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I spy with my little eye

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KABUL: Afghan boys read the Quran during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan at a mosque in the city of Jalalabad, the provincial capital of Nangarhar province, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, yesterday. — AP

Local FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2011

In my view

Local Spotlight

Is Ramadan in Kuwait special?

Life in the fast lane

By Priyanka Saligram

By Muna Al-Fuzai

priyankasaligram@kuwaittimes.net muna@kuwaittimes.net

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asting is observed across the Muslim world from dawn to dusk during the Holy Month of Ramadan. If you are in Kuwait during this month, you will be able to see its distinct flavor. I can think of many reasons, but I want to focus on two main aspects today - charity and social activities. Men frequent several diwanyas and woman gather at local events called Ghabqa. So, apart from fasting, socializing gains a lot of significance, with people enjoying with their friends in a relaxed manner.

Who can be better than Kuwaitis when it comes to having good discussions on political issues!

Ramadan is also an occasion for women to splurge. In preparation to attend the event, women buy fancy clothes!

I encourage Kuwaiti women to invite non-Muslim women to attend the event so that they can be acquainted with Ramadan and related traditions.

I don’t support the idea of frequently attending social events during Ramadan. Doing so every night, will sap you of energy, thereby losing the spirit of Ramadan. The religious relevance of the event will be played down too. I carefully choose events in such a manner that I have the opportunity to catch up with people I haven’t met in a while.

Another specialty during Ramadan is that people usually dedicate themselves to performing charitable deeds. I fully agree with this. The involvement of corporate groups in charity by pitching large tents and supplying food to fasting expatriates, mainly low-income workers who don’t have families here is a really good idea. They feel grateful for being offered decent meals after fasting for the whole day under harsh hot weather conditions. Also, this year, many have come forward to support famine-stricken Somalia. I hope all procedures related to donation collection is being done under the supervision of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor; so that acts of charity are not misplaced. This month will come to an end soon and we will not be able to enjoy Ramadan nights until next year. I wish everyone a happy Ramadan.

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here’s so much said and written about the Holy Month of Ramadan every year by everyone. While some focus is on how it’s the only time of the year people make a conscious effort to be nice and do a good deed or two, others shine the spotlight on the fasting aspect - and the feasting that follows. From complete abstinence to absolute indulgence, there’s food, good food, and sinfully good food everywhere.

There’s no sweeter sound than hearing the evening prayers and feeling the first glug of cold water cool your throat and sinking your fangs into the first succulent date in hand. While I was 20 minutes away from the clock striking the desired time and looking forward to digesting something, my eyes chanced upon a UN report on the famine in Somalia. It spoke of the worst drought in the Horn of Africa in decades with over 12 million people affected. Despite the food crisis, the largely devout Muslim population had begun their Ramadan fast and a Somali woman said, “We are also fasting as Muslims all across the world but we have absolutely no food to break the fast with.”

Mohamed Dubow Saman, a 25-yearold echoed his sentiments and said, “Because of the famine, we have been going for days without any

food anyway... That was a fast without reward; at least this fast is inspired by God.” My hungers pangs were replaced by a very heavy feeling after reading this - the sickly kind that follows after overeating. Here we are in Kuwait, blessed with abundant food to eat and more than enough to waste, and there they are in Somalia - without a customary date to break their fast - and still keeping it against all odds and managing to survive on faith alone. What kind of resilience is this? The report further read that the UN feared that several thousands were already dead because of lack of timely assistance and mostly because the Al-Shebab terror organization was blocking aid. In spite of Kuwait and most other countries donating a large amount of food and medical supplies, there is a good chance that it isn’t reaching the right mouths.

Words like hundreds, thousands, millions are exactly what they sound like: mere numbers. We should hang our heads in shame when other normal human beings like you and I cease to be living, breathing entities and become just statistics. Whether it’s with reference to Syrian death tolls which rise every day or Somalia’s, it’s a sad state of affairs when it’s easier to focus on our own hunger (despite knowing that it’s a

matter of a few hours before we’re satiated) than someone else whose hunger could determine whether they live or die.

We receive pictures every day of emaciated, skeletal-looking infants and children who look like they could be dead - if it weren’t for a thick plastic tube plugged into a tiny shriveled arm, pumping glucose, which indicates that there is a fragile heart still beating inside that body. If you can manage to steel yourself and look closely at the image, you can count the ribs and notice there are no internal organs; or maybe it’s not visible because their frail bodies are covered by dozens of black flies.

The parents don’t look better fed either; yet they observe the Ramadan fast like any God-fearing Muslim around the world.

When we’re fasting, it feels like food is the only fuel that keeps our machinery running. Blaming mood swings and impatience on low blood sugar sounds logical and in a perverse way, a little hip too. But when you look at the Somalis and their will to fast during Ramadan when they don’t even have fresh water to break their fast with, and their entire life has been one long Ramadan-fast, you realize that the body needs something more than food to survive and thrive... it’s called faith in the Almighty.

In my view

‘Tis the season to be tolerant

By Hussain Al-Qatari hussain@kuwaittimes.net

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e’re only four days into the Holy Month of Ramadan and people appear to be exhausted and nervous. The amount of anger and severity of tension you feel in the air is very high. In three days only, I witnessed a handful of fights in public and several car accidents, one occurring on Monday on the bend of the road near our neighborhood, minutes after the call for sunset prayer and Iftar.

Hungry and exhausted, the two young men involved in the accident stood outside arguing while the companion of one of them dialed for the police. I wondered if the police men will have their Iftar that day. Did they expect to get a call about an accident just when they heard the call for Iftar? What a horrible first day of Ramadan that must have been for them.

It is not a surprise that we suffer today from intolerance in our society. As more

than two decades have passed since the Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait, many remember the unity of Kuwaiti people from all sects and races side by side to face the invaders. This incident has been romanticized to exhaustion. Kuwaiti people may have stood side by side during the invasion, but that was in the past. Today, many are pitted against one another.

Many politicians are slandering one another in public, and hundreds of youth continue to march blindly behind politicians barking slogans against the government, as if we live under an oppressive merciless regime.

I don’t mean to deny that there is corruption, but perhaps we have become corrupt ourselves. We move from one crisis to another, and we don’t know where we stand any longer. We complain about nepotism, but we are the first to use it. We

complain that people are not qualified, education is terrible and the health sector is deteriorating, yet we, with our irresponsible actions against our own selves, are causing this damage. We hate Kuwaitis who are not from our sect, clan, tribe, or social status. We think expatriates are opportunists, and that they are all involved in a big mobster mafia that is here to rob our country. We vote for lawmakers who echo the exact destructive thinking and behavior, and then we complain about how our life sucks.

It is Ramadan, a month that is supposed to make you feel more than just hunger and thirst. It is meant to make you tolerant of one another, equal to one another, and in essence love one another and be peaceful. Stop complaining, try to focus on how you can construct rather than destroy, and have a happy Ramadan.

KUWAIT: A lamb is pictured before it is prepared for Iftar during the Holy Month of Ramadan. — Photo by Joseph Shagra

Local FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2011

Satire Wire

In my View

Shame: A cultural revolution in the trial of a dictator

Mubarak trial: Must-see TV

By Jamie Etheridge

By Sawsan Kazak

local@kuwaittimes.net

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his week marked a turning point in the history of the Arab world.

The televised opening of the trial of a once and future king of Egypt - Hosni Mubarak and his son Gamal - is something the region has never seen before: the public humiliation of a leader.

Public shaming is nothing new in the West, though its power has waned as more and more scandals emerged. It was once the main event that could bring a leader down or end a political career. But decades of sexcapades, phone tapping controversies and other political and financial scandals have almost deadened their impact in the West. We now read so often in the press about US Congressmen who send lewd photos of themselves via Twitter or take bribes or try to sell political offices that we’ve become almost immune to the impact of such ‘scandals.’

Public embarrassment, however, is not so common in this part of the world. Politicians, and especially regime leaders, are mostly protected from even a whiff of embarrassment. Shouting matches and namecalling between Arab heads of state may occur at Arab League meetings - but you can be certain the state TVs broadcasting the meeting will pull the plug as soon as the mud starts flying.

Saving face isn’t only a matter of embarrassment. It’s a complex web of ideas and values including things like family honor, reputation, social standing and status. The close family ties of the region, enduring tribal and clan relationships, continued power and pull of the community, importance of social networks and relationships - both on the personal and business fronts - mean that certain embarrassments are tantamount to social suicide.

As a result, society as a whole tends to protect the rights of privacy of the individual and the family. Few papers in the region carry the full name of convicted criminals - some are only allowed to use initials.

Only Dubai has breached the region’s almost sacrosanct wall of public shaming, publishing photos of men caught harassing women in local newspapers.

A business can sue for damage to its reputation, even if the information that caused the damage is true. Families are extra protective of their teenage daughters. In some areas, so called honor killings (also known as reputation management) still happen on a regular basis.

Business scandals are almost unheard of. It’s only since the 2008 crisis that major corporations or financiers have come under public scrutiny for business deals alleged to be fraudulent. Even then, the local press tends to limit coverage. Scandals involving royals - even ones published in the major international press - never show up in the pages of

the region’s newspapers.

When it comes to the region’s heads of state, the cloak of privacy is even more closely held. It’s not uncommon to not know the names of the wives of certain leaders - much less information about their personal wealth, holdings, business dealings, etc.

Occasionally a photo of some Arab politician or leader’s scruff up in Europe or a diving trip to the Maldives will surface. For the most part, the Arab people know only what their leaders want them to know about their private lives and even their public dealings. Transparency isn’t high on the list of most of the Arab governments’ priorities.

The 2006 trial and execution of Saddam Hussein may have caused some discomfort around the region. People felt that he’d long stepped beyond the realms of public decency and deserved little mercy for his crimes.

In the case of Mubarak and his sons, there are those who still support the aged dictator and pro-Mubarak protestors clashed outside of the police academy with demonstrators who backed his political demise.

But the damage is done. Regardless of what sentence is handed down to the 83-year-old, regardless of what even happens to his sons, the public humiliation has changed the course of events.

The bringing down of a pharaoh is no small matter.

Humbling him, forcing him to appear in court, inside a cage, lying (stricken or pretending, it matters not) on a hospital bed, his sons stripped of their power and wealth standing silent at his side destroys one of the most potent and important facets of power in the region the cult of personality.

The Arab world has seen and will not soon forget that Mubarak is a man, like any other. He can be brought low. He is subject - finally, after decades of alleged abuse - to the same laws and same humiliations as the Egyptian street vendor, the Syrian tea shop owner, the Libyan construction worker, the Jordanian taxi driver.

His humiliation - as painful as it may be to watch - is the real revolution. It’s a revolution in the culture, in the tradition, in the reverence that dictators like Mubarak, Gaddafi and Assad have exploited for too long as a means of holding on to power.

Revolutions in politics cannot be sustained without similar and parallel ones in society and culture. The American, the French, the Chinese not only changed their political systems but the entire way their societies were organized.

Now it seems, so too will the Arab world.

In my View

Prices that surprise

By Lisa Conrad

lisa@kuwaittimes.net

K

uwait is renowned for its incredible shopping. Modern malls are filled with every possible material desire that one could wish for. But at what cost? On a recent trip to a large British department store, I came across some bedding that I liked. I was a regular shopper at this particular store when I lived in England, so I knew what kind of prices their products typically ran for. However, upon asking an overly-eager shop attendant, I was informed that they were KD100.

I don’t have anything against buying extravagant, beautifully designed, extraordinary items at a higher cost. On the contrary, beautiful bags, original jewelry and designer make-up are all items that I consider worth it in terms of quality and style. And, in fact, luxuriously soft, decadent bedding. But these, these were simple, cotton sheets with an extremely ordinary thread count.

They were the kind you could pick up anywhere as your extra

set. Nothing special or out of the ordinary, except for the ridiculous price of course.

When I told the attendant that the price was well over quadruple what it would be in England, I was met with the simple, nursery, automated defense: no it’s not. Yes it is. No it’s not.

This went on for some time. The products are imported, yes. But the price hike was incredible and pushed way past breaking even and making a profit, instead sashaying its way into daylight robbery. KD100 for a cotton duvet cover without pillowcases or a sheet included? From... a very, very, VERY ordinary retailer?

The only reason I can think of behind this is that such stores are popular with Kuwaitis who bought from them on trips to the UK, and so retailers hike up the price knowing that it’s still cheaper to buy here than to take a trip to England. Strategic business at its best, or an abuse of brand loyalty?

sawsank@kuwaittimes.net

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cene one: A large overcrowded Egyptian courtroom is loud with anticipation. A stern appearing judge looks over his glasses that are placed at the tip of his nose, he hits his gavel to indicate the start of the trial and the defendants are let into the room. The courtroom gasps as the former powerful and feared leader is wheeled into a metal cage on a hospital bed. Looking frail and gaunt, the old man is joined in the cage by his two sons - and the drama begins.

The above mentioned sounds like a good start to an Arab soap opera or docu-drama, but it is, in fact, the real-life televised trial of the former Egyptian president. Hosni Mubarak and his two sons went on trial in Cairo on Wednesday as the world watched the live broadcast.

The three defendants faced charges of corruption and of intentionally killing protesters in the recent uprising. The first day saw indictment, accusations and conspiracies as well as an abundance of emotional testimonies and claims. Thickening the plot is the absolute denial of all the charges by the defendants. Outside the courtroom protesters watched the proceedings on a large screen and fights occasionally broke out between the pro-Mubarak and anti-Mubarak groups.

What a perfect time to begin the Mubarak trial. Ramadan is notorious for being the season of drama-filled soap operas. People are known to follow multiple shows after iftar (sunset). These dramas are usually exciting, entertaining and action-packed and are perfect for Ramadan as they are on every night and last only one month.

With the Mubarak trial getting live daily coverage, the world will be able to get a play-by-play of the theatrical courtroom drama. I predict this will become the must-see TV this Ramadan season. This story involves the most interesting human dilemmas: power, money, corruption, retaliation, justice and family. And making the tale even more meaty is the inclusion of once very powerful high profile characters.

And like any good Arab drama, there is the ever present conspiracy theories. On the first day of the trial, a plaintiff stood up and insisted that the man in the cage on the stretcher was not Mubarak, but in fact it was an imposter and that the real Mubarak has been dead for years.

This drama is more gripping than your run-of-the-mill soap opera; this one is real life with real consequences. There might not be a catchy theme song or sappy and dramatic music after shocking statements, but what it does have is unpredictable characters and high emotional drama. This daily ‘show’ will get people talking: ‘Did you see how Mubarak answered that question? So guilty!’

The only problem here is that this soap opera is unscripted; no one knows how it will end or when it will end. With Ramadan shows, you can look forward to a predictable end or at least some kind of closure.

This drama might go on way past other Ramadan dramas and as much as we speculate about the final outcome, it will definitely be a surprise.

Local FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2011

‘The incredible progress in messaging through smartphones have done wonders for communication but have made for some very awkward and uncomfortable social situations.’

By Sawsan Kazak

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faint beeping sound in the background indicates the delivery of a new message. Instinctively, all those who are in the vicinity check their phone to see if they are the ones with the text message or e-mail. A person who receives a communication usually spends a few minutes reading or viewing the information and then another few responding, temporarily removing themselves from the social environment they are in.

The incredible progress in messaging and chatting through smartphones have done wonders for communication, but have made for some very awkward and uncomfortable social situations.

It is great to stay in touch with work, friends and family, but what happens when you are already involved in a social transaction?

Texting is just like talking When you are in the middle of a conversation, you wouldn’t typically turn around and start talking to another person or pick up your phone and call someone, while the other person is mid-sentence.

Well, answering a text message during an ongoing conversation is the same concept. The person might not be in front of you or you may not be using your voice, but you are taking your attention away from the person that is physically present and placing it on someone that is not there. The virtual conversation is not more important than the live one taking place. The proper thing to do in this situation is to excuse yourself for temporarily checking out of the conversation as you respond to your beep. Do not try to multitask the situation as both people will continue to speak as long as you give them your attention.

Awkward Even after you have officially excused yourself from the conversation, some attention should be paid to the amount of time spent when answering your messages. If you get into a deep conversation through your smartphone, the social setting is bound to get affected. While you are typing away your thoughts, you might not have realized the prolonged and awkward silence that has filled the room. If this goes on for a few minutes than it is fine, but if the quiet goes on for more than five minutes, you have a problem. The other person or group of people will not appreciate your extended absence from the discussion, especially if it’s a meeting.

What’s so funny?

When you are answering or checking your messages, there might be some cases where the information sent is funny to you.

Perhaps you were sent a joke or a comical picture of a cat dressed like a dog, which may cause you to laugh out loud. If you chose to react to the info in front of you, it might be a good idea to share the joke. Those around you might find it a little rude if you laugh at your phone and then turn back to the conversation without explanation.

If you are unable to share the fun, then try to keep it to yourself.

Avoid the temptation The best policy would be to ignore your phone when in a meeting or social gathering as this will prevent you from being rude or awkward in this setting. Some people are unable to hear the beep and not rush to check what it was. In the case of lack of self control, it would be a better idea to simply close or mute your phone. Even if you think you are strong enough to avoid the temptation, your thoughts will be on the beep and not on the conversation in progress.

Let us keep our social interactions polite and awkward-free.

Happy texting!

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FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2011

I spy with my little eye

This cuddly teddy bear is the cutest thing around - until you realize it’s watching your every move

By Hussain Al-Qatari

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bu Salman, an owner of a domestic help recruitment office in Kuwait guarantees that the staff he recruits are hard-working and proficient. To market their skills at domestic tasks and chores, interested sponsors can watch a short video of them doing different tasks around the house. While this is not as effective as an actual trial for the domestic help, it gives many busy prospective employers and sponsors an idea of how they work, no matter how vague.

As a guarantee for these staff members’ behavior, Abu Salman gives interested sponsors a hotline number for an employee at the recruitment office who speaks the native tongue of the domestic help. In case of problems the office employee can mediate over the phone.

Abu Salman also offers concerned parents an extra service by directing them to a friend who sells nanny cameras and voice recorders to monitor the work of the staff when the employers are at work.

This service is especially valuable for parents suspecting child abuse at the hands of domestic help, as well as employers suspecting theft in the household, explained Abu Salman.

Teddybear 007 With an innocent smile plastered on its face, the teddy bear sits on a shelf in the corner of the kids room, positioned in order to have a bird’s eye view on all the happenings in the room. Nothing looks suspicious about the teddy bear: it is placed on the shelf next to a number of other stuffed toys, one holding a picture frame of a toddler, the other a big read heart with ‘I Love U’ scribed in stitching. Not even the raised eyebrows of the teddy bear with its black lifeless eyes can indicate that it is a spying tool. Nested in the teddy bear is a camera that can record up to 60 hours of video. The teddy bear/nanny camera sells for about KD110 at a store in Hawally.

The bear comes in different colors and specifications: wired streaming, wireless streaming, black-and-white or colored video.

Noncriminal spying Despite the fact that the Kuwaiti law prohibits spying on people, there is nothing that criminalizes nanny cameras, says a source at the Ministry of Interior. “The videos taken by the camera have been used as proof by many people to sue nannies, domestic help staff, and caretakers. Many reports of child abuse were backed up by such kind of evidence,” he explained. These devices have a clearly stated

purpose: to watch over children when the parents are not there. However, there are other objects sold in such stores, under the table, that have wreaked havoc on many people’s lives. “We receive complaints from women who say that their husbands are spying on them or stalking them, but we can’t do anything in that regard, especially since these two people are bound by a marriage contract,” he added. What the ministry can do is question the jealous spouse in the police station about spying devices. Usually this results in a confession and a confrontation between the couple, resulting either in a truce or a marital war. If the spouse insists and a search warrant is granted by the court, the police can search the suspected person’s house and confront him or her with any evidence, if anything was found. If the spying spouse confesses, explained the source, he can face legal charges for spying.

Gadgets abound Iftikhar (not his real name) an Asian salesperson at one store explained the different models available in the market. Some products are licensed, such as nanny cams, voice recorders and walkie-talkies. The best-selling devices operate on a SIM card, and are meant to be placed inside the children room. The

parent dials the number of the phone assigned for the SIM card placed in the device, and the device automatically opens the line so he can hear what goes on in the room. “Many people buy these products, and they sell for a very affordable price,” he noted.

Because of their mobility, ease of use, and the fact that they require very little maintenance, they are instant best-sellers.

Under the table, however, Iftikhar’s shop sells spying devices that are illegal. Some of them record sound, others only video. The devices come in different shapes and models, and their prices vary according to their specifications and features. One particular model that looks like a USB memory stick sells for KD 150. It records up to 80 hours of video. There are other models: a bedside clock with an alarm and radio, a wall clock, a electricity outlet, all with built-in hidden cameras. “We don’t sell these devices to everyone,” explained Iftikhar. The marketing method used for these products is word of mouth. “If we put the ads in newspapers and online, we might get more clients but we also risk having the license for our business revoked,” he said. Iftikhar says his sponsor, the owner of the business takes the task of advertising on online marketplaces, forums and local websites dedicated for selling such devices.

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FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2011

‘People’s mentality needs to change’

By Lama Al-Haqhaq

“I

n Canada you can receive a warning if you put, let’s say, paper in the recycling bin that’s designated for plastic,” explains Thaer Sehweel, a Kuwaiti resident studying in Canada. He finds it interesting that even regular people on the streets will stop and comment if the police isn’t around to do so.

Regulations and awareness such as these, regarding recycling, do not exist in Kuwait. In fact, recycling per se seems to be quite rare.

It is even an uncommon sight to see recycling bins on the streets. So uncommon that, many tend to snap pictures of them and post them online when they are seen.

A major issue that may be affecting the people of Kuwait’s stance toward recycling could be the lack of education on the topic.

The population, as a whole, do not realize the severe consequences and harm they are putting the environment through by not doing their part. Recycling has never been put in the spotlight for this culture, making the idea of recycling seem less crucial than it actually is.

Despite the scarcity of this action, a community of recycling enthusiasts does exist in Kuwait. If one were to Google the phrase

“Recycling in Kuwait,” they would be faced with a number of blog posts filled with comments from people inquiring about companies who could pick up their materials to be recycled. “Recycling should become a big deal here because it would provide a healthier environment,” Faruk, a Kuwaiti resident said. The benefits of recycling include a number of factors that could drastically help the environment we live in. Harmful situations such as pollution and greenhouse gases emission could be reduced if more people recycled. It can also help financially, as using recycled materials means that new materials would not need to be used, therefore reducing the costs of products. If we were to recycle more, we would be able to save natural resources like energy and trees. These are currently being consumed at a rapid pace.

Organizations such as Green Target Company (GTC), the Metal and Recycling Company (MRC), and Recyclink have answered people’s calls. All of these companies provide a service that will pick up recycled materials from homes, schools, and offices. MRC (www.mrckw.com) have their own non-profit program: Newair. It is a waste management program which mainly targets

organizations that want to recycle their office waste, such as paper, plastic, and aluminum. They do, however, provide these services for homes as well. It is even possible to tour their facility in order to see how their recycling process works.

According to Abdullah Harris, a representative from GTC (www.gtc-kuwait.com), the materials picked up for recycling are converted to other eco-friendly products like bags and stationery. They currently recycle paper, plastic and aluminum. Making these services easily available to the public seems to have had a good impact, as the GTC currently has over 600 clients.

Recyclink (www.recyclink-kw.com) like GTC and MRC, collect paper waste and distribute them to recyclers. Additionally, they provide their clients with recycling bins to be placed in homes, offices, and the like. Online recycling services are also available in Kuwait. Kuwait Paper Dump (www.kuwaitpaperdump.com) helps by recycling digitally.

They collect paper that people would normally throw away, like brochures and menus, and make them available online in order to reduce the use of paper.

Two organizations seem to have noticed

the need to educate the population on the topic of going green. GTC’s sister company, GTC Girl’s Club, is working on tackling this issue. It is an educational club that is aimed at teaching young girls about the importance of keeping the earth clean. Recyclink is also working towards educating the population on this subject. Their strategy of spreading awareness is by sponsoring school activities in order to reach the youth. Recycling workshops are also initiated by this company in order to reach everyone else.

MRC’s Newair works on educating the employees of all the organizations who have taken part in their program. They ensure that these employees are aware of all the harm caused to the environment, and how recycling can help change this. Still, some are unconvinced that education is the only factor affecting the public from noticing the significance of recycling with regard to the world we live in. Teaching a society about issues such as these may not have the needed effect on the members if they are not fully convinced about what they are being told. “I don’t think it would make much of a difference,” Faruk said. “It’s people’s mentality that needs to change.”

Local FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2011

Reading the

wrong signal Kuwait is very multi-cultural, so becoming aware enough to register the friendly from the flirtatious in such a wide range of cultures can be very difficult for some

By Lisa Conrad

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iven the diverse nature of society in Kuwait, it’s often difficult for newcomers to adapt to their new environment. If they haven’t had experience in the Middle East, their sense of culture shock is amplified.

Many newcomers and expatriates retell stories of miscommunication and mixed signals in Kuwait. A friend of mine, Laura, recounted how a bank cleric misunderstood her friendliness. “I was at the bank and was filling out forms, which included contact details. Later that day, I start receiving text messages from the bank teller, inviting me to dinner. I couldn’t believe that he had used my personal details to contact me, it was a massive breach of privacy. Still, I didn’t want to get him fired over the whole thing so I sent a response making it clear that I wasn’t interested and he replied that he had been ‘joking.’”

While it was relatively easy for the teller to lift her details from her contact form, others have taken making contact to new levels. Sarah, an expatriate here in Kuwait, said, “I was at a shoe shop once, telling the manager that a pair I had bought were faulty. They told me they would fix them and call me when they were done, so I gave them my number. Some 15 minutes later I get a call from someone who had overheard me saying my number, inviting me out. I had no idea who it was.”

Usually, after a given period of time within any society, it becomes easier to adapt and understand. However, Kuwait is very multi-cultural, so becoming aware enough to register the friendly from the flirtatious in such a wide range of cultures can be very difficult for some. This is especially true for those from cultures where a certain set of manners are abided by, even when the person being dealt with is being rude or inappropriate. One of the most famous countries known for their preference for politeness is England.

English expatriate, Rose, is learning the hard way that constant, overly-friendly politeness can be misinterpreted by some and lead her into trouble. She recalls a particularly uncomfortable taxi ride, “The taxi driver my hotel had called for me seemed really, overly friendly. He wanted to tell me about everything. His family. His life. At the beginning, I didn’t think anything of it, but then he started telling me about how all of his friends were westerners and how we should be friends. A complete stranger, double my age, was announcing that we should become friends. I started to feel uncomfortable, but still when he told me to save his number in case I needed a taxi later, I felt too embarrassed to say no. But when he told me to give him a missed call, I decided I needed to draw a line and stop being so naive.”

While it is nice to be nice, it’s also important to be aware that kindness can be misinterpreted. Each society has their own way of communicating, and drawing boundaries, and it’s important to keep them in mind. Crossing boundaries because you believe the same behavior is normal elsewhere can lead to extremely awkward instances of miscommunication. And phone calls. And messages. And so on, and so forth.

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FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2011

Kuwait frees Iraqis in plot to kill Bush 9 Iraqis released over failed assassination KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait has freed nine Iraqis who were jailed over a failed plot to assassinate former US president George Bush senior in 1993, AlAnbaa newspaper reported yesterday. Quoting an unnamed security official, the daily said that the Kuwaiti authorities had decided to deport the men to Iraq following a visit by officials from Baghdad. Bush, who in

January 1991 led an international coalition to liberate Kuwait after seven months of Iraqi occupation, visited the Gulf state in April 1993 to commemorate the victory. During the visit, Kuwaiti authorities arrested 16 people, mostly Iraqis, for allegedly plotting a car bomb attack to kill Bush. A Kuwaiti court later convicted most of them and handed them

extended prison terms. The United States fired 23 cruise missiles at the headquarters of Iraq’s intelligence services in Baghdad in 1993 following an order from Bush’s successor, Bill Clinton. Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein ordered his forces to invade Kuwait on August 2, 1990. They were driven out by the international coalition on February 26, 1991. —AFP

Fox strays into mosque KUWAIT: The Hawally apartment which was damaged by the water boiler which exploded is pictured.

— Photos by Hanan Al-Saadoun

Water boiler at apartment explodes

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: Firemen from Hawally and Salmiya tackled a fire that broke out at an apartment in Hawally after an electric water boiler exploded. An Arab woman who sustained injuries to her neck and back was rescued. A wall had collapsed on her, while her husband suffered minor injuries.

Their two children were not harmed. The couple were admitted to the nearest hospital.

Street fights Two Egyptians were injured after engaging in a noisy quarrel at the Friday Market. Both sustained severe head injuries.

They were admitted to Farwaniya Hospital. Also, a 37-year-old Egyptian sustained an injury to his forehead after a fight broke out in Qibla.

Car accidents A 60-year-old Egyptian fractured his left leg in a car accident that took place along Sixth Ring Road. Also, a 27-year-old bedoon sustained a head injury in a car accident that took place along Fifth Ring Road.

‘Jews should be forced to respect Muslim holy sites’

By A Saleh KUWAIT: Following her controversial remarks on passing a legislation allowing men to marry concubines, and suggesting that women be allowed to do the same, Kuwaiti political activist Salwa Al-Mutairi has now called for legalizing travel to Israel in order to protect holy sites and Palestinians. Al-Mutairi revealed that she visited the Israeli embassy in Cairo recently, “So as to process my visa to visit Jerusalem. I changed my mind after being advised by some people. I did not plan to spend the night in Tel Aviv.” Al-Mutairi advised Muslims to visit Israel so that they are not isolated. She added that the goal is to pressure Jews into respecting the holy sites. Meanwhile, Al-Mutairi called for the establishment of the largest orphanage in the Middle East.

KUWAIT: Security personnel from Farwaniya caught a fox that strayed into a mosque and handed it over to the Kuwait Zoo. The mosque’s custodian informed police about the wild animal that accidentally entered the mosque’s premises through the main gate. Policemen who reached the scene, tried to restrain it by using a large cloth piece. It was then transported to authorities from the Kuwait Zoo. Vandals on the run The Mubarak Al-Kabeer police are on the hunt for several juvenile delinquents that hurled stones at passing cars along Al-Ghouse Street, damaging many and endangering the lives of motorists, reported Al-Rai. When police approached the area, the suspects escaped and fled the scene.

Record on deportees The Interior Ministry has asked the Health Ministry to provide details on

deportees who suffered from infectious illnesses. This request comes in with a recent agreement made during the Interior Ministers 28th Meeting in Oman, reported Al-Anbaa. It involves exchange of information and fingerprint records of those deported owing to health reasons so that the spread of diseases across GCC countries can be kept at bay.

Citizen assaults workers A citizen who was awakened from deep slumber by workers, turned very upset, confronted them and physically assaulted them. In response to an emergency call made, police reached the scene and broke up the fight.

Maid hits boy A 10-year-old boy sustained mild injuries after a domestic worker smacked him on the head with a large ladle in Jaber Al-Ali. The maid who was frustrated with the continuous requests made by members of

the household, lost her nerve. The woman of the household asked her to prepare breakfast and lunch, do the laundry and clean. The maid screamed at the woman and her husband who interfered to calm down the situation. The boy woke up shortly and asked for breakfast and she responded by hitting him. The bleeding boy was taken to the Adan Hospital and a complaint was filed against the now absconding maid.

Family feud A fight broke out between a couple when the wife returned late from her family home. Her husband phoned her several times, asking her to return, but she refused. The furious man barged into his in-laws’ home, reported Al-Watan. He quarreled with his brother-in-law, who asserted that his wife would not return until the family gathering ended. Police was called to break up the fight.

Zakat House project in Beirut reflects Kuwait’s generosity BEIRUT: Kuwait Zakat ‘Alms’ House charitable projects undertaken in Lebanon during the Holy Month of Ramadan reflect the generous nature of the people of Kuwait towards their brothers in Lebanon.

Sheikh Zuhair Kubbah, General Director of the Lebanese Zakat House Fund said that the two sides were cooperating to ensure that the needy in Lebanon had all they need during the month of Ramadan, adding that throughout their charitable projects in Lebanon, Kuwait Zakat House aided several unfortunate Lebanese families and orphans. The official lauded Kuwait for its generosity, affirming that such acts of kindness truly reflect the strong brotherhood between Kuwaiti and Lebanese people. Kuwait Zakat House is running an Iftar project for those who cannot afford to buy food during Ramadan. Throughout mosques in Lebanon, Iftar meals are served to those fasting during the holy month. Such gestures were well-received by the local community which took the chance to thank the Kuwaiti leadership and people for their generous offer. — KUNA

BEIRUT: Kuwait Zakat ‘Alms’ House is pictured. — KUNA

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PM chairs meeting with committee KUWAIT: His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser AlMohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah chaired yesterday a ministerial committee meeting to discuss the state development plan.

Abdulwahab Al-Haroun Minister of State for Planning and Development Affairs said that the meeting was among a number of weekly meetings, which His Highness the Amir holds with different sectors, especially regarding taking follow-up action on the development plan. Such meetings also touch on the obstacles facing the plan to ensure that all projects are finalized as scheduled, said the official. — KUNA

KUWAIT: His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah is pictured during a meeting he chaired yesterday. (Right) Lawmakers and MPs are pictured during the committee session. — KUNA

MPs slam Syrian regime, want envoy’s expulsion Quorum guaranteed for emergency assembly session

By B Izaak

KUWAIT: Many Kuwaiti MPs and lawmakers expressed their sincere condolences to Saudi Arabia on the demise of Saudi Princess Sultana. —KUNA

Unlicensed butchers slaughter, sell sheep KUWAIT: The Kuwait Municipality’s Inspection and Supervision Department has uncovered an illegal practice where unlicensed butchers slaughter and skin sheep in Al-Rai. In addition to this, weak animals were auctioned off at noon a few days before the advent of Ramadan. These activities are flagrant violations of the Municipality’s regulation, conducted in the absence of ministryappointed slaughter house supervisors.

An official said that during raids held to detect spoilt food, it was learnt that some inspectors displayed a lackadaisical attitude towards the inspection campaign. He said that large quantities of sheep were delivered to Al-Rai animal pens in order to supply Kuwait’s fresh meat needs. While sorting them out, the fit ones were sold, and the weak animals were auctioned off. After completing the sale, several butchers slaughtered the animals whose meat was unfit for human consumption, reported Alrai. The official added that Dr Fadhel Safar Municipality Minister has asked for a detailed report on the issue.

PAAAFR supports amateur farmers KUWAIT: The Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR) said yesterday that it was not only supporting professional farmers but also those pursuing the vocation on an amateur level. PAAAFR said in a press release that its technical support to amateur farmers and gardeners was exemplified in the holding of several training courses on house farming and gardening, adding that such a step was aimed at lowering the costs of agricultural products in the market as well as providing farming enthusiast with a beneficial hobby. PAAAFR noted that books and pamphlets on such subjects would be issued soon as a part of the authority’s technical support gesture. — KUNA

KUWAIT: Several MPs yesterday signed a petition to convene an emergency parliamentary session completing the required quorum necessary to hold the session. MPs believe that the session is important to discuss ways to solve Kuwait University’s failure to admit thousands of Kuwaiti students. Islamist MP Faisal Al-Mislem, who initiated the request, later submitted the petition to Assembly Speaker Jassem AlKharafi who is expected to invite the government as well as MPs to the session, to be held next week.

Under the law, it becomes compulsory for the government to attend the session after a majority of MPs, or 33 members in this case, sign the request. The assembly is currently in summer recess that extends till late October. The emergency session has been called to discuss solutions to admit between 3,000 and 6,000 Kuwaiti students who passed higher secondary examination and meet the conditions set for university admission.

The problem was created when Kuwait University rejected applications of 3,200 eligible students, after rejecting the applications of 3,000 other students from the government scholarship program. This was done despite the university increasing the number of students admitted from less than 7,000 to around 8,000 this year. The government has been trying to resolve the problem by sending students on scholarships to study abroad.

Islamist MP Jamaan Al-Harbash said that the problem had been anticipated for

some time because of the delay in the construction of the new university in Shadadiya near Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh.

Construction of the university is running years behind schedule. Harbash placed the number of rejected students at 6,000, saying that around 11,200 students applied to the Kuwait University and only 8,000 were admitted, while 5,000 students applied for scholarships and only 1,700 were granted.

He said that solutions offered by the education minister will not be able to resolve the problem as he has proposed to admit 1,000 students during the second semester and grant scholarships to 300 others. Several MPs yesterday hoped that the minister will offer feasible solutions to the problem and added that failure to do so will result in them signing the petition to hold an emergency session.

In another development, Islamist MP Khaled Al-Sultan yesterday warned against what he called a ‘suspicious contract’ by the Ministry of Electricity and Water to purchase 100 small generators for KD75 million. He said that the generators will not work under Kuwaiti conditions and will require plenty of logistical support that is not available in the country. Sultan also warned that a number of important appointments made in the state-run oil companies are politically-motivated and some of them will pay the political price for initiating a grilling motion against the prime minister before the assembly went into recess. In other news, MP Khaled AlAdwah yesterday strongly warned against plans to impose taxes in Kuwait or raise charges on public services, arguing that

such plans are totally unacceptable.

Several MPs accused the government’s lack of planning for causing the problem and demanded immediate actions to find seats for Kuwaiti students. In other news, several MPs yesterday lambasted the Syrian regime for the brutal attacks against Syrian civilians demonstrating for reforms and called for the expulsion of the Syrian ambassador from Kuwait. Speaking at a press conference held at the National Assembly, MP Mislem accused Arab and Muslim leaders of participating in the killing of Syrian people by remaining silent on the brutality of the regime.

The lawmaker said the Kuwaiti people do not feel honored when Kuwait maintains relations with the Syrian regime. He reinstated the demand of 28 MPs to sever ties with Damascus, and urged the government to expel the Syrian ambassador. MP Mubarak Al-Waalan questioned why the Kuwaiti and Gulf governments supported the Libyan people against Gaddafi, while remaining silent on the issue. MP Jamaan Al-Harbash cited the brutal attack on the city of Hama, saying that Syrian troops began bombarding the city when Muslims break the fast at sunset.

He also urged the Turkish prime minister to translate words into action by preventing another massacre in Hama.

Harbash also warned the Gulf leaders against a major ploy by Iran and its associates to destroy Arabs’ unity. Islamist MP Mohammad Hayef said that Gulf governments condemned the terrorist attack in Norway but failed to do the same on the brutal attacks in Syria.

Embassy organizes Quran competition in Belgium BRUSSELS: The Embassy of Kuwait in Brussels announced yesterday that it will hold a Holy Quran memorization competition in the name of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. Abdullah AlShatti Charge d’Affaires at the Kuwaiti

embassy in Brussels said that it is the second such competition being organized by the embassy in Belgium, which will be held during the last ten days of the current fasting month of Ramadan.

He said that this event will help keep in touch with the Muslim community in

Belgium and to support religious occasions and festivals in the country. AlShatti expressed his thanks and appreciation to the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs of Kuwait, especially the support of this event which carries the name of HH the Amir of Kuwait. — KUNA

FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2011

Trial of Mubarak’s security chief resumes

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WEST BANK: Palestinian Muslim girls read from the Quran, during the month of Ramadan, in the village of Salem near the West Bank city of Nablus, yesterday. Muslims across the world are observing the holy fasting month of Ramadan. — AP

Assad allows opposition parties Demonstrators vow to protest every night of Ramadan DAMASCUS: Syria’s embattled president yesterday decreed a law allowing opposition political parties, state media said after the United Nations condemned his regime’s deadly crackdown on democracy protests.

“President Bashar al-Assad yesterday issued Legislative Decree No. 100 for 2011 on Parties Law and Legislative Decree No. 101 for 2011 on General Election Law,” the official SANA news agency said in a brief report. The law allows political parties to be established and function alongside Assad’s Baath party, in power since 1963 with the constitutional status of “the leader of state and society.”

Political pluralism has been at the forefront of demands by pro-reform dissidents who since March 15 have been taking to the streets across Syria almost daily to call for greater freedoms.

Assad’s regime has sought to crush the movement with brutal force, killing more than 1,600 civilians and arresting thousands, according to human rights activists.

In the latest bloodshed, at least four people were killed and dozens wounded on Wednesday when security forces opened fire on

protesters in Damascus, near Daraa in the south and Palmyra in central Syria, an activist said.

Demonstrators have vowed to protest every night of Ramadan following evening prayers despite the assault on Hama and the killing of some 120 people across the country on the eve of the Muslim holy month.

Thursday’s presidential decree comes after the Syrian government adopted a draft law on multiple political organisations last month. At the time, SANA reported the draft legislation was “aimed at enriching political life, creating a new dynamic and allowing for a change in political power.”

“The bill stipulates the essential objectives and principles governing the activities of parties, conditions for their establishment ... and rules relating to their financing, their rights and their obligations,” SANA said. It prohibits parties founded on the basis “of religion, tribal affiliation, regional interests; professional organisations as well as parties which discriminate on the basis of race, sex or colour,” the report said.

The presidential decree, which means the law can take effect immediately without parlia-

ment’s approval, came only hours after the UN Security Council stepped up pressure on Syria’s rulers. The council condemned the deadly crackdown and said those responsible should be held accountable.

It was unable to agree on a resolution, however, and settled on a less-binding statement condemning “the widespread violations of human rights and the use of force against civilians by the Syrian authorities.” “Those responsible for the violence should be held accountable,” it said, in its first pronouncement on the Syrian crisis since the protests began.

The UN statement came as tens of thousands of Syrian protesters again took to the streets on Wednesday, despite a tank assault on the flashpoint protest city of Hama. Five hundred families had streamed out of Hama following the massive tank-backed assault that killed at least 95 people there on Sunday, said Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

On Wednesday tanks had taken up positions across the town and shelling could still be heard in several neighborhoods, another

activist told AFP, saying it sounded like “open warfare.” The Local Coordination Committees, which represent the protesters, said plumes of smoke could be seen over the city of 800,000 residents.

The latest four deaths came as another 40,000 people demonstrated in the central town of Homs, said Abdel Rahman. Some 50,000 people also protested in Deir Ezzor, an eastern city encircled by troops, and 20,000 turned out in Douma, an outer suburb of Damascus, said Abdel Karim Rihawi of the Syrian League for the Defence of Human Rights.

The crackdown on Hama, where an estimated 20,000 people were killed in 1982 when Assad’s father Hafez crushed an Islamist uprising, has prompted solidarity protests across Syria and international condemnation. Syria insists it is fighting “armed terrorist gangs”.

Western powers had hoped for stronger action at the Security Council but were rebuffed by veto-wielding members Russia and China, who feared doing so would pave the way for another military intervention like the one in Libya.— AFP

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Palestinians moving ahead with UN bid: Erakat DOHA: Palestinians are determined to go ahead with their UN membership bid as an Arab League follow-up committee endorsed a final draft of the request to be presented to the UN General Assembly, a top official said. Saeb Erakat brushed off as a public relations stunt Israeli attempts to lure the Palestinians back into peace talks based on the 1967 borders if they abandon the UN membership campaign.

“The Palestinian train is now heading towards New York,” Erakat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, told AFP during the committee’s meeting in Doha, Qatar, late on Wednesday. After the meeting, Erakat said the members of the committee “have

reached a final agreement to request the full support for a Palestinians state within the 1967 borders with its capital Jerusalem.”

The request “will be ready to present before the next UN General Assembly session” in September, said Erakat. The committee members had also agreed to “double their efforts to garner support from members of the UN Security Council,” he added. Erakat played down statements by an Israeli government official who said Tuesday his country was willing to begin new peace talks based on the 1967 lines if the Palestinians drop their UN membership bid. He said the statements were

“leaked” from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin, dismissing them as a PR exercise.

Talks between Israel and the Palestinians have been on hold since last September, grinding to a halt shortly after their relaunch earlier the same month over the issue of settlement construction. Israel has declined to renew a partial settlement freeze that expired shortly after the direct talks began, and the Palestinians have said they will not negotiate while Israel builds on occupied land they want for a future state.

With the talks on ice, they have instead pushed forward with the plan to seek UN

membership for a Palestinian state.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has insisted the plan does not rule out the possibility of new peace talks, but said he will not negotiate without a settlement freeze and a clear set of parameters for any new talks. Faced with the promise of a Security Council veto by the United States, which is pressing the Palestinians to resume stalled negotiations with Israel instead, Erakat urged the US government to “reconsider its position.”

The Arab League follow-up committee, which groups the Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Lebanon, is chaired by Qatar. — AFP

Trial of Mubarak’s security chief resumes Egypt press gasps at images of fallen ‘Pharaoh’

RAMALLAH: Sheikh Hassan Yusef, 56, a commander of the Hamas Islamist movement, smiles as he receives visitors in his home in the West Bank city of Ramallah after being released from an Israeli prison, yesterday as Israel is to free 770 Israeli and Palestinian prisoners. — AFP

Rift threatens Libya rebels BENGHAZI: Libya’s rebels were threatened by a rift yesterday, as their progress on the battlefield slowed and one of Muammar Gaddafi’s sons said his family has forged an alliance with Islamist insurgents. The unity of the revolutionaries became the latest casualty of the shock assassination of a top general, as a key rebel group demanded senior ministers and military brass be fired.

The February 17 Coalition-whose members kick-started the revolt against Kadhafi-told AFP the ministers of defence and international affairs must be sacked following last week’s murder of General Abdel Fatah Yunis.

Abdulsalam el-Musmari, a judge who heads the coalition, criticised the events leading up to Yunis’s murder and the handling of its aftermath by the rebels’ governing National Transitional Council.

The facts surrounding the general’s death have been opaque, with senior members of the NTC giving incomplete and contradictory accounts of how he died, who killed him and the motive for the murder. “We have two main demands,” Musmari said. “The resignations of the defence minister (Jallal al-Digheily) and his deputy and for all the armed groups to fall under the national army or lay down their weapons.”

In a separate written statement, the February 17 Coalition also demanded the sacking of Ali Alasawi-the NTC’s minister for international affairs-and a probe into why he approved a warrant for Yunis’s arrest. The group’s blistering criticism marks the most public sign yet of tensions between Libya’s revolutionaries and the NTC that has come to be their de facto government.

After five months of fighting against Kadhafi’s regime, the NTC has come under increasing scrutiny, with unease fuelled by slow progress on the military front. — AFP

CAIRO: A day after the start of Hosni Mubarak’s historic trial, seven of his codefendants were back in the courtroom yesterday on charges of complicity in the killing of protesters during the uprising that toppled Egypt’s longtime president.

The hearing of former Interior Minister Habib el-Adly and six top police officials was broadcast live on Egyptian state television. The seven first appeared in court on Wednesday in the same defendants’ cage with Mubarak and his two sons - one-time heir apparent Gamal and businessman Alaa - in a related case that is tried by the same judge. The Mubaraks’ trial resumes Aug. 15. Mubarak, el-Adly and the six police officials face the death penalty if convicted over the protesters’ deaths.

The three Mubaraks separately face corruption charges. El-Adly was Mubarak’s interior minister for more than a decade, in charge of the country’s 500,000-strong security forces. Some of the worst human rights abuses during Mubarak’s 29 years in office are blamed on el-Adly and his police force.

Yesterday’s hearing was entirely taken up by procedural matters, with Judge Ahmed Rifaat opening boxes of evidence with defense lawyers looking on. The evidence included operational police logs covering the time of the uprising - Jan. 25 to Feb. 11 - with details about the movement of forces, issuing firearms and ammunition.

They also included several weapons and ammunition rounds. One piece of evidence was the blood-soaked jacket of one of the 850 protesters killed during the 18day uprising. The judge gave the lawyers a week to examine the evidence before hearings resume on Aug. 14.

Egypt’s press yesterday captured the nation’s incredulity at seeing Hosni Mubarak on trial for murder, hailing the fall of the “Pharaoh” as a triumph for the revolution that ended his 30-year rule. Pictures of Mubarak lying on a stretcher and dressed in a white prison suit blanketed the front pages of newspapers, six months after the mere mention of his health could have landed an editor in jail.

It was an epic downfall, with the once absolute ruler now a caged invalid, a scene unthinkable before the January 25 revolution. “The Pharaoh is in the cage,” said the

independent daily Al-Masry al-Youm, while the state-owned Al-Ahram weekly gasped at “Mubarak’s unthinkable end.”

“Mubarak in the cage, now the revolution has won,” trumpeted the state-owned daily Al-Akhbar, long known for publishing fawning editorials and flattering images of Mubarak. “Egypt’s revolution has won,” gloated the independent daily Al-Dustur, whose former editor Ibrahim Eissa was sentenced to six months in jail in 2008 for speculating on Mubarak’s health. He was later pardoned.

associate of the Mubaraks, is being tried in absentia. For weeks, it seemed likely Mubarak would be tried in Sharm elSheikh, if at all, amid contradictory statements surrounding his health. The hearingwith its dramatic images of an ailing Mubarak on a hospital bed-was aired live on Egyptian television and gripped the nation, and Cairo’s usually bustling streets were abnormally quiet during Wednesday’s proceedings.

“Just one image of the ousted president, with his bed inside the dock, has

CAIRO: People watch the trial of former Egyptian Interior Minister Habib el-Adly and six top police officials live on a large TV screen outside the Police Academy complex in Cairo, Egypt yesterday. —AP On Wednesday, Mubarak was flown to Cairo from the Red Sea resort of Sharm elSheikh where he had been in custody in hospital being treated for a heart condition. He is accused of ordering the killing of protesters during the January-February uprising that toppled his regime.

His lawyer Farid al-Deeb had claimed Mubarak suffers from cancer and went into a coma last month, which the hospital treating him denied. His sons Alaa and Gamal, former interior minister Habib alAdly and six ex-security chiefs were being tried in the same case.

Businessman Hussein Salem, a close

changed everything,” read the editorial in Al-Masry al-Youm. “The revolutionaries were reassured about the fact that the process was real and not staged,” it said.

But others warned the powerful images should not placate the protest movement that has continued to push for reforms after Mubarak’s resignation on February 11. There could be attempts to “silence the Egyptian people through these images, and this is a real danger,” said Eissa, now the editor of the independent daily AlTahrir, named after the square that was the epicentre of protests that brought Mubarak down. — Agencies

International FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2011

Tajikistan bans Muslim youths from praying in mosques DUSHANBE: Tajik President Imomali Rakhmon has banned youths from praying in mosques and churches, prompting a local Muslim leader to call the move “a gruesome gift” for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Rakhmon, in power since 1992, signed the bill on “parental responsibility” on Wednesday.

He has said tough measures are needed to stop the spread of religious fundamentalism in his country of 7.5 million people, 98 percent of whom are Muslim.

All people under 18, except those studying at religious schools, are banned from worshipping in the Central

Asian nation’s mosques, churches or other religious sites, said the law which came into force yesterday. It also bans girls from wearing jewellery except earrings and prohibits people under 20 from getting tattoos, going to night clubs and watching films or reading material which “disseminates pornography, violence, extremism and terrorism”.

It is not clear what the punishment is for breaking the ban. “During the month of Ramadan and just a month before the 20th anniversary of (Tajikistan’s) independence, the authorities made a gruesome present to all believers,”

prominent Muslim theologist Akbar Turajonzoda told Reuters.

“Prior to the adoption of this law, the authorities had already become too distant from their people and their needs, and now they turn this gap into an abyss of estrangement.” Rakhmon, whose Moscow-backed secular government clashed with the Islamist opposition during a 1992-97 civil war, has ignored requests from the United States and European Union to respect the freedom of conscience.

Rakhmon, who enjoys vast powers in the poorest of the former Soviet states,

last year brought many Tajik students home from religious schools abroad and clamped down on a growing trend for Islamic dress. A total of 158 people were jailed for “religious extremism” in Tajikistan, which borders Afghanistan and China, in 2010, five times more than in 2009.

“The president must have forgotten that the law of God is superior to the earthly law,” said Turajonzoda, a former opposition leader. “This is why I doubt that under fear of fines young people will stop paying respect to Allah by praying.” — Reuters

Manhunt for Sydney ‘fake bomb’ suspect Device, attached to the schoolgirl by a chain SYDNEY: A manhunt was under way yesterday for an extortionist who attached what turned out to be a fake bomb to a terrified teenager in a drama described as “like something out of a Hollywood movie.” Madeleine Pulver, 18, a member of one of Sydney’s wealthiest families, endured a horrifying 10-hour ordeal after a masked man strapped a device around her neck at her home in the exclusive suburb of Mosman.

A note was left at the scene and police were treating it as an extortion attempt. “Certainly the instructions were precise, they were such that led us to believe that we were dealing with a very serious and legitimate threat,” said Mark Murdoch, assistant commissioner of New South Wales state police.

Nearby properties in the street of

million dollar homes were evacuated and roads were closed off in an drawn-out operation involving the bomb squad, rescue officers, fire crews and paramedics. The device, attached to the schoolgirl by a chain, was eventually removed before midnight on Wednesday and she was reunited with her parents.

“She has woken up this morning in pretty good spirits,” said her father William, chief executive of Appen Butler Hill, a languages consulting and software company. “She is a little tired, a little sore from holding this damned device in place for about 10 hours.”

Police described the incident as “a very, very elaborate hoax”. “But it was made and certainly gave the appearance of a legitimate improvised explosive device,” Murdoch said. “We had

SYDNEY: Media line the barriers after police cordon off the street where Madeleine Pulver, age 18, endured a horrifying 10-hour ordeal after a masked man strapped a device around her neck at her home in Sydney yesterday. — AFP

to treat it seriously until we could prove otherwise and that’s exactly what we did and that’s why it took so long.”

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the incident was like the plot of a film.

“When I looked at it this morning the first thing I said was ‘it’s like a Hollywood script, the kind of thing you would see at the cinema or on TV’,” she said. “You would never expect it to happen in real life in Australia.” Two police negotiators stayed with the schoolgirl throughout the tense ordeal, keeping her calm while bomb disposal technicians worked on the device. Her father William thanked vthe officers who stayed with her “with little regard to their own personal safety”.

“They were an incredible comfort during a horrific ordeal,” he said.

“From our family’s perspective we are clearly extremely eager for our lives to return to normal.” Murdoch said it was too soon to speculate on what the motive might have been. “Certainly the family are at a loss to explain this, but you wouldn’t expect someone would go to this much trouble if there wasn’t a motive behind it,” he said.

“The family have endured something no one needs to endure... but they have held up remarkably well.”

The investigation was being led by the state’s robbery and serious crime squad, which deals with extortion.

Several other agencies, including the British military were asked for advice on the device.

Police said they had a number of leads to follow and the teenager and several other people would be interviewed in the next few days. New South Wales premier Barry O’Farrell praised police for their handling of the crisis.

“Like everyone else, I was shocked by what I was seeing on TV,” he said.

“I again commend police for all their efforts, for the sensitivity with which they handled this matter and the fact we had a successful outcome.” — AFP

ANKARA: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, new Turkish Chief of Staff Gen. Necdet Ozel, 4th from left, new Commander of Military Police Gen. Bekir Kalyoncu, left, Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz, second left, and Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin, third left, are seen during a security meeting in Ankara, Turkey, yesterday. — AP

Turkey appoints new military commanders ANKARA: Turkey yesterday appointed commanders to posts left vacant by the resignation of the military’s top brass in a dispute with the government that showcased the elected leaders’ strengthening control over the once-mighty military.

President Abdullah Gul approved the appointment of a new chief of staff as well as new commanders to head the navy, army and air force, at the end of a key four-day meeting to discuss military promotions and dismissals, said his spokesman, Ahmet Sever. The country’s military chief of staff and the leaders of the navy, army and air force stepped down last week, frustrated over the arrests and prosecution of hundreds of officers for allegedly trying to overthrow Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamic-rooted government.

Erdogan’s government adamantly opposed promoting generals implicated in the alleged coup plots, prompting the resignations of the top brass who said the officers were being punished before a court verdict and that the military was being portrayed as a “criminal” institution. The new appointments show how the elected government is gaining the upper hand over the military, breaking with the tradition in which the military made its own decisions on promotions and dismissals within the ranks, having the government rubberstamp the decisions.

The military has overthrown three governments since 1960 and pressured an Islamic-led government to step down in 1997. Gen. Necdet Ozel - the former commander of the military police force and untainted by the alleged plots - was named the new chief of staff to replace the resigned Gen. Isik Kosaner. Ozel had been made the acting chief of staff on Friday, hours after Kosaner stepped down.

The list approved by Gul sidelined 14 generals or admirals who were in line for promotion and who have been implicated in the alleged plots. Sever, the president’s spokesman, said a decision on their promotions was deferred for a year. The officers have been jailed on charges of plotting to overthrow the government in 2003.

The military has denied the accusations. The new air force commander, three-star general Mehmet Erten, was promoted to the position normally held by a four-star general, in a major break with military traditions. Gen. —AP

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Haitian tent cities brace for huge tropical storm PORT-AU-PRINCE: Hundreds of thousands of Haitians living in squalid makeshift camps hunkered down yesterday as lashing rain and wind from the edge of Tropical Storm Emily hit the quake-stricken country. US weather experts warned of “torrential rain” and “life-threatening flash floods and mud slides” once the brunt of Emily reaches Haiti, heaping more misery upon the impoverished Caribbean nation.

The some 300,000 Haitians still living in makeshift camps almost 19 months after a catastrophic January 2010 earthquake may have to battle up to 20 inches (50 centimeters) of rain cascading down muddy, denuded hillsides. Haitian officials have raised a red alert and called for the evacuation of tent cities at risk, many perched on hillsides long since stripped bare of any trees, chopped down to use as fuel and building materials.

Authorities “are asking people in refugee camps... to evacuate vulnerable locations,” said Haiti’s civil defense chief Alta Jean-Baptiste. Haiti’s weather service chief Ronald Semelfort warned Emily would be “a great danger for the country

still fragile from the January 2010 earthquake.” The Miami-based National Hurricane Center said in its 0900 GMT advisory the center of Emily was to hit Haiti’s southwestern peninsula later yesterday, but that the system was already bringing severe rainfall to eastern Hispaniola, the island Haiti shares with its wealthier neighbor the Dominican Republic. The center of Emily was some 25 miles (40 kilometers) southeast of Isla Beata, in the far southern tip of Hispaniola, the NHC said.

The storm was packing winds of 50 miles (85 kilometers) per hour, with higher gusts. It was moving at a snail’s pace of seven miles (11 kilometers) per hour, but was expected to accelerate in the coming hours as it turned slightly to northwest. On the current forecast track, Emily was to “move over extreme eastern Cuba Thursday night.”

Emily is forecast to dump between six and 12 inches (15 and 30 centimeters) of rain with isolated amounts of up to 20 inches (50 centimeters) possible over Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the NHC said.

“Some weakening is possible as Emily

interacts with the high terrain of Haiti and eastern Cuba,” it said, with “re-strengthening” possible when it moves over the Bahamas. Coastal areas were warned of a storm surge which will raise water levels by one to three feet (up to a meter) and be “accompanied by large and dangerous waves.” Shipping was banned along Haiti’s southern coast as Emily approached, and Semelfort said the entire country would be affected by the storm. Haiti is still recovering from the devastating 2010 quake, which killed an estimated 225,000 people.

The country has also been battling an outbreak of cholera, which has killed 5,506 people and infected 363,117.

A team of Cuban doctors in Haiti were on standby to prevent any further outbreaks of the water-borne illness. “People living in unsafe housing will be the worst affected if flooding hits,” Harry Donsbach, the earthquake response director in Haiti for the Christian charity group World Vision, said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Landslides are of course a threat, but even simply heavy rain has the potential to worsen the volatile sanitation conditions in

camps, which, with cholera still prevalent in Haiti, is a serious concern,” Donsbach said. In the Dominican Republic, a maximum red alert has been sounded across six provinces, and all water and outdoor leisure activities suspended.

Mandatory evacuations were declared in a dozen villages near dams, and Dominican officials warned residents in other areas. “Residents in high-risk areas, who live next to rivers, streams and creeks... should take precautions and be aware of the recommendations of the relief agencies,” the government’s office of emergency services said.

The tropical storm warning was also in effect for eastern Cuba, the central Bahamas, and the Turks and Caicos islands.

In Cuba, the national Institute of Meteorology said to expect heavy rain from Emily in the far eastern part of the island by Thursday afternoon. In the Pacific Ocean, meanwhile, Hurricane Eugene weakened to a category three storm far off Mexico’s western coast, but was heading away from land towards the north-west and into the open sea. — AFP

Judge allows American to sue Rumsfeld over torture Veteran’s identity is withheld in court filings WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama walks down the West Wing Colonnade of the White House, yesterday in Washington, before he departs for a trip to Chicago. — AP

Obama turns 50 WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama turned 50 yesterday, marking the milestone at a moment of political peril after a damaging debt showdown with Republicans and as he plots his 2012 reelection bid. Supporters sang “Happy Birthday” as Obama let off steam at several political fundraisers in his hometown of Chicago on Wednesday night after a ferocious month of Washington political combat.

“I could not have a better early birthday present than spending tonight with all of you,” he said, joking that he was expecting an email from a senior citizens group telling him to lobby President Obama over health care for the elderly.

He also told donors that his daughter Malia, 13, was coming home from summer camp to celebrate his birthday, on a day when he has no public events on his schedule. Obama, who has said his crisis-strewn two-and-a-half years in office have turned his hair gray, given him bags under the eyes and robbed him of youthful zest, mulled on the prospect of turning 50 in a recent interview. “Obviously, I’ve gotten a little grayer since I took this job but otherwise, I feel pretty good,” he told National Public Radio, adding that his wife was helping him get over the hurdle of hitting the half century mark. “Michelle, you know, says that... she still thinks I’m... cute, you know.

And I guess that’s-that’s all that matters, isn’t it?” One of the first with birthday wishes was Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who called Obama on Wednesday to also discuss talks with Washington on his country’s pending entry into the World Trade Organization.

Obama, born in Hawaii in August 1961, marks his birthday at a time when his job approval ratings have been dented by a perceived defeat to Republicans in a debt and deficit showdown. He is also haunted by a stagnant economy and high unemployment that pose warning signs for his effort to convince voters in November 2012 that he deserves a second term in the White House. — AFP

WASHINGTON: A judge is allowing an Army veteran who says he the US Justice Department and argued that the former defense was imprisoned unjustly and tortured by the US military in Iraq to secretary cannot be sued personally for official conduct. The sue former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld personally for Justice Department also argued that a judge cannot review damages. The veteran’s identity is withheld in court filings, but he wartime decisions that are the constitutional responsibility of worked for an American contracting company as a translator for Congress and the president. And the department said the case the Marines in the volatile Anbar province before being detained could disclose sensitive information and distract from the war for nine months at Camp Cropper, a US military facility near the effort, and that the threat of liability would impede future military decisions.But US District Judge James Gwin rejected those arguBaghdad airport dedicated to holding “high-value” detainees.

The government says he was suspected of helping get classi- ments and said US citizens are protected by the Constitution at fied information to the enemy and helping anti-coalition forces home or abroad during wartime. “The court finds no convincing enter Iraq. But he was never charged with a crime and says he nev- reason that United States citizens in Iraq should or must lose previously declared substantive due er broke the law. Lawyers for process protections during prothe man, who is in his 50s, say longed detention in a conflict he was preparing to come zone abroad,” Gwin wrote in a rulhome to the United States on ing issued Tuesday. annual leave when he was “The stakes in holding abducted by the US military detainees at Camp Cropper may and held without justification have been high, but one purpose while his family knew nothing of the constitutional limitations about his whereabouts or even on interrogation techniques and whether he was still alive. conditions of confinement even Court papers filed on his domestically is to strike a balance behalf say he was repeatedly between government objectives abused, then suddenly released and individual rights even when without explanation in August the stakes are high,” the judge 2006. Two years later, he filed ruled. In many other cases suit in US District Court in brought by foreign detainees, Washington arguing that judges have dismissed torture Rumsfeld personally approved claims made against US officials torturous interrogation techniques on a case-by-case basis WASHINGTON: Former Defense Secretary for their personal involvement in over prisoner treatment. and controlled his detention Donald Rumsfeld testifies on Capitol Hill in decisions But this is the second time a fedwithout access to courts in violation of his constitutional Washington. A federal judge says Rusmfeld can eral judge has allowed US citizens be sued personally for damages by a former US to sue Rumsfeld personally. rights.

US District Judge Wayne R. Chicago attorney Mike military contractor who says he was tortured Andersen in Illinois last year said Kanovitz, who is representing during nine months in prison in Iraq. — AP two other Americans who worked the plaintiff, says it appears the in Iraq as contractors and were military wanted to keep his client behind bars so he couldn’t tell anyone about an important held at Camp Cropper, Donald Vance and Nathan Ertel, can pursue contact he made with a leading sheik while helping collect intelli- claims that they were tortured using Rumsfeld-approved methods gence in Iraq. “The US government wasn’t ready for the rest of the after they alleged illegal activities by their company. Rumsfeld is world to know about it, so they basically put him on ice,” Kanovitz appealing that ruling, which Gwin cited. The US Supreme Court said in a telephone interview. “If you’ve got unchecked power over sets a high bar for suing high-ranking officials, requiring that they be tied directly to a violation of constitutional rights and must the citizens, why not use it?”

The Obama administration has represented Rumsfeld through have clearly understood their actions crossed that line.— Reuters

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Japan to sack top nuclear energy officials TOKYO: Japan will sack three top energy officials over their handling of the Fukushima atomic disaster and scandals that have eroded public trust in the country’s nuclear policy, the government said yesterday. Banri Kaieda, the minister of economy, trade and industry, told a press conference that he was planning sweeping staff changes at his powerful ministry, which both promotes and regulates the nuclear industry.

Kaieda said the reshuffle aimed to “breathe new life” into the ministry. He signalled that the changes will include his ministry’s top bureaucrat, a vice minister, and the heads of the ministry’s Agency for Natural Resources and of the watchdog body the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.

“Regarding the personnel changes at the

ministry of economy, trade and industry, we have been discussing that for about a month,” Kaieda told reporters. “It will be on a significant scale.” When asked whether the changes will include the top three energy officials, Kaieda responded: “It’s OK for you to think that.” He said the changes would be officially announced later, without specifying when.

The three senior government officials will be the first to lose their jobs over the nuclear crisis, although a reconstruction minister stepped down after causing outrage with his scathing remarks to leaders of tsunami-hit regions. Japan’s magnitude 9.0 seabed quake and tsunami caused the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl 25 years ago at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, which has since leaked radiation into the air, ground and sea.

Since the March 11 disaster, the ministry has come under in for criticism for its decadesold heavy promotion of nuclear power, and for seeking to manipulate public opinion by planting questions at open talks. Kaieda’s comments followed a news report that he and Prime Minister Naoto Kan were in the final phase of talks about personnel changes, and that Kaieda himself was considering resigning soon after he dismisses the top officials. The minister, who has been at odds with the premier in recent months, showed the personal pressure the nuclear crisis has put him under when he burst into tears during a recent grilling by opposition lawmakers. Kan, a former grassroots activist, has advocated a nuclear-free Japan and criticised the ministry, which has formed cozy ties with the energy

industry. Power companies have given cushy jobs to many retired government officials.

The public has grown distrustful of Japan’s nuclear policy amid the crisis at the nuclear plant, run by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO). Anger has intensified in recent weeks after media reported that the safety agency had asked power companies to mobilise their workers and contractors to plant questions in support of nuclear energy at public talks.

The nuclear safety agency, which should regulate but not promote nuclear energy, said it would create a third-party panel to investigate the matter. Kan is planning to split the watchdog agency away from the industry ministry to boost its independence and regulatory strength. —AFP

Chopper crash kills ten in Indonesia Badly damaged wreckage discovered in forest HIROSHIMA: A worker carries panels to prepare for the commemorative memorial service for atomic bomb victims at Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima yesterday. The Japanese western city will mark the 66th anniversary of the world’s first atomic attack on August 6. — AFP

News

in brief

Filipino officers detained MANILA: Officials say eight Philippine police officers have been detained after a video surfaced showing them hazing recruits during anti-insurgency training. National police spokesman Chief Superintendent Agrimero A. Cruz Jr. said yesterday that at least three more superiors of the eight officers may be relieved of their posts and investigated for the “barbaric” treatment of several recruits during a recent training. Human rights official Byron Bocar says the video showed the officers applying liquid laced with chili pepper on the penis of each trainee, who screamed in pain. The trainees were also beaten with sticks as the officers erupted in laughter and took videos with their cellphones.

Gunmen kidnap midwife ZAMBOANGA: Officials say suspected Abu Sayyaf gunmen have abducted a government midwife in the southern Philippines. It is the latest kidnapping blamed on the al-Qaeda-linked militants.

Police commander Felicisimo Khu says Evangeline Taverisma, who is married to a retired army soldier, was on her way home from work in a government clinic when she was snatched at gunpoint Wednesday. The four attackers took her in a jeep from Indanan town in Sulu Province. Military spokesman Lt. Col. Randolph Cabangbang said yesterday that Taverisma may have been taken by Abu Sayyaf militants blamed for the recent kidnapping of a couple in Sulu.

Missing Frenchwoman KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian police said yesterday they had arrested two men over the disappearance of a 30-year-old French woman who was last reported seen three months ago on a resort island.

Stephanie Foray, a 30-year-old civil servant, had arrived in the country on May 10 and boarded a ferry later that day to Tioman island off the east coast of peninsular Malaysia, press reports here have said.

“Two people have been arrested for investigations. We are intensifying the search for the French woman,” Mohamad Bakri Zinin, director of the federal criminal investigation department, told AFP.

JAKARTA: A helicopter crash in Indonesia killed nine people including two Australians and two South Africans employed by Melbournebased Newcrest Mining, the company said yesterday. Local officials said the toll climbed to 10 when an Indonesian man found alive in the wreckage subsequently died of his injuries.

Six Indonesians and four foreigners were on board the chopper when it went down in heavy rain Wednesday afternoon shortly after taking off from Manado on Sulawesi island, local officials said. “The helicopter crashed in a mountainous area and it was raining when the accident happened,” transport ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan told AFP. Search and rescue workers discovered the badly damaged wreckage in dense forest about 10 kilometers (six miles) from Manado, North Sulawesi province.

The Bell 412 aircraft was flying to Newcrest’s Gosowong mine on the island of Halmahera, some 2,400 kilometres northeast of the capital Jakarta, Australia’s largest gold producer said.

The helicopter was chartered by PT Nusa Halmahera Minerals, a joint venture between Newcrest Mining Ltd. and Indonesian company PT Aneka Tambang. Newcrest said the cause of the crash was not yet known.

“There were 10 people on board the helicopter, which was transporting eight employees and contractors to the mine and there were two crew,” said the Australian Stock Exchangelisted Newcrest.

A spokeswoman for the Australian foreign ministry confirmed that two Australians and two South Africans were among the dead, contradicting local officials who insisted all four foreign victims were Australians. Senior executives were en route to Manado, along with PT Halmahera Minerals

director Iwan Irawan, with work at the Gosowong mine suspended, added the company, one of the world’s lowest-cost gold producers.

“Newcrest and Aneka Tambang express their deepest sadness and

gold mine in Indonesia, and produced 19.4 percent of the company’s total gold output in the April-June quarter, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

Newcrest, which has around 5,100 employees and is among Australia’s

BITUNG: Victims of a helicopter crash are lined up on the floor as police prepare to transfer them in Bitung yesterday a day after the aircraft crashed during heavy rain. — AFP condolences to family, colleagues and friends of the passengers over this tragic event,” said Newcrest chief executive Greg Robinson. The company said no senior executives were among the dead. Newcrest is the world’s sixth largest gold miner by volume, with 2.8 percent of the global market, according to Deutsche Bank.

Gosowong is the company’s only

top 20 companies by market capitalisation, added that counselling and support services were being made available to family and employees. The company operates across Australia as well as in Indonesia. Mining is a huge industry in resource-rich Indonesia, with many operations scattered across remote parts of the massive archipelago of 17,000 islands. — AFP

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Police bust online gang using N Korea hackers SEOUL: South Korean police said yesterday they had busted a criminal gang which used elite North Korean computer hackers to break into online game sites and steal prize points worth millions of dollars. The North has been accused of several cyberattacks on the South in recent years, but this was the first reported case of hacking for profit. Police said some of the proceeds apparently went to the regime in Pyongyang.

They said 17 South Koreans had stolen 6.4 billion won ($6.02 million) since June 2009 through the scam after hiring 30 North Korean hackers based in northeast

China. After a joint probe with intelligence authorities, police arrested five of the South Koreans on charges of creating and distributing illegal computer programmes to clients in China and South Korea.

The police International Crime Investigation Unit (ICIU) said it was investigating but not detaining another 10 members while two gang members were still at large. The North Korean hackers-graduates of top universities in Pyongyang-created “auto programes” that could breach Korean online game servers and collect points exchangable for cash rewards, it said.

They were paid more than three billion won along with accommodation and living costs by the South Koreans. “We’ve acquired testimony and evidence that some of the payments have been sent to North Korean authorities, including a state trading company,” an ICIU investigator told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The company called “Rungrado” is known to have earned money for the communist regime, he said. “This case proves North Korean hackers have been involved in various online criminal activities,” the investigator said, adding other North Korean groups are also believed to have

been involved in the games market.

South Korea, the world’s most wired nation with more than 90 percent of homes connected to the Internet, has previously expressed concern about cyber attacks by Chinese and North Korean hackers. Seoul accused Pyongyang of staging cyber attacks on websites of major South Korean government agencies and financial institutions in March this year and in July 2009.

In May South Korea said a North Korean cyber attack paralysed operations at one of its largest banks. North Korea reportedly maintains elite hacker units. — AFP

Indian govt introduces new anti-corruption bill NEW DELHI: The president of India’s ruling Congress Party, Sonia Gandhi, has undergone surgery in the United States, a party spokesman said yesterday. — AFP

Sonia has ‘successful’ surgery in America NEW DELHI: India’s most powerful politician, Sonia Gandhi, has successfully undergone surgery in the United States for an unspecified condition, a ruling Congress Party spokesman said yesterday. Janardhan Dwivedi declined to provide details of the medical reasons for the surgical treatment, but said Gandhi, 64, would be absent for several weeks to recuperate.

“On the advice of her doctors, she travelled abroad and she is likely to be away for two to three weeks,” Dwivedi said. “We have just got information that the surgery is successful and her condition is satisfactory,” he added.

Italian-born Gandhi is the widow of assassinated former premier Rajiv Gandhi and widely seen as India’s most powerful politician, with her key power-broking position as Congress Party president. Dwivedi said that in her absence, Gandhi had appointed a four-member group to handle the day-to-day running of the Congress Party-including her son Rahul Gandhi, who is tipped as a future prime minister.

Sonia Gandhi holds total sway within the Congress and is credited with crafting the strategies that gave the party back-to-back general election victories in 2004 and 2009.

She arrived in India as the shy bride of Rajiv Gandhi in her early 20s, and was transformed into a sari-clad Indian who now speaks fluent Hindi.

Her years in the Gandhi household, when her autocratic mother-in-law Indira slain in 1984 by her Sikh bodyguardswas premier, gave her an intimate insight into India’s turbulent politics. Rajiv Gandhi became premier in 1984 and was assassinated in 1991 by a suicide bomber.

Sonia Gandhi, who has described herself as “a reluctant politician,” took charge of the Congress in 1998, becoming the fifth member of the powerful Nehru-Gandhi dynasty to serve as party chief.

Although she was hailed as the architect of the 2004 election victory, she eschewed calls to become prime minister and handed the post to the current incumbent, Manmohan Singh, partly due to concerns about a political backlash over her foreign origins. The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janta Party, now the main opposition party, had once referred to her as a “foreign doll.” — AFP

NEW DELHI: The Indian government yesterday introduced a new anti-corruption bill in parliament, which activists have panned for exempting the prime minister from the scrutiny of a powerful new ombudsman.

The much-hyped “Lokpal Bill” would allow citizens to approach a newly-created watchdog with complaints about officials, including federal ministers and senior bureaucrats who are shielded under India’s current laws. The ombudsman will be picked from the highest levels of the judiciary and supported by 10 other officials who would be from the judiciary or people of “impeccable integrity”.

The final version of the bill has been strongly criticised by civil society activists, who were allowed to participate in the drafting process but complained that their views were marginalised.

In particular, they attacked the decision to remove sitting prime ministers and the higher judiciary from the ombudsman’s purview. The conduct of MPs inside parliament is also exempt.

As soon as the the bill was introduced, the leader of the opposition in parliament, Sushma Swaraj, denounced the exclusions.

“Our categoric position is that the prime minister should also be within the ambit” of the ombudsman, Swaraj said. India has a dismal record of bringing corrupt senior public officials to justice. In six decades only one senior politician, Rao Shiv Bahadur Singh, has been convicted of graft and served a jail term-for taking a bribe in 1949.

Current laws require the government’s approval before any sitting bureaucrat or minister can be prosecuted. Civil society efforts to strengthen the bill were spearheaded by a veteran Indian activist, Anna Hazare, who won concessions from the government in April with a 98-hour hunger strike that gained widespread national support.

Arguing that the final draft revealed the government’s “empty promises”, Hazare, 78, urged all MPs to reject the legislation. As the bill was being intro-

duced in parliament, he symbolically burned a copy in the western city of Pune and said he would start a new fast on August 16.

“By introducing this weak bill the government has clearly shown that they have no intention to fight corruption,” he said. Hunger strikes, a traditional Indian protest, have become a focus of resentment over the corruption that plagues all levels of life in India, from massive government contracts to small daily bribes.— AFP

NEW DELHI: Civil society member Arvind Kejriwal, watched by supporters of anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare, burn a copy of the Lokpal Bill during a protest on the outskirts of New Delhi yesterday.

The Indian government introduced a new anti-corruption bill in parliament. — AFP

Malaysian church slams Islamic officials over raid KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Christian officials accused Islamic authorities yesterday of unlawfully entering a church and harassing guests at a community dinner. The incident could re-ignite criticism that authorities in the Muslim-majority country fail to respect the rights of Christian, Buddhist and Hindu minorities. Government officials have repeatedly denied being unfair to minorities, despite complaints about a wide range of issues including court disputes involving religious conversions and restrictions against Malay-language Bibles.

At least 20 officers from the central Selangor state’s Islamic affairs department

and police entered a Methodist church’s hall without a warrant Wednesday and took photographs and videos of a dinner attended by more than 100 people, said the church’s pastor, Daniel Ho. The officers said they had received an unspecified complaint and recorded details of several Muslims at the dinner, Ho said in a statement distributed by Malaysia’s main grouping of churches.

Islamic authorities are sometimes wary about Muslims attending church-organized events because of fears of attempts to convert them, which would be illegal under Malaysian law. An Islamic department official declined to comment. The dinner was sup-

posed to be a multiethnic gathering to celebrate the work of a community organization that worked with women, children and HIV patients, Ho said.

Church leaders were “highly disappointed” by the officers’ actions, Ho said. “They have subjected all guests at the thanksgiving dinner to undue harassment.” Relations between Christians and Malaysian authorities have sometimes been strained in recent years. The Roman Catholic Church’s newspaper in Malaysia is embroiled in an acrimonious and protracted legal battle against a government ban on the use of “Allah” as a Malay-language translation for God.— AP

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India schoolgirl rejects child marriage BHILWARA: Her fate looked sealed when her family began organising the nuptial celebrations. But the bride-to-be, a shy schoolgirl from a remote village in western India, wasn’t ready to say “I do”. In a region where patriarchy and age-old customs dictate a woman’s life from birth to death, 15-yearold Sapna Meena in April joined a small but growing number of girls who are standing up against the widespread practice of child marriage in India.

“My family was in the midst of planning my wedding,” recalled Sapna, her black hair pinned in a bun and a gold stud in her nose, as she sat on a step outside her home in Badakakahera village in Rajasthan state.

“My grandfather had decided that while he was alive he wanted to see that I get married and settled. I was scared to say anything against it at first.

“I went to my mother and told her I wanted to study more and get a job, and

only after that would I get married,” added the girl, who is from a subsistence farming community that ekes out a living by growing crops like wheat and maize. But Sapna didn’t stop there. She went to local officials in the city of Bhilwara-some three hours by bus-to seek advice and press home the point to her family that the legal age for marriage in India is 18.

The authorities played a mediating role and her family suspended the wedding plans. What’s more, Sapna was awarded a certificate of gallantry by the government for being an “agent of change” in her community. Gender rights activists say Sapna is proof that, through education and exposure to the modern world, girls are beginning to take decisions over their own lives and are helping to lift the curse of early marriage that has plagued India for centuries. While India’s rapid economic growth over the past decade has exposed more

3 Pakistan navy officers face trial after base raid inquiry KARACHI: Three senior Pakistan Navy officers are facing court martial in connection with the attack on a naval air base in Karachi in May, an official said yesterday, in a rare public sign of accountability in the powerful military establishment. The brazen assault on the PNS Mehran base embarrassed the military and raised doubts about its ability to protect its bases after a similar raid on the army headquarters in Rawalpindi in 2009.

“We had set up a board of inquiry, and after its report, court martial proceedings have been initiated against three officers,” a senior navy official told Reuters, requesting not to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the media. The officers being tried include Commodore Raja Tahir, the commander of the PNS Mehran who was relieved of his command two days after the attack. At that time, the navy had insisted that it was a “routine and scheduled” transfer.

However, the naval official said that the initiation of the trial does not mean that the officers were in some way connected with the attack. “They are being tried because they were at a responsible position, and were responsible for the security and other affairs of the base,” he said.

Pakistani security officials had earlier detained a former navy commando and his brother in connection with the raid.

A naval spokesman in Islamabad could not be immediately reached for comment. The Mehran base attack came nearly three weeks after US Navy SEALs killed al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in a secret raid in the northwestern Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad on May 2.

Pakistani Taleban, allied with al Qaeda, have vowed revenge for bin Laden’s death. As few as six militants infiltrated the PNS Mehran naval base in Karachi, the headquarters of the navy’s air wing, killing 10 security forces and wounding 20.

The militants, who besieged the base for 16 hours, also destroyed two P-3C Orion aircraft from the Unites States, crucial for Pakistan’s maritime surveillance capabilities. The daring raid was another humiliation for the military, which had already been unable to explain how the al Qaeda chief hid in the country for years or how the Americans could launch the attack deep inside their territory.

The Pakistani Taleban claimed responsibility for the attack on the Mehran base, but many analysts believe they had an inside help. Pakistan has faced a wave of assaults over the last few years, many of them claimed by the Pakistani Taleban and other al Qaeda-linked militant groups.

In October 2009, a small group of militants attacked the army’s General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, taking 42 people hostage, including several officers. By the end of the daylong siege, nine gunmen, 11 soldiers and three hostages were dead. — Reuters

people to new ideas about anti-discrimination through media, the Internet and tourism, early marriage remains a reality for almost half the country’s female population. Some 47 percent of young women aged between 20 and 24 years married before 18, according to the government’s latest National Family Health Survey. And despite social welfare programmes that have improved the lives of many rural women, experts say the practice remains one of the biggest obstacles to the development of women in India.

Rural, poor, less educated girls and those from central, western and eastern regions of the country are most vulnerable to the practice, rights groups say. They add that the issue cuts across every part of woman’s development-creating a vicious cycle of malnutrition, poor health and ignorance.

A child bride is more likely to drop out of

school and have serious complications during pregnancy and childbirth. Her children are also more likely to be underweight and lucky to survive beyond the age of five.

Rajasthan-one of India’s premier tourist destinations where millions flock annually to its ancient fortresses, camel-back desert safaris and forests teeming with wildlifehas some of the highest rates of early marriage in the country.

At religious festivals such as “Akha Teej”, hundreds of girls as young as 10, dressed in traditional red saris and adorned in gold, are married off in dusty villages and small towns across this poor, drought-prone region. “A lot is to do with the family economy,” said Ranjana Kumari, director of the Centre for Social Research, a think-tank focusing on women’s rights. “Parents think the sooner they marry their daughters and get rid of the financial burden, the better.

“It’s also about family honour. — Reuters

NATO soldiers killed as Afghan violence flares Bomb kills Afghan city intelligence official KUNDUZ: A NATO service member was killed in an apparent “rogue” shooting by a man dressed as an Afghan policeman yesterday, the coalition said, at least the fourth to be killed in a bloody 24 hours in one of Afghanistan’s most volatile areas. With violence flaring across the country after the first phase of a security transition began last month, an Afghan security official was also killed by a car bomb in northern Kunduz, officials said.

In a brief statement, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said the latest killing came when “an individual wearing an Afghan National Police uniform turned his weapon against the service member”. It said ISAF and Afghan officials were investigating but gave no other details.

Most of the NATO forces serving in the east, where a fractured and violent insurgency has developed over the past 18 months, are American, although there are also French troops in the area. The killing of the ISAF member was the latest in a string of apparent “rogue” killings by Afghan police and soldiers, or by insurgent infiltrators.

Such killings have underscored the challenges ahead as NATO forces scramble to hand security responsibility to Afghan forces across the country by the end of 2014. The first phase of that gradual transition process began last month. In the same statement, ISAF said another service member had been killed in a separate attack by insurgents in the east yesterday. Again, no further details were available.

Late on Wednesday, ISAF also said another two of its troops had been killed by a roadside bomb. At least six ISAF troops have been killed so far in August, mirroring a steady, year-long trend of violence.

Violence across Afghanistan hit its worst levels in 2010 since the Taleban were ousted by US-backed Afghan forces in late 2001, with civilian and military casualties at record levels. A total of 711 foreign troops were killed in 2010, the deadliest year of

the war for the coalition, and at least 340 have been killed so far this year. US and European military commanders have claimed significant success against Taleban insurgents in the south over the past 18 months, mainly with the help of an additional 30,000 US troops deployed in the Taleban’s southern heartland to fight a growing insurgency. However the Taleban

Sarwar Husaini, spokesman for the provincial policeman.

Husaini had earlier said Khan was head of the National Directorate of Security in Kunduz province, but later said he was given incorrect information by officials at the bomb site. The killing comes after three suicide bombers on Tuesday attacked a guesthouse in Kunduz, killing four Afghan securi-

KANDAHAR: US troops from the 2nd Platoon, Charlie Company, 2-87, 3BCT under Afghanistan’s International Security Assistance Force, and Afghan National Army soldiers conduct a joint security patrol in the center of Kandalay village, as a fire fight against Taleban insurgents erupts on the outskirts of the village, in Kandahar province southern Afghanistan yesterday. — AFP and other insurgents have shown an alarming ability to adapt their tactics and shift the focus of their attacks out of the south into the east and the once relatively peaceful north.

Meanwhile, a car bomb killed an intelligence official from Afghanistan’s northern Kunduz city yesterday morning. Three children were also wounded by the blast from the bomb planted in the car of Payenda Khan, head of a National Directorate of Security district in Kunduz city, said Sayed

ty guards employed by a German company.

The once peaceful north of the country has seen a series of high profile attacks and assassinations in recent years, as insurgents seek to demonstrate their reach beyond their traditional southern heartland around Kandahar city.

Violence is at its worst in Afghanistan since U.S.-backed Afghan forces toppled the Taleban government in late 2001, with high levels of foreign troop deaths, and record civilian casualties. —Reuters

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Hitachi and Mitsubishi deny merger reports PAGE 23

US jitters batter world stocks ECB chief says bond purchase program not ended BRUSSELS: Concerns over the US economy and Europe’s debt problems hit stocks around the world, although Japanese shares were buoyed by the Bank of Japan’s latest intervention to stem the rise of the yen. Later yesterday, European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet said that the program set up to purchase euro-zone government bonds was not ended.

“I never said that the SMP had been interrupted,” Trichet said in reply to a question on the ECB’s Securities Markets Program that bought around 74 billion euros in public debt so as to support the financial system with liquidity. The European Central Bank said it will mount a fresh six-month loan operation, providing pressed banks with easier funding, due to tensions in eurozone money markets. “The governing council today decided to conduct a liquidity providing supplementary longer term refinancing operation (LTRO) with a maturity of approximately six months,” the ECB said after it kept its main lending rate unchanged at 1.50 percent.

In Europe, Germany’s DAX was down 1.1 percent at 6,566 while the CAC-40 in France fell 1.2 percent to 3,415. Britain’s FTSE 100 was 1.7 percent lower at 5,487. Wall Street was set for a lower open with Dow futures down 0.9 percent at 11,707 and S&P 500 futures dropping 1.1 percent to 1,240.3.

“With nerves frayed following this week’s plunges it could well be another volatile session ahead,” said Will Hedden, a sales trader at IG Index. Among major stock markets, only Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index actually traded up 0.2 percent to 9,659.18 after the Bank of Japan intervened to sell the yen and buy the dollar. That drove the dollar near 80 yen yesterday from 76.99 late Wednesday. Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said financial authorities decided to intervene in the currency markets because the strong yen could hurt the country’s export-dependent economy and slow its efforts to recover from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

The dollar had fallen as low as 76.29 yen on Monday. It hit a record post-World War II low of 76.25 yen in the days following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. A strong yen is painful for Japan because it reduces the value of foreign earnings for companies like Toyota Motor Corp and Nintendo Co and makes Japanese goods more expensive in overseas markets.

The intervention was coupled with monetary policy easing by the central bank’s board. The bank expanded an asset purchase program to 50 trillion yen ($638.3 billion) from 40 trillion yen. It also kept its key interest rate in a range of zero to 0.1 percent.

Japan’s moves came only a day after the Swiss National Bank intervened to slow a rise in the Swiss franc, another currency perceived as a safe-haven at a time investors are fleeing risky assets such as shaky European government bonds.

Investors have been looking for safe havens to park their cash after figures earlier this week pointed to a dangerous slowdown in the US economy at a time when Europe’s debt problems appear to be engulfing big economies like Italy and Spain.

Yields on Spanish and Italian bonds stabilized yesterday, still much higher than just a month ago but further away from the 7percent level generally seen as a nation’s breaking point. The yield, or interest rate, Italian 10-year bonds was 6.1 percent, while its Spanish equivalents were at 6.2 percent. There was chatter in the markets that perhaps the ECB was once again buying up distressed government bonds, a practice it had abandoned earlier this year amid frustrations over the euro-zone’s reluctance to adopt a more ambitious crisis strategy.

The key piece of economic news this week will likely be today’s US jobs report for July, especially as investors are particularly worried about the recovery of the world’s largest economy.

Economists expect that 90,000 jobs were created last month and that the unemployment rate was unchanged at 9.2 percent.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.5 percent to 21,884.74 while China’s Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.2 percent to 2,684.04. South Korea’s benchmark Kospi dropped 2.3 percent to 2,018.47. Benchmark oil for September delivery was down $1.02 at $90.91 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. —AP

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Sukuk market remains bearish: Noor Islamic Bank could break even this year ahead of target

TURIN: A worker performs his tasks in Italy’s giant automaker Fiat’s Mirafiori assembly plant, in Turin, northern Italy. Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne’s corporate jet has served a sort of mile-high headquarters as the CEO crisscrosses oceans and continents to integrate and expand Fiat and Chrysler. — AP

Fiat, Chrysler CEO faces tough choice MILAN: Sergio Marchionne’s corporate jet has served a sort of mile-high headquarters as the CEO crisscrosses oceans and continents to integrate and expand Fiat and Chrysler.

But the moment is coming, analysts say, when the high-flying CEO will have to choose a fixed center for the global car business he is building. The process of choosing a headquarters for what would be the world’s seventh largest automaker - based on combined 2010 sales of 3.74 million vehicles - is as politically fraught as any Olympic city bid.

If Marchionne picks Italy, there would be howls of protest from Washington, where U.S. taxpayers put up $12.5 billion to keep Chrysler afloat as it headed into bankruptcy two years ago. The Obama administration put Marchionne in charge of the company, betting on a rescue. Italian officials and unions, meanwhile, have been fretting for months that Marchionne is slowly transforming Italy’s industrial showcase into an American company - which not only would be a loss of prestige for Italy but could also move valuable engineering and management jobs out of the country.

“I think there is tension because there are good reasons to locate the headquarters in Detroit, and there are also good reasons to believe the technical heart of the company is in Turin,” said Francesco Zirpoli, an expert on Fiat’s manufacturing processes and a professor at Venice’s Ca’ Foscari University.

Marchionne offered few clues to his thinking when he announced last month a new 22-person group executive council and new corporate structure to accelerate integration. He adeptly sidestepped the issue of a legal headquarters by announcing that the car manufacturing business will be divided into four regional centers, representing distinct markets: North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America. — AP

LAS VEGAS: Intel Chief Executive Officer Paul Otellini talks about the next generation graphics microprocessor combo chips at a news conference during the Consumer Electronics Show, in Las Vegas. The personal computer industry needs a jumpstart — and it’s counting on a rescue from emerging markets and a late-to-the-party push into tablet computers. —AP

DUBAI: Noor Islamic Bank does not expect the Islamic bond market to turn around for another three years, given the financial and political uncertainty in the region, its chief executive said.

“What you see in the sukuk market right now is not growing but I think it is shrinking a little bit in comparison to years before,” Hussain Al Qemzi told Reuters in an interview. “I see three years before we see an upward trend in sukuk. We will see a stronger comeback afterwards.”

Issuance of Islamic bonds, or sukuk, all but dried up as the global financial crisis and then regional political upheaval sapped interest in the market.

Recent sukuk issuances out of the Gulf from companies such as Sharjah Islamic Bank and HSBC Middle East were oversubscribed and raised some hope that Islamic bonds were poised for a revival.

Al Qemzi said Noor Islamic has no plans to issue any sukuk in the near term but is mandated on a few deals, includ-

ing one for Turkey’s Bank Asya , one of four fully Islamic banks in the country.

“The market remains very cautious, and within the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), there is still some reluctance,” he said. “But we are hopeful of concluding one or two sukuk deals this year.”

Noor Islamic is partially owned by Dubai Investment Group, which is the investment arm of Dubai Holding, along with Investment Corporation of Dubai, the Emirates Investment Authority and Noor Investment Group.

Al Qemzi said the bank, which recently swung to a profit in the first half of the year, was still aiming to break even by 2012, but might even achieve it this year, given the strength of its recent earnings report. “We’re not out of the woods yet in terms of the market, and we like to be cautious, but it’s a possibility,” he said. “Our numbers look very good now.”

The bank, posted a net profit of 85 million dirhams ($23.1 million), up from

a loss of 97 million dirhams in the comparable period a year earlier. Revenue came in at 386 million dirhams.

Al Qemzi said its corporate banking division was the main driver of growth, although he expected consumer banking, particularly online banking, would increasingly play a larger role.

He said the Dubai ruler’s decision to replace his uncle and close adviser Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum as chairman of Noor Islamic in June was a sign of the Islamic bank’s level of financial stability.

Sheikh Ahmed, a respected businessman who helped steer Dubai through its debt crisis, is often seen by the market as a stabilising figure for struggling corporations. “The change represents confidence in the bank, that we’re at a level of stability,” Al Qemzi said, adding that the appointment of the new chairman, Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, would not mark a change in strategy. — Reuters

ADIB gets approval to operate in Qatar DUBAI: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank has received approval from the Qatar regulator to open an Islamic branch in the wealthy Gulf Arab state, six months after a central bank verdict asked conventional lenders to stop operating Islamic branches in the country.

“We have received authorization from the government,” a spokeswoman for ADIB said yesterday, adding that Qatar is a market of interest for the Islamic lender. The Qatar Financial

Centre Regulatory Authority (QFCRA) said in a statement that the authorization will allow the bank to carry on regulated activities in relation to deposit taking, providing and arranging financing facilities and managing investments. ADIB’s license approval comes after Qatar’s central bank issued a ban in February on conventional banks’ operating Islamic branches, amid concerns of overlap between the two and criticism that conventional lenders

with Islamic operations had an unfair advantage over standalone Islamic institutions. Lenders have until Dec. 31 to comply.

The central bank did not provide any direction on whether banks can apply for separate Islamic banking licenses, and in the absence of transparency, some conventional banks have offered customers the option of converting Islamic deposits into conventional accounts. — Reuters

US July jobs figures likely to be poor WASHINGTON: Economists are expecting another disappointing month for the US jobs market when official job creation and unemployment figures for July are released today.

Batches of economic data made public over the past two weeks mostly point to the economy having almost stalled out in June and July, and suggest businesses have been reticent to hire while the government was locked in a political battle over long-term economic policy and the debt ceiling.

But with expectations now very low, a bit of less-than-dire data released Wednesday could point to a surprise on the upside when the government’s job figures come out-though nothing that would change the official 9.2 percent unemployment rate. Private payrolls firm ADP said that its data showed that private companies created a net 114,000 jobs in June, double the government’s first estimate released on July 8.

Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, said the ADP number “certainly supports our contention that today will see either a decent increase, or a hefty upward revision to June, or both” for private sector hiring.

HFE is forecasting a rise of 150,000 private jobs, offset by 30,000 public sector employee layoffs, for a net July gain of 120,000 jobs. But that is above the average analyst forecast of a net 84,000 jobs created in June, well below the estimated 100,000 needed just to accommodate new entrants to the workforce-to meet the growing population.

Economists at Deutsche Bank are much more pessimistic, forecasting an increase of 75,000 private sector jobs against 25,000 lost in the public sector for a net 50,000 gain.

Hiring overall has been weak for the past quarter, as economic growth dropped off to an annual rate of around one percent. — AFP

MUNICH: Nikolaus von Bomhard, CEO of the Munich Re Group, speaks during the annual balance press conference of the re-insurer in Munich yesterday.—AP

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Lloyds Banking reports H1 loss LONDON: Lloyds Banking Group PLC slid to a first-half loss on the back of a big charge related to the mis-selling of products to customers and to a writedown of Irish assets.

Taxpayer-backed Lloyds reported yesterday a net loss of 2.3 billion pounds ($3.8 billion) for the six months ending June 30 compared with a profit of 596 million pounds in the same period a year earlier.

The loss was largely expected following Lloyds move in May to take a 3.2 billion pound provision for repayments to customers who were missold payment protection insurance on mortgages and other loans. Lloyds maintained its guidance for the year too. British banks, including Lloyds, could be forced to pay customers billions of pounds in

compensation over the mis-selling of payment protection insurance that was supposed to cover the repayment of people’s loans if they experienced a fall in income because of illness or job loss. The industry has been accused of misselling the policies on a wide scale, raking in profits as many customers were unaware they were even paying for them - or could ever have claimed on the policies.

The ongoing debt crisis in Ireland also dented the bank’s first half , with the company booking a 1.8 billion pound impairment charge on its assets there.

Chief Executive Antonio Horta-Osorio said the “ongoing challenges of economic and regulatory uncertainty” were reflected in these results.

Lloyds Banking Group was created during the banking crisis through a hastily arranged rescue of Halifax/Bank of Scotland by Lloyds TSB. Toxic assets held by HBOS, particularly by mortgage specialist Halifax, forced the company to seek a government bailout and the taxpayer now owns around 41 percent of the bank.

Horta-Osario, who assumed the role of CEO in March, has taken drastic moves to shake up the company and put it back on the path to full private ownership. As part of that strategy, the bank is planning to cut 15,000 more jobs, wind down some international operations and increase savings by 1.5 billion pounds ($2.5 billion) a year by 2014.—AP

Deutsche Telekom profit plunges 27%

MADRID: Visitors look at screens displaying figures at Madrid’s Stock Exchange yesterday in Madrid. Spain endured a test of fire on the bond markets yesterday, raising 3.3 billion euros ($4.7 billion) but paying a hefty rate in the midst of a growing euro-zone debt crisis. — AFP

ECB faces tough test on help for euro-zone European bank, BOE hold rates steady FRANKFURT: The European Central Bank faced an acute new euro-zone debt crisis yesterday, with pressure rising for it to resume purchases of government debt to ease market pressure on Italy and Spain. The ECB held its key interest rate at 1.50 percent, and the Bank of England kept its rate at 0.50 percent, a few hours after the Bank of Japan held its rate unchanged between zero and 0.1 percent.

But a sharp turn for the worse in the euro-zone’s debt crisis, with the European Commission warning that it is now hitting at the heart of the single currency, has greatly raised the stakes over whether or not the ECB will resume buying bonds until a new crisis fund can take over the task.

“A revival of the ECB’s securities markets program (SMP) is the only real option that would prevent a liquidity crisis for Spain and Italy,” Goldman Sachs economist Dirk Schumacher said.

The ECB suspended its bond purchases more than 18 weeks ago because they forced the bank to shoulder a greater amount of the risk which ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet insists should be borne by the governments.

Markets now want to see if a worsening of the crisis will see Trichet signal that he is ready to resume the program, Barclays Capital economist Julian Callow said.

Traders have sent yields and risk premiums on Italian and Spanish bonds to record highs in recent days in what could be the start of a grave extension of the euro-zone debt crisis to its third and fourth-biggest economies.

European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso urged yesterday in a letter to all 27 European Union leaders “a rapid reassessment” of how to resolve the situation.

“It is clear that we are no longer managing a crisis just in the euro-area periphery,” Barroso warned. Leading Italian trade unions and the main employers group presented Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi with ways to boost economic growth at talks aimed at shoring up market confidence.

But Callow noted that “the sums and commitment (required from the ECB) over the next few weeks (so as to have) a credible impact on bond market spreads would be very substantial” given the amount of Italian and Spanish bonds issued.

Expectations of an ECB response are not

high. “While we hope that the ECB will spring a positive surprise and announce bond purchases, we put the chances of that at no more than 25 percent,” Berenberg Bank chief economist Holger Schmieding said.

“At least they can send a message to say that this cannot carry on and there will be measures taken,” urged Angel de Molina Rodriguez at the Spanish brokerage Tressis.

Deutsche Bank senior economist Gilles Moec felt a “verbal intervention” was likely but he did not expect news that SMP bond purchases would resume soon, estimating that a critical “pain threshold” had probably not been reached yet. The task of buying euro-zone government debt to keep bond markets under control is to be shouldered by a euro-zone crisis fund known as the European Financial Stability Facility. Final details must still be worked out however and euro-zone members must then give their approval, a process that could take months. That measure is part of a broader euro-zone plan that includes a a second rescue package for Greece and backstops for Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain and banks in those countries. —AFP

FRANKFURT: German telecommunications operator Deutsche Telekom said yesterday that its second quarter net profit fell by 26.7 percent owing to restructuring costs, but confirmed its full-year targets.

The group’s net profit of 348 million euros ($497 million) was far below an average analyst forecast of 563 million euros compiled by Dow Jones Newswires. Sales were down by 3.3 percent at 10.97 billion euros, a statement said. “Although these figures are not a cause for celebration, they still give us reason to be confident that we will achieve our targets in a persistently difficult environment,” chief executive Rene Obermann was quoted as saying. “We are now also seeing light at the end of the tunnel in Southeastern Europe,” he added. Deutsche Telekom, which is burdened in particular by its Greek unit OTE and TMobile operations in the United States, confirmed full-year targets including core operating earnings before taxes and special items of 14.9 billion euros.

In the second quarter, adjusted Ebitda lost 2.6 percent to 3.79 billion euros, slightly better than an analyst forecast of 3.73 billion euros The group also said it expected to have “at least 6.5 billion euros in free cash flow” at the end of the year. Mobile Internet-based activities were a key source of growth and broadband lines overtook traditional telephone lines for the first time in Germany, the company noted.

But challenges remained in other areas, it said, adding: “This is particularly true in the United States.” T-Mobile lost a net 281,000 US clients, and is in the process of being sold to rival AT&T for some 39 billion dollars, pending regulatory approval. Deutsche Telekom’s European division reported an eight percent loss in operating profit owing to regulatory pressure, stronger competition and poor economic conditions. The group nonetheless stressed that “some positive trends have emerged in the Greek mobile business.” — AFP

BONN: The CEO of Deutsche Telekom Rene Obermann and CFO Timotheus Hoettges (right) address the company’s results at a press conference in the western German city of Bonn yesterday. — AFP

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Prices hit oil demand as economies slow BarCap cuts demand growth sharply for 2011 LONDON: A sharp slowdown in economic growth, particularly in coming dangerously close to contracting at one point. The the United States, is hitting consumers and companies and forcing Commerce Department said last week that the US economy economic forecasters and analysts to slash estimates for global oil expanded by just 0.4 percent in the first quarter, a sharp downward demand. In a report to be published in the next few days, Barclays revision from the previously reported 1.9 percent gain, and grew at Capital has cut its estimates of world oil demand growth for this only a 1.3 percent annual pace in the second quarter as consumer spending barely rose. year and 2012 to reflect the US consumer spending, dramatic slowdown in the which accounts for about 70 United States and elsepercent of US economic where. activity, decelerated sharply The investment bank, in the second quarter, which has been one of the advancing at only a 0.1 permost bullish forecasters of cent rate. In June, US conoil prices this year, now sees sumer spending dropped for global oil demand increasthe first time in nearly two ing by 1.1 million barrels per years. day (bpd) this year to 88.68 Barclays Capital said it million bpd. Barclays Capital now expects real US gross previously forecast a rise in domestic product (GDP) to oil demand this year of 1.56 increase by an average of 1.7 million bpd and two percent in 2011 and global months ago expected the economic growth to average increase to be as much as 3.8 percent.

1.7 million.

Barclays Capital’s projecAnalysts say they expect other investment banks to BENGHAZI: A boat of Libyan rebels escort the Cartegena tions for oil demand growth follow Barclays Capital and oil tanker, laden with 73,000 tons of petrol, as it docks in this year are now below esticut their own estimates fur- the Benghazi harbor yesterday after Libyan rebels said mates from the world’s top oil market forecasters, the ther. Barclays Capital has also cut its forecast for oil they had seized it in the Mediterranean sea from govern- International Energy Agency (IEA), the Organization of demand growth next year, ment control. — AFP the Petroleum Exporting expecting an increase of 1.34 million bpd in 2012, compared with its previous forecast of 1.4 Countries (OPEC) and the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Both the IEA and EIA last month cut their oil demand growth million bpd.

“Given the general state of the macro-economy, the state of oil forecasts for 2011, to 1.2 million bpd and 1.43 million bpd respecdemand does not seem particularly healthy,” Barclays Capital oil tively, and analysts expect further revisions when they publish their analyst Amrita Sen said. “Moreover, US GDP is 2 percent lower than latest estimates this month.

Christophe Barret, global oil analyst at Credit Agricole, has what everyone expected (or) knew of due to the revisions issued last week and our economists have reduced a cumulative 1.8 per- already cut his estimate of global oil demand growth to 1.0 million bpd from 1.25 million bpd and says high oil prices are eating into cent of US growth over this year and next. Hence the revision.”

Washington has cut sharply its estimates of growth this year fuel consumption across the world.“Our estimates may still be too and now says the US economy stumbled badly in the first half, optimistic,” Barret said. — Reuters

Oil hits 4-week low on debt, demand concerns LONDON: Brent oil dived a dollar to its lowest in a month yesterday as sovereign debt mountains and economic pain threatened to dent fuel demand, while Japan’s intervention to stem the rise in the yen boosted the US currency.

Brent was $1.20 a barrel lower at

$112.03 by 1106 GMT, off a session low of $111.61, the weakest intraday price since early July. US crude was 92 cents weaker at $91.01. Financial and commodities markets are likely to fixate on the economic picture as European and U.S. central bankers deliberate and a series of data provides clues on

LOS ANGELES: A shopper selects Oreo cookies by Nabisco - part of the Kraft Foods Inc. family of brands and products, are seen at a Ralphs Fresh Fare supermarket in Los Angeles. Kraft Foods Inc said yesterday that it plans to split into two publicly traded companies, with one concentrating on snacks like Oreo cookies, Trident gum and Cadbury chocolates while the other focuses on the North American grocery business which include Kraft cheese and Maxwell House coffee. — AP

the pace of any recovery. “It’s all about macroeconomics for the next five days basically,” said Olivier Jakob of Petromatrix.

He said focus would fall on a European Central Bank rates decision, followed by US employment data yesterday and today and a meeting of the US Federal Reserve next Tuesday.

For oil markets, macroeconomics dictate demand and even the most bullish of analysts are cutting consumption forecasts after debt problems on both sides of the Atlantic have underscored anxiety about the risk of a second leg down to the 2008 recession, a so-called double-dip recession.

Barclays Capital cut its prediction for global oil demand growth this year to 1.1 million barrels per day (bpd) this year, compared with its previous forecast of 1.56 million bpd. Technical analysts, who forecast future price direction from chart movements, also said the market was very weak after the front-month contract dropped well below its 100-day moving average, a major support level.

Already, oil fell more than $3 on Wednesday after US inventory data showed a rise in stocks and a year-on-year decline in gasoline demand. That added to evidence that expensive fuel and a weak economy have reduced consumption in the world’s biggest oil user. — Reuters

HONG KONG: Li Ka-shing (center), chairman of Cheung Kong Holdings Limited and Hutchison Whampoa Limited gestures while Victor Li (L), vice-chairman of Cheung Kong Limited and Hutchison Whampoa Limited and group managing director Canning Fok (R) look on during a press conference in Hong Kong yesterday. — AFP

Hutchison Whampoa profit up on ports sale HONG KONG: Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing’s conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa Ltd has posted a sevenfold increase in first half profit following the sale of its ports unit in the form of a listed business trust in Singapore.

Hutchison’s said yesterday its six-month profit totaled 46.3 billion Hong Kong dollars ($5.9 billion) on revenue of HK$187.35 billion. Its first-half profit in 2010 HK6.32 billion on revenue of HK$148.78.

The company operates retail, property, energy, infrastructure and telecom operations in over 50 countries. A company statement said it booked a one-time gain of HK$44.30 billion from the spin off in March of shares in its ports unit, comprising deep-water operations in Hong Kong and China. — AP

Rare ME player wins India fuel oil tender SINGAPORE: Middle East trader Gulf Petrochem made an unexpected foray into the Asian fuel oil market by winning a semi-term tender for four cargoes, totaling up to 120,000 tons, from India, traders said yesterday.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based trader, which is not a regular participant in Asian fuel oil spot tenders, was awarded the four 380-centistoke (cst) parcels at higher price-levels, reflecting the tightly-supplied market in both the Middle East and East Asia.“It’s certainly a surprise that Gulf Petrochem turned out to be the winner of the tender.

Even their presence in the Middle East market isn’t very big, they trade 40,000-50,000 tons of mostly bunkers in a month,” a Middle East-based trader said. “But, like everyone else, they could be affected by the supply tightness, particularly of on-specification bunkers grade 380-cst due to the lack of exports from Iran.”

The four 30,000-tonne cargoes, for loading from August to November from Vizag, were purchased from Hindustan Petroleum Corp Lid (HPCL) at discounts of $14.00-$15.00 a ton to Singapore spot quotes, up from minus $15.00-$16.00 previously.

HPCL sold another similar parcel, for Aug. 18-20 lifting from Mumbai, to Chemoil at similar price levels. All five cargoes are expected to delivered to the Middle East, mainly for the Fujairah marine fuels market, traders said.

Fuel oil cargoes loading from the eastern Indian port of Vizag usually flow east to Singapore, instead of sailing west to the Middle East due to better freight economics, they added. “The landed cost of the cargoes is higher than just the difference in the price-level, due to higher freight and that shows just how short the Middle East market is of on-spec 380-cst,” another trader said.

Another 380-cst cargo, from India’s Essar Oil for Aug. 27-31 loading from Vadinar, was sold to Bakri at a premium of $11.00-$11.50 a ton to Middle East spot quotes, at the highest it has sold for this year.

Indian refiners mostly sell 380-cst cargoes that are onspecification or better, with August-loading volumes totalling at above-average levels of 540,000 tons, up 8 percent from last month. —Reuters

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Google lawyer slams Apple, Microsoft over patents WASHINGTON: Google’s top lawyer accused Apple, Oracle, Microsoft and other companies on Wednesday of using “bogus patents” to wage a campaign against the Internet giant’s Android mobile platform. In a blog post, Google senior vice president and chief legal officer David Drummond said Google’s rivals were seeking to “make it harder for manufacturers to sell Android devices.”

“Instead of competing by building new features or devices, they are fighting through litigation,” Drummond said. He said 550,000 Android devices were being activated every day and its success has resulted in a “hostile,

organized campaign against Android by Microsoft, Oracle, Apple and other companies, waged through bogus patents.” Drummond pointed to last year’s $450 million acquisition of 882 patents from software maker Novell by a consortium made up Microsoft, Apple, EMC and Oracle and the more recent purchase by a group led

by Apple and Microsoft of 6,000 patents held by bankrupt Canadian firm Nortel.

Google was a bidder for the Nortel patent portfolio but it lost out to a $4.5 billion bid from the consortium made up of iPhone maker Apple, EMC, Ericsson,

Microsoft, Blackberry maker Research in Motion and Japan’s Sony. The huge sum spent on the patents and the involvement of many of the world’s top tech companies reflected the fierce battle for intellectual property in the tech industry, where firms are often hit with patentinfringement lawsuits.

Google is currently being sued by software giant Oracle over technology used in its Android smartphone operating system. Drummond said Google’s rivals were “banding together” and were seeking a $15 licensing fee for every Android device.—AFP

Sony portable not ready by Xmas in US, Europe TOKYO: Sony’s next-generation portable game machine, the PlayStation Vita, won’t be available in the US or Europe in time for Christmas - a crucial sales period for game console makers.

Expectations had been high the machine would be ready worldwide for the year-end holiday shopping season. Sony earlier promised a “phased global rollout” starting late this year. Sony Corp Executive Vice President Kazuo Hirai said yesterday the PlayStation Vita will go on sale by the end of the year in Japan, and early next year in the US and Europe. Koki Shiraishi, electronics analyst for Daiwa Securities Capital Markets in Tokyo, said missing Christmas was a serious setback, especially overseas.

“That’s when you do half your year’s sales,” he said.

“This is going to prove painful for Sony.”

Hirai did not characterize the timing as a delay, but said Sony wants to be prepared with solid game software offerings timed with the hardware launches. He did not give specific dates, meaning that it was still unclear whether the gadget - a touch-interface and motion-sensitive handheld that outdoes Sony’s PlayStation Portable - would be ready for Christmas even in Japan.

He was far more clear in flatly denying that any price cut for the PlayStation Vita was in the works, brushing off a decision by rival Nintendo Co. last week to slash the price of its 3DS, less than a half year after it went on sale - stunningly quick in the industry.

“We packed so much into the device and made it very affordable,” Hirai told reporters at Sony’s Tokyo headquarters. “There is no need to lower the price just because somebody else that happens to be in the video game business decided that they were going to lower their price.”

The PlayStation Vita will cost $249 in the US, and 24,980 yen in Japan for its Wi-Fi-only version, and $299 in the US, and 29,980 yen in Japan for the version that will also have a cell phone service. Under its latest price cut, the 3DS will cost 15,000 yen in Japan starting Aug. 11, down from 25,000 yen. In the US, the price drops to $169.99 from $249.99 on Aug 12. Although game fans may be disappointed by the Vita’s slow arrival, delays are rather common in the gaming industry.—AP

TOKYO: Sony Corp Executive Vice President Kazuo Hirai speaks to the media at its headquarters in Tokyo yesterday.—A

This combo shows pictures of Japanese manufacturing giant Mitsubishi Heavy Industries headquarters (left) and electronics giant Hitachi’s headquarters (right) in Tokyo yesterday.—AFP

Hitachi and Mitsubishi deny merger reports Shares of manufacturing giants jump TOKYO: Japanese manufacturing giants Hitachi and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries yesterday denied they are to start merger talks after reports that the two would move to create an industrial giant.

Kyodo news agency and other media said the two firms aimed to integrate infrastructure units including nuclear power plants amid concerns over the future of their atomic businesses amid the Fukushima crisis. However, both companies later issued statements to say they had no plans to agree to any merger.

Japan’s largest heavy machinery manufacturer Mitsubishi said it “has no plan to enter into any of the arrangement reported today.” Hitachi said the reports were “not based on fact”.

That came despite Kyodo earlier reporting that the firm’s president Hiroaki Nakanishi had told journalists “we will negotiate a merger from now”. The two companies have combined annual sales of more than 12 trillion yen ($155 billion) and investors sent their shares higher yesterday on hopes of a merger that would create one

of the world’s biggest infrastructure firms.

Hitachi closed up 1.72 percent at 471 yen and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries was up 3.43 percent at 361 yen. “With opportunities for the social infrastructure business expected to expand especially in emerging countries like China and India, the two Japanese companies on their own do not have sufficient management resources to compete globally,” said Yukihiko Shimada, an analyst at SMBC Nikko Securities.

The continuing crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant has raised uncertainty over the future of their atomic power businesses, while the strength of the yen has made it more expensive for exporters to produce their goods domestically.

The yen had been hovering near its highest level since World War II in the past weeks, prompting Japanese authorities yesterday to step into the market to weaken it.

Analysts say further consolidation is needed in a Japanese corporate space that has too many companies making the same products compared with the likes of South Korea and its industrial champions such as

Samsung. Earlier this year Japan’s biggest steelmaker Nippon Steel and third-ranked rival Sumitomo Metal Industries said they were working towards a merger that would create the world’s second-largest steel firm by 2012.

Hitachi, Japan’s largest maker of electrical machinery, said last week its net profit plunged 96.6 percent to 2.9 billion yen ($37 million) in the April-June quarter, citing the impact of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

It has been facing pressure to curb some of its unprofitable lines and focus more on core businesses. It said Wednesday that it was considering shifting all television production to foreign outsourcing firms by March as part of a broad strategy to increase profitability. Mitsubishi Heavy’s product lines range from ships, nuclear power plants, aerospace and engines. It is also Japan’s largest military contractor. Yesterday it said net profit for the fiscal first quarter fell 7.9 percent on-year to 9.6 billion yen, hurt by the yen’s strength and a higher corporate tax burden. — AFP

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FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2011

Japan steps into forex markets to rein in yen Speculator-driven movements hamper recovery TOKYO: Japan yesterday took steps to weaken the yen in an effort to help safeguard the nation’s post-quake recovery after the unit’s recent surge towards a post-war high.

The government intervened unilaterally in currency markets to counter “one-sided” and “excessive” speculator-driven movements in the yen that it said threatened Japan’s recovery from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. “If the moves continue, it could negatively impact the Japanese economy and financial stability when

and boost liquidity by 10 trillion yen to 50 trillion ($638 billion).

Japan’s first currency intervention since March saw the yen fall sharply from just after 0100 GMT, and by 0940 GMT the dollar was testing the 80 yen level from 76.99 yen earlier in the day. The Japanese unit also fell against the euro, with the single currency fetching 113.73 yen from an earlier 110.45.The move also came after the Swiss central bank lowered its key rate and boosted liquidity Wednesday to stem the rise of the franc, also regarded as a “safe

TOKYO: A guard stands in front of an entrance at the Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo yesterday. Japan’s central bank has further eased its super-loose monetary policy, following the government’s emergency currency intervention earlier in the day. — AP Japan is making various efforts to reconstruct itself following the impact of the disaster,” Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said.

“Therefore we carried out currency intervention. Now we will watch market movements closely.” Officials declined to comment on the size of the intervention.

The Bank of Japan announced further efforts to spur the economy in coordination with the government’s moves, expanding a program to purchase assets

haven” for investors.

Noda said the government was not aiming to guide the yen to any specific level, but the yen-selling operation appeared to be continuing during London trading hours. The impact of the March earthquake and tsunami plunged Japan’s economy into recession, but as the nation’s companies have scrambled to restore supply chains, output levels have begun to rise again. However, that recovery has been overshadowed by a soaring yen that

threatens the post-disaster rebound of exporters. A strong yen erodes repatriated earnings and makes it harder for companies to make money on products made in Japan and sold overseas, prompting firms to speed up a shift towards more production abroad. But analysts have questioned how effective Thursday’s intervention will be in the longer term, given that the yen’s strength has been due to continued weakness in currencies such as the dollar and the euro amid fears for the US and eurozone economies.

A deal to raise the US debt ceiling and avoid a calamitous default this week failed to relieve the recent pressure on the greenback, with investors focused on evidence of a weakening US economy and the threat of a downgrade.

“It is hard to see the move higher in the (yen-dollar) pair as anything more than temporary,” amid clear signs of the US economy slowing, IG Markets said in a client note. Japan’s last intervention in March with its G7 counterparts-after the yen hit a post-war high of 76.25 to the dollar following the earthquake-helped push it to as low as 85 to the dollar in April, but it has since strengthened.

Thursday’s intervention was Japan’s first unilateral move since September 2010.

Analysts said authorities would likely continue to sell the yen throughout the day.

Officials had in recent days raised their rhetoric against the surging currency in a bid to cool it with the threat of intervention. Noda on Tuesday said the yen was “overvalued”, while Bank of Japan governor Masaaki Shirakawa on Wednesday warned of its impact on exporters.

“The market was braced for the move after Bank of Japan officials voiced concern that the higher yen would lead to a deterioration in the sentiment of Japanese firms,” said an analyst at a Japanese bank.

“The authorities needed to surprise the market to maximize the impact of the intervention,” the analyst said, adding that the move was timed to occur ahead of the release of a key US employment report today. — AFP

Growth in China, Europe boosts Adidas profits BERLIN: Growth in China and rich European countries boosted profits for German sportswear and equipment maker Adidas which yesterday reported an 11percent hike in second quarter net profit.

Profits hit 140 million euros ($200 million) during that period and were expected to reach 650 million euros for the year, it added. Adidas raised its 2011 sales growth forecast to 10 percent, from a previous outlook of less than 10 percent, owing to strong demand for its products notably in China, France, Germany, Spain and Italy. At 0855 GMT, Adidas shares were up 4.84 percent in Frankfurt at 51.20 euros. Despite the financial crisis in Europe and the United States, Adidas said it had managed to boost sales and maintain profits. “When you bring to the market items attractive to customers you can be successful even during a crisis,” Adidas boss Herbert Hainer told a conference call.

In the United States, the company’s

Reebok brand continued to increase its market share despite consumer worries about the economy, Hainer said.

Like its competitors, Adidas has been forced to pay higher prices for its raw materials, especially cotton, but the group managed to reduce marketing costs and increase some prices, thereby maintaining

both margins and profits. Second-quarter sales rose five percent to 3.06 billion euros, in line with market expectations. Adidas also said that profit per share should rise to between 2.98 and 3.12 euros, which on the basis of the number of shares currently in circulation, would mean a net profit of 648-652 million euros for the year. — AFP

Adidas bags on display on the sidelines of the results of a press conference at the company’s headquarters in Herzogenaurach, southern Germany. — AFP

TOKYO: Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Masaaki Shirakawa leaves a press conference at the bank headquarters in Tokyo yesterday. The Bank of Japan on August 4 said it would expand by 10 trillion yen ($125.93 billion) a scheme to buy assets and boost liquidity to help safeguard the nation’s post-quake recovery from the impact of a strong yen. — AFP

China allows cooking oil prices to rise SHANGHAI: China has allowed cooking oil producers to hike prices to cover the rising cost of raw materials, companies and state media said yesterday, despite its struggles to curb already high inflation.

The decision to increase prices for the first time in nearly a year is significant in a country where most food is friedand will increase pressure on the already stretched budgets of the poor.

Singapore-based Wilmar International, a major edible oil supplier in China, has been permitted to raise the prices of its products by around five percent starting from August, the company said in a statement.

The rise, approved by China’s powerful economic planner National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), was the first increase since October 2010, it said.

No one at the NDRC was immediately available to comment when contacted by AFP. Chinese business magazine Caijing said state-owned food conglomerate COFCO also received “tacit consent” to raise prices to cover soybean costs which have been rising since last year.

State media reported in December that the NDRC had asked several major edible oil companies, including Wilmar and COFCO, to refrain from raising prices in an effort to rein in inflation-a key bugbear for Beijing.

Authorities have been intervening directly in the commodity market, warning a number of companies not to increase prices as they crack down on hoarding and offer subsidies to the poor.

In May, the NDRC fined consumer products giant Unilever for “illegally disseminated news of price hikes” that sparked panic-buying of shampoo and detergents, but it later decided not to punish the firm, state media said.

Food prices have soared this year after severe summer floods destroyed crops in regions previously affected by drought while a shortage of pigs has driven up the cost of pork, a staple meat in the Chinese diet. In June, the country’s consumer price index (CPI) rose 6.4 percent-the highest level in three years-further fuelling concerns among policymakers about inflation’s potential to trigger social unrest. — AFP

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FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2011

US faces another recession

Deepening investor pessimism about the world economy is posing a serious threat to already fragile business and consumer confidence in the US at a time when policymakers appear out of fixes.

The latest stock sell-off came even as the Senate followed the House in passing a bill to raise the federal debt ceiling, averting a Treasury default on its debts.

WASHINGTON, DC: A pedestrian crosses a road with the US Capitol building in the background. Deepening investor pessimism about the world economy is posing a serious threat to already fragile business and consumer confidence in the US at a time when policymakers appear out of fixes. —AFP

Wall Street showing rising fear of a new downturn

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wo years after the last recession ended, Wall Street is showing rising fear that the US economy could be headed for a new downturn.

Stock prices plummeted in the US and Europe, driving the Dow Jones industrial average to its lowest level since March and to its longest losing streak last week— eight straight sessions — since the October 2008 financial system meltdown.

Deepening investor pessimism about the world economy is posing a serious threat to already fragile business and consumer confidence at a time when policymakers appear out of fixes.

“The fears have gotten to the point where people are getting out of the way and saying, ‘Man, maybe this is a recession,’” said Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Wells Capital Management in Minneapolis. The latest stock sell-off came even as the Senate followed the House in passing a bill to raise the federal debt ceiling, averting the possibility that the Treasury could default on its debts.

Despite some relief that Washington could compromise on the debt ceiling, analysts said the prospect of even modest federal budget cuts in an anemic economy was spooking markets.

“Investors are looking past the budget situation and realizing this is an austerity plan,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank in Chicago. “We have an economy that’s struggling to stay afloat and we don’t have the ammunition to keep prodding it forward.”

A cascade of selling knocked the Dow down 265.87 points, or 2.2 percent, to 11,866.62 on Tuesday, bringing its losses to

858 points since July 21. Investors are pouring money into safe-haven bets, pushing gold to an all-time high and US Treasury bond rates to their lowest levels since last year. In another sign of the faltering US recovery, the government said that consumer spending fell 0.2 percent in June from May, the first decline since September 2009. The report showed that Americans were reluctant or unable to boost spending despite a steep slide in gasoline prices in late spring.

On Monday, a survey of manufacturers nationwide in July showed that factory activity expanded at the slowest pace in two years. And late last week the government estimated that the economy grew at a paltry 1.3 percent annualized rate in the second quarter. Yet many analysts, noting the stock market’s penchant for overreaction, caution against jumping to the conclusion that the economy is falling off a cliff. In a potentially good sign for the job market, new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week to the lowest since early April.

US car and truck sales in July were sluggish, but that partly reflected a continuing shortage of some vehicles as Japan recovers from its devastating earthquake in March. And industry reports of retail store sales in July “suggest faster spending growth than in June,” economists at brokerage UBS said in a report.

Wall Street optimists have been betting that the global economy simply hit a “soft patch” in recent months, brought on in part by the surge in oil prices in winter and early spring. With oil prices sliding again to under $94 a barrel, down 18 percent from

the spring peak of nearly $114, that should provide more relief at the pump soon.

What’s more, the end of the debt ceiling drama in Washington at least removes that cloud of uncertainty over the markets. Two of the three major credit rating firms, Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service, said they would keep the US government’s debt rating at the top-rung AAA level.

Although the stock market has crumbled in recent days, major US indexes still are up sharply from their lows of last summer.

Analysts note that it isn’t unusual for stocks to periodically drop 10 percent to 15 percent in bull markets when bad news hits.

The Dow index now is down 7.4 percent from its multiyear high of 12,810 reached April 29. The risk is that a sustained decline could create a vicious cycle, fueling pessimism about the economy that then feeds back into markets.

Some big investors say they are riding out this slide, encouraged by the generally strong earnings that blue-chip companies have reported for the second quarter.

“We’re sitting tight for the time being,” said Mark Foster, who oversees $500 million in client assets at money manager Kirr, Marbach & Co. in Columbus, Ind. Many firms have sounded optimistic about their earnings prospects for the rest of the year, Foster said. “Even though the US isn’t showing great growth, companies are seeing it in international markets,” he said. The domestic economy also could get a boost from falling long-term interest rates. As investors have rushed into Treasury bonds in recent days, seeking relatively safety for their money, they have pushed market rates down dramatically.

The rate, or yield, on the 10-year Treasury note plunged to 2.61 percent, down from 2.75percent on Monday and the lowest since November. Because mortgage rates key off the Treasury note rate, home loans could quickly become cheaper for borrowers who can qualify. That could help the moribund housing market.

But without job growth the pool of potential home buyers may not expand much. The government will report Friday on July employment trends, and analysts expect that the economy created just 85,000 net new jobs last month.

Meanwhile, Europe’s government debt crisis is worsening again, posing a new threat to the global economy. Just two weeks ago the European Union agreed on a new bailout for Greece. Now fear that Italy and Spain, two much larger economies, also may need bailouts has sparked heavy selling of European stocks in recent days.

The Italian market has dived 11 percent in the last seven days and is down 25 percent since mid-February.

“More and more investors are realizing that there’s no quick fix” for debt-ridden economies, said Matt Zeman, a strategist at Kingsview Financial in Chicago.

That also is what could hobble policymakers, including the Federal Reserve, even if they had the desire to try more stimulus measures for the economy. Fed policymakers meet this Tuesday. “It will be too early for the Fed to conclude they have to do something,” said David Resler, chief economist at Nomura Securities in New York.

Even so, he said, the central bank may have no choice but to indicate “a willingness to do something.” — MCT

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Opinion

FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2011

Lessons from successful lone wolf attacker

By Scott Stewart

O

n the afternoon of July 22, a powerful explosion ripped through the streets of Oslo, Norway, as a large improvised explosive device (IED) in a rented van detonated between the government building housing the prime minister’s office and Norway’s Oil and Energy Department building. According to the diary of Anders Breivik, the man arrested in the case who has confessed to fabricating and placing the device, the van had been filled with 950 kilograms (about 2,100 pounds) of homemade ammonium nitrate-based explosives.

After lighting the fuse on his IED, Breivik left the scene in a rented car and traveled to the island of Utoya, located about 32 kilometers outside of Oslo. The island was the site of a youth campout organized by Norway’s ruling Labor Party. Before taking a boat to the island, Breivik donned body armor and tactical gear bearing police insignia (intended to afford him the element of tactical surprise). Once on the island he opened fire on the attendees at the youth camp with his firearms, a semiautomatic 5.56 mm Ruger Mini-14 rifle and a 9 mm Glock pistol. Due to the location of the camp on a remote island, Breivik had time to kill 68 people and wound another 60 before police responded to the scene.

Shortly before the attack, Breivik posted a manifesto on the Internet that includes his lengthy operational diary. He wrote the diary in English under the Anglicized pen name Andrew Berwick, though a careful reading shows he also posted his true identity in the document. The document also shows that he was a lone wolf attacker who conducted his assault specifically against the Labor Party’s current and future leadership.

Breivik targeted the Labor Party because of his belief that the party is Marxist-oriented and is responsible for encouraging multiculturalism, Muslim immigration into Norway and, acting with other similar European governments, the coming destruction of European culture. Although the Labor Party members are members of his own race, he considers them traitors and holds them in more contempt than he does Muslims. In fact, in the manifesto, Breivik urged others not to target Muslims because it would elicit sympathy for them.

Breivik put most of his time and effort into the creation of the vehicle-borne IED (VBIED) that he used to attack his primary target, the current government, which is housed in the government building. It appears that he believed the device would be sufficient to destroy that building. It was indeed a powerful device, but the explosion killed only eight people. This was because the device did not bring down the building as Breivik had planned and many of the government employees who normally work in the area were on summer break. In the end, the government building was damaged but not destroyed in the attack, and no senior government officials were killed. Most of the deaths occurred at the youth camp, which Breivik described as his secondary target.

While Breivik’s manifesto indicated he planned and executed the attack as a lone wolf, it also suggests that he is part of a larger organization that he calls the “Pauperes Commilitones Christi Templique Solomonici (PCCTS, also known as the Knights Templar), which seeks to encourage other lone wolves (whom Brevik refers to as “Justiciar Knights”) and small cells in other parts of Europe to carry out a plan to “save” Europe and European culture from destruction.

Because of the possibility that there are other self-appointed Justiciar Knights in Norway or in other parts of Europe and that Breivik’s actions, ideology and manifesto could spawn copycats, we thought it useful to examine the Justiciar Knights concept as Breivik explains it to see how it fits into lone wolf theory and how similar actors might be detected in the future.

An Opening Salvo?

From reading his manifesto, it is clear that Breivik, much like Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, believes that his attack is the opening salvo in a wider campaign, in this case to liberate Europeans from what Breivik views as malevolent, Marxist-oriented governments. These beliefs are what drove Breivik to attack the Norwegian Labor Party. As noted above, it is also clear that Breivik planned and executed his attack alone.

However, he also discusses how he was radicalized and influenced by a Serbian living in Liberia whom he visited there. And Breivik claims to have attended a meeting in London in 2002 to “re-found the Knights Templar.”

This organization, PCCTS, which was founded in 2002, is not related to the much older official and public chivalric order also known as the Knights Templar. According to Breivik, the PCCTS was formed with the stated purpose of fighting back against

“European Jihad” and to defend the “free indigenous peoples of Europe.”

To achieve this goal, the PCCTS would implement a threephase plan designed to seize political and military power in Europe. In his manifesto Breivik outlines the plan as follows:Phase 1 (1999-2030): Cell-based shock attacks, sabotage attacks, etc. - Phase 2 (2030-2070): Same as above but bigger cells/networks, armed militias. - Phase 3 (2070-2100): Pan-European coup d’etats, deportation of Muslims and execution of traitors.

As outlined in Breivik’s manifesto, the 2002 meeting was attended by seven other individuals, two from England and one each from France, Germany, the Netherlands, Greece and Russia.

He also asserts that the organization has members from Serbia (his contact living in Liberia), Sweden, Belgium and the United States who were unable to attend the meeting. Brevik states that all the members of the PCCTS were given code names for security,

OSLO: Norway’s Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg (centre background) attends the funeral of Mona Abdinur in Oslo on Tuesday August 2, 2011. The 18year-old was killed in the 22 July attack at Utoeya Island.— AFP that his code name was “Sigurd,” and that he was mentored by a member with the code name “Richard the Lionhearted” (presumably a Briton). Breivik claims that after meeting these individuals via the Internet he was carefully vetted before being allowed to join the group.

The diary section of Breivik’s manifesto reveals that during the planning process for the attack Breivik traveled to Prague to obtain firearms and grenades from Balkan organized-crime groups there (he had hoped to obtain a fully automatic AK-47).

Breivik was not able to procure weapons in Prague and instead was forced to use weapons he was able to obtain in Norway by legal means. It is interesting that he did not contact the Serbian member of the PCCTS for assistance in making contact with Balkan arms dealers. Breivik’s lawyer told the media July 26 that although Breivik acted alone in conducting his attack, he had been in contact with two terror cells in Norway and other cells abroad. Certainly, Norway and its partners in EUROPOL and the United States will try to identify these other individuals, if they do in fact exist.

In phase one of the PCCTS plan, shock attacks were to be carried out by individuals operating as lone wolves or small cells of Breivik’s so-called Justiciar Knights, who are self-appointed guardians who decide to follow the PCCTS code outlined in Breivik’s manifesto and who are granted the authority to act as “a

judge, jury and executioner until the free, indigenous peoples of Europe are no longer threatened by cultural genocide, subject to cultural Marxist/Islamic tyranny or territorial or existential threats through Islamic demographic warfare.”

Breivik’s manifesto notes that he does not know how many Justiciar Knights there are in Western Europe but estimates their number to be from 15 to 80. It is unclear if this is a delusion on his part and there are no other Justiciar Knights or if Breivik has some factual basis for his belief that there are more individuals like him planning attacks.

While some observers have noted that the idea of Justiciar Knights operating as lone wolves and in small cells is similar to the calls in recent years for grassroots jihadists to adopt lone wolf tactics, it is important to understand that leaderless resistance has been a central theme of white supremacist groups in the United States since the early 1990s. While Breivik did not express any anti-Semitism in his manifesto (something he has been heavily criticized for on US anti-Semitic websites), clearly the anti-immigration and anti-Marxist ideology of the PCCTS has been influenced more by white hate groups than by Al-Qaeda.

Moreover, the concept of a self-identified Justiciar Knight is quite similar to the idea of a “Phineas Priest” in the leaderless resistance model propagated by some white supremacists in the United States who adhere to “Christian Identity” ideology. In this model, Phineas Priests see themselves as lone wolf militants chosen by God and set apart to be his “agents of vengeance” upon the earth. Phineas Priests also believe that their attacks will serve to ignite a wider “racial holy war” that will ultimately lead to the salvation of the white race.

Leaderless resistance has also been advocated by militant anarchists as well as animal rights and environmentalist activists who belong to such groups as the Animal Liberation Front and the Earth Liberation Front. So it is not correct to think of leaderless resistance merely as a jihadist construct - it has long been used by a variety of militant actors.

Lone Wolf Challenges One of the great strengths of our enemies, the Western European cultural Marxist/multiculturalist regimes is their vast resources and their advanced investigation/forensic capabilities.

There are thousands of video cameras all over European major cities and you will always risk leaving behind dna, finger prints, witnesses or other evidence that will eventually lead to your arrest. They are overwhelmingly superior in almost every aspect.

But every 7 headed monster has an Achilles heel. This Achilles heel is their vulnerability against single/duo martyr cells. - Anders Breivik As STRATFOR has long discussed, the lone wolf operational model presents a number of challenges for law enforcement, intelligence and security officers. The primary challenge is that, by definition, lone wolves are solitary actors, and it can be very difficult to determine their intentions before they act because they do not work with anyone else. When militants are operating in a cell consisting of more than one person, there is a larger chance that one of them will get cold feet and reveal the plot to authorities, that law enforcement and intelligence personnel will intercept a communication between conspirators, or that the authorities will be able to insert an informant into the group.

This ability to fly solo and under the radar of law enforcement has meant that some lone wolf militants such as Joseph Paul Franklin, Theodore Kaczynski and Eric Rudolph were able to operate for years before being identified and captured. Indeed, from Breivik’s diary, we know he took several years to plan and execute his attack without detection.

As the Breivik case illustrates, lone wolves also pose problems because they can come from a variety of backgrounds with a wide range of motivations. While some lone wolves are politically motivated, others are religiously motivated and some are mentally unstable.

In addition to the wide spectrum of ideologies and motivations among lone wolves, there is also the issue of geographic dispersal. As we’ve seen from past cases, their plots and attacks have occurred in many different locations and are not confined just to Manhattan, London or Washington. Lone wolf attacks can occur anywhere.

Furthermore, it is extremely difficult to differentiate between those extremists who intend to commit attacks and those who simply preach hate or hold radical beliefs (things that are not in themselves illegal in many countries). Therefore, to single out likely lone wolves before they strike, authorities must spend a great deal of time and resources looking at individuals who might be moving from radical beliefs to radical actions. This is a daunting task given the large universe of potential suspects.— Stratfor

FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2011 www.kuwaittimes.net

Bella Thorne arrives at the premiere of "Phineas and Ferb: Across The Second Dimension" at El Capitan Theater in Los Angeles, Wednesday, August 3, 2011. The film will be aired on The Disney Channel today. — AP

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Technology

FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2011

Recycling computer hardware is easier than it seems The ultimate reboot hen your computer outlives its usefulness, do you sell it, donate it or take it to the dump? Those are the standard options. But a new do-it-yourself movement is offering something else, an afterlife. Today’s hardware is often outdated after just a few years, meaning it’s time to get more modern equipment. But instead of just getting rid of your old machines, try to find another use for them. In some parts of the world, like Europe, there are programs designed to encourage technical reincarnation. Recycling of electronics and electronic components is “essential” for the environment, according to EU waste guidelines. And, when it comes to reusing electronics, the sky is the limit. Here are some suggestions: Put some housing on your hard drive: This one is very easy to implement. Even if it’s just a 20-gigabyte (GB) drive, an old hard drive is ideal as an external drive for data backups.

All you need is a housing with a USB connection, available for just a few euros in most stores. You’ll need a 3.5-inch version for PC hard drives or a 2.5-inch version for laptop hard drives. Be careful when setting up the connections. Older drives use the IDE plug while newer ones use a SATA plug. Even if your notebook or PC lacks a USB 3.0 port, it’s still worthwhile to buy a housing that supports the newer, faster USB standard.

Turn a computer into a network drive: Old PCs or unused laptops or netbooks can be turned into a home network drive. First, take out everything that’s unnecessary and uses up power. That means graphics, sound and video cards. For software, Manuel Schreiber of the German computer magazine Chip recommends using an old Windows license with the freeware FileZilla server.

When installing, pick the option “Install as a service started with Windows,” so that the program starts with Windows. Users who want to access the mini-server need the free FTP client FileZilla.

Turn your PC into a media centre: If you don’t have a digital video recorder or a network-capable receiver, turn your PC into your living room’s home movie centre for accessing movies, pictures, music or internet radio. If your computer doesn’t have the appropriate TV connections, like HDMI, Schreiber recommends buying a cheap graphics card with the proper ports. The soft-

W

ware you’ll need to set up the media centre is usually free, like the open source MediaPortal, which can work with a variety of remote controls. It also comes with a variety of skins and plug-ins.

Some of those expansions include emulators, little programs that simulate the consoles of old computers, like the Amiga, and then pull up the appropriate games. Thus, your media centre also becomes a gaming console.

Routers into repeaters: An old wifi router still has a long life ahead of it. For example, it can be repurposed as a repeater, or signal amplifier, to expand the reach of a house’s wi-fi network. That expanded signal can then, for example, reach into upper storeys or the garden. This works best using the wireless distribution

system (WDS) with a router made by the same manufacturer. Routers that don’t support WDS can often be turned into repeaters using the free Linux software DD-WRT. Laptop as second monitor: If you need a second monitor and have an old laptop handy, turn that mobile computer into a second screen for your PC. Since laptops have no video input, you’ll need special software like Maxivista. This installs a virtual graphics card onto your PC and tricks Windows into thinking that an additional monitor has been connected to the computer, says developer Gunnar Bartels. This forces the operating system to expand the desktop over both graphics cards. The virtual graphics card then sends its part of the desktop to the notebook via LAN or wi-fi, where the second desktop

half is then displayed.

Processors as fridge magnets: Computer power can be turned into holding power. Thus, a well-affixed magnet can turn an old processor and other chips into refrigerator magnets. This simple and decorative idea was the result of a hardware hacking contest by German computer magazine c’t. Cooling elements of processors or graphics cards can also make great business card or letter holders. — dpa

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FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2011

Animal Cops on the beat I

f you were married to a Philadelphia Phillies baseball star, how would you spend your free time? By decorating your P-shaped mansion in red, white and gray? Stocking your freezer with plastic batting helmets of vanilla soft-serve? Planning holidays with the Halladays? Mounting a nationwide defense of America’s most dissed dog? If you’re Jennifer Utley, you’re definitely picking that last one. About four years ago, way back when she was new in town, she “wanted to do some volunteer work with animals,” she said, so she walked dogs and cleaned cat cages at the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Today, with more than a little help from a certain second baseman, Mrs. Chase Utley sits on the PSPCA’s board and helms an all-out campaign to restore the reps of pit bulls (and then some). If you had to narrow it down, you could say Jen and Chase’s community mission is threefold.

First, they raise funds for the PSPCA, specifically for the organization’s Humane Law Enforcement department, aka “Animal Cops,” and the animals they rescue.

Second, they teach kids to be kind to animals. Third, most general: They speak up for dogs, which can’t speak for themselves. Mostly, they speak up for pit bulls, or, more correctly, pit bulls and pit-bull mixes. Jen Utley calls them “my pits.”

For dog defenders Jen and Chase Utley, it’s the ‘pits’ hind legs, turning his head like a periscope above his kennel to watch incoming visitors. Utley goes to pet him. He places his paw on top of her hand. “I love him!” she declared. (Surely Chase wishes he had it this easy.)

His name is Roscoe. And, in a flash, Jen Utley is in his kennel, sliding his big head into a blue leash and leading him outside to a recently built play area where dogs can be off-leash. She lets him go. He takes off.

“Once they’re out here, they just wanna run,” said Utley. She tosses him a tennis ball. (In case you’re wondering, she has a decent arm.) Roscoe misses, but brings it back to her. “He’s not very coordinated,” she said. “But this dog would entertain himself forever.”

charges. Ninety percent of these dogs are pits. Several have been used to fight, breed or serve as “bait” in illegal dogfighting rings. “If you walked through there, I guarantee you’d burst into tears,” she said. “You walk in and half (of the dogs) throw themselves against a wall and start shaking.” Some of these animals will respond to rehabilitation. Many won’t. You may have heard the story of the Utleys and Etana, a boxer-pit mix that was savagely beaten and burned by a group of kids in the winter of 2007. Etana’s largest wound was her fractured skull. She needed $3,000 worth of surgery. When Jen and Chase heard about the case, they did not hesitate.

They paid Etana’s medical bills. (Etana now lives with a

Fidos and felines On a recent sweltering Wednesday, the PSPCA is packed. The clinic is running its weekly special: low-cost vaccines. Pet owners file in with cat carriers, unhappily leashed mutts, a laundry basket of fluffy cotton-ball puppies, and dozens more Fidos and felines. A staffer tells a woman seeking shots for her pit-mix puppy that she’ll first have to see the doctor for the dog’s swollenshut left eye. A ponytailed man runs in with a listless gray pit in his arms and tells another PSPCA worker, “She just stopped moving.” It’s tense. It’s hot. It’s anything but glam. Then there’s Mrs Chase Utley, cucumber-cool in a chic, black romper, oversized sunglasses and a designer bagful of snacks, for which she apologizes. (Jen and Chase are expecting their first child this fall, and, well, she’s a bit hungrier than usual.) Jen steps naturally into the melee. Past the reception area, she stops at a stack of cat cages to reach her fingers in for a few quick pets. In a crowded hallway, she greets the workers hustling by, by name. Ducking into the shelter hospital, she spots a badly battered cat with three legs.

“Is this the one that got mauled by the German shepherd?” she asked. It is. Like a tour guide, she explained what goes on behind each door. There’s the isolation “iso” room for cats with communicable, usually respiratory, diseases. There’s a space for dogs in crates awaiting the behavior evaluations that will determine whether they’re adoptable and what kind of home would be best for them (with or without other dogs, children, a back yard). There’s the “living room” where potential adopters can introduce their pets to new pets - sort of like speed-dating, with paws. There’s a rec room for dog-training and volunteer gatherings, and separate rooms for older cats and smaller dogs.

Cubbyholes Then there’s the greenhouse, the dog-adoption floor, the largest and arguably loudest space in the place. It’s 5,500 square feet, with 100 open-top kennels - all full. Each crate is made of glass brick with a chainlink door, next to which hangs a piece of paper with the residing dog’s name, age and background. Some are labeled “cruelty case”; others, “stray”; others, “surrendered by owner.” Inside every cubbyhole are a bed and a toy, usually a Kong, a biteable rubber puzzle that hides treats. Inside at least 60 of the 100 kennels is also a pit-bull mix. Some of the pits are big and tall, up to 75 pounds. Others seem half that size, maybe knee-high.

There are plenty of brindleds and fawns, and a few pale blonds with blue and green eyes. Some have their fur clipped; others have their ears clipped. Many are gray and white, like the Utleys’ pit, Jack. Most of them jump to attention when a person walks by.

“They’re saying, ‘Take me out! Take me out!’ “ said Jen Utley, scratching behind a dog’s ears. One clever pit catches her eye. He is big and brown and standing on

Jennifer Utley poses with a pitbull. —MCT She calls him “Boo” and “Chicken.”

Animal cruelty Having tired Roscoe out - “all it takes is 15 minutes,” said Utley - and returned him inside, where, she said, he’ll be much calmer, and therefore more likely to be adopted, she’s back outside, pointing out the Humane Law Enforcement’s fleet of SUVs, trucks and unmarked cars, then stopping next to a long outbuilding that serves as a security kennel. “We’d need clearance to go in there,” she said. Inside the locked building are dogs rescued by HLE. Most are being held as evidence, awaiting the court cases of their former owners, now accused of animal cruelty, typically among other

family on a suburban Philadelphia farm.)

A few months later, the Utleys did a photo shoot with gray-and-white PSPCA pittie puppies born to a mother the HLE rescued from a dogfighting ring. There were 11 in all, mini bundles of energy, except for one.

“He was like a blob,” she said. “He just laid there.” Jen couldn’t help herself, “I was obsessed with that dog.”

Today, full-grown and much less blobby, Jack Utley is part of the family. (So much so that he recently stole Jen’s pregnancy pillow.) “He’s the love of my life,” gushed Jen. “That dog has changed our lives.” She continued, “Pit bulls are amazing: They have this gorgeous coat. They don’t shed. They don’t slobber. They’re so sweet and playful . . . and they have that smile.”

Not exactly the sort of thing you usually hear about these particular pups. But Utley, like many pittie lovers, is adamant. “I don’t think there are good dogs or bad dogs. I think there are good owners and there are bad owners - like there are good parents and bad parents,” she said. She cites the American Temperament Test, on which pit bulls score higher than dachshunds, cocker spaniels and Jack Russell terriers - and most other breeds. She said pits used to be called “nanny dogs, because they’re so great around kids.” She pointed out that the dogs she sees misbehave in her Philadelphia neighborhood are usually untrained small breeds.

Breed bias Then why do pit bulls get the bad rap? In the wrong hands, pits can, not unlike other dogs, be the pits.

They’re strong, typically energetic, agile, trainable and loyal. But there are also a lot of them - and a lot that belong to owners who keep them cooped up, unable to interact with people or pets, lacking an outlet for their energy. Many are neglected, simply left without food or water, like most of the PSPCA’s animal-cruelty cases.

Raising a well-behaved pit takes daily care, said Utley, but nothing out of the ordinary. “Animals need what we need: They need light. They need food. They need water. They need socializing,” she said. “My dog has been around every type of person. He would never bite someone. It wouldn’t even dawn on him.” Still, she said that every time she and Chase stand up for pits, even their own dog, they deal with anti-pit prejudice “breed bias.” Recently, Jack and his fellow pits were banned from one of her friends’ otherwise dog-friendly apartment buildings. “It’s so ridiculous,” she said.

“These dogs just look a certain way, and all of a sudden, there’s an issue. I hope you don’t judge people like that.” She noted that when a non-pit bites or turns violent, the dog’s breed rarely makes headlines. But when it’s a pit, that gets top billing. Pits encompass three breeds (American pit bull terriers, American Staffordshire terriers and Staffordshire bull terriers), plus endless “backyard-bred” mixes. And with so many homeless - even the national organization Pit Bull Rescue Central can’t estimate how many need homes and with so many being mistreated and misunderstood, the public’s attitudes toward pits must change, Utley said. “If (Chase and I) can help make that change, we’re gonna do it.”

Legacy For four years, the Utleys have brought attention to and raised money - so far, about a million bucks - for the HLE’s fight against animal cruelty, at their baseball stud-studded casino night among other fundraisers.

PSPCA CEO Sue Cosby said the Utleys’ fundraiser is “the largest single event that supports that department, so, really, our ability to stay out on the streets saving animals and rescuing animals from abuse and neglect is in large part because of the Utleys.”

More recently, the couple created the Utley Foundation to teach children about kindness to animals. Their first project: creating a mural of kids with pets with elementary students at the Anna B Pratt School in North Philadelphia. On the day of the unveiling, the students, many of whom had written stories and made drawings portraying animal violence they’d witnessed, carried signs that read, “We love Jack.” The Utleys gave the kids buttons saying, “I’m an animal protector.” “We told them, ‘You’re a part of our team. Now you have a responsibility to be nice to animals, and to teach other people what you’ve learned,’ “ Jen recalled.

“They were inspired by it.” Back at the PSPCA, Jen points to an empty lot next to the security kennel. That, she said, is where she and Chase would like to raise money to build a new security kennel - one with larger, indoor-outdoor crates, so cruelty-case dogs that aren’t permitted into the other dogs’ play area will be able to run and to breathe fresh air. (The old security kennel would become the new isolation unit for cats.) The project’s estimated cost: $3 million. Not a tiny price, even to a top-tier ballplayer. And yet, once again, Jen Utley seems undaunted. “We can do it,” she said, “We’ll do it. . . . I want this to be my legacy.” —MCT

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Everyday cooking

FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2011

By Sawsan Kazak

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o prepare for the long hours of fasting, it is best to have a satisfying meal before dawn; something that will keep you energized until your next meal. In Islam, the meal you have before beginning your fast is called suhoor. Because these dishes will have to hold you over for a few

Aqua Fresca A

qua Fresca translates literally into “fresh water.” This drink is served over Mexico and it can quench your thirst in the heat of the weather. The key is to strain the pulpy fruit to make a clearer liquid. You don’t need a special juice extracting machine for this: you can simply put the fruits in a blender with a little bit of water, and then strain the juice with a sieve to have a pure puree. Feel free to add rosewater, saffron threads, and to replace the melon with strawberries, pineapple, or mango. The recipe works with any fruit that is soft enough to puree.

INGREDIENTS

hours, it is best if they keep you nourished and satisfied without being heavy or dehydrating.

Ramadan Kareem!

Send your favorite Ramadan recipe or suggestions to: sawsank@kuwaittimes.net

General tips for suhoor • Avoid fried and fatty foods, since they are heavy on your digestive system.

• Try to include complex carbohydrates in your suhoor meal such as grains and beans.

• Have a lot of satiating liquids, like water and fresh juices, as well as fresh fruits and raw vegetables.

• Avoid drinking tea and coffee, since they dehydrate the body.

• 1 large cantaloupe or half a watermelon, seeded and diced (about 3 cups) • 1 1/2 cups water • 2 to 4 tablespoons sugar • 2 to 3 limes, juiced

• Avoid overly sweet or overly salty food.

METHOD

• Have your suhoor meal at least one hour before going to sleep.

Sleeping right after your suhoor meal can upset your stomach the following day.

Puree cantaloupe and pour through a fine sieve to eliminate pulp. In a pitcher, mix strained fruit puree with water and season with sugar and lime juice, to taste.

Serve in individual glasses with ice cubes or crushed ice.

• Avoid foods that upset your stomach such as spicy dishes.

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Fo o d FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2011

Spiced carrot & lentil soup

INGREDINETS • 2 tsp cumin seeds • pinch chilli flakes • 2 tbsp olive oil • 600g carrots, washed and coarsely grated (no need to peel) • 140g split red lentils • 1l hot vegetable stock (from a cube is fine) • 125ml milk • plain yogurt and naan bread, to serve METHOD 1. Heat a large saucepan and dry-fry the cumin seeds and chilli flakes for 1 min, or until they start to jump around the pan and release their aromas. Scoop out about half of the seeds with a spoon and set aside. Add the oil, carrot, lentils, stock and milk to the pan and bring to the boil.

Simmer for 15 mins until the lentils have swollen and softened.

2. Whizz the soup with a stick blender or in a food processor until smooth (or leave it chunky if you prefer). Season to taste and finish with a dollop of yogurt and a sprinkling of the reserved toasted spices. Serve with warmed naan breads.

TRY THIS Make it Moroccan Substitute the chilli flakes and cumin seeds for a few teaspoons of harissa paste. You could add cooked shredded chicken at the end of cooking, too.

Make it dairy-free For a richer but dairy-free alternative, use a can of reduced-fat coconut milk instead of the milk.

Spiced bulghar, chickpea & squash salad

INGREDIENTS • 1 butternut squash, about 1kg/2lb 4oz peeled, seeded and cut into small chunks

• 2 red peppers, seeded and roughly sliced • 2 tbsp harissa paste, or regular chilli or curry paste • 1 tbsp oil • 140g bulghar wheat • 600ml hot vegetable stock • 1 garlic clove, crushed • juice of 1/2 lemon • 150g yogurt • 400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed • 180g bag baby leaf spinach

METHOD 1. Heat the oven to 200c/fan 180c/gas 6. Toss the squash and red pepper in the harissa paste and oil. Spread the chunks out on a large baking tray and roast for 20 mins until softened and the edges of the vegetables are starting to char.

2. Meanwhile put the Bulghar wheat in a large bowl and pour over the hot stock, then cover tightly with cling film and leave to absorb the liquid for 15 mins until the grains are tender, but still have a little bite. In a separate bowl, mix the garlic and lemon juice into the yogurt and season to taste.

3. Let the Bulghar wheat cool slightly then toss in the roasted vegetables, chickpeas and spinach - the leaves may wilt a little. Season, if you want, drizzle with the garlicky yogurt and serve warm.

Easy stuffed Peppers Ingredients • 1 pound ground beef • 1/2 cup uncooked long grain white rice • 1 cup water • 6 green bell peppers • 2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder • 1/4 teaspoon onion powder salt and pepper to taste • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning Method 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175

degrees C).

2. Place the rice and water in a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and cook 20 minutes. In a skillet over medium heat, cook the beef until evenly browned.

3. Remove and discard the tops, seeds, and membranes of the bell peppers.

Arrange peppers in a baking dish with the hollowed sides facing upward. (Slice the bottoms of the peppers if necessary so that they will stand upright.)

4. In a bowl, mix the browned beef,

cooked rice, 1 can tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper.

Spoon an equal amount of the mixture into each hollowed pepper. Mix the remaining tomato sauce and Italian seasoning in a bowl, and pour over the stuffed peppers.

5. Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, basting with sauce every 15 minutes, until the peppers are tender.

Potato, broccoli & goat’s cheese salad INGREDIENTS • 500g new potatoes, or diced potatoes • 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil • zest and juice 1 lemon • 1 broccoli head, cut into florets • 200g green beans, trimmed • 20g pack dill, leaves roughly chopped • 100g goat’s cheese • 2 tbsp toasted pine nuts METHOD 1. Boil the potatoes for 12-15 mins until tender. Lift out with a slotted spoon, drain well, then place in a serving bowl with the oil, lemon zest and juice. Leave to cool.

2. Add the broccoli and beans to the pan of boiling water. Cook for 4 mins until tender but still with some bite. Drain, then cool under cold running water.

3. Stir the drained broccoli and beans into the cooled potatoes with the dill and some seasoning. Break the goat’s cheese into chunks and scatter over with the pine nuts.

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 FASCINATING STORY OF THE 99 Baghdad lies in ruins, destroyed by the marauding armies of Hulagu Khan. The brave librarians of the great Dar Al-Hikma rush to save the glory of the ancient world’s accumulated wisdom, little knowing that centuries later their efforts will bear strange fruit. While the Noor Stones were created to save the library, their power has transcended that task and in our own time has provided extraordinary abilities to an international group of young people, the world’s newest superheroes

www.the99.org

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

known as… The 99.

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FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2011

Best exotic vacation locations

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he unexplored world beckons you, the lure of unfamiliar cultures is too strong to resist, and at night you dream of windswept grasslands, enchanting tribal music, centuries-old open air markets, and new discoveries at every turn.

Xpu-Ha Palace - Riviera Maya, Mexico Nestled within tropical gardens and on a spectacular white sand beach, this is the ultimate adventure for ecological and nature lovers who want to experience the exotic without giving up the luxury! Bungalow-style accommodations complement the natural setting, but under these thatched roofs you’ll find plush beds, double Jacuzzi, satellite TV, air conditioning, purified water, coffeemakers, and a large private terrace with a hammock.

You can visit nearby Mayan ruins on one of the included tours, or just lounge on the beach. 24-hour room service lets you enjoy a romantic meal on your terrace, day or night, and children are catered to at their Kids Club.

And when you stay at one Palace Resort, you can enjoy the amenities of all six Mexico Palace Resorts!

Ice Hotel - Jukkasjarvi, Sweden Imagine a hotel which is built from scratch every year. A new design, new suites, a brand new reception - in fact everything in it is crisp and new. Well, there is such a hotel; the Ice Hotel, situated on the shores of the Torne River, in the old village of Jukkasj?rvi in Swedish Lapland. 10 000 tons of crystal clear ice from the ‘ice manufacturing plant’, the Torne River, and 30 000 tons of pure snow generously supplied by Mother Nature are needed to build the Ice Hotel every year. The hotel sleeps over 100 guests, and every bedroom is unique. The Ice Hotel includes an Ice Chapel (in case you want to get married while you’re there!), an ice art exhibition hall, a cinema and the world famous ‘Absolut Ice Bar’.

Once there you can partake of several winterwonderland excursions, such as a dog-sled

ride or snowmobile safari, or an overnight trip to a wilderness camp.

Swedish Ice Hotel Exploring the Galapagos Islands 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador, the remote Galapagos offers a unique opportunity to observe a variety of wildlife in one of the Earth’s greatest natural laboratories. In a stark volcanic landscape, millions of sea birds, land and marine iguanas, fur seals, sea lions, and the endangered Galapagos tortoise make their home, largely unafraid of humans. The best months to see nesting seabirds are February and March, with late March marking the return of the waved albatross from its long ocean voyage. May and June is the time to spot marine-iguana and sea-turtle hatchlings. The return of colder currents in July and August turn out playful sea lions and bring whales close to shore. In December you can see the Darwin finches building their nests.

The coolest season is September through October, when skies are a constant gray. Little precipitation occurs during this time; the rainy season is actually from January to March, though it’s short, hot, and totally unpredictable.

Banyan Tree Resort - Seychelles Islands These 115 islands in the Indian Ocean have retained their charm and mystique as one of the last paradises on earth. Nestled in Intendance Bay with spectacular views of the Indian Ocean, one of the world’s most beautiful talcum powder beaches, swaying palm trees and lush tropical forest, Banyan Tree Seychelles provides a rare taste of paradise. For the very best of Seychellois architecture, its 36 stunning pool villas combine contemporary, colonial and ‘plantation’ dÈcor; from high sloping ceilings, airy verandas and louvered doors to ethnic woven textiles - allowing you to experience Banyan Tree’s signature blend of romance, rejuvenation and exotic sensuality in Seychellois style.

A Costa Rican Jungle Adventure Giving Eden a run for its money, Costa Rica is one of the most biologically rich countries in the world. Its rainforests are literally teeming with wildlife, making it an animal-lover’s paradise. Explore a place where the terrain ranges from luxuriant rain forests and jungle landscapes to deserted beaches and windswept volcanic summits. Along the way, view landscapes of rushing waterfalls and sleepy lagoons, unspoiled beaches and tropical rain forests, where a virtual kaleidoscope of plants, birds, and wildlife may be found. Costa Rica is a naturalist’s paradise that has remained largely immune to commercial development and is home to more than 12,000 plant, 235 mammal, 845 bird, and 360 amphibian species.

The Maharaja’s Vacation - India This unique vacation begins in Delhi, where blessings for a happy marriage can be offered by a Hindu priest. Travel by horsedrawn carriage to the beloved Taj Mahal - the ultimate monument to eternal devotion, then on to Jaipur, the famed “pink city” of Rajasthan, stopping at the abandoned Fahetpur Sikri en route. Enjoy a 3 night stay at India’s premier deluxe property, where you may pamper yourselves with a variety of Ayurvedic treatments, massages, sauna or steam baths in their complete spa. Next up an elephant ride to Amber Fort to tour the colorful temples and palaces, then to Udaipur, where the Lake Palace rises like a lotus out of Lake Pichola. Spend 2 nights in what many consider the most romantic city in India. You then fly to Goa for 3 nights, where you’ll have the opportunity to enjoy the tropical paradise and fine cuisine of this lush coastal state from the luxurious comfort of one of India’s most atmospheric spas. Conclude your journey in Bombay, where you will visit Elephanta Island, Malabar Hill, and the hanging gardens perched atop the hill. This is truly a unique vacation getaway!

Masai Mara National Reserve Safari - Kenya Get the thrill of a safari while enjoying the comforts of luxury on a seven-day adventure.

This is the most popular game park in Kenya, and for wildlife worshippers, this slice of the Serengeti Plains is a bit of heaven. Visitors are rewarded with a bounty of beasts, from big cats and pachyderms to zebra and buffalo.

Come for the annual wildebeest migration— usually July through October—when the pounding of millions of hooves beat the earth. Depart early morning for a game drive just as the dawn light begins to stir the sleeping lions, zebras, and giraffes. Stop for a delicious lunch mid-day, then it’s back out for an afternoon drive on the vast grasslands, when the elephants, wildebeest, and hippos are most visible as they take to watering holes to cool off. Return to your rooms and sip a sundowner on your private verandah as inky darkness washes over the landscape and the night sounds of the Masai Mara come alive. A gourmet dinner ends each day of this perfect vacation adventure.

Bhutan - Himalayas Nestled in the eastern Himalayas, Bhutan ranks among the top ten hot spots in the world for bio-diversity. Over 70% of Bhutan is blanketed in virgin forests, with rippling pristine rivers meandering alongside terraced rice fields. Surrounded by high Himalayan Mountains the essence of Bhutan is serenity and beauty distilled through the ages of time.

Visitors to the country will be surprised that the culture and the traditional lifestyle is still intact and at the degree to which it permeates all facets of modern day secular life. From the traditional woven garments to the prayer flags on high mountain slopes, from the religious mask dances to the folk dances, this rich heritage is proudly evident and offers a unique cultural setting for your exotic vacation getaway. (www.sunsettravel.com)

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Top tips for travel during Ramadan

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amadan Mubarak! With the Muslim holy month of Ramadan here already, now’s a good time to learn to say ‘Happy Ramadan!’ - especially if you’re considering travel to countries with majority Muslim populations, like Indonesia, Egypt, Turkey and Morocco. With a few pointers, you can join a happy Ramadan already in progress.

1. Know the basics Ramadan is a lunar month dedicated to sawm, or fasting, one of the five pillars of Islam. From sunup to sundown, the faithful abstain from food, drink, tobacco and sex to concentrate on spiritual renewal. After sunset, there’s a euphoric iftar, or meal, to break the fast, followed by a late-night feast and sahur, a meal before the sun comes up and fasting begins again. Yet Ramadan isn’t all daytime discipline and nightly parties: it’s a time of generosity and zakat, or charity, another of the five pillars of Islam. Fasting isn’t easy, so everyone slows down during the day - but you’ll also notice people going out of their way to extend small kindnesses.

2. Plan ahead Like any holiday, Ramadan affects business as usual. Many venues operate with limited hours and staff, so try to book accommodation, transport and tours via internet or phone before you arrive. Even if offices have posted hours, call ahead to ensure someone’s available to meet your needs. Most restaurants close by day, so pack lunches or reserve ahead at restaurants that open for lunch in tourist areas.

3. Shift your schedule Nightly festivities trump early bedtimes during Ramadan. Sunset streets come alive with light displays, music and offers of sweets at every intersection. After an iftar of dates, soup or savory snacks, people of all ages binge on sweets until the late-night feast followed by more visits and sweets, until wired kids finally wear themselves out.

There’s no rush to get up the next day, unless shopping is on the agenda. Stores often close in the afternoon, and bargaining is more pleasant before midday heat kicks in and lack of water is felt. As sundown approaches, the mood turns upbeat, with Ramadan finery on display and tantalizing aromas filling the streets.

4. Get into the Ramadan spirit Don’t worry: you won’t be expected to fast during Ramadan. According to tradition, even Muslim travellers are exempt from fasting - it’s hard to do at home under controlled conditions, let alone in unfamiliar places. To show your support, avoid eating or drinking on the street in front of people who are probably fasting, and grant people privacy at prayer times.

5. Accept hospitality When a new friend offers you special Ramadan sweets or invites you to a family feast, polite refusal would be crushing. You’re not obliged to return the favor or eat the sweets: you honor givers just by accepting their generosity in the spirit of Ramadan.

Kindness can be repaid by practicing zakat,

and giving to a local charity.

Iftar - breaking the fast Iftar is the time each day when the fast is broken and a meal is taken with family and friends. During Iftar there is additional pressure on taxis and other public transport so it’s a good idea to time your movements around avoiding having to travel at this time.

Eid - the end of the fast As the end of Ramadan approaches there is normally a lot of activity as people traditionally visit families to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr, the three-day festival marking the end of the fast. You should plan accordingly if you’re planning to travel at this time. (www.lonelyplanet.com)

Like any holiday, Ramadan affects business as usual. Many venues operate with limited hours and staff, so try to book accommodation, transport and tours via Internet or phone before you arrive. Even if offices have posted hours, call ahead to ensure someone’s available to meet your needs.

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Books

FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2011

The Aging Myth

By Joseph Chang Ph.D. •

Do you wonder why some people look and feel younger than their actual age while others appear older than they really are?

Do you believe that the way you age is genetically predetermined?

Do you believe your aging destiny is inherited on the day you are conceived?

Do you feel helpless about aging, as if there is nothing you can do about it?

• • •

You do not have to buy into the myths about aging. This book is going to empower you with good news as Dr. Joseph Chang reveals that the destiny of your genes is not fixed-you can positively impact the way you age from this day forward. He will share new scientific insights to help you look and feel younger than your birthday suggests!

The information contained in these pages unlocks the mysteries of aging.

Dr. Chang explains how, using gene expression science to decode aging processes, he and collaborators have

been able to identify, target, and reset important aging-related genes to a more youthful state and positively influence the way we age. He presents compelling evidence and easyto-follow steps for you and everyone in your family to begin living younger, longer.

It has been said that as much as people fear death, they fear the ravages of aging even more. The fact is, everyone eventually dies, but some are still youthful when they die.

As We Speak: How to Make Your Point and Have It Stick

By Peter Meyers , Shann Nix

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he world is full of brilliant people whose ideas are never heard. This book is designed to make sure that you’re not one of them.

Even for the most self-confident among us, public speaking can be a nerve-racking ordeal. Whether we are speaking to a large audience, within a group, or in a one-onone conversation, the way in which we communicate ideas, as much as the ideas themselves, can determine success or failure. In this invaluable guide by two of today’s most sought-after communication experts, Peter Meyers and Shann Nix offer a comprehensive approach for tackling the underlying obstacles that almost all of us experience when faced with speaking in public. In As We Speak, you’ll learn to master the three building blocks at the core of their approach: Content: Organize the information you want to convey and construct a clear and lucid architecture of ideas that will lead your listener through a memorable emotional experience.

Delivery: Use your body, voice, eyes, and hands in ways that engage your audience and naturally support your message.

State: Bring yourself into peak performance condition. Your state is the way you feel when you perform, and it is both the most powerful and most frequently overlooked component of communication.

Meyers and Nix show how to apply these principles in a wide variety of situations.

You’ll learn how to handle difficult face-toface conversations with colleagues, friends, and family; how to make the best use of e-

mail, phone, video conference, and other technology; and how to communicate in a crisis, when all eyes are on you and emotions are running high. Meyers and Nix also emphasize that effective communication is impossible without first becoming aware of your own true goals and personal beliefs, and they offer helpful tools and exercises that will lead you to greater clarity and selfknowledge.

Accessible, inspiring, and laden with useful tips, As We Speak will help you discover your authentic voice and learn to convey your ideas in the most powerful and memorable way possible.

The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement

The Social Animal

By David Brooks

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ith unequaled insight and brio, New York Times columnist David Brooks has long explored and explained the way we live. Now Brooks turns to the building blocks of human flourishing in a multilayered, profoundly illuminating work grounded in everyday life. This is the story of how success happens, told through the lives of one composite American couple, Harold and Erica. Drawing on a wealth of current research from numerous disciplines, Brooks takes Harold and Erica from infancy to old age, illustrating a fundamental new understanding of human nature along the way: The unconscious mind, it turns out, is not a dark, vestigial place, but a creative one, where most of the brain’s work gets done. This is the realm where character is formed and where our most important life decisions are madethe natural habitat of The Social Animal.

Brooks reveals the deeply social aspect of our minds and exposes the bias in modern culture that overemphasizes rationalism, individualism, and IQ. He demolishes conventional definitions of success and looks toward a culture based on trust and humility. The Social Animal is a moving intellectual adventure, a story of achievement and a defense of progress.

It is an essential book for our time-one that will have broad social impact and will change the way we see ourselves and the world.

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Books

FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2011

2030: The Real Story of What Happens to America

Brain Bugs: How the Brain’s Flaws Shape Our Lives

By Albert Brooks

By Dean Buonomano

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s this what’s in store?

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ith its trillions of connections, the human brain is more beautiful and complex than anything we could ever build, but it’s far from perfect. Our memory is unreliable; we can’t multiply large sums in our heads; advertising manipulates our judgment; we tend to distrust people who are different from us; supernatural beliefs and superstitions are hard to shake; we prefer instant gratification to long-term gain; and what we presume to be rational decisions are often anything but. Drawing on striking examples and fascinating studies, neuroscientist Dean Buonomano illuminates the causes and consequences of these “bugs” in terms of the brain’s innermost workings and their evolutionary purposes. He then goes one step further, examining how our brains function-and malfunction-in the digital, predator-free, information-saturated, special effects-addled world that we have built for ourselves. Along the way, Brain Bugs gives us the tools to hone our cognitive strengths while recognizing our inherent weaknesses.

June 12, 2030 started out like any other day in memory-and by then, memories were long. Since cancer had been cured fifteen years before, America’s population was aging rapidly. That sounds like good news, but consider this: millions of baby boomers, with a big natural predator picked off, were sucking dry benefits and resources that were never meant to hold them into their eighties and beyond.

Young people around the country simmered with resentment toward “the olds” and anger at the treadmill they could never get off of just to maintain their parents’ entitlement programs.

But on that June 12th, everything changed: a massive earthquake devastated Los Angeles, and the government, always teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, was unable to respond.

The fallout from the earthquake sets in motion a sweeping novel of ideas that pits national hope for the future against assurances from the past and is peopled by a memorable cast of refugees and billionaires, presidents and revolutionaries, all struggling to find their way. In 2030, the author’s all-too-believable imagining of where today’s challenges could lead us tomorrow makes gripping and thoughtprovoking reading.

Why We Make Mistakes

By Joseph T. Hallinan

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e forget our passwords. We pay too much to go to the gym. We think we’d be happier if we lived in California (we wouldn’t), and we think we should stick with our first answer on tests (we shouldn’t). Why do we make mistakes? And could we do a little better?

We human beings have design flaws. Our eyes play tricks on us, our stories change in the retelling, and most of us are fairly sure we’re way above average. In Why We Make Mistakes, journalist Joseph T. Hallinan sets out to explore the captivating science of human error-how we think, see, remember, and forget, and how this sets us up for wholly irresistible mistakes.

In his quest to understand our imperfections, Hallinan delves into psychology, neuroscience, and economics, with forays into aviation, consumer behavior, geography, football, stock picking, and more. He discovers that some of the same

qualities that make us efficient also make us error prone. We learn to move rapidly through the world, quickly recognizing patterns-but overlooking details. Which is why thirteen-yearold boys discover errors that NASA scientists miss-and why you can’t find the beer in your refrigerator.

Why We Make Mistakes is enlivened by real-life stories-of weathermen whose predictions are uncannily accurate and a witness who sent an innocent man to jail-and offers valuable advice, such as how to remember where you’ve hidden something important. You’ll learn why multitasking is a bad idea, why men make errors women don’t, and why most people think San Diego is west of Reno (it’s not).

Why We Make Mistakes will open your eyes to the reasons behind your mistakes-and have you vowing to do better the next time.

—bn.com

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Beauty

FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2011

8 secrets to making your

manicure last longer Moisturize your cuticles Dry, peeling cuticles can be both ugly and painful, especially when they turn into hangnails. Keep cuticles moisturized, especially in dry, winter months, with a good cuticle cream or oil. Once cuticles are softened, you can use an orangewood stick covered in cotton to push back the cuticles.

Don’t have cuticle oil on hand? Use a rich hand cream or even lip balm.

Choose the shortest nail to cut by Not sure how short to clip nails? Choose the shortest nail as your guide. Once you’ve clipped, line each finger up with its opposite, cuticle-to-cuticle, to ensure you cut short enough.

Prep nails by filing After you clip nails, file them into an oval shape mimicking the curve of your nail base. Some women prefer square nails. My hands happen to look better with oval nails, but other women swear their look better with squared nails. It’s really your preference.

Remove oils from the nail before polishing It’s important to wipe nails with a nail polish remover before applying polish even if you don’t have nail polish to remove. Oils left on the nail (like the hand cream or lip balm) will keep polish from sticking.

Wrap the tips of your nails with polish When applying polish, be sure to bring it over the front edge of the nail and slightly under the tip. This helps prevent chipping.

When polishing, 2 thin coats are better than one thick coat. You’ll find it dries faster. If the polish chips, it’s best to remove the paint from the nail and start over. If you don’t have time, dip your finger in nail polish remover and smooth over the chipped area and re-apply a topcoat.

Why it’s important to remove oils, plus, how to fix a tear in the nail

How to maintain fresh polish Keep your mani/pedi looking fresh by adding a new layer of topcoat every other day. A proper manicure should last 1 to 2 weeks. A pedicure should last 2 to 4.

How to deal with smudges and stains Smudged your polish while painting? Try this trick: dip your finger in nail polish remover and use it to smooth the surface, repainting with a topcoat.

The secret to keeping nails from smudging is proper drying time. Surfaces will feel dry to the touch after 10 minutes, but don’t be fooled. It actually takes an entire hour for nails to completely dry.

Fingers stained from nicotine, berries or too dark polish can be fixed with whitening toothpaste like Rembrandt. Then brush the skin or nails with a toothbrush.

How to deal with a broken or torn nail When a nail breaks, the best thing to do is to cut it off. But here’s a trick if the break is low down (and painful, undoubtedly): cut a tiny strip of gauze from a teabag, place it over the tear and the paint over with polish.

— About

How to give yourself a

French manicure 1.

2.

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Hit the drugstore or beauty supply center to pick up your tools: base/top coat, tip guide strips, neutral polish and white polish. Neutral polishes are very pale, sheer shades with a pink, beige or peach cast.

Consider kits that offer everything in one convenient box.

Clip, file and shape your nails. Tend to your cuticles, then wash and dry your nails completely. Apply the base/top coat and let it dry.

Peel off a guide strip and affix it below the tip of a nail, following its natural curve.

The guide will allow you to paint an even white tip with ease and precision.

Decide where to place the guide strips based on the length of your nails. In general, the longer the nail, the longer the white tip should be. Make sure that the

5.

6.

7.

arch of the guide is smooth and rounded and that the tip lengths are all relatively consistent.

Paint each nail tip white, extending the brush stroke from the top of the guide to the end of the nail. Take care not to get any white polish on the body of the nail below the guide. Let the tips dry.

Remove all the guides. Dissolve leftover adhesive by rubbing it gently with a cotton swab dipped in alcohol.

Apply two coats of the neutral polish, letting the first coat dry before the second application. Finish with a thin layer of base/top coat.

— www.ehow.com

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Beauty

FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2011

How to wear a

maxi dress

2011 summer accessory trends

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his year’s summer style is all about bright colors and delicate details.

Look your best at every pool party and beach trip with this list of 2011 summer accessory trends.

Lace From clothing to accessories, lace is one of this season’s most-loved trends.

The delicate, lightweight fabric is prime summer material. If you prefer lace on a smaller scale, you’ll love accessories such as lace headbands. Use one to add a feminine touch to a messy bun, which will help you stay cool in the summer sun.

Envelope clutches This season, oversized clutches have been narrowed down to classy and simplistic envelope versions. Perfect to grab and go, envelope clutches will help you carry your essentials in style. Pair one with a maxi dress and a floppy hat for an on trend look.

Feathers If you’d like to add a bohemian, sultry feel to your ensemble, feather accessories are exactly what you need. Earrings made with black and brown feathers would look great with coordinating neutrals and earth tones. Feather accessories may be lightweight, but their impact on an outfit is anything but tiny.

Don’t wear clunky boots Some brave fashionistas attempt to carry the maxi year-round with boots for chilly weather. While we’re all for maxing out a wardrobe’s potential, we’re not a fan of clunky boots with a maxi dress; sandals or wedges are a much better footwear option for a long dress.

For the neatest look, make sure your dress doesn’t drag the floor (looks sloppy) but merely skims your heel.

Friendship bracelets This season, friendship bracelets have left the summer camps, ready to adorn your wrist. Wear one by itself, or wear several for an eye-catching look. Mix and match colors and shades to create an arm full of color.

Tie dye Just like friendship bracelets, tie dye has taken a grown-up twist for the summer. With so many possible color combinations, you’ll be sure to find something you love. Use tie dye scarf as a headband, or wear one to add an instant splash of color on a breezy summer night.

Do wear flats Give you maxi dress a casual vibe by adding flat shoes - especially cute sandals - with it.

For the neatest look, make sure your dress doesn’t drag the floor (looks sloppy) but merely skims your heel.

Even if you think your feet won’t show under a maxi, remember that when you sit or walk, the shoes will definitely show. Embellished sandals add a fun, summery vibe to the look.

If you need the height of a heel, try a wedge sandal. It is substantial enough to keep the look more casual (where a stiletto is too dressy), but it gives your height a boost.

Coral shades Coral has been popular for several seasons, but this summer may be it’s strongest yet. You’d probably agree that coral has become the “it color” of summer 2011. An amazing mix of orange and pink, coral can instantly brighten up your outfit, even in small amounts. —About

Do wear a print Not sure where to start with maxi dresses? Try a pretty floral print in a lightweight fabric for a fresh breezy look. Pair with soft hair and sandals and you’re set.

Don’t forget to watch the fit Because of the long, flowing silhouette of the maxi dress, often the only fitted areas are the bust or waist. For that reason, you need to pay especially close attention to the top portion of the dress and demand perfect fit.

Unless you have spectacular breasts, opt for some support from a bra or it will drag down the entire look.

Also watch strapless maxis to make sure the bodice fits perfectly: too big and you’ll gape open up top, too tight and you’ll pop over the tops and sides Don’t wear frou-frou Ruffles, bows, hi-low hems, bell sleeves: all good fashion additions, but not for a maxi dress. The maxi dress gets its drama from a long silhouette, and — on some maxis — a pretty print. That’s really all a maxi dress needs to be successful so anything more is overkill and looks tacky. —About

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Health

FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 2011

Barriers to fitness: Overcoming common challenges

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ticking to a regular exercise schedule isn’t easy. After all, there are plenty of potential hindrances - time, boredom, injuries, self-confidence. But these issues don’t need to stand in your way.

Consider practical strategies for overcoming common barriers to fitness.

Barrier No. 1: I don’t have enough time to exercise Setting aside time to exercise can be a challenge. Use a little creativity to get the most out of your time.

Squeeze in short walks throughout the day. If you don’t have time for a full workout, don’t sweat it. Shorter spurts of exercise, such as 10 minutes of walking spaced throughout the day, offer benefits too. Get up earlier. If your days are packed and the evening hours are just as hectic, get up 30 minutes earlier twice a week to exercise.

Once you’ve adjusted to early-morning workouts, add another day or two to the routine.

Drive less, walk more. Park in the back row of the parking lot or even a few blocks away and walk to your destination.

Revamp your rituals. Your weekly Saturday matinee with the kids or your best friend could be reborn as your weekly Saturday bike ride, rock-climbing lesson or trip to the pool.

Barrier No. 2: I think exercise is boring It’s natural to grow weary of a repetitive workout day after day, especially when you’re going it alone. But exercise doesn’t have to be boring.

Choose activities you enjoy. You’ll be

more likely to stay interested. Remember, anything that gets you moving counts.

Vary the routine. Rotate among several activities - such as walking, swimming and cycling - to keep you on your toes while conditioning different muscle groups. Join forces. Exercise with friends, relatives, neighbors or co-workers. You’ll enjoy the camaraderie and the encouragement of the group. Explore new options. Learn new skills while getting in a workout.

Check out exercise classes or sports leagues at a recreation center or health club.

Barrier No. 3: I’m self-conscious about how I look Don’t get down on yourself! Remind yourself what a great favor you’re doing for your cardiovascular health, or focus on how much stronger you feel after a workout.

Avoid the crowd. If you’re uncomfortable exercising around others, go solo at first. Try an exercise video or an activityoriented video game. Or consider investing in a stationary bicycle, treadmill, stairclimbing machine or other piece of home exercise equipment.

Focus on the future. Praise yourself for making a commitment to your health. And remember that as you become fitter and more comfortable exercising, your selfconfidence is likely to improve as well.

Barrier No. 4: I’m too tired to exercise after work No energy to exercise? Without exercise, you’ll have no energy. It’s a vicious cycle. But breaking the cycle with physical

activity is one of the best gifts you can give yourself.

Try a morning dose of exercise.

Remember the suggestion to get up 30 minutes earlier to exercise? Hop on the treadmill or stationary bicycle while you listen to the radio or watch the morning news. Or step outside for a brisk walk.

Make lunchtime count. Keep a pair of walking shoes at your desk, and take a brisk walk during your lunch break.

Be prepared. Put workout clothes on top of your dresser, socks and all. Keep a full water bottle in the fridge. Have an exercise video queued up and ready to go when you get home at night.Hit the hay earlier. Running on empty is no way to face a full day. Go to bed earlier to make sure you’re getting enough sleep.

Barrier No. 5: I’m too lazy to exercise If the mere thought of a morning jog makes you tired, try these thoughts on for size: Set realistic expectations. If your mental bar is too high, you might give up without even trying. Start with a walk around the block. Don’t give up if you feel worn out.

Take another walk around the block tomorrow. Keep it up, and eventually you’ll no longer feel worn out.Work with your nature, not against it. Plan physical activity for times of the day when you tend to feel more energetic - or at least not quite so lazy.Schedule exercise as you would schedule an important appointment. Block off times for physical activity, and make sure your friends and family are aware of your commitment. Ask for their

encouragement and support.

Barrier No. 6: I’m not athletic Natural athletic ability isn’t a prerequisite to physical activity.

Keep it simple. Try something basic, such as a daily walk.Start a team. Join up with friends who are in the same boat.

And have fun while helping each other work out.Forget the competition. Don’t worry about becoming a superstar athlete or joining the hard-bodied athletes at the fitness club. Simply focus on the positive changes you’re making to your body and mind.Barrier No. 7: I’ve tried to exercise in the past and failed Don’t throw in the towel. You can’t see it when you lower your cholesterol or reduce your risk of diabetes, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t doing yourself a great favor. Re-evaluate what went wrong, and learn from your mistakes.

Pace yourself. Start small and build up to more-intense workouts later, when your body is ready.Set realistic goals. Don’t promise yourself you’re going to work out for an hour every day, and then get down on yourself when you fall short. Stick with goals you can more easily achieve, such as exercising 20 minutes a day, three days a week for the first month.

Remember why you’re exercising. Use your personal fitness goals as motivation and reward yourself as you meet your goals. —Mayoclinic

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Health

FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 2011

Exercise: 7 benefits of regular physical activity You know exercise is good for you, but do you know how good? From boosting your mood to improving your sex life, find out how exercise can improve your life.

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ant to feel better, have more energy and perhaps even live longer? Look no further than exercise. The health benefits of regular exercise and physical activity are hard to ignore. And the benefits of exercise are yours for the taking, regardless of your age, sex or physical ability. Need more convincing to exercise? Check out these seven ways exercise can improve your life.

No. 1: Exercise controls weight Exercise can help prevent excess weight gain or help maintain weight loss. When you engage in physical activity, you burn calories. The more intense the activity, the more calories you burn. You don’t need to set aside large chunks of time for exercise to reap weight-loss benefits. If you can’t do an actual workout, get more active throughout the day in simple ways - by taking the stairs instead of the elevator or revving up your household chores.

No. 2: Exercise combats health conditions and diseases Worried about heart disease?

Hoping to prevent high blood pressure? No matter what your current weight, being active boosts high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or “good,” cholesterol and decreases unhealthy triglyc-

erides. This one-two punch keeps your blood flowing smoothly, which decreases your risk of cardiovascular diseases. In fact, regular physical activity can help you prevent or manage a wide range of health problems and concerns, including stroke, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, depression, certain types of cancer, arthritis and falls.

No. 3: Exercise improves mood Need an emotional lift? Or need to blow off some steam after a stressful day? A workout at the gym or a brisk 30-minute walk can help. Physical activity stimulates various brain chemicals that may leave you feeling happier and more relaxed. You may also feel better about your appearance and yourself when you exercise regularly, which can boost your confidence and improve your self-esteem.

No. 4: Exercise boosts energy Winded by grocery shopping or household chores? Regular physical activity can improve your muscle strength and boost your endurance.

Exercise and physical activity deliver oxygen and nutrients to your tissues and help your cardiovascular system work more efficiently. And when your heart and lungs work more efficiently,

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you have more energy to go about your daily chores.

No. 5: Exercise promotes better sleep Struggling to fall asleep? Or to stay asleep? Regular physical activity can help you fall asleep faster and deepen your sleep. Just don’t exercise too close to bedtime, or you may be too energized to fall asleep.

No. 6: Exercise puts the spark back into your sex life Do you feel too tired or too out of shape to enjoy physical intimacy?

Regular physical activity can leave you feeling energized and looking better, which may have a positive effect on your sex life. But there’s more to it than that. Regular physical activity can lead to enhanced arousal for women. And men who exercise regularly are less likely to have problems with erectile dysfunction than are men who don’t exercise.

No. 7: Exercise can be fun Exercise and physical activity can be a fun way to spend some time. It gives you a chance to unwind, enjoy the outdoors or simply engage in activities that make you happy. Physical activity can also help you connect with family or

friends in a fun social setting. So, take a dance class, hit the hiking trails or join a soccer team. Find a physical activity you enjoy, and just do it. If you get bored, try something new.

The bottom line on exercise Exercise and physical activity are a great way to feel better, gain health benefits and have fun. As a general goal, aim for at least 30 minutes of physical activity every day. If you want to lose weight or meet specific fitness goals, you may need to exercise more.

Remember to check with your doctor before starting a new exercise program, especially if you have any health concerns. (www.mayoclinic.com)

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Arts

FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2011

Focus on Ryan Mosley Mosley uses the timeworn shades of Titian and Manet to unleash scenes of riotous hedonism, often with a darkly erotic twist Sirens by Ryan Mosley

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RYAN MOSLEY: Archaic/Futuristic

t makes sense that while Ryan Mosley was an art student, he earned his crust as a guard at the National Gallery. His paintings are steeped in art history; they call up the shades of Manet, Picasso and Titian alike, yet they are far from a dutiful nod to past masters. Instead they set the stage for a rowdy party where mythic figures and folk heroes are revived to get drunk, play music and flirt.

In Mosley’s world, men with copious beards down gin, top-hatted minstrel-cowboys chew on tobacco pipes and play the banjo while women wielding parasols or sporting afro hair gather round.

Holding everything together is Mosley’s antiquated palette, a blend of sludgy greens and browns, the cream of faded paper, burnt orange and black that takes you right back to the muddied colors of medieval icons. Motifs sing out: comedy cactus-men and suggestive vegetation stand erect, adding to the undercurrent of frenzy and erotic menace; skulls - those timeless reminders that life is short - are another favorite.

Born in 1980, Mosley graduated from London’s Royal College in 2007 and quickly had his paintings Hoovered up by Saatchi - they featured in Newspeak, last year’s exhibition of recent British art.

Intrigued by the lack of a carnival culture in London, Mosley has looked at how folk heroes and rebels crop up in other traditions - from the rambling players of the commedia dell’arte to the wild west’s lone ranger or Australian outlaw Ned Kelly, famously depicted in the work of one of Mosley’s heroes, Sidney Nolan.

The life of pleasure his characters embrace is hardly carefree, though. The sozzled gnome-like figure in A Bar in France, loosely based on Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergere, might be fixated on the flower sprouting from his beard, but a huge skull looms behind him and silhouettes and phallic clubs

crowd the foreground. Cave Inn strikes a similar note, with its 19th-century couple locked in a groping embrace as sinister black cameos with pointed beards peer at them. As is often the case in Mosley’s work, his characters seem to parade on a set, recalling Shakespeare’s “All the world’s a stage” speech.

Mosley’s paintings manage to pull in several directions at once. His characters make merry, but the punchline is often a jolt of existential dread.

Why we like him: For Heavy Bouquet, where phallic curlicues grow like octopus arms from a harlequin’s chequered coat.

True original: Another presiding genius in Mosley’s work is Darwin, notably in his portraits of men with simian profiles that speak to 19th-century obsessions with cavemen, devolution and phrenology. An old paint-spattered print of the botanist who quietly smashed Victorian certainties about man’s place at the top of the evolutionary ladder is a fixture in his studio.

Where can I see him? At Alison Jacques gallery, London, to 13 August 2011.—Guardian

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Arts

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18th-century Paris: The capital of luxury

pulence, bling and luxury provoke powerful responses in an age of austerity, from wistful envy to righteous disgust. Working girls flocked to see lamé gowns on the silver screen in the hungry 1930s, but Marie Antoinette is scorned for wondering why in the 1790s the poor didn’t eat brioche when the bread ran out.

“Luxury” sounds so old fashioned, but the word still flourishes in marketing. The 21st-century “luxury goods market” embraces everything from jewels and luggage to private jets. In yoking a brand to luxury, advertisers draw on a vintage notion of refined taste - harking back to a world of connoisseurs, exquisite workmanship and, above all, sophistication.

It is this mélange of consumerism and lifestyle that the Getty exhibition Paris: Life and Luxury in the Eighteenth Century seeks to evoke. It is built round the outstanding collection of French decorative art that Jean Paul Getty, oil tycoon and once America’s richest man, left to his museum at his death.

Ancien Regime Paris was the epicentre of European style. “Fashion is to France what the gold mines of Peru are to Spain,” concluded Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Louis XIV’s minister in 1665. French manufacturing was geared to the carriage trade. Demolish the Paris luxury industry, the Baroness d’Oberkirch concluded, and French international supremacy would wither overnight.

Across the channel the British were grinding their teeth. France was Britain’s only real economic and diplomatic rival the two countries went to war seven times between 1688 and 1815. France was everything the new Protestant parliamentary state abhorred - Catholic, authoritarian, pleasure loving and effervescent. Yet still those thrifty Anglo Saxon Protestants could not contain their desire for French silks, tapestry, porcelain, mirrors, clocks and cabinetwork. “We are the whipped cream of Europe,” sighed Voltaire in 1735.

The exhibition regards Paris as the world headquarters of taste. “Paris is the world,” crowed Marivaux in 1734, “the rest of the earth is nothing but its suburbs.”

Two chic new faubourgs are centre stage - St Germain and St Honoré, where a new breed of financier built their hÙtels particulier. These stand- alone mansions set in their own gardens were designed to accommodate a new style of life, an elegant “vie privée”. Lofty rooms for formal receptions, the “appartements de parade”, were supplemented by intimate rooms for informal relaxation, “appartements de commodité”. “Those of the highest rank live in the smallest rooms,” noticed leading periodical Mercure de France at mid-century. The new interior architecture even spawned a matching wardrobe - fashionable loungewear for both him (banyans) and her (peignoirs).

Even dressing gowns had je ne sais quoi.

A day in the life of the 18th-century city mansion is recreated at the Getty, which stages the ritualised activities from dressing and writing, to collecting,

eating and partying - through which the rich exercised their politesse and turned their savoir vivre into a performance art.

Time is the driving theme. Dawn, high noon and sunset roughly divided the day for millennia, but the 18th-century spread of public clocks, domestic timepieces and watches hastened the rise of clock-time, beating a mechanical rhythm to work and play.

The prevalence of clocks instituted more demanding ideas of punctuality and time accounting. The grand bourgeoisie liked to be painted at their tasks with their timepieces demonstrating their conscientiousness. The noblesse was above petty quotidian regulations, but time waits for no man, even those in pink silk breeches.

The ubiquity of clocks was a sombre reminder of mortality, complained the painter Phillipe Mercier. “People put a pendulum clock on every mantelpiece;

polite Parisian day was the toilette - a ritual public dressing instituted by Louis XIV (1638-1715) and his mother Anne of Austria (1601-1666). The nobility and haute bourgeoisie imitated the royal routine, but in so doing transformed a piece of court ceremonial into a flamboyant exercise in taste and sociability. Rich men and women alike invited visitors to attend their levees, but it was the lady’s toilette that appealed as a titillating subject for art - a modern Venus exhibiting her charms.

However most women had dressed and prettified themselves before the guests were admitted. “The second toilette is nothing but a game invented by coquetry,” observed Louis-Sébastien Mercier. The toilette was a staged and artificial glimpse of secrecy and intimacy complete with charming props - the dressing table clothed in lace, the all important mirror, the gold or silver (later

shopping with taste. An art collection confirmed erudition, but also could be read as a self-portrait, revealing cultural range and chosen models of virtue.

Enlightened taste extended to experimental science. No pretentious mansion was complete without the odd telescope, barometer and globe. The Getty exhibits a planisphere clock, demonstrating mean time and solar time in cities around the globe, as well as the timing of the tides in northern ports. The oddest exhibit is a “mechanical picture” owned by dilettante scientist Joseph Bonnier de la Mosson.

Hidden clockwork brings the people and animals in the painting to life. The picture frame boasts three clocks: one a basic model, one telling the month and day, and another marking years and centuries.

It epitomises the peculiarities of the age of science.

By the 1750s the dinner hour was noon. Gastronomic success rested not

Detail of Lady Fastening Her Garter (also known as La Toilette), 1742, by Franaois Boucher.

Painting by Franaois Boucher.

they are wrong; what a lugubrious fashion. There is nothing so sad as to contemplate a pendulum. You see your life slipping away and the movement warns you of all the moments which will never return.” But what are luxury goods for if not to sooth the torments of the superrich? Designers such as André Charles Boulle made a specialty of gilded clock cases topped with Cupid triumphing over a recumbent Father Time.

As the sun rose over rococo Paris, the chic awoke in stylish single beds in niche bedrooms, leaving ballustraded beds in drafty state bedrooms unoccupied.

Compare the Getty’s imposing “lit ‡ la duchesse” with its new-fashion “lit a la turque”. The duchess-style bed is dressed to impress with a 14ft headboard hung with gold satin. The upholstered Turkish bed of gilded and gessoed beech and walnut is no less exquisite but could pass for a sofa. Court cases reveal that courtesans installed classy formal beds in their appartements d’amour, but invariably got down to business on a couch.

The first public performance of the

only on the best ingredients, but also on the service, the convivial atmosphere, the vivacity of the conversation and the visual interest of the table and eating room. The best tables groaned with a prince’s ransom of rococo silverware: a still-life centre piece or a branching epergne holding flowers and fruit surrounded by a flotilla of tureens, condiment sets and candelabra, edged with cutlery.

Silversmiths aimed to exhibit their wit and virtuosity, not just the raw value of white metal. Thomas Germain’s tureen is crowned with a silver cauliflower flanked by crayfish. Even serving dishes were designed to delight.

The excitement of life after sunset depended entirely on wealth before electric and gas lighting rolled back the darkness. The lights are dimmed in the last gallery to recreate an era when only firelight and candlelight illuminated a room.

In the exhibition book, Mimi Hellman evokes “limited circles of flickering brightness surrounded by encroaching gloom”.

Glittering enchantment was created by precious metals, gilding on furniture and

porcelain) toilette set, the perfumes, cosmetics and accessories. The fabrication of femininity was the story.

“The role of a pretty woman in much more serious than one might suppose,” Montesquieu observed in 1721. “There is nothing more important than what happens each morning at her toilette, surrounded by her servants; a general of an army pays no less attention to placing his right flanks or his reserves than she does to the placement of a patch . . .”

Next came business - exemplified here by Maurice-Quentin de la Tour’s pastel portrait of Gabriel Bernard de Rieux (1687-1745), a prominent member of the Paris parliament in his home office. He is depicted with books, papers, globe, pen and inkstand in a sumptuous domestic bureau.

After work came a little intellectual refreshment in one’s own galerie. For the French as for the British, luxury was potentially corrupting, so it needed to be purified. How could virtue be reconciled with the accumulation of unnecessary objects? One answer was to disinfect your

china, iridescent threads on clothes and jewels on the body. Brilliant cut gemstones came to life in candlelight, spotlighting the face of the wearer, accentuating what one commentator called “the sparkling fire of the eyes”.

Our day in the life of the posh culminates with a section devoted to private prayer - inevitably supported by religious props crafted in the best possible taste.

The age of reason was just as much an age of religion - though a lady’s prie dieu was exquisite.

Inevitably Parisian luxury had its critics. The city was “the abyss of the human species” for Jean Jacques Rousseau, who renounced fashion and donned archaic Armenian garb as protest. Yet Rousseau’s writing inspired its own modish aesthetic - a natural simplicity. What could be more picturesque than a duchess impersonating a dairymaid in straw hat and copious ribbons? Meanwhile, a parallel trade in

“populuxe” brought curtains, coffee pots and card tables, wallpaper and hot water bottles to middling and even some plebian homes in Paris: a democratisation of luxury.

Paris: Life and Luxury celebrates wellupholstered leisure and a demanding hyper refinement, but it is emphatically not the story of royalty and courts. As every visitor to Versailles knows, Paris was not the seat of monarchy. Louis XV even ordered a special ring road to bypass the city en route from Versailles to Saint Denis. The historian Colin Jones characterises 18th-century Paris as “the kingless city of Enlightenment”.

It was the capital of luxury and taste, but also of science and independent public opinion. The exhibition is not a study in decadence, insists the curator Charissa Bremer-David, but an attempt to recapture a world subsequently overshadowed by the tumultuous history of the French Revolution. Nevertheless, hindsight lends a wistful futility to the chiming of all those gorgeous clocks. Cupid was no match for time after all.

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To Yester

Word Sleuth Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

ACROSS

1. Acute lung injury characterized by coughing and rales.

5. Erect leafless flower stalk growing directly from the ground as in a tulip.

10. According to need (physicians use PRN in writing prescriptions).

13. (informal) Very tired.

14. Feeling or showing extreme anger.

15. A plant hormone promoting elongation of stems and roots.

16. Used as a Hindi courtesy title.

17. An independent agency of the United States government responsible for aviation and spaceflight.

19. Angular distance above the horizon (especially of a celestial object).

20. Open-heart surgery in which the rib cage is opened and a section of a blood vessel is grafted from the aorta to the coronary artery to bypass the blocked section of the coronary artery and improve the blood supply to the heart.

22. Hormone produced early in pregnancy by the placenta.

23. (Akkadian) God of wisdom.

24. An independent agency of the United States government responsible for collecting and coordinating intelligence and counterintelligence activities abroad in the national interest.

26. In bed.

28. In addition.

31. The longer of the two telegraphic signals used in Morse code.

34. Resinlike substance secreted by certain lac insects.

36. A light strong brittle gray toxic bivalent metallic element.

37. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables.

40. Of or relating to or characteristic of Swaziland or its people or their language.

42. A compartment in front of a motor vehicle where driver sits.

44. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

45. A nuclear reactor that uses water as a coolant and moderator.

46. Measuring instrument in which the echo of a pulse of microwave radiation is used to detect and locate distant objects.

49. A public promotion of some product or service.

51. The sense organ for hearing and equilibrium.

53. A branch of the Tai languages.

56. A tricycle (usually propelled by pedalling).

58. An avalanche volcanic water and mud down the slopes of a volcano.

60. Small beads made from polished shells and formerly used as money by native Americans.

63. Someone who engages in arbitrage (who purchases securities in one market for immediate resale in another in the hope of profiting from the price differential).

66. A machine-readable version of a standard dictionary.

67. A unit of length of thread or yarn.

68. A mock scepter carried by a court jester.

69. Concerning those not members of the clergy.

DOWN 1. A French abbot.

2. Being or occurring in fact or actuality.

3. A light touch or stroke.

4. A plaster now made mostly from Portland cement and sand and lime.

5. In the Arabian Nights a hero who tells of the fantastic adventures he had in his voyages.

6. A steep rugged rock or cliff.

7. An associate degree in applied science.

8. A major god.

9. The branch of engineering science that studies the uses of electricity and the equipment for power generation and distribution and the control of machines and communication.

10. Domestic swine.

11. (the feminine of raja) A Hindu princess or the wife of a raja.

12. Submerged aquatic plant having narrow leaves and small flowers.

18. Small terrestrial lizard of warm regions of the Old World.

21. The branch of computer science that deal with writing computer programs that can solve problems creatively.

25. Large scissors with strong blades.

27. An imaginary elephant that appears in a series of French books for children.

29. Legal document setting forth rules governing a particular kind of activity.

30. Someone who works (or provides workers) during a strike.

32. The elementary stages of any subject (usually plural).

33. A monarchy in northwestern Europe occupying most of the British Isles.

35. English theoretical physicist who applied relativity theory to quantum mechanics and predicted the existence of antimatter and the positron (1902-1984).

38. A Russian river.

39. A soft silvery metallic element of the alkali earth group.

41. Austrian writer (1881-1942).

43. The cry made by sheep.

47. Rich and superior in quality.

48. A Kwa language spoken in Ghana and the Ivory Coast.

50. United States industrialist who manufactured plows suitable for working the prairie soil (1804-1886).

52. An Indian side dish of yogurt and chopped cucumbers and spices.

53. A soft white precious univalent metallic element having the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal.

54. The basic unit of money in Nigeria.

55. American pioneer photographer famous for his portraits.

57. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

59. A set of tags and rules (conforming to SGML) for using them in developing hypertext documents.

60. The branch of engineering science that studies the uses of electricity and the equipment for power generation and distribution and the control of machines and communication.

61. The ball-shaped capsule containing the vertebrate eye.

62. A close friend who accompanies his buddies in their activities.

64. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.

65. A soft yellow malleable ductile (trivalent and univalent) metallic element.

Yesterday’s Solution

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FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2011

Chef Jacques Pepin demonstrates making an omelette.

Chef Jacques Pepin places silverware on a plate with an omelette at his home . —AP photos

Chef Jacques Pepin picks the herb chervil in preparation for an omelette.

For Pepin, cooking is about technique, not stardom B

ack in the woods, behind the kitchen, French and American flags fly over Jacques Pepin’s petanque court. He launches his heavy, metallic ball toward a visitor’s, popping it off course with a sharp, expert crack.

“That is how you play petanque,” he says, smiling at his pupil. Whether it’s lawn bowling or making an omelet as bright and unblemished as the noontime sun, Pepin is, above all things, a teacher. A trim, elegant 75, the greatest cooking instructor America has ever known has entered a genteel upper middle age. His hair is thinner, the limp from the car accident that turned him from chef to professor is a bit more pronounced. But the man who taught two generations of home cooks - and many of today’s celebrity chefs how to hold a knife can still out-chop a food processor and make boning a chicken look like magic.

“I tell a student that the most important class you can take is technique,” Pepin says while chopping chives beneath a decorative tile that reads: “A great chef is first a great technician.” “If you are a jeweler, or a surgeon or a cook, you have to know the trade in your hand. You have to learn the process. You learn it through endless repetition until it belongs to you.” And nobody owns technique like Pepin. Born in the eastern French town of Bourg-en-Bresse just before World War II, he peeled, diced, whisked and braised in his mother’s restaurants from the time he was tall enough to reach the counter until he left home at 13 for a formal apprenticeship. In the decades that followed, he served as the personal chef to French president Charles De Gaulle, helped introduce Americans to French cuisine as a chef at the iconic New York restaurant Le Pavillon, turned down the Kennedy White House to pioneer mass produced restaurant food for the Howard Johnson’s chain, and ran with James Beard, Craig Claiborne and the rest of the culinary Rat Pack that transformed the way Americans think about food.

“He was very much part of this group,” says David Kamp, author of “The United States of Arugula.” “He’s the last living representative of that wonderful group that elevated the game for Americans.” But it is Pepin’s message of craftsmanship that is likely to be his legacy. In more than two dozen books and 11 public television series, Pepin has stressed the importance of basic skills in mastering the art of any cooking. His 1970s classic “La Technique” and its sister volume “La Methode” used hundreds of black-andwhite photos to illustrate every procedure from cracking an

egg to making puff pastry. They remain the standard references of any serious home cook, and the basis for what happens in professional kitchens from New York to Los Angeles.

“Jacques stressed that cooking is not about recipes, it’s about techniques and methods,” says Tom Colicchio, New York restaurateur and co-host of Bravo’s “Top Chef,” who

discovered “La Technique” as a teenager. “That really spoke to me and really cut through all the gibberish. I realized that you don’t need recipes. You can approach anything as long as you know how to cook. It really unlocked the door for me.”

Boston super-chef Jamie Bissonnette - young enough at 33 to be Pepin’s son - even admits to stealing “La Technique” from the public library as a kid. “As a teenager who wanted to cook you’d look at it and say, ‘Wow, I can do that,’” says Bissonnette, who recently won in a magazine’s People’s Best New Chef award. “I’ve never stolen anything else in my entire life.” Last Christmas, he gave each of his chefs a copy of the book (which he purchased). But Pepin’s newest book, “Essential Pepin,” is the story of the man today: a French chef turned quintessential American cook whose formidable skills and affable manner make him the ultimate culinary teacher.

More than 700 recipes trace the history of his palate from his mother’s mustardy les oeufs Jeannette to the light, fresh taste of salmon in basil sauce. The book’s accompanying three-hour, searchable DVD promises to demonstrate “every technique a cook will ever need,” some of which he’ll perform on the companion TV series. “I don’t cook the way I cooked 35 years ago,” Pepin says, “but the way you make an omelet, the way you bone a chicken, that doesn’t change.”

So what has changed? “My palate is simpler than it used to be,” he says. “A young chef adds and adds and adds to the plate. As you get older, you start to take away.” When he arrived in the United States in 1959, Pepin carried with him the rigid French view of food: that if you add carrots to boeuf bourguignon it ceases to be boeuf bourguignon. But he immediately embraced his adopted country’s flexibility and its diverse people, foods and ingredients, including an alluring herb called “cilantro,” which he learned about from his wife Gloria, who has Puerto Rican roots. “Five years after I was here, my mother would say, ‘This is really good, but it’s not French,’” he says. “I’m not trying to be French. But I’m also not trying not to be French. I think more in terms of ‘It’s a good idea.’ Or ‘It’s fresh.’”— AP

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File photo shows South Korea’s biggest File photo shows one of South Korea’s biggest talent agency SM talent agency SM Entertainment’s flag- Entertainment’s flagship groups “SHINee” in a promo photo. ship group “Girls’ Generation”.

—AFP photos

File photo shows South Korea’s biggest talent agency SM Entertainment’s flagship group TVXQ.

Korean Wave starts lapping on Europe’s shores S

outh Korea’s pop music industry is eyeing Europe after taking East Asia by storm, with promoters using the power of the Internet to lure distant fans. K-pop over the past decade has established a devoted fan base in China, Japan and Southeast Asia, with heartthrobs like Rain and boy bands like TVXQ packing out concerts and topping charts.

Exports of music products surged from $6 million in 2002 to $31.3 million in 2009 as the phenomenon known as the Korean Wave (hallyu) spread. K-pop’s overseas success was driven partly by a need to go beyond the home market, plagued by plunging CD sales and free music downloads on the Internet in the world’s most wired country.

South Korea’s recorded music sales shrank from 286.1 billion won ($272 million) in 2002 to about 80 billion won in 2009. Entertainers searched for new ways to survive-by courting fans abroad via the Internet. Now South Korea’s digital music market-including legal music downloads on mobile phones or the Internet-is worth 600 billion

won after a series of court rulings against free music-streaming and downloading sites.

SM Entertainment, the country’s biggest music talent agency, in 2009 opened its official channel on YouTube to release new music videos and broadcast concerts and other public appearances by stars. The company also has hired composers and choreographers in Europe and the United States and recruited teenagers from elsewhere in Asia to appeal more to global audiences.

Two sell-out concerts in June in Paris, featuring SM’s flagship groups like SHINee, Super Junior and Girls’ Generation, together drew 14,000 screaming fans singing along to Korean-language numbers. “The response from European fans totally stunned us,” said Kim Young-Min, CEO of SM Entertainment. “Now we feel more confident that we can take a plunge in the European market, albeit step by step.”

Kim told AFP in an interview that major global music labels believed it was too risky to expose too much content on the Internet due to copyright concerns, “but it actually helped us gain a

global fan base so quickly”. He said he hopes to release English-language albums of the agency’s stars in Europe and to partner with mobile phone makers like Apple or Nokia to boost digital music sales-already the biggest source of the firm’s revenue.

“In this age when people search for and own music on a single device, it’s more effective to collaborate with global mobile platform producers than with record labels to expand our market,” said Kim. “Gone are the days when one singer can sell 100 million CDs. Now what’s important is having artists notching up 100 million online downloads for their songs.”

K-pop has long been led by bubblegum pop stars hand-picked by talent agencies-often in their early teens-and intensively trained for years before they hit the stage.

Agents like SM handle everything from recruitment to music production and largely dictate their artists’ styles-mostly dance tunes from hiphop to electronics-and career moves. Critics liken the process to an assembly-line of similar,

robot-like teen stars with fleeting popularity, whose every word and move is rigorously prescheduled by the agents.

Lawsuits are rife among top teenage stars including those from SM, who accuse agents of imposing excruciating work schedules and sharing earnings unequally. Kim disputed the criticism, saying his firm must recoup an investment of up to 4.5 billion won to develop raw teen talent.

“It’s not like the US, where record labels pick up musicians ready to hit the stage,” he said, adding the agency’s singers collect more than 60 percent of earnings from commercial endorsements. Kim admitted that K-pop performers “may look all similar and appear to sing all similar music”, but said the firm would usher in other South Korean artists.

“We’re just beginning to open a new door, offering what we do best. People who’ve come to like our music will soon want to listen to other genres like rock and so on,” he said. — AFP

Adkins really is ‘Proud To Be Here’

T

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duet between jazz great Tony Bennett and the late singer Amy Winehouse is being released as a single to benefit a charity established by her father, Bennett’s spokeswoman said on Wednesday. The classic pop standard “Body and Soul” that Winehouse recorded with Bennett in March is one of her last works. She died unexpectedly at age 27 on July 23, after a long battle with alcohol and drugs.

An official cause of death for Winehouse has not been determined. Her father, Mitch, is creating a foundation in her name to help drug addicts. Proceeds from Bennett and Winehouse’s “Body and Soul” recording, which is being released as a single, will go to the foundation, said Liz Rosenberg, a spokeswoman for Bennett.

The song will also appear on Bennett’s “Duets II” CD to be released on Sept 20. Bennett, a Grammy winning jazz legend whose biggest songs include “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” and “Rags to Riches,” celebrated his 85th birthday on Wednesday. He recorded “Body and Soul” with Winehouse at the Abbey Road Studios in London, and has credited her for her abilities as a jazz singer. Grammy winner Winehouse was famed for her black beehive hair and soulful voice, and is best known for her 2006 song “Rehab” that summed up her struggles with addiction. — Reuters

In this CD cover image released by Show Dog-Universal, the latest release by Trace Adkins, “Proud to Be Here,” is shown. —AP

he irony of the title of Trace Adkins’ new album, “Proud To Be Here,” is not lost on anyone who knows the country singer. Adkins has suffered through several tragedies in his life, including severing (and reattaching) his pinky finger in an accident, being shot by his second wife, and most recently, losing his Nashville home to a fire. “When (songwriter) Chris Wallin played me “Proud to be Here,” I thought, ‘You son of a gun, how do you know that (about me),”“ Adkins told Reuters.

“I am fortunate that I am friends with some of the best songwriters on this planet. Sometimes when they hear I’m recording they shamelessly write something specifically for me. This song is a great example of that,” he said. Louisiana native Adkins says much of his new album, which was released this week and also is titled “Proud to be Here,” was inspired by his family’s farm outside of Nashville where he, his wife and three daughters now live following the June fire that destroyed his former home.

The video for his song “Just Fishin”“ was shot on the farm, and the tune “Days Like This” was inspired by the view from his backyard deck, which overlooks a lake and the rolling hills of Middle Tennessee. “The song is very literal, especially that first verse,” Adkins said. “Kenny Beard and Casey Beathard came up to the house a year or so ago to write, and we were sitting on the deck talking. The TV was on and some kind of depressing news came on and somebody said, ‘We don’t need to listen to that on a day like this.’ We wrote the song in about 45 minutes.”— Reuters

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McCartney ex-wife:

Mirror journalist hacked my phone

Heather Mills clutches a cellphone as she leaves the High Court in London. —AP eather Mills was quoted on Wednesday as saying a journalist at British publisher Trinity Mirror, owner of the Daily Mirror tabloid newspaper, had hacked her phone before she was married to former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney. The accusation widens a scandal over phone hacking by British newspapers that has so far centred on titles owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, with the furor also threatening to embroil US talk show host Piers Morgan.

The BBC said the messages were left by McCartney, whom Mills married in 2002. The couple separated four years later. Mills said the journalist had confronted her with details of sensitive messages left on her phone. “He started quoting verbatim the messages from my machine, and...I’d wondered why they had already been heard, listened to, when it says ‘heard messages’,” Mills told the BBC. The BBC said the journalist worked at the Mirror group, although Mills does not mention the journalist’s employers in the audio clip provided by the BBC. “I said you’ve obviously hacked my phone and if you do anything with this story, because they were obviously very private conversations about issues we were having as a couple, I said then I’ll go to the police,” she added. She went on to say the journalist admitted hacking her phone and agreed not to use a story based on the messages. “All of our journalists work within the criminal law and the PCC code of conduct,” said Nick Fullagar, Trinity Mirror’s director of corporate communications, referring to Britain’s Press Complaints Commission industry watchdog.

Piers Morgan Allegations of phone hacking at the News of World Sunday newspaper, owned by News Corp’s British newspaper arm News International, last month prompted the newspaper’s closure and the resignation of News International chief Rebekah Brooks. CNN talk show host Morgan, who once edited the News of the World and later the Daily Mirror until 2004, has repeatedly denied any role in the phone hacking scandal.

In a 2006 article for Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper, Morgan said he had listened to one of Mills’ phone messages. “Stories soon emerged that the marriage was in trouble - at one stage I was played a tape of a message Paul had left for Heather on her mobile phone,” he wrote. The BBC said Morgan was not the journalist who had contacted Mills with details of her phone messages.

Morgan said in a statement the BBC had confirmed to him that the journalist, whom Morgan refers to as a senior executive, was not employed by the Daily Mirror.

He also said he had no knowledge of conversations any other executive at Trinity Mirror may have had with Mills. “Heather Mills has made unsubstantiated claims about a conversation she may or may not have had with a senior executive from a Trinity Mirror newspaper in 2001,” he said, describing her claims as “somewhat extravagant.”

“To reiterate, I have never hacked a phone, told anyone to hack a phone, nor to my knowledge published any story obtained from the hacking of a phone,” he added. Mark Lewis, lawyer for victims of phone hacking by the News of the World, Monday confirmed that he had instructions to take legal action against Trinity Mirror on behalf of other unnamed phone hacking victims.—Reuters

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This photo taken late on August 3, 2011 shows diehard fan Saul Diaz from Beijing posing for the camera as he arrives before a midnight screening of the latest and final Harry Potter film, ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2,’ in Beijing. China’s legion Harry Potter fans finally got to see the final chapter of the film franchise yesterday, when a 90-minute epic about the history of the Communist Party gives way to the boy wizard. The mainland is by far the world’s fastest growing film market, with box office takings up 64 percent last year, as the country’s burgeoning consumer class takes to the movies. However, its film industry is protected by a system that only allows around 20 foreign movies to be screened a year, allowing homegrown directors to create Hollywood-style blockbusters without the threat of major competition. —AFP

British heritage group releases punk charity album P

unk rockers once wanted to smash the state. Now they’re helping preserve stately homes. The National Trust charity, which oversees Britain’s castles and historic houses, has released a fundraising album of punk classics. “Never Mind the Dovecotes” - a play on the title of the Sex Pistols album “Never Mind the Bollocks” - includes tracks by the Pistols and other vintage noise merchants, including GBH, Siouxsie and the Banshees and X-Ray Spex.

It means Mod band The Jam - which has two tracks on the album - will sit alongside jars of jam in gift shops at the Trust’s 300 properties, which range from Roman-era structures like Hadrian’s Wall to ruined abbeys, medieval castles, grand country mansions and Victorian pubs.

The album is a collaboration between the trust and Decca Records, and a change from previous joint efforts such as “Celtic Collection,” ‘’Classic Voices” and “Land of Hope and Glory - Great Songs from the British Isles.” But the Trust’s brand licensing manager, Phlippa Green, said Thursday that the album makes sense. She says people who were teenagers in punk’s late-70s heyday are now middle aged and enjoy “outings with their children and families at parks, beaches and historic houses.”

Punk, in turn, has become a much-loved part of Britain’s heritage, although the music has lost much of its power to shock since the Sex Pistols burst forth 35 years ago demanding “Anarchy in the UK.” —AP

A photo shows the front cover of “Never Mind the Dovecotes”, a punk music album being released by The National Trust. —AP

De Niro hosts 9/11 film on CBS

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Robert De Niro

ctor Robert De Niro will host CBS’ update of its award-winning film on the Sept 11 terrorist attacks to mark the 10th anniversary next month. CBS will revisit its film, “9/11,” first broadcast in 2002, including new interviews with firefighters and others who were part of the first film. The Peabody Award-winning film contains the only known footage of the first plane striking the World Trade Center.

The special will be broadcast over two hours on the night of the anniversary. De Niro, who was host of the original special nine years ago, will visit the 9/11 memorial and show viewers progress on the site’s rebuilding.

Several television networks are commemorating the anniversary with retrospectives. —AP

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Britain’s Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, and his wife Kate, Duchess of Cambridge arrive at a charity event for Absolute Return for Kids, ARK. — AP photos

French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy prior to welcoming African first ladies at the Elysee Palace, in Paris.

US President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama as they wait to welcome Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip for a reciprocal dinner.

Charlene of Monaco, Italian Countess Matilde Borromeo and Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser of Qatar. Mrs Obama, a four-year veteran of the list, was named for the first time as part of a best-dressed couple, although President Barack Obama had been named on his own to the list once in 2009. Bruni-Sarkozy is another repeat recipient.

First-timers include Justin Timberlake, Colin Firth, Armie Hammer and Christine Lagarde, chief of the International Monetary Fund. Carey Mulligan and Tilda Swinton have each made it twice. News anchor Brian Williams was named to the hall of fame. Fashion professionals get their own category on

the list; model Stella Tennant, photographer Mario Testino, Burberry designer Christopher Bailey and couple Lauren Bush and David Lauren were among those to make the cut.

Lady Gaga, Janelle Monae, the King of Bhutan and couple Vanessa Paradis and Johnny Depp fill the “fashion originals” group. Vanity Fair inherited the list, considered one of the most influential in the fashion world, from the late fashion publicist Eleanor Lambert in 2004. — AP

repeats on

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ate Middleton finds herself in the company of Michelle Obama and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy on top of Vanity Fair’s International Best Dressed List. The Duchess of Cambridge’s mix of high and low looks - designer fashion one day, jeans the next - and a “whirlwind year of fashion successes” earned her a spot on the 72-year-old list, according to a statement from the magazine. She had appeared once before, in 2008.

Other royals who caught the eye of the designers, retailers, editors, socialites, photographers and entertainers who submit ballots include Princess Alexandra of Greece, Princess

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he Alaska hair salon made famous for Sarah Palin’s updo is getting the reality show treatment in a two-part series to be aired in September on TLC. That’s the same cable network that aired “Sarah Palin’s Alaska,” an eight-part docu-series on the former Alaska governor, 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee and possible presidential candidate.TLC spokeswoman Laurie Goldberg declined to identify the salon in “Big Hair Alaska.”

But a hairdresser in Palin’s hometown of Wasilla says the salon to be featured in the show is the Beehive Beauty Shop. Mariah Hopper, a hairdresser at the Beehive, says she’s not authorized to say whether Palin still frequents the salon. Shop proprietor Jessica Steele, longtime keeper of Palin’s hair, could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.—AP

File photo shows Alaska Gov Sarah Palin speaks in Washington.

—AP

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Models present outfits for CPH Visions’ so-called ‘Terminal 2 Press Show’.

Models wear creations

by Stasia for their spring/summer 2012 collection during Copenhagen Fashion Week in Copenhagen, late Wednesday.

—AP photos

New saggy jeans designed to improve mobility

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en who like to sag their jeans down low but fear they could end up around their ankles may be interested in new pants that snap to special boxer shorts for support and improved mobility. Irese and Mark Davenport, two brothers from Newark, New Jersey, unveiled Sagz Jeans this week. They noticed their teenage children’s movement was hampered by the look, which came to prominence in 1990s hip-hop music videos.

“They’re holding their pants up not being able to play sports, basically being unhealthy because of the attire they were wearing,” Mark Davenport said. His brother invented the concept and patented it in 2006 to give sag jean wearers a active lifestyle. With Sagz Jeans, the pants can be snapped to the waist-hugging underwear at three different heights allowing the wearer to show how low he can go without actually risking a wardrobe malfunction.

Indian Bollywood actress Malaika Arora Khan (2nd R) displays creation by Birdhichand Ghanshyamdas during the second edition of The Indian International Jewellery Week (IIJW) 2011 in Mumbai on August 3, 2011. —AFP

Both brothers are aware of the controversy surrounding the style, in which large swathes of the wearer’s underwear are visible above their pants’ low-slung waistline. Several US municipalities have instituted fines or even jail time for those caught sagging.

Even President Barack Obama has weighed in, saying in 2008 that although he considers anti-sagging legislation a waste of time, he thinks “brothers should pull up their pants.”

“You don’t have to pass a law, but that doesn’t mean folks can’t have some sense and some respect for other people and, you know, some people might not want to see your underwear - I’m one of them,” he said. Dwayne Hoard, the creative director of Sagz, believes such reactions are simply the latest in an inevitable cycle of older people finding themselves unnerved by the tastes of the young.

He said young men who sag their pants are unfairly demonized as hooligans or thugs. The style is sometimes thought to have originated in prisons, where new inmates would be handed oversized pants but no belt for fear it could be used as a weapon or in a suicide attempt. Hoard prefers to date its origins to when Michael Jordan started wearing relatively baggy basketball shorts. He said it’s a form of youth expression doomed to be misunderstood by elders. “Young folks, they will sag no matter what,” he said. “What we are trying to do is offer a better alternative.” The line will sell online only for now. A pair of Sagz jeans costs about $80, including a pair of snapped-in boxers. The company aims to make between $500,000 and $1 million in sales in its first year.—Reuters

Lifestyle FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2011

Participants in the “Conquest of Mythodea” role playing event battle it out on the playing field near the northern German city of Brokeloh yesterday. According to the organizers it is the world’s largest interactive role playing game with over 7000 participants taking part in the three-day event.— AFP

Germany’s last millstone

mason pressed for time A

Starkosch, 58, sits next to new millstones he made in the village of Zusamaltheim. —AFP photos

Goa’s female porters on the verge of extinction

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n a rainy monsoon morning, 70year-old Joaquina Colaco clutched an umbrella and walked through the crowded lanes of Margao market in the Indian state of Goa, hoping for a full day’s work.

After wading through puddles, she sat down next to a carpenter’s shop, waiting expectantly for customers who need a porter or “coolie” to carry their wares. Colaco is one of a dwindling band of female “bhadels”, as the porters A female bhadel, porter, carries are called in the historic city of Margao, boxes from a shop . —AFP Goa’s commercial hub some 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of the state capital, Panaji. The bhadels-whose name translates as “for hire”-have been a feature of life in Goa since the days of Portuguese colonial rule in the 18th century and carry everything from groceries to furniture on their heads. No one knows locally why women have traditionally done the back-breaking work, but increasing competition from cars, vans, the railways and men is threatening to put them out of business for good.”We don’t get much business these days,” said Colaco, puffing on a beedi, a cheap, hand-rolled Indian cigarette packed with tobacco leaves. “The male coolies are much stronger and are ready to work at a cheaper rate,” she told AFP. Another bhadel, Albertina Fernandes, agreed. “At times, they (the men) carry loads on their heads for free or in return for a peg (tot) of fenny (a Goan spirit made from fermented cashew fruit or coconut),” she said. —AFP

n organic food boom in Germany is creating demand for flour ground the old way, but the country only has one person left with the skills needed to carve and maintain millstones.

According to the German organic food industry body, the BOeLW, sales of organic food in Europe’s biggest economy have tripled since 2000 and are on course to exceed six billion euros ($8.4 billion) this year. But not only do health-conscious consumers like their food chemical-free, they also want the flour for their bread ground using traditional millstones, believing this helps retain vitamins and other important ingredients.

This has led to old windmills being cranked back into operation and to a growing number of farmers and organic food stores making their own flour on site. But the only person in Germany who can help them set up is Wolfgang Strakosch, a 58year-old hewing and maintaining millstones for them in the village of Zusamaltheim in Bavaria, southern Germany. The stone that Strakosch uses is basalt from the Eifel region of western Germany.

It’s ideal properties mean it has been used to grind wheat and other cereals into flour for more than 2,000 years.

“We find millstones made from this basalt as far away as England,” and dating back to Roman times, said Ursula Heimes from the restored Saalburg Roman Fort and museum near Frankfurt in western Germany. The dark, fine-grained volcanic rock is perfect for making flour because the grinding is relatively “soft” and erosion of the millstone minimal, says Zusamaltheim farmer Joseph Ilg. Ilg grinds the spelt wheat he grows-a wholesome variety used in ancient times and now increasingly back in vogue-at his farm to make organic bread that he then sells.

‘The only way to learn’ “It conserves the vitamins and the enzymes in the cereal grains,” Ilg said. “This is our selling point to customers. It only works with these millstones.”

Strakosch says that the basalt’s porosity is also vital. “Air locked inside the stone created pores.

When I work the stone, I cut the pores and this creates very sharp edges which helps grind the grain and hardly ever become blunt,” the thin, white-

haired Strakosch told AFP. “I used to work in a mill with millstones and I wanted to know how they worked. After a long search and speaking to lots people I ended up finding the last two millstone master craftsmen.”

But there is no written manual or textbook.

“They told me they had learned the trade working with their fathers and grandfathers, and that this was the only way to learn.” To fashion the stones, Strakosch is armed with two special hammers, his ears and a whole lot of patience. With a slow, rhythmic knocking, he roughens the rock using a special diamond-headed hammer before painstakingly cutting grooves at a 45-degree angle. A large millstone of two tones requires at least a week’s work. There are thought to be more than 1,800 windmills in Germany, although it is unclear how many are in operation. In the fiercely traditional state of Bavaria alone there are 50 — too many for Strakosch on his own. But there is hope that someone else will learn the skills. At the moment the main hope is Andre Roessner, a dreadlocked 27year-old stonemason who read about millstones in a local newspaper. “It would be a shame if this old trade disappears,” he said. — AFP

Stars

FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2011

Aries (March 21-April 19) You find a great deal of interest in education, travel and religion. There could be some talk of career advancement—your accomplishments are many and should be a point of discussion when it comes time for a professional review. This is a very lucky day for making plans or decisions and finding your way through just about any problem you may discover. You feel successful and able to contend with difficulties. Good advice from a guide or older person may be available soon—do not hesitate to ask questions. Your friends may keep you busy this evening, but all should go fairly well. You can demonstrate great understanding and sensitivity to the needs of your friends and are in a good position to lend a helping hand.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) You could be most persuasive with others and powerful in your communication abilities. The situation is a natural for self-expression and favors your particular ideas. This is a great time to be with others and to work as a team. You may be sought after as just the person for a particular job. Your directional abilities are in high focus. Success is indicated in education, sales, politics or the law. You know how to attack and solve problems, whether personal or public. Chances are, your social skills mean that you are popular with almost everyone. Channel your intensity as you reach the home front this evening. Your interactions with friends, lovers, neighbors and animals will be much more enjoyable at this time. Enjoy learning more about a new hobby.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) All of us enjoy being respected but you will gain respect quickly in a new surrounding. You develop a talent for understanding people and may be happy in a teaching or management sort of job.

Work with high achievement means a great deal to you now. This is also a time when you can expect a little boost—some sort of extra support or recognition. You may feel that you are in touch and in harmony with others and the lines of communication are open. Your good management and supervisory abilities will come easily. You will put your feelings into words and may exhibit an interest in viewpoints from the psychological, cultural and historical standpoint today. Political issues are fun topics of conversation this evening.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) Many people find you a smooth talker with a quick wit and ready tongue. Your objectivity helps others to see positive outcomes and to reach decisions quickly. You could become interested in the fields of lecturing, advertising, publishing and matters of public relations at this time. Your creativity is magnified. Together with the ability to put your thoughts into words, you may be inclined to captivate an audience of any size. You can demonstrate a good understanding and sensitivity to the needs of others.

You may find yourself being put to good use by your friends later this afternoon. A new child or a new home or a large sum of money comes to someone you know and love; the results can be a lot of fun! Your popularity is growing.

Leo (July 23-August 22) If you are not making the money you think you should, now is time to think about changing jobs. This is one of your best times to make just such a move, even if it is within a large company. Good luck and common sense are on your side. You are very bright and proud of your mind and all that it can do. You have a high degree of concentration that makes you an excellent student and able to excel in speaking, writing and all types of communication skills. This evening you will enjoy your friends. Your love of family and home and lack of interest in external affairs, be they friends or work-related, needs to be noted and kept in balance. Now is a good time for surrounding yourself with friends. A young person brings you many enjoyable moments tonight!

Virgo (August 23-September 22) Someone will put you to work coordinating events today. It could be time for your company to make presentations or entertain perspective customers, etc. Your ability to pull off a successful presentation has others in constant surprise—it almost never looks as though your methods will work—but they do. Perhaps you could invest some time in learning or experiencing some sort of stage or film productions job. When it comes to psychology you have great penetration and you intuitively know how to get down to the core material. You enjoy working with sensitive and vulnerable areas of the mind, searching out and defining points of transformation—areas for growth. You could teach and instruct others in these areas as well.

Libra (September 23-October 22) Today could bring the unexpected or find you in a very unusual mood. It may be that you feel like getting away from the routine for a while. New insights or breakthroughs are possible with authorities or someone older. This is not the best time for career or vocational decisions, but a good time to plan. This might be a good time to take the back seat, if possible, and think through any decisions you make. Take some time to think things through before making up your mind about an important matter. Others will appreciate this thoughtfulness and trust your decision when you do come up with an answer. Your help in guiding someone through a tough time is appreciated—you learn from the experience as well.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) You could be most persuasive with others. As the saying goes, you could sell an icebox to an Eskimo. The situation is a natural for self-expression and lends itself to your particular thoughts. You have an almost otherworldly quality that more or less dominates or coordinates the rest of your character. If you are in sales, you may find yourself the top salesperson of the month. Everything seems to be working in your favor for whatever it is you do today. Your imagination always reaches beyond differences and manages to solve them. You are enchanting and today you enchant someone special. You may discover that you have found a love that is willing to support and inspire you in all ways. You are optimistic.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) You may be unable to get the support you require today.

Some of your supply lines have been diminished or stopped and someone may challenge you. Biding your time will pay big dividends. You have to give something in order to get something—that is the message you take to heart now. It can be a very beneficial message. Investments can start small and grow beyond your wildest dreams at this time. Be on the lookout for opportunities of this sort. Sacrifice leads to gain in more ways than one, some not so obvious at the outset. You like to do things with care and enjoy being discriminating and exact. Your critical faculties are excellent and you can always pick out the worthwhile. You will be helping a sick friend or relative this evening.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) Work improvements are all around you today. Although your outer personality may look rough, you are more sensitive than others would suspect. This is a time that will help you to catch your breath and gain a new focus on your progress—at work or on the home front. All sorts of relationships figure into your life now and this includes co-workers as well as love relationships. Any healing or progress that is needed can be approached or made possible at this time. As an accumulation of past projects and work problems disappear, you are much better able to promote your own plan. Now is a good time to introduce your ideas and secure others to your cause. Something new for dinner may have been suggested ages ago—this is a time for experimenting.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) This is a good time to gather and organize your affairs or rearrange your living situation—as well as your financial outlook. Yours is a reflective mind, a mirror for others. You are certainly easy to talk with and you may find yourself placed in a negotiating position with others today. One of the reasons for this is that you find it easy to accept the ideas of others and to hear them talk through their ideas or problems. You are good at relations, politics, diplomacy and sales—not to mention considerate, helpful and courteous. Your own success may be linked to questions of security—home and family, in particular. This may be a time during which you can get ahead by finding your limits and establishing a home base from which to move forward.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) This could be an action-filled day. Time, however, seems to slow down as you encounter some of your more sensitive areas. There may be some times during the day that you are reminded of the true focus for your activities. There are moments of inner change and growth, especially that related to your goals. You will find it easy to listen and accept the suggestions of others for now. This afternoon you may enjoy a good movie or book or feel like escaping from day-to-day realities for a while. A new project or hobby has come to your attention and you are looking forward to experimenting with a new creative and useful tool. You can appreciate an imaginative approach and may value communal or futuristic ideas. You receive positive attention tonight.

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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Leisure activities Kuwait Zoo The Kuwait Zoo is located in Omariya on the Airport Road. It is open everyday except on Saturdays. The timings during winter are 8am to 8pm. For more information contact: 24733389.

Announcements

is open from Saturdays to Thursdays from 9am to 10.30pm and on Fridays from 2pm to 10.30pm. For more information contact: 22240025 or visit their website at: www.tsck.org.kw.

Art galleries and artifacts

Amusements Parks Aqua Park Aqua Park will be open from 1st April 2011 from 10am10pm everyday. For information contact: 22431960/1/3 or visit: www.aquaparkkuwait.com.

Entertainment City Entertainment City is open from Sunday to Wednesday from 3pm to 11pm during winter. It is also open on Thursdays and Fridays from 10am to 10pm. For more information contact: 24879455.

The Scientific Centre Scientific Centre is located on the Gulf road in Salmiya. It

a)Sultan Art Gallery The Sultan art gallery is located on Street no: 105, building no: 168, Subhan, Kuwait city. b)Boshehri Gallery Boshehri Gallery is located on the Al-Mobarak street, Salmiya, Kuwait. For more information on their collection please contact: 25714883/25724883. c)Tariq Rajab Museum This museum is open from Saturdays to Thursdays at 9am to 12pm and 4pm to 7pm. On Fridays it is open from 9am to 12pm. For more information on their location etc contact: 25317358 or visit their website: www.trmkt.com.

Summer Activities KAYAKING Kuwait Surf-Ski Kayak Club 99706742 Sea kayaking is one of the fastest growing water sports in the world today. Call if you are interested in purchasing a kayak, getting involved in the sport.

MOTOR SPORTS Kuwait Motor Bike League / The Amateur Car & Motorbike Association Motorbike track (for trail/dirt bikes) and rally car-racing centre located behind the Science Club on the northern side of the 6th Ring Road (between roads 401 and 50). Car and bike races held on Fridays. Use of facilities and participation in competitions limited to members only. office on 3td Ring Road, near Road 50.

NETBALL Kuwait Netball Meet Monday for mixed games 6:30 -7:30 and Tuesday for Woman only check the website for more info. www.kuwaitnetball.com RUGBY Kuwait Nomads The rugby season in Kuwait runs from September to May. Mens, ladies and minis rugby are played and the teams frequently travel to participate in AGRFU tournaments. Any interested child between the ages of 5-17 can participate in the Minis rugby. Training is held every Friday between 9am-llam on the grassed pitch at the Yarmouk stadium. The men’s and ladies teams have the pleasure of training and playing on the KOC sand pitch in Ahmadi, the home of the Kuwait Nomads.

Training nights are Sundays and Tuesdays from 7pm-9pm. Inter-Gulf matches are played on Thursdays or Fridays. www.p8nompds.com RUNNING For anyone who likes walking, jogging or cycling in Kuwait there is a very good track around the area of Mishref.

Ernakulam iftar Kuwait Ernakulam Residents’ Association (KERA) iftar on August 13, at Rhythm auditorium, Abbassiya, from 5.30 pm onwards.

Attention kids!

CEF VBS 11 starting from August 22. Six exciting days of singing, games & bible stories for children of all ages.

Hurry !!!. Limited Seats. Register Online: www.cefkuwait.org Tulukoota talent hunt Tulukoota Kuwait will hold a “Talent Hunt 2011” a chance to prove an inborn trait in you that confirms your individuality, uniqueness. So step forward to grab this opportunity to show your caliber and entertain. Dance, music, art or any special talent- now is your chance to showcase it - and be part of this year’s Talent Hunt & Tulu Parba. Talent Hunt event is open to all Tuluvas. For more information and registration form kindly log on to our Website: www.tulukootakuwait.org or visit our facebook page - Tulukoota Kuwait Talent Hunt 2011. You could also email your form request to: secretary@tulukootakuwait.org or contact our area coordinators mentioned below. Mangaf, Fahaheel, Abuhalifa : Ronald Dsouza- 60035824, Shalini Alva- 23726164, Suma Bhatt- 97834578 Salmiya & Hawally: Swarna Shetty- 99006934, Kripa Gatty- 66044194 Kuwait City, Jahra, Sharq : Rekha Sachu65044521,97862115 Farwaniya, Abbassiya, Shuwaikh & Khaitan: Sathyanarayana- 66585077 Sanath Shetty67712409.

Pathanamthitta Onam The executive committee of Pathanamthitta District Association has decided to hold 2011 Onam Festival celebrations on Friday October 28, 2011 with a grand public function attended by Member of Parliament from Pathanamthitta Loksabha Constituency, Anto Antony and other prominent dignitaries from Kerala and Kuwait.

All residents of Pathanamthitta District and persons of Pathanamthitta District origin are hereby invited to attend this function and friends and families.

The track is 4.9km long and is marked out in distances of 100m. There are also a number of outdoor exercise machines located near the start and the end of the track. Please note, however, that the track is more of a horseshoe shape rather than a complete circuit as there is a gap of at least a mile between the start and finish. Decide how far you want to walk, walk half the distance and then turn back. There are roads to cross so take care if you have young children with you. Despite all of this, it’s still very worthwhile going along and trying it out.

HASH HARRIERS 23982219 Social jogging on Thursday and Saturday evenings. Hash Harriers has been operating around the world since 1938. Hash is for a mixture of abilities from walkers to experienced runners. It is social rather than athletic. Length of course depends on time of year.

Contact Gerry Burton on the above number or on 99764028. www.hasher.net SAILING The Arabian Gulf waters are an ideal environment in which to learn to sail.

Offshore the seas are seldom rough and there is often a moderate breeze.

Many of the sea clubs organize sailing activities.

CATAMARAN SAILING 66587737 Dive Caroline Beach Fafaheel The Kuwait Catamaran Club is a group of enthusiasts who love sailing on fast cats in the Arabian Gulf’s waters around Kuwait. Usually an informal group sail on Friday afternoons. Boats are privately owned but visitors are very welcome and can be taken out as crew. Boats for hire, a Dart 18 and Hobie 16.

Contact John Morley johnmorley@hotmail.com Fahaheel Sailing Club (see Dive Caroline) 2371 9289 www.horn3.com KOSA 23983365 99745383 The Kuwait Offshore Sailing Association (KOSA) meets on the first Tuesday of each month (except July and August) at the Dive Caroline clubhouse, which is located at the Fahaheel Sea Club. Fortnightly racing plus International events in Bahrain and Dubai. Boats often require crew and will take you if you turn up! Catamaran racing is arranged after KOSA morning races, followed by a sunset barbecue on the beach. An Annual Regatta, usually during April, is also organised. www.kospg8.com

Art salon Bouhshari Art Gallery Exhibition runs through 15 September. Daily working hours: 10am - 1pm and 5 9pm, except on Friday and on Thursday evening.

Indian bowling league Indian Bowling League Season 2 would like to invite you and your families to participate in an Indian bowling event where all nationalities, the young and the old can have fun playing an enjoyable game while meeting new people in a healthy competition from July 12th - August 15th For more details contact: Uly 99503348, Amaldo 66052062, and Nasha 99516960. If anyone is looking to assist them in this event with sponsors, they will be really obliged to have your help to make this event a success.

Registrations are open.

Rink soccer Don Bosco Oratory is pleased to announce its Major 4-ASide “Rink Soccer Fiesta” in Kuwait! This event is for the soccer lovers in Kuwait and will be played on a League (round robin) cum knock out basis from August 2nd at the IEAS Quadrangle in Salmiya. For details contact Chris: 6651-9627, Alex: 66069282 from 6-9pm.

Konkani musical show Comedian Philip, the 1st NRI Goan comedian, is all set to entertain you with a Konkani music show titled “Ani, Anik Zaiem?” to be presented by the United Friends Club on September 9 at 4pm at the AIS (American International School) Auditorium, Maidan-Hawalli. This is Kuwait-based comedian Philip’s third musical show after the overwhelming success of staging “Tum Vhoir Aum Sokol” and “Hem Kazar Koslem” in Kuwait and overseas.

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Embassy Information

IDF accords farewell to Aggarwal, Dr Srinivasan

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ndian Doctors Forum accorded a warm farewell to Sanjiv Aggarwal, Second secretary at the Indian embassy and Dr Srinivasan Consultant Anaesthesiologist at KOC. At a small function held at KMA hall on July 29 attended by IDF executive members, Dr Nampoory spoke about the contribution of both to

IDF and the Indian community. Dr Amir, Dr Rajendra Mishra, and Dr Saroj Grover spoke on the occasion. As a token of appreciation a memento was presented to both.

Farewell to Sanjiv Aggarwal

R

NSS Kuwait to celebrate 10th anniversary

epresentatives of Telugu community in Kuwait met Second Secretary (Consular) Sanjiv Aggarwal and thanked him for the extraordinary support and help rendered by him throughout his period in Embassy of India, Kuwait, and more so during the amnesty period.

Representatives included Murali Manohar (Chairman Kalanjali Kuwait), Bhaskar Reddy (social worker), Mohan Babu (president - Telugu Lalithakala Samithi), Chandrasekhar Raju (general secretary - Telugu Lalithakala Samithi), Lingam Naidu (Program coordinator - Telugu Lalithakala Samithi), Sannapaneni Mani (President - Mahatma Gandhi Telugu Youth Association, Kuwait). Others include Koteswara Rao (President - TLKS), Prabhakar Reddy (Vice President - TLKS), Lakshmipathi Naidu (Vice President - TLKS), Subarmanyam Raju (Treasurer - TLKS) and Giri Babu (Welfare Coordinator -TLKS). Aggarwal is bidding farewell after the completion of his tenure in Kuwait and returning to New Delhi for further postings. Representatives wished Aggarwal and his family all the best.

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ational Service Society (NSS) Kuwait is all set to celebrate its 10th anniversary on Friday, September 30, 2011. The year-long celebration will focus on various charity activities, said the organizers at a press conference.

National Service Society, which was founded in 2001, was officially inaugurated by then NSS General secretary P K Narayana Panicker. NSS Kuwait completes its 10 years of successful functioning in October 2011. 10th anniversary celebrations will be held as “Ona Nilavu” on 30th September 2011 at Integrated Indian School from 5:30 pm onwards.

The main attraction of the celebration will be the live performance by famous Malayalam film actor Kalabhavan Mani and team. The other artists include Pisharady, Sajan Palluruthy, Pradeep Babu, Subi Suresh, Shalu Menon, Varsha and Firoz.

“National Service Society (NSS) Kuwait will be conducting various charity activities as part of our 10 anniversary”, said the organizers. In coordination with Kuwait Blood Bank, we are planning to conduct blood donation camp every three months and the first camp is already held and second blood donation camp will be held on September 26, they said. NSS Kuwait president Baiju Pillai, General Secretary Suresh Nair, Steering committee member Vijayakumar and Program convener Jayakumar Kurupp were present during the conference.

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

EMBASSY OF AUSTRALIA The Embassy encourages all Australians to register their presence in Kuwait through Smartraveller Online (see link below).

Australians who are registered are asked to update their details. The information provided will assist us in contacting you in an emergency. www.smartraveller.gov.au Kuwait citizens can apply for and receive visit visas to Australia online at www.immi.gov.au. This usually takes two working days. All others visa applications are handled by the Australian Visa Application Centre Tel. 22971110.

Witnessing and certifying documents are by appointment only, please contact the Embassy on 2232 2422. The Australian Embassy is open from 8.00am to 4.00pm, Sunday to Thursday.

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EMBASSY OF BRITAIN The Visa Application Centre (VAC) will be closed on the same dates above. The opening hours of the Visa Application Centre are 0930 - 1630 Application forms remain available online from the UKBAs’ website: www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk or from the Visa Application Centre’s website: www.vfs-uk-kw.com.

And also, from the UK Visa Application Centre located at: 4B, First Floor, Al Banwan Building (Burgan Bank Branch Office Building), Al Qibla area, opposite Central Bank of Kuwait, Kuwait City. For any further inquiries, please contact the Visa Application Centre: Website: www.vfs-uk-kw.com E-mail:info@vfs-uk-kw.com Telephone:22971170.

The Consular Section will also be closed on the same dates. For information on the British Embassy services, visit the British Embassy website: www.ukinkuwait.fco.gov.uk ■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF CANADA The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24, Al-Mutawakel St., Block 4 in Da’aiyah. Please visit our website at www.Kuwait.gc.ca.

Canada offers a registration service for all Canadians travelling or living abroad. This service is provided so that Consular Officials can contact and assist Canadians in an emergency in a foreign country, such as a natural disaster or civil unrest, or inform Canadians of a family emergency at home.

The Embassy of Canada encourages all Canadian Citizens to register online through the Government of Canada Travel Website at www.voyage.gc.ca. The Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi provides visa and immigration services to residents of Kuwait.

Individuals who are interested in visiting, working or immigrating to Canada are invited to visit the website of the Canadian Embassy to the UAE at www.UAE.gc.ca.

Effective January 15, 2011, the only Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) application form that will be accepted by CIC is the Application for Temporary Resident Visa Made Outside of Canada [IMM 5257] form. All previous Temporary Resident Visa application forms will no longer be accepted by CIC and instead will be returned to applicants. Should old applications be submitted prior to January 15, 2011 they will continue to be processed.

To ensure that the most recent version of the Temporary Resident Visa application form is being utilized, applicants should refer to the CIC website.

As of January 15, 2011, forms are to be filled in electronically. The Embassy of Canada is open from 07:30 to 15:30 Sunday through Thursday.

Consular Services for Canadian Citizens are provided from 09:00 until 12:00 on Sunday through Wednesday.

The forms are available on the internet at: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/forms/IMM52 57E.PDF. A guide explaining the process can be found here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/guides/5256E. PDF.

TV Listings FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2011

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

Dogs 101 Untamed And Uncut Big Five Challenge Chris Humfrey’s Wildlife Chris Humfrey’s Wildlife In Search Of The Giant Anaconda Animal Cops Houston America’s Cutest...

Meerkat Manor The Really Wild Show Crocodile Hunter Breed All About It Must Love Cats Dogs 101 Michaela’s Animal Road Trip Meerkat Manor Wildlife SOS Clinically Wild: Alaska Clinically Wild: Alaska Animal Cops Houston Animal Precinct SSPCA: On The Wildside The Really Wild Show Animal Planet’s Most Outrageous Dogs vs. Cats Breed All About It Orangutan Island Crocodile Hunter Dogs 101 Last Chance Highway Whale Wars

00:00 00:35 01:20 02:10 03:00 03:30 04:00 04:30 04:50 05:10 05:40 05:50 06:10 06:30 07:00 07:20 07:40 08:10 08:20 08:40 09:00 09:30 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 21:20 22:05 23:00 23:30

2 Point 4 Children The Weakest Link Casualty Born And Bred Eastenders Doctors 2 Point 4 Children Tweenies Balamory Tikkabilla Charlie And Lola Tweenies Balamory Tikkabilla Tweenies Balamory Tikkabilla Charlie And Lola Tweenies Balamory Tikkabilla Charlie And Lola 2 Point 4 Children The Weakest Link Ray Mears Goes Walkabout Doctors Eastenders Casualty 2 Point 4 Children Ray Mears Goes Walkabout The Weakest Link Doctors Eastenders Casualty Ray Mears Goes Walkabout The Weakest Link Doctors Robin Hood Paradox The Cup Ideal

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

New Scandinavian Cooking What Not To Wear Masterchef Australia Come Dine With Me Daily Cooks Challenge Daily Cooks Challenge Masterchef Australia Masterchef Australia Daily Cooks Challenge Daily Cooks Challenge What Not To Wear Indian Food Made Easy Cash In The Attic Bargain Hunt New Scandinavian Cooking Britain’s Dream Homes What Not To Wear Indian Food Made Easy Cash In The Attic Bargain Hunt New Scandinavian Cooking Britain’s Dream Homes Indian Food Made Easy Cash In The Attic Antiques Roadshow New Scandinavian Cooking Come Dine With Me

THE SPY NEXT DOOR ON OSN CINEMA 22:05 Britain’s Dream Homes 23:00 Masterchef Australia 23:50 Come Dine With Me

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

BBC World News World Business Report Sport Today BBC World News America Asia Business Report Sport Today BBC World News Asia Business Report Sport Today Newsday Asia Business Report Sport Today Newsday Asia Business Report Sport Today Newsday Asia Business Report Sport Today Newsday 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

13:00 BBC World News 13:30 World Business Report 13:45 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

00:40 01:35 02:30 03:25 04:20 05:15 05:40 06:05 07:00 07:50 08:45

Dirty Jobs Miami Ink Ultimate Survival Wheeler Dealers Mythbusters How Do They Do It? How Does It Work?

Dirty Jobs Wheeler Dealers Street Customs How Does It Work?

09:10 10:05 10:30 10:55 11:25 12:20 12:45 13:15 14:10 15:05 16:00 16:55 17:50 18:45 19:10 19:40 20:05 20:35 21:00 Junior 21:55 22:50 23:45

Mythbusters Cake Boss Border Security Auction Kings Battle Machine Bros Sons Of Guns Sons Of Guns Ultimate Survival Miami Ink Dirty Jobs Wheeler Dealers Mythbusters Survivorman Cake Boss Border Security Auction Kings How Does It Work?

How Do They Do It? American Chopper: Senior vs

00:05 00:55 01:45 02:35 03:25 04:15 04:45 05:40 06:10 07:00 07:55 08:50 09:40 15:45 16:10 17:00 17:50

Weird Or What?

Mighty Ships Prototype This Bang Goes The Theory Junkyard Mega-Wars How Does That Work?

Mighty Ships One Step Beyond Ecopolis Junkyard Mega-Wars How The Universe Works The Gadget Show Brainiac Weird Connections Brainiac Cosmic Collisions Sci-Fi Science

Wheeler Dealers Powering The Future Survivorman

18:15 18:40 19:30 20:20 21:10 22:00 22:50 23:40

The Gadget Show The Tech Show 2012 Apocalypse Junkyard Mega-Wars The Gadget Show The Tech Show 2012 Apocalypse The Gadget Show

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

Sonny With A Chance Good Luck Charlie Shake It Up The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody Sonny With A Chance Wizards Of Waverly Place Jonas Kim Possible Fairly Odd Parents Fairly Odd Parents Stitch Stitch Replacements Replacements Emperor’s New School Emperor’s New School Stitch Stitch Replacements Replacements Fairly Odd Parents Fairly Odd Parents Emperor’s New School The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody Phineas And Ferb Wizards Of Waverly Place Suite Life On Deck Good Luck Charlie Fish Hooks Splits Mickey Mousekersize Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates Splits Jungle Junction Splits The Hive Handy Manny Splits Jake & The Neverland Pirates Splits Sonny With A Chance The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody Phineas And Ferb Splits Shake It Up Hannah Montana Suite Life On Deck Wizards Of Waverly Place Sonny With A Chance Good Luck Charlie Phineas And Ferb The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody Wizards Of Waverly Place Hannah Montana Hannah Montana Suite Life On Deck Fish Hooks Shake It Up Jake & Blake Wizards Of Waverly Place Hannah Montana Fish Hooks Hannah Montana Shake It Up Suite Life On Deck Go Figure

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

Jungle Junction Little Einsteins Higglytown Heroes Higglytown Heroes Jo Jo’s Circus Special Agent Oso Special Agent Oso Jungle Junction Jungle Junction Little Einsteins Higglytown Heroes Higglytown Heroes Jo Jo’s Circus Special Agent Oso Special Agent Oso Jungle Junction Jungle Junction Little Einsteins Higglytown Heroes Higglytown Heroes Jo Jo’s Circus Jungle Junction Jungle Junction Higglytown Heroes Higglytown Heroes Handy Manny Special Agent Oso Jungle Junction Jungle Junction Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Special Agent Oso Timmy Time Handy Manny Jake And The Neverland Pirates

08:45 08:55 09:47 09:50 10:15 10:40 11:05 11:20 11:45 12:00 12:23 12:25 12:40 13:05 13:15 13:25 13:47 13:50 14:15 14:40 15:03 15:05 15:20 15:30 15:40 15:55 16:20 16:42 16:45 17:00 17:10 17:30 17:55 18:08 18:50 19:01 19:02 19:05 19:25 19:50 20:00 20:10 20:20 20:30 20:55 21:20 21:35 21:50 22:15 22:25 22:40 22:55 23:20 23:35 23:50

Jake And The Neverland Pirates Special Agent Oso Special Agent Oso Mickey Mouse Clubhouse The Little Mermaid Little Einsteins Jungle Junction Lazytown Handy Manny Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Special Agent Oso Jake And The Neverland Pirates The Little Mermaid The Hive Special Agent Oso Little Einsteins Special Agent Oso The Little Mermaid Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Special Agent Oso Handy Manny Handy Manny The Hive Jake And The Neverland Pirates Imagination Movers Lazytown Special Agent Oso Jungle Junction The Hive Little Einsteins Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake And The Neverland Pirates Special Agent Oso Special Agent Oso Animated Stories Special Agent Oso Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake And The Neverland Pirates Jake And The Neverland Pirates The Hive Timmy Time The Little Mermaid Little Einsteins Jake And The Neverland Pirates Jungle Junction Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Timmy Time Handy Manny Jungle Junction Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Special Agent Oso Special Agent Oso Jungle Junction

06:00 06:20 06:40 Victors 07:05 07:30 07:50 08:15 08:40 09:00 09:50 10:15 10:40 11:30 11:55 12:20 12:45 13:10 13:50 14:30 14:50 15:15 15:35 Victors 16:00 16:25 16:50 17:15 17:40 18:30 18:55 19:20 19:45 20:15 20:40 21:05 Heroes 21:30 21:50 22:15

American Dragon Kick Buttowski Pokemon Dp: Sinnoh League

00:25 00:55 01:25 03:15 04:10 05:05 06:00 07:50 08:20

Kendra Extreme Close-Up Young, Beautiful And Vanished 25 Most Stylish Sexiest Extreme Hollywood 40 Smokin’ On Set Hookups Behind The Scenes E! News

Phineas & Ferb Kid Vs Kat Pair Of Kings I’m In The Band Kick Buttowski Zeke & Luther Suite Life On Deck The Super Hero Squad Show Suite Life On Deck Pair Of Kings Phineas & Ferb Phineas & Ferb I’m In The Band Kid Vs Kat The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody Phineas & Ferb Zeke & Luther Kick Buttowski Pokemon Dp: Sinnoh League I’m In The Band Suite Life On Deck Zeke & Luther Zeke & Luther Phineas & Ferb Escape From Scorpion Island Kick Buttowski American Dragon Aaron Stone Kid Vs Kat I’m In The Band The Avengers: Earths Mightiest Zeke & Luther The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody The Super Hero Squad Show

TV Listings FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2011

09:15 10:15 12:05 13:05 13:35 14:05 14:35 15:30 16:25 16:55 17:25 17:55 18:55 19:55 20:55 21:25 21:55 22:25 23:25 23:55

The Dance Scene THS E! News Kendra Kendra Keeping Up With The Kardashians E!es THS Behind The Scenes Khloe And Lamar Khloe And Lamar E! News E!es Kourtney And Kim Take New York Chelsea Lately Kendra Kendra E! News Chelsea Lately Keeping Up With The Kardashians

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

Ghost Lab A Haunting True Crime With Aphrodite Jones True Crime Scene Dr G: Medical Examiner Ghosthunters Ghost Lab Life Or Death: Medical Mysteries Murder Shift Forensic Detectives Street Patrol Real Emergency Calls Life Or Death: Medical Mysteries Undercover FBI Files On The Case With Paula Zahn Extreme Forensics Life Or Death: Medical Mysteries Street Patrol Real Emergency Calls Undercover FBI Files Forensic Detectives Murder Shift Real Emergency Calls Life Or Death: Medical Mysteries Street Patrol On The Case With Paula Zahn Extreme Forensics Serial Killers I Escaped Death Dr G: Medical Examiner

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

Meet The Natives: USA David Rocco’s Dolce Vita Bondi Rescue Bondi Rescue Travel Madness City Chase Marrakech Perilous Journeys Ultimate Traveller Meet The Natives: USA David Rocco’s Dolce Vita Bondi Rescue Bondi Rescue Travel Madness City Chase Marrakech Perilous Journeys Ultimate Traveller Meet The Natives: USA Earth Tripping Earth Tripping The Ride: Alaska to Patagonia Graham’s World Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled The Frankincense Trail Somewhere In China Departures Earth Tripping Earth Tripping The Ride: Alaska to Patagonia Graham’s World Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled The Frankincense Trail Somewhere In China

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 18:45 21:15 23:15

Remember Me-PG15 Furry Vengeance-PG15 Three Investigators-PG15 The Spy Next Door-PG15 Dean Spanley-PG Far North-PG15 Invictus-PG15 Clash Of The Titans-PG15 Triage-18

00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 01:30 The New Adventures Of Old Christine 02:00 State Of The Union 02:30 Rita Rocks 03:00 Just Shoot Me 03:30 Just Shoot Me 04:00 Two And A Half Men 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 06:00 Seinfeld 06:30 The Drew Carey Show 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 Two And A Half Men 08:30 Just Shoot Me 09:00 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 09:30 Community 10:00 Happy Endings 10:30 Seinfeld 11:00 The Drew Carey Show 11:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:30 Two And A Half Men 13:00 Just Shoot Me 13:30 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 14:00 Seinfeld 14:30 Community 15:00 Happy Endings 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 16:30 The Drew Carey Show 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 Mad Love 18:30 The Office 19:00 Rita Rocks 19:30 Modern Family 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 Family Guy 22:30 Rita Rocks 23:00 The New Adventures Of Old Christine 23:30 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

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

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 12:30

White Collar Burn Notice The Good Guys Bones Strong Medicine Good Morning America The Event Emmerdale Look-A-Like The Good Guys The Martha Stewart Show The View White Collar Bones Live Good Morning America Strong Medicine The Ellen DeGeneres Show One Tree Hill Drop Dead Diva Off The Map Big Love The Good Guys Psych

Smallville The Good Guys White Collar Burn Notice Bones The Gates Smallville Sons Of Tucson Look-A-Like No Ordinary Family The Good Guys White Collar Burn Notice Sons Of Tucson Look-A-Like

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

The Ellen DeGeneres Show No Ordinary Family Smallville Sons Of Tucson Look-A-Like The Ellen DeGeneres Show Persons Unknown Drop Dead Diva Off The Map Big Love The Good Guys The Gates

01:00 03:00 Day-18 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:15 15:15 17:15 19:00 21:30 23:00

Casualties Of War-18 The Boondock Saints 2: All Saints

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 FAM 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

12 Men Of Christmas-PG15 The Last Supper-PG15 Woke Up Dead-PG15 Chasing Papi-PG Ice Age 3: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs-

Snow White: A Tale Of Terror-18 Ransom-PG15 No Escape-PG15 The Sum Of All Fears-PG15 S.W.A.T.-PG15 No Escape-PG15 The Stepfather-PG15 Public Enemies-18 Fear Island-PG15 Storm Warning-18

I Spy-PG Double Wedding-PG15 Anger Management-PG15 12 Men Of Christmas-PG15 Patch Adams-PG15 Couples Retreat-18 Without A Paddle-PG15

00:45 Female Agents-18 03:00 The Headless Woman-PG15 04:45 Romeo + Juliet-PG15

Rage: Carrie 2-PG15 The Spirit-PG15 Let Me In-R I, Robot-PG15 Arlington Road-18 Stonehenge Apocalypse-PG15 G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra-PG15 Arlington Road-18 Speed-PG15 G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra-PG15 Altitude-PG15 Mindhunters-18

01:00 The Spy Next Door-PG15 03:00 Echelon Conspiracy-PG15 05:00 Winx: Secret Of The Lost KingdomPG

THE SUM OF ALL FEARS ON OSN MOVIES ACTION

07:00 09:00 10:45 12:30 14:30 16:30 18:45 21:00 23:00

Alice In Wonderland-PG Enid-PG15 When We Were Kings-PG15 Alice In Wonderland-PG Tuck Everlasting-PG Drumline-PG15 Riding In Cars With Boys-PG15 Mary Reilly-PG15 Strange Culture-PG15

01:00 The Spy Next Door-PG15 03:00 Hachiko: A Dog’s Story-PG15 05:00 Catch That Kid-PG 07:00 My Sister’s Keeper-PG15 09:00 Harry Potter And The Half- Blood Prince-PG15 11:30 17 Again-PG15 13:15 The Princess And The Frog-FAM 15:00 Gasland-PG15 17:00 Harry Potter And The Half- Blood Prince-PG15 19:30 The Devil’s Teardrop-PG15 21:00 Predators-18 23:00 The Private Lives Of Pippa LeePG15

01:00 Tooth Fairy-PG 03:00 Inspector Gadget’s Biggest Caper Ever-FAM 05:00 Ace Ventura : Pet Detective Jr.-PG15 07:00 Rolie, Polie, Olie: The Movie-FAM 09:00 Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel-FAM 11:00 Lego: The Adventures Of Clutch Powers-FAM 13:00 Tutenstein: Clash Of The PharaohsPG 15:00 Planet 51-PG 17:00 Lego: The Adventures Of Clutch Powers-FAM 19:00 Garfield-PG 21:00 Tutenstein: Clash Of The PharaohsPG 23:00 Planet 51-PG

00:30 02:15 04:00 05:45 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00 PG15

Lower Learning-PG15 Alice In Wonderland-PG Saved!-PG15 Another Year-PG15 Mama I Want To Sing-PG 9-PG Alice In Wonderland-PG Mama I Want To Sing-PG 9-PG Tooth Fairy-PG Tangled-FAM The Private Lives Of Pippa Lee-

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

WWE NXT UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC 133 Countdown WWE NXT UFC The Ultimate Fighter Darts World Match Play WWE NXT WWE Vintage Collection Trans World Sport Powerboats F1 WWE NXT NRL Full Time Live NRL Premiership Speedway Darts World Match Play Aquabikes UFC 133 Countdown WWE Vintage Collection WWE SmackDown!

WWE Bottomline UFC 133 Countdown

01:30 02:00 04:00 04:30 05:30 06:30 07:00 07:30 08:00 10:00 10:30 11:00 11:30 12:00 12:30 14:30 15:30 17:30 19:30 20:00 22:00

FIVB Beach Volley Ball RFL Championship Total Rugby AFL Highlights Trans World Sport Futbol Mundial Rugby World Cup Classics NRL Full Time RFL Championship Total Rugby Mobil 1 The Grid Scottish Premier League Highlights ICC Cricket World Rugby World Cup Classics Live NRL Premiership Golfing World NRL Premiership NRL Premiership Total Rugby Live Currie Cup Rugby Union Futbol Mundial

22:30 Mobil 1 The Grid 23:00 ICC Cricket World 23:30 FEI Equestrian World

01:30 02:00 02:30 03:30 05:30 06:00 06:30 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:30 10:00 12:00 12:30 14:30 15:00 15:30 16:30 19:00 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:30

Futbol Mundial Rugby World Cup Classics Golfing World Tri Nations Total Rugby NRL Full Time Mobil 1 The Grid Golfing World Asian Tour Golf Asian Tour Highlights Futbol Mundial RFL Championship NRL Full Time Live NRL Premiership ICC Cricket World Scottish Premier League Highlights Trans World Sports AFL Premiership Trans World Sport ICC Cricket World Scottish Premier League Highlights Rugby World Cup Classics AFL Premiership

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

WWE NXT UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC 133 Countdown WWE NXT UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC Unleashed UFC Unleashed WWE NXT WWE Vintage Collection Speedway V8 Supercars Extra AFL Premiership WWE NXT Speedway Le Mans Series Magazine Powerboats F1 Powerboats F1 UFC 133 Countdown V8 Supercars Extra Le Mans Series Magazine WWE SmackDown!

WWE Bottomline UFC 133 Countdown

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

Exotic Lives Rivers Of The World World’s Greatest Motorcycle Rides Glutton For Punishment Chef Abroad Globe Trekker Exotic Lives Top Travel Globe Trekker Think Green World’s Greatest Motorcycle Rides Planet Food Top Travel Globe Trekker Flavours Of Chile Think Green Cruise Today Travel Today Globe Trekker Top Travel Flavours Of Chile Globe Trekker Globe Trekker Indian Times Globe Trekker

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

The Crusades Ice Road Truckers Barbarians Ax Men Modern Marvels Deep Wreck Mysteries The Crusades Ice Road Truckers Barbarians Ax Men Modern Marvels Deep Wreck Mysteries The Crusades Ice Road Truckers Barbarians Ax Men Modern Marvels Deep Wreck Mysteries The Crusades Ice Road Truckers Barbarians Modern Marvels Warrior Empire: The Mughals Of

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Years

Information

FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2011

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 MSR GFA QTR THY KAC JZR JZR BAW KAC JZR KAC KAC KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC UAE QTR ABY IRA ETD GFA AWS MEA JZR IYE MSR JZR RBG KAC MSR UAL RJA FDB OMA KAC JZR QTR JZR JZR MLR ETD UAE GFA SVA JZR ABY ALK JZR KAC KAC KAC JZR

Flt 642 267 772 620 853 370 305 614 211 138 770 544 503 555 157 416 541 206 284 302 332 53 678 352 362 855 132 125 619 301 213 802 404 165 825 623 509 3553 618 610 982 640 57 645 546 257 134 201 535 403 303 857 215 510 239 127 227 177 166 502 542 213

Arrival Flights on Friday 5/8/2011 Route AMMAN BEIRUT ISTANBUL ADDIS ABABA DUBAI BAHRAIN ABU DHABI CAIRO BAHRAIN DOHA ISTANBUL CAIRO LUXOR ALEXANDRIA LONDON JAKARTA / KUALA LUMPUR CAIRO ISLAMABAD DHAKA MUMBAI TRIVANDRUM DUBAI MUSCAT / DUBAI COCHIN COLOMBO DUBAI DOHA SHARJAH LAR ABU DHABI BAHRAIN BASRAH BEIRUT DUBAI SANAA SOHAG LUXOR ALEXANDRIA / SOHAG DOHA CAIRO WASHINGTON DC DULLES AMMAN DUBAI MUSCAT ALEXANDRIA BEIRUT DOHA DAMASCUS CAIRO COLOMBO / DUBAI ABU DHABI DUBAI BAHRAIN RIYADH AMMAN SHARJAH COLOMBO / DUBAI DUBAI PARIS / ROME BEIRUT CAIRO DEIREZZOR / ALEPPO

Time 0:05 0:35 1:15 1:45 2:25 2:55 2:55 3:05 3:15 3:20 4:10 4:40 5:15 6:10 6:30 6:35 7:10 7:15 7:40 7:50 7:55 7:55 8:00 8:05 8:20 8:25 9:00 9:10 9:20 9:30 9:35 10:50 10:55 11:10 12:05 12:10 12:30 12:55 12:55 13:20 13:30 13:35 13:50 14:00 14:30 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 18:45 18:50 19:05

KAC KAC KAC KAC AIC JAI KAC JZR FDB OMA VOS MEA KAC KAC SVA KAC DHX GFA FCX QTR UAL UAE JZR JZR DLH SAI MSR JZR KLM JZR

774 744 102 674 575 572 562 787 61 647 81 402 786 788 506 1716 372 217 304 136 981 859 135 185 636 441 612 539 447 481

RIYADH DAMMAM NEW YORK / LONDON DUBAI CHENNAI / GOA MUMBAI AMMAN RIYADH DUBAI MUSCAT BAGHDAD BEIRUT JEDDAH JEDDAH JEDDAH JEDDAH BAHRAIN BAHRAIN RIYADH DOHA BAHRAIN DUBAI BAHRAIN DUBAI FRANKFURT LAHORE CAIRO CAIRO AMSTERDAM / BAHRAIN SABIHA

19:10 19:15 19:25 19:25 19:30 19:35 19:50 20:00 20:00 20:10 20:15 20:15 20:20 20:20 20:35 20:50 21:00 21:25 21:30 21:35 22:00 22:00 22:10 22:35 23:00 23:05 23:20 23:30 23:35 23:50

Airlines KAC JZR AXB DLH AIC PIA THY ETH UAE DHX ETD MSR QTR THY JZR JZR RJA GFA KAC VOS BAW FDB JZR KAC KAC JZR KAC UAE ABY QTR ETD

Flt 677 540 390 637 982 206 773 620 854 371 306 615 139 771 508 164 643 212 545 94 156 54 534 177 117 256 617 856 126 133 302

Departure Flights on Friday 5/8/2011 Route DUBAI / MUSCAT CAIRO MANGALORE / KOZHIKODE FRANKFURT AHMEDABAD / CHENNAI LAHORE ISTANBUL BAHRAIN / ADDIS ABABA DUBAI BAHRAIN ABU DHABI CAIRO DOHA ISTANBUL LUXOR DUBAI AMMAN BAHRAIN ALEXANDRIA DUBAI / KANDAHAR LONDON DUBAI CAIRO FRANKFURT / GENEVA NEW YORK BEIRUT DOHA DUBAI SHARJAH DOHA ABU DHABI

Time 0:10 0:20 0:25 0:40 1:05 1:10 2:15 2:30 3:45 3:55 4:05 4:05 5:00 5:10 5:55 6:55 7:00 7:10 7:40 8:00 8:25 8:40 8:50 8:55 9:05 9:10 9:35 9:40 9:50 10:00 10:15

GFA IRA JZR AWS MEA KAC JZR JZR KAC KAC IYE MSR RBG JZR MSR RJA FDB KAC UAL KAC OMA KAC KAC KAC KAC JZR KAC JZR JZR ETD MLR QTR 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 JZR KAC UAL SAI

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BAHRAIN LAR DAMASCUS AMMAN BEIRUT CAIRO DEIREZZOR / ALEPPO AMMAN LONDON BEIRUT DOHA / SANAA SOHAG ALEXANDRIA DUBAI CAIRO AMMAN DUBAI JEDDAH BAHRAIN AMMAN MUSCAT JEDDAH JEDDAH DUBAI RIYADH SABIHA DAMMAM RIYADH CAIRO ABU DHABI DUBAI / COLOMBO DOHA 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 AMMAN BANGKOK / MANILA WASHINGTON DC DULLES LAHORE

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

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1. ‘IRON MAN 3’ May 3, 2013 The real threat: Rust. A med-

dling Marvel Studios made “Iron Man 2” a muddled mess, with too many characters. Ol’ Shellhead’s rogues gallery is fairly limited, and the first two films used parts of his best comic stories.

Cast: Robert Downey Jr. — that’s it, so far.

2. ‘THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN’ July 3, 2012 The real threat: Spider-fatigue.

Sam Raimi’s first two Spideys were exemplary, but No. 3 lowered the bar so much that the franchise had to be rebooted.

Also: Spidey’s next foe is the human-sized Lizard. Fierce!

Cast: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone

3. ‘THOR’ Opened May 6 The real threat: Cheese. No

need to wonder if audiences would identify with a spoiled “god” who speaks with Shakespearean formality and throttles punks with a hammer.

The movie has raked in over $170 million and remains in the box office top 10 ... for now.

Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins

‘THE FLASH’ 2013 A police scientist in his crime lab is zapped by lightning to become the fastest man alive.

Superheroes are muscling their way into the multiplex like never before. Comic book fans are thrilled — and afraid. How will their beloved idols fare in Hollywood’s hands? Here’s a guide to the heroes coming our way and the real threats that await them.

— David Frese, McClatchy Newspapers Illustration by Hector Casanova and Neil Nakahodo/Kansas City Star/MCT

4. ‘CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER’ July 22 The real threat: Nationalism.

This tale of a 98-pound weakling who becomes a shield-slinging Nazi fighter shows great promise — in the U.S. The studio is toning down the “America” thing for overseas audiences, which can make or break a film. Also: Joe Johnston’s last film was “The Wolfman.” ’Nuff said.

Cast: Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, Hugo Weaving

5. ‘HULK’ Sometime in 2012 The real threat: Likability.

Here’s a guy who smashes stuff when he gets mad — essentially he’s a big green Charlie Sheen.

Two previous Hulk films underwhelmed. Now Guillermo del Toro is making a Hulk TV show.

‘AQUAMAN’ 2013 HBO’s “Entourage” featured a fictional film about the king of Atlantis, and thus, life imitates art.

Cast: None yet, but Mark Ruffalo plays the Jade Giant in …

‘THE AVENGERS’ May 4, 2012 The real threat: Too much of a good thing. This is a dream proj-

ect of fangirls and fanboys everywhere. Thor, Hulk, Black Widow (the redhead next to Hulk, above), Captain America, Iron Man all in one movie. It’s being directed by Joss Whedon, who, like the Hulk, is loved intensely by a few and totally ignored by everyone else.

Cast: (In addition to Ruffalo) Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Hemsworth

6. ‘WONDER WOMAN’ Lost in limbo?

The real threat: Interpretations.

David E. Kelley, who brought us TV’s “Ally McBeal,” hoped to

turn the Amazing Amazon into a corporate shill who worries about the breast-size on her action figures. A pilot was filmed, but NBC, the network reportedly most interested in the project, turned it down, confirming our fears about the project. How this effects the chances of a big-screen movie, tentatively scheduled for 2015, is anyone’s guess.

Cast: (TV pilot) Adrianne Palicki, Elizabeth Hurley, Cary Elwes

7. ‘THE DARK KNIGHT RISES’ July 20, 2012 The real threat: Unrealistic expectations. We have high

hopes, but maybe they’re too high. Seriously: How do you top “The Dark Knight”? Christopher Nolan is keeping the story under wraps, and that’s cool, but even

‘JUSTICE LEAGUE: MORTAL’

‘LUKE CAGE AND IRON FIST’

2013 Recently announced, it’s comic publisher DC’s superteam answer to Marvel’s “Avengers.”

Unknown Partnered in comics, but separate projects.

Cage is super-strong and invulnerable; the other is a martial artist.

non-Batfans have to be underwhelmed by the villains — the thief Selina Kyle (aka Catwoman) and a guy named Bane who, in the comics, is little more than a steroid-slamming luchador.

Cast: Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Thomas Hardy

8. ‘SUPERMAN: MAN OF STEEL’ December 2012 The real threat: Bryan Singer and Zack Snyder. Singer direct-

ed the languid “Superman Returns,” in which the universe’s most powerful man never punched anyone. When Snyder was hired to direct a reboot of that reboot, we were all excited until we saw “Sucker Punch,” which was just icky.

Cast: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon

9. ‘GREEN LANTERN’ June 17 The real threat: Obscurity. Who

is this guy? A test pilot with a magic ring and green pajamas?

Green Lantern is among the topselling characters in comics, but few outside the comic shop know who he is. So now the cast is repeatedly comparing the film to “Star Wars.” OK …

Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard

‘ANT-MAN’

‘DR. STRANGE’

2014 A biochemist creates a size-changing formula and communicates with ants. Edgar Wright (“Shaun of the Dead”) is attached to direct.

Unknown An egotistical surgeon seeks mystic advice to repair his injured hands — and becomes the world’s sorcerer supreme.

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Troicki, Verdasco advance at ATP Washington Classic WASHINGTON: Serbian third seed Viktor Troicki and Spanish fifth seed Fernando Verdasco advanced to the third round of the rain-hit $1.4 million ATP Washington Classic with victories Thursday morning. World No 15 Troicki, whose only ATP title came last year at Moscow, fired 13 aces in ousting American Ryan Harrison 7-5, 6-2 while Verdasco, seeking his sixth ATP crown, beat Australian qualifier Marinko Matosevic 6-4, 6-4. Six secondround matches were pushed to Thursday by rain, including French top seed Gael Monfils facing American Ryan Sweeting and reigning Asian and Commonwealth Games champion Somdev Devvarman of India meeting seventhseeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis.

Russian former World No 3 Nikolay Davydenko, now ranked 30th, beat Aussie qualifier Matthew Ebden 6-3, 7-5, to book a third-round date with Verdasco. Davydenko beat then-top-ranked Rafael Nadal in the Doha semi-finals and

won his 21st career ATP title in April at Munich, but lamented his inconsistency against lesser players. “Now I’m losing to wildcards, qualies and 100-something players. I feel like I can’t find my game like before,” he said. “Maybe confidence. With some luck I’ll win some tournaments and my confidence will come back.”

At age 30, the Russian who won five titles in 2009 including the ATP World Finals is fighting to prove he can still be a contender. “I need to prove a lot. Mentally I’m still down,” Daydenko said. “I feel I can play. I don’t want to retire.” Czech Radek Stepanek advanced in 57 minutes with a 6-1, 6-1, triumph over American Wayne Odesnik, who was playing in his first ATP match since being banned last year for pleading guilty to importing human growth hormone to Australia. “It has rejuvenated my career, because I’m a lot hungrier,” Odesnik said, adding that he has no regrets for his actions and that rebukes from rivals

that his ban was too short “don’t matter to me. They don’t know the facts.”

Odesnik held serve just before rain halted play, and when the match resumed Stepanek won the next 11 games in a row to book a third-round date with Finn Jarkko Nieminen. Two rising US talents won by retirement. Michael Russell eliminated Xavier Malisse 7-6 (7/4), 2-3 when the Belgian retired with a sore right arm and Donald Young ousted fourth seed Jurgen Melzer 6-7 (6/8), 6-4, 3-1 when the Austrian retired. During a rain delay, Melzer said he would not resume play due to a pulled muscle in his left leg. “You would like to win the last point but I felt like I put him in that position,” Young said. “If he felt he could have won he would have come back.” Young, a 22-year-old left-hander, will face Russell to decide a berth in what would be only the second quarter-final of Young’s ATP career. — AFP

US teen Stephens shocks Goerges

WASHINGTON: Wayne Odesnik returns a shot to Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic during the Legg Mason Tennis Classic presented by Geico at the William H G FitzGerald Tennis Center on August 3, 2011. — AFP

Odesnik loses his first main-draw ATP match WASHINGTON: About 18 months after Australian customs officers caught him with eight vials of human growth hormone, Wayne Odesnik played his first ATP main-draw match on Wednesday since returning from suspension, and lost. The American was beaten 6-1, 6-1 by Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic.

Odesnik held serve in the opening game, then - after a rain delay of nearly two hours - dropped the next 11 games in a row at the hard-court tuneup for the US Open. “I’m just trying to move on with my career, with my life, put it behind me the best that I can, and that’s it,” Odesnik said. “If they have negative things to say, that’s them. I’m not going to sit here and bad-mouth anyone. ... They don’t matter to me.” Odesnik said the past 18 months “rejuvenated my career, because I’m a lot hungrier.”

There was better news for two other Americans: Donald Young progressed to the round-of-16 after opponent Jurgen Melzer retired in the midst of a third-set rain delay with a pulled leg muscle while trailing 6-4, 3-1; and Michael Russell also profited from an opponent’s injury when Xavier Malisse quit with an arm injury while trailing 7-6 (4), 2-3. The exits

by No 4 seed Melzer and No.14 Malisse add to withdrawals by Mardy Fish, Andy Roddick and Fernando Gonzalez earlier in the tournament. In the only other match that was completed before late-day showers interrupted play again and led to the postponement of six singles matches, No 9 Nikolay Davydenko beat Matthew Ebden of Australia 6-3, 7-5.

Stepanek’s opponent in the round-of-16 will be Finn Jarkko Nieminen, while Young and Russell will face each other, and Russia’s Davydenko will take on either fifth-seed Fernando Verdasco of Chile or Australian qualifi-

er Marinko Matosevic. Odesnik had not played at this level since April 2010, when he lost in the semifinals at Houston. By then, he already pleaded guilty in an Australian court to importing HGH in January 2010 and was fined less than $10,000. In May 2010, he was banned for two years, with the punishment backdated to December 2009. And in December 2010, that two-year suspension was cut in half because the ITF said Odesnik cooperated with its anti-doping program.

The group’s rules say that an athlete’s ban can be shortened when “the participant has provided substantial assistance” in uncovering other offenses. The ITF did not reveal how Odesnik helped - and he made a passing reference Wednesday to “things ... I’m not entitled to tell.”

Odesnik, once ranked as high as 77th and currently 161st, returned to the sport this season at the bottom, forced to qualify for tournaments on the Futures circuit, the lowest rung of US Tennis Association professional events. After earning ranking points that way, he moved up to the stillminor Challenger circuit.

He lost in qualifying for this tournament, but got in when Fish withdrew, even taking Fish’s first-round bye. “A couple of years ago, I would have been a little bit more devastated about the loss,” the 25-year-old Odesnik said. “But it’s my first ATP event in almost a year and a half. I didn’t expect to get in, anyway, so I’ll go home with a little bit of money in my pocket, and I’ll go on to my next tournament.” Stepanek had little sympathy for Odesnik after the match. “It’s not fair, definitely, what he’s done, but that’s his life,” Stepanek said. “He’s wasting his life in this, and that’s what he has to live with.”— AP

SAN DIEGO: US teenager Sloane Stephens shocked seventh-seeded German Julia Goerges 6-3, 7-5 on Wednesday at the WTA San Diego Open to earn her first career victory over a Top 20 player. Stephens, ranked 131st, ambushed the 20th-ranked Goerges, who won the Stuttgart title on clay and beat number one Caroline Wozniacki twice in the first half of the season. Stephens was 0-3 against Top 20 players before beating Goerges.

Russian Vera Dushevina ousted another seed at La Costa, defeating number 16 Slovenian Polona Hercog 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the second round. Austrian Tamira Paszek did the same but without firing a shot as number 11 Russian Maria Kirilenko withdrew before their second-round match due to a left hip injury. Pasek and Stephens now face off in a battle of young guns for a quarterfinal spot. France’s Virginie Razzano, a quarter-finalist last week in Maryland, continued her good hardcourt form by taking out New Zealand’s Marina Erakovic 6-1, 6-3. Stephens, 18, won back-to-back matches for the first time in her career at the WTA level after beating China’s Zhang Shuai in the first round.

The American said she was frankly surprised to have advanced over Goerges. “I had nothing to lose, but I wasn’t expecting a win,” Stephens said. “She played well with a few mistakes,” Stephens added of Goerges, who has now lost all three of her postWimbledon matches. “She’s still an awesome player, she’s not just any girl. “She didn’t have her greatest day and maybe I did. I’m happy to take this victory.” Goerges said she was at least pleased that she played better than she did in Stanford, California, last week. “It’s been a big improvement,” she said. “I am trying to play my game and I am going for it the whole match. Obviously, it is not working out right now, but it’s the right way to come back.”

Goerges said that her season’s goal is to improve her consistency. “I’ve been down and up and now maybe a bit down. There are a lot of good young players out there,” said the 23-year-old. “I need to stay consistently at my level.” Goerges was one of a trio of fast-rising Germans making their San Diego debuts. Second seed Andrea Petkovic is already into the third round after a bye and victory. Germany’s Wimbledon semi-finalist Sabine Lisicki, seeded 12th, overwhelmed 40-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan 61, 6-2. Lisicki will next face local favorite Coco Vandeweghe, who beat lucky loser Olga Savchuk of Ukraine 6-7 (7/9), 6-4, 6-3.— AFP

Sports FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2011

All eyes on Woods at WGC Bridgestone AKRON: The spotlight’s on returning Tiger Woods at this week’s Bridgestone Invitational, where defending champion Hunter Mahan was among the many wondering just what kind of golf the former number one will produce. “We always used to doubt him, and he’d always prove us wrong,” Mahan said of Woods, who returns to competition after an 11-week absence to let injuries to his left leg heal. “But this is serious doubt because we have no idea how healthy he is. Who knows? I don’t know. I don’t think anyone knows except him and probably his physicians.”

Even Woods says he doesn’t know precisely what to expect when he tees it up at the elite World Golf Championships event-whether his form and his health will recall the player who has captured seven titles at Firestone, or whether he’ll look more like the player who limped out of the Players Championship in May. “I still haven’t been in a competitive environment yet, so that’s a totally different atmosphere,” said Woods, who hasn’t won a tournament in 22 months.

In addition to getting back in the groove after his injury layoff, Woods will be without long-time caddie Steve Williams, sacked by Woods last month. Bryon Bell, a boyhood pal of Woods, will carry the bag for 14-time major champion. Woods insisted that, as always, his expectation is to win. Not everyone thinks that’s a realistic aim. “No one expects him to come out and play well,” US Open champion Rory McIlroy said. “I’m sure he expects himself to come out and play and compete, but given the length of layoff and considering that he’s only been able to hit full shots for the last two weeks or whatever, it would be an unbelievable effort if he was to come back and compete. “But I think just get through 72 holes and maybe finish top 20 would be a really good effort.”

England’s World No. 1 Luke Donald, who won the WGC Match Play crown in February, will be paired with Masters champion Charl Schwartzel of South Africa for the first two rounds. Like most of the top players in the 76-man field, Donald was quizzed about his thoughts on Woods. “His expectation is to win,” Donald said. “I know coming off injuries and being away from competition, it is tough. When I had my wrist injury, you feel like practicing and preparing away from tournament action. You feel very ready. “When it comes down to crunch time and playing under competitive circumstances, it’s a lot more difficult.”

Woods will play alongside British Open champion Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland, who won here in 2003. Stewart Cink, winner at Firestone in 2004, is also in a field that includes the last Ryder Cup team members from both America and Europe along with selected winners from six tours around the world and the top 50 in the world rankings. “This is always a fun week,” Donald said. “It’s a challenging golf course. It’s a good prep week, also, for next week, the PGA. I think you’ll see a lot of people grinding it out on the range a little bit this week in preparation for next week, but also a great tournament to win, as well.” — AFP

OHIO: Rory McIlroy, from Northern Ireland, signs autographs for fans on his way to the third tee during practice for the Bridgestone Invitational golf tournament at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. — AP

McIlroy leaning toward joining PGA Tour again AKRON: US Open champion Rory McIlroy is leaning toward becoming a PGA Tour member again. The 22-year-old from Northern Ireland spoke to PGA Tour officials Wednesday morning and said he would start looking for a place to live in Florida either Orlando or the West Palm Beach area - after the PGA Championship next week. “I feel I play my best golf over here,” McIlroy said. “I’m very comfortable in this country.

Yeah, I’m definitely looking toward coming back and playing a full schedule.” Taking up his tour card next season would mean playing at least 15 events on the PGA Tour in 2012. McIlroy, one of the brightest young stars in golf, gave up his PGA Tour membership after 2010, saying he wasn’t interested in the travel involved to play on the PGA and European tours, and that the FedEx Cup playoffs - a big incentive to join the PGA Tour - was too much golf at the end of the summer.

He has three career wins, the biggest two in America - a 62 in the final round at Quail Hollow in 2010, and his record-setting performance in soft conditions at Congressional to win the US Open by eight

shots at 16-under 268. McIlroy struggled in wind at the British Open, however, and said after his final round that he doesn’t enjoy playing in such conditions. “I’d rather play when it’s 80 degrees and sunny and not much wind,” he said at Royal St George’s.

Asked what changed his mind about PGA Tour membership, McIlroy said it was the British Open. The reaction to his comments?

“No, the weather,” he said to laughter. “I just thought about it. I feel as if my game really suits playing courses over here. You have your favorite events, and most of my favorite events seem to be on this side of the pond. And my game suits it over here.

I’m very comfortable over here. “I’d like to give it a go again and obviously last more than one year and really see how it goes.”

Because he gave up his membership last year, McIlroy was only allowed to play 10 times on the PGA Tour this year, including the four majors and the three World Golf Championships. The tour later allowed him and Lee Westwood to add another tournament, provided it was The Players Championship. Both declined to play at TPC Sawgrass last year.

Andy Pazder, the tour’s chief of operations, said McIlroy spoke to tour officials without giving them a final decision.

McIlroy has until Nov. 22 - or 30 days after the PGA Tour season ends at Disney - to apply. “He certainly gave a strong indication,” said Pazder, who listened to McIlroy’s press conference. “He has plenty of time to make a final decision, and if it works out that he’s rejoining the PGA Tour, obviously we’re ecstatic about that. An immense talent and a personable young man, he’d be an asset for us, no question.” If he joins, it means McIlroy would play five more regular PGA Tour events than he did this year when he competed at the Honda Classic, Wells Fargo Championship and the Memorial. He might be able to knock out four of those through the playoffs if he plays to the level expected of him, along with The Players Championship. “The only thing about the FedEx was that you only got a week off after the PGA and then straight back into four weeks out of five that were pretty tough,” he said. “It’s hard to keep it going for that length of time. It’s something that you just have to accept.”— AP

Oosthuizen eyes Firestone boost AKRON: Former British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen is looking for a spark to reignite his game at this week’s WGCBridgestone Invitational after escaping injury in a traffic accident while preparing for the tournament. The 28-year-old South African suffered whiplash when a car driven by his caddie was struck by another vehicle at an intersection close to their hotel as they were travelling to Firestone Country Club on Tuesday.

Oosthuizen was taken to hospital as a precaution and he returned to the course on Wednesday to play 18 holes in practice. “It was a pretty scary experience,” the world number 35 told Reuters after his practice round. “It just happened out of the blue.

My neck was sore yesterday but I’ve had treatment on it and I should be okay.”

Oosthuizen, who tied for ninth in his debut at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational last year, is banking on a much-needed return to form in the welcome, tree-lined surrounds of Firestone. “I really enjoyed it when I played here last year,” he said. “It’s a good, fair track but you’ve got to hit it straight here.

Hopefully I can get it going here again.”

Oosthuizen, who clinched his first major title with a crushing seven-shot victory in last year’s British Open at St Andrews, has struggled for consistency this season.

Although he won his second European Tour title at the Africa Open in January, he

has posted only one top 10 in 11 starts on the 2011 PGA Tour-a tie for ninth at the US Open in June.

‘PRETTY ROUGH’ “My form at the moment is pretty rough,” he said. “I struggled in Canada with a little back injury so we will just have to see how this week goes.”

Oosthuizen missed the cut at last week’s Canadian Open following rounds of 75 and 74. “I feel like I am playing nicely-it’s just a question of putting everything together,” the South African said. “But I am struggling with that at the moment.”

Asked what he felt was the main difference in his game from a year ago,

Oosthuizen replied: “I don’t know. The British Open, with that type of golf course and the type of golf you play there, I really enjoy. “You have a lot of shot-making and things like that. Royal St George’s as well, I really love playing there,” he added, referring to last month’s British Open venue where he tied for 54th.

“But I just struggled in that weather with the rain and everything, especially on the Saturday. Whenever it’s really windy I seem to find my swing a lot better than I do when it’s really good conditions.

“My problem at the moment is probably more mental than anything else-it doesn’t make sense,” he said before breaking into laughter. —Reuters

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Ojha heads to England buoyed by shock recall NEW DELHI: Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha is keen to capitalize on a second bite of the cherry after landing a surprise call-up to an India squad he was originally omitted from for the ongoing tour of England. The Hyderabad spinner watched from the pavilion on India’s June tour of the Caribbean as leg-spinner Amit Mishra was selected ahead of him, and Ojha dropped further down the pecking order when Harbhajan Singh returned for the England series.

However, Ojha recently signed a contract with English county Surrey and was practicing with his Ranji Trophy team mates in Hyderabad when spin spearhead Harbhajan’s injury provided an opportunity the 24-year-old is keen to seize with both hands. “I was already practicing for my Surrey stint and would have left (for England) in a week’s time. This surprise India call-up means I would be leaving earlier than planned,” the spinner said in a telephone interview. “At a time when there is no cricket

being played (in India), all I could do was to practice hard and keep myself fit. “I can’t change what happened in the West Indies but what I can do now is give my best in England.”

Once again, Ojha will vie with Mishra for a place in the starting side for the remaining two tests of the four-match series, which has been dominated by the pacemen and offered little to the slow bowlers on either side. As England ran riot to open a 2-0 series lead with a pair of big wins, Harbhajan bagged just one wicket at

the Lord’s test and one more at Trent Bridge before he was ruled out of the remainder of the series with an abdominal muscle strain.

His English counterpart Graeme Swann fared little better, managing two wickets at Lord’s before toiling without success at Trent Bridge, where his frustration got the better of him as he incurred an official reprimand after angrily kicking the stumps. Ojha is under no illusions about the challenges that await him in England. — Reuters

India expects great things from Sehwag MUMBAI: Former India players are united in their belief that Virender Sehwag’s return from injury will stabilize the team’s fragile batting order and lift morale in the remaining two tests against a dominant England. The dashing opener has been sidelined since undergoing shoulder surgery in May, keeping the 32-year-old out of the tour of the West Indies and India’s first two tests against England.

India, 2-0 down in the four-match series, had looked nothing like the world’s number one-ranked team in the Lord’s and Trent Bridge tests but that could change with the return of the explosive right-hander, according to Anshuman Gaekwad. “It is almost going to be like a new series. To have Sehwag and (Gautam) Gambhir back... It will give a lot of confidence to the team,” the former India international and coach told Reuters.

Sehwag’s opening partner Gambhir injured his elbow while fielding at Lord’s and missed the 319-run defeat at Trent Bridge but is likely to return to the starting lineup for the third test beginning on Aug. 10 at Edgbaston in Birmingham. The injuries to the top order forced India to tinker with the batting lineup, placing Rahul Dravid in a makeshift opener’s role and Vangipurappu Laxman up the order at number three.

“In a test match, it is of utmost necessity to have a good start. Their return will be a big relief for the captain and the team,” emphasized the former India opener, who played 40 test matches from 1975-85.

Sehwag has 22 hundreds in 87 test appearances but it his strike rate of almost 82 runs per 100 deliveries that make him one of the most intimidating batsmen in cricket. Former captain Ajit Wadekar said Sehwag’s return would ease the pressure on India’s “Big Three”Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Laxman. “Sehwag coming back itself is enough to boost the morale of the team. We never had a solid opening partnership in the series,” Wadekar, the former chief of national selectors, said by phone. “If our openers do their bit, batsmen down the order will start gaining in confidence.”

MATCH PRACTICE Sehwag’s audacious strokeplay might be the ideal counter-attacking ploy the team needed to recover from the heavy defeats and avoid a two-clear test series defeat that would enable England to leapfrog India at the top of the rankings. “The opposition bowlers also get disheartened by Sehwag’s presence,” the 70-year old Wadekar said. India will play a two-day tour game against Northamptonshire starting today and it will be Sehwag’s only chance to acclimatize himself to the conditions before the third test starts on Aug 10. “I don’t know how much practice he will get.

He has been out for so long after the injury. Hope he acclimatizes quickly with the conditions there,” Wadekar, who led India to series victories in West Indies and England in 1971, said. Former India captain Sourav Ganguly also doubted whether Sehwag had enough time to get match fit. “It has to be seen whether the dynamic opener has had enough cricket or whether the Northants game is enough to get him ready for Birmingham,” Ganguly wrote in a column which was published in the Hindustan Times yesterday.— Reuters

KAZAN: Dynamo Kiev’s Braun Ideye (center) challenges for the ball against Gokdeniz Karadeniz, (left) and Solomon Kvarkvelia of Rubin Kazan, during their Champions League 3rd qualifying round soccer match in Kazan, Russia. — AP

Dynamo Kiev, Rangers suffer early UEFA exits BERNE: Champions League regulars Dynamo Kiev and Rangers suffered early exits in the qualifying rounds on Wednesday while Benfica safely survived their tie against Trabzonspor. Three players were sent off as Malmo snatched an 80th minute equalizer to draw 1-1 at home to Rangers and go through 2-1 on aggregate.

Dynamo, who took part in the group stage for 12 seasons in a row until 2009/10, will miss out for the second time running after being knocked out by Russians Rubin Kazan where they lost the second leg 2-1. A 1-1 draw at Trabzonspor was enough for twice former winners Benfica while Twente Enschede, FC Zurich, Sturm Graz and APOEL also went into the final round of the qualifiers following Wednesday’s 12 ties.

Dynamo, three times beaten semifinalists, left former AC Milan and Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko on the bench at Rubin as they attempted to claw back from a 2-0 home defeat.

It never looked likely as Vladimir Dyadyun and Alexei Medvedev scored in each half for the Russians before Oleg

Gusev replied late on. Rangers, held 1-1 at home by 1979 runners-up Malmo, had Steven Whittaker sent off in the 19th minute for throwing the ball at an opponent’s head but still went in front through Nikica Jelavic five minutes later.

The Scottish champions, 10-times Champions League participants, also had Madjid Bougherra dismissed in the 66th minute before Jelavic missed a golden chance to score another and Malmo had Ricardinho ordered off.

Finally, Jiloan Hamad smashed in a rebound with 10 minutes left to send the Swedes through. Belgian champions Racing Genk held on for a 1-1 draw away to Partizan Belgrade to knock out the former European Cup finalists 3-2 on aggregate. Nemanja Tomic put the Serbs ahead five minutes before halftime but Jelle Vossen leveled with a penalty just before the hour. The visitors then survived waves of attacks, teenager Lazar Markovic missing a golden chance for the hosts in the dying minutes.

PENALTY MISS Benfica, twice champions and fivetimes runners up, fielded an all-foreign

starting line-up including eight South Americans as they took a 2-0 first leg lead to Turkey. The Portuguese League runners-up extended it with a 19th minute goal by Nolito, signed from Barcelona, who collected Javier Saviola’s pass and drifted past two opponents before scoring. Paulo Henrique equalized before halftime but it was not nearly enough for the hosts. Argentine defender Luis Ibanez swept home a rebound in stoppage time to give Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb, who last qualified in 1999/00, a 1-0 win over HJK Helsinki as they qualified 3-1.

Forward Admir Mehmedi missed a first-half penalty but atoned with a second-half goal to give FC Zurich a 1-0 win over Standard Liege in a meeting of two former European Cup semi-finalists, sending the Swiss through 2-1 on aggregate.

Dutch side Twente Enschede comfortably held out for a goalless draw at Romania’s Vaslui to qualify 2-0 on aggregate and Austrian champions Sturm Graz beat Georgia’s Zestafoni 1-0 for a 2-1 aggregate win. Roman Kienast scored a second-half winner for Sturm who last qualified in 2000/01.— Reuters

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Bundesliga clubs count their wounded BERLIN: Bundesliga clubs are counting their wounded following a spate of injuries before the new championship has even started. Pre-season friendlies, last week’s first round German Cup matches and the Copa America have all taken their toll, raising further questions about the overcrowded international calendar.

Around 50 players at the 18 Bundesliga clubs have been ruled out of the season’s opening weekend which kicks off on Friday with champions Borussia Dortmund at home to Hamburg SV. Dortmund were furious this week when exams showed that their Paraguay striker Lucas Barrios would miss the first five to six weeks of the season after being injured in the Copa America final against

Uruguay last month. “The tear in the muscle is much greater than we were told,” said Coach Juergen Klopp, complaining that Paraguay had not told his club of the full extent of the injury “It’s a very unhappy story. “It is very, very annoying and will cast a shadow over ourrelationship with the Paraguayan federation.” Peruvian pair Jefferson Farfan and Claudio Pizarro, who play for Schalke 04 and Werder Bremen respectively, are also sidelined after suffering injuries in the runup to the Copa America which kept them out of the competition. Before the current setback, German clubs had been angry about players getting injured while on international duty, the most famous case being Arjen Robben who aggravated a thigh mus-

Dortmund’s young guns out to defend title BERLIN: Borussia Dortmund will be bidding to prove last season was no fluke when they open their defense of the German league title today by hosting Hamburg in the first Bundesliga game of the season. With an average age of just over 24-years-old, Dortmund stunned the German league by taking over as leaders after the 10th game of last season and stayed there until the season’s end to finish with a seven-point lead.

While Bayern have splashed out in the transfer market to lure the likes of Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and defender Jerome Boateng to Munich this summer, Dortmund have been quietly adding to their young squad.

Talented midfielders Ivan Perisic and Ilkay Gundogan have been added from Club Brugge and Nuremberg for five and four million euros respectively, while defender Chris Loewe has been brought in from third-division Chemnitzer FC. With exciting Japan winger Shinji Kagawa now back to full fitness after breaking his foot in January, Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp can call on the bulk of the squad which won last year’s title. Still only 19, midfielder Mario Goetze is the rising star of the team having forced his way into the Germany squad and is earning considerable praise here after a string of eye-catching performances last season. Klopp kept Dortmund’s league rivals guessing last season by using different combinations in attack as the likes of winger Kevin Grosskreutz, midfielder Sven Bender and Paraguay striker Lucas Barrios all made their mark.

However, the one member of Dortmund’s title-winning squad to have moved on has left big boots to be filled, with Turkey playmaker Nuri Sahin leaving for Real Madrid.

Klopp, though, will be eager to avoid following the same fate of other recent German champions Wolfsburg, in 2009, and Stuttgart, in 2007, who failed to back up their title success the following season. Neither team managed to finish higher than sixth the year after their success, something Klopp is determined to improve on. “We aren’t typical champions, we aim to be contenders again,” said Klopp, who has been voted Germany’s manager of the year by Kicker magazine.

Dortmund warmed up for the match against Hamburg with a 3-0 win over minnows SV Sandhausen in the first round of the German Cup and sporting director Michael Zorc says his side are ready to defend their title. “It was a confident performance, we deserved to progress in the competition,” he said. “We feel as though we are ready for the season.” Dortmund’s success caught the imagination in the Ruhr Valley last season, and they can expect most of their games to be sell-outs at their 80,552-capacity stadium in the campaign ahead, especially with Champions League football looming.—AFP

cle injury playing for the Netherlands during the World Cup last year.

Robben’s club Bayern Munich angrily criticized the Dutch federation while their CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who is president of the European Clubs Association (ECA), is pressing FIFA to provide a compensation for such cases.

The clubs are hardly blameless themselves. Bastian Schweinsteiger turned out for his last three Bundesliga matches for Bayern last season with a broken toe, then promptly pulled out of two Germany matches. Bayern, who finished a disappointing third last season after injuries to forwards Robben and Franck Ribery, may again have to do without the pair to start off with.

Robben suffered an ankle injury during pre-season friendly against AC Milan while French striker Ribery will miss Sunday’s game at home to Borussia Moenchengladbach with an ankle injury sustained in training.

Other prominent injuries include Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper Rene Adler who had to undergo a knee operation after he was injured in a pre-season match against Salzburg on July 3. VfB Stuttgart, who narrowly avoided relegation last season, will be without central defender Georg Niedermeier who has to rest an injured thigh for at least six weeks.

Bruno Labbadia’s side, at home to Schalke 04 on Saturday, also have Matthieu Delpierre out for several months with a hip injury.— Reuters

Japan’s ex-defender Matsuda dies at 34 TOKYO: Former Japan defender Naoki Matsuda died in hospital yesterday, two days after collapsing during training from a suspected heart attack. He was 34. Matsuda, who won 40 caps for Japan and represented his country at the 2002 World Cup, had been put on an artificial respirator after arriving at hospital unconscious on Tuesday.

Hiroshi Otsuki, the president of his JFL (third division) side Matsumoto Yamaga, told Japanese media the club had been informed Matsuda had lost his fight by the player’s family.

“It’s terrible to see someone die at such a young age,” former Japan coach Philippe Troussier, who gave Matsuda his international debut said.

“It’s a big shock. He was a great guy and I felt a close bond to him. My thoughts go to his family. “He was a reliable and strong player and key for Japan’s World Cup side in 2002,” added the Frenchman, who led the Blue Samurai to the last 16 as cohosts. “It’s bad news for Japanese football. We’d all hoped of course he would pull through. To see someone taken away doing something they love, so suddenly, at 34 is tragic. It’s awful news.”

Medical personnel had rushed to Matsuda’s aid early on Tuesday after he collapsed with suspected heatstroke. Yamaga later said the player had gone into cardio-respiratory arrest. Record temperatures across

YOKOHAMA: In this file photo, then Yokohama F Marinos player Naoki Matsuda (front left) plays during a soccer match in Yokohama, near Tokyo.

Former Japan international Matsuda died yesterday, two days after suffering a cardiac arrest during training. — AP

Japan have caused a rise in heatstroke cases with 43 deaths in the two months through the end of July, according to Kyodo news agency.

Matsuda made 385 appearances for Yokohama F-Marinos, helping them win back-to-back J League titles in 2003 and 2004.— Reuters

PSG seek statement of intent PARIS: Big-spending Paris St Germain will be aiming to make an early statement of intent when the Ligue 1 season kicks off this weekend but much-hyped Argentine playmaker Javier Pastore is unlikely to make his debut. A modest Lille side stunned French football last season by winning the league and cup double and though they too have spent heavily, the rise of PSG after their purchase by Qatari

investors promises a much tougher fight this time round.

Other recent Paris signings such as Jeremy Menez, Mohamed Sissoko and goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu could start on Saturday at home to Lorient with striker Kevin Gameiro also set to face his former club. Pastore, though, may have to wait as he completes his reported French record 43 million-euro ($61 million) deal from

Palermo and gets used to his new team having chosen under-achieving PSG’s ambitious plans to transform French football rather than joining a bigger European club.

“The sporting project is very important to me, we have talked a lot about it,” Pastore told his own website (www.javierpastore.com). “I am very anxious to start this new chapter.”—Reuters

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Brazil youngsters must toughen up BELO HORIZONTE: Young Brazilian footballers need to toughen up mentally and stop thinking about cars and money if they are to fulfill their potential and win future World Cups, Brazil’s under-17 coach Emerson Avila said in an interview.

He says that while the country is still producing players of undoubted natural ability, too many have the wrong approach and none of the team that finished fourth at the recent Under-17 World Cup in Mexico would be ready to break into the senior team in time for Brazil’s 2014 World Cup finals.

And contrary to what many believe, he thinks the best ones should go to Europe as soon as possible, where they have a far better chance of improving. Avila, 44, tipped as a possible future national team coach, is also a senior coach at Brazilian Championship club Cruzeiro. He spoke to Reuters at the club’s impressive training ground, tucked away in an unremarkable barrio of Belo Horizonte and which will be a base for World Cup contenders in 2014.

“The problem with too many of the youngsters who are at the top level and

who can achieve something in the game is that it has been almost too easy for them to become professional footballers,” he said.

“Already at the age of 16 and 17, I hear them talking about cars and money. That’s wrong. “What they should be doing every day is coming to their clubs, or the national team squad, thinking about winning every game. Too many of them are just happy to enjoy themselves on the training pitch and in matches. “Well, I agree with that of course, they must enjoy it, especially at that age, but I think our clubs need to change the way they train the younger players. “We are in the business of winning, and they should be ... thinking about winning absolutely every time they play.”

POSITIVE CHANGE Domestic Brazilian soccer is currently undergoing something of an upheaval, underpinned by the country’s booming economy. While the national team has disappointed with quarter-final exits at the World Cup finals in South Africa last year and at last month’s Copa America, the

domestic league is thriving with the likes of Ronaldinho, Elano, Adriano and Luis Fabiano all earning big salaries since returning from Europe.

They may be approaching the later stages of their careers, but as Ronaldinho proved with a hat-trick in Flamengo’s titanic 5-4 win over Santos last week, there is plenty of life still left in the older generation. At the same time, clubs are trying to hold on to their best young players for longer, keeping them in Brazil to the delight of the fans, with help from new, lucrative TV deals that underpin higher salaries. According to media reports, Santos have turned down a $90 millionplus offer for 19-year-old Neymar, already a full international and tipped to be the next Brazilian great. Twenty-one year-old Ganso, Neymar’s equally talented Santos and Brazil team mate, has also attracted offers from Europe.

Pele, who famously won the World Cup as a 17-year-old with Brazil in 1958, urged Neymar on Tuesday to remain at Santos, his former club, but Avila is not certain that staying in Brazil is ideal for the

elite of the age group he is coaching. “I have no problem with a player going to Europe when he is young because a move to a good European league toughens the boys up mentally and makes them far more tactically astute. “Right now, Lucas Piazon, who is only 17, has gone to Chelsea from Sao Paulo. That is OK as his family have gone with him and he is in a good environment and will benefit from playing in England if he gets a chance in the first team.

But is there a danger that by going to Europe so young, the players might lose their unique Brazilian way of playing as many observers fear? “I don’t think they will ever lose their ‘Brazilian-ness’ said Avila. “What is beginning to happen now is we have learnt how to defend better rather than just attack. “But the fact is, even at the top of the under-17 level, the best teams like Brazil are coming up against opponents who are far tougher than they used to be. “Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia-those boys are tough, and the quicker our boys learn that, the better it will be for Brazil too.” — Reuters

Women urged not to copy men’s bad habits NYON: Women’s football is refreshingly free of the histrionics which blight the men’s game and must not allow itself to be contaminated by success, UEFA’s first female executive committee member told Reuters in an interview. Karen Espelund said the recent success of the women’s World Cup won by Japan in Germany, with impressive television ratings, dramatic matches and sold-out stadiums, had also brought worrying signs that the sport was losing its sense of fair play. Three players, all from North Korea, failed doping tests, there were protests that Equatorial Guinea had fielded a male player during the African qualifying competition while Brazil were widely regarded as an exception to the no gamesmanship approach.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) said at one stage it would investigate the protests against Equatorial Guinea, who qualified for the World Cup, but no result was ever announced. “In one way, this shows women’s football is getting attractive in the sense that it’s important to win, to be among the best,” said Espelund, who was invited on the UEFA executive committee and took up her place last month. “On the other hand, it’s a terribly sad development and we need to stop it before it goes further.”

But Espelund, general secretary of the Norwegian federation for 10 years, said it was still a far cry from the men’s game. “The atmosphere on the women’s side is different, the teams were staying in the same hotel, you can’t imagine that in the men’s game. “I think the women should avoid learning from the men, keep it as it is, respecting fair play, respecting opponents. “It is easy to read the female game as a referee because they will not go for a throw-in which is not theirs and they respect the referee.

“There’s more at stake in the men’s game, there’s more money in the game.

The women so far play for pride and

honor but not much for money, this might be one of the reasons you see the different attitudes.”

CONSTANT COMPARISONS Despite the success of the World Cup and the continued growth at grass roots level, women’s football continues to struggle to attract sponsors and television air time. Espelund said there was no easy solution. “We are in a situation where male football is really strong and nobody wants to weaken that position but how do you manage to get more sponsors into women’s football?” “We need clubs to find sponsors to do it with the heart, who want girls to have the possibility to perform on a national level.” She added the sport continued to suffer from constant comparisons with the men’s game. “You do notice the difference, but it is always commented on and this is a challenge because I don’t know why, it’s the only sport which is always being compared to the men’s performances.

“It doesn’t happen with athletics, swimming, not with handball. This is a challenge for football, how to respect he quality of the game itself. “The men’s game is extremely fast now and the pitch is getting smaller and smaller, women’s football can never be that quick.” “But how do we break this imagination in people’s minds, the comparisons. I wish I knew the answer, I don’t know yet, but I think the World Cup has set the standard.” Although this represents a dilemma, Espelund said her priority would be the grass-roots game.

Women’s football has come a long way from the days when she was a teenager, playing football in the street with boys because there were no girls teams and was told by a male teacher: “What do you think your knees will look like when you grow up?” But there was still a long way to go, she said. — Reuters

MIAMI: FC Barcelona’s Jonathan dos Santos (18) and Mexico’s los Chivas de Guadalajara’s Miguel Ponce (right) miss a ball during first half of the Football Challenge Match soccer game in Miami. — AP

Mexico’s Chivas stun Barca 4-1 in friendly MIAMI: Marco Fabian scored twice in two minutes to lift Mexican club Chivas of Guadalajara to a stunning 4-1 victory over Spanish giants Barcelona in their friendly on Wednesday. The European champions led at half-time through David Villa’s third-minute strike but Chivas hit back with a burst of three goals in 12 minutes in the second half.

Barcelona’s visit drew 70,080 to Sun Life Stadium, home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins-a record for a football match in South Florida. Fabian equalized in the 60th minute with a drive from 30 yards before Omar Arello’s cross from the right two minutes later found Fabian free and he buried a flying scissor-kick. “I like to practice that shot,” Fabian said.

“Thank God, it went in and hopefully it will be the first of many to come.”

The 20-year-old forward, in his fifth season with Chivas, admitted it was a thrill to score two goals against a side of Barcelona’s stature. “This is a dream come true, to score not one but two goals against a great team like Barcelona,” he

said. “Life goes on, but this is something I will cherish.”

Giovani Casillas added a third in the 72nd before Jose Luis Verduzco completed the scoring in the 90th minute. “Our team was able to capitalize on its opportunities,” Chivas coach Jose Luis Real said. “Even in the first half, we had our chances. I was very proud how we kept our composure when the shots didn’t go in.”

Barcelona-who are without two-time FIFA Player of the Year Lionel Messi as well as Daniel Alves, Javier Mascherano and Alexis Sanchez for their US tour fell to Manchester United 2-1 in a friendly last Saturday. The match was a reprise of their clash in the UEFA Champions League final in May, which Barcelona won 3-1. Tomorrow the Spanish outfit play another friendly in Dallas, against Mexican club America. “The result tells us we need to work hard on a few things,” said Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola. “I am not surprised by Chivas’ performance. Mexican football is very dynamic and entertaining.”— AFP

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Arsenal starts season with some questioning Wenger LONDON: Arsenal again heads into a new Premier League season with a promising squad of young players. The difference this year is that fans seem to be wondering if Arsene Wenger is still the man to guide them. The Gunners were in contention for four trophies but fell apart after losing February’s League Cup final to Birmingham, which was eventually relegated.

For the first time in his 15 years at the club, many supporters who regularly proclaimed the mantra “Arsene knows” began to really question Wenger.

“The last part was the toughest season in my career,” Wenger said. “Emotionally, it was very difficult because we were on a low and then you could see the last three or four weeks were very difficult.” But things could get even tougher this time around. Captain Cesc Fabregas may yet depart for Barcelona and preseason has already exposed the defensive weaknesses about which fans have long complained. Arsenal slipped to fourth place last season - 12 points behind champion Manchester United - and some supporters are predicting the team could finish outside the top four for the first time since Wenger arrived in 1996.

Despite calls for high-profile, ready-made stars to bolster the squad, Wenger is resolutely sticking to his principles and believes his squad is strong enough to compete for honors. “I’m very happy with the way we do things and the players we develop and what we try to achieve,” Wenger said.

“Unfortunately, last year we finished with a bitter taste in our mouth. But we know we were very, very close. “It’s down to how much you want it.” While many fans are questioning the wisdom of Wenger’s approach, others are mindful that Arsenal only won two league titles in 25 years before the Frenchman’s arrival in 1996.

Even those unhappy at a trophyless streak going back to the 2005 FA Cup are short on names to replace him. “I know some people had a go at Arsene recently,” former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry said. “I don’t know when it is going to happen but we all know that one day he is going to have to stop or go. “But the boss changed the face of the club and, for me, I would keep Arsene for life.” The return from injury of Thomas Vermaelen should offer some solidity, but Wenger does not appear to have a suitable colleague to pair with the Belgian in central defense. Salvatore Squillaci, Johan Djourou and Laurent Koscielny have all made high-profile mistakes.

Arsenal twice led Tottenham by two goals last season but had to settle for a defeat and draw against its fierce local rival, while it also let slip a 4-0 halftime lead to draw 4-4 with Newcastle. Wenger has said he expects to make signings soon - with proven Premier League defenders Phil Jagielka, Gary Cahill and Christopher Samba reportedly piquing his interest - but reinforcements have yet to arrive.

Kieran Gibbs should be an adequate replacement at left-back following the departure of Gael Clichy to Manchester City but, further forward in the team, much depends on whether Fabregas stays.

Barcelona failed to bring its former youth player back to Spain last year and has had offers rebuffed since the end of last season, but Wenger has conceded that he could leave if the club’s valuation was met. “It is a bit uncertain and I always said he is torn between two loves,” Wenger said. “There is the club where he was educated as a very young boy and the club where he has been educated from 16 onwards and he has been given an opportunity. —AP

ARMENIA: Nigeria’s Uche Nwofor (left) heads to score during a U-20 World Cup group D soccer match against Croatia in Armenia, Colombia on Wednesday Aug 3, 2011. Nigeria won 5-2. — AP U-20 World Cup

Saudi rout Guatemala 6-0 ARMENIA: Saudi Arabia trounced Guatemala 6-0 on Wednesday to win its second consecutive match at the Under-20 World Cup, securing a second-round spot.

Saudi Arabia has six points from two matches in Group D, three points more than Nigeria, which will play Croatia later Wednesday. Striker Yahya Dagriri opened the scoring for Saudi Arabia in the 17th minute and Alfahmi Yasir doubled the lead in the 27th at the Centenario stadium in Armenia.

In the second half, Mohammed Alfatil scored in the 58th, Yasir Alshahrani in the 66th, Ibrahim Alibrahim in the 83rd and Salem Aldawsari in the 89th. Guatemala, which lost its opening game 5-0 to Nigeria, was eliminated from competition. “We were nervous after the first goal and missed too many passes,” Guatemala’s Paraguayan coach Ever Almeida said. “It was an honor to come here. The players did everything possible, but football is more than just heart.”

Nigeria trounce Croatia 5-2 Substitute striker Uche Nwofor scored two second-half goals to help Nigeria defeat Croatia 5-2 on Wednesday and clinch a berth in the second round of the Under 20 World Cup. Nigeria has a perfect six points from two games in Group D, along with Saudi Arabia, which trounced Guatemala 6-0 earlier Wednesday and also advanced. Striker Olarenwaju Kayode scored in 25th minute and defender Terna Suswan in the 30th to give Nigeria an early advantage at the Centenario stadium. Ivan Lendric put Croatia on the board in the 42nd before Nigeria sealed the victory with Ahmed Musa in the 62nd and Nwofor in the 69th and 73rd minutes. Croatia and Guatemala have both lost their opening two games.

Costa Rica beat Australia 3-2 Defender John Ruiz scored a 72ndminute winner to give Costa Rica a 3-2 victory over Australia on Wednesday, boosting its chances of reaching the second round of the Under-20 World Cup. Costa

Rica’s first victory in the tournament allowed it to jump to second place in Group C, three points behind Spain.

Australia and Ecuador remain with one point each after two matches. Striker Joel Campbell opened the scoring for Costa Rica in the 22nd minute at the Palogrande stadium. Tommy Oar equalized for Australia in the 26th, but Campbell netted again a minute later.

Australia evened the match with an own goal by defender Franciso Calvo in the 64th, but Ruiz’s header off a cross by Campbell gave Costa Rica the victory. “It was a very difficult match, very intense,” Costa Rica coach Ronald Gonzalez said.

Australia has the difficult task of trying to beat Spain on Saturday to reach the knockout stage, while Costa Rica will play Ecuador. “We let this one get away,” Australia’s Dutch coach Jan Versleijen said.

“We will have to get a good result against Spain, there is no alternative. It’s going to be hard, no doubt. Spain is the best team in the group, but we are not giving up yet.”

Spain beat Ecuador 2-0 Substitutes Sergio Canales and Alvaro Vazquez scored second-half goals to help Spain defeat Ecuador 2-0 on Wednesday and advance to the second round of the Under 20 World Cup. Canales scored from close range after striker Cristian Tello stole a ball on the left side and cleared two defenders before making a low cross to the Real Madrid playmaker near the penalty spot in the 67th. Vazquez sealed victory in a breakaway in the 85th, beating a defender and scoring easily from in front of the goal.

The victory gives Spain six points from two matches in Group C, three more Costa Rica and five more than Australia and Ecuador. Costa Rica beat Australia 3-2 later Wednesday. Spain struggled in the first 30 minutes but slowly picked up the pace to dominate the match at the Palogrande stadium. It improved even more when Canales replaced Daniel Pacheco in the 56th, giving the Spaniards more offensive

power. “I’m very happy because it’s not easy to come back from an injury,” said Canales, who had been nursing a left muscle ailment. “We played with a lot of heart in this match and now we are already through to the second round.” Ecuador played a man down from the 65th after midfielder Christian Ona was ejected for a second yellow card.

Spain will close group play against Australia and Ecuador will play Costa Rica.

“We played a great match but we didn’t have enough luck to score even though we created many chances,” Ecuador coach Sixto Vizuete said. “Without disrespecting Costa Rica, we still haven’t lost anything. If we play like we played against Spain, we can think about earning four points and advancing.”

One of the top title favorites, Spain had opened with a 4-1 win over Costa Rica.

Ecuador opened with a 1-1 draw against Australia. It was Ecuador which threatened most early in Wednesday’s match, while the Spaniards relied mostly on counterattacks. Ecuador had one of the match’s best chances in the 28th when Mario Pineida’s dangerous cross from the right wing just missed a couple of strikers in front of the net. Midfielder Fernando Gaibor finished with the ball inside the area, but his shot was blocked.

Spain had a goal disallowed for offside in the 34th, and in the 40th Tello had the team’s first significant chance by clearing a defender inside the area and firing a low cross shot that just missed. Striker Rodri came close for Spain in the 50th, sending a hard shot that prompted a difficult save

by Ecuador goalkeeper John Jaramillo at the near post. Jaramillo made another save after Isco’s long-range shot just three minutes later. Ecuador replied with a close-range effort by striker Marlon de Jesus in the 64th, forcing goalkeeper to Fernando Pacheco to make a difficult save. It was Ecuador’s last dangerous chance, though, as Spain broke the deadlock soon after.— Agencies

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ARMENIA: Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Alfatil (4) celebrates with teammates after scoring during a U-20 World Cup group D soccer match against Guatemala on Wednesday, Aug 3, 2011. — AP

U-20: Saudi rout Guatemala 6-0 Page63