shoe Mart. This season’s styles offer colorful backpacks and accessories for girls and Lamborghini styled bags for boys. The diversity in the range of school bags will most definitely meet every child’s personal likings and preferences. A definite keepsake, customer gets a free alarm clock on every purchase of “Back to school” product.

Head to the nearest Centrepoint store located at Rai, Hawally, Salmiya, Kuwait City, Fahaheel, Fintas, Sulaibikhat, Jahra and the flagship store at The Avenues, The Mall and let your children go wild and create their new and improved “Back to

ful of accumulating debt and of diluting the brand-she designed a floral print for Ikea but would not let it use her name.

She sold a majority stake in 2003 to allow the company to grow, and now 54, remains full-time creative director. Initially it overstretched itself, opening and then closing two stores in New York and Los Angeles, and the firm now focuses on the key markets of Britain and Asia. Bags remain the big sellers.

A backpack in the ‘garden rose’ design is one of South Korea’s top selling fashion items after a number of celebrities were spotted wearing it.

“The affordable luxury positioning fits the budgets of a consumer base which appreciates luxury items but cannot always spend money on high-price products,” said Antonia Branston, analyst at Euromonitor International. The success of the company is reflected in the sheer number of cheap, knock-off Cath Kidston products which fill street stalls across Asia-and even at home. At London’s Camden Market, floral print and polka dot bags are on sale carrying a remarkably familiar white label with red Italic writing. Only they read “Colour Life”, rather than “Cath Kidston”. — AFP

Paul Frank teams up with Native American artists

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or Fall 2013, Gap goes Back to Blue with a collection of premium ‘Indigo’ denim including the Slim Selvedge Jean, Selvedge Heritage Jacket, Henley Tee, Pocket Tee, Crew Neck Fleece, Shawl Collar Fleece, Zip Hoodie, Oxford Shirt, Plaid Worker Shirt for Men. For women, boyfriend jean is introduced as the predominant shape in the collection. The capsule includes tops, outerwear, and accessories that have been produced using genuine indigo dyes.

Gap also introduces a new style story ‘Salt’. The fading of summer is reflected here with the fading colors with salt-washed grays and watery blues that help emulate a more muted color palette and add diversity to the collection.

The season also witnesses ‘Sycamore’ story for men, where color dominates with lush greens in the woven’s teamed with vibrant violets in the knits. The ‘Surplus’ collection for both men and women is made up of performance khakis with pops of luminous yellow in beautiful textures and fabrications.

The slim crop pants and woven’s make and enhance the stripes and dots while monochrome sets the collection with a 60’s twist for women’s ‘Work wear’. As for men,

Merino V’s, Cotton Cardigans teamed with the Slim Stretch Solid Shirts dictate the look. Bottoms are made up of Tailored Slim, Classic Straight and Tailored Straight. Outerwear mirrors the classic feel and includes a Wool Pea coat and a classic Trench.

As the season progresses, Gap introduces ‘Colorama’ story for women where colors of every mutation makes this collection bold and bright for Fall.

Key items include Bella sweater in solids and stripes and Novelty sweater in polka dots and mixed stripes. Cool candy colors infused with prints and pastel patterns with fresh printed plaids are teamed up with super skinny pants while Plaid and layering pieces such as Polka Dot Puffer Vets and Plaid Moto Jackets for women help enhance the winter look. The new collection is available from August 2013 at all Gap stores in UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman.

MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013

lifestyle F E A T U R E S

Comedians help South Africa laugh at its brutal past “T

here are white men who didn’t benefit from apartheid. They are called albinos.”

The audience shrieks with laughter at Chester Missing, a comic puppet who styles himself South Africa’s “hottest political analyst”. The black puppet and its white comedian master have joined a growing group of no-holds-barred jokesters who slaughter the country’s holy cows like racism and the ruling African National Congress (ANC). A group of around 100 comedians of all races perform to equally multi-racial audiences across the country.

Breaking taboos, their jokes help to narrow social gaps dating from white minority rule, which ended

dren and a questionable track record in government, Zuma provides ample material. Celebrated comedian Nik Rabinowitz had a go at Zuma after a bid by the president to calm investors actually had the opposite effect and sent the country’s currency plummeting. If Zuma made a speech in support of crime, Rabinowitz contended, it would actually send the rate of the scourge plunging in one of the world’s deadliest countries outside war zones, Rabinowitz said on a weekly radio show.

“South African comedy is uniquely confrontational, maybe because of our history. It confronts a lot of things that a lot of countries in the world ... don’t really deal with even on stage,” stand-up comedian Loyiso Gola told AFP. Gola, who also hosts a television news parody show, has himself likened voting for Zuma to buying a trouble-ridden used car, as political parties gear up for presidential elections next year.

Still obsessed with racial issues Even after almost 20 years into democracy, comedians are still obsessed with racial issues. “Race is our big topic ... because we are still trying to understand how it works,” said Conrad Koch, the puppeteer and

Comedian Conrad Koch talks to his puppet, Chester Missing, shortly before the start of a performance of the Chester Missing Roadshow, directed by award-winning Heinrich Reisenhofer, at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg. — AFP photos nearly two decades ago. Some say the humour brings about almost unimaginable transformations.

“Comedy really helped the process of healing,” said veteran comedian Joe Parker, who has been on stage since 1971. The comics bring blacks and whites together in the “most amazing manner”, he added.

Some years after the end of apartheid racial segregation, black comedy outfits began to sprout and perform even in front of mainly white audiences.

“The fact that there was a black guy up there poking fun at himself as well as the people in the audience made it okay,” said Parker. “People I would imagine 10 years before may have been highly offended by the equation were sitting there laughing,” he added.

Popular topics include cultural and religious differences, as well as glaring social issues like rampant crime. Comedians also take on politicians. At the top, President Jacob Zuma is the butt of many political jokes. A self-avowed polygamist with over 20 chil-

Comedian Conrad Koch prepares for a performance.

Comedian Conrad Koch prepares in his dressing room for a performance. ventriloquist who makes Chester Missing “talk”.

“Comedy is an outlet for us to discuss identity politics-what is black, what is white, where do we get this idea of Indian,” Koch told AFP. Even the respected Mandela family does not escape.

As 95-year-old Nobel Peace laureate Nelson Mandela remains critically ill though making “slow but steady” progress in hospital, comedians present his family fighting for a share of his legacy and mon-

Picasso murals at heart of debate after Breivik bombing

Comedian Conrad Koch talks to the audience before bringing on stage his puppet Chester Missing during a performance. ey. “That is what happens when you see your grandfather’s picture on 100 rand bills,” Chester Missing sums up. South Africa’s currency, the rand, bears the

smiling the image of its first black president.

Progressive laws guarantee freedom of expression, which helps comedy to blossom.

“Where we are is where countries aspire to be,” Parker said. Neighboring Zimbabwe has arrested people who poke fun at veteran leader President Robert Mugabe-in power since 1980. “Other African countries could learn that throwing people in jail for making jokes about the president isn’t that effective,” Rabinowitz said. But a bill that awaits Zuma’s approval will allow unprecedented classification of government information-and hefty jail terms for people who leak such material.

Critics slammed the new legislation as an attempt to stem criticism of the government. No comedian has landed in trouble over acrid humor, but there are fears that the law set the ball rolling for future restrictive legislation. “When you see some of the laws that the government is passing to protect themselves, you wonder whether at some point in future ... comedians are going to get fined,” said Parker. “It’s a sad way to go.” — AFP

US artist turns dumpster into a home T

People pass Picasso’s mural art work ‘The Fisherman’ on the government quarter’s ‘Y building’ in Oslo, Norway. — AFP ive Picasso murals that survived media commentators. Citing the historical Anders Behring Breivik’s bombing of importance of “H block”, both architecturalan Oslo government block in 2011 are ly, politically and artistically, the head of now at the heart of a divisive debate in the Directorate for Cultural Heritage Joern Norway on the buildings’ fate. The murals Holme has called for it to be repaired. “We drawn by the Spanish master in the late can’t demolish the best (parts) of a cultural 1950s and 1960s-”The Beach”, “The Seagull”, era just because we find it ugly today,” “Satyr and Faun” and two versions of “The Holme said.

Fishermen”-risk being removed from the ‘Open to dialogue’ location for which they were conceived if “That’s not worthy of a cultural nation. the damaged buildings are torn down. The government is currently mulling whether Destroying the best thing that Norway did to demolish the structures or repair them. in a particular era of its history is contrary Picasso’s artwork adorns the concrete inte- to all of our values,” he added. A severeriors and exteriors of two of the govern- looking tower that is reminiscent, albeit on ment buildings erected in central Oslo in a smaller scale, of the UN headquarters in New York and designed by Norwegian the post-war period.

The murals, four of which were drawn architect Erling Viksjoe, “H block” never specifically for the buildings and are done won over the hearts of all Norwegians. A in a childlike style with simple geometric poll published in July in daily Verdens Gang figures, were reproduced by Norwegian showed that 39.5 percent of people wantartist Carl Nesjar who sandblasted them ed to see it demolished while 34.3 percent into the concrete. They mark Picasso’s first thought it should be kept. “We now have a foray into concrete murals. The so-called “H golden opportunity to get rid of this brutal, block”, a 17-storey tower that houses the ugly and degrading architecture that has prime minister’s offices, is “an international been erected in Oslo in the past 80 years,” treasure,” said Norwegian Environment artist Dag Hol wrote in a comment in the Minister Baard Vegar Solhjell, who is also daily Aftenposten last month.

“The architecture (of “H block”) recalls tasked with cultural heritage issues.

“If it were demolished it would lead to more than anything else the dreariness, an international debate,” he told daily desolation and anthropophobia of commuDagsavisen. Breivik kicked off his July 22, nist eastern Europe and the Soviet Union,” 2011 rampage that led to the deaths of 77 wrote Hol, who is not well-known among people by setting off a van bomb at the Norwegians but whose comments garnered much attention. Furthermore, foot of “H block”.

The blast killed eight people, ravaged Picasso’s family owns the rights to his works the structure, and badly damaged several and has to be consulted on what happens neighboring ministries. At the end of June, to the murals.

“Picasso’s works were created for this a panel of experts decided that the most economical solution would be to demolish particular building. You can’t just take four buildings in the government block, them down like that, without asking,” said including “H block” and another ministerial Claudia Andrieu, a legal expert with the building, “Y block”-the two that feature the Picasso Administration. “We have not been approached, which is both preferfive Picasso works.

The art itself would not be demolished, able and necessary,” she added, underlinbut cut up and used elsewhere. But given ing that the administration was “open to the fact the murals were designed with the dialogue”. Norway’s government is to original architecture in mind, many are now decide early next year whether to repair asking whether they can be placed else- the buildings, or partially or totally demolwhere. They can’t, say art experts and ish them. — AFP

F

here’s nothing trashy about Gregory Kloehn’s Brooklyn pied-aterre: a live-in dumpster that sleeps two with ease, hosts impromptu barbecue parties and sports its own sundeck. It’s the California artist’s tin-can contribution to the tiny-house movement that’s prompting many Americans to ask if bigger really is better when it comes to having a roof over your head. “On the street, when it’s all closed up, if you don’t know about it, you think it’s a garbage can,” said Kloehn, 42, as he invited AFP to step inside for a house tour.

“They don’t know I’m in here sleeping... Even with the barbecue going outside, chicken wings grilling, people just walk by. They don’t see it as a home.” Kloehn had already turned 20-foot shipping containers into housing units when he thought up the idea of doing likewise with the steel garbage receptacle known to Britons as a skip. “What I did is that I bought a brand new dumpster and just started going to town,” he said. “I was going to make it a little rougher at first, but then I started and I thought, ‘Let’s put in some granite counter tops. Let’s put in some hardwood floors. Let’s really make it luxurious and liveable-really take everything a regular home has and throw it into this small a space.”

You enter Kloehn’s dark-green crash pad-his home back in Oakland is rather more conventional-through a Dutch door with an affixed minibar that is well-stocked with fresh drinks. To the right is the galley-style kitchen with smooth granite countertop, sink, single-burner gas stove, concealed icebox and a hood fashioned out of an old wok. Running around the edge is a cushioned sofa, upholstered in black vinyl, with backs and seats that lift off to reveal storage space and a marine toilet connectable to a city sewage system. There’s definitely no room to swing a cat, but twist a crank and up goes the ceiling to reveal a pair of eyebrow windows to provide natural light and some welcome headroom. Welded onto the Greg Kloehn shows off a toilet in the exterior is a shower and ‘home’ he made from a trash dump- the gas barbecue.

Electricity comes from ster. — AFP photos

Interior of the ‘home’ that Greg Kloehn made from a trash dumpster.

Greg Kloehn demonstrates lying inside the ‘home’ he made from a trash dumpster. whatever socket happens to be nearby-what Kloehn calls “living off somebody else’s grid.”

A descendant of Civil War president Abraham Lincoln who, according to legend, grew up in a log cabin, Kloehn paid about $1,000 for the dumpster, known in the trash business as a six-yard humpback. He spent another couple of thousand on fittings and insulation-about as much as one month’s rent for a cramped Manhattan studio. “It’s actually kind of neat, considering what he built it out of,” said Ryan Mitchell, who blogs about tiny-house design and construction at www.thetinylife.com.

In a nation where the average home is 2,600 square feet (241 square meters), tiny houses-typically 186 square feet, but going up to 400 square feet-are fetching more attention, not least from aging baby boomers looking to downsize in their retirement years. “There are more builders. There are more people seeking to live in tiny houses,” Mitchell told AFP by telephone from North Carolina, where he is completing his own diminutive dwelling.

There would be even more tiny homes, he said, if if local zoning regulations and housing codes were not so restrictive. In a back alley in Washington, a four-unit tiny-house community has taken root at Boneyard Studios (www.boneyardstudios.com), showcasing the possibilities of small-is-beautiful housing in the heart of the nation’s capital. “It’s not for everyone by any means,” said Jay Austin, whose 140-square foot home at Boneyard Studios, the Matchbox, is totally off-grid, self-sustaining and carbon-neutral.

In New York, the city’s museum is showing off a 325 square foot micro-apartment boasting all the features of a unit twice its sizeand it’s invited a lucky few to try it out for size by spending the night in it. “I actually could see myself living here,” museum intern Taylor Jones told the New York Times after a sleepover this week, although she worried how cluttered such a compact space could become.

Not content with making a dumpster just for himself, Kloehn has used found materials-a fridge door here, some castaway lumber there, topped with a fiberglass hood from a pickup truck-to create a “debris home” on wheels for the homeless.

He’s also tinkered with barbecue and salad bars on bicycle frames, documenting them on his www.gregorykloehn.com blog.

Back in Brooklyn, where he’s in the early stages of turning four 20foot shipping containers into an “interactive sculpture” literally a stone’s throw away, Kloehn climbs atop his dumpster’s sundeck and casts an eye over his neighborhood. Over here, there’s the cavernous artists’ loft whose owner kindly lets him keep his dumpster in the back yard. In front, the abandoned yet majestic New York Dock Company warehouse. And over there, the gleaming white Queen Mary II that just sailed into town. “The bigger the home, the bigger the problems,” Kloehn mused. “There’s more overhead, more things to go wrong, more yard to take care of.” And, he shrugged, “your’re going to fill it up eventually with junk.” — AFP

US artist turns dumpster into a home

MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013

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A Hindu man plays with a snake on the occasion of the Nag Panchami festival, outside the Nagvasuki temple in Allahabad. This Hindu festival is observed during the monsoon with prayers and tributes to snakes. — AFP

Snake festival charms villagers in east India H

undreds of people queued in a remote village in eastern India over the weekend to receive blessings from metres-long and potentially deadly snakes, thought to bring them good luck.

Snake charmers clapped and beat colourful drums to lure their “prized catches” out of wicker baskets and clay pots, as part of an annual festival in the village of Purba Bishnupur in West Bengal state. “It is an art to make the snakes come out of their boxes and baskets,” Hyder Mal, a 46-year-old snake charmer taking part in the festival told AFP on Saturday.

The snakes, considered by the locals as incarnations of the Hindu snake goddess Manasa, swayed to the rhythm and motion of their handlers as the villagers drew closer. Every year, people from the area gather in the green village some 85 kilometers (52 miles) from the state capital Kolkata, to honor and pray to Manasa.

The goddess is believed to bring good luck ahead of the harvest season and also ward off troubles in this mainly agricultural belt. Mal, a father of six, appears at ease as he handles a long golden-brown cobra while urging the crowd gathered around to donate freely.

“Business has gone down for us. People want to take blessings from the snakes but are stingy when it comes to paying up,” he complained. Mal, who owns six large serpents, reminisces of the time when business was roaring, An Indian snake charmer mainly because of the displays a ‘gokhra’ - cobra. demand for venom used

An Indian snake charmer performs with a ‘gokhra’ cobra - in a basket.

Indian snake charmers perform with ‘gokhras’ - cobras - in baskets. to treat snake bites. “Now we are living a life of penury.

Synthetic venom is what is used now. The government does not care about us,” said Mal. “I wouldn’t want any of my children to carry on with our family tradition,” he added.

Charmers have long been a favourite with tourists in India. But their numbers dwindled after the government strengthened laws in 2002 proscribing the commercial use of wild animals, including performances with live snakes. The legislation emptied most cities of charmers, although they can still be found in rural areas, and also around major tourist sites, risking arrest as they try to cajole visitors into taking a photo for a small fee.

Animal rights activists accuse snake charmers of cruelly capturing the serpents in suffocating bags and yanking their teeth out or sewing their mouths shut so that they don’t bite. Mal and other snake charmers were quick to refute the charges. “For us snakes are gods. We worship snakes, we would never want them to suffer,” said a 60-year-old charmer, who did not want to be identified. — AFP

An Indian snake charmer displays a ‘gokhra’ - cobra - in a basket.

An Indian snake charmer displays a variety of ‘gokhras’ - cobras - to passersby.

An Indian snake charmer performs with ‘gokhras’ - cobras at a snake fair at Purba Bishnupur village.

An Indian snake charmer d isplays a ‘gokhra’ - cobra in a basket.