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Emsak: Fajer: Shoruk: Dohr: Asr: Maghreb: Eshaa:

Travel agencies face difficulties as clients lose confidence in KAC

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www.kuwaittimes.net

RAMADAN 3, 1433 AH

12 killed in Brunei helicopter crash

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Shock, sadness over movie massacre

Bebe salvages draw for United

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Families flee Aleppo, rebels hold key posts Clock ticks on ‘final’ UN mission as 24 more die Ramadan Kareem

How to welcome Ramadan

By Farah Al-Shamali

R

amadan comes around once a year: we all know that much. But why are there several misconceptions as to how to prepare for the holy month?

There definitely are plenty and in the process of expelling them, I hope to simultaneously introduce proper ways in which to welcome Ramadan.

To begin with, it should never be about materialism.

Granted, in a country as affluent as Kuwait, it proves a challenge to swim against the tide because we have evolved into a society that idolizes the commodity.

This is where most people fall short of actually benefiting from what Ramadan has to offer which is a result of occupying themselves with the trivial. Essentially, this calls for a lifestyle change wherein Muslims exhibit the principles and values that Ramadan emphasizes throughout the year. But the sad truth remains that personas are adopted to satisfy religious obligation and then discarded as soon as the month comes to an end.

This also feeds into the sights, sounds and certainly tastes that Muslims place on a high pedestal which, in turn, override what truly matters: reconnecting with/maintaining the teachings of their religion. In relation to this, complaints are usually (and very gladly) provided by elder generations who did not have the Continued on Page 13

KUWAIT: People bargain at a dates shop on the second day of Ramadan in Kuwait City yesterday.

—Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

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Max 48º Min 35º High Tide 02:20 & 13:15 Low Tide 07:18 & 20:00

DAMASCUS: Heavy clashes raged between Syrian troops and rebels yesterday with at least 24 people killed nationwide as the clock ticked down on a 30-day “final” extension of a troubled UN observer mission.

Syrian troops and armored vehicles pushed into a rebel-held district of Aleppo yesterday and struck back in Damascus against fighters emboldened by a bomb attack against President Bashar Al-Assad’s inner circle.

Opposition activists in Aleppo, Syria’s biggest city and a northern commercial hub, said hundreds of families were fleeing residential areas after the military swept into the Saladin district, which had been in rebel hands for two days. Fighting was also reported in the densely-populated, poor neighborhood of Al-Sakhour.

“The sound of bombardment has been non-stop since last night. For the first time we feel Aleppo has turned into a battle zone,” a housewife, who declined to be named, said by phone from the city.

The Syrian army’s push in Aleppo occurred after rebels assassinated four of his top security officials this week and mounted a six-day attack in the capital that they dubbed “Damascus Volcano”.

Rebels also captured three border crossings with Iraq and Turkey and yesterday an Iraqi security source said gunmen appeared to be taking over a fourth at Yarubiyah in Syria’s Kurdish northeast.

Syrian rebels seized a second of the three main border crossings between Iraq and Syria, after keeping control of another despite heavy shelling by President Bashar Al-Assad’s forces, Iraqi officials said.

The Free Syrian Army (FSA) took control of the Yaribiyah crossing, known in Iraq as Rabiyah, yesterday evening and raised their flag, while officials added that Syrian refugees had tried to enter Iraq but Baghdad Continued on Page 13

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SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012

LOCAL

Movenpick opens Ramadan Taiba Tent KUWAIT: On the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan, Movenpick Hotel Kuwait - Free Trade Zone opened recently its Ramadan Taiba Tent, hosting important representatives of media and loyal guests.

The celebration commenced with the welcoming word of Beat Peter, general manager of the hotel who greeted the guests and thanked them for accepting the invitation. He expressed his deep gratitude to the media for their unlimited support.

Peter also thanked his business partners for their trust and loyalty.

Guests showed their admiration for the Ramadan Taiba Tent and the charming decorations and distinctive family atmosphere. The luxurious buffet, dis-

tinguished by culinary corners of many dishes such as Pasta, Sag, Shawarma, Fool Medammes and Quozi were all highly appreciated. The Ramadan desserts, as well as the Arabic coffee along with a variety of Ramadan beverages, dates and Shisha of diverse flavours are some of the arrangements yet to he launched during Ramadan.

Annually held at Movenpick Kuwait Hotel throughout Ramadan, the Taiba Tent offers a diversity of flavourful dishes and beverages while highlighting Ramadan traditions and deep-rooted culture. Taiba Tent stands out as the best arrangement for corporate gatherings while hiosting special Iftar, Qabka and Sohoor banquets during Ramadan.

Gulf Bank program to share blessings of Ramadan KUWAIT: Gulf Bank yesterday announced an extensive array of programs and activities as part of its celebrations of the holy month of Ramadan. The activities focus on helping less fortunate people to enjoy Ramadan happily, as well as celebrating the true spirit this holy month brings.

Fawzy Al-Thunayan, General Manager of Board Affairs at Gulf Bank said: “ The holy month of Ramadan is an opportunity for everyone to reinforce their commitment towards the welfare of our society, and the Bank is keen to be a part of this. Gulf Bank’s programs seek to reflect the spirit of social solidarity and compassion amongst the public by touching the lives of others in one way or another during this Holy month.“ During Ramadan, Gulf Bank will be sponsoring ‘Mabarrat Al Rahma Al Khairiya’ Iftar banquets by provid-

ing and delivering Iftar meals for free to mosques and to less fortunate and needy people in a number of neighborhoods in Kuwait.

In addition to the Iftar banquets, Gulf Bank has planned a number of its popular annual hospital visits. In past years, these have proved to be a highlight of the Bank’s Ramadan program, and have now become a tradition. During the visits the Bank’s employees will celebrate Girgai’an by distributing Girgai’an gift bags to young patients and their families and provide a funpacked day of activities such as face painting, hair braiding, henna drawings, as well as unique opportunity to meet heroes from the ‘The 99’ cartoon characters. The hospital visits are organized in collaboration with the Kuwait Association for the Care of Children in Hospitals (KACCH).

Gulf Bank’s Ramadan commit-

Fawzy Al-Thunayan ment will also extend to its own employees, who will receive Bateel dates, an Imsakiya timetable to guide them through the entire month’s fasting and prayers timings, a Girgai’an treat with a special surprise and a variety of exclusive doffers in various shops during the Holy Month.

Ramadan is the …. month of the Islamic calendar?

9th 4th 1st

KUWAIT: With the advent of Ramadan, demand for vegetable and fruits increased as seen in Al-Mubarakiya market on the first day of the holy month. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

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LOCAL

Prawns in tomato and coconut milk Key info Difficulty - Easy Prep time - 1/2 hr Cook time - 1/4 hr Serves - 4

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Method reheat the oven to 150∞C/300∞F/gas mark 2.

Spread the rhubarb out in a single layer in a large roasting tin. Sprinkle over the sugar, cardamom and orange zest. Pour over the juice.

Cover the tin with foil and roast for up to an hour, until tender. Strain out the juice and pour into a saucepan. Bring the juice to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer until it has thickened and reduced by half. Allow to cool.

Meanwhile, mix together the ground almonds, sugar and cream to a smooth paste in a mixing bowl and set aside. Increase the oven temperature to 180∞C/350∞F/gas mark 4.

Cut the puff pastry into six equal-sized squares.

Place on a large baking tray lined with baking parchment. Using a sharp knife, create a rim on each square by scoring a line about 1cm away from each edge, without cutting through the pastry. Spread the almond paste over the pastry, not covering the rim. Brush the rim with beaten egg and place in the oven. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Cut the rhubarb into strips and place on the tarts. Drizzle with some of the rhubarb syrup and sprinkle with the toasted nuts. Dust with

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you like, then add the coconut milk and coriander, taste, adjust the seasoning and simmer for five minutes or so. Remove the sauce from the heat and pass through a fine sieve, then return it to the pan. Bring to a simmer over a gentle heat, then add the prawns.

Cook on a low heat for five to seven minutes, until the prawns turn pink and are just cooked. Finish off with the remaining lemon or lime juice and sprinkle with coriander to serve For more information regarding Reza Mahammad and his Food Network show Reza, Spice Prince of India visit www.foodnetworktv.com

Wataniya Telecom Announces CSR program for Ramadan KUWAIT: In an effort to celebrate the holy month of Ramadan by nurturing the community spirit, and to contribute topast CSR initiatives, Wataniya Telecom launches its CSR program for Ramadan.

The program includes a wide range of charitable activities, sponsorship of different events and organization of health and sports initiatives.

Just like in the past, Wataniya will distribute Iftarmeals daily for those who are in need throughout the entire month of Ramadan. Wataniya is also sponsoring the production of Quran CD that includes Sourat Al-Baqara by Sheikh Fahad Al-Kanderi, to be distributed across all Wataniya branches.

During the period of August 6-9, Wataniya will sponsor two events organized by Bayt Lothan; one is the Ghabqa for the elderly people with special needs, and the other event is the Gergaian celebration for orphan children.The Wataniya team will also organize a visit tointeract and show support to children that are patients at Amiri Hospital, by giving them Gergaian goodie bags.

In mid-Ramadan, Wataniya will participate in two activities conducted by the Ministry of Defense; a football tournament and a Gergaian gathering, during which Wataniya will be handing out giveaways to winners. The company will also sponsor the Embassies Football Tournament organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs throughout the whole month, and is an official sponsor of AlSharhan Football Tournament.

Part of Wataniya’s Ramadan CSR schedule also includes a gold sponsorship of “BasmatiKuwaitiya” exhibition organized to support young entrepreneurs and small business which will be held at Sheraton Hotel Kuwait.

On the occasion, Abdulaziz Fakhroo, Deputy CEO at Wataniya Telecom extends his warm greetings on the holy month of Ramadan, wishing that it would be a peaceful and forgiving month for everyone. Fakhroofurther commented: “ We are pleased to announce the launchof our CSR initiative

Roasted rhubarb and almond tartlets Ingredients For the tartlets: 450g rhubarb, trimmed 250g caster sugar 1 teaspoon ground cardamom Finely grated zest and juice of 1 large orange 320g ready-rolled puff pastry 1 egg, beaten 2-3 tablespoons toasted hazelnuts or almonds Icing sugar, to dust For the almond paste: 100g ground almonds 60g caster sugar 3 tablespoons thick double cream

Ingredients 500g raw prawns, peeled and deveined, retaining the tail shells Salt 1 tsp turmeric Juice of 1 lime or lemon 2 tbsp vegetable oil 1 tsp black mustard seeds 1 tsp cumin seeds A few curry leaves 1 tsp crushed garlic 1 tsp finely chopped root ginger 1 green chilli, finely chopped 4 kaffir lime leaves, shredded 1 shallot, thinly sliced 200ml fish stock 100ml tomato passata 1 tsp chilli powder 400ml coconut milk 1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves, plus more to serve Method eel, de-vein and rinse the prawns. Mix them with salt to taste, 1 tsp of the turmeric and half the lime or lemon juice, and leave to marinate for 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a pan until hot and add the mustard and cumin seeds. Once they begin to pop and splutter, add the curry leaves, garlic, ginger, chilli, lime leaves and shallot. Reduce the heat slightly and cook until the shallot becomes translucent. Now add the remaining turmeric and stir-fry for a few seconds, then add the stock, bring to the boil and cook for three to four minutes, until it has reduced. Now add the passata, chilli powder and sugar. Reduce further until it has a consistency

SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012

for the holy month of Ramadan. It is not the first time that Wataniya hosts such sponsorships and events given its strong commitment to foster initiatives every yearwhichnurture community bonds and reflect the good spirit of Ramadan; this is one of our duties towards the society.”

Fakhroo also said: “The Ramadan CSR program ismainly developed to reach all members of the community along with different segments and age groups.” “It emphasizes onthe spirit of generosity and kindness by distributionof Iftar meals and Quran CDs to the less fortunate, celebrating with orphans and sick children, visiting the elderly and people with special needs and supporting young entrepreneurs, all of which are important activities during the holy month. Wataniya is keen to develop future initiatives and community events which lead to development and growth of our society through its Corporate Social Responsibility Program.”

For more information about the Wataniya Telecom’s Social Responsibility Program for the Holy Month of Ramadan, please visit www.wataniya.com, or follow them on Twitter www.twitter.com/wataniyatelecom, or check latest updates on www.facebook.com/wataniya or get the latest news on Wataniya’s blog, www.wataniya.com/blog.

KUWAIT: Ahmadi Governor Sheikh Dr Ibrahim Al-Duaij Al-Sabah receiving in his office the UAE Ambassador Dr Ali Ben Shukr Al Zaabi. They exchanged friendly talks about strong relations between the two countries.

Technique: Icing Adding a mixture or icing sugar and water, butter or cream to a cake or cupcake for a decorative finish. I know this Teach me, please icing sugar. Serve the rest of the syrup on the side with a generous dollop of clotted cream.

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

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SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012

LOCAL

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and Al-Sabah Family received well-wishers at Al-Sabah Family Diwan at Bayan Palace Friday, on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan. The reception reflected the one-family spirit of the Kuwaiti society.

Travel agencies face difficulties as clients lose confidence in KAC

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: The recent incidents that occurred aboard Kuwait Airways flights affected the opinion of many people who decided to change tickets to other airlines. This caused great inconvenience for some travel agencies who are cooperating with the KAC. According to Ahmad from Al-Hijaaz Travel Agency, the news and rumors about Kuwait Airways seriously affected their work. “Many of our clients, who booked trips with our office on Kuwait Airways demanded to either change their flights to another airlines or cancel the trip completely. This caused problems for us, as some tickets were already paid with fixed dates and could not be returned, so we had to deal with this problem. And rather than lose our reputation and clients, we preferred to lose money,” he told the Kuwait Times.

Mahmoud from Kinda Holidays agreed that all the news spread about Kuwait Airways negatively affected the work of the travel agents. “I think that the most affected areas were the flights to KSA for Umra, as many clients demanded to change their flights to other airlines. Although I think that everything that happened with the Kuwait Airways was not something very serious and it could have happened with any other carrier,” he explained.

Other agencies didn’t feel any large effect to their work and reservations.

“Fortunately, I didn’t face protesting clients who want to change their trips.

In fact, even those who had some fears and were not sure, I convinced them that these incidents are normal technical problems that may happen with any airlines. All international carriers face technical problems. The media has exaggerated the incidents, while similar incidents happen all over the word.

Recently, for instance, a European airlines had a one day delay and left passengers at the airport. Also, a Concord flight crashed and people died. And this didn’t happen with the Kuwait Airways,” stressed Mahdi from Musa’ed Travel Agency.

“Also, the problem is that these incidents took place during high season when there are many passengers, so any small problem becomes bigger.

Many people have nothing to do, so they spend their time spreading rumors. Last year, for instance, a fire was set on one of the GCC airlines and the media didn’t describe it in this way.

We have to encourage our clients to fly with Kuwait Airways, as it’s the national carrier,” he added.

Further, Aysha Zafra, Marketing Manager at the Ajwaa Tourism and Travel Co., said she did not notice any decrease in reservations for Kuwait Airways. “The most important point is how you deal with the client. In fact, I didn’t have any clients who demanded changing their flight with Kuwait Airways to other carriers. I think they care more about the office and agent they are dealing with, rather than the carrier they travel with,” she pointed out.

Bahrain affirms depth of ties with Kuwait KUWAIT: Advisor of the Bahraini King for Information Affairs Nabil Al-Homor has praised good efforts of the Kuwaiti Ambassador to the Kingdom Sheikh Azzam Mubarak Al-Sabah for boosting the Bahraini-Kuwaiti ties that have substantially improved at diverse levels.

Al-Homor, during a meeting with the

ambassador, affirmed that these relations improved due to guidelines by leaders of the two brotherly countries. Sheikh Azzam echoed identical remarks regarding the ties.

The two sides, during the meeting, examined further the distinguished bonds at the information and cultural levels, as well as diverse issues of common interest. — KUNA

Estimated 207m passengers used mass transit DUBAI: Around 207 million passeners used mass transit in Dubai in the first half of this year, said a statement here yesterday.

Mattar Al-Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), revealed that the number of commuters using public transport means (metro, public buses, water transport and taxis), clocked 207.48 million passengers during the first half of 2011, which compares well with the number recorded in the first half of 2011 amounting to 180,544,372 passengers.

“Having set the full integration of public transport systems as an aim in its Strategic Plan; which is aligned with the Dubai Strategic Plan (Infrastructure Sector) envisaging fully integrated roads and transport systems while ensuring smooth traffic flow and high safety levels for users, the RTA has been fully focused on improving mass transit systems to make them the first choice of mobility for commuters in the Emirate,” said AlTayer.

He added that such a drive contributed to the realization of a strategic objective of the RTA; which targets minimizing the use of private vehicles and

augmenting the use of mass transit means from 6% in 2009 to 30% in 2030; whereas the rate prevailing in 2011 was 10 percent.

“The huge investments made by the Dubai Government for the sake of developing the infrastructure of the transport sector have proved both successful and effective.

The healthy growth in the public transport users reflects the evolution underway in the culture of using public transport means by all spectrums of the community, particularly with the availability of the metro service.

Using mass transit means has a host of benefits such as giving a psychological and physical relief to passengers, reducing crashes, cutting outlays on fuel and maintenance of private vehicles, and ridding the public of the hassle of finding parking slots; which has emerged as a key challenge facing modern cities across the globe, let alone the fact that using public transport means has effective contribution to reducing environmental pollution generated by the massive number of private cars; which gives rise to several ailments, such as respiratory diseases,” said Al-Tayer in a final remark. — KUNA

Bedoon activists refuse to support majority MPs ‘Why did you forget us in 2012 parliament?’

By A. Saleh KUWAIT: A number of MPs from the majority bloc have asked Bedoon activists who have been leading demonstrations to demand Bedoons’ rights and citizenship to support it in various Diwaniyas and to join future demonstrations and festivals they intend holding at the determination yard.

In this regard, informed sources said that the demands were made more than once and that the only response the lawmakers received was to be blamed for letting Bedoons down in the 2012 parliament. “The majority MPs had enough votes in the 2012 parliament and could easily impose discussing the Bedoons’ issue on the NA’s agenda if they were actually convinced of it”, said Bedoon activists, accusing the majority MPs of only using the Bedoons’ issue as propaganda.

Further, the activists slammed MP Ahmed Al-Saadoun and his refusal to help the Bedoons. They added that he even moved the majority’s seminar from Mohammed AlKhalifa’s diwaniya in Jahra to avoid the Bedoons. “Thus, we will forget them as they forgot us”, emphasized Bedoon activists.

Meanwhile, three members of the Salafi alliance asked to be nominated to run in elections in the second constituency, instead of MPs Khaled Al-Sultan and Abdullatif AlAmeeri.

Notably, the Salafi alliance seems to agree that both MPs were no longer welcomed and that if they were once more elected, this would be undermining the alliance’s credibility. Of another concern, the Fluor Engineering Establishment of Texas USA announced that both Kuwait and the UAE would propose two projects to build a refinery and a plant to import liquified natural gas.

In this regard, Fluor’s deputy CEO in KSA, Colin Mackenzie, said that Fluor had made two offers to build a refinery and develop two diesel and gas producing plants in Kuwait at a cost of $15 million each. “We also applied to win a contract to perform engineering work and design a project to build a plant to import liquified natural gas in UAE. Economically speaking, a recent report stressed that Kuwait is listed last among Arab states in attracting foreign investments, while it came in first amongst Arab states in its investments in other countries, with a volume of $8.71 billion in 2011.

According to Bayan Investment Company’s weekly report, the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) ended last week at a variance, as the price index ended last week with

a decrease of 0.01%, while the weighted index increased by 0.51% compared to the closings of the week before, where KSX-15 Index declined by 0.15%. Furthermore, last week’s average daily turnover decreased by 31.24%, compared to the preceding week, reaching KD 12.18 million, whereas trading volume average was 141.25 million shares, recording a decline of 43.30%.

Further, KSE indices fluctuated last week and closed at a variance, as only the weighted index closed in the green zone while the other two indices closed in the red zone.

Despite the positive trading performance at the beginning of the week, due to the purchasing activity that included different largecap and small-cap stocks, quick profit taking operations overwhelmed the purchasing power, and pulled both price and KSX-15 indices into the red zone.

Moreover, KSE’s performance suffered recently from a general trading weakness due to the absence of positive motives that improve traders’ appetites for purchasing.

This absenteeism was reflected on last week’s decline in trading activity, especially the average daily turnover which never exceeded KD 12.13 million. In addition, investors continued waiting for the semiannual financial results of the listed companies, amidst hopes to be declared at an earlier time before the end of the legal declaration period, which will end in the middle of next month.

As far as the annual indices’ performance, two of the market’s main indices recorded losses. While the price index recorded gains of 0.80%, the weighted index gains reached 0.13%, while the KSX-15 index decreased by 1.35%.

By the end of the week, the price index closed at 5,860.7 points, down by 0.01% from the week before closing, whereas the weighted index gain a 0.51% weekly loss after closing at 406.2 points. Moreover, the KSX-15 index recorded a 0.15% weekly loss after closing at 986.5 points.

Sectors’ Indices Six of KSE’s sectors ended last week in the red zone, while the other six sectors closed in the green zone. The Oil & Gas sector headed the losers list as its index declined by 1.52% to end the week’s activity at 909.39 points.

The Financial Services sector was second on the losers’ list, whose index declined by 1.51%, closing at 844.77 points, followed by the Technology sector, as its index closed at 1,041.32 points at a loss of 1.17%. The Consumer Services sector showed the least

decline, as its index closed at 943.92 points with a 0.47% decrease.

On the other hand, last week’s highest gainer was the Consumer Goods sector, achieving a 2.23% growth rate as its index closed at 958.88 points. Whereas, in the second place, the Banks sector’s index closed at 969.48 points recording a 1.69% increase.

The Real Estate sector came in third as its index achieved 0.16% growth, ending the week at 911.53 points.

Sectors’ Activity The Financial Services sector dominated total trade volume during last week with 388.90 million shares changing hands, representing 55.06% of the total market trading volume. The Real Estate sector was second in terms of trading volume as the sector’s traded shares were 17.42% of last week’s total trading volume, with a total of 123.02 million shares. On the other hand, the Financial Services sector’s stocks were the highest traded in terms of value, with a turnover of KD 21.86 million or 35.88% of last week’s total market trading value. The Banks sector took second place, as the sector’s last week turnover of KD 13.51 million represented 22.18% of the total market trading value.

Market Capitalization KSE total market capitalization grew by 0.50% during last week to reach KD 27.53 billion, as six of KSE’s sectors recorded an increase in their respective market capitalization, whereas the other Six recorded declines. The Consumer Goods sector headed the growing sectors as its total market capitalization reached KD 609.70 million, increasing by 2.62%. The Banks sector was second in terms of recorded growth with a 1.05% increase after the total value of its listed companies reached KD 13.72 billion. Third place was for the Insurance sector, whose total market capitalization reached KD 312.06 million by the end of the week, recording an increase of 0.62%. The Basic Materials sector showed the least growth with 0.32% recorded growth after its market capitalization amounted to KD 606.48 million. On the other hand, the Health Care sector headed the decliners’ list as its total market capitalization decreased by 5.22% to reach, by the end of the week, KD 208.51 million. The Technology sector was second on this list, where market value of its listed companies declined by 2.63%, reaching KD 68.20 million, followed by the Oil & Gas sector, as its market capitalization amounted to KD 357.66 million at a 2.02% decrease.

Obesity epidemic in Kuwait KUWAIT: The end of the Gulf War in 1991 brought both peace and fast food to the people of Kuwait.

Fast-food restaurants first came to the country on US military bases, but within a few years of the war, they started springing up around the country. Soon after, the average Kuwaiti waistline started growing. Today, 88 percent of Kuwaitis are overweight and at least one-third are obese, according to a report from Bloomberg Businessweek, which also found that the country is enjoying a surge of stomach-stapling surgeries.

Fast food isn’t the only factor affecting obesity levels in Kuwait. The desert country’s high temperatures - 110 degrees or higher in the summer make walking, let alone exercise, a rarity. A 2010 report from CNN pointed out that Burger King and other chains will even deliver food, and families host competitive multi-course banquets with so much food that the “tables groan under the weight.”

According to Dr. Osamah Al Sanea, a bariatric surgeon who performs stomach-stapling surgeries, only 12 percent of Kuwaitis have a body-mass index (BMI) below the ideal of 25. “One out of

three Kuwaiti adults is obese,” he told Businessweek. “Ten percent is morbidly obese.” Al Sanea is one of 20 bariatric surgeons in Kuwait, up from just two 10 years ago. He says at least 5,000 Kuwaitis underwent stomach-stapling surgeries last year.

The growing market for bariatric surgeries led to the first annual Kuwait Obesity & Metabolic Surgery Conference in November 2011.

Conference director Salman Al-Sabah wrote in his introduction to the event that “Bariatric surgery is now recognized to be the standard management option that provides significant and sustained weight loss in morbidly obese patients. Several bariatric operations originally designed to treat morbid obesity also cause dramatic improvement or even remission of co-morbidities that commonly co-exist with morbid obesity like type II diabetes.”

A recent report in Arab Times links the fatty foods from Western restaurant chains to the obesity epidemic, as well as the fact that Kuwaitis are now eating out more often than they used to. The culture also places a high value on dining as a

social activity and lacks education about healthy eating. A 2010 study published in the International Journal of Pediatrics suggested that “health education programs for families should be implemented to help control overweight and obesity in Kuwaiti children.”

Western food isn’t completely to blame. Arab Times mentions a local dish, Makbous Dajaj, in which chicken is boiled and then deep fried. Rice for the meal is then boiled in the chicken water, “absorbing all the saturated fat that was released from the chicken.”

In addition to surgery, other new businesses like gyms and weight-loss camps are helping Kuwaitis to lose weight. A report this week in Arabian Business presents obesity in Kuwait and nearby Qatar and the United Arab Emirates as a major investment opportunity.

But the quick fix of a one-hour stomach stapling surgery appeals to many overweight people. “Improved lung function, reducing diabetes, healthy liver, kidneys, hypertension - you get all that if you give me one hour in your body,” said Dr. Al Sanea.

SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012

local

Kuwait police bust high-tech vice ring ‘Foreign’ girl in custody KUWAIT: Vice detectives uncovered an international prostitution ring located in Spain that had extended its work to Kuwait, said security sources. Detectives arrested a girl belonging to the ring, who entered Kuwait with a commercial visitors visa to render her services to well-known personalities in exchange for 6000 euros per session. A security source added that vice detectives were able to locate a network site that runs prostitution from Spain and shows clips of beautiful girls. The site services included sending the prostitute to customers’ countries, provided the number of men requesting the girl reach a certain number so the trip is profitable.

When the girl arrives in Kuwait, the site managers contact the customer, telling him that the ‘representative’ had arrived in Kuwait and is staying at a certain location, where he can be with her for a certain time in exchange for 6000 euros. Instructions also said he cannot talk to her about any subject other than the service. When the service is completed, the prostitute leaves the country.

Vice detectives reported arresting a girl, among those who had just arrived in the country, before she completed her rounds. The girl confessed and identified those who bought her services before she was deported.

Asian arrested The first day of Ramadan also witnessed the first case of drinking in public during the day time, said security sources. Case papers indicate that a police patrol saw an Asian drinking water from a bottle during the day. On asking him why he was not fasting, he said that his sect had not yet started fasting, an excuse which police had not accepted and the man was arrested. Notably, according to Kuwaiti laws, anybody caught drinking or eating in public during fasting hours is detained until after the Eid. Indecent behavior The manager of a hotel in Sharq reported that a citizen had insulted his staff members, as well as himself, when

they accused him of acting indecently with a girl in the hotel’s lobby, said security sources. Waiters reported seeing the young man closely holding the girl and touching her body. When they told him he could not behave in such a manner in the hotel, the young man reportedly became furious and demanded to see the manager, whom he insulted. A case was filed.

Egyptian fugitive Qatari police recently arrested an Egyptian who had escaped from Kuwait a number of years ago after being accused of stealing KD 3 million from the Patients Aid Fund, said security sources, noting that arrangements were being made to have the suspect transferred from Qatar’s Interpol. Security sources said Kuwaiti authorities had been tracking the embezzler’s movements and discovered that he entered Qatar, where he was arrested.

Girl drowned The body of a 7 year-old American girl was sent to the medical examiner after drowning in the sea in Abu Halifa, said security sources. The sources added that the girl was swimming in Abu Halifa when a strong current pulled her further out to sea. Her family attempted to rescue her, but failed.

Hawally fighting Hawalli police detained three citizens who began fighting in a Hawalli cafe after arguing about a mutual girlfriend. A security sources said the fight broke out in the Hawalli cafe, where property was destroyed, as policemen rushed to the area and arrested the three, taking them to Maidan Hawalli police station. Police report that two of the men had an appointment with the third to discuss the issue of a joint girlfriend between two of them. When talks reached a dead end, the fight erupted. The three were detained for further investigations.

Child tortured Hawalli detectives are investigating the suspected torturing of a 5 year-old child by his stepmother, as Sabah hospital doctors found holes in his intestines, raising suspicions that the child may have been abused. A security source said the child was in poor health and brought to the hospital by his father, who told doctors that the child often cries. Upon examination doctors discovered holes in his intestines, in addition to other injuries that might have been the result of torture. When doctors asked the father about the reasons for the injuries, he said the child stays with his stepmother and does not know what happens in his absence. Doctors contacted Salmiya police, who are investigating the case to determine what happened to the child.

Fahaheel robbery In a strange incident, a citizen reported that an unidentified robber had broken into his house, tied him up and stole some valuable watches and cash, said security sources. The man told Fahaheel police that while sleeping, he was awakened by a strange noise in his bedroom and saw a well-built, muscular man with his face covered. He said the burglar then handcuffed him and threatened to kill him if he made any noise. The man said the burglar then found his safe and forced him to hand over the key and tell him the pin code to open it. The burglar reportedly stole 31 valuable watches kept in the safe, in addition to KD 1700 in cash. A case was filed and further investigations are continuing.

Asian shot An Asian reported that he was shot at while driving his car in Mangaf, said security sources. The man added that while driving his car, he heard the sound of a bullet pierce the right side of the auto. He added that he did not know the direction the bullet was fired from. A case was filed and further investigations are still in progress.

Al-Shihab report sent to Cabinet KUWAIT: Sources revealed that the final ministerial report of the committee headed

by Justice Minister Jamal Al-Shihab has been sent to the council of ministers.

Sources said that the report included different opinions about a number of points, including for the government to continue implementing the court ruling.

Sources said that the report points to the steps so far taken by government to carry out the verdict, emphasizing that by the steps already taken, the government has complied with the constitutional court verdict and allowed the 2009 council to convene, as per the ruling.

Explaining that the government has allowed council members and the council speaker to attend, and gave them the chance to assume their roles, NA Speaker Jassem Al Khorafi has implemented government procedures, calling the members to convene the NA session, seen as the last action to be taken by the government.

Sources said that the report includes a number of constitutional and legal opinions about other points, such as the government accepting Al Khorafi’s invitation to attend the session and the level of representation. On the other hand, the majority group decided to postpone its meeting, which was decided this week, waiting for steps to be taken by the government.

Sources revealed that the group is awaiting for the prime minister to file a non-cooperation letter with the 2009 council, in preparation for dissolving the council, and a call for new elections.

Sources further said that the majority group has agreed not to attend any session of the 2009 council meeting for any reasons and that they will boycott sessions at the same time as some MPs are working to guarantee there is a quorum to ensure that the session is held, so the government could give the official oath and enforce the upcoming elections.

News

in brief

High school students KUWAIT: Well-informed educational sources said that the ministry of education discovered that some students who had been caught cheating by using i-Phones or paper notes during final exams, and should have failed on those exams, had in fact passed their courses by the end of the year. The sources added that undersecretary Mohammed Al-Kandari had been notified and he explained that by checking the secondary stage chart, he learned that the final result is calculated after adding the four periods’ grades and dividing them by two, which means that having a zero in the final exam might not affect a student’s result.

Drug overdose KUWAIT: Police arrested a citizen who left his friend outside Adan hospital after he collapsed from an apparent drug overdose, said security sources. Case papers indicate that a car stopped at the hospital gate, left the man and drove off.

Witnesses outside the hospital, however, managed to jot down the car license plate number and informed the police.

Islam awareness campaign KUWAIT: Kuwait-based Fahad Al-Ahamd Humanitarian Association announced yesterday plans to launch an Islam-awareness campaign on the sideline of the upcoming Olympic Games in London. The campaign is meant to promote a better understanding of Islam and Muslims and also clearing common misconceptions, Head of the Public Relations Department at the Association Eid Al-Semadi said in a press statement. It includes distributing “Its Your Decision” booklet, which comprises a concise introduction about Islam, clarifying Islam stance of crucial issues and reply to stereotypes and misconceptions linked to Islam. The event will be implemented in cooperation with the UK-based Discover Islam, non-profitable organization. AlSemadi added that 10,000 copies of the booklet would be sent to celebrities, intellectuals and key figures worldwide.

Decrease in divorce rate KUWAIT: Ministry of Justice statistics showed a noticeable decline in the percentage of divorces among Kuwaitis during 2011, compared to 2010.As per statistics, there were 7,641 marriages registered among Kuwaitis and 482 divorces, of which 17 cases were cancelled, leaving only 465 cases of divorce, reaching 6%. Kuwaiti men who married non-Kuwaiti women amounted to 1568 cases, of whom 128 case were divorced and six were cancelled, resulting in 122 divorces.

Further, there were 590 non-Kuwaiti men who married Kuwaiti women, with 69 cases of divorce and one being canceled, leaving 68 divorces that were finalized.

Kuwaiti suicide attempt KUWAIT: Police in the city of Hael in Saudi Arabia are investigating an attempted suicide by a Kuwaiti man. Hael police spokesman Colonel Abdul Aziz Al Zanaidi said officials received a report about a 38 year-old Kuwaiti man who was at King Khalid hospital, along with his brother, who reported that his brother tried to commit suicide by slicing his neck with a knife. The Kuwaiti man remains in hospital receiving treatment.

Kuwaiti charity delivers aid to Syrians in Lebanon

KUWAIT: Under the auspices of Sheikh Faisal Al-Malek Al-Sabah, and in the presence of clergyman Mohammed Al-Awadhi, a charity organization recently honored a number of bedoons high achievers in the recent final school leaving examinations. —- Photos by Fouad Al-Shaikh

BEIRUT: The Kuwaiti Social Reform Association distributed aid to hundreds of Syrians who have settled up in the region of Iklim Al-Kharoub southeast of Beirut fleeing violence at home.

Dr Suliman Al-Shatti, the director of the association, said in a statement yesterday the latest batch of relief supplies to the Syrian refugees was delivered at the mosque of the town of Ketermaya, located in Iklim AlKharoub. Iklim Al-Kharoub is a large mountainous region, southeast of Beirut, distinguished with cluster of villages and towns.

Teams of the association examined condition of the Syrian refugees in the town of Sheheem, Siblin and the refugee of Burj Al-Barajen south of Beirut. Supplies were also given to these refugees. Al-Shatti visited Lebanon in April delivering material aid and necessities for the Syrians who have fled home for safety. — KUNA

NBK internship students visit Pepsi on field trip KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) organized a field trip to the students of the Summer Internship Program at the end of the two-week courses to the United Beverage Company “PEPSI -Kuwait”. PEPSI-Kuwait representatives took the students in a tour to introduce them to the various activities as well as an exclusive visit to its factory. The students had the chance to see the different stages of the beverages production.

The NBK Summer Internship Program is designed for students as an extension of NBK’s education outreach services. The program demonstrates NBK’s longstanding social involvement as well as its national commitment towards providing the young generations with the appropriate

opportunities to experience firsthand how the actual professional banking issues and transaction are handled and processed. The 5-hour daily sessions of twoweek internship featured a mixture of theoretical and practical training dedicated to providing the interns with invaluable knowledge on a variety of subjects such as; the team work, creative thinking, means of self expression and modern banking work procedure, in addition to helping interns to have greater exposure to daily banking work procedures.

NBK regularly organizes and designs events and packages for the youth of the country to familiarize them with the world of banking and make them responsible citizens.

KUWAIT: Deputy Chief of National Guards Sheikh Mishaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received the Secretary General of Growth Organization for Sustainable Power Ghadeer Ghazi Al-Saqaabi and actor Mohammad Al-Mansoor. Seqaabie handed Sheikh Mishaal an invitation for attending international environment conference.

Al-Rifae defends publication KUWAIT: Sheikh Fuad Al-Rifae, chairman of “Wathaker” center, answered those who criticized his publication, which included Ramadan prayers times, entitled “Maghrib and fajr prayer timing”, in which he published astronomers’ times for Fajr prayer.

He said Al Ajairi times are currently in use, and there is a study by Adbul Malik Al Kulaib in which he states that current times, as per Al Ajairi, are too early by seven minutes, while other scholars say that it is early by 20 minutes, stating that, regarding “maghrib” times, they believe “athan” times should be delayed by 2 minutes.

In such circumstances, a Muslim is required to take precautions and this is what the center has recommended through its Ramadan prayers times. As it has recommended fajr prayers be recited 20 minutes earlier as sunna, and

recommended delaying maghrib prayers by two minutes to ensure the right times are followed for fasting and prayers.

The center has prepared the timing list and draft and the comments and it was read for Dr Saleh Al Ajairi and Al Kulaib, who both agreed to publish it.

Al Rifae noted, “Reaction from our Muslim brothers was great, but some scholars have attacked us, even Dr Al Ajairi, may Allah forgive him. We had not published a single word until we had consulted the concerned persons, Al Ajairi and Al Kulaib, and we only want to provide advice to Muslims. We did not say that the current timing was wrong, but said that there is a suspicion and a need for precaution, so we suggested the delay of two minutes as a “precaution” only until specialists agree on the correct timing.

SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012

12 killed in Brunei helicopter crash Page 11

Thousands attend funeral of Mubarak spy chief Page 9

AURORA, Colorado: From left, Tylecia Amos, 14, Shatyra Amos, 15, Michael Walker, 17, and Mykia Walker, 16, carry flowers to lay at a makeshift memorial across the street from the Century Theater parking lot yesterday, a day after suspected gunman James Holmes killed at least 12 people and injured dozens more at a midnight premiere of ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ Batman movie. — AP

Shock, sadness over movie massacre Police prepare to enter home of cinema shooting suspect AURORA, Colorado: Investigators looking for clues to the motive behind a deadly shooting rampage inside a movie theater sought once again yesterday to enter the suspect’s elaborately booby trapped apartment, warning it may mean removing trip wires that could detonate the explosives, as the Denver suburb grieved for the dozens of victims.

The FBI and Homeland Security Department said there was no information indicating more shooting sprees were planned at movie theaters around the US, according to an intelligence bulletin obtained by AP. Twelve people were killed and 58 were injured in the attack early Friday at the packed Aurora theater outside Denver. A few of those suffered injuries not by gunfire but in the chaos that ensued as the audience tried to flee the smoke-filled theater in a panicked dash for the doors, authorities said. Among the wounded, 11 were listed in critical condition. It remained unclear Saturday what drove the suspect, identified as James Holmes, 24, to fire round after round at the unsuspecting audience watching the new Batman film, “The Dark Knight Rises”.

After the shooting, police said they found Holmes’ nearby apartment had been booby trapped and ordered residents in the building and surrounding homes to evacuate. Authorities were not able to enter the apartment Friday night. Scores of law enforcement officials, including local bomb squad technicians and dozens of federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents gathered again at the apartment yesterday. “It’s safe right now with the evacuations so we don’t want to rush anything,” said Aurora police Sgt Cassidee Carlson. The apartment contains jars of unknown accelerants and trip wires, she said, noting authorities may be forced to detonate the explosives. Fire crews stood by ready to fight any ensuing blaze.

Police grimly went door to door late Friday with a list of victims killed in the worst mass shooting in the US in recent years,

notifying families who had held out hope that their loved ones had been spared. The deceased victims included 23-year-old Micayla Medek, said Anita Busch, the cousin of Medek’s father. The family took the news hard, but knowing her fate after waiting without word brought them some peace, Busch said. “I hope this evil act, that this evil man doesn’t shake people’s faith in God,” she said. Besides Medek, relatives confirmed that Alex Sullivan and

recently purchased 6,000 rounds of ammunition over the Internet, the chief said. The suspect’s stellar academic record, apparent shy demeanor and lack of a criminal background made the attack even more difficult to fathom. It also wasn’t known why the suspect chose a movie theater to stage the assault, or whether he intended some twisted, symbolic link to the film’s violent scenes.

The new Batman movie, the last in the trilogy starring

Jessica Ghawi were among those killed, Sullivan on his 27th birthday. Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said Holmes used a military-style semi-automatic rifle, a shotgun and a pistol that he had bought at local gun stores within the last two months. He also

Christian Bale, opened worldwide Friday with midnight showings in the US. The plot has the villain Bane facing Bale’s Caped Crusader with a nuclear weapon that could destroy all of fictional Gotham. In New York City, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly

said: “It clearly looks like a deranged individual. He has his hair painted red. He said he was the Joker, obviously the enemy of Batman.” Oates would not confirm that information, but did say he had spoken to Kelly. The two used to work together in New York.

Asked whether Holmes had makeup to look like the Joker, Oates said: “That to my knowledge is not true.”

Near the entrance to the theater’s parking lot, a makeshift memorial of 12 candles sat in a row alongside piles of flowers. Up the hill, about 20 pastors led a vigil for about 350 people, some hugging and crying. A sign read, “7/20. Gone Not Forgotten.” An emotional Colorado Gov John Hickenlooper said earlier Friday that people would not be defined by the tragedy. “We are clear that we are going to rise back and lift ourselves above this,” he said.

A federal law enforcement official said Holmes bought a ticket to “The Dark Knight Rises,” went into the theater as part of the crowd and propped open an exit door as the movie was playing.

The suspect then donned protective ballistic gear and opened fire, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the investigation. Authorities said Holmes shot scores of people, picking off victims who tried to flee. At least one person was struck in an adjacent theater by gunfire that went through the wall. Adding to the terror and chaos were two gas canisters thrown by the suspect that filled the theater with smoke.

Tanner Coon, a 17-year-old Aurora resident who was watching the film with two friends, said he first thought the gunshots were firecrackers. When he realized what was happening, he ducked between seats and waited for the shooter to bark demands.

“When is he going to start telling us what to do? When is this going to become a hostage situation?”

Coon said. When the firing ended, Coon said he started running up the row but slipped in blood and fell on a woman who was lying on the ground. He tried shaking her, he said, but she didn’t respond, so

he left her behind and ran from the theater.

Within minutes, frantic emergency calls brought some 200 police officers, ambulances and emergency crews. Holmes was captured in the parking lot.

Kaitlyn Fonzi, a graduate student at University Hospital who lives in the apartment below, said she heard loud music coming from the suspect’s unit just after midnight. She went upstairs and put her hand on the door handle. She felt it was unlocked, but she didn’t know if he was there and decided not to confront him. Fonzi called police, who told her they were busy with a shooting and did not have time to respond to a noise disturbance. She said she was shaken to later learn the apartment was booby trapped. “I’m concerned if I had opened the door, I would have set it off,” she said.

The shooting was the worst in the US since the Nov. 5, 2009, attack at Fort Hood, Texas. An Army psychiatrist was charged with killing 13 soldiers and civilians and wounding more than two dozen others. It was the deadliest in Colorado since the 1999 attack at Columbine High School, where two students killed 12 classmates and a teacher and wounded 26 others before killing themselves. Holmes had enrolled last year in a neuroscience PhD program at the University of Colorado-Denver, though he left last month for unknown reasons.

In academic achievement, “he was at the top of the top,” recalled Timothy P White, chancellor at the University of California, Riverside, where Holmes earned his undergraduate degree before attending the Denver school.

Those who knew Holmes described him as a shy, intelligent person raised in California by parents who were active in their wellto-do suburban San Diego neighborhood. Holmes played soccer at Westview High School and ran cross-country before going to college. Police released a statement from his family Friday that said, “Our hearts go out to those who were involved in this tragedy and to the families and friends of those involved.”—AP

Batman shooting suspect a ‘loner’ AURORA, Colorado: The man suspected of shooting 12 people dead at a screening of the new Batman movie in Colorado was often seen carrying guns to and from his home and was described Friday as a “loner”. James Holmes, 24, was enrolled since June 2011 as a student in neuroscience at the University of Colorado, but was reportedly in the James Holmes process of withdrawing from his PhD program. In a photo released by the university, Holmes wore a burnt-orange T-shirt and sported a smile, but one neighbor at the apartment block where the suspect lived in Aurora recalled a subdued character.

“He was always wearing camouflage pants and a hat,” said Gabriel Macias, a Mexican who works at a meat factory and recalled seeing Holmes carrying guns and weapon cases to and from his apartment. “We did not know him well because he talked to nobody. He was always locked up behind his door,” said Macias. A second photo, from Holmes’s San Diego high school yearbook, showed him in a dark suit, this time flashing a toothy smile. He graduated from Westview High School in San Diego in 2006.

Melvin Evans, a security guard from a nearby building said he occasionally saw Holmes at a local bar. “He was always by himself. Looked like a nice guy,” said Evans, 33.

“I go to the bar every Sunday for Karaoke. I’ve seen him there every now and then. We would talk sometimes, the weather, you know.” The FBI described Holmes as a white male, 6-foot-3 (1.9 m) tall, born on December 13, 1987, with no significant criminal record and no links to terrorism. Residents at the apartment block were removed in the wake of the shooting after it appeared that Holmes’s home had been booby-trapped. Police in Aurora, Colorado, told reporters records showed that the shooting suspect’s only infringement in the city was a speeding ticket in 2011. In an apartment rental application he submitted in early 2011, Holmes described himself as a “quiet and easy-going” student, the Denver Post said on its website. “No one knew him. No one,” it quoted a pharmacy student living in the same building -reserved for medical students, faculty and staff - in Aurora as saying.

The student, who only gave his name as Ben, said Holmes kept to himself and would not say hello or acknowledge other people in the hallway. Ben also revealed he had called police shortly after midnight coincidentally around the time of the massacre at a Batman premiere - to report a song blaring from inside Holmes’ apartment. Ben could not make out the song, but it appeared to be playing on repeat. —AFP

SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012

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

In Israel, Romney to provide contrast with Obama WASHINGTON: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will soon do something Barack Obama has yet to do as president - visit US ally Israel, where he will try to present himself to voters back home as a credible replacement to Obama on the world stage. In the midst of a presidential campaign that is too close to call, Romney leaves on Wednesday for a week-long trip to attend the opening ceremonies of the Olympics in London and visit Israel and Poland. The aim is to give the former Massachusetts governor some foreign policy credentials and let Americans get a glimpse of him in action overseas as they decide whether to vote for him in the Nov. 6 general election to replace Obama.

Aides say the trip is a “listen and learn” tour with no policy pronouncements. It is a lower key version of Obama’s own 2008 trip abroad in which he spoke to a huge throng in Berlin in the heat of that presidential campaign and declared, “The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand.” Romney’s visit to the Olympics will allow him to wave the American flag and play up a central piece of his resume - his work to salvage the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

In London he will meet Prime Minister David Cameron and other offi-

cials as well as former Prime Minister Tony Blair to stress the importance of traditional US-British ties. He will also raise some campaign cash from Americans living in Britain. In Warsaw and Gdansk, Romney will hold talks with Polish officials and former Solidarity leader Lech Walesa and voice support for an ally that has stood as a key bulwark in eastern Europe, a region long dominated by Russia. “The trip is to demonstrate a clear and resolute stand with nations that share our values,” said Romney policy adviser Lanhee Chen.

Israel is the most delicate diplomatic stop for Romney, with Syria in turmoil after a bomb attack in Damascus killed the defense minister, and Israeli tensions with Iran rising after a bus bomb in Bulgaria killed six Israeli tourists and prompted Israel to blame Tehran.

Romney’s visit presents him the opportunity to appeal to both Jewish voters and pro-Israel evangelical voters and contrast himself with the Democratic incumbent Obama, who has a rocky relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

But it also offers some risks as Romney, a relative novice in foreign policy, may be asked whether he would go to war to halt Iran’s nuclear program, a top concern of Israel, and whether he would get the United

States involved in the bloody turmoil in neighboring Syria, where President Bashar al-Assad is under siege from rebels. Romney has sharply criticized Obama’s handling of Iran and adamantly declared he would not allow it to possess a nuclear weapon, which Tehran denies seeking. Romney has said that “ultimately, regime change is what’s going to be necessary”. This has left him open to questions over whether he would launch a military operation against Iran at a time when Americans are weary of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq begun by the last Republican president, George W Bush.

“That’s the key consideration,” said Martin Indyk, director of foreign policy at the Brookings Institution and author of the book, “Bending History: Barack Obama’s foreign policy.” “On the one hand Romney wants to be able to criticize Obama as being weak on Iran, but I don’t think he wants to portray himself as eager for a conflict with Iran. So I think he’s walking between the raindrops to try to score Obama without creating the impression that he’s keen for another war in the Middle East,” Indyk said.

Romney has accused Obama of a lack of leadership for failing to gain U.N. passage of a resolution threatening sanctions against Syria. Lest Romney face criticism for taking the campaign

against Obama overseas, the Romney camp stressed that the candidate will not use the trip to make policy pronouncements. The friendly imagery from Romney’s talks with Netanyahu will be critical in providing a contrast with that of Obama and the Israeli leader, who have clashed in the past.

Obama angered the Israelis a year ago when he embraced a goal long sought by the Palestinians, that the state they seek in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip should largely be drawn along lines that existed before the 1967 war in which Israel captured those territories, including East Jerusalem. “The focus of the trip really is about learning, listening ... and it’s about continuing to project Governor Romney’s strong view that America needs to stand by its allies, particularly allies that are under siege, like Israel,” said Romney foreign policy adviser Dan Senor.

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited Jerusalem in May and heard complaints from the Israeli leadership about the current state of the US-Israeli relationship, a source familiar with her meetings said.

It has not gone unnoticed there that the Democratic president has not visited Israel, although he has sent some ranking officials there, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. “It’s

not a trivial issue that Obama has not been to Israel during his presidency,” said Michael Goldfarb, a Republican foreign policy expert. “Of course he went as a candidate, but he ran as a pro-Israeli figure and in office has not lived up to his promises.”

Romney, who says Obama has proposed Israel adopt “indefensible borders”, has known Netanyahu since the 1970s when they both worked briefly at the Boston Consulting Group.

Romney also plans to meet Palestinian leaders. “ There’s no question that Romney needs to be careful,” said Shibley Telhami, a Middle East expert at the University of Maryland. “He needs to come across as a statesman rather than a panderer and be careful not to lock himself into positions that would tie his hands down the road.”

While American Jewish voters overwhelmingly support Democrats, Romney’s strong pro-Israeli stance could help him cut into Obama’s dominance with this voting bloc, which could make a difference in a battleground state like Florida. Perhaps more importantly, the Israel trip could energize staunchly pro-Israel evangelical conservatives who have been suspicious of Romney - a Mormon who has a history of being moderate - and had searched for an alternative during the Republican primary battle. — Reuters

S Sudan cancels talks with Sudan after raid Khartoum denies bombing neighbour

GAZA CITY: Palestinian prisoners are released from the central prison yesterday on the occasion of Ramadan. — AFP

Defector claims Syria moving chem weapons HACIPASA, Turkey: A senior Syrian military defector said President Bashar AlAssad’s forces were moving chemical weapons across the country for possible use in a military retaliation for the killing of four top security officials. “The regime has started moving its chemical stockpile and redistributing it to prepare for its use,” said General Mustafa Sheikh, citing rebel intelligence obtained in recent days. “They are moving it from warehouses to new locations,” he told Reuters in an interview in southern Turkey, close to the Syrian border. “They want to burn the country. The regime cannot fall without perpetrating a sea of blood.”

Syria’s 16-month conflict has been transformed since Wednesday, when a bomb killed four members of Assad’s narrow circle of kin and lieutenants, including his powerful brother-in-law, defence minister and intelligence chief.

Sheikh’s comments could not be independently verified and Syria has denied any such move. Western and Israeli officials, concerned that chemical stockpiles could fall into the hands of militants, said a week ago that Syria appeared to be shifting weapons from storage sites, but it was not clear whether the operation was a security precaution or a preparation for deployment.

On Friday Israel said it would consider military action if needed to ensure Syrian missiles or chemical weapons did not reach Assad’s allies in Lebanon, the Shiite group Hezbollah. Sheikh, who fled his post in the northern command of Assad’s army in January, said the coming days would see increased shelling of Sunni strongholds in Damascus and Aleppo.

But unleashing a broader and bloodier army assault would fuel an intense backlash by the mostly Sunni rebels, he said.

“The coming phase will witness a phase of bloodshed that is unprecedented and the regime will resort to non-conventional weapons. Every action will trigger a bigger reaction,” he said. “Assad wants to burn the country. This dictatorial and sectarian regime will not fall without a sea of blood,” said Sheikh, whose military council provides a political umbrella to the armed resistance to Assad’s rule.

Since Wednesday’s attack, rebels have pushed into the heart of the capital and seized control of other towns. On Thursday, they captured three border crossings with Iraq and Turkey, the first time they have held sway over Syria’s frontiers. Sheikh said the success of Wednesday ’s bombing, which Free Syrian Army rebels claimed to have carried out, was the fruit of experience gained from months of conflict, rather than any fresh weapons supply. “The weapons that are coming from outside are a drop in the ocean and are too trivial to make a difference,” he said.

The success of Wednesday’s attack surprised him, even though he was tipped by rebels over a month ago they were undertaking a top secret operation targeting Assad’s inner circle. “When I heard of it, I stood in awe that we had reached such a stage inside,” he said. “I was aware of it, but of course did not plan it, the rebels told me that there would be a qualitative operation that would go after the head of the regime in these days ... closer to the holy month of Ramadan,” said Sheikh.

The perpetrator of the attack was “someone who worked with a top official ... the Free Syrian Army is present in every corner of the state”, he said, declining to give any further details. Sheikh said momentum gained by the rebels was prompting faster high-level defections and at least 100,000 soldiers have deserted out of the 320,000-strong military, almost double the numbers of only a few months ago. On Saturday a Turkish official told Reuters two Syrian brigadiergenerals had fled to Turkey overnight.

Opposition sources have said thousands more Sunni soldiers have been confined to their barracks, but cannot desert because of the grip of military intelligence and lack of safe areas. The involvement of the best trained elite forces from the Fourth Brigade to the Republican Army in the widening offensive showed the extent of attrition within the army, he said. “Every day there is attrition ... the collapse of the regime is now accelerating like a snowball,” Sheikh said. —Reuters

JUBA: South Sudan said yesterday it was cancelling planned face-to-face peace talks with Sudan after accusing Khartoum of launching a new air raid on its territory. Sudan denied bombing its southern neighbour, saying it had only targeted Darfuri rebels inside its own territory. “We were left with no choice but to suspend our direct bilateral talks with Sudan,” the spokesman for Juba’s delegation at the talks in Addis Ababa, Atif Kiir, said. “You cannot sit with them to negotiate when they are bombing our territory,” he added. “The only negotiations that will happen now will happen through the panel,” he said, referring to an African Union mediation panel conducting the talks in the Ethiopian capital.

The negotiations to settle disputes stemming from the South’s independence in July last year stalled in April, but resumed in May. “There was bombing yesterday morning at a place called Rubaker,” in northern Bahr el Ghazal, South Sudan’s military spokesman Philip Aguer told AFP earlier, adding that “this might have implications because maybe that is the intention of Sudan to bomb us and to stop talking”. Aguer said eight bombs were dropped by Sudanese army Antonov planes.

“Two civilians were wounded - a man and

a woman. They were sleeping in their houses in the villages of Wuer Kil and Wuer Puech”, he said. “Last time they wanted to break off talks in Addis Ababa, they bombed us ... that was on March 26” at a military base in oil-producing Unity state, he added. “SAF (Sudanese Armed Forces) didn’t violate South Sudanese territory,” Khartoum’s official SUNA news agency quoted one of Sudan’s negotiators to the African Union-led talks, Omar Dahab, as saying. “What happened is the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebels tried to attack Sudan by coming through South Sudanese territory and SAF responded to them, but inside Sudan,” he said. Dahab added that his team “is ready to continue direct negotiations with South Sudan’s delegation.”

A new round of talks is due to begin Sunday at AU headquarters, a week after Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir and his South Sudanese counterpar t Salva Kiir exchanged a symbolic handshake at a summit of the bloc. Spokesman Kiir said there was “no reflection” of the mood set by the meeting of the two presidents, adding: “We are doing our best.” South Sudanese Communications Minister Barnaba Marial

Benjamin commented, “There are people who don’t want the talks within the Khartoum regime -that’s why they are bombing us.”

The African Union’s Peace and Security Council has urged Khartoum and Juba to settle their differences on oil and border demarcation before an August 2 deadline set by the United Nations. Khartoum accuses South Sudan of backing a major insurgency in South Kordofan state, as well as in Blue Nile, and also of working with the JEM. The South says it does not back the rebels but suspected JEM fighters were seen alongside its troops during the border fighting in April.

The JEM denied involvement. South Sudan accuses the north of backing insurgents in the South as well. Earlier in July at the AU-led talks in Addis Ababa, Sudan and South Sudan agreed to a cessation of hostilities and a commitment to pursue peace, though they stopped short of signing a concrete deal.

Since border tensions escalated in late March, repeated claims of fighting have coincided with attempts to negotiate. Decades of conflict between the mainly Arab and Muslim north and the black African south left millions dead. — AFP

For Syrian protests, artists work overtime QUSAYR, Syria: Every Friday in Qusayr, Syrians protest against Bashar Al-Assad, so ever y Thursday, a group of young artists meet in a makeshift studio to paint the placards and banners used to ridicule him. “The day Bashar Al-Assad falls, I will draw his face on a rocket and fire him towards the Moon, so I never have to see his face again!,” Mazir, a young Syrian artist exclaims, laughing. Along with other young artists in the town, in the central Syrian province of Homs, she spends her Thursdays inside a studio, illegally painting antiAssad placards and banners.

They are delivered the following day to demonstrators who march through the streets of the town and its surrounding villages, as they, like countless Syrians, have since the beginning of an uprising against Assad’s regime in March last year. Qusayr was once a home to 50,000 people, but its population has shrunk to around 10,000 as many families have fled daily shelling and house -tohouse fighting. “Each design, each slogan is to ridicule Bashar to denounce him as a liar, a murderer, as arrogant. We want people who take to the streets to demand their freedom to see his head on the body of a donkey, so they can mock him and be unafraid,” Mazir says as she puts the finishing touches on a caricature.

“Our weapon is our creativity,” adds Ayman, a former architecture student who has joined the collective. “In this revolution, everyone has a role to play. Some will fight, others will draw.”

QUSAYR, Syria: Two Syrian girls stand in front of a poster they drew, depicting Syrian leader Bashar Al-Assad wearing two armbands - one with the Israeli flag and the other a swastika - on Friday. — AFP Ayman later paints on a large white sheet pinned to the wall: “Bashar - a kick in the a** and you will learn.” “We do not want him dead - just for him to go and let us live in peace,” he says. “It is time for us to be the masters of our destiny.”

But while the group of artists joke and laugh, their support for the uprising against Assad’s regime has drawn attention and, with it, threats. “One night,” Mazir recalls, “the secret police stormed my house and took my father.

They held him for 10 days and tortured him. All this because a neighbour told them about me.”

“But I am not afraid - if I die, it will

be knowing that I have helped overthrow the regime and bring freedom to all Syrians,” she adds proudly. Though Mazir and Ayman spoke of the role their paintings and caricatures could play in efforts to oust Assad and his regime, others within the studio said art alone would do little to overthrow the embattled president. “I am delighted to paint, and help my friends organise the demonstrations, but I am well aware that it will not be caricatures that will end Bashar ’s regime,” says Ibrahim, who deserted the Syrian army to join forces with Syrian rebels. “It will be weapons.” “We can only fight

violence with violence. And now, it is they who are afraid,” he adds.

The artists’ collective has already had an impact, drawing young followers hoping to contribute to Qusayr’s rallies. Two sisters - aged 15 and 23 - have for a month brought their own art supplies to take part in the “revolution”. Doha, the teen, impressed protesters with her artistic abilities and is now one of the most popular artists in Qusayr. Her elder sister Fatima, an English teacher, explains that while “the young men joined the FSA (Free Syrian Army) and us, the women, were confined to our homes to watch them be killed”. — AFP

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Thousands attend funeral of Mubarak spy chief CAIRO: Thousands of Egyptians attended the military funeral yesterday of ousted strongman Hosni Mubarak’s longtime right-hand man Omar Suleiman, who died of a heart attack after an abortive presidential bid.

Suleiman, 76, died in the United States on Thursday while undergoing medical tests. A fierce opponent of Islamists, who accused him of overseeing ruthless torture during his long tenure as spy chief, Suleiman was appointed vice president during the popular uprising that overthrew Mubarak early last year.

After the uprising, Suleiman, a regional pillar in US-led efforts to combat Islamist militants, kept a low profile but emerged again from the shadows to put his name forward for a presidential election in May to July. He was disqualified on the grounds that he had failed to present the proper paperwork to stand. Suleiman’s body was flown to Egypt aboard a private jet early Saturday, before the afternoon ceremony at an east Cairo

mosque used for military funerals.

Mourners surged forward to touch his casket, shrouded in the military flag, as soldiers placed it on a horse-drawn carriage after the rites finished.

President Mohammed Morsi, the victorious candidate of Suleiman’s nemesis the Muslim Brotherhood, sent a representative to the funeral. Armed forces chief Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who took over as interim leader when Mubarak stepped down last year, also attended, as did current spy chief Murad Muawfi.

Suleiman left a controversial legacy, with opponents accusing him of personally supervising the torture of jailed Islamists, some sent to Egypt through the US “extraordinary rendition” program. For the revolutionaries who toppled Mubarak, Suleiman’s bid for the presidency represented a brazen attempt at reviving the old regime. The now dissolved Islamist-dominated parliament rushed through legislation to bar him and other former senior

Mubarak era officials from the election.

A court struck down the law as unconstitutional. But his supporters, who chanted against Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood during the funeral, saw him as a bulwark against Islamist control of the country. Born on July 2, 1935, to a well-off family in the southern city of Qena, Suleiman graduated from Cairo’s military academy in 1955.

He received military training in the then Soviet Union, and was for years a highly enigmatic figure both to the world at large and at home in Egypt, where the all-powerful military’s activities are shrouded in secrecy. But he increasingly acquired a public face in recent years, being tipped even before the uprising as a potential successor to Mubarak, himself a former head of the air force. Under Mubarak, Suleiman served as a negotiating partner for the United States, Israel and the Palestinians, orchestrating a series of short-lived truces between the Middle East foes. —AFP

CAIRO: An Egyptian man tries to speak to Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi (left), head of the military council, upon the latter’s arrival to attend the funeral of Egypt’s former vice president Omar Suleiman yesterday. —AFP

Putin inks law branding NGOs as ‘foreign agents’ Opponents slam campaign to suppress dissent

BUCHAREST: Aircraft of the Frecce Tricolori, the demonstration team of the Italian Air Force, perform during an air show in Romania yesterday. —AP

Romanian prez urges voters to defeat ‘coup’ BUCHAREST: Suspended Romanian President Traian Basescu rallied his supporters yesterday before a referendum on his impeachment this week, urging Romanians to vote and defeat what he called the government’s “coup d’etat”.

Parliament, dominated by Prime Minister Victor Ponta’s leftist Social Liberal Union (USL), suspended the rightist Basescu earlier this month, saying he had overstepped his powers. A referendum on July 29 will decide whether he should be removed permanently.

The government bowed to European Union demands this week and said it would respect a court ruling that turnout must be more than half for the referendum to be valid, a threshold which gives Basescu a better chance of surviving in office. The government’s decision to respect the court ruling has prompted suggestions that Basescu’s supporters could keep him in office by simply staying away from the polls. Their abstention would probably mean a large majority in favour of impeachment but turnout usually about 50 percent in Romanian elections - would be too low for the result to be valid.

But Basescu called on Romanians to go to the polls to defeat the impeachment drive. “I want everyone to vote on the 29th. There are a lot of people who say don’t vote, don’t legitimise the coup d’etat. I could agree with them, but only up to a point,” Basescu told thousands of supporters at a rally in scorching heat in the northeastern city of Iasi. “More than

ever, Romania now needs to see that a force exists that puts an end to Ponta and Antonescu’s abuses and coup d’etat. This force is none other than the Romanian people,” said a confident Basescu.

Ponta and his USL ally Crin Antonescu, who is acting president during Basescu’s suspension, have been harshly criticised by the European Union for pushing through a series of measures aimed at restricting Basescu’s power. Brussels says the measures have undermined the rule of law. Ponta’s government joined forces with parliament earlier this month to suspend Basescu, a conservative. Opinion polls show most Romanians support permanently removing Basescu from office due to his association with austerity measures and a perception of corruption among his political allies.

The political turmoil has raised doubts about the future of an International Monetary Fund-led aid deal, sending the leu currency to record lows in a country already weathering a recession. The president is in charge of foreign policy and the powerful secret services, which are a sensitive topic in a country still scarred by the communist dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu and his dreaded Securitate.

The president also nominates the prime minister. The EU’s criticism of the government over the impeachment effort followed a similar row with fellow EU member Hungary, where political analysts say Prime Minister Viktor Orban has pushed the limits of EU standards to consolidate power. —Reuters

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into law a controversial bill passed by parliament that brands NGOs who receive funding from abroad as “foreign agents”, the Kremlin said yesterday. The law, which has caused huge concern among activists who fear it will be used to stigmatise critical NGOs, was signed by Putin after it was rushed through the lower and upper houses of parliament before their summer breaks. Putin “signed the federal law on regulating the activities of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) who carry out the role of a foreign agent”, the Kremlin said in a statement.

The law, which sailed through the State Duma lower house on July 13 and then the upper house Federation Council on July 18, requires NGOs who receive foreign funding to register with the authorities as foreign agents. The NGOs will have to allow official checks of their income, accounting and management structure as well as regularly make public their sources of income and their management.

The label “foreign agent” does not directly implicate the NGO in espionage but does carry in Russian unequivocally negative connotations of unpatriotic behaviour.

Opposition groups say Putin is trying to silence groups whose criticism of his human rights record has undercut his credibility and helped fuel seven months of protests against his rule, the biggest since he came to power in 2000.

“Materials published by the NGO in the media and on the Internet should be accompanied by a note that these materials have been published or distributed by an NGO carrying out the role of a foreign agent,” the new legislation says. The law broadly applies to any foreign-funded NGO engaged in a political activity in Russia but exempts religious groups and

organisations linked to the state or state companies. Activists have warned that the law is a throwback to the public shaming of dissidents in the Soviet Union and could herald a new period of repression in Putin’s Russia.

The leader of the Moscow Helsinki Group, one of the Russia’s oldest human right organisations, Lyudmila Alexeyeva, has decided to turn down foreign grants to avoid having to register the body

a former police officer in Holmes’ hometown San Diego who holds psychology and business degrees, is co-author of “Ticking Bombs: Defusing Violence in the Workplace” and advises businesses on threat assessment.

Speak ing to AFP within 24 hours of Friday’s tragedy, Albrecht speculated that the Colorado gunman - who has yet to appear in court - was likely a “serial loser” in search of infamy. Many troubled people never get beyond fantasizing about committing an act of violence, but “here’s a guy whose probably ruminated over this for weeks and months and moved from ideas to action,” he said. “It was a lot of pre-attack preparation for a guy who’s hard to notice because he’s not part of an organized group or on a terror watch list. It’s very difficult to stop these people.” Albrecht added: “I suspect we’re going to discover that the guy had a lot of issues that he chose to solve through this method” of raking a midnight movie audience with gunfire.

Prior to the Columbine high school massacre, in which two students cut down 12 students and a teacher in 1999 before killing themselves, law enforcement agencies concentrated on building profiles of mass

criminalising slander which raised alarm among activists over a general clampdown on civil society.

But Putin has yet to sign these two other pieces of legislation into law. The Vedomosti economic daily in an editorial on Friday criticised the new legislation as “repressive” and said it would create “a new reality” in Russia just months into Putin’s third term as president. But it warned the extra bureaucracy needed to imple-

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin poses with synchronized swimming athletes at a reception in honor of members of the Russian national Olympic team departing for the 2012 London Olympic Games in the Kremlin yesterday. —AP as a “foreign agent”. Alexeyeva, who turned 85 on Friday, asked supporters not to give her any gifts but to offer financial assistance to her organisation to make up the funding shortfall. Analysts believe the law appears to be a response to the criticism by NGO

Looking for mass murder motives is futile: Expert WASHINGTON: Tempting as it might be, it’s futile to dwell on the motives behind a mass murder like the one at the midnight Batman screening in Colorado, a police officer turned threat assessment expert says. Doing so means diverting critical attention from the real objective - spotting telltale behavior in an individual about to perpetrate a bloodbath, said Steve Albrecht in a telephone interview. “We’re all shocked (but) it certainly doesn’t make people feel any better to know what the motive is,” said Albrecht, who heads the San Diego branch of the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals. “I’d want to working on interrupting the opportunity (to commit a mass murder), to stop these guys when they exhibit those (suspicious or worrisome) behaviours early on.”

James Holmes, 24, is suspected of donning a mask and body armor, then opening fire during a midnight showing of the latest Batman movie in Aurora, Colorado, killing at least 12 people and wounding nearly 60 others. The bloodbath shocked Americans, even though the United States sees about 20 mass murders - defined as three or more deaths at the hands of a single perpetrator in a single uninterrupted incident - every year. Albrecht,

election watchdogs of December parliamentary polls and the March presidential elections won by Putin which were followed by mass anti-Kremlin protests.

Just before the December elections, Putin icily compared Russian vote monitors, who receive money from abroad, to Judas - the disciple who betrayed Jesus - and said their Western funding was “money thrown to the wind”. His irritation appeared to target the Western

killers, Albrecht explained. But as it emerged that anyone of any age, race, gender or socio-economic background could and did commit mass murder, the focus swung towards picking out acts of behavior that would reveal a solitary killer in the making.

“Now we’re really looking at behavior and moving away from profiling,” he said, recalling how a 1998 rampage in an Arkansas school in which five died had been carried out by two boys aged just 13 and 11.

Typical questions to ask: “What were the pre-attack behaviors that this guy exhibited? What were the relationship failures, relationship problems that he had? Was he disconnected from society and disconnected from reality?” Elaborating on an essay he wrote on the topic for Psychology Today magazine, Albrecht said people “tend to rationalize the irrational behavior of the people around us” and thus skip over signs of an individual on the verge of violence.

“My suspicion is that they’re going to learn a lot of things (about the Aurora gunman), and that people were ver y concerned about this guy - but didn’t know what to do.” —AFP

funded Golos NGO, whose evidence of vote-rigging was used by the opposition to back claims the polls were illegitimate in the subsequent protests. In a frantic last week before the recess, parliament also passed bills on blacklisting undesirable Internet sites and

ment the rules would not come cheap. “Tightening the screws is not going to be free of charge. The state is going to have to finance new spending at the expensive of citizens and business,” Vedomosti said. —AFP

Egypt cleric gets jail after fondling report CAIRO: An Egyptian court sentenced an ultraconservative former lawmaker and cleric to a year in prison for public indecency yesterday, after police said they found him fondling a woman on his lap in a parked car at night. Police have said in a report that the man was touching and caressing the fullyveiled woman when they approached him while parked alongside an agricultural road outside Cairo last month.

Ali Wanees has denied the charges. He claimed that he pulled the car over to assist his ill niece, but police say he is not her uncle.

The court also sentenced him to six months prison for contempt of police. The police repor t claims Wanees called the officers “sons of dogs” when they knocked on his window asking to see his license and registration. The ultraconservative cleric’s whereabouts are unknown. He was tried in absentia and is allowed a retrial. The cour t sentenced the woman he was with ‚Ä” who has been

in custody for about a month - to six months in jail. She also has the right to appeal.

Known as a sheikh for his role as a religious scholar, Wanees once sat in parliament as par t of a Salafi-led coalition headed by the Nour Party, which won 25 percent of seats in the lower house before it was dissolved late last month. The case against him is especially embarrassing for Salafis, who advocate the segregation of unrelated men and women. Salafis are known for a no-compromise, literal interpretation of the faith and typically grow long, moustache -less beards. Earlier in the year, the Nour Party was forced to issue an embarrassing and apologetic statement after one of their lawmakers was reported to have lied to cover up a nose job, claiming that he sustained injuries to his heavily bandaged face from a carjacking and beating. He was k icked out of the par ty and resigned from parliament. —AP

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US Muslims feel blessed this Ramadan MURFREESBORO, Tennessee: The holy month of Ramadan is always a joyful time for believers, but a congregation in the southern state of Tennessee was feeling especially blessed this year as they worshipped Friday. Opponents spent two years trying to halt construction of a new mosque for the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro, but a federal judge ruled this week the congregation has a right to worship there as soon as the building is ready. “Ramadan this year reaches us at a very special time for us as a community,” Imam Ossama Bahloul told the congregation at Friday prayers.

“We have received the good news about the federal court not standing on our side, but standing on the side of the Constitution.”

During Ramadan, Muslims abstain from food and drink

during the daylight hours, breaking their fast at sundown and offering special prayers.

Although it is a time of deprivation, Muslims consider Ramadan

to be a joyful season. It commemorates the month in which God revealed the first verses of the Holy Quran to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Bahloul

MURFREESBORO, Tennessee: Ahmed Danaf, a Middle Tennessee State University graduate student from Tripoli, Libya, prays at the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro on the first day of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan Friday. —AP

told the congregation on Friday that Ramadan also is a time of forgiveness, urging them to ask God to forgive their sins and to strive to forgive others. “Do not to hold any hard feelings in your heart toward anyone, even those on the opposition side,” he said. “ ... Pray for the opposition to get to know us and to change their feelings.”

Although there has been an Islamic center in Murfreesboro for 30 years, the new building brought vehement opposition, including a lawsuit, a large rally and even vandalism, arson and a bomb threat. Islamic center leaders say the new building is needed because they have outgrown their current space in an office park. They say there are about 250 families who use the current 2,100-sq-ft building, along with about 400 Muslim students from Middle Tennessee

State University. On Friday, male worshippers spilled out the door of the old site and into the park ing lot until Bahloul asked them to squeeze together so that everyone could come inside.

Because of the prostration, women are not supposed to sit in front of men. In the current space, that means they must worship in a separate room, watching the proceedings on a video monitor.

In their new building, both men and women will be able to worship in the same room, Bahloul said.

On Friday, mosque members learned that Wednesday’s federal cour t inter vention came just in time. A local judge was ready to grant a request from mosque opponents to force Ruther ford County to shut down construction. The

judge said in an order issued late Thursday that the issue was now on hold indefinitely.

Bahloul said he expects the congregation to be in the new space within days, but joked that there is just one problem.

Through their difficulties, mosque members have received so much suppor t from people in Murfreesboro and around the country that there is no way even the new building can fit everyone who has asked to be a part of its opening. Opponents of the mosque, who used the issue to raise wider arguments against the faith of Islam, have not commented to AP on the federal ruling. Joe Brandon Jr, an attorney for mosque opponents, told Mur freesboro newspaper The Daily News Journal that he is exploring options for legal action. —AP

Obama, Romney stay mum on gun control Issue all but absent from campaign debate WASHINGTON: The shooting that killed 12 people at a Colorado movie theater sidetracked the US presidential race but President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney both stayed away from the polarizing topic of gun control. The massacre Friday obliged both candidates to cast aside the increasingly bitter tone of the race and reach for a rare moment of American harmony.

Obama and Romney swiftly stripped their day of overt cam-

and a handgun in the attack. “This is a time for each of us to look into our hearts and remember how much we love one another, and how much we love and how much we care for our great country,” Romney said at a podium stripped of campaign paraphernalia, in front of a large American flag.

Amid their calls for unity and prayer, neither Obama nor Romney said anything of gun control, an issue that has been all but absent from the campaign debate this

Americans - nearly 80 percent in 1990 - supported stricter limits on guns. Now Americans appear evenly divided between those who want tougher restrictions and those who want to stick with current laws. Gun rights groups are a powerful lobby in the United States, where easy access to guns is a way of life in many of the more conservative and rural areas. The right to bear arms is guaranteed by the US Constitution, alongside such basic rights as free speech

PALM BEACH, Florida: US President Barack Obama talks on the phone with Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan during a motorcade ride to Palm Beach International Airport on Friday. Obama called Mayor Hogan to offer his condolences and support to the Aurora community following the shocking shooting at a movie theater that left 12 people dead. —AFP paigning that surely would have seemed crass given the enormity of the tragedy. “There are going to be other days for politics,” Obama said from one key electoral state, Florida. From another one, New Hampshire, Romney said much the same. A man opened fire on people watching the new Batman movie in an Aurora, Colorado, theater outside Denver. Twelve people were killed and dozens more were wounded by a suspect said to be using an assault rifle, a shotgun

year. Both men have shifted with the times, moving away from stances that favored tougher gun control laws. The issue may rise anew. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a gun control advocate, said, “You know, soothing words are nice, but maybe it’s time that the two people who want to be president of the United States stand up and tell us what they are going to do about it.”

Twenty years ago, polls showed that a substantial majority of

and freedom of religion.

During his 2008 presidential campaign, Obama called for reinstating a federal ban on assault weapons that began during the administration of former President Bill Clinton and expired under President George W Bush. But since his election he hasn’t tried to get that done or pushed other gun control proposals, either. The powerful National Rifle Association has attacked Obama as an anti-gun zealot nonetheless.

At the same time, the president has deeply disappointed gun-control advocates. In its most recent assessment, in 2010, the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence failed Obama on seven issues it deemed important. “As someone who has suffered the lasting impact of gun violence, and president of Brady, I can tell you that we don’t want sympathy. We want action,” Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said in a statement.

As a US senator, Obama voted to leave gun makers and dealers open to civil lawsuits, and as an Illinois state lawmaker he supported a ban on all forms of semiautomatic weapons and tighter state restrictions generally on firearms.

Romney backed some gun control measures when he was governor of Massachusetts, and when he challenged Sen Edward Kennedy in 1994 he declared, “I don’t line up with the NRA.” This spring, competing for the Republican presidential nomination, Romney told the NRA he was a guardian of the Second Amendment of the Constitution that guarantees the right to bear arms. Following last year’s killing of six people and the wounding of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson, Arizona, Obama called for a series of steps to “keep those irresponsible, law-breaking few from getting their hands on a gun in the first place.” Among those steps was a better background check system.

And White House spokesman Jay Carney said Friday that system has improved. But the administration has offered no legislation or detailed updates about how it is pursuing the president’s previous promises. “The president believes that we need to take commonsense measures that protect Second Amendment rights of Americans, while ensuring that those who should not have guns under existing law do not get them,” Carney said. Others, including Mayor Bloomberg, were looking for more specificity. The question is simple, he said in a radio interview: “What are they going to do about guns?” —AP

SAN ANTONIO: US Air Force Staff Sgt Luis A Walker arrives from a lunch break during his court martial at Lackland Air Force Base in this July 16, 2012 photo. —AP

US Air Force instructor faces rape sentencing SAN ANTONIO: A US Air Force instructor convicted of raping a female recruit and sexually assaulting several others was due back in court on one of the nation’s busiest training bases yesterday for the start of the sentencing phase of his court-martial. Staff Sgt Luis Walker, who faced the most serious charges in a sweeping sex scandal involving Lackland Air Force Base instructors, could be sentenced to up to life in prison and dishonorably discharged. A military jury convicted him Friday on all 28 counts he faced, including rape, aggravated sexual contact and multiple counts of aggravated sexual assault.

Prosecutors say from Oct 2010 through Jan 2011, Walker sexually assaulted or had improper sexual or personal contact with at least 10 female recruits. Lackland is where all Air Force recruits go through basic training. Walker is among 12 Lackland instructors investigated for sexual misconduct toward at least 31 female trainees, and among the six charged on counts ranging from rape to adultery. Several of Walker’s alleged victims testified during his court-martial, including one who described how Walker lured her into an office and sexually assaulted her on a bed, ignoring her pleas to stop. The AP is not naming the women because they are alleged sexual assault victims.

The women told jurors that Walker gained their trust to get them alone in his office or an empty dormitory, where he then forced them into kissing, touching or intercourse. The alleged sexual misconduct among instructors at the base apparently began in 2009, but the first woman didn’t come forward until

last year. The women who testified against Walker said they didn’t tell anybody at first because they feared being booted from the Air Force. According to prosecutors, Walker had sexual intercourse with 4 of the 10 female recruits.

He was also accused of making flirtatious or sexually suggestive comments, sending inappropriate text messages and sometimes groping his recruits.

Prosecutors also accused Walker of forcing five recruits to engage in sexual acts with him by threatening their military careers, and they said he intimidated two of the women into lying about his alleged misconduct. Meanwhile, the Air Force said Friday that the case against another former training instructor was referred to a general court-martial. Staff Sgt Craig LeBlanc is charged with sexual misconduct, obstructing justice and making a false official statement. He is accused of using his post as a military instructor to sexually assault and pursue a sexual relationship with one female trainee, and have a wrongful sexual relationship with another. No trial date was set.

One of the other instructors charged in the case, Staff Sgt Peter VegaMaldonado, pleaded guilty in June, admitting he had sex with a female trainee in exchange for a sentence of 90 days’ confinement. He later acknowledged he had been involved with a total of 10 trainees - a number previously unknown to investigators. Lackland has about 475 instructors for the approximately 35,000 airmen who graduate every year. About one in five is female, pushed through eight weeks of basic training by a group of instructors, 90 percent of whom are men. —AP

Indian upheaval bares Colombia’s nagging conflict TORIBIO, Colombia: One of the stiffest blows in years to the prestige of Colombia’s military wasn’t inflicted by its leftist rebel foes and didn’t claim a single soldier’s life. It was dealt by a relatively diminutive people called the Nasa who marched furiously up to the top of a 7,500-ft (2,300-m) peak last week and forcibly dislodged a clutch of soldiers from a strategic outpost. These verdant, craggy mountains are the Nasa’s ancestral lands and the Indians say they are fed up with violent usurpers. They are demanding that the country’s military and its rebel foes leave their enclave in the southwestern state of Cauca.

Yet neither side in Colombia’s halfcentury old conflict is heeding the Nasas’ wishes to leave them in peace.

Their homeland lies on a key corridor that rebels and their chief funding source, cocaine, regularly transit on their way to the Pacific coast. The government alleges that some of the 115,000 Nasa are allied with rebels of the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which authorities

say purchases the high-quality marijuana that many Indians grow.

The Indians’ widely broadcast standoff with government troops has made this past week perhaps the most difficult of Juan Manuel Santos’ two-yearold presidency, bringing Colombia’s conflict into people’s living rooms as it rarely has been in recent years and highlighting his government’s inability to control large parts of the countryside.

Santos even suffered the indignity of being jeered by the Nasa when he visited Toribio the previous week to announce investments in social programs.

Colombia’s conflict plays out far from its sparkling cities. Its victims are its most marginalized. “We sometimes get the impression that there’s hardly any conflict at all, that it is very distant,” said Jordi Raich, the International Committee of the Red Cross’ country director. “But Colombia’s armed conflict continues, and while it may be happening in remote areas, the humanitarian consequences are not

lessened. Peace is distant,” he added.

The conflict claims hundreds if not thousands of lives a year, mostly civilians killed in a dirty war involving right-

wing death squads, rebels and the military. Yet in terms of violence, this month’s upheaval in Cauca has been comparatively tame. Its damage is,

TORIBIO, Colombia: In this photo taken July 17, 2012, Nasa Indians surround a soldier guarding communication towers on a hill before they forcibly dislodged six soldiers from the outpost. —AP

instead, political. It was clear to everyone during Santos’ visit that the government had no control of the area. A FARC commander held court with reporters at a roadblock less than 5 km away. “This is a political defeat for the Santos government,” said Jorge Restrepo, an analyst at Colombia’s CERAC think tank. “It puts in question his ability to win reelection.”

Santos, a 60-year-old scion of a Bogota newspaper clan, won the presidency on the coattails of Alvaro Uribe, for whom he was defense minister from 2006-2009, a time of impressive military gains against the FARC. Santos has not said whether he will seek re-election in 2014, but his popularity has plummeted as rebel violence mounts. The insurgents have in recent months reverted to traditional hit-and-run tactics, and stepped up attacks on infrastructure including oil facilities. On Friday, they blew up a bridge in Caqueta state in southern Colombia that was vital to oil companies. The trigger for the Toribio upheaval came before dawn on July 6 when rebels rained crude mortars and

grenades on its town center, aiming for the sandbag-shrouded police station. Such munitions rarely hit their mark, and instead tore big chunks out of the brightly colored brick homes surrounding it. Three days later, when the bombardment ended, six people were wounded and about 100 left homeless, said Toribio’s mayor, Ezequiel Vitonas. Four people were wounded in a separate grenade attack on July 8 on a Toribio medical clinic.

The next day, angry Indians tried to dismantle the sandbag wall protecting the police station.

“We can’t take it anymore,” said the governor of the local Nasa reserve, Marcos Yule, counting about 1,000 such attacks in the past few years. The worst had come on July 9, 2011, he said, when the FARC exploded a bus bomb a block from Toribio’s central plaza, killing three people. Santos came to town two days after that anniversary, and later accused some “elements” of the Nasa of being in cahoots with the rebels, a charge that Nasa leaders deny. —AP

SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012

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

12 killed in Brunei helicopter crash Two military cadets survive

MANILA: Hostage taker Remer Parparan points an ice pick at 10-year-old Jason Pineda during a hostage taking incident yesterday. The three-hour incident ended after police officers restrained the hostage taker after which the victim was taken to hospital. — AFP

Two dead, six missing in flood-hit Philippines MANILA: Two people were killed and six others are missing in the Philippines as floods inundated parts of Manila and nearby areas while a storm tore through the country’s north, authorities said yesterday. The civil defence office said rescuers are on standby to help residents evacuate if necessary as creeks and open sewers in the capital overflowed from overnight rains, swamping nearby slums and causing traffic jams. The rains began to ease by midday after plunging some areas in knee-deep waters, but civil defence chief Benito Ramos said he could not rule out further flooding as runoff from nearby mountains descends into Manila Bay. “All that rain up there would eventually find their way here,” he told AFP, referring to the mountains to the east of Manila. “We have CCTV cameras to monitor the (Manila) rivers’ water levels, and we have 44 evacuation centres ready and stocked with food and other items by our local government units,” Ramos said. Army reservists would be called

up to help should evacuations become necessary, he said, while stressing there was no need for large-scale evacuations at the moment.

Local officials in the metropolis of 14 million declared a school holiday as intense rains that Ramos said averaged 30 mm per hour swamped parts of the capital and nearby areas. The state weather service said the rainfall exceeded 40 mm in some areas of Manila.

Ramos said a man had drowned at a swollen creek in the northern town of Naguilian while rescuers retrieved the body of a man who fell into a river late Friday in Lumban, near Manila.

Four fishermen are missing in stormy waters off the northern town of Bolinao, while two children were missing after being swept away in other rivers, he added. A minor storm was moving away from the country’s northwest coast yesterday after dumping rain across the north, Ramos said. However the state weather service said the bad weather in the capital was mostly caused by a seasonal monsoon.— AFP

MARCOS JUAREZ, Argentina: Former Sony engineer Teruo Higo (right) gives instructions to local engineers at a factory in this July 23, 2010 file photo. — AFP

Japanese find second working life abroad TOKYO: After a life of dedication to a corporate cause that in Japan means long hours and few holidays, retirement might be seen as a well deserved rest. But for some, it is a chance to launch a new career. With opportunities at home few and far between, a scheme offering Japan’s seniors the chance to work abroad is increasingly being seen as a good way to keep active during a retirement that can easily last 20 years. As Toshio Hirouchi approached 60, he began to wonder what life would hold for him when he left IT services giant Fujitsu, where he had been working for more than three decades.

He had joined the company in 1973, programming the large-size all-purpose computers that made up the bulk of the industry at the time. “But with the emergence of personal computers, the company wanted younger engineers for PC development. Our generation was forced out from development to administrative branches,” he said. “That change helped me to think about doing something completely new” after retirement, the 66-year-old told AFP. The answer came in the government-run Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), a scheme that recruits volunteers between the ages of 40 and 69 to work abroad. The programme sees up to 470 people sent to more than 60 different countries in Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East every year, where they are tasked with “accelerating crossborder friendship and understanding”, according to the organisation’s website. They are also there to “contribute to the economic and social development” of recipient countries, doing work required by their host communities.

In Hirouchi’s case, this meant editing a history book for newly-arrived Japanese immigrants to Paraguay. So at the age of 58, he hit the books, brushing up his rusty English and learning Spanish from scratch. Interviewing, writing and negotiating with a printing company were all new to him, but Hirouchi relished the challenge. “I discovered that volunteer work is a world where your will and enthusiasm can carve out a new dimension,” he said.

Hirouchi is one of Japan’s post-war baby boom generation that helped engineer the economic miracle of the 1960s and 1970s, catapulting the country into the top ranks of world economies. As Japan developed, the birth rate fell and now stands well below replacement level. Currently those aged 65 or over account for more than 23 percent of Japan’s 127 million people - one of the highest proportions of elderly in the world. That figure is expected to rise to 40 percent by 2060, as Japan’s population shrinks, further stressing public finances already hard pressed by two decades of economic stagnation.

And by 2060, the average man will live to be 84; the average woman to nearly 91, government estimates suggest.

More - and longer living - retirees inevitably means more spending on social security at a time when Japan’s public debt stands at around twice GDP. A government report last month said Japan needed to harness the skills of its greying workers, warning the nation’s economic prospects depend on making them productive.

Japan “needs to realise a society where ageing people can participate in the labour market or in social activities” to boost economic growth, the cabinet office said in a white paper. The paper said many older people were keen to remain economically active. But it added: “That strong desire among ageing people is not resulting in actual job opportunities”. Tetsuo Kawauchi, chief researcher at Japan Organisation for Employment of the Elderly, Persons with Disabilities and Job Seekers (JEED), said JICA as it presently works is useful only to a certain sector of retirees. “People who apply to JICA volunteering are in a relatively good situation as they hold some kind of skills and sizable corporate pension benefits from their former employers, which are often big firms,” he said. “They are seeking a motivation in life rather than income.”

But the challenge for JICA, and for Japan at large, he said, is to find a way to make the benefits of working into twilight years available to everybody. “A large number of retirees in their 60s want to keep working because of economic reasons - worries over costs of caring for their parents, their own medical costs, and declining amounts of pension benefits,” he said. In the meantime, talented seniors like Teruo Higo, former Sony production control expert have found a use for their skills - and a way to keep active and interested. Higo quit Sony at 58 to set up his own company advising small businesses how to improve productivity because he resented the idea of being forced to retire.

Over the following decade he twice went with JICA to Argentina - in 2002 and 2009, each time completing a two-year term. “For retirees, there is no better place than this volunteer scheme in terms of working conditions and compensation,” 72-year-old Higo said. But he added that with the scheme not open to those older than 69, more options are needed. “There are literally no jobs for people in their 70s and 80s,” he said. In Latin America, volunteers receive a monthly pay packet of $1,000 for living costs in addition to dwelling expenses and flight tickets.

“But for retirees, what’s more important than money is to have a job with some responsibility, that could also prevent dementia and save elderly people’s medical costs,” said Higo. — AFP

KUALA LUMPUR: Twelve military personnel including six cadets were killed in a Brunei air force helicopter crash while flying home after jungle training, a spokesman said yesterday.

The crash occurred Friday in Kuala Belait in the oil-rich sultanate on the island of Borneo. “We have 12 fatalities in the helicopter crash. Two military cadets survived the crash,” Brunei air force spokesman Norudin Salleh told AFP. The Brunei defence ministry said the two survivors were in stable condition.

The Bell 212 military aircraft was carrying 14 people including the pilot. The defence ministry on its website said Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah had expressed great sadness and extended his condolences to the families of the victims. “His majesty hoped that they would be patient, and also prayed that the souls of the victims would be blessed and placed with the pious,” it said. It also said that while the “exact circumstances of this tragic incident remain to be determined, the ministry of defence is taking appropriate action to ascertain the facts”.

A local Brunei newspaper, the Borneo Bulletin, described the crash as the “worst tragedy in the history of Brunei’s defence”.

Despite sustaining grievous injuries, one of the two cadets who survived the crash asked: “How is my squad?”, it reported. It said one cadet was being treated for a fractured arm and an injured leg while the other underwent

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah (left) visits a critically injured soldier inside a hospital following a Brunei air force helicopter crash yesterday. — AFP surgery but was in stable condition. The national tragedy struck a day before Brunei’s Muslim population marked the start of the fasting month of Ramadan yesterday. Britain maintains a small garrison and Bell 212 heli-

copter unit in Brunei and runs jungle warfare training courses for the British army. The small oil-rich monarchy on the north coast of Borneo is surrounded by Malaysia’s eastern states of Sarawak and Sabah. — AFP

China says Great Wall longer HAIZIGOU, China: Zhang Lingmian was collecting walnuts in the countryside north of Beijing last autumn when a friend from a nearby village mentioned a mysterious structure in the mountains that had stumped locals. The retired cultural heritage official and his friend scampered uphill for two hours, whacking their way through the brambles after the path ran out. At the top of a 2,700-foot-high ridge, they reached a long trail of haphazardly placed rocks. Zhang says he immediately recognized what villagers called “the strange stones”. “I knew right away it had to be part of the Great Wall of China,” Zhang recalled on a recent hike to show off his discovery, about 50 miles from central Beijing.

Although most of the rocks had tumbled down, a few piles reached up to Zhang’s chest.

“The walls just had to be high enough to keep the barbarians from crossing with their horses,” explained Zhang, who says he has been studying the wall for 33 years. The Great Wall of China may be one of the most recognizable structures on Earth, but it is still in the process of revealing new layers of itself - to cries of disbelief and fury in some quarters. At a time when Beijing is asserting its territorial borders in the South China Sea, the discoveries are not universally applauded.

In early June, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage announced it now believes the Great Wall is a stunning 13,171 miles long, if you put all of the discovered portions end to end. That’s more than half the circumference of the globe, four times the span of the United States coast to coast and nearly 21/2 times the estimated length in a preliminary report released in 2009, two years into a project that saw the Chinese measure it for the first time. To the extent that the Great Wall is a symbol of China, a bigger wall means a bigger China - if only symbolically.

“I’m very suspicious. China wants to rewrite history to make sure history conforms with the borders of today’s China,” said Stephane Mot, a former French diplomat and a blogger based in Seoul, who has accused the Chinese archaeologists of obliterating Korean culture.

Traditionally, the Great Wall was thought to extend from Jiayuguan, a desert oasis 1,000 miles west of Beijing, to Shanhaiguan, 190 miles east of the capital, on the Bohai Sea. In 2001, Chinese archaeologists announced that the wall extended deep into Xinjiang, the northwestern region claimed by the minority Uighurs as their homeland; last month’s announcement brought the eastern bounds of the wall to the North Korean border.

That has outraged Koreans, who say the relics were built by ancient Koreans of the Koguryo kingdom, which occupied much of modern-day Manchuria from 37 BC to AD 688.

“This is a distortion. The Chinese are using the wall to wipe out the Korean legacy, the same as they are doing with the Uighurs and Tibetans,” said Seo Sang-mun, a military historian with Seoul-based Chung-Ang University.

Chinese defend the new measurements. “I would say that these are not necessarily ‘new discoveries.’ Rather, we are looking more carefully at what is on the ground and trying to clarify whether it is the Great Wall or not,” Yan Jianmin, office director of the China Great Wall Society, a nongovernmental organization of scholars and wall enthusiasts.

The survey of the Great Wall’s length involved thousands of people, with 15 provinces and regions submitting the results of their research to Beijing. In all, the State Administration certified 43,721 known sites of Great Wall remains, up from 18,344 before the survey. (Portions of the list were published on

the agency’s website, although it did not include the locations in Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces that are contested by the Koreans.

Maps will not be released because they are considered a state secret.)

The difficulty is in defining what is “the Great Wall” and what is merely, well, an old wall. What most people recognize as the Great Wall is the crenelated brick wall with watch towers and archer slits, the symbol of China from countless postcards and tour guides. But there are many older walls dating from the seventh century that served the common purpose of defending China from invasion from the north.

The late Luo Zhewen, who was considered the top Chinese authority on the subject, once wrote that nothing should be considered the Great Wall unless it was at least 30 miles long, clearly defensive in nature and not circular - as opposed to a wall to keep your sheep from wandering. Others have argued for more inclusive definitions. “There is no consensus about what is Great Wall,” said David Spindler, an American who is considered a leading expert on the subject. He has found a number of previously unrecognized segments, in part by poring over Ming dynasty texts, and he believes that more will be discovered.

The profusion of walls, some overlapping or running parallel, reflects history’s changing boundaries and allegiances, although the constant in the geopolitical equation was the threat from Mongol invaders to the north. “The term ‘Great Wall of China’ now has broader implications. Certainly over the years, people have realized it’s not just the tourist wall ... there are many walls,” said William Lindesay, a British wall explorer who discovered a stretch in Mongolia last fall. “In ancient times, borders were not absolute. There were vast tracts of contested land, and the history of those ancient conflicts can still be found in the most remote places.”

Satellite imagery has made it easier to see previously unrecognized indentations and depressions in the earth that have turned out to be remains of the Great Wall. Shifting desert sands, falling water levels in lakes and reservoirs also have exposed once-concealed remains. In Shaanxi province, less than 20 percent of the wall remains had been discovered before the recent survey, said Li Gong, who headed the effort for the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology in Xian, the provincial capital.

The Chinese government did not include in its list wall locations outside the current borders of China. There are believed to be remains near the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, and Siberia, Russia. In February, Lindesay, the British researcher, released the results of an exploration last year in which he discovered a 62-mile-long stretch made of tamped earth and shrubbery in a closed military area north of the Chinese border in Mongolia.

Lindesay said he first learned about the section of the wall from a 12th century book about Genghis Khan’s military campaigns. It was marked as the “Genghis Khan Wall” on maps, a dark line slivering through the Gobi desert supposedly built by the great Mongol conqueror to fence in herds of gazelle. But Lindesay concluded it was probably built by the Western Xia, a dynasty that ruled parts of northwestern China for two centuries until its conquest by the Mongols in the 13th century.

Although the discovery was widely publicized elsewhere in the world, barely a word has appeared in Mongolia, where antiChinese sentiments are rife. Jack Weatherford, a leading Mongolia expert, wrote in an email from that country’s capital, Ulan Bator: “There has been little reaction here in Mongolia to the ‘Great Wall’ other than to be slightly suspicious as to why people are discussing it and why they are calling it ‘the Great Wall.’ “ — MCT

TOKYO: An elderly man holds a placard to protest against China at a rally yesterday. Some 100 protestors staged the demonstration near the Chinese embassy over disputed islands known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese. — AFP

SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012

international

Taleban ban on polio jabs endangers thousands ISLAMABAD: A Taleban ban on polio vaccinations has made thousands of children vulnerable to the crippling disease in Pakistan, one of only three countries in the world where polio is still prevalent. The ban in northwestern tribal areas was announced this week as a protest against US drone attacks on militants in areas near the Afghan border, where the Al-Qaeda-linked Taleban have sanctuaries. “Over 200,000 children have been left without the vaccine, making them vulnerable,” said Mazhar Nisar, spokesman for the government’s Polio Monitoring Cell.

The ban was first imposed by Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a North Waziristan-based militant leader who has made a peace deal with the army. He charged that spies disguised as paramedics infiltrate the area to facilitate the drone strikes. In neighbouring South Waziristan, progovernment militant leader Maulvi Nazeer circulated leaflets in the main town Wana against the vaccination program. “In the garb of these vaccination campaigns, the US and its allies are running their spying networks in FATA [the Federally Administered Tribal Areas],

which has brought death and destruction in the form of drone strikes,” the leaflets said.

The Tirah Valley and Bara area of Khyber district were also pronounced off-limits for polio vaccinators by local militant commander Mangal Bagh, who heads the Lashkar-e-Islam group. The immunization campaign ran into trouble after the arrest of Dr Shakeel Afridi for allegedly conducting a fake vaccination program to help US spies locate Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. Bin Laden was killed in a US raid in May 2011. Afridi was sentenced in May this year to 33 years in jail by a tribal court under treason laws.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday denied Afridi had carried out any polio campaign, and the Pakistani government has tried to persuade local tribal elders not to link polio vaccinations with the drone attacks, but it has met with no success. The airstrikes sometimes kill innocent people and lead to resentment that favours the insurgency, but Washington refuses to halt them.

A tribal council of elders convened Wednesday in

North Waziristan decided to support the ban on the polio campaign until the attacks are stopped “because innocent people, including children and women, were being killed in such attacks”, Dawn newspaper reported. The ban is not only a blow to Pakistan’s efforts to distance itself from the two other countries where polio is endemic, Afghanistan and Nigeria, but could also threaten recent gains made against the disease.

Pakistan saw its highest number of polio cases in the past few years, with 198 reported in 2011. So far this year, 23 new cases have been reported, but experts said that decline could be reversed and warned that nearly half of the new cases have been reported in the tribal region. The WHO and other international aid agencies have been providing medicine and trying to persuade parents to immunize their children but have had little success so far. “The only way to eradicate polio is to immunize every child, any child that is missed is susceptible to the virus,” said Elias Durry, the WHO’s emergency coordinator for polio eradication in Pakistan. Hurdles to the vaccination

campaign have appeared in areas outside the tribal districts because a widespread suspicion exists that the polio vaccine is actually aimed at reducing fertility among Muslims. Others consider it against Islam.

A local volunteer was beaten by an angry father in an Islamabad suburb Tuesday for insisting that children be given the polio drops. Unknown gunmen attacked a WHO vehicle in the southern port city of Karachi, injuring a doctor and his driver. Both men were supporting the anti-polio campaign. “Incidents like these highlight the incredible bravery of the more than 200,000 mainly Pakistani volunteers who run every vaccination campaign,” the WHO said. “The vaccinators, social mobilizers and frontline staff are the heroes of this campaign.” It vowed to remain committed to immunizations in Pakistan despite the problems, and would seek new strategies to improve the country’s vaccination record. “We will continue to work with the community,” Durry said. “We are also implementing a strategy of immunizing people and children at transit points and major highways.” — dpa

Gunmen kill seven Pakistani soldiers Nine killed in suicide attack

Adil Omar, a 21-year-old Pakistani rapper, has struck a chord with educated Pakistani youngsters. — MCT

Rapper with explosive lyrics breaks taboos ISLAMABAD: In September, rap fans will be treated to the online release of “The Mushroom Cloud Effect”, a hardcore album by a debutant artist featuring collaborations with American powerhouses like B-Real, Xzibit and Everlast.

The improbable star of the album is Adil Omar, a 21-year-old Pakistani who works from a studio in the corner of his bedroom in an affluent suburb of Islamabad. A relative newcomer to Pakistan’s thriving music scene, Omar has struck a chord with educated Pakistani youth who - after five years of Taleban terrorist attacks - are using artistic expression to rebel against the moral policing of their conservative society and being labeled as extremists in the West.

True to the rap genre, Omar’s lyrics are a scornful, frequently abusive commentary on those stereotypes. “I make a terrorist tear a wrist, prepare for his funeral, and I’m way beyond your government’s or parents’ approval,” he rapped in “Paki Rambo”, a 2011 hit whose YouTube video has generated more than 260,000 views. The song also provided the inspiration for the title of his new album, with Omar wryly commenting on the nuclear arms race between Pakistan and its archenemy, India: “There’s no silver lining to a mushroom cloud.”

Just a few years back, Omar said, his lyrics and his decision to drop out of high school to pursue a full-time music career would have been unthinkable in a society where kids generally compete on the basis of exam grades. His freedom came in part because of his father’s death from an illness when Omar was just 10. Three years later, Omar recorded his first songs and embarked on a music career that his mother, Zainab Omar, a former TV show host, has come to terms with.

The “Paki Rambo” video earned him a nomination for Pakistan’s top entertainment honor, the Lux Style Awards, an unexpected prize considering his explicit lyrics. “Adil Omar is super talented, and I say this even though I have a love-hate relationship with rap,” said Fifi Haroon, Pakistan’s top music critic.

Omar differs from his contemporaries in that he sings not in the native Urdu language but in English, which also is widely spoken in India and has helped propel Pakistani acts to stardom there.

That language barrier has traditionally meant that Pakistan’s biggest acts haven’t broken into the international mainstream. But while political relations between the United States and Pakistan remain badly strained - especially since the US raid that found and killed Osama bin Laden north of Islamabad last year - a new generation of artists closely identifies with Pakistani-Americans like Grammy nominee Nadia Ali, who gained fame as the singer of the 2001 hit dance track “Rapture”.

Ali has stayed in touch with her Pakistani fans through online chats and has inspired the emergence of cutting-

edge electronic dance performers, notably Talal Qureshi and DJ Barrister, the stage name of lawyer Assad Saifullah.

Their biggest challenge has been to overcome social taboos. For centuries, the performing arts in what is now Pakistan have been the domain of a professional courtesan class, the Kanjar, and the Murasi musicians who worked for them. Both terms are still commonly used as pejoratives, but educated youngsters are now dictating a new social narrative in which singing, modeling, acting and filmmaking are desirable.

“Five years ago, it was unthinkable, socially, for kids, and especially girls, to perform in commercial stage plays or take roles in music videos,” said Iyla Hussain, a 19-year-old theater actress in Islamabad. “Now we are beginning to break down those barriers. We’ve had to fight for this, at home, as well as against terrorists.”

Like her contemporaries, she grew up during the height of Pakistan’s terrorist insurgency. In 2007, stick-wielding extremists from a nearby militant mosque besieged her school, and she helped the younger students clamber up ladders over the school’s back wall to escape. The following year, the Taleban assassinated a classmate’s father, a politician.

That generation of Pakistani artists lived under virtual siege for about three years, having to endure the cancellation of one event after another because of the threat of Taliban attacks. They have since decided to ignore the threats. “We reached the point where we were sick of being confined by this security drama and decided to move on,” Hussain said.

These young Pakistanis’ biggest weapon is the Internet. Omar will release “The Mushroom Cloud Effect” on iTunes and YouTube - in part because it is practically impossible to prevent copyright theft in Pakistan’s unruly marketplace - although he does plan a limited CD release. It was on YouTube that one of Omar’s early videos was viewed in 2007 by B-Real, lead rapper of the American hip-hop group Cypress Hill.

Then 16, Omar was working on his debut album at the time and was a few tracks short of completing it. He and BReal got to chatting on the MySpace social media site and B-Real casually offered to work with him - if he could make it to Los Angeles.

His family paid his airfare, and soon Omar was rubbing shoulders with music industry stalwarts like the producer Farid Karam Nassar, better known as Fredwreck. From his online interaction with American music fans, Omar believes the terrorist violence that plagues Pakistan has given him an ironic creative advantage. “It’s just a very volatile place, and that adds an edge to people here,” he said. “Pakistani music has an indescribable element that seems to draw Americans to it.” — MCT

QUETTA, Pakistan: Gunmen shot dead seven soldiers at a checkpoint in Pakistan’s insurgencyhit southwestern province of Baluchistan yesterday, officials said, as violence marred the start of Ramadan. “Armed men surrounded Pashookan post of Pakistan coast guards near the town of Gwadar and gunned down seven soldiers,” local administration chief Sohailur Rehman said, adding that three other soldiers were wounded.

The assailants, believed to be about a dozen, fled on motorbikes after the shooting, another official Rehmat Dashti told AFP. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in Gwadar - a port town that has seen a construction boom over the past decade as part of Pakistan’s plans to develop it, with Chinese help, into a trading hub. Baluchistan suffers from Islamist militancy, sectarian violence between Sunni and Shiite Muslims and a separatist insurgency which also targets government officials and security agencies. The impoverished province is one of the most deprived areas of Pakistan where Baluch rebels rose up in 2004, demanding political autonomy and a greater share of profits from the oil, gas and mineral resources in the region.

Last week Pakistan’s top judge accused paramilitary forces of involvement in a third of all disappearances in Baluchistan, where the military has been accused of rights violations in its bid to put down the insurgency. Elsewhere, at least twelve people were killed and a further 24 wounded in two bomb attacks in northwest Pakistan, in separate incidents which also occurred yesterday, according to officials. At least nine people were killed when a suicide bomber blew up his explosive-laden car in the Kurram tribal district, while three people were killed when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in Upper Dir district.

The suicide bomber detonated his vehicle just outside the compound of anti-Taliban militant commander Maulana Nabi, in the town of Spin Tal near the Afghan border, senior adminis-

UPPER DIR, Pakistan: Pakistani paramedics treat an injured bomb blast victim at a hospital yesterday. — AFP tration official Zakir Hussain said. “It was a suicide attack, the target was militant commander Nabi’s centre,” Hussain told AFP, adding 16 others were wounded. Nabi’s guards stopped the vehicle and the attacker blew his car up after he failed to enter the compound, he said, but residents added that he survived the attack.

Earlier, an improvised explosive device ripped through a pick-up truck in another northwestern Pakistani town, killing three people inside the vehicle, officials said. The bomb “was detonated using a remote controlled device” near the town of Dhog Darra in Upper Dir district, regional police chief Ehsanullah Khan said.

He added that eight were wounded in the

attack. There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attack, but an intelligence official in Upper Dir told AFP the attackers were followers of Maulana Fazlullah, a radical cleric from the Swat valley, who fled into Afghanistan following a military offensive.

Much of Pakistan, a key US ally in the war on Al-Qaeda and the 10-year fight against the Taleban in neighbouring Afghanistan, suffers from near daily Islamist militant violence.

According to an AFP tally, attacks blamed on Islamists have killed more than 5,100 people in Pakistan since government troops raided an extremist mosque in the capital Islamabad five years ago. — AFP

Sex workers denied US visa hold their own AIDS meet KOLKATA: Hundreds of sex workers from around the world who said they were denied visas to attend an international AIDS conference in the United States began their own meeting in Kolkata yesterday in protest. Some 550 representatives of sex workers from India and 41 other countries were attending the seven-day event in the eastern Indian city, organisers said. “Sex workers wanted to be a part of the US conference to fight the challenge of HIV/AIDS across the world,” said Bharati De, secretary of the Committee for Coordination of Indomitable Women, which represents sex workers in Kolkata.

India’s AIDS control program has cut new HIV/AIDS infections by 50 percent in the last 10 years. The country has an estimated 2.4 million people with HIV. One of India’s key strategies has been to scale up preventive education campaigns among high-risk groups such as sex workers. But despite the significant drop in fresh cases, India still has the highest number of people living with HIV after South Africa and Nigeria. The Indian con-

ference has been called the sex workers’ “Freedom Festival”.

The Kolkata meeting will deliberate on the “Seven Freedoms” - the right to move, work, have access to healthcare, participate, organise, be free of violence and discrimination without which sex workers say they cannot reduce their vulnerability to HIV. “Sex workers have decided to hold a parallel conference here in Kolkata to make their voices heard,” Smarajit Jana, chairwoman of the Indian event, told AFP. “We hope this conference will make sex workers’ voices louder and stronger,” Jana said outside the conference auditorium on the eastern fringes of the West Bengal state capital.

Held every two years, the International AIDS Conference is returning to the United States for the first time since 1990, after being kept away by laws that barred people with HIV from travelling to the country. Some 25,000 people, including celebrities, scientists and HIV sufferers are expected to attend the US conference which opens today to call for a

jumpstart in the global response to the threedecade AIDS epidemic. The US conference runs until July 27.

But “the US government’s travel restriction for sex workers will bar many of them from attending the conference”, Andrew Hunter, president of the Global Network of Sex Work Projects, said in Kolkata. “With the US now leading the fight for lesbian, gay and transgender equality, we are extremely disappointed they refuse to revise their restrictions on sex workers and refuse to recognise we’re human beings with basic rights,” he added.

Kolkata sex worker Bharati De said she was disappointed she could not go to Washington. “The restrictions imposed by the US on granting visas to sex workers have dashed our hopes of sharing our opinions with others,” she told AFP. More than 34 million people worldwide are living with HIV, a higher number than ever before, and around 30 million have died from AIDS-related causes since the disease first emerged in the 1980s, according to UNAIDS. —AFP

18 die as bus plunges into gorge in India GAUHATI, India: A government official in India said 18 people are dead after a bus fell into a deep gorge after being hit by hurtling boulders during a landslide in the mountainous northeast. Another 17 people are injured. Arunachal Pradesh state Transport Minister Zoram Sangliana says the bus plunged about 45 meters into the gorge early yesterday near Keifang, a village 100 kilometers east of Aizawl, the state capital. Monsoon rains triggered the landslide in the region.

The injured have been taken to a nearby hospital, Sangliana told AP. India has the world’s deadliest roads, with more than 110,000 people killed every year. Most crashes are blamed on reckless driving, poorly maintained roads and ageing vehicles. — AP

KOLKATA: Supporters of Trinamool Congress party hold a cutout of their leader Mamata Banerjee during a Martyrs’ Day rally yesterday. The rally was held to commemorate a 1993 police firing which killed 13 youth activists. — AP

SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012

NEWS

AHMEDABAD: Indian villagers stand near a group of centipedes at Lavad village, about 35 kilometers from Ahmedabad yesterday. Millions of centipedes have surfaced in Lavad village invading kitchens, homes and schools, forcing village authorities to close school and nearly half of the 6,000 population to temporarily migrate, a newspaper reported. — AP

Hollywood puts box office on mute after shootings NEW YORK: Hollywood studios are aligning in a rare show of solidarity to give their weekend box-office reporting a rest because of the shootings in Colorado at a screening of “The Dark Knight Rises.”

Sony, Fox, Disney and Universal said yesterday that they are joining “Dark Knight Rises” distributor Warner Bros. in withholding their box-office numbers for the weekend. Warner Bros. announced Friday that it would forgo the usual revenue reports until Monday out of respect for the victims and their families in the shooting that killed 12 and wounded 58 at the midnight show earlier in the day. Sony, Disney and Universal said they would not be reporting numbers until Monday, while Chris Aronson, head of distribution for Fox, said the studio plans to still announce box-office receipts Sunday.

Paramount and Lionsgate did not immediately say whether they were joining as well.

Sunday box-office estimates are a weekly routine for Hollywood, with studios jostling for bragging rights as the No 1 movie and always aiming to break revenue records.

Before the shooting in an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater at a midnight screening of the new Batman film, the box-office performance of “The Dark Knight Rises” had been eagerly anticipated. The film is expected to be among the most lucrative movie openings and possibly contend with the record $207.4 million brought in by “The Avengers.”

But that now appears unlikely, even though “The Dark Knight Rises” earned $30.6 million from midnight screenings alone. Warner Bros. rushed to react to the tragedy, immediately canceling a Friday night premiere in Paris.

Yesterday, it also canceled the other remaining red-carpet extravaganzas in Mexico City and Tokyo.

The studio, a subsidiary of Time Warner Inc, also moved to pull trailers from its upcoming film “Gangster Squad” from theaters. The trailer of the film, which stars Sean Penn and Ryan Gosling in a ruthless war between Los Angeles police and the mob, includes a scene of mobsters firing into a crowded movie theater from behind the screen. — AP

Turkish truck drivers accuse rebel fighters of looting

CILVEGOZU, Turkey: Dozens of Turkish truck drivers yesterday accused Free Syrian Army rebels of having burned and looted their lorries as they captured a border post in Syria from government troops. A group of truck owners, traders and transporters who have braved Syria’s highways despite the bloody conflict have been waiting since Friday at Turkey’s Cilvegozu border crossing, opposite Syria’s Bab Al-Hawa post. Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebel fighters captured the border post in their battle against President Bashar Al-Assad’s loyalist troops.

“We barely escaped when the rebel fighters took full control of the Bab AlHawa border post in Syria,” said Hasan Abbasoglu as he had retrieved his vehicle from Syria after the looting. While the truck was not damaged, its cargo had been ransacked. And he had to pay $700 (575 euros) in bribes to get his truck back, he said. “I’ve been exporting

carpets via the Syrian border crossing for seven years,” he told AFP. “But this time we narrowly escaped with our lives.”

Members of the Free Syrian Army had done nothing to stop the looting, he complained.

Later yesterday, after a meeting of local officials on the issue, the governor of the Hatay province in southern Turkey blamed “independent groups” for the looting, without specifying who these groups were. Nineteen out of 30 trucks had been returned to their owners. Another nine or so were burned out, and the rest were still being held inside Syria, Celalettin Lekesiz told reporters.

The FSA is made up of mainly army defectors fighting against the Damascus regime and some of its leaders are based in Turkish camps along the border. Thursday’s fighting saw Syrian rebels seize the border crossing

with Turkey, prompting an all-out assault by the regime in Damascus to regain the lost border posts, also including one on the Iraq border.

At Bab Al-Hawa, just four kilometers (2.5 miles) from Cilvegozu, Syrian rebels ransacked customs buildings and pulled cargo from the back of stranded trucks. Abbasoglu was relatively lucky: he at least got his truck back. “All of our trucks were burned,” said trader Ali Cengiz, who exports goods to Saudi Arabia via Syria. “The rebel fighters destroyed our trucks during the clashes.”

Ali Celik, who runs a road haulage company, looked over the border into Syria, but he did not hold out much hope for his merchandise. His trucks were stranded at Bab Al-Hawa, he said. “We sent tow-trucks to retrieve our vehicles but we have received no information so far,” he said. He pointed out his trading partner. “He is very disappointed,” he said.

“He doesn’t want to speak.” — AP

ASSOMADA: A man runs away from the flames as a wildfire rages near the houses in Assomada, on Madeira Island, yesterday. More than 1,000 fire fighters and rescuers backed by helicopters and water bombing planes battled yesterday to douse a forest fire in Portugal’s southern Algarve region, a top tourist draw. — AFP

How to welcome Ramadan Continued from Page 1 luxuries that some people enjoy today and consequently condemn how modernity has come to the forefront taking attention away from what Ramadan strives to instill within us. Large-scale productions for a multitude of channels on television are marketed well before Ramadan is upon us and the same can be said of staple foods such as the oh-so-famous samosa pastry. As soon as you step into a local supermarket, you are bombarded with new arrivals and reduced prices.

Serials take up slots during the day when people are incredibly lazy and counting down the minutes until they can break their fast but there are more profitable ways in which you can use up your time. I hate to spell it out but Ramadan can be traced back to a host of reasons and it would do Muslims good to abide by why it was put in place. Why not take an hour or so to read some verses/suras of the Qur’an? Also, it is always recommended to make social calls during Ramadan. This is, after all, a time for families to come together more so than they typically do throughout the year so if you have hours to spare, calling on relatives is an advantageous way to spend them.

There should definitely be a change in behavior during Ramadan and this would ideally cross over into everyday life but does it really need to? In other words,

one would assume that any well-off individual who is effectively part of a functioning society displays humane attributes such as compassion and kindness. This can also be translated into giving charity whether it is at Zakat (Compulsory Charity) Houses or occasionally giving to the needy that populate several districts in Kuwait. You will end up feeling good about yourself but more importantly, one should always seek to help the less fortunate in whatever way possible. This is why I tend to avoid categorizing these actions under a certain time of period because they should be innate aspects of your being and subsequently practiced on a regular basis.

What it comes down to in the end is becoming a better human being. Welcome this joyous time with happiness and you are sure to receive it in return. The key is not to place so much emphasis on the temporal and forget the hustle and bustle of our busy lives. So many of us Muslims forget our purpose here on planet Earth and Ramadan is only one of many methods that remind us of it. Have a blessed Ramadan!

Cour tesy 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

Families flee Aleppo, rebels hold key posts Continued from Page 1 ordered its security forces not to allow them to cross into the country.

“At 5:00 pm (1400 GMT), some gunmen took control of the Yaribiyah crossing and they were informed that the crossing is now in the hands of the Free Syrian Army,” said Atheel Al-Nujaifi, governor of the Iraqi province of Nineveh, referring to the Rabiyah crossing by its Syrian name.

He told AFP that because the official working hours of the crossing ended at 4:00 pm, Iraqi officials had already closed their side of the border when it was taken over by Syrian rebels.

“But starting tomorrow, only Iraqis will be allowed to enter from Syria to Iraq,” he said. “We don’t know the nature of the side that we are dealing with and until then, we have to wait and see, and we will only give permission to Iraqis to cross the border from Syria to Iraq.”

Iraqi border guards First Lieutenant Mohammed Khalaf Al-Shammari, stationed on the Iraqi side of the crossing, said that rebels “raised the flag of the Free Syrian Army and tore up pictures of (President) Bashar Al-Assad.” Shammari said there was little movement on the Syrian side.

Deputy Interior Minister Adnan Al-Assadi said Albu Kamal and Rabiyah were under the control of Syrian rebels.

He had said on Thursday that all three crossings were under their control. Albu Kamal is the Syrian name of the crossing known in Iraq as Al-Qaim, which lies 340 kilometres (210 miles) west of Baghdad in Anbar province. Syrian rebels have held it since Thursday, and despite government forces having heavily shelled it on Friday night, it remained in their control yesterday.

And at Al-Waleed, along the southern edge of the 600kilometre (375-mile) border between the two countries, 150 Syrian families tried to cross into Iraq but were not allowed. “Iraqi authorities did not let them in, because there are official orders to not receive any refugees,” Iraqi border police Captain Ziad Al-Rawi said.

Speaking in Croatia yesterday, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said he was “deeply distressed by the rising death toll,” warning that the limited extension of the UN mission showed “the onus is above all on the parties, with the Syrian government in the first place who must stop the killings.” And French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said in Paris that it was time “for the opposition to get going and take over the reins of the country.”

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported fighting in several districts of Aleppo, including in the central Salaheddin district. “Violent clashes are taking place between Syrian regime forces and rebel fighters in the Sakhur neighbourhood and the Haydariya area,” it said, adding troops were “using heavy machineguns and artillery.”

The Local Coordination Committees-a grassroots activist network-reported “an exodus of residents from the (Salaheddin) neighborhood because of fear of regime bombardment and an offensive.” In Damascus, residents said the city was largely calm after days of heavy clashes, although fighting was reported in Al-Hajar Al-Aswad and Tadamon districts and the Observatory said at least seven people were killed in the capital.

A resident of the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmuk, on the outskirts of the capital, said he had not left since Wednesday. “It’s dangerous to leave the camp because there are snipers posted at the entrance and they shoot at any gathering.”

The group’s head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP that the Kurdish region near Aleppo surrounding the town of Afrin had “fallen to the resistance” this week.

“The authorities now only really control some 50 to 60 percent of the country,” he said.

By mid-afternoon, the Observatory said the nationwide death toll stood at 24, including 12 civilians, four soldiers and eight rebels. And in Homs, a mutiny was underway at the town’s central prison, an activist told AFP, saying he feared “a massacre” at the facility, which was surrounded by tanks after several guards defected and prisoners took over part of the jail.

The pace of violence in the country has ramped up in recent days, particularly after a Wednesday bombingclaimed by the rebel Free Syrian Army which killed four senior regime members, including national security chief General Hisham Ikhtiyar, who died of his wounds on Friday.

The others killed in the blast, Defence Minister General Daoud Rajha, Assad’s brother-in-law Assef Shawkat and General Hassan Turkmani, head of the regime’s crisis cell on the uprising, were given a state funeral on Friday.

The nationwide death toll the day after the attack stood at 302 people, the highest of the 16-month uprising, the Observatory said. On several of Syria’s borders rebel forces were trying to take or hold crossing points. Iraqi officials said rebel forces had held onto the Albu Kamal crossing on the Euphrates river after capturing it on Thursday, and that fighters had retaken the Rabiyah crossing on the northern border between the two countries. A third crossing between the two was still controlled by regime forces.

Rebels also reportedly held the Bab Al-Hawa crossing between Turkey and Syria, with truck drivers arriving in Turkey accusing the fighters of looting their vehicles. And in Jordan, a security official told AFP that Free Syrian Army fighters had tried to overrun the Nassib border crossing, but were repulsed by government troops. UN Security Council permanent members Russia and China on Friday both voted in favor of a resolution extending the mandate of UNSMIS for a “final” 30 days, after blocking an earlier text that could have imposed sanctions. — Agencies

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SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012

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Still options for under-pressure Assad: Experts

By Deborah Pasmantier

fight to the death to keep Damascus, a fall back to his Alawite strongholds or even exile abroad-experts say Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad must be considering a range of choices in the face of an armed rebellion. And each, they say, is fraught with risks.

For now the embattled leader’s focus is on retaining control of the capital, where Syrian forces launched an all-out assault on opposition strongholds on Friday two days after a bomb attack killed four senior members of the regime.

“As long as Assad controls the capital, he controls the government and has legitimate power,” said Fabrice Balanche, an analyst with the Mediterranean and Middle East Studies and Research Group in Paris. “The redeployment of troops from the Golan and the Iraqi border to the capital, at the risk of stripping other fronts, shows that he is going to stay,” Balanche said. “ There is a scorched earth dimension in Damascus,” said a source with close knowledge of the regime, adding that the idea seemed to be to hold on to areas almost to the bitter end and “fall back if you don’t succeed”. If Damascus was lost, experts believe there are plans for Assad to seek refuge among his minority Alawite ethnic group in the northeastern mountains of the country.

Regime opponents have for months contended that Assad and his allies have been stockpiling arms, including heavy weapons, in the area.

“It is very likely that he will embark on a desperate battle from this redoubt,” said Joseph Bahout, a Middle East analyst at the Paris-based Institute for Political Studies. “ The defense could last for months,” he said, adding that the conflict could then take on an ethnic dimension, as a battle between Alawites and the country’s Sunni majority. “(Assad) is perhaps hoping that this will entail an international response to put an end to the conflict with a partition” that would allow Assad’s regime to survive in some form, Bahout said. But as the region is a mixed one that is home not only to Alawites, this option could lead to an especially bloody civil conflict, experts said.

“This region will fiercely defend its territory. To create a redoubt would require uniformity and there are fears of ethnic cleansing,” said Thomas Pierret, a Syria expert at the University of Edinburgh.

Several experts said there was also a chance that the Alawites would decide Assad was doing more harm than good and turn against him. “Ultimately he could be rejected by the Alawites as someone who failed to protect the community and may be sacrificed,” Balanche said.

As for a Yemen-style regime-led transition that would see Assad leave power in exchange for immunity, experts said that option was becoming less likely by the day. “I don’t think a regime-led transition is possible in Syria given the blood that has been shed and the battles we are going to see.

This regime is not going to give up easily, trust me,” said Salman Shaikh, a Syria expert at the Brookings Doha Centre.

That leaves potential exile as an option, with countries including Russia, Iran and Belarus often mentioned as possible destinations. The source with close knowledge of the regime said Assad could escape by boat from Tartus or by plane from Damascus.

But that might not resolve the crisis, the source said, and could leave behind powerful regime figures who would be “tempted to go even further with the horror”. —AFP

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

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

Shooting may not spur gun laws changes

By John Whitesides and David Ingram enver Mayor Michael Hancock is a member of a coalition called Mayors Against Illegal Guns, but when he issued a statement expressing shock and horror on Friday after a mass shooting at a Colorado movie theater, he had nothing to say about gun control.

Neither did President Barack Obama nor his Republican rival Mitt Romney, though both canceled campaign speeches on Friday and expressed sorrow for the victims of the shooting rampage.

The killing of 12 people at a midnight screening of the new Batman movie in the Denver suburb of Aurora may spark a fresh round of soul-searching on America’s relationship with guns but few predict any real change in the law. That’s because gun control advocates have largely lost the argument against the much more powerful gun lobby, and politicians know the issue is toxic with voters. One of the few politicians who has long taken a stand is New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire backer of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a coalition of mayors advocating for stricter rules on gun sales and ownership.

Speaking on WOR Radio on Friday, Bloomberg called on Obama and Romney to tell the public what they would do to reduce gun violence. “Soothing words are nice, but maybe it’s time that the two people who want to be president of the United States stand up and tell us what they are going to do about it,” he said.

“I don’t think there’s any other developed country in the world that has remotely the problem we have,” Bloomberg said. “We have more guns than people in this country.”

Most Americans, however, do not believe that tougher gun laws would be the solution.

Gallup polls over the last two decades show the percentage of Americans who favor making gun control laws “more strict” fell from 78 percent in 1990 to 44 percent in 2010.

The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, the largest and oldest of America’s gun-control groups, is a fraction of its peak size. The center and an affiliated political arm had revenue of $5.9 million in 2010, the most recent year for which information is publicly available - down 27 percent in three years.

In the same year, the powerful pro-gun lobby, the National Rifle Association (NRA), and its various components took in $253 million from individuals, gun makers and sellers and other supporters.

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Even Democratic supporters of efforts to keep a tighter rein on weapons were relatively mum after the shooting. Democrats in conservative and rural states fear alienating gun owners and the NRA, and crucial presidential battleground states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Virginia, Iowa and North Carolina have large populations of enthusiastic gun owners.

“We’re in the summer before a presidential election and I really don’t foresee any serious discussion of gun control,” said Kristin Goss of Duke University, the author of “Disarmed: The Missing Movement for Gun Control in America.” Some supporters of Democrat Al Gore still believe his support for gun control laws played a role in his loss of the 2000 presidential election, and “memories of lost elec-

semiautomatic rifles expired in 2004. Some states have loosened gun laws to allow gun owners to carry concealed weapons or adopted “Stand Your Ground” self-defense laws.

A Reuters-Ipsos poll in April found most Americans supported the right to use deadly force to protect themselves, and two of every three respondents had a favorable view of the NRA, which marshals thousands of activists to oppose even small-scale gun egulations and punish lawmakers who challenge them. “There are strong forces in American politics, led by the National Rifle Association, that have prevented any real changes in gun control laws in years,” said Cal Jillson, a political analyst at Southern Methodist University in Texas.

“In the short term, this incident will give

AURORA: Hand-written signs are posted at a makeshift memorial across the street from the Century 16 movie theater the day after a gunman killed 12 people and injured 59 during an early morning screening of ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ yesterday. —AFP tions loom large for politicians,” Goss said.

Evan Bayh, a former Democratic senator from the conservative state of Indiana, described the dilemma facing Democrats who favor gun control and live in Republican-leaning states.

“You have a lot of people who feel passionately about that issue. ... So, many members of Congress are faced with the decision: Do they sacrifice all the other good they hope to accomplish for this one issue? And do they sacrifice their own careers for this one issue?”

Congress has not approved any major new gun laws since 1994, and a ban on certain

some liberal Democrats an opportunity to talk about gun control in an environment where people are listening, but in the long term it doesn’t change anything,” he said.

Other high-profile gun-related mass shootings in recent years - the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007 and the shooting of US Representative Gabrielle Giffords and others in Arizona in January 2011 - also sparked some short-term debate but little action.

Opponents of stricter gun control point to events such as last year’s killing of 77 people in Norway, which like the rest of Europe has

much tighter controls on guns than the United States, as evidence that gun laws don’t stop such tragedies.

The NRA said in a statement: “Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families and the community. NRA will not have any further comment until all the facts are known.”

Mayor Hancock of Denver, a Democrat, issued a statement saying it was a tragic day and pledging support for those affected by this “senseless, senseless” act. “Our hearts are broken but we are determined to move forward together,” he said.

Obama, who supported the lapsed assault weapons ban during the 2008 campaign, has made no effort as president to curb gun rights and has rarely discussed the issue.

Many gun enthusiasts still distrust him, however, and the NRA uses the specter of a potential second term for Obama - when he would be unrestrained by the demands of reelection - to raise money and keep its conservative base on edge.

The NRA spent at least $40 million in 2008 to try to defeat Obama, who famously told the audience at a California fund raiser in April 2008 that it was not surprising that small town and rural residents in states like Pennsylvania “get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them.”

Romney, a former governor in liberal Massachusetts, has courted the NRA and its followers in recent years with promises to support their rights but has offered few details and earned little enthusiasm.

He got a tepid response at the NRA convention in April, when fewer than 200 of his 2,600-word speech was devoted to gun rights or gun issues. Some gun enthusiasts remember Romney’s 2007 quote during his first run for president that he was “not a big-game hunter, I’ve always been a rodent and rabbit hunter. Small varmints, if you will.”

Jim Kessler, former policy director for Americans for Gun Safety, said guns owners far outnumber victims of gun crime, so the odds are stacked against gun control advocates. Some 32 percent of households owned a gun in 2010.

Moreover, it often isn’t immediately apparent what gun laws would have made a difference in specific cases. “When there’s a crime such as this, it often takes a few days of police work to figure out if a gun loophole has been evaded to cause the crime or if there has been a hole in the gun laws to allow someone to get the guns,” he said. —Reuters

US must work ‘outside UN’ to aid Syrian rebels

By Nicolas Revise fter the Russian and Chinese veto of a UN resolution on Syria, America must use back channels to bolster its support for rebel forces as US military involvement is not an option, analysts said.

Although the conflict is intensifying, Moscow and Beijing opted Thursday to oppose for the third time a UN Security Council proposal that could have placed sanctions on Syrian President Bashar alAssad’s regime. The rejection angered the West and prompted the United States to state that it would now act outside of the council to confront Assad, although Russia insists such action would undermine the authority of the UN. Experts, however, believe US support from behind the scenes is the only way to place the necessary pressure on Assad that could

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ultimately deliver the democratic transition that Washington and other Western nations seek in Syria. “The US and other key actors need to step up their covert support for the opposition,” said Salman Shaikh, director of the Brookings Doha Center.

“There needs to be a decision made now, a very clear decision: do you support these guys, or do you let them be routed over a period of time?”

The United States has repeatedly ruled out military intervention in Syria. And although Washington can probably not supply rebel forces with arms-as Saudi Arabia and Qatar have done-the United States has “elements and options which it can use,” such as hi-tech communications and intelligence, the analyst said.

“Whether it has decided to use them, I am much more skeptical,” added Shaikh, whose work focuses on mediation and conflict resolu-

tion in the Middle East. “We are now entering a very critical and dangerous phase on the ground.

The regime is going to be unleashing increasingly all of its firepower.”

In the wake of the Russian and Chinese veto, US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice said Washington would “intensify” its efforts “outside the Security Council” to bring pressure to bear on Assad, and assist “those in need.” A spokesman at the State Department, Patrick Ventrell, echoed Rice’s remarks, noting that the UN route was only “one part” of the US strategy to secure political change in Syria. “We have many partners who will continue to work with us outside the Security Council,” he said, referring to the Arab League and more than 100 countries from the Friends of Syria grouping. Some 16 months into the conflict, however, Assad remains in power and his forces on Friday unleashed an all-out

assault on opposition strongholds in the capital Damascus, where the rebels have made inroads in recent weeks. Rebel fighters also clashed with government troops in several neighborhoods of Aleppo in what the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said was the fiercest fighting so far in Syria’s second city.

Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations think tank and an experienced former US diplomat, said failure to agree a UN resolution does not preclude Western nations from pushing for Assad’s exit through other means.

These could include building up the political appeal of Syria’s opposition and pushing for war crimes indictments against Assad and his inner circle, as well as planning for strikes against Syria’s chemical weapons. “The United States and other like-minded governments should not equate the United Nations with multilateral-

ism, nor should they see the UN as having a monopoly on legitimacy,” Haass, who succeeded George Mitchell as the US special envoy for Northern Ireland, wrote in an article on the think tank’s website.

“To the contrary, they should form a coalition of the willing and able, composed of NATO countries, selected Arab governments, and others that are committed to increasing sanctions against not just Syria but those countries supporting it.”

However, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, a Brazilian diplomat and president of a UN panel probing human rights abuses in Syria, said such an initiative organized outside of UN auspices, such as through NATO, was “impossible.” “A foreign military adventure would be a disaster for Syria and its neighbors,” he said, noting US President Barack Obama’s continued unwillingness to back military intervention. —AFP

SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012

Crusaders stop Bulls charge Reds blown away as Sharks

CHRISTCHURCH: Dan Carter booted 23 points as the Canterbury Crusaders reached the Super Rugby semi-finals with a 28-13 victory over the Bulls at Rugby League Park yesterday.

The Bulls outscored the home side by two tries to one but Carter kept the scoreboard ticking over, punishing the South Africans for conceding a string of penalties in Christchurch.

Zac Guildford scored the Crusaders’ only try midway through the first half and the Bulls had left themselves with too much to do by the time Dewald Potgieter and Wynand Olivier touched down in the last 18 minutes.

Last year’s runners-up head into next weekend’s semi-finals bidding to keep alive their chances of adding to their record seven titles.

The Bulls set out to disrupt the Crusaders from the start but sloppy errors handed the home side some easy early shots at goal for a lead the New Zealanders never looked like relinquishing. “”Especially in that first 40 minutes, we played at the right end of the field and we didn’t give them any momentum,” Crusaders captain Richie McCaw told Fox Sports. “”I thought we limited our mistakes and discipline was good because they applied pressure.”

Carter kicked his side into a 6-0 lead before setting up Guildford for his try, drawing in two defenders on the 22 before slipping a short pass that sent his teammate through the gap.

The wing touched down behind the posts to give Carter a simple conver-

sion. With the Bulls unable to gain a foothold, Carter then stretched the lead by another three points.

Advantage was being played for an offside when the No. 10 swivelled to pick up a ball he had spilled and dropped a goal with his less favored right foot.

A long-range Morne Steyn shot at goal which reduced the deficit to 16-3 at halftime was the Bulls’ first score in 117 minutes at Rugby League Park, having lost 27-0 last season.

The Bulls returned to the pitch seemingly invigorated after the inter-

val but their fierce tackling only gifted the Crusaders another three points when a late hit on Ellis gave Carter another penalty, which he easily converted.

It was soon 22-3 when Carter smacked over another penalty via the post after he was felled by a high challenge. Potgieter worked his way over in the corner following a surge from a lineout and Olivier reduced the arrears further but both efforts went unconverted. Carter subsequently rubbed salt in the wound with his fifth and sixth successful penalties. — Reuters

CHRISTCHURCH: Morne Steyn of the Bulls kicks a conversion during the rugby union Super 15 match between the Canterbury Crusaders and the Northern Bulls. — AFP

reach Super Rugby semis

BRISBANE: The Sharks blew away the Queensland Reds to reach the Super Rugby semi-finals with a 30-17 win at Lang Park yesterday.

JP Pietersen and Paul Jordaan touched down as the South Africans surged into an early 17-0 lead before Charl McLeod killed off any hope of a Reds’ comeback at the start of the second period with an intercept try from inside his own half.

Will Genia scored for the home side just before halftime and the Reds were unable to make their concerted pressure tell until Radike Samo went over from the final move of the match.

The Sharks’ victory in Brisbane set up an all-South African semifinal next week against the Stormers. The Reds had won 21 of their previous 23 games at Lang Park but a stunning display of running rugby and ferocious breakdown work laid the groundwork for the Sharks. “”It was an epic game of rugby and the tempo was right there from the off,” Sharks captain Keegan Daniel told Fox Sports. The Sharks worked the ball out wide at every opportunity and Pietersen scored following a turnover, cutting inside his opposite number to cross for his fifth try of the season.

Frederic Michalak had already put the Sharks ahead with a penalty and the France international converted for 10-0 after just 12 minutes.

Ben Lucas, replacing the suspended Quade Cooper, had to be helped from the field after rolling his ankle in a tackle and things got even worse for the Reds when Jordaan went over from another move down the Sharks’ right wing.

Michalak made it 17-0 and, although Mike Harris trimmed the deficit with a penalty, the Frenchman dropped a goal to keep the home side under the cosh.

Genia filled in for Lucas as playmaker and gave the defending champions some hope, exchanging passes with Scott Higginbotham on the left and diving over for a try that Harris converted for 20-10 at halftime. But Genia’s inexperience at 10 showed after the restart when he telegraphed a long pass that McLeod plucked from the air to sprint in unchallenged and touch down

BRISBANE: Sharks player Ryan Kankowski (right0 and Reds player Luke Morahan battle for the ball during the Super Rugby qualifying final between the Queensland Reds and the Sharks of South Africa at Suncorp Stadium. — AFP under the posts, leaving Michalak a simple conversion.

The Reds showed their mettle by dominating second-half possession and camping on the Sharks’ line for periods but were unable to force the crucial breakthrough. — Reuteres

SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012

sp orts Cox loses Athens gold

Daley targets Chinese ‘robot’

Horschel leads Classic

LONDON: American Crystal Cox, who won 4x400 metres relay gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics, was stripped of her medal yesterday, the International Olympic Committee said.

The IOC also confirmed Nigeria were awarded the gold medal at the 4x400m men’s relay race from the Sydney 2000 Olympics after it closed the case on doping offender Antonio Pettigrew of the US. Cox, the Athens relay alternate, was banned for four years in 2010 for using performance-enhancing drugs. The US AntiDoping Agency had said Cox had used prohibited anabolic agents between 2001 and 2004. The IOC’s Executive Board, however, did not make any decision on the other relay runners in the team, saying it was up to the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) to decide if all the runners on the US team would be stripped of their medals. Russia were second in that race and Jamaica won bronze.

Britain finished fourth. Should the IAAF decide, as it has done in similar cases, to strip the medals from all team athletes, these countries will be moved up to gold, silver and bronze.

The other members of the US 4x400 team from 2004 were Monique Henderson, Monique Hennagan, Sanya Richards and Deedee Trotter.

Pettigrew, who committed suicide in 2010, had been disqualified in 2008 from the 4x400m race in Sydney where the United States won gold with a team that which included Michael Johnson and the 400m race where he finished seventh.

Pettigrew had admitted to doping.—Reuters

LONDON: British Olympic diving hope Tom Daley described Chinese rival Qiu Bo as a “robot” yesterday and predicted the Asian giants could buckle under pressure to deliver a gold medal sweep. Four years ago in Beijing, China won seven out of eight gold, their quest for perfection falling agonisingly short when Australia’s Matthew Mitcham won the 10m platform.

Daley will look to add the Olympic individual 10m platform to the European title he won in May, but Qiu of China will start as the overwhelming favorite. The 19-year-old Qiu won two gold medals at the world championships in Shanghai last year. But Daley believes China may pay a high price for their obsessive pursuit of gold at the London Games. “The Chinese have got a different way of working. They’re taken out of school and away from their families. There’s just this conveyor belt of Chinese divers and they work them until they break and then the next one comes along and trains,” Daley told the Guardian. “So it’s completely different. I train five hours a day, six days a week, which is a lot. But the Chinese guys are maybe doing seven hours of training, and working so hard. But they don’t have a life. I do. I’m not constantly thinking about diving.

“He’s (Qiu) like a robot. Or he has been known to be like a robot.” Daley has pinpointed a weakness in his teenage rival. “Pressure sometimes gets to him. You have to be able to dive as well as him to put pressure on him.

Because if you don’t put pressure on him he’s not going to buckle. So it’s tough,” said the Briton.—Reuters

MADISON: American Billy Horschel fired a nine-under par 63 to hold a onestroke lead at the PGA Tour’s rain-disrupted True South Classic on Friday.

Horschel made eagles at the fifth and the 18th holes in his bogey-free round to reach a 13-under 131 total at the halfway stage.

“I hit it really good, there’s no doubt about it,” Horschel said. “I made some putts. I’ll tell you what. I’m not lying to you guys out there. There’s five putts out there that should have went in. So I shot nine-under. It should have been 13.” Matt Bettencourt was one stroke back after a six-under 66, while firstround leader Jason Bohn must finish his second round along with close to half the field on Saturday morning after play was called because of darkness on Friday. Bettencourt was at 12-under through the front nine. Bohn is also 12under through nine holes at the Annandale Golf Club. It was a tiring day for Horschel, who had to play 31 holes on Friday because heavy rains disrupted his first round the previous day.

The 25-year-old battled through another rain delay on day two and faced blistering heat later on during his second round. Horschel closed his round with a birdie on the final hole. He is having a strong season and has put himself in contention to win his first USPGA Tour event. “Playing the way I am,” Horschel said.

“I don’t want to go home.” Steven Bowditch is fourth in the clubhouse at 11-under 133 after shooting a five-under 67 during his second round.—AFP

Braves see off Nationals

OAKLAND: New York Yankees catcher Russell Martin (left) can’t make the tag on Oakland Athletics’ Yoenis Cespedes in the ninth inning of a baseball game. —AP

Athletics sink Yankees OAKLAND: Oakland’s Brandon Moss hit a game-ending RBI single in the ninth inning as the Athletics produced another dose of late-inning dramatics to beat the New York Yankees 3-2 on Friday and notch their seventh win in eight games.

Yoenis Cespedes singled with one out in the ninth off Cody Eppley (0-1) for his fourth hit of the game and went to second on Jonny Gomes’ infield hit. Moss, who had left the bases loaded twice earlier in the game, lined a single to right field and Cespedes slid in at home plate ahead of Andruw Jones throw. That gave Oakland its 10th walk-off win of the season and seventh in its past 14 home games, bailing out closer Ryan Cook (4-2), who had allowed a game-tying homer in the top of the ninth.

New York’s streak of 43 consecutive games with at least three runs - the longest in the majors since Cleveland’s 48-game run in 1994 - was ended.

Thome passed Sammy Sosa on the career list with a towering 418-foot shot off Derek Lowe (8-8) to open the fourth inning, and the Orioles comfortably won their third straight.

Orioles starter Miguel Gonzalez (2-1) went 6 2-3 innings in his third career start, striking out five. He has a 2.14 ERA on the road.

Angels 6, Rangers 1 In Anaheim, Mark Trumbo and Mike Trout homered as Los Angeles opened a weekend showdown between the AL West’s powers with a victory over Texas. Angels starter Jered Weaver (12-1) pitched seven resilient innings, persevering through 116 pitches and repeated trouble to win his sixth straight start and seventh consecutive decision since May 13. Rangers starter Derek Holland (6-5) lost his first decision since May 30, giving up six runs with no strikeouts.

Rays 4, Mariners 3 In St. Petersburg, Ben Zobrist snapped a 14th-inning tie with an RBI double, giving Tampa Bay victory over Seattle. Carlos Pena singled with one out in the 14th, then slid into home plate just ahead of the tag after Zobrist doubled down the right field line to end the 4 hour, 46-minute marathon.

BJ Upton homered and drove in two runs for the Rays. Rays reliever Jake McGee (3-2) pitched two-thirds of an inning to escape a jam in the top of the 14th and got the win.

Zobrist’s RBI off Tom Wilhelmsen (3-2) ended the reliever’s streak of 24 consecutive scoreless innings over 20 appearances.

Tigers 4, White Sox 2 In Detroit, Justin Verlander shut down the White Sox after the third inning as Detroit beat Chicago to close the gap between the AL Central’s top teams to half a game. Verlander (11-5) gave up a two-run homer in the third, but was otherwise in command, striking out six. White Sox starter Jake Peavy (7-7) struck out the first five batters he facedl, but Detroit scored three runs in the third.

Orioles 10, Indians 2 In Cleveland, Jim Thome hit his 610th career homer to move into seventh place on the career list as Baltimore pounded out a victory over Cleveland.

Blue Jays 6, Red Sox 1 In Boston, Aaron Laffey pitched seven scoreless innings to steer Toronto past Boston. Laffey (2-1) worked out of trouble in the third and seventh innings, and did not walk a batter.

Colby Rasmus drove in two runs for the Blue Jays, who had lost their previous three games. Red Sox starter Josh Beckett (5-8) was plagued again by a rough opening inning and took the loss. He gave up five runs.

Twins 2, Royals 1 In Kansas City, Joe Mauer went 3 for 4 and scored the winning run in the 11th inning to lead Minnesota over Kansas City.

Mauer, a career .359 hitter at Kauffman Stadium, led off the 11th with a double off Jonathan Broxton (1-2) and he scored on Josh Willingham’s groundball single to right. Twins reliever Casey Fien (1-0) worked two perfect innings to pick up his first major-league victory. Glen Perkins worked around a leadoff double in the bottom of the 11th to pick up the save. —AP

MLB results/standings Baltimore 10, Cleveland 2; Detroit 4, Chicago White Sox 2; Atlanta 11, Washington 10 (11 innings); San Francisco 7, Philadelphia 2; Pittsburgh 4, Miami 3; Toronto 6, Boston 1; Tampa Bay 4, Seattle 3 (14 innings); LA Dodgers 7, NY Mets 6; Cincinnati 3, Milwaukee 1; Minnesota 2, Kansas City 1 (11 innings); St. Louis 4, Chicago Cubs 1; Arizona 13, Houston 8; San Diego 9, Colorado 5; LA Angels 6, Texas 1; Oakland 3, NY Yankees 2.

American League National League Eastern Division Eastern Division W L PCT GB Washington 53 38 .582 NY Yankees 57 36 .613 Atlanta 51 41 .554 2.5 Baltimore 49 44 .527 8 NY Mets 47 46 .505 7 Tampa Bay 49 45 .521 8.5 Miami 44 49 .473 10 Boston 48 46 .511 9.5 Philadelphia 41 53 .436 13.5 Toronto 46 47 .495 11 Central Division Central Division Cincinnati 53 40 .570 Chicago White Sox 50 43 .538 Pittsburgh 52 40 .565 0.5 Detroit 50 44 .532 0.5 St. Louis 48 45 .516 5 Cleveland 47 46 .505 3 Milwaukee 44 48 .478 8.5 Kansas City 39 53 .424 10.5 Chicago Cubs 38 54 .413 14.5 Houston 34 60 .362 19.5 Minnesota 39 54 .419 11 Texas LA Angels Oakland Seattle

Western Division 55 37 51 43 49 44 40 55

.598 .543 5 .527 6.5 .421 16.5

Western Division San Francisco 52 41 LA Dodgers 50 44 Arizona 45 48 San Diego 40 55 Colorado 35 57

.559 .532 2.5 .484 7 .421 13 .380 16.5

WASHINGTON: Atlanta’s Paul Janish hit a run-scoring bloop single in the 11th inning to complete the Braves’ wild 11-10 comeback win against the Washington Nationals on Friday.

The Nationals led 9-0 after five innings, but Atlanta scored four runs in both the sixth and eighth innings and took a 10-9 lead in the top of the ninth. Washington’s Danny Espinosa hit a solo homer into the visitors’ bullpen to tie the game at 10-10.

In the top of the 11th, Dan Uggla led off with a single against Tom Gorzelanny (2-2), advanced to second on Ryan Zimmerman’s throwing error and then went to third on a passed ball before scoring on Janish’s bloop.

Eric O’Flaherty (2-0) pitched the 10th to earn the win, and Chad Durbin was perfect in the 11th for his first save. It was the Braves’ largest comeback since 1987, and the nine-run lead was the largest ever given up by the Nationals franchise, including the games played as the Montreal Expos.

Dodgers 7, Mets 6 In New York, Matt Kemp homered early and Los Angeles hung on to edge New York. Los Angeles finally worked out how to get to Mets starter Johan Santana (6-7), who entered 5-0 with a 0.50 ERA in five career starts against them. That included eight scoreless innings in a 5-0 win June 30, but the two-time Cy Young Award winner has hit the skids hard since.

The two-run homers by Kemp and Luis Cruz gave run support to Dodgers starter Aaron Harang (7-5), who allowed one earned run in five innings. Kenley Jansen worked a scoreless ninth for the save.

Reds 3, Brewers 1 In Cincinnati, Homer Bailey pitched eight innings for his first career win over Milwaukee, keeping Cincinnati in first place in the NL Central.

Bailey (9-6) has beaten the

defending World Series champion Cardinals and the defending division champion Brewers in his past two starts. He’s won four straight starts for the first time in his career.

Zack Cozart hit the first of Cincinnati’s three solo homers as the Reds moved 13 games over .500 for the first time this season.

Milwaukee starter Marco Estrada (0-4) gave up seven hits in seven innings.

Pirates 4, Marlins 3 In Pittsburgh, Pedro Alvarez hit his 20th homer of the season, helping Pittsburgh edge Miami. Andrew

ry, second-most in baseball.

Giants 7, Phillies 2 In Philadelphia, Brandon Crawford hit a grand slam and drove in five runs as NL West-leading San Francisco beat Philadelphia.

Giants starter Tim Lincecum (410) looked more like the pitcher who was a two-time Cy Young Award winner than the one who entered with a 5.93 ERA. He allowed two runs in seven innings, striking out six. Phillies starter Vance Worley (5-6) gave up six runs in six innings.

innings without giving up a run.

Cardinals slugger Matt Holliday hit a home run estimated at 469 feet, the longest at 7-year-old Busch Stadium, in the third inning.

D’backs 13, Astros 8 In Phoenix, Justin Upton hit his 99th career home run as Arizona opened a 10-game homestand with a victory over struggling Houston. Upton also drew a basesloaded walk for a third RBI. Diamondbacks starter Trevor Cahill (8-8) gave up three earned runs in 5 1-3 innings to get the win.

Houston starter Bud Norris (5-8)

WASHINGTON: Atlanta Braves’ Paul Janish is safe at home plate on a triple by Michael Bourn as Washington Nationals catcher Sandy Leon reaches with the late tag in the ninth inning. —AP McCutchen had two hits to boost his batting average to a majorleague best .372.

Pirates starter Kevin Correia (76) overcame a shaky start to win his fifth consecutive decision. Joel Hanrahan worked out of a two-on, one-out jam for the save as Pittsburgh moved to a season-best 12 games over .500 (52-40) and remained half a game behind Cincinnati for first place in the NL Central.

Miami’s Ricky Nolasco (8-8) gave up a homer leading off the bottom of the sixth, as the Pirates rallied for their 27th come-from-behind victo-

Cardinals 4, Cubs 1 In St. Louis, Kyle Lohse worked seven strong innings as St. Louis downed Chicago. Lohse (10-2) won his fourth straight decision to complement a lineup that topped three runs for the first time in 12 games.

The defending World Series champions broke out of an offensive slump that had seen them scoring just 15 runs over Esix games, going 8 for 51 (.157) with runners in scoring position.

They did so against an unlikely victim in Cubs starter Ryan Dempster (5-4), who had gone 33

allowed nine runs and five walks in 4 1-3 innings for his seventh straight loss. The Astros have lost 17 or their past 19.

Padres 9, Rockies 5 In San Diego, Carlos Quentin, Yasmani Grandal and Chase Headley each hit home runs as San Diego powered past Colorado.

Jason Marquis (3-5) pitched five innings for his second straight win for San Diego, which has won six of seven. Colorado’s Drew Pomeranz (1-5) allowed seven runs over three innings. The Rockies have lost five of six. —AP

Jankovic stumbles in Carlsbad CARLSBAD: Qualifier Chan Yung-Jan of Taiwan saved two match points en route to beating third-seeded Jelena Jankovic 6-7 (4), 7-6 (8), 7-5 on Friday and advancing to the semifinals of the Mercury Insurance Open.

After holding off two match points to win the secondset tiebreaker, Chan ran off three straight games to take a 5-2 lead in the third. However, Jankovic responded and tied the match at 5-5.

Chan held serve for a 6-5 lead, then got her third career win against a top-20 player in the next game when Jankovic hit a backhand long, ending the 3-hour, 13minute quarterfinal.

“The match was really a mental game between us,” Chan said of the second longest WTA match this season.

Chan will next face top-seeded Marion Bartoli of France, a 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 winner over No. 5 seed Christina McHale of the US. Bartoli beat the US Olympian despite serving 11 double faults, including seven in the second set. The win marked only the second time Bartoli has won consecutive matches in her last 10 tournaments.

Bartoli ended the 2-hour, 50-minute match when she ripped a cross-court forehand winner. “(Jankovic) looked like she was out of the match and tired and didn’t want to hang there,” Chan said about taking a 5-2 lead in the third set. “But I knew that she was going to come back.”

In addition to the match points, Chan also had to overcome heat exhaustion. Trailing 3-2 in the second set, Chan called for a trainer on court.

Chan, ranked No. 161, trailed 6-5 and was two points away from losing in the second set when she forced the tiebreak. The 20th-ranked Jankovic had two match points but Chan hit a backhand winner on the first and her Serbian opponent missed a backhand shot on the second.

“I lost my focus and I kind of brought her back into the match,” Jankovic said. “When I lost that second set, it was so tough mentally and, of course, physically because we are playing in the heat.” No. 2 seed Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia won 6-4, 6-4 over Poland’s Urszula Radwanska.

Cibulkova reached her second semifinal of the season where she will face fourth-seeded Nadia Petrova. The Russian defeated US Olympian Varvara Lepchenko, 6-4, 26, 7-6 (5). —AP

ATLANTA: Go Soeda of Japan, returns a shot during a quarterfinal tennis match against Kei Nishikori, also of Japan, at the Atlanta Open. —AP

Soeda shocks Nishikori ATLANTA: Go Soeda routed third-seeded compatriot Kei Nishikori 6-2, 6-1 at the ATP Tour’s Atlanta Open on Friday in the first meeting between the two Japanese stars.

Eighth-seeded Soeda saved all seven break points he faced on serve and went fourfor-four on break point chances on his return in the 72-minute quarter-final contest.

“I think he was more nervous, but I was nervous, too,” said Soeda. “His ranking is high, and I had nothing to lose.”

The match had historic significance as it was the first contest between two Japanese players in an ATP World Tour quarter-final, the organisers said.

This was also the first time the pair have squared off against each other as professionals. Soeda, of Kanagawa, turned pro in 2003 and the younger Nishikori followed four years later.

World number 19 Nishikori, of Shimane, will now head to the London Games and Soeda will join him as soon as the Atlanta hardcourt tournament is over. They are expected to play in singles and then doubles together at the Olympics.

“He played unbelievably well,” Nishikori told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper. “He didn’t miss, and he was really aggressive. I couldn’t put in a ball. I lost my confidence.”

This is the first ATP Tour semi-final for Soeda since the opening week of the season, when he made it to the Chennai Open semis and lost there to Janko Tipsarevic. He is currently ranked 54th in the world.

Soeda next plays Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller, who beat Australian Matthew Ebden 6-4, 6-4 on Friday. The 29-year-old Muller won 32 of his first 35 first-serve points and did not face a break point. Muller is a two-time ATP Tour runner-up and is chasing his first title. He is in a final for the first time in seven years.

In other quarter-final matches, fourth seed Andy Roddick defeated Michael Russell 6-3, 64. The 27th-ranked Roddick hammered 12 aces and won 82 percent of his service points.

He improved to 3-0 against Russell and converted two of four break points in the match. Roddick will next play top seed John Isner who beat wild card Jack Sock in straight sets 7-6 (9/7), 6-4. —AFP

SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012

sp orts

Discus thrower worked seven jobs to back career BIRMINGHAM: Before heading over for the Olympics, discus thrower Lance Brooks refinished a driveway in the searing sun to earn extra cash. Maybe not the best way to train, but it pays the bills.

For every athlete out there well suppor ted by sponsors, there are those like Brooks, who once held seven different jobs just to make ends meet. H is busy schedule didn’t leave much time for training.

Only recently did he scrap all but two of his jobs to concentrate on the discus - on coach’s orders. Ac tually, he met his coach, Steve DeAutremont, while working at a bar.

It’s been an interesting jour-

Brooks, who has a degree in environmental science along with a minor in business management and art. “I want to get on with a company where I can make a career out of it.”

When Brooks relocated to Denver five years ago, he worked as a bouncer, bartender and a barbacker (taking out the trash, restocking the cooler). He also worked Colorado Rockies baseball games, coached at a local high school, punched in at an oil-change service and did construction. If he was exhausted after a long day, he wouldn’t train. Or sometimes he would just throw with the high school k ids, which was problematic because he kept tossing the dis-

primarily getting by on athleticism. He threw the discus in high school and again in college - once basketball season ended but never really dedicated himself to the event.

One day, while Brooks was work ing behind the bar, in walked DeAutremont, a former thrower himself. They struck up a conversation, exchanged information and later got in touch.

DeAutremont watched Brooks throw a couple of times and agreed to work with him.

“We worked here and there,” Brooks explained. “Maybe once a week, once every other week.”

Brooks steadily improved, earning a spot on the world team last summer with a third-place

EUGENE: In this Thursday, June 28, 2012 file photo, Lance Brooks competes in the men’s discus final at the US Olympic Track and Field Trials. —AP

ney to the London Games for Brooks, who played basketball at M illik in University in Illinois before turning to the discus.

“Maybe after I get done with the Olympics, I can go and find a real job,” said the 28-year-old

cus over the retaining fence and into the parking lot.

“I was almost hitting cars,” said Brooks, who at 6-foot-6 and 252 pounds is built like a tight end, but never played football.

Early in his career, Brooks was

finish at nationals. Shortly after his return from South Korea, his coach gave him an ultimatum concentrate on the discus or DeAutremont was going elsewhere. “It wasn’t necessarily me quitting all my jobs, but I had to

find time to work out three days a week and throw four days a week,” said Brooks, who dumped everything but construction and bartending. “I was like, ‘That’s a lot.’ I’ve never done that before.

I’ve been so busy that I haven’t been able to.”

He found the time, fine-tuned his form and was all set for the U.S. trials last month.

On a rainy day in Eugene, Ore., he threw the discus 211 feet, 5 inches on his third attempt. He was the leader in the clubhouse and on his way to winning the event.

However, he had yet to hit the Olympic “A” standard of 2133 to qualify for London, making only the “B” mark. He didn’t realize at the time he needed to hit the “A” standard to go.

On his last attempt, he threw it a personal best 213-9 to earn his spot. “I would’ve won trials and wouldn’t have gone,” he said. “But maybe not knowing helped me. That would’ve been a lot more pressure.” Another job awaited when he returned home. Nothing too strenuous, just mixing some materials in a bucket, pouring it on a driveway and using a squeegee to apply it. “It’s not super hard work,” he said. He’s actually become a selling point for his company - want an Olympian working on your next project?

“If we’re on the edge of a job, it’s easy to get a conversation going,” Brooks said. “ We met with a general contractor and my boss is like, ‘Hey, we need to figure out a timeline because he’s going to the Olympics.’ The general contractor is like, ‘Oh, that ’s cool. My neighbor is going.’ My boss was like, ‘No, he’s participating in the Olympics.’

“My ultimate goal when I get back from London is to take time off and find a career. I have a degree. There’s no reason why I shouldn’t have a good job.

Throwing has been great for me.

But when it comes down to it, I want to find something I can retire on.”—AP

Women’s boxing traveled a long road to Olympics LONDON: When Lucia Rijker dropped in at the European Championships of women’s boxing in her native Netherlands last year, the greatest fighter in the history of her sport was overwhelmed by the splendor of what she saw.

A sport that once existed only on the fringes of society and legality is now practiced by thousands of elite

first time.

Boxing was the only summer Olympic sport without a female analogue until 2009, when the IOC voted to include it in London. Rijker learned of the decision in a text message from veteran boxing coach Christy Halbert while she walked her dog on a cool Hollywood morning.

“I screamed so loud that I woke up

LONDON: In this Friday, July 8, 2005 file photo, boxer Lucia Rijker worksout in a Los Angeles gym. A generational struggle culminates in London at the first Olympic womenís boxing tournament.—AP athletes. Back when women were told boxing could damage their health and minds, Rijker and other pioneers propelled their sport around the world and all the way to its first Olympics.

At that moment in Rotterdam, watching an eager teenage Belgian girl who already had knockout power in both hands, Rijker felt a sense of accomplishment she prizes even more than her world championship belts.

“I t touched my hear t to see so much young talent,” recalled Rijker, the unbeaten professional boxer and kickboxer who now coaches and acts for a living. “I couldn’t sleep all night. My heart was so open. Who would have thought this could happen?”

A generational struggle culminates in London next month at the first Olympic women’s boxing tournament.

Rijker is only the most prominent example of women who became fascinated by this brutal sport, persevering through discouragement, disinterest and outright discrimination to put 36 women boxers from six continents on their nations’ Olympic teams for the

the neighborhood,” Rijker said. “I didn’t care. I just felt it in my soul. I went to the Wild Card (Gym) later, and I cried.

It’s just a deep feeling that I feel for making something happen, creating an opportunity that other women can benefit from.”

Halber t shared the feeling, although she kept it a bit quieter. She took up boxing almost on a lark, entering a pro fight to make money for graduate school, but it evolved into her life’s work as a trainer, scholar and activist for the legitimization of the women’s sport, particularly the amateur version that will be showcased in London. “Now that it’s almost here, I have these simultaneous thoughts: I can’t believe it took so long, but I also can’t believe we finally made it,” said Halbert, now an assistant coach on the U.S. national team. “Because it’s not just about boxing as a sport. It’s also a very important part of the women’s movement and women’s rights.”

Women participated in boxing as an Olympic demonstration sport in 1904, but women’s boxing didn’t take

a cohesive shape until the tail end of the 20th century. The obstacles were innumerable: Along with the chauvinism that’s familiar to Halbert and any athlete of the Title IX era, many women were told more fanciful tales about how getting punched would destroy their ability to bear or nurse children or even cause breast cancer.

“They had these breast protectors, but they were really uncomfortable, and they just made for a bigger target,” Halbert said with a laugh. “I do recall it sort of seemed like an obsession over women’s anatomy and sexual characteristics.

It was just speculation by people outside the medical field. When I presented medical evidence or research, I realized it wasn’t a medical issue. It was a cultural issue. These sorts of myths, believe it or not, still do exist.

There are people in every country that still do believe this stuff.”

The amateur spor t has grown steadily since Sweden first sanctioned it in 1988. Amateur women’s boxing, with its safety precautions and shorter fights, is now tolerated and fostered by most nations - even Syria and Afghanistan, which held their first national championships last year.

The first amateur world championships were held in Scranton, Pa., in 2001, with Halbert coaching the US team. Two boxers who performed well in that tournament will fight in London: Sweden’s Anna Laurell, who did television commentar y on the men’s Olympic fights in Beijing, and India’s Mary Kom, the mother of two who is among the most celebrated athletes in her nation’s London delegation. The amateur game’s steady growth contrasts sharply with the madcap free-for-all that is professional women’s boxing, which faced fewer cultural restrictions, but also went through tacky evolutions that emphasized either sexuality or gore. Pro fighters caused only minor ripples in the mainstream when Christy Martin or Laila Ali briefly captured the public’s attention.

“There was resistance in the boxing world when I started, but especially in the amateur world,” said Rijker, who reigned unbeaten as a pro from 1996 to 2004. “I mean, people thought we couldn’t make babies. Where is this coming from, the 18th century? But you can’t stop what’s meant to happen. I knew it was just a matter of time.

It’s not like that as much now. Young girls can go to the gym and say, ‘I want that,’ and nobody will laugh at them.”—AP

Groff out to put US on triathlon map BOSTON: While the United States’ swimmers and track athletes have had to endure cut-thoat qualifying competitions to secure their places in the Olympic Games, triathlete Sarah Groff has had the luxury of a year to prepare for London.

Groff, 30, will be one of three US athletes to compete in the women’s triathlon on Aug. 4, starting with a 1,500 metre swim in the Serpentine lake in Hyde Park and followed by a 40-kilometre bike ride and a 10-kilometre run.

Groff qualified for the Games last August with a seventh-place finish at the 2011 London ITU World Championship Series event, on the same flat, fast course that will be used in the Olympics. That enabled her to plan her year entirely around her assault on the Olympics.

“We’ve laid the foundation work in the past 11 months. We’ve been addressing weaknesses, layering aspects of training on top of each other,” Groff told Reuters in an interview via Skype from her European summer training base in Davos, Switzerland. “Now, we’re decreasing our volume, increasing our intensity and honing our race skills.”

Triathlon made its Olympic debut at the 2000 Sydney Games. Australia and neighboring New Zealand have won seven of the 18 medals awarded in the sport so far while the U.S have managed just a solitary bronze, for Susan Williams in Athens.

For a country that effectively invented the sport, has boasted many of its finest competitiors and has a well-organised and well-funded federation, it is a poor return.

Groff and her team mates, Laura Bennett, who trains in the sport’s hotbed of Boulder, Colorado, and Gwen Jorgensen of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, are hoping to improve that tally.

Groff grew up in Cooperstown, New York, and was a multi-sport athlete from the start. She tried her hand at field hockey, softball, baseball and horse riding as well as the triathlon disciplines during high school. Only after being on the swimming team at Vermont’s Middlebury College where she graduated with degrees in biology and art - did Groff decide to pursue the sport of triathlon full-time. Today she lives in Hanover, New Hampshire, but spends much of her time switching between Canberra, Australia’s capital, and Davos, the high-altitude town best known for its annual gathering of the world’s business and political elite. Groff, was the USA Triathlon Olympic/International Triathlon Union Athlete of the Year in 2011 after finishing ranked number three in the ITU World Championship Series ratings.

Sarah Groff “It’s fast, it’s furious and it’s exciting,” she said. “Those two hours go by so quickly. You make a small mistake, and it could cost you your entire race.”

Groff is coached by Australian Darren Smith, known as “Coach Daz” to his team, which includes elite triathletes from eight countries. “Having an Aussie coach teaches you not to take yourself too seriously.

We’re not superhuman,” she said. The training lifestyle in Davos is far from pampered but strikes Groff as a luxury in a “slightly monastic” way, with its focus on performance with few distractions.

“The town is not very big. Our excitement here is if we go out and get coffee together. Otherwise, I sit around and read a lot. I sleep a lot,” she said.

“We have the luxury that so few people have. Most people have jobs and families and mortgages to pay. “There are very, very few jobs out there that are so selfish, in that your job revolves entirely around your performance.”

Groff will not march in the Opening Ceremony on July 27 as she focuses on final race preparation. Only after her event will she move to the Olympic Village in London’s East End to complete her Olympic experience.

“I will try to pretend to be really cool, but I’ll have a big dork grin on my face,” she said in anticipation of being in the presence of many more famous athletes.

“If I meet (Belgian cyclist) Tom Boonen I might swoon.”

Olympic triathlon courses are typically set up to be spectator friendly, with multiple laps around a short course that gets the crowds involved and London is no exception.

Among them will be several members of “Team Groff,” including the athlete’s parents, sister and 90-year-old grandfather.

“What they are proud of is that I’ve been so persistent,” Groff said of her parents.—AP

18

SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012

SPORTS

Olympic flame starts historic London tour

LONDON: Members of the Indian Olympic hockey squad take part in a training session at the Olympic Park ahead of the London 2012 Olympic Games.—AFP

Judo ‘wrestler’ mining for more gold for Mongolia ULAN BATOR: Mongolian judoka Naidan Tuvshinbayar begins the day jogging through the glistening grasslands he says helped make him the country’s first Olympic gold medallist.

Back in the training centre, set in verdant hills 1,400 metres above sea level, he wiggles his hefty frame to thumping house music, as he slams younger athletes into the ground one-by-one with a sly grin, occasionally giving them a playful headlock for good measure.

The media-friendly showman became a national hero when he earned the country’s first ever gold medal in the men’s -100 kg class at the Beijing Olympics, 44 years after Mongolia first competed in a Games.

A burly 28-year-old with a slight squint and cauliflower ears, Tuvshinbayar is now hoping to repeat that success in London, likely to be his last Games as a serious competitor. “Of course, we athletes are competing for our country. And I’m competing to be an Olympic champion again, and have my country’s name heard across the world,” he told Reuters.

Tuvshinbayar only took up judo at the age of 18, after seeing the Asian Championships on television. But like many of Mongolia’s nomadic herders raised on the vast steppe, he grew up wrestling, as a young child with his family’s livestock, and later in matches at traditional festivals.

He even refers to his chosen sport as ‘judo wrestling,’ which may account for a certain heavy-handedness in his style.

“In Mongolian families, there is nobody who is not interested in traditional wrestling. Since I was a young child, I wrestled, and that’s where the preparation for becoming a judo wrestler started,” he said.

“There are a lot of similarities. Wrestling is just wrestling,” he added with a lop-sided smile. Almost 400 contenders from 134 countries, up from 96 in 2008, will battle it out in the seven weight categories for men and women during seven days of competition at London’s ExCel exhibition centre.

Khashbaatar Tsagaanbaatar has high hopes for the men’s -66 kg class, while Munkhbaatar Bundmaa is pitted for a

medal in the women’s -52 kg class, having taken golds in both Paris and Moscow Grand Slams in 2011.

Despite traditional heavyweights like Japan looming large, petite 26-year-old Bundmaa is unperturbed. “I’m confident in myself. Going to the Olympics is not a small thing, and I will come back with a medal,” she said.

Mongolia is also throwing its weight behind freestyle wrestling, boxing and shooting, all of which involve the traditional combat and hunting skills that 800 years ago helped build an empire that stretched as far as Europe.

“In our country, four kinds of sports have developed well: judo, boxing, shooting and wrestling,” said Demchigjav Zagdsuren, President of the National Olympic Committee.

“At the last Olympics and in previous games, it was in these sports that we won medals. Our goal for London is to get at least four medals in these.”

Once-impoverished Mongolia saw its economy grow by over 17 percent in 2011, thanks mainly to foreign investment in the huge mineral resources lying beneath its grasslands and deserts.

Rio Tinto, which runs the country’s massive Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold project, sponsors the Mongolian Olympic team, and is providing Mongolian gold for the medals at London.

The country’s growth has meant dramatic increases in sports funding, filling a vacuum left by near economic collapse following its split from the Soviet Union in 1990. “Mongolia is now growing faster and sports are developing in step with the country,” said Zagdsuren. With considerable national pride resting on his broad shoulders, and a generation of younger athletes stepping up to fill his shoes, Tuvshinbayar is philosophical.

“If you think of it as pressure, it’s pressure. If you don’t, then it’s not. Athletes should free themselves from that kind of thinking and try to find the joy in what they do,” he said. “If I had any doubts, I wouldn’t be able to succeed.”—Reuters

North Korea looks to flex muscles in London NORTH KOREA: Isolated, impoverished and home to 200,000 political prisoners, North Korea will look to flex its muscles at the London Olympics in weightlifting and wrestling.

Under new leader Kim Jong-un, third of his line to rule the state, North Korea has projected a more open image than that of his austere father, who rarely spoke in public, with rock concerts, Disney characters and footage of a laughing and smiling young Kim. “The DPRK (Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea) pins its hopes on weightlifting and wrestling, in particular.

Women’s football is also hopeful,” state news agency KCNA said this week as the country’s 51 athletes arrived in London.

North Korea has won 41 medals since 1964 when it first joined the Games, 10 of which were gold. It scooped two gold, one silver and three bronze medals in Beijing.

There would have been more North Korean athletes in London but for a twoyear ban imposed on their gymnastics team for falsifying their ages.

Gymnast Hong Su Jong listed three different birth dates in registering for international competitions from 2003 to 2010.

The minimum age for Olympic gymnasts is 16, but Hong was under-age. This was the second time that North Korea has been punished for age falsification, after the FIG (International Gymnastics Federation) discovered that Kim Gwang Suk, the 1991 world gold medallist, was listed as 15 for three years in a row.

North Korea also has high hopes for its women’s soccer team, the winner of the 2008 Asian Football Confederation women’s tournament.

In the 2011 Women’s World Cup, five North Korean players tested positive for a prohibited steroid, although they said they were using traditional Chinese medicine of deer musk to treat players hit by a lightning strike.

The team, known as the “Cholimas” - a horse that represents toughness - beat Australia 1-0 to seize the last berth in their group, much to the distress of the Australians who said their opponents should have been banned from the Olympics.

There will be some needle when they face the United States on July 31 at the London Games, which run from July 27Aug. 12.—Reuters

LONDON: In this Thursday, May 3, 2012 file photo, Brenda Villa of the US, right, attempts to pass the ball as Hungary’s Rita Keszthelyi blocks her arm during their international Women’s Inventional Water Polo event, preliminary round, at the London 2012 Olympic water polo pool. —AP

LONDON: The Olympic torch relay began its final stretch in London yesterday, starting in the capital’s historic district of Greenwich on a journey officials hope will help dispel a cloud of gloom and cynicism hanging over the Games.

Officials were all smiles in Greenwich as a young torch bearer jogged through the maritime district’s Royal Park past the grand colonnades of the old naval college. But many Britons fear the games will be a costly, rain-soaked logistical fiasco.

As weeks of rain dampened prospects of a summer buzz ahead of the sporting event, Britain has struggled to raise the necessary number of security guards for the July 27 to Aug. 12 Games. Transport and border staff are set to strike soon.

“As it sprints through the city, I know that its radiance will dispel any last remaining clouds of dampness and anxiety ... and it will spread the crackling bush fire of Olympic enthusiasm throughout the city,” London Mayor Boris Johnson told reporters, referring to the torch. It arrived in London Friday after touring scores of British of towns, cities and villages, delivered by a Royal Marine Commando who abseiled from a helicopter into the Tower of London, one of London’s most popular tourist sites.

In the coming days it will be carried around religious, political and royal landmarks during its tour of the capital, culminating in the lighting of the Olympic cauldron in the main stadium in east London.Olympic chief Jacques Rogge dismissed pessimism hanging over the Games, telling Reuters on Friday that “despite some difficulties”, he believed the event would be “a great Games”, his last as president of the International Olympic Committee.

Foreign media covering the

run up to the Games have poked fun at the British tendency to whinge, with an article in the New York Times labelling “complaining, expecting the worst and cursing the authorities” Londoners’ favourite sports.

Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine published a story saying the Games “can’t end soon enough” for the locals and that “London and the Olympic Games are clearly not made for each other”.

Transport delays loom over the event, with border officials going on strike on July 26 and train drivers in central England walking out from Aug. 6-8 during the second week of the Games.

Even before tens of thousands of Olympic tourists arrive, London’s underground rail network already struggles to cope with millions of commuters.

Misgivings over heavy-handed enforcement of copyright on Olympic branding have also cooled enthusiasm, amid reports of vendors being banned from displaying Olympic rings in shop windows or selling types of fast food sold by Olympic sponsors.

Michael Payne, a former Olympic marketing director, told Britain’s Independent newspaper that the Olympic authorities’ enforcement of the sponsorship deals had “gone too far”. Payne is credited with bringing in sponsors such as McDonalds and Coca-Cola in return for use of the Games’ trademarks and the exclusive right to sell their products at the sporting venues. Still, there are signs that the mood among Britons might be lifting as the Games approach.

An Ipsos MORI poll on Friday found that 71 percent of Britons say the Olympics will have a positive effect on the public mood and 61 percent say hosting the Games will boost Britain’s image abroad. The Daily Telegraph newspaper yesterday urged

LONDON: British sailor Sir Robin Knox-Johnston runs around the restored Cutty Sark ship with the London 2012 Olympic Torch.

The Olympic flame began its tour of London.—AFP Britons to “prepare to be inspired” by the “magnificent once-in-a-lifetime event”, while the Guardian newspaper said it was time to “sit back and relish the heady, exhilarating, unforgettable mix of triumph and disaster that is the Olympic Games”.

Athletes began arriving in London last weekend, and yesterday Libya’s representatives to the Games left Tripoli for the British capital, hopeful the committee’s president, taken from his car by gunmen last week, would join them.—Reuters

In basketball science has more answers NEW YORK: In a multibillion-dollar sport like basketball, one might expect trainers had figured out every nuance of aerodynamics, mechanics and all things Newtonian to increase the rate at which the ball goes through the hoop. Think again.

Take free throws. For 50 years professional players in the United States have sunk these shots from the “charity line” — so called because the points are supposedly such sure things they’re gifts — at a rate of about 75 percent.

That figure that seems to reflect a fundamental limit on human performance, like a threeminute mile. But mechanical engineer Larry Silverberg of North Carolina State University doubts it. He believes the reason free throw percentages are not higher is that no one had properly analyzed them to determine the optimal trajectory.

Using a computer simulation of millions of trajectories based on shots by the best freethrow shooters, Silverberg and colleague Chau Tran determined how various factors affect the chance of success. The magic formula: a launch angle of 52 degrees, 3 revolutions per second of backspin, and aiming for a spot 7 centimeters (2.8 inches) back from the center of the basket, toward the back of the rim. “With backspin, if the ball hits the rim or backboard, the contact deadens the ball,” said Silverberg. “That means it comes off slower, stays closer to the basket and is more likely to fall in.”

Backspin that exceeds 3 revolutions per second is even better: at 9 rps, Silverberg and Tran

calculated, a free throw that hits the very top of the backboard will drop straight down for a point. But 9 rps is too difficult for players to achieve.

The target point is even less intuitive. Many players aim for the center of the basket, assuming “nothing but net” makes success more likely than hitting the rim, which can produce unpredictable bounces. The NCSU scientists’ calculations show that the spot that maximizes the chance of a field goal is 2.8 inches behind the center of the 18-inch-across basket. That puts the back of the ball just over an inch from the back of the rim.

The main reason that target is better than the net’s center is that shooters aren’t perfect.

Aiming for the center of the basket increases the chance of hitting the front of the rim and having the shot drop straight down.

“This is the least well-known aspect of freethrow shooting, so it offers the most opportunity for improvement,” said Silverberg. “For anyone but the best shooters, the ball has a better chance of going in if you aim between the backboard and the center of the hoop, not the center itself.”

Finally, the launch angle, or arc. A launch angle of 52 degrees minimizes velocity compared to shots with more arc or less arc. Less velocity means less chance of a rebound that misses the basket. The millions of shots that went into Silverberg’s simulation showed that 52 degrees produced the greatest chance of sinking the shot for a 6 foot, 6 inch player.

Since players can’t easily tell the angle at

which they’re launching a free throw, a more useful strategy is to shoot so the top of the ball’s arc is even with the top of the backboard.

That’s doable with practice, and works no matter a player’s height.

The NCSU computer simulations also filled a gaping hole in basketball wisdom: although layups and bank shots off the backboard are the most common shots in basketball, no one knew with any certainty the optimum spot on the backboard for making the ball drop in for two, or three, points.

Simulations showed that the optimal banking points varied with the location of the shooter, as expected. Completely unexpected was that these points form what Silverberg calls “a magical location: a ‘V’ near the top of the shooter’s square,” the rectangle above the basket that’s painted or taped on the backboard.

To determine where on the V a bank shot should hit to have the greatest chance of going in, a shooter imagines a vertical line behind the backboard. Where it intersects the imaginary V on the backboard is the sweet spot where a bank shot should hit to score a basket.

A player can’t do all of this mental imagery in the frenzy of a game, of course, but by doing it in practice he can get an intuitive feel for where to aim from different points on the court. “It’s a training tool,” said Silverberg. From near the free throw line - that is, in front of the basket the ideal bank point is lower; from the sides of the court it’s higher. Knowing this “can improve your field goal shooting 20 percentage points,” said Silverberg.—Reuters

Nadal sad to miss ‘once in lifetime’ chance MALLORCA: Rafa Nadal fears the chance to carry Spain’s flag at an Olympics opening ceremony may not come around again after being forced to withdraw from the London 2012 tennis event with a knee injury. The 11-times grand slam champion was to be his country’s flagbearer at next Friday’s opening ceremony but pulled out on Thursday after failing to recover from the knee problems that have dogged him. The Olympic singles champion now faces a battle to be fit for the forthcoming US hardcourt season culminating at the US Open at Flushing Meadow.

Speaking to Reuters Television in a gym on his home island of Mallorca yesterday, the 26-yearold said it had been a hard decision to withdraw.

“I was like scared to take the decision no? It is something that happens. You never know if it happens only one time in life bringing the flag of my country to the Olympics with all the sports family of Spain there,” he said.

“All I can say is that I did as much as I could to be there and to be ready but it wasn’t the right time. “My emotion and my illusion (dream) to compete in the Olympics was more than ever.

“The only thing that I can do is to work hard and try to do the things that will create another opportunity in Rio 2016,” added the former world number one.

“When I had to take the decision was the toughest moment. But it was something that I was thinking was going to happen for the last six, seven days because the knee was not improving.” Nadal suffers with tendinitis in his knees-a condition that forced him to withdraw from Wimbledon in 2009, a year after winning the tournament. Only in March this year, he was

BEIJING: In this Aug. 17, 2008, file photo Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts following his defeat of Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, in the men’s singles gold medal tennis match at the Beijing 2008 Olympics.—AP forced to concede his Miami Masters semi-final against Andy Murray.

Despite winning a seventh French Open title, Nadal has dropped to three in the world rankings behind Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic and the state of his knees is sure to become a topic of debate as the American swing begins.

“The only thing I can do is to work hard every day as much as I can to try to recover my knee as quick as possible in the tennis calendar,” said Nadal, who suffered a shock second-round defeat to Czech Lukas Rosol at Wimbledon last

month. “The tournaments never stop so I will try to be ready for the American season but you never know you have to work hard everyday and see, go day by day and see how it improves.”

“I will compete when my knee says I am ready to compete,” he added. “I don’t want to go on court with bad feeling because then it is terrible.

You start, you have to stop, you suffer every day.

I will go back to court when my knee is ready.”

Spanish basketball player Pau Gasol has been chosen to replace Nadal as the country’s flag bearer.—Reuters

19

SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012

SPORTS

Woods stumbles as Snedeker, Scott keep lead LYTHAM: Brandt Snedeker and Adam Scott were holding firm in the British Open lead in the third round at Royal Lytham yesterday as a talent-packed array of international talent tried to reel them in.

American Snedeker was leading the way on 10-under par following rounds of 66 and 64 that equalled the lowest first 36 holes in Open and major championship history. Scott, from Australia, was one shot back after rounds of 64 and 67.

Next best was Tiger Woods, who was four shots off the pace, but he missed makeable putts at the first and third to fall further back.

Snedeker, who went bogey-free in the first two rounds, and Scott parred their first three holes, playing risk-free golf and waiting to see if anyone would make a run at them.

Masters champion Bubba Watson was the first to make a move up the leaderboard. The big-hitting American started the day 10 strokes behind Snedeker, but five birdies in 13 holes against two bogeys saw him close to five off the pace as the leaders set off. Watson though promptly started heading in the other direction with a bogey at the 14th and a wild double bogey at the next. World number one Luke Donald of England was

also looking to put himself into contention for Sunday, with a birdie at the third getting him to three under.

But he, too, stumbled, taking a double-bogey six at the sixth after failing to get out of a pot bunker.

Woods’ partner in the penultimate pairing was a new one for him in the shape of rising Danish player Thorbjorn Olesen, who sunk a monster putt in the fading light of Friday’s second round to bag a date with his childhood idol.

Olesen was on five under for the tournament with Scotland’s 1999 Open champion Paul Lawrie, US world top-tenner Matt Kuchnar, 2010 US

champion Graeme McDowell from Northern Ireland, American Jason Dufner and South African hope Thomas Aiken all a further stroke back.

The Dane held firm with pars on the first three holes to move ahead of Woods. McDowell dropped a shot at the second, but responded with a birdie at the fourth, while 2007 Masters champion Zach Johnson skipped up the leaderboard with four birdies and a bogey through 13 holes to get to five under. Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood and Padraig Harrington were among the big names to finish their third rounds early yesterday and

all failed to produce the kind of low scoring that could have put them back in the mix.

World No. 3 Westwood fired a oneover par 71 to stand on four-over 214,No. 2 and 2011 US Open champion McIlroy had a 73 to stand at five over and three-time major winner Harrington carded a 70 for two over.

Westwood, who made it 58 majors without a title win, said the pin positions were tricky and there was a slight breeze “but it’s still very playable and very scorable out there.”

To prove the point, Fiji veteran Vijay Siingh came in with a 68 to leave him at level par 210 after 54 holes.—AFP

Kohli stars in Indian win over Sri Lanka

LONDON: South Africa’s Graeme Smith hits a ball from England’s Graeme Swann during the third day of the first cricket Test match at the Oval cricket ground.—AP

Smith and Amla put South Africa in charge LONDON: South Africa captain Graeme Smith hit a century in his 100th Test and Hashim Amla played a marathon innings as the Proteas dominated the third day of the first Test against England at the Oval yesterday.

South Africa were 403 for two at the close, a lead of 18 runs with eight first innings wickets standing. Smith (131) and Amla (183 not out) put on a record 259 for the second wicket and there was no respite for the bowlers as Jacques Kallis (82 not out) joined Amla in an unbeaten third wicket stand of 143.

On a slow, dry pitch, offering some variable bounce and turn for the spinners, Smith and Amla dug in and played risk-free cricket to grind down England’s bowling attack.

Their partnership was two runs higher than the previous South African second wicket record against England set by Smith and current coach Gary Kirsten at Lord’s in 2003.

But South Africa, who will replace England at the top of the world Test rankings if they win this three-match series, did not have things all their own way yesterday.Smith and Amla had to work hard in the first hour against the combination of fast bowler James Anderson and off-spinner Graeme Swann.

Smith in particular struggled to score against Swann and was stuck on 48 for almost half an hour before working the spinner to midwicket for three runs to raise the slowest half-century of his Test career.

It took Smith 160 balls to reach his fifty, which came in the last over before the midmorning drinks break. But the scoring rate picked up markedly, with Swann conceding 21 runs in two overs either side of

drinks. Smith unleashed a flurry of boundaries in the next hour and needed just 41 deliveries to notch his second half-century.

He completed his 25th Test century two balls before lunch with a square cut for four off Tim Bresnan.

The left-handed opener then went back into attritional mode after lunch, taking 71 more balls to add 28 runs, including a burst of three fours off successive balls against Stuart Broad, before he was bowled off an inside edge by Bresnan. He had faced 273 deliveries and hit 20 boundaries.

Amla, meanwhile, reached his 15th Test century off 199 balls with 13 fours. Batting with imperturbable calm, he was content to pick off the loose deliveries with sweetly timed drives and wristy flicks to the on side.

By the close he had batted for nine hours and nine minutes, facing 369 balls and hitting 22 fours. Smith became the seventh player to score a century in his 100th Test, joining Colin Cowdrey, Javed Miandad, Gordon Greenidge, Alec Stewart, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Ricky Ponting.

It was his seventh century against England and continued a remarkable run of success in matches in England. He took his total of runs in the country to 1,214 at an average of 75.87. The tally includes five centuries, two of which were double hundreds.

Only Australia’s Don Bradman, who scored 2,674 runs in England at 102.84, has a better average among visiting batsmen who have played in 10 or more innings.

Kallis, with a relatively poor record in England, took advantage of the solid foundation laid by Smith and Amla as he moved smoothly to a half-century off 94 balls. By the close he’d faced 161 balls with 10 fours.—AFP

SCOREBOARD LONDON: Scoreboard at stumps on the third day of the first Test between England and South Africa at the Oval here yesterday: England 1st Innings 385 (A Cook 115, J Trott 71, M Prior 60; M Morkel 4-72) South Africa 1st Innings (overnight: 86-1) G. Smith b Bresnan 131 A. Petersen lbw b Anderson 0 H. Amla not out 183 J. Kallis not out 82 Extras (b1, lb4, nb1, w1) 7 Total (2 wkts, 135 overs) 403 Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Petersen), 2-260 (Smith) To bat: AB de Villiers, J Rudolph, JP Duminy, V

Philander, D Steyn, M Morkel, Imran Tahir Bowling: Anderson 29-6-90-1 (1nb); Broad 264-87-0 (1w); Swann 42-10-99-0; Bresnan 24-277-1; Bopara 9-1-29-0; Pietersen 3-0-13-0; Trott 2-0-3-0 England: Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Matt Prior (wkt), Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson Match situation: South Africa lead by 18 runs with eight first innings wickets remaining.

Haas through to face Monaco in Hamburg HAMBURG: Home favorite Tommy Haas will face Juan Monaco in today’s final of the Hamburg claycourt event after ousting Croatian fourth seed Marin Cilic 7-6 (9/7), 60 in yesterday’s semi-final.

Wildcard Haas, the world number 49, is a native of this north German port city and is hopeful of giving his fans something to celebrate by becoming the first German winner of the event since Michael Stich in 1993. “When I was a boy, I used to come here and watch the stars play, so to have a chance of winning this tournament myself, it’s one of the finest moments of my career,” said Haas.

The 34-year-old recovered from 3-0 down in the first set to win the match in just under two hours, taking revenge on Cilic for a defeat on clay in Munich in May. Having recovered from a long absence due

to various injury problems, Sunday’s final will be Haas’ second of the season, following his victory over Roger Federer on grass in Halle last month.

Earlier yesterday, Argentine third seed Monaco got the better of top seed Nicolas Almagro of Spain 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the first semi-final.

The Argentine will be appearing in his second consecutive final, having lost to Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic in the Stuttgart decider last weekend.

Monaco took a little over two hours to record his third victory in seven encounters with Almagro, who is ranked 10th in the world. The 28-year-old from Buenos Aires is bidding for his third title of 2012, after previous successes at Vina del Mar in Chile and Houston, Texas. The left-hander has won his last three meetings with Haas.—AFP

HAMBANTOTA: Virat Kohli hit an impressive century to set up India’s 21-run victory over Sri Lanka in the opening one-day international in Hambantota yesterday.

Kohli cracked 106 for his 12th one-day hundred, and the fourth in the last five matches, as India scored 314-6 before restricting Sri Lanka to 293-9 in the day-night game for a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara defied the Indian attack, top-scoring with 133 for his 14th one-day hundred. He hit 12 fours in his 151-ball knock before being bowled by seamer Umesh Yadav in the 48th over. Sangakkara added 78 runs for the seventh wicket with Thisara Perera (44), but their efforts came too late to stop India from winning the match.

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, and seamers Irfan Pathan and Umesh Yadav each took two wickets for India. Kohli, 23, earlier helped India set a stiff target with a 173-run stand for the second wicket with opener Virender Sehwag, who hit a 97-ball 96 with the help of 10 fours.

India lost opener Gautam Gambhir (three) in the third over after electing to bat but Sehwag and Kohli propped up the innings with their big stand.

Kohli hit nine fours in his 113-ball knock before falling in the 40th over, caught by substitute fielder Sachithra Senanayake in the covers off seamer Perera.

Sehwag, who returned to the one-day squad after missing the Asia Cup in Bangladesh in March due to an injury, looked set to complete his 16th one-day hundred before he was run out.

Suresh Raina smashed a 45-ball 50 and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni made 35 off 29 deliveries as India scored 86 in the last 10 overs.

Sehwag had not even opened his account when he was dropped by Tillakaratne Dilshan off paceman Lasith Malinga, while Kohli survived on 16 when Perera failed to hold on to a difficult return catch.

Perera finished with three wickets, including those of Raina and Dhoni off successive balls, while pacemen Nuwan Kulasekara and Angelo Mathews each bagged one wicket.

Hambantota will also host the second onedayer on Tuesday, while the last three matches will be played in Colombo (July 28 and 31) and Pallekele (August 4). The one-day series will be followed by a one-off Twenty20 international in Pallekele on August 7.—AFP

SRI LANKA: India’s batsman Virat Kohli bats during the first one-day international cricket match between Sri Lanka and India in Hambantota. —AP

SCOREBOARD HAMBANTOTA, Sri Lanka: Complete scoreboard of the first one-day international between Sri Lanka and India in Hambantota yesterday: India: G. Gambhir b Kulasekara 3 V. Sehwag run out 96 V. Kohli c sub (S. Senanayake) b Perera 106 R. Sharma b Mathews 5 S. Raina c sub (Senanayake) b Perera 50 MS Dhoni c Thirimanne b Perera 35 Irfan Pathan not out 7 R. Ashwin not out 0 Extras (b1, lb2, nb2, w7) 12 Total (for six wickets; 50 overs) 314 Fall of wickets: 1-7 (Gambhir), 2-180 (Sehwag), 3191 (Sharma), 4-228 (Kohli), 5-307 (Raina), 6-307 (Dhoni).

Bowling: Kulasekara 5-0-20-1 (w1), Malinga 10-0-830 (nb2), Mathews 10-0-58-1 (w5), Perera 10-0-70-3, Dilshan 5-0-28-0, Herath 10-0-52-0 (w1).

Sri Lanka: U. Tharanga c Sehwag b Ashwin T. Dilshan lbw b Pathan

28 6

K. Sangakkara b Yadav 133 D. Chandimal c Dhoni b Yadav 13 M. Jayawardene lbw b Ojha 12 A. Mathews c Gambhir b Zaheer 7 L. Thirimanne lbw b Ashwin 7 T. Perera c Kohli b Pathan 44 R. Herath run out 0 L. Malinga not out 19 N. Kulasekara not out 1 Extras (b1, lb6, w16) 23 Total (for nine wickets; 50 overs) 293 Fall of wickets: 1-9 (Dilshan), 2-86 (Tharanga), 3-117 (Chandimal), 4-132 (Jayawardene), 5-172 (Mathews), 6-191 (Thirimanne), 7-269 (Sangakkara), 8-271 (Herath), 9-275 (Perera).

Bowling: Zaheer 10-0-63-1 (w6), Pathan 10-1-37-2 (w4), Yadav 10-0-76-2 (w3), Ashwin 10-1-46-2 (w1), Sehwag 4-0-20-0 (w1), Ojha 6-0-44-1 (w1).

Result: India win by 21 runs

Alonso takes pole again in German Grand Prix HOCKENHEIM: Championship leader Fernando Alonso secured his second consecutive pole position yesterday when he outpaced his rivals in qualifying for today’s German Grand Prix.

The two-time world champion drove his Ferrari with supreme judgement and great elan to prove he is the man to catch and beat in this year’s title race as he goes in pursuit of his third drivers’ title.

The Spaniard clocked an unbeatable one minute and 40.621 seconds during brief dry conditions at the end of the final Q3 shoot-out to trim his own fastest time and leave him out in front.

Alonso was four-tenths of a second faster than nearest rival and defending double champion Sebastian Vettel of Germany and his Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber, although the Australian was demoted five places after a penalty for a gearbox change. “You know, sometimes it’s good to check the circuit conditions, as we did in Q3,” said Alonso.

“Going into Turn 6 was not easy for anybody, a lot of aquaplaning, but everything went well for us. We made a good strategy call to do a pit stop in Q3 so we could have fresher tyres in the last minute. “I think that helped us a lot to improve the lap time. It has been a strange weekend for conditions on the track, but the car was performing well in both conditions so we will see what happens in the race.”

Vettel said: “In these conditions, it was tricky.

You can lose the car a bit in the rivers, but I think we had the car today to put on pole. “We need to look at the strategy Alonso touched on.

Maybe that was better, but in these conditions it is a bit of a lottery.

“Fortunately we didn’t lose the car and we are on the front row, which should be good. I am starting on the inside as well, so we will see what happens.”

German local hero and seven-time champion Michael Schumacher, 43, was fourth fastest in front of a big crowd of his dedicated fans, with another German, Nico Huelkenberg, taking fifth place on the grid for the Force India team.

GERMANY: Spain’s Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso steers his car during qualifying of the Formula One in Hockenheim. The German F1 Grand Prix will be held today. —AP Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado of Williams was sixth ahead of the McLaren pair of Britons Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, whose bright promise in dry conditions in practice on Friday was not converted into grid positions in the rain. Button’s relative success in taking seventh place was the first time this year that he has outpaced Hamilton in qualifying.

Hamilton said: “We did our last laps first and then the track got better and better and I guess the other guys were able to post quicker times after that.

“The track was drying so we would have got better if we had one more lap, but it was like driving on ice for us.” Another Briton, Paul Di Resta, was ninth in the second Force India, ahead of Finn Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus.

Webber said: “We wanted to be on the front row but eighth with the penalty is OK and we can race from there. “We’re going to aim to go forward. It’s not the best position to start from, it’s not ideal, but we have to aim to come forward and let’s see how the race goes.”

On another rainswept day that made conditions treacherous, Finn Kimi Raikkonen topped the times in the opening period before more intense rain made the track even more dangerous, with plumes of spray and a high risk of aquaplaning.

But making the most of the potential of his revised McLaren car with a new package of improvements, Hamilton showed his absolute prowess by topping the times in scintillating fashion.—AFP

Kohli stars in Indian win over Sri Lanka

Olympic flame starts historic London tour

SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012

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Nadal sad to miss ‘once in lifetime’ chance

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CAPE TOWN: Manchester United player Antonio Valencia (right) vies for the ball against Ajax Cape Town. —AP

Bebe salvages draw for United CAPE TOWN: Substitute Bebe scored two minutes into stoppage time to salvage a 1-1 draw for Manchester United at Ajax Cape Town yesterday in the second match of a pre-season world tour.

The Portuguese tapped a low cross into the net after Ajax had snatched the lead four minutes from time at a chilly Cape Town Stadium through a looping Alcardo van Graan back-heel from a corner.

New £17 million ($26 million) signing Shinji Kagawa from Japan made his first start for the Red Devils and showed many deft touches before squandering a good second-half scoring chance.

United, who defeated AmaZulu 1-0 last Wednesday in the other match on the South African leg of their tour, lacked many first-choice players like Wayne Rooney and captain Nemanja Vidic due to post-Euro 2012 rests, the Olympic Games and injuries. While United kept possession for lengthy periods at the start of the match, they

did not trouble former Liverpool goalkeeper Sander Westerveld and it was Ajax who created the first chance, only for Zimbabwean Khama Billiat to fire wide. A few minutes later and the Cape Town club had another half chance, but Terror Fanteni turned too slowly on the edge of the penalty area and his shot was blocked.

Billiat was proving a constant threat to the United defence and won a free-kick on the edge of the box, but the referee spotted a foul when the ball was floated across the goalmouth.

United finally came close to breaking the deadlock on 34 minutes when Antonio Valencia crossed from the right and Javier Hernandez headed goalwards, only to be denied by a flying one-hand save from Westerveld. Ajax threatened again soon after, only to waste a two-on-one situation through poor ball control, and United goalkeeper Ben Amos breathed a sigh of relief when an edge-of-the-box

shot beat him only to finish just off target. Little Mexican Hernandez got a touch to a low cross but could not prevent the ball trickling wide and the first half ended with Ajax holding their own against the three-time European champions.

United laid siege to the Ajax goalmouth in the early stages of the second half, with Hernandez going close and Ajax defender Nazeer Allie thwarting another threatening situation with a headed clearance. But the goal would not come and Kagawa wasted a golden chance to break the deadlock just past the hour mark when he sneaked unmarked into the heart of the area, only to head a Hernandez cross wide.

Manager Sir Alex Freguson rang the changes with 20 minutes left, bringing on new signing Nick Powell, Bebe, Ryan Tunnicliffe and Jesse Lingard for Paul Scholes, Hernandez, Valencia and Anderson.

Having survived a pounding from United, Ajax

started to push forward entering the final 15 minutes in pursuit of a winner and Amos needed to get down quickly to push a snap shot away.

Next stop for the Red Devils on the six-match tour is China for a clash with Shanghai Shenhua next Wednesday, and they will also play Valerenga in Norway, Barcelona in Sweden and Hanover in Germany.

Meanwhile, United centre-back Chris Smalling has been ruled out for up to 10 weeks with a broken foot and is now set to miss the start of the new season. Smalling had been trying to regain fitness at United’s Carrington training ground after recovering from a thigh injury that put paid to his hopes of appearing for England at Euro 2012.

But United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, speaking from South Africa, where the English giants are currently on a pre-season tour, told MUTV-United’s own television station-that the 22-year-old had suf-

Brazil too strong for Britain in warm-up

Wiggins wins stage 19 to seal Tour de France CHARTRES: Bradley Wiggins virtually secured his maiden Tour de France victory after winning the penultimate stage time trial of the race yesterday.

“I wanted to go out and finish with a bang,” said Wiggins, who clocked a winning time of 1hr 04min 13sec for the 53.5 km course. “You couldn’t write a better script really.”

Wiggins, who took nearly two minutes from defending champion Cadel Evans (BMC) when he won the stage nine time-trial over 41.5km, went into the 53.5km race against the clock with a 2min 05sec lead over Sky team-mate Chris Froome.

And after a smooth, controlled ride over a course lined with hundreds of British flags emblazoned with good luck messages, the 32-year-old Englishman increased his advantage on the Kenyan-born Briton.

Sky teammate Froome, who finished second on the first time trial at 35secs behind Wiggins, this time finished second at 1min 16sec.

After weeks of speculation on a supposed internal leadership battle between the pair, Froome was quick to have played his role in Wiggins’ historic achievement.

“I’m very happy. Our objective was to come here and win the Tour with

Bradley, and that’s what we have done,” said Froome, who outshone Wiggins on several of the race’s tough climbs.

“For me to come second is a big bonus.” It means Wiggins will go into today’s final stage to Paris-which usually does not host a battle for the yellow jersey-with an overall lead of 3:21 on Froome, who has over a threeminute lead on third placed Italian Vincenzo Nibali.

Barring catastrophe, the Belgianborn Londoner will become Britain’s first yellow jersey champion. “I don’t know what to say. Only one more day to go, and I’ve won the yellow jersey,” said an emotional Wiggins. “I’ve a lot of emotions and a lot of relief it’s finished.

It’s a dream come true, but I’ve been working to win this for the past five years. The job is done, almost.”

Sky team manager Dave Brailsford said: “We made it our objective to win this race within five years with a clean, British rider, and that’s what we’ve done. “It might be a surprise to everyone else, but it’s not a surprise to us.”

Nibali of Liquigas finished 16th at 3:38 and now sits 6:19 behind Wiggins. He is certain to finish third in Paris as Jurgen Van den Broeck of Belgium dropped to 10:15 in fourth.

Defending champion Cadel Evans,

fered a new setback courtesy of a metatarsal break.

“He got an injury on the Wednesday and, straight away, we decided to have the operation, so he’s out,” Ferguson said yesterday.

“It’s difficult to say with a metatarsal but it could be 10 weeks. “He’s not carrying any luck, the kid, but he’s young and we’ve done the right thing in getting it done immediately and getting him back on the road as quickly as we can.”

Now it seems unlikely that Smalling will play again until the end of September at the earliest.

That would mean the former Fulham man missing United’s opening six Premier League games, plus their opening Champions League match.

In addition, Smalling is also set to be sidelined from at least three England matches and, quite probably, October’s World Cup qualifiers with San Marino and Poland as well, given the limited time he would then have to regain match fitness.—AFP

FRANCE: Overall leader’s yellow jersey, British Bradley Wiggins celebrates at the end of the 53.5 km individual time-trial and nineteenth stage of the 2012 Tour de France cycling race.—AFP meanwhile, had another day to forget. and I had to adjust to that. “By the time He started the day in sixth place overall today came I was just hoping to hold at nearly 10 minutes behind Wiggins my place on GC (general classification). and finished 52nd at 5:54 to drop one “But I started the day empty, I started a place to seventh overall at 15:51 few days here now empty, and I was riding within my limits in that regard.” behind the leader.

Van Garderen is set to finish fifth Having been upstaged by his younger American team-mate Tejay overall at 11:04 behind Wiggins and Van Garderen in the mountains, Evans has virtually secured the white jersey suffered the humiliation of being over- for the race’s best-placed rider aged 25 taken by ‘TVG’ on the stage despite and under.

Compared to last year, when he starting three minutes earlier. Evans, admitting he has had an “off year”, erased his two previous runner-up added: “I came in with really high finishes with a maiden win for expectations and as the race went on Australia, Evans could not feel any my chances lessened and lessened, more different. —AFP

MIDDLESBROUGH: Brazil underlined their position as favorites for Olympic gold when they gave a masterful performance to complete a 2-0 win over hosts Britain, who fielded a united team for the first time in 41 years.

Brazil won the friendly with a header from Sandro and a penalty from Neymar just five days before the London Games soccer competition, which features an under-23 line-up with three over-aged players, kicks off.

Brazil, seeking to win the Olympic title for the first time, sent a powerful message of intent to the other 15 teams in the competition with a silky display in their final warm-up before the Games. “”I am not worried about sending a message to the other teams. My main concern tonight was to get my European-based players, returning from holiday, back in the rhythm of the team,” Brazil coach Mano Menezes told reporters. “”That took maybe 20 minutes at the start, but then we played very well for the rest of the half and the match.”

On an unusually sunny summer’s evening at the Riverside, there was excitement that the Olympics was drawing closer with the theme from “”Chariots of Fire” reverberating around stadium before kickoff and the unusual site of the Union Jack fluttering in the breeze.

Britain struck gold in three out of four Games from 1900 but in recent years, fielding a Team GB has been blocked by the Scottish,

Welsh and Northern Ireland football associations amid fears that they might lose their independent status within FIFA. No British team took part in Olympic soccer since a qualifying defeat to Bulgaria in May 1971 cost them a place in the 1972 Munich Games but when London was awarded the Games, the hosts were obliged to compete.

Friday’s match was Britain’s only warm-up before the start of their Olympic campaign against Senegal at Old Trafford next Thursday.

Judging on this performance though, coach Stuart Pearce has plenty of work to do over the remaining few days if Britain are going to come anywhere close to the golds they won in the far simpler sporting times of 1900, 1908 and 1912.

Starting with seven Englishmen and four Welshmen including captain Ryan Giggs, Britain looked uncomfortable on the ball and far from a cohesive blend.

They allowed Brazil too much time and space on the ball, and with players like Neymar facing them, that was a dangerous tactic to pursue. The opening goal came after a lack of communication in the Britain defence, allowing Sandro, who plays in London for Spurs, to loop in a header. Neymar doubled the lead 10 minutes before the interval when Hulk was tripped

by Micah Richards and the 20-year-old striker beat keeper Jason Steele from the spot. Pearce said the performance proved that Brazil are the favorites for gold.—Reuters

Morgan Stanley may sell commodity stake to Qatar Page 22

Fresh protests due in Madrid as crisis outlook darkens Page 23

SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012

Maruti Suzuki shuts riot-hit car plant Page 25

Caesars Travels outlines new expansion strategy Page 23

FORT WORTH: Plane models stand outside the Lockheed Martin Corporation during the United Kingdom F-35 Lightning II Delivery Ceremony on Friday in Fort Worth, Texas. The ceremony marked the first international delivery of an F35 Joint Strike Fighter to a partner nation. — AFP

Qatar, Bahrain airlines pre-qualified for new license Aviation body sets bidding deadline of September JEDDAH: Qatar Airways, Bahrain Air and Gulf Air are among the firms in pre-qualified consortia bidding for a new airline license in Saudi Arabia, an official from the General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) with knowledge of the matter told Reuters yesterday.

This month GACA said 14 companies had applied for licenses to operate domestic and international flights in the country,

seven of which have been short-listed.

The list of the seven pre-qualified consortia also includes Chinese firm HNA, the parent company of Hainan Airlines Co Ltd , the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Nesma Holding, and United Arab Emirate’s private carrier Falcon Express. Saudi Arabia, the biggest Arab economy with a population of over 27 million, 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, where demand for flights is high.

More than 54 million passengers passed through Saudi Arabia’s 27 airports last year, according to data from GACA, rising 13.6 percent from 2010. Licensed for-

eign carriers can fly in and out of Saudi Arabia but not within.

With a price cap on domestic flights, private airlines have struggled with profit margins. In 2010, the kingdom’s third carrier, Sama Airlines, was forced to suspend operations. Most of those seek ing a license are eyeing low-cost flights in the kingdom, where business travel is rising and religious tourism is booming.

Haunted by Europe, US market can’t get ahead

ECB’s Draghi says euro not in danger PARIS: The euro zone is not in danger of breaking up despite some analysts’ worse case scenarios, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said, judging that the bloc was inevitably marching towards closer union among its members.

Asked in an inter view with French newspaper Le Monde if the euro were in danger, Draghi said: “No, absolutely not. We see analysts imagining the scenario of a euro zone blow-up.” “They don’t recognise the political capital that our leaders have invested in this union and Europeans’ support. The euro is irreversible,” he added.

In the long term, the euro would need to rest on a foundation of greater integration among euro zone countries, Draghi said. “All movement towards financial, budgetary and political union is for me inevitable and will lead to the creation of new supranational bodies,” he said.

European leaders took a step towards greater integration last month at a Brussels summit where they agreed to put the ECB in charge of supervising banks and gave the ESM rescue fund the power to recapitalise troubled banks.

However, the summit provided only brief relief to investors.

Concerns about Spain have returned to the fore, driving the country’s 10-year bond yields above the 7-percent danger level on Friday.

European and U.S stocks also fell and the euro hit record lows against the Australian, Canadian and New Zealand currencies in the face of increasing investor fears that the Spanish government may seek a full-blown bailout.

Draghi poured cold water on the

prospect that the ECB could take action to calm the situation, saying that its mandate did not allow the central bank to resolve states’ financial problems.

The International Monetary Fund has urged the ECB, which is legally forbidden from financing governments, to play a greater role fighting the crisis, suggesting that it could be given lender-of-last-resort functions.

At the summit in June, EU leaders broadened the ECB’s role to include supervising banks in hope that the move would cut the risk that troubled lenders’ problems could spread to sovereign borrowers.

Draghi said that the ECB’s monetary policy and bank supervisory activities would have to be kept separate in order to avoid conflicts of interest and suggested that an “independent structure” could be built.

Weighing in on the LIBOR rate fixing scandal, he warned that it was undermining confidence in a cornerstone of the global financial system.

Turning to the economic outlook in the euro zone, Draghi said he did not see the risk that the bloc as a whole would enter a recession and that the situation would gradually improve towards the end of the year and the beginning of 2013.

The ECB cut its interest rates to a record low earlier this month to breathe life into the ailing euro zone economy amid signs that inflation pressures were subsiding.

Draghi said that the ECB, which strives to keep euro zone inflation at a rate close to but less than 2 percent, was prepared to take action in the case that the risk of deflation emerged. — Reuters

Qatar Airways announced its plans to enter the Saudi domestic aviation sector earlier this month. GACA will meet with the seven pre-qualified consortia next month and the deadline to submit bids will start in September, the official stated.

The announcement of the winning firms or consortium will be in October while operations are expected to start at the end of next year. —Reuters

CALIFORNIA: Bank customers use an automated teller machine (ATM) in Hollywood, yesterday in California. Bank of America profits swung higher in the second quarter, the firm announced last week, reporting a net income of $2.5 billion on July 18. — AFP

KSE posts limited rise KUWAIT: Pace of upward trend of Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) was generally slow during the past week trading with the main indexes showing mixed performance. Al-Oula Brokerage Company said in a report released on Saturday mounting speculations regarding earnings of the second quarter of the year contributed to tradersí cautious anticipation, thus resulting in limited liquidity.

Value of trades posted the second drop this year, 9.7 million dinars, the first time it fell below the level of KD 10 million since early December 2011, whilst limited liquidity coincided with con-

tinuing fall of blue-chips.

The past week operations lacked long-term investments, with the major traders shifting to boosting shares in some companies, while speculations focused on cheap chips. Trading is forecast to remain within a limited range during the rest of the summer unless the government intervene. However, the government investor remained cautious and tending to invest in guaranteed heavy-weight stocks.

The report said demand reached KD 11 million and supply amounted to KD 45.4 million during the past week operations. — KUNA

NEW YORK: For the past few days, the US stock market was able to forget about problems in Europe. Friday put Europe squarely back in the spotlight. US stocks fell sharply as escalating problems in Spain jolted investors. Spain’s stock market plunged 6 percent and its borrowing costs spiked after a regional government asked for a financial lifeline.

The drop on Wall Street, which sent the Dow Jones industrial average down as much as 133 points, marked a U-turn for the market. Stocks had risen over the past three days as investors focused on healthy earnings from US companies like Mattel, Honeywell and Coca-Cola.

On Friday, talk of sluggishness in Europe was prevalent as more companies turned in their quarterly results. Staffing agency Manpower fell 6 percent, to $33.46, and chip maker Advanced Micro Devices fell 13 percent, to $4.22, after reporting that weak demand in Europe had dragged down secondquarter revenue. Xerox trimmed its earnings forecasts as Europeans bought less equipment. Ingersoll-Rand, whose products include Trane air conditioners, cut its revenue prediction for the same reason. Xerox fell 49 cents to $6.70, and Ingersoll-Rand lost $1.22 to $40.25. Late Thursday, guitar maker Fender abruptly canceled its plans to go public, blaming “current market conditions” and “concerns about economic conditions in Europe.” And General Electric, though its stock edged up 7 cents to $19.87, noted Friday that its orders also fell in Europe.

“We prepared ourselves for a pretty tough year this year, or certainly a volatile year,” CEO Jeff Immelt said in a call with analysts. “We haven’t been disappointed.” GE’s finance officer, Keith Sherin, said the company is making “a full-court press” to reduce exposure to Europe.

Even the Internet powerhouse Google noted that growth in Southern Europe had slowed, particularly in Spain. But Google also reported higher revenue and profit, and its stock rose $17.76, to $610.82. All the major US stock indexes fell. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 120.79 points to 12,822.57. The Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 13.85 to 1,362.66. The Nasdaq composite index lost 40.60 to 2,925.30. All three indicators were down about 1 percent. They eked out tiny gains for the week and are about flat for the month to date.

Despite the generally sour mood in the market, two tech companies soared on their first day of trading. Kayak Software, a travel-booking website, jumped 28 percent, or $7.18, to $33.18. Palo Alto Networks, a technology security company, rose 27 percent, or $11.13, to $53.13.

The broad downturn was an unwelcome change after three days of gains, the Dow’s longest winning streak in more than a month. Until Friday, investors focused on upbeat earnings from US companies. Nearly three-fourths of the companies that have reported second-quarter earnings so far have beat expectations, according to FactSet.— AP

SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012

BUSINESS

Morgan Stanley may sell commodity stake to Qatar Deal may be imminent, includes a minority stake

COMPTON: People walk past Compton City Hall on Friday in Compton, California.

The City of Compton located south of Los Angeles with a population of nearly 100,000 must decide by September 1 whether to file for bankruptcy. According to city officials, Compton has an accumulated $43 million deficit and will run out of cash to make its payroll on September 1. — AFP

Higher One to pay fine in fee probe WASHINGTON: Higher One Holdings Inc. is preparing to pay a fine to federal regulators investigating fees the company charged to college students who used its bank cards. The company is near a deal with regulators that would end an 18month investigation of overdraft fees charged between 2008 and 2011, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. The amount of the fine had not yet been finalized, the people said.

They spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement has not yet been signed. Higher One markets bank cards and checking accounts to college students through exclusive deals with colleges and universities. Students who use its accounts sometimes pay fees to access their financial aid money.

The company has card agreements with 520 campuses that enroll 4.3 million students, according to a recent study from the US Public Interest Research Group Education Fund, a student advocacy group. That’s about one-fifth of the nation’s higher-education students.

Among the colleges that partner with Higher One are Liberty University, Miami Dade College, Texas Tech and Johns Hopkins University.

In May, Higher One said in a regulatory filing that it was working with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to resolve the investigation. It said it had started refunding the fees in December 2011, and had finished returning $4.7 million to customers as of March 31.

The company has been criticized by student and consumer groups, who say students are pressured into using its products because they receive pitches on university letterhead and believe the accounts are university-approved. They say students should be encouraged to shop around for a less expensive banking option. Some universities pocket a share of the fees that Higher One charges to their students. That gives them little reason to make sure students get the best deal possible, advocates say. Higher One says it has stopped signing new contracts that include revenue-sharing.

Higher One accounts carry more than a dozen fees, including $50 if an account is overdrawn for more than 45 days, $10 per month if the student stops using his account for six months, $29 to $38 for overdrawing an account with a recurring bill payment and 50 cents to use a PIN

instead of a signature system at a retail store, according to its website.

The company also charges a $50 “lack of documentation fee” for students who fail to submit certain paperwork, the website says. The US Department of Education called the charging of such fees “unallowable” in guidance to financial aid officers issued in April.

Students can opt out of the Higher One account and choose direct deposit or paper checks to receive their college aid, but relatively few do, according to the report from US PIRG. The cards and accounts are marketed aggressively using college letterhead and websites carrying the endorsement of colleges. Higher One also warns students that it will take extra days if they choose direct deposit or a paper check.

A representative for Higher One declined to comment on the agreement with regulators. However, in an emailed interview in May, Higher One founder and Chief Operating Officer Miles Lasater said that the company takes compliance with government rules “very seriously,” and officially swears that to the government each year. “We are committed to providing good value accounts that are designed for college students,” he said, and students must review the company’s fee list when they sign up for an account. He cited a study commissioned by Higher One that declared Higher One “a low-cost provider for this market.” The same study found that the median fees charged to the 2 million students with Higher One accounts totaled $49 annually.

Regulators told Higher One in February 2011 that it might face an enforcement action because of violations relating to its compliance system, and its policy of charging overdraft fees on accounts that were “seriously delinquent,” according to the May filing. The company believed that any additional costs were unlikely, the filing said. An FDIC spokesman declined to comment, saying the FDIC makes public only actions against banks. Higher One partners with banks that hold customers deposits and issue cards on its behalf.

The FDIC typically oversees banks that hold deposits. It runs the insurance fund that guarantees people’s bank deposits in case their bank fails. The FDIC has authority over Higher One because of its close business relationships with banks that the FDIC regulates. —AP

NEW YORK: Morgan Stanley is in advanced talks over selling a stake in its multibillion-dollar commodities trading division to Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, CNBC reported yesterday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Talks have recently focused on the Qatar Investment Authority buying a minority stake, according to one of the people, CNBC reported on its website. It said a deal might be imminent, but cautioned the exact terms could not be determined and that discussions could still fall apart.

A Morgan Stanley spokeswoman declined to comment.

Morgan Stanley, whose commodity unit was one of the original “Wall Street refiners” that pioneered the energy derivatives market two decades ago, was first reported to be considering selling a stake a month ago. Earlier it was believed to be in talks with private equity funds, including Blackstone Group LP. QIA, which controls an investment fund of over $100 billion, has emerged as a leading investor in the raw materials sector. It has deals ranging from a major stake in London-listed miner Xstrata Plc - the subject of a bid from Glencore International Plc, which competes with Morgan Stanley - to a small private equity vehicle together with British bank Barclays Plc.

The commodities unit at Morgan has earned the bank an estimated $17 billion in revenue over the past decade, trading both financial contracts and physical commodities such as gasoline and diesel fuel. CNBC said owning part of the unit could “cost the Qatari fund a billion dollars or more,” without providing a source for the sum.

But with a deepening role in illiquid cash markets and physical assets through subsidiaries TransMontaigne Inc and Heidmar Inc, Morgan’s division has also become a weight on the bank’s capital base as it faces credit pressures. And new regulations threaten to limit its advantage in trading physical commodities, long its strong suit.

Speaking earlier this week to CNBC, Morgan’s chief financial officer, Ruth Porat, said they “look at commodities as an ongoing” business, but could “never say never” about outside investment, the business news station reported.

Enlisting a cash-rich investor to help buoy a commodity trading division would be unusual on Wall Street, although there is some precedent for joint ventures.

Louis Dreyfus Highbridge, an energy merchant owned by the French commodity trader and a JP Morgan investment group, has existed for years. More recently a handful of Sempra Commodities veterans secured the backing of a

private equity fund in order to launch a new venture called Freepoint Commodities.

There are signs that Morgan’s competitive position is slipping, with its division apparently suffering more than its rivals from weaker trading volumes, as well as new regulations that will limit US banks’ trading for their own account and might force them to divest commodity assets.

Morgan Stanley fell to fourth place in the over-the-counter market for commodity derivatives among corporations and investors, behind JPMorgan Chase & Co, Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Barclays Plc, according to a recent survey by Greenwich Associates.

The bank has increased its trading risk this year even as many of its peers cut back. Morgan Stanley’s second-quarter value-at-risk in commodities, a measure of its estimated maximum loss on 95 out of 100 trading days, rose to an average of $34 million, the highest since just before the 2008 financial crisis. Goldman Sachs cut its VaR to an eight-year low.

Morgan Stanley said its overall net revenue for fixed income and commodities sales and trading slumped to $770 million during the second quarter from $1.9 billion a year ago. It reports commodity-specific revenues only annually. — Reuters

Bank failures in 3 states bring 2012 total to 37

WASHINGTON: Regulators late Friday closed two small banks in Georgia, one in Florida and one in Kansas, bringing to 37 the number of US bank failures this year. That’s a slower pace than in 2011; 58 banks had failed by this time last year.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. seized Georgia Trust Bank, based in Buford, Ga., with $119.8 million in assets and $117.4 million in deposits; First Cherokee State Bank, based in Woodstock, Ga., with $222.7 million in assets and $193.3 million in deposits; and Royal Palm Bank of Florida, based in Naples, Fla., with $87 million in assets and $85.1 million in deposits.

Also shuttered was Heartland Bank in Leawood, Kan., with $110 million in assets and $102.6 million in deposits. Atlanta-based Community & Southern Bank agreed to assume the deposits of the Georgia banks and to buy all the assets of First Cherokee State Bank.

Community & Southern also is buying about $111.5 million of Georgia Trust Bank’s assets.

First National Bank of the Gulf Coast, also based in Naples, agreed to assume all the deposits and essentially all the assets of Royal Palm Bank of Florida. Metcalf Bank, based in Lees Summit, Mo., agreed to buy the assets and deposits of Heartland Bank.

In addition, the FDIC and Community & Southern Bank agreed to share losses on $65.9 million of Georgia Trust Bank’s loans and other assets, and on $141.8 million of First Cherokee State Bank’s assets. The agency and Metcalf Bank agreed to share losses on $54.3 million of Heartland Bank’s assets.

The failure of Georgia Trust Bank is expected to cost the deposit insurance fund $20.9 million; the failure of First Cherokee State Bank is expected to cost $36.9 million; that of Royal Palm Bank of Florida, $13.5 million; and Heartland Bank,

$3.1 million. The pace of bank closures has slowed sharply since peaking in 2010 in the wake of the financial crisis. In 2007, just three banks went under. That number jumped to 25 in 2008, after the meltdown, and ballooned to 140 in 2009.

In 2010, regulators seized 157 banks, the most in any year since the savings and loan crisis two decades ago. The FDIC has said 2010 likely was the high-water mark for bank failures from the Great Recession. By this time last year, 51 banks had failed. From 2008 through 2011, bank failures cost the fund an estimated $88 billion. The deposit insurance fund fell into the red in 2009. But with failures slowing, the fund’s balance turned positive in the second quarter of last year. By Dec. 31, it stood at $11.8 billion, according to the FDIC. The FDIC expects failures from 2012 through 2016 to cost $12 billion. — AP

Feds seek order on housing in NY county WHITE PLAINS: The federal government asked a judge to compel New York’s Westchester County to provide information about local zoning practices that might be racially discriminatory.

The motion by the US attorney’s office stems from a 3-year-old settlement of a lawsuit over racial patterns in housing.

The settlement required Westchester, a suburban county just north of New York City, to build 750 units, mostly in heavilywhite areas, and market them to nonwhites.

Many wealthy celebrities and other prominent people, including former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, live in such areas. The housing construction is on schedule, but the settlement also requires Westchester to analyze barriers to fair housing, including any local zoning that might affect blacks or Hispanics.

The motion accuses Westchester of failing to do that analysis properly. The county has issued two reports - the government rejected the first one earlier this year - asserting that because multifamily housing is permitted somewhere in every municipality, there are no such barriers.

The federal monitor on the case, James Johnson, said in court papers Friday that the county’s report “failed to provide a legal basis, facts or analysis that would adequately support its conclusion that exclusionary zoning did not exist.”

He also said Westchester was uncooperative with him in other dealings, and he cited several examples of the county requesting extensions of deadlines at the last moment. He said the county’s compliance “has been all too frequently marked by delay, incomplete production and, at times, wholesale failure to respond.”

He asked that the court include specific

procedures for the county to follow in the future when it objects to any request for information. The government’s legal memo says, “The county’s consistent failure to comply with the monitor’s requests for information is ... preventing the parties from reaching the ultimate goal of the settlement - the development of fair and affordable housing.”

Ned McCormack, a spokesman for County Executive Rob Astorino, said he was “surprised to the point of being flabbergasted” when the motion was filed. He blamed the Department of Housing and Urban Development, a key party to the settlement, which has echoed many of the monitor’s concerns. “To go to court on something like this is another example of HUD trying to bully the county,” McCormack said. “We’re building the housing. It’s hard to see what purpose is served by going to court.” — AP

EXCHANGE Commercial Bank of Kuwait US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian Dollar Australian DLR Indian rupees Sri Lanka Rupee UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi riyals Omani riyals Egyptian pounds US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian dollars Danish Kroner Swedish Kroner Australian dlr Hong Kong dlr Singapore dlr Japanese yen Indian Rs/KD Sri Lanka rupee Pakistan rupee Bangladesh taka UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi Riyal/KD Omani riyals Philippine Peso

.2740000 .4370000 .3430000 .2850000 .2750000 .2870000 .0040000 .0020000 .0761490 .7418950 .3850000 .0720000 .7272960 .0430000 CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES .2806000 .4390830 .3446050 .2868970 .2771910 .0463110 .0403290 .2892420 .0361730 .2227340 .0035510 .0000000 .0000000 .0000000 .0000000 .0764270 .7445930 .0000000 .0748470 .7291150 .0000000

.2840000 .500000 .3580000 .2990000 .2850000 .2970000 .0070000 .0035000 .0769140 .7493510 .4050000 .0780000 .7346050 .0510000 .2827000 .4423690 .3471840 .2890450 .2792650 .0466570 .0406310 .2914070 .0364440 .2244010 .0035780 .0051450 .0021210 .0030050 .0034710 .0769990 .7501660 .3998590 .0754070 .7345720 .0068400

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co. Currency US Dollar Pak Rupees

Rate per 1000 (Tran) 281.700 2.982

Indian Rupees Sri Lankan Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso UAE Dirhams Saudi Riyals Bahraini Dinars Egyptian Pounds Pound Sterling Indonesian Rupiah Nepali rupee Yemeni Riyal Euro Canadian Dollars

Bangladesh Taka Indian Rupee Sri Lankan Rupee Nepali Rupee Pakistani Rupee UAE Dirhams Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Jordanian Dinar Omani Riyal Qatari Riyal

5.150 2.110 3.444 6.790 76.800 75.275 748.900 46.448 446.60 2.990 3.205 1.550 352.000 283.600

Transfer Rate (Per 1000) 281.900 349.100 442.550 279.400 3.610 5.095 46.495 2.107 3.450 6.770 2.990 749.200 76.750 75.200

UAE Exchange Centre WLL COUNTRY Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Euro US Dollar Sterling Pound Japanese Yen

SELL DRAFT 294.69 282.63 292.74 349.20 281.40 444.14 3.64

3.600 5.300 2.600 3.670 3.200 77.50 748.00 48.10 399.00 735.00 79.00

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd

Al Mulla Exchange Currency US Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar Japanese Yen Indian Rupee Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupee Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso Pakistan Rupee Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal *Rates are subject to change

3.445 5.094 2.107 3.193 2.987 76.68 749.27 46.44 400.90 732.37 77.71

SELL CASH 294.00 280.00 292.00 349.00 282.75 444.00 3.65

Rate for Transfer US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupees Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit

Selling Rate 281.650 281.531 441.925 346.675 288.595 745.660 76.660 77.310 75.070 397.025 46.434 2.101 5.119 2.991 3.442 6.746 690.890 4.565 9.015 4.390 3.285 88.640

Bahrain Exchange Company COUNTRY Australian dollar Bahraini dinar Bangladeshi taka

SELL CASH 293.800 749.290 3.680

SELL DRAFT 292.300 749.290 3.441

Canadian dollar Cyprus pound Czek koruna Danish krone Deutsche Mark Egyptian pound Euro Cash Hongkong dollar Indian rupees Indonesia Iranian tuman Iraqi dinar Japanese yen Jordanian dinar Lebanese pound Malaysian ringgit Morocco dirham Nepalese Rupees New Zealand dollar Nigeria Norwegian krone Omani Riyal Pakistani rupees Philippine peso Qatari riyal Saudi riyal Singapore dollar South Africa Sri Lankan rupees Sterling pound Swedish krona Swiss franc Syrian pound Thai bhat Tunisian dollar UAE dirham U.S. dollars Yemeni Riyal

281.500 553.300 45.900 47.500 167.800 48.550 350.400 37.020 5.290 0.032 0.161 0.236 3.670 399.270 0.191 91.550 43.800 4.330 228.900 1.825 47.500 731.850 3.100 6.960 77.930 75.230 224.760 36.380 2.684 444.800 41.100 291.900 4.400 9.260 198.263 76.820 282.100 1.350 GOLD

10 Tola

Sterling Pound US Dollar

1,690.000 TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 442.800 281.700

280.000

224.800 46.442 348.900 36.870 5.115 0.031

399.240 0.190 91.550 3.230 227.200

731.670 2.995 6.760 77.500 75.230 224.760 36.380 2.103 442.800 290.400 4.400 9.130 76.720 281.700

23

SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012

BUSINESS

Venture funding falls 12% in Q2 to $7 billion NEW YORK: Funding for startups fell 12 percent in the April-June period as venture capitalists poured less money into fewer deals than a year earlier. But the number of companies getting funded in the earliest stages of development reached the highest level in more than a decade - a hopeful sign for the broader economy and an indication that investors are willing to wait for returns.

A report due out Friday says that startup investments slipped to $7 billion in the second quarter, down from $8 billion in the same period a year earlier. The companies getting funded were mainly in the software, Internet, industrial, and energy sectors. There were 898 deals completed during the

quarter, down 15 percent from 1,057 a year earlier.

The MoneyTree study was conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association based on data from Thomson Reuters.

The study tracked four stages of venture capital funding. Depending on how far along companies are in development, they received either “seed”, “early”, “expansion” or “later-stage” funding.

Compared with the first quarter, both the amount of VC money and the number of overall deals increased. The April-June quarter saw most early-stage deals completed since the first quarter of 2001, with $2.1 billion going into 410

deals. “That’s really the bread and butter for VCs and hopefully a harbinger for good economic news for the country overall,” said Mark Heesen, president of the NVCA. “If we’re investing in early stage, that means we have some time and money that we didn’t have in the recent past.”

Many early-stage companies don’t make it. Those that do become big job creators, he added.Still, there are concerns among venture capitalists.

Investments in the life sciences are falling. In the second quarter, venture capital firms poured $696.8 million into biotech startups, less than half of the $1.44 billion they invested a year earlier.

Heesen explained that the time it takes

a drug to get to market in the US is getting longer -often more than 10 years.

That makes funding difficult, even for patient investors.

Among the study’s other notable items: Internet companies received the second-highest level of investment in more than a decade, with $1.8 billion going into 261 deals. Seed-stage companies received less than half of the funding that they did a year ago, with $199.4 million going into 63 deals.

That’s down from $422.8 million going into 130 deals.

Three of top four deals were in the industrial and energy sectors. Electric car maker Fisker Automotive received $147.6 million, Harvest Power, a

provider of organic waste management services, got $112 million and fuel cell technology company Bloom Energy, which develops small, natural-gas power generators for offices and factories, received $100 million.

Pinterest Inc., the popular imagesharing website, tied for third place with $100 million in funding.

Startups in the expansion stage received a total of $2.62 billion going into 232 deals, down from 272 deals and $2.38 billion a year ago.

There were 193 later-stage deals during the quarter, totaling $2.09 billion. That’s down from 274 deals and $2.97 billion in the second quarter of 2011. —AP

Caesars Travels outlines new expansion strategy New website illustrates brand identity

By Sajeev K Peter

MADRID: Thousands of people protest against the Spanish government’s latest austerity measures in Madrid. —AFP

Fresh protests due in Madrid as crisis outlook darkens MADRID: Spanish protestors yesterday planned the latest in a series of angry demonstrations against the government’s economic crisis cuts, as fears rose for the country’s financial stability.

Yesterday’s protests come a day after Spain’s economic and financial outlook darkened, with the government warning the recession will drag on through 2013, and the interest rates on Spanish sovereign bonds rising to danger levels.

After hundreds of thousands crammed the streets of Spanish cities Thursday, fresh demonstrations were planned by a group of people unemployed in the crisis, who were set to converge on Madrid from around Spain yesterday.

An almost-daily string of protests erupted after Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on July 11 announced 65 billion euros ($80 billion) in measures including cuts to pay and unemployment benefits, on top of earlier huge cutbacks.

Firemen, police officers, nurses, teachers and other workers have massed in the streets outside government ministries yelling: “Hands up, this is a robbery!”

Protestors say the efforts to cut Spain’s deficit are unfairly targeting the poor and will depress the recession-hit economy further.

On Friday the government cut its economic growth forecast for 2013 from 0.2 percent growth to a contraction of 0.5 percent. Unemployment is at more than 24 percent. The government says it has no choice but to pass its harsh economic measures given the high public deficit.

On Friday one of Spain’s indebted regional authorities, Valencia, reached out for emergency aid, applying to borrow from a fund of 18 billion euros set up by the central government for struggling

regions.

In response, the Madrid stock exchange plunged by more than five percent, dragged down by banking shares which found no support in a eurozone rescue deal for the financial sector finalised by finance ministers Friday.

The return on Spanish 10-year bonds-a benchmark measure of market confidence in the country’s financial strengthjumped well above the 7.0 percent danger level on Friday. Another key measure, the difference between the yields on Spanish and safehaven German bonds, also moved dangerously high, topping 600 points (six percentage points).

The indicators revived warnings that the banking bailout may not be enough to stabilise Spain’s finances, a key concern for the future of the eurozone. The soaring of the risk premium “pushes Spain close to a total bailout”, headlined the right-leaning newspaper El Mundo yesterday.

“Spain enters an extreme situation”, warned left-leaning El Pais. In yesterday’s protests, demonstrators were due to arrive on foot in Madrid after walking hundreds of miles (kilometres) from several regions around Spain.

The various groups planned to gather for a picnic near Madrid’s Prado Museum in the early afternoon and march together at 1630 GMT to the central Puerta del Sol square, the symbolic hub of social protests.

It was not clear how many people were likely to take part. Thursday’s demonstration was mostly peaceful but after it ended police fired rubber bullets and baton-charged small groups of protestors to disperse them from streets around the Puerta del Sol. —AFP

BEIJING: A vendor prepares rolls of silk at her textile and fabric shop in Beijing on Friday. China should keep up reforms as it tries to steer its slowing economy to a soft landing, a senior US Treasury official said July 18. —AFP

China eyes further trading fees cut to boost confidence SHANGHAI: China’s securities regulator is planning another transaction fee cut before the start of September, the China Securities Journal reported yesterday, which would be the third such moved this year aimed at shoring up investor confidence in the bourses.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission is expected to cut trading transaction fees by around 20 percent and is also working with the country’s insurance regulator to launch investment guidelines for insurers, the paper said, citing an unidentified CSRC official from a press conference.

On June 1, the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges lowered the transaction costs of A shares by 25 percent, and cut the

transaction commissions of futures products by 30 percent.

Last week, CSRC also halved supervisory fees to stock and futures trading and eliminated fees applied to mutual fund and bond trades. The fees are collected by both exchanges and the official clearing house.

The financial impact is not expected to be significant, but is intended to improve market confidence, analysts said.

Chinese stock markets have slumped in the past year, weighed down by worries over policy tightening and slower growth.

The Shanghai Composite Index fell for the fifth-straight week to close down 0.8 percent to 2,186.6 on Friday after hitting a six-month low on Monday. —Reuters

KUWAIT: Caesars Travel Group, a leading air travel services provider in Kuwait, launched its totally refurbished website illustrating the company’s brand identity. At a small yet elegant function held at its new state-of-the-art office on the 12th floor of the Jawhara Tower, Kuwait City, Caesars Int’l Travel Co unveiled its new interactive website in the presence of a host of dignitaries and travel industry professionals.

Dr Abbas Ramadan, Director and Neurosurgeon at Al-Sabah Hospital and, launched the new website by logging on to the web portal www.caesarstravel.com.

Caesars Travels Group CEO P N J Kumar, Oman Air Country Manager Sulaiman Al-Maskary, leading Kuwaiti businessman Khudar Al-Saleh, Bahrain Air Country Manager Santhosh, Galileo Country Manager Rajkrishnan, one of the owners of Caesars Group of companies and the senior management of Caesars Travel Group Ralph D’Souza and top Caesars Travel Group executives were present during the launch.

Addressing the gathering after the launch, Kumar gave a brief overview of the group’s expansion strategy and hoped that the new website would help the company establish a batter interface with the customers.

“The website is not just a window for our customers to access information about us. As it illustrates our brand identity as a wellknown player in the travel services industry in Kuwait, the website will help us establish a direct interface with our customers and build

and sustain a long-term relation with them,” said Kumar. The new interactive website, designed by ENS International, offers easy snapshots of the company’s profile and helpful information for travelers and the general public.

He said Caesars Travel Group has always been a pioneer in intro-

reservations, air ticketing, travel documentation, airline representations, worldwide hotel reservations and cruise bookings,” he pointed out.

The 12th floor of Jawhara Tower is an executive floor for all the airlines represented by Caesars Int’l with offices of the

forwarding and customer handling, he added.

Established in 1992, the Caesars Travel Group has carved out a niche for itself as a well-known travel services company in Kuwait.

It diversified its activities over the years offering a wide range of services from flight booking and

KUWAIT: P N J Kumar gives a brief overview on the new website after its launch. Dr Abbas Ramadan, Sulaiman Al-Maskary, Khudar Al-Saleh and others look on. —Photo by Sajeev K Peter ducing innovative ideas by exploring technological solutions and enhancing the travel experiences of the customers.

“To realize this goal, we have opened several windows of our diversified activities and services under one umbrella. We are specialized in handling instant international and domestic airline

country managers and GSA administration while sales offices of these airlines are located on the ground floor of the tower for easy access to the travel agents and passengers, Kumar added.

The company represents leading tour operators in the world, offering a comprehensive array of services such as cargo clearing,

tailor-made holiday packages to logistics and freight transport services. It functions as the general sales agent for many leading international airlines including Oman Air, Bahrain Air, Kenya Airways, China Southern Airlines.

The company has 21 offices, 14 of them IATA-affiliated, at convenient locations across the country.

Nasdaq hikes payout figure for botched Facebook IPO SAN FRANCISCO: Nasdaq on Friday raised to $62 million the amount of money it will set aside to cover trading losses due to computer glitches that disrupted the launch of Facebook shares onto the market.

The huge electronic market’s foul-up marred the $16 billion Facebook share issue on May 18, the most hotly awaited initial public offering on the US markets in years.”We deeply regret the problems encountered during the initial public offering of Facebook,” Nasdaq OMX Group chief executive Robert Greifeld said in a statement.

“We have learned from this experience and we will continue to improve our trading platforms.” Nasdaq in June proposed setting aside $40 million to cover brokers’ losses caused by the botched IPO but the compensation plan immediately ran into criticism as being inadequate.

“After careful analysis, the program has broadened the eligibility by adding a new class of orders to be accommodated in addition to the three classes that were announced in June,” Nasdaq said.

Modifications to the program included priority accommodation for customers of Nasdaq members and making payouts in cash instead of trading credits as originally proposed.

The filing of the proposed plan with US regulators marked the start of a seven-day comment period during which traders can express their views. Nasdaq said it expected all claims covered by the plan to be paid out within six months.

The stock hit a high of $45 on the first day, but since then has lost nearly 30 percent from the IPO, slipping to $28.71 in after-hours trading Friday. The plan requires the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the independent Financial Industry Regulatory Authority will evaluate claims from the brokers, Nasdaq said.

Facebook’s IPO overwhelmed Nasdaq’s systems when it hit the market, forcing a half-hour delay in opening trading and leaving investors and brokers in the dark for hours over the results of orders involving millions of shares.

Claims of losses related to the market’s computer problems are estimated above $100 million, according to The Wall Street Journal. The glitch dealt a black eye to the exchange, which trades some of the world’s largest companies, including Apple and Microsoft. It also sparked reports that the NYSE was trying to woo Facebook away from Nasdaq. —AFP

RIO DE JANEIRO: A passer-by speaks by mobile in front of a Tim mobile phone company store yesterday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Three mobile phone companies, Claro, Tim and Oi were forbided by the Brazilian government from selling new chips from next Monday due to the bad services they offer to their customers. —AFP

Swiss Raiffeisen to drop US clients amid tax row GENEVA: Retail bank Raiffeisen is Switzerland’s latest institution to part with its US clients because of increasing red tape and amid an ongoing tax row with the United States, media reports said yesterday.

“We will soon shed those American clients who are taxable in the United States,” bank spokesman Franz Wuerth told ATS news agency confirming reports by several regional papers.

But he added that Raiffeisen had “very few foreign clients and even fewer from America”. Only 0.03 percent of its clients would be affected out of a total 3.5 million. Coop, another retail bank, announced it had stopped doing business with its US clients.

US tax officials have been putting pressure on Swiss banks to release information about clients who are US nation-

als and who might be evading taxes and the two countries are involved in talks to settle the dispute.

Overall, 11 Swiss or Switzerland-based banks have been targeted including Credit Suisse, Julius Baer, Wegelin, Zuercher Kantonalbank (ZKB), Basler Kantonalbank (BKB), Neue Zuercher Bank, the Swiss subsidiary of HSBC, Liechtensteinische Landesbank (LLB), as well as Israel’s Leumi, Hapoalim and Mizrahi banks.

As part of the ongoing negotiations Finance Minister Eveline WidmerSchlumpf has authorised Swiss banks to reveal to US authorities the names of their staff working with US clients.

The data transfer to US justice authorities has caused alarm among bankers who fear that they might be arrested on arrival in the United States. —AFP

24

SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012

BUSINESS

KSE market capitalisation declines by 1.25% BAYAN INVESTMENTS WEEKLY MARKET REPORT KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) ended last week in the red zone. The price index ended last week with a decrease amounted to 0.80%, while the weighted index declined by 1.24% compared to the closings of the week before, whereas KSX-15 Index dropped by 1.63%.

Furthermore, last weekís average daily turnover increased by 9.53%, compared to the preceding week, reaching K.D 13.34 million, whereas trading volume average was 132.72 million shares, recording decrease of 6.04%. The market indices performed

negatively last week, however were able to realize gains in some daily sessions, supported by the purchasing power return on some investment groupís stocks, and the ìbuy and holdî transactions on few smallcap stocks, in addition to the purchasing power on some large-cap stocks, which in turn limited the three market indices losses.

Stock market trading is experiencing a cautious state during this period, due to the investorís watch for the listed companies semi-annual financial results, which resulted in a

decrease to the daily trading levels during last week, as one daily session recorded KD 9.74 million; the second lowest level for this year. As far as the annual indices performance, all of the market main indices recorded losses.

While the price index recorded decrease of 0.01%; the weighted index recorded loss amounted to 1.11% and KSX-15 index retreated by 2.96%. However, market capital value reached KD 27.19 billion by the end of the week, recording a decrease of 4.78% compared to KD 28.55 billion by the end of 2011. By the end of the

week, the price index closed at 5,813.62 points, down by 0.80% from the week before closing, whereas the weighted index registered a 1.24% weekly loss after closing at 401.13 points.

Moreover, the KSX-15 index recorded 1.63% weekly loss after closing at 970.42 points.

KSE total market capitalization declined by 1.25% during last week to reach KD 27.19 billion, as all of KSEís sectors recorded a decrease in their respective market capitalization except for three sector. The Health

Care sector headed the decliners list as its total market capitalization reached K.D. 197.42 million, decreasing by 5.32%. The Oil & Gas sector was the second in terms of recorded decline with 3.17% decrease after the total value of its listed companies reached KD 346.31 million. The third place was for the Banks sector, which total market capitalization reached KD 13.45 billion by the end of the week, recording a decline of 1.95%.

The consumer goods sector was the least declining with 0.03%

recorded decrease after its market capitalization amounted to KD 609.53 million. On the other hand, the financial sector headed the growing sectors as its total market capitalization reached KD 2.74 billion, increasing by 0.62%. The Basic Materials sector was the second in terms of recorded growth with 0.36% increase after the total value of its listed companies reached KD 608.48 million. The Banks sector was the least Industrials with 0.21% recorded growth after its market capitalization amounted to KD 2.98 billion.

SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012

BUSINESS

Apple, Facebook take the spotlight WALL STREET WEEKLY REPORT NEW YORK: The trend of better-than-expected earnings will be put to the test in the coming week when investors hope Apple can exceed already high expectations for the tech giant and Facebook reports its first quarterly earnings.

Apple accounts for a significant proportion of the overall earnings of Standard & Poor’s 500 components. S&P 500 earnings are expected to show a rise of 5.7 percent in the second quarter from a year ago. Excluding the maker of the iPad, the rise is 4.8 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Apple’s results, due Tuesday, could help stocks build on this week’s gains and counter investor worries over the euro zone crisis. More signs of financial stress in Spain on Friday caused stocks to give back some of the week’s increase. The S&P 500 ended 0.4 percent higher for the week.

“Apple can drive the whole (tech) group,” said Daniel Morgan, who helps manage about $3.5 billion at Synovus Trust Company in Atlanta. “There’s a huge psychological component as it relates directly to Apple. If they just blast numbers like they did last quarter, then obviously the perception will be everybody else did pretty good and Apple did fabulous.”

Apple’s expected strong performance is mainly

why technology earnings growth has held up better than other S&P 500 sectors. The expected growth rate for the sector has gone from 6.9 percent in April to 8.7 percent as of Friday, the data showed. Apple’s earnings for the quarter are seen at $10.38 a share, based on Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, which includes estimates from 43 analysts.

That compares with a profit of $7.79 a share for the year-ago quarter.

Morgan said Apple’s growth has largely depended on the success of its new products. “For the stock, to continue its trajectory at the pace it has, it’s critical that they release these new products,” he said. Apple’s shares are up 49.2 percent for the year so far.

Apple does not give any clues on its future products, but the California company is widely expected to release its next-generation iPhone later this year. Wall Street has also set its heart on Apple launching a new “mini iPad” and the longawaited television set in the near future.

Investors are likely to be just as keen to hear from Facebook when it reports on Thursday.

Facebook’s first results following its market debut could give investors another chance to indicate how they feel about the stock since its disappoint-

ing initial public offering.

Shares of Facebook, one of the most closely watched IPOs ever, lost ground after technical problems with its market debut on Nasdaq and as investors questioned its ability to rapidly increase advertising revenue. Analysts said an earnings miss by Facebook could be disastrous for the stock, which closed Friday at $28.76, below its $38 offering price.

Investors are looking for executives to address a litany of concerns about the business, such as the efficacy of its online ads and the company’s nascent efforts in mobile advertising. Tech results also will be closely watched for signs of weak demand overseas, particularly from Europe. Other technology companies expected to report next week include Texas Instruments and Amazon.com. Of the S&P sectors, technology has the highest sales exposure to Europe at about 25 percent, according to a Bank of America/Merrill Lynch research note.

Among the other 138 S&P 500 companies reporting earnings are Ford Motor Co, United Parcel Service and Whirlpool Corp. While the majority of companies have beaten earnings expectations, revenue performance has been the worst for S&P 500 companies since the first quarter

of 2009.

With results in from 116 companies, just 43 percent of companies are beating revenue expectations. Sixty-seven percent of companies are beating earnings estimates, compared with a long-term average of 62 percent, Thomson Reuters data showed.

“With global growth slowing down, it’s not surprising we’re going to see some mixed numbers on the revenue side,” said Natalie Trunow, chief investment officer of equities at Calvert Investment Management in Bethesda, Maryland, whose firm manages about $13 billion in assets.

While earnings are expected to dominate stock investors’ attention in the coming week, the euro zone crisis is still capable of taking the spotlight.

“It’s the default thing for people to focus on,” said Eric Kuby, chief investment officer at North Star Investment Management Corp. in Chicago.

Spain will tap the markets Tuesday when it sells three- and six-month bills. It will also sell three- and five-year bonds on Aug. 2. Spain’s 10-year bond yields hit a euro-era high of 7.3 percent on Friday.

The week’s US economic data includes the Markit US Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index for July, due on Tuesday. June’s reading marked the

Maruti Suzuki shuts riot-hit car plant ‘No idea when riot-hit factory will reopen’

China 2012: A better second half KCIC INVESTMENT REPORT KUWAIT: China’s second quarter gross domestic product (GDP) numbers allayed many fears of a worse than expected economic growth figure.

After the first quarter of 2012 growth data was released, it was expected to be the slowest annual growth rate per quarter since the crisis, at 8.1% year over year (YoY).

Economists expected growth to improve after that, but in the months of the second quarter economic indicators were not recovering. With China’s external sector bearing the weakness from the world’s largest economies, and its government’s tight hold on the property sector weighing on the domestic economy, trade, retail sales, investment and other sectors continued to slow down in Q2.

The government had been clear from the start of the year that it was reluctant to implement strong economic loosening; but rather than keeping the prudent monetary policy in place, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the country’s central bank, decided to cut the benchmark interest rate twice within a month, the latest on July 5th, amid a slowing economic backdrop. The sudden monetary loosening raised questions throughout the international financial markets about the upcoming Chinese growth figures on July 13th, spurring expectations of an abrupt decline in growth, only to be relieved to see that China’s economy grew 7.6% YoY in the period from April to June (7.8% YoY in the first half of 2012), which is still within the government’s annual target of 7.5% for the year.

The PBOC has reiterated that its monetary policy will remain prudent because it still is wary of the threat of high property prices and returning inflation. Inflation has declined significantly in the past year and a half, currently close to 2.2% YoY in June.

Because of this, there is room for the government to spend and encourage spending, but this time, unlike the late 2008 giant stimulus, the fiscal injection will be smaller and more targeted. This fiscal injection will allow investments to recover and consumption to grow faster, resulting in better growth in the second half of 2012.

Real GDP is a measure of the economic outputof an economy - adjusted for inflation or deflation.

It is the sum of the adjusted values of all final

goods and services produced by that country or region over a given time period. The values depend on the quantities (volume) of the goods produced and their prices (value). Real GDP is a measure that holds prices constant by using a given year’s value (the base date) for all items and services. Then, these values are used to calculate GDP for years prior to the base year and subsequent years. GDP can be measured in several ways, and the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the government body responsible for national accounts data, primarily publishes GDP by sector.

The three main sectors are the primary (raw materials and basic foods such as agriculture); secondary (mining, manufacturing, processing, construction, etc.); and tertiary (the services industry such as retail, transportation, entertainment, tourism, etc.).

As we mentioned in our January articles on China, we expect growth to be within the range of 7.5-8.0% YoY growth in 2012. We also stated that the Chinese government will be ready to act if the economy cannot withstand the added pressure from abroad. After the first half of the year, the government stepped in through monetary loosening and implemented targeted fiscal spendingin order to keep growth above the 7.5% target for 2012, and above 7% for the next five years. In order to decrease the economy’s reliance on trade,the government is targeting services sector developmentvia increases in subsidies and tax breaks. The major area the government is currently focusing on is the social services safety net. Social housing and the healthcare sector will receive funding from the government, so that the strain on the poor is reduced and the heated housing market cools. The government has announced added spending in the railroad sector and energy-efficient technology, including cars. Companies that are involved in sectors related to the domestic economy such as infrastructure, energy, consumer goods and financials will benefit from the boost. The top risks that the government is watching outfor include instability in the housing sector,returning food inflation due topossible shortages, and the spillover from the G3 economies. Therefore, it is likely that China’s growth will remain above 7.5% in the sec-

AHMEDABAD: Indian workers paint a ship at the ABG Shipyard at Magdalla Port, near Surat around 280 km from Ahmedabad yesterday. The ABG Shipyard is India’s largest private sector shipyard. — AFP

NEW DELHI: Maruti Suzuki has no idea when a factory hit by a deadly riot last week will reopen, the Indian carmaker’s chairman acknowledged yesterday, saying it was impossible to import extra vehicles or shift lost production to another plant.

India’s biggest car company stopped production at a factory in the north of the country on Wednesday after a manager was killed and scores injured after a mob of workers attacked officials, smashed equipment and set fire to parts of the plant.

Trade unionists have accused Maruti of “anti-union” activities at the plant, shut for weeks last year due to labour unrest.“We cannot start production due to a danger to life and safety,” Chairman R.C. Bhargava told a news conference in his first public remarks following the violence. “We will not endanger our people any further.

“How long it will take? 10 days? 15 days? I don’t know,” Bhargava added.

“We’ll put all our resources to study and help the authorities but ... I cannot say when we will be able to restart the plant.”

Maruti officials, addressing reporters, denied press speculation that the company would close the Manesar plant.

The Manesar factory, with a total annual capacity of 550,000 cars-a third of Maruti’s output-is likely to stay closed for at least two weeks, analysts told Reuters, at a cost to the company of around $15 million a day.

“We would be very inefficient if we take six months. We’ll request the Haryana government to expedite the investigation,” a visibly emotional Bhargava told reporters, referring to the police probe being conducted by the Indian state’s authorities.

Maruti, which builds its best-selling Swift hatchback-the runaway leader in its

segment-at Manesar, will not be able to offset some of the lost production with imports or by increasing productivity at its other factory, Bhargava said.

More than $570 million was wiped off Maruti’s market value on Thursday when its shares slid to their biggest one-day drop in two years. Shares of parent Suzuki Motor Corp fell a total of 5.7 percent in trading on Thursday and Friday to their lowest level in three and a half years.

Twenty-four senior managers are still in hospital with injuries, mainly fractures of their arms and legs, of the 96 initially admitted after the riot. No workers were injured during the violence, Maruti’s chairman added.

Workers at the plant attacked senior officials with iron rods, wooden sticks and

unfinished car parts. Police are investigating the factory’s entire 3,000-strong workforce and are seeking to press murder charges.

“In my wildest dreams, I never thought that a day would come like this, when our own workers would indulge in this kind of rioting and mob violence... leading to the burning to death of one senior officer,” Bhargava, who has been with the company since its inception in 1981, told reporters.

The riot began after an altercation between workers and managers over a disciplinary incident involving a single worker. The factory’s workers’ union has accused Maruti officials of starting the violence and using hired thugs to beat workers. — Reuters

NEW DELHI: Trade union members and demonstrators shout slogans against Maruti Suzuki and the Haryana state government during a protest in front of Haryana Bhawan in New Delhi yesterday. India’s top carmaker Maruti Suzuki on July 19 suspended production at a plant near New Delhi after a manager was burnt to death and nearly 100 executives injured when workers chased them with bars and torched offices. — AFP

DirecTV, Viacom fight to draw in channel punch-out LOS ANGELES: Viacom and DirecTV fought a bruising fight over fees to a draw yesterday and agreed to a long-term deal that ended a 10-day channel blackout. Their new deal restored MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and other channels to 20 million DirecTV customers and ensured those channels will be available to subscribers on computers and mobile devices in the coming months.

Fans on Twitter expressed relief.

According to terms shared by both sides on Friday, DirecTV Group Inc. will pay about 20 percent more to carry Viacom Inc. channels on satellite TV lineups. That works out to about $600 million in the first year of a seven-year deal. The companies agreed to annual single-digit percentage increases in subsequent years.

DirecTV was able to save itself about $500 million over the entire term by not taking the premium pay TV channel Epix. It said it also was able to send a message that it won’t roll over every time a media company threatens to pull channels over fees.

“They realized we were not going to capitulate,” said Derek Chang, DirecTV’s executive vice president of content strategy. Investors met the outcome with a hohum as the deal was largely in line with expectations. Shares of both companies edged downward Friday in a declining market. Since the dispute resulted in a blackout the evening of July 10, Viacom shares are down 0.9 percent, closing Friday at $46.41, while DirecTV shares are down 0.7 percent, closing at $48.33. Over the same period, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 1.3 percent.

“I’m not going to engage on who was the winner and who was the loser,” said Todd Juenger, an analyst with Bernstein Research. “What we’ve learned is the fair value of Viacom services, fully tested and vetted in a real marketplace negotiation.”

By eking out a large fee increase, Viacom said DirecTV is now paying a rate that is more in line with that of other distributors. DirecTV’s Chang even acknowledged that it had been paying significantly less than competitors for Viacom channels because the deal that just expired had been locked in seven years ago.

Viacom had argued that its networks account for 20 percent of what DirecTV subscribers are watching but cost DirecTV just 5 percent of its overall programming expense. Under the new deal, the Viacom fees will come out to 6 percent.

“It was important to get fair value for our networks,” Viacom spokesman Carl Folta said. “We are still one of the most efficient programmers in their bouquet.” By refusing to add Epix to its premium pay TV channel stable, DirecTV was able to save itself a big fixed cost over its entire subscriber base, as the flat fee would have been charged no matter how many subscribers choose to pay more for Epix, a movie channel that is half owned by Viacom.

Media companies typically try to sell rights to their channels as a package, so that fledgling channels are bundled with those already in high demand. Adding Epix to DirecTV would have been a big win for Viacom, as it’s now carried by only a hand-

ful of distributors, including rival satellite TV provider Dish Network Corp. But that was seen as unlikely, partly because Epix movies are available to Netflix subscribers 90 days after debuting on TV and the channel might have been hard to sell to customers.

The damage from the blackout to both sides was real but not permanent. DirecTV spokesman Darris Gringeri said the company lost subscribers because of the dispute, “but against our subscriber base, it was not a significant number.”

Viacom lost out on 10 days’ worth of fees from DirecTV - roughly $14 million and took a short-term audience hit that will cost the company advertising revenue.

Both sides suffered brand damage - Viacom because it was tagged for being a root cause of rising monthly TV bills, and DirecTV for not giving subscribers what they paid for. Even Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart slammed network parent Viacom for acting like China in pulling some shows from the Internet as part of the dispute, hurting people who weren’t DirecTV subscribers.

But the fight was short enough to forget about and move on. Plenty of disputes have lasted just a heartbeat - like ABC’s 15minute blackout of the Oscars to Cablevision subscribers in March 2010.

Others have dragged on for months.

“It was fortunate they were able to resolve it before the back and forth got any worse than it did,” Barclays analyst Anthony DiClemente said. DiClemente said the relatively quick resolution boded well for an end to AMC Networks Inc.’s continuing dispute with Dish, which has gone on since

26

SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012

BUSINESS

Consumer confidence in Kuwait very high: MasterCard Index KUWAIT: MasterCard revealed the results of the latest MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Confidence, which found that, with a score of 84.7, consumer confidence levels in Kuwait are very optimistic.

Consumers in Kuwait are very optimistic in their attitudes towards most of the indicators measured in the Index.

When compared to the previous edition of the Index released 6 months ago, consumers are most optimistic about Regular Income (96.2 vs. 93.8), Quality of Life (91.3 vs. 90.5) and Employment (88.8

vs. 88.4). These were followed by Economy (88.3 vs. 86.5) and Stock Market (59.0 vs. 82.0).

The survey also highlighted that male respondents (87.1) tend to be more optimistic about their prospects for the coming months than their female counterparts (82.3) and that consumers under the age of 30 (85.5) are more optimistic than respondents over the age of 30 (84.4). “The consumer confidence score for Kuwait has remained consistently high for the last few years, in part due to its bullish economy. This sentiment is

supported by analysts’ expectations that Kuwait is projected to post the largest surplus of GDP for the current fiscal year,” said Safdar Khan, market manager, Qatar, Oman & Kuwait, MasterCard Worldwide.

Across the Middle East, the level of consumer confidence is very optimistic at an average of 83.5, and this sentiment is reflected across all five indicators.

When compared to the previous edition of the Index released 6 months ago, respondents in the Middle East are most optimistic about Regular Income (89.8

vs. 91.3), Employment (85.5 vs. 85.5) and the Economy (84.4 vs. 86.5). Consumer sentiment towards Quality of Life (82.9 vs. 87.6) and the Stock Market (74.9 vs.

77.8) is also positive.

The Middle East’s aggregate score of 83.5 also remains higher than that of Asia/ Pacific (57.2) and Africa (76.1).

The MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Confidence is based on a survey conducted between 24 April 2012 and 10 June 2012 among 11,367 respondents aged 18 to 64 years in 25 countries within Asia/Pacific, Middle East and

Africa. Now in its 20th year in Asia/Pacific and its 9th year in the Middle East and Africa, the Index is the region’s most comprehensive and longest running consumer confidence survey. The Index is based on a survey which measures consumer confidence on prevailing expectations in the market over the next six months, based on five economic indicators: Economy, Employment, Stock Market, Regular Income and Quality of Life. The Index score is calculated with zero as the most pessimistic, 100 as most optimistic and 50 as neutral.

Etihad Airways cleared to buy Virgin Australia Etihad has a 4.99% stake in Virgin Australia

ABU DHABI: Etihad Airways has welcomed the decision by the Australian Government to allow the airline to increase its equity stake in Virgin Australia Holdings to a maximum of 10 per cent.

Etihad Airways currently has a 4.99 per cent stake in Virgin Australia, acquired earlier

this year, and had applied to the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) to raise the level of its investment.

The purchase was made following the development of a highly successful multitiered partnership between the two airlines

that includes code-sharing on flights, joint marketing initiatives and reciprocal earn-andburn on their respective frequent flier programs.

Together, Etihad Air ways and Virgin Australia currently operate 24 flights per week between Australia and Abu Dhabi offer-

ing Australian travellers and visitors to Australia greater choice and access to a combined network of more than 285 global destinations.

The strategic partnership has already delivered significant revenues to each airline.

Gulf Bank unveils Ramadan TV commercial KUWAIT: Gulf Bank announced the details of its Ramadan TV commercial and interactive Instagram competition which will run during the holy month. The TV commercial is broadcasted from 20 July on Al Watan TV, Al Watan Plus, Al Rai, and Kuwait TV3, while the Instagram competition was launched on 19 July 2012.

The Bank’s interactive Instagram competition requires entrants to post images through the Bank’s dedicated Instagram account @Gulf_Bank. Participants will be asked to post images which they think best reflects a daily Ramadan theme that will be announced by the Bank. The daily image with the most ‘likes’ will be selected as the image of the day. At the end of the month, the Ebtihaj Al Roumi best 29 images with the most ‘likes’ will be announced winners and will be rewarded with valuable and exciting prizes such as KD 100 Al Shaya gift cards and a surprise that will be announced at the end of the competition.

Ebtihaj Al Roumi, Assistant General Manager, Marketing at Gulf Bank said: “At Gulf Bank, each year we look forward to the Holy month of Ramadan as a time for sharing and celebration. This year, our TV commercial seeks to communicate the anticipation of Iftar timings, as a way of sending warm greetings to our loyal customers. Similarly, we hope our customers will find our interactive Instagram competition for Ramadan both entertaining and encouragement for them to consider what Ramadan means to them and the benefits it conveys to people in Kuwait.

Creativity has always been part of Gulf Bank’s culture and by launching activities such as these, we hope to entertain people in Kuwait and add to their feeling of well-being during the Holy month of Ramadan. “ Customers who wish to enter Gulf Bank’s Ramadan Competition can do so through the Bank’s Instagram account @Gulf_Bank, or through the Facebook page: www.e-gulfbank.com/facebook. Customers wishing to view Gulf Bank’s Ramadan advertisement can view it on: www.e-gulfbank.com/youtube.

It is expected that the equity stake in Virgin Australia will lead to further revenue generating opportunities.

The first Etihad Air ways flights from Sydney to Abu Dhabi took place in March 2007 and since then it has started flights from Brisbane and Melbourne, with plans for services from Perth in future.

In total, nearly two million passengers have flown with Etihad Airways between Australia and its Abu Dhabi hub.

Etihad Airways has three regional offices and a line maintenance facility in Australia, and now employs more than 300 Australian members of staff who are based in Australia, Abu Dhabi and at stations around the world.

It is estimated that Etihad Airways’ passengers have spent more than AUD$ 1.5 billion locally on hotels, tours, restaurants, retail shopping and other tourist activities in Australia.

The airline’s aircraft, office, marketing and selling costs have directly contributed more than AUD$ 540 million to Australia’s GDP. Etihad Airways has invested strongly in the local community, becoming a trusted sponsor to Australian sporting and cultural sectors, not least through its long-term commitment to Etihad Stadium in Melbourne.

Etihad Airways is very proud to have been, and continues to be, a good friend to Australia. At the same time, Australia has been a great success for Etihad Airways. We look forward to building on this long and prosperous relationship.

ABK holds second draw for ‘Win a Million Miles with ABK’ KUWAIT: Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait carried out the second draw for its “Win a Million Miles with ABK” summer campaign. The draw was held on the 18th of July, at the main branch, under the supervision of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. “Win a Million Miles with ABK” gives ABK Emirates credit cardholders the opportunity of winning valuable prizes in the form of Skywards Miles.

Bader Al Turkait Cardholders who used their cards locally and overseas for KD 100 or above, between 1st and 30th June were entitled to enter the draw.

The first prize of 125,000 Skywards miles was won by Khalid Al-Shehab, second prize winner of 75,000 Miles was Ali Al-Bahrani and lastly Mahmoud Saafan was the third prize winner with 50,000 Skywards Miles.

Bader Al Turkait, AGM, Retail Banking stated, “ABK cardholders have a chance to win Skywards Miles and travel the world for free this summer. Those spending KD 100 or over on their ABK Emirates card during the month of June were automatically entered into the draw. The more draw points they earned through spends the more chances they had of winning. In addition to the prizes, clients received up to 7 Skywards Miles for every KD 1 spent using their ABK Emirates credit cards”.

The promotion is running till the 31st of August, with a grand draw prize of 500,000 Skywards Miles to be won in October 2012.

KUWAIT: Building on its impressive performance in the first three months of the year, Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive has announced a 25% increase in BMW and MINI sales for the first half of 2012 compared to the same period in 2011.

Ranking amongst the top three best performing Middle East markets in terms of number of car sales, the BMW Group importer is gearing up for yet another successful year. “We have had a busy first six months with the launch of three new models - the new BMW 6 Series Gran CoupÈ, the all-new BMW 3 Series and the sixth MINI family member, the MINI Roadster,” said Mr. Yousef Al Qatami, General Manager of Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive. “It is evident from our record first half year sales increase that continued opportunities lie ahead in Kuwait. We will continue to do our utmost to ensure we can build upon this success for the remainder of the year.”

The BMW X3 was the best performing model in terms of growth with an 115% increase, followed by the BMW Series which grew by 49% increase and the BMW X5 Sports Activity Vehicle by 28%. The BMW 6 Series was also popular with all three models - the CoupÈ, Convertible and all-new Gran CoupÈ - major contributors to the line-up’s 563% sales increase.

The newest addition to Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive showroom, the BMW 6 Series Gran CoupÈ arrived in Kuwait in May and is the first four-door coupÈ in the history of the BMW brand. The aim in the design process of the BMW 6 Series Gran CoupÈ was to achieve a synergy between the aesthetics and dynamics typical of a BMW CoupÈ and functional versatility of a four-door sedan. The result is a unique car with a distinctive character but unmistakably a BMW. The flagship BMW 7 Series also continued its success story with a 19% growth.

“The BMW 7 Series is consistently amongst our best-selling cars here in Kuwait. It is the epitome of luxury, elegance and innovation, all of which are qualities appreciated and desired by discerning Kuwaiti customers” commented Al Qatami.

Reaffirming its position as the fastest growing premium brand in the world as well as in the Middle East; MINI also witnessed record growth during the first six months achieving a 65% increase. Sales were led by the MINI Countryman - the first MINI with four doors and four wheel drive capabilities - and the MINI Hatch.

Another contributing factor was the April launch of the MINI Roadster. The sixth model addition to the range, the MINI Roadster is the first open-top two-seater MINI and a great example of the brand’s progressive growth over the years to appeal to new audience groups.

Another area of the business that continues to grow for BMW in Kuwait is BMW Premium Selection, the Group’s preowned programme that offers customers the same peace-of-mind motoring as if they were purchasing a new BMW. Sales of BMW Premium Selection models increased by 4% compared to the same period in 2011.

Al Qatami added, “Operating in a dynamic market such as Kuwait where customer expectations continue to get higher means that we have to constantly evolve and ensure we exceed all expectations. The launch of new and refreshed models is just one way of doing this. In fact, this year we have already welcomed some exciting new models to our showroom, including the all-new BMW 3 Series and the first ever four-door coupÈ, the BMW 6 Series Gran CoupÈ. With a busy six months ahead of us, including the arrival of the new BMW 7 Series, we are confident that our year-end results will be just as successful.”

Al Ahli Bank Ramadan timings KUWAIT: Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait extends its warmest greetings to ABK customers and the people of Kuwait as we near the holy month of Ramadan.

During this auspicious month, ABK’s branches will remain open to serve customers from 10 am to 1:30 pm.

However, ABK is accessible round the clock to its customers through various other channels. Ahlan Ahli, at 1 899 899, will be accessible 24/7 as it always is. ABK’s upgraded online services provided by its website www.eahli.com are some of the most comprehensive and advanced that are available today.

The new and improved eahli.com now allows customers to register online for the convenient SMS service where clients can request information on any

movement in their accounts in real time, giving them instant, up-to-date knowledge of their account activities.

Other available online services include applications to open accounts at ABK, issuance of credit cards and cheque books, as well as payment of credit card bills and a new system of direct debit where clients can arrange to have payments deducted from their accounts on a predetermined date.

In addition, “Ahli Chat” features on our website www.eahli.com, where you can chat live with an ABK agent for your banking needs. Last but not the least, iPhone users can download iAhli from your App store to enjoy a whole new world of mobile banking.

So you can reach ABK from anywhere, anytime!

Gulf Bank announces weekly winners KUWAIT: Gulf Bank held its twentyeighth Al Danah weekly draw on July 15, 2012, announcing a total number of ten Al Danah weekly prize draw winners, each awarded with prizes of KD 1,000.

The 28th Al Danah Weekly Winners are: Abdulaziz Mohammad Abdulaziz Al-Habeb Mubarak Mohammed Sulaiman AlSulaity Sameerah Eedan Mohammad AlKhaleefa

25% growth in Kuwait for BMW, MINI sales during first half of 2012

Mahdi Ahmed Habib Mohammad Fatima Husain Khalel Omar Mohammed Ali Negahban Fatemah Abed Ali Khalaf Wikar Ahmad Khadem Husain Awaad Mobark Ali Mobark Salimah Noubi Hassan Gulf Bank encourages everyone in Kuwait to open an Al Danah account and/or increase their deposits to maximize their chances of becoming a winner in the upcoming weekly (KD1,000 each for 10 winners). Gulf Bank’s Al Danah

allows customers to win cash prizes and encourages them to save money. Chances increase the more money is deposited and the longer it is kept in the account.

Al Danah also offers a number of unique services including the Al Danah Deposit Only ATM card which helps account holders deposit their money at their convenience; as well as the Al Danah calculator to help customers calculate their chances of becoming an Al Danah winner.

To be par t of the Al Danah draws, customers can visit one of Gulf Bank’s 56 branches, transfer on line, or call the Customer Contact Center on 1805805 for assistance and guidance. Customers can also log on to www.e -gulfbank.com, Gulf Bank’s website, to find all the information regarding Al Danah or any of the Bank ’s produc ts and ser vices or log on w w w.e - gulfbank.com/aldanahwinners, to find out more about Al Danah and who the winners are.

FASTtelco wishes its clients happy Ramadan KUWAIT: FASTtelco, the leading internet Service providers in Kuwait winner of the Bizz Arab Award of 2012 for displaying business excellence and for being the most inspirational company, and winner of the Annual GCC HR Excellence Awards for Best Change Management Strategy of 2012, congratulate the citizens and residents, in general, and their clients, in particular, Hamad Saleh for the arrival of the Al Selmi Holy Month of Ramadan.

“FASTtelco is keen to share with the Kuwaiti society all its social and religious occasions, which comes part of the company’s positive contribution towards

building and developing the community.

And there’s no doubt that Ramadan is the perfect month for various religious, cultural and sports activities that FASTtelco helps sponsor,” said Public Relations manager Hamad Saleh AlSelmi.

He added that FASTtelco hold many great surprises to both its clients and new subscriber during the hold month, noting that the company’s exhibitions and booths in Sharq, Hawally, Farwaniya, and Fahaheel are prepared to receive all customers and meet their demands. Customer support will also be operating 24 hours for any technical problems. AlSelmi wished His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Sabah, His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad, the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Saba, and the people of Kuwait and residents a blissful Ramadan, hoping that it will be one that brings the Muslim world together.

SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012

TECHNOLOGY

EMC transforms infrastructure management with new software DUBAI: EMC announced a brand new enterprise management software-EMC DataBridge-to empower IT operations teams with a “single-pane of glass” management tool to easily build customizable dashboards for delivering ITaaS. As customers continue to transform their IT infrastructures, they require powerful-yet simple-new ways to better manage their ever-growing virtual data centers. With DataBridge, which will be available later this year, customers will have real-time IT infrastructure management data at their fingertips. DataBridge will mashup management information to increase infrastructure visibility, improving overall IT operations management and investment decisions across both physical and virtual environments.

Traditional IT infrastructure management software provides deep, detailed insights into compute, storage and network, however these insights only represent a specific view of what’s happening within the datacenter. With DataBridge, customers can break down these silos, combining and relating this infrastructure management data in a way that provides a more complete multi-dimensional

view of their infrastructure. DataBridge will support EMC ProSphere(r), EMC Data Protection Advisor(tm), EMC Unified Infrastructure Manager, EMC IT Operations Intelligence Suite(tm), EMC Storage Configuration Advisor(tm) and EMC AppSync(r), in addition to non-EMC data sources.

This enables customers and partners to build DataBridge widgets that combine the data from these products with other EMC management software and customer data sources in new, meaningful ways for increased visibility.

DataBridge will include the DataBridge studio, an enterprise mashup environment where customers will go to build DataBridge widget. With DataBridge studio, customers can build and add new DataBridge widgets to their DataBridge library to share with others in the organization-simply and quickly. It enables customers to automate the collection and consolidation of IT data from various sources, filter that data with business logic and add visualizations, all packaged in use-case specific DataBridge widgets. With a few clicks, IT operation teams can build and modify intuitive dashboards from a library of pre-built widgets that can be

dragged-and-dropped into their dashboard.

Technology Highlights DataBridge integrates IT operations data, embeds business logic and generates rich interactive dashboards in new ways, enabling customers to: • Tap into existing data sources to bridge existing IT data silos with DataBridge studio to build DataBridge widgets by combining data from EMC and third party solutions using REST APIs, SOAP and JAVA programmable interfaces, XML, Microsoft SQL, SharePoint lists and Excel files.

• Add immediate value by repurposing IT management data and present key performance indicators in real-time.

• DataBridge widgets combine one or more data sources with business logic to create powerful visualizations that are otherwise generally labor intensive.

• DataBridge widgets for storage metering include DataBridge Storage Chargeback, which deliver detailed usage visualizations, and DataBridge Resource Analysis, which delivers detailed utilization across both primary and

backup storage gathered from EMC ProSphere and EMC Data Protection Advisor.

• DataBridge dashboards are easily customized by dragging and dropping DataBridge widgets from the DataBridge widget library.

• The power of DataBridge dashboards is the ability for customers to create visualizations based on their individual requirements for monitoring key performance indicators in realtime. At any time DataBridge dashboards can be modified to adjust to changing needs.

Jay Mastaj, Senior Vice President and General Manager, EMC Infrastructure Management Group, said: “Businesses today are bombarded with so much information from many different sources. An average IT Operations professional manages data across hundreds of networks, storage arrays, firewalls and applications, each with its own management tool and data source. Manual processes are no longer viable in today’s world of instant business decisions. Our vision is to continue developing these types of solutions to help our customers move their crucial data and business operations to

Internet-focused alternative in Chrome operating system No regular hard drives for storage

TOKYO: A Japanese H-IIB rocket lifts off from the Tanegashima Space Centre in the southern island of Tanegashima yesterday. The rocket lifted off into an overcast sky on schedule at 11:06 am, according to live images relayed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. —- AFP

Japan sends cargo to space station TOKYO: A Japanese H-IIB rocket blasted off yesterday to deliver an unmanned supplies vessel to the International Space Station. The rocket lifted off into an overcast sky from the southern island of Tanegashima on schedule at 11:06 am (0206 GMT), according to live images relayed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

About 15 minutes later, the rocket successfully released a cargo vessel called “konotori” (stork in Japanese), containing supplies such as food, clothing and tools necessary for experiments to be done in space. The cargo should reach the International Space Station, where

Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide is staying, on July 27.

Japan’s leading aerospace firm Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which helped develop the rocket, is expected to take over future operations of the H-IIB and send four more cargo vehicles to the International Space Station by 2016.

After the launch, JAXA president Keiji Tachikawa said the rocket should also be used to explore the potentially lucrative satellite launch market.

“By expanding the scope of its use, (the H-IIB) I hope, will be used to respond to various demands of clients,” he told reporters. — AFP

Senators revive US cyber security bill, with changes WASHINGTON: A group of US senators has revived stalled cybersecurity legislation by offering compromises to address civil liberties concerns, an effort quickly endorsed by President Barack Obama.

The new bill drew some support from Republican lawmakers amid a drive to pass legislation before the summer recess, but prospects for passage were unclear.

Lawmakers said they hope to bring the measure to the Senate floor in the upcoming week. The bill aims to identify so-called “critical infrastructure,” including electric power and utility computer networks, and provide oversight to ensure these are secure from attacks.

The revised measure removed some parts of a bill passed in April in the House of Representatives that provoked controversy.

It calls for a National Cybersecurity Council to assess vulnerabilities and would create a voluntary system of reporting attacks that could be damaging to the nation.

In announcing the compromise, Senator Jay Rockefeller called it “a critical first step in our country’s response” to cybersecurity.

“We are moving forward in the spirit of compromise with an incentives-based voluntary approach because it is a crucial matter of public safety and national security that we do something now to ensure our most critical infrastructure is protected from cyber attacks,” said Rockefeller, a Democrat who heads the Senate Commerce Committee.

Independent Senator Joe Lieberman acknowledged that the new bill is weaker than earlier versions, but added: “we are going to try carrots instead of sticks as we begin to improve our cyber defenses.” “If that doesn’t work, a future Congress will undoubtedly come back and adopt a more coercive system,” he said.

The bill creates no new regulators and provides no new authority for an agency to adopt new standards. But it would allow informationsharing among the private sector and the federal government to share threats, incidents, best practices and fixes.

It was endorsed by Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine and Democrats Dianne Feinstein of California and Tom Carper of Delaware. Obama, in a commentary in Friday’s

edition of The Wall Street Journal, backed the new bill while repeating his pledge to veto “any bill that lacks strong privacy and civil liberties protections.”

“It doesn’t take much to imagine the consequences of a successful cyber attack. In a future conflict, an adversary unable to match our military supremacy on the battlefield might seek to exploit our computer vulnerabilities here at home,” Obama wrote.

“Taking down vital banking systems could trigger a financial crisis. The lack of clean water or functioning hospitals could spark a public health emergency. And as we’ve seen in past blackouts, the loss of electricity can bring businesses, cities and entire regions to a standstill.”

Civil liberties and privacy groups, which rallied against the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act passed by the House, gave a cautious welcome to the new effort.

Michelle Richardson of the American Civil Liberties Union said the new bill has “significant privacy amendments” but cautioned that there could efforts on the Senate floor to remove those protections.

“We will be carefully watching how this unfolds on the floor and will be calling on you to fight anti-privacy amendments and support ones that we expect will further limit the government’s authority,” she said.

Rainey Reitman and Lee Tien of the Electronic Frontier Foundation said in a blog post that “this new bill drastically improves upon the previous bill by addressing the most glaring privacy concerns,” but added: “we remain unpersuaded that any of the proposed cybersecurity measures are necessary and we still have concerns about certain sections of the bill.” But James Lewis of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said that by watering down the bill, lawmakers had stripped out any real protection and left an essentially political bill. Lewis said some politicians “want to pass legislation that has cybersecurity in the title before the election.”

In order to provide real protection, Lewis said, “you would need a commission to designate specific infrastructure, with mandatory rules, so that these places would secure their networks.” —- AFP

ATLANTA: Two new computers running Google’s Chrome operating system are looking to lure people to a browser-based environment.

Both target light-duty computer users who don’t need the full range of capabilities that traditional Windows and Mac computers provide.

The first thing to know about these machines is they lack regular hard drives for storage. There’s a small amount of flash memory available, the kind you’d find on a camera memory card, but Chrome OS machines are designed for the cloud. That means documents are stored over the Internet, and programs are run over the Internet through a Web browser.

However securely and discretely the Internet services you use claim to keep your data, your content is one step removed from your tightfisted control. Cloud computing also limits what you can do during those times you may not have an Internet connection.

In addition, because the machines emphasize not just cloud storage but cloud services as well, you won’t be able to install full-blown programs such as Microsoft’s Office. You’re limited to the selection of apps written for Chrome.

What you get instead is speed. The Chrome OS machines boot up quickly because they don’t have to load a lot of software - all that is run over the Internet. The machines also don’t need the most expensive and fastest parts because they aren’t doing a whole lot.

If you’re OK with that approach to personal computing, the Chromebook laptop and the Chromebox desktop computer hit the mark.

Both are made by Samsung Electronics Co. and represent the second-generation of Chrome OS machines, following the models out last summer.

Here’s a closer look at the two: Chromebook Officially called the Samsung Series 5 550, the $449 Chromebook laptop is an updated version of last year’s debut Chromebook model.

As notebooks go, the Chromebook is sleek and simple by appearance. It sports a 12.1-inch display, weighs a tidy 3.3 lbs and has built-in WiFi. The model I tested also came with a 3G cellular modem and two years of free online connection to Verizon’s network. That model costs

$549.

Under the hood is an Intel Celeron processor and four gigabytes of RAM, which is plenty for most Web-based activities. There’s a paltry 16 gigabytes of flash storage, which can quickly get eaten up if you store a lot of songs or photos forget about lengthy video. Again, the idea is for you to keep all that on the Internet instead.

Google’s Chrome Web store has plenty of useful, free applications to run on the machine.

These are the same apps that you can add to Chrome Web browsers running on Windows or Mac computers. The selection includes accounting software, Amazon.com wish list management and “Angry Birds” (Yes, they’re still angry).

But if all of that can also be installed for Chrome on a Mac or Windows machine, why have a whole computer with the entire functionality dedicated to one browser? Isn’t that severely limiting?

Some will find it is, but others will soon determine that the vast majority of their activities in front of a computer screen are Web-based anyway. There are Chrome apps for Netflix, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and other services that represent the bulk of the casual user’s computer time.

The frustrations I had with Chromebook were related to its hardware. First, there is no caps lock key. I had to simultaneously press the shift key and a key with a magnifying glass right above it. That may seem like a small inconvenience, but Chrome just made it more cumbersome for me to yell at someone in ALL CAPS on Facebook.

Also, the touchpad’s right-click sensitivity was poorly calibrated and dominated a good two-thirds of the surface. Hence, a right-click dropdown window of options kept popping up when I merely meant to left click on text fields and other objects. These are small things, of course, but they were annoying.

Chromebox The $329 Chromebox Series 3 desktop computer, by comparison, a real gem.

The diminutive unit sports lots of crucial connections, including six USB 2.0 ports, a DVI output and two DisplayPort outputs for the transmission of high-resolution video to an external

display. Like the Chromebook, it comes with 16 gigabytes of storage.

The first thing I noticed when powering up the Chromebox was, well, nothing. It was the quietest electrical device in my home office, thanks to a flash drive that doesn’t need to spin, unlike magnetic hard drives found in most traditional computers. The unit generates very little heat and therefore doesn’t need a roar of fans to move that heat away from the 1.9 GHz Intel processor.

The desktop experience is identical to the Chromebook, of course. They run the same OS and operate in the same fashion.

I was able to use the quietness to my advantage. The Chromebook is quiet, too, but the Chromebox is more inviting because you’re more likely to leave it in one place. That makes it easier to use the device for entertainment, as I wouldn’t need to reconnect wires to the TV each time.

It’s much nicer to stream high-definition Netflix movies to the TV from the mouse-quiet Chrome device than from my PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 or a regular desktop PC, all of which get warm and loud.

And I’d get a proper browser and online apps on the television, instead of apps repurposed for the game console experience. For instance, the Twitter app for Xbox is cartoonish, whereas reading a few tweets from TweetDeck via Chrome (with a Bluetooth keyboard attached) is pretty nice.

That said, I see neither Chromebook nor the Chromebox as replacements for traditional computers, as cloud computing isn’t fully robust yet.

Instead, Chrome OS machines are likely to be additions, the way you might buy an iPad to supplement your main desktop or laptop.

If you’re comfortable with cloud computing, the Chromebook and the Chromebox deliver a clean networked experience and give you a full keyboard than touch-screen tablets lack.

But the new Chrome OS machines, while improved over previous models, don’t offer many advantages over traditional computers that can do much more. So if you’re not comfortable yet with cloud storage, there’s no reason to force yourself to embrace Chrome OS. You can get by with the Chrome browser on a

Glimmers of growth on Florida’s Space Coast after shuttle shutdown CAPE CANAVERAL: Shuttles Bar & Grill, a once-popular roadside diner a few miles south of the Kennedy Space Center, is shuttered, and a “For Rent” sign is taped to the window of a bagel shop that used to serve space center workers an early bird breakfast.

But a year after the United States ended NASA’s space shuttle program, crippling communities around Cape Canaveral that had grown dependent on government contracts, private spaceflight and other ventures are starting to fill the void. Titusville, Florida, which bore the brunt of the layoff tsunami following the shuttles’ retirement, this month landed Utah-based Rocket Crafters, which plans one day to fly Supersonic passenger space planes around the globe.

“Bit by bit, we’re seeing companies that are technical in nature that are taking advantage of the high-tech workforce,” said Marcia Gaedcke, president of the Titusville Area Chamber of Commerce.

Rocket Crafters is developing a hybrid fuel rocket engine with a 11,265-km range. Its space planes would take off and land horizontally, like conventional airplanes, but travel above the atmosphere in suborbital space.

“The idea is to go from Titusville to anywhere in the world at about one-sixth of the normal aircraft time,” said Michael Powell, who oversees the Titusville airport where Rocket Crafters plans to build a manufacturing plant and operations center.

The company expects to hire between 500 and 1,000 employees and is a sign of the times as Kennedy Space Center repositions itself to support a variety of government, commercial and scientific programs after three decades of shuttle operations. NASA currently employs 8,500 contractors and civil servants at the Kennedy Space Center, which is being revamped for launching the agency’s new heavy-lift Space Launch System rocket and Orion space capsule.—Reuters

BEIJING: A man shelters beneath a telephone booth during heavy rain in Beijing yesterday. — AFP

China’s Internet users go mobile BEIJING: China is going mobile as mobile phones have overtaken desktop computers as the primary source of Internet access in the country, a report showed Thursday.

Some 388 million Chinese were connected to the Internet through mobile phones as of the end of June, compared with 380 million people who connected through their desktops, according to a report released by the China Internet Networks Information Center.

“While mobile Internet grew fast, the utilization of desktops for Internet access has kept sliding,” the report said. “A whole new pattern of Internet access is emerging in China.”

Liu Bing, CNNIC deputy director, attributed the shift to cheaper smartphones that have become affordable to migrant workers and rural residents.

China surpassed the United States to become the world’s largest smartphone market by volume in the third quarter of 2011, when smartphone shipments reached a record 24 mil-

lion units in the country, according to data from US market research company Strategy Analytics.

While global giants like Apple and Samsung Electronics dominate the high-end market, domestic smartphone makers such as Huawei and Xiaomi Technology have eyed middle or low-end markets with lower-priced products.

The rapid expansion of the mobile Internet population has boosted mobile online payment, which in turn is expected to stimulate the development of mobile e-commerce.

About 44.4 million people used mobile phones to make online payments at the end of June, up 14 million from the end of last year, the CNNIC report said.

The government will promote the development of mobile Internet applications, commercialization of cloud-computing services and establishment of third-party e-commerce platforms, said Gao Sumei, an official with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. — Reuters

SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012

H E A LT H

Nobel laureate, discoverer of HIV, sees ‘hope’ for cure WASHINGTON: The Nobel laureate who helped to discover HIV says there is hope for an AIDS cure following recent discoveries, in an interview with AFP ahead of a global conference on the disease.

Francoise Barre-Sinoussi, who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2008 as part of a team that discovered the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) which causes AIDS, said scientific research had made major strides since then.

She cited a patient in Berlin who appears to have been cured through a bone marrow transplant, “which proves that finding a way of eliminating the

virus from the body is something that is realistic.”

Other sources of optimism are the small minority of patients-less than 0.3 percent-who exhibit no symptoms of the virus without ever receiving treatment; and a small group in France who received antiretroviral drugs and now live without treatment or symptoms, Barre-Sinoussi said.

“There is hope... but don’t ask me for a date because we do not know.” She also said that it would be possible “in principle” to eliminate the AIDS pandemic by 2050, if barriers to drug access could be eliminated. The main barriers there were

not scientific but political, economic and social, she said: the problem was lack of access to testing and drugs in poor and rural areas, as well as the stigma around the virus, which undermines early detection and treatment.

Some 25,000 people-including celebrities, scientists and HIV sufferers are expected in the US capital on Sunday to call for more strident global action to address the three-decade AIDS epidemic.

“At the Washington conference we are expecting greater mobilization... to widen access to current treatments and to continue research into HIV,” Barre-

Sinoussi said.Deaths and infections are down in the parts of the world most ravaged by the disease, while the number of people on treatment has risen 20 percent from 2010 to 2011, reaching eight million people in needy countries. However this is only about half the people who should be on treatment worldwide, suggesting much more remains to be done.

More than 34 million people worldwide are living with HIV, a higher number than ever before, and around 30 million have died from AIDS-related causes since the disease first emerged in the 1980s, according to UNAIDS. — AFP

AIDS rise in Uganda shows need for more resources 260,000 Ugandans access treatment through PEPFAR

NEW DELHI: Indian children effected with HIV/AIDS read and relax at a library at the nongovernmental organization, Naz Foundation Trust, in New Delhi yesterday. More than 34 million people worldwide are living with HIV, a higher number than ever before, and around 30 million have died from AIDS-related causes since the disease first emerged in the 1980s, according to UNAIDS. — AFP

Weight-loss pill wins FDA approval WASHINGTON: A new weight-loss pill that many doctors consider the most effective of a new generation of anti-obesity drugs got the approval of the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday.

The pill, called Qsymia, was approved for patients who are overweight or obese and also have at least one weight-related condition such as high blood pressure, diabetes or high cholesterol.

The drug offers hope for those who have failed to lose weight in other ways, but its path to approval also underscores how difficult it has been for drugmakers to find obesity treatments that are safe and effective.

The drug’s maker, Vivus Inc, said it plans to bring the drug to market in the fourth quarter of this year. It hasn’t yet decided what the pills will cost.

In testing, the drug made led patients to lose more weight than two other weightloss pills recently review by the FDA. Patients taking Qsymia for a year lost 6.7 percent of their body weight in one study and 8.9 percent in another study, the FDA said. The company said patients on the strongest formulation tested lost nearly 11 percent of their weight.

Despite its impressive performance in clinical trials, Qsymia is not exactly a scientific breakthrough. The drug is actually a combination of two older drugs long known to help with weight loss: phentermine and topirimate. Phentermine is a stimulant that suppresses the appetite, and has long been used for short-term weight loss. Topiramate is an anticonvulsant, sold by Johnson & Johnson as Topamax, that makes people feel more satisfied after eating.

Researchers say the innovation of Qsymia lies in targeting more than one of the brain signals that drive people to overeat. “We now know there are multiple pathways that determine how much energy we take in every day,” said Dr. Tim Garvey of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. “If you intervene on one pathway it’s hard to make much of a difference, you really need to attack multiple mechanisms to get a pronounced effect.”

Garvey helped conduct several pivotal trials of the drug. Qsymia is the second weight-loss drug approved by the FDA in less than a month, following Arena Pharmaceutical’s pill Belviq in late June.

Previously the agency had not approved a new drug for long-term weight loss since 1999.

With US obesity rates nearing 35 percent of the adult population, many doctors have called on the FDA to approve new weight-

loss treatments. But a long line of prescription diet pills have been associated with dangerous side effects, particularly heart problems.

In 1997, the popular diet drug combination fen-phen was linked to heart valve damage. The cocktail of phentermine and fenfluramine was a popular weight-loss combination prescribed by doctors, though it was never approved by the FDA. Fenfluramine was eventually withdrawn from the market.

Other safety failures for diet pills have continued to pile up in recent years. In 2010, Abbott Laboratories withdrew its drug Meridia after a study showed it increased risks for heart attack and stroke.

The FDA’s approvals of Qsymia and Belviq suggest a new willingness to make weight-loss medications available, even in the face of lingering safety issues.

The FDA initially rejected Vivus’ drug in 2010 over concerns that it can cause birth defects if taken by pregnant women. The agency laid out a risk-management plan Tuesday specifically designed to minimize the chance of the women becoming pregnant while using the drug. It recommends that women of childbearing age test negative for pregnancy before starting the drug and take a monthly pregnancy test while taking it. The agency also said patients with recent or unstable heart disease or stroke aren’t good candidates for the drug because its effect on heart rates in those patients is not known. Vivus has to do studies of the heart effects of Qsymia, the FDA said.

Analysts estimate the new pill could garner more than $1 billion in sales by 2016, though Mountain View, Calif.-based Vivus plans a slow rollout.

The pill will launch with a relatively small sales force of 150 representatives. Company executives say their initial marketing efforts will focus on obesity specialists, not general doctors.

“We’re going to have to grow our sales organization in order to support the primary care market,” Vivus President Peter Tam said in an interview with the Associated Press.

Vivus had originally planned to market the drug under the brand name Qnexa.

However, FDA regulators ordered the company to change the name to avoid potential confusion with similar-sounding drugs.

Rival Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc of San Diego plans to start selling Belviq early next year. A third California drugmaker, Orexigen Therapeutics Inc, is still running clinical trials of its product, Contrave, and is working toward an FDA approval date in 2014. — AP

KAMPALA: Once every month, John Robert Engole checks into a clinic on the outskirts of the Ugandan capital to collect his medication before quickly returning to the village in northern Uganda where he is a teacher. The regular trips have made Engole special at Reach Out, the AIDS clinic where in March 2004 the Ugandan became the first person in the world to benefit from the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR. Now he is one of nearly 260,000 Ugandans accessing treatment through PEPFAR, and those familiar with the man’s story say he is a remarkable example of the program’s necessity in poor African countries where governments have been slow to put more resources toward prevention and treatment of AIDS. This is a crucial moment in the epidemic. There is no cure yet and no vaccine. But recent research suggests it finally may be possible to dramatically stem the spread of the AIDS virus, even in some of the hardest-hit and poorest countries, such as Uganda.

“Turning the tide,” is the goal as described by the International AIDS Conference that begins Sunday in Washington. More than 20,000 scientists, activists and people living with HIV from around the globe will gather to begin figuring out how to do that - which combinations of protections work best in different countries - and how to pay for it.

One key will be increasing the number of people like Engole who are treated for their HIV infection, preferably before they’re too weak or sick.

Recent research shows keeping HIV patients healthy has the added benefit of making them less likely to infect other people. A new report from the United Nations shows that 8 million people in lowand middle-income countries got that treatment last year, with 6.2 million of them living in Africa.

The global goal is to have 15 million treated by 2015.

Engole was about to die when he started treatment, his immune system destroyed. He says these days he only worries about “raising school fees for my children,” not the morbid thoughts that once plagued his mind. Stella Talisuna, a physician who attends to Engole, said he was one of thousands of Ugandans “able to get back on their feet” because of PEPFAR, which President George W Bush launched in 2003. But thousands become infected with HIV each year in Uganda, keeping pressure on the government and its foreign benefactors to sustain AIDS relief. A new government report says the prevalence of HIV in this East African nation increased from 6.4 percent in 2004 to 7.3 percent in 2011, a shocking statistic for a country once praised for its global leadership in controlling AIDS. The same report says the number of Ugandans with HIV had doubled since 2004, from 1.2 million to 2.4 million.

Officially, the rate is going up mainly because more Ugandans are having multiple sex partners.

But critics of Uganda’s AIDS control policy say the country’s past success in reducing the infection rate

from double digits to single digits had been undermined later by a shift in attention from prevention to treatment. Some say this had the effect of making a generation of Ugandans less frightened by AIDS, which once had spread terror for its ability to shrink its victims. At least half of the 600,000 Ugandans in need of AIDS treatment are able to access the drugs, mostly through PEPFAR. US government officials have been pressing Uganda to devote more resources to AIDS and issues such as maternal health, saying dependency on foreign support is unsustainable in the long term.

Michael Strong, the PEPFAR coordinator in Uganda, said the program is set to transition from service delivery to technical assistance, and that Ugandan authorities would have to play the lead role going forward. “We’ll no longer be hands-on,” Strong said.

About 130,000 Ugandans get HIV every year, and Joshua Musinguzi, who heads Uganda’s AIDS control program, said this was the figure most discouraging of all. It means that far too many Ugandans are getting AIDS than the government can possibly manage to treat. “There is need for continuous dissemination of information,” Musinguzi said. “Individuals have the power to make the correct decision if they want to. The menu is there: ABC.” Uganda once earned a reputation for successfully putting in place a policy called ABC: abstain, be faithful, or use condoms. Students of a certain generation were shown videos of the devastating toll of AIDS on the human body, and

A health worker from The AIDS Support Organization (TASO) health worker speaks with patients waiting for treatment in Kampala. — AP

US, Canadian men held in Philippines for fake Viagra MANILA: An American and a Canadian have been detained in the Philippines for selling fake counterfeit Viagra pills through the internet, police said yesterday. Canadian man Nicolai Boutnine and Joseph Dean, an American, were among six suspects arrested when police raided a call-centre in the central city of Mandaue on Monday, the Philippine police criminal investigation group said.

Criminal charges were filed against the suspects following the police operation in response to a complaint from the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer that owns the erectile dysfunction drug’s patent, said police spokesman Don de Dios. “We are coordinating with the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement to

secure some of the evidence needed for their prosecution,” Senior Inspector de Dios told AFP. He said the call-centre firm, 724Care Inc, used cloud computing technology provided by US online search giant Google to store sales data virtually. This prevented local police from recovering sales receipts and related documents or the drugs themselves, whose location remains unknown.

He said they would need the US authorities’ help in retrieving the data from the owner of the server that hosts the 724care.net account.

De Dios said the suspects, who also included four Filipinos, were charged for fraud and selling counterfeit drugs, both of which carry jail terms of up to 10 years.—AFP

BPA no longer allowed in baby bottles: FDA WASHINGTON: The federal government announced that baby bottles and sippy cups can no longer contain bisphenolA, or BPA, the plastic chemical which has been subject to years of scientific scrutiny. The US chemical industry’s chief association, the American Chemistry Council, had asked the Food and Drug Administration to phase out rules allowing BPA in those products in October, after determining that all manufacturers of bottles and sippy cups had already abandoned the chemical due to safety concerns.

It is illegal for companies to use substances not covered

by FDA rules. “Consumers can be confident that these products do not contain BPA,” FDA spokesman Allen Curtis said in a statement, adding that the agency’s action was based on the bottle industry’s phase out of the chemical. “The agency continues to support the safety of BPA for use in products that hold food.” The chemical industry’s request may help curb years of negative publicity from consumer groups and head off tougher laws that would ban BPA from other types of packaging because of health worries.

Legislation introduced by some members of Congress would ban BPA nationwide in all canned food, water bottles and food containers. Chemical makers maintain that the plastic-hardening chemical is safe for all food and drink uses. BPA is found in hundreds of plastic items from water bottles to CDs to dental sealants. Some researchers say ingesting the chemical can interfere with development of the reproductive and nervous systems in babies and young children. They point to dozens of studies showing such an effect from BPA in rodents and other animals. But the FDA has repeatedly stated that those findings cannot be applied to humans. The federal government is currently spending $30 million on its own studies assessing the chemical’s health effects on humans. About 90 percent of Americans have traces of BPA in their urine, mainly because the chemical leaches out of food and beverage packaging. The vast majority of canned goods in the US are sealed with resin that contains BPA to prevent contamination and spoiling. Canned food manufacturers have used the chemicals since the 1950s. The practice is approved by the FDA.

then told to postpone the first act of intercourse.

Some believe the fear factor, now gone, was decisive in Uganda’s successful control of AIDS in the mid-1990s.

“They now see AIDS as much more like diabetes, one of these chronic diseases you can live with indefinitely,” Timothy Kalyegira, a well-known Ugandan social critic, said, talking about the changing attitude toward AIDS among Ugandans. The government recently added male circumcision to the plan against AIDS, in response to studies showing the procedure reduces the risk among African men of getting HIV in half. Officials want to circumcise 4 million men by 2015 in hopes that mass circumcision, as well as a persistent media campaign urging Ugandans to “get off the sexual network,” will reduced substantially the rate of new infections. They remain optimistic that US support for AIDS treatment will be stable for years to come.

In April three US lawmakers touring Uganda with the humanitarian group CARE visited the clinic where Engole, the first PEPFAR beneficiary, gets his medication. He told the lawmakers his story and thanked them for PEPFAR, and some hugged him.

“To see this man who has a second chance now at living a healthy life, raising a family and children, to me was a very humbling experience,” US Rep. Barbara, a California Democrat, said after meeting Engole. “It also was confirmation of the fact that United States foreign aid works.” Lee said Engole’s example made her realize the US “can’t pull back” from AIDS relief in Africa. — AP

The federal government has been grappling with the safety of BPA for more than four years. The FDA initially said in 2008 that the trace amounts of BPA that leach out of food containers were not dangerous. Then in 2010, the FDA revised its opinion and said there is “some concern” about the chemical’s impact on the brain and reproductive system of infants, babies and young children. Earlier this year the agency denied a petition from the Natural Resources Defense Council which would have banned the use of BPA in all food containers. The agency said it is awaiting results from federally-funded studies on the safety of BPA. Public safety advocates said that FDA’s action on baby bottles and sippy cups would have little impact, since the BPAcontaining products are no longer in use. “Once again, the FDA has come so late to the party that the public and the marketplace have already left,” said Jason Rano, of the Environmental Working Group, which is pushing for a BPA ban in cans of infant formula, food and beverages. Scientists pushing for a ban on the chemical argue that BPA mimics the effects of the hormone estrogen, interfering with growth and development. — AP

CDC: Whooping cough cases may be most in 5 decades ATLANTA: Health officials say the nation is on track to have the worst year for whooping cough in more than five decades. Nearly 18,000 cases have been reported so far - more than twice the number seen at this point last year. At this pace, the number of whooping cough cases will surpass every year since 1959. “There is a lot of this out there, and there may be more coming to a place near you,” Dr. Anne Schuchat of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.

Wisconsin and Washington state each have reported more than 3,000 cases, and high numbers have been seen in a number of other states, including New York, Minnesota, Kansas and Arizona.

Whooping cough, or pertussis, is a highly contagious bacterial disease. It leads to severe coughing that causes children to make a distinctive whooping sound as they gasp for breath. In rare cases it can be fatal, and nine children have died so far this year. Children get vaccinated against whooping cough in five doses, with the first shot at age 2 months and the final one between 4 and 6 years.

Then a booster is recommended around age 11.

The vaccine’s protection does wane and health officials have debated moving up the booster shot.

The CDC is urging adults and especially pregnant women to get vaccinated so they don’t spread it to infants who are too young to get the vaccine. Whooping cough used to cause hundreds of thousands of illnesses a year but cases fell after a vaccine was introduced in the 1940s. Starting in the late 1960s, fewer than 5,000 cases were reported annually in the United States, for a stretch of about 25 years. But the numbers started to rise in

SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012

H E A LT H

French crusader for gibbons in Borneo jungle PARARAWEN, Indonesia: For 15 years Aurelien Brule has lived in the Indonesian jungle, crusading against palm oil multinationals, loggers and corruption in his bid to save endangered gibbons from annihilation.

He admits that his is a losing battle. The primates are being pushed out of their natural habitat by loggers removing the equivalent of six football fields-worth of jungle “every minute” to make way for palm oil plantations. Around 100,000 gibbons remain in the forests of Borneo, but there will be few left within the next 15-20 years according to Brule with up to 1.5 million hectares of jungle lost every year, despite the efforts of conservationists.

For Brule, who has since changed his name to “Chanee”-meaning “Gibbon” in Thai-it is a struggle that he was probably destined for. As a 12 year-old, he spent so much time observing gibbons at a zoo in his hometown of Frejus in southern France the local press dubbed him “the little strange kid who watches monkeys instead of playing video games.”

Four years later the teenager published his own encyclopaedia on the critically endangered primates, whose distinctive faces are framed by a ring of white fur. In the media, he talked about his dream of moving to Asia and working to help protect endangered gibbons, which brought the attention of French actress and comedian Muriel Robin who one day called him up and gave him the funds to move to Indonesia.

Sometimes called the “French Diane Fossey”-the American zoologist who dedicated her life to preserving African gorillas until her murder in 1985 Brule, 33, has set up a sanctuary, and a radio station that helps listeners

A rescued gibbon monkey undergoing rehabilitation at the Kalaweit sanctuary in Pararawen village, run by French environmentalist Aurelien Brule. For 15 years Aurelien Brule has lived in the Indonesian jungle, crusading against palm oil multinationals, loggers and corruption in his bid to save endangered gibbons from annihilation. — AFP

report gibbons held in captivity.

‘Kalaweit’ Chanee arrived in Indonesia in 1998 at the age of 18, flying to the island of Borneo and spending the next three months climbing through jungle to reach the tribal lands of the Dayak native people, where Borneo’s gibbons dwell.

Aiming to build a sanctuary in those tropical forests, he spent the next few months immersed in Jakarta and the intricacies of its Kafkaesque bureaucracy to seek permission to build it. For nine months he pestered authorities until in September 1999

he got what he went for, and returned to the forest to build the sanctuary named “Kalaweit”, which in the Dayak language means “gibbon”.

Over the years the Kalaweit sanctuary has grown into what he calls “the largest program for the rehabilitation of gibbons in the world” with more than 250 animals, 50 employees and an annual budget of 400,000 euros ($491,000) from private donations.

Yet, for Chanee, “this is not a success but a failure”. He has not fully realized his boyhood dream of returning gibbons released from cages back to the wild. Gibbons cannot be

returned alone to the wild because they would be killed by pairs protecting their own territory. But rampant deforestation has wiped out “empty” forest sites suitable for single gibbons, meaning that the majority of those recovered by the sanctuary have nowhere to go.

Fighting for the forests Large tracts of Indonesia’s jungle have been cleared for palm oil plantations due to surging global demand, one of the main reasons Indonesia is the third biggest emitter of greenhouse gases behind the US and China. Indonesia has implemented a

two-year moratorium on issuing new logging concessions on peatland and in other high-conservation forests.

But unsustainable logging continues with concessions still given in forests deemed not to be “high-conservation” allowing corrupted officials to draw their own map of primary forests that should be protected.

Chanee said that he soon realized that if he was to help save gibbons, he would have to expand his work to fight deforestation. In 2003, Kalaweit bought 100 hectares (247 acres) for a reservation.

In August the organization will receive a motorized paraglider that

will enable staff to photograph illegal logging. But standing up to palm oil giants is a David-and-Goliath fight that is not risk free. In 2009, Chanee and his Indonesian wife Prada were attacked by loggers who, while raining blows down on them, told him “get lost boule”-meaning “white” man in Indonesian. A guard has been stationed outside the house the couple share with their two sons, two-yearold Enzo and Andrew, eight, ever since. Chanee said he recognized that the risks from his work are real.

“But it’s a risk one has to take, because nothing comes from nothing”. — AFP

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SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012

WHAT’S ON Bangladesh Embassy notice he Embassy of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh in Kuwait will follow the following office hours during the holy month of Ramadan.

Sunday to Thursday: 9 am - 3:30 pm. Friday and Saturday: Weekly holidays.

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Announcements 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.

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.

Register and Win promotion at Q8India.com ity Centre, Kuwait’s premier mega-market, in association with Q8India.com, a leading online Indian community portal, is holding a monthlong ‘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

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‘Leniency of Islam’ 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 to97822021 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.

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Delicious Ramadan buffet at Diva’s

iva’s Restaurant recently concluded its preparations for the holy month of Ramadan to provide new delicious iftar buffets every day at both the Blajat and Olympia mall branches. “Our Ramadan buffets will include a mixture of Arab and International dishes prepared by Diva’s chefs with home-made flavors. The buffets will also include oriental and western desserts with musical background and reasonable prices for everybody”, said Diva’s general manager, Salem Fares noting that a number of companies would also sponsor the daily buffets and provide special gifts such as free Internet subscriptions and other peel-and-win gift vouchers.

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Registration for Ramadan STARS Squash Tournament begins 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 AlAwadi, 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

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

agement 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

amadan is a holy month that is special to Muslims. In Kuwait and other Gulf countries, Ramadan has a very special sense where religion merges with culture and traditions. The speaker will focus on this tremendous mix and then present some cultural practices related to Ramadan, which is a special month in the Islamic world. It will concentrate on how Muslims behave during the month of Ramadan, what are the deeds they care to do, customs of helping the poor and bonding between people, girgian, and finally preparing for and celebrating Eid. This presentation will focus on Kuwait but it will also show the similari-

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ties of traditions between Kuwait and other Gulf countries. Join the AWARE Center on July 24 at 8:00 pm to learn more about some cultural practices in Kuwait and other Gulf countries during Ramadan. Wadha Al-Shaheen is a translator translating Arabic into English and vice versa as well as Academic Advisor at the Ministry of High Education. She is an English Linguistics graduate from Kuwait University and an MA student of translation at the same University. For more information, call 25335260/80 or log onto: www.aware.com.kw.

registration is taking place at GO SPORT store located at The Avenues Mall.

Alawadi also pointed out the great interest the ‘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.

KIB announces Ramadan working hours

AWARE presentation

uwait International Bank has announced its working hours during the holy month of Ramadan in a press statement released by the bank stating: “We would like to congratulate our valued customers on the start of the holy month of Ramadan, and we are glad to announce that the bank’s working hours will be from 10:00 am to 1:30 pm at the head offices and its 18 branches distributed around Kuwait.”

Similar to every year, KIB services and products will be accessible to all customers during the bank’s working hours, and around the clock customers can per-

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form their banking transactions and submit their enquiries through Al-Dawli Weyak which offers a dedicated 24/7 call center and can accessed from anywhere around the world. KIB customers can also use Al-Dawli Online and SMS Banking to further manage their accounts and banking needs around the clock. For more information on KIB’s services and products, please visit the bank’s website on www.kib.com.kw or check the latest updates on www.facebook.com/aldawlibank or follow us on Twitter @alDawliBank.

Aware Centre he AWARE Management is glad to inform you that Summer 3 Arabic language courses will begin on August 12, 2012 until September 26, 2012. AWARE Arabic language courses are designed with the expat in mind. The environment is relaxed & courses are designed for those wanting to learn Arabic for travel, cultural understanding, and conducting business or simply to become more involved in the community. We cater to teachers, travelers & those working in

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the private business sector. Arabic classes at the AWARE Center are unique because students are provided with the chance to practice their Arabic through various social activities that aim at bringing Arabs and Westerners together.

AWARE Arabic courses highlights * Introductory to Level 4 Arabic language basics * Better prepare you for speaking, reading and writing Arabic

* Combine language learning with cultural insights * Taught in multi-nationality group settings * Provide opportunities to interact with Western expatriates and native Kuwaitis/Arabs.

For more information, call 25335260/80 or log onto: www.aware.com.kw.”

Competitions in patriotic songs ndo-Kuwait Friendship Society, Kuwait (www.indo-kuwaitfriendshipsociety.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 com-

I Write to us

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 encour-

petition 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.

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 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.

Ramadan Iftar he AWARE Center cordially invites you to its Ramadan Iftar to be preceded by a lecture entitled, “The Meaning of Ramadan,”

by Iman Martin on July 26th, 2012 at 6:00pm.

Ramadan presents a wonderful opportunity for westerners to learn more about Kuwait, to meet new individuals & have questions regarding Islam & the Holy month of Ramadan answered.

During this special month, the communal meal referred to as Iftar, breaks the fast at the end of the day & brings family & friends together. As part of AWARE’s Ramadan activities, we invite you to join us for a Ramadan presentation followed by a traditional “Iftar dinner,” at the AWARE Center.

Limited Seats: Advance reservations required at joumana@aware.com.kw.”

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SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012

SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012

TV PROGRAMS

00:45 01:40 02:35 03:30 03:55 04:25 05:20 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 15:05 15:35 16:00 16:30 17:25 18:20 Baker 19:15 20:10 21:05 22:00 22:55 23:50

Shark Attack Survivors Animal Cops Specials 2009 Cats 101 Great Animal Escapes Great Animal Escapes Wildest Africa Great Ocean Adventures Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 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 Wild France Wild France Rescue Vet Rescue Vet Safari Vet School Safari Vet School Must Love Cats Bad Dog Weird Creatures With Nick Into The Pride Great Ocean Adventures Wildest Africa Speed Of Life Monster Bug Wars Untamed & Uncut

00:00 Robin Hood 00:45 Monarch Of The Glen 01:35 Live At The Apollo 02:20 My Family 02:50 Last Of The Summer Wine 03:25 Allo ‘allo!

04:00 Fimbles 04:20 Tellytales 04:30 Bobinogs 04:45 Nina And The Neurons 05:00 Show Me Show Me 05:25 Boogie Beebies 05:40 Charlie And Lola 05:50 Fimbles 06:10 Tellytales 06:20 Bobinogs 06:30 Nina And The Neurons 06:45 Show Me Show Me 07:10 Boogie Beebies 07:25 Charlie And Lola 07:40 Robin Hood 08:25 Keeping Up Appearances 08:55 Supernova 09:25 The Old Guys 09:55 Great Ormand Street 10:45 The Inspector Lynley Mysteries 11:30 London Hospital 12:30 The Royle Family 13:00 The Impressions Show 13:30 Allo ‘allo!

14:00 Doctors 16:00 Doctors 16:30 Elephant Diaries 17:20 Doctor Who 18:05 London Hospital 19:00 Blackadder The Third 19:30 Twenty Twelve 20:00 Life On Mars 20:50 Spooks 21:40 New Tricks 22:30 The Inspector Lynley Mysteries 23:20 Live At The Apollo

00:00 Extreme Makeover: Edition 00:45 Extreme Makeover: Edition 01:25 Come Dine With Me 02:15 Cash In The Attic 03:00 Cash In The Attic 03:45 Bargain Hunt 04:30 Bargain Hunt 05:15 Extreme Makeover: Edition 06:00 Extreme Makeover: Edition

06:40 Come Dine With Me 07:30 MasterChef Australia 14:10 MasterChef Australia 15:00 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 15:40 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 16:25 DIY SOS 16:50 DIY SOS 17:15 Holmes On Homes 18:50 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 19:30 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 20:10 Gok’s Clothes Roadshow 21:00 Masterchef: The Professionals 21:25 Masterchef: The Professionals 22:15 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 23:00 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 23:40 Masterchef: The Professionals

00:00 BBC World News 00:10 World Features 00:30 Mixed Britannia 01:00 BBC World News 01:30 The Culture Show 02:00 BBC World News 02:10 World Features 02:30 Middle East Business Report 03:00 BBC World News 03:10 World Features 03:30 Equestrian World 04:00 BBC World News 04:30 Dateline London 05:00 BBC World News 05:10 World Features 05:30 Mixed Britannia 06:00 BBC World News 06:30 Click 07:00 BBC World News 07:30 Newsnight 08:00 BBC World News 08:30 India Business Report 09:00 BBC World News 09:30 Fast Track 10:00 BBC World News 10:10 World Features 10:30 Equestrian World 11:00 BBC World News 11:10 World Features 11:30 Dateline London 12:00 BBC World News 12:10 Faster, Higher, Stronger 13:00 BBC World News 13:10 World Features 13:30 The Culture Show 14:00 BBC World News 14:30 Newsnight 15:00 BBC World News 15:10 World Features 15:30 Collaboration Culture 16:00 BBC World News 16:15 Sport Today 16:30 Click 17:00 BBC World News 17:30 Rendezvous With Zeinab Badawi 18:00 BBC World News 18:10 World Features 18:30 Mixed Britannia 19:00 BBC World News 19:30 India Business Report 20:00 BBC World News 20:30 Our World 21:00 BBC World News 21:15 Sport Today 21:30 Collaboration Culture 22:00 BBC World News 22:30 Equestrian World 23:00 BBC World News 23:10 World Features 23:30 Rendezvous With Zeinab Badawi

Home Home

Home Home

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

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

04:15 04:40 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 Of...

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 18:55 19:20 19:45 20:00 20:10 20:35 21:00 21:25 21:50 22:15 22:40 Doo 23:05 23:20 23:45

The Scooby Doo Show Johnny Bravo 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 Yogi Bear And The Invasion 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 The Jetsons The Flintstones Dastardly And Muttley Popeye Dexter’s Laboratory The Looney Tunes Show What’s New Scooby-Doo? Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries The Garfield Show The Flintstones Droopy & Dripple Scooby-Doo And ScrappyPopeye 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 10:05 Thundercats 10:35 Hero 108 11:00 Redakai: Conquer The Kairu 11:25 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 21:50 22:00 22:50 23:15 23:40

Redakai: Conquer The Kairu Grim Adventures Of...

Codename: Kids Next Door Ben 10 Ben 10 Chowder

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

Aiming For Gold World Sport World Report Talk Asia World Report Amanpour CNN Marketplace Europe CNN Marketplace Africa The Brief CNN Presents CNN Newsroom I Report For CNN Inside Africa World Sport Leading Women Future Cities World Report CNN Marketplace Middle East Talk Asia World Report CNN Marketplace Europe The CNN Freedom Project World Sport Open Court African Voices The Brief World Report Eye On CNN Presents World Report Road To Rio Fareed Zakaria Gps State Of The Union International Desk Inside Africa Global Exchange CNN Marketplace Africa Global Exchange CNN Marketplace Middle East World Sport Aiming For Gold International Desk African Voices International Desk Leading Women Future Cities Fareed Zakaria Gps World Report Eye On

00:40 Mobster Confessions 01:10 Mobster Confessions 01:35 Surviving Disaster 02:30 How It’s Made 03:00 How Do They Do It? 03:25 How It’s Made 03:55 How Do They Do It? 04:20 How It’s Made 04:50 How Do They Do It? 05:15 How It’s Made 05:40 How Do They Do It? 06:05 How It’s Made 06:35 How Do They Do It? 07:00 How It’s Made 07:25 How Do They Do It? 07:50 How Sports Are Made 08:15 How Sports Are Made 08:45 Olympic Park Machines With Jonny Smith 09:40 Fifth Gear 10:05 Fifth Gear 10:30 Hillbilly Handfishin’ 11:25 Extreme Fishing 12:20 How It’s Made 14:10 How It’s Made 14:35 Auction Kings 16:25 Auction Kings 16:55 Border Security 18:45 Border Security 19:10 Mythbusters 20:05 Mythbusters 21:00 Stan Lee’s Superhumans 21:55 Sport Under Threat 22:50 Wheeler Dealers Revisited 23:45 Wheeler Dealers Revisited

00:35 Junk Men 01:00 Junk Men 01:25 Investigation X 02:15 Game Changers 02:45 Sport Science 03:35 Sport Science 04:25 Sport Science 05:15 Sport Science 06:05 Sport Science 07:00 Science Of Storm Chasing 07:50 Mighty Ships 08:40 Head Rush 08:43 Stunt Junkies 09:10 Stunt Junkies 09:40 Nextworld 10:30 Game Changers 10:55 Game Changers 11:20 Mega World 12:10 Junk Men 12:35 Junk Men 13:00 Prank Science 13:25 Prank Science 13:50 Scrapheap Challenge 14:45 Weird Or What?

15:35 Ecopolis 16:30 Future Weapons 17:20 Meteorite Men 18:10 Game Changers 18:40 Mighty Ships 19:30 Prophets Of Science Fiction 20:20 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 21:10 Junk Men 21:35 Junk Men 22:00 Prophets Of Science Fiction 22:50 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 23:40 Investigation X

MASTER AND COMMANDER ON OSN ACTION HD

00:55 01:25 02:20 04:10 05:05 05:30 06:00 07:50 08:20 09:15 09:45 10:15 11:10 11:35 12:05 13:05 13:35

Style Star THS E! Investigates Sexiest Then And Now Then And Now THS Behind The Scenes E! News Extreme Close-Up Extreme Close-Up E!es Ice Loves Coco Ice Loves Coco E! News Style Star Style Star

14:05 Kourtney & Kim Take New York 15:00 Kourtney & Kim Take New York 15:55 Kourtney & Kim Take New York 16:55 Behind The Scenes 17:25 Behind The Scenes 17:55 E! News 18:55 Khloe And Lamar 19:25 Giuliana & Bill 20:25 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 21:25 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 22:25 Mrs. Eastwood And Company 22:55 Mrs. Eastwood And Company 23:25 Chelsea Lately 23:55 Keeping Up With The Kardashians

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

A Haunting The Haunted Ghost Lab A Haunting A Haunting On The Case With Paula Zahn Mystery ER 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 American Greed American Greed Scorned: Crimes Of Passion

00:00 Geo Sessions 00:30 Geo Sessions 01:00 Delinquent Gourmet 01:30 Delinquent Gourmet 02:00 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 02:30 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 03:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 04:00 Bondi Rescue 04:30 Bondi Rescue 05:00 Delinquent Gourmet 05:30 Delinquent Gourmet 06:00 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 06:30 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 07:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 08:00 Bondi Rescue 08:30 Bondi Rescue 09:00 City Chase Marrakech 10:00 Extreme Tourist Afghanistan 11:00 Travel Madness 11:30 Travel Madness 12:00 Into The Drink 12:30 Gone to save the planet 13:00 Delinquent Gourmet 13:30 Delinquent Gourmet 14:00 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 14:30 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 15:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 16:00 Bondi Rescue 16:30 Bondi Rescue 17:00 Somewhere In China 18:00 Geo Sessions 18:30 Making Tracks 19:00 Chasing Che: Latin America On A Motorcycle 19:30 Chasing Che: Latin America On A Motorcycle 20:00 Departures 21:00 Banged Up Abroad 22:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 23:00 Into The Drink 23:30 Gone to save the planet

00:00 Ultimate Disaster 01:00 Convoy: War For The Atlantic 02:00 Untamed Americas 03:00 World’s Deadliest Animals 04:00 Shark Men 05:00 Banged Up Abroad 06:00 Sea Patrol 07:00 Salvage Code Red 08:00 Ultimate Disaster 09:00 Convoy: War For The Atlantic 10:00 Untamed Americas 11:00 Crash Science 12:00 Shark Nicole 13:00 Banged Up Abroad 14:00 Sea Patrol 15:00 Salvage Code Red 16:00 Ultimate Disaster 17:00 Convoy: War For The Atlantic 18:00 Big, Bigger, Biggest 19:00 Big, Bigger, Biggest 20:00 Helicopter Wars 21:00 Dangerous Encounters With Brady Barr 22:00 Sea Patrol 23:00 Air Crash Investigation

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

Inside Nature’s Giants Built for the Kill 4 Deep Jungle Outback Wrangler Hooked Predator Battleground Great Migrations Deep Jungle Outback Wrangler Hooked Secrets Of The King Cobra Monster Fish Rescue Ink I, Predator Deep Jungle Outback Wrangler Hooked The Rise Of Black Wolf

TOAST ON OSN CINEMA 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Monster Fish Rescue Ink Deep Jungle Outback Wrangler Hooked Secrets Of The King Cobra Monster Fish

00:15 02:00 04:00 06:15 08:00 10:15 12:15 14:00 16:15 18:00 20:00 22:00

Dad Savage-PG15 Sanctum-18 Master And Commander-18 Tremors-PG15 Spider-Man-PG Enter The Phoenix-PG15 Dangerous Flowers-PG15 Spider-Man-PG Camp Hope-PG15 Dangerous Flowers-PG15 Fright Night-PG15 Aeon Flux-PG15

01:00 Dinner For Schmucks-PG15 03:00 St. Trinian’s 2: The Legend Of Fritton’s Gold-PG15 05:00 Big Fat Liar-PG 07:00 Backwash-PG15 09:00 St. Trinian’s 2: The Legend Of Fritton’s Gold-PG15 11:00 Like Mike-PG 13:00 Spud-PG15 15:00 Adventures Of A Teenage Dragonslayer-PG 17:00 Despicable Me-FAM 19:00 I Am Number Four-PG15 21:00 The Deep Blue Sea-PG15 23:00 Toast-PG15

00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:30 Saturday Night Live 02:30 Two And A Half Men 03:00 Best Friends Forever 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 Best Friends Forever 09:00 The Simpsons 10:30 Mad Love 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 Seinfeld 13:00 The Simpsons 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:30 Seinfeld 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 2 Broke Girls 18:30 Last Man Standing 19:00 Two And A Half Men 19:30 Happy Endings 20:30 Allen Gregory 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 06:00 07:00 08:30 10:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 23:00

00:00 01:00 02:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 12:00 12:30 13:00

C.S.I. New York Law & Order: Criminal Intent C.S.I. Warehouse 13 Good Morning America The Glades Coronation Street The Martha Stewart Show C.S.I. Law & Order: Criminal Intent Live Good Morning America The Glades Covert Affairs Bones Burn Notice Warehouse 13

Cold Case Law & Order: Criminal Intent Revenge Revenge Cold Case Emmerdale Coronation Street Body Of Proof Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show

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

Body Of Proof Cold Case Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Body Of Proof Covert Affairs Bones Burn Notice Top Gear (US) Revenge

01:00 RoboCop 2-PG15 03:00 Master And Commander-18 05:15 The Librarian: The Curse Of Judas Chalice-PG15 07:00 Star Trek: First Contact-PG 09:00 Odysseus: Voyage To The Underworld-PG15 11:00 The Librarian: The Curse Of Judas Chalice-PG15 13:00 Triassic Attack-PG15 15:00 Odysseus: Voyage To The Underworld-PG15 17:00 Vengeance-PG15 19:00 RoboCop 3-PG15 21:00 Ronin-18 23:00 The Daisy Chain-PG15

00:00 Burke And Hare-18 02:00 Wake-PG15 04:00 Last Of The Living-PG15 06:00 A Cinderella Story: Once Upon A Song-PG15 08:00 Josie And The Pussycats-PG15 10:00 Love Hurts-PG15 12:00 Little Secrets-PG 14:00 Double Wedding-PG15 16:00 Love Hurts-PG15 18:00 Out Cold-PG15 20:00 Evan Almighty-PG15 22:00 Cemetery Junction-PG15

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:15 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

Adaptation-18 The Weather Man-18 Talhotblond-18 Espions-PG15 Lies In Plain Sight-PG15 At Risk-PG15 Another Year-PG15 Lies In Plain Sight-PG15 Strength And Honour-PG15 Le Syndrome Du Titanic-PG15 Return To Paradise-PG15 The Girl In The Park-PG15

01:30 The Tender Hook-PG15 03:15 The LXD: The Uprising BeginsPG15 04:45 The LXD: Secrets Of The RaPG15 06:30 Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Pt.1-PG15 09:00 Jane Eyre-PG15 11:00 The Horse Whisperer-PG15 13:45 Cats & Dogs: The Revenge Of Kitty Galore-PG 15:15 The Open Road-PG15 17:00 Jane Eyre-PG15 19:00 Easy A-PG15

00:00 Ghost Machine-PG15 02:00 Zookeeper-PG15 04:00 Relative Stranger-PG15 06:00 The Spy Next Door-PG 08:00 Rat-PG15 10:00 Miles From Nowhere-PG15 12:15 Zookeeper-PG15 14:00 Relative Stranger-PG15 16:00 Rat-PG15 18:00 Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules-PG15 20:00 The Romantics-PG15 22:00 Predators-18

00:00 The Nimbols: Part II-FAM 02:00 Teo: The Intergalactic HunterPG 04:00 Spy Kids: All The Time In The World-PG 06:00 I’ll Be Home For Christmas-PG 08:00 Last Of The Mohicans-PG 10:00 Tommy & Oscar-FAM

12:00 Ramona And Beezus-PG 14:00 Spy Kids: All The Time In The World-PG 16:00 Marco Antonio-PG 18:00 Tommy & Oscar-FAM 20:00 Ramona And Beezus-PG

01:00 07:00 13:00 21:00 23:00

The Open Championship Live NRL Premiership Live The Open Championship NRL Premiership NRL Premiership

01:00 02:00 03:00 05:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 13:00 21:00

UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC Countdown Live UFC 149 Prelims Live UFC 149 Aldo Vs. Koch Live NRL Premiership Super Rugby Trans World Sport Live Test Cricket Live Darts

00:00 00:30 03:00 07:00 08:00 13:30 15:30 16:30 17:00 Series 19:30

Total Rugby AFL Premiership Darts World Match Trans World Sport Live AFL Premiership NRL Premiership Trans World Sport Total Rugby Live ITU World Triathlon

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 05:00 08:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 20:00 23:00

WWE Experience WWE Bottom Line UFC 149 Countdown Live UFC 149 Prelims Live UFC 149 WWE SmackDown WWE Bottom Line WWE Experience WWE This Week V8 Supercars Extra V8 Supercars Highlights V8 Supercars Highlights WWE Bottom Line UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC 149 Countdown UFC 149 Prelims UFC 149 WWE Bottom Line

AFL Premiership

00:00 Ice Road Truckers 01:00 Storage Wars 02:00 Pawn Stars 02:30 American Restoration 03:00 No County For Old Men 04:00 IRT: Deadliest Roads – The Andes 05:00 Ice Road Truckers 07:00 Declassified 08:00 Investigating History 10:00 Lost Worlds 11:00 Lost Worlds 12:00 Top Shot 13:00 IRT: Deadliest Roads – The Andes 14:00 Ice Road Truckers 16:00 Storage Wars 17:00 Pawn Stars 17:30 American Restoration 18:00 No County For Old Men 19:00 The Universe 20:00 Ancient Aliens 21:00 Decoded 22:00 Megaquake 10.0

00:10 01:55 03:30 05:10 07:00 08:35 10:10 11:55 13:45 15:30 17:10 18:45 20:25 22:00

Shaft In Africa Slither Welcome To Hard Times-PG Singin’ In The Rain-FAM Billy The Kid-PG Crazy From The Heart-PG For Me And My Gal-FAM Honky Tonk-FAM Lady L-PG Forbidden Planet-FAM Escape From Fort Bravo-FAM Light In The Piazza-PG Julie-PG Ben-Hur-PG

Classifieds SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Airlines JZR QTR JZR AEE ETH RJA GFA UAE ETD THY JZR FDB MSR RBG QTR KAC THY CLX KAC JZR DHX JZR KAC BAW KAC KAC IRA FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY QTR FDB IRA ETD GFA IRC MEA JZR MSR MSC JZR JZR AFR SYR KAC MSR RJA GFA KAC FDB KAC KNE KAC JZR QTR SVA KAC JZR QTR FDB ETD UAE UAL GFA SVA JZR JZR ABY KAC KAC QTR KAC KAC FDB MSR MSC JZR KAC KAC JAI KAC JZR KAC AXB FDB OMA MEA QTR GFA ALK KAC JZR KLM UAE JZR ETD KAC ABY QTR LMU KAC JZR AIC FDB GFA UAL JZR FDB DLH MSR THY JAI PIA

Arrival Flights on Sunday 22/7/2012 Flt Route 185 DUBAI 148 DOHA 267 BEIRUT 998 ATHENS 620 ADDIS ABABA 642 AMMAN 211 BAHRAIN 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 768 ISTANBUL 189 DUBAI 67 DUBAI 612 CAIRO 3553 ALEXANDRIA 138 DOHA 544 CAIRO 770 ISTANBUL 792 LUXEMBOURG 154 ISTANBUL 1541 CAIRO 170 BAHRAIN 555 ALEXANDRIA 412 MANILA 157 LONDON 206 ISLAMABAD 382 DELHI 615 SHAHRE KORD 53 DUBAI 284 DHAKA 302 MUMBAI 332 TRIVANDRUM 352 COCHIN 855 DUBAI 125 SHARJAH 132 DOHA 55 DUBAI 603 SHIRAZ 301 ABU DHABI 213 BAHRAIN 6801 AHWAZ 404 BEIRUT 165 DUBAI 618 ALEXANDRIA 401 ALEXANDRIA 561 SOHAG 201 DAMASCUS 6708 PARIS 341 DAMASCUS 742 DAMMAM 610 CAIRO 640 AMMAN 219 BAHRAIN 672 DUBAI 57 DUBAI 774 RIYADH 472 JEDDAH 538 SOHAG 535 CAIRO 140 DOHA 500 JEDDAH 788 JEDDAH 257 BEIRUT 134 DOHA 8053 DUBAI 303 ABU DHABI 857 DUBAI 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 215 BAHRAIN 510 RIYADH 177 DUBAI 777 JEDDAH 127 SHARJAH 502 BEIRUT 542 CAIRO 144 DOHA 166 PARIS 786 JEDDAH 63 DUBAI 624 SOHAG 405 SOHAG 787 RIYADH 618 DOHA 674 DUBAI 572 MUMBAI 102 NEW YORK 175 DUBAI 562 AMMAN 389 KOZHIKODE 61 DUBAI 647 MUSCAT 402 BEIRUT 146 DOHA 221 BAHRAIN 229 COLOMBO 514 TEHRAN 481 SABIHA 417 AMSTERDAM 859 DUBAI 135 BAHRAIN 307 ABU DHABI 172 FRANKFURT 129 SHARJAH 136 DOHA 1109 ALEXANDRIA 678 MUSCAT 539 CAIRO 981 CHENNAI 59 DUBAI 217 BAHRAIN 981 BAHRAIN 239 AMMAN 8051 DUBAI 636 FRANKFURT 614 CAIRO 772 ISTANBUL 574 MUMBAI 205 LAHORE

Time 0:15 0:20 0:50 1:30 1:45 2:10 2:20 2:25 2:30 2:50 3:00 3:10 3:20 3:20 3:25 4:10 4:35 4:55 4:55 4:55 5:00 6:00 6:15 6:30 7:15 7:30 7:35 7:45 7:45 7:50 7:55 8:05 8:25 8:30 9:00 9:20 9:25 9:30 10:00 10:15 10:55 11:05 11:25 12:00 12:25 12:30 12:35 12:35 13:25 13:30 13:35 13:40 13:40 13:45 13:45 14:15 14:20 14:20 14:25 14:30 15:00 15:00 15:15 15:55 16:35 16:55 17:10 17:20 17:20 17:30 17:40 17:45 18:00 18:15 18:20 18:40 18:40 18:45 18:55 19:00 19:10 19:20 19:25 19:35 19:35 19:35 19:50 19:55 20:00 20:10 20:15 20:25 20:35 20:55 20:55 20:55 21:05 21:15 21:15 21:20 21:25 21:30 21:35 22:00 22:05 22:10 22:25 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:55 23:05 23:10 23:35 23:40 23:50 23:55

Airlines AIC FDB UAL DLH MSR DHX JAI THY AEE ETH THY UAE FDB RBG ETD MSR QTR QTR JZR RJA JZR JZR GFA THY JZR KAC CLX BAW FDB IRA KAC JZR KAC ABY KAC KAC UAE QTR FDB ETD IRA KAC KAC GFA IRC KAC MEA KAC JZR MSR KAC MSC KAC JZR JZR SYR AFR GFA FDB MSR RJA KAC KAC JZR KNE JZR KAC KAC SVA JZR QTR KAC FDB ETD JZR QTR UAE GFA JZR ABY UAL SVA JZR QTR FDB MSR MSC JZR KAC JAI FDB KAC KAC OMA MEA KAC GFA JZR DHX ALK KLM JZR ABY ETD UAE KAC QTR KAC KAC JZR LMU QTR AXB FDB GFA KAC FDB JZR KAC

Depature Flights on Sunday 22/7/2012 Flt Route 976 GOA/CHENNAI 52 DUBAI 981 WASHINGTON DC 637 FRANKFURT 615 CAIRO 373 BAHRAIN 573 MUMBAI 773 ISTANBUL 999 ATHENS 621 ADDIS ABABA 769 ISTANBUL 854 DUBAI 68 DUBAI 3554 ALEXANDRIA 306 ABU DHABI 613 CAIRO 139 DOHA 149 DOHA 560 SOHAG 643 AMMAN 164 DUBAI 200 DAMASCUS 212 BAHRAIN 771 ISTANBUL 534 CAIRO 537 SOHAG 792 GIALAM 156 LONDON 54 DUBAI 614 SHAHRE 171 FRANKFURT 256 BEIRUT 117 NEW YORK 126 SHARJAH 671 DUBAI 787 JEDDAH 856 DUBAI 133 DOHA 56 DUBAI 302 ABU DHABI 602 SHIRAZ 741 DAMMAM 773 RIYADH 214 BAHRAIN 6802 AHWAZ 541 CAIRO 405 BEIRUT 501 BEIRUT 776 JEDDAH 623 SOHAG 103 LONDON 406 SOHAG 785 JEDDAH 480 ISTANBUL 176 DUBAI 342 ALEPPO 6708 DUBAI 220 BAHRAIN 58 DUBAI 611 CAIRO 641 AMMAN 561 AMMAN 673 DUBAI 538 CAIRO 473 JEDDAH 174 DUBAI 677 MUSCAT 617 DOHA 503 MADINAH 786 RIYADH 135 DOHA 513 IMAM KHOMEINI 8054 DUBAI 304 ABU DHABI 238 AMMAN 141 DOHA 858 DUBAI 216 BAHRAIN 134 BAHRAIN 128 SHARJAH 982 BAHRAIN 511 RIYADH 266 BEIRUT 145 DOHA 64 DUBAI 621 ALEXANDRIA 402 ALEXANDRIA 184 DUBAI 361 COLOMBO 571 MUMBAI 62 DUBAI 283 DHAKA 351 KOCHI 648 MUSCAT 403 BEIRUT 543 CAIRO 222 BAHRAIN 502 LUXOR 171 BAHRAIN 230 COLOMBO 417 DAMMAM 1540 CAIRO 120 SHARJAH 308 ABU DHABI 860 DUBAI 343 CHENNAI 137 DOHA 3 MUMBAI 205 ISLAMABAD 554 ALEXANDRIA 1110 ALEXANDRIA 147 DOHA 390 MANGALORE 60 DUBAI 218 BAHRAIN 411 BANGKOK 8052 DUBAI 528 ASSIUT 415 KUALA LUMPUR

Time 0:05 0:10 0:25 0:30 0:35 0:40 0:50 2:15 2:30 2:45 3:40 3:45 3:50 4:00 4:05 4:20 4:50 5:40 6:00 6:50 6:55 7:00 7:05 7:10 7:30 8:05 8:15 8:25 8:25 8:35 8:55 9:00 9:05 9:05 9:20 9:35 9:40 10:00 10:05 10:15 10:25 10:25 10:25 10:45 11:15 11:30 11:55 12:00 12:15 12:25 12:30 13:00 13:10 13:15 13:20 13:35 14:20 14:25 14:25 14:30 14:35 14:40 15:05 15:10 15:15 15:25 15:25 15:45 15:45 15:50 16:15 16:25 16:35 17:20 17:30 17:45 18:05 18:20 18:20 18:25 18:30 18:35 18:50 19:20 19:25 19:55 20:00 20:05 20:20 20:35 20:40 20:45 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:30 21:35 21:45 21:50 21:55 22:05 22:05 22:10 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:45 23:00 23:05 23:10 23:10 23:15 23:30 23:40 23:45 23:50 23:50

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

ACCOMMODATION Sharing accommodation available in two bedroom flat for a bachelor in Khaitan. Near Kuwait Finance. Call 66141908.

(C 4081) 19-7-2012

FOR SALE GMCAcadia, model 2007, 52,000 km, full specifications, CD, leather, DVD, excellent condition, condition inspection at the agency. Contact: 55741238. (C 4086) 22-7-2012

CHANGE OF RELIGION 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 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

CHANGE OF NAME 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

SITUAITON WANTED Sales and Marketing professional 6 + years experience. (3 years experience in Qatar as sales and marketing manager. Mobil: 97646134.

Email: sameer.abdulazeez@gmail. com (C 4085) 22-7-2012

112

POLICE STATION

Al-Madena Police Station 22434064 Al-Murqab Police Station 22435865 Al-Daiya Police Station 22544200 Al-Fayha’a Police Station 22547133 Al-Qadissiya Police Station22515277 Al-Nugra Police Station 22616662 Al-Salmiya Police Station 25714406 Al-Dasma Police Station 22530801 Prayer timings

Ministry of Interior website: www.moi.gov.kw

Fajr: Duhr: Asr: Maghrib: Isha:

03:31 11:54 15:29 18:46 20:15

GOVERNMENT WEB SITES Kuwait Parliament www.majlesalommah.net

The Public Institution for Social Security www.pifss.gov.kw

Ministry of Interior www.moi.gov.kw

Public Authority of Industry www.pai.gov.kw

Public Authority for Civil Information www.paci.gov.kw

Prisoners of War Committee www.pows.org.kw

Kuwait News Agency www.kuna.net.kw

Ministry of Foreign Affairs www.mofa.gov.kw

Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affair www.islam.gov.kw

Kuwait Municipality www.municipality.gov.kw

Ministry of Energy (Oil) www.moo.gov.kw

Kuwait Electronic Government www.e.gov.kw

Ministry of Energy (Electricity and Water) www.energy.govt.kw

Ministry of Finance www.mof.gov.kw

Public Authority for Housing Welfare www.housing.gov.kw

Ministry of Commerce and Industry www.moci.gov.kw

Ministry of Justice www.moj.gov.kw

Ministry of Education www.moe.edu.kw

Ministry of Communications www.moc.kw

Ministry of Information www.moinfo.gov.kw

Supreme Council for Planning and Development www.scpd.gov.kw

Kuwait Awqaf Public Foundation www.awqaf.org

34

s ta rs CROSSWORD 744

CALVIN & HOBBES

SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012

STAR TRACK Aries (March 21-April 19) Today is a time of smooth sailing if you are working. If you are not working, all sorts of positive opportunities come your way. This is an open and busy time when you might feel you need to be busy but you don’t know what you need to be doing. It will fill your thoughts for about three days and then a calming period will happen. For this reason you should use this time to go ahead and move forward with performing a talent, volunteering your time or making progress with some project you have been setting aside. Maybe you would like to begin a container garden and eventually enjoy a variety of herbs. This is a lighthearted, busy time but a time to board the train, so to speak. You are great at bringing out the best qualities of others; start with a friend.

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

POOCH CAFE ACROSS 1. Any of various dark heavy viscid substances obtained as a residue.

4. A power shovel to remove material from a channel or riverbed v 1.

10. A light touch or stroke.

13. Any of various primates with short tails or no tail at all.

14. A city in western Germany near the Dutch and Belgian borders.

15. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

16. Philippine tree similar to the breadfruit tree bearing edible fruit.

18. With anger.

19. Manufactured in standard sizes to be shipped and assembled elsewhere.

20. A statement that deviates from or perverts the truth.

21. A unit of length of thread or yarn.

22. Essential oil or perfume obtained from flowers.

23. A soft white precious univalent metallic element having the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal.

25. Any of various trees of the genus Ulmus.

27. Quietly in concealment.

29. The brightly colored garments of a jockey.

32. A public promotion of some product or service.

34. A midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region.

35. (Akkadian) God of wisdom.

36. United States physicist who developed the first successful liquid-fueled rocket (1882-1945).

40. A large genus of dicotyledonous trees and shrubs of the family Aquifoliaceae that have small flowers and berries (including hollies).

42. A radioactive element of the actinide series.

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

44. Speak in a nasal voice.

47. Type genus of Cyperaceae.

49. Someone who copies the words or behavior of another.

51. A state in the southeastern United States on the Gulf of Mexico.

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

56. Light informal conversation for social occasions.

57. A complex red organic pigment containing iron and other atoms to which oxygen binds.

59. Tag the base runner to get him out.

60. An elaborate song for solo voice.

61. A particular environment or walk of life.

62. A unit of surface area equal to 100 square meters.

DOWN 1. A resort city in western Florida.

2. Remote and separate physically or socially.

3. Read anew.

4. (Irish) Mother of the Tuatha De Danann.

5. A motley assortment of things.

6. An international organization of European countries formed after World War II to reduce trade barriers and increase cooperation among its members.

7. Tropical woody herb with showy yellow flowers and flat pods.

8. A spirit believed by Muslims to inhabit the earth and influence mankind by appearing in the form of humans or animals.

9. Socialist who wrote The Communist Manifesto with Karl Marx in 1848 (1820-1895).

10. The lower house of the parliament of the Republic of Ireland.

11. (usually followed by `to') Having the necessary means or skill or know-how or authority to do something.

12. Common Indian weaverbird.

17. A rounded thickly curled hairdo.

24. A farewell remark.

26. Submersible vessel for one or two persons.

28. Aircraft landing in bad weather in which the pilot is talked down by ground control using precision approach radar.

30. The median ridge on the breastbone of birds that fly.

31. A French marshal who distinguished himself in the War of the Austrian Succession (1696-1750).

33. A licensed medical practitioner.

37. A picture (or series of pictures) representing a continuous scene.

38. Any competition.

39. Dutch ophthalmologist who introduced the Snellen chart to study visual acuity (1834-1908).

41. Baked dish of layers of lasagna pasta with sauce and cheese and meat or vegetables.

42. (usually followed by `to') Having the necessary means or skill or know-how or authority to do something.

45. A river that rises in northern Colombia and flows generally eastward to the Orinoco in central Venezuela.

46. A populous province in northeastern China.

48. A time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something.

50. Sweet juicy gritty-textured fruit available in many varieties.

52. A flat-bottomed volcanic crater that was formed by an explosion.

53. A French abbot.

55. A prominent rock or pile of rocks on a hill.

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

Yesterday’s Solution

Communication comes easily today. You make all details clear. No one should misunderstand anything you say. This morning is a great day to pay bills, clean up paperwork, write letters, make phone calls. Your phone will probably be ringing anyway. Someone could challenge you on a very sensitive issue, resulting with some interesting insights. You may touch upon very emotional parts of yourself and find yourself analyzing circumstances. This afternoon is a good time to visit a bookstore or library. You are a walking encyclopedia with a desire to know a little about everything. Talking, writing, keeping a finger on the pulse of all that’s happening creates the desire to study and learn. A book of your own could soon be a possibility.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) You will find that you are appreciated for your organization skills and for not complaining when you are asked to help others. You are usually able to cut through the red tape and get at what is beneath and behind. A clear-minded insight into your own plans and methods is available to you. This is a very good time to communicate your goals and put them into words. You are in top form when it comes to mental activity. Contribute your ideas to a group discussion or prepare your ideas for a group meeting this next week. The group may want you to do a little research so they can see how your ideas would work. A move to a new apartment or home may come about soon. You are ready for new responsibilities.

Think ahead if you need to ship belongings.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

NON SEQUITUR

You feel real support and harmony for circumstances and for those around you. Something you may want to do will have others volunteering to join with you. This is a nice day that should just flow right along. In particular, you will do well in activities that include children, young people and your home surroundings. You are freedom-loving, independent and at times, even a trifle remote. You seem not to be bound by relationships, although you have many friends and may not be inclined to be much of a domestic. However, today you may find yourself decorating or into repairing projects in order to spruce up the area in which you do your best thinking—a reading room perhaps. You may find it fun to work with animals, music and the arts: relaxing.

Leo (July 23-August 22)

ZITS

You may be deciding between the rebellious and independent person you feel yourself to be, and a more conservative and traditional bent. You are determined to make progress. Good for you—you have found new ways to serve others and are learning many new things about better dieting, health tactics and ecology, conservation, etc. New or alternate life styles and ways to make a living may interest you now. Some of your weekend time could be spent in research toward a personal or professional goal. This could mean a stop smoking program or a little research into how one requests a raise. Stress relief for you this day is in yard or garden work. Perhaps you have a place inside your apartment to begin an herbal garden—aromatherapy perhaps.

Virgo (August 23-September 22) This could be a challenging day but you seem to have a calming effect on others. Ask what you can do for your mate or working buddy. This could eliminate a lot of frustrations and put them in a good mood as well. You may be in a serious and practical mood today. Abstract ideas are not for you. You would rather know the real value of things as well as how and where they fit into your life. Today you will be good at polishing up details, whether those details involve the workforce, a volunteer effort or a project at home. You will know instinctively what needs to be done. The broad picture can wait for another day. You appreciate your particular situation and will find plenty of opportunity to share some laughter with your friends later this afternoon.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM

This should be an active and stimulating day full of paperwork, conferences and communication. It is not, however, a good day for going off on an adventure—you could run into opposition. Make sure you are on solid ground before you express any opinions. A simple statement will suffice—then let it go. You have succeeded in getting an important idea across to others. This afternoon a bit of exercise may bring some physical as well as emotional relief. You may find that your emotions are very present but within control. This afternoon you have an opportunity to enjoy your home and family to the fullest. Conversations of an inspiring kind may be in order this evening. There are some young people in your life that you enjoy laughing with and visiting.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) Broadening your intellectual and spiritual horizons takes on a high priority. This may mean a trip to the library or joining a club or starting a new hobby. Being in touch with ideas and people on a grand scale keeps your mind busy. Circumstances should work together to help make your dreams real. This is a good time to project your image. You may be interested in starting up a tour company or perhaps paying for a tour and discovering more about the place in which you live. Do not go overboard in your activities—find some rest and relaxation times to refocus your thoughts—even if it is a hobby that has your attention. This evening you will find a time of nostalgia. Perhaps there is also a need for a sense of roots: family, home and relatives.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) There are temptations to purchase items that could end up not making you as happy as you think. What you think you want today may not have any appeal to you a few days from now. Compare prices and ask someone’s opinion. You may want to wait for a better quality item. Saying or writing about your ideas come naturally and with style. You could write as a reviewer for restaurants, movies, travel, etc. A yen for variety is a hallmark of this phase and this particularly applies to romantic experiences and artistic tastes. The latter tends to focus on literature in general and poetry in particular. A sociable, congenial, slightly frivolous orientation begins now. Reunions with old friends, through the mail, phone calls or drop-by-visits, are possible tonight.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) Hearth and home are featured today. Romance, affection and dreamy moods are in the air. Spend some quiet time with a loved one; reminisce with friends. If you have kids, let them know you really care by joining them in some sort of joint activity. If you are single, today is a good time to approach that special person you have wanted to date, or otherwise make yourself known.

Remain flexible—this could turn out to be a fun day. Unconventional hobbies and other forms of self-expression that break from the norm play a bigger part of your evening. Any time today is a great time to reflect and understand your own situation—just how you feel about yourself. Emotions in particular, or the feelings of those around you, may be very clear.

Yesterday’s Solution Aquarius (January 20- February 18) You are likely to display a great deal of self-discipline and organizational abilities just now. Planning and detailed work are favored activities today. Your serious approach to work is liable to attract favorable attention from superiors. Also, if you are experiencing concerns about your responsibilities, this is an excellent time to seek the advice of a more experienced person. You are a good student and may be encouraged to attend or even teach at a community or junior college. There are new pathways of opportunity opening up for you at this time and it has to do with education and travel. If you have not set any goals for yourself, think about doing that soon. Cooking occupies your time in fun ways this evening—you may bring back a few old favorites.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Word Sleuth Solution

Two-way communication should be the accent of this mentally stimulating day. Your mind is alive and curious and your lucidity will lead to an easy understanding by others. This is an opportunity to catch up on a book you have had on hold for some time or perhaps a recorded book. A few goals take on some importance and rearranging furniture or cleaning or painting can all be done with earphones full of your favorite music. This afternoon is for interaction with friends or neighbors and you find yourself enjoying all sorts of good relationships, rather than alone. You are a genius at bringing out others and getting them to do things; you are a born strategist. You may go along with a friend to discover a new art gallery or antique store.

SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012

i n f o r m at i o n For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128 GOVERNORATE Sabah Hospital

24812000

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

Kaizen center

25716707

Roudha

22517733

Adhaliya

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

Keifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salim

22549134

Al-Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Al-Khadissiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Ghar

22531908

Al-Shaab

22518752

Al-Kibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Kibla

PHARMACY

ADDRESS

Ahmadi

Sama Safwan Abu Halaifa Danat Al-Sultan

Fahaeel Makka St Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd

23915883 23715414 23726558

Jahra

Modern Jahra Madina Munawara

Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 Jahra-Block 92

24575518 24566622

Capital

Ahlam Khaldiya Coop

Fahad Al-Salem St Khaldiya Coop

22436184 24833967

Farwaniya

New Shifa Ferdous Coop Modern Safwan

Farwaniya Block 40 Ferdous Coop Old Kheitan Block 11

24734000 24881201 24726638

Tariq Hana Ikhlas Hawally & Rawdha Ghadeer Kindy Ibn Al-Nafis Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Salmiya-Amman St Hawally-Beirut St Hawally & Rawdha Coop Jabriya-Block 1A Jabriya-Block 3B Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

25726265 25647075 22625999 22564549 25340559 25326554 25721264 25380581 25628241

Hawally

ST TATE T OF K KUW WAIT A

el.: 161 Te

DIRECTORA AT TE GENE GENERAL OF CIVIL AVIA V AT TION METEOROLOGICAL DEP PA ARTMENT

Very e hot h with light to moderate freshening gradually at times north westerly becoming north easterly wind, with speed of 15 - 40 km/h causing blowing dust

BY Y NIGHT:

Relatively hot with light to moderate south easterly to southerly wind, with speed of 12 - 35 km/h

No Current Waarnings arnin

WARNING A

37 °C

22451082

KUW WAIT A AIRPOR RT

48 °C

38 °C

Al-Mirqab

22456536

NUW WAISEEB A

47 °C

33 °C

Sharq

22465401

WA AFRA

49 °C

34 °C

Salmiya

25746401

SALMI

49 °C

36 °C

ABDAL LY

51 °C

36 °C

Jabriya

25316254

JAL ALIY YAH A

50 °C

35 °C

Maidan Hawally

25623444

FA AILAKA

46 °C

34 °C

Bayan

25388462

AHMADI POR RT

43 °C

36 °C

Mishref

25381200

UMM AL-MARADEM

38 °C

33 °C

W.Hawally

22630786

WA ARBA A - BUBY YAN A

45 °C

33 °C

Sabah

24810221

Jahra

24770319

ST TATION T

DA AT TE

WEA AT THER

Sunday

22/07

West Jahra

24772608

Monday

South Jahra

24775066

Tuesday

North Jahra

24775992

Weednesday

North Jleeb

24311795

MAX.

MIN.

Wind Direction

Wind Speed

very hot

47 °C

33 °C

VRB-SE

15 - 38 km/h

23/07

humid over coasts

48 °C

32 °C

SE

12 - 35 km/h

24/07

very hot

49 °C

33 °C

VRB-SE

12 - 35 km/h

25/07

very hot + blowing dust

48 °C

34 °C

SE-S

20 - 45 km/h

PRA RA AY YER TIMES 03:31

MAX. Temp.

49 °C

Sunrise

05:02

MIN. Temp.

33 °C

Zuhr

11:54

MAX. RH

13 %

Asr

15:29

MIN. RH

05 %

Sunset

18:47

i MAX. Wind

N 43 km/h

Isha

20:16

TOT TA AL L RAIINF FALL A L IN 24 HR.

24892674

23900322

RECORDED YESTERDA AY AT KUW WA AIT AIRPORT

Fajr

24884079

Fintas

21/07/2012 0000 UTC

Temperatures DA AY

24575755

24710044

SFC. CHART

4 DA AYS Y FORECAST

New Jahra

N.Kheitan

00 mm

All times are local time unless otherwise stated.

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SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012

lifest yle G o s s i p

ippa Middleton reportedly infuriated royal officials when she was pictured next to a friend waving a gun as they drove through Paris in April but she and her sister - who were pictured at the Wimbledon tennis final together earlier this month - are now said to be closer than ever and Catherine wants to do whatever she can to help her sibling boost her image. A source close to Catherine - who was known as Kate Middleton before she married Prince William - to LOOK magazine: “Kate clearly wanted to show that Pippa is truly back in the royal fold. “The pair have been spending more time

together and Kate’s even been giving her some tips for her promo tour around the USA when she launches her party planning book there in October.” It was previously claimed that senior royals felt Pippa wouldn’t be able to promote her book, ‘Celebrate’, in case it embarrassed her sister. A source said recently: “She would normally be expected to appear on every chat show under the sun. “I know she won’t do anything that she hasn’t run by the duchess’ advisers, but it is still a very tricky situation.”

Despite being offered the chance to have the tome ghost-written, Pippa - who rose to fame as her sister’s

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maid of honour at her April 2011 wedding - has insisted on writing it herself. The source added: “She was offered a whole host of ghost writers but said no to them all and is very proud that it is all her own work. “I just don’t think she appreciated how much work it would take and may need some help from her editors.”

Elle Macpherson says being a mother isn’t ‘pleasant’ he 22-year-old singer admitted that she was motivated to lose weight when she began to get ill.

She told the August 2012 issue of America’s Shape magazine: “I just wanted to be healthy. I knew I had a long road ahead of me. I was barely working out, and my diet was a mess.”

Jordin explained that her first steps were cutting out unhealthy meals on the go, like surgery drinks and pastries at Starbucks. She also opted out of late night dinners in hotel rooms and replaced them with healthy options like Smartfood popcorn and sauteed

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he supermodel raises sons Flynn, 14, and nine-year-old Cy - whose father is her former partner Arpad Busson and she says being tough on them is necessary, although it doesn’t make her popular. She said: “My role as a parent is not the most pleasant one at times. I don’t delegate that work so I get a lot of, ‘I hate you, mum, you’re the worst mother in the world because you’re making me do homework when I don’t have any.’ I say, ‘Cool, you’re still sitting down for a little while and revising some of the more sticky subjects, or reading another chapter of your book, because a little a day goes a long way and avoids last-minute panic.’ “Then I get, ‘But I don’t need to, I don’t have exams.’ I say, ‘I understand, so what did you do today?’ Let’s have a look at your books together and you can work out a plan for when you do have exams.’ “ However, Elle, 48, believes her tough stance “pays off ” with her sons’ school work. She added: “I am the worst mother in the world, apparently, but the boys’ dedication pays off.”

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he 52-year-old music mogul has had his lawns manicured to match the outline of his hair and skull. At a cost of around £40,000, his west London garden and patio were-done, with a three-tiered bush making up the horticultural centrepiece. Apparently he has even hired a full-time gardener to ensure the shape is maintained. A source told the Daily Mirror newspaper: “Simon is very particular about his £9million house and needs everything to be perfect. “He decided to overhaul his plot and, after consulting a landscape gardener, thought it would be hilarious to have little repli-

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prefers to play bad girls he actress has taken on daring roles as nun Sister Helen Prejean in ‘Dead Man Walking’ and vampire Sarah Roberts in ‘The Hunger’, and finds darker characters more fun. She said: “Sure I do. Because you get to say and do things that you never in a million years would do. And very often the bad guys are written just so much better than the good guys. “If you look at Sister Helen in ‘Dead Man Walking’ I just walk around saying constantly, ‘Let us pray’ and, ‘I’m sorry’ - there’s so much more to play when someone is evil.” Susan, 65, has spent a long time in Hollywood, but chooses to live in New York, as she finds it more real.

She told the Guardian newspaper: “That’s why I live in New York. There

turkey breast with steamed carrots. The ‘Sparkle’ star also controlled portion sizes by making sure her meals fit onto a normal sized plate. Her final step was making sure that she stopped eating two hours before bedtime. But she found it a struggle being energized to exercise. She confessed: “I had to start gradually. Soon I was able to shift to a more challenging pace and go hiking in the nearby mountains. The weight really started falling off. It was awesome.”

cas of his hair everywhere.” The insider continued: “He briefly considered having topiary faces, too, but figured that would be a little extreme.

So he plumped for the hair-shaped bushes.

“Simon has also had his terrace re-done, because the limestone tiles were ever so slightly askew.

“The only non-manicured area is home to a partially hidden motorcycle, which he stores there.”

The source added: “Simon has some state-ofthe-art exercise machines and a huge plasma TV on which he generally watches his own shows.”

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you’re not isolated, you’re on foot, you’re just like everybody else. It’s easier to avoid thinking of yourself as someone special behind a gate.” The veteran star also has a tattoo on her wrist, reading ‘ANDAND’ to remind her to always be authentic. She added: “It means ‘a new dawn, a new day.’ It reminds me that whatever happens you can’t assume anything. It’s important to surround yourself with people who are living authentic lives.”

he 31-year-old beauty has been dating the rapper since April and things are going so great between the pair Kim doesn’t want her close knit family and especially her mum Kris Jenner to do or say anything that could jeopardise the romance. A close friend of the socialite told RadarOnline.com: “Kim has been telling her family members, and especially her mom Kris Jenner, to stay out of this relationship. “She doesn’t want anyone telling her what to do or how to act or what to say publicly about Kanye. Kim has said that she knows how to have a strong relationship and she doesn’t want anyone else to try and tell her the right thing to do.” Kim and Kanye - who were friends for eight years before deciding to embark on a romance - have been virtually inseparable since they started dating, with the reality TV star joining the ‘Gotta Have It’ hitmaker on tour and to Haute Couture Week in Paris, France, earlier this month. The ‘Keeping Up with the

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Kardashians’ star wants to be in complete control of her relationship with the 35-year-old musician and she is determined not to make the same mistakes she did with Kris Humphries who she was married to for just 72 days before filing for divorce from him last October. The source added: “Kim totally trusts her mom and sisters, Khloe Kardasahian and Kourtney Kardashian, when it comes to business and relationship advice, but this time she wants to make sure she does exactly what she wants to do and doesn’t feel pressured into anything by anyone.

Kim wants to be in charge with Kanye.” This week, Kim praised Kanye for making her “feel special” again following her disastrous last relationship. She said: “It’s been tough since the breakup of my marriage but I always believed I would find love again and I’m so happy I have.

I’m always smiling in Kanye’s company and he makes me feel so special.” — Bangshowbiz

he panelist on the television talent show announced last week that she will not return, but said that she had an “amazing run” on the series. Now Jennifer has commented that her decision to leave the reality programme - which airs on Fox in the United States and ITV2 in the UK - was spurred by a renewed interest in film work.

She explained: “I do miss doing films. I feel like the last two years with ‘American Idol’, I’ve really, really focused on, you know, my music. “It was all kind of very synergistic, it worked really well together.” She continued: “[Movie work] is something that I really loved, it’s how I kind of started in this business, and it doesn’t leave you. I am an actress, I need to do that, too.” The ‘On the Floor’ singer also said this week that Steven Tyler’s decision to leave ‘American Idol’ influenced her own departure. She said: “We had magic. I don’t know, with him gone, it might be a different formula.” The mother of twins Max and Emme with estranged husband Marc Anthony, will spend the summer and autumn on a co-headlining tour with Enrique Iglesias.

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SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012

lifestyle

rustrated by the lack of old Bollywood glamour on the streets of Mumbai, two film buffs are trying to brighten up India’s movie capital with mural tributes ahead of the industry’s 100th birthday. The iconic image of a reclining, cigarette-smoking young Amitabh Bachchan, the biggest star of Hindi cinema, has been lovingly recreated on a roadside wall, replicating the dying style of hand-painted poster art. Bachchan’s character Vijay joined the underworld of the city’s mean streets in the 1975 hit “Deewaar” (The Wall), but the film’s antihero now has pride of place on a lane in the hip Bandra suburb, home to many film stars. Despite the abundance of slick new posters plastered around Mumbai, artist Ranjit Dahiya says he was struck at how the city’s rich film heritage was being forgotten in recent years.

“I couldn’t see any Bollywood in Bombay, yet this is the city of Bollywood,” Dahiya told AFP, using the city’s old name. “So I thought I should paint the walls on the street.” The mural in Bandra is the second to be completed as part of the Bollywood Art Project (BAP), a self-funded venture set up by Dahiya and his friend Tony Peter to create film artwork “accessible for everyone”.

The duo hope to finish about one painting a month in the run-up to May next year, when India will celebrate a century since its first silent feature film “Raja Harishchandra” opened in Mumbai in 1913. Getting permission is not always straightforward, with plans for a 70-foot (21-metre) dancing girl thwarted by unimpressed locals. “It depends on the people,” said Dahiya. “Some people are sensible and really know about the art.”

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Mumbai studios ‘lay forgotten’ BAP began life in April with a mural of the 1953 classic “Anarkali”, one of the greatest hits of its decade, which told the tale of an ill-fated love affair between a beautiful court dancer and a Mughal

prince.”With Bollywood having run for 100 years, the films have run into hundred thousands at least.

We’re skimming over the surface,” said Peter, who runs a film and design company. Their murals also pay tribute to Bollywood’s old poster painters, whose art Dahiya laments “is going to die” as digital media technology takes over. It is one of many aspects of the prolific film industry that some fans would like to see preserved in Mumbai, whose role at the heart of the movie world may have passed its glory days.

“There was a time when ‘Bombay’ and ‘Bollywood’ were synonymous,” said a Hindustan Times article this month, wistfully recalling the days when more film premieres were held in Mumbai and star-struck fans thronged film studio gates. “Since Bollywood has gone global and premieres have shifted to Dubai and Singapore, the city’s studios lay forgotten.” Much of the studio action now happens in a “Film City” complex in north Mumbai, and film historian Amrit Gangar said that old heritage gems such as the once-famed Bombay Talkies studio had been left to crumble in recent decades. He lamented India’s attitude to its film heritage and history-from the studios to original film frames to hand-painted billboards-saying that it was crucial for future generations to have reference material from the past. “At this point of time, not much has been left with us,” he told AFP. “But whatever we could salvage has to be preserved with a lot of care and respect and made public.”

‘Being in Bollywood’ Next year’s anniversary could provide a crucial impetus, with other projects springing up across the city in the countdown. A recent exhibition at the National Gallery of Modern Art explored the relationship between Mumbai and the movies, while the first part of a museum dedicated to Indian cinema is

due to open in December. “It’s going to be pretty huge,” said D.P. Reddy, joint secretary of India’s information and broadcasting ministry, telling AFP that 1.2 billion rupees (20 million dollars) would be spent on the project. He also listed plans for various festivals, exhibitions and other events to mark the centenary of not just Hindi-language Bollywood, but all Indian cinema. In March, the UTV Stars television channel launched a “Walk of Fame” in the style of the

ey, Kardashians! Make room for the Jonas Brothers and Tim Tebow. E! Entertainment is getting a makeover. Since it launched more than two decades ago, the sassy, celebrity-obsessed cable channel has basked in the glow of Hollywood glitz. For the last five years it has specialized in the high-profile exploits of Kim, Khloe, Kourtney and their mom, Kris. Now the channel that once featured a reality show about tabloid train wreck Anna Nicole Smith is widening its lens and trying to leave its trashy elements behind.

E! is bulking up its newscasts and filling its primetime schedule with sports stars and musicians - even squeaky-clean ones. Last week the channel celebrated Tim Tebow, the New York Jets’ devout Christian quarterback. This week E! launched “Opening Act,” an online search for singers to open concerts for Rod Stewart and Brad Paisley. Next month the channel ties the knot with “Married to Jonas,” a reality series about Kevin and Danielle Jonas finding their way as a young married couple in suburban New Jersey.

“E! is trying to move a little more upscale,” said Ethan Heftman, director of national broadcast for the ad-buying firm Initiative. The seeds of change were planted last year when E!’s owner Comcast Corp. took control of NBCUniversal, and combined its channels E!, Style and G4 with its new portfolio of lucrative cable networks, including USA Network, Bravo and Syfy.

Steve Burke, a longtime Comcast executive, became chief executive of NBCUniversal. He immediately tapped NBCUniversal’s network turnaround specialist, Bonnie Hammer - who had turned NBCUniversal’s USA Network into the entertainment company’s most profitable asset, throwing off earnings of more than $1 billion annually in recent years to redesign and elevate E! The channel was already a cash cow for Comcast, making money from its guilty pleasure programming such as “True Hollywood Story,” red carpet interview shows with biting commentary from Joan Rivers, and, of course “Keeping Up With the Kardashians.”

Profit for E!, which is distributed internationally in 91 territories, has been estimated at more than $300 million last year on revenue that topped $700 million.

But Hollywood, and its web of young socialites and hangers-on, suddenly seemed too small a canvas given Comcast’s greater ambitions for E! What’s more, the network had increasing numbers of imitators. “In a lot of ways, their strengths have been overtaken by the competition as Bravo, and other brands also have branched out to do celebrity reality shows,” Heftman said.

Also, advertisers avoided shows populated by former Playboy playmates, giving the network an incentive to upgrade its programming. Not only that, some of the network’s most successful shows, “E! News,” “The Soup” and “Chelsea Lately” are topical and have limited shelf lives.

“From the get-go, it was, ‘How do we get E! recognized for the value that it currently has, and then expand the channel’s focus beyond Hollywood into New York, Miami, Nashville, London and Paris - covering pop culture trends in music, fashion, politics and sports?’” Hammer said in an interview.

Hammer a year ago named Suzanne Kolb, a veteran television marketing executive, as president of E! (Women fill nearly all of the network’s top jobs, a rarity in the industry.) Since Hammer and Kolb took over, they have been on a mission to better understand E!’s identity and audience. The result: new shows and a new logo.

“We found we needed to give people more of a reason to watch more of E!,” Kolb said. “Athletes are as big of celebrities as many A-list movie stars. They are part of the public fascination. If covering celebrities is a key part of what we do, then we have to evolve.” During the most recent television season, E! drew an average of 627,000 viewers in prime time,

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This photo released by the Lincoln Center Festival shows Elizabeth Futral performing a scene from the opera “Emilie,” presented by Lincoln Center Festival 2012 at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College in New York. — AP lizabeth Futral leaned back on a sofa and addressed her as-yet-unborn child, saying that if the baby is a girl, she should stand up for her rights and not dwell on tears. Emilie du Chatalet was a woman ahead of her time, a mathematician and physicist who was Voltaire’s longtime lover and an intellectual who translated Isaac Newton’s “Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica” into French. On a simple set with plain costumes, Futral gave a touching, bravura portrayal Thursday night at John Jay College’s Lynch Theater in the New York premiere of Kaija Saariaho’s 70-minute monodrama “Emilie,” part of the Lincoln Center Festival.

Written for Karita Mattila, who sang at the world premiere at Lyon, France, two years ago, “Emilie” unfolds in nine scenes that each centers on a topic, such as “Voltaire,” “Child,” “Fire” and “Against Oblivion.” The setting is du Chatalet’s home on Sept.

1, 1749, days before she gives birth and just before her death on Sept. 10 at age 42. Gabrielle Emilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, Marquise du Chatelet, as her

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inda Gray may be at home in “Dallas,” but at heart she’s a vagabond. After the original hit series ended in 1991, Gray was invited to be a goodwill ambassador for the UN. It changed her life.

“What it exposed me to was developing countries, but not the nice parts,” she says, leaning her elbow on the back of a white canvas couch in a hotel room.

“Not the parts a travel agent would send you to. I was going to villages of 800 people and hanging out Nicaragua, Rajasthan - but once you’ve experienced that and you get to sit with humanity one-to-one, I sat in their little homes that were as big as that chest

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Linda Gray (right) and Josh Henderson, who plays John Ross, in TNT’s retooling of the classic hit, “Dallas.” — MCT

full name went, is a compelling character for an opera, rushing to complete her translation of Newton before the death she expects is imminent.

Wearing a nightgown and a robe, she moves back and forth between a desk and a sofa, spilling her thoughts, struggles, frustrations and hopes.

Futral handles the drama and soprano music with flair. While some ascending notes sounded slightly strident, it also appeared the notes were supposed to come off that way. Saariaho uses a 26-person orchestra for her striking score, creating an atmosphere of delicate, syncopating notes filled with color and lightness. Right from the sound of the electronically processed harpsichord, the sound is distinctive.

Processing also is used at times for Futral’s voice, with the electronic sound melding into a duet with her actual voice.—AP

over there,” she points to a bureau across the room.

“I sat and talked with them. I was finding out about women’s and children’s health issues. It was amazing, amazing, amazing. So I spent 10 years doing that,” says Gray, who’s dressed in black pants and top with a chiffon overlay. “I think I was born a curious person,” she says. “So I do things that I’m curious about. And it’s like, ‘I wonder what that would be like to do that?’ I’m not jumping out of an airplane because I think that’s CRAZY ... I love life and I can chew it up and assimilate it and digest it. I want to know about this, and how does that work, and how does that feel and what does it taste like? I have a very visceral attachment to life. So I want to know the smells and the chatter in the street in Morocco. I’ve never been to Morocco. I have this hunger for different cultures.”

Even so, she is thrilled to be back as the savvy Sue Ellen, J.R.’s ex-wife on TNT’s extension of the original primetime soap. “It was like, ‘OK, at 71 years old to be offered a series is rare in our industry anyway.’ And so I felt honored. I thought, ‘Isn’t that lovely to be invited back.’ Most women now at 35-40, they’re considered ‘ehhhh,’” she flips her thumb in the air. “‘Let’s focus on the young people.’ So I thought, ‘I think the matriarchal system is coming in to be, and I feel that the people maybe unconsciously, consciously - I don’t know - but I feel there is an honoring of the matriarch that is seeping into our culture that didn’t seep in before. —MCT

famous boulevard in Los Angeles, but Mumbai still has some catching up to do to match the legendary landmarks of the US film capital. “Hollywood is a location but Bollywood is just an entity without a specific location,” said Peter, who hopes to attract more funding to keep their project alive. “Maybe if our paintings help to create the feeling of being in Bollywood, that will be something we have achieved.” — AFP

In this photograph, an elderly Indian woman walks past a mural of Bolllywood actor Amitabh Bachchan from his classic film ‘Deewar’ in Mumbai. — AFP

according to Nielsen, lagging behind competitors Lifetime, TLC and Bravo, which each draw more than 1 million viewers a night.

But the channel is competitive among the coveted demographic of viewers ages 18 to 34. In that category, E! comes in behind Bravo but ahead of Lifetime and TLC. The median age of E!’s audience is 33. The most popular show on the network is the Kardashian chronicle, which this season has averaged 2.2 million viewers an episode, according to Nielsen. The Kim Kardashian wedding special in October set a network record with an audience topping 10 million. But the marriage lasted just 72 days.

“It was not the greatest period of time for the Kardashians or for E! in terms of negative feedback,” Kolb said. But “you cannot be in the reality business and then be upset when reality happens. The core fans have been very loyal.” Kardashian family members have agreed to two more seasons of “Keeping Up” and its spinoffs, “Kourtney & Kim Take New York” and “Khloe & Lamar,” featuring Lamar Odom, who last week signed with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Former Olympic gold medalist Bruce Jenner (who is married to Kardashian matriarch Kris Jenner) will represent E! at the Summer Olympics. The Kardashians are “a very loud franchise, and there is a beauty to that,” Kolb said. “But the concern is that you don’t

Suzanne Kolb, president of E! Entertainment, says the cable channel found it needed to give people more reasons to watch the celebrity-centric network. — MCT really know the life span of a show, and you need to make sure you are developing other hits.”

This week, E! introduced “Opening Act,” from producer Nigel Lythgoe of “American Idol.” Its twist on the singing competition comes as producers search the Web for talented amateurs, who don’t realize that they are being auditioned. Next year, in a bid to boost its ad rates, E! plans to roll out original scripted programming - the first time the network has tried that since it abandoned schlocky made-for-TV movies in the mid-1990s.

“They recognize that pop culture now extends well beyond what they used to concentrate on: Hollywood celebrities and fashion,” said Sam Armando, director of strategic intelligence at Starcom MediaVest Group Exchange in Chicago. “A shelf full of scripted programming can go a long way.” E! has also unveiled a new look, exchanging its trademark lipstick-red E! logo for subdued black and white.

“To me, black and white screams classy,” Hammer said. “It’s like a tuxedo, a patent leather stiletto or a well-polished man’s shoe.” “E! is 21 years old, and like any 21-year-old, we have to evolve into the adult version of ourselves,” Kolb said. “We are little bit more confident, a little more stylish and bold in a good way of knowing who we are and who we want to be.” — MCT

SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012

lifestyle T R A V E L

Kodachrome Basin State Park overshadowed by famous neighbors

Distinctive rock chimneys from long-dead geysers are a big attraction at Utah’s Kodachrome State Park. It features 67 of the rare limestone towers. —MCT photos

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here’s a very colorful state park in southern Utah that gets overlooked, despite its distinctive rock chimneys from long-dead petrified geysers.

Kodachrome Basin State Park gets little respect, lost amidst the glitter of its more famous neighboring national parks: Bryce, Zion, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands and Arches.

It is also surrounded by Grand StaircaseEscalante National Monument that covers 1.9 million acres. But Kodachrome Basin is a desert gem. At an elevation of 5,800 feet, the park lies 22 miles east of Bryce Canyon National Park and nine miles south of Cannonville. It is in the heart of Utah’s “color country.”

Kodachrome Basin offers remoteness, desert solitude and reddish cliffs, along with its distinguishing features: 67 rare, whitish monolithic limestone towers. The tallest

chimney or sand pipe is 170 feet high and the shortest is 6 feet. They appear to stand as rock sentries towering above the park.

Most are 30 to 50 feet tall and are more than a little surreal. The basin has more spires of its kind that any other place in the world.

The views of the rock formations change with the sunlight, as does the contrast.

Some jut upward from the valley floor.

Others tower above surrounding cliffs and outcrops. Geologists believe that the spires formed when liquefied sand hardened inside ancient geysers. That may have resulted from earthquakes or the remnants of ancient springs. The calcite and feldspar inside the geysers’ pipes remained after softer exterior rocks of Entrada sandstone eroded away.

Kodachrome Basin is believed to have been very similar to Yellowstone National Park - with hot springs, geysers and boiling mud pots. Visitors from the National Geographic Society in 1948 suggested naming the 2,241-acre park for the color film. The society led a photo tour via automobiles in 1947 into the little -known Escalante Lands of southern Utah. Society members suggested changing the name of Thorley’s Basin or Thorny Pasture, as the

place was locally known, because of the contrasting colors in the pretty little valley.

The film had been introduced commercially in 1935 and was first used in the society’s famous magazine in 1936. Eastman Kodak in Rochester, NY, proudly agreed to the name change in 1949. Kodachrome Basin became a state park in 1963. The park’s green color comes from the dominant juniper, plus pinion pine. It features eight short hiking trails. They include a halfmile nature trail and Panorama Trail, a three-mile loop that is the longest in the park. Panorama Trail includes a second loop of two miles and several side trails. It leads to Panorama Point.

The Panorama Trail takes you to Ballerina Slipper spire, the wide-brimmed pedestals of Hat Shop and Secret Pass, a narrow passage between red-rocked walls. It also takes you past a rock spire that looks like cartoon and film character Fred Flintstone.

Mountain bikes are permitted on the Panorama Trail and on park roads. The Grand Parade Trail stretches 1.7 miles on the canyon floor and past two box canyons, and Cool Cave Trail is two miles long with stops at Big Bear Geyser and Cool Cave.

Eagle’s View Trail climbs a quarter-mile via a steep, narrow path to provide an uphigh look at the park. Shakespeare Arch is 20 feet across and 90 feet high in a small out-of-the-way cove. It is a one-mile round trip to get there. Angels Place Trail is a onemile loop that offers great park vistas from atop a butte. The Nature Trail offers a look at rock formations and desert plants. The park is classified as semidesert in the Upper Sonoran Zone, with plants and animals that must adapt to drought as well as extreme heat and cold.

Animals include mule deer, mountain lions, coyotes, bobcats, gray foxes, blacktailed jack and cottontail rabbits, rock squirrels and chipmunks, along with birds, snakes and lizards. Kodachrome Basin is not big or fancy. It offers 27 tent and recreation vehicle sites with restrooms, showers and a sewage disposal station. The campground is open from April through September.

A park concessionaire, the Trail Head Station, rents cabins in the heart of the park, sells supplies and offers guided horseback and stagecoach rides in season. The cabins include full baths and showers and air conditioning. Call 435-679-8536 or 435679-8787 for information. The park charges $6 admission for day use. The overnight camping fee is $15.

One nearby attraction is Grosvenor Arch, a double arch 10 miles south of Kodachrome Basin off Cottonwood Canyon Road. It is one of the largest arches in Utah and is found in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. State Route 12 is a major route through southern Utah, a land that is a geological playground. It is a National Scenic Byway, one of 120 in the United States. It is also an All-American Road, one of only 31 so designated by the Federal Highway Administration.

The federal designation stretches 124 miles between US 89 in the west and Torrey in the east at Capitol Reef National Park. Its most striking feature may be the Hogback, a narrow ridge with steep drops on both sides of the road between Escalante and Boulder. There are turnoffs for motorists to stop and admire the sandstone Escalante Canyons carved by the Escalante River and

Hikers can visit Utah’s Upper Calf Creek Falls, an 88-foot drop.

its tributaries. Nearby are Upper and Lower Calf Creek Falls.

You can hike to Upper Calf Creek Falls. It is a slickrock round-trip hike of four miles.

The trail is marked by stone cairns. It is a hot, scrubby, exposed landscape. It leads to the 88-foot-high cascade in a shaded, green alcove at the head of the canyon. The Escalante River and its tributaries were the last streams in the United States to be discovered, named and mapped.

Lower Calf Creek Falls, where the stream drops 126 feet into a green pool in a cliffbound canyon, attracts more visitors. It is at the end of a 3.1-mile one-way hike. At its western end, the highway bisects the popular Red Canyon in Dixie National Forest, a one-time hideout of outlaw Butch Cassidy.

There are 14 trails that stretch 34 miles in

that 41,400-acre tract.

It skirts must-see Bryce Canyon National Park, a beautiful place with thousands of hoodoos, the eye-popping red-orange spires or pillars of rock that are the park’s most defining feature. The 35,835-acre park offers a spectacular badlands landscape that is bewitching. You can admire the park’s distinctive rock formations from an 18-mile scenic drive on Rim Road off state Route 12 - with dozens of overlooks. You can also hike into the hoodoos.

The powerful blend of rock and color shifts with the light. What you see in the morning is different from what you will see in late afternoon or at twilight. There are warm yellows, browns, oranges, pinks, reds, greens, whites and purples that spill from the bizarrely shaped spires, monoliths, fins,

mazes, fluted walls, sculptured pinnacles and deep ravines.

Early settler Ebenezer Bryce said of the oddly shaped terrain: “It’s a helluva place to lose a cow.” Bryce visitors will agree. The park offers a visitor’s center, lodge with three suites, one studio, 70 motel rooms and 40 cabins (open April through October), two campgrounds, restaurant and general store. Admission is $20 per car.

From Bryce, Route 12 then runs along the northern edge of the Grand StaircaseEscalante National Monument. You can get off Route 12 onto dirt roads that are designated scenic backways; these will take you to less traveled scenic areas. That includes Hole-in-the-Rock Scenic Backway and Burr Trail Scenic Backway. Grand StaircaseEscalante has visitor centers in Cannonville, Escalante and Boulder.

Willis Creek Narrows is another attraction. The stream narrows to 4 feet with cliffs more than 200 feet high. It is a colorful world of rock, water and shadows. It is one of many slot canyons in the national monument. There are numerous outfitters in Escalante and Boulder (the two towns are 29 miles apart) that provide guided trips, shuttles and one-day excursions to slot canyons and other nearby attractions. The prime seasons to visit are mid-March through May and again in September and October. — MCT

Utah’s Kodachrome State Park was named in 1948 by visitors from the National Geographic Society.

SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012

lifestyle

Shooting shatters fun of midnight movies idnight movies are supposed to be fun.

They’re supposed to be giddy gatherings of the most excited fans who can’t wait to have the images flicker across their faces first whether it’s at a 12:01 am showing of a wildly anticipated blockbuster or infamous schlock that’s achieved a cult following and is best viewed during the weird, wee hours. That thrill was shattered early Friday morning when a man unleashed his arsenal upon an audience at the first showing of the hotly awaited new Batman movie, “The Dark Knight Rises,” at a theater in Aurora, Colo., killing at least 12 and injuring 58 others.

It’s still unclear what the motive might have been for the suspect, 24-year-old James Holmes whether the time or the content of the film itself might have been factors in this deadly spree. But for now, the purity of that sense of enthusiasm both for moviegoing in general and for midnight showings specifically - seems to have been shaken. And that’s a shame. Because part of the enjoyment of a midnight movie is that you are at an actual movie theater with actual movie fans in the middle of the night - not by yourself at home on the couch, not watching on your iPad on a plane. That sense of community infuses the room with a buzz. Other people - people you’ve never met - similarly have dragged themselves from their homes at this dark, quiet hour to see the same thing you want to see.

Historically, more off-beat fare has played at midnight to a party-like atmosphere: B-movies, ones that encourage interactive participation like the long-running “Rocky Horror Picture Show,” which is the mother of all midnight movies, or films that work best for crowds that are up for something strange and mind-altering at that time of night, like David Lynch’s “Eraserhead.” One of my favorite midnight experiences was discovering Eli Roth’s 2002 debut film, the graphic horror flick “Cabin Fever,” during the South by Southwest film festival and squirming and laughing along with a packed house.

But more and more, theaters will offer the first chance to see a blockbuster at that hour, with

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fans selling out those first shows through online ticket sales and often dressing in costume as their favorite characters. (This tradition is already changing: In response to the Colorado shooting, AMC Theatres, the nation’s second-largest chain with more than 300 movie houses, said it won’t allow people to wear costumes or face-covering masks into its theaters.)

The most hardcore people who are the most psyched up to see a movie are the ones who come out at midnight, said Evan Husney, creative director of the Austin, Texas-based Drafthouse Films, who previously worked on the release of the low-budget cult favorite “Birdemic: Shock and Terror.”

“I think the midnight movie is great. It’s lasted

a long time and hopefully it’ll always remain. It gets people out to a theater still - that sort of midnight movie experience is something you really can’t replicate at home at all,” he said.

“Nothing compares to being part of a crowd of 300 people screaming and sharing the same thing.”

As enjoyable as a midnight movie can be, it also requires effort. If you’re not an insomniac, you probably need to fill up on coffee beforehand, or at least take a disco nap. If you have young kids, there is the problem of trying to find a babysitter for such odd hours - although as we saw with the Aurora shooting, there were plenty of children in the audience. Among the injured was a 4-month-old baby, who was treated at a

Batman impersonator Danny Lopez, 24, from Los Angeles (left) poses with fans in front of a vehicle featured in the film, known as a Tumbler outside the AMC Cinemas at Universal CityWalk in Universal City, California. — AP

hospital and released.

When my husband and I went to the seventhanniversary midnight showing of the famously terrible cult favorite “The Room” a couple of years ago, we hired a babysitter to watch our theninfant son so that we could laugh and scream and throw plastic spoons at the screen with all the other freaks. She slept on the couch, but at least she was there.

Katy Kleinhans, a 43-year-old cultural theorist, attended a midnight Friday showing of “The Dark Knight Rises” in downtown Houston and said there were children in the audience as young as 5. The mother of a teenager herself, she suspects their parents either couldn’t find a sitter at that time or didn’t want to pay for one: “A lot of those kids just fell asleep,” she said. “It was all about the parents wanting to be there for this singular event, this one-time thing.”

Kleinhans went with a friend who’d bought tickets online for the Sundance Cinema, where various fans dressed as Batman or Catwoman and employees behind the concession counter were in costume, as well. They made a night of it, with dinner at the theater beforehand. Kleinhans even wore a button she’d kept with the logo from the Tim Burton’s 1989 “Batman” movie. And while the rest of the audience sat silently in rapt anticipation, she and her buddy were cheering and high-fiving. The whole experience reminded her of the excitement of seeing midnight movies in high school, she said: “The preparation and the excitement, that’s how it used to be when you’d go to movie. You can only get that in the middle of the night. You have to be off people’s regular clocks and responsibilities.”

Film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum, who literally wrote the book on this topic - “Midnight Movies,” which he co-authored with fellow critic J. Hoberman - thinks the time and place of the Colorado shooting aren’t the issue. “I don’t think it’s very likely that this horrible killing has anything to do with midnight movies except incidentally,” Rosenbaum said by email. “I’m sure it has a lot to do with how easy it is for people to get a hold of guns, including psychotics.” — AP

After Batman, Warner Bros. hunts for next superhero Batman movie W

being made by “Dark Knight” producer Legendary Pictures. Nolan, one of Hollywood’s hottest directors, is a producer on that film.

The films could pave the way for Warner to unite Batman, Superman and other characters from its DC Comics stable in a “Justice League” movie, said Gitesh Pandya, editor of website Box Office Guru. That would follow the strategy that brought staggering success to Walt Disney Co with “The Avengers.” The movie that brought together a handful of Marvel superheroes has already generated nearly $1.5 billion in worldwide sales.

One problem for Warner Bros. is that not every DC Comics character has been a oversized hit, Pandya said. Last summer’s “Green Lantern” didn’t work very well, he said, grossing $219.8 million. Some industry watchers said the movie cost $200 million to produce, though Warner has disputed that figure. Studios receive about half of box office sales.

The 2006 “Superman Returns” also disappointed, Pandya said.

The aim is to create another series like Batman, which won critical acclaim, fan devotion and $1.4 billion in ticket sales for “Batman Begins” in 2005 and 2008’s “The Dark Knight.” Opening weekend ticket sales for “Dark Knight Rises,” which cost $250 million to produce, should at least match the last Batman film, according to box

office forecasters.

That film grabbed $158 million in the United States and Canada, a record at the time and still the highest debut for a movie that wasn’t boosted by higher-priced 3D tickets. Weekend sales could reach as high as $198 million, just shy of the $207 million record set by “Avengers” in May, some industry analysts say.

Even with a big haul for the “Dark Knight” films, “you need the secondary characters” beyond the well-known Superman and Batman, to pull off a massive performance like “The Avengers,” said Evercore Partners analyst Alan Gould.

Marvel Studios, now owned by Disney, executed a nearly-flawless multi-year plan to stir excitement for the characters that united in “Avengers,” Box Office Guru’s Pandya said. Two “Iron Man” movies built a following for that character, and “Thor” and “Captain America” starred in their own films.

Beyond superheroes and the “Hobbit,” Warner also intends to bring “The Hangover 3” to theaters next summer, the next installment in the adult comedy series that has grossed $1 billion. “We are well on the road to quite a number of franchises,” said Dan Fellman, president of theatrical distribution for Warner Bros. “We are in great shape.” — Reuters

Billionaire buys Hawaiian island of Lanai

Hulopoe Beach on Lanai in Hawaii. The beach is adjacent to the Four Seasons Manele Bay Resort, where Microsoft founder Bill Gates was married. — MCT ich guys have been tied to stories about tropical islands long before Thurston Howell III was trapped on “Gilligan’s Island.” Movie stars from Marlon Brando to Mel Gibson have owned their own islands _ the perfect way to escape the paparazzi. But Larry Ellison supersized the whole idea last month when it was announced that the CEO of Silicon Valley-based Oracle had purchased the Hawaiian island of Lanai. This is no little hideaway with a sliver of sand and a hammock in front of a cottage. While the smallest of the main Hawaiian islands, it’s still 141 square miles, with more than 50 miles of coastline. It’s also home to 3,200 people.

The price of the island was not revealed, but the assessed value of all the land was put at $635.4 million by The Associated Press. Ellison has a personal fortune of $36 billion, making him the

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sixth richest man in the world, according to Forbes magazine. The Lanai price tag isn’t quite chump change for Ellison, but not a big stretch either. Ellison gets 98 percent of the island - pretty much everything except for some property up in Lanai City where residents live. His take includes two Four Seasons luxury hotels and two championship golf courses. He also inherits the headaches over how to plot the island’s future, which have caused the rise and fall of the fortunes of many a rich man.

Missionaries originally came to Hawaii to harvest souls for God, but their children and children’s children often ended up harvesting something more tangible and profitable. Henry Baldwin, the grandson of a missionary, bought Lanai for just over a half-million dollars in 1917. In a move that today would get him a star turn on

“Flip This House,” he fixed up the water supply and sold it in 1922 to James Dole for twice the price. Dole turned Lanai into a gigantic farm that at one point produced 75 percent of the world’s pineapples. In the 1980s, David Murdock bought Lanai when its operations were on the brink of bankruptcy. He moved the agricultural work to cheaper spots in the Far East. On Lanai, the pineapples gave way to a new harvest: tourists.

Two high-end resorts were built, one smack up against Hulopoe Beach, one of the most beautiful and pristine in the state. That resort, Manele Bay, is where Bill Gates was married. The other was a mountain lodge up in the pine trees that Dole had planted at the top of the dome-shaped island. It’s one of the few hotels in the state with fireplaces and guests in sweaters.

The two hotels were Rockresorts, then Ritz-

Carltons before becoming Four Seasons today.

There were plans for high-end homes for fellow rich folk who wanted to get away. Moving around the island has always been controlled - visitors are driven around in shuttle buses to a limited set of stops, unless they want to pay $150 a day to rent a dirty, battered jeep.

Lanai never really took off as a tourist destination, though it fared better than neighboring Molokai, where the only high-end resort, Molokai Ranch, is a shuttered ghost. Lanai gets about 100,000 visitors a year - a tiny fraction of the 7.3 million who visit the Hawaiian islands annually.

The Associated Press also reported Lanai tourism was down 6 percent in the first four months of this year, while overall visits to the island have been rebounding from a few tough years during the bottom of the recession. —MCT

director laments ‘ savage’ mas-

Christopher Nolan

arner Bros. movie “The Dark Knight Rises” is expected to do big business ending an era for one of Hollywood’s most-enduring franchises. For the studio’s executives, it’s also a superhero-sized challenge to find a new movie franchise capable of wearing Batman’s cape. The Time Warner-owned studio has been Hollywood’s King of Franchises for years. In the last decade, it generated worldwide ticket sales of $12 billion from its “Lord of the Rings,” “Batman,” and “Harry Potter” films.

Eight of the 20 highest-grossing films of all time come from one of those franchises, according to website Box Office Mojo.

“The Dark Knight Rises” will be the last of the Batman series that began in 2005, says director Christopher Nolan. “Harry Potter,” Warner Bros.’s biggest franchise, ended last summer with the largest of eight films, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2,” that generated $1.3 billion worldwide.

Franchise films are especially important to studios, who use the big-budget films to create theme park rides, sell toys and spawn TV shows. Warner Brothers is counting on a pair of “Hobbit” movies to rekindle the magic of “Lord of the Rings”, the first of which hits theaters in December. A reboot of the “Superman” franchise is also scheduled for next summer, “Man of Steel,” that is

sacre atman movie director Christopher Nolan lamented Friday the “senseless tragedy’ and “unbearably savage” gunning down of 12 movie goers at a Colorado theater screening of “The Dark Knight Rises.” The Oscar-nominated filmmaker, who canceled the French premiere of the final part in the Batman trilogy and a media junket in Paris after the shootings, said the “innocent” place he calls his “home,” the cinema, had been violated.

“Speaking on behalf of the cast and crew...

I would like to express our profound sorrow at the senseless tragedy that has befallen the entire Aurora community,” Nolan said, referring to the town where the killings occurred.

“I would not presume to know anything about the victims of the shooting but that they were there last night to watch a movie,” he added. A further 59 people were wounded in the attack. BritishAmerican Nolan is director of the trio of Batman movies that started with “Batman Begins” in 2005 followed by “The Dark Knight” in 2008. “The Dark Knight Rises” is the final installment.

He also wrote and directed 2010 thriller “Inception,” which won four Oscars and was nominated for four others. Nolan was also nominated for best screenplay Oscar in 2002, for “Memento.” “I believe movies are one of the great American art forms and the shared experience of watching a story unfold on screen is an important and joyful pastime,” Nolan said.

“The movie theater is my home, and the idea that someone would violate that innocent and hopeful place in such an unbearably savage way is devastating to me. “Nothing any of us can say could ever adequately express our feelings for the innocent victims of this appalling crime, but our thoughts are with them and their families.”

British actor Gary Oldman, who plays Gotham City police commissioner James Gordon in the movie, expressed shock at the “horrific” shooting, while studio Warner Brothers said it was “deeply saddened.” Stars including Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Marion Cotillard and Morgan Freeman had been due to attend

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Mumbai murals recall old Bollywood as centenary nears

SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012

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Sweating in style may mean a better workout

By Debra D. Bass

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et’s admit it: Most of us secretly scoff at the guys dressed like Tour de France contestants zipping down the boulevard in second-skin unitards embellished with pseudo sponsorships

and technical fabrics meant to inspire world record speeds as they cruise into the coffee shop. It’s overkill. It’s laughable.

It’s fantasy. And it’s often uncomfortable to watch (can’t you pack a pair of real shorts, buddy?). But is the wardrobe choice really superfluous? Not really.

It’s a costume, yes. And it’s probably going to make only a modicum of difference in the cycling time of a typical rider, but in the long run, some argue that the people who see themselves as professional cyclists because they look like professional cyclists are more successful cyclists.

That means that they cycle more often. In essence, how you feel is important, and it’s not just the moisture-wicking.

Some wonder if professional-looking cyclists perform better because hard-core cyclists tend to buy hard-core gear or if hard-core gear inspires hard-core cyclists.

Common sense will tell us the two are probably related. The same theory holds true for interview clothing, the attire of bankers and even symbolic outfits such as a lab coat. Researchers at Kellogg School of Management at Nor thwestern University determined that having subjects wear a lab coat identified as a doc-

tor’s coat actually increased their performance on certain tasks.

The researchers described the phenomenon as “enclothed cognition.” It’s a scientific concept that echoes the Pollyanna fashionista motto that if you look good, you feel good and that makes everything better. Now, it’s more clear that if you look good or at least look the part, you really do perform better.

Perhaps it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. I look like a professional tennis player, therefore, I behave more like a professional tennis player (or at least to the best of my abilities). Conversely, looking like a slug has never been linked to performance enhancement. There’s a complex history of psychology behind why uniforms

are easier and that enhances performance. Conversely, an ill-fitting top or shorts that bunch, shift, rub or (gasp) flash your fellow yogis, can diminish your appearance and, likely, subtly affect your performance.

No matter what you’re doing, you usually want to be comfortable (bandage dresses and high heels aside). And with exercise, that means being comfortable moving. That includes not being self-conscious that you’re wearing something inappropriate. Luckily, there are inexpensive ways to gear up for any sport, and it apparently pays dividends in improved performance and perhaps endurance.

There is perhaps no greater motivator than comfort. So as you consider athletic

Andrea Robertson and Robert Bishop model fashionable workout wear. — MCT photos

are beneficial for fast-food workers, sports teams and military personnel, and it goes way beyond differentiating us from them.

So why not play the part? Weekend yogis in four-way stretch capris and sleek racer-back tops tend to look better performing sun salutations, the movements

wear, consider not just your athletic form, but your outward style. And then take a look in the mirror, it might surprise you that looking more like an elite athlete can give you an edge. Even if it’s fleeting, it might be enough to get you past the couch and out the door. — MCT

Women’s swim trunks cover multitude of flaws I

A model during the Vitamin A by Amahlia Stevens during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Swim 2012 at The Raleigh on July 20, 2012 in Miami Beach, Florida. — AFP

t’s bathing suit season. Just reading that sentence makes some of us throw up in our mouths a little bit. Some of us have thunder thighs and would rather bare our souls than our hams. Others are so modest that showing too much skin is just plain embarrassing. Even the ultra-fit women who play Olympic beach volleyball are being given the choice to wear shorts and sleeved tops for this year’s Games, instead of the tiny bikinis that had been required.

Those are a couple of reasons Debbie Kuhn of Twinsburg, Ohio, came up with the idea to reinvent swimwear and call her line “girltrunks.”

The idea was spawned after a friend invited her to go on a tubing trip down the Madison River in Montana.

“Bring your bathing suit,” the friend reminded Kuhn. Ugh. After discovering that the bathing suits in department stores weren’t going to cover her thighs, she paired a tankini top with men’s swim trunks. The trunks dried quickly and Kuhn felt comfortable enough to run into a grocery store wearing the outfit. She concluded that women needed trunks designed just for them. “The idea stuck with

me,” she recalled. “It nagged at me and nagged at me. I talked to friends and did my own little market research. Not one person said it was a bad idea. Everyone said that women needed it.” Kuhn, who used to work in sales in the art industry, said she is negotiating with a store that carries sporting goods to sell her swimwear. But at this point, the polyamide fabric trunks, which sell for $79 with either a 7- or 11-inch inseam, can only be purchased at www.mygirltrunks.com.

“The beautiful thing about this fabric is that it doesn’t show any bumps, bulges or cellulite.

It covers a multitude of sins,” she said, grinning.

Deena Kretzer of Chesterfield, Va., is grateful to Kuhn for following through with the idea for a different kind of bathing suit. “I’m a size 2 who has little trouble finding clothes to fit, but swimsuits were never flattering,” Kretzer said.

But all of that changed last summer after Kretzer noticed a woman next to her on North Carolina’s Wrightsville Beach wearing a pair of the girltrunks, and she decided to order a pair for herself. “I continue to wear these every time I’m at a lake or pool and will soon be ordering the other pattern top just to have a change,”

Kretzer said.

Kuhn, 47, sells matching halter and tank tops on her site for $59, in sizes 4 to 24. “The tops are cut a little generous, meaning they are not like most swimsuits that are form-fitting and skin-tight.

It’s about being flattering ... and not looking like a sausage,” she said. Sara Pfannenstiel of Ness City, Kan., purchased a tank top and a pair of trunks from Kuhn.

“I have been skinny all my life and then gained about 25 pounds in seven years. In a swimming suit, I felt very ugly,” Pfannenstiel said. “But now with this suit, I feel wonderful because I am covered up.” Kuhn stopped short of offering how much she is earning on sales, but became visibly emotional when chatting about the women who have thanked her for designing something that makes them feel good. “At the end of the day, it’s about empowering women,” she said. “How does a bathing suit do that? I don’t know, but it’s doing it.” — MCT