21st Jul

IPT IO N SC R SU B

150 Fils

SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

RAMADAN 2, 1433 AH

No: 15515

Gunman slays 14 at Batman movie show

Max 48º Min 35º

Shooting suspect’s apartment booby-trapped DENVER: A masked gunman killed 14 people at a midnight showing of the new Batman movie in a suburb of Denver yesterday, sparking pandemonium when he hurled a teargas canister into the auditorium and opened fire on moviegoers. Fifty others including children were wounded in the attack on the showing of “The Dark Knight Rises” in a mall in the Aurora suburb, some of whom were treated for the effects of tear gas, hospital officials said.

The apartment of the man suspected in the mass shooting is “booby-trapped” with an array of sophisticated material, the local police chief said yesterday. Speaking at the scene where police were working to gain access to the apartment, Aurora Police Chief Daniel Oates said: “His apartment is boobytrapped. We are trying to determine how to disarm the flammable or explosive material.

We could be here for hours or days. The pictures are fairly disturbing. It looks very sophisticated, how it’s booby-trapped. It could be a very long wait.”

“This is a horrific event,” Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates told a news conference,

adding that a suspect was taken into custody in the parking lot behind the theater. Police said the Aurora gunman had appeared at the front of the theater during the movie and released a canister which let out a hissing sound at the theater before gunfire erupted.

Dozens of police were at the scene, and the authorities evacuated the area while they checked for any explosive devices. They said there was no evidence of a second gunman.

Wendy Post, who was waiting to be reunited with her daughter at a local high school following the shooting, said her daughter told her the shooting erupted just minutes after the film began. “She saw the exit door open and something was thrown across the screen, and then shooting started,” she told local NBC affiliate 9News television. “It was chaos.” President Barack Obama, who was notified of the shooting yesterday morning by his homeland security adviser, John Brennan, urged Americans to “stand together” with the people of Aurora in the hours and days to come.

Continued on Page 10

DENVER: Tom Sullivan (center) embraces family members outside Gateway High School where he has been searching franticly for his son Alex Sullivan who celebrated his 27th birthday by going to see “The Dark Knight Rises,” movie where a gunman opened fire yesterday. — AP

LOCAL SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

Kuwaiti ambassador released on bail KUWAIT: A Kuwaiti ambassador was released on KD 1,000 bail after being detained in connection with financial misappropriation charges valued at KD 306,000. Case papers indicate that Foreign Ministry officials discovered some financial discrepancies at a conference for ambassadors held in Asia under the aegis of former foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed Al-Sabah.

Sources added that the suspect used forged bills. Upon discovering the violation and being confronted, he admitted to the act and wanted to retire. However, ministry officials reportedly refused and referred him to prosecution department where he was detained for 21 days pending investigations.

Egyptian protestor arrested An Egyptian was arrested in connection with demonstrating outside the Syrian Embassy and was referred to the State Security Department. Case papers indicate that the embassy security personnel noticed the man approaching with a banner reading: ‘Down with Assad. He will follow those who fell before him.’

When asked to leave, the man refused and was arrested.

Bangladeshis caught Three Bangladeshi men were arrested at Kuwait International Airport for attempting to enter the country using forged passports.

Dead ‘citizen’ In a follow up to the incident where a citizen was found dead at a Bangkok hotel room, security sources stressed that the man was a GCC national who died of an overdose, according to his Thai friend who was by his side when he passed away and fled the scene to avoid taking any responsibility.

Corpse found An Asian was found dead at a Salhiya parking lot. The man reportedly suffered from a serious illness that caused his death.

Juvenile ‘car thief’ A Kuwaiti juvenile delinquent (aged 17) was arrested in connection with stealing a car. The young man confessed to stealing nine cars from across various areas in Ahmadi governorate. The suspect told police that he usually took advantage of vehicles that are halted with engines running outside groceries, pharmacies or co-operative societies.

Temperamental customer A Filipina florist filed a complaint with police stating that a Kuwaiti customer asked her to prepare a bouquet of flowers and upon presenting it to him, he snatched it away and threw it at her face and drove away. A case was filed.

Prayer caller attacked A muezzin (prayer caller) reported to police that three young men assaulted him when he refused to allow them to sleep inside the mosque. A case was filed.

Youngsters arrested Three young citizens were arrested in connection with driving their vehicle in an erratic manner in Kabd. Upon searching the suspects’ car, policemen found knives and sticks. Sources added that one of the suspects was the son of an army officer.

Arabs make up what percentage of Muslims around the world?

75% 50% 15%

Cable thieves Two Egyptians were arrested for stealing cables from a restricted area in Abdali. Case papers indicate that a police patrol saw the suspects cutting and stealing copper cables with the purpose of selling them in Amghara. They tried to escape upon sensing police presence, but were caught.

Man stabbed A GCC national was admitted to Jahra hospital Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in a very critical condition after four bedoons attacked him with a cleaver. Case papers indicate the victim was taken aback when the suspects assaulted him to settle some old scores.

Seeking refuge, he ran into a diwaniya while his assailants fled the scene.

LOCAL SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

‘Iraq to solve all issues with Kuwait through negotiation’ Positive collaboration UNITED NATIONS: Iraqi Ambassador to the UN Hamed AlBayati told the Security Council that his government is ‘committed’ to solving the remaining issues with Kuwait within the framework of the relevant resolutions adopted by the two countries. “Solving these remaining issues through friendly relations and negotiations is a top priority for us in Iraq,” Al-Bayati said in an open meeting by the Council.

“I assure this esteemed Council that there is a positive collaboration and exchange between the governments of Iraq and Kuwait to settle all the unresolved issues between the two countries,” resulting from the 1990 invasion of Kuwait, he said.

The Council met to listen to a briefing by the UN Special Envoy for Iraq Martin Kobler on the work of the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) prior to the renewal of its mandate for 12 more months next week.

He asserted that Iraq has made ‘intensive efforts’ to locate the remains of missing Kuwaitis and of the Kuwaiti property. He also pointed out to the meeting of the joint Iraqi-Kuwaiti ministerial committee that took place in Baghdad on April 29 and during which a number of issues were discussed, including Iraq’s obligations towards international resolutions, land borders, freedom of navigation in Khor Abdallah, Kuwaiti loans to Iraq, compensations, Kuwait new Mubarak Port, and the opening of Kuwaiti consulates in Basra and Arbil.

He said the three agreements were reached at: identification of all issues, creation of a joint collaboration committee, and the establishment of a joint management

KUWAIT: Rescue forces from Mina Abdullah and the marine rescue centers searching the swamps area over the weekend.

Shepherd found dead

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: The body of a shepherd who entered a swamp area located to the west of Al-Nuwaiseeb road was found.

The rescue force from Mina Abdullah and marine rescue centers combed the area for over 12 hours using hovercrafts, choppers and boats until the corpse was traced.

Street fight A 29-year-old Saudi national sustained a wound to his forehead in a street fight that took place in Sulaibiya.

Car accidents A 29-year-old Bangladeshi suffered a leg injury and a 70-year-old citizen suffered from a case of hypertension, after their vehicles collided into each other along Fahaheel expressway. A 30-year-old citizen sustained several bruises and injuries and a 47-year-old Indian suffered a spinal injury after their vehicles collided in Subhan.

Man stung by scorpion A 22-year-old Yemeni was stung by a scorpion near Nuwaiseeb exit border. The man was admitted to Um AlHaiman polyclinic.

committee to facilitate and organize navigation in Khor Abdullah signed by the Transportation Ministers of both countries.

He added that an agreement was also reached to sign other accords, after concluding the legal steps in each country, during the visit the Kuwaiti Prime Minister intends to pay to Baghdad before the end of this year.

“All these agreements have been achieved as a result of the political will of the leaders of the two countries.

We hope that the achievements of April 29th meeting will pave the way for Iraq’s exit from the provisions of Chapter VII, especially when there is an understanding on specific mechanisms and joint vision for future steps,” he noted.—KUNA

LOCAL SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

Ramadan Kareem

Ramadan in Kuwait

By Laurie Santos

W

hile I grew up with several Muslim friends in the United States hailing from various countries and backgrounds, such as, Qatar, Egypt, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, I only had the opportunity to vicariously experience Ramadan through them; and so, I never really quite grasped the true concept of it all until I moved to Kuwait three years ago.

The year 2010 marked my first official Ramadan in Kuwait; I made the promise to myself and my Kuwaiti friends that I would be fasting right along with them.

Many of my friends were curious and couldn’t quite understand why I wished to fast since I am not Muslim.

I explained that my residing in Kuwait was not solely for work but also to truly get a taste of the culture, which of course includes its Muslim roots.

Quickly I rounded up all my friends to get the “basics” on what I needed to do in order to have a bona fide and authentic fasting experience. My lady friends explained I could not wear lipstick or make-up and that I would have to refrain from getting manicures and pedicures. This was a curious surprise considering I was under the impression that I solely would have to refrain from eating and drinking!

Even though I had practiced cleanses and liquid fasts in the United States prior, I never had done a full fast from food and liquids. My first three days were tough as I experienced headaches, lethargy and a bit of crankiness but I knew based on prior experience that the first three days would be the toughest. When Day Four happened, I felt quite happy and even a bit euphoric. I grew even more excited to complete the full month of fasting!

To me, the best part of Ramadan is the spirit of everybody coming together, supporting one another during this time and lending a helping hand to a stranger. The energy, which can be quite negative in Kuwait, suddenly becomes positive and uplifted and I feel my energy changing as a result, too.

I believe this positive spirit, or “essence” of Ramadan is truly captured during Iftar when we’re breaking the daily fast as it feels so celebratory, rewarding and loving.

Beyond the actual fast, I quickly learned to enjoy the entire switch of “time;” I love how the night becomes day and the day becomes night in Kuwait. It’s rather fun to be out and about in the streets with all the community enjoying the activities and buzz outside.

As a foreigner residing in Kuwait, I can only say that my experiences during Ramadan have brought me fond memories to come. Even my Muslim friends back home have said to me that they can’t believe that I’ve fasted during Ramadan and have expressed that they wished they could reside in a Muslim country to have the “full” experience of Ramadan with other Muslim brothers and sisters. Without them making statements such as those, I may have never really understood or appreciated the full value of my experience in Kuwait during Ramadan. I am grateful I’ve lived in both “worlds” and now have an appreciation for Ramadan from an American and a Middle Eastern perspective.

Ramadan Kareem!

Courtesy AWARE Center: The AWARE Center, an acronym of Advocates for Western-Arab Relations provides for Western expatriate in Kuwait a variety of services and facilities to make their stay more interesting and comfortable. For more information, log onto: www.aware.com.kw

New-style Bunny Chow Ingredients 500g lean lamb cut into 5cm cubes Salt 1 tsp turmeric 25ml mustard oil (optional) 100g ghee or vegetable oil 4 onions, thinly sliced 4-6 dried red chillies 6 cloves 3 black cardamom pods 4 green cardamom pods 1 tsp black mustard seeds 1 tsp cumin seeds 1 tsp fennel seeds 1 tsp nigella seeds 1 tsp fenugreek seeds Pinch of asafoetida 4-6 garlic cloves, crushed 5cm piece of root ginger, grated 1 tsp chilli powder 1-2 tbsp gur (sugar molasses, optional) Juice of 1 lime 4 brioche buns, to serve Method How to make New-style Bunny Chow Put the meat into a saucepan with a tight-fitting lid. Pour in just enough water to cover. Bring to the boil, skim any scum from the surface, then add salt to taste and the turmeric.

Cover, reduce the heat, then simmer until most of the liquid has been absorbed and the meat is tender; this will take 45 minutes to one hour. Remove the meat with a slotted spoon, reserving any remaining liquid.

In a separate pan, heat the mustard oil, if using, with the ghee or oil. Once the oil begins to smoke, add the onions and fry until golden brown, then remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Add the whole dried chillies to the remaining oil in the pan and fry until they blacken, then remove the pan from the heat and discard the chillies. Return the oil to the heat once again, then add the cloves and both types of cardamom pods, allowing them to sizzle for a few sec-

onds. Now add the mustard, cumin, fennel, nigella and fenugreek seeds and the asafoetida. Once the seeds begin to crackle and pop, add the garlic and ginger. Stir-fry for a minute, then add the cooked meat with the chilli powder and sugar molasses, if using. Stir-fry for a further few minutes, adding the leftover meat stock, if there is any.

Add the lime juice with 2 tbsp water and simmer over a low heat until all the moisture has evaporated and only the ghee remains on top.

Serve in a hollowed out brioche bun, sprinkled with the fried onions. Or, if you prefer, leave out the brioche buns and serve with chapattis.

For more information regarding Reza Mahammad and his Food Network show Reza, Spice Prince of India visit www.foodnetworktv.com

Spice-crusted Monkfish in Tomato Ingredients For the spice mix: 1 tsp coriander seeds 1 tsp cumin seeds 1 tsp black peppercorns 1 tsp fennel seeds 1 dried red chilli For the fish: 800g monkfish 1 tbsp vegetable or rapeseed oil For the first marinade: 1 tsp grated root ginger 1 tsp crushed garlic 1 tsp ground black pepper Juice of lemon Salt For the second marinade: 1 tbsp grated cheddar cheese 2 tbsp Greek yogurt 1 tbsp grated root ginger 2 green chillies, finely chopped 1 tbsp chopped coriander 1 tbsp double cream For the tomato sauce: 8 ripe tomatoes, chopped 4 tbsp ghee or rapeseed oil 1 bay leaf 1 tsp grated root ginger 1 tsp crushed garlic 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp ground fennel 1 tsp chilli powder 3 lemongrass stalks, crushed 300ml coconut milk

Method How to make Spice-crusted Monkfish in Tomato Sauce First make the spice mix. Put all the ingredients in a small frying pan and lightly toast over a low heat, until they turn a shade darker and release their aromas. Coarsely grind in a mortar and pestle.

Place the fish in a flat roasting tray.

Mix together all the ingredients for the first marinade. Rub over the fish and cover with cling film. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Mix together all the ingredients for the second marinade in a small mixing bowl, folding in the cream at the end.

Cover and refrigerate.

Now to make the sauce. Blitz the tomatoes with a small amount of water in a blender to a smooth paste.

Pass through a fine sieve to remove any seeds. Heat the oil in a sautÈ pan over a medium-high heat. Add the bay leaf, ginger and garlic and fry for a minute or so, then add the tomatoes, the cumin, fennel, chilli powder and lemon grass. Bring to the boil, then simmer for five to eight minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent the sauce from sticking. Now add the coconut milk and continue to simmer until the sauce becomes glossy, then adjust for salt and cook for a minute or so.

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas mark 6.

Remove the fish and the bowl of the second marinade from the fridge and bring to room temperature. Pour the second marinade over the fish and sprinkle the spice mix on top. Place in the hot oven and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the fish begins to flake. Reheat the tomato sauce over a medium heat and discard the lemon grass. Place the fish on a serving dish and drizzle the sauce around.

For more information regarding Reza Mahammad and his Food Network show Reza, Spice Prince of India visit www.foodnetworktv.com

LOCAL SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

KUWAIT: The Arab Schools Administration, a division of the Private Education Department, recently held a special ceremony to honor the vocational training team members under the patronage of Mona Alloghani, Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education for Private Education Affairs. Mohammed Al-Dahes, Private Education Director, Abdullah Al-Sabri, Educational Affairs Manager, Najat Al-Ruwaished Acting Manager of Kindergarten and Primary level attended the event. Speaking during the occasion, Arab private schools supervisor, Abdul Aziz Al-Kandari said that the team was formed in compliance with the goals set by the Ministry of Education.

SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

Police race to identify Bulgaria suicide bomber

9

Trial of anti-Putin punks opens in Russia

10

200 tribesmen rise up against Afghan Taleban

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DAMASCUS: Journalists are shown burned cars and damaged buildings on a guided government tour of the al-Midan area in Damascus yesterday. Syrian regime forces routed rebel fighters from the Damascus neighbourhood of Midan, Syrian state television reported, saying troops had “cleaned” the district of “terrorists.” — AFP

Syrian forces launch assault Spy chief fourth bomb victim BEIRUT: A fourth member of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s inner circle died yesterday from wounds sustained in a bomb attack this week and troops struggled to recapture border posts and parts of Damascus from rebels targeting the heart of his power.

In the latest of a series of apparently coordinated attacks this week on high profile targets, rebels set fire to a military barracks in Damascus which opposition sources said was used as a training ground for shabbiha militiamen loyal to Assad. In the past 24 hours, the rebels have seized two border crossings between Syria and Turkey and one with Iraq. Syrian forces pushed fighters, who have converged on Damascus from all over Syria for a “final” battle, out of the central district of Midan and into southern neighbourhoods, where residents reported heavy shelling and clashes.

The UN refugee agency said record numbers were fleeing the country and it had heard banks had run out of cash. Assad, 46, has not spoken publicly since Wednesday’s attack on a meeting of his high command and only appeared on Thursday to appoint a new defence minister to replace one of the men assassinated in the boldest strike of the 16-month-old revolt.

The next few days will be critical in determining whether Assad’s government can recover from the devastating blow of the bombing,

which destroyed his aura of invulnerability.

Syrian state television said a funeral ceremony for the defence minister, his deputy - Assad’s brother-in-law - and a senior general was held on Friday in Damascus, without mentioning whether Assad attended. It also said Syria’s intelligence chief Hisham Bekhtyar had died of wounds from the attack on the close-knit crisis unit charged with suppressing the uprising threatening four decades of Assad’s Alawite family rule.

The rebels, who struggled for months against government assaults on their strongholds elsewhere in Syria, appeared to favour small, high impact attacks, with residents reporting blasts near the landmark Assad Library in the heart of the city. A witness said the shabbiha barracks was torched after a two-day siege. “The Saiqa (thunderbolt) barracks is now on fire. About 80 shabbiha and army who have been defending it have withdrawn,” Abu Ilizz, a resident of the district adjacent to the Council of Ministers building, said by telephone.

The conflict has changed from an uprising in poor towns and villages to a civil war tearing the capital.

It has become a proxy conflict pitting Russia and Shi’ite Muslim Iran, which back Assad, against Sunni Muslim powerhouse Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar, which are arming and funding

the Sunni rebels. The rebels include the Free Syrian Army, a group of army defectors joined by Sunni youths, as well as al-Qaeda style Jihadists, the Muslim Brotherhood, and local pro-democracy Sunni liberals.

Clashes raged for a sixth day in the ancient city and at least three people were killed when Syrian army helicopters fired rockets at the southeastern neighbourhood of Saida Zeinab, opposition activists said.

Rebels are calling their offensive “Damascus Volcano and Syrian Earthquake”. The Syrian government also said that this would be the last battle. “The regime is going through its last days,” Abdelbasset Seida, the leader of the main Syrian opposition umbrella group, the Syrian National Council, said in Rome, predicting a dramatic escalation in violence in the 16-month-old revolt.

State television said Syrian forces had cleared the central district of Midan of “mercenaries and terrorists” and aired footage of dead men in tshirts, some covered in blood, others burned.

Opposition activists and rebel sources confirmed on Friday that they had withdrawn after coming under heavy bombardment. “It is a tactical withdrawal. We are still in Damascus,” Abu Omar, a rebel commander, said by telephone.

Adding to the sense of crisis, power in many parts of the city had been cut as temperatures rose to above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees

Fahrenheit) yesterday. Residents in central Damascus said shops were closed, roadswere empty and only a handful of people were outside. The normally heavy traffic of the cramped Middle Eastern city was missing; only a few cars were moving along its boulevards “We have heard reports that many of the banks have just run out of money,” Melissa Fleming, chief spokeswoman for the United Nations’ refugee agency UNHCR, told a briefing in Geneva.

Up to 30,000 Syrian refugees may have crossed into Lebanon in the past 48 hours to escape the fighting, a huge increase. There were also growing numbers fleeing to Iraq and people pouring into Jordan and Turkey, she said.

Residents reported a lack of government checkpoints in the heart of the city and fewer guards in front of the Interior Ministry a day after the police headquarters was burned down.

Another Syrian general fled to Turkey overnight, along with four colonels and 17 lower-ranking officers, a Turkish official said, bringing the number of generals sheltering there to 22.On Friday, the Iraqi army erected blast walls to seal the Abu Kamal/Qaim border crossing, which was seized by rebels the night before, a Reuters photographer reported from the scene. The crossing is the main link between Syria and Iraq on the Euphrates River highway, one of the major trade routes across the Middle East. —Reuters

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

Muslims get ready for Ramadan fast in summer heat GAZA CITY: Muslims from Morocco to Afghanistan are steeling themselves for the toughest Ramadan in more than three decades. No food or drink, not even a sip of water, for 14 hours a day during the hottest time of the year.

The test of self-restraint is made only harder by daily power cuts in some parts of the Muslim world such as Iraq, Pakistan and tiny Gaza. With temperatures in the region routinely climbing above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) and days at their longest of the year, governments are trying to alleviate the hardships of the monthlong sunrise-tosunset fast. Morocco resets the clock so believers can break the fast an hour early.

Pakistan promises to reduce daily blackouts, which can last up to 22 hours. Public servants are allowed to work fewer hours.

Despite the hardship, for many Muslims it’s the most anticipated part of the year - a time of family togetherness and religious devotion, a break from routine. Muslims believe God revealed the first verses of their holy book, the Quran, to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) during Ramadan.

The Muslim lunar calendar moves back through the seasons, so Ramadan starts 11 days earlier each year under the Western calendar. The last time Ramadan started in midJuly was in 1980. Winter fasts are easier because of cooler temperatures and shorter days. This year, Ramadan started in most parts of the Muslim world on Friday, though some mark the beginning yesterday.

“There’s no choice but to bear the heat,” shrugged Jalal Qandil, 38, a sun-browned, sweating construction worker in Gaza City, father of five school-age children. “If I don’t work, we won’t eat this Ramadan. But God will help us.” Other laborers said they would quietly break their fast, trusting that God understands. “Sometimes it’s so hot, that we can’t touch the metal poles on the scaffolding without gloves,” said Munir, a 26-yearold Pakistani laborer in Dubai. “You cannot work in these conditions without water. I am religious and respect Ramadan, but it also is not intended to make you sick or put you in danger.” Many clerics say that’s OK. Islam already gives exemptions from the fast for those in certain circumstances - the elderly,

the sick, women who are pregnant, nursing or menstruating, children and travelers.

Religious authorities in the United Arab Emirates allow laborers to break their fast if the temperature exceeds 122 Fahrenheit (50 Celsius). Other Muslim scholars say, regardless of the temperature, laborers can break their fast if they feel weak or thirsty. They have to make up the days later, said Sheik Mohammed Ali, an Iraqi Shiite cleric.

“They should have the little food and drink that can make them able to work,” he said.Dr. Sarmad Hamid, a physician in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, said people should use common sense and stay out of the sun and those who work outdoors, such as traffic police, should not be expected to fast.

Observing the fast is a particular challenge in Gaza, a tiny sliver of land between Israel and Egypt, ruled by the Islamic militant group Hamas. After years of strife and border blockades, Gaza is propped up by UN food aid and suffers daily hours-long blackouts.

Gazans have to make do without fans to cool sweltering, crowded apartments, without TVs to distract children and unemployed

husbands, without ovens to cook and without water because the electric pumps are idle. As summer heat rises, some have taken to sleeping on floor tiles, the coolest part of their house. Now, they’ll go through all that hungry and thirsty. For many exhausted housewives, their biggest enemy will be boredom and exhaustion that erode family relations and the joy of this usually festive month. “Frankly, men, women and children, everybody is sick of each other,” said a 52year-old mother of 10, who would only be identified as Umm Mohammed. “Especially the men: They just sit at home and harass the children.” Her three sisters-in-law nodded in agreement. And yet, they said they are looking forward to the season. For believers, Ramadan is meant to be a time of reflection and worship, abstaining from swearing, gossip and bursts of anger, remembering the hardships of others and being charitable.

In mosques across the Muslim world, volunteers will serve free evening meals for the community. Those who can afford it prepare elaborate dinners for “Iftar,” or the meal that breaks the fast. —AP

Police race to identify Bulgaria suicide bomber Israel to bury five nationals killed in attack

BAGHDAD: Travellers carry their bags after arriving on a bus from Syria in Baghdad yesterday. Rebels seized control of all of Syria’s border crossings with Iraq as violence in Iraq’s neighbour increases sharply. — AFP

Iraq evacuates its citizens in Syria by air BAGHDAD: Hundreds of Iraqis flew out of Syria over the past two days to escape an escalating civil war, officials said yesterday, while thousands more poured through a major border crossing despite rebel takeovers of Syrian government posts and violence near the two nations’ boundaries.

The Iraqi government has so far run eight flights to Damascus and by yesterday morning had evacuated 750 residents, said Capt. Saad al-Khafaji of the state-owned Iraqi Airways. Two planes were headed back to pick up more passengers, he added.

“We will continue the flights until there are no Iraqis left” in Syria, al-Khafaji said. He said transportation officials have stopped bussing Iraqis across the border from Syria “because of the dangers.” Meanwhile, two Iraqi government officials said the border crossing at al-Walid - the largest between Iraq and Syria - remained open. They said an estimated 50 buses, some 3,000 people, had so far come through al-Walid.

One of the officials, Iraqi Army Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Dulaimi, said Syrian government customs inspectors were at their posts at the crossing Friday morning. Al-Dulaimi oversees forces in the region.

The other official, a spokesman for Iraq’s western Anbar province named Mohammed Fathi, said the Red Cross was setting up tents and distributing medical supplies on Friday for returnees at the crossing, located about 600 kilometers (373 miles) from Baghdad.

Fadhil Radhi, an Iraqi citizen who said he travelled to Baghdad via the crossing, said he and his family passed through al-Walid around midnight on Friday after deciding that life in Syria was too dangerous. His family of five fled to Syria in 2007 to escape brutal sectarian fighting from their home in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. —AP

SOFIA: Bulgarian police were working flat out yesterday with the FBI and Interpol to try to identify a suicide bomber who killed six people including five Israeli tourists and piece together his final movements.

Investigators have released CCTV footage of the man they believe carried out Wednesday’s attack in the Black Sea airport of Borgas on a bus carrying Israeli holidaymakers, which also claimed the life of the Bulgarian driver.

Investigators “are working very actively on Wednesday’s terrorist attack. There will be more information within three or four days,” Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said in parliament yesterday.

Early yesterday five coffins draped in Israeli flags were taken off a military plane at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv watched by mourning relatives. The victims were will be buried later in the day.

They were named as Kochava Shriki, 44, who was pregnant, and Yitzhik Kolengi, Amir Menashe, Elior Priess, and Maor Harush, all in their 20s. More than 30 people were also injured, three of them seriously. Airport video footage released by Bulgarian authorities showed an apparently white male with long hair, possibly a wig, dressed in typical holiday gear-shorts, a baseball cap, sneakersand carrying a backpack and a laptop bag.

Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said the man, who was shown wandering around the airport, looked around 36 years old. He was carrying a fake driving licence from the US state of Michigan. Investigators have taken fingerprints from the bomber’s body and are trying to find a DNA match. Kalina Tchapkanova, a Bulgarian prosecutor, was quoted by bTV television as saying that the day before the attack the suspect had been in Ravda, 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Borgas. In the small seaside town of Pomorie he tried to hire a car but was refused because of doubts about his driving licence, Tchapkanova said. She cited witnesses as saying he spoke English with an accent, pos-

RISHON: Relatives mourn during the funeral of Kochava Shriki, 44, who was killed in a suicide bombing in Bulgaria Wednesday, in Rishon Lezion, Israel, yesterday. Israeli and American officials have blamed the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah for the bombing which killed five vacationing Israelis in a blast in the popular Black Sea resort town of Burgas, along with a Bulgarian bus driver and the bomber. — AP sibly an Arabic one.

“The man took the refusal (to hire a car) calmly ... We have interviewed the taxi driver who took him to the airport in the afternoon.

He also took a taxi in the morning to carry out reconnaissance,” the prosecutor said.

“The man hardly spoke to the taxi drivers. He was calm.” Sources said investigators, who were in close contact with their Israeli counterparts, were focusing on recent Bulgarian converts to Islam and, in view of Hezbollah’s possible involvement, on any Lebanese living in the country.

Bulgarian newspaper 24 Tchassa cited unnamed investigators as saying that they believed the bomber had at least two accomplices, possibly from Hezbollah, who provided the explosives.

Israel has blamed Iran and Tehran’s “ter-

rorist proxy” Hezbollah, saying it fitted a pattern of other recent attacks or attempted attacks on Israelis including in Thailand, India, Georgia, Kenya and Cyprus.

The Islamic Republic, already under pressure over growing international tensions over its nuclear programme, rejected the accusations as “ridiculous”. US President Barack Obama has condemned what he called a “barbaric terrorist attack”.

Speaking in Florida, he said: “I want everybody to know, under my administration, we haven’t just preserved the unbreakable bond with Israel, we have strengthened it.” The UN Security Council and the diplomatic Quartet on the Middle East peace process-the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and United States-have also denounced the attack. —AFP

INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

Gunman slays 14 at Batman movie show Continued from Page 1 “Michelle and I are shocked and saddened by the horrific and tragic shooting in Colorado. Federal and local law enforcement are still responding, and my administration will do everything that we can to support the people of Aurora in this extraordinarily difficult time,” Obama said in a statement. “As we do when confronted by moments of darkness and challenge, we must now come together as one American family,” he added.

Colorado has suffered mass killings in the past. In 1999, two students opened fire at Columbine High School in the suburb of Littleton, near Denver, killing 12 students and a teacher.

Police spokesman Frank Fania said the suspect was thought to be in his early 20s. He was carrying a knife, a rifle and a handgun when arrested, and one other gun was recovered from the theater. The

gunman was also wearing a bulletproof vest. “He did not resist, he did not put up a fight,” Fania said.Police said the suspect’s apartment building had been evacuated and police were looking for explosives there after the suspect made statements about explosives in his residence.

CNN quoted one witness as saying he saw a “guy slowly making his way up the stairs and firing, picking random people.” Another witness said the gunman opened fire during a shoot-out scene in the movie, leading to confusion. “We heard anywhere from 10 to 20 shots and little explosions going on. Shortly after that we heard people screaming. Then they came on PA system and said everyone needed to get out,” one witness told CNN. “As soon as we got out, there were people running around and screaming.” He said friends had told him the gunman was wearing a gas mask. One man told

the NBC affiliate that he was in the adjacent theater watching another screening of the Batman movie when he heard gunshots and the theatre filled with thick, choking smoke.

He saw bullets holes in the wall, and some people in his theater were wounded: “I heard moaning...they were in pain.” Fania said police received the first call about the shooting at 12:39 am local time and responded within “a minute or two.” Local hospitals were alerted to a “mass casualty incident.”

Media reports said 10 people died at the scene and four died later in hospital. A spokeswoman for Denver’s Swedish Medical Center said three people had been admitted to that hospital with gunshot wounds and were in critical condition. Another hospital, Denver Health, had received six wounded, one of whom was in critical condition, spokeswoman Kalena Wilkinson said. — Agencies

LOS ANGELES: Los Angeles County Sheriff Calvillo (left) withholds toy guns from Batman fans from Indiana, Brian Haughs, 28, dressed as the character Two-Face for the midnight premiere of ‘The Dark Knight Rises’. A gunman wearing a gas mask set off an unknown gas and fired into the crowded movie theater in Aurora, Colo yesterday, killing 14 people. — AP

Hopes fade for 80 missing in Zanzibar ferry disaster Emergency workers rescue 146 ZANZIBAR: Tanzanian officials have given up hope of rescuing more than 80 people still missing after a ferry sank off the Indian Ocean island of Zanzibar, with the death toll of 62 set to rise. The vessel, which was officially carrying 291 passengers and crew, including more than 30 children, went down in choppy waters off Zanzibar on Wednesday after leaving Tanzania’s commercial capital Dar es Salaam. “Search operations continue but it is now almost impossible survivors will be found,” Zanzibar police spokesman Mohamed Mhina told reporters, raising the prospect that some 145 may have died.

“The ship has completely sunk. There were 290 people on board,” he said Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete said in a statement: “this tragedy affects all of us, and the pain and suffering of those affected is the pain and suffering that we feel”.

Officials said emergency workers had rescued 146 people and recovered 62 bodies. Two foreign tourists were initially reported to be among the dead, but hospital administrator Omari Abdallan said so far only one “body of a white person” was in the morgue. Anxious relatives of those missing were also losing hope of seeing their loved ones again. “My two wives had gone to Dar es Salaam to visit relatives, but on their return, this is what happened,” said 72-year-old Abdullay Yussuf.

“I do not have hope of finding them alive. I only ask Allah to give me their bodies, so I can bury them with dignity.”

Surivors recounted how high waves tossed the ferry, the Skagit, about as it ran into trouble.

“The boat was pitching strongly,” said Enos Masemba, 32, travelling to Zanzibar to find work, and who escaped only after a fellow passenger managed to smash a window so they could leap into the rough sea. His wife drowned in the tragedy.

It was the second such incident in less than a year: last September, more than 200 people died when the ferry Spice Islander

sank on a similar voyage. Mhina said that the conditions had hampered rescue operations. “The weather was very bad, there were big waves and strong wind,” he added. Tanzania’s police chief meanwhile arrived in Zanzibar to coordinate operations and launch an investigation.

Mohamed Shein, president of the semiautonomous Zanzibar archipelago, has declared three days of mourning. The archipelago is famed both for its whitesand beach resorts and for Stone Town, the old quarter of Zanzibar, which is a UNESCO heritage site and popular tourist destination. Officials said the ferry had been carrying 251 adults, 31 children and nine crew, according to the passenger list.

At least 16 foreign tourists were on board, 14 of whom had been rescued.

But ferries in the region often carry additional passengers who do not feature

on the official manifest. The September sinking, one of the worst maritime disasters in Africa in the past decade, is believed to have been caused by overloading, with angry survivors accusing port and ferry officials of having ignored the protests of passengers that the boat was overcrowded.

The boat that sank on Wednesday had initially been reported by officials to be the Kalama, but officials said Thursday it was in fact its sister ship, the Skagit. The Washington State Department of Transportation said it had sold both vessels to a Canadian company which operates routes between the African continent and Zanzibar. In Ottawa, Scope Community Consultants Ltd said it had brokered the sale of the ferry and that the ship, built in 1989, was seaworthy at the time of sale. — AFP

STONE TOWN: Mourners bury Kiacha Juma at Kwerekwe graveyard on the outskirt of Stone Town, Zanzibar, yesterday. Kiacha is among those killed in a ferryboat accident that occurred Wednesday. — AP

MOSCOW: Members of the all-girl punk band “Pussy Riot” Nadezhda Tolokonnikova (C), Maria Alyokhina (R) and Yekaterina Samutsevich (L), sit behind bars during a court hearing in Moscow yesterday. — AFP

Trial of anti-Putin punks opens in Russia MOSCOW: Three young Russian women went on trial yesterday on charges of hooliganism for barging into a landmark Moscow church and singing a “punk prayer” calling for the ouster of President Vladimir Putin.

The trio, who face up to seven years in jail, have been held in pre-trial detention since March after the incident in February, and their harsh treatment has become a new rallying cause for the anti-Putin opposition.

The members of the Pussy Riot rock group, two of whom have young children, were in relaxed mood and smiling as guards locked them into the defendants’ cage in the Moscow courtroom.

However the start of the trial was marked by scenes of chaos as journalists packed the court stairwell in a bid to gain access while a police dog that was brought in to keep order barked loudly.

Yesterday’s hearing is a preliminary session expected to set a date for the formal start of the trial and decide whether it will be open to the public or held behind closed doors. In February, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Yekaterina Samutsevich and Maria Alekhina shocked worshippers by climbing into an area reserved for priests in the Church of Christ the Saviour, the country’s top Orthodox cathedral, and singing the song against Putin.

Several others also took part in the action but they were not arrested. Dozens of supporters carrying signs in support of the trio massed outside the court yesterday. “Russia is turning into a totalitarian state,” Samutsevich’s father Stanislav said outside the courthouse.

The Khamovnichesky court on the banks of the Moscow river is the same court that in 2010 saw the second trial of Russia’s former richest man and Putin foe Mikhail Khodorkovsky on fraud charges. That conviction resulted in his stay in jail being extended until 2016, an outcome the opposition said had been ordered by the Kremlin to rid the authorities of an unwelcome opponent. The head of the court-judge Viktor Danilkin, who presided over the Khodorkovsky case-was much in evidence on the first day of the Pussy Riot trial moving in the corridors between his office and the courtroom. — AFP

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

American deserter resurfaces in Sweden, 28 years later STOCKHOLM: An American fugitive who has been missing and “wanted” since he deserted the US Air Force in 1984 has turned up in Sweden where he has been living under a under a new identity for nearly three decades.

“Sorry that I have been in hiding so long...

I owe you all an explanation,” David Hemler, now 49, married and the father of two daughters and a son, wrote to his American and Swedish families in a letter, which he later sent to AFP. On May 11, Hemler showed up out of the blue at the law offices of Borgstroem and Bodstroem. He came forward because his secret “was too difficult to carry alone, and to not be able to have contact with his family in the United States for 28 years,” said his lawyer Emma Persson.

“The time feels right,” Hemler told AFP in an email. Now, “we keep in touch regularly through telephone calls, email and Skype,” he said of his US relatives. “Visits are planned.” But what happens next is unclear.

The airman remains listed as a “fugitive” by the Air Force Office of

Special Investigations, whose web page shows a photo of the young Hemler as well as an “age progression photo” of the same man projected into his 40s.

US Air Force representatives have met here with his lawyer and requested a DNA test to confirm his identity, but Hemler’s father in Pennsylvania and brother in New Jersey have told US media that there is no doubt the man who contacted them is indeed their long-lost son and sibling.

In Washington, the Air Force told AFP this week the matter is under investigation and “while the investigation continues, it is inappropriate for the Air Force to discuss the specifics of SrA Hemler’s case,” using his last rank of senior airman.

The US embassy in Stockhom has also refused comment, but lawyer Persson told AFP that “based on the little information ... obtained from the United States,” her client “cannot be extradited according to Swedish law.” For Hemler, the rush of media attention since his story broke has taken up too much of his time, he told AFP, and refused further photographs. His letter, however, gave a

detailed account of why he went AWOL after enlisting in the Air Force during his last year of high school in Pennsylvania, at a time when he was unsure what to do with his life.

“It seemed like an easy way out of the labyrinth of choices that lay ahead of me,” he wrote. But a week after signing up for a sixyear stint, he fell in love with a young pacifist who upended his conservative, traditional views. “I discovered that there were alternatives to war,” he wrote, and began looking at how he could end his military contract early but found there was no way out.

‘I miss my parents and brother’-In the end, his military job cost him his pacifist fiancee. The ideas she inspired, however, only grew stronger when Hemler was stationed in Augsburg, Germany, a place he calls a “fantasy world” where he met peace activists who were deeply critical of then US president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policy.

“Eventually, my thoughts plagued me too much.” When he requested to be discharged, “I lost my top secret job that I had trained for (and) was placed on janitor duty.”

He was soon told he would be transferred

away from the German city he loved.

“I was so confused and felt ill. I just had to get away,” he wrote. In August, 1984, he hitchhiked to Sweden, a place he had already visited and found to be “a country where the people take care of each other,” he told AFP. He heard that Sweden, at the time headed by leftist icon Olof Palme, had earlier welcomed “hundreds of deserters from the Vietnam war”. Sweden’s relations with Washington had been strained since 1972 when Palme compared the US bombing of Hanoi to atrocities like the 1937 bombing of Guernica during the Spanish civil war and the 1960 police massacre of black demonstrators in Sharpeville, South Africa.

The airman took a new name, settled in the city of Uppsala, north of Stockholm, started studying statistics and worked at odd jobs to get by. To obtain a residence permit, he told authorities he was stateless. Sweden contacted Interpol and despite Hemler’s “wanted” status, no connection was ever made. Since the Scandinavian country did not know where to deport him, it finally let him stay. —AFP

Panetta orders Pentagon to monitor for information leaks Pentagon was not behind recent leaks

WEST PALM BEACH: US President Barack Obama raises arms with Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (DFL) after delivering remarks to seniors at Century Village on Thursday in West Palm Beach, Florida. Obama is campaigning for two days in Florida, a crucial swing state in November’s presidential election. — AFP

Wives help Obama, Romney campaigns WASHINGTO: It’s no coincidence that Michelle Obama and Ann Romney are showing up a lot more as the tight presidential race barrels into the final few months. The rival campaigns are rolling out their top assets in a big way. The first lady is the public face of a new grassroots mobilizing effort for Team Obama. And Mrs. Romney’s recent interviews have put her on display cutting through the campaign din - including her blunt statement Thursday that her husband has provided everything that “people need to know” and won’t be releasing more tax returns.

Although Mrs. Romney is still largely unknown to a large swath of the public, both women are well regarded by voters in their own parties, and the campaigns are going all-out to use their appeal in ways that go well beyond the traditional presidential cookie bakeoff.

“They really do appear to be in it to win it, both of them, and sincerely in it to win it,” says Anita McBride, who served as Laura Bush’s chief of staff in the White House. Mrs. Obama on Thursday made her debut as the leader the Obama campaign’s new “It Takes One” program, which asks supporters to do one thing to promote the campaign - and to engage someone else to do likewise. “That one conversation you have, that one new volunteer you recruit, that could be the difference between waking up on Nov. 7 and feeling the promise of four more years or asking yourself, ‘Could I have done more?’” Mrs. Obama says in a threeminute video to supporters that is filled with urgency.

Campaign officials said Mrs. Obama will participate in many “It Takes One” events as she travels the country, recruiting neighborhood team leaders, stopping by voter registration events and speaking to groups of women. —AP

WASHINGTON: Defense Secretary Leon Panetta ordered senior Pentagon officials on Thursday to begin monitoring major US news media for disclosures of classified information in an effort to stop the release of government secrets after a series of high-profile leaks.

The announcement came hours after Panetta and other senior defense officials appeared before a closed-door hearing of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee to discuss recent disclosures of classified security information.

Reports about US cyber warfare against Iran, procedures for targeting militants with drones and a double agent who penetrated a militant group in Yemen have angered U.S. lawmakers. Some have charged the leaks were timed to benefit President Barack Obama’s re-election bid.

Representative Buck McKeon, the Republican chairman of the House panel, told a news conference later that he did not believe the Pentagon was behind the leaks and that Panetta and the other officials were taking the issue seriously.

“Both the chairman and I were very convinced that Secretary Panetta and all of the folks at the Pentagon are taking it seriously, are trying to mitigate the damages and prevent it in the future,” said Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the panel.

Panetta, Army General Martin Dempsey, the top uniformed military officer, and chief Pentagon lawyer Jeh Johnson appeared before the committee to answer questions. McKeon said they agreed the recent leaks had caused damage, but did not elaborate.

In addition to the media monitoring ordered by Panetta, the Pentagon said it had taken a number of other steps in recent months to improve information security.

The measures included improved training for handling classified information, the publication of a manual with clear instructions on what constitutes an unauthorized

disclosure and the creation of an online security incident reporting system.

“The department is continuously improving its security posture and overall capability to prevent unauthorized disclosures,” the Pentagon said in a statement disclosing the recent security changes.

McKeon said the House panel was “concerned about the leaks that have come out over the years and accelerated, it seems, over the last few months.”

Although he said he did not believe the Pentagon was the source of the most recent leaks, McKeon declined to comment on speculation the White House was responsible.

Senator John McCain, Obama’s Republican opponent in the 2008 presidential election, has suggested some of the leaks may have been calculated to

boost the Democratic president’s re-election efforts - a charge the White House emphatically denies.

Pentagon Press Secretary George Little told a briefing on Thursday that Panetta, Dempsey and members of the House committee were of one mind about the leaks.

“The unauthorized disclosure of classified information is truly disturbing,” he said. “It’s of concern to the secretary, and I think members on the Hill express similar concern. And the secretary is clearly prepared to try to address the problem inside the department.”

McKeon said the US government was “actually doing pretty good” in handling its secrets, given the fact that 4 million people had some form of classified clearance. — Reuters

COLOMBIA: Colombian farmers block the road between Caloto and Corinto, in the village of Huasano, Cauca deparment, Colombia, yesterday. Peasants have been blocking the road for two days demanding the dismantling of a military camp located in their territory. Native leaders of Cauca department met Thursday with UN delegates, whom they asked to mediate before the government to reduce the tension after they decided to get the army and the guerrillas out of their territory. — AFP

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

Amnesty decries abuses against Myanmar Muslims BANGKOK: Communal violence is grinding on in western Myanmar six weeks after the government declared a state of emergency there, and Muslim Rohingyas are increasingly being hit with targeted attacks that have included killings, rape and physical abuse, Amnesty International said yesterday.

A government spokesman for coastal Rakhine state, which was engulfed by a wave of bloody unrest in June, called the allegations groundless and biased.

Amnestyís claims are ìtotally opposite of what is happening on the ground,î spokesman Win Myaing said, adding that the region was calm.

Also Friday, the new US Ambassador to Myanmar announced a donation of $3 million in food aid to northern areas of the country affected by fighting between government troops and ethnic militias.

Amnesty accused both security forces and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists of carrying out new attacks against Rohingyas, who are seen as foreigners by the ethnic majority and denied citizenship by the government because it considers them illegal settlers from neighboring Bangladesh. After a series of isolated

killings starting in late May that left victims on both sides, bloody skirmishes quickly spread across much of Myanmarís coastal Rakhine state. The government declared a state of emergency June 10, deploying troops to quell the unrest and protect both mosques and monasteries. Authorities said at least 78 people were killed and thousands of homes were burned down or destroyed with damages roughly split evenly between Buddhists and Muslims.

The worst of the violence subsided late last month, but communal violence has ground on. Now, Amnesty said, it is mostly being directed at the Rohingya population. Attacks over the last six weeks have been ìprimarily one-sided, with Muslims generally and Rohingyas specifically the targets and victims,î Benjamin Zawacki, a Bangkok-based researcher for Amnesty, told The Associated Press. ìSome of this is by the security forcesí own hands, some by Rakhine Buddhists with the security forces turning a blind eye in some cases.î The group also said security forces, including the police and the army, have conducted massive sweeps and detained

hundreds of Rohingyas who are being held ìincommunicado.î ìWhile the restoration of order, security, and the protection of human rights is necessary, most arrests appear to have been arbitrary and discriminatory, violating the rights to liberty and to freedom from discrimination on grounds of religion,î Amnesty said in a statement.

Win Myaing said security forces have arrested at least 100 Muslims in the northern Rakhine state town of Maungdaw, but he said the arrests were not discriminatory. Muslims account for more than 95 percent of the population in the town, he said, and it is natural they would comprise most of the arrests there. Myanmar has long faced tension with many of its ethnic minorities, who usually live in border regions. Although the new government has concluded cease-fires with many, there are still unresolved issues, and armed combat continues between the government and the Kachin minority in the north.

Ambassador Derek Mitchell announced at the U.S. Embassy Friday that the $3 million food aid donation for displaced people in Shan and Kachin

states in northern Myanmar would be delivered through the U.N. World Food Program.

It was Mitchellís first press briefing since he took his post earlier this month as the first US ambassador to Myanmar in two decades. Washington restored full diplomatic relations with Myanmar and eased sanctions in response to reforms initiated after the long-ruling military ceded power last year.

The US already announced earlier this month another $3 million aid package for humanitarian needs in Rakhine and Kachin states and disaster risk reduction.

The violence in Rakhine constituted some of the countryís deadliest sectarian bloodshed in years and raised international concerns about the Rohingyasí fate inside Myanmar.

Many people in Myanmar donít recognize Rohingya as legitimate settlers, though those of Bengali heritage who came in the 19th century, when Myanmar was under British rule and called Burma, are regarded as full citizens. Those who entered after Myanmar became independent in 1948 are considered illegal immigrants. —AP

Chinese court upholds Ai Weiwei tax fine Case another blow to China’s image in the West

ANSAN: High school students lay on the mud while performing an exercise during a summer military camp for students at the Cheongryong Self-denial Training Camp on Daebu Island in Ansan, South Korea, yesterday. — AP

N Korea to ‘completely review’ nuclear issue SEOUL: North Korea said yesterday it had no choice but to “completely review” the nuclear issue after accusing the United States and South Korea over a plot to blow up a statue of its founding leader.

The foreign ministry did not elaborate on what was meant by a review, but it will add to concerns Pyongyang may be planning to conduct a third nuclear test following its failed rocket launch in April.

Last month the North said it had no plans “at present” to conduct such a test. The threat of a nuclear review came after the North arrested a man who was allegedly trying to blow up a monument to Kim Il-Sung, an act which the foreign ministry described as a “war action as serious as the armed invasion”. Pyongyang claimed South Korean intelligence authorities had hired him to carry out the plot and that Washington was actively involved.

“The consistent hostile policy towards the DPRK (North Korea) pursued by the US is giving rise to the evil cycle of confrontation and tensions on the Korean Peninsula, making the prospect of denuclearising the peninsula all the more gloomy,” the foreign ministry said in a statement released by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

“The situation compels us to completely review the nuclear issue.” The statement said the plot ran counter to a 2005 deal under which Pyongyang agreed to dismantle its nuclear programme in return for economic and diplomatic benefits and security guarantees. —AFP

BEIJING: A Chinese court yesterday upheld a $2.4 million fine for tax evasion against the country’s most famous dissident, Ai Weiwei, after barring him from attending the hearing, in a case that critics accuse Beijing of using to muzzle the outspoken artist.

Ai had asked the Chaoyang District court to overturn the city tax office’s rejection of his appeal against the tax evasion penalty imposed on the company he works for, Beijing Fake Cultural Development Ltd., which produces his art and designs.

The artist said that Chinese police barred him from showing up in person, saying earlier he had “absolutely no hope” the court would rule in his favour.

“Today’s verdict shows that this country, more than 60 years after its founding still has no basic legal process, still has no respect for the truth, still will never give taxpayers and citizens an ability to justify themselves,” Ai said.

“The entire judiciary is shrouded in darkness,” he told reporters at his home in northeastern Beijing after the verdict, adding that he would now sue the Chaoyang court in a higher court, ensuring he will remain a thorn in the government’s side.

The case adds to China’s already tarnished international image, at least in the West, coming on the heels of a score of other high profile cases, including the fleeing to the US embassy of blind selftaught legal activist Chen Guangcheng “It has cost them dearly, but I think it reflects where the Chinese authorities are at,” said Corinna-Barbara Francis, Amnesty International’s China researcher.

“It reflects how precarious their position is,” she added. “Obviously it comes

BEIJING: Dissident artist Ai Weiwei, left, listens as his supporter, right, from Zhejiang province turns up at his home studio in Beijing yesterday. A Beijing court yesterday rejected an appeal by Ai against a more than $2 million fine for tax evasion, which he says is part of an intimidation campaign to stop him from criticizing the government. — AP from deep insecurity that they would have to go after someone like him.”

China and the United States will hold their next human rights dialogue in Washington next week.

The loss of Ai’s appeal underscores top leaders’ increasing intolerance of dissent ahead of a tricky generational transition of power at the end of the year, when Vice President Xi Jinping almost certainly will be anointed to take over from Hu Jintao.

Dozens of police and police cars flanked the road leading to the courthouse. Ai’s wife, Lu Qing, was allowed to attend. The Chaoyang District Court heard the case at a closed hearing in June, that in itself was a departure from the consistent refusal by the strictly con-

trolled courts to give dissidents any hearing.Ai, 55, had called the hearing unfair after police warned him to stay away and blocked journalists from approaching the cramped court room which only had five seats.

The court did not answer calls seeking comment. Tax authorities are demanding the company that markets his work pay a 15 million yuan ($2.4 million) penalty for tax evasion.

Government efforts to muzzle Ai have frequently backfired, as demonstrated by an outpouring of public sympathy and cash - in response to the tax penalty. About 30,000 people donated money to help Ai cover an 8.45 million yuan bond required to contest the tax charges. —Reuters

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

Ex-Japan PM joins anti-nuclear demo TOKYO: In a rare move by a former Japanese prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama joined a boisterous antinuclear demonstration outside his old office yesterday, a fresh sign that the ruling party he once led is fracturing over energy and other policies. Japan’s debate over nuclear power has become increasingly heated after incumbent Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s decision to restart idled reactors despite persistent public safety concerns following last year’s Fukushima nuclear crisis. The question of nuclear power’s role in a new energy portfolio the government is set to decide next month is adding to divisions in Noda’s Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), already rent by feuds over his plan to double the sales tax to curb debt and the possibility Tokyo might join a U.S.-led trade deal.

On Monday, an estimated 100,000 anti-nuclear protesters took

to the streets in Tokyo, while everbigger crowds have been gathering every Friday outside Noda’s office.

“It is truly regrettable that the voices of all of you gathered here today are so far removed from politics and the prime minister’s office,” said Hatoyama, wearing a clear raincoat under a steady drizzle and surrounded by reporters.

“As a former prime minister ... I want to take your message inside the prime minister’s office,” he said after shaking hands with a few of the thousands of demonstrators.

He then entered Japan’s equivalent of the White House, where Kyodo news agency said he met Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura. Hatoyama took office in 2009 when the Democrats swept to power for the first time but quit after less than a year in office, felled by charges of incompetence and failure to keep a campaign promise to

move a US military base off the southern island of Okinawa.

Hatoyama’s participation was cheered by some protesters but dismissed by others as grandstanding.

“He can come here and say something impressive but it doesn’t really matter,” said Osamu Arai, a 65-yearold construction worker taking part in the demonstration. “This is a grass roots movement. Things change very slowly in Japan, but we must continue to protest.”

Hatoyama’s gesture however was another sign that Noda’s Democratic Party is in danger of unravelling further. Earlier this week, three members of parliament’s upper house left the DPJ, citing opposition to the reactor restarts, the sales tax and the possibility that Japan might join a US-led free trade pact.

They were the latest to bolt after former DPJ leader Ichiro Ozawa, an unpopular political veteran, led

dozens out of the DPJ to set up a new party, also protesting against the sales tax and promising to wean Japan from its reliance on nuclear power.

Hatoyama, who also opposes the tax hike, has already hinted that he and his DPJ backers might follow suit. The government is set to decide on a new energy mix next month to replace a scrapped 2010 programme that had sought to raise nuclear power’s share to more than half of electricity needs by 2030 from about 30 percent before the Fukushima crisis triggered by the huge earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.

Most experts expect Noda to opt for a 15 percent share for atomic power in electricity supply by 2030, an option that would require the restart of all 50 of Japan’s reactors-all but two of which are now idled for safety checks-before gradually closing older units. — Reuters

Ramadan’s start marred by bomb blasts in Thailand Several shops and residences on fire

SYDNEY: A woman walks past a banner as practitioners of spiritual movement Falungong gather at Sydney’s Town Hall Square yesterday. The group intends to present an open letter to the Sydney office of Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard urging her to denounce what they say is a 13-year-long persecution of the spiritual practice in China. — AFP

Second blind activist escapes Chinese custody HONG KONG: A second blind Chinese activist has escaped state custody, a Hong Kong human rights group said, three months after dissident Chen Guangcheng embarrassed Beijing’s vast security network by breaking out of detention and obtaining US protection.

Chinese Citizens’ Rights Protection Alliance said 57year-old Li Guizhi, detained at the border in southern Shenzhen city for trying to enter Hong Kong to join a large pro-democracy protest on July 1, had escaped custody this week with the help of her relatives.

Li had been petitioning authorities for years to investigate the death of her son, who died suddenly in 2006 and was quickly cremated, Liu said. She never saw her son’s dead body. She had wanted to enter Hong Kong to petition her cause at a march held to mark the anniversary of Britain’s 1997 handover of the territory back to China, Liu added.

Li was subsequently held in a hotel room in Hebei province in northeast China weeks later and, when her guards were dozing, the relatives sneaked her out of the building, Liu Weiping, a spokesman for the alliance, said late on Thursday.

“On July 17, at around 5:00 a.m., she managed to escape her hotel room with help from her relatives. They (police) are now pressuring her family to hand her over,” Liu said.

Chinese police were not immediately available to comment . —Reuters

JAKARTA: Millions of Muslims began fasting yesterday at the start of the holy month of Ramadan in Indonesia and Thailand, where the somber occasion was marred by two bomb blasts that killed one person and injured seven, officials said.

The Muhammadiyah group, Indonesia’s second-largest Muslim organization, told its 30 million followers that Ramadan starts Friday. The government, however, declared the official start as Saturday when most of the remaining 190 million Indonesians will begin the annual dawn-to-dusk fasting for a month.

Muslims in the Buddhist dominated Thailand also began Ramadan yesterday, while Malaysia, Bangladesh and India will start today or Sunday.

Ramadan is celebrated by Muslims around the world. It is a period devoted to dawn-to-dusk fasting, prayers and good deeds. The holy month culminates with the three-day holiday of Eid al-Fitr.

Muslims believe God revealed the first verses of their holy book, the Quran, to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) during Ramadan, the start of which is determined by the sighting of the new moon. The Muslim lunar calendar moves back through the seasons, so Ramadan starts 11 days earlier each year under the Western calendar.

The holy month, however, got off to an ominous start in southern Thailand, where most of Thai Muslims live amid an ongoing insurgency for autonomy. A car-bomb detonated in the morning, sending a huge plume of black smoke from a row of four-story buildings in a commercial area of

Sungai Kolok in Narathiwat province.

Several shops and residences caught fire, said police Col. Maitree Chimcherd. He said seven people were injured, including four who were briefly trapped on the roof of a burning building.

Maitree blamed a group of Muslim insurgents for the homemade bomb hidden in a pickup truck parked in front of a computer store.

On Thursday night, a roadside bomb killed a villager and wounded his companion while they were hunting for squirrels in the woods in Yala province, said police Col. Wichai Jaengsakul.

Still, residents of Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani provinces flocked to local

markets yesterday to shop for fresh and dried fruit including date palm to be consumed at dusk after the first day of fasting ends.

Usually, countries have differing dates for the start of Ramadan because of the different ways of calculating when the new moon crescent is sighted. Sometimes there are differences between various Muslim groups even within the same country.

Muhammadiyah, which uses calendar-based astronomical calculations, believed that the crescent should have appeared after sunset on Thursday. But the government argued it could not be seen by eyes or telescopes, hence Ramadan has to start today. — AP

NARATHIWAT: Thai firemen and rescue workers help victims of a car bomb attack in Thailand’s restive southern Narathiwat province yesterday. Two civilians were killed and four wounded in bomb and shooting attacks in southern Thailand, a military spokesman said, as the region marked the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. — AFP

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

Pakistan to requisition bin Laden plot ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has moved to requisition the land on which AlQaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden spent his final years, an official said yesterday.

After bin Laden was killed by US troops in May 2011, hundreds of people visited the compound which the authorities destroyed in February, fearing it could become a shrine to AlQaeda acolytes.

Authorities in northwestern

province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have now published notices in newspapers asking for any objections to the land being declared government property.

It was not immediately clear what the government intends to do with the plot in the town of Abbottabad, 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the capital, where bin Laden was shot dead in a three-storey building by US Navy SEALs. “It has been advertised in newspa-

pers that anyone objecting to the transfer of land should contact the DRO (district revenue officer) within 15 days,” Mohammad Mushtaq, an official in the revenue’s Abbottabad branch, told AFP yesterday.

“In case of no objection the property will be transferred and declared government property,” he added. Not had yet been in contact, he said. After killing him in Pakistan, US troops buried bin Laden’s body at sea, deter-

mined that no grave act as a memorial to the mastermind of the September 11 attacks.

According to the revenue office, the land was bought by Mohammad Arshad, a resident of the northwestern town of Charsadda killed with bin Laden in the 2011 raid.

One of the terror chief’s wives, who was captured after the raid, told investigators she had lived with her husband there since 2006. — AFP

200 tribesmen rise up against Afghan Taleban ‘We’re fed up with their brutal aggressions’

NEW DELHI: India’s opposition parties National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Vice Presidential candidate Jaswant Singh (C) gestures next to other NDA leaders after filing his nomination papers at Parliament in New Delhi yesterday. — AFP

Indians now Australia’s top migrants SYDNEY: India has topped Britain and China to become Australia’s leading source of migrants for the first time, data revealed yesterday, with seven of the top 10 source countries now in Asia.

Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said India accounted for 29,000 of the 185,000 places in Australia’s 2011-12 permanent migration programme-some 15.7 percent of the total and the first time the country has come top.

China was a close second with 25,500 (13.8 percent), followed by 25,275 from Britain (13.7 percent), according to the 2011-12 Migration Programme report. Bowen said seven of the top 10 countries for Australia-bound migrants were now in Asia-the others being the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, South Korea and Vietnam-with South Africa and Ireland rounding out the top count.

Skilled migration accounted for the majority of the programme’s places, with accountants the top profession followed by cooks, software and applications programmers, software engineers and developers.

“Skilled migration is essential to support our economy and help overcome the challenges of an ageing population,” said Bowen.

“Over 60 percent of skilled migration visas go to employer, government and regional sponsored places to help fill critical skills needs.” The report confirms census data released last month showing that Indian-born people were the fastest growing group in Australia, now accounting for 5.6 percent of the population, preceded only by China (6.0 percent) and New Zealand (9.0 percent).

The rise comes despite damage to Australia’s reputation from a spate of violence against Indians in southern Melbourne, including a 2010 stabbing murder which stoked diplomatic tensions and saw a sharp drop in student numbers.

Indian enrolments are still in decline, with 40,709 students in the year to May, a 24.3 percent slump from a year earlier, which is almost triple the average fall being seen in the sector due to the strong Australian dollar.

Analysts said the strong migration figures likely reflected a large number of Indians who had studied in Australia qualifying for sponsored employment and family visas being granted to their relatives. — Reuters

ALISHING: About 200 tribesmen gathered in an eastern Afghan town this week to mark what they said was an uprising against Taleban insurgents-the latest in a series of such moves, officials say.

Analysts caution that the so-called uprisings could be attempts by local militia leaders to reassert their authority ahead of the 2014 withdrawal of NATO troops supporting the government of President Hamid Karzai.

Or they could be orchestrated as part of a government strategy, they say.

But on Wednesday, in the central bazaar of Alishing, a farming district in eastern Laghman province, the tribesmen-some carrying AK-47 rifles or rocketpropelled grenades-made their intentions clear. “We’re fed up with the Taleban and their brutal aggressions against our people,” a tribal elder among the protesters, Ghulam Rasoul, told AFP at the scene.

“We’re standing up against them and will not allow them to oppress our people and kill our people,” the turbaned elder said. Laghman provincial administration spokesman Sarhadi Zwak told AFP that Alishing’s revolt was the latest in a series of similar moves across the province

northeast of Kabul. And since mid-May, self-armed tribal militia have secured several villages in Ghazni province’s Andar district south of the capital, a senior interior ministry source told AFP. They were keeping the Taleban at bay and helped reopen dozens of schools the insurgents had closed, he said on condition of anonymity.

Although at an early stage, the revolts have worried the insurgents.

“Taleban fighters used to control most of the provinces, but now they are losing ground in areas like Helmand, Kunduz and more recently Kandahar, Zabul and Ghazni,” a mid-level Taleban source told AFP in Pakistan.

“They lost ground to tribal militias because they don’t let people access basic services, especially school,” said the source, who belongs to the militants’ political wing and travels regularly between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“That is what happened in Ghazni two months ago,” he said.

At the demonstration in Alishing, tribal elder Noor Zaman told AFP: “The Taleban are insulting our elders, they are killing our elders, we decided to end this. “Today

we have gathered to tell the Taleban that they are no longer welcome in our village.

If they try to enter our village again we will kill them,” Zaman said.

The Taleban Islamists, who were in power between 1996 and 2001, are waging an insurgency they call “jihad”, or holy war, to bring down the Western-backed Kabul government, which is supported by some 130,000 NATO troops.

But the US-led coalition is gradually withdrawing troops and increasingly handing responsibility for security to Afghans ahead of 2014.

“As the NATO troops are preparing to withdraw, the Taleban have started to expand their activities in the country,” said analyst and author Waheed Mujda, a former official in the Taleban regime.

“The more they expand the more it becomes difficult for them to control their commanders and they and their soldiers have in some areas harassed and angered local communities.

“The uprisings are not purely by people-in most parts they are being led by some former jihadi commanders who see this as a chance for themselves to come back to power.” — AFP

Pakistan’s ex-PM son elected to parliament ISLAMABAD: The eldest son of Pakistan’s sacked prime minister has been elected to parliament to replace his father, a month after he was dismissed by the Supreme Court for contempt.

Abdul Qadir Gilani won a by-election on Thursday in the family constituency in the central town of Multan, after Yousuf Raza Gilani was dismissed for refusing to reopen corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

State television said Gilani won 64,628 votes, comfortably beating his closest rival, Shaukat Bosan, an independent candidate who secured 60,532 votes. Opposition parties led by the Pakistan Muslim League-N of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf party had backed Bosan.

Television channels broadcast footage of the former prime minister Gilani being garlanded with roses and celebrating the victory. His son said the people had spoken. “The court dismissed my father and we came to the court of people. This court has announced its verdict in my favour and I am thankful to you,” he told supporters.

Zardari congratulated Gilani junior, saying “it is the people and the people alone who pronounce the final verdict and are not afraid of overturning all other judgments”. The Supreme Court last week gave new Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf until July 25 to indicate whether he would write to the Swiss authorities to reopen the cases which were shelved in 2008 when Zardari became president.

It threatened Ashraf with “appropriate action under the

constitution and the law” if he fails to comply, fuelling speculation that Zardari’s Pakistan People’s Party may be forced to call general elections later this year. The allegations against Zardari date back to the 1990s, when he and his late wife, former premier Benazir Bhutto, allegedly used Swiss banks to launder $12 million allegedly paid in bribes by companies seeking customs inspection contracts. — AFP

MULTAN: Pakistan’s sacked prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani (C) talks with supporters about the by-election victory by his eldest son Abdul Qadir Gilani (R) during celebrations in Multan yesterday. — AFP

16

Fitch downgrades three major Japanese banks

17

Private firms tout Iran oil cheap to beat sanctions

Business

GE Q2 earnings top Wall Street outlook

20

SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

Eurogroup okays Spanish banking sector bailout

18

RIYADH: A Saudi airline takes off from the Riyadh International Airport.

Gulf airlines set sights on Saudi skies Kingdom’s push for open skies draws aviation players RIYADH/DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s push towards an open skies policy is attracting the interest of major airlines in the Gulf and raising hopes that poor service and overbooked flights that have characterized air travel across the country could soon be a thing of the past.

More than 54 million passengers passed through Saudi Arabia’s 27 airports last year, according to data from the General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA), rising 13.6 percent from 2010.

But the kingdom, the biggest Arab economy and the largest country in the Gulf geographically, still has one of the smallest airline networks in the region relative to its size.

Saudi Arabian Airlines, the national carrier, and private low-budget carrier National Air Services (NAS) are the only options for flying within the country and they are struggling to keep up with demand.

This is in sharp contrast to neighbors such as the United Arab Emirates, where Emirates airlines and Etihad Airways have made their mark internationally. Qatar, a much smaller state compared to Saudi, is also in fierce competition to grab Gulf air travel demand with its national carrier.

“Saudi is a big market with huge distances to cover,” said John Strickland, director of UKbased JLS Consulting. “It’s still moving cautiously but undoubtedly they are looking at

what’s happening around them in the Gulf aviation market and realizing that it’s not logical to keep a strategy of just supporting the national carrier.” Licensed foreign carriers for now can only fly in and out of Saudi Arabia not within. Riyadh has announced it would allow new carriers to operate in the kingdom and would grant licenses for the right to operate both local and international flights.

This month, GACA said 14 companies had applied for licenses to operate domestic and international flights in the country. Of these, seven have been short-listed and include those fully owned by Saudis, Gulf-Arab firms and consortiums of Saudi-Gulf and SaudiChinese companies, the state-run news agency reported. The names of bidders were not revealed but authorities will meet with the short-listed firms in August to talk about the plans.

Most of those seeking a license are eyeing low-cost flights in the kingdom, where business travel is rising and religious tourism is booming. “There are several motivations to look at this market, including the amount of business travel and also religious travel that people perform. Despite all that movement the market has no exposure to low-cost travel,” said Strickland.

Qatar Airways has said it wants to launch a new airline based in Saudi Arabia and is keen

to invest in the kingdom’s domestic aviation sector.

Sources close to discussions said most bids were from local Saudi firms looking to pick up aviation licenses. Firms from neighboring Bahrain have also shown keen interest.

“We are not applying directly for a license but we do not rule out working along with partners,” Richard Nuttall, chief executive of Manama-based budget carrier Bahrain Air, told Reuters.

The open skies plan is being welcomed by Saudi residents, worst affected by the limited air network in the country of more than 27 million. “As a customer I feel I’m stuck with lousy options all the time. Opening the market will force focus and differentiation, competitive prices and packages to win the satisfaction of customers,” said Hasnaa Mokhtar, 35, an executive at a multinational in Jeddah.

Complaints about being booted off flights to make way for VIPs and waiting eight hours in queues for a seat are common in Saudi public forums, including online social media sites.

Mariam Alawi, a 28-year-old Saudi housewife, says most aircraft used in the country are worn out and look like “the inside of a gym bag” with broken seats and entertainment systems that don’t work.

Residents hope the open-skies policy will

bring cheaper travel, better services and more jobs.

“Right now it is more like take it or leave it, their way or the highway, but once they feel the pressure of other airlines offering exceptional service, cheaper prices, more punctual flights, then they will really strive to retain their customers,” Mokhtar said. The kingdom is investing heavily in aviation infrastructure to back the industry’s expansion plans, including building multi-billion dollar projects to expand capacity at the country’s airports, including Riyadh. Traffic through the capital’s airport, which was originally designed to process 9 million passengers a year, has already reached around 15 million.

The country is also planning a 27 billion riyal ($7.2 billion) airport in Jeddah, which it will finance through Islamic bonds, or sukuk, to raise its capacity to 30 million passengers annually. Riyadh is pushing forward with several economic reforms, passing a much-awaited housing mortgage law this month that is expected to stimulate the property market. It is also discussing opening the stock market to direct investment by foreign institutions.

Authorities have mostly completed technical preparations for this, which would subject Saudi firms - including any domestic airlines that listed their shares - to more market discipline. — Reuters

BUSINESS

SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

Qataris take stake in London luxury home developer LONDON: A group of Qatari investors have snapped up a stake in London luxury property developer Native Land, the latest in a string of deals in which the oil-rich Gulf state has extended its ownership of Britain’s capital in recent years.

Native Land, which builds houses in some London’s most exclusive neighborhoods such as Chelsea and Belgravia, said yesterday that a “substantial private Gulf-based investor” had taken a 45 percent shareholding in the company. A source familiar with the deal told Reuters the group of investors were from Qatar and were linked to the royal family. Investors from Qatar have embarked on a shopping spree in western Europe over the past few years. Their

investments in Britain include upmarket department store Harrods and a stake in Songbird Estates, owner of London’s second financial district Canary Wharf.

Qatar’s royal family also owns The Shard, the European Union’s tallest skyscraper, which opened earlier this month in London amid great fanfare but no office tenants.

The deal with Native Land will involve the firm’s management retaining a 45 percent stake, while Scottish estate Buccleuch Group would reduce its majority share to 10 percent. The companies did not say how much the Qatari investors paid.

The three shareholders will establish a new company,

Native Land Investments Ltd, which will invest up to 500 million pounds ($785 million) in Native Land sites and projects across central London over the next two years, and will also fund a development program of 1 billion pounds.

“We are operating in changing times and needed to ensure we had access to significant capital with a partner who will be fully aligned with the business, both financially and culturally,” said David Peck, managing director of Buccleuch Property. Native Land’s development pipeline include NEO Bankside, a scheme of 227 luxury apartments designed by architect Richard Rogers on the opposite side of the River Thames from St Paul’s Cathedral. — Reuters

Fitch downgrades three major Japanese banks Outlook on Japanese lenders ‘stable’

ROME: Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti looks on during a press conference in Rome yesterday. Monti says contagion from the debt crisis has reached Italy and that the country must both combat it and avoid to become a source of infection for the euro-zone. — AP

US stocks slide as crisis in Europe deepens NEW YORK: US stocks are opening lower, pushed down by troubling news about the debt crisis in Europe. The Dow Jones industrial average is down 76 points to 12,867 in early trading yesterday.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 is down eight to 1,369. The Nasdaq composite index is down 13 to 2,952.

Bank stocks are down after many big lenders reported disappointing earnings. Tech stocks, including Google and Microsoft, are up.

Google’s earnings rose as it persuaded users to click more often on online ads.

In Europe, the countries that use the euro officially approved a bailout for Spanish banks. But Spain’s major stock index is down 4 percent after the country predicted its recession will drag into 2013.

Protesters took the streets to show disapproval for government spending cuts.

Spanish shares fell more than five percent yesterday after eurozone finance ministers approved an aid package for Spanish banks worth up to 100 billion euros ($122 billion). In mid-afternoon trade, the Madrid stock market plunged 5.10 percent to 6,294.6 points, with banking shares among the poorest performers. Santander was down 5.88 percent and BBVA fell 6.26 percent.

Britain’s top share index moved lower yesterday after banks were hit by a fresh bout of euro zonefuelled weakness, but it remained on course to chalk up its longest run of successive weekly gains since mid-2005. Banks were the biggest drag on the blue chips, taking 7 points off the index and tracking euro-zone peers lower after hawkish comments from a German politician about a potential Greek exit from the bloc.

That pushed peripheral bond yields higher and fed through into financial stocks, at the front line of the crisis due to their holdings of government debt.

“Euro-zone worries have resurfaced causing widening Spanish and Italian bond spreads which in turn affected banks, as global growth and poor economic data is also worrying,” said NewEdge strategist Neil Marsh.

Barclays, also hit recently by its connection to the allegations of Libor fixing that are dogging the sector, was the top faller, down 2.9 percent.

“Banks are an unloved sector at the moment; the risk is outweighing the rewards with the obvious issues covering Barclays and HSBC even the short sellers are concerned,” said Galvan head of trading Ed Woolfit. — Agencies

TOKYO: Fitch said yesterday it cut the credit rating of three of Japan’s biggest banks over concerns about Tokyo’s ability to support the financial sector, after the nation’s sovereign debt rating was also cut. The ratings agency lowered its rating by one notch to ‘A-’ from ‘A’the seventh highest on a 22-rating scale-for Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), Mizuho Financial Group (MHFG), and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group.

In the same statement, Fitch said it also lowered its rating for Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank to the same level as the major banks. “The downgrade...reflects the government’s weakened financial ability to support the banking system as indicated by the downgrade of (Japan’s sovereign rating),” Fitch said in a statement.

In May, the agency cut Japan’s credit rating, citing its “leisurely” efforts at shrinking a massive public debt, as Tokyo struggles to kickstart the world’s third-largest economy.

The agency downgraded Japan’s long-term rating to “A+” from “AA”, with a negative outlook, noting “growing risks for Japan’s sovereign credit profile as a result of high and rising public debt ratios”.

Fitch yesterday kept its outlook on the Japanese lenders at stable, which suggested it had no imminent plan to cut their ratings again. The agency’s downgrade on the banks comes about two months after they reported across-the-board surges in annual profits, with Mitsubishi UFJ posting a 68 percent spike on trading and

one-time gains.

The trio’s combined net profits totalled nearly 2.0 trillion yen, the largest since the global financial crisis with Japanese lenders having suffered less than most of their Western counterparts.

However the figures weren’t rooted in their core banking business of lending, but rather factors including gains from sales of Japanese government bonds, which lenders have relied on for returns amid sluggish loan demand.

The downgrade on Japan’s sovereign rating followed similar downgrades by rival agencies Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s in the past year and a half. Japan has an eye-watering national debt that amounts to more than twice its gross domestic product-the highest among industrialized nations and a problem that would usually mean paying a high premium to borrow funds.

But its bonds are mostly held by domestic investors, with Japan paying low interest rates on its debt while being less vulnerable to criticism from foreign buyers over its fiscal management-a fate that has befallen Greece.

However, Fitch said in May that Japan’s debt load was projected to hit 239 percent of output by year’s end, “by far the highest for any Fitch-rated sovereign” debt, outpacing Spain, Italy and even beleaguered Athens. Billions of dollars in reconstruction spending following last year’s quake-tsunami disaster is expected to add to the debt mountain. — AFP

PAMPLONA: A woman seen at the fish market, in Pamplona, northern Spain, yesterday. Spain is currently in its second recession in three years and saddled with a nearly 25 percent unemployment rate. — AP

BUSINESS SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

Private firms tout Iran oil cheap to beat sanctions Traders being offered steep discounts LONDON: Obscure private firms are offering Iranian crude oil at steep discounts to European oil traders as Tehran seeks ways to restore oil export flows hit

by Western sanctions.

Traders who buy crude for European refineries say they are getting daily calls offering Iranian crude, sometimes accompanied by the promise of fake paperwork to disguise it as oil from a different origin. Seeking to reverse a slump in exports caused by US and European Union sanctions, Tehran last month scrapped a strict policy of marketing oil only through state National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) to let private companies trade.

The sanctions, aimed at pressuring Iran to abandon what the West says is a nuclear arms program, have almost halted Iran’s oil sales to Europe. The EU banned imports from July 1 and non-EU Turkey has slashed purchases. Iranian oil initially destined for Turkey is now building up in at the Egyptian Mediterranean transit port of Sidi Kerir and is being offered in the European oil market by a growing number of small firms.

“They are all crazy offshore compa-

nies, mainly Iranian guys behind them,” said a senior crude trader at a large state oil firm. He said most of the offers were made by telephone. Not all sellers of the crude are based outside Europe.

One offer seen by Reuters was posted on the online marketplace Alibaba by a firm based in Italy.

Salama Import and Export listed itself as a provider of both light and heavy Iranian crude grades with capacity to supply 1.2 million barrels per month for loading from Sidi Kerir. The advertisement for May delivery included a detailed a pricing formula to be effected in Turkish lira or euros and was taken down from the website a few hours after a Reuters reporter contacted the general manager, Saef Salama, by phone.

“The advertising is old,” Salama said.

“If you want Iranian oil, you have to contact the Iranian oil ministry.” The company’s registered address, on the outskirts of Rome, displayed a doorbell with the firm’s name written in hand.

The low-rise block, part of a modest but tidy new development, appeared mainly residential, with Italian and foreign family names listed on the inter-

com. The EU’s ban covering oil imports and shipping insurance combined with US measures against dealing with Iran’s central bank have cut Iran’s oil exports by 50 percent since February. The insurance ban has prevented Turkish vessels from loading Iranian oil from Sidi Kerirthe terminus of the Sumed pipeline which transports Iranian, Saudi, Iraqi and Egyptian oil from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean.

Traders say up to seven million barrels of Iranian crude, or seven mediumsize shipments worth around $700 million, is stuck in Egypt and being offered cheaply for immediate loading.

Some sellers offer to help sidestep sanctions or unwanted publicity by providing an Iraqi certificate of origin and fictional pricing details to match. The head of one crude oil desk said he received around three phone calls a day with offers of steeply discounted crude.

“The issue now is that the oil is trading at a significant discount-so you are looking at bigger profits. The question is for what price will you risk going to jail,” he said.

The crude was also being offered in

part cargoes, by-passing the problem of certification altogether, he said. Tankers could sail into Egypt carrying 75 pct full of genuine Iraqi crude, then fill the rest up with Iranian oil. The grades would be similar enough for the cargo to pass any test. The Iranian oil ministry did not answer calls to its public relations office.

Traders and Western diplomats have said they expected Tehran to step up efforts to sell crude via private firms as Iran’s pool of buyers is shrinking fast with just four countriesChina, India, Japan and Taiwan-purchasing this month. “It is a matter of time more than anything else before we start to see traders working out a way to ship Iranian crude,” a Western diplomat said.

However, one dealer with a trading house said he doubted the private firms would able to shift much volume because of financial complications. “The banks are so scared of the sanctions that they are policing any transaction even remotely resembling an Iranian deal.

And without banks you cannot do much. Unless you are crazy enough to bring cash in a case,” he said. — Reuters

Brent drops toward $107 after steep rally

TOKYO: A man carries a child on his shoulders near an electronic stock board outside a securities firm in Tokyo yesterday. Asian stock markets wavered as weak US data kept sentiment in check despite continued hopes for new stimulus measures in major economies. — AP

India bars three Iranian banks on security fears NEW DELHI: India’s home ministry has refused to allow three Iranian banks to open branches on Indian soil because of concerns about money-laundering and terror financing, a report said yesterday.

The move complicates New Delhi’s efforts to settle its oil trade bills with the Islamic Republic, the Indian Express daily reported, quoting an unnamed home ministry official for the report. The ministry has denied security clearance to applications

by Parsian Bank, Bank Kasargad and Eghtesad-e-Novin Bank because of its obligation to guard against money laundering and terrorist financing, the newspaper said.

There was no immediate comment from the home ministry.

Fuel-scarce India plans to import 15.5 million tons of crude oil from Iran this year. It has faced difficulty in finding banks to transfer payments to Iran due to US-led financial sanctions against the Islamic republic that have dried up dollar payment routes.

To help circumvent this, India and Iran clinched a deal under which New Delhi would pay for close to half of its Iranian oil purchases in rupees. Allowing branches of Iranian banks to set up in India would made it easier for Indian firms to boost rice, tea, yarn, fertiliser and textile exports to Iran as well as facilitate cooperation on engineering and other projects.

Iran will use the rupees it receives for oil to buy Indian goods.

Large delegations from each country have already made visits to explore trade opportunities. —AFP

SINGAPORE: Brent crude slipped toward $107 per barrel yesterday after an almost 18 percent rally over four weeks prompted some selling as worries about a conflict in the Middle East eased slightly.

Brent rose to an eight-week high in the previous session, gaining for seven straight days as tensions in the Middle East and disruptions in output in the North Sea stoked supply fears.

Brent crude slipped 55 cents to $107.25 a barrel by 0751 GMT. The contract settled up $2.64 on Thursday and touched an intraday top of $108.18, the highest since May 22.

US September crude fell 55 cents to $92.11. The August contract ended up $2.79 and touched a high of $92.94 in the previous session, also the highest since May 22.

“Prices were getting stretched a little, getting a bit ahead of themselves,” said Mark Pervan, senior commodities strategist at ANZ Bank. “This rally is supply driven, and supply-driven rallies tend to be very volatile because when prices go up, they threaten to hurt demand.”

Brent is set to rise for a fourth straight week, its longest winning streak since the end of February. It has gained about 18 percent over the period, biggest four-week rally since October 2009. US oil is on track for an almost 6 percent gain this week, its third weekly gain in four. The most important supply threat to oil for now is from the Middle East, as global powers try to force Iran to halt its disputed nuclear program.

Tension escalated after a bus carrying Israeli tourists was bombed in Bulgaria, for which Israel blamed Iran.

Israel’s allegation, based on suspicions that Iranian and Hezbollah agents have been trying for years to score a lethal strike on its interests abroad, triggered speculation in local media that the government might now hit back hard.

But worries eased slightly as Israel signaled that it would not rush into any conflict.

Analysts, however, cautioned that concerns about supply from the Middle East was far from over and that this would limit any further slide in prices.

“Middle East tensions now mean that supply concerns are entering the crude oil equation which is creating an upward price pressure,” Tim Waterer, senior trader at CMC Market, said in a report.

“With the added element of potential QE3 (quantitative easing) keeping a lid on the dollar, it would appear that the recent rally in oil still has room to move on the upside with a

MEAD: This file photo shows capped wells in the foreground as Anadarko Petroleum Corp, drills a series of wells on a pad on a Weld County farm near Mead, Colorado, in the northeastern part of the state. The state has endured a wide-ranging recession and a slow, uneven recovery. — AP return to $100 per barrel now a realistic proposition.”

A recent slew of weak data showing a surge in US new claims for jobless aid and weaker factory activity in the US. Mid-Atlantic region has improved the outlook for additional economic stimulus from the Federal Reserve.

More stimulus measures to boost growth may weaken the dollar, boosting oil and other dollar-denominated commodities. North Sea production problems, including the recent strike in Norway, are the other key supply worries. Nexen Inc said on Thursday it planned to take down its Buzzard oil field in the North Sea for several weeks of maintenance and a vessel inspection, starting in the first week of September. —Reuters

BUSINESS

SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

Eurogroup okays Spanish banking sector bailout Spanish public increasingly unhappy with austerity

NEW DELHI: An Indian man takes a nap on a bus in New Delhi yesterday. India is expecting the number of commuters to rise with the passage of time due to continuing hike in petroleum prices, according to PTI. — AFP

Head of Greek privatization fund resigns ATHENS: The chief executive of Greece’s privatization fund has resigned, his office said yesterday, citing a lack of government support, planning delays and forecasting paltry asset sales this year.

“Without the government’s unreserved support it is clearly impossible to rapidly carry out the privatization program,” the outgoing executive, Costas Mitropoulos, said in a resignation letter to the finance ministry. Mitropoulos said the new conservative-led government had “systematically” undermined the fund’s credibility with investors instead of helping clear up bureaucratic hurdles, making his position untenable.

He also noted that the administration had failed to appoint a replacement to fund chairman Ioannis Koukiadis who resigned last month.

In eleven months of operation, the fund had managed to conclude four privatizations worth 1.8 billion euros ($2.2 billion) compared to an overall five-year target of 28 projects worth 19 billion euros, Mitropoulos said. This was scaled down from an original overall target of 50 billion euros. This year’s revenue target was 3.0 billion but the former Eurobank executive warned that asset sales are “unlikely to exceed 300 million in 2012” and that the program was at least three months behind schedule.

The resignation is the third to hit the one-month government, after the junior ministers for labor and shipping also stepped down.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’ first choice for finance minister also turned down the post due to illness.

The government has yet to comment on Mitropoulos’ departure, which comes amid Greek efforts to redouble the privatization drive in order to appease EU-IMF creditors growing impatient with the country’s reform delays. The European Union and International Monetary Fund, which have provided hundreds of billions of euros in loans to keep the country’s economy going for two years, expect Greece to fulfil its privatization goals.

After his election in June, centre-right Samaras pledged to speed up the privatization process, while Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras said he would implement policies to attract investors.

But in early July, Mitropoulos warned the Greek government that too much time had been “wasted” in getting the program going. The fund had earlier said that the revised goal of raising 19 billion euros ($23 billion) by 2015 is feasible as long as demand holds up. The state-run Athens News Agency recently said however that only two privatization projects could be completed by the end of the year: that of the national lottery and the former Olympic international press centre (IBC). — AFP

BRUSSELS: Euro-zone finance ministers approved an agreement yesterday to lend up to 100 billion euros ($123 billion) to Spain so it can recapitalize its banks, but the exact size of the loan will probably only be determined in September.

In a conference call, ministers signed off on a lengthy memorandum of understanding with Spain spelling out the terms of the aid, which will be fully disbursed by the end of 2013.

But before Spain can decide exactly how much money it needs, it must see the results of in-depth audits of its banking sector, which is riddled with bad property loans. Speaking at a news conference after the conference call, Luxembourg’s Finance Minister Luc Frieden said the ministers had given the go-ahead.

“We have formalized what we discussed in the past two Eurogroup meetings. We have formally approved the memorandum that lays out the conditions under which Spain can be lent money for the recapitalization of its banks,” Frieden told reporters.

“The approval of all 17 ministers is there, and that means that the program can continue. Money will not flow immediately, because work on the analysis of the specific banks is ongoing.”

The bank rescue, and fresh austerity measures and looser fiscal targets agreed with Madrid, are aimed at avoiding a full sovereign bailout that the euro zone can barely afford. There are signs of growing discontent at the economic pain being heaped on the Spanish public. Hundreds of thousands of Spaniards marched against the centre-right government’s latest measures on Thursday evening, following more than a week of demonstrations across the country.

Parliament approved on Thursday a package of 65 billion euros ($80 billion) of spending cuts and tax hikes which are likely to deepen the recession already gripping Spain. Under the bailout mem-

orandum, 14 banking groups that make up about 90 percent of Spain’s banking system will be tested for their recapitalization needs in a review due to be completed by the second half of September.

Madrid expects 30 billion euros in a first tranche of money that will be available immediately for state-rescued banks that urgently need funds.

An independent audit from consultancy firms Oliver Wyman and Roland Berger, published on June 21, showed the banking sector needed up to 62 billion euros in total.

But a second, more detailed audit, as well as new stress tests, will help determine precisely how much each bank needs and in what form - loans or cash.

Spain’s three biggest banks - Banco Santander, BBVA and Caixabank - would not need extra capital even in a stressed scenario, the independent audit said.

It also said immediate problems were limited to four banks: Bankia, and CatalunyaCaixa, NovaGalicia and Banco

de Valencia, the last three of which have been nationalized. That leaves seven banking groups in the spotlight: Sabadell , Popular, Ibercaja-Caja3Liberbank, Unicaja-CEISS, Kutxabank, Banco Mare Nostrum and Bankinter.

The money for the capital will be provided by the euro-zone’s temporary rescue scheme, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), a 440 billion euro fund set up in 2010 that has about 250 billion euros left, not counting the money for Spain. The EFSF has already been used to bail out Greece, Ireland and Portugal, making Spain the fourth euro zone nation to receive emergency aid in the 2-1/2-year-old crisis. The EFSF loans to Madrid will have an average maturity of 12.5 years and a maximum of 15 years, with interest rates of between 3 percent and 4 percent. Once the permanent European Stability Mechanism (ESM) rescue fund is operational, probably in September, it will take over the job of funding Spain’s program. — Reuters

PAMPLONA: Demonstrators calling a general strike while they protest against cutback plans by Spain’s government holding a banner against Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy reading‘’ Liar. Resignation‘’, in Pamplona, northern Spain on Thursday. — AP

China vows to keep tight grip on property prices BEIJING: China vowed yesterday to maintain tight controls over the country’s property market after house sales recently picked up despite a slowing economy. China has since 2010 introduced a spate of measures to control housing prices, including bans on buying second homes, hiking minimum down-payments and mortgage rates and imposing property taxes in certain areas.

Expectations for a loosening of controls on the sector to boost economic growth rose after the world’s secondlargest economy recorded its slowest expansion in more than three years in the second quarter. But official data released this week showed home prices in more Chinese cities rose in June than in the previous month, as recent interest rate cuts encouraged buying and stoked expectations of a rebound in prices.

Yesterday, the government said the curbs remained at a “critical” stage with increasing uncertainties in the market.

“Land and resources and house construction authorities at all levels must be clear-headed about that, keep controls on

the property market tight... and resolutely prevent housing prices from rebounding,” the Ministry of Land and Resources said in a statement.

Local authorities must also revoke any loosening they have already imposed, it added. The news hit Chinese shares, which closed down 0.74 percent yesterday on extended losses in property developers.

The Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A and B shares, lost 16.20 points to 2,168.64 on turnover of 54.5 billion yuan ($8.6 billion). The central bank this month took the rare step of slashing interest rates for the second time since early June, after cutting the amount of money banks must keep in reserve, aimed at stimulating lending, three times since December. Chinese leaders have vowed to take further measures, and Premier Wen Jiabao last week called stabilizing economic growth the government’s “top priority”. However, the government said the effects of the restrictions on the real estate market were still to be “consolidated”. — AFP

BUSINESS

SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

Singapore stock exchange denies LSE merger talks SGX chief tells FT is less focused on M&A LONDON/SINGAPORE: The Singapore Exchange (SGX) denied it was in talks to buy the London Stock Exchange, a sign there is little appetite for more large cross-border deals after several takeover attempts failed.

The two operators last week agreed to allow their clients to trade blue-chip shares on both platforms, the sort partnership SGX would prefer to costly acquisitions. “SGX has not engaged in talks with the LSE on a potential merger.

However, we are open to collaborations

and partnerships which may benefit our shareholders and the company,” the Asian exchange said yesterday. The statement was a response to a story in Britain’s Daily Telegraph, which said the two were in talks about a potential 7.2 billion pound ($11.3 billion) merger. The story was posted on the newspaper’s website on Thursday. The newspaper said a takeover would be in the region of 1,350 pence per share. LSE shares were below that price at 1,029 pence at 1127 GMT yesterday, indicating traders

thought a deal unlikely.

The LSE declined to comment yesterday. Stock exchanges worldwide are under pressure from new rivals that offer cheaper services and are looking for alternative ways to make money to traditional stock trading, which has been hit by the banking crisis and economic slowdown. Many have tried to merge - an obvious way to cut costs but few have succeeded after investors and authorities intervened.

SGX Chief Executive Magnus Boecker

told the Financial Times in an interview he was open to further partnerships. But he was not so much thinking of mergers and acquisitions, he told the newspaper, but more on “products and services”. —Reuters

BUSINESS

SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

GE Q2 earnings top Wall Street outlook CEO sees ‘double-digit’ 2012 profit growth NEW YORK: General Electric Co yesterday reported a 2.5 percent rise in quarterly profit from continuing operations, just beating estimates, as solid demand in the United States for equipment used in energy production offset the effects of a weakening European economy.

The largest US conglomerate said second-quarter net earnings attributable to common shareholders-which accounted for discontinued operations-fell 15.8 percent to $3.11 billion, or 29 cents per share, from $3.69 billion, or 35 cents per share, a year earlier.

Factoring out one-time items including charges related to its former US subprime

mortgage business and a Japanese consumer finance arm, profit came to 38 cents per share, above the analysts’ average estimate of 37 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Revenue rose 2.5 percent to $36.5 billion from $35.62 billion, but was shy of Wall Street’s expectation of $36.8 billion.

Chief Executive Jeff Immelt held steady the company’s 2012 profit outlook, which calls for double-digit growth.

“Our industrial outlook remains positive,” Immelt said in a statement.

The note of confidence was key for investors, particularly after two days of stronger-than-expected earnings from

other industrial companies, including Textron Inc and Honeywell International Inc. “This is a very good release,” said Jack De Gan, chief investment officer at Harbor Advisory Corp in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. “GE had the perfect opportunity to bring expectations down and blame it on Europe and that would have been the tell-tale move that would have said, ‘OK, GE is beginning to suffer here in this environment.’ And they didn’t do that.” GE shares have risen about 10.8 percent so far this year, outpacing the 5.7 percent gain in the Dow Jones industrial average, of which the stock is the sole remaining original component. — Reuters

SAN DIEGO: A house for sale in San Diego.

Americans bought fewer homes in June than May, indicating the weak economy could make a modest housing recovery choppy.

The National Association of Realtors said Thursday that sales of previously occupied homes fell 5.4 percent in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.37 million homes. — AP

Vodafone hit by euro-zone, emerging market slowdown LONDON: Vodafone posted a sharp drop in quarterly organic growth yesterday as an unexpected slowdown in emerging markets compounded tough conditions in Europe, prompting the group to say it would launch a new round of cost cuts.

Growth from emerging markets has helped to cushion the impact of Europe’s weak economies in the last two years, but the key market of India showed some signs of slowing in the last three months.

“The significant point from these results is that emerging markets are no longer sufficiently rescuing poor performances from Vodafone’s European markets,” said Emeka Obiodu, senior analyst for telecoms at analysis firm Ovum. Vodafone shares were down 1.9 percent in mid-morning trade while European rivals Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom also slipped on the update from the world’s largest mobile operator widely regarded as the strongest in the sector.

“It is not a disaster. It is just a slight miss,” Espirito Santo analyst Will Draper told Reuters.

“The UK has shrunk, Italy has missed our numbers and the emerging markets growth is still pretty good but it has also

clearly slowed in Turkey, India and South Africa.”

While Vodafone has outperformed peers in the past year, tough conditions across Europe forced it to cut its medium-term outlook and write down the value of assets by 4 billion pounds ($6.3 billion) in May, as customers sought to save money by making fewer calls and deferring handset upgrades.

The group reiterated its annual outlook yesterday and analysts welcomed the pledge for cost cuts as a sign the group would protect the earnings.

“Inevitably we are now about to embark on a new wave of cost initiatives, it is what you have to do when times are tough,” Chief Executive Vittorio Colao told reporters.

Vodafone posted group service revenue of 9.98 billion pounds in its first quarter to end-June, up 0.6 percent compared with a forecast for 0.9 percent. That was down from 2.3 percent growth in the group’s fourth quarter, which benefited from the extra leap year day.

Vodafone said the emerging markets region was hit by the inclusion of Australia in the division, which has struggled for some time, while regulatory changes and a change to the way the

groups sells data packages hit the numbers in India.

In Europe, Italy and Spain continued to struggle due to tough competition and weak consumer spending, while Vodafone also suffered from weak demand from small and medium sized businesses which use its corporate services. Britain slowed more than expected due to the weakening economy and aggressive pricing from Telefonica’s O2 and 3.

Finance Officer Andy Halford said it was difficult to be optimistic in the short term. “Clearly consumers and businesses remain nervous in many territories, our sense is that we should prepare the business for a few more quarters that are going to be reasonably tough.”

In the first quarter, the key figure of organic service revenue which strips out the cost of one-off factors such as handsets was down 1.6 percent on an organic basis in Europe while the emerging markets division was up 6.1 percent.

Colao said the one encouraging factor for the medium term was Germany, which showed a solid performance in part due to the roll out of its next-generation LTE technology, which should be rolled out across other European markets in the next two years. — Reuters

ATHENS: Riot police guard the entrance of the Elliniki Halyvourgia at Aspropyrgos, 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) west of Athens yesterday. — AP

Greek police break up 9-month-old steel factory strike ATHENS: Police in Greece yesterday broke up a nine-month strike at one of the country’s main steel plants, arresting nine workers manning a front gate roadblock, the state-run Athens News Agency said.

Following a court order, the police intervened before dawn to open the gates of the Hellenic Halyvourgia plant in the area of Aspropyrgos, west of Athens, but met resistance from striking workers who were present. More tension ensued, as workers wishing to end the strike and resume work tried to enter the factory. Members of the Communist-affiliated union Pame remained on the spot, causing serious traffic jams.

The radical left main opposition party Syriza condemned the police action, describing it as a “raw, unprovoked, militarytype intervention of the special forces against the striking steel workers.” News reports said Prime Minister Antonis Samaras had ordered the police operation even though talks between the labour minister, the factory owners and the strikers in a bid to break the impasse were ongoing since last week. Both Syriza and Pame said they would back a protest that the striking unionists planned to hold later in the day. The factory workers have been on strike since October, protesting against the dismissal of staff and cuts in working hours and pay to 500 euros ($614) a month.

The privately-owned company, one of Greece’s three main steel producers, claims it is running at a loss but the local union refutes the claim.

It had threatened to shut down the plant if the strike continued. As Greece struggles with a fifth year of recession, unemployment rates are rising fast and according to official data reached 22.6 percent in the first quarter of 2012. — AFP

German govt expects growth to slow in Q2 FRANKFURT: The German economy, which bounced back to growth of 0.5 percent in the first quarter of 2012, will witness a slower rate of growth in the second quarter, the finance ministry predicted yesterday.

“Current economic indicators suggest that growth has probably slowed somewhat in the second quarter,” the ministry wrote in its latest monthly report, without providing any concrete forecast figure. In the first three months of this year, the gross domestic product (GDP) of Europe’s biggest economy expanded by 0.5 percent on a quarterly basis following a contraction of 0.2 percent in the preceding three months.

Nevertheless, experts and analysts agree that growth is slowing again as the long-running euro-zone debt crisis hits exports, traditionally the main driver of the German economy. b”Industrial activity picked up again somewhat in May. But it will shift down a gear or two for the remainder of the year,” the finance ministry wrote.

Export growth would also slow as the economies of Germany’s trading partners weaken.

The government is currently pencilling in growth of 0.7 percent for the entire year. The German central bank or Bundesbank recently upgraded its full-year growth forecast to 1.0 percent from 0.6 percent previously. —AFP

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Katie Holmes heads to Broadway post-divorce PAGE 26

A visitor poses with a 3D painting during a show featuring over 50 works in Hefei, central China’s Anhui province yesterday. —AP (See Page 25)

Emmy voters snub popular comedies PAGE 27

SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

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pparently Victoria Beckham, Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton, Melanie Brown and Melanie Chisholm - are “95 percent” confirmed to perform at the closing event. The group have not sung together since 2008, but could join George Michael, The Who, Take That, Emeli Sande and Jessie J on August 12. They have provisionally agreed to sing their 1996 track ‘Wannabe’ as one of two songs. Geri is expected to wear a Union Flag dress like she did at the 1997 Brit Awards. Victoria revealed in a radio interview yesterday that she would like to appear with the group next month. She said: “I’m so respectful of my past and I love the other girls. We have some fantastic fans. Who knows, maybe someday we’ll do something else with the Spice Girls. I would love nothing more. “I don’t know about a comeback tour but I loved being back with the girls. There was a lot of fun, we did so much together and we’ll see. If they’re up for something then I certainly am.” Talking on RTE’s ‘John Murray Show’, she added: “We are so proud to be English and we are very excited about the Olympics.” A source told the Daily Mirror newspaper: “The girls were approached for the Games two years ago. It’s always been on the cards.

“Victoria is in London until the end of the Games and David’s exclusion from the football team means she has time to reunite with the Spice Girls. “Talks are back in full swing and the balance of power rests with Mel C. Everyone is hopeful she will agree to perform.”

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he 39-year-old actress - who has previously enjoyed relationships with Matt Dillon, Justin Timberlake and Alex Rodriguez - was seen getting cosy with the unknown “handsome and athletic” man at Rao’s in New York. A source told the New York Post: “It looked like a date.”

He is believed to look like ‘Family Guy’ creator Seth MacFarlane. The ‘What To Expect When You’re Expecting’ star was recently linked to P. Diddy, and has previously stated she would rather be heartbroken than never fall in love. She said: “When I was going through a bit of heartbreak a little while ago, I said to a friend, ‘Wow this really hurts’ and he said, ‘That just shows you what your capacity for loving is.’ After that, the heartbreak felt different to me, because then it became about abundance, not deficit. “I would rather have my heart broken a thousand times than never love at all. I have so much love to give - I’m not empty of love, I’m full of love.”

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he ‘Dark Knight Rises’ actress is keen to start a family with fiance Adam Schulman although she has no intention of ever giving up work. She said: “I hope to be a mother and I want to find the balance between having a really happy home life and a fulfilling career.” Anne is set to marry Adam next year although she admits she hasn’t thought much about their nuptials. She told the Daily Mirror newspaper: “I haven’t started planning and I don’t know if I want something traditional or classic.” Earlier this month, it was claimed Anne was already pregnant after she refused to drink during a celebratory family meal. A source said: “Not only did both Anne and Adam have their parents at dinner with them, which is unusual, but the amount of enthusiasm and excitement made it clear that they were celebrating some major news.”

SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

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he comedian has applied for a licence to officiate at marriages in the United States. Apparently he stumbled across a website offering the qualification during an afternoon surfing the Internet. A source told The Sun newspaper: “Russell is genuinely interested in the idea of marrying a couple. “Now he’s getting matey with Tom Cruise, his pals have been joking that he could do the honours

at the star’s fourth wedding.” While Tom is a Scientologist, Russell recently acted as master of ceremonies when the Dalai Lama addressed thousands of young people in Manchester, North West England last month. He said beforehand: “I’ve made mistakes in the past, I won’t lie to you but this one I’m on my game!

I’m going to crack on. I’m going to give the Dalai Lama the best show. I’m going to

behave. “I’m going to improvise and I am going to be playing for laughs, but I’ve got to be entirely respectful of his holiness and that’s going to be no problem because I’ll tell you why, genuine respect.”

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he ‘Fashion Star’ host - who signed a $4 million deal to become an ambassador for the weight loss brand earlier this year - treated participants to the devices which help track the wearer’s steps. The generous star announced on her twitter page: “Just bought all the girls in my @weightwatchers group pedometers to track their steps.

10,000 steps a day = 5 miles! Let’s step it up!” Jessica gave birth to her first daughter with fiancÈ Eric Johnson, Maxwell Drew, on May 1. The 32-year-old designer recently revealed that she doesn’t have a specific weight that she needs to reach in order to stay in line with her agreement. She said: “There’s not a goal weight - I just want to feel normal and fixate on inches. “I really want to set small goals, so I’m constantly reaching goals and not looking at something so far ahead.” Meanwhile, a friend revealed that Jessica is committed to her exercise routine. The divulged: “She understands it’s a process. [She is] working very hard and she’s excited.”

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he 64-year-old star has sent a writ via Los Angeles law firm Lavely & Singer to Dean Torkington - who goes by the stage name To Hell and Back, the same title of Meat Loaf’s autobiography - claiming he is an “online imposter”. Dean - who has been a Meat Loaf tribute act since 1996 and performs at pubs and clubs around the UK - claims to have had the domain name, www.MeatLoaf.org, for 12 years, but the ‘Bat Out of Hell’ hitmaker says the website is capitalising on his “celebrity”. In the writ, Meat Loaf claims the 50-year-old performer “commercially exploited the internet top-level domain name MeatLoaf.org to capitalise on the artist’s celebrity” and is now “liable for substantial damages, including statutory damages of up to $100,000 for your cybersquatting”. Dean states on his website: “You simply won’t find a more accurate portrayal of the Rock Meat Loaf anywhere else.”

The British tribute act says Meat Loaf has “never made it easy” for him to impersonate the singer and claims his manager once demanded him to remove ‘Bat out of Hell’ artwork from his van. He is quoted by the MailOnline as saying: “I’m seeing my barrister because there’s a legal term that states if he knew about me and has done nothing before he cannot complain later on. “We have not got on for a long time. He said that he wanted my website www.Meatloaf.org. He’s never made it easy for me. “Once I paid £400 on VIP tickets to see Meat Loaf at Liverpool Docks. I went back stage and I had him and his manager having a go at me. He said that he wanted to get all the pic-

he ‘So What’ hitmaker thinks 13-month-old Willow Sage is already showing signs of being a “pretty good” musician after she got involved with the recording sessions for the singer’s forthcoming ‘The Truth About Love’ album. Pink said: “She plays bells on ‘How Come You’re Not Here,’ and she plays bass on a song called ‘Timebomb’. She’s actually quite talented for a 13 month old. “There was a basket and she came over and pulled out the bells and started banging on them, and I was like, ‘Record it!’ And then she went up to the bass guitar on ‘Timebomb’ and started

tures off the side of my van and also he wanted my website address. “I told him that he was not having my website but shortly after that his YouTube channel complained about my YouTube videos of my show and I had to take mine down. “My webpage has always said that I am a tribute act. I have never tried to say that I am Meat Loaf himself.” Dean is now going back to being a Sir Elton John tribute act, a career he previously left to be a Meat Loaf impersonator after putting on weight.

plucking away. She’s actually pretty good! “She’s better on bass than I am! She plays piano, she bangs it, she’s either going to be violent or a percussionist ... or a violent percussionist.” Pink - who is married to motocross star Carey Hart - insists being a mother hasn’t changed her songwriting style, though she has altered her routines to fit with family life. She explained to MTV News: “Being a mama, I don’t really feel like it’s changed my songwriting, other than the fact that now I do it Monday through Friday from 1 pm to 10 pm, as opposed to every day until 4 am. “Lyrically, I’m more aware of my cursing, but I haven’t changed it yet! I’m working on it though.” — Bangshowbiz

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nimal rights group PETA yesterday called on India’s snake charmers to use fake reptiles during an upcoming serpent festival and spare the animals their annual torture. The Indian unit of US-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) said snakes were abused during the annual Naag Panchami festival, which is celebrated in honour of a Hindu serpent god and is scheduled for August 30-31.

PETA claimed snakes were cruelly captured in suffocating bags, kept in tiny boxes, starved or forced to drink milk. Their teeth are often violently torn out, and many snakes’ mouths are sewn shut, it added.

“There is no place in a civilised society for yanking snakes’ teeth out and sewing their mouths shut,” PETA India campaign coordinator Chani Singh said in a press statement. “PETA India is calling on snake charmers to rein in this egregious abuse by using fake snakes for God’s sake,” Singh added, saying that realistic plastic or rubber snakes could be used instead. PETA’s statement was swiftly condemned by the Bedia Federation of India, a non-profit agency which represents the nomadic snake charmer community.

“How can PETA accuse us of torturing and abusing snakes? We worship snakes, we would never want them to suffer and die,” Raktim Das, the general secretary of the federation, told AFP. Das said the call by PETA was nothing short of a publicity stunt aimed at making life more difficult for their 800,000-strong community which had been “living a life of penury” in the wake of strict wildlife laws. “Our livelihood has been snatched from us. There is no alternative employment opportunity for us. Where do we go and what do we do to earn a living?” Das said. The snake charmers have long been a favourite with tourists in India but the practice was proscribed under wildlife legislation implemented in 2002. The Naag Panchami festival goes ahead regardless, with devotees worshipping snake pictures, idols or in some cases live serpents. A small number of charmers can still be spotted around major tourist sites in places like New Delhi, risking arrest as they cajole foreign visitors into taking a snapshot for a small fee. — AFP In this photograph, Indian snake charmers are seen with their cobras at the Shiva Temple in Amritsar, on the occasion of Nag-Panchami. — AFP

Sylvia Woods, who started Harlem restaurant, dies

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angladesh’s most popular fiction writer Humayun Ahmed has died in the United States after a near year-long battle against colon cancer, his family said yesterday. He was 64. Ahmed, also the country’s leading film director and TV drama-maker, “was pronounced dead by doctors at Bellevue Hospital in New York” on Thursday, his brother Ahsan Habib told AFP. Ahmed wrote over 200 fiction and non-fiction books, almost all of them bestsellers in Bangladesh, often tackling the life struggles of the middle class in lucid and easily understandable Bangla, peppered with humour.

Many have have since been translated into English, Japanese and Russian among other foreign languages, including “Gouripur Junction”, a work of fiction centred around the small town in northern Bangaldesh where Ahmed was born. He won every top award for writing in Bangladesh in a career that also saw him make half a dozen hit films, such as “Aguner Poroshmoni” (The Touchstone of Fire) and “Srabon Megher Din” (Monsoon Days).

Ahmed flew to the US last September after being diagnosed with cancer during a routine check-up in Singapore, and received chemotherapy at the Memorial SloanKettering Cancer Center. After surgery on June 21, doctors found an unknown virus in his body and were unable to treat him, Habib said. President Zillur Rahman joined Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in paying tribute to Ahmed, saying his death was “an irreparable loss for Bengali literature”.

Hasina said that “Bangladesh would ever remember Humayun Ahmed for his outstanding contribution to the fields of literature, cinema and drama”. The son of a police officer who was killed during the country’s liberation war against Pakistan in 1971, Ahmed was born in 1948 and became a chemistry professor at Dhaka University before becoming a full-time writer.

He shot to fame with his first novel “Nondito Naroke” (In Blissful Hell), published in 1972 while he studied at the university. In a sign of his popularity, at the country’s largest annual publishing event, the Ekushey Book Fair, tens of thousands of fans would queue for hours for his autograph. In recent years he had stopped attending to help the authorities control the crowds. — AFP

ylvia Woods, founder of the famed Harlem soul food restaurant that carries her name and is a must-stop for locals, tourists and politicians, has died.

She was 86. Woods died Thursday afternoon at her home in Mount Vernon, NY, said her granddaughter Tren’ness WoodsBlack. She had been dealing with Alzheimer’s disease for the past few years.

Woods and her husband Herbert, natives of South Carolina who met as children, started Sylvia’s Restaurant in 1962. The restaurant is a Harlem fixture, with tourists and locals coming there for cornbread, ribs, collard greens, fried chicken and other staples of Southern cooking, and politicians making frequent visits while on the campaign trail.

One of those politicians, Rep. Charles Rangel, said he celebrated his recent victory in the Democratic primary for Congress at the restaurant, which is in his district and which he described as “a magical place that brought the community together.”

“Ms. Sylvia created a special place on

Lenox and 127th street. Sylvia’s may have been famous nationally and internationally, but its soul has always remained in Harlem,” he said. “Nothing can replace its founder, but her legacy will live on in the memories she helped make.”

Rev. Al Sharpton said Sylvia’s was “more than a restaurant, it has been a meeting place for Black America.” He said he had dined there with many famous faces including President Barack Obama and Caroline Kennedy. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, “We lost a legend today.

For more than 50 years, New Yorkers have enjoyed Sylvia’s and visitors have flocked to Harlem to get a table. In her words, the food was made with ‘a whole lot of love’ and generations of family and friends have come together at what became a New York institution.”

Woods had been scheduled to get an award in honor of her restaurant Thursday evening, presented by Bloomberg as part of the annual Harlem Week reception at Gracie Mansion, the mayoral residence. A

family friend accepted on the family’s behalf. From its start as a restaurant, Sylvia’s has grown to include multiple cookbooks and a nationwide line of food products.

Woods-Black said the restaurant, marking its 50th anniversary in August, is more than just a place to eat, that it’s a place where her grandmother could express her hospitality, a tradition that following generations have maintained. “If you come alone, you’re never going to dine alone,” she said. Woods-Black said her grandmother had officially stepped down from running the restaurant when she was 80, leaving it in the hands of her children and grandchildren. She said funeral arrangements were being finalized. The family has scheduled a news conference for Friday to announce the details. Herbert Woods died in 2001. — AP

In this file photo, Sylvia Woods (center) moves to the music outside her restaurant, ‘Sylvia’s,’ during the restaurant’s 40th anniversary celebration, in the Harlem neighborhood of New York. — AP

SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

Travel Picks

Top cities for street food S

ummer holidays are definitely on by now and wherever you go there will be street food. In many countries that doesn’t mean a hot dog on a bun, but a delicious celebration of culinary heritage. In honour of those mouth-watering meals abroad, the members and editors of travel website VirtualTourist.com (www.virtualtourist.com) have compiled a list of the “Top Ten Best Street Food Cities.” Reuters has not endorsed this list: Bangkok, Thailand Few places in the world, if any, are as synonymous with street food as Thailand. For the variety of locations and abundance of options, we selected Bangkok, Thailand, as our number one spot for street food.

Bangkok is notable for both its variety of offerings and the city’s abundance of street hawkers. VirtualTourist members recommended Soi Rambuttri, a U-shaped lane off of Khao San Raod and near Wat Chana Songkhram, as a great spot in the old district of Bangkok. One member lovingly described his last meal there: after getting an enormous Pad Thai from a street vendor against the wall, he turned 180 degrees to find an open air beer garden.

Another highly recommended spot is Soi 38 near Sukumvit, which is almost like an evening food market, running until about 3 am, and very close to much of the city’s best nightlife. Green Papaya salad bruised on a stone pestle, mango sticky rice, pad thai (stir-fried noodles with egg, fish sauce, tamarind juice, red chili pepper, and a combination of meat, garnished with crushed peanuts and lime), and chicken with green curry are all some of the Thai specialties our members mentioned finding in Bangkok.

Singapore The undisputed up-and-coming spot for street food in Southeast Asia is Singapore, though street food already has a long history in the city. In the 1950s and 60s, “street hawking” was an incredibly popular trade, however, the abundance of street hawkers eventually created sanitation and public health issues. In 1968 and 1969, all street hawkers were forced to register, and for the next fifteen years, the government relocated hawkers to “hawker centres.” These centres can be described as a hybrid of a food court and an organized market with street food stalls. While this structure lacks the spontaneity and theatrics of say, Mexico City, it has led Singapore to gain the reputation as having one of the safest and most reliable street food cultures in the world.

Singapore’s cuisine is reflective of its interesting position in Southeast Asia and the multi-cultured mix of Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Peranakan (Straits-born Chinese that intermarried with Malays) citizens who call the island home. The city’s specialties include Hainanese Chicken Rice, comprised of steamed chicken with a jellylike layer with rice, cucumbers, chillies, and pounded ginger; chile crabs, which come slathered in a garlicky and fiery paste; laksa, a spicy Peranakan (Chinese & Malaysian) noodle soup; and satay, skewers of marinated and grilled meats served with a peanut sauce.

Penang, Malaysia One of the surprising aspects in researching this article was our member’s overwhelming enthusiasm for Penang, a small state and island on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, as one of the best street food spots in Asia. Members credited the three large ethnic groups in Penang (Malay, Chinese, and Indian) as creating both a great variety in the street food, but also a multicultural influence on the cuisine as a whole. One member even stated he had better Indian food in Malaysia than he had in India! The Little India and Chinatown areas of Georgetown, on Penang Island, are noted for their hawkers and cuisine. Char koay teow (stir-fried rice noodles), assam laksa (a tart, hot and sour fish soup), roti (Indian-influenced flatbread), and satays of beef, chicken, are all suggested.

Marrakech, Morocco Multiple VirtualTourist members recommended Marrakech’s main square, Djemaa el Fna, as THE spot to find your street food snack while in Morocco. Located in the city’s medina quarter (old city), the square contains close to a hundred food stalls serving a variety of Moroccan cuisine that can be eaten at nearby wooden tables on the square. The options range from the standard Moroccan fare of roasted lamb and couscous, to more exotic fare like sheep’s testicle and escargots, and they change as the day goes on. In the morning, stalls serve fresh squeezed orange juice, followed by eggplant, kebabs, and brochettes in the afternoon. As evening rolls around, enjoy some snails or harira soup (tomato-based spiced chickpea soup) to start, followed by tangine chicken, shwarma, or lamb.

Palermo, Sicily Italian cuisine is world-renowned, but the country’s culture appreciates sitting and lounging over a meal, so though their pizza and gelato have a serious corner on the “To Go” food market, the Italian street food scene is surprisingly lacking. However, one VirtualTourist member was extremely passionate that her best street food experience was in Palermo, Sicily. Of the city’s fried delicacies, our member recommended arancini (fried rice balls stuffed with meat sauce and cheese), crocche (Fried potato balls), panelle (friend chick peas pancake), and cardoni (fried cardoon), with panelle and cardoni as her favorites for their sour aftertaste. A typical Palermitano snack is “panino con la milza,” or spleen sandwiches, available plain or “maritata,” meaning with cheese. In addition to these specialties, it’s still a great spot to get classic quick Italian foods like coffee granita, Sicilian pizza, gelato, and cannolis.

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Vietnamese cuisine has received some major street cred in recent memory (Anthony Bourdain’s praise comes to mind), and a quick visit to Ho Chi Minh City’s Ben Thanh or Binh Tay Markets explains why. Similar to the other Southeast Asian destinations listed, the street food in Saigon embraces a mix of cultures, primarily the city’s French colonial background with Vietnamese spices and ingredients. In addition to Vietnamese standards of pho and b·nh mÏ, some other notable dishes include cooked broken rice with a fried egg on the top, Bo La Lot (seasoned beef in a leaf), and spring rolls.

However, since hawker registration and street food health standards aren’t as stringent in Vietnam, travelers should be careful to always choose popular, crowded stalls with high turnover.

Istanbul, Turkey It’s not hard to imagine why a city that straddles two continents is a must-see stop for street food. From the visually-striking stalls selling dˆner (lamb, chicken, or beef on a vertical skewer) to the balik ekmek (fish sandwiches) sold off of boats, one of the greatest attributes of Istanbul’s street food is the variety of options. Mornings can start with simit, a ring-shaped bread topped with toasted sesame seeds and akin to a crisper bagel, afternoons begin with a kebab, and a snack of midye dolma (stuffed mussels) is a great break from site-seeing. Two locations noted for their street food are the beginning of Istikal Caddesi in Taksim, and near the Galata Bridge in the Eminonu area if you’re hankering for a fresh fish sandwich. — Reuters

Visitors have fun with a 3D painting during a show featuring over 50 works in Hefei, central China’s Anhui province, yesterday.

— AP photos

SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

Palestinian settles NYC suit over ‘Bruno’ film

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Palestinian grocer portrayed as a terrorist in the movie “Bruno” has settled his slander suit against film star Sacha Baron Cohen and David Letterman, his lawyer said Thursday. Ayman Abu Aita’s “case is settled to the mutual satisfaction” of everyone involved, attorney Joseph Peter Drennan said. Court records show the case was designated settled and closed Wednesday. Drennan wouldn’t discuss the terms.

Lawyers for Baron Cohen, Letterman and other defendants involved with the movie and Letterman’s “Late Show” didn’t immediately return calls.

In the 2009 comedy, Baron Cohen plays an Austrian fashion journalist aiming to make peace in the Middle East. He interviews Abu Aita, who’s labeled in a caption as a member of the militant Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade. Baron Cohen discussed Bruno’s encounter with a “terrorist” on Letterman’s show on CBS. A Christian and “a peace-loving person” who was living in the West Bank, Abu Aita has never associated with the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade or any terrorist activity, his court papers said.

He went to the interview that appeared in “Bruno” thinking he was talking to a journalist about peace activism, his court complaint said. Instead, the movie spurred death threats against him, damaged his business and made him fear for his family’s safety, the complaint said. The suit sought millions of dollars in damages. A British comedian, Baron Cohen is known for crafting outlandish characters and he often dupes people into interviews to film their reactions to his antics.

His lawyers and Letterman’s attorneys have said in court filings that free speech rights protected the statements about Abu Aita in “Bruno” and the “Late Show” interview. Abu Aita’s “name or likeness was used in a newsworthy context in a documentarystyle movie that conveys matters of legitimate public interest,” Baron Cohen’s lawyers said in papers filed last year. — AP

Singer Demi Lovato performs at the Greek Theatre on July 18, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. — AFP

Katie Holmes

heads to Broadway post-divorce

K

Batman fan, Steve Andrews, 28, from Indiana, role plays as “The Joker,” while waiting for the opening for ‘The Dark Knight Rises,’ the third in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy at Universal CityWalk in Los Angeles Thursday, July 19. — AP

‘Dark Knight Rises’ outpacing ‘The Avengers’ in presales

“T

he Dark Knight Rises” is outpacing the summer blockbuster “The Avengers” in ticket sales at the same point in the sales cycle, online ticket broker Fandango reported Thursday. The final chapter of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy has sold out more than 2,000 showtimes nationwide, and it’s currently on track to become one of Fandango’s top-selling movies of all time. On Thursday, “The Dark Knight Rises” was accounting for 91% of Fandango’s daily ticket sales.

Industry analysts have revised their projections for the “Dark Knight Rises” upward since earlier this week and now see it taking in between $185 million and $198 million in its debut this weekend. That would be the second-largest domestic opening of alltime, behind only Disney and Marvel’s superhero mashup “The Avengers,” which debuted to $207 million in May. “The IMAX showtimes are particular fast-sellers, as almost every one of our Thursday midnight IMAX showtimes have been sold out,” Rick Butler, executive vice president and general manager of Fandango said in a release. —Reuters

atie Holmes has decided what her first major acting project will be since announcing her divorce from Tom Cruise: Broadway.

The actress will star in Theresa Rebeck’s “Dead Accounts,” a five-character comedy that will be directed by three-time Tony Award winner Jack O’Brien, producers said Thursday. All eyes were on Holmes’ next step as a single woman. Was it to be a big film or a small one? Or more TV? Her decision to return to the physically strenuous eight-show-a-week life of a Broadway stage actress indicates a willingness to jump into the deep end.

Her last appearance on Broadway, which also marked her debut, was in the 2008 production of “All My Sons.”

The news that she will return to a Times Square stage is also a signal that she may intend to stay in New York City. Holmes first came to stardom in the teen soap opera “Dawson’s Creek,” and had roles in such well-regarded films as “The Ice Storm,” “Go” and “Wonder Boys.”

After Holmes began dating Cruise, she took a three-year break from acting that concluded with the poorly received heist film “Mad Money.” She followed that up with the wedding drama “The Romantics” and small roles in the comedies “The Extra Man” and Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill,” and the thrillers “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” and “The Son of No One.” Though she starred in “Batman Begins” in 2005, she pulled out of “The Dark Knight.”

Reviews for her work in Arthur Miller’s classic 1947 “All My Sons” were mixed, with The Associated Press saying Holmes “has a striking physical presence, although not much vocal variety” and USA Today saying that “at

This file photo shows actress Katie Holmes at the premiere of “Jack and Jill” in Los Angeles. — AP

best, she exhibits a girlish exuberance that could serve her well in certain stage roles.”

The new Rebeck play, which had its world premiere at the Cincinnati Playhouse this winter, will open on Broadway this fall at the Music Box Theatre. Dates and other casting news will be announced later. “Dead Accounts” centers on a son who returns to his family’s home in Cincinnati flush with money, which raises red flags for his sister, who is living with their elderly parents. Holmes will play the sister role, a not-veryglamorous part for a woman who has lately landed on the cover of every tabloid.

Producers in a statement said the comedy “tackles the timely issues of

corporate greed, small town values and whether or not your family will always welcome you back.” Holmes’ announcement comes on the heels of word earlier this month that she and her soon-to-be-former husband had reached a divorce agreement. She and Cruise were married in Italy in 2006 and they have a 6-year-old daughter, Suri. Rebeck, who was a driving force in the first season of NBC’s “Smash,” has written several plays, including the recent Broadway hits “Seminar” and “Mauritius.” — AP

SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

Emmy voters snub several popular comedies

Actress Kerry Washington (left) and TV host Jimmy Kimmel announce the nominees for the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Award during the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards Nominations held at the Television Academy’s Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre. — AFP photos

A

s nominees for the 2012 Emmy awards popped celebrated on Thursday, some TV critics and industry watchers expressed surprise that several popular comedy and drama series were overlooked by members of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Among the Emmy snubs on many critics’ lists were NBC comedies “Parks & Recreation” and “Community,” while the drama “Boss,” starring Kelsey Grammer, also failed to get due respect from award voters at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, according to some industry watchers.

Grammer, with five previous Emmy wins and 14 nominations for performances on “Cheers,” “Frasier,” “Wings,” and “The Simpsons,” was denied a spot in the lead actor race, despite winning a Golden Globe this year. “The biggest snub

of the day was Kelsey Grammer for ‘Boss.’ He’s an Academy favorite. I thought he was a shoo-in for that show. He’s fantastic and he wasn’t even nominated,” Rob Moynihan of TV Guide said.

In comedy categories, “Parks & Recreation” picked up five nominations, including lead actress for Amy Poehler, but missed a spot in the race for top series. “Community,” which lost creator Dan Harmon this year after disagreements with network executives, picked up only one nomination for writing. James Hibberd at Entertainment Weekly wrote “many feel ‘Parks & Recreation’ had its best season, and that Nick Offerman in particular should have been nominated. Instead, the Academy nominated another quirky politics-tinged comedy, ‘Veep,’ which most thought was merely mildly funny.”

Other comedies that critics felt were left out

Actress Kerry Washington (left) and TV host Jimmy Kimmel announce the nominees for the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Award.

included Fox’s animated comedy “Family Guy” and musical hit “Glee.” In the drama categories, AMC picked up 34 nominations for “Mad Men,” “Breaking Bad,” “The Walking Dead” and “Hell on Wheels,” but critics were quick to point out the omission of “The Walking Dead” in major categories. Los Angeles Times’ Greg Braxton said the show “is one of the cable network’s most popular and acclaimed series, with critics continually noting that the quality of the acting and writing consistently raised the drama beyond the usual horror genre fare.” But it only received nods in technical categories.

AMC’s “The Killing,” which picked up six nominations last year in the drama series category, also failed to score with Emmy voters this year.

FX, which scooped up 17 nominations for “American Horror Story,” didn’t fare as well with

“Justified,” which earned four nods and one win last year. It received two nominations this year, for art direction and guest actor in a drama series.

Some felt Fox network drama “House” and lead actor Hugh Laurie were snubbed after the popular show ended this year following eight seasons.

The show won five Emmy awards in past years. In the reality TV categories, singing contest “American Idol,” which picked up 10 nominations last year, received three on Thursday, including one for Ryan Seacrest as host. It was not nominated for best reality competition, while lower-rated rival “The Voice” was. “Survivor” host Jeff Probst, who has won best reality competition host four years running, failed to make the shortlist this year, making room for Seacrest, Betty White, Cat Deeley, Phil Keoghan and Tom Bergeron to battle it out. — Reuters

As an ‘SNL’ era turns, show nabs 14 Emmy nominations T

he last season of the Kristin Wiig and Andy Samberg era of “Saturday Night Live” will go out with an Emmy bang.

The show received 14 nominations Thursday, including nods for best variety series and for Kirsten Wiig as supporting actress in a comedy series. But one of its leading nominations came not from a departing cast member, but a returning veteran: Bill Hader. Hader is part of the foursome of “SNL” players - along with Wiig, Samberg and Jason Sudeikis - who came up together in 2005 and emerged as one of the show’s most versatile and wellliked casts. “I never in a million years thought this would happen,” Hader said Thursday of the nomination. “I had to go and meet a friend, and then someone riding by on a bike was like, ‘Congratulations on the Emmy nomination!’ I was like, ‘Wow, if it’s on that guy’s radar, why isn’t it on my radar?’”

Hader’s specialty is generally considered to be his variety of impressions (Al Pacino, Julian Assange, Dateline’s Keith Morrison), but his wide range has led to several breakout characters, none more

popular than his “Weekend Update” guest Stefon, an authority on extravagant New York nightlife. It’s a period of transition for “Saturday Night Live,” which is losing Wiig (who was also nominated last year) and Samberg. Sudeikis is rumored to soon be exiting, as well. “For the class I came in with

- Kristin and Andy and Jason - it’s kind of the last of that group and that era,” said Hader. “If it was the last season for that era, it was a great season to go out on. We had a lot of fun.”

Many others shared in nominations from “SNL,” including guest hosts Maya

This image released by NBC shows Kristen Wiig, portraying singer Lana Del Rey (left) and Seth Meyers during a skit from “Saturday Night Live.”

Rudolph, Melissa McCarthy and Jimmy Fallon, all of whom were nominated for their guest appearances. (Tweeted Fallon: “It’s always been my dream to host SNL. I can’t help but get emotional.”) The song Jason Segel performed as host alongside the Muppets, “I Can’t Believe I’m Hosting,” was also nominated for outstanding music and lyrics. Hader attributed the strong season to the long-running cast’s comfort level, having become a family “locked for life.” As an example of a looser, more relaxed cast, he cited “The Californians,” a daytime soap parody of direction-obsessed Los Angelenos. “When you first get the show, you’re just kind of hoping: How do I stay on the show?” says Hader. “Then you get to a point where you go, ‘I’m on the show. I’m pretty confident I’m on the show.’ Then you get to the point like last season where we’re like, ‘Hey, this is our house!’” When “SNL” picks back up in the fall, it will have the presidential election to contend with, as well as the likely addition of new members to the cast. With the fast-paced immediacy of the show, Hader says, “You just keep truckin’ on.” — AP

SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

S

upermodel, super businesswoman: That’s Heidi Klum, the “Project Runway” host, former Victoria’s Secret “angel,” actress, spokesperson, videogame star, clothing designer, fragrance entrepreneur, singer and famous Halloween enthusiast. As Klum and her “Runway” co-stars prepare to premiere their 10th season in July, she talked Q: Are you doing anything differently for the 10th season?

A: “We have already been discussing our challenges and whatkind of guest judges we are going to have. We always want to improve. When we started, we never thought that we would make it this far. It was something that we started filming in the dark, not really knowing how it would be perceived by the public or the people in the fashion industry - especially the fashion industry, which can sometimes be a little bit snobby. We were a little worried that we would still have a job. But they were on our side.”

Q: What did you hope viewers would like about it?

Was there something specific that you wanted them to see about how the fashion industry works?

A: “I tried to explain to people, before it came on the air, that it was more documentary style than reality TV. At that time, when we premiered, this word, reality, gave people a bit of a bad taste. We were watching people eating maggots mixed with eyeballs made into a drink. I was like, ‘Oh, my God! Why are people doing this? Why are we watching this?’ That was part of what made it hard when we tried to sell the show.

“Also, we were going to all these different networks and they were saying, ‘Why would we want to watch people make clothes? What is so interesting about this?’ They didn’t understand why that would be interesting. But you can see that people love talent. If it is singing, like on ‘America’s Got Talent’ or those shows, people just love watching other people’s talent.”

Q: What’s your favorite part of doing the show?

A: “Thinking about challenges. My favorite challenges are the unconventional ones, when they have to make something out of unconventional materials and make it look wearable. We had a challenge one year where the designers had to make something out of car parts. Some of the most amazing things happened. They used the belt or some glass from the mirror and sewed it into a dress. When people are forced to work with this kind of stuff, they get really creative and come up with some amazing designs.”

Q: Are you ever nervous that some of the challenges are just too outrageous?

A: “On the very first episode, I was worried. We decided to do the challenge where they got $50 and they could go into a supermarket for 30 minutes and then make an outfit. “I was really worried about that because I thought, ‘This is going to set the tone of our show, and if they don’t come up with something that is up to standard, then we’re going to tank.’ Then when we were sitting there at the runway, the music started and the first few models came out, I was like, ‘Yes!’ That was a make-or-break time, and we took a chance on such a strange challenge. I’m not worried anymore, though, because the designers have shown, year after year, that they can actually make real fashion out of nothing or out of weird things.”

Q: With Runway, obviously, the contestants need to have a certain skill level to compete. How tough is it to come up with the right mix every season?

A: “Well, in our show we can’t cast for personality because it’s based on talent. If we have someone who is really Heidi Klum arrives at the Project Runway 10th Anniversary Party on Tuesday, July 17, 2012 in New York. — AP photos

to TheWrap about her early fear that the show would tank her fashion career, why the show’s contestants need to do a better job of using their reality-TV fame and how one of her favorite outfits of all time involved a guy in a mattress.

fun and flamboyant, but they can’t sew, they’re off the air. They won’t make it far, so what’s the point?

You can’t fake that. They have to make fashion in front of people who are really in the fashion industry.”

Q: Do you have a wish list of people that you would like to be judges?

A: “Yes, of course. I would love to have the First Lady, Michelle Obama. I’ve been saying it over and over.

You guys just have to write more about it so it will get to her. “And there are always great actresses that we love and that are very fashionable. We want to have people that are not just famous - we want people that really have something to do with fashion and walk on the red carpet a lot, or that write about fashion.”

the next day you’re out”?

A: “That didn’t come from me. What came from me was ‘Auf Wiedersehen,’ which I’m proud of. We couldn’t come up with anything. It was like, ‘Should it be, “You’re cut, loser, get off my runway?”‘ We had all these different things that were flying around the room. I was like, ‘Well, what we say at home is “Auf Wiedersehen.”‘ People were all laughing. They thought it sounded funny.”

Q: Do you keep in touch with the designers from the show? Have you worn some of their designs after the show?

Q: Who have been some of your favorite guest judges?

A: “I think people enjoy watching designers they’ve heard of but have never seen talk. Bob Mackie, for example.

I’m a huge fan of Bob Mackie. I have a huge Barbie collection of all of Bob Mackie’s designs. Also, Roberto Cavalli. He’s so funny. His phone was ringing all the time. He was smoking during the whole taping, but there is never smoking anywhere. But Roberto had to smoke, and the phone was ringing.

We’re like, ‘Roberto, we’re in the middle of a take, can you turn your phone off?’ He’s like [adopts an Italian accent], ‘But amore, I don’t know who’s going to call.’”

Q: Are the show’s famous fans - Meryl Streep has said she loves the show, for instance - approaching you to be guest judges?

A: “Yeah, all the time. Just recently, Julia Roberts’ niece, Emma Roberts. She’s a really cute young actress. She was like, ‘I would love to be a guest judge on “Project Runway.’” She’s cute and she dresses really nice, so we’ll see.”

Q: Did you coin your catchphrase, “One day you’re in,

A: “I always try. It would be easier if the designers had a little bit more of a push themselves. If I were a designer, and I heard someone say, ‘I would love to wear that,’ I would be on their case. I would make it. I would be like, ‘What are your measurements?’ I would hustle to make sure that person gets what they wanted. The truth is that not everyone does that. I think a lot of them miss the boat, unfortunately. You have this notoriety all of a sudden. People are like, ‘Oh, my God. There is the person from Project Runway. We just watched you on TV for the last few weeks.’ You have to ride that wave a little bit and hustle a little bit. Not everyone does.”

Q: You’re known for your annual Halloween party.

What inspires you to plan this elaborate bash every year?

A: “When I first came to America, I was always missing a good Halloween party. I thought nobody takes Halloween seriously here. People put on a red nose or a little cone on their head and they’re like, ‘Wow, that’s an outfit.’ Or they go, ‘I’ll go really sexy.’ So I just said, ‘I’m just going to have to do my own party.’ I have to be so over-the-top in my outfit that people will not be afraid to also push themselves a little bit to come up with something fun. I feel like I achieved that. I feel that people’s costumes have been more outrageous and over-the-top. I love that. I have seen amazing costumes. I remember one guy came as a mattress. Literally, he took the inside out of the mattress and stuck his whole body in there and walked around the entire party as a mattress.” — Reuters

Heidi Klum (from left) designer Michael Kors, Nina Garcia and Tim Gunn pose for photos while promoting the launch of the new season of “Project Runway” in New York’s Times Square on Thursday, July 19, 2012.

SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

M

ost women won’t forego putting on a face just because the mercury’s rising, turning their skin into a slippery mess. The smart ones, though, get smarter about the products they use and how they apply them. “When it’s hot, makeup doesn’t stick. It will literally slide off the face,” says Allie Lapidus, a commercial makeup artist in Los Angeles. “In the summer, be sure to create a really good base so that everything stays on better.”

Lapidus says it’s best to keep layers minimal because “an extra layer of anything on the skin makes it feel heavy. The thinner the layers, the more it’s going to stick.”

Face As a first step, Lapidus recommends using oil-free, highly pigmented concealers and moisturizers, instead of foundation, and applying as little as possible to prevent it from sliding. Nars Pure Radiant tinted moisturizer ($42) incorporates broad-spectrum sun protection, as does CoverGirl’s CG Smoothers tinted moisturizer ($8).

To bring a fresh summer glow to the cheeks, Lapidus suggests gels and stains instead of powders and creams - with one exception: Yves Saint Laurent creme de blush ($38), which she says has the pigmentation of a cream and stays put in hot weather.

The only powder Lapidus recommends for summer is for “setting” a face. She swears by Make Up For Ever Microfinish Powder ($32) when the makeup application is finished, then switches to blotting papers if the skin sweats or begins to look greasy.

“It’s better to remove moisture than to add another layer to the skin that will then get cakey,” Lapidus said. Boscia blotting linens, which come in a tiny, tissue-like dispenser, are a popular option; they cost $10 for 100 sheets.

Eyes For eyes, Lapidus recommends applying either a primer or a dab of foundation before putting on shadow to help it stick, and following it up with a gel liner, instead of waxy, melt-prone pencils or tricky-toapply liquids, and then topping it off with waterproof mascara.

For summer, Make Up For Ever introduced its new Aqua cream shadows ($23), which are billed as waterproof, smudge-proof and crease-proof. Maybelline’s EyeStudio Color Tattoo gel cream shadows ($7) and L’Oreal’s Infallible shadows ($8) are similar, though the Aqua line has a larger color selection.

Lapidus likes Maybelline and L’Oreal mascaras, such as Maybelline Mega Plush ($8), L’Oreal Voluminous ($10) and, at the high end, Christian Dior Diorshow ($25). To “melt the makeup away and leave the skin super-soft,” she suggests using Josie Maran Argan cleansing oil ($32).

Lips For lips, there are lots of options for giving a hint of color without the heaviness of a lipstick. Again, Lapidus recommends highly pigmented products, such as balms and butters, that build up color through layering. Lapidus likes Revlon’s Colorburst lip butter ($8), which comes in a tube but is best if dabbed on with a finger for a more natural look, and tinted lip balms from Burt’s Bees ($7). Some tinted balms, such as Sugar Lip Treatment from Fresh ($22) and Neutrogena’s Moisture Shine Lip Soother ($7), also incorporate SPF. — MCT

Karina Smirnoff rehearses her entrance to the Lisa Blue swimwear design show during the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Swim 2013 show on Miami Beach, Fla., Thursday, July 19, 2012. — AP

B

ritish luxury brand Burberry has ratcheted-up the pressure on fragrance partner Interparfums to offer a new agreement on more favourable terms, by serving notice on the French firm to terminate their current deal. Paris-listed Interparfums, the exclusive worldwide licensee for Burberry’s fragrance and beauty products, has been in talks with the British firm since last December. Burberry said on Tuesday the discussions were continuing, with their outcome “uncertain” and also said it had served notice of its intention to terminate the licence agreement with Interparfums with effect from Dec. 31 2012.

Upon termination, Burberry would pay Interparfums approximately 181 million euros ($221.5 million), it said. Analysts estimate Burberry’s fragrance business accounts for only about 2 percent of the British group’s revenue but for about half of Interparfum’s net sales. Shares in Interparfums were down 7.1 percent at 17.6 euros at 0922 GMT, while shares in Burberry were down 0.2 percent at 1,206 pence.

Analysts said Burberry’s move was prompted by a July 31 deadline for the firm to exercise an option to buy out Interparfums’ licence. “With today’s announcement, Burberry maintains flexibility to negotiate further with Interparfums until the end of the year,” said Citi analyst Thomas Chauvet.

Interparfums CEO Philippe Benacin told Reuters the chances of securing a new deal with Burberry were “50-50”. He said if no deal was struck Interparfums would use the money received from Burberry to make acquisitions. Citi’s Chauvet said the possible outcomes of further talks were a new agreement with Interparfums on better terms for Burberry; the formation of a new structure, such as a joint venture, with Interparfums; taking the fragrance business in-house; or licensing out the contract to a new partner.

He reckons Burberry wants to take its fragrance business to another level, narrowing the gap with fashion brands like Christian Dior, Armani and Chanel which have sizeable cosmetics businesses. Last Wednesday Burberry missed forecasts for first quarter revenue growth, sending its shares 7 percent lower. — Reuters

TECHNOLOGY

SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

Samsung provides spiritual enriching applications KUWAIT: Feed your soul this Ramadan with daily Athkars and dua’a found on ‘Husn Al Muslim’ application.

Ramadan is a time where we reflect on our values, spiritual actions, and relationships. We spend our time practicing our religious duties and being with our families. We also make a greater effort to learn more about our religion and strengthen our day to day religious practices.

This Ramadan start everyday by learning a new dua’a with the ‘Husn Al Muslim’ application found on Samsung’s SMART TV. ‘Husn Al Muslim’ is packed with a long list of prayer favorites, including: morning athkar, evening athkar, sayed il Istighfar, and general daily athkars. The application also provides audio features with well-known narrators and can be easily shared with friends and family using social media platforms. Enhance your spiritual journey this Ramadan with hadeeths found on ‘Sahih Bukhari’ application As Muslims, our spiritual journey begins from birth. Every day we are faced with decisions that will shape our worldly and spiritual paths. When facing these decisive issues, we formulate our actions through teachings of lessons learned from our Prophet Mohammed (PBUH). This year, make sure you download the ‘Sahih Bukhari’

application found on Samsung’s SMART TV. The Islamic inspired interface of this application brings a full collection of the Prophet’s (PBUH) hadeeths to guide you to the righteous path.

One of the six official hadeeth collections of Islam, the ‘Sahih Bukhari’ application allows easy search, audio narration, and sharing features allowing you to spread your spiritual guidance with those who seek it too.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2011 consolidated sales of US$143.1 billion. Employing approximately 206,000 people in 197 offices across 72 countries, the company operates two separate organizations to coordinate its nine independent business units: Digital Media & Communications, comprising Visual Display, Mobile Communications, Telecommunication Systems, Digital Appliances, IT Solutions, and Digital Imaging; and Device Solutions, consisting of Memory, System LSI and LED. Recognized for its industry-leading performance across a range of economic, environmental and social criteria, Samsung Electronics was named the world’s most sustainable technology company in the 2011 Dow Jones Sustainability Index. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com/ae.

‘Husn Al Muslim’

NASA hires SpaceX for science satellite launch

New idea to liberate diners from queues

CAPE CANAVERAL: NASA hired Space Exploration Technologies to launch an ocean monitoring satellite, a key win for the start-up rocket company that also wants to break into the US military’s launch business, NASA officials said on Thursday. The $82 million contract covers launch, payload processing and other services for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s ocean-measuring Jason-3 satellite, which is slated to fly in December 2014.

Launch would take place from SpaceX’s new complex at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

NASA, which handles procurements for NOAA, also awarded three launch contracts, worth $412 million for Delta 2 rockets built by United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co. One of the satellites earmarked for a Delta 2 flight is the replacement for a carbon dioxide tracking satellite lost in February 2009 after a failed launch on an Orbital Sciences Corp Taurus rocket. The launches, slated for July 2014, October 2014 and November 2016, also will take place at Vandenberg.

SpaceX, which is owned and operated by internet entrepreneur Elon Musk, already holds NASA contracts worth $1.6 billion to fly cargo to the International Space Station, a $100 billion laboratory that orbits about 386 km above Earth.

The company in May successfully flew a demonstration mission to the station, a key milestone in its efforts to win US military launch contracts as well.

ULA currently has a monopoly on US military launch business. But in an attempt to certify more launchers, the Air Force is expected to award a non-ULA launch services contract this year for the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR), a former NASA Earth-monitoring satellite being repurposed by NOAA into a solar observatory. A request for bids under the Air Force’s Orbital/Suborbital Program (OSP-3) was released May 11. The criteria for new launchers was jointly developed by the Air Force, the National Reconnaissance Office and NASA. The new NASA contract is the first evidence that Falcon 9 meets the new launcher criteria.

SpaceX will have plenty of chances to build Falcon’s flight history. The rocket’s launch manifest includes more than 40 flights, including 12 station cargo flights and the Jason-3 ocean survey satellite for NASA. — Reuters

NoWait provides restaurants deals SAN FRANCISCO: Robb Myer cannot stomach the notion of being stuck at the entrance of a restaurant waiting for word that a table is finally available. So he and some friends, tired of ricocheting between crowded eateries in a hip San Francisco neighborhood, came up with the idea for startup “NoWait” to take the agony out of queues. “We are really trying to change the way you and I have to wait any place that has a line, and the first place is a casual dining restaurant,” Myer said.

“Global is definitely our goal.”

Restaurant hosts or hostesses can enter mobile phone numbers of aspiring diners into NoWait software tailored for Apple iPads, iPhones and iPod touch devices. People then get text message updates regarding when tables will be ready and, if they have smartphones, can even access a website featuring animated characters that shows where they are in the food line. NoWait has spread to restaurants across the United States and into Canada and has been used to seat more than 3.3 million people since it launched in April of last year, according to Myer.

Todd Sapet, managing partner of a Texas Roadhouse, uses NoWait in his franchise steak restaurant in Pennsylvania and said the reaction of guests is “Isn’t this cool. “They get a buzz out of the wizardry of it,” Sapet said. “Then they start to realize the different places they go that rob them of their time by making them stand in lines.”

Along with freeing would-be diners to wander away from restaurants, perhaps checking out neighboring shops or exploring neighborhoods, the NoWait service allows tables to be turned more efficiently, according to Sapet.

“Time spent arguing with a customer about how long they have been waiting is lost time when we could be selling them food and drinks and getting the table cleared and reset,” Sapet said.

“We try not to rob people of their time and, quite frankly, we try to get their money in our pocket as soon as possible.”

Opting for the Internet Age tactic also eliminates the annoyance of loudspeakers blaring out the names of people who are waiting, complete with the occasional awkwardness of mispronunciation.

Some US restaurants give waiting patrons paging devices that buzz or blink when tables are ready but people sometimes take their time responding or wander out of pager range. “We are going to put those buzzers to death,” Myer vowed. “They are going to be on a shelf with your Sony Discman and your beepers from the 80s; they will be

replaced with a smartphone.” NoWait provides restaurants deals on Apple gadgets, and Sapet estimated the up-front investment to be approximately $1,000. The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based startup uses its servers to fire off text messages to people waiting and host the queue update website. Prices for the subscription service range from free to $200 monthly, according to Myer. The company was built with seed funding from Carnegie Mellon University, where the two founders earned advanced degrees. “We are revolutionizing the way people wait and get seated at casual dining, no-reservation restaurants,” Myer said. —- AFP

New Yahoo! chief gets plump pay package SAN FRANCISCO: Yahoo! chief Marissa Mayer will be paid one million dollars a year and be eligible for many times that amount in stock and bonuses if she hangs on to the post, the company revealed on Thursday.

In the past year, Yahoo! has racked up five bosses, two of them interim chiefs who filled in after dismal ends to stints by Scott Thompson and Carol Bartz.

In addition to a $1 million annual salary, Mayer will get $2 million yearly in bonus cash if Yahoo! hits financial performance marks, according to paperwork filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Mayer-who was named to the job on Monday-this year will also get $12 million in stock grants and options that will vest over the coming three years, the filing indicated.

The 37-year-old will get a “one-time retention award” totaling $30 million worth of stock and stock options to vest during a five-year period, according to the Sunnyvale, California-based company.

TECHNOLOGY

SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

YouTube introduces face-blurring technology LONDON: The tool, unveiled by Google-owned video website YouTube, will allow human faces to be blurred automatically, raising the prospect that offences filmed and uploaded might go unpunished.

Dozens of clips were posted on the site during last summer’s disorder that spread across the country from London. One of the defining videos showed a group of men robbing Malaysian student Ashraf Rossli while pretending to help him. The incident was filmed on a smartphone and submitted to YouTube. His attackers were jailed earlier this year.

However, Google said the development would protect human rights activists and campaigners who would face punitive action if they were shown to the

authorities in videos of protests. Users have welcomed the addition, saying it will help save lives in countries like Egypt, Libya and Syria.

YouTube added footage of fighting in Syria had risked identifying rebel fighters resisting the Assad regime.

“Whether you want to share sensitive protest footage without exposing the faces of the activists involved, or share the winning point in your eight-yearold’s basketball game without broadcasting the children’s faces to the world, our face blurring technology is a first step towards providing visual anonymity for video on YouTube,” the company said in a blog post.

“YouTube is proud to be a destination where peo-

ple worldwide come to share their stories, including activists.”

The new feature of the video-sharing website will allow users the option to “blur all faces” and hide the identities of those on film.

YouTube will then create an original and a blurred copy of the video and users can decide which to public.

If the unblurred video is deleted, it will be removed from Google’s servers, it was reported.

Writing on the site, Amanda Conway, policy associate at YouTube, said: “As citizens continue to play a critical role in supplying news and human rights footage from around the world, YouTube is committed to creating even better tools to help them.

Colorful science sheds light on solar heating Visualization technique NEW YORK: A crucial, and often underappreciated, facet of science lies in deciding how to turn the raw numbers of data into useful, understandable information-often through graphs and images. Such visualization techniques are needed for everything from making a map of planetary orbits based on nightly measurements of where they are in the sky to colorizing normally invisible light such as X-rays to produce “images” of the sun. More information, of course, requires more complex visualizations and occasionally such images are not just informative, but beautiful too.

Such is the case with a new technique created by Nicholeen Viall, a solar scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. She creates images of the sun reminiscent of Van Gogh, with broad strokes of bright color splashed across a yellow background. But it’s science, not art. The color of each pixel contains a wealth of information about the 12-hour history of cooling and heating at that particular spot on the sun. That heat history holds clues to the mechanisms that drive the temperature and movements of the sun’s atmosphere, or corona.

“We don’t understand why the corona is so hot,” says Viall who wrote about this technique and her conclusions about the corona in a paper that recently appeared in The Astrophysical Journal. “The corona is 1,000 times hotter than the sun’s surface, when we would expect it to get cooler as the atmosphere gets further away from the hot sun, the same way the air gets cooler further away from a fire.”

Scientists generally agree that energy in the roiling magnetic fields of the sun must transfer energy and heat up into the atmosphere, but the exact details of that process are still debated.

Viall created her technique to see if she could distinguish between theories that describe coronal heating as uniform over time, versus those that say it comes from numerous nanoflares on the sun’s surface.

To look at the corona from a fresh perspective, Viall created a new kind of picture, making use of the high resolution provided by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). SDO’s Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) provides images of the sun in 10 different wavelengths, each approximately corresponding to a single temperature of material. Therefore, when one looks at the wavelength of 171 Angstroms, for example, one sees all the material in the sun’s atmosphere that is a million degrees Kelvin. By looking at an area of the sun in different wavelengths, one can get a sense of how different swaths of material change temperature. If an area seems bright in a wavelength at shows a hotter temperature an hour before it becomes

bright in a wavelength that shows a cooler temperature, one can gather information about how that region has changed over time.

To study such temperature changes, many scientists focus on analyzing a specific subset of solar material, such as giant arcs of charged particles that leap up off the sun’s surface called coronal loops. Scientists gather information about the loops by comparing nearly simultaneous images of the sun in different wavelengths.

Analysis of the loops in each image requires time-consuming, manual analysis to subtract the background observations away from the loops themselves, a process which is also inherently subject to human judgment and bias. In addition, each individual image represents light from only a narrow range of wavelengths, representing material at a narrow range of temperatures.

Viall wanted to look at as much of the solar material in a given area of the corona as she could, incorporating information about a variety of temperatures simultaneously. She also wanted to avoid the subjective process of subtracting out the background. Instead, she decided to look at all light coming from a given spot on the sun at the same time. That meant coming up with a visualization technique to convey all that information at once-and thus her Van Gogh-like images were born.

For an interesting spot on the sun, Viall examines six channels over an entire 12-hour stretch.

She compares each channel to the other channels in turn, assigning it a red, orange, or yellow color if the area has cooled, and assigning it a blue or green color if the area has heated up. She assigns the exact shade of the color based on how much time it took for the temperature change to occur.

“In essence, I’m measuring the time lag of how long it takes a given area to heat up or cool down,” says Viall. “But it’s totally automated, with no need for humans to make a decision about what to incorporate or ignore. And all of the solar material is represented statistically, not just one wavelength of light.”

Viall’s images show a wealth of reds, oranges, and yellow, meaning that over a 12-hour period the material appear to be cooling. Obviously there must have been heating in the process as well, since the corona isn’t on a one-way temperature slide down to zero degrees. Any kind of steady heating throughout the corona would have shown up in Viall’s images, so she concludes that the heating must be quick and impulsive-so fast that it doesn’t show up in her images. This lends credence to those theories that say numerous nanobursts of energy help heat the corona. —- AP

SHANGHAI: A customer looks at the latest version of the Apple iPad which went on sale in Apple stores in Shanghai yesterday. Apple began selling the latest version of its market-leading iPad in China, on the heels of Apple paying $60 million to end a dispute over the iPad name in China. — AFP

New iPad goes on sale in China after suit settled BEIJING: Apple released its newest iPad in China yesterday after settling a lawsuit over ownership of its name and requiring buyers to place orders in advance to control crowds.

Watched by security guards, a few dozen shoppers waited outside stores in Beijing and Shanghai, which opened on time at 8 a.m. That was in contrast to the chaotic scene outside Apple’s main Beijing store in January, when some customers who wanted to buy a new iPhone shouted and threw eggs after managers delayed the opening due to safety concerns about the hundreds of people waiting.

Sun Xufei, a 32-year-old computer technician who was the first customer in line in Shanghai, said he had put off buying an iPad so Apple had time to develop “a perfect one.” The 30 customers in line when the store opened were outnumbered by the reporters watching them.

“I am very surprised to see there is nobody

here waiting,” Sun said. Apple Inc. cleared a potential legal hurdle to the release when it paid $60 million this month to settle a dispute with a local company, Shenzhen Proview Technology Ltd., over ownership of the iPad name. Apple said it bought global rights to the iPad name from Proview in 2009 but Chinese authorities say the rights in China were never transferred.

China is Apple’s second-largest market after the United States and the source of much of the Cupertino, California-based company’s sales growth. Qu Hongyu, a 20-year-old university student in Shanghai, expressed frustration that Apple waited four months after the new iPad debuted abroad to release it in China.

Qu said she could have asked a friend abroad to send her one, “but I think it’s better to get the product here, because I don’t want to owe somebody a favor.” — AP

BEIJING: Apple staff welcome customers to their flagship store as the latest version of its iPad went on sale in Beijing yesterday. Apple began selling the latest version of its market-leading iPad in China, on the heels of Apple paying $60 million to end a dispute over the iPad name in China, giving the US tech giant more certainty in selling its tablet computer in the huge market. —- AFP

TV listings

SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

00:45 01:40 02:35 03:30 03:55 04:25 05:20 05:45 06:10 07:00 07:25 07:50 08:15 09:10 09:35 10:05 11:00 11:55 12:50 13:45 14:40 15:35 16:30 17:25 18:20 19:15 20:10 21:05 22:00 22:55 23:20 23:50

Crime Scene Wild Untamed & Uncut Sharkbite Summer Up Close And Dangerous Up Close And Dangerous Wild France Animal Kingdom In Too Deep E-Vets: The Interns Karina: Wild On Safari Meerkat Manor Bondi Vet Corwin’s Quest Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild Breed All About It Crocodile Hunter Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 Michaela’s Animal Road Trip Wildlife SOS Bad Dog Bad Dog Must Love Cats Must Love Cats Must Love Cats Wild France Wild France Great Ocean Adventures Wildest Africa Cats 101 Great Animal Escapes Great Animal Escapes Untamed & Uncut

00:25 01:15 01:45 02:30 03:00 03:30 04:00 04:20 04:30 04:45 05:00 05:25 05:40 05:50 06:10 06:20 06:30 06:45 07:10 07:25 08:10 08:40 09:10 09:40 10:25 11:25 12:10 12:40 13:10 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:30 16:00 16:50 17:35 17:45 18:30 19:00 19:30 20:00 20:45 21:20 22:10 22:40 23:10

Elephant Diaries Doctors Live At The Apollo The Royle Family The Impressions Show Allo ‘allo!

Fimbles Tellytales Bobinogs Nina And The Neurons Show Me Show Me Boogie Beebies Charlie And Lola Fimbles Tellytales Bobinogs Nina And The Neurons Show Me Show Me Boogie Beebies Doctor Who One Foot In The Grave Dinnerladies As Time Goes By The Weakest Link Coast Robin Hood After You’ve Gone 2 Point 4 Children Casualty Eastenders Eastenders Eastenders Eastenders Monarch Of The Glen Doctor Who Doctor Who Confidential Robin Hood Allo ‘allo!

Rev. Gavin & Stacey Live At The Apollo Fawlty Towers Great Ormand Street The Impressions Show Twenty Twelve The Weakest Link

00:35 Celebrity Fantasy Homes 01:25 Celebrity Fantasy Homes 02:10 MasterChef 03:30 MasterChef 03:55 Nigel Slater’s Simple Suppers 04:20 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 04:45 James Martin’s Brittany 05:10 James Martin’s Champagne 05:30 Living In The Sun 06:20 Living In The Sun 07:15 Antiques Roadshow 08:10 Antiques Roadshow 10:40 Antiques Roadshow 11:35 Masterchef: The Professionals 12:00 Masterchef: The Professionals 12:55 Bargain Hunt 14:25 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 15:10 Extreme Makeover: Home

22:40 23:05 23:20 23:45

Scooby-Doo And Scrappy-Doo Popeye The Jetsons Duck Dodgers

00:30 Bakugan: New Vestroia 00:55 Bakugan: New Vestroia 01:20 Powerpuff Girls 02:10 Courage The Cowardly Dog 03:00 The Amazing World Of Gumball 03:25 Ben 10 03:50 Adventure Time 04:15 Powerpuff Girls 04:40 Generator Rex 05:05 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 05:30 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 05:55 Angelo Rules 06:00 Ed, Edd n Eddy 06:25 Casper’s Scare School 07:00 The Powerpuff Girls 07:15 Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi 07:40 Total Drama: Revenge Of The Island 08:05 The Amazing World Of Gumball 08:30 Adventure Time 08:55 Regular Show 09:20 Batman Brave And The Bold 09:45 Young Justice 10:00 Level Up 11:05 Grim Adventures Of...

12:15 Courage The Cowardly Dog 13:05 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 13:30 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 13:55 Powerpuff Girls 14:45 Thundercats 15:10 Generator Rex 15:35 Ben 10 16:00 Ed, Edd n Eddy 16:50 The Amazing World Of Gumball 17:15 Adventure Time 17:40 Regular Show 18:05 Powerpuff Girls 18:55 Ben 10: Alien Force 19:20 Ben 10: Alien Force 19:45 Ed, Edd n Eddy 20:35 Bakugan: Mechtanium Surge 21:00 Star Wars: The Clone Wars 21:25 Redakai: Conquer The Kairu 21:50 Grim Adventures Of...

22:00 Codename: Kids Next Door 22:50 Ben 10 23:15 Ben 10 23:40 Chowder

TREMORS ON OSN ACTION HD Edition 15:50 Come Dine With Me 16:40 Antiques Roadshow 20:05 Antiques Roadshow 21:00 Cash In The Attic 21:45 Cash In The Attic 22:30 Bargain Hunt 23:15 Bargain Hunt

00:00 BBC World News America 01:00 BBC World News 01:30 Newsnight 02:00 BBC World News 02:30 Our World 03:00 BBC World News 03:10 Weekend World 03:30 Collaboration Culture 04:00 BBC World News 04:30 Rendezvous With Zeinab Badawi 05:00 BBC World News 05:10 Faster, Higher, Stronger 06:00 BBC World News 06:30 Fast Track 07:00 BBC World News 07:30 The Culture Show 08:00 BBC World News 08:30 Middle East Business Report 09:00 BBC World News 09:30 Click 10:00 BBC World News 10:10 Weekend World 10:30 Collaboration Culture 11:00 BBC World News 11:10 World Features 11:30 Rendezvous With Zeinab Badawi 12:00 BBC World News 12:10 World Features 12:30 Mixed Britannia

13:00 13:10 13:30 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:10 15:30 16:00 16:15 16:30 17:00 17:30 18:00 18:10 19:00 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:15 21:30 22:00 22:30 23:00 23:10 23:30

BBC World News World Features Newsnight BBC World News Our World BBC World News Weekend World Equestrian World BBC World News Sport Today Fast Track BBC World News Dateline London BBC World News Faster, Higher, Stronger BBC World News Click BBC World News The Culture Show BBC World News Sport Today Fast Track BBC World News Click BBC World News World Features Dateline London

00:10 00:35 01:00 01:25 01:50 02:15 02:40 03:00 03:25 03:50 04:15 04:40

Puppy In My Pocket Tom & Jerry Kids Scooby Doo Where Are You! The Flintstones Pink Panther And Pals Looney Tunes Popeye Classics Dexter‘s Laboratory Tom & Jerry Looney Tunes The Scooby Doo Show Johnny Bravo

05:00 05:25 05:50 06:00 06:15 06:35 07:00 07:25 07:50 08:15 08:40 08:55 09:15 09:40 10:05 10:30 10:55 11:20 11:30 11:55 12:00 12:20 12:45 13:00 13:10 13:35 14:00 14:15 14:40 15:30 16:20 16:45 17:00 17:25 17:50 18:05 18:30 20:10 20:35 21:00 21:25 21:50 22:15

The Flintstones The Jetsons Wacky Races Johnny Bravo Dexter’s Laboratory A Pup Named Scooby-Doo Bananas In Pyjamas Jelly Jamm Baby Looney Tunes Gerald McBoing Boing Ha Ha Hairies Pink Panther And Pals The Garfield Show What’s New Scooby-Doo? What’s New Scooby-Doo? Droopy: Master Detective The Looney Tunes Show Dexter’s Laboratory Johnny Bravo Help! It’s The Hair Bear Bunch Johnny Bravo Pink Panther And Pals The Garfield Show Wacky Races Dastardly And Muttley The Scooby Doo Show Dexters Laboratory Dexter’s Laboratory The Garfield Show Looney Tunes Tom & Jerry Tom & Jerry Pink Panther And Pals Pink Panther And Pals Johnny Bravo Johnny Bravo Yogi Bear And The Invasion Of...

The Looney Tunes Show What’s New Scooby-Doo? Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries The Garfield Show The Flintstones Droopy & Dripple

00:00 00:30 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 05:45 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 08:15 08:30 09:00 09:15 09:30 10:00 10:30 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 13:30 14:00 14:30 14:45 15:00 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:00 17:30 18:00 18:15 18:30 19:00 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:30 22:00 23:00 23:30

Amanpour World Sport Piers Morgan Tonight World Report Anderson Cooper 360 Piers Morgan Tonight Quest Means Business CNN Marketplace Africa The Situation Room World Sport Road To Rio World Report CNN Marketplace Africa Backstory World Report CNN Marketplace Middle East I Report For CNN World Sport Aiming For Gold The Best Of The Situation Room World Report Backstory The Brief Inside Africa World Report Leading Women Future Cities Talk Asia The CNN Freedom Project Eye On Backstory International Desk African Voices CNN Marketplace Europe CNN Marketplace Africa The Brief World Sport Open Court International Desk Inside Africa International Desk Road To Rio The Best Of The Situation Room World Report Eye On

00:15 Monsters Inside Me 01:10 Sons Of Guns 01:35 How Sports Are Made 02:05 How Sports Are Made 02:30 Olympic Park Machines With Jonny Smith 03:25 Fifth Gear 03:55 Fifth Gear 04:20 Monsters Inside Me 05:15 How Do They Do It? 05:40 How It’s Made 06:05 Swamp Loggers 07:00 How It’s Made 07:25 Building The Future 08:15 Mega Builders 09:10 Extreme Engineering 10:05 World’s Toughest Tools 10:55 Man, Woman, Wild 11:50 Alaska’s Great Race 12:45 Ultimate Survival 13:40 Ultimate Survival 14:35 World’s Toughest Jobs 15:30 Coal 16:25 Extreme Fishing 17:20 Hillbilly Handfishin’ 18:15 Tornado Road 19:10 Finding Bigfoot 20:05 Gold Rush 21:00 Deadliest Catch 21:55 Hillbilly Handfishin’ 22:50 Extreme Fishing 23:45 Robson Green’s Extreme Fishing Challenge

00:35 Engineered 01:25 Ten Ways 02:15 Game Changers 02:40 Game Changers 03:05 The Gadget Show 03:35 Da Vinci’s Machines 04:25 The World’s Strangest UFO Stories 05:15 Engineered 06:05 Ten Ways 07:00 Game Changers 07:25 Game Changers 07:50 Prank Science 08:15 Prank Science 08:40 Head Rush 08:43 Things That Move 09:10 Things That Move 09:40 Nextworld 10:30 Sport Science 13:50 Sport Science 14:45 Prophets Of Science Fiction 15:35 Ecopolis 16:30 Future Weapons 17:20 Meteorite Men 18:10 Game Changers 18:40 Scrapheap Challenge 19:30 Science Of Storm Chasing 20:20 Futurecar 21:10 Weird Or What?

22:00 Investigation X 22:50 Futurecar 23:40 Prophets Of Science Fiction

00:10 00:35 01:00 01:25 01:50 02:15 02:40 03:05 03:30 03:55 04:20 04:45 05:10 05:35 06:00 06:25 06:40 Cody 07:05 07:30 07:55 08:20 08:45 09:10 09:35 10:00 10:25 11:50 12:05 12:30 12:55

Fairly Odd Parents Fairly Odd Parents Brandy & Mr Whiskers Brandy & Mr Whiskers Replacements Replacements Emperor’s New School Emperor’s New School Brandy & Mr Whiskers Brandy & Mr Whiskers Replacements Replacements Fairly Odd Parents Fairly Odd Parents Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates The Suite Life Of Zack And So Random Phineas And Ferb Shake It Up Good Luck Charlie Wizards Of Waverly Place Jessie A.N.T. Farm Austin & Ally Thirteenth Year Phineas And Ferb Fish Hooks Shake It Up Good Luck Charlie

TV listings

SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012 13:20 13:45 14:10 14:35 17:00 18:20 18:45 19:10 19:35 20:00 20:25 20:50 22:15 22:30 22:55 Cody 23:20 Cody 23:45

A.N.T. Farm Austin & Ally Jessie Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb A.N.T. Farm Austin & Ally Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place Good Luck Charlie Jessie Thirteenth Year Phineas And Ferb Fish Hooks The Suite Life Of Zack And

00:30 01:20 02:05 02:55 03:45 04:30 05:20 06:10 07:00 07:50 08:40 09:30 09:55 10:20 11:10 12:00 12:50 13:40 14:30 14:55 15:20 16:10 17:00 17:50 18:40 19:05 19:55 20:20 21:10 22:00 22:50 23:40

Ghost Lab Crime Scene Psychics True CSI On The Case With Paula Zahn Extreme Forensics Ghost Lab Crime Scene Psychics Disappeared Forensic Detectives Murder Shift Mystery ER Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared Forensic Detectives Murder Shift Mystery ER Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared Forensic Detectives Murder Shift Real Emergency Calls Mystery ER Who On Earth Did I Marry?

On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared The Haunted Ghost Lab A Haunting

The Suite Life Of Zack And Sonny With A Chance

A Motorcycle 10:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 11:00 Wild Rides 11:30 Wild Rides 12:00 The Green Way Up 12:30 The Green Way Up 13:00 Banged Up Abroad 14:00 Travel Oz 14:30 Travel Oz 15:00 Meet The Natives: USA 16:00 Which Way To 17:00 Departures 18:00 Treks In A Wild World 19:00 City Chase Marrakech 20:00 Extreme Tourist Afghanistan 21:00 Travel Madness 21:30 Travel Madness 22:00 Into The Drink 22:30 Into The Drink 23:00 Somewhere In China

00:00 01:00 War 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 War 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 War

Master of Disaster Apocalypse: The Second World Big, Bigger, Biggest Fight Masters Hunter Hunted The Known Universe Untamed Americas Perilous Journeys Master of Disaster Apocalypse: The Second World Big, Bigger, Biggest Fight Masters Hunter Hunted The Known Universe Untamed Americas Perilous Journeys Master of Disaster Apocalypse: The Second World

18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Big, Bigger, Biggest World’s Deadliest Animals Shark Men Banged Up Abroad Sea Patrol Salvage Code Red

00:00 Wild Russia 01:00 World’s Deadliest Animals 01:55 Expedition Wild 02:50 Swamp Men 03:45 Bandits Of Selous 04:40 Expedition Wild 05:35 Shark Men 06:30 Superfish 07:25 Fairy Penguins: The Secret of Sydney Harbour 08:20 Taiwan Wild 08:45 Wild Detectives 09:15 Caught In The Act 10:10 Cheetah Blood Brothers 11:05 Dangerous Encounters 12:00 Deadly Summer 13:00 Wild Chronicles 13:30 Wild Chronicles 14:00 Clouded Leopard 15:00 Strike Force 16:00 Dangerous Encounters 17:00 Hunter Hunted 18:00 Big Cat Odyssey 19:00 Strike Force 20:00 Dangerous Encounters 21:00 Hunter Hunted 22:00 Big Cat Odyssey 23:00 Deadly Summer

00:00 Underground-PG15 02:00 The Transporter-PG15 04:00 Hustle And Flow-18 06:00 Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within-PG

08:00 In The Line Of Fire-PG15 10:15 Green Lantern: Emerald Knights-PG15 12:00 Tremors-PG15 13:45 In The Line Of Fire-PG15 16:00 Enter The Phoenix-PG15 18:00 Tremors-PG15 20:00 Sanctum-18 22:00 Master And Commander-18

01:00 The King’s Speech-PG15 03:00 Stonehenge Apocalypse-PG15 05:00 Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs.

Evil-PG 07:00 Ice Age-FAM 09:00 Stonehenge Apocalypse-PG15 11:00 Water For Elephants-PG15 13:00 Big Fat Liar-PG 15:00 Backwash-PG15 17:00 St. Trinian’s 2: The Legend Of Fritton’s Gold-PG15 19:00 Dinner For Schmucks-PG15 21:00 Love And Other Impossible Pursuits-PG15 23:00 The Crazies-18

00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 02:30 Two And A Half Men 03:00 New Girl 03:30 Melissa & Joey 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 The Simpsons 06:00 Seinfeld 06:30 Mad Love 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:30 New Girl 09:00 The Simpsons 09:30 30 Rock 10:00 Modern Family 10:30 Mad Love

00:00 Treks In A Wild World 01:00 Banged Up Abroad 02:00 Travel Oz 02:30 Travel Oz 03:00 Meet The Natives: USA 04:00 Which Way To 05:00 Banged Up Abroad 06:00 Travel Oz 06:30 Travel Oz 07:00 Meet The Natives: USA 08:00 Which Way To 09:00 Deadliest Journeys 09:30 Chasing Che: Latin America On A Motorcycle 10:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 11:00 Wild Rides 11:30 Wild Rides 12:00 The Green Way Up 12:30 The Green Way Up 13:00 Banged Up Abroad 14:00 Travel Oz 14:30 Travel Oz 15:00 Meet The Natives: USA 16:00 Which Way To 17:00 Departures 18:00 Treks In A Wild World 19:00 City Chase Marrakech 20:00 Extreme Tourist Afghanistan 21:00 Travel Madness 21:30 Travel Madness 22:00 Into The Drink 22:30 Into The Drink 23:00 Somewhere In China

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Treks In A Wild World Banged Up Abroad Travel Oz Travel Oz Meet The Natives: USA Which Way To Banged Up Abroad Travel Oz Travel Oz Meet The Natives: USA Which Way To Deadliest Journeys Chasing Che: Latin America On

THE KINGʼS SPEECH ON OSN CINEMA

11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 Seinfeld 13:00 The Simpsons 13:30 Mad Love 14:00 Melissa & Joey 14:30 Modern Family 15:00 30 Rock 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:30 Seinfeld 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 Best Friends Forever 18:30 Perfect Couples 19:00 Perfect Couples 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 22:00 Saturday Night Live 23:00 Two And A Half Men 23:30 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

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Jane By Design Touch The Bachelor Fairly Legal Warehouse 13 Good Morning America The Glades Castle The Martha Stewart Show The View Jane By Design Fairly Legal Touch Live Good Morning America The Glades C.S.I. C.S.I. Miami C.S.I. New York Law & Order: Criminal Intent Warehouse 13

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Cold Case Touch Revenge Fairly Legal Inside The Actor’s Studio Revenge Cold Case The Ellen DeGeneres Show Touch Jane By Design Fairly Legal Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Castle Cold Case Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Body Of Proof C.S.I. C.S.I. Miami C.S.I. New York Law & Order: Criminal Intent Revenge

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Blame It On Mum-18 One Hour Photo-18 Shout-PG15 Le Crime Est Notre Affaire-PG15 The Greatest-PG15 MacHEADS-PG15 Espions-PG15 The Greatest-PG15 At Risk-PG15 Talhotblond-18 The Weather Man-18 Brotherhood-PG15

00:00 Blue Elephant 2-PG15 02:00 Tangled-FAM 04:00 D’fenders-PG 06:00 Blue Elephant 2-PG15 08:00 Alex & Alexis-FAM 10:00 The Nimbols: Part I-FAM 12:00 The Nimbols: Part II-FAM 14:00 Megamind-FAM 16:00 Teo: The Intergalactic HunterPG 18:00 I’ll Be Home For Christmas-PG 20:00 Spy Kids: All The Time In The World-PG 22:00 The Nimbols: Part I-FAM

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Mr. Popper’s Penguins-PG That’s What I Am-PG15 The Flyboys-PG15 Flash Of Genius-PG15 Henry’s Crime-PG15 That’s What I Am-PG15 Mr. Popper’s Penguins-PG The Spy Next Door-PG Henry’s Crime-PG15 Zookeeper-PG15 Ghost Machine-PG15 Unknown-PG15

01:00 The Open Championship 07:00 Live AFL Premiership 10:00 Futbol Mundial 10:30 Trans World Sport 11:30 The Open Championship Highlights 12:00 Live The Open Championship 21:30 Futbol Mundial 22:00 Trans World Sport 23:00 Super Rugby

00:00 Test Cricket 07:00 The Open Championship Highlights 07:30 Super Rugby Highlights 08:30 Super Rugby 10:30 Live Super Rugby 12:30 The Open Championship Highlights 13:00 Live Test Cricket 21:00 Live Darts

01:00 RoboCop-PG15 03:00 Rollerball-18 05:00 The Recruit-PG15 07:00 True Justice: Street Wars-PG15 09:00 Ip Man-PG15 11:00 The Recruit-PG15 13:00 Star Trek: First Contact-PG 15:00 Ip Man-PG15 17:00 The Librarian: The Curse Of Judas Chalice-PG15 19:00 RoboCop 2-PG15 21:00 Master And Commander-18 23:15 Reykjavik: Whale Watching Massacre-18

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NRL Full Time Futbol Mundial Super League Super Rugby NRL Full Time Total Rugby Golfing World Super League Futbol Mundial NRL Full Time Live NRL Premiership AFL Premiership NRL Premiership Live ITU World Triathlon Series NRL Premiership

00:00 The Answer Man-PG15 02:00 The American President-PG15 04:00 Elle: A Modern Cinderella TalePG15 06:00 Cool Runnings-PG15 08:00 The Parent Trap-PG 10:15 Last Of The Living-PG15 12:00 A Cinderella Story: Once Upon A Song-PG15 14:00 Josie And The Pussycats-PG15 16:00 Last Of The Living-PG15 18:00 Wake-PG15 20:00 Grown Ups-PG15 22:00 The Other Guys-PG15

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UFC The Ultimate Fighter WWE SmackDown WWE Bottom Line UFC 149 Countdown UFC Unleashed WWE Smackdown V8 Supercars Extra Live AFL Premiership V8 Supercars Extra WWE SmackDown WWE Experience WWE Bottom Line UFC UFC 149 Countdown UFC The Ultimate Fighter

WHAT’S ON SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

Registration for Ramadan STARS Squash Tournament begins

O

nce again this year, the stage is set for the fourth annual ‘Ramadan STARS Squash Tournament’ to be held from August 3 to 9 at the Kazma Sporting Club, Adailiya. Abdulrahim Al-Awadi, the Chairman of the Higher Organizing Committee has announced that doors are now open for registration to all those who are interested in participating, stating that the deadline for registration will be August 1.

The participation in this tournament is open to all and will fall under three categories this year. The first category is for amateurs from ages 17 and above, second category is for professional players from ages 20 and above and the third category is for ladies 17 and above.

Following its last three years of grand success, the 4th annual Ramadan STARS Squash Tournament is being organized during Ramadan for squash lovers who will have an opportunity to practice the sport while being encouraged to develop their skills in a healthy, competitive and social environment.

Al-Awadi, the Chairman of the Higher Organizing Committee, commented, “In our last tournaments, we have received very positive feedback and have witnessed a huge number of interested participants thus giving us immense encouragement to hold an exciting tournament this year.

The 2012 squash tournament offers a great opportunity to all squash players to accept another challenge and build on their sports skills in midst of a friendly atmosphere. I highly encourage all interested players to maintain their level of activity during Ramadan while balancing fitness and fasting and to register before the deadline ends”.

All details pertaining to the tournament and means to participate can be found on the tournaments facebook page under ‘Ramadan Stars Squash Tourney’ or follow the official twitter page @RamadanStars for updates. The registration is taking place at GO SPORT store located at The Avenues Mall.

Alawadi also pointed out the great interest the

I

Conditions apply: 1. The competitions are meant for all the Schools located in Kuwait and should be nominated by school authority.

2. Each school can select group of 7 students for the “PATRIOTIC SONGS (Indian and Kuwaiti)” and nominate separately.

3. Children of above 12 years till 17 years (VII classes to

Indian Embassy passport and visa Passports and Visa applications can be deposited at the two outsourced centers of M/S BLS Ltd at Sharq and Fahaheel. Details are available at www.bls-international.com and www.indembkwt.org .

Consular Open House Consular Wing is providing daily service of Open House to Indian citizens on all workings days from 1000 hrs to 1100 hrs and from 1430 hrs to 1530 hrs by the Consular Officer in the Meeting Room of the Consular Hall at the Embassy. For any unaddressed issues, Second Secretary (Consular) can be contacted.

Furthermore, the head of the Consular Wing is also available to redress grievances.

‘Ramadan Stars Squash tournament’ received from the private sector, where companies took the initiative in sponsoring the tournament. Alawadi expressed his gratitude and thanks to Kazma Sporting Clun, Go Sport, Comtel, Vio, Unite Colors and Alawadi Photography guaranteeing unique prizes for all winners.

Embassy of India

D

uring the Holy month of Ramadan, the legal clinic at the Embassy of India, Kuwait will remain closed.

Competitions in Patriotic songs ndo-Kuwait Friendship Society, Kuwait (www.indokuwaitfriendshipsociety.com) is planning to conduct competitions in Indian and Kuwaiti Patriotic songs.

This is the first time in Kuwait, an Indian Association is organizing contests in “Patriotic Songs” for both Indian and Kuwaiti School students. The first 3 places will be declared separately by Judges who are experts in Indian and Kuwaiti Patriotic songs. Several prizes and awards will be handed over for the winning schools. Pradeep Rajkumar and A K S Abdul Nazar said that IKFS wants let our children learn what they mean as a “Patriotic” to their home country. 4 pages of spot Essay competition related to “Patriotism” also will be held in the same day as a spot registration. 1 Girl and 1 Boy student from each School can participate in the ESSAY contest. Dr. Mohamed Tareq, Chairman of the First Indian Model School in Kuwait “ Salmiya Indian Model School (SIMS) already confirmed as a Co-Sponsor of the Program.

Announcements

XII classes) are eligible for the contest. But if School is permitted 4. Musical instruments or KARAOKE mixer should be accompanied by the participating students/Children and the school team should operate and select the mixers.

5. Time frame: 7 minutes - Names will be called as “First come” in the Registration.

The Event will be held at the auditorium of “Salmiya Indian Model School” on Saturday, 27th October 2012 from 09:30 am onwards. It will be a full day program with fun and full of entertainments. Food-stalls of different Kuwaiti and Indian tastes will installed.

Dr. Ghalib Al-Mashoor said in a press release that Invitations for all schools located in various parts of Kuwait are already been sent. Schools under one management but from different locations can also participate in the contest individually. As per the school directory, there 23 Indian schools in Kuwait. The last date of receiving names of the Participants is scheduled on 2nd day of October, 2012 (INDIA’s GHANDI JAYANTHI DAY).

The entry is free to all and due to 2nd day of Eid Al-Adha holidays, a large crowd is expected to attend in addition to, Senior Kuwaiti and Indian citizens will also grace the function.

All the applications of interest should be sent to: ikfsociety@gmail.com Phone:99430786

Indian workers helpline/helpdesk Indian workers helpline is accessible by toll free telephone number 25674163 from all over Kuwait. It provides information and advice to Indian workers as regards their grievances, immigration and other matters. The help desk at the Embassy (Open from 9AM to 1PM and 2PM to 4:30PM, Sunday to Thursday) provides guidance to Indian nationals on routine immigration, employment, legal and other issues. It also provides workers assistance in filling up labour complaint forms.

For any unaddressed issues, the concerned attachÈ in the Labour section and the head of the Labour Wing can be contacted.

Legal Advice Clinic Free legal advice is provided on matters pertaining to labour disputes, terms of contracts with employers, death/accident compensation, withholding of dues by employers, etc. by lawyers on our panel, to Indian nationals on all working days between 1500hrs to 1600hrs.

Ambassador’s Open House The Open House for Indian citizens by the Ambassador is being held on all Wednesdays at the Embassy for redressal of grievances. In case Wednesday is an Embassy holiday, the meeting will be held on the next working day.

‘Leniency of Islam’ An unprecedented initiative of KTV2 (English channel) is the new program by the name ‘Leniency of Islam’ presented by Shaikh Musaad Alsane and directed by Hamid Al-Turkait. The program is mainly meant to address the expatriates living in Kuwait. Religious questions are received through the program email qislam@tv.gov.kw and sms can be sent to- 97822021 and answered by the lecturer and Imam in Awqaf Ministry Shaikh Musaad Alsane - a Master Degree holder in Sharia and fiqih from Kuwait University. So don’t forget to watch the program every Friday at 1:00 pm.

Free Arabic course IPC is opening an Intensive Basic Arabic Course for ladies commencing from June 3 to July 8, 2012. The class will be from 5-7 pm for three days a week.

Registration is on! For information, call 22512257.

Write to us Send to What’s On upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20

WHAT’S ON SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

Embassy Information EMBASSY OF BRAZIL The Embassy of Brazil requests all Brazilian citizens in Kuwait to proceed to the website www.brazil.org.kw (Contact Us Form / Fale Conosco) in order to register or update contact information. The Embassy encourages all citizens to do so, including the ones who have already registered in person at the Embassy. The registration process helps the Brazilian Government to contact and assist Brazilians living abroad in case of any emergency. nnnnnnn

Friends of Kannur releases raffle coupons for Kannur Fest

A

s part of the 7th year anniversary festival and the mega Kannur Festival, Friends of Kannur Expatriate Association released the raffle coupon in an elegant function held at Hi-Dine auditorium, Abbasiya. The patrons of the association Harindran and Suryanarayan together released the first raffle coupon in presence of FOKE officials and members. FOKE President Vijayesh presided over the function and General Secretary Jithesh welcomed the audience. General convener for the 7th anniversary TV Jayan briefed the audience about the Kannur Fest.

FOKE 7th Anniversary will be celebrated on November 9 (Friday), 2012 at Salmiya Indian Model School auditorium with great mega festival titled ìKannur Mahotsavî. A daylong fun-filled festival is planned as part of the Kannur Fest.

In addition to the artists from FOKE family, famous artists from India will also participate in the mega fest. A large number of FOKE members and their families attended the event in which raffles were distributed to all the area committees. Attractive and valuable prizes will be presented to all the raffle winners.

‘Leniency of Islam’

Register and Win

A

n unprecedented initiative of KTV2 (English channel) is the new program by the name ‘Leniency of Islam’ presented by Shaikh Musaad Alsane and directed by Hamid Al-Turkait. The program is mainly meant to address the expatriates living in Kuwait. Religious questions are received through the program email qislam@tv.gov.kw and sms can be sent to- 97822021 and answered by the lecturer and Imam in Awqaf Ministry Shaikh Musaad Alsane - a Master Degree holder in Sharia and fiqih from Kuwait University. So don’t forget to watch the program every Friday at 1:00 pm.

promotion at q8 India.com

C

ity Centre, Kuwait’s premier mega-market, in association with Q8India.com, a leading online Indian community portal, is holding a month-long ‘Register and Win’ promotion campaign. Any resident in Kuwait can participate in the promotion by visiting www.Q8India.com and registering their name, email and phone number. A winner will be picked each day (except Friday), from the list of names registered on the previous day, and receive a free shopping voucher worth KD10 from City Centre. To register and participate visit www.Q8India.com

EMBASSY OF CANADA The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24, Al-Mutawakel St., Block 4 in Da’aiyah. Please visit our website at www.Kuwait.gc.ca. The Embassy of Canada is open from 07:30 to 15:30 Sunday through Thursday. The reception is closed from 12:30 to 01:00 pm for lunch break.

Consular Services for Canadian Citizens are provided from 09:00 until 12:00 on Sunday through Wednesday. The Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi provides visa and immigration services to residents of Kuwait. Individuals who are interested in visiting, working or immigrating to Canada are invited to visit the website of the Canadian Embassy to the UAE at www.uae.gc.ca. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF CYPRUS The Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus would like to inform the public that from 3rd June 2012 the Consulate section located at the premises of the Embassy has started issuing Visas. Address: Salwa-Block 3, AlMutanabbi Street Building No. 35, Tel : (965)25620350, Fax: (965)25620470, Email : info@cyprus-embassy.org.kw Working hours 9:00am till 12:00pm everyday except Friday & Saturday Hence, The Honorary Consulate of Cyprus in Kuwait city will stop issuing Visas from the same date. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF KOREA The Embassy of the Republic of Korea wishes to inform that it has moved to Mishref. New Address: Embassy of the Republic of Korea Mishref, Block 7A, Diplomatic Area 2, Plot 6 The Embassy also wishes to inform that it will be opened to the public on the following office hours: Saturday to Thursday Morning: 8:00 am to 12:30 pm Lunch Break: 12:30 pm to 1:00 pm Afternoon: 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF KENYA

IKEA Kuwait announces exciting offer for Ramadan

W

ith a wide range of the best in cooking utensils and dining range, IKEA Kuwait offers homemakers the ideal setting to celebrate Ramadan at home. The pride of every host during Ramadan is providing the perfect meals to their guests, in the most authentic atmosphere to embrace Ramadan.

With a wide range of dining tables, tableware, cutlery, trays, glasses and jugs and coffee and tea accessories, IKEA Kuwait helps ensure that the presentation of the meal is as appropriate as its taste. Moreover, with the right IKEA dining furniture, family and friends are gathered for the most memorable moments of the year.

As important as the dining time during Ramadan, is the preparation of the meal. Cooking delicious meals while fasting cannot be easy, and so IKEAís cooking utensil allows for an easy and enjoyable cooking experience with the ideal range of knives, baking and ovenware, chopping boards and more.

The Embassy of the Republic of Kenya wishes to request all Kenyans resident in or training through Kuwait to register with the Embassy.

We are updating our database. This information is necessary in order to facilitate quick assistance and advise in times of emergency. Kindly visit in person or register through our website www.kenyaembkuwait.com. The Embassy is located in: Surra Area Block 6 - Street 9 - Villa 3 Tel: 25353362 - 25353314; Fax: 25353316. nnnnnnn

The IKEA Kuwait store offers its customersí products that reflect value for money. IKEA Kuwait sale campaign serves as a platform for customers to purchase some of their favorite IKEA products at even lower prices.

EMBASSY OF MEXICO The Embassy of Mexico is pleased to inform that it is located in CLIFFS Complex, Villa 6, Salmiya, block 9, Baghdad street, Jadda Lane 7. The working hours for consular issues are from 9:00 to 12:00 Sunday through Thursday. The reception is closed from 14:00 to 15:00 hours for lunch break. The Embassy of Mexico kindly requests all Mexicans citizens in Kuwait to proceed to the e-mail: embkuwait@sre.gob.mx in order to register or update contact information. Other consultations or/and appointments could be done by telephone or fax: (+965) 2573 1952

HEALTH

SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

Turkey fights back at ballooning weight gain ‘35% percent of population is obese’ ANKARA: In Turkey, the land of kebabs and sweet lokum, expanding waistlines are the target of a new anti-obesity campaign by the government to help one million Turks slim down over the next year. The numbers are staggering: a little over one out of every three people is obese, according to health ministry figures. Even more when it comes to women. “The fight against obesity starts now,” say publicity spots rolled out by the ministry to push back against lifestyle changes doctors believe are bulking up the 73 million population.

“Modern-day life has set constraints that make us eat faster and more without paying attention to the quality of the food we’re ingesting,” said paediatrician Murat Tuncer, a specialist in blood disorders. But on the upside, he added, as a Mediterranean country Turkey has all the vegetables, fruit and fish required

for a healthy diet. The ministry sounded the alarm on the problem last month.

“Thirty-five percent of the population is obese,” said Health Minister Recep Akdag, who himself recently set an example by losing 10 kilograms (22 pounds) and recommends a walking regime of 10,000 steps a day. With more and more Turks in treatment for obesitytriggered diseases such as hypertension and diabetes, the government has started pushing health and dietary tactics, along with the television and newspaper ads, to urge Turks to eat less and work to lose weight.

Over the summer, family doctors will distribute pedometers, so people can record their walking distance, and monitor the progress of their overweight patients. And in a change introduced July 1, bread is now sold with less salt and more wholewheat flour, making it

WUPPERTAL: A Gentoo-penguin looks into the camera while diving in his pool at the zoo in West Germany. — AFP

richer in fibre, a key change for a country where bread is a mainstay of the national diet, To prevent childhood obesity, Turkish television will only air adverts for healthy food and a balanced diet.

‘Everybody is getting fatter’ The campaign comes at a time when obesity-recognised since 1997 as a disease by the World Health Organisation (WHO) — is increasingly a global issue. A person is considered overweight if his body mass index (BMI), a measure of body fat based on height and weight, is over 25, while a BMI over 30 qualifies one as obese. A study published in June by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and based on 2005 figures, showed that 74 percent of the North American population was overweight, with 56 percent in Europe, 29 percent in Africa and 24 percent in Asia.

“The average (weight) is increasing everywhere. Everybody is getting fatter, even the thin people are getting fatter,” co-author Ian Roberts told AFP at the time. In Turkey, the world’s 17th biggest economy, the number of people treated for diabetes has gone up 90 percent in 12 years, said Yunus Yavuz, a specialist in metabolic diseases.

But there is hope. “Obesity is a preventable disease. It’s enough to slim down to extend your life expectancy and quality of life,” Yavuz said. And for those with extreme BMIs, surgery is always an option. Thirty-four year-old Gulsah Bulbul recently went in for a gastrectomy after weighing in at 147 kilograms. “Whenever I entered a clothes store, they would tell me, ‘there is nothing here for you,” she said after the surgery. “I wasn’t suffering from a physical problem but a psychological one,” she added. — AFP

Doctors use eggs to reverse allergies NEW YORK: First peanuts, now eggs.

Doctors have reversed allergies in some children and teens by giving them tiny daily doses of problem foods, gradually training their immune systems to accept them. In the best test of this yet, about a dozen kids were able to overcome allergies to eggs, one of the most ubiquitous foods, lurking in everything from pasta and veggie burgers to mayonnaise and even marshmallows. Some of the same doctors used a similar approach on several kids with peanut allergies a few years ago.

Don’t try this yourself, though. It takes special products, a year or more and close supervision because severe reactions remain a risk, say doctors involved in the study, published in Thursday’s New England Journal of Medicine. “This experimental therapy can safely be done only by properly trained physicians,” says a statement from Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of

the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the federal agency that sponsored the study.

It didn’t work for everyone, and some dropped out of the study because of allergic reactions. But the results “really do show there is promise for future treatment” and should be tested now in a wider group of kids, said the study’s leader, Dr. A. Wesley Burks, pediatrics chief at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

More than 2 percent of young children have egg allergies, suffering wheezing and tight throats or even life-threatening reactions if they eat any egg, Burks said. Many will outgrow this by age 4 or 5, and more will by the time they are teens, but 10 to 20 percent never do. The big worry is that these kids will eat eggs as an ingredient in a food they don’t realize contains them, and have a severe reaction. Training a

child’s immune system to tolerate even small amounts of egg to prevent this was the goal of the study.

It enrolled 55 children ages 5 to 18.

Forty were given tiny daily amounts of powdered egg white, the part that usually causes the allergy. The other 15 were given cornstarch - a dummy treatment for comparison. The amounts were increased every two weeks until kids in the treatment group were eating about one third of an egg each day. They periodically went to their doctors to try eating eggs. They failed the test if a doctor could see any symptoms such as wheezing.

At about a year, none receiving the dummy treatment passed the egg challenge. Those on the egg white powder fared better. “At the end of the year, half of them passed. At the end of two years, 75 percent of them passed,” Burks said. —AP

This satellite image provided by NASA shows calving, crescent-shaped crack at centre, on the Petermann Glacier in northwestern Greenland. — AP

Glacier in north Greenland breaks off huge iceberg WASHINGTON: An iceberg twice the size of Manhattan tore off one of Greenland’s largest glaciers, illustrating another dramatic change to the warming island. For several years, scientists had been watching a long crack near the tip of the northerly Petermann Glacier. On Monday, NASA satellites showed it had broken completely, freeing an iceberg measuring 46 square miles. A massive ice sheet covers about four-fifths of Greenland. Petermann Glacier is mostly on land, but a segment sticks out over water like a frozen tongue, and that’s where the break occurred.

The same glacier spawned an iceberg twice that size two years ago. Together, the breaks made a large change that’s got the attention of researchers. “It’s dramatic. It’s disturbing,” said University of Delaware professor Andreas Muenchow, who was one of the first researchers to notice the break. “We have data for 150 years and we see changes that we have not seen before.” “It’s one of the manifestations that Greenland is changing very fast,” he said.

Researchers suspect global warming is to blame, but can’t prove it conclusively yet. Glaciers do calve icebergs naturally, but what’s happened in the last three years to Petermann is unprecedented, Muenchow and other scientists say. “This is not part of natural variations anymore,” said NASA glaciologist Eric Rignot, who camped on Petermann 10 years ago. Ohio State University ice scientist Ian Howat said there is still a chance it could be normal calving, like losing a fingernail that has grown too long, but any further loss would show it’s not natural: “We’re still in the phase of scratching our heads and figuring out how big a deal this really is.”

Many of Greenland’s southern glaciers have been melting at an unusually rapid pace. The Petermann break brings large ice loss much farther north than in the past, said Ted Scambos, lead scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo. If it continues, and more of the Petermann is lost, the melting would push up sea levels, he said. The ice lost so far was already floating, so the breaks don’t add to global sea levels.

Northern Greenland and Canada have been warming five times faster than the average global temperature, Muenchow said. Temperatures have increased there by about 4 degrees Fahrenheit in the last 30 years, Scambos said. The new iceberg is likely to follow the path of the one in 2010, Muenchow said. That broke apart into smaller icebergs headed north, then west and last year started landing in Newfoundland, he said. It’s more than glaciers in Greenland that are melting. Scientists also reported this week that the Arctic had the largest sea ice loss on record for June. — AP

SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

HEALTH

CLASSIFIEDS SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

Hospitals 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

Clinics Rabiya

24732263

Rawdha

22517733

Adailiya

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

Khaifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salim

22549134

Al-Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Al-Qadisiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Ghar

22531908

Al-Shaab

22518752

Al-Kibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Kibla

22451082

Mirqab

22456536

Sharq

22465401

Salmiya

25746401

Jabriya

25316254

Maidan Hawally

25623444

Bayan

25388462

ACCOMMODATION Sharing accommodation available in two bedroom flat for a bachelor in Khaitan.

Near Kuwait Finance. Call 66141908. (C 4081) 19-7-2012

CHANGE OF RELIGION Saravanan Subramaniyan, s/o Subramaniyan, holder of Indian Passport No: G9950267 do here by declare that with my free consent I have embraced Islam in Kuwait. I have changed my name as SAMEER MOHAMED. (C 4083) 19-7-2012 SITUATION VACANT Urgently needed a cook with knowledge of local and international dishes for Kuwaiti family. Tel: 94088822.

(C 4079)

CHANGE OF NAME I, John Francisco Vaz holder of Indian passport No: A2578567 hereby change my name to JOAO FRANCISCO VAS. (C 4084) 21-7-2012 Saravanan Subramaniyan, s/o Subramaniyan, holder of Indian Passport No: G9950267 do here by change my name as SAMEER MOHAMED. (C 4081) 19-7-2012

112 Al-Madena Al-Shohada’a Al-Shuwaikh Al-Nuzha Sabhan Al-Helaly Al-Fayhaa Al-Farwaniya Al-Sulaibikhat Al-Fahaheel Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh Ahmadi Al-Mangaf Al-Shuaiba Al-Jahra Al-Salmiya

22418714 22545171 24810598 22545171 24742838 22434853 22545051 24711433 24316983 23927002 24316983 23980088 23711183 23262845 25610011 25616368

THE PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR CIVIL INFORMATION Automated enquiry about the Civil ID card is 1889988 Prayer timings Fajr: Duhr: Asr: Maghrib: Isha:

03:30 11:55 15:30 18:47 20:15

information SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION In case you are not travelling, your proper cancellation of bookings will help other passengers to use seats Airlines JZR QTR MEA SAI ETH PIA RJA GFA UAE ETD OMA THY FDB MSR QTR JZR THY JZR DHX JZR KAC BAW KAC JZR KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY QTR FDB ETD BAB GFA IRA MSR IRM MSR GFA FDB KNE JZR QTR KAC SVA JZR RJA JZR KAC KNE QTR KAC IZG KAC JZR ETD UAE UAL GFA SVA JZR JZR KAC ABY KAC KAC KAC QTR JZR KAC BAB

Arrival Flights on Saturday 21/7/2012 Flt Route 185 DUBAI 148 DOHA 408 BEIRUT 441 LAHORE 620 ADDIS ABABA 239 ISLAMABAD 642 AMMAN 211 BAHRAIN 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 643 MUSCAT 768 ISTANBUL 67 DUBAI 612 CAIRO 138 DOHA 503 LUXOR 770 ISTANBUL 1541 CAIRO 170 BAHRAIN 555 ALEXANDRIA 412 MANILA 157 LONDON 416 JAKARTA 529 ASSIUT 206 ISLAMABAD 382 DELHI 53 DUBAI 302 MUMBAI 352 COCHIN 284 DHAKA 344 CHENNAI 362 COLOMBO 855 DUBAI 125 SHARJAH 132 DOHA 55 DUBAI 301 ABU DHABI 436 BAHRAIN 213 BAHRAIN 3407 MASHAD 618 ALEXANDRIA 5066 MASHAD 610 CAIRO 219 BAHRAIN 57 DUBAI 472 JEDDAH 535 CAIRO 140 DOHA 562 AMMAN 500 JEDDAH 241 AMMAN 640 AMMAN 257 BEIRUT 788 JEDDAH 476 JEDDAH 134 DOHA 538 SHARM EL SHEIKH 4161 MASHAD 118 NEW YORK 357 MASHAD 303 ABU DHABI 857 DUBAI 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 215 BAHRAIN 510 RIYADH 177 DUBAI 777 JEDDAH 176 GENEVA 127 SHARJAH 502 BEIRUT 1702 JEDDAH 542 CAIRO 144 DOHA 125 BAHRAIN 786 JEDDAH 438 BAHRAIN

Time 0:15 0:20 1:00 1:30 1:45 2:05 2:10 2:20 2:25 2:30 2:50 2:50 3:10 3:20 3:25 3:55 4:35 4:55 5:00 6:00 6:15 6:30 6:35 6:40 7:15 7:30 7:45 7:50 8:05 8:15 8:20 8:20 8:25 8:30 9:00 9:20 9:30 9:35 10:00 10:10 11:25 11:55 13:30 13:40 13:45 14:15 14:20 14:25 14:30 14:30 14:40 14:55 15:00 15:00 15:00 15:15 15:30 15:45 16:00 16:20 16:35 16:55 17:10 17:20 17:20 17:30 17:40 17:45 17:45 18:00 18:15 18:15 18:20 18:30 18:40 18:40

KAC FDB QTR KAC MSR KAC KAC JZR JAI IRA AXB OMA MEA QTR KNE KAC GFA KNE ALK KLM JZR UAE BBC SYR ABY QTR KAC JZR FDB JZR AIC GFA UAL JZR DLH FDB THY DHX JAI KAC

104 63 6130 774 620 618 674 175 572 607 393 647 402 146 460 1776 221 474 229 415 135 859 43 341 129 136 614 513 61 539 975 217 981 239 636 51 772 372 574 1704

LONDON DUBAI DOHA RIYADH ASSIUT DOHA DUBAI DUBAI MUMBAI MASHAD KOZHIKODE MUSCAT BEIRUT DOHA MEDINAH JEDDAH BAHRAIN JEDDAH COLOMBO AMSTERDAM BAHRAIN DUBAI DHAKA DAMASCUS SHARJAH DOHA BAHRAIN SHARM EL SHEIKH DUBAI CAIRO CHENNAI BAHRAIN BAHRAIN AMMAN FRANKFURT DUBAI ISTANBUL BAHRAIN MUMBAI JEDDAH

Airlines AIC UAL DLH JAI KLM MEA THY SAI ETH PIA THY UAE FDB OMA ETD MSR QTR QTR RJA GFA THY JZR BAW FDB JZR ABY JZR KAC KAC UAE QTR KAC KAC FDB ETD

Departure Flights on Saturday 21/7/2012 Flt Route 976 GOA 981 WASHINGTON 637 FRANKFURT 573 MUMBAI 413 AMSTERDAM 409 BEIRUT 773 ISTANBUL 442 LAHORE 621 ADDIS ABABA 240 SIALKOT 769 ISTANBUL 854 DUBAI 68 DUBAI 644 MUSCAT 306 ABU DHABI 613 CAIRO 139 DOHA 149 DOHA 643 AMMAN 212 BAHRAIN 771 ISTANBUL 534 CAIRO 156 LONDON 54 DUBAI 256 BEIRUT 126 SHARJAH 240 AMMAN 561 AMMAN 787 JEDDAH 856 DUBAI 133 DOHA 101 LONDON 537 SHARM EL SHEIKH 56 DUBAI 302 ABU DHABI

18:45 18:45 19:00 19:10 19:10 19:20 19:25 19:35 19:35 19:50 19:55 20:10 20:15 20:25 20:25 20:35 20:35 20:45 20:55 21:05 21:15 21:15 21:25 21:30 21:30 21:35 22:00 22:00 22:05 22:10 22:25 22:35 22:40 22:55 23:10 23:30 23:40 23:40 23:50 23:50 Time 0:05 0:25 0:30 0:50 0:55 2:00 2:15 2:30 2:45 3:20 3:40 3:45 3:50 3:55 4:05 4:20 4:50 5:40 6:50 7:05 7:10 7:30 8:25 8:25 9:00 9:05 9:10 9:15 9:35 9:40 10:00 10:00 10:00 10:05 10:15

BAB JZR GFA IRA KAC KAC KAC KAC JZR MSR KAC JZR IRM GFA FDB MSR KAC KAC JZR KNE JZR JZR KAC RJA KNE KAC JZR SVA QTR IZG ETD JZR QTR UAE KAC GFA JZR ABY UAL SVA JZR KAC QTR FDB BAB KAC JZR MSR QTR KAC JAI IRA KAC KAC OMA MEA KNE KAC GFA KNE DHX ALK KLM JZR ABY KAC UAE SYR QTR KAC KAC JZR FDB BBC AXB QTR GFA KAC

437 356 214 3406 541 165 501 1701 776 619 785 176 5065 220 58 611 1775 673 538 473 174 124 617 641 461 773 512 505 135 4162 304 238 141 858 1703 216 134 128 982 511 266 613 145 64 439 283 184 621 6131 153 571 604 331 351 648 403 477 543 222 475 171 230 415 1540 120 381 860 342 137 301 205 554 62 44 394 147 218 411

BAHRAIN MASHHAD BAHRAIN MASHHAD CAIRO ROME BEIRUT JEDDAH JEDDAH ASSIUT JEDDAH DUBAI MASHHAD BAHRAIN DUBAI CAIRO JEDDAH DUBAI CAIRO JEDDAH DUBAI BAHRAIN DOHA AMMAN JEDDAH RIYADH SHARM EL SHEIKH JEDDAH DOHA MASHHAD ABU DHABI AMMAN DOHA DUBAI JEDDAH BAHRAIN BAHRAIN SHARJAH BAHRAIN RIYADH BEIRUT BAHRAIN DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN DHAKA DUBAI ALEXANDRIA DOHA ISTANBUL MUMBAI ISFAHAN RIVANDRUM KOCHI MUSCAT BEIRUT JEDDAH CAIRO BAHRAIN JEDDAH BAHRAIN COLOMBO DAMMAM CAIRO SHARJAH DELHI DUBAI DAMASCUS DOHA MUMBAI ISLAMABAD ALEXANDRIA DUBAI CHITTAGONG KOCHI DOHA BAHRAIN BANGKOK

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

10:25 10:30 10:45 11:10 11:30 11:45 12:00 12:05 12:15 12:25 13:10 13:20 13:25 14:25 14:25 14:30 14:45 15:05 15:10 15:15 15:25 15:30 15:45 15:50 15:50 15:55 15:55 16:00 16:15 16:45 17:20 17:30 17:45 18:05 18:05 18:20 18:20 18:25 18:30 18:35 18:50 19:00 19:20 19:25 19:30 19:30 20:05 20:10 20:30 20:30 20:35 20:50 20:50 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:15 21:30 21:35 21:35 21:50 21:55 22:05 22:05 22:10 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:45 23:00 23:00 23:05 23:10 23:10 23:30 23:40

C R O S S W O R D 7 4 3

SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

Word Sleuth Solution

Yesterday始s Solution

ACROSS 1. A room equipped with toilet facilities.

4. Short and fat.

9. Produced by a manufacturing process.

13. The act of using.

14. Syncopated music in duple time for dancing the rumba.

15. The twelfth month of the civil year.

16. An edge between a sidewalk and a roadway consisting of a line of curbstones (usually forming part of a gutter).

18. A female domestic.

19. A sensation (as of a cold breeze or bright light) that precedes the onset of certain disorders such as a migraine attack or epileptic seizure.

20. A unit of dry measure used in Egypt.

22. A person who lives and works on land.

24. The main city of ancient Phoenicia.

25. East Indian cereal grass whose seed yield a somewhat bitter flour, a staple in the Orient.

26. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

28. A soft white precious univalent metallic element having the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal.

32. Having undesirable or negative qualities.

35. A gradual decline (in size or strength or power or number).

37. Remove from memory or existence.

39. The United Nations agency concerned with atomic energy.

41. Being ahead of time or need.

43. (informal) Exceptionally good.

45. A roofed arcade or gallery with open sides stretching along the front or side of a building.

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

54. A Gaelic-speaking Celt in Ireland or Scotland or the Isle of Man. 55. True firs.

56. A unit of absorbed ionizing radiation equal to 100 ergs per gram of irradiated material.

58. An agency of the United Nations responsible for programs to aid education and the health of children and mothers in developing countries.

61. A master's degree in business.

62. The 7th letter of the Greek alphabet.

63. Sew, as of mattresses.

64. Cooking utensil consisting of a wide metal vessel.

65. An associate degree in applied science.

66. A college town in central New York on Lake Cayuga.

67. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

DOWN 1. United States screenwriter and filmmaker (born in 1944).

2. Earlier a god.

3. Italian operatic composer (1813-1901).

4. A soft silver-white or yellowish metallic element of the alkali metal group.

5. A city in northwestern Iran.

6. A benevolent aspect of Devi.

7. A promontory in northern Morocco opposite the Rock of Gibraltar.

8. A member of an agricultural people of southern India.

9. English economist noted for his studies of international trade and finance (born in 1907).

10. A white crystalline double sulfate of aluminum.

11. The outermost (and toughest) of the 3 meninges.

12. A feeling of strong eagerness (usually in favor of a person or cause).

17. English monk and scholar (672-735).

21. A flexible container with a single opening.

23. A desert in southern Israel.

27. A former agency (from 1946 to 1974) that was responsible for research into atomic energy and its peacetime uses in the United States.

29. Of a light yellowish-brown color n 1.

30. A committee in the executive branch of government that advises the president on foreign and military and national security.

31. A fixed charge for a privilege or for professional services.

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

34. Made of fir or pine.

36. A small cake leavened with yeast.

38. The seventh month of the Moslem calendar.

40. Highly excited.

42. A person who announces and plays popular recorded music.

44. In ancient Semitic folklore.

46. A benevolent aspect of Devi.

47. French diplomat who in 1793 tried to draw the United States into the war between France and England (1763-1834).

48. Czech novelist who wrote in German about a nightmarish world of isolated and troubled individuals (1883-1924).

49. A rye bread made with molasses or brown sugar.

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

51. (Hindu) A manner of sitting (as in the practice of Yoga).

53. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

57. Any of several small ungulate mammals of Africa and Asia with rodent-like incisors and feet with hooflike toes.

59. An independent agency of the United States government responsible for collecting and coordinating intelligence and counterintelligence activities abroad in the national interest.

60. (computer science) A coding system that incorporates extra parity bits in order to detect errors.

Yesterday始s Solution

SPORTS SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

Ahly, Zamalek meet in empty stadium for first time JOHANNESBURG: Cairo-based African club football giants Al Ahly and Zamalek will this weekend play each other behind closed doors for the first time in a centuryold rivalry. The CAF Champions League matchday 2 Group B fixture between teams who have won the competition 11 times between them is the latest to be staged in an empty Egyptian stadium amid security concerns. Competitive domestic football was banned after 74 people died on February 1 in post-match rioting following a league fixture between Al Masry and Ahly in Port Said.

This incident coupled with on-going post-Arab spring political tensions in the vast Arab nation led the interior ministry to refuse permission for the 2012-2013 domestic season to kick off this August. World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers involving the national team and Confederation of African Football club fixtures involving Ahly, Zamalek and ENPPI have been permitted, but without spectators. Ordinarily, an Ahly-Zamalek derby would fill the 73,000-capacity Cairo Stadium with millions more watching a live broadcast of the game in

Egypt, Africa and the Middle East.

But when the Red Devils of Ahly and the White Knights of Zamalek walk on to the Military Academy Stadium pitch in Cairo late Sunday for the CAF showdown, the crowd will consist only of officials and the media. “I really wish our supporters could attend this game,” Ahly coach Hossam Al Badry told reporters, “especially seen that things are getting settled in Egypt with a new president elected. “My wish is that our fans will be there behind us in forthcoming matches because they motivate us. I hope this turns out to be our last game behind closed doors.” Zamalek coach Hassan Shehata acknowledged the threat of crowd trouble: “The security conditions in Egypt and Tunisia are difficult after the revolutions and games such as those between us and Ahly could result in problems between fans.” Ahly take a 12-match unbeaten run against Zamalek into a clash between the two most successful clubs in the premier CAF club competition with the Devils lifting the trophy six times and the Knights five times. Victory for Ahly, who welcome back veteran

defender Wael Gomaa after a long calf injury-induced absence, would cement a good start in Group B after a 2-1 home triumph over TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo two weeks ago. Ace goal poacher Mohamed ‘Geddo’ Nagy snatched a stoppage-time winner to spare the blushes of goalkeeper Sherif Ekrami, who allowed a weak Mbwana Samata header beat him five minutes from time to bring the clubs level.

Zamalek led group-stage debutants Berekum Chelsea twice in Ghana through a brace from new Burkina Faso striker Abdoulaye Cisse only to lose 3-2 in additional time when Emmanuel Clottey completed a hat-trick. Chelsea have been one of the revelations of this Champions League and they face a stern test on a new artificial pitch in Lubumbashi against Mazembe, who have been African champions four times and 2010 FIFA Club World Cup runners-up. Tunisian challengers Etoile Sahel and defending champions Esperance made a great start to Group A with away wins and will fancy their chances when they host ASO Chlef of Algeria and Sunshine Stars of Nigeria respectively. — AFP

Havelange mired in bribe scandal LONDON: Bribe-tainted Joao Havelange was one of the most important people in sport in the 20th century, said 2016 Rio de Janeiro supremo and senior International Olympic Committee member Carlos Nuzman yesterday.

The 70-year-old Nuzman, who was the driving force behind Rio becoming the first South American city to win the right to host the Olympics when they won in 2009, said he would not comment on the claims made about Havelange which came to light last week.

Court documents released revealed that Havelange, now 96 and FIFA president for 24 years before his long time secretary-general Sepp Blatter replaced him, pocketed at least 1.5m Swiss francs (£986,000) and FIFA executive committee member Ricardo Teixeira at least 12.74m.

The bribes, made by International Sport and Leisure (ISL), were detailed in documents made public by Switzerland’s supreme court last Wednesday. FIFA’s discredited Swissbased marketing partner collapsed in 2001 with debts of around $300 million.

However, Nuzman, who received prominent support from Havelange during the Rio bid with the FIFA strongman pledging to invite everyone to his 100th birthday on the famed Copacabana Beach should Rio win the race, refused to desert his compatriot despite the furor.

“This is an internal problem for FIFA,” said Nuzman, speaking after opening an art exhibition celebrating Brazilian culture at Somerset House in central London. “President Havelange was one of the most important people in 20th century sport like Juan Antonio Samaranch (long-time IOC president who stepped down in 2001). “He changed

ZURICH: FIFA president Sepp Blatter gestures during a press conference at the headquarters of the Football’s world governing body in Zurich. FIFA met to discuss the appointment of “corruption czars” in the wake of revelations about former FIFA chief Joao Havelange pocketing around $1 million to favor a marketing firm. — AFP

football. However, I cannot give an opinion on the FIFA matter.”

Havelange, whose name is set to adorn the main Olympics stadium for the 2016 Games, has been dogged by the fallout from the ISL deal for years. Last December the increasingly frail former Olympic water polo player pre-empted probably being stripped of his IOC membership, he was the longest serving member with 48 years under his belt, when he resigned days before appearing before an ethics commission over what were then merely allegations.

Havelange competed at two Olympic Games in 1936 in Berlin as a swimmer and then in the 1952 edition in Helsinki in water polo.

Like the late duo of Samaranch and Italian Primo Nebiolo in athletics he is credited with modernizing and commercializing sports in the 20th century. — AFP

Fenerbahce draw Vaslui on Champions League return NYON: Fenerbahce, kicked out last season over domestic matchfixing, have drawn Romania’s Vaslui on their return to the Champions League qualifiers. Yesterday’s draw for the third qualifying round, made at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, also paired Dynamo Kiev with former European champions Feyenoord while group stage regulars Panathinaikos will face Motherwell. Belgium champions Anderlecht were drawn against Irish counterparts Shamrock Rovers.

Fenerbahce were barred from the Champions League last season over a domestic match-fixing scandal but escaped demotion to a lower league after the Turkish federation decided in May to take action against individuals and not the club. Earlier this month, Fenerbahce chairman Aziz Yildirim was sentenced to more than six years in jail, although he was released pending an appeal. Other Fenerbahce executives were also convicted, as were a former coach and executive from rival Istanbul club Besiktas. Fenerbahce finished second behind Galatasary in Turkey last season to clinch a place in the Champions League qualifiers.

As usual, the draw was divided into two halves, one featuring teams who qualified by winning their respective leagues and the other for teams who finished as runners-up. The top tie was in the non-champions half with Feyenoord, winners of the European Cup in 1970, against three-times semi-finalists Dynamo Kiev from Ukraine. Scottish champions Celtic, European champions in 1967, will almost certainly face Finnish champions HJK Helsinki, who have a 7-0 lead over Iceland’s KR Rejkjavik from the first leg of their second round tie which will be completed next week. The third qualifying round ties will be played on July 31/Aug 1 and Aug. 7/8. —Reuters

Bitter enemies square up in Mexican opener MEXICO CITY: There could be sparks when coaches Hugo Sanchez and Ricardo La Volpe prowl the touchline in Mexico’s Apertura championship clash tomorrow. Former Real Madrid striker Sanchez and La Volpe became bitter foes when the Argentine, who has spent most of his coaching career in Mexico, was picked as national team boss in 2003. La Volpe’s Atlante are at home to Sanchez’s Pachuca at the Quintana Roo stadium in the Caribbean resort city of Cancun in the pick of matches on the opening weekend of the 2012/13 season. “If he and I were playing it would be a direct duel, but we veterans are no longer playing, it’s 11 players against 11, each will want to win,” the usually outspoken La Volpe, nicknamed ‘Bigoton’ (big moustache), told reporters.

“There must be 10 or 12 coaches who were once players of mine and logically want to beat the master,” added La Volpe, who had Sanchez in his team in the mid-1990s during a previous spell as Atlante coach. Sanchez, five times top scorer in the Spanish League in the 1980s, was also vying for the Mexico job that went to La Volpe, third choice goalkeeper in Argentina’s 1978 World Cup winning squad. He campaigned for the post arguing that the national team should not be coached by a foreigner, but La Volpe, now 60, was handed the reins and steered Mexico to the second round of the 2006 World Cup in Germany where they lost to his home country.

Sanchez took over but lost the job when Mexico failed to qualify for the Olympic soccer tournament at the Beijing Games in 2008. — Reuters

SPORTS SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

AL Roundup

Tigers hammer Angels DETROIT: The Detroit Tigers, who had a losing record before the All-Star break, won for the 10th time in 12 games when they beat the Los Angeles Angels 5-1 in the American League on Thursday. Max Scherzer (9-5) struck out nine and gave up only one run on Mike Troutís homer in the sixth inning over seven innings. Alex Avila added his sixth home run of the season and Miguel Cabrera his 21st for 5-0 in the fifth. Trout, the hot-hitting rookie, has scored in 11 straight games, pulling within two of matching the franchiserecord streak set by Jim Edmonds in 1995.

RAYS 6, INDIANS 0 At St. Petersburg, Florida, David Price became the ALís first 13-game winner and BJ Upton had three RBIs as Tampa Bay beat Cleveland. Price (13-4) allowed two hits over seven innings. The All-Star left-hander had seven strikeouts and three walks. Wade Davis pitched the final two innings and completed a two-hitter for the Rays. Upton hit a threerun double off Ubaldo Jimenez (8-9) during a four-run sixth that put the Rays up 5-0.

ORIOLES 4, TWINS 3 At Minneapolis, Mark Reynoldsí two-run single in the eighth inning backed a strong performance from Chen Wei-yin and rallied the Baltimore past Minnesota. Chen (8-5) gave up three runs and six hits with five strikeouts in seven innings for his first win since June 17 for the Orioles, who came back to split the series after dropping the first two games. Chen was a little shaky in the first inning, conceding two runs. But he settled down, giving the Orioles a steady, solid performance that theyíve come to expect from the Taiwanese rookie. Chen is the only Orioles starter who has remained in the rotation for the entire season, and unfortunately for him, he has also come to expect little run support when he takes the mound. The Orioles had failed to score at least four runs in eight of his previous 11 starts and Chen left trailing 3-2 after seven. But Minnesotaís normally reliable bullpen faltered, with Anthony Swarzak giving up a soft single to Reynolds that put Baltimore in front.

MARINERS 6, ROYALS 1 At Kansas City, Missouri, Felix Hernandez won his fourth straight decision and Jesus Montero homered and drove in four runs as Seattle defeated Kansas City. Hernandez (8-5) is 4-0 with a 1.37 ERA in his past seven starts since a loss to San Diego on June 12. While he leads the majors with 143 strikeouts, Hernandez struck out only three, tying his season low. He allowed one run and eight hits, throwing only 89 pitches in eight innings. Royals rookie Will Smith (1-3) took the loss.

RED SOX 3, WHITE SOX 1 At Boston, Cody Ross hit a three-run homer with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to give Boston the win over Chicago. On Wednesday, Ross hit three-run homers in consecutive innings of a 10-1 win.

Boston took three of four games in the series and is 5-2 since the All Star break. Matt Thornton (2-6) got one out, but left with runners on first and second before Addison Reed faced Ross, who hit a 1-1 pitch into the Green Monster seats. Chicago rookie lefthander Jose Quintana pitched eight shutout innings and allowed five hits, striking out two without a walk. —AP

SAN DIEGO: 2nd Baseman Jose Altuve #27 of the Houston Astros throws from the ground for an out against the San Diego Padres MLB game on July 19, 2012. — AFP NL Roundup

Braves end Giants’ winning streak ATLANTA: Atlanta’s Freddie Freeman and David Ross hit home runs and the Braves made the most of their three hits, edging the San Francisco Giants 3-2 on Thursday.

Tim Hudson (8-4) helped an Atlanta bullpen drained by Wednesday’s loss in 11 innings. He gave up two runs in 7 1-3 innings to outpitch Giants starter Madison Bumgarner (11-6).The NL West-leading Giants’ five-game winning streak ended with their first loss since the All Star break.

Bumgarner allowed three runs in seven innings.

METS 9, NATIONALS 5 In Washington, David Wright homered twice and had five RBIs, powering New York past Washington. Wright hit a two-run shot in the first off Gio Gonzalez (12-5), who was rocked for six runs in 3 1-3 innings, his shortest start of the season. Mets starter R A Dickey (13-1) won his league-leading 13th game. He pitched 7 1-3 innings to break a streak of rare ineffectiveness this season.

After throwing consecutive one-hitters last month, Dickey had won just one of four starts. In his previous two, he gave up five runs in each game.

REDS 7, DIAMONDBACKS 6 In Cincinnati, Brandon Phillips homered and had five RBIs, then scored the goahead run in the seventh inning to help Cincinnati rally from a six-run deficit to beat Arizona. Arizona was leading 6-3 with one out in the seventh when reliever Bryan Shaw (1-4) walked two batters. Wilson Valdez’s grounder skipped under the glove of the first baseman for a run-scoring error, setting up Phillips’ game-tying two-run double. Phillips then scored on Todd Frazier’s single. Reds reliever Alfredo Simon (2-1) took the win, and Aroldis Chapman

completed the save.

CUBS 4, MARLINS 2 In Chicago, Paul Maholm pitched eight innings to steer Chicago past Miami.

Maholm (8-6) allowed one run to win his fourth consecutive start, matching a career best. He has allowed just three runs in his past 30 1-3 innings for an impressive 0.89 ERA over five games. Marlins starter Mark Buehrle (9-9) was back in the Windy City for the first time since he left the White Sox for a $58 million, four-year contract with Miami. He gave up four runs in six innings.

PADRES 1, ASTROS 0 In San Diego, Edinson Volquez threw a one-hitter for the first complete game and shutout of his career as San Diego edged Houston and won for the fifth time in six games. Volquez (6-7) allowed only an infield single in the fourth. The win improved Volquez’s career record against the Astros to 6-0. Alexi Amarista doubled and Logan Forsythe singled in the first inning to score the game’s only run. Astros starter Lucas Harrell (7-7), who threw a shutout against San Diego last month, gave up four hits in seven innings. — AP

MLB results/standings Atlanta 3, San Francisco 2; Tampa Bay 6, Cleveland 0; NY Mets 9, Washington 5; Cincinnati 7, Arizona 6; Detroit 5, LA Angels 1; Baltimore 4, Minnesota 3; Seattle 6, Kansas City 1; Chicago Cubs 4, Miami 2; Boston 3, Chicago White Sox 1; Oakland 4, NY Yankees 3; San Diego 1, Houston 0.

American League Eastern Division W L NY Yankees 57 35 Baltimore 48 44 Tampa Bay 48 45 Boston 48 45 Toronto 45 47 Central Division Chicago White Sox 50 42 Detroit 49 44 Cleveland 47 45 Kansas City 39 52 Minnesota 38 54 Texas LA Angels Oakland Seattle

Western Division 55 36 50 43 48 44 40 54

PCT .620 .522 .516 .516 .489 .543 .527 .511 .429 .413 .604 .538 .522 .426

GB 9 9.5 9.5 12 1.5 3 10.5 12 6 7.5 16.5

National League Eastern Division Washington 53 37 Atlanta 50 41 NY Mets 47 45 Miami 44 48 Philadelphia 41 52 Central Division Cincinnati 52 40 Pittsburgh 51 40 St. Louis 47 45 Milwaukee 44 47 Chicago Cubs 38 53 Houston 34 59 Western Division San Francisco 51 41 LA Dodgers 49 44 Arizona 44 48 San Diego 39 55 Colorado 35 56

.589 .549 .511 .478 .441

3.5 7 10 13.5

.565 .560 .511 .484 .418 .366

0.5 5 7.5 13.5 18.5

.554 .527 .478 .415 .385

2.5 7 13 15.5

SPORTS SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

France puts Magny-Cours back in Formula One Frame PARIS: France’s Socialist government has asked the country’s motorsport federation to look into the possibility of holding a Formula One Grand Prix at the Magny-Cours circuit that hosted the race before it fell off the calendar. The French Federation (FFSA) said yesterday that Sports Minister Valerie Fourneyron had asked for a report on the technical, financial and legal conditions that would allow a prix to be organized at Magny Cours or Le Castellet. Magny-Cours, a circuit in the heart of rural France, fell out of favor with sponsors and Formula One authorities due to its remoteness and lack of nearby hotels. It last hosted a grand prix in 2008.

Le Castellet, a track in the south of France owned by a family trust set up by Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone, was the favored choice of the previous government and terms were agreed earlier this year before the change of administration. The FFSA said it had contacted Formula One’s commercial rights holder and had been assured that there was a full agreement for a return to the calendar at one of the two circuits.

That could be either permanently or an alternate basis, sharing with another race such as Belgium’s Spa. Germany’s two races already alternate, although there is now uncertainty over the Nuerburgring’s future with that circuit set to file for insolvency. Representatives of

Magny-Cours and Le Castellet have been contacted and asked to provide budget forecasts by the beginning of September, said the FFSA. It added that the forecasts must highlight the “local financial set-up as well as the economical spinoffs further to an F1 event on both the local and national level.” “Based on the elements supplied by the respective project leaders of each circuit...the FFSA will send its report to the Sports Minister mid-September. “The economic feasibility of promoting a grand prix on one of the two circuits will be measured by this report and is the most important condition for the return of Formula One in France,” said the FFSA. — Reuters

Jankovic downs Czink

MANCHESTER: Anthony Davis of the USA looks on during their Olympic warm up game against Great Britain at the Manchester Arena on July 19, 2012. — AFP

US thrash Britain in basketball warm-up MANCHESTER: The United States warmed up for the defense of their Olympic men’s basketball title by handing hosts Britain a 118-78 thrashing before a 17,000 sell-out crowd on Thursday. Deron Williams and Carmelo Anthony each scored 19 points among six Americans in double figures while Britain’s NBA All-Star Luol Deng led all scorers with 25 points at the MEN arena. The win came 10 days before the US face France in their opening Group A game at the London Olympics.

Argentina, Tunisia, Nigeria and Lithuania are also in their section. The Americans were hugely popular with the Manchester crowd and the names of players such as Kobe Bryant and LeBron James were greeted with louder cheers than those of their British counterparts in the pre-match introductions.

Portland Trailblazers’ new signing Joel Freeland put Britain 2-0 ahead but that was the closest the home crowd would come to dreaming of an upset over the world renowned Americans. A 10-0 run at the end of the first period put the U.S. 33-20 in front and they were 55-37 ahead at halftime before winning comfortably, though the players are taking nothing for granted. “If we don’t come to play, if we’re not ready, we can be beat,” said Williams, a point guard with the Brooklyn Nets. “Teams could beat us. “Spain is one of them, Brazil is one of them, Argentina is one of them and we’re playing all three teams in warm-up games so hopefully that will help us.

“We realize we have some flaws in our game

and we have to sew them up,” he added.

SECOND-HALF COLLAPSE Britain coach Chris Finch was unhappy with his team’s second-half collapse and blamed mental lapses for a heavy defeat but he warned that the US were not guaranteed to win gold. “Every game has to be played out, every possession has to be played out,” said Finch. “Of course they can be beaten. There are a lot of quality players, a lot of experienced teams in the field. “The Americans shot the ball extremely well and they have to continue to do so. They’re the best team in the tournament, no doubt, but there are a lot of teams who could beat them on any given day.”

The skills of the US team were certainly appreciated by the home crowd and the Americans are likely to be not only among the biggest gold medal favorites but also the most popular. “We love Great Britain, we’re brothers and I think the fans here are really appreciative of outstanding basketball,” said US coach Mike Krzyzewski. “The one thing about Great Britain is you appreciate someone who is really good in their sport. There is an etiquette there, a respect, that transcends all sports in Great Britain. “If an opponent is that good, you acknowledge that and our guys really played hard tonight. It was just a really good night for basketball in Great Britain.” The hosts face Australia, Brazil, China, Spain and the Russian Federation in their Group B games starting on July 29. — Reuters

CARLSBAD: No 3 seed Jelena Jankovic overcame problems with her serve to claim a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over Melinda Czink in the second round of the Mercury Insurance Open on Thursday night. Jankovic had a first-round bye and struggled throughout the match with her serve before closing out the match in the third set. After the players traded service breaks, Jankovic broke the Hungarian’s serve right back for a 4-3 lead and stayed ahead for good.

The former top-ranked player reached the quarterfinals for the first time in six appearances here. The Serbian will play qualifier Yung-Jan Chan of Taiwan in the quarterfinals. US Olympian Christina McHale held off Misaki Doi of Japan 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the quarterfinals against No 1 seed Marion Bartoli of France. McHale, the No 5 seed, needed three match points in the last game before she closed out the second-round match when Doi hit a backhand into the net. McHale faced 19 break points, but Doi only converted three. “I have to give credit to Misaki because she played really, really well. She made it hard for me,” McHale said. “For my next match, I’m going to have to serve a lot better. I’m just happy that I found a way to pull it out.”

In other second-round matches, Ursula Radwanska of Poland cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 win over lucky loser Melanie Oudin, and No 2 seed Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia was a 6-2, 6-4 winner against New Zealand’s Marina Erakovic. Radwanska, the younger sister of world No 2 ranked Agnieszka Radwanska, served well and took advantage of the American’s subpar serve to control the match. “Yeah, I was playing very good, and especially I was serving good,” said Radwanska, who will represent Poland in the Olympics. “Probably that was the key because I was holding my serve.”

Radwanska, who won 88 percent (23 of 26) of her first serves, reached the quarterfinals for the second straight week. She lost last week at Stanford to eventual runner-up CoCo Vandeweghe. US Olympian Christina McHale held off Misaki Doi of Japan 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 at the Mercury Insurance Open on Thursday, advancing to a quarterfinal against No 1 seed Marion Bartoli of France.

McHale, the No 5 seed, needed three match points in the last game before she closed out the second-round match when Doi hit a backhand into the net. McHale faced 19 break points, but Doi only converted three.

“I have to give credit to Misaki because she played really, really well. She made it hard for me,” McHale said. “For my next match, I’m going to have to serve a lot better. I’m just happy that I found a way to pull it out.”

In other second-round matches, Ursula Radwanska of Poland cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 win over lucky loser Melanie Oudin, and No 2 seed Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia was a 6-2, 6-4 winner against New Zealand’s Marina Erakovic. Radwanska, the younger sister of world No 2 ranked Agnieszka Radwanska, served well and took advantage of the American’s subpar serve to control the match. “Yeah, I was playing very good, and especially I was serving good,” said Radwanska, who will represent Poland in the Olympics. “Probably that was the key because I was holding my serve.”

Radwanska, who won 88 percent (23 of 26) of her first serves, reached the quarterfinals for the second straight week. She lost last week at Stanford to eventual runner-up CoCo Vandeweghe.— AP

Button fastest in first practice HOCKENHEIM: Jenson Button was fastest and his team mate Lewis Hamilton second as McLaren dominated a rain-hit opening practice for the German Grand Prix yesterday.

Intermittent showers made conditions tricky for the drivers although the rain was nothing on the scale which caused chaos at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone two weeks ago. Valtteri Bottas crashed his Williams near the end of the session, smashing into the barriers on corner 13 and emerging unscathed to survey the damage.

Button set the best time of one minute 16.595 seconds early in the session before the rain began while Hamilton, who will be taking part in his 100th grand prix on Sunday, was 0.498 seconds behind. They were followed by world championship leader Fernando Alonso of Ferrari and Mercedes’ Michael Schumacher.

However, the conditions meant it was difficult to read anything significant into the timings. The German Grand Prix is seen as crucial to McLaren’s season after poor performances in the previous two races saw them slip down the standings. The session was the debut for the new version of the cars following a series of upgrades.

The Red Bull pair made little impact with Sebastian Vettel 12th fastest and Mark Webber 20th.— Reuters

SPORTS SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

Bohn take early lead at True South Classic MADISON: Jason Bohn made the most of soft scoring conditions to fire an eight-under 64 to take the early lead at the PGA Tour’s True South Classic Thursday before heavy rains halted play. With the Tour’s top players in Europe competing at the British Open, Bohn is atop the leaderboard as 65 players still have to finish their rounds. First round play will resume Friday morning. The Annandale golf course was soaked with more than an inch of rain so the PGA allowed players to lift clean and place balls in the fairway which resulted in low scores Thursday.

“You could see early the guys were shooting good numbers early, and you just know you kind of had to keep your foot down on the pedal and keep flying at the flag-

stick,” said Bohn, who had a strong back nine. In the absence of the majority of the top players on the USPGA Tour, this week’s event is a chance for some of the younger players to show what they can do. Luke Guthrie, 22, opened with a seven-under 65 in just his third professional tournament and is alone in second place.Japan’s Ryuji Imada, J.J. Killeen, Steve Lowery, Jason Gore and Willie Wood finished the first round in a tie for third, two shots behind Bohn. Bohn shot a bogey-free round but had just one birdie on the first seven holes before making birdie on numbers eight and nine. He lifted his game in the back nine, rolling in birdies on 11, 12, 14, 16 and 18.

Bohn hasn’t had much success this year despite being a

two-time winner on the PGA Tour. He has made just eight cuts in 19 tries heading into this event. “I kept telling myself I’m going to play some good rounds,” Bohn said.

“I’ve just got to take the bad rounds that I play and just make them not so bad. So I was able to get off to a great start today, but it’s a long way to the end.” Guthrie also shot a bogey-free round as he made seven birdies on the day. He finished last week’s John Deere Classic tied for fifth. Imada, who played in a group with Bohn, got off to a fast start by making birdie on two of his first three holes.

Defending champion Chris Kirk got to minus-four through seven holes before the players were pulled off the course because of the foul weather. — AFP

McIlroy misfires amid tricky conditions at British Open LYTHAM: Rory McIlroy misfired again at the British Open, nearly hitting a rival caddie yesterday as tricky conditions at Royal Lytham helped prevent an early second-round charge at leader Adam Scott. World No 2 McIlroy, the 2011 US Open champion, began with two pars before putting his tee shot into the rough at the third hole. He then pulled his second shot left of the third green and into the adjacent fourth-hole tee box. McIlroy’s errant approach near hit Toru Oda, the caddie of Japan’s Toshinori Muto, in the group ahead of McIlroy. A lucky break left the ball on flat ground with only a wisp of tall grass between him and the green below.

The Northern Irish champion chipped his approach to eight feet but missed his par putt for bogey. McIlroy answered with a 10-foot birdie at the fourth, where he was greeted by a pheasant in the fairway, but another bogey at the sixth left him one-over for the round and two-under for the tournament. McIlroy’s wobbles came a day after he struck a teen spectator in the head with a shot. He wound up picking up the man’s hotel room for the night as well as delivering an autographed glove.

Overnight rain dumped nearly half an inch of water on the bunker-strewn links layout, creating soft and receptive greens that prompted organizers to use tougher pin placements and double mow the greens to make putts faster. Add to that water puddling in several bunkers to force drops and an unusual east wind forcing more adjustments in shot trajectory by players and it was easy to see why the early starters were struggling to make any major moves. Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts, who opened on 65, took bogeys at the second and third holes and a triple-bogey 8 at the seventh to plunge from the leaderboard.

American Rickie Fowler took a triple bogey at the third, offsetting birdies at the second, fourth and fifth after an opening bogey. American Brandt Snedeker opened with a birdie for the second day in a row to stand on five-under, one adrift of Australia’s Scott, who tees off in the afternoon.

Snedeker has yet to suffer a bogey after an opening-round 66. But only a handful of other players were below par for the round among the early starters, including Sweden’s Peter Hanson, on four under after a birdie-bogey-birdie beginning to his day, and two-under South African Richard Sterne, who opened with a birdie and added another at the par-3 12th after a bogey at the sixth.

Scott, a 32-year-old Australian seeking his first major title, matched the course record with a sixunder par 64 on Thursday to seize the lead but with seven former major champions among the dozen players behind him. Scotland’s Paul Lawrie, the 1999 British Open champion hoping to win again and create the longest-ever gap between Open titles, and 2007 Masters champion Zach Johnson of the United States were also one stroke off the pace. —AFP

LYTHAM ST ANNES: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays a shot off the ninth tee at Royal Lytham & St Annes golf club during the second round of the British Open Golf Championship yesterday. — AP

Sparkling Snedeker takes control at Lytham LYTHAM ST ANNES: American Brandt Snedeker, who missed the cut in his three previous British Open appearances, peppered the flags with his approach shots to grab an early twostroke lead in the second round yesterday. The 31-year-old from Nashville was quick out of the blocks on another calm day at Royal Lytham & St Annes, ramming in a 25-foot putt for a birdie at the par-three first. While most of his rivals toiled as the wind changed direction and organizers placed the flags in awkward spots on faster greens, Snedeker accelerated past overnight leader Adam Scott of Australia.

The blond American struck laser-guided approach shots at the sixth, seventh and ninth holes to set up three more birdie opportunities he gratefully devoured as he raced to the turn in 30 - four under par. Snedeker, who has never won a major and missed the cut at the 2008, 2009 and 2011 Opens, was two shots ahead of Scott and three clear of Britain’s Paul Lawrie and American Zach Johnson who all start their rounds later along with Tiger Woods who carded an opening 67.

World number one Luke Donald looked as if he was about to mount a charge when he reeled off three successive birdies.

Donald, aiming to become the first Englishman to win the championship on home soil since Tony Jacklin in 1969, prompted trademark cries of ‘Luuuke, Luuuke, Luuuke’ when he rolled in a birdie putt from 15 feet at the fourth. Two more long-range birdie attempts also dived into the cup at the fifth and sixth. He then picked up another shot at the eighth but a bogey five at the 10th stymied his progress as he slipped back to two under for the championship. Donald was forced to bring in Gareth Lord as a temporary bagman for the round after giving regular caddie John McLaren a day off to attend the birth of his first child.

World number two Rory McIlroy was struggling to make an impact on one over through 14 holes while four-times major winner Phil Mickelson looked destined to miss the cut after ballooning to five-over through 12. Britain’s Richard Finch came unstuck in spectacular fashion at the par-four eighth, carding a 10 on his way to a 79. “I got into a bit of a pickle going up the eighth hole,” said the Englishman. “It was a long 10 holes from there on in.” Earlier, a deluge of overnight rain took the Royal & Ancient by surprise and left some areas of the course with standing water. “We’ve had far more rain overnight than we were expecting unfortunately,” chief executive Peter Dawson told BBC radio. —Reuters

Players will devour unlinks-like Lytham LYTHAM ST ANNES: Expect low scores on the rain-softened Lytham links at the British Open this week, 1996 champion Tom Lehman said yesterday. “If it stays like this they’re going to shoot the grass off the course,” the former world number one said after a two-over-par 72 in the second round for a five-over total of 145. “It’s so soft. The back nine is much easier than usual,” he said in reference to the inward nine at the Lancashire links, which from the 14th hole onwards is known as “Murder Mile”. “There’s just a whisper of wind.

So you need to throw your shots right at the pins.

It’s very unlinks-like.”

Fellow American and former top-ranked player Tiger Woods said after his opening 67 that he found the conditions unlike any he had ever played before in a British Open, the oldest of the four majors. “We’re backing golf balls up. That’s something we just don’t see. On the first hole I hit a 5-iron straight at it and it rolled out eight feet. I can’t remember the last time it does that on a links golf course,” Woods said. Lehman was equally baffled by how the ball was behaving. “As it stands right now the conditions are completely in favor of the player,” he said. As with any links layout, however, weather is key and benign condi-

tions can very quickly change to wreak havoc.

Although the back nine was less severe then usual with 11 millimeters of overnight rain which took organizers by surprise, Lehman said the unusual conditions played tricks on his mind.

“You expect shots that you hit to be good but the ball doesn’t bounce and you’re like ‘How does that happen?’,” said the 2006 Ryder Cup captain.

“I hit a low six-iron to bounce it on to the 12th and it stops dead. It’s impossible,” he added, referring to the 196-yard par-three. The front nine, usually largely downwind, was where Lehman really found the going difficult.—Reuters

SPORTS

SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

Cavendish wins 18th stage

BRIVE-LA-GAILLARDE: Mark Cavendish of Britain (center left) sprints towards the finish line as he catches up with breakaway Luis-Leon Sanchez of Spain (center in orange) to win the 18th stage of the Tour de France cycling race yesterday. — AP BRIVE-LA-GAILLARDE: British sprint king Mark Cavendish produced a stunning finish to claim victory on the 18th stage of the Tour de France, a 226 km ride between Blagnac and Brive-LaGaillarde yesterday. Sky teammate and compatriot Bradley Wiggins came over the finish line seconds later with his 2min 05sec overall lead on British teammate Chris Froome intact. Wiggins, who

is set to become Britainís first winner of the worldís biggest bike race tomorrow, played a starring role for his Sky teammate in what was a technical but thrilling finale into Brive. A number of attacks were launched in the closing kilometers but with the gap coming down steadily the sprintersí teams started to pull at the front in anticipation of a possible bunch finish.

‘Beaten’ Evans looking for time trial salvation BRIVE-LA-GAILLARDE: A “beaten” Cadel Evans admitted his only salvation from this year’s Tour de France could come in the race’s final time trial today. But after a tough three weeks of racing that is set to see the BMC team leader lose his crown to Britain’s Bradley Wiggins, the Australian faces a challenge if he is to hoist himself higher than sixth overall. Evans started stage 18 nearly 10 minutes behind Wiggins, 1min 27sec behind teammate Tejay Van Garderen, in fifth, and 4:04 behind Belgian Jurgen Van den Broeck in fourth.

A year after a thrilling duel with Luxembourg’s Andy Schleck saw Evans crowned Australia’s Tour winner, Team Sky’s methodical and relentless approach to the race will force Evans back to the drawing board. “When you do everything you can and you get beaten by a better person, hat’s off to them,” Evans said at the start of the 18th stage from Blagnac to Brive-la-Gaillarde. “It just means you have to go back and work harder, work smarter for the following year.” In the face of a dominant Sky team that is likely to score a remarkable 1-2 on the podium in Paris-Chris Froome sits in second place 2:05 behind Wiggins Evans’s BMC team proved powerless. Evans, too, showed he may not have had the form of 2011.

While losing only 10sec to Wiggins in the opening day prologue over 6.4 km, his 1:43 deficit on the stage nine time trial over 41.5 km was a revelation for his BMC team manager Jim Ochowicz. “That’s where we missed something, and so did everybody else,” Ochowicz said. “The gap (to Wiggins and Froome) wasn’t small... that created the separation. The separation came in that first big time trial. That put us behind.” Evans and every other rival then failed to find a way past the steamroller that is Wiggins’ Sky team in the race’s mountain stages. On stage 11 to La Toussuire in the Alps he lost a further 1:26 to drop to fourth overall at 3:19 and on stage 16 from Pau to Luchon in the Pyrenees, prior to which he suffered from stomach problems, he lost nearly five minutes. “Being in the mountains is fine, normally it’s a good thing for me, but not when you don’t know how you’re going to perform because of health issues,” Evans added. — AFP

Wiggins pulled at the front for Cavendish in the closing 1.5 km before peeling off and letting Norwegian teammate Edvald Boasson Hagen take over the job of leading the chase. In the closing 400 meters Irishman Nicolas Roche, seeing the peloton closing in, made a bid for victory with Spaniard Luis Leon Snachez sticking on his wheel. But with the line in sight Cavendish emerged

from nowhere and dug deep to deliver a trademark turn of speed that handed him his second stage win of the race and 22nd of his career.

Sanchez and Roche, who would eventually finish fourth and fifth, could only gesture in disbelief. Australiaís Matt Goss, of Orica-GreenEdge, was second just ahead of Slovakian Peter Sagan of Liquigas. — AFP

Wiggins and co putting Britons on their bikes Tour, Olympics spur growth in participation LONDON: The success of riders like Bradley Wiggins and Chris Hoy has encouraged growing numbers of Britons to get on their bicycles to commute to work or to fight off middle-aged flab. The mutton-chopped Wiggins looks set tomorrow to become the first Briton to win the Tour de France while British riders will look to repeat their Beijing gold rush when London hosts the Olympics next week. British Cycling, the sport’s governing body, reports a surge in its membership after years of stagnation and says the industry is worth almost 3 billion pounds ($4.7 billion) to the UK economy.

“We are seeing a step change in the numbers of people riding bikes. The success internationally has definitely been one of the reasons for that,” said British Cycling CEO Ian Drake. “It’s almost becoming the norm now. Most people will know somebody who is riding a bike on a regular basis,” he added, saying that growing awareness helped to make cycling safer. Figures from Sport England place cycling fourth in terms of the number of participants, in a list headed by swimming, soccer and athletics. In a sign of the sport’s growing appeal, commercial TV broadcaster ITV

will screen the final two stages of the Tour this weekend live on its flagship ITV1 channel, switching from its less popular niche channel, ITV4.

Wiggins rides for Team Sky, set up and funded by satellite broadcaster BSkyB, part owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. The team was established in 2010. It is an extension of Sky’s broader sponsorship of British Cycling which began just before the Beijing Olympics and which has recently been renewed.

Around 200 BSkyB employees are cycling from London to Paris where they hope to witness Wiggins cruising to victory on the Champs Elysees tomorrow.

“We set ourselves a goal of winning it within five years. That was an ambitious target as no Briton had ever won the Tour de France,” said Robert Tansey, chairman of the Team Sky board.

EVOLUTION OF THE MAMILS Drake of British Cycling says the Sky partnership has built on funding from the country’s national lottery. He stresses that the money pumped into the sport has helped both elite riders and community schemes such as supervised “led rides” to get more people on their bikes. Amateur riders gather at pubs and

cafes around London and other cities at weekends, heading off into the countryside in pelotons that were once more associated with continental Europe.

A new breed of riders has been dubbed the MAMILs - middle-aged men in lycra. “What you often see are men who come in for a commuter bike. They start to see others whizzing past them on racers and want to trade up,” said Paul Gage, a former journalist who now runs a bike shop in the north London suburb of Muswell Hill. Independent retailers and larger chains say a government-backed scheme that gives generous tax breaks for buying bikes has helped sales. “Enabling employees to make savings of up to 42 percent on new bikes through schemes such as Ride2Work is obviously going to increase the popularity of cycling,” said a spokeswoman for Evans Cycles.

Evans, set up in the 1920s in south London, now has 47 stores and says turnover has grown fourfold over the last decade to more than 100 million pounds. Looking in the window of an Evans store in the Canary Wharf financial district, London-based Frenchman Corentin Leverrier says he is tempted to take up cycling again. —Reuters

SPORTS SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

London cracks down on unofficial souvenirs LONDON: The London Olympics pop up on teapots, bunting and a oneeyed mascot-but strict branding laws are in place to ensure that official products are the only ones in the race.

Union Jack umbrellas bearing the 2012 logo are sure to be a hit if the British weather doesn’t brighten up and would contribute to the £1 billion (1.24 billion euros, $1.57 billion) of merchandise which Olympics organizers hope to sell. But souvenir seekers looking for something more unusual may have to dig a little deeper.

Unauthorized t-shirts showing the Beatles carrying the Olympic rings as they cross a London street in the iconic picture from their “Abbey Road” album cover have been spotted at one street market in the British capital. However it is rare to find unofficial

goods which have slipped through the net. The restrictions on Olympics branding are watertight and have given rise to several widely reported cases where small businesses have fallen foul of the law, apparently deterring others from doing the same. Butcher Dennis Spurr hit the headlines when he was ordered to take down a sign at his shop in Weymouth, southern England, because it depicted a string of sausages in the formation of the Olympic rings. Then there was the lingerie shop in Melton Mowbray, central England, which was forced to take down five colored hula hoops hung on sports-bra mannequins in its window display. Dorothy Weston, a sales assistant at JJ’s Lingerie, said she was “completely shocked” when trading standards officers entered the store

on the day the Olympic torch was passing through the town and ordered the owners to remove the rings. “They said we had to take them down because it contravenes rules on protection of the Olympic logo... and that we could be fined or even imprisoned,” she said. “All we were selling were bras,” she added. “It was really disheartening.”

Under the legislation introduced in 1995, the Olympic rings, the London 2012 logo, and the official mascot-the one-eyed Wenlock-are all protected by law. In addition, Britain’s parliament passed the 2006 London Olympics Games Act a year after London won the right to host the event, giving sponsors and licensees exclusive authorization to associate themselves with the Games. But

Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson said he did not want local authorities to punish small retailers, including bakers who might make cakes with an Olympic theme.

“I gave the commitment when the Act came through that this would be carried out in a sensible and proportionate way and I stick by that,” Robertson said on Wednesday. “You can only decide on a case-to-case basis; no one has been prosecuted yet.” The London Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) says these rules are necessary in order to protect exclusivity of the brand for official Games sponsors-including Coca-Cola, McDonalds, Samsung and Cadbury and the revenue they provide to fund the Games. — AFP

Olympians complain of gender discrimination

ENGLAND: British Artist Torchbearer 068 Tracey Emin carries the Olympic Flame on the Torch Relay leg between Margate and Westgate-On-Sea in southern England. —AP

Flame makes dramatic entrance to london LONDON: The Olympic flame makes a dramatic arrival in London yesterday to tour the capital before it plays a starring role in the opening ceremony in one week’s time. A Royal Marine commando will abseil from a helicopter with the torch, which will spend the night safely housed in the Tower of London, where the Queen Elizabeth II keeps her ceremonial jewels. The 8,000mile relay culminates in the capital after snaking around Britain and visiting the Republic of Ireland. Its arrival will add to the anticipation building ahead of the Games.

Snatched press photographs show that preparations for the opening ceremony next Friday are at an advanced stage, with the show orchestrated by “Slumdog Millionaire” director Danny Boyle featuring an idyllic English village.

Much of the £27 million ($42

million, 34 million euro) ceremony remains under wraps. As the preparations for the Games intensify, the competitors are limbering up. The US basketball ‘Dream Team’ spearheaded by superstars Kobe Bryant and LeBron James underlined their status as goldplated favorites as they ran out easy winners against the Great Britain team, winning a warm-up game 118-78 in Manchester. The Dream Team’s form contrasted with the bad news for tennis star Rafael Nadal, who has been forced to pull out of the Games because he is not in the shape to compete after struggling with tendinitis in his knees.

The man expected to be the star of the London Games, the world’s fastest man Usain Bolt, is also struggling with fitness. The reigning Olympic 100 meters and 200

meters champion has been given a new orthopaedic bed at the Jamaica team’s training base in Birmingham, central England, to ensure a longstanding back problem does not flare up. Bolt will not compete at a top meeting in Monaco on Friday after complaining of tightness in his hamstring in the aftermath of his defeat by compatriot Yohan Blake at the Jamaican Olympic trials last month.

Preparations for the Games have been dogged by concerns over security after a firm supplying private guards for venues said it could not supply all of the 10,000 it had promised. But London 2012 chief Sebastian Coe insisted security would not be compromised, as the government had drafted in 3,500 extra troops to cover the shortfall by security giant G4S, with another 2,000 on standby. — AFP

BRISBANE: Sports governing bodies from Japan and Australia are under fire after complaints that male Olympic athletes flew business class to the London Games, while the women sat in the cheap seats.

Japan’s world champion women’s football team took exception to flying economy while their male counterparts sat in business class on a flight to Europe for the Olympics. The Japan Football Association said the men flew in business because they are professionals. The women’s team was assigned seats in premium economy for the 13-hour flight to Paris while the nation’s under-23 men’s team was up front on the same flight. “It should have been the other way around,” 2011 FIFA women’s world player of the year Homare Sawa told Japanese media after arriving in the French capital. “Even just in terms of age we are senior.”

Basketball Australia says it will review its travel policy for national teams after complaints that the men flew business class to the Olympics while most of the women sat in premium economy. The women’s team is by far the most successful of the two, having won silver medals at the last three Olympics. The men, who will be led in London by San Antonio Spurs point guard Patty Mills, have never won an Olympic medal.

Yesterday, the sport’s national governing body said it would “review our Olympic travel policy with the goal of ensuring there is equity between travel arrangements for the men’s and women’s teams attending future Olympics.”

The Opals’ most-famous player, though, was not in economy: Seattle WNBA star Lauren Jackson was in first class because she is an “ambassador” with the airline involved. And another WNBA player, Liz Cambage, paid to upgrade herself to business class. In a statement yesterday, Basketball Australia acting chief executive Scott Derwin said the “policy around budgets for each national team gives the leadership group of those teams some discretion over how their funds are spent and that includes travel arrangements. “We should bear in mind that in fact, historically, more funding has been directed towards the Opals.

But the simple fact is when a policy results in gender inequality, it’s very clearly not the right policy.”

Incoming BA chief executive Kristina Keneally, a former state political leader of New South Wales, will start in her new role on Aug 4. She said yesterday she welcomed the travel policy review. “In this day and age, there’s just no excuse for men’s and women’s sporting teams to be treated differently when they both compete at the same world-class level,” Keneally said. “The disparity is even more glaring when you consider that our women’s basketball team is one of the best in the world.”

In London, Australian chef de mission Nick Green said the Australian Olympic Committee provides return economy airfares for all team members with the official airline sponsor. “We’re comfortable for the sports to look after their athletes,” Green said. “We give them the travel subsidy to travel ... and the sports themselves determine how they use that.” Other Australian Olympic teams also fly economy, but some organizations, like Swimming Australia, give its athletes the option to upgrade to business class at their own expense. Former Australian women’s basketball captain Robyn Maher said the Australian women’s team had repeatedly asked Basketball Australia to justify the inequity.

“Over the years it’s been a multitude of (reasons given) - the men get better funding, so they’ve been able to do it; the men are bigger so they need more space,” she told the Sydney Morning Herald. — AP

SPORTS SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

South Sudan fumes as Games hopes fade fast JUBA: Leaders of the world’s youngest nation South Sudan have branded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as “conservative and insensitive” as hopes are fading fast of participating in the London Games. Sports Minister Cireno Hiteng Ofuho said that athletes from the new nation, that separated from Sudan last year after decades of civil war, were told by the IOC they could only compete under the Sudanese flag in the Games starting next week. “The feeling here is that the IOC is very conservative and insensitive to the people of South Sudan, and you can quote me on that,” Ofuho said.

“What is the reason for us becoming independent if they treat us like that?”

Ofuho said that appeals from South Sudan President Salva Kiir to include

their Olympic hopefuls have so far fallen on deaf ears. “Our President even wrote to the President of the IOC, Mr Jacques Rogge, pleading for their understanding and to let our athletes compete,” he said. But the response to the June 28 letter came back negative, Ofuho said.

“He wrote back and said: ‘Sorry, because of the rigid processes in the IOC, a country needs two years to register’.” Ofuho admits that the wheels should have been set in motion for registering with the IOC in January 2011, when the South held a referendum in which 98 percent of the population voted for secession.

But in a vast nation ravaged by five decades of war that killed some two million people and scattered the rest in the bush or abroad, setting up basic institu-

tions and passing key legislation such as a constitution took priority. Ofuho lamented that their athletes could not take advantage of competing under the Olympic flag that another newly-independent state East Timor competed under during the 2000 Games. Ofuho is most upset that star marathon runner Guor Marial, a 28-year-old South Sudanese who escaped death-unlike most of his siblings — and a brief encounter with slavery to seek refuge in the United States, looks set to miss the event. He cannot compete for the US unless he has full citizenship, and is stuck in limbo to be recognized as South Sudanese. “We have this Marial Guor, but we also have two athletes in Australia from the South Sudanese diaspora who qualified to be part of the Olympics for

‘Blade Runner’ eyes London, targets Rio JOHANNESBURG: South African Oscar Pistorius will be the first double amputee athlete to compete at an Olympics when he takes part at the 2012 London Games, but he is already looking beyond to the Rio Games in 2016. The 25-year-old, fondly known as the ‘Blade Runner’ because he runs with carbon fibre prosthetic running blades, was pumping iron at a gym in the northeastern Italian town Gemona on July 4 when his coach’s wife rushed in hysterics with the news he had been cleared to run the mens’ individual 400m and in the 4x400 meter relay team.

“It was just overwhelming. I think it took a couple of days for it to settle in and I do not think it will fully settle in until I am on the starting blocks in a couple of weeks,” he said in an interview on Laureus.com in Italy, where he was competing at a pre-Olympic event. Multi Paralympic gold medalist Pistorius is part of his country’s 65-strong paralympic team and will now become the first double amputee to compete in the ablebodied competition. The South African Sport Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) included him in the team though he failed to run a second qualifying time of 45.30 seconds outside the country.

These strict qualification criteria followed a dismal performance at the Beijing Olympics, where 265 able-bodied South African athletes brought back only one medal and sparked national embarrassment. “Now that SASCOC has backed me and chosen me and shown that they believe in me, that has added a little bit of pressure, but I believe that the pressure I have put on myself has always been far more than any external pressure,” he said. The Johannesburg-born runner had both legs amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old because of a congenital condition that meant he was born without fibulae-lower leg bones. This hardly hindered his sports activity when he grew up and performed with prostheses.

At first, Pistorius played contact sports at school, but when the sportsman fractured a knee playing rugby he took to track running, and has never looked back. He was cleared four years ago to run against able-bodied athletes when the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) overturned a ruling by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) that his blades gave him an unfair advantage. Pistorius hired experts to do tests that proved the blades did the same work as normal feet. The 25-year-old went on to win a silver medal as part of the 4x400m relay team at the 2011 World Championships in South Korean city Daegu.

Ever the adrenalin junky, his love of speed is reflected in a passion for motorbikes. Four years ago he crashed his boat in a river south of Johannesburg, breaking two ribs, an eye socket and his jaw. And as though his legs weren’t exotic enough, he once owned two white tigers, but sold them to a zoo in Canada when they became too big. The Pretoria commerce student’s unusual running gear and masculine physique have garnered him global popularity and drew millions of spectators at the Beijing Paralympics. He is perhaps a key reason for

the Paralympics’ higher public profile. His ambition to perform in able-bodied events still draws criticism from peers, like 400m Olympic champion LaShawn Merritt from the United States. But Pistorius has consistently insisted he deserved to be treated the same as an able-bodied athlete. He’s set the semi-finals as goal in London. “Obviously, being an Olympic year, the guys are on better form. If I can make the semi-final

UGINE: Double-amputee sprinter, South African Oscar Pistorius, competes in a 400 meter race in Lignano Stadium northern Italy. — AP and run close to my personal best, I will be very happy with that,” the sprinter said. But even before these Games he is dreaming about new heights at the next ones. “I think 2016 in Rio de Janeiro will be where I will be at my pinnacle as a sprinter. Most sprinters peak between 27 and 29 and I will be 29 in Rio so hopefully I can work towards that and I am as keen and as excited as I have ever been.”— AFP

the Australian flag but they declined they want to be South Sudanese,” he said. A Paralympic basketball team and wheelchair team are also ready to go, he said. “There are people with landmine (injuries), those with gunshots, those with polio,” said wheelchair team president Gatluak Kual Luak. “It’s not just going to the Olympics. It’s also for them to show what talent they have and as players, to see what talent they have,” said Luak.

But not at the expense of national pride. “Since we are an independent nation, we will not go for the north’s flagI can’t see anyone agreeing to that,” he added. The new nation, which became the UN and African Union’s newest member state this year, also joined international football federation FIFA. — AFP

Hunt for drug cheats on ahead of London Games LONDON: Before a starting gun has been fired or a medal awarded, one of the most intense competitions of the London Olympics is already being waged behind the scenes. From training grounds across the world, to rooms in the athletes village, to border checkpoints around the UK, the cat-andmouse game between drug cheats and the doping police is in full swing. The goal: to deter or catch dopers before they line up to compete. And those who slip through the pre-games crackdown will face the most extensive ant-doping program in Olympic history, with more tests and more advanced testing techniques. “The more cheats we can catch is the better for the clean athletes,” IOC President Jacques Rogge said.

The IOC and London organizers will be conducting more than 5,000 urine and blood tests overall, up from 4,770 in Beijing four years ago. Nearly 40 percent of the tests are being carried out before the games start on July 27 to try to nab athletes when they’re more likely to be doping. During the games, which run until Aug. 12, the top five finishers - plus two other athletes chosen at random - will be tested. Athletes are also subject to surprise out-of-competition controls at any time and any place. Samples will again be saved for eight years to allow for retroactive testing. “I think it’s the tightest net we have ever had,” IOC vice president Thomas Bach said.

The official Olympic testing program went into effect on Monday with the opening of the athletes village. A nondescript building in the northern suburb of Harlow houses the doping lab where an athlete’s reputation can be ruined by a positive result. The lab - operated by GlaxoSmithKline and headed by Professor David Cowan of the Drug Control Center at King’s College, London - will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and test up to 400 samples a day for more than 240 banned substances.

The IOC will act quickly on any positive results, setting up a disciplinary committee to investigate and hold a hearing. If found guilty of doping, athletes face disqualification from the games, loss of any medals and public shame. The 2004 Athens Olympics produced the highest number of doping cases at any games - 26, more than double the previous high of 12 in Los Angeles in 1984. Six medalists, including two gold winners, were caught in Athens from among 3,600 tests.

That number could still rise: IOC medical commission chairman Arne Ljungqvist told the AP this week that he is investigating up to five suspected positive results uncovered in the recent retesting of Athens samples. In Beijing four years ago, there were 14 positive tests among athletes and six among horses in the equestrian competition. Later, retests of the Beijing samples caught five more athletes for use of CERA, an advanced version of the blood-boosting drug EPO. Rashid Ramzi of Bahrain was retroactively stripped of his gold medal in the 1,500 meters.

“The fact that people know that samples can be analyzed again is a big deterrent,” Ljungqvist said. “If athletes don’t get caught now they may be caught tomorrow.” More and more, anti-doping authorities are using intelligence and cooperation with law enforcement agencies to go after the cheats. At the Turin Winter Olympics in 2006, Italian police - acting on a tipoff from the IOC - raided the lodgings of the Austrian crosscountry and biathlon teams, seizing doping substances and equipment. — AP

SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012

Sports

Cavendish wins stage as Wiggins closes in on glory

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LONDON: Kylie Peake (left) an official from Australia, rides a bicycle with her colleagues at the Athletes’ Village at the Olympic Park yesterday in London. Opening ceremonies for the 2012 London Olympics will be held Friday, July 27. — AP

Muslim Olympians to fast after Games Athletes face a dilemma of Olympian proportions LONDON: With the London Games fast approaching and the Islamic holy month of Ramadan already here, Muslim athletes are faced with a dilemma of Olympian proportions. Muslims are required to abstain from food and drink from dawn to dusk during the 30-day month of Ramadan, which began yesterday in most countries. During long summer days in London, that translates into 18 hours of fasting - something that many Muslim athletes consider impossible to do without losing their competitive edge.

Many of the 3,500 or so Muslim athletes expected to compete at the London Olympics will keep eating as usual. “I could not fast, I need all that stuff, like protein, carbs and minerals,” Egyptian kayaker Mustafa Saied said. “I can do it after Ramadan and Allah will accept it because there was an important reason.” Some have looked for Islamic tenets that allow exemptions from fasting, such as for those traveling. Others decided to postpone fasting until after competitions, and some will compensate for the lost days with charity work or by donating to the poor. “It’s impossible for us to fast Ramadan during the London Olympics,” said Yasser Hefny, an Egyptian modern pentathlete. “We have five disciplines to perform. We do a lot of effort during the whole day.”

The High Egyptian Islamic Council gave athletes a reprieve by announcing a fatwa, or religious edict, stating that Olympic ath-

letes are not required to fast during coaching or competition.

Egyptian pentathlon coach Sherif Al-Eryan said athletes have also sought guidance from a cleric before traveling to London and had decided not to fast during the games. Like other athletes, Al Eryan said, they will have their “full menu in an open buffet” in the athletes village. “I guess there is no problem. Our athletes could never achieve anything if they fasted this year,” Al-Eryan said. “They have religious permission for this. But it is necessary for them as Muslims to fast after the month of Ramadan for the days they had to eat during the Olympics.”

However, the officials and coaches will be fasting “as we’re not making as much effort as the athletes,” Al-Eryan added. The Muslim lunar calendar moves back through the seasons, so Ramadan starts 11 days earlier each year under the Western calendar. The last time Ramadan started in mid-July was in 1980 during the Moscow Games. Suleiman Nyambui of Tanzania was fasting and competing then. He won Olympic silver in the 5,000 meters. “Once you decide to do something, Allah is behind you,” Nyambui told the faith-based Religion News Service.

He said training during Ramadan is harder than competing, adding that the first days might be hardest for athletes who chose to fast because it takes the body some time to adjust. “After that people are used to it,” said Nyambui, who is now the secretary

general of the Tanzanian Athletics Association. “People play soccer, they can go jogging, they can go swimming.” Many Muslim athletes have competed in professional or national competitions while observing the fast, including NBA stars Hakeem Olajuwon and Shareef Abdur-Rahim. Ramadan fell during last year’s track and field world championships in South Korea, as well as during the 2010 Youth Olympics in Singapore.

For believers, Ramadan is meant to be a time of reflection and worship, abstaining from swearing, gossip and bursts of anger, remembering the hardships of others and being charitable.

London organizers said they are prepared to accommodate Muslim athletes, media, spectators, workforce and volunteers in all of London’s Olympic venues. Teams can order fast-breaking packs which include water, energy bars and fruit. The athletes village dining hall offers 24-hour catering and halal meals.

“Ramadan is not just about abstaining from food and water, but also about improving ourselves as people and thinking of those less fortunate,” said Younis Dhudwala, one of five Muslim chaplains in the Olympic Park, who was leading Friday prayers in the athletes village. “Some athletes may find that fasting gives them inner strength and physical advantage to perform better and run faster,” Dhudwala said. “We are here to support athletes in whatever they decide to do during the competition.”—AP