03 Jun - Friday Times

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Thailand seeks to ban tourists’ religious tattoos

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Fur-fect friend for life

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NO: 15108- Friday, June 3, 2011

Engulfed in dust ( See Page 12)

KUWAIT: A blanket of dust covered Kuwait yesterday. — Photos by Joseph Shagra

Local FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

In my view

By Jamie Etheridge local@kuwaittimes.net

T

he first thing you learn when buying a car in Kuwait is patience. In fact, patience is a basic requirement for doing pretty much anything in Kuwait - from finding an apartment or school for your kids to a parking lot at the Avenues. Patience isn’t only a virtue; it is a much-in-demand necessity that becomes rarer and rarer as the summer temperatures rise.

I have been looking for a car for about three months, searching every day on the online expat websites then driving all over Kuwait to visit the local dealers. I’ve been in and out of Shuwaikh, Al-Rai, Kuwait City, etc. I’ve met with individuals leaving Kuwait who want to sell their vehicles before they go. I’ve toured the used car lots in Salmiya and even had two offers from some shady folks in London claiming they had cars for sale in Hawally. Once, I just drove around on a Friday morning, trolling the Second Ring Road and empty lots in Salmiya for cars parked with handwritten ‘For Sale’ signs stuck on the windows. I found many cars that I wanted, few I could afford and even fewer that I could afford and that I liked. Don’t get me wrong. There is plenty of choice: Everything from saloons to coupes, mini-vans to SUVs are available in the market. But the prices are often inflated or worse, reflective of a lack of competition and often when I found a good price, the kilometers seemed suspiciously low.

After weeks of trekking from showroom to showroom, dozens of discussions with salespeople on the merits of a 4 cylinder vs a 6 cylinder and endless cups of tea, all the cars started to look the same and I no longer wanted one. Instead, I wanted to spend my car budget on a trip to the Maldives, a private beach house with a butler, a beer (non-alcoholic, of course) and a bottle of suntan lotion. But need trumps want and so the search continued. I made a second round of the dealerships, spending an hour or two each evening after work visiting showrooms. I got to know several sales people and in one showroom, sat for 25 minutes in the driver’s seat of a brand new 4x4, glossed up to a perfect sheen and painted what must have been black but looked eggplant purple to my tired eyes. I wasn’t really interested, just too tired to argue with the salesman who insisted I “feel it” while listening to his seemingly

endless litany of the value of a ‘heavy-duty’ truck.

Like most people, I tend to buy things based on taste and reputation. Why does anyone choose Prada over Gucci? London over Paris? What makes someone buy a Pajero over a Prado? Coming from the States, I’m a big fan of Honda because of the make’s reputation and the resale value of its cars. My prior experience of them has always been good. But when I first arrived in Kuwait, people often recommended Toyotas. Their selling point was not the cars themselves (although I have also owned and driven Toyotas and found them to be good, reliable cars) but the after sales service.

Everyone told me, Al-Sayer is one of the best for car service and that is why Toyota is one of the most popular brands in Kuwait.

Another tip I picked up while car hunting: Get it checked out. This may seem like a no-brainer but after you’ve been searching for weeks and weeks, buyer’s fatigue starts to set in. In my case, I just wanted to buy something - anything - and get it over with. I was done with browsing, negotiating, test driving, engine peeking. I just wanted to give someone a big chunk of cash and drive away quickly. Needless to say, I ended up finding something. It’s a beauty. Not because of its make or model or even the particular shade of charcoal grey I like. No, its winning features are simply these: four wheels, four doors, seats, a steering wheel, an engine that runs and a registration card. Now, hopefully I will never have to visit a showroom again!

Special Report

Torn between two worlds

By Lisa Conrad local@kuwaittimes.net

“I

never listened to my Arabic teacher, but I always took notice of my English teacher,” says 24-year-old-Maryam. She was featured in last week’s installment on cultural identity in Kuwait. She reports to feeling lost in Kuwaiti society, instead assimilating with American culture, “My English teacher was so much more influential, Arabic was always dull while English always seemed more alluring. It was the gateway to accessing that life, that freedom.”

Expatriate teachers are usually based, unsurprisingly, in American, English and International private schools. Western models of teaching have received international acclaim, with the UK system and the infamously challenging French Baccalaureate system receiving the most praise.

However, is there a risk that in idealizing teachers and the cultures they originate from, as Maryam did, youth may see them as superior to their own ethnic background? Maryam, who is a teacher herself, added, “The kids definitely idealize Western teachers. It’s a good thing. Kids give their teachers all of their attention, and they analyze what they say and their views, which makes them more open-minded because of them.”

Mark Olson, Assistant Professor of Sociology at GUST, also noticed the sometimes preferential treatment given to Western teachers, “Western teachers are expected to be somewhat better owing to education and training. In some cases they are, perhaps, revered for their origin.”

But do they meet expectations? Moh, a 21year-old who studied in the USA and Kuwait says, “Not only are Western teachers better in general, but the Western teachers in Kuwait are considerably better than those in America.” It is not surprising, then, that the international, private school industry in Kuwait is ‘booming,’ according to Canadian teacher Alan Dunford, with demand on the rise. Maryam supports the increase in demand, and considers the influence of her Western teachers as a vital element in her education. She places their influence in high regard, “I’d advise parents to put their kids in private schools for both the education and the influence from the West. I would definitely put my kids in English or American schools specifically for that reason.”

The influence of teachers that Maryam promotes so feverishly is undeniable, as Olson added, “Teachers can be influential on the lives

and outlooks of students. If a Kuwaiti student is going from K through 12, of course, this is going to heavily influence that person’s outlook in some fashion or form.”

21-year-old Abdul, who attended an American school in Kuwait, disagrees with Maryam, saying that the influence can be more of a practical issue, “They were influential yes, but not in terms of encouraging me to want to be American. Their accent was the influential thing, because the American accent is really easy to understand, so I imitated it. But not because I wanted to be them. I’m happy being Kuwaiti, thanks.” Despite their differing opinions, Maryam also commented on the benefit of Western teachers helping with accents, “They’re definitely really helpful with your accent when you’re learning English.” However, she added, “But my teachers were English, so I picked up my American accent from movies and television shows instead.”

Accent-perfecting does not seem to be in line with the Ministry of Education’s goals of education in Kuwait, two of which are promoting patriotism and appreciation of Arab culture. Can an

expatriate teacher appreciate Kuwaiti and Arab culture, customs and values enough to be able to encourage young students to have pride in their culture as opposed to idealizing the alluringly trend-setting ways of the West?

In the American School of Kuwait, native speakers learn Arabic according to the Ministry of Education’s program. An advanced placement studio art course also lists one of its goals as being “to encourage students to become independent thinkers who will contribute inventively and critically to their culture through the making of art.” Furthermore, Dunford commented that the students in his school knew more about Western culture and media than his own children, who grew up in Canada. Dunford implied that efforts are made by youngsters to learn about Western culture, regardless of the nationalities of teachers. However, he added, that due to the stark difference in background between himself and his students, “I sometimes feel like an alien.” Therefore, are teachers really the ones responsible for increased Westernization, or has Western media played a significant role in seducing the youth of Kuwait?

Local FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

Local Spotlight

Conspiracy Theories

Cucumber phobia

Workers need a respite

By Muna Al-Fuzai

By Badrya Darwish muna@kuwaittimes.net

W

e are only a month away from the hottest month of summer. It is already scorching during the day and evenings are warm. Most of us are not exposed to the sun all the time although we all complain of the heat in Kuwait. We take only a few steps from our cars to our offices and homes. Others like construction and municipality workers are left with no choice but weather the sun.

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MSAL) issued a fair decision a few years ago banning outdoor work under direct heat from 12 pm until 4 pm. When this decision was issued, many workers were

relieved. They were now entitled to receive a few hours’ work to relax and rest.

Workers who are already weak deserve a respite from the oppressive heat. Heat exhaustion can even lead to heat stroke.

The question here is, how can workers persuade their companies to implement the law? The unfortunate workers are scared of confronting their employers and would rather suffer in silence out of fear of being fired. They are right.

I believe that the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor should take follow-up action on its decision, make observations and impose penalties to those who violate

Satire Wire

In my view

Work hand-in-hand to combat drug abuse

regulations. It is only in this manner that fairness can be ensured.

I have seen some major firms enforce this law in favor of its workers, but not all.

Construction workers almost definitely are at the receiving end. I wonder how officials have overlooked this fact. Ramadan is likely to fall in August this summer. As most workers are fasting, this decision needs to be clearly reviewed. I do not think harm can be done if workers begin work once they break the fast in the evening. At least the heat would have lessened and workers would have more power to work. This issue needs to be discussed more openly.

Appreciate it, when it’s good

By Abdellatif Sharaa

By Sawsan Kazak local@kuwaittimes.net

D

rug abuse is a problem that worries societies and governments alike. This unprecedented ‘epidemic’ has eaten into society’s fabric and led to a steady decline in moral values.

Many governments including Kuwait, have created special programs and arrangements to treat drug users and addicts. It goes in tandem with the efforts made to combat drug trafficking and smuggling.

I remember many incidents about the manner in which drugs are smuggled into Kuwait. Soaking trousers in dissolved powder with water, the large amounts that were (weaved) into a large carpet, apart from those men who ‘lay eggs’ full of that potent poison cocaine and its likes! Recently, we heard about drugs being concealed in spare tires and fuel tanks of trucks. It is an endless battle between authorities and those hard-nosed professional criminals. I once asked a person, whose name frequently comes up in connection with any drug incident, as to why smugglers carry the contraband while risking death or life imprisonment. His answer was, “The reward is worth the risk. “ A shocking answer! I reasoned with him saying that such drugs kill so many of our youth, as is evident in the news articles and statistics, the many broken families, related crimes other detrimental effects. So, is this the reward you are looking for? He pointed toward his pocket and said, “I do not know what to say but drug smugglers only care about money.”

What is more dangerous is when drug traders conceal the contraband in shipments, heading to Kuwait from neighboring countries. This is usually done without the knowledge of those importing the goods. There are some people who follow the trucks to remove them. The latest report that appeared in newspapers was on a smuggler who hid heroin in rubber garden hoses. It is fortunate that these methods and tricks are known. Is that enough?

The Kuwait government is making great efforts to free the society from such destructive materials. Kuwait’s laws make provisions for drugs users and their relatives to come forward and seek treatment without fearing punishment. Severe punishment is accorded to those who are caught selling them. We still read news stories about the arrest of a drug smuggler here, or a drug user driving his car erratically caught there. So it really is every individual’s responsibility to combat drug smuggling, use and abuse.

It is really painful to read about a young man found dead in his room, or next to a hospital, or in his car due to an overdose. It is time to take a more aggressive stance in fighting this phenomenon, which is not a local, but global issue. We must as society members, take proactive steps to approach the problem and work seriously towards its elimination.

Everyone should work hand-in-hand to combat this threat to our youth and our family structure.

God bless you all

sawsank@kuwaittimes.net

T

o truly understand a country or culture, one must do as the locals do, shop where the locals shop, and of course eat what the locals eat. On a recent business trip, I decided to do just this and try the local ‘fresh milk’ that was on the breakfast buffet. A few drops on my morning cereal and I already felt like a local.

It only took a few minutes for my stomach to remind me that I was not in fact a local, but rather a tourist with a sensitive stomach. I guess what the locals mean by ‘fresh milk’ was bacteria-infected, unpasteurized and straight out of the cow. My stomach at that point gave up on trying to digest anything and went on a strike. I felt as though I was slowly deteriorating from the inside. Leaning over the sink, trying my best not to fight the inevitable throw up that was slowly making its way up, I realized just how fragile our whole existence is. A few spoonfuls of milk were able to render me completely useless. A bowl of cereal was powerful enough to stop my whole day.

Before breakfast, I hadn’t spent any time thinking about my health and well-being because it was just fine; our attention is never on what is going good in our bodies. But the minute we get sick, we devote all our attention, time and resources to getting better; or at least wallowing in our pain.

I guess that is the common attitude towards everything in our lives. We don’t notice the car until it stops in middle of the road. We don’t notice the house until something breaks down. We never notice our bodies or appreciate them until we fall ill and pray to return to the way we were.

We rarely wake up in the morning and are thankful that everything is just fine. A few hours after the fresh milk made its way ever so slowly through my system, I began to appreciate my bodily functions and its natural ability to fix what is wrong in its own way. Well, at least one good thing came out of my pain and suffering. I can now return to this country and have my bowl of cereal with fresh local milk, just like the locals do.

badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net

T

hank God, there is another phobia spreading in Europe besides Islamphobia. As for the latter: Touche! You can’t do much about Islamphobia unless you think you can get rid of all the 1.5 billion Muslims on earth.

This is the news: Europe, especially Germany, was hit by a bacterial outbreak that resulted in the death of 17 people. The outbreak was related to fresh vegetables suspected of being contaminated.

Cucumbers were the culprit.

I think cucumber phobia is easy to handle. All you have to do is to stop slicing cucumbers in your salad.

I always eat cucumbers especially if it is mixed with yoghurt. It is a very summery dish that helps you cool down in the hot weather. Especially now, that it is the beginning of June and it is already 52 degrees Celsius. What do we expect in July and August? God help us.

Though I love cucumber salad with yoghurt, but if this cucumber is going to kill me I can do without it. I can have my salad with lettuce, tomatoes, onions etc etc. There are hundreds of kinds of vegetables I can mix in my salad bowl. Thank you cucumber!

So you could do, guys!

I think people in Kuwait do not have to worry as our dear cucumbers are imported from the region and not from Europe. They come mainly from farms in Jordan, Wafra and Saudi Arabia. I haven’t heard of any contamination in these countries. Or maybe, we are not as sophisticated as our friends in Europe by analyzing and sending it to the laboratory as labs in the Arab world can hardly cope with analyzing our blood. The contamination we get are from the Iraqi desert, the Iraqi war and the radiation leaking from Israel’s nuclear reactor Demona in occupied southern Palestine. People living in this part of Palestine have reported an increase in cancer cases since the start of the leak a couple of years ago. But these things are, of course hush hush.

God help us when our neighbors open their Bushehri reactor some 200 kilometers from here. So, do you want us to analyze cucumbers? You must be kidding.

Have a nice weekend. Be careful, avoid cucumbers in your salad!

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Local

FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

By Sahar Moussa

T

he Build-A-Bear workshop lets you infuse life into the cuddliest and cutest thing on earth. What is more beautiful than being able to see a child’s eyes twinkle with excitement and happiness? The Build-A-Bear workshop can guarantee that look of joy and enthusiasm not only on a child’s face but on grown-ups too. There is a child inside every person regardless of age.

Unfortunately, sometimes life and problems distract us from searching for this pure and innocent child that we once were.

When you hear the name of the shop, your eyes open wide as your imagination runs wild and your mind wanders: Could it be like Santa’s workshop with all the elves helping you build your own bear? Or could it be like the magical toy store in the famous movie ‘Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus.’ Well, you have to go and check for yourself to discover the toys’ magic.

The BuildA-Bear Workshop display — Photos by Joseph Shagra

me, stitch me, fluff me, dress me, name me and take me home,” added Sakr. As your eyes wander through the workshop, you feel like Alice in Wonderland. The large posters over each section guides you to another. Here’s where Alice’s (I mean, your) journey begins.

Choose Me The children will start their adventure when they choose from the thirty different characters. They can choose from the midnight kitties that were made for Halloween, soccer ball that was made for FIFA, love bugs that were made for a Valentine, tigers, leopards, champ bear that help people, scruffy puppy, ‘Bearemy’ the workshop’s mascot, enchanted dragons and bunnies, white and tropical Hello Kitty which are licensed, and pink unicorns. Some Disney products like the ‘Wizard of Waverly’ bears, ice cream bears like hot fudge Sunday and mint ship, giraffes, dogs that are best sellers and the camels which were made exclusively for the Gulf.

“Maxim Clark was the founder of the Build-A-Bear workshop which was opened in Saint Louis, Missouri in 1997; she got her inspiration from a friend who was obsessed with collecting toy bears. She sat with Maxim and wondered why she could not make or create her own teddy bear. So, Maxim liked and took the idea,” said Nicole Sakr, Marketing Manager of the workshop.

As you enter the shop, you immediately feel the energy of the shop flowing through your body. Yes, it could be excitement or this nostalgic and raw feeling that you have not experienced in a very long time.

It could also be the bright yellow and blue colors of all the furry friends displayed along with their price tags that are waiting for a child or a person to grab it!

“The whole bear-making process can be divided into eight different steps: Choose me, hear me, stuff

Hear Me In order to interact and talk with your bear or furry friend, it needs to be given a voice or a sound. So the second step in this process is the ‘hear me’ station where you give your furry friend silly sounds or a birthday song which is made specifically for Build-A-Bear workshop. To make it more special, you can record a personal build-a-sound message or you can add the sound of a heart beat to make your friend sound more ‘alive.’

Stuff Me Children love their furry friends because they are huggable and give you a sense of warmth any time you feel lonely or need extra love. That is why it needs to be stuffed with soft cotton in the ‘stuff me’ station.

After the toy is stuffed, the child has to perform the ‘hug test’ to make sure it has been stuffed properly.

However, the most amazing experience in this process is the heart ceremony. The heart ceremony is done to bring a friend to life. So, with the help of the bear

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Years

Local

FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

builders, you can take little fabric hearts with your hands and clap them to start a heartbeat. The hearts are then rubbed on the forehead in order to transfer some intelligence to your furry friend. It is wiggled so that health and energy can be infused into it. You then rub it on your hair, hands legs and heart wishing that their furry friend will have the same as yours. Finally, you will kiss the heart so that your friend will know that you will always love it.

This process is exciting because the bear builders will be stuffing the bear while the child presses the stuffing foot pedal and participates in creating his or her own furry friend that will stay with them forever.

Stitch Me The ‘Stitch Me’ station is a slightly saddening experience for children because the bear builders will be stitching the bear gently, while trying to explain to them that the bear is not feeling pain and that it is an important step to complete the bear’s creation. The bear builders are well-trained and experienced. Their job is to allow the child and guest to have fun.

Fluff Me After you have chosen your furry friend, given it a voice, stuffed and stitched it, fluffing needs to be done. Fluffing your bear is an enjoyable experience because the toy is taken to a shower-like station with hot air blowing out from one end. It is brushed, cleaned and fluffed. You take good care of your friend by keeping it clean and fluffy.

Dress Me What is a more rewarding experience than going shopping with your best friend? In the ‘Dress Me’ station you go shopping to a mall to dress your best friend. The dress me station is the guests and children’s favorite part. There is a wide array of dazzling choices, colors and styles. The ‘Dress Me’ station is where adults test their fashion experiences while children start to discover it. There are all kinds of stylish outfits, dresses, T-shirts, skirts, jeans, underwear, socks, shoes, sandals, boots, Harley Davidson leather outfits, Hello Kitty accessories, hats, sunglasses, mobiles, dishdashas that are tailor-made for the Gulf region. Sports, cowboys, star wars, fireman, princess, fairies, cheerleaders, army, marines outfits.

Kids and guests can find their perfect look from hundreds of outfits and accessories.

Name Me It is believed that if you bring a pet and name it, it will be yours. What if you have a teddy bear or a furry friend that you

have brought to life? Naming it is a must to talk with it and let it be with you forever. The day your furry friend comes to life, he needs to have a birth certificate to prove his legal existence in your life with the description about height, weight, eye and fur color.

In this section, you are able to enter all the personal data, date of his creation and name into the computer. A personalized birth certificate is created and you can enter your friend’s name in the Find-A-Bear ID program. This way, it can hopefully find its way home in case it gets lost.

Take Me Home After the bear ID program, your furry friend is ready to go home with you. However, before that you have to make the Bear Promise which is. “My bear is special, I brought it to life, I chose it, I stuffed it , now I’m taking it home, best friends are forever, so I promise right now, to make my bear my number one pal!” You furry friend will be given a special black and white Cub Condo carrying case which can be colored. Now you can put your friend in it when you walk out, hand in paw!

“We host birthday parties at the workshop and can host six children and more. Every child can get the lowest priced bear for free. As we also organize private parties which must consist of at least six children minimum, we hold school parties as well. The party is the bear making process which is lead by the party leader. For each private party, they will get a picture, 20 percent off on parties for their next purchase.

The birthday celebrant will get a birthday bear gift. We also offer gift vouchers that range from KD5 and 10,” said Sakr.

“The first store in Kuwait is located in the Avenues mall.

We will open another branch as soon as we find a suitable location. We have other branches in Dubai Festival city, Dubai Marina Mall, Bahrain City Center,” she said. In the end, you do not feel like leaving the shop because you not only make a genuine friend for life but also get in touch with your forgotten childhood.

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Local

FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

Yousef Al-Qallaf

Painting

life on a canvas

By Nawara Fattahova

I ‘If a child is called a fool, he will see himself as incapable around others’

nteracting with the issues and problems of society through art is exactly what the young Kuwaiti artist Yousef Al-Qallaf does. Al-Qallaf, a 21-year-old student at Kuwait University’s Basic Education faculty, first took up painting as a child at elementary school. As he grew older, AlQallaf’s artistic skills steadily improved, and he began to display his work at exhibitions. What attracted many of the visitors at the last exhibition he participated in, ‘The Creativities,’ which took place recently at the Fairground in Mishref, were his special pictures, which sent an enlightening educational message to parents.

In this exhibition Al-Qallaf displayed a triptych, showing a child, alongside negative words and phrases printed in Arabic, such as ‘I’m a loser,’ ‘Fool,’ ‘Silly,’ ‘Dumb,’ and others. “I came up with the idea of these paintings from an interesting book that I read called ‘I See You on the Top’.

This book says that if the child is raised with words such as fool, the child will see himself as incapable around others,” AlQallaf said.

“I always express the problems of the community in my paintings. This book wasn’t the only inspiration for these three paintings; there was also the behavior of many of my friends, who treated their younger siblings rudely. I heard many of them calling them insulting words, and I tried to advise them not to speak to the kids in this way, as it may affect them negatively.”

Al-Qallaf is satisfied with people’s reactions to his latest paintings. “I’m glad that I saw the interest of the visitors in my art-

works,” he said. “For instance, a mother called her kids who were accompanying her and showed them my pictures. I’m happy that my message reached the people, and that parents or teachers will benefit from it.”

Another social subject reflected in AlQallaf’s paintings is media distortion.

“Some media are not honest in reporting the news. Some press provide false information and even cause problems in society. Sometimes they stop people from speaking their opinion or distort reality. I displayed one picture about this issue, and the visitors liked it. I received four offers to sell this painting, but I refused to sell it,” he explained.

The young artist’s inspiration doesn’t stop there, however. “There are further problems in the community that I would like to express in my artwork, such as the bedoons, criminality, religious conflicts, or the conflict between modernity and tradition. I like to highlight the negative or unacceptable habits in the community.

For instance I painted a picture of a smoking woman next to a woman wearing hijab, as smoking by women is considered inappropriate in our community,” he added.

Al-Qallaf said that for him his best picture, and certainly one of his most widely praised ones, was his ‘Complicated Personality’ work. “In fact, I met a complicated personality, and then I transferred this impression to my painting, and the visitors liked it very much,” he explained, adding, “I’ve displayed it in two of my exhibitions”.

Al-Qallaf was also greatly supported and encouraged by his father, who’s also creative. “My father is an artist as well, but for him it’s his hobby and he doesn’t take part in exhibitions. He encouraged me to practice my art since I was a kid, and he brought me all the equipment I needed for drawing. I’ve also passed some art courses,” he said.

He has faced some criticism for the negative phenomena and behaviors depicted in his artworks. “Many people have criticized my pictures, as if these behaviors didn’t exist in real life. They do exist in our community, but people don’t admit it. And now I’m planning to create some balance, and paint some positive pictures containing hope.” The young artist concluded: “All of my paintings have goals and ideas; they’re more than just something beautiful for the eyes to see.”

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Local

FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

Dome

stic a

buse

When marital happiness takes a beating

By Hussain Al-Qatari

I

ntissar (not her real name), a 42-year-old Kuwaiti divorcee never knew she could survive her marriage.

After 14 years of being abused by a violent man who repeatedly beat her, she could not foresee her life after him. Her problem is not a unique case. According to statistics published by the Ministry of Justice, over 33 percent of families in Kuwait suffer from domestic abuse.

Intissar was married at the age of 21. Everything about her marriage was traditional. It was an arranged marriage, and she was still a student while her husband, four years her senior, worked in the government sector.

Three years into the marriage, she realized that the problems weren’t getting any smaller; rather, they were only increasing in intensity. The youngest among her siblings, Intissar’s parents and siblings refused to interfere with her problems. “My mother’s mentality about marriage is pretty much all about the husband. She often repeated: ‘The only place you go to after entering your husband’s house is your grave; there is no coming back home. This is no joke.’”

She says the first time her husband hit her was while they were driving towards his parents home. “I don’t remember the reason as something worth fighting over. He was very irritable that day. He was driving the car and while in the middle of a debate, he punched me

on my shoulder and asked me to stop talking,” she said.

She did not think of it as a big deal. She apologized and let it slide.

It was a few years later that an incident happened which marked the beginning of a new era in their marriage. Intissar recounts that her husband came home from work irritated one night and lashed out complaints at her and their two children who were aged 6 and 4 at the time. “I tried to calm him down but that didn’t have an impact on him at all,” she said. Ever since that day, beatings have become a regular problem. The saga continued for 11 years, and Intissar finally decided to quit the marriage. “My family members were not supportive at all of my decision to get a divorce. My parents were against the idea because they thought it would fail to provide a healthy environment for me to raise my children, but it was my concern for my children’s well-being that led me to take this decision.

Being brought up in a hostile environment started to affect them. It negatively affected how they socialized at school and their academic performance and grades. I endured the pain at first because I had hope that he would change, I loved him and I had hope in him. But after years of living in humiliation, I lost this hope and I realized that I should have walked out of the marriage much earlier,” she said.

Intissar now works with other women suffering from domestic violence. Because she doesn’t have any aca-

demic credentials, she works unofficially with a number of family consultants in holding small support group meetings. “Our society is still ashamed of speaking about family matters, and while secrecy is good, too much of it is destructive. I know a lot of women, relatives and friends, who suffer from domestic abuse but prefer not to address these issues,” she says.

Echoing her sentiments, Ministry of Education family relations consultant Khaled Al-Mohannadi, stated that by sweeping the issue of domestic abuse under the rug, the problem is only getting bigger. “Officials seem to either deny the existence of this issue or trivialize it. It is as if by denying it, they will make it disappear. Even when the numbers in statistics are screaming that we have a problem, we see no proper reaction from officials. For example, the Ministry of Information doesn’t have regulations for censoring violence on television. In fact most television series produced in Kuwait include many scenes of violence that are not censored. It has a very negative impact, and proper measures should be taken,” he noted. Al-Mohannadi added that domestic violence is a broad term that includes beating children and domestic help, as well as offending them and humiliating them verbally. “This can create a loss of love, respect, and safety in the household. These are essential aspects, and if they are lost then we have a big problem,” he said. The consultant urged the establishment of a campaign to curb the effects of domestic violence.

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Local

social media

FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

Gulf governments take to

By Sultan Sooud Al-Qassemi

I

n the past few months, the potential of social media outreach in the Gulf hasn’t only been noticed and exploited by marketing firms but also by regional governments and officials. After all, there are a staggering 7.4 million Facebook users in the Gulf according to Inside Facebook as of May this year and 5.5 million Twitter users in the Middle East according to ArabCrunch as of March this year.

The most intriguing use of social media in the Gulf has to be that of Kuwaiti citizens interacting with their elected MPs. Social media in Kuwait seems more like an extension of the Kuwaiti parliament with tweets questioning MPs on policies, even teasing them, and going as far as poking fun at them. One MP for instance is referred to as “The Pen” signifying he’s in the pocket of the government.

Another female MP is “advised” in a rather sexist remark to launch a lingerie campaign.

One Gulf government that has embraced social media is Bahrain where a number of Cabinet ministers including those responsible for the foreign, interior and information portfolios maintain active Twitter profiles. Perhaps the most visible example of official social media use in the Gulf in the past few months was by Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmad Al-Khalifa who, following what seems to have been an unauthorized and misstated statement from the Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs on the government’s plan to dissolve Al-Wefaq opposition party, immediately tweeted: “A clarification: Bahrain is not seeking to dissolve political societies, official statement was incorrect.”

A growing number of officials across the

Gulf are beginning to understand the significance of social media’s outreach. The experience of Saudi blogger Fouad Al-Farhan illustrates this change. Al-Farhan was arrested in Jeddah in December 2007 and held in solitary confinement until April 2008 after posting a controversial blog naming his ten least favorite Saudis whom he never wants to meet that included a senior Islamic cleric, a billionaire prince and a Cabinet minister. In a sign of changing times, Al-Farhan, whose popularity only grew after his release (he has over 15,600 followers on Twitter) was one of five Saudis invited earlier this year to meet the Governor of Makkah, Prince Khalid Al-Faisal, following the 2011 Jeddah floods. The meeting, held to explain the government’s efforts to deal with the floods, was broadcast on national television and the prince asked Al-Farhan to convey his regards to his followers on Twitter .

Another impressive presence on Twitter is

that of Abdul Aziz Khoja, the Saudi minister of information and culture. The 69-year-old former diplomat personally updates his Twitter profile and interacts with Saudi as well as non-Saudi users, even asking a journalist why he hasn’t been active on Facebook recently.

Another breed is the Gulf official who has a Twitter account under a pseudonym and only follows people without tweeting. During a recent visit to Riyadh, I was approached by someone who told me he follows my tweets but refused to disclose his Twitter handle.

Perhaps he thought I would expose him to others online.

A bone of contention is the role that members of Gulf ruling families play on the Internet, or at least the role that they are perceived to play. A senior Gulf diplomat told me that some people took the online rants of one ruling family member as representing “official state policy”. “No one knows he’s an 18-year-

Kuwait seems more like an extension of the Kuwaiti parliament with tweets questioning MPs on policies, even teasing them, and going as far as poking fun at them.

old student”, he explained “I had to call his family and pull the plug on his account before he does any serious damage”. Should young non-government affiliated members of ruling Gulf families restrain themselves on social media? Or perhaps they should simply refrain from using the government-affiliated family name on a medium that is public to air personal grievances.

Governments are also using Twitter to disseminate breaking news and even corporate announcements. For instance, many UAE residents learnt of the recent takeover of Dubai Bank by the government of Dubai through the Emirate’s official media Twitter account @DXBMediaOffice. Dubai also has a highly interactive police Twitter account @DubaiPoliceHQ that updates the community on the latest news and warns it regarding financial fraud along with interesting facts about crime prevention. The UAE’s Prime Minister also has a large following of over 400,000 on Twitter and a similar number on Facebook. I also happen to know of two other UAE Cabinet ministers who use Twitter anonymously.

Overall, the embrace of Gulf governments and officials of social media has to be seen as a positive phenomenon, even if such officials only use social media in a passive manner to follow developments. In the absence of real world direct lines of communications social media is filling the void between citizens and officials at a time when we are in dire need to break down barriers and expand understanding.

— Sultan Sooud Al-Qassemi is a non-resident fellow at the Dubai School of Government.

Local FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

KUWAIT: His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah visited the Bayt Abdullah Children’s Hospice recently. HH Sheikh Nasser was accompanied by Health Minister Dr Hilal Al-Sayer, Advisor at the diwan of His Highness the Prime Minister Dr Ismael Kheder Al-Shatti, Advisor at the diwan of His Highness the Prime Minister Faisal Al-Haji, Advisor at the diwan of His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikha Rasha Homoud Al-Sabah and other senior officials of the diwan. — KUNA

Sheikh Nasser visits Bayt Abdullah house Prime Minister Sheikha Rasha Homoud Al-Sabah and other senior officials of the diwan.

Margaret Al-Sayer, the founder of Bayt Abdullah, addressing HH the Prime Minister, said the house was designed to accommodate the needs of children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions and ailments and their families.

She then thanked His Highness the Amir Sheikh

KUWAIT: His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah visited the Bayt Abdullah Children’s Hospice on Friday. HH Sheikh Nasser was accompanied by Health Minister Dr Hilal Al-Sayer, Advisor at the diwan of His Highness the Prime Minister Dr Ismael Kheder Al-Shatti, Advisor at the diwan of His Highness the Prime Minister Faisal Al-Haji, Advisor at the Diwan of His Highness the

Australian eVisa introduced in Kuwait

By Elizabeth Pickworth

KUWAIT: Yesterday, officials from the Australian embassy held a meeting to introduce the new eVisa application process for Kuwaitis seeking to travel and study in Australia. Each year, more and more Kuwaitis are taking the advantage of Australia’s visa system to enjoy the vacation of a lifetime and to study abroad. The Australian Government’s eVisa program is a sophisticated electronic visa service that provides eligible Kuwaiti citizens with a fast, efficient and safe way of obtaining a tourist visa.

Forget the long lines, stacks of paperwork and biometric scanning - the eVisa system waivers the need to go through the various hoops to obtaining a Visa. Lodgement is available 24 hours which means you can apply for a visa in the comfort and privacy of your own home. Once you submit your visa application, you can check your status online at anytime. Once your visa is approved, you will be contacted via email.

Payment is made by credit card through a secure site. Like a paper based visa, you can use it for sightseeing, visiting relatives and other non-work related activities. “Australia is home to some of the most beautiful landscape in the world. From cosmopolitan Melbourne to the pristine Great Barrier Reef Australia has it all” said Glenn Miles, Australian Ambassador to Kuwait.

If you or your adolescent is thinking of studying abroad in Australia, the eVisa process is just a few clicks away. The autogrant feature enables tourists and students who meet all eVisa requirements to be fast tracked and approved in only eight hours.

For a fuss-free way of applying for your visa, visit www.immi.gov.au

Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah for his great efforts to make the project possible, and most importantly, granting of the plot of land on which the hospice was built.

At the end of the visit, HH the Prime Minister praised the vision behind this project, the first to be launched in Kuwait, affirming the government’s readiness to support the civil society. — KUNA

Rashed denies advising Sheikh Ahmad to quit MPs redact Bahrain issue from grilling motion

By B Izzak KUWAIT: State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Ali Al-Rashed yesterday categorically denied that he advised Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad AlSabah Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Housing and Development to step down.

Rashed was reacting to a report that appeared in an electronic newsletter which claimed that the minister had exerted concerted efforts to bridge the gap between Sheikh Ahmad and Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah following Tuesday’s controversial parliamentary session.

During a vote on a request to refer a grilling motion against Sheikh Ahmad to the assembly’s legal and legislative committee, about 10 MPs known to be close to the prime minister voted against the request.

Some reports later described the move as an open confrontation between Sheikh Ahmad and the premier.

Sheikh Ahmad held several meetings on Wednesday, including one with HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad AlSabah and reportedly cancelled a visit to London to try to meet with the Amir who is on a private visit following successful medical tests. Rashed said in an official statement that the issue of resignation did not come up for discussion with Sheikh Ahmad.

Sheikh Ahmad, meanwhile, submitted a legal memorandum to the National Assembly yesterday in which he explained the reasons why he requested to file the grilling motion against him to be referred to the legal committee. In the memorandum, Sheikh Ahmad refutes the entire grilling, claiming it to be in breach of the

Constitution and calling for scrapping the grilling motion on a legal and constitutional basis. In the meantime, MPs Waleed AlTabtabae, Mohammad Hayef and Mubarak Al-Waalan, who filed a grilling motion against the prime minister yesterday, submitted an official request to redact a portion of the grilling motion, citing national unity.

The three lawmakers said they want to redact the portion on Kuwaiti doctors who went to Bahrain during the Shiite-led protests in March but were sent back to Bahraini authorities. In the original grilling motion, the three MPs accused the prime minister of being responsible for the problem because the government did not take any measures regarding the composition of the team. It ultimately made Bahraini author-

ities refer back to the team. MP Tabatabae said they decided to withdraw the issue because they do not want to create any sectarian rift and eventually preserve national unity. It was reported that Bahrain rejected the team because most of the staff members were Shiite Kuwaitis. The grilling motion charges the prime minister with harming national security because his government favored good ties with Iran at the expense of relations with Gulf Arab states. Youth activists, who staged two noisy protests on previous Fridays, planned a massive rally in a square outside the National Assembly building today to press for the ouster of the prime minister. Almost all political groupings and a large number of MPs have expressed total support for the rally.

KUWAIT: National Assembly Speaker Jassem Mohammad Al-Kharafi received US Ambassador to Kuwait Deborah K Jones where they focused their talks on issues of bilateral relations as well as recent developments in the region and the world. — KUNA

Local FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

Heat wave grips Kuwait Dusty weather conditions to continue today KUWAIT: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) announced yesterday that air traffic is moving normally in spite of bad weather, that dominated the country today.

Essam Al-Zamil, Head of Operations at Kuwait International Airport, said that the movement of aircraft arriving and departing at the airport is normal, noting that the current vision in the airport is 500 meters which allows the movement of air navigation. Kuwait’s meteorologist, Essa Ramadan said the country experienced dusty weather conditions yesterday and will continue today due to north-western winds and in turn will bring down the temperature noticeably. Ramadan said that the wind speed is expected to be 16 and 45 kilometers per hour, while horizontal visibility is expected between 200-500 meters in desert areas and might reach less than 200 in Abdali, Salmi areas. Horizontal visibility is expected to be around 2,800 meters in Kuwait City.

The Kuwaiti official added that lower temperatures are also expected in coastal areas and its surroundings. However, north-western winds accompanied by dust is expected to pickup also today and tomorrow. The country is currently under the grip of an unusual heat wave, recording high temperatures of 51 degrees Celsius in Abdali, expected to continue further, Kuwait Civil Aviation meteorologist Essa Ramadan said yesterday.

Ramadan said that recorded high temperatures at this time increased by six degrees, adding that the current heat wave is called

In the

KUWAIT: Motorists drive through a wave of dust. — Photo by Joseph Shagra Ramadan pointed out that the continuous ‘lahoob.’ He added that the old record for highest temperature recorded past 50 years in dry weather will persist as humidity decreased Kuwait International airport was 50 degrees by 20 percent, reaching less than five percent.

Celsius. During the past two days, tempera- Meanwhile in Dasman, Kuwait City, monitoring tures recorded in Kuwait City varied between station recorded 48 degrees Celsius. The 47 to 49 degrees Celsius, other monitoring sta- unusual heat wave is a result of several factors tions recorded unusual temperatures between including the geographic location of Kuwait 50 to 51 degrees Celsius in north west of and the effect of north-westerly winds from Zogras Mountains in Iran, “the movement of Kuwait.

news

‘Social security, a strategic goal’ GENEVA: Kuwait stressed here yesterday that social security is a strategic goal for the government in order to reach desired social justice. The Public Authority for Minors Affairs was established owing to his reason. Hadi Mohammed Al-Enezi, Director of Labor Relations at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MSAL) said in a Kuwait’s speech before the centennial round of the International Labor Organization (ILO) that the Kuwaiti government also offers social assistance for different categories such as students and persons with special needs, widows, divorced women and special cases which demonstrate an actual need of financial assistance.

Census Bureau makes progress KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Census Bureau said that it has completed most of the counting process for the 2011 census.

There are only a small number of nationals and residents that have not entered their details, the body said in a statement. The bureau will continue to receive and process personal information over the Internet and at civil service branches across the country. The body thanked state institutions who have been giving a helping hand on the way, like the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, among others.

Safar discusses large-scale projects KUWAIT: The Minister of Public Works and State Minister for Municipality Affairs Fadhel Safar discussed here yesterday with a visiting Chinese delegation, means of fostering cooperation and exchange of expertise in large-scale projects. Safar briefed the delegation about the role played by the Ministry of Public Works and Kuwait Municipality in executing giant projects in Kuwait. — KUNA

wind on the plains of Iraq causes more heat and drought in Kuwaiti deserts,” he added.

“The unusual heat wave in the past few days is due to high air pressure in the upper atmosphere in the northern areas of the Arabian Peninsula, moving hot air masses from the southern Arabian Peninsula, causing high temperatures throughout the region,” he said.

Ramadan added that Kuwait is affected in these days “longest days of the year as more solar radiation by sun rays, which are almost vertical at an angle of up to 84 degrees.” He explained, “Such heat waves usually come to us during the late month of July and early August, but the change in the weather seems clear in recent years, which requires great preparation for such changes expected in the Arab region in general.”

Ramadan expected a decline in temperatures on the coasts and the suburbs of Kuwait City to go back north-westerly winds moderate to active, with some dust as it will help to lower temperatures through Friday and Saturday.

(Meteorologist and researcher Dr Saleh AlOjairi yesterday said that today, June 3, would see the highest tide along Kuwaiti shores in 2011, adding sea level would reach 3.88 meters. Al-Ojairi said that several factors are behind the phenomenon including conjunction of the Sun and the Moon and a solar eclipse, not visible in the region. Another factor is that combined gravity of the Sun and Moon comes to 16 degrees and the moon is to be on its shallowest point, he pointed out. — KUNA

KUWAIT: Organizers of a rally held in support of His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser AlMohammad Al-Sabah gathered at Al-Irada Square late yesterday. A few supporters were present at the venue to pledge solidarity to the premier.

One of the organizers told the media that the proceedings of the day were cancelled due to poor weather conditions.

He urged citizens to assemble on June 9 to celebrate the safe return of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah to the country following a medical checkup. — Photo

by Joseph Shagra

Kuwait to ink tourism agreement with Jordan KUWAIT: Kuwait will sign a tourism agreement with Jordan next September, Minister of Commerce and Industry Dr Amani Bourisly announced yesterday.

She added, in remarks made to the media on the sidelines of a meeting with the visiting Jordanian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Dr Haifa Abu Ghazaleh, that this agreement will be signed during

the upcoming conference of Arab tourism ministers, to be held in Aqaba.

This agreement aims at improving joint tourism cooperation, especially in the fields of promotion and investment.

The ministers’ meeting focused on the Kuwaiti tourism investments in Jordan, besides efforts made by the kingdom in improving this sector.

Bourisly said Jordan is a new destination for Kuwaiti tourists, especially for medical and entertainment purposes.

Abu Ghazaleh stressed on the importance of signing this agreement with Kuwait, being a pioneer in tourism investments in her country. She invited Bourisly to attend the upcoming ministerial conference. — KUNA

FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

Syrian forces kill 15 in besieged town

Romney charges that Obama has ‘failed America’

Japan PM survives with offer to quit

16 17 15 Tribal forces march on Sanaa SANAA: Anti-government protestors shout slogans during a demonstration demanding the resignation of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh yesterday. — AP

SANAA: Thousands of armed tribesmen clashed with government troops in the mountains yesterday, preparing to march into Yemen’s capital to reinforce their brethren in nearly two weeks of fighting that has pushed the impoverished country to the brink of civil war. Artillery and gun battles in Sanaa forced the closure of Yemen’s main international airport, on the capital’s outskirts. To the south, tribesmen attacked government forces in a second city, Taiz, highlighting how the Sanaa fighting threatens to flare around the highly fragmented nation, home to an active Al-Qaeda branch.

Nearly four months of mostly peaceful street protests calling for democratic reforms and the end of President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 33-year rule have given way to an eruption of violence between Saleh’s security forces and fighters loyal to Sheikh Sadeq Al-Ahmar, head of the country’s most powerful tribal confederation, the Hashid, which has announced its support for the protest movement. The move of new tribal forces toward Sanaa portended an expansion of

a conflict that threatens to turn into an all-out battle for power. Given Yemen’s complex web of tribal alliances and family rivalries, an increase in the tribal forces could suck in others of the many armed factions in a country rife with weapons. Saleh’s side was also stepping up its forces: Yemen’s Defense Ministry said for the first time in a statement that Special Forces units commanded by Saleh’s son Ahmed had joined the fight. The units - among the best equipped and trained in Yemen’s armed forces - were moving to “liberate” buildings in Sanaa seized by al-Ahmar’s fighters, who took control of more than a dozen ministries and buildings since fighting broke out last week. Fighting raged in at least two areas of the capital overnight, and in one of them - the northern Hassaba district - it continued into the day yesterday. Heavy artillery and gunfire shook homes near the upper house of parliament, the central prison and the road to the state TV headquarters in the district, which has been the epicenter of the battles.

Sanaa airport was closed Wednesday night

and remains shut for fear that planes could be hit in the shelling. Information on dead and wounded in yesterday’s clashes was not immediately available, though residents said they’d seen many ambulances in the city. Since the wave of protests against Saleh began in February, a number of army units have abandoned the president and announced their support for the opposition, including 1st Armored Division commander, Maj Gen Ali Mohsen AlAhmar, who is not related to the tribal chief. So far, however, his 50,000 troops have not joined the fight, despite government attacks on their bases. An Al-Ahmar aide said yesterday the commander was avoiding confrontations. “We know that Saleh wants to drag us into a war, but we will not engage in any military operations,” the aide said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

The fighting in the capital broke out last week after government forces moved against the al-Ahmar family compound in Hassaba, a vir-

tual armed fortress like many compounds owned by Yemen’s powerful tribal chiefs. The Al-Ahmar family had announced the Hashid confederation’s backing for the protest movement weeks earlier, but its armed fighters had avoided clashes with Saleh’s forces. The Hashid are a formidable opponent to Saleh. The AlAhmar family’s 10 brothers play prominent roles in business and politics in Yemen, and several of them publicly criticized Saleh and called for his ouster well before the uprising. The Hashid confederation, made up of 10 northern-based tribes, is Yemen’s most powerful tribal grouping.

A tribal leader, Mohammed Al-Hamdani, said yesterday that several thousand Hashid fighters have moved out of the Al-Ahmar family’s ancestral homeland - the city of Amran, 45 km northwest of Sanaa - and were camped out on the road to the capital, awaiting orders to move in to join their brethren. The fighters were organized into military-style units under the command of Hussein al-Ahmar, the younger brother of the tribal head, Al-Hamdani said. — AP

International FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

Suicides shed light on darker side of Dubai’s glitz DUBAI: Indian labourer Athiraman Kannan kept to his routine in the hours before he jumped off the world’s tallest building. Three weeks ago, he arrived at Dubai’s Burj Khalifa at 7 am, clocked in and headed to where he was working on the upper reaches of the 163-storey tower. About an hour later, the 38-yearold father of one flung himself off the Burj Khalifa’s 147th floor, dying instantly when he hit the 108th floor. “I spoke to him the night before and he seemed fine,” said another Indian worker, a friend and former roommate who had known him for seven years. “I still can’t believe he did this.”

Kannan’s leap off the Burj Khalifa was the 26th known suicide by an Indian worker in the country in 2011.

Last year, 113 Indians committed suicide, roughly one every three days. The deaths have focused fresh attention to the plight of migrant workers in the

United Arab Emirates where armies of overall-clad labourers swarm over construction sites, seldom noticed by those in the plush office blocks and shopping malls. Many labourers are paid less than 1,000 dirhams ($270) a month and are typically saddled with large debts.

Workers complain of unpaid wages, excessive working hours, high recruitment fees, isolation and employers holding their passports to restrict their movement.

Kannan arrived a decade ago in the glitzy Gulf Arab desert state from a green and culturally rich city in India’s south, but became embroiled in a family inheritance dispute after his eldest brother passed away. Isolated and stressed, he told friends he planned to return home and settle the matter days before his death. Local media said Kannan had been denied permission to take leave, a charge his employer

Arabtec strongly denies. “He’s not alone ... there are many of us here in camps who suffer from problems,” said the worker, who did not want to be identified for fear of action from his company.

Kannan had spoken about his depression over the financial issues at home. He earned more than 2,500 dirhams per month and supported his elderly parents, wife and four year-old son. “He was trying to go back home and had booked for leave just two days before he killed himself,” said his friend.

The United Arab Emirates, a small but wealthy OPEC member with big ambitions to become a major financial and cultural centre, is home to 1.75 million Indians. They are the largest expatriate population, and three of every five are labourers, according to Indian government figures.

Kannan’s death was followed by the suicide of another Indian worker, who

Libya to replace top energy chief NATO strikes target Tripoli TRIPOLI: The Libyan government said yesterday it will send a representative to the next OPEC meeting, replacing the top oil official who defected saying he had lost faith in the rule of Muammar Gaddafi. Shokri Ghanem, who oversaw Libya’s oil and gas sector, is the second most senior official to quit and rebels said the defection showed that the end is nearing for Gaddafi almost four months into a nationwide rebellion against him. But a government spokesman in Tripoli played down the significance of Ghanem’s departure.

“This is a country, a state, a government, not just one person,” Mussa Ibrahim told Reuters. He said the government would be represented at the meeting of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in Vienna on June 8.

“I don’t have a name yet but we’ll have somebody,” he said.

In rebel-held eastern Libya, an explosion damaged a hotel used by rebels and foreigners in Benghazi, wounding one person. Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, vice chairman of the rebel National Transitional Council in Benghazi, told Reuters the explosion outside Tibesti hotel was believed to have been caused by a hand grenade thrown in a “desperate attempt” by Gaddafi’s loyalists to sow terror. Now in its fourth month, the Libyan conflict is deadlocked, with rebels unable to break out of their strongholds and advance towards Tripoli, where Gaddafi appears to be firmly entrenched.

Rebels control the east of Libya around Benghazi, the third-biggest city Misrata, and a mountain range stretching from the town of Zintan, 150 km south of Tripoli, towards the western border with Tunisia. Western governments say they believe they are gradually wearing down Gaddafi’s ability to

BENGHAZI: A Libyan volunteer jumps over his comrades during a military training course before going to the frontline in this rebel stronghold yesterday. — AP control the country, through a combination of diplomatic pressure and military action. Gaddafi has signalled he has no intention of stepping down. He says the rebels are armed criminals and Al-Qaeda militants, and has called the NATO intervention an act of colonial aggression designed to grab Libya’s plentiful oil.

Explosions were heard in central Tripoli in the early hours of yesterday and aircraft could be heard flying overhead. Libyan state television said NATO warplanes - which have repeatedly bombed Gaddafi’s Bab Al-Aziziyah complex in the centre of Tripoli - had struck targets in the city. In Misrata, rebel fighters have driven forces loyal to Gaddafi out of the centre of the city and pushed westwards towards the neighbouring town of Zlitan, where they were exchanging artillery fire. “They (proGaddafi forces) are randomly bombard-

ing from an area near Zlitan,” said a rebel spokesman called Youssef, by telephone from Misrata. “They are using mortars and Grad rockets. There are no casualties (among the rebels) for the moment, thank God.” Residents in Zlitan say pro-Gaddafi forces have been moving into the town and mounting a crackdown to prevent Gaddafi opponents from rising up and joining the rebels.

“Gaddafi has tightened security here. His brigades have been getting reinforcement every day. They have stepped up their campaign to arrest, terrify and frighten residents,” a rebel spokesman in Zlitan, who identified himself as Mabrouk, said. “Most residents here support the revolutionaries but they cannot come out for fear of being killed by Gaddafi who brought criminals and provided them with all types of arms including hand grenades.” —Reuters

jumped from the third floor of his labour camp building this week. Shortly after Kannan died, the Indian embassy in the UAE launched a three-month, five-language radio campaign telling its citizens about a distress hotline and help centre set up last November, the Indian Worker Resource Centre. “Any death is shocking, it is shocking for us,” said M K Lokesh, India’s ambassador to the UAE. The issues, he said, are “depression, financial problems - they miss their families”. The hotline mostly received calls about legal issues, the envoy said, with very few calling about personal issues related to the vicious cycle of debt and poverty faced by many Indian labourers in the country.

Embassy officials have conducted outreach programs in labour camps, dusty housing complexes far away from the gleaming towers of Dubai, and also pushed for a minimum wage. —Reuters

Bahrain wary of protests before Formula 1 ruling MANAMA: Bahrain, eager for Formula One organisers to reinstate a motor race postponed after popular protests erupted in February, acted to prevent any unrest yesterday after lifting martial law earlier in the week. Police patrolled the streets of Manama and villages around the capital to snuff out any pro-democracy protests a day before the world motor racing body meets to decide whether Bahrain can stage its prestigious Grand Prix race later in the year. Bahrain’s Sunni royal family imposed military rule for three months and brought in Saudi and United Arab Emirates troops in mid-March to help quell protests mostly by majority Shiites.

The government says the end of emergency law this week is a sign that things have gone back to normal in the island state, on the frontline of the cold war between Shiite power Iran and Sunni-ruled Gulf Arab dynasties allied with the United States. “Let’s bring Bahrain Formula One back. Together we can,” signposts say in Manama. Rights activists say emergency law was ended two weeks early in order to win back the Bahrain Grand Prix. US-based Human Rights Watch has said the sport’s governing body should weigh a heavy crackdown on opposition activists during 11 weeks of martial law when it makes its decision.

Military trials of 21 mostly Shiite dissidents continue, but King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa has offered new dialogue on reform with all sides, without spelling out its parameters. Zainab Al-Khawaja, the daughter of one of the accused, was summoned by police yesterday, but it was not clear if she would be referred to prosecutors. She held a hunger strike in April after her father was arrested and later charged, like the others, with seeking to overthrow the system.

Britain lifted a travel advisory this week but expressed concern over rights abuse. “We remain deeply concerned by reports of human rights abuses, including the recent arrests of protesters and medical staff and the nature of the charges brought against them,” Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt said on Wednesday. Shiites staged small protests in several villages on Wednesday, despite checkpoints maintained by security forces. Internet footage posted by activists showed clashes involving tear gas. The government said its forces did not open fire. Ayat AlQurmuzi, a student, was due to appear at the first session of a military trial for reading out a poem at the Pearl Roundabout, the epicentre of the protests. The six minutelong poem, available on YouTube, called on the king and ruling Sunni Al-Khalifa family to implement reforms. Rights activist Nabeel Rajab said Qurmuzi was expected to be charged with insulting the king. —Reuters

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FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

Syrian forces kill 15 in besieged town Activists call for more protests

MOGADISHU: A Somali government soldier patrols on foot during clashes with insurgents in the Bakara market neighborhood yesterday. — AP

Mogadishu bomber was Somali-American MOGADISHU: The militant group Al-Shabab said the man who carried out a suicide bomb attack on a base in Mogadishu this week was a Somali-American, and an official said Thursday that separate clashes with militants in Somalia’s capital left at least 17 civilians dead. Al-Shabab said on its website yesterday that a 25-year-old man named Abdullahi Ahmed was the suicide bomber who attacked an African Union peacekeeping base in Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital, on Monday, killing two AU troops and one government soldier.

Ahmed was said to have moved to Somalia from Minnesota two years ago.

The Internet report purported to quote Ahmed before his death saying that he wanted to carry out the attack because of abuses by Christians of Muslim countries. If the report is confirmed, Ahmed would become at least the third SomaliAmerican to have carried out a suicide bombing in Somalia.

Somali Islamic insurgents - some of whom have links to AlQaida - have been recruiting young Somali men in America and other countries amid fears that insurgents could use the men to attack foreign targets.

Somali troops backed by African Union peacekeepers yesterday continued to attempt to oust militants from Mogadishu’s main Bakara market. Mogadishu ambulance chief Ali Muse said medical officials collected 17 dead bodies and 40 people who were wounded in mortar exchanges between the two sides. Bakara market is a top revenue stream for Al-Shabab, which taxes the market’s merchants. Bakara where anything from infant formula to flat-screen TVs are available - is the lynchpin of Mogadishu commerce, making it valuable ground for both sides.

The first known American suicide bomber in Somalia, Shirwa Ahmed from Minneapolis, blew himself up in October 2008 in the northern breakaway republic of Somaliland as part of a series of coordinated explosions that killed 21 people. In Sept 2009, insurgents including an 18-year-old from Seattle, drove two stolen UN cars into an AU base and detonated them. Twenty-one people were killed. At least 20 SomaliAmericans are believed to have joined Al-Shabab. US authorities have warned that a Somali-American who seeks training from Al-Shabab could return to the United States to carry out an attack. — AP

BEIRUT: Syrian government troops pounded a central town with artillery and gunfire yesterday, renewing attacks in a restive area that has been largely cut off from outside contact for six days.

At least 15 people died, bringing the total killed there to 72 since the onslaught began, activists said. What started as street demonstrations calling for reforms evolved into demands for President Bashar Assad’s ouster in the face of the violent crackdown, especially in Syria’s south and center, where the challenge to his family’s 40-year-rule is seen as strongest.

Activists say more than 1,100 people have died in the crackdown and 10,000 have been detained. But it hasn’t slowed the protests, which take place nearly daily and swell into the thousands each Friday. A resident of Rastan, a protest stronghold in central Syria, said the town’s electricity was cut and it was by tanks. He said troops bombed the water supply as well as a mosque and the sports complex. “We have become refugees in our own country,” said the man reached by telephone, who said he fled his home in the town center to escape arrest and was sleeping in the woods. “My family and sisters are still there, and I don’t know how they are doing,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

He said army units entered some neighborhoods Wednesday evening and were making arrests. The Syrian government on Wednesday freed hundreds of political prisoners in an amnesty and the president set up a committee for national dialogue in an effort to end the 10-week uprising, but concessions have been coupled with deadly attacks on the towns seen as the greatest threat to his power. Electricity and telephone lines were cut Saturday in Rastan and some nearby towns, and the government attacks have been unrelenting ever since, activists say.

A movement consisting mostly of Syrian exiles met in Turkey yesterday, trying to find a unified voice and coherent response to the violence. “The one who needs the amnesty is the killer,”

ANTALYA, Turkey: Members of Syrian opposition shout slogans to protest against President Bashar Al-Assad after their meetings in this Turkish coastal city yesterday. — AFP said Molham Aldrobi, a representative of Syria’s outlawed Muslim Brotherhood who attended the conference in Antalya, Turkey. The Local Coordination Committees, which help organize and document Syria’s protests, said a 4-yearold girl was among the most recent deaths in the town of Rastan, where a total of 58 have been killed in the past three days.

The nearby towns of Talbiseh and Teir Maaleh, which like Rastan have seen persistent protests, have also come under attack. There were no reports of protests yesterday in Homs but the Syrian opposition called for nationwide demonstrations tomorrow, the day of prayer, to commemorate the nearly 30 children killed in the uprising.

The images of children who activists say were killed during the government crackdown have circulating widely among Syrians on YouTube, Facebook and opposition websites, shocking the public and stoking even more fury against a regime the opposition says has lost all legitimacy.

Assad issued an amnesty that was said to cover “all members of political movements,” including the Muslim

Brotherhood, which led an armed uprising against Assad’s father in 1982.

Membership in the party is punishable by death. Also Wednesday, the government set up a national dialogue committee, tasked with laying the groundwork for Syrians to discuss their political future. Such concessions would have been unimaginable only months ago, but protesters have already rejected the amnesty as too little, too late.

Syria’s state-run Tishrin daily criticized the meeting in Turkey saying those who are participating in the conference only have one thing in common which is “dependence on foreign countries to interfere in Syria’s internal affairs, destabilize it and undermine its security”.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also issued a warning to the protesters, saying that attempts to change the Assad’s regime by the use of force should be curbed because it will have “catastrophic consequences”. “We insist the reforms begun by Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad should be carried out as soon as possible,” Lavrov said, according to Russia’s Itar Tass news agency. —AP

Iraqi youth fret over scarce jobs, tired of war BAGHDAD: Like most Iraqi university students, Dalia Muthanna is more concerned about finding a job than worrying about bomb attacks or a return of sectarian fighting in her homeland.

More than eight years after the US-led invasion of Iraq that toppled Saddam Hussein, young people are weary of war and more interested in discussing how the country is going to get back on its feet and rebuild its battered infrastructure. Their biggest worry and frustration is finding jobs.

“Any student you talk to will tell

you that he or she dreams of graduating and getting a job, or travelling. But talking about the wars and sectarian issues we went through, they won’t discuss them,” said Muthanna, a 20-year-old computer studies student at Baghdad’s Mustansiriya University. “We rarely speak of these issues, as we talked about them in the past, and we have suffered enough because of them. We try not to speak about issues like war,” she said. Iraq’s official unemployment rate stands at 15 percent although the real figure is believed to be around 30

percent. Around 60 percent of the population relies on a government national food ration program. The high level of unemployment fuels concerns about frustrated young people turning towards militias and insurgent groups, which remain capable of lethal attacks in Iraq, although overall violence has subsided from the peak of sectarian warfare in 2006-7. The country needs massive investment in every sector.

Private industry remains relatively small compared to state-owned enterprises and the government is still the biggest

employer. Iraq depends on oil exports for 95 percent of government revenues.

Mehdi Al-Alak, a deputy planning minister and head of the statistics office, has said at least 25 percent of Iraqis aged 16-29 are unemployed.

Some Iraqi students said there was evidence of influence and recruitment by insurgents’ groups at universities. But they said most young Iraqis saw campus as a place where they could escape from sectarian issues and violence and talk more about the latest fashion and art. —Reuters

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Mladic treated for cancer, says lawyer THE HAGUE: Wartime Bosnian Serb army chief Ratko Mladic was treated for cancer two years ago while evading genocide charges, his lawyer said yesterday on the eve of the ex-general’s first appearance at a UN court. “I have medical records showing that he was treated for lymphoma in 2009 in a Belgrade hospital,” Belgradebased lawyer Milos Saljic who has previously said his client won’t live to see trial, told AFP. The prosecution of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), meanwhile, said the trial of the man dubbed the “Butcher of Bosnia” would not start for months. “It is a complex case, it will take time to prepare,” spokesman Frederick Swinnen said. “It will take several months before the trial starts.” The trial itself is expected to last several years.

Mladic’s one-time mentor, Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, died in The Hague four years into his own genocide trial in 2006, of a heart attack. On Friday, 69-year-old Mladic will be asked to plead to 11 counts of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity at the UN-backed court in The Hague. For long Europe’s most wanted man for atrocities committed during Bosnia’s 1992-95 war that killed 100,000 people, Mladic was arrested in northeast Serbia last Thursday and flown to The Netherlands on Tuesday after Serbian judges denied his appeal on health grounds and found him fit to stand trial.

Belgrade daily Press quoted Saljic as saying that Mladic had suffered three strokes and two heart attacks.

At his first court appearance today, Mladic will be asked by a judge to identify himself and to answer questions about his health and conditions of detention. He may then have the 62-page indictment read out, after which he will be asked to plead to the charges. He will have 30 days to do so, failing which the court will enter a notguilty plea on his behalf.

Mladic is accused of masterminding the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of about 8,000 Muslim men and boys, and the 44-month siege of the capital Sarajevo from May 1992 in which 10,000 people died. If Mladic does enter a guilty plea, there will be no trial and a date will be set for a sentencing hearing. Fe faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. International news crews swarmed into The Hague yesterday and satellite TV trucks jostled for space outside the tribunal.

The tribunal had to rent extra space at a conference centre across the road to handle the expected overflow of visitors hoping to catch a glimpse of the ex-general in the dock. Large screens will be erected and extra chairs put out for people to follow the hearing, with the 100odd seats in the courtroom and even the ICTY lobby expected to be overrun, according to the court’s press office. The ICTY also announced it has assigned a Serbian lawyer from a list of accredited counsel to represent Mladic at his first appearance. Mladic has been informed of his right to appoint a permanent lawyer or to have one assigned to him by the court if he cannot pay, said a court document. — AFP

SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts: People embrace on a street damaged yesterday’s tornado yesterday. Residents of 19 small communities in central and western Massachusetts were left to deal with widespread damage yesterday, one day after at least two late-afternoon tornadoes shocked emergency officials and residents more accustomed to dealing with snow and bone-chilling cold than funnel clouds spawned by spring storms. — AP

Europe E. coli is toxic new strain Trade row grows LONDON: A highly infectious new strain of E.coli bacteria is causing a deadly outbreak of food poisoning that is spreading from Germany across Europe, scientists said yesterday, raising alarm bells worldwide. Experts in China, part of a global network of laboratories racing to understand the sickness which killed a 17th victim overnight, said they had found the bug carried genes that made it resistant to several classes of antibiotics. The UN said the strain had not infected people before.

With more than 1,500 people already ill in one of the worst recorded outbreaks of E.coli, Russia prompted international recriminations by banning imports from the European Union of raw vegetables, thought to be the likely source of infection. “This E. coli is a new strain of bacteria that is highly infectious and toxic,” said the Chinese scientists at the Beijing Genomics Institute in Shenzhen city. At the World Health Organization, the United Nations health watchdog, a spokeswoman said: “This strain has never been seen in an outbreak situation before.”

Holger Rohde, a bacteriologist at Hamburg University Hospital, which has been at the epicentre of the sickness first reported last week said: “We have detected that it is indeed a new, not yet described, variant of this pathogen. “We will be able to draw conclusions from this in future.” Cases have been reported in at least 10 European countries and the United States, although almost all those outside Germany are in people who had recently been there. Moscow had already banned imports of vegetables from Germany and Spain because of the infections, which German officials originally blamed on contaminated cucumbers imported from Spain before

MOSCOW: Fruits and vegetables, including tomatoes and cucumbers, are for sale at an outdoor mini market yesterday. Russia banned yesterday the import of fresh vegetables from European Union countries because of a deadly bacteria scare, as Germany kept up the hunt for the source of the bug that has killed 17 people. — AFP backtracking and apologising to Madrid.

Russia’s ban on Thursday on all raw vegetables from the European Union prompted cries of protest from the Polish and Dutch governments and a rebuke from the European Commission.

Gennady Onishchenko, head of the Russian consumer protection agency Rospotrebnadzor, said the deaths showed the “much-praised European sanitary legislation, which Russia is being urged to adopt, does not work,” Interfax news agency reported. The new ban would take effect today morning, he said. The European Commission said it would write to Moscow within hours to say the move was “disproportionate”.

Spain is threatening legal action over the crisis. It wants compensation for its farmers, who say lost sales are costing them Ä200 million ($287 million) a week and could put 70,000 people out of work.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said the European Commission had been slow to act. “I would have liked a clearer reaction from the Commission,” he said in an interview on state radio RNE. “The German federal government should know that it has an overall responsibility to other states in the European Union and we shall ask for very forthright explanations and...demand sufficient reparations.” — Reuters

Obama has ‘failed America’: Romney WASHINGTON: The battle for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination heated up yesterday with the entry of default frontrunner Mitt Romney into a race devoid of a clear favorite.

In prepared remarks released ahead of announcing his candidacy, the ex-governor of Massachusetts said that President Barack Obama “has failed America,” and vowed to increase the country’s job growth. Considered next-in-line after losing the 2008 nomination to Senator John McCain, strong name recognition has helped Romney, 64, top many early opinion polls, albeit by slim margins in a tightly-bunched field.

In 2008 voters “gave someone new a chance to lead; someone we hadn’t known for very long, who didn’t have much of a record but promised to lead us to a better place,” Romney said. “Now, in the third year of his four-year term, we have more than promises and slogans to go by. Barack Obama has failed America.” As president, Romney said he would cap federal spending at 20 percent or less of the GDP “and finally, finally balance the budget. My generation will pass the torch to the next generation, not a bill,” he said. Romney was to make his candidacy official at a campaign event on a farm in the state of New Hampshire.

Democrats immediately hit back, releasing a video portraying Romney as a politician who is constantly changing his views. The video featured Romney video clips giving divergent opinions on key policy matters. “Romney 2012. Same candidate. Different positions. Again,” is the video tagline.

Romney’s opponents rarely miss a chance to dig at his Achilles’ heel - a state healthcare overhaul that served as an inspiration for Obama’s reforms, which are anathema to core Republican voters. Romney also faces an uphill battle to overcome deep suspicion of his Mormon faith among the Christian right, many of whom consider the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, as it is officially known, heretical.

Contributing to his 2008 nomination failure were doubts from core conservatives that he truly shared their values, as well as questions fueled by his moderate governing style in deeply liberal Massachusetts. After railing against gay marriage and vowing to cut taxes and crack down on illegal immigration, Romney was forced to deny claims he was simply a “flip-flopper” who was ditching previously held liberal positions.

A Boston venture capitalist and founder of a management consultancy, Romney first entered politics in 1994 when he unsuccessfully stood against prominent Democrat Ted Kennedy for Massachusetts senator. In 1999 he was brought in to rescue the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, which had become mired in scandal. He saved the games from financial ruin, then translated the experience into a successful bid for the Massachusetts governorship in 2002. Republican grandees worry the crowded field of possible White House hopefuls could end up helping Obama, who is vulnerable as the economy sputters its way out of the worst downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s. — AFP

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Bangui calm after anti-Muslim violence BANGUI, Central African Republic: Sporadic gunfire was heard overnight in Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic, but tension slowly eased yesterday after two days of bloodshed targeting Muslims. “The night was particularly calm at KM5 (a trading district and epicentre of the clashes) and around it,” said a member of the senior military leadership, adding that there had still been attempts by gangs of youths to loot shops, mostly owned by Muslims. The youths “were quickly dissuaded by warning shots,” the source added. “The forces of law and order have managed to gain control of the situation in the sector,” the source said, while a dusk-to-dawn curfew has been imposed on the 3rd, 5th and 6th districts of Bangui, in the northwest. Seven people are known to have died and 21 have been wounded, according to an official toll.

The violence against the Muslim community

Such belief in witchcraft has a strong hold over some people in central Africa, but most people in Bangui spoke to AFP of the mutual respect between communities. The head of the Association of Christians for the Abolition of Torture, Bruno Hyacinthe Gbiegba, said that these communities live side by side. “In all districts, there are Christians, there are Muslims.”

“Here, in Central Africa, we respect each other’s communities,” said the imam of the central mosque, Kobine Layama, who told AFP that at least “six mosques have been destroyed, three of them totally. (...) We have not asked believers to consider reprisals,” Layama added. “We believe that it’s bandits, thugs who cause this damage, which is not the work of Christians.”

On Wednesday, violence “continued until 6:00 pm (1700 GMT), but there has been no shooting, no attacks, and soldiers are carrying

erupted on Tuesday after the bodies of two children were discovered in the boot of a car belonging to a Muslim. The unrest quickly spread to several parts of Bangui. Residents said that a crowd lynched a relative of the owner of the car, then youths ran riot, many of them Chadian immigrants, and attacked Muslims and their mosques. Hassan Faki, a Muslim, was burying his brother yesterday. “He was atrociously beaten to death by young thugs who were running around the commercial centre at KM5. It’s shocking, but it’s not this that is going to incite me to seek vengeance.”

But Gontran Passe, in his 30s, wanted blood from the Muslims. “They’ve built mosques that sprout like mushrooms, they try to convert youths with talk and with banknotes, when for the most part they are vile criminals who kidnap children to cut out their organs and sell them.”

out patrols,” said Nicaise-Daniel Kabissou, a 27year-old student reached Thursday by AFP in Libreville. An AFP journalist on Wednesday heard explosions, sometimes close together and sometimes sporadic, from inside a zone that had been cordoned off by the army, the paramilitary gendarmerie and the police. One witness said these were warning shots, aimed at looters.

According to tailor Victoire Bayere, on Wednesday “mosques were set on fire, there are many Muslims who have been killed (...) (but) the Muslims avenged themselves on three people”. “At present things are mainly calm,” Victoire Bayere, also contacted from Libreville, said yesterday, adding that there had nevertheless “been a few bangs, this morning.” The country has an 80 percent Christian population, according to official figures, while 10 percent are Muslims. - AFP

Japan PM survives with offer to quit Kan may stay on until autumn

BANGKOK: An Indian roofed turtle is seen in the hand of a Thai custom official during a news conference yesterday. — AFP

Luggage stuffed with 431 reptiles BANGKOK: Thai customs have discovered hundreds of live turtles and other rare animals in luggage at Bangkok’s main airport, the latest in a series of wildlife seizures in the kingdom, an official said yesterday. The haul, which included 35 star tortoises and is worth an estimated one million baht ($33,000), was discovered in suitcases from Bangladesh in transit at Suvarnabhumi Airport on the way to India when an Indian traveler arriving from Bangladesh failed to retrieve his bags. The owner of the luggage, which also included gharials, a reptile related to crocodiles, escaped before police could arrest him.

The star tortoise, which is popular in Asia as an exotic pet, is listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and a permit is required to export them. Last September Thailand - home to some of the world’s largest wildlife trafficking operations - seized more than 1,000 star tortoises that were smuggled into the country on a flight from Bangladesh. And last month a citizen of the United Arab Emirates was arrested as he attempted to smuggle live endangered animals, including four leopard cubs, out of Thailand, although authorities said on Tuesday he had fled the country. — Agencies

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan yesterday survived a noconfidence vote by offering to resign once he has overcome the worst of the country’s nuclear crisis, in a last-minute deal with ruling party rebels who had threatened to oust him from office.

Kan’s offer to step down, probably in the autumn, buys him time to prepare an extra budget to fund the rebuilding cost of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, but does little to resolve the country’s long-running political and policy paralysis. Thanks to Kan’s manoeuvring, the parliamentary noconfidence motion - brought by the opposition over his handling of the country’s deepest crisis since World War Two - was comfortably defeated by 293 to 152 votes.

Yet, weakened by rifts within his own party, Kan may be seen as a lame duck by the opposition and have little luck with tax and social security reforms, which Japan badly needs to contain its bulging debt and which require opposition backing in a divided parliament. A No. 2 in the biggest opposition party, the Liberal Democratic Party, made plain it had no intention to make things any easier for the ruling Democrats despite Kan’s offer. “We plan to carry forward while

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan reacts as he leaves the plenary session at the lower house after surviving a no-confidence motion yesterday. — AP holding a strong belief that the contin- which was knocked out by the tsunauation of the Kan government is not mi. He also needs to come up with a good for the country or for the peo- plan to pay for rebuilding the tsunamiple,” Secretary General Nobuteru hit region north of Tokyo without Ishihara told reporters. He restated his allowing debt, already twice the size of party’s position that it would block a the $5 trillion economy to spin out of bill needed to finance 44 percent of control. Major rating agencies have this fiscal year’s $1 trillion budget warned Japan in the past several weeks unless the Democrats ditched their it risked credit downgrades if a policy spending promises. deadlock made it impossible to tackle Kan, who took office almost exactly the nation’s ills: economic stagnation, a year ago as Japan’s fifth minister in as ballooning debt and rising social secumany years, is battling to control a radi- rity costs in a fast ageing and shrinking ation crisis at the Fukushima plant population. — Reuters

McCain meets Suu Kyi YANGON: US Senator John McCain pledged to support efforts to bring democracy to Myanmar in talks yesterday with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi during a visit to assess the new political landscape. The senior Republican’s visit comes as President Barack Obama, who beat McCain in the 2008 White House race, pursues greater engagement with the nation, whose junta recently handed power to a nominally civilian government. “Mr McCain said they (the US) will always help and support Myanmar democracy. We are also satisfied with the meeting with him,” Suu Kyi told reporters after the pair

met for about one hour at her lakeside mansion.

Suu Kyi was released from house arrest in November shortly after the junta held the first election in 20 years. The vote, which was won by the military’s political proxies, was marred by widespread complaints of cheating and intimidation. The US senator has described Suu Kyi as “my inspiration” and wrote in the guestbook at her party’s headquarters: “Thank you for unwavering support for ‘the Lady’,” as she is widely known in Myanmar, also known as Burma.

On Wednesday McCain, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed

Services Committee, met with Vice President Tin Aung Myint Oo and Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin in the capital Naypyidaw, according to state media. They “exchanged views on promotion of bilateral ties and cooperation between the two countries,” the New Light of Myanmar reported. He also met yesterday with senior figures of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party as well as a small group of recently released political prisoners and people infected with HIV. The NLD was abolished by the junta for boycotting the November poll and has no voice in the new parliament.—AFP

YANGON: US Sen John McCain bids farewell to Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi at her lakeside home after holding talks yesterday. — AP

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Top education for less in the Philippines MANILA: Thousands of foreign university students are flocking to the Philippines, attracted by cheap yet high-quality courses conducted in English and an easy-going lifestyle outside class. With more than 2,100 private and state-run institutions nationwide offering a wide array of courses, and an immigration policy friendly to foreign students, the former American colony is enjoying an enrolment boom. Nearly 20,000 foreign students held special visas at the end of the school year in March, according to the immigration bureau, which said the number would rise when classes began in June.

This excludes the tens of thousands enrolled in small institutions that offer short courses in English and are particularly popular among South Korean and Chinese students.

Nigerian medical student Dike Edward Ikechukwu, 22, said he learnt about studying in the Philippines at an education road show conducted by Manila schools

in his country. Then already studying pharmacology in Lagos, Ikechukwu said he was intrigued by the prospect of studying in a foreign country where he could expand his medical knowledge without depleting the family resources. “It was cost effective for me,” said Ikechukwu, who is president of the 605-member foreign students’ organisation at Manila’s 400-year-old University of Santo Tomas. “I would have spent so much more in the United States for the same quality of education.”

A four-year degree course in the Philippines costs between 1,000 and 2,500 dollars a year, significantly cheaper than in the United States for example where one could spend more than 30,000 dollars annually, educators here say.

Another important factor for Ikechukwu was English. He said his father, a shipping consultant, travelled to the Philippines before he enrolled to inspect the university and liked the fact English was widely spoken. The Philippines inherited

English from the Americans, who colonised the archipelago at the end of a war with Spain in 1898.

American teachers fanned out across the country to open up schools in remote villages, teaching English grammar, diction and generally instilling a love for education in a legacy that lasts to this day.

Even though the Philippines is one of the poorest countries in Asia with one of the biggest wealth divides, the literacy rate remains one of the highest in the region at about 90 percent, according to government data. The government began enticing foreign students to study in the Philippines in the 1980s, mostly in specialised fields such as medicine and agriculture.

The following decade saw an explosion of schools and institutions offering short-term courses in English language, aviation, hotel and restaurant management and maritime-related classes.

Then, in 2000, the government embarked on a strategy to promote

the Philippines as a centre for education in Asia, with one plank making it easier for foreign students to apply for visas. It also established exchange programs between Philippine schools and universities in many countries, including Australia, the United States, South Korea, Canada and European nations.

Professor Evelyn Songco, assistant to the rector for student affairs at the University of Santo Tomas, credited the high number of foreigners to the government’s strong push to make the Philippines an academic hub in Asia. “Many Philippine schools are accredited abroad, and those who graduated from here have created a good impression around the world,” she said. “Our diplomas are competitive abroad, and Philippine universities have always strived to do justice to the tuition fees these foreigners pay. We give them quality education, quality faculty members and facilities.” —AFP

Taleban border attack kills 34 in Pakistan 45 militants also killed

GURGAON, India: Indian spiritual guru Swami Ramdev gestures as he addresses supporters some 25 km south of New Delhi yesterday. — AFP

Guru anti-graft fast gaining momentum NEW DELHI: India’s government suffered a fresh blow yesterday in containing growing anger over corruption from millions of voters as a leading civil activist joined forces with an influential yoga guru in a “fast-until-death” against graft.

The saffron-robed Swami Ramdev, India’s most famous yoga guru, has pledged a hunger strike from tomorrow to protest against corruption in Asia’s third-largest economy and called on his legions of followers to join him. Anna Hazare, whose highly-publicised fast in April rang a chord with millions of Indians and forced the government to make legislative concessions on an anti-corruption bill, pledged his support yesterday for Ramdev’s strike.

Investors worry the latest troubles will again force the government to pay less attention to reform bills, such as making it easier for industry to acquire land, postponed due to opposition protests over graft causing parliamentary deadlock. “The government has tried to cheat us,” Hazare, whose hunger strike demanding the anti-corruption law triggered protests by thousands of people across India, told reporters. “I will support Baba Ramdev so that the government does not do what it did when we were fighting. We will fight together against corruption.” Such is Ramdev’s popularity that some of India’s most powerful government ministers turned up at Delhi airport to greet him on Wednesday and persuade him to call off the strike. —Rueters

PESHAWAR, Pakistan: Hundreds of heavily armed Taleban besieged a Pakistani checkpost on the Afghan border for a second day yesterday, killing 28 police and six civilians in the deadliest fighting for months. A senior police official told AFP that 500 militants, including Afghan Taleban from across the border and Pakistani Taleban, took part in the attack which began before dawn on Wednesday and continued throughout yesterday.

Police said there were reports of up to 45 militants killed in the clashes, but the information could not be confirmed independently.

Fighting was concentrated around the Shaltalu police checkpoint, surrounded by mountains and forest in the northwestern district of Upper Dir, about six kilometres from the border with Afghanistan’s Kunar province.

Taleban and other Al-Qaeda-linked militants have carved out strongholds on both sides of the porous Afghanistan-Pakistan border, a region that the United States has called one of the most dangerous places on Earth.

The Pakistani military sent reinforcements and helicopter gunships in a bid to quell the attack in an area accessible on the ground only by foot.

“Fighting is still going on in some parts near the checkpost, which was attacked by around 500 Pakistani and Afghan Taleban,” regional police chief Qazi Jamil ur-Rehman told AFP. He

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani boy carrying a bag of fruits he collected for personal use looks on while walking in a market yesterday. The US should hold back much of its $7.5 billion aid package to Pakistan until it reforms dysfunctional policies related to energy, taxes and other areas, according to a new report that criticizes the American aid program’s focus in a country beset by corruption, poverty and militancy. – AP

said 34 people were killed in the attack, including 28 policemen and six civilians, among them two women and two children, who died when mortar rounds struck 15 houses. He had earlier put the death toll at 28. Rehman said 21 security forces personnel and 11 civilians were wounded, and that there were reports of up to 45 militants killed in the fighting. “The fighting is still continuing in some areas.

Police, army and paramilitary forces are carrying out a search operation in the area and we hope to establish our

control by the evening,” he said.

The US-led NATO force in Afghanistan says there are fewer than 100 Al-Qaeda fighters in the east of the country, most of them in Kunar. But military officials stress it is almost impossible to calculate the exact figure. An Afghan police official in Kunar told AFP he was aware that the Taleban or other militiamen had launched attacks “on the other side of the border” and said they had no connection to Afghan government security forces. —AFP

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Talks on new Greek debt measures near an end

Merkel says no problem with euro

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MOSCOW: A picture taken on May 24, 2009 shows the contemporary “Moscow City” construction project next to typical Soviet-era buildings in Moscow. The billions of investor dollars fleeing Russia each week offer a stark counterpoint to Moscow’s aspirations of soon becoming a global financial centre linking London with Hong Kong. — AFP

Kuwait on steady growth path: IMF Fiscal spending appropriate, IMF welcomes VAT plan KUWAIT: Kuwait’s economy will grow steadily in 2011 thanks to government spending and high oil prices after having risen more strongly last year, a document by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) showed yesterday.

Real GDP of the world’s No. 4 oil exporter is projected to grow by 5.2 percent this year, slightly down from the IMF’s April forecast of 5.3 percent.

“The economy is expected to grow steadily in 2011 and over the medium term as the government implements the development plan and global recovery supports demand for oil,” the IMF said in a document following regular consultations with Kuwait.

In 2010, the OPEC member’s economy is estimated to have grown by 3.3 percent,

the IMF said, well above its previous estimate of 2.0 percent.

Analysts polled by Reuters in March expected economic output to grow by 4.0 percent this year in Kuwait, which has seen only limited public protests in the political unrest that has swept other parts of the Middle East.

The IMF consultation took place between April 27 and May 9, according to the document posted on Kuwait’s central bank website www.cbk.gov.kw showed.

Kuwait has been hoping to attract more investment to prepare for the time when oil runs out. So far, its $133 billion economy is dominated by the state oil industry, the biggest employer outside the public service.

The IMF said government expenditure

excluding energy subsidies and social security recapitalisation is estimated to have increased by 21.5 percent.

Expenditure accelerated in the second half of the fiscal year 2010/2011 with a cash-and-food social grant accounting for half of the increase.

“Continued fiscal stimulus is appropriate at this juncture,” the IMF said.

“Nevertheless ... expenditure should be moderated if signs of overheating emerge.”

Kuwait has boosted projected spending by nearly 10 percent to 17.9 billion dinars ($65 billion) in its government budget for the current fiscal year, which started in April.

The fund also said it expected Kuwait’s monetary policy to remain accommodative due to its currency basket peg, dominated

by the US dollar, and low global interest rates.

The central bank last cut its discount rate by 50 basis points to 2.5 percent in February 2010 to help Kuwait’s economy recover from an estimated 4.6 percent contraction in 2009.

The IMF welcomed the planned introduction of a value-added tax in 2013 as part of wider implementation by the Gulf Cooperation Council, which also includes Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain.

Kuwait has for years also been considering introducing an income tax for individuals but nothing concrete has happened as some analysts fear this will hit plans to attract much-needed foreign investment. — Reuters

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Islamic trusts could revive Gulf property market DUBAI: Jordanian Ashraf Hamdan began investing in Dubai’s real estate market in 2006, with a few modest rental investment forays before turning his sights on flashier projects as a wave of luxury developments hit the market.

The real estate bust in 2008 left investors like Hamdan with half-finished projects sitting in the desert sun and losses that were unlikely to be recouped.

“It was a costly learning experience for a real estate investor,” said the 53-year-old businessman. “But real estate is in our blood here in the Arab world. It’s a tangible investment, and from an Islamic perspective, that appeals to me.

“I’m just going to be looking for smarter, alternative ways to get into the market in the future.”

The emergence of Islamic real estate investment trusts (REIT) in the Middle East, which offer the chance to own shares in a portfolio of real estate assets with a steady paid dividend from the income earned on those assets, may lure investors like Hamdan back to the sector again. Islamic REITS differ from their conventional counterparts by banning investment in any assets that pay interest or conduct business in any forbidden industry, like gambling, alcohol or adult entertainment.

Aside from providing an alternative investment in the Gulf Islamic finance industry it could also inject more transparency and regulation in a property sector plagued by unrealistic expectations of returns and occasionally murky dealings. “Over the last two or three years, people have been in freeze mode where the focus was cash and other liquid things,” said Daniel Diembers, principal at Booz & Company in Dubai.

“The Dubai bubble really helped the (property) market to mature. Now is the moment where it is all shifting.

There is a lot of wealth up for grabs.”

Globally, the market capitalisation for REITs was around $570 billion at the end of 2009, a 2010 Ernst & Young study said. Islamic REITs play a small role, with Asia serving as the predominant hub for sharia-compliant trusts. Malaysia’s Axis Global Industrial real estate investment trust (REIT) is planning an initial public offering with an asset size of $1.05 billion, making it the world’s largest Islamic REIT. Islamic REITs launched in Bahrain and Kuwait have been relatively small in size - Bahrain’s Inovest REIT and Kuwait’s Al Mahrab Tower REIT launched with less than $95 million in capital each - and neither has been publicly listed. But an anticipated infrastructure boom in hot markets such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar and the launch of the UAE’s first Islamic REIT may buoy faith in real estate investments, creating a wider niche for the shariacompliant trusts to thrive.

Emirates REIT, which launched with seed capital from Islamic lender Dubai Islamic Bank last November, is aimed at medium-income investors and offers returns of 6 to 8 percent annually, said Mark Inch, director of Eiffel Holding and founding shareholder of Emirates REIT. “There is a discipline and transparency that comes with a regulated REIT,” he said. “Buildings will not only be properly managed but financial management will also be completely transparent. It’s a prerequisite of bringing back confidence.”

Emirates REIT has 40 deals under review ranging between 40 million dirhams to 500 million dirhams and will be fully operational by the summer, Inch said. An initial public offering is planned within 18 months to two years once it secures assets of 1.5 billion dirhams.

The interest is growing. National Bank of Abu Dhabi is considering creating an Islamic REIT while the FTSE Group may develop an Islamic REIT index as the industry grows globally, officials at both said.

The Gulf region has dabbled in the REIT market over the years with little success. A 2008 Islamic REIT launched by Saudi Arabia’s Sumou Holding and Genevabased Encore Management fizzled in the kingdom as the financial crisis sapped enthusiasm. Other attempts to launch a REIT in the region, including a conventional one by troubled property developer Nakheel, were quickly squashed. — Reuters

Egypt to pause, Saudi small-caps in focus Foreign ownership cap to weigh on Qatar, liquidity CAIRO/DUBAI: Egyptian shares are expected to consolidate next week after a recent rally while Saudi Arabia is set for gains on optimism about the economy and state spending plans.

Egypt rallied 6.5 percent since May 22, lifted partly by pledges of billions in assistance from governments and other donors.

Finance Minister Samir Radwan on Monday said Egypt had agreed in principle with the IMF on a $3 billion, 12month stand-by arrangement and hoped to have an accord by June 5.

The foreign aid should relieve some of the pressure on the Egyptian pound.

The currency can gain further if key data next week shows the outflow of foreign reserves has slowed.

“The country still lacks a political and economic agenda,” a London-based currency trader said. “But there is some more interest in treasury bills and the currency arising now.”

Two big Egyptian property developers, Palm Hills and Egyptian Resorts, are slated to release first quarter results in the coming days. Investors will be watching to see if Egypt’s political turmoil will impact their longer-term outlook.

Developers have been reeling from a

string of legal disputes over their purchases of state land under the government of ousted ruler Hosni Mubarak, while economic uncertainty in the wake of Egypt’s unrest has slowed sales and caused cancellations.

Of the major developers reporting so far, SODIC’s annual net loss widened while Talaat Moustafa’s net profit fell 48 percent. SODIC said that despite the turmoil it was on track to finish its projects.

“The (Egypt) market is likely to be weaker over the next few days after a strong newsflow-driven rally since midMay,” said Simon Kitchen, strategist at EFG-Hermes.

“The Egyptian market is now trading at a premium to (Middle East and North Africa) markets on a 2011 price-earnings multiple.”

Traders in Saudi Arabia will shift their investment focus to small-cap stocks as, in the absence of clear direction in local markets, attention is firmly fixed on the boost send from a massive government spending plan.

“One thing you can be more certain of is the domestic demand the good times are rolling,” said a Riyadh-based fund manager who asked not to be identified. Traders are taking the view “that Saudi economy is great, it doesn’t

matter what’s happening in Greece or elsewhere,” he added.

Ahead of the holy month of Ramadan, when food and retail sales typically rise, these sectors stocks will start seeing gains. The upbeat sentiment is also driving volumes higher.

“Overall, the market has been grinding higher, consolidating beautifully after the recent run up. Now, we are starting to gain confidence in the market here,” the fund manager said.

“We need to break the 6,800 levels and make our way to 7,000 points. It would take some good domestic news to break that.”

The Saudi index closed at 6,741.83 points on Wednesday.

In Qatar, investors will focus on the prospect for itsinclusion into the MSCI emerging market index and the fallout from a FIFA corruption scandal that includes allegations Qatar bought the right to host the 2022 World Cup. “Should Qatar lose the World Cup, my guess is there would be a one- to two-week sentimental sell-off before people go back to focusing on fundamentals,” said Robert McKinnon, ASAS Capital chief investment officer. “That would be a buying opportunity.” — Reuters

Merkel says no problem with euro ‘Germany aware of the importance of euro’ SINGAPORE: German Chancellor Angela Merkel said yesterday the euro was a “stable currency” but, in a veiled dig at Greece and other shaky economies, said some eurozone members must sharpen their competitiveness and fiscal rectitude.

The leader of Europe’s largest economy also gave fulsome backing to Christine Lagarde in her bid for leadership of the IMF, saying the French finance minister was “ideal” for the job.

Merkel told her audience the single European currency was not the root of Europe’s current travails.

“Let me tell you very clearly: we don’t have a problem with the euro as such,” Merkel said at a forum in Singapore.

“It is a stable currency, particularly if you look at it vis-a-vis the dollar.”

But in an apparent reference to Greece and other eurozone members with debt problems, Merkel said the eurozone region had “a competition problem, a competitiveness problem.”

“So this is why we have said right from the start we need to boost competitiveness and we need to put fiscal responsibility and fiscal soundness at the very heart of our efforts,” Merkel said. Improving economic competitiveness is key to overcoming the challenge facing the eurozone’s 17 members, Merkel said. “Because the competitiveness of the member states in the euro area is too disparate, some of them are too weak as regards their competitive situation and the question is obviously how can we overcome this crisis,” Merkel said.

SINGAPORE: Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel delivers her keynote address during the 31st Singapore Lecture yesterday in Singapore. Merkel said she supports French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde to be the next head of the International Monetary Fund. — AP The shared currency means countries within the eurozone have to boost their collective competitiveness if they are to stand any chance of competing with Asia, she said.

“A common currency actually requires also that competitiveness is not as unequal as it is now. There needs to be more cohesion and more convergence there,” said Merkel.

“And we must not pin our hopes on achieving some kind of average but if we want to remain competitive with our Asian competitors... the best among us

and our strategic partners needs to be the benchmark for what we do and not sort of the average or the lowest common denominator.”

The common European currency has benefitted the German economy and Berlin remains committed to the euro, she said.

“Germany is well aware of the importance of the euro,” said Merkel.

“We feel committed to the euro, we have benefitted quite a lot from the euro, after all, we are an exporting nation.” — AFP

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India’s Tata puts Jaguar, Land Rover back on track MUMBAI: Hard work and tough decisions have combined with more favourable market conditions to help India’s Tata Motors revive British luxury marques Jaguar and Land Rover, analysts say.

Loss-making former owner, US giant Ford, sold just under 50,000 Land Rovers and nearly 15,700 Jaguars in 2007, shortly before it offloaded the brands to India’s top vehicle maker in a $2.3 billion deal.

Last week, Tata Motors revealed that annual sales of the luxury cars were nearly 244,000 globally and that more than 80 percent or $1.7 billion of its bumper $2.04 billion annual profits came from the JLR unit.

The first Indian factory to assemble Land Rovers opened last week, with its owners hailing the move as a vital step forward in cementing the brand’s presence in the world’s fastest-growing car market.

Jigar Shah, head of research for Kim Eng Securities India, said: “A lot of effort has gone into the turnaround. It’s not just favourable conditions.”

The reversal in fortunes has been all the more remarkable as until it acquired Jaguar Land Rover, Tata Motors’ entire profit came from India, selling mainly trucks and buses-and the initial returns on the investment didn’t look good.

Nine months after the acquisition, Tata Motors suffered an annual loss of 25 billion rupees ($520 million) in the fiscal year to March 2009 — its first in more than seven years-and blamed the slump on poor Land Rover sales.

But the company responded aggressively, cutting costs and 3,000 jobs at its British factories, aligning production with demand and tightening control over cash flows. It also increased JLR’s sourcing of raw materials from low-cost locations, like India, following the example of its rivals BMW, Mercedes, Audi and Renault-Nissan, to increase competitiveness and ultimately, to lower prices.

Even decision-making got quicker, said Jaguar Land Rover’s India spokesman Del Sehmar. “We’re more nimble,” he told AFP

last week. For Howard Wheeldon, a senior strategist at BGC Partners, a leading financial services group in London, Tata Motors’ energy and investment has revived JLR’s fortunes. Tata Motors has invested $3 billion in JLR to bring it out of losses, analysts say, even at a time when British manufacturing is widely seen to be in decline and money better spent on cheaper, emerging markets.

“JLR has brilliantly proved the point that competitive volume or semi-volume investment manufacturing in the UK can be profitable for those prepared to invest,” he said.

Most of all, though, the company and industry watchers agree that Jaguar Land Rover now has a range of quality products to entice consumers in India’s fast-growing luxury car sector-and elsewhere, as economic recovery continues.

Tata Motors sells Jaguar XJ, XF and XK sedans in India in addition to the Discovery and Range Rover SUVs from Land Rover, which are sold through a net-

work of local showrooms.

Chief executive Carl-Peter Forster believes India is a “huge market with immense potential” and sees it with China, where JLR sales rocketed to 27,500 last year, as a key target for growth.

Just 891 cars were sold by the company in India. But riding on JLR’s success may not be enough for Tata Motors, analysts say.

Rising costs of raw materials such as steel and rubber could shrink Tata Motors’ operating margins further, as the local car market gets more crowded.

Parent company Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata was recently embroiled in a row about the work ethic of local managers at Jaguar Land Rover and its steel unit Corus, which it bought in 2007.

He was quoted by The Times newspaper as saying that “nobody is willing to go the extra mile” at the firms. Tata later said he was talking about former managers and was not suggesting they were lazy. — AFP

India opens probe into possible telecom scam Shares of Maran’s family-owned businesses plunge

HONG KONG: Samsonite luggage is displayed for sale at a chain store in Hong Kong yesterday. Luggage maker Samsonite International S.A. is planning to raise $1.5 billion from a listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange. — AP

Luggage maker Samsonite plans IPO in Hong Kong HONG KONG: Samsonite International S.A., the world’s biggest luggage company, plans to raise up to $1.5 billion in a Hong Kong initial public offering, joining a slew of foreign companies cashing in on investor interest in China. Samsonite said yesterday it will sell 671.24 million shares in the IPO, equivalent to a 48 percent stake in the company, at 13.50 Hong Kong dollars to 17.50 Hong Kong dollars. That would raise 9.1 billion to 11.7 billion Hong Kong dollars ($1.2 billion to $1.5 billion). It also has an option to sell 15 percent more shares if there is enough demand, raising an extra $200 million. The money will be used to pay off debt.

Samsonite, which was founded in 1910 in Denver, Colorado, plans to focus on developing its business in high-growth Asian markets, especially China and India, according to pre-listing documents filed with the Hong Kong stock exchange.

The company, which also owns the American Tourister brand, is based in Luxembourg.

“We need to orient the company to where the center of gravity will be in the future, which I think is going to be in China and Hong Kong,” Chairman Tim

Parker said. “I don’t think America was probably right for us. I don’t think Europe was really where we are headed. This was really the logical choice” for a stock market listing, he told reporters at a Hong Kong press conference via videolink from Singapore.

China and India are Samsonite’s second- and third-biggest markets. Only the United States is bigger. The company predicts Asia will be the world’s fastest growing luggage market over the next four years, powered by a surge in Chinese and Indian travelers. Samsonite started out manufacturing luggage at its own factories, but after stumbles over the past decade, it now outsources production.

Almost all of its manufacturing is done in Asia, with Chinese factories supplying 84 percent of its suitcases.

The company had a 9.6 percent share of the global luggage market last year, according to research by Frost & Sullivan cited by Samsonite. Second-place VF Group, maker of Jansport, Eastpak and North Face bags, had 3.1 percent.

Samsonite is the latest in a string of foreign companies to hold IPOs in Hong Kong as they seek to ride growing investor interest in China.—AP

NEW DELHI: India, reeling from a telecom graft scandal that has forced the resignation of one minister, is conducting an investigation into the actions of his predecessor in the job, police said yesterday.

India’s top federal police agency said it was conducting a “preliminary investigation” into the activities of former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran, who currently serves as textile minister in the embattled Congress government.

The inquiry was launched to “see if there is any evidence of any conspiracy, any rules flouted,” Dharini Mishra, a spokeswoman for the Central Bureau of Investigation, told AFP. At the weekend, investigative magazine Tehelka published a cover story alleging that Maran’s family-owned Sun TV Network received kickbacks from a foreign firm in return for favours in granting mobile licences.

News of the probe came a day after Maran, who served as telecom minister between May 2004 and May 2007, strongly rejected the Tehelka accusations.

“I vouch that during my tenure as minister of communications and information technology, I was totally impartial in taking decisions. I have not favoured any company over others,” the southern Indian politician told reporters.

The police enquiry threatens new embarrassment for the scandal-tainted government led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,

already shaken by news of a massive telecom licensing scam in 2007-08 that the national auditor said cost the country up to $39 billion in lost revenue.

The opposition has demanded Maran’s resignation over the magazine’s claims.

Maran, who belongs to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party, denied the report that a foreign firm had invested in businesses owned by his brother, media baron Kalanidhi Maran, during his tenure as telecom minister.

In April, police charged Maran’s successor, A. Raja, with abuse of power and conspiracy over accusations he rigged rules for the sale of second-generation

(2G) mobile licences in 2008 to favour some firms.

More than a dozen people including Raja, top government officials and business executives are in jail over the alleged fraud.

Shares of Maran’s familyowned businesses plunged, with Sun TV Network sliding 27.9 percent to 272.1 rupees ($6) on Thursday while discount airline SpiceJet fell 16.06 percent to 34.5 after the allegations.

The DMK party, to which Maran and Raja belong, is the second-biggest party in the national ruling coalition, but it was recently trounced in local polls in its home state of Tamil Nadu, mostly due to corruption scandals. — AFP

Dubai’s CBD sees 20% rise in Islamic deposits ABU DHABI: Commercial Bank of Dubai’s (CBD) Islamic operations expects deposit growth of 20 percent in 2011 as funds from the UAE and countries hit by unrest lifts deposits, its Islamic banking head said. CBD saw Islamic banking deposits climb to 10 percent of the bank’s total deposits of about 30 billion dirhams at the end of 2010, said Nabil Tayeb Khoory on the sidelines of an Islamic banking seminar at the central bank yesterday.

“There is a lot of liquidity in the region and with what’s happening in the region, customers want security,” he said. “We have security here in the UAE, particularly in Dubai.” Khoory said the Islamic bank is seeing funds coming from countries such as Egypt and Bahrain, which have been hit by political strife in the Gulf Arab region.

The executive added that while Dubai had suffered from stress during the financial crisis, the financial environment has improved.

“You can say the problem is behind us,” he said. — Reuters

Business FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

China not behind Google email hacking BEIJING: China denied it supports hacking activities and said it is part of global efforts to combat computer security threats yesterday, a day after Google disclosed some of its email users suffered hacking attacks that orginated within the country.

Google disclosed Wednesday that personal Gmail accounts of several hundred people, including senior US government officials, military personnel and political activists, had been breached.

Google traced the origin of the attacks to Jinan, China, the home city of a military vocational school whose computers were linked to an assault 17 months ago on Google’s systems.

China is firmly opposed to activities that sabotage Internet and computer security, including hacking, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters yesterday. Hong said hacking was a global problem and Chinese networks had also been targeted by hackers, but he gave no specifics. He said China was working to crack down on the problem, but he didn’t respond when asked

whether it would investigate this specific incident.

“Allegations that the Chinese government supports hacking activities are completely unfounded and made with ulterior motives,” Hong said.

Google said all of the hacking victims have been notified and their accounts have been secured. This time around, the hackers appeared to rely on tactics commonly used to fool people into believing they are dealing with someone they know or a company that they trust. Once these “phishing” expeditions get the information needed to break into an email account, the access can be used to send messages that dupe other victims.

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which has a hand in regulating the Internet, referred questions about the allegations to another regulatory agency, the State Council Information Office, which asked that questions be faxed and then did not respond. The Pentagon said Thursday it had very little information since the reported breaches involved personal

accounts rather than government email.

And since the accounts were not official, the US Department of Defense was unaware if the targeted individuals were defense employees, the statement said.

The latest attacks aren’t believed to be tied to the more sophisticated assault last year. That intrusion targeted the Google’s own security systems and triggered a high-profile battle with China’s Communist government over online censorship.

The tensions escalated amid reports that the Chinese government had at least an indirect hand in the hacking attacks, a possibility that Google didn’t rule out.

The previous break-in prompted Google to move its Chinese-language search engine off the mainland so it wouldn’t have to censor content that the government didn’t want the general public to see. The search engine is now based in Hong Kong, which isn’t subject to Beijing’s censorship rules.

China’s official Xinhua News Agency blasted Google in an unsigned commentary on Thursday saying the company

KUALA LUMPUR: In this Dec. 9, 2010 file photo, AirAsia aircrafts sit at Kuala Lumpur International Airport’s low cost carrier terminal in Sepang, Malaysia. — AP “provided no solid proof” to support its claims that the hack attacks originated in China.

Xinhua said Google’s compaints had “become obstacles for enhancing global trust between stakeholders in cyberspace.” — AP

Nikkei falls on political turmoil TOKYO: Japanese share prices fell sharply yesterday, dragged lower by disappointing US data and growing political uncertainty as Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said he would quit after getting the country’s nuclear crisis under control.

Kan’s move was expected to increase his chances of surviving a no-confidence vote later in the day, though market participants said that political instability would continue whatever the outcome. “A political vacuum is unavoidable,” said Daisuke Uno, chief strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. “As the global equity rally based on economic optimism since last November is running out of steam, Japanese shares are suffering from problems both at home and abroad, and their prices will be coming under pressure.” The Nikkei share average fell 1.5 percent to 9,574.09 in early afternoon trade, giving up a large portion of the gains accumulated over the past two sessions. The broader Topix dropped 1.5 percent to 826.63. The fall was slightly smaller than the 2.2 percent decline in the Dow Jones industrial average on Wednesday, which analysts say is natural given that Japanese shares underperformed during the rally in the US and in other developed countries’ stocks in recent months.

Wall Street shares made a dismal start to June, typically a weak month for the market, after both private payroll data and a key manufacturing survey missed estimates.

In the Nikkei, support is seen around 9,400, a low hit in late April and May. Many market players say there are few reasons to sell sharply below that level as Japanese shares are already trading at around book value. But market players also said buying by foreign investors- a major driving force behind the Nikkei’s rebound from a two-year low right after the earthquake and nuclear accident in March-appears to be waning.

Data from Japan’s Ministry of Finance showed on Thursday that foreign investors sold a net 83.2 billion yen of Japanese shares last week, their first net selling in nine weeks in the data series. While Japan’s chaotic politics could further dampen appetite, the index may not be significantly affected by the outcome of the no-confidence vote, some analysts said.

“The market may not be affected significantly by the outcome of the vote. The state of the US economy and Greece’s budget problems will likely remain its key drivers in the midterm,” said Tsuyoshi Segawa, an equity strategist at Mizuho Securities. A lower house session was expected to vote on the no-confidence motion around 3 p.m. (0600 GMT).

Meanwhile, carmakers underperformed hit by weak US May sales, with Toyota Motor Corp falling 3.1 percent to 3,275 yen, Honda Motor shedding 2.4 percent to 3,045 yen and Nissan Motor Co slipping 3.0 percent to 783 yen. — Reuters

KUALA LUMPUR: In this Dec. 9, 2010 file photo, AirAsia aircrafts sit at Kuala Lumpur International Airport’s low cost carrier terminal in Sepang, Malaysia.— AP

Flag carriers join battle for low-cost sector KUALA LUMPUR: Three Asian flag carriers have announced plans to set up new low-cost airlines, jumping on the budget airline bandwagon as their cheap and cheerful rivals grab an ever bigger share of passengers and make inroads into the long-haul business. The region’s fullservice carriers have rebounded from the global economic downturn. But they are in a dogfight with each other for lucrative premium-class passengers while low cost airlines like AirAsia and Qantas-owned Jetstar aren’t ceding any of the ground they gained from aggressive expansion during the recession when cheap flights gained extra appeal.

Now, national flag carriers are increasingly deciding that if you can’t beat them, join them. Some analysts say that shows the traditional airlines are finally facing up to the major strategic

challenge that has been looming for the past decade: the incursion of low-cost carriers into short-haul flights and, more recently, into bread-and-butter longhaul routes — flights longer than 6 hours. “Ten years ago, low-cost carriers only accounted for one percent of the market” in Asia, said Brendan Sobie, analyst at the Sydney-based Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation.

“Five years ago, they accounted for about nine percent. This year, they will account for almost 20 percent,” he said, predicting the figure could double within the next decade.

The proliferation of budget airlines, and their new moves into intercontinental flights, spells good news for travelers: increased competition will further drive down air fares as the line between low cost and full-service airlines becomes

increasingly blurry.

But it will also mean an even tougher fight to stay profitable for both budget and regular carriers as they grapple with high fuel costs. The International Air Transport Association has forecast AsiaPacific Airlines to earn combined profits of $3.7 billion this year, down from $7.6 billion in 2010.

In Malaysia, budget airlines account for nearly half of seat capacity, in Singapore, they account for 22 percent and in Thailand about 17 percent, eating into the business of flag carriers in the three Southeast Asian countries. Yet, it came as a surprise to the industry when Singapore Airlines Ltd. — one of the world’s most profitable carriers announced last month plans to set up a budget airline to operate medium and long-haul routes next year. — AP

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UK economy gets construction boost in May LONDON: Britain’s construction sector grew faster than expected in May and added jobs for the first time in nearly a year, offering a chink of light in what has become a generally sombre outlook for the UK economy.

Yesterday’s Markit/CIPS headline construction PMI index rose to 54.0 in May from 53.3 in April, beating forecasts for a reading of 53.6 and giving sterling a boost.

Economists said the figures suggested the sector grew in the second quarter and that it fared better between January and March than the 4 percent decline reported by official data.

Firms were also their most optimistic in a year about future activity. However, government spending cuts and fragile house prices remain

likely to drag on home building and large projects such as new schools, hospitals and infrastructure. “The survey shows decent but unspectacular activity,” said IHS Global Insight economist Howard Archer. “Nevertheless, the construction sector clearly faces a challenging environment, which is likely to limit activity over the coming months.”

Sterling rose 20 pips versus the dollar after the data to around $1.6340, while the euro briefly dipped to around 88.00 pence, coming off an earlier two-week high of 88.23 pence.

Britain’s coalition government is cutting public spending by more than 80 billion pounds ($131 billion) over the next four years to try to eliminate a budget deficit running at

close to 10 percent of GDP. Markit said government cuts contributed to the first fall in civil engineering activity for five months. Commercial building was the strongest of the three sub-sectors for a second month running, while house building grew in May after a contraction in April.

“The millstone of public spending cuts can be seen clearly (in the data),” said David Noble, chief executive at the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply.

“It remains to be seen whether a marked expansion of commercial projects will help to replace what has been lost elsewhere.”

Construction companies saw a marked rise in new business as lengthy contract negotia-

tions translated into new work, Markit said.

That led to the first rise in employment in the sector since June 2010.

Purchasing of materials increased for a fifth consecutive month in May at a rate broadly in line with that seen in April, pointing to a further rise in activity. Kingfisher Plc, Europe’s biggest home improvements retailer, said yesterday it expected 2011 to be a tough year, particularly in Britain. A manufacturing PMI survey on Wednesday showed activity grew at its slowest pace in 20 months in May, highlighting the fragile state of the UK recovery.

A survey of Britain’s dominant services sector is due to be released on Friday at 0828 GMT. — Reuters

Talks on new Greek debt measures near an end Greece lagging behind cutting massive budget deficit

PARMA: In this April 12, 2011 photo, Drew Heidl removes finished parts from a press at General Motors’ Parma Metal Center in Parma, Ohio. US companies squeezed more work out of their staffs in the first three months of the year. — AP

Productivity growth slows in first quarter WASHINGTON: US companies squeezed more work out of their staffs in the first three months of the year. But the gains are slowing, suggesting employers may need to hire more workers if they want to produce more goods and services.

Worker productivity rose at an annual rate of 1.8 percent in the January-March quarter, the Labor Department said yesterday. That’s a slight upward revision from the government’s first estimate of 1.6 percent. But it is significantly lower than the 2.9 percent growth rate in the final three months of last year. Unit labor costs rose at a 0.7 percent rate, down from an initial estimate of 1 percent growth.

Productivity is a measure of the amount of output per hour of work. A slowdown in productivity growth is bad for the economy if it persists for a long period. But it can be good in the short term when unemployment is high. It could mean companies are reaching the limits on how much extra output they can get from their existing work forces. Worker output grew 3.9 percent in 2010, the biggest increase in eight years.

But many economists believe it will slow to just half that pace this year. The expectation is that companies will hire more workers to boost output further.

Job growth has been strong so far this year. It’s averaged a net total of 233,000 per month since February. And the unemployment rate has tumbled from 9.8 percent in November to 9 percent in April. But high energy prices have slowed economic growth. Weaker data over the past month have led many economists to lower their forecasts for May job growth. That figure will be reported on Friday.

Companies found ways during the recession to produce more goods and services with fewer workers. They slashed millions of jobs during the downturn. The Federal Reserve watches productivity and unit labor costs carefully. Increases in productivity allow companies to pay workers more without being forced to boost the prices of their products, which can cause inflation. Because of the high levels of unemployment, workers have not had the bargaining power to demand higher wages. Unit labor costs have fallen for two consecutive rises. — AP

ATHENS: Talks over new austerity measures required to keep Greece from defaulting on its debts are close to a conclusion, a European official said yesterday. A report from the negotiations will determine whether Greece gets the next installment of its existing rescue loan as well as a potential second bailout to cover its finances through 2013.

Experts from the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund have been reviewing Greece’s implementation of economic reforms and austerity measures promised in return for euro 110 billion in rescue loans for much of the past month.

Greece is lagging behind cutting its massive budget deficit to the targets set out in its bailout program and the experts’ long-delayed report will come hand in hand with further measures from the government to get its finances in order. They reportedly include a lower income tax threshold and tax hikes on tobacco, heating fuel and soft drinks.

The program review — and further commitment from the Greek government — are central to parallel discussions among other eurozone countries on a potential new aid package for Greece.

More than a year after being bailed out, the country remains stuck in recession and locked out of international debt markets, with investors demanding interest rates of more than 16 percent for Greek 10-year bonds. The high rates are likely to lead to massive funding gaps in 2012 and 2013, when Greece was supposed to raise money again to start paying some of its bills.

European officials have said that no decision on more rescue loans can be made before the review of the bailout program has been concluded. It is also a precondition for releasing the fifth installment of the existing loan program, worth euro12 billion ($17.3 billion), later this month.

The international experts and the Greek government have already begun drafting a statement highlighting the key findings of the review, but some issues related to the country’s privatization program still needed to be worked out, the European official said. He was

ATHENS: An employee of OTE the Greek Telecommunications Organization, waves a Greek flag during a protest in central Athens yesterday. Greece’s finance ministry said yesterday it has invited Germany’s Deutsche Telekom to up its stake in the country’s dominant telecoms provider OTE, amid mounting European pressure to speed up privatization and cost-cutting. — AP speaking on condition of anonymity because talks were not over yet. Greece has promised to privatize at least euro50 billion in state holdings in real estate and corporations to help close funding gaps and meet its deficit targets.

However, its European creditors have grown frustrated with the slow progress the country has made and some are pushing for international experts to be closely involved with the privatization process — a step seen by Greece as a violation of its national sovereignty.

Supporting such a move, the head of the European Central Bank said yesterday that European Union officials should be given more power over spending by national governments. Jean-Claude Trichet said EU officials should be able to veto spending decisions by countries, such as Greece, that have needed financial bailouts once they have failed to reduce their deficits as agreed. He even suggested that a ministry of finance for the currency union as a whole could be set up eventually.

To help Greece in the near-term, European officials have scrambled over how to get private banks involved without resorting to a default on the sover-

eign debt. In an interview with Italian business daily Il Sole 24 Ore, ECB executive board member Juergen Stark said the central bank remained against any change to the terms of Greece’s debt repayments.

However, he was open to the idea of keeping banks involved in the country by having them agree to roll over their investments in the country’s bonds. That strategy, dubbed the Vienna Initiative, was used in 2008-2009 to support Eastern European countries through the global financial crisis.

“The Vienna Initiative includes a voluntary decision by banks to renew their exposure to a country. If this scenario is not viewed as a default or partial default on sovereign debt then it could be a way to involve the private sector in Greece’s financing,” Stark told the paper.

Pushing through the economic reforms and privatizations has been challenging for Greece’s ruling Socialist party, which is facing protests not only from the political opposition but also its citizens.Yesterday, workers at telecommunications company OTE went on a 24-hour strike over a plan to sell the state’s stake in the company. — AP

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FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

Wal-Mart: A year of taking stock to regain footing NEW YORK: The world’s largest retailer is in a race against time to give the people what they want before they get comfortable shopping elsewhere.

Shoppers who switched to other stores when Wal-Mart decided to ditch bestselling toothbrush brands, craft supplies and bolts of fabric may be hard to win back. The company has taken nine months to restore thousands of grocery items, including some bestselling brands, it dumped from its shelves two years ago. The idea was to tidy up stores for the wealthier customers it had won during the recession.

Grocery sales have improved, rising in the low single digits in the first quarter. But overall traffic at its US namesake stores has been down and revenue at stores open at least a year has posted eight straight quarters of declines on a

year-over-year basis.

Wal-Mart says it will take until the end of the year to restock the rest of the store with items that were culled, from craft supplies to home furnishings. That will go a long way toward restoring WalMart’s ability to provide one-stop shopping, which could be a plus as shoppers make fewer trips to save on gasoline.

“The customer, for the most part, is still in the store shopping, but they started doing some more shopping elsewhere, and we want to bring them back.

We know that it’s easy to lose them. “ said Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s chief financial officer Charles Holley during a Citi Global Consumer Conference last week.

Dollar stores, which benefited from shoppers trying to stretch their dollars in the recession, are continuing to gain new customers and post higher rev-

enue. The trend has accelerated as gasoline prices closed in on $4 a gallon ($1.05 a liter). Dollar stores more adroitly maneuvered the post-recession economy. They have expanded their inventory, particularly brand names, become more competitive on price and are expanding to new locations. Meanwhile, some wealthier shoppers are trading back up to the mall or higher-end grocery stores like Whole Foods.

Wal-Mart is increasingly “caught in the middle” between dollar stores and more expensive stores, Wall Street Strategies analyst Brian Sozzi. “Now, it’s trying to return to its roots, but it’s facing old competitors — the dollar stores — that are getting much better.”

Richard Hastings, a consumer strategist with Global Hunter Securities, gives WalMart two years to woo back its US cus-

tomers before their new shopping habits are imprinted. But the restocking has taken longer than Wal-Mart predicted. In November, it had said that the merchandise it cut would be restored by this past spring. Even when Wal-Mart has been able to get goods to the stores, the company known for its efficiency and precision has had trouble getting them onto shelves, says Cameron Smith, who recruits executives for Wal-Mart suppliers and also serves as an adviser.

Suppliers using third parties to backstop the placement of their goods on the shelves, he said. That adds to their costs. Pallets of merchandise are crowding aisles, Sozzi notes. Shares of WalMart have tracked closer to its profits than its domestic sales this past year, and its international business has propped up revenue and profits. — AP

OPEC mulls oil supply target hike to calm prices ‘$100 per barrel oil scaring people’ SINGAPORE: OPEC is considering raising oil supply targets for the first time since 2007 in a move that could weaken $100 oil prices and lessen the drag of high energy costs on global economic growth.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which pumps more than a third of the world’s oil, may raise supply targets by as much as 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) when ministers meet on June 8, two Gulf oil sources told Reuters yesterday.

“There is a need for an increase to replace the loss from Libya,” one delegate said. “Oil prices are too high. $100 oil is scaring people.”

The most likely outcome would be for a rise of 1 million bpd: “That would be calming for prices,” the delegate said. A rise of 1 million bpd in OPEC’s output target would result in only a small increase in actual oil supply from the group, the delegate said. That was because part of the rise would simply absorb abovetarget supply that some members were already pumping, the delegate added.

The 11 members of the group bound by OPEC production targets all except Iraq-pumped 26.23 million bpd in May, nearly 1.4 million bpd above their 24.84 million bpd target. [OPEC/O] “If this is 1 million bpd on top of the targets from over two years ago, then it’s meaningless. If it’s 1 million bpd above current production levels, then it’s exactly what the market needs,” said David Wech, analyst at JBC Energy in Vienna. Raising formal output targets would force OPEC to confront tough issues. Saudi Arabia holds most of the group’s spare capacity so is likely produce most of any extra oil supply.

Saudi energy minister Ali Al-Naimi said on Thursday the country would up production if there was demand for more crude.

But other members would also want a share of any rise in supply targets, even if they were already at full capacity.

OPEC members Iran, Libya and Venezuela could resist any rise in targets, industry publication Energy Intelligence reported on Wednesday, citing an OPEC insider. Iranian OPEC governor Mohammad Ali Khatibi declined to comment on whether the group would agree a production increase.

“We will discuss it in the next meeting,” Khatibi said at a gas exporters group meeting in Cairo. “We should see all fundamentals ... all indicators.”

Algeria’s energy minister said yesterday he did not expect OPEC to raise output at its meeting in Vienna.

“I do not think so,” Energy and Mines Minister Youcef Yousfi said when asked if he expected an OPEC output

hike next week.

“We will discuss the matter but I don’t think we will be increasing production,” he said. Libya, whose top oil official recently defected, would not want other OPEC members to divide officially its share of the targets, the delegate said. Civil war has cut its exports.

Another delegate saw no need for a formal change and said OPEC members could simply flout official targets to meet demand. “Why bother?” he said.

“Everybody is pumping what they want anyway and getting the money they want and more.” Oil prices were slightly firmer on Thursday with Brent crude up 85 cents at $115.37 a barrel at 1317 GMT. Brent has traded above $100 since early February, prompting consuming governments to warn of the impact of high oil prices on economies still fragile after the global financial crisis.

The West’s energy watchdog, the International Energy Agency, last month urged producers to boost supplies to help lower fuel costs and protect the economic recovery. Data this week from top oil consumer the United States has exacerbated concerns that the recovery in the world’s largest economy is running out of steam. Factory output growth in China, the engine of global demand growth for more than a decade, is also slowing. But fuel costs were only part of a wide list of factors impacting economic expansion, the delegate said: “Some of it is the oil price, but that is not the whole story.” Even if a target increase results in few extra barrels of oil on the market, it could soothe concerns over Libyan supply and high fuel costs, JP Morgan oil analyst Lawrence Eagles said.

“This would be a positive policy step as far as consuming countries are concerned,” Eagles said.

Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia boosted oil supply in February to plug the gap left by Libya. But Saudi Arabia reduced supply again in March, citing a lack of demand.

OPEC has taken no formal decision to supply more oil to compensate for Libya’s supply disruption or to ease prices. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf producers are wary of the impact high oil prices might have on the economy and on demand. As recently as February, Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said a $70-$80 per barrel was fair to both producers and consumers.

A slightly wider range of $70-$90 per barrel would still be good for both, an OPEC delegate said yesterday. Saudi Arabia’s oil price needs have risen as it has offered $130 billion in handouts to avoid any chance of the sort of unrest that has rocked much of the Arab world. —Reuters

PAINESVILLE: In this May 25, 2011 photo, people meet with perspective employers at the Jobapalooza job fair at Lake Erie College, in Painesville, Ohio. Fewer people sought unemployment benefits last week, though applications remain stuck at high levels that signal weak job growth. — AP

Fewer people applied for unemployment benefits WASHINGTON: Fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, but applications remain stuck at a level that signals weak job growth.

The number of applications for unemployment benefits dropped by 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 422,000, the Labor Department said yesterday. It was the third drop in four weeks. But the declines follow much bigger increases in April.

Applications dropped to 375,000 in late February — a level consistent with sustainable job growth. But for the past eight weeks, applications have stayed above 400,000. The fourweek average, a less volatile measure, fell for the second straight week but remained high at 425,500. Elevated unemployment applications are the latest sign that the economy has hit a soft patch after a strong start this year. Many economists expect May’s jobs report will show hiring slowed last month. The report will be released today.

“Fears will grow that the economy is not just showing slower growth, but actually flattening,” Pierre Ellis, an economist at Decision Economics,

wrote in a note to clients.

Companies squeezed more work out of their staffs in the first three months of the year, according to the government’s second estimate for productivity in the January-March quarter. But the gain was much slower than in the final months of 2010, a sign that employers may need to hire more workers if they want to produce more goods and services.

Productivity rose at an annual rate of 1.8 percent in the first quarter.

That’s a slight upward revision from the government’s first estimate of 1.6 percent. But it was significantly lower than the 2.9 percent growth rate in the October-December period.

The economy was generating jobs at a healthy pace earlier this year.

Employers added an average of 230,000 jobs a month in February, March and April. That marked the best hiring spree in five years. The unemployment rate has fallen nearly a full percentage point since November, although it still very high at 9 percent. Many analysts are downgrading their forecasts for job growth after a spate of disappointing economic reports. —AP

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FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

Second thoughts on summer spending?

Sagging consumer confidence and rising gas prices make a difference

R

osario Palmieri has been cutting pizza pies into slices every summer since he can remember at Pisa Pizza on the Ocean City Boardwalk. The 21-year-old now manages the family-owned restaurant and thinks he knows the seasonal business relatively well.

But this year has already surprised him.

Going into the spring, Palmieri saw signs that the recession was over and expected brisk business immediately. That hasn’t happenedso far.

“I thought the economy, we were getting out of the hole we were in and people would spend more than last year, even with the weather,” Rosario said. “The parking lots are full, but people aren’t spending. It’s really too early to tell.”

Despite the slow start and rising gas prices, most proprietors, including Palmieri, expect the local tourism industry to rebound slightly this summer, a confidence they have not displayed since the economy took a downturn a few years ago.

By today, they will know whether that optimism was justified, as Memorial Day weekend nearly always sets the tone for the entire summer. Local proprietors believe weather matters more than anything else, a long-held notion challenged by a recent economic study at Richard Stockton College in Galloway Township. Palmieri, of the Seaville section of Upper Township, and other local business owners blame the poor early start on what they say is an unusually cold, rainy spring.

Economist Oliver Cooke disagrees. He examined rainfall, consumer confidence, state unemployment and gas prices during the past 35 years and compared those numbers to the annual change in revenue reported by proprietors in Cape May County.

Cooke, an associate professor at Stockton, isolated the five best annual performance gains and five worst losses, and found that rainfall and unemployment were higher on average during the five best years.

“Clearly, what this shows is that weather, in a general big-picture sense, has an effect,” Cooke said. “Having said that, take a family that books a week’s vacation in Cape May months ahead of time. That family has no idea about the weather.”

Rain might force families off the beach-a low-cost, if not free, activity-to go shopping, dine out and participate in other activities that cost more money, Cooke said.

“If it rains, if anything, you might actually see the reverse,” he said.

Consumer confidence — 22 percent higher during the five best years-proved to be a more telling statistic than weather. “Consumer sentiment is important because it’s an indicator of the overall economy and includes a bit of retail gas, because as retail gas prices float up and people pay more at the pump, they become more bummed out about the economy,” Cooke said.

Paul Knierim was not surprised to hear that.

Knierim, 33, manages Carmenucci and Sons

Vicenza Cerrato, 83, of North Wales, stands inside a Giant supermarket on Route 309 going over a receipt for items she just purchased at a different supermarket up the road, Bottom Dollar Food. The retiree prefers the low prices at deep-discount supermarkets. —MCT Pizzeria in Ship Bottom on Long Beach Island.

Born and raised in the Manahawkin section of Stafford Township, he has worked in the local hospitality and tourism industry along the narrow, 18-mile stretch of coastline since he was a teenager. “People always get scared,” Knierim said. “But (the tourists) always show up anyway.” Palmieri also noticed just as many people visiting the resort during the recession, but he said they spent less. “The parking lots have been filled on the weekends,” Palmieri said.

“Everything’s going up, but their pay’s not, so people could only spend so much on food.

Maybe they used to eat out every single night, and now, they still come, but just go out three nights and cook on the rest.”

Gas prices also play a major role-they were 40 percent lower during the top five yearsalthough their effect is less predictable, Cooke said. He said high gas prices can encourage more people to vacation at the shore because a local trip is less expensive than a vacation that involves flying.

“That works in favor of shore communities,” Cooke said. “But there’s also the income effect, which is important. When people show up at the shore, they’ve spent more money getting there due to high gas prices, so they have less disposable income.” Palmieri said he believes post-recession spending urges will win out over any penny-pinching provoked by rising gas prices this year.

Regional differences Cooke did not examine revenue on Long Beach Island, but he said the four factors he focused on-gas prices, unemployment, consumer confidence and rain-likely have a similar but less dramatic relationship to revenue there as in Cape May County because Ocean County has a less-seasonal economy.

Atlantic County differs from those areas because of its casinos. Even though the Atlantic City gaming industry has been dismal the past several years, local businesses are far less dependent on seasonal tourism.

“In Atlantic City, you have a much more diversified economy. That’s not to say the summer season isn’t big there. It is. It’s just you have a much more consistent flow of visitors,” Cooke said. Cape May hoteliers offer excursion packages to Atlantic City-an especially popular option during inclement weather, Cape May County Chamber of Commerce President Vicki Clark said.

“It’s so vital that Atlantic City be vital,” said Michele Gillian, executive director of the Ocean City Chamber of Commerce. “It affects everything: the price of our houses, the price of our rentals. We’re one region, and we definitely (market) to different visitors, but the young families and other visitors we host for weeks at a time come to Atlantic City.”

The Greater Atlantic City Chamber tracks retail and restaurant meal volumes, in addition

to other factors that indicate how consumers spend locally, chamber advocacy committee Chairman George Lynn said.

“Gaming revenue, as that declines ... it creates a gloomy picture of our region,” said Lynn, former president and CEO of the AtlantiCare Regional Medical Centers.

“Between 2005 and now, Atlantic City has kept its base in terms of the numbers of people who come here, around 30 million. Although it’s true they’re not spending the way they once were.”

False positives Tourism officials and business owners throughout southern New Jersey agreed with Lynn. So although beach-tag sales and summer-rental reservations were up at the end of April compared to the same time last year throughout the region, that does not guarantee a better economic performance this summer, Gillian and local Realtors said.

Advanced bookings are up between 5 percent and 30 percent, Clark, Gillian and local Realtors said. Argus Real Estate, which handles nearly 100 properties on Absecon Island, has 15 percent to 20 percent more units filled, agent Diana King said.

But King, as well as others interviewed, said the recession never dramatically hurt rentals.

Parking-lot revenue also continued to rise during the down years, as did beach-tag sales, Gillian said. —MCT

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FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

Mideast entrepreneurs struggle W

hen Hind Wassef, a thirtysomething Cairo resident, got the idea to open a boutique bookstore with three friends in 2002, the idea seemed promising.

Greater Cairo counted 16 million residents, including large numbers of university-educated people. The city’s existing bookstores were dour and drab affairs that would present little competition. President Husni Mubarak’s government was taking measures to encourage private enterprise.

But Wassef and her partners received little encouragement.

Rather than seeing the absence of competition as a chance to address an untapped market, friends, family and others warned that the business would never take off. Egyptians don’t read and if bookstores are dull, there must be a good reason. Don’t take any chances.

“Nobody had seized the opportunity. No one felt that it would work,” Wassef told The Media Line. “We were fighting this image that nobody reads. We kept hearing that whenever we shared our idea with somebody.”

Wassef and her partners stood their ground, investing their own capital in what became Diwan Bookstore, which combines hints of Middle Eastern décor with modern accoutrements and reader-friendly touches like sofas, on-line ordering and a virtual community of readers.

Diwan not only sells books like its fusty competitors, but DVDs and stationery. Its stock includes literature in English, French and German as well as Arabic.

The Diwan partners succeeded.

But if Egypt and the rest of the nonoil Middle East is going to pull itself out of the economic morass it’s in today, it will need millions of others like her, who are willing to risk quitting secure jobs and their reputations, investing their money or taking on loans. That will demand a delicate combination of institutional reforms to free markets as well as a different mindset for people used to counting on the state to provide jobs and hand out assistance.

The US, Europe and Saudi Arabia, not to mention an array of global financial institutions, are set to provide Egypt, Tunisia and other countries billions of dollars in financial aid.

But economists warn that the money is only a stopgap – that the real economic growth that the non-oil Middle East desperately needs in order to sustain a rapidly-growing population can only come when ordinary people create innovative, efficient businesses.

The region is a private enterprise laggard by almost every measure.

Much of the non-oil Middle East – countries like Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Tunisia, without the benefits of petroleum profits – took steps over the last two decades to encourage private business. But it was too little effect. The biggest beneficiaries tended to be people like Ahmed Ezz in

Regulations, cultural barriers discourage new businesses

Egypt, who exploited their ties to politicians to buy state-owned businesses, rather than ordinary people like Wassef.

The International Institute for Finance estimates that private investment averages less than 15 percent of the gross domestic product in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), compared with more than 20 percent in other regions. Business executives and the firms they own and manage tend to be among the oldest in the world, a testament to the absence of the kind of start-up dynamism driving the world’s fastest-growing economies.

“A more open and enabling environment for the private sector is important both for faster growth and for greater acceptance of private sector-led growth among the population,” the International Monetary Fund said in a report to the Group of Eight conference last week, spelling out policy reforms the Middle East requires. It noted that per capita growth in the MENA region over the past 30 years was the slowest in the world.

On paper, the Middle East looks like a great place for entrepreneurs.

In the World Bank’s 2010 annual ranking of business climate Doing Business, Saudi Arabia was in 11th place, ahead of South Korea and Germany. Bahrain was 28th and the United Arab Emirates 40th. That puts them way ahead of China. Egypt at 94th place was 40 places ahead of India.

In the Arab world, it takes an average of nine procedures and 22 days to start up a business, according to the World Bank. That makes it the third fastest in the world. The cost for starting a business is a relatively high 46.2% of per capita income, but that

is far less than it was a few years ago.

Indeed, the absence of young, innovative enterprises is an inviting proposition for those who want to take advantage of it. So is the relative ease of expanding out of your home country to markets elsewhere in the region, which share the Arabic language and cultural norms. The Arab world counts a population of close to 300 million people, almost the same as the US, and includes some of the world’s wealthiest countries.

Mohamad Haj Hasan was thinking just these things in 2007 when he started the online jobs site Akhtaboot (Arabic for octopus) in his home country of Jordan. The site matches job seekers with over 500 registered employers, including international players such as Google, FedEx, and LC Electronics. “The region offers a lot of opportunities because there are lots of kinds of business that don’t exist yet,” he told The Media Line. “I liked the economics of the Internet, especially being based out of Jordan. Jordan itself doesn’t offer a great market. All successful companies in Jordan, whether they are goods or services, they export ….[but] it had reasonable costs when it comes to employees and rent, and it has pretty high caliber talent.”

Haj Hassan moved quickly once he had established himself in Jordan to enter the much bigger markets of Egypt and Saudi Arabia. “It was easy to get cash flow positive, but once we did that – because Jordan is a very limited and tough market – we opened Saudi Arabia and Egypt,” he recalls.

But investors in MENA, especially executives in small and mediumsized firms, say they are discouraged by fickle regulations, corruption and

an uneven playing field that favors older firms at the expense of new ones. Wassef certainly encountered her fair share of such obstacles as Diwan expanded to what today is 10 outlets across Egypt. Some of the barriers were silly, like the one that gives local officials the right to vet what products a store can carry.

Diwan ran into problems because it wanted to sell books and DVDs, Wassef recalls.

Others, such as censorship, are more serious for someone in the book business. Wassef says she often spends time in long discussions with customs officials and regulators, who have wide powers, often arbitrarily exercised, over business regulations.

“If you’re involved in buying and selling there’s always the suspicion that you’re doing something wrong,” she says of government officials. Often she has to negotiate to get books subject to censorship past customs.

“You have to use the personal touch.

You meet and have a talk with them.

They say they have instructions from the top and you say ‘Well, it’s just a cookbook’ and they say ‘Oh, I see’.”

Being a woman isn’t a handicap; being a business person of either gender is the real problem. “As a woman, you can sometime get your way more easily,” she adds.

David Wachtel is senior vice president for marketing and communications at Endeavor, which helps entrepreneurs by providing mentorship, expert networks and strategic advice.

The New York-based non-profit added the Middle East to its portfolio in 2007, starting with Egypt and most recently adding Lebanon.

Regulations aside, he says, much has to be done to change the culture of business in the Middle East.

“The whole issue of the cost of fail-

ure in the Middle East for entrepreneur is quite high,” Wachtel told The Media Line. “It isn’t acceptable to take risks and fail. This is reinforced by institutional issues like the lack of bankruptcy legislation.” In Egypt, for instance, there is no such thing as a business bankruptcy. Owners must take personal obligations. “That raises the bar.”

Other problems are the preponderance of family-owned business.

The next generation may have the will to shake up an enterprise by entering new markets, developing new products, streamlining management, but older family members often will hold them back. Often no one controls the company at all as shares are divided among more and more heirs.

The Middle East also lacks angel investors and others willing to risk capital on new and untried businesses, Wachtel adds. Banks are also unfriendly to start-up entrepreneurs, says Imad Malhas, a Jordanian who founded and owns the high tech company IrisGuard. “Financing and money is a big issue. Banks are the biggest problem in Jordan – they won’t give you money based on your business plan,” Malhas told The Media Line. “In the end, they want collateral – your father or someone else who’s wealthy enough to sign.

They’ll go through the motions of studying your business plan, but in the end they want collateral. That needs to change big time.”

IrisGuard is an unusual start-up

by Middle Eastern standards – a path-breaking, technology start-up that is the market leader in its field.

Formed in 2001, the company developed a camera that photographs the iris, which is as unique as a fingerprint to every person. It’s used by Cairo Amman Bank to verify customers’ ID and by the United Arab Emirates to screen incoming travelers.

Malhas says an important element in fostering new business is mentoring. He acts as a mentor himself, and is also working both inside his company and out to teach young Jordanians the ropes.

Together with the King Abdullah II Fund for Development, he is helping to run a program that sends young Jordanian engineers to work in multinational companies abroad in the hope they will later put their technology and management skills to work back in Jordan. IrisGate, which runs its research and development center in Britain, does the same on a smaller scale.

Budding entrepreneurs don’t have many role models and people they can turn to for practical advice in their home countries, Malhas says. “The problem with doing mentoring is our young kids look at these guys like John Chamberlain from Cisco and say ‘There’s no way on earth that’s something we can aspire to.’ If you do $10 million in sales in the Middle East in the first five years, you’re super successful.” – Media Line

FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011 www.kuwaittimes.net

Actress Salma Hayek poses at the inauguration of the exhibition "Il Mondo vi appartiene" (The World Belongs to You) at the Francois Pinault Foundation, in Venice's Palazzo Grassi, Italy, Wednesday, June 1, 2011. —AP

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FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

Travelling with tech: A checklist What could be worse than having someone steal your valued tech gadget when you’re travelling?

What could be worse than having someone steal your valued tech gadget when you’re travelling?

Whether you’re heading out for business or pleasure, travelling today usually means travelling with tech. Smartphones, notebooks, digital cameras, iPods - they’re as much a required part of our luggage as are clothes and toiletries. And while many of our tech gadgets today are made with the road in mind, having a carefree trip with technology in tow always involves thinking about what you’ll need to keep the gadgets running and useful.

Here’s a checklist.

Batteries All tech gadgets need batteries, so think carefully about how you’ll recharge them while you’re on the road and whether you’ll take along a spare or two. Answering some simple questions will take you far. Will your rechargers work at your destination, or will you need special adapters? If you have a device that charges via a USB cord, do you need a special USB cable to reach whatever charging device you’ll have with you? If you’ll be doing a lot of driving, remember to bring along or purchase a car adapter that allows you to charge your essential gadget during those long road trips. And if you’ll be spending long periods of time away from any type of recharging source, consider purchasing an extra battery. They’re cheap through venues like eBay. Insurance While today’s tech gadgets are often made to travel, that doesn’t mean they’re immune to accidental damage or theft. That’s where insurance policies come in. Insurance doesn’t come cheap if you buy it from the gadget makers. But if you already have renter’s or homeowner’s insurance, check with the insurer to find out whether you can add an additional rider or policy to cover your tech gadgets. Many firms have such allowances, and the fees for them are reasonable.

Remember, too, that if you should have to file a claim, you may need serial numbers and photographs of your gadgets. Don’t forget to store those in a safe place. Another type of ‘insurance’ for your notebook or iPad is tracking software that allows authorities to hunt down your computer, no matter where it is. Look at solutions such as those from Absolute Software (http://www.absolute.com) and zTrace (http://www.ztrace.com).

Passwords What could be worse than having someone steal your valued tech gadget when you’re travelling? How about having to worry about the thief getting easy access to your data, personal information, or financial accounts?

That’s what could happen if you fail to password-protect your electronics.

Just about every gadget today can be password-protected, including smartphones, voice recorders, notebooks, and even some digital cameras. While using passwords can be a minor hassle, it’s nothing compared to the hassle you’d face if your travelling technology were stolen.

Mobile matters For smartphone users travelling abroad, remember that your cell carrier will likely charge you sky-high rates for receiving data or placing calls while away. So evaluate how you’ll use your smartphone, and make plans.

First, see if you can put your smartphone into an ‘unlocked’ state. Many carriers ‘lock’ phones electronically so that they can only be used with a particular network. Most smartphones, however, can be unlocked by using a special code. Get one, and you can use your phone abroad simply by purchasing a SIM card at your destination. Look online for instructions on how to unlock your particular smartphone. Second, if you have to stick with your carrier, remember that data will usually be billed at a higher rate, so switch off all apps that automatically pull data into your phone, including your e-mail accounts. Otherwise, you could arrive back home and be surprised at the large bill your phone racked up for you when you were unaware that anything was happening.

Backup Devices Most people who take tech on the road are capturing some kind of data: digital images, videos, voice recordings, and more. Remember to take along some kind of back up device for that data - for two reasons. First, data can be lost, either by accident or through some type of hardware mishap.

Second, if you find yourself picture- or video-happy on the road, your primary gadget’s storage could fill up fast, and the best way to make room for more is to offload some stuff. You can do that by researching how to offload data from whatever device you’re using. If a notebook computer is in tow, chances are good that a USB connection to it will allow you to use the notebook as backup. A portable hard drive may also suffice. Additional external storage is cheap these days. Don’t leave home without it. — dpa

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FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

A heaping helping of fear ‘Spoiled’ is not the only reason kids won’t eat o ahead: Play with your food. Mash it, squish it and build castles and faces with it. Leave those fingers sticky.

Ooey-gooey pudding feels fun on your face. And here’s the important part: It won’t hurt. When it comes to working with children with severe eating issues - the kind that can trigger a panic attack at the mere sight of the wrong-colored or wrong-textured morsel - what Mom told you at the dinner table might backfire.

“What I tell parents is: ‘Whatever you’ve been doing, do the exact opposite,’” said Donald Deering, a behavior-modification coach at St Joseph Mercy Oakland, Michigan, hospital. Deering and other therapists work with children whose eating is so restrictive, it threatens their ability to thrive.

As a preschooler, Andrew Crawford’s reaction to anything beyond pureed baby food was instant: “He’d almost have a full panic attack, he’d start sweating, he’d start crying, he’d take a bite then gag and even vomit,” said his mother, Amy Crawford, a nurse at Detroit’s Henry Ford Hospital.

Parents would tell her, “He’ll eat when he gets hungry.”

Crawford wanted to scream: “No, he won’t.” It was as if Andrew never hungered. He never fussed for food. “You’d almost forget to feed him if you were out,” Crawford said. Andrew grew. His parents pleaded and threatened. “We’d take away toys... but he’d rather have his toys gone than eat a grilled cheese. We’d say: ‘Sit in your room for a half-hour or just take a bite.’ He’d just sit in his room for a half-hour,” she said.

With husband Jon and daughter Olivia, 7, the dinner table in their Allen Park, Michigan, home became a place of routine frustration, even panic, as the toddler refused to eat. “It was all-consuming,” Crawford said. To be clear: Kids like Andrew are neither mildly picky nor spoiled. Consider a girl whose parents allow her frosted flakes every morning, even though toast and yogurt are choices, too. During a visit with Grandma, the absence of frosted flakes triggers a tantrum because it’s the first time she doesn’t get her way.

A problem eater is different, said Deborah Bruns, an associate professor at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, who has written about feeding challenges and young children. “These are kids who will only eat frosted flakes from Kellogg’s, not the other stuff from the store, and it has to be in the blue bowl and with a yellow spoon or whatever,” she

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Amy Crawford, 34, holds her son Andrew Crawford, 4 1/2, at home in Allen Park, Michigan. —MCT said. For many kids, the cause is a sensory processing disorder. To understand, think about the act of eating an apple.

Messages from our senses smash together with every bite we take - the apple’s bright, shiny surface, its smell and feel as it crosses our lips, the crunch of its skin and the soft squish of its insides, the tingle and taste of its juice. All of these messages inform a complex interplay of systemic feedback and fine motor controls and as we place it in our mouths, move it around, bite, chew and swallow.

Nine-year-old Kristian Andresen, who is autistic, sometimes struggles with carrying out the fine movements needed to bite and swallow. “He’ll put a grape in his mouth, but it sits there. He’s not sure what to do with it,” said his mother, Lisa, a stay-at-home mom of two in Commerce Township, Mich. That can make eating really scary, and

it adds to the stress of trying to take in and interpret a deluge of stimuli.

“You and I can take in all kind of stimulus and can adapt to it. We can go to New York and it might be a bit overwhelming at first, but we’d adapt pretty quickly,” explained St. Joseph’s Deering.

For a child with a sensory disorder, “it’s like a New York City in their living room. It’s just too much.”

There are other causes behind eating issues. Severe food allergies have trained some children to see food as dangerous. Consider a bad bout of food poisoning you’ve had: There’s a good chance you haven’t touched that kind of food since. That’s mild. Karen Polisei, an occupational therapist within Beaumont Hospitals’ Center for Children’s Rehabilitation, recently worked with a 2-year-old. He was pleasant and playful away from food.

But acid reflux had repeatedly

burned his esophagus. His body’s message: Food is pain. By the time he came to Beaumont, “He’d throw a tantrum even getting near a kitchen or a high chair. He would not eat a thing. That’s not a bratty child. He associated food with a miserable experience,” Polisei said. For other children, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy and other conditions interfere with normal skeletal-muscle control necessary for eating.

And all these issues often overlap. Therapy generally involves the ever-so-slow reintroduction of foods. For kids with the most adverse reactions, that might mean simply bringing the food into the room. “The goal is not necessarily to eat those foods (immediately) but to increase their level of interaction with them,” said Dave Uchalik, an occupational therapist at the Abilities Center, a division of the Detroit Institute for Children.

Over several sessions, the food is moved closer to the child - on the table, on the plate, into tiny hands. Ultimately, therapists help the child move the food to their mouth. The child will kiss it. Lick it.

Bite it and spit it out, before ultimately chewing and swallowing a long process that sometimes means two steps forward with one back. These days, Andrew’s parents hope to tempt him with the kinds of foods he’ll face at school when he starts next year.

“I’d like him to eat a typical lunch food, even chicken nuggets or a hot dog or a jelly sandwich,” Amy Crawford said. But she, too, has learned the lessons of therapy at Beaumont: Be patient.

Celebrate tiny victories. “Today, he ate silver-dollar pancakes cut up in quarters,” she said. “A week ago, he would take an hour to eat a single silver-dollar pancake.

Today, he ate four, just like that.

That’s incredible progress.” —MCT

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EVERY DAY COOKING

FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

By Sawsan Kazak

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verything is better with butter. A mountain of mashed potatoes would not be complete without a heaping chunk of butter melting all over the top. A pile of warm pancakes is always begging for a touch of butter to make them irresistible. And you know it’s going to be a good meal when it starts with some hot bread and spreadable butter. Creamy, milky and sweet, recipes are truly better with butter. Try the following butter recipes to add some rich comfort into your recipes.

Send suggestions to: sawsank@kuwaittimes.net

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley 2 tablespoons minced shallot 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper Pure all ingredients in a food processor until smooth.

4 tablespoon butter (1/2 stick) 1/4 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel 2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro 1/4 teaspoon finely minced garlic Salt & pepper

Cilantro herb butter

Parsley garlic butter

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n a small bowl, add the butter and let it soften. It shouldn’t take more than 10 or 15 minutes to be workable. Add the lemon peel, cilantro and garlic and mush together with a fork. Season with a little salt and pepper. On a sheet of plastic wrap, add the butter and roll it up to form a butter log about 3 - 4 inches long. Stick it in the freezer to firm up. When you are ready to use it, take it out of the freezer and cut off thin coin shaped pieces. When I looked in the ‘fridge for some cilantro to make a herb butter to serve on grilled tuna, unfortunately the cilantro didn’t look so good and smelled worse. Fortunately there was some leftover fresh tarragon so I made a quick tarragon butter as follows.

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Butter sage pasta

FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

Buttery biscuits

Pasta, of choice 4 tablespoons butter 8 sage leaves 1/2 lemon, juiced 1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 4 tablespoons butter 3/4 cup milk (about)

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hile your pasta cooks, melt butter in a 12 to 14-inch saute pan and continue cooking until golden brown color (“noisette”) appears in the thinnest liquid of the butter. Add sage leaves and remove from heat. Add lemon juice and set aside. Drain the pasta, but leaving some cooking water, and gently pour into saute pan and return to heat. Add the cheese, toss to coat and serve immediately

Butter cookies 1 cup butter 1 cup white sugar 1 egg 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

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n a large bowl, cream together the butter and white sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Cover dough, and chill for at least one hour. Chill cookie sheets. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Press dough out onto ungreased, chilled cookie sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly golden at the edges. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.

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ift the flour then measure. Add baking powder and salt and sift again. Cut in the butter. Use your fingers for this by rubbing the butter into the flour. If you have “hot hands”, use a pastry cutter or two knives to cut the butter into the flour. Add the milk gradually, stirring gently. Add only enough milk to bring the flour together in a soft ball. Turn the mix onto a floured surface and knead it reluctantly, just enough to incorporate all the milk.

Gently pat the dough into a 1/2” tall layer.

Handle the dough as little possible so the biscuits will be tender. Cut the dough into rounds or squares and place in a buttered pan. It helps biscuits to rise more if you allow the sides to touch. I don’t know why this works but it usually does for me. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes at 400 deg. You can make these into great appetizers by adding shredded cheddar and fresh parsley to the flour before adding milk. Then cut the biscuits with a small cutter (or glass) about 2” in diameter.

Buttery mashed potatoes 4 large russet potatoes (about 3 1/4 pounds) 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter 1/2 cup (about) whole milk 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

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ierce each potato several times with fork. Cook potatoes in microwave on high 8 minutes. Turn potatoes over and cook until tender, about 8 minutes longer. Cut potatoes in half. Scoop potato flesh into bowl; discard skins. Add butter and mash potatoes well.

Mix in milk and chopped parsley. Season potatoes to taste with salt and pepper.

THEY ARE THE 99!

99 Mystical Noor Stones carry all that is left of the wisdom and knowledge of the lost civilization of Baghdad. But the Noor Stones lie scattered across the globe - now little more than a legend.

One man has made it his life’s mission to seek out what was lost. His name is Dr. Ramzi Razem and he has searched fruitlessly for the Noor Stones all his life. Now, his luck is about to change the first of the stones have been rediscovered and with them a special type of human who can unlock the gem’s mystical power. Ramzi brings these gem - bearers together to form a new force for good in the world. A force known as ... the 99!

THE STORY SO FAR : Jabbar, Noora, and Bari have finally made their way to the pyramid where an archaeology team is trapped. But can they reach the team in time?

The 99 ® and all related characters ® and © 2011, Teshkeel Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

www.the99.org

Tr a v e l FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

Top ten North American train Trips I

n selecting the ten best train trips in North America, we followed the advice of fabled newspaper editor Horace Greeley: “Go West, young man.” While some of our picks lie east of the Mississippi, most veer toward the left coast, reflecting the railroads’ large role in opening the western frontier. Today, western rails continue to thrill riders with moutain peaks, desert vistas, spiral tunnels, unnervingly steep grades, and narrow-gauge tracks. So forgive our western bias, knowing that all ten of these rail experiences are among North America’s most memorable.

Peak Experience: Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Route: Durango to Silverton, Colorado Duration: 3 1/2 hours In 45 miles, this narrow-gauge railway-with rails just three feet apart-climbs from Durango at 6,512 feet above sea level to Silverton at 9,305 feet. That 3,000-foot elevation gain, not to mention the views of 14,000foot peaks out the windows, can make you catch your breath. On this historic line, the 1920s steam locomotive pulls 1880s-era passenger rail cars at a leisurely 18 miles per hour along tracks originally constructed to carry gold and silver ore. Noteworthy: Rounding the high line curve 250 feet above the Animas River; crossing the wooden deck of the 190foot-long High Bridge; adding a day to your trip to glide through the treetops on 22 spans of zipline, ranging in length from 50 to 1,400 feet and accessible only via the train or a helicopter.

Revolutionary Railway: Ethan Allen Express Route: New York City to Rutland, Vermont Duration: 5 1/2 hours Leave the hassles of the Big Apple behind for some of the East Coast’s most mood-altering scenery as this Amtrak train travels 241 miles north from the city, taking in the Catskills in upper New York State and the Green Mountains in Vermont. The train departs in mid-afternoon, leaving enough daylight for sightseeing (sit on the left side facing the front for the best views) before you arrive in Rutland shortly after dark. Stops such as Rhinecliff-Kingston and Albany-Rensselaer (both in New York) feature hiking, biking, boating, museum-going, and all manner of dining. Stop in Saratoga Springs to visit the racetrack, performing arts center, and mineral spas. Last-stop-before-Vermont Fort Edward is the gateway to Lake George and the southern Adirondack Mountain region. End-of-theline Rutland is famous for its Halloween celebrations. Noteworthy: The newest stop for the Ethan Allen, named after the Revolutionary War hero, is Castleton, Vermont, which features a historically renovated station housing the Green Mountain Country Depot. Skiers use the train to get to slopes at Killington.

Northwest Passage: Amtrak CascadesRoute: Eugene, Oregon, to Vancouver, British Columbia Duration: 11 1/2 hours This scenery-filled route offers “seascapes, mountain peaks [including Mt. Rainier in the south and Mt. Baker in the north], distant islands, rain forests, farm scenes, clouds, mist, and wildlife,” says Francesca Lyman, an editor and experienced rail rider in Kirkland, Washington. “If you don’t see orcas breaching in Puget Sound, you might see harbor seals or otter. Bring binoculars. Also watch for bald eagles, flying fish, and waterfowl.” Prefer cities? Explore Portland or Seattle.

Noteworthy: The station in Bellingham, Washington, is near Fairhaven Village, filled with shops, restaurants, and a commons hosting farmers markets and concerts; Mount Vernon, another stop, is the nation’s largest commercial producer of tulips, irises, and daffodils, which are on display during the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival in April; Tacoma is home to the Museum of Glass, which looks like a giant cone tipped on its side; the Cascades is the only train in the U.S. featuring rail cars made by the Spanish company Talgo, including the art deco Bistro dining car (try Ivar’s clam chowder).

A Ride in the Woods: Cass Scenic Railroad Route: Cass to Bald Knob, West Virginia Duration: 4 1/2 hours, round-trip This 11-mile heritage rail line, contained

within a state park on the eastern border of West Virginia, takes you up into the mountains and back in time. The line was built in 1901 to carry timber to the sawmill in Cass, the company town, which has been preserved much as it was a century ago. Eat at the Last Run Restaurant; wander through the Company Store Building museum; tour the Cass Locomotive Shops, used to restore and maintain the antique equipment. Then board the open-air carriages, converted from timber-carrying flat cars. Take in the scenery and watch the restored steam locomotive billow black smoke as it pulls the cars up two switchbacks. The short ride reaches Whittaker Station in 21/2 hours; a longer route continues to Bald Knob at 4,842 feet. Noteworthy: You can overnight at Cass in restored company houses or camp at Bald Knob or Whittaker Station in an uncoupled caboose. Even in summer, a jacket is recommended against the mountain chill.

Westward Ho: California Zephyr Route: Chicago to Emeryville, California Duration: 51 hours, 20 minutes This Amtrak route travels 2,438 miles through seven states, an echo of the epic journey pioneers took to settle the American West. “You follow the emigrant trails west, and cross the Continental Divide via the 6.2mile-long Moffat Tunnel, longest in the U.S.,” says model railroader and Western history buff John Vorhes. The Zephyr follows the canyons of the Colorado River down the western slope of the Rockies, crosses the deserts of Utah and Nevada, traverses the Donner Pass in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and ends up in the lowlands of the California Central Valley. Noteworthy: Passengers look down on the mile-high city of Denver from the railbed above; California State Railroad Museum

docents give talks in the lounge car; the train winds through oil-painting-like colored cliffs at Ruby Canyon, where eagles ride the thermals.

Mountain Climber: Rocky MountaineerRoute: Vancouver to Calgary Duration: Two days The Rocky Mountaineer’s signature trip, running east, is timed so that passengers get daylight views of the Fraser Valley and the Fraser Canyon, which features the Hell’s Gate waterfall on the Fraser River. You overnight in a hotel in Kamloops, British Columbia. Day Two highlights include the climb over the Continental Divide en route to Calgary, Alberta, home of the world-famous Calgary Stampede rodeo. Noteworthy: The Spiral

Tunnels, dug from the walls of Cathedral Mountain and Mount Robson; a 360-degree view of glacier and peaks from domed, double-decked carriages (available on higher-end GoldLeaf service cars); gourmet meals, including honey lemon ginseng cheesecake (another GoldLeaf amenity).

On the Rim of Copper Canyon: Chihuahua Pacific Railway Route: Los Mochis to Chihuahua, Mexico Duration: 13 hours one-way “El Chepe,” as the train is known, features two departures-first class, meant for tourists, and economy class, about half the fare but making some 50 local stops. Stick with the former for the most comfort. The trip starts near the Pacific coast in the state of Sinaloa and travels more than 400 miles over 37 major bridges and through 86 tunnels in a climb to 7,874 feet above sea level, where a short stop at Divisadero allows for snapshots of the mammoth Copper Canyon.

Noteworthy: The canyon, named for its copper-green color, is actually a network of seven canyons. The train has two to three passenger cars with 64 seats, plus a dining car and bar car. The line’s most spectacular scenery is between Divisadero and El Fuerte on the western flank of the Sierra Madre Mountains, which the eastbound train traverses between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Sit on the right side for the best views. Security is provided by armed police officers.

Hail to the Chief: Southwest Chief Route: Los Angeles to Chicago Duration: About 40 hours This 2,256-mile trip starts in congested Southern California but within hours climbs through Cajon Pass into the lonely beauty of the Mojave Desert en route to Arizona-with a

connection in Williams to the Grand Canyon Railway (see below) and New Mexico.

“Between Glorieta and Lamy southeast to Santa Fe, the route twists through dry, redrock canyons and hills thick with juniper, tamarisk, scrub oak, and ponderosa pine,” says John Pitt, author of USA by Rail.

“Sometimes the rock face is only inches from the train as it snakes through the canyons.”

Then come Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois as the train passes through the backyards of small towns-peer guiltily into windows of countless homes at night-and the downtowns of big cities. Noteworthy: Miles and miles of the Painted Desert east of Flagstaff, Arizona, interspersed with dusty towns; from June to August, the train delivers thousands of Boy Scouts to the Philmont Scout Ranch through the stop at Raton, New Mexico; as part of the Trails and Rails program, National Park Service guides from Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site (La Junta, Colorado), Pecos National Historic Park (Pecos, New Mexico), and Petroglyph National Monument (Albuquerque, New Mexico) tell stories on the train between Albuquerque and La Junta, Colorado.

Wilderness Alaska the Easy Way: Coastal Classic Route: Anchorage to Seward, Alaska Duration: 4 1/2 hours The Alaska Railroad system covers 500 miles of some of the world’s wildest landscapes-with this 114-mile stretch through the Kenai Mountains by far the most impressive section, says Susie Kiger of the Alaska Railroad. Leaving Anchorage, the route hugs the coast of the Turnagain Arm to a stop at Girdwood; overnight if you wish at the Alyeska Resort. From there the train veers away from the scenic Seward Highway to areas inaccessible by car, traveling through five tunnels, past cool blue glaciers, and over a river gorge. Watch for moose and bears.

Overnight in Seward or simply explore the village and return to Anchorage for a perfect day trip. Noteworthy: Beluga whales, bald eagles, moose, and Dall sheep along Turnagain Arm; the Alaska Sealife Center in Seward; passing within 800 feet of Bartlett Glacier; sunsets over Cook Inlet on the return trip; the Glacier and Wildlife Cruise into Kenai Fjords National Park.

Grand Old Time: Grand Canyon Railway Route: Williams to the Grand Canyon, Arizona Duration: 8 hours 15 minutes, round-trip This rail trek has been offered, on and off, since 1901, taking passengers to the South Rim of the world’s most famous canyon.

Today you have your pick of coach, first-class, observation dome, or luxury parlor service, with each offering progressively better views and comforts. All options deliver you to the canyon for a just-under-four-hour stopover to take in the sights. Or overnight in a lodge on the rim. Noteworthy: Views en route of the 12,000-foot-plus San Francisco Peaks; the twisting switchbacks of Coconino Canyon, where passengers can see the curving train out the window; an Old West theme with cowboy musicians and mock train robberies by the Cataract Creek Gang.

Tr a v e l FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

Things to see in

The Great Wall The Great Wall winds its way across China covering over 5,500 miles (8,850 km). While the latest construction occurred after 1368 during the Ming Dynasty, construction of the Great Wall began over 2,000 years ago. In fact, the Great Wall is actually made up of a number of interconnecting walls spanning China that different dynasties and warlords constructed over the years.

The Forbidden City Forbidden City, or Palace Museum, sits at the center of Beijing, directly north of Tiananmen Square where the famous portrait of Mao Zedong hangs on the palatial crimson wall. It was the imperial seat for Ming and Qing dynasty emperors from 1420 until 1912 when the last emperor, Pu Yi, abdicated. It was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.

The Terracotta Warriors Discovered in 1974 when a local

farmer was digging a well, the terracotta army, buried in 210 BC with the first emporer of the Qin dynasty, is a breathtaking site. The thousands of life-size figures have individually unique faces and hair and armor styles appropriate to their rank. The museum of the Terracotta Army is located in Xi’An, Shanxi province.

Hangzhou - Paradise on Earth China’s “Paradise on Earth”, Hangzhou is a lovely city centered around the famed West Lake. This green city is full of gardens, tranquil temples and pavilions and bustling historic streets to venture through.?

The hills surrounding the city grow the famous longjing green tea. Hangzhou is close to Shanghai but is a much more laid-back, cultural city.

Jiuzhaigou Jiuzhaigou Valley is a nature reserve located in China’s Sichuan province. A beautiful example of China’s varied landscape, Jiuzhaigou is

famous for crystal blue lakes and multi-level waterfalls. It is populated by a number of Tibetan villages so is also a superb place to see and experience Tibetan local culture.

The Bund, Shanghai The Bund, meaning embankment, was historically the seat of Shanghai’s most powerful businessmen in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The Bund is a fabulous place to see examples of Shanghai’s rich architectural history, illustrated by the HSBC Building, built in 1923 and at the time said to be “the most luxurious building between the Suez Canal and the Bering Strait.”

The Bund, Shanghai The Bund, meaning embankment, was historically the seat of Shanghai’s most powerful businessmen in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The Bund is a fabulous place to see examples of Shanghai’s rich architectural history, illustrated by the HSBC Building, built in 1923 and at the time said to be “the

most luxurious building between the Suez Canal and the Bering Strait.”

Modernity in Hong Kong See modern China - and Asia - at the cutting edge with a visit to Hong Kong. Walking down the Kowloon side promenade gives the traveler a view of some of the most beautiful modern architecture in China, dominated by the Bank of China Tower designed by IM Pei. —About

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Hot summer reads 2 1

By Jon Ronson

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By Bharati Mukherjee

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njali Bose is “Miss New India.” Born into a traditional lower-middle-class family and living in a backwater town with an arranged marriage on the horizon, Anjali’s prospects don’t look great. But her ambition and fluency in language do not go unnoticed by her expat teacher, Peter Champion. And champion her he does, both to other powerful people who can help her along the way and to Anjali herself, stirring in her a desire to take charge of her own destiny.

So she sets off to Bangalore, India’s fastest-growing major metropolis, and quickly falls in with an audacious and ambitious crowd of young people, who have learned how to sound American by watching shows like Seinfeld in order to get jobs as call-center service agents, where they are quickly able to out-earn their par-

ents. And it is in this high-tech city where Anjali-suddenly free from the traditional confines of class, caste, gender, and more-is able to confront her past and reinvent herself. Of course, the seductive pull of modernity does not come without a dark side.

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he Psychopath Test is a fascinating journey through the minds of madness. Jon Ronson’s exploration of a potential hoax being played on the world’s top neurologists takes him, unexpectedly, into the heart of the madness industry. An influential psychologist who is convinced that many important CEOs and politicians are, in fact, psychopaths teaches Ronson how to spot these high-flying individuals by looking out for little telltale verbal and nonverbal clues. And so Ronson, armed with his new psychopath-spotting abilities, enters the corridors of power. He spends time with a death-squad leader institutionalized for mortgage fraud in Coxsackie, New York; a legendary CEO whose psychopathy has been speculated about in the press; and a patient in an asylum for the criminally insane who insists he’s sane and certainly not a psychopath.

Ronson not only solves the mystery of the hoax but also discovers, disturbingly, that sometimes the personal-

By Eli Pariser

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By Margaret Drabble

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argaret Drabble’s novels have illuminated the past fifty years, especially the changing lives of women, like no others. Yet her short fiction has its own unique brilliance. Her penetrating evocations of character and place, her wide-ranging curiosity, her sense of irony-all are on display here, in stories that explore marriage, female friendships, the English tourist abroad, love affairs with houses, peace demonstrations, gin and tonics, cultural TV programs; in stories that are perceptive, sharp, and funny. An introduction by the Spanish academic JosÈ Fernandez places the stories in the context of her life and her novels. This collection is a wonderful recapitulation of a masterly career.

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n December 2009, Google began customizing its search results for each user. Instead of giving you the most broadly popular result, Google now tries to predict what you are most likely to click on. According to MoveOn.org board president Eli Pariser, Google’s change in policy is symptomatic of the most significant shift to take place on the Web in recent years-the rise of personalization. In this groundbreaking investigation of the new hidden Web, Pariser uncovers how this growing trend threatens to control how we consume and share information as a society-and reveals what we can do about it.

Though the phenomenon has gone largely undetected until now, personalized filters are sweeping the Web, creating individual universes of information for each of us. Facebook-the primary news source for an increasing number of Americans-prioritizes the links it believes will appeal to you so that if you are a

ities at the helm of the madness industry are, with their drives and obsessions, as mad in their own way as those they study. And that relatively ordinary people are, more and more, defined by their maddest edges.

liberal, you can expect to see only progressive links. Even an old-media bastion like The Washington Post devotes the top of its home page to a news feed with the links your Facebook friends are sharing. Behind the scenes a burgeoning industry of data companies is tracking your personal information to sell to advertisers, from your political leanings to the color you painted your living room to the hiking boots you just browsed on Zappos.

In a personalized world, we will increasingly be typed and fed only news that is pleasant, familiar, and confirms our beliefs-and because these filters are invisible, we won’t know what is being hidden from us. Our past interests will determine what we are exposed to in the future, leaving less room for the unexpected encounters that spark creativity, innovation, and the democratic exchange of ideas.

While we all worry that the Internet is eroding privacy or shrinking our attention spans, Pariser uncovers a more pernicious and far- reaching trend on the Internet and shows how we can- and must-change course.

With vivid detail and remarkable scope, The Filter Bubble reveals how personalization undermines the Internet’s original purpose as an open platform for the spread of ideas and could leave us all in an isolated, echoing world.

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By Michael Shermer

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n this work synthesizing thirty years of research, psychologist, historian of science, and the world’s best-known skeptic Michael Shermer upends the traditional thinking about how humans form beliefs about the world. Simply put, beliefs come first and explanations for beliefs follow.

The brain, Shermer argues, is a belief engine. From sensory data flowing in through the senses, the brain naturally begins to look for and find patterns, and then infuses those patterns with meaning. Our brains connect the dots of our world into meaningful patterns that explain why things happen, and these patterns become beliefs. Once beliefs are formed the brain begins to look for and find confirmatory evidence in support of those beliefs, which accelerates the process of reinforcing them, and round and round the process goes in a positive-feedback loop of belief confirmation.

Shermer outlines the numerous cognitive tools our brains engage to reinforce our beliefs as truths.

Interlaced with his theory of belief, Shermer provides countless realworld examples of how this process operates, from politics, economics,

and religion to conspiracy theories, the supernatural, and the paranormal.

Ultimately, he demonstrates why science is the best tool ever devised to determine whether or not a belief matches reality.

By Antonio Lobo Antunes

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onsidered to be Antonio Lobo Antunes’s masterpiece, The Land at the End of the Worldnow in a new and fully restored translation by acclaimed translator Margaret Jull Costa-recounts the anguished tale of a Portuguese medic haunted by memories of war, who, like the Ancient Mariner, will tell his tale to anyone who listens. In the tradition of William Faulkner and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Lobo Antunes weaves words into an exhilarating tapestry, imbuing his prose with the grace and resonance of poetry. The narrator, freshly returned to Lisbon after his hellish tour of duty in Angola, confesses the traumas of his memory to a nameless lover. Their evening unfolds like a fever dream, as Lobo Antunes leaps deftly back and forth from descriptions of postdictatorship Portugal to the bizarre and brutal world of life on the front line. The result is both tragic and absurd, and belongs among the great war novels of the modern age.

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By Adam Bryant

By Tim Tebow

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ver the course of the last five years, Tim Tebow established himself as one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of college football and a top prospect in the NFL. During that time he amassed an unparalleled resume-winning two BCS national championships, becoming the first sophomore in NCAA history to win the Heisman trophy, and in the face of massive public scrutiny, being drafted in the first round of the NFL draft by the Denver Broncos.

Now, in Through My Eyes, Tebow brings readers everywhere an inspirational memoir about life as he chose to live it, revealing how his faith and family values, combined with his relentless will to succeed, have molded him into the person that he is today. As the son of Christian missionaries, Tebow has a unique story to tell-from the circumstances of his birth, to his homeschooled roots, to his record-setting collegiate football career with the Florida Gators and everything else that took place in between.

At every step, Tebow’s life has defied convention and expectation.

While aspects of his life have been well-documented, the stories have always been filtered through the opinions and words of others.

Through My Eyes is his passionate, firsthand, never-before-told account of how it all really happened.

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hat does it take to reach the top in business and to inspire others? Adam Bryant of The New York Times decided to answer this and other questions by sitting down with more than seventy CEOs and asking them how they do their jobs and the most important lessons they learned as they rose through the ranks. Over the course of extraordinary interviews, they shared memorable stories and eye-opening insights.

The Corner Office draws together lessons from chief executives such as Steve Ballmer (Microsoft), Carol Bartz (Yahoo), Jeffrey Katzenberg (DreamWorks), and Alan Mulally (Ford), from which Bryant has crafted an original work that reveals the keys to success in the business world, including the five essential personality traits that all high performers exhibit-qualities that the CEOs themselves value most and that separate the rising stars from their colleagues. Bryant also demystifies the art of leadership and shows how executives at the top of their game get the most out of others.

Leadership is not a one-size-fitsall skill, and these CEOs offer differ-

ent perspectives that will help anyone who seeks to be a more effective leader and employee. For aspiring executives-of all ages-The Corner Office offers a path to future success.

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Beauty

FRIDAY, JUNE 3 2011

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How to exfoliate your body

hen the summer comes, every woman prepare yourself for the beach and summer parties - remove the unwanted hair, buy special products, sunscreens, bronzers, protective face creams etc., but there is something that you shouldn’t forget - full body exfoliation. When exfoliating you remove the dead skin cells accumulated through the year. The clean epidermis is something necessary in order to achieve great and even complexion.

Exfoliation is a technique aimed to improve the skin’s appearance by removing the dead skin cells from the surface of the skin. Exfoliating your body twice a week is recommended in order to get rid of any dry skin, as it stimulates circulation and increases your skin’s absorption of any nourishing or moistrurizing ingredients. If you don’t remove these cells your skin will look dull, older, rough and lusterless. Regularly exfoliating the skin will help you maintain the skin in its optimum condition and accelerates the skin renewal process.

Exfoliating the whole body is also an effective and easy way to further eliminate the toxins in your body. A weekly full body exfoliation will stimulate the lymphatic system and encourage the release of toxins through skin’s pores. It is also especially effective on ageing skin as cell turnover slows and skin begins to retain less moisture.

For a body exfoliation you will need: ?Exfoliating gloves - pat them dry and gently rub the exfoliator around your body. The gloves revitalize your body by massaging, stimulating blood circulation and cleansing the body.

• Exfoliating sponge - it works the same way as the gloves, but are also appropriate for exfoliating the face. They not only cleanse and exfoliate your skin, but also gently massage your body.Body brush - the brush is works perfectly when exfoliating the body.

The bristle body brush is especially good for exfoliating the back.

• Pumice stone - it removes the dead skin from the soles of the feet by gently abrasion.

• Exfoliators - they eliminate the dead skin cells and purify the skin. The exfoliators contain small particles for very gentle and precise smoothing to even the skin’s texture. There is a wide range of exfoliating products, some of them containing granules, sea salts, fruit seeds.

The exfoliating gels and creams eliminate easily the dead skin cells. It should be applied on wet skin and is appropriate for delicate and sensitive skins. Apply it as if it is body

Tips for exfoliating your body: • Over exfoliating can seriously damage your skin • If your skin is sensitive or dry, use less abrasive products and avoid using products containing sea salts • Use exfoliator only on wet, clean skin • Exfoliation should be done with caution on dry or sensitive skin, in order to avoid irritation • Never use body exfoliating products for your face as they are too abrasive • Never exfoliate if your skin is sunburned or has open wounds • Always use products of high quality

milk, but in larger amounts.

The exfoliators containing granules sometimes may irritate the skin. They should be applied on wet skin, following the instructions written on the pack. They are appropriate for those with normal or combination skin.

A full body exfoliation should be done not more than two times a week.

Step 1 In the shower, take small amount of the exfoliating product and gently rub it onto your already cleansed skin. Begin by exfoliating the feet and ankles up to the entire leg to the abdomen. Exfoliate your feet with a pumice stone and a little bit exfoliator. For the legs use the gloves, as they are less abrasive.

Step 2 Use the exfoliating gloves or the body brush. Apply exfoliating cleanser to the brush or to the gloves and gently scrub all over your body in circular motions. Exfoliate your back with a long-body brush and then your chest and abdomen but scrub more gently, because the skin on these areas is more delicate.

Nobody likes cracked hands, that’s why a hands exfoliation is essential. It will keep your hands looking great, soft and smooth.

Step 3 Rinse your body lavishly first with lukewarm water and then with cold water. Use a shower gel to soften your skin. Let your body dry and then apply a nourishing lotion or body moisturizer. (www.beauty-advices.com)

Exfoliation is a technique aimed to improve the skin’s appearance by removing the dead skin cells from the surface of the skin.

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FRIDAY, JUNE 3 2011

Fun summer hair styles for 2011 SUMMER COLOR Bold and assymetrical are the watchwords for 2011, with traditional bright and vibrant highlights of the past, including strawberry and even platinum blond hues predicted to be the hot new look this summer.

With the addtion of dramatic chunks of pastel color, this year the spotlight is definitely on fun and creativity!

SUMMER 2011- CUTS FROM THE CAT WALK Styles, lengths and cuts were once again all over the place at the Spring-Summer 2011 fashion events, including buns, rolls and bobs, ponytails, and even big hair and teased side ponytails tied up in hair bows, a la the 1980’s Madonna look.

In general, styles are becoming more free and casual compared to super neat precision cuts of the past several years.

Bob Back again this summer, the classic bob features strong graphic outlines incorporating. curves and sharp lines. Go for asymmetry - try one side longer or raise the back and lower the front. Mix lengths gradually, add volume with layers or stick to one length cuts. This is a cut that you can tailor to your face and lifestyle — a look for the individual.

Soften it with wisps or a bit of back combing.

Fringe Still very hot for summer 2011, fringe cuts were tops on many of the runway’s top models. Fringe can add elegance or make a bold statement. Look for variations with fringe cuts to bring out your personality and facial structure. Soft and wispy fringes, casual choppy edges and strong bold lines will all be hot. You’ll find fringe cuts that go full length, others flowing mid length or brought forward into the eye.

It’s all about having fun, being sexy and being yourself Layers The cut that complements all the others in high fashion circles this season is lengths of layers with casual textures.

The natural look is easy to create with layers of unstyled, free moving hair. Not a lot of curl but plenty of slightly tousled waves added to the volume and texture make this a fun way to style your hair.

Crop For summer 2011 the focus continues to be on natural looking movement and volume. Crops are holding their own this season with short unregimented lengths adding textures and bounce to this cut. Forget the solid crop and go for broken edges and textures that use the natural flow of your own hair as the guide. (www.chiff.com)

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Health

FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

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ummer is here and the beach season is just around the corner - at least for most of us it is.

Since we’ve been working hard all year to get a toned tummy so that we can proudly break out that new swimsuit (at least in theory), FitSugar points out that there is one more thing we must keep in mind before heading to the beach: how to avoid the things that can make us bloated.

Flab can be efficiently eliminated with dieting and exercise, as we have been told by trainers and nutritionists ever since we can remember.

Bloating, on the other hand, is an entirely different matter, but that’s not to say that there isn’t anything we can do to prevent it, such as being more careful about what we eat and drink. The first step in this sense would be to steer clear of foods and snacks that contain too much salt since, as most of us already know by now, salt leads to water retention which, in turn, leads to bloating.

Drinking plenty of water is also another way to make sure we look as stunning as possible on the beach this summer. Dehydration can often lead to water retention and bloating, which means that drinking as much water as we need will ensure our tummy stays flat as it’s supposed to be from all that working it out at the gym, FitSugar says. Limiting the intake of gassy foods and drinks is, again, something we should bear in mind if we’re looking to avoid the bloated look this summer. Beans, vegetables, certain fruits, eggs, carbonated drinks, beer and red wine, fried and fatty foods, sugary treats, and

milk and other dairy products should all be included on the no-no list or be consumed in limited quantities.

“Eat fiber. Fiber helps everything move through the intestines more quickly, which prevents constipation and bloating. If you’re not accustomed to eating enough fiber, then slowly add more and more fiber to your diet; go too fast, and you’ll feel even more bloated than before. Also make sure to drink plenty of water with all the fiber,” FitSugar recommends.

Last but not least, another thing we can do to prevent bloating is to eat slowly. Chowing down on food like it’s our last meal and doing so without even keeping our mouth closed is the surest way to have a bloated belly in almost no time. To prevent swallowing too much air when we’re eating - since this is what happens in the above mentioned scenario -, we should always remember to chew our food slowly, savoring every last bit of it and not scarfing it down like there’s no tomorrow, health experts also point out.

—Softpedia

Food to Get Rid of Bloating

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condition that gives you the feeling of an abdomen that is full and tight, bloating could really be bothersome.

Luckily, there are foods that help put an end to it. Feeling bloated is really a painful experience. But with eating the right food, you c Bloating - a huge hassle. How many times did you have to skip work because of such uncomfortable feeling? How many times had floating interrupted you from giving your best performance as an employee? Don’t let it get in between the career that took you years to achieve.

Now that we are living in a fiercely competitive corporate world, landing a job and actually keep it is not as easy as it once was. In fact, having a degree is no longer a surefire way for you to make it out there. Thus, you have to learn how to work enduring hours in order to get ahead. But nothing is even worse than a body that suffers from an abnormal abdominal swelling get in the way of your pursuit for success.

Bloating comes from a number of causes. It could be from eating too much, lactose or fructose intolerance, allergies from food and even menstruation. When burdened with bloating, here are edibles that are known to ease the effects and symp-

toms of bloating. Try the following and discover yourself how effective they are.

Herbs Known for its benefits to the digestive system, herbs can aid bloating. Despite the taste, bitter herbs are very effective in stimulating your digestive tract as well as the flow of your saliva. Meanwhile, carminative herb such as peppermint, chamomile and ginger lessens the gas in the body. You can consume it by making tea our of these herbs.

Fruits A daily five-portion intake of fruits daily can save you from the unpleasant feeling of being bloated. Bananas, which are rich in potassium, would be highly-recommended together with apples and prunes. On the other hand, pineapples are also found out to be an option since it contains bromelam, an enzyme that promotes good digestion.

Asparagus Asparagus not only tastes good, it also helps in introducing

good bacteria to the body. These friendly bacteria are responsible for the reduction of excess gas that the stomach has accumulated over time.

Yoghurt Just like asparagus, yoghurt also promotes the growth of good bacteria in the stomach That’s why it is important that your diet includes a serving of yoghurt to make it work for you.

Food Rich in Fiber Whole grains, peas, lentils and nuts are just some of the many fiber-packed foods that you can munch to help you recover from the feeling of having a filled-up abdomen. (squidoo.com)

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FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

How to prevent

hair loss

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p to one third of the population suffers from hair loss, and of that third, thousands are women. Whatever the cause of hair loss that might be worrying you, it’s important to understand what is hair loss, how hair grows, and what you could be doing before hair loss even becomes an issue for you. In this article, you’ll find out all three answers, as well as some short advice on what to do if hair loss does become an issue for you.

Understand why hair loss happens. Hair loss (alopecia) occurs mainly on the head but it can also happen on other parts of the body.

It can happen at any age and will affect an estimated 30 to 40 percent of any population.

It is not always easy to identify the reason behind hair loss in an individual case but the generally known reasons behind hair loss can range from genetics and aging to diseases and stress and poor diet. Even childbirth can trigger hair loss for some women. There are several types of hair loss, as follows: Androgenetic alopecia: This is the most common form of hair loss and is also referred to as male-pattern or female-pattern baldness. Hormones and genetics seem to play the main role here. Male-pattern baldness is hereditary, from either side of the family, and can even skip generations.

It tends to occur on the crown and at the temples and when these patches join together, the top of the hair is left completely bald.

Statistics show that this type of hair loss affects 30 percent of men aged 30, 50 percent of men aged 50, and 70 percent of men aged 70.

For women, the hair thins initially on the frontal area and the crown and moves down the sides of the head, while the back of the head remains dense with hair. This is hereditary and tends to affect women mostly after menopause.

Toxic alopecia: This type of hair loss seems to occur following physical or emotional stress. Things such as illness, scalp infections, sudden loss of weight, surgery, drugs, and pregnancy/childbirth can cause

this type of hair loss. Diseases such as lupus, diabetes, and thyroid disease can bring about such hair loss, as can chemotherapy, heart disease drugs, and radiation therapy.

Hair loss that occurs as a result of a mental or physical stress can occur some 2 to 3 months after the event that sparked the stress.

Alopecia areata: This is actually a skin disorder which causes hair on the affected skin areas to fall out. It is usually the scalp or beard

six year growth phase, while the remaining 10 percent is in a two to three month resting phase. After it rests, it sheds, and we can lose anywhere from 80 to 150 hairs a day, depending on our hair type and genetic background.

As for eyebrow hairs, we tend to keep them for only 10 weeks!

And the growth rate for hair tends to be about 1 cm (just under 1/2 an inch) per month.

Frequent blow-drying is bad for hairTake

Hair loss has multiple causes, including diet, mineral deficiency, medications, stress, pollution, and your genetics. and is thought to have autoimmune causes.

This type of hair loss seems to be most common in young people. The hair usually grows back. Alopecia universalis or totalis: All body hair is lost, from everywhere, including eyebrows and eyelashes.

Hair follicles are not destroyed; the inability to grow hair back is psychological and getting hair to grow back again is not easy.

Trichotillomania: This is hair loss due to hair pulling, a habit or condition that can be corrected with treatment. Scarring alopecia: This is hair loss that occurs at the site of scars or damaged areas such as burns or skin cancer.

Remember how hair grows. It’s likely you’ve already read the statistics on how hair grows but it’s worth being reminded. Around 90 percent of your hair is following a two to

care of your hair. There are no guarantees that you can prevent hair loss that is genetically programmed or hair loss caused by factors not within your control. However, you can do the best by your hair at all stages to give it the greatest chance of staying in top condition and not leaving your head sooner than it needs to. There are a number of things you can do to take good care of your hair: Don’t subject your hair to frequent, constant heating and drying procedures. Heat weakens hair proteins, no matter the gimmicks promising softness and shine, and constant heating and drying can lead to brittleness and fragility that causes hair loss that would not have occurred otherwise. Minimize the usage of hair dryers, hot curlers, hot brushes, hair straighteners, hair fasteners, and chemical treatments and your hair will last

longer.

And watch where you put those heated tools; burned scalps can permanently damage hair follicles! Ultimately, natural drying is best for you hair, so aim to dry it naturally more often than drying it with heat.

Slow down on the dyeing. Never color your hair more often than 6 to 8 weeks and try for semi-coverage rather than full dyeing.

When it comes to going gray, it’s a lot kinder to your hair to let it turn gray than to dye it.

While there are a lot of well-meaning comments about not needing to look older than you are, this ageist “beauty before health” slant overlooks the value of having your hair at all! Be careful how you style your hair.

Some styles that require tight pulling and elastics, clips, etc. can be a cause of hair loss if done on a daily basis. For example, tight ponytails, braiding tightly, corn-rows, and plaits, can lead to significant hair loss when done daily. Winding hair tightly onto rollers, especially heated rollers, is also liable to cause more hair loss.

The medical name for loss of hair due to hairstyles that are too tight is known as “traction alopecia” and it is completely preventable as a cause in and of itself. Avoid layering cuts that lose a lot of your hair. If you’re already experiencing hair loss, don’t speed it up by having the hairdresser remove more hair!

Wash hair regularly with mild shampoo and be gentle with your hair. Hair washing can form a part of preventing hair loss as it can keep your hair and scalp clean (preventing the chances of infections, etc. that might cause hair loss), and provided you use a mild shampoo, clean hair will give the impression of more volume than dirty hair, which tends to sit flatter and more parted than clean hair.

— Wikihow

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Arts

FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

Mark Leckey’s green screen.

Mark Leckey’s art creates noise without meaning ark Leckey’s exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery crept up on me unawares. In the lobby-like entrance area, posters and a fragmentary video hover delicately between meaning and meaninglessness while snatches of pounding music and robotic voices creep in from other rooms.

Hesitant, a bit confused, I took it in like the noise outside a club, or popcorn scattered on a cinema carpet. Only when I entered a gallery overlooking Kensington Gardens where electronic devices chatter inanely in high-pitched voices against a painted green background did the reality dawn on me of

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just how terrible an exhibition I had stumbled into.

Leckey won a Turner prize in 2008, which goes to show you should never take these awards too seriously. His kind of art, studded with dense cultural references, appeals to a certain kind of academically minded curator because it seems intelligent and subversive until you look at it. On paper, Leckey is a genius, a pop cultural messiah. He explores the anthropology of clubbing, the ironies of consumerism - both key in his (sort of) best work here, Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore - and the disembodied mystique of digital technol-

Mark Leckey’s Green Screen Refrigerator Action.—Guardian

ogy. He is a Marxist DJ quoting philosophy while he stacks up sound-systems to create aural sculptures.

Like I said - great on paper. But art happens in physical space, in the realm of bodies also known as the human world. In that world, Leckey does not get his ideas across.

His messing about with speakers and screens does not come across as cool, but laboured and empty.

The installation GreenScreenRefrigeratorAction with its bonkers talking gadgets and walls tediously coloured to reflect the park outside (culture v nature, geddit?) is one of the worst works of art I have ever seen in a serious gallery. It means nothing; it just makes noise to create the fiction of meaning. It is pompous and clumsy and utterly miserable for no good reason.

Does that sound like a certain British politician? Mark Leckey is the Gordon Brown of art always missing his target and always seeming sorry for himself. There is a complete lack of fit between Leckey’s vaunted interest in dance music and youth culture and the eerie joylessness of his art. Nothing, however, prepares you for the stupidity and arrogance of the central exhibit, BigBoxStatueAction, in which he has the insolence to juxtapose one of his own speaker-stack sculptures with a bronze abstract statue by Henry Moore.

Now, I am a long way from being Henry Moore’s biggest fan. In fact, I think the current fashion for reclaiming him as a great modern artist is a bit silly. But great or otherwise, Moore certainly was an artist, and next to him Leckey scarcely looks like one at all. He looks

more like a pedantic scholar of dead theories of culture, who belongs not in an art gallery but rather in some university library poring over 1980s copies of The Face.

He has scribbled a quote from the Victorian critic Walter Pater on the back of the speaker stack, calling on us to live always in a hard, gemlike flame of ecstasy. But I have rarely felt so far from that flame as I did among his lumbering inanities.—Guardian

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Arts

FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

Beauty is in the Street

The power of protest posters A new book reminds us of powerful, unifying posters designed by students during the May 1968 Paris uprising.

But where are the design campaigns from the youth of today?

‘The Struggle Continues’

hree years ago the media marked the 40th anniversary of the May 1968 Paris uprising with a wave of nostalgic reminiscence. There may have been a nice round number to celebrate, but that was about all there was connecting us to the spirit of ‘68.

Three years later, following a banking-triggered recession and the election of a rightwing government, that spirit seems to have been exhumed. We’ve seen students occupy universities across the UK, and hundreds of thousands march against government spending cuts. In many ways this is a more propitious moment to release a beautiful volume of the posters created by the Atelier Populaire, and Four Corners Books has done just that.

While their fellow students engaged in pitched battles with the police and millions of workers went on general strike, students at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in 1968 occupied the printing studios and converted them into the uprising’s very own propaganda machine. Many of the resulting posters have become icons of political design. The riot policeman bearing down on the viewer with his truncheon aloft, his head helmeted and goggled in a ghoulish mask, has become synonymous with oppression.

Books By contrast, the long-haired student hurling a cobblestone, which appears to be floating harmlessly in the air, aestheticises resistance as a liberating act. The poster’s slogan translates as “Beauty Is in the Street”. The book takes that as its title, with these two images as its front and back covers.

The Atelier Populaire may have been a group of art students but - high on the fumes of Marxism - they decried the privileged, bourgeois art world. Out in the real world, they had a job to do. They set up a silkscreen printing press (much faster than the lithography presses in the studios they’d occupied) and worked around the clock in shifts. That way, they could produce thousands of posters at a time, to be slapped up around the city. They were not art, but tools, weapons even. In the frontispiece to a 1969 book of the posters reproduced here, the Atelier Populaire wrote: “To use them for decorative purposes, to display them in bourgeois places of culture or to consider them as objects of aesthetic interest is to impair both their function and their effect.”

Well, it’s too late for that - they are nothing now if not objects of aesthetic interest.

The posters display different styles but the individual designers were never credited (too bourgeois) - they were the work of the collective. What they had in common was an economy of expression: single colours printed on newssheet gifted by the striking newspapers, bold forms and provocative slogans.

What stands out today is an extremely concise iconography.

‘The Struggle Continues. The fist is the students’ symbol of solidarity and resistance. The real success of May ‘68 - and arguably its only achievement - was the alliance of these unlikely groups. And so in one poster the chimney becomes the fist. In another, the worker and student stand arm in arm. Often the figures are silhouettes, not just

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Collective creativity, ‘We Are the Power’ from Beauty Is in the Street. —Guardian because they are more graphic but also to condense the many into one unified body.

Perhaps the strongest poster of all is a sixheaded silhouette that reads “We are the power”.

The iconography for the forces of oppression, conservatism and capitalism are equally straightforward. There are chains and truncheons and rats and, of course, the longnosed profile of President De Gaulle. What were the students opposing? What started with a complaint about the old-fashioned regulations at Nanterre University became a battle cry against establishment values and consumer culture - or what the Situationists called “the spectacle”. Georges Perec had parodied that culture in his 1965 novel Things, and one example of graffiti here (to its credit the book includes many photographs of the graffiti as well as the posters of this time) reads “L’homme fait l’amour avec la Chose”: “Man makes love to the Thing.”

Today, the Marxist fervour may have died down but flare-ups against capitalist forces persist. The question is, where is the political design? There was the odd hand-drawn poster at the UCL occupation in December but no organised design campaign to compare with ‘68. Perhaps graphics were a device that the students didn’t need. With Twitter and Facebook and mobile phones to hand, the poster is a less exponential way of mobilising support. Which also suggests that protest today relies more on the telegraphic soundbite than the graphic image - an ironic conclusion given that ours is an age in thrall to pictures.

There remains a counter-cultural graphics, but when it is political it is rarely ideologically so. Banksy’s street art adopts a vaguely anti-establishment stance but it is individualistic rather than collective. Similarly, Shepard Fairey’s famous “Obey” posters warn against the power of advertising, and yet his explicitly political works give the impression that they are merely endorsements of personality politics. The “Hope” election poster for Obama and his images of other figures such as Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi pursue the Che T-shirt model of iconisation. And this leaves aside the fact that both Banksy and Fairey are commercial artists,

whereas the Atelier Populaire refused to allow its posters to be sold and thus commodified.

The UK’s political graphics tend to be more stealthy and insidious. Take that odd phenomenon, the “Keep Calm and Carry On” poster that has been ubiquitous since the credit crunch. In its appeal to the plucky stoicism of the blitz years, it seems designed to dampen down any unrest aimed at the political-financial establishment. Or think back to the Conservative election campaign.

Remember those posters featuring David Cameron’s heavily Photoshopped face with the slogan “We can’t go on like this”? The dewy ruddiness of Cameron’s cheeks, the vagueness of that “this”, such is the true nature of political image-making in our time: no bold graphics or progressive rhetoric, just the subtle massaging of the truth into a digestible advert. —Guardian

‘Beauty Is in the Street’

Comic

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FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

Word Sleuth Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

ACROSS 1. An operating system that is on a disk.

4. Wool of the alpaca.

10. Inquire about.

13. (usually followed by `to') Naturally disposed toward.

14. An inhabitant of ancient Thebes.

15. Aircraft landing in bad weather in which the pilot is talked down by ground control using precision approach radar.

16. English economist noted for his studies of international trade and finance (born in 1907).

18. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

19. Thigh of a hog (usually smoked).

20. On or toward the lee.

23. A white soft metallic element that tarnishes readily.

24. Any of various spiny trees or shrubs of the genus Acacia.

26. A unit of luminous flux equal to the amount of light given out through a solid angle of 1 steradian by a point source of 1 candela intensity radiating uniformly in all directions.

28. (Irish) Mother of the Tuatha De Danann.

29. (dialect) A short straight stick of wood.

33. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

36. Queen of England as the 6th wife of Henry VIII (1512-1548).

37. West Indian tree having racemes of fragrant white flowers and yielding a durable timber and resinous juice.

42. The cry made by sheep.

43. Water travel for pleasure.

45. Powerful mackerel shark of the Atlantic and Pacific.

48. A federal agency established to coordinate programs aimed at reducing pollution and protecting the environment.

49. A colorless odorless gaseous element that give a red glow in a vacuum tube.

50. The act of scanning.

51. A streamlined enclosure for an aircraft engine.

56. A nucleotide derived from adenosine that occurs in muscle tissue.

59. An associate degree in applied science.

60. Piece of solid food for dipping in a liquid.

61. An extra or repeated performance.

62. The United Nations agency concerned with international maritime activities.

63. A constellation in the southern hemisphere near Telescopium and Norma.

64. (horseshoes) The throw of a horseshoe so as to lean against (but not encircle) the stake.

65. A tight-fitting headdress.

DOWN 1. Fallow deer.

2. German industrialist who was the first in Germany to use an assembly line in manufacturing automobiles (1871-1948).

3. French romantic writer (1766-1817).

4. Goddess of criminal rashness and its punishment.

5. A gonadotropic hormone that is secreted by the anterior pituitary.

6. A tricycle (usually propelled by pedalling).

7. A port city in southwestern Iran.

8. A compartment in front of a motor vehicle where driver sits.

9. (Irish) Mother of the ancient Irish gods.

10. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

11. Someone who works (or provides workers) during a strike.

12. God of love and erotic desire.

17. Lacking or deprive of the sense of hearing wholly or in part.

21. Having undesirable or negative qualities.

22. A short labored intake of breath with the mouth open.

25. Tropical American tree producing cacao beans.

27. A master's degree in business.

30. A sock with a separation for the big toe.

31. A port city in northwestern Algeria and the country's 2nd largest city.

32. (informal) Exceptionally good.

34. A silvery ductile metallic element found primarily in bauxite.

35. A logarithmic unit of sound intensity.

38. (in Gnosticism) A divine power or nature emanating from the Supreme Being and playing various roles in the operation of the universe.

39. Any woodland plant of the genus Anemone grown for its beautiful flowers and whorls of dissected leaves.

40. The trait of lacking restraint or control.

41. A person who owns or operates a ranch.

44. The starting place for each hole on a golf course.

46. A theatrical performer.

47. The 10th letter of the Greek alphabet.

52. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

53. Concerning those not members of the clergy.

54. A Tibetan or Mongolian priest of Lamaism.

55. A program under which employees regularly accumulate shares and may ultimately assume control of the company.

57. Goddess of the dead and queen of the underworld.

58. Fiddler crabs.

Yesterday’s Solution

Lifestyle FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

File photo shows artwork at a Christie’s auction preview in Hong Kong.—AFP

Christie’s caps off record Asia auction season C

hristie’s latest Hong Kong auction has raised $463 million, beating estimates for a slew of high-end goods and capping a week of eye-popping sales fuelled by buyers in booming mainland China. The auction giant said late Wednesday its six-day spring sale of items from rare wine to Imperial Chinese ceramics raised HK$3.6 billion ($463 million), with HK$4 billion raised at auctions in Hong Kong and mainland China in the first half of the year.

That was Christie’s richest season total in Asia and 68 percent higher

than last year, it said, underscoring Hong Kong’s rise as an global auction hub. Chinese art prices have rocketed in recent years, fuelled by the country’s economic boom and a steady demand from rich Asian collectors, especially mainland Chinese buyers.

“These results indicate the continued growth in the breadth and depth of collecting interest, and reaffirm Hong Kong as a leading center in the global art market,” the firm said in a statement. Before the sales kicked off Friday, Christie’s had estimated it would raise about

HK$2.4 billion, later saying that “intensive bidding resulted in prices going well over their estimates across all categories”.

The sales had more than 2,700 lots on offer, including a rare Patek Philippe watch and Chinese contemporary art.

The sale total might have been even higher if an 18th-century Chinese ceramic vase had fetched its pre-sale reserve price of HK$240 million, but bidding fizzled around HK$190 million and it went unsold.

In April, rival Sotheby’s saw its much-anticipated sale of imperial

Chinese porcelain flop in Hong Kong, with many prized lots failing to sell. The sale of the Meiyintang Collection — 77 pieces of porcelain gathered over half a century by a European collector-was expected to fetch up to HK$1.07 billion but the collection went for just HK$399 million.

Still, both auction houses are betting big on Asia with Hong Kong, a former British colony, drawing a string of record sales. It is now the world’s third-largest auction centre after New York and London.

“The growth of the art market in

Asia is greater than anywhere in the world,” said Francois Curiel, president of Christie’s Asia. Sotheby’s on Tuesday sold a collection of 25 works by Chang Dai-chien, one of China’s leading 20th century artists, for a whopping HK$680 million in just over an hour of bidding. The top lot, “Lotus and Mandarin Ducks”, sold for HK$191 million to a telephone bidder, against a pre-sale estimate of HK$20 million, setting an auction record for the artist, Sotheby’s said.—AFP

Egypt’s revolution may save Neolithic treasure

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gypt’s popular uprising may have arrived just in time to save a Neolithic site that holds the country’s oldest evidence of agriculture and could yield vital clues to the rise of Pharaonic civilization.

The site lies in a protected nature reserve along the shore north of Lake Qarun that until recently had remained virtually untouched, even though it lies only 70 km (43.50 miles) from Cairo, Egypt’s fastexpanding capital. A month before the protests that toppled President Hosni Mubarak erupted in January, the Egyptian government carved 2.8 square kilometers of prime land from the reserve and awarded it to property developer Amer Group for a tourist resort. Since Mubarak was ousted, three government ministers who sat on a committee that approved the sale have been jailed while they battle corruption charges not related to the Amer deal.

One of them, Housing Minister Ahmed el-Maghrabi, told Reuters in January that archaeology officials had given the redevelopment the necessary green light.

Egypt’s archaeology chief now says that was untrue. “I did not give any permission to anyone. The excavations are not finished,” Zahi Hawass, head of the Supreme Council for Antiquities, told Reuters.

Property developers have come under increasing public scrutiny for their land pur-

chases from Mubarak’s government, and some firms have relinquished tracts of land.

Egyptian conservation groups have decried the Amer deal, saying it was done without proper oversight and that the arrival of large numbers of holidaymakers would wreak heavy damage to a wide swathe of the delicate desert landscape.

“This is the thin end of the wedge. It is the destruction of Egyptian natural heritage for future generations.” said Ali Fahmi, director of the conservation group Friends of Lake Qarun. “It sets a precedent in desecrating a protected area.”

Egypt’s cabinet in 1989 declared 1,110 square km north of the lake a nature protectorate, an area that also contains unique geology, Pharaonic basalt quarries from the Old Kingdom and fossils of early whales and primates. Archaeologists say the remains of rain-based Neolithic farming in the reserve may hold vital clues to a technological leap that led to irrigation-based farming along the Nile. Around 4,000 BC, humans occupying a strip along the northern shore of the lake seized a window of only a few centuries of rainfall to grow grain in previously inhospitable desert, archaeologists say.

“We have the evidence of the earliest agriculture activity in Egypt. So it’s before the Pharaohs, it’s before the early dynastic

period when Egypt becomes a state,” said Willeke Wendrich, an archaeology professor at the University of California in Los Angeles. “What we have on the north shore of Fayoum is something unique worldwide.

What we have is a Neolithic landscape which, because it’s desert, has not been overbuilt,” she said in an interview.

Khaled Saad, department manager for prehistory at Egypt’s Supreme Council for Anquities (SCA), said that four years ago the Tourism Ministry decided it wanted to build hotels and tourist attractions on a 20 square km (7.723 sq mile) tract stretching 10 km along the lake’s northern shoreline.

It formed a committee to approve designating the land for development that included Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, Tourism Minister Zoheir Garranah, Maghrabi and other officials, Saad said. In December, the Tourism Development Authority (TDA), which is under the Tourism Ministry, awarded Amer Group the land under a 99-year concession, charging $28,000 in the first year, rising to an annual $92,000 in the fourth to 10th years.

Maghrabi said in early January that the SCA had brought in archeaologists to survey the area before the project went ahead. “It has been completely cleared by the department of antiquities.—Reuters

A visitor looks at a work by Italian Felipe Cardena during the 54th Venice International Art Exhibition. The Biennale entitled Illuminations will open to the public from June 4 to November 27 2011, in Venice’s Giardini and Arsenale exhibition venues, as well as in various other locations around the city.—AFP

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FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

Fur flies over

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cores of animal rights activists demonstrated yesterday outside a fashion show in the South Korean capital in protest at a decision

by Italian designer Fendi to include fur. “The company of blood, Fendi, the city of blood, Seoul,” read one banner outside the venue, a newly completed floating island on the Han river. “Fur is cruel,” read another. City officials earlier threatened to cancel the event unless all fur items were removed from the catwalk, but later relented after organizers apparently agreed to reduce the number of such items in the show.

An AFP correspondent saw about 12 fur garments in the autumn/winter collection, fewer than the 20 originally planned. But an estimated 8090 protesters outside the venue were not appeased. “A lot of Europeans reject the idea of using fur for clothes, so now luxury companies are rushing to Asia instead to cash in,” said Jo Hee-Kyung, head of the Korea Animal Welfare Association.

His members were there to convey a message from the people of Seoul, he said.

Among the demonstrators were elementary schoolchildren, who held stuffed toy animals and wore rabbit ears. “It hurts so much, don’t skin us,” they chanted. Police said about 100 plain-clothes officers were on duty but no incidents were reported.—AFP

Fendi fashion

show in South Korea

Models present creations during the Fendi 2011 F/W collection in the Floating Island on the Han River in Seoul, South Korea, yesterday.—AP

South Korean animal rights activists hold a rally opposing the use of fur outside the venue for Italian fashion house Fendi’s fashion show in Seoul yesterday. (Right) A logo of Fendi damaged with red paint by South Korean animal rights activists.

Fashion

Rio Summer

2012

collection

Models wear creations by Coven during the Fashion Rio Summer 2012 collection in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, June 1, 2011.— AP

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FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

Fashion mogul’s death still mystery after autopsy

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n autopsy on the 33-year-old cofounder of a popular hip hop-oriented clothing company has failed to determine a cause of death, and authorities will now wait for results from toxicological and other tests, authorities said Wednesday. Fashion entrepreneur Jonas Bevacqua was found dead Tuesday at his home.

Authorities have ruled out homicide, and there was no immediate indication Bevacqua was suffering from a medical condition, sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino said. Tests could take six to eight weeks to come back, he said.

Bevacqua and his partner, Robert Wright, founded Lifted Research Group, known to patrons as LRG, in 1999 with start-up capital raised in part from friends of Bevacqua’s father.

The company has grown to become a major supplier of popular urban fashion wear. LRG cites Kobe Bryant, Kanye West and Quentin Tarantino as among numerous celebrities who wear its clothes. “Jonas was a star who burned brightly in the sky and who is gone far too soon,” LRG said in a statement posted on its website. “There is a hole in our hearts that will never be filled. He will always be loved and missed by his friends, family, and all those he inspired.” Bevacqua had dropped out of college and moved back home with his parents when he met Wright in the 1990s while working as a DJ at Southern California clubs.

The two sketched out some of their earliest fashion ideas in his bedroom.

Deeply influenced by Southern

California’s skateboard, surfing and hiphop culture, he said he and Wright began making clothes that reflected their interests but that no one else seemed to be providing.

“I grew up in a pretty unique environment and was exposed to a lot of different things,” he said in a 2009 interview with the Orange County Register.

“I didn’t feel there was a clothing company to bridge the gap between all these different things that we were into-that spoke for that melting pot of what was going on. That’s what LRG was all about.” By 2006, LRG had annual sales of $150 million and was named by Entrepreneur magazine as No5 on its list of that year’s 500 fastest growing companies. Among its popular clothing lines are Luxirie, which targets 18- to 30-

year-old women, offering clothing with Western and military themes, and items such as crystal-covered jeans.

Initially a clothing company, LRG has since branched out to include sales of electronic devices, music and other items. It describes itself as a “creative lifestyle” company that attempts to reflect its founders’ interests, not only in fashion but also environmental causes and other activities. The company is also involved in the promotion of underground recording artists and sponsors a skateboarding team.

Bevacqua grew up in a multicultural family that included eight siblings, seven of whom, including him, were adopted. He is survived by his mother, father, son, fiancee and seven brothers and sisters. —AP

Britain

Student Models display designs by Anna Schwamborn a Royal College of Art student during the annual graduate fashion show in London, yesterday. — AP/AFP photos

Models display designs by Hannah Taylor, a Royal College of Art student.

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FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

Jane’s

(From left) Jane’s Addiction band members Stephen Perkins, Perry Farrell and Dave Navarro, react after placing their hands in cement following an induction ceremony into the Rock Walk in. —AP

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dvancing middle age has only sharpened the edgy instincts of Jane’s Addiction, one of the first alternative rock groups to achieve mainstream recognition in the 1980s. The group’s three core members, racing to finish their first album in eight years for a September release, are wary of being sidetracked by past glories while trying to take their youthful, genre-bending musical idealism in new directions. “I wanna be important to your past and your history. But I also wanna be part of this year and next year and the year after that,” singer Perry Farrell, 52, told Reuters on Wednesday.

So how are they doing that? By embracing modern technology with more gusto than usual to create music using loops and electronics. The half-finished album already has a name, “The Great Escape

Elton John urges Florida to save HIV/AIDS funding

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inger Elton John is urging Florida Gov Rick Scott to protect a program that helps low-income HIV/AIDS patients get medication needed to control the virus. John, founder of the Elton John AIDS Foundation, wrote to Scott on Tuesday after hearing the Department of Health was considering changes in income eligibility.

A department spokeswoman says there are no immediate plans to change the AIDS Drug Assistance Program, though it held hearings to discuss the possibility of lowering income requirements to participate. In their letter, John and foundation Chairman David Furnish say lowering income eligibility could mean 1,600 people will no longer get help obtaining antiretroviral medication. —AP

Artist,” a nod to the band’s deft maneuvers through the musical landscape. “If you’re using old equipment to write your music and play the music and perform your music, your music is gonna sound stale. You need to learn current equipment because it’s vital to have a fresh sound,” Farrell said.

Jane’s Addiction emerged from the Los Angeles rock underground in the mid-1980s, quickly distinguishing itself from other post-punk groups.

Farrell’s sexually ambiguous stagecraft and childlike vocals were complemented by guitarist Dave Navarro’s power riffs, Stephen Perkins’ tribal drumming, and Eric Avery’s simple, melodic bass.

Honored in Hollywood “They’re a band that could have happened nowhere else and a band that sounds like the city in which they were formed,” Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello said. “You can hear the violence, the drugs, the beauty, the ocean, the hope, smog, fear and redemptive power of our city in Jane’s music.”

Morello hailed the band as its members left their handprints in wet cement at the RockWalk, a Hollywood shrine to rock bands and the bluesmen who begat them. Unlikely hit songs such as their plaintive ballad “Jane Says” played on the speaker system as Farrell, Navarro and Perkins smiled for the cameras. They were joined by current touring bassist Chris Chaney, one of five musicians to fill in for the on-again, off-again Avery.

“The Great Escape Artist” marks the band’s fourth studio album since 1988 and its first since 2003’s “Strays.” A video for the new song “End to the Lies” was released last week. Other tracks will include “Irresistible Force,” described by Navarro as having “some magic captured on it,” and the lengthy “Splash a Little Water,” which he termed “kinda ambient and cinematic.”

How does the album fit into the pop-oriented musical scene? “Hopefully it doesn’t,” said Navarro, who turns 44 next Tuesday. “We’ve really never been ones to fit into anything, and I think that’s why we’re here today.” A key driver of the new sound is electronics expert Dave Sitek, who took time off from his day job as guitarist with New York-based rock band TV on the Radio to help out on bass.

Farrell described him as “a mad genius.”

Sitek’s presence has helped energize Jane’s Addiction, whose existence has been marked by multiple breakups and reunions, drug problems and personal spats. The band expects to tour for about a year once the album comes out. “Right now, there’s this kind of a (Vitamin) B12 shot we got in the ass, and we feel juiced up about each other,” said Perkins, 43. “As long as that lasts, let’s keep doing it. There is something to say about getting along.” —Reuters

US groups attack Rihanna’s ‘Man Down’ murder video

Addiction looking to future with new album

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new Rihanna music video, in which the singer guns down a man in retaliation for an apparent sexual assault, was condemned on Wednesday for encouraging young women to turn to violence. “Man Down”, which debuted on the Black Entertainment TV (BET) network on Tuesday, shows Rihanna firing in cold blood on an unarmed man at a rail station, and killing him. The reggae style song by the 23 year-old R&B singer features the lyrics “Momma, I just shot a man dead...I never been so proud.”

Rihanna, herself the victim of a violent 2009 physical attack by her then boyfriend, singer Chris Brown, said in Twitter messages to her fans that the theme of the video was female empowerment. “Young girls/women all over the world...we are a lot of things! We’re strong innocent fun flirtatious vulnerable, and sometimes our innocence can cause us to be naive! We always think it could NEVER be us, but in reality, it can happen to ANY of us! So ladies be careful,’ she wrote.

The Parents Television Council, the Enough is Enough campaign, and entertainment think tank Industry Ears called on BET and its parent company Viacom to stop airing the video. “If Chris Brown shot a woman in his new video and BET premiered it, the world would stop.

Rihanna should not get a pass,” said Paul Porter, cofounder of Industry Ears, which campaigns against negative images in the media. Porter said that in 30 years he had never witnessed “such a cold, calculated execution of murder in prime time.”

Melissa Henson of the Parents Television Council said that “instead of telling victims they should seek help, Rihanna released a music video that gives retaliation in the form of premeditated murder the imprimatur of acceptability.” BET and Viacom did not immediately return calls for comment on Wednesday. “Man Down”, the latest single from Rihanna’s “Loud” album , was released last week. Brown, 21, pleaded guilty to assaulting Rihanna in February 2009, setting off a national debate about young, abusive relationships. He publicly apologized, underwent court-ordered domestic violence counseling and spent six months performing community service. Rihanna has referenced domestic violence in several other hits, including her 2010 duet with Eminem “Love the Way You Lie”. —Reuters

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FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

Thornton’s daughter guilty in death

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he estranged daughter of actor Billy Bob Thornton has been found guilty of aggravated manslaughter of a child in Orlando. Prosecutors say 32-year-old Amanda Brumfield was convicted. She is expected to be sentenced in July. She was acquitted of first-degree murder and aggravated child-abuse charges.

Authorities say Brumfield killed her best friend’s daughter during an overnight stay in October 2008. Brumfield says 1-year-old Olivia Madison Garcia was trying to climb

Johnnie To wraps romance film at home in Hong Kong

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t’s a muggy summer day in Hong Kong that has sent everyone scrambling for cover and iced soda, but Johnnie To is glad he’s back in his hometown. The veteran Hong Kong director was wrapping up his new romance “Romancing in Thin Air” in the southern Chinese financial center yesterday afternoon after what he and his producer describe as a grueling filming in the high-altitude forests of southwestern Yunnan province. The director of films like “PTU,” “Election”

pled with low temperatures,” To tells The Associated Press, adding that at one point nearly half of his 50-member crew fell sick. “It’s easier now that we are back in Hong Kong. The hardest part was in the mountains,” says producer Wai Ka-fai, To’s regular creative partner.

Wai says the fluctuating weather made it difficult to shoot extended scenes.

“There are three or four seasons in a single day. It may be very sunny the

Hong Kong director Johnnie To, left, gives direction to his crew during a film shoot of his new movie ‘Romancing in Thin Air’ in Hong Kong yesterday. — AP

and “Vengeance” says his new $6.4 million production tells the story of a Hong Kong actor (Louis Koo) who escapes to rural Yunnan after being abandoned at the altar by his girlfriend (Gao Yuanyuan).

In Yunnan, he meets a new love interest, the owner of a local hotel, played by Sammi Cheng.

“The altitude was about 4,000 meters (13,000 feet). It was very cold.

Out of the 60-odd days of shooting, it was snowing on some 50 days. That was quite difficult-high-altitude cou-

first few hours, then later it in the day it’s snowing. Continuity was a problem,” Wai says, adding the crew was forced to switch to a different scene when the weather changed.

But in Hong Kong, To and Wai are in their element yesterday as they shot several car scenes on a balding grass patch in western Kowloon near the International Commerce Center, Hong Kong’s tallest building. The now-empty site will house the future West Kowloon Cultural District complex designed by famed British architect

Norman Foster. It is a typically spartan Hong Kong set, populated with several tents, five trucks and a smattering of cars and minivans. Costumes are crammed onto a clothing rack left in open air. Crew members fetch refreshments from a folding table. Despite the hot weather, To is stylishly dressed in a white fedora hat, a checkered white dress shirt, blue pants and sneakers. He walks between a tent where he watched the playback monitor and the actual location nearby, barking out orders while smoking a cigar.

“Romancing in Thin Air” is To’s second straight romance, part of a recent push to gain a foothold in the mainland Chinese market with more commercial productions. The Hong Kong master’s signature fare of slick action thrillers-sometimes violent and mixed with political satire-don’t always match the often-prudish sensibilities of mainland censors.

In March, To released the romantic comedy “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,” which became a modest hit in the mainland by raking in 98 million Chinese yuan ($15 million). That production, also starring Koo and Gao, is about a woman choosing between a playboy trader and a less-flamboyant architect, played by Chinese-American actor Daniel Wu. “Romancing in Thin Air,” however, is a more serious drama.

“This is a bit of a sad story,” To says. “‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’ can be labeled an urban romance. It was lighthearted and had comedic elements.

This is a more serious love story,” Wai says. The latest production also marks To and Wai’s reunion with Cheng, the actor-singer that the duo successfully paired with Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau in the back-to-back romantic comedies “Needing You” (2000) and “Love on a Diet” (2001). —AP

out of a playpen and hit her head. The defense suggested the fall may have aggravated a previous injury, causing her death. Prosecutors say it’s impossible that a fall from that height caused a three-and-a-half inch (9-centimeter) fracture on the back of the girl’s skull and the bleeding and swelling found in her brain.

Cole not the only sour note for Cowell’s ‘X Factor’

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merican Idol” made Simon Cowell a household name in the United States, but the prickly British music Svengali is hitting some flat notes as he tries to launch his own TV singing competition. Cowell, 51, has been working on a US version of his hit UK talent show “The X Factor” for more than 18 months. But as the clock winds down to its much-hyped debut in the fall, he is facing some last-minute challenges.

His personal pick for the judging panel-British singer Cheryl Cole-was reportedly dumped from the lineup, possibly because of her thick accent. She was also dropped this week from the panel of the UK version of “The X Factor”. Perhaps more ominously yet another singing show, “The Voice,” has become a surprise hit by borrowing some key “X Factor” components.

TV pundits also wonder whether viewers have the appetite for another months-long singing competition. “X Factor” will join a list that includes “The Sing-Off,” “Platinum Hit,” “The Glee Project”, “American Idol”, and Cowell’s own “America’s Got Talent.” Last month, Fox television touted Cowell and “The X Factor” as the highlight of its new fall schedule. Fox Networks Group chairman Peter Rice described Cowell as “the absolute star of the genre at the pinnacle of his game.”

Two weeks later, something had clearly gone wrong after two rounds of auditions before Cowell, Cole and fellow judges Paula Abdul, record producer Antonio “LA” Reid. Cole was seen as an odd choice: A style icon and a household name at home but unknown in the United States.

Depending on whom you believe, Cole was apparently dropped because of concerns that her Northern English accent might prove tough for US viewers, or because she lacked chemistry with “Idol” alumna Abdul, or because she was uncharacteristically nervous when “X Factor” shooting started. —Reuters

Singer Usher performs at the Staples Center on June 1, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. — AFP

Lifestyle FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

Chinese artist Kwok Mang Ho performs during the 54th International Art Exhibition in Venice. The Biennale entitled Illuminazioni will open to the public from tomorro to November 27th 2011, in the Giardini and the Arsenale exhibition venues, as well as in various other locations around the city.—AFP

Slum-dweller wins millions in Philippine lottery

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Thailand

File A Thai Buddhist monk drawing a traditional tattoo on the back of a devotee during a tattoo festival at the Bang Phra Temple.

— AFP

seeks to ban tourists’ religious tattoos

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hailand’s Culture Ministry says tourists should be banned from getting religious tattoos while visiting because the practice is culturally insensitive. Culture Minister Niphit Intharasombat says his office has been receiving complaints from residents that tattoo parlors are etching sacred images of Buddha and other religious images onto the skin of non-Buddhist visitors across the country.

Niphit said in a statement on his ministry’s website yesterday that “foreigners see these tattoos as a fashion... they do not think of respecting religion, or they may not be aware- it can be offensive.” He called on tattoo shops to stop the practice. Thailand is mostly Buddhist. Millions of foreigners visit the Southeast Asian nation annually.—AP

n illiterate, slumdwelling Philippine carpenter who was too poor to send his six children to school became an instant millionaire yesterday with the country’s second biggest-ever lottery win.

The 60-year-old collected a 356.5-million-peso (eight-million-dollar) cheque from a single 20peso ticket, which was all he could afford, said an aide to Philippine Charity Lotto tickets are sold next to a Sweepstakes Office gener- sign showing the name of the al manager Jose Ferdinand previous winner, in Manila.—AFP Roxas. “He plans to buy a house because he and his family had never owned a proper home all their lives,” said the Roxas aide, who declined to be identified. Roxas, who handed over the cheque Thursday on behalf of the state lottery agency, could not be reached for comment. The staff member told AFP the unnamed man’s winnings were the second biggest ever for the state lottery, a popular pastime in a country where one in four people live on a dollar a day or less. In December the lottery paid out a record 741 million pesos to a 63-year-old US-based Filipino man who had bought the winning ticket while vacationing in the Philippines. The aide said the latest winner, who under lottery rules is never identified for security reasons, beat odds of one in 29 million on a six-number combination based on his and his wife’s birthdays and their wedding date. The jackpot had mounted as there were no winners in 43 previous draws. The carpenter lives in one of Manila’s many shanty towns, across the street from a gated southern Manila enclave called Ayala Alabang that houses some of the country’s richest families.”Neither he nor his children had gone to school and his six children, all but one of them married, still live with him in his tiny shack,” the sweepstakes office aide said. —AFP

Stars

FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

Aries (March 21-April 19) You are always interested in being of help to others. You enjoy teaching or helping young people use their creative mind with their use of words. Your sense of humor is not missing from your communications today. There are many practical ideas available to you now, especially related to your job or skills. Careful, a customer may tell you a sad story to get a special deal. You appreciate, care and are concerned but not much can fool you. This afternoon you may enjoy a community project. Perhaps you and your family will help to contribute towards the beautification of your neighborhood. If everyone participates, the value of property could increase. You are constantly on the side of humanism at every turn.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) You could be most persuasive with others and expressive in speech and communication. You are a natural for self-expression and others enjoy listening to your particular ideas and thoughts. The initiative is yours and you will find positive end results develop from your enthusiasm to achieve. This is a day to dare to be a little unconventional. You will prosper through new insights, inventions and an independent point of view. Your career could open up by taking the road less traveled or by daring to be more involved in the development of business: new approaches. You are inspired to motivate others with your creative and inventive ways. What if types of questions seem to be the key that turns you into the wizard everyone enjoys having on their side.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) You may find yourself having a difference of opinion with others today. This, however, is the only way to introduce new ways of thinking among your particular business comrades. Make it a point to remove the emotions and if you find others getting emotional, excuse yourself from the conversation. There will be other opportunities to expand upon some new idea. Given time, your ideas will gain recognition. Real insight into your own inner workings could surface now and in a manageable form. You may be in the mood for penetrating conversations this evening. Perhaps a book or magazine on the latest electronic techniques would be fun for you. A friend you have not heard from in some time gives you a call. Old times are remembered.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) Throwing caution to the wind, you could ignore whatever responsibilities you have and pursue a particular objective today. You have animal-like instincts when it comes to big business and this is a good time to use those instincts. You are where the action is most intense. Your mind will get through the unimportant and straight to the bottom line. Some may even respect your tenacity and it is exciting to be near you. You may tend to take paths at right angles to your real ambitions if you let yourself become distracted. If you have a co-worker friend that will join you in a project, you can keep each other focused; talk about staying focused before you begin. This afternoon you may enjoy some creative activity with some form of art, theater, sports, etc.

Leo (July 23-August 22) This is a very lucky day for making plans or decisions and finding your way through just about any problem you may discover. You will be feeling successful and able to cope with whatever comes across your path. Good advice from a guide may be forthcoming. You are very fortunate in being able to grow and progress throughout your life without major difficulties. You can always find the resources you require at hand plus the necessary instruction in how to use them. Your love of job and practical skills makes you a fine manager and businessperson. You bring passion to your work. Your mind is full of practical ideas, especially related to your job or skills. You are always coming up with new ideas; this is a productive day.

Virgo (August 23-September 22) Don’t be too quick to sign a money agreement. It will take a while to get all the kinks out of a new business undertaking. Bide your time. Work, achievement and ambition mean a lot to you now and you may be working overtime to show your earnestness. You will want to enjoy yourself with friends or family later this evening. Although work could be stressful, there is a basic drive to appreciate and taste life, and you seem able to eventually create a balance to each day. You and the other parents in your neighborhood may decide to work together to help students create or reach educational goals in your school district. Family Focus is a community program everyone may decide to consider for the less privileged child. This evening is romantic.

Libra (September 23-October 22) You would like to tell someone off at work today but you will benefit from just moving your thoughts to another place, perhaps the next fine adventure you will be taking with the money you are now earning. You are at your most practical when it comes to working with others and your efforts today do not go unnoticed. You usually know just what to do. You may be moved to appreciate the beauty in your life and those around you. A sense of humor is one of the necessary ingredients to make a tough situation easier to handle.

Be careful that you do not overspend or indulge too much just now. You may feel like involving yourself in some sort of celebration this evening—a celebration of life. There are new insights regarding home life.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) A rebellious streak could affect your career now—careful. Your sense of independence may tend to kick over the apple cart and upset everything. Your progress and success may be at the expense of your more unconventional tendencies—a source of struggle. You prefer a career that accents your own devotion to the dreams and ideals you stand for these days. Working with groups in a spirit of cooperation is a natural. Everything conspires to value and to bring out your unique and unusual qualities. You may find that someone close to you understands and is supportive of your eccentricities. You could come up with new solutions. There is an opportunity this evening to understand a difficult person; you listen and love.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) There is an emphasis on communication, expression of ideas and the connections between things, places and people. What goes on in your mind is the all-important motivation in your life. You tend towards mental pursuits and admire intelligence. You are very flexible and other-oriented today. Perhaps you can be all things to all people, giving them what they require. You are probably a smooth talker with a quick wit and ready tongue. You know and understand more than you let on and life changes seldom take you by surprise. You have a great deal of control over your actions. Communicating and getting your message across to others is at a high just now. You know just how to maneuver yourself into the right places; now is the time to get ahead.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) Someone may criticize you today and find you somewhat preoccupied and lacking in the social graces. This is only a temporary glitch in your day. You have an innate love of the law and working things through and you are not put off by any difficulties. On the contrary, you may look forward to hunting problems down so that you can solve them. You have the ability to work with others, particularly regarding vocation or career guidance. You can advise and guide others in all sorts of subjects and you may find yourself doing so today. This could be a particularly lucky day. Study the options carefully before making any investment decisions. Tonight is a good night for you to take your turn at cooking.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) In the workplace today, you perform successfully, as you exhibit your ability to get past the surface of things and separate the thing that has real worth.

Your presence in a group situation has a decided effect. Others may feel that nothing is a secret from you. You do not have to leave home to escape from the rat race. Family, home and security seems just about ideal to you. You may be very imaginative with your home and domestic setup. A sense of community and unity permeates your family life. Your ideal dream is a private one and heaven is as close as work and family. You are creative when it comes to partnerships or lovers; you seem to establish unusual and different relationships. You may find that a love relationship will deepen during this time.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) This is a time of good fortune when things open up in a very natural way.

Situations are almost tailor-made and it is easy to see which path is the one to take. Opportunities prevail and you may find yourself deciding that it is time to write a book. You certainly have enough material to write on any one of your favorite subjects. There may be some question in your mind about needing a change in your position at work. Check out the inner office openings and you will be able to move into a place that gives you some challenges. You may decide to do some special cooking this evening and if you have your windows open, you may find some uninvited guests are willing to taste your experimental recipe. Everybody has fun!

COUNTRY CODES Afghanistan 0093 Albania 00355 Algeria 00213 Andorra 00376 Angola 00244 Anguilla 001264 Antiga 001268 Argentina 0054 Armenia 00374 Australia 0061 Austria 0043 Bahamas 001242 Bahrain 00973 Bangladesh 00880 Barbados 001246 Belarus 00375 Belgium 0032 Belize 00501 Benin 00229 Bermuda 001441 Bhutan 00975 Bolivia 00591 Bosnia 00387 Botswana 00267 Brazil 0055 Brunei 00673 Bulgaria 00359 Burkina 00226 Burundi 00257 Cambodia 00855 Cameroon 00237 Canada 001 Cape Verde 00238 Cayman Islands 001345 Central African Republic 00236 Chad 00235 Chile 0056 China 0086 Colombia 0057 Comoros 00269 Congo 00242 Cook Islands 00682 Costa Rica 00506 Croatia 00385 Cuba 0053 Cyprus 00357 Cyprus (Northern) 0090392 Czech Republic 00420 Denmark 0045 Diego Garcia 00246 Djibouti 00253 Dominica 001767 Dominican Republic 001809 Ecuador 00593 Egypt 0020 El Salvador 00503 England (UK) 0044 Equatorial Guinea 00240 Eritrea 00291 Estonia 00372 Ethiopia 00251 Falkland Islands 00500 Faroe Islands 00298 Fiji 00679 Finland 00358 France 0033 French Guiana 00594 French Polynesia 00689 Gabon 00241 Gambia 00220 Georgia 00995 Germany 0049 Ghana 00233 Gibraltar 00350 Greece 0030 Greenland 00299 Grenada 001473 Guadeloupe 00590 Guam 001671 Guatemala 00502 Guinea 00224 Guyana 00592 Haiti 00509 Holland (Netherlands)0031 Honduras 00504 Hong Kong 00852 Hungary 0036 Ibiza (Spain) 0034 Iceland 00354 India 0091 Indian Ocean 00873 Indonesia 0062 Iran 0098 Iraq 00964 Ireland 00353 Italy 0039 Ivory Coast 00225 Jamaica 001876 Japan 0081 Jordan 00962 Kazakhstan 007 Kenya 00254 Kiribati 00686

Kuwait 00965 Kyrgyzstan 00996 Laos 00856 Latvia 00371 Lebanon 00961 Liberia 00231 Libya 00218 Lithuania 00370 Luxembourg 00352 Macau 00853 Macedonia 00389 Madagascar 00261 Majorca 0034 Malawi 00265 Malaysia 0060 Maldives 00960 Mali 00223 Malta 00356 Marshall Islands 00692 Martinique 00596 Mauritania 00222 Mauritius 00230 Mayotte 00269 Mexico 0052 Micronesia 00691 Moldova 00373 Monaco 00377 Mongolia 00976 Montserrat 001664 Morocco 00212 Mozambique 00258 Myanmar (Burma) 0095 Namibia 00264 Nepal 00977 Netherlands (Holland)0031 Netherlands Antilles 00599 New Caledonia 00687 New Zealand 0064 Nicaragua 00505 Nigar 00227 Nigeria 00234 Niue 00683 Norfolk Island 00672 Northern Ireland (UK)0044 North Korea 00850 Norway 0047 Oman 00968 Pakistan 0092 Palau 00680 Panama 00507 Papua New Guinea 00675 Paraguay 00595 Peru 0051 Philippines 0063 Poland 0048 Portugal 00351 Puerto Rico 001787 Qatar 00974 Romania 0040 Russian Federation 007 Rwanda 00250 Saint Helena 00290 Saint Kitts 001869 Saint Lucia 001758 Saint Pierre 00508 Saint Vincent 001784 Samoa US 00684 Samoa West 00685 San Marino 00378 Sao Tone 00239 Saudi Arabia 00966 Scotland (UK) 0044 Senegal 00221 Seychelles 00284 Sierra Leone 00232 Singapore 0065 Slovakia 00421 Slovenia 00386 Solomon Islands 00677 Somalia 00252 South Africa 0027 South Korea 0082 Spain 0034 Sri Lanka 0094 Sudan 00249 Suriname 00597 Swaziland 00268 Sweden 0046 Switzerland 0041 Syria 00963 Taiwan 00886 Tanzania 00255 Thailand 0066 Toga 00228 Tonga 00676 Tokelau 00690 Trinidad 001868 Tunisia 00216 Turkey 0090 Tuvalu 00688 Uganda 00256 Ukraine 00380 United Arab Emirates00976

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Jatiya Kabita Parisad celebrates birthday of Rabindranath Tagore

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n line with the world wide observation, Jatiya Kabita Parisad’ Kuwait celebrated the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore with due grace. The celebration took place on 19th May at Dousty Hotel’s hall room in Kuwait City. It was presided over by Md.Ali Azam advisor and honorary member of the Parisad. Sanjib Bhadra Chandan General Secretary of the Parisad presented the program.

Habibur Rahaman was the chief guest; among guests of honor were respectively Professor Sattya Ranjan Sarkar, Fani Bhushan Kuri Engineer, S.M. Mamtaz Uddin Miah.

Among the dignitaries and Bengali

Community leaders - Md.Ismail General Secretary of Jatiya Party Kuwait chapter, Masud Karmi editor of news magazine Swadesh, Sharif Md Mizanur Rahaman Editor of Madinar Pathe, renowned cultural activist Ilias Chowdhury Organizing Secretary of Jubodal Kuwait chapter, and expatriate Bengali literature, writer and Journalists had attended the program.

Mahmudur Rahaman senior representative of Khabar group, Poet H.M. Humayun Kabir had delivered the opening speeches.

Renowned Bengali community leader Rafiqul Islam bhulu, Expatriate Poets respectively Omar Faruque Jeeban, Mahabubur Rahaman

Liton, Abdur Rahim, Milton Palma, Kamruzzaman babu, Kantha Pathik, Sheikh Ehsanul Haque Khokan, Shah Sumon Rahat and others paid their homages to Tagore by reciting his poem and delivering short speeches on Tagore’s literary works.

The chief guest and guests of honor, in their respective speeches explained the disciplined life, philosophy and inner beauty of Tagore’s lifelong creativity in general and literary works specifically. They emphasized on how crucial role did Tagore’s literature had played in the emerging process and subsequently the birth of a nation-state Bangladesh.

In the program, also a farewell mementos

was presented to Poet, Hajee S.M. Mamtaz uddin Miah a retiring Bengali expatriate. Poet Zahir Raihan read out the crest of honor on behalf of the Parisad. Community leaders and the lovers of Bengali art-culture and literature from every walk of life had joined the celebration. In his concluding speech, president of the program thanked all for their kind attendance and co-operation in a celebration of such a high magnitude in paying tribute as well as soul searching.

BSK opens Q Garden

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Gomtee Friendship Club holds picnic

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he Gomtee Friendship club arranged a picnic party at the Marina Hotel’s beach, on May 14. Due to annual leave of Jasmin Uddin, organization secretary of Gomtee celebrated this picnic party.

The President of Gomtee Friendship Club, Shah Kari and General Secretary of Gomtee Friendship club, facilitated bouquet of flowers & crest to Joachim Duding.

Hanif, President of National Labour Keague in Kuwait, was the chief guest. Sharif Mohd Mizanur Rahman Editor The “Madiner Pathe”, Abdus Satter, President of National

Labour League Jaaleb Shuwaikh Branch, Dulal Bhuyan, special organizator of Cormilla Expatriate Council was a special guest. There was football match and swimming contest between the club members. Moslem uddin won the swimming contest championship, and received laptop as a prize. The other member from this club Abu Yusuf, Alauddin, Mohd Ershad, Enam Miah, Dulal Bhuyal. Feroj Miah, Mohd Babul, Mohd Hamidul were present.

n another ground breaking move The British School of Kuwait has recently established Q Garden, a delightful outdoor classroom space designed expressly to meet the requirements of the English National Curriculum.

Opened by Mrs Maria Baker, wife of British Ambassador, the garden features carefully constructed habitats designed to encourage local and migratory wildlife such as butterflies, stag and scarab beetles, dragonflies, geckos and dhubs.

One such habitat has been built from a frame of salvaged packing pallets, wood cut from a dead tree with holes drilled in the pieces for wildlife homes, with seed pods, matting and wood from cleaned palm trees adding a further variety of materials and textures. Pipes stuffed with sticks, discarded tiles and wicker from old furniture rounds off what is art as much as science! Children in Kuwait have few opportunities to experience natural environments of this nature and Q

Garden’s habitats will go some way to providing those missing experiences for children at The British School of Kuwait. The garden will also provide opportunities for leadership and responsibility as the Green Team Eco Warriors club will maintain the space and all classes will play a role in the establishment of the vegetable plot.

At times, part of the garden will become an archaeological dig or a natural science laboratory and at other times an outdoor still life drawing studio. By constructing this habitat from recycled materials the school also intends to raise awareness amongst children regarding conservation of flora and fauna, as well as complementing our creative curriculum and encouraging active learning. Already teachers and students are flocking to the space and BSK looks forward to many years of enjoyment in its newest and sunniest classroom.

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A fond farewell at the Movenpick Hotel & Resort Al Bida’a Kuwait

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he Movenpick Hotel & Resort Al Bida’a recently said farewell to General Manager role, taking on the challenge of opening Movenpick’s first hotel in India, Movenpick Hotel & Spa Banglore.

Gary moved to Kuwait in May 2008 to join Movenpick Hotels & Resorts having previously worked with Marriott Hotels for over 16 years, primarily in the UK but also in Amman, Jordan.

Throughout his hotel career Gary has become fully involved in the local community and has held many positions in various local organizations. Amongst other positions here in Kuwait Gary was on the Board of the

British Business Forum. During his time here in Kuwait Gar has established a reputation for serving the community with active involvement in many local charities and organizations. He also organized a unique series of cultural, sporting and social events, including operas and a month-long FIFA World Cup Festival, all of which were instrumental in putting the hotel firmly on the map here in Kuwait.

The farewell party took place at the British Embassy on May 21st under the patronage of the British Ambassador to Kuwait, His Excellency Mr. Frank Baker and in the presence of over 200 guests from the Kuwait

community including the management team of Movenpick Hotel & Resort Al Bida’a Kuwait.

In an elaborate cocktail reception, guests and dignitaries were given a taste of true Swiss hospitality combined with a British flair. “I cannot adequately express just how much I have enjoyed working in Kuwait” said Mr. Moran. “I have wonderful memories to take with me and I am extremely proud of the hotel’s success and the great results achieved together with my team over the past 3 years.” Gary added. ‘I leave on a real high’.

ANNOUNCEMENTS BAIA Summer Camp now open for registrations 2011 ON STAGE summer camp from 19 June to 06 July. Last year High School Musical, this year Camp Rock, Tangled, Cars...many more! From Page to Stage in just 3 weeks, through costume design, technicals, acting, singing, dance, music, make-up, film and lighting. Create a fabulous performance ON STAGE. Discounts available if registered before 01 June. Call 60052087 or mail administrator@baia.com.kw. Full details of all events and courses are available on www.baia.com.kw

Kala language program inauguaration today

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erala Art Lovers Association (Kala, Kuwait) free Malayalam education program will be inaugurated today at Indian Central School, Abbasiya in which National Award winning Indian film director and Cinematographer, Shaji N. Karun will be

the chief guest. The inaugural ceremony will begin at 9.30 A.M. Musical event led by famous Malayalam play back singer Gayathri Ashokan and his team will be the main attraction of the day.

AWARE Arabic course The AWARE management is glad to inform you that Summer 2 Arabic language courses will begin on June 12 until July 21, 2011. AWARE Arabic language courses are designed with the expat in mind. The environment is relaxed & courses are designed for those wanting to learn Arabic for travel, cultural understanding, and conducting business or simply to become more involved in the community. We cater to teachers, travelers and those

working in the private business sector.

AWARE Arabic courses highlights Introductory to Level 4 Arabic language basics; Ccmbine language learning with cultural insights; taught in multi-nationality group settings ; and provides opportunities to interact with Western expatriates and native Kuwaitis/Arabs. For more information and/or registration, call 25335260/80 ext 105 or 0 or log onto: www.aware.com.kw International Women’s Group As is customary, our final meeting for the season will be our International brunch and national costume competition on Sunday, 5 June 2011 at the Radisson Blu- Boubyan Room, Al Hashemi. Doors open at 9:30 and costume judging will commence at 10:30 prompt. We look forward to seeing you - in national dress, if you wish - and remind all current members that membership renewals are also due at this time. This is also the last opportunity to submit applications for those wishing to be considered for IWG membership for the year 2011-2012.

Everton and Barcelona play out draw in youth tourney

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he Premier GOAL Academy/Everton team met Barcelona in the final match of the Creative Youth Football Tournament held at Shamiya Youth Centre in the presence of Sheikh Talal Al-Fahad Al-Ahmad Al- Sabah, Head of Kuwait Football Federation & Acting Director of the Public Authority for Youth and Sport. The tournament also included Academy teams from

River Plate, the Argentinean Club and Hassan Abul Academy and was for players aged Under 11 years of age. All the matches proved to be evenly contested with P.G.A. Everton and Barcelona drawing 0-0 in the final game. Before the presentation ceremony the Kuwait National Team led by legendary striker Bashar Abdullah played an exhibition match against the

Academy Coaches resulting in a narrow 1-0 victory to Kuwait. All the players then received certificates and gifts from Sheikh Talal whilst the P.G.A. team coach, Ross Buckingham, was awarded Best Coach of the tournament. P.G.A. Directors Mike Finn and Baker Al-Nazer presented Sheikh Talal with an official Everton F.C. pennant in appreciation for his support of the tour-

nament and of youth sport in Kuwait. The successful P.G.A. team is sponsored by Porsche Centre Kuwait, Behbehani Motors Company and is the only official English Premier League Academy in Kuwait.

TV Listings FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

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

Untamed And Uncut Dogs 101 Cheetah Kingdom Max’s Big Tracks Sharkbite Summer Animal Cops South Africa Extraordinary Dogs Project Puppy Meerkat Manor The Really Wild Show Crocodile Hunter Breed All About It Dogs 101 Michaela’s Animal Road Trip Animal Precinct Wildlife SOS International Wildlife SOS Animal Cops South Africa RSPCA: On The Frontline Vet On The Loose Natural World Animal Battlegrounds The Really Wild Show Growing Up...

Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 Cheetah Kingdom Michaela’s Animal Road Trip Dogs 101 Karina: Wild On Safari Big Five Challenge Seven Deadly Strikes Natural World

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

Last Of The Summer Wine The Weakest Link Casualty Doctor Who Doctor Who Confidential Eastenders Doctors Last Of The Summer Wine Me Too Tweenies Teletubbies Bobinogs Me Too Tweenies Teletubbies Me Too Tweenies Teletubbies Bobinogs Me Too Tweenies Teletubbies Bobinogs Last Of The Summer Wine The Weakest Link Ray Mears’ Northern Wilderness Doctors Eastenders Casualty Last Of The Summer Wine Ray Mears’ Northern Wilderness The Weakest Link Doctors Eastenders Casualty Ray Mears’ Northern Wilderness The Weakest Link Doctors The Planets Jekyll Supernova Taking The Flak

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

Design Rules Design Rules Great British Menu New Scandinavian Cooking Daily Cooks Challenge New Scandinavian Cooking Antiques Roadshow Great British Menu New Scandinavian Cooking Antiques Roadshow Cash In The Attic Bargain Hunt Come Dine With Me Great British Menu Sweet Baby James New Scandinavian Cooking New Scandinavian Cooking Antiques Roadshow Cash In The Attic Bargain Hunt Come Dine With Me Design Rules Design Rules Masterchef: The Professionals Masterchef: The Professionals

FUNNY PEOPLE ON OSN CINEMA

00:00 00:30 00:45 01:00 01:30 01:45 02:00 02:30 02:45 03:00 03:30 03:45 04:00 04:30 04:45 05:00 05:30 05:45 06:00 06:30 07:00 07:30 07:45 08:00 08:30 08:45 09:00 09:30 09:45 10:00 10:30 10:45 11:00 11:30 12:00 12:30 12:45 13:00 13:30 13:45

BBC World News World Business Report Sport Today BBC World News America Asia Business Report Asia Today BBC World News Asia Business Report Asia Today BBC World News Asia Business Report Asia Today BBC World News Asia Business Report Asia Today BBC World News Asia Business Report Asia Today BBC World News Peschardt’s People BBC World News World Business Report BBC World News BBC World News World Business Report BBC World News BBC World News World Business Report Sport Today BBC World News World Business Report Sport Today BBC World News Peschardt’s People BBC World News World Business Report Sport Today BBC World News World Business Report Sport Today

14:00 GMT With George Alagiah 14:30 GMT With George Alagiah 15:00 BBC World News 15:30 World Business Report 15:45 Sport Today 16:00 Impact 16:30 Our World 17:00 Impact 17:30 World Business Report 17:45 Sport Today 18:00 World Have Your Say 18:30 World Have Your Say 19:00 The Hub With Nik Gowing 19:30 BBC World News 19:40 Weekend World 20:00 The Hub With Nik Gowing 20:30 World Business Report 20:45 Sport Today 21:00 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 21:30 World Have Your Say Extra 21:40 Weekend World 22:00 BBC World News 22:30 Middle East Business Report 23:00 BBC World News America 23:30 Peschardt’s People

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Cow And Chicken Cramp Twins George Of The Jungle Adrenalini Brothers Eliot Kid Ed, Edd N Eddy Ben 10: Alien Force The Powerpuff Girls Chowder The Secret Saturdays My Gym Partner’s A Monkey Ben 10: Alien Force Best Ed

05:20 Skunk Fu! 05:45 Cramp Twins 06:10 Eliot Kid 06:35 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 07:00 Codename: Kids Next Door 07:25 Cow And Chicken 07:50 Angelo Rules 08:05 Cartoon Network Dance Club 08:15 Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends 08:40 Ben 10: Alien Force 09:05 The Secret Saturdays 09:30 Batman: The Brave And The Bold 09:55 The Powerpuff Girls 10:20 Robotboy 10:30 Hero 108 10:55 Ben 10 11:20 Chowder 11:45 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 12:10 Camp Lazlo 12:35 George Of The Jungle 13:00 Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends 13:25 Codename: Kids Next Door 13:50 Ben 10 14:15 My Gym Partner’s A Monkey 14:40 Squirrel Boy 15:05 Cartoon Network Dance Club 15:20 Eliot Kid 15:35 Ed, Edd N Eddy 16:00 Cow And Chicken 16:25 Chop Socky Chooks 16:50 Skunk Fu! 17:15 Chowder 17:40 Best Ed 18:05 Hero 108 18:30 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 19:20 Adventure Time 19:45 Cow And Chicken 20:10 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack

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Courage The Cowardly Dog The Powerpuff Girls Ed, Edd N Eddy Robotboy Camp Lazlo Hero 108 Ben 10 Bakugan Battle Brawlers Chowder

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Backstory World Sport World Report World Report World Business Today Piers Morgan Tonight Anderson Cooper 360 World Sport Eco Solutions World Report Backstory World Report World Report World Sport The Best Of Backstory World Business Today CNN Marketplace Middle East World One World Sport The Best Of Backstory Piers Morgan Tonight News Stream World Business Today International Desk The Brief World Sport World Report CNN Marketplace Middle East International Desk Talk Asia Quest Means Business CNN Marketplace Africa Piers Morgan Tonight Connect The World

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

Dirty Jobs Worst-Case Scenario Worst-Case Scenario Ultimate Survival Motor City Motors Mythbusters How Do They Do It? How Machines Work Dirty Jobs Motor City Motors American Chopper: Senior vs

00:30 00:55 01:45 02:10 02:35 03:25 03:50 04:45 05:40 06:10 07:00 07:55 07:58 08:25 08:55 09:45 10:10 10:35 11:00 11:25 11:50

The Gadget Show Nyc: Inside Out Bang Goes The Theory Bang Goes The Theory The Future Of...

How Stuff’s Made Thunder Races What’s That About?

One Step Beyond Ecopolis Scrapheap Challenge Head Rush Sci-Fi Science Weird Connections The World’s Strangest UFO Stories The Gadget Show The Gadget Show Bang Goes The Theory Bang Goes The Theory Green Wheels Scrapheap Challenge

How Do They Do It? Mythbusters Cake Boss Border Security Time Warp Worst-Case Scenario Worst-Case Scenario Discovery Saved My Life Ultimate Survival LA Ink Dirty Jobs Motor City Motors Mythbusters Man vs Fish With Matt Watson Cake Boss Border Security Time Warp How Machines Work How Do They Do It? Extreme Engineering Huge Moves Mighty Ships Man vs Fish With Matt Watson

12:40 13:05 13:55 Future 14:45 15:35 16:00 16:03 16:30 17:00 17:50 18:40 19:30 19:55 20:20 20:45 21:10 21:35 22:00 22:50 23:15 23:40

One Step Beyond Weird Or What?

Revealed: Dream City Of The

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

Jungle Junction Special Agent Oso Little Einsteins Higglytown Heroes Jo Jo’s Circus Jungle Junction Special Agent Oso Little Einsteins Higglytown Heroes Jo Jo’s Circus Jungle Junction Special Agent Oso Little Einsteins Higglytown Heroes Jo Jo’s Circus Jungle Junction Special Agent Oso Little Einsteins Higglytown Heroes Special Agent Oso Special Agent Oso Jungle Junction Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Timmy Time Handy Manny Jake & The Neverland Pirates The Hive Handy Manny Mickey Mouse Clubhouse The Little Mermaid Little Einsteins Jungle Junction Lazytown Imagination Movers Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates Jungle Junction Jungle Junction Timmy Time The Hive Little Einsteins The Little Mermaid Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Handy Manny The Hive Jake & The Neverland Pirates Imagination Movers Lazytown Jungle Junction Special Agent Oso The Hive Little Einsteins Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates The Little Mermaid Handy Manny Timmy Time Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates The Hive Handy Manny The Little Mermaid Little Einsteins Handy Manny The Hive Jungle Junction The Little Mermaid Timmy Time Jo Jo’s Circus Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

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Kendra Extreme Close-Up E!es E!es 25 Most Stylish Sexiest Extreme Hollywood THS Behind The Scenes E! News Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane THS

Nyc: Inside Out The Gadget Show Head Rush Sci-Fi Science Weird Connections Brainiac Bad Universe How The Universe Works The Gadget Show The Gadget Show Weird Connections How Stuff’s Made The Gadget Show The Gadget Show How The Universe Works The Gadget Show The Gadget Show Colony

TV Listings FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

12:05 13:05 14:05 14:35 15:30 16:25 16:55 17:55 18:55 19:55 20:55 21:25 22:25 23:25 23:55

E! News Kendra Kourtney And Kim Take New York THS THS Behind The Scenes Kourtney And Kim Take New York E! News Kendra E!es Chelsea Lately Holly’s World E! News Chelsea Lately Kourtney And Khloe Take Miami

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Ghost Lab Mysterious Journeys Autopsy: Most Shocking Cases True Crime Scene Dr G: Medical Examiner Ghosthunters Ghost Lab Diagnosis: Unknown Forensic Detectives Guilty Or Innocent?

Diagnosis: Unknown Real Emergency Calls FBI Case Files FBI Files On The Case With Paula Zahn Who On Earth Did I Marry?

Diagnosis: Unknown Real Emergency Calls Real Emergency Calls FBI Case Files Forensic Detectives Guilty Or Innocent?

FBI Files Diagnosis: Unknown Real Emergency Calls On The Case With Paula Zahn Who On Earth Did I Marry?

Murder Shift I Escaped Death Dr G: Medical Examiner

00:30 01:00 01:30 02:30 03:30 04:00 04:30 05:00 05:30 06:30 07:00 07:30 08:30 09:30 10:00 10:30 11:00 11:30 16:00 16:30 17:00 17:30 22:00 22:30 23:00 23:30

Market Values Bondi Rescue Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled Banged Up Abroad Destination Extreme Bondi Rescue David Rocco’s Dolce Vita Exploring The Vine

By Any Means Market Values Bondi Rescue Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled Banged Up Abroad Destination Extreme David Rocco’s Dolce Vita Exploring The Vine Weird & Wonderful Hotels Bondi Rescue David Rocco’s Dolce Vita Exploring The Vine Weird & Wonderful Hotels Bondi Rescue David Rocco’s Dolce Vita Exploring The Vine Weird & Wonderful Hotels Bondi Rescue

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Midnight Meat Train-18 Bangkok Adrenaline-PG15 Ninja Assassin-18 Unbreakable-PG15 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider-PG15 Annihilation Earth-PG15 Speed-PG15 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider-PG15 Armageddon-PG15 Speed-PG15 The Boondock Saints 2: All Saints

01:30 03:30 05:30 07:15 09:00 PG 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:30

Triage-18 Away We Go-PG15 Chatterbox-PG The Wild Thornberrys Movie-PG Winx: Secret Of The Lost Kingdom-

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The Daily Show With Jon Stewart The Colbert Report South Park The Ricky Gervais Show Weeds Just Shoot Me The Ricky Gervais Show Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne South Park The Tonight Show With Jay Leno Will And Grace Yes Dear The Drew Carey Show Late Night With Jimmy Fallon Happy Endings Dharma And Greg Just Shoot Me Will And Grace Yes Dear Happy Endings The Drew Carey Show The Tonight Show With Jay Leno Dharma And Greg Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne Will And Grace Yes Dear Community Happy Endings The Daily Show With Jon Stewart The Colbert Report The Drew Carey Show Late Night With Jimmy Fallon Friends 8 Simple Rules ...

Outsourced Modern Family The Tonight Show With Jay Leno The Daily Show With Jon Stewart The Colbert Report Funny Or Die Presents Eastbound And Down South Park Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

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White Collar Burn Notice The Good Guys Bones Burn Notice Good Morning America The Bachelor Emmerdale Look-A-Like The Good Guys The Martha Stewart Show The View White Collar Bones Live Good Morning America The Bachelor The Ellen DeGeneres Show One Tree Hill No Ordinary Family Off The Map Big Love The Good Guys The Bachelor

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Friday Night Lights The Good Guys White Collar Burn Notice Bones Royal Pains Friday Night Lights 30 Rock Look-A-Like Huge The Good Guys White Collar Burn Notice 30 Rock Look-A-Like Huge Friday Night Lights 30 Rock Look-A-Like The Unit No Ordinary Family Off The Map

21:00 Big Love 22:00 The Good Guys 23:00 Surface

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A Lonely Place For Dying-PG15 The Final Destination-18 The Descent 2-18 Star Runners-PG15 The Stepfather-PG15 Pearl Harbor-PG15 Ransom-PG15 The Stepfather-PG15 Lost In Space-PG15 Mindhunters-18 Wild Things: Foursome -18 Altitude-PG15

00:00 A Simple Wish-FAM 02:00 Last Of The Living-PG15 04:00 One Fine Day-PG15 06:00 How To Go Out On A Date In Queens-PG15 08:00 Checking Out-PG15 10:00 12 Men Of Christmas-PG15 12:00 Hope Springs-PG15 14:00 Moon Over Parador-PG15 16:00 A Simple Wish-FAM 18:00 Green Card-PG15 20:00 Garage Days-18 22:00 Tomcats-18

01:00 The Border-18 03:00 Gattaca-18 05:00 In The Electric Mist-PG15 07:00 The People Speak-PG15 09:00 Under The Mountain-PG 11:00 Little Nicholas-PG 13:00 Coraline-PG 15:00 Mama I Want To Sing-PG 17:00 Benny And Joon-PG 18:45 One True Thing-PG 21:00 Ghost-PG 23:15 Ma Vie N’est Pas Une Comedie Romantique-PG15

Blindness-18

Chatterbox-PG Flying By-PG15 Adam-PG15 The Sunset Limited-PG15 An Education-PG15 Funny People-18 Echelon Conspiracy-PG15

PEARL HARBOR ON OSN MOVIES ACTION

01:00 Without A Paddle: Nature’s CallingPG15 02:45 Finding Forrester-PG 05:00 Clash Of The Titans-PG15 06:45 Valentine’s Day-PG15 09:00 The Princess And The Frog-FAM 11:00 The Adventures Of Rocky And Bullwinkle-FAM 13:00 Where The Wild Things Are-PG 15:00 He’s Just Not That Into You-PG15 17:15 The Princess And The Frog-FAM 19:00 Cop Out-PG15 21:00 Repo Men-18 23:00 The Hangover-18

00:00 Pocahontas And The Spider Woman-PG 02:00 Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths-PG 04:00 Zorro’s Secrets-PG 06:00 Columbus III: The New World-PG 08:00 Yogi Bear And The Magical Flight Of The Spruce Goose-PG 10:00 Toy Story 3-FAM 12:00 Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius-FAM 14:00 Delgo-FAM 16:00 Toy Story 3-FAM 18:00 The Big Green-PG 20:00 Hua Mulan-PG 22:00 Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius-FAM

00:00 Wrong Turn At Tahoe-18 02:00 Make It Happen-PG15 04:00 Not The Messiah: He’s A Very Naughty Boy-PG15 06:00 Winning Time-PG15 08:00 Dean Spanley-PG 10:00 Daddy Day Care-PG 12:00 Fantastic Mr. Fox-FAM 14:00 My Bollywood Bride-PG15 16:00 Dean Spanley-PG 17:45 The Blind Side-PG15 20:00 Repo Men-18 22:00 My Best Friend’s Girl-18

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Futbol Mundial RFL Championship Weber Cup Bowling Mobil 1 The Grid World Hockey Futbol Mundial Darts UK Open Futbol Mundial ICC Cricket World Live Test Cricket ICC Cricket World Futbol Mundial Live Darts UK Open

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Ladies European Tour Highlights Total Rugby Trans World Sports FEI Equestrain World Golfing World Trans World Sport Total Rugby Super Rugby Highlights Live Super 15 Live Super 15 NRL Premiership Live European PGA Tour Live Super 15 Super 15

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WWE NXT UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC Unleashed WWE NXT UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC Unleashed WWE NXT Intercontinental Le Mans Cup Le Mans Series Live AFL Premiership Live NRL Premiership WWE NXT V8 Supercars Championship V8 Supercars Championship UFC The Ultimate Fighter V8 Supercars Extra WWE NXT WWE SmackDown WWE Bottom Line UFC The Ultimate Fighter

00:00 Julian and Camilla’s World Odyssey 01:00 Nomad’s Land 02:00 World’s Greatest Motorcycle Rides 03:00 Glutton For Punishment 03:30 Angry Planet 04:00 Globe Trekker 05:00 Julian and Camilla’s World Odyssey 06:00 Destination Art 06:30 Essential 07:00 Globe Trekker 08:00 Travel 360 09:00 World’s Greatest Motorcycle Rides 10:00 Four Men and a Lady 10:30 Working Holiday 11:30 Riding Eastern Europe 12:00 Globe Trekker 13:00 Distant Shores 13:30 Sophie Grigson In The Home Counties 14:00 Destination Art 14:30 Travel 360 15:30 Essential 16:00 Globe Trekker Special 17:00 Riding Route 66 17:30 Four Men and a Lady 18:00 Distant Shores 18:30 Sophie Grigson In The Home Counties 19:00 Globe Trekker 20:00 Globe Trekker 21:00 Great Scenic Railways-US & Canada 21:30 Distant Shores 22:00 Cruising the Spirit of Adventure 23:00 Globe Trekker

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Jerseylicious Fashion Avenue Fashion Avenue Big Boutique How Do I Look?

Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?

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Homes With Style Area Clean House Big Boutique Big Boutique Homes With Style Homes With Style Fashion Avenue Fashion Avenue How Do I Look?

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Clean House Clean House Clean House Comes Clean Mel B: It’s A Scary World Jerseylicious Ruby Giuliana & Bill Top 10 Top 10 Giuliana & Bill Big Boutique Fashion Avenue Clean House Comes Clean Clean House Comes Clean Lucky’s 10 Biggest Obsessions Ever Bridalplasty How Do I Look?

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Secret Allied Aircraft Of World War Dead Men’s Secrets Declassified Ax Men Tunnellers Secret Superpowered Aircraft Secret Allied Aircraft Of World War Dead Men’s Secrets Declassified Ax Men Tunnellers Secret Superpowered Aircraft Secret Allied Aircraft Of World War Dead Men’s Secrets Declassified Ax Men Tunnellers Secret Superpowered Aircraft Secret Allied Aircraft Of World War Dead Men’s Secrets Declassified Giants: Friend Or Foe? Lost Worlds

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Classifieds FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

ACCOMMODATION Sharing accommodation available for decent couples/ executive bachelors separate room/ toilet/ balcony, near UIS Abbasiya. Contact: 97208351.

(C 3405) 2-6-2011

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Tab for sale, call for good price, made in Korea, 16 GB, BlackBerry Curve 3G. Contact: 94427488.

(C 3408) Laptop Acer Aspire, RAM 1GB, HD 160GB, DVD-Writer, Bluetooth, wireless, Price KD 75 and PC Compaq Pentium4 with 15” LCD Neovo, Price KD 40. All in excellent condition. Call: 99322585. (C 3410)

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION In case you are not travelling, your proper cancellation of bookings will help other passengers to use seats Airlines RJA JZR THY ETH UAE DHX ETD FDB GFA QTR JZR THY KAC JZR JZR BAW KAC KAC KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC UAE QTR ABY IRA ETD GFA MEA JZR JZR IYE MSR RBG KAC KAC MSR UAL RJA FDB OMA KAC BBC KAC JZR QTR JZR JZR MLR ETD UAE GFA SVA JZR ABY ALK JZR KAC

Flt 642 267 772 620 853 370 305 67 211 138 207 770 544 503 555 157 416 206 302 332 53 678 352 284 362 855 132 125 619 301 213 404 165 121 825 623 3553 618 672 610 982 640 57 645 546 43 788 257 134 201 535 403 303 857 215 510 239 127 227 177 166

Arrival Flights on Friday 3/6/2011 Route AMMAN BEIRUT ISTANBUL ADDIS ABABA DUBAI BAHRAIN ABU DHABI DUBAI BAHRAIN DOHA DAMASCUS ISTANBUL CAIRO LUXOR ALEXANDRIA LONDON JAKARTA / KUALA LUMPUR ISLAMABAD MUMBAI TRIVANDRUM DUBAI MUSCAT / DUBAI COCHIN DHAKA COLOMBO DUBAI DOHA SHARJAH LAR ABU DHABI BAHRAIN BEIRUT DUBAI BAHRAIN SANAA SOHAG ALEXANDRIA / SOHAG DOHA DUBAI CAIRO WASHINGTON DC DULLES AMMAN DUBAI MUSCAT ALEXANDRIA DHAKA JEDDAH BEIRUT DOHA DAMASCUS CAIRO COLOMBO / DUBAI ABU DHABI DUBAI BAHRAIN RIYADH AMMAN SHARJAH COLOMBO / DUBAI DUBAI PARIS / ROME

Time 0:05 0:35 1:15 1:45 2:25 2:55 2:55 3:10 3:15 3:20 3:55 4:10 4:40 5:15 6:10 6:30 6:35 7:15 7:50 7:55 7:55 8:00 8:05 8:10 8:20 8:25 9:00 9:10 9:20 9:30 9:35 10:55 11:10 11:15 12:05 12:10 12:55 12:55 13:15 13:20 13:30 13:35 13:50 14:00 14:30 14:40 15:00 15:10 15:15 15:45 15:50 16:40 16:50 16:55 17:15 17:20 17:35 17:40 18:00 18:00 18:40

KAC KAC JZR KAC KAC KAC KAC AIC JAI KAC JZR FDB OMA VOS MEA KAC SVA DHX GFA FCX QTR UAL UAE JZR JZR MSR DLH SAI JZR KLM JZR

502 542 213 744 774 102 674 575 572 562 787 61 647 81 402 786 506 372 217 304 136 981 859 135 185 612 636 441 539 447 481

BEIRUT CAIRO DEIREZZOR / ALEPPO DAMMAM RIYADH NEW YORK / LONDON DUBAI CHENNAI / GOA MUMBAI AMMAN RIYADH DUBAI MUSCAT BAGHDAD BEIRUT JEDDAH JEDDAH BAHRAIN BAHRAIN RIYADH DOHA BAHRAIN DUBAI BAHRAIN DUBAI CAIRO FRANKFURT LAHORE / KARACHI CAIRO AMSTERDAM / BAHRAIN SABIHA

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Airlines AXB DLH AIC PIA THY ETH UAE FDB DHX ETD QTR THY JZR RJA GFA KAC VOS JZR BAW FDB JZR KAC KAC KAC JZR KAC KAC UAE ABY

Flt 390 637 982 206 773 620 854 68 371 306 139 771 164 643 212 545 94 120 156 54 534 177 671 117 256 787 617 856 126

Departure Flights on Friday 3/6/2011 Route KOZHIKODE FRANKFURT AHMEDABAD / CHENNAI LAHORE ISTANBUL BAHRAIN / ADDIS ABABA DUBAI DUBAI BAHRAIN ABU DHABI DOHA ISTANBUL DUBAI AMMAN BAHRAIN ALEXANDRIA DUBAI / KANDAHAR BAHRAIN LONDON DUBAI CAIRO FRANKFURT / GENEVA DUBAI NEW YORK BEIRUT JEDDAH DOHA DUBAI SHARJAH

Time 0:25 0:40 1:05 1:10 2:15 2:30 3:45 3:50 3:55 4:05 5:00 5:10 6:55 7:00 7:10 7:40 8:00 8:20 8:25 8:40 8:50 8:55 9:00 9:05 9:10 9:25 9:35 9:40 9:50

QTR ETD GFA IRA JZR MEA KAC JZR JZR KAC KAC IYE MSR RBG JZR MSR RJA FDB UAL KAC OMA KAC KAC BBC JZR KAC QTR KAC JZR JZR ETD MLR UAE GFA ABY JZR SVA ALK JZR KAC KAC JAI FDB JZR KAC KAC OMA MEA SVA DHX GFA KAC QTR KAC KAC FCX JZR JZR UAE KAC UAL MSR SAI

133 302 214 618 200 405 541 212 238 103 501 825 624 3554 176 611 641 58 982 561 646 785 673 44 480 773 135 743 786 538 304 404 858 216 128 184 511 228 134 283 361 571 62 528 343 351 648 403 507 373 218 381 137 301 205 102 502 554 860 411 981 613 442

DOHA ABU DHABI BAHRAIN LAR DAMASCUS BEIRUT CAIRO DEIREZZOR / ALEPPO AMMAN LONDON BEIRUT DOHA / SANAA SOHAG ALEXANDRIA DUBAI CAIRO AMMAN DUBAI BAHRAIN AMMAN MUSCAT JEDDAH DUBAI DHAKA SABIHA RIYADH DOHA DAMMAM RIYADH CAIRO ABU DHABI DUBAI / COLOMBO DUBAI BAHRAIN SHARJAH DUBAI RIYADH DUBAI / COLOMBO BAHRAIN DHAKA COLOMBO MUMBAI DUBAI ASSIUT CHENNAI COCHIN MUSCAT BEIRUT JEDDAH BAHRAIN BAHRAIN DELHI DOHA MUMBAI ISLAMABAD DUBAI LUXOR ALEXANDRIA DUBAI BANGKOK / MANILA WASHINGTON DC DULLES CAIRO LAHORE

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

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FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

Sports FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

Li overpowers Sharapova PARIS: China’s Li Na overcame Maria Sharapova 6-4 7-5 yesterday to reach the French Open final and boost her bid to become the first Asian to win a grand slam singles title. In the first set, Li raced into a 3-0 lead and broke three times as Sharapova, who took two games off the Chinese player’s serve, struggled for rhythm in the wind and on the clay.

An awful double fault from Li early in the second let the Russian back in but the three-times grand slam champion wasted the advantage when she committed the same error for 4-4. Li, who lost in January’s Australian Open final, sealed victory and a meeting with holder Francesca Schiavone or Marion Bartoli when her opponent double faulted again to the delight of millions of Chinese watching at home and a smattering on court. “She had a huge big serve so I thought please double fault so I can win the match,” Li said courtside.

“I never believed myself that I could be in the French Open final, I wish I can do even better in tomorrow’s final. It was a tough match.” Seventh seed Sharapova tried to attack Li’s stronger forehand from the baseline and failed to mix up her game, playing into the dogged sixth seed’s hands. The Chinese sports minster is set to fly over to Paris for the final, organizers said, joining a number of fans who donned the traditional panama hats yesterday and other Chinese supporters who wore the red and yellow colors of their flag. Sharapova was aiming for her first French Open title to complete a career grand slam.— Reuters

Murray reaches First French Open semis PARIS: Andy Murray suffered lapses in concentration in a 7-6 7-5 6-2 win over Juan Ignacio Chela on Wednesday to reach the French Open semi-finals for the first time-and knows he must do better against Rafa Nadal. The fourth-seeded Briton, who’s campaign had looked in danger after twisting his ankle in a third-round win over Michael Berrer, recovered from two breaks down in the opening set to win a tiebreak 7-2 and blew a 5-2 lead in the second before getting his act together.

Murray, who has never won a grand slam title, was more consistent against unseeded Argentine Chela in the third set and sealed the win with a delicate drop shot. “It was just very up and down. The wind obviously doesn’t help but it was a really scrappy match,” the Scot told a news conference. “I didn’t start particularly well and then got a little bit better, started moving a bit better towards the end of the first set.”

Murray must be switched on from the start to stand a chance of booking a place in the final because he faces world number one Nadal today after the five-times champion beat Swede Robin Soderling 6-4 6-1 7-6. “I got up in the second, maybe lost concentration a little bit, which you can’t afford to do against someone like Juan who has a lot of experience on this surface. Something I definitely won’t get away with against Rafa,” he added. Murray possesses a seemingly nonchalant attitude but has shown plenty of fighting spirit on a slow surface he does not favor. “I’m surprised I’m here, to be honest, because I haven’t actually played that well. Aside from everything else that’s happened I haven’t played particularly well,” he said. Murray, the Australian Open runner-up, had looked on the brink of retirement against Serb Viktor Troicki in the last round as he struggled with that ankle injury, but came through in five sets. “I needed to fight back against Troicki in tough circumstances. I think all my matches except that one were straight sets,” said Murray. “I’m glad I’ve got tomorrow off where I can rest and recover ... because you’re going to need all of your reserves to get through a match with Rafa at the French.” Nadal has a 43-1 record at Roland Garros.

Murray has a 4-10 record against the world number one and has never beaten him in three encounters on clay although the Spaniard dropped a set at the Monte Carlo Masters this year when they met in the semi-finals.— Reuters

Canucks stun Bruins Thunderous Olympic size roar VANCOUVER: Raffi Torres scored with 19 seconds to play in regulation and Roberto Luongo earned the shutout as the Vancouver Canucks stopped the Boston Bruins 1-0 to draw first blood in the Stanley Cup Finals on Wednesday.

With overtime looming, Torres was the unlikely hero, redirecting a perfect feed from Jannik Hansen past Tim Thomas to trigger a thunderous celebration not heard in Vancouver since Sidney Crosby scored the golden goal to give Canada a victory over the United States in the 2010 Olympic men’s final.

“It (Torres goal) was huge,” Luongo told reporters. “At one point I thought we might be playing all night here. “It’s just real exciting, especially for a guy like Torres to get a goal like that. He does a lot of stuff that goes unnoticed.

But it’s nice to see a guy like that get rewarded. With Vezina Trophy finalists manning both nets, the series opener turned in a goaltending duel between Thomas and Luongo. Luongo stopped all 36 shots he faced for his fourth career post-season shutout while Thomas was almost as brilliant, handling 34 shots.

Game Two of the best-of-seven series is in Vancouver tomorrow.

“We got two of the best goaltenders in the league battling it out, so obviously scoring is going to be a challenge for both teams,” Canucks coach Alain Vigneault told reporters.

“Obviously two totally different styles of goaltending. “Our goaltender always plays in the blue (the goal crease), stays in his ice. Their goaltender is always out of the blue and comes into other people’s ice.” It was thought Thomas would have to steal a game or two for Boston to have a chance of claiming their first Cup in 39 years and the Bruins netminder almost delivered, falling 19 seconds short of his second consecutive postseason shutout.

Both Thomas and Luongo were razor sharp in a free-wheeling and at times illtempered opening period that saw the Bruins outshoot the Canucks 17-12.

Boston had a chance to seize the early initiative when Daniel Sedin was assessed a double minor for high-sticking but the Bruins powerplay, which has produced just five goals this post-season continued to misfire and failed to convert. Luongo and Thomas remained in the spotlight during a scoreless second period has both team failed to capitalize on powerplay opportunities.

Thomas stole the show in the third period, denying Hansen on a breakaway,

VANCOUVER: Vancouver Canucks left wing Daniel Sedin (22), Sweden leaps on a shot attempt as Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas (30) makes a save in the third period during Game 1 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals on Wednesday, June 1, 2011. —AP then stood his ground on a two-on-one robbing Maxim Lapierre. While the Boston netminder was in spectacular form, he also received a little help, Canucks Alexander Edler ringing the puck off the crossbar to draw groans from the capacity crowd. But those moans turned to cheers a few minutes later when Torres notched his third goal of the post-season sending the crowd out onto the street to join a citywide party. Back in the finals for the first time in 17 years, Stanley Cup fever was gripping Vancouver as the city got revved

up for Game One. The Vancouver-wide dress code on Wednesday was Canucks sweaters while many of city’s businesses shutdown early to allow employees to go home to watch the game. The atmosphere surrounding the opener was as electric as the 2010 Olympic final medal final played on the same ice as fans packed bars and public squares, where giant screens had been setup. Ticket brokers were also asking Olympic gold medal game prices with rinkside seats going for as much as $5,000.— Reuters

F1: Decision time for Bahrain LONDON: Formula One must decide today whether to satisfy Bahrain’s rulers and reschedule the country’s postponed grand prix or side with the teams and human rights campaigners to keep it off the calendar. The outcome of the FIA’s world motor sport council meeting in Barcelona is far from clear-cut, even if many Formula One insiders question whether the race can be reinstated into the current championship.

Commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone has said he hopes the grand prix, originally scheduled as the March 13 season-opener, will happen and local organizers say they are ready to host it again after months of

civil unrest. Ecclestone, 80, and Bahrain’s Sheikh Abdulla bin Isa al-Khalifa who heads the FIA’s karting commission, are both on the 26-man motor sport council headed by president Jean Todt. The biggest sticking point could be the calendar itself, rather than the risk of triggering outrage at the idea of racing in a country that has only just lifted emergency law after stifling bloody pro-democracy protests. It could also prove a useful face-saving device.

To accommodate Bahrain, it has been suggested that the inaugural Indian Grand Prix be moved from its Oct 30 slot to Dec 11 - the latest finish to a season since 1963

and a date too far for hard-pressed teams.

“It is getting too much,” Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn told reporters at the Monaco Grand Prix last weekend. “Our guys have been working since January... and we are asking them to work into December and that means there is no time for a holiday before Christmas and that would mean getting straight back in to it in January. “So personally I think it is unacceptable and we’ve told Bernie that and he knows our opinion... our people cannot be expected to work in that environment and situation, so I think it is totally unacceptable.”— Reuters

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FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

Giants edge Cardinals in 11 innings ST LOUIS: Nate Schierholtz hit a tying single with two outs in the ninth inning, then got the go-ahead hit in the 11th inning as the San Francisco Giants edged the St. Louis Cardinals 7-5 in the National League on Wednesday.

The game was delayed for 16 minutes with two outs in the bottom of the 11th when large sections of two light standards failed.

When play resumed, Brian Wilson needed one pitch to retire the final batter for his 15th save in 17 chances. Cody Ross had four hits and an RBI and Freddy Sanchez had a three-hit game for the Giants, who came from behind twice.

starter Clayton Richard (2-6) took the loss.

Rockies 3, Dodgers 0 In Los Angeles, Ubaldo Jimenez pitched a complete game shutout to win for the first time this season, guiding Colorado past Los Angeles. Jimenez (1-5) struck out seven and walked none for the first time this season. He retired 14 in a row during one stretch. He has the lowest road ERA on the Rockies’ staff, but had received a sum of five runs of support in 19 previous innings away from home. Dodgers starter Jon Garland (1-5) gave up three runs in six innings.

Diamondbacks 6, Marlins 5 In Phoenix, Justin Upton’s bloop single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth drove in the winning run for Arizona against Florida. Willie Bloomquist led off the ninth against Clay Hensley (0-2) with an infield single. Hensley struck out one batter then left with an apparent shoulder injury. Burke Badenhop relieved and Bloomquist hustled to third base on a groundout. After a walk, Upton ended the game with his hit to right field.

Reds 4, Brewers 3 In Cincinnati, Jay Bruce and Joey Votto hit two-run homers to lift Cincinnati to a late comeback win against Milwaukee. Bruce hit his 17th homer in the seventh inning. Votto added a two-run shot in the eighth off Kameron Loe (2-5), who hit the previous batter with two outs to bring up the NL’s reigning MVP Votto. Nick Masset (1-3) pitched out of a threat in the eighth to take the win.

Francisco Cordero pitched a perfect ninth, becoming the 22nd reliever to achieve 300 saves.

Nationals 2, Phillies 1 In Washington, Laynce Nix hit a homer and

PHOENIX: Florida Marlins’ Chris Coghlan (8) makes the catch as Logan Morrison reaches out on a fly out hit by Arizona Diamondbacks’ Justin Upton during the eighth inning of a baseball game on Wednesday, June 1, 2011. — AP made a game-saving catch, helping Washington edge Philadelphia. Nationals starter John Lannan (3-5) entered the game 0-10 with a 6.44 ERA against Philadelphia, but pitched into the sixth inning, allowing just one unearned run to record his first victory in eight starts. Drew Storen earned his 10th save in 11 opportunities. After dominating Cliff Lee on Tuesday, the Washington batting lineup got the better of another Phillies ace, Roy Oswalt (3-3), who hasn’t won since April.

Braves 4, Padres 3 In Atlanta, Tommy Hanson went six strong innings on a sweltering night to steer Atlanta past San Diego. Hanson (6-4) allowed just three hits. Three relievers finished up, with Craig Kimbrel escaping a drive to the wall in the ninth for his 16th save in 20 chances.

Freddie Freeman drove in two runs and Martin Prado homered for the Braves, who snapped San Diego’s season-high four-game winning streak, which included a pair of one-runs victories over Atlanta to start the series. Padres

Pirates 9, Mets 3 In New York, Kevin Correia became the first eight-game winner in the majors as Pittsburgh downed New York. Andrew McCutchen made a dazzling catch in deep right-center and Correia (8-4) pitched six poised innings to help the Pirates improve to 17-14 on the road - matching last season’s entire away win total. Pittsburgh scratched out five infield singles in a five-run seventh inning. Mets starter Chris Capuano (3-6) was an unlucky loser after carrying a shutout into the seventh.

Astros 3, Cubs 1 In Chicago, Houston completed a threegame road sweep of Chicago. Brett Myers (24) allowed just one run over six innings to take his sixth straight decision against the Cubs. He has a 12-3 record with a 2.12 ERA against them. Chicago starter Doug Davis (04) was responsible for the decisive runs when reliever Sean Marshall gave up Michael Bourn’s two-run single with two outs in the seventh. Davis allowed nine hits in 6 1-3 innings, his longest outing in more than a year. — AP

Yankees beat Athletics for 10th straight time OAKLAND: AJ Burnett settled down conceding after an early homer and Nick Swisher hit a home run against his former team to help the New York Yankees beat the Oakland Athletics for the 10th straight time, 4-2 on Wednesday.

Derek Jeter got his 2,984th hit and Alex Rodriguez drove in a run for the Yankees, who have their longest winning streak against the A’s since winning 14 straight from 1956-57. Josh Willingham hit a two-run homer and Gio Gonzalez (5-3) took his first loss since April for Oakland, which was swept by the Yankees in a three-game series and has lost 23 of the last 26 meetings against New York. Burnett (63) had not won a game away from Yankee Stadium since last July in Cleveland, going 0-5 with a 5.64 ERA in his previous 11 road starts.

Willingham homered in the first inning, but Burnett gave up two runs and three hits in seven innings to give the Yankees a season-long four-game win streak.

Indians 13, Blue Jays 9 At Toronto, Matt LaPorta hit a three-run homer as Cleveland built

a big lead from the start, helping Josh Tomlin beat Toronto. Down 12-0, Toronto became the first major league team in 30 years to hit three straight triples. Eric Thames, Rajai Davis and Jayson Nix accomplished the feat in the fifth inning _ Montreal was the last club to do it, with Mike Gates, Tim Raines and Tim Wallach against San Diego on May 6, 1981. The Indians scored four times while chasing Kyle Drabek in the first inning. LaPorta’s shot highlighted an eight-run third. Tomlin (7-2) allowed six runs and eight hits in six innings to match Boston’s Jon Lester for the AL lead in wins. He walked one and struck out a career-high seven. Davis homered off Tomlin and drove in four runs.

White Sox 7, Red Sox 4 At Boston, Paul Konerko hit a go-ahead single in the seventh inning and a two-run homer in the ninth to lead Chicago in a sweep of the three-game series against Boston. Boston, which had two hits over the last seven innings, lost a fourth straight for the first time since a six-game, season-

opening slide. Konerko’s homer was the 377th of his career, equaling Norm Cash and Jeff Kent for 64th place all-time. He has 12 this season and two in his last two games. The White Sox won their seventh straight game at Fenway Park, their longest winning streak there since they won seven in 1958-59.

Rangers 3, Rays 0 At St Petersburg, Florida, Colby Lewis scattered four hits over eight innings and Elvis Andrus had two RBIs as Texas blanked Tampa Bay. Lewis (5-5) struck out eight and walked two. Neftali Feliz allowed a leadoff single in the ninth before wrapping up his 11th save and completing the shutout. Nelson Cruz put the Rangers ahead 1-0 on a fifth-inning RBI single, and Andrus made it 3-0 in the eighth when he hit a two-out single off David Price - one pitch after Craig Gentry and Ian Kinsler pulled off a double steal to get into scoring position.

Orioles 2, Mariners 1 At Seattle, Adam Jones had three hits against his former team,

including the go-ahead homer into the upper deck in the eighth inning, to lead Baltimore over Seattle. Jones turned on a fastball from Jamey Wright (1-2) and homered into the second level seating in left field to give Baltimore the lead. Jim Johnson (41) allowed one hit while retiring four batters to pick up the victory, and Kevin Gregg pitched the ninth inning to earn his ninth save.

Making his season debut, Brian Matusz lasted 5 2-3 innings, allowing one run and four hits, striking out three. Michael Pineda was just as strong for Seattle. He retired 11 of 12 batters in the middle innings before running into trouble in the seventh.

Royals 2, Angels 0 At Kansas City, Missouri, Billy Butler hit a game-winning, two-run homer in the ninth inning as Kansas City shut out Los Angeles.

Jeff Francoeur singled with one out before Butler connected off Scott Downs (3-2). The ball hit behind the outfield padding in left-center field and bounced back into play, and the umpires initially

ruled it a double before video showed it to be a home run. Tim Collins (3-2), the fifth Royals pitcher, pitched 1 1-3 innings for the win. Felipe Paulino, who made his first start of the season after 19 relief appearances, held the Angels to four singles over five innings, striking out four without an issuing a walk.

Tigers 4, Twins 2 At Detroit, Miguel Cabrera hit a three-run homer in the third inning and Rick Porcello pitched into the seventh as Detroit beat Minnesota. The Tigers swept the three-game series and have won four straight, while the Twins have lost 10 of 12, falling to 17-37 for the worst record in baseball.

Drew Butera hit a two-run homer in the seventh to pull Minnesota within two, but the Twins failed to take advantage of loading the bases later in the inning. Porcello (5-3) gave up two runs and six hits over 6 2-3 innings. Joaquin Benoit pitched a perfect eighth and Jose Valverde closed the game to earn his 14th save in as many chances. — AP

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Santos reach fourth Libertadores Cup final Fourth final 4-3 on aggregate BUENOS AIRES: Twice South American champions Santos reached the Libertadores Cup final on Wednesday after holding on for a thrilling 3-3 draw at Paraguay’s Cerro Porteno in Asuncion. The Brazilian side won the semi-final tie 4-3 on aggregate having beaten Cerro 1-0 at home in last week’s first leg. However, captain Edu Dracena will miss the final after being sent off in added time.

Santos, champions in 1962 and 1963 during Pele’s heyday, face either Velez Sarsfield of Argentina or Penarol of Uruguay, who meet in the second leg of their tie in Buenos Aires on Thursday (0050 GMT Friday). Penarol won the first leg 1-0. “They played the better football, we put in the fighting spirit. They are a very good side and they have Neymar, who makes the difference,” Cerro’s Juan Manuel Lucero told Fox Sports. Santos, improving with each match since coach Muricy Ramalho took charge eight weeks ago, went ahead in the third minute.

Brazil midfielder Elano hit a right-footed free kick from the left, following a foul on Neymar, to the near post where Ze Eduardo’s glancing header beat goalkeeper Diego Barreto.

BIZARRE OWN-GOAL Close to the half hour, Barreto’s bizarre mistake handed Santos their second via an own goal by the Paraguay keeper. Neymar ran for a high ball out of defense from Edu Dracena, scorer of the only goal in the first leg, deep into Cerro territory with two defenders chasing. As the trio entered the box, centre back Pedro Benitez rose above Neymar to head the ball towards the advancing Barreto who seemed to be surprised by the flight of the ball and his attempted punch merely helped it over his head into the net.

Cerro, who have never reached the final, reacted quickly and pulled a goal back less than four minutes later, left back Cesar Benitez heading home Argentine youth international Juan Iturbe’s curling corner. However, Neymar added a third for the visitors in first-half injury time when he took a pass from midfielder Arouca, stepped inside a defender and deceived Barreto with a low shot inside the near post. Battling Cerro pulled another goal back after an hour when striker

Fowler quits A-League SYDNEY: Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler will not be returning to Perth Glory for the next Australian ALeague season for family reasons, the club has said.

Club chairman Tony Sage said late Wednesday that Fowler had informed Glory he would not be coming back for a second playing season. “I have a wonderful and loving family to consider and with the children in school, it’s best to keep them settled,” Fowler said in a statement. “I also need to stay in the UK to complete my coaching badges. “I thank everyone at Perth Glory and in Western Australia for making me feel so welcome and I wish (coach) Ian Ferguson and the players all the best for the coming season,” he said.

Sage said Fowler had told him his decision was based solely around his family and he was not in discussions with other clubs. Fowler, 36, played two seasons in the A-League after first turning out for the now-defunct North Queensland Fury two years ago.

Perth Glory’s decision to sign New Zealand international Shane Smeltz in March raised speculation that it could spell the end of Fowler’s career in Australia.

Striker Smeltz, who played in the World Cup last year, became Glory’s marquee player on a three-year contract reportedly worth Aus$1.2 million (1.28 million dollars). Reports said at the time that former England international Fowler was likely to take a hefty pay cut if he wanted to stay in Perth for the next A-League season starting in October. — AFP

Mexico thrash New Zealand Canada draw with Ecuador

ASUNCION: Paraguay’s Cerro Porteno’s Luis Caceres and Brazil’s Santos’ Alex Sandro (top) go for a header during a Copa Libertadores soccer game in Asuncion, Paraguay on Wednesday, June 1, 2011. — AP Fredy Bareiro headed down a cross from the right and substitute midfielder Lucero volleyed past Rafael.

The home side pinned Santos back in the final quarter of an hour and midfielder Jonathan Fabbro struck a superb equalizer from 25 meters into the top corner nine minutes from

time. Cerro, who hit the bar in added time, salvaged some pride after a disappointing start but were left still needing two goals to win the tie with Santos holding the insurance of their away goals. Santos last reached the final in 2003 when they lost to Boca Juniors of Argentina. — Reuters

Envelopes ‘handed over’ in 1998 Blatter election STOCKHOLM: Former UEFA president Lennart Johansson, who stood against Sepp Blatter in the 1998 FIFA presidential election, has told Swedish television that a close associate had seen “brown envelopes” handed to delegates.

Blatter, 75, was re-elected as president of the world governing body for a further four-year term on Wednesday against a background of corruption scandals.

Johansson, 81, who headed the European governing body for 17 years, made his comments in an interview in a news program on the Swedish national broadcaster SVT. “He came to me, someone who was close to me, that I co-

operated with for several years previously, who had seen how brown envelopes were given from one to the other,” he said. “The interpretation was that it was to get them to vote for Blatter. No proof was forthcoming so I decided not to refer to it, because that could put me in an equally bad position, just by believing rumors and making accusations that weren’t proved.”

Johansson also said that Blatter’s plan to allow the FIFA congress to decide which notions would host future World Cups was effectively a vote of no confidence in the FIFA executive committee. — Reuters

BUENOS AIRES: Giovanni dos Santos struck twice in eight minutes as Mexico beat New Zealand 3-0 in Pasadena in one of three CONCACAF Gold Cup warm-up friendlies on Wednesday. The Mexicans, preparing to defend their title in the tournament in the United States starting on Sunday, went in front when Dos Santos scored from the rebound after goalkeeper Glen Ross parried a shot from Carlos Salcido in the 22nd minute. The dynamic attacking midfielder scored again on the half hour when he took a pass from Gerardo Torrado and rounded a defender and Ross.

Striker Aldo de Nigris scored the third two minutes before halftime from Andres Guardado’s cross from the left.

In Toronto, Canada drew 2-2 with Ecuador, who are warming up for the Copa America in Argentina next month. The Canadians, also preparing for the Gold Cup, opened the scoring against the run of play with a shot from a narrow angle by Terry Dunfield after 23 minutes.

The home side then dominated the rest of the first half but Ecuador’s Colombian coach Reinaldo Rueda tipped the balance back with some changes at halftime. The experienced Edison Mendez gave the midfield more width and striker Christian Benitez headed the equalizer just after the hour. Two minutes later, Ecuador went ahead when midfielder Michael Arroyo scored with a shot from outside the penalty area.

However, a lack of concentration in the Ecuador defense allowed Tosaint Ricketts to snatch a late equalizer for the home side. Elsewhere, Guatemala lost 2-0 at home to Venezuela in Guatemala City in their last warmup for the Gold Cup. “I know what I want and what I have, we’re Guatemala and we’re trying to build the ideal team,” the Central Americans’ Paraguayan coach Ever Almeida was quoted as saying to the local website PrensaLibre.com. The Venezuelans, who scored goals in each half through Nicolas Fedor and Grendy Perozo, continue their preparations for the Copa America with a friendly at home to world champions Spain in Puerto La Cruz on Tuesday. — Reuters

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Boring La Liga needs TV cash overhaul MALAGA: The domestic dominance of Barcelona and Real Madrid will get boring in a few years and they will start to lose out on income from television rights, the vice president of La Liga rivals Malaga has warned. Abdullah Ghubn, who runs the Andalusian club on behalf of Qatari owner Sheikh Abdullah al Thani, said Barca and Real should agree a fairer distribution of TV cash to help level the playing field in Spain’s top division.

Soccer’s two richest clubs by revenue take around half the annual pot of 600 million euros ($862 million) for La Liga rights, giving them spending power to afford the transfer fees and wages commanded by the best players.

“Today people will be excited to see a ‘Clasico’ (Barca v Real game), next year the same but in a few years people will get bored of this because this is a league of two clubs,” Ghubn said in an interview at Malaga’s La Rosaleda stadium. “So they will lose and tomorrow the audience will come down and some other league will be trying to rise up,” he added. “They will have less money from TV rights. They have to realize if they will not share the cake they will not get the cream.”

Barca and Real, who again finished the season out of sight at the top of the standings, negotiated their current TV deals individually, unlike in England and rival European leagues where clubs bargain collectively and income is shared more equitably. An agreement the two giants brokered late last year with 11 other top-flight

sides on sharing some of the TV cash from 2015 is likely to cement their advantage while helping the others only marginally, analysts have said. Malaga, who do not rely on TV money thanks to the sheikh’s investment, was one of the club’s who did not sign up and Ghubn said they had opted out because the accord set unacceptable limits on the smaller clubs.

FAIRER DISTRIBUTION Perched on a white armchair in the club’s corporate suite, the Libya-born 31-year-old, who is of Jordanian nationality, suggested Spain’s soccer authorities needed to step in to enforce a fairer distribution. “I don’t think we’ll see a solution soon to this issue because nobody can handle it,” he said. “If you have someone who can handle this and act as a judge, a person who could say how things should be it would be much better.” Malaga, who were struggling financially before Sheikh al Thani stepped in, narrowly avoided relegation in the campaign just ended. A number of new arrivals in the January transfer window, including Brazil forward Julio Baptista, helped preserve their top-flight status and Ghubn said the club were aiming to qualify for Europe next season, when they will have a budget of around 100 million euros.

They have already begun strengthening coach Manuel Pellegrini’s squad and will present new signing,

34-year-old Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, at a ceremony today. The former Manchester United and Real Madrid player spoke at a club event at the city’s Picasso Museum on Wednesday, marking the signing of Malaga’s partnership with UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. “We are confident we can reach our goals because we know exactly how we can be strong and what we are missing,” Ghubn said. “We have no limited budget. You have to look for the right players to suit your project so you cannot be very specific on how much you have to spend.”

VERY SPECIAL Local media have reported Malaga are one of the clubs interested in signing Argentina midfielder Javier Pastore from Serie A side Palermo. They are also chasing Valencia winger Joaquin and Osasuna’s Spain defender Nacho Monreal, according to reports. “The media was mentioning 120 names so I don’t think we can go for 120,” Ghubn said. “Pastore is a good player, he’s a very good player and he’s a target for any club. “We have many options. But this year we are going to have good players we are looking for specifically according to our system. “We have a plan to do something very big and very huge so our dream is not limited to one level. “We have an agenda, we have a philosophy, we have time to do something very special for this club.” — Reuters

Egypt fight for Cup of Nations survival JOHANNESBURG: Record seven-time champions Egypt face a fight for Africa Cup of Nations survival this weekend while Ivory Coast and Senegal could qualify for the 2012 tournament. Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien, injured during the last Cup of Nations, is set to make his first appearance for Ghana in 18 months when Congo tackle the Group I leaders in Accra.

But 15 goals for West Bromwich Albion last season cannot secure Peter Odemwingie a place in the Nigeria squad for a Group B duel in Ethiopia with coach Samson Siasia axing him for leaving a previous camp without permission. Bottomof-the-table Egypt host Group G pacesetters South Africa in Cairo desperate to avenge a 1-0 loss in Johannesburg three months ago and avoid the humiliation of becoming the first title holders not to reach the finals.

Ivory Coast will join co-hosts Gabon and Equatorial Guinea and Botswana as qualifiers for the biennial African football showcase if they collect maximum points from a Group H fixture in Benin and Rwanda do not win away to Burundi.

Senegal, who missed the last two tournaments after finishing fourth in 2006, will top the final Group E table if they triumph in Cameroon and Mauritius prevent Democratic Republic of Congo winning on the Indian Ocean island. A Maghreb showdown between Morocco and Algeria in Marrakech is another highlight of a 21fixture schedule divided between Saturday and Sunday as the six-round qualifying competition reaches the fourth series.

Egypt have just one point from a possible nine after coming from behind to draw 1-1 with Sierra Leone in Cairo and losing in Niger and South Africa and assistant coach Shawky Gharib acknowledges it is win-or-bust now. “It is a decisive match for the players and the technical staff. We have won the last three tourna-

ments and have to win on Sunday. The game will be totally different from Johannesburg.” The Pharaohs did not want to play in Johannesburg last March because the largely local-based squad had been starved of competitive practice after domestic football was suspended due to the anti-Hosni Mubarak uprising.

But South Africa insisted the fixture be played and, after being lucky several times not to fall behind, snatched a stoppage-time victory through a clinical Katlego Mphela finish.

“Egypt are going to throw everything at us. They will not play with three centrebacks this time, opting instead for more midfielders and strikers,” admitted Bafana Bafana (The Boys) coach Pitso Mosimane.

Injuries deplete both teams with Egypt lacking midfielders Mohamed Shawky and Mohamed Aboutreika and striker Amr Zaki while South Africa must do without centre-back Bongani Khumalo and midfielder Thanduyise Khuboni. Senegal snatched victory over four-time champions Cameroon in similar fashion to South Africa with West Ham striker Demba Ba scoring the lone goal deep in stoppage time.

“I just love this team. The guys are good and are beginning to behave like brothers. We are going to do everything possible to stay top and qualify as early as possible,” promised Ba who misses the Yaounde game through injury. Coach Amara Traore has called up fullbacks Lamine Gassama and Cheikh Mbengue and midfielder Kara Mbodj for the first time and can choose his strike force from a formidable trio of Papiss Cisse, Mamadou Niang and Moussa Sow. Cameroon chose Alex Song for the first time since a disastrous 2010 World Cup campaign only for the Arsenal midfielder to be ruled out by injury and the burden of expectation falls, as always, on star striker Samuel Eto’o. —AFP

ABUJA: Nigerian Uche Ikechukwu (left) is challenged by Argentina Insua Emiliano during an international friendly match between Nigeria and Argentina at the National stadium in Abuja on Wednesday, June 1, 2011. — AP

Nigeria trounce Argentina 4-1 ABUJA: Nigeria trounced Argentina 4-1 here on Wednesday in a friendly for their first-ever win over the two-time world champions. Nigeria’s best result before this was a 0-0 draw with Argentina at the 1995 King Fahd Cup (now FIFA Confederations Cup), with the South Americans winners on three different occasions.

The hosts dominated this game from start to finish and Argentina, effectively a second string side missing several first choice stars, led by Manchester City defender Pablo Zabaleta were never really in it as they hardly threatened the Nigerian goal and created very few openings. Real Zaragoza striker Ikechukwu Uche netted a brace to continue his superb form in front of goal with new Fenerbahce signing Emmanuel Emenike scoring his first goal for the Eagles on 53 minutes.

Emenike, 24, made up for an earlier miss after coming on as a second-half substitute with a cool finish inside the box when he reached the end of a long ball and lobbed over the goalkeeper. Obinna Nsofor was also on target from the penalty spot in the 27th minute after Everton striker Victor Anichebe was fouled inside the box. Argentina grabbed a consolation goal from the penalty spot courtesy of Mauro Boselli after Efe Ambrose was adjudged to have handled the ball deep into stoppage time.

“We did very well. We started well, we gained confidence with the early goal and we could have scored more goals,” said man of the match Uche. “This result will help us to prepare for Sunday’s game (vs Ethiopia, 2012 Nations Cup qualifier). —AFP

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Dark days for Asian soccer and its leader SINGAPORE: As suspended AFC head Mohamed Bin Hammam departs Zurich fighting bribery allegations, soccer in his continent of Asia struggles to combat match-fixing, violence and money issues that threaten to tarnish the Qatari’s belief that the future is Asia. Bin Hammam faces a battle to clear his name after a FIFA ethics committee in Switzerland suspended him from all soccer duties for alleged bribery during his defunct FIFA presidency campaign while his members, who have yet to come out in full support of their suspended leader, battle their own problems.

South Korea and Malaysia have been hit by match-fixing scandals with Singapore blighted by violence.

Indonesia is flirting with a FIFA ban as they fail to elect a new chairman and clubs in Australia continue to struggle financially. Amongst that, the 2022 Qatar World Cup organizing committee have been compelled to release three statements in the last month denying accusations from different corners that they bribed voters in winning the right to host the world’s biggest sporting event.

Bin Hammam unveiled a FIFA presidential campaign manifesto in March aimed at clearing up FIFA and making the organization more transparent but his credentials, should he contend again in four years time, to implement that plan look blotted as the continent he has led for nine years faces a raft of issues. “I think the Asian football environment is not that healthy,” acting AFC chief Zhang Jilong said in an interview in English on China’s state TV on Wednesday. “We need, let’s say, a revolution, we need reform to make more clear and more fair play environment in Asian football areas.”

MATCH-FIXING South Korea society has been rocked by an ongoing investigation into match-fixing in the country’s national sport with police arresting five players in connection with the scandal. Another player was found dead in his hotel room on Monday with the Yonhap news agency reporting a suicide note was found referring to the match-fixing. The head of the K-League apologized on Monday for the scandal with more than 1,000 players, coaches, referees and officials all signing a pledge on Wednesday to rid the game of the problem.

In Malaysia, a country with a history of match-fixing in soccer, a police report was filed last week by one of the teams in the top flight who voiced concerns that there was some wrong-doing in one of their youth matches. “The public are just beginning to have faith in our football, and if this happens again, it will destroy their confidence,” Youth and Sports minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek said last week of the allegations . Just over the causeway in Singapore, S League sides Etoile FC and Houngang United were suspended after the two teams brawled before kickoff with four players requiring hospital treatment.

The incident was the latest in an ugly trend in Singaporean soccer with a coach of S League side Young Lions receiving a season-long touchline ban after manhandling the referee in a March match whilst Brazilian soccer great Pele watched from the stands. FIFA’s head of security Chris Eaton also said the city-state seemed to have an ‘academy of match-fixers’ who were responsible for rigging matches around the world. Elsewhere, Australia may have a strong on-field record having reached the Asian Cup final in January and beating Germany in a friendly in March but off the field the Football Federation of Australia have been forced to provide financial aid to a raft of their A League sides. — Reuters

Qatar’s Mohammed bin Hammam

FIFA president tempts fate with Solutions Committee ZURICH: FIFA president Sepp Blatter may have been tempting fate when he baptized his new anti-corruption watchdog the Solutions Committee because there is a considerable risk it will fail to live up to its name. The creation of the less-thanimaginatively named committee was one of three measures announced by Blatter following his re-election on Wednesday but none offered much hope of real change in soccer’s beleaguered world governing body. Blatter’s fourth and final mandate could also see the 75-year-old face internal divisions as he battles to push reform through a federation where many members still believe nothing needs fixing. He will also have to deal with the powerful, wealthy European clubs who are becoming increasingly agitated at FIFA’s perceived heavy-handedness.

Blatter, re-elected unopposed after his opponent Mohamed Bin Hammam withdrew from the race amid cash-forvotes allegations, likes to see FIFA as a force for good which uses the sport to promote social and education programs across the world. But instead of being lauded for its social conscience, Blatter had to listen to a stinging reproach from the president of his own country who urged FIFA to “take seriously the many criticisms voiced about corruption and a lack of transparency. “It is of the utmost importance because your organization should be an example not only to young people but to the world,” Micheline Calmy-Rey said in her address to the opening of the FIFA Congress. “Let not money spoil your ideals.”

THREE MEASURES Blatter, himself cleared on Sunday after allegations that he had behaved unethically in the presidential race, appeared stung into action by that as he pushed through three measures immediately after his re-election. The first was to change the way World Cup hosts are chosen, increasing the electoral college from the 24-man executive committee to the 208-member Congress, reversing a change made in the mid-1970s.

However, with the 2022 World Cup hosts already decided, this change will not have any effect for at least seven to

ZURICH: Swiss FIFA President Joseph (Sepp) Blatter reacts during a press conference after the 61st FIFA Congress in Zurich, Switzerland. — AP eight years while the executive committee still has a role in drawing up a shortlist of suitable candidates. Blatter then went on to announce changes to the ethics committee, separating the investigation process from the final decisionmaking, and the creation of the Solutions Committee as a general watchdog.

Neither of these moves are likely to placate the many observers who believe an external investigation into FIFA’s affairs is needed.

International corruption watchdog Transparency International, saying FIFA’s ethics committee was “shrouded in secrecy”, had suggested more far-reaching measures. It proposed clear rules on how to deal with allegations of corruption, the appointment of an ombudsman, a review of the existing code of ethics, compliance clauses for all contracts and a review of the process by which television rights and sponsorship contracts are awarded. Blatter’s only concession was that outsiders may be brought in “if necessary”, with former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, 88, and former Dutch international player Johan Cruyff named as two possible advisors.

RUMMENIGGE THREAT Blatter’s claims that FIFA was unified looked questionable after 17 associations voted in favor of postponing Wednesday’s election and a further 17 abstained. But a bigger threat comes from the wealthy and powerful European clubs, led by former West Germany forward Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who want a bigger slice of the World Cup cake and fewer international fixtures.

“The recent happenings have once more proven that FIFA needs a change in its whole structure,” said Rummenigge, chairman of the European Club Association. “I request FIFA to immediately introduce democratic and transparent structures and procedures. European clubs will no longer accept that they do not participate in the decision-making when it comes to club-related matters.

“We will... take appropriate measures, if there is no improvement.” Blatter, who showed no inclination to support his long-time allies Qatari Bin Hammam and Trinidadian Jack Warner when they were suspended by the ethics committee on Sunday, may have to break more alliances if he wants to carry through his reforms. — Reuters

Match-fixing scandal just the tonic for Italy MODENA: On the face of it a domestic match-fixing scandal would be the last thing Italy wanted ahead of today’s Euro 2012 Group C qualifier against Estonia here. However, if history is anything to go by, it may just be the tonic the Azzurri need to focus on the job at hand. Five years ago the infamous Calciopoli scandal broke ahead of the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Italian football seemed to be in disarray and yet Francesco Totti, Fabio Cannavaro et al knuckled down, refocused and went on to defy the odds and lift the trophy with a penalty shootout victory over France in the final.

A similar scandal had broken ahead of their previous World Cup success in 1982. Paolo Rossi was banned for three years in 1980 for his part in a betting scandal known as Totonero (black pools). His ban, however, was reduced to two years, allowing him to return just before the World Cup and he went on to

fire Italy to the title. So it is feasible that the Calcioscommesse (football betting) scandal will be ridden as well as its ugly predecessors.

“There was a little bit of shock when this news came out but our priority has to be today’s game,” said centre-back Giorgio Chiellini. “The (bigger) risk is not reconnecting the gas after the end of the league season.” Although it proves Italy is a long way from ridding itself of the specter of a culture of cheating, there should be little alarm ahead of the visit of minnows Estonia. Italy are certainly well placed in the group, with a five point lead over their nearest rivals and a game in hand. Estonia, having played the same number of games, are six points back and should Italy win, they will need only two more victories from their final four matches to ensure they win the group.

Scandals apart, Italy appear in rude

health, particularly with Andrea Pirlo back in the squad after an injury-interrupted six months. Only Manchester City forward Mario Balotelli of the regular first team starters is missing, a knee injury picked up in training believed to be serious enough to rule him out. Otherwise they shall be at full strength, not that there has been a settled first XI since the end of the World Cup. Italy are in a transitional period and might have been expected to struggle with a new coach, in Cesare Prandelli, the retirement of several old hands, such as Cannavaro and Gennaro Gattuso, and a lot of new faces, Balotelli chief among them.

Yet their rivals seem to have been doing their utmost to avoid complicating matters for the Azzurri. Serbia’s fans’ misbehavior in Genoa in October gave Italy a 3-0 victory without kicking a ball in anger in what might have been their toughest fixture so far. — AFP

Sports FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011

Miami’s big 3 on a playoff joyride MIAMI: Dwyane Wade rekindled memories of his effort in the 2006 finals by finishing with 22 points and 10 rebounds Tuesday in his first finals game since winning the MVP trophy five years ago. And while Wade was doing his magic, LeBron James and Chris Bosh worked as the perfect complements down the stretch as Miami defeated Dallas 92-84 Tuesday to take a 1-0 lead in the best of seven series.

Combining Wade with James and Bosh as a triple threat in Miami is paying big dividends in their first post-season together. “(Before) I was the guy here in Miami that at the end of games I always had the ball in my hand,” Wade said during Wednesday’s practice at the AmericanAirlines arena. “So it took me time to get comfortable with that and get comfortable with saying ‘All right LeBron you take it’.

“And that’s a part of wanting to win and wanting to do whatever it takes to win. That’s another part of putting pride and ego aside, figuring out what’s best for the team.” Game two is at AmericanAirlines Arena before the series shifts to Dallas for the middle three games.

Game one winners have gone on to win 11 of the last 14 NBA finals. With James and Wade struggling to get their shots off early in game one, the Heat called upon Bosh to pick up the slack on offence. He made nine-of-12 free throws and finished with 19 points. “We’re just trying to stay a step ahead (of Dallas) right now,” Bosh said Wednesday. “We’re trying to make sure we see the zone coming and that we’re well prepared, and we get into our offence a little bit quicker.” Bosh, who spent seven seasons in Toronto with the Raptors, delivered on offence and defence. Bosh is in his first finals appearance after his only two previous postseasons ended in first round exits.

James made several plays in the second half that showed why he is the NBA’s most dominant player right now. He made an emphatic dunk with 2:48 to go that gave Miami a 84-75 lead. James also drained a buzzer beating three pointer at in the third quarter to give Miami a four point lead heading into the fourth. “Am I going to make every shot or close every game out from now on? I hope so, but I don’t know,” James said. “But I do put myself in the position and I do have the confidence that if I have the ball in my hands that I can make a play. “I’m an attack guy first that is what I am best at. “If a defense is going to allow me to sit and measure up a three-pointer, I’m going to take it. But I don’t care how many threes I make, I understand that my game is in the paint.”

Wade said everyone on the team is comfortable with James’ new closer role. “It’s at the point now that LeBron is having a ball at the end of games,” Wade said. “He makes the decisions for our team. Whether he wants to shoot or whether he wants to pass, et cetera. “I think early in the year he was maybe thinking too much about the other guys on the floor. “We put the ball in his hands a lot at the end because obviously he’s a great player. He’s 6foot-8 so he can see over the defense and he’s a great passer and enjoys the moment. He wants it. He wants to be in that winning circle. So he’s going to do whatever it takes.”— AFP

Basketball world pays homage as Shaq quits Basketball superstar Shaquille O’Neal retires NEW YORK: Shaquille O’Neal, one of the most successful and recognizable players in professional basketball, announced his retirement on Wednesday, ending a career that spanned almost two decades and helped increase the popularity of the sport outside the United States. A giant of a man who wore size 23 shoes but endeared himself to millions of people around the globe both through his performances on the court and his sometimes wacky sense of humor, he typically chose an unusual way of delivering his news, posting a video on a social media website. “We did it. Nineteen years baby. I want to thank you very much, that’s why I’m telling you first, I’m about to retire. Thank you, talk to you soon,” he said in the message.

The 39-year-old, who has been struggling with an Achilles injury, later told ESPN during a brief telephone interview that he hadn’t really wanted to retire but his body and age had dictated he quit. “I’m going to miss the competition.

I’m going to miss the chase for the ring.

I’m actually going to miss everything,” he said. O’Neal, who was popularly known as “The Shaq”, said he planned to hold a formal news conference at his home in Florida on Friday to reflect on his career as the basketball world began paying tribute to his outstanding accomplishments.

“For 19 seasons, Shaquille O’Neal was literally and figuratively an NBA giant,” the NBA Commissioner David Stern said.

“On behalf of the NBA, its teams, and his millions of fans around the world, I want to thank Shaq for everything he has meant to the league and to the sport of basketball, both on and off the court.”

Jerry Buss, the owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, where O’Neal won the first three of his four championship rings, also heaped praise on the center, who seems destined to be inducted into the NBA’s Hall of Fame.

“Shaq had a long and amazing career, with a huge impact both on and off the court,” Buss said. “His contributions were significant to the entire NBA, but we specifically appreciate what he did with and what he meant to the Lakers during his eight years with us.

“We have three championships that we wouldn’t have won without him, and we

LAS VEGAS: File photo shows Shaquille O’Neal (right) of the Miami Heat, and LeBron James, of the Cleveland Cavaliers, dancing together during NBA AllStar basketball practice in Las Vegas. —AP will forever be grateful for his significant contributions to those teams.”

O’Neal was a physically imposing man with an infectious smile. He stood seven feet one inches tall (2.16 meters) and weighed 325 pounds (147 kilograms), and was a force under the basket. He scored 28,596 points in the NBA, the fifth highest total, and was 12th overall in rebounds and seventh in blocked shots. He averaged 23.7 points and 10.9 rebounds a game, was named in 15 All-Star teams and was a member of the United States team that won the gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

“What a career for Shaq Diesel!!” tweeted LeBron James, who briefly played alongside O’Neal at the Cleveland Cavaliers. “The most dominating force to ever play the game. Great person to be around as well. Comedy all the time!!” O’Neal always seemed destined for greatness after enjoying a stellar career at Louisiana State University and he was selected by the Orlando Magic as the number one pick at the 1992 NBA Draft.

In 1996, he joined the Los Angeles Lakers as a free agent, teaming up with a young Kobe Bryant in a brilliant team

that won three successive NBA titles from the 1999-2000 season. O’Neal was named as the Most Valuable Player in each of those three finals series and in 2000 he was named MVP of the entire NBA, but he left the Lakers after a fallout with Bryant. He moved to the Miami Heat in 2004 and joined forces with another young gun, Dwyane Wade, winning a fourth championship two years later.

O’Neal also played with the Phoenix Suns and Cleveland Cavaliers before finishing off his career with the Boston Celtics, but the injuries were starting to take a toll and his averages and game time started to fall. O’Neal earned almost $300 million salary over his career as well as another fortune in endorsements as he transcended both the sporting and entertainment worlds, giving himself a range of nicknames, including ‘The Big Daddy’, ‘Superman’ and ‘The Diesel’. He released four rap albums, appeared in films and starred in his own television reality shows, and has university degrees in arts and business, and was smart enough to know when to walk away. “Father Time has caught up with Shaquille O’Neal,” he said.— Reuters

World No 1 defends top spot at Nicklaus event DUBLIN: World No 1 Luke Donald of England plays for the first time since taking over the top spot in the rankings Thursday in the Memorial, a $6.2 million US PGA event hosted by Jack Nicklaus. Donald, compatriot Lee Westwood and Germany’s Martin Kaymer have all been atop the rankings in the past three weeks, setting the stage for a shootout in the final major tuneup event for the US Open in two weeks outside Washington.

With former World No 1 Tiger Woods now fallen to 13th in the rankings and in the 19th month of a win drought since the scandal of his sex life

was exposed, the top spot has again become an achievement within reach for many.

“As a kid you dream about winning majors and winning tournaments, but for me, I always kept an eye out on the world rankings and had an interest in it,” Donald said Wednesday.

“I suppose for the bulk of my career Tiger was so far ahead that it never really crept into my mind. But in the last year or so, there has been more of an upheaval in the rankings. There has been a lot more movement, so I knew the opportunity was there.” Donald said he feels like he is the top player in

the world as he makes final preparations for the US Open and what he hopes would be his first major title.

“The way the world rankings are, consistency is very highly weighted,” said Donald. “If you can keep playing well week in and week out, keep earning those points, then you’re going to climb in the world rankings and I don’t think there’s anybody been more consistent in the last nine months than me.”

Donald sees the top ranking and a major title as somewhat different feats.

“Being ranked No 1 is self-satisfactory in terms of you feel good about what

you’ve done,” he said. “Winning a major makes you seem more accepted as a great player from your peers.”

Donald, who played alongside Nicklaus in the 18-time major champion’s last major round in 2005 at St Andrews, earned the praise of this week’s host as well. “Luke’s game has come a long way,” Nicklaus said. “There isn’t anybody who spends more time working on his golf game than I’ve seen in Luke Donald. He spends his time chipping and putting, chipping and putting. He wears out the practice greens. “And I think that the effort he has put into it has been rewarded.”— AFP

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FLORIDA: File photo shows Orlando Magic’s Shaquille O’Neal dunking the ball and knocking Chicago Bulls’ Dennis Rodman out of the way at the same time during their game in Orlando.— AP

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