23rd Aug

CR IP TI ON BS SU

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

UK’s Prince Harry cavorts naked in Vegas party photos

150 FILS NO: 15546 40 PAGES

Indian film confronts domestic servants’ plight

Egypt seeks $4.8bn IMF loan for stricken economy

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www.kuwaittimes.net

SHAWWAL 5, 1433 AH

Expect grunts, shrieks and hoots at US Open

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Ban defies US, Israel, to attend Iran summit Tehran to host 30 leaders at ‘historic’ NAM meet conspiracy theories

Aadi

By Badrya Darwish

badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net

H

ave you noticed that some things happen only in Kuwait? Or maybe they happen somewhere else but mainly here at home. We are a very lucky nation in many aspects. We have continuous dust storms of all the colours of the rainbow. Does it happen anywhere else without a season? In other places there are months “designated” for dust storms but here we are lucky that we have it nearly all year round. We also have the meteorology department that misses its predictions for only five days. They predicted Eid to be dusty but the dust storms hit Kuwait only yesterday.

Another thing that happens only in Kuwait are extended holidays. Suppose you have an Eid holiday on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, I bet you that half the ministries yesterday seemed evacuated. It was a work day yesterday. Today, Thursday, I challenge you to go and see for yourself that only 10 percent of the employees are on hand. We have the habit and flexibility of connecting holidays with other holidays and weekends. Instead of celebrating Eid for two days now, it stretched to 10 days. Isn’t that nice? Where else can you find this luxury?

What a blissful life! I would like to tell all newcomers to Kuwait that if the holiday falls between two holidays there is a generous compensation. If a holiday falls on Saturday (a weekend day) then there will be a day to compensate this with another workday given as a day off. Where else do you find such appreciation and luxury by the government? Only here.

We have another luxury that other nations lack - it’s called wasta (connections and who knows who. It could mean even sometimes breaking the rules and laws.) Breaking the rules is aadi (in translation meaning OK, or no harm). This is one of the slogans we use often. Whatever happens we say aadi! Electricity cuts: Aadi! Water shortage: Aadi! Kuwait Airways flights cancelled every day: Aadi! Connecting holidays: Aadi! You go back 10 times to the ministry to complete your paperwork and it takes you forever to finish: Aadi. Long queues in every ministry for immigration, visa renewal and driving licences: Aadi! Employees sipping chai (tea) when you are waiting outside for your paperwork: of course it’s aadi.

Honestly I feel sorry for expats. Most of us have connections here and there. Even if the connection is not in the same ministry, we will find somebody who knows somebody. But expats don’t have that luxury.

So, they have to work. It becomes aadi for them!

Another thing which you can find only in Kuwait is parking cars at random everywhere. In wrong places, dangerous corners, blocking the roads or cutting off full streets sometimes. Where else can you see two cars standing in the middle of the road and having a chat and the long line of cars behind them can do nothing about it. If you are lucky to be Kuwaiti, maybe you can blow your horn and you can shout yalla! But if you are an expat all you can say is aadi.

Follow me @badryaD

TRIPOLI, Lebanon: A Sunni gunman fires by his AK-47 from behind a tyre barrier during clashes between supporters and opponents of the Syrian regime in this northern port city yesterday. — AP

12 dead in Lebanon battles over Syria

TRIPOLI, Lebanon: The death toll from fighting between Lebanese Sunni Muslims and Alawites echoing the conflict in Syria climbed to at least 12 yesterday, the third day of clashes described as some of the heaviest since Lebanon’s 1975-90 civil war. More than 100 people have been wounded in the bloodshed this week along a sectarian fault line in the northern city of Tripoli running between the Sunni district of Bab al-Tabbaneh and the Alawite area of Jebel Mohsen. “A

ceasefire was supposed to take place this afternoon but it did not happen,” a Tripoli resident told Reuters.

The sectarian tone of the fighting reflects the conflict in neighbouring Syria which increasingly sets a mainly Sunni Muslim opposition against President Bashar Al-Assad’s Alawite minority. After a nighttime lull, Tripoli was rocked by around two dozen explosions between 2 am and 6 am yesterday, apparently caused by rocket-propelled

grenades, witnesses said. The fighters have also been using machineguns. Sunni-Alawite tensions have been chronic in the region and they boiled over into clashes in early June that killed 15 people. At least 10 soldiers have been wounded in efforts to stop the violence.

The port city of Tripoli, the second largest metropolis in Lebanon, remained tense, with armed men driving through the city and shooting rounds of live fire into the air, an Continued on Page 13

Palestinian women racers find freedom

RAMALLAH: Betty Saadeh, 31, gestures as she readies to train on July 16, 2012 in this West Bank city. — AFP

RAMALLAH: With her bright orange pedicure, Michael Kors handbag and skinny jeans, Maysoon Jayyusi hardly looks like a Palestinian speed racer - until she gets behind the wheel. The minute she starts up her SUV, she’s off - coursing ahead of the rest of the traffic, weaving among bewildered locals in the crowded streets of the West Bank city of Ramallah. It’s easy to see why the team she heads - the Middle East’s first female speed racing team - has been dubbed the “Speed Sisters”.

The group of six women, Muslims and Christians from their 20s to mid-30s, have battled sceptical parents, the realities of the Israeli occupation and a sometimes disapproving public to become local stars and Continued on Page 13

Max 46º Min 34º High Tide 03:14 & 15:53 Low Tide 09:34 & 21:19

TEHRAN: Iran is to host some 30 leaders, including those of India, Egypt and Cuba, at an Aug 30-31 summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) that officials are billing as proof the Islamic republic is not as isolated as the West would like. And yesterday, the UN said that Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will attend the summit, despite protests by Israel and calls from the United States to stay away, and will be in Tehran from Aug 29 to Aug 31. Ban will “convey the clear concerns and expectations of the international community” on Iran’s nuclear program, terrorism, human rights and the Syria war, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said.

Ban is “fully aware of the sensitivities” linked to his visit, but he is also aware of his responsibilities as head of the United Nations, Nesirky said. He noted that nonaligned nations comprise two-thirds of all UN member states. One of Ban’s responsibilities is “to pursue diplomatic engagement with all ... (UN) member states in the interest of peacefully addressing vital matters of peace and security,” Nesirky said. A UN Security Council diplomat said privately that it was important for the secretary-general to go. He said Ban should not turn his back on the entire non-aligned movement because one member, Iran, happens to have a president who doubts the Holocaust and questions Israel’s right to exist.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Ban earlier this month he would be making “a big mistake” if he attended the summit in Iran.

“So far, more than 100 countries have said they are ready to participate, and around 30 nations will be represented by presidents, prime ministers or vice-presidents, which is a very good number,” Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi told the ISNA news agency.

Continued on Page 13

Bahrain Shiites battle police at funeral, 8 held DUBAI: Protesters pelted police with petrol bombs and stones in clashes that broke out in Bahrain yesterday night at the funeral for a teenage demonstrator killed last week in a new bout of unrest in the US-allied Gulf state. Police arrested eight protesters, the government said. The opposition accused the security forces of provoking the violence by firing tear gas. Bahrain, where the US Fifth Fleet is based, has been in crisis since a revolt led by majority Shiites began 18 months ago to demand democracy in the Sunni-ruled kingdom.

The government has denounced the protest movement, inspired by uprisings elsewhere in the Arab world, as sectarian and a part of a quest by Shiite Iran to dominate the region. Bahraini Shiites deny being steered from Tehran.

The violence broke out the funeral of 16-yearold Hussam Al-Haddad, who was killed on Friday by police gunfire. “A group of rioters bombarded police with Molotov cocktails and stones from the roof of a religious centre,” a government statement said. “Another group attempted to block several roads, while still others began an illegal rally on a busy road,” it said, adding that eight people had been arrested. The main opposition Wefaq party said riot police started the violence by firing tear gas at those mourning Haddad. “Many injuries were reported as the regime forces opened fire at mourners,” Wefaq said. “As usual, the regime forces backed the militias who took part in attacking the mourners.”

Continued on Page 13

in the

news

Israel frees Syrian prisoner after 27 yrs

52 hacked, burned to death in Kenya

Morsi to visit US on Sept 23

S Africa OKs ‘ Palestinian Territories’ tags

JERUSALEM: The longest serving Syrian prisoner in Israel has been freed after 27 years behind bars, the Israel Prison Service said yesterday. Sedki Al-Maket “was released yesterday at the end of the prison term he served for militant actions against the state of Israel”, the IPS said in a statement. A spokesman for the IPS told AFP Maket was imprisoned for 27 years, but was unable to elaborate on the nature of the crimes for which he was convicted. Syrian media reported that Maket, who was Sedki Al-Maket arrested in Aug 1985 for resisting the Israeli occupation of the Golan Heights, had returned to his home town on the strategic plateau.

Maket, 45, comes from Majdal Shams, the largest town on the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War and unilaterally annexed in 1981.

NAIROBI: At least 52 Kenyans were hacked or burnt to death in ethnic clashes between two rival groups, the worst single attack since deadly post-election violence four years ago, police said yesterday. Police revised an earlier death toll of 48 after several people died of injuries sustained during the attack. “Four more people have died, in addition to the 48 who died on the spot,” said regional deputy police chief Joseph Kitur.

Speaking earlier, Kitur said of the attack, which took place late Tuesday between the Pokomo and Orma peoples in the rural Tana River district: “It is a very bad incident.... They include 31 women, 11 children and six men.” “34 were hacked to death and 14 others were burnt to death,” Kitur said, while several huts were torched after a gang of men launched the attack, the latest in a long history of bitter clashes between the rival groups in the remote area of Kenya. The attack happened in the Reketa area of Tarassa in Kenya’s south-east, close to the coast and some 300 km from the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

CAIRO: Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi, the country’s first civilian and Islamist head of state, will visit the United States on September 23, state media reported yesterday. The official MENA news agency quoted Morsi’s spokesman Yassir Ali as saying the president will attend a United Nations General Assembly session in New York and then head to Washington to meet “senior officials” during a three-day trip. But Ali told AFP a meeting with US President Barack Obama “is not yet confirmed”. “Morsi will visit the United States on September Mohamed Morsi 23,” the state-owned Nile News television said in a news alert. Morsi became the country’s first freely elected civilian president on June 30, and the first head of state since a popular uprising overthrew veteran leader Hosni Mubarak in February last year.

CAPE TOWN: South Africa’s cabinet yesterday said it had approved the placing of Occupied Palestinian Territory labels on imported goods from Jewish settlements. The trade minister was given the nod to issue a notice requiring that products are marked so that buyers knew their origin is not Israel, government spokesman Jimmy Manyi told a press briefing. “This is in line with South Africa’s stance that recognises the 1948 borders delineated by the United Nations and does not recognise occupied territories beyond these borders as being part of the state of Israel,” he said. The plan has already met protests in South Africa and been slammed by Israel’s foreign ministry.

Local Jewish leaders said yesterday the community was outraged over what they called “discriminatory, divisive” measures. South Africa says its backing of Palestine stems from its own history of apartheid, oppression and rights abuses. Deputy Foreign Minister Ebrahim Ebrahim recently expressed “concern by high profile and government institutions visits to Israel as it gives legitimacy to Israel occupation of Palestine land”.

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

LOCAL

Opposition puts final touches on Monday’s demonstration Call for dissolution of 2009 Parliament KUWAIT: A demonstration to be staged by a leading opposition group on Monday, Aug 27 will focus on demanding an immediate dissolution of the 2009 Parliament, followed by calling for elections, as per the current election law. The demonstration is also focused on pressuring the Cabinet to take back their challenge regarding the constitutionality of the electoral law that was filed with the Constitutional Court recently.

These points were agreed upon during a meeting of the Nahj group held recently at the diwaniya of MP Dr Waleed Al-Tabtabaei to prepare for the gathering. The meeting also saw a reiteration of the opposition’s stance, which sees the referral step as “an attempt to force a pro-government majority in the parliament with changes to the electoral system under the excuse of securing more fair distribution of constituencies”.

The meeting, featuring members from the opposition Popular Action Bloc, Islamic Salafist Movement, the Islamic Constitutional Movement, the Development and Reform Bloc, the Thawabet Al-Umma (principles of the nation) Assembly, as well as labor and student unions, saw calls to “gather crowds next Monday by inviting members of each respec-

tive group to attend with the promise that protests will not stop until [the government] submits to the people’s willpower”.

According to sources familiar with the meeting, an agreement was reached to finish all preparations for the gathering, to be staged at Irada Square. In the meantime, the group has outlined its protest plans, which are based on holding successive demonstrations “with the belief that the level of participation is likely to peak during the third gathering, based on an assessment to public pressure that preceded the resignation of former Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah.”

The Nahj group also made sure to maintain cooperation with the Majority Bloc (a coalition of oppositionists who dominated the majority of seats in the annulled 2012 parliament) with regards to Monday’s demonstration, according to sources who spoke to Al-Rai on the condition of anonymity.

The Majority Bloc was scheduled to hold “an important meeting” soon at MP Faisal AlMislem’s Dewaniya to continue preparations in response to the cabinet’s referral decision, according to Al-Qabas sources close to the group.

The same sources, who spoke on the condi-

tion of anonymity, also revealed that some bloc members are “upset” at other members who expressed disapproval of the constitutional monarchy and elected Cabinet demands, which goes against demands included in a statement signed by the bloc’s 34 members. The statement was released following a meeting at Speaker of the 2012 Parliament Ahmad Al-Saadoun’s diwaniya, shortly after the Cabinet announced that it was taking the electoral law to the Constitutional Court.

“Negotiations have been ongoing to contain these statements in order to limit their effect on the bloc’s future plans against the Cabinet’s procedures”, the sources said, adding that the opposition can either hold meetings for “convergence of views”, or “continue focusing on other plans that including forming the National Front for the Protection of the Constitution”.

Regarding last night’s meeting, the sources explained the main purpose was to focus on specific details regarding their participation in next Monday’s demonstration, including assigning members who will be addressing the crowds, as well as the subjects that will be the focus of their speeches.

Kuwaiti drug trader held

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: Drug enforcement agents arrested a Kuwaiti man on charges of having 11.5 kg of hashish. Earlier information was received about his activities in the drug trade, and after police corroborated the information he was arrested. It was found that the suspect has been released from central jail four months ago, where he was detained on charges of selling drugs. The drugs were confiscated and the man was sent to the proper authorities.

Egyptian held Security men at Kuwait Airport arrested an Egyptian expat who arrived in Kuwait on a commercial visit visa from Cairo. He was arrested after customs agents found about 300 pills of Tromadol (drugs) hidden in a secret compartment in his luggage. During the initial inter-

rogation he confessed to bringing the drugs for another Egyptian.

Police have widened their search for the Egyptian man in question.

KUWAIT: The drug trader pictured after his arrest yesterday.

Kuwaiti murders Criminal investigators started their investigations into the killing of a Kuwaiti man in his 30s, who was found stabbed to death next to his car in Hawally. Security sources said that a man suspected of committing the killing was arrested in his house at Sabah Al-Salem area late Sunday night. The suspect, who is in his 30s, told police that he, the victim and others were in an apartment in Hawally, where they were drinking and smoking hashish. According to the suspect, an argument started between himself and the victim and resulted in the suspect picking up a knife and stabbing the victim several times.

The victim allegedly told the suspect that the wounds were not serious and wrapped them to stop the bleeding. When the bleeding would not stop, the men in the apartment sought help, but the victim died of his wounds.

Dead body S ecurit y sources said they found the body of an Indonesian maid inside a stolen American Chevy Tahoe in the Granada area.

The driver of the vehicle fled the scene and is suspected of being a Kuwaiti man. Sources said that one of the police patrols noticed a suspicious vehicle inside a gas online station at Sulaibik hat.

Upon ask ing the driver for his identification, he drove away and was pursued by police until he entered Granada, block 2, where he left the vehicle and fled on foot. After officers searched the car, they were surprised to find the woman’s body. After investigations, police learned that the dead woman was an Indonesian maid, 30 years old, and absent since 2007. Sources said that the car was reported stolen on the first day of Eid.

Eid celebrations at Indonesian embassy KUWAIT: On the occasion of Eid celebrations, the Embassy of Indonesia in Kuwait expressed its congratulations to all Indonesian people residing in Kuwait, and also thanked the government and the people of the state of Kuwait for their wellwishes and felicitations.

In order to further strengthen relations between the Embassy and its Indonesian community, on the 1st Syawal 2012 or Aug 19, 2012, the Indonesian Embassy held a gathering to commemorate the Eid festival at the Indonesian Ambassador’s residence in Yarmouk.

The commemoration of Eid was attended by Indonesian community representatives and invitees. It also invited ASEAN and Asia countries ambassadors to the

gathering. Ambassadors from Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, South Korea and India were among the VIP invitees to the event.

The Indonesian Embassy provided Indonesian delicacies for the event, such as chicken satay, Lontong Rice, meat balls, as well as Arabic dishes like Shwarma, further showcasing the collaboration between Indonesian and Middle Eastern cultures. This event was warmly welcomed

by Indonesians residing in Kuwait, as some 900 people attended the event.

The embassy congratulated all Indonesian nationals on this respectable event, and thanked the government and the people of Kuwait for maintaining the strong relationship between the two countries.

Stage ready for Pearl Diving Trip KUWAIT: The 24th annual Pearl Diving Trip kicks off this morning at 8:30 am with the traditional ‘Al-Dasha’ ceremony on the shore of the Kuwait Sea Sport Club. The opening ceremony is to be attended by Minister of Communications and acting Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Salem AlOthainah, on behalf of HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.

The trip concludes on Aug 30 and features at least 160 divers and nine diving ships presented by HH the Amir, as well as the late Amir Sheikh Jaber AlMubarak Al-Sabah.

Following the official procedures during which the divers greet the Amir’s representative and their family members, the divers will embark to the diving locations in Khairan to start diving for pearl oysters.

“The Pearl Diving Trip continues to be a national event that represents the pinnacle of activities that shed light on the sea heritage on the local and Gulf scenes”, said KSSC Vice President Ahmad Al-Ghanim in a statement yesterday. Head of the club’s sea heritage committee Ali Al-Qabandi announced in the meantime that full preparations are underway for today.

In the meantime, Vice President of the Sea Culture Committee at the KSSC, Mohammad Al-Farisi, announced the names for the diving ships “which are named after traditional Kuwaiti diving ships, as well as common Kuwaiti places and landmarks, in addition to sponsors”. Furthermore, one ship will be named ‘Bahrain’ after Bahraini captain Abdurrahman Al-Mana’ei who will be leading the ship that carries divers from the Kingdom of Bahrain.

In addition, Al-Farisi announced that divers’ groups will be named after former Kuwaiti captains, late Kuwaiti figures, as well as sponsors, adding that one group will be named after late Kuwaiti footballer Sameer Saied.

According to Al-Farisi, the ships names are as follows: ● The Dar Salwa Shou’ei Ship carrying the Helal Fajhan Al-Mutairi group and led by captain Khalid Al-Sabah, assistants Masoud Al-Mutairi and Meshal Saadoun, and chief sailor Nasser Al-Thufairi. ● The Al-Seif Palace Shou’ei Ship carrying the late Sameer Saied group and led by captain Thuwaini Al-Thuwaini, assistants Ali Al-Shuwaired and Mohammad Hajji, and chief sailor Mohammad Al-Dhubaibi. ● The Kuwait Finance House Jalbout Ship carrying the KFH group and led by

Ahmad Al-Ghanim

Mohammad Al-Farisi

captain Saad Al-Kandari, assistants Fahad Al-Hamli and Hamad Al-Gharbi, and chief sailor Fahad Al-Failakawi. ● The Gulf Bank Boom Ship carrying the Gulf Bank group and led by captain Ali Al-Mubarak, assistants Abdurrahman Al-Basheer and Yousuf Bushehri, and chief sailor Ali Dashty. ● The Bahrain Sanbouk Ship carrying the Bahraini sailor Salem al-Allan group and led by captain Avdyrrahman Al-Mana’ei from Bahrain, in addition to Kuwaiti captain Fahad Al-Kandari, and assistant Abdullatif Al-Qaqoub, and chief sailors Hamad Al-Houti and

and chief sailors Mushari Al-Qattan and Saad Al-Jerri. ● The Dasman Shou’ei Ship carrying the Rashid bin Saleh Al-Jeemaz group and led by captains Mohammad AlSaied and Ghanim Al-Qallaf, assistant Ali Al-kandari, and chief sailor Abdurrahman Al-Khadhar and Essa AlFailakawi. ● Al-Misseelah Sanbouk Ship carrying the Ahmad Ma’youf Al-Basharah group and led by captains Ahmad Rajab and Abdul-Aziz Al-Hamli, assistant Faisal Saadoun, and chief sailors Yousuf Al-Failakawi and Ahmad Al-

Abdul-Aziz Al-Shatti. ● The Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Science (KFAS) Shou’ei Ship, carrying the KFAD group and led by captain Saleh Al-Awadhi, assistant Ahmad Assad, and chief sailors Khalifa Al-Jeemaz and Adnan Ashkenani. ● The Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) Sanbouk Ship carrying the KPC group and led by captains Adnan AlRashid and Abdulwahab Al-Hamli, in addition to assistant Omar Al-Noaimi

Shemmary.

The trip this year features participation of the Kuwait Amateur Radio Society for the first time, whose members will accompany the diving ships to the pearl diving locations in Al-Khairan.

As happens every year, the Public Authority for Agriculture Affairs and Fish Resources will take part in the trip as part of their continued studies to rehabilitate pearl locations in Kuwaiti waters.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

LOCAL

Awareness campaign to prevent drug abuse Ghiras launches website, magazine

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: Drugs have been a serious problem for many years. Due to the danger drugs pose for society, different organizations around the world were founded to fight this destructive phenomenon. In Kuwait, The National Anti Drug Committee (NADC), represented by the National Anti Drug Media Project (Ghiras), was formed to combat our nation’s drug problems.

From its humble beginnings in 1989, Ghiras just recently launched their website and magazine. This was announced during a press conference held yesterday at the Kuwait Journalist Association, with the first issue of their magazine, the September issue, now being released.

This is the first local magazine of its kind. “Ghiras is a monthly awareness magazine focusing on protecting youth from drugs and other dangers. It provides our long experience of more than 20 years in fighting drugs and preventing drug abuse. We just published the first issue of this magazine after the success of the trial issue published a few weeks ago. We also took in consideration the feedback of the trial and we worked on issuing the best content. We welcome any feedback or suggestion from the public, and will publish it in our upcoming issues,” said Dr. Ahmad Al-Samdan, Secretary General of NADC, during the press conference.

Further, Dr. Bader Al-Shibani, member of the supervising committee, highlighted the role of media in this issue. “We call upon the media to support us since the media enters every house, whether it be through T V, radio or print. Our

Ruling on constituencies case in October

By A Saleh

KUWAIT: (From left): Dr Ahmad Al-Shatti, Dr Ahmad Al-Samdan and Dr Bader Al-Shibani during the press conference at KJA yesterday. — Photo by Joseph Shagra strategic plan was built on the evaluation of our experience over the past 20 years. We found that we still have shortages in both the educational and on the social sides,” he explained.

“In the educational field there is a shortage of programs, plans, and curriculums at different educational stages. In the social arena there is a shortage in the role of community, NGOs, Co-ops and other organizations that are not very active in providing awareness to society regarding drug addiction. This addiction is not only limited to drugs and alcohol, it also includes materials usually available in any house, such as paints, benzene, and others which may later lead to drug addiction,” added Al-Shibani.

He also criticized the role of the psychiatric hospital, which he views as not very successful. “ The Psychiatric Hospital and other organizations working in this field are focusing on the treatment side, more than caring about the awareness. Our role includes researching and evaluating. Drug addiction has spread in our community and I doubt the published statistics that claim that more than 15 percent of the cases were treated. We need evidence,” concluded Al-Shibani.

Dr. Ahmad Al-Shatti, the Executive Director of Ghiras and the Editor-inChief of Ghiras Magazine, expressed his hope that this magazine will actively play its role in preserving the health of youth and protecting society. “Today there are many organiza-

tions and individuals who have benefited from our long experience in fighting drugs. We focused on three basic pillars: the family, teachers and youth. Ghiras started to communicate with the youth through social media and through the different awareness campaigns we launched,” he stated. He also announced the establishment of a new course, entitled ‘A Date with Change’. “This new training program will be presented

by Dr. Bader Tareq and will focus on different issues related to drugs, including building skills and having a strong personality. It will be held September 8 to 13, 2012 from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm, at the Radisson Blu Hotel,” he pointed out.

For more information visit www.ghiras.org.

KUWAIT: The constitutional court set Sept 5 as the date for the first session to consider the government’s request to discuss the constitutionality of the Five Constituencies Law. The request includes the consideration of the constitutionality of voter distribution and giving voters four votes. Sources expect the court’s final ruling will be issued in October, which will be followed by dissolving the 2009 Assembly and a call for new parliamentary elections.

Meanwhile, a member of the annulled 2012 National Assembly, Nabil Al-Fadel, repeated his question to Musallam Al-Barrak: “Will he complain against Saudi Arabia at the human rights organizations for not allowing his secretary, Abbas Al-Shaabi, entry to its territories, as he threatened to do because of the transfer of voter constituencies to the constitutional court?

Al-Fadel went on to say that, “instead of beating around the bush, we want a clear answer about whether he wants to complain against Saudi Arabia or not.”

Member of Parliament Khalid AlSultan said the forces of darkness and interests have “succeeded in transforming the issue of Kuwait’s destiny and future into ‘Hadhar and Beduins’ and ‘Muslims and slaves’ in internal areas.” AlSultan said he views this as a total lie and thinks the ignorant “should be punished so that they do not destroy the country”.

Al-Sultan said the flow of events indicate loss of leadership, as the constitutional court ruled that the dissolution of the 2009 assembly was not valid, yet annulled the 2012 parliament. Al-Sultan

pointed out that no executive decree was issued to dissolve the 2012 assembly, so it still exists.

He noted that the 2009 assembly was called for two sessions and this means that there were two assemblies at the same time, adding that the speaker of the 2009 assembly sent a memo stating it was not possible to hold a session, despite the fact that the assembly officer kept holding meetings.

Al-Sultan said the 2008 and 2009 assemblies were a positive move of the five constituencies, reflecting the free will of the nation and push towards achievements and reform, and that is why they were dissolved after a short time. Now, however, they are planning to change the constituencies to bring in an assembly like the 2009 group, and this will lead to instability in the ruling regime for years to come.

He said that one problem is enough for such instability to take place, notwithstanding the facts that in 2026 the budget will be bankrupt and 400,000 will be unemployed.” Hence our stand today and demands to reform the path in order to protect the regime and Kuwait’s future as a state and people.”

Meanwhile, legal sources found AlSultan’s statement “strange”, adding that the “2012 assembly does not exist due to the constitutional court ruling which cancelled the decree that dissolved the 2009 assembly and cancelled the 2012 elections.”

They said the court’s ruling means that the 2009 assembly is the current one, and whatever came after it does not exist. Which begs the question: How can a decree then be issued to dissolve it?

Govt urged to end spread of weapons

KUWAIT: Jordanian Ambassador Mohammad Al-Kayed hosted a reception over the weekend for the Jordanian community in Kuwait who visited him to present Eid AlFitr greetings. —Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

KUWAIT: The problem of the spread of firearms and the need for more weapons control in Kuwait resurfaced following a recent incident in which a Kuwaiti man was shot and killed on his wedding day by a bullet accidentally fired from a gun.

Abdullah Al-Khaldi, 24, died Monday night when a bullet, accidentally fired from his friend’s handgun, struck him in the heart while they were on their way from his home in Sulaibiya to the wedding hall. The victim was reportedly seated in the front passenger’s seat when his friend in the backseat accidentally fired the gun, which he intended to use for firing celebratory shots into the air after the wedding.

The case sheds light on an existing problem regarding the spread of unlicensed weapons and their use in criminal activities, such as murder and armed robberies, in addition to celebrations. The increase in similar cases is likely going to lead to procedures to study the reasons behind this proliferation and to seek measures to tackle the spread of this phenomenon.

“The government carried out procedures to collect weapons on two occasions in the past: the first after the 1991 Liberation and the second following terrorist activities in Um Al-Haiman on 2003. Since then, these measures were met with opposition from MPs who insist that homes not be raided except in extreme circumstances”, Al-Jarida daily reported yesterday, quoting security sources. “Leaving citizens to voluntarily hand over their weapons to authorities failed to prevent the spread of weapons, which remain widely present, especially in the northern and southern areas”.

The sources, who preferred to keep their identity anonymous, further indicate that incidents related to the use of firearms have increased in the past year. These incidents include murder and armed robbery, as well as firing gunshots during celebrations “in which the scene of armed guests has become somewhat a common feature”. “This situation is ver y dangerous, especially given continuous attempts to bring weapons into Kuwait

fueled by the instability in Iraq, as well as certain other regional factors.

Meanwhile, MP Dr. Waleed Al-Tabtabaei held the government responsible for “the spread of weapons in the country”, calling upon the government, in a statement, to carry out a firearms collection campaign. In the

meantime, member of the annulled 2012 parliament, Dr. Adel Al-Damkhi, urged the Interior Ministry to make “more serious efforts to collect arms, without excluding anyone from the operations”, further insisting that regional circumstances and sectarian tensions “makes it necessary to collect the weapons”.

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

LOCAL kuwait digest

The Irada Square Olympics!

By Sami Al-Ibrahim atching the London Olympics was an opportunity to witness a civilized competition between top athletes from around the world hoping to earn medals of excellence. The Olympics provided an example for displaying respect to sports, to the host country, and to all efforts exerted to achieve victory and earn medals, regardless of origin or race. We applauded champions in appreciation of their efforts, as well as the efforts of their countries, which sometimes were poor countries that sacrificed a great deal so that their flag could be raised and national anthem heard on the international stage.

In Kuwait, we also find competition between political groups looking to terminate their opponent. It’s very different compared to the type of competition in London, however, which while being fierce, remains harmless.

The Olympics are a competition between people whose main goal is to win for their country’s sake. A competi-

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tion that often ends with both the winner and loser standing together smiling, and people from around the world cheering happily for them.

This is how our life should be! Where is this happiness in our lives? We have become spoiled people who only look for problems in which we can play some role in. We create fake heroes of ourselves, while watching others stage an international event that is not only successful in hosting a major sports tournament, but also successful in being economically profitable.

And amid the world’s celebration with the Olympic events, news comes about another achievement for humanity: NASA’s Curiosity Rover landed on Mars following the end of its 570 million kilometer long journey from Earth. Outstanding achievements in sports, economy and science are happening around the world, yet in Kuwait, the Constitutional Court and Irada Square are all that we talk about these days! Discoveries of the

Curiosity Rover will not be a topic of discussion in diwaniyas, where people will continue engaging in heated debates involving disrespect, and discuss theories on whether the electoral law should be referred to the Constitutional Court or whether its flaws should be addressed by the next parliament. If the law needs adjustment either way, then why wait when we can end the problem sooner, rather than later, and then have time for development?

I was hoping that the Olympics would last until the Constitutional Court made its ruling, so that it would give us something that could distract us from our continuous case of concern. We must always remember that Kuwait is home for all of us to live in and protect.

In the end, let’s take a moment to celebrate the achievement of Fehaid Al-Daihani and everybody who allowed us the opportunity to feel proud, while watching Kuwait’s flag rise in front of the whole world. —Al-Qabas

Letters to Badrya Darwish

Praise for honesty badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net

Hello, I really enjoy the honesty of your words in the Kuwait Times. I look forward to reading you every day at work before I begin my day. As an American living in Kuwait it is really nice to read about local issues and the opinions you share with your readers.

Best regards, W Blair Hicks Dear Madam, Good Day! I am sending you an email just to let you know that I love reading your column and admire you for being so fair.

Maybe you don’t remember me, but we met quite a few times at Miss Oprah Salon where I used to work as a receptionist. One time you were upstairs with Amal (make-up artist) and I was singing in the Maksan when you complimented me on my voice.... Hope you remember me now.

God bless your works Madam Badrya!

kuwait digest

Constitutional amendments

By Mubarak Al-Maosharji pon its creation by the Constituent Parliament and approval of the late Amir HH Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah in 1962, the constitution was a contract that organized the relationship between the government and the people during the period that came directly after the state’s independence. At the time of its issuance, members of the constituent parliament recommended that the constitution be amended within five years to remain in-line and current with the nation’s developments.

More than 50 years later however the constitution remains unchanged. Even in the face of Kuwait’s drastic population growth, the increase in the number of voters after naturalized citizens were given the right to vote, female citizens being granted political rights, the constructional boom and increased levels of academic and political awareness - no changes have been made. It follows that the changes brought about by these developments renders the 50 MPs and 13 ministers currently representing the nation as an insufficient number to run the state.

Meanwhile, the basic condition that any citizen who can read and right is eligible to run for parliament is unsuitable in a society where illiteracy is almost nonexistent, and where the majority of people have high academic qualifications. It is also evident that there is a state of confusion regarding the responsibilities of the legislative, executive and judicial authorities-proven by the increase in the number of cases filed with the Constitutional Court.

All these are reasons to consider the idea that the constitution has become outdated in keeping up with the developments of the state and has become an obstacle on the road to development instead of being a contract that organizes relations between the government and the people.

Therefore, a constitutional amendment that addresses a large number of its articles has become necessary to move Kuwait out of the continuous circle of political tensions that have dominated the country in recent years.

The constitution has become the focus of political crises that has seen multiple parliamentary dissolutions and cabinet resignations, and even pushed to become a priority ahead of national interests (we often hear demands calling for protecting the constitution and attacking any calls for amendments).

The next parliament is required to urgently carry out comprehensive constitutional amendments that maintain the basic articles, such as Kuwait being a constitutional monarchy, the Islamic Sharia being a main source of legislation, and having ruling powers be exclusive to descendants of Mubarak Al-Kabeer from the Al-Sabah family. The changes need to start with the conditions to run for parliament, as well as the constituencies’ distribution.

Moreover, changes are needed to provide lawmakers more authority, while reducing that of ministers inside the parliament, in addition to increasing the number of members of both the parliament and cabinet. Additionally, regulations are required to make sure that parliament seats are not dominated exclusively by certain sectarian groups, and to fight violations such as vote buying and vote transferring during primary elections.

These changes are necessary before we can talk about having an elected Cabinet and moving to a full constitutional monarchy.—Al-Rai

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

local

Friends in police custody as youth dies of drug overdose Teen dead in Salmi road crash

KUWAIT: Saleh Al-Obaid honored by Salman Al-Badran and VIVA executives.

VIVA honors Holy Quran Award winner KUWAIT: Saleh Al-Obaid, the first place winner in the 16th Dubai International Holy Quran Award competition, was honored by VIVA, Kuwait’s newest and most advanced communication service provider, at its headquarters in the presence of VIVA’s Chief Executive Officer, Salman Bin Abdul Aziz AlBadran.

This initiative comes as part of VIVA’s continued efforts and its belief in the importance of supporting young Kuwaiti talent, and contributing to the development of Kuwait in many aspects. Al-Badran expressed the company’s admiration of Saleh Al-Obaid and its appreciation of the efforts made to memorize the Holy Quran, and in elevating the name of Kuwait at international events. In addition, Al-Badran invited young Kuwaiti’s to follow AlObaid’s footsteps and to participate in competitions at their most noble and respected form, such as those that entail the memorization and chanting

of the Holy Quran. During the celebration, Al-Obaid extended his deepest gratitude to VIVA’s representatives for the warm welcome and sincere celebration of his achievement. Al-Obaid also stressed on the importance of youth taking part in similar challenging competitions and showcasing the potential which Kuwait’s youth enjoys.

The Dubai International Holy Quran Award is an annual competition held during the holy month of Ramadan under the sponsorship on Sheikh Mohamed Bin Rashed Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Sheikh Maktoum Bin Mohamed Bin Rashed honored the first 10 winners in the International Holy Quran Award at the closing ceremony that was attended by preacher Yusuf Estes, key figures, directors of government departments, and members of the diplomatic and consular service.

VIVA is the newest, most advanced

NBK shares Eid happy moments with children at NBK Hospital KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait’s (NBK) family paid a visit to NBK Hospital at Sabah Medical district to share Eid happy moments with children suffering from permanent and incurable ailments.

NBK Public Relations Officer, Yaqoub Al-Baqer said that NBK staff have always devoted a considerable part of their time to comfort the children and present them with felicitations and gifts as part of NBK’s corporate social responsibility program.

“Sharing the happy moments of Eid Al-Fitr and other similar occasions with children is our pleasure. We are proud that NBK devotes such attention to supporting Kuwait society and providing compassion and support for those in need, including sick children. NBK’s commitment to Yaqoub Al-Baqer shoulder its corporate social responsibility was the basic motive that led NBK to build its children hospital at Sabah Medical district many years ago,” AlBaqer added.

Students from Summer Internship Program accompanied NBK Family on this visit. The visit to the hospital was emotional and overwhelming for both the children and NBK staff.

NBK’s visits to hospitals and care centers reflect the bank’s high sense of duty and responsibility towards all those in need from different sectors of society. It is a well-rooted tradition that has been carried out by NBK each year in its efforts to continuously have an active role in the Kuwait society.

NBK family sharing children Eid happy moments.

mobile telecommunications service provider in Kuwait. Launched in December 2008, VIVA makes things possible for our customers by transforming communication, information and entertainment experiences. The company has rapidly established an unrivalled position in the market through our customer and employee centric approach. VIVA’s quest is to be the mobile brand of choice for Kuwait by being transparent, engaging, energetic and fulfilling.

VIVA continues to take a considerable share of the market by offering an innovative range of best value products, services and content propositions; a state of the art, nationwide network and world-class service. VIVA offers Internet speed up to 42.2 mbps due to the implementation of the most advanced third generation (3G and HSDPA) network in Kuwait resulting in superior coverage, performance and reliability.

KUWAIT: A number of drug addicts were arrested in connection with the death of a 19-year-old Kuwaiti man who died due to a drug overdose during the second day of the Eid Al-Fitr holiday. The victim’s body was recovered from a location on the Fourth Ring road, where it was found hidden between parked trucks. As part of the investigation, police summoned a number of the victim’s friends after learning they were together on the day of his death. One of the friends eventually admitted to accidentally giving the victim an overdose while the group was using drugs. He also admitted to leaving the body at the place where it was found after realizing the Kuwaiti man had died. The group remains in custody pending further action.

Embassy death An investigation was opened following the death of an unidentified woman being sheltered by the Ethiopian embassy. According to the preliminary medical examination, the woman appeared to have died from natural causes. The woman reportedly collapsed inside a residence rented by the embassy to shelter Ethiopian residents who do not have identification papers or face trouble with their sponsors.

She was pronounced dead by para-

medics, who arrived at the scene shortly after the incident was reported. The body was taken for an autopsy to determine the cause of death.

ered that his residency status had expired six years ago. He is currently being held by the Migration Department pending deportation procedures.

Traffic accident A teenager was killed and another was injured in an accident reported recently on Salmi road.

Paramedics and police arrived at the scene shortly after a report about an accident involving a car that lost control and overturned. A 16-yearold Syrian boy was pronounced dead on the scene, while his 17year-old Kuwaiti friend was hospitalized with multiple injuries and suffering from anxiety. An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the accident.

Man rapes lover Investigations are ongoing after two Kuwaiti men were accused of raping an Egyptian woman in her twenties after luring her into a trap.

The victim reportedly went to Salmiya police to report the incident that happened on the second day of the Eid Al-Fitr holiday.

According to the victim, she went out to spend the day with her boyfriend, who instead drove to a remote location where he assaulted her, along with his friend, who was hiding in the back seat. The suspects reportedly returned the woman to her residence before escaping.

Residency violator Patrol officers arrested a Bangladeshi man who had been living in Kuwait without a valid residency permit for six years. The man was nabbed following a failed escape. Authorities report that he ran away as soon as he noticed a patrol vehicle approaching while he was walking near the Fourth Ring road in front of Jleeb Al-Shuyiukh.

The officers apprehended the suspect and placed him under arrest.

After he was identified through a fingerprint scanner it was discov-

Drug possession A male driver was arrested on Abdali Road for possession of drugs.

The Kuwaiti man was pulled over by patrol officers, who searched him after noticing that he became nervous as they approached his car. He was placed under arrest after police found 30 pills and 15 hashish rolls in his possession. He was taken to the Drug Control General Department to face charges. — Al-Rai, Al-Watan

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

LOCAL

Ukraine celebrates 21st Anniversary of Independence (Statement of Ambassador of Ukraine to Kuwait Dr Volodymyr Tolkach on the occasion of the 21st Anniversary of Independence of Ukraine on Aug 24, 2012)

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wo decades ago, 150 countries recognized Ukraine as an independent state. Over its years of independence, the young country has established itself well among civilized nations. Late in the last century, Ukraine was more often referred to as a former Soviet republic; in the early 21st century, it became evident that it is a new free and democratic country.

Ukraine began a new life, having a strong potential inherited from the disintegrated Soviet Union, a feature that favorably distinguished it from other CIS countries.

However at the beginning of our independence we need to solve two cornerstone challenges both to create new economic relation that based on the free market principles and create new state administrative institutions.

The transition to a market economy proved very difficult for the nation. Yet the country has been showing economic growth for many years running. Now the young country is confidently integrating into the global economy.

The most important achievement of the independence years is that Ukraine has loudly asserted itself as a democracy.

International monitoring organizations recognize Ukrainian elections, both presidential and parliamentary, as democratic.

Ukrainians are not restricted in their access to information about current events occurring at home and abroad.

Now, thanks to the political stability established in the country, it has an investment climate favorable as never before.

This means an opportunity to modernize the economy, introduce the latest technologies, build new factories, and create jobs. In addition, Ukraine continues its path of reforms. The country is developing, taking into account the European experience and improving the standards of life for its citizens. In the recent years alone, a Tax Code was adopted and administrative reform launched. Now fiscal and land reforms are expected to take off, as well as efforts to optimize the operation of small and medium business.

Ukraine’s achievements of the past decade are reflected, for example, in the country’s membership in the World Trade Organization and the chance it has been given to join Poland as a host of the European Football Championship of 2012.

These important events serve as an additional stimulus for the country toward transformation and modernization. As a result, new hotels have been built; airports and roads have been improved, and the infrastructure has become better.

In this case very important that during European Football Championship of 2012 Ukraine and Ukrainians became closer both to Europeans and other people of the World.

International Ambitions and Prospects The impressive scale of Ukraine, one of Europe’s largest countries in terms of territory and population, does not allow it to be lost on a geographic map, while its active position in the international arena ensures its place on the political map as well.

Ukraine pursues a balanced and consistent foreign policy. The country is open for cooperation with all interested countries and organizations. At the same time, it remains independent of other countries and international organizations.

In its foreign policy, the young nation sticks to the policy of European integration.

Opinion polls show that most Ukrainians want ties to be as close with Europe as possible. Ukraine’s priority is its relations with the Old World, up to full EU membership.

We regard the European Union as the most acceptable social model and as our common home in the future.

Official Kyiv understands that the nation will still have to work hard to become a member of the European family, including the adoption of the necessary legislative base. However, both sides look with optimism at the shared future of Ukraine and the EU. Our country offers Europe human, technological, and agricultural resources, the demand for which will be on the rise on the European continent for the years to come.

The times of empty talk regarding our “European choice” have passed. Ukraine has already been presented with a plan of action leading to a visa-free regime with the EU. Many efforts have been made to sign the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, including plans to create a free-trade zone.

Europe has appreciated the present period of political stability in the country and the nation’s determination to continue reforms, promising to bring them in line with the high EU standards. The chairmanship of the OSCE in 2013 is yet another opportunity for the country to express itself on the international stage and demonstrate its commitment to its European integration plans. In addition, Kyiv is looking toward UN Security Council membership in 20162017.

Ukrainian foreign policy priority to integrate in common European community does not mean that we are moving only in the western direction. The country has been strengthening its open and neighborly relations with the Russian Federation. For Ukraine, Russia is the largest trade partner and a huge market. In addition, many Ukrainians have family and friendly relations with the Russian people. In this connection, it should be noted that Europeans are actually interested in stable partnership between the two countries. Ukraine remains the major transit country for Russian natural gas transported to Europe, and it is very important for Kyiv to make sure that Europeans regard it as a reliable and predictable partner.

In its foreign policy Ukraine pays special attention to its relations with the USA. Our country counts on cooperation with the USA in bilateral issues, such as the needed support for reforms, and global ones, such as the fight against terrorism, drug trafficking, and other crimes. Washington is interested in cooperation with Kyiv in the energy field, specifically, in developing the Black Sea shelf and shale gas deposits. In addition, the USA together with the EU supports Ukraine in its efforts to modernize its energy sector and develop energy-saving technologies.

A strengthening Ukraine is primarily pursuing its economic interests in the world.

For this reason, the country is now establishing relations with the financial centers of the future world, specifically with the BRIC countries, which include Russia, Brazil, India, and China. The strategic plans of our country include securing a place among the world’s top 20 most developed nations (G20). The ongoing reforms and reorganization of the economy are the logical steps on the path to this end.

Ukraine is a non-aligned country with no membership in any military-political association. The non-aligned status of our coun-

try was legislatively secured in 2010 in the law on internal and external policy basics.

However, the country takes part in efforts to develop a European system of collective security and continues intensive dialogue with NATO. The issue of the country’s entry into this alliance is no longer on the immediate agenda, but this fact is not an obstacle for joint military exercises and our participation in peacekeeping missions of the North Atlantic Alliance.

Ukrainians never turn a blind eye to the problems of others. We are always ready to stretch out a helping hand to any country that has suffered a natural disaster or military conflict. At the same time, Ukraine remains a peaceful nation, maintaining good relations with the neighboring countries, as well as the rest of the world. It is very important for us to be part of the global community, at the same time retaining our sovereignty and national identity.

Economic potential Its favorable geographic location, abundant natural resources, and qualified and relatively inexpensive workforce are the three factors that promise a bright future for Ukraine’s economy. Located between Europe and Asia, Ukraine benefits from its economic relations with both the East and West, while the Black ?nd Azov Seas provide a convenient way for Ukrainian goods to go to any destination in the world.

The abundance of mineral resources and fertile soil provides a strong impetus to the development of metallurgy, the chemical industry, and agriculture - Ukraine’s three core export branches. But the main wealth of the country is its people. Ukraine is on par with Western European countries with respect to the share of people with a higher education. At the same time, the cost of the workforce on Ukraine’s market is significantly below the levels of Western Europe and the USA. International business takes full advantage of this opportunity, especially in the areas where borders do not matter.

One such area is the IT industry. Little do European train passengers or customers of US Internet shops know that their comfort is the result of the work of Ukrainian software programmers. The owners of cell phones under famous brands would be surprised to learn that their devices were actually assembled in Ukraine, not in Asia.

Such is the reality: it proves much more profitable to assemble such products in Ukraine’s border regions than to transport them from eastern sources located thousands of miles away.

Ukraine’s economy is a successful combination of the potential inherited from the former USSR and the modern high-tech industries that have developed for the past 20 years of independence. Local enterprises implement energy-saving technologies and the country is making a transition to alternative types of fuel, such as biodiesel and biogas, solar and wind power.

The core of Ukraine’s exports is metallurgical and chemical products. The country has well-developed shipbuilding and aircraft building industries. Ukraine is the homeland to the world’s largest aircraft, the AN-225 “Mriya” and the popular transport aircraft, the AN-124 “Ruslan”.

Agriculture has always been an important economic branch in Ukraine, the country known in Soviet times as the breadbasket of the USSR, and this is not surprising, as Ukraine accounts for 60 percent of the world’s black soil, the best soil for agriculture. Ukraine’s agricultural sector has dramatically changed after the reform of the

old system of collective farms. Now it features more than 13,000 farms using advanced technologies. This comes as a smart move made in good time, since, according to the UN Food Organization, global demand for food will be on the rapid increase in the coming two decades.

In 2008, the country successfully finalized its negotiations of many years regarding the country’s accession to the World Trade Organization. Having obtained the full membership of this trade club, the country has significantly expanded its possibilities of cooperation with other WTO members, which are the world’s leading economies.

Tourism potential Ukraine is a large country. It runs 1,300 km from west to east and 900 km from north to south. No wonder this country offers such a wide choice of interesting tourism destinations, ranging from the snow-covered peaks of the Carpathians to the torrid Donetsk steppes, from the century-old oak trees of Polissya to Europe’s only desert, Oleshkivski Sands, in the Kherson region, from the sharp spikes of the catholic cathedrals in Lviv and the golden domes of the Eastern Orthodox churches in Kyiv to the slender minarets in Bakhchysarai. All this is Ukraine.

The main tourism landmarks of Ukraine are two mountain chains - the Carpathians and the Crimean Mountains. These mountains are far from being Europe’s highest, yet they are very beautiful and absolutely different. The Carpathians are green valleys and tall fir trees, ski slopes and steep mountain rivers, while Crimea is abrupt cliffs overhanging the ultramarine waters of the Black Sea. The beauty of nature is harmonically complemented with products of human hands - castles and palaces, parks and country estates, old towns and modern architecture. The traveler may feel as if he has seen more than one country at the same time after visiting Ukraine. The fortresses of Kyivan Rus, Polish and Hungarian castles, and Swedish, German, and Bulgarian villages make this country a real open-air ethnographic museum!

Ukraine is a real paradise for those who like active and green tourism. The country is not as densely populated as most European countries and has many corners of nature untouched by civilization. Hikers like to go to the Crimean Mountains and the Carpathians, bicyclers prefer the Crimean coast and the routes across the castles in western Ukraine, water sports lovers flock to the Cheremosh River and the ripples of the Southern Buh River, and rafting fans head for the picturesque Dnister canyon.

Green tourism has not become popular until recently due to the underdeveloped infrastructure in towns and villages.

Fortunately, those days are gone, and now many mini-hotels have opened in the country, as well as recreation camps and tourism complexes. Prices will be a pleasant surprise for you and you will definitely appreciate the comfort and Ukrainian hospitality. And the delicious dishes of folk cuisine will please even the most demanding gourmands. No one can resist the rich aroma of true Ukrainian borshch, hot varenyks (dumplings) and deruny (potato pancakes).

A visit to Ukraine promises interesting impressions and benefits for your health.

The curative mineral waters, therapeutic mud, and fresh mountain air will help improve your health.

The country is especially interesting for

KUWAIT: The Fountain Park celebrated Eid Al-Fitr with a program organized by the Touristic Enterprises Company, featuring shows presented by the Kuwaiti Smurfs entertaining group, as well as other activities and competitions enjoyed by visitors of all ages.

connoisseurs of art because Ukrainian museums have originals of such famous masters as Rembrandt van Rein, Diego Velasquez, Ivan Aivazovsky, Kazimir Malevich, and Ilya Repin, to name a few, and not only in museums in big cities. For example, the famous drawing, “Dove of Peace”, by Pablo Picasso is kept in a village museum in Kharkiv Oblast. Works of contemporary artists are interesting as well. They happen to be quite original. For example, the world’s smallest book, Taras Shevchenko’s “Kobzar,” which can be read only using a microscope, is kept in Kyiv.

Ukraine is a blooming country in the literal sense. In the west, known as Zakarpattya, there is the Valley of Narcissuses, which becomes covered with a white carpet of tender flowers every spring.

In Kyiv, the scent of blooming lilacs covers the banks of the Dnipro River. Eastern Donetsk is dubbed the city of a million roses. And autumn in Crimea is the time of the chrysanthemum festival when chrysanthemums of various colors bloom on the Black Sea coast and the picturesque slopes of the Crimean Mountains.

Ukraine is easy to reach. You can get here by car, a comfortable bus, or train. The major cities receive the airplanes of the major European airline companies, including budget airlines. The country welcomes guests coming to see its beauty. You can hardly find a tourist who has been to Ukraine once and did not want to came back to see it again.

Ukrainian-Kuwaiti relations It is pleasant to note that we talk about the relations between our friendly nations in the context of their 20-year history, which anniversary we’ll celebrate on April, 18 2013.

Passed way allows us to draw the first results of our cooperation and identify new opportunities for its further development.

In this regard we traditionally mention the positive level of mutual political dialogue, dislocation of the unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for radiation, chemical and biological protection in the State of Kuwait in 2003 in order to prevent a possible threat from the then Saddam Husain regime, participation of KFAED in financial programs for eliminating the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster, treatment of hundreds of Kuwaiti children with cerebral palsy in the International Clinic of Rehabilitation of world-renowned medical rehab, Hero of Ukraine, professor V.I.Kozyavkin.

Only this year the Embassy participated in preparation of visits of Deputy Minister of Finance of Ukraine Y.Shevchenko and Ukrainian medical delegation headed by the said professor V.I.Kozyavkin, holding Days of Ukrainian culture in the State of Kuwait, has issued a lot of tourist visas for citizens of emirate, including guests of football events of EURO-2012. Adding preparation for the second session of the Intergovernmental Ukrainian-Kuwaiti Commission on economic, technical and trade cooperation, contacts between our businessmen, prerequisites for establishing cooperation between the leading universities of both countries, we see in large prospects and significant existing potential for development of various spheres of bilateral cooperation.

Our embassy always welcomes and is ready to help in establishing any form of cooperation between both countries as well as the development of friendly personal relations between Ukrainian and Kuwaiti peoples.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

‘Coalgate’ scandal paralyses Indian parliament Page 12

UK locked-in syndrome sufferer Nicklinson dies Page 8

Army batters Damascus; 40 killed Moscow believes Assad won’t use chemical weapons AMMAN: Syrian army shells crashed into southern Damascus yesterday and helicopters fired rockets and machineguns during an assault to shore up President Bashar Al-Assad’s grip on the capital, opposition activists said. They said at least 40 people had been killed in what they called the heaviest bombardment this month. “The whole of Damascus is shaking with the sound of shelling,” said a woman in Kfar Souseh, one of several districts hit during the militar y offensive to root out rebel fighters.

At least 22 people were killed in Kfar Souseh and 18 in the nearby district of Nahr Eisha, activists said. “There are 22 tanks in Kfar Souseh now and behind each one there are at least 30 soldiers.

They are raiding houses and executing men,” an opposition activist in Kfar Souseh, who gave his name only as Bassam, told Reuters by Skype.

More than 250 people, including 171 civilians, were killed across Syria on Tuesday, mostly around Damascus, Aleppo and the southern city of Deraa, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based opposition monitoring group. Fighting a 17month old revolt against Assad’s rule, the army has used tanks and helicopter gunships this week in an offensive around the capital which has coincided with the depar ture of UN militar y observers after a failed mission.

Activists in the southwestern suburb of Mouadamiya said Assad’s forces had killed 86 people there since Monday, half of them in cold blood. It was not possible to verify the report. There was no immediate government account of the latest fighting, but state television broadcast footage of weapons it said had been seized from rebels in Mouadamiya, which was one of the first areas to join the uprising against Assad.

The United Nations estimates that 18,000 people have been killed in what has become a civil war after a violent state response to peaceful protests generated an armed rebellion.

The conflict, which pits a mainly Sunni Muslim opposition against a ruling system dominated by Assad’s Alawite minority, threatens to destabilize neighbors including Lebanon, where Sunni-Alawite violence flared for a third day. The death toll from the fighting in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli rose to at least 10 with more than 100 wounded, medical sources

said, in what residents said were some of the heaviest clashes there since Lebanon’s 1975-90 civil war. The Syria conflict has revived old tensions in Tripoli between pro-Assad Alawites in the hill-top district of Jebel Mohsen and their Sunni neighbors in Bab AlTabbaneh below.

ALEPPO BATTLES In Syria, Assad’s forces have lost swathes of territory in recent months, but have fought back hard in Damascus and in Aleppo, the country’s biggest city and its commercial hub. Reuters journalists in Aleppo heard gunfire and shells exploding every minute. State television said government forces were pursuing “the remnants of the armed terrorist gangs”. Opposition sources said Syrian state forces had evacuated two security installations at Albu Kamal on the Iraqi border on Tuesday as rebels made gains after a week of heavy fighting. They identified the installations as belonging to the Airforce Intelligence and Political Security agencies in Albu Kamal, 120 km southeast of the city of Deir al-Zor. As Syria slips deeper into chaos, the United States and Israel have voiced concern that Assad might lose control of his chemical weapons arsenal or even be tempted to use it. Russia, a Syrian ally since Soviet times, believes Syria has no intention of using its chemical weapons and is able to safeguard them, the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported yesterday, citing an unidentified Foreign Ministry official.

A “confidential dialogue” with the Syrian government on the security of the arsenal has convinced Russia that “the Syrian authorities do not intend to use these weapons and are capable of keeping them under control themselves,” Kommersant repor ted. US President Barack Obama threatened Assad on Monday with “enormous consequences” if he employed chemical weapons or even if he moved them in a menacing way, drawing a warning from Russia against any unilateral action by the West. Russia and China have repeatedly vetoed UN Security Council resolutions that Western and some Arab countries had hoped would pile pressure on Assad to end the conflic t.

Moscow accuses those nations of prolonging the war by backing rebels, whom it often identifies as Islamist militants. — Reuters

US website airs naked photos of Prince Harry LONDON: Pictures of a naked Prince Harry, grandson of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, cavorting with a nude young woman in a hotel room in Las Vegas were published on a US website yesterday, in a potential embarrassment to him and the royal family.

A royal source confirmed to Reuters that it was Harry in the photos. One photo published on the celebrity gossip website TMZ shows Harry, an Apache helicopter pilot in the British army, covering up his genitals with his hands while an apparently naked woman hides behind his back.

The other shows the 27-year-old prince, third in line to the British throne, pictured from the back hugging what appears to be

Britain’s Prince Harry

the same naked woman. The blurred pictures were taken in the a VIP suite of a hotel in Las Vegas where the prince was enjoying a private holiday with friends. According to TMZ, the pictures were taken after Harry and his friends went down to the hotel bar and invited some women, who have not been identified, back up to their room.

The photographs of Harry were taken after the group started playing a game of strip pool. “We are not commenting specifically on the photos,” a spokesman for the prince said. Harry, son of heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles and his late ex-wife Princess Diana, earned a reputation when he was younger as a royal wild child after he admitted in 2002 dabbling in marijuana and under-age drinking. Three years later he made headlines when he wore a Nazi uniform to a costume party. However, in recent years Harry, who served in the army in Afghanistan four years ago and has spoken of his desire to return to frontline action, has shed much of this earlier playboy image.

He recently embarked on a highly successful solo royal tour of the Caribbean and Brazil as part of celebrations for the queen’s 60th anniversary on the throne, and stood in for his grandmother at the closing ceremony of the London Olympic Games earlier this month. The prince appeared on the front pages on British newspapers yesterday - not because of the naked pictures but over reports of a race he had with double gold medal winning US Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte in a pool at a Las Vegas resort. However, the love life of the single prince, whose elder brother William got married last year to Kate Middleton in a ceremony that attracted huge global interest, continues to attract great media attention.— Reuters

TRIPOLI: A Sunni gunman steps out from a hole made by fighters to move from street to street, during clashes that erupted between supporters and opponents of the Syrian regime, in the northern port city of Tripoli, Lebanon yesterday. — AFP

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

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

Lieberman pushes vote to oust Abbas JERUSALEM: Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has called on the Middle East peacemaking Quartet to force elections on Palestinians in a bid to oust president Mahmud Abbas and revitalize the dormant peace process. In a letter sent on Tuesday to the Quartet’s top diplomats, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, Lieberman said that Abbas “apparently is uninterested or unable... to reach an agreement which would bring an end to the conflict.”

“The time has come to consider a creative solution, to think ‘outside the box,’ in order to strengthen the Palestinian leadership,” wrote Lieberman.

“General elections in the PA (Palestinian Authority) should be held, and a new, legitimate, hopefully realistic Palestinian leadership should be elected.”

Direct peace talks between Israel and the

Palestinians have been on hold since September 2010 following an intractable dispute over settlements, and Quartet efforts to bring the two sides closer together have so far led nowhere.

In the letter, Lieberman said Israel had made “several significant gestures” to the PA, including efforts to boost its economy, an agreement to employ more Palestinian construction workers in Israel and reducing the number of roadblocks in the West Bank. “Unfortunately, despite these steps, we do not see any willingness or positive attitude on the part of the PA,” Lieberman wrote to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and UN Secretary General Ban Kimoon.

To Lieberman, the standstill in talks could be

resolved through the “creative solution” of internal Palestinian elections. “In his deeds and his behavior, Abbas does not represent the general Palestinian interest,” he wrote. “Despite Abbas’ delays, general elections in the PA should be held, and a new, legitimate, hopefully realistic Palestinian leadership should be elected,” Lieberman stated, noting that “PA elections were due to be held in 2010 and have since been postponed several times.”

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat slammed Lieberman’s letter as “incitement to murder.” “We severely condemn Liberman’s statements and hold the Israeli government fully responsibility for the life and well-being of president Abbas,” he said.

“These statements constitute a clear incitement to murder and are similar to the campaign that was

launched by former Israeli premier Sharon against late president Yasser Arafat that ended in his murder,” he said.

Erakat noted he had contacted the Quartet to stop the “smear campaign” against Abbas, and denied Lieberman’s claim that the Palestinian president was preventing elections. “The Quartet knows president Abbas wants to end division through Palestinian presidential and legislative elections,” he said. In April 2011, Abbas’ ruling Fatah party signed a reconciliation deal with its Hamas rivals who govern Gaza in a move aimed at ending years of rivalry.

But the deal was never implemented, with the factions falling out over plans to set up a caretaker cabinet of independents which was to have prepared the way for presidential and legislative elections within a year. —AFP

UK locked-in syndrome sufferer Nicklinson dies British man failed to overturn euthanasia law LONDON: A British man who suffered from locked-in syndrome has died days after losing a legal bid to end his life of “pure torture”, his lawyers said yesterday. Tony Nicklinson, 58, was left paralyzed by a catastrophic stroke while on a business trip to Athens in 2005. On August 16, he lost a court bid to end his life after High Court judges unanimously agreed that it would be wrong to depart from a precedent that equates voluntary euthanasia with murder.

After the ruling Nicklinson broke down in tears, saying he was “devastated” by the decision. His lawyers Bindmans LLP said Nicklinson passed away yesterday, six days after the decision. Wiltshire Police said they were not involved in dealing with the death and neither was the coroner, suggesting it was not suspicious. “He has been visited regularly by the doctor and the doctor will be signing the death certificate,” a spokesman said.

A statement from one of Nicklinson’s daughters on his Twitter account read: “You may already know, my Dad died peacefully this morning of natural causes. He was 58.”

A later message from his family read: “Thank you for your support over the years.

We would appreciate some privacy at this difficult time. Love, Jane, Lauren and Beth”.

In a statement issued by his lawyer after the ruling last week, Nicklinson said: “I thought that if the court saw me as I am, utterly miserable with my life, powerless to do anything about it because of my disability then the judges would accept my reasoning that I do not want to carry on and should be able to have a dignified death.

“I am saddened that the law wants to condemn me to a life of increasing indignity and misery.” Three judges described the case as “deeply moving and tragic”, and Nicklinson’s predicament as “terrible”. But they unanimously agreed that it would be wrong for the court to depart from the long-established legal position that “voluntary euthanasia is murder, however understandable the motives may be”. They ruled that the current law did not breach human rights and it was for parliament, not the courts, to decide whether it should be changed. —AFP

WILTSHIRE: In this file photo, Tony Nicklinson sits at his home in Wiltshire. —AP

Inquiry recommends female quotas in Australian military

BRASILIA: A girl looks at an antiradar missile MAR-1 at the Brazilian Defense Industrial Fair at Brasilia’s Air Base. —AFP

Brazil’s defense industry booms

BRASILIA: Brazil’s defense industry is booming, fueled by government incentives to modernize the country’s armed forces and develop a robust, export-oriented military industrial complex. “Companies are happy. There is a determination to grow and invest. Five years ago, it was the opposite,” said Carlos Pieratoni Gamboa, vice-president of the Brazilian Association of Defense and Security Equipment (Abimde). Abimde, which groups 170 companies, hopes to invest $120 billion over the long term, planning to double the current 25,000 direct jobs it generates and boost annual export sales from $1.7 billion to $4 billion.

Brazil, the world’s sixth largest economy, was ranked as the world’s eighth largest arms exporter in the 1980s but today languishes in 30th place, according to industry experts. Brazil still boasts the biggest armed forces in the region, although they have been considerably weakened by a lack of investment in equipment for more than two decades. President Dilma Rousseff, like her predecessor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has gone head-to-head with the armed forces over the establishment of a truth commission to probe rights abuses during the 1964-1985 military dictatorship. But the two also helped fuel the current boom by investing in equipment and underscoring the strategic importance of a domestic defense industry in line with a national defense strategy unveiled in 2008. This year, Rousseff approved incentives to boost production and domestic purchases, and Brazil has bought conventional submarines and helicopters from France, insisting on technology transfer and assembly on its territory.

It also resurrected a plan to develop, beginning in 2016, its first nuclear-powered fast attack submarine.

And a government decision is awaited on awarding a multibillion dollar contract for 36 fighter jets. The Rafale, made by French firm Dassault, is competing against US aviation giant Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet and Swedish manufacturer Saab’s Gripen jet for the contract. “We need this industry because it is strategic for our sovereignty, because of the size of our territory, the length of our borders and because we have been blessed with enormous (natural) wealth,” Rousseff has said. The Brazilian defense market is attracting foreign interest despite the world economic slowdown.

“There is a clear movement of foreign firms seeking partnerships with Brazilian counterparts,” a strategy which offers technology transfer to Brazil while foreigners gain access to government contracts that give priority to the domestic industry, Oswaldo Luiz Guimaraes, engineering manager at the Brazilian firm Jaragua said.

Jaragua, which has been boosting its defense activities, launched a joint venture with the Italian firm Oto Melara to produce cannons in Brazil and set up a maintenance center for Latin America. Brazil sees its neighbors and other emerging countries as natural markets for its products and has stepped up military and industrial cooperation with them. Joint projects include the new KC-390 military transport plane being developed by Brazil’s top planemaker Embraer, with partners from Argentina, Chile and Colombia-which also plan to buy the aircraft. This strategy provides Brazil with customers while allaying fears of a Brazilian military buildup, according to Nelson During, chief editor of the country’s respected defense website DefesaNet. —AFP

SYDNEY: A damning inquiry into the treatment of women in Australia’s military yesterday recommended quotas to increase female representation and the establishment of a unit to probe sexual misconduct. Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick said her year-long review of the Australian Defense Force (ADF) uncovered “systemic, cultural and practical impediments to cultural change” regarding the status of women.

“Our overarching finding is that, despite progress over the last two decades, I am not confident that, in all the varied workplaces that comprise the ADF today, women can and will flourish,” Broderick said. The inquiry was set up following a series of sex scandals within the military, including an incident in which a male cadet having sex with a female colleague was broadcast via Skype to his classmates.

Broderick said the inquiry heard

“deeply distressing” testimony from women who had experienced sexual harassment, discrimination and abuse, with “highly sexualized” behavior normalized in some workplaces. “Members frequently stated that this behavior was ‘just part of the military and that’s the way it is’,” said Broderick. “The deep distress and trauma experienced by the women who disclosed incidents makes change across the ADF in its treatment of women both critical and urgent.” Broderick found that 25.9 percent of women and 10.5 percent of men had been sexually harassed within the military-broadly in line with the civilian population.

But a further 20.3 percent of women and 10.2 percent of men who denied being harassed went on to describe behavior that met the legal definition, she said, suggesting a “lack of awareness” about appropriate conduct. She called for a dedicated sexu-

al misconduct prevention and response unit to be set up “as a priority” to speed up response, provide victim support, education and oversee confidential reporting of incidents.

Increasing the “critical mass” of women and their prospects for promotion was also key, Broderick said, recommending any workplace of 10 or fewer members have at least two females. She also called for capable women to be targeted for promotion into senior ranks, with just one topranked female in each of the navy and air force from their 52 and 53 top spots, and four of 71 in the army.

Women represented 13.8 percent of the defense force, which had only managed a one percent increase in female recruitment in the past 10 years. Defense Minister Stephen Smith and ADF chief David Hurley indicated their in-principle support for all 21 recommendations. —AFP

Billionaire turns Austria elections into euro poll

VIENNA: Billionaire auto parts magnate Frank Stronach has burst into Austrian politics with a call to abandon the euro, probably turning parliamentary elections due next year into a de facto referendum on the country’s role in Europe. The man who emigrated to Canada as a 22year-old pauper and made a fortune by building the Magna automotive supply empire has come home with a bang, insisting it is time to restore the schilling national currency as quickly as possible.

Stronach’s party is so new that it still has no name and its support remains so far in single figures, but the 79-year-old is already drawing on the discontent about the cost of euro -zone membership which is spreading in the bloc’s wealthier members. The latest Gallup opinion poll gave the party 8 percent support - still far behind the governing Social Democrats (SPO), their conservative coalition partner the People’s Par ty (OVP), and the eurosceptic opposition Freedom Party (FPO).

But with the right-of-centre parties weakened by corruption scandals, Stronach has managed to drag the political debate in his direction just as more Europeans question whether the euro project can be saved in its current form. “The currency is the economic reflection of a nation ... You can create prosperity

only by having your own currency in individual countries,” he told Austrian broadcaster ORF. Stronach left Austria in the early 1950s when it had yet to recover from World War Two and remained under allied military occupation.

But while he built his business empire in Canada, Austria joined the

VIENNA: The head of the Austrian right-wing Freedom Party Heinz-Christian Strache speaks during a news conference in Vienna, Austria. The head of Vienna’s Jewish community is criticizing Austria’s rightist leader Strache for posting a cartoon showing a banker with a large hooked nose and Star of David cufflinks profiting from Europe’s financial crisis. —AP

group of strong European economies which are now having to fund bailouts for the euro-zone’s weaker members. There is increasing evidence of bailout fatigue in the well-off countries, so having solidly pro-Europe Austria waver in its commitment would be an ominous sign for the currency. Finland’s foreign minister said last week that officials had prepared for the possible collapse of the single currency. Dutch voters go to the polls next month in an election dominated by the eurozone debt crisis and austerity measures.

“Clearly this is not just an Austrian development but more representative of the so-called stronger countries which have the highest credit rating,” said Zsolt Darvas, research fellow at the Brussels-based Brugel think tank. “In Germany, Finland or the Netherlands you see exactly the same or similar movements.” FPO leader Heinz-Christian Strache, whose party is off highs but still gets around 21 percent in polls, is calling for the euro-zone to be reduced to a group of strong members such as Germany, Austria and the Netherlands. Even OVP leader and Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger, a pro-Europe stalwart, has backed treaty changes to let the euro-zone evict members that do not live up to financial commitments. —Reuters

News

in brief

‘Sleeping passenger’ wakes up in Lahore ISLAMABAD: A woman traveling to Paris from Pakistan’s eastern Lahore city fell asleep during the flight, only to be woken up back in Lahore, her starting destination, said reports here yesterday. A woman was traveling via Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to Paris from Lahore.

During the flight, she fell asleep, citing relatives local Express news channel reported. The flight after reaching its destination from Lahore to Paris went to Italy and then landed back into Lahore. However, the woman remained asleep and was only woken up when the plane landed back in Lahore. The middle-aged woman’s daughters and relatives lodged protest with the PIA authorities and blamed the airline for the mistake.

However, PIA spokesperson told Express that an inquiry has been launched into the incident and that the woman will be sent back without any additional charges.

Historic wall crumbles ROME: A section of wall dating back to the early 19th century overlooking one of Rome’s most historic squares-Piazza del Popolo-crumbled yesterday due to the heatwave that is sweeping Italy. Rome mayor Gianni Alemanno visited the area where nine meters of wall have been damaged on a winding road with panoramic views over the Eternal City that connects the square to the Villa Borghese park on top of the hill. The road has been closed to traffic and Alemanno promised the damage would be repaired “in the coming days” and cost around 300,000 euros ($374,000). “This is a direct consequences of the extreme climate,” Umberto Broccoli, the administrator of Rome’s cultural treasures, told reporters.

“First there was snow, then a very rainy winter and now a very dry summer.” The wall was built as part of a vast project by neoclassical Italian architect Giuseppe Valadier (1762-1839) to create a panoramic promenade in the centre of Rome and includes the famous Pincio terrace in Villa Borghese.

Turkish leaders appeal for unity ISTANBUL: Turkey’s leaders called for unity yesterday following a car bomb attack which heightened fears that Kurdish militants are exploiting chaos in neighboring Syria and stepping up their decades-old insurgency.

Unidentified assailants detonated the car bomb by a police station in the industrial city of Gaziantep near the Syrian border late on Monday, killing nine people including several children and wounding more than 60.

The president, prime minister and party leaders gathered in the city at a funeral for the victims of the attack, which came as families celebrated the Eid Al-Fitr holiday at the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. “The best answer we as a nation can give is to form a (united) front and stand side by side, whatever our differences ... in the face of this act of terrorism,” President Abdullah Gul told reporters after arriving in Gaziantep. Gul and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan lined up with other officials and said prayers in front of coffins wrapped in the red-and-white Turkish flag at a mosque in the city as tearful relatives looked on.

World’s largest TV SEOUL: South Korea’s LG Electronics yesterday began sales of what it claims is the world’s largest ultra-definition television, with a view to expanding its share of the premium TV market. The company released an ultradefinition TV with an 84-inch (213-cm) screen to the local market, with a price tag of 25 million won ($22,067). Overseas sales will kick off in Europe and the United States next month ahead of releases in Asia and Latin America, it added. The new product comes as global manufacturers seek to drive slowing sales by producing premium TVs with bigger screens and sharper images. LG, the world’s number two TV manufacturer, said the new model features not only a large screen but also resolution higher than existing high-definition models, which makes viewers feel “the sense of reality and presence”. Earlier this year top player Samsung Electronics released a 75-inch full HD TV and Japan’s Sharp unveiled a 90-inch model.

2 Germans, 2 pilots killed in Kenya crash NAIROBI: Two German tourists and two pilots were killed when their airplane crashed Wednesday in Kenya’s renowned Maasai Mara national park, with at least three other tourists badly injured, police said.

“Four people died on the spot, while three others were seriously wounded,” said local police chief Peterson Maelo. “Those injured have been taken to Nairobi for treatment.” A total of five Germans, four Americans and two Czechs were reported on board the aircraft.

Catherine Ochola from Flying Doctors Service - an air ambulance service said three “more critical patients” had been flown to Nairobi. A second air ambulance airplane rescued other passengers, and the rest by Kenya’s air force. The pilots’ nationalities were not known.

Michael Koikai, a warden with Kenya Wildlife Service, said that the plane had crashed shortly after takeoff from the Ngerende airstrip around midday. Kenya Civil Aviation Authority official Mutia Mwandwika said the plane belonged to the local air company, Mombasa Air Safari. A company official confirmed the crash but did not provide further details.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

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

In crisis, Greece rounds up immigrants NEA VYSSA: Border police jeeps hurtle along hot, dusty tracks past potato fields on their way to the river that marks the Greek-Turkish border. Sirens blaring, the convoys have been repelling wave after wave of migrants. Greece’s remote Evros region has turned into Europe’s main battleground against illegal immigration; more than two-thirds of people making the clandestine journey into the European Union pass through here from neighboring Turkey.

Greece launched an aggressive campaign this month to try to seal its 200-kilometer northeastern border, as it faces a debilitating financial crisis that has caused a swell in joblessness and a surge in racist attacks against immigrants with dark skin.

The police operation has brought nearly 2,000 additional border guards to the Turkish frontier previously manned by about 500 officers. They fanned out with dogs, night vision equipment and flat-bottomed boats for 24-hour patrols of the Evros River that forms a natural border. At least 21 people have drowned or died of exposure crossing the river this year, while several have been listed as missing.

In Athens, the operation is being bolstered by mass roundups of suspected illegal immigrants.

They are seen lined up on the streets of the capital every day, many in handcuffs, waiting to be put in detention until they can be deported. In the first week of the crackdown in early August, police said they apprehended nearly 7,000 people for identification checks; nearly 1,700 were slated for deportation. Anwar, a 22-year-old man from Bangladesh, walked across the border near Orestiada, a small town wedged between Turkey and Bulgaria.

Unaware of the immigration clampdown, he said he is looking for police so he can turn himself in. It’s a well-worn ploy: Migrants have actively tried to get themselves taken to detention centers near Athens, assuming they will be released due to overcrowding and allowed to blend into the chaotic capital. “I’ve come here to work,” Anwar, who declined to give his full name because of his illegal status, said moments after crossing the border. “I know what will happen to me: They might keep me in detention for around three months, but then they’ll let me out and I’ll go to Athens.” Now, however, authorities are determined to swiftly deport illegal migrants they

round up. In a recent pre-dawn operation, authorities using thermal imaging cameras spotted a group of around 60 illegal immigrants on the Turkish side of the Evros River. Officers used spotlights, sirens and loud speakers to deter them from crossing, although fifteen immigrants still made it over to a river islet in a no man’s land and were arrested. Uniformed police officers from 25 countries are already helping Greece guard the Evros River as part of the European Union’s border protection agency, Frontex. But according to the

FILAKIO: Illegal immigrants are seen behind fence at detention center in Filakio village, northern Greece, near the borders with Turkey. — AP

agency’s own estimates, 21,000 immigrants and asylum seekers managed to cross over illegally in the first six months of 2012. Afghans currently make up the highest number of people crossing illegally, followed by Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, and an increasing number of people from war-ravaged Syria, according to the agency.

The police operation has faced strong criticism from human rights groups, local officials, and even police officers’ associations - with criticism focusing on alleged racial profiling and police brutality. Allegations include arbitrary detention,

Four killed; new floods strike southern Russia MOSCOW: Floods killed four people and prompted the evacuation of 1,500 others yesterday in the southern Russian province of Krasnodar, officials said, only weeks after a flash flood killed 171 people there. Heavy rain overnight caused a river to burst its banks, flooding several hundred homes in the town of Novomikhailovsky and causing power outages in a neighboring town, the Emergency Situations Ministry said.

President Vladimir Putin, accused in the past of reacting too slowly to disasters, urged emergency officials to take all necessary measures to assist those affected. The Interior Ministry said four people had been killed and 1,500 people had been evacuated, including patients at a hospital. The regional administration’s website said three people were missing and that power was out in the affected area.

At least one of the dead was a visitor to the area, a popular vacation destination near the Black Sea shore, regional authorities said. Krasnodar governor Alexander Tkachev said in a statement the evacuation had been timely and that an emergency warning system had worked effectively. But the Interfax news agency quoted residents as saying warning sirens could not be heard through the rain. “There was no notice whatsoever,” a

beatings and degrading police treatment. Police video showing riot police and other officers rounding up mostly South Asian immigrants as they got off a train that arrived at Athens’ main station also received condemnation from local rights groups and leftwing opposition parties.

Amnesty International called on Greek authorities to stop the roundups immediately. “While Greece has the right to control migration, it does not have the right to treat people like criminals purely because of the color of their skin,” Amnesty’s

person with the Twitter account @inconsta wrote on the social network, saying that cars were floating in the water and a bridge had been destroyed by the floods.

Prosecutors will look into the local authorities’ handling of the emergency, the federal Prosecutor General’s Office said in a statement. Authorities were criticized over a lack of preparedness and a slow response to the flash flood on July 7, which devastated the town of Krymsk.

Several officials were sacked and detained after the disaster. Residents of the mountain town of 57,000 were caught by surprise when water poured into their homes and had little time to flee to safety.

Putin, in power since 2000 and back in the presidency since May after four years as prime minister, has visited the area three times since the July flooding, reassuring residents they would receive new or repaired homes. He accused local officials of negligence after Russia’s top investigator said only 52 Krymsk residents had received an official warning about the imminent flooding. Putin weathered the biggest protests to his 12 years in power over the winter. Active opposition has mainly been confined to big cities and the president is eager not to let it spill into the regions, where he enjoys strong support. — Reuters

Jezerca Tigani said in a statement.

He warned that many immigrants fleeing war zones and potential persecution from dictatorial regimes were being denied a fair asylum assessment. “Greece may be going through financial difficulties while facing one of the highest migration flows among EU countries,” Tigani said, “but these police operations violate international human rights standards and should stop immediately.”

Police say migrants’ rights are being respected.

“Our aim is to deter illegal immigrants and arrest traffickers, but the migrants’ well-being and rights

Ethnic, economic interests entangle Rwanda in Congo Tangled alliances, enmities behind recurring insurgencies KIWANJA: Four years after dozens of his neighbors in the remote eastern Congolese village of Kiwanja were butchered by rebels, Olivier has a sense of a recurring nightmare. Insurgents once again stalk the village’s abandoned streets and fearful residents crowd for safety at the shut gates of the nearby UN peacekeepers’ base as gunfire shatters the silence and government troops retreat in chaos. As with a previous 2004-2009 rebellion, Congo’s leaders, UN experts and regional analysts point to small but militarily powerful neighbor Rwanda as the driving force behind this latest insurgency to test Kinshasa’s tenuous hold over the east.

NORTH KIVU: A woman carries her baby as she leaves the village of Ngululu, 80 km north west of Goma, after the village and nearby villages were attacked and burnt by members of the Congo Defense Front (FDC) rebel group. — AFP of thousands living with no shelter on muddy roads on the outskirts of Goma after fleeing fighting, said he had to leave his parents behind because they were too weak to leave. “Before it was the CNDP who made war. Now it’s M23. We think it’s the same... It’s Rwanda who cause all the war in the east.”

Front-running Dutch party blasts ‘senseless’ austerity THE HAGUE: The euro-zone crisis took centre stage this week as the Dutch far-left Socialist Party (SP) launched its election campaign with a challenge of “senseless” austerity measures in the 17-nation bloc. SP leader Emile Roemer said in an email that he was in favor of keeping the euro but said: “we can’t tell if it will survive.” The Netherlands, Germany and Finland have pushed tough austerity measures on heavily-indebted euro-zone partners, but Roemer’s party vehemently opposed budget cuts.

“The only thing a government can do in these times of crisis is stimulating the economy... Certainly not senseless austerity,” Roemer said Sunday as the party launched its campaign in the eastern city of Arnhem.

Pledging to pump an additional three billion euros ($3.7 billion) into the Dutch economy next year, the SP is leading major opinion polls, and should they win on September 12, would likely be the senior partner in a coalition government.

Meanwhile, the election date of September 12 is also when Germany’s highest court is to rule on complaints aimed at stopping Europe’s biggest economy from ratifying laws that would allow the eurozone’s bailout fund to take effect. The SP, once a Maoist party, also plans to defy an EU rule binding the Netherlands to keep its public deficit below three percent of gross domestic product next year, saying that target remained realistic only by 2015. Last year’s deficit turned Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s current caretaker government into a laughing stock when figures showed a deficit of 4.7 percent of GDP after The Hague hammered Greece for not getting its books in order. Roemer remained defiant, saying his party would not let the Netherlands pay

a Brussels-imposed fine in the event it breached the three-percent limit, saying: “People are more important than the rules.”

“If they threaten to impose a fine, I will kindly explain to Brussels and Europe that we are dealing with circumstances that requires investment.”

Cooperation not integration-Since it was formed in 1972, the SP-which has a red tomato with a small white star as a logo-has moved away from its roots and adopted a softer approach, but it remains a hard-left socialist party at its core. Its election campaign is diametrically opposed to that of Rutte’s, who strongly supports austerity measures and is seen as a key German and Finnish ally on demands for government spending cuts. Rutte’s coalition collapsed in April when its far-right parliamentary partner, led by anti-Islamic politician Geert Wilders, walked out of talks aimed at bringing next year’s budget in line with the Brussels target. Roemer calls for cooperation with Europe but not integration and wants to retain the euro-unlike Wilders’ PVV, which wants to do away it entirely.

The SP is looking at a possible referendum over the transfer of power “towards Brussels’ technocrats,” the party added. It seems to be gaining traction with its anti-EU position. Polling institute Maurice de Hond put the SP at 36 seats in the 150-seat Lower House, followed by Rutte’s VVD with 32, Wilders’ PVV with 18 seats and the Labour Party (PvdA) with 16. “If the Socialist Party enters a government with at least one or two more left-wing parties... the Netherlands will not follow Germany any more” on austerity measures, Andre Krouwel, a political scientist at Amsterdam’s Free University said. —AFP

are always a main priority,” said Orestiada police chief Yiorgos Salamangas.

The government insists the operation is working, reporting a drop in illegal border crossings by around 90 percent in the first week. “This is a massive operation that is taking place in the country for the first time and it will continue in the longterm,” police spokesman Christos Manouras said.

“It is widely accepted that the expulsion of immigrants who are here illegally is a national necessity, an issue of national survival.” Greece is a member of Europe’s passport-free Schengen agreement but shares no borders with any of the other 25 member states. That has meant hundreds of thousands of irregular immigrants have been unable to cross the border into other European countries, trapping them in limbo in Athens and other Greek cities, typically in slum conditions.

As the country struggles through a fifth year of recession, illegal immigration and a rise in violent crime have become central issues in the political debate, with mainstream parties blamed by many for the country’s near financial collapse facing opposition from more radical political groups. The extreme right Golden Dawn party, described by political opponents as neo-Nazis, won nearly 7 percent of the vote in June general elections, a 20-fold jump since a national vote in 2009. The party denies any involvement in a recent surge in anti-immigrant attacks, and says police should be more concerned by attacks on Greeks by foreign criminals. In one suspected attack by racist gangs this month, an Iraqi man was stabbed in the street and died hours later in the hospital.

Anti-racism campaigners last month said immigrants living in Greece have been targeted in at least 300 violent attacks between early April and late July. The rise in hate crimes is believed to be one of the triggers of the government clampdown. Authorities are using a newly built detention center near Athens and two converted police academy buildings in northeastern Greece to house detainees, while dozens of additional facilities are planned using converted Army bases.

Police associations argue that the massive deployment of manpower should have been delayed until more of those new facilities are ready. They cite the lack of detention capacity as a key reason for the country’s inability to deal with illegal immigration.— AP

NORTH KIVU: Nyatura militia soldiers stand guard on a hill in Ngululu, 80 km north west of Goma, which is controlled by Nyatura militias, after the village and nearby villages were attacked and burnt by members of the Congo Defense Front (FDC) rebel group which has been targeting Hutus. — AFP After wars in the 1990s, Rwanda withdrew troops from Congo in 2002. But Congo watchers say Rwanda’s security apparatus has continued to project its military, political and economic interests across the border, using armed groups as proxies.

Kiwanja resident Olivier, who withheld his surname fearing reprisals, believes many of the same fighters that carried out the 2008 massacre that killed 150 people in his village have returned as part of the new rebellion.

“For me, it’s the same movement, just changed its name,” said 20-year-old Olivier, referring to the M23 rebels who have seized territory north of Goma in eastern North Kivu province in recent months, forcing over 270,000 people from their homes. The United Nations linked Rwanda to the rebels behind the last revolt, which finally ended in 2009 when Rwanda arrested the Congolese Tutsi rebel leader, Laurent Nkunda, who denies his forces were behind the massacre in Olivier’s village. For a time, Rwanda and Congo cooperated and Nkunda’s former fighters, the CNDP, were integrated into the Congolese army. But that deal has fallen apart, and the new rebels say they have taken up arms again because the Congo government reneged on it. Meanwhile, Congolese who have known relentless war and rebellion for the past 18 years, see more killing ahead. Jean Mwendo, one

DENIAL DOUBTED Rwanda strongly denies backing the M23. A small country that has long been held up by Western governments and businessmen as a model of reform, Rwanda jealously guards its reputation. But Western countries have made clear they do not believe its denials. Several, including the United States, Britain and Sweden, have frozen aid over accusations that Rwanda is waging proxy war across the border. “Rwanda has maintained covert capacity to shape events in the east (of Congo).

They never let go,” said Ben Shepherd, a British exdiplomat who has followed the region for 10 years.

“There is a complex stew of economic, nationalistic and ethnic drivers as to why they are doing it,” he added. Rwanda, whose army first entered Congo in 1996 and fought in two wars there, says it is being made a scapegoat for the Congo government’s and wider world’s failures to bring peace to the vast, mineral-rich former Belgian colony at the heart of Africa. “We are kind of really getting tired of getting caught up in a conflict that’s not ours,” said Louise Mushikiwabo, Rwanda’s foreign minister. When UN experts drafted a report, leaked in June, citing evidence that senior Rwandan military officials had been backing the M23 rebellion, the Rwandan government issued a detailed, point-by-point rebuttal that condemned the report as one-sided.

Independent Great Lakes expert Jason Stearns believes the festering eastern Congo conflict is eroding one of Rwanda’s biggest assets: its status as model of post-conflict development lauded by world leaders and business executives. “ The biggest damage that’s happening to Rwanda right now is the damage to its reputation,” he said.

Congo’s geography of vast, impenetrable rainforest has long steered its eastern trade away from its own distant capital Kinshasa and towards Rwanda’s much closer capital Kigali.

OUTCOME OF GENOCIDE More than 5 million people died in Congo through violence, hunger and disease as a result of two wars and a series of rebellions since the late 1990s, according to a 2008 study by the International Rescue Committee. All those conflicts were broadly linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide that saw Hutu soldiers and militia kill around 800,000 mostly ethnic Tutsis in 100 days. After the genocide, many of the Hutu militia fighters fled to camps in Congo. Rwanda, now led by President Paul Kagame’s Tutsi-dominated government, says the Hutu fighters sheltering in Congo remain a threat, and it has a right to focus on security, especially as the Congolese state has failed to pacify the border area.

A sizable population of speakers of the Rwandan language live across the border in Congo. Militias have sprung up from this group, often headed by Tutsis such as Nkunda’s CNDP, officially to protect themselves from Hutus and other hostile ethnic groups but frequently taking sides in uprisings against Kinshasa, often with Rwandan support.

Nevertheless, Congolese officials and UN experts say Rwanda’s past interventions have been motivated as much by economic interests as by security.

Rwanda now has one of the best armies in Africa, and has not suffered an attack from Hutu rebels in Congo for about a decade. The United Nations says the Hutu rebel FDLR force hiding in eastern Congo, believed to number as many as 15,000 a decade ago, has been reduced to less than 3,000 fighters.

Previous UN reports have documented lucrative smuggling rackets ferrying coltan, tin, gold and tungsten ferried across to Rwanda. At the height of Congo’s last war in 1999, profits from eastern Congo’s mineral fields contributed some $320 million to Rwanda’s defense budget, UN experts said.

Congo’s Information Minister Lambert Mende says the pattern of war for mineral wealth has resumed, and the latest rebel campaign is an extension of a Kigali-backed “war of pillage”. “The (Rwandan) mafia profit to the maximum from the disorder, not paying anything to the Congolese state,” he said. Noel Twagiramungu, a Rwandan human rights activist who fled his country in 2004 when civil society groups came under pressure, also said money was at the root of the intervention. —Reuters

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

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

Obama blasts Romney over education costs Obama, wife graduated with large debt BEXLEY: President Barack Obama sought again yesterday to paint rival Mitt Romney as out of touch with ordinary Americans, telling students in Ohio he was more committed than the Republican to making college affordable. Students and young voters made up a critical part of the coalition that elected Obama in 2008, and the Democrat ’s advisers are eager to retain that support this year despite a dip in enthusiasm that has sometimes dogged his campaign.

The Obama team has spent months trying to define Romney, a wealthy former private equity executive, as not being able to relate to middle class Americans for refusing to release several years of his tax returns and keeping cash in overseas accounts. The president, himself a millionaire and a Harvard graduate, continued that attack line in the battleground state of Ohio, highlighting Romney’s suggestion that students borrow money from their parents to pay for school as an example of the former Massachusetts governor ’s

mindset.

“Not everybody has parents who have the money to lend,” Obama told a group of more than 3,000 people at Capital University outside of Columbus. “ That may be news to some folks,” he said, to laughter.

Obama noted that he and his wife, Michelle, did not come from wealthy families and both graduated with a high debt load. He criticized Romney for failing to talk about grants or community colleges but instead encouraging students to “shop around” for the best deal on their education. “That’s it-that’s his plan,” Obama said. Romney’s campaign said Obama’s failure to fix the economy had made life tougher for students and young people. “Under this president, too many young Americans are suffering from higher college costs, more debt, and a lack of good jobs when they graduate,” Romney spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg said. “ The Romney-Ryan plan will deliver 12 million new jobs to help recent graduates - and all Americans

- enjoy a more prosperous future,” she said. The partisan fight over tax policies and budget cuts has taken on greater weight in the US presidential campaign with Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan’s addition to Romney’s ticket. The White House has emphasized its belief that the United States must invest in education to remain competitive, despite pressure to reduce spending and reduce the deficit.

As Obama headed for Nevada, his campaign office announced that Vice President Joe Biden would campaign in Florida next Monday and Tuesday, including events in Tampa on the opening day of the Republican national convention where Romney will formally become his party’s nominee later in the week. Obama won Florida in the 2008 election but is locked in a close race to keep the key swing state in the Nov 6 vote. Obama and Romney are also vying for Ohio, a state that traditionally swings between Democrats and Republicans in presidential elections and was in

NEVADA: US President Barack Obama shakes hands with supporters as he arrives to address a campaign event at Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno, Nevada. — AFP Obama’s column in 2008. An average of polls by RealClearPolitics shows

Obama ahead there by just 1.8 percentage points.—Reuters

Technical glitch delays 9/11 hearing at Gitmo Train crash damaged fiber optic lines

KABUL: Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey (center) poses for photograph at the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) headquarters in Kabul on August 20, 2012. — AFP

US ‘significant’ in Iraq despite troops pullout BAGHDAD: Top US military officer General Martin Dempsey insisted Tuesday during a quick trip to Iraq that Washington was still playing an important role there, eight months after the last American troops departed. Dempsey met with Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki and army chief of staff Lieutenant General Babaker Zebari during a six-hour stop, becoming the highest-ranking American to visit Iraq since the December 2011 pullout.

The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff said in an interview with AFP that Iraq was now a sovereign state, on an equal footing with the United States, a remark completely removed from the 2003 American-led invasion. “We still retain significant investment and significant influence. But now it’s on the basis of a partnership and not on the basis of ownership,” Dempsey, who served in Iraq as a commander during the war that toppled Saddam Hussein, said before landing in Baghdad. Clad in a formal military dress uniform instead of the combat fatigues worn during the war years, Dempsey stressed that he came to build a dialogue with his Iraqi counterparts and not to make demands.

After a 90-minute meeting with Maliki, Dempsey later told reporters the two discussed the conflict in neighboring Syria, Iraq’s interest in expanding training with US forces and the purchase of American military hardware, including radar, air defense weaponry and equipment to bolster border security. After flying over the bustling Iraqi capital by helicopter, Dempsey said he was struck by the air of “normalcy” compared to a few years ago when he served during a

raging war with insurgents.

“Only eight months out, and it seems to me that they’ve gripped the opportunity for now that we hoped they would grip,” he said en route back to Washington.

Although Iraq still faced daunting challenges, Dempsey said the country could eventually serve as a democratic model for the rest of the Middle East, which has been shaken by popular uprisings since early 2011. Since the departure of American combat troops, however, Iraq has witnessed a protracted political stalemate, while several deadly attacks have underscored gaps in safety here despite US and Iraqi officials’ insistence that local forces are able to maintain security.

Dempsey arrived from Afghanistan, where his C-17 aircraft was damaged by an insurgent rocket attack on the tarmac overnight at Bagram air base, forcing the general to use another plane for his trip to the Iraqi capital. Asked by AFP about the rocket attack at Bagram, Dempsey smiled and shrugged, saying perhaps it was a “lucky shot” by the Taleban. Washington is carrying out $12 billion worth of arms and training contracts in Iraq, with the first batch of 36 F-16 fighter jets set to be delivered in September 2014. Iraqi officials have said that while the country’s police and army are capable of ensuring internal security, they will not be able to fully defend the country’s borders, waters or airspace before 2020.

Iraq’s ability to maintain order has come under question, however, as violence remains high here - 409 people were killed in attacks over the holy Muslim month of Ramadan. —AFP

Guatemalan former police chief jailed for war crimes GUATEMALA: A Guatemalan court has sentenced a former police chief to 70 years in jail for ordering the kidnapping of a university student during the country’s brutal civil war. The landmark ruling made Pedro Garcia the highest ranking police official to be sentenced for war crimes in Guatemala and was the latest in a string of cases the government has initiated against former officials. Garcia, arrested last year at his home southeast of the capital, was convicted of crimes against humanity and the ‘forced disappearance’ or kidnapping of engineering student Edgar Saenz, who disappeared in 1981.

Garcia, who was police chief from 1974 until 1982, faces separate murder charges in the 1980 burning of the Spanish Embassy in Guatemala, which killed 36 people including the father of Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu. Guatemalan courts last year sentenced two former agents to 40 years in prison for their role in the disappearance of another student union leader

and ordered to trial the former director of national police, Hector Bol de la Cruz, for his alleged participation in abductions. Backed by crusading Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz, prosecutors in Guatemala are going after former highranking officials, sending a message that wartime atrocities will be tried.

Clues in police documents found in 2005 have exposed government repression during the 36-year war and provided enough evidence to start sending cases to trial. In January, a court sent former dictator Efrain Rios Montt to trial to face charges of genocide and crimes against humanity during the civil war.

The internal conflict wracked the Central American nation between 1960 and 1996, pitting a string of right-wing governments against leftist insurgents and leaving 200,000 people dead and 45,000 missing. Even with recent advances, prosecutors say that the large volume of cases means they will never bring to justice all of the nation’s war criminals. — Reuters

GUANTANAMO BAY: The next court appearance of five men charged over the 9/11 attacks has been delayed until today due to an Internet outage, the presiding judge said Tuesday. The preliminary hearings at a US military court in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba had already been pushed back so that the accused could observe the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and were due to run from yesterday through August 28.

But the Internet failure prompted defense attorneys to ask Judge James Pohl for more time to prepare, and the motion to delay was granted. The hearings will now begin at 9:00 am today, the judge said in his ruling. The outage was caused by the derailment of a freight train in the suburbs of Baltimore, near the US capital, which damaged fiber optic lines carrying Internet data from the US naval base in Cuba, a US military spokesman said.

All communications from Guantanamo Bay are first transmitted by satellite to the conti-

nental US and then via fiber optic lines. The lawyers for the accused hope to raise the issue of the alleged torture of their clients-and the US government’s refusal to let them discuss the details. Confessed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is on trial, along with his Pakistani nephew Ali Abd Al-Aziz Ali, also known as Ammar Al-Baluchi; Mustapha Al-Hawsawi of Saudi Arabia; and Yemenis Ramzi Binalshibh and Walid bin Attash. The five face the death penalty if convicted for their roles in the terror attacks by Al-Qaeda militants in which hijacked planes were used to strike New York, Washington and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing 2,976 people.

“The problem with the Internet access today is a good metaphor for problems at Guantanamo Bay,” said Ali’s lawyer James Connell. “In the same way that we’re dependent on the government for providing Internet services and every other kind of service, we’re

dependent on the government to agree to bring the witnesses that we request to Guantanamo Bay. “So far, they’ve refused to do that and there will be motions about that this week.”

Before being transferred to Guantanamo Bay in 2006, the five men were held in secret CIA prisons, where they were subjected to interrogation tactics which they say amounted to torture and were banned by President Barack Obama in 2009. The details of the alleged abuses have been classified by the US government as “top secret,” prohibiting the defendants or their lawyers to discuss the specifics at trial. This week’s hearings are expected to help pave the way for the trial, which is not expected to take place for at least a year. On May 5, when the defendants were formally charged, the men disrupted the proceedings by reading what looked to be a copy of the Koran, keeping their eyes fixed on the ground, or kneeling to pray. —AFP

50 buildings destroyed in California fire MANTON: Dozens of buildings, many of them likely homes, have been destroyed in recent days a fire burning outside the Northern California community of Manton, fire officials said. Fire crews assessing the rural area determined Tuesday that 50 buildings had been destroyed, state fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said. The count included buildings burned since the fire began, but officials did not say when the structures were destroyed. Officials didn’t have an accurate count yet of how many of the structures were homes, but Berlant noted the buildings were spread across a vast rural area of mostly residential homes. The blaze, which was sparked by lightning on Saturday has consumed more than 33 square miles and continues to threaten hundreds of homes.

Nearly 1,900 firefighters were battling the fire in rugged, densely forested terrain as it threatened 3,500 homes in the remote towns of Shingletown, Manton and Viola, about 170 miles north of Sacramento. As a the wildfire raged near Lynn Rodgers’ home of less than a year, the evacuated resident said Tuesday she remained optimistic - in spite of her growing frustration and fear.

“Yeah, but what can you do? Everything is in God’s hands - and the firefighters,” said Rodgers, who lives in Shingletown. Like Rodgers, many other evacuees were anxious to hear the latest information from officials.

Dozens of people, as well as about a dozen dogs, were waiting at the Redding gym. “The evacuation part?

It’s hard because I don’t know what’s happening to the house up there,” said Jimmy Hall, a Shingletown resident whose family spent another night sleeping on cots. “It’s my dad’s house...There’s a lot of things in there,” Hall added. “I’ve heard that my friend is still up there protecting his house. It’s just hard. Look at how we’re sleeping.”

Eric Kiltz, an emergency services coordinator for the American Red Cross, said “there’s more frustration than anxiety, and people, for the most part are grateful they have a safe and secure place to stay, even though their home may be lost.”

The fast-moving fire is one of many burning across the West, where dry lightning has sparked up grass, brush and timber, bringing an early start to the fire season. Gov Jerry Brown announced Tuesday that National Guard troops will be assisting with the firefighting efforts. The news comes a day after the Federal Emergency Management Agency said it is offering federal funds to help fight the blaze. The fire forced the closure of Highway 44 and other roads, and prompted the declaration of an emergency in Shasta County.

Elsewhere in California, a massive wildfire in Plumas National Forest continued to expand, helped by gusty winds. The blaze, about 120 miles north of Sacramento, has consumed nearly 98 square miles since it started at the end of July and threatens about 900 homes. In Mendocino County, the sheriff’s office issued a mandatory evacuation for residents in Covelo due to a wildfire that has burned more than 15 square miles of thick timber and rugged terrain. One outbuilding has been destroyed and 45 homes were threatened by the blaze, officials said. The fire was sparked by lightning Saturday in a remote area, making it difficult for fire crews to access. In Washington state, the National Weather Service warned about extreme fire danger in the eastern part of the state as forecasts called for thunderstorms with lightning. — AP

NASA GSFC GOES Project satellite image shows Tropical Storm Isaac. — AFP

Tropical Storm Isaac threatens Caribbean MIAMI: Tropical Storm Isaac formed in the Atlantic Ocean is expected to strengthen into a hurricane later this week as it moves on projected path across most of the Caribbean, the US National Hurricane Center said. Isaac was centered 500 miles east of the island of Guadeloupe. The storm had top winds of 40 miles per hour and is forecast to become a hurricane by Thursday as it approaches Puerto Rico. Computer forecast models show the storm moving as a hurricane across parts of Puerto Rico and then the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica and a large swath of Cuba.

It was too early to know whether Isaac would threaten energy interests clustered in the Gulf of Mexico. Meteorologists at Weather Insight, a private forecasting company and a unit of Thomson Reuters, gave the storm a 60 percent chance of entering the Gulf as a hurricane. The storm is expected to move west across the Caribbean this week and veer northwest, potentially putting Florida in its path. Robbie Berg, a hurricane specialist at the hurricane center, said the storm’s path after its projected passing over Cuba on Sunday was unclear. “Right now, it’s watch-and-see and monitor,” he said.

The center of Isaac, the ninth named storm of the Atlantic-Caribbean hurri-

cane season, is expected to move through the central Lesser Antilles on Wednesday evening and emerge over the eastern Caribbean Sea on Thursday, the center said. Tropical storm warnings were issued for the Caribbean islands of Martinique, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Antigua and parts of Curacao. A tropical storm watch was also in effect for the British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Hurricane expert Jeff Masters of private forecaster Weather Underground said most models appeared to agree on the storm’s path through the Caribbean over the next three days.

The storm, which began as Tropical Depression Nine before being upgraded to a tropical storm, will likely be followed closely by many in Florida, where the Republican National Convention will be held Aug 27-30 in Tampa. Masters said the chances of a hurricane forcing an evacuation during the convention were “probably near 2 percent.” “It would take ‘perfect storm’ sort of conditions to all fall in place to bring Tropical Depression Nine to the doorstep of Tampa as a hurricane during the convention, but that is one of the possibilities the models have been suggesting could happen,” he said.—Reuters

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

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

Sri Lanka condemns Buddha-kissing French tourists COLOMBO: Three French tourists convicted in Sri Lanka for desecrating a temple by photographing themselves k issing and posing with a Buddha statue drew condemnation yesterday for their “uncivilized behavior ”. The National Heritage Par ty, which is in the coalition government, said the trio of travelers aged 26-35 had been insensitive to the religious feelings of the island’s majority Buddhists. “Sri Lankans consider this statue to be sacred. They desecrated it. This is uncivilized behavior,” Heritage Par ty spokesman Udaya Gammanpila said, referring to the statue in the Ambekke Temple in the central district of Kandy.

“We condemn this action of the three French tourists and urge Westerners to please respect our culture and act decently,” Gammanpila added. The photos violated local laws protecting religious feelings and the

two women and man were sentenced to six months in jail, which was suspended for five years by a magistrate in the southern town of Galle on Tuesday. One of the women, who arrived on August 4 in the capital Colombo for a tour of tourist towns and the beach, posed pretending to kiss the statue on the lips, a photo published on a local website showed.

The magistrate fined the trio 1,500 rupees ($11) each, ordered the destruction of the photos, but handed back the camera and their passports. As well as the photo of the woman appearing to kiss the statue, the man tried to imitate the pose of the Buddha, police told the magistrate. “If we had not arrested them and prosecuted them, they would have taken the pictures abroad, published them and gloated,” police spokesman Ajith Rohana said. “They had not only broken Sri Lankan law,

but they have also violated universally accepted norms of respecting religious symbols of others,” Rohana said.

“We condemn this and urge tourists not to make religious offence.”

Officers were alerted to the incident after the travellers, named as Cristina Bras, Jorge Bras and Emilie Fontaine, tried to get their holiday pictures printed at a photo shop in Galle on Monday. “I am also a Buddhist and I was very hurt when I saw what was in the pictures,” the owner of the shop, Prasanna Gamage, told AFP by telephone. “That is why I refused to print them and called the police.” In 2010, Sri Lanka prevented US rap star Akon from visiting over his music video which featured scantily clad women dancing in front of a Buddha statue. Eight years ago, Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court ordered police and customs to seize CDs of Buddha Bar chill-out music.— AFP

COLOMBO: Statues of Buddha are seen in Colombo. Three French tourists convicted in Sri Lanka for desecrating a temple by photographing themselves posing with a Buddha statue drew condemnation yesterday for their “uncivilized behavior.” —AFP

‘Coalgate’ paralyses India’s parliament Singh morally responsible for affair: Oppn

NINGBO: A laborer works on a construction site in the summer heat in Ningbo, east China’s Zhejiang province. China’s countryside is facing a widening wealth gap as hundreds of millions of rural residents abandon farming for better paid work in cities. —AFP

Chinese wealth gap near ‘danger’ level SHANGHAI: China’s rural inequality is nearing “danger” levels as hundreds of millions of people shun farming for better paid city work, causing a widening wealth gap, a report said. The state-linked Centre for Chinese Rural Studies said inequality within rural areas was growing given the difference in incomes between those who farmed and those who flocked to cities as migrant workers. Although the majority of migrant workers live in cities for most of the year, they are officially registered as rural residents. “ The difference in rural residents’ income is getting bigger and pressure on living expenses is increasing,” the centre said in a statement reported in state media yesterday. China’s growing wealth gap is a major concern for authorities keen to avoid public discontent that could lead to social unrest in the rapidly developing country of 1.3 billion people.

The centre estimated the Gini coefficienta commonly used measure of inequalitywas 0.3949 for rural residents last year, nearing what it called the “danger” level of 0.40, the statement said.

The Gini coefficient measure varies between 0, reflecting complete equality, and 1, which indicates complete inequality. The release marked the first time the centre had compiled an estimate, so no comparative figure was available. China has not released a Gini coefficient for the country as a whole for more than a decade, putting the figure at 0.412 in

2000, amid worries over the widening income gap. An official said in January that data on high income groups was incomplete to explain why the government had again failed to issue the statistic for 2011.

Rural residents who work as migrant laborers in cities earn twice as much as those who farm for a living, the official Xinhua news agency quoted the centre as saying, but gave no figures. As a result, incomes as a whole for rural households were rising sharply, with average cash income jumping more than 14 percent to around 38,894 yuan ($6,174) last year, the Xinhua report said. Deng Dacai, deputy head of the centre, said the Gini coefficient for all of China was likely “well above” 0.40, Xinhua reported. The authors of the study could not be reached for comment yesterday.

The government-backed Chinese Academy of Social Sciences estimated China’s Gini coefficient at nearly 0.47 in 2005. “China should already have the statistical foundation to issue the nationwide Gini coefficient,” said Wang Jianmao, an economics professor at the China Europe International Business School in Shanghai. “The key is whether it’s willing to issue it.” The United Nations Industrial Development Organization, referring to the 0.47 level and lagging rural incomes, has said: “At this level of disparity, many would argue that China is in danger of serious social instability.”— AFP

Amnesty urges Islamabad to reform blasphemy laws Christian girl faces death sentence ISLAMABAD: Amnesty International has urged Pakistan to reform its blasphemy laws and protect a young Christian girl arrested for allegedly burning pages inscribed with verses from the Quran.

The Muslim-majority nation’s strict antiblasphemy laws make defaming Islam or desecrating the Quran illegal and potentially punishable by death.

Rimsha, who is between 10 and 13 years old and is reported to have Down’s Syndrome, was taken into custody in a low-income area of Islamabad on Thursday after furious Muslims demanded she be punished. Polly Truscott, Amnesty International’s South Asia director, said the case showed the “erosion of the rule of law” in Pakistan and the dangers faced by those accused of blasphemy. “Amnesty International is extremely concerned for Rimsha’s safety. In the recent past individuals accused of blasphemy have been killed by members of the public,” Truscott said in a statement issued late Tuesday.

President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday ordered officials to explain the arrest, while Christians fled the neighborhood of Mehrabad in fear at Muslim anger over

the incident. Truscott welcomed Zardari’s response but warned it would count for little unless there were “greater efforts to reform the blasphemy laws to ensure they cannot be used maliciously to settle disputes or enable private citizens to take matters into their own hands.” There has been growing concern in the West over religious intolerance in Pakistan following the assassinations last year of a leading politician and a Christian cabinet minister who spoke out against the blasphemy law. “The continued failure to reform these laws has effectively sent the message that anyone can commit outrageous abuses and attempt to excuse them as defense of religious sentiments,” Truscott said. Neighbors said Rimsha had burned papers collected from a garbage pile for cooking in her family home and someone alerted the local cleric after spotting the remains being thrown out as rubbish. A Christian mother sentenced to death for blasphemy in late 2010 remains in prison, while last month, a mob snatched a mentally unstable man from a village police station and beat him to death in central Punjab province after he allegedly burned pages from a Quran.— AFP

NEW DELHI: India’s Central Bureau of Investigation is probing possible corruption in the sale of coal concessions to private companies, it said yesterday, as the affair dubbed “coalgate” caused uproar in parliament, paralyzing it for a second day in a row. The CBI is investigating suspected collusion between state officials and private companies in underpriced sales of coalfields that the state auditor said last week may have cost the exchequer as much as $33 billion in lost revenues.

The agency would not say whether it had uncovered any irregularities, but both its investigation and the state auditor’s report will likely raise fresh questions about “crony capitalism” as well as the government’s involvement in the deeply troubled coal sector. Asia’s third-largest economy relies on coal for two-thirds of its power generation but despite having one of the world’s largest proven coal reserves there is a growing gap between demand and supply, which critics blame on state-run Coal India’s failure to boost output.

There were rowdy scenes in both houses of parliament as opposition lawmakers, shouting and shaking their fists, demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was coal minister between 2006-2009, when many of the sales occurred.

Singh has vehemently denied any wrongdoing and vowed to resign if it is proven that he acted inappropriately as coal minister, but opposition parties are keen to exploit the affair, especially with a series of state elections due in the next few months and general elections due by 2014.

The furor has grabbed newspaper headlines and dominated cable news channels, overshadowing the government’s attempts to persuade voters and foreign investors that it is serious about getting the economy back

on track. India is suffering a severe economic slowdown that economists have partly blamed on the government fumbling management of the economy.

The chaos in parliament may force the government to postpone voting until next week on a key banking reform that would allow private investors more clout in a long-restricted sector. The opposition parties’ strategy appears calculated to keep Singh’s government on a back

Sonia Gandhi, is not expected to resign. While his government has been hurt by corruption allegations, the quietly spoken former economist has a reputation for integrity. The CBI said it would submit its report to the government’s anti-graft body, the Central Vigilance Commission, by Sept 1.

A CBI official, who declined to be named, said investigators had travelled to more than 50 locations throughout the country and

coalfields did so with the intention of mining them or reselling them at a profit. In 1976, the government started allowing the sale of so-called “captive” coal blocks to energy-intensive private companies involved in the production of iron, steel and cement.

The government has awarded a net total of 195 blocks with reserves of 44.23 billion tons to a variety of industrial projects. But as of March only 28 of these were operating, with output at just 38

GAUHATI: Workers load coal onto a truck at a coal depot in Gauhati, India yesterday. Angry opposition lawmakers shouted and crowded aisles in India’s parliament yesterday to demand the prime minister resign after an audit found the government lost huge sums of money by selling coal fields without competitive bidding. —AP foot and fuel voter disenchantment over a series of corruption scandals that could cost his Congress party dearly in the coming elections.

“We will stick to our demand until the prime minister goes,” said Prakash Javadekar, a leader of the main opposition party, the Bharatiya Janata Party. “He is morally responsible.” Singh, who is close to Congress party leader

China stamps down on ‘body-double’ rumors BEIJING: China has blocked Internet searches for the term “body double” after web users expressed suspicions that convicted murderer Gu Kailai used a stand-in at her court hearings. Chinese state television on Monday showed a brief clip of Gu, wife of the disgraced former Communist party leader Bo Xilai, standing in the dock as she was convicted and sentenced for the murder of a British businessman. But her appearance-looking notably plumper than in earlier photographs that have appeared in foreign media-sparked suspicions that the woman in court might actually have been someone else. Some overseas Chinese websites even alleged the person who appeared in court was a woman called Zhao Tianshao, from northern China’s Langfang city. China’s censors moved quickly to muzzle the rumors and yesterday the term “ti shen”, or body double, remained blocked on many popular websites in the country. A search for the combined terms “ti shen” and “Gu Kailai” on Baidu, the top search engine in China, returned a line saying “part of the search results are not displayed according to relevant laws and policies”.

Sina Weibo, a microblogging service similar to Twitter, which is banned in China, blocked any postings that mentioned “ti shen”. It is not the first time that a highprofile defendant has been accused of using a stand-in in China. In 2009 there were suspicions that the son of a wealthy businessman who ran over and killed a young man had used a stand-in at his trial, after he appeared noticeably heavier than in pictures taken at the scene of the accident. China’s state-run media have stuck to official accounts of the Gu murder case, which brought down her politician husband and rattled the Communist party before a handover of power due to start later this year.—AFP

pored over hundreds of government documents, looking for irregularities involving more than a dozen private and public companies that bought coal blocks between 2005 and 2009. “ The agency is inquiring into possible collusion between private companies and public servants,” the official said. One focus of the agency’s investigation is whether the companies that bought the

million tons a year. The state auditor said an inter-ministerial committee was responsible for awarding the coal concessions but that it was not clear from the minutes of the committee’s meetings how they arrived at their decisions.

Coal Minister Shriprakash Jaiswal told CNBC-TV18 the government had “not done anything wrong” and that it was ready to debate the issue in parliament.— Reuters

North Korea economic zone remains under construction RASON: More than a year after construction began, the road from China to North Korea’s special economic zone in Rason is paved. Power substations are being built, railway lines are being linked to routes to Siberia, and piers at the harbor expanded. This week, an international trade fair staged at the exhibition hall in the zone in North Korea’s far northeast offered foreign investors and visitors from China, Britain, Russia and elsewhere, as well as journalists from The Associated Press, a glimpse at the efforts to turn a long-neglected, remote region into a manufacturing, tourism and transportation hub.

A diorama of the future Rason International Commercial Trade Center displayed at the trade fair showed rows of modern buildings sparkling with lights and cars parked under street lamps along tree-lined streets - a look at what officials hope the zone will look like in years to come. But whether that vision comes to fruition will depend in large part on whether China comes through with the electricity, supplies and money needed to bring Rason into the 21st century.

Over the past two years, North Korea’s leadership has made the bid to transform Rason into an international hub a priority, along with drawing much-needed foreign investment. Last week, Jang Song Thaek, a senior official and uncle of leader Kim Jong Un, led a visit to China to discuss joint cooperation on develop-

ing economic zones along the border in an indication that the project has the attention of top officials.

North Korea’s economy has languished in sharp contrast to the booming market economies of its neighbors in Northeast Asia. Pyongyang has not publicly released detailed economic data for decades, but the CIA Factbook estimates its per capita GDP at $1,800. Outside the capital, Pyongyang, much of the country remains poor, with buildings and roads in dire need of repair, and the United Nations says two-thirds of North Koreans face some form of chronic food shortage.

In recent years, North Korea has turned increasingly to China to provide trade, investment and knowhow in exchange for access to its minerals and labor. Government policy calls for strengthening economic cooperation with other countries while still maintaining North Korea’s “juche” policy of selfreliance, Yun Yong Sok, vice department director of North Korea’s Committee for Investment and Joint Venture, told the state-run Korean Central News Agency in March. “Contracts on joint venture and joint collaboration have been on increase with the investment environment changing for the better,” he told KCNA. The government directive to seek foreign business partnerships is a shift in a policy away from the insularity of past decades. Still, doing business in North Korea is a challenge. —AP

NEWS

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

Two giraffes look at each other from the windows of their enclosure during the annual weigh-in at London Zoo yesterday. — AFP

Two survive to tell of Lanka abduction squads

COLOMBO: The politician knew something was amiss when a suspicious white van pulled alongside him at a Colombo park and four men got out, pretending to exercise. Ravindra Udayashanta alerted his supporters, and police. Soon, the gun battle began. In Sri Lanka, anyone who has crossed someone of importance is wary of white vans, said to be the vehicles of choice for shadowy squads who “disappear” opponents of powerful people. So, Udayashanta’s armed supporters immediately went into action. “I heard the crack of a gun and I too pulled out my pistol and fired back,” said Udayashanta, who had been involved in a long-running dispute with another ruling party lawmaker over a business deal. Udayashanta’s brother already had disappeared - dragged away one month earlier, he says, by men in a white van.

But things went differently on this March day.

Udayashanta and his entourage surrounded the men from the white van and captured them. Eventually, at gunpoint, the men acknowledged who they were: Sri Lankan government soldiers. In a country where people had hoped the 2009 end of its bloody, long-running civil war would mean a return to normalcy - a country with a history of forced disappearances that stretches back to the 1970s - the open secret of the white vans has come to exemplify the terror felt by anyone who runs afoul of Sri Lanka’s rulers For years, little solid evidence had surfaced on the abductors. Then came the cases of Udayashanta and that of another man in recent months - an Australia-based activist who says he was freed from abduction only under Australian pressure - who survived to tell their stories. In Udayashanta’s case, police confirmed that the men in the

white van were government soldiers. But neither case has done much to overturn Sri Lanka’s apparent culture of impunity. Police said the soldiers who got into a gunfight with Udayashanta were actually searching for deserters.

Officials say the investigation is continuing, though it’s unclear what - if anything - they are doing. Government leaders and the military deny any links to abductions.

Apathy on the party of many citizens over extralegal disappearances - and even tacit approval when criminals are nabbed - is partly to blame for their prevalence, said Ruki Fernando, an activist with the Sri Lanka human rights group Rights Now Collective for Democracy. “This is a sign of an uncivilized and undemocratic society,” Fernando said. Rights activists, opposition lawmakers and local journalists say top officials send abduction squads in white vans to disappear political opponents, activists and outright criminals. White vans are parked in front of the homes of government critics, in clear attempts to terrify them into silence. The citizen journalism website www.groundviews.com says that 58 people have disappeared over the past nine months. In at least 22 of those cases, witnesses saw the victims forced into white vans.

It’s not clear why white vans would be used, though many suspect it is because they are so common on Sri Lanka’s streets that they can quickly disappear into traffic.

Udayashanta branded the disappearances a form of state “terrorism.” He said the failure of authorities to fully investigate his case has robbed the country of its best chance so far to shed light on the white van abductions.

A town council chairman in the Colombo suburb of Kolonnawa, Udayashanta said he had been on alert since his brother had been grabbed, an act he took that as a

warning from political rivals. Then, in March, a white van showed up again while Udayashanta watched a sports match in suburban Colombo. He pointed out the suspicious men to his supporters and police officers, prompting the men to scatter, triggering the gunfight and the eventual confession. Udayashanta’s entourage said the men were the same ones who had abducted his brother.

The group later handed the suspects to police, who promptly released them. Police spokesman Ajith Rohana confirmed the incident, and said the military confirmed the men were soldiers. But he said Udayashanta was wrong to assume he was being abducted, that the men were merely hunting deserters.

Another man - Sri Lankan-born Australian citizen Premkumar Gunaratnam - was abducted in April but released a few days later after protests from Australian diplomats. The former Marxist guerrilla, who was active in an armed rebellion in 1988-89 and now lives in Australia, had returned to Sri Lanka to help start a new political party when he was snatched from a rented room in Colombo.

“All this happened within a few seconds ... they stormed into the room and abducted me,” Gunaratnam told AP in a telephone interview from Sydney. “They tortured me, interrogated, mostly humiliated me - some sexual torture as well.”

His blindfold was removed long enough for captors to take a photograph, giving him an opportunity to see his surroundings, a well-maintained office with computers and stationery, Gunaratnam said. His captors questioned him about the new party and whether he had links to the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels who were defeated in a civil war in 2009. Their manner suggested military back-

grounds, he said. “I knew about their language - the armed forces’ language - because I was in armed custody in 1989 as well. I knew their culture to a certain extent,” he said.

Back in Australia, Gunaratnam’s wife Champa Somaratne and at least one lawmaker, Greens party Sen. Lee Rhiannon, sounded the alarm about Gunaratnam’s disappearance. A few days later, the captors handed him to Australian officials at a Colombo police station, Gunaratnam said. Australia’s foreign ministry would say only that it has urged Sri Lanka to “investigate fully all allegations of abductions.”

Large-scale disappearances were first reported in Sri Lanka in 1971 when Marxist rebels launched the country’s first armed rebellion. The second Marxist insurrection in 1988-1989 saw scores of young men and women abducted by government paramilitaries, with bodies later found burning by roadsides. Abductions and killings also were linked to the Tamil separatist war launched in 1983, especially during the final years of the conflict. Victims ranged from suspected rebels, to journalists and human rights activists.

Though those conflicts have ended, the abductions have not. Sri Lankan activists say victims in the past year include political activists, businessmen, suspected criminals, released former rebels and even a popular fortuneteller. Some bodies have been found, but the whereabouts of most remain unknown. Ramasamy Prabaharan, a wealthy Tamil businessman, was abducted in February in front of his house, two days before a court was to hear his lawsuit against top police officers for torturing him over alleged links to rebels. — AP

Bahrain Shiites battle police at funeral, 8 held Palestinian women racers find freedom Continued from Page 1 Authorities issue permits for protests but have not granted any since June. Wefaq and witnesses said police set up roadblocks to prevent people attending the funeral, which was held on the island of Muharraq. The disturbances followed the arrest of 11 people on Monday evening during clashes with riot police in the capital Manama and Hamad Town. Opposition activists said Haddad was also beaten by plainclothes agents.

The Interior Ministry said the death resulted from police reacting in self-defence to a petrol bomb attack on a patrol. Haddad’s death was the first in the unrest since April, when a man was found on a rooftop covered in shotgun pellet wounds after clashes with police the night before.

The Shiite-led opposition says more than 45 people have been killed in protests since June 2011, when the government lifted martial law it had imposed to help quash the uprising. They also say hundreds of people have been arrested since the government said in April it would crack down on protesters who skirmished with police. The Interior Ministry has not said how many peo-

ple are now in detention. Bahraini authorities say more than 700 police officers have been hurt in clashes and that the police, who have not used live fire, have been exercising restraint. Opposition activists say the police are anything but restrained.

The opposition’s central demand is for the elected parliament to have full powers to legislate and form governments. King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa has approved constitutional reforms that give the assembly more powers of scrutiny over ministers and budgets.

The government and political parties have held low-key, inconclusive talks on how to end the turmoil. Bahrain is an important card in a regional competition for predominance between Iran and US-backed Saudi Arabia.

U.S. warships from the Fifth Fleet help ensure oil exports flow freely out of the Gulf, while Iran has threatened a blockade if its protracted stand-off with Western powers over its disputed nuclear program deteriorates into conflict. Underscoring the high geopolitical stakes in Bahrain, Saudi and United Arab Emirates troops intervened in March 2011 to help the Al-Khalifas contain the revolt, a move that caused a rupture in Manama’s relations with Iran. — Reuters

Ban defies US, Israel, to attend Iran summit Continued from Page 1 The Tehran summit, foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said, “is the greatest political summit in Iran’s history”.

The NAM, born at the height of the Cold War, brings together nations that consider themselves independent of the world’s major power blocs. The organisation counts a total 119 countries plus the Palestinian territories. For Iran, the two-day meeting is an important opportunity to portray itself as part of the international scene despite concerted efforts by the United States and the European Union to isolate it diplomatically and economically over its disputed nuclear programme.

Up to 7,000 participants, including delegates and media, are expected for the summit, Iranian Vice President Ali Saeedlou was quoted as saying by ISNA. Their spending will bring in $50 million for Iran, an official in the country’s tourism organisation, Manouchehr Jahanian, told the IRAN newspaper. Holding the event in Tehran is “a source of dignity,” another Iranian vice president, Ibrahim Azizi, said according to the Mehr news agency. “The world will see that the plots by the world arrogance (the United States) against our government are fruitless,” he said.

Iran is going all out in its hosting duties. A five-day public holiday in Tehran has been called for the summit and its lead-up to clear the city of its stifling traffic and pollution. Visa-free entry to Iran normally offered to nationals from Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Ecuador, Georgia, Malaysia, Nicaragua, Turkey, Syria and Venezuela has been temporarily suspended. Hospital staff have had vacations suspended. Parts of the capital have been beautified, with lamp posts and road markings freshly painted. Roads around the summit venue are to be

blocked to all but official vehicles. “The police are on full alert during the Non-Aligned Movement summit,” Iran’s deputy police chief Ahmad Reza Radan was quoted by the Mehr news agency as saying on the weekend.

Security, he said, “is our duty and we are not joking about it.”

Iranian officials have not yet given the full guest list for the summit. But leaders so far confirmed include Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi - making a landmark trip after Iran cut diplomatic ties with Egypt in 1979 following the Islamic revolution and Cairo’s peace deal with Israel - as well as Cuban leader Raul Castro and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. A North Korean leader will also be showing up, according to Salehi - but it will not be Kim Jong-Un, the young chief of the reclusive Asian state, as one Iranian news outlet erroneously reported. Instead it will be Kim Yong-Nam, the chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, who acts as North Korea’s head of state in external matters.

Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, and Lebanese President Michel Sleiman are also expected to show. There was no word about representation from Syria, Iran’s close ally caught up in a civil war. “It is possible that Syria may not be able to attend due to a management crisis,” Saeedlou told the Khabar-Online news website. Iranian officials have invited the leaders of Russia and Turkey to attend the summit as non-member observers, along with the UN chief. But Russia’s embassy in Tehran said Russian President Vladimir Putin would not make it and would be represented by a foreign ministry official instead, ISNA reported. Turkish President Abdullah Gul has not said whether he will show up.

Australia is reportedly sending two officials as observers: an envoy from Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s office and its ambassador to the United Nations. — AFP

Continued from Page 1 even the subject of a documentary. “We feel we are free when we’re doing this,” teammate Mona Ennab, 26, said. “It’s a way to escape everything around us.” Jayyusi, 36, said her love of speed was born out of frustrating hours stuck in long lines at Israeli checkpoints. “I feel such depression at the checkpoints, but this speed makes me feel like I’m powerful, it helps me expel my depression,” she told AFP. “When the soldier finally lets you past, you feel like you want to fly.”

Jayyusi had to take lessons behind her parents’ backs after graduating with a business degree from Bir Zeit University, saving up her salary to pay for them.

“They didn’t think I needed my licence, and it was expensive,” she said. But it paid off. In 2010, the skills displayed in her daily commute drew notice and she was approached by the head of the Palestinian Motor Sport and Motorcycle Federation, Khaled Qaddoura. He offered Jayyusi the chance to participate in a training camp for drivers sponsored by the British Council, along with several other women, all with different levels of experience - and the Speed Sisters were born.

Ennab also started driving without her family’s permission before she was old enough to even take lessons. “I used to steal my sister’s car and drive it around without a licence,” she laughed. Behind the wheel, she shows no fear, throwing her car around an obstacle course of cones in the parking lot of a West Bank slaughterhouse - the best place available for the team to practice -with what might seem reckless abandon.

Ennab grins cheekily as onlookers gasp at the sound of screeching tyres, watching the rear end of the car swing seemingly out-of-control in a semi-circle as she lets it “drift” around the cones.

For the women, getting behind the wheel is also a way to escape social demands. “In our culture, there is a lot of pressure to listen to your parents, but when I get in the car, I can do what I want with it,” Jayyusi said. “I

feel total freedom.” Both women at first kept their speedracing secret from their families. Jayyusi’s parents found out thanks to a local newspaper report. “My mum was like ‘Oh my God, you’re going to die!,” she recalled, adding that her mother is still too afraid to watch her drive - though supports her fully. Ennab’s family has also come around to their daughter’s need for speed, and her mother is now a fixture at all her competitions across the West Bank.

Betty Saadeh, 31, another team member, faced no such challenge. A glamorous blonde who drives a sleek Peugeot sportscar thanks to a sponsorship deal with a local branch of the French carmaker, she comes from a family of racers and said her only pressure is competition from relatives. “My dad is a champion racer in Mexico and my brother is too,” she said. “It’s in my blood - there’s definitely a family rivalry.” Saadeh was born in Mexico then lived in the United States, but moved back to the West Bank with her family at the age of 13. “I want to be here, it’s my country. Why not show the world that Palestinian women can do anything?” For Saadeh, racing isn’t political but she says she’s proud to represent the Palestinian territories. “When I compete with the Palestinian flag, it shows what we want, that we want a country, that we deserve a country.”

There is no escaping the fact that Israel’s presence in the West Bank affects the team’s ability to practise and drive. Their one-time practice spot by the Ofer military prison has become unusable because of the debris - stones, rubber bullets and tear gas canisters - left behind from clashes between protesters and Israeli troops. And long-distance rally driving in a territory carved up into three administrative areas and dotted with military checkpoints is impossible, Jayyusi said.

Undaunted, the women have major ambitions, boosted by a recent trip to the famed Silverstone racetrack in Britain. “I want to compete internationally at Formula One,” Saadeh said. “My dream is to race at Silverstone as a professional. — AFP

12 dead in Lebanon battles over Syria Continued from Page 1 AFP correspondent said. The army said it will open talks with city elders to restore stability and has also boosted its presence in the areas where the fighting has been taking place. The latest round of fighting has rattled the already fragile security situation in Lebanon, which lived under three decades of Syrian domination and remains deeply divided between supporters and opponents of the Damascus government. The dead in Tripoli included a 13year-old boy, while more than 80 other people have been wounded, including a boy of six who was paralysed by a gunshot wound and 15 soldiers, security sources said.

Prime Minister Najib Mikati, a native of Tripoli, yesterday raised fresh concern at “efforts to drag Lebanon more and more into the conflict in Syria when what is required is for leaders to cooperate ... to protect Lebanon from the danger”. The authorities have instructed the army and security forces “to bring the situation under control, to prohibit any armed presence and to arrest those implicated” in the violence, he said in a statement. The army said:

“In order to prevent attempts to drag the whole of Lebanon into a state of unrest ... the army command announces it will enter into dialogue with the city’s leaders and officials, particularly in Bab al-Tebbaneh and Jabal Mohsen”.

Exchanges of gunfire on Monday between Bab elTebbaneh and Jabal Mohsen sparked the latest violence.

Civilians have evacuated their homes, while fires have wrecked several buildings. “My family and I have left our house in Bab al-Tebbaneh ... But I don’t have the money to leave for good. It’s unfortunate this area will always be an open playing field for political struggles,” taxi driver Abu Khodr Sharbini told AFP. Fighters in Bab al-Tebbaneh charge the Syrian regime lit the spark for the latest round of clashes. “They do this to cover up for their crimes in Syria,” where an anti-Assad revolt has raged since March 2011, a fighter said. But Ali Fidda, a local Alawite official from Jabal Mohsen, said his side was only defending itself in the predominantly Sunni city. “We understand there are differences ... But we are prepared to defend ourselves if we have to.” — Agencies

14

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

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Issues

Syria election talk is delaying tactic: Experts

By Sammy Ketz and Serene Assir hances of a negotiated solution to the conflict roiling Syria that could include the departure of President Bashar Al-Assad, as suggested by a top official, are virtually nil, experts and the opposition say. “ This is another delaying tactic,” said Thomas Pierret, a lecturer in contemporary Islam at the University of Edinburgh. “The regime has opted for a military solution and will not change until it falls.” He said Russia has “never been seriously interested in a smooth exit”. “Russia initially supported a military solution thinking that it would succeed, like in Chechnya, and when it recognised its mistake, it was too late - the regime was doomed.”

On Tuesday, Syrian Deputy Prime Minister Qadri Jamil said the regime was willing to negotiate Assad’s departure. “As far as his resignation goes making the resignation itself a condition for holding dialogue means that you will never be able to reach this dialogue,” he said during a visit to Moscow. He added: “Any problems can be discussed during negotiations. We are even ready to discuss this issue.” The Syrian opposition, however, has ruled out any dialogue unless Assad leaves power, thereby giving up the iron-fisted control of the country his family has wielded for four decades.

Political sources in Damascus, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that while Jamil was in Moscow, he discussed the possibility of organising a presidential election open to all candidates, including Assad, under international supervision.

But Assad’s candidacy has been rejected by the United States, European countries and several Arab states. “The regime cannot organise such elections, because the result would be a humiliation for Assad, a veritable political execution,” said Pierret.

“It cannot hope for a decent election result after destroying almost all of the cities in the country.” In addition, he said, “organising elections presumes the regime controls most of the country’s territory, which is not the case”.

Rime Allaf, another Syria expert, echoed Pierret’s views. “Qadri Jamil is either wrong, or it is a propaganda exercise to show that the regime wants to save the country, and all of this is to buy time,” said Allaf, a researcher at the London-based Royal Institute of International Affairs, more commonly known as Chatham House. “The regime’s line has always been to say, ‘we want dialogue, but Assad is untouchable’. Anyway, it is too late - it cannot have dialogue with all of these massacres.”

The opposition, too, has dismissed Jamil ’s remarks as a delaying tactic. “Every time the regime wants to buy time, it calls for dialogue,” said Burhan Ghalioun, former chief of the opposition Syrian National Council, the largest anti-Assad opposition group. “It doesn’t think for a moment to stop the war on the people.” “If it were serious about dialogue, it would stop the war.” Ghalioun described Tuesday’s overtures as “a way to dupe international public opinion into thinking reform is still possible, while in reality, the army continues to shell Syria’s c i t i e s a n d c a r r y o u t d a i l y m a s s a c re s”. O n t h e ground, he said, “there is no going back for the opposition”.

The Local Coordination Committees (LCC), a network of grassroots activists, described the idea of a nationwide vote as “insulting”. “The notion of the regime staging an early election, when hundreds of thousands of Syrians are displaced, thousands have been killed, and the wounded are prohibited from reaching hospitals for health care, is insulting,” said Omar Idelbi of the LCC. “We have no trust in the regime or its figureheads,” Idelbi told AFP by telephone. “We want all the regime and its figures to go, and after so much death, the opposition on the ground can accept nothing less.”

Activists say more than 23,000 people have been killed since March 2011, as what began as a brutal crackdown on peaceful anti-regime protests has descended into a war between government forces and opposition fighters. The United Nations puts the death toll at 17,000 and says hundreds of thousands more have fled to Syria’s neighbours while another 2.5 million still in the country are in desperate need of aid. — AFP

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As Dutch zeal wanes, election brings risks

By Sara Webb or the 12.5 million Dutch who go to the polls on Sept 12, the national election really boils down to one issue: Europe. The election is taking place at a time of rapid decline in support for the EU in a country once known as one of the most euro-enthusiastic. Many Dutch now wonder whether EU membership and the single currency are worth the pain of austerity measures at home and the price of huge bailouts elsewhere in Europe. In a highly fragmented political landscape it could take months to form a government. The Netherlands could even end up with a coalition that opposes the cuts needed to meet EU deficit targets at home and rejects future bailouts to troubled euro zone countries abroad.

That would be a remarkable outcome in a country that has long been at the core of the single currency zone, and could potentially paralyse the entire bloc as it faces the need for new action to fight its debt crisis. A TNS Nipo poll published on June 22 found that just 58 percent of Dutch voters were in favour of EU membership - a stunning drop from 76 percent in May 2010. Just as worrying, in a Maurice de Hond poll published on Sunday, 48 percent said the economy would suffer too much if the Netherlands took the steps needed to meet the EU’s 3 percent deficit target. “We are worried about paying all these subsidies to southern Europe while at the same time we are having to cut back at home,” said Marcel Boogers, a political scientist at Tilburg University.

If the Netherlands tilts to the left with a Socialist-led coalition, its parliament would be far less likely to approve future bailouts, should Greece or Spain need further aid or Italy need relief. And even if pro-European parties eke out a victory, there could be a long period of uncertainty and paralysis.

“Europe will be the major issue,” said Andre Krouwel, a political scientist at VU University Amsterdam. “The way it looks now, we won’t have a new government before the New Year: it will take a long time to form a coalition, and it is very likely to be unstable.”

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Splintered Politics Predicting the outcome of the election and the ensuing coalition negotiations is tricky in a country with a dozen or so political parties. Mainstream parties vie with populist, religion-based and special-interest groups that represent, say, animal rights activists or people over the age of 50. The mainstream parties, including caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s Liberal Party and his Christian Democrat coalition

partners, are strongly committed to Europe’s fiscal targets, if less enthusiastic about giving more power to Brussels.

The Netherlands has been almost synonymous with the European single currency since the southern Dutch city of Maastricht gave birth to the euro in the 1992 treaty that bears its name. Today, the Netherlands is still a core euro zone member and one of the few that has kept its triple-A credit rating. Opinion polls show Rutte’s Liberals vying for top place with the hard-left Socialists - who have opposed euro zone bailouts in the past. Both parties are forecast to win slightly more than a fifth of votes. Rutte’s former ally in parliament, the anti-immigrant Freedom Party, could also lure votes with a pledge to ditch the euro and return to the old Dutch currency, the guilder.

German Ally Under Rutte, a Liberal in power since Oct 2010, and Finance Minister Jan Kees de Jager from the Christian Democrat Party, the Netherlands has been one of the closest allies of Germany in advocating fiscal discipline in Europe. But the governing coalition collapsed in April when the Freedom Party refused to support yet another round of cuts to meet EU targets. Within days, Rutte’s caretaker government had put together a 12 billion euro package of budget measures with the support of three opposition parties, helping the Netherlands cling on to its coveted triple-A credit rating and lower borrowing costs.

While the Dutch initially supported those emergency budget measures, more recent opinion polls suggest that voters are divided on Europe and the need for budgetary discipline. The budget cuts chipped away at prized welfare benefits and generous perks, while many Dutch were upset to see European periphery countries that mismanaged their economies and finances receive huge bailouts. “I’m really sick of this government giving away our taxes to those corrupt Greeks,” said the owner of a pet shop in Amsterdam who asked not to be identified by name because he does not declare all his income to the authorities. “That’s why I only take cash here. I don’t want all my money going to pay for that, especially when they are cutting back on pensions and healthcare.”

Thrifty The famously thrifty Dutch have endured round after round of austerity measures in recent years to bring the budget deficit down below 3 percent of GDP by 2013 - in line with EU targets set out in the treaty named after their own

city, Maastricht. The cuts have taken place across the board, in education, welfare, defence, and subsidies for the arts. The retirement age will be gradually raised from next year, while pension benefits have been cut. “We wanted these rules ourselves. You have to stick to international agreements.

Therefore we need stricter rules to prevent a debt crisis as seen in the past years,” Finance Minister De Jager said last week when a storm erupted over the Netherlands’ commitment to EU budget rules.

But the Socialists are tapping into public resentment. Their leader Emile Roemer told Dutch media he “wouldn’t be intimidated by a bunch of people in Brussels”. His party, which favours stimulating growth over austerity measures, signalled it would demand a referendum on the EU’s fiscal compact, which imposes fines on countries that fail to keep deficits down. Roemer said the Netherlands would pay such a penalty “over my dead body”. The government’s economic forecaster, CPB, expects the deficit to be 3.8 percent of GDP in 2012, but the government has promised it will fall to 2.9 percent, below the EU target, by a deadline of 2013.

The next government will probably have to tackle the issue of whether to dismantle a generous and popular system of tax breaks on home loans. Economists have long argued that the system distorts the housing market, but scrapping the subsidy would deal another blow to already depressed property prices. The export-led Dutch economy is weak and barely growing. Unemployment topped half a million, or 6.5 percent, in July. But the Netherlands is nowhere near as badly off as Spain or Greece, and has prospered from its EU membership and the euro.

A study from the Dutch cabinet’s economic analysis bureau CPB showed that the EU’s internal market provides benefits worth around €1,500 to €2,200 per Dutch citizen per year, and the euro itself bestows a benefit of around Ä500. The city of Maastricht has turned its euro-fame to advantage: its university attracts students from across the continent to study European issues, while its luxury boutiques, hotels and fine-dining restaurants are packed with well-heeled German, Belgian and French tourists.

The European leaders who drafted the Maastricht Treaty dined at Chateau Neercanne on the outskirts of the city and left a permanent mark - their signatures scribbled on the walls of its wine cellar for posterity. The signatures are a minor tourist draw. Diners can also eat in one of the chateau’s towers, nostalgically named “De Gulden”, or guilder, after the old Dutch currency. “Personally I don’t think we will be returning to that,” said one of the staff at the restaurant. — Reuters

Death of Meles rattles volatile Horn or the past two decades, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s iron-fisted rule was something Western nations depended upon in the volatile Horn of Africa region. His death late Monday has left a major power gap and raised questions about Ethiopia’s role in the region - including relations with arch-foe Eritrea and war-torn Somalia - with analysts warning stability in the Horn will depend on a peaceful transition.

“Developments in coming weeks in Ethiopia have the potential to affect the Horn of Africa’s political, economic and security landscape for years to come,” said Jason Mosley, from Britain’s Chatham House think-tank. “For a country that has only had three changes of power since the Second World War, there is little useful precedent to shed light on how the process will play out.”

The ex-rebel held a steely grip on power, jailing opposition and sidelining many within the ruling coalition, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).

Power for now passes to interim leader Hailemariam Desalegn, 47, a protege of Meles as deputy prime minister, but who is not believed to hold the full reins of control, with the EPRDF expected to elect a new party head in coming weeks. “He is placeholder for now,” exiled opposition leader and former mayor of Addis Ababa Berhanu Nega told the BBC. But Mosley, of Chatham House, said the lack of unrest since June - while the ailing Meles was absent - suggests the leadership is capable of controlling a country with a history of military coups. “Meles’ disappearance from the scene for more than two months wasn’t enough to shake its confidence... so if things can continue to go fairly smoothly in the next two weeks, then maybe they can get through this,” Mosley told AFP. The main threat to Ethiopia is “instability within the

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(EPRDF) coalition” said Roland Marchal, from the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). There are also threats from armed groups in the rebellion-prone country, but while insurgents “may decide to launch an offensive”, Marchal said he sees the strong army as capable of crushing the relatively small and isolated movements.

Others are hopeful that with the end of Meles’s rule - one condemned by rights groups for repression, but praised for its economic advances - current stability can be retained. “It is not unreasonable to conclude that a solid foundation has been laid upon which Meles Zenawi’s successors can build, as

they take the country’s development and political evolution to its next stages,” said J. Peter Pham of the Atlantic Council think-tank.

If that stability can be maintained internally, then regional relations may continue without major visible change, with Ethiopian troops expected to remain inside Somalia, where they are supporting the battle against the AlQaeda-linked Shabab insurgents. “There won’t be any change in our domestic policy or foreign policy,” Ethiopia’s foreign affairs spokesman Dina Mufti told AFP, insisting it was “business as usual”.

While the Shabab said they were celebrating the “uplifting news” of Meles’ death, little

A file photo taken on June 10, 1991 shows the then-interim leader of Ethiopia and chairman of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), Meles Zenawi, giving his first press conference in Addis Ababa, 14 days after his troops took over the capital. — AFP

shift is expected on the ground. “While it is true that Ethiopia has no desire for a lengthy stay in Somalia, it recognises it cannot leave the job half done,” said Rashid Abdi, a longtime analyst on the Horn of Africa, estimating there are some 10,000 Ethiopian troops in Somalia. Meles was also a key figure in crisis talks between rivals Sudan and South Sudan after they came close to all-out war following their separation last year, in a bitter dispute over oil, security and border demarcation. “It’s probably helpful that Meles was trying to push those talks... but I don’t think (his death) is totally detrimental,” Mosley said, noting negotiations were led by the African Union, not Ethiopia.

Meles’ death could also potentially see changes in the relationship with arch-foe Eritrea, which split from Ethiopia in 1993 before the two spiralled into a bitter 19982000 border war in which tens of thousands died. Asmara has so far made no comment on his death. Some fear that a reshuffle of power could encourage rivals across the Horn to resume the practice of backing proxy forces to target each other’s interests, including in Somalia, where Eritrea was accused of backing Islamist forces as a way to needle Addis Ababa. “Eritrea will look to strengthen their position following his death, and Somalia will be once again caught up between the two countries as they seek to reposition themselves,” said Joakim Gundel, a Nairobi-based academic. But others suggest that for now there may be little change. “Barring some dramatic gesture out of Asmara, I do not see any immediate movement,” said J Peter Pham of the Atlantic Council. “While the new leaders do not have the baggage with (Eritrean President Issaias Afeworki) that Meles brought to the issue, they cannot afford to be seen by their domestic constituents as having ‘gone soft’.” — AFP

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

sp orts

Mutu set to join Ajaccio PARIS: Former Fiorentina and Juventus forward Adrian Mutu is set to join AC Ajaccio after he broke his contract with Italy’s Cesena, the Ligue 1 club’s president Alain Orsoni said yesterday.

The gifted but controversial Romanian, who was banned twice in his career for failed drug tests, will arrive in Corsica next week and sign for two years.

“Adrian (Mutu) called me yesterday to tell me he had broken his contract with Cesena,” Orsoni told L’Equipe’s website (www.lequipe.fr). “He will be in Ajaccio next Monday. He will pass the medical examination on Tuesday then sign for two years.”

The 33-year-old Mutu spent most of his career in Italy, enjoying his most successful spells at Parma and Fiorentina. He did not save Cesena from relegation from Serie A last season despite scoring eight goals in 28 games.

The frontman is also known for having been banned for seven months in 2004 after failing a drug test for cocaine. He was sacked

by Chelsea and later condemned to pay them 17 million euros ($21.22 million) in damages. He was then banned for six months in 2010 for failing a doping test when at Fiorentina.

Mutu, who once had a major spat with Fiorentina’s president after demanding a move, has also been in trouble for throwing punches on and off the field. — Reuters

Aussies to use UAE heat as Twenty20 warmup DUBAI: Acting Australian coach Steve Rixon hopes one-day internationals against Afghanistan and Pakistan in the demanding heat of the United Arab Emirates will prepare his players for next month’s Twenty20 World Cup in the tropics of Sri Lanka.

Australia plays Afghanistan in a one-off ODI at Sharjah on Saturday ahead of three more ODIs against Pakistan on Aug. 28, 31 and Sept. 3. With temperatures expected to exceed 40 degrees Celsius (104 F), organizers have decided to effectively hold the matches over two days, starting at 6 p.m. local time and finishing around 2 a.m.

None of that is troubling Rixon who spent several years as fielding coach of the IPL’s Chennai Super Kings in India. “We knew what we are going to get. When someone says it will be 40 odd degrees, you know it will be hot,” Rixon said Wednesday.

“It never affects me because I came out of Chennai where it’s humid and hot at all times of the day. Most of the players have been in the same situation. They have been in India. They have had access to that sort of weather. —AP

Juve coach loses appeal ROME: Juventus coach Antonio Conte is set to miss the whole of the Serie A season with the defending champions after losing his appeal against a 10-month ban over a match-fixing scandal yesterday. Conte, who led an undefeated Juventus to the Italian title in his first season in charge last term, was banned on Aug.10 for failing to report two incidents of match-fixing in the 2010-11 season when he was coach of then Serie B side Siena.

The Italian federation (FIGC) said in a statement on Wednesday that Conte, whose hearing was heard on Monday, had lost his appeal. The FIGC’s prosecutor also lost an appeal against the decision to acquit Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci and winger Simone Pepe over an alleged attempt to fix a match between Bari and Udinese in 2010.

The FIGC’s prosecutor had wanted a three-and-a-half year ban for Italy’s Bonucci, who was playing for Bari at the time, and one-year ban for Pepe, who was with Udinese.

The Serie A season starts this weekend. Juve have said they will stick by Conte with a second appeal set to be launched and heard in September. —Reuters

Angels snap losing streak

BOSTON: Mark Trumbo hit his career-high 30th homer, Ervin Santana pitched 6 1-3 solid innings and the Los Angeles Angels snapped a four-game losing streak with a 5-3 win over the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday night.

Mike Trout had two hits, giving him 139 in the first 100 games of his rookie season, the most since 1964 when Tony Oliva had 144 for Minnesota. But his streak of 30 successful stolen base attempts ended in the eighth when Jarrod Saltalamacchia threw him out at second base on a pitchout.

Santana (7-10) allowed two runs on five hits with four strikeouts and two walks, leaving after throwing 100 pitches. Ernesto Frieri pitched the ninth for his 15th save in 16 opportunities.

WASHINGTON: Nationals starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg throws during the first inning of a baseball game with the Atlanta Braves at Nationals Park. — AP

Nationals down Braves WASHINGTON: Stephen Strasburg struck out 10 batters and allowed one run in six innings for his 15th win, helping the Washington Nationals beat the Atlanta Braves 4-1 on Tuesday.

For weeks, the impending shutdown of Strasburg (15-5) has been the talk of baseball and though the Nationals haven’t said exactly what their limit for the star right-hander is, it’s thought to be between 160 and 180 innings.

After this start, his fourth straight win, when he allowed four hits and walked one, he has thrown 145 1-3 innings.

Talk of his innings limit overshadowed discussion of the NL East race. Washington’s win gave the Nationals a seven-game lead over second-place Atlanta, their largest of the season.

Ian Desmond and Jesus Flores homered for Washington. Tyler Clippard pitched the ninth for his 28th save in 32 opportunities.

Paul Maholm (11-8) allowed four runs and seven hits in seven innings for the Braves, who have lost four straight.

Reds 5, Phillies 4 In Philadelphia, Zack Cozart hit a tiebreaking homer on Jonathan Papelbon’s first pitch in the ninth, and Cincinnati snapped a seven-game losing streak against Philadelphia.

Kevin Frandsen hit a tying RBI triple off Jonathan Broxton in the eighth, but the NL Central-leading Reds went up to stay on Cozart’s shot off Papelbon (3-5).

Cliff Lee took a shutout into the seventh before allowing three runs to remain winless at home this season. The Reds took a 4-3 lead when Todd Frazier connected off Antonio Bastardo with two outs in the eighth for his 18th homer. The Phillies answered against Broxton (21). Domonic Brown hit a two-out single, and Frandsen tripled down the right-field line.

Reds starter Homer Bailey gave up three runs and seven hits in 6 1-3 innings. Aroldis Chapman finished for his 30th save in 34 tries.

Cardinals 7, Astros 0 In St. Louis, Adam Wainwright matched his career high with 12 strikeouts in a five-hitter and the Cardinals bounced back from Sunday’s 19inning loss.

Skip Schumaker and Yadier Molina had two RBIs apiece for St. Louis, which led 6-0 after three innings against rookie Lucas Harrell.

Wainwright (12-10) threw his second shutout and third complete game of the season.

The Astros have been outscored 15-1 in two games under interim manager Tony DeFrancesco, who held a team meeting prior to the game. Houston is just 7-41 since June 28.

Harrell (10-9) allowed six runs and eight hits in five innings.

The day after their 6-3, 19-inning loss to the Pirates - the longest game in the majors this season - manager Mike Matheny led a delegation to help rebuild tornado-ravaged Joplin, Mo., and other Cardinals played charity golf.

Brewers 5, Cubs 2 In Milwaukee, Marco Estrada allowed two hits in six solid innings to win for the first time in almost a year, leading the Brewers to the victory.

Estrada (1-5) retired 18 of 21 batters before turning over a 1-0 lead to Kameron Loe to start the seventh. It was his first victory since Aug. 23, 2011, at Pittsburgh.

The Cubs managed two runs in the ninth before John Axford got Wellington Castillo to ground out to second for his 19th save.

Estrada had been denied a win four times earlier in the season when the bullpen blew a save opportunity. Cubs pitcher Chris Rusin (0-1) allowed one run and one hit over five innings in his major league debut. He also tripled in the third for his first career hit.

Rockies 6, Mets 2 In New York, Jhoulys Chacin made an impressive return from an extended absence

and the Rockies backed him with a pair of sharp defensive plays.

Chacin (1-3) had not pitched in the majors since May 1 because of inflammation in his right shoulder. He came off the disabled list earlier in the day and held the Mets to one run and four hits in six innings, ending his sevengame losing streak that began last September.

Chris Young (3-7) retired the first 15 Colorado batters, but his throwing error on a sacrifice by Chacin helped the Rockies score four times in the sixth.

Center fielder Dexter Fowler made a sparkling catch and hit a pair of RBI singles as the Rockies won their third in a row. The Mets lost their third straight, giving away another run on a botched rundown.

Marlins 6, Diamondbacks 5 In Phoenix, Giancarlo Stanton hit a run-scoring single with two outs in the 10th inning and Miami rallied from an early five-run deficit.

Bryan Peterson hit a tying single in the sixth inning after Miami fell behind 5-0 in the first.

Gorkys Hernandez beat out an infield single to shor tstop off Sam Demel (0-1), the Diamondbacks’ sixth pitcher, and went to second on a sacrifice bunt. Demel intentionally walked Jose Reyes and retired Carlos Lee on a flyball to center before Stanton looped a clean single to left with the go-ahead run.

Chad Gaudin (2-1) struck out one and walked one in the bottom of the ninth for the win, his first since April 15 against Houston.

Steve Cishek put runners on first and second in the bottom of the 10th before retiring pinch-hitter John McDonald on a grounder to shortstop for his 10th save. The Diamondbacks scored five runs in the first inning against Marlins starter Ricky Nolasco.

Giants 4, Dodgers 1 In Los Angeles, Tim Lincecum bounced back from consecutive home losses with his third straight road win and San Francisco increased its lead in the NL West to 11/2 games.

The two-time NL Cy Young winner allowed one run and five hits in 5 2-3 innings after failing to pitch past the fourth inning in his last start, a loss to Washington last week. Lincecum (7-13) struck out four and walked one.

Lincecum earned his first win at Dodger Stadium in five starts. Sergio Romo pitched the ninth to earn his sixth save in seven chances.

Joe Blanton (8-12) gave up four runs and 10 hits in 5 2-3 innings, struck out six and walked two to fall to 0-3 in four starts with the Dodgers since being acquired from Philadelphia on Aug. 4.

Buster Posey had a two-run single in the first and the Giants added two runs in the fourth on an RBI single by Brandon Crawford and run-scoring double by Angel Pagan.

Padres 7, Pirates 5 In San Diego, Chase Headley hit a two-run homer in the 10th inning for San Diego.

Headley ’s home run came off Daniel McCutchen (0-1) and gave San Diego its fourth straight win.

McCutchen issued a leadoff walk to Will Venable, who stole second before Headley hit his 21st homer. The home run was Headley’s ninth this month and he has 26 RBIs, both major-league highs for August.

Venable and Cameron Maybin tied their career high with four hits. It was the second time in three games that Maybin has equaled his mark. Miles Mikolas (2-1) pitched one inning for the win.

Pittsburgh lost to San Diego for the 17th time in 20 games. Garrett Jones hit a two-run homer in the ninth off Dale Thayer to tie the game at 5. Jones hit a solo homer in the sixth.

Carlos Quentin had three RBIs, including a sacrifice fly in the eighth that gave the Padres a 53 lead. — AP

White Sox 7, Yankees 3 In Chicago, Kevin Youkilis hit a grand slam, Paul Konerko homered and Dewayne Wise had four hits as the White Sox rallied for the second straight game to beat the Yankees.

Wise, designated for assignment by the Yankees in July, had four singles from the leadoff spot and has played well while filling in for the injured Alejandro De Aza. With the game tied 2-2, the White Sox loaded the bases in the fifth inning on Alexei Ramirez’s double, a walk and single by Wise. Youkilis connected off Ivan Nova (11-7) for his second grand slam at U.S. Cellular Field this season.

Chicago’s Francisco Liriano (5-10) also went six innings, surrendering Derek Jeter’s leadoff homer and two runs in the first while allowing six hits and three walks.

Royals 1, Rays 0 In St. Petersburg, Eric Hosmer’s two-out single in the 10th inning lifted Kansas City to a 1-0 victory over Tampa Bay in a classic pitchers’ duel between the Royals’ Luke Hochevar and the Rays’ David Price.

The run off Joel Peralta (1-5) was unearned after an error on Tampa Bay shortstop Ben Zobrist. Kelvin Herrera (1-1) got the win and Greg Holland pitched the 10th inning for his sixth save.

Price and Hochevar both pitched eight innings, giving up a combined four hits. Hochevar, the first overall pick in the 2006 amateur draft, gave up one hit and struck out 10. Price, the first overall draft pick in 2007, gave up three hits and struck out eight.

Tigers 5, Blue Jays 3 In Detroit, Max Scherzer struck out eight in seven impressive innings, and the Tigers took advantage of Ricky Romero’s wildness in a victory over Toronto.

Romero (8-11) lost his 10th straight decision, allowing five runs, seven hits and eight walks in 5 1-3 innings. He didn’t strike out a batter.

Austin Jackson had three hits, and Scherzer (13-6) was sharp for the Tigers. Scherzer allowed five hits, including Edwin Encarnacion’s solo homer. He walked two.

Orioles 5, Rangers 3 In Arlington, Nate McLouth’s two-run homer keyed Baltimore’s four-run fifth inning and the Orioles held off the Texas Rangers.

Chris Tillman (6-2) gave up three runs on six hits and struck out seven and walked one in 6 2-3 innings before giving way to the Orioles’ bullpen, which now

run homer in the seventh inning to pull to 5-3 and then put the tying run on base, but Pedro Strop struck out Josh Hamilton on a slider to end the threat.

Mariners 5, Indians 1 In Seattle, Felix Hernandez allowed one run in 7 2-3 innings in the first start following his perfect game, Jesus Montero hit a three-run homer in Seattle’s four-run seventh inning, and the Mariners won their seventh straight by beating the Indians.

Greeted by a crowd of more than 39,000, most of them in yellow shir ts with the words “King of Perfection,” Hernandez (12-5) gave up a leadoff single to Jason Kipnis on a 0-2 pitch. He allowed seven hits and struck out five. Cleveland starter Roberto Hernandez (0-2) didn’t allow a hit until Eric Thames’ homer with two outs in the fifth. Seattle has won 14 of 15 at home and Felix Hernandez improved to 8-0 with a 1.53 ERA over his last 13 starts.

BOSTON: Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Ervin Santana delivers to the Boston Red Sox during the first inning. — AP has a 1.57 ERA in the last 18 games. Jim Johnson worked a scoreless ninth to pick up his 38th save.

Manny Machado had a run-scoring triple and J.J. Hardy also drove in a run with a double in the fifth against Scott Feldman (6-9).

The Rangers scored two on Geovany Soto’s two-

Athletics 4, Twins 1 In Oakland, Brett Anderson pitched seven innings in his first start since having elbow surgery nearly 15 months ago and the Oakland Athletics turned a triple play behind in a win over the Twins.

Anderson (1-0) struck out seven and faced one batter over the minimum in his return after being sidelined since June 5, 2011.

Justin Morneau and Ryan Doumit opened the fifth with consecutive hits, setting the stage for the third triple play in the majors this season.

Trevor Plouffe hit a sharp grounder to Oakland third baseman Donaldson, who stepped on the bag and made a quick relay to second baseman Adam Rosales. Rosales, making just his fifth start of the season after Jemile Weeks was sent to the minors, threw to first baseman Chris Carter to complete the 5-4-3 triple play. — AP

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

National League American League Eastern Division Eastern Division Washington 77 46 .626 W L PCT GB Atlanta 70 53 .569 7 NY Yankees 72 51 .585 Philadelphia 57 66 .463 20 68 55 .553 4 Tampa Bay NY Mets 57 66 .463 20 Baltimore 67 56 .545 5 Miami 57 67 .460 20.5 Boston 59 64 .480 13 Central Division Toronto 56 66 .459 15.5 Cincinnati 75 49 .605 Central Division Pittsburgh 67 56 .545 7.5 Chicago White Sox 67 55 .549 St. Louis 66 56 .541 8 Detroit 65 57 .533 2 Milwaukee 56 66 .459 18 Kansas City 55 67 .451 12 Chicago Cubs 47 75 .385 27 Cleveland 54 69 .439 13.5 Houston 39 84 .317 35.5 Minnesota 51 71 .418 16 Western Division Western Division San Francisco 68 55 .553 Texas 71 51 .582 LA Dodgers 67 57 .540 1.5 Oakland 66 56 .541 5 Arizona 62 61 .504 6 LA Angels 63 60 .512 8.5 San Diego 55 70 .440 14 Seattle 60 64 .484 12 Colorado 48 73 .397 19

Mexico, Calif. move on at LLWS, Uganda scores win SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT: Powerful Petaluma, Calif., can pitch, too. Hance Smith’s three-run homer in the third broke open a tight game, and reliever-turned-starter Quinton Gago struck out seven over 5 1-3 innings in a 5-0 win Tuesday night over Fairfield, Conn., in the Little League World Series.

California moves on to the US semifinals tonight. Connecticut was eliminated. The 12year-old Gago said it was the best performance of his young career, even though he was a little nervous when the night started. “In the back of my mind, I said ‘I am not a starter,’” Gago said as he held on to an ice pack strapped to his left shoulder. “But right as I took the mound, I felt it went away.”

Nuevo Laredo, Mexico also is moving on after a 6-2 victory over Willemstad, Curacao, and Lugazi, Uganda made the biggest splash Tuesday with a win in its tournament finale.

The first team from Africa to qualify for youth baseball’s biggest tournament notched another first with a 3-2 victory over Gresham, Ore. in a consolation game. Uganda dropped its first two games in the series. In the nightcap, Gago stifled Connecticut.

Fairfield’s best chance came in the second when Michael Ghiorzi led off with a single, and an error made it runners on first and second with nobody out. But third baseman Cole Tomei charged a bunt and started a 5-6-4 double play, and Gago got a strikeout to end the threat.

“That was completely awesome,” Gago said about the double play. “That double play really helped me out a lot. I really liked that.”

Ryan Meury led off the Connecticut sixth with a double, and Gago left after a groundout because he had reached his pitch limit. He got a hug from a teammate before heading to the dugout. Reliever Andrew White closed it out, and the teams exchanged handshakes at the plate before the California kids returned calmly

PASEDENA: Willemstad, Curacao’s Richelon Juliana (left) scores past Nuevo Laredo, Mexico’s Andres Carrillo on a wild pitch in the third inning of a baseball game at the Little League World Series. — AP to their dugout while a marching band played in the stands.

After his team won elimination games in three consecutive days, manager Eric Smith said he planned to give his boys off. But White quickly reminded him of one trip he promised they could make. “What about Dairy Queen?” the 12year-old White asked.

“Oh yeah,” Smith said, “I did tell them they could go to Dairy Queen.” Connecticut plans to stick around Williamsport for a little while so the players can finally enjoy some time with their families after three weeks of tournament play.

Manage Bill Meury gathered a Fairfield all-star

team that’s played together for three summers for one final meeting in left field.

“You guys are like brothers. The (coaches) love you guys, and we’ve had a great three years together,” Meury said in recounting the meeting.

“You should walk off this field with your head held high because you gave Fairfield one of the best summers they’ve had in a little while.”

Earlier Tuesday, 11-year-old Ronald Olaa put Uganda in front when scored from second on a throwing error in the bottom of the fifth.

Manager Henry Odong said he urged his team to just make contact because hitting had been a challenge in South Williamsport. —AP

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

sp orts

Chance for youngsters to fill void, says India’s Dhoni

Usain Bolt

No more Bolt and Blake showdown this season LAUSANNE: Six-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt and his young Jamaican compatriot Yohan Blake will not race each other again this season, Blake’s manager, Cubee Seegobin, indicated yesterday.

Bolt, who defended his 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay titles in London, is due to contest the 200m in Thursday ’s Diamond League meeting in Lausanne, while Blake, who won silver in both individual sprints, will run in the 100m.

The training partners-gold medallists in Jamaica’s world record-breaking 4x100m relay squad-will race over those same distances in the next meeting in Zurich on August 30, before swapping for the Brussels event on September 7.

Asked about the possibilities for a rematch between the pair and his desire to test himself against his elder rival, Blake said: “Yes, I always love running against him. But ask my manager, who really knows the business.”

Seegobin said: “Coach (Glenn) Mills gives Yohan a programme and it’s tailored according to people’s wishes. It’s something for the managers, the meeting director and sponsors.

“And I don’t think of it in terms of confrontation but in terms of what the organiser offers.” Even if Zurich attempted a rematch, Seegobin said he did not see much point after the Olympics, which was the high point of the season,

while the two sprinters had already faced off in the Jamaica national trials in June.

Then, Blake, 22, won over 100m and 200m.

Seegobin also said that the effects of Blake’s warm-down after London should not be under-estimated. As such, a race between the pair looks more likely next season. “My objectives at the end of this season are to continue to run well, improve technically, and not get injured,” said Blake. “In 2013, I will have titles to defend (including the 100m) at the World Championships (in Moscow).”

Bolt insisted that he is not thinking about a new 200m world record, which he currently holds, having stormed to 19.19sec in Berlin in 2009, when he races on Thursday. “Sure, I have the potential on this track if I am in form and if the conditions are right,” he said. “But my main objective is to give this enthusiastic crowd a show.” In the meantime, there has been talk of both men playing cricket in Australia’s Twenty20 Big Bash League after Bolt expressed an interest in turning out for Melbourne Stars and the Sydney Sixers said they hoped to lure Blake.

Both men are cricket fanatics and Bolt played junior cricket before turning to the track, while Blake describes himself as a “bowling machine” in the finest tradition of West Indian fast bowlers. — AFP

HYDERABAD: India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has no doubts the team will miss the experience of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman but expects young players to step up and fill the void created by the retirement of the batting stalwarts.

The hosts finally face the transition problem that had been on the cards for quite some time when they start the two-test series against New Zealand in Hyderabad today.

India lost eight consecutive away tests in England and Australia last year which prompted Dravid and Laxman to quit and pave the way for the next generation.

“One of the ways to look at it is to look ahead to the future... definitely these two are great players and we will miss them on the field,” Dhoni told reporters yesterday.

“But at the same time it’s an opportunity for youngsters to take up the responsibility in the longest format and we are hoping the youngsters will grab these opportunities and do well.

“You have to accept things as they come.”

Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane are the most likely candidates to fill in the batting slots although Subramaniam Badrinath, who was drafted into the squad as a replacement for Laxman, will also fancy his chances.

India will also need to find two dependable slip fielders in the absence of Dravid and Laxman and Dhoni feels it will be a far easier problem to deal with than make up for their wealth of runs and experience. “Well, we are hoping we won’t miss them at least in the slip cordon because when it comes to scoring runs and the kind of experience they had, it will be quite difficult,” Dhoni added.

“But as far as the slip cordon is concerned, we have seen some of the youngsters catch really well. We have Virat (Kohli), (Suresh) Raina and we already have (Virender) Sehwag there, he will most likely stand at first slip.

HYDERABAD: Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (center) watches teammate Ishant Sharma bowl to Gautam Gambhir during a practice session. — AP “Spinners can be a bit of an issue because it will be challenging especially when there is bounce. “We may miss Rahul over there, but let’s just look ahead and give youngsters a chance and one of them may take some catches.”

India will also play tests with England and Australia at home later in the season and the two-test series against New Zealand will help the team get back in the groove, Dhoni said.

“We have not played a test match in the last six to seven months, so it will be important to turn up on the field and look to do small things right,” the 31-year-old said.

“So it’s important to get into the groove, give a bit more respect to the bowlers. “Yes, we had a disappointing last eight (away) test matches, but if you look at the positive side of it, there is only

one way and that’s going up.”

New Zealand, ranked eighth among nine test-playing nations in the world, are hoping there will be some swing for their pacemen to trouble the Indian batsmen in the absence of their most capped cricketer Daniel Vettori.

The all-rounder has been ruled out by injury and New Zealand will miss the spinner’s experience on the low and slow surfaces of India.

Captain Ross Taylor said: “ The guy has played the most Tests for New Zealand, you can never replace that but once again, it gives an opportunity and with these conditions, everyday we have been here so far, it has been cloudy. “We are expecting it to swing. It swung in training and hopefully it can swing for five days as well.” — Reuters

Johnson ready to defend title FARMINGDALE: Dustin Johnson has made a habit of thriving in the latter part of the PGA Tour season, good reason for him to be excited about his title defence at this week’s Barclays tournament in Farmingdale, New York.

The long-hitting American is the only player in the elite 125-strong field assembled at Bethpage State Park to have won FedExCup playoff events in each of the last two years and is eager to launch his bid for a third in today’s opening round.

“I play well at this time of the year usually, so I enjoy the FedExCup,” Johnson told reporters on Tuesday while preparing for the first of the PGA Tour’s four lucrative playoff events.

“I like the playoffs. This is time where you really need to play well.

I’ve had a lot of success the last few years in the playoffs, and hopefully I can continue that this year.” Two years ago, Johnson won the third playoff event, the BMW Championship, before winding up fifth in the final FedExCup standings.Twelve months ago at a rain-softened Plainfield Country Club in Edison, New Jersey, he triumphed by two shots at The Barclays, which was cut to 54 holes because of Hurricane Irene.

“It’s at a totally different golf course than it was last year,” said Johnson, referring to the challenging 7,468-yard Bethpage Black layout which staged the U.S. Open in 2002 and 2009.

“It’s going to play tough. The rough is pretty thick, and the fairways are pretty narrow, just like they were in the US Open. It’s going to be a good test of golf. “The FedExCup, that’s what it’s all about. I’ve got to have three good weeks if I want to make it to the Tour Championship.”

The top 100 players in the points list qualify for next week’s Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston, with the leading 70 there advancing to the BMW Championship. The top 30 then qualify for the Tour Championship finale in Atlanta where the overall

points winner pockets a $10 million bonus.

Tiger Woods, a triple winner on the 2012 PGA Tour, will start the playoffs from the pole position this week as overall points leader. Jason Dufner is second, PGA Championship winner

FARMINGDALE: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland putts during the Pro-Am for The Barclays golf tournament. — AP

Rory McIlroy third and Zach Johnson fourth.

As is customary at the playoffs, the top-three players are paired up for the first two rounds. With Dufner having opted to skip this week, Woods, McIlroy and Johnson will tee off together on Thursday in a highprofile grouping.

“I know the crowd will be pushing them quite heavily, and it’ll be fun,” said 2007 Masters champion Johnson. “I’m going to relish the opportunity.”

All four of this year’s major winners will be competing at Bethpage Black where Masters champion Bubba Watson has lofty ambitions.

“My expectations are always high,” said the long-hitting left-hander. “I’ve been playing pretty solid all year with a lot of top 25s but not a lot of top 10s, not as many as I want. “ These playoffs are the most important thing right now and this course sets up pretty good for me, with it being a little bit longer.” While Woods, McIlroy and Zach Johnson hold an advantage in the FedExCup standings coming into this week, the way the playoffs have been structured can allow for dramatic surges by lesser ranked players.

Three years ago, unheralded American Heath Slocum crept into a 125-man field as the 124th-ranked player but edged Tiger Woods on the final hole for The Barclays victory and catapulted to third in the standings.

Intriguingly, Slocum occupies that identical 124th spot coming into this week. “I’m just glad to be here at this point ... so I’m going to make the best of it,” said Slocum. “I’ve been in this situation before. I feel like my game has kind of rounded into shape. The goal is to move on.

Simple as that.” — Reuters

Colsaerts targets Ryder Cup spot

Kristi Toliver in action in this file photo

Sparks down Fever LOS ANGELES: Los Angeles’ Kristi Toliver scored 21 points to lead all five starters in double-digit scoring as the Sparks beat Indiana Fever 79-69 on Tuesday to notch their seventh straight win.

Candace Parker scored 15 points for the Sparks, who are on their longest winning streak since 2006.

Katie Douglas led the Fever with 22 points. For Los Angeles, the bad news is they are making little headway into Minnesota’s Western Conference lead because the Lynx have a five-game winning streak of their own after the 86-73 win over Seattle Storm. Seimone Augustus (22 points) and Maya Moore (20 points) each sank four 3-pointers for the Lynx, who have the league’s best record and have already clinched a playoff berth.

Both those winning streaks were overshadowed by San Antonio, which made it 12 on the trot by beating the Washington Mystics 75-72.

Becky Hammon scored 22 points for the Silver Stars, who had to work hard late to extend the streak as the visitors finished strongly.

The Eastern Conference -leading Connecticut Sun also had to scramble against a lowly opponent, needing overtime to beat the Shock 82-80. Kara Lawson made a wide-open 3-pointer from the left corner with 11.8 seconds left in overtime.

In Tuesday ’s other game, Cappie Pondexter scored 25 points and Plenette Pierson added 21 to lead New York over Chicago 77-67. The Sky has lost seven straight. — AP

GLENEAGLES: Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts believes his good form this season is deserving of a Ryder Cup wildcard selection.

Colsaerts, 29, is the only player competing in this final week of European team qualifying who can make it into Jose Maria Olazabal’s side for the Ryder Cup which takes place at Medinah in Illinois from September 28-30.

The Brussels-born player is currently lying 12th on the points table, one spot behind England’s Ian Poulter. But while Poulter will look to be a certain wildcard pick, Colsaerts can break into the team by finishing first or second in the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles.

“I have adopted the best way to go about itbe very humble,” said Colsaerts. “I know Ollie (Olazabal) has been around for so many years.

He’s been to so many Ryder Cups that he’s got all the scenarios covered regardless of what I do.

“You’re only looking at two or three options, so it’s quite simple. But what I’ve done I’ve showed basically everything I could have done to get the pick.

“Fortunately, I still have a way to get myself in, but I’d like to think that I’m in a pretty good position.”

Colsaerts commenced his 12th season in the pro ranks with a fourth in the Volvo Champions event in January ahead of back-toback top-10s in Qatar and Dubai.

He was then third in Sicily and runner-up in the defence of his Volvo China Open title before a seventh in the Spanish Open.

Colsaerts then capped his career in defeating former US Open champion, Graeme

McDowell, in the final of the Volvo World Match-Play Championship.

Since then Colsaerts has finished 11th in the French Open and joint seventh in the British Open after failing to qualify since 2005.

“I’ve crossed paths with Ollie in the locker room, and it’s funny, because he told me with a big smile, ‘I’m watching you’,” said Colsaerts. “I was pretty honest with him and I told him it was very difficult to play without thinking

Nicolas Colsaerts

about it.

“When you want something like that for such a long time, and you’ve never been in this position before, it’s very difficult. I have been thinking about it all the time, simple.

“It’s like there’s not 15 minutes during any day where I don’t think about it.” If successful in securing a wildcard, and should Poulter also be given a pick, then Colsaerts would be the only rookie heading to Medinah. — AFP

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

sp orts

Paralympics guide LONDON: Here is a guide to the sports that feature in this year’s Paralympics in London from August 29 to September 9: ARCHERY Archer y is one of the original Paralympic sports and featured in the inaugural 1960 Games in Rome. The competition comprises seven individual and two team events. Athletes shoot from 70 metres (300 feet) at a 122cm-diameter (48-inch) target with 10 scoring zones.

China topped the medal table in Beijing four years ago with seven, followed by Britain (four) and South Korea (four).

ATHLETICS The biggest sport in the Paralympics, with some 1,100 participants, athletics features lightning-quick sprinters with prostheses, powerful throwers, intellectual disability athletes and runners with sighted guides. South Africa’s “Blade Runner” Oscar Pistorius-a triple gold medallist in Beijing-is likely to be a major draw, having become the first double amputee to compete in the Olympics when he ran in the 400m heats and 4x400m final.

China won 77 track and field medals in 2008, including 38 gold-three times as many as their nearest rivals Australia, South Africa and Britain.

BOCCIA Introduced as a competitive sport in the 1984 New York Paralympics, Boccia is a game of skill and accuracy played from a wheelchair by athletes with cerebral palsy, quadriplegia and other conditions affecting limb function.

The game, similar to bowls, is to land balls as close as possible to the target ball or “jack”. It consists of four rounds in individual and pairs competitions and six in the team event. Britain and Portugal are strong but Brazil and South Korea each won two gold in Beijing.

CYCLING Involves visually impaired athletes, those with cerebral palsy and amputations, para-cyclists compete on bicycles, tric ycles, tandems or hand c ycles depending on their disability.

Events include track races like the sprint, individual pursuit and time trial to road races and road time trials for individuals and teams.

Britain’s riders will be hoping to continue their gold rush from Beijing, although old rivals Australia as well as the United States and Germany are expected to challenge.

EQUESTRIAN Open to athletes with any type of physical or visual impairment, equestrian events are mixed and grouped in five different categories: Grade 1A for the most severe impairment and Grade 4 for the least. Dressage is a test of horsemanship skills, performing set movements and a freestyle routine to music. Riders win points for control, communication and athletic prowess.

Britain has swept the board in the last three Paralympics, with Lee Pearson, in his fourth Games, looking to maintain his 100 percent record.

FOOTBALL 5-A-SIDE A Paralympic sport since Athens in 2004, five-a-side football is open to athletes with visual impairments. Each game lasts 50 minutes and although the rules are similar to the non-disabled game, the ball makes a noise when it moves, there is no off-side and everyone apart from the goalkeepers uses eye shades to ensure fairness. Brazil won gold in 2004 and 2008. Argentina, China and Spain are the main challengers.

FOOTBALL 7-A-SIDE Introduced in 1984, seven-a-side football is for players with cerebral palsy and is similar to the able -bodied game.

Matches last 30 minutes, the playing surface is smaller, there are no offsides and players can take throw-ins with one hand. Ukraine are the current champions but the Netherlands are strong contenders.

GOALBALL Requiring lightning reflexes and razor-sharp hearing, goalball made its debut in the Toronto Paralympics in 1976 but was initially devised to rehabilitate visually impaired veterans from World War II. Games consist of two halves of 12 minutes, with two teams of three players each wearing blackout masks on court.

The aim is to roll the ball, which has a bell in it to help orientate players, into the opposite goal. China are the current Olympic champions and will face a tough test from world champions Lithuania.

JUDO A Paralympic sport since Seoul in 1988, women’s categories were introduced in Athens in 2004. Open to athletes with visual impairments in several weight categories, contests last five minutes. The judoka with the higher number of points wins. China is strong, having won seven medals in Beijing.

POWER-LIFTING A stunning display of strength, in which athletes can lift up to three times their own body weight. The powerlifting is a bench press competition.

Athletes have to extend their arms within 20 degrees of full extension. China won 14 medals in Beijing, including nine golds. Egypt finished on the podium 10 times.

ROWING Making only its second appearance at the Paralympics, rowing is divided into four boat classes and is open to male and female athletes of varying disabilities.

Races take place over 1,000m, with rowers using specially adapted boats.

Britain topped the medal table in Beijing with two golds and a bronze, ahead of China and Italy (one gold each) and the United States (one silver, one bronze).

SAILING Open to athletes with physical impairment, classification is based on four factors: stability, hand function, mobility and vision.

There are three categories: 2.4mR, SKUD 18 and Sonar classes, featuring one, two and three sailors per boat respectively. Crews can be mixed, except the SKUD, which must have a female sailor on board. Germany, the USA and Canada are strong.

SHOOTING Shooters aim at a target of 10 concentric rings at a distance of 10, 25 or 50m from a standing, kneeling or prone position.

The mixed competition is divided into eight rifle events and four pistol events, with three athletes per country in each event and a total of five in all events.

Britain have a good record but so do South Korea, who won nine medals in Beijing, with Sweden bagging four and Russia seven.

SITTING VOLLEYBALL Sitting volleyball is played on a 10m x 6m court with a lower net. Games are best of five sets, with the first team to reach 25 points with at least a two-point lead winning a game.

The game involves two teams with six on the court at a time. Athletes have to keep their pelvis on the ground at all times. Service blocks are allowed. Iran are the reigning men’s champions while China are looking to retain their women’s title.

SWIMMING The second-biggest sport in the Paralympics. Competitors are classified according to the type and extent of their disability, including learning difficulties.

The undisputed star of the pool is South Africa’s Natalie du Toit, who is hanging up her goggles after a stellar career. The United States won 44 medals in Beijing, including 17 gold, followed by China (52) and Ukraine (43). Britain won 41.

BEIJING: A file picture taken on September 12, 2008 shows Charlotte Henshaw of Great Britain getting ready before the women’s 100m breaststroke SB6 final during the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games.—AP

London prepares to welcome the world — again PARIS: The world’s top athletes with a disability, including “Blade Runner” Oscar Pistorius, converge on London next week for what organisers say will be the biggest and most high-profile Paralympics in the Games’ 52-year history.

A record 4,200 athletes from 166 countries will be in the British capital, with the 11-day Games a near sell-out and expected to be watched by an estimated global television audience of four billion people. Britain is considered the birthplace of the Paralympic movement, after World War II veterans with spinal injuries competed in archery events at Stoke Mandeville in southern England in 1948, 12 years before the first official Games in Rome.

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said that history, a desire to see more elite sport after a successful Olympics, increased media coverage and sponsorship have combined to drive up interest and awareness.

“There’s a fantastic buzz in the air, waiting for it to kick off and people talking about it,” IPC president Philip Craven told AFP before next Wednesday’s opening ceremony.

China held the last Paralympics in Beijing in 2008 and did much to raise the Games’ profile.

The previous hosts won 211 medals, including 89 gold, and will be looking to replicate that success this time round.

But challenging them will be the current hosts, who came third in the Olympics medal table, galvanising wide support for the Games across the

country and lifting a national mood hit by lingering economic woes. ParalympicsGB have been set a minimum target of 103 medals from at least 12 different sports-one better than in Beijing-and to match their second-place finish four years ago.

For the home team, hopes are highest for athletes like Jonnie Peacock, who in June set a new T44 100m record of 10.85secs and is expected to challenge South Africa’s Pistorius for gold in the showpiece track event.

With Pistorius’ long-standing rival Jerome Singleton, of the United States, and a host of other lightning-fast sprinters likely to line up in the final, organisers even predict that all eight runners could dip under 11secs. Among the wheelchair racers, Britain’s David Weir, the T54 800m and 1,500m champion four years ago, is set to renew his rivalries with Australia’s Kurt Fearnley and Swiss world record holder Marcel Hug. In the pool, Ellie Simmonds has become a poster girl for the Games after winning two golds in Beijing aged just 13.

But like Pistorius-the first double amputee to compete in the Olympics and the Paralympics’ biggest star-there are other big names.

South Africa’s Natalie Du Toit is retiring after a decade at the top, while Matthew Cowdrey-an eight-time gold medallist-needs just three more golds to surpass athlete Tim Sullivan to become Australia’s most successful Paralympian.

London will also see veteran medallists like

shooter Jonas Jacobsson, dressage specialist Lee Pearson and Dutch wheelchair tennis player Esther Vergeer going for gold again alongside first-time athletes from smaller nations.

Now 47, Sweden’s Jacobsson has competed in eight Paralympics and has 16 golds; Pearson, of Britain, has won gold at every Games since Sydney 12 years ago; while Vergeer won in 2000, 2004 and 2008 and is unbeaten in over 450 matches.

The US Virgin Islands will have their first ever Paralympian in the shape of rider Lee Frawley, while North Korea make its debut in the competition with swimmer Rim Ju Song. Some 200 athletes with intellectual disabilities will also compete for the first time since Sydney and a scandal involving the eligibility of Spain’s basketball team.

And while every athlete has as much determination to overcome adversity as talent and skill, few have as remarkable a backstory as Martine Wright, who lost her legs in the 2005 suicide attacks in London-a day after the city was awarded the Games.

She will be a member of Britain’s sitting volleyball team. London organising committee chairman Sebastian Coe has repeatedly maintained that the Paralympics and the Olympics are two equal parts of the same event.

“We want to change public attitudes towards disability, celebrate the excellence of Paralympic sport and to enshrine from the very outset that the two Games are an integrated whole,” he said.—AFP

TABLE TENNIS Open to athletes with all physical impairments apar t from the visually impaired, players can compete in standing or sitting classes. Athletes with an intellectual impairment are also allowed.

The format involves men’s and women’s competitions in individual, doubles or team events. Matches consist of five sets of 11 points each in a best-offive format. China are the kings and queens of the sport, winning more than half of the 24 gold medals on offer in Beijing.

WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL One of the Paralympics’ most popular sports, wheelchair basketball involves two teams of five playing on a regulation court with standard 10ft-high (threemetre) hoops.

Basketball is open to athletes of all levels of physical ability, with players rated between 1 and 4.5 depending on their functional ability. Teams must not exceed 14 points on court at any time.

Australia are Olympic men’s champions with the USA winning gold in the women’s.

WHEELCHAIR FENCING Open to men and women with amputations, spinal-cord injuries and cerebral palsy. Athletes’ wheelchairs are fastened to the piste during competition and the distance between them fixed.

Points are scored by hitting target areas on the opponent with their foil, epee or sabre. China and Hong Kong topped the medals in Beijing, with France, Poland and Ukraine currently the best in Europe.

WHEELCHAIR RUGBY Also known as “murderball”, wheelchair rugby is a no-holds-barred mix of wheelchair basketball, ice hockey, handball and rugby. Four players per side are allowed on court at one time for four periods of eight minutes each.

Points are scored by crossing the opponents’ goal line with two wheels on the floor and the ball in the players’ hands. Players in possession have to bounce the ball or pass within 10 seconds of receiving it.

USA are defending champions after beating Australia in 2008. Canada, where the game originated, are also contenders.

WHEELCHAIR TENNIS Introduced in Barcelona in 1992, wheelchair tennis follows able-bodied rules although the ball is allowed to bounce twice. Categories are for players with disabilities in three or all limbs (quad) or one or both lower limbs (open).

Competitors have to have a permanent or substantial loss of function in one or both legs and can compete in singles or doubles in best- of-three set matches. The Netherlands have won 22 wheelchair tennis medals but the USA, France and Australia are strong.—AFP

SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS: A handout picture released by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) shows British mountaineer Kevin Shields holding the Scottish National Flame on top of Britain’s highest mountain Ben Nevis in the Lochaber area of the Scottish Highlands after it was lit by local Scouts as part of the London 2012 Paralympic Torch Relay.—AP

CATANIA: A file picture taken on October 10, 2011 shows Hungary’s Zsuzsanna Krajnyak (left) competing against China’s Wu Bai Li during the final of the Wheelchair Women’s Epee category during the 2011 World Fencing Championships in Catania. —AP

LONDON: A file picture taken on August 4, 2012 shows South Africa’s double amputee athlete Oscar Pistorius taking the start of the men’s 400m heats at the athletics event during the London 2012 Olympic Games.—AP

JEDDAH: A file picture taken on April 14, 2005 shows Qatar’s Mohammad Bashir returning the ball to his Syrian opponents during their goalball match at the first Islamic Solidarity Games in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.—AP

MANCHESTER: A file picture taken on May 22, 2012 shows Australia’s Richard Colman (center) winning the T53/54 men’s 400 metre race during the BT Paralympic World Cup at Sportcity.—AP

18

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

S P ORT S

Please, Rocket, just go away — for good NEW YORK: Well, he’s back. Just when we thought we were rid of the Rocket, he turns up again. In the Atlantic League, of all places. At age 50.

Roger Clemens just won’t go away; he’s just fast enough to escape our repeated swats, a survivor above all else.

Age didn’t stop him from repeatedly retiring and coming back over and over again, a Brett Favre in pinstripes.

Ugly allegations of doping and infidelity failed to slow Clemens down. He even spanked the feds, walking out of the courtroom a free man after being acquitted on all charges that he lied to Congress when he denied ever using performanceenhancing substances. It was the biggest win of his career. It should’ve been enough. But, no.

On Saturday night, Clemens will start for an independent minor league team in suburban Houston known as the Sugar Land Skeeters, almost five years after he last pitched in the big leagues and with a date on his birth certificate that qualifies him to be a full member of AARP. If this was anyone else, we’d dismiss it as nothing more than a ludicrous stunt. But this is the Rocket, a man whose competitive fire - fueled with a healthy dose of narcissism - leads us to believe anything is possible.

“If I get through Saturday,” he said, “we’ll see where we go from there.” We hope it leads to going away. There’s nothing feel-good about this comeback story.

We’ve seen it so many times, it’s coming across like another tired sequel in the “Twilight Saga.” Nine long years ago, Clemens first announced his retirement while pitching for the New York Yankees.

He was toasted at stadiums around baseball, soaked up all the cheers, even

received a standing ovation from the opponent when he left the field for what everyone thought was the final time in the World Series.

Turns out, he was just getting warmed up. Clemens came out of retirement a few months later, but his motives seemed genuine. He had a chance to pitch in his adopted hometown of Houston, alongside close friend Andy Pettitte. We cheered.

Then, the following year, Clemens put off retirement again and asked for a whopping $22 million in arbitration.

Hmmm. After one of the best seasons of his career, he finally seemed ready to put away his cleats. Uhh, no. Another comeback, this time for a prorated season with the Astros and another hefty paycheck.

But wait, there’s more.

Showing he had absolutely no scruples, Clemens turned up in the owner’s box at Yankee Stadium and signed on for one more partial season in New York.

All along the way, he played the diva role better than Mariah Carey, demanding and getting all sorts of special perks.

When his supposed team went on the road, he got to stay at home if it wasn’t his turn to pitch. Other players grumbled, realizing Clemens was all in, but only for himself.

We may have marveled at his agedefying skills, but he always seemed like the last guy you’d want to invite over for dinner - surly and detached. A fraud who once complained about having to carry his own bags. An egomaniac whose kids all have names beginning with the letter K, as in strikeout. What happened over the last five years forever doused the Rocket’s sizzle for many of us. He had a starring

role in the Mitchell Report, the investigation of steroid use in baseball. He went before Congress to vehemently deny ever being involved in that sort of chicanery, though it sure seemed to explain how he was just as overpowering - if not more so -

positive for performance enhancers. His main accuser was about as credible as Pee Wee Herman starring in “The Sopranos,” which is surely why the jury delivered its verdict - not guilty, on all counts. That’s also why, in keeping with the American

TEXAS: Roger Clemens holds up his new jersey during a news conference officially announcing his signing with the Sugar Land Skeeters baseball team. —AP in his 40s as he had been in his 20s.

Unrelated, there were also allegations of a long-term affair with troubled country singer Mindy McCready that began when she was in her teens, further sullying a player who always portrayed himself as a family man.

In fairness to Clemens, marital infidelity is hardly unique and he never tested

tradition of jurisprudence, we must refrain from lumping Clemens in with all the other admitted dopers from one of baseball’s darkest eras. (And, just in case you were wondering, the Atlantic League has the same drug-testing procedures and penalties as the affiliated minor leagues, according to Joe Klein, the executive director.)

Klitschko to defend titles against Wach HAMBURG: World heavyweight champion Vladimir Klitschko will defend his WBO, IBF and WBA belts against Poland’s Mariusz Wach in Hamburg on November 10, it was announced yesterday.

The 36-year-old Klitschko, who is based in Hamburg, faces his 23rd world title fight against the undefeated Wach, four months after the champion’s sixth-round knock-out of US boxer Tony Thompson in Basel. “It is always something special to box in Hamburg,” said Klitschko.

“This fight will also be special because I have never fought against a boxer who is bigger than me and has a longer reach.”

At 2.02 metres (6ft 7.5in) tall with a reach of 2.08m, Krakowborn Wach, who is based in the United States, is four centimetres taller than Klitschko with a reach two cms longer.

Klitschko last fought in Hamburg on July 2, 2011, when he earned a clear points win over Britain’s David Haye to add the WBA belt to his collection.

Meanwhile, fallen ex-world champion Arthur Abraham has said he will prove he still has a career in boxing by defeating current WBO super-middleweight title-holder Robert Stieglitz on Saturday.

Abraham, the former IBF middleweight champion, has lost three of his last six fights since moving up a weight category to compete in the Super Six supermiddleweight tournament, where

2011 left his Super Six hopes in tatters.

Since then, the 32-year-old Abraham has defended the WBO European super-middleweight title he won in January and now

BERLIN: Super middleweight WBO champion Robert Stieglitz (left) and challenger Arthur Abraham, both of Germany, smile at each other during a news conference in Berlin. —AP he lost three of his four bouts.

A disqualification against Andre Dirrell of the United Statesthe first loss of his career-then a points defeat to Britain’s Carl Froch in 2010 came before his unanimous defeat to Andre Ward in May

faces compatriot Stieglitz in Berlin for the World Boxing Organisation title.

“For me, every fight is a last chance but I am not going to make any bold statements,” said Abraham at a news conference

yesterday. “I will defeat him in the ring and then everything will be ok. I’ll prove it all.” After his three Super Six defeats, Abraham laboured during his last fight when he defended the European title against Poland’s Piotr Wilczewski in March.

His promoter Kalle Sauerland has made it clear it will be hard to get him another shot at the world title, should he lose on Saturday.

Germany ’s WBA super-middleweight and IBF middleweight title-holder Felix Sturm has said he will fight the winner of Saturday’s bout and Abraham has a loyal fan base here having beaten Edison Miranda in 2006 with a broken jaw.

Having defended his title seven times since winning it in 2009, Russian-born Stieglitz, 31, said he is ready. “I feel relaxed, fit and physically as good as ever,” said the 31-year-old.

“What happens to Arthur in the future does not interest me, I will beat him.” The fight promises to be balanced: Stieglitz has excellent technique, while Abraham has a notoriously hard punch.

“He has a phenomenal punch.

I’m ver y curious to see how Stieglitz will respond to the first hard hit,” said Abraham’s coach Uli Wegner. —AFP

KBC honor Ramadan winners KUWAIT: The Kuwait Banks Club held a ceremony at their headquarters to celebrate winners of KBC competitions organized during the holy month of Ramadan. The event was attended by top KBC officials including Chairman of the Board Ahmad Sultan, Assistant Secretary General Jassem AlHaidar, Head of the Social Committee Reem Al-Wuqaiyan and Assistant General Manager Abbas Al-Bloushi.

More than 120 staff members from local banks participated in pool, football, table tennis and video games competition held throughout Ramadan, including a ‘PlayStation’ tournament for employees’ children between six and ten years of age.

That said, we have no desire to see Clemens don another big league uniform, which is surely what this is all about. He tries to downplay this latest comeback as nothing more than a one-off, a chance to bring a little cheer to his Houston-area fans, but we’re not fooled. There will surely be big league scouts in the stands Saturday night, eager to see if the Rocket has anything left in that right arm. Even if it’s just enough to pitch an inning or two at a time, there would likely be a contending team with contract in hand, ready to feed his ego and sign him up for a playoff run. “If you’re going to go and play, the one thing on his mind is trying to get back to the major leagues,” said Tony DeFrancesco, interim manager of the Houston Astros. Clemens repeatedly shrugged off that sort of talk. “I’m nowhere near where I need to be to compete the way I want,” he insisted. “We just want to have some fun.”

Cynically, we wonder if Clemens has other motives for going back to the mound. He’s eligible for the Hall of Fame ballot this winter, but there are surely plenty of voters unwilling to put a check beside his name, innocent verdict or not.

If he’s turned down once, it might be easier to keep voting him down, as is the case with Mark McGwire.

But, if Clemens makes it back to the big leagues, the five-year window for Cooperstown eligibility starts over.

Maybe some of the hard feelings will have softened by 2017 or 2018, especially if Clemens has tacked on one more comeback, the most improbable one of all, to his resume. It’s all too much to take.

Please, Roger, go away. This time for good. —AP

US Open tennis referee accused of killing husband LOS ANGELES: A prominent professional tennis referee who was preparing to officiate at the US Open in New York was arrested on Tuesday on a felony murder warrant accusing her of bludgeoning her elderly husband to death with a coffee mug.

Lois Ann Goodman, 70, was taken into custody on a warrant filed a week ago by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office charging her with the April 17 slaying of her husband, Alan Goodman, who was 80 years old, prosecutors said.

The district attorney’s office said Goodman would remain in custody in New York while awaiting extradition to Los Angeles, where she faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.

Prosecutors said they would ask for bail to be set at $1 million.

She is accused of killing her husband by beating him to death with a coffee cup at the couple’s home in the Woodland Hills section of Los Angeles.

According to Los Angeles police Lieutenant Dave Storaker, Goodman had called authorities to report that she found her husband dead in their home, with no sign of forced entry, and surmised he had fallen down some stairs after suffering a heart attack.

But details of her account immediately aroused suspicions, and police subsequently conducted several searches of the home for evidence, which included a broken coffee cup that roughly matched the multiple contusions on the victim’s head.

Storaker said the coroner ruled the

death a homicide on Aug. 2. The case was presented to the district attorney and charges were filed. Since Goodman had left town by then for the US Open, Los Angeles police coordinated with homicide detectives in New York City to help make the arrest.

Storaker declined to discuss a suspected motive but said investigators were looking into “whether there were problems in their marriage.”

Goodman is well known in tennis circles and was preparing to serve as a referee at the US Open Tennis Championships tournament, a district attorney’s office spokeswoman, Jane Robison, said. In tennis, on-court referees are known as officials, serving either as the chair umpires or line judges.

Goodman served mainly as a line judge, and had worked at the annual US Open for at least the past 10 years, said Tim Curry, a spokesman for the US Tennis Association, which owns the tournament.

Like all on-court officials, she worked as an independent contractor of the association, he said, adding she was arrested at her hotel before Tuesday’s start of qualifying rounds. He said tournament officials were not aware she had been under suspicion in a murder investigation. The main draw of the tournament, played at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, New York, opens on Monday with the men’s and women’s first-round matches. —Reuters

19

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

SPORTS

Liverpool seek to bounce back in Scotland PARIS: Liverpool can put the disappointment of their opening Premier League game under new coach Brendan Rodgers behind them when they head north of the border to face Hearts in their Europa League play-off first leg today.

The Anfield club suffered a humbling 3-0 defeat at the hands of West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, leaving Rodgers to insist that he will need time to turn their fortunes around.

The pressure will be very much on if they slip up against the Scottish Cup holders in Edinburgh, but captain Steven Gerrard is confident that Liverpool can get back on track.

“It’s important that the likes of myself and the other experienced players take responsibility for a poor

defeat,” he told the Liverpool Echo.

“We have to put it behind us. We’ve got to dust ourselves down and bounce back against Hearts on Thursday night. We have to react in the right manner and look to put things right in the coming games.” It would be a huge shock if Liverpoolwho edged out Gomel of Belarus in the third qualifying round-failed to come through this two-legged tie and take a place in the group stage of the competition.

However, what in the past would have been classed as a ‘Battle of Britain’ is now something of a mismatch. Where once Scottish clubs were able to compete more or less on a par with their southern neighbours, the vast sums of money thrown at the

English game over the last two decades have left them lagging behind. While the Anfield board have reportedly splashed out close to £30 million ($47.3 million) on Joe Allen, Fabio Borini and Oussama Assaidi this summer, cash-strapped Hearts have seen a whole host of players leave without being able to replace them.

A year ago the Jam Tarts lost 5-0 at home to Tottenham Hotspur at the same stage of the competition, while on Saturday they were held to a 2-2 draw at home by 10-man Inverness in the Scottish Premier League. “It’s a totally different kettle of fish, playing against Liverpool, and we’ll have to rise to the challenge,” says Hearts manager John McGlynn.

“They’re obviously a fantastic foot-

ball club. They suffered a 3-0 defeat themselves on Saturday but only time will tell whether that is an advantage or disadvantage to us.”

Elsewhere, Newcastle United will face Greek club Atromitos in Athens.

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew, who saw his side beat Tottenham 2-1 in their Premier League opener at the weekend, is likely to rest key players with Saturday’s trip to Chelsea in mind, while Hatem Ben Arfa is suspended.

“The fact we will have to juggle our playing staff for the Premier League and the Europa League fixtures means we have to take a bit of a gamble with our chances of progressing in Europe,” admitted Pardew.

“There isn’t a lot of money in it, not

unless you win the thing. Not compared to the Premier League. “I am still, of course, looking forward to the challenge. You want to pit your wits against other nationalities, other managers with different types of football.”

In other games, Scottish side Motherwell face Spain’s Levante, who are competing in Europe for the first time, last season’s runners-up Athletic Bilbao face HJK Helsinki, and Inter Milan take on Vaslui of Romania.

Bundesliga outfit Stuttgart face Dinamo Moscow, whose line-up includes former Germany striker Kevin Kuranyi. And big-spending Russians Anzhi Makhachkala, coached by Dutchman Guus Hiddink, face AZ Alkmaar of the Netherlands, who were quarter-finalists last season.—AFP

Gladbach and Basel stunned in Champions League playoffs

GERMANY: Dynamo’s keeper Maxym Koval saves the ball of Borussia’s Mike Hanke (left) and Martin Stranzl (right) during their Champions League qualification soccer match.—AP

Milan looking to new season with uncertainty MILAN: AC Milan and its fans are looking ahead to the new Serie A season with apprehension and uncertainty. With a drastically changed squad and a preseason of mixed results, no one is quite sure what to expect from the 2011 Serie A champion.

Not only did aging Milan icons Alessandro Nesta, Clarence Seedorf, Gennaro Gattuso and Filippo Inzaghi all leave the club at the end of last season, but fans also had to endure the departure of star players Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva to Paris Saint-Germain.

Mark Van Bommel and Gianluca Zambrotta have also left the Rossoneri. So disenchanted was striker Antonio Cassano following the sale of Silva and Ibrahimovic that he filed his own transfer request and has moved to city rivals Inter Milan, in a swap deal with Giampaolo Pazzini.

Further departures could be on the way before the transfer window closes.

Narrow preseason victories over Schalke and Champions League winner Chelsea boosted fans’ dwindling confidence but a 5-1 capitulation to Real Madrid has left many fearing what the new season holds in store.

Milan Vice President Adriano Galliani publicly castigated coach Massimiliano Allegri for his tactics during the Madrid defeat and captain Massimo Ambrosini admits the team will struggle to match the likes of the Spanish giants this season.

“We’re upset that we gave a bad performance, it’s normal to be nervous after

such a defeat,” Ambrosini said. “But it has to be said that we played against a team which is stronger than us.

“This season, teams such as Real can’t be considered on the same level as Milan, we are aware that we are one or two levels below these big clubs. However, now it’s important for us to find the right spirit that this team must have for the whole season.”

Milan was reminded of its past glory days when former player Kaka provided three assists for Real Madrid. The Rossoneri have been trying to tempt Kaka back to the San Siro but the deal looks less likely by the day, with the Brazilian seemingly proving too costly for the Italian club.

There is still time for Milan to pull off a coup before the transfer window shuts but it increasingly seems likely that the club’s big signings apart from Pazzini will be limited to midfielder Riccardo Montolivo and defender Cristian Zappata.

Milan has also signed Kevin Constant to replace the injured Sulley Muntari as well as Francesco Acerbi and Bakaye Traore. Whoever Milan brings in, the club is well aware that this will be a season of transition. “This team knows that the times have changed because we have lost so many important players,” Ambrosini said. “Our preseason allowed us to be aware of that more ... The season is long, the results on the pitch will tell us if this squad has succeeded in again becoming more than a squad. We really want the season to start.”—AP

City striker Aguero out for a month LONDON: Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero will be out of action for just one month despite suffering a knee injury during the Premier League champions’ 3-2 win over Southampton.

Aguero was stretchered off after less than 10 minutes at Eastlands on Sunday after twisting his knee in a challenge with Southampton defender Nathaniel Clyne and it was initially feared the 24-year-old Argentine could be sidelined for most of the season.

However, following a scan and a period of assessment on the striker, City manager Roberto Mancini has revealed Aguerowhose 23-goal haul last season included the dramatic title-winner against QPR on the final day-could be back in action in time for his team’s league clash at Stoke City on September 15. While Mancini is loath to lose Aguero for any length of time, the Italian admits he is relieved to know his star striker, signed for £32 million ($50.5 million) from Atletico Madrid last year, will not be out for as long as he first thought.

“I don’t think Sergio will be out for long and we are hoping he will be back after the international break, which is obviously fantastic news for him and for us,” Mancini told City’s website.

“We were very worried a couple of days

ago because we feared he could be out for six months or maybe even more, which would have been very bad news.

“It looked like a very strange injury at the time and because it was his knee, we were obviously very concerned, so this news is a relief for everybody.”

Mancini has also been boosted by news that England midfielder Gareth Barry and right-back Micah Richards are ahead of schedule as they return from injuries.

Barry suffered an abdominal injury that ruled him out of Euro 2012, but is now back in training and working to catch up after missing the pre-season.

Richards, meanwhile, is making progress after suffering an ankle injury while playing for Great Britain at the Olympics.

“Gareth will also be ready after the international break,” Mancini said. “He hasn’t played any games for almost four months and he needs to build his fitness up, but he is training again and I don’t see him being out for any longer than one month and hopefully, maybe just a couple of weeks.

“Micah’s injury is more serious and he could be out a little longer, but having said that, with rest and the right treatment, we are hopeful he could be ready in about one month, which again would be great news.”—AFP

BERNE: Borussia Moenchengladbach’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League for the first time were hit by a 3-1 home defeat by Dynamo Kiev in the first leg of their playoff tie on Tuesday.

Romanian champions FC Cluj won 2-1 away to FC Basel, last season’s conquerors of Manchester United, while Scottish champions Celtic earned a 2-0 victory at Helsingborg.

Spartak Moscow, who beat Fenerbahce 2-1, and FC Copenhagen, 1-0 winners over Lille, were the only home teams to win in Tuesday’s five games.

Moenchengladbach, beaten European Cup finalists in 1977, have not played in the elite club competition since the 1977-78 season, but got off to a flying start at home to the three-times semifinalists from Ukraine.

Juan Arango produced a long diagonal pass which found Alexander Ring and he cut inside his marker to put the Bundesliga side ahead in the 13th minute. But it was all downhill from there as Gladbach, playing their first competitive match of the season, were repeatedly undone by shoddy play.

Taras Mikhalik was allowed too much space before levelling with a deflected 25-metre shot in the 28th minute, and Andriy Yarmolenko put the visitors ahead eight minutes later, finishing clinically after Gladbach lost possession in midfield. Arango created a flurry of chances in the second half, but it was Kiev who struck again with more help from the hosts.

Luuk de Jong deflected Miguel Veloso’s free kick into his own goal in the 81st minute, to leave the Germans needing to score at least three goals in next week’s return leg.

Basel dominated at home to Cluj for the first hour, with Marco Streller hook-

DENMARK: Copenhagen’s Andreas Cornelius (left) and Lille player David Rozehnal fight for the ball, during the Champions League qualification soccer match first leg between French team OSC Lille and FC Copenhagen.—AP ing them ahead spectacularly just before halftime.

But the Swiss double winners, hoping to qualify for the Champions League for the third season in a row, were undone as Senegalese forward Modou Sougou scored twice on the break in the space of six minutes during the second half.

Celtic took a second-minute lead at Helsingborg when Kris Commons, left unmarked at the far post, volleyed home Georgios Samaras’ cross, before the Greece striker added the second himself with a 75th minute header.

Brazilian Cesar Santin’s 38th minute

goal gave Copenhagen a 1-0 win over Lille, although the real hero for the Danes was goalkeeper Johan Wiland, who saved numerous chances included a Dimitri Payet penalty.

The game between Spartak Moscow and Fenerbahce featured three secondhalf goals in the space of 10 minutes.

Emmanuel Emenike opened the scoring for Spartak, only for Dirk Kuyt to draw the visitors level five minutes later.

However, a fine Dmitry Kombarov volley from Aiden McGeady’s corner in the 69th ensured victory for the home side.—Reuters

Super Cup is no indicator for season, says Mourinho MADRID: The first ‘Clasico’ of the new campaign in the Spanish Super Cup will reveal little on how Real Madrid and Barcelona will fair throughout the new season, Real coach Jose Mourinho said yesterday.

Today’s first leg at the Nou Camp will be a first chance for fans to see how new Barca coach Tito Vilanova, who has replaced Pep Guardiola, measures up against the La Liga champions.

“A match between rivals is always important, even in a summer tournament, but the Super Cup is the least important of the four we play during the season,” Mourinho told a news conference.

“I believe there is no relation between the winner and what is going to happen in the whole season. We lost the Super Cup last season and we won the league breaking records.

“At Inter (Milan) I also lost the Super Cup and that season we won the treble - the Cup, the Champions League and the league - and with Chelsea we won the Super Cup and didn’t win the championship.” Barca’s stormy 54 aggregate win last year marked a low point in relations between the arch-rivals.

Three red cards were flashed after a melee between the players at the end, while Mourinho’s infamous finger-in-the-eye attack on Vilanova, who was Guardiola’s assistant, led to bitter recriminations from both sides.

There has been a much calmer buildup to the latest clash between the Spanish powerhouses, with the head injury suffered by defender Pepe in last Sunday’s league match against Valencia a case in point. Pepe, who collided heads with Iker Casillas, spent Sunday night in hospital after he lost consciousness and was still being monitored by medical staff after his release on Monday.

During the week Barca defender Gerard Pique tweeted his best wishes to the Portuguese international, a favourite hatefigure at the Nou Camp, wishing him a swift recovery.

“Pepe will not play, it isn’t humane to risk

SPAIN: Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, from Argentina (second right) celebrates a goal with his teammates in this file photo. —AP a player for a game of football, however important it may be,” Mourinho said. “He is recovering very well and we think he will be back again on Sunday without any type of risk.” With just under two weeks to go to the end of the transfer window, Real have yet to make a major move in the market while the futures of Turkey midfielder Nuri Sahin and Brazil playmaker Kaka are the subject of much media speculation.

Mourinho said he wanted Sahin to go out on loan, ideally to the Premier League with reports saying Arsenal are leading Liverpool in the chase.

“It can teach him particular characteristics of play that he doesn’t have at the moment,” Mourinho said. “I couldn’t care less if he goes to Arsenal, or Liverpool or

Tottenham. I have no preference.

“With Nuri we have proposals on the table, but we have no official proposals for Kaka.” Former club AC Milan had been mulling a bid for Kaka. —Reuters

Match on TV (Local Timings)

Spanish Super Cup Barcelona v Real Madrid Al-Jazeera Sport +2

23:30

Super Cup is no indicator for season, says Mourinho

Angels snap losing streak

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

London prepares to welcome the world — again

Page 17

WINSTON SALEM: John Isner, of the United States, hits a return to Martin Klizan, of Slovakia, during a match at the Winston-Salem Open tennis tournament.—AP

Isner, Tsonga roll into second round Three-seeded players eliminated

WINSTON-SALEM: Defending champion John Isner and top seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France both won Tuesday in the second round of the Winston-Salem Open.

The third-seeded Isner was pushed to three sets before beating Slovakia’s Martin Klizan 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Tsonga, the highest-ranked player (sixth) in the final hard-court tournament before the US Open, beat Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci 6-3, 7-6 (7-2).

Isner showed the effects of a two-week layoff, coming out sluggish against Klizan. The left-hander broke Isner’s serve in the opening game of the first set, and kept him scrambling with his ground

strokes. However, Isner eventually picked up his game, serving 13 aces - the fastest recorded at 140 mph - and breaking Klizan’s serve late in each of the final two sets.

“I felt the match was going to be tough, and that’s exactly what it was,” Isner said. “He was playing pretty well, and I wasn’t on top of my game.

That’s all it took in that first set, and from that point on I knew it was going to be a battle.

“I wasn’t that great out there today, but as the tournament progresses, I should get stronger.” Isner will next face 13th-seeded Jurgen Melzer of Austria, who fought off a challenge from 303rd-ranked

qualifier Michael McClune to win 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (1210). Tsonga, a semifinalist at Wimbledon earlier this season, broke Bellucci’s serve in the first set. But the Brazilian overcame four double faults to force a second-set tiebreaker.

“It was a good match for me,” said Tsonga, who teamed with Michael Llodra for the silver medal in men’s doubles at the London Olympics. “The second set, I had many occasions to finish it, but I did much better in the tiebreaker.”

Tsonga will next play qualifier Sergiy Stakhovsky of the Ukraine, who upset 15th-seeded Pablo Andujar of Spain 6-2, 6-3. In addition to Andujar,

three other seeded players were eliminated Tuesday: eighth-seeded Julien Benneteau of France, last year’s Winston-Salem finalist; 11thseeded Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan and 12th seed Kevin Anderson of South Africa.

Benneteau lost to Poland’s Lukasz Kubot 2-6, 75, 6-4, his second straight win over a seeded player; Istomin lost to Belgium’s Steve Darcis 6-2, 6-2; while Anderson fell to qualifier Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 64, 7-6 (7-2).

Also advancing to late yesterday’s round of 16 were second-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, fourth-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov of

the Ukraine, sixth seed Marcel Granollers of Spain, seventh-seeded Sam Querrey, ninth-seeded Feliciano Lopez of Spain, 13th seed Jurgen Melzer of Austria, 14th seed David Nalbandian of Argentina and 16th seed Jarkko Nieminen of Finland. Berdych beat Alex Bogomolov Jr. of Russia 6-3, 7-5; Dolgopolov downed Taiwan’s Yen-Hsun Lu 6-1, 6-3; Granollers won 6-4, 6-2 over Ryan Harrison; Querrey defeated Colombia’s Santiago Giraldo 6-3, 6-2; Lopez defeated Donald Young 6-2, 6-3; Nalbandian beat Robin Haase of the Netherlands 62, 6-4; and Nieminen was a 6-3, 6-3 winner over Germany’s Benjamin Becker.—AP

Expect grunts, shrieks and hoots at US Open NEW YORK: Grunts, shrieks and hoots. That’s what fans can look forward to next week at the US Open, where earplugs will be optional while watching some of the world’s top players.

On the women’s side, the high-pitched shrieks get the most attention. The WTA in June announced plans to educate young players and coaches to keep the decibels down. There’s also been talk about chair umpires using a handheld “grunt-o-meter” - not unlike a radar gun on serves. Opponents say it’s unfair because the noisemakers make it hard to hear when a ball hits the racket, which helps in timing a return.

Players also can be penalized under the hindrance rule, if the chair umpires believe it’s deliberate and creates an advantage. Tennis fans have the option of turning down the volume on their TVs or, if watching in person, getting radio headsets. Here’s a look at offenders past and present, the hindrance rule and how to tame the grunters.

LOUDEST YELPERS: Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka hoots with nearly every point, using an “AH-OOOOOH” sound that extends well past the point of contact with the ball. Maria Sharapova employs a high-octave shriek that reaches aria heights late in tight matches. The Williams sisters’ decibel levels tend to rise with important points. On the men’s side, Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal grunt with their groundstrokes, but as Billie Jean King points out, “It’s a lower grunt.

Everyone seems to be OK with that. It’s the pitch of the grunt that bothers (fans).” Among the quietest players? Effortless Roger Federer.

LONDON: In this Aug. 4, 2012, file photo, Maria Sharapova, of Russia, returns a shot to Serena Williams, of the United States. Fans can look forward to a variety of grunts, shrieks and hoots as the start of the US Open tennis tournament approaches on Monday, Aug. 27.—AP

SELES TRADEMARK Teenager Monica Seles took the modern grunt to new levels in the early 1990s, using two-note “AH-HEEE” shrieks to accompany her two-handed shots on both wings. Her memoir noted she started tennis at age 6 and grunted

from Day 1 because she was so small and wanted to put every ounce of energy into the ball.

The grunt sounded like a martial arts move and apparently worked for Seles, who reached No. 1 at 17 and won eight majors by 19. In 1992, Wimbledon officials asked her to quiet down after Martina Navratilova complained she couldn’t hear the ball hit the racket. Seles followed in the guttural footsteps of Jimmy Connors, who provided yells and fist pumps during his spectacular run to the semifinals of the 1991 US Open at age 39.

ISSUE FOR FANS, MEDIA OR PLAYERS? It’s not particularly player-driven, with few complaints over the years to chair umpires.

Chris Evert calls the cacophony annoying, but believes the criticism is more fan- and mediadriven. Former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki has said some players “do it on purpose.” Agnes Radwanska considered the grunts too loud at this year’s Australian Open, where the crowd started imitating Azarenka’s hoots. When Azarenka and Sharapova faced off for the title Down Under, local papers called it the “Scream Queen Final.” Fans also echoed Sharapova’s grunts when she hit the ball during a 2008 Fed Cup match in Israel.

HINDRANCE RULE APPLIED? The chair umpire can penalize a player for “hindrance,” but the rule is rarely enforced for grunting. The hindrance rule states: “If a player is hindered in playing the point by a deliberate act of the opponent, the player shall win the point.”

Serena Williams lost a point when she shouted before Samantha Stosur struck the ball during the final of the 2011 U.S. Open. At this year’s French Open, the chair umpire twice awarded a point to Williams because of her opponent’s grunting. Brad Gilbert, a tennis commentator and former coach of Andre Agassi, says if players start losing points, it will stop.—AP

SPAIN: John Degenkolb of Argos-Shimano team celebrates as he crosses the finish line of the fifth stage of the Vuelta Tour of Spain. —AFP

Degenkolb clinches Tour of Spain stage LOGRONO: Germany’s John Degenkolb won the fifth stage of the Tour of Span after edging ahead of Italy ’s Daniele Bennati in the final seconds while Spain’s Joaquin Rodriguez held on to the overall lead.

Degenkolb of Argos-Shimano, who also won the second stage, finished the 168kilometre (104-mile) ride that began and ended in the northern city of Logrono in four hours, 10 minutes and 37 seconds.

Bennati of Radioshack-Nissan launched a sprint in the final minutes and managed to open up a significant gap but in the final metres Degenkolb picked up speed and inched ahead of the Italian at the finish line. “It was unbelievable it was so fast. My team delivered me perfectly and I just did the sprint in the final 200 metres,” Degenkolb said of the final kilometre of the race.

“It was a relatively easy win with a lot of tension in the final kilometres. Two victories in five days. It’s incredible,” he added.

The previous two stages included hill-

top finishes and yesterday’s urban circuit in Logrono allowed for a rare chance for sprinters to shine during this year’s race.

Temperatures in Logrono hit 32 degrees Celsius (90 Fahrenheit).

Rodriguez finished safely in the peloton to hold on to the overall leaders’ red jersey for the second straight day as well as keeping his one-second advantage over Chris Froome of Team Sky. “Today’s stage has gone well except at the end which was really stressful, especially the last lap,” said Rodriguez. Spain’s Alberto Contador, who is racing for the first time since a doping suspension, is in third place in the overall standings, five seconds behind the leader.

Thursday’s stage will take the riders from Tarazona to Jaca, a distance of 175.4 kilometres that includes two virtually backto-back third category climbs. The 21stage race finishes on September 9 in Madrid. The Tour of Spain is one of cycling’s three “major tours” along with the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia.—AFP

Kuwait’s Wataniya jumps on $2.2 billion Qtel offer Page 22

China solar industry faces weak sales Page 24

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

Indian bank staff strike against reforms, markets hit Page 25

Russia ends 18-year saga, becomes 156th WTO member Page 23

CAIRO: In this image released by the office of the Egyptian Presidency, International Monetary Fund Chief Christine Lagarde, second right, meets with Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, right, in Cairo, Egypt, yesterday. Egypt’s prime minister says his country has formally asked the International Monetary Fund for a $4.8 billion loan to help boost its battered economy, and that he expects to reach a deal by the end of the year. — AP

Egypt seeks $4.8b IMF loan Lagarde says will be a ‘partner’ with Egypt

CAIRO: Egypt requested a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund and hopes for a deal by the end of year, officials said during a visit yesterday by IMF chief Christine Lagarde to discuss helping the ailing economy.

Egypt said last week it would discuss a bigger-than-expected loan from the fund, whose support could help to stave off a balance of payments crisis and rebuild confidence of investors who fled during 18 months of political turmoil.

Egypt’s military-appointed interim government had been negotiating a $3.2 billion package before it handed power to President Mohamed Mursi on June 30. The deal was not finalised. “We have officially requested a $4.8 billion loan from the IMF,” presidential spokesman Yasser Ali told Reuters as Lagarde met the president. An IMF official confirmed the request.

During earlier talks, army officials had voiced some concerns about extending the nation’s debts under their watch, while the IMF had insisted that any agreement receive “broad political support”. Mursi’s group, the Muslim Brotherhood, at the time declined to support any deal, saying the then government had not given it enough information to show how the money would be used. The Brotherhood at that point had nearly half the seats in parliament.

Lagarde’s visit signals a fresh determination on both sides to seal a long-awaited accord after Mursi, who took office on June 30, appointed his first government last month. “The objective ... is to improve stability, to restore confidence with a view to encouraging investors to invest and create jobs, to reduce the financial burden of very high financing terms,” Lagarde said after meeting top officials.

She said the IMF would look at fiscal, monetary and structural issues. “We will be discussing engaging in a dialogue but at the end of the day ... it’s an Egyptian journey and the IMF is a partner in that journey,” she said.

Speaking at a joint news conference with Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Kandil, she added that talks would continue today and an IMF team would make further visits to Egypt.

Kandil said he expected the IMF loan would be for five years with a grace period of 39 months and interest rate of 1.1 percent, but said details were still being discussed.

“God willing there will be an agreement on a map for work extending to November or the beginning of December during which the loan will be signed with the IMF,” he said.

During 18 tumultuous months since the overthrow of autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak, successive Egyptian governments

negotiated with the IMF to secure emergency funding. An army council took charge after Mubarak fell on Feb. 11, 2011.

Egypt’s fiscal and balance of payments problems have worsened. An exodus of foreign investors in the wake of the turmoil left local banks shouldering much of the shortterm and other lending to the state.

The government in the 12 months to endJune also borrowed nearly $12 billion, or about 4.5 percent of GDP, directly from the central bank, an unusual measure indicating it was running out of options to finance its budget deficit.

Foreign reserves have fallen to well under half levels seen before last year’s popular uprising against Mubarak and investors’ reluctance to return is born partly of fears that a sharp currency devaluation could wipe out any returns.

An IMF deal would help Egypt to add

credibility to economic reforms needed to restore investor confidence. Based on government figures, the budget deficit for 2012/2013 will represent 7.9 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), down from 8.2 percent a year earlier. But most economists forecast lower GDP growth than the government’s estimate of 4-4.5 percent.

Tax receipts have suffered from a weak economy and the previous government boosted spending to meet popular demands for better living standards after Mubarak’s overthrow.

Aid promised by foreign donors last year was largely absent until June, when funds arrived from Saudi Arabia. It transferred $1.5 billion as direct budget support, approved $430 million in project aid and said it would allow Cairo to use a $750 million credit line to import oil products. Qatar also pledged $2 billion in support this month. — Reuters

Greece seeks more time, Juncker heads to Athens ATHENS: Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras meets Eurogroup chief Jean-Claude Juncker in Athens yesterday, launching a diplomatic marathon to win better bailout terms for Greece.

In an interview to German daily Bild, Samaras said that Greece needed more time to make spending cuts and reforms that are necessary to unlock the next installment of the country’s EU-IMF rescue package yesterday. “All we want is a little ‘breathing space’ to revive the economy quickly and raise state income,” he was quoted as saying. “Let me be very clear. We are not asking for additional money. We are sticking by our commitments and are meeting all our requirements,” he underlined.

Greek daily Kathimerini reported on Wednesday that the Greek prime minister will try to secure Juncker’s full support for the government’s plans to meet its commitments to its European partners.

Following Juncker’s visit, the Greek premier will meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Friday and French President Francois Hollande in Paris on Saturday. Merkel and Hollande, leaders of the eurozone’s top two economies, are set to meet in Berlin today, with Greece expected to be part of their agenda.

“The aim is to discuss flexibility in return

for assurances and the two want to have a common line before the arrival of the Greek prime minister,” Claire Demesmay, of the German Council on Foreign Relations, told AFP. Ulrike Guerot, a political scientist at the European Council of Foreign Relations, said the meeting would be closely watched in view of crucial decisions expected next month. “The markets want to know if visions are the same in Berlin and Paris,” she said.

France is considered more flexible than Germany towards modification of the austerity programme that is part of Greece’s rescue deal. Vokler Kauder, parliamentary head of Merkel’s party, told German weekly Der Spiegel on Sunday that Greece had “no room for manoeuvre”.

Greece is in the process of finalising a spending cuts programme of about 11.5 billion euros ($14.3 bn) for 2013 and 2014, necessary in order to access the next installment of its bailout package that amounts to nearly 31 billion euros.

Most cuts are reported to come from salaries, pensions and benefits and have caused friction within the conservative-led, three-party coalition government. A Greek finance ministry source told AFP yesterday that an additional 2-2.5 billion euros in spending cuts “cannot be ruled out” because of the reduction in salaries and pensions that

will diminish the taxes collected by the state.

The so-called troika of auditors of Greece’s international EU, IMF and European Central Bank creditors is expected in Athens in September, to report on the country ’s progress in implementating its reform programme. The report will determine whether Greece will receive the next much-needed payment from its rescue package. The country has fallen behind in the implementation of structural reforms, as back-to-back elections in May and June resulted in a twomonth political deadlock.

But in seeking a two-year reprieve Samaras sould be able to invoke a clause in the second bailout package signed in March that allows for an extension to the programme in case of a “deeper than expected recession.”

As the country struggles with its fifth year of recession, predictions now are that its economy will contract 7 percent in 2012, considerably more than the initial 4.5 percent estimate.

Last week Juncker played down rumours of a possible Greek exit from the eurozone, which have recently become louder. “No, I don’t think it will happen,” he told Austrian daily Tiroler Tageszeitung in an interview on Saturday. “Because I believe that Greece will try to redouble its efforts to meet its targets

ATHENS: Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, left, welcomes Jean Claude Junker, Prime Minister, of Luxembourg and President of Eurogroup prior to their meeting in Athens, yesterday. Greece needs more time to implement tough financial reforms and spending cuts, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras says as he starts the first of a series of top-level European meetings to discuss his debt-ridden country’s international bailout. — AP

there is no reason to expect this exit scenario will become relevant,” he added. These comments followed earlier statements Juncker made to Germany’s WDR public broadcaster in early August, that a Greek exit from the eurozone would be “manageable” but not “desirable.” European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso had also underlined the

need for Greece to deliver on its obligations, during a visit to Athens at the end of July. “To maintain the trust of its European and international partners, the delays must end.

Words are not enough, actions are more important,” Barroso had said after meetings with the premier and Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras. — AFP

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

BUSINESS

Qatar buys 22% stake in Chinese investment firm SHANGHAI/DUBAI: A unit of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund has bought a 22 percent stake in CITIC Capital Holdings, linking one of the Middle East’s most powerful investors with one of China’s top investment funds.

While the sum Qatar is paying for the stake is likely in the tens of millions of dollars, the partnership could have a big impact globally, given the hundreds of billions of dollars in cash each fund has access to. CITIC manages $4.6 billion, but is partly owned by CIC, China’s own sovereign wealth fund, which manages $482 billion.

The deal comes as Qatar has moved aggressively to put its more than $100 billion in capital to work, at a time when valuations across the globe are low, money supply tight, and traditional investors hesitant.

CITIC Capital is the country’s top alternative

investment firm, though it is known mainly as a private equity and real estate investor. Its private equity arm has operations in China, Japan and the United States.

CITIC’s China investments include stakes in Harbin Pharmaceutical Group, Jilin Grain Group and China National Investment & Guaranty Co. “For CITIC Capital, the transaction would help its overseas expansion, given Qatar Investment’s global network. For Qatar, it would give it bigger China exposure, especially in the alternative investment space,” said Howhow Zhang, head of research at fund consultancy Z-Ben Advisors.

For years, Qatar has shown interest in investing into China and this deal allows it greater access.

Qatar is applying for a $5 billion quota under China’s Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) scheme, the main channel for foreign invest-

ment in Chinese stock and bond markets, the official China Securities Journal reported on Monday.

Qatar’s sovereign fund, known as the Qatar Investment Authority, was the top cornerstone investor in Agricultural Bank of China’s $22.1 billion IPO in 2010. It still holds $2.7 billion worth of shares of Agbank, China’s third-largest bank, according to Thomson Reuters data.

“Not only will Qatar Holding provide us with an enlarged capital base to fund our business expansion and investments, its significant backing will strengthen our brand positioning meaningfully as the most preferred and committed partner to invest with, both in and outside China,” CITIC Capital’s chief executive, Yichen Zhang, said in a statement.

CITIC Capital did not give financial details of the investment made by Qatar Holding LLC, a unit of

the Qatar Investment Authority. Asset management firms similar to CITIC Capital usually fetch around 1 percent to 2 percent of their assets under management. Even at a China premium of 3 percent, that percentage would put the deal at just under $30 million.

Chinese financial conglomerate CITIC Group is also a shareholder of CITIC Capital. Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund has traditionally preferred investing in Western markets, picking up stakes in companies ranging from car makers to banks. But it is also eyeing greater exposure to emerging markets.

Qatar Holding is the investment arm of the gasrich Gulf state’s wealth fund, with stakes in banks such as Credit Suisse and Barclays, as well as miner Xstrata and sports car maker Porsche. Last week, it bought a 20 percent stake in UK airport operator BAA for $1.4 billion. — Reuters

Kuwait’s Wataniya jumps on $2.2 billion Qtel offer Kuwait’s index up 0.8%, Gulf markets mixed

MADRID: Protesters hold signs reading “no to cuts” during a demonstration in Madrid yesterday. Dozens of Spanish police, many blowing whistles and horns, rallied outside of the interior ministry in Madrid yesterday against government austerity measures that include cuts to their salaries. — AFP

Al Tijari announces winners of Al Fitr and daily draws

DUBAI: Kuwait’s Wataniya rose to a twomonth high yesterday after Qatar Telecom offered to buy remaining stake in the telco for $2.2 billion, while Gulf markets were mixed in muted trade post the holy month of Ramadan.

Shares in Wataniya jumped 4.6 percent to 2.3 dinars on the Kuwait bourse, their highest close since May 19 as it resumed trading after a two-month hiatus. Qtel already owns 52.5 percent of the firm and is offering 2.6 dinars per share for the stake.

“Institutions, foreign and local and retail investors, are all keen to make a quick buck on this deal. It will create volume in the market because people making money on the rally will be putting it back in the market,” said Fouad Darwish, head of brokerage at Global Investment House.

“We will not feel the full impact of the rally because of the timing... it’s the last two days of the week and many people are not in the market.” Kuwait’s index rose 0.8 percent, making its fifth straight gain since last week ’s eight-year low. The bourse has booked losses for three consecutive months since May amid political upheaval. Last

KUWAIT: Commercial Bank of Kuwait held the Al Najma Account draws on 22nd August 2012. The draw was held under the supervision of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry represented by Saquer Al Manaie.

The winner of the Al Najma Eid Al Fitr Mega Draw is: Harjinder Bahamar

KD 100,000/-

The winners of the Al Najma Daily Draw are: 1- Mohammed Waqas Chaudiry Lateef Allah 2- Wael Ismail Mohammed Hassan 3- Mohammed Mustafa Hassan Al-Salahat 4- Mariam Abdulla Ali Al-Qattan 5- Habib Hamad Mohammed Al-Jadey

KD 7000/KD 7000/KD 7000/KD 7000/KD 7000/-

The Commercial Bank of Kuwait announces the biggest daily draw in Kuwait with the launch of the new Najma account. Customers of the bank can now enjoy a KD 7,000 daily prize which is the highest in the country and another 4 mega prizes during the year worth KD 100,000 each on different occasions: The National Day, Eid Al Fitr, Eid Al Adha and on the 19th of June which is the date of the bank’s establishment.

With a minimum balance of KD 500, customers will be eligible for the daily draw provided that the money is in the account one week prior to the daily draw or 2 months prior to the mega draw. In addition, for each KD 25 a customer can get one chance for winning instead of KD 50.

Commercial Bank of Kuwait takes this opportunity to congratulate all lucky winners and also extends appreciation to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for their effective supervision of the draws which were conducted in an orderly and organized manner.

week, the government asked the country’s top court to rule on a law that divides the Gulf Arab US ally into five constituencies, setting the stage for a showdown with opposition politicians.

In Doha, Qatar Telecom’s shares edged up 0.5 percent, extending gains since it made the Wataniya offer. Doha’s index advanced 0.1 percent to its highest close since May 28.

The market has been rallying in recent sessions as local retail investors look for shortterm gain in small- to mid-caps. Focus shifted to larger caps yesterday with Industries Qatar rising 0.9 percent. Elsewhere, investors booked recent gains in Dubai, with the index closing 0.3 percent lower, trimming year-to - date gains to 16.5 percent.

Bellwether Emaar Properties shed 0.9 percent, contractor Arabtec lose 1.1 percent and logistics operator Aramex closed 1.1 percent lower. In Abu Dhabi, the index sustained gains for a ninth successive session, climbing 0.5 percent to its highest close since March 21. I ts main suppor t was Etisalat, which rose 1.4 percent. “We’re seeing retail traders grabbing opportunities before liquidity kicks in post-Eid holiday,”

said Firass Yaish head of business development at Trust Capital. “There wont be much action on the market this week because people are still on holiday.”

Oil eased below $114 a barrel as investors held out hope that Europe would overcome its debt crisis while Middle East tension kept the potential for supply disruption in focus.

Saudi Arabia and Oman markets were closed Wednesday for the Eid holidays.

YESTERDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS KUWAIT The measure gained 0.8 percent to 5,765 points.

QATAR The benchmark advanced 0.1 percent to 8,495 points.

DUBAI The index slipped 0.3 percent to 1,576 points.

ABU DHABI The index climbed 0.5 percent to 2,590 points.

BAHRAIN The measure ticked up 0.2 percent to 1,083 points. — Reuters

‘Fiscal cliff’ plan will send US into recession: CBO WASHINGTON: The US Congress’s budget analysts said yesterday that current policies designed to slash the budget deficit after January 1 will plunge the country into recession and push up joblessness.

The Congressional Budget Office said the budget plan agreed in a political deal last year-sharp cuts to spending and tax increases that will hit household finances-will cause the economy to shrink by 0.5 percent in the fist half of the 2013 fiscal year that begins October 1.

It would also likely send the unemployment rate to 9.1 percent by the second half of fiscal 2013, from the current already-high 8.3 percent, the CBO said. The plan-known as the “fiscal cliff” because of the sharp return to recession also predicted by private-sector economists-would succeed in cutting some $500 billion from the budget deficit next year.

The deficit was estimated at $1.1 trillion for this fiscal year, the CBO said. But the current

economic current growth trajectory of about 2.25 percent would abruptly halt under the current law, the Budget Control Act of 2011, and the scheduled January expiration of temporary tax breaks.

“The outlook for the budget deficits, federal debt, and the economy are especially uncertain now because substantial changes to tax and spending policies are scheduled to take effect in January 2013,” the CBO said.

“Fiscal tightening will lead to economic conditions in 2013 that will probably be considered a recession, with real GDP declining by 0.5 percent between the fourth quarter of 2012 and the fourth quarter of 2013, and the unemployment rate rising to about 9 percent,” it said.

The CBO gave alternative, more encouraging growth scenarios should adjustments be made to the existing law. But since the August 2011 deal-a poison-pill agreement never meant to remain in place but to force a

more palatable deal between battling Democrats and Republicans-politicians have not been able to agree on how to replace it.

And with the issues of debt and taxes at front and center in the presidential election campaign, neither side is likely to give in on a compromise before the November 6 vote.

But that will give Congress only a few weeks to reverse from the fiscal-cliff course before it is to come into effect beginning January 1 — a fact that has businesses, investors and politicians increasingly worried.

If the fiscal-cliff policies are changed, so that current tax policies largely stay in place and the forced budget cuts do not take effect, the CBO predicted the economy would remain stronger in 2013 with growth around 1.7 percent and the jobless rate at 8.0 percent.

However, it said, the government’s deficit would again hit $1 trillion, and government borrowing would continue to weigh on the economy over the medium term. — AFP

EXCHANGE RATES 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

.2750000 .4420000 .3480000 .2900000 .2820000 .2920000 .0040000 .0020000 .0763950 .7442710 .3870000 .0720000 .7296250 .0430000 CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES .2814000 .4442460 .3508210 .2920600 .2842140 .0471070 .0421440 .2941190 .0362780 .2248500 .0035500 .0000000 .0000000 .0000000 .0000000 .0766440 .7467160 .0000000 .0750600 .7311940 .0000000

.2870000 .4570000 .3570000 .3050000 .2920000 .3050000 .0067500 .0035000 .0771600 .7517510 .4100000 .0780000 .7369580 .0510000 .2835000 .4475610 .3534390 .2942400 .2863350 .0470590 .0424590 .2963140 .0365490 .2265280 .0035770 .0051380 .0021500 .0030140 .0034910 .0772160 .7522890 .4009900 .0756200 .7366510 .0067370

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co. Currency US Dollar Pak Rupees

Rate per 1000 (Tran) 282.600 3.005

Indian Rupees Sri Lankan Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso UAE Dirhams Saudi Riyals Bahraini Dinars Egyptian Pounds Pound Sterling Indonesian Rupiah Yemeni Riyal Euro Canadian Dollars Nepali rupee

Bangladesh Taka Indian Rupee Sri Lankan Rupee Nepali Rupee Pakistani Rupee UAE Dirhams Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Jordanian Dinar Omani Riyal Qatari Riyal Saudi Riyal

5.103 2.145 3.465 6.710 77.045 75.515 751.300 46.490 451.700 2.990 1.550 358.100 291.400 3.200

Transfer Rate (Per 1000) 282.500 354.800 447.800 288.800 3.575 5.097 46.495 2.136 3.455 6.675 2.995 751.550 76.900 75.400

UAE Exchange Centre WLL COUNTRY Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Euro US Dollar Sterling Pound Japanese Yen

SELL DRAFT 299.39 289.56 297.56 355.09 282.20 448.78 3.64

3.580 5.300 2.350 3.650 3.150 77.450 750.000 47.700 399.000 736.000 78.000 75.800

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

3.463 5.085 2.138 3.192 2.995 76.90 751.40 46.49 402.04 734.45 77.93 75.46

SELL CASH 311.000 290.000 298.000 355.000 285.000 450.000 3.630

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 282.600 288.830 443.975 348.970 290.575 748.180 76.920 77.570 75.325 398.365 46.498 2.138 5.081 3.002 3.454 6.702 693.220 4.580 9.060 4.385 3.285 90.285

Bahrain Exchange Company COUNTRY Australian dollar Bahraini dinar Bangladeshi taka

SELL CASH 299.000 751.680 3.720

SELL DRAFT 297.500 751.680 3.455

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

290.500 555.100 46.000 48.200 167.800 46.420 356.500 37.120 5.320 0.032 0.161 0.236 3.660 400.540 0.191 93.440 44.000 4.340 232.300 1.831 48.900 734.190 3.080 6.980 78.180 75.470 227.180 36.490 2.692 450.000 43.500 296.700 4.400 9.400 198.263 77.060 283.000 1.380 GOLD

10 Tola 1,742.950

Sterling Pound US Dollar

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 448.000 282.600

289.000

227.200 46.494 355.000 36.970 5.090 0.031

400.510 0.190 93.440 3.210 230.800

734.010 2.995 6.673 77.750 75.470 227.180 36.490 2.134 448.000 296.200 4.400 9.180 76.980 282.600

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

BUSINESS

Apple, Foxconn improve conditions at China plants TAIPEI/SAN FRANCISCO: Apple Inc and Foxconn have improved working conditions at Chinese factories that make most of the world’s iPads and iPhones, according to auditors the firms enlisted to monitor the process, but tough tasks lie ahead.

The Fair Labor Association said on Tuesday local laws require the companies-which came under fire over conditions at the plants blamed for a series of suicides in 2010 — to reduce hours by almost a third by 2013 for the hundreds of thousands working in Foxconn plants across southern China.

Foxconn said yesterday it would continue to cut overtime to less than nine hours a week from the current 20, even though that could raise labor costs while also making it difficult to attract workers. “It is a challenge. When we reduce overtime it means we need to hire more people and implement more automation, more investment on robotic engineering. More workers also mean more dormitories and recreational facilities; it takes time,” said Louis Woo, special assistant to the CEO of Foxconn.

“But I expect more loyalty from workers as a result, and then we can save more costs on recruitment and retainment,” he told Reuters in an interview yesterday. “Yield rates will also improve.

Efficiency in terms of productivity, yield gain, retention and lower turnover rates should be able to improve next year.”

Earlier this year, the FLA-of which Apple is a member- found multiple violations of labor law, including extreme hours, after launching one of the largest investigations ever conducted of an American company’s operations outside the United States.

Apple, the world’s most valuable company, and Foxconn-the trading name of Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry whose clients also include Dell Inc, Sony Corp and Hewlett-Packard Co-agreed to slash overtime, improve safety, hire new workers and upgrade dormitories.

Woo said Foxconn not only wants to do “the right thing” for its one million employees, it also wants to serve as a model for other companies. In a report tracking the progress of those commitments, the FLA said it had verified that agreed-upon changes had been instituted and that Apple was trying to hold its partner, the world’s largest contract manufacturer, accountable.

Auret van Heerden, president and CEO of the FLA, said Foxconn faces a challenge from workers’ expectations. “A lot of workers have clearly come to Shenzhen to make as much money as they can in as short a period as they can, and overtime hours are very important in that calculation,” he said.

“We are picking up concerns now on the microblogs about what’s likely to happen as hours gets changed, and whether their incomes will be shaved as well.”

Many people would leave Foxconn if there is no overtime, according to a post by “Shenzhen Mars” on China’s Twitter-like Weibo.com message system.

Foxconn’s Woo said the company has been constantly telling workers about the importance of the quality of life and health.

“This is the thing we need to continue to communicate with workers, especially young migrant workers, that anyone who works more than a certain number of hours will feel tired and not well. If

we can improve the work environment and benefits, they can enjoy their life better.”

At Foxconn’s massive factory in Shenzhen’s Longhua district, six workers interviewed by Reuters said overtime hours had been cut to between 48 to 60 hours per month, down from some 80 before.

Some said more workers were quitting Foxconn to seek better paid work elsewhere, with red posters plastered on walls everywhere calling for large-scale recruitment of replacements. Staff were getting text messages offering bonuses for referring friends or relatives to the factory.

“A lot of my friends have resigned,” said a production line worker surnamed Li. “...From just my home town alone, there have been at least ten people who have left. On a basic level, most workers were able to withstand (the pressures) of the previous overtime system.”

But not everyone was unhappy. “There’s been an improvement in the past six months... It’s a bit more comfortable with shorter work days,” said spikyhaired worker Liu Xiaoguan. But his take-home pay has dropped from around 3,700 yuan ($583) per month to 3,000 yuan. “I hardly save anything,” he said with a laugh. “I like spending too much.”

Global protests against Apple swelled after reports spread in 2010 about the suicides at Foxconn plants, blamed on harsh working conditions and alienation felt by migrant laborers, often from impoverished provinces, in a bustling metropolis like Shenzhen, which is home to two of the three factories the FLA inspected.

Apple has tried to counter criticism that its prof-

its are built on the backs of mistreated Chinese workers. The FLA’s progress report comes a day after Apple’s market value climbed past $623 billion, surpassing the record set by Microsoft Corp during the heyday of technology stocks in 1999.

The latest report card on Apple-Foxconn comes after first findings and a timeline for improvements were announced in March, though some industry observers said the original agreement was not entirely independent because of close ties between the FLA and corporate members.

Since that March audit, rights groups including China Labor Watch have conducted their own studies. The group said in a statement on Wednesday that Foxconn workers were still unhappy and urged other Apple suppliers to be scrutinized as well.

“Workers have to complete the workload of 66 hours before within 60 hours now per week. As a result, the workers get lower wages but have to work much harder and they are not satisfied with the current situation,” it said.

Apart from health and safety enhancements, Foxconn is offering up a few enhancements to employee morale. For instance, Van Heerden said it is increasingly giving workers a choice of accommodation, such as by providing an allowance for housing and food if the workers choose to live off-site.

Foreign companies have long grappled with working conditions in China, dubbed the world’s factory because of its low wages and efficient coastal transport and shipping infrastructure. In the 1990s, investigations targeted shoe and apparel maker Nike Inc, which eventually agreed to institute changes. — Reuters

Russia ends 18-year saga, becomes 156th WTO member Membership to increase GDP by extra 3.3%

EVANSTON: Protesters outside the offices of Bain Capital demonstrate against the company in Evanston, Illinois. The demonstrators are angry with Bain Capital’s plans to move to China 165 jobs from the Sensata Technologies plant in Freeport, Illinois. Workers from the plant delivered to the Bain Capital office a petition with more than 35,000 signatures urging the company to save their jobs. — AFP

RBS probed over possible Iran sanctions violations LONDON: US authorities are investigating Royal Bank of Scotland over possible breaches of sanctions on Iran, as part of a crackdown in which Standard Chartered has already agreed to pay a heavy fine for transactions involving Tehran.

An RBS spokeswoman referred yesterday to disclosures alongside the bank’s half-year results earlier this month. These stated that RBS had initiated talks with US and UK authorities on whether it complied with economic sanctions on Iran, and that it could face a material impact from the investigation. The inquiry raises the possibility of a hefty fine for the part-nationalised British bank, which is also being investigated for its involvement in the Libor rate rigging scandal, and will raise the pressure on Chief Executive Stephen Hester.

Also yesterday, Germany’s Die Zeit newspaper reported that Commerzbank expects it may face “considerably negative” consequences from a US investigation into Iran sanctions violations. Citing a Commerzbank securities filing, it said this could include a financial hit that exceeds provisions.

Commerzbank said it had not done business with Iran since 2007 and declined further comment. In the disclosures accompanying the RBS half year results on Aug 3, the British bank said it had “initiated discussions with UK and US authorities to discuss its historical compliance with applicable laws and regulations, including US economic sanctions regulations”.

These followed an internal review begun

by Hester shortly after his arrival at the bank in 2008. “The investigation costs, remedia-

tion required or liability incurred could have a material adverse effect on the group’s net assets, operating results or cash flows in a particular period,” the bank said. RBS had been making similar disclosures for the past 18 months, the spokeswoman said.

The Financial Times reported yesterday that the US Federal Reserve and Department of Justice were conducting the investigation, citing several people close to the situation. It cited a person familiar with the situation as saying one risk manager had already left the bank following the internal review.

RBS, which is 82 percent-owned by the taxpayer, declined further comment. A spokesman for the Federal Reserve said it could not “comment on supervisory matters pertaining to individual institutions”. A representative at the Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment.

Standard Chartered last week agreed to pay $340 million to the New York bank regulator over transactions linked to Iran. The British bank had been accused by the New York Department of Financial Services of concealing $250 billion in Iranian transactions. In 2010, RBS agreed to pay $500 million to settle similar allegations by US federal authorities that ABN Amro, a Dutch bank RBS acquired in 2007, had violated US sanction laws. Analysts expect RBS to settle with US and UK regulators over its involvement in the Libor scandal later this year. It has also endured problems on the domestic front, with a computer systems failure causing massive disruption to customers in June. — Reuters

MOSCOW: After 18 years of negotiation, Russia yesterday entered the World Trade Organization, which restricts import duties and subsidies in an attempt to create a level playing field for international trade.

Analysts and politicians hope that Russia, which has long proven a formidable market to foreign investors because of its byzantine bureaucracy and protectionist tariffs, would be transformed by its entry into the WTO. Russia is one of the last major global economies to enter the group, which has long included other developing nations like China.

While consumers here will benefit from the lower cost of imported goods, some worry that struggling industries long coddled by state subsidies, such as agriculture or the automobile industry, will suffer from foreign competition.

Russians often complain about the burdensome cost of Western-imported consumer products, which range from refrigerators to jeans.

With its entry into the WTO, the country will cut its average import tariff by 5.9 percent, making those imports cheaper.

M. Video, one of Russia’s largest electronics retailers whose shelves are packed with foreignmade CD players and American movies, said Russia’s entry into the WTO would bring more customers into their stores.

“We believe that (entry into the WTO) is going to be a very good decision for our customers in the future, because they will be able to purchase goods with prices harmonized with other economies,” said Enrique Fernandez, chief commercial officer of the company.

But uncompetitive domestic goods, which have long been propped up by Soviet-style subsidies, could be threatened by the invasion of higher-quality imports. Nearly 100 major business leaders and industry groups including dairy and meat producers signed a petition earlier this summer addressed to the ruling United Russia party, asking that its deputies vote against ratification of the WTO treaty.

Agriculture, the automobile industry, and Soviet-style “Monogorods,” or towns which revolve around a single factory or industry, are bound to suffer next to foreign competition unless they can reform quickly. These industries are based in regions that have often displayed the most support for President Vladimir Putin, but could easily turn into a hotbed for protest if already fragile industries were to collapse.

At a car dealership in Moscow, 63-year-old engineer Alexei Tarakanov said he doubted that low-quality Russian cars could win on an open market. “I already have a negative attitude towards our (Russian) cars,” said Tarakanov, who was buying a Renault. “I doubt that they can win the preference of the modern buyer.”

Because state-subsidized industries proved

such a pivotal issue in Russia’s WTO negotiations, financial aid to struggling sectors will be gradually phased out, rather than abruptly cut off, over the course of seven years.

“The industry will not collapse immediately, (major Russian car-maker) AvtoVaz is going to continue steadily producing its 700,000 cars per year,” said Ovanes Oganisyan, an analyst at the Moscow-based investment bank Troika Dialog. “But eventually there’s going to be more competition, and if AvtoVaz doesn’t change in seven years it will have to go out of business.”

In addition to the challenges faced by unreformed industries, the Russian government expects to take a short-term financial hit from the loss of income from import duties and taxes.

But the government emphasizes long-term gains, and the World Bank has estimated that WTO membership could increase Russia’s GDP by an extra 3.3 percent a year in the next three years.

While the WTO will significantly open up the Russian market to foreign producers, the US faces the threat of paying higher tariff rates than other WTO members to sell goods in Russia, leaving American producers at a competitive disadvantage compared to European or Asian industries.

The reason for the disparity is the JacksonVanik Amendment, a law passed by Congress during Soviet times that denies Russia normal

trade relations with the US. The US president has been granting Russia annual waivers since 1992, but Moscow insists it will not lower its tariffs for the US as much as for other countries until the law is scrapped.

“The last thing that America needs right now is for foreign companies to have lower tariff rates than American companies,” said Andrew Somers, President and CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce.

Vice President Joe Biden lobbied for the repeal of Jackson-Vanik in 2011, as have previous presidential administrations, but Congress has so far proven intransigent to executive pleas.

Congress has increasingly taken fire at the Russian administration for its human rights record. In June, the US House of Representatives passed the Justice for Sergei Magnitsky Act, a bill named for a Russian lawyer who died in a Russian prison last year after allegedly being abused at the hands of Russian authorities.

This week, President Barack Obama expressed his disappointment after the three participants of Pussy Riot, a punk band who sang an anti-Putin prayer in Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior, were convicted to two years in prison.

“Business hates uncertainty,” said Somers, “If the Jackson-Vanik Amendment remains on the books and the US continues not to have normal trade relations with Russia, who knows what will happen.” — AP

GENEVA: A file picture taken on December 16, 2011, shows World Trade Organization DirectorGeneral Pascal Lamy (Far R) speaking with Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov (Far L) prior to a WTO ministerial meeting in Geneva. Russia crowned yesterday a tortuous 18-year campaign by becoming the largest country outside the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to formally join the world’s premier free trade club. — AFP

French premier to lower petrol taxes

HANOI: Investors sit watching share prices at an Asia Commercial Bank (ACB)’s securities trading floor in Hanoi yesterday. Vietnam’s largest stock market kept plunging after Vietnam police arrested Nguyen Duc Kien, a top banking tycoon on suspicion of illegal business activities. — AFP

PARIS: French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault promised yesterday a modest and temporary cut to taxes on petrol and diesel in order to reduce prices at the pump, but questioned the wisdom of a price cap.

He said the reduction would come ahead of the introduction of a more permanent mechanism to regulate fuel prices, speaking in an interview on BFMTV and RMC radio. Keeping a lid on pump prices which have soared to record levels was a prominent pledge of Francois Hollande’s presidential campaign that swept the Socialists to power earlier this year.

In his campaign, Hollande angered oil companies with a pledge to cap petrol prices, but a lull in global prices temporarily removed meeting the electoral promise from the political agenda. But in recent weeks the price of crude has again climbed and so have prices at the pump, in some cases to over 2.00 euros a litre ($9.40 per US gallon), squeezing consumers

who are already feeling the pinch as the French economy stagnates.

Fuel companies have warned the government that slapping down a simple price cap would be counter productive, saying this would simply lead to shortages. Ayrault also downplayed this option.

“If you freeze prices for three months and then you free them, then you haven’t resolved anything,” said the prime minister. The reduction in tax gives the state the right to “ask producers and distributers to also make an effort” to reduce pump prices, he added.

In France, taxes count for between one half and two-thirds of the total price paid by drivers at the pump, though the proportion has decreased in recent years as market oil prices shot up. Ayrault said Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici would meet with fuel companies and consumer groups on August 28 to outline the government’s measures. He didn’t provide any

more details about the planned measures other than to say it would reduce the amount of tax in the cost of fuel and that it was not a return to a variable rate.

“For the moment it will be a simple reduction” in the tax, said Ayrault, “but it will be modest and temporary.” However a reduction in the fuel tax, which under EU rules member states must keep within a certain range, will lead to a drop in revenue and could hurt the government’s efforts to reduce its budget deficit to 4.5 percent of GDP this year.

France raked in 34 billion euros ($42 billion) in 2010 from levies on oil, counting for more than 10 percent of total tax revenue, though several sectors like transport, fishing and farming are exempt or pay a lower rate. The previous government under centre-right president Nicolas Sarkozy estimated that a 0.10 euro reduction in the fuel tax would lead to 5.0 billion euro loss in annual revenue. — AFP

24

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

business Markaz: KSA most aggressive GCC investor on power sector KUWAIT: Kuwait Financial Centre “Markaz” recently published the executive summary of their infrastructure series covering: Power, Airports, Seaports, Roads & Railways, ICT and Water. In this research note, Markaz tackles Saudi Arabian Power sector in terms of highlighting demandsupply trends, growth drivers, and future investment areas.

Among the GCC economies, Saudi Arabia can be seen as the most aggressive with respect to investments in the Power sector. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia struggles to keep pace with the increasing demand for electricity. Factors which drive demand are population growth and high level of urbanization. IMF estimates Saudi population to increase from the current 28 million to reach 31 million by 2015 and 37 million by 2020. Urban conglomerates contribute around 83.6% of the total population in the Kingdom which is growing at 2.2% annually. High economic development has also accelerated energy consumption in the Kingdom Power consumption in the Kingdom has grown at a CAGR of 6% over the last 5 years and we expect consumption to grow at a similar pace over the next few years as well. Saudi Arabia is one of the top ranked nations with respect to residential consumption of electricity. Almost half of its power consumption is accounted for by its residents. With diversification of the economy, we expect a shift towards the industrial sector.

Currently, 49% of the power generation is sourced through natural gas and the remaining through liquid fuels with renewables accounting for a negligible share. We see this situation changing as nuclear and solar power is increasingly seen as an option to satisfy the demand.

In 2000, Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) became operational with all the electricity companies included in it. As of now SEC is the leading power producer in the state with about 50 operating units across the nation with a capacity of over 40,000 MW. From the period of its inception the generation capacity has grown by 2.5 times. SEC is estimating a 46% increase in sold energy by 2016 compared to 2010 figures. In ten years of its inception, total power transmission has increased by almost 50-60% and total transmission lines have increased by almost 75%. Number of customers under the SEC’s operation has also increased by over 70% during this period.

Recent developments indicate that SEC is planning fresh investments of close to USD 100bn in order to meet the forecasted demand. By 2020, the Saudi Government is planning to create an additional 30,000 MW of generation capacity. This is as part of its plan to ramp up power generation capacity by two fold by 2030. Many projects are implemented through private participation as well. This is a huge invitation to foreign players to invest in the Kingdom and be a partner, leveraging the opportunities of GCC power grid and Pan Arab power grid We also foresee huge investments in the alternative energy space. Saudi Government has announced plans to establish nuclear power plants.

According to King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KACARE), after the successful completion of establishing and commissioning of nuclear power plants, the Kingdom aims at generating 20% of its demand through nuclear by the end of 2030. Saudi is also aiming to have 41,000 MW of solar power capacity in the next two decades.

Slimmed-down banks tighten belts on real estate LONDON/PARIS: In summer 2007, French bank Societe Generale drew up plans for a stylish glass building to house 3,500 traders at the foot of its twin-tower headquarters in La Defense, the business district of west Paris.

The five-storey block of trading floors, each the size of half a soccer pitch, will open its doors later this year, but the bank will struggle to fill the 250 million euro ($309 million) structure since the intervening financial crisis forced it to cut 880 jobs in France.

“It’s been such a saga,” said one SocGen trader who is destined to move in. “We’ve been told that we may end up simply having to rent it out, or put in a gym if we can’t fill it.” SocGen declined to comment.

The building’s fate is indicative of a wider malaise across Europe’s financial centres as banks, under pressure from shareholders to cut bloated balance sheets, slash jobs and reconsider the cost of occupying prime locations.

Rival Credit Agricole will move about 5,600 investment banking staff from a La Defense tower on the river Seine to the lender’s HQ in the leafy but unfashionable Parisian suburb of Montrouge, where rents are 61 percent cheaper. For the same reason, SocGen, which has 25,000 employees in La Defense, will cut numbers to 14,000, shifting 5,500 people to the eastern Paris suburb of Fontenay-sous-Bois by 2016.

Vacancy rates in La Defense have risen to 6.7 percent in the first half from 6.3 percent last year, real estate broker DTZ said. Annual rents for the best offices fell from 600 euros per square metre at the start of 2011 to 550 euros in the second quarter of 2012, property

consultant CBRE said. “A lot of La Defense office towers are going to empty out,” said Alexis Motte, CEO of real estate advisor Mobilitis. London is also headed for a “significant contraction” in banking space, according to a report this year by property consultant Cushman and Wakefield, which said capital ratio requirements set out in Basel III banking rules would force banks to cut property costs. It surveyed 107 banks and financial companies and found a third would cut space within a year, while 54 percent were “very likely” to sub-let.

They will be lucky to find tenants.

Japanese bank Nomura is still seeking occupiers for a prestigious building near the London Stock Exchange it called home before a deal to buy the European operations of Lehman Brothers in September 2008 forced it to find bigger premises.

Rents for the best offices in London’s main financial district have been flat at 55 pounds per square foot for more than 18 months. Meanwhile, July’s vacancy rate was 7 . 4 percent, t he highest since the end of 2009 and edging upwards, CBRE said.

In east London’s Canary Wharf district, home to the biggest number of bankers in Europe, Bank of America is considering removing back-office staff to its campus in the northwest English city of Chester, where average rents are about half, two people familiar with the bank’s plans said.

Though no decision has been taken and might not happen for several years, it would fit within a wider cost-cutting plan, phase one of which began in 2011 to save $5 billion a year and cut 30,000 jobs by the end of 2014.

A Bank of America spokesman declined to comment. Elsewhere, Citigroup, which has a nearby 45-storey tower in Canary Wharf, has been busy recruiting staff in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where prime office rents are about a third of those in Canary Wharf.

Though the bank opened in Belfast before the crisis, it was unlikely to have announced as many new jobs, including 500 in November 2010, without the drive for lower costs, a source familiar with the bank’s plans told Reuters.

Economic conditions are considered alongside “the availability of talent, relationships with universities and proximity to business partners” when recruiting or expanding, a Citigroup spokeswoman told Reuters.

Even London hedge funds are looking at cheaper options beyond the glitzy streets of London’s West End. Banks in Frankfurt are not under the same sort of pressure due to the lower numbers of investment bankers and traders in a city long considered dull in banking terms. There, indeed, the vacancy rate has actually fallen to 13 percent from 15 percent in 2006, BNP Real Estate data showed.

There is also less flexibility to move as banks including Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank own rather than rent their Frankfurt HQs, directly or through funds.

Others are offloading real estate to raise cash. Credit Suisse last month announced plans to raise 500 million Swiss francs ($514 million) by selling property under a plan to move some jobs to large out-of-town complexes such as the Uetlihof building near Zurich where 8,000 employees work.

Earlier this year the bank received about 330 million pounds from the saleand-leaseback of its Canary Wharf office to Qatari investors.

Office landlords are trying to prevent banks fleeing the priciest locations by accommodating their new-found frugality, said Martin Jepson, a UK-based senior vice president at Canadian-American developer Brookfield. The company is one of the world’s biggest office owners, including New York’s World Financial Center and a 22 percent stake in Canary Wharf Group. Despite the weak London market, Brookfield bought a string of office blocks from developer Hammerson for 518 million pounds in June. “Banks want more efficient and flexible buildings,” said Jepson, citing the ability to sub-divide floor space and maximise the number of workers per square foot through better design and greater use of ‘hot-desking’, where multiple users share a desk at different times rather than each having a dedicated workstation.

London-based banks are more hamstrung than their rivals as many are locked into leases of 25 years or more, more than twice the typical length in mainland Europe, said Simon Wainwright, managing director of consultant J Peiser Wainwright. Leases signed today, however, would more likely be for 10 or 15 years as banks want to keep their options open, he said. How times have changed. “Nat West built a skyscraper in the shape of its logo, and the words ‘Midland Bank’ are still emblazoned in stone on its former London building,” Wainwright said. Nat West is now part of RBS, while HSBC bought Midland Bank in 1992.— Reuters

China solar industry faces weak sales Price war threatens industry BEIJING: Chinese solar panel makers that grew fast over the past decade are suffering big losses due to slumping global sales and a price war that threaten an industry seen by communist leaders as a role model for hopes to transform China into a technology leader.

Another looming challenge: Moves by the United States and Europe toward imposing possible anti-dumping tariffs on Chinese-made solar panels that might further depress sales. Financial problems are likely to force painful changes in the Chinese industry including possible mergers, bankruptcies, factory closures or layoffs, industry analysts say.

“The next 11/2 years will be very challenging,” said Frank Haugwitz, a renewable energy consultant in Beijing. Companies have been hurt by weak sales, especially in debt-crippled Europe, the leading global solar market, but also by Chinese government policies that encouraged hundreds of small companies to rush into the industry. They flooded the market and depressed prices.

Five major Chinese manufacturers, including industry leaders Suntech Power Holdings Ltd. and Yingli Green Energy Ltd., reported total losses of nearly $250 million in the latest quarter. One of them, LDK Solar Co., also reported an eye-popping loss of $588.7 million the previous quarter.

Pioneers such as Suntech, Yingli and Trina Solar Ltd. that were founded before 2005 grew to become some of their industries biggest competitors as Germany, Spain and other European countries promoted solar power with subsidies and low-cost loans.

Suntech’s founder, Shi Zhengrong, a Chinese-born Australian scientist, was lauded by the communist government as a leading entrepreneur. Industry profits soared in 2007-09 as the United States and other new markets stepped up installations.

That success encouraged communist authorities who saw solar, wind and other renewable energy as a way both to curb China’s growing reliance on imported oil and gas and to take the lead in an emerging industry without established competitors. Solar power, along with such fields as biotechnology and aerospace, was declared a “strategic emerging industry” targeted for development as part of efforts to transform China from a low wage country of farmers and factory workers into a creator of technology.

Beijing provided grants and low-cost loans. Local leaders encouraged companies to start producing solar panels or components to make them. The field promised higher-paying jobs and a political payoff for officials who would be seen to support a key national initiative.

Producing the basic element of a solar panel - the hand-size black solar cell made of polysilicon that converts the sun’s light into electricity - is relatively simple using equipment that a new company can buy as a kit from European suppliers. That allowed novices to start production quickly, while bigger manufacturers also assemble the cells into power-generating modules. New companies still were springing up in 2011 even after Western countries that were hammered by the global crisis cut subsidies and other support. Supplies surged as sales growth stalled, forcing sellers to slash prices to unprofitable levels.

Since 2010, the price of polysilicon wafers used to make solar cells has plunged by 73 percent, according to Aaron Chew and Francesco Citro, analysts for Maxim Group, a financial firm in New York City. The price of cells has fallen by 68

percent and that of modules by 57 percent.

“The solar manufacturing industry has been wracked by a collapse in pricing,” said Chew and Citro in a report. The major Chinese manufacturers have accumulated a total of $17.5 billion in debt, leaving balance sheets “at the breaking point,” they said. Beijing is unlikely to allow major producers to go bankrupt but rescue measures might include capital injections that would dilute or wipe out the value of shares held by foreign investors who have put billions of dollars into the industry, Chew and Citro said.

Haugwitz said people in the industry have told him at least 300 smaller manufacturers have suspended production and others are producing at below 50 percent of their capacity. The industry also faces the potential impact of US and European anti-dumping measures in response to complaints Beijing improperly subsidizes companies. Foreign competitors complain that allows Chinese suppliers to sell abroad at unfairly low prices, wiping out American and European jobs abroad - an explosive issue at a time of high unemployment.

In July, a group of 25 producers of solar gear including companies from Germany,

and hurt American producers. If that is upheld, tariffs averaging 31 percent could be imposed on Chinese solar-panel imports.

On Tuesday, Trina Solar Ltd. reported its loss widened to $92.1 million in the second quarter from $29.8 million in the previous quarter. CEO Jifan Gao blamed industry overcapacity and pressure to cut prices. He said the possible anti-dumping measures contributed to “uncertain market conditions.”

Last week, Suntech said its founder, Shi, was stepping aside as CEO and would be replaced by an American, David King, who was hired last year. The company said Shi would stay on as executive chairman and chief strategy officer.

Suntech, which has shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, suffered a $133 million loss in the first quarter of the year after losing $148.8 million the previous quarter. The company said shipments were down 22 percent from a year earlier.

LDK Solar, China’s fourth-largest producer by manufacturing capacity, illustrates the industry’s mix of business and politics. The company in the southern province of Jiangxi has run up $3.8 billion in debt but analysts say it has survived thanks to support from local leaders who

HAMI CITY: In this photo taken on Monday, Aug. 6, 2012, workers install solar panels at a construction site of a high concentration photovoltaic (HCPV) power plant in Hami city in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.— AP Italy and Spain filed an anti-dumping complaint with the European Union. That alarmed Chinese companies, which warned Beijing would retaliate, possibly triggering a trade war.

“Over 60 percent of products are exported to Europe,” said Wang Shuai, a spokeswoman for Yingli. “If the anti-dumping measures really take effect in Europe, that would be a fatal blow to the industry.”

Yingli is based in Baoding, a city 90 miles (150 kilometers) southwest of Beijing that promotes itself as a center for renewable energy. The local government has attracted 170 companies that produce solar, wind and other clean power equipment.

In a reflection of Chinese leaders’ hopes for the industry, Baoding’s city government says its clean energy industry had 45 billion yuan ($7 billion) in revenue in 2010 and that figure is forecast to grow by 30 percent a year through 2016.

The city works closely with companies, organizing job fairs, providing training and helping to recruit employees through local schools. In the United States, the Commerce Department issued a preliminary ruling in May that Chinese producers sold solar cells and panels below fair price

see it as an important source of development and encouraged state-owned banks to keep lending.

Still, local leaders might find LDK too expensive if its losses continue, according to Chew and Citro. “LDK might be considered insolvent by traditional measures at Western banks,” they said. “We believe LDK is on the cusp of failure or a major recapitalization.”

Some producers might be saved by Beijing’s effort to encourage domestic use of solar power, which until recently was considered too expensive for use in China.

The Communist Party’s latest five-year plan initially called for installation of 5 gigawatts of solar generating capacity over the life of the plan but that target has been raised to 21 gigawatts.

At the same time, a new competitive threat is emerging: Korean companies such as industrial giant Hyundai that are pouring into the industry. In 2010, Korea’s Hanwha Chemical Corp. bought 49.9 percent of Solarfun Power Holdings, China’s sixth-largest solar panel producer by volume. “The Koreans came late to the game but have deep pockets,” Haugwitz said.

“They don’t want to let this opportunity slip through their hands.” — AP

25

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

BUSINESS

Citi pumps $138m into Cox & Kings unit NEW DELHI: The UK business of Indian tour operator Cox & Kings Ltd will receive $137.75 million in funds from a Citigroup venture capital arm to help it reduce debt, the parent company said yesterday, sending its shares sharply higher.

Prometheon Holdings will use the money to retire debt that it raised when it bought British specialist travel company Holidaybreak last July, in the biggest

overseas deal by an Indian company in the sector.

“We expect Holidaybreak to benefit from synergies arising from its association with Cox and Kings,” said Sunil Nair, Citi Venture Capital International’s managing partner for India, Europe, Middle East and Africa, in a statement.

Cox and King shares closed 5.42 percent higher at 147.80 rupees in a weak Mumbai market after earlier gaining as

much as 8.2 percent following the announcement. The deal comes at a time when private equity investments in Indian companies are down, with a drop of almost 40 percent to $3.81 billion in the first half of this year, according to VCCircle.com, an industry tracker.

Returns on funds raised in dollars have shrunk with the rupee’s tumble to record lows, compounding the effects of a weak stock market. Travel and con-

sumer businesses have been a bright spot, however.

Earlier this year, Fairfax Financial Holdings bought Thomas Cook’s Indian unit for about $150 million, in a deal that saw interest from top private equity funds including the Blackstone Group, Carlyle Group, Advent International and KKR & Co. Cox and Kings, the parent of UK-based unlisted Cox and Kings, gets around half its revenue from its interna-

tional operations and has been looking at overseas acquisitions to tap the booming outbound market and drive future earnings growth.

The company, which traces its roots back to the 18th century when it was established to cater to British forces, has operations in countries including Australia, the United States, Germany, Hong Kong, Greece and Singapore. —Reuters

Indian bank staff strike against reforms, markets hit SBI halts trading in onshore spot forex markets

BEIJING: A worker wipes the German automaker’s BMW second hand cars on display for sale during a promotion outside a shopping mall in Beijing yesterday. —AP

China carmakers look overseas as domestic demand stalls BEIJING: Chinese automakers have had their toughest first half since the global financial crisis and the rest of this year looks set to be tougher still as the world’s largest auto market sputters in a slowing economy.

State auto groups with strong foreign ties, such as domestic champion SAIC Motor Corp, can still deliver earnings growth, but others may find themselves locked in reverse gear, industry observers say. For some, exports, mostly to emerging markets such as Ukraine, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, may offer some relief from weak sales at home.

Yesterday, Geely Automobile Holdings, whose parent owns the Swedish brand Volvo Car, posted an 8.7 percent increase in first-half profit - but, while it sold 9 percent fewer cars in China, its exports trebled to 40,061 vehicles.

Spokesman Victor Yang said Hangzhoubased Geely aims to sell about 90,000 cars outside China this year, and will continue to chase export growth, with a forecast of 300,000 cars sold abroad by 2016. Total sales this year are seen at around 460,000 cars.

Geely’s chairman and founder Li Shufu told Reuters earlier this year that he wants to sell as many cars overseas as he does in China.

“This is a tough year for all automakers, large or small. 2011 wasn’t so good either because (government stimulus) incentives were gone, but it’s much worse now as the economy is not doing so well,” said Zhang Xin, an analyst at Guotai Junan Securities. “It’s like a double whammy.”

China’s economy grew at its slowest pace in more than three years in April-June as demand at home and abroad slackened, confirming a downtrend that has full-year growth on course for its weakest in 13 years.

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers is keeping to its forecast for a 5-8 percent rise in overall vehicle sales this year - a far cry from explosive growth of 46 percent and 32 percent in 2009 and 2010 respectively. January-July total vehicle sales rose just 3.6 percent after anaemic growth of 2.5 percent in 2011, setting China up for its slowest back-to-back years of growth since the late 1990s.

Like Geely, Great Wall Motor Co Ltd should hold up better than most as it has expanding export businesses, analysts say.

But Warren Buffett-backed BYD has warned its January-June earnings - due next week - could halve on weak car sales and losses in its solar energy business. The safety of its electric car was also called into question after an e6 taxi caught fire in a fatal accident in May even though a probe showed the lithium-ion phosphate battery that powers the car did not

explode after the collision.

And FAW Car has predicted it could swing to as much as a 75 million yuan ($11.8 million) first-half net loss.

SAIC, which makes cars in China in partnership with General Motors and Volkswagen AG, the two largest foreign automakers in the market, could still achieve double-digit earnings growth in the second quarter, according to forecasts by three analysts - still a far cry from recent growth spurred by Beijing’s stimulus measures. Earnings jumped by around a quarter last year when the Chinese economy appeared largely immune from the debt crisis seizing Europe.

Net income at Dongfeng Motor Group Co which makes cars in partnership with Nissan Motor, Honda Motor and PSA Peugeot Citroen - is seen flat in the first half as it is exposed to a steep downturn in heavy truck sales.

Geely is the second-best performer in the sector this year among 53 large- and mid-cap autos firms globally, with its share price rising 62 percent, Thomson Reuters StarMine data shows - though the stock fell 3.7 percent on Wednesday, in its biggest one-day drop in 12 weeks. BOCI analyst Huang Wenlong noted Geely received more in government subsidies than had been expected, suggesting sales may not have been as strong as first thought.

Among global automakers, BYD, Dongfeng, SAIC and Brilliance China have been among the worst performers this year.

Even the popular German luxury brands have resorted to a price war this year as they look to hit ambitious sales targets in China - a move that may further cannibalize the sales and earnings of mass-market marques.

Buyers can drive home a brand new Toyota Corolla for 131,800 yuan, more than a third cheaper than two years ago. A Buick Excelle, ranked fourth on China’s top selling list, can be had for just 76,900 yuan, after a 23 percent discount, according to cheshi.com, an industry website that tracks prices at more than 3,000 dealerships across China.

Both Toyota Motor and Nissan saw sales in China decline last month, and Changan Automobile Co blamed an estimated 44-49 percent drop in its first-half earnings on a smaller contribution from its car venture with Ford Motor and Mazda Motor. “There are lots of uncertainties ahead,” said John Zeng, Asia Pacific director for industry consultancy LMC Automotive. “The euro-zone could continue to drag on the economy... and the auto market could slow further if more cities start to restrict car sales.” —Reuters

Japan back into trade deficit TOKYO: Japan slipped back into a trade deficit in July, as exports languished and imports of gas and generating equipment surged, the Ministry of Finance reported yesterday.

The deficit was 517.4 billion yen ($6.5 billion) in July, according to provisional trade figures. That compares with a 69.7 billion yen surplus a year earlier and a modest surplus of 62 million yen in June of this year.

Exports fell 8 percent from a year earlier in July to 5.3 trillion yen ($66.9 billion), while imports rose 2 percent to 5.83 trillion yen ($73.6 billion), the ministry said. Japan has managed to eke out small trade surpluses in some months over the last year, but reported a record annual trade deficit for the fiscal year that ended in March. The strong Japanese yen has hurt exports, as have disruptions caused by last year’s earthquake and tsunami disaster in northeastern Japan, which hampered production of autos and electronics. Exports have also suffered from weaker European demand due to the debt crisis.

A look at the figures for July shows sharp drops in exports of consumer elec-

tronics, customarily a mainstay for Japan’s economy. Total exports to Western Europe plunged 28 percent in July from a year earlier, while exports to the rest of Asia fell 9 percent. Exports to North America rose 5 percent, and those to the Middle East rose 9 percent.

Japan posted its biggest half-year trade deficit ever in January-June - 2.9 trillion yen ($37.4 billion) - as exports weakened and fuel imports soared to keep power going despite shutdowns of most of the country’s nuclear reactors.

All but two of Japan’s 50 working reactors remain offline after the nuclear crisis set off in March 2011 by a massive earthquake and tsunami, leaving the country more reliant than in the past on imported oil, gas and coal to supply electricity.

Japan’s imports of liquefied natural gas jumped 24 percent from a year earlier in July, while imports of power generating machinery rose 39 percent. Power conservation efforts have boosted sales of electric fans and bamboo sunshades, most made in China, as families switch off air conditioners while trying to beat the heat, the Japan External Trade Organization reported. —AP

MUMBAI: About one million Indian bank employees began a two-day strike yesterday to protest against reforms that could ease mergers rules and allow more private capital into the sector, hitting banking transactions and some market trading operations.

The strike, involving mainly the staff of state-run banks that make up around 70 percent of the sector, came a day ahead of an expected parliamentary approval to some changes in rules to allow bigger role for investors in banks.

Foreign ownership of Indian public sector banks is capped at 20 percent, and some global banks have been pitching for a hike in their holding limit to help them expand their presence in Asia’s third-largest economy by acquiring the smaller regional banks.

India has struggled to reform and liberalise key sectors such as banking, retail and insurance, partly because of political opposition and fears of the exploitation of domestic interests by foreign investors.

The strike, which forced No 1 lender State Bank of India to halt trading in onshore spot foreign exchange markets, comes as another blow to the economy that faces its worst slowdown in almost a decade. “Any move towards increasing the private sector role in the banking sector is a big fear for the unions and that makes them oppose it,” said D.H. Pai Panandiker, the head of New Delhi-based think tank the RPG Foundation.

“The changes in the banking laws can improve the health of the banks quite considerably,” he said. “The unions fear if the government continues with the reforms their positions will weaken and it will lead to job losses.”

The Indian parliament is likely to approve today amendments to banking laws that include raising shareholders’ voting rights limit in private banks to 26 percent from

10 percent, a senior government source said. The amendments, which were earlier expected to be approved on Wednesday, will meet a major demand of foreign investors seeking more say in the country ’s financial system, though it is unlikely trigger fresh private investment in the sector

age 40-50 billion rupees in the first hour of trade.

Public sector State Bank has halted trading in onshore spot foreign exchange markets as its settlement operations’ staff have not yet shown up for work, sources said, adding the bank could start trading later in the day if the situa-

ther in the interest of the banking industry, nor in the interest of the customers, nor in the interest of the common people of this country”.

Many public sector banks in Connaught Place, the commercial hub of the national capital New Delhi, saw only two or three

MUMBAI: An unmanned customer service counter of a closed Maharashtra bank is pictured during a nationwide bank strike in Mumbai yesterday. —AFP and the 20 percent cap on foreign ownership in public sector banks will not change.

Analysts say the approval by parliament of the banking legislation amendments would be seen as a positive step by investors and would ease fears of “policy paralysis” in a government that has seen its free market reforms stall.

It was not immediately possible to assess the financial losses due to the strike, though trading volumes in government bonds were thin at 23.6 billion rupees ($425 million) as against the aver-

tion improves.

In many cities across the country, bank branches were shut as thousands of employees, many brandishing banners, congregated in a large pickets and shouted slogans against the reforms in the financial sector.

“Unless the government relents or the government gives some positive response, we are going to intensify our agitation,” said JP Sharma, vice president, All India Bank Employees Association.

Sharma said the amendments in the banking laws were “nei-

employees trickle in for work early yesterday, while many joined their colleagues outside the branches.

“Both sides suffer. The public is inconvenienced and we also lose our daily clients,” said Shashi Sharma, chief manager of staterun Punjab National Bank, sitting in a dimly-lit vacant office.

In eastern Kolkata city, almost all public sector banks were shut yesterday, as some employees shouted slogans against the government policies outside their offices and others join in a protest march. —Reuters

Asian shares slip while euros rise HONG KONG: Asian shares slipped yesterday but the euro held onto recent gains amid hopes of European Central Bank action to rein in surging euro-zone borrowing costs and ahead of talks on debtridden Greece.

Investors were also keenly awaiting minutes for the Federal Reserve’s most recent meeting to be released later yesterday, which will be scrutinised for clues about the direction of US monetary policy.

Tokyo fell 0.27 percent, or 25.18 points, to 9,131.74 after Japan reported a widerthan- expected trade deficit in July as exports to Europe and Asian neighbours plunged. Sydney dipped 0.17 percent, or 7.4 points, to close at 4,376.0, as mining giant BHP Billiton delayed expansion of its massive Olympic Dam copper and uranium mine after posting a near 35 percent slump in annual net profit. Seoul fell 0.41 percent, or 8.03 points, to 1,935.19, Hong Kong was down 1.06 percent, or 212.31 points, to 19,887.78, while Shanghai slipped 0.50 percent, or 10.56 points, to 2,107.71. “People are realising that markets have recently seen some highs and they are banking some profits ahead of risk events,” Justin Harper, markets strategist at IG Markets in Singapore, told Dow Jones Newswires.

European stock markets rebounded Tuesday and the euro jumped back above $1.24 overnight as investors remained hopeful of central bank action over the euro zone crisis and cheered Spain’s latest debt auctions. They slid in early trade yesterday though, following the losses in Asia. The markets had lost ground on

Monday after Germany and the European Central Bank dampened rumours of intervention to drive down borrowing costs.

They were also buoyed by news that Spain sold Ä4.51 billion ($5.62 billion) of short-term debt in an auction that was larger than planned, with the closelytracked euro-zone nation benefiting from lower interest rates. Traders were also tracking Greece which embarks on an uphill diplomatic battle this week to convince European par tners to ex tend a deadline for spending cuts to keep the floundering nation in the 17-nation eurozone. Prime Minister Antonis Samaras will Wednesday start meetings in Athens with Euro group chief Jean-Claude Juncker and European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso.

US stocks slipped overnight despite the upbeat news from Europe, unable to maintain early gains as tech stocks d ra g g e d. The D ow J o n e s I nd u s t r i a l Average slid 68.06 points (0.51 percent) to finish at 13,203.58. The S&P 500-stock index fell 4.96 points (0.35 percent) to 1,413.17, while the tech-rich Nasdaq dropped 8.95 (0.29 percent) to 3,067.26.

The euro bought $1.2465 and 98.81 yen in Asian afternoon trade against $1.2470 and 98.84 yen late Tuesday in New York where the beleaguered currency rose on speculation that the euro zone’s debt crisis may be on the mend. The dollar was at 79.25 yen against 79.27 yen in US trade. In oil markets, New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for October delivery, fell 25 cents to $96.59 a barrel in the afternoon and Brent North Sea crude for delivery in October fell 84 cents to $113.80.

Gold was at $1,642.15 at 1035 GMT, compared to $1,625.50 on Tuesday.

In other markets: Taipei fell 0.14 percent, or 10.23 points, to 7,496.58. ● TSMC fell 1.44 percent to Tw$82.4 while Hon Hai Precision was 0.23 percent higher at Tw$86.1. ● Wellington was down 0.80 percent, or 26.36 points at 3,658.38. ● Fletcher Building was off 5.1 percent at NZ$6.32 after posting a 35-percent fall in annual net profit, while Telecom Corp slipped 1.1 percent to NZ$2.775. ● Bangkok rose 0.15 percent, or 1.85 points, to 1,234.14. ● Banpu shed 0.43 percent to 458 baht while PTT dropped 0.59 percent to 339 baht. ● Kuala Lumpur gained 0.15 percent, or 2.46 points, to 1,652.25. ● Malayan Banking climbed 1.6 percent to 9.19 ringgit, while utilit y Tenaga Nasional added 0.6 percent to 6.84 ringgit. ● Singapore slipped 0.53 percent, or 16.30 points, to 3,049.47. ● City Developments gained 1.56 percent to Sg$11.70 and United Overseas Bank added 0.45 percent to Sg$19.98. ● Manila fell 1.05 percent, or 54.66 points, to 5,152.15. ● Mumbai slipped 0.21 percent, or 38.4 points, to 17,846.86. ● India’s biggest mobile phone firm Bharti Airtel fell 2.82 percent to 251.35 while state-run Corporation Bank lost 3.01 percent to 377 rupees. ● Jakarta was closed for a public holiday. —AFP ●

26

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

business

Achilles tires debut in Kuwait New brand of high performance tires

Mercedes-Benz, Levant see best sales results DUBAI: The Olympics were not the only place for record breaking performances in July, with Mercedes-Benz Middle East & Levant taking the gold in a flurry of best ever sales results. New records include a marathon 10 consecutive months of double digit regional growth, with year to date (YTD) sales up 16 percent on 2011. Regional distributors in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar also celebrated from the top of the podium with best ever July country sales.

The new records are testament to the success of Mercedes-Benz Middle East and Levant’s ‘Year of the SUV and AMG’ 2012 sales strategy, building on the success last year. SUV sales increased 25 percent over July 2011, led by 50 percent month on month (MOM) growth from the newly launched M-Class - pairing performance with sophistication. The evergreen G-Class continued to assert its dominance in the segment, with 19 percent more customers lured by the resilient icon’s rugged charm.

The fires of Affalterbach were given a high octane sales boost, with July sales for the precision Mercedes-AMG performance division turbo charged by 178 percent over the same month last year. Feeding the flames of Affalterbach’s success was an

astronomical increase in demand for the biturbo AMG version of the fashionable CLS 63 AMG four door coupe.

The beast in a business suit E 63 AMG executive saloon increased 20 percent YTD, with five times more people buying the newly launched 0-100km/h in 4.7sec ML 63 AMG. Still refusing to rest on its laurels, the relentless success of the G 55 AMG grew sales 65 percent MOM, together with its newly launched G 63 AMG and G 65 AMG variants.

Frank Bernthaler, Director, Sales and Marketing, Mercedes-Benz Cars, Middle East & Levant said: “The unprecedented success witnessed in 2012 so far both regionally and in our country markets is very encouraging as we aim for a best ever year. With yet more new launches of exciting models planned, we are confident that we are on track towards reaching our goal of a regional record for the brand that promises ‘The best or nothing’.”

Further expecting to boost sales is the recent arrival of the lightweight, athletic and luxurious Mercedes-Benz SL Roadster.

Powering Mercedes-Benz across the finish line will be the launch of the new facelift GLK later this year.

Nokia launches affordable Asha 311 touch range KUWAIT: Nokia is set to save its customers up to 90 percent on mobile data costs with the Nokia Asha 311 from its affordable Asha Touch range. The new Asha 311 takes full advantage of the Nokia Browser 2.0, a major recent update which uses Nokia’s cloud technology to reduce data consumption by up to 90 percent, meaning that consumers can enjoy faster and cheaper internet access.

Lower priced, the beautifully crafted Nokia Asha 311 takes the full touch experience of a mobile device to a completely new price point, boasting a fast and fluid 3.5G capacitive touch screen device, powered by a 1 GHz processor to provide a great internet experience.

“The launch of the Nokia Asha 311 is testament to our accelerated commitment to connecting the next billion consumers to the Internet. Designed to provide an incredibly rich smartphone-like experience, the Nokia Asha 311 enables consumers to

be connected on-the go and also be set free from excessive data consumption costs,” said Vithesh Reddy, General Manager, Nokia Lower Gulf.

Great for fast, affordable mobile Internet and gaming entertainment Web sites load up to three times faster in comparison to devices without cloud-accelerated browsing, making it simple for users to find and select from more than 10,000 web apps available for download. They deliver a richer and more interactive consumer experience whilst using less data than a standalone Internet connected app.

Consumers can easily stay connected with friends and family at the touch of a button as well as share files and links across their social networks. Furthermore, the Nokia Browser’s Download Manager feature helps consumers to manage external content easily, saving music, video or pictures on a memory card, while surfing the Internet.

As well as providing a great, social online experience, the Nokia Asha 311 has been created with entertainment in mind.

All users will receive an exclusive gift of 40 EA games to download for free and keep forever. These games range across action, arcade and sports, and include titles such as Tetris, Bejeweled, Need for Speed: The Run and Fifa 2012.

The Nokia Asha 311 is a colourful, compact touch screen device that comes with all the features you’d expect for a fun and easy mobile experience. It boasts a bright and colourful, scratch resistant capacitive glass screen with polarization filters ensuring users get the best experience from the unique and visually entertaining user interface. The Nokia Asha 311 also features a 3.2MP camera and pre-installed Nokia Maps, in addition to the 15 level pre-bundled version of Angry Birds.

The pre-loaded social client makes accessing Facebook, Twitter and many other global social networks simple while Nokia Browser makes using mobile Internet fast and affordable. It also includes the most popular messaging services.

KUWAIT: “FTC” Federal Trading & Contracting co, a sister company of Kuwait Automotive Imports Co. (Al-Shaya & Al-Sagar), a leading automotive distributor of international brands such as Mazda, Peugeot, Michelin and Mobil, recently launched a new brand of high performance tires called “Achilles” manufactured by MASA, one of the top tire manufacturers in Indonesia.

PT Multistrada Arah Sarana Tbk, or ‘MASA’ (Company), is an Indonesian tire manufacturer which produces Passanger Car Radial ‘PCR’ Achilles tires and also Motor Cycle Radial ‘MC’ for domestic and international markets.

The company was established in 1988. At the beginning, the company’s layout, design technological assistance was from Pirelli-Italy. The company also received technical and distribution assistance from Continental GMbh-Germany.

The current era of business success started when the company was taken over by new management in 2004, and completed restructuring in 2005. From that moment, the company kept on increasing production capacity and improving quality. Success continues with support from a larger dealer network, and a growing reputation of marked growth of the company’s products from year to year. From 2004 until to 2010 the company’s net sales grew by a 35 percent.

This target was reachable due to the company achieving a good reputation for the products in the market domestically and internationally.

Multistrada products have obtained certification of compliance with quality standards both domestically and internationally. By combining technical and business skills as well as excellence in facilities owned, and the synergy of all

employees the company continues to focus on change and innovation to increase sales and improve the MASA image in the world markets.

One of its products, The ACHILLES R1, is a racing tire developed for prepared vehicles looking for race and time attack-winning performance. It is designed to be the best tire in dry grip class, cornering power, steering response and turn-in precision which inspire driver confidence.

Achilles R1 broke Indonesian records in 2010 as the first Slick tires manufactured in Indonesia.

Achilles range, introduced in Kuwait, is suit-

able for Japanese, American and European brands of passenger cars as well as SUVs. Ashish Tandon, General Manager of Al-Shaya & Al-Sagar emphasized that Achilles tires would delight new customers with high performance and very competitive prices.

FTC management, with the guidance and support of the KAICO top management, will make sure that the introduction, existence and popularity of these tires throughout Kuwait is done widely and aggressively in the next couple of months.

Ashish Tandon

Yousef Alshaya

Viva launches new 42.2 mbps router KUWAIT: In celebration of Eid Al Fitr, VIVA, Kuwait’s newest and most advanced mobile telecommunications service provider, announced the availability of its new 42.2 mbps router at all its branches, offering customers the latest in internet technology in Kuwait. By visiting any of VIVA’s branches across Kuwait, customers can purchase the new 42.2 mbps internet router along with any internet plan that suits their needs.

VIVA is pleased to unveil its new and advanced 42.2 mbps internet router to its customers during Eid Al Fitr.

VIVA has always taken pride in its high speed and reliable internet services, and with the launch of our new internet router, the company is presenting them with the latest in mobile broadband technology, at competitive prices. We would like to wish all our customers Eid Mubarak.

Through VIVA’s 42.2 mbps router, internet users can enjoy up to 42.2 mbps as maximum internet speed and 7.2 mbps as minimum speed. VIVA’s unbeatable network speed allows customers to choose the price and package that suits them most. Prices start from KD 1 and up to KD 18 for VIVA’s Surf On and Internet Broadband package which allows prepaid and postpaid customers unlimited internet access. Should customers exceed their free data usage, they can still stream through the internet and access social media websites as well as chatting freely and be charged only for the excess they use.

For more information about VIVA’s latest promotions customers can visit the website www.viva.com.kw.

Lujain Alolabi wins one year salary with NBK KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) announced the third winner of the ‘Transfer Your Salary and Win’ campaign.

Lujain Mohamed Moean Alolabi won a year’s salary after transferring her salary to NBK. All new customers who set up a salary account at NBK are eligible to enter a monthly draw to win a year’s salary. One winner will be selected each month. New NBK account holders who transfer their salary to NBK starting in February will enter the monthly draw which runs till December 2012.

Lujain Mohamed Moean Alolabi the winner of August’s draw said, “I am completely surprised. I want to truly thank NBK for its great services and offers and for giving me the chance to win such a valuable prize.”

NBK pioneered many firsts in both the local and regional markets by offering innovative products and value added services. Today, NBK has the largest local and overseas banking network encompassing more than 176 branches, representative offices and subsidiaries strategically located within the main interna-

tional and regional financial centers. For more information please contact Hala Watani or log onto www.nbk.com.

Lujain Alolabi

Burgan Bank announces winners of Yawmi draw KUWAIT: Burgan Bank announced yesterday the names of the five lucky winners of its Yawmi account draw, each taking home a prize of KD 5,000. Winner’s names will also be announced through Marina FM on a daily basis during their prime shows.

The lucky winners for the five daily draws took home a cash-prize of KD 5,000 each, and they are: 1. Naser Khalaf Owayed Al-Shammari 2. Abeer Ibrahem Saleh Alshaye 3. Jameela Mousa Darwish Musleh 4. Athari Kazem Mohammed Alsaleh 5. Khalifa Duaij Khalaf Al-Qallaf The newly re-launched Yawmi Account is better, easier and faster than any day before. With its new and enhanced features, the Yawmi Account has become more convenient, easier, and faster for customers to benefit from. Now, customers will be eligible to enter the draw after 48 hours only from opening the account.

Customers are also required to deposit KD 100 or equivalent only to enter the daily draw, and the coupon value to enter the

draw stands at KD 10.

The newly designed Yawmi account has been launched to provide a highly innovative offering along with a higher frequency and incentive of winning for everyone.

Today, the Yawmi account is a well understood product, where its popularity can be seen from the number of increasing account holders.

Burgan Bank encourages everyone to open a Yawmi account and/or increase their deposit to maximize their chances to becoming a daily winner. The more customers deposit, the higher the chances they receive of winning the draw.

Opening a Yawmi account is simple, customers are urged to visit their nearest Burgan Bank branch and receive all the details, or simply call the bank’s Call Center where customer service representatives will be delighted to assist with any questions on the Yawmi account or any of the bank’s products and services, or log on to Burgan Bank’s www.burgan.com for further information.

Kuwait ramps up desalination initiatives DUBAI: Drake & Scull Kuwait (DSK) is building up its water desalination capabilities to help expedite related projects across Kuwait. The move is in response to calls for greater industry collaboration from the Kuwaiti government to address the state’s clean water challenges.

DSK is the local arm of Drake & Scull International (DSI) PJSC - a regional market specialist in integrated design, engineering and the construction disciplines of, Civil Contracting, Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing (MEP) Water & Power, Rail and Oil & Gas. Since its inception in 2004, DSK has been involved in several high-profile engineering projects in Kuwait.

The company possesses unique water management technologies and benefits from access to expertise of the parent company DSI, especially after the integration of Passavant-Roediger, a German-based specialist in municipal wastewater treatment and sludge digestion, into DSI’s business platform.

The desalination industry forms the backbone of Kuwait’s water sector, meeting 92 per cent of domestic and industrial needs and 60 per cent of total water use. Kuwait has very limited natural fresh water supply and thus operates some of the world’s largest desalination plants. The Kuwait Ministry of Electricity and Water had just recently signed a contract for a water purifying facility capable of treating 1.46 million tons of water a day. It will cost $184.5 million and is scheduled to go online by 2013. The scenario is prevalent across the Arabian Gulf, where water and desalination investments worth $300 million are currently being planned through 2022.

Through its core technological elements in water treatment and solid local experience, DSK aims to help fast-track and optimize the construction of more Kuwaiti desalination plants to meet demand for water driven by population and industry growth.

“Treatments such as desalination and reverse

osmosis will gain more traction across Kuwait as planned capacity upgrades come to fruition over the next few years. The same is true across the Gulf where DSI has accumulated substantial experience in overseeing and delivering desalination projects. Water and power are niche markets where only a few companies such as DSI have managed to excel. We are eager to respond to market opportunities and government requirements in Kuwait that will benefit from the unique technologies and practices DSK has to offer,” said Tawfiq Abu Soud, Managing Director, Drake & Scull Water and Power.

DSK supports the Kuwaiti government’s plans to promote investments into infrastructure projects that fall under Public-Private Partnerships or PPPs. The company maintains close ties with governmental and private developers, especially in the Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing (MEP), Civil Construction, and Water and Power fields.

Tawfiq Abu Soud

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

TECHNOLOGY

Apple, Samsung make final pitch to US jury Apple seeks more than $2.5bn in damages

TOKYO: In this undated photo released by Honda Motor Co, its Asimo walking talking robot shows its new product lawn mower Milmo. — AP

Honda robotics powers first product for homes TOKYO: Honda Motor Co finally has its first product for the home packed with its prized robotics technology - a sensorequipped lawn mower. Miimo goes on sale next year, in only Europe, where spacious lawns are often enclosed in gates, targeting 4,000 unit sales a year.

The machine, which looks a bit like iRobot Corp’s Roomba vacuum cleaner, continuously shaves about 3 millimeters

(0.12 inches) off the grass, maneuvering itself on slopes. It won’t break potted plants, goes to charge itself on its own and won’t wander off.

Honda robots, like its Asimo walking talking robot, have sometimes been criticized as impractical toys. Honda said Tuesday Miimo is a real product, selling for 2,100 euros ($2,600) to 2,500 euros ($3,000). — AP

CALIFORNIA: Apple Inc’s worldwide legal crusade against the Android mobile operating system drew toward a climax on Tuesday as the iPhone maker’s attorneys accused Samsung of taking a shortcut by copying Apple’s designs after realizing it could not keep up. Closing arguments were delivered at trial between Apple and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd in a federal court in San Jose, California. The jury began deliberating yesterday. Samsung attorney Charles Verhoeven countered by urging jurors to consider that a verdict in favor of Apple could stifle competition and reduce choices for consumers.

“Rather than competing in the marketplace, Apple is seeking a competitive edge in the courtroom,” Verhoeven said. “(Apple thinks) it’s entitled to having a monopoly on a rounded rectangle with a large screen. It’s amazing really.”

Apple and Samsung are going toe-to-toe in a patents dispute that mirrors the struggle for industry supremacy between the two companies, which control more than half of worldwide smartphone sales.

A win for Apple could have a major impact on the industry because the South Korean company’s mobile products are run on Google Inc’s Android operating system, popular software that is used by many other manufacturers.

Before he died, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs told his biographer he intended to go “thermonuclear” on Android, saying it had copied Apple. If the jury determines Samsung violated Apple’s valid patents, US District Judge Lucy Koh could impose sales bans against the Korean company’s products.

In court on Tuesday, Apple attorney Harold McElhinny urged jurors to consider the testimony of a South Korean designer who said she

worked day and night on Samsung’s phones for three months. “In those critical three months, Samsung was able to copy and incorporate the result of Apple’s four-year investment in hard work and ingenuity-without taking any of the risks,” McElhinny said.

Apple is seeking more than $2.5 billion in damages from Samsung. An Apple expert said Samsung earned 35.5 percent margins on the tablets and phones at issue in the lawsuit from mid-2010 through March 2012, on $8.16 billion in US revenue. Samsung has disputed that figure. Apple accuses Samsung of copying the design and some features of its iPad and iPhone, and is asking for a sales ban in addition to monetary damages. Samsung, which is trying to expand in the United States, says Apple infringed several patents, including some for its key wireless technology. Both Apple and Samsung used a series of internal emails, witness testimony from designers, product demonstrations and mockups to present their case.

Crowd outside the courthouse McElhinny laid out what he said was chronological evidence that showed Samsung copied Apple’s designs. He also told the jury that, while Apple brought many of its top executives to testify and face cross examination, Samsung had presented no major decision makers. “From the very beginning, Samsung has disrespected this process,” he said. McElhinny said Samsung’s internal documents compared its products with Apple’s-and determined it had a crisis of design.

Scores of journalists, lawyers, analysts and observers turned out to watch the arguments.

By 7:30 a.m. (1430 GMT) on Tuesday, the line outside the courthouse was nearly a block long.

The nine member jury spent over two hours lis-

tening to granular legal instructions before Apple’s McElhinny began his presentation just after lunch. McElhinny focused on a meeting between Samsung and Google executives in February 2010, where Google asked Samsung to stop imitating the iPad so closely.

“Samsung executives chose to ignore that demand and continue on the path of copying,” he said. Apple said the products looked so similar that it led to confusion in the marketplace.

Samsung’s Verhoeven said Apple had not shown any evidence that consumers were actually deceived into buying Samsung products instead of the iPhone or iPad. “Consumers make choices, not mistakes,” he said. Verhoeven also went on to tell the jury that Apple’s damages claims were not calculated correctly, calling them “ridiculous.” On rebuttal, Apple attorney Bill Lee said Apple was not trying to keep Samsung out of the smartphone market.

“All we’re saying is, ‘Make your own,’” Lee said.

The trial, which is in its fourth week, has revealed details about the famously secretive maker of the iPhone and iPad, some substantive and some just colorful.

Among the evidence were emails sent by Apple’s Internet services chief to top Apple executives, urging them to consider a smaller iPad and indicating that Jobs was warming to the idea. An Apple industrial designer described working around a kitchen table with his team to come up with the company’s mobile products.

Its patent licensing director also said Microsoft Corp was one of the few companies to get a license for Apple design patents, but only because Microsoft consented to an anti-cloning provision. The case in US District Court, Northern District of California, is Apple Inc v. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd et al, No. 11-1846. — Reuters

Facebook director in spotlight after cashing out

MOUNTAIN VIEW : In this Monday, Aug 20, 2012, photo, a Dell keyboard is shown at a Best Buy store in California. — AP

Dell’s slump worsens in fiscal 2Q; outlook weakens SAN FRANCISCO: Dell Inc’s slump deepened in its latest quarter as the growing popularity of smartphones and tablets undercut sales of its desktop and laptop computers. The fiscal second-quarter results announced Tuesday served as the latest reminder of the challenges facing Dell and other personal computer makers as they scramble to adapt to the technological upheaval unleashed by Apple Inc’s line of sleek devices such as the iPhone and iPad. The shift to more mobile computing has established Apple as the most valuable company in US history, while businesses that revolved around selling traditional PCs. Dell Inc, the second largest US maker of personal computers, is trying to adjust by expanding into software, technology consulting, data storage and computer servers all of which produce higher profit margins than selling PCs and printers.

“We’re transforming our business, not for a quarter or a fiscal year, but to deliver differentiated customer value for the long term,” Michael Dell, the company’s CEO and founder, said in a statement Tuesday. “We’re clear on our strategy and we’re building a leading portfolio of solutions to help our customers achieve their goals.”

As part of its makeover, Dell on Tuesday announced a new leader for its division that oversees many of its corporate products, including computer networking and data storage. Marius Haas is replacing Brad Anderson as president of Dell’s enterprise solutions. Haas most recently worked at the investment firm Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co after previous stints at Dell rival HewlettPackard Co and Intel Corp.

“We are going to make what is a great business today an even larger and more successful business,” Dell said of his plans for enterprise solutions during a Tuesday conference call with analysts. Even if Dell’s strategy is successful, the company’s evolution will take time. That reality has caused Dell’s stock to fall this year while the overall market has been climbing.

In a sign of further weakness ahead, Dell lowered its earnings target by 20 percent for its fiscal year ending in January. Dell trimmed its full-year guidance, even though its adjusted earnings for the just-completed quarter topped analyst projections.

The company, which is based in Round Rock, Texas, tied it its bleaker forecast to “the uncertain economic environment,

competitive dynamics and soft consumer business.” Dell shares shed 55 cents, or 4.5 percent, to $11.79 in Tuesday’s extended trading following the release of the earnings report. In its latest quarter ending in July, Dell earned $732 million, or 42 cents per share. That represented an 18 percent decline from net income of $890 million, or 48 cents per share, at the same time last year.

If not for costs unrelated to its ongoing business, Dell said it would have earned 50 cents per share. On that basis, Dell topped the average estimate of 45 cents per share among analysts surveyed by FactSet. Revenue for the period fell 8 percent from last year to $14.5 billion. That was nearly $200 million below analyst forecasts.

The weakest area was in Dell’s mobility division, where revenue plunged 19 percent from last year. Sales of desktop PCs decreased 9 percent from last year.

Combined, revenue from desktop and laptops fell 14 percent from last year, said Brian Gladden, Dell’s chief financial officer.

“The revenue deterioration we saw during the quarter was clearly above anything we expected,” Gladden told analysts during the conference call. Dell is hoping the upcoming release of Windows 8, a radical makeover of Microsoft Corp’s PC operating system, will compel more people to buy devices that aren’t made by Apple. But Windows 8 won’t hit the market until Oct. 26, and many corporate customers probably will wait until next year before switching over to the new system.

That means Windows 8 won’t provide Dell much help during the final half the current fiscal year. Dell now expects its adjusted earnings for the full fiscal year to come in at $1.70 per share, down from its previous forecast of $2.13 per share. Revenue in the current quarter ending in October is expected be 2 percent to 5 percent below the figure posted in the just-completed quarter. That implies Dell’s fiscal third-quarter revenue could be down by as much as $1.6 billion, or 10 percent, from the same time last year.

Dell’s lackluster performance is expected to be mirrored by HP Wednesday when the world’s largest PC maker is scheduled to release its quarterly results. HP already has warned its quarterly loss will approach $9 billion because of an accounting charge to reflect the diminished value of a past acquisition. — AP

SAN FRANCISCO: Peter Thiel was the first investor to take a gamble on Facebook Inc. Now some people are wondering whether, in selling most of his stake, the Facebook board member is signaling to others that it’s time to rush for the exits. Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal who invested in Facebook in 2004, sold roughly $400 million worth of Facebook shares last week as the first restrictions barring insider selling were lifted. The sales, which were conducted as part of a stock sale plan that Thiel entered into in May, have dealt another blow to Facebook’s reputation among some investors in the wake of a rocky debut that has wiped out roughly 50 percent of its market value. And it has raised questions about whether Thiel’s move conflicts with his responsibilities as a Facebook director.

“It’s a vote of no-confidence from a board member,” said Max Wolff, an analyst at Greencrest Capital. “If he wants to serve primarily as a self-interested investor, that’s fine. But then you can’t be the on the board.

Boards of directors are not made up of people whose primary interests are in their checkbook,” said Wolff, who said he believed Thiel should resign from the board. A spokesman for Thiel declined to comment.

“From a shareholder standpoint, if a VC is going to be on the board you’d like to think that they still have a large position in the company and that they’re interested in making it be more valuable,” said Walter Price, a portfolio manager at RCM Capital Management which does not own Facebook shares. “It sends a mixed message when they sell most of their stock and they still stay on the board,” he said.

The 44-year-old Thiel still owns roughly 5.6 million shares of Facebook, worth around $107 million at Tuesday’s closing price of $19.14 per share. That stake means he still has “skin in the game,” said James Post, a professor of management at Boston University who specializes in corporate governance issues. “The worst you can say is that it may reflect perhaps a questionable judgment about getting rid of all these shares at a time when such big questions are looming about Facebook’s future,” said Post. But he said he believed that Thiel’s sales do not disqualify him from serving on the board.

The stock sales are the latest in a seemingly endless string of setbacks and controversies to plague Facebook since its highly anticipated IPO in May. The world’s No. 1 online social networking website, with roughly 955 million users, experienced brisk demand for its shares when it was a private company and became the only US company to debut with a market value of more than $100 billion.

But technical glitches with the Nasdaq stock exchange marred the stock’s first day of trading and concerns about the company’s slowing revenue growth have pressured the company’s shares since then. Thiel, who has an undergraduate degree from Stanford University in philosophy and a law degree from Stanford Law School, was among Facebook’s first believers. He invested $500,000 in Facebook at a $5 million valuation in September 2004, seven months after the company was created by Mark Zuckerberg in a Harvard dorm room. In 2006, one of Thiel’s investment firms, the Founders Fund, participated in a $27.5 million funding round along with Greylock Partners, Meritech Capital Partners and Accel Partners.

The Facebook investment is by far the most successful of Thiel’s investments, which have also included stakes in LinkedIn Corp, Yelp Inc and SpaceX. Thiel sold 16.8 million shares of Facebook at the IPO for $38 a share, for total proceeds of roughly $640 million. And he sold a significant number of shares through a private transaction in 2009.

Facebook, which declined to comment on Thiel’s stock sales, said in its prospectus in May that the company believes Thiel should serve on the board because of his “extensive experience as an entrepreneur and venture capitalist, and as one of our early investors.” It’s common for early investors, such as venture capitalists and angel investors, to have seats on the boards of companies they’ve backed. And venture firms typically distribute shares of the company to their limited partners following an IPO, so that the venture fund’s investors can get a return on the investment.—Reuters

CALIFORNIA: Photo shows Apple headquarters in Cupertino on Monday. — AP

How Apple’s phantom taxes hide billions in profit NEW YORK : On Tuesday, Apple is set to report financial results for the second quarter. Analysts are expecting net income of $9.8 billion. But whatever figure Apple reports won’t reflect its true profit, because the company hides some of it with an unusual tax maneuver. Apple Inc, already the world’s most valuable company, understates its profits compared with other multinationals. It’s building up an overlooked asset in the form of billions of dollars, tucked away for tax bills it may never pay.

Tax experts say the company could easily eliminate these phantom tax obligations. That would boost Apple’s profits for the past three years by as much $10.5 billion, according to calculations by The Associated Press. While investors might rejoice if Apple suddenly added $10.5 billion to its profits, unilaterally erasing a massive US tax obligation could tarnish its reputation as a relatively responsible payer of US taxes. Instead, the company is lobbying to change US law so that it can erase its liabilities in a less conspicuous fashion. The issue has become part of the presidential campaign.

Like other companies, Apple typically keeps profits on overseas sales in overseas accounts.

When someone buys an iPad in Paris or Sydney, for instance, the profit stays outside the United States. Apple may pay some corporate income taxes on that profit to the country where it sells the iPad, but it minimizes these by using various accounting moves to shift profits to countries with low tax rates. For example the strategy known as “Double Irish With a Dutch Sandwich,” routes profits through Irish and Dutch subsidiaries and then to the Caribbean.

When it comes to using creative tax techniques, Apple is no different from other multinational corporations, says Robert Willens, an independent accounting expert. And just like other corporations, Apple leaves cash overseas. If it brought it home to the US, it would have to pay federal income taxes on the money (though it would get a credit for foreign taxes already paid).

In Apple’s case, those overseas accounts have grown to a staggering $74 billion - equal to the market value of Citigroup Inc. The money is accumulating overseas because corporations are counting on lower US tax rates in the future. At 35 percent, the US corporate tax rate is among the highest for developed countries. In 2004, Congress enacted a one-year “tax holiday” for overseas earnings, and multinationals are hoping for a repeat of that. Presidential candidate Mitt Romney wants to permanently eliminate federal taxes on overseas profits.

President Barack Obama attacked that idea last week, saying it won’t create US jobs, like the Romney campaign contends.

Where Apple does differ from other companies is that it sets aside a portion of these overseas profits, marking them as subject to US taxes sometime in the future. Essentially, it’s saying “this is money that we’ll likely have to pay US federal income taxes on” because we intend to repa-

triate it, says Willens. But because Apple doesn’t actually bring the profits into US accounts, it doesn’t pay the taxes. Instead, it records a tax liability. When Apple reports quarterly results, it subtracts these liabilities from its profits, even though it hasn’t actually paid the taxes. The liabilities accumulate, and as Apple’s profits grow, they’re piling up faster and faster.

“When you capitalize that into the future, it might be tens of billions of dollars,” said Martin Sullivan, an economist with Tax Analysts, a nonprofit publisher. The company had a net $6 billion of tax liabilities at the end of September, the last reported figure. It’s had two blow-out quarters since then and is expected to report another one Tuesday. Based on reported and expected profits for the last three quarters, the liabilities can be estimated at around $10.5 billion.

Apple declined to comment on the specifics of its tax strategies or why it records tax liabilities that other multinationals avoid. “Apple has conducted all of its business with the highest of ethical standards, complying with applicable laws and accounting rules,” the Cupertino, Calif, company said in a statement.

Yet Apple has made clear that it has no intention of repatriating its profits from overseas at the current US tax rate. When CEO Tim Cook announced that the company would start paying a dividend this summer, he said the board determined the size of the dividend solely by looking at the amount of cash the company has in US accounts.

“We do not want to incur the tax cost to repatriate the foreign cash at this time,” Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer told investors in March. Apple’s net tax liabilities started building three years ago, when its sales started rocketing because of the iPhone. In that time, the company has reported a total of $69 billion in net income.

If it had applied the same accounting practices as other multinational technology companies, and not marked some overseas profits as subject to U.S. taxes, its profits would have been about $78 billion, or 13 percent higher.

The boost to net income could mean a boost to the stock, since companies are usually valued on their earnings. If investors were to value Apple based on the last 12 months of earnings, with the tax liabilities added to earnings, the stock might be 13 percent higher. Willens and Sullivan say that Apple could erase its liabilities by considering the profits “permanently reinvested” overseas, acknowledging that they will never be brought home. That would erase the tax liability, but it could make Apple look like a less responsible corporate citizen.

“I doubt they’re going to do that on their own, because they don’t want to be set up for criticism,” said Willens. Groups such as Citizens for Tax Justice compile lists of the tax rates corporations report. Apple looks like a relatively good taxpayer on such lists, with a 24 percent rate. But Apple doesn’t actually pay the 24 percent, since it isn’t repatriating its overseas profits. —AP

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

H E A LT H & S C I E NC E

From the mouths of molluscs: Ancient snail relative found PARIS: Fossils of toothy, slug-like creatures that grazed the sea floor 500 million years ago have shed light on the origins of modern-day snails, shellfish and squid, a study said yesterday. The most comprehensive analysis yet of the ancient slugs’ mouth parts-multiple rows of teeth that moved in conveyorbelt fashion, showed they were related to present day molluscs, scientists wrote in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B Dubbed Wiwaxia and Odontogriphus, the slugs’ place on the evolution ladder has been in contention for decades-whether they were early molluscs, relatives of the earth-

worm, or a completely different species that died out. Using new microscope technology, Martin Smith, a graduate student at the University of Toronto’s department of evolutionary biology, found they shared a feeding mechanism with today’s molluscs.

“Their mouthparts are... the closest thing that we have to the radula, the conveyor-belt-like feeding apparatus found in almost all molluscs today,” he said. “My new reinterpretation of their ‘teeth’ shows that they represented early molluscs.” Molluscs, which also include octopuses, mussels and oysters, are the second-biggest animal

group, yet little has been known about their early evolution. Odontogriphus, whose name means “toothed riddle” in Greek, was a naked slug that grew up to 15 centimeters long, while tiny Wiwaxia, between 1 millimeter and 5 cm, was covered with spines and scales.

The invertebrate fossils come from the Burgess Shale Formation in the Canadian province of British Columbia, deposited there during the Middle Cambrian period about 505 million years ago. To study the remains, Smith used an electron microscope which has a resolution about a thousand times

better than that of a light microscope, “so you see loads more detail” of the mouth par ts. I t has only recently become possible to put large fossils in electron microscopes without damaging them. The researcher concluded that the mouths of Wiwaxia and Odontogriphus had two to three rows of 17-33 teeth of a similar size, with a symmetrical central tooth and more, smaller teeth on the edges.

The teeth would have moved around a tongue in the same way as those of both plant- and meat-eating molluscs today, scooping algae and organic waste from a muddy sea floor.

“I don’t see how you can doubt that they are molluscs any more,” said Smith. What is not clear is whether these fossils were the direct ancestors of today’s molluscs. There were likely several similar-looking species living alongside Wiwaxia and Odontogriphus, but since species cannot interbreed, only one could have given rise to the snails and slugs we know today. “It’s possible that Odontogriphus or Wiwaxia was this species, but it’s more likely that they were very close relatives-offshoots from the lineage that would have led to all molluscs,” said Smith.— AFP

Spacewalkers prepare station for Russia lab Debris shields installed on crew living quarters

TULEAR: Hortanu (right), 22, is pictured with her aunt at the hospital in Tulear, South of Madagascar. —AFP

In Madagascar, little help for difficult pregnancies TULEAR: When she was 20 years old, Alphonsina Zara was pregnant with her first child. After three days of excruciating labour, though she was in a health centre, her baby was stillborn. Doctors found that she had developed a hole in her birth canal, a severe medical condition called obstetric fistula. She not only lost her baby, it disrupted her life for the next 14 years. The injury is usually caused by complications during childbirth, such as a prolonged labor that can cause muscle tissues to tear, creating a hole in the birth canal.

If left untreated-as it is for tens of thousands of women-it causes them to urinate or defecate continuously. Fistula can occur when care is inadequate, when women give birth at home, at an early age, or with traditional healers. “It is really a problem of poverty,” said Edwige Ravaomanana of the UN Population Fund, and a simple and cheap operation could turn around many lives. The condition was eradicated in wealthy countries in the 19th century, but the World Health Organization says it still afflicts two million women in Africa and developing Asia.

“It’s also because women can’t go to a (clinic). Maybe because of the distance, maybe because they don’t know,” said Ravaomanana. “The women who live far try to give birth with a matron,” a traditional birth attendant.” Madagascar, one of the world’s poorest countries, alone accounts for 2,000 of the more than 50,000 new fistula cases each year around the globe, according to UN data.

Eighty-one percent of the population on this island nation off southeast Africa live on less than $1.25 a day. Health facilities are widely scattered across the country, the world’s fourth-largest island where 80 percent of the population lives in rural areas.

About 65 percent of them reside more than 10 kilometers from their nearest health centre, according to the health ministry. That distance often is travelled by foot because

Madagascar has few roads and little transport, forcing women to give birth at home with traditional midwives. Money she doesn’t have-Widespread fistula here is also blamed on early pregnancy, which is very common in Madagascar. “It’s also the tradition. Starting from 18, they are considered old. At 30, a woman can already have 10 children,” Ravaomanana said. A surgical procedure that costs about $300 can close the hole and return a woman’s life back to normal.

But until 2011, only two doctors on Madagascar could perform the operation. A 300,000-euro ($374,000) campaign by the health ministry and the UN Population Fund has trained 14 more, and performed 106 operations in the tourist beach town of Tulear. Aphonsina was one of them. In the soft red sun of a winter afternoon, Alphonsina said her baby’s father left her because of the constant smell of urine. “People were talking about me, they were saying I smell bad. When I was getting close to people, they would leave,” Alphonsina said with a shy voice.

Fortunately, her parents did not reject her.

She lived with them and worked as a fish vendor for years. She consulted the nearest hospital, which eventually sent her to Tulear.

“When I came here, the doctor made me come every three months and still didn’t heal me,” she said. In Tulear, she started selling fabric. “Where I live right now, I’m making friends, not like before. Though I still don’t have a lot of friends,” Alphonsina said. She lives in a small grass hut on a sandy road, has a mattress and very few objects in her house, which she rents for about $5 a month. Her life has improved, but she’s not cured, having the misfortune to be among the 10 percent of women who aren’t completely healed after the surgery. Alphonsina’s doctor said she needs another operation which, with medicine, will cost $100 — money that she doesn’t have.— AFP

Arctic cap on course for record melt: Scientists WASHINGTON: The Arctic ice cap is melting at a startlingly rapid rate and may shrink to its smallest-ever level within weeks as the planet’s temperatures rise, US scientists said yesterday. Researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder said that the summer ice in the Arctic was already nearing its lowest level recorded, even though the summer melt season is not yet over. “The numbers are coming in and we are looking at them with a sense of amazement,” said Mark Serreze, director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the university. “If the melt were to just suddenly stop today, we would be at the third lowest in the satellite record. We’ve still got another two weeks of melt to go, so I think we’re very likely to set a new record,” he said.

The previous record was set in 2007 when the ice cap shrunk to 4.25 million square kilometers, stunning scientists who had not forecast such a drastic melt so soon. The Coloradobased center said that one potential factor could be an Arctic cyclone earlier this month.

However, Serreze played down the effects of the cyclone and said that this year’s melt was all the more remarkable because of the lack of special weather factors seen in 2007.

Serreze said that the extensive melt was in line with the effects of global warming, with the ice being hit by a double whammy of rising temperatures in the atmosphere and warmer oceans. “The ice now is so thin in the spring just because of the general pattern of warming that large parts of the pack ice just can’t survive the summer melt season anymore,” he said. Russia’s Roshydromet environmental agency also reported earlier this month that the Arctic melt was reaching record levels. Several studies have predicted that the cap in the summer could melt completely in coming decades.

The thaw in the Arctic is rapidly transforming the geopolitics of the region, with the long forbidding ocean looking more attractive to the shipping and energy industries.

Five nations surround the Arctic OceanRussia, which has about half of the coastline, along with Canada, Denmark, Norway and the United States-but the route could see a growing number of commercial players. The first ship from China-the Xuelong, or Snow Dragon-recently sailed from the Pacific to the Atlantic via the Arctic Ocean, cutting the distance by more than 40 percent.

Egill Thor Nielsson, an Icelandic scientist who participated in the expedition, said last week in Reykjavik that he expected China to be increasingly interested in the route as it was relatively easy to sail. But the rapid melt affects local people’s lifestyles and scientists warn of serious consequences for the rest of the planet. The Arctic ice cap serves a vital function by reflecting light and hence keeping the earth cool. Serreze said it was possible that the rapid melt was a factor in severe storms witnessed in recent years in the United States and elsewhere as it changed the nature of the planet’s temperature gradients.

The planet has charted a slew of record temperatures in recent years. In the continental United States, July was the hottest ever recorded with temperatures 3.3 degrees Fahrenheit (1.8 Celsius) higher than the average in the 20th century, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Most scientists believe that carbon emissions from industry cause global warming. Efforts to control the gases have encountered resistance in a number of countries, with some lawmakers in the United States questioning the science.— AFP

CAPE CANAVERAL: Two veteran cosmonauts have sailed through a six-hour spacewalk outside the International Space Station to prepare the orbital outpost for a new module and better shield it s living quarters against small meteorite and debris impacts, officials said. Station commander Gennady Padalka and flight engineer Yuri Malenchenko opened the hatch on the station’s airlock at 11:37 am to begin a spacewalk to relocate a construction crane, install debris shields and release a small satellite into orbit.

Their departure was delayed about an hour while engineers assessed a leak between the Pirs docking module and Russian segments of the station, a $100 billion laborator y for microgravity experiments and technology testing that flies about 250 miles above Earth.

But the issue was resolved and the experienced spacewalkers more than made up the lost time.

Padalka, who was making his ninth spacewalk, and Malenchenko, on his fifth, moved a hand-operated, 46-foot (14-meter) crane, called Strela-2, from the outside of Pirs to Zarya, the cornerstone of the station. Pirs is due to be detached from the station next year to make room for a new Russian laboratory and docking module. The United States completed construction of its part of the outpost last year and retired its three space shuttles.

Europe, Japan and Canada also are partners on the project. With the crane in place, the spacewalkers then used a hand tool to launch a 20pound (nine-kg) spherical satellite on a path behind the space station.

“Nice throw,” a flight director in the Russian mission control center outside Moscow said through a translator monitoring radio communications with the cosmonauts. The satellite, which is expected to remain in orbit for about three months, is intended to serve as a target

for Russian engineers working on computer models that evaluate orbital tracking. The spacewalkers’ last major task was to install five debris shields to the outside of the Zvezda module, the crew’s primary living quarters.

They also retrieved a briefcase-sized experiment that has been exposing various materials to the harsh environment of space and installed two support struts on a ladder.

Padalka and Malenchenko returned through an airlock and shut the hatch at 5:28 pm EDT (2128 GMT), completing the 163rd spacewalk for station assembly and maintenance. On Aug 30, NASA astronaut Sunita Williams and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, both station flight engineers, are scheduled to make another spacewalk to replace a power relay unit on the station’s truss, set up power cables for the Russian laboratory module scheduled to launch next year and install a thermal cover on a docking port.—Reuters

Clowns pioneer new medical treatments JERUSALEM: Doctors in Israel are beginning to believe in the power of clowning around. Over the last few years, Israeli clowns have been popping into hospital operating rooms and intensive care units with balloons and kazoos in hand, teaming up with doctors to develop laughter therapies they say help with disorders ranging from pain to infertility. This is not how things are done in most of the world’s hospitals. Clowns often visit pediatric wards to cheer up young patients, but in most places the clowning ends where the medicine begins. When it comes time for a child to get a shot or go under the knife, the clowns step aside.

Israeli clowns thumb their shiny red noses at that approach. They quote studies which suggest that a clown’s participation in treatments can help patients especially kids - endure painful procedures and speed their healing. They say it’s time for the medical community to recognize medical clowns as legitimate paramedical practitioners, like occupational or physical therapists. Israel’s hospital clowning guild, Dream Doctors, founded 10 years ago, is the leading advocate for infusing more medicine into the artistry.

“It’s not just putting on a red nose, floppy shoes, and playing a ukulele,” said Dr Arthur Eidelman, recently retired chief of pediatrics at the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, and chair of the Dream Doctors’ scientific committee. “We see medical clowns as an integral part of the health care team.” Over the last few decades, dozens of hospital clown guilds have formed in the US, Canada and Europe, drawing inspiration from New York’s Big Apple Circus, which pioneered the first professional hospital clowning program, and from a 1998 movie hit starring Robin Williams as real-life hospital clown Dr. Hunter “Patch” Adams.

The idea behind these initiatives is that clowns in simple costumes - no caked-on makeup or squirting flowers - can parody the role of the doctor, making the hospital a less scary place for patients. On a recent morning at the Jerusalem medical center, one such clown cut short his coffee break when a nurse called to say a boy was being wheeled into surgery to fix a ruptured eardrum. Dr Sababa - which translates to Dr Groovy - rushed up the stairwell and through the double doors into pre-op, greeting Aaron Marziano, 13. They’d met earlier that morning in the pediatric ward, where he’d performed imaginary surgery on the boy’s ear with a long kazoo.

“What’s your favorite dream?” the clown asked Marziano among a group of nurses, prepping him with guided imagery before sedation. He quickly stretched nets around his floppy green shoes, threw on blue scrubs, and helped wheel Marziano into the operating room. The clown, not the anesthesiologist, placed the anesthesia mask over the boy’s face. “Eight years ago, going in the operating room was science

fiction,” said Dr Sababa, who answers to his real name, Avi Cohen, when he’s out of his polka-dot necktie and grapefruit vest. Today, he estimated, a clown is present at about one out of five of the hospital’s full anesthesia surgeries for children. A study led by doctors there found that a clown’s presence in pre-op reduces the amount of anesthesia administered and speeds up a patient’s recovery time. It’s one of a half a dozen studies the clowns and their physician advocates have conducted in recent years, a campaign to prove to the medical community that their therapies are working. One Israeli study, published last year in a leading reproductive science journal, Fertility and Sterility, suggested that a woman’s chances of getting pregnant after in-vitro fertilization rose from 20.2 percent to 36.4 percent if a clown was brought in to entertain and relax her immediately after the obstetrician implanted a fertilized egg. Of the 219 women who participated in the yearlong study, about half received a surprise visit by a clown dressed as a bumbling chef. Dr Shevach Friedler of Assaf Harofeh

ROME: Monkeys eat fruit ice-cream and watermelon in Rome’s Bioparco Zoo yesterday. Rome’s main zoo is resorting to some resourceful methods to battle the current heatwave. — AFP

Medical Center said his study indicated that the laughter therapy might reduce stress or strengthen the immune system in the womb to increase the success rate of the treatment.

Another study, conducted by the head of pediatrics at a northern Israeli hospital, found that if there was a clown in the room, children with urinary tract infections didn’t need sedation to keep still during an imaging scan. The clown would make a deal with a young patient that both would simply freeze during the scan. It worked: Out of 142 children studied, 137 did not need sedation, eliminating the risks of complications and side effects that often come with sedatives. “In the last one or two years, there (has been) hard science, evidence-based data, generated that this does make a difference,” Eidelman said.

About 25 Israeli medical centers keep professional clowns on hand. One Israeli university offers what it calls the world’s first full-time degree program for medical clowning, part of an effort to standardize training for the profession. Israel’s clowns and their physician partners are presenting their studies in international medical conventions and meeting with hospital administrators around the globe. In the US, reactions to the Israeli clowning philosophy are mixed. Dr Ernest R Katz, director of behavioral sciences at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, said he doubts US hospitals would be willing to pay for a whole new group of professionals, since child life specialists and play therapists already employ similar techniques.

Besides, he said, many Americans simply can’t stand clowns. “The term itself carries a whole lot of baggage here,” he said. “The term ‘clown’ has a connotation of Bozo, or less of a professional ... you say medical clown, and I say, what the heck does that mean?”

The man widely regarded as the father of hospital clowning, Big Apple Circus’s Michael Christensen, said Israeli clowns’ integration into the medical team is “really inspiring,” but that there’s also value in clowns relying purely on artistry. “I want both worlds. I want the world in which the medical clown is an extension of the medical team and the ability of a medical clown to be an artist. To be able to stand in the doorway, in a clinic, not knowing what’s going to happen next,” Christensen said.

In Europe, Eidelman said, hospitals are more willing to let clowns incorporate the Israeli approach into their acts. This summer, clowns from Holland, Brazil, Germany, Russia, the US and Canada shadowed Israeli clowns at a hospital in the northern city of Haifa. One Dutch clown peeked into an examination room where her Israeli colleague hopped up onto an examination table next to a wailing child with a needle in his arm. The Israeli clown inflated a white medical latex glove into a makeshift balloon animal. The boy’s shrieks turned to giggles.—AP

Cartoon stickers may sway food choices NEW YORK: Can Elmo make children like apples? For children who turn up their noses at fruits and vegetables, slapping a cartoon face on a healthy snack may make those choices more appealing, according to a US study.

Researchers, whose findings appeared in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, discovered that when elementary school students were offered apples and cookies with lunch, children were more likely to opt for an apple when it was branded with a cartoon sticker - such as one of the “Sesame Street” character Elmo.

“If we’re trying to promote healthier foods, we need to be as smart as the companies that are selling the less-healthy foods,” said David Just, co-director of the Cornell Center for Behavioral Economics in Child Nutrition

Program, who worked on the study. Noting that cartoon characters and flashy advertising often don cookie and candy packaging, he added, “The message should be: fight fire with fire.”

Just and his colleagues offered cookies and apples to 208 eight- to 11-year-olds at suburban and rural schools every day at lunch for a week. Children were allowed to choose an apple, a cookie or both, along with their normal meal.

Some days, the snacks were offered without cartoon stickers or other branding. On other days, either the cookie or the apple was branded with a familiar cartoon character. When the snacks weren’t specially marked, 91 percent of children took a cookie and just under onequarter took an apple. But when an Elmo sticker was slapped on the apples, 37 percent of

children took fruit, the researchers reported.

Stickers on cookies didn’t affect children’s choice of the sweet snack. “There are so many foods that are of poor nutritional quality and they are being marketed to children,” said Christina Roberto, who studies food choices at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston and did not take part in the study. Kid-friendly characters used for this marketing “aren’t popping up on the carrots and apples as much as they are on a wide range of foods that aren’t good for kids,” she added. Using stickers on fruits and vegetables could be one cheap option to help improve students’ diets, she said, as well as something parents can try at home.

“It’s not a bad idea to create these positive associations, especially if you’re struggling to get kids to eat healthy foods,” she added.— AP

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

health & science

Fewer circumcisions could cost the US billions: Study Debate rages over the ethics of infant circumcision WASHINGTON: As debate rages over the ethics of infant circumcision, a study published Monday said falling rates of the once-routine procedure in the United States could cost billions of dollars in health costs. “We find that each circumcision not performed will lead to $313 of increased expenditures over that lifetime,” said senior investigator Aaron Tobian, of the Johns Hopkins University team that did the study. The number pits health care costs if the boy is circumcisedabout $291 for the procedure-against the projected cost of treating infections or cancers that studies have shown are more likely if he is not.

In all, the nearly 25 percent drop in circumcisions since the 1980s could run up a tab of about $2 billion in health care costs, the study found.

And if US circumcision rates were to drop as low as one in 10, the average across Europe, the research team estimated the associated rise in medical expenses would total $4.4 billion over the lifetimes of a decade of babies.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, about 79 percent of all baby boys were circumcised in the United States, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

But in 2010, that number dropped to just below 55 percent. The decrease comes amid an outcry from so-called “intactivists” who argue that circumcision is an unnecessary mutilation of baby boys who have no ability to consent. And circumcisions may become even more rare as a number of states stop covering the procedure in their Medicaid programs-the public health insurance programs for low income Americans. Most recently, Colorado and South Carolina joined 16 other states that decline to fund infant cir-

cumcision. In a memo announcing the change in December 2010, South Carolina said it was part of a package to save money, adding that “medically-necessary circumcisions” will still be covered with prior approval.

In California, where the Medicaid program has declined to pay for circumcisions for more than a decade, activists recently tried to get a measure on November’s election ballot that would ban circumcision entirelya move blocked by the state’s governor, with a law outlawing the ban.

Keep circumcision routine-But Tobian said that science indicates all circumci-

sions are medically “very beneficial and valuable.” “If there were a vaccine to prevent HIV acquisition, genital herpes, HPV, penile and cervical cancer, bacterial vaginosis and trichomoniasis, the medical community would rally behind this intervention as a gamechanging tool to reduce sexually transmitted infections.”

And that is just what circumcision, a procedure to remove the foreskin, does, according to three randomized trials, “the gold standard of medical evidence,” he maintained. Critics argue circumcision is medically invasive and less effective than safe sex practices,

Tobacco advert blitz as NZ plans branding ban WELLINGTON: British American Tobacco (BAT) launched an advertising campaign in New Zealand yesterday opposing plans to introduce plain packaging, in a move the government immediately dismissed as a waste of money. New Zealand announced in-principle support for plain packaging in April and has enthusiastically welcomed world-first legislation in Australia forcing tobacco to be sold in drab, uniform packaging with graphic health warnings.

However, the proposal will not be formally adopted in New Zealand until the government finishes public consultations on the issue, prompting BAT to launch an advertising blitz aimed at winning support for its cause. The campaign—which includes print, radio and television advertisements, along with a website agreedisagree.co.nz—has the slogan: “We agree that tobacco is harmful.

We disagree that plain packaging will work.”

BAT New Zealand general manager Steve Rush said plain packaging infringed on his company’s intellectual property and set a dangerous precedent that could eventually spread to other products such as alcohol. “The branding on our packs has been created over many years and it belongs to us... the government shouldn’t be able to just take that away,” he said, declining to reveal the budget for the campaign. Rush said there was proof that plain packaging reduced smoking and it could backfire by fuelling an illegal market in tobacco products and forcing down prices. —AFP

such as using condoms, at reducing sexually transmitted infections. Tobian agreed that condoms are highly effective, but contended they are not used enough. “In the United States, we’ve had three decades of safe sex education, but just last year, there were 19 million new sexually transmitted infections that cost our health care system $17 billion.”

He could not say whether Europe, with its long-standing lower rates of male circumcision, has a correspondingly higher rate of the sexually-transmitted infections and their associated medical costs. It is too difficult a comparison because “we have very different racial and socioeconomic backgrounds and different transmission dynamics,” he said. He also took issue with opponents who argue the procedure is a form of genital mutilation. He cited a study in Kenya that asked men who were circumcised as adults to compare their sexual satisfaction before and after the procedure. More than half said they noticed “increased penile sensation and enhanced ease of reaching an orgasm with a circumcision.”

Tobian and his team urge all state Medicaid programs and private insurers to cover male circumcision. They also suggest that the American Academy of Pediatrics should include a recommendation that all infant boys be circumcised. The World Health Organization has recommended male circumcision as an “efficacious intervention for HIV prevention in countries and regions with heterosexual epidemics, high HIV and low male circumcision prevalence,” according to its website. The study was published Monday in the “Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.” —AFP

BERLIN: File photo shows Bao Bao, the oldest panda bear in his enclosure in the zoo in Berlin. —AFP

Berlin zoo’s last panda dies at 34 BERLIN: The oldest male panda bear in the world, a gift from China to former German chancellor Helmut Schmidt, died yesterday aged 34 in Berlin, its zoo said. Bao Bao, the last remaining panda in Germany, was a present from then Chinese communist leader Hua Guofeng to Schmidt during a state visit in November 1980. The panda lived with its companion Tjen Tjen until her death in 1984 and then was alone in Berlin, despite an unsuccessful attempt to mate him with a female panda called Ming Ming in London in 1991.

During another Chinese state visit, this time by Li Peng in 1994, another

panda was promised to the zoo and one year later Yan Yan arrived in Berlin. Again, all attempts to persuade Yan Yan and Bao Bao to mate proved unsuccessful and the female died in 2007 aged 22. Bao Bao died “peacefully in his sleep” early in the morning in his enclosure, the zoo said.

An autopsy is underway to determine the cause of death. “Bao Bao will never be forgotten,” zoo official Heiner Kloes said in a somber statement. China is famed for its “panda diplomacy”, using the bears as diplomatic gifts to other countries. About 1,600 remain in the wild in China, with some 300 others in captivity worldwide-mostly in China.—AFP

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

WHAT’S ON Greetings

Wara Arshad

Hajra Saeed

Mohsin Nadeem

Ali Hamza

Hamid Abdul Razzaq

Mutahher Waseem

Saadia Amjad

Amna Taher

Kashuf Javed

Rabia Naveed

Khadija Abdul Majid

Mahroon Shahab

Noor Ul Ain

Hamja Zaheer

Elaf Shahid

Congratulations to Sarah and Rami on their naughty son Malik.

God protect him and see them always happy. Uncle Sherif Ismail.

ISP shines in HSSCI examinations 2012 he Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary education (FBISE), Pakistan has declared results HSSC-I Annual Examination 2012. Students of international School of Pakistan, Khaitan showed outstanding performance.

Wara Arshad got 472 marks, securing 1st position in the Pre-medical Group, Hamid Razzaq secured 472 marks and achieved lst position in Pre-Engineering Group. Kashuf Javed got 448 marks and got 1st position in General Science Group. Mutahher Waseem got 1st position in Commerce Group, securing 401 marks. Following is the detail of

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Congratulations Jess on your excellence and the outstanding performance at work and your colleagues Michelle, Maylyn and Rezal from Sherif Ismail.

outstanding performance.

Pre-Medical Group (Marks) Wara Arshad 472 Noor-ul-Ain 457 Amnalahir 457 KhadijaMajid 455 Mohsin Nadeem 440 iiunza Zaheer 436 Saadia Amjad 423 Hajra Saeed 414 Pre-EngineerinG Group (Marks) Hamid Razzaq 472

Aware Diwaniya he AWARE Center cordially invites you to its diwaniya presentation entitled, “Basic concepts of communication across cultures,” by Laurie Santos on Tuesday August 28 at 7:00pm.

If you have lived or worked in a culture that is different from the one in which you were raised then chances are that you have experienced some difficulty in communicating with others. Even when people speak the same language their cultures still play an important role in what they say and how they say it. In fact, the more differences that exist between two people’s cultures, the more difficult it can be for them to communicate effectively. This talk will introduce guests to some basic concepts from the field of intercultural communication, which is an area of research dedicated to better understanding the role played by culture in people’s interactions. By developing a greater awareness of culture (our own and others) we can find ways to better connect with one another. If you are interested in the topic, AWARE Center is the most appropriate place to be on August 28, 2012 at 7:00pm.

Laurie A. Santos, is a Certified Coach with a Master of Science in Law and Justice and a Bachelor of Science in Anthropology. She has over 15 years in Behavioral Sciences and her prior work includes several Managerial and Training positions, as well as a long career with the United States government as a Federal Parole Officer and liasion to federal judges.

While Laurie has lived all over the globe including Europe, Asia, North America, and Africa, she is currently calling Kuwait home but owns a home in Oakland, California.

For more information, please call 25335260/80 or log onto: www.aware.com.kw.

“T Happy birthday to Areeb Khan, best wishes from Sami-ul-Rahman family.

SEND US YOUR INSTAGRAM PICS hat’s more fun than clicking a beautiful picture? Sharing it with others! This summer, let other people see the way you see Kuwait - through your lens. Friday Times will feature snapshots of Kuwait through Instagram feeds. If you want to share your Instagram photos, email us at instagram@kuwaittimes.net

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Indian Embassy 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.

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

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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 log onto: www.aware.com.kw.

463 447 431

General Science Group Kashuf Javed 448 Mahnoor Habib 440 Elaf Shahid 398 The management of the school congratulated the successful students and their parents br their outstanding devotions.

The role of the faculty members of ISP is highly admired for their dedicated efforts.

Isra Shuja

IMAX film program Effective: Effective from 26th August 2012 Sunday: ** 9:30am Showtime Available for Groups To The Arctic 3D 10:30am, 6:30pm, 8:30pm Space Junk 3D 11:30am, 5:30pm The Last Reef 3D 12:30pm, 9:30pm Born to be Wild 3D 7:30pm Monday: ** 9:30am Showtime Available for Groups Space Junk 3D 10:30am, 8:30pm To The Arctic 3D 11:30am, 7:30pm, 9:30pm Born to be Wild 3D 12:30pm Journey to Mecca 5:30pm The Last Reef 3D 6:30pm Tuesday: ** 9:30am Showtime Available for Groups To The Arctic 3D 10:30am, 6:30pm, 8:30pm Space Junk 3D 11:30am, 9:30pm Fires of Kuwait 12:30pm The Last Reef 3D 5:30pm Born to be Wild 3D 7:30pm Wednesday: ** 9:30am Showtime Available for Groups The Last Reef 3D 10:30am To The Arctic 3D 11:30am, 5:30pm, 7:30pm, 9:30pm Space Junk 3D 12:30am, 6:30pm Born to be Wild 3D 8:30pm Thursday:

** 9:30am Showtime Available for Groups To The Arctic 3D 10:30am, 6:30pm, 8:30pm Space Junk 3D 11:30am, 5:30pm The Last Reef 3D 12:30pm, 7:30pm Born to be Wild 3D 9:30pm Friday: To The Arctic 3D 9:30pm Journey to Mecca Born to be Wild 3D Space Junk 3D The Last Reef 3D

4:30pm,

7:30pm,

3:30pm 5:30pm 6:30pm 8:30pm

Notes: - All films are in Arabic. For English, headsets are available upon request.

- “Fires of Kuwait” is in English. Arabic headsets are available upon request.

- Film schedule is subject to changes without notice.

For information call 1 848 888 or visit www.tsck.org.kw

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

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 9:30 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.

I

2:30pm,

Saturday: ** 9:30am Showtime Available for Groups To The Arctic 3D 10:30am, 12:30pm, 3:30pm, 5:30pm, 8:30pm Space Junk 3D 11:30am, 4:30pm, 9:30pm The Last Reef 3D 1:30pm, 7:30pm Journey to Mecca 2:30pm Born to be Wild 3D 6:30pm

Patriotic songs Competitions

Arabic courses 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 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.

Rabia Naveed Isra Shuja-uddin Ali Hamza

Winter 2012 AMIE examination The AMIE Winter 2012 examinations will be held between Dec 0107, 2012 as follows: Section A (Diploma) - December 14, 2012 Section A (Non-Diploma) December 1-7, 2012 Section B - December 1-7, 2012 The last date for submission of examination application forms are given hereunder: Candidates not appeared at Summer 2012 Exam: Aug 21 - Sept 21, 2012 Candidates appeared at Summer 2012 Exam: Sept 21 - Oct 19, 2012 Candidates intend to appear for the Winter 2012 examination must apply directly to Kolkata by filling the prescribed application form along with requisite amount of demand draft in favour of The Institution of Engineers (India), payable at Kolkata. The details of the examination is available at the website www.ieindia.org.

31

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

WHAT’S ON

Embassy Information EMBASSY OF AUSTRALIA The Australian Embassy Kuwait does not have a visa or immigration department. All processing of visas and immigration matters in conducted by The Australian ConsulateGeneral in Dubai. Email: info.ausdxb@vfshelpline.com (VFS) immigration.dubai@dfat.gov.au (Visa Office); Tel: +971 4 355 1958 (VFS) - +971 4 508 7200 (Visa Office); Fax: +971 4 355 0708 (Visa Office). In Kuwait applications can be lodged at the Australian Visa Application Centre 4B 1st Floor, AlBanwan Building Al-Qibla Area, Ali Al-Salem Street, opposite the Central Bank of Kuwait, Kuwait City, Kuwait. Working hours and days: 09:30 - 17:30; Sunday - Thursday. Or visit their website www.vfs-au-gcc-com for more information. Kuwait citizens can apply for tourist visas online at www.immi.gov.au/e visa/e676.htm.

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EMBASSY OF ARGENTINE

The Embassy of Argentina requests all Argentinean citizens in Kuwait to proceed to our official email ekuwa@mrecic.gov.ar in order to register or update contact information.

The embassy encourages all citizens to do so, including the ones who have already registered in person at the embassy. The registration process helps the Argentinean Government to contact and assist Argentineans living abroad in case of any emergency.

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The Aqua Park celebrated Eid Al-Fitr with a special entertainment program featuring various activities enjoyed by visitors of all ages. The celebrations were broadcast live on Kuwait TV during the holiday.

EMBASSY OF BRITAIN Consular section at the British Embassy will be starting an online appointment booking system for our consular customers from Sunday, 01 July 2012. All information including how to make an appointment is now available on the embassy website. In addition, there is also a “Consular Appointment System” option under Quick links on the right hand side on the homepage, which should take you to the “Consular online booking appointment system” main page.

Please be aware that from 01 July 2012, we will no longer accept walk-in customers for legalisation, notarial services and certificates (birth, death and marriages). If you have problems accessing the system or need to make an appointment for non-notarial consular issues or have a consular emergency, please call 2259 4355/7/8 or email us on consularenquirieskuwait@fco.gov.uk. If you require consular assistance out of office hours (working hours: 0730-l430 hrs), please contact the Embassy on 2259 4320.

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

Consular Services for Canadian Citizens are provided from 09:00 until 12:00 on Sunday through Wednesday. The Canadian Embassy will be closed on Sunday and Monday 19 and 20 August 2012 on the occasion of Aid Al Fitr. The Embassy will resume its duties on Tuesday 21 August 2012. The Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi provides visa and immigration ser vices to residents of Kuwait.

Individuals who are interested in visiting, working or immigrating to Canada are invited to visit the website of the Canadian Embassy to the UAE at www.UAE.gc.ca.

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EMBASSY OF KENYA The Embassy of the Republic of Kenya wishes to inform Kenyan residents throughout Kuwait and the general public that with effect from June 1, 2012 the Embassy has moved from its current location to a new location in Surra Block 1, Street 8, Villa 303.

Please note that the new telephone and fax numbers will be communicated as soon as possible. For enquiries you can contact Consular Section on mobile 90935162 or 97527306.

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

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EMBASSY OF MYANMAR Embassy of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar would like to inform the general public that the Embassy has moved its office to new location at Villa 35, Road 203, Block 2, Al-Salaam Area in South Surra. The Embassy wishes to advice Myanmar citizens and travellers to Myanmar to contact Myanmar Embassy at its new location. Tel. 25240736, 25240290, Fax: 25240749, email:myankuwait11@gmai1.com.

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EMBASSY OF NIGERIA The Nigerian embassy has its new office in Mishref. Block 3, Street 7, House 4. For enquires please call 25379541. Fax- 25387719.

Email- nigeriakuwait@yahoo.com or nigeriankuwait@yahoo.co.uk.

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EMBASSY OF SLOVAKIA

The Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Kuwait would like to inform the public that on the occasion of the Anniversary of the Slovak National Uprising, the Embassy will be closed on Wednesday, August 29, 2012.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

TV PROGRAMS

00:45 I’m Alive 01:40 Untamed & Uncut 02:35 Wildest Latin America 03:30 Galapagos 04:25 Wildest Africa 05:20 Monkey Life 05:45 Snake Crusader With Bruce George 06:10 RSPCA: Have You Got What It Takes?

06:35 RSPCA: Have You Got What It Takes?

07:00 Karina: Wild On Safari 07:25 Crocodile Hunter 08:15 Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild 08:40 Breed All About It 09:10 The Really Wild Show 09:35 The Really Wild Show 10:05 Wildest Africa 11:00 Wildlife SOS 11:25 Orangutan Island 11:55 Animal Cops Houston 12:50 Escape To Chimp Eden 13:15 Escape To Chimp Eden 13:45 Animal Precinct 14:40 Wildest Africa 15:30 Karina: Wild On Safari 16:00 Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild 16:30 Pandamonium 17:25 Britain’s Worst Pet 17:50 Britain’s Worst Pet 18:20 Dogs 101 19:15 Wildlife SOS 19:40 Orangutan Island 20:10 Monkey Life 20:35 Snake Crusader With Bruce George 21:05 Wildest Africa 22:00 Whale Wars 22:55 Venom Hunter With Donald Schultz 23:50 Animal Cops Houston

00:30 Come Dine With Me 01:25 What Not To Wear 02:15 What Not To Wear 03:05 Saturday Kitchen 03:35 Saturday Kitchen 04:00 MasterChef 04:30 Living In The Sun 05:15 Living In The Sun 06:05 MasterChef 07:00 MasterChef Australia 07:50 MasterChef Australia 08:15 What Not To Wear 09:05 What Not To Wear 10:00 Bargain Hunt 10:45 Antiques Roadshow 11:35 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 12:15 10 Years Younger 13:05 Masterchef: The Professionals 14:00 Masterchef: The Professionals 14:55 Bargain Hunt 15:40 Antiques Roadshow 16:30 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 17:10 Come Dine With Me 18:00 Nigel Slater’s Simple Suppers 18:30 The Hairy Bikers Ride Again 18:55 Rick Stein’s French Odyssey 19:20 James Martin’s Brittany 19:45 Come Dine With Me 20:35 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 21:20 Antiques Roadshow 22:10 Bargain Hunt 23:00 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

00:00 00:30 01:00 01:30 01:45 02:00 02:30 02:45 03:00 03:30

BBC World News America BBC World News America Newsday Asia Business Report Sport Today Newsday Asia Business Report Sport Today Newsday Asia Business Report

03:45 Sport Today 04:00 BBC World News 04:30 Asia Business Report 04:45 Sport Today 05:00 BBC World News 05:30 Asia Business Report 05:45 Sport Today 06:00 BBC World News 06:30 Hardtalk 07:00 BBC World News 07:30 World Business Report 07:45 BBC World News 08:00 BBC World News 08:30 World Business Report 08:45 BBC World News 09:00 BBC World News 09:30 World Business Report 09:45 BBC World News 10:00 BBC World News 10:30 World Business Report 10:45 BBC World News 11:00 BBC World News 11:30 Hardtalk 12:00 BBC World News 12:30 World Business Report 12:45 BBC World News 13:00 BBC World News 13:30 BBC World News 14:00 GMT With George Alagiah 14:30 GMT With George Alagiah 15:00 BBC World News 15:30 World Business Report 15:45 Sport Today 16:00 Impact With Mishal Husain 16:30 Impact With Mishal Husain 17:00 Impact With Mishal Husain 17:30 World Business Report 17:45 Sport Today 18:00 BBC World News 18:30 Hardtalk 19:00 The Hub With Nik Gowing 19:30 The Hub With Nik Gowing 20:00 The Hub With Nik Gowing 20:30 BBC Focus On Africa 21:00 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 21:30 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 22:00 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 22:30 World Business Report 22:45 Sport Today 23:00 Business Edition With Tanya Beckett 23:30 Hardtalk

00:10 00:35 01:00 01:25 01:50 02:15 02:40 03:00 03:25 03:50 04:15 04:40 05:00 05:25 05:50 06:00 06:15 06:30 06:55 07:20 07:45 08:00 08:25 08:50 09:15 09:40 10:05 10:30 Doo 10:55 11:15 11:40 12:00 12:15 12:40 12:55 13:20 13:35 14:00 14:50 15:15 Doo

Puppy In My Pocket Tom & Jerry Kids Scooby Doo Where Are You! The Flintstones Pink Panther And Pals Looney Tunes Popeye Classics Dexter’s Laboratory Tom & Jerry Looney Tunes The Scooby Doo Show Johnny Bravo The Flintstones The Jetsons Wacky Races The Garfield Show Tom & Jerry Kids Bananas In Pyjamas Baby Looney Tunes Gerald McBoing Boing Ha Ha Hairies A Pup Named Scooby-Doo The Garfield Show Johnny Bravo Dexter’s Laboratory Pink Panther And Pals The Scooby Doo Show Scooby-Doo And ScrappyDastardly And Muttley The Flintstones Wacky Races Jelly Jamm Baby Looney Tunes Ha Ha Hairies Gerald McBoing Boing Bananas In Pyjamas Puppy In My Pocket Looney Tunes Scooby Doo Where Are You! Scooby-Doo And Scrappy-

15:40 16:00 16:15 16:40 17:05 17:30 17:55 18:10 18:35 19:00 19:15 19:40 19:55 20:20 20:35 21:00 21:25 21:50 22:15 22:40 23:05 23:20 23:45

Dastardly And Muttley Tom & Jerry Tom & Jerry Pink Panther And Pals Pink Panther And Pals The Garfield Show The Garfield Show Johnny Bravo Dexter’s Laboratory Jelly Jamm Baby Looney Tunes Ha Ha Hairies Gerald McBoing Boing Bananas In Pyjamas Dexter’s Laboratory Johnny Bravo Pink Panther And Pals Tom & Jerry The Garfield Show A Pup Named Scooby-Doo Popeye The Jetsons Duck Dodgers

00:30 Bakugan: New Vestroia 00:55 Bakugan: New Vestroia 01:20 Powerpuff Girls 02:10 Courage The Cowardly Dog 03:00 The Amazing World Of Gumball 03:25 Ben 10 03:50 Adventure Time 04:15 Powerpuff Girls 04:40 Generator Rex 05:05 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 05:30 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 05:55 Angelo Rules 06:00 The Marvelous Misadventures...

06:25 Casper’s Scare School 07:00 The Amazing World Of Gumball 07:15 Adventure Time 07:40 Johnny Test 08:05 Grim Adventures Of...

08:55 Courage The Cowardly Dog 09:45 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 10:10 Redakai: Conquer The Kairu 10:35 Powerpuff Girls 11:25 Chowder 12:15 Ed, Edd n Eddy 13:05 Ben 10 13:30 Sym-Bionic Titan 13:55 Foster’s Home For...

14:20 Foster’s Home For...

14:45 Angelo Rules 15:35 Powerpuff Girls 16:25 The Amazing World Of Gumball 16:40 Johnny Test 17:00 Level Up 17:30 Regular Show 17:55 Green Lantern: The Animated Series 18:20 Batman: The Brave And The Bold 18:45 Young Justice 19:10 Bakugan: Mechtanium Surge 19:35 Adventure Time 20:00 Ben 10 20:25 Ben 10 20:50 Ben 10 21:15 Grim Adventures Of...

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

00:00 00:30 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 09:00 10:00 10:30 11:00 12:00 12:30

AEON FLUX ON OSN ACTION HD

Amanpour World Sport Piers Morgan Tonight World Report Anderson Cooper 360 Piers Morgan Tonight Quest Means Business The Situation Room World Sport Talk Asia World Report World Report World Sport The CNN Freedom Project World Business Today Amanpour Open Court

13:00 World One 14:00 Piers Morgan Tonight 15:00 News Stream 16:00 World Business Today 17:00 International Desk 18:00 Global Exchange 18:45 CNN Marketplace Middle East 19:00 World Sport 19:30 Open Court 20:00 International Desk 21:00 Quest Means Business 21:45 CNN Marketplace Europe 22:00 Amanpour 22:30 CNN Newscenter 23:00 Connect The World With Becky Anderson

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

NASA’s Unexplained Files Mobster Confessions Stan Lee’s Superhumans Mythbusters Mythbusters NASA’s Unexplained Files How Do They Do It? How It’s Made American Loggers American Chopper Mythbusters Ultimate Survival Border Security Dirty Money How Do They Do It? How It’s Made American Guns Surviving The Cut One Man Army Border Security Dirty Money Ultimate Survival American Chopper Fifth Gear American Loggers Mythbusters How Do They Do It? How It’s Made Border Security Dirty Money The Gadget Show American Guns First Week In Surviving Disaster

00:35 Kings Of Construction 01:25 What’s That About?

02:15 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 03:05 The Gadget Show 03:35 Scrapheap Challenge 04:25 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 05:15 Kings Of Construction 06:05 What’s That About?

07:00 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 07:50 Head Rush 07:53 Weird Connections 08:20 Sci-Fi Science 08:50 Sport Science 09:40 Scrapheap Challenge 10:30 Sport Science 14:45 Sport Science 15:35 The Gadget Show 16:00 Head Rush 16:03 Weird Connections 16:30 Sci-Fi Science 17:00 What’s That About?

17:50 Sport Science 18:40 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 19:30 Sci-Fi Science 19:55 Sci-Fi Science 20:20 Bang Goes The Theory 20:45 Bang Goes The Theory 21:10 The Gadget Show 21:35 The Gadget Show 22:00 Prank Science 22:25 Prank Science 22:50 Bang Goes The Theory 23:15 Bang Goes The Theory 23:40 Sport Science

00:25 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 00:55 Style Star 01:25 E!es 02:20 THS 03:15 Behind The Scenes 03:40 Extreme Close-Up 04:10 Sexiest 05:05 E!es 06:00 THS 07:50 Behind The Scenes 08:20 E! News 09:15 Khloe And Lamar 09:45 Khloe And Lamar 10:15 THS 12:05 E! News 13:05 Mrs. Eastwood And Company 13:35 Mrs. Eastwood And Company 14:05 Kourtney & Kim Take New York 14:30 Kourtney & Kim Take New York 15:00 Style Star 15:30 THS 16:25 Behind The Scenes 16:55 Ice Loves Coco 17:25 Ice Loves Coco 17:55 E! News 18:55 THS 19:55 Giuliana & Bill 20:55 Mrs. Eastwood And Company 21:25 Fashion Police 22:25 E! News 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 12:25 12:50 13:40 14:30 14:55 15:20

The Haunted Crime Scene Psychics Australian Families Of Crime American Greed Extreme Forensics The Haunted Crime Scene Psychics Disappeared Forensic Detectives Undercover Mystery ER Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared Street Patrol Street Patrol Undercover Mystery ER Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

On The Case With Paula Zahn

16:10 17:00 17:50 18:40 19:05 19:55 20:20 21:10 22:00 22:50 23:40

Disappeared Forensic Detectives Undercover Real Emergency Calls Mystery ER Who On Earth Did I Marry?

On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared Nightmare Next Door Nightmare Next Door Dr G: Medical Examiner

00:00 Graham’s World 00:30 Graham’s World 01:00 Danger Beach 02:00 Kimchi Chronicles 02:30 Kimchi Chronicles 03:00 One Man & His Campervan 03:30 One Man & His Campervan 04:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 05:00 Bondi Rescue 05:30 Bondi Rescue 06:00 Graham’s World 07:00 Danger Beach 07:30 Danger Beach 08:00 Kimchi Chronicles 08:30 Kimchi Chronicles 09:00 One Man & His Campervan 09:30 One Man & His Campervan 10:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 11:00 Bondi Rescue 11:30 Bondi Rescue 12:00 Graham’s World 12:30 Graham’s World 13:00 Danger Beach 14:00 Kimchi Chronicles 14:30 Kimchi Chronicles 15:00 One Man & His Campervan 15:30 One Man & His Campervan 16:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 17:00 Bondi Rescue 17:30 Bondi Rescue 18:00 Graham’s World 18:30 Graham’s World 19:00 Around The World For Free 20:00 Market Values 20:30 Market Values 21:00 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 21:30 Pressure Cook 22:00 Bite Me With Dr. Mike Leahy 23:00 Danger Beach 23:30 Danger Beach

00:00 Graham’s World 00:30 Graham’s World 01:00 Danger Beach 02:00 Kimchi Chronicles 02:30 Kimchi Chronicles 03:00 One Man & His Campervan 03:30 One Man & His Campervan 04:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 05:00 Bondi Rescue 05:30 Bondi Rescue 06:00 Graham’s World 07:00 Danger Beach 08:00 Kimchi Chronicles 09:00 One Man & His Campervan 09:30 One Man & His Campervan 10:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 11:00 Bondi Rescue 11:30 Bondi Rescue 12:00 Graham’s World 13:00 Danger Beach 14:00 Kimchi Chronicles 15:00 One Man & His Campervan 15:30 One Man & His Campervan 16:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 17:00 Bondi Rescue 17:30 Bondi Rescue 18:00 Graham’s World 18:30 Graham’s World 19:00 Around The World For Free 20:00 Market Values 20:30 Market Values 21:00 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 21:30 Pressure Cook 22:00 Bite Me With Dr. Mike Leahy 23:00 Danger Beach 23:30 Danger Beach

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

The Invaders Monster Fish Animals Of Brazil Indonesia Beyond The Reefs Hunter Hunted Africa’s Deadliest Great Migrations Built For The Kill Animals Of Brazil Indonesia Beyond The Reefs Hunter Hunted Africa’s Deadliest Python Hunters Swamp Men The Invaders Monster Fish The Living Edens Maneater Manhunt Africa’s Deadliest Python Hunters Shane Untamed Animal Fugitives Animals Of Brazil Indonesia Beyond The Reefs Hunter Hunted Africa’s Deadliest Python Hunters Swamp Men

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

The Invaders Monster Fish Animals Of Brazil Indonesia Beyond The Reefs Hunter Hunted Africa’s Deadliest Great Migrations Built For The Kill Animals Of Brazil Indonesia Beyond The Reefs Hunter Hunted Africa’s Deadliest Python Hunters Swamp Men The Invaders Monster Fish The Living Edens Maneater Manhunt Africa’s Deadliest Python Hunters Shane Untamed

DAYDREAM NATION ON OSN CINEMA 18:00 19:00 19:30 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Animal Fugitives Animals Of Brazil Indonesia Beyond The Reefs Hunter Hunted Africa’s Deadliest Python Hunters Swamp Men

00:00 Child’s Play 3-18 02:00 Sanctum-18 04:00 Reykjavik: Whale Watching Massacre-18 06:00 Hackers-PG15 08:00 The Librarian: The Curse Of Judas Chalice-PG15 10:00 Last Breath-PG15 12:00 Aeon Flux-PG15 14:00 The Librarian: The Curse Of Judas Chalice-PG15 16:00 Riddles Of The Sphinx-PG15 18:00 Aeon Flux-PG15 20:00 The Godfather-18 23:00 Machete-18

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

Daydream Nation-PG15 Africa United-PG15 Yogi Bear-FAM The Borrowers-PG Africa United-PG15 Due Date-PG15 Kings Ransom-PG15 Unmatched-PG15 Bangkok Adrenaline-PG15 District 9-PG15 Arthur-PG15 Straw Dogs-18 Spread-R

00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 01:30 Friends 02:00 Friends 02:30 Seinfeld 03:00 Bent 03:30 Community 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 Weird Science 06:00 Friends 06:30 Samantha Who? 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:30 Bent 09:00 Weird Science 09:30 Parks And Recreation 10:00 Parks And Recreation 10:30 Samantha Who? 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 Friends 12:30 Friends 13:00 Weird Science 13:30 Samantha Who? 14:00 Community 14:30 Parks And Recreation 15:00 Parks And Recreation 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 16:30 Friends 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 Bent 18:30 Community 19:00 Don’t Trust The B In Apartment 23 19:30 How I Met Your Mother 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 Family Guy 22:30 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 23:00 Seinfeld 23:30 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 10:00

Grimm Alphas Supernatural Bunheads Desperate Housewives Good Morning America The Practice Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Desperate Housewives

11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

The View Alphas Bunheads Live Good Morning America The Practice The Ellen DeGeneres Show Emmerdale Parenthood One Tree Hill One Tree Hill American Horror Story Desperate Housewives

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

Once Upon A Time Supernatural Grey’s Anatomy Alphas Once Upon A Time Grey’s Anatomy Once Upon A Time Emmerdale Coronation Street Once Upon A Time Supernatural Alphas Bunheads Emmerdale Hot In Cleveland The Ellen DeGeneres Show Once Upon A Time Supernatural Once Upon A Time The Ellen DeGeneres Show Necessary Roughness Parenthood One Tree Hill One Tree Hill American Horror Story Grey’s Anatomy

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

RoboCop 2-PG15 From Within-PG15 So Close-PG15 Rocky III-PG15 Kull The Conqueror-PG15 So Close-PG15 From Paris With Love-PG15 Kull The Conqueror-PG15 The Rocketeer-PG15 RoboCop 3-PG15 Rollerball-18 Assassination Games-18

00:00 The Joneses-PG15 02:00 I’ll Be Home For Christmas-PG 04:00 Mean Girls 2-PG15 06:00 For Richer Or Poorer-PG 08:00 I’ll Be Home For Christmas-PG 10:00 Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie-PG15 12:00 Miami Rhapsody-PG15 14:00 That’s What I Am-PG15 16:00 Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie-PG15 18:00 Death At A Funeral-PG15 20:00 Reginald D Hunter Live-18 22:00 The 40 Year Old Virgin-18

01:00 Munich-18 03:45 Indecent Proposal-18 05:45 Return To Paradise-PG15 07:45 Waiting For Superman-PG15 09:45 The LXD: The Uprising BeginsPG15 11:15 Les Miserables 25th Anniversary-PG15 14:15 South Solitary-PG15 16:15 The LXD: The Uprising BeginsPG15 17:45 Soapdish-PG 19:30 Exodus-PG15 21:30 Harley Davidson And The Marlboro Man-18 23:15 Apres Nous Le Deluge-18

01:00 The King’s Speech-PG15 03:00 Every Jack Has A Jill-PG15 05:00 The Dragon Chronicles: Fire & Ice-PG15 07:00 Just Wright-PG15 09:00 Megamind-FAM 11:00 Every Jack Has A Jill-PG15 13:00 On Strike For Christmas-PG15 15:00 Oranges And Sunshine-PG15 17:00 Megamind-FAM

19:00 Thor-PG15 21:00 Straw Dogs-18 23:00 Bad Teacher-18

00:00 A Closed Book-18 02:00 The Tender Hook-PG15 04:00 Lord Of The Dance-PG 06:00 The Fourth Kind-PG15 08:00 Miles From Nowhere-PG15 10:00 Beethoven’s Christmas Adventure-PG 12:00 Hemingway & Gellhorn-PG15 14:00 Michael Jackson: The Life Of An Icon-PG15 16:00 Miles From Nowhere-PG15 18:00 Monte Carlo-PG15 20:00 Mr. Nobody-PG15 22:15 Scream 4-18

00:00 The Rugby Championship 02:00 The Rugby Championship 04:00 Olympic Men’s Boxing 07:00 Olympic Highlights 08:00 Olympic Highlights 09:00 The Rugby Championship 11:00 Senior European Tour Highlights 12:00 Trans World Sport 13:00 Olympic Highlights 14:00 Olympic Highlights 15:00 NRL Premiership 17:00 The Rugby Championship 19:00 Olympic Men’s Basketball 21:00 European Tour Weekly 21:30 Live Premier League Snooker

01:30 NRL Premiership 03:30 UFC 150 06:30 Futbol Mundial 07:00 Premier League Snooker 10:30 Trans World Sport 11:30 Darts World Match Play 13:30 Rugby Union Currie Cup 15:30 Senior European Tour Highlights 16:30 Live PGA European Tour 20:30 Trans World Sport 21:30 The Rugby Championship 23:30 Senior European Tour Highlights

00:00 Senior European Tour Highlights 01:00 Golfing World 02:00 European Tour Weekly 02:30 Adventure Sports 03:00 Adventure Sports 05:00 AFL Highlights 06:00 Trans World Sport 07:00 Golfing World 09:00 NRL Full Time 09:30 Total Rugby 10:00 Triathlon 10:30 Triathlon 11:30 Triathlon 12:00 Triathlon 12:30 Mobil 1 The Grid 13:00 Golfing World 14:00 Total Rugby 14:30 Rugby Union ITM Cup 16:30 AFL Highlights 17:30 World Match Racing Tour Highlights 18:30 NRL Full Time 19:00 Total Rugby 19:30 Volvo Ocean Race Highlights 21:00 Golfing World 22:00 World Match Racing Tour Highlights

01:00 04:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 11:30 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 15:30 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Prizefighter UFC 150 WWE SmackDown NHL V8 Supercars UAE National Race Day WWE Experience WWE Vintage WWE Bottomline Mobil 1 The Grid V8 Supercars UAE National Race Day Mobil 1 The Grid WWE NXT UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC Unleashed UFC Unleashed UFC The Ultimate Fighter

Classifieds THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Airlines QTR JZR QTR LZB JZR ETH RJA GFA UAE ETD THY FDB MSR QTR JZR KAC THY KAC JZR DHX JZR KAC BAW JZR KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY IRA QTR IZG IRA FDB ETD BAB GFA UAE MEA JZR MSR KNE MSC SYR JZR MSR KAC GFA FDB OMA JZR KNE JZR QTR SVA RJA KAC JZR KAC QTR KAC JZR ETD KAC UAE UAL GFA SVA JZR TAR JZR KAC ABY KNE KAC KAC QTR KAC BAB KAC FDB MSR MSC RBG JZR KAC KAC JAI KAC KAC AXB FDB OMA MEA QTR GFA ALK FDB JZR UAE ETD ABY QTR KAC JZR JZR AIC GFA UAL JZR DLH MSR THY KLM JAI

Arrival Flights on Thursday 23/8/2012 Flt Route 6130 DOHA 185 DUBAI 148 DOHA 7787 VARNA 267 BEIRUT 620 ADDIS ABABA 642 AMMAN 211 BAHRAIN 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 768 ISTANBUL 67 DUBAI 612 CAIRO 138 DOHA 503 LUXOR 544 CAIRO 770 ISTANBUL 154 ISTANBUL 1541 CAIRO 170 BAHRAIN 555 ALEXANDRIA 412 MANILA 157 LONDON 529 ASSIUT 206 ISLAMABAD 382 DELHI 53 DUBAI 302 MUMBAI 332 TRIVANDRUM 352 COCHIN 284 DHAKA 362 COLOMBO 855 DUBAI 125 SHARJAH 605 ISFAHAN 132 DOHA 4161 MASHAD 617 AHWAZ 55 DUBAI 301 ABU DHABI 436 BAHRAIN 213 BAHRAIN 871 DUBAI 404 BEIRUT 165 DUBAI 618 ALEXANDRIA 470 JEDDAH 401 ALEXANDRIA 341 DAMASCUS 561 SOHAG 610 CAIRO 672 DUBAI 219 BAHRAIN 57 DUBAI 645 MUSCAT 241 AMMAN 472 JEDDAH 535 CAIRO 140 DOHA 500 JEDDAH 640 AMMAN 788 JEDDAH 257 BEIRUT 546 ALEXANDRIA 134 DOHA 118 NEW YORK 357 MASHAD 303 ABU DHABI 1536 SHARM EL SHEIKH 857 DUBAI 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 215 BAHRAIN 510 RIYADH 177 DUBAI 328 TUNIS 777 JEDDAH 176 GENEVA 127 SHARJAH 474 JEDDAH 502 BEIRUT 542 CAIRO 144 DOHA 786 JEDDAH 438 BAHRAIN 104 LONDON 63 DUBAI 624 SOHAG 405 SOHAG 3553 ALEXANDRIA 175 DUBAI 618 DOHA 674 DUBAI 572 MUMBAI 774 RIYADH 562 AMMAN 389 KOZHIKODE 61 DUBAI 647 MUSCAT 402 BEIRUT 146 DOHA 221 BAHRAIN 229 COLOMBO 59 DUBAI 135 BAHRAIN 859 DUBAI 307 ABU DHABI 129 SHARJAH 136 DOHA 614 BAHRAIN 513 SHARM EL SHEIKH 539 CAIRO 981 CHENNAI 217 BAHRAIN 981 BAHRAIN 239 AMMAN 636 FRANKFURT 614 CAIRO 772 ISTANBUL 411 AMSTERDAM 574 MUMBAI

Time 0:15 0:15 0:20 0:30 0:50 1:45 2:10 2:20 2:25 2:30 2:50 3:10 3:20 3:25 3:55 4:10 4:35 4:55 4:55 5:00 6:00 6:15 6:30 6:40 7:15 7:30 7:45 7:50 7:55 8:05 8:15 8:20 8:25 8:30 8:35 9:00 9:10 9:15 9:20 9:30 9:35 10:00 10:45 10:55 11:05 11:25 11:35 12:00 12:05 12:30 13:30 13:40 13:40 13:45 14:00 14:05 14:15 14:20 14:25 14:30 14:55 15:00 15:00 15:05 15:15 16:00 16:20 16:35 16:55 16:55 17:10 17:20 17:20 17:30 17:35 17:40 17:45 17:45 17:55 18:00 18:15 18:20 18:40 18:40 18:45 18:45 18:55 19:00 19:05 19:15 19:20 19:25 19:35 19:40 19:50 19:55 20:00 20:10 20:15 20:25 20:35 20:55 21:10 21:15 21:15 21:25 21:30 21:35 21:45 22:00 22:10 22:25 22:35 22:40 22:55 23:10 23:35 23:40 23:40 23:50

Airlines AIC UAL DLH MSR LZB QTR THY ETH THY UAE FDB ETD MSR QTR QTR JZR RJA JZR GFA THY JZR KAC BAW FDB JZR JZR ABY KAC KAC IRA UAE QTR KAC FDB ETD IRA BAB JZR IZG GFA KAC KAC KAC MEA KAC JZR UAE MSR KNE MSC SYR KAC JZR GFA FDB MSR KAC OMA KAC JZR JZR KNE KAC RJA JZR SVA QTR KAC ETD JZR QTR UAE GFA JZR TAR ABY UAL SVA KNE JZR KAC QTR FDB BAB KAC RBG MSR MSC JZR JAI FDB KAC KAC KAC OMA MEA KAC KAC GFA FDB DHX ALK JZR ABY ETD UAE QTR KAC KAC JZR JZR QTR AXB GFA KAC KAC JZR

Depature Flights on Thursday 23/8/2012 Flt Route 976 GOA/CHENNAI 981 WASHINGTON 637 FRANKFURT 615 CAIRO 7788 VARNA 6131 DOHA 773 ISTANBUL 621 ADDIS ABABA 769 ISTANBUL 854 DUBAI 68 DUBAI 306 ABU DHABI 613 CAIRO 139 DOHA 149 DOHA 560 SOHAG 643 AMMAN 164 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 771 ISTANBUL 534 CAIRO 545 ALEXANDRIA 156 LONDON 54 DUBAI 240 AMMAN 256 BEIRUT 126 SHARJAH 671 DUBAI 787 JEDDAH 606 MASHHAD 856 DUBAI 133 DOHA 101 LONDON 56 DUBAI 302 ABU DHABI 616 AHWAZ 437 BAHRAIN 356 MASHHAD 4162 MASHHAD 214 BAHRAIN 1535 SHARM EL SHEIKH 541 CAIRO 165 ROME 405 BEIRUT 501 BEIRUT 776 JEDDAH 872 DUBAI 623 SOHAG 471 JEDDAH 406 SOHAG 342 DAMASCUS 785 JEDDAH 176 DUBAI 220 BAHRAIN 58 DUBAI 611 CAIRO 561 AMMAN 646 MUSCAT 673 DUBAI 174 DUBAI 538 CAIRO 473 JEDDAH 617 DOHA 641 AMMAN 512 SHARM EL SHEIKH 505 JEDDAH 135 DOHA 773 RIYADH 304 ABU DHABI 238 AMMAN 141 DOHA 858 DUBAI 216 BAHRAIN 134 BAHRAIN 328 TUNIS 128 SHARJAH 982 BAHRAIN 511 RIYADH 475 JEDDAH 266 BEIRUT 613 BAHRAIN 145 DOHA 64 DUBAI 439 BAHRAIN 283 DHAKA 3554 ALEXANDRIA 607 LUXOR 402 ALEXANDRIA 184 DUBAI 571 MUMBAI 62 DUBAI 331 TRIVANDRUM 343 CHENNAI 351 KOCHI 648 MUSCAT 403 BEIRUT 153 ISTANBUL 543 CAIRO 222 BAHRAIN 60 DUBAI 171 BAHRAIN 230 COLOMBO 1540 CAIRO 120 SHARJAH 308 ABU DHABI 860 DUBAI 137 DOHA 301 MUMBAI 205 ISLAMABAD 188 DUBAI 554 ALEXANDRIA 147 DOHA 390 MANGALORE 218 BAHRAIN 411 BANGKOK 415 KUALA LUMPUR 528 ASSIUT

Time 0:05 0:25 0:30 0:35 1:30 1:55 2:15 2:45 3:40 3:45 3:50 4:05 4:20 4:50 5:40 6:05 6:50 6:55 7:05 7:10 7:30 8:10 8:25 8:25 8:35 9:00 9:05 9:20 9:35 9:35 9:40 10:00 10:00 10:05 10:15 10:15 10:25 10:30 10:35 10:45 11:00 11:30 11:45 11:55 12:00 12:15 12:20 12:25 12:25 13:00 13:05 13:10 13:20 14:25 14:25 14:30 14:40 15:00 15:05 15:05 15:10 15:15 15:45 15:50 15:55 16:00 16:15 16:25 17:20 17:30 17:45 18:05 18:20 18:20 18:25 18:25 18:30 18:35 18:45 18:50 19:00 19:20 19:25 19:30 19:30 19:45 19:55 20:00 20:05 20:35 20:40 20:50 20:55 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:30 21:30 21:35 21:50 21:50 21:55 22:05 22:10 22:20 22:25 22:35 22:40 22:45 22:50 23:00 23:10 23:10 23:30 23:40 23:50 23:50

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

ACCOMMODATION Sharing accommodation available for non-smoking Keralites in Mahboula.

Contact: 66725394. (C4107) 22-8-2012 Sharing accommodation available for decent bachelor non smoking, one big room, Amman street, opposite to Al Rashid hospital.

Contact: 66232356.

(C 4106) 15-8-2012

SITUATION VACANT A Kuwaiti family looks to hire a driver with a Kuwaiti license, transferable visa and good knowledge of Kuwait areas. Contact: 99401126. (C 4103) 16-8-2012

For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128 Prayer timings Fajr: Duhr: Asr: Maghrib: Isha:

03:57 11:51 15:25 18:20 19:41

No: 15546

Sharing accommodation available for a bachelor, with an Indian family at Salmiya near Edee store.

Contact: 97947562.

(C 4104) One room available for sharing separate bath and sharing kitchen available at Abbassiya near Indian Learners School from Sept 1, preferably ladies with a Keralite family. Mob: 99821508. (C 4105) 14-8-2012 Sharing accommodation available for single Indian bachelor in two bedroom flat in Khaitan near Kuwait Finance House. Contact: 66141908. (C 4102) 12-8-2012

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 Ministry of Energy (Oil) www.moo.gov.kw

Kuwait Municipality www.municipality.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

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

stars CROSSWORD 774

STAR TRACK

CALVIN & HOBBES

Aries (March 21-April 19) You know just what to say to smooth over a mistake or to find the answer in a confusing situation. You have a lot of motivation and come across as assertive and dominant. This is a day to buckle down and consolidate your career. Your organizational abilities and sense of responsibility will be what guides you and proves successful. Your career could assume a much more determined and solid form—a firm foundation. There are opportunities to make good decisions; clear choices are available. You are at your most practical and what happens now will have a lasting effect on your life direction. Your enthusiasm can burn out quickly if you do not pace yourself. Not even you can meet the schedule you keep today. You are due a quiet evening.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) You can modify some project today and be very pleased with the outcome. Do not weaken your position. The next seven years will be good to you and you have a sense of this as you go about your work.

Obtaining and exchanging information is of significance, and perhaps more important now that you have learn more about negotiation skills, than in the past. You may become interested in a charity organization or some civic organization. You could run it well . . . and you know it. Create a plan and make your presentation—others will be ready to help you when they hear your ideas. You may find yourself passionate about cutting through conventions and all that is superficial—getting down to the real essentials. Neighbors or siblings are supportive.

POOCH CAFE ACROSS 1. A health resort near a spring or at the seaside.

4. The occurrence of a change for the worse.

10. A form of entertainment that enacts a story by a sequence of images giving the illusion of continuous movement.

13. Airtight sealed metal container for food or drink or paint etc..

14. In the same place (used when citing a reference).

15. Hormone secreted by the posterior pituitary gland (trade name Pitressin) and also by nerve endings in the hypothalamus.

16. A legal document codifying the result of deliberations of a committee or society or legislative body.

17. A theatrical performer.

19. Submerged aquatic plant having narrow leaves and small flowers.

21. United States baseball player and manager (1873-1934).

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

24. The Creator.

31. The United Nations agency concerned with atomic energy.

32. A radioactive element of the alkali-metal group discovered as a disintegration product of actinium.

33. Long green edible beaked pods of the okra plant.

34. An inflated feeling of pride in your superiority to others.

37. A soft silvery metallic element of the alkali earth group.

39. An association of countries in the western hemisphere.

40. Resembling a sound of violent tearing as of something ripped apart or lightning splitting a tree.

42. A form of Japanese poetry.

44. Essential oil or perfume obtained from flowers.

45. Adapt anew.

50. An Indian side dish of yogurt and chopped cucumbers and spices.

54. A white linen liturgical vestment with sleeves.

55. The capital and largest city of Bangladesh.

58. Any of numerous local fertility and nature deities worshipped by ancient Semitic peoples.

59. A sharp hand gesture (resembling a blow).

60. A gripping hand tool with two hinged arms and (usually) serrated jaws.

62. A master's degree in business.

63. Used of a single unit or thing.

64. East Indian annual erect herb.

65. Seed vessel having hooks or prickles.

DOWN 1. The act of scanning.

2. Large burrowing rodent of South and Central America.

3. (prefix) Opposite or opposing or neutralizing.

4. An ornamental jewelled headdress signifying sovereignty.

5. The elementary stages of any subject (usually plural).

6. God of justice.

7. A rapid bustling commotion.

8. Anything that provides inspiration for later work.

9. The square of a body of any size of type.

10. Queen of England as the 6th wife of Henry VIII (15121548).

11. The content of cognition.

12. A wad of something chewable as tobacco.

18. (informal British usage) Aggravation or aggression.

20. A Loloish language.

23. A bowl-shaped vessel.

25. A feeling of intense anger.

26. (in Gnosticism) A divine power or nature emanating from the Supreme Being and playing various roles in the operation of the universe.

27. Someone who engages in arbitrage (who purchases securities in one market for immediate resale in another in the hope of profiting from the price differential).

28. A visual representation of an object or scene or person produced on a surface.

29. Any of various strong liquors distilled from the fermented sap of toddy palms or from fermented molasses.

30. An independent agency of the United States government responsible for aviation and spaceflight.

35. Being one more than one hundred.

36. Kauri pine.

37. A rapid bustling commotion.

38. Essential oil or perfume obtained from flowers.

41. A doctor's degree in education.

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

46. A feeling of strong eagerness (usually in favor of a person or cause).

47. A French abbot.

48. A system of one or more computers and associated software with common storage.

49. Very light colored.

50. An intensely radioactive metallic element that occurs in minute amounts in uranium ores.

51. A metrical unit with unstressed-stressed syllables.

52. Forbidden to profane use especially in South Pacific islands.

53. (botany) Of or relating to the axil.

56. Large brownish-green New Zealand parrot.

57. A human limb.

61. A toxic nonmetallic element related to sulfur and tellurium.

Yesterday’s Solution

Gemini (May 21-June 20) Others may disagree with what you say or think or in some way oppose your ideas and thoughts. Your current situation may demand some reevaluation. It may be very hard to communicate what you mean to others—bide your time. These challenges will pass and you will have an opportunity to rise above any difficulties. This afternoon you are able to promote an understanding between groups of people and increase the speed of work. Your directional abilities are in high focus. Others may even find you particularly witty this afternoon. This evening you may find yourself in a stay-at-home mood—a time to spend with loved ones and family. Family, home, relatives and real estate play a big part in your life.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) You may have to exercise some control over your tongue today—you may be tempted to say things you could regret. Things you say mean a lot to more people than you realize. You have a great mental drive and lavish great passion on mental pursuits of all kinds. Ideas, words, books and the like are energetically pursued. Your analytical powers are superb—you enjoy finding new avenues of inner growth. In your past time, or in your off-work time, you may enjoy developing your interest in artistic, musical, psychological, therapeutic or mystical fields. You easily express sympathy, compassion and understanding of others—perhaps, in writing poetry. At this time, you make personal sacrifices and devote time to serve a higher purpose, spiritual calling, or ideal.

NON SEQUITUR

Leo (July 23-August 22) For the next few days, you seem to adapt to new beginnings quite easily. Now is a good time to begin a new habit—perhaps a healthy nutritional or exercise therapy. Whatever you begin now will have a higher success rate of being completed according to your plans. A possible rise in interest rates will make debts less desirable. You will want to make a concentrated effort at keeping or balancing a budget in order to pay off any outstanding loans or debts for now. Now is the time to maintain a focus . . . see your dreams and visions as the goal and not a form of escape. Your afternoons could be full of opportunities to enjoy friends within a sport or exercise program. Hard work and all things physical, such as sports and outdoor activities, should be fun.

ZITS

Virgo (August 23-September 22) Projects may require close attention. Be aware of records and accounting procedures. Make sure you have instructions and that you are clear on the expected time of the desired end result. This way there will be no misunderstanding. Entropy happens without your help but with you at the watch, and with your positive outlook, you bring about order and can maintain order. You are an aggressive prime mover, a starter, able to initiate and get things moving and keep projects at a good pace. Consider your responsibilities and the rights of others before you take action with some personal opinion today. Seek constructive outlets for physical energies in exercise, games, cleaning and repairs. This afternoon you have an opportunity to rescue the finances.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM

This is a perfect time to be assertive and to move forward in your career. You have all the drive and passion you could want and it should be easy to channel your energies. The path is open and clear. A sense of belonging to something bigger than the merely personal becomes a greater focus.

Later today, you enjoy your friendships and participate in group activities. You will find this a very nice day, perhaps filled with some renewed appreciation for all that is beautiful. A sense of value and valuing that may find you lavishing affection on those near you. A barbeque picnic for this evening would be fun to arrange. One or two young people can help you add the finishing touches . . . perhaps a watermelon seed spitting contest. Laughter fills the evening.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) You have all the drive and enthusiasm you need at this time. It is easy to channel this energy—the path is clear. There may be an opportunity to reach new goals in sales or customer service today. Law, politics, education and travel are some of the areas where a great deal of progress could be achieved. This is a perfect time to be assertive and to move forward in your career.

Your intuitive and imaginative powers are stimulated—you are able to focus on worthwhile goals and productive enterprises. A career in one of the service or health occupations is also possible—you may find yourself automatically taking care of the needs of others. Your health improves as tension eases and therapies such as a massage can have a beneficial effect.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) You possess a powerful, persistent drive and are a hard, steady worker. Self-discipline is something that you work to achieve and you may soon find yourself checking your activities to create a balance in your personal and business affairs. At this time there is a leaning toward more responsibilities than playtime . . . life runs in cycles and play will come. Make sure you have time for play when it is offered to you. Aim for self-discipline in the area of laughter as you are in your structured, responsible time. New people, good feedback, competitive winnings and lots of laughter help to round out your deepening personality. Family, home, relatives and real estate play a big part in your life and a new piece of property is likely.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) You may be especially dynamic and assertive. You have a lot of enthusiasm available for you to accomplish just about anything you set out to do today. Being an extrovert, you may have difficulty understanding reclusive types. Patience may be in order for the few people that will not ever match your speed or schedule. Your concern for everything makes you invaluable when anything needs doing and, if left unoccupied, you have been known to even worry for worry’s sake. Given only a few facts, you are able to take in a situation and come up with a real picture of most situations. You are never happier than when fully engaged in some project—particularly betterment of worldly concerns. Take time to enjoy the simple things this afternoon.

To

Yesterday’s Solution Yester

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) You have an instinctive imperative to be powerful and in control during certain circumstances today. This may lead to a greater interest or experience in healing and investing and in the great mysteries of life and death. Careful . . . there could be some disturbance if you ask too many questions. This afternoon someone who appreciates your company will entertain you. The energies of today tend to reveal your most elegant side, particularly in social affairs. You will have a grasp for academic and spiritual ideas and the ability to present or communicate these to others. You are just plain witty and if anyone needs convincing of anything, now is the time to talk. Later tonight you may enjoy a good movie or perhaps accept the offer of a card game.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Word Sleuth Solution

This is the best time to make progress, push forward and rise to prominence. It will be hard for you to do wrong, for all the energies are working in your favor. You may decide to marry at this time or you will take on a new role in the community. You will be in demand and recognition will be soon—go for it. Everything seems to be working together; you may find yourself expressive and able to communicate very well. If more education is desired or deemed necessary, sign up now. You have a real appreciation for ideas, thoughts and knowledge. You may find yourself in long conversations with friends. Friends and a social life are in order this whole week and, in general, it is an easy and untroubled time. You enjoy a young one this evening.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 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

PHARMACY

ADDRESS

PHONE

Ahmadi

Sama Safwan Abu Halaifa Danat Al-Sultan

Fahaeel Makka St Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd

23915883 23715414 23726558

Jahra

Modern Jahra Madina Munawara

Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 Jahra-Block 92

24575518 24566622

Capital

Ahlam Khaldiya Coop

Fahad Al-Salem St Khaldiya Coop

22436184 24833967

Farwaniya

New Shifa Ferdous Coop Modern Safwan

Farwaniya Block 40 Ferdous Coop Old Kheitan Block 11

24734000 24881201 24726638

Tariq Hana Ikhlas Hawally & Rawdha Ghadeer Kindy Ibn Al-Nafis Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Salmiya-Amman St Hawally-Beirut St Hawally & Rawdha Coop Jabriya-Block 1A Jabriya-Block 3B Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

25726265 25647075 22625999 22564549 25340559 25326554 25721264 25380581 25628241

Hawally

ST TAT TE OF K KUW WAIT A

Te el.: 161

DIRECTORA AT TE GENERAL GENE OF CIVIL AV VIA AT TION METEOROLOGICAL DEP PARTMENT A

WWW.MET.GOV V.KW .

Very e hot h with moderate to fresh north westerly wind, with speed of 25 - 50 km/h causing raising dust

BY Y NIGHT:

Relatively hot with moderate to fresh north westerly wind, with speed of 20 - 45 km/h causing raising dust over open areas No Current Warnings arnin a

WARNING A

22459381

46 °C

33 °C

Ayoun Al-Kibla

22451082

KUW WA AIT AIRPOR RT

48 °C

34 °C

Al-Mirqab

22456536

NUW WA AISEEB

44 °C

31 °C

WA AFRA

ST TAT TION

48 °C

31 °C

SALMI

45 °C

31 °C

ABDAL LY

48 °C

32 °C

Sharq

22465401

Salmiya

25746401

Jabriya

25316254

JAL ALIY YAH A

47 °C

31 °C

Maidan Hawally

25623444

FA AILAKA

45 °C

31 °C

Bayan

25388462

AHMADI POR RT

43 °C

36 °C

Mishref

25381200

UMM AL-MARADEM

40 °C

34 °C

W.Hawally

22630786

WA ARBA A - BUBY YAN A

48 °C

28 °C

Sabah

24810221

Jahra

24770319

SFC. CHART

Temperatures DA ATE T

WEA ATHER T

Wind Direction

Wind Speed

34 °C

NW

25 - 50 km/h

32 °C

NW-VRB

08 - 30 km/h

46 °C

30 °C

NW-NE

10 - 30 km/h

47 °C

30 °C

NW-N

08 - 28 km/h

MAX.

MIN.

New Jahra

24575755 Thursday

23/08

very hot + raising dust

47 °C

West Jahra

24772608

Friday

24/08

very hot

46 °C

South Jahra

24775066

Saturday

25/08

very hot

North Jahra

24775992

Sunday

26/08

very hot

North Jleeb

24311795

Al-Omariya

24719048

N.Kheitan

24710044

Fintas

22/08/2012 0000 UTC

4 DA AY YS FORECAST DA AY

24892674

RECORDED YESTERDA AY AT KUW WAIT A AIRPORT

RA AY YER TIMES PRA Fajr

03:57

MAX. Temp.

49 °C

Sunrise

05:20

MIN. Temp.

35 °C

Zuhr

11:51

MAX. RH

15 %

Asr

15:26

MIN. RH

03 %

Sunset

18:22

MAX. Wind i

N 53 km/h

Isha

19:43

TOT TAL AL RAIINF FALL A L IN 24 HR.

00 mm

All times are local time unless otherwise stated.

23900322

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36

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

lifest yle G o s s i p

icole Kidman is being honored by the New York Film Festival in a gala tribute. The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced Tuesday that Kidman will be celebrated at the 50th-annual New York Film Festival. The festival will also honor its longtime director Richard Pena in a second gala.

The film “The Paperboy” has been added to the festival’s slate.

It’s directed by Lee Daniels and stars Kidman, Zac Efron, John

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Cusack and Matthew McConaughey. Pena is also programming director of the film society. He is stepping down from Lincoln Center this year following his 25th festival. The gala for Kidman will take place Oct 3, with the Pena event following on Oct 10.

The festival runs Sept 28 through Oct 14.

vril Lavigne and Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger aren’t just making music together. They’re getting hitched. A spokeswoman for Lavigne confirmed a Tuesday report from People magazine that the 27 year-old pop singer and 37year-old rocker became engaged earlier this month after dating for six months. The magazine says Lavigne was introduced to Kroeger in February when they met to co-write a song for Lavigne’s upcoming album. It will be the first marriage for Kroeger and the second for Lavigne. She filed for divorce in 2009 from Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley after three years of marriage. Lavigne surged to fame with her 2002 album “Let’s Go.” Kroeger has served as lead vocalist and guitarist for Nickelback since the band formed in 1995.

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usic collective Pink Martini has released the last song Phyllis Diller recorded, Charlie Chaplain’s “Smile,” as a fitting tribute to her memory.

The voice of the late comedian is immediately recognizable on the recording, perhaps a little more wizened, but still strong and full of emotion.

Diller died Monday in Los Angeles at age 95. The song was recorded last February by Pink Martini bandleader Thomas Lauderdale for the Portland, Ore., collective’s next album. Lauderdale says he may add strings and a clarinet to the simple piano-and-voice recording before the album, “Get Happy,” comes out next spring. “But as it now stands I love it,” Lauderdale said. “I think it has a lot of heart. I think it represents her in a beautiful and comforting and lovely way, and respectful. And I guess I just feel entirely lucky and honored to have these brief moments with her. Everybody seems to have a Phyllis Diller, and I feel just lucky to have had a small moment with her.” Lauderdale met Diller through a mutual friend while in Los Angeles for New Year’s Eve concerts. He asked Diller, who had formal music training in her youth, if she would be interested in recording a song. To his surprise she said yes and he returned a month later with recording engineer Dave Friedlander. They set up a studio in her living room and two hours later had the song. “She had a great time,” Lauderdale said. “She was a perfectionist. Every time she didn’t get a phrase just as she wanted it, she went right back to redo it. So it required no coaching at all from me. She did it all on her own.”

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pparently, there are a few jobs that Ryan Seacrest doesn’t do. The “American Idol” and “On Air With Ryan Seacrest” host, E! News managing editor and anchor, and head of Ryan Seacrest Productions is giving jobs to other people that he could, no doubt, just as easily perform single-handedly. RSP is responsible for “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” its E! spin-offs, and “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution,” among other shows. Who will do the jobs that Seacrest, improbably, does not? First, there’s Nina Wass, a producer of more than 500 episodes and 20 network pilots. As RSP’s new executive vice president of scripted programming, she will help the company further expand into scripted television. Heather Schuster, meanwhile, is RSP’s new senior vice president of development.

She joins the company from Reveille/Shine, where she was SVP of creative affairs and an executive producer. But wait.

There are other jobs that Seacrest is not, as of this writing, doing himself. One of them, RSP vice president of development, belongs to Joseph Ferraro, who was previously vice president of programming at OWN. Also, Gordon Cassidy, who has worked as a development consultant with Seacrest’s company, is joining it full time as vice president of current programming. Seacrest has also allowed three producers to make shows with RSP, rather than creating them himself with a mere snap of his fingers. The company has signed an overall deal with Emmy-winner Eric Lange, an 18-year film and television veteran whose credits include “The Deadliest Catch.” It has made another overall deal with Dan and Ben Newmark, who recently sold a comedy to TBS. Finally, Noah Oppenheim has signed on as a consultant with RSP after working as a senior producer of “Today,” a show that Seacrest does not single-handedly write, anchor and produce.

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ennifer Lopez had to reprimand her children right before a concert on Friday. The ‘On the Floor’ hitmaker usually spends the moments before a show alone in her dressing room but had to step out in the Los Angeles Staples Center after four-yearold twins Max and Emme - her kids with ex-husband Marc Anthony caused chaos backstage playing on scooters. An onlooker said: “[ They were] speeding around the green room area and causing a ruckus, almost running over people and running into things.” Staff were trying to calm the children but to no avail, prompting their famous mother to be called to assist - and the kids calmed down right

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away without her saying a word. The source added to the New York Post newspaper: “[She came out and] gave Max and Emme that ‘mom’ look to reprimand them. “She got her kids off the scooters and back into their room.” A spokesperson for the star said Jennifer was being a “loving and responsible mom” in taking action. The representative said: “Jennifer’s family has a private and secure area backstage at each show. Jennifer is a loving and responsible mom; she would never put her children or others in a dangerous situation.”

lues superstar BB King is returning to the grounds of the old Mississippi Delta cotton fields where as a teenager in the 1940s he worked as a tractor driver. The now 86-year-old King will be back in the tiny farming town of Indianola, Mississippi, to headline his own homecoming celebration. It’s a tradition King and the community have enjoyed almost every year for more than three decades. King and his band are scheduled to perform on the grounds of a former cotton processing plant, which is now a community center and part of the BB King Museum. King is also expected to perform later Wednesday night at Club Ebony, music joint where King has performed throughout his career that he restored and donated to the museum.

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ormer Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is ready, if invited, to play the drums next month when she’ll be honored for her “jazz diplomacy” at a gala concert at the Kennedy Center. Last year, trumpeter Chris Botti invited Albright to play the drums at the end of his Valentine’s Day concert at the Kennedy Center. America’s first female secretary of state is game to play again on Sept 23, when she will receive an award from the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz for her support of jazz, music education and the institute’s programs.

The concert starring Botti, Aretha Franklin, Herbie Hancock and others coincides with the finals of the institute’s prestigious international jazz competition, celebrating its 25th anniversary. —Agencies

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

lifestyle T r a v e l

Maine windjammer

The schooner Mary Day (right) sails in a schooner race with other members of Maine’s windjammer fleet off Rockland.

By Robert Bukaty

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Captain Barry King, on the guitar, joins passengers Sarah Washburn, playing violin, and her husband, Ryan Jesperson, during a musical evening.

Passengers read, work on crossword puzzles, and just relax on the deck of the schooner Mary Day during a three-day cruise on Penobscot Bay off Camden, Maine.

Passengers on the Mary Day gather as they pass a rocky ledge occupied by seals in Penobscot Bay.

apt Barry King is wrapping up his “welcome aboard” speech in the galley of the schooner Mary Day when he gets around to the question everyone has regarding the trip’s itinerary. “So where are we going?” he asks rhetorically. “We’re going Camden. Should be there in three days.” In other words, there is no itinerary. All we know is that our journey will end right back here where it’s starting, in Camden Harbor. Where we go between now and then will mostly depend on the wind and weather.

With no set schedule, no cell phone signal, no noisy motors, what better way to relax than on a Maine windjammer? On this sunny day in early August, the Mary Day sailed out onto picturesque Penobscot Bay. Behind us, Camden’s busy harbor, white church steeples and rounded mountains created a classic Maine backdrop. Ahead of us was Penobscot Bay, with more than 200 spruce-covered islands, making it one of the state’s finest cruising grounds. With more than 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometers) of jagged coastline, you’re never far from a quiet harbor or secluded cove to drop anchor and go ashore.

“The beauty of it to me is every week we can go somewhere we haven’t been before,” said King.

“There are always new places to explore.” Day One started out sunny, but light fog came and went throughout the day. By late afternoon we anchored off an island about 15 miles (24 kilometers) east of Camden. The all-female crew shuttled passengers ashore in rowboats. After a day of doing not much, other than helping to raise and lower the ship’s massive sails, it was time for an allyou-can-eat lobster bake on the beach.

Most folks turned down the captain’s offers after eating two. David Ernest, a college student from Lynnfield, Mass, managed to polish off four. After dinner we returned to the schooner and sailed north, arriving at Buck’s Harbor after dark. The 90foot (27-meter) Mary Day, which is celebrating its 50th season, is the first schooner in the Maine windjammer fleet to be built specifically to accommodate passengers. Its sleeping cabins are heated and have nine feet (three meters) of headroom.

Most of the Maine’s windjammers were originally designed for carrying cargo such as lumber and granite. The advent of steam-powered ships and later, the railroad, eventually put them out of the shipping business. The Mary Day is one of 13 windjammers offering passenger cruises along the Maine coast in summer and early fall; all belong to the Maine Windjammer Association.

We awoke on Day Two in Bucks Harbor to the smell of blueberry pancakes and fresh coffee coming from the galley. Outside, the early-morning fog was as thick as Maine chowder, so, many of the passengers went ashore to the small town of South Brooksville. The locals were gearing up to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the children’s book, “One Morning in Maine,” which was set here by the late

Harbor seals rest on a ledge off Camden, Maine. On a three-day cruise the Mary Day’s passengers saw seals, porpoises and several types of seabirds.

author and illustrator Robert McCloskey, a summer resident.

By mid-morning the fog had burned off and many of the passengers decided to go swimming, some of the younger passengers climbing out onto the ship’s bowsprit before leaping some 15 feet (5 meters) into the chilly water. Following a macaroni and cheese lunch that one passenger said was reason enough to book a trip again next year, we headed back out on to the bay. More than a dozen harbor porpoises could be seen surfacing in the calm waters. At another point, we sailed past a rocky ledge occupied by dozens of seals.

Uninhabited islands were as numerous as buoys marking lobster traps.

The relatively small size of the schooner cruise tends to create camaraderie among its passengers.

Whether it’s the teamwork from helping to raise the ship’s seven sails, or from sharing breakfast in the cozy main saloon, you can’t help but get to know your shipmates. These friendships and the casual atmosphere are among the reasons Donna Archibald, along with her husband and daughter, were marking their sixth cruise with the fleet.

The Archibalds, from Clarks Summit, Pa, have cruised on big ships but prefer the more informal windjammers. On a cruise liner, “you’re not as laidback as on a schooner. You’re more on the go because you want to get in your day trips to the islands. You don’t really have time to sit back and get to know everyone because they’re all busy doing something else. And there are shows and captain’s dinners, so you have to get dressed up for that,” said Archibald. “Here you kind of roll out of your bunk spritz your hair, and you’re ready to go.”

Finally, on Day Three, the captain’s prediction proved true. The Mary Day and all aboard returned to Camden Harbor, its majestic sails down and ready for the next scenic trip to nowhere along the Maine coast. — AP

Sawyer King, 12, the son of the captain, rides on the bowsprit of the 90-foot passenger schooner Mary Day, while sailing on a foggy afternoon in East Penobscot Bay off Little Deer Isle, Maine.

Maggy Mulhern (left) and Katharine Mead, prepare a lobster bake for dinner on the shore of a small island in Penobscot Bay Maine.

Photo shows passenger Paul Ernest of Lynnfield, Mass (left) takes a turn at the helm during a threeday cruise on the schooner Mary Day on Penobscot Bay off Camden, Maine. — AP photos

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

lifestyle M U S I C

This undated movie stills frame, provided to AFP on August 17, 2012 courtesy of film director Prashant Nair, shows a scene from his movie ‘Delhi in a Day’.

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M O V I E S

A scene from the movie ‘Delhi in a Day’. —AFP photos

Indian film confronts domestic servants’ plight

iddle-class Indian moviegoers are set to squirm in their seats this week as a new film explores how wealthier families treat the household staff who answer to their every whim. “Delhi in a Day” tells the story of an idealistic British traveler who finds he is stuck in a stifling and snobbish home where poorly-paid and vulnerable domestic workers are taken for granted and casually humiliated. The family taunt and bully their staff, who-in a scenario familiar to millions of urban Indian homes-work around the clock cooking, cleaning and completing an endless list of other duties expected of modern-day servants.

Director Prashant Nair says his film uses flashes of comedy to shine a light on the uncomfortable realities of contemporary life in a country that has been transformed in many ways by two decades of economic growth. “The rich hire the workers and expect them to do everything,” he told AFP. “They enjoy the right to insult, abuse them and even accuse them of stealing.

Domestic workers are always the first suspect. “I wanted to show how the sole aim of the worker is to appease their masters as they cope with a constant sense of insecurity and live with the fear of being fired for the smallest error.”

Nair, 34, said the divide between servant and

employer was getting wider as traditional bonds have been broken by mass migration to Indian cities and the growing trend against extended families living together. Many Indian servants are youths from poverty-stricken states such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, and can be paid as little as 1,200 rupees ($20) a month if they are given spartan accommodation in the house.

Set in a sprawling bungalow in the leafy part of New Delhi, Nair’s film relates how the British visitor-played by Lee Williams-has his dreams of a “spiritual journey” in India dashed by a scandal over stolen money. Activist Ramendra Kumar, who heads domestic workers’ union Delhi

Shramik Sangathan, hopes the movie will boost the campaign for better legal protection when it is released in 65 cinemas nationwide on Friday.

“A factory worker can file a court case against the employer to claim a pension and other benefits but a domestic worker cannot make any such claims,” he said.

“There is no legislation in place to define their rights; there is not a single law to protect the rights of domestic workers. They have to live on the mercy of their masters-and many employers miss no chance to exploit them.”

Since 2010, his union has registered more than 400 complaints by domestic workers in New

Delhi who say they were beaten or abused for overcooking vegetables, forgetting to wash dishes or over-sleeping. In one recent example that made headlines in the capital, a doctor couple were arrested for allegedly locking up their 13-year-old maid in their house when they went on holiday to Thailand.

Nair says such attitudes exist widely across India, and that many families live lives of luxury that depend on the exploitation of household staff. “At one level the rich try to be so polite and display all their etiquette at high society parties in New Delhi, but at home their entire tone changes,” he said. — AFP

A Minute With:

Keanu Reeves going digital with ‘Side By Side’

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US singer Madonna performs on stage with dancers at the Charles Ehrmann stadium on August 21, 2012 in Nice southeastern France, as part of her MDNA world tour. — AFP

Madonna drops swastika from France concert, backs Punk Riot M

adonna dropped from her last concert in Europe Tuesday a swastika that outraged France’s right-wing party but again demanded the freedom of jailed Russian girl punk band Punk Riot. The video that accompanied the pop icon’s performance in Nice of “Nobody Knows Me” still showed National Front leader Marine Le Pen, but a question mark replaced a swastika that had previously flashed on the politician’s forehead.

The appearance of the Nazi symbol at Madonna’s Paris performance last month enraged the party, which launched legal action against the 54-year-old singer and threatened to return to the courts should she use it again.

A local party supporter, Gael Nofri, welcomed Madonna’s decision. “As far as I know, Madonna has never changed a video clip. This is proof that our arguments were valid. This is excellent news,” he said.

The pop diva used the last gig of a controversy-hit Europe tour to reiterate solidarity with three punk rockers jailed by Russian courts this month over a stunt in a Moscow cathedral criticizing President Vladimir Putin. “Free Punk Riot!” Madonna shouted from the stage to a packed stadium in the southern French city. At a concert in Moscow two weeks ago, Madonna donned a balaclava in solidarity with the protest punk band, angering Russian authorities.

The punk band wore knitted balaclavas when they performed a “punk prayer” for the ouster of the veteran strongman in the church in February. “I’ve seen some very scary things,” the star told the Nice crowd, slamming “intolerance” and calling for the respect of “human dignity”. “The real deal is freedom and not just for Punk Riot,” she said, adding later: “Every human being deserves to be treated equally.” “We have to be freedom fighters.” The three Punk Riot members have been jailed for two years for hooliganism; a sentence that has drawn wide criticism. The Nice performance was Madonna’s last in the Europe leg of a world tour that covers 30 countries, ending in Australia early next year. — AFP

Review

(From Right) Gene Simmons gestures as Paul Stanley signs the KISS MONSTER BOOK beside band members Eric Singer and Thomy Thayer during the release of the largest Rock book ever to be published, on Tuesday at the Viper Room in West Hollywood, California. The book is 3 feet high by 2.5 feet wide and 2 inches thick and offers a larger-than-life journey through 40-years of KISS with an intimate collection of 127 photographs by world-renowned rock photographers, including rare and never-before-seen images sourced from the band’s own archives. —AFP

eanu Reeves’ latest film, “Side

By Side,” has no car chases, explosions or slow-motion bullets like those in “The Matrix.” But for fans of cinema, it has something even more valuable - an inside look at digital technology’s impact on traditional film. The 98-minute documentary is co-produced by Reeves, who also acts as interviewer, and directed by Chris Kenneally and it features a who’s who of Hollywood heavyweights discussing their views on making movies through film or digital means. Filmmakers interviewed include James Cameron, David Fincher, David Lynch, George Lucas, Danny Boyle, Martin Scorsese, Christopher Nolan and Steven Soderbergh “Side By Side” opened in Los Angeles on Aug 17, hits New York Aug 31 and plays around the United States in weeks to come. It is available nationwide on video-ondemand Wednesday.

Reeves recently spoke to Reuters about the movie.

Q: Where did the idea for “Side by Side” come from?

A: “A couple of years ago I was working on this film, “Henry’s Crime,” which I also produced, and I was talking with Chris Kenneally about all the new digital technology and all the changes in the industry. We were sitting in the post-production suite trying to match the photochemical image with the digital image, side by side, and it just hit me - film is going away, and we should document this whole evolution. So Chris and I gradually put a team together to make the documentary.”

Q: The film features interviews with some 70 top filmmakers, directors of photography and other experts. How did you pull all that together?

A: “It wasn’t easy and it took almost a year to film ever yone. We began at the 2010 Camera Image festival in Poland and got a bunch of (cinematographers) there; including all these greats I’d worked with, such as Vittorio Storaro, Michael Chapman and Michael Balhaus. That was our

start, and then word-of-mouth spread and I began contacting some of the directors I’d worked with over the past 25 years. So that history together obviously helped get some of the big names on board and we just started building momentum. We ended up getting nearly 150 people and then we had to cut it down for the final movie.”

Q: Did anyone turn you down?

A: “ We got nearly ever yone we wanted, although of course some people were unavailable or didn’t want to be interviewed, for whatever reason.”

Keanu Reeves Q: Who was the hardest person to get hold of?

A: “Chris Nolan, because his schedule on ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ was so crazy. It took a long time to set that one up.

Q: Nolan’s always been an outspoken champion of film as opposed to digital. Is it true you appealed to his anti-digital sentiments by writing him an old-fashioned letter?

A: “Yes, I actually wrote to him on an old-fashioned typewriter. I think he got a kick out of that and we finally shot him in his trailer on the Batman set in LA.”

“Matrix” directors, the Wachowskis. That was quite a coup as they haven’t done an interview in over a decade.

A: “Well, we’ve stayed friends since ‘The Matrix’ films and they were lovely. I felt honored that they wanted to be a part of this. And I think they add so much to this documentary and may surprise a lot of people with their views.

Although they pioneered so many digital techniques in the ‘Matrix’ films, they have this big love for film and the look of film.

Q: Any other highlights?

A: “Talking to George Lucas was pretty special. The sheer impact that he’s had on digital cinema is just so amazing, and I learned so much. I mean, I wasn’t familiar with his development of the EditDroid [editing system] which then turned into the Avid but we all know about ILM [Lucas’ special effects company] and THX [his movie audio company] and his work with digital cameras. He’s a true maverick and pioneer of where we are today. He’s done it all.

Q: Having made the documentary, how do you feel about the future of physical film? Is it dead?

A: “I think it is. Even Chris Nolan admits that film, if not dead, is now on life support, and it’s just going to become more and more difficult to even get film.

Personally I’m a big film fan and it’s sad to see it go but the future is digital.”

Q: You’re also behind the camera again directing your first big feature, a kung fu adventure titled “Man of Tai Chi,” and shooting it in China. Did you go digital?

A: (Laughs) “We did. I developed this project for five years and we’re shooting on location in Beijing and Hong Kong. I’m having a great time directing and I definitely plan to do it again.”

—Reuters

Q: You also managed to get

‘Hit and Run’ is promising, but falls just short

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f the Academy Awards handed out those plastic trophies so popular at elementary school sports banquets, where the clumsy but well-intentioned kids are encouraged to come back and try again next year, “Hit and Run” and its writer, star and co-director Dax Shepard would be picking out tuxedos. His second feature as a triple-threat (following 2010’s littleseen “Brother’s Justice”) certainly can’t be faulted for trying, as Shepard daringly shoots for outrageous humor that intelligently flirts with political incorrectness while simultaneously attempting to revive great car-chase movies in the vein of “Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry” and two-thirds of the films made by Burt Reynolds between 1973 and 1984.

For all its good intentions, however, seeing “Hit and Run” is an experience akin to watching a basketball teeter around and around the rim before eventually thudding to the ground. With so many lazy and

phoned-in movies out there, it’s uniquely frustrating to see Shepard come so close to his lofty goals and still fall short.

Shepard stars as Charlie, who’s been hiding out in rural California ever since he turned state’s witness against his former friends after they started robbing banks. Charlie’s happily cohabiting with college professor Annie (Kristen Bell), who’s been offered the opportunity to ditch the tiny local university for a shot at teaching at UCLA. Despite the fact that going back to the big city will expose him to danger, Charlie insists upon driving her there, so he pulls his custom Lincoln Continental out of storage for the trip.

Cue the high-speed road trip with calamity on all sides, from Charlie’s overprotective and accidentprone federal marshal Randy (Tom Arnold), to Annie’s obsessive ex Gil (Michael Rosenbaum), to a larcenous redneck (David Koechner) to Charlie’s vengeance-

minded criminal ex-cohorts (played by Bradley Cooper, Joy Bryan and Ryan Hansen).

The movie certainly never lacks in forward motion - Shepard, who co-directed with David Palmer, obviously wanted an excuse to drive a variety of cool vehicles - but it never manages to build momentum, even with its contrived ticking-clock of getting Annie to LA on time. Editor Keith Croket frequently fails to keep things as tight as they might have been, and those extra seconds of air can be deadly to either a comedy or a car-chase movie, much less to both.

Then there’s the matter of the film’s audacious humor, which is more admirable than it is funny.

Shepard clearly went after the idea of taking taboo subjects - rape, the use of the word “fag,” etc. - and trying to be witty about them while also acknowledging the fact that said subjects aren’t at all amusing. And while he manages to get through it without tying

himself in knots or opening himself up to accusations of boorishness, the material still doesn’t pack a comic punch. You can respect this screenplay for the way it self-consciously teeters on the edge of bad taste without going over and still not laugh very much.

(Especially at the running gag about the motel room full of elderly, naked swingers, which just feels mean.)

At the same time, there’s plenty to admire here, particularly the talented cast, who seem to be pitching in on this labor of love with plenty of good spirits.

Lunches were no doubt lots of fun, and at least some of that bonhomie bleeds into the final film. “Hit and Run” is a disappointment, but it’s the kind that makes me want to see what its creators do next, assuming they’ve learned something from this experience and can grow as filmmakers. As it stands, they’ve put together some delicious ingredients for a soufflé that’s collapsed. — Reuters

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

lifestyle M U S I C

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Three highly acclaimed shows on TV premiere exclusively on OSN T hree of the newest and most highlyacclaimed shows from this year are set to air on OSN, the leading Pay-TV network in the Middle East and North Africa. Emmynominated Homeland, American Horror Story and Veep will make their regional debut this month on OSN First HD/OSN First and OSN Comedy.

After being held captive by Al-Qaeda since 2003, US Marine Nicholas Brody finally returns to his home in the United States. Despite his newly-found hero status, the highly driven CIA agent Carrie Mathison, played by Hollywood star Claire Danes, suspects that Nicholas has been turned by his captors and is plotting an attack on the United States. Homeland is a high-intensity, complex thriller where nothing is as it seems. Homeland airs exclusively on August 28 at 22:00 UAE on OSN First HD/OSN First.

American Horror Story was lauded by many critics and viewers, as evidenced by its whopping 17 Emmy nominations this year.

American Horror Story is a throw-back to classic horror storytelling drama series. Set in modern-day Los Angeles, the show chronicles Ben and Vivien as they struggle to keep their dying marriage afloat. Ultimately, the show is about obsessions and economic anxiety with the scariest scenes driven by character drama and not violence. American Horror Story premieres on August 23 at 23:00 UAE on OSN First

HD/OSN First.

The biggest breakout series of the year, American Horror Stor y and Homeland, received much deserved attention for their ground-breaking work with a combined 26 Emmy nominations between them.

Homeland

American Horror Story

With US presidential elections just around the corner, there couldn’t be a better time for this brand new hit comedy series. Veep, a play on the acronym for Vice President, VP, follows the exploits of Selina Meyers who is played by

Veep

Seinfeld star Julia Louis-Dreyfus. When Selina is catapulted from being a senator to the office of the Vice President, she discovers that her charm and charisma might not be enough to get the job done. Meyer soon realizes that being Vice President is nothing like she expected. With three Emmy nominations, VEEP premieres on August 27 at 23:00 UAE on OSN Comedy.

Don’t miss the biggest TV series hits of the year exclusively on OSN and in stunning High Definition. Tune in to OSN First HD/ OSN First and OSN Comedy this month for three brand new critically acclaimed shows featuring three

Fall movie preview

This film image released by Warner Bros shows the character Gollum voiced by Andy Serkis in a scene from the fantasy adventure ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.’ —AP

This film image released by Warner Bros Pictures shows Tom Hanks as Zachry and Halle Berry as Meronym in a scene from ‘Cloud Atlas,‘ an epic spanning centuries and genres.

This film image released by Summit Entertainment shows Robert Pattinson (left) and Kristen Stewart in a scene from ‘The Twlight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2.’ — AP photos

13 films we’re dying to see A

s yet another summer of superhero films and sequels draws to a close, Hollywood is revving up for a crowded fall stocked with James Bond, vampire romance and historical dramas. For the most part, that means the movie business is ready to hang up the tights and capes for a while and again start making movies for audiences who can legally drive. Boasting new offerings from directing greats like Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, Ang Lee and Paul Thomas Anderson, this fall is bound to offer its fair share of masterpieces, critical darlings and love-’em-or-hate-’em exercises in the kind of adventurous filmmaking that has been absent from screens in recent months.

But not every film is about chasing Oscars and critical accolades. For popcorn movie lovers, there’s plenty of action films and 3D flicks to keep the box office humming, including Peter Jackson’s first film in his planned ‘Hobbit’ trilogy and the final chapter in the ‘Twilight’ franchise. To whet your appetite for all the movie-going to come, here’s a look at 13 fall films we can’t wait to see.

Lincoln cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Tommy Lee Jones Director: Steven Spielberg Release date: Nov 9, limited. Nov 16, expands Risk factors: Biopics can be dry and overstuffed with historical events and with a subject like the Great Emancipator, the potential for sanctimony is high. Not to mention, Spielberg can be hit-and-miss when it comes to chronicling the American experience. Those battle scenes in ‘Saving Private Ryan’ were masterful, but the rest of the film was preachy and undercooked. Likewise, ‘Amistad’ was a wellintentioned snooze.

Why we’re psyched: Day-Lewis is notoriously choosy when it comes to picking roles, but when he finally commits to a project, the results are usually magical. Plus, after ‘Tintin’ and “War Horse” disappointed many moviegoers, it’s time for Spielberg to prove he’s still got it.

Flight Cast: Denzel Washington, John Goodman, and Don Cheadle Director: Robert Zemeckis Release date: Nov 2 Risk factors: It’s been 12 years since Zemeckis’ last live-action film, and his motion-capture experiments with films like “Mars Needs Moms” revealed a director dangerously out of step with popular tastes.

Why we’re psyched: Based on the trailer, Washington has his meatiest role in years as a pilot who saves a plane from catastrophe only to have his heroism challenged. After a summer of superhero movies, it’s nice to have a studio film that plumbs some murky moral depths for a change.

Skyfall cast: Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Javier Bardem, and Ralph Fiennes Director: Sam Mendes Release date: Nov 9 Risk factors: Delayed for years because of MGM do financial problems, does James Bond still have a license to excite? While ‘Casino Royale’ was a box office and critical smash, some griped that 007’s last

outing, ‘Quantum of Solace,’ was a humorless affair.

Would it kill a superspy to crack a joke once in a while?

Why we’re psyched: ‘Skyfall’ has finally given Bond a formidable adversary in Javier Bardem, the actor whose Anton Chigurh in “No Country for Old Men” still haunts moviegoers’ dreams. Moreover, Mendes is a stylish director whose work on films like ‘Road to Perdition’ and ‘American Beauty’ shows he is equally adept at handling gunfights and quieter moments of drama.

Life Of Pi Cast: Suraj Sharma, Irrfran Khan, and

This film image released by Columbia Pictures shows Daniel Craig as James Bond in the action adventure film, ‘Skyfall.’

‘The Fighter’ fresh in the minds of moviegoers, the idiosyncratic auteur is back after a decade spent in the wilderness. Also, Cooper has been a likable presence in films like ‘The Hangover,’ but here he finally gets a chance to stretch and show audiences that he’s more than just a pretty face.

This image released by Walt Disney Pictures shows Daniel Day-Lewis portraying Abraham Lincoln in the film ‘Lincoln.’

Tobey Maguire Director: Ang Lee Release date: Nov 21 Risk Factors: It’s the story of a boy trapped in a boat with a Bengal tiger. There’s a pretty good chance the whole thing could come off as unintentionally hilarious, not to mention outright bizarre.

Why we’re psyched: Come on, it’s Ang Lee. And this time the visionary ‘Mountain’ director is working in 3D. When footage from the film premiered last spring at CinemaCon, the response was rapturous. If the story holds together, Lee may have pulled off a film that is as revolutionary and cinematically stirring as Martin Scorsese’s ‘Hugo’ or James Cameron’s ‘Avatar.’

Silver Linings Playbook cast: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, and Robert De Niro Director: David O Russell Release date: Nov 21 Risk factors: Russell is a prodigious talent, but his screenplays veer from brilliant (‘Three Kings’) to bizarre (‘I Heart Huckabees’). In this film, about a man struggling to reclaim his life after a stint in a mental institution, he’s working without his muse, Mark Wahlberg, who grounded Russell’s flights of fancy.

Why we’re psyched: With the Oscar-nominated

Argo cast: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, and John Goodman Director: Ben Affleck Release date: Oct 12 Risk factors: The 1979 Iranian hostage crisis is at the center of the film, and while it may be distant history, the Middle East remains a hotbed of political instability. War films like ‘The Hurt Locker’ and ‘Jarhead’ have impressed critics, but audiences have shown little interest in seeing dramatized what plays out on the news every night.

Why we’re psyched: With ‘The Town,’ Affleck proved he’s a smart, sensitive director who choreographs killer action sequences (just think about all those car chases through the Boston streets). This true story about a gonzo escape plan that involved CIA agents posing as filmmakers to rescue hostages has all the makings of a whacked out masterpiece in “The Three Kings” vein.

Cloud Atlas cast: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, and Ben Whishaw Director: Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski Release date: Oct 26 Risk factors: Based on the trailer, this story about various lives intersecting across the past, present and future features Hanks and Berry in an awful lot of embarrassing wigs. It is also redolent of ‘The Fountain,’ another heady film that played with time and space, but collapsed under the weight of its ambitions.

Why we’re psyched: The Wachowskis have a tal-

ent for blending big ideas with tent pole special effects in films like ‘The Matrix.’ ‘Cloud Atlas’ boasts a big canvas, with dazzling special effects and camera work. It’s about time these filmmakers made us forget about ‘Speed Racer.’

Zero Dark Thirty Cast: Joel Edgerton, Kyle Chandler, Jessica Chastain, and Edgar Ramirez Director: Kathryn Bigelow Release date: Dec19 Risk factors: Sony wisely chose to release the film after the presidential election so the studio can’t be accused of trying to bolster Barack Obama’s chances by recounting the daring story behind the killing of Osama bin Laden. That said, it arrives with an awful lot of controversy and charges from Republican politicians that Bigelow was given access to classified information. Will it be too much of a political hot potato to judge on its own merits?

Why we’re psyched: Bigelow returns to the battlefield after revolutionizing the war film with ‘The Hurt Locker.’ Can lighting strike twice?

The Master cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix, and Amy Adams Director: Paul Thomas Anderson Release date: Sept 14 Risk factors: A thinly fictionalized portrait of the world’s most secretive and controversial religion.

Expect uproar from Scientologists and an intense debate over Hoffman’s portrayal of a charlatan who sounds a lot like L Ron Hubbard. After annoying us with his faux breakdown and fake documentary ‘I’m Not There,’ Phoenix is on a very short leash.

Why we’re psyched: The last time Anderson was behind a camera, he gave us ‘There Will Be Blood,’ a haunting, magisterial work that ranks among the greatest movies ever made. If the euphoric reaction to early test screenings is any indication, he just might have another masterpiece on his hands.

Django Unchained cast: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, and Leonardo DiCaprio Director: Quentin Tarantino Release date: Dec 25 Risk factors: Well, it’s a bloody, action film set in the antebellum South, so its depiction of slavery could stir up charges of racial insensitivity for a director whose fondness for a certain “N” word has already made him a target for precisely that kind of criticism.

Why we’re psyched: With ‘Inglourious Basterds,’ Tarantino proved that in the right hands, even the Nazis can be the subject of brilliant, escapist fare. “Django” looks like another dazzling trip down the rabbit hole, with cinema’s foremost genre mashup maestro as a guide. Likewise, DiCaprio has a showy role that will allow him to flex the comic muscles he deployed so masterfully in ‘Catch Me If You Can.’ The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn-Part 2 cast: Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Kristen Stewart Director: Bill Condon Release date: Nov 16 Risk factors: There was this girl named Kristen who cheated on this guy named Rob, breaking the hearts of millions of Twi-hards in the process.

Why we’re psyched: The final film in one of the biggest franchises in movie history. Enough said.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey cast: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, and Richard Armitage Director: Peter Jackson Risk factors: Now that Jackson is turning a planned two films into three, will there be enough story to justify a trilogy? Also, the director’s decision to shoot the film at a speeded up, 48 frames per second to improve the quality of the 3D has been a controversial one. Early footage at CinemaCon was criticized by theater owners and members of the press for looking less like a film and more like a telenovela. Warner Bros’s decision to dial down on the number of theaters that will show the film at a higher frame rate may have ended this particular technological revolution before the first shots were fired.

Why we’re psyched: It’s Peter Jackson returning to Middle Earth. Attention must be paid.

Les Miserables cast: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Amanda Seyfried, and Anne Hathaway Director: Tom Hooper Risk Factors: The Broadway musical was a sensation, but film is not always kind to hit stage shows. For every ‘Chicago,’ there are scores of ‘Rent’s and ‘Evita”s that fail to capture the magic of the original productions. Moreover, we know Jackman and Hathaway have great sets of pipes, but can Crowe carry a tune?

Why we’re psyched: One of the best-known scores in musical theater history. A story of heroism set against the backdrop of a revolutionary uprising. A stunning array of period costumes and dramatic sets. Some plays just cry out for big screen treatment. And, oh, that cast. — AP

Indian film confronts domestic servants’ plight

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

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Photo shows designer Nicole Richie posing with clothing from her limited-edition collection for Macy’s at Macy’s Herald Square in New York. — AP photos

Y

ou know her by the sunglasses she always has with her.

You know her from TV, and you might know her from the tabloids, too, but Nicole Richie isn’t convinced any of it works for or against her when it comes to building her design career. She guided aspiring designers on the fashion competition show “Fashion Star,” and says she sees success in the fashion business as either potentially intense and fleeting, or broadbased and sustained. It’s up to the work you do - and doing it consistently, she says.

“You’re only as good as your last season,” she says. Richie, it seems, is banking on a big fall season. That’s when her limitededition collection for Macy’s contemporary department debuts, and she also stars in the ads. Richie, 30, isn’t an industry novice.

She’s gained recognition for her lines Winter Kate and House of Harlow, but the Nicole Richie for Impulse collaboration, best described as contemporary clothes styled with Richie’s bohemian flair, is her greatest exposure yet. The clothes, including maxi dresses, asymmetrical skirts, cropped tops and fitted jackets in an array of jewel tones and prints, will be in 100 stores and available online starting Sept 12.

She hasn’t taken the task lightly.

“Well, my main focus just with everything that I design is to really get to know the customer, and I spend a lot of time doing

that,” she says. “I’m traveling all year just with various appearances that I do for Winter Kate and House of Harlow, and the reason that I do these appearances is because I really get to come face-to-face with my customer, and as I’m watching them in the store I can see what pieces they’re wearing, I can see what they’re drawn to, what people’s favorite pieces are and people are always wanting to tell me a story of how they got that ring or that bracelet, or how they wear their tops or their sunglasses. That’s something that I pay attention to and that I really take into consideration whenever I’m designing the next collection.”

However, she doesn’t do the hard sell. She likes to see women make their look their own instead of doling out advice or drawing attention to how she’s worn a certain style before.

“It’s such an honor any time I’m driving down the street or I’m at school and I see your everyday woman just wearing a piece from my collection, that’s something that’s so special,” she says.

“You know it’s something that it really touches me in a way that nothing else has before because they went out and they bought that piece and I’m extremely grateful. Quietly grateful.”

Meeting Richie, one gets the feeling that although she grew up in the spotlight as the daughter of Lionel Richie and costarred with Paris Hilton in the reality show “The Simple Life,”

she doesn’t mind working behind the scenes. Her celebrity and family connections have opened some doors, but Richie says she wants to work for the glory.

“It’s important to always be a student on some level,” she says. “It’s important to always keep your ear to the ground and constantly be surrounding yourself with people that inspire you and people that have a good work ethic and I don’t think you should ever hit a place where you feel that there is nothing left to learn.”

Getting glammed up is part of her job, but Richie, who has two young children, Harlow and Sparrow, says she’s not always picture-perfect. She carries the big round sunglasses she’s famous for as well as bobby pins wherever she goes for a quick transformation. (Richie says she’s a master at a quick hair braid.)

“There are often times that I do look a hot mess and I guess I probably should work on making myself a little more put together at all times. It’s a work in progress.” Not on this day. Her hair is just-right wavy, and she’s wearing a peacock feather-print dress from the Impulse line. “I would say that jewel tones and intricate prints are the main focus of this collection but I also worked with faux-leathers and lace,” she says.

Her fall shopping list includes leather pants. Yes, she says, more women than you might think can pull off leather pants.

Of course, they’ll need boots, she says. She’ll also replenish her pullover sweaters, including the color blocked one from her collection. “I love a good pullover but I think that every girl wants to be able to put on a pullover but not look so sloppy. This pullover, it’s actually pretty cropped and still very structured but extremely comfortable at the same time and I worked a lot with color blocking just to give it a little bit of a punch.”

It also looks nice with leather pants, she says with a smile.

She won’t build her wardrobe around trends, because there might not be enough room for her favorite things, Richie says. “I never get rid of something because it’s old. I wear things with holes in them like all the time. But I do like to get rid of things just too kind of keep my closet fresh. But most of the time I’m donating. I’m not just throwing clothes away. But I’m a Virgo; I’m pretty organized so I like to keep my closet pretty clean.”— AP

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hen it comes to selecting a perfume, most people prefer floral and fresh fragrances that keep them going. While there are innumerable floral-based perfumes to choose from, what stands out is the masterpiece perfume that entices one’s senses.

The credit for such a masterpiece is attributed to its top quality ingredients and the talents of creative perfumers and dedicated alchemists who come up with those exceptional fragrance notes which prompt you to fall head over heels for it.

The latest fragrance from Rasasi perfumes, Entebaa, the Impressions collection - is one such exquisite range which woos the senses and reminisces the bloom of youth with its magic feel. A French oriental perfume line with a fresh, unique floral touch, the new range gives the wearer more confidence and a unique combination of notes which help the floral freshness to be maintained for a long time, capturing the inner inspiring emotions.

“Perfume is meant to help you feel more confident. Of course, confidence should be based on yourself, who you are, and not what perfume or clothes you wear, but when you look and smell good, you feel good. Allow yourself to feel good with Entebaa,” said Salim Kalsekar, Managing Director, Rasasi perfumes. The Oriental eau de parfum, which comes in exquisitelydecorated 100 ml packs, has two variants for men and women and radiates a hint of wood and citrus. In short, Entebaa is a perfume that reinvigorates the expression of joy and passion for perfume lovers. Kalsekar said: “An epitome of floral passion, the new French oriental Entebaa extends strong mix of floral accents which is both pronounced, yet subtle. The floral scents are grounded by woody base notes, like magic unfolding in front of you. This classic perfume is the perfect companion for any occasion.”

What makes Entebaa absolutely captivating is that it’s best suited for youth, providing niche notes well-matched for both women and men. With its rich floral feel, it has a sensual, yet timeless, appeal - a perfume which reinforces Rasasi’s commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction.

he ears can delight in the music and words of an opera and the eyes can admire the spectacle on stage, but what about the other senses, not least smell? Soap may be the answer, says Wolfgang Lederhaas. This Austrian philosophy professor gave up a successful academic career to set up in 2011 a cosmetics firm that, among other things, turns literature, music and visual arts into something you can touch, sniff-and wash your hands with.

Retailing at around 80 euros ($100) in smaller Austrian bookshops, pharmacies and concept stores is his first collection: a sleek grey box of six bars, each with the “aroma” and “color” of a work of German literature. “The cosmetics industry is often very superficial... I wanted to delve a little deeper and give more to customers,” the 36-year-old told AFP at his company’s sweet-smelling workshop in Vienna.

“Literature is not just about reading, it’s about aesthetics. I wanted to make something tangible out of it, so that people can breathe it in... It’s about enhancing mundane activities with emotions, with positive energy.” The box set includes soap versions of novels from the 17th and 18th centuries such as “Undine” by Friedrich de la Motte Fouque, “Heinrich von Ofterdingen” by Novalis-Lederhaas’s idol-and “Hyperion” by Friedrich Hoelderlin.

“Basically, just like for normal soap, I put all the ingredients into a pot, stir it and make soap out of,” Lederhaas explains enthusiastically. “Everything I know about a particular book makes it into the potall the feelings in the novel, the colors, the herbs, the plants that are mentioned, and so on.

Everything that somehow inspires me, everything that gives me a clue.”

Since “Hyperion” takes place in Greece, for example, the soap contains notes of olive oil and laurel, while for his soap of Mozart’s opera “The Magic Flute,” roses and cedar-both mentioned in the libretto-are evident. “Of course, putting all this in doesn’t mean that it smells nice or works, it takes a lot more than that. The secret is to add something to make sure it smells good,” Lederhaas says.

Color, too, is vital, as is the use of natural ingredients, preferably organic and locally sourced. For “The Magic Flute”, for example, the soap had to be “bright and orange, not shining yellow but orange,” he says. “That was the starting point,” he says, taking a chunk of soap off the shelf and offering it around to smell. “It has lots of citrus fruit notes-lemon, orange, lime, mandarin, grapefruit and so on.”

Coming from humble, rural origins-there was no literature or Mozart when he was growing up, he

Former Philosophy teacher and now soap boiler Wolfgang Lederhaas presents his soap creations on August 9, 2012 in Vienna. — AFP photos says-Lederhaas says his family thought he was mad to give up his job heading a department at the prestigious Diplomatic Academy of Vienna. And getting the know-how was hard. He went to Karlsruhe in Germany to study the science behind cosmetics and making soap, trained to become an aroma therapist and took courses and exams in perfumery, pharmacology and chemistry.

“You can also of course buy a bar of soap for 20 cents. It also has a story to tell, but not a story that you want to hear. It involves exploitation, the squandering of resources, synthetic ingredients and pollution.”

Following the “Magic Flute” soap, a bar of which was ordered by and sent to legendary Austrian conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt, the next project is a box set inspired by an as-yet-unnamed “important” contemporary Austrian painter, he says. Paintings, though, create their own difficulties, he says. “I wondered, how do I do this? I sat down for days, read about the painter and what drives him and inspires him, and wondered how to make a soap.”

Thereafter the plan is for a new box set each year, as well as other products not inspired by art

but still organic and made with the same passion, such as skincare line due in 2013.

“I can turn anything into soap,” he declares.

“Maybe the cities of the world, New York, Paris. If I did a bar of soap representing Vienna it would have to smell of marzipan and Sachertorte (a famous cake) with lots of cream.” It is early days for Lederhaas Cosmetics but initial customer feedback has been positive, he says. “From talking to customers I know how it works. They come to me and say, ‘My whole bathroom smells like The Magic Flute, it’s wonderful.’ “Another said: ‘I go to the toilet more now just so that I can wash my hands more often.”—AP