28 Aug

ON IP TI SC R SU B

SUNDAY, AUGUST 28, 2011

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53 bodies found in Libyan warehouse Shortages hit Tripoli; 50 charred skeletons found

TRIPOLI: Tripoli struggled with collapsing water and power supplies yesterday as rebels now in control of most of the Libyan capital vowed to take Muammar Gaddafi’s home town by force if negotiations failed.

More evidence emerged of summary killings during the battle for Tripoli, which erupted a week ago. A correspondent for Britain’s Sky News said he had counted about 53 bodies left in a burned-out warehouse, where they were apparently executed earlier this week.

“It is a scene of mass murder,” Stuart Ramsay said at the scene, quoting witnesses as saying 150 people were killed there on Aug 23 and 24 as rebel fighters fought pro-Gaddafi forces. A local resident told Sky the victims were mostly civilians and had been killed by Gaddafi’s forces. Reports of cold-blooded killings by both sides have surfaced in the last few days, darkening the atmosphere in a city where many residents had greeted Gaddafi’s fall with joy.

In southern Tripoli, charred skeletons of some 50 people were found yesterday in a makeshift prison next to a military base just abandoned by elite troops loyal to Gaddafi, an AFP reporter said. Local residents discovered the remains after rebel forces took control of the base of the 32 Brigade commanded by Gaddafi’s son Khamis in the district of Salaheddin.

Gaddafi’s own whereabouts remain unknown-rebels hunting him say the war will not end until the 69-yearold colonel who kept Libya in his grip for 42 years is captured or killed. Mustafa Abdel Jalil, head of the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC), told reporters in Benghazi: “We have no factual report about the whereabouts of Gaddafi and his sons.”

The NTC, which has told its fighters not to carry out revenge killings, is trying to assert its authority and restore order in Tripoli but its top officials have yet to move there from their Benghazi headquarters in the Continued on Page 15 Ramadan Kareem

Zakat-ul-Fitr

By Abu Bakr Al-Jaza’iry

Z

akat-ul-Fitr is a Sunah that is obligatory upon every individual Muslim. This is due to Ibn ‘Umar’s statement: “The Messenger of Allah made Zakat-ul-Fitr obligatory during Ramadan as one Sa’ of dried dates or one Sa’ of barley upon the slave and the free man, the male and the female, and the young and the old of the Muslims.”

Its wisdom Zakat-ul-Fitr purifies the fasting soul from the effects of useless, non-beneficial speech (or acts) and obscene speech (or behavior). Likewise, it keeps the poor and needy from having to beg on the day of Eid. Ibn ‘Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “The Messenger of Allah made Zakat-ul-Fitr obligatory as a purification for the fasting person from useless, non-beneficial speech (or acts) and obscene speech (or behavior), and as a means of feeding the poor.” The Prophet (PBUH) said: Keep them (the poor) from having to beg on this day.

Amount and type of food The amount of Zakat-ul-Fitr is a Sa’ and a Sa’ is four Amdad (cupped handfuls). It is given from the usual staple foods of the people of the land, whether it is wheat, or barley, or dried dates, or rice, or raisins or cheese. This is due to the statement of Abu Sa’id (may Allah be pleased with him): “When the Messenger of Allah was among us, we used to give Zakat-ul-Fitr on behalf of every person, young and Continued on Page 15

Thousands march anew; 3 killed

Worshippers gather at Grand Mosque KUWAIT: Despite muggy weather conditions, tens of thousands of worshippers converged on the Grand Mosque early yesterday to spend the 27th night of Ramadan in prayer. The mosque was filled to capacity, with the faithful spilling out onto the adjoining roads and parking lots. Many believe Laylatul Qadr (Night of Power or Decree) falls on the eve of 27th day of Ramadan, although this is not a confirmed fact as

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) instructed believers to search for it on the odd-numbered nights of the holy month.

“Although there cannot really be a comparison, the atmosphere here feels like that of Makkah or Madinah,” said Munsif Muhammed, a 20-year-old student, who was accompanied by his family. Anwar, a mechanic in his mid-thirties, agreed. “Outside the holy cities, this is the largest gathering of its kind in the Gulf,” he remarked.

Continued on Page 15

Taleban kills 25 Pakistan troops

CHAMAN: A Pakistani villager holds a wreckage of a suspected US surveillance drone which crashed in the Pakistani border town of Chaman along the Afghanistan border in Pakistan on Thursday, Aug 25, 2011. — AP

Max 47º Min 29º Low Tide 04:52 & 17:55 High Tide 10:27

Tehran boosts Syrian regime

KUWAIT: Muslims pray at the Grand Mosque in Kuwait City on the night of ‘Laylatul Qadr’ which marks the revelation of the Quran to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) through the archangel Gabriel during the fasting month of Ramadan. (Inset) Sheikh Meshary Al-Afasi reacts during the prayers. — Photos by Fouad Al-Shaikh

By Shakir Reshamwala

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ISLAMABAD: Taleban fighters killed 25 Pakistani troops in a cross-border raid yesterday, the military said, blaming alleged inaction by Afghanistan and NATO in the latest flaring of tensions between the neighbors. Some 200 to 300 “terrorists” based in Afghanistan attacked seven paramilitary Frontier Corps check posts in the northwestern district of Chitral yesterday morning, Pakistan’s military said in a statement.

The term “terrorists” is frequently used by the military for Taleban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants. The military said both Pakistani and Afghan fighters were involved. “At least 25 security forces personnel embraced shahadat (martyrdom) in the attack,” the statement said, adding that the attack was launched “from across the border”. About 20 of the militants were believed to have been killed. The border posts were overrun by militants, but reinforcements have now been sent, it said.

The Pakistani military said that those believed to have coordinated the raid—including a radical cleric from the Swat valley, Maulanah Fazlullah, and a Continued on Page 15

BEIRUT: Syrian security forces fanned out in flashpoint cities nationwide yesterday to crush protests against President Bashar Assad as the country’s powerful ally Iran warned of an unprecedented regional crisis if there is a power vacuum in Damascus. More than five months into the uprising against Assad, the conflict has descended into a bloody stalemate with both sides showing no sign of giving in.

The US and other nations have accused Iran of helping Assad crush the 5-month-old uprising, which Assad and his supporters blame on thugs and foreign extremists. “If a vacuum is created in the Syrian ruling system, it will have unprecedented repercussions,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said yesterday, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency. He said Syria has “sensitive neighbors” and that change in the country could lead to regional crisis.

Syria is an important geopolitical linchpin. It borders five other nations, has close ties to Iran and powerful militant groups, and controls water supplies to Iraq, Jordan and parts of Israel. The country also has a potentially volatile mix of religious groups and sects.

Damascus has carefully nurtured fears of chaos in recent months, warning repeatedly that only Assad can keep the peace. And while most analysts say Assad is exploiting those fears, few deny that such violence is a serious possibility.

Human rights groups say Assad’s forces have killed more than 2,000 people since the uprising erupted in March, touched off by the wave of revolts sweeping the Arab world. The European Union imposed sanctions Wednesday against an elite unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, saying the Quds Force is providing equipment and other support to help crush the revolt. The sanctions broadened the international pressure against Syria by directly targeting its key ally Iran.

Meanwhile, Syrian forces killed at least three protesters yesterday as tens of thousands of people marched again to demand the removal of President Bashar AlAssad on a major religious occasion, activists and residents said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), citing witnesses, said more demonstrations had broken out in Damascus yesterday morning than at any Continued on Page 15

in the

news

27 killed as bus crashes SULAIMANIYAH: A bus carrying vacationing families through northern Iraq collided head-on with a car and burst into flames yesterday, killing all 24 people trapped on the bus and three people in the car, police said. Kirkuk Traffic Police Director Brig Gen Sallar Fiqih said the bus was carrying vacationing families with children from Baghdad to the northern city of Irbil. It caught on fire, trapping passengers inside, after it collided with the car on a narrow two-lane road about 18 miles northwest of the city of Kirkuk. None of the 23 passengers or the driver aboard the bus survived, Fiqih said. “When I opened the door of the bus, I saw a horrific scene of totally burned bodies, including four children,” said traffic policeman Asso Ahmed, one of the first officials on the scene.

7 Yemeni soldiers slain ADEN: Seven Yemeni soldiers were killed and six others wounded yesterday in clashes with suspected AlQaeda forces in the southern province of Abyan, a military officer said. The fighting took place near Dofes, a village south of the provincial capital of Zinjibar that has been occupied by extremist elements since the end of May, the source said. “Al-Qaeda fighters hidden in a wooded mountainous area opened fire on army units heading from Dofes to Zinjibar to try to rejoin the 25th Mechanized Brigade,” which is encircled by the Islamists, the source said. “Seven of our soldiers were killed and six others wounded in clashes which continKIRKUK: Iraqi Kurdish security forces inspect the ued for several hours,” he added. At least one attacker scene of a bus accident which caught fire yesterday was killed, according to a source at the Al-Razi hospital in Jaar, another Abyan village controlled by Al-Qaeda. after being hit by a car. — AFP

Musharraf’s property seized RAWALPINDI: A Pakistani court yesterday ordered the confiscation of former president Pervez Musharraf’s property and the freezing of his bank accounts in the country, a prosecutor said. Musharraf, who lives in selfimposed exile in London and Dubai, is wanted over the 2007 murder of ex-premier Benazir Bhutto. Prosecutors issued an arrest warrant in February over what they said was his failure to provide her with enough security.

“The court today ordered the confiscation of Pervez Musharraf ’s property and the freezing of his bank accounts in Pakistan,” public prosecutor Chaudhry Azhar said after a hearing yesterday. The value of Musharraf’s assets in the country is not known, but he owns properties including two residential flats, a farmhouse in Islamabad and land that is under development in Baluchistan.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 28, 2011

local

KJA hosts ghabqa and girgian KUWAIT: The Kuwait Journalists Association hosted a special ‘ghabqa and girgian’ party at their premises, attended by KJA members and their families. The event was also attended by KJA Treasurer Adnan Al-Rashid and Secretary General Faisal Al-Qanaei, in addition to several media figures and actors. Free girgian was distributed to children in attendance. — Photos by Fouad Al-Shaikh

NBK PR team distributes meals to fasters in Shuwaikh Industrial area.

NBK distributes Iftar meals in Shuwaikh Industrial Area KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) has distributed hundreds of Iftar meals via special convoys manned by NBK’s Public Relations team in the Shuwaikh Industrial Area. As part of its ongoing corporate social responsibility and drive to ‘Do Good Deeds’ during the holy month of Ramadan, NBK handed out boxes of healthy meals to

fasters throughout the area.

NBK Public Relations Officer Talal Al Turki said that the strong response of fasters at Shuwaikh Industrial area encourages us to extend the reach of NBK’s “Do Good Deeds in Ramadan” Campaign to cover other similar areas in Kuwait.

“Hundreds of fasters are also attending

the daily NBK’s Iftar banquets at its head office in Sharq. NBK will continue providing Iftar meals to fasters throughout the month of Ramadan”, Al Turki added. “The Iftar banquets, the annual NBK philanthropic tradition and landmark activity within the bank’s corporate social responsibility, are gaining much more momentum this year as NBK

decided to widen the scale of Iftar meals distribution to embrace most mosques, strategic and crowded locations in Kuwait”.

Al Turki said” “The distribution scale and range of Al Watani Iftar banquets this year will be broader, more extensive and involves a larger number of NBK staff volunteers, in addition to distributing hundreds of fast-

breaking meals via special convoys to numerous mosques, strategic and crowded locations in Kuwait”. “By ‘Doing Good Deeds’ NBK hopes to encourage a greater sense of community and charity during Ramadan and encourages its customers and staff to participate by ‘doing good deeds’ all month long”, Al Turki concluded.

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Municipality to launch raids during Eid holidays KUWAIT: In an effort to contain unlawful practices during Eid Al-Fitr holidays, the Kuwait Municipality plans to launch a crackdown on local restaurants and sweet shops, as well as offices that rent out all-terrain vehicles (ATV).

According to an official statement issued by the Municipality, inspectors will closely obser ve restaurants, especially on the eve of Eid. Some restaurants reportedly sell pack aged stale food to customers in an effort to meet high demand. Inspectors will also monitor the activities of street vendors, as well as shops that rent out ATVs without proper licensing, reported Al-Jarida.

Separately, Ahmad Al-Subaih Kuwait Municipality General Director confirmed that all cases confiscated spoiled food items have been documented at the Public Relations Department, repor ted Al-Rai. Al-Subaih’s confirmation came in response to an inquir y made by Municipal Council member Manea Al-Ajmi.

Rising expenses force families to cut back on Eid clothes Some people choose to travel to reduce Eid expenses

KUWAIT: Shopkeepers seen waiting for customers while displaying latest fashion clothes for women and children. — Photos by Fouad Al-Shaikh

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: Buying new clothes for Eid is an inseparable part of tradition. This is a must for children, and even adults have religiously followed the practice of buying new clothes for Eid. However, thanks to rising prices, some people have abandoned this custom.

“I have to buy new clothes for my children as they are used to this. Only few days are remaining for Eid. I already bought new outfits for my three children, which cost me about KD 60. I noticed that the prices have increased when compared to last year. I also gave my

wife KD 100 to buy clothes and accessories,” said 35-year-old Yaser.

Some women have found money-saving ways to buy Eid clothes, “I buy my stuff a month or more before Eid to avoid buying them at higher prices, and to find nice items. This year, I found a better technique. I decided to get my clothes stitched at the tailor’s. When I was in Lebanon, I saw an expensive dress that cost KD 80. I bought similar fabric for KD 10, and asked the tailor to stitch it according to the design I sketched. He charged me KD 20 for the work. In this way, I will have had two dresses for Eid at affordable rates,” 38- year-old Ibtisam told Kuwait Times.

I advise Kuwaiti women to buy cloth and get them stitched. The prices of readymade clothes are high, although the material is not expensive. I think that women can buy the material and choose the design from a magazine or fashion websites. In this way, I reduced my budget,” she added. Choices are in plenty for Kuwaiti men who want to buy new clothes, “It is a basic requirement to buy a new Dishdasha for Eid. It costs between KD 30 to 40. The cloth price has remained the same and so has the tailor ’s charges,” said Salah, a 27-year-old citizen.

Some people choose to travel to reduce Eid expenses, “This year I have decided to travel with

my family. We used to buy new and expensive clothes when there has been a gathering with family members. My daughters want to look elegant. So every year, I spend about KD 500 on Eid clothes for my kids; two girls and two boys,” noted Maha, a 40-year-old mother.

Sabah is a father of five, and this year he bought them clothes for about KD 200, “This year, it’s more expensive. Some people buy their outfits ahead of Eid. My daughters refuse to wear them even if I buy it in advance. They say it’s old.

They may wear it before Eid, and say it’s already been used. So, I am forced to buy it just before Eid,” he pointed out.

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LOCAL

Local Spotlight

kuwait digest

Arab world needs decision-making

Wealth disclosure law needed

By Abdullatif Al-Duaij

By Muna Al-Fuzai

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henever news about a controversial subject emerges Kuwait resorts to exaggeration. News reports that are blown out of proportion usually lead to serious crises. This is because people arrive at the conclusion that the outcry over them is needless.

The issue pertinent with suspicious ‘money transfers’ to some MPs’ bank accounts are indeed worrisome. However, there has not been any confirmation that these payments were made by the government, or that they were taken from public funds. So far, there is no evidence that prove that a crime has taken place.

muna@kuwaittimes.net

I

kuwait digest

In my opinion, I believe that the statement issued by the Kuwait Bank Association (KBA), reiterating local banks’ commitment to anti-money laundering regulations are enough. We are lucky to even have regulations that provide control over money flow in local banks. I say ‘lucky’ because lawmakers that strongly react to the most recent news have been hesitant to enforce the wealth disclosure law that prevents an MP from using his post to commit irregularities.

Instead of crying foul, exchanging heated accusations and grilling threats, MPs should enforce the ‘wealth disclosure law.’ Even if the Cabinet shows reluctance to bring ministers under the ambit of this law, legislators should focus on enforcing it if one has already been accused of. The Cabinet will not have a reason to reject a draft law of this nature now.

In the end, Kuwait’s free economic system and the confidentiality of the country’s banking work remain more significant than the Parliament’s.

Lawmakers who claim to be protecting the Constitution and democracy must protect its confidentiality instead of violating it my making reactions to an unconfirmed rumor. — Al-Qabas

Fearing financial disclosure

By Waleed Al-Ghanim

K

D 144,000 is the estimated amount of profit that a lawmaker gains through salary and allowances from a four-year term in Parliament, according to calculations made by activists. This number, however, does not take into consideration certain MPs whose financial fortunes experienced an overnight change after entering the Parliament.

Luxury cars, new homes, commercial interests, private education for children, real estate owned in foreign countries, and stocks simply multiply their wealth. Those are only some privileges that some MPs enjoy without being held accountable for acquiring these benefits.

Most MPs work in the public sector before running for elections. Many have never even owned a house or a commercial establishment.

They are not very different from regular citizens. They turn into millionaires within a few months after their election. I personally find it hard to separate between this transformation, and their support they pledge with the government - either during grilling debates or voting sessions. Is it really a coincidence?

Achieving parliamentary reform in Kuwait demands that new active mechanisms be put in place to address corruption.

The anti-corruption legislations

are much-needed measures, mainly the financial disclosure law that should be strong enough to tackle all suspicious financial dealings. I believe that an independent authority should be established to observe the implementation of the financial disclosure law by coordinating with local banks, the Central Bank, the Ministry of Commerce and real-estate registration bureaus. This is so as to keep a close eye on the financial status of MPs and their relatives.

There are MPs who have been collecting ‘gifts’ which they believe will never be asked about. What’s been tying down the Cabinet and Parliament from enforcing this law? —Al-Qabas

was recently asked what advice I would give the Arab World on decision-making? I replied: Never try to hide. I believe that burying our heads in the sand and consoling ourselves that everything is alright, won’t help solve any issues. The process of decision-making is slow and for the most part, lacks vision. This weakness engenders serious problems regardless of whether it is about running a state or a small company. People can’t wait forever in a fastchanging world.

The problem with the Arab World is that when it comes to development and making decisions, there is an obvious lack of coordination. Advisors fail to look beyond their own noses possibly out of fear of losing privileges and personal advantages. Mostly, the decision hinges on individuals’ views, and not general policies. What we think may not always be accurate. Of course, he or she knows best!

As part of societal norms, we are forced to accept available public trend. All calls for change are perceived as a threat. Therefore, issuing new laws or creating popular, new legislations take a long time. Time is a key element that many use in the Arab world.

That does not help any more.

The Arab world is rich not only in money or oil but in other resources as well. It is disoriented and confused because of vague priorities. A decision is not made, enforced with clear objectives in view.

Certainly, the output will not be in favor of the public.

I think this issue requires urgent resolution. The Arab world confronts various challenges when it comes to dispensing social justice and considering people’s demands. The decision-making process needs to be overhauled where the old school of thought is no longer the gold standard.

Muna Al-Fuzai’s App is available on App Store now.

kuwait digest

New faces needed in the NA

kuwait digest

What happens next?

By Dr Hassan Abbas

T

he recently exposed scandal of suspicious money deposits made to MPs’ bank accounts are alarming. I’m sure we have asked ourselves this question: What happens next? What’s going to happen after we have learned about this case? Will there be new developments if the names of lawmakers are exposed?

Taking a leaf out of previous scandals that emerged in the country, I would say that the answer to these questions is - nothing. The case will continue garnering media attention and dominating the focus of the Parliament for a while, after which we will be preoccupied with some other event, may be a TV show, a football match.

Hasn’t that happened before? What has been done on the Mishref sewage plant crisis, aside from a lowly grilling motion initiated by MP Mubarak AlWaalan against Fadhel Al-Safar, Minister of Public Works and State Minister of Municipality Affairs?

Meanwhile, people responsible for creating the crisis that failed to build the plant in accordance with high quality standards are now enjoying their time spending the millions raked in from the plant’s construction deal.

What has been done with the stock market losses that inflicted damage on the state’s budget?

What has happened to officials accused of wasting millions of dinars on faulty deals to acquire electricity generators for the summer of 2007? What about the vote-buying scandal? I’m not even sure if the Jaber International Stadium has been officially inaugurated yet.

Exactly, nothing has been achieved. The problem does not stop here. The main problem lies in the fact that citizens are involved in this situation.

We have voted for unqualified MPs who take control over our wealth and rights.

Corrupt people can’t find a better place than Kuwait to operate. This is because they’ll always find a way out here. This is either due to the lack of legislation or efforts to execute through ‘wasta’ (influence). — Al-Rai

T

he “MPs Millions Scandals” hasn’t revealed anything we didn’t already know, it simply tore away the last of the covers shielding the legislative establishment, with the information quickly moving from spoken rumor to print form and becoming a widespread scandal.

Parliamentary corruption is not new, but it now includes all descriptions, having become political, legislative, supervisory and financial all at once. We are not ready to live with this; indeed, it is our duty to confront and fight it whenever possible and with all the means at our disposal.

Frankly, and simply, we say that the National Assembly (NA) has lost all political legitimacy following the latest scandal. It has also lost the people’s confidence and it is no longer qualified to face the coming period or to deal with the new economic, social and political developments, and will certainly not be able to play its proper supervisory and legislative role, or to take any tough decision the country needs.

Yes, the scandal calls upon us to review not only our democratic establishments that we gained through the struggle of our grandfathers and our nation’s founders, but also our political practices that almost destroyed what we built, particularly when the corruption of the democratic establishment is 1,000 times worse than that of dictatorships.

It is clear that the issue needs massive action, and remedying it cannot be achieved through any other means but dissolving the National Assembly, and calling new elections which are rigorously regulated and monitored to ensure no corruption or illegal electioneering of any kind. By-elections must be banned, along with vote-buying; we must not allow political fraud to run rampant.

We need new elections and new blood in the most important establishment in our democratic system, because it is the legislative, supervisory and collaborative artery between the two executive authorities.

This call to dissolve the assembly does not mean that we have to turn the page, because it does not pardon criminal responsibility, but dissolving the assembly is the real, serious and only true means of dealing with this type of deviation. Let the ballot box be the judge, and let each citizen bear his responsibility now and in the future. — Al-Jarida

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Years

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GCC ministers to discuss Jordan’s membership bid MP proposes construction of two hospitals for Kuwaitis

By A Saleh KUWAIT: Foreign ministers from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states are reportedly set to meet in Jeddah on September 11 to discuss Jordan’s application for GCC membership, with the Jordanian foreign minister also apparently to attend the meeting.

The attitude of GCC states’ governments towards Jordan’s application to join the Gulf bloc seems to vary from country to country, with some, such as Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, welcoming the move, and others like Kuwait and Qatar expressing reservations on the idea. Oman and the UAE, meanwhile, have wholly rejected the idea of Jordan’s becoming a member, although they were initially supportive of it.

Although Jordan is keen to have full GCC membership, Kuwait and Qatar have expressed reservations on this, suggesting instead a compromise such as Jordan being only a partial participant and supporting GCC-affiliated organizations like the body’s sports organization in a similar way to Yemen and Iraq. This would not allow Jordanians the same privileges as GCC citizens such as

rights to cross-border travel, residency work and property ownership, although they would be given priority over other non-GCC nationals.

On a separate issue, MP Khalid Al-Adwa has proposed two separate draft laws for the construction of two new hospitals solely for the use of Kuwaitis, one in Mubarak AlKabeer governorate and another in Ahmadi governorate to help cope with the shortage of health services in both these areas. The MP said yesterday that Adan Hospital which serves people in both areas has failed to cope with the sharp rise in the number of patients, both citizens and expatriates.

Both hospitals would be reserved for the use of Kuwaitis, although the MP has suggested that accidents and emergencies unit staffed by non-Kuwaiti personnel could be reserved at each hospital for the emergency treatment of non-Kuwaitis.

Al-Adwa suggested that international architectural and design consultants should be appointed by the government to carry out the design and supervise the construction of the hospitals.

Meanwhile, MP Musallam Al-Barrak has

submitted several questions to foreign minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-Sabah over the expenses paid to diplomatic staff at Kuwait’s embassies.

Al-Barrak enquired whether the minister had received any communications from the Prime Minister’s Diwan or the Council of Ministers concerning the transfer of funds to Kuwaiti embassies in other Arab nations or in Europe or elsewhere. The MP requested that if the minister had received any such communication in the period from April 1 2006 and the present, he should give details of the senders’ and recipients’ names, which embassy had received the funds and whether the monies had been sent directly by the foreign ministry or through a local bank. Al-Barrak also asked whether the monies sent came from the foreign ministry’s funds and asked to be informed about what denomination the funds were sent in whether dinars, dollars, Euros, British pounds or other currencies. He asked whether the minister had been notified of the reasons for sending the money, especially he said since the ministry had become an intermediary in passing the funds to the recipients.

News

in brief

MoD to allow servicemen to trade leave for cash KUWAIT: The Ministry of Defense (MoD) is planning to allow military personnel the option of giving up some of their annual leave period in exchange for cash payments, similar to fellow servicemen in the Ministry of Interior.

The move, which is being presented as part of an effort to increase financial support available to servicemen, is reportedly being taken on the recommendation of defense minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, who has already ordered that a study be conducted into the possibility of the servicemen having the choice of ‘trading’ their holidays for cash.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, an MoD insider said that the new move would probably allow servicemen to ‘trade’ only one or two of their holiday periods for cash every five years or so. - Al-Rai PAH distances itself from electrification The Public Authority for Housing(PAH) has distanced itself from the Jaber Al-Ahmad City’s electrification. The authority has, however, made correspondence during the past period with the Ministry of Electricity and Water (MEW)urging it to speed up power connection.

They have revealed that the authority has received an official answer concerning electric power that has been connected to Block B of Jaber Al-Ahmad City. It consists of 1,030 plots.

These are part of the first phase that will be followed by power being connected to the entire city, reported Al-Anba. It said that block A5 consists of 805 plots that will be electrified before the end of the year.

CSC denies monitoring Twitter, Facebook accounts The Civil Service Commission (CSC) affirmed Saturday that news regarding the commission’s monitoring of Twitter and Facebook accounts of government employees were totally false.

Undersecretary at the CSC Mohammad Al-Roumi told KUNA “there were no reports or complaints from officials at the government sec tor in regards to the increasing use of social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook during work hours,” adding that there was no official decree in regards to monitoring of such accounts.

CSC has no authority over government employees in regards to such aspect and only the directors of government departments have such authority over their employees. The commission, said the official, was amongst the first government institutions to endorse the social networking phenomenon, utilizing it in ways that would help CSC improve its services and mission.

Imams’ suspension lifted after Eid KUWAIT: The imams suspended recently for criticizing the Syrian regime during their sermons are expected to resume work soon, after agreeing to submit official undertakings promising not to violate the mosques charter, which bans addressing political issues in worship places, in the future.

According to a source close to the Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Mohammad Al-Noumas, the minister, who is also Minister of Housing Affairs, met with the suspended imams recently, and the two sides agreed on the undertaking to be signed by the imams.

The minister has yet to determine exactly when their suspension from duties will be lifted, however, although it’s widely believed that they will return to their duties soon after the Eid Al-Fitr holiday provided that the undertakings have been approved by then.

MPs Falah Al-Sawagh and Dr. Jamaan Al-Harbish were quick to voice support for the minister’s intention to lift the suspensions.

In the meantime, another Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs insider indicated that the minister is currently working on redrawing the penal code pertaining with violations to the mosques charter. — Al-Rai

File photo shows visitors visiting Kuwait Zoo during weekends.

Safari Zoo planned in Jahra

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: With widespread public dissatisfaction at the state and conditions of Kuwait’s one existing extremely oldfashioned zoo in Omariya, the Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR) is planning to build a new, more humane safari parkstyle facility to the west of Jahra City.

The new safari zoo will be more modern in design, with the animals allowed to roam freely whilst the human visitors will only be able to travel through it by car or in specially designed trains, although there will be indoor facilities too which visitors will be able to view using the latest technology.

The Municipal Council has already approved the proposed site for the new facility, explained Yousef AlNajem, the director of Kuwait Zoo: “It will be located on a 16,000 square meter site, sixteen times the size of the current zoo,” he told the Kuwait Times.

“The zoo will be established under the BOT [Build Operate Transfer] system, and will add to the existing entertainment facilities in the country.”

The PAAAFR is currently conducting a number of studies on the best layout for the new zoo, Al-Najem continued, adding, “The research won’t take long to carry out, but the problem lies in the execution. The research is carried out by the investor, then sent to the

Municipal Council for approval. The good thing is that the new safari zoo won’t cost the government more money.”

The animals currently at the present zoo will be transferred to the new facility, Al-Najem explained. “The animals will be transferred from the zoo in Omariya to the new one. The zoo will include animals from different environments such as the tropical or the cold one, and we will prepare similar environments to those which they came from. The new zoo will also bring more animals from other zoos that we have an agreement with. For instance, Kuwait Zoo has an animal exchange program with the Korean Zoo, from which we brought the leopard and we exchanged it with deer that were bred here.”

The old zoo won’t be completely abandoned, however, the director revealed. “It will be turned into to some other useful facility. We are not sure yet, but the PAAAFR is planning to change it to an aquarium or an insect zoo. Kuwait signed the CITES [Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species] Treaty on wild fauna and flora to protect plants and animals. And for this purpose the current zoo will serve this goal. At the present zoo we’ve succeeded to breed many of the animals who are in danger of extinction such as the European wolf, Maha, and others.”

‘Army prepared to thwart any attacks on port’ KUWAIT: Kuwait has already taken the necessary steps to thwart any potential threats to the state’s national security, with a military official revealing on Friday that a highly trained ‘strike force’ is already in place on Boubyan Island near the Mubarak Al-Kabeer Port construction site, and has registered no attacks from Iraqi territory to date.

The military official was speaking after Iraqi militants fired three Katyusha rockets against targets near the Iraq-Kuwait border, sparking rumors that the attacks were intended to hit Kuwaiti targets, principally the controversial mega-port.

Reiterating the Kuwaiti and Iraqi governments’ denials of any attack on Kuwait, the militar y official revealed that the Patriot missiles already in place at the military installation on Boubyan Island would be fully capable of thwar ting any incoming attack, up to and including one by ballistic missiles.

The incident and the recent threats against Kuwait have renewed concerns in Kuwait that the Iraqi government has no control over the militant groups operating in its territory. Meanwhile, senior diplomats

from Kuwait and Iraq have hinted that the recent violent development in southern Iraq stem from political struggles taking place there at present, which are reportedly concerned primarily with “settling old scores” between militant groups. Diplomats have warned, however, that some Iraqi figures are attempting to draw or force Kuwait into becoming involved in these conflicts for their own political motives.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, one Kuwaiti diplomatic insider said that some Iraqi factions are inciting trouble in southern Iraq “to serve foreign agendas,” hinting that the current escalation of tensions there may be an intentional move “to divert some of the current pressure regarding events in Syria.”

On the subject of Mubarak AlKabeer Port itself, meanwhile, an official from Kuwait’s Ministry of Public Works said that construction work on the project had been unaffected by the threats of Iraqi militants to target the site. Workers at the site said that they had heard no explosions or witnessed any other evidence that the port location has come under attack. —Al-Qabas

KUWAIT: Muslims pray at the Grand Mosque in Kuwait City yesterday on the night of “Lailat al-Qadr” also known as the Night of Power, the 27th night of the Holy month of Ramadan. Lailat al-Qadr commemorates the night, according to tradition, when the Muslim holy book, the Quran, was revealed to the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) through the angel Gabriel. — Photos by Fouad Al Shaikh

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Fear and blogging in the Arab world Harvard survey finds that online activists fail to take precautions KUWAIT: Arab bloggers have encountered “astounding” levels of intimidation and arrest since the onset of the Arab Spring, but large numbers of them have made it easy for the authorities to find them by failing to take defensive measures to protect their identities, a survey conducted by Harvard University has found. One third of the 98 bloggers surveyed by Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society in May said they have been threatened for their opinions and one fifth reported that their online accounts have been hacked. Almost a tenth of the respondents admitted to being arrested or detained for their online activity.

“I’m constantly receiving threats from paramilitary forces, members of Lebanese political parties and anonymous people related to my online support of cyber-dissidents in the region,” said Imad Bazzi, a Lebanese activist who blogs at trella.org.

The Internet has played a key role in the spread of protests this year, with activists bypassing media and communications networks controlled by governments in favor of social media to spread the word of upcoming rallies and report news. The authorities have responded by imposing stricter controls and in some cases shutting down networks entirely.

In Syria, a well organized effort known as the Syrian Electronic Army has been carrying out attacks to disable and compromise websites critical of the regime as mass protests enter their sixth month. In Saudi Arabia, the government in January extended censorship for the printed press to cover the Internet, including blog sites. It has since toughened the rules.

Even countries where protestors have ousted longtime despots, successor governments have been acting to douse critical bloggers. Egyptian Asmaa Mahfouz was arrested and released on bail after she was accused of using Facebook and

Twitter to defame the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. In Tunisia, the government was blamed for a phishing attack against human rights activists in an effort to gain access to their Gmail accounts.

The tough treatment meted out to bloggers was to be expected, according to the Berkman report, which noted that the survey was taken amid a surge of online activity spawned by the Arab Spring, and just one of the 98 bloggers surveyed described himself as pro-government.

Nevertheless, researchers said the extent of the crackdown was “astounding”.

The researchers found that Arab bloggers were often unaware of the available security measures to protect their identity. Most bloggers reported choosing an email provider based on design and sharing capabilities rather than its ability to protect their security. The bloggers’ responses revealed that their knowledge and practice of online security ranged “from fair to very poor”, the study found.

Asked how they identify themselves on-line, 49 percent told the Berkman researchers that they used their full name while 47 percent said they provided an email address and 42 percent a photograph of themselves. Only 20 percent rated “resistance to sharing data with your government” as one of the three most important features of a company hosting their blog, the Berkman report showed.

Bazzi says his blog was repeatedly hacked before he received training from international advocacy organizations that taught him how to protect his online identity and information.

“Bloggers always learn from their experiences in terms of online security,” Bazzi said. “My blog was hacked twice by supporters of Lebanese political parties who didn’t like what I have to say regarding freedom of expression and human rights in

Lebanon.”Dalia Ziada, an Egyptian blogger and social activist, said that her blog recently earned her an anonymous threat. ”A couple of weeks ago I got a threatening message on my mobile phone and I do not know who sent it.”

According to the Berkman Center, some 35,000 Arabic-language blogs exist on the Internet. Selfcensorship is widely practiced by Arab bloggers.

Half of the respondents said they self-censored their online content, with many citing fear of retribution from their government as the main reason.

Many bloggers opted to write their blog in English, attempting to evade government surveillance.

But Naseem Tarawneh, a Jordanian who blogs in English at The Black Iris, says he feared his compatriots more than the government. “I do practice self-censorship, but it’s minimal,” Tarawneh told The Media Line. “My fear is less with the government and more with goons and thugs that are busy waving flags out of some sense of popnationalism.”The assault on free speech hasn’t been as bad in Jordan as it is in other Arab countries during the Arab Spring, Tarawneh says, since the Jordanian public was calling for political reform and not a revolution. However, independent news websites are being gradually limited by new press and publication laws that impose government censorship to their content. Tarawneh says the new laws would likely lead to greater self-censorship on the part of these websites.

“Freedom of speech is typically the first victim on the chopping block when it comes to the Arab Spring,” he said.

Jad Aoun, a Lebanese blogger living in Dubai, says his English-language blog did not cover political issues, but if it did he would probably censor himself. “With the change in the status quo, anything can happen,” Aoun, who blogs at Lebanon News: Under Rug Swept, told The Media

Line. “Regional governments seem to be more focused on social media and are more likely to pounce on any online dissent to pre-empt street action.”

Kal, an American of Syrian and Algerian origin who blogs about North Africa at The Moor Next Door, says he practiced self-censorship to a limited degree, “mainly to avoid unnecessary controversy which might provoke spam attacks or the like”. He says that although never hacked or threatened with violence, he did receive a massive amount of spam from Bahraini email accounts after criticizing the government crackdown on Shiite protesters on his Twitter account.

His blog was also spammed by “Moroccan commenters of obscure origin” who objected to his posts about the country’s control of Western Sahara.

Bazzi, the Lebanese blogger, says he opposed self-censorship in principle. “I believe I have the right to freely express my ideas and beliefs,” he said.

“This is my human and legal right, also guaranteed by the Lebanese law and constitution.”

The anonymity of some Arab bloggers was recently abused, however. In June, American blogger Tom Macmaster admitted to creating the persona of Amina Arraf, a Lesbian Syrian-American blogger, who claimed in a blog that she had been persecuted by Syrian authorities for her sexual orientation, and finally arrested. Macmaster apologized to his readers for the hoax, but says that “the facts on this blog are true and not misleading as to the situation on the ground”. The Harvard research concluded that more could be done to protect Middle East bloggers from menacing regimes. They recommended expanding on-line security training efforts, online monitoring of threats, and appealing to Internet providers to better their security options and defaults. — The Media Line

Protests if work continues on Mubarak Al-Kabeer Port Iraqi administration attempting to resolve dispute peacefully

By A. Saleh KUWAIT: The Iraqi ‘Knights of the State of Law’ political bloc, which previously warned that terrorist attacks could be launched on Kuwait if construction work did not stop on the Mubarak Al-Kabeer Port on Boubyan Island, has toned down its rhetoric, warning instead that there will be large-scale public demonstrations in Iraq if work continues on the port.

Kuwait should either cancel its plans for the port or reach some acceptable compromise on the facility with the Iraqi government, “which does not represent the Iraqi people in the right way,” said bloc Secretary Abdul Satter Al-Abbodi, although he suggested that

any military action on Kuwait’s part to protect the port site would be no obstacle to the will of the Iraqi people. Protecting the Iraqi border and Iraq’s regional interests is very much the business of Iraq’s people, he added.

Speaking yesterday (Saturday), Al-Abbodi reiterated his earlier statement that any failure by the Kuwaiti government to cancel the project or reach a mutually acceptable compromise with the Iraqi administration would result in massive public protests in Iraq and that Iraqis would “solve this problem.”

On the Iraqi government’s muted response to the outcry over the port project, Al-Abbodi asserted that there is at present no government that properly represents the Iraqi people but a multiparty government represent-

ing several political groups. Unfortunately, he added, these groups are siding with neighboring states and pursuing their own interests at the expense of the Iraqi people.

The leader of the ‘Knights of the State of Law’ bloc, Izzat Al-Shabander, meanwhile, said that the Iraqi administration is attempting to resolve the dispute over the Mubarak Al-Kabeer Port with the Kuwaiti government “peacefully,” adding, “If the Kuwaitis want evil it will fall on their heads.” If Iraq is right on this issue, said AlShabander, the country’s government and people should take a stand on it. He stressed, however, that Kuwait is a dear neighbor and there is no wish to escalate tensions between the two countries since his bloc seeks only to build better bilateral relations with Kuwait.

Teen hero saves stabbing victim KUWAIT: A Kuwaiti man was rushed to Sabah Hospital by a teenage Good Samaritan after he was stabbed in the chest during a fight in Andalus. Although emergency services personnel were quickly at the scene, the quick-thinking young rescuer had already taken the man to hospital, possibly saving his life.

When detectives later questioned the victim, they found that he had sustained the injury in a fight with another man over a longstanding dispute between them. The hunt for the assailant is continuing.

Thick thief Hawally police quickly arrested a dim-witted thief who did not realize that a mobile phone he had stolen could be used to track him. The victim told police that his car was stolen from a shop in Hawally after he left it outside with the engine running while he popped into the shop to buy something. Police immediately launched an investigation, with one detective calling the victim’s cell phone, which was in the vehicle, on the off chance of its being discovered abandoned by a passerby. The investigators were amazed and gratified when the IQ- challenged thief answered the call himself, with his cluelessness greatly assisting police in tracking the signal.

The helpful thief was caught shortly afterwards at a location in Farwaniya, still in possession of the cell phone. The car was

found shortly afterwards where he had abandoned it in front of a home in Ardiya whose owner reported its presence there. The lowbrow larcenist subsequently admitted that he had stolen the vehicle, as well as stealing a number of others previously. He is being held in custody where it is hoped he will reconsider his limited prospects for a career in crime.

Body found Police rushed to the scene after passersby spotted the body of an Asian man lying near a building in Jahra. Detectives and crime scene investigators found no evidence of foul play on the body or at the scene and the man’s body was removed for autopsy to determine the cause of death.

Joyriding juvenile A 13-year-old Kuwaiti boy was arrested after stealing a car from outside a Salmiya mosque after pilfering the keys from its owner who was spending the night there in prayer.

The victim, also Kuwaiti, called police the next morning after discovering that his car and cell phone had been stolen, explaining that he had been observing I’tikaaf (the practice whereby Muslims spend the last ten nights of Ramadan in prayer and contemplation at mosques) and had left the mosque only to realize that he had been the target of a sneak thief. Shortly after details of the stolen vehicle were

circulated, it was spotted on a street in Farwaniya, with patrol officers forcing the child driver to stop. They took the juvenile delinquent into custody, where he explained that he had gone to the mosque in Salmiya following argument with his father at his family home in Omariya. The boy said that while mingling with worshippers he spotted an opportunity to steal his victim’s car to go joyriding with friends.

Police subsequently discovered that the boy had been reported missing by his father. The child has been referred to the juvenile investigation unit for further action.

First grader felon The owners of an electronics outlets at a Jahra mall dropped the theft charges against a Kuwaiti woman after discovering that the electronic item ‘stolen’ by her had actually been taken by her five-year-old son.

The woman was stopped whilst leaving the shop with her son when the security tag on the ‘stolen’ KD3,000 device triggered the shop’s alarm system. On searching the woman’s and her son’s bags, the store security staff found the device in her son’s bag, calling police since they did not believe that the boy could have stolen the item.

The woman and child were taken to the police station. When detectives viewed the shop’s CC T V footage, however, they spotted the boy who appeared to be copying his mother ’s

actions in browsing the goods and putting some into her basket, putting the item into his bag in mimicry. When the detectives explained the situation to the shop management, they immediately agreed to drop all charges and the woman and her son were freed.

Fugitive found A Kuwaiti man who went on the run after being given a oneyear prison sentence for theft was arrested in Jaber Al-Ali after police spotted him acting in an intoxicated fashion, finding hashish in his possession. On checking his ID, the officers discovered that he was wanted and he was taken into custody.

Cell cells Twelve cell phones and eight phone chargers were found during recent cell searches in four blocks of Central Prison.

Investigations are underway to determine who smuggled the contraband items into the jail.

Fast-breaker busted An Arab expatriate was arrested on Friday for consuming food and water publicly during the fasting period, an illegal act throughout Ramadan. Patrol officers on duty in Mubarak AlKabeer arrested the man after spotting him eating a watermelon and drinking water whilst standing outside a building in the area. He is being held at the local police station pending trial.

—Al-Rai, Al-Anba, Al-Qabas

Fountain Park to host Eid celebrations

Omar Al-Samiraei

KUWAIT: The Fountain Park, a division of the Touristic Enterprises Company(TEC), plans to hold an entertainment program during Eid Al-Fitr, featuring activities that include competitions.

Omar Al-Samiraei, Supervisor at TEC’s Ice Skating Rink and Fountain Park in a recent press statement, explained that events will begin at 7:00 pm with displays that include a cartoon character’s show for children and musical concerts. Meanwhile, Al-Samiraei also announced that the smaller hall will be closed until September 10. He noted that the main hall will welcome visitors during the Eid holiday from 8:30 am to 10:00 pm.

KUWAIT: A beggar is seen approaching a car during the day at a street in AlHasawi. The Ministry of Interior launched intensive crackdowns since the start of Ramadan against begging and other illegal activities such as street vendors.

Ministry officials say that beggars arrive to Kuwait through visitor’s visas specifically to practice their illegal activity throughout the holy month when citizens and residents become more active in charity giving. — Photos by Fouad AlShaikh

14 arrested for begging

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: Fourteen expatriate Arabs and Asians were arrested for begging during a crackdown in Ahmadi. All were referred to the relevant authorities.

Rude visitor A male receptionist at Mubarak Hospital has filed a complaint at Jabriya police station against an American expatriate who visited the hospital with his son, accusing the man of insulting him in front of everyone there. If the accusations are found to be accurate, the rude visitor could face a charge of insulting a civil servant in the performance of their duties.

Drunk busted Police arrested a drunken Kuwaiti man in Hawally, confiscating three bottles of liquor from his possession and taking him into custody.

Citizens injured A car accident took place along the Fifth Ring Road below the Damascus

Brutal assault KUWAIT: Police are hunting for two thugs who brutally attacked a man in a Qurtuaba Co-op’s parking lot before stealing his car and fleeing the scene.

The victim, an Asian expatriate, was on his way to his car, when the two thugs leapt on and viciously assaulted him, leaving him lying on the ground before stealing his car keys and fleeing the scene in his vehicle.

The injured man managed to get to Surra police station to report the incident before being taken to hospital. A hunt is underway for the cowardly thieves.

bridge. Two citizens aged 21 and 22years-old respectively sustained several injuries. Both were admitted to Farwaniya Hospital. In another car accident that took place in Al-Wafra, a 40year-old Bangladeshi expat died instantly. His body was left to a coroner. A motorcycle accident took place between Mahboula and Abu Halifa, injuring a 25year-old Egyptian expatriate. He was admitted to Al-Adan Hospital.

Street fight A fight broke out between a number of youths at 360 mall. A 17-year-old citizen sustained grave injuries after being stabbed with a sharp metal. He was admitted to Mubarak Hospital.

168 emergency cases The total number of emergency cases dealt with at the Grand Mosque on the eighth night of ‘Qiam Alail’ were 168 cases. They were administered treatment and most of them suffered from exhaustion, said Yaqub Al-Yaqub, Head of Public Relations Department at Medical Contingency Department.

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Japan PM race begins with no winner in sight

18 dead in Algeria academy bombing Page 8

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NEW DELHI: India’s anticorruption activist Anna Hazare listens to devotional and nationalist songs being sung by a popular Bollywood singer Sonu Nigam (right) yesterday.

(Inset) Indian Bollywood Actor Aamir Khan drinks water to break his Ramadan fast as he sits on the stage with Hazare on the 12th day of Hazareís hunger strike.—AP/AFP

Indian parliament backs anti-graft bill Hunger-striker Hazare agrees to end fast NEW DELHI: India’s parliament expressed nonbinding support for a series of anticorruption proposals yesterday in the hopes that would be enough to persuade a reform activist to end his 11-day hunger strike. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told Parliament after a nearly nine-hour debate on a plan to create a government watchdog that the “sense of the House” backed Anna Hazare’s demands for a stronger bill than one proposed by the government. Aides to the 74-year-old activist said they had wanted a parliamentar y vote on a nonbinding resolution pledging support for a bill that would

ensure greater transparency in governance and include millions of low-level bureaucrats and state officials under the watchdog’s oversight.

“Anna Hazare has agreed to break his fast tomorrow morning. He is happy with the government resolution, agreeing to his provisions,” his spokesman Vibhav Kumar said. Hazare’s supporters said it was a victory for a protest that has attracted tens of thousands of supporters to his demonstration in the capital and more to rallies around the country. “Now at least the parliament has had to take cognizance of the people’s wish, and that is to

wipe out corruption from this country,” said Medha Patkar, a protest organizer.

Hazare is unlikely to eat before today morning, because he does not like to end hunger strikes after sunset, Hazare ally Kiran Bedi wrote yesterday evening on Twitter.

Parliament’s actions yesterday were a far cry from what Hazare had demanded when he began his fast on Aug 16. The activist had said he would not eat unless the government withdrew its own bill to create a limited watchdog panel, introduced his far-reaching plan into parliament and passed it with limited amend-

ments by Aug 30. Government officials dismissed his plan - which would let the watchdog prosecute the prime minister, judiciary and state officials - as unconstitutional and his methods as a form of blackmail anathema to democracy.

Yet, the enormous outpouring of support for Hazare by Indians disgusted at the corruption infesting all aspects of public life surprised top officials and forced them to take him and his reform campaign seriously. There is a need for “change in the system,” Mukherjee told parliament. The breadth and depth of support for Hazare’s campaign, especially

among the middle class, has shaken Premier Manmohan Singh’s Congress government, whose own anti-corruption credentials have been tainted by multi-billion-dollar scandals implicating top officials. “It’s high time every one of us said no to any k ind of corruption,” said Bollywood star Aamir Khan, who delighted Hazare supporters by turning up at the sprawling, muddy field where the selfstyled Gandhian is staging his fast. “Our actions will determine whether India becomes a corruption-free country or not,” Khan told the crowd at the Ramlila Maidan. — Agencies

Irene slams into North Carolina M OR EH E A D C I T Y, Nor th Carolina: Hurricane Irene h ow l e d a s h ore i n No r t h Carolina yesterday on a path that triggered evacuations in New York and threatened the densely populated US East Coast with flooding and power outages. New York City ordered unprecedented evacuations and transit shutd ow n s a s s t a te s f ro m t he Carolinas to Maine declared emergencies due to Irene, whose 830 km width guaranteed a stormy weekend for tens of millions of people.

With winds of 140 k m per hour, Irene had weakened to a Categor y 1 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson intensity scale, but forecasters and officials warned that it remained large and dangerous.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg sternly told New Yorkers that Irene was still a life-threatening storm and urged them to heed evacuation orders. “Staying behind is dangerous, staying behind is foolish and it’s against the l aw,” B loom b e rg s a id at a med i a b r i e f i n g a t Co ney I sl a nd i n B rook l yn . S o me

370,000 city residents are under orders to leave their homes in low-lying areas, many of them in parts of the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens and in downtown M anhat t an, he said. N ew York’s mass transit system, w hich carries 8. 5 million people on weekdays, was to shut down at around midday yesterday.

The eye o f t he stor m crossed the North Carolina co ast near Cap e Lookout around 7:30 am EDT (1130 GMT), forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. I rene w as movin g north-northeast along the coast and was expected to remain a hurricane as it hit the mid-Atlantic states yesterday nig ht and N ew England today.

On t he No r t h Carolin a coast, winds howled through the power lines, rain fell in sheet s and st reets were flooded or littered with signs and tree branches. I n the port city of Wilmington, the air was filled with the sound of pine trees cracking.

“You look outside and it’s like nature is dancing for us,”

NAGS HEAD, North Carolina: A man struggles against the wind while trying to walk over the dunes as the effects of Hurricane Irene are felt yesterday. — AP

said Joe Toledo, who left his mobile home with his wife Cindy to take shelter in a h otel in Havelock , N or th

Carolina. One unidentified man in the Wilmington area was washed away and feared to h ave drown e d, e m e r-

gency workers said. Another man died of a heart attack while trying to board up his hous e, N or t h Ca rol i na

Governor Bev Perdue said.

Hundreds of thousands of people were without electricity, power and water syste m s we re d a m a ge d a nd there could be “a major hit” to tobacco crops, poultr y and livestock, Perdue said.

“We feel very hopeful that we have avoi d e d a huge slap,” she told MSNBC television, noting the storm had weakened below what was p re d i c te d t wo d ays a go.

However, Perdue said, “We’re going to have millions of dollars of property damage.”

More than a million people were ordered to evacuate from Irene’s path, many of them cutting short their summer vacations as they fled beach towns and resort islands. Supermarkets and hardware stores were inundated with people stocking up on food, water, flashlights, batteries, generators a nd ot he r s up p l i e s. “O ur number of customers has tripled in the last day or two as people actually said ‘Wow, this thing is going to happen,’” said Jack Gurnon, owne r of a ha rd w a re s tore i n Boston. Airlines canceled

nearly 7,000 flights over the weekend and all three New Yor k a re a a i r p or t s we re closed to incoming flights at noon (1600 GMT) yesterday.

President Barack Obama s a i d t he s tor m coul d b e “extremely dangerous and cos t ly ” for a na t ion t ha t recalls the destruc tion in 2005 from Hurricane Katrina, w hi c h swamped New Orleans, killed up to 1,800 people and caused $80 billion in damage. Irene was the first hurricane to hit the U S m a i nl a nd s i nce I ke p ound e d Te xa s i n 2008.

D e fe ns e S e c re t a r y Le on Pa ne t t a s a i d t he m i l i t a r y stood ready to help, with more than 100,000 National G ua rd force s ava i l a b l e i f needed in eastern states. In Washington, Irene forced the postponement of a ceremony today to dedicate a new m e m or i a l to c i v i l r i ght s leader Martin Luther King Jr. Tens of thousands of people, including Obama, had been expected to attend. Flooding from Irene killed at least one person in Puer to Rico and t wo i n t he D om i ni c a n Republic. —Reuters

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Rebels mock, pose at former Gaddafi bastion TRIPOLI: The flyblown, rotting corpses of Muammar Gaddafi’s soldiers lie inside the Bab Al-Aziziya compound, killed making a last stand in what was once his stronghold. The names of the rebel brigades who captured it are now commemorated in graffitti sprayed all over the walls.

From here, the flamboyant Gaddafi had derided his foes as “rats”. Now he has fled and the rats are savouring their revenge. “Here we are!” rebel fighters chanted outside the ruins of the building from where he blustered and bragged in televised speeches.

The compound was seized after heavy fighting on Tuesday and since then the rebel fighters have burned, looted and defaced what for years was a forbidding symbol of Gaddafi’s power. “We felt terror around here.

You wouldn’t even look at the place,” said Omar Shabshab, 23, one of several rebel fighters milling around the building. Some burned the green flag that Gaddafi had created. Others posed for photos in a sea of spent bullet casings. Many posed in front of a statue of a golden fist crushing a

fighter jet, a memorial Gaddafi erected outside a building that was bombed by the United States in 1986 and he dubbed “the House of Resistance”.

TRIPOLI: A Libyan rebel celebrates at Muammar Gaddafiís former Bab alAziziya headquarters yesterday. —AFP

18 dead in Algeria academy bombing Suicide attack aimed for mass casualties ALGIERS: Eighteen people were killed and 26 wounded in a suicide bombing at the Cherchell military academy west of Algiers, the defence ministry said yesterday according to APS news agency. A hospital source had earlier put the toll in late Friday’s attack at 18 dead and dozens wounded. The ministry said nine officers and two civilians were among the dead. Twenty-six wounded had been discharged but six people were still in hospital, one in critical condition. The wounded were evacuated to hospitals in the nearby towns of Sidi Ghiles and Tipaza, as well as to the army ’s central AinNaadja hospital in Algiers.

Yesterday’s figures were the first to be published by an official source, a day after the twin suicide attack about 100 km west of the Algerian capital around 10 minutes after the breaking of the Ramadan fast. The ministry branded the attack “appalling and terrorist” and attributed it to “criminal gangs” targeting objects that would be of media interest.

According to El Watan newspaper, the suicide bombers tried to cause as many casualties as possible by targeting the officers’ mess just as all the soldiers were assembled to break the fast. The bombers, one on a motorcy-

cle, set off explosions a few seconds apart in front of the entrance to the officers’ mess hall, the paper said.

Ramadan is generally considered a good time for holy war, or jihad, by Islamist groups. Since the fast started in early August, there have been many attacks east of Algiers, especially in Kabylie, targeting the army and police. Authorities generally remain tight-lipped about such incidents, which have not ended despite a policy of national reconciliation adopted in the early 2000s by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. Most attacks are attributed to Al-Qaeda’s North African offshoot, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. Under Algeria’s policy of national reconciliation many Islamist fighters have been offered pardons in exchange for laying down their arms.

Late Tuesday two policemen and a soldier were killed in two separate attacks in the Bordj Bou Arreridj region, 220 km southeast of the capital, and in Boumerdes, 50 kilometres east of Algiers. The scene of Friday’s attack, the Cherchell Academy, was set up by France during World War II after the Allied landings in North Africa on Nov 8, 1942. It remained an officers’ college after Algerian independence in 1962. — AFP

Humanitarian situation new battle for rebels TRIPOLI: Libyan rebels were facing a new battle yesterday, struggling to provide Tripoli’s residents with water, electricity, petrol and food, amid power outages and with much of the capital’s water cut.

Mountains of rubbish have piled up on the sweltering city’s streets since rebels entered the capital over a week ago, battling Muammar Gaddafi’s forces until they stormed his compound on Tuesday and then mopping up after that. Electricity is out for several hours a day, many districts have no water, and others only have undrinkable ground water. The price of food and petrol has skyrocketed, when it can even be found.

A litre of petrol that used to cost 0.15 dinars (12 US cents) now costs around three dinars ($2.47). Petrol can only be bought on the black market from those who stocked up before the conflict reached Tripoli. The price of milk has gone from one dinar a litre to 2.50 dinars. “When the revolution started in February, Gaddafi doubled many salaries to try to show that he is good. If you made 300 dinars, you got 600,” Tripoli resident Abdel Rahman Hamza told AFP. “But it’s not enough.”

Rebels have captured the Ras Jdir border post on the frontier with Tunisia, which it was feared Gaddafi might use to escape, but it is also a potentially vital gateway to

Although scattered skirmishing has taken place in some areas of Tripoli even after Gaddafi’s escape, the rebel fighters at the compound cared little, whizzing around in cars

resupplying the capital. However, they still need to capture Zuwarah, 90 km west of the capital, to fully free-up the coastal highway to Tripoli. The situation is all the more acute because Muslims will end the fasting month of Ramadan with the feast of Eid al-Fitr, traditionally a time of heavy consumption and the giving of gifts such as clothes. Some shops outside the centre have reopened, but it is not clear how they can be resupplied. Mohammed Ben Ras Ali, a member of the stabilisation team that has been working under Infrastructure Minister Ali Jihani with the European Union and United States for post-Gaddafi scenarios, nevertheless remained upbeat. “Everything turned out better than we expected,” he told AFP. “Water is a major concern, it is our number-one priority. We have 32 ships waiting to enter with water, medical supplies and fuel.”

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has also highlighted Tripoli’s predicament. “Reports on the ground suggest that the water supply to the capital and surrounding region may be in danger putting several million people, or more, at risk,” he said on Friday. However, rebels denied that Gaddafi had cut off Tripoli’s water supply, which arrives from the southern deserts, despite shortages including at the main hospital. — AFP

TRIPOLI: A Libyan man fills plastic jerry cans with water from a public tap yesterday. Arabic graffiti on wall reads ‘Down with Gaddafi’. — AFP

and shouting “Libya is free”. Photos of dead rebel fighters were plastered on the car windshields. Scorched earth and charred air conditioning units were all that remained of the tents in which Gaddafi used to receive dignitaries. “Gaddafi said: ‘Tripoli, flush out the rats’. We are Tripoli,” shouted rebel fighter Nesmayeh Karayam, 32.

Under the House of Resistance the fighters had discovered what appeared to be an extensive underground bunker complex, accessed by hatch and a ladder. The main tunnel was about 4 m across and 6 m high.

A wrecked golf buggy, apparently used to transport people down the vast corridors, lay there. After a junction about 30 m along was what looked like a film studio, an office and storerooms. Different sections were sealed off with steel doors and electronic security panels mounted with closed circuit cameras. “Look at him, living like a rat. And he calls us rats,” said one of the rebels scrambling through the tunnels. An exit opened yards from a playground with fairground rides, including revolving tea

cups and a carousel, possibly used by the families of Gaddafi’s inner circle.

People living near Aziziya said they never wanted the site to be used as a military base again after they suffered constant harassment by Gaddafi’s security agents then had to dodge the shrapnel that spattered their houses during NATO bombing raids.

“All we saw was fear. A civilian wants to live in a civilian area. A guy one street back had the top of his head sliced off by shrapnel,” said Abdul Nasser Amer, 47. Neighbours pointed to where Gaddafi’s forces had shot their way into their homes to get onto the roof in a bid to check the rebel advance.

Most said they wanted the site to be turned into a park, a hospital, a school or a hotel. But one man touring the site with his son had a different idea. “I want them to keep it this way. I don’t want anyone to forget what happened here, the lessons we’ve learned,” said Mohammed Ryani, 62, a retired pilot. “My biggest fear is a day will come when we’ll forget.” — Reuters

US, Israel concerned about Syria weapons Arab FMs ratchet pressure on Damascus WASHINGTON: The United States and Israel are monitoring Syria’s suspected arsenal of weapons of mass destruction, fearing that terror groups could take advantage of the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad to obtain chemical agents and long-range missiles, The Wall Street Journal reported late Friday.

Citing unnamed officials from both countries, the newspaper said US intelligence ser vices believe Syria’s nonconventional weapons programs include significant stockpiles of mustard gas, VX and Sarin gas and the missile and artillery systems to deliver them.

United Nations investigators also recently concluded that Damascus had been secretly constructing a nuclear reactor with North Korean help before Israeli jets destroyed the site in late 2007, the report said. US and UN nonproliferation officials continue to worry that Pyongyang may have provided Syria with additional nuclear-related equipment, The Journal noted.

“We are very concerned about the status of Syria’s WMD, including chemical weapons,” the paper quoted Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, as saying. “ Together with the US administration, we are watching this situation very carefully.” US and Israeli officials won’t disclose exactly how they are keeping watch on the Syrian weaponry, the report said. But in the past, the United States and Israel have tracked activities at Syrian military installations using satellites and human spies, the paper pointed out.

Current and former US officials said Syria has at least five sites where it produces chemicalweapons agents, including mustard gas, Sarin and VX, The Journal noted. But the officials said these facilities are difficult to track as they are spread across Syria and centered in such cities as Damascus, Hama, Latakia and Aleppo, the report said. Some

MAARET HARMA, Syria: Anti-Syrian President Bashar Assad protesters hold a cartoon placard depicting Muammar Gaddafi, (right) and Syrian President Bashar Assad with Arabic words reading ‘step back’ during a demonstration against the Syrian regime in this village in Edlib province on Friday. — AP production facilities are at military facilities that also store Syria’s Scud missiles, The Journal noted.

Meanwhile, Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo yesterday were to warn Syria they will no longer remain silent on its deadly crackdown on dissent, an Arab diplomat said. The meeting, being held in the absence of Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, was to move first to readmit Libya in the presence of the rebel government’s Prime Minister Mahmud Jibril, who was in Cairo. The 22-member panArab organization suspended Libya in February, after Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi

ordered a bloody crackdown on protesters. It followed up with a call for a no-fly zone that helped lead to NATO airstrikes.

But the Arab League is not considering a similar move against Asad’s government, which is clinging to power five months into a nationwide uprising that has left more than 2,000 dead, the diplomat said “This is not on the table,” he said, asked if the League might suspend Syria.

He said Arab governments agreed ahead of the meeting, scheduled to start at the Arab League’s headquarters at 1900 GMT, to pressure Syria for an immediate end to military opera-

tions against protesters.

The diplomat, who requested anonymity, said they also agreed to “send a message to the Syrian leader informing him that Arab silence on what is taking place in Syria is no longer acceptable.” The foreign ministers were to weigh whether to send a ministerial delegation to Assad, he said.

Yesterday’s meeting was the first gathering of Arab foreign ministers to discuss the unrest in Syria.

US President Barack Obama has called on Assad to step down but Russia, a historical ally of Syria’s that wields a UN Security Council veto, says he needs time to enact promised reforms.—Agencies

Rights, hope inside secret rebel prison NEAR TRIPOLI, Libya: Hundreds of alleged fighters for Muammar Gaddafi sit quietly in a secret prison near Tripoli, their placid murmurs breathing hope into the dream of free Libya’s newfound respect for human rights. The 375 male prisoners being held behind locked doors in an elementary school around 20 km from Tripoli appear welltreated, although some of them are barely teenagers, captured during recent days fighting.

Their wounds have been bandaged, and some wave at the sight of foreigners. Some read the Koran, but most just stare at the ground. Many have shaved heads, a medical measure to prevent the spread of lice.

Simply establishing the existence of the prison has been difficult. Rebels and doctors refused to say where prisoners are taken. Then, a fighter who laid down his arms after the battle for Tripoli was essentially won on Tuesday, called a friend who mentioned a prison to him. The friend said we could come to this prison, in a small town where a revolutionary committee now holds sway, pending the establishment of a centralised government in Tripoli and the drawing up of a new constitution.

The prison’s location cannot be revealed because “we do not know what Gaddafi’s people

are still capable of,” said Yacoub Amar Mohammed, who heads the town’s legal committee charged with investigating the prisoners’ alleged crimes. He says that 371 prisoners are yet to be investigated, 30 have been freed and four have been deemed chargeable. “From the first day we have tried to find a legal system and avoid what the ex-regime did for 42 years,” said Mohammed. “We are trying to establish standards of human rights and to follow them in the new, free Libya.”

Asked if conditions elsewhere are as good as here, or if he is concerned about rebels exacting revenge on prisoners, as alleged by rights groups, he said, “you cannot always control personal behaviour, there may be one or two cases”. He said that some of those freed had asked to come back to prison for their own safety “because they did horrible things to the Libyan people”. “Tripoli is 95 percent free, so we will wait for the National Transitional Council to start work and give a legal structure so that they can get the sentence they deserve. We have strong evidence against many of the people here.”

Some in the West have voiced concern that sharia Islamic law may be established in Libya, but Mohammed says that “our Islam is simple and

modern”. “The rebels are young people who like the West and support European football teams, they are moderate and want to build a new Libya, worshipping God and feeling free, with respect for other people. We are trying to avoid the negatives, of which there are many after 42 years outside of the modern world, so we have to catch up.

The negatives will soon be gone, through education.” A man who gave his name as Dr Khayree pointed out that, conveniently, even Gaddafibuilt elementary schools “look like prisons”. Steel mesh covers all the windows, and doors inside have bars. “Even the hospital looks like a military installation,” sneered Khayree. The prisoners are mostly locals, “so we try to give them the best,” said Mohammed. They will be moved to a proper prison in two days and cannot be photographed “because of the Geneva Convention”, he said.

Rebels’ detention facilities are not so well organised at the former headquarters of the feared Istakhbarat secret police, in Tripoli. Rebel guard Abdullah, sporting the latest freedom fighter fashion of a revolutionary flag tattooed on his arm, took us down a dark corridor lined with cells. One hot room held two men who said they were from Mali, construction workers who were detained while looking for food. — AFP

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Mexican snobs beat, insult cop, raise debate MEXICO CITY: An odd instance of police abuse in which two snobby women shoved, slapped and insulted a cop has captured Mexico’s attention and sparked debate on police tactics, gender and class issues. Almost a week after the incident, one of the women was detained Friday and charged with resisting officers, insulting authorities and discrimination. Tapes of the latenight confrontation on Aug 20 in the upscale Mexico City neighborhood of Polanco became a hit on social networking and video-sharing sites, exposing Mexicans’ frustration with both the arrogant rich and ineffectual police. The press have given the aggressive pair the ironic nickname “The Ladies of Polanco.”

Pulled over in a traffic stop, the two women shout, swear, shove and slap a policeman, who does nothing to resist.

He tries to calm them, moves away several times and eventually allows

them to drive away in their late-model SUV. One of the women, a former Puebla state beauty queen identified as Maria Vanessa Polo Cajica, can be heard on the video waving her hand in front of the officer’s face, insulting his mother and calling him a “crappy wage slave.”

In a country where most municipal police are dark-skinned and earn an average of only about 4,000 pesos ($300) a month, the sight of a taller, light-skinned woman spewing some of the worst verbal insults in the Mexican lexicon caused anger. An unseen bystander watching the confrontation can be heard on the tape saying, “Me, I’d grab them, arrest them and take them in right now.” The city says the officers at the scene - only one actively tried to calm the women - stopped the women’s vehicle because someone called in to say they were driving erratically.

Police chief Manuel Mondragon said the officers were waiting for a backup unit of female officers to detain the pair, because male cops only physically detain women if someone’s safety is at risk. “I prefer that the officer acted as he did, than that we wind up on the front pages,” Mondragon said later. “If they (officers) had acted in a harsher way, that would not have been agreeable to the public or the human rights groups.”

That was evidently a bigger concern for police than allowing two screaming, violent women from driving city streets, possibly not in control of themselves. Since they were not detained Sunday morning, no blood tests could be taken, but Mondragon said he believed they had been taking some substance other than alcohol.

Carlos Flores Gutierrez, a city councilman from the conservative National Action Party, said the police “should

have taken appropriate action, given that allowing them to drive in their condition put the public at risk”. “What the video shows is the lack of training in the use of force by our police forces,” Flores Gutierrez said.

Class may have been a factor, too.

The policeman likely sensed these were women with connections, who might get him in trouble. While neither appears to be particularly rich, one is a former state beauty queen and the other, Azalia Ojeda, is a would-be starlet and singer who has appeared in a reality television show on Mexico’s largest network. Picking up on their bad behavior, the newspaper El Universal described them as “Neither Ladies, nor from Polanco”.

Guadalupe Loaeza, a prominent writer who chronicled the foibles of the rich women of Polanco in her 1988 book, “The Queens of Polanco,” said that while her subjects may have been

self-absorbed, superficial or arrogant, they weren’t as bad as this pair. “These two are nothing like the Queens of Polanco. They are clearly social climbers,” Loaeza said. “ They (the ‘queens’ of the 1980s) were much more respectful, much more serene, much more discrete.” Loaeza said the proliferation of laundered drug money may be feeding the rise of a new type of arrogant social climbers.

Ojeda, the woman briefly held Friday and the only one of the two to comment publicly on the incident, was half apologetic after her court appearance, in which she was sentenced to pay a fine of 1,735 pesos, or about $140, for physical and verbal abuse of the officer. She will still have to enter a plea on the other charges. “I offer an apology for my behavior, Ojeda said, adding “there were external factors that caused me to act this way, which I will explain later.” — AP

Investigators probe Nigeria UN bombing President avoids naming suspects

MONTERREY, Mexico: People light candles in front of the Government Palace during a protest demonstration for the attack on the eve against the Casino Royale on Friday. — AFP

Mexico offers reward to nab casino killers MONTERREY, Mexico: Mexico offered a reward Friday of $2.4 million for information leading to the arrest of armed men who torched a casino, leaving 52 people to burn and choke to death in a blazing inferno. The particularly callous attack on Thursday shocked a nation already used to grim murders and high tolls in a drug war that has claimed more than 41,000 lives since a military crackdown began in 2006. Addressing the nation from his official Los Pinos residence, President Felipe Calderon condemned the “abhorrent and barbaric” assault, declared three days of national mourning, and vowed the drug gangs would never win.

He also hit out at the United States, a key ally, saying that the authorities across the border to the north must do something about the seemingly endless US appetite for drugs that is ruining much of South America. “I ask them to reflect on this tragedy that we are living through in Mexico and many other Latin American countries. We are neighbors, allies, friends, but you are also responsible,” Calderon said.

US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were quick to condemn the attack, hail Mexico’s efforts to combat the drugs trade and pledge renewed American support. “The people of Mexico and their government are engaged in a brave fight to disrupt violent transnational criminal organizations that threaten both Mexico and the United States,” Obama said. “The United States is and will remain a partner in this fight.”

In Thursday ’s attack, armed men, believed to be from either the Zetas or Gulf cartel, emptied cans of gasoline and set fire to the Casino Royale in the northeastern city of Monterrey, a flashpoint in their brutal turf war. Trapped as the vast building went up in flames, victims hid in bathrooms and offices instead of heading to the emergency exits. Many died of smoke inhalation in the ensuing panic, unable to escape.

“It is evident that we are not faced with ordinary delinquents but by actual terrorists who know no boundaries,” said Calderon, describing it as the most serious attack Mexican civilians had endured in a long time. “The gunmen are not and cannot be the masters of our streets. We

must confront them and stop them,” the president said.

Calderon ordered police and army reinforcements to Monterrey, while the justice ministry offered 30 million pesos ($2.4 million) for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrators. The Zetas are believed to have come into existence in the 1990s, founded by deserters from the Mexican special forces hired as hitmen for the powerful Gulf cartel. They later split from the Gulf cartel, sparking increasingly violent turf wars as they set up their own trafficking operations.

Monterrey, until recently a peaceful industrial city, has become the epicenter of a battle between the Zetas and their former employers as they vie for control of lucrative drug-smuggling routes to the United States. Mexico’s third largest city, which is home to four million people, has seen an increasing amount of drug-related violence with more than 70 murders last month alone. Casinos have been particularly targeted as owners refuse to pay protection money demanded by criminal gangs.

This type of casino was popular with “women and old people and the criminals knew that”, a security guard told AFP in front of the burned-out building.

Among the dead were 35 women and 10 men. The sex of several victims was still to be determined as forensic experts sifted grimly through charred remains.

Footage from security cameras shows eight or nine armed men arriving in cars at around 4:00 pm (2100 GMT) and carrying cans of liquid. They can be seen rushing out and speeding away a few minutes later, the building ablaze.

One witness, who escaped with a friend to the rooftop of the sprawling casino building, gave an account to local media. They entered the casino “and screamed ‘everyone hit the floor’,” the witness said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “I don’t know if there was a weapon that makes such a noise, but an impressive explosion followed - I never want to go through something like that again.” In her written statement, Clinton referred to the attack as a “fire-bombing”.

Firefighters had to knock large holes in the building’s walls to reach the second floor. It took them four hours to extinguish the blaze. — AFP

ABUJA: Investigators yesterday probed a suicide attack at UN headquarters in Nigeria after the bomber managed to penetrate tight security and ram his car into the building, killing at least 19 people. Top UN officials, including the world body’s security chief, were due to arrive in Nigeria yesterday night and rescue workers combed through rubble at the building to ensure no one remained trapped. Emergency officials visited area hospitals to check on casualties amid calls for blood donations. Dozens were wounded with various degrees of injuries, and a doctor at the national hospital called the situation “overwhelming”. Security was tightened throughout the capital and police nationwide were placed on high alert.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan visited the scene of the attack yesterday along with a number of government officials.

“One thing is very clear: (a) terrorist attack on any individual or any group is a terrorist attack to the rest of the world,” Jonathan told journalists. “It is not just about the UN office.

We will work with the UN and all the world leaders, of course. Many of them have contacted me.” Asked about the Nigerian Islamist sect known as Boko Haram, he called it “a local group linked with terrorist acts and we as a government are working to bring it under control”.

A man claiming to be a spokesman for Boko Haram said in a phone call to an AFP journalist that the group carried out Friday’s attack. The veracity of his claims could not be confirmed and police said all possibilities were being considered. The sect has not previously been known to target international organisations, but there have been growing concerns over whether it has formed links with extremist groups outside of Nigeria, including Al-Qaeda’s north African branch.

The death toll from the huge bomb that blew out the first two floors of the building climbed to 19, according to emergency management agency spokesman Yushau Shuaib, one more than a previous toll provided by police. It was believed that everyone had now been evacuated from the building, with a number of people rescued after apparently having been stuck in a lift for hours on Friday afternoon, said Shuaib. But rescue teams arrived at the compound yesterday morning saying they wanted to be sure no one was left inside.

About 20 UN employees also gathered at

the site yesterday, including those hoping to gather personal belongings left behind. “God made me to do the unusual yesterday,” one woman who did not want to give her name said between tears. “I don’t normally take breakfast, but yesterday, I went to the canteen for the first time. While I was eating, the

make his way through two gates before ramming into the building. Police spokesman Yemi Ajayi said it was too early to say who the main suspect in the bombing would be.

“Let the end of the investigation reveal that,” he said. A bomb blast that rocked a car park at national police headquarters in Abuja in

ABUJA: Nigeria’s president Goodluck Jonathan fields questions from journalists yesterday as he leaves UN headquarters where a day earlier a suicide bomber crashed through an exit gate and detonated a car full of explosives. — AP bomb exploded and that saved me.” She said “we immediately rushed out, and since I am the security focal point for my agency, I made them lie flat so that we can manage them better and thereafter, we all managed to come out.”

The building houses some 26 UN agencies and departments, with hundreds of employees with a variety of nationalities believed to have worked there. It was among the bloodiest attacks targeting the United Nations globally. United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon strongly condemned the attack and dispatched Deputy UN Secretary General AshaRose Migiro and UN security chief Greg Starr to Nigeria. “They are arriving tonight,” UN spokesman in Nigeria Charles Nosa Osazuwa said. He declined to provide further details for now. Questions have already been raised at the UN over how the bomber managed to

June and killed at least two people was claimed by Boko Haram. Police first said it was the result of a suicide blast before later retracting their statement, saying they could not be sure.

Most of the attacks blamed on the sect have occurred in the country’s northeast, but a number have been carried out elsewhere, including the previous explosion in Abuja as well as several in Suleija near the capital. The Islamist sect launched an uprising in 2009, put down by a brutal military assault that left hundreds dead. It went dormant for about a year before re-emerging in 2010 with a series of assassinations of security personnel and politicians, as well as religious and community leaders. Nigeria’s 150 million population is roughly divided in half between a mainly Muslim north and predominately Christian south. — AFP

Rebel Abkhazia elects pro-Russian as leader NATO refuses to recognise elections SUKHUMI, Georgia: Abkhazia elected a top politician who advocates firm ties with Russia as the new president of the rebel Georgian region after polls widely seen as illegitimate, officials said yesterday. Alexander Ankvab, who has served as prime minister of Abkhazia

and vice president over the last half decade, won 54.86 percent of the vote, easily beating off his two rivals, the central election commission said. The snap elections were forced after Sergei Bagapsh, who led the breakaway region since 2005, died in a Moscow hospital

SUKHUMI, Abkhazia: Alexander Ankvab, who has been pronounced Abkhazia’s new president, poses with his portrait presented to him by journalists during a news conference in the capital of this Georgian breakaway region yesterday. — AP

in May of complications following a lung operation.

Ankvab beat off prime minister Sergei Shamba, who won 21.04 percent of the vote and opposition leader Raul Khajimba who garnered 19.83 percent. Turnout was high at 71.92 percent. Abkhazia broke away from Georgia after a devastating civil war in the 1990s. But its independence claim has only been recognised by Russia and a handful of far-flung states, following Moscow’s 2008 war with Georgia. Symbolically, the vote coincided with the third anniversary of Moscow’s recognition of Abkhazia and fellow breakaway Georgian region South Ossetia as independent states, a move that was slammed by the West.

The Georgian foreign ministry condemned the elections as a “cynical act of pseudodemocratic policy” and a “farce” which made a “mockery of international law ”. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a statement the Alliance did not recognise the polls, saying they did “not contribute to a peaceful and lasting settlement of the situation in Georgia”. All three candidates in the vote were Kremlin-friendly and strongly opposed to reunification with Georgia.

However Ankvab is a strong backer of a controversial law change to allow Russians to buy property and possibly land in Abkhazia, a controversial issue which some critics could lead to de-facto annexation by Russia. “Russia was and will remain a strategic partner of Abkhazia in all areas,” Ankvab told the Interfax news agency. — AFP

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Scientists man bioterror frontlines post-9/11 LIVERMORE, California: Just hours after the first death in the 2001 anthrax attacks, Tom Slezak was told to gather his team, collect his gear and get on a plane. The longtime Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory biodefense researcher landed at Andrews Air Force Base outside the nation’s capital and immediately realized he was on the front lines of a new type of war. “We were met by a colonel in the Army,” Slezak recalled.

“He said, ‘Our nation is at war. And you’ve been drafted.’”

For decades, federal research labs like Lawrence Livermore had served as the government’s Cold War research and development division. After Sept 11, those same labs transformed themselves to invent new lines of defense against new terror threats, developing a nationwide system to sniff the air for germs such as anthrax and smallpox.

Slezak and other government researchers created the airborne pathogen early warning system known as Biowatch that is now deployed in about 30 cities across the country and has become a hidden fixture in the country’s post-September 11, 2001, urban landscape. The program is designed to alert authorities of a release of deadly germs even before patients start showing up sick.

This would allow affected areas to be evacuated, and potentially infected people could get drugs and vaccines.

The system works via detectors mounted in secret locations near potential high-profile targets such as stadiums and subways. They suck city air through filters that technicians collect daily and test for the DNA of dangerous bacteria and viruses. To keep potential terrorists from dodging Biowatch’s defenses, officials keep secret how many detectors monitor

the air in each city, what the detectors look like and how many different pathogens they guard against. The list of cities themselves is also secret, although officials say Washington and New York are among those monitored.

In all, the system covers about 80 percent of the US population, Slezak said.

So far Biowatch has raised several alerts about the possible presence of malicious microbes. The day after a 2005 anti-war protest on the Washington Mall, for example, the system detected the bacterium that causes tularemia, a potentially fatal respiratory illness. But in each case, further testing found that germs had occurred naturally, and no public alarm was sounded. To be effective, Biowatch must turn out test results quickly and never be wrong, researchers said.

If bad information should lead to a shutdown of an Olympic Games or a presidential inaugural, they said, that would destroy trust in the system and make the country more vulnerable to a real attack. “We have to be able to make millions of measurements and never have a single false positive measurement,” said David Rakestraw, who manages Lawrence Livermore’s weapons of mass destruction countermeasures program.

Work on Biowatch began even before the Sept 11 attacks as a way to provide biosecurity for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. The system had undergone just one test run before Slezak was summoned to Washington in the midst of the anthrax crisis to set up the detectors for their first real-life use. Lab technicians on 12-hour shifts worked around the clock for weeks as anthrax powder sent through the mail ultimately claimed five lives.

Slezak remembers being pulled

from the lab to see an unfolding drama on television. With chagrin, he watched as workers ran from the Hart Senate Office Building after anthrax powder was discovered in an envelope sent to Senate Majority Leader

run the lab tests. The heavy manpower needed to keep Biowatch running points to one of the system’s key weaknesses, say officials connected to the program.

“What we basically deployed were

LIVERMORE, California: Informatics program leader Tom Slezak gestures in front of the mobile lab July 13, 2011, at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. — AP Tom Daschle. “That was just kind of one of those ‘duh’ moments where you realize you can’t always pick what the most probable threat is going to be,” he said.

Months later, Biowatch was set up and running as planned during the Olympics. In 2003, the Bush administration began rolling out the system in cities across the country. Since then, the government has spent more than a half-billion dollars on the program, according to budget analysts at the Center for Biosecurity at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Much of that money pays for workers to collect the air filters from the detectors and

glorified vacuum cleaners,” said Penrose “Parney” Albright, who oversaw Biowatch’s rollout as the Department of Homeland Security’s director of anti-weapons of mass destruction research and development under President George W Bush. Now head of global security science and technology research at Lawrence Livermore, Albright and others say new labor-saving technology could streamline the process dramatically.

Relying on major advances during the past decade in technology to read and analyze DNA, small chips in the detectors themselves can scan for more than 3,000 different germs, as

opposed to the handful sought now. If a sample tests positive, the detectors would send an alert to scientists. Such devices, set to be tested in one city this year and four more next year, would eliminate the daily need to collect filters and run lab tests. The huge labor savings, Albright said, could make it possible to deploy many more automated detectors and create a wider, denser net of biosensors across US cities.

Some public health officials remain less than convinced about the value of Biowatch compared to traditional approaches to disease outbreak detection, such as monitoring hospital and emergency room visits, as happened with the anthrax mailings. “I wouldn’t say it has no value, but I think we have to be realistic about what the value is,” said Dr. Frances Downes, director of public health laboratories for Michigan.

In 2008, Downes told Congress the Biowatch program was draining public health lab resources across the country without adequate reimbursement.

While she said some of those concerns have since been dealt with, she says Biowatch should be seen only as one piece of a broader public health approach to biodefense. “It’s not all that we need,” Downes said.

“We can’t assume it’s a safety blanket and it’s covering us and we’re always going to know about a (bioterror) attack.” However the US chooses to defend itself, scientists at Lawrence Livermore say the increasing accessibility of biotechnology tools and expertise makes the threat of a bioterror attack as real as ever. “It’s very clear that there’s a trend toward more and more people having capabilities and more and more people having the knowledge to do these things,” Rakestraw said. “I think we need to be prepared.” — AP

Obama: Recall spirit of unity from 9/11 Remarks an overt call for greater cooperation

CHICAGO: In this Nov 21, 2008, file photo President-elect Barack Obama and his adviser Valerie Jarrett look at pies during a food stop. — AP

Obama finds refuge among close friends on vacation VINEYARD HAVEN, Massachusetts: They golf with him, they vacation with him, their kids and his kids hang out. To them, he is Barack, not Mr President. He can be teased and tease back. They form the trusted circle of tightlipped friends who have sustained Barack Obama through good times and bad since his days in Chicago, from Hawaii to Washington to Martha’s Vineyard and back again. For the most powerful man on the planet who nonetheless may have one of the loneliest jobs, a close band of buddies - Eric Whitaker, Martin Nesbitt and Valerie Jarrett form the core - has become a second family, to a degree replacing the one he lost or never had with the absence of his father and death of his mother in 1995.

Apart from wife Michelle and daughters Malia and Sasha, they are the people he is closest with. And to the president, in his private life a creature of habit, there’s a comfort in turning to trusted friends with whom confidence runs deep and there is no question about where loyalties lie. “I think that for a president of the United States who’s always on, it’s a relief to be around people who’ve known you for a very long time so that you can just be comfortable, No. 1 being yourself, and No. 2 knowing that you can trust them completely,” Jarrett said in an interview.

“There’s a level of trust that has withstood the test of time. He doesn’t have to worry about his friends leaking the details of his vacation to the press,” she said. “He enjoys being around people who are completely comfortable teasing him and treating him like a friend and not the president of the United States.”

The three friendships date back to Obama’s years in Chicago and he has maintained the ties remarkably close, even though he has not returned home to Chicago as much as he once said he had hoped to. This warm season, Jarrett, whom Obama brought to the White House as a senior adviser, and Whitaker, an executive at the University of Chicago Medical Center, vacationed with Obama on the Vineyard, the exclusive island off the coast of Massachusetts where Obama has been coming for more than 15 years, although not as long as Jarrett, who has been visiting since she was a young girl. On Friday, Obama cut his planned 10-day vacation on the island a

day short to come back to Washington ahead of Hurricane Irene.

For Obama the annual vacation has assumed a sameness, providing an oasis of stability and normalcy that’s missing in other aspects of his life. He golfs at the same island courses every year, and there is Whitaker, sitting next to him as he drives the cart. He and Michelle and the girls hit the same bike trail and shop at the same book store. They buy fried shrimp every year at Nancy’s seafood restaurant, and sun themselves at the same beach; Jarrett is there, too, as the president relaxes and watches his girls swim in the ocean.

Nesbitt, who started and heads an airport parking company, doesn’t come to the Vineyard although the friends hope to get him here sometime. But on Obama’s other annual getaway, in his home state of Hawaii, they’re all together again. Nesbitt and Whitaker also turn up frequently in Washington, sometimes at unexpected times. The day after Obama struck a deal with Republicans in April to avert a government shutdown, he paid a quick, unannounced trip to the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall to show that the nation’s parks and monuments were open for business. Whitaker was at his side, and the two bounded cheerfully together up the imposing stone steps.

The core group met and cemented their relationship through various Chicago connections, including ties at the University of Chicago, where Nesbitt and Michelle Obama’s brother attended business school together. Jarrett first met the Obamas in 1991, when she hired Michelle, then engaged to Barack Obama, to work in Chicago Mayor Richard Daley’s administration. The White House declined to make Nesbitt or Whitaker available for comment, and neither returned a message left at their offices. Obama has other friends too, among them Comcast chief executive Brian Roberts, whose Martha’s Vineyard mansion he visited this week; and UBS executive Robert Wolf, who rounded out one of his Martha’s Vineyard golf foursomes, but none quite so close. And wherever Obama goes in the world one of the three may be found at his side.

They provide Obama a listening ear if he wants one on policy issues, but if he does not want to talk shop, then they just let him relax. — AP

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama is calling on Americans to rekindle the spirit of unity that characterized the country’s response to the Sept 11 terrorist attacks. “It can be a lasting virtue,” he said. “Not just on one day, but every day.” The president made his appeal during his weekly radio and Internet address, two weeks before the 10th anniversary of the day Al-Qaeda terrorists turned commercial jetliners into deadly weapons in New York, Pennsylvania and northern Virginia. Obama plans to observe the anniversary on Sept 11 with stops at ground zero in lower Manhattan, where the World Trade Center towers fell; at Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where one of the commandeered planes crashed; and at the Pentagon, which was also hit by a hijacked jetliner.

But he cast his plea for goodwill yesterday against the backdrop of the economic challenges facing the country today. Coming in the aftermath of bitter partisan fights over government spending and tough criticism of his administration by Republican presidential candidates, his remarks were an overt call for greater cooperation. “Even the smallest act of service, the simplest act of kindness, is a way to honor those we lost, a way to reclaim that spirit of unity that followed 9/11,” he said.

He recalled the work of volunteers following the attacks, the blood donations and the food and clothing drives. “We were united, and the outpouring of generosity and compassion reminded us that in times of challenge, we Americans move forward together, as one people,” he said. These days, he said, the country is still fighting Al-Qaeda, it is ending the war in Iraq, pulling back troops from Afghanistan and “emerging from the worst economic crisis in our lifetimes”. “None of this will be easy,” he said. “And it can’t be the work of government alone. As we saw after 9/11, the strength of America has always been the character and compassion of our people. So as we mark this

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and their daughters Sasha and Malia walk across the South Lawn of the White House on Friday after a family vacation on Martha’s Vineyard. Urging everyone in Hurricane Irene’s path to get ready, President Obama decided to cut his vacation short Friday and return to the White House for a storm he described as potentially historic. — AP solemn anniversary, let’s summon that spirit once more. And let’s show that the sense of common purpose that we need in America doesn’t have to be a fleeting moment; it can be a lasting virtue ‚Ä” not just on one day, but every day.”

In the Republican address, Sen Dean Heller of Nevada stuck to economic themes, criticizing the Obama administration for creating “more government that continues to impede economic growth at every turn”. “To paraphrase

one of the business leaders in my state, this president and his policies have been a big wet blanket on our economy,” he said. Heller called for a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution and repeal of the health care law that Obama signed last year, both demands that Republicans have failed to achieve. He also called for an overhaul of Social Security and Medicare to reduce their long-term costs and to simplify the tax code by eliminating loopholes and lowering tax rates. — AP

CIA demands cuts to critical 9/11 memoir WASHINGTON: The Central Intelligence Agency has demanded a publisher make extensive cuts to a book critical of its performance before and after the September 11 attacks, officials said Friday. “The Black Banners: The Inside Story of 9/11 and the War Against Al-Qaeda,” a memoir by former FBI agent Ali Soufan due out next month, recounts his experiences at the heart of highprofile terror investigations.

Soufan has accused the CIA of insisting on scores of redactions he says are not justified on security grounds but are aimed at undermining an account that reflects badly on the agency, the New York Times reported.

A spokesman for the CIA rejected the accusation and said the changes were meant to safeguard national security. “The suggestion

that the Central Intelligence Agency has requested redactions on this publication because it doesn’t like the content is ridiculous,” CIA spokesman Preston Golson said in an email. “The CIA’s pre-publication review process looks solely at the issue of whether information is classified,” he said.

In his book, Soufan reportedly argues that the CIA botched an opportunity to prevent the 2001 terror plot by failing to divulge information to the FBI about two future 9/11 hijackers based in San Diego. He is also critical of the harsh interrogation techniques used on terror suspects-including Abu Zubaydah, the first important captive taken after the 9/11 attacks - saying such methods are counterproductive.

The dispute over the book comes as the country prepares to

mark the 10th anniversary of the Sept 11 attacks on New York and Washington and amid a continuing debate about the treatment of terror suspects.

In a 78-page letter, the CIA requested a range of cuts to the manuscript, including of information already made public or discussed at congressional hearings, according to WW Norton and Company, the book’s publisher.

With the memoir due to go on sale in less than a month, the company said it plans to publish the book with the edits demanded by the CIA. “Norton will publish the book with redactions,” Louise Brockett, a Norton spokeswoman, told AFP. The author, quoted in the New York Times, criticized the CIA for its approach and said the government needed to face honestly “where we made mistakes and let

the American people down”. “It saddens me that some are refusing to address past mistakes.”

Golson countered that “just because something is in the public domain doesn’t mean it’s been officially released or declassified by the US government”. A US official argued that Soufan was not being silenced in any way and has often spoken out publicly. “No one’s stopped Ali Soufan from expressing his opinions about the interrogation of terrorists. He’s done it repeatedly, in several media outlets,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The changes demanded by the CIA include wording used by Soufan in 2009 testimony at a Senate hearing and references to the agency ’s “stations”, the widely used, traditional word for CIA offices abroad. — AFP

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Fear fuels refugees’ Australia dreams KUALA LUMPUR: Akhbar and his family fled a perilous existence in Afghanistan for an uncertain life in Malaysia and now dream of a better future in Australia under a controversial refugee swap deal. If that doesn’t happen, he says, he is willing to risk death to sneak into Australia by boat.

Akhbar, 35, is among thousands of migrants here hoping they will be part of a scheme that would see Australia send 800 illegally arrived boatpeople to Malaysia in exchange for 4,000 registered refugees. The plan was put on hold by the High Court in Canberra after human rights groups protested.

But Akhbar, who is a registered refugee, is determined to make it to a developed country like Australia even if it means entering illegally via a dangerous sea voyage.

“If we die, no problem. If we arrive in Australia, it’s so good. No more torture,” he said, referring to the precariousness of living illegally in exile Akhbar’s dreams underline the desperation that motivates refugees from countries like Afghanistan, Iraq and Myanmar to attempt perilous journeys and live like fugitives in the distant hope of making it to Australia.

Speaking in the two-bedroom flat he shares with seven relatives in Malaysia’s bustling capital Kuala Lumpur, Akhbar - who asked that a pseudonym be used because he

feared discovery by authorities - said his family’s difficult journey began four years ago. Farmers from the Hazara minority, they fled their central Afghan town to escape harassment by armed nomads of the Pashtun majority who would graze their livestock in Akbhar’s fields of wheat and vegetables.

“Every year when the land is growing, they bring their animals... They eat everything, then we have nothing,” said Akhbar, seated on a colourful Persian carpet. “If we stay there, maybe we will be killed today or tomorrow,” he said, adding that many of his friends had died at the hands of brigands. With the hired help of humansmugglers, he and his family snuck across the border to Pakistan and then Iran. A friend there told them of work opportunities in fellow Muslim country Malaysia, which at the time offered a visa exemption - later scrapped due to abuse - to Afghans and other Asian tourists. The family, including his parents, wife and daughter, soon arrived in Malaysia, after spending more than $6,500 - the bulk of the family savings on smugglers and air tickets.

But to Akhbar, the odyssey is unfinished. They were registered as bona fide refugees by a UN agency in Kuala Lumpur, but that is unrecognised by Malaysia, leaving them vulnerable to harassment and deprived of access to legal employment, education and

KUALA LUMPUR: Afghan migrant Akbar holds the hands of his daughter during an interview on Aug 18, 2011. — AFP healthcare. Several jobs later, Akhbar now works illegally 12 hours a day as a chef’s assistant in an Iranian restaurant, earning 1,200 ringgit ($400) per month, half of which is spent on rent.

He has about two days off per month.

He and his brother were once detained for 17 days after they were caught working in a shop. His wife and two-year-old daughter rarely leave the flat, fearing harassment from authorities and thugs. Malaysia has an estimated two million illegal migrants from around Asia. More than 94,000 are considered refugees - mostly from

Myanmar - including about 500 Afghans. Many of the Afghans spent years in exile in Iran before coming to Malaysia. They suffer from a lack of support networks, said Sharuna Verghis of Health Equity Initiatives, which counsels refugees with mental health problems. “It’s generations being born and growing in exile without a legal identity... You can’t live a whole life like that without identity, without meaning, without purpose,” she said. “The sense of hopelessness is so deep and so pervasive.” Most Afghan refugees in Malaysia are

Shiites, and are thus looked down upon in a Sunni Muslim country where the Shiite faith is officially banned.

They also are often wrongly viewed as linked to Afghanistan’s militant Taleban, making it difficult to rent accommodation and find jobs, said Verghis.

Activists in Australia and Malaysia have heavily criticised the swap agreement, citing Malaysia’s track record of detaining refugees. Under the deal, those transferred to Malaysia cannot be detained. The UN refugee agency will assess their situations and they will receive help with finding housing and other basic needs. Those not deemed to be fleeing persecution face deportation. Australian and Malaysian officials say the plan will deter boatpeople but they have continued to arrive.

Akhbar knows many who have attempted the voyage to Australia, exasperated by a resettlement wait which can take years. Last year, just 8,000 of Malaysia’s registered refugees were resettled elsewhere. Some of Akhbar’s acquaintances obtained asylum, but others - including several families -never made it as their rickety boats sank. Akhbar stands ready to take that risk if his family is not resettled and if they can scrape up enough money for the illicit passage. “I wish to go to a place with respect for humans. Then I will be there forever,” he said. — AFP

Gandhi’s killers to hang next month Executions to be first since 2004 CHENNAI: Three men convicted of the 1991 assassination of then Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi will be hanged early next month, a senior jail official has said. The announcement late Friday that the executions would be carried out on Sept 9 came after India’s president rejected mercy pleas from the three men earlier this month. If they go ahead as scheduled, the executions will be first in India since 2004, when a former security guard was hanged for the rape and murder of a 14-year-old schoolgirl. “ The three men have been informed about the date of the hanging,” said S Arivudainambi, chief of the prison in the southern city of Vellore, where the convicts are being held, west of Tamil Nadu state capital Chennai. The three men, Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan - all known by one name - have now appealed to Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalitha to save them from the gallows.

Students and lawyers have also been protesting against the executions.

All three men belonged to Sri Lanka’s Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) militant group, which was accused of plotting the May 21, 1991 murder of Gandhi by a female suicide bomber. Gandhi had become India’s youngest ever prime minister after his mother, former premier Indira Gandhi, was assassinated in Oct 1984, and ruled until losing an election five years later. The shredded clothes and the shoes Gandhi was wearing when he was killed while on an election tour in southern India 20 years ago remain on display in a museum in the national capital Delhi.

Although the Supreme Court upheld the original death penalty verdict for the three convicts it later commuted the capital punishment to life in prison for Nalini Sriharan, an Indian Tamil woman who was also convicted. The three men had

sought a presidential pardon after the top court’s verdict. The LTTE, wiped out by Sri Lankan forces in 2009 following a bloody offensive by government troops on the island, always denied its hand in Gandhi’s assassination. But the militant group’s now-slain leader Velupillai Prabhakaran went on to honour the assassin’s father as a “great person who contributed to the Tamil cause”.

Gandhi’s killing was seen at home as retaliation for a 1987 Indian government pact with the Sri Lankan government to disarm the guerrillas, who had been trained and armed by New Delhi in the early 1980s. In May, India’s president rejected a mercy petition from a murderer in the northeastern state of Assam, leaving the state scrabbling to find a hangman.

Many of the small number of known hangmen nationwide have either died or retired in recent years. — AFP

Children among four dead in Afghan blast LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan: A suicide car bomb exploded near a bank in Afghanistan yesterday as police and soldiers queued for their wages, killing four including three children in the volatile south. The blast happened in Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province, where Afghan forces took control of security from British troops last month as international forces started withdrawals across the country. It came a few days before the start of Eid, the Islamic festival marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

Along with the dead, 21 people were wounded - ten Afghan soldiers, five policemen and six civilians, a statement from the Helmand governor’s office said. “The martyred were two small boys, a small girl and a middle-aged man,” it added. “The target of the attack was police and army soldiers who gathered in front of Kabul Bank to take their monthly salaries.” No-one has so far claimed

responsibility for the attack, although the Taleban have carried out similar strikes in the past targeting government employees collecting their pay.

Ismail Khan, an official at Lashkar Gah police headquarters, said that a seven-year-old girl was among the dead. Deputy police chief Kamaluddin Sherzad added that the scene of the blast was close to the heavily-secured Helmand governor’s office. Meanwhile, in the neighbouring province of Kandahar, one person was killed and 22 were injured in two car bomb blasts near police posts in the city. A total of 13 children were among the wounded, provincial officials said. Both attacks were strongly condemned by President Hamid Karzai in a statement released by his office. Southern Afghanistan, traditionally a stronghold of the Taleban, has been the focus of international troop operations in recent years.

Kandahar is seen as the birthplace of the Taleban. Although government

JALALABAD, Afghanistan: A freed Afghan woman prisoner along with her son leave the Nangarhar prison in the provincial capital of Nangarhar province, east of Kabul, yesterday. Around 38 Afghan prisoners were released from captivity based on a decree by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, honoring the 92th Afghan independence day. — AP

officials are frequently targeted, civilians are the biggest victims of the ten-year, Taleban-led insurgency.

Figures released last month by the United Nations showed that the number of civilians killed in the first half of the year in the Afghan war rose 15 percent. It added that insurgents were responsible for 80 percent of the killings.

The Lashkar Gah attack is the latest to strike the city in recent weeks since Afghan forces assumed formal responsibility for its security. The handover was part of the first wave of a transition process which will eventually see all foreign combat forces leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

Lashkar Gah was deliberately chosen in the initial group of seven places around the country to prove that Afghan security forces could hold their own, Western diplomats have said. But some residents believe security has deteriorated since the handover, raising questions about the transition process. Karzai is set to announce in late September or October which places will be next to transition. Since British troops formally handed control of security in Lashkar Gah to the Afghan army on July 20, there have been several attacks. These included a suicide car bomb attack on the town’s police headquarters which killed 12 policemen and a child on July 31. And in a macabre incident the day before the transition ceremony, seven police were poisoned and then shot dead by insurgents. Some local officials have accused the Taleban of deliberately trying to destabilise the city and spread fear in the wake of the transition process. There are presently around 140,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan supporting Karzai’s government, the majority from the United States, although they are all due to leave over the next three years. — AFP

PESHAWAR: Pakistani children make traditional shoes at a workshop yesterday. — AP

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China considers legalising secret detentions BEIJING: China is considering changes to its criminal law that human rights activists said yesterday would effectively legalise the forced disappearance of dissidents.

Proposed amendments to “residential surveillance” laws would allow police to hold suspects in secret locations in cases involving national security, terrorism or major corruption, the official Legal Daily said this week.

Residential surveillance is a form of house arrest. Police would need permission from a prosecutor or public security agency to detain people in a “specified location” in such cases when they believe holding them at home could “obstruct the investigation”, the report said.

The proposed changes - part of a broader review of China’s criminal

procedure law - would not require police to contact family members of suspects involved in these types of cases if it could hinder their inquiries.

“If this proposal does come into law it would essentially legitimise the enforced disappearances that we have been seeing more and more of over the past year or so,” Joshua Rosenz weig, a Hong Kong-based manager of rights group Dui Hua, told AFP. Dozens of lawyers and activists, including prominent artist Ai Weiwei, have been “disappeared” or detained by police in recent months in China’s toughest crackdown on dissent in years. Ai was released in June after three months’ detention on tax evasion charges, but was then barred from leaving Beijing for a year.

Activists are often held for days, weeks or months in secret locations before being released without charge. But some, like high-profile rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, are never heard from after their apparent detention. After a brief release following a previous disappearance, Gao vanished in April 2010 and he has not been heard from since.

Human R ights Watch (HR W ) Senior Asia Researcher N icholas Bequelin told AFP the proposed changes would be a “worrisome expansion of the power of the police” and, if approved, would violate international laws. It would allow police “to basically carry out legally enforced disappearances... keeping people up to six months without any need to notify anyone,” Bequelin

said. Rosenzweig said Beijing may want to legalise secret detentions “so the argument about the legality of what they are doing becomes more airtight” and bolster their defence against international outcry over perceived abuses.

China’s rights record is routinely criticised by Western nations including the United States and the European Union, although the country’s Communist government insists that basic human rights are guaranteed for all citizens. It responds to criticism by pointing to the nation’s progress in lifting millions out of poverty through economic reforms in the past three decades, but says rights abuses may occur because the country is still “developing”. Any revisions to the law would need to be

approved by the National People’s Congress when it meets for its annual parliamentar y session in March before they could be enforced, Rosenzweig added.

New York-based HRW earlier this year issued a scathing report accusing Beijing of failing to live up to a 2009 “national human rights action plan” which promised to protect a range of political and civil freedoms.

Instead, “the government has systematically continued to violate many of the most basic rights the document addresses,” the repor t said. But Rosenzweig said it could take many months before the proposed changes were enshrined in law and “a lot could change between now and the time this goes into force”. —AFP

Five-way race for Japan PM begins Winner to become sixth PM in five years TOKYO: Five lawmakers from Japan’s ruling party yesterday officially declared themselves candidates to succeed Prime Minister Naoto Kan and become the nation’s sixth new premier in five years. Their declaration kicked off two days of campaigning that will culminate in the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) voting tomorrow for a new leader, with trade and industry minister Banri Kaieda emerging as a strong contender. Kan announced his resignation on Friday after less than 15 turbulent months in power, during which his response to the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and resulting nuclear plant accident drew fierce criticism.

Through debates and speeches over the weekend, the candidates will seek the support of the 398 DPJ lawmakers who can vote on Monday. Parliament will then elect the leader as prime minister on Tuesday. The winner faces the

overcome a legislative quagmire to address the world’s biggest debt mountain.

In their first public appearance yesterday, the five sparred over measures to recover from the March disasters and revamp the

maker Ichiro Ozawa, who controls the DPJ’s biggest faction, voiced support for him.

Ozawa, a divisive figure who faces a criminal trial over a donations scandal, leads up to 130 lawmakers, although he has lost

TOKYO: (Left to right) Former Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara, former Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Sumio Mabuchi, Economy Minister Banri Kaieda, Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda and Agriculture Minister Michihiko Kano, candidates for the ruling Democratic Party of Japan presidential election, attend a press conference at the National Press Club yesterday. —AFP daunting task of overseeing Japan’s biggest post-war reconstruction, resolving the world’s worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl 25 years ago, and shielding the economy from a soaring yen. The new premier must also unite a divided parliament, decide on a new postFukushima energy policy and win market confidence that Japan can

stagnant economy. Former foreign minister Seiji Maehara, who has topped the list of hopeful successors to Kan in opinion polls, and Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda were largely seen as pre-election favourites. But Kaieda, who has led efforts to contain the nuclear crisis, leapt into the front row alongside them late on Friday after party king-

his party membership following his indictment over the scandal.

“We need support of Ozawa at a time of crisis,” Kaieda told reporters late Friday. “I want to revive the Japanese economy as soon as possible by making use of my experience of handling the nuclear accident.”

Japanese media have said behind-the-scenes politics by

faction bosses, notably Ozawa, will likely decide the outcome of tomorrow’s vote. Kaieda, 62, a well-known economist before he turned to politics, also won support of former prime minister Yukio Hatoyama, a close ally of Ozawa. Maehara, 49, who stepped down as foreign minister in March over a donations row, would become the nation’s youngest post-war prime minister if elected. He is against raising taxes to ease Japan’s fiscal woes.

“I want to achieve economic growth and unleash the vigour of Japan, which will eventually lead to reconstruction from the disaster,” Maehara told reporters early yesterday.

Noda, 54, who recently courted controversy with statements defending war criminals, has softened his earlier stance on hiking taxes. He said the next government should take over his ministry’s initiative to curb the yen’s strength, including intervening in the market. “We have carried out intervention three times and want to continue taking firm measures if excessive and speculative moves are seen,” Noda said. “There is no growth strategy without measures against the appreciation of the yen.”

The remaining two candidates are farm minister Michihiko Kano, 69, and Sumio Mabuchi, 51, who was infrastructure and transport minister when Japan was embroiled last year in a bitter territorial island row with China.

According to an opinion poll released by the Asahi Shimbun daily on Saturday, some 40 percent of respondents named Maehara as the suitable successor to Kan followed by five percent citing Kaieda. —AFP

Super-typhoon lashes Philippines MANILA: Super-typhoon Nanmadol battered the northern tip of the Philippines yesterday, bringing heavy rain and causing landslides that left at least six people dead or missing, civil defence officials said. Nanmadol, the strongest storm to hit the country this year, was hovering over the northern province of Cagayan, raising fears of more devastation to come the longer it remains in the area, officials said.

Two children were killed in a landslide in the hills north of the Philippine capital, while two fishermen went missing at sea and two other men were washed away by an overflowing river in a separate incident, officials said.

More landslides are expected as heavy rains fall on mountainous areas, warned Major Rey Balido of the government monitoring centre. “For the past three days it has been raining, so the soil has been saturated and there will be landslides,” he told AFP. “There will be more floods also because the typhoon has been almost stationary, so the rains just keep falling. It will take a longer time to traverse the area and will be more dev-

astating,” he warned. He said the government had evacuated residents living near areas prone to landslips and flash floods as a precaution, although the total

follow all instructions from civil defence authorities.

“Especially those in the north, let’s not ignore the warnings of the local government

MANILA: A man looks for usable materials amongst garbage washed up by strong waves caused by super-typhoon Nanmadol at a slum area beside Manila Bay yesterday. —AFP number of people moved had not yet been compiled.

President Benigno Aquino’s spokesman Edwin Lacierda appealed to the public not to take the threat lightly and to

officials. I t is impor tant that they follow all the instructions so you can be protec ted,” Lacierda said. At least 15 domestic flights to the north were cancelled due to the

storm. A US Navy nuclear-powered supercarrier, USS John C Stennis, which was due to arrive for a port call in Manila yesterday, also postponed its arrival due to strong winds and rough waves stirred up by the storm, the US embassy said.

Nanmadol, packing gusts of about 230 km per hour, slowed down to only seven kilometres an hour as it approached land, bringing rain and winds over a wide area, the government weather station said.

The storm, which is named af ter an ancient site in Micronesia, is strong enough to uproot large trees and damage houses, it added. It is expected to move northwards and will be off the eastern coast of Taiwan by tomorrow, the weather station said.

Storm alerts have been raised over the northern provinces of the main Philippine island of Luzon. An average of 20 storms and typhoons, many of them deadly, hit the Philippines annually. The last storms, Nock-ten and Muifa, left at least 70 dead when they hit the country in July. —AFP

SINGAPORE: People arrive at a polling station set up at a local school yesterday to vote for a new president. —AFP

Singapore votes for new president SINGAPORE: Singaporeans voted yesterday in the city-state’s first contested presidential election in 18 years following a heated campaign marked by calls for stronger checks on the ruling party. Polls opened at 8:00 am (0000 GMT) amid rain showers and closed at 8:00 pm. The winner was expected to be known within hours after voting centres closed. Three months after a parliamentary election eroded the dominance of the People’s Action Party (PAP), which has ruled since 1959, anti-government sentiment is still running high in the online forums that now shape political debate in Singapore.

Four candidates - all of them formerly associated with the government or civil service during their careers - are running as individuals in the non-partisan contest, and there are around 2.3 million eligible voters. “They are all very good candidates,” auditor Andrew Ong, 26, told AFP after casting his vote. Civil servant Mohamed Sadiq, 30, said he voted for “somebody who wouldn’t divide Singaporeans”. The publication of preelection survey results is banned but former deputy prime minister Tony Tan, 71, who quit the PAP in June, is seen as the man to beat. The three other candidates are former legislator and ex-PAP member Tan Cheng Bock, former insurance cooperative boss Tan Kin Lian and former corporate executive Tan Jee Say, who also worked in the civil service.

Although it is a largely ceremonial post, interest in the presidency intensified after the PAP lost six parliamentary seats in May and saw its share of votes drop to an all-time low of 60 percent, from nearly 67 percent in the previous election.

Analysts said voters now see the presidency as an institution that can serve as a check on the PAP, which has been in power since Singapore gained self-rule from Britain in 1959 before becoming a full republic in 1965. The current prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, 59, is the son of

Singapore’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew, 87, who retired as a cabinet adviser after the May polls as part of a shakeup triggered by voter discontent.

The PAP was widely criticised before the May polls for its socio-economic policies as well as the rising cost of living despite steering Singapore’s rapid rise to become one of Asia’s wealthiest societies.

Voting is compulsory in Singapore, where the president was handpicked by parliament until direct elections were introduced in 1993, when only two candidates ran. Outgoing president SR Nathan, a former civil servant perceived to be close to the PAP, was elected unopposed in 1999 and 2005.

The nine-day campaign for yesterday’s vote was dominated by calls for an independent president who can serve as a balancing force against the PAP. Singaporeans want an “independent fellow who is not beholden to anybody but who can speak on behalf of the people rather than a political party,” said veteran political watcher Seah Chiang Nee. “A lot of people until now dare not speak against the PAP, so if you can come across someone who has the integrity and courage to speak out, people will vote for that candidate,” said Seah, who runs the independent website www.littlespeck.com.

The president is the custodian of Singapore’s foreign reserves, which stood at close to $250 billion in July, and can veto their use by the government. He has to sign appointments of senior government, civil service, military and judicial officials and can grant clemency to criminals awaiting execution. Analysts say that even if Tony Tan wins, his share of all votes cast will be closely watched as a measure of support for the PAP. The three candidates opposing Tony Tan took strongly critical positions against the PAP’s record, but the former deputy premier urged voters to rise above partisan politics. —AFP

Myanmar MPs urge amnesty YANGON: Members of Myanmar’s armydominated parliament have called for a sweeping jail amnesty, state media reported yesterday, after a UN envoy called for the release of prisoners of conscience. A proposal for a general amnesty was raised in the lower house on Friday, the New Light of Myanmar reported. “They firmly hope that the president would make (an) assessment and release an order of amnesty,” the newspaper said, without giving further details on who would be included.

The plight of around 2,000 political prisoners, many of whom are serving double-digit jail terms, is a key concern of the international community, along with other human rights abuses and democratic reforms. It is the first time that serving military members of parliament have taken part in a discussion of a general amnesty since a nominally civil-

ian government took over in March. A quarter of seats are reserved for the army. The regime, which came to power after controversial November elections, appears keen to improve its image and recently held the first talks between democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and President Thein Sein, a former general.

But the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Tomas Ojea Quintana, said serious concerns remained as he concluded a visit to the country on Thursday. The UN envoy, who visited Yangon’s notorious Insein jail during his five-day trip, voiced fears over allegations of torture during detention and the use of prisoners as porters for the military. “Of key concern to me and the international community is the continuing detention of a large number of prisoners of conscience,” Quintana said. —AFP

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THE LEADING INDEPENDENT DAILY IN THE ARABIAN GULF ESTABLISHED 1961

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Issues

Slump threatening French deficit drive

By Leigh Thomas resident Nicolas Sarkozy is aiming to do what no French government has dared in nearly four decadescut the deficit in a presidential election year. But an about-turn in French voters’ attitudes to austerity means that the biggest risk to Sarkozy’s plan lies not in a backlash of street protests ahead of April’s election, but that deficit-cutting measures unveiled this week prove insufficient. Prime Minister Francois Fillon on Wednesday announced plans for 12 billion extra euros in deficit cuts this year and next- mostly in the form of higher tax revenues-to ensure France hits what he called “sacrosanct” budget targets.

The government had no choice but to come up with the measures after disappointing growth made it unlikely that the euro zone’s second-biggest economy would generate enough tax. Acknowledging a global slowdown would weigh on France, officials have pared growth forecasts to 1.75 percent in 2011 and 2012 from 2.0 percent and 2.25 percent respectively.

However, many economists warn that those estimates remain too optimistic, raising the threat of France failing to reach its deficit goal of 4.5 percent of output next year. “The real question is what do we do if we don’t have 1.75 percent growth?” said Dominique Barbet, BNP Paribas’ head of market economics. “The answer, which is not the same as it would have been several years ago, is that we take whatever measures are necessary to reach the target.” A second round of belt-tightening would not necessarily have to be put off until after April’s vote because shifting attitudes in France against debt and deficits mean budgetary rigor no longer spells political suicide, Barbet said. As he did in the latest package, Sarkozy could tighten loopholes and cut tax breaks while avoiding wide-ranging and politically sensitive tax hikes or spending cuts. The French tax code is littered with over 500 tax breaks that the government estimates cost some 75 billion euros in revenues a year, making them ripe for the picking.

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CHANGING ATTITUDES If Sarkozy, widely expected to run for a second term in the election, meets the targets, his government will be the first on either the right or left to reduce its deficit since France began running deficits every year since 1975. In the past, turning the fiscal screws in the run-up to a major election would have risked antagonizing voters weaned on one of Europe’s most generous welfare systems, which had traditionally made talks of budget austerity a political no-no.

Mindful that austerity measures drove centre-right Prime Minister Alain Juppe from power in 1997, Sarkozy forbade ministers from uttering the word “rigueur” to a French public wedded to high-class but expensive public services.

However, polls suggest that the public is losing its indifference towards state finances as Europe’s debt crisis and the downgrade of the United States’ credit rating turned market attention on France’s strained finances this month. “Debt has become a big political issue” said Francois Miquet-Marty, associate director of pollsters Viavoice. “In recent months we’ve seen debt become as important as crime and people’s purchasing power.” “Letting the public finances get out of control could be seen as a lack of political responsibility. One scenario that could benefit Sarkozy is that if the left offers a platform viewed as too relaxed on fiscal policy,” he said.

An IFOP survey on Tuesday showed 54 percent of people considered “debt and deficits to be a serious problem needing to be urgently addressed even if it means painful measures.” Maurice Levy, chief executive of the world’s No. 3 advertising agency by revenue Publicis, was among 16 executives who called on the wealthy to contribute more to alleviate the debt. The 16 include the billionaire heiress of L’Oreal and the head of oil major Total. “People understand today that even if France is a rich country, it cannot continue to live beyond its means relying on credit,” Levy said. “They understand that it’s very important to resolve the issue of deficits and begin to generate growth again.” An exceptional tax of 3 percent on incomes of more than 500,000 euros a year featured among the main measures in the government’s new anti-deficit plan. The tax, to remain in place until France’s deficit is reduced to less than three percent of GDP, marked a major U-turn from the start of Sarkozy’s term, when he launched reforms aimed at encouraging the rich to stop moving to low tax destinations. Nevertheless, the levy is largely a political gesture as it will bring in 200 million euros in 2012, only a fraction of the 10 billion euros in extra revenues the government is seeking next year, when it will also trim spending by 1 billion euros. — Reuters

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Qaeda firmly rooted in Pakistan tribal fiefdom

By Saad Khan and Emmanuel Duparcq ith his well-groomed hair, shaven face and delicate hint of aftershave, Al-Qaeda logistician Abu Salman has operated for years in Pakistan’s badlands with little fear of detection. A decade after fleeing the US invasion of Afghanistan, Al-Qaeda bosses have carved out a new haven in Pakistan’s lawless northwest, recruiting a fresh generation of footsoldiers well versed in how to escape capture. Despite the long years of conflict, the terror network’s reign of fear is too rooted for the Pakistani army or US missiles to dislodge.

When Abu Salman nears a checkpoint on the way to the group’s premier bastion of North Waziristan, he turns up the music on the car stereo and lights a cigarette. And with this simple indulgence of vices denounced by extremist adherents of Islam, he evades suspicion. Another trick is to leave an English-language newspaperthe ultimate trapping of a secular-minded Pakistani gentleman-lying on the passenger seat. In his 30s, the Al-Qaeda operative speaks to AFP under a fake name in the suburbs of Pakistan’s largest northwestern city, Peshawar. Officially he is a car dealer.

The cover story allows him to swap vehi-

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cles without suspicion and so escape detection by Pakistani security forces and the American drones trying to eliminate AlQaeda in the frontline state in the war on terror. A university-trained engineer, Abu Salman signed up in 2008 while working in Afghanistan. “I saw the pain inflicted by the Americans. I realized that I hadn’t done anything with my life up till then,” he said.

He was given basic military training in eastern Afghanistan in late 2008 but has been integrated into the network as a logistics man, fetching food and medicine.

He personifies the success that Al-Qaeda has found in Pakistan, exploiting a mosaic of overlapping Islamist networks of foreigners and locals dating back 30 years to the mujahedeen resistance to the Soviets in Afghanistan. “Al-Qaeda has been pretty much driven out of Afghanistan, but it got stronger in Pakistan,” surfing on a wave of anti-American sentiment, says Pakistani journalist and Al-Qaeda expert Zahid Hussain.

North Waziristan has an estimated several hundred foreign Al-Qaeda fighters, mostly from Arab countries and Uzbekistan, with a smattering of Africans, Chechens and Westerners, the latter mosly dual nationals.Most arrive overland through central Asia and Afghanistan. A

minority, often the most inexperienced, fly in, running greater risks of being arrested as with two French jihadists picked up this year in Lahore.

Abu Salman criss crosses between Peshawar, Lahore, Islamabad and the tribal belt. “We avoid the telephone and the Internet to avoid being detected and being killed by a drone,” he said. Responsible for providing food and medication, he shops for energy drinks such as Red Bull, which he claims are “very popular” among fighters.

But if most are foreign, Abu Salman claims that “more and more Pakistanis want to join up”. “Al-Qaeda rents homes for its fighters as well as local Taleban who are less well off, basically getting funds from kidnapping for ransom,” says one regular visitor to the main market in the North Waziristan capital of Miranshah, who gives the name of Ahmad Jan. Wearing traditional Pakistani clothes, long hair and beards, turbans and a Kalashnikov slung over their shoulder, the foreigners are almost indistinguishable from the tribesmen whose daughters they marry. Only the locals can tell the difference. “Their skin is often lighter, thinner and taller if they’re Arabs and they walk differently” says Jan. There may be no trace of Osama bin Laden’s successor Ayman al-

Zawahiri, but ordinary footsoldiers take few precautions, other than avoiding restaurants for fear of being a sitting duck for a drone strike.

According to statistics compiled by American website The Long War Journal, drone strikes have killed nearly 2,000 Taleban and Al-Qaeda fighters. Abu Salman claims that most of those killed are Taleban.

Visitors say that the turnover is rapid, that the dead are quickly replaced by new arrivals. Al-Qaeda enjoys the protection of Afghan warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani whose relationship with Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI and own stronghold in North Waziristan has effectively ruled out any ground offensive.

“Everything has changed in 10 years: most of the tribal leaders have been killed and the tribal system destroyed by the Islamists. We can’t dance any more, or play music at weddings,” said Miranshah shopkeeper Qader Gul, 56. “Anyone who protests risks having a member of his family kidnapped, beaten or killed,” agreed Jan. “The young generation is destroyed. It sees nothing except the drones and armed groups... In these conditions, I don’t see how the young will become anything other than Taleban,” said Fayaz Dawar, 30, a doctor in Mir Ali.— AFP

Survival instinct steers Myanmar generals towards reform

By Martin Petty are overtures by Myanmar’s reclusive, authoritarian rulers towards liberalization and reform suggest change could be afoot in the isolated nation. The sudden stream of conciliatory gestures by Myanmar’s new civilian government has raised questions about the motives of the generals who only five months ago controlled one of the world’s most secretive, corrupt and oppressive regimes. Diplomats, political analysts and many Burmese interviewed inside Myanmar say the retired generals brought back to power after a controversial election last year now appear to realize some moves towards reform could be the key to their survival.

Last week, President Thein Sein held an official meeting with and Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize winning democracy advocate who was detained for 15 years until released from house arrest last year. The meeting was welcomed by the international community, but widely regarded as theatre.

Western sanctions in place since the military crushed a 1988 student uprising have isolated Myanmar’s army dictatorships and continue to frustrate the new government, but there are no signs these will be lifted until there are concrete reforms, in particular, the release of an estimated 2,100 political prisoners.

“What seems to be happening is that the regime is seeking to make itself appear legitimate, a genuine and emerging democracy,” said Michael Charney, a Myanmar expert at London’s School of Oriental and Africa Studies. “I don’t see any of this as a positive step forward for democracy, but instead as a means of cementing in place the positions of the families who currently hold power over the country with a view towards long-term control.”

The process of consolidating political power began long ago but accelerated in late 2009 when hundreds of state assets were auctioned off as part of an opaque privatization boom in which cronies of the then-military junta snapped up lucrative contracts, business monopolies and property. The selloff preceded a carefully choreographed election in November that was won by a militarybacked party. Thein Sein, the fourth in command of the former ruling military body, was chosen by parliament to become head of state. He hand-picked his own ministers.

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PARIAH STATUS The election and privatization created a veneer of democracy and liberalization in the former British colony also known as Burma, ensuring power, wealth and patronage was concentrated in the hands of a military-linked establishment, as previously seen in Indonesia and as now entrenched in neighboring Thailand, where politics, business and the army are closely intertwined. But despite those changes, Myanmar remains an interna-

gations, some tolerance of criticism, and the involvement of Suu Kyi in consultations about reconciliation and reform. In one gesture, Myanmar’s state-run newspapers last week dropped back-page banners attacking Western media. Three official newspapers dropped half-page slogans that had been running daily accusing the Voice of America (VOA) and the British Broadcasting Corp (BBC) of “sowing hatred among the people”, and other Western media of “generating public

YANGON: Myanmar’s democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi (center) speaks to journalists after meeting with Tomas Ojea Quintana, UN special envoy on human rights in Myanmar, at her home in Yangon, Myanmar. Suu Kyi says she is encouraged after meeting with the UN human rights envoy to Myanmar. — AP tional pariah, entangled in Western sanctions that restrict and stigmatize the country’s elite.

Experts suggest those tycoons may have leaned on the government to talk up reforms, engage with Suu Kyi and to try to appear more transparent and tolerant. Western governments are watching, along with multinational companies, some of which have privately lobbied for an end to sanctions on the impoverished country of 50 million people, which is rich in natural gas, timber and gemstones and nestled strategically between economic powerhouses India and China.

Recent overtures include calls for peace with armed ethnic separatists, presidential meetings with technocrats and foreign dele-

outrage”.

Yangon-based diplomats have expressed surprise at the government’s apparent change in tone but want to see more substantial progress. “So far, so good,” said one Western diplomat. “I’m guardedly optimistic about further progress, but let’s wait and see.”

The mood is similar among parliamentarians.

“Lawmakers, regardless of their party or background, have become more optimistic about the situation than before,” said Aye Maung, a senator and leader of the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party.

It is unclear whether Thein Sein is making the changes on his own or doing so at the request of Than Shwe, his political master and

the country’s much-feared former strongman, whose orders are rarely defied. Britain’s Foreign Office praised the meeting with Suu Kyi as encouraging. Washington said it supported Suu Kyi’s decision to engage in “open and transparent dialogue”. UN SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon went further, saying: “it is in the national interest that they seize the opportunity to extend and accept conciliatory gestures.”

PUSH FOR ACCEPTANCE Win Min, a Burmese political scientist at Harvard University, said he believed Myanmar’s new government was trying to convince the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to allow it to take its rotating presidency in 2014, two years ahead of schedule and a year before a general election the government does not want to lose. The government, he said, saw hosting ASEAN as “crucial” because it would represent a degree of international acceptance that could lead to A reduction of sanctions and the possibility of aid from international financial organizations.

Myanmar has invited a delegation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to visit in October to advise policymakers on how to tackle problems with the kyat currency, which has appreciated 20 percent in a year, hurting farmers and exporters and bankrupting businesses.

After months of inaction and simmering anger, the government last month cut taxes for exporters and has promised agriculture loans and price guarantees for millions of farmers, suggesting it may be concerned that any mishandling of bread and butter issues could see a repeat of bloody uprisings in 1988 and 2007 that were sparked by soaring inflation and fuel prices. David Steinberg, a veteran Myanmar analyst at Georgetown University in Washington said the lack of substantive concessions, especially political prisoners, meant real reforms or any undoing of sanctions would not come soon. But he said the gestures were important indicators, and the government should be given the chance to prove itself. “We’re seeing the possibility of change, things we’ve not seen before,” he said. “There’s a lot of disagreement from those who think this is phony change. It might be phony, but we should at least be open to the possibility some of it could be real.”— Reuters

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NEWS

Earthquake-prone Japan eyes geothermal energy

LOS ANGELES: A man watches a demonstration of an American Automobile Association roadside assistance truck charging a Nissan Leaf in Los Angeles, California. — AFP

Can electric cars win over the mass market?

CHICAGO: It’s not every day that a US governor accepts an invitation to the launch of a Japanese-built car, but Nissan’s all-electric Leaf offers environmental credentials that top any nationalistic concerns. “Illinois is laying the groundwork for electric vehicles and a more green economy, and our efforts are paying off,” Governor Pat Quinn said Thursday, as he thanked Nissan for bringing the Leaf to his state months earlier than originally planned. “By investing in electric vehicle technology, both the state of Illinois and Nissan are making transportation in our state more efficient, sustainable and affordable.”

The first mass-market electric vehicle has won some high-profile fans since it was launched in Japan and a handful of US markets in December, and in Europe earlier this year. The Leaf emits none of the tailpipe pollutants that have covered city skies in smog and is touted as a step forward from gas-electric hybrids produced by the likes of Toyota, which makes the best-selling Prius. Eager early adopters are waiting months to get their hands on one and 350,000 Americans have asked Nissan to send them information about the Leaf.

Yet it’s not yet clear how successful the Leaf will be at winning over what Nissan’s US marketing director calls the “pragmatic majority.” Or what kind of an impact it will have ultimately have on greenhouse gas emissions. Unlike plug-in hybrids like

GM’s Volt which also offer zero-emission driving - though at a far more limited range - Leaf drivers can’t just stop at a gas station if they run low on battery power. While most Americans drive just a fraction of the Leaf’s maximum range of 100 miles (160 kilometers) on their daily commutes, there simply aren’t yet enough public charging stations to allow for road trips or fully eliminate ‘range anxiety’ - the fear of getting stuck on the side of the road when the battery runs dry.

“It’s a big shift,” Leaf marketing director Brian Marangno said after the Chicago launch, which will include a highly-publicized three day ‘Drive Electric’ fair where prospective buyers can learn about the Leaf and take it for a spin outside the Field Museum. “Our car is not for everyone, there’s no doubt of that, but it’s for a lot of people.” JD Powers forecasts that 12,000 electric vehicles will be sold in the United States this year a tiny fraction of the 12 to 13 million vehicle market.

That number should rise to 100,000 vehicles in the US and 800,000 worldwide in 2016 as more automakers enter the electric market and more consumers are drawn to the product, said JD Powers auto industry analyst Mike Omotoso.

While those numbers look impressive, electric cars are forecast to make up just 0.6 percent of the US market and 1.3 percent of global auto sales by 2016.

More flexible hybrids are expected to take a bigger chunk as automakers expand their offerings to meet stringent fuel economy and emissions standards. JD Powers forecasts hybrid sales will reach 1.1 million units in the United States and 3.1 million worldwide in 2016, which is around seven and five percent of the markets. “One of the things that’s slowing down the growth of hybrids and electric vehicles is that we’re seeing a big improvement in fuel economy with gasoline-powered vehicles,” Omotoso said in a telephone interview. There are a wide variety of vehicles that offer efficiencies of around 40 miles per gallon but only cost $15,000 to $20,000, compared with around $40,000 for the Volt and $33,000 for the Leaf. “With the economy still weak, people are going to look for the cheap solution,” Omotoso said.

That’s why it’s so important for automakers to improve the fuel efficiency of their entire lineup, said Luke Tonachel, a transportation analyst with the National Resource Defense Council. “Electric cars are one of a suite of technologies that are making vehicles cleaner and more fuel efficient,” he said.

Tough new standards announced last month by President Barack Obama will help cut US oil consumption by three million barrels per day and slash carbon emissions by 550 million metric tons per year by 2030. — AFP

53 bodies found in Libyan warehouse Continued from Page 1 east. Rebel commanders are still negotiating with Gaddafi loyalists to try to persuade them to surrender control over the coastal city of Sirte, Gaddafi’s home town, Abdel Jalil said.

Libya is effectively cut in two by pro-Gaddafi forces holding territory stretching southwards from Sirte, 450 km east of the capital, deep into the desert. A rebel commander said forces advancing from the east had reached the edge of Bin Jawad, a town about 140 km from Sirte.

“We are waiting for the people in Sirte to come out and talk but we’ve got no answer up to now. I’ve been waiting for three days,” the commander, Fawzi Bukatif said, adding that Sirte must be taken eventually by force or peaceful means.

With rebel forces approaching from east and west, Gaddafi loyalists in Sirte could retreat into the desert and try to reach Sabha, another Gaddafi stronghold far to the south. “If they pull south to Sabha, we’ll follow them. We’re determined to clear the whole country,” said Bukatif. The rebels, still a long way from Sirte, have been using artillery backed by NATO air strikes on the town.

Behind rebel lines, shelling subsided but two small fires burned in the distance, giving off black, oily smoke.

An ambulance raced away from the front, and rebels in a few trucks drove through a checkpoint, flashing victory signs. Far to the west, rebels were in control of the border post of Ras Jdir after clashing with pro-Gaddafi forces on Friday, but there was almost no traffic through what is usually a lifeline for food, fuel and medical supplies for Tripoli.

Rebels there said this was partly due to rearguard attacks by Gaddafi’s soldiers and partly to roadblocks manned by pro-Gaddafi tribesmen on the Tunisian side of the border. “It’s the Al-Shusha tribe, the Hawamid tribe, they love Gaddafi and are stopping the traffic, smashing cars and beating families,” said Walid Suleiman, 31, a rebel fighter.

NTC spokesman Mahmoud Shammam reported attacks near Zawara, about 160 km west of Tripoli. “The Gaddafi brigades are shelling the road, but we hope to be able to control it today,” he said. The NTC and the Western powers that backed rebel forces with a fivemonth bombing campaign are acutely aware of the need to prevent Libya collapsing into the kind of chaos that plagued Iraq for years after the US-led invasion of 2003.

Life remains far from normal in Tripoli, whose two million people are grappling with a breakdown in basic services, even as many of them celebrate the overthrow of a hated leader. In one hospital, wounded patients lay on bare mattresses in bloodsoaked bandages amid a stench of blood and sweat. None was on an intravenous drip, although many had lost blood. “There are wide-

spread shortages of fuel, food and medical supplies, particularly in the Nafusa Mountains and Tripoli,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in New York.

Tripoli’s supply problems have worsened, even though NTC chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil said on Thursday his forces had discovered huge stockpiles of food and medicine in the capital that would eliminate any shortfalls. NTC spokesman Shammam said the council wanted staff at the National Oil Corporation, the de facto energy ministry, to get back to work and tackle shortages of petrol, fuel oil and gas. He said diesel and cooking gas cargoes were on the way and that talks had taken place at the Zawiyah refinery to discuss ways to supply western Libya with gas and restart the refinery.

In Tripoli, stinking garbage was piled high in the streets. In some districts, people set it on fire to stave off disease. Electricity and running water were scarce.

Residents carried containers to mosques, which often have wells, hoping to fill up. Outside one mosque, a sign read: “No water left.” In Abu Salim, bullet casings littered a square. About 50 charred cars dotted the neighborhood.

Dozens of decomposing bodies still lay in and around a hospital in Abu Salim that was abandoned by medical staff during the fighting. It was not clear how they had died. Five bloated bodies lay on trolleys at the entrance to the emergency department, while 25 lay in the garden, wrapped in rugs and sprinkled with lime in a vain attempt to keep down the smell. Surgical masks and gloves were scattered on the ground.

Ambulances were still parked in front of the hospital.

The rebel council is pressing foreign powers to release Libyan funds frozen abroad to help it restore security, provide services and revive the economy after six months of conflict. The United States and South Africa struck a deal on Thursday to allow the release of $1.5 billion in frozen Libya funds for humanitarian aid and other civilian needs.

But Gaddafi’s long-time allies in Africa offered him a grain of comfort on Friday by refusing to follow Arab and Western powers in recognizing the NTC as the legal government. South African President Jacob Zuma, a vocal advocate for Gaddafi, said the African Union could have prevented deaths in Libya if it had been given the chance.

“We still believe that had the AU been allowed space to work, heavy loss of life would have been averted,” he said in a statement a day after chairing an AU meeting in Addis Ababa. Many Libyans are eager to seal the victory of a popular uprising that was inspired by those in neighboring Egypt and Tunisia by seeing the deposed leader dead or behind bars. “We hope we can catch Gaddafi and if we do I would like him to be put in a cage in the zoo with the animals, him and his family,” said Wajdi Ramadan, 30, a wounded fighter. — Reuters

HACHIMANTAI: The forces that make Japan one of the world’s most quakeprone and volcanic countries, and sparked a nuclear disaster, could become part of its long-term energy solution, experts say. Steam and hot water billow and gush from deep below the ground at Japan’s tens of thousands of famed hot springs and could be harnessed to drive turbines that generate electricity in a clean, safe and stable way, they say.

Although Japanese high-tech companies are leaders in geothermal technology and export it, its use is miniscule in the island nation, which has for decades relied heavily on imported fossil fuels and atomic power. Japan’s parliament passed a law Friday to promote renewable energy such as wind, solar and geothermal by forcing power utilities to buy it at fixed prices and letting them pass extra costs onto consumers.

“Japan should no doubt make use of its volcano, magma and other geothermal energy,” said Yoshiyasu Takefuji, pro-

fessor of Tokyo’s Keio University and a prominent researcher of thermal-electric power generation. “The March 11 disaster caused a lot of sadness, but it has also changed people’s thinking about energy.” Japan is located on the “Pacific Ring of Fire” at the juncture of four tectonic plates that slowly grind along, driven by the flow of super-hot magma below, creating stresses that are released in earthquakes.

The most powerful of these in Japan’s recorded history, a magnitude-9.0 seabed quake, struck on March 11, triggering the huge tsunami that killed more than 20,000 people and set off the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The crisis has sparked a backlash against atomic power, which previously made up 30 percent of Japan’s energy needs, and increased interest in alternative energies, which account for only eight percent, most of it hydro.

Artist Yoko Ono, John Lennon’s widow, has called on her home country to tap its natural energy, following the example of

Iceland which uses steam and hydroelectric power for over 80 percent of its energy needs. In northern Japan, 60 kilometers from the tsunami-ravaged coast, lies Japan’s first geothermal power plant, built in 1966 at the hot spring resort of Matsukawa in Hachimantai. The 23,500kilowatt plant, set amid mountains where the smell of sulphur hangs thick in the air, never stopped running after the quake, while in contrast, two-thirds of Japan’s reactors remain offline for safety checks.

The head of the plant, Kazuhiro Takasu, said Japan must accept that switching to renewables will carry initial extra costs, but that a new 10-billion-yen ($130 million) geothermal plant would break even in “a few decades”. “People are now talking about renewable energy, but such excitement can easily ebb off after a while,” Takasu warned. For now, geothermal makes up less than one percent of the energy mix in Japan, a resource-poor economic powerhouse that imports its oil, coal and gas and has invested heavily in nuclear energy since the 1970s oil crisis. — AFP

Tehran boosts Syrian regime Continued from Page 1 time since the pro-democracy uprising erupted in March.

Two of the three were killed as Assad’s forces fired live ammunition to disperse demonstrators streaming from mosques in the city of Qusair and Latakia port after Al-Qadr prayers, the night Muslims believe the Prophet (PBUH) received the Quran. At the Al-Rifai mosque in the upscale Damascus Kfar Sousa district, where the main secret police headquarters are located, witnesses said hundreds of security police and militiamen loyal to Assad attacked worshippers who tried to demonstrate as Al-Qadr prayers finished around dawn.

“Some of the ‘amn’ (security) went on the roof and began firing from their AK-47s to scare the crowd. Around ten people were wounded, with two hit by bullets in the neck and chest,” a cleric who lives in the area said by phone. SOHR, headed by dissident Rami Abdelrahman, said Syrian forces fired at a funeral turned protest yesterday in the town of Kfar Roumeh in the northwestern Idlib province bordering Turkey, injuring at least ten.

The organization said another man was killed in raids and house-to-house arrests in the nearby town of Kfar Nubul.

“Besides the killings, another tragedy in Syria is the tens of thousands of people arrested since the beginning of uprising, many

of whose whereabouts are unknown,” Abdelrahman said.

The United Nations says Syrian troops have killed at least 2,200 protesters since Assad sent in tanks and troops to crush months of street demonstrations calling for an end to his family’s 41-year rule. Syrian authorities have blamed armed “terrorist groups” for the bloodshed and say 500 police and army have been killed. They have expelled most independent journalists, making it difficult to verify events on the ground.

The United States and EU have urged Assad to step down but their push at the UN to impose Security Council sanctions on Syria over its crackdown has met resistance from Russia and China, diplomats said. Russia has a naval base in Syria and is one of its main arms suppliers. One proposed sanction is an arms embargo while other sanctions would freeze the assets of Assad and his associates.

Assad himself would be excluded from a proposed travel ban on his relatives and associates to allow him an escape route. The proposed UN measures are not as severe as US sanctions in place and a proposed expansion of EU steps against Damascus that would forbid the import of Syrian oil. The Syrian National Human Rights Organization (SNHRO), headed by opposition figure Ammar Qurabi, said nearly 100 civilians were killed by security forces in the week to Friday “in another bloody week”. — Agencies

Zakat-ul-Fitr Continued from Page 1

old, free or owned (i.e. a slave), as a Sa’ of Ta’am, [2]or a Sa’ of cheese (dried milk) or a Sa’ of barley or a Sa’ of dried dates, or a Sa’ of raisins.”

It is obligatory that Zakat-ul-Fitr be given from the types of food.

Money should not be given in place of it, except if there is a pressing need to do so. This is because it is not confirmed that the Prophet (PBUH) gave money for it in place of food. It has not even been reported from the Companions that they gave money (for Zakat-ul-Fitr).

Its time Zakat-ul-Fitr becomes obligatory with the coming of the night of the ‘Eid (ie the night before the 1st of Shawwal). It is to be paid a day or two before the day of the ‘Eid, as Ibn

‘Umar used to do, and the time of giving generosity, which is from the time Fajr comes in on the day of the ‘Eid until just before the prayer (Salat-ul-’Eid). This is due to the Prophet’s (PBUH) command that Zakat-ul-Fitr be given before the people come out to the prayer. Ibn ‘Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “The Messenger of Allah made Zakat-ul-Fitr obligatory as a purification for the fasting person from useless, non-beneficial speech (or acts) and obscene speech (or behavior), and as a means of feeding the poor.

So whoever gives it before the prayer (Salat-ul-’Eid), then it is an accepted Zakah, and whoever gives it after the prayer (Salat-ul-’Eid), then it is a form of charity (Sadaqah).” (It has been mentioned previously.)

The time of making it up (ie paying it

late) is after the ‘Eid prayer and anytime thereafter. Zakat-ul-Fitr may be given during this time (following the prayer) and it is acceptable, however it is disliked (to give it late).

Its recipients The recipients of Zakat-ul-Fitr are the same as the recipients of the general Zakat, except that the poor and the needy have more right to it than the other people who have a share in it. This is based upon the Prophet’s (PBUH) statement: Keep them from having to beg on this day. (Al-Bayhaqi and its chain of narration is weak) Therefore, it is not given to other than the poor, unless there are no poor people or their poverty is light (ie not severe) or the need of others besides them, who have a share in it, has become severe.

Taleban kills 25 Pakistan troops Continued from Page 1 Pakistani Taleban commander from Bajaur, Faqir Muhammad—had previously fled into Afghanistan in the face of Pakistani military offensives. “Since their expulsion from their native areas, the terrorists have organized themselves in Kunar and Nuristan provinces with the support of local Afghan authorities,” the military’s statement said.

It said the “scanty presence of NATO and ANA (Afghan National Army) forces” along the border had led to “safe havens” for militants on the Afghan side, allowing them to launch attacks in Pak istan.

Intelligence about the presence of Pakistani militants and their Afghan supporters had been passed to NATO and Afghan authorities, the statement said. “But no worthwhile action has been taken against the terrorists and attack against Pakistani border posts have continued with impunity,” it said.

It was the latest in a series of alleged cross-border incidents, many of which have raised tensions between the neighbors as the Afghan war continues

to claim a high toll after almost 10 years. In July, more than 20 mortar shells from Afghanistan killed four Pakistani soldiers and wounded two others in South Waziristan. Pakistani officials blamed the Afghan army for that attack. And in the same month, hundreds of Afghans took to the streets to protest over cross-border rocket attacks that they claimed had killed dozens of people in Kunar and Nangarhar provinces.

A diplomatic dispute over both militar y and insurgent cross-border attacks also escalated at that time, with Afghan President Hamid Karzai protesting to Pakistan’s army chief and Pakistan’s prime minister complaining back to Karzai. Chitral is part of Pa k i s t a n’s n o r t hwe s te r n K hy b e r Pa k ht u n k hw a province and borders the region where the military w a g e d a m a j o r o f fe n s i ve to p u t d ow n a l o c a l Taleban insurgency in Lower Dir, Buner and Swat in 2 0 0 9 . Wa s h i n g to n h a s i n c re a s e d p re s s u re o n Pakistan to take more decisive steps against militants since US Navy SEALs found and k illed AlQaeda founder Osama bin Laden in the town of Abbottabad on May 2.— AFP

Worshippers gather at Grand Mosque Continued from Page 1 As on other nights, eight rakaats of tahajjud prayers were performed followed by three rakaats of witr prayers.

The first four were led by Sheikh Fahd Al-Kanderi, and the remaining by Sheikh Meshary Al-Afasi, whose heart-rendering recitation of the Holy Quran and supplication in the witr prayers moved the congregation to tears. Sheikh Ahmad Al-Qattan gave a moving sermon during the break.

Police, the fire brigade, ambulances and medical personnel were at hand to tackle any emergencies.

Hundreds of volunteers - many of them schoolchildren and scouts took part in controlling the crowds and keeping worshippers rehydrated by distributing endless supplies of

bottled water throughout the humid night.

Laylatul Qadr holds great significance for Muslims, and the last ten nights of Ramadan are spent in prayer and meditation. Ubaadah bin Saamit (RA) reports that he asked the Prophet (PBUH) about Laylatul Qadr.

He replied: “It is in Ramadan, during the last ten days, on the unevenly numbered nights, either the 21st 23rd, 25th, 27th, 29th or the last night of Ramadan. Whosoever stands in ‘ibaadah’ (worship) on this night, with sincere faith and with genuine hopes of gaining reward, his previous sins will be forgiven.

Among the signs of this night is that it is a serene, quiet, shining night, neither hot, nor cold but temperate as if a moon is shining clear, and no

meteors are shot at the devils on that night; it lasts until the break of the dawn. Another sign is that at morn, the sun rises without any radiant beams of light, appearing rather like the moon in its fullness. On that day, Allah prohibits the devils from rising up with the sun.”

Laylatul Qadr could thus fall on any night, but the night of the 27th is believed by most to be the one, and millions of Muslims around the globe spend this night in prayer. The Holy Quran says that Laylatul Qadr is better than a thousand months, and Allah’s blessings and angels descend on earth on this night. Laylatul Qadr is also the night that Allah first sent down the first verses of the Holy Quran via Archangel Gabriel to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

SUNDAY, AUGUST 28, 2011

sp orts Real midfield trio injured

Senchenko retains title

MADRID: Real Madrid will begin their title challenge at Real Zaragoza today without injured midfield trio Sami Khedira, Nuri Sahin and Hamit Altintop, coach Jose Mourinho confirmed yesterday.

Mourinho told a news conference Sahin had picked up a new injury on top of the knee problem he was already suffering. German international Khedira was still recovering from a thigh problem, while Altintop, signed along with Sahin in the close season, had not shaken off a bad back.

“It’s not an aggravation, it’s another different injury but he is not fit to play,” Mourinho said of Sahin. “I can’t be more specific than that, or I don’t want to be, I’ll leave that up to the club’s medical staff,” the Portuguese added.

Mourinho did not address the controversy surrounding Real’s Spanish Super Cup defeat against bitter rivals Barcelona, when television pictures showed he stuck a finger in the assistant Barca coach’s eye during a mass brawl. The Spanish soccer federation (RFEF) has opened an investigation into the incident and Mourinho could face a multi-match ban.—Reuters

DONETSK: Ukraine’s Viacheslav Senchenko retained his WBA welterweight title with a sixth-round stoppage of Venezuelan veteran Marco Antonio Avendano on Friday. Senchenko maintained his undefeated record as the referee stepped in to stop the fight after the champion had sent Avendano sprawling to the canvas with a flurry of blows after 2:40 in round six.

The 33-year-old Ukrainian improved to 32-0 (21 KOs) in defending his title for the third time, while Avendano fell to 30-8-1 (20 KOs). It was his third successful defense of a title he took with a decision against Yuriy Nuzhnenko in 2009. Avendano, 38, started the

fight the livelier, moving quickly in and out and using his sharp left jab. Both fighters were left with bloody cuts around their left eyes after what appeared to be a slight clash of heads in round one.

The Venezuelan pushed forward in round two, but was caught with a solid right as he advanced.

Senchenko then began to take control in the third, scoring with several shots to the head. In front of his home crowd, he began to step forward in the fourth after the challenger was on target with a left hook. Avendano started to lose his accuracy, and Senchenko was able to pick his punches as his opponent threw wildly.—AP

Hooker bows out of worlds DAEGU: Steve Hooker’s less-than-stellar warmup before the pole vault competition at the world championships turned into a lackluster performance and an early exit yesterday in the qualifying round.

Just like that, the reigning world champion from Australia was done after failing to clear a height. “I had no confidence in what I was doing out there,” said Hooker, who captured gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. “I felt kind of lost out there on the runway. It was tough to take off, tough to get jumps down when you’re feeling that way.”

Hooker has been working his way back from a nagging knee injury, one that’s crimped his training and curtailed his competition schedule. This was only Hooker’s third competition of the season. The rust was apparent. “It looks different when you’re running in with aggression and fire in your belly,” said Hooker, who won at the 2009 worlds in Berlin with a vault of 5.90 meters. “I really wasn’t feeling it from the get-go out there today. My warmup was a struggle, shut that down early. I was just hoping the competition would get me up. It just wasn’t there.”—AP

Rangers down Angels ARLINGTON: The Texas Rangers beat Los Angeles 11-7 on Friday to increase their lead over the Angels in the American League West division to three games.

Slumping Nelson Cruz, who had been demoted to No.7 in the batting order for the first time this season, had two long homers among his four hits and six RBIs. He put the Rangers ahead for good with a two-run double in the second. Cruz then opened the fourth with a 452-foot drive to center field off Angels starter Dan Haren (13-7).

Rangers starter Derek Holland (12-5) allowed one run over 6 2-3 innings with six strikeouts to improve to 6-1 in his past 10 starts.

PHILADELPHIA: Phillies’ Chase Utley comes down with the throw from the plate but Florida Marlins’ Emilio Bonifacio steals second during the first inning of a baseball game.—AP

Marlins roll over Phillies PHILADELPHIA: Florida’s John Buck hit a grand slam to lift the Marlins to a 6-5 win over the National League -leading Philadelphia Phillies on Friday.

Greg Dobbs added four hits, including two doubles, to give the Marlins their first win in Philadelphia in six attempts. Florida starter Clay Hensley (2-5) allowed three hits in 5 2-3 innings to take the win.

Phillies star ter Roy Oswalt (6-8) matched his career worst by allowing 12 hits while striking out only two over 5 2-3 innings.

Cardinals 5, Pirates 4 In St. Louis, Lance Berkman hit a goahead two-run homer in the eighth inning to complete St. Louis’ comeback from two deficits to beat Pittsburgh.

All of the Cardinals’ runs came via the long ball, with Yadier Molina hitting a three -run homer in the second. Matt Holliday walked with one out in the eighth against Jose Veras (2-4) before Berkman hit his 30th homer of the season. St. Louis reliever Kyle McClellan (10-6) struck out two in two perfect innings to take the win.

Mets 6, Braves 0 In New York, Chris Capuano pitched the game of his life, tossing a shutout and striking out a career-high 13 as New York beat Atlanta.

It was the Mets’ last game before taking a break because of the imminent arrival of Hurricane Irene. New flood gates were put in place outside Citi Field as a precaution against tide surges, and the scheduled Braves-Mets games for Saturday and Sunday were postponed to a doubleheader on Sept. 8.

It was the first time this season that New York had won the opening game of a homestand, having lost all 10 previous openers to stints at Citi Field.

Reds 4, Nationals 3 In Cincinnati, Miguel Cairo singled home the winning run in the ninth inning, sending Cincinnati to victor y over Washington in a game delayed because some of the lights went out.

Cairo’s single to the gap in left-center was the third straight hit off Colin Balester (1-2). A bank of lights behind first base went out in the top of the seventh. The umpires talked to both managers and decided to continue. The game was halted when another light bank went dark in the eighth, prompting a 17-minute delay.

Reds closer Francisco Cordero (5-3) escaped a scoring threat in the ninth to take the win.—AP

Athletics 15, Red Sox 5 In Boston, Scott Sizemore and Josh Willingham each hit two-run homers during a six-run fourth inning that powered Oakland over Boston.

The defeat denied veteran knuckleballer Tim Wakefield his 200th career win, and prevented Boston improving its one-game lead over New York in the AL East division.

Wakefield (6-6), making his sixth try to become the 108th pitcher to reach 200 wins, gave up eight runs.

He’s 0-3 with a 4.97 ERA during the six games in which he’s tried to reach 200. Oakland starter Gio Gonzalez (11-11) gave up seven hits, striking out five in 5 2-3 innings.

Rays 6, Blue Jays 1 In Toronto, James Shields pitched his major league-leading 10th complete game of the season, steering Tampa Bay to victory over Toronto.

Shields (12-10) allowed just one run and one walk while striking out 12, and also snapped a personal four-game road losing streak.

Evan Longoria hit a pair of solo home runs, while Desmond Jennings added a two-run shot and John Jaso also went deep for the Rays, who crept within 7-1/2 games of New York, which holds the playoff wild card.

All three Rays homers came off Toronto rookie Henderson Alvarez

ARLINGTON: Texas Rangers relief pitcher Yoshinori Tateyama, of Japan, follows through on his delivery to the Los Angeles Angels in the eighth inning. —AP (0-2), who allowed four runs in six innings.

Orioles 12, Yankees 5 In Baltimore, the hosts marked the death of former pitching great Mike Flanagan by beating New York. It was Baltimore’s first home game since Flanagan took his own life Wednesday. Moments before the first pitch, there was a moment of silence in honor of the 1979 Cy Young winner, who died at age 59.

Flanagan’s No. 46 was displayed on the scoreboard throughout the game. For the rest of the season, the Orioles will wear a black circular patch on their jersey sleeves with the word “FLANNY” written in white.

Mark Reynolds and J.J. Hardy homered in a six-run second inning against struggling Yankees starter A.J. Burnett. Matt Wieters also connected for the last-place Orioles, whose five -game winning run

matches a season high.

Tigers 8, Twins 1 In Minneapolis, Delmon Young had three RBI singles against his old side as Detroit downed Minnesota.

Victor Martinez knocked in four runs while Miguel Cabrera had three hits in his first game back from paternity leave as the Tigers stayed 6-1/2 games ahead of Cleveland in the AL Central race.

Detroit starter Rick Porcello (128) gave up just the one run over 61/3 innings. Twins pitcher Scott Diamond (0-2) allowed five runs in his second major league start as Minnesota lost its sixth straight game, all at home.

White Sox 4, Mariners 2 In Seattle, Brent Lillibridge hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the fifth inning to lift Chicago over Seattle. Lillibridge, a Seattle area native, snapped a 2-2 tie with a

homer deep into the bullpen in left-center field off Seattle starter Charlie Furbush (3-6). White Sox starter Jake Peavy (6-6) wiggled out of jams with runners on in nearly every inning.

Indians 2, Royals 1 In Cleveland, Jim Thome went hitless but was warmly welcomed in his homecoming as Cleveland edged Kansas City.

Thome went 0 for 4 and struck out twice in his first game back with Cleveland since 2002, when he disappointed Cleveland fans by leaving as a free agent. The slugger returned to the Indians this week, hoping to power them into the playoffs.

Ubaldo Jimenez (2-1) struck out 10 and allowed one run in seven innings; the kind of performance Cleveland had been needing from him since he came in a trade from Colorado.—AP

MLB results/standings Major League Baseball results and standings on Friday.

Florida 6, Philadelphia 5; Baltimore 12, NY Yankees 5; Cleveland 2, Kansas City 1; Tampa Bay 6, Toronto 1; Oakland 15, Boston 5; NY Mets 6, Atlanta 0; Cincinnati 4, Washington 3; Texas 11, LA Angels 7; Milwaukee 5, Chicago Cubs 2; Detroit 8, Minnesota 1; St. Louis 5, Pittsburgh 4; Arizona 5, San Diego 0.

American League Eastern Division W L Boston 80 51 NY Yankees 78 51 Tampa Bay 71 59 Toronto 66 65 Baltimore 52 77 Central Divisio Detroit 72 59 Cleveland 64 64 Chicago White Sox 64 65 Minnesota 55 76 Kansas City 54 78 Western Division Texas 75 58 LA Angels 71 60 Oakland 60 71 Seattle 56 74

PCT .611 .605 .546 .504 .403

GB 1 8.5 14 27

.550 .500 .496 .420 .409

6.5 7 17 18.5

.564 .542 .458 .431

3 14 17.5

National League Eastern Division Philadelphia 83 46 Atlanta 79 54 Washington 62 68 NY Mets 62 68 Florida 59 72 Central Division Milwaukee 79 54 St Louis 69 63 Cincinnati 65 66 Pittsburgh 61 70 Chicago Cubs 57 75 Houston 43 89 Western Division Arizona 73 59 San Francisco 70 62 Colorado 63 69 LA Dodgers 61 69 San Diego 60 72

.643 .594 .477 .477 .450

6 21.5 21.5 25

.594 .523 .496 .466 .432 .326

9.5 13 17 21.5 35.5

.553 .530 .477 .469 .455

3 10 11 13

Sporting bodies take scheduling hit from Irene MIAMI: Safety fears over the possible impact of Hurricane Irene have forced the National Football League (NFL) and other North American sporting bodies to reschedule or cancel events for this weekend.

The NFL, Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer and international tennis and golf tournaments have all been subject to schedule changes as Hurricane Irene makes it way up the US East Coast.

Forecasters expect the hurricane to work its way up the densely-populated US eastern seaboard starting on Saturday and extend on Sunday to New York, America’s most populous city with more than 8 million residents.

The PGA Tour said on Friday it decided to cancel today’s play at The Barclays in New Jersey and finish the opening tournament of the FedExCup playoffs on Saturday

after 54 holes. “We weighed all the options available to us, and under normal circumstances, we would obviously prefer to complete 72 holes,” said PGA tour Commissioner Tim Finchem in a statement.

“But these aren’t normal circumstances.

The safety of the community, our fans, players, sponsor guests, television partners and staff is of the utmost importance.”

Baseball’s Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies will each play doubleheaders on Saturday to make up for games that were originally set for Sunday.

The Red Sox are hosting the Oakland Athletics while the Phillies welcome the Florida Marlins.

The pre-season NFL game between the New York Giants and New York Jets to be played in East Rutherford, New Jersey, has been switched from late yesterday to Monday evening.—Reuters

Tong wins world title on return PARIS: Olympic champion Tong Wen won a sixth world title on her controversial return to top level competition at the Judo World Championships here yesterday.

China’s Tong pinned compatriot Qin Qian in the final to secure the gold medal but was met with a mixed reception of cheers and jeers at the Palais Omnisport de Bercy. She tested positive for clenbuterol following her victory at the worlds in Rio de Janeiro in 2009.

Tong was initially banned for two years but was let off and reinstated over a technicality regarding her tested B sample, despite having already published an open letter admitting her responsability.

She missed the whole of last season but had she served her two-year ban she would not be fighting here. What she did prove, though, is that she is undoubtedly the best in her division.

In the quarter-final she easily pinned world number one Megumi Tachimoto of Japan after turning a failed winding throw (maki-komi) attack into a successful hold down. It was the same move that did for Cuba’s Idalys Ortiz in the semi-finals and Qin in the final.

Earlier Tong had also pinned her first two opponents, Turkey’s Belkis Zehra Kaya and Tea Donguzashvili of Russia before defeating Tunisia’s Nihel Chikhrouhou with a brutal armlock.

She now has four over-78kg world titles and two in the open divison. Qin upset 2010 over78kg and open weight world champion Mika Sugimoto of Japan in the semi-finals, securing a hold-down in a sudden death period of golden score.

Sugimoto edged out world number one compatriot Megumi Tachimoto by a penalty in a dull bronze medal fight with the other medal going to Russia’s Elena Ivashchenko, who armlocked Ortiz.

The highlight for the home fans, and indeed most neutrals, was heavyweight Teddy Riner winning a record fifth men’s title.

The 22-year-old faced Germany’s Andreas Toelzer in the over-100kg final for the second year in a row and planted him firmly on his

PARIS: Kim Sung-Min (blue jersey) from South Korea fights Mohammad Rodaki from Iran during their men’s over 100 kg category third place fight at the World Judo Championships. —AP back with an inner reap (ouchi-gari) for the the years to edge out Cuba’s Oscar Brayson for maximum ippon to send the home crowd into bronze by a penalty.

Kim took the other medal as he beat rapturous applause. Riner was head and shoulders above the competition, literally as well as Mohammad Rodaki of Iran with a combination sweeping winding throw (harai-maki-komi) figuratively.

He was totally dominant in his quarter of into a hold, in which his opponent submitted.

The men’s under-100kg division produced a the draw, throwing both Daniel Hernandes of Brazil and Mongolia’s Namsraijav Batsuuri with host of shocks before world number five Tagir an inner thigh throw (uchi-mata) while Khaybulaev of Russia stunned 2009 world Germany’s Robert Zimmermann was strangled. champion Maxim Rakov of Kazakhstan in the Hungary’s Barna Bor lasted just 30 seconds final.

Khaybulaev capped a wonderful day by in the quarter-final before the giant Riner scored ippon with a move of surprising agility, throwing Rakov for ippon with a stunning switching from an ouchi-gari attack to an outer standing double-sleeve hip throw (sode-tsurisweep (kosoto-gari) to unbalance his oppo- komi-goshi). Georgia’s under-90kg Olympic champion Irakli Tsirekidze claimed a bronze in nent. beating Egypt’s Ramadan Darwish with a In the semi-final South Korea’s Kim SungMin lasted only 15 seconds longer before he low rear throw (ura-nage) while Lukas Krpalek of the Czech Republic snatched the other podisuccumed to another outer reap (osoto-gari).

Former three -time world champion um slot from Belgium’s Elco van der Geest with Alexander Mikhaylin from Russia rolled back uchi-mata.—AFP

A

y

e niv rsar n

Years

SUNDAY, AUGUST 28, 2011

S P ORT S

Schumacher reflects on 20 years of F1 racing SPA: Michael Schumacher struggled to believe he would ever win one Grand Prix race when he made his Formula One debut at the Belgian Grand Prix 20 years ago, let alone a record-breaking 91.

The 42-year-old German still vividly remembers the sinking feeling he felt on Aug. 25, 1991 as he prepared to take on the likes of Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell and Alain Prost on F1’s most challenging circuit.

“I was doubtful whether my quality was good enough to compete with these guys. You see them as untouchables,” Schumacher said. “You had Sennas, Prosts, Mansells and so on. I didn’t really think I could match (up).”

He didn’t on that day. Schumacher failed to complete a lap on the notoriously hard Spa circuit in 1991, when a clutch problem ended his first race and Senna sped to victory.

Twenty years on, Schumacher experienced more misfortune at Spa when, barely a minute into Saturday’s qualifying session, his Mercedes slid across the track backward and hit the crash barriers, sending the car’s back rear wheel spinning off.

He will start today’s race in last place. “I do not know what happened,” Schumacher said over the team radio. “Something unexpected happened.”

There have been plenty of incidents over a glittering career in which he surpassed all the

greats to win a record seven F1 titles, two with Benetton and five straight with Ferrari. Along the way. Schumacher insists he has few regrets over a career which saw some very heated battles, particularly with Britain’s Damon Hill.

“I would do certain things differently, but then in life you have to make some mistakes,” he said.

“All in all, I guess the vest that I’m wearing, that I’m wearing inside me, is pretty white, and I’m pretty happy about this. I don’t have many regrets and overall, I certainly feel very excited and proud.”

When Schumacher eventually retires from racing, he does not plan to stick around in a management role. “Honestly, I’m not really intending, right now, because I’m fully focused and happy in what I’m doing,” he said. “I have, in the past, never really expressed a wish to be in an operational area in terms of management or something.”

Although Schumacher’s immense achievements will live long in the memory, his countryman Sebastian Vettel is widely tipped as capable of matching them.

The 24-year-old is well on track to defend his F1 title this season and has already won 16 career GPs. Whatever Vettel goes on to achieve, he will always remember how he once revered Schumacher.

“When I was go-karting, Michael was sort of all the kids’ hero,” Vettel said. “When we had this

race in Kerpen at the end of the season, he handed over the trophies and it was very special to see him, to meet him, to shake his hand.”

Vettel first saw Schumacher racing in F1 when his father took him to Hockenheim. “We went all the way down to the first chicane. It was raining like crazy and Michael had this yellow Benetton at the time,” Vettel said. “To see a Formula One car and then to see Michael passing ... it was really very special.”

Renault’s decision to drop Nick Heidfeld and pick Bruno Senna was because of Heidfeld’s lack of leadership qualities, according to Renault boss Eric Boullier.

Senna is racing at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix. The Brazilian will keep his seat at the Italian GP in Monza, and probably until the end of the season unless Heidfeld gets reinstated after a High Court hearing next month.

Although Heidfeld led Renault to a credible third place at the Malaysian GP in April, Boullier expected more from the 34-year-old German.

Heidfeld is only two points ahead of his Renault teammate Vitaly Petrov, who is the No. 2 driver.

“When you are slower than Vitaly most of the time, it’s difficult for him to push the team and set up himself as team leader,” Boullier said. “I was not very happy with his speed and overall performance as an experienced driver. Nick is a nice guy, but leadership didn’t work.”

Heidfeld was contracted to race for Renault

after Polish driver Robert Kubica suffered careerthreatening injuries driving in a rally car six months ago.

Despite murmurs that Kubica could return for the Brazilian GP at the end of the season, this is unlikely to happen.

“I don’t believe so. He is recovering well, but this last operation is another pain to go through,” added Boullier. “Even if he is recovered physically, he will still have to get back his feeling in the car.”

Sebastian Vettel doesn’t have time to sulk when he fails to win a Grand Prix race, because he is too busy analyzing the reasons why it happened. The defending Formula One champion won five of the first six GPs this season and seemed to be coasting to another title, before a sudden dip saw him win only one of the last five and none of the last three races.

While some leading sports stars refuse to countenance defeat, Vettel thinks there is much to be learned from losing.

“It might sound strange, but losing is much more important than winning,” the 24-year-old said. “The possibility to learn is much higher.

When you win a race, everything was easy and everything looks great.

“You just move on and tend not to reflect, whereas when you lose and get beaten there is a reason behind that,” he added. “To understand those reasons for yourself and for the team is very important.” —AP

Vettel takes Belgian pole

NEW HAVEN: Caroline Wozniacki, of Denmark, hits a forehand during her 7-6 (2) 6-3 semifinal victory over Francesca Schiavone, of Italy, at the New Haven Open tennis tournament. —AP

Wozniacki, Cetkovska advance to WTA final NEW HAVEN: Three-time defending champion and World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki won her 16th match in a row over four years at the WTA New Haven Open on Friday to reach the final of the US Open tuneup.

The Danish star defeated Italian third seed Francesca Schiavone 7-6 (7/2), 6-3, to sustain her win streak and received a kiss on the court afterwards from her boyfriend, reigning US Open golf champion Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland.

Awaiting Wozniacki in the final will be Czech qualifier Petra Cetkovska, who upset French Open champion Li Na of China 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (11/9) in the other semi-final to reach her first WTA championship match.

Wozniacki played the second set with her right thigh taped but said it was only a minor muscle strain and would not hinder her in the final or the US Open.

“I did it for protection because I started feeling it a little bit in my groin,” Wozniacki said. “It was more so it didn’t get worse. I just wanted to wrap it up and make sure it didn’t get worse.”

Wozniacki, still seeking her first Grand Slam title as the year’s final Slam tournament looms starting Monday in New York, trailed 4-2 in the first set but rallied to dominate the tie -breaker and advance.

McIlroy wore a Yale University gridiron jersey in tribute to the school which hosts the tournament. He joined the Yale team in celebrating the victory on the court with Wozniacki, although only McIlroy received a kiss. Yale players have

attended Wozniacki’s matches since she spoke at a 2009 practice.

“It’s a good tradition to have, having the Yale football team there sitting in the back supporting,” Wozniacki said.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll make it to their practice this time. But it’s great. I love it.”

The championship match was moved to early afternoon Saturday because of approaching Hurricane Irene, which could cause damage in the area after devastating the Caribbean with high winds, heavy rain and tidal surges.

Cetkovska, ranked 40th, saved a match point in the tie-breaker before winning on her fifth match point. “This is my best win,” Cetkovska said. “I’m so happy to win this match. There were so many ups and downs.”

Cetkovska dominated early, struggled with errors to let Li back into the match, but then finally broke through after two hours and 41 minutes to reach the title match at the US Open hardcourt tuneup event.

“I’m really very excited about this week,” Cetkovska said. “At this stage, you don’t think about being tired.” Li made 55 unforced errors, 10 more than Cetkovska, and hit 26 winners to 20 for the qualifier.

Li was down a set and a break but rallied to force a third set, only to have the Czech seize a 4-1 lead.But Cetkovska struggled to close out the match, with the eighth break of the final set coming when Li pulled even at 5-5, her Czech foe denying herself on a match point with a double fault. — AFP

Serena and Sharapova favorites for US Open NEW YORK: The return from injury of Serena Williams and the return to form of Maria Sharapova has added a sense of predictability to a US Open women’s tournament overflowing with uncertainty. The former world number ones are favourites to win the last grand slam of the year, partly because they rediscovered their touch at the right time but mostly because it is a period when the women’s game has never been more open.

Unlike the men’s game, which has long been at the mercy of an elite group, there are few certainties about women’s tennis right now and the world rankings offer few reliable guidelines to finding the winner.

World number one Caroline Wozniacki has still not won a grand slam and the Dane has played in just one final, at the US Open two years ago.

The world number two, Russia’s Vera Zvonareva, is also chasing her first grand

slam title after making the finals at Wimbledon and the US Open last year.

Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, the fourth seed at Flushing Meadows, has only once even made the semi-finals of a grand slam, meaning three of the top four ranked players for the Aug. 29-Sept.

11 tournament have yet to win a major.

The lone exception is Sharapova, who won Wimbledon in 2004, the U.S. Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008.

The 24-year-old has been plagued with health problems in recent years but returned to near her best this year, reaching the Wimbledon final and winning last week’s Cincinnati Open.

Williams, the most dominant player of her generation, missed last year’s US Open as part of an 11-month layoff caused by injury and health problems.

The American returned to the courts in June and captured back-to-back tournaments in California and Toronto to climb back to 29th in the rankings. — Reuters

BELGIUM: Sebastian Vettel grabbed his ninth pole of the season in dramatic fashion at the end of an incident-filled qualifying for today’s Belgian Grand Prix yesterday.

The defending world champion and current series leader drove his Red Bull to the 24th pole of his career on a day that also saw Lewis Hamilton emerge unscathed after an ugly incident involving Pastor Maldonado.

Venezuelan Maldonado appeared to steer his Williams deliberately into the side of Hamilton’s McLaren as they came out of the La Source hairpin at the end of Q2, and after the chequered flag.

Maldonado was later punished by the race stewards and demoted from 16th to 21st on the starting grid while Hamilton was reprimanded.

Earlier, on a day of unpredictable weather and erratic outcomes, seven-time champion Michael Schumacher, 42, crashed out of qualifying without clocking a time when his Mercedes shed its right rear wheel on his first lap in Q1.

“I’ve had some experience on three wheels before, but to lose a rear wheel is a bit more difficult to handle,” said Schumacher, who this weekend celebrates the 20th anniversary of his F1 debut with Jordan at the same track.

“Initially, I didn’t know I’d lost a rear wheel.

There is no reason to blame anybody, we all try our best, but at the end of the day we are all human.

“I’ve had some interesting races from the back so it’s going to be entertaining,” added the German, who will start Sunday’s 44-lap race from the back of the grid.

Schumacher’s philosophical acceptance of his plight was in contrast to the relief of Vettel, and the shock felt by Hamilton, after they had completed their qualifying efforts with high-speed laps in the final minutes.

Vettel said: “It was a difficult session all in all. Q1 and Q2, with the tricky conditions and the circuit drying up very quickly, and it being tricky on inters (intermediate tyres) — the main target was to get through.

“I didn’t feel comfortable right in the beginning, but in Q2 we made a big step forward. I rediscovered Spa in a way and found some better lines than all weekend.”

BELGIUM: Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany steers his car during rainfall at the third practice session, ahead of the Belgian Formula One Grand Prix. —AP Hamilton, who had to compete in Q3 with a car partially held together by heavy black tape across the side-pods, said it had been fortunate that Maldonado’s driving had not caused a major accident.

Over the team radio, he said: “He did that deliberately.” But after the session he was more circumspect.

He said: “I’ll have to look at it. The Williams was just sitting there, it was very slow. I had to tr y and get past, which I did. I saw Maldonado approaching quite quickly-he happened to swipe across me.

“My front wing was quite damaged. I’ll sit and wait for the stewards to call me up rather than going back to McLaren.

“Once the flag was out and the red light was on there is no need to be racing. There should never be any incidents like that.”

Maldonado denied he had driven deliberately into Hamilton’s car. He said: “It was a difficult moment-there was no reason from my side to have contact and from the side of Lewis. It wasn’t rainy conditions and we need to understand what happened.

Isner to meet Benneteau RALEIGH: Fourth seed John Isner gave himself the perfect U.S. Open boost by upsetting fellow American Andy Roddick 7-6 6-4 in a slug-fest between two big servers in the Winston-Salem Open semifinals on Friday.

The towering Isner came from 1-3 down in the second set to beat top-seeded Roddick in just over 90 minutes and will take on French qualifier Julien Benneteau in Saturday’s final.

Benneteau fought back in a wildly fluctuating encounter to beat 10th-seeded Dutchman Robin Haase 3-6 7-6 7-6, saving two match points in the final-set tiebreak which he clinched 8-6.

Isner, who grew up in nearby Greensboro, was delighted to beat Roddick in front of his hometown fans and reach his third ATP World Tour final this year.

“It’s such an important event for me,” the six-foot nine-inch American told reporters after unleashing eight aces and winning 61 percent of points on his second serve. “I definitely wanted to do well here. “I want to go up to New York (for the U.S. Open) with some momentum and that’s what I have right now.

“I was flat out just luckier than he was in the first set,” added Isner, who won the tiebreak 9-7. “After the first three games of the second set, I was able to regroup.”

Roddick, whose buildup to the US Open had been interrupted by an abdominal muscle injury, was disappointed with the result but overall happy after playing four consecutive matches this week.

“I’m sad because I feel like I played the

better first set but he definitely played better in the second set,” said the 2003 US Open champion, who held a 3-1 advantage in previous career meetings with Isner.

“But I haven’t played four matches in a week since February or March, so I think this week served its purpose for me as far as preparation for the US Open.” The season’s final grand slam starts at Flushing Meadows in New York on Monday. —Reuters

RALIEGH: Julien Benneteau, of France, celebrates a point against Robin Haase, of the Netherlands, during semifinal play at the Winston-Salem Open tennis tournament. —AP

“There was no need for contact after the chequered flag.” Hamilton wound up second by four-tenths of a second, but a full second clear of third-placed Australian Mark Webber in the second Red Bull.

For Webber, it was an anti-climax on his 35th birthday after he topped the times in final practice on the morning when it was confirmed he will stay with Red Bull in 2012.

Brazilian Felipe Massa was four th for Ferrari ahead of German Nico Rosberg of Mercedes, Spaniard Jaime Alguersuari of Toro Rosso and, remarkably, Brazilian Bruno Senna, on his debut with the Renault team after an acrimonious promotion in place of German Nick Heidfeld.

Two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Ferrari was eighth ahead of Mexican Sergio Perez of Sauber and Russian Vitaly Petrov in the second Renault.

Vettel’s pole brought him his best starting position to date in Belgium. “Oh yes, oh yes!” he screamed over the team radio on his slowing-down lap. “That’s the answer. Thank you.” —AFP

‘Big Four’ set to slug it out at the US Open NEW YORK: If the experts are right, only four men have a realistic chance of winning this year’s US Open, but that alone is cause for celebration.

Just four players from a field of 128 professionals might seem like slim pickings, but after what has transpired over most of the last decade, the Aug. 29Sept. 11 tournament is looming as one of the most open grand slams in years.

For most of that time, just two players, Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal, have been given any real hope of lifting the major trophies, with Federer winning a record 16 grand slam titles and Nadal 10.

Between the 2005 French Open and last year’s US Open, they won 19 of the 21 grand slam finals.

But things have changed this year and their domination has ended, at least temporarily. Novak Djokovic is now the number one player in the world and chasing his third major title of the season while Andy Murray has hit form at the perfect time.

So the big two has become the big four and together they have set the stage for an intriguing fortnight at Flushing Meadows that seems certain to culminate with an emotional finish on the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11.

For all four players, this year’s US Open looms as an opportunity to prove their greatness. Federer has already won the tournament five times but has not won a grand slam since last year’s Australian Open.

At 30, he is starting to show signs of slowing down and his best days appear to be behind him.

But the Swiss master has not given up on adding to his collection of titles and the US Open, a battle of fitness as much of skill given the vagaries of playing in baking heat on the American hardcourts, represents one of his best chances. Nadal has traditionally struggled to produce his best at the US Open, often succumbing to injury as his body gives up on him, mostly because of the enormous physical strain he puts on himself. — Reuters

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SPORTS

For Pistorius and sports, doubts must stop DAEGU: When Oscar Pistorius sprints today in the 400 meters at the athletics world championships, it would be so much better if we could simply sit back and savor the huge significance of the moment. After all, not every day does a man whose lower legs were amputated as an 11-month-old baby compete at this level against ablebodied runners. In fact, Pistorius will be the first.

But unfairly for everyone, most of all Pistorius, his history-making exploit will come with questions that cannot and should not be dodged: Is it fair for his rivals that he runs on carbon-fiber prosthetics? Do they make him faster?

If so, by how much? Enough to make the competition unequal? If so, how much advantage is too much? And does it matter?

Or does having no feet or calf muscles slow him? Are the J-shaped blades he runs on, as far as sprinting goes, second-rate substitutes for biological limbs? If that is the case, then the personal best of 45.07 seconds that Pistorius ran in July to qualify to compete in Daegu, South Korea, was one of those Bob Beamon-esque moments that should have changed our perceptions of what is humanly possible.

Yet on these issues so vital for Pistorius, his sport and its fans, both scientists who have put him through a battery of tests and the governing

body of track and field, the IAAF, are letting everyone down.

Just as it did with Caster Semenya, the 800-meter world champion from South Africa whose eligibility to race as a woman should not have been kicked around in public, the IAAF made a hash of Pistorius’ case from the outset.

It tried to ban him in 2008 and was rightly slapped down by sport’s highest court. CAS ruled that the IAAF failed to prove its poorly substantiated claim that Pistorius’ blades give him “significant biomechanical advantages” over able-bodied sprinters.

Damningly, the arbitrators also said the IAAF’s treatment of Pistorius “fell short of the high standards that the international sporting community is entitled to expect” - not least because some IAAF officials seemed hell-bent on banning him, regardless of whether science backed them up.

That ruling allows Pistorius to race here. But it wasn’t the last word. Since then, the very same scientists who helped Pistorius overturn the IAAF ban have subsequently revealed that they don’t, in fact, agree about whether he races with an advantage or not. So, infuriatingly, instead of clarity and closure, we have confusion. Instead of being able to focus entirely on Sunday’s 400 heats and his own goal of consistently running under 46 sec-

onds ahead of the 2012 London Olympics, Pistorius is again having to justify his presence among the ablebodied.

“My job is not to always have to deal with those questions,” he said Friday. “I really do believe the purity of the sport or I wouldn’t be here. For me it’s (an) important thing to make sure that I don’t have any advantage.”

One of the scientists who helped Pistorius in 2008 but who now says that his blades could afford him as much as a 12-second gain over 400 meters is Peter Weyand, a biomechanics professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. One reason Pistorius runs faster than he otherwise might is because his blades weigh half as much as biological limbs, he says.

Most disturbingly, Weyand claims the CAS arbitrators weren’t told the whole truth when they made their 2008 ruling that cleared Pistorius. He says results were withheld from tests on Pistorius that led both Weyand and University of Wyoming biomechanics director Matt Bundle to the conclusion that “he’s got a major advantage.”

“That data was not introduced into the court,” he said in a telephone interview this week. “They got incomplete scientific information on which to make that ruling.”

Weyand noted that as a scientist, it’s not his place to decide whether

Pistorius should race at the world championships. But he added that “if Oscar wins a medal, comes in third and wins the bronze, who wants to be the poor slob who would have otherwise had that bronze medal? He would not be running that fast or close to it if he had his biological limbs.”

Weyand and Bundle hold the minority view among seven scientists who studied Pistorius in 2008. The five others have called the pair’s estimate of a 12-second advantage over 400 meters “absurd and insulting to Paralympic athletes.” One of them is Rodger Kram at the University of Colorado, who testified for Pistorius at CAS and insists he’s “not starting off with a 12-second advantage.”

“People should appreciate him.

He’s a special individual above the knees,” Kram said in a telephone interview. “It’s not the carbon that’s interesting.

“Do we understand scientifically everything about running on prosthetic legs? No. Do we understand everything about running on biological legs? No. Has any evidence come up since the CAS hearing that suggests to me that there is an advantage? Is there any new evidence that I find compelling? No,” he added. “I’ve seen more and more evidence stack up that he does not have an advan-

tage.”

So where does that leave us, the laymen? Well, lost. Pistorius says he wants to be treated just like any athlete, judged solely on the qualities of his running. But that is hard to do when the scientists we look to for enlightenment squabble among themselves about whether Pistorius is a world-class athlete in spite of or because of his prosthetic limbs.

Even if Pistorius is advantaged, then what? Would that be reason to ban him? The IAAF’s rules say so, but a host of arguments could be made that an exception should be made in his case - among them that he’s unique in having reached the qualification standard in his event, so admirable in his determination and dedication and that he’s an inspiration to many.

To make it meaningful as a competition of supposed equals, sport pigeonholes people - separating men and women, the able-bodied from the differently-abled. Pistorius is confounding such characterizations, reshaping our understanding of human ability and what constitutes “equals.” That can only be good.

“He’s forcing us to ask what makes someone human and what is athletic competition about?” Kram said. But it would be much more satisfying if Pistorius could get the full credit for that.—AP

Kenya sweep medals at worlds opening day

MONTREAL: Maude-Aimee LeBlanc from Canada tees off on the fourth hole during the third round of the LPGA Canadian Womenís Open golf tournament. —AP

Miyazato, Stanford share LPGA lead MONTREAL: Japan’s Ai Miyazato fired a four-under par 68 to share the lead with American Angela Stanford after the second round of the LPGA Canadian Women’s Open on Friday.

Miyazato, who opened with a bogeyfree 65 on Thursday, stood with Stanford on 11-under par 133 after 36 holes in the $2.25 million tournament at Hillsdale Golf Club, two strokes ahead of South Korean Song-Hee Kim. The Japanese star, who won five titles last year but only captured her first of this season last month in France, started slow but took a boost of confidence after telling herself to relax.

“I had a really good round but in the beginning I was a little bit too tough on myself. So it was a little hard to make a gain,” Miyazato said. “But I realized I’m being too tough on myself. I just had a nice self talk and I got really patient. So that’s why I got a really good bounce back towards the end, so I’m very happy.” Miyazato birdied the par-5 fifth, added back-to-back birdies on the par-4 seventh and par-3 eighth and enjoyed another set of consecutive birdies at the par-5 14th and par-3 15th before her first bogey of the week at the par-4 16th.

“I had so many birdie opportunities, but I got also like really good up-anddown close to the pin like five times,” Miyazato said. “I played really good. I feel like I holed a lot of putts. I just have to look at the positives.”

Stanford, who fired seven birdies against a sole birdie, joked after opening with a 67 that her putter had finally arrived at a tournament. She said Friday that the relationship between her and her putter is still a work in progress.

“I can’t fall in love with him just yet,” Stanford said. “We’re on speaking terms, though, so that’s good.” A total of 78 players made the cut on 143, a low level matching the record for Canada’s national championshup event set in 1998.

Sharing fourth on 136, a stroke behind Kim, were Swedes Sophie Gustafson and Pernilla Lindberg, Britain’s Becky Morgan, South Korean Seon Hwa Lee and US players Gerina Piller, Brittany Lincicome, Paula Creamer and Michelle Wie, the defending champion.

“It’s what I wanted for the weekend,” Wie said. “I’m motivated to go out and try to get this thing done. I’ll do like I’ve done the last two days - stay patient and try to make a lot more birdies.”—AFP

Kuchar grabs PGA lead EDISON: Defending champion Matt Kuchar might have already won The Barclays just by leading the $7.5 million US PGA event after 36 holes, but the American has some work to do yesterday anyway.

Kuchar fired a bogey-free six-under par 65 on Friday to stand on 14-under 128 with a one-stroke lead after what was originally scheduled to be the midpoint of the opening event of the season-ending US PGA playoffs.

Hurricane Irene, however, has literally been a game-changer this weekend as it approaches the New York metropolitan area after causing widespread damage and destruction in the Caribbean islands.

US PGA officials decided Friday to reduce the event from 72 holes to 54 due to the potential threat of Irene, in part because tournament volunteers wanted to make certain there was time to safeguard their families and homes.

Players were set to begin the third round Saturday morning in hopes of having everyone finish 54 holes before the storm struck the area. But if the third round is not completed, scores will revert to how they stood after 36 holes.

That would give Kuchar the victory by

a stroke over countryman Dustin Johnson and Fiji’s Vijay Singh. “They definitely made the right decision with 54 holes,” Kuchar said. “The forecast just looks terrible. I think all of us are going to be excited to wrap this thing up and get out of here as quickly and safely as we can.

“It has the potential to be pretty scary.” In terms of advancing the top 100 players into next week’s playoff event near Boston, full points will be awarded to determine the qualifiers for the second round of the season-ending playoffs.

Kuchar finished his first round on Friday morning after a storm halted play on Thursday for three hours, making a par on 17 and a birdie on the 18th hole to finish a 63 before starting his second round.

Kuchar birdied the par-3 third, par-5 fifth and par-4 seventh and began a run of three birdies in four holes at the par-5 12th to maintain his lead heading into what suddenly has become the final round, provided it’s completed.

With last-group playing partners Johnson and Singh on his heels and eight others within five shots, Saturday could be a battle before the storm.—AFP

DAEGU: Kenya’s women distance runners dominated the opening day of the world championships yesterday, remarkably snapping up all six medals on offer in the 10,000m and marathon.

But there was heartbreak for household names Steve Hooker and Christine Ohuruogu in South Korea.

Reigning world and Olympic pole vault champion Hooker failed to register a single vault while Ohuruogu, the Olympic champion, was disqualified from the women’s 400m after a dreadful false start.

Jamaican sprint superstar Usain Bolt safely negotiated his 100m heat, however, as did American Allyson Felix in the 400m, moving a step closer to her goal of an elusive 200-400m double.

But the day belonged to Kenya, the east African country putting archrivals Ethiopia firmly in their place in the battle for distance supremacy.

First up was Edna Kiplagat, who claimed marathon gold in 2hr 28min 43sec as she led Priscah Jeptoo and Sharon Cherop across the line on the streets of Daegu.

The evening session saw a superb lesson in superior team tactics pay off when the four Kenyans in the race worked together effectively and saw Vivian Cheruiyot claim gold in the 10,000m in 30min 48.98sec.

Fellow countrywomen Sally Kipyego and 2009 champion Linet Masai completed the podium to round off an incredible opening day’s medal haul for Kenya.

“It’s absolutely fantastic,” beamed Cheruiyot. “It’s a wonderful day for Kenyans and for the entire country.

“We wanted to run together and it was the plan to run together and we ran perfectly, helping each other.”

For the injury-wracked Hooker, his morning outing was nothing less than a catastrophe but the Australian was left with “no complaints”.

The 29-year-old passed at 5.20 and 5.35 but failed to even muster a vault on each of his three efforts at 5.50, 10cm shorter than his modest best this season, running through the mats each time. “I don’t have any complaints,” said Hooker. “I felt fine physically but I felt kind of lost on the runway.”

Ohuruogu, who had been desperately struggling to refind the form that saw her win gold in Beijing in 2008 with an eye on the 2012 Olympics which will be held in her native east end of London, was left devastated.

“People false start all the time. It’s sad. I’ve worked really hard so I just feel wasted,” she said. There were no surprises in round one of the men’s 100m, defending world and Olympic champion Bolt cruising home in his heat in 10.10sec.

“I feel great. I did well. People are going to say what they want but I’ll focus on what I want. Nobody has broken my world record,” said Bolt, who set the world record of 9.58sec at the Berlin worlds in 2009.

“I’ve worked during the season. I’ve worked it out so that’s why it looked so easy-focus and exercise. I was really happy because I worked hard all season. I finally got it right.”

Fellow Jamaicans Nesta Carter, Michael Frater and Yohan Blake all also went through, as did the US trio of Justin Gatlin, Walter Dix and Trell Kimmons, European champion Christophe Lemaitre of France and St Kitts and Nevis veteran Kim Collins.

After the first day of decathlon action, American duo Ashton Eaton and Trey Hardee are firmly in control.

World leader Eaton leads on 4,441 points, 48 ahead of defending world champion Hardee. The decathletes will tackle the 110m hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and the 1500m today.—AFP

DAEGU: Mikk Pahapill of Estonia makes an attempt in the Decathlon High Jump at the World Athletics Championships in Daegu, South Korea. —AP

DAEGU: (From front to back) Ireland’s Jason Smyth, Trinidad’s Keston Bledman, Nigeria’s Ogho-Oghene Egwero, Indonesia’s Fadlin Fadlin, Barbados’ Andrew Hinds, Aruba’s Geronimo Goeloe, USA’s Walter Dix, and Britain’s Harry AikinesAryeetey start of the blocks in a heat for the Men’s 100m at the World Athletics Championships.—AP

Lima inspires Wigan to thrilling Cup win LONDON: Two tries by Jeff Lima inspired Wigan to a 28-18 victory over Leeds at Wembley yesterday and their first Challenge Cup win since 2002.

Lima, formerly with the Melbourne Storm, had scored just one try since joining at the start of the season, but he bagged one in each half to claim the Lance Todd Trophy for the man-ofthe-match as Michael Maguire’s hot favorites just about held their nerve.

New Zealand hooker Thomas Leuluai also crossed in the closing stages while eight points from the boot of Pat Richards also denied

Leeds, who had fought back from 16-0 down after half an hour.

Wigan, on the back of a club-record 12 match winning run, took just nine minutes to break the stalemate with winger Josh Charnley brilliantly dancing past three defenders to go over in the corner after good work from Sam and Joel Tomkins.

Sam Tomkins, a target of abuse for the Leeds fans throughout, raised the temperature further when he appeared to aim a two-fingered gesture towards them in the celebrations.

Richards fluffed a great chance five minutes

later from Brett Finch’s bomb but the incessant pressure paid finally off again.

New Zealand international Brent Webb dropped Paul Deacon’s towering kick and from the resulting set of six tackles Lima crashed over from close range with Richards’ boot making it 10-0.

And four minutes later the Tomkins brothers set Wembley alight. Full-back Sam broke from deep before feeding Joel who raced down the right before stepping inside Jamie Peacock and Webb to go in under the sticks for a memorable score and Richards made it 16-0.—AFP

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Swansea held

by Sunderland Swansea 0

Sunderland 0 SWANSEA: Swansea are still waiting for their first Premier League goal after being held to a 0-0 draw by Sunderland at the Liberty Stadium yesterday.

Brendan Rodgers’ side have now played three league games since their promotion from the Championship last season and have failed to scored against Manchester City, Wigan and now Sunderland.

Record signing Danny Graham headed their best chance wide when unmarked inside the box, while the former Watford striker forced two fine saves from Simon Mignolet and Scott Sinclair stuck the bar.

The Black Cats, also still without a league win this season, threatened through Asamoah Gyan early on but the Ghana forward fluffed their best chance when he miscontrolled a Jack Colback pass, while debutant John O’Shea hit the bar.

Rodgers had named the same starting eleven that lined up against Wigan last weekend as the Welsh club looked to make

amends for the shock midweek defeat against minnows Shrewsbury in the League Cup. O’Shea almost opened his Sunderland account inside two minutes as he headed against the bar from a Sebastian Larsson corner, while Gyan fired wide after neat play by the Sweden international.

Sunderland’s positive start continued as Swans goalkeeper Michel Vorm was forced to make a smart stop to deny Gyan in the 13th minute after Stephane Sessegnon had played the Ghana striker in.

But Sinclair came so close to giving Swansea a 24th-minute lead as his 25-yard strike came back off the bar with Mignolet beaten, before Nathan Dyer headed narrowly wide. The game had been simmering thanks to a series of niggly fouls and the first genuine flashpoint arrived as Cattermole went down holding his face after a tussle with Kemy Agustien, but referee Mark Halsey took no action against the Swansea player despite replays suggesting an elbow had caught the Black Cats midfielder.

Graham then missed the best chance of the half as he headed wide from inside 12 yards with the goal at his mercy. Mignolet did just enough to deny Ashley Williams a free header as the pressure increased, while Graham curled wide from a Wayne Routledge through ball. —AFP

LONDON: Liverpool’s Luis Suarez (center) vies for the ball against Bolton’s Zat Knight (left) during their English Premier League soccer match.—AP

EPL results/standings Aston Villa 0, Wolves 0; Blackburn 0, Everton 1 (Arteta 90-pen); Chelsea 3 (Boswinga 6, Lampard 82-pen, Mata 90) Nor wich 1 (Holt 63); Liverpool 3

(Henderson 15, Skr tel 52, Adam 53) Bolton 1 (Klasnic 90); Swansea 0, Sunderland 0; Wigan 2 (Di Santo 41, 66) QPR 0.

English Premier League table after yesterday’s matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Liverpool Chelsea Wolves Man City Man United Aston Villa Wigan Newcastle Bolton Everton

3 3 3 2 2 3 3 2 3 2

2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 0 0 2 2 1 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1

6 5 4 7 5 3 3 1 7 1

2 2 1 2 1 1 1 0 6 1

7 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 3 3

QPR Stoke Sunderland Norwich Swansea Arsenal Fulham West Brom Tottenham Blackburn

3 2 3 3 3 2 2 2 1 3

1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 2 2 2 2 1 1 0 0 0

2 0 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 3

1 1 1 3 0 0 0 2 0 2

6 1 2 5 4 2 2 4 3 6

3 2 2 2 2 1 1 0 0 0

Liverpool defeat Bolton to top EPL Liverpool 3

Bolton 1

LIVERPOOL: Liverpool swept to the top of the Premier League with an emphatic 3-1 win over Bolton at Anfield yesterday.

Kenny Dalglish has spent over £100 million transforming the club since returning to the Anfield manager’s office last January.

And that investment appears to be paying off after goals by new signings Jordan Henderson and Charlie Adam, either side of Martin Skrtel’s header, left the Merseyside club looking down on their rivals for the first time in over two years.

It is too early to get carried away with Liverpool’s start which has also included a 2-0 win at Arsenal and a 1-1 draw with Sunderland.

But it is clear that Dalglish’s rebuilding pro-

gramme is working. Liverpool now have seven points from three games. Last season under Roy Hodgson they needed nine games to get seven points on the board.

Henderson and Adam both scored their first competitive goals for the club as Uruguay defender Sebastian Coates watched from Anfield’s VIP seats ahead of an expected £7 million move from Nacional before Wednesday’s transfer deadline.

And the 20-year-old must have been impressed with what he saw as Liverpool required just 15 minutes to unlock the Bolton defence, despite having club record £35 million striker Andy Carroll starting on the subtitutes bench.

The visitors thought they had escaped after Jussi Jaaskelainen’s brilliant finger-tip save kept out Stewart Downing’s volley following good work by Luis Suarez.

But the visitors failed to deal with the loose ball and Henderson took advantage of some sloppy defending to rifle home from 16 yards.

Owen Coyle’s side responded through Martin Petrov, the winger testing Pepe Reina with a sweetly-struck 18th minute volley in front of the Kop. But in an exciting contest, Liverpool should have estab-

lished a two-goal cushion before the break. Suarez looked certain to score after springing the off-side trap in the 24th minute as Henderson turned provider. But the Uruguayan’s attempted lob over the advancing Jaaskelainen landed on the roof of the net.

Liverpool felt they were denied after referee Lee Probert failed to punish Gretar Steinsson’s handball with a 42nd minute penalty.

However, replays showed the official got it right with the offence inches outside the area. But the hosts sealed the points with two goals in a minute in the early stages of the second half.

Substitute Skrtel, a first-half replacement for the injured Martin Kelly, outjumped Zat Knight to power Adam’s corner into the back of the net to double the lead in the 52nd minute.

And Liverpool fans were still celebrating when Adam found the back of the net from 20 yards with a low shot that beat the outstretched hands of Jaaskelainen.

Ivan Klasnic scored a consolation for Bolton deep in stoppage time after a mistake from Jamie Carragher but Liverpool thoroughly deserved their victory.—AFP

Wigan maintain unbeaten run Wigan 2

GERMANY: Bayern Munich’s Jerome Boateng, Mario Gomez, Thomas Mueller and Bastian Schweinsteiger (from left) celebrate the team’s third goal during the German First Division Bundesliga soccer match against Kaiserslautern. —AP

Gomez hat-trick sends Bayern top BERLIN: A hat-trick from Germany striker Mario Gomez gave Bayern Munich a 3-0 victory at Kaiserslautern yesterday that sent them top of the Bundesliga for the first time this season.

Bayern have nine points and top the table on goal difference from Werder Bremen, who came from behind to win 2-1 at Hoffenheim thanks to goals from Marko Arnautovic and Markus Rosenberg.

Saturday’s evening kick-off sees defending champions Borussia Dortmund visit last season’s runners-up Bayer Leverkusen, with both teams bidding to draw level on points with Bayern and Bremen.

Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes fielded a changed starting XI at Kaiserslautern, with Arjen Robben absent due to a groin injury and Rafinha, Luis Gustavo and Toni Kroos on the bench. It did not prevent Bayern from dominating proceedings at the FritzWalter-Stadion, however, and after squandering several chances they took a 37thminute lead when Gomez converted a penalty.

Bayern were awarded a second penalty in the 55th minute, following a foul on Thomas Muller, and although Gomez’s spot-kick was parried by goalkeeper Kevin Trapp, the former Stuttgart man ghosted in to place home the rebound.

Gomez completed his hat-trick in the 69th minute, taking his tally for the season to four goals, by finishing off good work from Muller with a left-foot shot.

“I’ve always said that the team will improve from match to match,” said Heynckes. “And we can still get better as the team can become even more compact.”

Bayern, who thrashed Hamburg 5-0 last weekend, have not conceded a goal since the shock 1-0 loss at home to Borussia Moenchengladbach on the opening day.

“The defence let nothing past,” added

Heynckes. “They played very confidently and were well-organised.”

Hamburg endured another dismal afternoon after throwing away a 3-2 lead to lose 4-3 at home to Cologne, which left them rooted to the foot of the table.

South Korea striker Son Heung-Min gave the hosts the lead in the 62nd minute, but Christian Clemens was left unmarked to score the equaliser from a corner in the 84th minute.

Worse was to follow four minutes later, as a weak attempted punch from Hamburg’s Czech goalkeeper Jaroslav Drobny allowed Kevin McKenna to volley in the winner. Freiburg, ninth last term, secured their first win of the season with a 3-0 success at home to Wolfsburg.

Oliver Barth opened the scoring with a 30th-minute header, before in-demand striker Papiss Demba Cisse teed up Erik Jenvresik for the second goal 10 minutes later. Congolese midfielder Cedrik Makiadi sealed victory in style just before the hour, seizing on a weak defensive header to thrash a volley inside the right-hand post from 15 yards.

In the day’s other game Nuremberg won 1-0 at home to Augsburg, who are one of three teams in the division-alongside Kaiserslautern and Hamburg-still seeking a first victor y. Third-placed Borussia Moenchengladbach and fourth-placed Hanover are both in action on Sunday, with top spot beckoning for both sides in case of victory. Hanover have the easier assignment, however, as they host Mainz while Gladbach visit fifth-placed Schalke, who have scored 10 goals in their last two matches and thrashed HJK Helsinki 6-1 in the Europa League on Thursday.

In Friday’s match, promoted Hertha Berlin registered their first win of the campaign with a 1-0 defeat of Stuttgart.—AFP

QPR 0

WIGAN: Wigan maintained their unbeaten start to the Premier League season here yesterday as a fine double by Argentinian striker Franco Di Santo secured them a 2-0 win over Premier League rookies QPR. Di Santo - tripling his total of goals for the club to only three goals in 32 appearances since joining from

Chelsea for £2million last August - struck in each half to give Wigan their first win of the season after two draws. Defeat brought QPR, being watched by new signing midfielder Joey Barton from the stands, back down to earth after their away win over Everton last weekend. Di Santo, who had had an earlier effort well saved by Paddy Kenny, produced a strike to remember for his first as, set up by the industrious Hugo Rodallega, he teed the ball up and volleyed past Kenny to give the hosts the breakthrough goal The Di Santo goal had been coming in a highly entertaining first-half with both sides having chances before the 22-year-old Argentinian’s goal to break the deadlock.

Victor Moses had missed early on for the hosts but it was QPR’s most prized asset Moroccan Adel Taarabt

Matches on TV (Local Timings)

English Premier League Newcastle v Fulham Abu Dhabi Sports HD 4

15:00

Tottenham v Man City Abu Dhabi Sports HD 3

15:30

West Bronwich v Stoke Abu Dhabi Sports HD 6

17:00

Man United v Arsenal Abu Dhabi Sports HD 3

18:00

Spanish League Atletico v Osasuna Aljazeera Sport + 2 Aljazeera Sport + 3 Aljazeera Sport 2 HD

13:00

Bilbao v Vallecano Aljazeera Sport 1 HD

17:00

Getafe v Levante Aljazeera Sport + 2 Aljazeera Sport 2 HD

19:00

Mallorca v Espanyol Aljazeera Sport + 5 Aljazeera Sport 1 HD

19:00

Zaragoza v Real Madrid Aljazeera Sport + 2 Aljazeera Sport + 3 Aljazeera Sport 2 HD

21:00

Sevilla v Malaga Aljazeera Sport + 2 Aljazeera Sport 2 HD

23:00

who went closest with a beautiful effort which beat Ali Al Habsi but came back off the bar.

Al Habsi - whose outstanding performances for Wigan last season contributed hugely to their staying up - had also been forced into a stunning save from veteran midfielder Shaun Derry and then reacted brilliantly close to half-time to tip Taarabt’s deflected freekick onto the post. The hosts had the better chances in the second-half as the visitors had little to offer and former Ireland international goalkeeper Kenny had to be at his best to deny the marauding Di Santos.

However Kenny could do nothing about Di Santos’s strike in the 66th minute as the Argentinian cheekily took the ball off the toes of Rodallega and made no mistake as he powered the shot into the top corner.—AFP

Agirretxe strikes twice as La Liga gets underway MADRID: A double strike from Imanol Agirretxe gave ten-man Real Sociedad a 2-1 victory over Sporting Gijon as the new La Liga season finally got underway yesterday.

The season was supposed to start a week ago but a strike of a different kind — as players downed tools over wages — meant it was delayed for the first time in 27 years.

Sporting had the second worst scoring record in the last campaign with just 35 goals and while they had the greater possession early on they created little danger and it was the visitors who went ahead from a well-worked move.

After a neat exchange in midfield the ball was played to Carlos Martinez who crossed for Agirretxe to head home.

The 24-year-old striker headed in his second mid-way through the second half but a penalty conceded by Martinez, for which he was redcarded, gave Miguel De las Cuevas the chance to pull it back to 2-1.

Real clung on, however, as Sporting defender Alberto Lora was also dismissed for a second yellow card in the last minute.

Champions Barcelona, who travel to Villarreal for tomorrow’s only fixture, have started the new season where they left off and have already lifted theirfirst two trophies with the domestic Super Cup followed by the European equivalent against Porto on Friday night.

“Having won these cups before we even start the league gives a comforting feeling,” said coach Pep Guardiola.“These players are fantastic and come from a unique generation. You ask yourself if they are going to continue having the desire to win and they always give you the answer.

“We know the value of each trophy. At this stage of the season you cannot expect to play at the same level as in the Champions League final

but just do your best.”

New signing Cesc Fabregas has had the perfect start following his move from Arsenal and came off the bench to score the second goal as Barca beat Porto 2-0.

“I learnt from my first day here that we can go very far because everyone fights for each other and this has been a pleasant surprise,” said Fabregas.

“Thanks to my teammates we had a magnificent season last year and now I can form part of this. My friends and family are very happy that I am back here and now hopefully I can improve as a player and win trophies.”

Real Madrid, meanwhile, are at Zaragoza on Sunday with coach Jose Mourinho desperate to bring the league title back to the Bernabeu.

“The team is in better form at the moment than it was this time last year,” said the Portuguese. “The first game of the season is always difficult and there are often a lot of surprises.

“This would be a tough match at home or away due to the quality of the opposition.

(Zaragoza trainer) Javier Aguirre is one of my favourite coaches as much as a person as a tactician.” Valencia, who face Racing Santander, finished third last season, but while they have brought in highly rated keeper Diego Alves and youngster Sergio Canales from Real, they have lost a key player in Juan Mata to Chelsea.

Sevilla face an awkward home tie against Malaga who have invested heavily over the last year and, with Ruud van Nistelrooy leading the attack, now have a side that will challenge for a top four finish. It was very tight at the bottom of the table last spring with half the teams in the league in danger of relegation going into the final weeks and it could well be equally close this season.—AFP

Kenya sweep medals at worlds opening day

Vettel takes Belgian pole

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Schumacher reflects on 20 years of F1 racing Page 17

Drogba injury mars Chelsea win Chelsea 3

Norwich 1

LONDON: Chelsea’s Romelu Lukaku (right) holds off Norwich City’s Ritchie De Laet during their English Premier League soccer match at the Stamford Bridge Stadium.—AP

LONDON: Chelsea beat 10-man Norwich 3-1 at Stamford Bridge yesterday but the victory came at a cost as Didier Drogba was stretchered off with what appeared to be a serious injury.

The Ivory Coast forward fell heavily following an aerial collision with Norwich goalkeeper John Ruddy midway through the second half and needed lengthy treatment before he was taken for further examination.

A rare goal from Jose Bosingwa had given Andre Villas-Boas’ side the early lead but Norwich recovered to equalise through captain Grant Holt just after the hour mark following a defensive mix-up.

Frank Lampard’s penalty put Chelsea ahead once more after Ruddy had been sent off for conceding it and debutant Juan Mata scored the third in stoppage time.

Ruddy had made a fine save to push a Ramires long-ranger round a post as early as the second minute as Chelsea started strongly. Leon Barnett blocked a Fernando Torres effort but Chelsea were not to be denied and Bosingwa broke the deadlock in the sixth minute with a drive from more than 20 yards out that gave Ruddy no chance as it flashed into the top corner.

Torres almost set up Drogba in front of goal but Norwich who came close to equalising as the game neared the half hour mark.

Wes Hoolahan found Chris Martin in space only for Hilario to pull off a near post block.

Martin was first to the loose ball and, having initially tried to take it past the goalkeeper, set up Kyle Naughton for a drive that Hilario did well to tip over.

Norwich then made a change, with defender Zak Whitbread replaced by winger Anthony Pilkington after Holt’s header had

been saved. The half ended with a Drogba free-kick just clearing the bar and Florent Malouda forcing a save from Ruddy, but Norwich had improved following their nervous start and subsequent tactical reshuffle.

Chelsea started the second period with Pilkington deflecting John Terry’s header over and Branislav Ivanovic sending a free header wide from a Lampard corner. Norwich’s equaliser arrived in the 63rd minute - and it was a free gift from the Chelsea defence.

Hilario and Ivanovic both went for Kyle Naughton’s cross from the right and succeeded only in allowing the ball to drop perfectly for the lurking Holt, who immediately hooked it towards the empty net.

The Norwich captain celebrated wildly with the away fans once it was confirmed that the sliding Terry had been unable to stop it crossing the line in the 63rd minute.

There was more bad news almost straight away when Drogba was hurt in an aerial collision with Ruddy, which was compounded by the heavy fall that followed.

The forward stayed down and was eventually stretchered off, seemingly unconscious, with an oxygen mask on his face. He was replaced by Nicolas Anelka, with Mata, the £23 million new signing from Valencia, handed a debut at this point.

The game finally shifted Chelsea’s way after Terry made an excellent last-ditch tackle to block from Norwich substitute Steve Morison just as he was in the process of shooting.

The next opportunity was Chelsea’s and when Ruddy brought Ramires down in the box to concede a penalty the goalkeeper was also shown a red card to become the second Norwich player in as many Premier League matches to be sent off.

Lampard despatched the penalty past substitute goalkeeper Declan Rudd and, after 11 minutes of added time, the points were Chelsea’s when Mata took advantage of a loose ball in the Norwich box and slotted in the third.—AFP

Villa held by Wolves in derby stalemate Aston Villa 0

Wolves 0

BIRMINGHAM: Wolves maintained their impressive start to the Premier League season as Mick McCarthy’s team ground out a 0-0 draw at local rivals Aston Villa yesterday.

McCarthy’s men won their opening two league matches against Blackburn and Fulham and showed plenty of grit to keep Villa at bay in a hard-fought but ultimately uninspiring midlands derby.

Wolves’ point takes them to the top of the table, although they are likely to surrender that position by the end of the weekend.

Villa are also still unbeaten after three matches, but Alex McLeish’s side will be more frustrated to have to settle for a draw.

Wolves captain Roger Johnson, who played under McLeish at

Birmingham last season, said: “I said to the boys that we would need to weather the storm and we did.

“We’ll take seven points so far.

We know we’re a very good team and we’ll try and finish as high as possible.” McLeish added: “I felt we were in control of the game and our second-half performance deserved a goal. “Mick (McCarthy) made some defensive changes and it took the sting out of the game. It stopped our momentum and it was a good tactic from Mick.”

The hosts’ first chance fell to Stiliyan Petrov but the Bulgarian midfielder dragged his 20-yard drive wide. Shay Given’s awkward movement suggested the Villa goalkeeper may have been struggling with the groin problem that has bothered him recently, but he still did well to block a Stephen Hunt header from Stephen Ward’s cross.

Villa should have taken the lead when Emile Heskey met Gabriel Agbonlahor’s cross, only for the former Liverpool and England forward to drag his effort wide at the near post. Wolves midfielder Jamie

O’Hara could also have done better when he curled a shot over the bar after being teed up by Steven Fletcher.

When Petrov got into a promising position to cross, his low centre was saved by Wayne Hennessey, diving bravely at the feet of Heskey.

Agbonlahor threatened at the start of the second half as he beat Roger Johnson for pace and fired in a low shot that was turned aside by Hennessey.

Villa were in the ascendancy and Kevin Doyle had to nod a Richard Dunne header off the line from Petrov’s corner. Then N’Zogbia’s cross created a chance for youngster Chris Herd, whose header was tipped over the bar by Hennessey.

Wolves were caught napping at a short Petrov corner which found N’Zogbia in plenty of space but he failed to take advantage and dragged his shot wide.

It was N’Zogbia’s last contribution before being replaced by Barry Bannan, and he immediately created a chance for Darren Bent but the Villa striker headed over.—AFP

Blackburn sink to the bottom Blackburn 0

Everton 1

BLACKBURN: Blackburn sank to the foot of the Premier League yesterday after going down to a late penalty in their 1-0 home defeat against Everton having earlier missed two spot-kicks of their own.

Spanish midfielder Mikel Arteta kept his cool in stoppage time to earn all three points, but his Everton team should have been dead and buried after Rovers spurned two glorious opportunities to put the game out of reach.

David Hoilett and Argentinian substitute Mauro Formica were both unsuccessful with second-half spot kicks as Everton miraculously came away with three points which move them up to 10th in the table.

It is the first time lowly Rovers have

lost their first three league games of a season since 1951.

Despite a brief spell of early pressure from the Toffees, it was Rovers who looked the more threatening and they came within a whisker of breaking the deadlock through midfielder David Dunn, but the former England international’s firm drive cannoned off the post.

Rovers manager Steve Kean was forced to shuffle his pack after halfan-hour when midfield duo Morten Gamst Pedersen and Dunn were forced off with injury, to be replaced

by Serbian Radosav Petrovic and midfielder Formica.

The second half started in a nightmare fashion for young Everton defender Ross Barkley when he surrendered possession to Formica and in his desperation to make amends upended the midfielder in the penalty area.

Fortunately for the 17-year-old, goalkeeper Howard guessed correctly and palmed away Hoilett’s spot kick. The American stopper

came to the rescue again 10 minutes later, moving sharply to keep out Formica’s dipping 25-yard drive.

The home side spurned another golden opportunity shortly afterwards when substitute David Goodwillie found himself unchallenged in front of goal, but the new signing clipped the crossbar with his close-range effort.

Rovers’ pressure paid off when they were awarded another penalty following Phil Jagielka’s clumsy challenge on Formica. However, the substitute could not convert, striking his effort against the post.

The home team’s misery was completed in injury team when they were ruthlessly punished for their profligacy by a combination of questionable refereeing and cool finishing.

Rovers defender Christopher Samba, returning from injury, was harshly adjudged to have clambered over Marouane Felaini and Arteta stepped up to claim the points with a shot into the bottom corner.—AFP

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State dept report favors US-Canada oil pipeline Page 25

SUNDAY, AUGUST 28, 2011

Leading power: The new BMW M5

Kuwait equities continue to drop Page 24

Page 22

SEOUL: South Korean workers stage a rally against government’s labor policy near National Assembly in Seoul yesterday. About 10,000 Korean Financial Industry Union and Public Union members demanded wage hikes and better working conditions.

—AP (See Page 25)

US air travel braces for storm shutdown Airlines cancel nearly 8,000 flights ahead of hurricane NEW YORK/WASHINGTON: Airlines canceled nearly 8,000 weekend flights as Hurricane Irene swept up the US east coast toward New York, forcing carriers to move planes to safer areas and halting services at the busiest US hub.

Th e d i s r u p t i on was p ar t o f an extraordinar y preemptive effor t by business and governments to limit public exposure to Irene’s fury by shutting down heavily traveled transportation networks.

Subway and bus systems and passenger rail services also planned to halt service. Motorists were urged to stay off roads and key bridges would close if hurricane winds exceeded certain speeds.

As authorities from Washington to Boston prepared for ferocious winds, torrential rain and flooding, major airlines advised passengers to reconsider travel plans.

The three major New York-area airports said late on Friday they would halt domestic and overseas arrivals at n o o n E DT ( 1 6 0 0 G MT ) yesterday.

Departures were still planned until further notice, according to the Por t Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Big airlines had already canceled much of their New York schedules into Monday. “We are laying in supplies, things like tarps to throw over computers and electronics should we shut down the terminals, and plywood so that if there is any glass damage we c a n move q u i c k ly to secure t ho se areas,” said Ed Martelle, a spokesman for American Airlines, a unit of AMR Corp.

The Northeast is the most congested area of US air space, with John F Kennedy and LaGuardia airpor ts in New York and Newark in New Jersey handling nearly 100 million domestic and international passengers annually.

Disruptions in the region ripple throughout the countr y and affect international flights. The worst of the sto rm i s e x p e c te d to hit t he mid-

Atlantic region late on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Repositioning planes again and restarting service can take time and will lead to more cancellations and delays on Monday.

Most carriers were expected to shut down operations for about 24 hours,

• Delta Air Lines canceled 1,300 flights from Saturday through Monday.

This included all operations on Sunday in New York and at Newark.

• American Airlines will halt New York-area operations from midmorning Saturday through Sunday. It has also

EAST HAMPTON: Workers board up windows at the Waldbaum’s supermarket in preparation of the arrival of Hurricane Irene in East Hampton, New York. —AFP

airlines and transportation officials said. The online airline tracking service Flightaware.com said carriers canceled 460 fl ig hts on Fr iday, 2 ,8 0 0 on Sat urday an d more th an 4 ,7 0 0 on Sunday.

c an celed 2 6 5 fligh ts at th e t hre e Washington-area airports on Saturday and more were planned for Sunday.

• JetBlue Air ways, based at JFK , scrapped nearly 900 flights through Monday.

• United Airlines, the world’s biggest a i r l i ne t ha t ha s e a s te r n hub s a t Washington Dulles and Newark, will cancel 2,300 flights.

• US Airways, which has a heavy East Coa s t p re s e nce a t Wa s hi ngton, Philadelphia and LaGuardia, will cancel 311 flights on Saturday and another 1,000 on Sunday.

FEW ALTERNATIVES The magnitude of the air travel disruption from Irene is more commonly seen during winter snowstorms and not the busy summer, the most lucrative period for air travel.

H e l a ne B e c ke r, a n a na l ys t w i t h Dahlman Rose & Co, estimated the impact to airlines from the storm could range from $5 million if it missed the coast, to $30 million to $40 million should there be a direct hit. Federal Av i a t ion Aut hor it y Ad m i ni st r a tor Randy Babbitt, at the Boeing flightline in Everett, Washington, for a ceremony marking commercial certification of the Boeing Co 787 Dreamliner, said the agency had teams along the East Coast and should be “up and running” quickly in the event of control tower shutdowns.

The FAA said in a statement it was working to protect air traffic towers and other facilities and equipment from any storm damage. Enabling flights to resume quickly is also critical to support any disaster relief efforts.

Long Island MacArthur Airport on the Atlantic coast in New York is taking “every precaution,” Commissioner of Aviation Teresa Rizzuto said. The Arca Airline stock index closed up 1.6 percent on Friday, in line with the broader market.

Airline travelers had few alternatives with Amtrak also planning to scale back Northeast rail service on Saturday and halt it completely on Sunday.

New York, Philadelphia and New Jersey rapid transit systems planned to close for the weekend.— Reuters

News

in brief

Shell opens Nigeria plant after closure LAGOS: Royal Dutch Shell PLC says it has reopened a natural gas plant after isolating the leakage point of a damaged pipeline in Nigeria’s oil-rich southern delta.

A Shell spokesman said in a statement Friday its Nigerian subsidiary had resumed operations at the plant that provides gas for Nigeria’s power grid.

Spokesman Tony Okonedo said the company is now repairing the leakage point and investigating the source of the damage.

Greece to develop huge solar plant ATHENS: Wracked by debt but blessed with abundant sunshine, Greece plans to develop some 20,000 hectares of solar power parks in a bid to export renewable energy to Germany, a report said yesterday. Top-selling Ta Nea daily said the project, which has a tentative budget of 20 billion euros ($29 billion), could create 60,000 jobs at a time when Greece is battling a deep recession and record unemployment figures. Germany is looking for alternative energy sources after chancellor Angela Merkel’s government decided to shut down all 17 of the country’s nuclear reactors over 11 years, following the disaster at the Fukushima plant in Japan in March.

Peru 2012 budget to expand 5% more LIMA: Peru’s new leftist government plans to expand the budget by 5 percent next year and it remains cautious about possible fallout from a global crisis, Finance Minister Luis Castilla said late on Friday.

President Ollanta Humala, who took office a month ago, will present Congress in the coming days with a proposed budget of 95.54 billion soles (about $35 billion). Humala has vowed to ensure Peru’s poor benefit more from a booming economy. “This budget has been drafted carefully, it is a cautious budget given the imminence of an external shock or crisis, but at the same time it will allow us to make progress on the promises we’ve made,” Castilla told a news conference. The government’s 2012 budget bill contemplates economic growth of at least 6 percent next year and a fiscal surplus of 1 percent of gross domestic product.

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BUSINESS

Leading power: The new BMW M5 World’s most sportiest saloon coming to Mideast ABU DHABI: This November sees the fifth generation of the world’s most successful highperformance saloon arrive in the Middle East region. The new BMW M5 combines compelling track per formance with the comprehensive practicality of a luxurious business saloon.

7000rpm and a maximum of 680 Nm of torque from 1500rpm.

The result is a lag-free power delivery giving typical M car thrust whilst delivering a significantly improved balance between performance and fuel consumption. The new BMW M5 is capable of accelerating to 100

km/h in 4.4 seconds. Top speed is limited to 250 km/h, but can be raised to 305 km/h with the M Driver’s Package. Thanks to use of extensive Efficient Dynamics technology, including Auto Start-Stop and Brake Energy Regeneration, fuel consumption is cut by more than 30

per cent when compared to the previous model.

The new BMW M5 has outstandingly agile handling thanks to its innovative rear axle differential with Active M Differential lock, which enables a fully variable distribution of power between the rear wheels.

Individually configured set-ups for the car can be chosen by the driver via the M Drive buttons on the steering wheel - changes can be made to the accelerator response, gearbox response, DSC modes, Dynamic Damper Control and information in the Head-Up Display.

Exterior styling cues of the new BMW M5 feature familiar M aesthetics, which reflects the car’s extremely dynamic, yet precisely controllable nature.

The front bumper has large air intakes to feed the engine and

The new BMW M5 is an exceptionally dynamic high-performance sports car with four doors and five seats, a further development of the concept originally initiated in 1984 with the first generation BMW M5.

It features the world premiere of a newly developed BMW M high-performance, high-revving, 4.4-litre V8 engine with an M Twin Power Turbo package. With twin-turbo technology, direct petrol injection and fully variable valve control, the V8 engine produces 560 hp from 6000-

cool the brakes, the athletically flared wheel arches emphasize the wide track and the aerodynamically optimized rear bumper features a diffuser between the two pairs of twin exhausts. The side view is dominated by the unique doublespoke 19-inch M light-alloy wheels.

A luxurious ambience exists within the sports car cockpit of the new BMW M5’s interior. The M sports seats are upholstered in Merino leather, and the cabin features a BMW Individual roof lining in Anthracite. Four-zone automatic climate control ensures all occupants remain comfortable.

Customers can also give their new BMW M5 the personal touch, since virtually the full range of options for the BMW 5 Series Saloon are available including a host of driver assistance systems and mobility services from BMW ConnectedDrive.

Commenting on the upcoming launch of the new model, Joerg Breuer, Managing Director, BMW Group Middle East said: “The number of customers who choose to purchase a BMW M model still continues to grow. However, driving a car boasting the M logo remains an exclusive experience. The new BMW M5 is a very different car from its predecessor in terms of design, comfort, technology and engineering, so we are confident that it’s going to be well received.”

Jazeera Airways launches gift vouchers Give your loved ones perfect gift this Eid KUWAIT: Give your loved ones the perfect gift this Eid, give them a brand new gift voucher for travel on board Jazeera Air ways to any of its destinations.

Available only on jazeeraairways.com and in the amounts of KD15, KD25, K50 and KD100, the gift voucher is also redeemable on jazeeraair ways.com towards any destination on the airline’s network.

With the launch of this new service Jazeera Airways became the only airline in the M iddle East to provide gif t vouchers online, another first for the award-winning airline. Benefits of purchasing an online voucher include email delivery of the voucher and the ability to directly redeem the voucher through Jazeera Airways call center and desks.

Jazeera Airways CEO Stefan Pichler said, “Jazeera Airways gift vouchers are a great gift for any occasion and a new

and exciting idea to surprise your loved ones. Recipients can choose from 17 destinations in the region for a weekend getaway or a vacation to one of the

for the payment of new bookings, for settling existing bookings, as well as upgrading existing bookings.

The new service follows a series of value-bolstering service enhancements introduced by the airline since September 2010 that included free baggage allowance of 40 kilograms for all customers, free on-board meals in Economy Class and an ‘‡ la carte’ menu for Business Class guests.

Jazeera Airways offers some of the Middle East’s best value -for-money fares for Economy Class and for Business Class travel. Jazeera Airways’ Business Class offering includes a separate cabin for passengers, exclusive check-in counters, and Business lounge access at airports.

Jazeera Airways is an IATA-member airline and operates one of the youngest Airbus A320 fleets across the Middle East and North Africa.

culture-rich cities, all at convenient frequencies and schedules.”

Jazeera Airways gift vouchers are valid for a full year, and can be applied

Mohammed Al-Nusif, GM - Corporate & Business Services

Qualitynet offers another cloud based solution KUWAIT: Qualitynet, Kuwait’s No 1 Internet and Data S er vices Provider announced the launch of Qualitynet Communication Services (QCS), a highly customizable and enterprise-class telephony solution that caters to the requirements of Small & Medium Businesses and Projects. The service is based on Qualitynet’s cloud similar to services provided by Google, Microsoft, and other global technology leaders.

Mohammed Al-Nusif, GM - Corporate & Business Services said “Qualitynet is always at the forefront of providing advanced and viable Telecom and Internet services. In our pursuit to maintain our position as the technology leader and elevate service levels provided to professionals and business owners, we develop cost effective solutions that help improve operational effectiveness while bringing to your table state-of-the-art technological solutions. QCS is such a service that brings you the latest technology at affordable costs while maximizing your efficiency and quality of work.”

He added that QCS is so much more than a simple telephony service. It lets you seamlessly connect between your Head office and Branches, and provides a range of services such as fax, voicemail, phone - email integration, conference calling, call forwarding, text messaging and so on.QCS is a customizable solution that best caters to the needs of small offices, home offices, small & medium businesses and organizations with multiple branches. Businesses that rely heavily on telephony related services also stand to benefit a great deal.

“With QCS, enterprises will enjoy highly advanced features at affordable costs. The solution being cloud based means there is no hefty investment on the client’s side, directly translating into a huge cost savings. Qualitynet also completely manages the entire setup and support of the service, thereby liberating you from IT related hassles. Our flexibility in offering solutions over multiple mediums and our easily scalable solutions also mean lesser costs over time,” said Mohammed. “By working with a single provider for all your requirements, it allows you to save time, effort and money, currently spent on dealing with multiple vendors for many different requirements. Qualitynet is your single point provider for all your IT, Telecom & Internet solutions, and this one-stop-shop service approach ensures minimal costs, saves time and a provides a hassle-free experience. We always have the customer in our mind.”

EXCHANGE RATES Commercial Bank of Kuwait US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian Dollar Australian DLR Indian rupees Sri Lanka Rupee UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi riyals Omani riyals Philippine peso Egyptian pounds US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian dollars Danish Kroner Swedish Kroner Australian dlr Hong Kong dlr Singapore dlr Japanese yen Indian Rs/KD Sri Lanka rupee Pakistan rupee Bangladesh taka UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi Riyal/KD Omani riyals Philippine Peso

.2700000 .4430000 .3900000 .3390000 .2730000 .2820000 .0040000 .0020000 .0737510 .7185380 .3810000 .0700000 .7043940 .0040000 .0430000

.2760000 .4580000 .4000000 .3510000 .2830000 .2910000 .0072500 .0035000 .0744930 .7257590 .4010000 .0760000 .7114730 .0072000 .0530000

CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES .2716500 .2737500 .4452480 .4486900 .3922490 .3952810 .3415050 .3441450 .2754930 .2776230 .0526490 .0530560 .0429890 .0433210 .2843900 .2865890 .0348470 .0351160 .2247080 .2264460 .0035200 .0035480 .0000000 .0059840 .0000000 .0024980 .0000000 .0031650 .0000000 .0037450 .0739890 .0745610 .7208440 .7264160 .0000000 .3871990 .0724590 .0730190 .7058590 .7113160 .0000000 .0064790

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht Irani Riyal - Transfer Irani Riyal - Cash

ASIAN COUNTRIES 3.582 5.947 3.131 2.478 3.720 226.110 35.018 3.645 6.423 9.407 0.271 0.273

GCC COUNTRIES 72.829 75.041 709.370 725.390 74.367

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

Egyptian Pound - Cash Egyptian Pound - Transfer Yemen Riyal Tunisian Dinar Jordanian Dinar Lebanese Lira Syrian Lier Morocco Dirham

ARAB COUNTRIES 47.000 45.719 1.250 201.330 385.670 183.200 5.896 35.226

EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 273.000 Euro 394.760 Sterling Pound 451.540 Canadian dollar 278.150 Turkish lire 152.770 Swiss Franc 349.780 Australian dollar 284.550 US Dollar Buying 271.800 GOLD 337.000 171.000 88.000

20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

SELL CASH 292.700 725.820 3.830 281.400 536.100 36.300 53.500 167.800 46.780 399.700 35.680 6.270 0.033 0.239 0.237 3.650 387.190 0.185 94.010 47.100 4.200

233.600 1.851 51.000 708.860 3.240 6.590 75.500 72.870 227.700 40.590 2.613 451.500 43.200 347.800 5.600 9.490 198.263 74.410 273.300 1.210

232.100 708.680 3.150 6.440 75.070 72.870 227.700 40.590 2.477 449.500 346.300 5.600 9.310 74.310 272.900

GOLD 1,789.990

10 Tola

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 449.500 272.900

Sterling Pound US Dollar

UAE Exchange Centre WLL

Bahrain Exchange Company COUNTRY Australian dollar Bahraini dinar Bangladeshi taka Canadian dollar Cyprus pound Czek koruna Danish krone Deutsche Mark Egyptian pound Euro Cash Hongkong dollar Indian rupees Indonesia Iranian tuman Iraqi dinar Japanese yen Jordanian dinar Lebanese pound Malaysian ringgit Morocco dirham Nepalese Rupees

New Zealand dollar Nigeria Norwegian krone Omani Riyal Pakistani rupees Philippine peso Qatari riyal Saudi riyal Singapore dollar South Africa Sri Lankan rupees Sterling pound Swedish krona Swiss franc Syrian pound Thai bhat Tunisian dollar UAE dirham U.S. dollars Yemeni Riyal

SELL DRAFT 291.200 725.820 3.660 279.900

227.700 45.832 398.200 35.530 5.920 0.033

385.720 0.184 94.010 3.720

Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Euro Sterling Pound Japanese Yen Bangladesh Taka Indian Rupee Sri Lankan Rupee Nepali Rupee Pakistani Rupee UAE Dirhams Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Jordanian Dinar Omani Riyal Qatari Riyal Saudi Riyal

292.84 282.43 343.80 398.79 449.71 3.62 3.662 5.919 2.482 3.716 3.164 74.27 725.77 45.83 388.19 709.12 75.24 72.85

Selling Rate 272.800 277.950 448.075 396.750 343.345

723.285 74.250 74.880 72.710 383.990 45.650 2.477 5.935 3.147 3.650 6.413 669.144 3.635 9.190 5.745 3.780 90.615

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co. Currency US Dollar Pak Rupees Indian Rupees Sri Lankan Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso UAE Dirhams Saudi Riyals Bahraini Dinars Egyptian Pounds Pound Sterling Indonesian Rupiah Nepali rupee Yemeni Riyal Jordanian Dinars Syrian Pounds Euro Canadian Dollars

Rate per 1000 (Tran) 272.800 3.150 5.985 2.495 3.655 6.475 74.375 72.895 725.300 45.640 455.300 0.00003280 3.910 1.550 387.600 5.750 397.800 281.800

Al Mulla Exchange

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd Rate for Transfer US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank

Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupees Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit

Currency US Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar Japanese Yen Indian Rupee Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupee Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso Pakistan Rupee Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal *Rates are subject to change

Transfer Rate (Per 1000) 272.400 398.000 449.000 279.000 3.580 5.923 45.825 2.477 3.650 6.410 3.140 725.400 74.225 72.750

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Fanning financial crisis: Has regulation gone wrong?

By Theo Vermaelen Far from being the classic “risk management tool”, government bonds today are beginning to look like toxic assets. And bailing out the governments issuing these bonds is tantamount to bailing out the banks... yet again.

European taxpayers are asked to bail out Greece and other southern European countries to avoid a financial meltdown. The logic is that most Greek and other government debt are held by banks, so if we let these countries default the banks will default, so we are back to November 2008. The recent collapse in European bank stocks suggests that markets increasingly believe that German, Dutch and Finnish voters won’t agree to this second bank bailout in three years.

European banks are sitting on a mountain of government debt. One has to ask the obvious question: why have European banks bought so many government bonds? The purpose of a corporation is to issue equi-

ty to investors to invest in projects that investors cannot invest in on their own. So a bank does not create shareholder value by using shareholder funds to buy Greek bonds as these shareholders can buy these bonds directly. Actually, if a bank pays higher corporate taxes on interest from government bonds than the investor, these types of indirect investments in government bonds are not tax-efficient.

Regulators force banks to have a minimum Tier 1 capital ratio. This ratio is defined as the ratio of book value of equity divided by risk weighted assets (RWA). Banks are pretty good in meeting this regulatory requirement. What is remarkable is the stability of this ratio, which hovers between 8 per cent and 9 per cent during the year. Based on this ratio, one gets the impression there was no financial crisis in 2008.

However, market-based leverage ratios and credit default swap rates increased dramatically during this period and reflect the reality that everyone knows: there was indeed a

Management traps and how to avoid them Bayt.com report Much has been written about the secrets of good management and few will argue that the best managers are inspired, visionary, dedicated, industrious, energetic, energizing and display integrity, leadership, common sense and courage. So where is it that managers commonly fail or falter and lose their precious foothold on the corporation’s top rungs? The following, from the career experts at the Middle East’s #1 job site bayt.com, are ten of the most basic management traps and tips to avoid them: 1- Weak managers set weak goals As a manager your role is to get specific jobs completed by employees in the most optimal, efficient and innovative manner and in order to do that, you need to set clear objectives. Successful managers set SMART goals - goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-based. They are able to communicate these goals clearly, simply and concisely to their employees so that none are vague or uncertain about expectations. By all means reach for the stars in your objectives but to do so without supplying employees with the training, resources, flexibility and freedom they need to accomplish their goals and a schedule of regular supervision and feedback is to set them (and yourself) up for failure.

2- Weak managers micro-manage effective leaders inspire The days of command and control organizations are long over today’s managers recognize that in order to leverage their skills and maximize their team’s output they need to adopt a flexible approach and ‘lead’ their teams to excellence rather than closely supervise, instruct and control them. The best leaders communicate to their employees a vision and ignite in them the fire, motivation and desire to work towards making this vision a reality. Good leaders unleash their employees to innovate and achieve optimal solutions by communicating top-level goals and objectives and a suggested blueprint for success then leaving the employees to determine how to get there most optimally while ensuring they have the aptitudes, training, resources and work environment necessary to achieve superior results. While a program of regular feedback and supervision is essential, managers should ensure that their management style is not repressive, meddling or overly overbearing. The golden rule is to communicate the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ of the work that needs to be done and leave the employees to determine the ‘how’ without burdening them with strict instruction manuals or prescribed rules and patterns that are largely redundant and inconducive to speed, creativity, progress and innovation.

3- Weak managers are afraid of hiring/cultivating strong leaders Strong leaders/managers have the self-confidence to hire the best people, take them to new levels and cultivate in them all the qualities needed to make them in turn effective leaders of the future.

Weak leaders replicate themselves in their hiring decisions and hire mediocre players, mistakenly believing that an employee with more skills, acumen or industry knowledge than themselves will ultimately undermine them or make them look bad. The best managers are characterized by an ability to stimulate their employees to superior performance and through coaching, training, feedback as well as by example, inspire in them all the qualities needed to make effective managers. A good manager helps employees achieve their full potential and constantly raises the bar so that employees never stop learning, innovating and growing. Coaching, training, career planning and programs for ongoing growth and development of key staff are high on the priority lists of the best managers.

4- Weak managers belittle their employees Bosses who favor the archaic ‘tough’ management style where employees are singled out for public reprimand and negative feedback is plentiful while recognition and positive reinforcement are scarce will fail to win the loyalty, respect and commitment of their teams over the long run. Without an inspired, fired up, self-confident employee base these managers set themselves and their teams up for failure. Effective leaders by contrast, respect their employees and give them regular feedback with intelligent constructive criticism and loudly laud special accomplishments in both public and private, while communicating any negative feedback ONLY in private and focusing such criticism strictly on the job performance, not the person’s character. Strong leaders recognize and reward a job well done.

These leaders inspire their teams to perform at their best and are able to elicit from them a high degree of loyalty and a ‘hunger’ to raise the bar and continuously excel.

5- Weak managers have poor communication skills Good communication includes cultivating and maintaining open channels of communication with the team and others in the organization, giving constructive, intelligent feedback, eliciting ideas through brainstorming sessions or otherwise, articulating the company vision and mission in no uncertain terms, setting clear objectives and listening attentively with an open-mind to employees grievances, suggestions and any other issues. Effective leaders have an open-door policy that welcomes input, suggestions and feedback from employees and recognize that good ideas and the next best idea/process/innovation can come from anywhere. Strong leaders listen; weak leaders talk. Strong leaders pay attention to their employees and encourage them to express professional opinions and ask for more responsibility; weak leaders think they are above such open-door policies. Employees who are not listened to and are not made to feel important or respected as professionals or individuals are unlikely to innovate or express any exciting new ideas that can move a company forward.

financial crisis in 2008.

Capital regulation based on Tier 1 ratios is ineffective. If regulators want to regulate the capital structure of banks, they should encourage banks to manage capital ratios based on market values, not book values. If that was the case today, banks would be busy issuing equity rather than sitting on the sidelines hoping for a bailout that may never happen.

How do banks manage to keep this ratio so stable? The RWA can be lowered by selling risky loans and buying government bonds. Actually, risk management manuals consider government bonds as a “risk management tool”. European bank capital requirements treat all euro-zone sovereign debt as risk-free. In contrast to US regulators, European regulators ignore credit ratings of EU bonds. The July 2011 European bank stress tests assumed that government bonds issued by EU members are risk-free, including Greek junk bonds that were trading at large discounts from nominal value.

This contempt for markets and

rating agencies is obviously politically driven: European politicians want to promote a united Europe where economic convergence is the rule where there is no room for two-tier sovereign debt. The result, however, is that investors were given the impression that the EU will bail out countries when they get into trouble.

These encouraged European banks to invest in Greek bonds, even if their credit spreads were only a few basis points higher than government bonds issued by other EU members.

The current disappointment of investors that such a bailout may not happen is understandable: the behavior of regulators implicitly assumed that such a bailout was more or less guaranteed.

The numerator of the capital ratio, the book value of equity, requires increasing profits, lowering payouts or convincing shareholders to put in more capital. The obvious way to manipulate the denominator is to avoid realizing losses. Hanging on to bad investments explains why the book value of a bank’s equity

significantly overstates its market value. Banks hang on to bad investments, similar to individuals with extreme loss aversion: they believe they have not lost any money as long as they have not sold the asset.

The behavior of the banks is explained by the desire to manipulate their book value-based capital ratios.

So we are now facing a surrealistic scenario: in order to meet regulatory requirements, banks have invested in and are holding on to Greek, Portuguese, Spanish and Italian bonds. Now that these investments have gone sour, tax payers are again asked to bail out the banks indirectly by bailing out these governments. Note the contrast with the previous crisis which was blamed on the greed of bonus-driven bankers who invested in excessively risky investments that were too complicated to understand. This time the trouble comes from being too risk averse: investing in plain vanilla government bonds that are considered safe because regulators

declared they are safe. So this crisis is not a result of greed or a failure of capitalism. This crisis is the result of failure of government, in particular regulators. The obsession with “stable” accounting-based capital ratios turns out to be a major source of market instability.

It seems the real problem we have today is governments living beyond their means. Banks buying distressed government bonds appears to be a move to satisfy regulators and help governments stay solvent, but in fact this only encourages government profligacy.

But perhaps there is some hope for change: increasingly voters start worrying about government debt, because they realize that eventually they or their children will have to repay this debt through higher future taxes. Something good may come out of this crisis after all: the nail in the coffin of the theory that government borrowing and spending creates wealth. — Theo Vermaelen is Professor of Finance at INSEAD Business School.

The Green Sheikh reveals all in exclusive interview Ford Grants appoints Sheikh Al-Nuaimi as program ambassador DUBAI: Green Sheikh: “Ramadan is a time to break bad habits and reinforce good ones. Before the Holy Month ends, make a new resolution that will positively impact the environment”.

Q: Can you tell us what inspired your appointment as Ford Grants Ambassador?

I was approached by Ford Grants to become an Ambassador because both the program and myself share many similarities in our approach. Like me, the Ford Conservation and Environmental Grants program is primarily concerned with liaising with communities, and focusing on grass-roots level projects and initiatives to protect and conserve our environment. I am looking forward to engaging with people from all walks of life through the Ford Grants program - I’m particularly looking forward to meeting young people through the Grants’ activities and encouraging them to participate in the growing green ‘scene’ in the region. The Grants program and I also share similar values in the sense that we are interactive and accessible. Any individual or non-profit group with an ongoing environmental project is welcome to apply. Ultimately, the Ford Grants aims to positively influence and inspire people to environmental awareness and conservation action. It’s a pleasure to be involved.

Q: You have been very forthcoming in the past about how Islam is at the route of your environment conservation efforts. Can you elaborate?

In the Quran, Islam’s revealed text, men and women are viewed as Allah’s vicegerents on Earth. Allah created nature in a balance, in Al-mizan, and humankind is accountable to maintain this equilibrium through wise governance and responsible personal conduct.

The three pillars of the Prophet Mohammad’s (PBUH) environmental philosophy are based on the Quran’s teachings and concepts of tawhid (unity), khalifa (stewardship) and amana (trust).

In line with the concept of tawhid, the Prophet acknowledges that God’s knowledge and power covers everything which is why abusing any of his creations (a living being or a natural resource) is considered a sin.

The Quran also describes believ-

ing men and women as those who ‘walk on the Earth in humility’ (25:63). We can take from this verse that Muslims are to protect nature’s many bounties given to them by the Almighty.

Preservation is therefore more than a good policy recommendation - it is a commandment from Allah.

That said however, people of all religions should take time to examine their own faith tradition’s advice for taking care of the Earth that we share.

Together we can tackle the environmental problems that besiege our planet, and make a difference.

Q: How can people apply these principles to during Ramadan?

Firstly, when it comes to Ramadan - I think that more and more people in our region are becoming conscious of the fact that all of the food wastage we see during the Holy Month is itself a violation against the very concept of Ramadan. Article continues below Other than the ample health benefits, fasting teaches Muslims to feel and understand real hunger, and the deprivation and suffering of people less fortunate than ourselves. The Prophet (PBUH) said: “The son of Adam does not fill any vessel worse than his stomach. It is sufficient for the son of Adam to eat a few morsels to keep him alive. If he must fill it, then one-third for his food, onethird for his drink, and one-third for air.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi (2380). In Islam, wasting food is a sin and it is a serious shame when you consider the amount of surplus food that is thrown away by households, restaurants and hotels during the holy month. This food should go to needy people. For example, I am CEO of Al Ihsan Charity Center in Ajman, where we usually provide for more than 60,000 Iftar meals during the month of Ramadan. We also distribute raw food for more than 6,000 families and children for all nationalities, throughout the UAE. There are many other charities in the UAE involved with similar activities which people can support.

I recommend that people do their grocery shopping after Iftar - I think that a lot of families go to the supermarket beforehand, when they are hungry, which

results in buying food that simply isn’t needed. There is also a culture of very extravagant Iftar buffets, which is not Islamic.

Muslims should simplify their diet during the month of fasting, and limit the electricity and gas used for cooking whilst fasting.

Any saved resources, financial or otherwise, can be donated to different charities for the benefit of underprivileged people.

Education, awareness and attitude toward consumptions and compact to use less are the blessing or “barakah” of Ramadan to be thankful and

Q: What are the issues in the region that you would like to see addressed?

I think effective waste management has to remain a priority of governments and private sector partnerships. Recycling facilities need to be improved, as do sewage treatment systems.

We’ve experienced rapid growth in our part of the world, so it is a matter of waste management infrastructure catching up with the requirements that industrialized, populated countries require.

I also feel very passionately

Sheikh Dr Abdul Aziz bin Ali Al-Nuaimi appreciated of the real wealth in our lives.

I especially urge people to rethink their attitude to the environment during Ramadan. For Muslims, Ramadan is a prime time for change, to banish bad habits and replace them with good ones. As the last days of Ramadan 2011 are upon us, people are probably giving thought to how they can implement changes that they have made during Ramadan, more permanent fixtures in their everyday lives. Some people might have resolved to give-up smoking, or take-up charity work, for example. I would urge people to also consider making a resolution that will positively impact our environment; this might be something small such as refusing plastic bags offered at the gas station, or walking instead of taking the car where possible. Alternatively it could be a larger commitment such as volunteering with a local environment society or trying to raise awareness of environmental issues. Every little action will ultimately help.

about the excessive use of lighting in our cities. Our region has a rich and established heritage of astronomy, yet in many Middle Eastern cities light pollution is so severe that you can no longer see the stars, which is a terrible shame.

Q: What are the challenges to environment conservation efforts in the region?

One of the frustrating things about our working for environmental causes in general, not just in our region, is the bureaucracy. The problem is that authorities are often reactive to environmental problems, rather than pro-active to prevent them.

In my work as Ambassador to the Ford Grants program, I have been happy to see the numerous community projects intent on making a difference to raise awareness, conserve or restore local environments. I would love to see this kind of passion, conviction and imagination in the region’s decision-makers.

Q: What is the most memorable project you have been involved with?

Everything I do, I do from a

sense of responsibility first and foremost as a human being on this planet. In my position I am very conscious of the fact that I am a role-model for the region’s youth. So any projects that I have been involved with, where I can see that they are motivated and positively inspired to take action on behalf of our environment, are particularly memorable for me. During my time as Chairman of the Environment Friend Society of the UAE, I feel very fortunate to have witnessed some great projects. The most memorable for me, are the ones which brought people together; uniting public authorities, private sector and civil society behind environmental causes.

Everything I do in my role as ‘ The Green Sheikh’ aims to move people to action.

Regardless of people’s ages, nationalities or religion - I want to see people, government, and private sectors unite to protect resources and preser ve our beautiful planet for future generations to enjoy.

Q: What is your opinion on private sector involvement and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in terms of ‘green’ issues?

The practice of genuine CSR is not so common, which is a shame as corporations in the region, can make a dramatic difference to problems facing the environment. Whether it is implementing recycling facilities or adopting a paper-free office policy, or switching to cutting-edge clean technologies; the private sector can play an important role. I think that all too often CSR is a cynical attempt to promote a company’s agenda. I am very happy to be an Ambassador for the Ford Motor Company Grants, because there is no hidden agenda when it comes to the initiative. I have even mentioned in this interview that people should make a habit of walking where possible, rather than take their cars! I believe very strongly that the grants program initiative is the practice of genuine social responsibility; more than 130 projects from the GCC and the Levant have received $1,100,000 in the 11 years since the grants initiative was established in the region.

Al-Dawli offers its gold, platinum credit cardholders limousine service KUWAIT: Kuwait International Bank (KIB) has launched a special limousine service to its Gold and Platinum credit cardholders to facilitate their transportation to and from the Grand Mosque during the last 10 days of Ramadan. Luxurious limousine cars will be provided by London Club Class specialized in the luxurious transport sought after by special clients.

Tarek Al-Ajlan, KIB’s Marketing Director said: “As the last ten days of Ramadan approach, KIB partnered with London Club Class to provide Gold and Platinum credit cardholders an exclusive limousine service.

This exclusive service can be requested by

calling 22986100 -24 hours ahead of time to specify the pick-up date and time.

“This service outlines our utmost concern about our elite customers and their satisfaction of the quality of our services. At KIB, we are committed to provide our customers with a splendid added value, especially during this Holy month, keen to offer more convenience to all worshippers during the last ten days of Ramadan in a complete spirituality and devoted atmosphere,” added Al-Ajilan KIB is aiming at increasing its client satisfaction level and meet their financial needs and expectations by offering high quality services on various occasions.

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Kuwait equities continue to drop BAYAN WEEKLY MARKET REPORT KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) continued its losses for the third consecutive week, ending last week in the red zone, in light of continued sales transactions that controlled the trading on the one hand, and the reluctance of some traders to deal in the market on the other hand, which led to a decline in market indices to very low levels not seen for several years. The price index ended the week with a decrease amounted to 0.71%, while the weighted index declined by 0.67% compared to the closings of the week before. Moreover, last week’s average daily turnover decreased by 30.92%, compared to the preceding week, whereas trading volume average recorded a decline of 35.29%.

Moreover, the banking sector was one of the most sectors that pressured the market during trading Last week, as most of the selling transactions focused on this leading

sector, which negatively impacted other sectors’ performance and recorded losses by the end of the week.

The market started its first sessions last week with a significant decline for its indices, affected by the leading stocks selloff, in light of the negative performance and the sharp fall by the end of the previous week. However, the market was able to achieve some rise in the next session, boosted by the return of purchasing power to emerge again, which included purchases to previously declined stocks, especially of banking and services sectors.

While the market returned in Tuesday’s session to drop back influenced by the profit taking operations to previously improved stocks; on Wednesday, the market started to go up amid of a slight improvement in some leading stocks’ performance, in spite of the remarkable decline of trading indices,

with special focus on the value that recorded its lowest level in around 9 years.

Nevertheless, the market ended the week with a slight rise supported by some leading stocks, despite the presence of profit taking operations during some periods.

By the end of the week, the price index closed at 5,785.6 points, down by 0.71% from the week before closing, whereas the weighted index recorded a decline of 0.67% after closing at 399.64 points.

Sectors’ Indices All of KSE’s sectors ended last week in the red zone. Last week’s biggest loser was the Food sector, as its index declined by 1.71% to end the week’s activity at 4,053.3 points.

Whereas, in the second place, the Real Estate sector’s index closed at 1,957.5 points recording 1.53% decrease.

The Insurance sector came in third, as its

index closed at 2,574.7 points at a loss of 1.41%. The Services sector was the least declining as its index closed at 13,282.6 points with a 0.19% decrease.

Sectors’ Activity The Services sector dominated total trade volume during last week with 127.39 million shares changing hands, representing 46.48% of the total market trading volume. The Real Estate sector was second in terms trading volume as the sector’s traded shares were 20.44% of last week’s total trading volume, with a total of 56.02 million shares. On the other hand, the Banks sector’s stocks where the highest traded in terms of value; with a turnover of KD 25.42 million or 49.60% of last week’s total market trading value. The Services sector took the second place as the sector ’s last week turnover of KD 15.12 million represented

29.50% of the total market trading value.

Market Capitalization KSE total market capitalization declined by 0.61% during last week to reach KD 28.11 billion, as all of KSE’s sectors recorded a decrease in their respective market capitalization. The Food sector was the most declining as its total market capitalization reached KD 694.33 million, decreasing by 2.43%. The Real Estate sector was the second in terms of recorded decline with 2.08% decrease after the total value of its listed companies reached KD 1.59 billion. The third place was for the Insurance sector, which total market capitalization reached KD 298.72 million by the end of the week, recording a decline of 1.68%. The Banks sector was the least declining with 0.11% recorded decrease after its market capitalization amounted to KD 12.47 billion.

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State dept report favors US-Canada oil pipeline Plan to pipe oil from Alberta to Texas WASHINGTON: A Canadian company’s plan to pipe oil from Alberta to the Texas coast is not likely to cause significant environmental problems during construction or operation, the State Department said Friday in a new report that removes a major roadblock to the 1,700-mile (2,735-kilometer) pipeline.

NEW YORK: Bank of America is close to selling at least half of its 10 percent stake in China Construction Bank, The New York Times and CNBC television reported on Friday.

Bank of America nears sale of CCB stake NEW YORK: Troubled US financial giant Bank of America is close to selling at least half of its 10 percent stake in China Construction Bank, The New York Times and CNBC television reported on Friday.

The bank is in talks with a consortium of potential buyers including Asian sovereign wealth funds and private equity firms like Blackstone and KKR, The New York Times said, citing an unnamed official briefed on the talks.

Under the deal, which could close as early as this weekend, BofA will sell at least half of its stake in CCB, and possibly the whole stake if it can negotiate a satisfactory price, the official told the Times.

Bank of America declined to comment on the reports. Investors welcomed the news. BofA’s stock shot up after the possible sale was first reported by CNBC, closing 1.4 percent higher. CNBC reported that the sale could raise between $8.5 billion to $9 billion for Bank of America, citing an unnamed source familiar with the talks. Such a sale would help Bank of America raise capital at a time when it

has lagged other top US banks in moving toward the stricter Basel III capital requirements imposed by global regulators after the financial crisis.

Bank of America’s share price has slumped in recent weeks as investors have abandoned it amid doubts about the strength of its capital base. It received a big boost on Thursday when billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway said it would invest $5 billion in BofA and strongly endorsed its management team, but BofA shares are still down more than 22 percent from a month ago.

The largest US bank in terms of deposits, BofA has struggled to recover from the 2008 financial meltdown. It posted a $9.1 billion loss for the second quarter, mostly caused by a huge $8.5 settlement to resolve claims stemming from its issuance of mortgage-backed securities that went bad during the crisis.

Lately it has also been buffeted by questions over its exposure to Europe’s sovereign debt crisis. —AFP

The thousand-page report on the proposed $7 billion Keystone XL pipeline says no significant problems have emerged since a similar report was issued last year. Calgary-based TransCanada wants to build a massive pipeline to carry crude oil extracted from tar sands in western Canada to refineries in Texas. The pipeline, which would travel through five states, would double the capacity of an existing pipeline from Canada.

Supporters say it could significantly reduce US dependence on Middle Eastern oil.

The project has become a flashpoint for environmental groups who say the pipeline would bring “dir ty oil” that requires huge amounts of energy to extract and could cause an ecological disaster if there’s a spill. They have urged the Obama administration to block the project as a show of good faith to supporters. Several hun-

dred activists, including actress Margot Kidder and prominent scientists, have been arrested in recent days in protests outside the White House.

TransCanada maintains that the project would create tens of thousands of jobs and would be built to strict environmental standards, including 57 conditions above those required by law. For example, the company has agreed to build the pipeline 4 feet (1.2 meters) below ground,

instead of 3 feet (1 meter), and will allow an increased number of inspections. It also will install a greater number of safety shutoff valves than usual.

The State Department report cites those conditions as among the reasons for its confidence in the project. The State Depar tment repor t does not grant final approval. The department has authority over the project because it crosses an international boundary. —AP

Commodities rise on US growth forecast NEW YORK: Commodities rose broadly on Friday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the economy should improve over time, even though it still needs nearterm help.

In an address at Jackson Hole, Bernanke said the Fed is prepared to use other measures, as needed, to promote economic growth and would meet for two days next month to hold a “fuller discussion.”

He also suggested that Congress needs to do more to promote hiring and growth, or risk delaying the economy’s return to full health.

Bernanke’s comments seemed to encourage investors. Most commodity prices were lower before Bernanke’s speech but finished higher.

Analysts had expected Bernanke to make few, if any, changes from the position outlined earlier this month in which Fed policymakers said they would leave interest rates near zero at least through mid-2013. They also said it was possible they would take other steps,

such as another round of bond purchases, to stimulate growth.

Earlier Friday the government lowered its estimate of second-quarter US economic growth to an annual pace of just 1 percent, below its earlier estimate of 1.3 percent.

Kingsview Financial analyst Matt Zeman said he believes the market already accounted for the slowing economy and the possibility that Bernanke would not unveil any new measures to help growth.

That left investors most of the day to reposition their holdings ahead of the weekend as Hurricane Irene began delivering rain to the East Coast. MF Global senior market strategist Rich Ilczyszyn said he believes investors have to look at each individual commodity market to get an idea of future demand and supplies.

He said the market should remain robust because consumers will still need to buy gasoline and food, and industrial metals will be needed for rebuilding infrastructure.

It was a volatile week for gold trading. Gold for December delivery rose $34.10 to finish at $1,797.30 an ounce after nearly hitting $1,900 an ounce as Monday’s trading ended. In other metals trading, September silver rose 20.7 cents to $40.952 an ounce, September copper increased 2 cents to $4.099 per pound, October platinum rose $4.50 to $1,826.90 an ounce and September palladium increased $5.20 to $756.35 an ounce. Benchmark crude rose 7 cents to end at $85.37 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In other Nymex trading, heating oil rose 2.26 cents to $3.0158 per gallon, gasoline fell 1.57 cents to finish at $2.786 per gallon and natural gas increased 0.6 cent to $3.912 per 1,000 cubic feet.

December wheat rose 9.25 cents to finish at $7.97 a bushel, December corn increased 23.5 cents to $7.67 a bushel and November soybeans rose 30.75 cents to $14.235 a bushel. —AP

Fiat to build Maseratis in Turin

SEOUL: South Korean workers stage a rally against government’s labor policy near National Assembly in Seoul yesterday. About 10,000 Korean Financial Industry Union and Public Union members demanded wage hikes and better working conditions. —AP

Obama talks finance with new IMF chief Lagarde VINEYARD HAVEN, Massachusetts: US President Barack Obama discussed global finance with IMF chief Christine Lagarde on Friday in their first conversation since she was appointed head of the world lender. “The president congratulated Madame Lagarde on her new role and reinforced the importance of close cooperation between the United States and the IMF,” the White House said in a statement describing the phone call.

“The president and the (IMF) managing director agreed on the need for policies that foster growth and job creation in the near term, while securing medi-

um-term fiscal consolidation,” it said.

“They also concurred on the importance of rebalancing global demand towards emerging markets.” Obama had earlier cut short his summer vacation in Massachusetts to keep an eye on Hurricane Irene, a Category Two storm set to shear the US east coast over the weekend.

Lagarde took over as head of the International Monetary Fund in July after her predecessor, Dominique StraussKahn, resigned in May to battle sexual assault charges in New York, of which he was cleared earlier this week. —AFP

MILAN: Fiat SpA, which controls Chrysler, has confirmed plans to invest euro 500 million ($720 million) to build Maseratis in a plant near Turin.

Fiat confirmed the investment in the plant, which formerly made Bertone cars, in a statement Friday after receiving guarantees that the government will pass a law favoring investments that are backed by unions. Fiat has been negotiating with unions plant-byplant to introduce more flexible work rules it says are necessary to guarantee production.

Similar deals have been reached at the Mirafiori and Pomigliano plants.

The automaker has announced plans to invest euro 20 billion in Italian plants with the goal of producing 6 million vehicles a year by 2014 in its partnership with Chrysler. —AP

HONG KONG: Buildings are reflected on each other in downtown Hong Kong yesterday. Property prices in Hong Kong, famous for its sky-high rent, have surged over the past couple of years due to record low interest rates and a flood of wealthy buyers from mainland China.—AFP

Dollar weakens after Bernanke speech NEW YORK: The dollar turned lower late Friday, erasing gains it made earlier after a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. The dollar initially rose on Friday morning against other major currencies after Bernanke didn’t offer any new plans to boost the economy. Bernanke, who spoke at an annual economics conference in Jackson Hole, did hint that Congress may need to act to

stimulate hiring and growth.

But the dollar quickly retreated as investors began to interpret the speech to mean Bernanke will hold off on announcing any additional stimulus plans until September or November, said Kathy Lien, director of currency research at GFT. In late trading, the euro rose to $1.4484 from $1.4368 late Thursday.

It had fallen as low as $1.4328 in

early trading. The British pound rose to $1.6335 from $1.6281. Fears of another recession increased Friday after the US said economic growth was slower than previously projected.

The Commerce Department said the US economy grew at a 1 percent annual pace this spring, below the 1.3 percent pace previously estimated.

In other trading Friday, the dollar fell to 76.66 Japanese yen from 77.55 Japanese yen and it fell to 98.51 Canadian cents from 98.82 Canadian cents. It rose to 0.8078 Swiss franc from 0.7939 Swiss franc.

The dollar was mostly lower against other currencies around the world, including those in Australia, South Korea, Singapore and Latin America. —AP

US tobacco crop rises, but down from a decade ago SHELBYVILLE, Kentucky: It’s harvest time in much of America’s tobacco patches and this year’s harvest is expected to be among the smallest in at least a decade.

Farmers are expected to produce 726 million pounds (329 million kilograms) of tobacco, the US Department of Agriculture said.

That’s up 1 percent from 2010, but down nearly 28 percent from a decade ago when more than 991 million pounds (449.5 million kilograms) made its way into cigarettes and other products.

Tax hikes, bans, health concerns and social stigma have driven a decline in cigarette sales, but the drop is less stark outside the US. Growing markets like Asia are offsetting worldwide declines and contributing greatly to US exports.

Gene Witt’s 46th tobacco crop might be his last in a part of the country where the “golden leaf” was once an economic mainstay. The crop that helped build much of the South and was once celebrated at festivals now seems more a vestige of the past.

The third-generation tobacco farmer was upbeat about the

prospects for his long, green tobacco leaves hanging in a barn to cure for the fall market. A timely rain the night before promised to sprout more growth in the crop still to be harvested. But the 62-year-old Witt said he’s increasingly worn down by the unpredictability of tobacco farming - from the weather to the tobacco companies that sign up farmers under production contracts to supply them with leaf. The companies can pick and choose what part of a crop they want to buy at market.

“It used to be fun and you made some money,” Witt said. “You’re not making as much money now and it’s not as fun.” US tobacco production has fallen sharply since the 2004 tobacco buyout, which ushered in a free-market system to replace a Depression-era price support program. The venerable program was reeling from steep declines in tobacco demand due to anti-smoking efforts. Some tobacco companies also have set their sights on crops overseas, where tobacco can often be grown less expensively.

In Kentucky, the top US producer

of burley tobacco - an ingredient in many cigarettes - farmers are expected to bring 126 million pounds (57 million kilograms) to market, down about 11 percent from last year and down nearly 43 percent from 10 years ago.

Agriculture officials expect Tennessee tobacco farmers to produce about 54 million pounds (24.5 million kilograms) this season, up more than 18 percent from last year. Tennessee is the nation’s No 2producer of burley, but farmers there also grow fire-cured tobacco used in pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco and snuff.

Paul Denton, professor of plant sciences at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, said the Tennessee yields might turn out to be disappointing, though, as very dry conditions have hurt fields in the north-central part of the state centered on Macon County.

“I think our yield may slip from what USDA estimated and we may be below it,” he said.

Still, the crop is expected to top last year’s yield. “We had a pretty rough year last year,” Denton said. “I

think we’ll have a better yield this year.” Meanwhile, US growers of a lighter variation of the golden leaf called flue-cured tobacco in areas like North Carolina and Virginia are forecast to produce more than 465 million pounds (211 million kilograms), up about 3 percent from last year.

Increases in flue-cured tobacco production are due to a new purchaser, US Growers Direct, said David Reed from Virginia Tech’s Southern Piedmont Agricultural Research and Extension Center. The North Carolina-based company, which contracts with farmers and exports products overseas, would not say which tobacco companies it was working with for its purchases.

Reed and others said the tobacco is headed for the Asian cigarette market and exports have played a big role for US tobacco farmers.

However, the upcoming selling season could be crucial in determining how many farmers sign up with tobacco companies to grow another crop next year, said University of Kentucky agricultural economist Will Snell. Decrease in demand has caused some tobacco farmers not to

put much or any money into rehabbing old tobacco barns used to hang and dry their crop - another example of the dwindling industry.

And with grain prices high, some farmers might opt to get out of costly tobacco growing and convert that land into corn or soybean production. Others might turn tobacco plots into pastures for beef cattle.

“Growers just can’t sustain,” Reed said about the costs and uncertainty of being a tobacco farmer. “You just can’t keep doing that.”

Farmers contract with tobacco companies, which then come to local receiving stations to grade and purchase leaf. But how much they buy depends on the quality. In the US, the largest tobacco manufacturers include Richmond, Virginiabased Altria Group Inc., parent company of Marlboro maker Philip Morris USA; Reynolds American Inc., the Winston-Salem, North Carolina, producer of Camel and Pall Mall cigarettes; and Newport cigarette maker Lorillard Inc, based in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Witt has a production contract with Philip Morris International Inc., the maker of Marlboro and other

cigarette brands for the overseas market. Last year, Witt averaged $1.62 a pound for his tobacco, enabling him to eke out a profit. The year before, he averaged $1.79 to $1.82 a pound. Last year’s Kentucky burley crop was hurt by a drought during the curing season that made the leaf less desirable among tobacco companies. Many farmers last year had at least a part of their crop rejected by their contract buyers, and some growers had big chunks of their crops turned away by the tobacco companies. That leaf ends up at auction, selling for much less than it cost to produce.

“Used to be, when you took your tobacco to market, you were happy to go get your check,” Witt said. “Last year, your stomach rolled over because when you took it down there, you didn’t know if they were going to take it or not.” When asked how much longer he’ll keep growing tobacco, Witt replied, “Maybe not too much longer.” Witt has a full-time job as the chief deputy with the Shelby County sheriff ’s office. He also raises cattle and might opt to increase his herd. —AP

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SUNDAY, AUGUST 28, 2011

BUSINESS

Stocks eye perfect storm of Irene and jobs WALL STREET WEEKLY OUTLOOK NEW YORK: US stocks are setting up for another turbulent week that will begin with a focus, oddly enough, on the weather. Traders juggling European debt worries and soft economic data are now staring at satellite images, tracking the path of Hurricane Irene, expected to hit New York over the weekend.

The unusually large storm trave l e d u p t h e U S E a s t Co a s t o n Fr iday, threatening 55 million p e o p l e, a n d w a s e x p e c te d to cause billions of dollars in property damage. Major US exchanges are preparing to deal with power outages and flooding, and that could affect trading on Monday.

For now at least, the NYSE and Nasdaq expec t to be open for trading as usual on Monday morning. The Big Board said a final decision will be made Saturday or Sunday, particularly on its trading floor in the low-lying financial district of Manhattan, which could see a storm surge and flooding.

One senior trader at a proprietar y trading firm in New York said Friday that Hurricane Irene had destroyed any chance of a rally that had looked likely, given the extent of short positions that had been building in equity markets.

“If this hurricane is a disaster, my guess is we are going to be

down 30-40 handles on Monday,” he said. Property insurers Allstate and Travelers hit two-year intraday lows on Friday, partly on worries over claims due to the hurricane. “ We intend to be open, but Mother Nature may have other plans,” said Lou Pastina, executive vice president of NYSE operations. After that, the focus may shift from the Federal Reserve’s economic outlook to the August payrolls report next Friday.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, in a much anticipated address to central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, said most of the burden for ensuring a solid foundation for long-term growth lay at the feet of the White House and the US Congress.

US President Barack Obama is expected to detail plans to create jobs after he returns from vacation the week after next. Investors will have a few days to position themselves ahead of Obama’s speech, with the key payrolls report for August due Friday.

“This was clearly a punt from Bernanke to Obama, who will announce a jobs initiative soon,” said Lance Rober ts, CEO of Streettalk Advisors, an investment management firm in Houston.

“The market thinks we may now get stimulus from the government.”

Fed moves since financial crisis The Federal Reserve has taken many unprecedented steps in the past three years to try to boost the economy and counter the effects of a financial crisis that triggered a painful recession. It’s kept the short-term interest rate it controls at a record low near zero since December 2008.

And it’s bought about $2 trillion in US Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities to try to hold down longerterm rates. That’s caused the Fed’s portfolio of securities to balloon to nearly $2.9 trillion, from less than $1 trillion in 2007.

Some steps the Fed has taken Dec. 15-16, 2008: The Fed creates a target range for interest rates and cuts its key federal funds rate to between zero and 0.25 percent. That’s a record low. The Fed vows to use all the tools it has to rescue the economy from the worst financial crisis and recession since the 1930s.

Jan. 27-28-2009: The central bank signals it’s prepared to buy longer-term Treasuries and expand other programs.

March 17-18, 2009: The Fed says it will start buying up to $300 billion in government bonds over six months. It also decides to boost purchases of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage-backed securities and debt. The actions are aimed at driving down rates on mortgages and other debt.

Sept. 22-23, 2009: The Fed slows a mortgage-buying program to complete its purchases by March 31, 2010, instead of at the end of 2009.

Aug. 10, 2010: It decides to use some money generated by its mortgage portfolio to buy government debt, to try to lower rates on mortgages and other loans.

Aug. 27, 2010: In a speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Chairman Ben Bernanke lists several options to boost the economy, including the purchase of additional government bonds.

Oct. 15, 2010: Bernanke signals the Fed will buy more government bonds to boost the economy, drive down unemployment and protect against deflation.

Nov. 3, 2010: The Fed announces it will buy $600 billion more in Treasury bonds to try to hold down longerterm rates.

June 22, 2011: The Fed confirms it will complete its purchases of $600 billion in Treasury bonds by the end of the month. The purchases were intended to drive down rates on mortgages and other debt.

Aug. 9, 2011: It pledges to keep its benchmark shortterm rate at nearly zero until mid-2013.

It’s the first time the Fed has committed to keeping the rate at that level for a specific period. The pledge reflects its assessment that the economy will remain weak.

Aug. 26, 2011: Bernanke proposes no new steps to boost the economy. But he signals that Congress should do more to promote hiring and growth, or risk delaying the economy’s return to full health. He also says the Fed’s September policy meeting will last two days instead of one, prompting speculation that the Fed might take further steps then. —AP

THE WHITE KNIGHT: TRICHET? In a move opposite to Bernanke’s baton-handing to Washington, some say stocks may

find a white k night in the European Central Bank ’s head Jean-Claude Trichet. Scheduled to speak on a panel at Jackson Hole,

Wyoming, , Trichet could open the door for the ECB to buy more bonds from countries struggling with rising borrowing costs. News earlier this month that the ECB was actively buying government bonds in the secondary market boosted equities by giving some relief to investors worried about the credit and fiscal health of the euro-zone.

“I’m going to see if (Trichet) is standing by that policy or shying away from it,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief portfolio strategist at Wells Fargo Funds Management in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.

“If he stands by it, that could be a positive for the equities markets because it’s going to suggest that if anything, the ECB will try to step in to handle liquidity problems on the European banking system and they don’t have to just rely on the European Union leaders.”

Recent concern over the exposure of some European banks to the declining prices of euro-zone bonds pushed lenders’ shares sharply lower, with an index of European bank stocks closing lower on Friday for a fifth straight week. The long slide has resulted in European bank shares losing more than one-fourth of their market value.

AN UGLY AUGUST August is shaping up as the

worst month for stocks since February 2009, partly on the belief that the economy was headed for a double-dip recession. For the month so far, the Dow Jones industrial average is down 7.1 percent, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index is down 8.9 percent. The Nasdaq Composite Index is down 10 percent, still in correc tion mode. Those losses for August so far threaten to overshadow the bright spot at Friday’s close, when all three indexes ended the day higher and scored their first weekly gains in more than a month.

The payrolls report on Friday is expected to show the US economy created 80,000 jobs this month, according to economists polled by Reuters. In contrast, a total of 117,000 jobs were added to US non-farm payrolls last month.

The US unemployment rate is seen steady at 9.1 percent. Wall Street will have to deal with a torrent of data throughout the week, including personal income and consumption on Monday, S&P/Case-Shiller home prices on Tuesday, factor y orders on Wednesday and the Institute for Supply Management’s factory activity index on Thursday. A Reuters poll forecasts that ISM’s August survey is expected to show factory activity shrank for the first time since the recession. —Reuters

Bernanke to Congress: Do more to stimulate growth Fed holds out prospect of cautious optimism JACKSON HOLE, Wyoming: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has a message for Congress: Do more to stimulate hiring and growth - or risk delaying the economy’s return to full health. Bernanke held out the prospect Friday that the Fed may take further steps later to help the economy. But he offered no new plans for now. At a time when Congress has focused on shrinking budget deficits, Bernanke agreed that doing so is important for the long term. But he warned lawmakers not to “disregard the fragility of the current economic recovery.” Investors had hoped Bernanke would use his much-anticipated speech at an economic conference in Jackson Hole to unveil some aggressive measure to jolt the economy.

He didn’t. But he did say the Fed’s September policy meeting will be extended to two days, instead of the scheduled one, to permit a “fuller discussion” of the central bank’s options.

“He appears to be saying that the Fed has largely played its part and that the politicians need to step up their game,” said Paul Dales, senior US economist at Capital Economics.

Investors seemed to take comfort from Bernanke’s view that the job market and the economy will return to full health in the long run and the notion that the Fed might provide more help in the future. After initial losses, the Dow Jones industrial average closed up 134 points. Broader stock indexes also gained.

Bernanke’s speech came shortly after the government said the economy grew at a scant 1 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter - even slower than previously estimated.

The economy is still hobbled by a depressed housing market, high oil prices and fears that the European debt crisis will deteriorate into a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis. The Dow has lost about 11 percent of its value since late July on fears that the economy might slip back into recession.

On Friday, Bernanke blamed this summer’s political squabbling over raising the federal debt limit for undermining consumer and business confidence. And he warned that further gridlock in Washington would “pose ongoing risks to growth.”

The Fed chief noted that the depressed housing sector has delayed a full recovery in the broader economy. He said the home market should gradually return to health - a process he said the government should support.

In his speech in Jackson Hole a year ago, Bernanke signaled that the Fed would begin a new round of Treasury

bond purchases to try to lower long-term interest rates, spur spending and boost the stock market. His words ignited a 28 percent, eight-month rally in the Dow. This time, Bernanke merely repeated that the Fed “has a range of tools that could be used to provide additional monetary stimulus.”

The most powerful weapon the Fed has left would be a third round of bond

whether any further lowering of longterm rates is needed. Investors seeking the safety of US debt have forced down the yield on the 10-year Treasury note to 2.19 percent - a full point lower than it was when the Fed completed its Treasury purchases about two months ago. Yet the economy is still sputtering.

The Fed also could take more modest steps. It could eliminate interest pay-

JACKSON HOLE: Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke walks past reporters without speaking as he arrives at a morning session of the Economic Policy Symposium at Jackson Hole in Moran on Friday. —AP purchases. Critics, from congressional Republicans to some Fed officials, have raised concerns that the Fed’s Treasury purchases could ignite inflation and speculative buying on Wall Street, while doing little to aid the economy. Bernanke pushed back against that notion in his speech. He said that with oil and other commodity prices easing, he expects long-term inflation to remain low well into 2012.Others have questioned

ments on money that banks keep on deposit at the Fed, encouraging them to make loans instead. Or it could reshuffle its portfolio of investments, replacing shorter-term bonds with longer-term ones to help push down long term interest rates.

Aneta Markowska, senior US economist at Societe Generale, said the extension of the Fed’s September meeting to two days suggests the possibility that it

could unveil a new program soon.

Roberto Perli, a former Fed official who is a managing director at International Strategy & Investment, said Bernanke and other Fed policymakers are waiting to see if the economy improves in the current July-September quarter. John Silvia, chief economist at Wells Fargo, suggested that Bernanke would have to overcome opposition within the Fed to take any further bold steps to lift the economy. Earlier this month, three of the 10 members on the Fed’s policy committee voted against Bernanke’s plan to keep short-term rates near zero through mid-2013.

Because of that rare level of dissent, Silvia doubts that Bernanke could muster support for a third round of Treasury purchases. “When you’re dealing with three dissents,” he said, “it’s hard to have an aggressive policy.” Many economists note, however, that the economy’s main problem is not that interest rates are too high. They say the main problem is that consumer spending remains too weak. So businesses feel little incentive to hire, expand and invest. Until demand for goods and services steps up, the Fed has limited ability to strengthen the economy.

Joshua Shapiro, an economist at MFR Inc., said Bernanke was conceding that the Fed has “basically exhausted its tools.” Rep. Jeb Hensarling, Republican co-chair of a committee charged with proposing further deficit cuts, responded to Bernanke’s hint that Congress should do more to stimulate growth by saying in a statement: “The only way to put an end to this spending-driven debt crisis is for Washington to stop spending money we don’t have. The committee was created to produce real deficit reduction, and accomplishing that task will help bring confidence back to job creators and grow the economy.” —AP

American economy grew at slower 1% rate this spring

NEW YORK: Traders Fred Demarco (left) and Jonathan Corpina (right) work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. World stock markets rose Friday. —AP

WASHINGTON: The US economy grew at a meager 1 percent annual pace this spring, slower than previously estimated. The downward revision will likely increase fears that the economy is at risk of another recession. Fewer exports and weaker growth in business stockpiles led the Commerce Department to lower its estimate for the April-June quarter from its previous rate of 1.3 percent growth. That means the economy expanded only 0.7 percent in the first six months of the year.

Nine of the past 11 recessions since World War II have been preceded by a period of growth of 1 percent or less, economists note. Still, many said the revision hasn’t changed their outlook for the rest of this year. The weaker growth could rattle an already edgy stock market, which has lost 12 percent of its value since July 21.

Stock futures fell after the report was released.

Economists worry this summer’s sell-off on Wall Street could hurt growth in the second half of the year, if consumers and businesses pull back on spending

and investment. High gas and food prices have already eroded consumers’ buying power. Spending increased only 0.4 percent in the April-June period, the weakest growth since the final three months of 2009.

The revision showed spending was a bit higher than the government’s first estimate of 0.1 percent growth. But the increase mostly reflected greater spending on health care, insurance and financial services, the government said.

People bought fewer long-lasting manufactured goods, such as autos and appliances. Those purchases fell 5.1 percent this spring, the biggest drop since the final three months of 2008. That partly reflects a shortage of autos on many dealer lots after the March 11 earthquake in Japan. Consumers spending accounts for 70 percent of growth.

“Consumption still barely had a pulse,” said Tom Porcelli, chief US economist at RBC Capital Markets.

Government spending contracted for the third straight quarter. And spending by state and local gov-

ernments declined for the seventh time in eight quarters. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will deliver a highly-anticipated speech later Friday in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Investors hope he will signal that the Fed will launch a new effort to boost the economy, but analysts don’t expect anything ambitious. The central bank has already cut the benchmark short-term interest rate it controls to nearly zero, and last week pledged to keep it there until mid-2013. But so far lower interest rates haven’t helped: mortgage rates, for example, are already at record lows, and home sales are still falling.

Several dismal economic reports have suggested the economy worsened in the July-September quarter, sending the stock market lower. Manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region contracted in August by the most in more than two years, a survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia found. A Richmond Fed survey released Tuesday and a New York Fed survey last week also pointed to slowdowns in those areas, although not as severe. —AP

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TECHNOLOGY

Google TV to launch in Europe next year Schmidt says Google can be a friend to the TV industry

EMC releases new SBIC report KUWAIT: RSA, The Security Division of EMC released a new report that takes an in-depth look at the seismic shift in the cyber threat landscape, as enterprises are increasingly targeted for corporate espionage and sabotage. The report, the latest in a series from the Security for Business Innovation Council (SBIC), asserts that for most organizations, it’s a matter of when, not if, they will be targeted by advanced threats. In an environment where the focus shifts from the impossible task of preventing intrusion to the crucial task of preventing damage, the report includes instructive guidance from 16 global security leaders for confronting this new class of threat.

The SBIC is a group of the industry’s top security leaders from Global 1000 enterprises that discuss top-of-mind security concerns and how the application of information security can address those concerns and enable business innovation. The recent string of sophisticated cyber attacks - affecting pillars of industry and government - provides the backdrop for the latest report: When Advanced Persistent Threats Go Mainstream: Building Information-Security Strategies to Combat Escalating Threats. Within this landscape, the report reveals that APTs - a menace once confined to the defense industrial base and government agencies - are now targeting a broad range of private sector organizations to nab valuable intellectual property, trade secrets, corporate plans, access to operations and other proprietary data. “It is a very intelligent, wellarmed, and effective foe that is fantastic at what they do,” said Roland Cloutier, Vice President, Chief Security Officer, Automatic Data Processing, Inc. and member of the SBIC. “It’s going to take a new approach in most enterprises to combat it.”

The term APT originated to describe cyber espionage in which a nationstate gains access to a network to, over long periods of time, extract national security data. Today the term APT has broadened as attackers expand their

target lists and nation-states are no longer the only groups deploying these sophisticated techniques. Rather than gain entry through the network perimeter, today’s ambitious attackers prefer to target human vulnerabilities, exploiting end users through social engineering techniques and spear phishing. “Cyber criminals have aggressively shifted their targets and tactics,” said Art Coviello, Executive Chairman, RSA, The Security Division of EMC. “In the never-ending war for control of the network, the battle must be fought on many different fronts. All organizations are part of the greater ecosystem of information exchange and it is everyone’s responsibility to build and protect that exchange.”

This latest report from the SBIC urges organizations to adopt a new security mindset, shifting the concept of success from preventing infiltration to detecting attacks and mitigating damage as quickly as possible. With this in mind, the Council offers seven defensive measures against escalating APT threats: Up-level intelligence gathering and analysis - Make intelligence the cornerstone of your strategy.

Activate smart monitoring - Know what to look for and set up your security and network monitoring to look for it.

Reclaim access control - Rein-in privileged user access.

Get serious about effective user training - Train your user population to recognize social engineering and compel them to take individual responsibility for organizational security.

Manage expectations of executive leadership - Ensure the C-level realizes the nature of combating APTs is fighting a digital arms race.

Rearchitect IT - Move from flat to segregated networks so it’s harder for attackers to roam the network and find the crown jewels.

Participate in intelligence exchange - Leverage knowledge from other organizations by sharing threat intelligence

EDINBURGH: Google Inc will launch its TV service in Europe early next year, Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said on Friday, despite teething problems that had led some observers to question how committed the company would remain to the project. Google TV, which allows viewers to mix Web and television content on a TV screen via a browser, was launched in the United States in October but received mixed reviews and was swiftly blocked by three of the top US broadcast networks.

Large parts of the television industry, like the news and telecoms industries, view Google with suspicion and accuse it of stealing their advertising revenues without contributing to the costs of making programs.

Schmidt sought to allay the fears of Britain’s broadcasting elite in a speech to the Edinburgh television festival, the first time a nonTV executive had been invited to give the keynote MacTaggart lecture at Britain’s premier industry event.

“Some in the US feared we aimed to compete with broadcasters or content creators.

Actually our intent is the opposite,” he told an audience who quickly warmed to his friendly style and liberal compliments to the quality of British television.

“We seek to support the content industry by providing an open platform for the next generation of TV to evolve, the same way Android is an open platform for the next generation of mobile,” he said. “We expect Google TV to launch in Europe early next year, and of course the UK will be among the top priorities.”

Google T V has gained little traction so far in the United States, and its set top box provider Logitech International SA slashed prices to $99 in July from an initial price of $299.

Schmidt also included a warning to British television regulators, who he said were far more stringent than their US counterparts and threatened to throttle the development of British television companies in an increasingly global market. “Stifling the Internet-whether by filtering or blocking or just plain turning the ‘off’ switch-appeals to policy makers the world over,” he said.

“Instead, policy makers should

work with the grain of the Internet rather than against it.”

Opportunistic Google has long held ambitions in the television arena, hoping to extend its online advertising business, which made $28 billion for the company last year, to the big screens that still command the lion’s share of global advertising budgets. “If his ambition was to go there and convince the TV people he wasn’t a big threat, I don’t think he achieved it,” said Keith McMahon, an analyst at research firm Telco 2.0/STL Partners. “The message I got was that TV is such a big market that Google can’t ignore it. They’re never going to give it up.”

So far, Google has had little success breaking into the TV market, despite its ownership of the world’s most popular online video site, YouTube. Last week, however, Google agreed a deal to buy Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc for $12.5 billion, handing it the world’s leading set top box business which delivers content for many of the top cable TV companies in the United States. The headline attraction of the deal

Google ready to shut down Slide WASHINGTON: Internet giant Google is shutting down Slide, a developer of applications for social networks it bought a year ago. “Most of the team from Slide will remain at Google to work on other opportunities,” a Google spokeswoman said in a statement. Slide founder Max Levchin, a co-founder of PayPal, has decided to leave Slide and Google to “pursue other opportunities,” she added. In a blog post, Slide said it will be “retiring” a number of products including Slideshow, SuperPoke! Pets, Photovine, Video Inbox and Pool Party.

“While we are incredibly grateful to our users and for all of the wonderful feedback over the years, many of these products are no longer as active or haven’t caught on as we originally hoped,” Slide said.

The San Francisco-based company, which has over 100 employees, said it would give users time to download and preserve their content from Slide products. Google did not disclose a purchase price for Slide at the time of the acquisition in August of last year but various press reports have put it at around $200 million. Slide launched in 2005, making playful or practical applications for social networking websites such as Facebook.

Meanwhile, Google chairman Eric Schmidt has attacked the British education system, saying a failure to appreciate the importance of computer science was holding the country back in the digital

age. In a lecture at a broadcasting conference in Edinburgh on Friday, the chairman of the Internet giant accused Britons of “throwing away your great computing heritage” by promoting a separation of arts and sciences in education.

“If I may be so impolite, your track record isn’t great,” he said. “The UK is home of so many media-related inventions. You invented photography. You invented TV. You invented computers in both concept and practice. “Yet today, none of the world’s leading exponents in these fields are from the UK.” He said he was shocked that computer science was not taught as standard in British schools, adding: “Your IT curriculum focuses on teaching how to use software, but gives no insight into how it’s made.” Schmidt also laughed off criticisms that Google was trying to “take over the world” and planned to make television content on a large scale. “Trust me, if you gave people at Google free rein to produce TV you’d end up with a lot of bad sci-fi,” he said. Schmidt was the first non-broadcaster to give the landmark lecture at the Media Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival, a major event in British broadcasters’ diary. Prominent figures from the broadcasting world have delivered it in the past, including News Corporation chief Ruper t Murdoch and his son James. —AFP

The future of reading LOS ANGELES: Emma Teitgen, 12, thought the chemistry book her teacher recommended would make perfect bedside reading. Perfect because it might help her fall asleep. Then she downloaded “The Elements: A Visual Exploration” to her iPad. Instead of making her drowsy, it blossomed in her hands. The 118 chemical elements, from hydrogen to ununoctium, came alive in vivid images that could be rotated with a swipe of the finger. Tapping on link after link, Teitgen was soon engrossed in a world of atomic weights and crystal structures.

Three hours later, the seventh-grader looked up to see that it was 11 pm, way past her bedtime.

“It was like a breath of fresh air compared to my textbook,” said Teitgen, who lives in Pittsford, NY. “I was really amazed by all the things it could do. I just kept clicking so I could read more.” More than 550 years after Johannes Gutenberg printed 180 copies of the Bible on paper and vellum, new technologies as revolutionary as the printing press are changing the concept of a book and what it means to be literate.

Sound, animation and the ability to connect to the Internet have created the notion of a living book that can establish an entirely new kind of relationship with readers. As electronic reading devices evolve and proliferate, books are increasingly able to talk to readers, quiz them on their grasp of the material, play videos to illustrate a point or connect them with a community of fellow readers. The same technology enables readers to reach out to authors, provide instant reaction and even become creative collaborators, influencing plot developments and the writer’s use of dramatic devices. Digital tools are also making it possible for independent authors to publish and promote their books, causing an outpouring of written work on every topic imaginable.

If the upheaval in the music industry over the last decade is any guide, the closing of more bookstores and a decreasing demand for phys-

ical books will force authors and their publishers to find new ways to profit from their work.

“There is not a single aspect of book publishing that digital won’t touch,” said Carolyn Kroll Reidy, chief executive of Simon & Schuster. “It is transformational.” “The Master of Rampling Gate,” a novella by Anne Rice published in 1991 as a paperback, illustrates some

Gate” comes with video interviews with Rice and others. Rice speaks about her inspiration for her works and about the Gothic genre in which she writes.

Within the text are links to Web pages that elaborate on events and places in the story - a description of the Mayfair neighborhood in London where the protagonists live or a histo-

The Apple iPad has changed the way people learn to read and how they study. — MCT of the possibilities. The work tells the story of a brother and sister who inherit a remote mansion occupied by the undead. The out-of-print title was given new life in March, when it was reissued in digital form by Vook, an Alameda, Calif, start-up that sells titles for the iPad and iPhone. As a $4.99 application sold through Apple’s iTunes store, “The Master of Rampling

ry of the Black Death plague, which plays a key role in the fourth chapter. “For me, this is a way to communicate with my readers, establish a connection with them and build a community around them,” Rice said in an interview. Vook (the name is a mash-up of “video” and “book”) has published more than two dozen titles, including “Reckless Road,” which describes the

early days of heavy metal band Guns N’ Roses.

“Reckless Road” weaves in dozens of videos of the L.A. band’s early performances and interviews with band members and groupies.

The videos and other digital features are designed to “project the emotion of the book without getting in the way of the story,” said Brad Inman, Vook’s chief executive and a former real estate columnist for the San Francisco Examiner. “We want to revive the passion for traditional narrative. Multimedia could be a catalyst for spawning more reading.” Vook does not disclose information about its finances or its payments to authors. Its biggest cost, Inman said, is the production of the videos.

Tim O’Reilly, whose O’Reilly Media in Sebastopol, Calif, is at the forefront of designing and distributing digital books over the Internet and on mobile devices, said technology has the power to “broaden our thinking about what a book does.” Owners of “iBird Explorer,” a digital book produced for the iPhone by field guide publisher Mitch Waite Group, can play the songs of more than 900 bird species. Using microphones, it can also capture the chirps and warbles of wild birds and match them against a database of bird sounds to help the “reader” identify the species.

In addition to displaying pages from a book, digital e-readers can read them aloud, opening up a literary trove for the blind and the visually impaired who have long had only a thin selection of audio and Braille books to choose from. Devices made by Amazon.com Inc. and Intel Corp. are able to convert text into speech. “You now have the ability to make a book talk,” said George Kerscher, head of the Digital Accessible Information System Consortium in Zurich, Switzerland. Kerscher, who studied computer science at the University of Montana and is blind, has spent two decades lobbying publishers to make books more accessible to visually impaired readers. — MCT

was Motorola’s huge portfolio of wireless patents but the set top box business could help Google transform its TV project by giving it insights into pay-TV. Google has not spelled out its plans for the set top box business, and many analysts expect it to divest the unit at the first opportunity, having no experience or previous interest in running a hardware business. O thers believe Google could change tack under CEO Larr y Page, Google’s co-founder who took back the reins from Schmidt in April and has already started a social network to compete with Facebook while ditching other projects. “Google describes itself as an opportunistic company. So while it may not have wanted to buy Motorola’s operations, it may now assess whether retaining these assets can compensate for the risk of owning them,” New York-based Nomura analyst Stuart Jeffrey wrote in a note this week. Schmidt made no mention of the Motorola acquisition or its implications on Friday, but will hold a question and answer session in Edinburgh on Saturday.

— Reuters

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health & science

Gyms attempt to take work out of workout ‘Drums Alive’ combines dance and yoga

COSTA MESA: A line of sweatpants is displayed at Lululemon, which recently opened a store at the South Coast Plaza. — MCT

Warming up to active wear LOS ANGELES: With women willing to spend $100 on a pair of cute yoga pants, retailers are racing to make workout clothes that are as much about style as sweat. Athletic clothing has traditionally been relegated to the gym, where women would huff and puff in un-glamorous get-ups - think oversized men’s Tshirts and baggy sweatpants. But now that more women are pursuing active lifestyles - juggling Pilates, spinning classes and hikes in Runyon Canyon with busy professional and personal lives what was once a limited market for fitness apparel has taken off.

High-end brand Lululemon Athletica Inc has been adding to its yoga and running lines, experimenting with cycling products and opening stores in new markets. Gap Inc’s Athleta, until recently a catalog- and online-only company for women, will open seven stores this year, including two in Southern California.

Performance athletic company Under Armour Inc is introducing a new yoga collection this summer and redesigning its sports bras and underwear for 2012.

Mainstream retailers have caught on.

Fast-fashion chain Forever 21 Inc began selling active wear in February, following Gap, which introduced its GapBodyFit line last fall. Nordstrom Inc. and Target Corp, which have their own private-label brands, have been expanding their women’s sportswear offerings. Even lingerie company Victoria’s Secret sells yoga pants and “bralettes.”

“It’s an underserved, under-represented market that’s growing,” said Howard Tubin, a retail analyst at RBC Capital Markets. “There is certainly competition, but there’s room for retailers to pick off a little bit.” Brands are eager to quickly roll out new merchandise because the core active-wear shopper is the ultimate consumer: female, relatively young, fashionforward and willing to spend money. “We are hungry to win this girl over,” said Adrienne Lofton Shaw, a marketing director at Under Armour.

Retailers say they’re not only filling a void in the sports apparel market, which has predominantly catered to men, but also correcting a long-standing flaw in athletic clothing for women. “The assortment that has historically been available to them has generally been reverse-engineered from a male garment, made smaller and made pink,” said Scott Key, senior vice president at Athleta, which is planning to open 50 stores by 2013.

“Women are demanding true performance items, but that are attuned to their specific needs.”

One of those needs is clothing that is attractive. Women such as Claire Parker, 29, say they work out to feel good but want to look good while doing it, too.

Before going for a run, Parker stopped by a Lululemon store in San Francisco to buy two running tops. Although the yoga-inspired brand’s merchandise is “ridiculously priced” - she spent $125 on the shirts - she said the clothing was worth it because it “hides all the imperfections” and “decreases jiggle.”

“Let’s face it,” she said. “You never know who you’re going to meet at the gym.” Or afterward. Retail analysts say active-wear brands have successfully broken the barrier between workout attire and street clothes, which has fur-

ther boosted sales. “There are people who don’t do anything athletic who are wearing it; it’s become more of a fashion statement,” said Pamela Quintiliano, a research analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. Despite toting a $1,000 Marc Jacobs handbag while shopping at the Grove recently, Stacy Lee was dressed in a sweatshirt, flip-flops and Lululemon yoga pants, which she called “my favorite pants in the world.”

“I probably wear these every other day,” the 19-year-old said. “I don’t feel like if you wear workout clothes that you have to look grubby.” Retail analysts credit Vancouver, Canada-based Lululemon with fueling the active-wear trend and making it cool to wear workout clothes to the mall, out for coffee or to run errands.

Founded in 1998, the company has had phenomenal growth recently as the overall retail industry has seen modest performance. Lululemon, which has 142 stores, plans to open 25 new locations this year. Its stock is at all-time highs with shares are up 75 percent for the year. In its most recent quarter, Lululemon reported that its revenue soared 35 percent year-over-year to $186.8 million and sales at stores open at least a year rose 16 percent. The company’s $33.4-million profit was up 70 percent from $19.6 million in the year-earlier quarter.

Shoppers say they like that the company is about more than just the products it sells, noting the weekly yoga classes and running clubs that the retailer offers. Other brands, including Athleta and Nordstrom’s Zella active-wear line, have also hosted in-store fitness events.

“Companies like Lululemon, they don’t sell clothes - they sell a lifestyle,” said Lee, a Los Feliz resident and University of California-Berkeley student. “So I think people bought into that and felt like they needed the clothes to be part of the lifestyle. I have.”

As the competition has heated up, high-performance brands have bristled at suggestions that anyone can make a quality athletic product, arguing that there’s a difference between authenticity and jumping on the bandwagon. “When I look at the market, there’s a lot of ‘me too,’” Lofton Shaw of Under Armour said.

“Everyone’s chasing trends.” For their part, general retailers are touting affordability and accessibility.

At Target, which has been adding products to its exclusive C9 by Champion active-wear line, the discounter wants to offer athletic merchandise without “the intimidation factor of walking into a specialty boutique or a sports store,” spokesman Joshua Thomas said. The most expensive active-wear item at Forever 21 is a long-sleeved sports top with a partial zipper for $22.80. The Los Angeles-based chain also carries sports bras for $8.80 and workout pants for $12.80.

Victoria’s Secret, meanwhile, is upping the glam factor. Its “bling bootcut yoga pant” features rhinestones and animal prints; the product’s online shopping Web page recently said: “Look hot when you work out or hang out. Be a yoga superstar.” For shoppers such as Lynn Brown, 41, who said she dreads going to the gym, not looking “like a frump” is of utmost concern. — MCT

BALTIMORE: Go ahead and bang a drum, hang from the curtains and spin that hula hoop. Gym instructors say it’s good for you, even if you don’t realize it. The unconventional workouts are part of a movement to keep the masses focused on their fitness by disguising exercise as playtime, like spinach in brownies. And while more conventional spin, yoga and Latin dance-inspired Zumba aerobics classes remain gym staples, the quirky and even slightly juvenile additions have been attracting regulars. “It sounded fun. It didn’t seem like exercise,” said 14-year-old Tyree Roberts about why he tested out a new class at Universal Fitness that involved banging, drum-style, on a large exercise ball.

He’d come with his family to the gym, and each chose a class from a sign that they’d noticed on their drive from their Perry Hall, Md., home to Baltimore. Tyree was attracted to “Drums Alive,” brought to the area from Germany by the gym owner and instructor, Patrick Leonard. To a musical backdrop, Leonard barks out steps on where and when to hit the drums, as well as on dance moves and yoga stretches. He says it’s appropriate for all ages, and on this day, Tyree was banging next to 63-year-old Pat Hodges, who said she was enjoying the mental “left brain-right brain” exercise that was good “for someone my age.”

Tyree’s grandmother, Gloria May, was checking out the class, too. Her granddaughter, Tiara Hurte, was next door in Zumba. Gym operators are learning to balance the “triedand-true” workouts that have kept their customers happy for years or decades with alternatives to attract people with different tastes, including those like Tyree and Hodges who may not normally go to a gym, said Meredith Poppler, a spokeswoman the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association, a trade group.

With 120 million people worldwide now using 133,500 gyms, there are a lot of different interests, but also a lot of ideas for sharing, Poppler said. In 2011, the association reports there are more age-appropriate offerings for aging baby boomers, increasingly sedentary youngsters and active Gen-Xers.

The gyms also are adding training session for outside activities such as rock climbing and marathons and niche activities such as boxing. They are more personal trainers and wellness programs on nutrition. Instructors are again using hula hoops and other throwback equipment such as kettlebells. Also popular now are vibration and human-powered equipment. Group classes of all kinds are growing in popularity. Gaining the biggest

followings have been cardio-kickboxing, yoga, high-impact aerobics and dance style, and strength-training classes, the association said. Dawn Moore-Guinness says her Charm City Hoops classes are a mix of aerobics and dance. Students must keep moving to keep the hoops going - and the calories burning at a rate of about 600 to 800 an hour, she said.

“People like it,” she said. “You can get videos at Target, and there are a lot of others teaching it now. It’s a great workout. It’s gone a little

you’re having a bad day, get out the hoop.”

Other classes that combine workouts are also a growing trend. There’s a barre class that is inspired by ballet and a fit wall that incorporates a rock wall into the workout. And the Maryland Athletic Club has recently added classes such as Yo Pi Chi, a combination of yoga, Pilates and Ai Chi. It’s practiced in a pool of warm water.

Ann Shaw, aquatics director for MAC, said most of the water classes are full each day.

BALTIMORE: Universal Fitness at the Overlea offers Drums Alive class. — MCT mainstream.”

Moore-Guinness is a trained nurse and part of a circus-style performance group that uses streams of fabric hanging from the ceiling, which has led to another class called aerial dancing and stretching. Fellow performer Robin Miller brought this class to Meadow Mill. She said she found the performances were a good workout and thought she could teach others. On a recent day, Hillary Dempster, 25, and Alise Reneau, 24, were wrapping their feet in material and shimmying up to the ceiling like most people did on that rope in gym class as kids “There’s nothing like lifting your whole body to make you stronger,” said Dempster, who is also using the classes to conquer her fear of heights. One recent evening, Shanita Starks was watching the climbing across the room but was concentrating on the hoops. It was the first class for the 37-year-old, though she had discovered the 1950s-era Wham-O Hula Hoop at a festival two years ago and now owns 15. She attributes her loss of 60 pounds to the aerobic exercise she gets from them, as well as yoga and walking. The class lured her to the gym. “This is so joyful,” she said. “If

They draw a combination of people who are injured or unable to work out on hard surfaces, pregnant women and those who just like the pool. “People come in the summer to the pool because it feels good,” she said. “But they like it and come in the winter too. They don’t miss a day because it feels good when they leave.”

Shaw said the pressure from the water means people are working out harder. Their hearts add 17 beats a minute in a pool, and she estimates a 30-minute workout in the water offers the same cardiovascular workout as 60 on land. Shaw and Meadow Mill owner Nancy Cushman said good instructors are key to making classes enjoyable as well as physically challenging.

They said they keep up on all the new offerings around the country and often make up some of their own based on the needs of students. Cushman said the only class that has faded away has been belly dancing, and that was because the well-liked instructor moved to teach a different class. “People keep coming back because they feel a connection,” she said. “If the instructors love what they do, it’s fun for everyone.” —MCT

Taking steps to prevent memory loss MILWAUKEE: Long before Alzheimer’s disease is diagnosed before it robs one of language, judgment and temperament - a person capable of normal daily activities starts to have trouble remembering things. This early form of memory loss is considered a harbinger of Alzheimer’s disease, which affects upward of 5.1 million people in the United States. Researchers at the University of WisconsinMilwaukee are studying whether exercise can stall this form of memory loss - called amnestic mild cognitive impairment, or aMCI - and stave off the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

By delaying the onset of the Alzheimer’s by just five years, the number of people affected by the disease could be cut in half, said J Carson Smith, assistant professor of health sciences at UWM and the study’s lead investigator. With rare exception, Alzheimer’s is a disease of an aging brain.

According to the National Institute of Aging, most cases occur after age 60. About 40 percent of those who develop the disease have a genetic risk factor.

In a paper published last month in the journal Psychiatry Research, Smith and his colleagues used neuroimaging functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI - to compare blood flow in the brains of subjects with aMCI who had either been physically active or inactive.

Smith tested a particular type of memory, called semantic memory, which allows the brain to distinguish word meanings. In this study, subjects were asked to discriminate between famous and unfamiliar names. When semantic memory was triggered, subjects who participated in physical

Sister Lenore Steilen likes to take walks to keep her mind and body sharp as seen in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She was recently in an Alzheimer’s disease study. — MCT

activity showed enhanced blood flow to a piece of brain anatomy called the caudate nucleus.

The role of this part of the brain in memory isn’t well understood. Studies have mostly focused on the hippocampus - a seahorse-shaped brain structure critical to learning and memory, which is damaged during the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Smith said the caudate nucleus is important because it plays a supportive role in semantic memory - the ability to differentiate, for example, a recognizable name like Frank Sinatra from that of a stranger. Alzheimer’s disease affects memory of past events, but it also inhibits semantic memory, thus eventually preventing a person from readily naming objects and people.

“These are pilot studies that will lead to looking at whether exercise is changing brain function or structure,” Smith said.

“Future studies will explore how those changes relate to cognitive function over time.” What isn’t clear is how much exercise is required to delay memor y loss. — MCT

Mowing safely requires serious approach

OHIO: Roxy Kimberlin sits with her six-year-old son, Conner, on Friday, April 11, 2011, holding his bloodied jeans and slashed shoes as a reminder of the horrible experience that occurred last year involving a riding lawn mower. — MCT

AKRON: Roxy Kimberlin describes herself as an overprotective mother, the one her friends make fun of. But even her attentiveness wasn’t enough to protect her son, Conner, from a lawn mower accident that nearly amputated his leg a little more than a year ago. Conner was 5 when he was playing in his Doylestown, Ohio, yard with his siblings and neighbors on St Patrick’s Day 2010, with his mom outside watching. In the adjoining yard, a neighbor was mulching leaves with a riding mower.

Suddenly two of the children ran out in front of the mower. Conner jumped off the glider where he was sitting to try to run after them, but he slipped. The mower blade caught his foot and pulled his entire body under the machine. By what his mother insists was God’s grace, his sturdy sneaker jammed the blade and saved his life.

Nevertheless, the damage was extensive. Before it jammed, the blade cut nearly all the way through Conner’s right leg, caused a spiral fracture of the femur and also broke bones in his foot and toes, Roxy Kimberlin said.

“I just never thought it would happen to us,”

she said. “I was right there.” Conner is one of about 9,400 people age 20 and younger who are injured by lawn mowers each year, according to a study published in 2006 in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. At about 11 injuries for every 100,000 children, mower accidents are hardly common. “But talk to the families that have had this happen to them. It’s devastating,” said Mark Adamczyk, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon at Akron Children’s Hospital.

And it’s almost always preventable, he said.

Adamczyk believes one of the contributing factors is the casualness with which many of us regard lawn mowers. Most people use them for years without a problem, he said, so it’s easy to forget how hazardous they can be. He even had a job mowing lawns when he was 12, he said. But in fact, mowers are dangerous - even potentially deadly - for children and adults alike. Hot surfaces can cause contact burns. Mower blades can hack limbs. Gasoline can catch fire or explode.

Objects thrown by spinning blades can hit people with the force of a gunshot.

Adamczyk and his fellow orthopedic surgeons

at Children’s Hospital have seen the traumatic results. “We see at least a couple of kids (a year) who are mangled up pretty good,” he said. Often those serious injuries involve amputations or deep cuts contaminated by grass, dirt or gravel usually to the ankle or foot and sometimes higher on the leg. One child was treated at Children’s Hospital several years ago after being punctured in the chest by a piece of metal catapulted by a mower blade.

It’s not just the children who are affected, he said. Often the adults operating the mowers are left with crushing guilt. What troubles Adamczyk is that the number of injures remains about the same year after year. To him, that indicates that word isn’t getting out about mower hazards, that nothing’s being done to improve the situation.

One common scenario is people failing to see children behind them when they’re backing their riding mowers, Adamczyk said.

That’s what happened to Ellet, Ohio, resident Evan Kerr, who lost three toes when his foot was run over by a mower driven by his father, Jonathan. — MCT

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H E A LT H

US FDA approves gene-targeting lung cancer drug WASHINGTON: The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new PďŹ zer drug for a subset of lung cancer patients with a particular genetic mutation. The twice-aday pill, called Xalkori, is part of a new wave of personalized medications that ďŹ ght disease by targeting speciďŹ c genes found in certain patients. Last week, the FDA approved another drug that uses similar gene targeting technology to treat two rare forms of lymph node cancer. Xalkori is approved to treat a small subset of non-small cell lung cancer patients, less than 7 percent, who have an abnormal gene that stimulates cancer cells and causes tumor growth. It works by blocking proteins produced by the gene. “It’s another example of how we’re using molecular medicine to subtype lung cancer into more speciďŹ c and treatable diseases,â€? said Dr. Roy Herbst, a lung cancer expert who is chief of medical oncology at Yale University. Including previously approved targeted therapies, “we have speciďŹ c therapies now that we can oer for about 18 percent of lung cancer patients that are far superior to

chemotherapy and that in many cases can cause their tumors to melt away with few side eects,â€? Herbst said. The FDA said it also approved a genetic test to screen for the mutation, known as an abnormal anaplastic lymphoma kinase gene. The test is made by Abbott Laboratories. About 187,000, or 85 percent, of the 220,000 lung cancer cases diagnosed each year are non-small cell lung cancer. Roughly three-fourths of patients aren’t diagnosed until tumors have spread, and only 6 percent of those patients live ďŹ ve years. “It ’s pretty exciting,â€? said Dr. David Carbone, a lung cancer specialist at Vanderbilt University, one of the sites that tested the drug. Only a small share of lung cancer patients have the gene mutation this drug targets, “but for those people it makes a huge dierence,â€? he said. Analysts predict Xalkori could be a blockbuster product for PďŹ zer, eventually reaping more than $2 billion in annual sales by 2021. The FDA approved the drug under its accelerated approval program, which speeds up the

A Word of Solutions

clearance of therapies that show promising early results. PďŹ zer released follow-up data on the drug in June, reporting that 88 percent of patients in one study saw their tumors shrink at least somewhat after one year on Xalkori. In a second study, 54 percent of patients had their tumors shrink by about a third or more and 83 percent had tumors shrink somewhat. Most patients had only mild side eects, but two of the nine patient deaths during that study were considered treatment-related.

The most common side eects of the drug include vision disorders, nausea, diarrhea and inammation. The FDA’s accelerated approval program has come under criticism in the last year after follow-up studies showed the bestselling cancer drug Avastin did not extend the lives of patients with breast cancer. The FDA granted the drug accelerated approval because a single study suggesting it slowed tumor growth. The FDA is now in the process of trying to remove the drug’s indication, though the drug maker, Roche, has appealed the decision. — AP

This microscopy image shows immune system T-cells, center, binding to beads which cause the cells to divide. The beads, depicted in yellow, are later removed, leaving pure T-cells which are then ready for infusion to the cancer patients. Scientists are reporting the first clear success with gene therapy to treat leukemia, using the patients’ own blood cells to hunt down and wipe out their cancer. — AP

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shifakuwait@gmail.com shifak uwait@g gmail.com w www.shifakuwait.com ww.shifakuwait.com Workiing Hours: 8.00 am m to to 12:00am Working

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Announcements 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 Gatty66044194 Kuwait City, Jahra, Sharq : Rekha Sachu- 65044521,97862115 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.

Celebrate Eid Al-Fitr at Radisson Blu Hotel

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he Radisson Blu Hotel, Kuwait has planned special Eid buffet and it is prepared exclusively for you by our team of expert chefs. On the occasion of Eid Al-Fitr, the Radisson Blu Hotel, Kuwait offers Special Eid Al-Fitr room rates valid from 30 August to 4 September 2011. The Eid Offer is for a Single/Double room, inclu-

sive of breakfast and free access to the Viking Club that will add extra delight to the stay.

So head towards Radisson Blu Hotel this festive season, enjoy the enticing buffet in an ambience of peace, privacy and comfort at our Rangoli and Al-Boom restaurants and make your family’s Eid holidays a memorable

event. For large groups we welcome you at the AlHashemi Grand Ballroom. Ask for our special group package. Advance reservation is highly recommended.

Please call the Radisson Blu Hotel, Kuwait on 2567 3000.

The management and staff of the Radisson Blu Hotel, Kuwait extend their warmest Eid Al-Fitr greetings.

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.

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.

India medical tourism destination event

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he Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), along with Trident Exhibition Pvt. Ltd., and supported by Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Commerce, and Government of India, is organizing an event entitled “IndiaMedical Tourism Destination 2011”. The event will run from 14th - 15th September 2011 at the Kuwait International Fair (KIF) Ground, Mishref, Kuwait. The objective of the event would be to highlight the benefits of medical tourism and to emphasize India’s role in providing affordable and quality healthcare to the Kuwaiti people. Healthcare is an essential need. However, quality healthcare facilities are not available everywhere. And if at all available, the cost is exorbitantly high in most parts of the world.

With a large pool of highly trained doctors and affordable treatment cost, the Indian healthcare sector aims to replicate the success of the Indian software sector. Over the past few years, the medical tourism stor y has changed dramatically in India. Private enterprises including corporate hospitals, chemists, freelance agents are all working in tandem to build a thriving ecosystem that educates, facilitates and ferries medical tourists from across the world. In the year 2010, this system brought around 600,000 patients from over 30 countries around the globe, mainly from USA, Canada, UK, Russia, the Middle East and Africa to India who spent Rs.4,500 crores (US$1 billion) in treatments. Advantages for medical tourists in India include reduced costs, availability of the latest medical technologies and growing compliance of international quality standards and absence of language barriers.

The most popular treatments sought in India by medical tourists are transplant surgeries (liver, kidney, heart) cardiac bypass surgery, eye surgery, orthopedic surgery and spinal surgery. India is known in particular for heart surgery, hip and knee resurfacing and other areas of advanced medicine and alternative medicines. As per the latest report, over 10,000 Kuwaiti nationals went to India in 2010 for treatments related to cardiac, spinal, cosmetic and various other surgeries.

An advance team lead by Dr. Narottam Puri, Advisor - Health Ser vices, FICCI and Chairman, National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers, visited Kuwait from 10 - 12 July 2011 for holding preliminary discussions on the event. They called on Mr. Vidhu P. Nair, Charge d’ Affaires of the Indian Embassy who promised to extend all assistance for the successful conduct of the event.

Back-to-school at Lulu Hypermarket

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nce again school re-opening is just around the corner. It is a great season and a good opportunity for kids and family to have their shopping at Lulu Hypermarket where special, exclusive promotions are arranged for all categories of back-to-

school products.

This year, back-to-school is more promising at Lulu Hypermarket, where they have a great range and variety of school kits. Kids love to have their own loved cartoon characters, colors and shapes, which are available at Lulu

Hypermarket at the best deals. When it comes to the latest trend in characters like Transformers 3, Kung Fu Panda 2, Green Lantern, and the list never ends, you can find it all at Lulu Hypermarket’s two branches in Abu Fatira and Al-Rai. Apart from the range and selection

Burgan Bank resumes normal working hours

Birthday Greetings

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appy birthday and many happy returns of the day to Ramesh Ramakrishnan who celebrated his birthday yesterday. Greetings and blessings come from Appa, Ma, grandparents, uncles, aunts, sisters Meera and Soraya, friends and relatives.

urgan Bank will start resuming its normal working hours, effective after the Eid Al-Fitr holiday, the branch timings including the Head office will be as follows: 8:30 am to 3:00 pm. Meanwhile, the branches located at the malls, Shuwaikh industrial, Fahad Al-Salem Street, Farwaniya Branch, Hawally branches, and branches in commercial areas will continue to be open in the morning and afternoon. The new timings will be from 9 am to 1 pm and 5 pm - 7 pm from Sunday to Wednesday and 9 am - 1 pm on Thursday. The Airport branch will continue to be open seven days a week from 08:00 am to 10:30 pm. On this occasion, Burgan Bank extends its best wishes and greetings to the public on the coming of Eid Al-Fitr.

Arpan Onam on Sept 23 Arpan Kuwait will celebrate Onam, Kerala’s harvest festival, on September 23 at the Indian Community School, Salmiya (Senior Girls) from 10 am onwards. Various cultural programs have been scheduled to make the celebration a success.

Traditional attractions like athappook k alam, mohiniyattom, kaikottikali, folk songs, dance and songs and skits will be presented by Arpan members. A program committee headed by K Mahadevan is overseeing the preparations. The celebration will come to an end with a sumptuous ‘Onasadya.’

we so have loads of attractive price busters, promotions, and gift vouchers to be gained on select products. Lulu, always famous for their great care and hospitality, will certainly serve you with their best deals and make your shopping a memorable one.

NAFO Onam celebration NAFO Kuwait to celebrate Onam on September 30, 2011 at the Indian Community School (Senior for Girls) auditorium Salmiya.

Cultural activities such as dance,skit, nadan pattukal, vallapattukal etc will be held which will be followed by the traditional onasadhya. All NAFO members are requested to make this program a grand success by participating in vario u s a c t i v i t i e s. P l e a s e re gi s te r yo u r n a m e a t Contacts@nafoglobal.com.said the convener of t h e p r o g r a m R a j a s e k a r a n N a i r. Fo r d e t a i l s

please contact Nandakumar 99559416, Udayakumar 66464577 or R ajasek haran Nair 97824780.

Venmony Pravasi Association meeting Venmony Pravasi Association annual gettogether will be held on Monday, August 29, 2011, at Hi-Din Auditorium, Abbassiya at 7.00 pm. Election for new office bearers 2011-2012 w i l l b e h e l d o n t h e s a m e d a y. A l l Ve n m o ny Pravasi members are requested to attend.

Adopt a pet

Nonar the DSH Cat

Fred the Golden Retriever

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red is a social five-year-old Golden Retriever male. Fred loves playing chase with other dogs. He’s very responsive and ever-ready to retrieve his favourite toy in exchange of his favourite treat. Fred will do great in a family with older children. To adopt Fred, contact K’S PATH at (+965) 6700 1622 or visit the website www.kspath.org

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onar is a six-month-old Domestic Short Haired (DSH) male cat. Nonar is a friendly little boy who loves to play, gets along great with other cats and likes a good cuddle. Nonar will be a great addition to a family with children over five. To adopt Nonar, contact K’S PATH at (+965) 6700 1622 or visit the website www.kspath.org

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Embassy Information EMBASSY OF ARGENTINA In order to inform that 23rd of October 2011, will be Argentine national election where all Argentinean citizen residents permanently in Kuwait can vote only if they are registered at the Electoral Register of the Argentine Embassy. The procedure of inscription ended on 25 of April 2011. To register it is necessary that Argentinean citizens should come personally at the Argentinean Embassy (Block 6, street 42, villa 57, Mishref ) and present the DNI and four personal photos (size 4x4, face should be front on white background). For further information, contact us on 25379211. nnnnnnn

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-ukkw.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

Mondanite Magazine hosts ghabqa

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he Mondanite Magazine held their annual ghabqa recently at Hotel Missoni for customers and business partners. The event was attended by the Lebanese ambassador to Kuwait Dr Bassam AlNu’mani, as well as the magazine’s Editor-in-Chief Abdurrahman Al-Babtain, and General Manager of Kuwait’s office Inas Abdul-Aziz. —Photos by Fouad Al-Shaikh

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EMBASSY OF CANADA The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24, AlMutawakel 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/IMM5257E. PDF. A guide explaining the process can be found here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/guides/5256E.PDF. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF GERMANY The Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Kuwait wishes to announce that as of 1 May 2011, the external service provider Al Qabas Assurex is operating a Visa Application Centre in support of the German Embassy. Short-term visa applications for travels to Germany (e.g. for tourism, visits, business) are to be submitted to the service provider Al Qabas who for your convenience will ensure that all relevant documents are included in your application. Your personal appearance at the Application Centre is not required. Address of the Visa Application Centre: Al Qabas Assurex Sanabel Tower (Al-Babtain) Mezzanine (M3) opposite Sharq Mall Kuwait 22924444 Fax: 22924442 Further information are available on the following websites: www.kuwait.diplo.de www.qavisa.com nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF INDIA During the holy month of Ramadan, the office timings of the Indian Passport and Visa Service Centres of BLS International Visa Services Co., Kuwait, situated at (a) Emad Commercial Centre, Basement Floor, Ahmed Al Jaber Street, Sharq, Kuwait, and (b) Mujamma Unood, 4th floor, Office No. 25-26 Makka Street, Fahaheel, Kuwait, will be from 8 am - 3 pm from Saturday to Thursday (i.e. six days a week). Embassy of India, Kuwait, will maintain its usual working hours. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF IRAN The embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Kuwait announced their official working hours during the holy month of Ramadan, which will go between 9:00 am and 2:00 pm on weekdays. The Iranian embassy extends will wishes to His Highness the Amir, the government as well as the people of Kuwait on this occasion. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF NIGERIA The Nigerian embassy has its new office in Mishref. Block 3, Street 7, House 4. For enquires please call 25379541. Fax25387719. Email- nigeriakuwait@yahoo.com or nigeriankuwait@yahoo.co.uk nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF SOUTH AFRICA On the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr, the South African Embassy will be closed from Tuesday, 30 August 2011 to Sunday, 4 September 2011. The Embassy will resume its normal working hours on Monday, 5 September 2011, from Sunday to Thursday. Please note that the working hours will be from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm and the Consular Section operation hours will from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm.

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00:45 Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 01:40 Untamed And Uncut 02:35 Crocodile Feeding Frenzy 03:30 Killer Crocs Of Costa Rica 04:25 I’m Alive 05:20 Animal Cops Phoenix 06:10 Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 07:00 Lemur Street 07:25 Michaela’s Animal Road Trip 08:15 The Really Wild Show 08:40 Natural Born Hunters 09:10 Chris Humfrey’s Wildlife 09:35 Chris Humfrey’s Wildlife 10:05 Must Love Cats 11:00 Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 11:55 Crocodile Hunter 12:50 Great Ocean Adventures 13:45 Great Ocean Adventures 14:40 Big Five Challenge 15:35 Bad Dog 16:30 Chris Humfrey’s Wildlife 17:25 Ray Mears’ Wild Britain 18:20 Dogs 101 19:15 Venom Hunter With Donald Schultz 20:10 Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 21:05 World Wild Vet 22:00 Monster Bug Wars 22:55 Whale Wars 23:50 The Animals’ Guide To Survival

00:40 The Jonathan Ross Show 01:30 Gavin & Stacey 02:00 Rob Brydon’s Annually Retentive 02:30 Mutual Friends 03:25 As Time Goes By 03:55 Allo Allo 04:30 Tweenies 04:50 The Roly Mo Show 05:05 Me Too 05:25 Forget Me Not Farm 05:40 The Adventures Of Spot 05:45 The Adventures Of Spot 05:50 Tweenies 06:10 The Roly Mo Show 06:25 Me Too 06:45 Forget Me Not Farm 07:00 Tweenies 07:20 The Roly Mo Show 07:35 Me Too 07:55 Forget Me Not Farm 08:10 The Adventures Of Spot 08:15 The Adventures Of Spot 08:20 Tweenies 08:40 The Roly Mo Show 08:55 Me Too 09:15 Forget Me Not Farm 09:30 The Adventures Of Spot 09:35 The Adventures Of Spot 09:45 As Time Goes By 10:15 Allo Allo 10:50 Robin Hood 11:35 The Weakest Link 12:20 Casualty 13:10 Casualty 14:00 The Weakest Link 14:45 The Weakest Link 15:40 Doctors 16:10 Doctors 16:40 Doctors 17:10 Doctors 17:40 Doctors 18:10 Robin Hood 19:00 As Time Goes By 19:30 Allo Allo 20:00 Ray Mears’ Wild Foods 20:50 Heart & Soul 21:40 Lark Rise To Candleford 22:35 Spooks 23:25 Children, The

00:00 00:10 01:00 01:30 02:00 02:10 02:30

BBC World News BBC World News BBC World News Middle East Business Report BBC World News World Features Newsnight

03:00 03:10 03:30 04:00 04:30 05:00 05:10 06:00 06:30 07:00 07:30 08:00 08:30 09:00 09:30 10:00 10:10 10:30 11:00 11:10 11:30 12:00 12:10 13:00 13:10 13:30 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:10 15:30 16:00 16:15 16:30 17:00 17:30 18:00 18:10 19:00 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:15 21:30 22:00 22:30 23:00 23:10

BBC World News World Features Talking Movies BBC World News Dateline London BBC World News BBC World News BBC World News Click BBC World News Newsnight BBC World News India Business Report BBC World News Fast Track BBC World News The Health Show Talking Movies BBC World News World Features Dateline London BBC World News BBC World News BBC World News World Features BBC World News BBC World News Newsnight BBC World News World Features BBC World News BBC World News Sport Today Click BBC World News My Country BBC World News BBC World News BBC World News India Business Report BBC World News BBC World News BBC World News Sport Today Click BBC World News Talking Movies BBC World News World Features

06:00 Kid Vs Kat 06:20 Kick Buttowski 06:45 Pokemon Dp: Sinnoh League Victors 07:10 Iron Man: Armoured Adventures 07:35 Phineas & Ferb 08:00 Phineas & Ferb 08:25 Suite Life On Deck S3 08:50 Pair Of Kings 09:15 Kick Buttowski 09:40 Rekkit Rabbit 10:05 Zeke & Luther 10:30 Zeke & Luther 10:55 I’m In The Band 11:20 The Super Hero Squad Show 11:45 The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody 12:10 Kid Vs Kat 12:35 American Dragon 13:00 Pokemon Movie: Zoroark Master Of Illusions (Cema) 14:35 Kick Buttowski 15:00 Pair Of Kings 15:25 Phineas & Ferb 15:50 I’m In The Band 16:15 Rekkit Rabbit 16:40 Zeke & Luther 17:05 The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody 17:30 Pokemon Dp: Sinnoh League Victors 17:55 Suite Life On Deck S3 18:20 Suite Life On Deck S3 18:45 Phineas & Ferb 19:10 The Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes 19:35 The Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes 20:00 New Spiderman 20:25 Zeke & Luther 20:50 I’m In The Band 21:15 Aaron Stone 21:40 American Dragon 22:00 Kick Buttowski 22:20 I’m In The Band

SUNDAY, AUGUST 28, 2011

TV PROGRAMS

00:00 01:00 01:30 02:00 02:30 03:00 04:00 08:00 09:00 09:30 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 13:30 14:30 17:00 18:00 Rides 19:00 20:00

Secrets Of Ancient China Going South Travel Today Trabant Trek Word Travels People Of The Sea Globe Trekker Cruising The South China Sea Glutton For Punishment Chef Abroad The Blue Continent Intrepid Journeys Globe Trekker Cruise Today Globe Trekker Ice Globe Trekker World’s Greatest Motorcycle

00:25 00:50 01:15 01:40 02:05 Cody 02:30 02:55 03:20 03:45 04:10 04:35 05:00 05:20 05:45 06:10 06:35 07:00 07:25 07:50 08:15 08:35 09:00 09:25 09:45 10:10 Splits 10:30 11:00 11:25 11:50 12:15 12:40 13:05 13:30 15:00 15:25 15:50 16:15 16:40 17:00 17:25 17:50 18:15 18:35 18:55 19:20 19:45 20:10 20:30 21:00 21:20 21:45 22:10 23:55

Fish Hooks Phineas And Ferb Suite Life On Deck Sonny With A Chance The Suite Life Of Zack And

00:40 01:35 02:30 02:55 03:25 03:50 04:20 04:45 05:15 05:40 06:05 06:30

Up Close And Dangerous I Escaped Death How Do They Do It? How Does It Work How Do They Do It? How Does It Work How Do They Do It? How Does It Work How Do They Do It? How Does It Work How Do They Do It? How Does It Work

Globe Trekker Secrets Of Ancient China

Hannah Montana Forever Kim Possible Replacements Replacements Fairly Odd Parents Fairly Odd Parents A Kind Of Magic A Kind Of Magic Stitch Stitch Kim Possible Kim Possible Emperor’s New School Emperor’s New School Stitch Stitch Jungle Junction Handy Manny Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates Fish Hooks Suite Life On Deck Phineas And Ferb Good Luck Charlie Fish Hooks Fish Hooks Fish Hooks Snow Buddies Wizards Of Waverly Place Shake It Up Phineas And Ferb Good Luck Charlie Fish Hooks Wizards Of Waverly Place Phineas And Ferb Shake It Up Fish Hooks Good Luck Charlie Good Luck Charlie Shake It Up Phineas And Ferb Wizards Of Waverly Place Hannah Montana Fish Hooks Suite Life On Deck Shake It Up Halloweentown Wizards Of Waverly Place

A PERFECT GETAWAY ON OSN ACTION HD

07:00 American Chopper: Senior vs Junior 07:50 Powering The Future 08:45 Wheeler Dealers 09:40 Extreme Fishing With Robson Green 10:30 Extreme Fishing 11:25 Flying Wild Alaska 12:20 Pit Bulls And Parolees 13:15 LA Ink 14:10 Animal Cops South Africa 15:05 Cake Boss 16:00 Cake Boss 17:20 Mythbusters 18:15 Flying Wild Alaska 19:10 Swamp Brothers 19:40 True Heroes 20:05 Walking The Amazon 21:00 Mythbusters 21:55 Sarah Palin’s Alaska

00:05 The Gadget Show 00:30 Mighty Ships 01:20 The Colony 02:10 Ultimate Power Builders 03:00 Engineered 03:50 Da Vinci’s Machines 04:45 Catch It Keep It 05:40 How Does That Work?

06:10 Superships 07:00 Race To Mars 07:55 Head Rush 07:58 Sci-Fi Science 08:25 Weird Connections 08:55 Brainiac 09:45 Prototype This 10:35 Punkin Chunkin 2010 13:05 Ldrs (Large Dangerous Rocket Ships) 13:55 Catch It Keep It 14:45 Head Rush 14:48 Sci-Fi Science 15:15 Weird Connections 15:45 Bang Goes The Theory 16:10 The Gadget Show 17:00 Smash Lab 17:50 Science Of The Movies 18:40 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman

FOOD NETWORK 00:05 Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam 00:30 Good Eats - Special 00:55 Bobby Chinn Cooks Asia 01:20 Bobby Chinn Cooks Asia 01:45 Food Network Challenge 02:35 Chopped 03:25 Ultimate Recipe Showdown 04:15 Good Eats - Special 04:40 Unwrapped 05:05 Ten Dollar Dinners 05:30 Paula’s Best Dishes 05:50 Paula’s Party 06:35 Barefoot Contessa 07:00 Chopped 07:50 Guy’s Big Bite 08:15 Everyday Italian 08:40 Good Deal With Dave Lieberman 09:05 Ten Dollar Dinners 09:30 Paula’s Best Dishes 09:55 Barefoot Contessa 10:20 Aarti Party 10:45 Boy Meets Grill 11:10 Unwrapped 11:35 Paula’s Party 12:25 Everyday Italian 12:50 Paula’s Best Dishes 13:15 Good Deal With Dave Lieberman 13:40 World Cafe Asia 14:05 Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam 14:30 Good Eats - Special 14:55 Unwrapped 15:20 Boy Meets Grill 15:45 Chopped 16:35 Guy’s Big Bite 17:00 Barefoot Contessa 17:25 Paula’s Best Dishes 17:50 Aarti Party 18:15 World Cafe Asia 18:40 Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam 19:05 Good Eats - Special 19:30 Food Network Challenge 20:20 Unwrapped 20:45 Unwrapped 21:10 Lidia’s Italy 21:35 Lidia’s Italy 22:00 Barefoot Contessa

00:05 Jungle Junction 00:15 Little Einsteins 00:40 Higglytown Heroes 01:10 Jo Jo’s Circus 01:30 Special Agent Oso 02:00 Jungle Junction 02:25 Little Einsteins 02:50 Higglytown Heroes 03:20 Jo Jo’s Circus 03:40 Special Agent Oso 04:10 Jungle Junction 04:35 Little Einsteins 05:00 Higglytown Heroes 05:30 Jo Jo’s Circus 05:50 Jungle Junction 06:15 Higglytown Heroes 06:45 Handy Manny 07:00 Special Agent Oso 07:15 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 07:40 Timmy Time 07:55 Little Einsteins 08:20 The Hive 08:30 Jake And The Neverland Pirates 09:00 Jungle Junction 09:10 Special Agent Oso 09:25 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 09:50 The Little Mermaid 11:00 The Hive 11:10 Jungle Junction 11:25 Jake And The Neverland Pirates 11:40 Imagination Movers 12:05 Lazytown 12:30 Handy Manny 12:45 Jake And The Neverland Pirates 13:00 Jungle Junction 13:15 The Hive 13:25 The Little Mermaid 14:40 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 15:05 Handy Manny 15:20 Jake And The Neverland Pirates 15:50 Jungle Junction 16:05 Lazytown 16:30 Imagination Movers 16:55 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 17:20 Handy Manny

17:35 Jungle Junction 17:50 The Hive 18:00 Little Einsteins 18:25 Jake And The Neverland Pirates 18:40 Handy Manny 18:55 Timmy Time 19:03 Animated Stories 19:05 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 19:50 Jake And The Neverland Pirates 20:00 Jake And The Neverland Pirates 20:08 A Poem Is...

20:10 The Little Mermaid 21:25 Timmy Time 21:35 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

00:25 Fashion Police 00:55 Chelsea Lately 01:25 E!es 02:20 E! Investigates 04:10 Sexiest 05:05 Reality Hell 05:30 Wildest TV Show Moments 06:00 50 Most Insane Celebrity Oops 07:50 Behind The Scenes 08:20 E! News 09:15 Kendra 10:15 Married To Rock 11:10 Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane 12:05 E! News 13:05 E!es 15:00 15 Most Infamous Child Star Mugshots 16:55 Behind The Scenes 17:25 E!es 18:25 THS 19:25 THS 22:25 E! News 23:25 The Soup 23:55 Chelsea Lately

00:15 Wrestling With Reality 01:30 M1 Selection 2010 02:20 Ride Guide Mountainbike 2009 04:00 Dawn To Dusk: The Uk’s Top Motorcycle...

04:50 Lucas Oil Motocross Championships 2009 06:30 Ride Guide Mountainbike 2008 08:00 X Games Heroes 09:40 Summer Dew Tour 2010 11:20 Lucas Oil Motocross Championships 2009 13:00 BMX Megatour 13:50 Mantracker 14:40 Fantasy Factory 17:10 I’ll Do Anything 18:00 Mantracker 18:50 Lucas Oil Motocross Championships 2009 19:40 Lucas Oil Ama Motocross Championships...

20:30 BMX Megatour 21:20 Eds Up 22:10 Mantracker 23:00 I’ll Do Anything 23:50 Wrestling With Reality

00:30 01:20 02:10 03:00 04:45 05:15 06:10 07:00 07:50 08:40 09:30 09:55 10:20 11:10 12:00 12:50 13:40 14:30 14:55 15:20 16:10 17:00 17:50 18:40 19:30 19:55 20:20 21:10 22:00 22:25 22:50 23:40 Jones

A Haunting Ghost Lab The Haunted A Haunting Black Museum Murder Shift Mystery Diagnosis Forensic Detectives Murder Shift Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Street Patrol Fugitive Strike Force FBI Files On The Case With Paula Zahn Ghost Lab Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Street Patrol Fugitive Strike Force Forensic Detectives Murder Shift FBI Files Mystery Diagnosis Street Patrol Real Emergency Calls On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared Stalked: Someone’s Watching Who On Earth Did I Marry?

I Almost Got Away With It True Crime With Aphrodite

00:00 By Any Means 01:00 Food Lover’s Guide to The Planet 01:30 Pressure Cook 02:00 A World Apart 03:00 Ultimate Traveller 04:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 05:00 Endurance Traveller 06:00 By Any Means 07:00 Food Lover’s Guide to The Planet 07:30 Pressure Cook 08:00 A World Apart 09:00 Ultimate Traveller 10:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 11:00 Endurance Traveller 12:00 By Any Means 13:00 Cruise Ship Diaries 14:00 Exploring The Vine 15:00 Food School 15:30 Banged Up Abroad 17:30 Finding Genghis 18:00 Travel Madness 1819:00 Cruise Ship Diaries 20:00 Exploring The Vine

00:00 01:00 01:55 02:50 03:45 04:40 05:35 06:30 07:25 08:20 09:15 10:10

Sea Strikers World’s Weirdest American Eagle Caught On Safari Sharkville Superfish American Eagle Journey Into Amazonia Hidden Worlds Bonecrusher Queens Brutal Killers Shane Untamed

THE INVENTION OF LYING ON OSN MOVIES HD 11:05 The Invaders 12:00 How Big Can It Get 13:00 Dangerous Encounters With Brady Barr 14:00 Fish Warrior 15:00 Brutal Killers 16:00 Leopard Queen 17:00 Bonecrusher Queens 18:00 I, Predator 19:00 Fish Warrior 20:00 Brutal Killers 21:00 Leopard Queen 22:00 Bonecrusher Queens 23:00 I, Predator

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 PG15 10:00 12:00 15:30 PG15 17:45 20:00 22:00

Nine Dead-PG15 Ballistica-PG15 Alive - To Be Deleted-PG15 Hollywood Homicide-PG15 Beyond A Reasonable DoubtShinjuku Incident-PG15 Wyatt Earp-PG15 Beyond A Reasonable DoubtKiss The Girls-18 Dead Presidents-18 A Perfect Getaway-18

01:00 A Way With Murder-18 03:00 Don’t Fade Away-PG15 05:00 Winx: Secret Of The Lost Kingdom-PG 07:00 Skellig-PG15 09:00 Remember Me-PG15 11:00 Far North-PG15 13:00 How To Train Your Dragon-PG 15:00 Messengers-PG15 17:00 Citizen Jane-PG 19:00 Motherhood-PG15 21:00 The A-Team-PG15 23:00 Tortured-PG15

00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 01:30 The New Adventures Of Old Christine 02:00 Saturday Night Live 03:00 Melissa And Joey 03:30 How I Met Your Mother 04:00 Two And A Half Men 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 Will And Grace 06:00 Coach 06:30 The Drew Carey Show 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 Two And A Half Men 08:30 Melissa And Joey 09:00 Will And Grace 09:30 The New Adventures Of Old Christine 10:00 Rita Rocks 10:30 Coach 11:00 The Drew Carey Show 11:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:30 Two And A Half Men 13:00 How I Met Your Mother 13:30 Will And Grace 14:00 Coach 14:30 The New Adventures Of Old Christine 15:00 Rita Rocks 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 Just Shoot Me 18:30 Just Shoot Me 19:00 30 Rock 19:30 30 Rock 20:00 My Boys 20:30 Curb Your Enthusiasm 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 Sons Of Tucson 22:30 Bored To Death

01:00 02:45 04:45 06:15 09:00

Freight-PG15 Alive-PG15 Fast Lane-PG15 2012-PG15 Stonehenge Apocalypse-

PG15 11:00 13:00 15:00 PG15 16:45

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 PG15 14:00 16:00 17:45 20:00

8 Mile-18 Annihilation Earth-PG15 Stonehenge Apocalypse-

00:30 01:00 02:00 King Arthur-PG15 03:00 04:00 07:00 08:00 Someone Like You-PG15 09:00 A Film With Me In It-PG15 10:00 Cats & Dogs-PG 12:00 Who’s Your Caddy?-PG15 14:00 The Addams Family-PG 15:00 The Ramen Girl-PG15 16:00 Everybody Wants To Be Italian- 18:00 19:00 Leave It To Beaver-PG 20:00 Someone Like You-PG15 23:00 Renaissance Man-PG15 I Love You Beth Cooper-PG15

01:00 Head Over Heels-PG15 03:00 Stone Of Destiny-PG15 05:00 Hope Springs-PG15 07:00 Aliens In The Attic-FAM 09:00 The Invention Of Lying-PG15 11:00 Coco Before Chanel-PG15 13:00 How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days-PG 15:00 One Hot Summer-PG15 17:00 The Invention Of Lying-PG15 19:00 Shrink-PG15 21:00 Funny People-18 23:30 All Good Things-18

01:00 Arthur And The Revenge Of Maltazard-PG 03:00 Sabrina The Teenage Witch: Friends Forever-PG 05:00 The Princess And The FrogFAM 07:00 Groove Squad-FAM 09:00 Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel-FAM 11:00 Turtle Hero 1-PG15 13:00 Turtle Hero 2-PG15 15:00 102 Dalmatians-PG 17:00 Turtle Hero 1-PG15 19:00 Turtle Hero 2-PG15 21:00 Groove Squad-FAM 23:00 102 Dalmatians-PG

00:00 International Rugby Union 02:00 Trans World Sport 03:00 UFC 134Countdown 04:00 Live UFC 134 07:00 Trans World Sport 08:00 Live NRL Premiership 10:00 The Open Championship Official Film 11:00 Tri Nations 13:00 International Rugby Union 15:00 Live European PGA Tour 19:00 The Open Championship Official Film 20:00 UFC 134 23:00 NRL Premiership

00:30 02:30 04:30 06:30 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

00:00 04:30 07:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 15:00 19:00 21:00

Rugby League Challenge Cup Currie Cup Rugby Union Currie Cup Rugby Union ICC Cricket World Live NRL Premiership International Rugby Union Tri Nations Scottish Premier League Live Scottish Premier League NRL Premiership Tri Nations Rugby League Challenge Cup Scottish Premier League

European PGA Tour AFL Premiership Trans World Sports Live NRL Premiership NRL Premiership Futbol Mundial ICC Cricket World Rugby Union Tri Nations Live European PGA Tour Scottish Premier League European PGA Tour

UFC All Access UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC 134 Countdown Live UFC 134 Prelims Live UFC 134 WWE Vintage Collection WWE Bottomline WWE NXT WWE SmackDown!

V8 Supercars Championship Speedway Modern Pentaholn WWE SmackDown!

UFC 134 Countdown UFC 134 Prelims UFC 134 UFC The Ultimate Fighter

00:00 The Korean War 02:00 Pawn Stars 02:30 Pawn Stars 03:00 South Korea: A Nation To Watch 04:00 The Korean War 08:00 Pawn Stars 09:00 South Korea: A Nation To Watch 10:00 The Korean War 14:00 Pawn Stars 15:00 South Korea: A Nation To Watch 16:00 The Korean War 20:00 Pawn Stars 20:30 Pawn Stars 21:00 UFO Hunters 22:00 Ancient Aliens

00:00 01:00 01:55 02:25 03:20 04:15 05:10 05:35 06:05 07:00 08:00 09:00 09:55 10:50 20:20 20:45 21:15 22:10 23:05

Homes With Style Fashion Avenue Big Boutique How Do I Look?

Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?

Married Away Homes With Style Area Clean House Big Boutique Clean House Top 10 Homes With Style Giuliana & Bill Fashion Police Clean House Comes Clean Giuliana & Bill Jerseylicious Ruby

00:17 01:00 01:45 02:00 02:45 09:17 13:00 15:00 15:17 16:00 16:30 17:00 18:00 18:45 20:00 20:45 21:00 22:00 22:17

Playlist Sound System 10 Playlist Urban Hit Playlist Playlist Urban Hit 30 Playlist Playlist New Playlist Focus - First Video Urban Hit Playlist French 10 Playlist Legend Playlist Playlist

01:00 07:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 23:00 23:30

VH1 Music Smooth Wake Up Aerobic VH1 Hits Music For The Masses Top 10 Cover Power Disco Fashion Weekend VH1 Loves The Album Chart Show Guess The Year Disco Fashion Weekend VH1 Rocks Smells Like The 90s

Classifieds SUNDAY, AUGUST 28, 2011

ACCOMMODATION Sharing accommodation available in Khaitan in a studio flat with a Mangalorean R/C bachelor, close to bus stop and Jamiya. Rent KD 25. Contact: 66036893.

(C 3591) Sharing accommodation available one room with separate bathroom available in old Riggae for family, working women, executive bachelor. New C-A/C 2 bedroom & maid room spacious flat near Al Dallah Supermarket closer to Avenues. Interested please contact: 55114836 / 99065356. (C 3592) 28-8-2-2011 One room available in two bedroom flat in Farwaniya behind Crowne Plaza in front of Dar Al-Quran.

Please call: 50129393.

(C 3589) 25-8-2011

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 MLR JZR MEA THY ETH UAE DHX ETD MSR JZR FDB GFA QTR KAC FCX JZR JZR KAC BAW JZR KAC KAC IRA KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC UAE QTR ABY IRA ETD GFA IRC FCX MEA JZR JZR JZR RBG ABY KAC MSR UAL RJA KAC FDB

Flt 642 1405 269 406 772 620 853 370 305 614 269 67 211 138 544 201 503 555 412 157 1541 206 382 615 284 302 53 332 678 352 855 132 125 603 301 213 6801 203 404 165 121 561 3553 123 672 610 982 640 774 57

Arrival Flights on Sunday 28/8/2011 Route AMMAN COLOMBO / DUBAI BEIRUT BEIRUT ISTANBUL ADDIS ABABA DUBAI BAHRAIN ABU DHABI CAIRO BEIRUT DUBAI BAHRAIN DOHA CAIRO DUBAI LUXOR ALEXANDRIA MANILA / BANGKOK LONDON CAIRO ISLAMABAD DELHI SHAHRE KORD DHAKA MUMBAI DUBAI TRIVANDRUM MUSCAT / DUBAI COCHIN DUBAI DOHA SHARJAH SHIRAZ ABU DHABI BAHRAIN AHWAZ DUBAI BEIRUT DUBAI BAHRAIN SOHAG ALEXANDRIA / SOHAG SHARJAH DUBAI CAIRO WASHINGTON DC DULLES AMMAN RIYADH DUBAI

Time 0:05 0:15 0:35 1:00 1:15 1:45 2:25 2:55 2:55 3:05 3:05 3:10 3:15 3:20 4:40 5:25 5:40 6:10 6:15 6:30 7:10 7:15 7:20 7:35 7:40 7:50 7:55 7:55 8:00 8:05 8:25 9:00 9:10 9:25 9:30 9:35 10:15 10:30 10:55 11:10 11:15 12:30 12:55 13:10 13:15 13:20 13:30 13:35 13:40 13:50

QTR KAC SVA KAC KAC JZR QTR JZR ETD UAE GFA SVA JZR JZR ABY JZR FDB ALK JZR KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC JAI SYR FDB OMA VOS MEA KAC KAC DHX UAE KAC GFA QTR AFG UAL AIC JZR JZR JZR MSR DLH AXB JZR KLM JZR PIA

140 562 500 788 746 257 134 535 303 857 215 510 777 239 127 213 63 227 177 166 542 618 786 614 674 102 572 341 61 647 81 402 552 512 372 859 172 217 136 405 981 981 135 787 185 612 636 389 539 447 481 205

DOHA AMMAN JEDDAH JEDDAH ABU DHABI / DAMMAM BEIRUT DOHA CAIRO ABU DHABI DUBAI BAHRAIN RIYADH JEDDAH AMMAN SHARJAH DEIREZZOR / ALEPPO DUBAI COLOMBO / DUBAI DUBAI PARIS / ROME CAIRO DOHA JEDDAH BAHRAIN DUBAI NEW YORK / LONDON MUMBAI DAMASCUS / ALEPPO DUBAI MUSCAT BAGHDAD BEIRUT DAMASCUS TEHRAN BAHRAIN DUBAI FRANKFURT BAHRAIN DOHA KABUL / DUBAI BAHRAIN CHENNAI / AHMEDABAD BAHRAIN RIYADH DUBAI CAIRO FRANKFURT KOZHIKODE / MANGALORE CAIRO AMSTERDAM / BAHRAIN SABIHA LAHORE

14:15 14:20 14:30 15:00 15:05 15:10 15:15 15:50 16:50 16:55 17:15 17:20 17:25 17:35 17:40 17:50 17:55 18:00 18:00 18:40 18:50 18:55 19:00 19:20 19:25 19:25 19:35 19:55 20:00 20:10 20:15 20:15 20:15 21:00 21:00 21:15 21:20 21:25 21:35 22:00 22:00 22:05 22:10 22:20 22:35 22:50 23:00 23:10 23:30 23:35 23:50 23:55

Airlines AXB JZR DLH AIC MLR MEA THY ETH SWT UAE FDB DHX DHX ETD MSR QTR JZR JZR RJA GFA JZR BAW IRA FDB JZR KAC KAC KAC KAC JZR KAC KAC UAE ABY QTR ETD GFA KAC IRA JZR IRC FCX MEA KAC JZR JZR KAC KAC RBG JZR

Flt 394 1540 637 976 1405 407 773 620 94 854 68 371 371 306 615 139 560 164 643 212 120 156 614 54 534 171 671 745 117 256 561 787 856 126 133 302 214 773 602 212 6802 204 405 541 776 238 103 785 3554 176

Departure Flights on Sunday 28/8/2011 Route COCHIN / KOZHIKODE CAIRO FRANKFURT GOA / CHENNAI COLOMBO BEIRUT ISTANBUL BAHRAIN / ADDIS ABABA DUBAI / KANDAHAR DUBAI DUBAI BAHRAIN BAHRAIN ABU DHABI CAIRO DOHA SOHAG DUBAI AMMAN BAHRAIN BAHRAIN LONDON SHAHRE KORD DUBAI CAIRO FRANKFURT DUBAI DAMMAM / ABU DHABI NEW YORK BEIRUT AMMAN JEDDAH DUBAI SHARJAH DOHA ABU DHABI BAHRAIN RIYADH SHIRAZ DEIREZZOR / ALEPPO AHWAZ DUBAI BEIRUT CAIRO JEDDAH AMMAN LONDON JEDDAH ALEXANDRIA DUBAI

Time 0:15 0:20 0:40 0:50 1:15 2:00 2:15 2:30 3:30 3:45 3:50 3:55 3:55 4:05 4:05 5:00 5:55 6:55 7:00 7:10 8:20 8:25 8:35 8:40 8:50 8:55 9:00 9:05 9:05 9:10 9:15 9:25 9:40 9:50 10:00 10:15 10:20 10:20 10:25 10:50 11:15 11:45 11:55 12:00 12:00 12:10 12:30 13:30 13:35 13:40

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

ABY MSR RJA FDB UAL KAC KAC KAC SVA JZR QTR KAC KAC JZR ETD QTR UAE GFA ABY JZR SVA FDB JZR JZR ALK JZR KAC KAC JAI FDB SYR KAC KAC OMA MEA KAC DHX UAE GFA FCX QTR KAC KAC JZR JZR JZR KAC UAL MSR KAC

124 611 641 58 982 551 673 617 503 480 141 613 511 538 304 135 858 216 128 184 511 64 786 204 228 134 283 361 571 62 342 343 351 648 403 543 373 860 218 102 137 301 205 554 502 530 411 981 613 415

SHARJAH CAIRO AMMAN DUBAI BAHRAIN DAMASCUS DUBAI DOHA MEDINAH / JEDDAH SABIHA DOHA BAHRAIN TEHRAN CAIRO ABU DHABI DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN SHARJAH DUBAI RIYADH DUBAI RIYADH DAMASCUS DUBAI / COLOMBO BAHRAIN DHAKA COLOMBO MUMBAI DUBAI ALEPPO / DAMASCUS CHENNAI COCHIN MUSCAT BEIRUT CAIRO BAHRAIN DUBAI BAHRAIN BAHRAIN DOHA MUMBAI ISLAMABAD ALEXANDRIA LUXOR ASSIUT BANGKOK / MANILA WASHINGTON DC DULLES CAIRO KUALA LUMPUR / JAKARTA

13:50 14:20 14:30 14:35 14:45 14:55 15:10 15:35 15:45 16:00 16:15 16:20 16:30 16:40 17:35 17:45 18:05 18:15 18:20 18:25 18:35 18:40 18:40 18:55 19:10 19:10 20:00 20:20 20:35 20:40 20:55 21:00 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:55 22:00 22:25 22:30 22:30 22:35 22:45 22:55 23:10 23:25 23:35 23:40 23:40 23:50 23:50

34

SUNDAY, AUGUST 28, 2011

stars CROSSWORD 423

STAR TRACK

CALVIN & HOBBES

Aries (March 21-April 19) You are aggressive in the pursuit of gaining insight into all that is new, different and out of the ordinary. Electronics, computers and communications could be a big part of your life. You are driven when it comes to fulfilling your ambitions and carving out a career. There is no lack of energy or drive here and nothing can stand in your way. You may be considering the writing of a fix-it project, or a how-to shop sort of book and think this might be a fun way to make a living.

Everything is poured into making the right moves during this whole week. If you are really serious about the book, start taking notes and file them away in a card-catalog box. The outline will be easy, when you are ready. You may be entertaining this evening—enjoy.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) There is a clear-minded insight into your own plans and methods now. Much stability and available opportunities are coming your way. This is a very good time to make decisions and plans and communicate your goals. You will find yourself concerned with pushing outward in your profession and in your personal life. These next few years should be easier than recently—filled with opportunities and friendships. Enjoy them. You have plenty of enthusiasm and warm up to things and people quickly. You have an inner self-confidence that burns with its own light. In your personal life there may be the possibility that you will be called upon to enter the political field. You can make a positive difference in many areas.

POOCH CAFE ACROSS 1. Counting the number of white and red blood cells and the number of platelets in 1 cubic millimeter of blood.

4. New Zealand timber tree resembling the cypress.

10. A former monetary unit in Great Britain.

13. A metal-bearing mineral valuable enough to be mined.

14. (Old Testament) The first of the major Hebrew prophets (8th century BC).

15. Any of various primates with short tails or no tail at all.

16. Of or relating to or characteristic of Morocco or its people.

18. A slight rounded elevation where the malleus attaches to the eardrum.

19. Having leadership guidance.

20. Any of several large deciduous trees with rounded spreading crowns and smooth gray bark and small sweet edible triangular nuts enclosed in burs.

21. A nettle yielding fiber resembling flax.

23. A pilgrimage to Mecca.

25. Other than what is under consideration or implied.

26. Put someone through a debriefing and make him report.

30. Any plant of the genus Erica.

34. (Scottish) Bluish-black or gray-blue.

35. Young sheep.

38. An Arabic speaking person who lives in Arabia or North Africa.

39. (prefix) Bad or erroneous or lack of.

40. A Bantu language spoken in southern Zaire.

41. (Irish) Mother of the ancient Irish gods.

42. A Nilo-Saharan language spoken in parts of Chad.

47. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables.

48. Jordan's port.

49. A light strong brittle gray toxic bivalent metallic element.

52. The Creator.

56. An island of central Hawaii.

59. Angular distance above the horizon (especially of a celestial object).

60. American prizefighter who won the world heavyweight championship three times (born in 1942).

61. Shrub bearing oval-fruited kumquats.

63. The network in the reticular formation that serves an alerting or arousal function.

64. A logarithmic unit of sound intensity equal to 10 decibels.

65. Shaped like a dish.

66. Failing to detonate.

DOWN 1. A flat device with narrow pointed teeth on one edge.

2. (Scotland) A slope or hillside.

3. Wrap us in a cerecloth, as of a corpse.

4. A member of a Caddo people formerly living in north central Texas.

5. A very poisonous metallic element that has three allotropic forms.

6. Make high-pitched, whiney noises.

7. An anticipated outcome that is intended or that guides your planned actions.

8. The capital and largest city of Afghanistan.

9. Traveling on horseback.

10. An island in Indonesia east of Java.

11. An organization of countries formed in 1961 to agree on a common policy for the sale of petroleum.

12. English monk and scholar (672-735).

17. Of a moderate orange-yellow color.

22. A three-tone Chadic language.

24. A loose cloak with a hood.

27. English essayist (1775-1834).

28. A vigorous blow.

29. All the animal life in a particular region.

31. A self-funded retirement plan that allows you to contribute a limited yearly sum toward your retirement.

32. Airtight sealed metal container for food or drink or paint etc..

33. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

36. A unit of information equal to one million (1,048,576) bytes.

37. A soft silvery metallic element of the alkali earth group.

43. A Loloish language.

44. Put in the mind of someone.

45. Characterized by disconcerting directness in manner or speech.

46. A Turkish unit of weight equal to about 2.75 pounds.

49. A grant made by a law court.

50. A chain of more than 200 islands about 400 miles long in the western central Pacific Ocean.

51. An honorary arts degree.

53. A rapid series of short loud sounds (as might be heard with a stethoscope in some types of respiratory disorders).

54. A blue dye obtained from plants or made synthetically.

55. Willing to face danger.

57. System of measurement based on centimeters and grams and seconds.

58. The syllable naming the sixth (submediant) note of a major or minor scale in solmization.

62. The branch of computer science that deal with writing computer programs that can solve problems creatively.

Yesterday’s Solution

Gemini (May 21-June 20) You may be able to bring a group together with words or ideas that transport others. You are aggressive in the pursuit of gaining insight into all that is new, different and out of the ordinary. Electronics, computers and communications could be a big part of your life. Your love of job and practical skills makes you a fine manager and business person. You bring a great deal of love to your work. This evening you may be feeling more inward and more like sharing some time with your lover or with close friends. Close relationships take on more emotional depth, power and importance. Feeling cared for and needed is gratifying. You express your gratefulness to a loved one this evening—a happy evening. Passion prevails at this time—make sure it is positive.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

NON SEQUITUR

This is the best time you will have for quite a while to make progress, push forward and rise to prominence. It will be hard for you to do wrong, for all the cycles are working in your favor. This is also a time when you may marry or take on a new role in the community—recognition will be forthcoming. A family member wants to be more independent in a very radical way. Events may make it easy for you to be original, have breakthroughs and find new solutions to old problems. You may find yourself able to implement your ideas and put them into practice. Now is the time to make that outward push and ride the wave to fame. It is also a time for friends, social life and, in general, an easy and untroubled life. These are good times for goals.

Leo (July 23-August 22) Your enthusiasm is strong and others may wish you would cool it a bit. Be aware of how you are received by others and enjoy your enthusiasm with those that really seem interested in your ideas. Your ambitions go hand-in-hand with communication and using the mind and the two should never be far apart. Material things and the whole concept of value take on more importance for you now. Financial security and enjoying the finer things in life are what you strive to achieve. Pick and choose carefully regarding investments—ask questions! Family members with things to do outside the home may leave you to yourself this evening.

This is the perfect time to clean out the garage and perhaps the attic. Now there is some new space to start on a new project.

ZITS

Virgo (August 23-September 22) Work, achievement and ambition are the things that mean a lot to you now. It is easy for you to work with those in authority—those older and more experienced than you. You enjoy working with others and would make a good manager. You are at your most practical when it comes to dealing and working with others. You know just what to do and can act without haste. You are called on to make use of your natural abilities and common sense. Figuring out ways to make your nest egg grow can be a preoccupation this evening. Progress in this area of your life may be a bit difficult. Revision of budget may be the best route to take for now. A garage sale may be more helpful than you think; consider a group garage sale and advertise in the local paper.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM

There is a sense of testing the limits today, pace yourself. Take your breaks and get away for a while at the noon hour. This afternoon will find you are full of wit and sharp insights. This could be a time for real breakthrough in the idea department. You are in top form when it comes to mental activity.

You get along well with older people—especially those in authority. It is easy for you to convey yourself to others and you always manage to make a good appearance. Coworkers may talk you into being the go-between today. You have an easy manner and find it easy to communicate with just about anyone. The extra stress you may be feeling this month will not be so hard on you if you maintain a regular exercise program—eat often but light foods—rest.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) You may find yourself looking for a little romance today or at least enjoying some fun flirtation. This is a great time to be with others and to work together. Your drive for independence is obvious and it is clear that the common and the traditional are not for you. Anything else but that! You pursue alternate or nonconformist solutions to life with great energy. Maintain your good health by talking about your concerns with a friend—take turns and then celebrate life. Lady luck smiles on you this month where finances are concerned. This is a good time to begin the habit of balance where your finances come into play. Sometimes you can be very frugal, living on little, and at other times you can blow it all in a moment. Balance is the key.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) There is time today for you to complete any leftover work from last month that was set aside. You may want to clean off your desk today. You could be seen by others as just the person to be put in charge of some project requiring a conservative mind. There is a tendency towards isolation because your concentration is so intense you tend to block out all else. The only problem here is that when you look up, almost everyone has gone home. Remember, all work and no play made Jack a dull boy! Some past event may be on your mind this evening and you may find yourself reminiscing over some of these memories. Enjoy a little time with your hobby or enjoy the company of a loved one this evening. Plan a little trip together.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

To

This is a good day to accomplish much. Good eye-hand coordination and a strong and willing effort make almost any task run well. Power, wealth and passion bring you a passionate life—today is no exception.

Your intense feelings and strong attachments can make for hot times. Financial trading or real estate may be your specialty. You are fiercely loyal but be careful to back off once you feel you might become possessive and this includes business as well as personal relationships. You manage to end up in the limelight today with the support of those around you. You get a lot of mileage out your appearance and the way you communicate to others. You could make your living from the public.

You may feel like getting outside a while.

Yesterday’s Solution Yester

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) This is a good day to buckle down and accomplish whatever you set out to do. Any group project should proceed along quite well. Also, any research or work that requires digging, searching, investigating and getting beneath the surface can be successful as well. The word here is accomplishment.

If there is a job, you can do it. A prodigious worker, you pour yourself into any task with absolute determination. You are responsible to the extreme and take on obligations as though you just cannot get enough. This afternoon your taste in art and appreciation in general are heightened. Perhaps this is a good time to select merchandise or purchase tickets to a future play or concert. There are opportunities this evening to just sit back and enjoy what you have.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Word Sleuth Solution

Others may not be as grateful as you would like them to be with regard to the emotional, financial or other help you so readily give. Perhaps the recognition you seek would be achieved through exercising your natural talents. Favors done for people are just that—favors—and you may not always find instant gratification. Achieving your best as you express your talents, however, may gain you the rewards you seek. This may mean that you use your helpful efforts through some volunteer service where you could express your talents: leading a children’s choir, help with props for plays, etc. There are several opportunities to be with your loved ones in an environment of harmony this evening. The lines of communication are open.

A

y

e niv rsar n

Years

SUNDAY, AUGUST 28, 2011

i n f o r m at i o n

FIRE BRIGADE

112

Al-Madena

22418714

Al-Shohada’a

22545171

Al-Shuwaikh

24810598

Al-Nuzha

22545171

Sabhan

24742838

Al-Helaly

22434853

Al-Fayhaa

22545051

Al-Farwaniya

24711433

Al-Sulaibikhat

24316983

Al-Fahaheel

23927002

Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh

24316983

Ahmadi

23980088

Al-Mangaf

23711183

Al-Shuaiba

23262845

24812000

Al-Jahra

25610011

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Al-Salmiya

25616368

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

Ministry of Interior website: www.moi.gov.kw For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128

Hospitals Sabah Hospital

POLICE STATION Al-Madena Police Station Al-Murqab Police Station Al-Daiya Police Station Al-Fayha’a Police Station Al-Qadissiya Police Station Al-Nugra Police Station Al-Salmiya Police Station Al-Dasma Police Station

Clinics Rabiya

4732263

Roudha

22517733

Adhaliya

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

Keifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salim

22549134

Al-Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Al-Khadissiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Ghar

22531908

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SUNDAY, AUGUST 28, 2011

lifestyle

Brad Pitt

G O S S I P

Tara Reid didn’ t plan to marry

saves woman on movie set rad Pitt saved a woman on the set of ‘World War Z’ from being trampled. The 47-year-old actor was shooting battle scenes for the horror apocalypse movie in Glasgow, Scotland, with 700 extras when the actress fell to the ground in the melee.

Quick-thinking Brad scooped her up in his arms and put her back on her feet before she faced the risk of getting badly injured. A source told the Scottish Sun newspaper: “Lots of people hurt themselves and Brad came to the rescue of one woman who slipped.

I don’t think she could believe it when Brad picked her up. “He didn’t have time to speak to her as it was midshoot. But she said afterwards how grateful she was, despite having a

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Zack Kehayov

grazed knee.” Although the actress had her very own Hollywood hero to save her, many of the other extras weren’t so lucky and were left with injuries following the dangerous battle scene. The source added: “Loads of extras suffered bumps and scrapes. One extra playing a soldier was even hit by a moving car and ended up on the vehicle’s bonnet, but fortunately he escaped unhurt.”

Brad has been in Scotland for the past few weeks filming scenes for the movie, and he and his family - partner Angelina Jolie and their six children, Maddox, 10, Pax, seven, Zahara, six, Shiloh, five, and three-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne - have been staying at a rented 16th century mansion in the Ayrshire hills

he ‘American Pie’ actress - who wed the finance worker on the Greek island of Santorini last week after a whirlwind threemonth romance - admitted the couple had no intention of taking their relationship to the next level, but it just “felt right”. She said: “You know when they say, ‘You just know’? That was it for me. I knew. It was love. The wedding wasn’t planned. We didn’t go on holiday to get married. “But, when he proposed, it felt right and we just thought, ‘Let’s do it now’. We both wore white clothes and just did it on the beach. It was so romantic.” Tara - who has been engaged twice before - is planning to start a family in the future and “can’t wait” to get fat. In an interview given before she entered the ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ house in the UK, Tara said: “We’ll definitely have kids but not just yet. I can 100 per cent see myself as a mother. I can’t wait to get fat and have that belly. I think it looks really cute.”

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Ashlee Simpson calls ex Pete shlee Simpson reportedly wants to get back with her estranged husband Pete Wentz. The singer-and-actress - who filed for divorce from the former Fall Out Boy rocker in February after two years of marriage - is said to have made a late night phone call to Pete to tell him how much she “misses” him. A source told Us Weekly magazine: “Ashlee was telling Pete how much she misses him and wants him back.” The ‘Outta My Head’ hitmaker - who has a two-year-old son Bronx Mowgli

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with Pete - has apparently asked her sister Jessica to help her win him back. However, Pete’s friends have insisted he will “never” get back with Ashlee, who has been romantically linked to ‘Boardwalk Empire’ star Vincent Piazza. A friend said: “He will never go back to her. He’s in a good place.” In March, Ashlee was spotted holding hands with her estranged husband, leading to speculation the pair had reconciled. The singer cited “irreconcilable differences” in a filing for divorce from Pete to Los

Angeles County Superior Court, but the pair insisted at the time they were going to “remain friends” for the sake of their son. In a joint statement released in February, they said: “After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to file for divorce. “We remain friends and deeply committed and loving parents to our son Bronx, whose happiness and well-being remains our number one priority. We ask that everyone honour our privacy as we navigate this next phase of our lives.”

Pinto

Aniston rents home with Justin

doesn’t need flea markets anymore reida Pinto no longer shops at flea markets now she is famous. The ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ actress admits her life has changed in the last few years, but she is still amazed that she can employ people to put her outfits together now. Asked how her life has changed, she said: “I have access to certain things that I wouldn’t ever have before. I used to go down to the flea markets and put these things together and take them to my tailor to be fixed up. And now there are other people who do that for me!” While she used to shop at flea markers, Freida - who is in a relationship with her ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ co-star Dev Patel - is comfortable with glamorous red carpet outfits because she has learned to view big events as “fun” rather than intimidating. She explained to Flare magazine: “I look at it as fun. I think it’s terrifying if you’re trying to do something you’re not comfortable with, or trying to channel something you’re not. But if you’re just being true to the kind of clothes you wear, it’s fun.”

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ennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux have moved into a two-bedroom home. The couple are reportedly renting the small $3 million property in Hollywood after the ‘Horrible Bosses’ actress sold her lavish Beverly Hills mansion for $38 million. A source told Us Weekly: “One bedroom is the master and the other is currently furnished as a guest room. “It is a really romantic house with great views and a warm feeling in every room. If they decide they like it, it’s also for sale.” According to X17 Online, Jennifer and Justin’s new home boasts hardwood floors, vaulted ceilings, a pool, hidden garden and a garage which has been converted into a family room. The source added: “They’re really excited about it.”

The small property may surprise some people as the couple had been seen viewing a number of mansions to replace the one Jennifer sold, and in late July were looking at up to six a day, including Ellen DeGeneres and Portia De Rossi’s house.

Kim Kardashian’s mother thrilled by wedding

im Kardashian’s wedding was one of the best days of her mother’s life. The 30-year-old beauty tied the knot with boyfriend Kris Humphries last weekend and her mom Kris Jenner still gets emotional thinking about the big day again. Kris said: “I took at the time of the wedding a lot of mental snapshots of the tent or the room and oh, my god, Kim walking down the aisle and just everything that was going on and I get emotional. “I want to remember that moment again, I cannot wait to see ... you know, you want to see the pictures and the videotape to kind of relive it, because everyone was so nervous. It was one of the best days of my life.” Kris was thrilled by the Vera Wang gown Kim chose to wear to say her wedding vows as she thinks her daughter looked “breathtakingly beautiful”. She told E! News: “She looks breathtakingly beautiful. It’s sort of a picture of, like, if you had a fantasy of what you want your daughter to look like on her wedding day, it’s like, wow. She looks fresh and beautiful and, most of all, happy.” Kris admits she struggled to maintain her composure throughout the wedding and was grateful for the support she was given by her other daughter Khloe’s husband Lamar Odom. Asked if she cried during the wedding, she said: “Yeah, I did. I had tissues stuffed down my dress, because I knew. I started to cry when I walked out, and then the minute Lamar grabbed my arm, I was good. I was like, ‘I am safe, I am good, I’m not gonna fall,’ nothing like that.” —Bang Showbiz

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Hathaway had problems being a vegetarian he 28-year-old actress - who is renowned for her slim physique - admits it hasn’t always been easy working in the UK because of her meat-free dietary requirements, but has found the country has changed progressively since she first came to Britain10 years ago. She told BANG Showbiz: “What do I think of British food? You know I’m vegetarian so I have problems here and there, but by-and-large it’s OK. “I came here first to do a movie when I was 19 and it wasn’t so kind to vegetarians but a lot of has happened to the food scene since then. There’s so many places to eat here. Do I like chips? Yeah!” Anne recently joked she has been on a strict diet to keep her weight down to play Catwoman in Batman movie ‘The Dark Knight Rises’, eating nothing but cabbage and “dust”. She said: “I’m a vegetarian and right now, I’m living on kale and dust for the training. That catsuit’s unforgiving, man!

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lifestyle

Rebuilding lives and Ground Zero “R ebirth” follows five New Yorkers who discuss the events of 9/11 and the World Trade Center as a site of shared trauma, exploring the emotional, spiritual, mental and physical repercussions that day left on all of us. Interwoven with the annual interviews is onsite time lapse photography-paired with an ethereal score by Philip Glass- that shows how the Twin Towers’ rubble is removed and new structures are built in the same space.

As the rebuild moves forward, interviewees tell how they are coping with the emotional toll of the attacks. To get his footage, Whitaker strapped 14 cameras to various locations in lower Manhattan that would snap a still of the site’s recovery every

five minutes, every day, for the duration of his interviews. The result is stunning animation of seasons changing and time moving on as construction workers execute the One World Trade Center project, to be unveiled in January 2013.

No less stunning are the annual interviews. “I was always aware of how each of the subjects was evolving,” Whitaker has said. “It was around the fourth or fifth year that I saw each one of them making some kind of small, medium or large leap forward towards something. There was a new feeling, a settling of emotions.” Take Tanya, an instantly lovable firefighter’s fiance who lost her “soul mate” in the midst of planning for their wedding and life together. We see her envy toward other women

post-9/11 in ‘Rebirth’

whose lives move forward with ease while she feels stuck mourning the life she lost.

We also see her moments of sanctuary-riding her motorcycle or escaping to Miami-that allow her some space to heal. Then there’s Ling, a Chinese mother of three who was able to escape from her workplace on the 78th floor of the North tower when the first plane hit. Ling physically embodies the trauma of 9/11 as she goes through years of medical rehabilitation to address the second- and third-degree burns she received onimpact. Her scars mirror the emotional scarring of director Jim Whitaker’s subjects, but as the only interviewee present at the towers during the attacks, her bruised but resilient spirit reflects a

deep appreciation for her survival. “I always had a feeling that no matter how difficult things were, no matter what our subjects were going through at that time ... that there would come down the road a return to life and the joy of moving forward,” said Whitaker.

The documentary premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2011. Theatrical releases are scheduled across the country, including a oneweek exclusive engagement at the Laemmle Theaters in Los Angeles beginning Friday.

Whitaker also founded Project Rebirth, stemming from the feature-length documentary, which is dedicated to honoring victims and their loved one’s stories.— (TheWrap.com)

‘Midnight in Paris’ actor mans up for Hemingway role The sculpture of Martin Luther King seen on Friday in Washington DC. The longawaited dedication of a US national memorial to slain civil rights icon Martin Luther King has been delayed due to Hurricane Irene, organizers said . The dedication — slated for today the 48th anniversary of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech — will instead take place next month or October, said Harry Johnson, head of the memorial project. —AFP

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orey Stoll, though not a household name, was a major player in “Midnight in Paris,” a movie that remained in picture houses all summer long and made more money than any other movie from the director Woody Allen. Stoll spoke to TheWrap about acting, the motion picture business and how he played Ernest Hemingway in “Midnight in Paris.”

TheWrap: Did you have any sense of the kind of phenomenon this movie was going to be?

Corey Stoll: No. I expected it to get the attention that Woody Allen movies have been getting over the last decade or so. I knew it was going to get out there, and I knew that even if it ended up being a minor Woody Allen film, it’s still going to last. But you never know how many people are going to see it. But it’s funny, because my girlfriend knew. We were shooting it in Paris, and she saw the people and the costumes and everything and said, “People are really going to react to this. This is going to be a big hit.” I think I had lower expectations, but I’m glad that she was right.

TheWrap: Do people recognize you as Hemingway now, or does the fact that you wear a wig in the movie and have a shaved head in real life prevent that?

Stoll: It’s only happened a couple of times in New York and L.A. What happens is that people recognize me from my time as Detective Jaruszalski on “Law & Order: Los Angeles,” and if they’re business savvy they may know that I also did this movie.

TheWrap: Are you getting more scripts now, and different kinds of scripts?

Stoll: All of the above. In theater, people have been putting wigs on me for years, and within that community the idea that I have more visual range was a given. And now it’s opened things up a bit in Hollywood, too. You got the call from Woody Allen after he saw you in the Broadway revival of Arthur Miller’s “A View from the Bridge.”

TheWrap: Do you know if he’d seen you in anything else?

Stoll: I think it was just that. Luckily, in the play I had a wig, I had a mustache, I was in period clothes and I was playing the manliest man you can imagine.

TheWrap: Your character, in a way, is an idealized and romanticized version of Hemingway. Did you try to make him look and sound like the real person?

Stoll: No. I listened to the only voice recording I could find, which was him accepting the Nobel Prize. And it’s just not your image of Hemingway at all. His voice was actually kind of high and reedy, with a little bit of a lisp. It doesn’t fit at all with what we see in the film, which is Hemingway as the model of a purposely-led life. I was more concerned with reading his material and seeing what he said about himself, because that’s the image that Owen Wilson’s character would have, and that’s what the movie is about.

It’s a time-travel movie, but I don’t really know the realities of what is supposed to be happening. My assumption is, I’m playing the iconic writer, the idea that is instilled in all of our minds of Hemingway, not the real person. It’s really a license to chew the scenery. Well, there are some people who think it’s totally cartoony, but I was sensitive to the fact that he’s such a beloved writer. There are a lot of American men who see him as the ideal man, and I didn’t want to mock him. But when I got to the set, there were certain times that Woody was encouraging me to go in directions that were sort of comedic. I was preparing as if I was going to play him in a biopic, and I’d forgotten that it was a comedy.

TheWrap: Typically, he gives his actors only the script pages on which they appear. Yeah. Only Owen Wilson got the whole script. Did you ever see the rest of the script, or learn the entire story?

Stoll: On the first day I asked Owen what’s happening, and he sort of gave me the rundown. So I had a basic idea, with a lot of holes.

But I don’t think for my character it was really important. I think sometimes actors having a holistic view of what they’re in can be overrated. Especially when you’re playing somebody as narcissistic and self-involved as Ernest Hemingway, it doesn’t really matter what else is in the script. Whenever my character’s on the screen, it’s all about him.

TheWrap: So are you getting a lot of scripts to play manly men now?

Stoll: Yes, a few. (laughs) Which is fun. And that was a fun little trick to play on myself when I was doing this movie. There were a lot of things that were pretty intimidating: working with a legendary director and Academy Award-winning actors, playing this literary god. So there were times when I sort of had to will myself to be as confident as the character. It was fun, to pretend that I am the cockiest guy on earth.

Smart casting puts TV Emmy winner in royal role “D

esigning Women” creator Linda Bloodworth-Thomason once wrote that actress Jean Smart’s character on the 1980s sitcom had “legs that stretched out for five or six miles, and one of those laughs that made you feel like riding around in a convertible.” Some 25 years later, Smart’s girl-next-door looks, legs and laugh are intact, making her casting of Prince Charles’s matronly second wife, Camilla Parker Bowles, all the more surprising, except to Smart herself.

“The thing is, I started out in the theater, so I always did all kinds of parts - all different ages, all kinds of parts,” Smart explained recently, while promoting the TV movie “William & Catherine: A Royal Romance,” which debuted yesterday night on the Hallmark Channel. “And, actually, Camilla was adorable when they were younger.” Smart said she hopes the movie, which follows William and Catherine from introduction to proposal, sheds a new, positive light on Bowles, “the true love of Charles’s life,” according to Smart. Bowles was widely maligned by the public and press, especially in the aftermath of Princess Diana’s untimely death in 1997.

“Yes, there are a couple of moments where she has a nice, self-deprecating sense of humor about herself and the fact it’s taken a gaggle of stylists to kind of put her together and everything, and it’s kind of nice,” Smart said. “I really liked the way she was portrayed in the script, and a very sympathetic, lik-

able character, and I thought she ... deserved that.”

Smart, born in Seattle, Washington, probably always will be best known as Charlene Olivia Frazier Stillfield, the naive but huge -hearted office manager at Atlanta’s Sugarbaker design firm, on the first five seasons (1986-91) of the sitcom “Designing Women.”

“Oh, yeah, it was a great job,” Smart recalled. “And we had a blast. And we’re all still friends. And we’re devastated by losing Dixie.” Co-star Dixie Carter died in April 2010 after complications from endometrial cancer. She was just 70. “Oh, she was something else,” Smart noted, with a wistful smile. “And we all (the “Designing Women” leads) went to the funeral in Tennessee, her little hometown in Tennessee. Annie (Potts) and I flew down together. We met Delta (Burke),” Smart then pursed her lips and looked away, unable to continue for a few seconds, but then noting that Carter’s husband, actor Hal Holbrook, was “doing pretty well, considering they were inseparable.”

Since leaving “Designing Women,” Smart has enjoyed numerous T V-career highs: two Emmy Awards for guest appearances on “Frasier” (2000, 2001), a major role on the drama “24” in 2006, the year it won the Emmy for drama series, and another of her own Emmys for playing Christina Applegate’s self-centered mother in the sitcom “Samantha Who?” (2008). Smart was killed off in the first-season finale of “Hawaii Five-0” last spring, but admitted flying into

Honolulu for her occasional role as Hawaii’s governor was no tropical vacation. She said she would arrive, be up at 4 a.m. to work, and hurry to be back on a plane to Los Angeles to be with her recently adopted toddler, Bonnie. (Smart is married to actor Richard Gilliland, and they also have an adult son, Connor.)

That said, she loved the series’ hunk factor, supplied by stars Alex O’Loughlin, Scott Caan and Daniel Dae Kim. “All three of them!” she exclaimed. “I mean Daniel, Daniel Dae Kim. I have this friend. She’s this darling, very southern, very Christian, married to a cute doctor, but she said (Smart breaks into a Southern accent), ‘Oh, my God! If I met him, I think I’d just have to lick him. He was wearing those too-tight pants and that bulletproof vest. Oh, my God! You worked with him. I’m going to have to lick you the next time I see you,’” she recounted, laughing.

On the horizon for Smart: possibly another play for the 2001 Tony nominee for the comedy “The Man Who Came to Dinner,” and a small role in a Meryl Streep film . “I never was an ingenue,” Smart said. “So thank God. If I was, I mean, I can’t imagine how depressing that would be right around now. So, in many ways I do feel as if in the last several years I’ve sort of been in my prime in terms of work and things. “So, it’s fun,” Smart continued. “But I do feel fortunate, because I know there’s just not much out there at all for women __ (Smart whispers) __ my age.”— AP

‘Treme’ actor Michael Showers died of drowning

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In this file photo taken May 1, 2007, Legendary Hollywood producer Jon Peters poses with life-size figures of Batman, left, and Superman, both of whom appear in Peters’ films, after receiving his new star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame during dedication ceremonies in Los Angeles. A Los Angeles jury has ordered film producer Jon Peters to pay his former assistant more than $3 million after finding she was subjected to sexual harassment and a hostile work environment. —AP

ichael Showers, the “Treme” actor who was found dead in the Mississippi River on Wednesday, died of drowning, the Orleans Parish coroner’s office announced on Friday, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune. The coroner’s office said that an autopsy found no signs of trauma to the actor, who was 45. The coroner also said that Showers had probably been in the river for approxiMichael Showers mately two days before he was retrieved.

Showers’ toxicology report is still pending. Showers was pulled from the river near New Orleans’ French Quarter on Wednesday, after the captain of the Steamboat Natchez saw the actor’s body floating in the Mississippi. He had been reported missing by his girlfriend, Melinda Carlos, the night before. According to Carlos, she had last seen the actor on Monday, as he left their home to go to a gym with a friend named “Joe.” The Times-Picayune reports that Sheriff’s Office is looking for an unidentified man who was with Showers on Monday. They are also looking for Showers’ car. Showers had a recurring role as police Capt.

John Guidry on the HBO series “Treme,” which follows New Orleans residents’ efforts to rebuild their lives after Hurricane Katrina. On Thursday, series creator David Simon called Showers “a fine actor who contributed his talents to our drama in the warmest and most professional way.” Showers also had parts in the 2000 film “Traffic,” the AMC series “Breaking Bad” and the new Zoe Saldana film “Colombiana,” in which he plays a police officer.— (TheWrap.com)

SUNDAY, AUGUST 28, 2011

lifestyle

A look at

Disney’s new Hawaiian resort ‘Aulani’

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loha, Disney! The Walt Disney Co.’s new upscale, beach-side Hawaiian resort Aulani opens tomorrow, thousands of miles from the nearest Disney theme park. And while Mickey Mouse and friends can be found on the property, Hawaii’s culture and natural beauty are the biggest stars. “The resort is not a replication of any of our theme parks. We know if guests want to go to Disneyland, they’ll go to Disneyland,” said Djuan Rivers, a Disney vice president who oversees the resort. “Our guests are coming here first and foremost for Hawaii and everything Hawaii has to offer.”

Joe Rohde, head of Aulani’s creative team, grew up in Honolulu and said “we made a choice early on to really, really focus on Hawaiian culture as a defining element of Aulani.” Aulani is on the west side of Oahu, about an hour’s drive from Waikiki. The sprawling 840unit resort is the first major Disney property to offer a mix of regular hotel rooms and Disney Vacation Club time shares away from a theme park. (Disney’s smaller resorts in Hilton Head, Georgia, and Vero Beach, Florida, are time shares.)

The resort is expected to attract many of its visitors from the West Coast of the United States and from Asia. With Japanese guests in mind, time share units are equipped with rice cookers, chopsticks and a tea drawer. Aulani is a Hawaiian term for messenger of a chief or higher authority. Showcasing the host culture as Aulani’s main theme is a departure from other Disney properties where the iconic mouse and other Disney references are visible at every turn. True, visitors will find a surfer Mickey lamp in each Aulani guest room, with his image subtly blended in the bedding design, and Disney cast members portraying Mickey, Minnie, Donald and the rest of the crew can

be found strolling around in bright aloha shirts and shorts. But the spotlight here is definitely on Hawaii.

“This story is about this place, that you came to see, experience and want to take away memories from that are different than the memories if you went to Idaho,” Rohde said. Tom Staggs, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts and the company’s former chief financial officer, said Aulani “captures the very best of the rich Hawaiian storytelling and culture with a touch of Disney.”

Designers have incorporated historical and contemporary island scenes, artwork, values, designs, textures, colors, language and traditions in nearly every aspect of the place, from taro fields and native foliage in the landscaping, to the Olelo Room lounge, where everything is labeled in the Hawaiian language, including the chairs (noho) and the floor (papahele).

Olelo’s staffers, including servers and bartenders, are fluent in Hawaiian and will speak to each other in the island’s native tongue while sharing the language with guests. Other employees also have undergone some language and cultural training.

“Here you are in Hawaii. You will meet people who are Hawaiian. You will meet people who speak Hawaiian. I think that’s cool,” Rohde said. The resort’s two main towers have 359 hotel rooms, 481 timeshare condo units, two main restaurants, conference rooms, an 18,000-square-foot spa, a fire pit for storytelling and a vast water play area. Hotel rooms range from $399 a night for a 420-square-foot room to $2,449 a night for the Ahu Ulu Suite (two bedrooms, 1,910 square feet). An ocean view room runs $549 a night, which rivals prices at Hawaii’s most posh resorts. Disney would not comment on the cost of building Aulani, which has been reported at more

than $800 million. But behind the scenes, the resort has not always been the happiest place on earth.

Disney broke ground on the project in November 2008 during the recession and temporarily suspended sales of time-share units in July amid worries that it had underpriced annual fees, including maintenance costs for the units. The Orlando Sentinel first reported that Disney fired three executives over the financial mistake including Jim Lewis, president of Disney Vacation Club. Disney said it recalculated the annual fee and was taking nonbinding reservations from prospective buyers.

Besides an 8,200-square-foot (760-sq. meter) pool, there is a 950-foot-long (290-meter-long) lazy river where kids can glide along in a tube through forests and caverns; a saltwater snorkel lagoon filled with tropical fish; a rock formation with lava tube slides; and an aquatic jungle gym called Menehune Bridge.

Pay an extra $45 to visit a water preserve where you can feed stingrays and see starfish and anemones. A portion of proceeds will be donated to conservation efforts in Hawaii. A supervised club for children ages 3 to 12 called Aunty’s Beach House was inspired by Rohde’s aunt’s beach home in Punaluu. With the exception of a fireplace, which most Hawaiian homes do not have, it is designed to look like a traditional home, decorated with old trophies, photos and a garage filled with tools and tins. The high-tech windows are digital portals depicting scenes from around Hawaii. Children can watch Disney movies, play dressup or video games, or participate in activities such as learning hula while parents play golf, hit the spa or beach or enjoy a quiet meal. Tweens and teens have a separate hangout where they can listen to music, eat frozen yogurt and surf the Internet. The landscaping is

inspired by an ahupuaa, an ancient Hawaiian land division system that extended from the mountain to the sea. Situated between the towers is a lush tropical forest that serves as a make-believe hideout for Hawaiian trolls, or menehune. Closer to the ocean, coconut trees sway in the Pacific breeze.

A canoe and maritime theme inspired by the legendary Hawaiian voyaging canoe Hokulea is found throughout Aulani, from artwork to handmade lashings on signs and structures. High arches in the architecture evoke traditional Hawaiian canoe houses. “We return again and again to this canoe idea because of this whole sense of arrival, journey and also because the canoes are this sort of this quintessential Hawaiian art form,” Rohde said.

Around the corner from the resort, farther up the Waianae Coast, are unspoiled beaches and mountainsides, a stark contrast to the blight from the deep poverty and homelessness that has long plagued this part of Oahu. Some locals have voiced worries about preserving the area’s rural character, but with an expected work force of 1,200, Aulani is bringing in much-needed jobs. Aulani sits on 21 acres of a larger property, the Ko Olina Resort, which also houses a golf course with waterfalls, luxury homes, a public beach park, and the J.W. Marriott Ihilani Resort and Spa. The Marriott resort houses the players for the National Football League’s annual Pro Bowl game and for years was the biggest building in the area. Now it is dwarfed by Aulani.

Staggs said a crucial component of Disney’s business strategy is to figure out where families like to vacation. “Our guests told us that Hawaii is one of their favorite vacation destinations,” he said, “and we created Aulani in response to that feedback.”— AP

Morocco taps benefits of Barbary fig oil B

Twelve Muslims and twelve Hindu Indian cooks participate in a competition to prepare a traditional dish of lamb and wheat known as Haleem in Hyderabad yesterday. Haleem is a special dish prepared throughout the world during the month of Ramadan and is particularly popular amongst Pakistani and Indian Muslims. —AFP

Judge rules Jackson trial jury will not be sequestered

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he jury in the upcoming involuntary manslaughter trial of Michael Jackson’s doctor will not be sequestered, despite a request by defense lawyers who expect the case to be “the most publicized in history.”

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor ruled against removing the jurors from their homes during the four-to six-week trial starting in September, citing the estimated $500,000 cost and saying he had “tremendous faith” in the jury system. “I do not find sequestration to be the

answer in this case,” Pastor said at a hearing. “I expect that the jurors will follow the high road.” Jury selection is due to start on Sept 8 for the trial of Dr. Conrad Murray, with opening statements expected on Sept. 27. Murray, who was at Jackson’s side when he died in Los Angeles on June 25, 2009, is accused of delivering a fatal dose of the powerful anesthetic propofol to the pop star as a sleep aid, and then failing to monitor him properly. Murray could face up to four years in prison if convicted. —Reuters

arbary fig oil, celebrated as an effective anti-ageing skin potion, is following argan oil as a great new cosmetic export from Morocco. But the tiny amount of oil extracted from each cactus fruit makes Barbary fig oil the most expensive on the market, about a 1,000 euros ($1,440) a litre. Beyond its cosmetic virtues, the United Nations is urging Morocco to develop the cactus plant in a country where 80 percent of farming is carried out in arid or semi-arid regions. The push to develop Barbary fig, a cactus fruit well-adapted to extreme weather conditions, comes with a belief that several revenue streams could stem from it.

If successful, the cactus could stand as a business model to other countries looking for cash crops suitable to inhospitably hot climates. Eight tonnes of the Barbary fig fruitsometimes known as prickly pear- are needed to produce a litre (quart) of oil used for cosmetics, said Karim Anegay, head of the cactus programme at the economic promotion office for southern Morocco. “This oil is commercialised by Moroccan companies as its anti-ageing virtues are of excellent quality but it’s still early days,” he said. In Casablanca, cosmetics company Azabane uses Barbary fig oil in shampoo and creams.

Redouane Stouti, a 27-year-old entrepreneur, owns a farm in the Errhamana region, where he produces 10 litres a month from his vast plantation. ‘Great anti-oxidant power’- “With the help of a machine, the fruit seeds are pressed as is,” he said. “I have 20 points of sale in Morocco under the ‘Coeur de Figue’ appellation,” he said as he toured a series of alleys where about 30 women were picking the thorny fruit. Researcher Mohamed Boujnah said the oil was “rich in Vitamin E with a great anti-oxidant power”. Sofia, a 50-yearold customer, said the oil was “wonderful”. “Ever since I’ve used it I’ve seen an improvement and elasticity in my skin,” she said. In the Gulemim and Sidi Ifni regions, both extremely arid, Morocco began an ambitious program to

A prickly pear or barbary fig tree is pictured on August 6, 2011 in Skhour Rhamna region near Marrakech.

Morocco, as well as other countries producing Barbary figs, has launched through the ‘Agence du Sud’ governmental agency a program to develop cosmetic and pharmaceutical products made with barbary figs. —AFP increase cactus production. The UN Development Programme (UNDP) contributed $1.7 million to the program and provided technical assistance, said El Kebir Alaouoi M’Daghri, the program director.

Annual production of Barbary fig fruit in Morocco is 1.2 million tons from 150,000 hectares (370,000 acres) of plantations, mostly in southern regions. Originally imported from the Americas in the 16th century, the cactus and its fruit are used traditionally, often as food. Orangish-red when ripe, the fruit’s juicy insides taste something like a very sweet watermelon. UN experts say the fruit can even be used as sustenance during famines. In southern regions, “conventional farming can no longer provide added value and that is why we have found cactus cultivation as an alternative,” M’Daghri said. —AFP

SUNDAY, AUGUST 28, 2011

lifestyle

Foo Fighters US leader Dave Grohl performs on stage during the Rock-en-Seine music festival on Friday in Saint-Cloud, near Paris. —AFP

New award proving popular at VMAs

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hen Chicago-based rock act Rise Against began writing a song about suicide among gay teens, the band’s lead singer tried to block out the event that inspired the tune - the death of a gay friend. “His loss was something big to me,” said Tim McIlrath. But the band members wanted to get out the message, so they made a gripping video for “Make It Stop (September’s Children)” featuring three teens bullied and at the brink of suicide.

Now the video is competing in a new category at the MTV Video Music Awards: the best video with a message award.

It highlights music videos sending messages of positivity and self-empowerment and raising awareness about social issues that affect today’s youth.

“I hope that category sticks around and I hope it gives artists something to aim for,” said McIlrath, who teamed

with the It Gets Better Project for the music video. MTV President Stephen Friedman says the new category is proving popular among voters this year. “I have to tell you in the voting, this category catapulted. It was among the top three or four categories - millions and millions of people voted on this,” Friedman said. “It shows not only an interest from the artist, but also more importantly for the audience.”

Other nominees in the category include Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way,” Taylor Swift’s “Mean,” Katy Perr y ’s “Firework,” Pink’s “(Expletive) Perfect,” and Eminem and Rihanna’s “Love the Way You Lie.” Friedman says he hopes “this will be an ongoing category from here on out.”

McIlrath said he thought about writing “Make It Stop” when a gay fan told him she wasn’t sure where the band

stood on gay rights.

McIlrath says the song - and the MTV nomination - is helping raise their profile. “We’re not a band who really aims for the VMAs, I’ll be honest. Like, we’re not really a band that traffics on the Billboard chart and MTV and VMAs and that kind of thing, we never really relied on that,” he said. “When the video came out, CNN called me and Fox had me on, NBC had me on, like these little news blips, and I’ve never even done that type of stuff before.”

Dave Meyers, the music video director of the Pink and Perry videos nominated in the new category, said making a video with a message can be difficult. “What’s challenging for me is I don’t want to seem like I’m talking down to the audience - that I’m not preaching the message, that I’m asking them to come on a ride that is not one-dimension-

al,” he said. “Sometimes I think message-y videos can be too message-y.”

Meyers, who has directed videos for Missy Elliott, Dave Matthews Band and Britney Spears, says taking home the moon man for the message award would be more gratifying than some of his other wins. “After 15 years of nominations and countless wins, this actually has a lot of meaning to me,” Meyers said.

“This is MTV saying, ‘We as an organization think these videos deserve special acknowledgment’ versus a popularity contest, which is what a lot of the other categories tend to be.” The Perry, Eminem and Lady Gaga videos nominated for best video with a message are also up for other awards.

Perry leads the pack with 10 nominations at today’s show, which will be held in Los Angeles. —AP

Def Leppard pours ‘Mirrorball’ of sugar on fans I

t may be difficult to believe that after three decades of rocking hard — 65 million albums sold and hundreds of packed concerts-Def Leppard hadn’t released a standalone live album until this year. As the bandmembers put it, “Mirrorball: Live and More” came together without much advance planning, and owes its existence, at least partly, to them leaving their old record label which, the group thinks, may unleash a new burst of creativity.

The three disc collection features live recordings of some of Def Leppard’s greatest hits such as “Pour Some Sugar on Me,” “Rock of Ages,” and

“Photograph.” It has three new tracks, including anthem “Kings of the World”, and a behind-thescenes DVD. But a live album was never atop of the bands to do list. “The band’s focus has always been on writing and recording new songs,” guitarist Vivian Campbell told Reuters. “It just never seemed appropriate for us to do a live record. It wasn’t something that we sat down and thought, ‘We are going to put out a live album in 2011.’ It just sort of happened.”

Instead of playing one concert and recording it, or taping a series of shows and picking the best one for the album, Campbell and his bandmates-singer Joe Elliott, lead guitarist Phil

Collen, bassist Rick Savage, and drummer Rick Allen-picked the songs singularly from separate performances so the fans got the best of the best. “In a way it was sort of like cheating...but it made it more relaxed for us because we never once thought that we were recording,” said Campbell.

“Mirrorball” is Def Leppard’s initial release as an independent act after finding themselves without a major label for the first time after 30 years with Universal Records. Campbell sees that factor as a positive, creatively, because it should force the band to put out singles more frequently in keeping with trends in the recording industry that has performers releasing individual songs via download.

“I really don’t see the point in putting out a 10 or 12 song album anymore. It’s kind of like sticking our toes in the water, being independent, but that’s the way that the industry is now. I do believe that the album is dead,” he said. And like so many bands in these days of declining CD sales and the fewer dollars that comes with it, Def Leppard is now touring through North America to connect with their fans. In addition to the album, rock photographer Ross Halfin has published “Def Leppard: the Definitive Visual Histor y,” a photo anthology chronicling the band’s three decades of rock. The band also is part of the “Rock the Cradle” series which features lullaby renditions of rock classics. “Dreamin with Def Leppard” is a 12-song compilation that features lullaby versions of their greatest hits such as “Love Bites” and “Animal”. Recreating songs in different ways shows listeners just exactly what a good tune truly is, Campbell said. “It’s interesting to hear how songs can morph and how they can be given different clothes. I think that’s the indication of a good song, if you can restyle it and do it in a different genre. I’m glad to say that many Def Leppard songs stand up to it.” —Reuters

Jackson crowned king of MTV VMAs MTV voters liked Diana Ross jiggling

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ing of Pop Michael Jackson is gone, but he is not forgotten-not by MTV Video Music Award voters.

Two days before the widely-watched awards show, MTV on Friday released a poll of the top moments chosen by voters in the program’s nearly three decades with Jackson singled out for most iconic and best pop performances for a medley of songs he sang in 1995.

Jackson singing and dancing to “The Way You Make Me Feel,” “Scream,” “Beat It” and “Smooth Criminal” picked up 57 percent of the vote for most iconic performance, beating the likes of Madonna with “Like a Virgin” in 1984 and Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi” from 2009.

The “Thriller” singer, who died in June 2009 from a drug overdose, also got the nod for best pop performance with the same medley, again topping artists including Britney Spears, Justin Bieber, TLC and his own sister, Janet Jackson, who performed a tribute to Michael the year he died.

MTV annually gives away awards for best videos in what has become one of its most-watched telecasts.

Last year’s VMAs were seen by 11.4 million viewers, its biggest audience since 2002. Perhaps more important than awards and stars, the program is known for its

sometimes impromptu, often planned, outrageous moments that grab headlines around the world. Last year, Lady Gaga showed up in a dress made completely of raw meat. Two years ago, Kanye West jumped onstage and grabbed a microphone from a stunned Taylor Swift to tell audiences that Beyonce, not Swift, should have won one award.

But where outrageousness is concerned, nothing beats the kisses shared among Madonna, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera at the 2003 show. It was voted the most outrageous moment of the VMAs history with 53 percent of the votes from some 15 million total ballots cast online. The infamous kiss, during a performance of “Like a Virgin” and “Hollywood,” beat out the fight between Kid Rock and Tommy Lee in 2007, Howard Stern appearing as Fartman and Diana Ross jiggling Lil Kim’s breast at the 1999 show.

In fact, the flashy purple pantsuit Lil Kim wore, which left one breast exposed except for a pasty over her nipple, was picked by 39 percent of voters as the wildest outfit ever worn to the show, beating Lady Gaga’s meat dress and Britney Spear’s black leather biker ensemble from 2002. —Reuters

Jackson crowned king of MTV VMAs

SUNDAY, AUGUST 28, 2011

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In this image released by Miss Universe Organization, LP LLLP on Friday shows 89 Contestants for the title of Miss Universe pose with Miss Universe Organization President Paula Shugart, Mayor Gilberto Kassab, and Miss Universe 2010 Ximena Navarrete at the Mayors Office in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The Contestants will spend the next 3 weeks appearing at events and preparing to compete in the 2011 MISS UNIVERSE Competition on September 12 at 9 pm ET broadcast LIVE on NBC from Credicard Hall in Sao Paulo, Brazil. — AFP

Gibson, ex-girlfriend reach settlement

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volunteering with a children’s charity in Guatemala.

The case became an international story after recordings of racist and sexist rants by Gibson were leaked to the celebrity website RadarOnline.com. Sheriff’s officials took possession of the recordings as part of their criminal investigation, but Grigorieva’s attorney announced in May that he would no longer seek to use them against the former Hollywood superstar in the custody case. The coming days could prove crucial for Gibson to resolve some of the messiness of his personal life in recent years.

Gibson, 55, recently reached a divorce settlement with his estranged wife, Robyn, and his attorney announced in June that the case should be finalized by Tuesday. Robyn Gibson filed to end her nearly 28-year marriage in April 2009, just months before Grigorieva gave birth. The divorce has been a mostly private affair, in sharp contrast to Gibson’s fight with Grigorieva.

Gibson announced Grigorieva’s pregnancy to Jay Leno on “The Tonight Show,” but their relationship sputtered after the girl’s birth. In recent months, both have appeared multiple times in court for hearings and meetings with a judge handling their case. Gibson has not publicly spoken about the case. The leaked conversations recorded by Grigorieva were the latest scandal for Gibson, who was arrested in 2006 for drunken driving; a deputy’s report revealed he made a series of anti-Semitic and sexist slurs while in custody. Despite positive reviews for his performance as a deeply depressed man who can only communicate through a puppet, Gibson’s return to the big screen in “The Beaver” earlier this year failed to catch on with audiences.— AP

el Gibson and his Russian ex-girlfriend have reached a financial and custody settlement of a bitter dispute that spawned a criminal case and left the Academy Award winner’s reputation damaged. Los Angeles Superior Court officials said in a statement late Friday that Gibson and musician Oksana Grigorieva had reached an agreement after days of negotiation. Terms and conditions of the settlement were not announced, but a hearing Wednesday will be held to discuss the financial terms.

The equally contentious issue of custody of the couple’s infant daughter will be handled in closed session, the court announced. Gibson’s spokesman Alan Nierob confirmed the settlement and said the actor-director appreciated the judge’s help in mediating the case. Grigorieva spokesman Stephen Jaffe declined comment. The former couple have sparred for more than a year over custody and financial issues in a mostly-secret court proceeding in Los Angeles. In June 2010, Gibson’s attorney Stephen Kolodny said that his client had provided his ex-girlfriend with a four-bedroom, multimillion dollar home, vehicle and tens of thousands of dollars a month.

It is unclear exactly how much Grigorieva has been receiving since then. The “Braveheart” star was charged with misdemeanor domestic battery as a result of a January 2010 fight with Grigorieva and pleaded no contest earlier this year. The actor-director entered his plea in a way in which he admitted no guilt, and Grigorieva cannot use the outcome in a civil case. He was ordered to undergo counseling and recently completed his community service by

Author: ʻThree Cups of Teaʼ claims groundless

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laims that Greg Mortenson committed fraud by fabricating events in his books “ Three Cups of Tea” and “Stones Into Schools” are groundless, the author and humanitarian’s attorneys said Friday. Attorneys John Kauffman and Kevin Maclay asked a US district judge in Missoula to reject certifying three plaintiffs’ $5 million class-action lawsuit against Mortenson over what the plaintiffs say are false depictions of Mortenson’s humanitarian work in Central Asia.

Former teacher Deborah Netter of Illinois and Montana residents Michele Reinhart and Dan Donovan claim that Mortenson duped 4 million people into buying his books by portraying events in them as true when they weren’t, all for the purpose of making Mortenson a hero and to raise money.

The plaintiffs are asking Judge Donald Molloy to certify their class-action lawsuit and place all the money from Mortenson book purchases, which they estimate to be more than $5 million, into a trust to be used for humanitarian purposes. The plaintiffs filed the lawsuit after published reports this spring by “60 Minutes” and author Jon Krakauer alleged that Mortenson lied in the books about how he

became involved in building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan and other events depicted as true.

The reports also questioned whether Mortenson financially benefited from his charity, Central Asia Institute, and whether CAI built the number of schools it claimed.

Mortenson has previously denied any wrongdoing, though he has admitted some of the events in his “Three Cups of Tea” were compressed over different periods of time. Since then, he has declined to comment on the allegations and later in the spring underwent open-heart surgery.

In their response filed Friday with the US District Court in Missoula, Kauffman and Maclay never explicitly say that all the events in Mortenson wrote about in the books are true They say the lawsuit should be thrown out because the plaintiffs can’t identify any false statements or misrepresentations in his books. Also, the plaintiffs can’t say that all 4 million people bought the books for the same reason, something they need to prove to turn their claim into a class-action lawsuit, Mortenson’s attorneys argue. Why someone buys a book is different from person to person, and may not be the same reason why the plaintiffs bought theirs, they said.

“ They cannot demonstrate that an identifiable group of people has experienced any wrongdoing, let alone the same wrongdoing,” the document says. A hearing in the case has been scheduled for next month in Missoula.— AP

Gervais claims he’s been asked to host Globes again I f there was a Golden Globe award for best milking of a semi-controversy, Ricky Gervais would easily walk away with the trophy. The “Office” creator once again brought up his super-awkward hosting gig in January while speaking at the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival on Friday, claiming that NBC has asked him to host the awards ceremony for a third time, despite the mountain of ill will he created during his last go-round.

“I love NBC, I love the fact that they stuck by me through it,” Gervais said during his appearance at the festival. Asked if was considering returning to the Globes for a third time, Gervais admitted that he was, but said he’s leaning against it. “I am but I shouldn’t do it. It’s a second encore. Don’t do a second encore,” Gervais said.

“I don’t think I should do it. What am I going back as?”

Gervais might not have much choice in the matter, if the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which presents the awards, has any say in the matter. When Gervais claimed earlier this year that he had been asked back to the ceremony, the HFPA was adamant that it hadn’t extended any olive branches. “There is no truth to this rumor. We have not asked him to come back,” Golden Globes president Phil Berk said.

“Nice try, Ricky.”

During last year’s Golden Globes, Gervais raised eyebrows by taking barbed jabs at Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp, Robert Downey Jr.

and Charlie Sheen, among others. “It’s going to be a night of partying and heavy drinking,” Gervais told the crowd at the beginning of the ceremony. “Or as Charlie Sheen calls it - breakfast.” Gervais again defended his Golden Globes performance at the festival, suggesting that his targets deserved his mockery.

“It wasn’t a roomful of wounded soldiers,” Gervais said. “It was the most privileged people on the planet who spend all day pretending to be someone else. I teased them, I ribbed them.”

NBC had no comment for TheWrap on this story.— (TheWrap.com)