5th Jun 2012

CR IP TI ON BS SU

TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012

‘Canadian Psycho’ arrested in Berlin

Iconic cricketer Tendulkar sworn in as Indian MP

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NO: 15470

150 FILS

10 40 PAGES

www.kuwaittimes.net

RAJAB 15, 1433 AH

Kuwaiti jailed for 10 yrs for blasphemous tweets Naqi handed stiff sentence for insulting Prophet, Gulf rulers conspiracy theories

Democracies and monarchies

By Badrya Darwish

badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net

E

ngland is celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth. The total cost of the celebrations is estimated to be the shocking figure of £1.3 billion! And this comes when the UK is still passing through a financial crunch that started four years ago and London is suffering from this as well. Mind you, do not misunderstand me. This celebration is approved by the whole nation and blessed by the House of Commons, which is parallel to our parliament.

But when you hear such a shocking figure, you have to realize that the British do not waste time. It’s not all for the Queen. They use the monarchy to pull in tourists and this is a commercial decision as much as a national and political one which will reward England. The Treasury will not lose money, but the economy of the UK will boom on this occasion which comes coincidently along with the 2012 Olympics hosted by London.

So this is the beauty of the constitutional monarchy in England. It’s loved by everyone - whether extremists or liberal or Labour or Conservative. They all love their Queen and she gives more than she takes to the country. So the monarchy in England is a totally different story. According to some estimates, the monarchy costs only about £37 million per year, which comes to about 62p per taxpayer.

This is a trivial number to me.

If you compare this monarchy to our monarchies whether they are kingdoms or emirates or republican dynasties - what is £37 million per year? It’s nothing. It’s the cost of maybe one trip of one of our presidents or one palace on the side of another palace. Or pocket money for some. The problem with the Arab world is that the rulers on the whole are not learning a lesson from the Arab Spring. They still live in their dreams. When will they wake up? I have no idea.

I don’t think I’ll live to see constitutional monarchies or even democratic governments in the whole Arab world, the way it is in the West - authentic democracies that actually bring in money to the nation and not take from it. Like a successful business project. While in the Arab world, they talk about reforms only for the consumption of the West and to convince the demonstrators in the streets to go back to their homes and jobs (or rather lack of jobs.)

I want to extend my heartiest congratulations to Queen Elizabeth - maybe some of Britain’s political ideas will rub off on us.

Saudi vice chief blames agent over mall row RIYADH: The head of the Saudi religious police has come out strongly against one of his men who ordered a woman to leave a mall because she was wearing nail polish, a local daily reported yesterday.

“The world is manufacturing airplanes and we are still telling a woman ‘leave the mall because you’ve got nail polish on your fingers’,” local daily Al-Watan quoted Sheikh Abdullatiff Abdel Aziz Al-Sheikh as saying. The woman had defied the orders as she filmed her argument with the policeman and posted it on YouTube, in a video that attracted more than a million hits in the first few days after it went online.

“I was very disappointed by what I have seen.

The matter has been exaggerated and negatively exploited,” Sheikh, head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, said. “ The way the member of the commission behaved was not right, even if the girl had gone too far. He should have offered her advice and left instead of arguing with her and escalating” the situation, he said.

Continued on Page 13

LONDON: Spectators line up along the Mall prior to the Queen’s Jubilee Concert in front of Buckingham Palace yesterday. — AP

Prince Philip hospitalized, misses jubilee celebrations

Prince Philip

LONDON: Queen Elizabeth II’s husband Prince Philip was taken to hospital with a bladder infection yesterday, throwing a shadow over celebrations for the diamond jubilee.

Philip, who turns 91 on Sunday, was hospitalised just hours before he was due to join the queen and the royal family at a concert in front of Buckingham Palace, followed by the lighting of the centrepiece in a chain of 4,200 beacons spanning the Commonwealth. The prince, who underwent an emergency heart procedure in December, will

have to stay in hospital for several days, meaning he will miss the concert and a service of thanksgiving and ceremonial carriage procession today.

He had appeared in jovial form on Sunday, when he and the queen spent several hours in chilly conditions as they sailed down the Thames during a river pageant of 1,000 boats. The palace said the prince was taken to hospital from Windsor Castle “as a precautionary measure after developing a bladder Continued on Page 13

Max 42º Min 32º High Tide 00:40 & 11:21 Low Tide 05:15 & 18:33

KUWAIT: A Kuwaiti man was sentenced to 10 years in prison yesterday after he was convicted of endangering state security by insulting Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and the Sunni Muslim rulers of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain on social media. Shiite Hamad Al-Naqi pleaded innocent at the start of the trial last month, saying he did not post the messages and that his Twitter account had been hacked. The written verdict, delivered by Judge Hisham Abdullah, found Naqi guilty of all charges, a court secretary told Reuters.

The sentence was the maximum that 26-year-old Naqi could have received, his lawyer Khaled Al-Shatti said.

The judge found him guilty of insulting the Prophet (PBUH), his wife and companions, mockHamad Al-Naqi ing Islam, provoking sectarian tensions, insulting the rulers of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain and misusing his mobile phone to spread the comments. “The prison sentence is long but we have the chance to appeal,” Shatti said. Under Kuwaiti law, the defence can file an appeal within 20 days of the verdict and jail sentences have been reduced in the past for similar convictions.

Continued on Page 13

Govt: Rujaib quiz against constitution

By B Izzak KUWAIT: The government and the National Assembly appeared yesterday headed for a showdown after the Cabinet said that a grilling filed against Minister of Social Affairs and Labour Ahmad Al-Rujaib by opposition MP Saifi Al-Saifi breached the constitution and the internal charter of the Assembly. The government statement, issued following the weekly Cabinet meeting, did not say what actions it plans to take regarding the Continued on Page 13

UN chief discusses Syria with Saudi king Violence flares after rebel deadline RIYADH: UN leader Ban Ki-moon met with Saudi King Abdullah yesterday in Jeddah for talks on the crisis in Syria as well as means of combatting terrorism, state news agency SPA said. Ban discussed with the king “regional and international developments and efforts to achieve peace and end bloodshed in Syria and other hot spots in the region,” SPA reported. Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal on Sunday accused Syria’s President Bashar Al-Assad of “manoeuvring” to gain time at a joint news conference with Ban, who described the situation in Syria as “deeply troubling”.

“I once again call on the government of Syria to uphold its responsibilities and abide by the Annan plan,” the UN secretary general said at the time, referring to UN-Arab envoy Kofi Annan. “I urge all members of the international community to use their considerable influence for

a peaceful solution.” Arab leaders on Saturday called on the United Nations to act to stop bloodshed that has persisted for nearly 15 months despite the UNbacked Annan plan that includes the deployment of nearly 300 observers.

Annan on Saturday singled out Assad and his regime as the key to resolving the conflict as he warned of the spectre of all-out sectarian warfare. More than 13,500 people have been killed in an almost 15-month uprising against Assad’s regime, including as many as 2,400 since Annan’s so-called ceasefire took effect on April 12, a rights watchdog says. The UN chief also discussed with King Abdullah “international efforts to combat terrorism under the umbrella of the United Nations,” said SPA. “Among the most important challenges we are currently facing is terror, a phenomenon Continued on Page 13

JEDDAH: UN leader Ban Ki-moon meets Saudi King Abdullah yesterday. — SPA

20-year-old cellist crowned Miss USA

LAS VEGAS: Miss Rhode Island Olivia Culpo (center) is surrounded by fellow contestants after being crowned Miss USA during the 2012 Miss USA pageant late Sunday. — AP

LAS VEGAS: The newest Miss USA winner is a Rhode Island cellist who describes herself as a nerd and aspires to be more like Hollywood icon Audrey Hepburn. Olivia Culpo shares Hepburn’s European heritage and dark brown hair and soon they will share something else.

Culpo said after winning her crown Sunday night that she plans to go to Tiffany & Co in New York and recreate Hepburn’s iconic opening scene from “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”. Culpo, a Boston University sophomore, will take a year off from her studies to tackle her duties as Miss USA and represent the nation in the 61st Miss Universe contest in December.

The 20-year-old said she wished she could have shared her crown with her 50 competitors during the pageant at the

Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip.

Culpo strutted across the stage in a lilac bikini, then donned a flowing fuchsia gown with sparkly trim around her waist and decolletage. After making it to the final five, Culpo voiced her support for transgender beauty queens during the make-or-break interview round.

“Would you feel it would be fair that a transgender woman wins the Miss USA title over a natural-born woman?” asked celebrity judge Rob Kardashian. The question came from a pageant follower on Twitter, a first for the competition.

Culpo didn’t hesitate before embracing the Miss Universe Organization’s recent decision to admit transgender Continued on Page 13

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TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012

LOCAL

Dubai, Malaysia, Thailand main summer tourist destinations Egypt, Syria, Lebanon out of the list

By Ben Garcia KUWAIT: Dubai has always been an all time top favorite destination for many Kuwaitis. But if we are talking about the summer break/holidays, Malaysia is on top of the list, dislodging Thailand. Several travel agencies who are booking for summer vacation this year claimed Malaysia seems to be on top of the list for many Kuwaitis this year, maybe for convenience [in terms of religion], clean facilities, wonderful food, beautiful weather and soothing sceneries. Jumbo Travel, one of many travel agencies in Kuwait said, Bangkok has been number one tourist attraction for Kuwaitis for

Manager Avenues Office of Jumbo Travel explained that Thailand has been on top of the list for several years but during the recent past, some political events and floods discouraged Kuwaitis to visit Thailand. “The discouraging news drove many Kuwaitis to select other countries in Asia. Malaysia is one best places to visit, regaining their old top one throne. But it doesn’t mean that Bangkok is set aside, it isn’t. It is only down by one ladder,” explained Rahmatullah.

Among the list of top ten destinations for Jumbo Travel Company include Turkey, London, Paris, Munich, Singapore, Barcelona and the newest addition to top ten is Sri

A tourist attraction in Turkey. several years. But two years ago, Malaysia captured the number one position.

Speaking with the Kuwait Times yesterday, Riaz Rahmatullah,

Lanka. “Sri Lanka gained lots of interest from many Kuwaitis especially after the insurgency problem there. it is now among the top ten destinations for many Kuwaitis as

per our record. Perhaps they were encouraged by the fact that Sri Lanka is spending money for tourism promotion and perhaps the accessibility,” Rahmatullah opined.

According to Rahmatullah, Sri Lanka offers the best sceneries and climate.

Another interest which gained popularity this year were the Far East and European country cruises. “ The demand for Far East and European country cruises have increased considerably this year.

Like the cruises to the Far East which starts in Singapore and cruises through neighboring Bangkok, Malaysia, Indonesia and China. It gained a lot of popularity not only among Kuwaitis but also expatriates. Meanwhile, the service cruises to Europe is same.

These tourism packages are gaining momentum just like the rail Europe tourism packages. The rail Europe is similar to cruising but this time the tour uses the train from one country in Europe to another.

We are selling train tickets worth KD20-KD50 and they can be used for train travels throughout Europe,” he added.

The list for the top travel destinations for Jumbo Travel, Alabdul Jalil Travel and Tourism and the Ajwaa Travel and Tourism Company are nearly same although some countries like Bosnia and China are coming out appearing in the top list.

However, the list of top ten for Alfadhel Aviation is quite different.

Malaysia is also mentioned.

However, their number one destination was Istanbul, Turkey followed

by London, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Dubai, Barcelona, Frankfurt, Munich, India and Singapore. Meanwhile, the summer favorite for many Kuwaitis like the Sharm El-Sheikh in

Egypt, Beirut in Lebanon and Damascus, Aleppo in Syria were virtually inactive blaming it to the safety and security concerns in those countries. “Egypt as you all know is always on top of the destinations for many years in Kuwait.

But because of the prevailing situation there, we receive no enquiries so far. Lebanon’s security is also in question since they are very close to Syria. So we hardly receive any booking for tourism in these countries too,” admitted Rahmatullah.

Asked on why the United States is not included in the preferred top list to visit this summer, he said “I think it’s about money. If you visit Malaysia for example, the ten-day expenses will only amount to just five-days in the US or even in Europe. They still travel to the US but not like the top ten choices,” admitted Aysha Zafra, Marketing Manager Ajwaa Tourism and Travel Company. Kuwaitis, according to Seline Raj, Manager Tourism Travel from Alfhadel Aviation Company, consider value for money but also the maximum satisfaction and benefits. “Kuwaitis know how to value their money. Maximum satisfaction and fun are of great concern.”

Glenda Gnilo from Alabdul Jalil Travel and Tourism noted Kuwaitis will not just book for a ticket but would actually ask questions about expenses and the best places to visit. “They ask many questions. We recommend some places and they decide. Some of them will call us after few days and book for their tickets. They ask a lot on the matter regarding expenses and the food,” she said.

(In filing this story Kuwait Times did not use a specific survey with scientific proof, but randomly visited few travel agencies instead.)

One of Malaysia’s tourism sites.

Separate passport required for children’s visa KUWAIT: Parents who have their children’s residencies registered in their own passports could soon be required to obtain separate passports for their children in order for the a child to have a visa, according to reports published yesterday in local press.

Quoting a security source on the condition of anonymity, Al-Qabas reported that General Director of the Migration General Department, Maj Gen Kamel Al-Awadhi, held a meeting with directors of migration sub-departments in the six governorates that resulted in “a decision to stop issuing visitor’s or dependency visas to children registered in the passport of one of their parents and are yet to have their own pass-

Bids for Kuwait Metro control systems top 60 KUWAIT: The technical body charged with considering development projects and initiatives said yesterday that it had received over 60 letters from specialized local, regional and international companies expressing interest to invest in the project for the control systems of the first phase of Kuwait Metro, in a Public-PrivatePartnership (PPP) framework virtue of law 7/2008.

A statement by the technical team said the government aims to create a fully integrated public transport network that offers flexibility of movement for the capital city and its suburbs, as part of the “Kuwait 2035” blueprint. The network is to incorporate the latest technology.

The control systems project includes development and maintenance of heavy-maintenance stations,

port”. The new stipulation ultimately requires that all children living in Kuwait must have a separate passport, which is something the source indicates “would help prevent problems that could develop in case of a parent’s travel or residency expiration”. Separately, Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Ahmad Al-Rujaib released a decision allowing domestic workers to transfer their residency from article 20 to article 18 residency for working in the private sector. The new stipulation is valid only during the period between June 1 and Nov 30, 2012, and requires that the residency is transferred under the sponsorship of the same employer.

News

as well as control system and carts components. This is the first step of the first phase of the metro project, and is to be followed by infrastructure tenders and operator tenders.

Preparations are ongoing, the statement said, for pre-qualifications for the control systems company project, and the tender would be announced in all transparency and equal investment opportunity later.

in brief

MOE to accept US high-school certificates KUWAIT: The Director of private education at the Ministry of Education, Mohammad Al-Dahes, said that the administration, starting from next week, will accept applications from students who completed their education through American High School systems in Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries will be accepted in Kuwait. He explained that applications must be supported with documents showing transcripts from 1st, 2nd and 3rd high school classes as well as a copy of the original certificate. The documents must be signed and stamped by the Saudi cultural attache in Kuwait. Regarding intermediate phases, an original certificate is required, as well as a copy, which must be signed and stamped by the Saudi cultural attachÈ in Kuwait in addition to a copy of the individual’s Civil ID or their passport.

RABAT: Chairman and Director General of Kuwait News Agency Sheikh Mubarak Al-Duaij Al-Ibrahim Al-Sabah discussed here yesterday with Director General of the Arab Maghreb News Agency Khalil Idrissi Hashemi prospects of fruitful cooperation between the two agencies.

Kuwait studies Malaysia’s judicial system KUALA LUMPUR: A delegation of Kuwaiti Ministry of Justice has paid a visit to Malaysia to examine the nation judicial systems and designs of buildings that house offices of the state legal and judicial authorities.

Faisal Abdullah Al-Khamees, the assistant undersecretary for financial and administrative affairs, a member of the delegation, said that the visit was aimed at examining designs of buildings of courts and study administrative proceedings that serve the judicial authority.

The Kuwaiti delegation visited headquarters of the Supreme Court in the city of Putrajaya, holding talks with specialized personnel, he said, adding that he and his companions also visited several identical buildings and headquarters in various states of the country.

The delegation, which gathered information about the Malaysian judicial system, would seek to “transfer such successful administrative experiences to the State of Kuwait,” Al-Khamees said, noting that the buildings housing legal and judicial authorities in the Asian nation were specially designed to facilitate daily activities of these departments and staff.

Al-Khamees was accompanied by the director of the penal media department, Walid Abdullah Al-Ghanem, and the director of the department of engineering projects, Samir Abdul Razek Al-Saleh. —KUNA

Banks upping safeguards against piracy KUWAIT: Sources in the banking sector revealed that local banks are planning to bolster their precautions against piracy. Their main concern is for credit accounts, especially those used abroad. The sources added that a key defense against piracy is to replace old cards with the newest versions, which must be up to date with the latest technologies. In this way, customers will be better protected both abroad and in Kuwait. The sources added that, as technology advances and develops, risks and dangers for both customers and banks also increase. The piracy of credit cards has spread across continents recently, including certain GCC countries, and resulted in a loss of trust in both banks and customers. Several piracy operations were unearthed last year in the Middle East where large withdrawals were successfully taken, causing severe damage to several banks and raising questions regarding the credibility of credit cards.

MOE announces completion of new schools KUWAIT: The Ministry of Education’s Undersecretary, Tamador Al-Sdairawi, said that the new schools , which were constructed to reduce the number of students in each class to just 25, are ready. After her meeting with various education area managers, she told reporters that the new buildings are awaiting their electricity supply and that the Minister, Dr Nayef Al-Hajraf, has written to the MEW to arrange it as quickly as possible. She added that she discussed the preparations needed for the next academic year with the educational area directors, such as the provision of water coolers and air-conditioning units. Al-Sdairawi said that the construction department is following up on maintenance contracts for the schools in need of maintenance, further adding that the Ministry will provide mobile telephones to the new schools until the Ministry of Communication provides phone lines for them.

KUALA LUMPUR: Kuwaiti Ministry of Justice delegation with Malaysian officials.

TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012

local

Smartphone app helps Kuwait’s Bedoons spread awareness Legal, effective medium to raise understanding

By Ahmad Jabr KUWAIT: The term ‘bedoon’ is commonly used by local media outlets when covering news concerning the community of stateless residents in Kuwait. While the majority of people in Kuwait are aware of the term’s meaning, as well as the status of the community it refers to, many are uninformed about a lot of the details regarding the origins of the issue and the efforts being made to resolve it.

In an effort to address the issue, a group of young men from the bedoon community, joined by Kuwaitis both within and outside the country, launched a smartphone app that provides background information about the origins of the stateless residents’ problem. The app also answers questions in an attempt to clarify the many ambiguities and misconceptions surrounding the thorny topic.

“The idea came after we felt the need to spread awareness about the bedoons’ dilemma within Kuwaiti community and the stateless residents’ community alike,” the programmers of the Kuwaiti Bedoons App told Kuwait Times yesterday, adding that launching a smartphone application was found to be “...the easiest and most successful way to deliver information smoothly given the spread of the smartphone technology in Kuwait.”

The group behind the application indicated that they are working independently without any affiliation to organized movements. “ We chose a general name like ‘Kuwaiti Bedoons’ for our cooperation because we are not affiliated to a specific public group or movement within Kuwait or abroad,” the group explained. Most group members prefer to keep their identity undisclosed for personal reasons, but they added that the group includes well-known figures such as columnist Nawaf Al-Badr and media personality Abdurrahman Al-Husaini.

The application was released late last

month and can be found both in the Apple Store and the Android Market. It is currently only available in Arabic, but the programmers are currently working on an English version. “The English language is our gateway to the world,” the group said, assuring that the English version is currently under development and will contain full information to introduce the bedoons’ problem to the English speaking community around the world.

The application’s interface contains icons leading to several pages, including a page explaining the bedoons’ issue from its emergence until the present day. There are also pages featuring pictures and video footage showcasing various topics concerning the community. Furthermore, the application has a section showing official documents which, the group said, “Prove the violations committed against the stateless residents” throughout their history, as well as a section containing the latest news updates regarding the issue.

“Preparations and planning to translate our idea into reality took us nearly four months,” the group explained, indicating that the project was funded solely using the contributions of group members. “ We haven’t received any financial support from any outside groups or individuals.” The group hope that the application helps fight the negative beliefs held by many about the stateless residents’ case and deliver a more accurate view of their cause. “Our initiative aims to spread awareness and send our message to the public in a way that is legal and acceptable,” the group added.

The application also contains a podcast service that is updated weekly with the latest developments about the bedoons’ issue, in addition to links to the group’s pages on Facebook and Twitter. It also provides a demonstration on Google Maps pointing out the areas most populated with bedoon communities in Sulaibiya, Taima and Ahmadi.

Stray landmine kills shepherd

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: A Bangladeshi shepherd was k illed in Al-Salmi deser t when he stepped on a land mine, which was most likely left over from the Iraqi invasion 1990, said security sources. The shepherd’s sponsor called the police to report the incident.

Thieves in custody Four Syrian expatriates were arrested for stealing KD 13,000, security sources revealed, adding that the suspects confessed to stealing the money. Further investigations are in progress.

Fatal accident An Asian female expatriate was killed instantly when she was run over by an Egyptian driver in Fahaheel, said security sources. The driver was arrested and

will face second degree murder charges.

Hawally murder Security sources revealed that further information has been unearthed in a recent case where a citizen was murdered by his friend in Hawalli, who was under the influence of narcotics and alcohol. The murderer led the police to the murder weapon, a knife, and provided a detailed confession. The murderer said that had met the victim in Kuwait central prison, where they were both doing time for drug abuse.

Kabd fight A 35-year-old Indian expatriate sustained a back injury during a fight at a vegetable market in Kabd, security sources revealed. He was rushed to Farwaniya hospital for treatment.

Babtain Foundation takes part in Tunis conference KUWAIT: President of the Board of Trustees of the Abdulaziz Saud AlBabtain Foundation Prize for Poetic Creativity Abdulaziz Al-Babtain said here yesterday that geography is no longer an obstacle in making the human voice reach farthest extent possible after issues of humanity have merged to the extent of fusion.

Al-Babtain said ahead of his participation in the 3rd International Conference for Dialogue of Southern-Northern Mediterranean countries, to be hosted by Tunis today, that the participation of his

foundation stems out from its consciousness towards the dialogue of civilizations, pointing out that the foundation is “an ex tension of Kuwait’s international policy aimed to build bridges of love and stand by humanitarian issues in various parts of the world.”

He added “I am pleased that the conference enjoys interest at the presidential level in the Republic of Tunisia because of the efforts of its president, Mohamed Moncef Marzouki, that is ‘a source of pride’ for intellectuals”. —KUNA

1,500 people hospitalized during sandstorm KUWAIT: At least 1,500 people needed medical attention for respiratory complications during the sandstorm that hit Kuwait Saturday and Sunday, according to statistics collected from hospitals and polyclinics around the state.

Dr Shujaa Al-Enizy, director of the Rashid Center for Allergies, indicated that 414 patients stopped by on Sunday alone, compared to only 120 during the sandstorm on Thursday. All these patients suffer from chronic respiratory diseases who came for treatment for complications as a result of the bad weather, Al-Enizy added.

Meanwhile, Al-Adan Hospital treated 445 children for respiratory problems on Saturday, according to head of the pediatric depar tment Dr

Marzouq Al-Azmi. Head of the emergency room at the same hospital Dr Ridha Janna indicated in the meantime that 34 men and 32 women received treatment the same day for the same reasons.

In Jahra, head of the governorate’s health directorate Dr Abdul-Aziz AlFarhoud noted that 275 people headed to medical facilities as of Sunday afternoon; 226 of whom to the Jahra Hospital. And in Farwaniya, deputy director of the Farwaniya Hospital indicated that 409 people were treated at his hospital including 90 children. The Amiri Hospital reportedly treated 90 people including 44 children for respiratory problems, while 64 people including 34 children were treated at the Mubarak Hospital. —Al-Qabas

News

in brief

2011 census to be released soon KUWAIT: The Director of the Central Statistics Office, Dr Abdulla Sahar, said that the results of the 2011 census are not delayed and that the administration has announced its readiness to issue the results shortly. They added, however, that the political situation were not compatible with their original plans. The results were therefore delayed until after the latest elections were completed.

Sahar further discussed the importance of statistics because there cannot be growth without statistics. He added that the Bureau will complete all of the duties entrusted to it.

NA committee meeting KUWAIT: Parliament sources revealed that the coordinating committee for the majority group will meet this week with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Khalid, to discuss his answers to the questions asked by MP Khalid Shukhair. MP Shukhair threatened to grill the Defense Minister for various violations as well as corruption. Sources said that the coordination committee is trying to defuse the crisis with the government, who recently started complaining of a lack of cooperation. The sources noted that the meeting might be a positive turning point from the majority towards the government.

Kuwait embassy holds bazaar in Oman MUSCAT: The Kuwaiti embassy launched a bazaar at the Omani Women’s Association headquarters as part of its diplomatic mission efforts to support social activities in the Sultanate. Haifaa Al-Zamel, spouse of the Kuwaiti Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman, Salem Ghesab AlZamanan, said that the bazaar endeavored to support the efforts of Al-Rahma Charity group. The bazaar was held as part of the mission’s charitable and humanitarian activities in the country. Kuwaiti artifacts and traditional handicrafts are on display at the bazaar.

KUWAIT: Ministry of Interior Assistant Undersecretary Lt Gen Eid Abu Slaib some of the officers yesterday with military service medals for their outstanding services.

Architectural Design Exhibition KUWAIT: Kuwait University’s faculty of Architecture recently organized its Students Architectural Design Exhibition at the Al-Raya Center under the auspices of KOC’s Managing Director for Governmental and Parliamentary relations, PR and Media Sheikh, Talal AlKhaled Al-Ahmed. The exhibition, held under supervision of Dr Hussein Dashti, focused on spiral-shaped constructions, which provide better sound embodiment on the inside and stronger protection on the outside. It is just like a snail, which is deaf and depends largely on sound frequencies but also has a strong shell to protect it.

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TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012

LOCAL Local Spotlight

kuwait digest

Another view: Kuwait without oil

Sponsors and maids

By Arwa Al-Wagian hen you land in Greece, you will find that its magnificent nature attracts you, and the excellence of its produc ts impresses you, apart from being distinguished with the best foods and vegetables coming out of its soil. You will enjoy the most delicious meals. While walking you will feel that you breath the true oxygen, that is not polluted. You walk near the sea to see its true color, not the color of pollution and garbage as the case in Kuwait, that apart from its prestigious civilization which we cannot ignore.

It is a touristic country without any doubt, and enjoys all natural wealth, and God blessed them with beautiful weather year long. All this wealth and heritage came together in a country that is going through poverty and threatened to exit from the European union.

Its exit from the EU will cause an “economic crisis”, that will be reflected socially as in the spread of crimes resulting from the increase in the number of the unemployed and the increase of poverty rates, and these are factors that cannot be kept away from the rest of the union’s countries.

This leads me, involuntarily, to think about Kuwait. The only wealth we have is oil, nothing else. It is a desert country that suffers from hard atmospheric conditions all year long, agriculture is limited and the country is not an attractive touristic destination. Kuwait suffers from dangerous pollution, we breath polluted air, we swim in a polluted sea, we are suffering from bureaucracy, spread of corruption, increased thefts and troubled political situation year long.

Without oil, we would not have been a rich country with good salaries, living a luxurious life that makes the Kuwaiti travel year long, and ride new air conditioned cars all the time. This oil made us live a comfortable life despite other poor resources.

We thank Almighty Allah for his bounty, but what about if oil dry out? What will be Kuwait’s image on the world’s map? Are we going to be listed among the poor countries? Are we going to get used to live with poverty after getting used to luxury?

The existence of the National Assembly did not benefit us to find an alternative for oil, did not help us implement the development plans and did not stop corruption, rather it may have increased it. The existence of this assembly made us pay attention to secondary problems, that are related to curbing freedoms and submitting grillings to ministers all year long, which puts us in a puzzled situation. Where are our representatives? Do they have a political vision? Did they think about Kuwait’s future for one day, as it only has one resource, which is oil? Did they think about an alternative? Of course no. They only thought about their differences, ignoring our true concerns as people with poor resources.

W

Muna Al-Fuzai

muna@kuwaittimes.net ust when we thought that everything was alright and peaceful, issues arise and ruin the dream. The love-hate relationship between maids and their sponsors is never-ending. Today, I want to examine the love-triangle between recruitment agencies, sponsors and maids.

Recently, the cost to bring a maid from the Philippines or Sri Lanka increased to around KD 600900. The amount is paid as commission by the sponsor to the recruitment agency, who places a maid in their home and guarantees that, should any problems arise during the first three months, they will bear full responsibility. I agree that the fees should be high to ensure that only those who really need a maid can bring one - not those looking for a woman to treat as a girlfriend or sex object.

The agency takes considerable responsibility, which many sponsors don’t understand. The situation is akin to people who take a loan and focus solely on the money, completely forgetting that the process involves a lot of paperwork and signatures. The same applies to desperate sponsors who want to get a maid as soon as possible without examining the entire process with the agency. They don’t even check to see if there’s a hidden deal between the maid and the agency before agreeing to her employment.

A friend of mine was confronted with a similar situation when she went to a recruitment agency to hire a maid. She hired a Filipina maid and gave the office approximately KD 950. The agency told her that if any issues arose during the first three months of employment, they would interfere and bear the responsibility.

Nothing was said about the KD 950 KD and my friend assumed that her money would be protected by the guarantee should something happen. According to my friend, who I trust is a decent person and not an abusive or cruel sponsor, the maids had complained of homesickness during the first month, but she assumed it was to be expected. The maid acted normally she reached three months of employment, at which point she disappeared.

She became frantic looking for the maid, fearing that something may happen to her, before receiving a call from the agency informing her that the maid had returned to them on her way to her embassy. They said that she was no longer willing to work in Kuwait and would like to return to her home country!

My friend understood and respected the maid’s wishes, but was frustrated when she learnt that the money would not be refunded. She suspects that there was an arrangement made between the agency and the maid in which the maid is instructed to stay put for three months before running away and asking to be sent back home, therefore sparing the agency any responsibility in the matter. That, I think, is very a dirty trick !!

The sponsor loses their money, the agency is free of responsibility and the maid goes home. It’s like a vacation period! There was a contract between the parties, and as long as the maid was not being abused or beaten or raped, then she shouldn’t be allowed to make stupid allegations or use homesickness as an excuse.

Who will compensate the sponsor for the money she lost? No one. The agency simply apologizes and points out that the three-month period had elapsed, therefore freeing them of any responsibility. They insisted that the maid also claimed that she was not being paid and wanted to go back home. Sponsors lose considerable time and money in such cases.

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kuwait digest

Political scene — a flashback

By Abdullatif Al-Duaij ollowing an unconstitutional dissolution of the parliament in 1976 and the late Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah AlSabah subsequently taking control over the state’s affairs, an alliance between the government and religious groups was established. And since Sheikh Saad became responsible for the naturalization file which benefited large portions of tribal citizens, tribal groups also joined the alliance. This established the cooperation of power, tribal groups and religious groups in the political scene (it can also be considered a four-way coalition if we divide the religious section into Sunnis and Shiites whose relationship was stable at the time).

The government’s blessing to the religious-tribal allowance pushed Kuwait 30 years to the back. One of the main characteristics of that era is the emergence of the bedoons or the stateless residents problem that in fact originally resulted during the naturalization process that was not free from political and social influence. This era also featured crises such as the commercial depression, deterioration in the transit market, the Souk Al-Manakh stock market crash, and eventually the Iraqi Invasion.

It is important to note that the commercial depression was a natural result of a conflict in the political scene between social groups. On one hand, the government’s best interest was to keep the state under control of the oil incomes. On the other, merchants sought to maintain their power by improving their businesses. Therefore, limiting merchants’ activity by eliminating the transit trade and Kuwait’s leading economic status, fill perfectly in line with the government’s political ambitions.

Following the Liberation, Kuwait saw elements of recovery from the government’s policies practiced prior to the invasion, and that affected by the Western influence that diminished the superior status of power, as well as the relatively improved democratic work. This situation created a state of balance that eliminated the influence of the tribal-religious alliance after HH Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah became the prime minister, and subsequently handing the post to Sheikh Nasser AlMohammad Al-Sabah. Selecting Sheikh Nasser was in accordance with the policy of economic development that Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad established, and that with the main goal of turning Kuwait into a financial hub in the region as it used to be in the period before the three way coalition between the government, the tribal and religious groups was established.

This created a case of animosity between and the religioustribal alliance and Sheikh Nasser; as the former worked hard to curb the reduction of their influence, and at the same time worked to regain their dominance back.

One of the effects the Invasion era left on Kuwait is that it damaged the bond established between the government and tribes, setting tribal citizens “free” from being “completely loyal” to the government. Meanwhile, the decades that followed the early coalition between Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah and tribal groups brought new tribal generations who are Kuwaiti by origin, and thus their loyalty became to their home country in the first place instead of being to the person who helped them get privileges such as citizenship or job opportunities. Tribal citizens became ‘equal’ to all other citizens in opportunities. These developments led to the establishment of the self proclaimed

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opposition in the political scene, which became a coalition of tribal groups divided based on ethnic groups, and religious groups which divided into political factions related to the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafist ideology.

Following the fall of their coalition with the government, the new tribal-religious coalition needed a new leader that plays a similar role of Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah to add a civilian character to the alliance. Ahmad Al-Saadoun became that leader. After that, the coalition managed to garner support of young citizens with the pretext of fighting alleged corruption and achieving long awaited reform.

Unfortunately, young citizens are yet to realize that the main goal of the new alliance is to oust Sheikh Nasser AlMohammad, not only because of corruption (which could be true or not), but in order to fight the policy of turning Kuwait into a regional hub as well. This policy would be too open-minded for religious groups to accept, and would provide more privatization opportunities that go against the tribal groups’ policy of maintaining control.

The calls for reform and developments made by the religious-tribal coalition are lies; the same way they lie when they claim commitment to protect the constitution-yet continue to violate democratic principles. It’s worth mentioning that the majority of tribal and religious candidates won during the last elections, despite youth’s calls for freedoms and an elected cabinet. Development and diverse sources of income requires measures to handle problems that could arise from drop in oil prices, such as cutting spending and enforcing privatization. This goes against policies of the tribal-religious coalition, who seek to maintain control over the state’s resources, as well as fight the social, political and economic openness that would become inevitable should Kuwait become a financial hub in the region.

Now as we suffer the consequences of the forced collapse of the K-Dow project, I believe it’s the best opportunity to point out that the new opposition, or the Popular Action Bloc in specific, do not have an interest to see the development process go ahead. Instead of supporting a mega project that could benefit contractors, capital owners and skilled workers alike, the opposition wants the country’s wealth to be used to increase salaries or drop bank loans.

The tribal-religious coalition stopped their revolution against corruption as soon as Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad was ousted and replaced by his former deputy, HH Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, who was appointed to lead a nearly identical cabinet. In the meantime, the state’s policy became more oriented towards limiting freedoms, and paving the way for religious dominance to return. The three-way coalition brought Kuwait regulations in the 1982’s parliament such as a law to require the Muslim faith as a condition for gaining Kuwaiti citizenship - a law that the late Jassem Al-Saqr was the only MP to oppose. Today, the parliament passed a law to enforce the death penalty against offenders of religious figures - a law that Jassem AlSaqr’s son, Mohammad Al-Saqr, was the only MP to oppose. Is it coincidence, or is it true that history is repeating itself? —Al-Qabas

A closing note: Kuwaitis respect lines when traveling, smokes in designated areas only, does not throw his garbage in the street, yet, as soon as they land in Kuwait Airport, start bothering people with his cigarettes while waiting for their luggage. They throw their garbage on the floor, while the dustbin is only a meter away. Can you hate your country to a point of destroying it with your hands?

Then...you shout slogans like “I will sacrifice my soul for Kuwait” ... we do not want your soul, we want your respect for Kuwait. —Aljarida

kuwait digest

The government’s trap

By Dr Hassan Abbas uwait was never a country that adopted a full democratic system of ruling, or a state with a single -par ty ruling system, but always been something between the two. This is something that started over half a century ago, and is ongoing until today. However, it seems that members of the Majority Bloc are still feeling the euphoria of their election victory, to the point of believing that they became in control of things in Kuwait.

As the Majority Bloc seek to force their point of view on all parts of the society, they ignore the fact that the government still has many cards up their sleeves which they can play whenever necessary. The cabinet was never contented with the elections results, and in my opinion have been working since day one to foil the majority’s work.

The cabinet’s dissatisfaction was made clear early when they refused the Majority Bloc’s demands of appointing six of its members as ministers. Eventually, the Majority Bloc agreed with one member offered a minister’s post, not knowing that they were lured into a trap.

The second strike came from the cabinet’s lineup, which featured little changes from its predecessor. First, the cabinet retrieved finance minister Mustafa Al-Shamali who became one of

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the most heated points of conflict between cabinets of former Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser AlMohammad Al-Sabah and the parliament’s opposition. Moreover, Ahmad Al-Rujaib was included in the cabinet despite his bad reputation within the tribal-dominated majority who regard him as having discriminating views against tribal citizens.

After that, the cabinet foiled the Majority Bloc’s attempts to enforce “vital legislations” such as the death penalty for offenders of God or the Prophet Mohammad (PBHU); which the cabinet is set to reject after voting in its favor when it was passed by the parliament. Moreover, the cabinet looks to go ahead with the North Zoor power plant project despite the parliament majority’s rejection. All these ‘cards’ played by the cabinet helped defuse the power and effectiveness of the Majority Bloc, and put them in a bad situation in front of voters who are now realizing that even by gaining the majority in the parliament, the opposition cannot take control over the political scene.

With all that in mind, I urge Mps to star t preparing their election camps because a dissolution seems imminent ever since you fill in the government’s trap! —Al-Rai

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TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012

Local

Al-Rujaib mulls resignation to avoid facing grilling motions

Lebanon ready to protect Kuwaitis

Majority Bloc decision crucial

BEIRUT: Lebanese President Michel Suleiman has affirmed that his country was officially and publically set to receive, host and protec t Kuwaiti tourists and visitors.

Upon his return to Lebanon after a short-visit to Kuwait, President Suleiman, in a press statement, reiterated his gratitude to the Amir, government, and people of Kuwait for their constant side-to-side stances with his country in international and regional arenas, as well as their assistance in areas of development and reconstruction.

The Lebanese President paid short visits to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. He is to visit UAE today to address situations in Lebanon and Syria.

Meanwhile in Algiers, Algerian Commerce Minister Mustapha Benbada said Kuwaiti businessmen were welcomed to invest in the Algerian market.

Benbada made the remarks while visiting the pavilion of Kuwait in Algeria’s 45th International expo, and said Kuwait’s participation in the expo reflected its desire to boost economic relations and cooperation between the two countries.

Benbada invited Kuwaiti businessmen to seize investment oppor tunities in Algeria. The Algerian minister also called for cementing commercial and economic ties.

Kuwait ’s Ambassador in Algiers Saud AlDuweesh said Kuwaiti companies participating in the expo were keen in exploring investment opportunities in the north African country.

He said that Kuwait was keen in participating in international exhibitions that would benefit the Gulf state’s economy. The expo, due until next Tuesday, marks Algeria’s 50th independence. —KUNA

KUWAIT: Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Ahmad Al-Rujaib is mulling a decision to resign in order to avoid facing two grilling motions that could end with him voted out of office, two newspapers reported yesterday. If the rumors turn out to be true, Al-Rujaib would become the second minister in the current cabinet to resign after former Finance Minister Mustafa Al-Shamali who quit after the debate of his grilling which ended with a request for a vote of confidence.

The two interpellations, filed by MPs Saifi Al-Saifi and Riyadh Al-Adasani, are set to be debated on June 19. Al-Rujaib is not

expected to survive if the 30-plus member Majority Bloc chooses to support either of the grillings that tackle a slew of topics ranging from irregularities in the labor field, the sports sector, orphanages as well as the co-operative societies sector.

In the meantime, Al-Jarida reported yesterday that Prime Minister HH Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah is set to meet next week with Parliament Speaker Ahmad AlSaadoun and Deputy Speaker Khalid AlSultan “to discuss the future of the relationship between the two authorities following the recent developments that saw increase of tensions”.

The sources who made these news available after being granted anonymity indicate that the “future of the relationship as well as the fate of the parliament and cabinet” will be outlined during the highprofile meeting, but expressed pessimism about positive outcomes coming from the meeting.

Spectators see that efforts to mend the relationship between the two authorities could soon hit a brick wall with speculations about the cabinet rejecting two draft laws passed by the parliament, as well as going ahead with the North Zoor power plant project against the Majority Bloc’s

recommendations. The relationship is also marred by the redundancy in grilling motions filed, as well as the backlash of an International Court order requiring Kuwait to pay KD2.16 billion to Dow Chemical over the K-Dow deal which was canceled in 2009.

On that regard, Al-Rai daily reported yesterday quoting cabinet insiders that the cabinet is expected to approve a draft law to establish the Jaber University for Science and Technology. The topic is not mentioned in the official statement released by the cabinet following their weekly meeting yesterday. —Al-Qabas, Al-Rai, Al-Jarida

Oil Capital scheme draws interest of Al-Saadoun

KUWAIT: Deputy Premier, Foreign Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah received on Sunday copy of credentials of UAE’s Ambassador to Kuwait Dr Ali Ahmad Al-Zaabi. The meeting was attended by foreign undersecretary Khaled AlJarallah, director of Sheikh Sabah’s office Sheikh Dr Ahmad Nasser AlSabah and director of protocols Ambassador Dhari Ajran Al-Ajran.

KUWAIT: The team promoting the project ‘Kuwait as the world oil capital’ briefed the Speaker of the National Assembly, Ahmad Al-Saadoun, about the scheme and the chairman showed interest in the scheme and requested further details for deeper examination, Ahmad Al-Arbeed, a leading oil personnel and architect of the venture, revealed.

Al-Arbeed, an expert in the petroleum sector, said he and a number of the team’s voluntary members informed the Speaker about the project. They added that Al-Saadoun asked for further details, noting the necessity of enacting special legislations for the execution of the scheme.

The oil expert added that he explained to Al-Saadoun the benefits forecasted for the State as a result of implementing the project and underlined the need for support from the Parliament for the project.

Al-Arbeed added that several other lead-

ing figures have been informed about the plan, which drew praise from various national quarters.

Ali Thunayan Al-Ghanem, Chairman of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, praised the project after being briefed about it last week and praised and called for the removal of any potential obstacles that may hinder its execution.

The Minister of Public Works and Minister of State for Planning and Development Fadhel Safar, recently said that the idea of promoting Kuwait as the oil capital of the world will come to fruition after being studied. He further noted that the scheme was in line with Kuwait’s endeavor to transform the country into an international business and investment hub. Some 200 Kuwaiti academics and former leaders in the oil sector are composing a preliminary framework to highlight thier ideas regarding the scheme. —KUNA

Kuwaiti Ambassador hosts parliamentary delegation SARAJEVO: Kuwaiti Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mohammad Fadhil Khalaf, hosted a banquet to honor the visiting Kuwaiti parliamentary friendship delegation. The guest list included Arab diplomats in the country.

The Ambassador said that during the banquet, which was held on Sunday night, that the delegation’s visit was important for

strengthening relations between the democratic institutions of the two countries.

Head of the delegation, Khalid bin Eisa, said that the relations between Kuwait and Bosnia and Herzegovina had taken on a strategic dimension which requires continuous contact on all levels. He added that the delegation was pleased with Kuwait’s reputation in Bosnia, thus bolstering their credi-

bility. Members of the delegation noted that the relations between the two nations are bound to prosper further in light of the opportunities for further cooperation and integration in the economic field.

In addition to Khalaf, the Kuwaiti parliamentary delegation includes Walid AlTabtabaei, the delegation’s Vice Chairman, Mohammad Hayef, Ahmad Al-Azmi, Adel Al-

Damkhi, Mohammad Al-Hatlani, and Bader Al-Dahoum. The Parliamentary Relations Director, Dhyab Al-Dihani, and Parliament Caucus representative, Bader Al-Tabtabaei, were also present.

The delegation is set to meet with the Chairman of the Presidency yesterday, as well as the Parliament Speaker and a host of senior officials. —KUNA

TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012

local Sheikha Hussah participates in Metropolitan meeting

Advertisement society discusses future plans KUWAIT: The International Advertisement Society, Kuwait Branch, held its first meeting during which general ideas were discussed, as they will be used to launch the society’s activities.

The meeting was held in the presence of Honorary President Adnan Al-Rashid, President of the IAS Waleed Kanafani, Vice President Iqbal Al-Hadad, Secretar y Zeinah Moqadam and board members Marwan Farah, Adnan Saad and Michel Barakat.

Waleed Kanafani urged the laying of the corner stone of the society to go ahead for two years which includes future

plans and the way it will work. Honorary President Adnan Al-Rashid spoke about the importance of the meeting which is considered a valuable opportunity for members to be oriented with “the means and tools that we will use to fulfill the society’s goals”.

He emphasized the role of strategy the board is working on to support the advertisement industry within a sound legislative and intellectual environment by holding seminars with the participation of experts in the local and international advertisement field, in addition to attracting new members to the society in Kuwait.

KUWAIT: Director General of the Dar includes a tremendous cross-section of Al-Athar Al-lslamiyyah and co-owner individuals interested in preserving, of the Al-Sabah Collection Sheikha protecting and sharing the legacy of Hussah Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah par- all those who came before us. In the ticipated in her first Metropolitan parameters of its mission, The Cloisters Museum of Art Board of Trustees meet- does the same - presenting an equally ing in New York recently as a newly varied collection of objects.”

In addition to visiting The Cloisters, elected honorar y trustee. Sheik ha Hussah is the first Arab and Muslim a gift to the Metropolitan Museum of Ar t from John D. woman to be named to Rockefeller Jr. in the this prestigious body. The 1930s, Sheikha Hussah New York City-based visited the museum’s Metropolitan Museum of main building. First she Art was founded in 1870 visited the Islamic Ar t to “collectively represent Department’s new Art of the broadest spectrum of the Arab Lands, Turkey, human achievement at Iran, Central Asia, and the highest level of qualiLater South Asia galty, all in the service of the leries, which made their public.. .” In the almost 150 debut in November 2011. years that followed, the Af ter, she visited the museum has grown to temporar y exhibition include a substantial repByzantium and Islam: resentation of ar t from Age of Transition, many cultures and comSheikha Hussah which “follows the artismunities around the world. For example, the Islamic art col- tic traditions of the southern provinces lection, approximately 12,000 pieces, of the Byzantine Empire from the sevreflects the diversity and full range of enth century to the ninth, as they were traditions in Islamic cultures and is transformed from being central to the housed in 19,000 square-feet of gal- Byzantine tradition to being a critical leries designed specifically for this pur- part of the Islamic world.”

“Working with The Metropolitan pose.

“I was honored to be invited to Museum of Art gives me the opportuserve as an honorary trustee on the nity to learn from those who’ve had Metropolitan board and now, having different experiences in developing spent several hours with this dynamic and sharing works of art to create not and committed group, I am - I admit - just a great museum but also a better in awe of what’s been done and what society. Fundamentally we have the lies ahead,” said Sheikha Hussah. “We same purpose, the Met and the Dar Almet at The Cloisters museum and gar- Athar AI-lslamiyyah, and I am confiden, which focuses on the ar t and dent that our cooperation will benefit architecture of medieval Europe, and I both organizations,” concluded found the setting inspiring. The board Sheikha Hussah.

KUWAIT: Participants of the International Advertisement Society meeting in Kuwait.

Ali Alghanim holds promotion for teachers KUWAIT: In recognition of the important role that the education sector plays in the development of Kuwaiti society, Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive has launched an exclusive promotion for teachers on all new BMW purchases.

Having kicked off on May 20, Ministry of Education teachers buying a new BMW will receive free warranty for up to five years or 150,000 km (whichever comes first) and a four-year free servicing package, valid up to 84,000km. This offer will help put teachers’ minds at ease so they can enjoy ‘no worry’ ownership with their BMW vehicles from the moment they drive away from the showroom to the day they decide to sell it.

In addition, the BMW Group importer is

supporting the Ministry of Education in its objective to give all teachers access to the digital world either via internet or Smar t Phones by combining this offer with a one year free DSL subscription with Qualitynet and an iPhone 4S. “This special promotion illustrates the value that Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive places on teachers and the role they play in s h a p i n g t he Kuwait o f to m o r row.

Continuously committed to providing premium quality products and services to all our customers, our mission is to provide them with a high level ownership experience that consistently exceeds their expectations. We therefore hope to demonstrate our appreciation for our nation’s teachers by enhancing

their daily lives and providing them with the tools to excel in their role as educators,” said Yousef Al-Qatami, General Manager of Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive.

The special promotion covers the full range of BMW vehicles, including BMW’s flagship 7 Series, BMW 5 Series and the BMW X5 and X6, as well as the newly launched sixth generation BMW 3 Series.

Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive recently launched the all-new BMW 3 S eries, the world’s best-selling premium car. Now available at the importer’s showroom in all its different lines - Luxury, Modern, and Sport - the new vehicle comes with three engine variants: the four-cylinder 320i and 328i, as well as the six-cylinder 335i, starting from KD 10,950.

KUWAIT: Kuwaiti Army Deputy Chief of Staff Lt Gen Abdulrahman Mohammad Al-Othman received yesterday the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East Matthew Spence, who was accompanied by Brig Gen Guy Cosentino, the Deputy Director for Politico-Military Affairs. Al-Othman and the two visiting officials discussed means to bolster military cooperation for the interest of both nations.

Truck driver unloads sewage into garden Political argument sparks fistfight KUWAIT: Police are looking for the driver of a sewage tanker truck who unloaded sewage into a garden in Sabah Al-Salem. Security officers headed to the scene in the early hours of Sunday morning after a man reported finding a truck unloading its load of sewage in public, causing an unbearable odor as well as possible health hazards. The driver reportedly fled the scene after realizing that the man had called the police. He had originally been insisting that he was watering the grass.

South Surra fistfight A police officer was into custody recently along with a friend after an argument over the performance of a parliament member escalated into a fistfight. The officer was reportedly visiting his friend at his diwaniya (gathering) in South Surra when the subject of the performance of an MP came up. The two disagreed on the matter and security officers had to be called to the scene as the argument escalated into a fist fight. The two were escorted to the area’s police station to face charges.

Child molester A shopkeeper was arrested recently after reportedly molesting a child inside a baqala (a small grocery store) in Salmiya. Local police were approached by a man reporting that his daughter had been subjected to sexual assault by the suspect, who owns a baqala near their building. The girl reportedly told her father that the suspect lured her to his store by offering candy before committing his crime. Security officers headed directly to the store and placed the keeper, an Iranian expatriate, under arrest. He

remains in custody pending.

Fugitive busted A fugitive was arrested recently after getting into a car accident. Police headed to the Sixth Ring Road where an Egyptian man had reported another driver for hitting his car from behind. The other driver, a Kuwaiti citizen, had reportedly tried to convince the man not to call the police by and offered to cover the repair costs. He even offered to take him to come to his house to collect the money. The Egyptian man refused and sensed that the suspect was trying to set him in a trap. Police immediately placed the Kuwaiti driver under arrest after verifying his identity and realizing that he was wanted in financial cases in which he is indebted by KD 67,000. He was referred to the authorities to face charges.

Teen mugger Jahra police arrested a teenager responsible for 12 cases of armed mugging in the area. Investigators were able to identify the suspect through the descriptions of him provided by his victims. The young man was arrested at his house and his victims identified him in a police lineup.

He admitted during interrogation that he sold the cell phones he stole at knifepoint to buy stuff to his friends.

He remains in custody pending trial.

Drug dealer A drug dealer was arrested in Surra after police caught him making a small burrow to hide drugs to be collected by a customer. The man was stopped after he attempted to escape as patrol officers approached him after noticing that he was digging in the backyard of

a house in the area. A plastic bag containing 30 narcotic pills were found with the suspect. He explained that the drugs were sold to an addict who was supposed to collect them from their hiding place. He was taken to the police station and officers launched an investigation to find the addict.

House raid attempt The search is currently ongoing for a man who disappeared after his relatives reported that he had attempted to raid their house in Qusour recently.

The suspect had managed to force his way into the house looking in search of his cousin to a settle dispute they had regarding money. The homeowners kicked him out of the house before he could attack his cousin. They called the police after he refused to leave.

However, the suspect escaped before the police arrived because he had realized that an emergency call had been made. A case was filed at the local police station.

Unlicensed firearms Four teenagers were arrested as police found an unlicensed rifle in their car in Um Al-Haiman. They were driving the vehicle without a driver’s license. Patrol officers ordered the driver to pull over after noticing him become nervous when the patrol car drove near him. Police searched the car after the driver failed to produce a driver’s license and found a loaded firearm which the three youngsters in the back seat had been trying to conceal. The driver insisted that that the weapon was his and that he only uses it for hunting. The four were placed under arrest and taken to the Criminal Investigations General Department.

—Al-Watan, Al-Rai

TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012

Buddhist vigilantes kill 9 Muslims in Myanmar attack Page 12

Canadian murder suspect arrested in Berlin Page 10

BAGHDAD: An Iraqi policeman inspects damages following a bomb attack at the Shiite endowment headquarters in central Baghdad yesterday.—AFP

Bomb hits Shiite site in Baghdad, 26 killed Tensions high as political blocs wrangle over crisis BAGHDAD: A suicide bomber detonated an explosive-packed car outside a Shiite Muslim office in central Baghdad yesterday, killing at least 26 people and wounding more than 190 in an attack bearing the hallmarks of Iraq’s Al-Qaeda affiliate.

The bombing on a Shiite religious office comes at a sensitive time, with the country’s fractious Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish blocs locked in a crisis that threatens to unravel their power-sharing deal and spill into sectarian tensions.

The attacker targeted the Shiite Endowment - a government-run body that manages Shiite religious and cultural sites - leaving dead and wounded along a main street nearby and blasting par t of its headquarters to rubble, police said.

“It was a powerful explosion, dust and smoke covered the area. At first I couldn’t see anything, but then I heard screaming women and children,” said policeman Ahmed Hassan, who was at a nearby police

station when the bomb went off.

“We rushed with other police to help ... the wounded were scattered all around, and there were body parts on the main street,” he said.

Violence in Iraq has eased, but Sunni Islamist insurgents tied to AlQaeda are still capable of devastating attacks and often hit Shiite targets to stir up the kind of sectarian pressure that pushed Iraq close to civil war in 2006-2007. Security officials said initial evidence from Monday’s blast pointed to a suicide car bomber. They said the bombing appeared to have been carried out

by Islamic State of Iraq, al Qaeda’s Iraqi wing, which often uses suicide bombers in its attacks.

The Shiite Endowment has been caught up in a dispute with the rival Sunni Endowment over control of a key Shiite shrine in the Sunni stronghold city of Samarra. An attack on the Al Askari shrine in Samarra in 2006 sparked sectarian fighting that killed tens of thousands in the two following years.

Last week, a truck bombing in a marketplace, a car bomb and several roadside explosions killed at least 17 people and broke weeks of relative calm in Baghdad, where daily attacks claimed hundreds of victims at the height of the war.

In mid April, more than 20 bombs hit cities and towns across the countr y, killing 36 people.

Islamic State of Iraq claimed responsibility for those attacks.

Since the last American troops left Iraq in December, nine years after the US -led invasion, tensions have been running high in Iraqi politics with critics of Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki threatening to seek a vote of no confidence against him.

Many Sunni and Kurdish leaders say they fear Maliki is shoring up Shiite power by sidelining them from power-sharing agreements. But Maliki supporters say his critics have long obstructed the work of his government to try to wrestle more concessions from the Shiite leader. —Reuters

Yemen: Suicide bomber kills 4 pro-army fighters SANAA: A suicide bomber blew up his vehicle outside an army barracks in southern Yemen yesterday, killing four tribal militiamen allied to the military in an attack aimed at stopping an army advance toward a town held by AlQaeda militants. Government troops are making their way toward the coastal town of Shaqra, one of a string of areas in southern Yemen where Al-Qaeda militants took control over the past year. In recent week, the government has launched an intensified offensive by troops and allied tribal fighters trying to retake the region.

Yesterday, a suicide bomber in a

vehicle drove toward an army barracks in the town of Umsurra, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) northeast of Shaqra.

Troops opened fire on the vehicle, and the driver detonated his explosives, killing himself and four tribal fighters, the Defense Ministry said. Another suicide bomber blew himself up near an army checkpoint in the same town, killing only himself, the military said in a statement. It also said that four suspected Al-Qaeda fighters were arrested in the same area, one of them suspected of being linked to the first suicide attack, the ministry said.

Al-Qaeda has increasingly used sui-

ABYAN: Yemeni Defence Minister General Mohammed Nasser Ahmed (seated-C), who escaped an assassination attempt last month claimed by the Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, meets with local tribal chiefs during a visit to the restive town of Loder in the southern Abyan province .—AFP

cide bombers and car bombs to try to stop the military offensive in the south, which escalated started May 12. Military officials said that if the military regained control over Shaqra, it will be able to cut supplies to militants in Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan province, from Al-Qaeda strongholds further east. Zinjibar and the nearby town of Jaar have been held for over a year by militants who took advantage of Yemen’s political turmoil to seize broad swaths of the south. But Yemen’s army claims it has retaken most of Zinjibar in the recent fighting.

Troops continued a slow advance on Jaar, backed by heavy airstrikes and artillery shelling. They say militants are entrenched in the town after most of the civilian population fled. Clashes yesterday between the military and AlQaeda raged for about 45 minutes left six militants and one soldier dead, military officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Earlier this week, Yemeni warplanes attacked a militant communications station near Shaqra which was used by AlQaeda to direct operations using the Internet, wireless communications and a satellite telephone. The raid killed three militants and wounded seven.

Al-Qaida’s branch in Yemen, known as Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, was behind the failed Christmas 2009 attempt to bomb an American airliner as well as a foiled attempt the following year to mail package bombs to the United States.—AP

TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012

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

Iran rallies to aid of Iraq’s embattled leader BAGHDAD: Iran has played many political roles in Baghdad since the fall of Saddam Hussein: spoiler to American-crafted administrations, haven for Iraqi political outcasts and big brother to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Shiite-led government. Now add a new description as emergency repairmen trying to keep al-Maliki’s coalition from splitting at the seams.

Shiite powerhouse Iran appears desperate to save the patchwork administration it helped create in late 2010 to pull Iraq out of its last major political crisis. Tehran is calling in favors among its allied factions in Iraq, and exerting its significant religious and commercial influence to try to block al-Maliki’s opponents from getting a no-confidence motion.

Yesterday, one of the linchpin partners in alMaliki’s government, Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, traveled to Iran for talks, government officials said.

A day earlier, al-Sadr urged al-Maliki to “do the right thing” and resign, but it remains unclear whether alSadr will bow to Iranian pressure in the end. A collapse of al-Maliki’s government would be a potential stinging blow to Iran’s ruling system, which is already nervous about the future of its other critical Middle East ally, Syria’s embattled President Bashar Assad. It also presents a rare convergence of interests between Tehran and Washington, which also views the wily al-Maliki as perhaps the only viable Iraqi leader for the moment.

“No doubt Iran is a significant political force in Iraq,” said Mehrzad Boroujerdi, a Syracuse University professor who follows Iranian affairs. “They are actively and aggressively trying to keep Al-Maliki in power.

The fear is that the downfall of al-Maliki, coupled with the uncertainties about Assad’s fate in Syria,

could leave the Iranians suddenly looking at unfriendly faces.” Iran’s fingerprints are all over alMaliki’s inner circle. Iran helped engineer the deal in December 2010 that brought al-Sadr’s antiAmerican bloc into the political fold, ending a ninemonth political stalemate and keeping al-Maliki as prime minister.

In April, al-Maliki was given a red carpet welcome during a visit to Tehran, where he had spent some time as an anti-Saddam activist. Iran delivered an even bigger reward to al-Maliki in May: bringing the nuclear talks with world powers to Baghdad as a symbol of the city’s slow rebound from war and as a showcase of Iran’s close ties. But al-Maliki’s political safety net was fraying at the same time. One government partner, the heavily Sunni Iraqiya movement, has complained of being sidelined in decision making. Kurdish parties from northern Iraq also joined the revolt. Even al-Sadr - who spent nearly four years in self exile in Iran to avoid American-led forces - signaled he, too, could jump ship and leave al-Maliki’s alliance dangerously close to toppling.

Last week, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd who has close ties to Iran and the U.S., held talks with disgruntled political factions. But he would not push the dispute to the next level by allowing a noconfidence vote in parliament, where al-Maliki’s opponents would need a majority of the 325 members to bring down the government.

At least some senior Iraqi political figures believe Iran worked hard behind the scenes to block the no-confidence effort. “There is some Iranian pressure on the president (Talabani) not to send the letter to parliament (requesting the no-confidence

vote) and to support al-Maliki,” said a lawmaker of al-Maliki’s political bloc, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not permitted to discuss sensitive political dealings with reporters. Hamid alMutlaq, a Sunni lawmaker from the Iraqiya bloc, was more blunt: “The Iranian interference annoys us a lot.”

“Iran is a big player in Iraqi politics,” he said. AlMutlaq said al-Maliki’s opponents on Sunday handed Talabani a letter with the signatures of 176 lawmakers, or 13 more than needed to bring down al-Maliki, and demanded that the president call the vote. Iraq’s political battles are further complicated by the international tussle over the country’s highest-ranking Sunni politician, Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, who is accused of running death squads that targeted Shiite officials and pilgrims. Al-Hashemi, who has sought refuge in Turkey, has denied wrongdoing and has said he is the victim of a political vendetta by alMaliki and his allies.

Some of Iran’s leverage also is applied by powerful proxies. A top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Kazim al-Haeri, recently sent a message to al-Sadr urging him to avoid dividing Iraq’s Shiites over political disputes. Although born in Iran, al-Haeri’s main group of followers is in Iraq. He is also seen as alSadr’s mentor. On Sunday, al-Haeri went further by publishing a fatwa, or religious edict, forbidding support for secular politicians in Iraq’s government.

It was widely interpreted as a clear warning to alSadr not to risk bringing down al-Maliki’s Iran-leaning administration. “This fatwa is directed at al-Sadr,” said an aide to al-Maliki. “We are waiting.” The aide

also said that both the U.S. and Iranian ambassadors in Iraq are in the unusual position of pushing the same agenda: Iraq cannot be allowed to fall back into political limbo. The aide said both diplomats reached out separately to Amar al-Hakim, head of the biggest Shiite political group in Iraq, with appeals to solve the political spat through dialogue.

The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to brief media. The current political tremors, however, are just part of a wider bid for long-term influence by Iran among Iraq’s Shiites. Iran appears to be supporting a member of Tehran’s ruling theocracy, Grand Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, as eventual successor for Iraq’s 81-year-old Shiite spiritual leader. Such as change would virtually cement Iran’s grip on Iraqi affairs and introduce a sharply different philosophy on clerical sway in politics.

Iraq’s current Shiite leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali alSistani, rejects a formal political role for the religious establishment, while Shahroudi is a product of Iran’s system of “velayat-e-faqih,” or rule by Islamic clerics.

But Iran’s increasing reach in Iraq may bring some pushback of its own. Groups such as the Sunnis and Kurds have always been uneasy about the Iran-style blurring of Shiite politics and religions. And some Shiites, including al-Sadr, had gained followers by emphasizing their Arab identity and culture rather than a satellite of Persians. “Al-Maliki may ride out this crisis,” said Mustafa Alani, an analyst at the Gulf Research Center based in Geneva. “But there is a price to pay, and that price is more Iranian influence in Iraq. This may come back to bring other problems down the road.” — AP

Egypt’s losing candidates cast fresh doubt on vote Three losing candidates declare vote invalid

TRIPOLI: The 24 Eastern Europeans accused of serving as mercenaries for ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi in Libya’s conflict last year, stand behind bars as they listen to the proceedings in court during their trial in Tripoli yesterday. A military court handed stiff prison terms to 19 Ukrainians, three nationals from Belarus and two Russians, who all denied the charges and insisted they were in Libya to work in its oil sector. —AFP

Libyan militia takes control of airport TRIPOLI: A group of disgruntled militiamen took over the country’s main airport yesterday, storming it with heavy machine guns and armored vehicles and forcing airport authorities to divert flights, a security official said. Mohammed el-Gharyani of Tripoli Security Committee said militiamen from the city of Tarhouna occupied the airport runway. Flights were diverted to Metiga air base in the city’s center.

He said the militiamen were angry over arrest of their commander, Abu Elija, on Sunday. Tarhouna in central Libya was widely seen as a favorite of deposed ruler Muammar Gaddafi. Its dominant tribe, also called Tarhouna, held many positions in the Libyan military under Gaddafi. The city’s residents are viewed with suspicion by former rebels. Tribal rivalries have swept Libya since Gaddafi was overthrown last year.

Much of the fighting has pitted militias that fought Gaddafi against those who remained loyal to his regime.

The Tarhouna group has been engaged in sporadic clashes with other militias from cities like Misrata and Tripoli. Abu Elija was arrested in Tripoli, according to el-Gharyani, but circumstances of his arrest were not immediately clear.

The attack on the airport came just two weeks before the date of the country’s first general elections since 1969, when Gaddafi took over power in a military coup. On June 19, Libyans are scheduled to elect 200member assembly to oversee writing a new constitution and form a government.

Election commission and government officials have recently given contradictory statements about the possibility that elections might be delayed, given the fragile security situation in Tripoli and many other cities. Also, there have been calls to boycott the election in the eastern part of the country, where the uprising against Gaddafi started. Many easterners are demanding more representation in the assembly. — AP

CAIRO: Three candidates knocked out of Egypt’s presidential election in the first round said yesterday that violations had rendered the result invalid, further challenging the legitimacy of the vote less than two weeks before the runoff. In a joint statement, the campaigns of thirdplaced Hamdeen Sabahy, fourth-placed Abdel Moneim Abol Fotouh and seventh-placed Khaled Ali listed irregularities which included an allegation that the ballots of 1.5 million voters systematically had been rendered void.

The criticism casts another shadow over the last stage of Egypt’s transition to civilian rule due to culminate with the army handing power to the new president on July 1. The June 16-17 runoff between Ahmed Shafiq, Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister, and Mohamed Mursi, the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate, is expected to go ahead regardless: the body overseeing the election has thrown out complaints. However, with demonstrators staging a third day of protests over the controversial outcome of the trial of Mubarak and his top aides, the fresh accusations of electoral fraud added to the doubts surrounding the already messy transition.

The complaints were based on the official logs of the vote count which by law are distributed to the candidates, the statement said. It added that Shafiq’s voters had included hundreds of members of the security forces, who are not entitled to vote, and people listed as dead.

Ballots cast in favour of Sabahy had been found loose outside polling stations in five provinces, it added. “After coordination, the campaigns of the three candidates declare the invalidity of the result of the first round of the presidential election,” the joint statement declared.

Sabahy formally asked a Cairo court to suspend the whole election and order a re-run, a judicial source said, but the legal challenge was unlikely to disrupt the election timetable.

International monitors received their accreditation too late to monitor most of the election campaign but gave guarded approval of the voting process despite several irregularities. But deeply disappointing to the revolutionary youth who took to the streets last year to end Mubarak’s three-decade rule, the election result triggered new protests fueled by concern that one of the deposed leader’s aides might replace him.

The Muslim Brotherhood has been reaching out to other reform-minded politicians in an effort to build broad support for Mursi’s presidential bid, presenting him as a bulwark against any revival by Mubarak’s old guard. The Brotherhood has long been part of the movement for democratic change in Egypt but is now itself the focus of suspicion on the part of many Egyptians who believe it to be power hungry.

The group’s critics have urged it to make clear, written power-sharing guarantees to secure broader support. Mursi met Sabahy and Abol Fotouh yesterday in a meeting that produced a joint call for participation in a mass protest today but no sign of the kind of agreement that might help rally broad support to the Brotherhood’s side in the run-off.

The participants agreed to keep up pressure for the implementation of a law passed by parliament in April and that would have stopped Shafiq from running for the presidency in the

CAIRO: Egyptian protesters chant slogans during a demonstration in Tahrir Square, the focal point of Egypt’s uprising, to protest against the verdicts on ousted President Hosni Mubarak and his codefendants in Cairo, Egypt yesterday.—AP

UN nuke reps to meet with Iranian officials VIENNA: The UN nuclear agency chief yesterday announced new talks with Iran and urged it to sign a deal that would relaunch his long-stalled probe into suspicions that Tehran worked secretly on atomic arms. For the first time, International Atomic Energy Agency head Yukiya Amano also said that Iran had demolished buildings and carried out other activities at a military facility that his agency believes was a site for such work.

Diplomats and officials accredited to the IAEA had spoken of similar work previously, describing it as an apparent attempt to clear the site of evidence of clandestine weapons-related work but confirmation by Amano lent weight to the suspicions. Amano did not specify the focus of upcoming talks on Friday between officials from his agency and a senior Iranian envoy. But in the context of his remarks it was clear that IAEA negotiators would press Iranian officials to finalize an agreement on restarting his agency’s investigation after a more than four-year pause.

Iran strenuously denies any interest in developing nuclear weapons, insisting that all of its atomic activities are under IAEA purview and meant purely to power reactors and for medical research. But its critics note that the Islamic Republic refuses to stop enriching uranium, which can be turned from nuclear fuel into the fissile core of war-

heads, despite offers of reactor fuel from abroad and increasingly tough international sanctions.

In meetings with agency officials, Tehran also has stonewalled repeated IAEA requests for a resumption of its probe, dismissing intelligence cited by the agency of secret weapons work as fabricated by the United States and its allies and declaring the issue closed. At stake in IAEA and other international

efforts to engage the Islamic Republic is the threat an Iran armed with nuclear weapons could pose to its neighbors.

The U.S. and Israel have indicated readiness to attack Iran if diplomacy and sanctions fail to curb its alleged nuclear program. Both suspect that Iran is aiming to build nuclear weapons, and Israel believes it would be a prime target.

Amano suggested his agency is not seeing everything it would like to, in

VIENNA: Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Yukiya Amano of Japan finishes a news conference after a meeting of the IAEA board of governors at the International Center, in Vienna, Austria yesterday.—AP

first place on the grounds he had served as Mubarak’s premier. They also called for a just and urgent trial for Mubarak and “the symbols of his regime”, according to a joint statement. The outcome of the Mubarak trial has added to the turbulence facing Egypt. The former president was sentenced to life in prison, along with his former interior minister, over the deaths of protesters killed in the uprising that swept him from power.

But top aides were acquitted because of a lack of evidence, raising concern that Mubarak himself could get off at appeal. Several hundred protesters blocked traffic in Tahrir Square the cradle of the anti-Mubarak uprising - for a third day on Monday in a demonstration that has fused anger at the outcome of the trial with protests at the result of the presidential vote.

“The martyrs didn’t get their rights and their mothers are weeping,” said Fawzi Fawzi, a 33year-old teacher who was in the square on Monday morning. — Reuters

opening comments to a meeting of the IAEA’s 35-nation board. “Iran is not providing the necessary cooperation to enable the agency to provide credible assurance about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran, and therefore to conclude that all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful activities,” he said. Amano went to Tehran two weeks ago to try to wrap up a deal on restarting his probe and expressed confidence on his return that agreement was near, citing a senior Iranian official as telling him so. He invoked that promise in his comments to the IAEA’s 35-nation governing board yesterday, telling them: “I was assured that agreement ... would be expedited.”

Urging Iran to sign and implement the deal as soon as possible, he also appealed for quick access to a site at Iran’s Parchin military site southeast of Tehran that the IAEA suspects is being cleansed of evidence of secret nuclear weapons-related testing. The IAEA last week showed board member nations satellite images it said buttressed such suspicions. Diplomats at the closed meeting said the photos showed at least two buildings there razed and water streaming out of another structure suspected of hiding a metal chamber allegedly used to test explosives that could be used to set off a nuclear charge.—AP

Moroccan campaigners step up calls for end to abortion ban RABAT: Hundreds of Moroccan women a day are resorting to backstreet abortions, a leading doctor has estimated, prompting calls for reform in a country where the termination of pregnancies remains illegal. Campaigners say some of those resorting to illegal abortion are the victims of rape, driven at least in part by the social stigma attached not just to having a child out of wedlock but even having suffered rape.

The victims include girls forced to work as maids and women trapped in forced marriages, they say. And the voices calling for a repeal of the ban on abortion are growing louder. A national congress will be held on June 12 in Rabat, under the auspices of the Moroccan Association for the Fight against Clandestine Abortion, headed by Professor Chafik Chraibi. Deputies and Health Minister El Hossein el Ouardi are expected to attend.

“What is happening in Morocco is dramatic,” said Chraibi, a renowned gynaecologist.

Backstreet abortions, mainly among young people, led to the women concerned being rejected by their families, he said. Women could end up being marginalised, forced into prostitution and sometimes committing suicide. While it is impossible to get accurate figures for what is still an illegal activity, Chraibi told AFP: “We believe that 600 abortions are carried out daily by doctors and another 200 non-medical abortions.

“In Tunisia, where it is legal to have abortions, it’s 20 times less,” he added. “A dozen doctors are now in prison for having carried out illegal abortion. A gynaecologist from the Al Jadida region was sentenced to a year in prison, after carrying out an abortion for a young woman,” said the doctor. And another result of the lack of access to legal abortions was the high number of abandoned children, he added: around 17,000 a year. The association he runs has been championing a reform of the law. And he argues that legalising abortion could only have a positive effect.

“Our message is that we must work on prevention, as according to the World Health Organisation, 13 percent of maternal mortality is due to abortion.” The debate over abortion is just the latest front of an ongoing conflict between conservative supporters of traditional values and more liberal, reform-minded campaigners. A recent case of a 16-yearold girl who committed suicide after being forced to wed her rapist-a provision of Moroccan law allowed him to thus escape prosecution-provoked outrage in Morocco.Chraibi however said he was more optimistic than ever that there would be change on the abortion issue. In the past, he said, the political parties were afraid to get involved. But now, the “issue has become a common problem, and the health minister backs us.” —AFP

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I N T E R N AT I O N A L Obama win could cost Romney $5 million in personal taxes WASHINGTON: To see where the presidential candidates stand on taxing the rich, just look at how they’d tax themselves. Under his own proposal, Mitt Romney would pay half what he would under President Barack Obama’s tax plan. For a man of Romney’s means, that could save almost $5 million a year. For Obama, not as loaded as Romney but still well-off, losing re-election could provide a tax windfall. He’d save as much as $90,000 a year if Romney’s plan were enacted rather than his own taxthe-rich vision.

Two nonprofit research groups, the liberal-leaning Citizens for Tax Justice and conservative -leaning Tax Foundation, did the calculations, based on the most recent completed tax returns released by the candidates.

Compared with what they owed in April, both men would be dinged in 2013 under Obama’s proposal, along with other wealthy taxpayers. They could expect savings under Romney, depending on which tax breaks the former Massachusetts governor decides to oppose.

Whether they go up or down, the candidates’ personal tax bills won’t make a dent in the nation’s trillion-dollar annual deficits, of course. But they illustrate a sticking point in the struggle to fix the nation’s finances: Just how much should affluent Americans pony up? Democrats generally say the rich aren’t paying their fair share; most Republicans argue that raising taxes on the wealthy would slow investment that creates jobs. The dispute makes it tougher to tackle urgent budget issues, such as whether to extend the Bush-era tax cuts again before they expire Jan 1.

Support for continuing the tax cuts for the middle class is wide, but a fight is under way over what to do about the wealthy. “There’s quite a difference at higher incomes between the Obama and Romney plans,” said Gil Charney, principal tax researcher for the Tax Institute at H&R Block. “Obama is looking at the rich - millionaires and billionaires - as a source of additional revenue to the government, where Romney is looking at them as a potential spark for economic growth.”

Obama’s plan would hit couples making more than $250,000 per year from several directions, raising their tax rate, dunning them more for investment

income, and limiting their tax deductions. People like Romney with earnings from private equity management would lose a big tax break. And Obama would establish a rule, named after billionaire Warren Buffett, to ensure that households taking in more than $1 million a year pay at least 30 percent in taxes.

Obama’s health care law, already in place, also raises Medicare taxes on the wealthy, especially big investors, starting in 2013. That could cost Romney more than $800,000.

None of this would come close to balancing the budget, but it could add billions of dollars per year to help reduce the deficit. Romney wants to lower current tax rates for everyone by 20 percent. This benefits the wealthy most: Dropping the highest bracket from 35 percent to 28 percent, for example, yields a much bigger savings for those at the top than lowering the 15 percent bracket to 12 percent brings for taxpayers in that group.

Romney also would eliminate the much-despised alternative minimum tax, which hits the rich and some middle-class taxpayers, too. He wants to repeal Obama’s health care law and its taxes. Romney would pair his tax cuts with huge spending reductions eventually reaching $500 billion per year. To help offset the government’s losses from lower rates, Romney says he would end some tax breaks. But he hasn’t said which ones, so it’s impossible to calculate the effect. At the extreme, if Romney persuaded Congress to eliminate all itemized deductions - hard to imagine politically - that could add another $1.3 million to what he owes under his own plan, according to Tax Foundation analyst Nick Kasprak.

Under that scenario, Romney’s bill would still be $3.5 million less than under Obama’s plan. Kasprak expressed skepticism that Romney would target enough tax breaks to offset the tax cuts he proposes. “You’d have to get rid of the vast majority of deductions and credits in the tax code to make it work, including some sacred cows like the mortgage interest deduction, child tax credit, etcetera,” Kasprak said.

Spokeswoman Andrea Saul said Romney envisions changes to create a “fairer and simpler tax system,” but did not give details. —AP

Dozens of guns seized inside Venezuelan prison Seizure follows standoff between armed inmates, troops CARACAS: Authorities seized about 125 guns stashed inside a prison following a standoff between armed inmates and troops that ended more than two weeks ago, Venezuela’s prisons chief said Sunday. Officials are carrying out an exhaustive search of La Planta prison in Caracas and they have found some guns by destroying floors and walls where the weapons had been hidden, said Iris Varela, the government’s minister for prisons. She said about 40 percent of the vast prison has not yet been fully searched.

Varela said at a news conference that the weaponry recovered included handguns, shotguns, one submachine gun, one telescopic sight, 27 explosive devices and more than 64,000 rounds of ammunition. The three-week confrontation at the prison ended on May 17 when officials reached a deal with leaders of the inmates, who agreed to be moved to other prisons. The last of more than 1,600 inmates came out the following day. The prisoners had been holed up inside resisting authorities, and gunfire had erupted repeatedly during the standoff.

One man who lived near the prison was hit by a stray bullet and died. Varela said five other people were wounded during the shootouts, including two National Guard soldiers and three inmates.

The government shut down the prison, which had long been overcrowded, once the violence ended and the last of the inmates were moved out.

Speaking with reporters at the empty prison, Varela said officials also found 6 kilograms (13 pounds) of various types of drugs and hundreds of contraband cellphones She vowed a thorough

Alleged Colombian gang leader seized in Venezuela CARACAS: Venezuelan soldiers captured an alleged Colombian drug trafficker Sunday who authorities say ruthlessly ran the neighboring country’s biggest right-wing criminal gang and conspired to expor t tons of cocaine to the United States through Mexico and Central America. Diego Perez Henao, 41, is one of Colombia’s “most sinister drug traffickers and murderers,” Colombia’s national police director-designate, Gen. Jose Roberto Leon, told reporters in Bogota.

Colombian officials called him the leader of the “Rastrojos,” or Leftovers, a violent offshoot of the Norte del Valle cartel that engages in drug trafficking, extortion and murder as it competes with other criminal bands that grew out of the far-right militias known as paramilitaries. The gang, which is thought to have hundreds of members, operates on Colombia’s Pacific coast and along the border with Venezuela, Colombian police say.

Better known by his alias “Diego Rastrojo,” Perez was indicted in 2011 in Florida on charges of conspiracy to traffic cocaine. The US State Department had a $5 million reward out for his capture. Henao was pretending to be foreman of a rice farm in Venezuela’s border state of Barinas, living with 10 bodyguards who posed as his workers, and was arrested just before dawn Sunday, Leon said.

Venezuela’s justice minister, Tareck El Aissami, said at a news conference that Perez was “one of the most wanted criminals in Latin America” and

that the government of President Hugo Chavez planned to turn him over the Colombian authorities.

Colombian and US Drug Enforcement Administration agents led Venezuelan authorities to Perez, said a US government official, who spoke on condition he not be further identified because of the political sensitivity.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos praised the cooperation of Venezuela’s counter-narcotics police, and Leon said two informants would receive cash rewards from the United States. The US State Department said Perez has “been linked to kidnappings, tortures and assassinations in Colombia, Venezuela, and Panama.”

Perez was a member of the Revolutionar y Armed Forces of Colombia, Latin America’s largest leftist rebel band, when the Norte del Valle cartel recruited him in the 1990s.

Such shifts in ideological allegiance occur periodically in Colombia’s drugfueled conflict, often propelled by lucre.

Perez became a lieutenant of Wilber Varela, a former Colombian police officer and one of that cartel’s last remaining bosses. He and the other top leader of Los Rastrojos, Javier Antonio Calle Serna, are believed responsible for the 2008 killing of Varela in Venezuela’s western city of Merida, said Leon, the Colombian police director. Calle Serna turned himself in to US authorities last month. Another of his broth-

ers, Juan Carlos Calle Serna, was arrested in Ecuador in March and sent to the United States and a third brother, Luis Enrique Calle Serna, remains a fugitive and is believed to be the titular head of Los Rastrojos, Leon added.

DEA regional director Jay Bergman said the Rastrojos have dominated Colombia’s Pacific maritime cocainesmuggling routes as well as production in the country’s southwest. He said Perez was among Colombia’s most violent criminals. “Violence is what got him there and violence was what was going to keep him in power,” Bergman said. “His pedigree from his early trafficking days is that he came out of the sicarios (cartel hitmen), so violence is in his DNA.” Bergman noted that major Colombian traffickers are increasingly hiding outside their homeland - and being caught there. Perez’s capture was the latest in a series of arrests of reputed Colombian drug traffickers in Venezeula that began after Santos took office in August 2010. Venezuela has been a major cocaine transit country in recent years, responsible for the majority of smuggling flights bound for Mexico and Central America, according the Colombian and US officials. Associated Press writer Christopher Toothaker reported this story in Caracas and Frank Bajak reported in Bogota, Colombia. AP writer Camilo Hernandez in Bogota contributed to this report. —AP

Eleven killed in attack on Mexican drug rehab center TORREON: Gunmen shot dead 11 people and wounded at least nine others at a rehab center in northern Mexico on Sunday in the latest bloody episode in a brutal turf war between drug gangs.

Dead bodies were strewn across bloodsoaked beds, armchairs and the floor at the church-operated rehabilitation center in the city of Torreon, the Milenio television network reported. “The armed attackers came on two pickup trucks, entered the center and opened fire,” a senior police official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The attack came almost a year to the day after a similar assault on a rehab center downtown left 11 people dead and wounded two others. Five drug rehabilitation centers-all in the north of the country-were attacked in 2010. In

one of the worst attacks, again in June, some 30 gunmen stormed a facility in the city of Chihuahua, killing 19 people.

These centers have become frequent targets of drug cartels, which seek members of rival trafficking groups among the patients and eliminate them to prevent them from talking to the police.

The latest assault on the Torreon center, called “Your Life on the Rock,” occurred at 9:15 pm Sunday (0215 GMT yesterday). The gunmen used AR-15 assault rifles and nine-millimeter caliber pistols, police said. According to eyewitnesses, some victims walked away before the authorities arrived. The dead have not yet been identified.

The building, located in a residential area in front of a park, was cordoned off

by police and forensic experts were working on the crime scene. The army and police established security checkpoints around the hospital where the wounded were being treated in order to prevent contract killers from finishing off those who survived the attack. Police also stepped up patrols around the city of one million inhabitants, located some 550 kilometers (350 miles) from the US border city of Laredo, Texas.

More than 50,000 people are believed to have been killed in drugrelated violence in Mexico since 2006.

That year the government launched a military crackdown on the country’s powerful drug cartels, which are themselves locked in brutal turf wars marked by macabre displays of violence such as beheadings and mass graves. —AFP

investigation into how the weapons were smuggled in.

“Those who end up being responsible for this whole situation are a bunch of traitors,” Varela said. She said no one had been detained

Venezuelan Prisons Observatory says about 560 people died in Venezuelan prisons last year, up from 476 in 2010.

When Varela was asked whether inmates are armed in most of the

decade ago in an attempt to ease violence.

The Venezuelan newspaper El Universal recently said that inmates in Tocoron prison organized a Mother’s Day concert, bringing in

CARACAS: Iris Varela, Venezuela’s Minister of Prisons, right, speaks to Wilmer Apostol, Venezuela’s Director of Prisons, in front of seized weapons during a news conference at La Planta prison in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday. —AP thus far in the investigation.

Prison unrest and crowding have become major problems for President Hugo Chavez’s government. Violence is common inside Venezuela’s prisons, where inmates often manage to obtain weapons and drugs with the help of corrupt guards. The watchdog group

country’s prisons, she said: “There’s a difficult situation, but they aren’t the majority.” She also confirmed a recent news report that one prison in central Aragua state has a discotheque, and said various other prisons have swimming pools. She said such perks were allowed in the prisons starting more than a

artists to perform at a discotheque called “Tokio.” Varela said the government plans to soon begin building eight new prisons, which are scheduled to be finished next year.

Venezuela currently has 33 prisons.

They were built to hold about 12,000 inmates, but officials have said the prisons now hold about 47,000. —AP

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

Canadian murder suspect arrested in Berlin café Magnotta went to cafÈ to read about himself: Owner BERLIN: A 29-year-old Canadian porn actor accused of videotaping a killing and mailing the victim’s body parts to the country’s top political parties has been arrested in Germany, officials in both countries said. Luka Rocco Magnotta was apprehended yesterday in an internet cafe in Berlin after a person recognized him and alerted police, Berlin police spokeswoman Kerstin Ziesmer said.

The owner of the cafe, in Berlin’s working-class Neukoelln district, told The Associated Press that Magnotta had come in to read news reports about himself when one of his employees recognized him. “A colleague recognized him from his photo, because he’d just read the newspaper,” said the owner, who spoke on condition that he not be identified by name.

He said the police happened to be outside at the time, and the employee alerted them and they arrested Magnotta at about 2 p.m. without difficulty. “Nothing happened, it all went very quietly,” he said. Magnotta is wanted by Canadian authorities on firstdegree murder and other charges.

He is suspected of killing Jun Lin a 33-year-old Chinese university student he dated - and mailing Lin’s body parts to Canadian political parties.

Julie Carmichael, a spokeswoman for Canada’s Public Safety Minister, confirmed the arrest.

“We expect that the individual responsible for these troubling

later, Ziesmer said. “He says he is the wanted person,” she added, while cautioning that his identity must still be independently confirmed by German authorities.

MONTREAL: This image which has been digitally manipulated to change the eyes and obtained from the Montreal Police Department, shows Luka Rocco Magnotta. —AFP acts will face the full force of the law,” she said. The suspect is now being questioned, and will be brought before a judge behind closed doors who will read out the international arrest warrant

Magnotta is believed to have fled to France on May 26 based on evidence police found at his apartment, and he had been placed on Interpol’s most-wanted list.

The case began last Tuesday,

when a package containing a severed foot was opened at the ruling Conservative Party headquarters. A hand was discovered at a postal facility, addressed to the Liberal party of Canada. A torso was found in a suitcase on a garbage dump in Montreal, outside Magnotta’s apartment building. Police suspect Magnotta filmed the murder. The video, posted online, shows a man stabbing another man with an ice pick while the victim lies naked and tied up. The first man later reveals he has slashed the other man’s throat. He also dismembers the corpse and performs sexual acts with it.

An online video also shows a man who looks like Magnotta committing violent acts against kittens. The video contains at least one photo made available

by Montreal police that identified the man as Magnotta. For nearly two years, animal-rights activists have been looking for a man who tortured and killed cats and posted videos of it online.

Police said Magnotta’s birth name is Eric Clinton Newman and that he is also known by the name Vladimir Romanov, and they described him as white and 5 feet 8 inches tall (1.78 meters) with blue eyes and black hair. —AP

Vatican criticizes US nun’s book on sexuality VATICAN CITY: The Vatican yesterday sharply criticized a book on sexuality written by a prominent American nun, saying it contradicted church teaching on issues like masturbation, homosexuality and marriage and that its author had a “defective understanding” of Catholic theology. The Vatican’s orthodoxy office said the book, “Just Love: A Framework for Christian Sexual Ethics” by Sister Margaret Farley, a member of the Sisters of Mercy religious order and emeritus professor of Christian ethics at Yale Divinity School, posed “grave harm” to the faithful.

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said that in the 2006 book, Farley either ignored church teaching on core issues of human sexuality or treated it as merely one opinion among many. Farley said yesterday she never intended the book to reflect current official Catholic teaching. Rather, she said, she wrote it to explore sexuality via various religious traditions, theological resources and human experience. The Farley critique, signed by the American head of the congregation, Cardinal William Levada, comes amid the Vatican’s recent crackdown on the largest umbrella group of American sisters.

The Vatican last month essentially imposed martial law on the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, accusing it of undermining church teaching and imposing certain “radical feminist themes” that were incompatible with Catholicism.

It ordered a full-scale overhaul of the group and appointed three bishops to carry it out. The crackdown on Farley, a top American theologian, will likely fuel greater resentment at Rome among more liberal-minded American sisters. The Vatican examination of the book began in 2010 and involved seeking Farley’s responses to its concerns. After her replies failed to satisfy the Congregation, it moved to a full-fledged “examination in cases of urgency” that concluded Dec. 14.

Pope Benedict XVI approved the decision last March and ordered the decision published. In its statement, the Vatican singled out specific problems in Farley’s book which it said “affirms positions that are in direct contradiction with Catholic teaching in the field of sexual morality.” Farley, for example, writes that masturbation doesn’t raise any moral problems and can actually help relationships rather than hinder them. The Vatican asserted that according to church teaching “masturbation is an intrinsically and gravely disordered action.” Farley wrote that homosexual people as well as their activities should be respected. Church teaching holds that gays should be respected but that homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered.” On gay marriage, Farley said legal recognition of gay marriage can help transform the stigmatization of gays. Levada wrote back that approving gay marriage would not only signal approval of “deviant behavior” but would obscure the value of traditional marriage between man and woman in society.

“The principles of respect and non-discrimination cannot be invoked to support legal recognition of homosexual unions,” he wrote. In her statement, Farley said she had aimed to propose a framework for sexual ethics that “uses a criteria of justice” in evaluating sexual relations. She acknowledged that her responses to certain issues do depart from traditional doctrine, but said they nonetheless were coherent in theological and moral traditions. “The fact that Christians (and others) have achieved new knowledge and deeper understanding of human embodiment and sexuality seems to require that we at least examine the possibility of development in sexual ethics,” she wrote. She said she appreciated the Vatican’s work but lamented that her positions weren’t reflected in the Congregation’s final document. The Rev. James Martin, a liberal-leaning Jesuit author, said the notification will sadden many Catholic theologians who consider Farley a mentor. “It will also, inevitably, raise strong emotions among those who already feel buffeted by the Vatican’s Apostolic Visitation of Catholic sisters in the U.S., and its intervention into the LCWR,” said Martin, who has been a vocal supporter of U.S. sisters since the Vatican crackdown.

Farley has received 11 honorary degrees over her lifetime, is a past president of the Society of Christian Ethics and the Catholic Theological Society of America, and won an award in 2008 for “Just Love.” The Vatican criticism, while seemingly harsh, is rather tame. It’s not a formal censure of Farley herself, but just the book. And given that Farley doesn’t teach at a Catholic university, the Vatican couldn’t forbid her from teaching as it has done with other Catholic theologians who don’t toe the Vatican line. But the Vatican did seem indirectly to hold Farley’s superiors to blame for having allowed her to voice such positions that are so contrary to church doctrine. The Vatican notification said it was saddened that a “member of an institute of consecrated life” would do such a thing. Farley’s superior, Sister Pat McDermott, defended Farley and said she was deeply saddened that the Vatican had criticized “the significant pastoral and ethnical thinking that are represented in her book.” —AP

OSLO: Mass killer Anders Behring Breivik (R) holds up his hands as his handcuffs are unlocked during day 30 of his trial in Oslo yesterday. —AFP

Norway killer Breivik claims childhood slights by Muslims OSLO: Confessed mass killer Anders Behring Breivik told a Norwegian court yesterday about numerous instances from his childhood and adolescence when he was supposedly slighted by Muslims, seeming to suggest that these incidents played a role in his radicalization. Breivik testified that when he was seven years old his friend’s Turkish father wrecked his bicycle, and at the age of 15 he was slapped by a Pakistani subway driver for riding on the outside of a subway car.

The court sat stunned as Breivik, who has admitted to killing 77 people in a bomb and shooting rampage last summer in Norway, read a litany of such grievances from a sheet of paper covered in minuscule handwriting.

In 1995 he said one of his close friends had been “threatened” by a Kosovo-Albanian youth while waiting for the tram, and Breivik also heard that the little sister of one of his friends had been cut with a knife - an incident he knew nothing about but still ascribed to

Muslims. When asked by a judge whether he had any positive experiences with Muslims, Breivik responded, “One good thing about Muslims is that they’re very loyal.” Breivik also made reference to several past racist-motivated attacks in Norway, such as the murders of Arve Beheim Karlsen and Benjamin Hermansen, both young Norwegian men with foreign roots. “The police in Norway received free rein to deconstruct the right-wing in Norway after that,” Breivik complained.

Hermansen’s murder in January 2001 had a poignant resonance in Norwegian society, triggering massive protests against right-wing violence. Michael Jackson even dedicated his 2001 album Invincible to Hermansen, who was 15 at the time of his death. The hearing yesterday was part of the defense’s testimony, which included expert witnesses such as a psychiatrist and an academic researcher.

The trial is expected to conclude on June 22, with a verdict to come before the first anniversary of the attacks on July 22. —AP

LAGOS: Rescuers and firefighters work at the scene of the crashed Dana Airline plane in the densely populated Toyin Area of Iju Ishaga in Lagos yesterday. —AFP

Fears of on-ground deaths from Nigeria plane crash LAGOS: Emergency workers in Nigeria used cadaver dogs and cranes to search for corpses yesterday at the site where an American-built airliner plunged to earth, killing all 153 aboard. Rescue officials said they fear many more people may have perished on the ground as the airline involved said an investigation had begun into the crash. A Nigeria Red Cross report said that 48 bodies had been recovered, with more being dug out from the rubble.

The pilots reported engine trouble before the plane crashed on its way into Lagos. Two years ago, the same Boeing MD-83 lost engine power due to a bird strike, according to an aviation database.

On a clear Sunday afternoon, the Dana Air jetliner smashed into businesses and crowded apartment buildings near Lagos’ Murtala Muhammed International Airport, the worst air disaster in Nigeria in nearly two decades.

“The fear is that since it happened in a residential area, there may have been many people killed,” said Yushau Shuaib, a spokesman for Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency. At the crash site yesterday, police with cadaver dogs searched for bodies inside the wreckage. Overnight officials brought in a large crane from a local construction company to lift pieces of debris away. They also brought blow torches to cut through what remains of the plane. The debris still smoldered yesterday morning. Some wore masks to try and protect themselves from the stench of the dead.

Rescue workers used the crane from the construction site to lift the tail of the aircraft. The metal shrieked as it lifted skyward and was dropped down.

Investigators then climbed ladders to begin to look at its tail. Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan arrived yesterday to the crash site and spent about 20 minutes looking at the wreckage with federal lawmakers. He said the crash was a setback to Nigeria’s Aviation Ministry.

“We will make sure this will not repeat itself in this country,” he said. However, that is a difficult challenge in a nation with a history of major passenger plane crashes in the last 20 years. The cause of the crash remained unclear. The pilots radioed to the Lagos control tower just before the crash, reporting engine trouble, a military official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to journalists.

In a statement on its website, Dana Air said an investigation into the cause of the crash was already underway with U.S. officials assisting the Nigerian government.

The company said the plane crashed with 146 passengers onboard, along with a flight engineer, two pilots and four cabin crew members. “We extend our deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the deceased, and we are doing everything we can to assist them in this extremely difficult time,” the statement signed by Dana Air CEO Jacky Hathiramani read, Rescue workers are still searching for the aircraft’s black box recorders where flight data is stored, said Harold Demuren, the director-general of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.

S Sudan asks govt officials to return stolen money JUBA: Dear government officials: South Sudan wants its stolen money back. In a letter that reveals a shocking level of government corruption, South Sudan President Salva Kiir is asking more than 75 former and current senior government officials to return an estimated $4 billion in stolen funds to the country. Corruption has plagued South Sudan’s government since the 2005 peace deal that ended more than 20 years of civil war with Sudan. In January, South Sudan’s Auditor General reported that nearly $1.5 billion in government funds were unaccounted for from the 2005-06 fiscal year.

“We fought for freedom, justice and equality,” the president’s letter reads.

“Yet, once we got to power, we forgot what we fought for and began to enrich ourselves at the expense of our people.” The letter was dated May 3 and was obtained by The Associated Press over the weekend. Information

Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin confirmed its authenticity yesterday. The president wrote that South Sudan’s citizens and the international community were “alarmed” by the levels of corruption and that “the credibility of our government is on the line.” He promised amnesty for officials who return stolen funds and to keep the identities of those officials confidential.

Despite South Sudan’s peaceful vote last year to break away from Sudan, tensions between the two sides remain, especially over what was once their shared oil industry. South Sudan this year shut down its oil industry after accusing Sudan of stealing its oil. That decision has resulted in the loss of tens of millions of dollars for the government. Oil revenue last year accounted for about 98 percent of the government budget before the shutdown.

Kiir has stepped up efforts to fight

corruption this year, and his office on Friday released a statement detailing the country’s anti-corruption efforts since the beginning of the year. The release says South Sudan has already recovered an estimated $60 million in stolen government money. According to the statement, Kiir has reached out to heads of state in Africa, Europe, the Middle East and the United States to ask for help fighting South Sudan’s corruption.

Benjamin said that Kenya, South Sudan’s southern neighbor, is playing an active role in South Sudan’s fight against corruption. South Sudan has opened a bank account in Kenya where anyone who has taken government funds can return them. “If anybody again is found taking government funds in an inappropriate manner, there will be laws in place that will definitely punish such individuals,” he said.” —AP

Demuren said the Nigerian registration number of the plane was 5NRAM. Aviation databases show the plane was exported to Nigeria in early 2009. It was first delivered in 1990 with the U.S. registration number N944AS to Alaska Airlines and it suffered two minor incidents while in the Seattlebased airline’s service, according to databases of the Federal Aviation Administration and the Aviation Safety Network. On Nov. 2, 2002, the plane made an emergency diversion due to smoke and electrical smell in the cabin, and on Aug. 20, 2006, the plane was evacuated after landing at Long Beach, California because of smoke in the passenger cabin.

Boeing said in a statement on its website that the company is ready to provide technical assistance to the Civil Aviation Authority on Nigeria through the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board.

Bobbie Egan, spokeswoman for Alaska Airlines, said she had no information on the aircraft that may have been used several years ago by the airline and referred calls to Alaska’s corporate communications office, which was not yet open. On April 19, 2010, the plane made an emergency landing in Lagos due to loss of engine power after a bird strike following takeoff, according to the Aviation Safety Network.

The aircraft appeared to have come down Sunday on its belly onto the dense neighborhood that sits along the typical approach path taken by aircraft heading into Lagos’ Murtala Muhammed International Airport. The plane tore through roofs, sheared a mango tree and rammed into a woodworking studio, a printing press and at least two apartment buildings before stopping. The plane was heading to Lagos from Abuja, the capital, when it went down. The dead included at least four Chinese citizens, the official Chinese news agency Xinhua reported late Sunday, citing Chinese diplomats in Nigeria. Officials at the Chinese embassy in Nigeria could not be reached for comment by the AP. Two of the crash victims were Lebanese, according to state-run Lebanon’s National News Agency. Two of the crash victims were Lebanese, according to the Lebanese Foreign Ministry. The ministry identified them as Nadine Chidiac and Roger Awad.

Nigeria, home to more than 160 million people, has a history of major aviation disasters, though in recent years there hasn’t been a crash. On Saturday night, a Nigerian Boeing 727 cargo airliner crashed in Accra, the capital of Ghana, slamming into a bus and killing 10 people. The plane belonged to Lagos-based Allied Air Cargo.

Lagos-based Dana Air has five aircraft in its fleet and runs both regional and domestic flights. It has announced on its website that all Monday flights have been canceled. Local media reported a similar Dana flight in May made an emergency landing at the Lagos airport after having a hydraulic problem.

Sunday’s crash appeared to be the worst since September 1992, when a military transport plane crashed into a swamp shortly after takeoff from Lagos. All 163 army soldiers, relatives and crew members on board were killed. —AP

Boko Haram claims Nigeria church suicide attack KANO: Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram yesterday claimed responsibility for a weekend suicide attack on a church in the country’s northeast which killed 15 people and wounded 40 others. In an emailed statement to journalists, Boko Haram also threatened renewed attacks on journalists and media houses.

“Today God gave us victory by launching a suicide attack on a church in Yelwa neighbourhood in Bauchi city,” the group said in the statement written in the Hausa language widely spoken in Nigeria’s north.

While the statement could not be confirmed as authentic, it came from the same email address previously used for similar claims. The statement did not give a specific reason for the Sunday church attack or disclose the identity of the suicide bomber. “We are keeping tabs on all comments being made about us... Let no one make any entreaty to us when we perfect our plan and start our operation, especially against journalists,” the statement said.

The statement accused journalists of “unbalanced reporting” by publishing statements issued by the Nigerian authorities while ignoring or altering its statements. A suicide bomber on April 26 blew up his explosives-laden car at the Abuja office of ThisDay newspaper, one of Nigeria’s most prominent dailies, killing at least five people. Another bomber targeted a complex housing newspaper offices, including for ThisDay, in the northern city of Kaduna in a botched attack on the same day. —AFP

TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012

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

News

in brief

Singapore curbs window cleaning amid maid deaths SINGAPORE: Singapore has tightened rules on window cleaning after nine maids fell to their deaths this year from high-rise apartments. The Manpower Ministry said in a statement yesterday that maids are no longer allowed to clean the outside of windows unless they are supervised. The ministry said seven of this year’s nine maid deaths were due to dangerous window cleaning or hanging of laundry. Local media yesterday featured dramatic front-page photos of a 29-year-old Indonesian maid as she fell from her employer’s 12th floor apartment window Sunday but was grabbed and rescued by neighbors one floor below. The nine maids who fell to death were from Indonesia, which supplies about half of Singapore’s 200,000 maids.

Kazakhstan court jails oil town rioters ALMATY: A court in Kazakhstan has jailed more than a dozen people for mounting mass riots in a western oil town last year at the end of a high-profile trial in the Central Asian nation. Twelve people were sentenced to between three and seven years in jail yesterday for their involvement in the unrest, during which at least 14 people died. A further 16 people on trial were granted conditional sentences, five were amnestied and three were acquitted. The unrest in Zhanaozen in December came after a seven-month long occupation of the main square by oil workers demanding higher salaries. A confrontation with police descended into rioting. Five policemen were jailed last month after being found to have exceeded their authority in deploying live rounds against rioters.

Ashton heads to Pakistan to launch ‘strategic dialogue’ EU chief to cover foreign, security issues BRUSSELS: EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton heads to Pakistan yesterday to launch a wide-ranging “strategic dialogue” covering foreign and security issues, as well as development and trade. Ashton, who flies to Islamabad after an EU-Russia summit in Saint Petersburg, will today join Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar to launch the talks aimed at giving new impetus to ties between Pakistan and the 27-nation bloc.

“My visit to Pakistan is an expression of the EU’s support for the consolidation of democracy in the country,” she said in a statement ahead of the three-day trip.

The dialogue aims to spell out how to work toward an ambitious five-year plan agreed in January that would culminate in a Free Trade Agreement and include antiterrorist measures and heightened development aid. Ashton will also meet Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, military operations chief Lieutenant General Waheed Arshad, parliamentary opposition leaders and, in a Wednesday visit to second city Lahore, Punjab province Governor Sardar Muhammad Latif Khan Khosa.”We want to deepen our collaboration in many areas, including judicial reform, strengthening the democratic institutions, but also work jointly on promoting regional stabili-

ty and tackling extremism and terrorism,” she said. Ties between Pakistan and western nations, particularly the United States, have been strained since Islamabad blocked vital supply routes to NATO convoys travelling from Pakistani ports to the Afghanistan border.

Ashton also said the EU wanted “to capitalise on the momentum in our relationship created by the special trade measures we adopted following the 2010 floods, and the significant development and humanitarian assistance we have provided to the country.”

In a ground-breaking move in February, the World Trade Organization approved a waiver allowing 75 Pakistani products duty-free access to European Union markets for two years to help textile exports after devastating floods in 2010.

The EU is Pakistan’s largest trading partner, receiving almost 30 percent of its exports-worth almost 3 billion euros ($3.9 billion). Pakistan’s trade with the EU consists mainly of textiles, which account for more than 70 percent of its exports to European countries. Brussels last month announced a further 20 million euros in aid to victims of Pakistan’s 2011 monsoon floods, as well as people displaced by conflict, bringing funding this year to 55 million euros. — AFP

US Navy hopes stealth ship answers a rising China

New ‘strategic’ plan for Afghan-China ties: Kabul KABUL: Afghanistan and China will this week announce the elevation of their relationship “to a new strategic level”, Kabul’s foreign ministry said yesterday, as NATO forces prepare to pull out of the country. The announcement would be made by presidents Hamid Karzai and Hu Jintao on the sidelines of a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Janan Mosazai told AFP. The SCO is a Central Asian grouping headed by Beijing and Moscow, and intended as a counterweight to US influence in the region. “This new step is a solid reaffirmation of the ever growing importance and significance of the friendship and economic, political, cultural and other fields of cooperation and partnership between Afghanistan and China,” Mosazai said. The two countries share views and commitment over the security and stability of Afghanistan and the wider region and the necessity of joint efforts “to tackle the menaces of terrorism and extremism”, he said.

Mosazai gave no details of any security role China might play in Kabul’s fight against hardline Islamist Taliban insurgents, saying the announcement “will be fleshed out by both sides as we move forward in our friendship and cooperation”. Afghanistan last month signed a strategic agreement with the United States, covering relations between the two countries after USled NATO forces withdraw in 2014, and with several other nations including France and India.

No pact would be signed in Beijing but it was likely that a joint declaration would be developed into a future agreement, a government source told AFP on condition of anonymity. China, which shares a small border with Afghanistan’s far northeast, has already secured major oil and copper mining concessions in Afghanistan, which is believed to be sitting on more than $1 trillion worth of minerals.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation groups China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, plus a handful of observer states including Iran, and focuses on regional issues including anti-terrorism. Afghanistan will attend the Beijing summit as a guest member. Russia, whose President Vladimir Putin will be at the meeting, has criticized NATO’s timeline for withdrawal from Afghanistan.

“As long as Afghanistan is not able to ensure by itself the security in the country, the artificial timelines of withdrawal are not correct and they should not be set this way,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in April.

“By the way, our Central Asian partners are also concerned about that. China and many other states ask the same questions,” he said, adding that several countries have an interest in what happens in Afghanistan.

The scramble for influence in Afghanistan is likely to intensify as 2014 draws nearer, with its central position in a volatile region having shaped its history for centuries. India, Iran and Pakistan have moved to secure what they see as their interests in the country, with Tehran strongly opposing Kabul’s pact with the United States. India last week called for greater coordination with the United States over Afghanistan, voicing fear that Islamist radicals would gain strength once Western forces pull out.

India’s involvement in Afghanistan has in turn enraged Pakistan, which helped create the Taliban regime and fears being encircled by its arch rival. The Afghan president was due to hold talks in Beijing with Putin, Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari and Iran’s President President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, his spokesman said. — AFP

MULTAN: Pakistani protesters shout anti-US slogans rallying against US drone attacks in the Pakistani tribal belts during a demonstration in Multan yesterday. US missiles killed 15 militants in Pakistan’s Taleban and Al-Qaeda stronghold of North Waziristan yesterday, the third drone strike in three days and the deadliest this year, officials said. —AFP

ISLAMABAD: A woman grieves beside the bodies of children following a wedding bus accident, at a hospital in Kahuta, some 25 kilometres east of Islamabad yesterday.—AFP

Road accident kills 25 in Pakistan KAHUTAL: Pakistani officials say a bus carrying a wedding party plunged into a ditch in the country’s north, killing 25 people. Local official Mohammad Zia said the bus was carrying about 100 people back from a wedding ceremony in Kahuta, which is about 70 kilometers (40 miles) southeast of the capital of Islamabad, late Sunday night. The official said dozens more on the bus were also injured and taken to the hospital in Kahuta. A news release from the president’s office put the death toll at 25. Pakistan has one of the world’s worst records for deadly traffic accidents. Roads and vehicles are poorly maintained, and there is little respect for traffic rules.— AP

SINGAPORE: A super-stealthy warship that could underpin the US navy’s China strategy will be able to sneak up on coastlines virtually undetected and pound targets with electromagnetic “railguns” right out of a sci-fi movie. But at more than $3 billion a pop, critics say the new DDG-1000 destroyer sucks away funds that could be better used to bolster a thinly stretched conventional fleet. One outspoken admiral in China has scoffed that all it would take to sink the high-tech American ship is an armada of explosive-laden fishing boats.

With the first of the new ships set to be delivered in 2014, the stealth destroyer is being heavily promoted by the Pentagon as the most advanced destroyer in history - a silver bullet of stealth. It has been called a perfect fit for what Washington now considers the most strategically important region in the world - Asia and the Pacific. Though it could come in handy elsewhere, like in the Gulf region, its ability to carry out missions both on the high seas and in shallows closer to shore is especially important in Asia because of the region’s many island nations and China’s long Pacific coast.

“With its stealth, incredibly capable sonar system, strike capability and lower manning requirements this is our future,” Adm. Jonathan Greenert, chief of naval operations, said in April after visiting the shipyard in Maine where they are being built.

On a visit to a major regional security conference in Singapore that ended Sunday, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the Navy will be deploying 60 percent of its fleet worldwide to the Pacific by 2020, and though he didn’t cite the stealth destroyers he said new high-tech ships will be a big part of its shift.

The DDG-1000 and other stealth destroyers of the Zumwalt class feature a wave-piercing hull that leaves almost

no wake, electric drive propulsion and advanced sonar and missiles. They are longer and heavier than existing destroyers - but will have half the crew because of automated systems and appear to be little more than a small fishing boat on enemy radar.

Down the road, the ship is to be equipped with an electromagnetic railgun, which uses a magnetic field and electric current to fire a projectile at several times the speed of sound. But cost overruns and technical delays have left many defense experts wondering if the whole endeavor was too focused on futuristic technologies for its own good. They point to the problem-ridden F-22 stealth jet fighter, which was hailed as the most advanced fighter ever built but was cut short because of prohibitive costs. Its successor, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, has swelled up into the most expensive procurement program in Defense Department history.

“Whether the Navy can afford to buy many DDG-1000s must be balanced against the need for over 300 surface ships to fulfill the various missions that confront it,” said Dean Cheng, a China expert with the Heritage Foundation, a conservative research institute in Washington.

“Buying hyperexpensive ships hurts that ability, but buying ships that can’t do the job, or worse can’t survive in the face of the enemy, is even more irresponsible.” The Navy says it’s money well spent. The rise of China has been cited as the best reason for keeping the revolutionary ship afloat, although the specifics of where it will be deployed have yet to be announced.

Navy officials also say the technologies developed for the ship will inevitably be used in other vessels in the decades ahead.

But the destroyers’ $3.1 billion price tag, which is about twice the cost of the current destroyers and balloons to

$7 billion each when research and development is added in, nearly sank it in Congress. Though the Navy originally wanted 32 of them, that was cut to 24, then seven. Now, just three are in the works. “Costs spiraled - surprise, surprise - and the program basically fell in on itself,” said Richard Bitzinger, a security expert at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University. “The DDG1000 was a nice idea for a new modernistic surface combatant, but it contained too many unproven, disruptive technologies.”

The US Defense Department is concerned that China is modernizing its navy with a near- term goal of stopping or delaying US intervention in conflicts over disputed territory in the South China Sea or involving Taiwan, which China considers a renegade province. China is now working on building up a credible aircraft carrier capability and developing missiles and submarines that could deny American ships access to crucial sea lanes. The US has a big advantage on the high seas, but improvements in China’s navy could make it harder for US ships to fight in shallower waters, called littorals. The stealth destroyers designed to do both. In the meantime, the Navy will begin deploying smaller Littoral Combat Ships to Singapore later this year.

Officially, China has been quiet on the possible addition of the destroyers to Asian waters. But Rear Adm. Zhang Zhaozhong, an outspoken commentator affiliated with China’s National Defense University, scoffed at the hype surrounding the ship, saying that despite its high-tech design it could be overwhelmed by a swarm of fishing boats laden with explosives. If enough boats were mobilized some could get through to blow a hole in its hull, he said. “It would be a goner,” he said recently on state broadcaster CCTV’s military channel. — AP

Opposition leader charged over Bangladesh 1971 war

DHAKA: In this handout file picture from the Indian PIB, taken 16 December 1971 in Dhaka, Indian Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora (L) watches as Pakistan’s eastern forces commander General A.A.K. Niazi signs the treaty of surrender of the Pakistani army to Indian troops. —AFP

DHAKA: A Bangladeshi court yesterday charged a fifth member of the country’s largest Islamic party with alleged atrocities including genocide during the nation’s 1971 independence war against Pakistan.

Mohammad Kamaruzzaman, 60, the third highest ranked leader of the opposition Jamaat-e-Islami party, was indicted on several charges and could face the death penalty if convicted, a state prosecutor said. “He was a principal organiser of the pro-Pakistan force called Al Badr in the (northern) Mymensingh region,” Saiful Islam told AFP. “It carried out murder and genocide in Mymensingh. Later it was spread to all over the country,” he said, adding the judge set July 2 for the start of the trial.

Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), created in 2010, has been widely crit-

icised as being a political tool for the ruling Awami League government to target its opponents. It is not endorsed by the United Nations and the Human Rights Watch group has said its procedures fall short of international judicial standards.

The latest indictment brought the number of opposition figures to have been charged with alleged war time atrocities to six, including five from Jamaat and one from the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

Both Jamaat and BNP have dismissed the court as a “show trial”. Kamaruzzaman pleaded not guilty, saying he was only a college student in 1971. Bangladesh was called East Pakistan from partition of the subcontinent in 1947 until its bloody fight for independence in 1971.— AFP

Pakistan court suspends interior minister as MP ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Supreme Court yesterday temporarily suspended Interior Minister Rehman Malik as a member of parliament for allegedly running for office while still a British citizen, an official said. The Pakistani constitution bars MPs from acquiring foreign nationality.

Under Pakistani law, elected MPs can be ministers, although non-elected members of parliament can join the cabinet as advisors. Malik, elected to the Senate or

upper house of parliament in 2009, says he renounced his British citizenship and promised to submit documentary evidence in court.

But a certificate presented to a three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry yesterday failed to satisfy the judges, a court official told AFP. “ The bench ordered the suspension of Rehman Malik’s membership of the Senate,” he said on condition

of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media. The court said Malik’s membership would be restored if he furnished adequate proof on June 13 that he had renounced his British citizenship before his election, he said.

Members of the government have accused judges of overstepping their reach and of trying to bring down the Pakistan People’s Party run government before it becomes

the first elected administration in Pakistan to complete an elected term. In April, the Supreme Court convicted Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani of contempt for refusing to ask Swiss authorities to reopen corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari. Last month, it also temporarily suspended MP Farahnaz Ispahani, the wife of Pakistan’s sacked ambassador to Washington and an advisor to Zardari. She holds dual Pakistani-US nationality. — AFP

TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012

i n t e r n at i o n a l

Hanoi opens three new areas in search for MIAs HANOI: In a poignant postscript to war, the writings of a US soldier describing the carnage and exhaustion surrounding him before he was killed more than 40 years ago were seen for the first time when Vietnamese officials traded his letters for the diary of a Vietnamese soldier held by the US. Vietnamese defense minister Phung Quang Thanh delivered the letters to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in Hanoi yesterday. Panetta, in turn, gave Thanh a small maroon diary that had been taken from the body of a Vietnamese soldier by a US service member who then brought it back to the US. Defense officials said the Vietnamese had used the letters by Army Sgt. Steve Flaherty as propaganda. “I felt bullets going past me,” Flaherty, from Columbia, S.C., wrote to someone named Betty. “I have never been so scared in my life.” And to his mother he wrote, “”If Dad calls, tell him I got too close to being dead but I’m O.K. I was real lucky. I’ll write again soon.” To a Mrs. Wyatt, he nevertheless suggested he believed in the mission. “This is a dirty and cruel war but I’m sure people will understand the purpose of this war even though many of us might not agree,” he wrote in excerpts released by US defense officials.

Officials said this is the first time such a joint exchange of war artifacts has occurred. The two defense leaders agreed to return the papers to the

families of the deceased soldiers. Flaherty, who was with the 101st Airborne, was killed in the northern section of South Vietnam in March 1969. According to defense officials, Vietnamese forces took his letters and used them in broadcasts during the war.

Vietnamese Col. Nguyen Phu Dat kept the letters, but it was not until last August, when he mentioned them in an online publication, that they started to come to light. Early this year, Robert Destatte, a retired Defense Department employee who had worked for the POW/MIA office, noticed the online publication, and the Pentagon began to work to get the letters back to Flaherty’s family.

At a news conference, the Vietnamese government also announced its agreement to open three new sites in the country for excavation by the United States to search for troop remains from the war. And the two defense chiefs also said their countries want to work together, regardless of whether the enhanced relationship troubles China. Beijing has expressed concern over America’s new defense strategy that puts more focus on the Asia-Pacific region, including plans to increase the number of troops, ships and other military assets in the region. Speaking through an interpreter, Thanh said Vietnam wants to continue defense cooperation with all countries, including stable and longstanding relationships with China and the United

States. Hanoi, he said, would not sacrifice relations with one country for another. Panetta said the US goal is to help strengthen the capabilities of countries across the region. “Frankly the most destabilizing situation would be if we had a group of weak nations and only the United States and China were major powers in this region,” said Panetta.

Defense officials reviewing the packet of papers given to Panetta said it appears there are three sets of letters, including the four written by Flaherty. It was not clear how many other service members’ letters were there, but officials were going through them yesterday. Ron Ward, US casualty resolution specialist at the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command in Hanoi, said there are at least four US troops believed to be lost in the three areas that were opened by the Vietnamese yesterday. With those three areas now open, Ward said there are now just eight sites left that are still restricted by the Vietnamese.

Military officers briefing Panetta at the command’s office said they had five to seven years to complete their excavation work. The acidic soil in Vietnam erodes bones quickly, leaving in many cases only teeth for the military teams to use to try and identify service members, one of the team members said. In addition, many of the potential witnesses with information about remains are getting older and their memories

are fading. There are about nearly 1,300 cases that are still unaccounted for, and officers briefing Panetta said about 600 of those remains could be recoverable.

Ward said that opening the three new sites will enable the US to try and find: * Two Air Force members who were lost when their plane was shot down in Quang Binh Province in central Vietnam in 1967. * An Army private first class who went missing when he was out with his unit on a search-and * destroy mission in 1968 in the tri-border area of Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

A Marine who was on a surface-to-air combat mission and was lost when his plane went down in Quang Tri Province. Another Marine on the plane ejected and was rescued. The small diary belonged to Vu Dinh Doan, a Vietnamese soldier who was found killed in a machine gun fight, according to defense officials.

Officials said that a Marine, Robert “Ira” Frazure of Walla Walla, Wash., saw the diary - with a photo and some money inside - on the chest of the dead soldier and took it back to the US. The diary came to light earlier this year when the sister of a friend of Frazure’s was doing research for a book and Frazure asked her help in returning the diary. The sister, Marge Scooter, brought the diary to the PBS television program History Detectives. — AP

Buddhist vigilantes kill nine Muslims in Myanmar attack Tension boils after reports of woman’s rape, murder

TOKYO: Japan’s new Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto picks a reporter to give him a question during a press conference at the prime minister’s official residence in Tokyo yesterday. — AP

Japan ministers axed as PM pushes tax hike TOKYO: Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda sacked five members of his cabinet yesterday, bowing to opposition demands for ministerial scalps as he sought cross-party support for a crucial tax hike. As he announced the rejig Noda called on the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to back a bill that would eventually double sales tax in an attempt to tackle Japan’s debt mountain, currently twice its GDP. “I decided to reshuffle and strengthen the cabinet so as to create an environment that enables progress in issues including an overall reform of social security and tax,” Noda told reporters.

Noda has staked his premiership on the sales tax, a move international bodies, academics and journalists all agree is a sensible measure in the battle to plug the gaping hole in the budget. Part of the proceeds would be used to finance snowballing social security costs resulting from Japan’s rapidly greying society.

But in the highly factionalised world of Japanese politics, Noda has failed to secure the backing of one of his own party’s key figures and has instead been left trying to placate an opportunist opposition.

Ichiro Ozawa, a powerbroker who leads around 100 lawmakers in Noda’s own Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), has set his stall firmly against the tax rise, which he sees as politically unacceptable. Some of yesterday’s sackings were part of the price Noda must pay if he wants cross-party backing for his bill.

“Toward the end of the current parliamentary session, we will face a crucial decision that will affect the future of Japan,” he said. “I call for all the politicians, on both sides of the house, to take these proposals seriously,” he said, adding the tax bill would come before the lower house before the parliamentary session ends on June 21.

Defence minister Naoki Tanaka and transport minister Takeshi Maeda lost

their jobs after both being censured by the opposition-controlled upper house in April. Noda named Takushoku University professor Satoshi Morimoto, a well-known polemicist and regular on television talk shows, as new defence minister, while the new transport minister will be his party’s chief of upper house affairs Yuichiro Hata. Morimoto is the first non-parliamentarian in a Noda cabinet. An advocate of a closer security alliance with the United States, Morimoto has said Japan’s Self-Defense Forces should actively participate in peacekeeping missions abroad, an often sensitive issue in Japan.

To supplement an expected decline in the US military presence in Okinawa when US Marines relocate to Guam, Hawaii and Australia, Japan should “make efforts in defence of its southwestern” region to maintain a deterrent against unpredictable North Korea and increasingly assertive China, he has said. Noda also sacked agriculture minister Michihiko Kano, whose involvementalbeit at several steps removed-in a spy scandal that allegedly saw sensitive documents passed to a Chinese diplomat, has proved an embarrassment. Justice minister Toshio Ogawa, who has been criticised by the LDP for consulting horse racing websites on his mobile phone during a parliamentary session, and postal services Minister Shozaburo Jimi were also removed. Noda promoted vice agriculture minister Akira Gunji and vice judicial affairs minister Makoto Taki, while vice reconstruction minister Tadahiro Matsushita was given the postal services portfolio. Matsushita is from the centre-left DPJ’s junior coalition partner, the People’s New Party. Noda stressed yesterday that “making an agreement with the largest opposition LDP is the most important” thing in enacting a tax hike bill, but stopped short of offering the opposition any kind of grand coalition. — AFP

YANGON: Buddhist vigilantes in western Myanmar attacked a bus and killed nine Muslims, police said yesterday, the deadliest communal violence in the region since a reformist government took power a year ago.

The bus was besieged near Taunggoke town in the western state of Rakhine on Sunday evening by a group who blamed some of its passengers for the murder of a Buddhist woman a week ago, said residents and politicians. One of those killed was travelling in a separate car.

Rakhine is home to Myanmar’s largest concentration of Muslims, but their presence is often resented by the Buddhist majority. The resentment is particularly sharp for Rohingya Muslims, whose roots date back to the nineteenth century when they were brought to the country as labourers by colonial power Britain.

Ko Kyaw Lay, a Muslim human rights activist in the region who belongs to an opposition party, said none of those killed were Rohingyas.

Police could not immediately confirm details of the violence. “An investigation is underway but I can’t give you any further details,” said a police official who requested anonymity. In a separate incident on Sunday in Sittwe, the Rakhine capital, 10 people were shot and wounded when riot police tried to break up a protest, witnesses said. They said the rally by

about 200 people was unrelated to the attack on the bus. Protesters threw stones at police and a 13-year-old novice monk was among those wounded, witnesses said.

Myanmar is one of Southeast Asia’s most ethnically diverse countries, where sectarian and ethnic tension persists despite a new political climate and broad reforms by a civilian-led government that says it has made peace and national unity a priority since it replaced a military junta 15 months ago. In the case of the bus attack, Taunggoke resident Kyaw Min said the Buddhists “were angered by the authorities’ handling” of an attack on a woman who people in the area said was raped by several men and then killed. Just before Sunday’s attack, leaflets bearing a photo of the woman and describing the rape were distributed in the area.

Several residents, who declined to be identified, said the Muslims on the bus were not from the area and were on a visit to Rakhine state.

They suggested those killed may not have been the perpetrators of the reported rape and murder. In a joint statement, eight overseas-based Rohingya rights groups condemned the attack on “Muslim pilgrims”, which they said came after months of anti-Rohingya propaganda stirred up by “extremists and xenophobes”.

A spokesman for the coalition, Tun Khin, said

N Korea threatens specific attacks on S Korean media PYONGYANG: North Korea’s military warned yesterday that troops have aimed artillery at the specific coordinates of South Korean media groups as Pyongyang threatened a “merciless sacred war” over perceived insults. The North Korean statement, which expresses outrage over South Korean media criticism of ongoing children’s festivals in Pyongyang, is the latest in a series of threats aimed at Seoul’s conservative government and news agencies following the December death of Kim Jong Il, the father of new leader Kim Jong Un. North Korea hasn’t yet acted on its threats of violence.

Still, yesterday’s comments from the General Staff of the Korean People’s Army contained an unusually specific mention of the longitude and latitude of the locations of seven media outlets. North Korea said it had targeted those agencies and would attack if Seoul doesn’t apologize for orchestrating a “vicious smear campaign” against the festivals in the North’s capital. In Seoul, the Unification Ministry, which handles relations with the North, called the statement a “grave provocation.”“It’s too serious to put aside,” ministry spokesman Kim Hyung-suk told reporters. Ties between the divided Koreas are at a low point following a failed North Korean rocket launch in April that Washington, Seoul and others have called a cover for a test of long-range missile technology. North Korea says the rocket, which broke apart shortly after

liftoff, was meant to launch an observational satellite.

Among the South Korean media groups North Korea threatened was Channel A, a television network affiliated with the conservative Dong-a Ilbo newspaper, which has described the children’s festivals in Pyongyang as an Adolph Hitler-style “political show.” Channel A and other South Korean media have reported this year’s celebrations will be the North’s largest ever, saying Kim Jong Un is trying to obtain allegiance from children who will join the army in a few years under a mandatory conscription system.

“Officers and men of the army corps, divisions and regiments on the front, and strategic rocket forces in the depth of the country, are loudly calling for the issue of order to mete out punishment,” according to the North’s statement, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency. Calls to Channel A’s public affairs office weren’t immediately answered and no relevant statement was posted on the network’s website. About 20,000 children across North Korea are celebrating the 66th anniversary of the Korean Children’s Union, according to KCNA. During the sixday festival that began Sunday, children planned to tour Pyongyang, participate in political and cultural events and visit a zoo and restaurants, the agency said. The two Koreas are still technically at war because their 1950-53 war ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. — AP

5.9-magnitude quake strikes Indonesia’s Java SUKABUMI: A 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia’s most-populated island yesterday, shaking buildings in Jakarta, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties, officials said. The quake struck 96 kilometres (59 miles) southwest of the city of Sukabumi in western Java after 6:00 pm (1100 GMT) at a depth of 67 kilometres, the US Geological Survey said.

The tremor was felt 200 kilomtres away in Jakarta, causing tall buildings to shake. “The quake was quite strong but we have no reports yet of casualties or damage.

We will monitor the affected area,” National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told AFP. Nugroho said the quake struck

around 50 kilometres offshore but no tsunami warning was issued, and that activities in Sukabumi had “gone back to normal”.

An AFP correspondent in Sukabumi said residents ran from their homes in panic. “I was praying at the time and suddenly it struck, so my husband and I ran outside the house into the yard. Luckily, I can’t see any damage to our home,” 27year-old Hefei, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, told AFP. The Indonesian Meteorological and Geophysics Agency earlier measured it as a 6.1-magnitude quake with a depth of 24 kilometres. Indonesia sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” where continental plates collide, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity. — AFP

that although those killed were not ethnic Rohingyas, the groups were concerned about the plight of Muslims in Myanmar. They called on the government to treat Muslims fairly and tackle “Rakhine terrorism”. Residents were also on edge after the Sittwe demonstration.

Shopkeeper Thein Kyaw said the protest erupted outside a police station after hired thugs attacked and detained business operators who refused to pay over-inflated taxes.

Demonstrations were extremely rare under Myanmar’s former military rulers but are becoming more frequent as the public voices discontent over issues such as land ownership and chronic power shortages, which led to peaceful marches by hundreds of people in several towns and cities last month. Legalisation of public protests is among reforms implemented by President Thein Sein, a former junta general.

But the speedy moves to liberalise are a test of the security forces’ tolerance of dissent in the former Burma. The changing political landscape has also seen Internet and media censorship significantly reduced. Hla Saw, secretary general of the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party, blamed the state government for “mismanagement” of the tax issue and said his party was due to meet state officials to try to resolve the conflict. — Reuters

PYONGYANG: Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, right, is greeted by Vice Minister of North Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kung Sok Ung, left, at the Pyongyang airport, North Korea yesterday.—AP

TOKYO: A combination of two file photos, Naoko Kikuchi, a former senior member of AUM Shinrikyo doomsday cult wanted in the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin attack, is shown in an undated photo provided at the time of the attack, left, and a photo taken yesterday at a police station in Tokyo and released by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department a day after she was arrested in Sagamihara city, southwest of Tokyo. —AP

Japanese on run for 17 years relieved at arrest TOKYO: A woman wanted for 17 years for allegedly helping to produce the deadly nerve gas used in a 1995 attack on Tokyo subways said she feels relief at her arrest because she doesn’t have to hide her identity anymore, police said yesterday.

Naoko Kikuchi is a former member of the Aum Shinrikyo cult that released the nerve gas sarin in Tokyo’s subways in 1995, killing 13 people and injuring more than 6,000. The cult had amassed an arsenal of chemical, biological and conventional weapons in anticipation of an apocalyptic showdown with the government.

Police on Sunday arrested Kikuchi, 40, after she was spotted in Sagamihara city, 30 kilometers (20 miles) southwest of Tokyo, where she had been living since 2010. She admitted who she was when officers approached her. She was one of two remaining cult members wanted as murder suspects in the case. Kikuchi has admitted to helping in the sarin production, but told investigators that she didn’t know at that time what the substance was, a Tokyo Metropolitan Police spokesman said on condition of anonymity, citing department rules.

She also admitted to using an alias and moving every few years to avoid detection. “I had to hide my identity and used an alias all these years while I was on the run. Now I’m arrested and I don’t have to do that anymore. I feel relieved,” the police quoted her as saying. Investigators had to verify her identity by fingerprints and a mole on the right cheek as her appearance had changed substantially from the way she looked in wanted posters due to weight loss over the years.

A man claiming to have lived with Kikuchi for the past six years turned himself in yesterday, the police spokesman said.

Hiroto Takahashi, 41, said the couple moved to an apartment in Sagamihara in 2010, police said. He was arrested on suspicion of hiding a suspect. Police searched the apartment for clues about Kikuchi’s 17-year hideout and that may lead to the one remaining fugitive, Katsuya Takahashi, 54, who is not related to Kikuchi’s partner. Nearly 200 members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult have been convicted in the gas attack and dozens of other crimes. Thirteen, including cult guru Shoko Asahara, are on death row. Makoto Hirata, charged in a 1995 cult-related kidnapping-murder, as well as the subway attack, surrendered to police on New Year’s Eve, ending his 17-year life on the run and stunning the nation. —AP

TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012

NEWS A man looks at a digital print on paper work entitled ‘Strip’

by German artist Gerhard Richter during the presentation of the exhibition ‘Gerhard Richter: Panorama’ at the Centre Pompidou in Paris yesterday. — AFP

20-year-old cellist crowned Miss USA Continued from Page 1 contestants. “I do think that that would be fair, but I can understand that people would be a little apprehensive to take that road because there is a tradition of natural-born women, but today where there are so many surgeries and so many people out there who have a need to change for a happier life, I do accept that because I believe it’s a free country,” Culpo said. Culpo said after the pageant that she wasn’t put off by the question when she heard it. “This is a free country and to each their own,” she said.

Culpo said she was short and chubby as a girl, but blossomed after a growth spurt. She spent her summers at band camp after learning to play the cello in second grade. Her parents are also musicians, and her love for music saw her perform at Symphony Hall in Boston and Carnegie Hall in New York City. Culpo is a 2010 graduate of St Mary Academy Bay View, an all-girls Catholic school in Riverside, where she was a member of the National Honor Society. She said she

comes from a big, Italian family and speaks some Italian. On her Twitter account, she describes herself as a nerd and model. “I was just so surprised, so shocked, so honored to be there,” she said of her win.

Rounding out the top five contestants were first runner-up Nana Meriwether of Maryland, second runner-up Audrey Bolte of Ohio, third runner-up Jade Kelsall of Nevada and fourth runner-up Jasmyn Wilkins of Georgia. As Meriwether and Culpo held hands waiting for the winner to be announced, Culpo bit her lip and cringed with anticipation. Culpo demonstrated an outgoing personality throughout the competition, blowing a kiss and shimmying across the stage during the opening number.

She cited Hepburn as her source of inspiration, noting her many years of volunteer work. “She was beautiful on the outside, but also beautiful on the inside,” said Culpo, who sang the chorus of “Funny Face” from her favorite movie of the same name after her win.

Miss Iowa USA Rebecca Hodge was named Miss Congeniality, and Miss

Oregon USA Alaina Bergsma was named the most photogenic. They both won $1,000, but didn’t make the top 16. The pageant had three competitions: swimsuit, evening gowns and interview question. The contestants were whittled to 16 after the show’s opening fashion show number.

The contestants were later narrowed down to a field of 10 and then five.

Pop band Cobra Starship performed as the beauty queens modeled their string bikinis. Singer Akon danced with the top five during the evening gown competition.

Culpo had one of the more modest dresses of the contest, with many of the beauty queens wearing revealing gowns with bare backs, high slits and sheer fabric. In contrast, Culpo’s flowing gown covered her legs and lower back while revealing some cleavage.

The judge’s panel included Chef Cat Cora, TV personality Arsenio Hall and singer Joe Jonas. Andy Cohen and Giuliana Rancic stepped in to host.

Miss USA 2011 Alyssa Campanella of California crowned Culpo her successor at the end of the night. — AP

Govt: Rujaib quiz against constitution Continued from Page 1 grilling which is listed on the Assembly agenda today. The government may seek to refer the grilling either to the constitutional court or to the Assembly’s legal and legislative committee to decide if it is in line with the constitution.

Rujaib, appointed in the Cabinet just in February, faces a second grilling by MP Riyad Al-Adasani which was filed yesterday. Both grillings charge wide-ranging financial and administrative irregularities. The second grilling is not expected to come up on the session agenda today and likely to be listed for the June 19 session.

The government made no comments about reports that it planned to reject three laws passed by the Assembly including a bill stipulating the death penalty for those who abuse God and prophets, a second on establishing a new technology university and the third law for supporting small and medium-scale industries for Kuwaitis.

A number of MPs meanwhile warned the government against rejecting these laws, especially after Cabinet ministers had voted in favour of these laws in the Assembly. Under Kuwaiti law, the government has the right to reject laws passed by the Assembly which in turn can override the government’s rejection by passing those laws again with a two-thirds majority. Several opposition MPs said that if the laws were rejected, the concerned ministers must resign.

In another business, the legal and legislative committee yesterday completed the anti-corruption law which also includes wealth disclosure, integrity provisions and articles on the protection of persons who inform authorities about corruption. Rapporteur of the committee MP Mohammad Al-Dallal said the new draft law was the result of studying more than 36 bills submitted

by MPs and the government, in addition to others by civil society organizations. Under the bill, ministers, MPs and leading officials in the government are required to disclose their wealth before and after leaving the posts.

Dallal said the law will minimize corruption in the government.

The majority bloc meanwhile appeared divided yesterday at a decision by its coordination committee to propose to the Assembly to form a three-member committee to launch a probe into the Dow Chemical compensation ruling. MP Jamaan Al-Harbash, a member of the coordination panel, said the panel made the decision and nominated MPs Abdulrahman Al-Anjari and Faisal Al-Yahya to represent the majority bloc and left one seat vacant for the minority.

But MPs Obaid Al-Wasmi and Saifi Al-Saifi, both members of the bloc, said that the decision of the panel was taken without consulting them and accordingly is illegal. Harbash responded that the issue was discussed at a meeting by the majority bloc on Saturday and the coordination panel was assigned to make the decision.

If formed, the committee will investigate the entire deal between Kuwait’s Petrochemicals Industries Co (PIC) and US’ Dow Chemical to create a joint venture. The deal was signed in 2008, but was scrapped by the government in the same year and Dow last month won an arbitration ruling ordering Kuwait to pay $2.16 billion in compensation. The government has launched a separate probe into the issue.

Several MPs in the meantime urged the interior minister not to deport a group of Syrian citizens to Syria because of risks involved to their lives. MP Osama Al-Munawer said that he learned that the ministry had already depor ted two young Syrians back to Damascus and wondered who is responsible for sending them to danger. But security sources said the two were deported after serving about four years in jail for criminal offenses and according to their wishes. The sources insisted that Kuwait does not deport Syrian nationals opposed to the Syrian regime. Munawer meanwhile announced that he plans to file to grill Oil Minister Hani Hussein over allegations of “serious violations”. The lawmaker said he will first show the grilling to the majority bloc.

Prince Philip hospitalized, misses jubilee...

Continued from Page 1 infection, which is being accessed and treated”. “Prince Philip will remain in hospital under observation for a few days,” the palace said, adding he was “disappointed about missing this evening’s Diamond Jubilee Concert and tomorrow’s engagements”.

The queen was to appear at the concert despite her husband’s illness, a spokesman for the royal family said.

The show late yesterday featured performers including Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Elton John and Kylie Minogue. It was to culminate in the queen placing a diamond-shaped glass crystal into a special pod, lighting one of the last beacons in The Mall, the broad ceremonial avenue that leads up to the palace. The first beacon in the chain was set ablaze at Marlborough in New Zealand, followed by lightings at 10:00 pm local time in other Commonwealth countries around the globe.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard - who has openly expressed republican leanings - lit the beacon in Canberra, while a group of boy

scouts and girl guides ignited the beacon in the South Pacific islands of Tonga. A beacon was also to be lit at the hotel in Kenya where the queen was woken in 1952 to be told of the death of her father, king George VI. More than 10,000 people who won concert tickets in a ballot enjoyed a picnic in the palace gardens before the musical extravaganza to mark only the second diamond jubilee in British history.

Organisers have promised an “imaginative” use of Buckingham Palace, with 1980s ska stars Madness expected to sing their hit song “Our House” from the roof. Other performers at the concert, which will feature a charity single co-written for the occasion by Take That’s Gary Barlow and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, include singer Shirley Bassey and Chinese pianist Lang Lang. The organisers had refused to rule out that the queen’s grandson Prince Harry would play tambourine during a performance of the official song, called “Sing”.

Excited picnicgoers began queuing outside Buckingham Palace hours

before the event. “We’re going to be part of history, so we’re absolutely thrilled,” said Shani Hanson, a barmaid from Yorkshire in northern England who had pinned a Union Jack bow to her bottom and carefully painted her nails to match. “To have lunch with the queen is fantastic. It’ll be something to tell the great-grandchildren,” she said. The contents of their picnic hampers were overseen

by Michelin-starred chef Heston Blumenthal and included teasmoked Scottish salmon; a chilled “country garden” soup made with plum tomatoes, mint and cucumber; cheese and biscuits; and strawberry crumble crunch.

After the concert, the queen will greet the crowd and light the beacon, completing a chain which includes one on each of the highest peaks in the four countries of the United Kingdom, including Snowdon in Wales and Ben Nevis in Scotland.

The celebrations culminate on Sunday with a national service of thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral before a traditional carriage procession to Buckingham Palace. — AFP

UN chief discusses Syria with Saudi king Continued from Page 1 which the whole international community is responsible for fighting and not one country alone,” the king had said at the opening of the second advisory meeting of the United Nations Counter-terrorism Centre Sunday.

The centre was established in late 2011 to support the implementation of the UN’s counter-terrorism strategies. Saudi Arabia has pledged $10 million over three years to support it. Saudi Arabia was the target of a wave of deadly attacks by Al-Qaeda between 2003 and 2006, prompting authorities to launch a crackdown on the local branch of the jihadist network. Al-Qaeda remains active in Yemen, where its Saudi and Yemeni franchises have joined forces under the banner of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, classified by the US as the most active branch of the global terror network. Abdullah AlKhalidi, Saudi Arabia’s deputy consul in Yemen’s main southern city of Aden, was abducted by AQAP on March 28 in a bid to secure the release of prisoners and collect a ransom. His fate remains unknown.

In Syria, rebels killed at least 80 army soldiers at the weekend, an opposition watchdog said yesterday, in a surge of attacks that followed their threat to resume fighting if Assad failed to observe the UN-backed ceasefire. The latest violence and Assad’s defiant speech to parliament on Sunday raised questions about how long Annan can realistically pursue his threadbare peace plan.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said local doctors had confirmed the names of 80 dead government soldiers.

Insurgents told the British-based group they had killed more than 100 soldiers and destroyed some tanks in clashes across Syria, including Damascus and Idlib province in the northwest. Syria’s state news agency reported the burial yesterday of 30 members of the security forces killed by rebels. Some commanders in the rebel Free Syrian Army had announced last week they would be “free of any commitment” to Annan’s peace plan if Assad did not end violence by Friday.

The May 25 massacre of at least 108 people, nearly half of them children, in the Houla area of Homs province dealt a possibly fatal blow to Annan’s proposed ceasefire, which was supposed to take effect on April 12 but never did. A Syrian troop pullback was at the top of Annan’s six-point plan to halt hostilities, allow peaceful protests, supply humanitarian aid and start a political transition in a country controlled by the Assad family with an iron fist for 42 years. “The Annan mission is essentially dead, and of course most Western powers admit that,” said Michael Stephens, researcher at the Royal United Services Institute’s branch in Qatar. “Houla changed the game completely in terms of what people were willing to accept and what they were not.”

However, Russia and China, wary of any Western-led military intervention in Syria, say Annan’s plan is the only

way forward. They have twice blocked UN Security Council resolutions which would have condemned Damascus and perhaps led to sanctions. Western powers have no appetite for Libya-style military action, but have provided no alternative to Annan’s efforts. Ban acknowledged last month there was no “Plan B”.

Assad has rebuffed criticism of the carnage in his country. “When a surgeon performs an operation to treat a wound, do we say to him: ‘Your hands are covered in blood’?” he asked in his speech on Sunday. “Or do we thank him for saving the patient?” Annan, who has inserted 300 United Nations observers into Syria to verify the non-existent truce, will brief the Security Council on Thursday. A US official said the envoy would see Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington the next day.

Clinton, on a trip to Sweden, called Annan yesterday, the official said, adding that she had discussed a conversation she had with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday, and talks on Syria that she plans to have in Turkey this week. The US official said Western and Arab countries were expected to discuss the Syria crisis in Istanbul on Wednesday. The latest flare-up can only intensify alarm that Syria is sliding deeper into a civil war envenomed by sectarian rancour between Assad’s minority Alawites and the Sunni Muslim majority.

Rami Abdelrahman, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told Reuters several army checkpoints were overrun in heavy overnight clashes in Idlib province, a rebel bastion. “A minimum of 4 to 6 checkpoints in the village of Ariha were attacked and destroyed in the last 24 hours,” he said. Syria’s uprising, inspired by Arab revolts elsewhere, began with peaceful protests, but the United Nations says Assad’s forces have killed more than 9,000 people since March, 2011.

Damascus accuses armed “terrorists” of killing more than 2,600 soldiers and other members of the security forces.

Moscow has broadly backed Assad’s narrative.

China’s top state newspaper, the People’s Daily, warned yesterday that any Western-backed military intervention would unleash even bloodier chaos, and said that abandoning Annan’s plan could push Syria into the “abyss” of full-scale war. Stephens, the RUSI analyst, said the Chinese were “living in a “dream world” if they thought Syria could regain peace as long as Assad clung to power.

But he also said letting Annan’s mission fail would be a disaster, arguing that the monitors could play a useful role by documenting abuses, making it harder for Russia and China to sustain their effective support for Assad.

Abdulkhaleq Abdullah, a political scientist from the United Arab Emirates, said no one wanted to abandon Annan’s initiative, however futile it had proved in stopping the violence, adding: “The only way to tip the balance is for the Arab and Western countries to increase their support for the Free Syrian Army.” — Agencies

Kuwaiti jailed for 10 yrs for blasphemous...

Continued from Page 1 The civil plaintiff arguing the case against Naqi, as well as some Kuwaiti politicians, had called for Naqi to be executed in a case that stoked sectarian tensions in the state. “This verdict is a deterrent to those who insult Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), his companions and the mothers of the believers,” civil plaintiff Dowaem AlMowazry said in a text message. He had argued in court that Naqi must be made an example of. Dozens of Sunni Muslim activists and lawmakers protested against Naqi shortly after his arrest and he was attacked in jail by a fellow inmate, according to the Interior Ministry.

Naqi did not appear in court yesterday. He was in the central prison where he has been held since his

arrest in March, the court secretary said. He appeared in previous sessions in a wooden and metal cage, guarded by armed men in black balaclavas. The activists who protested against him accused Naqi of links to Shiite regional power Iran, something he has denied. Shiites are thought to number between 20-30 percent of Kuwait’s 1.1 million nationals. Vocal members can be found in senior positions in parliament, media and business.

Although Kuwait has largely avoided the sectarian violence and prodemocracy uprisings seen elsewhere in the region, it is concerned its Shiite minority may turn restive. Authorities have been closely watching Shiite-led protests in Bahrain and unrest in eastern Saudi Arabia, home to more than two million minority Shiites. Naqi’s

lawyer Shatti argued that even if his client had written the remarks, he would be guilty of a “crime of opinion”, not of threatening national security, which carried the 10-year jail term.

The National Assembly, where opposition Islamists have grown in influence, endorsed a legal amendment last month that would make insulting God and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) by Muslims punishable by death instead of the current maximum penalty of 10 years in jail. HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Sabah recently blocked a proposal by 31 of the 50 elected members of parliament to amend the constitution to make all legislation in the state comply with sharia law, suggesting he is willing to resist pressure from Islamist lawmakers. — Reuters

Saudi vice chief blames agent over mall row Continued from Page 1 The three and a half minute video posted on May 23 shows members of the notorious commission telling the woman to “get out of here (the mall)”. But she refuses to comply, saying: “I’m staying and I want to know what you’re going to do about” it. “It’s none of your business if I wear nail polish,” the unidentified woman, who is not seen on tape, is heard shouting at bearded men from the feared religious force. “You are not in charge of me,” she defiantly shouts back, referring to new constraints imposed earlier this year on the religious police, banning them from harassing Saudi women over their behaviour and attire. “The government has banned you from coming after us,” she told the men, adding “you are only supposed to provide advice, and nothing more.”

At one point during the video, she cautions the religious police that she has already posted the exchange online. It is not clear if the woman was eventually

forced to leave the mall. The video has been viewed more than 1,666,000 times on YouTube. It earned only about 2,800 “likes”, while the number of “dislikes” reached more than 8,400. Sheikh said that any member of the religious police “who abuses citizens or attacks them has no place in the commission.”

In January, King Abdullah appointed Sheikh, a moderate, to head the religious police, raising hopes that a more lenient force will ease draconian social constraints in the Islamic country. Two weeks into his post, Sheikh banned volunteers from serving in the commission which enforces the kingdom’s strict Islamic rules. And in April he went further, prohibiting the religious police from “harassing people” and threatening “decisive measures against violators”. The religious police prevent women from driving, require them to be covered from head to foot in black, ban public entertainment, and force all businesses, from supermarkets to petrol stations, to close at prayer times, five times a day. — AFP

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TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012

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Issues

Pak, US: Allies without trust

By Michael Georgy s Washington fumed over the jailing of a Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA hunt down Osama bin Laden, an educated Islamabad businesswoman voiced her own outrage - at the United States. “All we ever got from the Americans is instability and violence,” she said, echoing what many Pakistanis believe is Washington’s contribution to their country and region over three decades. “Didn’t you know Osama bin Laden was a CIA agent?”, she asked at a dinner attended by Western diplomats, referring to his role in US-backed resistance to the Soviet occupation in Afghanistan in the 1980s. “Then he was on the same side as Washington.”

In Pakistan, public opinion increasingly views the United States as a fickle, selfish ally despite the billions of dollars in aid that flow to the cash-strapped South Asian nation. It is a view that has only deepened since US troops killed bin Laden on Pakistani soil in May 2011. The raid, kept secret from Pakistani authorities, was a humiliation for the powerful military and raised searching questions about whether it was harbouring militants.

Relations have soured further after a court last week imprisoned for 33 years the Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA find the al Qaeda chief and mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. “Most people in Washington are upset with Pakistan. Dr (Shakil) Afridi goes to jail, this guy should be a hero, instead you (Pakistan) are treating him like a crook,” said one US official. Pakistani officials told the media Afridi was jailed for treason for his ties to the CIA, but a court document released later said he was guilty of aiding a banned militant group.

Rising antipathy towards Washington makes it tougher for the government - already unpopular because of its failure to tackle poverty, power cuts and corruption - to do anything that might be seen as caving in to US demands, especially ahead of general elections expected early next year. Those constraints are evident in deadlocked talks on re-opening supply routes to Western forces in Afghanistan, which Islamabad shut six months ago to protest against a US cross-border air attack that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

“As the relationship has deteriorated, public opinion in both countries has become a mirror image of the other, seeing each other almost as adversaries,” Maleeha Lodhi, a former Pakistani ambassador to Washington, told Reuters. “A great deal of the anti-American sentiment in Pakistan has to do with the destabilising fallout on the country of a decade of the American-led intervention in Afghanistan. American policies are seen as bringing grief to the region, especially Pakistan,” she said.

When CIA contractor Raymond Davis killed two Pakistanis in the eastern city of Lahore last year, it opened another wound. Washington says he acted in self defence. For many Pakistanis, it was a Rambo-style act by CIA agents who seem to roam their country freely.

Davis was acquitted of murder and allowed to leave Pakistan after a $2.3 million payment was made to the men’s families. “In our homes, the eldest always has the last word. The younger ones can say whatever they like but one slap from the elder brother and they have to shut up,” said Mohammad Imran, owner of a sportswear shop in Pakistan’s commercial hub Karachi. “America is like the elder brother or father in the house. Didn’t you see the Raymond Davis case, nobody could touch him, and had to send him off with dignity and respect.”

The main point of friction between Washington and Islamabad is the US “war on terror”, a campaign Pakistan joined after the Sept 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and despite objections from some of its own generals. But Islamabad has been accused of being less than sincere and of shielding Afghan militant groups to ensure it has a proxy stake in any political settlement once US forces withdraw, an allegation it denies. Some US senators have pushed for aid cuts to force greater Pakistani cooperation, and the frustrations have spread far beyond the corridors of power in Washington.

Pakistan’s leaders “need to be helping us, not fighting against us”, said Lynne McClintock, an office manager in a physical therapy practice in a Seattle suburb. “They need to be giving us any undercover information they have to destroy the Taleban.” Pakistan sees such comments as a sign of US ingratitude, pointing out that it has sacrificed more than any other country that joined the US war on militancy, losing tens of thousands of security forces and civilians. All Pakistan gets in return, many officials complain, is criticism and a lack of trust. Shaking his head in anger, one Pakistani official recalled a visit he made to NATO headquarters in Brussels. — Reuters

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Mali: The world’s next jihadi launchpad?

By David Lewis hen Mali’s Tuareg nomads launched a rebellion in January, many in Africa thought it would be just the latest in a long line of desert uprisings to be swiftly placated with offers of cash and jobs. Some optimists mused that the indigo-turbaned northerners might even take on the local arm of Al-Qaeda, which was plying a disruptive trade in Western hostages and trafficked goods. But instead, the Tuaregs’ struggle for an independent homeland has been hijacked by better-armed Islamists from Mali and abroad, creating a safe haven for militants in the Sahara that is already being compared to similar bastions elsewhere. “We are in an early stage of Afghanistan and Somalia. There is no doubt in my mind,” said Ahmedou OuldAbdallah, a Mauritanian diplomat who has been a United Nations envoy in both west Africa and Somalia.

Mali is still a long way from the Talebanruled Afghanistan of the 1990s from which Osama bin Laden’s then little-known AlQaeda readied the Sept 11 attacks on US targets in 2001. And the desert trade in hostages, narcotics and other goods has yet to reach the scale of the piracy off the east coast of Somalia, estimated to cost the global economy $7 billion a year. But Ould-Abdallah and a swelling chorus of security experts point to an influx of foreign fighters, a debilitating rivalry between neighbouring states, and steady flow of illicit funds as making Mali and the wider Saharan zone the next one to watch.

In former colonial power France, the new defence minister warned last week of a “west African Afghanistan” in Mali. The rebels’ seizure of three major airstrips in the north near the towns of Gao, Timbuktu and Tessalit -

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means that, in the absence of a functioning Malian air force, they can ferry in everything from drugs and weapons to yet more foreign fighters. While some believe the threat can be contained within the area, others think it will stretch further afield. Among the latter is the African Union, whose chairman last week called for the United Nations to back a regional force to intervene. “All the way across Europe, there is growing concern,” one Western diplomat working in the region told Reuters. “We have to recognise that it cannot be contained in northern Mali or even west Africa.” The Sahara, and the Sahel scrubland which skirts it to the south, had already been inching up the global security agenda in recent years as Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, a franchise of the militant network, became more active in the zone after a crackdown by authorities in Algeria, where AQIM has its roots. The overspill of arms and fighters from last year’s Libyan war into an already fragile neighbourhood added a new layer of insecurity even before the rebellion in northern Mali. When Malian government troops were routed in early April, a variety of groups entered the fray, in many cases appearing openly in the main towns for the first time.

They included men declaring loyalty to AlQaeda and to AQIM splinter groups like the little-known MUJWA, as well as some members of Nigeria’s Islamist militant organisation Boko Haram.

“It has become a cool place for jihadis from the region,” said one US official with knowledge of the situation, adding that gunmen were also coming in to northern Mali from Tunisia, Morocco and Mauritania. Early developments in the rebellion focused on the secular National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), whose slick, Europeanbased PR machine and Tuareg sympathisers

hailed a series of small victories notched up against the army as they sought to carve a state they call Azawad out of the desert.

But the complex nature of the uprising emerged after a coup on March 22 in the Malian capital Bamako, far to the south, by soldiers angry at the government’s failure to contain the revolt. Their coup, however, merely emboldened the rebels to make a lightning advance. As rebel forces took major towns such as the ancient city of Timbuktu, it became clear that MNLA fighters were operating alongside a newly formed Islamist movement known as Ansar Dine, whose stated goal is to impose Islamic law, sharia, across Mali.

Ansar Dine is run by Iyad Ag Ghali described in a leaked U.S. diplomatic cable from as “northern Mali’s undisputed power broker”. In two decades navigating northern Mali’s tribal and political circles, Ag Ghali led two previous Tuareg rebellions, had a stint as a diplomat in Saudi Arabia and, once back home, acted as an go-between in hostage bargains with al Qaeda cells. Diplomats in Mali said Ag Ghali formed Ansar Dine, commonly translated as Defenders of Faith, last year after being rebuffed in separate efforts to head both the MNLA and his Ifoghas Tuareg clan: “He lost the tribal line. He lost the rebellion. What does he have left? Religion,” said a diplomat based in Bamako.

Alongside the MNLA, Ansar Dine has jointly controlled Mali’s north for two months. It was initially welcomed by local people for restoring a semblance of order after three months of violence and disruption. But it is now facing increasing hostility to its efforts to impose sharia on populations with a long history of practising a more liberal style of Islam.

Girls and boys have been separated in schools. Residents have been whipped for

drinking alcohol and smoking and hundreds took to the streets of the town of Gao to protest last month when Islamists there banned soccer and television.

Yet if imposing sharia has won Ag Ghali little popularity, it has been crucial in drawing him closer to AQIM, a group with which he was already familiar - literally, through family connections - and which he now needed for its firepower and the cash it had accumulated after years operating in the area. Such has been the rapprochement that Ag Ghali is now understood to have an Al-Qaeda nom de guerre - Abu Fadhil. “(Ag Ghali) is using religion, but his aim is political,” said Mohamed Coulibaly of the Dawa movement, which preaches the same conservative form of Islam as that espoused by Ag Ghali but which rejects violence.

Ansar Dine and AQIM each number around 500 fighters, giving them a combined headcount roughly equal to that of the MNLA and substantial clout in an area the size of Spain with a population of little over a million. Witnesses say the Islamists are betterresourced and more heavily armed than the Tuareg separatists, however, allowing them to shunt the MNLA aside and take effective control on their own of towns across northern Mali. The government in the south is labouring with a fragile transition back to civilian rule after the March 22 coup and its army is still licking its wounds after the rebel advance, so Bamako is in no position to take back the north any time soon. While the government rejects the MNLA’s secession, there might have been scope for negotiations on easing poverty in the north that could have provided a platform for resolving the rift in the country. But the marginalisation of the secular MNLA by the Islamists makes even that degree of dialogue impossible.—Reuters

Robots lift China factories to new heights

By Don Durfee he giant orange robotic arms that swiftly weld together car frames at the Great Wall Motors factory in Baoding might seem like the perfect answer to China’s fastrising labour costs - they don’t ask for a raise, get injured or go on strike. For Great Wall , a private sector Chinese car maker that employs 50,000 workers, the Swiss robots and other machinery that line its bright factory floor produce more than cost savings. The company hopes they will help it build cars good enough to compete with the global auto makers. “You don’t have to be an expert see the (quality) gap between Chinese cars and those made by companies like Audi and Volkswagen,” said Li Shaohui, who oversees automatic control engineering for the company. “ To beat those competitors we have no choice but to use a higher level of equipment and technology.”

From car plants to microchip foundries, China’s industrial sector increasingly runs by machine. According to Nomura, 28 percent of factory machines in China use numerical controls - one measure of automation. That may be far lower than Japan’s 83 percent, but China is growing far faster than Japan did at a comparable stage of development, says Ge Wenjie, a machinery analyst with Nomura.

One of the biggest could be Foxconn Technology Group, maker of products for tech giant Apple, which is talking of plans to put a million robots in its factories.

The army of cheap labourers that made China a manufacturing powerhouse is neither as vast as once thought nor as cheap as it was. In response, manufacturers have been spending heavily on machines that will both make them more productive and let them churn out higher quality goods. That change

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will pose a growing challenge for US, European and Japanese industrial companies not used to competing with Chinese firms in the high-end segments of their markets. In other words, China may soon be known less for cheap Christmas toys and more for highend medical equipment, luxury cars and jet engines. “You will see foreign players facing more and more pressure from leading local manufacturers upgrading their products, their quality and their scale,” said Raymond Tsang, a China-based partner with consultancy Bain. Great Wall has seen some early success with its own efforts to take on the global brands. The company’s solidly built Haval SUV and cheerfully named Wingle pickup truck have gained a foothold in Australia, where they sell for about half the price of comparable Japanese models. Four of its models became the first Chinese cars to pass Europe’s safety and emissions requirements, though they aren’t yet on sale there.

Automation doesn’t come cheap. A factory floor robot of the kind in Great Wall’s plant costs about 4 million Japanese yen ($50,760) according to Ge of Nomura, and a production line might easily have 100 of them. There is also the cost of downtime, when machines need to be maintained or adjusted to handle new products. For years, low wages meant automation was simply not worth the expense. A company didn’t need to buy a packaging machine when it was cheaper to hire a room full of workers to do the same thing. But steady cost rises are tilting the balance in favour of machines. Last year, urban labour costs in China increased 12.3 percent in inflation-adjusted terms for private companies, which face a worsening labour shortage.

“Everyone is doing this because there’s tremendous competition in China and the cost of raw materials is going up and wages

are going up,” said Andy Rothman, an economist with CLSA in Hong Kong. “So really, the only way that most companies can survive is to raise productivity and the best way to do that here is to add a little bit more equipment.” The demand for higher quality also weighs in favour of automation. An engine block built by a worker positioning the drill by hand won’t be as good - or sell for as much money - as one fashioned by machine. “The big driver (for automation) is quality and consistency, especially for high tech,” said Bain’s Tsang. “For Chinese players to compete globally, they have to reach certain standards and be certified by their customers - automation is necessary to improve the quality.”

The government sees that too. It has made industrial upgrading one of the key priorities of its latest five year plan, alongside rebalancing the economy toward greater domestic consumption. That has led Beijing to pour billions of dollars into strategic industries like clean energy and high-speed rail and to encourage imports of advanced machinery.

Still, it will be years before the lonely, fully automated production lines of high-end Japanese manufacturers are common in China. Its workforce remains huge and, even with inflation, dramatically cheaper than Japan’s or Germany’s. “In China, we’ll see things become much more automated than they are now, but I don’t think it will ever be like Japan. There are just too many people in China,” said Ge. Among companies making the big shift to automation is Foxconn, whose chairman Terry Gou said last summer the firm would put up to 1 million robots in its massive Chinese factories over three years. In Foxconn’s case, the step follows not just rising labour costs but also a string of worker suicides and allegations of poor working conditions.

Surging demand for automation is a boon for makers of such equipment as sensors, frequency converters, conveyor belts, pneumatic systems. Mitsubishi Electric Corp, which like Switzerland’s ABB Ltd., Japan’s Fanuc and others supplies such devices to China, sees sales there rising from 60 billion yen ($762 million) in 2011 to 100 billion yen by 2015, according to Masaki Shiroshita, president of Mitsubishi Electric Automation (China), Ltd. The trend will also affect the broader economy. Despite China’s manufacturing prowess, its productivity is strikingly low. The average U.S. worker in a goods-producing job produces $84,580 worth of exports compared with just $5,228 for a Chinese worker, according to consulting firm High Frequency Economics. That gap - a ratio of 16 to 1 - is partly explained by the higher-value items made in US factories, but also by the heavy application of capital and technology.

“Automation and mechanisation is an incredibly important driver of productivity increase,” said Louis Kuijs, an economist with the Fung Global Institute in Hong Kong. “There is huge scope for China to get more productivity out of its workers by doing this upgrading.”

China’s investment levels are high in international terms - manufacturing investment reached 10.3 trillion yuan ($1.6 trillion) last year, up 31.8 percent from 2010 - with much of the spending resulting in newer, better factories. “What you’re seeing is a really high level of investment in Chinese manufacturing, but most of this is not going to expanding capacity. It’s making the workers more efficient,” said Rothman. “The small private firms that I visit around the country, they’re still a bunch of guys in T-shirts banging on metal with rock. So they can invest in machinery and move up the value chain. I think there’s a long way to go for that in China.” — Reuters

TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 2012

Victims of Egypt’s old regime still await justice CAIRO: Tied to a bed, Nasr Al-Sayed Hassan Nasr was tortured for days with electric shocks during his 2010 detention for membership in the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood - one of tens of thousands of political prisoners under Hosni Mubarak’s 29-year rule. Stripped and handcuffed in a painful position, Nasr described how security agents shocked his genitals, chest and other bodies parts. “They hadn’t asked me a single question at this stage. They seemed to just want me to collapse,” he told Human Rights Watch. As with virtually all the abuses under Mubarak’s regime, the perpetrators were never brought to justice.

The mixed verdict in the Mubarak trial Saturday is a painful reminder that 15 months after the authoritarian leader’s ouster in a popular uprising, there has been no move to bring about full accountability for wrongdoing under his regime. Mubarak, 84, and his exsecurity chief Habib Al-Adly were both convicted of failing to stop the killings of some 900 protesters during last year’s uprising and were sentenced to life in prison. However, six top police commanders were acquitted of ordering the killings and chief Judge Ahmed Rifaat criticized the prosecution for failing to provide evidence that police killed protesters.

In addition, Mubarak and his two sons were acquitted of corruption charges because the statute of limitations had expired. The verdict brought a new sense of urgency to seeking justice for victims of abuses under Mubarak’s regime. On Sunday, lawmakers presented to parliament a “revolutionary justice” bill drawn up by rights activists that would create special courts to try members of the old regime for crimes including torture and corruption.

Judges on the special courts would be required to have no ties to the old regime, and judicial bodies would be created to collect evidence and testimony.

“For me, the big takeaway of yesterday’s verdict is that the human rights community should have pushed for torture prosecutions from Ministry of Interior officials in the immediate aftermath of the uprising because that was our one opportunity before the system started pushing back,” said Heba Morayef, a researcher for Human Rights Watch in Egypt.

“The problem was that we were all busy dealing with new cases of torture and other abuses at the hands of the military. But the result is that Ministry of Interior impunity for torture is intact,” she said.

Under Mubarak, tens of thousands of political prisoners were detained under emergency laws that expired last week after 31 years in force. And while there were no mass killings along the lines of South Africa during apartheid, torture was systematic, and often extreme, and corruption was endemic.

“Torture is the official state policy and not only the responsibility of an officer here or there,” Al-Nadim, an Egyptian rights group that chronicles torture cases, said in a 2007 report.

The same torture practices were repeatedly used in detention centers, it said, including “beatings, flogging, burning with lit cigarette butts, rape threats, covering eyes, stripping the detainees naked”.

Detainees were forced into painful positions, including the “crawfish”, in which a detainee’s toes, fingers and head were tied together with electric wires or “grilling”, where detainees were hanged on a steel pole, it said.

Sexual abuse and rape were common, particu-

larly in fighting Islamists such as the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, said Human Rights Watch’s Morayef. And those suspected of regular crimes too, suffered abuses. “They were quite good at torturing,” she said. “You would get medical treatment in the midst of torture.

They tried not to kill people in torture. ... If someone died, it was a mistake.”

The numbers of those who died from torture are not believed to be large. The total for Mubarak’s three-decade rule may be less than the approximately 900 killed in the 18-day uprising, rights activists say. One of the extreme cases of brutality ended in the death of 28-year-old Khaled Said, in Alexandria.

Beaten to death by two police officers in June 2010, his name became a rallying call of the uprising. “We are all Khaled Said” was the name of the Facebook group that helped organize the early protests.

Between 1990 and 1995 alone, there were 15,000 people detained under the emergency laws, which gave police sweeping powers to arrest and hold people with few or no rights, said Nasser Amin, a prominent rights lawyer.

The total number of political prisoners during the entire regime is believed to be as high as 100,000, said another rights lawyer, Mohammed Zarei, adding that in 1997 alone, there were 23,000 detainees in Egyptian jails.

Some spent as much as 20 years in prison without trial. Zarei said there are 300,000 complaints filed by detainees that have never been addressed.

Egypt’s ruling military and the politically influenced judiciary have done “as little as possible” to hold the old regime accountable since Mubarak was ousted in Feb 2011, said Shadi Hamid, director of research for Brookings

Doha Center. “They had to sentence Mubarak as a political concession to mass opinion,” he said, adding that the convictions could be overturned by an appeals court free of political influence. “What is so troubling about the (Mubarak) judgment is that no one is being held responsible for ordering the killings of hundreds of Egyptians,” he said.

There is no officially sanctioned South African-style Truth and Reconciliation Commission that could thoroughly investigate wrongdoing and seek justice for the regime’s abuses. And taking on corruption in Egypt is difficult, due largely to the entrenched power of the military, which analysts say controls between 20 and 40 percent of the economy.

The generals who took over after Mubarak’s ouster never had the political will to vigorously go after the old regime, which they were an integral part of. The head of the ruling military council, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, was Mubarak’s defense minister for 20 years.

And things aren’t likely to change under either of the two candidates in this month’s presidential runoff. Ahmed Shafiq, Mubarak’s longtime friend and last prime minister, has himself faced allegations of corruption, though he has never been charged, and would not be inclined to prosecute senior figures of a regime he was part of. The Muslim Brotherhood, if elected, will have bigger priorities and pressures to prove itself, such as righting the economy and restoring security.

Nevertheless, it may seek some limited accountability, perhaps focused on the deaths in the uprising. Mohammed Morsi, the Brotherhood candidate, said Saturday he would order a Mubarak retrial if elected.

Hamid said he sees virtually no hope that

those responsible for abuses under the Mubarak regime will be brought to justice, at least in the short term. “As long as the old regime is in power, there won’t be transitional justice,” Hamid said. “There can’t be. That would implicate the very people in power now and who will be in power behind the scenes for the near future.” Still, he said he thinks it is necessary in the long term. “Democracy is ultimately about accountability and it is hard to have accountability for the future if you don’t have accountability for the past.”

For many Egyptians, the verdict drove home the reality that the revolution has only removed Mubarak, while leaving intact the old system. Ahmed Ragab, a lawyer who helped draft the transitional justice bill, said the judicial system is corrupt because it is part of the regime. The chief prosecutor was appointed

by Mubarak in 2006. “This is why it is dangerous to use it in order to prosecute itself,” he said.Police torture, widespread corruption, nepotism and sweetheart deals under the table are still a fact of everyday life here.

Though Al-Adly, the head of the reviled security apparatus, has been removed, the body of the security forces is largely untouched. There has been no genuine reform and many of the senior security officials in charge during the uprising continue to go to work every day at their old jobs. Any comprehensive process of transitional justice would have to focus on the Ministry of Interior which oversees the police and other security forces and the intelligence services. “A lot of this has to do with the secret police that is an unaccountable state-within-a-state in Egypt,” said Hamid. “We don’t know how the Mukhabarat (intelligence service) operates.” — AP

TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012

sp orts De Villiers to captain SA

UAE chess official beaten

Snowsill snubbed for London

DURBAN: Jean de Villiers will captain South Africa in their home series against England, Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer announced yesterday. Centre De Villiers, who has 72 caps, has been appointed skipper only for three tests against England which start on June 9 in Durban.

“I have a lot of belief and faith in Jean. He has a lot of integrity, a great work ethic and has the hearts of the players,” Meyer told a news conference. “He has impressed me with the way he has led a young side in the (Super Rugby franchise) Stormers. I am happy he accepted the captaincy because it is such a big responsibility,” Meyer added.

De Villiers was part of the squad which won the 2007 World Cup but he was injured in South Africa’s opening game of the tournament and played no part in the final.

He said being made Springbok captain had made him feel like a youngster just coming into test rugby. “I made my debut 10 years ago and I feel like a 21year-old old winning my first cap. It is probably the highlight of my career.

“This job comes with massive pressure. I have had the privilege to play under some great captains. I made my debut under Corner Krige while I also played under John Smit and Victor Matfield. You take what you can learn from those guys and put your own personal touch to it,” he added. — Reuters

BUDAPEST: Hungarian prosecutors said yesterday they were examining an incident in which an official from the United Arab Emirates’ chess federation was allegedly beaten by members of a police patrol on the lookout for illegal migrants.

The decision on whether an investigation needs to be opened against the police officers involved in early Saturday’s incident in the southern city of Szeged will be made by Thursday, a spokesman for Csongrad County prosecutors said.

Ferenc Szanka also said that according to a complaint received yesterday, Saud Mohammed Al-Marzooqi sustained broken ribs and was being treated at a hospital after being chased and beaten by three plainclothes police officers traveling in a car.

Hisham al-Taher, secretary general of the UAE chess federation, told UAE newspaper The National that al-Marzooqi was in “critical but stable condition” and had been beaten in the head and body. Szanka couldn’t confirm the extent of the injuries and the hospital where al-Marzooqi was being treated wouldn’t release information about him. —AP

SYDNEY: Olympic triathlon champion Emma Snowsill, the most successful woman in the short history of the sport, has been left out of the Australia team for the London Games, local media reported yesterday.

The 30-year-old three-times world champion has been struggling with illness and injury this year and lost out to Emma Moffat, Emma Jackson and Erin Densham, the Australian Associated Press (AAP) reported. The Australian Olympic Committee announced the men’s team of Courtney Atkinson, Brad Kahlefeldt and Brendan Sexton on Monday but said the women’s team had been delayed “pending a possible appeal by Emma Snowsill”.

Snowsill intends to appeal, the AAP report said. Beijing bronze medallist and twice world champion Emma Moffatt had already been pre-selected for one of the spots while Emma Jackson put in a case for taking another with fourth place at last year’s world championships.

Densham, who underwent surgery on a heart defect three years ago, has been in good form this year and in March won the Mooloolaba World Cup, which Snowsill missed with a stomach complaint. The women’s triathlon at the London Olympics will take place in Hyde Park on Aug. 4. — Reuters

Braves end losing streak WASHINGTON: Tommy Hanson shook off an agonizing start to outpitch Gio Gonzalez as the Atlanta Braves beat the Washington Nationals 3-2 Sunday to end a six-game losing streak against their National League East rivals.

Hanson (6-4) gave up homers to the first two batters he faced, with Steve Lombardozzi and Bryce Harper connecting on consecutive pitches. They became the first pair of rookies in modern baseball history to homer in succession leading off a game, the Nationals said in citing the Elias Sports Bureau.

Hanson then blanked the Nationals over the next six innings. The right-hander allowed two runs, six hits and no walks in seven innings. Eric O’Flaherty worked the eighth and Craig Kimbrel struck out the side in the ninth for his 16th save in 17 tries.

DETROIT: New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter snags a hard-hit ground ball from Detroit Tigers’ Danny Worth for the third out of the eighth inning in a baseball game. —AP

Yankees tame Tigers in AL DETROIT: Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez each homered off Justin Verlander and Phil Hughes pitched a four-hitter to lead the New York Yankees to a 5-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Sunday.

Jeter homered on the first pitch of the game, and Rodriguez hit a long solo shot in the third inning. Hughes (5-5) didn’t need much support in throwing his first career complete game of nine innings - last Aug. 2 he went all six innings in a rain-shortened win over the White Sox. Hughes struck out eight and walked three. He threw a career-high 123 pitches.

Verlander (5-4) allowed five runs - three earned - and nine hits in 6 1-3 innings. He’s now lost three straight starts for the first time since 2008. Prince Fielder homered for the Tigers.

Rangers 7, Angels 3 At Anaheim, California, Matt Harrison won his third straight start and Nelson Cruz hit a long two-run homer as Texas beat the streaking Los Angeles Angels to avoid a three-game sweep.

The victory ended a four-game skid by the two-time defending AL champions, who lead the Angels by 41/2 games in the West. The clubs play 13 more times during the regular season. Harrison (7-3) was charged with three runs and four hits in 6 2-3 innings after handing a 5-2 lead to the bullpen. Dan Haren (3-6) threw 104 pitches over five innings, allowing two runs and seven hits.

Twins 5, Indians 3 At Cleveland, Scott Diamond allowed three unearned runs over seven innings as Minnesota beat Cleveland. Joe Mauer hit an RBI single in the first off Justin Masterson (2-5). The Twins star left in the ninth with a sprained right thumb.

Diamond (4-1) gave up seven hits and didn’t issue a walk. In six starts since being recalled from the minors May 8, he has walked only four.

Matt Capps pitched the ninth for his 12th save in 13 chances as Minnesota took two of three in the series. Minnesota made three errors, but improved to 5-1 since a five-game losing streak.

Royals 2, Athletics 0 At Kansas City, Missouri, Alex Gordon and Brayan Pena combined on a play at the plate to preserve a shutout for Vin Mazzaro and three Kansas City relievers.

Mazzaro six innings to help beat up on punchless Oakland again. The Athletics are hitting .209 on the season and have been shut out in three of their past four games.

The Royals sent the A’s to their 10th loss in 11 games. In the fifth inning, Josh Reddick hit a foul fly ball that Gordon caught near the seats. Adam Rosales tagged up at third, as Gordon let fly. The throw beat Rosales, who tried but failed to jar the ball loose from catcher Brayan Pena.

Blue Jays 5, Red Sox 1 At Toronto, Jose Bautista hit a three-run home run and rookie Drew Hutchison won for the fourth time in five starts as Toronto downed Boston. In an ill-tempered game that featured four hit batters, plate umpire Mike Winters warned both benches after Boston’s Kevin Youkilis was drilled on the shoulder in the sixth. Youkilis stepped in

front of the plate and yelled at Hutchison, but the situation did not escalate.

Daniel Bard (5-6) allowed five runs, walked six, struck out two and hit two batters in 1 2-3 innings, his shortest career start. Hutchison (5-2) allowed one run and five hits in seven innings, matching his career high. He walked one and struck out five.

Rays 8, Orioles 4 At St. Petersburg, Florida, B.J. Upton hit a tiebreaking two-run double and Matt Moore won for the first time after losing four straight decisions as Tampa Bay beat Baltimore. Upton gave the Rays a 4-2 lead with a two-out hit off Jake Arrieta (2-7) in the fifth. Arrieta walked three during the inning. Moore (2-5) allowed two runs and seven hits over six innings. The left-hander had four losses in five starts since beating Seattle on May 1.

Matt Wieters and Mark Reynolds homered for the Orioles, who have lost seven of eight. Arrieta, 0-5 over his last six starts, gave up four runs, two hits and four walks in 4 2-3 innings.

White Sox 4, Mariners 2 At Chicago, Chris Sale pitched a five-hitter for his first major league complete game as Chicago won for the 10th time in 11 games. Sale (7-2) struck out eight and walked two. It was his 10th start this year after pitching in relief for Chicago during the last two seasons. In Sale’s previous start, he struck out 15 in 7 1-3 innings at Tampa Bay. Sale allowed White Sox manager Robin Ventura to rest his entire bullpen after Chicago used all seven relievers in Saturday’s taxing 12-inning loss. Alex Rios drove in two runs for the American League Central leaders. — AP

Mets 6, Cardinals 1 At New York, Jonathon Niese struck out a careerhigh 10 batters in six scoreless innings as New York shut down St. Louis for the third straight game, getting a homer and three RBIs from rookie Kirk Nieuwenhuis. Andres Torres added a two-run triple and finished a homer shy of the cycle. Nieuwenhuis, batting leadoff, also had three hits.

Niese (4-2) became the latest New York pitcher to dominate the Cardinals, following Johan Santana’s no-hitter in the series opener Friday night - the first in Mets history - and knuckleballer R.A. Dickey’s seven-hit shutout Saturday.

The only thing that prevented the Cardinals from being blanked in three consecutive games for the first time since October 1976 was a two-out RBI single by Adron Chambers in the eighth off Elvin Ramirez, who was making his major league debut.

Giants 2, Cubs 0 At San Francisco, Barry Zito pitched 8 1-3 scoreless innings for his 150th career win and Joaquin Arias snapped an 18 at-bat hitless stretch with an RBI single that led San Francisco over Chicago.

Zito (5-2) was rarely threatened by the struggling Cubs, allowing just four hits and two walks before leaving to a standing ovation after a one-walk to Darwin Barney in the ninth. Sergio Romo finished for his second save. Travis Wood (0-2) was the toughluck loser for the Cubs, allowing just one run and three hits in seven innings as Chicago fell for the 15th time in 18 games. The Cubs have also lost 10 straight road games for their longest skid away from Wrigley Field since dropping 10 in a row in September 2000.

Marlins 5, Phillies 1 At Philadelphia, Carlos Zambrano homered and pitched into the eighth inning, and Hanley Ramirez also went deep to lead Miami over Philadelphia.

Zambrano (4-3) allowed four hits, walked two and struck out seven in before leaving with two outs in the eighth to win for the seventh time in nine games. Zambrano leads all pitchers since 1974 with 24 career home runs. He connected against Joe Blanton (4-6). Heath Bell came on with two on and one out in the ninth and got a pair of groundouts for his 12th save in 16 chances.

D’backs 6, Padres 0 At San Diego, Trevor Cahill threw a six-hitter and Paul Goldschmidt, Miguel Montero and Gerardo Parra homered to lead Arizona past San Diego. Cahill (3-5) threw his second career shutout and complete game. His other came with Oakland on Aug. 2, 2010 in a 6-0 win against Kansas City when he threw a three-hitter. Cahill, born and raised in Vista about 40 miles north of San Diego, won for the first time in six starts, striking out five and walking three.

ATLANTA: Washington Nationals starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez (47) works in the first inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves. — AP Astros 5, Reds 3 At Houston, Jordan Lyles pitched seven strong innings and Justin Maxwell hit his third pinch-hit home run this season as Houston ended a seasonworst eight-game losing streak by beating Cincinnati. Lyles (1-1) allowed five hits and struck out three in his first win since last Aug. 20. He has made five starts for Houston, but spent most of the season in Triple-A. Brett Myers pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 13th save.

Rockies 3, Dodgers 2 At Denver, Alex White gave the overworked Colorado bullpen some much-needed rest, pitching shutout ball into the seventh inning as Colorado beat Los Angeles. The Rockies took two of three from the NL West leaders. White (2-3) gave up two runs and two hits in 6 2-3 innings. Rafael Betancourt pitched a perfect ninth for his 10th save.

Colorado starters had combined for a total of five innings in the first two games of the series. Josh Outman reached a pitch limit after 3 1-3 innings in his first start this season, then a knee injury forced Juan Nicasio out after 1 2-3 innings.

Pirates 6, Brewers 5 At Milwaukee, Andrew McCutchen and Garrett Jones hit consecutive home runs and James McDonald struck out eight and won for the third time in four starts when Pittsburgh beat Milwaukee.

McDonald (5-2) held the Brewers to four hits and a walk, and only one of the three runs he allowed was earned.

Joel Hanrahan pitched a shaky ninth for his 14th save of the season. Brooks Conrad led off with a solo home run, and pinch-hitter George Kottaras walked before Norichika Aoki hit into a game-ending double play. — AP

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

American League Eastern Division W L Tampa Bay 31 23 30 24 Baltimore NY Yankees 29 24 Boston 28 26 Toronto 28 26 Central Division Chicago White Sox 31 23 28 25 Cleveland Detroit 25 29 Kansas City 23 29 Minnesota 20 33 Western Division Texas 32 22 28 27 LA Angels Seattle 24 32 Oakland 23 31

PCT .574 .556 .547 .519 .519

GB 1 1.5 3 3

.574 .528 .463 .442 .377

2.5 6 7 10.5

.593 .509 .429 .426

4.5 9 9

National League Eastern Division Washington 30 22 31 23 NY Mets Miami 31 23 Atlanta 29 25 Philadelphia 28 27 Central Division Cincinnati 30 23 Pittsburgh 27 26 St. Louis 27 27 Milwaukee 24 30 Houston 23 31 Chicago Cubs 18 35 Western Division LA Dodgers 33 21 San Francisco 30 24 Arizona 25 29 Colorado 23 30 San Diego 18 37

.577 .574 .574 .537 .509

2 3.5

.566 .509 .500 .444 .426 .340

3 3.5 6.5 7.5 12

.611 .556 .463 .434 .327

3 8 9.5 15.5

River Rush steals show at the Woodbine Oaks

TORONTO: Jim McAleney and River Rush stole the show Sunday at Woodbine.

McAleney guided River Rush, a 21-1 long shot, to an emphatic victory in the $150,000 Plate Trial Stakes, crossing the finish line in a track record of 1:48.97 despite drawing the outside post in the 11-horse field. River Rush’s outstanding performance upstaged Irish Mission’s win in the $500,000 Woodbine Oaks, the marquee race on the card. “ This horse ran tremendous for me,” McAleney said. “Reade (trainer Reade Baker) gave me some instruction, if you can save some ground it would really help, so I opted to do as he suggested. “We had such a wonderful trip. It was just great.”

The Plate Trial Stakes is for Canadian-foaled 3-year-olds hoping to compete in the $1 million Queen’s Plate, the crown jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown that’s slated for June 24 at Woodbine. While Baker said ultimately the decision whether to send River Rush to the Plate will lie with owner Stronach Stables, he sounded very confident the horse will run in Canada’s top thoroughbred event in three weeks.

“I’m sure he (Stronach) will let me go to the Plate,” Baker said. History would certainly be on River Rush’s side as 25 Plate Trial winners have gone on to win the Queen’s Plate, including three of the last four: Not Bourbon (2008), Eye of the Leopard (2009) and Big Red Mike (2010).

McAleney lightly brushed River Rush along

the rail down the stretch before passing Incredicat to win the 1 1-8-mile event by 5 1-4 lengths. Incredicat, at 8-1, was second, a head in front of third-place finisher Classic Bryce, a 9-1 pick.

River Rush paid $44.50, $18.80 and $11.20,

while Incredicat returned $10.30 and $7.80.

Classic Bryce paid $7.40. Irish Mission’s connections weren’t quite so emphatic about her presence at the Plate, although winning trainer Mark Frostad wasn’t discounting it, either.

“We’ll see how she comes out of the race

ELMONT: Jonny Garcia gallops I’ll Have Another, yesterday at Belmont Park. The Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner goes for horse racing’s Triple Crown Saturday. — AP

but she should come out good,” said Frostad, a four-time Plate winner who last year was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. “She’s in good order, she hasn’t been over-raced this year, so it’s a definite possibility.”

Northern Passion was second in a photo finish with Awesome Fire taking third in the nine-horse field. Irish Mission paid $20.50, $7.50, $8.80, while Northern Passion returned $3.50 and $5.30. Awesome Fire paid $17.10.

The win was Irish Mission’s second in eight career starts and the $300,000 winner’s share boosted her overall earnings over $346,000.

Frostad earned the victory for owner Robert Evans, Frostad’s fourth career Oaks title but first since Eye of the Sphynx in 2004.

The Oaks is the opening leg of the filly Triple Tiara, which also consists of the $250,000 Bison City Stakes on July 1 and the $250,000 Wonder Where Stakes on July 29.

The decision facing Irish Mission’s handlers is whether to contest for the Plate, or point toward the Bison City Stakes and the Tiara.

“I don’t worry about that at all,” Frostad said. “It’s ‘Is she good enough?’ “Certainly she is competitive and she’ll run a race no matter who she’s running against. It’s just a matter of if she’s good enough.”

Only one horse has captured the Triple Tiara, Sealy Hill in 2007. Oaks winner Inglorious captured last year’s Queen’s Plate, becoming just the fifth filly ever to win both events. —AP

TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012

S P ORT S

US ex-football coach goes on trial today BELLEFONTE: Jerry Sandusky was widely considered a living sports legend at Penn State University and the founder of an organization that worked with at-risk children. Then he was arrested on dozens of charges he sexually abused 10 boys.

Despite Sandusky’s repeated requests for a delay, the case will start today.

The alleged victims will have to testify using their real names, the judge ruled yesterday. The judge also ruled that tweets or other electronic communications by reporters will not be permitted during the trial. The case has shaken one of the country’s most famous college sports teams and raised still-unanswered questions about who knew what as warning signs emerged over more than a decade.

Sandusky, a 68-year-old former assistant football coach, has consistently maintained his innocence. He was arrested twice, the first time in early November, when prosecutors charged him with abusing eight boys, including two whose identities still have not been determined by investigators.

The eight include boys who, witnesses said, were subjected to sexual acts by Sandusky inside football team showers.

The second arrest came about a month later, when state prosecutors added charges related to

two more boys. Sandusky’s lawyers are still seeking to have all or some of the 52 counts against Sandusky dismissed on various grounds.

Lawyers for five of the young men have asked the judge to take steps to protect their anonymity, but the judge said Monday they can’t avoid disclosure of their names. The AP doesn’t identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted without their consent.

The judge yesterday also banned tweets and other electronic communications from inside the courtroom. On Friday, a group of news organizations that includes The Associated Press had sought clarity on what types of electronic transmissions will be permitted from the courtroom during trial.

Sandusky’s wife, Dottie, has stood by him, posting his bail and issuing a statement in early December that said the accusers had concocted lies that left her “shocked and dismayed.” Sandusky appeared on NBC to deny he was a pedophile. He later told The New York Times the question took him aback.

“I was sitting there saying, ‘What in the world is this question?’ You know, if I say, no, I’m not attracted to boys, that’s not the truth, because I’m attracted to young people, boys, girls ...” he said.

Sandusky hasn’t given any more interviews, and a court-issued gag order has effectively stopped his lawyers and prosecutors from talking about the case. But their earlier statements and court filings suggest the trial will hinge on testimony by the accusers, and Sandusky’s lawyers are determined to attack their credibility.

Their testimony will be all the more critical to prosecutors, because unlike sexual abuse cases, the Sandusky investigation likely did not produce forensic evidence.

One closely watched witness will be Mike McQueary, an assistant coach who was a graduate assistant in 2001 when he said he saw Sandusky naked in the team showers with a boy of about 10, described in the grand jury report as Victim 2. McQueary didn’t confront Sandusky but reported the incident to coach Joe Paterno, who contacted Tim Curley, the athletic director.

Paterno was removed as coach the week after Sandusky’s arrest and died in January of lung cancer. Curley was later charged, along with university vice president Gary Schultz, with failure to properly report suspected abuse and lying to the investigative grand jury. Both men deny the allegations and await trial. — AP

Jerry Sandusky

Stacy wins LPGA Classic

DUBLIN: Tiger Woods poses with the trophy after his twostroke victory at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance at Muirfield Village Golf Club. — AFP

Magical finish earns Woods two-shot win DUBLIN: Tiger Woods overhauled a fading Spencer Levin and a charging Rory Sabbatini with a few moments of magic to win his 73rd PGA Tour title by two shots at the Memorial tournament on Sunday.

He began the final day four strokes behind the pacesetting Levin and made a fast start before taking control with a spectacular finish that included a chip-in for birdie at the 16th that was lavishly praised by tournament host Jack Nicklaus.

“Boy, I hit it good today,” Woods said after clinching his second PGA Tour victory this season in his final appearance before the June 14-17 U.S. Open. “I hit the ball just as good as I have in years.

“I never really missed a shot today ... and I had the pace of the greens really nice today, where I struggled yesterday, and made a few putts.”

Woods birdied four of the first seven holes and then three of the last four for a five-under-par 67 and a nineunder total of 279, drawing level with Nicklaus in second place for career victories on the US circuit. Sam Snead leads the way with 82 PGA Tour wins.

“It’s been a nice run since I’ve turned pro and to do it at age 36 is not too shabby,” Woods said of matching his childhood idol Nicklaus. “I’ve been very proud of what I’ve done so far, and I feel like I’ve got a lot of good years ahead of me.”

Sitting beside Woods in the media center, Nicklaus graciously said: “If he’s going to do it (win his 73rd title), which he was obviously going to, I’d like to see it happen here.

That was good.”

Sabbatini, who briefly led by two shots on the back nine, closed with a 72 to share second place at seven under with Argentina’s Andres Romero, who rolled in a 13-foot birdie putt at the last for a 67.

Journeyman Levin, seeking a maiden PGA Tour victory, clung to a three-stroke lead at the turn but limped home to a 75 and a tie for fourth at five under with fellow American Daniel Summerhays (69).

On a breezy day of sunshine, the tournament turned on the astonishing flop shot Woods produced at the par-three 16th where he holed out from a poor downhill lie in greenside rough, 50 feet from the cup. As huge roars erupted across the course, Woods unleashed his trademark uppercut fist pump to celebrate joining Sabbatini in a tie for the lead at eight under.

Playing in the group behind, Sabbatini bogeyed the 16th, after finding a bunker off the tee, to hand Woods a one-shot lead. “That was the most unbelievable, gutsy shot I have ever seen,” Nicklaus told CBS. “Look at the position he was in. If he’s short, the tournament is over. If he is long, the tournament is over. He put it in the hole.”

Woods later commented of his miraculous shot: “It was one of the hardest ones I’ve pulled off. I was trying to get inside probably eight or 10 feet (from the cup).

“The lie was just a little bit marginal. For it to land as soft as it did was kind of a surprise because it was baked out and it was also downhill running away from me. It just fell in.”

Woods, who wore his customary red shirt for the final round of a tournament, then tightened his grip by sinking a nine-foot birdie putt on the 18th, sparking further roars from the huge galleries watching from below the clubhouse. “Thanks Jack, I appreciate it,” Woods said after being congratulated by the tournament host on his fifth win in the Memorial, before walking away to sign his card.

After battling a fever for much of the week at Muirfield Village, Woods will climb to number four when the world rankings are issued late yesterday. — Reuters

GALLOWAY: Stacy Lewis shot an even-par 71 Sunday to win the ShopRite LPGA Classic by four strokes over Katherine Hull. Lewis finished 54 holes at the Stockton Seaview Hotel and Golf Club at 12-under par 201. It was Lewis’ third LPGA win and her second of 2012; she won the Mobile LPGA Classic in April. She aldo reached the quarterfinals in the match play even two weeks ago.

Lewis, who had back surgery a decade ago that almost derailed her career, said the whole thing is unbelievable. “I’m speechless,” she said. “ To go from back surgery where I couldn’t even sit up by myself to now playing golf, having fun with it, playing with the best players in the world and being one of them? It doesn’t get any better than that.”

Last year, her first career victory came in a major, the Kraft Nabisco Championship. This victory was worth $225,000 from a $1.5 million purse. Katherine Hull sank a 10-foot birdie putt at the final green to finish alone in second place at 8-under 205 after a closing 68.

Mika Miyazato and Azahara Munoz were both at 206 after rounds of 68 and 69, respectively. Lexi Thompson, Anna Nordqvist, and Hee-Won Han were both at 207.

Lewis, who started the day with a six-shot lead, extended her margin over the first eight holes. She birdied the third hole after reaching the short par 5 in two and leaving her 40-foot eagle attempt 8 feet short. “It wasn’t really playing aggressively,” she said. “It was just playing smart and I knew I needed to make some birdies.

“I made a really good two-putt on two and

a good two-putt on three and that really seemed to calm me down and get me in a really good place.”

She followed that by draining a10-foot birdie try at the fourth, then converted birdie chances of 12 and 8 feet, respectively, at the seventh and eighth to move to 16 under.

At that point Lewis was on the verge of

running away from the field. But she ran into trouble when she flubbed her third shot from the green apron at the par-5 ninth and came up short of the putting surface. She eventually took a bogey to make the turn at 3 under for the day and 15 under for the tournament.

Things got worse for Lewis when she missed the green at the par-3 11th, chipped over and

NEW JERSEY: Stacy Lewis holds up the trophy on the 18th hole after winning the LPGA ShopRite Classic golf competition. — AP

Johnson races into track history DOVER: Jimmie Johnson was the mane man at Dover.

Wearing an afro clown wig - tufts of green, red, yellow and blue could be spotted from the stands - Johnson had to admit it was hard to take him seriously while he played the role of race jester. Some guys just have all the fun. That especially includes on this track.

Johnson romped again at Dover International Speedway, racing his way into the track’s history books on Sunday with his seventh win on the concrete, matching the mark held by Hall of Fame drivers Richard Petty and Bobby Allison.

No active driver owns the track like the five-time Sprint Cup champion. Johnson led 289 of the 400 laps and looked every bit like the driver who swept the two Cup races at Dover in 2002 and 2009. Johnson last won at Dover on Sept. 26, 2010. He also won the September 2005 race.

“God, I love this place,” Johnson said as he took a victory spin. Then it was off to goof around in Victory Lane.

Johnson, crew chief Chad Knaus and other Hendrick Motorsports crew members wore the wacky wig seen in the talking-animal movie, “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted.”

They had good reason to clown around. Throw in the All-Star race and that’s a sweet four-race winning streak for NASCAR’s top organization. Johnson won at Darlington Raceway and Kasey Kahne won the Coca

DOVER: Smoke pours from Jeff Burton’s car (left) during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series FedEx 400 auto race. — AP

Cola 600. Johnson also won the non-points All-Star race during that span as the No. 48 Chevrolet is heating up as he chases a sixth Cup championship.

“I’ve never been one to pay attention to stats,” Johnson said. “I just truthfully never thought I’d be the guy who’d build up any cool stats. Here I am with some pretty cool stats with legends of our sport and guys that I’ve looked up to.” Johnson won his second race of the season - and first where he celebrated with a rainbow circus wig.

“I’m just proud of this hair,” Johnson said. “The hair brought some speed to the team.” Petty needed 46 races to win seven times and Allison had 35 races.

Johnson got to seven in his 21st start at the track known as the Monster Mile. “You whipped ‘em today,” Knaus said over the radio. Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top five.

Johnson’s win came about 390 miles after a massive 13-car accident ended weeks of mostly accident-free races and took out defending Cup champion Tony Stewart. Stewart eventually returned and finished 25th.

Johnson’s only real challenge for a stretch came from teammate Jeff Gordon. The No. 24 was strong enough to lead 60 laps midway through the race and had perhaps the car to beat until a tire issue and an ill-timed debris caution combined to land him in 13th.

“It’s always more frustrating when you’ve got a car that can win and you show it by going up there and taking the lead,” Gordon said. “We don’t care about finishing top 15 or top 10 right now. That does nothing for us.

We need wins.” Maybe Gordon really did have the top car. But Johnson had the win.

Earnhardt joined his Hendrick teammates up front most of the race and posted his fifth top-five of the season. His losing streak stretched to 142 races, but he has only one finish outside the top 10 in his last nine races.

NASCAR’s most popular driver is back as a regular threat to win races. “We are getting close,” he said. “We are finishing good when we are not winning. I can’t really complain too much about how we’re doing.” Kahne followed his victory with a ninth-place finish to round out another stellar race for Hendrick. Points leader Greg Biffle was 11th and holds a one-point lead in the standings over Kenseth heading into next week’s race at Pocono Raceway.

After weeks of lengthy green-flag runs in the Cup series, the cautions and accidents finally returned.

Stewart, Landon Cassill and Regan Smith all connected to trigger the multi-car crash. Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch also later were taken out of the race on separate incidents.

There were seven cautions in the race. Johnson, who won his 57th career Cup race, took charge and led the final 76 laps, pulling away for good on a restart with 31 laps left.

There’s no Earnhardt-like streak in Johnson’s future.

The wins will surely keep coming. As for that wig? “I don’t think this fits the M.O.,” a smiling Knaus said. “It’s going to be short-lived.” — AP

missed an 8-foot bogey putt. She also missed a 5-foot par putt at 12.

She admitted she lost her focus for a time.

“I think I just kind of started taking a few chip shots for granted,” she said. “I thought they were going to be easier than they were and they turned out to be pretty tough shots.”

Lewis slammed her putter against her bag as she left the 12th green. “I know people don’t like this,” she said, “but honestly, it relieved me so much. It got rid of all the tension that was in my hands. I was so stressed out and it just got all the tension out.”

When Lewis walked to the 13th tee she stood at 12 under par after dropping four shots in a span of four holes. But Lewis regained her equilibrium with a par at 13, then rolled in a 35-foot birdie putt at the par4 14th to move to 13 under. No one in the field made a serious run at her. Thompson made the biggest move up the leaderboard.

Her closing 67 moved her from a tie for 17th when the day began into a tie for fifth. Lewis was keeping an eye on her pursuers. “I looked at the leaderboard on five,” she said, “kind of saw where I was and didn’t look at it again until nine. Even with the bogey I knew I was still OK. “Then when I made the double and the bogey on 11 and 12 I was actually pretty nervous there. I thought somebody could get within a couple of shots. When I saw the leaderboard and saw I had a six-shot lead at that point, that was when I kind of said ‘All right, it’s center of the green, two putt, and move on.” — AP

Chandhok aims to be first Indian to speed at Le Mans LONDON: Karun Chandhok is ready to claim an Indian motor racing first by starting the Le Mans 24 Hours sportscar race next week. Narain Karthikeyan will always be the first Indian driver to have competed in Formula One, and is still the only points scorer, but Le Mans offers Chandhok his own chance to be a groundbreaker.

“As long as I do a lap in the race that will be enough.

To be first out of 1.3 billion (Indians), that’s quite nice,” the 28-year-old former F1 driver told Reuters after his first laps of the Sarthe circuit in Sunday’s official pre-race test.

The key is in the word ‘start’. Karthikeyan qualified for the 2009 Le Mans but did not take part in the race after wrenching his shoulder while clambering over the pit wall. “I will be walking around the pit wall to go to the toilet,” said Chandhok with a chuckle, without in any way diminishing Karthikeyan’s achievements in getting to where he did. “We’ve spent the last 10 years in India, Narain and myself, telling everybody how mega F1 is and I think in many ways we’ve glossed over the fact that there are other high-level categories and championships and good races out there like Indy and Bathurst and Le Mans,” added the driver.

A 24 Hours is the equivalent of 18 grands prix in distance terms, nearly a full Formula One season in a day, with cars covering 5,000km from start to finish. The attendance figure, many coming from Britain, will be pushing 250,000. As Chandhok pointed out, that is a bigger crowd than a sellout India v Pakistan cricket match at Eden Gardens and the Indian Grand Prix put together. He will be sharing a Honda LMP1 car for the British JRM team with Australian David Brabham, son of triple F1 champion Jack and winner in 2009, and experienced Scot Peter Dumbreck.

“It’s one of those big, epic boxes you have to tick in your career,” said Chandhok of a race that will see his private team fighting to be best of the rest behind the mighty Audi and Toyota works outfits. They were 11th quickest of 61 cars on Sunday. “It was my first time ever here and a bit of an eye-opener when you’re going down the back straight, I can tell you. When you go to a place like Monza it’s really quick but...when you are doing more than 300k four times on the lap, it’s a pretty mega feeling,” he added. “It’s pretty daunting actually because with the traffic and on a circuit you don’t know, you are still trying to find your way around and you have the Audis coming past you and then you’ve got slower cars in the way. “It’s also narrower than you think because you’ve got the trees and the barriers quite close by.”

The grid will be decided in qualifying next week before the race starts on June 16 but Chandhok’s 17 laps on Sunday mean he has done enough distance to qualify as a driver. His last F1 race was with Team Lotus (now Caterham) in Germany last year after 10 races with HRT in 2010 ended in acrimony. His then boss, Colin Kolles, will also be at Le Mans with his own team several garages up the pit lane. — Reuters

18

TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012

S P ORT S

Pacquiao needs to be more impressive LOS ANGELES: The gym had been cleared, and the wait for Manny Pacquiao had begun. He would spar six rounds this day to prepare for his fight with Timothy Bradley, and there was security at the door of the Wild Card to make sure no one but the usual entourage and assorted fight types were on hand to watch. No cameras, no video.

Nothing to give away what Pacquiao plans to do in the ring Saturday night against Bradley, though trainer Freddie Roach

you finally can forget about that big fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. that now seems destined never to happen.

“If he looks bad, he retires,” Roach said. “At least I’ll tell him to.

And he may be the first one who will listen to me.” Roach knows something about aging fighters.

He once was one himself, losing five of his last six fights and taking the kind of beatings that may have led to the Parkinson’s he suffers from today. He fought on club

Pacquiao said. “If my speed is going down I want to know. I would listen to Freddie.”

So far, neither trainer nor fighter have noticed much slippage, at least in the gym. Pacquiao blames his performance against Marquez to distractions he was facing in his family life, and the fact that Marquez is a very tough matchup for him style-wise.

Still, as he sat in a small dressing room getting his hands wrapped after finally arriving in his

LOS ANGELES: Manny Pacquiao, of the Philippines, spars with his trainer Freddie Roach. —AP hardly seemed concerned.

Listen to Roach, and Pacquiao couldn’t have picked a better opponent. After struggling in his last fight against Juan Manuel Marquez, he gets a fighter who doesn’t hit all that hard and shouldn’t be able to match Pacquiao’s speed.

“He’s no killer, but he tries hard,” Roach said of Bradley. “Manny should eat him up as he comes forward. I think Manny should look really good in this fight.”

And if he doesn’t? Well, then

cards and in casinos far from the Las Vegas Strip, always sure that in his next fight he would do better.

The fighter is almost always the last one to acknowledge it’s over and, though Pacquiao is only 33, he’s been in a lot of fights and a lot of wars.

Pacquiao plans to fight only a few more times anyway. But to make sure he understands when it’s finally time to quit, fighter and trainer have made a pact.

“I always ask Freddie, what’s my strength like, what’s my speed,”

Ferrari, Pacquiao said he knows this is a fight in which he must look impressive. “I want to prove that I’m still young, and I can still fight,” he said.

To do that, the Filipino slugger is trying to block out the distractions that accumulated during his remarkable run. He sold his interest in a casino back home, got rid of his cockfighting ranch, and stopped playing basketball. More importantly, perhaps, he rededicated himself to his wife and his religion, spending most of his

nights now doing Bible study.

There will be no concert stretching into the early morning hours on the Las Vegas Strip after this fight, as had been Pacquiao’s habit. There may not even be a run at governor in his home province of Sarangani, something Pacquiao said he would make his mind up about later this year.

He says he’s at peace with himself finally because he believes he has eternal salvation. It’s not a gimmick to sell the fight, but a major change in his life. And it worries some in his entourage, who wonder if Pacquiao can still bring himself to be angry in the ring. The champ laughs when asked about it. “Yes,” Pacquiao says simply.

On this day, just a little more than a week before the fight, Pacquiao goes three rounds each with two different fighters. He starts slow, constantly grabbing at his headgear as if it doesn’t fit, while trying to fend off some rushes by his younger sparring partners. He gets hit with several hard left hooks, but by the last few rounds is delivering more punishment than he is taking.

Roach knows what he’s looking for, and he likes what he sees.

Fighter and trainer have been together for 26 fight camps now over 11 years, and the partnership has made them both wealthy and famous in different ways.

The late trainer Eddie Futch had told him to never open a gym. Too much trouble, too much hassle, too many fighters skipping out without paying. Indeed, there’s a sign at the counter in the gym upstairs in a rundown strip mall reminding everyone that May dues of $50 are now overdue.

The Wild Card draws aspiring fighters, and actors who think they’re fighters. They train together democratically, but when Pacquiao arrives the gym is his alone.

“I started this because I thought you never know when the next Muhammad Ali is going to walk through the door,” Roach said. “Next thing I know, here comes Manny Pacquiao.” —AP

BOSTON: Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade (center) dumps off the ball as he is surrounded by Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett (5), guard Mickael Pietrus (28), guard Rajon Rondo (9) and forward Paul Pierce (34) during the fourth quarter of Game 4 in their NBA basketball Eastern Conference finals playoffs series. —AP

Celtics beat Heat in OT BOSTON: Rajon Rondo had 15 points and 15 assists, and scored the final three points of the Boston Celtics’ 93-91 overtime victory over the Miami Heat on Sunday to even the Eastern Conference finals at two games each.

Getting a huge break when LeBron James fouled out for the first time since joining the Heat, the Celtics recovered after blowing an 18-point lead in regulation to move two games away from a third trip to the NBA finals in five years.

Kevin Garnett added 17 points and 14 rebounds for the Celtics, while Paul Pierce scored 23 points before fouling out. Ray Allen finished with 16 points.

“Stops,” Rondo said when asked what was the difference in the tight game. “I think we executed offensively, came up with some lucky plays and we got stops at the end.” James had 29 points and Dwyane Wade scored 20 after another dismal start for the Heat, who host Game 5 today.

In a game that started as a Celtics blowout and turned into a foul- and ten-

sion-filled fourth quarter, followed by the second overtime in this series, the Celtics held on when Wade missed a potential winning 3-pointer on the last possession.

“We knew they were going to Wade. I wanted to check him,” Rondo said. “They set a great pick. ... We’re lucky we got a stop.”

Mickael Pietrus drew James’ sixth foul and grabbed two huge offensive rebounds that extended consecutive possessions for the Celtics, who lost Game 4 in overtime in a second-round series against the Heat last year with a chance to tie the series.

This time, they overcame their secondhalf stall on the offensive end to give themselves by limiting the Heat to just one basket in overtime, by Udonis Haslem.

Rondo’s layup gave the Celtics a 92-91 lead with 2:34 left, and neither team scored again until he made a free throw with 21 seconds to play. Wade, already finding it tough to locate any room with Chris Bosh and then having to do it James also on the sideline, saw his potential winning attempt bounce off the rim as time expired. —AP

No pain, no gain for South Korean gymnast

Aisuluu Tynybekova

Teenage wrestler a girl among men KYRGYZSTAN: There is not a woman in Kyrgyzstan who can live with Aisuluu Tynybekova on the wrestling mat. Her sparring partners are all male, and at least 10 kg heavier than the Central Asian nation’s best hope of a medal at the London Olympics.

It’s a familiar story for the 19-year-old economics student. Growing up in her remote mountain village, Tynybekova helped out on the family farm and played basketball with the boys. Her mother, a paediatrician, forbade her from practising karate.

“It wasn’t accepted in the village. There weren’t any sports lessons for girls,” she says. “I was in the ninth grade (about 15 years old) when I discovered that girls also wrestled.”

Tynybekova was studying in Bishkek, capital of the former Soviet republic, when she was discovered by the former wrestler who is training her for the 2012 Olympic Games.

“I met Aisuluu in the university wrestling hall,” said her coach, Nurbek Izabekov. “I noticed this energetic, pig-tailed girl from the countryside and it was clear to me that she wasn’t wrestling for the first time. “I saw a savvy, hard-working girl with a huge desire for success.”

Twice a week, Tynybekova takes to the mountains of the Alamedin gorge outside Bishkek, running 10 km through valleys of wild rose bushes more than 1,500 metres above sea level. She drinks kumys, fermented mare’s milk, for inner strength.

She sleeps after lunch, before lifting weights in the evening and sparring in the wrestling hall a stone’s throw from the apartment she rents on the edge of Bishkek.

In London, she will compete in the 63kg freestyle category. She trains with men in the 74kg weight category. “I train with the men because it’s tougher,” she

says. “They are on a different level and I need this for my development. In my weight category, I don’t have a sparring partner in Kyrgyzstan.”

Tynybekova is painfully shy, often avoiding eye contact. She wears a tracksuit top with fluorescent green sleeves, emblazoned with the logo of the 2008 Wrestling World Championship in Tokyo.

“Who wouldn’t want to visit London? But we are not tourists. We are going there with the goal of winning a medal,” she said.

“I have dreamed since childhood of appearing on television, of how I would stand among athletes on the pedestal, with a medal around my neck.” Tynybekova is not the first famous wrestler in her family. Her maternal grandfather, Akylbek Sulaimanov, was a celebrated practitioner of kuresh, a traditional Central Asian form of wrestling using a belt or girdle to fell an opponent.

Tynybekova’s parents moved to the Naryn region of central Kyrgyzstan a few years after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Her father, a doctor in Soviet times, returned to his home village to become a farmer.

“We have our own horses. That’s where I go in the summer, to relax. I drink kumys and cow’s milk on the mountain pastures,” she says. “I’ve even milked the cows myself.”

She studies the Koran and prays daily. At school, she was inspired by stories of Kurmanjan Datka, a 19th-century Kyrgyz stateswoman who ruled swathes of the southern Alai region and appears today on the country’s 50 som ($1) note.

Her ambition is matched only by that of her coach, Izabekov. After placing second in Soviet championships, he says he too would have represented Kyrgyzstan in the Olympics had the newly independent country been able to afford to send him. —Reuters

SEOUL: The London Olympics represent the culmination of 12 years of dedication for Son Yeonjae, a South Korean rhythmic gymnast looking to win the country’s first medal in the discipline.

If she wins, the 18-year old who is a fluent Russian and English speaker, could become the next Korean sporting idol, following in the footsteps of figure skater Kim Yuna who wowed the country with her gold in the 2010 Winter Olympics.

“I am not yet the best in the world, although I am moving closer to it step by step as I planned to,” Son told Reuters, sitting in front of a “no pain, no gain” banner hanging in her gym in the South Korean capital of Seoul.

Son, who is sponsored by South Korean electronics giant LG Electronics, currently ranks fifth in the world and has trained for competition since the age of six.

Her first domestic gold came when she was 11 years old, although after that triumph she appeared to question whether the sport and its regime was right for her.

“I almost gave up in seventh grade...

I actually stopped for a few days, but that made me feel empty,” she said.

Aged 16, she claimed her first international medal at the 2010 Asian Games.

“I worked hard at international matches last year to win the entry to the Olympics that I had dreamed of,” Son said at the national gymnast training centre.

“Once you are in the final, everyone starts again from zero points. If I perform perfectly then, a good result will come.” She was disqualified recently in Uzbekistan after borrowing a ribbon for one section of the competition after hers had snapped. Still, she showed the steely side of an athlete who is determined to make it to the top.

“The music was still playing and people were watching me, some even clapping, so I just did my best as I wanted to complete my performance.”

Son has trained in Russia for three years, practising with her Russian coach in a gym where many of her competitors from Russia, K azak hstan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan also exercise. She left Seoul on June 4 for two competitions in Austria and Belarus before heading to London for the Olympics. —Reuters

LOS ANGELES: Seattle Storm guard Tanisha Wright (left) shoots as Los Angeles Sparks center Jantel Lavender defends during the second half of their WNBA basketball game. —AP

Lynx down Silver Stars MINNEAPOLIS: Maya Moore and Rebekkah Brunson each scored 17 points as the Minnesota Lynx held off the San Antonio Silver Stars 83-79 on Sunday.

Lindsay Whalen had 15 points and seven assists for Minnesota (7-0). Seimone Augustus added 14 points. It is the sixth time in league history that a team has won at least seven straight to start the season. Los Angeles holds the league record, starting 9-0 in 2001 and 2003.

Danielle Adams scored 21 points for San Antonio, Jia Perk ins had 16 and Sophia Young 14. The Silver Stars (2-3) have lost seven straight regular season games to Minnesota.

Liberty 87, Fever 72 At Newark , New Jersey, Cappie Pondexter scored 25 points to lead New York to a victory over Indiana, ending the Liberty’s longest winless start in franchise history.

Essence Carson had 16 points and Plenette Pierson added 14 for New York (1-5), which lost by 23 points at Indiana the previous night. Leilani Mitchell scored 13 points and Kia Vaughn had 10.

Tamika Catchings scored 19 points and Katie Douglas had 15 for the Fever (4-1).

Briann Januar y added 12 points and Shavonte Zellous 10.

Mercury 79, Shock 72 At Phoenix, DeWanna Bonner scored 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to help Phoenix hand Tulsa its sixth straight loss to open the season.

Rook ie Sammy Prahalis added 19 points and six assists. She converted a three-point play with 3:15 left to give

Phoenix (2-4) a six-point lead after Tulsa (0-6) had cut the lead to 69-66. The Mercury had led by as much as 12 in the third quarter.

Jennifer Lacy had 19 points, including her fourth 3-pointer with 4:55 remaining that brought the Shock to within three.

But she missed a layup with 41 seconds left and the Shock down 74-70.

Sun 94, Mystics 86 At Uncasville, Connec ticut, Tina Charles had 30 points, nine rebounds and four assists as Connec ticut beat Washington.

Kara Lawson had 18 points and four assists for the Sun (4-1). Asjha Jones added 10 points, four rebounds and two steals. Connecticut shot 52.5 percent from the floor. Washington was nearly as good, shooting 48.5 percent.

Crystal Langhorne had 25 points and five rebounds for the Mystics (1-4).

Reserve Jasmine Thomas scored 17 points with three steals.

Sparks 67, Storm 65 At Los Angeles, Nnek a Ogwumike scored with 2.5 seconds remaining to lift Los Angeles to a victory over Seattle.

Ogwumike took an inbound pass and made a right hand running shot over Ann Wauters as the Sparks beat Seattle for the third time in 16 days.

Los Angeles (5-1) prevailed despite shooting a season-worst 34.9 percent from the field. Kristi Toliver led the Sparks with 23 points and Candace Parker added 16 points and 13 rebounds. Katie Smith led Seattle (1-4) with 19 points while Sue Bird added 12. —AP

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TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012

SPORTS

Hodgson unsure if France beatable in Euro opener KRAKOW: His team beset by injuries after less than a month in charge, Roy Hodgson has conceded that England will struggle to beat France in their European Championship opener.

A trio of influential players has been ruled out of the tournament with injuries even before the team travels to its Polish base, while both warmup matches have produced unconvincing 1-0 victories over sides which failed to qualify for Euro 2012.

On top of that, Hodgson must cope without Wayne Rooney for the group matches against France and Sweden due to his suspension for kicking an opponent in the last qualifier, with the striker only available for the group stage finale against co-host Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the French, whose World Cup campaign was even more

calamitous than England’s, have been transformed in the last two years by Laurent Blanc.

“I have got a team in my head that can do very well against (France), whether we can beat them I don’t know,” Hodgson said. “When you have gone 21 games unbeaten (if France beat Estonia on Tuesday) you have obviously have something.

“And, what’s more, you have got a lot of games behind you, and a lot of matches together with this particular team that you have believed in.”

Defensive midfielder Yann M’Vila is Blanc’s only major injury concern going into Euro 2012.

“He might have to replace M’Vila ... but the team takes care of itself,” Hodgson said. “We can’t suggest that we’re in that position at the moment, not least of all because of our key fig-

ures, Rooney can’t play in the first two games and of course other key figures have suddenly left us.”

The prevailing sense of realism in England about the team’s prospects of ending a 46-year title drought has been heightened by the string of tournament-ending injuries since Hodgson named his 23-man squad three weeks ago.

The first setback was losing thirdchoice goalkeeper John Ruddy to a broken finger, but key midfielders Gareth Barry and Frank Lampard, and defender Gary Cahill have also sustained injuries in the last week. A draw against France would seem to be an accomplishment for England.

“I am happier that we are moving towards a team which I think can not only give them a good game,” Hodgson said. “If we have a bit of luck

on our side, who knows, perhaps we can win it. “But I am not suggesting that we will and I don’t think we’ll go into the game as favorites to be frank - not in terms of what France have done in the last couple of years vis-avis what we have done.”

While France is on a 20-game unbeaten run, England’s last loss came in February against the Netherlands when Stuart Pearce was in temporary charge following Fabio Capello’s resignation.

But it is not all bleak in the England camp as the country seeks to make amends for their last-16 exit at the World Cup. Hodgson was encouraged by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s youthful energy as the 18-year-old Arsenal winger made his first start in Saturday’s victory against Belgium, even if he did

seem too keen to impress at times.

“It is a good fault though isn’t it.

We have been trying to encourage that a little bit,” Hodgson said. “We have got quick players. I don’t think we have got into those areas anywhere near as much as I would have liked ... but the good thing is that if we could get into those areas, the players we have got there, with their pace and ability, they can cause problems.

“Our message to the players has been that they have to be brave and show some courage. They have to try it on. If it doesn’t work, we will take the responsibility. We would rather they take it on, than turn back and play the ball back again because you are worried that if you try and go by the guy and lose the ball everyone is going to criticize you.”—AP

Spain sweep warm-up matches

TORONTO: Canada’s Kevin McKenna (right) and United States’ Herculez Gomez battle for the ball during the first half of the Canadian Soccer Association’s Centennial friendly soccer match.—AP

US held by Canada TORONTO: The United States failed to seize momentum for World Cup qualifying when they were held 0-0 by Canada on Sunday in a soccer exhibition in Toronto.

The match was the third of a threegame stretch of friendlies designed to prepare the U.S. for qualifying, beginning on Friday.

After routing Scotland 5-1 on May 26, they lost to Brazil 4-1 on Wednesday and came up short on in a match they had been expected to win. Canada have not beaten the US since 1985 and it was no great shock that they failed to break through in front of a home crowd.

The US controlled most of the action and outshot their opponents 12-9, though their greatest scoring chances may have come in extra time.

Clarence Goodson had two great chances in stoppage time, including a header from a free kick that was blocked

by Canadian goalkeeper Lars Hirschfeld, while Jermaine Jones also had a shot blocked. Though they extended their unbeaten run against Canada to 15 matches, the US will not take many positives from the clash heading into their June 8 qualifier against Antigua & Barbuda at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.—Reuters

MADRID: With a limitless supply of attacking players, Spain head to Euro 2012 with all the attributes required to break down the tightest of defences, according to former national team coach and current China boss Jose Antonio Camacho.

The world and European champions made it a clean sweep of victories in their three warm up games with a 1-0 win over China on Sunday.

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque had the luxury of bringing on Andres Iniesta as a second-half substitute in Seville and the Barcelona midfielder laid on the 84th-minute winner for David Silva as the hard-working visitors ran out of steam.

“Everyone is going to try and play Spain the way we did, with a regimented defence and looking to play on the counter-attack,” Camacho, Spain boss between 1998 and 2002, told reporters after the loss. “If we’d had another rival in front of us we probably would not have lost, but Spain has infinite alternatives.

“If one player goes off, another who is just as good comes on, and furthermore he has fresh legs. When you put together players as good as these it is impossible to predict what they are going to do.”

Iniesta finally breached the Chinese defence with a darting run off the left flank and a pull back for the outstanding Silva to stroke home.

Spain had lacked a cutting

SEVILLE: Spain’s Raul Albiol (left) and China’s Zheng Zhi-Cap (right) fight for the ball during the friendly football match between Spain and China. —AP edge in the first period when much of the attention had been on Del Bosque’s decision to start with Sevilla striker Alvaro Negredo up front in place of Chelsea’s Fernando Torres. It is still not clear who Del Bosque will opt to start with against Italy in their Group C opener on Sunday in the absence of injured leading scorer David Villa.

Negredo is considered to be a player better suited to linking up with Spain’s ball-hogging mid-

fielders rather than the explosive Torres, while Athletic Bilbao’s towering Fernando Llorente is seen more as a game-changing substitute. Negredo had few chances to shine and was replaced by Torres after the break and Del Bosque was also able to throw on Juan Mata and Jesus Navas, but it was left to the dynamic duo of Iniesta and Silva to win the game.

“In the opening period we were slower than usual. We were

Chelsea complete swoop for Hazard LONDON: European champions Chelsea completed the signing of highly-rated Belgium midfielder Eden Hazard from French club Lille yesterday.

Hazard’s move to Stamford Bridge had been expected since last week when he tweeted that he would be joining the Champions League winners and the transfer has now been finalised after the 21-year-old passed a medical.

“Chelsea Football Club is delighted to announce we have agreed terms with Lille for the transfer of Eden Hazard,” a statement on the club’s website confirmed.

“The 21-year-old Belgian international has agreed personal terms with the club and today passed a medical examination. He will join the club in July when the players return for pre-season training.

The Blues have beaten Premier League rivals Manchester City and Manchester United for the signature of a player regarded as one of Europe’s brightest young stars.

Reports suggest Chelsea have paid £32 million to sign Hazard, which would make him the second most expensive player in Chelsea’s history behind £50 million striker Fernando Torres.

“I’m delighted to finally arrive here, it’s a wonderful club and I can’t wait to get started,” Hazard added on Chelsea’s website. It is believed Chelsea have

agreed to pay Hazard around £170,000a-week to add his exciting creative talents to a midfield being overhauled despite the club’s Champions League and FA Cup double this season.

Although they are yet to confirm who will manage the team next season after interim boss Roberto Di Matteo’s cup triumphs, the Blues have still been busy in the transfer market and Hazard follows Germany winger Marko Marin as their second summer signing.

With star striker Didier Drogba departed, Hazard, Marin and Juan Mata will form a creative trio expected to supply the ammunition for Torres in a bid to get the misfiring Spaniard back on track.

Hazard’s exceptional pedigree in French football suggests he will be a hit with his new club whoever ends up in charge.

He helped Lille win the Ligue 1 title and the French Cup in 2011 and was named Ligue 1 player of the year this term after helping his team back into the Champions League with 20 goals and 15 assists.

Hazard was in London last weekend to play for Belgium in their 1-0 friendly defeat against England and gave a few glimpses of his potential while also enduring some tough tackles from new Chelsea team-mates John Terry and Ashley Cole.—AFP

somewhat lazy, though we must acknowledge they were very well organised,” Del Bosque said.

“Teams cannot maintain their physical tone throughout the whole game and tiredness took its toll after the early effort they put in. Later, we combined much better. “The important thing is we created a good number of chances. Ideally you want a good balance between defence and attack and I think we achieved that.”—Reuters

Colombia down Peru 1-0

LIMA: Colombia’s Fredy Guarin (left) and Peru’s Christian Ramos battle for the ball during a 2014 World Cup qualifying soccer game.—AP

LIMA: Midfielder James Rodriguez scored the only goal as Colombia beat Peru 1-0 in a World Cup qualifier in Lima on Sunday to give Jose Pekerman a winning start as their coach.

Striker Dorlan Pabon flicked a through ball with the outside of his right foot past a defender to Rodriguez, who sidestepped goalkeeper Diego Penny in the box and shot left-footed into the net.

The victory at the Estadio Nacional lifted Colombia into fifth place in the nine-nation South American group with seven points from four matches. They are three points behind leaders Argentina, who have played one more match.

Colombia, who have not reached the finals since 1998, appointed Argentine Pekerman after sacking Leonel Alvarez in November following a home defeat

by Argentina.

Peru, whose coach Sergio Markarian was deprived of half a dozen players through injury, are one from bottom with three points from four matches. The Peruvians had the better of the first half but were denied by some good goalkeeping from David Ospina.

“We lost to rivals of such class that they knew how to play for time and the referee (Argentine Nestor Pitana) gave them all the time they wanted,” Uruguayan Markarian complained.

“The team did what they could and if they couldn’t do more it was because we had too many limitations,” he told reporters.

Peru have not beaten Colombia at home since the preliminaries for the 1982 World Cup, which was the last the Peruvians qualified for. They face Uruguay in Montevideo next weekend when Colombia are away to Ecuador in Quito. —Reuters

Blanc calls for more consistency by France PARIS: France coach Laurent Blanc has called for more consistency in his side’s play ahead of their final Euro 2012 warm-up game against Estonia in Le Mans today.

France produced some thrilling football in the first half of their 2-0 defeat of Serbia last Thursday before their level dipped and Blanc wants to see a more complete performance against the Estonians.

“The match will serve to help the team and the players pick up speed but also to keep them fresh because we’ll need all our weapons (for the opening game against

England) on June 11,” he said yesterday.

“We need to win this match and be more consistent in our play. Against Serbia, we were only consistent for 60 minutes. I hope we’ll do it for even longer and that we won’t have any physical problems.”

Yann M’Vila succumbed to an ankle injury in the early stages of the Serbia win, which means that Alou Diarra is in line to take his place for both the Estonia friendly and Euro 2012 opener against England.

The 30-year-old endured a disappointing debut season with Marseille but Blanc, who

worked with Diarra at Bordeaux, says he has the necessary experience to occupy the key midfield position in front of the French defence. “He’s a born competitor,” said Blanc. “I know where I’m going with him.

You can’t ask him to do certain things but what he knows how to do, he does very well. He’s had an average season but he’s always there when we need him.

“I appreciate the man, the player; we know him and we know that in matches at the very, very top level, in terms of power in the tackle, we need lads like that.

“He has an important role in the squad.

He’s not very talkative but he’s respected by the players.” Blanc is expected to name his first-choice starting line-up against Estonia, with skipper Hugo Lloris in goal behind a back four of Mathieu Debuchy, Adil Rami, Phillipe Mexes and Patrice Evra.

Diarra will be flanked in midfield by Yohan Cabaye and Florent Malouda, behind a three-pronged front line of Samir Nasri, Karim Benzema and Franck Ribery.

Although both M’Vila and fellow midfielder Blaise Matuidi are expected to miss

the England game, Blanc’s selection problems pale in comparison to those dogging his English counterpart, Roy Hodgson.

Hodgson has lost key midfielders Frank Lampard and Gareth Barry and centre-back Gary Cahill to injury in the last week, while Wayne Rooney is suspended for England’s opening two matches at Euro 2012. “We’re paying attention to it,” admitted Blanc.

“We’ve watched England. We know their system, their players less so, but what interests me and motivates me is the France team.”—AFP

Colombia down Peru 1-0

Stacy wins LPGA Classic

19

17

TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012

Magical finish earns Woods two-shot win

Page 17

PARIS: Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi serves to Netherlands’ Arantxa Rus during their Women’s Singles 4th Round tennis match of the French Open. (Inset) Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova serves to US Varvara Lepchenko. —AP

Li crashes, Sharapova struggles

PARIS: Defending champion Li Na crashed out of the French Open yesterday while Maria Sharapova survived a deluge of errors on a bitterly cold day in Paris to struggle into the quarter-finals.

Li, who was Asia’s first Grand Slam singles champion when she took the 2011 title, lost her crown at the fourth round stage, going down 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 to K azak h qualifier Yaroslava Shvedova, the world 142. World number seven Li was attempting to be the first French Open women’s champion to successfully defend the title since Justine Henin in 2007.

But after a confident start on Suzanne Lenglen cour t, the 30-year-old Chinese endured a spectacular meltdown in the sec-

ond set and never recovered, notching 41 errors and ending up being broken seven times by her 24-year-old opponent.

“I lost one match so don’t try to put me down,” Li, who hasn’t won a title since her Paris victory, snapped at a tense post-match news conference.

“This is tennis. I will try to find the reason why I lost.” Shvedova, who was a quarterfinalist in 2010, had to come through qualifying after a knee injury in 2011 saw her ranking plummet to 206. She will now face fourth-seeded Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova who brushed aside unseeded American Varvara Lepchenko 6-2, 6-1.

“I was nervous in the first set and was making mistakes, but I then tried to attack

more,” said Shvedova. “I knew she was the defending champion and she had all the pressure. I had come from qualifying, was playing my seventh match and I just told myself to enjoy the day and try and my best.”

Sharapova struggled into the quarter-finals, defeating Czech veteran Klara Zakopalova 64, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2 in an error-scarred clash which featured 21 breaks of serve.

The Russian second seed, seek ing a Roland Garros title to complete a career Grand Slam, goes on to face Estonian 23rd seed Kaia Kanepi who put out Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands 6-1, 4-6, 6-0.

But she will be hoping for an improvement in conditions in Wednesday’s quarterfinal after a stiff wind and bitter cold, which

saw temperatures dip to a chilly 14 degrees, played havoc with her game, temper and movement.

The statistics of yesterday’s match on Philippe Chatrier court told a grim tale.

Sharapova finished with 53 unforced errors to her opponent’s 48 and served up 12 double faults against seven.

With ser ve constantly under siege, Sharapova carved out a massive 31 break points in total, converting 12. “She played extremely well, she’s a dangerous player,” said Sharapova of an opponent she had beaten in straight sets on clay in Madrid last month. “The conditions were difficult, but it was a good test for me. I had the chance to finish it in two sets. I came out strong in the

third and it’s nice to be in the quar ters again.”

Sharapova, twice a semi-finalist and the favorite for the title following the exits of top seed Victoria Azarenk a, Li and Serena Williams, rarely settled in the three hour 11 minute encounter.

Twice she argued with umpire Julie Kjendlie while also taking an embarrassing, bottom-first tumble on to the damp red clay midway during the ninth game of the second set. In a neat snapshot of the m a tc h , S h a r a p ov a d o u b l e - f a u l te d o n match point in the seventh game of the final set; Zakopalova suffered a similar lapse in the next game to hand her opponent victory.—AFP

Nadal, Murray in last eight at French Open

NEW DELHI: In this photo released by the Indian Press Information Bureau (PIB), Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar is congratulated by V. Narayanasamy (second left) Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s office, Harish Rawat (second right) Minister of State in the Union Cabinet in the Ministry of Agriculture and Parliamentary Affairs, and Rajeev Shukla (right) Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and chief of the Indian Premier League (IPL) after being sworn in at Parliament.—AP

Cricket legend Tendulkar sworn in as Indian MP NEW DELHI: Legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar yesterday became India’s first active sportsperson to be sworn in as a member of parliament.

In a surprising move, the world’s highest Test run scorer was nominated to the upper house, the Rajya Sabha, along with film personality Rekha and industrialist Anu Aga in April this year.

“In the last 22 years of my international career, cricket has given me so much,” said the 39-year-old batsman after taking oath in vice president Hamid Ansari’s office.

“Today with the nomination, I am in a better position not only to help cricket but also other sports,” he added. In March, Tendulkar, who continues to play

Test and one day matches for his country, became the first cricketer to score 100 international centuries. Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi invited Tendulkar to her residence to congratulate him on the historic feat.

Of the 250 members in the Rajya Sabha, 12 are nominated by the president for “special knowledge or practical experience in respect of such matters as literature, science, art and social service.”

The soft-spoken cricketer has previously been considered for the Bharat Ratna, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

“I believe there will be obstacles, challenges along the way. I will need help from fellow Parliamentarians, media and countrymen,” he said. “I hope

to be remembered as having helped all sports persons and not just for my cricket statistics.”

Tendulkar, who holds several major cricket records including most runs and most centuries in both tests and oneday internationals, could not take his oath earlier because he was busy playing for the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League.

Tendulkar dismissed speculation his will retire from any format of cricket now he is a parliamentarian. “Cricket comes first for me,” he said when asked about his priorities in the coming years.

Tendulkar joins former India cricketers Mohammad Azharuddin, Navjot Sidhu and Kirti Azad in Parliament.—AP

PARIS: Defending champion Rafael Nadal stormed into the French Open quarter-finals yesterday as three Spaniards plus Andy Murray made it through to the last eight in the bottom half of the draw.

Nadal demolished Juan Monaco of Argentina 6-2, 6-0, 6-0 in an awesome display of claycourt tennis that must have sent shivers through his rivals for the title here.

Countrymen David Ferrer and Nicolas Almagro had earlier gone through comfortably. Sixth-seeded Ferrer cruised past countryman Marcel Granollers 6-3, 6-2, 6-0, and 12th seed Almagro pushed aside Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia 6-4, 6-4, 64.

Murray then joined them with a disjointed 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 win over Frenchman Richard Gasquet. The Scot will play Ferrer, while Nadal will go for his 50th win at Roland Garros against Almagro.

Joining them in the last eight, in matches held over from Sunday in the opposing top half of the draw, were Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina.

Tsonga, seeking to provide a first French win in the men’s singles since Yannick Noah in 1983, returned to action against Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 4-2 ahead in the fifth set.

And despite dropping his serve in

the opening game, he held steady to pull off a 6-4, 7-6 (8/6), 3-6, 3-6, 6-4 win that saw him into the quarterfinals at Roland Garros for the first time.

Next up will be a meeting with top seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia, who has history-making on his mind too as he bids to become the first man in 43 years to hold all four Grand Slam titles at the same time.

“It was tough yesterday as it was dark at the end. I don’t know if was great for me or not,” Tsonga said. “But I came on the court this morning with a good spirit. I had a good night’s sleep and I was ready to play again.”

Del Potro was two sets to one up against Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic when darkness fell on their fourth round tie late Sunday and he wasted little time on their return Monday to complete a 7-6 (8/6), 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 win.

His reward will be another crack at third seed Roger Federer, against whom he lost a thrilling five-setter in the 2009 semi-finals.

Second seed Nadal won 17 games in succession to destroy Monaco and afterwards said he had to feel sorry for his close friend for suffering such a heavy defeat.

The Spaniard, bidding to become the first man to capture seven Roland Garros singles titles, celebrated his 26th birthday on Sunday while title

rivals Djokovic and Federer were struggling into the last eight.

Monaco, the 13th seed, went into Monday’s match with solid clay court form under his belt having captured titles in Vina del Mar and Houston this year.

But he had lost all three previous clay meetings against Nadal, claiming just 10 games in the process, and the 28-year-old was swept aside again by the champion in just one hour and 46 minutes on Suzanne Lenglen court.

Fourth seed Murray looked all at sea for a set and a half before his fourth round clash with Gasquet turned dramatically late in the second set as the Scot found his touch and Gasquet totally lost his.

The win means that Murray has reached a Grand Slam quarter-final for the sixth straight time, with Ferrer, who he has never betean on clay, waiting for him as his opponent.

For Gasquet there was the disappointment of failing to join countryman Tsonga in the last eight. The last time two Frenchman made the quarter-finals at Roland Garros was in 1990.

“He started very, very well, went for his shots, high risk and was playing unbelievable,” Murray said of his opponent. “I was lucky to turn it around at the end of the second set and then I started to play a lot better.”—AFP

Short of euros, Greeks trade time and barter Page 22

Global economy at risk as US, Europe and Asia slow Page 23

TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012

Europe mulls major step towards ‘fiscal union’ Page 23

Mercedes-Benz, AMG at the Cannes Film Festival Page 26

HONG KONG: A woman (centre) puts back coins into her wallet in front of a currency exchange booth yesterday. — AFP

UAE 2012 growth seen slowing to 3% Oil prices seen floating between $80-100/barrel DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates’ economic growth is likely to ease markedly to around 3 percent this year, dented by global weakness but the OPEC member’s leveraged banking system seems to be more resilient to withstand any potential deterioration. The UAE’s Minister of Economy Sultan bin Saeed Al-Mansouri cut yesterday his forecast for the country’s gross domestic product growth this year following a sharp fall in global oil prices over the last several weeks.

Speaking at a news conference, where he revealed GDP data for 2011, Mansouri said he remained optimistic about growth this year: “The economy is in good shape, even excellent shape.” “I am optimistic about 2012 with oil

prices averaging about $112 (per barrel) in the first four months and that’s a positive indication,” he said, expecting oil prices to float between $80-100 per barrel this year.

But his forecast for 2012 was lower than his last prediction, made in March, of “almost 4 percent” growth. At that time, Brent crude oil was around $125 a barrel. Since then, signs of a global economic slowdown have dragged oil as low as $96 this week, the cheapest price since January 2011.

“Indications so far showed that the real nonoil sector still shows a strong performance. We believe that although growth is unlikely to be as strong as last year it should nevertheless remain solid in 2012,” said Monica Malik, chief

economist at EFG Hermes in Dubai.

The UAE, a federation of seven desert and coastal emirates, is the world’s No. 3 crude exporter, where oil accounts for 38 percent of its $339 billion economy. The Gulf country’s GDP growth accelerated to 4.2 percent in inflation-adjusted terms last year, which was the fastest expansion since 2006, from a downwardly revised 1.3 percent growth in 2010, the National Bureau of Statistics’ data showed.

Yesterday, Brent crude extended losses to hit a 16-month low as weak US and Chinese economic data fanned renewed fears of a global economic slowdown, which would hit oil demand. Slowdown in China and India, the UAE’s major trade partners, coupled with pro-

longed recession in Europe and weakness in the United States, would have adverse effects on the oil- and trade-reliant UAE economy.

Moreover, refinancing debts of its stateowned entities worth some $98 billion in 20122015 remains challenging, the International Monetary Fund has said. “ The channels through which these threats can impact the UAE is obviously the oil price as happened in 2008 and financial services sector,” said Fabio Scacciavillani, chief economist at Oman Investment Fund in Muscat. “I would say that at present financial institutions in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) and the UAE are in a better shape to withstand the shock, but we do not know the extent of the shock,” he said. The

Kuwait’s exports back in action

Gulf markets down on global woes MIDEAST STOCKS DUBAI: Most Gulf markets retreated yesterday, trading on muted volumes, as sliding oil prices and further declines on overseas markets kept investors at bay. Global trends dominated moves in Gulf bourses due to a lack of regional catalyst in company news or economic developments. The United Arab Emirates’ bourses were the biggest losers, with both Dubai and Abu Dhabi slumping to four-month lows.

Dubai’s index ends 0.3 percent lower, its lowest close since Feb. 2.

Trading volumes were down by more than a third from Sunday.

Proper t y-related stocks head Dubai’s losers. Heavyweight Emaar Proper ties dropped 1 percent, Deyaar loses 4 percent and builder Arabtec shed 1.4 percent. “The fact that volumes were muted show there is not much selling pressure,” said Sebastien Henin, portfolio manager at The National Investor. “Global factors will drive Gulf markets, but I’m not expecting any major impact.”

Abu Dhabi’s index fell 0.2 percent, its lowest close since Jan. 30. Trading volumes are the lowest since midJanuary. National Bank of Abu Dhabi was the main drag, falling 2.4 percent, but Aldar Proper ties and

Sorouh Real Estate added 3 and 1.1 percent respectively.

Uncertain worldwide growth outlook flushed more investors out of riskier assets, sending global shares and commodities down, despite signs that a drive by Europe’s leaders to tackle the region’s debt crisis was gathering momentum. Brent crude extended losses to hit a 16-month low below $96 a barrel.

Meanwhile, Saudi’s index bucked the trend and advanced for a second session this week, regaining some lost ground from a drop of 4.2 percent on Saturday. “The pressure we saw on Saudi was mostly due to petrochemical stocks. However, markets were expected to recoup these losses,” said Henin.

The bourse ended 0.3 percent higher. Bellwether Saudi Basic Industries Corp. gained 1.4 percent and Al-Rajhi Bank added 0.4 percent.

I n Kuwait, logistics firm Agilit y advanced 2.8 percent. Agility said yesterday that it had acquired a 62 percent stake in United Projects for Aviation Services Company (UPAC), an airline support service and transport provider, for 26 million dinars ($92.7 million). UPAC’s shares ended 7 percent higher. —Reuters

global crisis in 2008 burst Dubai’s property bubble, triggering a $25 billion debt restructuring in its Dubai World conglomerate in 2009-2010, while other state firms were also hit. Bank lending has remained sluggish since then. In 2009, the UAE economy, the second largest in the Arab world, shrank by 4.8 percent, according to the revised GDP data released yesterday. This was much worse than the 1.6 percent contraction previously estimated by the statistics office. Mansouri also told the news conference that he expected inflation in the UAE of between 1 and 1.5 percent this year. A Reuters poll of analysts in March predicted economic growth of 3.1 percent and inflation of 2 percent in 2012. — Reuters

NAIROBI: Kenyan motorists drive yesterday in heavy traffic. According to an IBM Commuter Pain Survey, Nairobi residents have the fourth most painful commute in the world. — AFP

BAGHDAD: Oil exports from Iraq’s southern Basra terminals were still disrupted by a dust storm yesterday, with shipments cut to 1.41 million barrels per day (bpd) from 1.65 million bpd the previous day, a shipping source said.

“A dust storm is making visibility difficult for ships to reach the ports yesterday and preventing those who are berthed from leaving,” the shipper said. Bad weather has disrupted oil exports from Iraq’s southern offshore terminal and forced neighbouring Kuwait to halt all of its oil exports, a shipping source and government official said on Sunday.

However Kuwait was able to resume its oil exports yesterday as a sandstorm lifted there, a spokesman for state-run Kuwait National Petroleum Co (KNPC) said.

Kuwait produced around 2.77 million barrels per day (bpd) in May, slightly up from 2.75 million bpd in April, according to a recent Reuters survey.

Kuwait has three refineries — Shuaiba, Mina Abdullah and Mina Al-Ahmadi — with a total refining capacity of around 930,000 bpd. In Iraq, loading operations at a new floating export terminal have resumed with pumping around 480,000 barrels per day, the shipping source said. “A ship was anchored at the single-point mooring, but high winds prevented it from loading. It started loading after winds died down,” the shipper said. Iraq exports the bulk of its crude from southern ports at the Gulf. Shipments of crude from the Kirkuk field in northern Iraq usually average 350,000-400,000 bpd and are expected to remain stable around that level. Iraq exported an average 2.452 million bpd in May, including 2.086 million from Basra and 366,000 from northern fields. Iraq’s oil production has been held back for decades by infrastructure crippled by years of sanctions and war, including a lack of export capacity on its small strip of the Gulf coast. Production from Iraq’s southern oilfields is expected to hit around 2.75 million bpd by the end of this year and the OPEC producer is expected to be the world’s biggest source of new oil supplies over the next few years. — Reuters

22

TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012

BUSINESS

Short of euros, Greeks trade time and barter ‘The reason people know about us is the crisis’

MOGADISHU: Ahmed Jama, prepares coffee at one of his restaurants. — AP

Luxury dining on Somali beach as market matures beachfront restaurant and hotel is the go-to place on Fridays for many residents.

This is still Mogadishu, though, scene of insurgent suicide attacks and roadside bombs. Customers here must go through two security sweeps. The grounds are protected by armed guards.

Jama wouldn’t talk about the profitability of his businesses, but indicated they are doing well. Looking over a world map while back in London, he decided Mogadishu was the right place to open a new business.

“I have been to Djibouti, Nairobi and Dubai, but found that Mogadishu offers the best business hope,” he said while wearing black jeans, a black shirt and sunglasses. Government officials are frequent guests at Jama’s restaurants. Even their presence is a sign of Mogadishu’s improved fortunes. In the past, officials who are favorite targets of Al-Shabab assassins - were rarely seen at restaurants.

Jama’s culinary success comes alongside a general revival in Mogadishu.

Turkey has reopened its embassy, the UN has moved in new staff here, and Turkey’s national airline now makes regular flights to Mogadishu. Most of Jama’s diners are European - frequently from Turkey - or from Somalia’s diaspora. The prices are not exorbitant but most Somalis can’t afford to dine here.

The lobster dish costs $20, but steak goes for about $7 and pasta for $3.

Don’t ask for French preparation. “We don’t ser ve foreign dishes. It’s only Somali food. Our country has the best recipes,” he said. — AP

MOGADISHU: Beachfront dining, fresh lobster, and a European clientele: Somalia’s restaurant scene is quickly changing for the better. Somali businessman Ahmed Jama recently returned to Somalia from London to open two Western-style restaurants in two hotels he owns, one on the beachfront and the other downtown Mogadishu. His beachfront property boasts stylish beach beds and flat-screen T Vs. It has quickly become Mogadishu’s version of South Beach or the French Riviera.

“I returned to my country with hope of bringing a new concept,” Jama said at one of his lavish restaurants, called The Village. “I trained many people with cooking skills and they are working in the country now. I am so happy.”

Mogadishu - the war-torn capital of Somalia - has suffered from decades of war and insecurity. But it has blossomed in recent months in a way few could imagine even a year ago. It was only last August that African Union troops kicked al-Shabab militants out of the city. Since then, sports, arts and good food have returned.

“This is the place of choice. Everyone recognizes it,” said one of Jama’s customers, as he sipped coffee and watched TV. Shirtless male swimmers reclined on lounge chairs nearby. Women in fullbody bathing suits splashed in the ocean. Ice cream, seafood and hookah pipes are on the menu, though alcohol is not served since it is outlawed by the government.

This wind-swept area in eastern of Mogadishu was long considered unusable, but Jama’s hotel is thriving. His

ATHENS: As a computer specialist who can fix your PC, Vassilis Revelas has a valuable skill. In Greece’s economic crisis, he’s found a new way of using its value-without a single euro changing hands. Like hundreds of others in Greece, where incomes have plunged in four years of recession, he uses the time bank-an online exchange where members swap services, counting the cost not in euros, but in hours. “I racked up about 10 hours of work by fixing people’s computers,” says Vassilis. “In return I’ve had an electrician come to help with my phone line, I’ve had someone do my hair, I had someone help me move house and I also had Spanish lessons,” he told AFP. Time-banking and other forms of bartering are on the rise in Greece and other crisishit countries such as Spain, as people come to grips with lower salaries, pensions and job prospects. “There were time banks before, but people didn’t know about them. They didn’t need to,” says another user, Christine Papadopoulou. “The reason people know about us now is because of the crisis.”

She says more than 1,000 people are registered on the Athens time bank, of which around 200 active members regularly use it to give and receive services. “I went to the house of a girl I didn’t know and helped her organise her closet,” says Christine, 33, an event planner. “Her house was very messy so I helped her to organise the space.” This earned Christine three hours of credit, which the person she helped logged for her on the time bank website.

Originally an anti-capitalist initiative, like many of the free bartering markets that have sprung up in Greece, the time bank does not let market forces set the value of members’ labour.

“We believe that we are all equal-one hour of a doctor’s time is equal to the hour of a cleaning lady,” says Christine. “Right now we only have two doctors” in the bank. “It is a way for people to get what they need when the economic system is failing them,” Vassilis adds. “On the other hand it raises very important questions about how the capitalist system works.”

At an open-air bazaar in Halandri, a north Athens suburb, punters try on shoes, play with toys and walk away with piles of books or bags of clothing brought there by their fellow localswithout paying a penny. “This is happening everywhere where people are poor and need it.

It’s happening in most of the cities,” says local musician Kostas Kousis, 35, one of the organisers.

“We’re doing a lot of things like this, and sharing food. Someone who has a lot of rice can exchange it for fruit or meat. This was happening before also, but now it’s more necessary,” he adds. “We’re trying to explain to the people that they can avoid money.” Greece’s financial problems have driven speculation that it may drop the euro and return to the weaker drachma.

Leaders and companies are reportedly preparing for the country’s possible euro-zone exit.

Advocates of bartering insist it is not about replacing currency. Many Greeks reject the

recent currency fears as hype generated outside Greece. “I don’t think we’re going to stop using the euro. They’re trying to scare us into submission,” says Despina Tzeveleki, 31, who brings a box of her childhood Barbie dolls to the Halandri barter fair. All the dolls but one get taken. “It wouldn’t be easy to change to the drachma,” says Despina, who lives with her parents off her father’s pension which has been cut by a third.

“It would have a big impact on the economy of Europe and maybe on other countries as well.”

Users of bartering say it helps them pull together through a crisis they say they did not create.

Weary of tales of corruption among politicians, many Greeks complain of how the economy has been managed. “These bazaars were started by people in environmental associations. Then the economic crisis came, so they have a more social function as well,” says Katerina, a participant in the bazaar who would not give her second name.

“I don’t think this can be large-scale,” she adds, however. “I don’t believe in the organisation skills of the Greeks. You have to have selfdiscipline to do it. But it’s not the people’s fault.”

Kostandin Leka, a blue-eyed Albanian immigrant of 39, approaches the Halandri market with his four-year-old son. Working as a glazier, he had his pay cut last year from 1,000 to 650 euros a month. Two thirds of that goes on rent. At the free bazaar he finds a box of dominos for his boy to play with and a bracelet to take home for his wife. “No money,” he explains. — AFP

Sony falls below 1,000 yen TOKYO: Sony shares tumbled below 1,000 yen yesterday for the first time since 1980 and the era of the Walkman, sending the value of the company crashing to less than a tenth of what it was just over a decade ago. The entertainment and electronics giant dropped 1.67 percent to close at 996 yen broadly in line with the benchmark Nikkei index, which shed 1.71 percent on the Tokyo Stock Exchange to a sixmonth low. Tokyo followed a fall on Wall Street after dismal US jobs figures sent shivers through the financial world amid fears the global economy had caught a chill.

Dealers said Sony last traded below the psychologically important 1,000 yen level in August 1980 around a year after its landmark “Walkman” portable music player was released.

The total market value of the company is now around one trillion yen ($13 billion), compared with 11 trillion yen in 2000, the year PlayStation 2 was released and shares hit a peak of 16,950 yen, dealers and news reports said. “Today’s fall was symbolic... reflecting the present situation of the company,” said Hirokazu Fujiki, strategist at Okasan Securities.

“Investors are supposed to buy shares on expectations of growth, and they have now lost confidence in the growth strategies of companies like Sony,” Fujiki said. “We have yet to see the bottom of this downward spiral.”

Sony’s rival Panasonic hit a 32-year low yesterday, down 2.16 percent to 497 yen. Fujiki said overseas investors appeared to be heaping pressure on the electronics giants, with domestic participants such as pension funds and indi-

TOKYO: This file photo shows Japanese electronics company Sony television sets displayed at an electronics shop. —AFP vidual investors still cautious about reversing the selling sentiment.

Sony posted a record full-year loss of 456.66 billion yen for the year to March 2012, while Panasonic suffered a record 772.2 billion yen loss for the fiscal year. Both were struggling with losses in their television divisions.

Japanese companies have blamed tough competition from rivals including South Korea’s Samsung, falling prices, slow demand, the

impact of severe flooding in Thailand last year, and the high yen for their travails.

The stronger yen hits Japanese exporters by making their products more expensive overseas, while eroding the value of foreign-earned profits. Last month Sony said it would withdraw from a liquid crystal display joint venture with its domestic rival Sharp, which has announced an $808 million link-up with Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision. —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 Philippine peso Egyptian pounds

.2730000 .4280000 .3450000 .2870000 .2660000 .2680000 .0040000 .0020000 .0760270 .7407080 .3840000 .0710000 .7261310 .0040000 .0430000

.2835000 .4400000 .3540000 .2980000 .2770000 .2780000 .0070000 .0035000 .0767910 .7481520 .4020000 .0770000 .7334290 .0072000 .0500000

CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES US Dollar/KD .2800500 .2821500 GB Pound/KD .4303530 .4335800 Euro .3474160 .3500210 Swiss francs .2892330 .2914020 Canadian dollars .2684660 .2704790 Danish Kroner .0467540 .0471040 Swedish Kroner .0385490 .0388380 Australian dlr .2701920 .2722180 Hong Kong dlr .0360860 .0363570 Singapore dlr .2170760 .2187040 Japanese yen .0035820 .0036090 Indian Rs/KD .0000000 .0051300 Sri Lanka rupee .0000000 .0021740 Pakistan rupee .0000000 .0030290 Bangladesh taka .0000000 .0034600 UAE dirhams .0762770 .0768490 Bahraini dinars .7431340 .7487060 Jordanian dinar .0000000 .3990810 Saudi Riyal/KD .0747000 .0752600 Omani riyals .7276860 .7331430 Philippine Peso .0000000 .0065310

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. ASIAN COUNTRIES Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht Malaysian Ringgit

3.553 5.072 3.053 2.141 3.173 220.090 36.173 3.425 6.439 8.876 89.338

GCC COUNTRIES Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

74.883 77.158 729.380 745.850 76.464 ARAB COUNTRIES

Egyptian Pound - Cash Egyptian Pound - Transfer Yemen Riyal/for 1000 Tunisian Dinar Jordanian Dinar Lebanese Lira/for 1000 Syrian Lier Morocco Dirham

48.250 46.466 1.309 176.65 396.190 1.884 4.899 32.64

EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 280.700 Euro 354.52 Sterling Pound 441.820 Canadian dollar 274.79 Turkish lire 152.400 Swiss Franc 295.01 US Dollar Buying 279.500 GOLD 20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

Bahrain Exchange Company SELL CASH SELL CASH 275.300 748.100 3.670 273.500 552.500 45.800 47.900 167.800 48.200 353.200 36.920 5.250 0.032 0.161 0.239 3.690 398.640 0.190 91.980 44.100 4.320 215.500 1.822

47.100 730.690 3.150 6.640 77.810 75.110 219.470 36.330 2.680 436.200 39.700 294.300 4.300 9.300 198.263 76.700 281.700 1.350

730.510 3.029 6.475 77.380 75.110 219.470 36.330 2.139 434.200 292.800 4.300 9.100 76.600 281.300

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 434.200 281.300

Sterling Pound US Dollar

SELL DRAFT SELL DRAFT 273.800 748.100 3.435 272.000

219.500 46.560 351.700 36.770 5.085 0.031

COUNTRY Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Euro Sterling Pound Japanese Yen Bangladesh Taka Indian Rupee Sri Lankan Rupee Nepali Rupee Pakistani Rupee UAE Dirhams Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Jordanian Dinar Omani Riyal Qatari Riyal Saudi Riyal

SELL DRAFT 301.76 282.86 309.12 371.55 441.55 3.63 3.299 5.587 2.412 3.508 3.063 75.62 738.94 46.06 395.22 721.98 76.60 74.18

SELL CASH 305.00 284.00 309.00 374.00 445.00 3.70 3.600 5.790 2.650 4.250 3.240 76.10 738.95 48.20 394.00 728.00 77.25 74.60

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd 398.600 0.189 91.980 3.190 214.000

Rate for Transfer US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar

Selling Rate 281.300 276.795 436.320 349.055 290.575 744.730

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

76.565 77.215 74.975 395.975 46.510 2.124 4.991 3.018 3.440 6.450 690.030 4.565 8.905 5.925 3.259 89.245

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co.

GOLD 1,713.600

10 Tola

UAE Exchange Centre WLL 293.000 148.000 75.250

COUNTRY COUNTRY Australian dollar Bahraini dinar Bangladeshi taka 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

Currency Rate per 1000 (Tran) US Dollar 281.500 Pak Rupees 2.999 Indian Rupees 5.050 Sri Lankan Rupees 2.125 Bangladesh Taka 3.439 Philippines Peso 6.515 UAE Dirhams 76.745 Saudi Riyals 75.225 Bahraini Dinars 748.400 Egyptian Pounds 46.572 Pound Sterling 440.990 Indonesian Rupiah 2.950 Yemeni Riyal 1.550 Euro 354.200 Canadian Dollars 279.000 Nepali rupee 3.190

Al Mulla Exchange Currency Transfer Rate (Per 1000) US Dollar 281.050 Euro 351.350 Pound Sterling 433.050 Canadian Dollar 272.150 Japanese Yen 3.655 Indian Rupee 5.032 Egyptian Pound 46.495 Sri Lankan Rupee 2.126 Bangladesh Taka 3.425 Philippines Peso 6.470 Pakistan Rupee 3.002 Bahraini Dinar 747.450 UAE Dirham 76.500 Saudi Riyal 75.000 *Rates are subject to change

TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012

BUSINESS

Europe mulls major step towards ‘fiscal union’ Doubts whether integration can restore confidence

NEW YORK: In this file photo, Trader Mark Muller scurries across the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. — AP

Global economy at risk as US, Europe and Asia slow WASHINGTON: The global economy’s foundations are weakening, one by one. Already hobbled by Europe’s debt crisis, the world now risks being hurt by slowdowns in its economic powerhouses. The U.S. economy, the world’s largest, had a third straight month of feeble job growth in May. High-flying economies in China, India and Brazil are slowing, too. Fears of a global economic downturn have sent investors rushing toward the safest possible investments: US and German government bonds. As a result, the interest rate on the 10-year US Treasury note has hit a record-low 1.46 percent. The rate on the German 10-year bond is even lower: 1.17 percent.

“Treasurys are at 1.46 because people are freaking out,” says Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wells Fargo Economics. The gravest fear is Europe. The most urgent threat is that in mid-June, Greek voters will reject the terms of a $170 billion bailout - which called for painful budget cuts - and abandon the euro.

The move could ignite economic and financial chaos as Greek debts shift from denominations in euros to Greek drachmas of uncertain value. Yet the global economy’s troubles go well beyond Greece. Here’s a look at the global economy’s vital signs: United States American employers added just 69,000 jobs in May. Since averaging a healthy 252,000 a month from December through February, job growth has slowed to a lackluster average of 96,000 a month. On Friday, after the government issued the May jobs report, the Dow Jones industrial average sank 275 points. It was the Dow’s biggest loss since November, and it’s now down 0.8 percent for the year. The dismal news suggested that the U.S. economy is enduring a midyear slump just as in 2010 and 2011.

Unemployment rose to 8.2 percent from 8.1 percent in May as 642,000 more Americans poured into the work force, and only 422,000 more people got jobs. The jobs report came out a day after the government said the US economy grew at just a 1.9 percent annual rate in the first three months of 2012. That’s a meager pace nearly three years after the recession officially ended in June 2009. And it’s too slow to generate many jobs or to lower the unemployment rate. In good economic times, the rate would be below 6 percent.

Many US companies are finding it more efficient to invest in machinery, not people.

“We’re not hiring, and we’re not replacing” workers who leave, says Joe Glenn, who runs Glenn Metalcraft in Princeton, Minnesota. His sales jumped 40 percent last year. Yet Glenn’s shop has kept employment flat at about 35 workers. He’s added more computer-controlled metalworking machines and robots to load the raw material into them. “We’re producing as much as we were with a lot less manpower,” Glenn says. “And I don’t foresee that those jobs are going to come back.”

Other companies are reluctant to hire until they feel more confident that their customer demand will keep growing. Adding to their uncertainty are Europe’s troubles and America’s dysfunctional politics. For now, some key sectors of the US economy remain positive. Americans are buying more homes, suggesting that the housing market is on the mend. US builders have increased their spending on home and commercial construction.

Auto sales just posted their best May since 2008. Manufacturing activity continues to grow, and so does consumer spending, which drives about 70 percent of the economy.

Borrowing rates for consumers and businesses have never been lower. Tame inflation has given the Federal Reserve leeway to keep interest rates low. And gasoline prices have been sinking. The national average is now $3.61, and experts predict further drops in coming weeks.

Still, unless Congress and the White House reach an agreement by year’s end, federal taxes will jump and deep spending cuts will kick in. Should that happen, the Congressional Budget Office says, the economy would likely fall into another recession. Given the size of the US economy, further weaknesses could worsen the slowdowns in European and Asian countries that depend on sales to American consumers.

Europe Unemployment in the 17 countries that use the euro is already at 11 percent, the European Union’s Eurostat office reported Friday. It’s the highest rate since the euro was introduced in 1999. European countries have been struggling with their debt crisis for three years. Three nations - Greece, Ireland and Portugal - have already required bailouts because of unsustainable levels of debt.

Austerity has been the main prescription for the crisis. But spending cuts and tax hikes are

causing economies to shrink across the eurozone.

In a blunt warning, European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi last week called the euro currency union “unsustainable” without stronger political and financial ties among euro-zone countries. The fear is that Greece will drop the euro, and other weak countries, such as Spain and Portugal, will be forced to follow. Financial chaos could rage across Europe. Spain is facing punishing borrowing costs on bond markets because investors fear it won’t be able to pay its debts. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy declared Saturday that his government will stick with harsh austerity measures as long as necessary.

But Spain’s unemployment is already 24.4 percent. For those under age 25, unemployment is 51.5 percent. Businesses are being crushed. “This shop has been here for close to 100 years, and I’ve worked here for 48 years,” says Manuel Cabrejas, a salesman at a cushion store in Madrid whose shop windows were covered in signs saying, “Closing down sale, big discounts, everything must go.” “For the last two years, we have only just been covering running costs,” Cabrejas said. “It’s time to let go.”

Asia and South America Since the global recession ended in 2009, the world economy has been fuelled by rising powers in the developing world led by China, India and Brazil. Now, all three are running into trouble. China’s manufacturing weakened in May, according to surveys out Friday.

Factory output was the weakest in three months. Some economists say China’s economic growth will fall to an 8 percent rate in the April-June quarter. That’s high by Western standards, but it would be the weakest growth for China in nearly three years. In response, China is rolling out an economic stimulus program.

Having rebounded strongly from the recession of 2007-2009, China’s economy grew a sizzling 10.4 percent in 2010 and 9.2 percent in 2011. For the past two years, it’s helped drive global growth. Australia and other Asian countries have come to rely on Chinese markets for their exports. India is suffering an even sharper slowdown. Its economic growth slowed to a 5.3 percent annual rate in the January-March quarter, the lowest in nine years. Output from India’s factories has declined. Its consumers have seen inflation - which has averaged 9.2 percent a year since the start of 2010 - devour their wages.

“It’s beyond anything that we would have imagined,” said Samiran Chakraborty, head of research at Standard Chartered in Mumbai.

“Real wages are falling ... The consumption slowdown along with the investment slowdown has been a double-whammy for the GDP number.” As recently as last year, Indian politicians were claiming their economy could rival China’s and surge into double-digit growth, lifting hundreds of millions out of poverty in the process.

Instead, India is mired in a deepening crisis of confidence. Asia’s third-largest economy is widely regarded as performing below its potential. Indians are losing hope that their country’s fractious political system will deliver the policies that might unlock a rebound investments in roads, ports and other projects and lighter regulations to attract more foreign investment.

One encouraging corner of Asia has been Japan’s economy, the world’s third largest. It grew at an annual rate of 4.1 percent in the first quarter of 2012 as it recovered from last year’s earthquake and tsunami. But factors that could crimp expansion, such as weaker European demand for Japanese exports, have raised fears that Japan’s growth will slow or even stall.

In Brazil, the economy practically stalled in the first quarter of 2012. It grew at just a 0.2 percent annual rate from the final three months of 2011, the government said Friday.

That was below expectations of 0.5 percent growth. Flooding punished farmers. But Brazilian officials, like analysts in China, also pointed to another culprit, one that shows how problems in one part of the world cause problems in another: The ongoing trouble in Europe is taking a toll on exports.

Middle East The region’s trade is being hurt by the weakening global economy, particularly in Europe. The United Arab Emirates’ top economic official said Monday that the Gulf federation’s economy will likely grow only about 3 percent this year amid a drop in oil prices.

That would represent a slowdown from 4.2 percent growth in 2011. The seven-state UAE federation is the largest Arab economy after Saudi Arabia. The United Arab Emirates said it’s less optimistic about growth because of the oil exporter’s close links to the slowing world economy. — AP

BERLIN/PARIS: When Jean-Claude Trichet called last June for the creation of a European finance ministry with power over national budgets, the idea seemed fanciful, a distant dream that would take years or even decades to realise, if it ever came to be. One year later, with the euro zone’s debt crisis threatening to tear the bloc apart, Germany is pushing its partners for precisely the kind of giant leap forward in fiscal integration that the now-departed European Central Bank president had in mind.

After falling short with her “fiscal compact” on budget discipline, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is pressing for much more ambitious measures, including a central authority to manage euro area finances, and major new powers for the European Commission, European Parliament and European Court of Justice. She is also seeking a coordinated European approach to reforming labour markets, social security systems and tax policies, German officials say.

Until states agree to these steps and the unprecedented loss of sovereignty they involve, the officials say Berlin will refuse to consider other initiatives like joint euro zone bonds or a “bank ing union” with cross-border deposit guarantees - steps Berlin says could only come in a second wave. The goal is for EU leaders to agree to develop a road map to “fiscal union” at a June 28-29 EU summit, where top European officials including European Council President Herman Van Rompuy will present a set of initial proposals.

European countries would then put the meat on the bones of the plan in the second half of 2012, several European sources have told Reuters, including a timetable for overhauling EU treaties, a step Berlin sees as vital for setting closer integration in stone. “The fundamental question is relatively simple. Do our partners really want more Europe, or do they just want more German money?” a government official in Berlin said.

If European countries go ahead, the steps would represent the most significant policy leap since they agreed to give up their national currencies and cede control over monetary policy 13 years ago. But the hurdles are daunting. “The world is not coming to an end; rather, it feels as if we are on the doorstep to another major European integration move,” said Erik Neilsen, chief economist at Unicredit. “But why do these initiatives only come

when we are on the edge of the cliff where the risk of an accident is so much higher?”

Hollande quandary Spain, whose banking troubles have made it the latest target of financial markets, signalled over the weekend that it was on board with a key element of the plan. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy backed the creation of a new euro-wide fiscal authority of the kind Trichet sketched out in a speech in Aachen, Germany last year. But other states, including the bloc’s second-biggest member France, have deep reservations about ceding so much sovereignty. New President Francois Hollande rode to victory in a French election last month promising new steps to boost growth. At the EU summit later this month, he and other leaders were expected to gang up on Merkel, pressing her for new growthenhancing measures.

But after a series of modest concessions from the German leader, a loose consensus on a growth strategy already appears to have been reached weeks before the leaders meet. Now, the main focus of the summit seems likely to be on steps needed for a “fiscal union”, a debate which puts Hollande in a far more difficult position, even if people who know him well say his vision of Europe is much closer to the federalist German model than those of his Gaullist predecessors. “It’s a big challenge for Hollande,” said a senior French official who declined to be named. “I think that he is ready for (closer fiscal integration) but I think the rest of the French political class - both on the left and right - is not.”

The hope in Berlin and other capitals is that if leaders can present a credible plan for moving towards a fiscal union, further contagion - even in the event of a Greek exit from the euro zone - can be limited, one senior central banker said. But even if the Germans do win over the French and other sceptical countries like Finland and Austria, there are serious doubts about whether a 5-10 year plan for closer integration - weighed down by lengthy national debates over treaty change - will be enough to restore investor confidence now.

That means for some time the European Central Bank will remain the institution capable of acting quickly to avert disaster. Even though it has made clear it wants governments to sort out the mess, a strong signal of intent from EU leaders could encourage the Frankfurt-based ECB, particularly if

progress is made towards the sort of bloc-wide banking structures it has pressed for. “ The European leadership is working feverishly on the necessary fundamental changes, while the ECB no doubt stands ready with the fire hose if anything goes wrong in the meantime,” Neilsen said.

Spanish banks On top of Greece, Spain’s banking sector, dragged down by bad property debts, is a huge concern that continues to undermine faith in the bloc’s ability to get a grip on its crisis. Germany is pressing Madrid to accept aid under the bloc’s rescue funds so that it can recapitalise its stricken financial institutions, multiple sources have told Reuters. But the Spanish government is resisting, fearful of the stigma attached to a formal state rescue. It is trying to convince its partners to let EU bailout funds bypass the state and funnel aid directly to banks - a step Berlin opposes.

As long as the Greek nightmare continues and doubts about Spain’s banks persist, no amount of closer integration is likely to calm investor nerves.

The ECB is already girding, however reluctantly, to counter any new turmoil in the months ahead. One ECB source told Reuters the bank had a number of tools at its disposal to tide the bloc over, including cutting interest rates and launching a third round of cheap loans to banks via a so-called Long Term Refinancing Operation (LTRO). It is much less keen to revive its government bond-buying programme.

Another problem with the German-led drive is that of democratic legitimacy. Many of Europe’s struggling citizens already blame technocrats in Brussels for their troubles. And lawmakers across the bloc are keen to safeguard their right to veto EU decisions. Against that backdrop it will be extremely difficult for leaders to convince their electorates about the integration steps under consideration in Berlin and other capitals.

To address this, officials are mulling a significant strengthening of the role of the European Parliament (EP), which is directly elected by the bloc’s citizens. A German official at a European institution said, for example, that oversight powers for the bloc’s permanent rescue fund - the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) - could be transferred from national assemblies to the EP. The French official said it would inevitably fall to the EP to monitor the European Commission if it won new powers over national budgets. — Reuters

Special Report

Philippines to be one of the biggest 20 economies worldwide by 2050 Manila index jumps 6.19% since 2012 beginning KUWAIT: A recent report published by HSBC projects the Philippines’ economy to become the 16th largest economy in the world, 5th largest economy in Asia and the largest economy in the South East Asian region by 2050. There is a generally positive outlook towards Philippines, especially when it comes to the country’s developmental program valued at $16 billion, which aims at developing the country’s railroads, airports, and highways, as well as programs to provide vaccines and build more elementary and high schools.

Philippines economy has exhibited great strides over the past few years, mainly due to the efforts exerted by President Benigno Aquino’s government to control the fiscal deficit, bring down debt ratios, and adopt internationally-accepted banking sector capital adequacy standards.

There is no doubt that the Philippines is benefiting from a popular government that is seen by many as committed to improving governance and reducing poverty, as mentioned in the World Bank’s report of March 19.

During the time when several counties saw their credit ratings slashed following the global financial crisis, ratings companies have upgraded the Philippines’ sovereign debt, and the stock market is just behind Thailand in Asia so far in 2012. The Manila exchange’s benchmark index is up 19.6 percent, versus 12 percent for the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.

Goldman Sachs estimates that by the year 2050, it will land on the 14th place and firmly position its place in its list of the Next Eleven economies. Meanwhile, credit card giant Master Card declared that The Philippines has once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to capture millions of manufacturing jobs relocating from China over the next few years, as it increases its efforts aggressively to attract manufacturing plants relocating from China amid rising wages in the world’s second-largest economy.

In the recent months, several key international financial publications posted articles about growing attraction of the Philippine, with the latest article published

by Bloomberg Magazine in early May. Philippines is consistently showing a sign of a strongly growing economy with a lot of worthwhile opportunities to invest. Despite the downturn Asian markets suffered following the global financial crisis in 2008, The Philippine economy proved comparatively well-equipped to weather such tough circumstances.

Despite the fact that Philippines’ economy slowed to 3.8 percent growth during 2008, and sputtering to 1.1 percent during 2009, real year-on-year GDP growth

rebounded to 7.3 percent during 2010, a 34-year high, fueled in part by electionrelated spending, optimism over the peaceful transition to a new government, and an accommodating monetary policy.

The 1st quarter of 2012 saw Philippine economic growth rate surpass forecasts of multilateral agencies like ADB and the World Bank, and even higher than that of 4.9 percent forecast of the Philippine government itself. The National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) announced GDP growth by 6.4 percent in the 1st quarter of 2012 posting the highest growth among ASEAN countries.

Compared with its neighbors in the Asian region, with the exception of China, Philippine economic growth rate for the same period is higher than that of Indonesia’s at 6.3 percent, Vietnam’s at 4.0 percent, Singapore’s at 1.6 percent, Thailand’s at 0.3 percent, Hongkong’s at 0.4 percent, Korea’s at 2.8 percent and Japan’s at 2.8 percent. Recent economic growth rates are attributed to the growth of the service and industry sector, resilient foreign currency remittances, increase in government spending and high investors’ confidence.

The industry sector and all its subsectors, the manufacturing, utilities and construction posted a strong growth. The growth of the services sector is buoyed primarily by a boost in tourist arrivals of 1.15 million in the 1st quarter of 2012 translating into a 7.5 percent growth in the transportation sector, 9.8 percent in the communication sector, 10.9 percent in hotels and restaurants and a 23.4 percent growth in recreational, cultural and sporting activities.

The country’s Information Technology and Business Process Outsourcing industry have also shown consistent robust growth with 2011 closing in $11 billion in revenues, a 24 percent increase from 2010 and 638,000 total employment or 22 percent increase in employment growth from the previous year. The contact center, which accounts for 65 percent of the total BPO industry, growth rate is at 21 percent in 2011 solidifying the country’s status as the world’s no.1 and the largest contact center hub.

Overseas workers’ remittances, which remained resilient during the global financial crisis, expanded by 8.2 percent in 2011 to $18.7 billion (nearly 10 percent of GDP) and helped support the balance of payments and international reserves. In the first 3 months of 2012, remittances increased by 5.4 percent amounting to US$ 4.84 billion boosting the Philippine Gross National Income by 5.8 percent.

Government spending, driven by infrastructure projects posed 59 percent

increase in growth rate amounting to P38.9 billion. Public-Private Partnership Projects (PPP) are expected to further boost growth within the year. NEDA released a list of PPP priority projects this month focusing on transportation, agriculture, water services, health and education.

The solid growth and huge potential of the Philippines renewed investors’ interest in the country and attracted Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), which reached $6 billion last year, its highest level in 15 years. In one of its recent publications, National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) indicated that approved FDI pledges climbed by 42.2 percent to P165.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011, from P116.6 billion a year earlier, bringing the 2011 total to P256.1 billion. Japan was the top investor for the year 2011, accounting for P77.4 billion or 30.2 percent of the total. The US was next with P70.4 billion, followed by the Netherlands with P28.3 billion. American investment pledges went up by P13.1 billion year on year, mostly in real estate activities, particularly, in acquiring and managing hotels and resorts.

GCC countries also directed some of their wealth towards the Philippines.

Recently, news circulated that the country will tap into two separate funds, from Kuwait and Qatar worth a combined $1.5 billion to finance some of its projects in infrastructure, food, property development, tourism and energy. Kuwait already has a strong presence in the Philippines, as it counts among the Philippines’ leading investment and development partners in the Middle East. Kuwait is also host to around 146,000 OFWs working in the country.

On the state level, the Amir of the State of Kuwait, His Highness Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, made a historic first State Visit to the Philippines in the end of March 2012, upon the invitation of President Benigno S. Aquino III, as a sign of reaffirming the commitment of Kuwait and the Philippines to reinforce ties and strengthen cooperation between the two countries. Just a month later, in April 2012 His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa AlThani, Amir of Qatar made his state visit to the Philippines. Both state visits from two of the wealthiest countries of the world, show the great and wise efforts exerted by the government appointed by President Benigno S. Aquino III, which confidently showed strong strides in boosting the country’s economy.

Report prepared by Embassy of the Philippines- Economic Section

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Saudi eyes labour market reform GIC REPORT KUWAIT: Amidst sluggish growth, the global economy continues to be dragged by uncertainties emanating from a possible exit by debt-burdened Greece from the euro-area, and the heavy exposure of EU banks to sovereign and “toxic” loans. A core issue remains the extent of spillover from the “weak” EU countries to other EU economies on the one hand, and from the EU to the global economy at large. A major area of concern has been the possible migration of labor from Greece to other countries, including the UK, in the event of an exit by Greece from the Euroarea. The lack of growth that austerity programs have begot so far, is a fundamental policy question whose impact is likely to spread much beyond economics.

The potential scale-up of capital flight from Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain (commonly referred to as the PIIGS region) represents a significant risk to capital-receiving economies including Switzerland because of the export and competitiveness-retarding effects that an appreciated CHF could trigger. The Swiss economy is fundamentally strong, but is facing a number of challenges.

Headwinds from the euro-area debt crisis and a strong currency have slowed growth, created deflationary pressures, and forced the Central Bank to abandon the floating exchange rate regime. The financial sector is adapting to the new, more stringent regulatory environment but remains vulnerable, including to a domestic housing bubble. Though the fiscal position is sound, pressures from an ageing population are continuing to build. Global growth is also dragged by the continued decline in property values and the increase in negative equity for home-owners in Spain, Ireland and the USA. During 1996-2006, the number of houses in the US increased by 20 percent and prices grew 2x. But that was tame compared to Ireland, where the number of houses increased by over 50 percent and prices grew 4x. Meanwhile, in Spain the number of houses went up by 35 percent, and prices rose 3x. As the “boom” turned to “bust”, house prices in the US dropped by around 25 percent, and by 50 percent in Ireland.

While some accuse Spanish authorities of engaging in a policy of “delay and pray”, true MTM valuations are hard to establish due to low transaction volumes.

Official house price indices are down around 20 percent from peak, but the real peak-to-trough decline in Spanish house prices is again likely to lie somewhere between the US and Irish experiences, at around 40 percent.

GCC macro Despite the decline in Oil prices during recent weeks, the GCC economies continue to make headways with respect to robust growth, both overall and in per capita terms. Policy-makers in the GCC countries have been focusing on two issues; the first pertains to the possible ramifications of lower Oil price on public finances. The second is with regards to ensuring that economic growth translates to efficient job creation. Efforts are

under way in Saudi Arabia, to reform the labor market and ensure that the “Nitaqat” system does not create “ghost national workers” in the light of recent news reports to that effect. According to Saudi authorities, the SME segment is job-rich by nature and the Ministry of Labor has implemented new initiatives to stimulate this type of business. Also, in place of a blanket Saudization target of 30 percent, companies have now been categorized into various buckets, with disparate Saudization rates for each category. Other longer-term initiatives being implemented include multi-phased plans to deliver proper training and education.

On the other hand, GCC economies have received good rankings with respect to their competitiveness by the World Economic Forum and other international agencies that ranked several GCC economies among the top global economies in terms of progress towards competitiveness.

GCC equity markets The performance of the global equity markets during May was dismal, and it appears that investors, worldwide, have gone into the “wait-and-see” stance.

Rightfully so, as economic news coming from Europe was certainly not encouraging. Starting with the Greek presidential elections which rattled the financial markets, and ending with the French elections which produced an Elyse grand master with a totally different approach to the financial woes than his predecessor. On the other hand, the German Chancellor is losing ground, thus pushing a thick cloud of uncer tainty around Europe, that is gradually enveloping the global financial markets.

GCC, of course, was severely affected by the events unveiling in Europe.

Moreover, GCC equities were also affected by the decline in oil prices, with WTI and Brent shedding -17.79 percent and 14.52 percent respectively. Adding to that, with the geopolitical tension that is brewing in the region’s backyard, investors remained very cautions, and positioned themselves in a defensive mode. Alongside the global factors, and regional political turbulence, the month of May also saw liquidity drying up in the GCC equities markets in the absence of catalysts. Consequently, the markets took a plunge, and the S&P GCC index shed 6.24 percent for the month.

Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul index updated its spot from the least-performing during April to the second least performing index in May, recording a net decline of 7.72 percent. The Investment, Insurance and Real estate sectors were the worst performers losing -12.43 percent, -11.21 percent and -10.50 percent respectively.

This indicates the retraction of speculative activity in the market, especially with the introduction of new regulatory measures. Meanwhile, the market heavyweights, the Banks and Petrochemicals sectors lost -8.67 percent and -9.32 percent respectively.

Dubai’s DFM Index emerged the worst performer in the GCC during May, shed-

ding -9.78 percent while Abu Dhabi’s ADSM lost -2.51 percent. Dubai’s decline was primarily influenced by the losses in the Financial services, and Real Estate sectors which lost -18.11 percent and 11.54 percent respectively. The Banking sector in Dubai, which has been the most vulnerable amongst Banking sectors in the region to global financial turbulence, lost -8.75 percent. Just like its sister market, Abu Dhabi’s losses was also driven by the underperformance of the Investment and Real Estate sectors, which shed -8.20 percent, and -11.26 percent.

Qatar’s QE index remained the biggest laggard this year, as May’s losses of -3.30 percent, stretched the YTD decline to 4.13 percent. Though all sectors recorded net declines for the month, the Banking sector fared better with a net loss of -0.47 percent, partially offsetting the heavy losses that the Services and Industrials sectors recorded.

Oman’s MSM 30 index also recorded a loss of -1.95 percent, driven largely by the Services and Banks sectors, and Kuwait’s KWSE (Weighted) index declined by -1.22 percent, mainly dragged by the Services sector. Meanwhile, Bahrain’s BSE index shed a marginal -1.15 percent, driven by losses in the Banking, Industrial, as well as Hotels & Tourism sectors.

Broad trends in Oil prices are likely to influence the course of the GCC markets.

Oil prices have been pressured by a projected decline in Oil demand, as the strategic US Oil stockpile was reported at a 22-year high, and an apparent slowdown in manufacturing activity in China.

In the absence of any tangible catalysts to drive direction in the GCC equity markets, they shall continue to be driven by global cues, and are likely to remain volatile during the short-term.

GCC credit markets Global news has been nothing short of a swathe of negatives, and Europe is in right, left and centre of the crisis.

Following the fractured mandate, an exit

by Greece from the Euro-area has become more tangible, and so has the contagion effect. Spain has emerged as the Euro-area’s latest problem child, as it suffers from liquidity crisis, debt crisis, banking crisis, economic crisis, confidence crisis, investor crisis and jobless crisis. While the US remains a mixed bag, news from Asia is not good, with expectations of sub-8 percent growth in China during the quarter. During the month, the GCC market was mainly guided by news flow from the global arena, and the cash market was directionless during the month. Dubai fluctuated wildly with movements both up and down. Overall, we saw longs getting hit in the street and shorts getting lifted. Preference for low beta was very evident with activity seen in Qatar and Abu Dhabi sovereign and Quasi-Sovereign. The HSBC NasdaqDubai GCC USD Sukuk/Bond TR Index (GCCB) decreased marginally m-o-m, to close at 145.02 from 143.35, and spreads widened by 12bps, yielding 4.54 percent.

The HSBC Nasdaq-Dubai USD Sukuk TR Index (SKBI) increased m-o-m from 137.83 to 137.96, while the HSBC NasdaqDubai GCC Conventional USD Bond TR Index (GCBI) traded in a range of 146-148.

The CDS market saw significant widening of spreads, as the IG Sovereign space underper formed High Beta Sovereign names. Abu Dhabi widened by 16bps (+13.79 percent), Qatar by 13bps (+10.55 percent) Saudi by 14bps (+12.12 percent), Dubai by 25bps (+7.00 percent) and Bahrain closed at 357bps (+0.4 percent). Appetite for quality credit was strong in the primary market with all the issuances receiving strong subscription on the back of active participation by local investors. Banque Saudi Fransi successfully launched a $750 million 5Y Sukuk, which was oversubscribed more than 5x, and the issue got priced at MS+185bps, tighter than the initial guidance. This was followed by issuance from

Dubai Islamic Bank, which received very good response and was priced at MS+365bps.The primary market pipeline continues to grow with Qatar, Dana Gas, Bahrain and Mubadala announcing their intentions to tap the market.

Dubai debt restructuring got a boost during May, with an announcement by JAFZA to retire the $2 billion debt early.

89 percent of the certificate holders voted in favor of the resolution, which will amend the conditions of the Certificates to provide for an early redemption of the Certificates at par. DIFC Investments, which owns properties in Dubai’s DIFC, almost completed raising a USD 1bn loan to help repay an Islamic bond due in June. Standard Chartered, Emirates NBD, Dubai Islamic Bank and Noor Islamic Bank will lend DIFC Investments the money to enable it to pay the $1.25 billion sukuk. Saudi Arabia’s exceptionally strong external and fiscal positions received a further boost as S&P affirmed its LT and ST foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings at “AA-/A-1+”, with “Stable” outlook. Fitch Ratings affirmed Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank’s LT Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at “A+” and Viability Rating ( VR) at “BB+”, with “Stable” outlook on the LT- IDR. Market direction will be dictated by fund flow within the region, oil prices and macro data from Europe and the US, and the primary market will remain receptive to good quality issuances. In the ST, the market will continue to prefer HG over HY, till the global uncertainty recedes. We continue to prefer the more defensive credits, primarily out of Qatar and Abu Dhabi, and see better value in the quasisovereigns given the attractive spread pick-up over the sovereigns. Overall, we suggest remaining on the short end of the curve i.e. reduce duration, given the present global uncertainty. However, some value is emerging in the 10Y part of the curve for Abu Dhabi and Qatar. The 5Y/10Y curve appears to be steep.

Exploration by British oil companies ‘illegal’ BUENOS AIRES: Argentina yesterday declared “illegal” the oil exploration by five British companies near the Falkland Islands, which Buenos Aires long has claimed as par t of its territor y. The companies’ activities “proved to be illegal and clandestine, as they’re taking place in a sovereign area of the Argentine nation and as such fall within its specified laws and rules,” President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said on her official website. The Buenos Aires government announced mid-March that it would seek civil and criminal legal action against the companies at the heart of the accusations.

Energy Secretary Daniel Cameron meanwhile published five resolutions in Argentina’s Official Bulletin declaring activities by the companies “illegal” and “clandestine.” The companies-Desire Petroleum,

Falkland Oil and Gas, Rockhopper Exploration, Borders and Southern Petroleum and Argos Resources-”are not authorized by the Argentine government under law 17.319 on hydrocarbons,” the resolutions read, The small oil exploration concerns that have searched for undersea reserves off the Falklands since 2010. Only Rockhopper has discovered oil so far.

Britain has ruled the Falkland islands, off the coast of Argentina-called the Malvinas here-since 1833. Thirty years after the Falk lands War, tensions between Argentina and Britain are still high. Argentina’s 1982 invasion of the remote islands triggered a 74-day war, which ended in a humiliating defeat for Argentina after British prime minister Margaret Thatcher sent in a naval task force to reclaim the archipelago. The conflict cost the lives of 649 Argentine and 255 British troops. — AFP

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TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012

business

EU ‘confident’ Cyprus can avoid bailout if it reforms NICOSIA: The European Commission said yesterday it remains “confident” Cyprus can avoid resorting to a eurozone bailout if it keeps reforms on track, even as the island’s central bank chief said a bailout request was a possibility. “The Commission is in close contact with Cyprus, as with many other countries in the euro area,” said senior economy spokesman Olivier Bailly. “We are indeed confident that Cyprus can overcome the current challenges provided it implements the reforms we set out last week.” Bailly was responding to reporters after central bank governor Panicos Demetriades told the Financial Times in an interview published on Sunday that Cyprus was nearing an EU bailout request to deal with the impact of the Greek crisis on its own banking system.

Demetriades acknowledged that with an endJune deadline to find at least 1.8 billion euros ($2.3 billion) to recapitalise the island’s Marfin Popular Bank, the country was at “an important crunch

time.” Cyprus’s parliament on May 18 unanimously backed legislation to underwrite the bank’s issue of 1.8 billion euros in new shares to help it recapitalise in the face of its large exposure to toxic Greek debt. The island’s CNA news agency reported that President Demetris Christofias has not ruled out turning to the 800-billion-euro European Stability Mechanism, which is due to become operational from July 1.

“Government policy on supporting development, the social state and fiscal consolidation, coupled with a rejection of harsh economic measures, has been vindicated,” Christofias insisted in a televised address over the weekend. The communist president has repeatedly insisted that deficit reduction should not come at the expense of growth. In its annual recommendations published last week, the Commission said Cyprus was facing “multi-dimensional challenges.”

“The banking sector suffers from a large expo-

sure to Greece, in terms of both the private sector and the sovereign, and needs to raise fresh capital,” the Commission said. Neither the Cyprus government nor its commercial banks have been able to borrow from international money markets since June 2011. The commission said that having implemented previous recommendations “only partially,” Cyprus must fix its public finances, recapitalise its banks, reform its labour and services markets, education policy, pension and healthcare systems and energy sector.

The island’s economy contracted by 1.4 percent in the first three months of 2012, compared to the same quarter last year, according to official estimates. The dip marked the fourth successive quarter the economy has failed to grow. The finance ministry predicts that the Cyprus economy will contract another 0.5 percent in 2012, which is lower than the European Commission’s 0.8 percent forecast.

The Commission concluded that Cyprus experiences an “internal imbalance due to its banking sector and the indebtedness of the corporate sector and an external and an internal imbalance on its fiscal dynamics and competitiveness, although not excessive.” It said the island had adopted a series of measures with a view to reducing its fiscal deficit and stimulating growth. “Despite these efforts, Cyprus is affected by sizeable and persistent current account deficits, large amount of accumulated private sector debt, widening annual deficits of public finances and the large exposure to Greece of the banking sector,” the Commission said. It recommended that Cyprus take additional measures to achieve a durable correction of its budget deficit in 2012. It said that Cyprus must “take measures to keep control over expenditure and implement programme and performance budgeting as soon as possible, improve tax compliance and fight against tax evasion.” — AFP

Spain seeks direct EU bank assistance Analysts see Rajoy preparing Spaniards for bailout

CALGARY: Members of the Air Canada Pilots Association march in protest in front of the company’s annual meeting yesterday. The pilots have been without a contract for more than a year. — AP

Farmers face squeeze in proposed subsidy cuts WASHINGTON: A program that puts billions of dollars in the pockets of farmers whether or not they plant a crop may disappear with hardly a protest from farm groups and the politicians who look out for their interests. The Senate is expected to begin debate this week on a five-year farm and food aid bill that would save $9.3 billion by ending direct payments to farmers and replacing them with subsidized insurance programs for when the weather turns bad or prices go south. The details are still to be worked out. But there’s rare agreement that fixed annual subsidies of $5 billion a year for farmers are no longer feasible in this age of tight budgets and when farmers in general are enjoying record prosperity.

About 80 percent of the bill’s half-trilliondollar cost over the next five years represents nutrition programs, primarily food stamps now going to some 46 million people. About $100 billion would be devoted to crop subsidies and other farm programs.

The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee last month approved a bill that would save $23 billion over the next decade by ending direct payments and consolidating other programs. The bill would strengthen the subsidized crop insurance program and create a program to compensate farmers for smaller, or “shallow,” revenue losses, based on a five-year average, for acres actually planted.

Getting a bill to the president’s desk will be a challenge. Most of the bill’s spending is on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps, at an annual cost now of about $75 billion. The Republicanled House is looking for greater cuts to this

program than the Democratic Senate will accept. The House also is more sympathetic to Southern rice and peanut farmers who say that shallow loss program hurts them.

They want to keep some form of target price subsidy.

The current farm bill expires at the end of September. But the Senate bill, and presumably the yet-to-be-written House counterpart, “makes clear that the era of direct payments is over,” said Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, who heads the Senate committee. She said the Senate bill “represents the most significant reform in American agriculture policy in decades.”

The White House, which also is pushing for the end of direct payments, says more than 50 percent of the subsidies go to farmers making more than $100,000 in income.

Direct payments are only one of several ways the government ensures that farmers are protected from falling prices or weather disasters. The Congressional Research Service estimates that under current law, the government will spend $5.7 billion a year on commodity programs, including direct payments, along with $1.5 billion a year on disaster aid and $9 billion a year to subsidize crop insurance. The Agriculture Department says that in 2011 the government paid farmers about $10.6 billion, including about $3.6 billion for conservation programs, some 10 percent of the farm sector’s record-high net cash income of $108.7 billion According to the Environmental Working Group, in the 1995-2010 period, the top 10 percent of payment recipients received an average $30,751 a year while the bottom 80 percent got $587 a year. —AP

Wal-Mart’s proxy vote shows dissent NEW YORK: Wal-Mart’s final shareholder vote for its board of directors shows some dissent against key executives and board members, including CEO Mike Duke, in the wake of allegations of bribery in Mexico. According to the tally, released by the world’s largest retailer Monday, 13 percent of the 3.4 billion shares were voted against the re-election of Duke. The election results also showed that nearly 13 percent were against Chairman Robson Walton, the son of founder Sam Walton, and 15.6 percent against former CEO Lee Scott. A little over 13 percent of the votes were cast against Christopher Williams, chairman and CEO of The Williams Capital Group, who serves on Wal-Mart’s audit committee, Wal-Mart announced that these four executives, along with 11 other incumbents, were re-elected to the board at Friday ’s shareholders’ meeting in Fayetteville, Ark. A new candidate, Marissa Mayer, who is vice president for local, maps and location services at Google Inc., was also elected. With descendants of Wal-Mart’s founder owning about 50 percent of Wal-Mart’s shares, activist shareholders had little chance of voting out the board members. But the numbers show a dramatic erosion of support compared with recent years. Over the previous five years, WalMart’s board had received on average 98.4 percent support, according to Michael Garland, who represents the New York City Comptroller’s Office, which

oversees the public pension funds of New York. The group, which owns 5.6 million shares of Wal-Mart, voted against five members of the board including Scott, Duke and Walton.

The shareholders’ meeting comes after a story by The New York Times published in April said the world’s largest retailer allegedly failed to notify law enforcement after finding evidence that officials authorized millions of dollars in bribes in Mexico to get speedier building permits and other favors. Duke was head of Wal-Mart’s international business at the time of the probe in 2005, and Scott was CEO. It’s not clear what board members like Walton knew.

Following the allegations, it has been reported that federal authorities in the U.S. and Mexico are investigating WalMart for potential violations. Investors are suing top executives. And shareholder groups, including the nation’s two largest public pension funds, called for the removal of several board members.

Two leading proxy adviser firms, ISS and Glass Lewis & Co. Inc., recommended to Wal-Mart shareholders to vote against certain board members up for re-election as well. They said executives neglected their responsibility relating to the alleged briber y scheme. Wal-Mar t ’s shares rose 43 cents, to $65.93 on Monday, hovering around a 12-year high. That more than makes up for the 7 percent drop in price after the bribery allegations surfaced. — AP

MADRID: Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is pressing for a direct European rescue for Spain’s banks with moral support from the European Commission, but Germany appeared to rule out such a “bailout lite” for the euro zone’s fourth biggest member. A source with knowledge of the matter said Madrid is working along with European institutions to find a way to directly refinance banks using rescue funds without the government having to come under a full EU/IMF adjustment programme. “Right now the most urgent issue is the banks, and there are negotiations to refinance the banks directly without it being an intervention. It’s a mechanism for all (European) banks, not just for Spanish banks,” the source said.

Spain’s borrowing costs have jumped in recent weeks, largely due to doubts over whether the government can raise enough funds for the rising bill to strengthen its banks, left with big holes after the 2008 crash of the housing and construction market. Under current rules Spain can get a loan from the European rescue fund, or EFSF, but it would come with tough conditions and intrusive supervision, with a high political cost for Rajoy. The new permanent European rescue fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), due to enter into force in July, can lend to banks but the request still has to be made by the state.

The source with knowledge of the matter said Spain believed the European Union’s executive could take a plan for bank aid to a summit of the bloc’s leaders on June 28-29. EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said Brussels was considering direct bank recapitalisation by the ESM to break the link between weak sovereigns and ailing banks, but it was not possible under the treaty currently being ratified by member states. “ This is not part of the ESM treaty for the moment, in its present form, but we see that it is important to consider this alternative of direct bank recapitalisation as we are now moving on in the discussion on the possible ways and means to create a banking union,” Rehn said. Germany, the main contributor to the bailout fund, opposes changing the ESM treaty to allow direct bank recapitalisation and has veto power. Berlin contends that only a formal programme approved by national parliaments permits proper international supervision of how aid funds are spent.

“It is only for a national government to decide whether it draws on the rescue mechanism and the requirements that are linked to it. That of course is also true for Spain,” government spokesman Steffen Seibert told a news conference when asked about media reports that Berlin was pushing Madrid to apply. Seibert also said Spain first needed to figure out how much money it needs to recapitalise its banks.

After pressing in vain for the European Central Bank to ride to Spain’s rescue by buying government bonds, Rajoy took a different line on Saturday, calling in a speech for a euro zone fiscal authority with powers to manage member states’ budget policies, to show markets the euro project is irreversible. Some analysts saw the call as a way of preparing Spaniards for the need for a European rescue for their country. Others saw it as a goodwill gesture towards the Germans.

Gary Jenkins, director at Swordfish Research, said the fact Rajoy was pushing for greater trans-

fers of fiscal sovereignty was a sign of how urgent the situation was in Spain. “Spain is heading towards requiring significant intervention in order to avoid a disaster scenario,” he wrote.

Spain meets criteria for aid Spain already complies with the terms for the state to tap the temporary European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) under its “guidelines on recapitalisation of financial institutions”. Those conditions are: it needs the money as a last resort to recapitalise systemic lenders, such as Bankia, and it has also started an independent audit of its banks in two stages. The ECB and key EU partners such as Berlin are keen to avoid a repeat of last year’s events when they had to push Portugal to seek aid after former Prime Minister Jose Socrates resisted for months owing to the stigma attached to an “IMF bailout”.

The ECB stopped buying Portuguese bonds in

the holes in the banks, which have some 184 billion euros in exposure to repossessed property and sour loans to real estate developers.

The government and the biggest banks hope the reports will show Bankia was an exception, that most of the banking system is solvent and that the rest has been addressed by regulations that have forced lenders to recognise more than 80 billion euros in losses. Still, after confusion over how Bankia’s rescue would work damaged Madrid’s market credibility, it’s hard to imagine a bank rescue figure that will automatically restore confidence.

“What is not clear is whether it will be enough to recover the market confidence, that is not going to make things worse,” said a senior Spanish banker, regarding the audits. Spain has said it will borrow money on the markets to recapitalise Bankia. Even with 10-year bond yields at 6.5 percent, the government says it does not face trouble

VEGA DEL REY: Spanish miners burn tires to cut a road during a demonstration yesterday. — AFP the secondary market and Portuguese banks took the unprecedented step of warning the government that they too might stop buying its debt-a move that probably tipped Socrates into seeking help. The head of Portugal’s banking association, Antonio de Sousa, told Reuters in an interview at the time that the ECB had told the country’s banks to cut exposure to government debt. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble insisted then that aid could only be granted in the framework of a reform programme, the same stance Berlin is now taking towards Madrid.

Bank audits Spain rescued its fourth biggest bank, Bankia, in May, in a bailout that will cost some 23.5 billion euros, much higher than anticipated, raising doubts over whether other Spanish banks have yet to recognise bigger losses. Independent auditors contracted by the government are due to report in mid-June on the state of the banks, and a detailed International Monetary Fund report on the financial system is due on June 11. Both studies should shed light on the scale of the final bill for plugging

tapping the markets because its average borrowing costs are lower, at 4.07 percent, and only 2 percent of public expenditures go to service debt.

Political risk consultancy Eurasia Group said Europe would do its best to ease the pain for Rajoy, who has spread much of the blame for mismanaging the banking sector on his Socialist predecessors and the outgoing Bank of Spain governor. “At this stage, EU political and policy elites are open to design a programme that would emphasize banks and would be light on conditionality to facilitate Rajoy’s ability to manage internal constraints,” it said in a report.

But Eurasia Group said Rajoy would delay as long as possible to avoid the stigma that could affect his party in subsequent elections and because it will look as if his austerity programme and economic reforms had merely set the country up for a banking bailout instead of putting it back on track. One high-level government source argued that there is little motivation for Rajoy to take some 70 billion euros in aid for the banks if there are no guarantees it will actually bring down borrowing costs. — Reuters

Illegal oil refining destroys Nigeria Delta DIEBU CREEK: The sound of fleeing feet rustles from the undergrowth in this swampy enclave in Nigeria’s Delta, where a fire burns beneath an open tank of crude oil and black smoke fills the sky. Criminal gangs are quick to run when boats approach the illegal refineries all over the Niger Delta, a region of creeks and waterways latticed by hundreds of kilometres of unguarded pipelines pumping valuable oil. Standing in a foot of oily water, behind a steel tank of hot crude percolating down pipes, Peter, 38, explains how it’s done.

“We carry the crude, put it in these drums and then we cook it and it runs down these pipes,” he said, oil dripping off his hands, a hood covering his face.

“First we get gasoline, then kerosene and then diesel,” he added, coughing as a wave of smoke gets sucked into his lungs. He gave only his first name; others asked not to be named at all. Almost three years since an amnesty was agreed with 26,000 Niger Delta militants, oil theft remains a major headache and is now on the rise, authorities and oil firms say.

Although the illegal refiners only make up for a small portion of the theft, the environmental damage they do is huge. Oil spills from leaky pipes pollute vast tropical waterways. Shell, the biggest operator, says 150,000 barrels per day is stolen from Africa’s top oil producer. Nigeria’s Finance Minister Ngozi OkonjoIweala said that as much as one-fifth of government revenue is lost to oil theft.

The small amount that is refined locally finds a ready market in a country whose legal refineries are

largely defunct. “We’re doing what they can’t,” quips one oil thief from his barge, a swipe at the Nigerian government’s failure to refine much of the fuel it produces because of decades of corruption.

Grand theft Most of the theft happens on a larger scale, when coordinated groups of workers tap into oil infrastructure, siphoning crude into barges and motorboats before transporting the oil onto larger crafts a few miles offshore. The complicity of corrupt security officials and politicians means this is unlikely to end any time soon, although President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration has pledged to crack down. Floating down waterways in Jonathan’s home state of Bayelsa, dozens of plumes of smoke are visible from microrefineries.

The damage is incalculable: broken pipelines are abandoned and left to hemorrhage into the creeks, while deadly accidental fires desecrate several square kilometres of wetland vegetation. A visit to one site shows mangrove shoots tipped black where they immerse themselves into the water, dying trees sagging over the creeks and fires raging where illegal refineries are set ablaze by soldiers in periodic crackdowns. One barge carrying illegally refined fuel can be seen dropping off jerry cans to soldiers at a jetty.

“I can assure you we are on top of the situation,” Onyema Nwachukwu, Joint Task Force (JTF) spokesman, told Reuters in a barracks in Bayelsa’s capital, Yenagoa. He gave few details. At the height

of the conflict in the Delta, in the late 2000s, militants could move global oil prices with large-scale sabotage attacks on pipelines and flowstations.In 2009, the government agreed an amnesty with the militants, who agreed to give up their arms in return for training programmes and a 65,000 naira-per-month stipend, about three-and-a-half times Nigeria’s minimum wage.

Although thousands have been trained in everything from welding to flying planes, there are not always jobs for them, and more than 10,000 have yet to be trained in anything at all. Many ex-militants complain that they only receive a small portion of the stipend, while their former commanders pocket most of the hand-out. The militants said they were fighting for freedom from the shackles of foreign oil firms and corrupt government. But many were criminal gangs stealing crude, kidnapping oil workers and fighting turf wars with little interest in changing the Delta.

Angry youths Since the amnesty, violence has subsided and at first oil theft dipped. But while former militant leaders sit in opulent homes in the capital Abuja or enjoy lucrative government contracts, their foot soldiers, bereft of such luxuries, are reverting to old habits.

And newcomers are joining in. “Small scale bunkering and illegal refining is becoming more decentralised and freelance because of turf left open by militants,” an oil security official in the Delta told Reuters. —Reuters

26

TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012

business

Mercedes-Benz, AMG at Cannes Film Festival Golden fleet for the 65th Palme d’Or events held during the film festival. Shuttle vehicles provided by Mercedes-Benz ensured attendees made a spectacular entrance when they arrived on the red carpet.

High-performance AMG brand offered individual test drives AMG, the high-performance division of Mercedes-Benz, sponsored the legendary “Le Club

by Albane” at the J.W. Marriott hotel and the “IWC Filmmakers Dinner” at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc on May 21, 2012. For both events, the brand will be providing an exclusive shuttle service featuring various vehicles to ferry guests to the red carpet. The new Mercedes-Benz SL 65 AMG “45th Anniversary” was likewise on show at the “IWC Filmmakers Dinner”. Every day throughout the festival, Mercedes-AMG invites guests and visitors to experience true “Driving Performance” on individual test drives along the French Riviera in various current AMG models. Throughout the festival, a MercedesBenz SL 63 AMG was on display outside the hotel in keeping with the festival, the vehicle was staged on a film set.

CANNES: Star quality befitting the anniversary of the Cannes International Film Festival: to celebrate the awarding of the 65th Palme d’Or (Golden Palm), Mercedes-Benz and Mercedes-AMG provided a fleet of shuttle vehicles in gold. Mercedes-Benz and its performance-brand AMG created a unique automotive experience by supplying other shuttle services, showcasing vehicles and offering exclusive test drives to guests and visitors to this year’s film festival from 16 to 27 May 2012.

As a tribute to the 65th anniversary of the Palme d’Or, the golden Mercedes-Benz fleet will be driving through Cannes offering VIP guests of the film festival an outstanding shuttle service. A very special star was also shining at the legendary Cinema Against AIDS Gala being organised by the amfAR foundation at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc on May 24: a gold Mercedes-Benz SL 65 AMG “45th Anniversary”. The iconic SL sports car celebrates its 60th birthday this year, while the AMG performance brand turns 45. Mercedes-Benz is co-sponsor of this top-class gala, which is one of the most prestigious

HSBC announces merger

The Big Tree Society is coming to Kuwait

MUSCAT: The Ministry of Commerce & Industry in Oman has formally approved the merger of Oman International Bank and the Oman operations of HSBC Bank Middle East Limited. HSBC Bank Middle East Limited is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of HSBC Holdings plc.

The merger has now completed and the combined entity, in which HSBC owns 51 percent and begins operating, is named HSBC Bank Oman SAOG. HSBC Bank Oman SAOG has one of the largest branch networks in the country; serving the needs of retail, corporate and institutional customers.

Simon Cooper, Deputy Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of HSBC Middle East & North Africa, has been appointed as Chairman of HSBC Bank Oman SAOG’s seven-member Board of Directors, with each director serving an initial three-year term: Simon Cooper (Chairman); Brigadier Waleed Omer Abdul-Monem Al-Zawawi (Deputy Chairman); Dr. Juma Ali Juma Al-Juma; Aimen Ahmed Sultan AlHosni; Abdulfattah Sharaf; David Kotheimer; and Francesca McDonagh.

Ewan Stirling has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of the combined entity. Dr. Juma Ali Juma AlJuma, HSBC Bank Oman SAOG said: “This is great news for Oman and we are delighted that even more Omanis will be able to benefit from the international network we now have to offer. While both companies have a proud heritage in Oman - now, with this merger, we’re very much looking to the future of the company and the

KUWAIT: UNESCO, with Boubyan Bank’s support, is proud to announce on World Environment Day, that we will be introducing the Big Tree Society programme, to Kuwait for the beginning of the next academic year, this September 2012.

The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (known as Rio + 20) is taking place this month, marking the 20th anniversary of the 1992 United Nations conference on Environment and Development, so it is high time to discuss globally “The Future We Want”, and develop local practices that will make significant contributions to the Millennium Development Goal No. 7, “Environmental Sustainability”. As Dr. Benno Boer, the ecological science advisor in UNESCO Office in Doha said: “ With the United Nations Rio + 20 Conference just around the corner, it is high time to apply good practices for “Environmental Sustainability”. Let us mobilize the youth, encourage and empower them to reduce their ecological footprint. Students will improve their water and energy consumption, waste production and pollution, and tackle issues of biodiversity conservation and climate change.

The Big Tree Society is designed to make a significant contribution to the above. Schools are the central places for this activity, because they provide a suitable platform. UNESCO lauds Boubyan Bank for bringing the Big Tree Society to Kuwait.”

future of Oman as one.”

Ewan Stirling, CEO of HSBC Bank Oman SAOG added: “We are delighted to announce that this deal has been successfully closed. HSBC is deeply committed to the Omani market, we’ve been here since 1948 and you can be assured that we’re here to stay. This merger helps us rapidly grow our presence and provide our important Omani customers with an even wider range of banking products and services.”

The successful completion of this deal means that OIB and HSBC branches will be re branded HSBC Bank Oman SAOG, and will feature the HSBC red hexagon logo. HSBC will begin refurbishing branches, improving their look and feel as well as the overall banking experience for customers. Stirling added: “Customers don’t need to take any action. While we’re working hard to integrate these two significant companies, we’re also making sure that our customers aren’t impacted and can continue to bank as usual. By December, customers will be issued with new cards and paying in books directly and can rest assured that this process will be seamless.” Given the scale of the network, this process will take us some time, but when customers see their new branches we’re confident that they will think it was worth it. The same dedicated teams will be there to serve you, as they always have done, but in a newer, fresher environment.” The merged entity, HSBC Bank Oman SAOG, traded on the Muscat Stock Market with effect from yesterday.

NBK is strong bank in any context: Deutsche Bank KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) is a strong bank in any context, said Deutsche Bank in a report released yesterday. “NBK’s capital strength, strong asset quality and good liquidity should enable it to deploy its balance sheet quickly to capture growth”, said Deutsche Bank in its initiation of coverage on NBK with a Hold recommendation.

The report stressed that “NBK is outstanding in the domestic context, with leading market shares, strong asset quality and coverage ratios. NBK has also stellar reputation amongst its clients and competitors alike”. The repor t also highlighted that NBK boasts the highest credit rating of any MENA bank, reflecting the conservative approach to credit, strong liquidity, capital strength and balance sheet management.

Deutsche Bank in its report pointed out that NBK has been free of asset quality problems, and had instead been able to focus on housekeep during the crisis. Elsewhere in the sector, crisis management has been the norm rather than the exception.

The report added that NBK enjoys leading market shares, strong margins and best in class profitability. Despite severe challenges facing the Kuwaiti banking system, NBK has managed to

remain consistent in terms of its market shares. NBK enjoys best profitability and returns amongst Kuwaiti peers. It has maintained relatively strong profitability in recent years. Both return on equity and return on assets are the sector’s best.

“We think this a tremendous competitive advantage relative to other banks, as when growth does show signs of sustainability; NBK is in our view the bank that will best be able to capitalize on opportunities”, the report said. “Credit demand remains elusive in Kuwait, but NBK is well positioned and should benefit more than most when growth returns”. The report said that NBK’s balance sheet and capital structure are solid. NBK will benefit from its balance sheet to capture growth opportunities in markets such Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. NBK’s Tier 1 ratio of 18.3 percent is the strongest of any large cap bank in Kuwait and ranks very well within MENA and CEEMEA as well. Deutsche Bank added that one of the important banking stories of the past decade in Kuwait has been NBK in relation to Islamic banking. Through its current stake of 47.3 percent in Boubyan, NBK is the only bank in Kuwait to have access to both conventional and Islamic finance products and services.

Adel Al-Majed, Chairman & MD of Boubyan Bank said: “It is a pleasure for us to be partners for one of the biggest UN organizations in raising the level of awareness of the necessity to take more practical steps towards sustained environmental conservation out of the care for the future of coming generations.”

“Boubyan Bank believes in the necessity of cooperation among all parties in any society in order to take the actions and introduce more initiatives that help create actual awareness of the importance of the environment, and it is the responsibility of current generations to preserve the environmental resources we now have to sustain future generations,” he added.

Al-Majed also expressed his wish, as well as the wish of all Boubyan Bank’s staff that this initiative realizes its goals, whether on the level of Kuwait schools or the Kuwaiti society, especially being the first of its kind that is implemented in cooperation between the UNESCO and a Kuwaiti bank which believes in the importance of social responsibility and its role as a private institution to raise the level of awareness of social issues.

The Big Tree Society programme encourages students of all ages to take control of their future, and lets them discover their own potential. Following two simple rules, schools can participate in the Big Tree Society programme with a view to enhancing the environmental awareness and impact on the environment.

Adel Al-Majed There are only two rules: 1) The students must be the ones who decide on how to change their behaviour.

2) The solution must involve everyone in the school, from the teachers to the students.

Apart from those two simple rules, schools are free to choose to follow any environmental programme they want, or they can even create their own. All we will ask is that you send us your plans for approval first, in case you want to make sure you can be recognised by us.

United Real Estate Company inks agreement KUWAIT: United Real Estate Company (URC), a leading real estate firm in Kuwait announced the signing of an agreement between Kuwait United Facilities Management (KUFM) and Istidamah, a firm specialized in environmental solutions including waste management and recycling. This partnership aims to develop and upgrade environmental services offered at URC’s commercial centers and office towers in Kuwait.

URC’s Executive Vice President of Business Development and Chairman of KUFM, Renimah Al-Mattar said, “Based on the agreement, Istidamah will provide market-leading environmental benefits including the collection, disposal, and recycling of paper, cardboard, and plastic waste from five URC properties.”

Al-Mattar added that the agreement aims to involve the public through the availability of recycling bins at three commercial centres: Marina Mall, Souk Al-Maseel, and Souk AlMuttaheda, in addition to two of its office buildings located in Kuwait City, Al-Madina Tower and Al-Shaheed Tower (URC’s headquarters).

Ahmad Al-Kandari, Chief Executive Officer of Kuwait United Facilities Management Company (KUFM), a subsidiary of URC, indicated that under this agreement, Istidamah will provide recycling bins to collect and sort paper, cardboard, and plastic materials. This will support all companies to provide innovative waste management services to contribute and encourage participation in the protection of Kuwait’s environment.

Al-Kandari also added that this agreement is in line with KUFM’s strategy to provide waste management services in many of the facilities they manage. This includes the recycling of paper and plastic materials reducing the emission of toxic gases from decomposition in traditional landfills which leads to a decrease in health and environmental issues

caused by these emissions.

Khalid Mohamed Al-Mutawa, Chairman and Managing Director of Istidamah said, “We are very pleased to sign this agreement with KUFM and we look forward to working together in the near future. Istidamah will bring its professional expertise, modern environmental solutions, and recycling programs that will contribute to the reduction of health and environmental issues caused by waste burial and traditional waste management methods.”

In addition, Al-Mutawa pointed out that it is extremely important to use inventive environmental solutions to ensure that waste is properly recycled and reused in Kuwait.

Recycling is a popular global movement that helps reduce the use of paper, limit deforestation, and protect green areas around the

world. “Istidamah have successfully offered environmental and recycling deals to both government and private sectors, including municipalities, agriculture, industrial, and hazardous material sectors.

We also provide comprehensive electronic and medical waste treatment services, as well as specialized environmental and industrial consulting services in Kuwait and the MENA region. We are actively developing and operating a number of ambitious projects in and outside Kuwait such as alternative energy sources (ex. solar, wind, and waste). Istidamah has been recognized as one of the leading environmental and consulting companies in waste management, recycling, and industrial projects, with collaboration from industry leading organisations throughout the world.” concluded Al-Mutawa.

TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012

TECHNOLOGY

EMC delivers new solution to transform processes

E

MC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) recently announced the availability and initial customer success with theEMC Documentum (R) Engineering Plant and Facilities Management (EPFM) solution. Documentum EPFM reduces the risk of project shutdown or downtime by providing secure, efficient access to “as built” engineering drawings and related content.

The Documentum EPFM solution was built in response to common challenges faced by energy plants, engineering and construction companies and facilities

teams within large enterprises, namely misplacement and/or loss of critical project data, lack of collaboration and content sharing, and high risk due to noncompliance. Documentum EPFM focuses on highly project-centric and repeated processes for managing large numbers of documents and validating bulk imports of documents. It also supports collaboration across multiple parties (employees, clients, partners and regulators).

Customer Benefits: • Accelerate project execution by

optimizing critical business processes with EMC Documentum • Reduce unplanned downtime by delivering the right content faster • Lower the risk of Environmental Health Standards (EHS) non-compliance by improving collaboration inside and outside the firewall • Optimize the plant maintenance process with enterprise content management (ECM) and maintenance systems integration Built on top of the EMC Documentum platform, the EPFM solution includes

easy-to-use configuration options to give users control over content; comprehensive information governance through role-based security, and simple document lifecycle and access control based on business document type.

Etihad Rail was formed to manage the development, construction and operation of the national railway for the United Arab Emirates(UAE), to link the principal centers of population and industry across the region. Whether it is providing safe, reliable journeys for residents, transporting sulphur for exportation, or mov-

ing steel and other raw materials, Etihad Rail and its network of clients aim to serve as a symbol of national pride.

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Women engineers trace tech gender gap to childhood Tech industry still a boys’ bastion

Number of the week: Internet users face 1,800 web attacks every minute

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sers browsing the Internet face an average of 108,035 cyber-attacks per hour-or 1800 a minute. In total, cybercriminals used 4,073,646 domains to launch web attacks in 2011. These statistics were generated using the KSN cloud threat monitoring system based on last year’s results. The Internet has become indispensable in our everyday life: we work on the web, shop online, use Internet banking services, communicate with friends and play online games. However, the Internet is the main entry point for malware on any computer. And increasingly it is entertainment sites, rather than ‘adult’ resources, which carry the greatest risks of potential infection.

Kaspersky Lab analyzed the resources which housed the most malicious links and found that entertainment websites with video content were the most dangerous (31% of malicious links). Search engines came second - occasionally users follow malicious links directly from the results pages returned by major search systems (22% of links are potentially dangerous).

Social networks are slightly behind on 21%. Sites with adult content and advertising networks came fourth and fifth respectively. “Cybercriminals actively use different kinds of legitimate sites to distribute

their ‘creations’. To do this they set up pages on social networks to lure their victims, distribute spam in personal messages and actively comment on popular videos and similar postings, including links to malware in their messages,” explains Yury Namestnikov, Senior Malware Analyst at Kaspersky Lab. Internet threats statistics As a result, last year approximately 38% of users in UAE encountered detections by antivirus software. However, the risk posed by malware can be considerably reduced if the key rules of Internet safety are followed: don’t follow links in messages received from unknown senders, always check the authenticity of a web address in the browser bar before inserting personal information and only use licensed software.

To ensure that users can safely make use of the full range of opportunities the web offers, antivirus packages such as Kaspersky PURE provide maximum protection: scanning of incoming and outgoing traffic, scanning of web pages for malicious code, scanning the reputation of links, detection and blocking of phishing links to prevent theft of personal data, protection against spam, plus the ability to launch sites in a secure “sandbox” environment.

SAN FRANCISCO: Silicon Valley companies portray themselves as inventors of the future, but they’re afflicted by a longstanding problem.

From board rooms to “brogrammers,” men still dominate many corners of the tech industry, where the pantheon of famous founders - from Hewlett and Packard to Jobs to Zuckerberg - is still a boys’ bastion.

The gender-imbalance issue came to the forefront again recently when a partner at the country’s most prominent venture capital firm filed a sexual harassment lawsuit alleging a former colleague retaliated against her for years after she cut off a brief relationship with him.

The firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, has denied the allegations.

Whatever the merits of the claim, the suit again has put a spotlight on the tech industry’s gender gap. To Jocelyn Goldfein, a director of engineering at Facebook, the math is stark. Less than 20 percent of the bachelor’s degrees in computer science go to women, according to federal statistics. By comparison, nearly 60 percent of all bachelor’s degrees are awarded to graduating females. The company wants to hire top engineers, but the talent pool in the US is growing thin, she said. Goldfein said she doesn’t look to hire female engineers specifically, just the best people. But she said she’d have a lot more to choose from if women entered computer science at a rate anywhere near the average for all fields.

She blames the lack of role models both in popular culture and in day-to-day life as a key reason for the disparity. “The reason there aren’t more women computer scientists is because there aren’t more women computer scientists,” she said. Women in other professions such as medicine and law have become fixtures on tele-

vision and in movies in recent decades, while portrayals of programmers still tend to follow the hacker stereotype of the lone guy sitting in his basement, she said.

Unless their parents are engineers, girls also aren’t likely to encounter coders in their own lives the same way they would, for example, a doctor or a teacher. “We don’t really have that same kind of interaction with software engineers as we go about our daily lives,” Goldfein said. Facebook itself has come under criticism over the lack of diversity on its board of directors, which is composed of seven white men, though the majority of its users are women. At the same time, the company’s chief operating officer, former US Treasury Department official Sheryl Sandberg, has become the most prominent female executive in Silicon Valley.

Goldfein said women engineers are also behind many of Facebook’s signature features, including the news feed and the photo viewer.

She hopes the site itself can serve as a tool to draw more girls and young women into computer science. “If they realize that when I click on a photo and it pops up, that was made by a woman, think how powerful that would be,” Goldfein said. At gatherings across Silicon Valley, especially those where engineers cluster, lines extend far out the men’s room door, while the ladies’ room has little wait.

“Sometimes it can be hard,” said Serena Yeung, 23, a recent Stanford graduate who worked as a software engineer at a Silicon Valley startup before returning for graduate school.

Just walking into the classroom is one of the biggest hurdles for women thinking of entering the field, she said. “You go in and you’re the only girl in it.” For Yeung, having parents who were both engineers spared her the sense that com-

News

in brief 5 US carriers to sell new Samsung Galaxy in June

NEW YORK: Samsung says its new flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S III, will be launched by all of the Big 4 national US wireless carriers this month, starting at $199. Apart from Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile USA, regional carrier US. Cellular will also sell the phone, South Korea-based Samsung Electronics Co. says. Samsung says phone companies will announce specific launch dates and prices later.

The Galaxy series has emerged as the most popular alternative to Apple Inc.’s iPhone. It runs Google’s Android software. The S III has a 4.8-inch screen, nearly twice as much area as the iPhone. Yet the phone is slightly thinner and lighter than Apple’s phone. The S III went on sale Europe and the Middle East last week.

An app that lets you text like the Queen TORONTO: In celebration of Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee, a mobile app is adding a royal touch to emails, texts and tweets by suggesting words that the British monarch would be most likely to use.

SwiftKey is an Android app that uses artificial intelligence to correct and predict words as they are typed. To mark the Queen’s 60-year reign, the company released the Queen’s English, a new language module for the app.

“One of the core strengths of the technology is that we are able to take any kind of text and build what we call a language module,” explained Dr. Ben Medlock, co-founder of British company SwiftKey. “It solves a probabilistic problem which is ‘what is the person most likely to say next’?” The company created the module using its underlying language technology, which processed the transcripts of Queen Elizabeth speeches since her coronation in 1952. It revealed several trends, including the Queen’s avoidance of colloquial contractions such as ‘it’s’ in favor of the more formal ‘it is’, and her tendency to maintain a positive tone in communications.

“The Queen’s language reveals that she has a generally optimistic frame of mind and so the words ‘confident’, ‘delighted’, ‘glad’ and ‘please’ were uttered 125 times more than her famous ‘annus horribilis,’ which was the phrase that she used in the 1992 Windsor Castle fire,” said Medlock, who has a PhD in natural language processing from the University of Cambridge. The app was conceived two years ago on the premise that the problem with typing on smartphones lies in language, rather than in keyboards.

“Smartphones were exploding but people were struggling to do what is thought to be the most important thing you can do on a phone, which is to get your thoughts down into it,” he said. “We realized that the software of the future wasn’t just going to sit there as a dumb keyboard based on key strokes. It was going to actively model the way people use language.” The app, which has over one million active users, can also learn from historical text, as with the Queen’s English, and also from the user’s email, SMS or social media data.

The company is gearing up to release a major update in the coming weeks, which includes several new features and a complete redesign of the user interface. “One of the key things that we’re trying to solve is a problem around the use of the spacebar in typing and we call the technology ‘smart space’. It allows you to type sequences of text without using the spacebar and it automatically recognizes where the word boundaries are,” he said. The company would like to see device manufacturers pre-load their technology natively, rather than having users download the app. It also plans to target the health care sector, where the technology can be used for medical note-taking.

The app, which is available in more than 45 languages, is sold worldwide for Android handsets and tablets for $3.99. The app is available for a free one-month trial. If the Queen had typed her speeches using the standard English app, she would have saved 46 percent of her keystrokes, according to the company.—Reuters

puters weren’t for girls.

She got her first job as a programmer at Mountain View-based Rockmelt Inc., which makes a Web browser with built-in social media features. She started working there even before she graduated with her degree in electrical engineering, another coding-intensive field where men heavily outnumber women. Rockmelt CEO Eric Vishria says the competition to hire qualified women software engineers has heated up as companies see that they need diverse perspectives to build products that attract the widest audience. He said startups that don’t hire women early in their existence risk creating a male-dominated culture that will put off potential female hires.

“It becomes a death spiral, it becomes selffulfilling,” Vishria said. “You have 15 guys in a room, that’s your company, and it becomes harder and harder to hire your first woman.”

Yeung said a recent experience at a Stanford Society of Women Engineers event for elementary school students showed her that intervention needs to come early to steer girls toward tech. She said girls who had just come from a computer science workshop complained they didn’t like it because the boys asked all the questions. Steeped in video game culture and barraged by positive male tech industry role models, boys tend to dominate conversations around computing early on, leaving girls feeling shut out, said Yeung. As for her own childhood, Yeung said that as she got older, her commitment to computing carried a social cost as female friends drifted toward other interests. “It’s harder to spend time with them. It’s harder to do things with them,” she said. “I think you feel kind of a conflicting pull between friends and career interests. That can be hard.”—AP

TAIPEI: Jonney Shih, chairman of Taiwan’s AsusTek Computer Inc. introduceS a latest Transformer Book during a press conference in Taipei yesterday.—AFP

Taiwan’s Acer, Asus unveil tablets with Windows 8 TAIPEI: Taiwan PC makers Acer and Asus yesterday took another shot at gaining a foothold in the tablet market, unveiling several new products running on Microsoft’s much-anticipated Windows 8 operating system. The companies showed off the tablets on the eve of Computex, Asia’s largest IT fair, which is held in Taipei this week for the 32nd time with Windows 8 expected to be a key focus. Acer, which cut several hundred jobs in Europe last year as it struggles to branch into the tablet computer sector, unveiled the W510 and W700.

“Windows 8 is a historic moment for the worldwide Windows eco-system,” said J. T. Wang, Acer’s chairman, at a briefing in Taipei where the company also unveiled its new Aspire S7, a small laptop that runs on Windows 8. “In our view, the touchscreen experience enabled by Windows 8 is a massive step forward-simply because it makes computing more intuitive,” said Jim Wong, corporate president of Acer.

Rival Asus unveiled five new products that run on Windows 8. They included two tablets, the Tablet 810 and Tablet 600, and three hybrid models that can be used as both tablets and notebooks, the Taichi, the Transformer AiO, and the Transformer Book.

While Apple itself is not present at Computex, the fair will nevertheless highlight the company’s importance, since much of what happens there will be in response to market trends set by the American brand.

Windows 8 is touted as Microsoft’s long-awaited riposte to the rise of Apple and mobile devices powered by Google’s Android operating system. There is no official release date but reports have predicted an October launch. Computex features more than 1,800 exhibitors registering 5,400 booths, up two percent from a year ago. The organisers estimate that the IT fair will draw 36,000 foreign buyers who may place bulk orders worth up to $28 billion.— AFP

Azerbaijan frees Facebook activist before Clinton visit BAKU: Azerbaijan yesterday released a jailed activist who used Facebook to organize pro-democracy protests, in a move two days before US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is to visit Baku. Activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev was jailed for two years in May 2011 for evading military service after he used Facebook to call for support for an anti-government demonstration in energy-rich, ex-Soviet Azerbaijan. “I am delighted to be released, but I repeat today that I do not agree with the charges on which I was arrested,” Hajiyev told AFP after his early release. “My arrest was politically motivated,” he said, promising that he would return to activism. Harvard-educated Hajiyev stood as an independent candidate at parliamentary elections in November 2010, when he criticized the authorities led by strongman President Ilham Aliyev and described the polls as rigged. Western observers assessed the vote as flawed but Aliyev’s governing party, which won a landslide victory, said that the election had “conformed to European standards”.

Azerbaijani rights activists accuse Aliyev’s government of cracking down on dissent, jailing opponents and muzzling the media, although the authorities insist that the country is genuinely free. Several unauthorized protests were broken up by police last month while Baku hosted the Eurovision song contest, which generated unprecedented worldwide media coverage of Azerbaijan’s democratic shortcomings.—Agencies

Nintendo seeks E3 game show buzz with Wii U peek

AKADEMGORODOK: Employees of Alawar Entertainment, a Russian video game development company, work in their office in Akademgorodok, a university town outside the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Far from the flashy studios of California or Europe, Alawar Entertainment has yet managed to break into the world stage, with games like “Farm Frenzy”, “The Treasures of Montezuma” or “Robber Rabbits”. —AFP

LOS ANGELES: Nintendo provided a glimpse Sunday into its second-generation Wii console as the Japanese videogame giant set out to generate excitement ahead of the E3 industry extravaganza. In a webcast streamed online, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata revealed details about the Wii U GamePad and promised more was to come at a press conference in Los Angeles on Tuesday prior to the opening of the E3 show floor. The console’s name was a reference to a 6.2-inch (16-centimeter) screen that displays maps or other information to complement game play, acts as a touchscreen game board and serves as a second monitor. And the tablet-style screen can ser ve as a “social window ” to exchange messages between people using Wii U tablets to play with or against one another online in the belief that “together is better,”

according to Iwata. Iwata pulled back the curtain on a “Miiverse” social network that serves as an online community for users of Wii U consoles.

Miiverse messages and posts can be accessed using standard Web browsing programs on computers or mobile gadgets. Players in Miiverse could take part in video chats or communicate with messages written in script with fingers on touchscreen GamePads.

“One of the challenges we set for ourselves was creating something that will help unite people rather than divide them,” Iwata said.

Nintendo will tout its coming Wii U GamePad console as well as videogames being tailored for play on the beefed up console it hopes will reignite passion sparked by its groundbreaking Wii devices released in 2006. “I think what Nintendo has done is really great,” said Ubisoft

chief executive Yves Guillemot. “They are mixing buttons with a screen and it is allowing the gamer to have everything they want,” he continued. “This is really helping change the experience for gamers.”

Games tailored for play on Wii U are expected to be part of a powerhouse line-up that the France-based videogame titan showed off at a press event in a Los Angeles theater yesterday.

Microsoft has said that it will not unveil a successor to the US technology firm’s Xbox 360 console and Japan-based Sony said it will remain mum about a next-generation PlayStation 3. Wii consoles introduced motion-sensing controllers that were a smash success and unlocked a vast audience of “casual gamers” enticed by the ability to play with simple gestures instead of having to master toggles and buttons.—AFP

TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012

H E A LT H & S C I E NC E

Australia witnesses partial lunar eclipse A rare double show

ATHENS: A file photo shows crosses, reading: “Solidarity,” “Dignity” and “Freedom,” placed in front of the Greek parliament following the April 4 suicide of a retired pharmacist who shot himself, saying austerity cuts had left him in deep poverty.—AFP

Side effect: Crisis in Greece hits mental health ATHENS: Greece is not feeling well. One in four men, and one in three women, has endured recent bouts of depression. As the grinding economic crisis continues to batter people’s nerves, suicides and psychosomatic illness are both on the increase. In April, a 77-year-old retiree, explaining in a note that he could no longer scrape by, went to a public square in the middle of Athens and put a bullet into his brain, a shot that echoed throughout the country. While politicians and economists argue about how to pull Greece out of the quagmire of debt that has kneecapped its economy, there can be no doubt that the crisis-once again threatening to eject the country from the eurozone towards an unknown fate-is taking a devastating toil on the mental health of its people.

Compounding the emerging health care emergency is the fact that the state’s ability to cope with it has been deeply eroded by the austerity measures and slashed budgets prescribed to cure the patient. If you’re going to have a nervous breakdown, in other words, Greece is not the best place to be. “My patients are clearly much more on edge and stressed,” said Dimitri, an osteopath in Athens with a varied clientele.

“Their incomes are dropping. Their day-to-day relationships are fraying at the edges. Those who do have work are afraid of losing it, and show telltales signs of musculoskeletal tension.” Before the crisis really took hold, he added, half of his patients came for fine-tuning sessions, or for a minor realignment. “Now many arrive in a state of acute crisis. Their backs are blocked, or they can’t even walk.”

For Dimitri, there can be no doubt as to the culprit: the no-end-in-sight debt crisis that has plunged Greece deep into recession ravaged its employment statistics and gutted social services. The human body, he says, absorbs all these shocks like a spring. “Often my patients don’t know why they are in pain or unable to move, and tell me that they didn’t lift anything heavy,” he said. “Then, as we chat during the session, I find out that they’re afraid of losing their jobs, or that a son’s or daughter’s salary has been cut in half, or that they can’t pay the rent.”

No way to keep a shred of dignity As officials vet new austerity measures and try to stave off further downgrades by credit agencies, the measureable impact of the crisis is getting inside the heads of Greeks. Even if new elections later this month, called after a legislative vote on May 6 failed to produce a government, reverse course and reject the EU’s austerity package, Greece is surely headed for more misery before things get any easier. The numbers over the last year are sobering. In the first half of 2011, more than a year after the economy began its dramatic slide, suicides in Greece shot up by 40 percent compared with the previous year. Almost daily, the media reports on someone who has put an end to it all because of financial burdens.

The old man who shot himself on April 4 in the middle of Syntagma Square-site of many impassioned demonstrations against austerity measures-clearly blamed his plight on the crisis.

“I can’t see any other way to keep a shred of dignity and end my life without rummaging through garbage bins,” the man wrote in a suicide note. Sick with cancer and living alone, he accused the state of depriving him of treatment after pensions were slashed, and compared the government in power to the one installed in 1941 by Nazi occupiers. The man’s fate seemed all the more shocking in a culture in which it is widely assumed that families can and will pick

up the slack when the state falls short.

However, some of these numbers need to be put into perspective. Greece, like most other southern European countries, has a significantly lower suicide rate that northern nations. In 2009, before the crisis, the rate was three people for every 100,000 inhabitants, a third lower than the European average. But there’s no denying that Greece is in the doldrums. According to health ministry statistics, a quarter of men and a third of women are depressed, double the European average for men, and nearly double for women.

Calls to mental health hotlines also increased twofold in the first six months of 2011 compared with a year earlier. “I don’t sleep anymore,” said ‘Petros’, who-clearly embarrassed by his situation-asked that his name be changed. An importer/exporter of furniture with several stores in Athens, Petros said that over the last months he had been obliged to fire many staff, a first for his family-run enterprise. “And I’m going to have to cut the salaries of the ones that are left,” he said, his voice brimming with emotion. “I really wonder how people are going to get by after this summer, when most companies will have done the same,” he added with creased brow.

State of war The crisis is not only making Greeks sick, it is making it harder for them to get treatment.

Austerity measures have cut the national health budget by a devastating 25 percent since 2009.

“It’s a state of war,” said Yorgos Kalliabetsos, head of the pathology clinic at Volos Hospital in central Greece. Doctors’ salaries have been slashed by a quarter. Security staff are no longer paid at all. Nurses have become scarce, and shortages of medical supplies frequent. “My service has to take on 45 patients with 35 beds,” Kalliabetsos lamented. Since the uninsured have been left to their own devices, many now resort to desperate strategies.

“We have more and more patients who are inventing emergencies so they can be examined because they don’t have any money for a regular consultation,” explained Meropi Manteou, a lung specialist at Athens’ enormous Sotiria Hospital. “We somehow manage to help the poorest patients that slip through the safety net, but for how much longer?” An increase in poverty has brought in its wake an increase in diseases of the poor, notably tuberculosis. The mental health picture is no less catastrophic. Several major psychiatric facilities have simply been shuttered. A third of the programs to help addicts have also been shut down, which has led to a new wave of HIV infections.

Alexis, a 46-year-old journalist, has been treated since 2006 by Okana, an association that depends on the health ministry for street drug substitutes. He waited four years to get in the program and feels lucky. “Most people who apply are dead by the time Okana calls them,” he said. The crisis has also encouraged the spread of a new street scourge called “sisa”.

Made from methamphetamines, the drug is ten times cheaper than heroin, but its effects are worse: blackened skin, sores all over the body, ultra-violent behavior. “One user stabbed another of my patients,” recalled Emilios Katsoulakos, a psychiatrist. “There’s no substitute we can prescribe for sisa.” Oddly, the economic downturn does seem to have had one salubrious impact: a decline in alcoholism.

But that’s probably only because new taxes on liquor-another consequence of austerity-make drowning one’s sorrows too expensive.—AFP

SYDNEY: The first partial lunar eclipse of the year provided a dramatic scene over Sydney last night, with a clear moon visible over the city as the event unfolded. A partial eclipse occurs when Earth slides between the Moon and the Sun, casting a grey shadow over its satellite. “It does look a bit odd because it’s not like a normal crescent moon,” said Jonti Horner from the astrophysics department of Sydney’s University of New South Wales. “It looks like a bite has been taken out of the moon,” he told AFP as he watched the sky.

Fred Watson, astronomer-in-charge of the Anglo-Australian Observatory in western New South Wales, said: “A partial eclipse of the moon is the kind of thing that happens every few years but it’s still worth looking at because of its astronomical interest.”

Yesterday’s eclipse is part of a rare double show which includes the Transit of Venus-one of the most eagerly awaited events in the astronomical calendar. Skywatchers in the Pacific and East Asia are set to have the best view of the eclipse.

Weather permitting, most of Australia, all of New Zealand, the nations of the South Pacific and Papua New Guinea will see it in full, and Southeast Asia, Eastern China, Japan and Korea will get most of it. It will not be visible in Europe or Africa, but people in western North America and Mexico will see it at the end stages when the moon sets. “Actual eclipses are relatively common, there are usually about two a year,” Watson said. “But what makes them kind of rare is that they are not all visible from everywhere, and in particular solar eclipses really are only visible from a

very small part of the Earth’s surface.” Today, North America will get to see the early stage of the Transit of Venus which occurs when Venus passes between Earth and the Sun, appearing under magnification as a small black dot that trots across the solar face. The next transit will not take place until 2117. Australia, New

Zealand, the South Pacific, Japan and Korea, as well as most of China and much of Southeast Asia, will be able to see the entire transit, lasting six hours, 40 minutes, in what will be tomorrow morning their time. South Asia, the Middle East and Europe will get the end part, when they enter sunrise tomorrow.—AFP

SYDNEY: The moon is 37 per cent obscured by the Earth’s shadow during the partial lunar eclipse above Sydney last night.—AFP

Moroccan campaigners step up calls for end to abortion ban RABAT: Hundreds of Moroccan women a day are resorting to backstreet abortions, a leading doctor has estimated, prompting calls for reform in a country where the termination of pregnancies remains illegal.

Campaigners say some of those resorting to illegal abortion are the victims of rape, driven at least in part by the social stigma attached not just to having a child out of wedlock but even having suffered rape. The victims include girls forced to work as maids and women trapped in forced marriages, they say. And the voices calling for a repeal of the ban on abortion are growing louder. A national congress will be held on June 12 in Rabat, under the auspices of the Moroccan Association for the Fight against Clandestine Abortion, headed by Professor Chafik Chraibi.

Deputies and Health Minister El Hossein el Ouardi are expected to attend. “What is happening in Morocco is dramatic,” said Chraibi, a renowned gynaecologist. Backstreet

abortions, mainly among young people, led to the women concerned being rejected by their families, he said. Women could end up being marginalised, forced into prostitution and sometimes committing suicide.

While it is impossible to get accurate figures for what is still an illegal activity, Chraibi told AFP: “We believe that 600 abortions are carried out daily by doctors and another 200 non-medical abortions.

“In Tunisia, where it is legal to have abortions, it’s 20 times less,” he added. “A dozen doctors are now in prison for having carried out illegal abortion. A gynaecologist from the Al Jadida region was sentenced to a year in prison, after carrying out an abortion for a young woman,” said the doctor. And another result of the lack of access to legal abortions was the high number of abandoned children, he added: around 17,000 a year.

The association he runs has been championing a reform of the law.

And he argues that legalizing abor-

tion could only have a positive effect.

“Our message is that we must work on prevention, as according to the World Health Organisation, 13 percent of maternal mortality is due to abortion.” The debate over abortion is just the latest front of an ongoing conflict between conservative supporters of traditional values and more liberal, reform minded campaigners. A recent case of a 16-yearold girl who committed suicide after being forced to wed her rapist-a provision of Moroccan law allowed him to thus escape prosecution-provoked outrage in Morocco. Chraibi however said he was more optimistic than ever that there would be change on the abortion issue.

In the past, he said, the political parties were afraid to get involved.

But now, the “issue has become a common problem, and the health minister backs us.” The minister is not a member of the Justice and Development Party (PJD), the Islamist party that is the senior partner in the

ruling coalition. He is with the Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS). But Bassima Hakkaoui, the minister for women and the family, is a PJD member. She accused the pro-reform advocates of “using the issue of child rape for political means and in a negative manner, which has deeply hurt the image of Morocco overseas.”

Her remarks provoked a storm of criticism from feminist activists.

Fauzia Assouli, president of the Federation of the Democratic League of Women’s Rights, accused the minister of trying to divert attention from the central issue. “This type of discourse comes from a fixed mindset,” she said. “Questions such as rape, abortion and child labour are the responsibility of the state,” she added.

“We are going in all directions. It is difficult to move forward with a conservative government,” she told AFP. But at the same time, she said, there was a growing sense of awareness, a sense of momentum among activists.—AFP

When working out is too much of a good thing

INDIA: Indian nursing trainee students stand in a line to enter the Red Ribbon Express (RRE)-III train car during an HIV/AIDS awareness campaign at a railway station in Secunderabad, the twin city of Hyderabad yesterday. The RRE train goes through 23 States and Union Territories and 162 districts in the country. It will be in Southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh from May 31 to June 17, to spread awareness on HIV/AIDS and to promote safe behavioral practices.—AFP

US study questions fruit sugar role in hypertension NEWYORK: Sweet drinks have been linked to a slightly higher risk of developing high blood pressure, but a US study finds that fruit sugar may not be the culprit as found in earlier research. Researchers followed more than 200,000 men and women for up to 38 years and found that regularly consuming sweetened drinks, either containing sugars or artificially sweetened, was associated with a rise of about 13 percent in the risk of developing high blood pressure. Carbonated and cola drinks were most strongly linked to a risk for hypertension, but fruit sugar, or fructose, in drinks did not stand out as a driving factor, the group reported in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

“We don’t know what causes the increased risk in artificial-or sugar-sweetened beverages,” said Lisa Cohen, lead author of the study and a researcher at the University of Maryland

Medical Center. “It’s hard to say that from the fructose itself you’re increasing your hypertension risk.” New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg last week proposed a ban on largesize sugary sodas, the latest in a string of public health initiatives that include a campaign to cut salt in restaurant meals and packaged foods.

Earlier studies had implicated fructose as a factor related to a risk of high blood pressure, but Cohen noted that those have only taken a snapshot in time and could not determine which came first, the high blood pressure or taste for sweet drinks. Cohen and her colleagues looked at data from three massive studies, including nearly 224,000 healthcare workers, whose diet and health were tracked for 16 to 38 years. No participants had diagnosed high blood pressure at the start of the study.—Reuters

NEW YORK: Constantly thinking about the next workout?

Upset about missing a exercise class? Fitness experts say more is not always better and overworking a workout can sap strength and invite injury. “We have fit people and deconditioned people who overdo it,” said Geralyn Coopersmith, national director of the Equinox Fitness Training Institute.

“Exercise is like a drug, if you don’t have enough, you get no benefits, if you have too much, you have problems,” she said.

Shin splints, heel spurs, tendonitis are among the common overuse injuries that Coopersmith, who oversees the training of personal trainers for Equinox fitness centers, sees.

“Some days should be intense, some days not so intense,” she said. “Exercise is a stressor. If it’s too much, the body can break down.” Extreme fatigue, irritability, moodiness, an elevated resting heart rate, fever, and an inability to work your earlier level are among the signs that you’ve overdone it, she said. California-based group fitness instructor Amy Dixon has broached the subject of overtraining with her clients, she said, but delicately, and only when they are ready to listen.

“I had a woman come in before my (indoor) cycling class,” said Dixon, creator of the “Give Me 10” DVD series. “I’d see her on the treadmill for an hour, then she’d take my class, then after she would ride longer or go on the elliptical (trainer) for another 40 minutes.” Poke an exercise addiction, Dixon believes, and you’ll often uncover another addiction. “Maybe they’re a binge eater, or they really party on the weekend,” she said. “If you’re working out morning and night, you’re overtrained. Your body’s getting beaten up.” For Dixon and her colleagues, overtraining is an occupational hazard.

“A lot of group fitness instructors and trainers fall into that category because it’s our job,” she said. “I know instructors who teach over 30 classes a week.” Connecticut-based exercise physiologist Tom Holland, who has coached people in everything from climbing mountains to running marathons, has actually dropped clients who wanted him to push them too hard. “I have a lot of types that think they’re Lance Armstrongs,” said Holland, author of “Beat the Gym: Personal Trainer Secrets Without the Personal Trainer Price Tag,” said, referring to the seven-time Tour de France winner.

He said a lot of his job involves telling clients what not to do. “I try to keep them from getting hurt,” he said. “I design programs on a case-by-case basis but there’s always a rest day.

When clients want to eliminate it I try to explain that you don’t get healthier during the workouts, but during the rest days.”

Jessica Matthews, an exercise physiologist with the American Council on Exercise, said she has referred several over-trained clients to psychologists.

“It’s great to work with other professionals to help them (clients) recognize that they might have a problem,” said Matthews, who is based in San Diego, California. —Reuters

H E A LT H & S C I E NC E

TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012

Nurse manages her pain and young cancer patients one song at a time LOS ANGELES: Barbara Britt has a song in her head, a campfire tune that she learned years ago. “I’m a little piece of tin.” Its silliness, she knew, would keep her upbeat for the appointment she had with James Lee, the 12-year-old with a tumor in his brain stem. “Nobody knows where I have been.”

James was one of nearly a dozen patients scheduled for a recent clinic, and Britt, a nurse care manager at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, has found that songs keep her from becoming overwhelmed by the lives of her patients and their families. It’s a strategy she’s learned from 40 years in the company of children with brain and blood cancers.

Five months ago, James, a shy sixthgrader with a book always in hand, had come to the hospital complaining of headaches, and today, after six weeks of radiation, he was about to begin chemotherapy. They sat in a narrow exam room with James’ stepmother, Suk Young Kim, who understands a little English, and as they waited for the Korean interpreter, Britt began to explain the dosages and the side effects of three medications. Kim spoke to her son.

“She wants to know why you’re telling me this,” James said, relaying the question.

“Because you get to be a help to her,” Britt said. “You’re old enough that you need to know what’s going on with you. Right?”

James put down the novel he was reading, “So Totally Emily Ebers,” and Britt explained the side effects of the drugs.”But what else do they do?” he asked.”Well, all together these three medicines help your tumor no longer grow.”“Isn’t it also to make it disappear?”Britt had to be honest. “We aren’t sure if we can make it go away.”“That would be really good if you could.”

Yes, Britt thought, but the tumor is incurable and he needed to know that. For many children, treating a brain tumor means arresting its growth and teaching them how to live with it for the rest of their lives. “You know how well you feel now?” she asked.”I feel pretty good,” James said,

sounding tentative. “So it wouldn’t matter if that tumor stayed the same size forever,” she said. “That would be good, wouldn’t it?

Because you feel good now.”A knock on the door interrupted them. The interpreter stepped in, and James went back to his book. Britt repeated the instructions for the boy’s medications-three to be taken at night, one in the morning and one an hour before all the others-to Kim, who was eventually overwhelmed.”Why is she crying?” James asked, looking over the top of his pages.”Because this is a lot to take in,” Britt said, “and this is what adults do when they love someone.”

The clinic on Wednesdays is Britt’s chance to escape the onslaught of daily emails and spend time with her patients.

Dropping into one exam room after the next, she got a hug from Maddison Franks, a high school senior in for a new round of chemotherapy. She saw how 12-year-old Jordan Johnson, sporting a black fedora,

was tolerating his radiation, and she caught up with Tom Plunkett and 5-yearold Luna, whose recent scans showed no recurrence of her tumor.

As a member of the hospital’s neural oncology team-comprised of doctors, nurses, social workers, psychologists and researchers-Britt, 62, coordinates various facets of care, overseeing the medical, social and psychological effects of both the illness and treatment.

Jonathan Finlay, director of the neural oncology program, has worked with Britt for nine years. “Her skill at reading familiesreading their emotions, where they need support and knowing when it is time just to listen-those are facets of her character that make her unique in this effort,” he said.

In meetings between patients and doctors, Britt often asks questions, simplifies medical terms and interprets recommendations. She understands how frightened

CALIFORNIA: Barbara Britt, nursing care manager at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, speaks with 12-year-old Jordan Johnson. —MCT

most parents are when they first encounter diseases with names as intimidating as medulablastoma, astrocytoma, oligodendrogliomas. “They are immobilized as if the floor had been ripped out from under them,” she said. “My job is to help them realize that the floor is still there.” The challenge is to strike a balance between the discomfort of treatment and the preservation of daily routines. For Britt, the names of the tumors, even the symptoms, matter less than the fact that the disease changes a child’s life forever. In her mind, what best defines a brain tumor is whether it leaves room for hope or not. “A doctor treats disease, and a nurse treats patients. Barbara treats families,” said Mark Maxwell-Smith, a 65-year-old television producer who for almost 15 years has joined Britt at a summer camp for children with cancer.

She keeps files on 180 patients; some are infants, some are in their 20s, most are in between. Most are also in remission. It’s the new diagnoses and recurrences that keep her on the phone and answering emails until late at night. “Why does my daughter have these stretch marks?” It’s a side effect of the steroid she’s taking. “Is this headache serious?” Probably not. See what Tylenol does. “What are the numbers?” The hemoglobin and platelets are up, but the white count is the same. No transfusion is necessary.

Britt’s days are often drawn out by consultations and paperwork: an absence slip for a school, a family leave request, a death certificate for the mortuary, a petition to an insurance company, an authorization for the pharmacy. Her desk is in a windowless room shared with up to three other nurses. Above her on the wall are certificates, diplomas and photos of children surrounded by pine trees, snapshots from the camp in Idyllwild where they go to forget they have cancer.

Files compete for space with cans of diet Coke and vases of roses from home, a 100-year-old farmhouse in Camarillo that

she rents with five others-her sister, a niece, a nephew, his girlfriend and their baby. Describing herself as a professional aunt, she has never been married and has no children. Her garden and her Scottish terrier, Max, are her distractions.

When she started-a 1971 graduate of Cal State LA whose first job was at LA County/USC Medical Center-nearly all her patients died, and as upsetting as it was, she learned that in order to do her job, she had to keep an emotional distance. Today the outcomes for children with brain tumors are better, but that’s little solace.

“The bad can be so bad that they count for more,” she said. A Presbyterian, Britt believes in a God who is good but not omnipotent. Yet she knows that faith offers little comfort for parents who leave the hospital without their child. Often on her hourlong commute home, the songs that she sings to herself are requiems.

The clinic’s last appointment was at 3:30, and on a day of mostly good newstumors shrunk, scans clean, chemo started-Britt braced herself for seeing Jesus Garcia, the funny, proud, polite and confident 19-year-old she first met three years ago. The song that came to her was the hymn, “Be Still, My Soul.”

“Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake ....” Garcia sat alone in an exam room.

He had taken the bus to the hospital, an hour-and-a-half ride from his home near Leimert Park. “All now mysterious shall be bright at last.” Last week Garcia complained of headaches and nausea, and Britt and his doctor, Girish Dhall, feared that his tumor was back. A new scan confirmed it.

“After so many surgeries, more surgery would not be helpful,” Dhall said. “There are other medications we can try.” Britt knew that Dhall wanted to give Garcia a little hope, but she also had to make sure Garcia understood the serious nature of his disease at this stage. The odds of surviving were extremely long, and short of a miracle, there was little they could do for him.—MCT

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TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012

WHAT’S ON

KIPCO announces new HR appointment

Greetings

he Kuwait Projects Company - has announced the appointment of Khaled Al-Sharrad as Group Chief Human Resources & Administration Officer. Al-Sharrad was previously Senior Executive Vice President, Head of Human Resources & Administration Division at KAMCO. Al-Sharrad took up his new position with KIPCO on 1st June. Samer Khanachet, KIPCO’s Group Chief

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Operating Officer, said: “We are delighted that Khaled has joined us. This is the first time we have appointed a head of human resources and administration across the KIPCO Group to oversee our HR and administration activities. Khaled will bring his vast experience and excellent management skills to bear on our organization and throughout the KIPCO Group.”

Al-Sharrad said: “I am very pleased to be joining KIPCO because its corporate culture focuses on people and the sustainability of economic and social goals. I am looking forward to my new position where I will assist group companies develop their organizational culture to help employees to do their jobs even better”.

Khaled Al-Sharrad

Congratulation to Fawaz Mohammed for being the 2nd highest in Kuwait with 95.6% in CBSE 12th board examination. Son of Apsara Mahmood Abdulla and Harifa Mohammed. Best wishes from Riyaz K, Shaniba, Rihana and Asiya.

X-cite service center for HP PSG products -cite by Alghanim Electronics, the leading service center in Kuwait, has added a new achievement to its excellent record, by being appointed as the authorized service center for Hewlett Packard PSG ‘s consumer products. This achievement confirms X-cite’s commitment to providing the highest standards of after sales service; a philosophy that is at the core of every department be it the sales team, credit facilities warranties or the service center.

Each department possesses a strong sense of professionalism and quality service provided by highly qualified technicians and genuine spare parts. The service center prides itself on its effective and efficient service process that ensures customers’ satisfaction for all HP PSG customers starting from the moment customers enter the center until the time they pick up their devices, a process that has successfully increased customer satisfaction over the years.

As the leading service center in Kuwait, X-cite has employed a team of more than 200 service engineers and technicians who bring experience in electronics and electric appliances; a proficiency that gives customers peace of mind whenever they visit X-cite’s showrooms. A key feature of the service center is that every unit of the technical team is specialized in a specific brand, out of a portfolio of almost 50 brands, meaning that every device or product that arrives to the service center will be directed to its brand service unit, a factor that ensures high quality results.

With locations across Kuwait, X-cite is committed to implementing the highest international standards in its service center and showrooms to ensure customers a pleasant and comfortable shopping experience during their discovery of the newest electronics in the market.

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Announcements Open House for Indian citizens pen House for Indian citizens by the ambassador which is being held every alternate Wednesday has been found useful by the Indian community and the embassy. It will now be held on every Wednesday from June 2012 between 1500 hrs and 1600 hrs. in the embassy. During the month of June, 2012 the dates for the open house fall on 6th, 13th, 20th, and 27th of the month. In case Wednesday is an embassy holiday, the meeting will be held on the next working day.

To ensure timely action/follow-up by the embassy, it is requested that, wherever possible, Indian citizens should exhaust the existing channels of interaction/grievance redressal and bring their problems/issues in writing with supporting documents. It may be mentioned that embassy of Indiaís 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.

For any unaddressed issues, Second Secretary (Consular) could be contacted. Furthermore, the head of the Consular Wing is also available to redress grievances. Similarly, a labour wing Help Desk functions from 0830 hrs to 1300 hrs and 1400 hrs to 1630 hrs in the Labour Hall to address the labour related issues. There is also a 24x7 Help Line (Tel No. 25674163) to assist labourers in distress. For any unaddressed issues, the concerned attaches in the labour section and the head of the labour wing could be contacted.

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‘Leniency of Islam’ An unprecedented initiative of KTV2 (English channel) is the new program by the name ‘Leniency of Islam’ presented by Shaikh Musaad Alsane and directed by Hamid Al-Turkait. The program is mainly meant to address the expatriates living in Kuwait.

Religious questions are received through the program email qislam@tv.gov.kw and sms can be sent to- 97822021 and answered by the lecturer and Imam in Awqaf Ministry Shaikh Musaad Alsane - a Master Degree holder in Sharia and fiqih from Kuwait University. So don’t forget to watch the program every Friday at 1:00 pm.

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

Registration is on! For information, call 22512257.

Marina Hotel hosts ‘Chaine Des Rotisseurs’ dinner arina Hotel, hosted the “Chaine des Rotisseurs” for a French Gala Dinner on 19th May 2012 at the Atlantis restaurant. The event was held in the presence of a number of dignitaries including French Ambassador HE Nada Yafi and the Ambassador of Canada, HE Douglas George. The members and

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guests of the Chaine Des Rotisseurs had a delicious dinner, with a menu of flavorsome and artistically presented French varieties from all across France. Well renowned Chef Thierry Garnier was brought in especially from France for the occasion.

This year Marina Hotel adopted the

French theme, an elegant seven course dinner prepared by Marina experienced chefs presented the guests with culinary delights displayed in all eye catching details under the guidance of Garnier and Executive Chef Maher Assad. Nabil Hammoud, General Manager, of the hotel welcomed the Chaine members

and the VIP guests to the hotel to an epicurean journey. The evening commenced with an authentic menu consisting of flavorsome delicacies of France.

The Chaine Des Rotisseurs enjoyed the gourmet evening in a French ambience which added a magical touch to the event.

Olympics-inspired Coke glasses at McDonald’s n celebration of its 40-year long support of the Olympic movement, McDonald’s has launched a collection of limited edition Coca Cola glasses.

Customers in the Middle East can collect all six glasses, each of which has a coloured ring at the bottom that can be worn as a wrist band. Additionally, don’t miss out playing the exciting ‘Glass of Champions’ game on the McDonald’s Arabia Facebook page, for the chance win a special collectable box of Coca Cola glasses every week!

McDonald’s is the Official Restaurant of the London 2012 Olympic Games, and is

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bringing Olympics fever to the Middle East with the latest limited edition collectible Coca Cola glasses. Bearing the Olympics rings on the side and featuring a removable wristband around the base, the glasses are an attractive addition to any collection.

“We are proud supporters of the Olympic Games, a demonstration of our commitment to encouraging children’s well-being through an active lifestyle across the globe. Our new, limited edition Olympics-inspired glasses give our fans in the Middle East the chance to experience the London 2012 buzz, while enjoying a

rewarding, collectible item,” said George Khawam , Marketing Director of McDonald’s Kuwait.

McDonald’s has long been an advocate of an active lifestyle and is not only committed to the Olympic Games, but to supporting a number of initiatives that promote an active lifestyle. In Kuwait, McDonald’s regularly supports and organizes events like the Olympic Day Run where around six hundred participants from all ages ran between 3 to 5 kilometres on the Gulf road. McDonald’s Kuwait is also a regular sponsor of football, badminton and baseball tournaments, all part

Performance Measurement - Frameworks, Applications and Challenges ulf Lead Consultants (GLC) held a Performance Measurement Conference under the theme “Frameworks, Applications and Challenges” on 3 and 4June 2012 in Hilton Kuwait Resort. The conference was under the Patronage of Fadhel Safar Ali Safar Minister of Public works andMinister of State for Planning & Development Affair.Elite of professionals and experts from different sectors shared their experience in this conference.

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The Conference highlighted that performance measures are a key component in any strategic, operational, and professional development plan; they are the drivers of success. Performance measures are also a key constituent of quality and organizational excellence models and programs.

The aim of the conference was to provide participants with the opportunity to learn and explore how to successfully use performance measurement to develop their organiza-

tions, departments, and people. The topic was addressed in an integrated manner. The popular frameworks of performance measurement (e.g. BSC, OECD), the applications of these frameworks in the various sectors (e.g. oil and gas, education, government, and human resources), and the challenges facing these applications and the way they are addressed.

The Conference was sponsored

by IBM, K-Lue, Alrai Newspaper and Kuwait Times.

of McDonald’s ongoing commitment to the Olympic movement and encouraging active balanced lifestyles.

Summer scrabble for kids ood news for Kids who are going to be facing the heat this summer and would love to play mind games and learn Scrabble. This is open to all kids aged between 9 and 19. Basics of Scrabble as well as competitive play will be taught to all, together with lots of quizzes, mind games and vocabulary learning. It’s more fun than learn so register quickly before the 3rd of June. Classes will start on June 7 and will be held once a week at the UCMAS Centre in Salmiya. The course is for seven weeks for each batch. For more information, call Rohaina at 66634224. Classes will be on Thursday afternoons from 3 pm to 4:30 pm.

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KALA-Kuwait holds Thathwamazi he leading cultural association KALA-Kuwait conducted the main program for the year 2012 Thathwamazi in a very impressive manner. The program was dedicated to the glorious memories of late Dr Sukumar Azhikode, the great orator, scholar and humanitarian of Kerala. The guests and dignitaries were welcomed by traditional lamps with floral decorations and ‘chenda melam’, followed by the display of KALA emblem ‘Girl with Lamp’.

Thereafter the inaugural function was prÈcised over by KALA president K Vinod while Saji Thomas Mathew, Gen Secretary welcomed.

Indian Embassy first secretary and distinguished guest Hon. Vidhu P Nair inaugurated Thathwamazi. Chief Guest V V Dakshina Moorthy, the KALA Trust chairman handed over the Sambasivan

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Memorial KALA-Trust award for the year 2012 to world famous cartoonist Yesudasan. While addressing, Moorthy narrated the socio-political situation of Kerala. Further he formally inaugurated the yearly Free Malayalam Education Program of KALA, for the 22nd year. He narrated the importance of mother tongue and its relevance in the current scenario. Replying on the occasion, Yesudasan enthralled the audience with his unique style of oration. Malayalam Education Program organizing committee General Convener J Albert presented a brief report on the program.

The multicolour souvenir on the occasion was handed over to the Gulf Mart General Manager T A Ramesh by souvenir committee convener J.Saji and he released the same by handing over the first copy to the famous singer of Kerala,

Kallara Gopan. Thereafter, V V Dakshinamoorthy released the Identity Card for KALA-Members by handing over the first IC Card to P R Babu. Shyamala Narayanan, Vanithavedi General Secretary, master Aravind of Balavedi, Hilal of IOC, Basheer Batha of KKMCC, John Mathew, Malayil Moosa Koya, Raghunathan Nair, Sanal of 98.4 UFM Station Head and Balakalamela Gen Convener Naganadhan felicitated the function.

Benji Benson Memorial Rolling Trophy to the school with maximum points scored for KALA Balakamela-2012 conducted on 27 April and May 4, 2012 was received by Hon Principal of Bharathiya Vidyabhavan accompanied by teachers and students from KALA-trust Chairman VV Dakshina Moorthy. It is specially to be mentioned that BVS bagged the Benji

Benson Rooling trophy for the 4th consecutive time. Well known Cartoonist Yesudasan handed over the trophies for Kalaprathibha Prathik Pratheesh and KALA-Thilakam Sheethal Rajeev Menon.

Thereafter the individual trophies of Balakalamela winners were distributed.

The inaugural function concluded with the vote of thanks by programme committee general convener T V Hikmath, followed by the display of several cultural items such as Mohiniyattam, Folk dance, Group dance, Skit, inspiring group song with the theme of National integration. The high light of the programme was the Drama enacted by the arts wing of KALA. The audience were enthralled by the nostalgic, memorable and melodious songs by famous artists from Kerala, Kallara Gopan, Preetha Kannan and troop.

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TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012

WHAT’S ON

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

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ABS Beach Day in the KG Department n May 24, the halls of the American Baccalaureate School were transformed into a beach scene! The kindergarten department halls filled with squirt guns, water balloons, beach umbrellas and surf boards as we celebrated our annual

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Beach Day! Students enjoyed participating in a water fight with teachers and friends. The morning assembly was filled with water balloon competitions and instructions on how to properly throw a water balloon! Our students cooled off from the summer heat with an ice

cream break in the afternoon which was gratefully donated by Shaikha Al-Sabah. ABS students had a fantastic day celebrating the 2011-2012 school year!

Year 6 transition week at KNES taff at Kuwait National English School constantly emphasise the importance of preparing primary students effectively for the secondary department. The highlight of this process was the recent successful transition week. The Kuwait National English School Transition Week consisted of two main parts. The first was a series of lessons delivered by secondary teachers in English, Mathematics and Science for Year 6 students. The aims were to familiarize students with some of the teaching techniques used in the secondary department, as well as to acquaint students with some of their future teachers and for the students to undertake a variety of stimulating and informative activities.

The second main part of the transition week took the form of the transition assembly, attended by students in Year 6 and Year 7. A transition booklet was first given to all the Year 6 students. The document briefly

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explains the secondary years as formative years that prepare students for life beyond school. They were addressed by the Director of Kuwait National English School, Madame Chantal Al

Gharabally, who laid out her vision of the School to aspiring Secondary students. The Student Council and other senior staff, including the Heads of Subject, addressed the Assembly.

A video was shown featuring many of our most successful current Year 7 students. In their speeches, staff highlighted some of the advantages of study in the Secondary Department at Kuwait National English School, including fully qualified and experienced staff, the setting of students according to ability, small class sizes and increased individual attention for students, varied teaching methods, excellent resources, after-school clubs giving extra support, and events such as the science fair and the languages, mathematics, science quizzes, International Day and Earth Day. Year 6 students from Kuwait National English School and elsewhere are warmly invited to join us in Year 7; registration for the next academic year is open now.

Pathanamthitta elects new office bearers athanamthitta District Association, Kuwait held its annual general body meeting on Friday 18 May 2012 and elected it’s new office bearers and executive committee for the period 2012-2013.

Jose Mannil (Oommen George) President, Raju Puthukkulam (P T Samuelkutty) - General Secretary, Lalu Jacob -Treasurer, Jomy P George - Vice President, Harish Kumar - Vice President, Alexander K V - Joint

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Secretary, Biji Murali - Joint Secretary.

The Advisory Board Members include Jayakumar, Binu P John, Geethakrishnan, Jacob Thomas, Scaria Cherian, Jacob Mathew, Kuruvilla Varghese, Abraham Varghese, Mohan Kaimal, Raju Daniel, Christy Kulathooran, Raju Varghese and other prominent personalities of Pathanamthitta District. M Mathews (Toyoto Sunny), Mathew Koshy are the patrons. The Executive

Committee members include Benny Pathanamthitta (Ex-Officio), Abraham Daniel, George Thomas, Lethy Konny, Girish Kumar, Muralee Panicker, Abu Peter Sam, Biju Kumbazha and others.

The election was followed by cultural programs including dance performances and Ganamela featuring Anwar Sarang, Asianet Star Singer fame Neelima, Binoy Johnny, Rafi, and Maxen Mathew.

EMBASSY OF CANADA The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24, Al-Mutawakel St., Block 4 in Da’aiyah.

Please visit our website at www.Kuwait.gc.ca. The Embassy of Canada is open from 07:30 to 15:30 Sunday through Thursday. The reception is closed from 12:30 to 01:00 pm for lunch break. Consular Services for Canadian Citizens are provided from 09:00 until 12:00 on Sunday through Wednesday. The Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi provides visa and immigration services to residents of Kuwait. Individuals who are interested in visiting, working or immigrating to Canada are invited to visit the website of the Canadian Embassy to the UAE at www.uae.gc.ca.

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

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

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

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

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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 ■■■■■■■

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, AlSalaam 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 ■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF NEPAL The Embassy of Nepal has moved to a new location in Jabriya, Block 8, St. 13, House No. 514, effective from 15th April, 2012. Till the new telephone connections are installed, the Embassy may be contacted by email: info@nepembku.org

BSK students fly boomerangs ear 8 students at The British School of Kuwait took part in a Boomerang competition which was the culmination of a Year 8 Design and Technology project which involved the students looking at the theme of flight and then designing and making boomerangs. HE Robert James

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Tyson, the Australian Ambassador, led a team of judges to choose the best boomerang project. The criteria drawn up by Mr Howard Banks, BSK Design and Technology teacher, were how well the boomerang flew, its construction and finish and the supporting research and design

work. Certificates were awarded to the finalists and a trophy to the winner, Jared Vaz of 8.3, Jared made the comment after the event that he had “found the project a challenge where he had learned many things, but it had also been fun!”

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realised that with a half time lead of 17 to 2 that they looked to be well on the way to victory. KES came out much stronger in the last two quarters but were not quite strong enough and the game ended with a BSK victory of 29 goals to 6.

The next game saw BSK hosting The English School and with them as 2010/11 netball title holders they certainly expected to meet the toughest opponents yet. TES lived up to their champions’ status and played some excellent netball.

BSK were able to get to half time trailing by just a four goal deficit ,however, as TES had brought a squad of 14 girls they were pretty much able to put a new team out for the sec-

ond half and their fresh legs just proved too much for these seven BSK girls and TES went away winners of the match.

Having had their winning streak upset by TES the BSK girls were keen to train harder to ensure that their next game

EMBASSY OF NIGERIA The Nigerian embassy has its new office in Mishref. Block 3, Street 7, House 4. For enquires please call 25379541. Fax25387719. Email- nigeriakuwait@yahoo.com or nigeriankuwait@yahoo.co.uk ■■■■■■■

BSK clinches under-13 girls netball trophy fter weeks of pre-season training The British School of Kuwait girls U13 netball team got under way with their first game being played away at The English Academy. The team came away with a convincing victory winning the game by a massive 34 goals to 1. The next game saw BSK host NES and despite it being a tougher match, the girls again achieved a comfortable victory over the visitors by a score of 16 goals to 4. As the end of March approached and the third game to be played against KES was looming, BSK expected to meet a team that could upset their 100 percent record.

Hosting the game, BSK had the home advantage and soon

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against ESF resulted in victory and a place in the semi finals.

Hosting that game in early April the girls won convincing-

ly in a 16 - 0 victory proving their hard work and commitment paid off.

The semis saw BSK meet

again with NES and the game finished in a comfortable victory for BSK. The result of the other semi final meant BSK were to play KES in the final after they surprisingly beat the favourites TES. With NES hosting, the girls were fired up and having beat KES in the league game, were hopeful of bringing the title home. It was by no means an easy game to win but the strength of the BSK girls just proved too much for the KES team and the result of the game at 21 - 13 meant BSK ended up worthy winners of the U13 ISACK netball championships. A triple win for many of these girls having already claimed the volleyball and basketball titles.

EMBASSY OF THAILAND The Royal Thai Embassy in Kuwait, wishes to invite the Kuwaiti companies that deal business with Thai companies or those agencies of Thai commercial companies to visit the Embassy’s Commercial Office to register their relevant information to be part of the embassy’s business and trade database. The Royal Thai Embassy is located in Jabriya, Block 6, Street 8, Villa No. 1, Telephone No. 25317530 -25317531, Ext: 14.

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

TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012

TV PROGRAMS

00:45 Untamed & Uncut 01:40 Your Worst Animal Nightmares 02:35 Great Animal Escapes 03:00 Great Animal Escapes 03:30 Ned Bruha: Skunk Whisperer 03:55 Ned Bruha: Skunk Whisperer 04:25 Wildest Africa 05:20 Shamwari: A Wild Life 05:45 Animal Battlegrounds 06:10 Pet Passport 06:35 Pet Passport 07:00 Escape To Chimp Eden 07:25 Wild Animal Orphans 07:50 Natural Born Hunters 08:15 Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild 08:40 Breed All About It 09:10 Must Love Cats 10:05 Wildest Africa 11:00 Animal Precinct 11:55 Animal Cops South Africa 12:50 Safari Vet School 13:15 Safari Vet School 13:45 Bondi Vet 14:10 Wildlife SOS International 14:40 Wildest Africa 15:30 Shamwari: A Wild Life 16:00 Dick ‘n’ Dom Go Wild 16:30 Project Puppy 17:00 Natural Born Hunters 17:25 Dogs 101 18:20 Bad Dog 19:15 Wildlife SOS International 19:40 Bondi Vet 20:10 Escape To Chimp Eden 20:35 Animal Battlegrounds 21:05 Wildest Africa 22:00 Safari Vet School 22:25 Safari Vet School 22:55 World Wild Vet 23:50 Animal Cops Houston

00:05 Come Dine With Me 00:55 Indian Food Made Easy 01:25 Saturday Kitchen 2007/08 01:50 Saturday Kitchen 2007/08 02:20 Saturday Kitchen 2007/08 02:45 MasterChef 03:10 Living In The Sun 03:55 Celebrity MasterChef 04:25 Celebrity MasterChef 05:15 Rick Stein’s French Odyssey 05:40 Fantasy Homes Down Under 06:30 Saturday Kitchen 2007/08 07:00 Indian Food Made Easy 07:25 Living In The Sun 08:10 MasterChef Australia 08:35 MasterChef Australia 09:25 Bargain Hunt 10:10 Antiques Roadshow 11:00 Come Dine With Me 11:50 10 Years Younger 12:40 Holmes On Homes 13:30 Fantasy Homes By The Sea 14:20 Fantasy Homes Down Under 15:05 Bargain Hunt 15:50 Antiques Roadshow 16:40 The Boss Is Coming To Dinner 17:05 Come Dine With Me 18:00 Rachel’s Favourite Food For Living 18:25 The Hairy Bikers’ Cookbook 18:55 Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey 19:45 Rick Stein’s French Odyssey 20:10 Antiques Roadshow 21:00 Holmes On Homes 21:45 Fantasy Homes By The Sea 22:30 Bargain Hunt 23:15 Antiques Roadshow

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

Duck Dodgers The Perils Of Penelope Pitstop Tom & Jerry Kids A Pup Named Scooby-Doo The Jetsons Puppy In My Pocket Popeye Tom & Jerry Looney Tunes Scooby Doo Where Are You! Droopy: Master Detective Wacky Races

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

The Flintstones A Pup Named Scooby-Doo Popeye Classics Dexters Laboratory Bananas In Pyjamas Baby Looney Tunes Gerald McBoing Boing Ha Ha Hairies Pink Panther And Pals The Garfield Show Dastardly And Muttley A Pup Named Scooby-Doo Scooby Doo Where Are You! The Flintstones Duck Dodgers Tom & Jerry Kids Droopy: Master Detective Wacky Races Jelly Jamm Baby Looney Tunes Ha Ha Hairies The Garfield Show Scooby Doo Where Are You! Dastardly And Muttley Looney Tunes Puppy In My Pocket Pink Panther And Pals Pink Panther And Pals Tom & Jerry The Garfield Show The Garfield Show Dexter’s Laboratory Jelly Jamm Baby Looney Tunes Ha Ha Hairies Gerald McBoing Boing Bananas In Pyjamas Pink Panther And Pals Tom & Jerry Looney Tunes Scooby Doo Where Are You! Droopy: Master Detective The Flintstones Wacky Races Dastardly And Muttley New Yogi Bear Show

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 Casper’s Scare School 06:25 Eliot Kid 07:00 The Amazing World Of Gumball 07:15 Adventure Time 07:40 Regular Show 08:05 Grim Adventures Of...

08:55 Courage The Cowardly Dog 09:45 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 10:10 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 10:35 Powerpuff Girls 11:25 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 11:50 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 12:15 Ed, Edd n Eddy 13:05 Ben 10: Alien Force 13:30 Bakugan: Gundalian Invaders 13:55 Camp Lazlo 14:45 Powerpuff Girls 15:35 Angelo Rules 16:25 The Marvelous Misadventures...

16:50 Grim Adventures Of...

17:15 The Amazing World Of Gumball 17:40 Adventure Time 18:05 Regular Show 18:30 Ben 10 18:55 Bakugan: Mechtanium Surge 19:20 Hero 108 19:45 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 20:10 Courage The Cowardly Dog 21:00 Ben 10: Alien Force 21:25 The Powerpuff Girls 21:50 Cow And Chicken 22:00 Codename: Kids Next Door

22:50 Ben 10 23:15 Ben 10 23:40 Chowder

00:00 Amanpour 00:30 World Sport 01:00 Piers Morgan Tonight 02:00 World Report 03:00 Anderson Cooper 360 04:00 Piers Morgan Tonight 05:00 Quest Means Business 06:00 The Situation Room 07:00 World Sport 07:30 African Voices 08:00 World Report 09:00 World Report 10:00 World Sport 10:30 Talk Asia 11:00 World Business Today 12:00 Amanpour 12:30 The Royals 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 19:00 World Sport 19:30 The Royals 20:00 International Desk 21:00 Quest Means Business 22:00 Amanpour 22:30 CNN Newscenter 23:00 Connect The World With Becky Anderson

00:15 00:40 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 21:30 22:25 23:20

Worst-Case Scenario Surviving The Cut Hillbilly Handfishin’ When Fish Attack River Monsters: Special Surviving The Cut How It’s Made How It’s Made Gold Rush Chop Shop Mythbusters Ultimate Survival Border Security Auction Hunters How It’s Made How It’s Made Deception With Keith Barry One Man Army Storm Chasers Border Security Auction Hunters Ultimate Survival Chop Shop Wheeler Dealers On The Road Gold Rush Mythbusters How It’s Made How It’s Made Border Security Dealers Deception With Keith Barry One Man Army An Idiot Abroad

00:35 01:25 02:15 03:05 03:35 04:25 05:15 06:05 07:00 07:50 07:53 08:20 08:50 09:40 10:30 10:55 11:20 12:10 13:00 13:50 14:45 15:35 16:00

Ultimate Power Builders The Colony Brave New World The Gadget Show Prototype This How The Universe Works Ultimate Power Builders Sci-Trek Brave New World Head Rush Bang Goes The Theory Sci-Fi Science Sport Science Prototype This The Gadget Show The Gadget Show Ultimate Power Builders Brave New World Mega World How The Universe Works Prototype This The Gadget Show Head Rush

THE RESIDENT ON OSN ACTION HD

16:03 16:30 17:00 17:50 18:40 19:30 20:20 21:10 21:35 22:00 22:25 22:50 23:40

Bang Goes The Theory Sci-Fi Science Sci-Trek Sport Science How The Universe Works Catch It Keep It Scrapheap Challenge The Gadget Show The Gadget Show Stuck With Hackett Stuck With Hackett Scrapheap Challenge Sport Science

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

Fairly Odd Parents Fairly Odd Parents Brandy & Mr Whiskers Brandy & Mr Whiskers Replacements Replacements Emperor’s New School Emperor’s New School Brandy & Mr Whiskers Brandy & Mr Whiskers Replacements Replacements Fairly Odd Parents Fairly Odd Parents Fish Hooks Recess So Random Wizards Of Waverly Place Good Luck Charlie Shake It Up Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates Handy Manny The Hive Mouk Recess So Random Hannah Montana Fish Hooks Jake & Blake Sonny With A Chance Wizards Of Waverly Place Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb Recess Fish Hooks Jessie A.N.T. Farm Good Luck Charlie Suite Life On Deck Shake It Up Phineas And Ferb Phineas And Ferb Jessie A.N.T. Farm Camp Rock Jessie A.N.T. Farm Good Luck Charlie Good Luck Charlie So Random Suite Life On Deck Jonas Shake It Up Good Luck Charlie Good Luck Charlie Phineas And Ferb Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place Kim Possible

06:00 Kid vs Kat 06:20 American Dragon 06:45 Rekkit Rabbit 07:10 Rated A For Awesome 07:35 Rated A For Awesome 08:00 Rated A For Awesome 08:25 Rated A For Awesome 08:50 Kick Buttowski 09:15 Zeke & Luther 09:40 I’m In The Band 10:05 Phineas And Ferb 10:30 Kid vs Kat 10:55 The Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes 11:20 Aaron Stone 11:45 Rekkit Rabbit 12:10 American Dragon 12:35 Kick Buttowski 13:00 Phineas And Ferb 13:10 Phineas And Ferb 13:25 I’m In The Band 13:45 Kid vs Kat 14:10 Pair Of Kings 14:35 Zeke & Luther 15:00 Pokemon: Black And White 15:25 Iron Man Armored Adventures 15:50 Rated A For Awesome 16:15 Kickin It 16:40 Pair Of Kings 17:05 Zeke & Luther 17:30 Mr. Young 17:55 Mr. Young 18:20 Mr. Young 18:45 I’m In The Band 19:10 Kick Buttowski 19:35 Pair Of Kings 20:00 Zeke & Luther 20:25 Phineas And Ferb 20:50 Kid vs Kat 21:15 Aaron Stone 21:40 The Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes 22:05 Phineas And Ferb 22:15 Phineas And Ferb 22:30 Kid vs Kat 23:00 Programmes Start At 6:00am KSA

00:25 Kendra 00:55 Style Star 01:25 20 Most Shocking Unsolved Crimes 03:15 Behind The Scenes 03:40 Extreme Close-Up 04:10 Sexiest 05:05 Extreme Hollywood 06:00 THS 07:50 Behind The Scenes 08:20 E! News 09:15 Scouted 10:15 THS 12:05 E! News 13:05 Ice Loves Coco 13:35 Ice Loves Coco 14:05 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 14:35 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 15:00 Style Star 15:30 THS 16:25 Behind The Scenes 16:55 Khloe And Lamar 17:25 Khloe And Lamar 17:55 E! News

18:55 E!es 19:55 Kourtney & Kim Take New York 20:55 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 21:25 Giuliana & Bill 22:25 E! News 23:25 Chelsea Lately 23:55 Fashion Police

00:30 01:20 02:05 02:30 03:20 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 16:10 17:00 17:50 18:40 19:05 19:55 20:20 21:10 22:00 22:50 23:40

Ghost Lab A Haunting I Married A Mobster Scorned: Crimes Of Passion Deadly Women: Face To Face Dr G: Medical Examiner Ghost Lab A Haunting Disappeared Forensic Detectives Murder Shift Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared Street Patrol Street Patrol Murder Shift Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry?

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

On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared Killer Kids Deadly Women Dr G: Medical Examiner

01:25 Cop 03:15 The Men’s Club-18 04:55 Heart Of Midnight 06:30 Diplomatic Immunity 08:05 Sketch Artist II: Hands That See-18 09:40 Death Rides A Horse-PG 11:35 Irma LA Douce-PG 13:55 Mary Christmas-PG 15:25 Kidnapped-PG 17:05 Gaily, Gaily-PG 18:50 Killing Mr. Griffin-PG 20:25 A Small Town In Texas-PG 22:00 Rage-18 23:30 Cold Heaven

00:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 01:00 Deadliest Journeys 01:30 Deadliest Journeys 02:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 03:00 Banged Up Abroad 04:00 Treks In A Wild World 05:00 Endurance Traveller 06:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 07:00 Deadliest Journeys 07:30 Deadliest Journeys 08:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 09:00 Banged Up Abroad 10:00 Treks In A Wild World 11:00 Endurance Traveller 12:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 13:00 Deadliest Journeys 13:30 Deadliest Journeys 14:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 15:00 Banged Up Abroad 16:00 Treks In A Wild World 17:00 Endurance Traveller 18:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 19:00 Word Travels 19:30 Word Travels 20:00 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 20:30 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 21:00 Food School 21:30 Food School 22:00 Long Way Down 23:00 Bite Me With Dr. Mike Leahy

00:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 01:00 Deadliest Journeys 01:30 Deadliest Journeys 02:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 03:00 Banged Up Abroad 04:00 Treks In A Wild World 05:00 Endurance Traveller 06:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 07:00 Deadliest Journeys 07:30 Deadliest Journeys 08:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 09:00 Banged Up Abroad 10:00 Treks In A Wild World 11:00 Endurance Traveller 12:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 13:00 Deadliest Journeys 13:30 Deadliest Journeys 14:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 15:00 Banged Up Abroad 16:00 Treks In A Wild World 17:00 Endurance Traveller 18:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 19:00 Word Travels 19:30 Word Travels 20:00 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 20:30 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 21:00 Food School 21:30 Food School 22:00 Long Way Down 23:00 Bite Me With Dr. Mike Leahy

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00

Megastructures Ancient Secrets: The Sphinx Is It Real? S2 (1 hour) Megastructures Caught In The Act Hunter Hunted Banged Up Abroad Inside Megastructures Ancient Secrets: The Sphinx Is It Real? S2 (1 hour)

A LITTLE HELP ON OSN CINEMA 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 17:30 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Megastructures Fight Science Hunter Hunted Banged Up Abroad Air Crash Investigation Megastructures Mystery Files Mystery Files Is It Real? S2 (1 hour) Megastructures World’s Deadliest Animals Shark Men Lockdown Inside

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

Wild Nights World’s Deadliest Hooked Expedition Wild Caught In The Act Swamp Men Wild Chronicles Wild Chronicles Hooked Expedition Wild Caught In The Act Spine Chillers: Vampire Bats Swamp Troop Animal Underworld Ultimate Vipers Hooked Expedition Wild Animal Superpowers Night Stalkers Chimp Diaries Chimp Diaries Animal Underworld Hooked Expedition Wild Caught In The Act Spine Chillers: Vampire Bats Swamp Troop

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

Sniper: Reloaded-18 The Resident-18 Get Rich Or Die Tryin’-18 The Warrior’s Way-PG15 No Time To Fear-PG15 Men In Black-PG15 Drunken Master-PG15 No Time To Fear-PG15 Men In Black II-PG Drunken Master-PG15 Tank Girl-PG15 Assassination Games-18

01:00 Older Than America-PG15 03:00 Certified Copy-PG15 05:00 Ice Dreams-PG15 07:00 Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star-PG15 09:00 Tron: Legacy-PG15 11:15 Kings Ransom-PG15 13:00 Adventures Of A Teenage Dragonslayer-PG 15:00 Elle: A Modern Cinderella Tale-PG15 17:00 The Making Of Plus One-PG15 19:00 Brighton Rock-PG15 21:00 A Little Help-18 23:00 Spread-R

00:00 King Of The Hill 00:30 The Daily Show Global Edition 01:00 The Colbert Report Global Edition 01:30 Louie 02:00 Bored To Death 02:30 The Big C 03:00 The Simpsons 03:30 Raising Hope 05:30 Seinfeld 06:00 Dharma And Greg 06:30 10 Items Or Less 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:30 The Simpsons 09:00 Seinfeld 09:30 Traffic Light 10:00 Friends With Benefits 10:30 10 Items Or Less 12:00 Dharma And Greg 13:00 Seinfeld 13:30 10 Items Or Less 14:00 Raising Hope 14:30 Friends With Benefits 15:00 Traffic Light 15:30 The Daily Show Global Edition 16:00 The Colbert Report Global

Edition 16:30 Seinfeld 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 Mad Love 18:30 Mr. Sunshine 19:00 The Cleveland Show 19:30 Friends With Benefits 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 Eastbound And Down 22:30 Entourage 23:00 The Big C 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 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Justified Game Of Thrones The Closer Suits Rescue Me Good Morning America The Practice Emmerdale Coronation Street The Martha Stewart Show The View The Closer Suits Live Good Morning America The Practice Emmerdale Coronation Street White Collar Royal Pains House The River Rescue Me

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 16:30 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Psych The Closer Game Of Thrones Justified Suits Eureka Psych Emmerdale Coronation Street Charlie’s Angels The Closer Justified Suits Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Charlie’s Angels Psych Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Protector White Collar Royal Pains House The River Treme

01:00 The Hit List-18 03:00 Dorothy Mills-18 05:00 Reykjavik: Whale Watching Massacre-18 07:00 Altitude-PG15 09:00 Attack On Leningrad-PG15 11:00 The Hunt For Red OctoberPG15 13:15 Bodyguard: A New BeginningPG15 15:00 Attack On Leningrad-PG15 17:00 Four Brothers-18 19:00 Rollerball-18 21:00 Assassination Games-18 23:00 Sugarhouse-18

00:00 The Bounty Hunter-PG15 02:00 The Making Of Plus One-PG15 04:00 Fat Albert-PG 06:00 The Lightkeepers-PG15 08:00 The Making Of Plus One-PG15 10:00 Elle: A Modern Cinderella Tale-PG15 12:00 Whatever Works-PG15 14:00 A Guy Thing-PG15 16:00 Elle: A Modern Cinderella Tale-PG15 18:00 Knucklehead-PG15 20:00 The American President-PG15 22:00 Next Friday-18

01:15 Tout Ce Qui Brille-PG15 03:00 Elizabethtown-PG15 05:00 Arlington Road-PG15 07:00 A Simple Twist Of Fate-PG15 09:00 MacHEADS-PG15 10:30 Les Miserables 25th Anniversary-PG15 13:30 The Client List-PG15 15:30 MacHEADS-PG15 17:00 A Family Thanksgiving-PG15 19:00 Nowhere Boy-PG15 21:00 The Great Gatsby-PG 23:30 Gilles’ Wife-PG15

00:00 Super Rugby Highlights 01:00 PGA European Tour Highlights 02:00 NRL Premiership 04:00 IRB Junior World Championship 06:00 PGA European Tour Highlights 07:00 Super Rugby Highlights 08:00 NRL Premiership 10:00 PGA European Tour Highlights 11:00 America’s Cup Highlights 11:30 Super Rugby Highlights 12:30 Live International Rugby Union 14:30 PGA European Tour Highlights 15:30 NRL Premiership 17:30 America’s Cup Highlights 18:00 Super Rugby Highlights 19:00 International Rugby Union 21:00 Volvo Ocean Race Highlights 21:30 Super League 23:30 Futbol Mundial

00:00 Trans World Sport 01:00 UFC The Ultimate Fighter 04:00 PGA European Tour Highlights 05:00 NRL Premiership 07:00 Super League 09:00 IRB Junior World Championship 13:00 PGA European Tour Highlights 14:00 America’s Cup Highlights 14:30 Super Rugby Highlights 15:30 IRB Junior World Championship 19:30 Volvo Ocean Race Highlights 21:00 WWE SmackDown 23:00 Premier League Darts

01:30 Top 14 Highlights 02:00 Golfing World 03:00 Top 14 05:00 AFL Premiership Highlights 06:00 World Cup of Pool 07:00 Golfing World 08:00 AFL Premiership Highlights 09:00 Futbol Mundial 09:30 Trans World Sport 11:00 Live Rugby Union Pacific Nations Cup 15:00 AFL Premiership Highlights 16:00 Golfing World 17:00 Volvo Ocean Race Highlights 17:30 Rugby Union Pacific Nations Cup 19:30 NRL Full Time 20:00 Top 14 Highlights 20:30 Mobil 1 The Grid 21:00 Futbol Mundial 21:30 Rugby Union Pacific Nations Cup 23:30 Golfing World

00:00 01:00 04:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 14:00 15:00 17:30 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 Finale

UFC Unleashed Prizefighter UFC Unleashed WWE NXT WWE Bottom Line Prizefighter V8 Supercars Extra UAE National Race Day Series WWE Bottom Line WWE Vintage Collection V8 Supercars V8 Supercars Extra WWE NXT WWE Experience UFC Unleashed UFC Unleashed UFC The Ultimate Fighter

Classifieds TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Airlines JZR QTR RJA GFA UAE ETD OMA DHX FDB MSR RBG QTR JZR KAC RJA THY DHX FCX JZR KAC BAW KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY QTR FDB IRA ETD IRA GFA MEA JZR MSR MSC JZR JZR MSR GFA KAC KAC FDB KNE QTR SVA KAC RJA KAC KAC QTR JZR ETD QTR JZR JZR UAE SVA GFA UAL JZR JZR ABY QTR KAC KAC KAC FDB KAC MSR MSC KAC KAC KAC KAC JAI KAC AXB FDB OMA MEA QTR GFA ALK KLM UAE JZR ABY QTR DHX AIC FDB GFA UAL JZR DLH MSR THY PIA

Flt 185 148 642 211 853 305 643 370 67 612 3553 138 503 544 80 770 170 201 555 412 157 416 206 53 302 332 352 284 855 125 132 55 605 301 619 213 404 165 618 401 561 201 610 219 514 672 57 472 140 500 562 640 546 678 134 535 303 6130 215 787 857 510 215 982 177 777 127 144 542 166 786 63 104 624 403 618 674 742 614 572 774 389 61 647 402 146 221 229 415 859 135 129 136 372 981 59 217 981 239 636 614 772 205

Arrival Flights on Tuesday 5/6/2012 Route DUBAI DOHA AMMAN BAHRAIN DUBAI ABU DHABI MUSCAT BAHRAIN DUBAI CAIRO ALEXANDRIA DOHA LUXOR CAIRO AMMAN ISTANBUL BAHRAIN DUBAI ALEXANDRIA MANILA LONDON JAKARTA ISLAMABAD DUBAI MUMBAI TRIVANDRUM COCHIN DHAKA DUBAI SHARJAH DOHA DUBAI ISFAHAN ABU DHABI LAR BAHRAIN BEIRUT DUBAI ALEXANDRIA ALEXANDRIA SOHAG DAMASCUS CAIRO BAHRAIN TEHRAN DUBAI DUBAI JEDDAH DOHA JEDDAH AMMAN AMMAN ALEXANDRIA ABU DHABI DOHA CAIRO ABU DHABI DOHA DEIREZZOR RIYADH DUBAI RIYADH BAHRAIN WASHINGTON DC DULLES DUBAI JEDDAH SHARJAH DOHA CAIRO PARIS JEDDAH DUBAI LONDON SOHAG ASSIUT DOHA DUBAI DAMMAM BAHRAIN MUMBAI RIYADH KOZHIKODE DUBAI MUSCAT BEIRUT DOHA BAHRAIN COLOMBO AMSTERDAM DUBAI BAHRAIN SHARJAH DOHA BAHRAIN CHENNAI DUBAI BAHRAIN BAHRAIN AMMAN FRANKFURT CAIRO ISTANBUL LAHORE

Time 0:15 0:20 2:10 2:20 2:25 2:30 2:50 2:55 3:10 3:20 3:20 3:25 3:55 4:10 4:30 4:35 5:00 5:30 6:00 6:15 6:30 6:35 7:15 7:45 7:50 7:55 8:05 8:15 8:25 8:30 9:00 9:20 9:20 9:30 9:40 10:00 10:55 11:05 11:25 12:00 12:25 12:30 13:30 13:40 13:40 13:40 13:45 14:15 14:25 14:30 14:30 14:55 15:05 15:05 15:15 16:00 16:35 16:35 16:40 16:40 16:55 17:20 17:20 17:25 17:30 17:40 17:45 18:05 18:15 18:40 18:40 18:45 18:45 18:55 19:00 19:20 19:25 19:30 19:30 19:35 19:40 19:55 20:00 20:10 20:15 20:25 20:35 20:55 21:05 21:15 21:15 21:30 21:35 22:00 22:25 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:55 23:10 23:35 23:40 23:59

Airlines AIC UAL DLH MSR KLM PIA THY UAE FDB OMA DHX RBG ETD MSR QTR RJA QTR JZR RJA JZR JZR GFA THY KAC BAW FDB KAC ABY JZR KAC KAC KAC UAE JZR KAC QTR FDB ETD IRA IRA GFA KAC KAC MEA JZR MSR MSC KAC JZR JZR GFA FDB MSR KAC KNE KAC SVA RJA QTR KAC KAC KAC ETD JZR JZR QTR UAE QTR GFA JZR ABY SVA UAL JZR QTR FDB KAC MSR MSC JZR KAC JAI FDB KAC KAC OMA MEA KAC GFA DHX ALK KLM ABY KAC UAE FCX QTR KAC KAC JZR DHX QTR AXB FDB GFA KAC JZR

Flt 976 981 637 615 411 240 773 854 68 644 371 3554 306 613 139 80 149 560 643 164 200 212 771 545 156 54 677 126 534 513 561 671 856 214 101 133 56 302 604 618 214 541 165 405 776 623 404 785 786 176 220 58 611 673 473 617 501 641 135 773 741 613 304 238 538 141 858 6131 216 134 128 511 982 266 145 64 283 607 402 184 361 571 62 343 351 648 403 543 222 171 230 415 120 381 860 102 137 301 205 554 373 147 390 60 218 411 528

Depature Flights on Tuesday 5/6/2012 Route GOA/CHENNAI WASHINGTON DC FRANKFURT CAIRO AMSTERDAM SIALKOT ISTANBUL DUBAI DUBAI MUSCAT BAHRAIN ALEXANDRIA ABU DHABI CAIRO DOHA DUBAI DOHA SOHAG AMMAN DUBAI DAMASCUS BAHRAIN ISTANBUL ALEXANDRIA LONDON DUBAI ABU DHABI SHARJAH CAIRO IMAM KHOMEINI AMMAN DUBAI DUBAI DEIREZZOR LONDON DOHA DUBAI ABU DHABI ISFAHAN LAR BAHRAIN CAIRO ROME BEIRUT JEDDAH SOHAG ASSIUT JEDDAH RIYADH DUBAI BAHRAIN DUBAI CAIRO DUBAI JEDDAH DOHA JEDDAH AMMAN DOHA RIYADH DAMMAM BAHRAIN ABU DHABI AMMAN CAIRO DOHA DUBAI DOHA BAHRAIN BAHRAIN SHARJAH RIYADH BAHRAIN BEIRUT DOHA DUBAI DHAKA LUXOR ALEXANDRIA DUBAI COLOMBO MUMBAI DUBAI CHENNAI KOCHI MUSCAT BEIRUT CAIRO BAHRAIN BAHRAIN COLOMBO DAMMAM SHARJAH DELHI DUBAI BAHRAIN DOHA MUMBAI ISLAMABAD ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN DOHA MANGALORE DUBAI BAHRAIN BANGKOK ASSIUT

Time 0:05 0:25 0:30 0:35 0:55 1:00 2:15 3:45 3:50 3:55 3:55 4:00 4:05 4:20 4:50 5:30 5:40 6:00 6:50 6:55 7:00 7:05 7:10 8:10 8:25 8:25 8:35 9:05 9:10 9:15 9:15 9:20 9:40 9:45 10:00 10:00 10:05 10:15 10:20 10:40 10:45 11:30 11:45 11:55 12:15 12:25 13:00 13:10 13:15 13:20 14:25 14:25 14:30 15:05 15:15 15:45 15:45 15:50 16:15 16:25 16:30 16:30 17:20 17:30 17:40 17:45 18:05 18:05 18:20 18:20 18:25 18:35 18:40 18:50 19:05 19:25 19:30 19:55 20:00 20:05 20:20 20:35 20:40 20:55 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:30 21:35 21:50 21:55 22:05 22:10 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:45 23:00 23:00 23:10 23:10 23:15 23:30 23:40 23:50

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

AIRLINES Kuwait Airways Jazeera Airways Jet Airways FlyDubai Qatar Airways KLM Air Slovakia Olympic Airways Royal Jordanian Reservation British Airways Air France Emirates Air India Sri Lanka Airlines Egypt Air Swiss Air Saudia Middle East Airlines Lufthansa PIA Alitalia Balkan Airlines Bangladesh Airlines Czech Airlines Indian Airlines Oman Air Turkish Airlines Aeroflot

171 177 22924455 22414400 22423888 22425747 22434940 22420002/9 22418064/5/6 22433388 22425635 22430224 22921555 22438184 22424444 22421578 22421516 22426306 22423073 22422493 22421044 22414427 22416474 22452977/8 22417901 22456700 22958787 22453820/1 22404838/9

SITUATION VACANT A lady maid is needed to work for two days a week, Thursday and Saturday for a single American/Arabic man in a house located in Salimya.

Contact: 66417504. (C 4032) 3-6-2012

ACCOMMODATION MATRIMONIAL Sharing accommodation, a Pakistani bachelor needs a room with a Pakistani family. Contact: 90926037.

(C 4033) One bedroom with bathroom available, for a single Indian Executive non-smoking bachelor, near Ministry of Education in Salmiya.

Please Contact: 94989707.

5-6-2012 Sharing accommodation available for single family from 1st July 2012 near United Indian School, Abbassiya. Semi furnished room and kitchen, non smokers may contract: 99760741.

(C 4030) 31-5-2012 Sharing accommodation available for decent Kerela bachelor in Abbasiya near German Clinic, from 1st June onwards. Contact: 66941892.

(C 4029)

Marthoma parents of 30 year old son, born again, baptized CFA / CAIA / MBA employed in Kuwait, invite proposal from born again professionally qualified girls. Contact - Email: rajugracy7@hotmail.com (C 4031) 2-6-2012

SITUATION WANTED Auditing, Accounting, Financial Management, Business Development ser vices/ advice by an experienced Indian man available for part-time assignment.

Contact: 65802853. (C 4028) 28-52012

34

TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012

stars CROSSWORD 696

STAR TRACK

CALVIN & HOBBES

Aries (March 21-April 19) You may spend much of this morning in the gathering or reviewing of unusual information for a teaching job today. You are good at guiding others, but it is you that will learn something new today. This could mean a new technique or some change in the lessons you have been teaching. Much thought will go into this teaching process. You enjoy using your mind and exerting self-discipline and you will work long and hard at whatever you put your mind to today. You could present or teach anything where substance and content are at issue.

Some people may find you particularly witty and eccentric this afternoon. You can enjoy and value your own life situation today. There is an opportunity to heal previous resentments and bond with a loved one.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) Round table conversations in the workplace are successful and will be beneficial in bringing out your own particular ideas. You are very gifted, having great magnetism and warmth and also a keen and powerful mind. Today, however, may not be the best time for financial decisions. It is, however, a good time to increase your skills so that you can increase your finances. You can do anything you want to do in this life, if you can manage to get moving in one direction.

Self-discipline and a sense of self-worth become important issues. The trick of being successful is learning to make the most of your personal abilities, working within your limitations instead of feeling hemmed in by them. A sense of support and harmony makes this a happy time.

POOCH CAFE ACROSS 1. A thin strip (wood or metal).

5. The capital and largest city of Bangladesh.

10. Of flax, hemp, or jute, so as to promote loosening of the fibers form the woody tissue.

13. Medium-sized tree having glossy lanceolate leaves.

14. Wild sheep of northern Africa.

15. A flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of an organism.

16. Pertaining to or resembling amoebae.

18. A city of northern Poland near the mouth of the Vistula River on a gulf of the Baltic Sea. 20. A tricycle (usually propelled by pedalling).

21. (Greek mythology) Goddess of the earth and mother of Cronus and the Titans in ancient mythology.

22. Used of a single unit or thing.

25. A pointed tool for marking surfaces or for punching small holes.

28. (Akkadian) God of wisdom.

29. An emblem (a small piece of plastic or cloth or metal) that signifies your status (rank or membership or affiliation etc.).

33. Submerged aquatic plant having narrow leaves and small flowers.

37. (Old Testament) In Judeo-Christian mythology.

40. Any culture medium that uses agar as the gelling agent.

41. Originally a stronghold captured by David (the 2nd king of the Israelites).

42. A port in northwestern Israel on the Bay of Acre.

44. A metric unit of volume equal to one tenth of a liter.

45. Any of various Spanish fortresses or palaces built by the Moors.

48. Of or relating to or near the coccyx.

52. A member of the Siouan people formerly living in the Missouri river valley in NE Nebraska.

55. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

56. Any of various organs that synthesize substances needed by the body and release it through ducts or directly into the bloodstream.

59. Essential oil or perfume obtained from flowers.

60. An acute febrile highly contagious viral disease.

61. (combining form) Indicating radiation or radioactivity.

62. Vigorous and enthusiastic enjoyment.

63. The fatty flesh of eel.

64. Having the leading position or higher score in a contest.

65. Catch sight of.

DOWN 1. The act of catching an object with the hands.

2. Pathetically lacking in force or effectiveness.

3. Advanced in years.

4. The inner and thicker of the two bones of the human leg between the knee and ankle.

5. Fairly small terrestrial ferns of tropical America.

6. A soft yellow malleable ductile (trivalent and univalent) metallic element.

7. Being one hundred more than three hundred.

8. An athlete who plays basketball.

9. A condition (mostly in boys) characterized by behavioral and learning disorders.

10. Type genus of the Ranidae.

11. Other than what is under consideration or implied.

12. The basic unit of money in Bangladesh.

17. (of complexion) Blemished by imperfections of the skin.

19. (Greek mythology) One of the three Graces.

23. A doctor's degree in optometry.

24. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

26. Gully or streambed in North Africa and the Middle East that remains dry except during rainy season.

27. The dynasty that ruled much of Manchuria and northeastern China from 947 to 1125.

30. 10 grams.

31. A pointed instrument used to prod into motion.

32. A British peer ranking below a Marquess and above a Viscount.

34. Of or related to the amnion or characterized by developing an amnion.

35. Fossil fuel consisting of carbonized vegetable matter deposited in the Carboniferous period.

36. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

38. (Jewish cookery) A loaf of white bread containing eggs and leavened with yeast.

39. Type genus of the Ciconiidae.

40. An athlete who plays basketball.

43. Relating to or containing the azo radical.

46. Affect with wonder.

47. (British) A local tax on property (usually used in the plural).

48. A toxic nonmetallic element related to sulfur and tellurium.

49. Look at with amorous intentions.

50. part of the peritoneum attached to the stomach and to the colon and covering the intestines.

51. A city in northern India.

53. A fastener for a door or lid.

54. Showily imitative of art or artists.

57. A sweetened beverage of diluted fruit juice.

58. The federal department responsible for safeguarding national security.

Yesterday’s Solution

Gemini (May 21-June 20) There is an emphasis on communication, expression of ideas and the connections between people. You tend towards mental pursuits and admire intelligence. You may have to put forth more effort to listen to people that have little focus—patience. Because you are calm and collected, so to speak, you will find people following your lead—others want what you have. You may try to balance your lack of intuitiveness with logic. You are an aggressive starter, able to initiate and get things moving. Not always hot on the follow-up, you may tend to get the ball rolling and then move on to other things. This is of benefit if you are a map maker or coordinator or enjoy bringing forth your ideas for others to flourish. Your good works will have rewards.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) Someone with a little power may oppose your plans and put a damper on your progress. You may be able to appreciate their attitude and understand their position on certain matters; time will tell—you are progressive and willing to pace yourself. You may feel overwhelmed with responsibilities but you will do better if you can create a balance in your activities.

Volunteering this afternoon is an option or you can take on some extra work and whistle while you navigate through your responsibilities. A good attitude is important and you may find others follow along behind you, catching that same good attitude. You tend to brush past appearances and settle on the truth.

Ideas—philosophy and religion—are what you enjoy.

NON SEQUITUR

Leo (July 23-August 22) You could be in the public eye, particularly with superiors, elders or in relation to your work. You may find that you enjoy your responsibilities that all of this attention includes. You are at home in the world of ideas and are able to grasp the whole picture when given just a few facts. If you are not working in a place of business, you could find yourself learning a new technique or studying new ideas to use in your future choice of business. You may be attending a lecture in the afternoon. Your innate sensitivity to others makes you custom-made for any of the service occupations, where you can diagnose or interpret what others are unable to recognize. You have a fine mind and may suffer from oversensitivity. Smiles and hugs are easy to find this evening.

ZITS

Virgo (August 23-September 22) This is a profitable time to be with others and to work together. Everything points to your taking the lead today. You could feel great support as you guide and appeal for volunteers. Reflective and tactful, you are able to meet the requirements and expectations of the day.

Above all, you are forever gracious, fascinating and mysterious. You could be in charge of coordinating or representing different kinds of groups. You have a knack for putting the feelings of a group into words and may serve as a teacher or spokesperson. Communication is one area where you can always get support and backing from friends and co-workers. Watch your finances this week.

Working up a new budget may be useful and wise.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM

This may be one of those days where you really appreciate having a job and you are particularly attentive to doing your best. It may be time to show your capability to higher-ups and that can be done by occasionally volunteering beyond your own responsibilities. You may be asked to oversee or help with a particularly sensitive job today and that is a step in the right direction! You are able to respond and work in positive and productive ways. Your own partiality for routine and the traditional may result in your feeling challenged by anything new or different—have confidence, you will do well. You are willing to listen to others, take cues and then reflect and build upon that information. You will enjoy the company of friends later this afternoon.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) Your conservative values clash with whatever is unconventional and different. You do not value novelty and you do your best to ignore changes. You appreciate tradition and regularity and your value system is dead set against anything out of the ordinary. Despite your thoughts to the contrary, you suffer through a regular mixture of change. You are wise today—you will be demonstrating a new technique to yourself—how to meld the old with the new. You should learn well from your experiences today. Before today, you may have felt you career or path was at right angles with your own sense of security, but now you are on target and making good progress for yourself and your company. You will benefit from the activities and insight of this day.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) Do whatever you can to remember to take your breaks—it is important to stretch your muscles from time to time—this could be a very busy day. Do not overdo and try to go too far too fast. Let things take their natural course. This means relationships as well as work situations. You find that you can really use your mind to make clear choices and think through things. Career decisions are straightforward but if you are deciding between two paths, take time to think about the end results and you will make the right decision. You make your way through ideas and you manage to express many good thoughts to others. You can put yourself in a fine problem-solving mood. This afternoon is important for finding a subject relief . . . perhaps a trip to a garden shop.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) Life’s problems seem to have easy solutions this day. Good news may be pouring in all at once. You benefit from an older person or a wise friend. Be careful that you do not overspend or indulge too much this afternoon.

This is a time of good fortune when things open up in a very natural way. Situations and opportunities are easy to find, you just have to stop and think about which ones to choose—you could possibly become flooded in the choice making. You may find yourself wanting and able to do almost everything. You are fortunate to have plenty of talent and can be helpful to those that do not have as many choices as you seem to have. Give yourself some time this evening to relax a little and changeover from a highly active day.

To

Yesterday’s Solution Yester

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) Good things will come to you all day. Most likely, your life is full—there is not much time for viewing the sunset. However, life seems to have caught up with you because you seem to be in the mood for dreaming this afternoon. Writing poetry may be a rewarding experience at this time. Others may pull you out of your reverie soon, so enjoy your dreaming and then get back to the business matters this afternoon. Associates may not appreciate your dreamy side and it may not support your duties. There is a yearning to broaden your horizons—perhaps plans for travel. You will find the evening a great time to reflect and understand your own situation—just how you feel about yourself and how your goals are developing. Planning a vacation is a great activity.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Word Sleuth Solution

There may be some difficulty in getting your message across to others today. This may mean that construction noise or some other type of noise makes it necessary to repeat information or some address is incorrect.

Notice your frame of mind and make it a point to add a sense of humor in difficult situations. If you have given your word, you must follow through on this. Just grit your teeth and keep moving forward—your effort will be worthwhile. Your friends, partners and relationships mean a lot to you. They are a primary source of strength and you may look to them for encouragement. You are indeed a social being and will often weave this fact into your lifestyle. Being more involved with neighbors or sibling(s) satisfies a deep emotional need.

TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012

i n f o r m at i o n

112 GOVERNORATE

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

Rabiya

4732263

Roudha

22517733

Adhaliya

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

Keifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salim

22549134

Al-Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Al-Khadissiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Ghar

22531908

Al-Shaab

22518752

Al-Kibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Kibla

22451082

Al-Mirqab

22456536

Sharq

22465401

Salmiya

25746401

Jabriya

25316254

Maidan Hawally

25623444

Bayan

25388462

Mishref

25381200

W.Hawally

22630786

Sabah

24810221

Jahra

24770319

New Jahra

24575755

West Jahra

24772608

South Jahra

24775066

North Jahra

24775992

North Jleeb

24311795

Al-Ardhiya

24884079

Firdous

24892674

Al-Omariya

24719048

N.Kheitan

24710044

Fintas

3900322

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

website: www.moi.gov.kw

Sabah Hospital

PHARMACY

Hawally

GOVERNMENT WEB SITES Kuwait Parliament www.majlesalommah.net

The Public Institution for Social Security www.pifss.gov.kw

Ministry of Interior www.moi.gov.kw

Public Authority of Industry www.pai.gov.kw

Public Authority for Civil Information www.paci.gov.kw

Prisoners of War Committee www.pows.org.kw

Kuwait News Agency www.kuna.net.kw

Ministry of Foreign Affairs www.mofa.gov.kw

Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affair www.islam.gov.kw

Kuwait Municipality www.municipality.gov.kw

Ministry of Energy (Oil) www.moo.gov.kw

Kuwait Electronic Government www.e.gov.kw

Ministry of Energy (Electricity and Water) www.energy.govt.kw

Ministry of Finance www.mof.gov.kw

Public Authority for Housing Welfare www.housing.gov.kw

Ministry of Commerce and Industry www.moci.gov.kw

Ministry of Justice www.moj.gov.kw

Ministry of Education www.moe.edu.kw

Ministry of Communications www.moc.kw

Ministry of Information www.moinfo.gov.kw

Supreme Council for Planning and Development www.scpd.gov.kw

Kuwait Awqaf Public Foundation www.awqaf.org

PRIVATE CLINICS Ophthalmologists Dr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 25622444 Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 25752222 Dr. Masoma Habeeb 25321171 Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 25739999 Dr. Mohsen Abel 25757700 Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 25732223 Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 25732223 Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510 Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660 Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478 Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996 Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988 Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166 Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426 General Practitioners Dr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123 Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312 Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920 Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465 Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528 Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781 Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501 Urologists Dr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534 Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955 Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 22616660 Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120 Dr. Leons Joseph 66703427 Psychologists /Psychotherapists

Paediatricians

Plastic Surgeons Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf

22547272

Dr. Khaled Hamadi

Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari

22617700

Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed

Dr. Abdel Quttainah

25625030/60

Family Doctor Dr Divya Damodar

23729596/23729581

Psychiatrists Dr. Esam Al-Ansari

22635047

Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan

22613623/0

Gynaecologists & Obstetricians DrAdrian arbe

23729596/23729581

Dr. Verginia s.Marin

2572-6666 ext 8321

Endocrinologist

25665898 25340300

Dr. Zahra Qabazard

25710444

Dr. Sohail Qamar

22621099

Dr. Snaa Maaroof

25713514

Dr. Pradip Gujare

23713100

Dr. Zacharias Mathew

24334282

(1) Ear, Nose and Throat (2) Plastic Surgeon Dr. Abdul Mohsin Jafar, FRCS (Canada)

25655535

Dentists

Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan

22655539

Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami

25343406

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar

22641071/2

Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly

25739272

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed

22562226

22618787

Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer

22561444

Dr. Faysal Al-Fozan

22619557

Dr. Abdallateef Al-Katrash

22525888

Dr. Abidallah Al-Duweisan

25653755

Dr. Bader Al-Ansari

25620111

General Surgeons Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer

22610044

Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher

25327148

Internists, Chest & Heart Dr. Adnan Ebil

22639939

Dr. Mousa Khadada

22666300

Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan

25728004

Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra

25355515

Dr. Mobarak Aldoub

24726446

Dr Nasser Behbehani

25654300/3

Soor Center Tel: 2290-1677 Fax: 2290 1688

info@soorcenter.com www.soorcenter.com

3729596/3729581

Neurologists Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri

25633324

Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan

25345875

Gastrologists Dr. Sami Aman

22636464

Dr. Mohammad Al-Shamaly

25322030

Dr. Foad Abidallah Al-Ali

22633135

Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa, Ph.D. 2290-1677 Susannah-Joy Schuilenberg, M.A. 2290-1677

25339330

Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari 25658888 Dr. Kamal Al-Shomr 25329924 Physiotherapists & VD Dr. Deyaa Shehab

25722291

Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees

22666288

Rheumatologists: Dr. Adel Al-Awadi

Dr Anil Thomas

Dr. Salem soso

Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman

25330060

Dr. Khaled Al-Jarallah

25722290

Internist, Chest & Heart DR.Mohammes Akkad

24555050 Ext 210

Dr. Mohammad Zubaid MB, ChB, FRCPC, PACC Assistant Professor Of Medicine Head, Division of Cardiology Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital Consultant Cardiologist Dr. Farida Al-Habib MD, PH.D, FACC Inaya German Medical Center Te: 2575077 Fax: 25723123

2611555-2622555

William Schuilenberg, RPC 2290-1677 Zaina Al Zabin, M.Sc. 2290-1677

Al-Madena

22418714

Al-Shohada’a

22545171

Al-Shuwaikh

24810598

Al-Nuzha

22545171

Sabhan

24742838

Al-Helaly

22434853

Al-Fayhaa

22545051

Al-Farwaniya

24711433

Al-Sulaibikhat

24316983

Al-Fahaheel

23927002

Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh

24316983

Ahmadi

23980088

Al-Mangaf

23711183

Al-Shuaiba

23262845

Al-Jahra

25610011

Al-Salmiya

25616368

Al-Madena Police Station

22434064

Al-Murqab Police Station

22435865

Al-Daiya Police Station

22544200

Al-Fayha’a Police Station

22547133

Al-Qadissiya Police Station

22515277

Al-Nugra Police Station

22616662

Al-Salmiya Police Station

25714406

Al-Dasma Police Station

22530801

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TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012

lifestyle

A group photo of the IWG members and spouses of ambassadors is seen.

By Nawara Fattahova

I

nternational Women’s Group (IWG) held its final meeting on June 3, 2012 and concluded its activities for this season. This meeting was attended by about 120 members belonging to IWG and was held at the Radisson Blu Hotel.

During this meeting, President Sebella Vantonda addressed her farewell speech: “I would like to thank all those who supported us and made our cultural and social activities successful. Radisson Blu Hotel and other institutions stood by us and made this year successful. I would also like to thank them for making this year exciting in all fields: finance, events, and others”.

During this event, Anna Nalbandyan, the spouse of the Armenian Ambassador to Kuwait was announced as the new president for the coming year. The members of IWG were invited to vote for the best costume at the gathering.

The members of IWG are pictured reading the Kuwait Times special IWG supplement.

Reem from the South African embassy is pictured.

Moteaa (left) and Zohra, members of IWG are pictured.

Anna, the Armenian ambassador’s spouse

Badrya Darwish, General Manager of Kuwait Times is pictured with the IWG board and the former president as well as the new president of IWG.

The Azerbaijan ambassador’s spouse

The new Turkish ambassador’s spouse

The Tunisian ambassador’s spouse won the fourth place in the Best National Costume event and Sebella IWG’s President presents the award.

Members of IWG are pictured.

TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012

lifestyle

Badrya Darwish, General Manager of Kuwait Times is presented with a commemorative plaque by the IWG.

Badrya Darwish, General Manager of Kuwait Times presents the first prize sponsored by Kuwait Times to Gloria, from the Philippines.

As a token of appreciation, the group presented a commemorative plaque to Badrya Darwish, General Manager of Kuwait Times for the support Kuwait Times has extended to IWG during all the events. IWG will hold its next meeting on the second Sunday in September. They are already preparing many new exciting activities for their members.

The members meet regularly and hold different events and activities. “These activities include various events like visiting traditional places, museums, Arab Fund, Bayt Lothan, and others. In addition, it includes other cultural activities such which are presented by diplomatic women from their country. And this year, we have Indonesian women presenting amongst others,” Narjis Al-Shatti, Member of IWG’s PR and Media told the Kuwait Times.

She also said that IWG Kuwait Chapter is a branch of the International Women’s Association residing in Denmark and has branches all over the world, where they organize similar programs and activities. “Here in Kuwait, new wives of ambassadors will meet with other members to exchange information about their country, tradition, food, culture and others,” said Al-Shatti.

(From left) A member of the IWG, the Hungarian ambassador’s spouse, the Czech ambassador’s spouse and the Russian ambassador’s spouse are pictured.

Sebella is pictured presenting the first prize for the Best National Costume to Azerbaijan councilor’s spouse.

An aerial shot of the event. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Sebella presents the second prize for Best National Costume to Gusti.

Japanese member of the IWG wins the third place in the Best National Costume event and Sebella presents the award.

TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012

lifestyle A W A R D S

Kristin Stewart, center, and the cast of ‘The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1’ accept the award for movie of the year at the MTV Movie Awards on Sunday, June 3, 2012 in Los Angeles. — AP photos

‘Hunger Games’ scoops up four MTV movie awards “T

In this image provided by Lionsgate, Jennifer Lawrence portrays Katniss Everdeen in a scene from ‘The Hunger Games.’ — AP photos

Michael Fassbender, right, and Charlize Theron present the best fight award to Alexander Ludwig, left, and Josh Hutcherson.

he Hunger Games” won four MTV Movie Awards on Sunday but a “Twilight” film picked up thebest movie honor for the fourth straight year in what proved to be a tame evening at the typically outrageous awards show.

Post-apocalyptic film “The Hunger Games” nabbed MTV’s golden popcorn trophies for best male performance by Josh Hutcherson, best female performance by Jennifer Lawrence, best transformation by Elizabeth Banks and best fight. The movie of the year award, voted for by fans online throughout the show, went to vampire romance “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1,” beating out “The Hunger Games” and “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.”

Female-led comedy “Bridesmaids” picked up two awards for best comedic performance by Melissa McCarthy and best gut-wrenching performance for its stomach-turning food poisoning scene, while the final installment of the “Harry Potter” franchise won for best cast and best hero.

Host Russell Brand, known for raunchy humor, launched into jokes about his short-lived marriage to singer Katy Perry, thanking Kim Kardashian for “taking the pressure off me” due to her brief marriage to basketball player Kris Humphries and joking about keeping his “eyes peeled” for a new wife.

His barbs also were directed at pop star Justin Bieber, Charlie Sheen, John Travolta, Kanye West and “Shame” actor Michael Fassbender for “profiting from sex addiction.”

“The Descendants” star Shailene Woodley picked up the breakthrough per formance award.

“Spiderman” actress Emma Stone was given the trailblazer trophy and Johnny Depp was honored with the generation award for a career spanning three decades. “It’s like the get-out-of-the-business award basically, when you’ve done too much ...

There’s obviously something wrong with me,” Depp joked in his acceptance speech.

The “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor showed off his guitar skills, joining rockers The Black Keys for their hit singles “Gold On The Ceiling” and “Lonely Boy.” In some of the night’s more irreverent categories, Jennifer Aniston picked up the best onscreen dirtbag award for her role as a foul-

Ledger as the Joker character was shown from the second installment of the Christopher Nolan “Batman” franchise. Music, the foundation of MTV, played a key role throughout the show with firstever house DJ, Martin Solveig, providing movie score mash-ups from “Jaws,” “Pulp Fiction” and “Drive” between awards. Rapper Wiz Khalifa performed new song “Work Hard, Play Hard” and indie band fun. sang their hit single “We Are Young” with Janelle Monae to open the program. —Reuters

Josh Hutcherson poses with his award for ‘Best Male Performance’ for his role in ‘The Hunger Games.’ mouthed, blackmailing dentist in “Horrible Bosses.”

The best kiss trophy was again given to “ Twilight” leads Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, who have won for their steamy on-screen clinches for the past three years. Despite its billing an outrageous event, the show seemed more tame than in previous years with little foul language or onstage antics. Channing Tatum, Matthew McConaughey and Joe Manganiello did some spicing up with a near strip tease. The trio stars in an upcoming film, “Magic Mike,” about male strippers.

Notable moments came from “Batman” star Christian Bale, who gave an emotional introduction to an exclusive trailer for the upcoming film, “The Dark Knight Rises,” after footage of the late Heath

Emma Watson accepts the award for best cast for “Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows Part 2”.

(From left) Elizabeth Banks, Josh Hutcherson and Chris Hemsworth arrive at the MTV Movie Awards.

Shailene Woodley holding the breakthrough performance award.

Joe Manganiello holds Elisabeth Banks, center, as she accepts the award for best on screen transformation award.

TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012

lifestyle A W A R D S

Actress Elizabeth Banks holds her award for ‘Best On-Screen Transformation’ for her role in ‘The Hunger Games.’

Mila Kunis is seen backstage.

Jennifer Aniston accepts the award for best on-screen dirtbag.

Mila Kunis, left, presents the award for best on-screen dirtbag to Jennifer Aniston.

Kristen Stewart accepts the award for best kiss.

Paris Hilton, left, and Nicky Hilton arrive at the MTV Movie awards.

Winners at the MTV Movie Awards MOVIE OF THE YEAR “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1” BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE Jennifer Lawrence - “The Hunger Games” BEST MALE PERFORMANCE Josh Hutcherson - “The Hunger Games” BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE Shailene Woodley - “The Descendants” BEST COMEDIC PERFORMANCE Melissa McCarthy - “Bridesmaids” BEST CAST “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” - Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Tom Felton BEST ON-SCREEN TRANSFORMATION Elizabeth Banks - “The Hunger Games”

Jessica Biel, center, and Kate Beckinsale present the award for best cast.

BEST FIGHT Jennifer Lawrence & Josh Hutcherson vs. Alexander Ludwig “The Hunger Games” BEST KISS Robert Pattinson & Kristen Stewart - “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1” BEST GUT-WRENCHING PERFORMANCE “Bridesmaids” - Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey and Ellie Kemper, in a scene in which food poisoning turns the girls’ dress fitting into a disaster BEST ON-SCREEN DIRTBAG Jennifer Aniston - “Horrible Bosses”

Russell Brand is seen onstage.

Hip hop rapper Lil Niqo arrives at the MTV Movie Awards.

Charlie Sheen is seen onstage.

(From left) Ezra Miller, Emma Watson, and Logan Lerman present the award for best male performance.

BEST MUSIC “Party Rock Anthem,” LMFAO - “21 Jump Street”.—Reuters

Steven Tyler, left, and Joe Perry present the MTV Generation award.

In this publicity image provided by Universal Pictures, from left, Melissa McCarthy, Ellie Kemper, Rose Byrne, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig are shown in a scene from ‘Bridesmaids.’

Wiz Khalifa performs at the MTV Movie Awards.

Gary Oldman, from left, Christian Bale, Joseph Gordon-Levitt are seen onstage.

Actors Michael Fassbender (L) and Charlize Theron walk onstage.

Presenter Jodie Foster is seen onstage.

‘Hunger Games’ scoops up four MTV movie awards TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012

38

“Butteri” cow herders ride their horses in Monterano park in the central Italian region of Lazio on May 24, 2012. —AFP photos

French far-right may sue Madonna over swastika video

A new lease on life for Italy’s last cowboys A F few dozen horsemen roam the hills and plains of central Italy as the last of the “butteri” cow herders, proudly holding onto a tradition that has survived for 500 years. “There aren’t many of us left,” said Maurizio Magagnini, 46, as he sipped wine and carved a chunk of cheese under a tree in the Monterano reserve of the Lazio region, 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Rome. “But it’s a passion for me. I feel bad when I’m not on a horse. My father was a buttero, my grandfather was a buttero... ,” said Magagnini, as his piercing blue eyes squinted in the light, wrinkling his leathery skin.

Magagnini owns a herd of around 100 longhorned Maremmana breed cows and a butcher’s shop in town. His days are spent on horseback-feeding, branding and herding the cows to and from pastures in the lush hill country. “I want my son to study but if it doesn’t work out, he can do this,” he said. Magagnini’s two brothers finished school and went to work for the public telecoms company but he said it was harder now to get jobs in the city. His nephew, Simone Magagnini, is only 17 but already an experienced rider since childhood and is competing as a junior for Italy in a world championship this September for horsemanship and long-distance orienteering. “I’m still at school. It’s like a hobby for me now but I want to do this after I finish. You can’t get around on a car here,” said Simone Magagnini, who wore the traditional white shirt, waistcoat and black trilby hat of the “buttero”. His mother, Francesca, ladled out “acqua cotta”-a popular local

vegetable soup served on a chunk of bread. “It’s a great life. Very outdoorsy. We always have a picnic when we brand the cows. We really help each other out,” she said. The “butteri” started out as herdsmen working for the popes of Rome on lands that were often infested by brigands and malaria in a broad coastal swathe known as the Maremma in what are now the regions of Lazio and Tuscany.

They quickly became known for their horse-riding skills and were featured in the works of the many artists who visited Italy like Goethe and Byron. The men still talk proudly of the time when a group of “butteri” beat cowboys from a Buffalo Bill’s circus in a competition in Rome in 1891. “After 500 years this culture is still alive in the area,” said local historian and horse enthusiast Rodolfo Lorenzini, explaining that the title “butteri” is derived from the Latin words for “cow” and “herders”.

‘Think like the animals It was a way of life that was almost extinct until a few years ago when the influx of European funds, the growth of horse riding as a hobby and the popularity of local and organic products helped give the sector a boost. Italy’s current economic crisis and the growing rates of youth unemployment have also helped encourage young local men to consider a farming life, even though it is backbreaking work that offers meagre returns. There are now “butteri” contests and fairs across Lazio and Tuscany and the amateurs joining in have swelled the number of “butteri” to around 1,000

rance’s far-right National Front said yesterday it might sue Madonna if the US pop icon uses a video in her upcoming Paris concert showing party leader Marine Le Pen with a swastika on her forehead. Madonna used the video as part of her stage show as she launched her keenly awaited “MDNA” world tour in Israel last Thursday. The tour is due to take her to France for a Paris gig on July 14 and another concert a week later in Nice.

Louis Aliot, the National Front’s vice-president and Le Pen’s partner, said when asked by BFM-TV news channel if the party planned to sue the singer: “We’ll see when she plays in France.” Le Pen, who was a candidate in last month’s presidential elections, herself said Sunday that when “old singers want to get people to talk about them, it’s understandable that they do such extreme things.” The video, which served as a backdrop when Madonna sang “Nobody Knows Me”, briefly showed Le Pen’s forehead appear with a swastika on it before her whole face appeared, followed by an image resembling Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. The tour-Madonna’s first since the wildly successful “Sticky and Sweet” in 2008 and 2009 — will move on to Europe and the Americas, with concerts planned in a total of 80 countries. It is expected to end in early 2013 in Australia.—AFP

“Butteri” cow herders ride their horses. people even though only very few still make a living from it.

Paolo Chima, 50, a local ambulance driver from the hilltop town of Tolfa, considers himself an amateur “buttero” and wears the outfit for shows. “There are a lot of people doing this now. A lot of equestrian centres have cropped up in the last few years,” said Chima. “I try to go out on horseback seven days a week. I don’t earn anything doing this. If anything, I lose money!” he said. —AFP

The hugely successful Lebanese movie is coming to Kuwait Cash Flow...who does not want lots of it?

D

ay two Pictures brings a stars studded cast in a riveting plot that is entertaining, thrilling, educational and worthy of watching. After its resounding success in Lebanon and staying on top of the box office for weeks, Cash Flow the movie is coming to Kuwait. Winning the critics’ accolades for the interesting and fresh plot, state of the art technology, and brilliant screen writing and directing, Cashflow will treat movie goers in Kuwait to a feast of refined entertainment, and social morals. A young man’s impulsive yet heroic action lands him the opportunity of his life. Cash comes his way. The ball starts rolling and with him we live laughter, excitement, thrills, places, faces and above all romance.

Cash Flow a movie that will make you laugh with clever lines and makes you think of how to help the hero

live through the chase. The novel script is designed for uniqueness as well as entertainment, targeting all ages.

The versatile cast of faces you love and have enjoyed seeing them in movies and series. Carlos Azar, Nadine Njeim, Tony Abou Jaoude, Hisham Haddad, Antoine Balaban, Hiam Abou Chedid, Claude Khalil, Chady Maroun, Ghassan Estephan, Pierre Chamoun, Teta Latife, Joelle Dagher and Robert Franjieh- each brings his character to life with unprecedented acting.

This purely Lebanese production will make us proud of our movie making experience as Day two Pictures have invested the best of breed in technology, cast, and story to bring a film worthy of international standards.

“Day Two Pictures was founded with the dream of creating smart and entertaining Movies, TV Series, spot com-

mercials and much more, all having quality themes at their core. To fulfill our dream, we have built an experienced team of directors, writers, editors, and producers to offer a full-bodied production infrastructure.”

“We wanted our first Lebanese a movie to set the stage for the next generation of Lebanese Cinema productions. “We brought together a successful and versatile cast that combine talents with acting experience to impeccably deliver the different characters and roles to life” Says the General Manager of Day Two Pictures.

Written and directed by Sami Koujan. Cash Flow is coming to theatres in Kuwait starting June 7th 2012, be sure not to miss his master piece. Check out the trailer on www.cashflowmovie.com and on facebook www.facebook.com/cashflowmovie and share your reviews.

Russian crooner with late burst of YouTube fame dies

E

Eduard Khil

duard Khil, a Russian crooner who had an unexpected career revival in his later years with an Internet hit nicknamed “the Trololo song,” died yesterday at the age of 77, Russian television said. The award-winning baritone singer launched his career in the 1960s with patriotic songs including “Where does the motherland begin?” which is a favorite of Russian President Vladimir Putin. But in 2010 he gained international fame when bloggers unexpectedly picked up a video where Khil, dressed in a brown double-breasted suit, enthusiastically showed off his range in a wordless song.

The video went viral, swiftly gaining millions of views on YouTube. It was parodied on US television shows including the animated sitcom “Family Guy”. Khil, who was renamed “Mr Trololo”, told Radio Liberty he found out about his newfound fame from his 13-year-old grandson, and said he was enjoying all the attention. He went on to

post a video on YouTube himself calling for people to come up with their own lyrics for the song. “Thank you for getting such a kick of energy and optimism from listening to this great melody,” he said in the video.

Khil was already a household name at home, where he was awarded the title of People’s Artist of Russia in 1974, performing songs by some of the Soviet Union’s top composers. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, he struggled to survive on concert earnings in Russia and began to perform abroad to emigre audiences, taking on a regular spot at Parisian cabaret Raspoutine. Khil, who was born in the western Russian city of Smolensk, died in hospital in Saint Petersburg after suffering a stroke in April, Russian television reported. Putin sent his condolences to the singer’s family, his press secretary Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies.—AFP

US pop icon Madonna performs on stage during her first ever concert in the Gulf as part of her MDNA world tour at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island Stadium on June 3, 2012.—AFP

Sarah Jessica Parker plans Obama fundraiser

“S

ex and the City” star Sarah Jessica Parker is borrowing a tactic from the George Clooney fundraising book, planning a campaign dinner for President Barack Obama and offering a chance to win two tickets with $3 online donations.

Parker, who is married to actor Matthew Broderick, sent an email to supporters and appeared in an advertisement on Sunday’s MTV Movie Awards telling people of the online donations and tickets to the affair at her New York home.

“I’m hosting this event on June 14th because there is so much at stake this year and I want to keep doing what I can,” she wrote in the email. “I hope you’ll help me welSarah Jessica Parker come President Obama and the First Lady to New York.” The email ask for donations of “$3 or whatever you can to be automatically entered.”

Parker’s spokeswoman confirmed the event and the email but did not give further details about the cost of tickets for the fundraiser or how many people were expected. Oscar winner Clooney hosted a dinner last month at his home in the Los Angeles area where some 150 people paid $40,000 a ticket to see the president. The event raised nearly $15 million with more than half coming from small-amount donors who entered an online ticket raffle by pledging donations of $3 or more. The winners were Beth Topinka, a science teacher from New Jersey, and Karen Blutcher, who works at a public utility company in Florida.—Reuters