07 Jun

ON IP TI SC R SU B

TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2011

Saleh to return, youths press for power transfer

Left-winger Humala wins Peru election

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Iran to protest hijab ban on women’s football team

‘Twilight’ sequel shines brightest at MTV awards

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Syria alleges 120 forces killed in deadly ambush Damascus vows ‘decisive’ response • Activists see mutiny

Court orders probe into Iran torture claims KUWAIT: Kuwait’s court of appeals yesterday ordered that torture claims by members of an alleged Iranian spy ring be investigated by a threemember committee of forensic experts. Judge Anwar Al-Enezi ordered the public prosecution to form the panel which will assess allegations by the seven-member ring that confessions were extracted from them under torture. The lower court in March sentenced two Iranians and a Kuwaiti to death and two others, a Syrian and a stateless man, to life in jail. It also acquitted two Iranians, including the only woman in the case.

The three men condemned to death and the Syrian were all serving in the Kuwaiti army at the time of their arrest in May 2010, while the stateless man was a former soldier. The two Iranians and the stateless man are brothers while the woman is the daughter of one of the two Iranians handed the death penalty and the wife of the Kuwaiti, according to court papers. The defendants were accused of spying for Iran and of passing information on the Kuwaiti and US military in the Gulf emirate to the Islamic republic’s Revolutionary Guards, an accusation denied by Iran.

Throughout the trial in the lower court and the first hearing in the appeals court, the defendants denied the charges and insisted they had been tortured to extract confessions. The judge set the next hearing for Sept 18 in a case that has strained relations between the Gulf state of Kuwait and neighbouring Iran, prompting a tit-for-tat expulsion of diplomats. Ambassadors and diplomats were however returned to both capitals following a visit by Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi to Kuwait City on May 11.— AFP

HAMA, Syria: A grab taken off a video downloaded from YouTube yesterday shows an image of a demonstrator allegedly shot during a protest in this city on June 3 2011. — AP

BEIRUT: Armed men attacked Syrian security forces in a tense northern city yesterday, Syrian officials said, and 120 policemen and security forces were killed in a region where the army has carried out days of deadly assaults on protesters calling for the end of President Bashar Assad’s rule. The government vowed to respond “decisively”, setting the stage for a new crackdown. Communications were cut to the area around Jisr Al-Shughour yesterday and the details of the attack were impossible to verify, but there have been unconfirmed reports in the past by residents and activists of Syrians fighting back against security forces and even mutinous troops.

Adnan Mahmoud, the chief government spokesman, acknowledged that Syrian forces had lost control of some areas for “intermittent periods of time” and promised that the army would restore security in the area.

“We will deal strongly and decisively, and according to the law, and we will not be silent about any armed attack that targets the security of the state and its citizens,” said Interior Minister Ibrahim Shaar. The government’s response set the stage for an even stronger crackdown against a popular uprising that began in midMarch and poses a potent threat to the 40-year regime of the Assad family. The possibility of a mutiny would show new cracks in a rule that has held out through weekly protests of thousands of people. State television added the armed groups carried out a “real massacre”, mutilating some bodies and throwing others in the Orontes River.

Jisr al-Shughour, about 20 km from the Turkish border, has been the latest focus of Syria’s military, whose nationwide crackdown on the revolt has left more than 1,200 Syrians dead, activists say. Human rights groups said at least 42 civilians have been killed there since Saturday.

Continued on Page 13

Oppn launches campaign to oust PM, Sheikh Ahmad

By B Izzak

Stuck US citizen can now leave BAGHDAD: Security contractors are seen in a helicopter after a roadside bomb struck a private security convoy yesterday. — AP

Five GIs killed in Iraq attack BAGHDAD: Attacks killed five American soldiers and 20 Iraqis yesterday, the deadliest day for US forces in Iraq in more than two years, just months before all of them must withdraw. The violence raises major doubts over Iraqi security capabilities ahead of a year-end deadline for the US pullout, with Washington pressing Baghdad to decide soon whether or not it wants an extended American military presence. “Five US service members were killed yesterday in central Iraq,” said a brief US army statement. The names and details of the deceased are being withheld until next of kin can be informed, it added.

Captain Dan Churchill, a US military spokesman contacted by AFP, declined to give details on how or where the soldiers died. An Iraqi interior ministry official said at least three rockets struck a base in east Baghdad where US soldiers were present, but could not specify if it

Max 47º Min 31º Low Tide 09:27 & 22:07 High Tide 04:22 & 14:38

was an American or Iraqi installation. An Iraqi police official, however, said five rockets were fired at an American base on Baghdad’s outskirts. Both officials said the rockets were fired at dawn.

The deaths were the most of American service personnel in a single day since May 11, 2009, when a US soldier was arrested and charged for having opened fire on five of his comrades on a base just outside Baghdad. They bring to 4,459 the number of US soldiers who have died in Iraq since the US-led invasion of 2003, according to an AFP tally based on data compiled by independent website www.icasualties.org. The remaining 45,000 US forces are primarily charged with training and equipping their Iraqi counterparts, although they still take part in joint counter-terror operations. Their bases still come under frequent rocket attack by insurgents.

Continued on Page 13

McLEAN, Virginia: A naturalized US citizen stuck in Kuwait for months said yesterday that he will finally be able to leave the countr y after the US Embassy reversed course and returned his confiscated passport. Aziz Nouhaili, 47, Aziz Nouhaili had been unable to leave since February, when he took the passport to the embassy for a routine request to have pages added to the booklet, which was full.

Continued on Page 13

KUWAIT: The parliamentary opposition yesterday launched a signature campaign on a charter that calls for ousting both the prime minister and his deputy Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahd Al-Sabah, blaming them for the political deadlock.

Spokesman of the opposition National Action Bloc MP Musallam Al-Barrak told reporters that the charter, which some called a statement, was ready for signatures from yesterday until Thursday and will be presented at the public rally scheduled to be staged on Friday to press for the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.

A number of MPs have said they will sign the document but others have condemned it as unconstitutional because it was being signed outside the National Assembly, an accusation denied by the opposition. The idea of the document was announced by Barrak last Friday during a large gathering organized by youth activists for the ouster of the prime min-

ister. It was not immediately known how many MPs will sign the document, but initial estimates show that around 20 lawmakers were expected to sign.

The liberal National Action Bloc said yesterday that the document did not represent a wise political move and the actions against the prime minister and Sheikh Ahmad should not be linked. The document states that the country has suffered due to the disputes among members of the ruling family, especially between Sheikh Nasser and Sheikh Ahmad, and demanded the removal of both.

The standoff between the two senior officials surfaced during the parliamentary session last Tuesday when MPs known to be close to the prime minister voted against a request by Sheikh Ahmad to refer a grilling against him to the Assembly’s legal committee to probe if it does not breach the constitution. The committee was expected to meet Sheikh Ahmad yesterday to discuss his viewpoint on why he claims the grilling is Continued on Page 13

Strauss-Kahn pleads not guilty Maids stage noisy protest NEW YORK: Fallen IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn yesterday pleaded not guilty to attempted rape, setting up a fierce New York courtroom showdown with his accuser. Asked how he pleaded to seven counts of sex crimes, the former head of the world lender, once a top contender for president of France, stood before Judge Michael Obus and more than 100 journalists to say: “Not guilty.”

Strauss-Kahn, 62, then left with his wife and two burly bodyguards assigned to enforce his house arrest.

Outside the New York State Supreme Court, a lawyer for the Sofitel hotel maid accusing Strauss-Kahn of trying to rape her said she would take the stand during the trial. From the courthouse steps he told a huge crowd of journalists that the alleged rape in Strauss-Kahn’s Sofitel luxury suite May 14 had left her “traumatized”.

“She’s going to come to the courthouse, she’s going Continued on Page 13

NEW YORK: Hotel workers from New York hotels who were bused in by their union gather at the Manhattan Criminal Courts building before the arrival of Dominique Strauss-Kahn (inset) for his arraignment proceedings on charges of sexually assaulting a Manhattan hotel maid yesterday. — AP

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Years

TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2011

LOCAL Local Spotlight

It is time to induct fresh blood

Muna Al-Fuzai

KUWAIT: His Highness the Deputy Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah, cabinet members and senior members of the ruling family, as well as a large number of ordinary Kuwaiti citizens, attended the funeral of Sheikh Rashid Al-Humoud Al-Sabah, who died yesterday.

Iraqi soldiers’ remains removed from mass grave

Grocery shoppers aware, avoid imported vegetables

KUWAIT: The remains of eight Iraqi soldiers who died in Kuwait’s liberation war of 1990-91 were removed from a mass grave in Mutlaa during a joint operation conducted on Sunday by personnel from the Ministry of Interior’s General Criminal Investigation Department, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the US Army.

The somber operation was conducted after Kuwaiti authorities received information from the US Army about the grave, which held the remains of Iraqi troops killed by the US and allies during the war, along with a map showing its location.

The excavation uncovered the remains of eight soldiers, who had been buried along with their belongings. A search is continuing for other human remains which the US Army believes are buried in the same area.

The Kuwaiti authorities will hand over the soldiers’ remains to their Iraqi counterparts at the Abdally border point between Kuwait and Iraq at a mutually suitable date which has still to be arranged, with ICRC and US Army officials also supervising the handover. —Al-Qabas

E Coli bacteria changes diet in Kuwait

By Nisreen Zahreddine KUWAIT: The outbreak of E coli in Europe has led to the death of 22 people and another 2,000 falling sick, sending ripples across countries around the world known to import from the infected European states. Whilst there has been no outbreak of panic in Kuwait and no incidences of E Coli have been diagnosed, shoppers have certainly become more aware of the diseases that can be carried in lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes.

‘Municipality should name, shame rogue traders’ KUWAIT: Kuwait Municipality should name and shame those traders and companies found to be trading in food items unfit for human consumption or imported foodstuffs which haven’t yet undergone the necessary health and safety checks, said a former senior municipality official yesterday.

“The municipality is authorized by the law to publish the testing reports which give the details of the companies involved in these activities from the perspective of protecting consumers’ safety,” insisted Mohammad AlJasser, the former manager of the municipality’s legal department.

In a press release issued on Sunday, Al-Jasser insisted that there was no justification for the municipality’s failure to release the companies’ names, despite current municipality officials’ claims that this has been done in order to comply with the law whilst awaiting court orders against the firms in question.

The former official also insisted that publication of the culprits’ names would not affect the trial process or leave the municipality open to an increased risk of legal action. —Al-Qabas

KUWAIT: In this file photo a fruit and vegetable vendor is seen selling his stocks. Vegetable shoppers in Kuwait remained cautious following the outbreak of E Coli in Europe. —Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat After the source of the outbreak was found to be in Germany, grocery shoppers in Kuwait expressed concern about the safety of the vegetables they purchase from local stores.

“Initially I thought it was only about lettuce so I continued to buy cucumbers and tomatoes”, said Laura.

She added that she stopped buying lettuce from a large Salmiya-based supermarket known for importing food items from the west. “When I heard about the fatal E.coli bacteria I just stopped buying any imported vegetables,” she said.

Lina, an expat who admits she’s surviving the summer heat on a strict

vegetarian diet, said that whilst she hasn’t stopped her vegetable-based diet as a result of the outbreak, she’s started checking the country of origin of the vegetables she buys.

According to another shopper, Ahmad, there is no panic in the local market over bacteria-laden vegetables.

“I don’t see people around panicked that much”, said Ahmed, who usually does the grocery shopping for his family. He suggested that the fact that many local shops have stopped importing certain types of food from Western nations might have something to do with this

unworried attitude.

What is E coli? These are bacterial germs that inhabit the intestinal tract of humans and other warmblooded animals (mammals and birds). Newborn babies have a sterile alimentary tract, which within two days becomes colonized with E. coli.

More than 700 serotypes of E. coli have been identified, with the United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimating that every year at least 2,000 Americans are hospitalized, and about 60 die as a direct result of E. coli infection and related complications.

KUWAIT: Minister of Public Works and Minister of State for Municipal Affairs Dr Fadhel Safar holding discussions with contractors.

MPW, contractors discuss future state projects KUWAIT: Ministry of Public Works held here yesterday its second meeting with contractors to discuss future projects with the private sector and create joint cooperation with the state’s ministries.

Minister of Public Works and Minister of State for Municipal Affairs Dr Fadhel Safar said in his opening speech that the meeting aims to discuss and address some of the problems and projects with the contractors in order to facilitate their measures, and in turn they provide us with services and deliver our projects in the manner required by the programs.

He said that to achieve the goal of this meeting, “we should be honest and exchange views and ideas in addition to their advices”.

For his part, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Public Works Abdulaziz Al-Kulaib said that the forum is designed to showcase the Ministry’s projects to be launched in the near future which are very large development projects. He added that the Ministry has for the first time offered these projects and they are new to the ministry. —KUNA

muna@kuwaittimes.net believe that fresh blood should be inducted in case a government is formed again. At present, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah is the only worthy candidate. In his forties, he is still young when compared to other ministry officials who are mostly octogenarians. What makes Sheikh Al-Fahad Al-Sabah so different in the eyes of many Kuwaitis?

We live in a society where youth comprise about 20 percent of the total population. That is a high percentage when compared to others. So yes, I believe having a minister who symbolizes youth as part of the Kuwaiti society does improve the image of how we view the society’s future.

Secondly, it is a well-known fact that any politician will have adversaries, especially if he is popular.

Maybe a well-spoken, bold, astute leader like Sheikh Al-Fahad Al-Sabah has proven that he can confront his enemies when necessary. Now, another issue is if he can be absolutely sure that the allegations leveled against him are baseless.

Since the year 2000, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad AlAhmed Al-Sabah has claimed his share of responsibility in the government. He was appointed by Kuwait’s Minister of Information in 2000. So, after ten years of political experience, the call to exclude him may seem vague, like a mystery. They are not ready to listen to speculations about who is wanted and who is not. In fact, it is not up to the public to consider or decide. As long as His Highness the Amir makes a decision, we should respect the wise call so that it can be dealt with in a flexible and mature manner.

Finally , I think the MPs should stop inciting the public all the time, especially against the government.

Sometimes, people really go out of their way but do not perform any favors for anyone.

We need to breathe. The Kuwaitis need some peace and quiet in their lives - the tension we have to confront all the time is unbearable now. All year long, it really makes everyone fed up. This probably is a beginning of placing the best interest of Kuwait and Kuwaitis. It is not meant for those who wish witness un-parliamentary behavior. I wish to see Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah serve his country well.

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TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2011

Years

LOCAL

Union rejects strike action for teachers’ salary increase Official talks ongoing KUWAIT: The Kuwait Teachers Association has flatly rejected the idea of holding any kind of strike action in order to achieve its demands for payment of the recently approved increase in salaries for teachers, which was endorsed in the National Assembly (parliament) during a recent session. In a press release issued yesterday, the KTA stated that a strike under the current conditions, especially in the period at the start of students exams would wholly contradict teachers’ mission and the ethics of the educational profession.

The association’s message stated that KTA members are currently involved in talks about the salary increases through a number of official channels, including the joint parliamentary education committee and the Education Minister Ahmad Al-Mulaifi.

During these discussions, the KTA members have explained the reasons for the reservations about the decisions taken on the issue by the Civil Service Commission (CSC), as well as over the regulations introduced by the education minister, the statement said, saying that these contradict the association’s goals and its philosophy.

Whilst the KTA fully understands the position of those teachers who have called for taking action to put pressure on the government, it believes that it is essential to go through official channels to resolve the matter, the statement explained, stressing that its members would in no way wish to cause any damage to the country’s educational institutions’ plans or future stability.

Concluding the statement, the KTA demanded that all the bodies involved take

the necessary action through the legitimate channels to ensure that the salary increase is officially endorsed and introduced as quickly as possible.

In an official memo issued to all teaching staff at Kuwait’s state schools on Sunday, senior Ministr y of Education (MoE) official announced that residency allowances backdated to April 1, 2011 will shortly be paid to those expatriate teachers without government-sponsored residence visas.

The circular instructed eligible teachers at schools in all Kuwait’s education zones that they should report to the ministry’s human resources division, located in Building Number Two of the MoE’s main compound, from June 1 to apply for the payments. Their applications should be authorized by the appropriate officials at the education zone where their workplace is located, and married male teachers should also bring an official document stating that their wives are not receiving any residency allowances from any government body in order to avoid double payments.

Meanwhile, the government, which is apparently beginning to realize the risks posed by unconditionally approving regular increases in public sector workers’ salaries, is seeking ways to introduce a performancerelated pay system whereby workers’ eligibility for wage rises or bonuses would be dependent on their performance of their jobs.

Many believe that the first step towards this new direction for Kuwait has already been taken after Education Minister Ahmad AlMulaifi announced that the payment of teach-

Kuwait Digest

Restriction of freedom

By Dr Murdhi Al-Ayash

W

hat usually sparks a public uprising isn’t frustration at corruption as many presume, but people rising up when their freedoms are taken away. Freedoms are the God-given right of human beings that no rules or constitutions can take away; rulers or governments can only put regulatory conditions in place to ensure that the exercising of those freedoms doesn’t get out of control.

Corruption, whether financial or administrative, is found in every state, usually from its initial establishment. Despite the efforts to fight it, it doesn’t seem that we will ever know for sure that it’s been completely eliminated. Today, Kuwait is witnessing unprecedented public protests, with one of the reasons behind these being the spreading corruption; this is not the main reason for these protests, however. In my opinion, the main crisis in Kuwait is a problem pertaining with freedoms, emerging from the incident outside MP Jamaan Al-Harbish’s diwaniya last December when police violently dispersed those gathered there under the pretext of following a flawed law.

The law imposing restrictions on holding gatherings, as well as the state security legislation, are sufficient to destroy any constitutional system based on the principles of protecting rights and freedoms. This is simply due to the fact that these laws violate the basic constitutional principles which protect freedom of gathering and reject criminalization without conviction. Despite the fact that these two laws have stirred problems that led to an interpellation which nearly ousted the prime minister, no MP has ever proposed amendments to them or requested that their constitutionality be verified by the constitutional court. I find it ironic that MPs would file a grilling against the premier over freedom violations, but still fail to practice their right as legislators and push for the regulations that restrict those freedoms to be eliminated. – Al-Rai

ers’ bonuses would be linked to their productivity levels.

The education minister’s announcement surprised the Kuwait Teachers’ Association, which had been calling for unconditional bonus payments for all teachers at Kuwait’s state schools, with MPs already pushing for approval of this proposal. Instead of agreeing to this, however, the government adopted a policy of allocating an KD88 million annual budget to pay only those teachers who meet certain criteria, such as showing an improvement in their pupils’ performance and demonstrating a low rate of absenteeism throughout the school year, along with other productivity-related conditions.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, one Civil Service Commission (CSC) insider estimated that introducing a performance-related pay and bonus system across the education sector would save almost 60 percent of the funds budgeted towards this.

“The latest Ministry of Education statistics show that not quite 5,000 of the 39,000 teachers [in Kuwait’s state schools] earned excellent reviews during annual per formance appraisals,” the official explained, adding, “Paying bonuses to high-achieving teachers could lead to only KD40 million being paid out of the KD231 million budget allocated for bonuses.”

The insider also noted that, under the new system, the amount received by teachers in bonuses would vary according to their performance, explaining that it could be as much as KD10,000 or as little as KD1,000 per year.

Nine hurt in road accidents

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: A 27-year-old bedoon (stateless) man suffered a broken spine, whilst a 35-year-old Saudi man sustained bruises and lacerations in a car crash in Kabad.

Both were rushed to Farwaniya Hospital.

In a separate incident 31-year-old man was rushed to Jahra Hospital after losing his left hand and sustaining several other serious injuries in a car accident on Airport Road near Kuwait Zoo. Meanwhile, two 21-year-old Kuwaiti men and a 16-year-old male compatriot suffered broken thighbones and a head injury respectively in a collision at the

crossroads between Bayan and Mishref.

All three were taken to Mubarak Hospital.

In a fourth case, a five -year-old Kuwaiti boy was taken to Adan Hospital after suffering bruising all over his body and lacerations to his forehead in a crash on Fahaheel Road. In a separate accident, a 33-year-old Bangladeshi man suffered heavy bruising to the pelvic region when he was hit by a car in Salmiya. He was taken to Mubarak Hospital.

Meanwhile, a 63-year-old Kuwaiti man was taken to Adan Hospital after sustaining lacerations to the head and abdomen when he was hit by a car in Fahaheel.

Kuwait eyes cooperation with Vietsovpetro

KUALA LUMPUR: Najib Al-Bader presenting a memento to Nguyen Van Quan.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Kuwaiti General Consul in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City, Najib Al-Bader yesterday discussed bilateral cooperation with oil production company Vietsovpetro’s Deputy General Director of Commerce Nguyen Van Quan.

In a statement issued after the meeting, the General Consul said that during the discussions he was briefed on the workings of the company - a Vietnamese joint venture with Russia launched following a deal signed in 1981 with the former Soviet Union.

The biggest branch of PetroVietnam, the joint venture company produces around 60-80 percent of its mother company’s production capacity, constituting 170,000 barrels a day.

The senior company employee commended Kuwaiti expertise in the fields of excavation and exploration, said Al-Bader. Kuwait holds a $6.2 billion joint investment in the huge Nghi Son Refinery project to the south of the capital, Hanoi, which is expected to open in 2014.

Kuwait bans daytime work in open areas

KUALA LUMPUR: Kuwaiti Ambassador to Indonesia Nasser Bareh Al-Enizi discussed with Indonesian Parliamentary Deputy Speaker, Annis Mata, issues of mutual concern and means to boost bilateral cooperation. This meeting is part of a series of visits made by Al-Enizi with officials from the Republic of Indonesia.

KUWAIT: The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor yesterday issued a legal amendment to health and safety legislation introduced last year concerning working hours for those working in open areas during daylight hours during summer.

The resolution prohibits employers from placing workers in open areas without shade between 11am and 4pm, starting from June 1 and ending at the end of August, said a statement from the ministry. A total of 63 citations have issued so far this year against companies violating the law. Kuwait’s desert climate sees typical summer daytime temperatures rising to over 50 degrees Celsius (122º Fahrenheit), with temperatures last week rising to 52 degrees Celsius (125.6º Fahrenheit). — KUNA

KUWAIT: The group of Kuwaiti businesswomen who staged the protest yesterday. — Photos by Fouad Al-Shaikh

Save our shops, businesswomen demand KUWAIT: A group of Kuwaiti businesswomen who have rented out shops in the disputed Abu Ftaira staged a demonstration yesterday.

They demanded that the government invalidate the Municipality’s decision to shut down shops over licensing-related issues.

During the protest, the women appealed to His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah to intervene and suspend the decision that could result in irreversible financial losses and even imprison some entrepreneurs over non-payment of debts. They asked that no further action be taken until the courts look into cases filed against the Municipality’s decision.

“Care is not limited to providing rights, but it extends to protecting them as well,” read a statement released by participants at the gathering. They expect severe monetary losses as a part of investment made in commercial projects at the Qurain market zone of Abu Ftaira. The dispute between owners and the Municipality dates back to a period when the former obtained licenses from the Municipality to establish commercial activities. They were later informed that the trade conducted contradicted with name of the trade mentioned on licenses recorded in the state’s registration archives. The shop owners blamed a certain municipality official for the error. This is because he was responsible for the licensing process. Despite the said official terminating such a contract, the owners were

still called upon by the Municipality to evacuate shops or change their activities to match with those mentioned in the respective licenses. Owners are opposed to this move, accepting no responsibility for an error committed by a municipality officer, adding that changing the trade of shops that have already been rented out would result in severe financial losses.

“We obtained our licenses through legal means,” argued one of the businesswomen, Latifa Al-Ruzaihan, who leads a group which advocates according priority to citizens in encouraging investment said, “After preparing our shops and working for two years, we were shocked when the Municipality told us that we have to vacate the shops immediately.” Al-Ruzaihan further noted that many of the women have spent hundreds of thousands of dinars on their businesses, with some of them still repaying loans they took to open their outlets.

Last year, several shop owners won court cases filed against the Municipality’s eviction order. A final verdict will be pronounced in September. “We will approach the Prime Minister’s office tomorrow [Tuesday] if our shops are closed,” Al-Ruzaihan asserted. They added that women’s businesses fall in line with the government’s developmental plans for Kuwait and its ambitions to turn the country into an international commercial hub.

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local Kuwait Digest

An immature, improper action

Cabinet members discuss Kuwait’s financial status Search for new sources of income

By Abdullatif Al-Duaij

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P Musallam Al-Barrak hopes to collect fellow lawmakers’ signatures on a petition demanding the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah.

Rumors speculated that he may drop those plans.

I hope that those rumors turn out to be true, and that is for Al-Barrak’s well-being.

In addition to being improper, this document or the process of gathering MPs’ signatures places pressure on the premier to resign. It contradicts clearly with the Constitution and the Parliament’s regulations.

Al-Barrak is a member of the Popular Action Bloc (PAB) which is chaired by lawmaker Ahmad Al-Saadoun. Al-Saadoun is known for taking a firm stance against parliamentarians who expand their ‘work’ outside of the Parliament building.

This means that Al-Saadoun is against Al-Barrak’s act of collecting MPs’ signatures and a declaration of non-cooperation with the prime minister, made outside of Parliament.

Parliament members, whose signatures AlBarrak is trying to collect are the same MPs who have voted in favor of the prime minister. A noncooperation motion was filed against him. This renders the petition useless, in the sense that it does not have any authority to coerce the premier into tendering a resignation.

On the other hand, it looks like a childish attempt to expose or ‘embarrass’ other lawmakers or MPs who have different opinions.

MPs who voted in favor of cooperation with the premier are not shrouded in secrecy. I do not think they regret their position or plan to change their minds. Even if they do, they realize that the Parliament is the only place where lawmakers push for a Cabinet member’s ouster by utilizing constitutional tools.

Perhaps Al-Barrak is aware that a majority in the Parliament still supports cooperation with the Cabinet. This is why he tried to use unconstitutional methods like garnering public support to achieve a majority.

I sincerely hope that Al-Barrak will withdraw his petition, and comply with the majority opinion of parliament members. He should at least change their minds through methods provided via the Parliament’s regulations and the Constitution. — Al-Qabas

KUWAIT: In an extraordinary meeting of the Cabinet held yesterday at Bayan Palace and chaired by His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah, the Cabinet members discussed Kuwait’s financial status for the fiscal year that ended on March 31, 2011. Following the meeting, Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Ali AlRashid stated that Minister of Finance Mustafa Al-Shamali, along with the Managing Director of the Kuwait Investment Authority Bader Al-Saad and senior ministry officials, provided the Cabinet with details of the state’s financial status, including liabilities, and statements on the future generations fund and public reserve for 2011 in comparison to the corresponding period in 2010.

The ministers then discussed the best means to channel the state’s revenues, as well as searching for new sources of income, also conferring on cutting down on expenditures and managing financial waste in all aspects, Al-Rashid noted.

The Cabinet members expressed satisfaction at the financial statements presented, underlining the positive impact of diversifying sources of income and attracting foreign investment, which they said would contribute to championing Kuwait’s policies of moving towards economic openness as envisioned by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, in order to turn the country into an international financial and commercial hub, the minister added.

At the end of the meeting, the Cabinet

tasked Al-Shimali with submitting the state’s financial statement to the National Assembly in keeping with Article 150 of the Constitution.

The parliamentary finance and economic affairs committee yesterday approved a draft law concerning the establishment of an apparatus to support the creation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), but rejected a proposal to increase MPs’ pay and bonuses.

Committee chairman MP Dr. Yousef AlZalzalah told reporters that the committee’s rejection of the proposal to increase MPs’ pay was based on the grounds that such an issue should not be decided by a small number of parliamentarians, with the members voting to refer the matter to parliament for a vote.

The committee has concluded its discussion of the draft law concerning the establishment of an apparatus for assisting in the creation of SMEs and prepared its final report on the subject, said Al-Zalzalah, adding that this project will provide a real economic stimulus for Kuwait.

He expressed hope that those interested in the previous draft law would present their observations to the committee to allow it to consider their opinions and recommendations during the second debate.

He said that small and medium-sized enterprises are the foundation of the growth of global economies, adding that the committee’s approval of the draft law is a major achievement and urging the government to adopt it. — KUNA

KUWAIT: A group of students from Al-Bayan Bilingual school paid a visit to the Kuwait Times office this week. They were familiarized with the various steps involved in newspaper production. — Photos by Joseph Shagra

KIU delegates discuss cooperation in Jordan A M M A N : A d e l e g a t i o n re p re s e n t i n g t h e K u w a i t i Industries Union (KIU) which is currently visiting Jordan, yesterday visited the country’s Chamber of Commerce and discussed ways of enhancing bilateral cooperation relations. The Kuwaiti delegation is led by KIU head Hussein Al-Kharafi while the Jordanian participants in yesterday’s talks were headed by the JCC’s First Deputy Chairman, Issa Murad.

During the discussions, Al-Kharafi stressed Kuwaiti

investors’ interest in investment opportunities in various sectors in Jordan, stating that Jordan provides a competitive investment environment for foreign investment. The union head called for strengthening ties of trade exchange between the two countries, saying that at present these ties have not reached the desired level. Murad, meanwhile, praised the initiative of His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, which was launched during the recent economic summit in Kuwait in 2009 rep-

resented by the establishment of a fund to support and develop small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with an initial capital of two billion dollars.

The senior JCC official expressed his country’s appreciation of Kuwaiti investments in Jordan saying that his country feels proud of seeing Kuwait invest over $8 billion in the Kingdom in a number of different interests in the industrial, service, banking and financial sectors. He added that Jordan greatly welcomes such investments. — KUNA

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LOCAL

Police hunt for enslaved Asian women in Jleeb Man holds father hostage at gunpoint KUWAIT: Police are trying to locate an apartment in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh where a group of Asian women claim to have been locked in for a week and forced to engage in prostitution. Officers at the local station were approached by five women who indicated that they had just escaped from a brothel which had its windows fortified with steel bars. They said that they had been imprisoned there after being forcibly abducted. The women further explained that one of them was initially able to escape before helping the four others to get away. The victims were unable to identify the location of the apartment, however, and an investigation is underway to locate the residence. Anyone with information regarding this case, or the location of the apartment is urged to contact their local police unit.

Hit and run A four-year-old child is currently receiving treatment in Jahra Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) after he was run over by an unidentified driver in Al-Oyoun. Police and paramedics headed to a location where the toddler was reported to have been hit by a car, reportedly driven by an Asian man, whilst playing in front of his family’s home. Police are hunting for the suspect who immediately fled the scene following the accident.

DGCA announces 198 extra flights for summer 2011 KUWAIT: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) announced yesterday that a number of airlines operating from Kuwait International Airport have applied to add a total of 198 additional flights to their schedules during summer 2011.

Sultan Al-Shwai’e, the DGCA’s aviation transportation supervisor,

revealed that the DGCA has agreed to all 198 additional flights, with 153 of these bound for Cairo, 41 heading for Beirut and another four going to Dubai.

The DGCA has been coordinating with airlines operating from Kuwait International Airport on the dates of the scheduled flights, which will be

organized in coordination with air traffic control authorities, Al-Shwai’e explained. He added that 55 airlines and air cargo carriers will be operating from the airport during summer this year, calling on passengers to confirm their reservations prior to their departure date in order to avoid confusion. —KUNA

Grenade found A bomb disposal unit detonated a shell that was found near an equestrian stable recently. Police officers were quickly at the scene after the discovery of the object was reported, with the item being identified as a live grenade. It was successfully detonated by the bomb disposal experts, and an investigation has been launched to determine how it came to be at the location.

Hostage freed Police arrested a Kuwaiti man who held his father hostage at gunpoint at the family home in Jaber Al-Ali. Officers responded to an emergency call reported by a senior citizen being held against his will by his armed 28-yearold son. Police were able to restrain the suspect and seize the handgun, before taking him into custody.

Bad cop held A Farwaniya police officer was arrested after he attacked two pedestrians and detained them unlawfully while under the influence of alcohol. The suspect arrived at Firdous police station with two Arab men in his custody, claiming that they had broken the law. The detainees argued however that they were apprehended for no apparent reason by the officer and subjected to physical assault during the incident.

Farwaniya area commander Col Walid Shehab noticed bruises on the detainees’ bodies, after which he called the officer for questioning and arrested him when he realized that the officer was intoxicated.

Escape attempt An Asian woman was rushed to Adan Hospital with serious injuries she sustained after falling from a height of a building in Mahboula. Investigations revealed that the Nepalese woman was trying to escape from a fourth floor apartment where she works as a housemaid, but lost her balance and fell. Police are waiting for her condition to stabilize so that she can be questioned over the motivations behind her escape attempt.

Citizen interrogated A citizen in his thirties was arrested by state security police after he placed placards in public streets claiming that he had been abused by police officers.

Security officers used the help of Kuwait Municipality personnel to remove the unlicensed signs left in streets in various areas across the country. Following his arrest after police were able to identify him, the suspect said during interrogation that he was protesting against the mistreatment he claims he was subjected to previously by police. He is currently being held pending ongoing investigations.

Drunken brawlers A group of youngsters were arrested in a remote area of the Sulaibiya desert where they engaged in a vicious brawl whilst drunk. Police officers rushed to the scene shortly after a Kuwaiti citizen called the emergency hotline to report a fight taking place there. Investigations revealed that the eight suspects chose the remote spot to drink alcohol, and came to blows following arguments that escalated into a violent scuffle. They were put behind bars at the area’s police station pending legal action.

Passport forgery Security officers at Kuwait International Airport (KIA) apprehended two bedoon (stateless) residents who were caught in possession of forged European passports they were trying to use to travel overseas. The suspects are being held pending the results of the ongoing investigation. —Al-Rai, AlQabas, Al-Anaba, Al-Watan

Bahbahani elected PEC honorary chairman

KUWAIT: A driver sustained an injury to his head after his trailer truck flipped over along Ghazali Road. Police responded to the scene and regulated traffic which was disrupted owing to the accident.

—Photos by Fouad Al-Shaikh

Women-only days at Messila beach

Abdullah Shuwaib

KUWAIT: Female visitors to Messila beach can now enjoy three days a week in complete privacy. The Touristic Enterprises Company(TEC) announced that Saturdays, Mondays and Thursdays will be exclusively devoted to women.

“The decision was made based on female visitors’ suggestions, asking for more days to be allocated exclusively for women. This is in order to gain full privacy,” explained Abdullah Shuwaib Supervisor of Al-Messila beach.

He further announced in a press statement that special programs and competition will be held during the women-exclusive days. Visiting hours during the three days are between 9:00 am to 9:00 pm, he added.

Kuwait to get sandstorm early-warning system GENEVA: The Kuwaiti delegation taking part in the World Meteorological Congress here has succeeded in including the topic of sandstorms, in the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) program for limiting impact of natural catastrophes.

Mohammad Jawhar Hayatt, the director of the Kuwait Meteorological Authority, said in a statement that the WMO would aid the Gulf country to deal with such storms by offering to conduct studies and research and introducing early-warning equipment.

The Kuwaiti delegation has taken part in drafting the final communiqué of the convention regarding the role of the national meteorological authorities, “which is a very important document that specifies in legal terms the role and tasks of the national weather forecasting authorities,” Hayatt explained.

The delegation also succeeded in involving the Kuwait Meteorological

Authority in the WMO’s programs for coping with sandstorms, holding training and communications-related courses. Demonstrating Kuwaiti authorities’ eagerness to become involved in international events, the Kuwaiti body has taken part in the annual meeting of the WMO’s executive board to follow up on programs and resolutions, in addition to the meetings and workshops of the organization’s Asian branches to examine the latest meteorological technologies and systems.

Kuwait, meanwhile, has given its support to Saudi Arabia’s nomination as the GCC states’ representative at the international organization’s executive board for a four-year term. The Kuwaiti delegation is headed by the permanent delegate at the UN in Geneva, Ambassador Dherar Razzougi, along with officials from the Kuwaiti Meteorological Authority and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. —KUNA

GENEVA: The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) has elec ted the Deput y Chairman of Kuwait News Agency, Ahmad Yousef Bahbahani, as its honorary chairman, in appreciation of his struggle to protect journalists and defend press freedoms.

The PEC said in a statement issued yesterday that Bahbahani was chosen as the honorary head for his major role in supporting “the message of journalism” over the past three years.

“Bahbahani’s support for the PEC has reflected his belief and conviction in the defense of journalists throughout the world and the defense of their causes genuinely include the freedoms of expression and opinion,” said the PEC statement.

Bahbahani “is a shining sign among leaders of the Kuwaiti and Arab media, and his support for the PEC

reflects his backing for all journalists of the world thus placing Kuwait at an advance position in the defense of the freedoms of expression and opinion,” said the PEC Chairperson, Hedayat Abdel Nabi.

The leading Kuwaiti media figure is a distinguished Arab journalist who has supported the PEC since 2009, she said, underlining Bahbahani’s service as the Chairman of the Kuwait Journalists Association and board chairman of the daily magazine, AlYaqatha.

Bahbahani, 70, is a history graduate of the Beirut Arab University and holder of a business diploma from Geneva University. He is the Deputy Chairman of the Arab Journalists Federation, as well as holding membership of the International Press Institute and the Los Angeles Press Club. —KUNA

Oil and Gas Engineering Students Showcase their Projects KUWAIT: The oil and gas engineering students at the Australian College of Kuwait have showcased their projects at the end of the semester. The workshop organized by Sanaa Al-Yaqoub involved exhibition of student projects and a video about the history of oil in Kuwait.

The students showcased the projects they constructed based on the knowledge and skills they acquired over the course of the semester. Oil and gas is considered to be one of the largest sectors in Kuwait and ACK engineering graduates are trained with a curriculum that makes them “industry-ready” personnel for both the government and private oil companies.

I n officiating the event, Direc tor of Student Affairs, Dr Raghad Al Kazemi said that “there is a large demand for oil and gas students in Kuwait.

ACK has excellent laboratory facilities and simulation programs to train the students with the state of the art technology.”

Through various projects, students explored the concept of extracting oil through magnetic waves and other methods including offshore rigs. A model of the offshore rigs was built by the students to illustrate their most important features and functionality.

The workshop also included a discussion regarding the oil leak that took place in the Gulf of Mexico and how it was contained and resolved.

At ACK the emphasis is placed on “Project Based Learning” which combines understanding concepts via hands-on applications of theories. It is a teaching and learning model that emphasizes studentcentered instruction by assigning projects. This involves innovative curriculum development and instruc tional approach that allows students to engage learning experiences in real-world projects through which they develop and apply knowledge.

The ability to critically appraise viewpoints and designs, to collect and analyze data, to develop an argument in a logical form and to participate in discussion and debate with other students and teachers is an excellent way to learn. This process at ACK ensures active learning experience to students rather than a passive one.

TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2011

US drone strikes kill 18 in Pakistan

Top Nigeria lawmaker arrested over corruption Page 10

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Yemen’s Saleh recovering, to return in days, VP says

RIYADH/SANAA: Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh will return from medical treatment in Saudi Arabia in days, the acting leader said yesterday as thousands celebrated what they hope will be a new era without him. Diplomats and analysts feel Saleh’s stay in Saudi Arabia, where he had surgery for shrapnel wounds suffered in an attack on his palace on Friday, might be prolonged as regional heavyweight Riyadh tries to broker a power transition deal to prevent the implosion of its neighbour.

International pressure has mounted on all parties to find a way to end clashes bringing Yemen to the brink of civil war due to worries it could become a failed state home to an Al-Qaeda wing next to the world’s biggest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia. A Saudi-brokered truce was holding in Sanaa after two weeks of fighting between Saleh’s forces and a powerful tribal group in which more than 200 people were killed and thousands fled.

But there was fresh fighting in the flashpoint southern city of Taiz, where the United Nations said it was investigating reports that as many as 50 have been killed in the past week. An opposition party coalition, which joined months of street protests to end Saleh’s three-decade rule, said it backed transferring power to the vice-president, AbuRabbu Mansour Hadi, who is now the acting leader.

Hadi was quoted as saying on the Saba state news agency that Saleh’s health was improving and he “would return to the homeland in the coming days”. Saleh, 69, was wounded on Friday when a rocket struck his Sanaa palace, killing seven people and wounding senior officials and advisers. He is being treated in a Riyadh hospital. But a diplomat in the region said: “I don’t think the Saudis or his people want him back. He doesn’t have regional support.”

Yemenis have awaited word on whether Saleh would sign a Gulf-brokered transition deal he has so far rejected.

In a joint statement, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and the Prime Ministers of Britain, Spain and Italy, thanked Saudi Arabia for receiving Saleh for treatment, and called on all parties in Yemen to “find a means of reconciliation on the basis of the GCC initiative”.

The Saudi-led Gulf Cooperation Council urged all parties to work to end violence and said it was continuing its efforts to negotiate a power-transfer deal. Yemen , which relies on oil for 60 percent of its economy, has been dealt a heavy blow by the closure of an oil pipeline that trade sources said have caused fuel shortages. But the future of Yemen, riven by complex rivalries among tribal leaders, generals and politicians, remains uncertain.

“Saleh’s departure to Saudi Arabia isn’t just courtesy from the Saudi ruling family,” said Egyptian political analyst Nabil Abdel-Fattah. “The security of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf is linked to security in Yemen.” Youthful protesters, interpreting Saleh’s absence as potentially permanent, continued to celebrate in Sanaa where they have staged antigovernment demonstrations since January. “It’s impossible for us to let (Saleh) come back. And those of his people who are still here had better follow him to Saudi,” one of those attending a Sanaa rally.

“Who is next?” asked one banner held up by protesters in a sea of red, white and black Yemeni flags, referring to the wave of uprisings in Arab world that has toppled the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia and inspired revolts in Syria, Libya and Bahrain. Pro-Saleh state media said his supporters took to the streets to celebrate “a successful operation” in the provinces of Ibb and Dhamar with song, dance and shooting into the air.

Saleh’s departure could make it hard for the veteran president to retain control, although his close relatives still command key military units and security forces. Other contenders in a possible power struggle include the wellarmed Hashed tribal federation, breakaway military leaders, Islamists, leftists and an angry public seeking relief from crippling poverty, corruption and failing public services.

Saleh, a political survivor, has defied global calls to step down and survived the defection of top generals, ministers and ambassadors who left the government after troops killed many demonstrators in March. More than 450 people have been killed in the unrest shaking the nation of 23 million since late January. Saleh has exasperated his former US and Saudi allies, who once saw him as a key counter-terrorism partner, by repeatedly reneging on the transition plan, even though it offered him immunity from prosecution-something opposed by protesters.— Reuters

TAIZ: Armed Yemeni tribesmen stand guard outside the ministry of electricity building in the the secondlargest city of Taiz (Taez) yesterday. — AFP

SANAA: Yemeni Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, center, heads a meeting with members of the ruling party in Sanaa, Yemen yesterday. “Saleh’s health is improving greatly and he will return to the country in the coming days,” said Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who is acting leader in the president’s absence. — AP

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

Bahrain Shiite doctors claim tortured to confess DUBAI: Shiite medics on trial in Bahrain for involvement in anti-regime protests charged yesterday that they were tortured to sign false confessions, family members said.

The medics told their families and lawyers after a hearing at a special court that they had been “subjected to physical and psychological torture to extract confessions,” a relative said.

They were also tortured to “force them to sign statements that contained untrue accusations,” a relative added, requesting anonymity. The medics appeared in the court set up under emergency laws decreed by King Hamad in mid-March on the eve of an all-out crackdown on Shiites who led a month of pro-democracy protests.

A total of 24 doctors and 23 nurses working at Salmaniya hospital were in May referred to the court on a number of charges. BNA state news agency said yesterday that 20 of the defendants, including four women, were accused of possessing non-licensed arms, occupying the hospital, seizing medical equipment and calling for regime change.

Twenty-eight of them, including five women, face charges of spreading false news about the number of casualties in the police crackdown on protesters, in addition to taking part in “gatherings”, BNA added. The hearing was adjourned to June 13. In May, the government said the charges included “refusal to extend assistance

to a person in need, embezzlement of public funds, assault, assault that resulted in death, unauthorized possession of weapons and ammunition, refusal to perform duties and putting people’s lives and health at risk.”

They were also charged with “illegal detention, abuse of authority to suspend and stall laws and regulations, attempts to occupy buildings by force, incitement to the forceful overthrow of a political regime.” In addition, they were accused of “incitement to hatred of a regime, incitement to hatred of a segment of society, dissemination of false news and malicious rumors that could harm public interest and participation in unauthorized rallies and meetings,” it said in a statement. Medics were

allowed to see their families for 30 minutes after the hearing yesterday for the first time since their detention.

In the first hearing on Sunday, the court divided the defendants into two groups, one charged with crimes and the second with misdemeanors. Authorities in the Gulf state ruled by a Sunni royal family that has a Shiite majority last week lifted the state of national safety, or emergency law.

Hundreds of Shiites have been referred to courts over the protests. Four people have been sentenced to death and three others to life in jail over the killing of two policemen. Nine others were jailed for 20 years for abducting a policeman.— AFP

Israel sees Syrian hand in Golan clashes, 23 dead US, Russia express concern about border flareup

TRIPOLI: In this photo taken on a government organized tour, a Libyan official photographs a portrait of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi next to a damaged official building in Tripoli, Libya yesterday. —AP

Libyan rebels seize mountain town YAFRAN/TRIPOLI: Libyan rebels entered the mountain town of Yafran yesterday, driving out Muammar Gaddafi’s forces in a sign NATO air strikes in the area may be paying off. Yafran had been besieged by pro-Gaddafi forces for more than a month with food, drinking water and medicines running short.

“The rebels say they have taken the town,” said a Reuters photographer, after entering the town from the north. “There is no sign of any Gaddafi forces.” Yafran, about 100 km (60 miles) southwest of the Libyan capital, is in the Western Mountains where the local populationmost of them belonging to the Berber ethnic minority-have joined the uprising against Gaddafi.

The rebels control the east of Libya, the western city of Misrata and the range of mountains near the border with Tunisia. Their attempts to advance on the capital have been blocked by Gaddafi’s better-equipped forces. It was unclear if Gaddafi forces remained in the south of Yafran. Rebel flags could be seen, along with defaced posters and photos of Gaddafi. Asked about reports of rebel gains in the Western mountain area, Libyan Deputy Prime Minister Khaled Kaim told reporters government forces could retake rebel territory in hours, but were holding back from doing so to avoid civilian casualties.

British warplanes destroyed two tanks and two armored personnel carriers on June 2 in Yafran. Towns the length of the mountain range have come under attack by pro-Gaddafi forces. Residents who fled said Yafran had suffered some of the worst hardship. A rebel spokesman called Abdulrahman said Gaddafi’s forces had begun bombarding Zintan, another mountain town about 40 km (25 miles) west of Yafran, early yesterday with Grad rockets.

“Two civilians were martyred and a third wounded,” he said. “Fighting between the revolutionaries and the

brigades (pro-Gaddafi forces) broke out at around 1100 in the Bir Ayyad area, some 50 km (30 miles) northeast of Zintan,” he added. “The revolutionaries destroyed three armoured vehicles. The fighting is still going on.” Accounts from Zintan could not be independently verified because access for reporters is limited. NATO attack helicopters were in action in the east on Sunday. Apache helicopters destroyed a rocket launch system on the coast near the eastern town of Brega, Britain’s defence ministry said.

A French military source said French planes and helicopters had been operating in Libya every night since Friday, but declined to give further details. Gaddafi’s forces also fired rockets into the rebelheld town of Ajdabiyah in the east yesterday and clashes broke out on the main road further west, rebel sources said.

Gaddafi’s troops and the eastern rebels have been locked in stalemate for weeks, with neither side able to hold territory on a stretch of road between Ajdabiyah and the Gaddafi-held oil town of Brega further west. The new deployment of the helicopters is part of a plan to step up military operations and break the deadlock. Critics say it means NATO has gone far beyond its United Nations mandate to protect civilians from attack.

Deputy Prime Minister Kaim dismissed the impact of NATO’s decision to deploy ground attack helicopters in combat. “I think the helicopter is much easier for the Libyan army to target.

But we are not in favour of escalation.

We are in favour of opening doors to diplomacy,” he said. Speaking to reporters in Brussels, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen sidestepped questions on whether more helicopters were needed in Libya, but said he would be reiterating calls for NATO allies to step up their involvement in Libya during a NATO defence ministers meeting this week. —Reuters

JERUSALEM: Israel accused Syria yesterday of orchestrating lethal confrontations on the once-quiet ceasefire line between the two countries as a distraction from Damascus’s bloody crackdown on an 11-week-old revolt.

Syria said 23 people, including a woman and a child, were killed and 350 wounded on Sunday when Israeli troops fired on Palestinian protesters who surged against the fortified boundary fence on Syria’s Israelioccupied Golan Heights.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon said live Israeli fire had caused casualties and UN monitors were “seeking to confirm facts”. Russia voiced “deep concern about the flareup” and the shooting of unarmed demonstrators, while the United States said it was “deeply troubled” by attempts to breach the Golan disengagement line, and urged restraint on both sides.

Israel contested the Syrian account and said President Bashar al-Assad was trying to shift world attention from the security forces’ killing of at least 1,100 Syrians engaged in anti-government protests. “The events along the Syrian border did not erupt by chance.

There is an attempt being made here to heat up the border and to try and breach our borders,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters in parliament.

Netanyahu said Israel would defend its borders and charged Syria with “an attempt here to divert international attention from what is going on inside Syria and the difficult events in Hama.” Sunday’s protest was held to mark the 44th anniversary of the 1967 Middle East war, when Israel captured the Golan Heights, as well as the West Bank and the Gaza Strip where Palestinians want to establish a state.

Though Israel and Syria are technically at war, and Syria is home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees from the 1948 war of Israel’s foundation, the Golan had long been quiet. That changed on May 15, when

GOLAN HEIGHTS: Palestinian mourners carry the coffin of a Palestinian protester who was killed when Israeli soldiers opened fire on Sunday at protesters who tried to burst across Syria’s frontier with the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, during a funeral procession at Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp, in Damascus, Syria yesterday. —AP scores of flag-waving Palestinian activists flattened a fence on the demarcation line and briefly rallied inside Israeli-controlled territory. Rattled by the breach, Israel beefed up its defenses and warned that lethal force could be used. A Reuters reporter at the scene on Sunday saw Israeli snipers firing at demonstrators at the fence and 10 people taken away on stretchers by comrades. With USbrokered peace effor ts stalled, some Palestinians inspired by non-violent popular revolts sweeping the Arab world are trying to adopt similar tactics against Israel.

Israeli leaders said they feared such marches would recur ahead of the Palestinians’ campaign to secure recognition of their claim to statehood at the United Nations in

Israel warns Inmarsat over Gaza flotilla JERUSALEM: An Israeli group said yesterday that it had warned satellite navigation giant Inmarsat it could face legal action for providing services to ships trying to breach the naval blockade on Gaza.

The Israel Law Centre said it had sent a letter to Londonbased Inmarsat cautioning it that supplying navigation services to a flotilla of 15 ships which is expected to sail for Gaza later this month, would violate the US Neutrality Act that bars helping groups considered hostile to an allied country.

Inmarsat “is exposing itself to criminal liability and massive

financial suits if it supplies satellite services to boats participating in the flotilla to Gaza,” the Centre said. In a statement, the NGO, whose stated aim is targeting “terrorist organisations and the regimes that support them” through litigation in courts around the world, said the law applied to Inmarsat as it had offices in the US. Around 15 ships carrying some 1,500 pro-Palestinian activists are expected to leave various Mediterranean ports around June 20 as part of the so-called “Freedom Flotilla II” aimed at breaking the Israeli blockade.

They will try and reach the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip a year

Egypt remembers man whose death sparked revolution CAIRO: Crowds of people dressed in black marched through Egyptian cities yesterday to honor a young businessman from Alexandria beaten to death a year ago in a savage attack blamed on police that helped inspire the uprising that brought down Egypt’s president. Photographs of Khaled Said’s badly disfigured and bloodied face were posted on the Internet and became an instant rallying point for campaigners trying to bring attention to rampant police brutality under the regime of Hosni Mubarak. A Facebook page in his honor called “We are all Khaled Said” was used months later to call for the protests that toppled Mubarak on Feb 11.

Yesterday’s anniversary of his death, crowds held silent protests in Alexandria and other cities to remember him and draw attention to continued abuses by Egyptian police. Said’s family visited his grave in an Alexandria cemetery. His mother, Laila Marzouq, wearing a pendant around her neck with a photo of her son, sat beside the tombstone.

A year later, Said’s death continues to stir anger, especially since the policemen accused of killing him

are still on trial. The court is set to issue its verdict at the end of this month.

The trial of police agents Mahmoud Salah and Awad Ismail Suleiman was postponed repeatedly after Mubarak’s ouster because court officials said it would be difficult to secure the proceedings. The circumstances of Said’s slaying, witnesses say two plainclothes officers dragged him from an Internet cafe and beat him to death on the street , resonated with many young Egyptians. The reason he was confronted by police has never been fully explained.

Security forces and forensics reports initially maintained Said suffocated by swallowing a packet of drugs when he was approached , a claim met with derision after the photos were circulated showing his body covered with bruises, his teeth broken and jaw smashed.

After a public outcry, prosecutors charged Salah and Suleiman with illegal arrest and harsh treatment, falling short of his family’s demands for a murder charge.

Adding to Egyptians’ frustration is the continuation of police abuse even after Egypt’s most feared

September. The official Syrian news agency SANA put Sunday’s death toll at 23 and quoted Health Minister Wael al-Halki as saying a woman and a child were among the dead. It said 350 people suffered gunshot wounds.

The Israeli military said it believed that a blast from what it said was a Syrian landmine detonated accidentally by petrol bombs thrown by protesters had caused 10 casualties. But it gave no overall figure for the dead and wounded. Before the Golan violence, Israel rarely censured the Assad government for its domestic crackdowns. Successive Israeli governments have sought peace with Assad, seeing his government as a possible anchor for wider Israeli-Arab accommodation. — Reuters

after a previous attempt ended when Israeli troops stormed the lead ship and shot dead nine Turkish activists.

The Israel Law Centre said it had also written to leading insurance companies, cautioning them against underwriting boats taking part. Insurance giant Lloyd’s had already confirmed by letter that it would not insure any ships taking part in the flotilla, the group said. “Our aim is to prevent bloodshed at sea,” said ILC Director Nitsana DarshanLeitner. “Our intention is to stop these boats before they even set sail.”

Israel imposed a blockade

on Gaza in June 2006 and restrictions on impor ts and exports were tightened a year later when Hamas seized power in the territory of 1.5 million people, ousting forces loyal to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. In the face of international condemnation following its raid on the flotilla, Israel eased some of its restrictions on goods entering and leaving Gaza.

But it maintains tight restrictions on items it says could be used by Hamas to build fortifications or weapons, including some building materials, and retains control over Gaza’s air space and sea access. —AFP

Ahmadinejad clique under fire despite call for calm

ALEXANDRIA: Laila Marzouq, the mother of Khaled Said, visits his grave in Alexandria, Egypt yesterday. Yesterday marks the oneyear anniversary of the death of 28-year old businessman Khaled Said who was badly beaten by two police agents and whose death became one of the main driving forces behind the popular uprising.—AP security apparatus, State Security, was dissolved after Mubarak’s ouster.

Rights activists have raised claims that several people have been killed by police in recent weeks. In one case, a bus driver is believed to have been beaten to death by police in downtown Cairo. A group of activists held a protest yesterday in front of the Interior Ministry in Cairo, raising banners that read “Enough police

abuse” with pictures of Said.

Egypt’s interim military rulers are also accused of abusing protesters detained during rallies calling for a faster transition to democracy and quick prosecution of Mubarak and other regime officials. Meanwhile, the Supreme Council of The Armed Forces announced yesterday that in mid-June it will end the overnight curfew that has been in place in many parts of Egypt since the uprising. — AP

TEHRAN: Ruling conservatives in Iran kept up their criticism of President Mahmoud Ahamdinejad’s inner circle yesterday, despite a plea for calm by allpowerful supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In the latest broadside, Hojatoleslam Mojtaba Zolnour, Khamenei’s deputy representative to the elite Revolutionary Guards, accused Ahmadinejad’s entourage of seeking to weaken the foundations of the Islamic republic.

“The current of deviation seeks to weaken the foundations of the Islamic establishment... I believe this movement is the gravest danger in the history of Shiite Islam,” Mehr news agency quoted Zolnour as saying. “Current of deviation” is a term coined by Ahmadinejad opponents to define an ideological movement they believe to be too liberal, nationalist and not nearly religious enough to coexist with the ruling conservatives in Iran.

The conservatives accuse Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, a close Ahmadinejad relative, confidant and chief of staff, of leading the movement. “The head of this new sedition should be removed if the government wants to be clean... We hope this problem will be resolved, but it seems very unlikely such a thing will happen in the near future,” Zolnour was quoted as saying. On Saturday, on the

22nd anniversary of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s death, Ayatollah Khamenei called on the ruling conservatives to end the crisis, urging respect for diversity of political opinion within the regime.

“One has committed an immoral act if he insults his brothers... who disagree with his political view but we know are loyal to the Islamic system and Islam,” Khamenei told hundreds of thousands of supporters at Khomeini’s mausoleum.

Ayatollah Ahmad Alamolhoda, another conservative, said with this approach Khamenei was trying to manage the crisis while also preventing the fall of the government “because the price of its fall would be heavier.”

But Alamolhoda, quoted by the ISNA news agency, also said the people must be told that “the current of deviation has latched onto the executive branch like a virus.” For several months, conservative figures have repeatedly demanded the sacking of Mashaie, who despite the heavy criticism has so far enjoyed Ahmadinejad’s unwavering support.

On Sunday, parliament speaker Ali Larijani also weighed into Mashaie for advocating an “Iranian Islam” school of thought, an idea which has infuriated conservative clerics. “The (executive) officials should avoid making theories (on religious issues). — AFP

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Canada court rules to extradite accused bomber OTTAWA: A Canadian court ruled yesterday that a man accused of a 1980 bombing that killed four people outside a Paris synagogue can be extradited to France, but warned the French government’s case was “weak.” French prosecutors want Hassan Diab to face charges of murder, attempted murder and willful destruction of property, for the first fatal attack against the French Jewish community since the Nazi occupation in World War II. If convicted of the bombing, Diab could face life in prison, but the lawyer for the Canadian-Lebanese has indicated he would appeal the ruling. Diab was arrested in a suburb of Canada’s capital at the request of French authorities in November 2008 for his alleged role in the bombing that killed three Frenchmen and a young Israeli woman, and injured dozens.

Speaking through his lawyer at the start of his extradition hearing in November 2010, Diab said the evidence presented against him by French authorities relied on “secret, un-sourced intelligence.” French analysts compared his handwriting with that found on a Paris hotel registration card believed to have been signed by the bomber, but three

handwriting experts testified the analysis was flawed and did not match Diab’s.

“The judge has signaled that he is likely to rule in favor of committal because Canada’s extradition law does not allow him to discard the handwriting evidence, even though he described it as ‘very problematic,’ ‘very confusing,’ and riddled with ‘suspect conclusions,’” Diab’s supporters said in a statement last week before the hearing. France alleges Diab was a member of a Palestinian extremist group believed to have planted a bomb in a motorcycle saddlebag outside the Copernic Street synagogue in the posh 16th arrondissement of Paris on October 3, 1980.

French authorities issued a warrant in November 2007 for Diab’s arrest, following a lead from German intelligence.

Investigators also say Diab resembles police composites of a suspect sketched at the time. Diab claims he is the victim of mistaken identity and insists he was a student in Beirut at the time. He also denied any links to extremist organizations. The 57-year-old former sociology professor was released on strict bail conditions in 2009 while awaiting the court’s decision on his extradition.—AFP

Volcano billows giant plume for second day in Chile SANTIAGO: A volcano in the Caulle Cordon of southern Chile erupted for a second day Sunday, shooting out pumice stones and pluming a cloud of ash six miles (10 kilometers) high and three miles (five kilometers) wide. Flights in the region were canceled and more than 3,500 people stayed away from their homes near the volcano, which produced an eerie show of lightning dancing through its clouds of ash overnight.

Most of the residents in 22 settlements near the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic complex evacuated when the eruption began Saturday afternoon and were staying in government shelters or friends’ homes. One group of 122 people were being moved from a shelter for fear that the eruption could cause flooding on the Nilahue River. There were no reports of injuries.

Rodrigo Ubilla, Chile’s undersecretary of labor, said some people near the volcano had decided not to leave their homes because they didn’t want to abandon their animals.

Wind carried ash across the Andes into Argentina until Sunday afternoon, dropping a blanket of ash on the tourist town of San Carlos de Bariloche, which had to close its airport. Officials there urged people to use cover

their mouths and noses against the ash, to stock up on food and water and stay indoors if possible.

A shift in wind direction Sunday began dropping more ash on Chile’s side of the border. “The situation is very complicated,” said Santiago Rozas, mayor of Lago Ranco, a town about 40 miles (70 kilometers) north of the eruption. “The shift means that we will have a rain of ash, with damage for the population and a threat to smallholder farming,” Rozas said. Officials closed the border crossing at Cardenal Samore because falling ash lowered visibility on the mountain road. The eruption is nearly 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) south of Chile’s capital, Santiago. Authorities put the area on alert Saturday morning after a flurry of earthquakes, and the eruption began in the afternoon. The National Emergency Office recorded an average of 240 tremors an hour for the first 12 hours, but that dropped to about 17 an hour by Sunday, Interior Minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter said.

With the Andes running along its entire length, Chile has more than 3,000 volcanoes, of which about 500 are considered active and 60 have had eruptions recorded over the past 450 years. — AP

Humala narrowly wins Peru election Leftist ex-army officer promises poor share of the wealth LIMA: A leftist former army officer with questioned human rights credentials narrowly won Peru’s presidency in a bitterly fought runoff with the daughter of disgraced exPresident Alberto Fujimori. Ollanta Humala, 48, won Sunday after softening his radical image and disavowing the affinity for Venezuela’s socialist President Hugo Chavez that fueled his defeat in a first run for the presidency five years earlier.

He promises Peru’s poor a greater share of the Andean nation’s considerable mineral wealth and pledged in victory to honor the free market but put Peruvians first. The former army lieutenant colonel won 51.5 percent of the vote against 48.5 percent for Keiko Fujimori, according to complete unofficial results compiled by the independent election watchdog Transparencia.

Official results, with 87 percent of the vote counted, had Humala ahead with 51.2 percent but officials cautioned that rural districts where Humala fared better were slow in reporting. Humala told supporters Sunday night he’d work to convert a decade-long economic boom that is the envy of Latin America into “the great motor of the social inclusion Peruvians desire.” He says he’ll do so by taxing windfall mining profits and exporting less natural gas so Peruvians get it cheaper.

Rife with mudslinging and dirty tricks, the campaign was marred by doubts about both candidates’ commitment to democracy. Fujimori’s father is serving a 25-year prison term for rights abuses and corruption, and many Peruvians considered her little more than his proxy. Humala has been accused of violent excesses as an army counterinsurgency unit commander in the 1990s and of encouraging a bloody uprising his brother staged in 2005 seeking to oust thenPresident Alejandro Toledo that cost four policemen their lives. Keiko Fujimori, 36, did not immediately concede, instead appearing briefly before supporters Sunday night to ask them “responsibly and with prudence” await official results.

LIMA: Presidential candidate Ollanta Humala gestures to supporters after the presidential runoff election in Lima, Peru, Sunday.—AP Humala narrowly lost the presi- Investors have pledged more than Romero, a 58-year-old construction dency to Alan Garcia in 2006. In that $40 billion over the next decade to worker who said he was harassed for election he presented himself as a fan develop gold, silver, copper and other labor organizing during Alberto of Gen. Juan Velasco, the leftist dicta- mining operations in rich Andean Fujimori’s regime, was overjoyed by Humala’s win and pledges to protect tor who expropriated land from the lodes.

In a rousing victory speech workers from exploitation that let rich and nationalized a raft of indusSunday to more than 10,000 support- employers hire people full time withtries during his 1968-75 rule.

This time, Humala tempered his ers in central Lima, Humala said he out paying benefits. “We’re getting rhetoric. After initially vowing to would create jobs, build homes, and everything back with him. Good jobs renegotiate free trade agreements deliver running water and electricity will come back. There won’t be corand rewrite the constitution “to create to long-neglected backwaters. “We’ve ruption. I believe in his word,” said an economic regime with social jus- been waiting a long time for a gov- Romero, who is from Peru’s poorest tice as its goal” he reversed himself, ernment that really cares about the state, Huancavelica.

Both candidates promised a raft of pledging to instead follow Brazil’s poor,” he said, rather than catering to market-friendly model for elevating a Lima elite that sells transnationals giveaways for the poor, including free the poor. Two weeks ago, he swore the mineral riches that comprise more school meals and preschool care. on the Bible to respect democracy than 65 percent of Peru’s export earn- Humala promised a government penings. “This has got to change, and it’s sion for all at age 65. Exit polls gave and press freedom.

But Humala failed to win over the for this change that I am here. That is Humala better than 70 percent of the business elite and most of the news why I got into politics,” Humala said. vote in four poor highland states media, which campaigned openly “I’m only interested in achieving what including Puno, where Aymara against him. They fear he’s a Velasco I’ve offered the Peruvian people.” His Indians who object to a planned reincarnate. As he rose in popularity, base was the one in three Peruvians Canadian-owned silver mine susstockholders sold off shares in Lima’s who are poor , in Peru’s rural high- pended a nearly monthlong highway exchange. Billions are at stake. lands its closer to two in three. Jose blockade so people could vote. —AP

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Conservatives win snap poll in Macedonia New govt needs to deal with weak economy

LIBREVILLE: Military police and rescue workers investigate a partially-submerged DHL cargo plane, which crashed just off the coast of Libreville, Gabon yesterday. —AP

Cargo plane plunges into sea off Gabon, crew alive LIBREVILLE: A small DHL cargo plane plunged into the sea off the coast of the Gabonese capital Libreville yesterday but the four crew on board were pulled out alive, air safety officials said. It was unclear what caused the plane to ditch into the sea, officials said at the scene of the accident. “There were four people on board. All four are alive, they were taken out of the plane with the help of emergency services,” said Moise Dabany from the airport safety services.

“The four are in hospital, wounded,” he said. “We have not been able to find out what the problem was. We are waiting to be able to talk to the captain.”

Dabany could only identify the crew as one Gabonese and three people from Eastern Europe. The plane was not completely submerged in the water, with parts of the rear and cabin sticking out, an AFP journalist said.

It was from the DHL express courier service and flying the route between Libreville to Port Gentil, Gabon’s oil centre to the southwest, said Serge ThomasEbenbge from the National Civil Aviation Agency.

The plane, a turboprop Antonov 26, was flying with difficulty a dozen kilometres before it plummeted, he said, citing witness accounts. — AFP

Turkish coup leader and ex-president questioned ANKARA: The former Turkish president who came to power in a 1980 military coup was questioned yesterday by a prosecutor deciding whether to bring him and another surviving coup leader to trial. Prosecutor Huseyin Gorusen questioned retired Gen Kenan Evren, who as military chief of staff led the 1980 coup and then led the country as president from 1982 to 1989. He was questioned at his home in Ankara due to health problems, Evren’s lawyer Omer Nihat Ozgun said.

The 93-year-old was initially hailed as a hero by many Turks because the coup stopped fighting between leftist and right-wing groups that had some people wondering whether Turkey was headed for a civil war. But he is remembered widely for the torture of suspected militants and their supporters and for introducing a constitution that restricted freedoms and formalized the military’s role in politics. Yesterday’s questioning of Evren comes as the country’s Islamic-rooted government promises to rewrite the coup-era constitution ordered by Evren to make it more democratic if it wins a third term in office in Sunday’s parliamentary elections.

It also comes as the judicial

authorities pursue a series of trials of the suspected masterminds of more recent alleged coup plots, including hundreds of retired and active military officers. The government denies allegations that it is trying to silence critics. “The military seized power based on its internal law (that empowers it to defend the nation) under the country’s conditions back then and amid the failure of constitutional institutions,” to curb violence, Ozgun quoted Evren as responding to one of 12 questions by prosecutors.

Ozgun, speaking to reporters outside Evren’s house after the questioning, refused to reveal other details of the interrogation but said Evren testified for about 2 1/2 hours.

Prosecutors will also question retired Gen. Tahsin Sahinkaya, chief of the country’s air force at the time of the 1980 coup, at a hospital in Istanbul tomorrow, Ozgun said.

However, it is not clear whether the two can be tried for the coup and other crimes. Some legal experts say a statute of limitations on legal moves against the coup engineers expired. Supporters of prosecution, however, argue there should be no deadline for alleged crimes against humanity. — AP

Ukraine profs defend Palestinian engineer KIEV: Former professors of a Palestinian engineer captured in Ukraine and sent to Israel to face charges he built missiles for the militant group Hamas refute allegations in his indictment that he was taught weapons systems.

Dirar Abu Sisi, 42, vanished from a train in Ukraine in February and resurfaced days later in an Israeli prison. Abu Sisi, who claims innocence, is to stand trial in coming weeks on hundreds of counts of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Konstantin Petrovich Vlasov told The Associated Press that Abu Sisi was his doctoral student in civilian electricity systems at the Kharkiv National Academy of Municipal Services in the mid-1990s, but denies he was taught about weapons.

The Israeli indictment says a Konstantin Petrovich, Abu Sisi’s professor at a civilian institute, also taught at an academy for military engineering in the eastern city of Kharkiv, although no such school exists. Petrovich apparently is not a surname but a patronymic , a name derived from the first name of one’s father. The Israeli document claims the professor is an expert in Soviet-made Scud missile control systems. It alleges that Konstantin Petrovich arranged for Abu Sisi to attend classes at the military academy, where he gained knowledge that enabled him to modernize missiles launched by Palestinian militants into Israel.

Israel would not immediately comment on the incongruities concerning the professor’s name or the purported military academy. Vlasov, an expert in civilian electrical and mineral processing systems, said he had no connection to the military, never sent any of his students to a military academy and has never even seen a missile. “This is all lies, there isn’t a single word of truth in it,”

Vlasov, 80, said in a telephone interview.

“I have never lectured at any military academy and never had anything to do with anything military. I have only seen missiles on TV.” Vlasov initially supervised Abu Sisi’s doctoral work, then moved to the Russian city of St. Petersburg and handed Abu Sisi over to another professor at the academy, Filipp Govorov.

Abu Sisi’s dissertation on the use of transformers in city electricity grids, viewed by the AP at Ukraine’s national library, lists Govorov as Abu Sisi’s Ph.D. adviser. Govorov also dismissed the charges against Abu Sisi. “They said that he allegedly dealt with rockets, but what we did had nothing to do with it,” Govorov told the AP. Abu Sisi has acknowledged being in contact with senior Hamas members as part of his work in Gaza as a senior manager at the power plant, but says he is not a member of the militant group and did not build weapons or train soldiers for Hamas as his indictment claims. Israel has said little about Abu Sisi’s arrest or how he ended up in Israel. It only confirmed holding him weeks after his disappearance. Abu Sisi’s family says he was kidnapped by the Mossad spy agency. Ukrainian government said it had no involvement in the arrest. Abu Sisi’s Israeli lawyer, Tal Linoy, says he believes Israeli authorities detained Abu Sisi based on an erroneous tip that he had information about the whereabouts of Gilad Schalit, an Israeli soldier captured by Gaza militants nearly five years ago.

After that proved wrong, the government is now trying to save face, the lawyer said; he provided no evidence for his theory. “I think they took him by mistake,” Linoy said. “Now this fire needs to be put out, because ... the image of the state, the government and Israeli special services is at stake. — AP

SKOPJE: Macedonia’s conservative prime minister won a general election in the Balkan country, but will need to form a coalition to govern for another four-year term, according to final results released yesterday by the State Electoral Commission.

Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski called the election a year early, following an opposition walkout in Parliament sparked by the jailing of a popular TV channel boss for alleged fraud.

A new government in this country of 2.1 million people will have to deal with a weak economy, a bitter name dispute with neighboring Greece and ongoing tensions with the ethnic Albanian minority that makes up roughly a quarter of the population. Currently, unemployment stands at a staggering 32 percent in a country with an average monthly salary of wage of $466. Yesterday’s final results showed Gruevski’s VMRO DPMNE party won with 39 percent of the vote, giving him 56 seats in the 123-seat Parliament, including three seats from the diaspora, said State Electoral Commission chief Boris Kondarko.

Gruevski would have needed 62 seats to form a government alone.

The main rival Social Democrats, led by former prime minister and president Branko Crvenkovski, garnered 32.7 percent and 42 seats. The conservatives’ previous coalition partner, the ethnic Albanian DUI party, got 10.2 percent, giving it 15 seats in Parliament, easily defeating its main ethnic minority rival, the DPA, which got 5.9 percent and eight seats. The remaining two seats went to the small ethnic Albanian National Democratic Revival party.

Turnout was 63.4 percent. International observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe said the election had been “competitive, transparent and welladministered throughout the country.” The observers said voters were able to cast their ballots “in a peaceful atmosphere, despite some irresponsible claims of irregularities by political parties.” The last general election in 2008 was marred by violence when gunfights erupted on polling day in ethnic Albanian areas, leaving one person dead and eight wounded. Biljana Vankovska, a prominent political analyst, told The Associated Press that if Gruevski manages as expected to form another coalition government, he will probably maintain his uncompromising style of leadership.

“I am a little worried now that Gruevski has secured the third mandate. His VMRO was reluctant to listen to different ideas and proposals. Now I fear they will slide toward autocracy,” she said, adding that the result suggests Macedonia has become increasingly polar-

SKOJE: Nikola Gruevski, front left, Macedonia’s Prime Minister and leader of the VMRODPMNE, and his wife Borkica, front right, celebrate the victory on the parliamentary elections in downtown Skopje, Macedonia, late Sunday. —AP ized, with conservative splinter parties wiped out. The political crisis leading to the snap election was sparked by an opposition walkout from Parliament, claiming that the crackdown on the private A1 television station in January and the arrest of its media magnate, Velija Ramkovski, were politically motivated.

Authorities insisted they were investigating tax fraud.

Ramkovski’s arrest led to protests and weeks of A1 TV broadcasting its news bulletins from the street outside government buildings. Vankovska predicted Gruevski would rejoin DUI, its previous coalition partner led by Ali Ahmeti, a rebel commander in a 2001 ethnic Albanian insurgency. Macedonia has had a turbulent history since the former

Top Nigeria lawmaker arrested over corruption ABUJA: Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency has arrested one of the country’s top politicians on suspicion of defrauding the oil-rich nation, but a spokesman denied yesterday that the lawmaker had been trying to flee abroad. Outgoing House of Representatives speaker Dimeji Bankole’s arrest on Sunday was the most high-profile made by the agency in many months.

Femi Babafemi, a spokesman for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, gave no details about the allegations facing Bankole other than to say that he would be held “in custody to enable him to have sufficient time to answer questions on the numerous fraud allegations against him.” “An intelligence report ... showed that the former speaker was planning to leave Abuja for Lagos on Sunday evening and thereafter flee the country through an illegal route,” a statement from Babafemi read. It was not immediately clear if Bankole had a lawyer. His spokesman, Idowu Bakare, previously issued a statement saying Bankole “never benefited” from his position, including taking a more than $66 million loan from United Bank for Africa PLC for his office.

The spokesman denied allegations that Bankole was planning to flee and had resisted arrest for more than four hours. He said security guards at Bankole’s home had questioned the antigraft body’s officers at the gate because they were not expected. Positions in Nigeria’s National Assembly are highly lucrative, and even low-ranking members get more than $1 million in salaries and benefits, plus the ability to direct a swollen budget in a nation where billions in oil revenues routinely go missing.

Bankole conceded defeat to an opposition party candidate in Nigeria’s April elections, one of a number of prominent politicians who lost their seats in the countr y ’s National Assembly. Many pointed to Bankole’s defeat as a sign that Nigeria’s elections, typically marred by fraud and thuggery, had improved over the nation’s 12 years as a democracy.

However, ballot-box stuffing and violence dominated later polls, with more than 800 people dying in religious rioting after the presidential election.

Nigeria, one of the top crude oil suppliers to the US, has a long history of corruption, with one official once estimating

the country has lost more than $380 billion to graft since gaining its independence from Britain in 1960. Corruption trickles down from corrupt politicians in Abuja to the lowest police officer shaking down bribes from motorists at one of the country’s many traffic checkpoints. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission was founded by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003.

While critics say Obasanjo used the agency to go after his opponents, officers did make major arrests under thenchief Nuhu Ribadu. The agency largely fell quiet after Ribadu was forced out of office in 2008.

A US diplomatic cable released by the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks shows diplomats have questioned new leader Farida Waziri’s preparedness and willingness to take on the country’s powerful political elite. Waziri has been slow to prosecute many of the high-ranking politicians once under heavy scrutiny. —AP

Yugoslav republic declared independence in 1991. An ethnic Albanian uprising against government forces in 2001 ended with the intervention of a NATO cease-fire monitoring force. Macedonia’s government agreed to devolve greater political power and cultural recognition to the Albanian minority, which agreed for its part to fully recognize all Macedonian institutions. Macedonia also has been at odds with Greece over the former Yugoslav republic’s name since it gained independence. Greece’s government says use of the name implies territorial claims on the northern Greek province of Macedonia.

Skopje denies that. But earlier this year, NATOmember Greece blocked Macedonia’s bid to join the alliance over the dispute. —AP

Vatican takes more time to mull Irish sex abuse VATICAN CITY: The Vatican is taking several more months before making its recommendations on renewing the Catholic Church in Ireland following devastating revelations of clerical sex abuse and coverup. The Vatican issued preliminary findings of its investigation into Irish dioceses, seminaries and religious orders, saying only that no further visits were warranted for dioceses and seminaries but that follow-up visits were necessary at some religious communities. The Vatican said yesterday it would come ahead with recommendations for the Irish church “in the coming months” and that a full report would be published in early 2012.

Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has spoken out recently, criticizing the Vatican’s slow pace, and yesterday’s statement was unlikely to satisfy those expecting more tangible results after Vatican investigators turned in their reports in April.

Pope Benedict XVI ordered the investigation in March 2010 following revelations in Irish government-ordered investigations of chronic clerical child abuse and decades of cover-ups by church authorities.

The scandals have caused exceptional trauma in Ireland, a once-devoutly Catholic nation. An Irish government collapsed in 1994 amid arguments over its failure to extradite a pedophile priest to Northern Ireland. Since 2002, a government-organized compensation board has paid out more than §800 million ($983 million) to 13,000 people abused in Ireland’s church-run homes for children. The Vatican’s investigation in Ireland dealt with the handling of cases of abuse and providing assistance to victims. The nine Vatican-appointed investigators also looked at current procedures to prevent abuse and sought ways to improve them. — AP

Berlusconi’s lawyers challenge prostitution trial

ABUJA: In this Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 photo, former House of Representative Speaker, Dimeji Bankole, attends the People’s Democratic Party primary’s in Abuja, Nigeria. Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency arrested one of the West African nation’s top politicians late Sunday on suspicion of defrauding the oil-rich country. —AP

MILAN: Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s defense presented a series of motions yesterday in the Italian leader’s trial on charges of paying for sex with an underage prostitute and using his influence to cover it up. The defense motions challenge some of the evidence used to support the charges, the trial’s venue in a Milan criminal court and the decision to proceed with a faster trial without a preliminary hearing , as can be done in cases where the court rules there is sufficient evidence.

Prosecutors make their rebuttals, and any motions of their own, next week. The court is set to rule in July.

Berlusconi did not attend the session. His lawyer, Niccolo Ghedini, says the premier won’t attend during the early phase of the trial, dedicated to technicalities.

The trial is one of four cases Berlusconi faces in Milan, but the only one involving his private conduct. If convicted, the premier could face up to 15 years in prison and be barred from public office. —AP

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US drone strikes kill 18 in Pakistan Deadliest drone strikes in months

HARIDWAR: Indian yoga guru Baba Ramdev, center, talks to an associate after a press conference at his ashram in Haridwar, India yesterday. —AP

India PM says guru protest crackdown was inevitable NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday said he had no alternative but to send police to forcibly end a peaceful anti-graft protest by a popular yoga guru and thousands of his followers, hours after the country’s top court asked the government to justify its actions. Around 600 police used batons and tear gas early on Sunday to break up a mass hunger strike led by Swami Ramdev in New Delhi, detaining the T V star before putting him on a plane to his home state. Dozens of followers and police were injured.

The Supreme Court’s questioning of the government action followed widespread criticism of the raid as another sign that the government and its 78year-old prime minister were out of touch with millions of corruption-weary Indians. Television channels quoted Singh as saying the raid was unfortunate, but that there was no alternative.

He added there was no “magic wand” to end corruption, according to the reports.

A man tried to throw a shoe yesterday at ruling Congress party general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi as he criticized the guru during a news conference. The man was beaten up by onlookers and the incident highlighted how polarized India has become with the controversial raid.

Tapping into spiraling voter anger about corruption as Asia’s third largest economy booms, Ramdev has called on the government to pursue billions of dollars in illegal funds abroad and introduce tough anti-corruption legislation.

Ramdev, usually clad in a saffron-colored robe slung loosely over his bare chest, pledged to fast until his demands were met, adding to a series of planned protests announced by opposition parties and civil society groups.

In recent months, the Supreme Court has become more active in reprimanding the government, particularly over its handling of corruption accusations against its ministers. “ They are displeased over lathi (baton) charging people who were sleeping. It was a peaceful thing until the cops intervened,” said D H Pai Panandikar, head of Indian thinktank RPG Foundation.

Ramdev’s campaign was the latest embarrassment for a Congress Party-led coalition hit by graft scandals, including allegations of kickbacks at the Commonwealth Games and a telecoms scam that may have cost the government up to $39 billion in revenues. The handling of the protest is sure to further distract the government from working on reforms needed to modernize the economy, which analysts say is growing at around 8 percent not because of government action, but despite it.

Parliament’s next session is due to start in July. “Another disruptive session is inevitable and the continuation of pol-

icy paralysis in government; something the country can ill-afford when it is facing up to the serious macroeconomic challenges in high inflation and decelerating growth,” Anil Padmanabhan, deputy managing editor of business newspaper Mint, wrote in an editorial.

The opposition Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said yesterday it would hold nationwide peaceful protests against the crackdown and has demanded an emergency session of parliament to discuss the raid.

“The government has lost the moral authority of the country,” BJP spokesman Ravishankar Prasad told CNN-IBN, attacking Singh’s record in office since 2004. Congress criticized Ramdev as promoting unrest. “Such anarchic and communal elements must be taken head on,” Congress leader Dwivedi said before the shoe incident.

Singh has so far resisted calls for his resignation, and his party is unlikely to force him out because it does not have a credible successor lined up. Congress, re-elected in 2009 and not due to face national polls until 2014, can also count on its allies in parliament to carry on backing it, because they too would be punished in a snap election. A key Congress ally was kicked out of power in the southern state of Tamil Nadu in local elections last month.

Neither Singh nor party leader Sonia Gandhi have made any statement since the protest controversy began last week and there is increased talk of infighting between Congress and ministers over the debacle. The handling of the protest has renewed questions about how government works in the world’s largest democracy. Singh is widely seen as a weak leader with most key decisions taken by Gandhi and her core group of advisers, a setup increasingly criticized as ineffective.

The crackdown has drawn condemnation from opposition parties on the left and right, as well as civil society and the media. “The midnight police swoop on yoga exponent and telestar ‘Baba’ Ramdev and his supporters was arbitrary, brutal and anti-democratic,” influential newspaper The Hindu said in an editorial. Opposition parties called on Gandhi and Singh to apologize. “Its critics are entirely right to ask why, if the fasting Baba is a charlatan as the government now claims he is, more ministers were sent to receive him at the Delhi airport than has been assigned to greet any visiting potentate, whether Barack Obama or Hu Jintao,” The Economic Times wrote in an editorial.

Ramdev has announced he is going back to fasting against corruption, and popular social activist Anna Hazare has also said he would start a fast on June 8 in the capital. —Reuters

NATO service member killed in Afghanistan KABUL: An improvised bomb killed a NATO service member yesterday in southern Afghanistan, the coalition said, a day after attacks killed at least two alliance troops. On Sunday, one NATO service member was killed by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan and another died in an unspecified insurgent attack elsewhere in the country. A helicopter crash in eastern Afghanistan killed two NATO crew members Sunday. NATO is investigating the crash’s cause.

The alliance gave no other details about any of the deaths or the service members’ nationalities. More than 200 NATO troops have died this year in Afghanistan, many of them in southern provinces where Taleban fighters are trying to regain territory lost over the winter.

Fighting is increasing as the poppy harvest ends and the Taleban turns opium profits into payments for fighters. In the southern province of Helmand, the world’s leading opium producer and the Taleban ‘s profit center, NATO officials say insurgents are regrouping. They say the Taleban aims to retake crucial areas after being driven out in cities around the south.

Marine Maj. Gen. John A Toolan Jr,

commander of US and NATO forces in southwest Afghanistan, told reporters Sunday that a few Taleban commanders have retrenched in the key district of Sangin, after Marines had conducted extensive clearing operations there over the past year. “Yes, there is an attempt to take Sangin back,” Toolan said.

In other violence, the Taleban attacked a police checkpoint in southern Afghanistan, killing two policemen and abducting five, an Afghan official said yesterday. The Sunday attack in Nimroz province also wounded two police officers, said Hashim Noorzai, district governor of Khash Rod. Nimroz is a sparsely populated, arid province near Iran and Pakistan that Taleban fighters and smugglers often use as a staging area.

In the restive southern province of Kandahar, Afghan police staged a raid Sunday night in Arghistan district and killed two Taleban fighters, including a prominent insurgent commander of two provincial districts, Kandahar police chief Abdul Raziq said yesterday. The commander, known as Sarajuddin, was a former military chief of Herat province during the Taleban ‘s reign and recently led the insurgency in the districts of Arghistan and Spin Boldak. — AP

PESHAWAR: US missiles killed 18 militants in Pakistan’s tribal district of South Waziristan yesterday, destroying compounds and a vehicle in the deadliest drone strikes for months, local officials said. Three strikes were reported just days after Pakistani officials said they believed senior Al-Qaeda commander Ilyas Kashmiri had died in a similar attack late Friday, also in South Waziristan which borders Afghanistan.

Washington has called Pakistan’s semiautonomous northwest tribal region the most dangerous place on Earth and the global headquarters of Al-Qaeda, where Taleban and other Al-Qaeda-linked networks have carved out strongholds. The first strike killed seven militants in the early hours in Shalam Raghzai, 10 kilometres (six miles) northwest of Wana, the district’s main town.

A second struck a compound in Wacha Dana, 12 kilometers northwest of Wana, killing eight militants, Pakistani officials said.

The third hit eight hours later in the Dray Nishtar area, which lies on the border with North Waziristan at 10:45 am (0545 GMT ), about 30 kilometers from the site of the other two raids.

“A US drone fired two missiles on a militant vehicle killing three rebels,” a senior Pakistani security official told AFP of the third attack.

Another official warned the death toll could rise. The combined toll of 18 made yesterday’s drone strikes the deadliest reported in Pakistan since a salvo of US missiles killed at least 35 people on March 17. Five central Asian militants and eight Punjabi militants were among those killed, security officials said.

One of the demolished compounds was near a madrassa and just south of the Ghwakhwa area, where Kashmiri, one of AlQaeda’s most feared operational leaders, was reportedly killed days earlier. But a US defence

NOWSHERA: People offer funeral prayers for one of the victims of an overnight suicide bombing in Nowshera, Pakistan yesterday. —AP official told AFP that as of Sunday evening the United States had “no confirmation” that Kashmiri had been killed.

Kashmiri has a US bounty of $5 million on his head. The 47-year-old has been blamed for high-profile attacks on Western targets, accused over the November 2008 attacks on India’s financial capital Mumbai and for masterminding devastating attacks on Pakistan’s military. Although the United States does not confirm Predator drone attacks, its military and the CIA operating in Afghanistan are the only forces that deploy the armed, unmanned aircraft in the region.

Retired Pakistani general turned military analyst Talat Masood said that, if confirmed, Kashmiri’s death would be a “big blow” to AlQaeda and put other militant leaders on the run. “He was very close to Al-Qaeda and was responsible for major attacks... He was continuously planning more,” he told AFP. US drones have reportedly carried out 12 strikes in

Pakistan’s tribal belt since US commandos killed Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden in a raid in the garrison city of Abbottabad on May 2.

Pakistan is on the frontline of the US-led war on the Taleban and Al-Qaeda, and bomb attacks across the country have killed more than 4,400 people in the last four yearsblamed on militants opposed to the government’s US alliance. On Sunday, at least 24 people were killed in two separate bombings in the northwest-the first at a bus terminal and the second at a bakery. The bin Laden raid profoundly jolted Pakistan’s security establishment, with its intelligence services and military widely accused of incompetence or complicity over the presence of bin Laden close to a military academy. Most US drone strikes take place in North Waziristan, the most notorious Afghan Taleban and Al-Qaeda bastion in Pakistan, where the United States wants Pakistan to launch a ground offensive as soon as possible. — AFP

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Australia softens policy on child asylum seekers CANBERRA: Australia said yesterday that it has softened its policy on expelling unaccompanied children who sneak into the country to seek asylum, following criticism from UN agencies and activists. All children will be considered on a case-by-case basis before being sent to Malaysia under a planned refugee-swap deal, Immigration Minister Chris Bowen told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio. The statement reverses a government announcement last week that no exceptions would be made for

children who sneak into Australia without a parent or guardian.

“We’ll have appropriate measures in place on an individual basis to deal with what are a relatively small number of cases of unaccompanied minors,” Bowen said. Australia has long attracted people from poor, often war-ravaged countries hoping to start a new life, with more than 6,200 asylum seekers arriving by boat last year. Most are from Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Iran and Iraq, and use Malaysia or Indonesia as a starting point for

a dangerous sea journey to Australia. In a bid to deter future asylum seekers from entering Australia illegally by boat, the government reached an in-principle deal with Malaysia last month. Under the deal , which awaits ratification by the Malaysian Cabinet, Malaysia would take 800 asylum seekers off Australian hands in return for Australia resettling 4,000 registered refugees from among more than 90,000 languishing in Malaysia.

The government had initially said the deal would not accord special treatment to

unaccompanied children because it would lead to people smugglers shipping boatloads of kids without adults on the perilous journey to Australia. However, the new stand appears to acknowledge that unaccompanied children are a vulnerable group without admitting that such asylum seekers will have a better chance of being settled in Australia rather than being sent to Malaysia.

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, welcomed Australia’s decision to treat cases of unaccompanied children on their individual

merits. “These are extremely important protection principles for UNHCR, which we continue to discuss with both governments,” UNHCR said in a statement Sunday. “UNHCR insists that special consideration and appropriate protection arrangements will be put in place for vulnerable groups, including unaccompanied minors,” it said. The change in Australia’s stance buoys chances of the deal being finalized, since Australia has said UNHCR endorsement is a crucial condition of any refugee pact with Malaysia. —AP

Voters back coalition talk as PM exit looms in Japan Influential business lobby also backs coalition

XINHUA: In this photo released by China’s Xinhua News Agency, vehicles are swept away by flood in Wangmo County, southwest China’s Guizhou Province yesterday. Continuous heavy rainfall hit Guizhou causing one dead and 15 missing as the midday yesterday, Xinhua said. —AP

China detains 62 in exam cheating schemes BEIJING: Chinese police have detained 62 people suspected of selling electronic equipment to help students cheat in the national university entrance exam, education authorities said. As the exams are today and tomorrow, police have cracked a total of 45 cheating-related cases, the education ministry said.

They include a ring of illegal businesses selling devices such as wireless headphones and two-way radios, the official Xinhua news agency added. In the southeastern city of Xiamen, police detained two people for advertising the sale of electronic cheating aids and counterfeit documents said to contain content from the exam, the ministry said Sunday in a statement. Around 9.3 million students around China will take this year’s crucial exam, believed to be one of the world’s biggest.

University enrolment has increased

dramatically in the past decade and competition is fierce to enter the top academic institutions, which determines whether a person joins the nation’s educated elite or the general workforce.

Such high stakes have led to massive cheating, with students increasingly turning to high-tech equipment, including wireless transmitters and hard-todetect ear pieces, state press reports have said.

The pressure to succeed is such that it sometimes drives students to suicide.

Last year, at least three people reportedly took their lives ahead of the exam.

The ministry vowed last week to exercise an “iron hand and zero tolerance” on cheating during the annual test, and said authorities would go all out to crack down on organised cheating schemes. —AFP

TOKYO: Japanese voters want the ruling party to form a coalition with its main rival instead of governing on its own, a poll showed yesterday, as pressure mounted on Prime Minister Naoto Kan to quit. Kan’s early exit would ease the way for a coalition with the main opposition party that could enact a bill enabling Japan to issue more debt to fund this year’s $1 trillion budget.

A coalition between the ruling Democratic Party (DPJ ) and the opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) could also pass an extra budget to pay for rebuilding parts of the northeast devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami which killed about 24,000 people and triggered the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986. In a poll by the Mainichi newspaper, 36 percent of voters said they wanted a coalition of the two biggest parties once Kan steps down. Only 13 percent favored a government led by the ruling DPJ. The same percentage wanted a government led by the opposition LDP. A further 33 percent said they would favor another form of government. This generally refers to a realignment of parties or support for the handful of smaller groupings in parliament. Hiromasa Yonekura, chairman of influential business lobby Nippon Keidanren, also urged the formation of a coalition. Kan, already unpopular before the quake struck, has seen his ratings fall due to his perceived mishandling of the recovery and continuing radiation leaks at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, where the tsunami knocked out reactor cooling systems.

Kan, Japan’s fifth leader in as many years, survived a no-confidence motion in parliament last Thursday after promising critics in his own party he would quit. He then angered many by hinting he wanted to keep his job into the new year to deal with the most pressing problems, especially the radiation crisis.

But with a stalemate in parliament, polls have showed voters more receptive to the possibility of a grand coalition. The opposition, which controls parliament’s upper house and can

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, center, holds baskets of plums presented by Miss Plums Saki Yasuda, left, and Kaori Ikenaga, right, representing the Kishu Plum Organization during their courtesy call at the prime minister’s official residence in Tokyo, Japan yesterday. —AP block bills, has refused to cooperate with the government in enacting key legislation as long as Kan remains in power. On Sunday, the DPJ’s No.2 official, Katsuya Okada, said a temporary coalition would be needed to implement policies given that the hung parliament might continue until the next upper house election which must be held by late 2013.

He said yesterday that smaller parties were also potential partners, not just the LDP. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano called for speedy policy decisions, but declined to elaborate when asked about the possibility of a coalition. “It’s desirable to have a structure in which we have broad cooperation in parliament,” Edano said. “The party is working out details.”

LDP leader Sadakazu Tanigaki was quoted

by Kyodo news agency as saying the party would not help a Kan-led government to pass the bill to issue bonds for this year’s budget. It is unclear, however, whether a temporary grouping could tackle longer-term problems, such as huge public debt, now twice the size of the $5 trillion economy. While the LDP has called for Kan to quit by the end of the month, analysts say his departure could take longer.

“None of the contenders has strong public support,” said Tetsuro Kato, political science professor at Tokyo’s Waseda University.

Among possible contenders to replace Kan are Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda, a fiscal hawk, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku, who has advocated a coalition with the LDP, and conservative former foreign minister Seiji Maehara. —Reuters

Victims protest military honors for Marcos MANILA: Torture victims of the brutal regime of late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos were angered yesterday over reported plans to bury the strongman’s frozen remains with full military honors. President Benigno Aquino, whose parents were democracy heroes who fought the Marcos rule, is expected to come to a decision soon on how the dictator’s body will be handled, his spokesmen said.

Local press reports at the weekend said his vice president, Jejomar Binay, had recommended that Marcos’ frozen body, which is contained in a glass crypt in his provincial stronghold, be buried with full military honors. “If his family and friends want him buried, they should do it quietly.

Giving him full military honors would be contrary to the revolution that deposed him for his abuses,” acclaimed film director and torture victim Joel Lamangan told AFP. “I am angered, I am saddened, I am so disappointed. A president whose parents were staunch anti-dictatorship should not have even put the burial issue up for debate,” Lamangan said of Aquino.

Lamangan was among the youngest martial law torture victims in the 1970s, when he was arrested as a 16-year-old student activist. He still has a deep scar on his head caused by the impact of a rifle butt.

Both a spokesman for Aquino and the Marcos family denied yesterday that an official decision had been reached.

Marie Hilao-Enriquez, chairwoman of Selda-a group of for-

mer activists jailed during martial law-insisted Marcos should not be buried as a hero, or be given any sort of military honor.

“Doing so would distort the people’s verdict on the military dictatorship,” she said. “His memory should remind us all of man’s inhumanity to his fellow man and strengthen our resolve to fight for a better world.”

Marcos declared martial law in 1972 and ruled as a dictator until a popular revolt toppled him from power in 1986 and chased him into exile in Hawaii, where he died in 1989.

Thousands of activists went missing or were killed during his regime, and his family was accused of plundering the national coffers of up to $10 billion according to one government estimate.

His flamboyant widow, Imelda Marcos, and three children were allowed to return home after his death, and they have since regained political clout. Imelda won a seat in the House of Representatives last year, while his son, Marcos Jnr, has hinted he may seek the presidency in 2016 after easily winning a Senate post also last year.

Both have been leading calls to have the Marcos patriarch buried at Manila’s heroes’ cemetery, saying he was a legitimate war hero who had been awarded over two dozen medals fighting against the Japanese occupation in World War II. American and local historians however have disputed the authenticity of the medals. —AFP

Poll watchdog raises Thai vote-buying fears BANGKOK: Vote-buying is a concern in Thailand’s upcoming national election, an international monitoring group that will be observing the polls said yesterday. The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) is deploying about 60 observers nationwide for the July 3 vote, the first since Thailand’s deadliest political unrest in decades last year.

Although Thailand officially bars monitors from operating inside polling stations, ANFREL has been allowed to work in the countr y and this will be the group’s fourth Thai election observation mission. “Of course the concern is slightly increased from the previous election observation concerns,” mission director Ichal Supriadi told a press conference in Bangkok, mentioning impartiality and

vote-buying as particular worries.

“Vote-buying in Thailand is much more advanced compared to other countries,” he said. ANFREL observers of the last Thai election in 2007 highlighted “vote buying by political parties, electoral violence, intimidation, and disputed impartiality of polling officials,” a statement from the group said. “Having those recent political developments in mind, ANFREL is concerned about the campaign strategies of political candidates, the improper use of money in politics, and possible violence.”

Thailand remains deeply politically fractured a year on from street violence that left more than 90 people dead and about 1,900 wounded in clashes between opposition protesters and

armed forces. The upcoming vote is set to be a close fight pitting Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s establishment-backed Democrat Party against allies of fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup.

Thaksin’s youngest sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, is the main opposition Puea Thai par ty ’s candidate for premier.

Parties linked to Thaksin have won the most seats in the past four elections, but the results of the last two were reversed by the courts, and observers say history could repeat itself if Yingluck’s party triumphs. “The acceptance of democratically achieved election results by both political parties and voters will be of importance to ensure the integrity of the process,” ANFREL said. —AFP

JAKARTA: Militant cleric Abu Bakar Bashir reads documents behind bars of a holding cell before the start of his trial at a district court in Jakarta, Indonesia yesterday. —AP

Radical Indonesia cleric rejects terrorism charges JAKARTA: A radical Indonesian cleric facing life in prison on terrorism charges professed his innocence yesterday and rejected the trial as outside Islamic law in a final court appearance before judges announce a verdict. Abu Bakar Bashir is accused of helping to set up and fund a terror training camp in Aceh province for a group that allegedly planned attacks on foreigners and assassinations of moderate Muslim leaders such as President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Prosecutors have sought a life sentence for Bashir, who co-founded the Al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah network, which is blamed for some of Indonesia’s deadliest suicide bombings. Bashir, 72, denies involvement with the training camp but has repeatedly defended it as legal under Islam. The whitebearded cleric told a Jakarta court that the case against him was fabricated and witnesses that testified by teleconference were doing so under pressure. “Therefore their testimonies could not be trusted,” he said.

Citing verses from the Quran, Bashir said he rejected the trial as counter to Islam.

Indonesia, a secular nation of 237 million with more Muslims than any other in the world, has made strides in fighting terrorism since the first Jemaah Islamiyah-linked attack on Bali island in 2002. More than 260 people

have died altogether, many of them Western tourists.

But the country still faces pockets of radicalized Islamists, and a small but increasingly vocal hard-line fringe has carried out violent attacks in recent months on minorities and police. A panel of five judges is to announce its verdict on June 16. The maximum penalty for the terror charges is death. Prosecutors say testimony from dozens of witnesses at Bashir’s trial proved he not only incited others but played an active role in terrorist activities.

In a court appearance last month, the fiery cleric called Osama bin Laden a “warrior” who will be rewarded in heaven for the “great sacrifices” he made for Islam. The Aceh-based training camp, raided by an anti-terror squad early last year, was organized by a new terror cell allegedly planning Mumbai-style attacks.

It’s not the first time Bashir has faced terrorism charges or spent time in detention.

He was arrested almost immediately after the Bali bombings, but prosecutors were unable to prove a string of terrorism-related allegations and reduced his four-year prison sentence to 18 months for immigration violations. Soon after his release, he was re-arrested and sentenced to 2 1/2 years, this time for inciting the Bali blasts, a charge that was overturned on appeal. He was freed in 2006. —AP

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ne ws Strauss-Kahn pleads not guilty Continued from Page 1 to tell the truth. What she wants is justice,” lawyer Kenneth Thompson told reporters. “The victim wants you to know that all of Dominique StraussKahn’s power, money, and influence throughout the world will not keep the truth about what he did to her in that hotel room from coming out.”

A group of maids arrived by bus to demonstrate at the court, booing Strauss-Kahn as he arrived and chanting “Shame on you!” Their cries were audible from the 13th floor courtroom where his seven minute arraignment hearing unfolded. The accuser “is a hard-working woman who was just doing her job,” said Wendy Baranello, a hotel union organizer. “It’s outrageous.”

The protesters wanted to send the message that “New York is the wrong place to mess with a hotel worker,” said Aissata Bocum, a Ramada Inn housekeeper.

Peter Ward, president of Local 6 of the New York Hotel Workers Union, was among those outside the court in solidarity with the maid. “She’s our sister and we support her,” he said. New York hotel worker Beverly Banton said she

was once groped by a guest and that while the man was evicted from the hotel, security never called police. “Back then, they said to us, ‘The guests come first,’” she said. “There’s a lot of people this happened to who didn’t say nothing.”

The next court hearing was set for July 18 and a trial could be months away. While the maid is set to be the main prosecution witness, StraussKahn can choose not to testify. Defense lawyers led by high-profile attorney Benjamin Brafman are strongly indicating they will not challenge the assertion that a sexual encounter took place.

This could be in recognition of apparently strong physical evidence collected by police, including, according to leaked reports, semen on the maid’s shirt.

Instead, Brafman could argue that sex was consensual and that prosecutors cannot prove force was used. “It will be clear that there was no element of forcible compulsion in this case whatsoever. Any suggestion to the contrary is simply not credible,” Brafman told reporters outside the court building yesterday. Thompson said any suggestion that his client was a willing partner

was a “smear campaign.” However, “she is standing up for her dignity,” he said.

The defendant was one of the most influential people in the global economy and widely considered to be a leading contender for the French presidency until his shock arrest on an Air France plane about to depart New York for Paris. After a humiliating week in police detention and in the city’s Rikers Island jail, Strauss-Kahn was released on house arrest after securing a $6 million bond and bail deal. The bail allows him to leave the house only to visit his lawyers, pray once a week or go to court. He lives under armed guard and wears an ankle monitoring bracelet, although visits from family and a few friends are permitted.

His arrest and quick resignation from his post as head of the International Monetary Fund threw the global lender and economic policy powerhouse into disarray as it grapples with debt crises in the European Union. It also caused dismay in France. Many there still believe the Socialist party figure has been mistreated, but the case has also stirred unusually vigorous debate in the country over long-taboo subjects such as sexual harassment. — Agencies

Syria alleges 120 forces killed in deadly...

Continued from Page 1 Syria’s government has a history of violent retaliation against dissent, including a three-week bombing campaign against the city of Hama that crushed an uprising there in 1982. Jisr Al-Shughour itself came under government shelling in 1980, when it was a stronghold of the banned Muslim Brotherhood, with a reported 70 people killed.

Assad’s decision to allow pro-Palestinian protesters to storm the Israeli border twice in recent weeks indicates he may be trying to deflect focus from a serious crisis at home, and possibly divert international attention from a new crackdown. State television broadly carried Sunday’s protest at the Golan Heights to the south frontier, which left as many as 23 people dead in fighting with Israeli forces, but it has not carried any footage of the protest, crackdown or ambush at the northern edge of Syria.

Yesterday’s state television report said the officers were ambushed as they responded to calls from residents for protection from the armed groups. It said 20 policemen were initially killed, and then the groups blew up a post office and attacked a security post, killing other forces. The report said the armed groups were hiding in homes and firing at security forces and civilians alike, using residents as human shields. The TV reports could not be independently confirmed. The Syrian government has severely restricted the media and expelled foreign reporters, making it nearly impossible to independently verify events.

Details of the operations in Jisr Al-Shughour and

nearby Khan Sheikhoun have been sketchy and attempts to reach residents of the town were unsuccessful. Human rights activist Mustafa Osso cast doubt on the government accounts. “The protesters have so far been peaceful and unarmed,” he said. Osso said there were unconfirmed reports of a few army deserters who switched sides and were fighting security forces. Ahead of yesterday’s report, another activist said gunmen had successfully kept security forces out of the area, but he had no details. Fearing retaliation, the activist requested anonymity.

Two activists who spoke to AFP in Nicosia also said the town was calm yesterday, and spoke of a mutiny at a local security headquarters, where shooting was heard the day before. “I think they executed policemen who refused to open fire on demonstrators. There was a mutiny in the security service,” one said. The other told AFP that “shooting followed by an explosion was heard in the military HQ, apparently after a mutiny”. He said regime “snipers” had opened fire on protesters in the town, killing two. Demonstrators then gathered outside the headquarters and “shots and an explosion took place inside” the building, he added.

Amnesty International criticized Syria’s “brutal treatment of protesters” and called on the UN Security Council to condemn the killings and refer Syria to the International Criminal Court. “ Those responsible for the brutal crackdown of pro-reform protesters must no longer be allowed to get away with murder,” Philip Luther, Amnesty’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement yesterday. — Agencies

Oppn launches campaign to oust PM...

Continued from Page 1 unconstitutional, but the meeting was postponed by Sheikh Ahmad due to the death of Sheikh Rashed Al-Hmoud Al-Sabah, a senior member of the ruling family and brother of the interior minister.

Rapporteur of the committee MP Maasouma Al-Mubarak said the panel discussed with MPs Adel AlSaraawi and Marzouk Al-Ghanem, who filed the grilling, their viewpoint calling for the grilling to be debated.

The committee will meet Sheikh Ahmad today on the sidelines of the Assembly session to hear his argu-

ments. It was reported that Sheikh Ahmad has submitted his resignation to the Deputy Amir and Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah but the resignation has not yet been accepted. If the grilling debate goes ahead, the position of Sheikh Ahmad appears to be difficult unless several MPs change their mind.

In another business, the Assembly’s financial and economic affairs committee yesterday unanimously rejected a proposal to raise the salaries of MPs from KD 2,300 to KD. 5,750 per month, saying the raise should not come from the National Assembly. Also, the Assembly will

start the discussion of the state budget and the budgets of independent government bodies and will launch the discussion by reviewing the country’s financial status in a secret session.

Meanwhile, MP Barrak said that he and MP Khaled Al-Tahous and others will file a new request to grill the prime minister over reports of the Audit Bureau and court rulings, but he did not provide further details.

Barrak said the grilling will be filed soon but will not clash with the two grillings against Sheikh Ahmad and the prime minister, but did not give an exact date.

Five GIs killed in Iraq attack Continued from Page 1 Also yesterday, violence in Baghdad and central Iraq killed 20 people, including 12 struck by a car bomb driven by a suicide attacker in Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit, officials said. The fatalities in Tikrit included military intelligence Colonel Nuri Sabah Al-Mashhadani and two other officers, while 20 other people were wounded, according to a police captain and an army captain, both speaking on condition of anonymity. Nine soldiers were among the dead, including the three officers.

The explosion struck at 9:30 am (0630 GMT), targeting the main gate of a fortified compound housing several of Saddam’s presidential palaces, which is home to security offices. The compound is locally called Tikrit’s “Green Zone,” alluding to the heavily secured centre of Baghdad where parliament and the US embassy are located. The unrest came three days after attacks at a Tikrit mosque and a hospital where the victims were

being treated killed 24 people.

Friday’s violence was the worst in Tikrit since a March 29 Al-Qaeda raid on the city’s provincial council offices, which led to an hours-long firefight with security forces that killed 58 people. Tikrit is the capital of mainly Sunni Arab Salaheddin province, which was a key battleground in the insurgency that followed the US-led invasion. In the western city of Ramadi, insurgents detonated bombs around the house of a local police chief overnight, killing four of his family members and wounding two others, a police official in the city said.

The police chief, Major Jumaa Abdulrahman Aswad, was not at the house when the blasts struck. Three separate attacks in Baghdad also left four people dead, including a soldier, and 12 others wounded, security officials said.

Iraqi leaders are still considering whether to request an extension of the US military presence, and top American officials have pressed their Iraqi counterparts to decide soon. — AFP

Stuck US citizen can now leave Continued from Page 1 But embassy officials confiscated the passport, told him he should no longer think of himself as a citizen and that his naturalization may be revoked. The situation apparently stemmed from a decades-old passport problem Nouhaili, who is originally from Morocco, had before becoming a citizen.

Last week, Nouhaili’s lawyer at the Council on American-Islamic Relations wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton requesting the passport’s return and accusing embassy bureaucrats of abusing Nouhaili’s fundamental rights as a citizen. Three days later, Nouhaili received an email informing him he could pick up his passport. No explanation was offered for the delay.

Nouhaili picked up the document yesterday and made immediate plans to join his wife and daughter in Tunisia, where they were staying with family. “I am very relieved,” Nouhaili said yester-

day in a telephone interview after retrieving his passport. He was overwhelmed, he said, by the support he received from people who read his story.

“I had people who were saying prayers for me from six different religions.”

Nouhaili, who became a US citizen in 1999 and previously lived in New York and Eugene, Oregon, had worked for several years in Kuwait as a government contractor. When the contract ended, he planned to return to the US and start a new job in Las Vegas.

The delays cost him that job in Nevada, but he still plans to return to the US and find work, Nouhaili said.

Nouhaili admitted that he provided false information to try and obtain a passport more than 20 years ago. But he cooperated with an investigation and was never charged. Nouhaili and his lawyer argued that if US officials felt they had reason to revoke Nouhaili’s citizenship, they should initiate proceedings in a federal court and allow

Nouhaili to return to the US so he could receive his due process rights and defend himself.

Nouhaili said yesterday he is not concerned about losing his citizenship and is confident that the old passport problem will not create any significant legal issues for him. Gadeir Abbas, Nouhaili’s lawyer, said he is happy the government did the right thing in returning Nouhaili’s passport, but said Nouhaili’s case is one among many where government officials erected bureaucratic obstacles for American Muslims that are removed only when exposed to publicity. “These are not isolated cases,” Abbas said. “Aziz reached out to us, but we know there are other people in his situation who are not reaching out.” An official at the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs did not immediately comment yesterday. The bureau had previously declined to comment, citing privacy concerns. — AP

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Angola eyes top oil spot

By Emma Farge and Ed Stoddard ngola is set to overcome technical problems to boost oil output to over 2 million barrels per day (bpd) next year and has the potential to overtake Africa’s top oil producer, Nigeria. Angola briefly replaced fellow OPEC member Nigeria in the number 1 spot in 2009, but patchy production in some fields and relative peace in the Niger Delta have reversed their standing. Oil exports for the first seven months of this year showed a difference of around 460,000 bpd between Nigeria and its closest African rival, according to Reuters data based on provisional loading programs.

But analysts say the dip in Angolan output is temporary and likely to be reversed as fresh supplies come onstream in the next two years and deepwater exploration accelerates. “We expect next year for there to be upwards of 2.2 million bpd and (Angola) could overtake Nigeria. There might have been a bit of a decline but it’s just temporary,” said Martin Kelly, an analyst for sub-Saharan Africa at Wood Mackenzie. The news will come as a relief to customers in Asia and the United States of the country’s mostly sweet crudes and to those seeking alternative supplies given Middle East turmoil and a near halt in exports from third-largest African producer Libya.

The government will also welcome this development as over 90 percent of the country’s export income comes from oil. But the sector employs less than 1 percent of its people, and the benefits have generally gone to the secretive governing elite. One factor that has capped production this year has been technical problems at the offshore Plutonio field, a joint project between BP and Sonangol Sinopec International. Water injection problems have cut output to under 100,000 bpd. But after a near four-month partial outage, BP said Plutonio would return to full production of 170,000-190,000 bpd sometime in July.

Analysts expect the start-up of two major projects within the next year to more than offset the closure of the Exxon Mobil-operated Xicomba field and effectively wipe out the gap between the two countries. The Total-operated Pazflor, meaning passion flower, and BP’s PSVM offshore fields are both due to produce first oil in late 2011 and together with the extra Plutonio output this would add 470,000 bpd once they reach full capacity.

Investors are also hoping deepwater exploration will prove to have the same potential as Brazil following the award of licences earlier this year to explore for oil beneath a layer of rock in the seabed, known as presalt. “Deepwater has played a big part in Angolan oil industry. We don’t expect to see the type of backlash in west African countries that you have in the United States,” said Justin Jacobs, analyst at Business Monitor International, referring to the BP oil spill which occurred at similar depths. Jacobs expects output to rise to 2.4 million bpd by 2017.

Angola also has some inherent advantages over Nigeria. Nearly all of Angola’s oil output is offshore and its most exciting immediate growth projects are in deepwater. In Nigeria, about a quarter of its production is from deepwater while the rest is from onshore or shallow water, leaving it subject to both militant attacks and claims from the local population for a greater share of oil wealth. Niger Delta tensions and the risk of militant raids on oil facilities have subsided in recent months but many investors still deem this to be an underlying risk. “It’s pretty hard to offend a community offshore,” said an investor in the west African upstream market.

Nigeria is set to export 2.05 million bpd in July.

Most of Nigeria’s future output growth is seen coming from offshore but uncertainty over its Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) has stalled billions of dollars of investment needed for such projects from oil majors such as Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil. While much of Angola’s production comes from its restive enclave of Cabinda, extraction lies offshore and separatist rebels there have been mostly subdued by a battle-hardened military regarded as one of the most fearsome in Africa.

“The Cabinda conflict remains contained and although one of the separatist groups recently threatened oil interests there is nothing to suggest offshore assets would be vulnerable,” said Alex Vines, an analyst with UK-based think-tank Chatham House. —Reuters

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The editor reserves the right to edit any submission as necessary.

Li’s success may not open floodgates

By Nick Mulvenney i Na’s achievement in claiming one of sport’s major international prizes has been rightly lauded but precedent suggests her Roland Garros triumph does not necessarily mark the birth of China as a tennis power. Li’s French Open triumph was widely described as granting her entry to the “pantheon” of modern Chinese sporting greats alongside the country’s most popular sportsmen - basketballer Yao Ming and Olympic champion high hurdler Liu Xiang. “This win is truly a breakthrough in a sport that has been dominated mainly by players from Europe, Australia and the Americas,” China Tennis Association chief Sun Jinfang said. “It is a massive source of pride for all the Asians and it can serve as a great milestone for the development of Chinese tennis.”

Yao’s arrival in the NBA in 2002 and Liu’s stunning gold medal run at the 2004 Athens Olympics were also major breakthroughs for China but the fact remains that few of their compatriots have been able to follow the trails they blazed. Every sport that pitches up in China attracted by lure of the world’s fastest growing major economy, and there are few that have not, declares it is looking for its own Yao Ming to fire local interest.

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While Yao has proved remarkably effective for the NBA in marketing terms - China is their biggest market outside North America - his nine years at the Houston Rockets have not inspired an army of talented Chinese in the world’s best league. Pioneers Menk Bateer and Wang Zhizhi are now back in China after getting a small amount of time on American courts while Yi Jianlian has started 163 games for three teams in four years and Sun Yue played 10 games for the Los Angeles Lakers before returning to China.

Liu appears to have had even less impact since that balmy Athens evening seven years ago when he became the first Asian man to win an Olympic track event, proving, in his own words, that “the yellow man can sprint”. After injury dramatically robbed him of the chance to defend his 110 m hurdles title on home soil at the 2008 Beijing Games, China failed to win any gold medals in track and field. Like Yao, Liu has been bedevilled by injury in recent years but the 27-year-old will still be China’s only realistic hope of a title on the track at this year ’s world athletics championships in South Korea.

The table-topping performance at the Beijing Olympics proved China’s sports system is remarkably successful at producing champions in more marginal sports as well as those like table

tennis and badminton where they have long ruled the roost. Developing top talent in more popular spor ts, where rewards are higher and the international quality runs much deeper, has proved more difficult for a system where the emphasis remains on early identification and years of regimented intensive training.

In golf, Zhang Lianwei’s breakthrough European Tour win in 2003 was followed by Liang Wenchong’s similar feat in 2007 but they are now 46 and 32-years-old respectively and there are no Chinese players in the top 100 in the world rankings. In football, the promise of the years around the turn of the century when the likes of Sun Jihai and Fan Zhiyi played at the top level in England have long since faded. Today, Hao Junmin is probably the country’s highest profile soccer export having played a handful of games in the German Bundesliga for Schalke 04 last season.

There are currently just four Chinese among the top 100 women’s tennis players in the world and 12 in the top 500, compared to 16 and 46 for Russia and six and 24 for France. Much has been made of Li’s breaking away from the state system in 2009 along with Wimbledon and Australian Open semifinalist Zheng Jie, grand slam doubles champion Yan Zi and Peng Shuai, now ranked in the world’s top 20.

Although the success of the “flyaway” system may influence discussions on future sports policy in China, the fact is that no player since the original quartet has felt comfortable enough to leave the embrace of the system. The lack of strength in depth in Chinese women’s tennis is certainly not a reflection of a lack of interest or investment on the part of the international women’s professional tour. The WTA have clearly identified China as a major part of their future strategy, awarding Beijing one of their four “Crown Jewel” tournaments and relocating their Asia-Pacific headquarters to the Chinese capital.

They have been heavily involved in attempting to broaden the playing base of tennis in a country where an overriding emphasis on education means few children play sport for fun and the state sports system is obsessed with success at the Olympics, which offer a paltr y two and a half gold medals in women’s tennis. The WTA and China Tennis Association may yet succeed and Li’s success is bound to inspire more than a few children among China’s 1.3 billion people to pick up a racket. Impressive as the 29-year-old’s feat was, however, there is every possibility that the 2011 French Open could mark the pinnacle of Chinese success in women’s tennis for the forseeable future. —Reuters

Nadal can beat Federer’s grand slam mark

By Mark Meadows f there was any doubt before, there is now no question that Rafa Nadal can and most probably will better Roger Federer’s record of 16 grand slam titles following the Spaniard’s French Open success over the Swiss.

Sunday’s 7-5 7-6 5-7 6-1 victory for his record-equalling sixth Roland Garros crown and his 10th grand slam title overall underlined why Nadal just will not lie down even when the crowd and his own initial form are against him.

Nadal endured his first five-set match on the Paris clay in the first round but his play gradually improved over the fortnight so that when he came up against Federer and his vocal fans in the final, the world number one was ready to flourish.

He slipped 5-2 down in the first set but roared back and dealt with a 10-minute rain interruption to down what had been a resurgent Federer even on his least favourite clay surface.

Wimbledon starts in just two weeks and even though Novak Djokovic is a contender after his 41-

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match winning streak before being halted by Federer in the last four of the French, another Rafa-Roger final is equally likely. “After winning a title like this, you go there with a different attitude, with very positive confidence,” Nadal told reporters. “So for me, winning here makes me play Queen’s and Wimbledon with less pressure.”

At 25, the only realistic blocks to Nadal reaching 16 grand slams are injury, loss of confidence and hunger or Federer racking up many more major titles of his own. With Nadal in his way, though, the 29year-old Swiss is running out of time to greatly increase his sum and the Spaniard is set to play on for a few more years once fellow great Federer retires.

However, Federer did look revitalised during the tournament despite not winning a grand slam since the Australian

Open in 2010 and there is still huge fight in the maestro yet. “For me, of course it’s a bit disappointing, but it was a good tournament for me as well.

I’ll focus on Wimbledon. This is the moment when I can do good things.

I’m on the right tracks,” he said before acknowledging Nadal’s threat to his record. “Ten grand slams is a lot. He knows this, I know this, everybody knows this.”

Injury is one risk lurking in the shadows which Nadal can never ignore and he must be careful not to shorten his career by playing too many tournaments in a row as some pundits have accused him of already this year. His all-action style and way he powers his whole body into his shots at every moment is a big strain on his knees and his 2009 defeat by Robin Soderling, his only loss at Roland Garros in seven years, was partly due to injury.

If being labelled the

best claycourt player ever breeds selfassurance, Nadal was not feeling it at the start of the tournament he dominates so heavily. “I think during this tournament I was probably a bit more anxious, at least more anxious than I should have been and more anxious than usual,” the Mallorcan said. This sort of problem has eaten away at great champions in the past when seemingly in their prime.

Most golf commentators expected Tiger Woods to easily overhaul Jack Nicklaus’s record of 18 majors but now the American is stuck on 14 and his achievement is by no means certain.

Nadal’s game has been called onedimensional but he has already won a career grand slam and although he thrives on clay his grasscourt play at Wimbledon just gets better and better. He is also highly likely to pick up more Australian and US Opens but the accomplishments of Federer still loom large. “I’m not the best player in the history of tennis. I think I’m among the best. That’s true,” Nadal murmured. —Reuters

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Always chaotic, Yemen yet to see worst

By Hamza Hendawi ven at the best of times, Yemen looks like a nation about to unravel. Now that the US-allied president has left the country for medical treatment and may not return, citizens of the poorest Arab country are contemplating a future that could be even worse than the last 33 years under authoritarian rule. The question of who would ultimately replace Saleh could unleash new and unpredictable power struggles among the country’s powerful tribes, the youth movement that has led the anti-Saleh protests and remnants of the leader’s regime, including his son.

In the meantime, the numerous conflicts and economic and social problems that were already leading Yemen to ever greater disorder and hardship before this year’s unrest broke out look certain to remain unaddressed as the political crisis deepens.

All that is of great concern far beyond Yemen’s borders, especially by the US government, which had relied on Saleh in battling one of the most active branches of AlQaeda.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has an estimated 300 hardcore members taking sanctuary in Yemen’s forbidding mountains, plotting attacks on targets in Europe and the United States while enjoying the protection of tribal chiefs at odds with Saleh’s regime.

Al-Qaeda militants would likely benefit from more chaos in Yemen, gaining more freedom to plot attacks without being disrupted

by Saleh’s US-trained counterterrorism forces. But the militants don’t have the manpower to capture and hold any significant part of Yemen or replace government authorities.

However, the Saudis and their American backers would want any future regime in Yemen to forcefully go after Al-Qaeda militants to disrupt their capabilities. The group has been linked to several nearly successful attacks on US targets, including the plot to bomb a Detroit-bound airliner in Dec 2009.

It also put sophisticated bombs into USaddressed parcels that made it onto cargo flights.

Yemen is also home to US-born Muslim cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki, whom the United States has put on a kill-or-capture list.

Washington accuses him of becoming a key Al-Qaeda operative and inspiring attacks on the US, including the 2009 shooting at a military base in Fort Hood, Texas, that killed 13

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people. Yemen has faced other destabilizing threats that could now worsen, including a secessionist movement in the south that has steadily gained strength in recent years, raising the specter of the nation breaking into two parts or a civil war to prevent that from happening. The north is home to rebellious Shiites who the government insists are backed by Iran.

Saleh has used a mixture of political acumen, patronage and violence to keep Yemen together, if only just, and will be a hard act to follow in a country where almost every adult male has a firearm, religious fun-

the standoff between him and protesters across the nation who demand his immediate resignation has laid bare Yemen’s divisions and compounded its economic woes.

Shrouded in secrecy, Saleh left for Saudi Arabia early on Sunday to seek medical treatment for wounds he suffered Friday in a rocket attack on his compound in the capital, Sanaa. News of his departure sparked wild celebrations on the streets of Sanaa, but the fear of what could be in store for Yemen was not far from the mind of some.

“We are happy he is gone,” enthused Fayza Abdullah, a protester. “Let us celebrate his

A tribesman loyal to Yemeni opposition tribal chief Sheikh Sadiq Al-Ahmar arranges his ammunitions belt as he and others stand guard near his house in the capital Sanaa yesterday. —AFP damentalism is widespread and resentment, even contempt, of authority is a popular sentiment. No one in Saleh’s regime has enough of his qualities to succeed, said Rick Nelson, a counterterrorism expert at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies. “I can’t see any remnant of the Saleh government staying in place after this,” he said.

Yemen’s latest conflict began as a peaceful protest movement that Saleh’s regime occasionally used brutal force to suppress. It transformed in recent weeks into an outright armed conflict between the president’s forces and tribesmen loyal to a chieftain who sided with the protesters after years of supporting the president. Saleh’s departure may have spared the country civil war, but

departure regardless of what the future brings,” she said.

The tribesmen, a powerful and conservative force, would likely take credit for ousting Saleh and seek to dominate the next government if the president never comes back.

That would in turn place them at odds with the mostly liberal youth groups that have organized the massive anti-Saleh protests since February. The groups also fear that the top army officers who have defected to their side in March would eventually abandon them and seek to maintain the military’s traditional hold on power in Yemen, rather than leave the government in the hands of civilians with liberal or reformist ideologies that would curtail their influence.

The tribesmen are led by Sadeq Al-

Ahmar, a close ally of Saudi Arabia known to receive financial and other support from Riyadh. Similarly, most senior officers in Yemen benefit from the generosity of the Saudis, who will want to see their allies in Yemen take charge after Saleh rather than see its southern neighbor mired in the instability that comes with a transition to democratic rule. An additional source of danger comes from the powerful members of Saleh’s regime whom the president left behind in Yemen when he left for Saudi Arabia. These include his son and heir apparent Ahmed, who heads the wellequipped and highly trained Republican Guard, and four close relatives who command key military units.

The son and other relatives, many in Yemen suspect, were left to fight for the survival of Saleh’s regime until the president returns, although the Saudis are unlikely to allow him back in Yemen, if only to spare the country more bloodshed. “I fear the battle of the desperates,” said Majed Al-Madhaji, a human rights activist, alluding to what Saleh’s son and relatives could do. “This is the biggest fear, that they decide to bring down the temple.”

Yemen has, meanwhile, been inching closer to economic collapse and any future regime in the country will have to seek massive foreign aid to create jobs and feed the most vulnerable groups. Already, the country is running out of water and the little oil it produces has stopped because of the upheaval of the past months. Oil accounts for about 60 percent of the government’s revenue, and more than 90 percent of what it collects from exports, according to the IMF figures. The drop in oil revenue has left Yemen facing multibilliondollar annual budget deficits in recent years. Nearly half of all Yemenis live under the poverty line set by the World Bank at $2 per day and don’t have access to proper sanitation. Less than a tenth of the country’s roads are paved, while more than 50 percent of children are malnourished.

The unrest of the past three months have also led to a dramatic surge in food prices in the capital and a shortage of basic items, forcing tens of thousands to flee to rural areas where prices remain affordable.

Power cuts have grown more frequent, with up to 20-hour outages in Sanaa. A shortage of fuel has meant that water trucks are unable to deliver water to households. —AP

Ghost of Marcos yet haunts Philippines

By Girlie Linao ith trembling hands and teary eyes, 62-year-old William Sia recalled the many friends he lost during the struggle against late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos. “We must never forget that so much blood was spilled fighting the dictator,” the former youth activist said. “I’m lucky I got out alive, but many others, including friends, gave up their lives to free us from Marcos’ regime.” Sia is among tens of thousands of victims of torture, illegal detention, disappearances and extrajudicial killings during Marcos’ 20-year rule who are opposing proposals to bury the dictator’s body at the country’s Heroes’ Cemetery.

The victims fear a hero’s burial for Marcos would boost the family’s effort to rehabilitate their name, causing Filipinos to easily forget the atrocities. “Throw his

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body somewhere else, but not at the Heroes’ Cemetery,. Please give the people buried there some dignity,” Sia said. Marcos, who died in exile in Hawaii in 1992, has been entombed in a refrigerated glass crypt in his hometown of Batac in Ilocos Norte province, 390 km north of Manila, since 1993.

The House of Representatives passed a resolution in March seeking Marcos’ burial at the Heroes’ Cemetery for being the “longest-serving president” of the Philippines and for giving “invaluable service to his country”. The dictator’s son, Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Junior, also argued for his father’s internment at the cemetery. “It is time to close this chapter,” he said.

The controversial proposals prompted President Benigno Aquino III to direct Vice President Jejomar Binay to study the matter. Last week, Binay submitted

his report to Aquino and recommended full military honours for Marcos, but not a burial at the Heroes’ Cemetery, sources said.

Aquino appealed to the public for more time to study the recommendations. A nationwide survey in March showed that Filipinos were split on the controversy, with 50 per cent agreeing that Marcos should be buried in the Heroes’ Cemetery while 49 per cent saying he was not fit to be laid to rest there.

“It would make a mockery of the horrors that the Filipino people endured during martial law,” Bonifacio Ilagan, chairman of the First Quarter Storm Movement of anti-Marcos activists, said. Ilagan, who was detained and tortured for two years during martial law, said the Marcoses were attempting to re-write history and take advantage of the short memories of Filipinos. “ They want to reclaim their old glory and pur-

sue the same policies,” he warned. Twenty-five years after Marcos was ousted by a popular uprising, victims of human rights violations under his rule are receiving payments for the suffering they endured then. The money comes from a settlement in a class action suit filed against the Marcos estate by victims who were awarded nearly $2 billion in compensation by a Hawaii court in 1995.

Film director Joel Lamangan was among those who received payment as reparations for torture and illegal detention. The award-winning director said the payment proves that the Marcoses committed the abuses despite continued declarations by the family that it is innocent of the accusations. “It’s not the amount that counts, but it’s the symbol that it represents,” Lamangan said of the settlement.

Lamangan said he had just finished secondary school when he was arrested in 1973 for organizing a transpor t strike against oil price hikes. He was kept in isolation and tortured for two weeks. “I was made to sit nude on a block of ice, beaten up, my genitalia were electrocuted,” he said. He was released two years later, but was again detained from 1977 to 1979 for joining the first rally against Marcos while he was a student at the state university.

Lamangan warned that allowing Marcos to be buried at the Heroes’ Cemetery would only support the family’s apparent intention to convince Filipinos that the dictator’s rule was “the best regime ever ” in the Philippines. “They are catering lies,” he said. “And then there is the threat that Bongbong Marcos might run for president. That will be hell.” —dpa

US parties maneuvering on debt, healthcare

By David Espo he threat of a first-ever default by the federal government is pushing President Barack Obama and Republicans toward a sweeping agreement to cut government spending and increase the Treasury’s borrowing authority. Yet a perennial partisan struggle over the Medicare program for seniors’ health care drives them apart. Remarkably, the two sides seem determined to pursue both accord and discord simultaneously, sparing the still-wobbling economy from threatened calamity while preserving Medicare as a political issue in the 2012 elections.

“I’m willing. I’m ready. It is time to have the conversation” about deficit cuts and the debt limit, said House Speaker John Boehner, urging Obama to become personally involved. “It is time to play large ball, not small ball.”

But a few days later, House Democratic leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi said, “I could never support any arrangement that reduced benefits for Medicare. Absolutely not,” she told CBS television’s “Face The Nation,” emphasizing a position she and other Democrats had laid out at their own meeting with Obama.

Given the sheer size of Medicare, nearly $500 billion a year to provide healthcare coverage for the elderly, any deal on reducing future deficits is likely to include savings from the program, if not the benefit cuts many Democrats oppose.

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But if any Republican thought that the White House and congressional Democrats might agree to even a temporary ceasefire on Medicare, they may want to reconsider.

Boehner and fellow House Republicans had scarcely left a White House meeting with Obama on Wednesday when presidential press secretary Jay Carney told reporters that Obama “doesn’t believe that we need to end Medicare as we know it, to dismantle the program as it currently exists, in order to achieve significant deficit reduction”. Within seconds, he said the Republican plan for Medicare “puts too much of the burden of deficit reduction on the shoulders of seniors, of low- income children and the disabled. And the president just feels that that’s unacceptable”.

A few moments later, Carney called the Republican plan “premium support or privatization or voucherization”.

None of these can be considered terms of endearment, politically, particularly not by Republicans. They say their Medicare plan, developed by Rep Paul Ryan, the House Budget Committee chairman, is designed to save the program from bankruptcy and preserve it for future generations. In the meeting the president hosted for rankand-file Republicans, Ryan and Obama clashed.

The congressman told Obama it was not leadership to demagogue a good-faith attempt to save Medicare, when it is clear the program is headed for bankruptcy, according to several participants in the session. Obama replied it wasn’t leadership to shift billions in costs from the federal government to states and individuals who can’t afford it.

Ryan responded that wasn’t what his plan did, explained it in some detail and drew an ovation from fellow Republicans.

The Ryan plan retains Medicare in its present form for current beneficiaries and those age 55 and older. For anyone younger, Medicare would consist of a government-mandated package of benefits, purchased on the open market from private insurers. Federal funds would help defray the costs for beneficiaries.

Polls and recent events such as the unexpected loss of a House seat in strongly Republican district in upstate New York and criticism from presidential contender Newt Gingrich make clear that the Republican plan is not favorable political terrain for the party. They are on far safer turf, they concede, when they stress that job creation is their top goal and spending cuts the surest way to achieve it. Even some

House Democrats who once talked of wanting to allow more government borrowing without taking steps to rein in future spending voted against legislation last week to do precisely that.

Republicans presented the bill as something Obama had asked for, but the House Democrats’ second-in-command, Rep, Steny Hoyer, called it a “demagogic vote” designed to render his rank and file vulnerable to campaign attack ads. His comments underscore how much the Republicans have succeeded in casting the political debate since they were sworn into office in January and took control of the House.

If anything, the announcement from Moody’s Investors Services that it might downgrade the US debt, followed by a report showing an increase in unemployment, helped Republicans who are eager to put the Medicare debate aside. “If we don’t get our fiscal house in order, the markets will do it for us,” Boehner said Friday. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner put it slightly differently after meeting with first-term House members, most of them Republicans who are determined to cut spending. “I’m confident two things are going to happen this summer,” he said.

“One is we’re going to avoid a default crisis, and we’re going to reach agreement on our longterm fiscal plan.” —AP

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Oppn rice plan may push Thailand off top export slot

By Apornrath Phoonphongphiphat hailand could lose its title of the world’s biggest rice exporter if the opposition wins next month’s parliamentary election and pushes through with promises to guarantee farmers high prices. Global rice prices, which are expected to increase anyway this year due to the drought in China, would be forced up by the policy, analysts say, although they are unlikely to hit records seen in 2008 in Asia, especially with countries such as Vietnam trying to grab market share by undercutting Thailand.

The Puea Thai (For Thais) party, which broadly supports populist former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, says it will buy rice directly from farmers at 15,000 baht ($496) a tonne if it wins the July 3 election, a policy to please the millions who make their living from rice. The major rice-producing region in northern Thailand is Thaksin’s traditional power base. That intervention price is around 80 percent above the current market of 8,000 baht per tonne. The effect would be to propel export prices to as high as $870 a tonne, more than 74 percent above the current $500, traders said.

“That would lead to a collapse in Thai exports.

Export could drop as low as 5 million tonnes next year as we can’t compete with such high prices,” said Chookiat Ophaswongse, honorary president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association. Thailand aims to export 9.0 million to 9.5 million tonnes this year. A drop to 5.0 million could push it to second place behind Vietnam, which is able to export 6.0 million tonnes a year. Vietnamese premium grade 5 percent white rice is offered at only $465 per tonne.

Traders and exporters said world rice prices were likely to rise anyway in coming months on fresh demand from China as a result of drought, which is also affecting parts of the United States and Europe.

Analysts warned this could stoke food inflation in the second half of 2011. Rainfall in Anhui, Jiangsu, Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Shanghai, China’s main rice-producing areas, is the lowest since 1954, the country’s meteorological office said, though torrential rains are expected soon. “Global prices may rise on a possible increase in demand, but they definitely wouldn’t rise as high as Thai prices, which would be distorted by government intervention,” Chookiat said.

Prices may be restrained to some extent by lower demand from Indonesia and the Philippines this year, and the Manila-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) said global rice prices should hold around current levels into 2012 on improved output due to ample rain and plentiful stocks. Thailand’s benchmark rice hit a record high of $1,080 per tonne in April 2008. But Chookiat said the situation now was different to 2008, when global prices jumped on a supply drop caused by an Indian export ban plus panic about food security, as farmers switched from food crops to biofuel crops as oil prices soared.

“Rice prices from other origins would be higher due to stronger demand if buyers turn away from Thailand as prices shoot up because of intervention,” said Arup Gupta of Phoenix Commodities Ltd. “But global prices will not rise as high as Thai prices, which are not realistic. The situation is not like in 2008 and buyers are more careful.”

Thai authorities have intervened in the market for decades to help poor farmers, but policies became more aggressive in the Thaksin era from 2001, as his government bought rice from them at way above market prices to cement his popularity. Even in 2008, when prices hit records and farmers could make a rare profit on the open market, the pro-Thaksin government still offered to buy rice from them at 14,000 baht a tonne, above market levels. The scheme drained around 5 million tonnes into government stocks, which had the perverse effect of cutting supplies to exporters, who were thus unable to sell on the international market at a time of highly advantageous prices for the country.

The Democrat-led government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva introduced a new price guarantee scheme last year, offering to pay farmers the difference if they had to sell rice below a guaranteed level, currently 11,000 baht per tonne. The government said that was more transparent and fair, since all farmers could participate, but many growers hated the paperwork and complained that since it did not drain rice from the market, prices kept falling. Farmers protested and the government gave in, operating a dual intervention/price guarantee scheme. In the election campaign, the Democrats have promoted their price guarantee system in a low-key way.

The Puea Thai intervention scheme would run into other, familiar problems. Buying a lot of rice directly from farmers would swell up stockpiles and the government would find it difficult to sell at profitable prices at a time competitors were trying to undercut Thailand. Thai stocks rose as high as 7 million tonnes in 2009, hanging over the market and forcing prices down as authorities struggled to find buyers before the grain went bad.

“If Puea Thai comes to power, then definitely prices will move up and it affects white rice exports from Thailand because buyers will have optional origins to choose for their white rice imports,” said the head of rice business at an international grains trading company in Singapore, who declined to be named. “They will struggle to sell Thai white rice. But the rice will come back into the market later from the government stocks which will be sold at lower than the procurement price as old crop. The government will lose money and sell.”

He expects exports to fall to 7-8 million tonnes from 910 million tonnes, of which 3 million will be parboiled rice that will not be affected much, as India is absent from the market.

Kanawat Wasinsungworn, deputy leader of Puea Thai, told Reuters the new government would look to cooperate with Vietnam in the rice market and possibly try for an OPEC-style cartel that could influence world prices. Traders were sceptical that would achieve much. Cooperation was started a decade ago but has produced few tangible results, with Vietnamese prices offered below Thai prices for years. “We used to have that kind of cooperation, but if we come to power we will tighten it up so that we can manage world prices as well as manage supply together - we are the world’s top two exporters,” Kanawat said. —Reuters

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sp orts Edwards intends to race despite broken collarbone

Burress released from prison NEW YORK: Former New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress was released from prison yesterday after serving 20 months on gun charges and the 2008 Super Bowl hero hopes to return to play in the National Football League (NFL).

Burress, 33, left Oneida Correctional Facility in upstate New York three months early for good behaviour after pleading guilty to gun possession charges from a Manhattan nightclub incident in which he accidentally shot himself in the thigh.

“I just want to thank God for bringing me through one of the most trying times in my life,” Burress told the New York Post as he left the prison.

“It’s a beautiful day, it’s a beautiful day to get to be reunited with my family and go home for some quality time with them.” The 6-foot-5-inch (1.96-metre) Burress caught the game-winning pass in the last minute of New York’s 17-14 upset of the unbeaten New England Patriots in the Super Bowl.

Burress, who was released by the Giants following the November 2008 shooting incident, would be an NFL free agent. The lanky receiver, who began his NFL career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, must wait for the labour dispute between NFL owners and players to be resolved before he can market his talents, which his agent has made plain he intends to do. —Reuters

LONDON: Texan MotoGP rider Colin Edwards has refused to let a broken collarbone rule him out of next Sunday’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

“I know I can race next weekend and I’m already looking forward to it,” the 37-year-old Tech3 Yamaha rider told the team website (www,teamtech3.fr) after reluctantly having to sit out Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix.

“I can’t remember the last time I missed a race and I definitely don’t like watching on TV, so I’m desperate to get back.”

Edwards had been all set to start Sunday’s race, just two days after he had a titanium plate and 13 screws inserted into the right collarbone he broke in Friday practice, but failed to pass the pre-race medical.

“I’m a little bit disappointed with the decision not to let me ride because while it’s not a lifelong ambition never to miss a MotoGP race, it was a run I was pretty proud of,” he said.

Edwards, a former superbike world champion, had not missed a race in his MotoGP career before that weekend and said he had intended to start in Barcelona and do a couple of laps before pulling in.

“I understand the decision but my shoulder feels great,” he added. “I only considered it (racing on Sunday) because I was here in Barcelona and it seemed pointless breaking the streak.

“But I’m too big and too old to get upset and I’m going to rest up now and concentrate on getting ready for Silverstone.” —Reuters

Ancelotti in no hurry to return MILAN: Sacked Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti said yesterday he was in no hurry to return to coaching and would take a year off.

“Apart from a break of six months, I have been coaching continuously since 1995,” the Italian told La Stampa newspaper. “I will stop for a year and take a look around, take a break, study how my peers work.

“I’m not in a hurry, nor do I have the need,” added the former Italy international, who will be 52 on Friday.

Ancelotti led Chelsea to the Premier League and FA Cup double last year, in his first season at the club, but was sacked last month after the London club failed to win a trophy this season. He said recent events had not put him off England and he would stay in London “and sort out my life”. He denied he had received any approach from his former club AS Roma, or from Arsenal and added: “I have not been contacted by any English club.” —Reuters

Marlins suffer one run loss

BOSTON: Oakland Athletics’ Hideki Matsui (right) strikes out as the ball bounces away from Boston Red Sox’s Jarrod Saltalamacchia in the ninth inning. —AP

A’s lose 6-3 to Boston BOSTON: Adrian Gonzalez hit a two-run homer to reach 50 RBIs for the season and Carl Crawford had a three-run shot as the Boston Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics 6-3 on Sunday.

John Lackey pitched into the sixth inning in his first start in nearly a month as Boston swept the A’s to salvage a split of a six-game homestand that started with three losses to the White Sox. Matt Albers, Tommy Hottovy and Dan Wheeler combined for 2 1-3 innings of two-hit ball before Daniel Bard worked the ninth for his first save — one day after closer Jonathan Papelbon blew a save opportunity and was ejected in the ninth inning of Boston’s 9-8 victory. Kevin Kouzmanoff homered for the Athletics, who have lost six straight. Brett Anderson (3-6) allowed five runs and nine hits in five innings. Lackey (3-5), coming off a stint on the disabled list with a strained elbow, gave up three runs and three hits.

Rangers 2, Indians 0 At Cleveland, C.J. Wilson pitched into the eighth inning and Mitch Moreland and Elvis Andrus homered as Texas earned its first fourgame sweep in Cleveland in nearly 33 years.

Wilson (6-3) allowed three hits over 7 2-3 innings.

The left-hander fanned seven, walked two and hit a batter. Darren Oliver struck out the only batter he faced to end the eighth, and Neftali Feliz finished the three-hitter for his 13th save in 16 chances. Texas has won five in a row and eight of nine to extend its lead in the AL West. The slumping Indians still lead the AL Central despite dropping nine of 12. Moreland hit his eighth homer off Mitch Talbot (2-2) with one out in the second inning. Andrus hit his third leading off the third.

The Rangers’ only other four-game sweep in Cleveland came in August 1978 — two years before Wilson was born.

Tigers 7, White Sox 3 At Chicago, Ryan Raburn hit a grand slam and Miguel Cabrera homered for the second straight day as Detroit topped Chicago.

The Tigers captured the last two in the weekend series to move within 21/2 games of AL Central-leading Cleveland. They have won 11 of 12 against the White Sox. Brad Penny (5-4) rebounded from a shaky first inning to win. He allowed three runs and eight hits, struck out five and walked two in five innings.

Twins 6, Royals 0 At Kansas City, Brian Duensing pitched eight sharp innings, and Jason Repko ended an 0-for-14 skid to drive in three runs as Minnesota beat Kansas City to complete its first four-game sweep in almost four years. The four-game winning

streak is a season best for the Twins, who were without Justin Morneau and Denard Span for the second straight day. Duensing (3-5) gave up six hits with one walk and four strikeouts in his longest outing of the season and avoided becoming the first Twins starter in four years to lose six straight decisions. Jeff Francis (2-6) was charged with four runs, one earned, in seven innings.

The Twins hadn’t recorded a four-game sweep since winning four in a row against Oakland from July 12-15, 2007. They hadn’t swept four from Kansas City since Aug. 3-6, 2006.

Blue Jays 7, Orioles 4 At Baltimore, Adam Lind went 4 for 4 with two homers and three RBIs to back another winning effort by left-hander Jo-Jo Reyes as Toronto roughed up Jeremy Guthrie. Yunel Escobar also homered and Edwin Encarnacion had three hits for the Blue Jays, who took two of three from the last-place Orioles. Baltimore has lost seven of nine since reaching the .500 mark on May 26.

Yankees 5, Angels 3 At Anaheim, Mark Teixeira homered twice against his former team and Nick Swisher also went deep as the New York Yankees beat the Los Angeles Angels to win the three-game series.

Bartolo Colon (3-3) allowed three runs and six hits in 5 1-3 innings as the Yankees concluded a 63 road trip and maintained their one-game lead over Boston in the AL East. Derek Jeter had a single in five at-bats to tie Sam Rice for 28th place on the career hits list at 2,986. Mariano Rivera got three outs for his 16th save in 19 chances and the 575th of his career, 26 shy of Trevor Hoffman’s major league record.

Mariners 9, Rays 6 At Seattle, Miguel Olivo hit a tiebreaking threerun homer off Joel Peralta in the eighth inning to guide the Mariners to victory. Ichiro Suzuki and Greg Halman each drove in two runs for Seattle, which has won six straight series and 14 of 18 games overall. Brandon League pitched a scoreless ninth for his 16th save, completing the Mariners’ 15th come-from-behind victory. Jamey Wright (22) got the win. Tampa Bay scored three times in the eighth to take a 6-5 lead, but JP Howell (0-1) couldn’t hold on. Justin Smoak walked with one out in the bottom half, and Jack Cust and Adam Kennedy followed with base hits. Kennedy’s tying single drove in pinch runner Jack Wilson. Olivo then greeted Peralta with a drive into the Rays’ bullpen in left field for his seventh homer. Erik Bedard tossed seven solid innings for Seattle, yielding three runs and eight hits. He struck out seven and walked none. —AP

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

Texas 2, Cleveland 0; Milwaukee 6, Florida 5 (11 innings); LA Dodgers 9, Cincinnati 6; Toronto 7, Baltimore 4; Boston 6, Oakland 3; Philadelphia 7, Pittsburgh 3; Detroit 7, Chicago White Sox 3; Minnesota 6, Kansas City 0; St. Louis 3, Chicago Cubs 2 (10 innings); NY Yankees 5, LA Angels 3; San Francisco 2, Colorado 1; Seattle 9, Tampa Bay 6; Washington 9, Arizona 4 (11 innings); San Diego 7, Houston 2; NY Mets 6, Atlanta 4.

NY Yankees Boston Toronto Tampa Bay Baltimore

American League Eastern Division W L 33 24 33 26 30 29 30 29 26 31

PCT .579 .559 .508 .508 .456

GB 1 4 4 7

Central Division Cleveland 33 24 Detroit 31 27 Chicago White Sox 28 33 Kansas City 25 34 Minnesota 21 37

.579 .534 .459 .424 .362

2.5 7 9 12.5

Western Division 34 26 31 28 30 31 27 33

.567 .525 .492 .450

2.5 4.5 7

Texas Seattle LA Angels Oakland

Philadelphia Florida Atlanta NY Mets Washington

National League Eastern Division 35 24 31 26 32 28 28 31 26 33

.593 .544 .533 .475 .441

3 3.5 7 9

St. Louis Milwaukee Cincinnati Pittsburgh Chicago Cubs Houston

Central Division 36 25 33 26 30 30 28 30 23 34 23 37

.590 .559 .500 .483 .404 .383

2 5.5 6.5 11 12.5

San Francisco Arizona LA Dodgers Colorado San Diego

Western Division 33 26 33 27 28 32 27 31 27 33

.559 .550 .467 .466 .450

.5 5.5 5.5 6.5

MIAMI: Josh Wilson homered with two outs in the 11th inning to give Milwaukee a 6-5 win over Florida in the National League on Sunday — the third straight day the Brewers had beaten the Marlins by a single run. The Brewers won despite blowing a 5-0 lead.

Wilson’s homer off Mike Dunn (4-3) was the first hit for Milwaukee in 5 2-3 innings against Florida’s bullpen. Milwaukee is 19-6 since May 9, best in the majors.

Tim Dillard (1-0) escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth and pitched 1 2-3 scoreless innings to take the win. John Axford worked the 11th, retiring the final batter with two runners on base on for his 16th save in 18 chances. The Marlins left 11 runners on base and went 2 for 10 with runners in scoring position.

Phillies 7, Pirates 3 In Pittsburgh, Philadelphia ended a season-worst four-game losing skid and avoided being swept by Pittsburgh. Phillies starter Roy Halladay (8-3) pitched seven effective innings, with six strikeouts and one walk, to equal the most wins in the majors this season.

Ryan Howard had three RBIs, Chase Utley was on base four times, and Placido Polanco had t wo hits and scored t wice for Philadelphia. The struggling Phillies offense — seven runs in the previous four games — broke out with 14 hits and was aided by seven walks, two hit batters, two wild pitches and a passed ball.

Pirates starter James McDonald (3-4) was pulled after throwing 12 consecutive balls to load the bases with nobody out. He came in having allowed only four runs in three starts but walked five, hit a batter and threw two wild pitches in four-plus innings.

Mets 6, Braves 4 In New York, knuckleballer RA Dickey pitched eight baffling innings to steer New York past Atlanta. Jose Reyes hit an RBI double and scored t wice while Carlos Beltran had a run-scoring double off Tim Hudson (4-5) before fouling a ball off his right shin and leaving the game with bruising. Brian McCann homered off Dickey (3-6) in the seventh to snap Atlanta’s scoreless streak at 15 innings.

Giants 2, Rockies 1 In San Francisco, Ryan Vogelsong pitched eight fantastic innings to give San Francisco a narrow win over Colorado. Vogelsong (41) matched his career high with eight innings, giving up one run and one walk while striking out seven. He has allowed one run or less in each of his past six starts.

Brian Wilson worked the ninth for his 17th save.

Andres Torres singled home the tiebreak-

MIAMI: Florida Marlins’ Brett Hayes (right) follows through on a grand slam hit as Milwaukee Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy (left) looks on in the sixth inning of a baseball game. —AP ing run while Freddy Sanchez also drove in a run and Miguel Tejada had two hits.

Cardinals 3, Cubs 2 In St. Louis, Albert Pujols hit a game-ending homer in extra innings for the second straight day, going long leading off the tenth to lift St. Louis over Chicago. Pujols hammered a fastball from Rodrigo Lopez (01) an estimated 446 feet to left for his 10th career game-ending homer. It was his fifth homer during a seven-game homestand and No. 13 for the season, giving the Cardinals a three-game sweep over the Cubs.

St. Louis was down to its last strike when Ryan Theriot tied it with an RBI double.

Theriot extended his hitting streak to 19 games, the Cardinals’ longest since Pujols hit in 30 straight in 2009. Fernando Salas (3-0) worked a perfect 10th against the top of the Cubs’ order to get the win.

Nationals 9, D’backs 4 In Phoenix, Rick Ankiel drove in the goahead run with a two-out walk in the 11th inning and Mike Morse followed with a grand slam, leading Washington to victory over Arizona.

Managers Jim Riggleman of the Nationals and Kirk Gibson of the Diamondbacks were among four ejections, and Washington batters were hit by pitches four times. Wilson R amos hit a three -run homer for the Nationals. The Diamondbacks scored three times in the ninth to tie it 4-4, but the Nationals bounced back. Sean Burnett (1-2) pitched 1 2-3 innings for the win. Joe

Paterson (0-1) took the loss.

Dodgers 9, Reds 6 In Cincinnati, pitcher Chad Billingsley shone with the bat, driving in a career-high three runs with a homer, a double and a bases-loaded walk, leading Los Angeles over Cincinnati.

Billingsley (5-4) lasted only five innings at the mound, but helped himself build a big lead. He hit a solo homer — the second of his career — in the second inning off Travis Wood (4-4). Billingsley drew a bases-loaded walk during the Dodgers’ three-run third. His RBI double ended Wood’s outing in the fifth and made it 8-4. Matt Kemp added a tworun homer for Los Angeles — his third in five at-bats.

Padres 7, Astros 2 In San Diego, the hosts won three straight home games for the first time this season, downing Houston. Padres’ Chase Headley extended his career-high hitting streak to 15 games with an RBI double. By taking three in a row from Houston after dropping the series opener, San Diego won just its second home series this season. The Padres still have the NL’s worst home record at 12-21.

San Diego scored three first-inning runs to give Mat Latos (4-6) an early lead. Latos labored through five innings to win his third straight start, allowing two runs and six hits.

Astros starter Jordan Lyles (0-1) had a rougher outing than in his major league debut Tuesday. He allowed four runs in four innings. —AP

Patience and advice turn Mullings into top sprinter EUGENE: Jamaican sprinter Steve Mullings always thought he could run fast. Patience and Tyson Gay have made it happen, the year’s most surprising 100 metres runner said.

Confident to the point he fears no one, Mullings has shot from the 21st fastest sprinter of 2010 to the sixth best of all-time.

It has come in rapid succession with world-leading times like 9.90 and 9.89 seconds, and then on Saturday, the eye-catching 9.80 he ran to win the Prefontaine Classic.

The latter performance would have been the 28-year-old’s third world leader in two months except for a 9.79 American training partner Gay laid down at a small Florida meeting a few hours earlier. “I just figured it out, how to do it,” Mullings said of his highspeed breakthrough.

“I have always been a good sprinter,” he said, but chats with Gay, the American record holder and world’s second fastest man, and joint training workouts with their coach, Lance Brauman, have helped him bring the event into focus.

The sessions also have made Mullings realise great sprinters have patience. “I always rushed my first 30 metres,” he said. “Now I have more patience. “I may not have the top end (speed) of Tyson Gay and Usain Bolt, but I am working on it.”

The 2004 Jamaican 200 metres champion, Mullings lost his chance to attend the Athens Olympics because of a positive test for the

banned substance testosterone.

A two-year suspension kept him off the world circuit until 2006, but it has only been in recent years that he has moved among the stable of Jamaica’s best sprinters.

Fifth in the 200 metres at the 2009 world championships, he also opened up for the Jamaican team that ran the second fastest 4x100 meters relay of all-time at the Berlin meeting. Michael Frater, Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell ran the other legs.

His next task is to make the Jamaican team for this year’s world championships in both the 100 and 200. The national trials, in late June, guarantee an awesome display of speed with six Jamaicans-Mullings, Bolt, Nesta Carter, Powell, Frater and Nickel Ashmeade-currently ranked among the year’s top 18 at 100 metres.

Bolt has a bye as the reigning world champion, but the other five will be vying for three spots on the Jamaican team.

“We’ll see what happens,” Mullings said.

“We have got great people and everybody is going to be ready for the trials.”

Bolt got the best of him in their only meeting this year, running 9.91 to Mullings’s 9.97 at Ostrava on May 31. A rematch would be welcomed.

“I’m not scared,” Mullings said when asked about racing Bolt and fellow countryman Asafa Powell, the former world record holder.

“If I could run the perfect race, anything could happen.” —Reuters

Steve Mullings

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TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2011

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Bruins facing deep deficit as finals move east VANCOUVER: The Boston Bruins couldn’t have enjoyed the scenery late Saturday night while their team bus crawled through the raucous street party that consumed downtown Vancouver after the Canucks moved halfway to their first NHL title.

Maybe the Stanley Cup finals’ move to the East Coast will finally give the Bruins something to celebrate. With Game 3 looming late yesterday at TD Garden after a quick cross-continent trip Sunday, the Bruins realize the jam they brought back from Canada isn’t sweet. Only four teams have rallied from an 0-2 finals deficit in 46 tries. Boston must win four of the next five games to beat the Canucks, the NHL’s best regular-season team and the winner of seven of their past eight playoff games.

“We’ll be disappointed, and

we’re allowed to be,” said 43year-old Mark Recchi, who ended an 11-game goal drought with a power-play score in Game 2. “But we’ll take a lot of positives out of these games.

When we get off that plane, we’ll forget all about it. We’ll worry about Monday, and doing our job at home.”

Recchi is right: The Bruins probably shouldn’t spend any time contemplating the historic depth of their plight. Boston has rallied from an 0-2 deficit to win a series just once in 27 tries — although it happened in the first round of this postseason against Montreal.

“Now is not the time to squeeze your stick and to panic,” Bruins for ward Patrice Bergeron said after the team arrived in Boston on Sunday afternoon. “It’s time to go back to what’s been giving us success. ... Squeezing our sticks is

not going to help us at all.

We’ve got to go out there, play our game, make sure we play loose, and at the same time play hard and desperate.”

The Bruins are still smarting from their late struggles in Game 2, in which they lost for just the third time in 41 games this season when they had a lead after two periods.

Vancouver dominated the third period for the second straight finals game, with Daniel Sedin tying it midway through before Alex Burrows won it with his thrilling wraparound goal 11 seconds into overtime.

“We have four lines that go out there and play the same way,” said Sedin, the NHL scoring champion. “We get pucks deep. We forecheck really hard.

It wears teams down. It’s been like this the whole season. It’s nothing new for us. I think when we’re at our best, we usu-

ally have a lot of success in the third period.”

Coach Claude Julien will remind his Bruins that they largely played well in two onegoal losses. Their defense held the Canucks’ top line scoreless for the first five periods of the series, bullying Daniel and Henrik Sedin into ineffectiveness. What’s more, Boston still hasn’t lost a Game 3 in the postseason, even winning a pressure -packed game at Montreal in the first round after losing the first two games at home.

“The positive is we basically lost both games by one goal,” Boston forward David Krejci said. “That hurts, but we know we’re in the game and we know we can do it.” Yet cracks already have appeared on Boston’s surface in the finals.

The Sedin twins’ line broke through for the tying goal in

the third period of Game 2 with a beautiful passing display after forcing a turnover by workhorse Bruins captain Zdeno Chara.

The same line was on the ice to start overtime — thanks to a nifty bit of gamesmanship by Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault, who ordered his top line onto the ice moments before the puck dropped _ when Burrows scooted past Chara, around goalie Tim Thomas and behind the net for the electrifying winner.

“I thought we took over (with) five minutes left in the second period,” captain Henrik Sedin said. “You could see they were maybe a little bit tired, and that’s when we came hard at them.” Chara and partner Dennis Seidenberg have played superbly throughout the postseason, and Chara was on the ice for more than 28 minutes

against Vancouver in Game 2.

But the Sedins weren’t alone in thinking Chara appeared to tire as the game went on.

Vancouver is trying to wear out the 6-foot-9 star by sticking to a strategy of constant physical collisions, even if the Canucks take the worst of those crashes. By finishing their checks on the hulking defenseman, the Canucks believe they can wear him — and it showed in Chara’s numerous misplays and turnovers.

“I guess all of a sudden you lose a game, and now we’re going to start wondering about certain players,” Julien said in Chara’s defense. “I think it’s really about our whole team. It’s not about Zdeno.” Yet Julien already made a move to rest Chara, taking him out of the slot and putting him back on the point, where he’ll take less punishment.—AP

Stricker wins Memorial

NEW JERSEY: Brittany Lincicome kisses the trophy after winning the LPGA ShopRite Classic golf tournament in Galloway Township.—AP

Lincicome bags Classic NEW JERSEY: Brittany Lincicome made a 4-foot birdie putt on the final hole Sunday to win the ShopRite LPGA Classic for her first victory in two years.

Lincicome’s birdie capped a bogeyfree 5-under 66 that gave her a one-shot victory over third-ranked Jiyai Shin and No. 4 Cristie Kerr. It was the long-hitting Lincicome’s first win since the 2009 Kraft Nabisco and her fourth on the LPGA Tour.

“Ever ything kind of fell my way,” Lincicome said. “It was clearly my week.”

The win came on a day when the players endured delays because of rulings on the course, and the twosomes played 41/2hour rounds.

The 25-year-old Lincicome finished the 54-hole tournament on the Bay Course at Seaview with an 11-under 202 total, and the difference definitely was the par 5s. Lincicome played nine par 5s in the tournament and had seven birdies, an eagle and a par, with the last birdie coming on the par-5, 501-yard 18th.

Shin, who was level with Lincicome heading to the final hole, left a 10-foot birdie putt on the edge of the hole.

Lincicome then hit out of greenside fescue to 4 feet before making her winning birdie.

Kerr, who led Catriona Matthew by a shot heading into the final round, left an eagle putt from off the green about 4 feet short and settled for a birdie and a 69 that left her equal second with Shin (66).

Matthew also shot a 69 and was two shots behind the winner and one ahead of Anna Nordqvist and IK Kim., who both closed with 66s. Top-ranked Yani Tseng was seventh after a 65, the same final round that put Karrie Webb in a group at 207. Lincicome came a long way to win.

She was tied for 30th after an opening-

round, 1-over 72, but overcame the slow start playing the final 36 holes in 12 under. She did not have a bogey in her final 38 holes. Ironically, Lincicome also didn’t have a birdie on the final nine until the last hole.

After hitting a per fect drive, Lincicome choked down on a 3-wood but her shot had a little too much on it and landed in the fescue about holehigh with the pin. Lincicome deftly hit a lob wedge close and made the putt, after nearly backing off it because “her hands her shaking so much.”

“I could have hit a bucket of ball and not gotten it that close,” Lincicome said about the chip. Lincicome played the front side in 4 under and she briefly grabbed a one-shot lead after making a birdie at the par-5 ninth. Shin tied for the lead with a 20-foot birdie putt at No. 10 and took a one-shot lead with a birdie from 8-feet at No. 12. However, the South Korean bogeyed the 14th after a bad chip and fell a shot behind missing a 3foot par saver on the next hole. A 3-foot birdie tied her for the lead heading to the final hole but she could not get her birdie attempt to fall on the final hole.

“I didn’t hit (it) very well because I’m very nervous, because I know the putt is very important to win,” Shin said.

Kerr birdied the third, fifth and sixth holes to go 11 under and grab a twoshot lead. However, she bogeyed the seventh hole after overshooting the green and the eighth hole after driving left and being forced to take an unplayable lie.

Kerr missed a 5-foot birdie putt at No. 9 to tie for the lead and didn’t make another birdie until the final hole.

“Nothing went my way today,” said Kerr, who insisted she played well.—AP

DUBLIN: Steve Stricker finally found the winning formula at the Memorial on Sunday, building a big lead on the front nine and then relying on his silky putting stroke for two clutch pars to hang on for a one-shot victory.

Stricker, who had never finished in the top 10 in his 11 previous trips to Muirfield Village, closed with a 4under 68 to finish at 16 under, despite lagging from 20 feet for a two-putt bogey on the 18th hole.

By then, though, the hard work was over. Stricker twice saved par from bunkers on the 16th and 17th holes, making putts of 15 feet and 7 feet to go to the last hole with a two-shot lead.

“It wasn’t pretty,” Stricker said to tournament host Jack Nicklaus walking off the 18th green. “It’s hard not to think about those last closing holes and just the unknown,” Stricker said. “You don’t know what’s going to happen with the other players, you don’t know how you’re going to perform under the stretch, under the gun.

At that point, you just want to get it done.” Stricker finished at 16under 272 — one clear of Matt Kuchar and Brandt Jobe — and earned $1,116,000. Almost as sweet as the trophy was getting a handshake and hug from Nicklaus behind the 18th green. “It’s pretty special walking off,” Stricker said.

“He’s a friend, and it’s truly an honor. “You’ve seen so many guys do that over the years, the winners coming off the green and getting greeted by Mr. Nicklaus. And you always think one day that could be you. And it turned out it was me this year. It’s a great thrill.”

The 44-year-old Stricker moves to No. 4 in the world and becomes the highest-ranked American for the first time in his career. He won for the 10th time in his career, and the seventh time since he turned his game around five years ago.

Dustin Johnson closed with a 65 to finish fourth, followed by Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, who had a 68. The biggest consola-

tion prize went to Gary Woodland, who had a 68 to finish alone in sixth. Woodland likely will move to about No. 40 in the world rankings, giving him a solid chance to get into the US Open. He had faced a 36-hole qualifier Monday morning.

Stricker, who led by four shots at the turn, made it more interesting than it needed to be, particularly after a 2 1/2-hour storm delay that slowed his momentum following a

dropped in the center of the cup for par to keep the two-shot cushion. From the middle of the 17th fairway, he badly pushed his 6-iron off a mound and into a deep bunker right of the green. He splashed it out to 7 feet, and the par putt again was never in doubt.

Needing only a bogey to win, Stricker hit into a fairway bunker on the 18th, missed the green to the left and was happy to chip onto the

DUBLIN: Steve Stricker (left) and Jack Nicklaus hold up the trophy after Stricker won the Memorial golf tournament at the Muirfield Village Golf Club.—AP spectacular bunker save behind the 12th green. He had a three-shot lead with five holes to play when he missed a short birdie on the 14th, then pulled his tee shot into the woods on the par-5 15th to make a bogey.

His lead was down to two, and he faced a tough finish. Stricker found the back bunker on the par-3 16th and blasted out to 15 feet, lightly pumping his fist when it

top tier to 20 feet that locked up his first win of the year.

“It was a little bit of a struggle since we came in from the rain delay,” he said. “At that point, I was trying not to make a mistake. I hung tough, made a couple of crucial putts when I had to.” While the par putts at the end were crucial, his bunker shot on No. 12 was equally important. He had to play away from the flag, bounced it out

Keselowski speeds to victory KANSAS CITY: Brad Keselowksi held off Dale Earnhardt Jr to win Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Kansas Speedway and pick up his first victor y of the year.

Keselowski led the final nine laps, conserving just enough fuel to stave off Earnhardt for his first win since taking Talladega 75 races ago. “There are some secrets to it and I just maximized them all. I had plenty (of fuel) left,” Keselowski said. Earnhardt appeared set to make a late charge on Keselowski. That push never came — though Earnhardt did move up to third in the standings and is just one point behind Jimmie Johnson.

For the second week in a row in a fuelmileage race, Earnhardt came up just short. He ran out of gas near the finish in Charlotte and wound up seventh.

“Anytime you win a fuel mileage race you’ve done something as a driver,” Earnhardt said.

“We don’t know what we’re doing really trying to save gas or how much we’re saving. But (Keselowski) had a hand in it.”

Denny Hamlin was third, followed by Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards, who holds a 40point lead over Johnson. Johnson fought from 31st position and finished seventh.

Polesitter Busch led 152 laps and finished ninth. He had to stop for gas as the leader with 10 laps left. “I was all smiles. I felt the groove again, to lead the race. It was great. It was solid,” Busch said. “There was always something in the back of my mind that we weren’t going to win, but I am proud Brad Keselowski did.”

Keselowski won the pole last week at Charlotte and has been on a monthlong upswing for Penske. He seemed to come to life just as teammate Kur t Busch reached his wits end, with his displeasure culminating in an expletive-laden rant against team management.

Brad Keselowksi That led to behind-the-scenes personnel changes at Penske, including the announcement that technical Tom German was leaving the team to attend a graduate program at MIT. But Keselowski also took exception to a comment Busch made that it had been several years since he’d had a teammate capable of running the same pace as him. Since then, Keselowski logged a third-place finish, raced his way into the All-Star race and, on Sunday, earned a win that could help him nab a wild-card spot in the Chase to the Sprint Cup championship.

“It’s because of the bad finishes and the struggles that we had to get here that I really appreciate this win,” Keselowski said.

“We’re in good shape. A few more wins like this and we can make the Chase.” —AP

through the rough and saw it settle a foot from the cup.

Luke Donald, in his first tournament at No. 1 in the world, never had a chance to win but never quit trying. Donald closed with a 68 and a share of seventh, his 10th consecutive finish in the top 10 in worldwide golf. It was a tale of two nines for Stricker, as it had been all week.

He played the front nine in 20under par, including his six birdies Sunday when he made the turn in 30 to build the big lead. He played the back nine in 4 over, and didn’t have another shot to spare. Kuchar and Jobe did all the could to catch him.

“My 5 under on the front didn’t gain any ground on him,” Kuchar said. “It was tough to see. Got two more on the back, played great golf. But looks like it’s just not quite good enough.” Jobe has been battling injuries over the past several years, and the $545,600 pushes him over $1.16 million for the season and assures him keeping his card for next year. Jobe put the most pressure on Stricker by running off five straight birdies around the turn.

“I thought if we would have gone out and shot 65, that might have been good enough,” Jobe said. “But it looks like we’re going to be a little short. It was his tournament to kind of win or lose, and he’s going out there and winning it.” Woodland would not get the official ranking until later Sunday night.

He came into the week at No. 54, and the top 50 after next week are exempt from qualifying. Despite a bogey on the 18th hole, his sixthplace finish should be more than enough to stay in the top 50.

Stricker now heads to Congressional in two weeks as one of the players who could be a big factor in the US Open. He was a runner-up at Congressional in 2007 during the AT&T National, and that putting stroke goes a long way on any course. —AP

New home comforts for Karlsson DUBLIN: Robert Karlsson has struggled on the PGA Tour this year but he has no regrets over his decision to make his debut as a full-time competitor on the US circuit.

At the veteran golfing age of 41, the 6-foot-5 (1.95 m) Swede felt a move from Europe to the United States would be in the best of interests of his family-and so far, so good.

“It was actually not a very difficult decision,” PGA Tour rookie Karlsson told Reuters after tying for 63rd at the Jack Nicklaus-hosted Memorial tournament on Sunday.

“Now that the kids are growing up, we felt like we needed to take another step for them. We didn’t feel it was fair to them to live in a small apartment in Monaco where they didn’t really have any possibilities to go out on their own.

“When they were smaller, it was OK but not now. So it was a move to the United States to improve the quality of life for us and so far it all feels very good.”

An 11-times winner on the European Tour, Karlsson decided to relocate his family from their Monte Carlo home to a property he bought in Charlotte, North Carolina.

“It’s a really nice town for a European, and the airport works really well if you’re going to play both tours (in Europe and the US),” the world number 22 said. “There are a lot of good things about it.”

Karlsson does, however, miss the closer knit feel of the European Tour. “In Europe we more often stay in the same hotels and the set-up on the whole tour is a lot more together,” he said.

“Here everything-from traveling to how you live and where you stay during tournaments-is more spread out.

It is very different.” Having firmly established himself in the world’s top 50, Karlsson is able to compete in the minimum 15 events required to retain his PGA Tour card, plus the minimum 13 to maintain his playing status in Europe.—Reuters

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PSG purchase to boost Qatar brand ahead of World Cup DOHA/ DUBAI: Qatar’s takeover of French soccer club Paris St Germain is aimed at cementing the gas exporter’s links with the sport and help prepare it for hosting the 2022 World Cup, whose award remains mired in controversy.

State-run Qatar Sports Investmentsestablished in 2005 by son of the Emir and heir to the Qatari throne Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani-has bought a 70 percent stake in PSG. This follows a Qatari purchase of Spanish side Malaga and Qatar’s record-breaking shirt sponsorship deal with European champions Barcelona. These amount to small change for Qatar, whose copious natural gas reserves have made it the world’s richest country per-capita.

“In terms of boosting the country ’s ‘brand recognition,’ football is second to none. Its immense popularity and saturated coverage on TV is worth a fortune,” said

David Roberts, deputy director of the Royal United Services Institute based in Doha.

The acquisition was partly to provide knowledge transfer ahead of the 2022 tournament, a source close to the deal said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“They’re buying expertise as much as anything,” said the source. “And very often these are property plays. You’ll find the premises around it are worth more than the actual club.” Parc des Princes, PSG’s home ground, lies in Paris’ upmarket sixteenth arrondissement near the Bois de Boulogne.

France built a new national stadium, Stade de France, for the 1998 World Cup. Qatar won the rights to host the 2022 event, but last week the head of Germany’s soccer federation called for soccer governing body FIFA to re-examine the award amid allegations Qatar had bought the event. The Gulf state has strenuously denied any wrong-doing.

PSG is viewed as a slumbering giant.

Unlike top English teams that can count on their stadiums being near-full every game, PSG’s supporters are more fickle, with attendances averaging 62 percent of the 47,400 capacity at Parc des Princes last season.

But as the only major football club in a capital city - in comparison to London’s five Premier League sides - its potential local audience is enormous, although PSG has long been dogged by hooliganism.

Fans are notorious for fighting, not only opposition supporters, but among themselves, with some supporter groups disbanded in 2010 after a fan died during clashes.

“Though PSG has not seen much success of late, were Qatar able to offer them the funds to keep their best players and buy new ones - especially in the French league which is typically more of a ‘selling’ league there is significant potential,” Roberts said.

England’s Premier League.

The sport sector has long been a target for Gulf sovereign funds. In 2008, an arm of Abu Dhabi’s sovereign fund bought English Premier League side Manchester City.

“It’s important for Qatar to show spectacular capability in hosting the World Cup,” said Sara Bazoobandi, analyst at Nomura International based in London.

“And with the region suffering from obesity and diabetes even amongst the younger generation, it has been the states’ policy to encourage sport in their home countries. Abu Dhabi clearly mentioned this as one of the Manchester City deal’s incentives. “Everybody back then thought it was an unnecessary move for Abu Dhabi. Now, as host of the World Cup, Qatar has many motivations to buy football clubs. I wouldn’t be surprised if they become active in other companies in the sector, even if they buy into Nike or Adidas.” —Reuters

PSG finished fourth in Ligue 1 this season, with coach Antoine Kombouare leading the team to their highest finish since 2004, but four points short of qualifying for the lucrative Champions League, Europe’s elite club competition.

Their squad for the recently concluded season featured a mix of young players and ageing greats such as former Real Madrid and Chelsea midfielder Claude Makelele and ex-Barcelona winger Ludovic Giuly.

The PSG move is not the tiny Gulf state’s first foray into sports-related acquisitions.

Last year, Qatari royal family member Sheik Abdullah Al Thani bought Spanish football club Malaga for 36 million euros ($51,43 million). Still, despite the controlling stakes in PSG and Malaga, Qatar has yet to enter Europe’s football elite. Few would bet on Malaga ending Barcelona and Real Madrid’s stranglehold on La Liga, while the French championship has little of the lustre of

Hernandez slams hat-trick, Mexico crush El Salvador

ARLINGTON: Cuba’s Carlos Domingo Francisco (2) looks for room against Costa Rica’s defender Bryan Oviedo (14) and midfielder Celso Borges (5) during the first half of Concacaf Gold Cup. —AP

Costa Rica hammer Cuba DALLAS: Costa Rica got the Gold Cup off to a goal-filled start on Sunday by hammering Cuba 5-0 at Cowboy Stadium with striker Marco Urena scoring twice.

Urena, in for the injured Bryan Ruiz in the Costa Rica attack, opening the scoring in the Group A encounter in the seventh minute with a smart, close range finish at the near post after good work down the left from Christian Bolanos.

Cuba went close to an equaliser just moments later when Alain Cervantes found Albert Gomez with a delightful pass but the striker lifted his shot over the bar.

That was the last chance of any real note from the Cubans, who, playing on the unfamiliar artificial surface, were outclassed by a Costa Rica side coached by the experienced Argentine Ricardo La Volpe.

The impressive Alvaro Saborio hit the post with a well-struck shot from the edge of the area before he got on the scoresheet four minutes before the break-latching on to a long ball from Bolanos and slotting past Odelin Molina in the Cuban goal.

Cuba’s discipline in defence fell apart though a minute after the restart when an unmarked Urena raced on to a long ball over the top and rounded Molina to make it 3-0.

Just a minute later and it was virtually

a carbon copy goal as the busy Heiner Mora this time found himself alone behind the Cuban back line and also rounded the keeper before slotting home.

It was one-way traffic from then on and Costa Rica did their goal difference no harm when Mora broke down the right and his cross to the back post was met by substitute Joe Campbell, who blasted the ball into the far corner.

“Obviously I am pleased with the result but there are still some things to work on,” said La Volpe. “We need to be more precise in certain areas,” said the former Mexico coach, who had been booed by Mexico fans in the stadium ahead of their team’s game against El Salvador.

Every time La Volpe’s face appeared on the giant screen at the stadium there were whistles and jeers but the coach, who was in charge of Mexico from 2002 to 2006, laughed off the abuse.

“If they are booing me, I’d hate to think what they would do to some of their other coaches,” he said. Cuba head coach Raul Gonzalez now has the unenviable task of preparing his team to face group favorites Mexico.

“We will have to work hard to get ourselves right emotionally for that game and these five goals certainly don’t help,” he said. —Reuters

Flamengo hold Corinthians SAO PAULO: Flamengo drew 1-1 with Corinthians in the Brazilian league on Sunday in a match that marked the farewell of Serbian playmaker Dejan Petkovic.

The 38-year-old Petkovic is retiring after spending nearly a decade with Rio de Janeiro’s most historic teams — Flamengo, Fluminense and Vasco da Gama. He hadn’t been in Flamengo’s starting lineup lately but was allowed to play the first half of Sunday’s match to commemorate his retirement.

Flamengo fans honored Petkovic by holding up cards that formed his name and the colors of Serbia’s flag — red, blue and white. All Flamengo players had the Petkovic’s name on the back of their jersey’s.

“I’m moved, all this is really wonderful,” Petkovic said. “It’s incredible everything that has been done for me.” Before the match, Flamengo president Patricia Amorim gave Petkovic a plaque honoring him for his time with the club.

In addition to playing for the three Rio teams, Petkovic also played for Brazilian sides Santos, Goias, Atletico Mineiro and Vitoria. He briefly played for Real Madrid, Sevilla and Racing Santander early in his career, and also had stints in clubs in China and Saudi Arabia. In the late 1990s, he played international football for the former Yugoslavia.

Despite the celebration on Sunday, Petkovic — who was not in the plans of Flamengo coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo this season — had a lackluster performance in the minutes he played at the Engenhao stadium, making passing mistakes and losing

possession several times.

Former Brazil star Ronaldinho also had a sub-par outing for Flamengo, although he nearly scored when his low shot from outside the area struck the post in the second half.

Corinthians, Brazil’s second most popular club behind Flamengo, opened the scoring with striker Willian in the 19th minute, and midfielder Renato scored the equalizer with a free kick in the 40th.

Corinthians was trying to win its third consecutive match. The only clubs who can still have a perfect start to the Brazilian league are Sao Paulo and Atletico Mineiro, which each have won twice and will meet on Wednesday to close out the third round.

Also Sunday, Coritiba routed Vasco 5-1 in Curitiba with midfielder Anderson Aquino scoring three firsthalf goals. Both teams played without regular starters because they will meet again in three days in the Brazilian Cup final. Vasco won the first leg 1-0 last week and can clinch the title with a draw on Wednesday, again at the Couto Pereira stadium in Curitiba.

Argentine playmaker Andres D’Alessandro and Argentine striker Fernando Cavenaghi scored a goal each to help Internacional defeat America 4-2 in Mato Grosso do Sul, while striker Junior Vicosa scored twice to give Gremio a 2-0 victory over recently promoted Bahia at Olimpico stadium in Porto Alegre.

Former Gremio for ward Borges scored twice in Santos’ 3-1 win over Avai at Vila Belmiro stadium. — AP

DALLAS: Javier Hernandez scored a hat-trick as a rampant Mexico crushed El Salvador 5-0 in front of 80,000 fans at Cowboys Stadium in their Gold Cup opener on Sunday.

After a goalless first half, the Mexicans scored four goals inside 12 minutes early in the second and sent out a clear message they will not surrender their Concacaf crown without a fight.

Hernandez’s goals were hardly among the classiest he will score but they were another reminder that the 23-year-old, who scored 20 goals in all competitions in his debut season for Manchester United, is becoming one of the sharpest poachers around.

It was also the perfect gift for the massive Mexican-American crowd that turned out to welcome ‘El Tri’ to Texas. “It’s unbelievable the support that we have from Mexicans who live here,” Hernandez told reporters.

“You can see it here - 80,000 people and most of them in green shirts and it means a lot to us. “The most important thing for me is the three points, I don’t care if I score, sometimes I won’t - the main thing is we won,” said the striker.

Hernandez and Mexico should have found their way on to the scoresheet in the first half but they looked hurried and anxious in front of goal, but once the first goal went in they never looked back.

Efrain Juarez got the breakthrough in the 55th minute with a slightly fortunate goal.

Giovani dos Santos broke down the right and slipped the ball into the path of Juarez whose shot came out off El Salvador goalkeeper Miguel Montes but ricocheted home off Suarez’s head.

Then Aldo De Nigris doubled the advantage with a bustling effort three minutes later, working past two defenders before firing home.

Hernandez headed home a cross from Andres Guardado to make it three and the striker, known as ‘Chicharito,’ delighted the massive Mexican support with a fourth in the 67th-albeit with a rather scuffed shot from close range. El Salvador’s defence was ripped

ARLINGTON: El Salvador’s attacker Rodolfo Zelaya (11) is tripped up by Mexico defender Francisco Rodriguez (2) during the second half of the Concacaf Gold Cup soccer match. —AP open far too easily and their coach Ruben Israel will have a tough job to get his team to bounce back for their next game in Group A against Costa Rica on Thursday.

In the final minute, Hernandez was brought down in the area by Marvin Gonzalez, who was sent off, and the little forward rose to convert the spot kick.

He did so with the coolest and cheekiest of chips, signing off with a clear signal of his confidence. Mexico coach Jose Manuel de la Torre

Klose to leave Bayern BERLIN: Striker Miroslav Klose will leave Bayern Munich after the two sides failed to agree on the duration of a contract extension, the club and player said yesterday.

“Negotiations led to no agreement and Klose’s contract running out on June 30, 2011 will not be extended,” Bayern said in a brief statement.

The 32-year-old Germany international, who has scored 24 goals in 98 league games for Bayern since joining in 2007 from Werder Bremen, had wanted a two-year closed deal, while the club offered him a one-plus-one year contract.

“I had four very good and successful years in Munich and I want to thank Bayern. Playing for this club was something special,” said the forward, who has been linked with a possible move to Spain.

During an injury-plagued season, Klose, who won the domestic 2008 and 2010 double with Bayern, lost his starting spot to eventual league top scorer Mario Gomez, and managed only one league goal.

He has been in fine form for the national team, scoring 61 goals in 109 appearances, and most recently played in their friendly win against Uruguay on May 29 where he picked up a rib injury that forced him to miss Germany’s Euro 2012 qualifiers this month. “We would have liked to extend but given the differences in the duration we could not agree,” said Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. —Reuters

SAO PAULO: Brazil’s retired striker Ronaldo receives a watch from Brazilian Soccer Confederation President Ricardo Teixeira (right) during a ceremony to honor Ronaldo. —AP

though seems determined to follow Hernandez’s club coach Alex Ferguson in trying to keep his young striker’s feet on the ground.

“He had the fortune to score three but as a result of team play. That’s what forwards are there to do,” he said.

Mexico face Cuba, who fell to a 5-0 defeat to Costa Rica earlier on Sunday, in Charlotte on Thursday with De la Torre likely to rotate his squad. —Reuters

Japan striker Lee vows fireworks against Cech YOKOHAMA: Japan striker Tadanari Lee promised some fireworks in today’s Kirin Cup winner-takes-all match against Czech Republic if he gets to play his first game for the Blue Samurai since January’s Asian Cup. Lee, whose superb extra-time volley gave Japan a 1-0 victory over Australia in the final in Qatar, is aiming to put one over Czech goalkeeper Petr Cech if selected in Yokohama.

“I’m a more aggressive player this season and hopefully I’ll do something to set the place alight like the goal at the Asian Cup,” he told reporters yesterday.

“My job is to score goals and that’s what strikers are judged on,” added the South Korean-born Lee who obtained Japanese citizenship in 2007.

“Last time it was (Australia goalkeeper Mark) Schwarzer. This time I want to stick one past Cech who is also a world-class keeper.” Lee looks set to get his chance with Japan coach Alberto Zaccheroni’s first-choice striker Ryoichi Maeda struggling with a heel problem.

“I won’t know until tomorrow if I’m starting,” said Lee whose explosive impact off the bench in the Asian Cup final was watched by millions across the continent.

Four goals in seven games for Hiroshima this season underline how he has matured since being viewed by many as a raw talent before the Asian Cup. “I’m ready,” said Lee. “I’ve been playing well in the J-League and I want to take this chance. I want to get on the scoresheet.”

Cech singled out Keisuke Honda as the main threat to the Czechs. “It’s tough to pick out one because they have several good players but if I had to name one it would have to be Honda,’ said the Chelsea keeper.

“That’s not just my opinion but everyone else on the Czech team,” he added of the bleach-blond midfielder who shot to fame by helping Japan reach the last 16

Tadanari Lee of the 2010 World Cup. Today’s game will be winner-takes-all in the three-nation Kirin Cup after Japan and the Czechs were held to 0-0 draws by Peru in the first two matches.

Cech said the visitors had unfinished business after being upset 1-0 by Japan in Prague the last time the teams played in 2004.

“They were preparing for the World Cup qualifiers then,” he recalled of a game where he was embarrassed by a wonder strike from Tatsuhiko Kubo.

“But I haven’t forgotten that defeat and I hope we can pay them back tomorrow.” Cech sought to play some subtle mind games by noting how Japan struggled to adapt to a new-look system against Peru. “Japan tried out a 3-4-3 and they clearly looked uncomfortable early on,” said Cech ahead of a game for which more than 71,000 tickets have been sold.

“They went to another formation in the end. I’m curious to see what they do.”

Zaccheroni said 3-4-3 was an experiment and Japan would revert to 4-2-3-1 when the World Cup qualifiers begin in September.

“We’re still getting to grips with the system,” said the Italian. “It still needs some getting used to but in the modern game you need to have options and adapt to be successful.” — Reuters

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Final fling for Germany BERNE: Germany’s players, exhausted according to coach Joachim Loew, must pick themselves up for one last fling as the marathon European season bows out with a whimper today.

The Germans, with six wins from six games in Group A, face their former coach Berti Vogts as they make the long trip to Azerbaijan for a Euro 2012 qualifier-probably the last thing they would have wanted at this stage of the campaign.

Germany are the only big guns in action on a night of six less than mouth-watering ties, the others involving teams playing, at best, for second spot in their respective groups.

Bosnia play their first home match since emerging from an international ban when they host Albania, Sweden entertain neighbours Finland and the Faroe Island take on Estonia.

San Marino will attempt to keep the score respectable at home to Hungary and Luxembourg will have similar ambitions when they visit Belarus.

UEFA president Michel Platini is a fervent believer in the right of small nations to face their more illustrious rivals but, once again, the lack of attractive matches casts the format of the Euro qualifiers in an unfavorable light. The nine group winners will go straight to Poland and Ukraine in 2012 along with the best runners-up. The other eight second-placed teams play off for four more places.

Barring a few northern countries which play through the summer, the European season officially began eleven months ago with the opening qualifying matches in the Champions League.

Following the quickest of breathers after Tuesday’s matches, it will all start again on June 28 with the first qualifying matches for next season’s Champions League, the draw taking place in Nyon eight days before that.

Germany’s players scarcely had a rest after the exertions of the World Cup in South Africa last year. Loew believes they been suffering a knock-on effect ever since and were at “the limit of their strength” after their 2-1 in Austria on Friday Already without Bastian Schweinsteiger and Miroslav Klose through injury before that match, he will also have to cope without midfielder Sami Khedira and Simon Rolfes.

Although Germany thumped Azerbaijan 6-1 earlier in the group and have scored 12 goals in three meetings with the former Soviet republic, Loew warned his runaway group leaders against complacency.

“I have full confidence that the players will get the job done. It will not be a joyride for us, Turkey were beaten there,” he said. The 1-0 win against Turkey gave Azerbaijan their only points in the group so far.

Bosnia’s relief at ending their suspension-imposed because the previous three-man presidency of the federation fell foul of FIFA statutes and lifted only last week —- could be short-lived if they fail to beat Albania in Group D. Thumped 3-0 in Romania on Friday, fifth-placed Bosnia have seven points, two behind second-placed Belarus who should comfortably win their match at home to Luxemburg. France are clear leaders with 13.

Sweden, second in Group E, cannot afford any slipups against Finland. They currently have 12 points, six behind leaders Netherlands who have won all six games, and three ahead of Hungary, who should comfortably see off tiny San Marino. Victory for Estonia in the Faroe Islands would take them into third spot in Group C, ahead of Serbia and only one point behind secondplaced Slovenia. — Reuters

Egypt’s hopes all but gone

JOHANNESBURG: Egypt’s hopes of defending its title at next year’s African Cup of Nations are all but gone after the seven-time continental champion was held to a damaging 0-0 draw at home by South Africa in qualifying on Sunday.

Egypt — which has won Africa’s top football tournament three times in a row — is now almost certain to fail to qualify for the first time in 33 years. Egypt remains bottom of its group, six points off leader South Africa with two games to go and with little chance of making Gabon and Equatorial Guinea in 2012 — even as one of the two best second-place teams.

Ivory Coast has qualified after a 6-2 win for Didier Drogba’s team away at Benin. Ivory Coast is the second country _ after surprise package Botswana — to claim one of the 14 finals places on offer in Africa’s 44-team qualifying competition. There were 14 games across the continent on Sunday as the competition passed the halfway mark.

A late equalizer by captain Joseph Yobo rescued a point for Nigeria in Ethiopia, Sudan won to keep the pressure on top-ranked African team Ghana, Libya was held to a surprise 1-1 draw by Comoros and under-pressure Tunisia beat Chad 5-0 to revive its campaign.

A desperate Egypt’s Group G fixture with South Africa was moved to a military stadium in Cairo because of the threat of crowd trouble, due to the African champion’s disastrous form and recent sectarian violence in the city.

In a tense match with few clear-cut chances, South Africa defended for long spells to claim a valuable point for their own hopes — leaving Egypt still winless and on the brink of a shock elimination.

The Pharaohs last failed to qualify for the African championship in 1978 and have dominated the tournament over the past five years.

Egypt coach Hassan Shehata did not attend the official post-match press conference,

Ivory Coast qualifies increasing speculation the 2006, 2008 and 2010 Cup of Nations-winning coach will leave his job after seven years in charge.

South Africa — which played without injured captain and playmaker Steven Pienaar — leads the group by two points from Niger.

“I’m happy with this result because we drew with the champions of Africa in Cairo,” South Africa coach Pitso Mosimane said.

Four days after a surprise 4-1 win over Argentina — which is being investigated by FIFA for match-fixing links — Nigeria needed Yobo’s late goal to rally to a 2-2 draw away at

CAIRO: South Africa’s goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune saves the ball in front of Egypt’s Ahmed Al Muhammadi during their Group G African Cup of Nations qualifier soccer match. — AP

Fergie won’t let United lose appetite for success LONDON: Sir Alex Ferguson insists there is no chance he will lose his appetite for success despite leading Manchester United to a recordbreaking 19th league title.

United’s latest Premier League triumph lifted Ferguson’s men above Liverpool in the list of all-time English champions and the Scot took great pride in such an historic achievement.

However, Ferguson is well aware United will face a stern threat to their supremacy from bigspending Manchester City next season as well as revitalised Liverpool and long-standing rivals Chelsea and Arsenal.

“There’s a responsibility as the manager of Manchester United. It doesn’t go away,” he told Inside United. “I’m not going to take it easy because we won the title. Hopefully we’ll be better next season. The only thing you can do at this club is win - that’s all that matters.

“We have to carry on, there’s nothing else you can do. We have a responsibility and expectation to live up to and that carries on next season.

“As I’ve always said, Manchester United should accept a challenge. We’re good at that and, next season, we’ll accept anything that

comes our way.” Ferguson admitted the 19th title was special as it cemented United’s position as English football’s most successful club and provided the perfect answer to critics who dismissed his team throughout the season. “It’s a great feat winning this league. It was Liverpool’s time in the 80s, it’s our time now,” he said.

“This was a particularly special one because it means we’ve won the title more than anyone in the country. It’s history and it’s great for the tradition of this club.

“The players have been great, I think they deserved it because there were a lot of great performances. I’m dismissing all that nonsense that it’s not a great Manchester United team.”

Ferguson also described United’s Champions League conquerors Barcelona as the best side he has ever played. United were beaten 3-1 by Barca at Wembley last month and Ferguson added: “They are at a tremendous peak in the cycle of their team - you get teams who elevate themselves to that status and I think Barcelona are that team. We were well beaten.” — AFP

England set up chance to force Test victory LONDON: England captured the final seven Sri Lanka first-innings wickets for 107 runs in the second test at Lord’s yesterday to give themselves an opportunity to take a 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

Sri Lanka, comfortably positioned at 372 for three at the start of the fourth day, succumbed for 479 in reply to England’s 486 after the opening session had been washed out.

England lost captain Andrew Strauss for a second-ball duck but Alastair Cook (61 not out) and Jonathan Trott (58) added 117 for the second wicket from 116 balls to restore their team’s fortunes.

At the close of a prolonged day, England were 149 for two in their second innings, an overall lead of 156, with 98 overs scheduled for today’s final day.

Steven Finn and Graeme Swann took seven wickets between them after play began following a frustrating Sunday in which 50.4 overs were lost to rain.

The England fast bowlers had been criticised by bowling coach David Saker for their lack of accuracy and they still strayed down the leg-side with 25 byes and 23 leg-byes included among the extras.

They were able, though, to extract life and lift from the rain-freshened pitch with Finn proving the most successful with four for 108.

Swann had never been allowed to settle on Sunday as Tillakaratne Dilshan used his feet repeatedly to negate the off-spinner’s threat during an heroic captain’s innings of 193.

Swann bounced back against the Sri Lankan tailenders, however, capturing three wickets from 16 balls to wrap up the innings with figures of three for 101.

Mahela Jayawardene, who had scored centuries in both his previous tests at Lord’s, was the first batsman to fall, caught in the slips off Finn one short of his fifty.

His namesake Prasanna Jayawardene contributed a sprightly 40 including five boundaries and a

swept six off Swann, adding 57 for the seventh wicket with Rangana Herath.

The other wickets fell quickly, giving England a narrow lead, which

Strauss was unable to extend. Strauss, lbw to Welegedara in the first innings for four, was even less successful this time. He was rapped on the back pad

LONDON: England’s Kevin Pietersen (right) drives a ball from Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath during the 4th day of the second Test match at Lord’s cricket ground. — AP

in front of the stumps and an unsuccessful referral only confirmed that he was palpably out.

Trott played with great assurance, clipping the ball firmly through midon and bringing up his half-century from 66 balls with his eighth boundary, a handsome backfoot drive through the covers.

He fell victim to a Herath speciality when the left-arm spinner jagged a ball late with the arm to knock back his leg stump.

Trott’s dismissal brought Kevin Pietersen to the crease accompanied by his well-documented recent problems against orthodox left-arm spin.

Pietersen, who fell to Herath for three in the first test in Cardiff, was cheered loudly by the sprinkling of spectators as he safely negotiated the first two balls. He raised an even bigger cheer when he on-drove his 13th ball from the spinner firmly to the boundary. Cook was beaten several times outside the off-stump but was otherwise unperturbed, bringing up his half-century with his sixth boundary. — Reuters

SCOREBOARD LONDON: Scoreboard at stumps on the fourth day of the second Test between England and Sri Lanka at Lord’s here on yesterday: England 1st Innings 486 (M Prior 126, A Cook 96, E Morgan 79, S Broad 54, I Bell 52; C Welegedara 4-122, S Lakmal 3-126) Sri Lanka 1st Innings (overnight: 372-3) T. Paranavitana c Strauss b Finn 65 T. Dilshan b Finn 193 K. Sangakkara c Prior b Tremlett 26 M. Jayawardene c Cook b Finn 49 T. Samaraweera c Prior b Tremlett 9 P. Jayawardene c Swann b Finn 40 F. Maharoof lbw b Broad 2 R. Herath st Prior b Swann 26 D. Fernando c Strauss b Swann 5 S. Lakmal not out 0 C. Welegedara c Broad b Swann 6 Extras (b25, lb23, w8, nb2) 58 Total (all out, 131.4 overs, 601 mins) 479 Fall of wickets: 1-207 (Paranavitana), 2-288 (Sangakkara), 3-370 (Dilshan), 4-394 (M Jayawardene), 5-394 (Samaraweera), 6-409 (Maharoof ), 7-466 (Herath),

Ethiopia in Group B. Despite first-half dominance from Ethiopia — under Belgian coach Tom Santfiet for the first time — Ikechukwu Uche put Nigeria ahead in the 26th minute.

A double by Saladin Said then had the home team leading before Yobo rescued a point for Nigeria, which had played two games in five days and looked fatigued after arriving in Addis Ababa at 2 a.m. on the day of the match. “We didn’t play like we were supposed to,” Nigeria coach Samson Sia said.

“We made too many mistakes.” Nigeria trails

8-472 (P Jayawardene), 9-472 (Fernando), 10-479 (Welegedara) Bowling: Broad 32-5-125-1; Tremlett 30-8-85-2 (1nb); Finn 33-8-108-4 (1nb, 8w); Swann 32.4-5-101-3; Pietersen 4-012-0.

England 2nd Innings A. Strauss lbw b Welegedara 0 A. Cook not out 61 J. Trott b Herath 58 K. Pietersen not out 15 Extras (lb5, w1, nb9) 15 Total (2 wkts, 41 overs, 186 mins) 149 To bat: I Bell, E Morgan, M Prior, S Broad, G Swann, C Tremlett, S Finn Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Strauss), 2-117 (Trott) Bowling: Welegedara 7-1-25-1 (1nb); Lakmal 8-0-31-0 (3nb, 1w); Maharoof 7-0-24-0 (2nb); Fernando 11-1-47-0 (3nb); Herath 8-1-17-1.

Match position: England lead by 156 runs with eight second innings wickets standing.

group leader Guinea by three points after the Guineans beat Madagascar 4-1 at home.

Drogba and Gervinho both scored twice as Ivory Coast improved its perfect record to four wins in four matches to seal its place at the next Cup of Nations.

Ivory Coast raced 3-0 ahead in Benin inside 30 minutes through Didier Ya Konan, Drogba and Gervinho. Benin staged a brief second-half fightback, pulling back to 3-2, but the Ivorians were too strong. Burundi’s victory over Rwanda in the other Group H fixture meant Ivory Coast can’t be caught at the top.

Botswana — which had already qualified — drew 0-0 at home with Malawi and Tunisia’s comprehensive home win over Chad pushes the Tunisians ahead of Malawi on goal difference in a tight race for the second qualifying place in the five-team Group K. Issam Jemaa hit a hattrick for 2004 African Cup winner Tunisia to inspire victory.

Libya missed the chance to reclaim top spot in Group C when it drew with Comoros and Mali fell to a 2-1 defeat against Group A opponent Zimbabwe in a dramatic finish. The Zimbabweans were awarded a last-minute penalty in Harare, which sparked a mass brawl and red card for Mali’s Mahamadou Diarra.

Knowledge Musona scored with a retaken spot-kick and Zimbabwe stole victory in a match it had to win to keep its hopes alive.

Elsewhere, Congo won in Mauritius, Sudan edged Swaziland 2-1 to join Ghana at the top of Group I and Angola beat Kenya 1-0.

Central African Republic surprised Tanzania 2-1 in an extra-tight Group D, where Morocco leads on goal difference after its 4-0 hammering of Algeria — one of six games on Saturday.

But Central African Republic — which is ranked 113 in the world and has never been to the Cup of Nations — is just behind after a fairytale qualifying run which has also included a win over World Cup finalist Algeria. — AP

Rafa and Roger are back in the game, says Federer PARIS: One of her twin girls in one arm and a glass of champagne in the other hand, Roger Federer’s wife Mirka looked far from dejected after her husband once again came up short against Rafa Nadal in a French Open final on Sunday. And for very good reason.

While Swiss maestro Federer was unable to prevent world number one Nadal claiming a record-equalling sixth French Open, his performances this year at Roland Garros suggest he can add to his 16 grand slam titles.

What is more, the Roger-Rafa rivalry, one of the greatest the sport has seen, looks set for a few more skirmishes after both began the year looking vulnerable.

Spanish clay king Nadal has now beaten Federer in four French Open finals but he was given a real scrap before getting his hands on the Coupe des Mousquetaires on Sunday.

Had it not been for a few tight shots here and there, it could have been Federer celebrating.

Federer’s astounding semi-final victory over Novak Djokovic on Friday, snapping the Serb’s incredible 41-match winning streak this season, silenced the doubters who assumed the 29-year-old could no longer threaten the world’s top two. There were also phases of play against Nadal when he looked back to his best-as he predicted.

“I told people that we should wait six

months after the Australian Open when people thought Rafa and me were done,” Federer told a news conference after losing 7-5 7-6 57 6-1 on Court Philippe Chatrier.

“It’s unfortunate that it goes so quickly at times. Now we’re back in the finals and now it’s different talk again. I don’t even go there, because I knew it wasn’t the case.”

Nadal and Federer had not faced each other in a grand slam final since the Spaniard won the 2009 Australian Open in five sets.

Nadal had not won a major since last year’s U.S. Open, while Federer’s last grand slam triumph was at the 2010 Australian Open.

The world number three barely seemed to care. “I’ve been confident for almost a year now. I think I lost some confidence maybe through the French Open and Wimbledon last year but I was in the finals of (the Wimbledon warm-up event in) Halle as well in this period, so I didn’t feel like I was running after confidence,” said Federer, whose priority was to get back into a grand slam final. “It was just important to get to another grand slam final, keep on playing well,” he explained. “I’m feeling better physically than I have in a long time, so that’s been very positive. Also, after this sort of tough weekend I feel really good, so that’s been positive, too.—Reuters

PARIS: Sweden’s Bjorn Borg (left) is shown during a tennis match at the French Open at Roland Garros stadium in Paris on June 8, 1980. (At right) Spain’s Rafael Nadal returns the ball to Switzerland’s Roger Federer, June 5, 2011 in the men’s final of the French Open tennis tournament in Paris. — AP

Kirsten to coach South Africa JOHANNESBURG: Gary Kirsten was named South Africa’s new cricket coach yesterday, agreeing a two-year contract to lead his country of birth just two months after taking India to the World Cup title.

The 43-year-old Kirsten, a former opening batsman who played 101 tests and 185 one-day internationals in an 11-year career with South Africa, takes over from interim coach Corrie van Zyl _ who left the role following the Proteas’ dismal World Cup failure. Former South Africa fast bowler Allan Donald was appointed as the team’s new bowling coach.

National body Cricket South Africa said wicketkeeper-batsman AB de Villiers would be the team’s new captain in one-day internationals after Graeme Smith stepped down following the World Cup. De Villiers will also captain the Twenty20 team, while Smith retains the test captaincy.

Opening batsman Hashim Amla is South Africa’s new vice-captain in limited overs cricket, as CSA announced a major shake-up of its personnel after South Africa again underperformed at the World Cup. The Proteas entered the tournament as one of the favorites, only to

crash out to New Zealand in the quarterfinals.

Kirsten’s appointment was a poorly kept secret after he left India following their World Cup triumph in April, saying he wanted to return home and spend more time with his family.

He enjoyed great success in charge of India’s all-star team, leading it to the No. 1 ranking in tests as well as the World Cup title in his last match in charge.

CSA chief executive Gerald Majola and Kirsten both acknowledged the process to appoint him — which lasted months — had been drawn-out, but Majola explained it was because the body wanted to make sure it got the right man. CSA was determined to employ Kirsten, who, it was rumored, did not initially apply for the job. Kirsten was one of 10 eventual candidates, Majola said. He did not reveal names of any of the unsuccessful applicants.

Kirsten begins work on August 1, with his first series in charge against visiting Australia in October.

“I am delighted by the appointment,” Kirsten said. “It is a major honor to be offered this position. I am really looking forward to it.—AP

Mexico crush El Salvador

Lincicome bags Classic

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Kirsten to coach South Africa cricket team

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DALLAS: Mavericks’ Dirk Nowitzki and Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade (3) go after a rebound during Game 3 of the NBA Finals basketball game. —AP

Heat stifle Mavs to take series lead DALLAS: Chris Bosh sank the go-ahead jumper with 39.6 seconds left and Miami finally managed to contain Dirk Nowitzki in the closing seconds as the Heat held on for an 88-86 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday for a 2-1 lead in the NBA finals.

“This is a total win,” said Dwayne Wade, who led Miami with 29 points and 11 rebounds. “You want to win the game on the defensive end of the floor and we got a stop.” Recent history suggests this was a huge win for the Heat. The Game 3 winner in tied finals series has gone on to win the championship all 11 times since the 2-3-2 format began in 1985.

The Heat are headed into Game 4 today with a chance to do what they did in 2006: win it all on Dallas’ floor. They’ll need to win that game and the next, on Thursday. “I feel like we did nothing but

get home-court advantage back,” Wade said. “But the next game is a big game.

We have to bring our hard hats, understanding it’s going to be tougher to win that game than it was to win this one. I believe in this team. If anyone can do it, I believe we can.” The Hea, who blew a 15point lead in the last quarter of Game 2, and nearly did it again Sunday, coughing up a 14-point lead.

The Heat led 81-74 with 6:31 left.

Miami players knew the Mavericks’ comeback bid would be in Nowitzki’s hands, but they still couldn’t stop the German, who scored 12 straight Dallas points — six free throws, a layup, a dunk and a tough jumper — to make it 86-86.

Miami went back in front when Bosh sank a clutch jumper from the baseline.

It was even more impressive considering his left eyelid was swollen because of an

accidental poke in the first quarter, and he’d been misfiring all series, even when his vision was good.

“I don’t care if he missed 15 in a row,” James said. “He was wide open and that’s his sweet spot. ... It’s the trust we have in each other’s ability, no matter what the point of the game is at.” The Mavericks of course went back to Nowitzki on its last two chances.

Right after Bosh scored, Nowitzki wanted to take a shot near the foul line but was double teamed and his attempted pass went out of bounds.

After the final timeout, Dallas had 4.4 seconds left to go for the tie or win.

The inbounds pass went to Nowitzki and he was alone against Udonis Haslem just above the foul line. Haslem walked the fine line between disrupting the shot while avoiding a foul, and the

German’s shot bounced off the rim.

“He’s a great player, 7 feet, so he’s going to shoot over me,” Haslem said.

“I’ve got to make it tough on him.” When the buzzer went off, Haslem screamed in delight as the Dallas crowd groaned.

“Emotional game, fought back, and to fall short at the end is tough,” said Nowitzki who scored 34 points. “But they need two more. Hopefully we can play a better all-around game and finally get some shots to go down.” Wade made 12 of 21 shots and was at his dynamic best from the start, looking like the guy who lifted the Heat past Dallas and to the title in ‘06. “He was aggressive and took good shots,” Bosh said. “We rode the wave for a little while. He set the tone for us.” Most of his baskets came in the paint — where the Heat outscored the Mavs, 4022 — and many of them were spectacu-

FIFA rejects Iran protest over Islamic scarf ban GENEVA: Iran’s women’s team was correctly prevented from playing a 2012 Olympics qualifier wearing Islamic head scarves, FIFA said yesterday.

Iranian officials were “informed thoroughly” before Friday’s match against Jordan that the hijab scarf is banned for safety reasons, football’s governing body said.

“Despite initial assurances that the Iranian delegation understood this, the players came out wearing the hijab, and the head and neck totally covered, which was an infringement of the laws of the game,” FIFA said in a statement.

FIFA banned the hijab in 2007 and this year extended the safety rule to include neck warmers, which were also judged a threat to cause a choking injury. Football’s rules also prohibit religious statements in team uniforms.

Iran’s football assocation has said it will complain about the FIFA delegate from Bahrain who ordered the match abandoned, and the decision to award Jordan a 3-0 victory. “I will file a complaint to FIFA against the individual in charge of holding the match,” Ali Kaffashian, the Iranian Football Federation

president, said Saturday in comments reported by the Fars news agency.

Jordan team officials also objected to the hijab rule before the game, but prepared to play by declining to select women who objected on religious grounds.

“The Iranian team and three Jordanian players were also banned from playing because they wore the tradi- AMMAN: A picture dated June 3, 2011 shows players of the Iranian national women foottional head cov- ball team enter the stadium in Amman, moments before they were barred from playing er,” Rana Husseini, an Olympic qualifier against Jordan for wearing the traditional Islamic headscarf. —AFP head of Jordan’s FIFA addressed the problem at match against Vietnam on Sunday women’s football committee, told the 2010 Youth Olympics when as part of a round-robin group playThe Associated Press.

“The problem is that the head Iran’s girls protected their modesty ing in Amman, Jordan, which also cover assigned and approved by by covering their hair with specially includes Thailand and Uzbekistan.

FIFA for women players to wear designed caps. Husseini said The winner enters a final group does not suit them as it reveals part Jordan’s Prince Ali, who joined with Asia’s five highest-ranked of the neck and this is not allowed FIFA’s executive committee last teams to decide which two counweek, would seek talks to resolve tries advance to the London and it is not acceptable,” she said. the issue. Iran also forfeited its Games.—AP

lar. But he also stemmed Dallas’ rally by hitting a go-ahead jumper over Kidd for Miami’s second-to-last basket, and he made sure to keep his teammates properly focused, offering praise or scolding when needed. When James was duped into a shot-clock violation in the final minutes, Wade pounded his fists on his head in frustration.

“I’ve been here before,” Wade said. “So (I was) just trying to lead. My guys did a great job of following that lead. We were able to come out with the win.” Wade and Bosh each scored seven points in the fourth quarter. Bosh finished with 18 points. LeBron James finished with 17 points and nine assists. He also had four turnovers, including a pair during the fourth quarter — not counting the shotclock violation — that helped bring Dallas back. Nowitzki scored 15 points in

the fourth quarter, but didn’t get much help, in the period or the rest of the game. Terry scored 15 and Shawn Marion had 10. Both were shut out in the fourth quarter. The only other scorers were backup point guard J.J. Barea early in the quarter and Tyson Chandler dunking off a rebound. For the game, Nowitzki made 11 shots, the rest of the Mavericks 17. “We have to have somebody step up besides Dirk,” said Jason Kidd, who had nine points and 10 assists, but also four turnovers. Giveaways haunted Dallas throughout the game, especially the first half, helping keep Miami comfortably ahead. “We have to figure out how to get up front and play up front. The big thing is we’ve got to be able to make plays late in the game.

Game 2 we made the plays, Game 3 we just didn’t.” —AP

Lu into second round, Federer to face Hewitt HALLE: Taiwan’s Yen-Hsun Lu booked his place in the second round of Halle’s ATP tournament with a 7-6 (7/2), 6-3 win over Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen yesterday. Lu, who reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon last year, finally got into his stride in the second set but admitted the transition from clay to grass is no easy task. “It was a tough match to start the grass-court season, I know Jarkko is very good on grass,” said Lu, who upset Andy Roddick to reach the last eight at Wimbledon last year. “ We were both trying to find a rhythm and get a feel for the grass. “It was a high quality match and I am glad I won, there are lots of positives to take.

“It’s not easy to switch from clay to grass, there is a lot of difference. “You are using different muscles, the ball is a lot lower. “I have had two days practice, I still have two more weeks (until Wimbledon), so there is plenty of time to get ready.” Lu will play a German in the second round and faces either wildcard Dustin Brown or sixth-seed Florian Mayer. “For sure, they will want to do well at home and they will have the crowd behind them,” said Lu. “It will help them, but I can’t care about that, I have to focus on my game and not lose my concentration.”

French Open finalist Roger Federer is

scheduled to face Australia’s former world number one Lleyton Hewitt in the first round later in the week.

Top-seed Federer, who lost out to long-time rival Spain’s Rafael Nadal in Sunday’s final at Roland Garros, has the chance to avenge his defeat to Hewitt in last year’s final. Seventh-seed Alexandr Dolgopolov of the Ukraine is into the second round after he recovered from losing the first set tie-breaker to beat Holland’s Robin Haase 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 6-4.

Local favourite Philipp Kohlschreiber is also through after grinding out a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 win over Cedrik-Marcel Stebe in just over two-hours.

In the days other results, Germany’s Tobias Kamke progressed to the second round after compatriot Julian Reister retired injured in the first set.

Russia’s Igor Andreev enjoyed a straight sets win over Potito Starace of Italy, while qualifier Jan Hernych of the Czech Republic made the second round with a hard-fought win in three sets against Sergiy Stakhovsky of the Ukraine. Fourth-seed Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, who had been due to face Philipp Petzschner of Germany, has pulled out after suffering a foot injury and has been replaced in the draw by lucky loser Dominik Meffert of Germany.—AFP

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Page 23 ATHENS: Demonstrators shout slogans during a peaceful rally outside the Greek Parliament. — AP

Greece starts austerity push as nation seethes 80,000 Greeks vent anger at dire state of the nation ATHENS: Greek Prime M inister George Papandreou started a campaign yesterday to secure a new international bailout by imposing years of austerity on a nation already seething over corruption and economic mismanagement. Unease is growing within Papandreou’s ranks about the consequences of waves of budget cuts demanded under successive deals with the European Union and IMF-and this could turn into alarm af ter at least 80,000 Greeks crammed a central Athens square to vent their anger over the nation’s dire state.

As the government struggles to prevent Greece from defaulting on its debt, the Socialist cabinet began discussing the medium-term economic plan which will impose 6.4 bil-

lion euros of extra savings this year alone. This is the first stage of a drive to turn the plan, agreed on Friday with the EU and IMF as the price of a new financial rescue, into law despite signs of dissent in the ruling party.

Papandreou will present the plan to the political council of his PASOK par ty today, before the cabinet clears it the following day and sends it to parliament. Greece’s international lenders say the new bailout package, which would replace a 110 billion euro deal agreed only a year ago, depends on Athens keeping to its promises for further austerity and accelerated privatizations.

Germany’s Deutsche Telekom said it would buy an extra 10 percent of Greece’s OTE telecom company from

the state for about 400 million euros, tak ing its stake to 40 percent.

However, this did not amount to a new privatization as the sale was made under a deal struck in 2008.

In Berlin, a German government spokesman said Chancellor Angela Merkel backed plans for private creditors to share in the burden of covering Greece’s funding. However, acting IMF chief John Lipsky made clear the latest plan to help Greece did not envisage any debt restructuring.

Greece’s funding needs still had to be confirmed, he told reporters in London but added that new package “does not contemplate debt restructuring”.

The European Central Bank opposes any attempt to cut the overall value of creditors’ bond holdings,

known as a haircut. It fears that any failure to repay creditors in full would provoke a crisis at weaker banks with big Greek debt holdings, leading to a violent reac tion on global financial markets. German and French banks held over two thirds of Greek government bonds in international lenders’ hands at the end of last year, bank lending data showed yesterday.

While officials are playing down the chances of a default, creditors may be asked to buy new Greek bonds when old ones mature, to avoid Athens having to produce more money up front. ECB policymaker Juergen Stark gave his cautious backing last week for a debt rollover, provided that it was not perceived as a default. Papandreou is

under huge pressure from voters who are suffering under pay and pension cuts, and soaring unemployment. Under Greece’s austerity policies, unemployment has already hit 15.9 percent of the workforce and the medium-term plan aims for a further 22 billion euros in budget steps in 2012-15. On Sunday night, people crammed into the capital’s Syntagma Square to show they are close to the limit of their endurance. Police put the turnout at 80,000, the biggest in a series of 12 nightly rallies inspired

by Spain’s protest movement.

Greece’s first, 110 billion-euro, bailout assumed that it could resume borrowing commercially early next year. This now appears inconceivable, meaning a new package is vital. Papandreou has used his parlia-

Oil less than $115 on demand worries

Kuwait’s KGL to spend $1bn on Egyptian port

Saudi, Iran expected to clash at OPEC meeting LONDON: Brent crude slipped toward $115 a barrel yesterday as concern about demand ahead of a key OPEC meeting later this week weighed on the market.

Signs that high prices are destroying demand in the West, confirmed by the worst US jobs report since September, are worrying a group of OPEC’s core members led by Saudi Arabia. They will push for a rise in output to reduce prices and support economic growth but are expected to meet opposition from Iran and Venezuela.

“There is no need to increase OPEC production in the 159th meeting of this organisation,” said Iran’s OPEC governor, Mohammad Ali Khatibi, according to reports citing the Oil Ministry website SHANA. Brent crude was down $1.09 at $114.75 at 0926 GMT, while US crude fell 95 cents at $99.27 a barrel.

“Think the job report from Friday is still to be digested by the market. It lowered the probability of rate hikes in the US and the outlook for growth,” said Thorbjoern Bak Jensen, oil market analyst at A/S Global Risk. “Oil should get support from the direction in the EUR/USD, but we have an OPEC meeting coming up and a lower growth outlook,” he added.

The dollar was down 0.04 percent as

firmer hopes of a new bailout for Greece and a convincing victory by Portugal’s centre-right PSD party ended months of uncertainty in debt-stricken country supported the euro. Deliveries to the US oil hub of Cushing via TransCanada Corp’s 591,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Keystone pipeline restarted, one week after being shut by a leak at a Kansas pumping station.

A violent weekend in the Middle East could provide a floor to prices by reviving worries about clashes spreading to the world’s largest oil and gas producers and disrupting global supplies. Syria said 23 people were killed in Sunday’s protest near the Golan Heights after Israeli troops fired at Palestinian demonstrators marching to the frontier fence.

But protests against Syria’s own president Bashar Al-Assad were also bloody as the nation’s forces shot 31 people dead during demonstrations in a crackdown that has killed at least 1,100 people over the past two months. And an absent president in Yemen was celebrated by protestors in the streets of Sanaa, who interpreted his absence as a sign he was losing his grip on the country. President Ali Abdullah Saleh was in Saudi Arabia recovering from an operation to remove shrapnel from his chest. — Reuters

mentary majority to ram through successive rounds of austerity. But faced with the popular anger, some PASOK lawmakers are becoming uneasy. A group of 16 wrote to the prime minister last week demanding a full party debate on the mediumterm plan as “a matter of patriotism and democracy”.

Interior minister Yannis Ragousis warned that rocking the boat could lead to early elec tions. Opinion polls suggest this would produce a political stalemate, raising the risk that the new bailout deal with the EU and IMF might unravel. “Anyone who drives the nation towards elections now will be effectively giving it the las t pu s h over the cliff,” Ragousis told Sunday’s edition of the Realnews newspaper. —Reuters

TOKYO: Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Co’s LEAF NISMO RC, purpose-built racing car based on its allelectric LEAF, runs during a demonstration run at Sodegaura Forest Raceway yesterday. — AP

Kuwait’s IFA Hotels gets $240m funding DUBAI: Kuwait-based IFA Hotels and Resorts said yesterday that a consortium led by the company has secured financing worth $240 million to acquire YOTEL New York property from its developer. The financing of YOTEL was led by USbased private investment firms Atrium Holding Co with co-funding from private equity firm

Centerbridge Partners, the company said in a statement. The acquisition of the property from the developer Related Co happened simultaneously with the financing - bringing the total value of the transaction to $315 million.

The YOTEL in Manhattan New York, which opened to guests on

June 3, is the fourth of the hotel chain af ter opening s at Heathrow, Gatwick and Schiphol airpor ts. I FA is the ma jorit y s ha reholder in YOT EL. I FA annou nced in December las t year that it secured $115 million in fu nding to complete its Fairmont Palm Jumeirah hotel project in Dubai. — Reuters

KUWAIT: Kuwaiti logistics firm KGL plans to spend $1 billion on Egypt’s Domiat Port once work resumes in the halted project, KGL’s chairman said in published remarks yesterday.

“The company till now spend $260 million on Domiat’s project and expenditure is expected to reach $1 billion,” Arabic daily al-Qabas quoted Saed AlDashti saying.

Al-Dashti said KGL is in talks with the Egyptian government to resume work, adding that he will meet with Prime Minister Essam Sharaf to resolve pending issues. The chairman said that KGL, also known as Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport, has intentions to expand its current $200 million investments in Sudan through projects in marine and railway transports. In May, KGL said one of its unit won a $870 million logistics contract with the US Army along with three other companies. The five years contract will star t in September 2011. KGL shares rose 1.4 percent on Kuwaiti bourse at 0800 GMT. —Reuters

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Bahrain refinery boost to cost $5-6bn

Albisher & Alkazemi Co launches campaign

Bahrain eyes replacing pipeline to Saudi DUBAI: Plans to boost refining capacity of small oil producer Bahrain by almost 50 percent are projected to cost up to $6 billion, the country’s top oil official was quoted as saying yesterday. “If the second phase of the refinery’s upgrade is completed, the number of high-value oil derivatives would rise, which means more profitability and requires big investments of $5 billion to $6 billion,” AbdulHussain bin Ali Mirza said in an interview with Kuwait’s state news agency (KUNA).

Through this plan, non-OPEC producer

Bahrain is looking to boost its refining capacity to 400,000-500,000 barrels per day (bpd), from the current 267,000 bpd. This would be in line with a projection of increased crude flow as Bahrain aims to boost oil output to 100,000 bpd from the current 30,000 bpd.

Mirza did not give a timeframe for the upgrade but had said before that these were long-term plans.

The Gulf Arab state is also working with Saudi Arabia on a plan to replace and expand the old pipelines connecting the two coun-

tries by the end of 2014. The project is now in the final design phase and costs $350 million, said Mirza, who chairs Bahrain’s National Oil and Gas Authority (NOGA). The current capacity of the pipeline is 230,000 bpd.

Fuel demand in the Gulf region has been rising rapidly over the past years, prompting oil producers in the region to boost their capacity. Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, and Oman, a small non-OPEC producer, are among those with plans to increase refining capacity. — Reuters

Lulu Hypermarket distributes prizes to winners

KUWAIT: Abdul Rahman Albisher & Zaid Alkazemi Company, the Authorized General Distributor of Mercedes-Benz is conducting a special Summer Check campaign from May 15 to June 15 at all of its Service Centers in Kuwait.

Mercedes-Benz vehicle owners are welcome to bring in their cars for a comprehensive 16 point vehicle check related to summer season per formed by Mercedes-Benz trained specialists at a nominal charge of KD20.

In addition, Mercedes-Benz customers who come to our service center during this period, can benefit from 25 percent discount on parts related to the summer check offer as long as they get the work done at

the Mercedes-Benz Service Centre.

Mercedes-Benz owners can avail of the Special Summer Check by calling: Shuwaikh 1833111, Ext200/254, for Al-Rai 1833111, Ext-806 and for Ahmadi 23982111 to make an appointment.

“With the summer already around the corner and harsher driving conditions it is impor tant that Mercedes-Benz owners have their cars checked for their peace of mind and security ”, said Ralph Geyer, Service Manager, Abdul Rahman Albisher & Zaid Alkazemi Co. “We are happy to conduct this campaign in coordination with our parts department to ensure that our customers as well their vehicles are well taken care of”.

Gulf Bank introduces summer promotions KUWAIT: Gulf Bank yesterday launched a special campaign dedicated to helping all Gulf Bank’s credit card holders get more enjoyment out of their summer holidays.

As part of Gulf Bank’s commitment to provide outstanding promotions and offers to its customers, the summer campaign makes all credit card holders eligible to enter a draw and win a wide array of exciting prizes during their summer holidays. When travelling abroad, customers can earn up to 5% cash back on purchases made using their Gulf Bank credit card.

Customers also get the chance to win their month’s salary up to KD1,000, which will be added to their card account if they use their credit card 30 times or more between June 1 and August 31.

The draw for the prizes will take place on 15 September 2011, when five lucky winners will be chosen.

Roger Y Abboud, Assistant General Manager, Consumer Banking Group at Gulf Bank said: “Ever y KD will be

rewarded, we designed this campaign especially for our credit card customers, giving them the chance to win an exclusive range of exciting prizes.

During the summer holidays abroad and the Holy Month of Ramadan, many customers tend to use their credit cards a lot without any additional benefits.

This has led Gulf Bank to create this attractive summer promotion so that credit/charge card customers can benefit immediately from earning cash back on their international transactions and stand a chance to win their one month’s salary.” “Our customers are, and will remain, our top priority and with introducing the new summer promotion we are making sure their needs are being met,” he added.

To find out more about Gulf Bank’s latest promotions, customers can visit the bank’s bilingual website www.egulfbank.com. Customers can also visit one of Gulf Bank’s 54 branches or call the Customer Contact Center on 1805805 for assistance and guidance.

KUWAIT: Lulu Hypermarket, the largest retail and lifestyle shopping destination in Kuwait, distributed prizes for the special raffle-draw promotion that ran during their Food Festival 2011, at a colorful function held at their Al-Rai outlet on Saturday, June 4. The Food Festival, which was inaugurated on April 25 by Sheikh Ali Nasser Ali Al-Sabah, featured several exciting promotions including the raffle-draw promotion that continued till May 25.

For every KD3 spent at any of the Lulu Hypermarket branches during the raffledraw promotion, shoppers were able to get a chance to win attractive prizes.

During the prize distribution five lucky winners walked away with a Samsung Home set that included 32” LED TV, refrigerator, washing machine, microwave oven and home theatre.

Another ten prize winners received 16GB Apple iPads2, while ten more winners took home Samsung Galaxy Tabs. In addition, consolation prize gift vouchers worth KD50 each was distributed among another 100 winners.

The promotions, which ran simultaneously at the hypermarket’s Al-Rai and AlQurain outlets, witnessed an enthusiastic response from shoppers all over Kuwait eager to participate in the various competitions and celebrate great foods from around the world. An exciting event during the festival was the appearance of international celebrity chef, Sanjeev Kapoor of India, who unveiled his ‘Ready-to-Eat’ range of foods and provided live-demos of his culinary skills.

This year’s food festival was also distinctive in that the format of the cookery contest was elaborated to give many more participants a chance to showcase their

skills. Attractive prizes also awaited winners of the cookery contest mega finals.

Lulu Hypermarket extended warm congratulations to this year’s food festival winners and hoped they would continue to participate in the various promotions that run throughout the year and make shopping at Lulu Hypermarket an exciting event.

Besides displaying niche food products and seasonal food produce from several countries, the Lulu Food Festival was an annual celebration of the rich cultural, social and culinary diversity worldwide.

The food Festival 2011 was part of Lulu Hypermarket’s initiative to continuously bring the best of the world to their customers by providing the right products in the right place at the right time. Catering to over 420,000 customers ever y day across the region, the Lulu Hypermarket chain has grown to become the shopping center of choice among discerning customers looking for quality retailing.

This popularity is also attested by the fact that the brand enjoys close to 35 percent of the total retail market share in the GCC.

VIVA launches new SMS services KUWAIT: Kuwait Telecommunication company, VIVA is pleased to announce the launch of a new SMS notification service that is in full collaboration with the Ministry of Interior (MOI) for all Kuwait’s citizens and residents.

The new service allows citizens and residents of Kuwait to

receive SMS notifications and reminders on; vehicle registration expiration, an expired driver’s license, traffic fines and tickets, residency expiration, visa expiration, issuance of passports, new individual nationality papers and an election registration reminder.

VIVA is proud to be the first

telecom company to launch this new service in collaboration with the MOI, and it is considered as the first phase of its new joint-venture partnership with the Ministry. VIVA is keen to support the MOI’s vision of increasing the public awareness through introducing mobilized services allowing them to

receive updates on data and information.

In order to subscribe to this new service customers can text the keyword “E”, followed by a space, then the Civil ID number to 55250. Service charge will include a onetime payment of KD1, and will be charged 40 fils per SMS notification.

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

.2700000 .4460000 .3970000 .3240000 .2760000 .2910000 .0040000 .0020000 .0741170 .7221010 .3810000 .0700000 .7078880 .0040000 .0430000 CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES .2730000 .4484030 .3995360 .3269270 .2786280 .0535910 .0444440 .2932160 .0350990 .2220230 .0034000 .0000000 .0000000 .0000000 .0000000 .0743570 .7243300 .0000000 .0728190 .7092750 .0000000

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

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co.

Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar

ASIAN COUNTRIES 3.435 6.129 3.188 2.498 3.844 223.630 35.290

.2760000 .4560000 .4060000 .3350000 .2860000 .2990000 .0072500 .0035000 .0748620 .7293580 .4010000 .0770000 .7150020 .0072000 .0530000 .2751000 .4518520 .4026090 .3294410 .2807720 .0540040 .0447860 .2954710 .0353690 .2237310 .0034260 .0061680 .0025150 .0032140 .0037610 .0749290 .7299020 .3891090 .0733800 .7147310 .0063980

Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht Irani Riyal - Transfer Irani Riyal - Cash

3.694 6.351 9.070 0.271 0.273 GCC COUNTRIES 73.203 75.426 713.010 728.910 74.733

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 49.000 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 46.171 Yemen Riyal 1.256 Tunisian Dinar 203.110 Jordanian Dinar 387.650 Lebanese Lira 182.100 Syrian Lier 5.926 Morocco Dirham 36.248 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 274.400 Euro 403.090 Sterling Pound 452.100 Canadian dollar 281.440 Turkish lire 174.480 Swiss Franc 330.400 Australian dollar 294.730 US Dollar Buying 273.200

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

GOLD 285.000 145.000 74.500

Sterling Pound US Dollar

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

SELL CASH 298.000 729.400 3.970 283.600 538.700 14.100 54.200 167.800 48.370 405.500 35.980 6.280

SELL DRAFT 296.500 729.400 3.700 282.100

223.800 46.214 404.000 35.830 6.125

0.033

387.630 0.185 93.230 3.850 225.900

330.600 5.800 9.260 74.680 274.200

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 453.000 274.200

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

Selling Rate 274.150 284.930 451.655 404.585 329.240 725.581 74.617 75.280 73.076 387.259 46.167 2.497 6.122

Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit

3.199 3.703 6.343 672.461 3.511 9.134 5.980 3.911 90.161

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co. 712.190 3.210 6.360 75.440 73.230 223.840 43.660 2.495 453.000

GOLD 1,583.530

10 Tola 20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

0.033 0.238 0.240 3.510 388.960 0.186 93.230 47.300 4.300 227.400 1.860 52.200 712.370 3.300 6.540 75.870 73.230 223.840 43.660 2.638 455.000 45.200 332.100 5.800 9.440 198.263 74.780 274.600 1.230

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) 274.200 3.205 6.130 2.515 3.715 6.380 74.760 73.320 729.000 46.150 456.800 0.00003280 3.910 1.550 389.600 5.750 407.000 287.100

Al Mulla Exchange Currency Transfer Rate (Per 1000) US Dollar 273.850 Euro 403.800 Pound Sterling 452.800 Canadian Dollar 282.000 Japanese Yen 3.450 Indian Rupee 6.130 Egyptian Pound 46.165 Sri Lankan Rupee 2.497 Bangladesh Taka 3.680 Philippines Peso 6.345 Pakistan Rupee 3.188 Bahraini Dinar 729.300 UAE Dirham 74.650 Saudi Riyal 72.175 *Rates are subject to change

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business

Iran to send caretaker oil minister to OPEC Iran opposes OPEC supply increase

Salvatore Ferragamo opens its first store in Kuwait KUWAIT: In line with the development of the Group’s presence in the Gulf Region, Salvatore Ferragamo has opened its first flagship store in Kuwait. Located in the prestigious 360 Mall, the most exclusive shopping center in Kuwait City, the shop is dedicated to the men’s and women’s collections of the Maison and has a surface area of 160 square meters.

Designed according to the Salvatore Ferragamo store concept throughout the world, with furnishings, colours and structure of the spaces carefully measured to envelope visitors in an intimate, elegant lounge ambience, the new store offers a contemporary, out of the ordinary shopping experience. The sophisticated, restrained atmosphere is designed to enhance the products with plays of light artfully combined surfaces and geometric shapes. To enhance the creative atmosphere, the heritage and emotions that have always characterizedthe Ferragamo world, a “special event” has been organized on the occasion of the new opening. Directly from the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum in Florence, a selection of historical shoes made by Salvatore Ferragamo for the Stars of the Big Screen have been showed in the store.

Among the iconic shoes crafted by the

“Shoemakers of the stars” for his famous celebrities clients and contemporary models designed for today’s stars, the Kuwait store has featured the gold wedge sandal designed for Carmen Miranda in the Thirties; models created for Ava Gardner, Sophia Loren and Anna Magnani, the unique sandal studded with gems made for Maharani of Cooch Behar, the ultra flat ballerina symbol of Audrey Hepburn’s elegance and the sensual pumps worn by Marilyn Monroe. Showed also the latest models, such as the shoes made for Madonna for the movie “Evita”, Drew Barrymore for “A Cinderella Story”, the shoes worn by Nicole Kidman in “Australia” and the impeccable outfits for Angelina Jolie in “The Tourist” .

Zain Kuwait reaches 2 million customers KUWAIT: Zain Kuwait, the country’s leading mobile network provider, announced it had reached 2 million pre and postpaid customers, all of whom are enjoying the very latest in mobile telecom products and services. It is a landmark that demonstrates Zain’s commitment to ongoing excellence, customer service and leadership.

“Before congratulating ourselves on this achievement, we must also congratulate our customers and partners,” said Zain Kuwait CEO, Khaled Sulaiman AlOmar. “We have both created this success over the years.”

Al-Omar added that mobile telecommunications has become one of the cornerstones of social and economic activity. As such, Zain is constantly evolving and adapting to the fast pace of change within this dynamic global industry and places a huge premium on customer relations.

“Our customers are our most valuable asset and a customer base of 2 million is a massive vote of confidence. It shows that we are providing the right services and motivates us to set, and maintain, the highest international standards as we deliver an even more exciting range of innovative products.”

refineries and petrochemcial plants after the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. “I have been familiar with this industry since (Iranian year) 1354 (1975),” he said, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency.

“I am not seeking to monopolise oil,” he added and said his close relationship with Ahmadinejad would be of use in the new job. “I will use this 30year friendship to simplify problem solving at the Oil Ministry,” he said. The uncertainty over the Iranian OPEC delegation began when Ahmadinejad sacked Oil Minister Massoud Mirkazemi last month and put himself in charge as part of a wider government restructure which critics said looked like a power grab.

Analysts said the prospect of Iran’s West-baiting president at OPEC would lessen the likelihood of any output hike that consumer countries say is needed to nurture a fragile global economic

recovery. But under pressure from parliament and the state constitutional watchdog, both of which said he had no legal right to head the ministry, Ahmadinejad appointed ally Aliabadi as caretaker minister last Thursday.

That did not quell domestic criticisms. The head of parliament’s energy committee said Aliabadi was the “worst choice” for the job whose lack of oil experience could harm Iran’s vital energy industry. The committee’s deputy head, Abdollah Kaabi, stepped up the criticism, telling parliament’s news website icana.ir: “Unfortunately managers who had years of experience in the country’s oil industry have been put aside and those whose mismanagement is proven in other management fields are now in charge of the most technical ministry.” Aliabadi would need parliament’s approval to keep the job

on a permanent basis beyond a three-month spell as caretaker.

While there were no reports of Aliabadi’s planned stance for the OPEC meeting, Iran’s envoy to OPEC said Tehran opposed the output increase which more dovish OPEC members are seeking. “There is no need to increase OPEC production in the 159th meeting of this organization,” state broadcaster IRIB quoted Mohammad Ali Khatibi as saying, citing SHANA. OPEC delegates have told Reuters that Gulf Arab OPEC members, led by Saudi Arabia, will push for an increase in supply, some talking of at least one million barrels a day. But Khatibi said an increase in supply could lead to an unjustified steep drop in oil prices. “It is not fair that the market situation changes to over-supply,” he said. “ The decrease of oil prices means that producers should be more alert before supplying more oil to the market.” — Reuters

CFCOnline receives positive feedback KUWAIT: Commercial Facilities Company (CFC), the leading finance company in Kuwait, now meets the growing demand for its services and products through its online portal CFCOnline. This service provides customers with a convenient portal to manage their accounts by financing applications, paying installments, and accessing the financing calculator generating a high response in getting customers accustomed to using the service.

Nasser Ali Al-Mannai, Assistant Managing Director of Marketing, CFC said: “We are very happy with the number of customers who are taking advantage of the available technology and are now making their payments online.

We are very pleased to see those numbers growing on a daily basis. We have been consistently present on the key search

engines and key email sites to be better accessible to our customers.

We are always keen on staying up to date on the latest technologies and best software that shortens operation timeline and provide customers with services that ensure privacy of data according to the highest levels of security.” “ We understand time is an important factor and take that into consideration as CFCOnline is in-line with our vision of making experience with CFC as simple and as convenient as possible by using state of the art technologies” further concluded AlMannai.

CFCOnline has been receiving a positive feedback and high customer satisfaction since payments are simplified and application feedback do not exceed one hour. Customers are also offered

several advantages as account and balance inquiry, the next payment due date and others, which are secure and flexible thus saving them time.

Thanks to its easier proce dures, leniency, and quicker processing of transactions, customers can benefit of speedy and quality procedures and not burden the wait in line.

CFC plays a major role in the development of the financial and consumer goods industry. It is one of the leading companies in offering installment credit facilities, car financing, and personal cash loans.

Due its 34 years of loaded experience in the market and profound understanding of its clients’ needs, the company is introducing a practical initiative to continue simplifying its clients’ daily operations through conven-

Nasser Ali Al-Mannai

ient finance solutions. CFC can be reached in Kuwait City (head office), Jahra, Hawalli, Al-Riggae, Fahaheel, The Kuwait International Airport, and their website www.cfc-kw.com

Oula fuel marketing gets Excellence Award Khaled Sulaiman Al-Omar “Our brand commitment is to give our customers ‘A wonderful world’ in which to live. That we are able to do this with the largest customer base in Kuwait, is a remarkable achievement and one upon which we will build upon with the integrity and commitment that convinced our very first customer to believe in us.”

HSBC named ‘Best Sub-Custodian Bank’ KUWAIT: HSBC Securities Services (HSS) Middle East has been named “Best SubCustodian Bank, Middle East” by Global Finance magazine in its eighth annual ranking of the “Best Sub-Custodians”. HSBC also secured 8 country awards across the MENA region of the 9 countries surveyed, including Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. Global Finance selected the winners “from the institutions that reliably provide the best custody services in local markets and regions to global custodians (including) customer relations, quality of service, competitive pricing, smooth handling of exception items, technology platforms, post-settlement operations, business continuity plans and knowledge of local regulations and practices.”

Arindam Das, Head of HSS MENA, commented: “These awards reflect the strength of our product, the abilities of our local teams and the quality and consistency of our services in this important region. HSBC has been providing sub-custody and clearing services to our clients for over a decade now and our continued investment in the business have ensured that we remain at the forefront of this sector.”

Key facts on HSBC’s Global Banking and Markets business in the MENA region: 15 dealing rooms across the region including a recently created Abu Dhabi dealing room A leading arranger of bonds and loans for over a decade Awards: The Asset’s Triple A Securities and Fund Services awards 2011 Best Custody Specialist - Middle East Global Investor

TEHRAN: The man President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad put in charge of the Oil Ministry less than a week ago will represent Iran at tomorrow’s OPEC meeting in Vienna, the Oil Ministry said on its website yesterday. “The new caretaker of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Oil Ministry (Mohammad Aliabadi) will go to Austria to attend the 159th OPEC meeting,” SHANA reported, citing Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi. The confirmation ended weeks of speculation about who would represent the group’s second-largest producer at OPEC. Iran is likely to counter pressure from Gulf Arab nations to increase oil output to calm high prices.

Speaking at his induction ceremony yesterday, Aliabadi, whose last job was head of Iran’s Olympic Committee, dismissed criticisms of his lack of oil experience, saying he had been involved in the rebuilding of

Number 1 ranking in the Global Investor Sub-Custody Survey - January 2011 Global Custodian Number 1 Agent Bank in the 2010 Review of emerging markets Agent Banks from Global Custodian magazine Euromoney FX Poll 2011 Best for Middle Eastern currencies Best for African currencies Best for emerging markets options Best for emerging market currencies trading - spot/forward IFR Awards 2010 House Awards Emerging Markets Bond House of the Year The Banker Deals of the Year 2011 Middle East Bonds SSA: Government of Dubai Loans: Qatar Aviation Lease Company Equities: IPO of Wataniya Palestine Mobile Telecoms Euromoney Islamic Finance Awards 2011 Best Sukuk House Best International Islamic Bank Best Deal of the Year and Best Sukuk Deal Government of Malaysia USD1.25 billion sukuk Best Project Finance Deal - Ma’aden Aluminium Credit Awards 2010 Best Bank for Islamic Finance Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2010 Best Global Emerging Markets Bank Best Global Emerging Markets Debt House Best Global Sovereign Advisory House Best Investment Bank in the Middle East Best Investment Bank in Saudi Arabia EuroWeek Bond Market Awards 2010 Most Impressive Bank advising Middle Eastern clients.

KUWAIT: Oula Fuel Marketing received an excellence award in environment, health and safety for the category of Oil and Gas for the year 2011, presented by the American Society of Safety Engineers; ASSE, GCC branch. The award ceremony took place in Kuwait for the third consecutive year, where Oula was chosen amongst 18 winning companies, some of which were also Kuwaiti and others from the GCC countries which operate in the private sector, after these companies were selected out of 63 companies that applied for the award.

Oula was chosen for the category of Oil and Gas, as it was assesses to apply the highest standards to maintain and preserve environmental and health issues, and safety as well. Its keen interest in this area is reflected through the model systems applied in all its stations, in which environmental standards are maintained through intensifying the pump filters that contain, and for the first time in Kuwait, the retrieving system for vapor and gases produced during the fueling process.

These pumps also contain specific digital systems which allow the detection of any leaks, and also measure the storage level of fuel in a periodical manner, which acts as a vital factor in protecting the environment from pollution.

The award ceremony which took place on May 31 was attended by Hamzah Bakhash, Oula Managing Director and Abdul Muhsin Khaja, Deputy Managing Director of operations and Adel AlAwadhi, Deputy Managing Director of Business Development and Public Relations, on behalf of

KUWAIT: Oula Fuel Marketing team receives an excellence award in environment, health and safety for the category of Oil and Gas for the year 2011, presented by the American Society of Safety Engineers; ASSE, GCC branch.

Oula Fuel Marketing, in addition to Mohammad Ibrahim, safety and quality control manager, and Safdar Khan; safety supervisor, where they received a plaque and an appreciation certificate for this accomplishment achieved by Oula.

Commenting on Oula’s accomplishment, Safety and Quality Control Manager; Mohammad Ibrahim expressed his pride in the company saying, “ We are ver y proud of what Oula achieved today in the area of preserving and maintaining the environment, safety

and health. This award acts a reward to the Oula team for its successful efforts in managing the hazards at the stations in an effective matter, focusing on the highest safety and security standards, in addition to providing all means of comfort and safety to Oula’s customers, which are always a priority to this company in all its strategic plans”.

He added, “I dedicate my gratitude in the name of Oula, to the management of the excellence award ASSE, for shedding the light

on the role of the private sector in Kuwait, in all its specialized fields. I would also like to thank Oula’s management for their diligent efforts in always presenting the best, and we hope to continuously reach our clients expectations and maintain their trust, so as to continue achieving further accomplishments”. It is worth mentioning that this award came as a means of recognition of Oula’s commitment towards its responsibility in the HSE field and its effort to enroot HSE in its business practices.

Egypt to test gas flow to Jordan CAIRO: Egypt will begin experimental pumping of gas and Jordan this week after supplies were halted for more than a month, a newspaper reported yesterday, citing Egyptian oil ministry officials. Egypt’s oil minister said last Thursday that firms involved in exporting Egyptian gas to Israel were discussing resuming sup-

plies, which were halted by a pipeline attack, and dismissed the idea that politics was hindering agreement.

“Security measures were stepped up at the line’s weak points to assure the resumption of gas pumping to Jordan and Israel, which would greatly help improve Cairo’s position in re-pricing nego-

tiations,” al Masry Al-Youm newspaper reported, citing anonymous ministry officials. Israel gets up to 45 percent of its gas from Egypt.

Supplies were halted for more than a month after the blasts on Egypt’s side of the pipeline in the wake of political turmoil after President Hosni Mubarak was ousted. Egypt said in April it would

review its gas contracts with other states including Israel and Jordan.

The exports have long been a contentious issue in Egypt, with the media and ordinar y Egyptians accusing Mubarak’s government of selling gas too cheaply to Israel.

Egypt signed a peace deal with Israel in 1979 but ties have never been very warm. —Reuters

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Bourse bounces back in green KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange(KSE) rebounded during yesterday’s session on the back of a smart rally staged by banks stocks. National Bank of Kuwait (NBK ) closed up by 1.72 percent at KD1.180. NBK private equit y arm (NBK Capital) has acquired a substantial stake in Kuwaitbased Elaj Services ( Taiba Hospital). The investment was made through the Kuwait Investment Opportunities Fund. NBK Capital did not confirm the size of the deal.

Furthermore, the non-Kuwaiti sector spearheaded major indices as it nudged out from its losing trend during the session. Global Non-Kuwaiti Index closed up by 1.63 percent.

GLOBAL DAILY MARKET REPORT

Egypt’s benchmark falls on tax concerns

Market indices Global General I ndex (GGI), market weighted, ended the day up by 0.63 percent, at 194.15 point. Market Capitalization was up for the day at KD31.83 billion. On the other hand, KSE Price Index closed at 6,312.9 point, adding 22.50 points (0.36 percent) to its previous close.

Market breadth During the session, 103 companies were traded. Market breadth was skewed towards advancers as 54 equities advanced versus 18 that retreated.

Daily trading activity Trading activity was mixed this session.

The trades conducted in the real estate sector. Total volume traded was up by 55.19 percent with 155.54 million shares changing hands at a total value of KD15.59 million (2.19 percent lower compared to the day before). The real estate sector was the volume leader yesterday, accounting for 44.97 percent of total shares. The same sector was the value leader, with 26.13 percent of total traded value. Kuwait Real Estate Company was the most active in terms of values of shares traded during yesterday’s session, with 30.44 million shares exchanged at an aggregate value of KD1.62 million.

Top gainers and biggest decliners In terms of top gainers, Salbookh Trading

ADCB lifts Abu Dhabi; Gulf markets mixed

Company took the top spot for the day, adding 8.47 percent and closed at KD0.064.

On the other hand, M etal & Rec ycling Company shed 7.58 percent and closed at KD0.122, making it the biggest decliner in the market.

Sectors wise All Global sector indices reported gains during the day except for the Insurance sector which ended flat: Within the Non Kuwaiti sector, which saw an increased by 1.63 percent in its index, the heavy weighted Ahli United Bank’s share witnessed a daily gain of 2.04 percent to close at KD0.200.

However, Gulf Cement Company led the gainers within the sector with a daily gain of 3.37 percent, while United Gulf Bank increased by 3.33 percent.

Global Banking Index closed up by 0.80 percent at 344.97 points with three banks ending the day at higher levels and only one losing. Gulf Bank was another major gainer besides NBK, registering an increase

of 1.85 percent in its share price. Shares of Commercial Facilities Company and Global Investment House rose by 6.15 percent and 1.20 percent, respec tively, driving the investment sector index up by 0.50 percent.

Corporate news Updating its previous announcement dated May 31, 2011, Alargan International Real Estate Company announced that its 48.34 percent-owned company Alargan Homes Co LLC held negotiations to sell its full stake in a Saudi-based development at a total value of SAR87,968,404. Alargan International Real Estate Co has generated SAR19 million from this divestment. The selling agreement has the following condition: The project shall be delivered void of any mortgage or selling rights as well as personal rights like rentals within 30 days.

The revenue from this deal will be recognized in the interim consolidated financial statements for the period ending on June 30, 2011.

DUBAI: Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) shares ended at a 31 month high as it proceeds with a stake sale in Malaysian bank RHB. Egypt’s index fell on persisting tax concerns while other Gulf Arab markets were mixed.

ADCB jumped 2.7 percent to its highest close since October 2008 after sources said it will not let planned bids by lenders Maybank and CIMB for RHB derail its auction. Abu Dhabi’s index gained 0.5 percent, rising in six of the past seven sessions. Property and telecoms stocks also supported.

Etisalat rose 1 percent, Aldar Properties gained 0.7 percent and Sorouh Real Estate <SOR.AD> climbed 1.5 percent.

Egypt’s main index fell 0.8 percent and traders said an assurance from the bourse head that dividend payments of listed firms will be exempted from planned new taxes do little to boost investor confidence. “Investors are still cautious because, although they confirm an exemption of taxes on paidout dividends, there is still an indirect bottom-line impact” from the budget, said Cairo-based investment and capital market analyst Nader Khedr.

Commercial International Bank (CIB) fell 1 percent and Citadel Capital dropped 4.3 percent. Asian stocks slipped yesterday after dismal US employment data set a cautious tone to the week. Global stocks weighed on Gulf markets with Qatar’s index falling to a three-month low, down 0.5 percent to 8,117 points. Losers outnumbered gainers eight to seven.

Industries Qatar fell 2.7 percent and Qatar Telecom (Qtel) ended 2 percent lower.

Dubai’s index slipped 0.2 percent.

Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia petrochemicals lifted the index by 0.5 percent, with Sahara Petrochemical surging to a 13-month high. “ We expect (Sahara’s) price margins to be quite robust this quarter from a new plant

that became commercially operational in April,” said Ankit Gupta, senior research analyst at Securities and Investment Co. “There is a high probability Q2 earnings could be dramatically affected and quarter-on-quarter growth will be substantial.”

Saudi Kayan Petrochemicals climbed 3 percent and Advanced Petrochemical added 2.9 percent. Kuwait’s benchmark also rose, up 0.4 percent as banks supported but analysts have a downbeat market outlook. “People don’t have high hopes for the market in general,” said a Kuwait-based trader, speaking on condition of anonymity. “It’s going to be these levels, 100 points up or down, until September.” National Bank of Kuwait gained 1.7 percent and Gulf Bank rose 1.9 percent.

Yesterday’s highlights Egypt The measure fell 0.8 percent to 5,402 points.

Qatar The benchmark slipped 0.5 percent to 8,117 points.

Abu Dhabi The index gained 0.5 percent to 2,678 points.

Saudi Arabia The benchmark climbed 0.5 percent to 6,658 points.

Kuwait The measure rose 0.4 percent to 6,313 points.

Dubai The index slid 0.2 percent to 1,563 points.

Oman The index edged 0.01 percent up to 6,043 points. — Reuters

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business

IATA halves airline gains outlook to $4bn in 2011 ‘Middle East unrest affects profits’

HEFEI: In this file photo, a bank clerk counts US dollar notes near bundles of Chinese renminbi notes at a bank. In recent years, China has agreed to lend and invest tens of billions of dollars around South America, outdoing many other traditional lenders such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. In return, Chinese officials have signed long-term contracts in which borrowing countries pay back their loans through guaranteed shipments of precious commodities, particularly oil, that China needs to keep growing. — AP

State of play in US debt, deficit talks WASHINGTON: A working group led

by Vice President Joe Biden is seeking to put together a deal on long-term US budget deficits and end a standoff over raising the limit on government borrowing. After five meetings, some progress has been made but there are still deep disagreements on taxes and healthcare. The federal budget deficit is expected to hit $1.4 trillion this year and stay in the trillion-dollar range for several years.

If the Biden group, which includes senior Senate and House of Representatives members, can reach a deal on cutting the deficit, it could give lawmakers political cover to vote in favor of raising the country’s $14.3 trillion borrowing cap. US Treasury Secretar y Timothy Geithner has warned that if Congress does not raise the debt limit by Aug. 2, the United States could face a default with dire economic consequences.

Are deficit talks making progress?

Progress has been made but, as Republicans and Democrats on Biden’s seven-member panel have begun tackling the thorniest issues of tax increases and entitlement reform, a deal still seems far from reach. After the fourth negotiating session on May 24, Biden said the two sides were aiming to find “well above $1 trillion” in savings over a decade that would represent “a downpayment” on additional deficit reductions. Around $4 trillion in savings is a broad goal-aimed at showing financial markets that Washington is serious about fixing the fiscal mess. While Biden voiced optimism for a deal, he also warned that revenues would have to be part of the formula.

Two days later, after talks that lasted little more than an hour, negotiators emerged looking downbeat and left with little comment. Aides said the talks had entered difficult terrain and that a fundamental stumbling block remained: Democrats will not consider cuts to health benefits, such as the Medicare health program for the elderly, until Republicans consider tax increases-something Republicans insist are “off the table.” The next meeting is scheduled for June 9. The stakes were raised further on June 2 after the ratings agency Moody’s warned it would consider cutting the United States’s top-notch credit rating if substantial progress towards a debt limit deal had not been made by mid-July.

Where are they looking for cuts?

With little time to craft a deficitreduction package, the Biden group is trying to identify obvious areas of agreement. Rather than come up with its own plan, the group is looking to “mix and match” from existing plans. These include President Barack Obama’s revised fiscal 2012 budget proposal, the House Republican budget plan, a House Democratic alternative, a report by Obama’s deficitreduction commission and an array of other governmental and non-governmental reports.

Some likely areas of agreement: reduce farm subsidies, require federal workers to contribute more to their pension plans, cap annual spending, sell excess federal property, reduce Medicare fraud and overpayments, and auction broadcast spectrum licenses. The group has only agreed upon about $150 billion in spending cuts so far, as Republicans demand “trillions” in cuts before they agree to a

deal to raise the debt limit.

Participants have begun to worry about the slow progress. On June 3 House Speaker John Boehner accused Obama of having a “hands off approach” and urged the president to get more involved. Some analysts say a deal will only get done if Obama and Boehner both get involved in talks.

The two are scheduled to play golf together on June 18.

What hopes are there for a deal?

The greatest hope for a deal lies in the fact the White House and Republican and Democratic leaders all agree that the debt limit needs to be raised by the Aug. 2 deadline. Exactly how the Biden group gets to a deal remains unclear. Biden himself has said he is not sure if the group can get to the “finish line,” but members appear to agree there is not enough time before Aug. 2 to come up with a comprehensive deficit-reduction plan.

Analysts say the only realistic option is to set a deficit-reduction goal of roughly $4 trillion over 10 years, with automatic deficit-cutting “triggers” that would kick in if the deficit were not being reduced fast enough. Obama advocates that approach but Boehner rejects such “gimmicks.” One of the biggest unresolved questions in the negotiations is whether Republicans would accept revenue increases that are not technically tax increases. More than $1 trillion in revenues can be clawed back by closing loopholes and breaks in the tax code, without having to hike rates.

If Republicans agreed in principle to such revenue increases, it could clear the way for a deal.

Will the tea party movement back a Biden deal?

Even if the Biden panel reaches a broad deficit deal that avoids, for now, going into detail on taxes and entitlements, it is almost sure to face opposition from dozens of lawmakers aligned with the fiscally conservative Tea Party movement. Their opposition is bolstered by opinion polls showing most Americans oppose raising the debt limit. Many conser vative Republicans do not believe Geithner’s Aug 2 deadline or his predictions of catastrophe if the borrowing cap is not increased. When Congress eventually votes to raise the debt limit, Boehner likely will need Democratic help to pass it.

Who has more at stake in the talks?

There are considerable risks on all sides. If Boehner fails to get a “yes” vote in the House to raise the debt limit, Republicans likely will be blamed for any fallout in the bond markets, and with it a spike in interest rates. A financial crisis could plunge the United States back into recession.

With many Americans already questioning Obama’s stewardship of the economy, another downturn would endanger his efforts to seek re-election next year.

Are the markets worried?

For now, bond markets are calm.

Yields have stayed low, suggesting investors remain comfortable buying US debt. Analysts say few investors envisage Congress failing to raise the borrowing cap, even if it takes weeks of negotiations. Twelve out of 23 Wall Street bond dealers and fund managers surveyed by Reuters in May said the government had until the end of July before the bond market would start to worry. — Reuters

SINGAPORE: IATA yesterday halved its profit forecast for the airline industry to $4 billion in 2011 due to the March 11 tsunami in Japan, unrest in the Middle East and North Africa and high oil prices. “That we are making any money at all in a year with this combination of unprecedented shocks is a result of a very fragile balance,” International Air Transport Association (IATA) director-general Giovanni Bisignani said. “Natural disasters in Japan, unrest in the Middle East and Africa, plus the sharp rise in oil prices have slashed industry profit expectations to $4 billion this year,” he said at IATA’s annual general meeting, which is being held in Singapore this week.

The revised profit outlook is down sharply from a previous estimate of $8.6 billion made in early March just before the tsunami-quake disasters struck northeastern Japan. If the forecast is accurate, it would mark a 78 percent decline from the post-recession profit of $18 billion that the world’s airlines made last year. IATA’s new profit outlook shows a measly 0.7 percent margin on expected revenues of $598 billion for the capital-intensive industry and leaves airlines with little capacity to absorb new external shocks.

“The efficiency gains of the last decade and the strengthening global economic environment are balancing the high price of fuel,” said Bisignani, who is also IATA’s chief executive officer. “But with a dismal 0.7 percent margin, there is little buffer left against further shocks,” he added. The high oil price is the biggest culprit dragging down the industry’s profitability, said IATA, which has raised its average Brent crude forecast by 15 percent to $110 a barrel for 2011.

Previously, the airline body estimated Brent crude would average $96 a barrel this year. In Asian trade yesterday, Brent North Sea crude for July delivery was trading at slightly above $115.43 a barrel. IATA said airlines can expect to pay an additional $1.6 billion for every one dollar increase in the average annual oil price.

“With estimates that 50 percent of the industry’s fuel requirement is hedged at 2010 price

SINGAPORE: International Air Transport Association chief Giovanni Bisignani speaks at the opening of IATA annual general meeting yesterday. — AFP levels, the industry 2011 fuel bill will rise by $10 billion to $176 billion,” IATA said in a statement.

“Fuel is now estimated to comprise 30 percent of airline costs, more than double the 13 percent of 2001,” it said. Carriers from the AsiaPacific are expected to outperform the rest of the world with a likely profit of $2.1 billion for the year but this is down sharply from the $10 billion earned in 2010, IATA said.

“Airlines in this region are more exposed than others to cargo markets and fuel price fluctuations,” it said. “In addition, the Japanese earthquake and tsunami are expected to dent the region’s prospects for the remainder of the year.” IATA expects robust growth in India and China to provide underlying support to the region’s carriers.

The political unrest in the Middle East will squeeze the region’s carriers, which are seen

earning just $100 million in profits, down sharply from $900 million last year, IATA said.

North American carriers are expected to earn $1.2 billion this year, down from $4.1 billion in 2010 as the cost of oil is exacerbated by the region’s fleet of mostly older, less fuel-efficient aircraft, IATA said. In Europe, carriers will likely make $500 million compared with $1.9 billion last year as the ongoing sovereign debt crisis hits growth in the smaller European economies.

Africa is the only region expected to be in the red with a likely loss of $100 million as the recent political unrest in Egypt and Tunisia continues to affect the tourism sectors. The Geneva-based airline body represents some 230 carriers that account for more than 90 percent of scheduled air traffic worldwide but does not include many of the big budget airlines. — AFP

Japan’s TEPCO shares fall 28% to record-low TOKYO: Shares in Japan’s TEPCO lost more than a quarter of their value yesterday following a media report that the operator of the country’s tsunami-hit nuclear plant would log a $7 billion loss in fiscal 2011.

The stock was also hit by a reported comment by Tokyo Stock Exchange president Atsushi Saito that Tokyo Electric Power Co. should file for bankruptcy protection, a move that could hit shareholders hard.

TEPCO stock fell to 206 yen midmorning, down 80 yen or 28.0 percent from Friday, the maximum loss allowed for one trading day. It closed a shade better at 207 yen, down 79 yen or 27.62 percent.

The price means TEPCO’s 1.6 billion shares are worth a combined 331 billion yen. The Kyodo News agency reported at the weekend that the utility was expected to post a net loss of 570 billion yen ($7 billion), excluding results for other group companies, for the business year to March 2012. The reported loss excludes compensation for the tens of thousands of people affected by the ongoing crisis at its crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear pow-

er plant, Kyodo said, citing an internal company document.

TEPCO-one of the world’s largest utilities-supplies electricity to roughly one -third of Japan’s population. Its service area covers the economically vital Kanto eastern Japan region where Tokyo is located. TEPCO said it expected its earnings results to be “very tough” for the current business year, without mentioning a specific figure.

“The main drag on earnings will be the expensive fuel costs for thermal power plants brought into service to make up for the shutdown of the two nuclear plants in Fukushima prefecture,” a spokesman told Dow Jones Newswires.

The utility logged a record 1.247 trillion yen net loss for the year ended in March. Tokyo Stock Exchange president Saito said in an interview with the Asahi Shimbun online magazine Asahi Judiciary Friday that TEPCO should follow the same path as flag carrier JAL, which filed for bankruptcy last year. “If possible, it is desirable that TEPCO go through the same legal procedure as Japan Airlines,” Saito was quoted as saying in the interview.

The Tokyo bourse in a statement yesterday however said: “ The Tokyo Stock Exchange would like to clarify that, at this point, TSE is not aware of any fact regarding said listed company (TEPCO) which should be considered to fall under the delisting criteria”.

Japan’s massive March 11 ear thquake and tsunami knocked out cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, causing reactors to overheat and allowing radiation to leak into the air, sea and soil.

The worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986 has forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people from their houses, businesses and farms in a 20-kilometre (12-mile) radius around the plant. There has been no official estimate of damages yet, but the sum is widely expected to reach several trillion yen (tens of billions of dollars).

“Concerns are rising that the company may not be able to survive as a going concern in the coming year,” a fund manager at a Japanese asset management firm told Dow Jones Newswires. “The compensation scheme hasn’t been established

yet as uncertainty remains over Japanese politics.” Japan has been gripped by political turmoil since centre -left Prime Minister Naoto Kan last week sur vived a no-confidence motion after promising he would resign soon, sparking heated debate on when exactly he should bow out.

Banks provided two trillion yen in emergency loans to TEPCO in April but the amount of cash and deposits held by the company is expected to fall to 95 billion yen by the end of the current business year, Kyodo said. The drop would stem from surging fuel costs as TEPCO makes up for lost nuclear capacity by increasing output from fossil fuel plants, and from the redemption of corporate bonds, it reported.

The Japanese government last month announced a rough scheme for rescuing TEPCO to ensure the payment of compensation. The scheme will involve the use of public funds and give the government a hand in supervising TEPCO, one of the world’s biggest power companies, to ensure it stays solvent and follows pledges to restructure. — AFP

India approves $4bn Boeing military deal NEW DELHI: India’s cabinet yesterday cleared a more than $4.0-billion deal to buy military transport planes from aerospace giant Boeing in the biggest ever defense deal with an American firm, a report said.

The Press Trust of India news agency said the deal for the C-17 Globemaster III planes, used for transporting heavy equipment, was cleared at a meeting of the governmentís cabinet committee on security affairs. The Indian defense ministry was not willing to comment when contacted by AFP. The C-17 advanced airlifter can carry large combat equipment and troops or humanitarian aid across international distances to small airfields anywhere in the world, according to the company. India’s technology-starved air force, the world’s fourth largest wants to replace and augment its fleet of ageing Russian-built transport planes. Yesterday ’s approval came two months after New Delhi kicked out Boeing and Lockheed Martin from a race among six global aviation firms to sell 126 fighter jets worth almost $12 billion dollars to India.

India in 2008 agreed to buy six Hercules C-130J transport planes from Lockheed for $962 million, then the country’s biggest ever military aircraft deal with the United States. In January of the following year, India signed a 2.1-billion-dollar deal with Boeing to buy six maritime surveillance aircraft for its navy. — AFP TOKYO: Tokyo city government employees leave their office yesterday. — AP

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BUSINESS

Stocks weighed down by weak US jobs data Europe stocks extend losing run; debt fears persist LONDON: Weak US jobs figures continued to weigh on stock markets yesterday as investors fret about the state of the US economy, while the euro remained relatively well-supported by expectations that Greece will receive another financial bailout to plug a potential funding gap over the coming two years. Last Friday’s figures showing that the US economy generated only 54,000 jobs during May, a third of what was anticipated, sent shockwaves through stock markets and prompted a big dollar reverse. The data prompted renewed speculation that the US Federal Reserve will maintain its super-loose monetary policy, including benchmark interest rates of near zero percent, for longer than previously anticipated.

A speech yesterday from Fed chairman Ben at 7,107. Wall Street was poised for modest losses month highs of $1.4615. Earlier, it struck its highest Bernanke on the US economic outlook could well at the open - Dow futures were down 0.1 percent level since May 5 at $1.4652. It’s also been evident be the market highlight of the week. The payrolls at 12,116 while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 in the rates Greece has to pay to borrow markets in data often set the stock market tone for a week or futures fell an equivalent rate to 1,295. The other the markets. Since Friday’s indications that the two after their release so it’s no surprise to see sen- big theme in the markets, aside from the state of country has been granted more breathing room, timent remaining fairly brittle, especially as the loss the US economy, remains Europe’s debt crisis. the yields on Greece’s 10-year bonds have fallen to of momentum in the US is being echoed else- However, last Friday’s effective decision by the below 16 percent.

Whether Greece can avoid a default down the European Union and the International Monetary where, notably in China.

“Investor sentiment remains concerned about Fund, to give Greece the next batch of bailout line remains questionable, given mounting political opposition to the austerity measures being planned and seemingly daily demonstrations on the streets of Athens. Despite the financial markets welcoming Friday’s news, few, if any analysts, think the Greek problem has been solved.

“Certainly allowing Greece emergency funding now does remove the threat of imminent default but as the summer progresses Athens will have to prove that it has earned future disbursements from the IMF/EU,” said Jeremy Batstone-Carr, director of private client research at Charles Stanley. A number of hurdles will have to be cleared, including getting private creditors to voluntarily roll over their debts, and the government making headway on its additional austerity and privatization measures. Batstone-Carr highlighted the “considerable disquiet” in Greece regarding the possible sale of “crown jewel” assets.

Earlier in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average slid 1.2 percent to close at 9,380.35, with shares of Tokyo Electric Power Co., the Japanese utility battling to bring a crippled nuclear power plant under control, plunging 28 percent. The tumble comes a day after TEPCO acknowledged that 1,500 more tons of radioactive water were being moved into temporary storage at its Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in an attempt to prevent a massive spill of contaminated water into the environment. More than 100,000 tons of radioactive NEW YORK: In this photo, a trader watches at a monitor as he works on the floor of water have pooled beneath the plant in northeastthe New York Stock Exchange. —AP ern Japan since it was hobbled by an earthquake and tsunami on March 11. Markets in Hong Kong, growing evidence of cooling in global economic funds - €12 billion - and signals it may get a second South Korea, Taiwan, New Zealand and mainland growth,” said Neil MacKinnon, global macro strate- bailout, have helped ease worries in the markets China were closed for holidays. In the oil markets, a gist at VTB Capital. In Europe, the FTSE 100 index that the country will default on its mountain of barrel of crude continued to hover around the $100 mark. Benchmark oil for July delivery was of leading British shares was down 0.1 percent at debts soon.

The relief is particularly notable in the perform- down 89 cents to $99.33 a barrel in electronic trad5,850 while France’s CAC-40 fell 0.6 percent to 3,867. Germany’s DAX was more or less unchanged ance of the euro, which was trading near one- ing on the New York Mercantile Exchange. —AP

EL ALTO: In this file photo, a worker takes notes next to natural gas storage tanks in Bolivia. —AP

Australia set to become leading LNG exporter Gas glut to end by 2015 LONDON: The prospect of new unconventional gas resources across the globe will push world gas demand past coal just after 2025 and is to come close to oil around 2035, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said yesterday. “The IEA expects global gas demand to overtake coal just after 2025, and come close to oil around 2035,” the agency said in a report published in London yesterday.

The IEA also said that the steep increase expected in gas demand would end the current gas glut by 2015, by when demand would begin to outstrip supply. The IEA expects the boom in gas demand to be a result of a sharp increase in unconventional gas production mainly in China, Australia and North America, and because of a decline in global nuclear power generation as a result of the major accident at Japan’s Fukushima reactors earlier this year.

According to the energy agency, Fukushima will significantly curb the rise in nuclear power generation, not just in Europe but globally, with gas stepping in to fill the gap. The report said around 40 percent of the increase in global gas production between now and 2035 will come from unconventional gas exploration, such as fracking shale gas or exploiting coalbed methane gas, also known as coal seam gas.

The IEA also said it expects Australia

to become one of the world’s top exporters of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by 2020, catching up with current leader Qatar. According to the agency, the increase in unconventional gas exploration is good news in terms of securing global energy supply, as production will be widely distributed across North and South America, China, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

But the IEA said that while gas will increasingly replace highly pollutive coal and oil power generation, its steep rise will also come at the cost of low carbon technologies such as nuclear, and even renewable power generation. It said this will not make it easier for the world to achieve its target of preventing average global temperatures from rising by more than two degrees Celsius.

The revised figure of global CO2 equivalent emissions in 2035 as a result of the increased gas demand is a mere 0.5 percent reduction, or 160 million tonnes, compared with the IEA’s estimates last year, the agency said. The IEA urged governments to introduce effective safety regulation regarding unconventional gas production, and for companies to come up with “golden standards of practice” in which chemicals used in shale gas fracking are declared and which limit the amount of fresh water used. —Reuters

Improving life along Danube: At nature’s cost?

Ghaith Al-Ghaith

His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al-Maktoum

flydubai records high growth KUWAIT: flydubai, Dubai’s first low cost airline, has reached its second anniversary with an impressive collection of statistics that prove the airline’s growing success and importance in the UAE’s aviation market.

Chairman of flydubai, His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, said: “After just two years in operation flydubai is now a household name in the region. flydubai has consistently delivered a quality, affordable service during its two years of operation and millions of passengers have benefitted from the airline’s commitment to making travel more accessible and more affordable. It is this consistent, quality service that has made flydubai a well-loved brand. With a network spanning the GCC, Middle East, North Africa, Indian Sub-Continent, Asia and the fringes of Europe, flydubai is stimulating demand for travel and finding new markets with an appetite for developing business and tourism links with the UAE. This brings benefits to all sectors of the economy and I look forward to flydubai continuing with its good work for many years to come.”

The airline began operations on June 1, 2009, with a full flight of 189 passengers bound for Beirut and a commitment to make travel easier, more accessible and more affordable. Announced by the Government of Dubai in March 2008, the vision for the airline was to provide a low cost alternative on already popular routes from Dubai, such as Beirut, as well as to open up destinations that were underserved by direct air links to the UAE, such as Baku, Azerbaijan.

Ghaith Al-Ghaith, CEO of flydubai said: “Two years ago this month our first flight took off. It was a wonderful, exciting time but I could never have imagined that two years on we would be in the strong position that we are today. Our strategy was to expand as quickly as possible, adding aircraft and destinations at a rapid pace to ensure we reached a critical mass in the shortest possible time. Today we have 16 aircraft and 36 operational destinations - making us the fastest growing start up airline ever. “Flydubai would not have been able to grow and develop so quickly if we did not operate in such a fantastic environment for business as the UAE. “One of the biggest challenges for a new company is dealing with rapid expansion while ensuring the systems, procedures and staff are in place to maintain consistent levels of service,” added Al-Ghaith. “At flydubai we have achieved that and more. Despite starting operations at a difficult time for the aviation industry, flydubai has not only stuck to our ambitious

growth plan, but we’ve added to it by taking on challenges such as bringing all our maintenance and engineering in-house. We’ve done all of this successfully while at the same time maintaining an On Time Performance record that is one of the best in the industry at 85 percent. And perhaps most importantly of all our passengers still receive a friendly welcome when they come on board flydubai.

“We’ve taken a theory on a piece of paper and turned it into a reality - and a reality that works well.

We’ve developed systems, training programmes, procedures which have made the vision of the Government of Dubai work in practice. We started with an ambitious plan and we are making that plan a reality. “We have achieved an incredible amount in a very short space of time and that is something I am very proud of. I do not believe this could have been done anywhere else in the world. The support we have had from the authorities and the people of the UAE has been incredible. Dubai is a great place to do business and a very attractive place for people to come and live, which has meant it hasn’t been difficult to attract the right staff.

“I would like to take this opportunity to express my thanks to some of those responsible for creating this fantastic working environment for flydubai.

Especial thanks must go to our Chairman, Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, whose guidance has ensured we stay on track to fulfill the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid AlMaktoum, who wanted flydubai to support Dubai’s commercial and tourism needs. “Our rapid growth could only have been accomplished with the support of the GCAA, DCA and Dubai Airports who have worked closely with us to provide the facilities and operating slots we need for our expansion. This growth puts pressure on resources and facilities to grow as quickly as we do and I thank them for their support and patience.”

Two years into operations, the airline has delivered on its commitments and despite rapid increases in fleet, network and passengers, flydubai has managed to keep the quality of its service high. One measure of how well an airline is performing is to look at the airline’s Available Seats per Kilometre (ASKM) and Revenue Per Kilometre (RPKM). From June 2010 - May 2011 flydubai recorded increases of 161 percent for ASKMs and 181 percent for RPKMs over the previous 12 months. Not only are these huge increases, but the fact that RPKM grew more than ASKM shows that the airline is working smartly

and ensuring more revenue is being generated.

Another measure of success is to look at how many flights are delayed. flydubai’s record in this area is one of the best in the industry with On Time Performance recorded at 85 percent. In addition the airline has moved towards maturity with the development of programmes to recruit and train staff at the highest level, as well as the development of its own in-house maintenance and engineering team to service flydubai’s rapidly growing fleet.

More than 80,000 people have applied to join the airline, which indicates flydubai’s strength in attracting and recruiting the best talent. With employee numbers now just crossing the 1,000 mark, this number shows the airline is attracting around 80 applications for every position, which ensures the airline can choose the very best candidates.

With a 78 percent increase in the number of flights, a 100 percent increase in aircraft, a 150 percent increase in routes and a 200 percent increase in passengers it is easy to see why flydubai is now the second largest carrier operating out of Dubai International Airport. Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, said: “In just two years flydubai has become a potent force in the region’s aviation industry. Now the second largest carrier operating out of Dubai International, flydubai has played a significant role in the continued success and growth of passenger traffic at the airport. By opening up new and previously untapped markets, flydubai is helping to bring in significant volumes of traffic from around the region to Dubai and beyond. I am confident that flydubai will continue to go from strength to strength over the coming years and I wish them all the best for the future.” Al-Ghaith commented: “I am proud to be able to announce such incredible achievements today.

The flydubai team has worked extremely hard to ensure flydubai reached this point, and this success is the reward for that hard work. “Clearly our strategy is paying off. We knew there was a place for us in the market and we have worked hard and ensured that we have made that place our own. We’ve taken the business head on, surmounted all the obstacles and made it work. When I look back over the two years that we have been flying and see how far we have come, it makes me very proud. “Two years into our operations and we are right on track. I am confident that our strategy is the right one. flydubai is well placed to continue to forge ahead into new markets with new innovations in the future. I am confident 2011 will be another good year for flydubai.”

CALARASI: For much of its course from the Black Forest to the Black Sea, the Danube is constricted between concrete walls or uniform stone banks, flowing through some 60 power stations and busy docks. But down here, for the last few hundred miles (kilometers) before it splays out into a vast delta, much of the river is as nature designed it - broad, lazy, broken up with shoals and islands where pelicans nest, its banks anchored by weeping willows that drip water even on sunny days. The Danube is a watery thread 2,857 kilometers (1,775 miles) long that binds the diverse peoples of 19 nations sharing its basin, weaving together economies and cultures from the richest nations of Europe to the poorest. This month, European leaders are set to adopt a €100 billion euro ($140 billion) Danube strategy to deepen those ties and improve the lives of 100 million people with faster transportation, cleaner water, less pollution and enhanced protection for wetlands and flood plains. It also envisions altering the Lower Danube to accommodate year-round navigation.

Environmentalists warn this may have an irreparable impact on bird life, threaten the last breeding grounds for the majestic Danube sturgeon, and bring more polluting waterborne traffic to the Danube Delta, the largest wilderness remaining in Europe south of Scandinavia.

The Danube Strategy highlights the tradeoffs needed to protect nature while advancing development, particularly among eastern European nations still lagging far behind Western living standards 20 years after the collapse of communist rule. Europe’s 37,000 kilometers (23,000 miles) of waterways are seen as cost-effective, environmentally friendly thoroughfares for moving goods across the highly industrialized continent cheaper, cleaner and quieter than rail or road.

A single cargo boat can carry the freight of 70 trucks, and a convoy of barges of coal, grain or other dry goods can move hundreds of truckloads without the road congestion or carbon-laden exhaust of heavy vehicles. The plan foresees doubling the number of ships and barges plying the river, said Ton van Lierop, European Commission spokesman for regional policy. “Less than 10 percent of shipping capacity of the Danube is being used.” Defenders of the Danube worry about exposing the pristine delta to so much new traffic on top of an existing 4,000-boat fleet, much of it 50 years old, prone to oil leaks, pollution, occasional collisions and the careless discarding of rubbish.

Environmentalists agree water transport emits far less carbon and other pollutants than bumper-to-bumper trucks on narrow two-lane roads. But they worry about damage to the river as engineers use dredgers and concrete to eliminate the choke points blocking navigation for up to two months when the water is low.

“We cannot oppose this evolution. The key is how you do these things,” said Orieta Hulea, a biologist for the Worldwide Fund for Nature, or

WWF. It is a question of “balancing nature against human interest.” The blueprint has been years in the making. Conservationists derailed shippers’ early proposals to turn the Danube into a navigational superhighway deep enough for oceangoing vessels.

Environmental protection is now enshrined as a pillar of the strategy. Planners say they have done all they can to incorporate environmental concerns.

“This is a new planning approach, quite different from the 20th century and the end of the 19th century” when the upper river was straightened, dredged and radically modified, said Markus Simoner, of Via Donau, the Austrian water management company that coordinated part of the project.

“We should not work against nature, but with nature,” he said from his Vienna office, with a distant view of the river. That means keeping human intervention to a minimum. Rather than deepen channels, ships would rely on real-time sonar and electronic monitoring to map out safe routes through the shifting riverbeds. Some dikes would be removed to reopen floodplains and restore wetlands that dried up decades ago. On the Lower Danube, deep-draught ships would give way to shallow barge convoys powered by snub-prowed push-boats.

“The Danube is not just a waterway,” Simoner said. It also is a source of energy, drinking water, recreation and a means of flood and sewage control. “There cannot be one-sided solutions ... or one-dimensional thinking.” The opening in 1992 of a canal linking the Danube to the Main and Rhine rivers created a shipping route from the North Sea to the Black Sea. Cargo from distant ports passes through dozens of locks to reach Vienna, Bratislava, and Budapest. At the Iron Gates gorge, two dams between Romania and Serbia control a plunge of more than 40 meters (130 feet). After that the river meanders gently through its final 535 miles (860 kilometers).

The Lower Danube is a treasure of biodiversity. The delta alone, which has just 10,000 people living in its 580,000 hectares (1.4 million acres) of marshland, hosts 320 bird species, 2,000 different animals and 4,500 types of plants. Still, the human footprint already is heavy. Bits of plastic cling to tree branches when water levels drop, and garbage marks the campsites of sports fishermen. Speedboats, some driven by poachers violating the ban on commercial fishing, zip through the delta’s channels. An increase in river traffic would yield a spinoff effect of investment in new industries, new services, and bigger ports, said Van Lierop, the European Commission official, interviewed in his Brussels office. An integrated transport plan will lead to upgraded railways and better roads in a country like Romania, which now has only a few dozen miles (kilometers) of European-standard highways. —AP

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TECHNOLOGY

Study: Web users worry about snooping businesses NEW YORK: It’s not Big Brother, but “big business” that Internet users are more worried about. A new survey found that nearly half of Internet-connected Americans age 16 and older worry about businesses checking what they do online. By comparison, 38 percent worry about the government doing so.

Not that those concerns are stopping people from using the Internet for shopping, social networking and a smattering of other activities.

The latest study, released Friday from the Center for the Digital Future at the University of Southern California found that 82 percent of Americans use the Internet, the same as in 2009.

On average, they spend more than 18 hours a week online — for browsing

the Web (79 percent), for banking (47 percent) and for social networking and video-sharing (46 percent). In the decade that the Digital Future researchers have been tracking Americans’ Internet use, social networks were born, and many of them all but died (anyone remember Friendster?). People have gotten used to migrating more of their activities online and accessing the Internet from more devices than ever.

“When we started our work 11 years ago, the Internet was almost completely PC-based. We used to compare it with TV,” said Jeffrey Cole, director of the USC Annenberg Center for the Digital Future.

People would use the Internet — dial-up service, back then - the way

they watched TV: sitting down in front of the screen for 30, 60 minutes at a time.

Not any more “We think PCs are slowly going away” except for the heaviest users, such as those using it for computerassisted design, editing or heavy writing, Cole said. “Wireless, mobile Internet is becoming the Internet for most people.” Among other findings in the survey, conducted from April 27 to Aug. 30, 2010: ● Of the 18 percent of Americans who are not using the Internet, 7 percent cited cost as a reason. A quarter said they don’t go online because they don’t find it useful or have no interest.

And 37 percent said they didn’t have a computer or Internet connection.

● 21 percent of non-users said they were excluded from communications among their friends and disadvantaged in obtaining information for work, studies or hobbies as a result of not going online. Still, 66 percent of them said they are not likely to go online within the next year. ● 68 percent of adult Internet users go shopping online. Books and gifts are the most popular categories, followed by clothes and travel. ● People are still worried about privacy when shopping online, though fewer respondents said they were very concerned or extremely concerned than the year before: 48 percent compared with 54 percent in 2009. ● Email is still nearly universal.

Even the texting generation uses this somewhat antiquated method of communication: 98 percent of Internet users under 17 said they email, compared with 95 percent of those aged 18 to 24. The lowest level of email usage, 94 percent, was among 45 to 54-year-olds.

The latest survey of 1,926 people aged 12 and older has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.

A separate survey, from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, found recently that 13 percent of adult Internet users have used Twitter, up from 8 percent in November 2010. A higher percentage of African Americans and Latinos use Twitter than white people _ 25 percent, 19 percent and 9 percent, respectively. —AP

Stigma puts many firms off reporting cyber attacks Sony, Google, Lockheed Martin only tip of iceberg?

LONDON: Wary of alarming customers, many firms never report the kind of cyber attacks suffered by Sony, Google and others-and as long as the stigma holds, tackling the growing problem may prove impossible. Data theft is a menace that looms especially large, given companies’ increasing reliance on online storage. At risk can be cutting-edge copyrights, privileged commercial information such as tips on takeover bids and-perhaps most crucially for a business’s reputationcustomers’ personal details.

PARIS: France’s Superior Audiovisual Council member Christine Kelly speaks during an interview with reporters, in Paris, yesterday. Broadcasters in France must not use promotional lines like “Follow us on Twitter” or “Find us on Facebook” on the air because they violate a ban on secret advertising, a regulator says. —AP

French regulator bars ‘Follow us on Twitter’ PARIS: Broadcasters in France must not use promotional lines like “Follow us on Twitter” or “Find us on Facebook” on the air because they violate a ban on secret advertising, a regulator says. Bloggers pilloried the government over the decision, suggesting it was another sign that France is too inflexible on Internet innovations.

In its May 27 ruling, France’s Superior Audiovisual Council, or CSA, ruled that broadcasters could legally point viewers or listeners to their sites on generic “social media” but could not specifically cite services like Facebook or Twitter.

The CSA said yesterday that Facebook or Twitter could be cited only when a report or program merits a specific reference about those sites.

The ruling went largely unnoticed in traditional media until French bloggers — many of them critical — picked up on it.

It came soon after French President Nicolas Sarkozy hosted Facebook cofounder Mark Zuckberberg and other Internet magnates for a conference on how much to regulate the online world.

France has long had a reputation as tough on cyberspace, notably in efforts to protect copyrights. It was not immediately clear whether other countries had enacted similar airwave bans about

references to Facebook or Twitter.

In its one -paragraph ruling in response to a query from an unspecified broadcaster, the regulator said specific references to the social networking sites would violate a 1992 law banning secret advertising. It argued that redirecting viewers to generic social media instead would still be “informative” without plugging a specific site.

A CSA spokeswoman, who said she co ul d no t be iden tified by n ame because of agency rules, noted some networks often blur out the images of corporate logos in the backdrop of TV shots to avoid secret advertising. Loic Le Meur, a French blogger who once advised President Nicolas Sarkozy on Internet policy, lambasted the decision. “French regulation forbids T V networks to say Facebook or Twitter?

My Country is screwed,” he wrote on Twitter. Sarkozy has embraced some social media sites, and some 450,000 people “like” his Facebook page. He is generally in favor of more Internet regulation, not less. The CSA, created in 1989, is charged with ensuring fairness on French audiovisual communication, such as TV time granted political candidates, and with the protection of children from some types of programming. —AP

Computer security and corporate intelligence specialists say they are often sworn to secrecy by firms scared of the potential reaction of corporate partners and investors.

Some companies, said experts gathered at a cyber security conference in London last week organised by the EastWest Spell Institute, may not know the extent of their own exposure.

“One of the reasons we do not know the scale of this is that organisations are embarrassed to reveal the impact,” BT chairman Sir Michael Rake said in a speech.

Speakers called for greater transparency, but few were willing to discuss attacks on their own systems in detail publicly.

Sometimes, experts say, that extends to simply not looking for problems.

“Companies often don’t understand the threats and if they do, they hide it,” said Natalia Kapersky, co-founder of Russian software security firm Kapersky Labs.

While some accuse IT security experts of talking up the threat to boost business, most agree the problem is on the rise. Hackerswhether criminals, state-linked spies or those in between-are all seen increasing in sophistication.

Recent weeks saw a host of

high-profile attacks. Sony probably suffered the worst damage to its reputation, with the personal details of millions of Playstation users compromised and hackers crowing about other data losses.

Other high-profile victims of hacking attempts include defence giant Lockheed Martin and Internet firm Google, with security experts in both cases pointing the finger at hackers in China. Chinese officials angrily deny this, particularly any suggestion of official complicity.

But most specialists say that is only the tip of the iceberg, with little consensus on tackling the problem.

Firms often understand so little about the threat facing them that they do not even know how much money they are losing. The difficulty in putting a price on lost prestige complicates this further.

“Everyone is getting attacked but no one is talking about it,” said Vartan Sarkissian, CEO of security firm Knightsbridge Cybersystems.

“If you can’t value the cost of the attacks, you don’t know how much you can spend to prevent them ... We need a way of sharing information anonymously.”

Some argue the answer may be some form of regulation in

war. The FBI said Sunday that it was aware of the incident and that steps were being taken to mitigate the damage. Farley said InfraGard’s website had been taken down and that members had been advised to change their passwords and beware of further attacks.

Farley added that his group — a volunteer organization — had had no previous involvement with Lulz Security, which describes itself as a collective of hackers who attack weakly-protected websites for fun. Lulz is a reference to Internetspeak for “laugh out loud.” The collective appears to have had a busy week. Earlier Sunday, Nintendo said it had been targeted in a recent online data attack claimed by Lulz Security.

Nintendo said no personal or company information was lost. On Thursday, Lulz Security boasted of a major breach which saw as many as tens of thousands of Sony users’ details posted to the Internet.

The group has also claimed credit for defacing the PBS website after the public television broadcaster aired a documentar y seen as critical of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Emails and other messages seeking comment from the group over the past few days have gone unanswered, although it maintains an active presence on microblogging site Twitter, where it taunts its opponents and promises more hacks. —Reuters

Several security exper ts pointed to the example of the insurance sector, where firms share information in a way that still largely allows open competition. “ What happened with the insurance industry was that they realised they were losing so much money through fraud it no longer made sense to pass the problem from company to company,” said Mar tin Sutherland, CEO of defence firm BAE subsidiary Detica. “I think cyber is a few years behind that.”

But some experts say deterring many cyber attacks is often not all that difficult. The trick, they say, is to raise their defences to the level where it is no longer cost- effec tive for hackers to penetrate and they simply seek another target.

Matt Bross, a former security chief at credit card firm MasterCard whos now chief technical officer for Chinese telecom company Huawei, said his approach to stopping hacking had always been simple.

“The aim was to raise the cost of entry so copying a credit card cost more than forging $100 bill,” he said. “If you raise the cost of entry of a threat, the threat will go another way.” —Reuters

Cellphone cancer warning falls lightly on US ears

Hackers report breach of US-based FBI affiliate LONDON: Nearly 180 passwords belonging to members of an Atlantabased FBI partner organization have been stolen and leaked to the Internet, the group confirmed Sunday. The logins belonged to members of the local chapter of InfraGard, a public-private partnership devoted to sharing information about threats to U.S. physical and Internet infrastructure, the chapter’s president told The Associated Press.

“Someone did compromise the website,” I nfraG ard Atlanta M embers Alliance President Paul Farley said in a brief email exchange. “We do not at this time k now how the attack occurred or the method used to reveal the passwords.” Copies of the passwords — which appear to include users from the US Army, cybersecurity organizations and major communications companies — were posted to the Internet by online hacking collective Lulz Security, which has claimed credit for a string of attacks in the past week.

I n a statement, Lulz S ecurit y also claimed to have used one of the passwords to steal nearly 1,000 work and personal emails from the chief executive of Wilmington, Delaware-based Unveillance LLC. Lulz Security claimed it was acting in response to a recent report that the Pentagon was considering whether to classify some cyberattacks as acts of

which companies are required to divulge much more about security breaches. But in the shor t term, experts say the importance of good electronic defences is finally getting through.

“I think we’ve reached a tipping point,” Melissa Hathaway, a former US National Security Council cyber security chief who now heads her own consultancy, told Reuters at the conference.

“With the recent breaches ... and increased reporting of the issues firms will be working harder to manage their risks and limit their liability.”

But global companies say that while new national policies on cyber security-such as the new US doctrine published by the White House-are welcome, more global coordination is needed between governments and firms.

“Critical to this is the free passage of information, not just between companies and also between governments and intelligence agencies,” said Matthew Kirk, external relations manager for UK-listed mobile telecom operator Vodafone.

“Understandably, companies are not used to sharing information with their closest competitors but they are the ones they need to share with the most,” he said.

HANOVER: In this March 13, 2003 file photo, an unidentified visitor uses his cellphone as he passes a giant poster at the CeBIT computer fair in Hanover, northern Germany. News last week that an arm of the World Health Organization said cellphones might raise the risk of brain cancer has been greeted by Americans mostly with a shrug of the shoulder — one that’s pinning a cellphone to the ear. —AP

NEW YORK: News last week that an arm of the World Health Organization said cellphones might raise the risk of brain cancer has been greeted by Americans mostly with a shrug of the shoulder — one that’s pinning a cellphone to the ear.

Google searches for “cancer” and “cellphones” spiked this week. And some people vowed to get headsets to shield themselves from radiation. But most seemed to either dismiss the warning as too vague, or reason that if the most useful device in modern life poses a slight health risk, then so be it.

“I was watching the news about it, and I thought, ‘I’m already screwed because I’ve been talking on the phone for seven years,”‘ said Genevieve Chamorro, a 31-year-old New Yorker who was shopping for a phone.

John Gottani, a manager at a cellphone store in New York, said he’s been selling phones for six years and has never heard anyone ask if they cause cancer. The only things customers really care about, Gottani said, are “if it works, and if it texts.” The International Agency for Research on Cancer reviewed dozens of published studies on cellphones and cancer before classifying cellphones as “possibly carcinogenic” on Tuesday. It’s a risk category that includes night-shift work, engine exhaust and coffee.

Studies haven’t been able to rule out a link between cellphones and cancer. But experts say that if there is a link, it’s unlikely to be strong. Cellphones emit weak radio waves, which, under the conventional understanding of physics, can’t wreak the same sort of cellular changes that sunlight and radioactivity can.

A common tip offered to those who want to reduce their exposure to cellphone radiation is to use a headset. Even wireless Bluetooth headsets reduce radiation exposure. Though they emit radio signals of their own, they’re much weaker than cellphone signals.

But there seems to be little rush to get Bluetooth headsets. They’ve been declining in popularity for at least four years, according to research firm Strategy Analytics. It’s

also found that most headset owners don’t intend to replace the one they have when it wears out. According to Strategy Analytics analyst Chris Schreiner, the main reason is that when you’re wearing a Bluetooth headset, you look like a person who’s wearing a Bluetooth headset.

“Style has always been a huge issue in terms of Bluetooth headsets,” Schreiner said.

On Twitter this week, the most common posts mentioning “headset” and “cancer” have been repeats of a joke from humor site Someecards.com: “I can’t decide between being seen wearing a Bluetooth headset or just getting brain cancer.”

Cellphones differ in how much radiation they emit. Proposals in a few states would force cellphone stores to display these radiation ratings.

But CTIA-The Wireless Association, the cellphone industry trade group, is fighting these moves. It says there’s no evidence the measured ratings have any correlation with risks. And cellphone manufacturers and carriers are showing no sign of breaking ranks with each other to use the ratings to their advantage - for instance, by touting “low-radiation phones.” Spokesman John Walls said CTIA wouldn’t fight a manufacturer that wanted to market a “low-radiation phone.” But claiming a phone to be safer than any other would cross the line, he said. “They’re all deemed safe by science,” Walls said. Americans on average talk about 700 minutes a month on their cellphones, making them some of the most talkative people in the world, well ahead of Europeans. In San Francisco, Chuck Luter, 42, said he doesn’t plan to change his habits as a result of the radiation warning.

When the advertising-shoot prop stylist talks on his Sidekick phone, he usually uses the speakerphone, so it’s not close to his head. And in any case, he texts more than he talks. Besides, he added, there are few alternatives to owning a cellphone.

“What are the other options? To not have one? To try to keep it all in your head?

There are so many bad things for you — just add this to the pile.” —AP

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Pfizer launches early child nutrition products KUWAIT: Pfizer Nutrition today announced the launch of its new advanced GOLD range of child nutrition products that have been specially developed to meet the changing feeding needs of young children. The GOLD range of infant and follow-on formulas, as well as its new growingup milk, provides the right balance of high-quality nutrients needed to support the optimal health and development of growing children.

For the year 2010, there were approximately 43 million children across the world under the age of five who were overweight. Proper nutrition means receiving an optimal balance of nutrients and receiving too much of a particular nutrient as well as too little can negatively impact on long-term health outcomes. Pfizer Nutrition’s GOLD range of child nutrition products has been redesigned to reflect the latest recommendations from leading nutritional experts.

“Important research has demonstrated that excessive intake of dietary protein may contribute to unhealthy weight gain in early childhood,” said Dr. Mohamed Abdel Khalek, Medical Director, Pfizer Nutrition, Africa & Middle East.

“Nutrition is an evolving science, which is why we have recently reformulated our GOLD range to achieve a more optimal balance of nutrients.

For example, we have reduced protein levels in

our growing up milk to support an appropriate rate of weight gain for children.”

In conjunction with its mission of developing nutritional products which deliver an optimal combination of nutrients carefully balanced to manage children’s nutritional intake and optimise growth and health outcomes, Pfizer Nutrition sponsored two studies, the NOURISH (KNOwledge, UndeRstanding & InsightS Into CHild Nutrition) Survey and a separate Middle East focused study, which was commissioned by YouGov Siraj, a subsidiar y of the United Kingdom’s leading YouGov market research organisation.

NOURISH, a global survey of 1,203 health care professionals (HCPs) in 12 countries (including Egypt and Saudi Arabia) was designed to uncover perceptions and attitudes of paediatric and other HCPs toward early childhood nutrition and to help identify the global need for professional education regarding the appropriate balance of nutrition for optimal growth and development of infants and young children.

Findings from the NOURISH Survey report that HCPs, both globally and in the Middle East, agree on the importance of obtaining an optimal balance of essential nutrients between birth and age five. According to NOURISH, HCPs agree that a diet with the appropriate balance of pro-

tein, carbohydrates and fats plays an important role in early childhood development. The NOURISH Survey also revealed that more than half (56 percent) of HCPs surveyed in the Middle East do not believe that children can receive too much of some nutrients. In addition, HCPs in the Middle East believe that their patients’ parents have a lack of knowledge about appropriate childhood nutrition and growth, particularly when compared to the global findings.

The Middle East focused survey included over 500 mothers living in the GCC and Levant region and was aimed at establishing whether there were any prevalent issues relating to child nutrition in the family. One of the key findings from the study indicated that the majority of mothers found that multiple-carers influence a child’s daily nutritional diet negatively.

Since 1990, the Middle East has experienced a dramatic reversal in early childhood weight.

According to 2010 statistics, the number of underweight children has decreased by 37 percent in Egypt and by more than 60 percent in Saudi Arabia, but the number of overweight children has increased by 40 percent in Egypt and a staggering 408 percent in Saudi Arabia over the same timescale.

Nutrition in early childhood is crucial to lifelong health and well-being, and the current sci-

entific consensus is that a lean baby is a healthier baby. However, HCPs in the Middle East reported that the majority of their patients’ parents do not understand either of these concepts.

About 46 percent of HCPs in the Middle East believed that parents understand at least “well” that a lean baby is healthier baby. HCPs in Egypt reported some of the lowest levels of parental understanding in the survey, with 62 percent respondents stating that parents did not understand this concept either “very well” or “at all.

Nearly all (98 percent) of HCPs surveyed in the Middle East “strongly” or “somewhat” agreed that optimally-balanced nutrition, including protein, carbohydrates and fats, plays an important role in a child’s development. The same percentage agreed that adequate levels of micro and macro nutrients are “very” or “somewhat” important for brain, visual, and physical development, while 97 percent stated that an optimal level of dietary protein is “very” or “somewhat” important for children’s growth.

Nutrition during the first years of life is crucial for life-long health and well-being. The rate of growth of a child is an important indicator of overall health and reflects a child’s nutritional well-being. Appropriate rate of weight gain in infancy and childhood may lead to more positive weight outcomes later in life.

E.coli food probe homes in on German bean sprouts EU ministers to meet to discuss relief for producers BIENENBUETTEL: German scientists were working yesterday to confirm an organic vegetable farm as the source of an outbreak of E.coli bacteria that has already killed 22 people and caused a food scare across Europe.

The relief in Germany that investigators had found a possible source of the killer bacteria-ironically in bean sprouts, eaten by many as “health food”-was tempered by reports of mounting losses for vegetable farmers and retailers across Europe caused by three weeks of panic.

In Brussels, the European Commission said it would hold a special meeting of EU farm ministers in Luxembourg yesterday. One EU source told Reuters the ministers would discuss finan-

areas on the farm either.”

Scientists say the contamination may have been on or in the bean seeds themselves, in the water used to grow them, or come from a worker handling them.

German officials said on Sunday that Verbeck’s bean sprouts could be behind an E.coli outbreak that has killed 22 and made more than 2,300 people ill across Europe. The farm has been shut and produce has been recalled. “We’ve got clear indications that the company ... is the source of the infection but we’ve got to wait for confirmation from laboratory tests,” Health Minister Daniel Bahr told German ARD television.

Neither Verbeck, himself a vegetarian, nor

HAMBURG: Doctor Hauke Weilert prepares a kidney dialysis for an E. coli patient at Asklepios Hospital in Hamburg-Altona, Germany, yesterday. Doctors at the Asklepios Hospital started to treat their E. coli patients with unorthodox therapies including antibiotics and antibodies, despite warnings by WHO and the German government. — AP

cial aid to fruit and vegetable producers hit by the E.coli crisis.

The manager of the north German farm at the centre of the inquiry said he could not understand how it could be the source of an infection that is usually transmitted through faeces, or food or water contaminated with faecal bacteria. The Shiga toxin-producing E.coli (STEC) strain found in this outbreak is known to be able to lurk in cows’ intestines.

“I can’t understand how the processes we have here and the accusations could possibly fit together,” Klaus Verbeck told the regional newspaper Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung.

“The salad sprouts are grown only from seeds and water, and they aren’t fertilised at all.

There aren’t any animal fertilisers used in other

anyone else from the farm would talk on Monday to journalists and television crews, including Reuters, outside his farm in Bienenbuettel, a town of 6,600 people about 70 km (40 miles) south of Hamburg.

German officials, under intense pressure to identify the source of the outbreak, have been warning consumers for weeks to avoid tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce, and at one stage said Spanish cucumbers might be the source.

The hitherto unknown strain of E.coli has killed 21 Germans and one Swede.

In Geneva, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said it was awaiting more information from the Robert Koch Institute, the German institute for disease control.

“Association with contaminated fresh prod-

Prevention guidelines CAIRO: The Eastern Mediterranean regional of the World Health Organization released a press release on the killer Escherichia coli (E. coli) disease and how to control it.

The statement included a factbox including an explanation to the disease, its causes and how it develops and transmits.

It also includes recommendations on the required precautionary measure for countries and people to protect themselves from this deadly bacteria.

It urged food handlers to follow the Recommended International Code of Practice, General Principles of Food Hygiene.

Basic good food hygiene practice, as

described in the WHO Five keys to safer food, can prevent the transmission of pathogens responsible for many foodborne diseases, and also protect against foodborne diseases caused by E.coli. Such recommendations should in all cases be implemented, especially “Cook thoroughly” so that at least the centre of the food reaches 70 degree C. Symptoms of E. coli infections include severe stomach cramps, diarrhea and vomiting.

Symptoms of the HUS kidney failure, which usually develop a week after diarrhea begins, include decreased frequency of urination, fatigue and losing pink color to skin and membranes due to anemia. — KUNA

ucts seems the most likely culprit but we are still considering a wide range of possibilities,” said Claudia Stein, director of information, evidence, research and innovation at the WHO’s European office. The health emergency has strained ties between EU members Spain and Germany and led Russia to ban imports of EU fruit and vegetables. Raw bean sprouts are popular among Germans and are often added to salads or sandwiches.

Spanish farmers say lost sales have been costing them 200 million euros a week, and officials said they might claim compensation. The crisis could put 70,000 people out of work in Spain, which already has the highest unemployment in the EU. The outbreak has affected people in 12 countries-all of whom had been travelling in northern Germany. Many have developed haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS), a potentially fatal complication attacking the kidneys.

“Bean sprouts are very frequently the cause of outbreaks on both sides of the Atlantic,” said Paul Hunter, a professor of public health at Britain’s University of East Anglia.

“They’re very difficult to grow hygienically and you have to be so careful not to contaminate them.”

He said organic farms often carried an extra risk of contamination because they shunned non-organic chemicals. In Japan, at least 11 people died in 1996 in an E. coli outbreak linked to contaminated radish sprouts.

In Bienenbuettel, two uniformed security guards were patrolling behind the closed driveway gate to the farm located in idyllic countryside. One neighbour, Sibylle Lange, said she knew Verbeck well and that he had been in organic farming for many years.

“These are very serious, hardworking people who were very early producers of organic products,” Lange, a 45-year-old mother of two, told Reuters.

“They’ve been working here for some 30 years. It’s a high-quality product. I’ve eaten all sorts of vegetables from here-bean sprouts included-and they taste delicious. I can’t imagine the source could come from here. The whole thing has deeply affected us in the neighbourhood and our friends.”

The Lower Saxony state agriculture minister, Gert Lindemann, said on Sunday evening investigators had traced the rare, highly toxic strain of the bacteria to a farm in the Uelzen region, later identified in the media as the farm in Bienenbuettel.

He said bean sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, mung bean sprouts, radish sprouts and arugula sprouts from the farm might all be connected to the outbreak.

The rare STEC strain of E.coli can stick to intestinal walls where it pumps out toxins, sometimes causing severe bloody diarrhoea and kidney problems. Some patients have needed intensive care, including dialysis. — AP

SEOUL: South Korean high school students walk together near their school in Seoul.

South Korean teenagers have long studied late into the night to stay ahead in the rat race for admission to top universities seen as offering them a head start in life. — AFP

Australians develop ‘smart’ bandage SYDNEY: Australian researchers have developed a “smart” bandage that changes colour as a wound worsens or improves, potentially leading to the better treatment of ailments such as leg ulcers.

Lead inventor Louise van der Werff, a materials scientist at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, said the dressing would change from red to blue depending on the temperature of the wound.

“If the wound becomes infected then it typically gets warmer. It would get cooler if there were, for example, a compromised blood supply,” she told AFP yesterday.

Van der Werff said wound changes were not always obvious and the fibre she helped devise, using liquid crystals which

react to different temperatures, could show changes of less than half a degree Celsius.

“A temperature is sort of an obvious indication-if they can see that through a colour change then hopefully it can help a lot,” she said.

Van der Werff, who is completing her doctorate at Monash University in Melbourne, said plans were underway to incorporate the colour-changing fibre into a textile which could then be woven or knitted into a wound dressing.

“Our main target is for chronic wound care-the elderly, obese and people with diabetes who can get wounds like leg ulcers and pressure ulcers and things like that which can really last a long time without healing properly,” she said. — AFP

NEW DELHI: Indian men and a child collect refuse floating on the waters of the Yamuna River in New Delhi. Considered one of the holiest rivers in India, the Yamuna has also become one of the most polluted, with its water declared unfit for drinking or sustaining aquatic life, and even falling short of the standards required for bathing. — AFP

Smokers quit after ban NEW YORK: A 2007 ban on smoking inside public places across the United Kingdom may have led to a spike in the number of smokers trying to quit, but the rise ebbed within months, a study said.

The findings, published in Addiction, suggest that while smoking bans may influence smokers to quit, they are likely to already be those who are motivated to give up tobacco and that further efforts may be needed to get more to quit.

“Other contextual factors and social norms continue to influence smoking behavior,” said Lisa Szatkowski, a researcher at the UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies at the University of Nottingham and lead author of the study.

“Factors such as the provision of outdoor facilities for smoking, or spending time with smoking friends, may mean smoke free legislation does not act as a continuing stimulus to quit over time,” she told Reuters Health by email.

The study looked at the change in numbers of

prescriptions doctors wrote for medications to help smokers quit before and after the law was enacted on July 1, 2007, focusing on 350 medical practices.

The medications included nicotine replacement therapy, the antidepressant bupropion, and the newest antismoking aid varenicline, sold as Chantix in the United States, that came on the U.K. market in 2006.

In the nine months preceding the ban, prescriptions for all the medications rose by 6.4 percent, but nine months after the ban they dropped by 6.4 percent.

“It’s frankly a little disappointing, but not surprising,” said David Abrams, the executive director of the Steven A. Schroeder National Institute for Tobacco Research and Policy Studies at the antismoking organization legacy.

Abrams, who was not involved in the study, said the impending ban likely motivated people

who were already poised to quit.

Once the ban is in place, “maybe you’ve already skimmed the cream off the top of those who were already motivated to quit,” he added, noting that smoke-free legislation might lead to more quitting if there was additional encouragement from media campaigns, healthcare providers and outreach efforts. But both he and Szatkowski said the results did not mean that smoking bans are ineffective.

“The primary aim of smoke free legislation was to reduce non-smokers’ exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, and the bans in the UK have undoubtedly been successful in meeting this aim.

Other research supports this,” said Szatkowski.

A previous report found that in the year following the UK smoking ban, hospitalisations for heart attacks dropped 2.4 percent, which the researchers attributed to the legislation. — Reuters

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Oregon woman develops foreign accent after surgery ‘Syndrome is often the result of brain injury’ SALEM: Karen Butler has a Britishsounding accent, but she’s never been to Europe. She woke up from dental surgery one day talking funny. A year and a half later her “foreign” accent remains, and her story has traveled around the world. The 56-year-old tax consultant from Toledo, Oregon, has found her life transformed by the dental procedure, which left her with dentures, and — depending on whom you ask — an Eastern European, Swedish or British accent. Butler had all her top teeth and front bottom teeth removed in November 2009 because of gingivitis. A week later the swelling had gone away, but she still sounded strange. Her dentist told her she just had to get used to her new teeth.

But as weeks stretched on with no change, Butler did some online research. She diagnosed herself

with Foreign Accent Syndrome, a medical condition with only a few dozen documented cases.

The syndrome is often the result of brain injury; though it is uncommon, most neurologists will see at least one case in their career, said Dr. Helmi Lutsep, professor and vice-chair of the Department of Neurology at Oregon Health & Science University. Sometimes a person just sounds slightly off; other times there may be a more dramatic-sounding accent, Lutsep said.

“We don’t know exactly how or why it happens, but it simply affects rhythm of language,” Lutsep said.

“I’m absolutely convinced this is a real phenomenon. These people are not making it up.” Butler believes she hasn’t had a stroke or any brain trauma. She said she has tried, but hasn’t been able to get a brain scan because she said her medical insur-

ance will not cover it. “ There’s nothing wrong with having an accent,” said Butler, who was born in Bloomington, Illinois, and moved to Oregon before she turned one.

than a dozen other television shows, newspaper ar ticles and radio stations from Europe to Australia.

Josica Tichert, 58, of Newport, has had Butler prepare her taxes for

Though it is uncommon, most neurologists will see at least one case in their career, said Dr. Helmi Lutsep, professor and vice-chair of the Department of Neurology at Oregon Health & Science University In Toledo, a small town of about 3,500 people, Butler is a novelty with her exotic accent. And that was before she went on the “Today” show and was featured on more

five years but didn’t realize what happened until she saw her on TV. “I just kind of thought ... well, maybe she did speak that way before,” Tichert said. “And then,

when I was watching the news, they had her on there, and I go, ‘Oh my gosh, she does my taxes.”‘ Butler ’s co-workers at the H&R Block tax preparation ser vice noticed the change, but most didn’t ask her directly; they didn’t want to be rude. Some presumed she was taking voice lessons or had “visited (her) homeland.” Since mid-April, when a client put her in touch with a local news station, Butler has been engaged in a swirl of media activity. The grandmother who has five children of her own had never been to New York until NBC flew her out for the “Today” show.

The Butlers said most of their time was spent fielding interviews and going from one meeting with reporters to the next.

Aside from the media attention, Karen Butler said her life hasn’t changed much. She’s less shy

because of all the questions she’s been asked. For a while her family treated the accent like a “new toy,” asking her to say certain words or phrases.

She can’t hear her own accent when she speaks, but Butler said she can feel herself forming words differently. She talks about her daughter, Jamie, as a twenty-VUN year old. She said the accent has softened over time and was initially strongly “Transylvanian” sounding.

Ever y now and then, Butler ’s daughter Cindy Miller, 36, calls her mom’s cell phone just to listen to the voicemail. Butler hasn’t changed it since the procedure.

“After all this time I like to hear it. I like to remember what it was.

What my voice sounded like,” Butler said. “I don’t feel different inside at all. I’m the same old me I ever was.” — AP

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W H AT ’ S O N Announcements

Burgan Bank celebrates World Environment Day

B

urgan Bank recently concluded its sponsorship of the “Kuwait Change” initiative that was aimed at celebrating World Environment Day, an effort to take part in the global celebration that is supports positive environmental action. The event, which was held at Marina Mall, was attended by US Ambassador to Kuwait, Debora Jones, and featured a range of activities that addressed the importance of preserving nature.

Bashir Jaber, Burgan Bank’s Acting Chief Marketing Officer-General Manager said: “World Environment Day is a day for people from all walks of life to come together to ensure a cleaner, greener and brighter outlook for themselves and future generations. The bank strongly believes in the importance of supporting environmental initiatives that have a direct impact on the community, and we encourage organizations

Bashir Jaber, Burgan Bank Acting Chief Marketing Officer-General Manager seen with US Ambassador to Kuwait Deborah Jones and others. as well as individuals to participate in such eco-friendly causes, helping to raise the level of awareness amongst the society.”

The event featured a range of activities that included distributing reusable bags amongst the public, collecting plastic and paper items, which have

AUK athletes with their medals and trophies with Sports Coordinator Trevor Taylor.

been recycled to demonstrate the importance and benefits of recycling and reducing waste while emphasizing the magnitude of everyone’s role in preserving the environment. Participants in the event also planted 100 trees in Wafra, an initiative that re-emphasizes and marks the importance of a green society.

“This year’s theme is Forests, an important element that provides shelter, jobs, security and cultural relevance for forest-dependent populations. They are the green lungs of the earth, vital to the survival of people everywhere - all seven billion of us,” added Jaber.

Burgan Bank continues to demonstrate its leadership and social responsibility amongst the Kuwaiti social fabric through its commitment to support a wide range of activities and initiatives that contribute to the development of the society.

AUK Director of Student Life Damian Medina with AUK Sports Coordinator Trevor Taylor.

Congratulations AUK athletes, 2011 UCC champions!

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fter a month and a half of seasonal play and two weeks of playoffs, the American University of Kuwait (AUK) has won the 2011 University Championship Cup (UCC) for the fourth time. This year’s UCC trophy race was extremely close; the outcome of the men’s and women’s soccer finals determined the winner. When the points were tallied, AUK edged out the Australian College of Kuwait (ACK) by one point and the Gulf University for Science & Technology (GUST) only trailed by two points. This neck and neck competition showed the importance of each game.

The four first places AUK received from tennis and basketball teams gave AUK a whopping 20 points. However, the AUK women’s table tennis team’s key victory over ACK in the semi-finals made all the difference when it came down to the points total. AUK Athletics showed a tremendous amount of determination, spirit, and talent this year. They truly

deserve the title UCC 2011 Champions!

The UCC is currently a sports tournament amongst private universities in Kuwait. It was established in 2006 and has taken place a total of five times. Out of those five competitions, AUK has been crowned UCC Champion four times.

GUST was the previous UCC Champion, making it the only other university to win. AUK, ACK, and GUST have competed in every UCC competition. Other universities have been involved in the past, such as the Arab Open University (AOU) and Kuwait University. With a new UCC committee organizing the tournament, it is hoped that next year’s UCC will involve more private universities than ever before. The American University of the Middle East / American College of the Middle East, as well as Boxhill College, are being considered as possible participants. It is even hoped that AOU will rejoin, once their temporary hold has been resolved.

Al-Naqqi forum hosts ‘Development Management’

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tate attorney and Fatwa and Legislation Department member Najla Al-Naqqi hosts a lecture at her forum next week featuring the president of the Kuwait Center for Strategic Studies. Dr Sami Al-Faraj, who will be talking about the failure in development management and its effect on the national security. The lecture will take place at 8 pm on Saturday June 11, 2011 at the Najla Al-Naqqi Forum in Salwa, Block 2, house 338 (front door at Al-Aqsa mosque street, backdoor at street no. 107).

UCC 2011 involved five intercollegiate sports: soccer, basketball, volleyball, tennis, and table tennis. Sport venues are provided by the participating universities, allowing the UCC to take place on various campuses. This year AUK hosted table tennis, ACK hosted soccer and tennis, and GUST hosted basketball and volleyball. Next year’s UCC may involve a couple of new sports. Swimming and squash are being seriously considered.

The UCC begins with seasonal play for each sport. Universities play each other a number of times and are then ranked on their win/loss record in each sport.

Once seasonal play is finished, playoff brackets are then created based on rank.

During the playoffs, universities’ performance will be recognized on a point basis.

1st Place = 5 points; 2nd Place = 3 points; 3rd Place = 2 points. At the conclusion of the playoffs, the points are then tallied up for every sport and the university with the most total points is awarded the

UCC trophy.

The UCC committee is already planning UCC 2011-2012. In addition to having more universities and more sports, they intend to expand the UCC from a two month tournament to a year-long athletic competition. This would allow the UCC to be broken up into seasons, allowing each sport to shine in its own respect and giving student-athletes the opportunity to be involved in multiple sports. It would also create longer seasonal play, which means more games for each team to compete in. Hopefully next year’s UCC will be even better than this year’s.

A special thanks to all the students, faculty, and staff that came out to support the AUK teams in this year’s UCC. Your cheering and motivation created an exciting atmosphere that pushed our student-athletes to perform at the next level. Thank you for showing your Wolf Pack spirit!

Hoppin’ John String Band

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he Hoppin’ John String Band, a Bluegrass group, will be in Kuwait as part of a US Embassy sponsored visit and they’ll be conducting public performances in several locations. All public performances will open to the public and free of charge. No tickets or seat reservations will be required. Here are the details: The US Embassy Kuwait In cooperation with the National Council for Culture, Arts & Letters presents: The Hoppin’ John String Band Date: June 15, 2011 Time: 7:15pm to 8:30pm Location: National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters’ International Music Festival; Al-Dasma Theatre

Date: June 16, 2011 Time: 9:00am to 10:00am Location: Live on Sabah Al-Watan (Al-Watan Television) Date: June 16, 2011 Time: 8:30pm to 9:30pm Location: The Higher Institute for Musical Arts Date: June 18, 2011 Time: 6:00pm to 7:00pm Location: Live on Raykum Shabab (Al-Rai Television) Date: June 19, 2011 Time: 7:15pm to 8:30pm Location: The Al-Babtain Central Library for Arabic Poetry.

BAIA Summer Camp now open for registrations 2011 ON STAGE summer camp from 19 June to 06 July.

Last year High School Musical, this year Camp Rock, Tangled, Cars...many more! From Page to Stage in just 3 weeks, through costume design, technicals, acting, singing, dance, music, make-up, film and lighting. Create a fabulous performance ON STAGE. Discounts available if registered before 01 June. Call 60052087 or mail administrator@baia.com.kw. Full details of all events and courses are available on www.baia.com.kw AWARE Arabic course The AWARE management is glad to inform you that Summer 2 Arabic language courses will begin on June 12 until July 21, 2011. AWARE Arabic language courses are designed with the expat in mind. The environment is relaxed & courses are designed for those wanting to learn Arabic for travel, cultural understanding, and conducting business or simply to become more involved in the community. We cater to teachers, travelers and those working in the private business sector.

AWARE Arabic courses highlights: Introductory to Level 4 Arabic language basics; Ccmbine language learning with cultural insights; taught in multinationality group settings ; and provides opportunities to interact with Western expatriates and native Kuwaitis/Arabs. For more information and/or registration, call 25335260/80 ext 105 or 0 or log onto: www.aware.com.kw Mahakte Lamhe Indian Cultural Society (ICS) presents “Mahakte Lamhe” with Udit Narayan (a renowned playback singer from Indian cinema)) with Deepa Narayan (female singer).

Another attraction of the evening will be reality show fame Neha Chouhan & Nayan Rathod on 10th June 2011 Friday at 7.30 pm. The Chief Guest for the event will be Vidhu P Nair Charge d” Affaires Embassy of India, Kuwait and the guest of honor will be prominent personalities from Kuwait.

After hosting memorable events such as “Dil Ki Awaaz “ with Kavita Krishnamurti & Bharti Singh, Jashn e Bahara’n” with Talat Aziz & famous poets, “Nazar Ke Samne” with Kumar Sanu, “Taal se Taal” with Alka Yagnik, “Shaam e Ghalib” with Kader Khan, Shaam e Sangeet, Shaam e Shibani, Suroon- Ki-Shaam, Shaam- e-Ghazal, Geet & Ghazal Nite, Shab- e-Meraj, Jhoomte Sitare & many more.

“Mahakte Lamhe” will be witness of new era & evergreen songs by Udit Narayan a reigning king of male playback singers. Nayan Rathod will entertain with his versatile singing style as he is famous in many reality shows. Nayan became famous in his marvelous performance in “K for Kishor”. Simultaneously Lucknow born Neha Chouhan established herself as superb performer in maximum reality shows especially in Chak De & Comedy Circus.

Udit has sung in more than 2600 Hindi films and in 15 Indian language films like Hindi, Bengali, Assamess, Oriya, Bhojpuri, Rajasthani, Gujarati, Marathi, Kannad, Telegu, Garwali, Manipuri, Haryanvi and Maithili. Udit Narayan also acted in two Nepali films: Kusumey Rumal and Peerati. Some of his private albums are Bhajan Sangam ,Bhajan Vatika ,I love You ,Dil Deewana , Yeh Dosti ,Love is Life,Jhumka de Jhumka, ,Sona No Ghadulo , Dhuli Ganga , Ma Tarini, and many more... Udit Narayan has performed appreciatively 1100 stage shows in India and abroad like US, Canada, West Indies, and Far East, UK South Africa and many European countries. These include Screen Videocon Award, MTV Best Video Award and Pride of India Gold Award.

He was in the panel of judges of Indian Idol 3 & Waar Pariwaron Sony TV. In 2009, he was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India, India’s 4th highest civilian honor.

Congratulations

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ishing you happy first wedding anniversary dear Zafar Iqbal and Salkia Zafar.

Best wishes from Zaheer Abbas and Imran Abbas.

KICC bids farewell to Thomas

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ICC Kuwait, bid farewell to its Cultural Convener John Thomas M.J. who will be leaving Kuwait, in a function held at the May flower Auditorium, Presided by Chacko Georgekutty.

Varghese Joseph Maramon welcomed the gathering.

E.P Varghese. Thomas Chacko, T.V. Mathew, Roy Yoyaki & Reji John delivered felicitation speeches.

Roy Abraham gave the vote of thanks.

Write to us

Premier GOAL squads

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ictured are players from the Premier GOAL Academy Centre of Excellence squads with their medals following the end of season presentations this week. The PGA is sponsored by Porsche Centre Kuwait, Behbehani Motors Company and will be back in September 2011 with an extensive pro-

gramme of coaching courses, tournaments, fixtures and tours, catering for boys and girls of all ages from 3 to 18 years. The PGA is officially affiliated to Everton F.C. from the English Premier League and licensed with the Kuwait Ministry of Commerce. Patron of the PGA is the British Ambassador to Kuwait, Frank Baker

and the main centre is located at Shaab Park where four top quality artificial football pitches are available for training and matches six days a week. All Coaches hold coaching qualifications from the English Football Association or UEFA and are certified by Everton F.C.

Send to What’s On upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20

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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.

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JIS excels in class 10 results

LIC Intl launches unique life insurance policy gold plus

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IC (International) Kuwait launched another Unit Linked Insurance Plan “GOLD PLUS”.

The product was launched on 1.6.2011 by R. Thamodharan - CEO & MD and L. Shamsunder General Manager of LIC (International) BSC Bahrain, in the presence of G. Rajasekar - AGM of

Warba Insurance Co., Resident Managers Abdul Wahid & Tushar Pandya, and Marketing officers and consultants. Gold Plus provides a unique opportunity to the customers to invest in Gold ETF and Gold Spot. The introductory NAV for the product is US $ 10 per unit and it helps the

investors to invest and reap the benefit of Gold Market.

This product has only one fund called Gold Fund thus avoiding the hassles of fund switching at a later date. By investing in this product, the customers can meet the various future needs like Children education, daughter marriage etc.

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abriya Indian School once again secured cent percent results in the CBSE, X Board Examination, conducted in March, 2011. The School Head girl, Parah Mohamed Bakeem, an industrious and affable student topped the list with CGPA - 10 points in all the subjects. She was followed closely by the amiable Ticklye Sharifa Alimiya and the gentle and soft spoken Lina Faouzi Daou, with CGPA- 9.8 points. The diligent Melisha Michael D’Souza, the calm and quiet Najma Abdullasha Mohamed Kasim and Yasmeen Mohammed Azeem bagged the third position with CGPA 9.6 points. Hard work put in by the students along with the guidance of a team of dedicated teachers has indeed proved fruitful. The Management and staff takes immense pride in congratulating all the toppers, wishing them the very best to bring more Laurels, to the school.

EMBASSY OF AUSTRALIA The Embassy encourages all Australians to register their presence in Kuwait through Smartraveller Online (see link below).

Australians who are registered are asked to update their details. The information provided will assist us in contacting you in an emergency. www.smartraveller.gov.au Kuwait citizens can apply for and receive visit visas to Australia online at www.immi.gov.au. This usually takes two working days. All others visa applications are handled by the Australian Visa Application Centre Tel. 22971110.

Witnessing and certifying documents are by appointment only, please contact the Embassy on 2232 2422.

The Australian Embassy is open from 8.00am to 4.00pm, Sunday to Thursday.

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EMBASSY OF BRITAIN The Visa Application Centre (VAC) will be closed on the same dates above. The opening hours of the Visa Application Centre are 0930 - 1630 Application forms remain available online from the UKBAs’ website: www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk or from the Visa Application Centre’s website: www.vfs-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 ■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF CANADA The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24, Al-Mutawakel St., Block 4 in Da’aiyah. Please visit our website at www.Kuwait.gc.ca.

Canada offers a registration service for all Canadians travelling or living abroad. This service is provided so that Consular Officials can contact and assist Canadians in an emergency in a foreign country, such as a natural disaster or civil unrest, or inform Canadians of a family emergency at home. The Embassy of Canada encourages all Canadian Citizens to register online through the Government of Canada Travel Website at www.voyage.gc.ca. The Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi provides visa and immigration services to residents of Kuwait.

Individuals who are interested in visiting, working or immigrating to Canada are invited to visit the website of the Canadian Embassy to the UAE at www.UAE.gc.ca.

Effective January 15, 2011, the only Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) application form that will be accepted by CIC is the Application for Temporary Resident Visa Made Outside of Canada [IMM 5257] form. All previous Temporary Resident Visa application forms will no longer be accepted by CIC and instead will be returned to applicants. Should old applications be submitted prior to January 15, 2011 they will continue to be processed.

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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 ■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF KENYA The Embassy of the Republic of Kenya wishes to request all Kenyans resident in or training through Kuwait to register with the Embassy. We are updating our database. This information is necessary in order to facilitate quick assistance and advise in times of emergency. Kindly visit in person or register through our website www.kenyaembkuwait.com. The Embassy is located in: Surra Area - Block 6 - Street 9 Villa 3 Tel: 25353362 - 25353314; Fax: 25353316.

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EMBASSY OF NIGERIA The Nigerian embassy has moved its office to Mishref. Block 3, Street 7, House 4. For enquires please call 25379541. Fax25387719. Email- nigeriakuwait@yahoo.com or nigeriankuwait@yahoo.co.uk ■■■■■■■

Fantabulous achievement of ICS Class X with 100% result

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he spectacular performance of class X glorifies ICS as the meritorious students emerged with 100% result. In keeping with the tradition of excellent academic achievement, this year also ICS students proved their mettle by their tremendous performance in class X. Out of 142 students, 140 appeared for the external board examination and two for the internal exam. We proudly make it known that 13 consistent students secured a CGPA of 10. They are followed by 24 students of great potential, who scored above a CGPA of 9-9.8. The results were indeed impressive as it reflected the consistent training, enthusiasm and sincerity of the teaching faculty under the guidance of firm faith and confidence of our beloved principal MrsShantha Maria James.

Achievers with CGPA 10 Samira Afrin, Aabha Gopan, Nezlyn C. D’Souza , Sumiya Akther, Chhaya Mahajan, Rekha Elizebeth, Betty Varghese, Shreya Perikilathu Joseph, Hanan Noushad P.V., Karthik Nandakumar, Rahul Ramdas, Stanley Sunny Areekal, Robi Reji John.

Toppers with CGPA 9.8 Monal Kumari, Anjali Girijan, Shahria Afrin, Henan Hassan, Wesley Varghese Mathew, CGPA 9.6, Sumaiya Faheem Ahmed, Andria Susan Cardoza, Fawas Chemban, CGPA9.4, Nikhitha Muralee Panicker, Remy Rachel Abraham, Nicole Gertrude Monteiro, Kunnel Gopi Padmesh, CGPA-

9.2, Angela Susan Issac, Alina Perpetual D’Silva, Christina Mary Mathew, Jobina Elesa John CGPA - 9.0, Sonia Abdul Rafiq, Ajay Emmanuel, Rihad Pallimanthattil, Siham Mohamed Abdulla, Maha Muhahid, Anona Fernandes, Jabin Manu Jose, Faies Muhammed.

Subject-wise result with CGPA of 10 Subject, No of students: English 15, Hindi 7, French 6, Mathematics 24, Science 21, Social Studies 18.

ICS whole heartedly congratulates all the top achievers on their success and wishes one and all the very best in their future endeavours.

EMBASSY OF PERU With the growing interest shown by Kuwaiti citizens and/or foreign residents in Kuwait for going for vacation and tourism to Peru and/or with the purpose of doing business over there, The Embassy of Peru in Kuwait did the effort and obtained as a temporary and immediate solution - till the opening of the consular section of Diplomatic Mission of Peru in Kuwait City - that the consular section of the Embassy of Peru in Qatar will attend those requests of granting such visas. Working hours: 9 am till 2 pm or call +974-4491-5944, Fax: +974-4491-5940 E-mail: info@peruembassy.com.qa ■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF RUSSIA The Embassy of the Russian Federation in Kuwait will be closed 12th June, 2011 on the occasion of the National Day of the Russian Federation.

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TV PROGRAMS

00:45 Dogs 101 01:40 Untamed And Uncut 02:35 Into The Pride 03:30 Mutant Planet 04:25 Your Worst Animal Nightmares 05:20 Animal Cops Phoenix 06:10 Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 07:00 Meerkat Manor 07:25 The Really Wild Show 07:50 Jeff Corwin Unleashed 08:15 Natural Born Hunters 08:40 Breed All About It 09:10 Dogs vs. Cats 10:05 Dogs 101 11:00 Animal Cops Houston 11:55 Vet On The Loose 12:20 Wildlife SOS 12:50 Animal ER 13:45 Animal Cops Phoenix 14:40 Chimp Family Fortunes 15:30 Animal Battlegrounds 16:00 The Really Wild Show 16:30 Jeff Corwin Unleashed 17:00 Natural Born Hunters 17:25 America’s Cutest...

18:20 Breed All About It 18:45 Planet Wild 19:15 Chimp Family Fortunes 20:10 Dogs 101 21:05 Life Of Mammals 22:00 Last Chance Highway 22:55 Lions Of Crocodile River 23:50 Chimp Family Fortunes

00:15 01:00 01:55 02:45 03:15 03:45 04:20 04:40 05:00 05:25 05:40 06:00 06:20 06:45 07:00 07:20 07:40 08:05 08:20 08:40 09:00 09:25 09:40 10:40 11:25 12:15 12:45 13:15 14:10 15:45 16:35 17:20 17:50 18:20 19:15 20:00 20:45 21:15 21:45 22:40 23:30

The Weakest Link Holby City New Tricks Eastenders Doctors Last Of The Summer Wine Fimbles Tweenies Teletubbies Bobinogs Fimbles Tweenies Teletubbies Bobinogs Fimbles Tweenies Teletubbies Bobinogs Fimbles Tweenies Teletubbies Bobinogs Last Of The Summer Wine The Weakest Link Inspector Lynley Mysteries Doctors Eastenders Holby City Last Of The Summer Wine Inspector Lynley Mysteries The Weakest Link Doctors Eastenders Holby City Inspector Lynley Mysteries The Weakest Link Doctors Eastenders Holby City Unforgiven Green Green Grass

00:15 02:00 02:45 04:55 08:20 09:10 10:00 12:05 12:30 13:20 14:05 14:50 16:55 17:20 17:45

Come Dine With Me Home For Life Come Dine With Me Daily Cooks Challenge New Scandinavian Cooking Antiques Roadshow Come Dine With Me New Scandinavian Cooking Antiques Roadshow Cash In The Attic Bargain Hunt Come Dine With Me Come Dine With Me Come Dine With Me Sweet Baby James

18:10 New Scandinavian Cooking 18:35 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 19:00 Antiques Roadshow 19:50 Cash In The Attic 20:35 Bargain Hunt 21:20 Come Dine With Me 22:10 Home For Life 23:00 Cash In The Attic USA

00:00 BBC World News 00:30 World Business Report 00:45 Sport Today 01:00 BBC World News America 01:30 Asia Business Report 01:45 Asia Today 02:00 BBC World News 02:30 Asia Business Report 02:45 Asia Today 03:00 BBC World News 03:30 Asia Business Report 03:45 Asia Today 04:00 BBC World News 04:30 Asia Business Report 04:45 Asia Today 05:00 BBC World News 05:30 Asia Business Report 05:45 Asia Today 06:00 BBC World News 06:30 Hardtalk 07:00 BBC World News 07:30 World Business Report 07:45 BBC World News 08:30 World Business Report 08:45 BBC World News 09:30 World Business Report 09:45 Sport Today 10:00 BBC World News 10:30 World Business Report 10:45 Sport Today 11:00 BBC World News 11:30 Hardtalk 12:00 BBC World News 12:30 World Business Report 12:45 Sport Today 13:00 BBC World News 13:30 World Business Report 13:45 Sport Today 14:00 GMT With George Alagiah 15:00 BBC World News 15:30 World Business Report 15:45 Sport Today 16:00 Impact With Mishal Husain 17:30 World Business Report 17:45 Sport Today 18:00 BBC World News 18:30 Hardtalk 19:00 The Hub With Nik Gowing 20:30 World Business Report 20:45 Sport Today 21:00 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 22:30 World Business Report 22:45 Sport Today 23:00 BBC World News America 23:30 Hardtalk

00:05 Cow And Chicken 00:30 Cramp Twins 00:55 George Of The Jungle 01:20 Courage The Cowardly Dog 01:45 Eliot Kid 02:10 Ed, Edd N Eddy 02:35 Ben 10: Alien Force 03:00 The Powerpuff Girls 03:15 Chowder 03:40 The Secret Saturdays 04:05 My Gym Partner’s A Monkey 04:30 Ben 10: Alien Force 04:55 Best Ed 05:20 Skunk Fu! 05:45 Cramp Twins 06:10 Eliot Kid 06:35 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 07:00 Codename: Kids Next Door 07:25 Cow And Chicken 07:50 Angelo Rules 08:05 Cartoon Network Dance Club 08:15 Adventure Time 08:40 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 09:05 The Secret Saturdays 09:30 Batman: The Brave And The Bold 09:55 The Powerpuff Girls

10:20 Robotboy 10:30 Hero 108 10:55 Ben 10 11:20 Chowder 11:45 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 12:10 Camp Lazlo 12:35 George Of The Jungle 13:00 Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends 13:25 Codename: Kids Next Door 13:50 Ben 10 14:15 My Gym Partner’s A Monkey 14:40 Squirrel Boy 15:05 Eliot Kid 15:35 Ed, Edd N Eddy 16:00 Cow And Chicken 16:25 Chop Socky Chooks 16:50 Skunk Fu! 17:15 Chowder 17:40 Best Ed 18:05 Hero 108 18:30 Cartoon Network Dance Club 18:45 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 18:55 Batman: The Brave And The Bold 19:20 Ben 10: Alien Force 19:45 The Secret Saturdays 20:10 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 20:35 Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes 21:00 The Powerpuff Girls 21:25 Ed, Edd N Eddy 21:50 Robotboy 22:00 Adventure Time 22:25 Hero 108 22:50 Ben 10 23:15 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 23:40 Chowder

00:00 00:30 01:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 06:30 07:00 07:30 08:00 10:00 10:30 11:00 12:00 13:00 13:30 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00 20:30 21:00 22:00 23:00

Backstory World Sport World Report World Business Today Piers Morgan Tonight Anderson Cooper 360 World Sport World View World Report Backstory World Report World Sport Inside Africa World Business Today World One World Sport News Special Piers Morgan Tonight News Stream World Business Today International Desk The Brief World Sport Prism International Desk News Special Quest Means Business Piers Morgan Tonight Connect The World

00:40 Dirty Jobs 01:35 Gold Rush: Alaska 02:30 Ultimate Survival 03:25 Motor City Motors 04:20 Mythbusters 05:15 How It’s Made 05:40 How Machines Work 06:05 Dirty Jobs 07:00 Motor City Motors 07:50 American Chopper: Senior vs Junior 08:45 How It’s Made 09:10 Mythbusters 10:05 Cake Boss 10:55 Time Warp 11:25 Gold Rush: Alaska 12:20 Swords: Life On The Line 13:15 Ultimate Survival 14:10 LA Ink 15:05 Dirty Jobs 16:00 Motor City Motors 16:55 Mythbusters 17:50 Extreme Fishing With Robson Green 18:45 Cake Boss 19:10 Border Security 19:40 Time Warp

THE LOVELY BONES ON OSN CINEMA

20:05 How Machines Work 20:35 How It’s Made 21:00 The Next Great Baker 21:55 LA Ink 22:50 Police Women Of Maricopa County 23:45 Extreme Fishing With Robson Green

00:30 The Gadget Show 00:55 Kings Of Construction 01:45 Mighty Ships 02:35 Ultimate Power Builders 03:25 How Stuff’s Made 03:50 Thunder Races 04:45 What’s That About?

05:40 One Step Beyond 06:10 Nextworld 07:00 Scrapheap Challenge 07:55 Head Rush 07:58 Sci-Fi Science 08:25 Weird Connections 08:55 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 09:45 The Gadget Show 10:35 The Future Of...

11:25 Green Wheels 11:50 Punkin Chunkin 2010 12:40 One Step Beyond 13:05 Mighty Ships 13:55 Bang Goes The Theory 14:45 Kings Of Construction 15:35 The Gadget Show 16:00 Head Rush 16:03 Sci-Fi Science 16:30 Weird Connections 17:00 Brainiac 17:50 Cosmic Collisions 18:40 Nasa’s Greatest Missions 19:30 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 20:20 Weird Connections 20:45 Cool Stuff And How It Works 21:10 The Gadget Show 22:00 Nasa’s Greatest Missions 22:50 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 23:40 Powering The Future

00:20 00:45 01:10 01:30 01:55 02:20 02:45 03:10 03:30 03:55 04:20 04:45 05:10 05:35 06:00 06:25 06:50 07:15 07:40 08:00 08:20 08:45 09:10 09:20 09:30 09:55 10:05 10:25 11:15 11:35 12:00 12:10 12:35 13:00 13:25 13:40 14:05 14:15 14:25 14:50 15:15 16:05 16:30 16:40 16:55 17:20 17:45 17:55 18:05 18:15 18:35 19:00 19:20 19:45 19:55 20:05 20:50 21:10 21:20 21:30 21:55 22:20 22:35 22:45 23:00 23:20 23:30 23:55

Jungle Junction Special Agent Oso Little Einsteins Higglytown Heroes Jo Jo’s Circus Jungle Junction Special Agent Oso Little Einsteins Higglytown Heroes Jo Jo’s Circus Jungle Junction Special Agent Oso Little Einsteins Higglytown Heroes Jo Jo’s Circus Jungle Junction Special Agent Oso Little Einsteins Higglytown Heroes Special Agent Oso Jungle Junction Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Timmy Time Handy Manny Jake & The Neverland Pirates The Hive Handy Manny Mickey Mouse Clubhouse The Little Mermaid Little Einsteins Jungle Junction Lazytown Imagination Movers Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates Jungle Junction Timmy Time The Hive Little Einsteins The Little Mermaid Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Handy Manny The Hive Jake & The Neverland Pirates Imagination Movers Lazytown Jungle Junction Special Agent Oso The Hive Little Einsteins Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates The Little Mermaid Handy Manny Timmy Time Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates The Hive Handy Manny The Little Mermaid Little Einsteins Handy Manny The Hive Jungle Junction The Little Mermaid Timmy Time Jo Jo’s Circus Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

06:00 Kid vs Kat 06:20 Kick Buttowski 06:40 Pokemon Dp: Sinnoh League Victors 07:05 Phineas And Ferb 08:05 American Dragon 08:30 Kick Buttowski 08:50 Cars Toons 08:55 Cars Toons 09:00 Zeke And Luther 09:25 Zeke And Luther 09:50 I’m In The Band 10:15 The Super Hero Squad Show 10:40 Suite Life On Deck 11:05 Suite Life On Deck 11:30 Pair Of Kings 11:55 Phineas And Ferb 12:45 Kid vs Kat 13:50 The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody 14:15 The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody 14:40 Zeke And Luther 15:05 Kick Buttowski 15:25 Cars Toons 15:30 Cars Toons 15:35 Pokemon Dp: Sinnoh League Victors 16:00 I’m In The Band 16:25 Suite Life On Deck 16:50 Zeke And Luther 17:40 Phineas And Ferb 18:30 Escape From Scorpion Island 18:55 Kick Buttowski 19:20 American Dragon 19:45 Aaron Stone

20:10 20:15 20:40 21:05 21:30 21:50 22:00 Cody 22:20 23:00 KSA

Phineas And Ferb Kid vs Kat Phineas And Ferb I’m In The Band Zeke And Luther Cars Toons The Suite Life Of Zack And The Super Hero Squad Show Programmes Start At 6:00am

00:25 Kendra 00:55 The Soup 01:25 E!es 03:15 25 Most Stylish 04:10 Sexiest 05:05 Extreme Hollywood 06:00 THS 07:50 Behind The Scenes 08:20 E! News 09:15 Married To Rock 10:15 THS 12:05 E! News 13:05 Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane 14:05 Kourtney And Kim Take New York 14:35 E!es 15:30 THS 16:25 Behind The Scenes 16:55 Kourtney And Kim Take New York 17:25 Khloe And Lamar 17:55 E! News 18:55 Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane 19:55 THS 20:55 Chelsea Lately 21:25 Holly’s World 22:25 E! News 23:25 Chelsea Lately 23:55 Keeping Up With The Kardashians

00:30 01:20 02:10 03:00 03:50 04:45 05:15 06:10 07:00 07:50 08:40 09:30 10:20 11:10 12:00 Jones 12:50 13:40 14:30 15:20 16:10 17:00 17:50 18:40 19:30 20:20 Jones 21:10 22:00 22:50 23:40

The Haunted A Haunting Nightmare Next Door I Was Murdered Dr G: Medical Examiner Ghosthunters The Haunted Diagnosis: Unknown Forensic Detectives Murder Shift Diagnosis: Unknown Real Emergency Calls Disappeared FBI Files True Crime With Aphrodite Fugitive Strike Force Diagnosis: Unknown Real Emergency Calls Disappeared Forensic Detectives Murder Shift FBI Files Diagnosis: Unknown Real Emergency Calls True Crime With Aphrodite Fugitive Strike Force Deadly Women The Prosecutors Dr G: Medical Examiner

00:30 The Frankincense Trail 01:30 62 Days At Sea 02:30 Banged Up Abroad 03:30 Treks In A Wild World 04:00 Bondi Rescue 04:30 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 05:00 Exploring The Vine 05:30 Meet The Natives 06:30 The Frankincense Trail 07:30 62 Days At Sea 08:30 Banged Up Abroad 09:30 Treks In A Wild World 10:00 Bondi Rescue 10:30 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 11:00 Exploring The Vine 11:30 Long Way Down 12:30 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 13:30 Don’t Tell My Mother 14:30 Banged Up Abroad 15:30 Treks In A Wild World 16:00 Bondi Rescue 16:30 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 17:00 Exploring The Vine 17:30 Long Way Down 18:30 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 19:30 Don’t Tell My Mother 20:30 Banged Up Abroad 21:30 Treks In A Wild World 22:00 Bondi Rescue 22:30 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 23:00 Exploring The Vine 23:30 Long Way Down

00:15 00:40 01:30 02:20 03:10 04:00 04:50 05:40 06:30 2008 08:00 08:25 09:15 10:05 10:30 10:55 11:45 12:35 13:25 14:15 15:05 15:55 16:45 17:10 18:00 18:50 19:15 19:40 20:30 21:20 22:10 23:00 23:50

Untracked Mantracker World Combat League Untracked Man’s Work Final Fu Mantracker World Combat League FIA European Drag Racing

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:15

Wild Things: Foursome -18 Don’t Look Up-18 Tears Of The Sun-18 Kiss The Girls-18 Star Trek: Generations-PG A Knight’s Tale-PG15 Hollywood Homicide-PG15

Quattro Events 2009 Winter X Games 15 2011 IFMXF 2010 Roxy Jam Stairsmasters 2010 X Games Heroes Fantasy Factory Untracked BMX Megatour World Combat League X Games Heroes Fantasy Factory Quattro Events 2009 Winter X Games 15 2011 IFMXF 2010 Roxy Jam Stairsmasters 2010 BMX Megatour Untracked Final Fu World Combat League Man’s Work Untracked

ANGELS AND DEMONS ON OSN MOVIES ACTION 14:15 16:15 18:00 20:00 22:00

Star Trek: Generations-PG The Order-PG15 Hollywood Homicide-PG15 Blood: The Last Vampire-18 Legion-18

01:00 Desperate Hours: An Amber Alert-PG15 03:00 Don’t Fade Away-PG15 05:15 Messengers-PG15 07:15 Rugrats Go Wild-FAM 09:00 Don’t Fade Away-PG15 11:00 Me And Orson Welles-PG 13:00 Delgo-FAM 15:00 Ice Twisters-PG15 16:45 Attack On Leningrad-PG 18:45 The Lovely Bones-PG15 21:00 Who Is Clark Rockefeller-PG 23:00 44 Inch Chest-18

00:00 It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia 00:30 The Daily Show Global Edition 01:00 The Colbert Report Global Edition 01:30 South Park 02:00 Comedy Central Presents 03:00 Rita Rocks 03:30 Comedy Central Presents 03:30 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 04:00 South Park 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 Will And Grace 06:00 According To Jim 06:30 Family Biz 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 Seinfeld 08:30 Dharma And Greg 09:00 Rita Rocks 09:30 Will And Grace 10:00 According To Jim 10:30 Seinfeld 11:00 Family Biz 11:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:30 Dharma And Greg 13:00 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 13:30 Will And Grace 14:00 According To Jim 14:30 Sons Of Tucson 15:00 Seinfeld 15:30 The Daily Show Global Edition 16:00 The Colbert Report Global Edition 16:30 Family Biz 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 Rita Rocks 18:30 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 19:00 Seinfeld 19:30 Raising Hope 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 The Cleveland Show 22:30 Weeds 23:00 South Park 23:30 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

The Closer In Treatment The Ellen DeGeneres Show Cold Case The View Good Morning America The Bachelor Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Martha Stewart Show The View The Closer Cold Case Live Good Morning America Strong Medicine The Ellen DeGeneres Show Emmerdale Coronation Street Hawthorne Body Of Proof The Glades Scoundrels Detroit 1-8-7

00:00 01:00 02:00 02:30 03:00

Friday Night Lights The Unit In Treatment In Treatment The Closer

04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 12:30 14:00 15:00 16:00 16:30 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Cold Case Psych Friday Night Lights 30 Rock Coronation Street Huge Psych The Closer Cold Case 30 Rock Coronation Street Huge Friday Night Lights 30 Rock Coronation Street Huge Hawthorne Body Of Proof The Glades The Unit Psych

01:00 No Time To Fear-PG15 03:00 Angels And Demons-PG15 05:30 The Evil Dead-R 07:00 Nightfall-PG15 09:00 Beyond A Reasonable DoubtPG15 11:00 Phone Booth-PG15 13:00 Signs-PG15 15:00 Beyond A Reasonable DoubtPG15 17:00 Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen-PG15 19:30 Freight-PG15 21:00 Legion-18 23:00 Knife Edge-18

00:00 Old Dogs-PG 02:00 The Proposal-PG15 04:00 Chasing Papi-PG 06:00 Management-PG15 08:00 The First $20 Million Is Always The Hardest-PG15 10:00 Night At The Museum: Battle Of The Smithsonian-PG15 12:00 Mafia!-PG15 14:00 Ace Ventura : Pet Detective Jr.PG15 16:00 Old Dogs-PG 18:00 Marci X-PG15 20:00 Alfie (2004)-18 22:00 Friday-18

01:00 03:00 04:30 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

Sex And Lies In Sin City-18 Adieu Gary-PG15 Seven Years In Tibet-PG15 Eva-PG15 One Week-PG Rudy-PG Witness To Waco-PG15 A Dance For Bethany-PG15 Operating Instructions-PG15 Five Minutes Of Heaven-PG15 Animal Kingdom-PG15 Sea Of Love-18

01:15 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 PG15 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

Sleuth-18 Drumline-PG15 StreetDance-PG15 Aliens In The Attic-FAM The Client List-PG15 The Ramen Girl-PG15 The Informant!-PG15 Ghosts Of Girlfriends PastThe Client List-PG15 The Damned United-PG15 Who Is Clark Rockefeller-PG Road Trip: Beer Pong-18

00:00 Inspector Gadget’s Last Case: Claw’s...-FAM 02:00 Sing To The Dawn-FAM 04:00 Tooth Fairy-PG 06:00 Cars-PG 08:30 Tom And Jerry: Blast Off To Mars-FAM 10:00 Inspector Gadget’s Last Case: Claw’s...-FAM 12:00 Scruff In Midsummer Night’s Dream-FAM 13:45 Cars-PG 16:00 Scooby-Doo And The Ghoul School-FAM 18:00 Free Willy 3: The Rescue-FAM 20:00 Homeward Bound II: Lost In San Francisco-FAM

22:00 Scruff In Midsummer Night’s Dream-FAM 23:45 Scooby-Doo And The Ghoul School-FAM

00:00 Deadly Impact-18 02:00 The Shock Doctrine-PG15 04:00 Passing Strange-PG 06:15 The Building-PG15 08:00 Everything’s Gone GreenPG15 10:00 Secret Origin: The Story Of DC Comics-PG 12:00 Stomp The Yard 2: Homecoming-PG15 14:00 All About Steve-PG15 16:00 Everything’s Gone GreenPG15 17:45 Avatar-PG 20:30 Cheri-PG15 22:00 Repo Men-18

01:00 ATP Tennis 05:00 European PGA Tour Highlights 06:00 Weber Cup Bowling 07:00 Super Rugby Highlights 08:00 World Hockey 08:30 NRL Premiership 10:30 AFL Highlights 11:30 FEI Equestrian World 12:00 Super Rugby Highlights 13:00 Live Test Cricket 20:00 European PGA Tour Highlights 21:00 Futbol Mundial 21:30 NRL Full Time 22:00 AFL Highlights 23:00 Super Rugby Highlights

02:30 ICC Cricket World 03:00 AFL Highlights 04:00 Super 15 06:00 Trans World Sports 07:00 Golfing World 08:00 ATP Tennis 10:00 ATP Tennis 12:00 Weber Cup Bowling 13:00 Spirit of Yachting 13:30 Golfing World 14:30 Live ATP Tennis 22:30 Spirit of Yachting 23:00 European Senior Highlights

00:00 01:00 Finale 04:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 10:00 11:00 11:30 13:00 14:00 16:00 17:00 17:30 18:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Tour

UFC Unleashed UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC 131 Countdown UFC Unleashed WWE NXT WWE Smackdown UAE National Race Day Series Full Throttle Aquabike World City Centre Races V8 Supercars Championship UAE National Race Day Series Aquabike World Full Throttle Prizefighter UFC Unleashed UFC 131 Countdown UFC Unleashed

01:00 Ice Road Truckers 02:00 American Pickers 03:00 IRT: Deadliest Roads 04:00 Warriors 05:00 102 Minutes That Changed America 07:00 Ice Road Truckers 08:00 American Pickers 09:00 IRT: Deadliest Roads 10:00 Warriors 11:00 102 Minutes That Changed America 13:00 Ice Road Truckers 14:00 American Pickers 15:00 IRT: Deadliest Roads 16:00 Warriors 17:00 102 Minutes That Changed America 19:00 Ice Road Truckers 20:00 American Pickers 22:00 Pawn Stars 22:30 Pawn Stars 23:00 Nostradamus Effect

Classifieds TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2011

ACCOMMODATION Sharing accommodation available in Shara Amman opposite Al-Rashid Hospital for bachelors. Contact: 65515717. (C 3424) 7-6-2011 Accommodation available in Salmiya near Ceaser’s for a working lady in a 2 bedroom C-A/C flat. Call after 3 pm. Tel: 25643718. (C 3419) Sharing accommodation available in New Reggai with fully furnished flat up to 4 months June - September.

Contact: 99729608. (C 3422) 6-6-2011 Sharing accommodation available in Abbasiya near German Clinic for couples or bachelors, South Indians or Sri Lankans preferred, can stay from July 1st. Contact: 66529575.

(C 3416) 5-6-2011 Sharing or rent a fully furnished 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, CA/C flat for 2 months July & August, specially for families on visit, nice location on main road in Khaitan.

Contact: 67797042 / 66674242.

(C 3411) Sharing accommodation

available for families/two working ladies in a new building with two rooms and two toilets, behind United Indian School, Abbasiya from June 1st onwards. Please contact: 66772421 / 66552412.

(C 3412) Separate room available in Jleeb near Al-Baik Hotel, family or working ladies, with furnished, AC, fridge, landline, washing machine, satellite TFC and all facilities available. Rent KD 50. Please contact: 97267254. (C 3413) Room available in CA/C flat with separate bathroom in Sharq near Mughal Mahal Restaurant for working ladies or small family from July 1st.

Contact: 99567689 / 55197093.

(C 3414) Room available in CA/C flat Farwaniya behind big Jamiya from June.

Contact: 66047295/65187883.

from god-fearing girls.

Prefer professionals. Please contact: jpmatt2011@gmail.com (C 3425) Proposals invited for a Keralite Pentecostal girl B Sc Nurse 271/2 years working in Kuwait. Contact: thomgm@gmail.com 7-6-2011 Pakistani, Punjabi male 49, working in Civil Engineering department, needs life partner. E-mail: veridical90@yahoo.com (C 3418) Nair girl Ph.D, Kollam (08.07.79), Moolam, MSc Biotechnology, currently working as Post Doctoral Fellow, Trivandrum, seeks alliance from professionally qualified, well placed boys below 38 years. KMID E 1424888. Email: pillaisurendran56@yahoo.c om or bio-sumi@yahoo.co.in (C 3420) 6-6-2011

MATRIMONIAL Marriage proposal for R.C.S.C boy 30yrs, 178cm, 79kg, Masters in Network Computing & Digital Communications. Resident in Australia and working in Govt. as an IT Infrastructure Officer. Proposals invited

FOR SALE Toyota Corolla model 2009, color maroon, price KD 3400 only.

Contact: 60951195. (C 3423) 7-6-2011

For sale full house furniture, bedroom, children’s bedroom, sofa bed, living room, fridge, washing machine, dining table, curtains, TV. For more information call: 99495795.

(C 3406) Brand new Samsung Galaxy Tab for sale, call for good price, made in Korea, 16 GB, BlackBerry Curve 3G. Contact: 94427488.

(C 3408)

SITUATION VACANT A Kuwaiti family is looking to hire a part time cook (all kinds of cooking). Contact: 99070066. (C 3421) 6-6-2011

SITUATION WANTED Indian male, B.Com, 25 years Gulf experience (Kuwait & UAE) in management, procurement, sales, seeks senior position, experience in oil filed materials, hard wares, power and hand tools, timber, steel, building materials etc.

Contact: 66889375.

(C 3417) 5-6-2011

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION In case you are not travelling, your proper cancellation of bookings will help other passengers to use seats Airlines RJA JZR THY ETH UAE DHX ETD FDB GFA QTR JZR JZR JZR KAC BAW KAC FCX KAC KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC UAE IRA QTR ABY QTR ETD GFA IRA MEA MHK JZR JZR KAC MSR UAL RJA KAC FDB SVA

Flt 642 267 772 620 853 370 305 67 211 138 529 505 555 412 157 416 201 206 302 332 53 352 284 855 605 132 125 6130 301 213 619 404 711 165 121 672 610 982 640 512 57 500

Arrival Flights on Tuesday 7/6/2011 Route AMMAN BEIRUT ISTANBUL ADDIS ABABA DUBAI BAHRAIN ABU DHABI DUBAI BAHRAIN DOHA ASSIUT LUXOR ALEXANDRIA MANILA / BANGKOK LONDON JAKARTA / KUALA LUMPUR BAHRAIN ISLAMABAD MUMBAI TRIVANDRUM DUBAI COCHIN DHAKA DUBAI ISFAHAN DOHA SHARJAH DOHA ABU DHABI BAHRAIN LAR BEIRUT BAGHDAD / NAJAF DUBAI BAHRAIN DUBAI CAIRO WASHINGTON DC DULLES AMMAN TEHRAN DUBAI JEDDAH

Time 0:05 0:35 1:15 1:45 2:25 2:55 2:55 3:10 3:15 3:20 3:35 5:50 6:10 6:15 6:30 6:35 7:00 7:15 7:50 7:55 7:55 8:05 8:10 8:25 8:55 9:00 9:10 9:10 9:30 9:35 9:40 10:55 11:00 11:10 11:15 13:15 13:20 13:30 13:35 13:40 13:50 14:30

KAC JZR QTR ETD UAE GFA SVA JZR JZR ABY JZR JZR ALK KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC SIA JAI VOS FDB OMA MEA KAC MLR DHX KLM UAE JZR GFA QTR UAL AIC JZR JZR MSR DLH AXB JZR PIA

746 257 134 303 857 215 510 777 239 127 213 177 227 104 166 502 542 618 786 674 774 458 572 93 61 647 402 552 1405 372 443 859 183 217 136 981 981 135 787 612 636 389 539 205

ABU DHABI / DAMMAM BEIRUT DOHA ABU DHABI DUBAI BAHRAIN RIYADH JEDDAH AMMAN SHARJAH DEIREZZOR DUBAI COLOMBO / DUBAI LONDON PARIS / ROME BEIRUT CAIRO DOHA JEDDAH DUBAI RIYADH SINGAPORE / ABU DHABI MUMBAI KANDAHAR / DUBAI DUBAI MUSCAT BEIRUT DAMASCUS COLOMBO / DUBAI BAHRAIN AMSTERDAM DUBAI DUBAI BAHRAIN DOHA BAHRAIN CHENNAI / AHMEDABAD BAHRAIN RIYADH CAIRO FRANKFURT KOZHIKODE / MANGALORE CAIRO LAHORE / PESHAWER

15:05 15:10 15:15 16:50 16:55 17:15 17:20 17:25 17:35 17:40 17:50 18:00 18:00 18:35 18:40 18:45 18:50 18:55 19:00 19:25 19:25 19:35 19:35 20:00 20:00 20:10 20:15 20:15 20:50 21:00 21:05 21:15 21:15 21:25 21:35 22:00 22:05 22:10 22:20 22:50 23:00 23:10 23:30 23:55

Departur DLH AIC PIA THY ETH UAE FDB DHX ETD QTR JZR RJA GFA JZR BAW FDB KAC KAC JZR KAC KAC UAE ABY IRA QTR ETD GFA IRA QTR KAC MEA KAC JZR JZR JZR MHK KAC KAC JZR MSR RJA

Flt 637 976 240 773 620 854 68 371 306 139 164 643 212 120 156 54 671 745 256 511 101 856 126 604 133 302 214 618 6131 165 405 541 776 212 238 712 501 785 176 611 641

Depurture Flights on Tuesday 7/6/2011 Route FRANKFURT GOA / CHENNAI SIALKOT ISTANBUL BAHRAIN / ADDIS ABABA DUBAI DUBAI BAHRAIN ABU DHABI DOHA DUBAI AMMAN BAHRAIN BAHRAIN LONDON DUBAI DUBAI DAMMAM / ABU DHABI BEIRUT TEHRAN LONDON / NEW YORK DUBAI SHARJAH ISFAHAN DOHA ABU DHABI BAHRAIN LAR DOHA ROME / PARIS BEIRUT CAIRO JEDDAH DEIREZZOR AMMAN NAJAF / BAGHDAD BEIRUT JEDDAH DUBAI CAIRO AMMAN

Time 0:40 0:50 1:10 2:15 2:30 3:45 3:50 3:55 4:05 5:00 6:55 7:00 7:10 8:20 8:25 8:40 9:00 9:05 9:10 9:15 9:30 9:40 9:50 9:55 10:00 10:15 10:20 10:40 10:40 11:45 11:55 12:00 12:00 12:05 12:10 12:20 13:00 13:30 13:40 14:20 14:30

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

FDB UAL KAC KAC KAC SVA KAC QTR JZR JZR ETD UAE GFA ABY JZR SVA JZR JZR ALK KAC KAC JAI FDB JZR KAC KAC OMA MEA SIA MLR DHX KLM UAE GFA KAC FCX QTR KAC KAC JZR JZR KAC UAL MSR

58 982 551 673 617 501 773 135 538 182 304 858 216 128 266 511 786 134 228 283 361 571 62 528 343 351 648 403 457 1405 373 443 860 218 381 102 137 301 205 502 554 411 981 613

DUBAI BAHRAIN DAMASCUS DUBAI DOHA JEDDAH RIYADH DOHA CAIRO DUBAI ABU DHABI DUBAI BAHRAIN SHARJAH BEIRUT RIYADH RIYADH BAHRAIN DUBAI / COLOMBO DHAKA COLOMBO MUMBAI DUBAI ASSIUT CHENNAI COCHIN MUSCAT BEIRUT ABU DHABI / SINGAPORE COLOMBO BAHRAIN BAHRAIN / AMSTERDAM DUBAI BAHRAIN DELHI BAHRAIN DOHA MUMBAI ISLAMABAD LUXOR ALEXANDRIA BANGKOK / MANILA WASHINGTON DC DULLES CAIRO

14:35 14:45 14:55 15:10 15:35 15:45 16:05 16:15 16:40 17:05 17:35 18:05 18:15 18:20 18:30 18:35 18:40 19:10 19:10 20:00 20:20 20:35 20:40 20:50 21:00 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:20 21:50 22:00 22:05 22:25 22:30 22:30 22:30 22:35 22:45 22:55 23:05 23:10 23:40 23:40 23:50

34

TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2011

s ta rs CALVIN

CROSSWORD 341

STAR TRACK Aries (March 21-April 19) There are lots of energy and action today. Your dreams and imaginings keep bumping into the real and the actual. You quickly pick up on what is expected of you and you are accountable. You are learning to plan ahead as you see your goals begin to develop. You do the best you can in every situation that you experience. It takes judgment to make the choices that best benefit a situation. Consider this: Your powers of perception are particularly sharp at this time and you would do well now to work out the details of any plans that you have previously made. This evening, you may feel focused and even a bit radiant. You are either entertaining company or being entertained yourself tonight. The snacks are low calorie and nutritional—good for you!

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

POOCH CAFE ACROSS 1. A religious belief of African origin involving witchcraft and sorcery.

4. A high-crowned black cap (usually made of felt or sheepskin) worn by men in Turkey and Iran and the Caucasus.

10. The syllable naming the first (tonic) note of any major scale in solmization.

13. Something that remunerates.

14. Come out into view, as from concealment.

15. Any of various primates with short tails or no tail at all.

16. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

17. A matador or one of the supporting team during a bull fight.

18. Goddess of the dead and queen of the underworld.

19. A place where ships can take on or discharge cargo.

21. The syllable naming the fourth (subdominant) note of the diatonic scale in solmization.

23. (prefix) Within.

26. The Oceanic language spoken by the Maori people in New Zealand.

29. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.

30. (`cease' is a noun only in the phrase `without cease') End v 1.

34. Enthusiastic approval.

35. Lessen the intensity of.

36. Antibacterial drug (trade name Nydrazid) used to treat tuberculosis.

37. South American armadillo with three bands of bony plates.

40. A constellation in the southern hemisphere near Telescopium and Norma.

41. Flat tableland with steep edges.

44. Any heathlike evergreen shrub of the genus Epacris grown for their showy and crowded spikes of small bell-shaped or tubular flowers.

46. The compass point that is one point east (clockwise) of due north.

47. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

48. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

51. A female domestic.

53. Any of numerous local fertility and nature deities worshipped by ancient Semitic peoples.

57. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

60. An agency of the United Nations affiliated with the World Bank.

61. Psychoactive substance present in marijuana.

62. A university town in east central Illinois adjoining Champaign.

63. A barrier constructed to contain the flow or water or to keep out the sea.

64. Take in solid food.

65. African tree having an exceedingly thick trunk and fruit that resembles a gourd and has an edible pulp called monkey bread.

66. A period marked by distinctive character or reckoned from a fixed point or event.

67. A white metallic element that burns with a brilliant light.

DOWN 1. Large elliptical brightly colored deep-sea fish of Atlantic and Pacific and Mediterranean.

2. A small cake leavened with yeast.

3. The eighth month of the civil year.

4. A genus of Cetoniidae.

5. (archaic) Utterly cast down.

6. (Irish) The sea personified.

7. Manufactured in standard sizes to be shipped and assembled elsewhere.

8. A city in northern India.

9. The corporate executive responsible for the operations of the firm.

10. Tropical woody herb with showy yellow flowers and flat pods.

11. An organization of countries formed in 1961 to agree on a common policy for the sale of petroleum.

12. Goddess of the dead and queen of the underworld.

20. Cause a floating log to rotate by treading.

22. Norwegian mathematician (1802-1829).

24. Avatar of Vishnu.

25. Scarabaeid beetle considered divine by ancient Egyptians.

27. An inflammatory disease involving the sebaceous glands of the skin.

28. United States newspaper publisher (1858-1935).

31. (botany) Of or relating to the axil.

32. A dress worn primarily by Hindu women.

33. An unfledged or nestling hawk.

38. A tricycle (usually propelled by pedalling).

39. The great hall in ancient Persian palaces.

40. The corporate executive responsible for the operations of the firm.

42. (Irish) Mother of the ancient Irish gods.

43. Marine fishes with a flattened elongated body and a sucking disk on the head for attaching to large fish or moving objects.

44. A trivalent metallic element of the rare earth group.

45. A compartment in front of a motor vehicle where driver sits.

49. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

50. Consideration in dealing with others and avoiding giving offence.

52. A platform raised above the surrounding level to give prominence to the person on it.

53. Extremely pleasing.

54. An officer who acts as military assistant to a more senior officer.

55. The sixth month of the civil year.

56. A Tibetan or Mongolian priest of Lamaism.

58. A relatively large open container that you fill with water and use to wash the body.

59. The bill in a restaurant.

Yesterday’s Solution

You may realize that you have been stagnating lately. There are opportunities today to rise above the mundane. Saying or writing with style comes naturally now. There is a desire for variety with some of your reading material. You will find yourself reading while standing in line or waiting in a dentist’s or doctor’s office, etc. You may even find yourself involved with two books at once. New words to increase your vocabulary expertise can be a fun ongoing activity and you could find a friend to join you. A sociable, congenial, slightly frivolous orientation sets in today as well. Your ability to discriminate real breakthroughs and to spot new trends makes you able to work in areas at the very fringe of technology these days.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) Before work begins this morning, conversations with co-workers could be in the religious realm or at least, spiritual. You have little interest in spirituality that is rampant these days. You could probably bring imagination and religious understanding to physical and scientific studies. Opportunity for further thought regarding the spirit tends to crop up during the day—you are open to new ways of thinking. Continued success on the career level may point to your abandoning some of your dreams. This afternoon, family matters tend to take precedence and you may have to help a young person to understand the word—concentration. You may even think of some fun exercise or game to do that will help the kids to see which kid concentrates the best.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

NON SEQUITUR

You enjoy working hard and being organized and you exercise skill and discipline in anything that affects your career and reputation.

You have the perfect combination to be in a management position at this time. If you think you are ready, this time may be best to push through any changes you may want to make in your career. You have good insights into all social activities that are around you and if you are not careful, you may find yourself involved in many club or social group responsibilities. You like to facilitate compromise and otherwise show your talents—like a coat of many colors. New and creative projects help you to change that feeling of being in a rut. Chatting with neighbors or siblings this evening will help you to relax.

Leo (July 23-August 22)

ZITS

Mental activity and the world of communication are open to you today. This is the element that binds the rest of you together. Ideas, mental things, information exchange and the relating of all these are central to your outer makeup. Communication is the glue that holds the rest of you together. Saying or writing with style comes naturally now. A desire for variety marks this phase and this especially applies to romantic experience and artistic taste. The latter tend to focus on literature and poetry. Communication with distant family members is possible this afternoon. A sociable, congenial, slightly frivolous orientation sets in this evening. Everything reveals you at your most elegant and social involvement can be enjoyed.

Virgo (August 23-September 22) This is a good time for promoting yourself and for letting others know what you have to offer. Right now, the key to career moves involves attending to nagging details—whatever you have neglected before. This is a time during which you may be able to move ahead with your ambition and general life’s purpose. You would make an excellent teacher of philosophy or religion—you cannot help but communicate these subjects to others and enchant all who come to know you. Your understanding of the unity behind appearances, along with the ability to put these thoughts into words, is a rare and valuable gift. You would make a good director, photographer, choreographer, etc. You like working with mental images.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM

You might like to ignore responsibilities and do some socializing, but realities demand you tend to business and forget your friends for the moment. This is one of the best times to make progress, push forward and rise to prominence. It will be hard for you to do wrong—all the cycles are working in your favor. Your career seems to get the support you need and this is one area of life that runs smoothly. You seem to understand what the public wants and mass marketing could be a natural for you. This is also a time when you may marry or take on a new role in the community or with other people. Your mind is ever on communication, how you present yourself, especially when negotiating. Enjoy cooking a new recipe tonight.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) Independence on the part of people or events somehow challenges your authority today. Even so, the forces of change assert themselves now and again, managing to overrule and overturn whatever you have managed to secure. Observing others, you will find that some people just naturally deal well with upheavals and adjustments—yet others may find much difficulty. You have great discipline and may find it enjoyable to teach young people some problem-solving abilities, especially in the area of business or perhaps in a hobby you have recently chosen. You can demonstrate a good sensitivity and understanding to the needs of others. You know just the right words that will communicate positive messages. This could involve political issues.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) Opportunities may go against your own sense of responsibility.

Career choices may require that you temporarily neglect the home. This is a tough call and some compromise is perhaps the best way to a workable solution. This is a perfect time to be assertive and to move forward in your career decisions. You have all the energy you could want and it should be easy to channel it. 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. Everything is poured into making the right moves—the correct decisions. You are outgoing, enthusiastic and always diplomatic—everybody’s favorite. Politics or some public career seems inevitable this year.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) You enjoy working with whatever is psychological—the hidden, vulnerable, sensitive areas of the mind and self. You can handle material that is sensitive or taboo without batting an eye. This interest in all that is psychological makes you an excellent teacher in the field. You have a natural grasp for the political—for handling the public—and you know how to get your way and do a good job of it. Your drive in these areas amounts to a passion and those around you may feel that you are often too intense. Power struggles are somewhat of a routine for you. Saying or writing with style comes naturally now.

A desire for variety is a hallmark of this phase especially with romantic experience and artistic taste. The latter tend to focus on literature.

Yesterday’s Solution Aquarius (January 20- February 18) Work seems intense today but you possess a powerful, persistent drive and are a hard, steady worker. Some people find you deep, with a sense of mystery. You are willing to do work today that others would not go near, quietly putting an end to some difficult problems. This is a great time to help others learn so that you will eventually not be so overburdened.

Your management and directional abilities are in high focus at this time. You busy yourself this afternoon in some project that you had been putting off for some time. You will be creating a new form or format for presentation to some very important people. Some people may wonder how the business could ever get along without you. Make sure you get plenty of rest this evening.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Word Sleuth Solution

You are friendly and encouraging today as you guide others. You somehow manage to find a creative environment or the creative in any environment, so as to provide the most beneficial area in which to work or play. Others want to join you in this project. You have a built-in sense of what the public wants and can always come up with just the right image. You find it easy to work with the emotions and feelings of others and with great imagination.

You are great with kids and big on animals, sports and the outdoors. You are an instant umbrella of warmth, friendship and self-expression. Clear decisions affecting others could be made now. These are the attitudes and circumstances in which you find yourself teaching others this day.

A

y

e niv rsar n

TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2011

Years

i n f o r m at i o n FIRE BRIGADE STATE ST TAT TE OF KUW K KUWAIT WA AIT

112

Tel.: T e el.: 161

DIRECTORA DIRECTORATE AT TE GEN GENERAL NERAL OF CIVIL A AVIATION V VIA AT TION METEOROLOGICAL L DEP DEPARTMENT PA ARTMENT DA AY: Y Monday DAY:

WWW .MET.GOV V..KW W WWW.MET.GOV.KW

06/06/2011 06/06/201 1

Ministry of Interior

Ext.: 26 2627 627 - 2630

Fax: 24348714

19:00

Time Issue Time

Expected Weather Weeather for the Next 24 2 Hours

website: www.moi.gov.kw For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128

Al-Madena

22418714

Al-Shohada’a

22545171

Al-Shuwaikh

24810598

Al-Nuzha

22545171

Sabhan

24742838

Al-Helaly

22434853

BY Y NIGHT NIGHT::

Hot with w light variable wind chan changing nging to light to moderate no north orth westerly wind, with spe speed ed of 08 - 30 km/h h

Al-Fayhaa

22545051

Al-Farwaniya

24711433

BY Y DA AY: DAY:

Very V eery hot with light to moderate north n westerly to northerly wind, w with speed of 08 - 28 km km/h m/h

Al-Sulaibikhat

24316983

Al-Fahaheel

23927002

Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh

24316983

Ahmadi

23980088

WARNING W A ARNING

No Current W Warnings aarnin ngs

STATION ST TAT TION

MAX. REC.

MIN MIN. N. EXP EXP. P.

Al-Mangaf

23711183

KUWAIT KUW WA AIT CITY

43 °C

3 °C 33

Al-Shuaiba

23262845

24812000

KUWAIT KUW WA AIT AIRPORT AIRPOR RT

46 °C

3 °C 31

Al-Jahra

25610011

Amiri Hospital

22450005

NUWAISEEB NUW WAISEEB A

43 °C

3 °C 31

Al-Salmiya

25616368

Maternity Hospital

24843100

W A AFRA WAFRA

46 °C

3 °C 30

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

SALMI

46 °C

3 °C 31

Chest Hospital

24849400

ABDALY ABDAL LY

49 °C

3 °C 30

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

JAL ALIYAH ALIY YAH A

47 °C

3 °C 30

Adan Hospital

23940620

F A AILAKA FAILAKA

44 °C

3 °C 30

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

PORT AHMADI POR RT

40 °C

3 °C 35

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

UMM AL-MARADEM AL-MARAD DEM

37 °C

3 °C 30

W A ARBA A - BUBYAN BUBY YAN A WARBA

42 °C

30 3 °C

Hospitals Sabah Hospital

Clinics Rabiya

4732263

Roudha

22517733

Adhaliya

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

Keifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salim

22549134

SFC. CHAR CHART RT

06/06/201 06/06/2011 1 120 1200 00 UTC

POLICE STATION

4 DA DAYS AY YS FORECAST Temperatures Temperatures DAY DA AY

DATE DA AT TE

Tuesday Tuesday

07/06

Weednesday Wednesday

08/06

Thursday

09/06

Friday

10/06

WEA WEATHER AT THER R

Wind Wind Speed

Wind Wind Direction Direction

MAX.

MIN.

very hot

47 °C

31 °C

NW-N NW-N

08 - 28 km/h

ng dust very hot + raisin raising

48 °C

32 °C

N-NW

15 - 40 km/h

raising very hot + raisin ng dust

48 °C

33 °C

NW

25 - 50 km/h

dusty

45 °C

34 °C

NW

25 - 50 km/h

PRAYER P PRA AY YER TIMES

RECORDED RECORDE ED YESTERDAY YESTERDA AY AT AT KUW KUWAIT WA AIT AIRPORT AIRPOR RT

Fajr

03:14

MAX. Temp.

M Temp.

44 °C

Sunrise

04:48

Temp.

MIN. T M emp.

32 °C

Zuhr

1 1:47 11:47

MAX. RH M

17 %

Al-Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Al-Khadissiya

22515088

Asr

15:21

MIN. RH

04 %

Dasmah

22532265

Sunset

18:45

Wind MAX. W M ind

N 46 km/h

Bneid Al-Ghar

22531908

Isha

20:16

TOTAL RAINFALL T OT TA AL L RA AINF FA ALL L IN 24 HR.

Al-Shaab

22518752

Al-Kibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Kibla

22451082

Al-Mirqab

22456536

Sharq

22465401

Salmiya

25746401

Jabriya

25316254

Maidan Hawally

25623444

Bayan

25388462

Mishref

25381200

W.Hawally

22630786

Sabah

24810221

Jahra

24770319

New Jahra

24575755

West Jahra

24772608

South Jahra

24775066

North Jahra

24775992

North Jleeb

24311795

Al-Ardhiya

24884079

Firdous

24892674

Al-Omariya

24719048

N.Kheitan

24710044

Fintas

3900322

All times are local time unless otherwise stated.

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

22434064 22435865 22544200 22547133 22515277 22616662 25714406 22530801

THE PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR CIVIL INFORMATION Automated enquiry about the Civil ID card is 1889988

00 mm

06/06/11 14:41 UTC 06/06/11

V1.00

T1.06

PHARMACIES

AIRLINES

ON 24 HRS DUTY GOVERNORATE

PHARMACY

ADDRESS

PHONE

Ahmadi

Sama Safwan Abu Halaifa Danat Al-Sultan

Fahaeel Makka St Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd

23915883 23715414 23726558

Jahra

Modern Jahra Madina Munawara

Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 Jahra-Block 92

24575518 24566622

Capital

Ahlam Khaldiya Coop

Fahad Al-Salem St Khaldiya Coop

22436184 24833967

Farwaniya

New Shifa Ferdous Coop Modern Safwan

Farwaniya Block 40 Ferdous Coop Old Kheitan Block 11

24734000 24881201 24726638

Hawally

Tariq Hana Ikhlas Hawally & Rawdha Ghadeer Kindy Ibn Al-Nafis Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Salmiya-Amman St Hawally-Beirut St Hawally & Rawdha Coop Jabriya-Block 1A Jabriya-Block 3B Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

25726265 25647075 22625999 22564549 25340559 25326554 25721264 25380581 25628241

Kuwait Airways Jazeera Airways Jet Airways FlyDubai Qatar Airways KLM Air Slovakia Olympic Airways Royal Jordanian Reservation British Airways Air France Emirates Air India Sri Lanka Airlines Egypt Air Swiss Air Saudia Middle East Airlines Lufthansa PIA Alitalia Balkan Airlines Bangladesh Airlines Czech Airlines Indian Airlines Oman Air Turkish Airlines Aeroflot

22433377 177 22924455 22414400 22423888 22425747 22434940 22420002/9 22418064/5/6 22433388 22425635 22430224 22425566 22438184 22424444 22421578 22421516 22426306 22423073 22422493 22421044 22414427 22416474 22452977/8 22417901/ 2433141 22456700 22958787 22453820/1 22404838/9

PRIVATE CLINICS Ophthalmologists Dr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 25622444 Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 25752222 Dr. Masoma Habeeb 25321171 Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 25739999 Dr. Mohsen Abel 25757700 Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 25732223 Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 25732223 Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510 Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660 Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478 Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996 Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988 Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166 Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426 General Practitioners Dr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123 Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312 Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920 Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465 Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528 Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781 Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501 Urologists Dr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534 Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955 Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 22616660 Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120 Dr. Leons Joseph 66703427 Psychologists /Psychotherapists

Paediatricians

Plastic Surgeons Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf

22547272

Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed

Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari

22617700

Dr. Zahra Qabazard

Dr. Abdel Quttainah

25625030/60

Family Doctor Dr Divya Damodar

23729596/23729581

Psychiatrists Dr. Esam Al-Ansari

22635047

Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan

INTERNATIONAL CALLS

22613623/0

Gynaecologists & Obstetricians DrAdrian arbe

23729596/23729581

Dr. Verginia s.Marin

2572-6666 ext 8321

Endocrinologist 25340300

25710444

Dr. Sohail Qamar

22621099

Dr. Snaa Maaroof

25713514

Dr. Pradip Gujare

23713100

Dr. Zacharias Mathew

24334282

(1) Ear, Nose and Throat (2) Plastic Surgeon Dr. Abdul Mohsin Jafar, FRCS (Canada)

Dr Anil Thomas

3729596/3729581 22641071/2

22655539

Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami

25343406

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed

22562226

Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly

25739272

Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer

22561444

Dr. Salem soso

22618787

Dr. Faysal Al-Fozan

22619557

Dr. Abdallateef Al-Katrash

22525888

Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer

22610044

Dr. Abidallah Al-Duweisan

25653755

Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher

25327148

Dr. Bader Al-Ansari

25620111

Neurologists

Dr. Adnan Ebil

22639939

Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri

25633324

Dr. Mousa Khadada

22666300

Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan

25345875

Gastrologists

25728004

Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra

25355515

Dr. Sami Aman

22636464

Dr. Mobarak Aldoub

24726446

Dr. Mohammad Al-Shamaly

25322030

Dr Nasser Behbehani

25654300/3

Dr. Foad Abidallah Al-Ali

22633135

Soor Center Tel: 2290-1677 Fax: 2290 1688

info@soorcenter.com www.soorcenter.com

Dr. Kamal Al-Shomr 25329924 Physiotherapists & VD Dr. Deyaa Shehab

25722291 22666288

Rheumatologists:

Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan

Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan

Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari 25658888

Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees

Dentists

Internists, Chest & Heart

25339330

25655535

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar

General Surgeons

Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman

Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa, Ph.D. 2290-1677 Susannah-Joy Schuilenberg, M.A. 2290-1677

Dr. Adel Al-Awadi

25330060

Dr. Khaled Al-Jarallah

25722290

Internist, Chest & Heart DR.Mohammes Akkad

24555050 Ext 210

Dr. Mohammad Zubaid MB, ChB, FRCPC, PACC Assistant Professor Of Medicine Head, Division of Cardiology Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital Consultant Cardiologist Dr. Farida Al-Habib MD, PH.D, FACC Inaya German Medical Center Te: 2575077 Fax: 25723123

2611555-2622555

William Schuilenberg, RPC 2290-1677 Zaina Al Zabin, M.Sc. 2290-1677

Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Anguilla Antiga Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands

0093 00355 00213 00376 00244 001264 001268 0054 00374 0061 0043 001242 00973 00880 001246 00375 0032 00501 00229 001441 00975 00591 00387 00267 0055 00673 00359 00226 00257 00855 00237 001 00238 001345

Central African Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Congo Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Cyprus Cyprus (Northern) Czech Republic Denmark Diego Garcia Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador England (UK) Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia

00236 00235 0056 0086 0057 00269 00242 00682 00506 00385 0053 00357 0090392 00420 0045 00246 00253 001767 001809 00593 0020 00503 0044 00240 00291 00372 00251 00500 00298 00679 00358 0033 00594 00689

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36

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Years

TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2011

lifest yle G o s s i p

essica Biel’s top beauty tip is to use soap and water. The ‘Total Recall’ actress has famously great skin, but said her routine for keeping herself looking so good is extremely simple. She told bellasugar.com: “One piece of advice was from my friend’s beautiful French mother who literally only ever washed her face with Dove soap and water. “So I’ve heard that bit of beauty advice, and then of course - sleep, water, hydrate!” However, Jessica does wear make-up and likes to graduate the amount she wears throughout the day. She added: “I like to be practical and to wear something that’s not going to fade so I can go to a business meeting and still look professional but not over the top.” “And then when I’m going out at night, what I like to do lately is a smudged line right under the eye and right along the lash line.” Jessica - who recently split from long term boyfriend Justin Timberake - also recently appeared in a Revlon mascara advert directed by Darren Aronofsky, which co-stars hip hop star Pharrell Williams. In the black and white 60-second ad, which features her on a bed in a high-end hotel, and putting on the Revlon Grow Luscious Plumping Mascara just as rapper-and-producer Pharrell enters into the room.

J

Twilight’s Reed eng aged after thre e-month romance wilight’ st ar wind thre Nikki Reed has g ot enga e-month

‘T

ged - a rom wh has been o plays Rosalie Hale ance. The 23-yea fter a whirlr-old actr dating’ Am in th e vam ess March an d, after sh erican Idol’ perform pire movie franch owing off ise Awards la er Paul M c a st night, Nikki has diamond ring at Donald since She said: th co “H e to E! New e’s the one.” The nfirmed she is ge MT V Movie s. Nikki als tting marr engagem e o reveale ied. writing o nt was la d te f ‘American Paul, who finishe she has been inspir r confirmed d in Id g the son R e e d E P.” ol’. She said: “He in eighth place gon sa together N ik k i a n d Pa u l, 2 ys he’s going to re this year’s 6 a le people th nd she has previo , a re c u rre n tl y h o ase a Nikki ink their usly insis u s e -h u n ti romance ted she d month, sh ng h o e anyone li said: “I love him as progressed too esn’t care if and I don ke him. I’ ve never ’t care. “I quick ly. Last solid heart me ’v a genuine and comes from su t anyone who has e never met ch a good person. W such a go never lau ghed so m e have the exact sa solid family and is od me sense uch with just anyone a s I do with of humor. I’ve him.”

Dogg wants Jay-Z for talent show noop Dogg wants Jay-Z to be a judge on his proposed TV talent show. The rapper wants to launch an ‘American Idol’-style series to find a new hip-hop star and is keen to have the ‘Young Forever’ hitmaker involved in the project. A source told the New York Post newspaper: “He wants to bring in an old-school legend, and he wants to get JayZ.” Snoop is also reportedly keen to get rap sensation Wiz Khalifa on the judging panel. The ‘Sweat’ rapper has been pitching his idea to several TV networks, including Oxygen, Bravo, NBC, E! and MTV but none are yet to commit to the project. A representative for Jay-Z has denied he currently has any involvement in the show. Snoop previously revealed he wants his show to find the hottest talent from “the hood” and look for artists who wouldn’t succeed on programs like ‘American Idol’. He said: “The ‘American Idol’ and ‘X Factor’ shows, they’re great shows. But I think I need to make a show like that, that’s directed straight to the hood. To the artists that don’t get the attention, that don’t have the money to make themselves representable. This raw talent and ability. “I’m looking for a deal from one of you TV networks to give Snoop Dogg his own hood TV show where I can find America’s hottest hood artists. Holla at me.” Snoop is from a poor area of Long Beach in California and got mixed up in a gang while in high school before being jailed before he graduated. Soon after he was released he found fame as a hip-hop star, and he has also become one of the biggest reality TV stars in the US with his show ‘Snoop Dogg’s Father Hood’.

S

Kardashian can’t decide on wedding dress he reality TV star - who announced her engagement to basketball player Kris Humphries last month - has started searching for her perfect gown but can’t decide on what style she wants. She said: “I keep on changing my mind. I definitely want something custom, and it’s going to take time to get sketches and all of that.” Kim claims she has no specific design in mind for her bridal outfit because she has never thought about getting married before.

She told People magazine: “There’s nothing really that I saw in my mind. So I really have to buckle down and just sit and figure it out. “There’s so much to do that I just feel like, ‘Oh my God, I better get going!’ “ It was recently reported Kim will marry within the next two months as they are eager to wed as soon as possible. A source said: “The wedding will happen within six to eight weeks. They’re doing things very, very quickly. It’s being fast-tracked.”

Friends of 30-year-old Kim have previously revealed she is hoping her wedding will rival that of Britain’s Prince William and Princess Catherine, who married in Westminster Abbey, London, in April. A pal said: “Kim is planning the wedding of the century. She doesn’t see why a royal wedding should get more attention than hers. She sees herself as a bigger celebrity than Kate Middleton.”

T

Black forgets gift for buddy

ameron Diaz has started eating healthily because she no longer felt “fine”. The 38-year-old actress has made no secret of her love of calorific treats but realized not long ago they were not making her feel as good as she should with such an active lifestyle. She said: “I’ve always worked out, but I woke up one day and realized that, while I looked fine, eating the way I was didn’t make me feel fine. So, you know, I just stopped eating it.” Cameron recently admitted she has adjusted to her new eating habits well and is pleased with her new lifestyle. She said: “I love it. I have never, ever watched what I eat in my life but I do now. I’m off the fried foods. I’m very thoughtful about what I eat. If you’re gonna do heavy lifting and you want to stay small you have to watch what you eat. You have to give your body the right nutrients and really think about what’s best for it.”

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Jolie ack Black didn’t buy his ‘Kung Fu Panda 2’ co-star Angelina Jolie a birthday present. The comedy actor has been busy travelling the world promoting the animated sequel with the actress but he forgot to get her something for her 36th birthday - which she celebrated on June 4. Speaking at the film’s UK premiere at the Westfield London shopping centre yesterday Jack told BANG Showbiz: “I didn’t get Angelina anything yesterday - but I could probably just make her a homemade card. I find cards are the best gifts. They’re the most special. “I really should have made her something, actually ... maybe something origami? She would appreciate that.”

Jack also revealed his two sons five-year-old Samuel and three-year-old Thomas - his children with fiancee Tanya Haden - are fans of his animated alter-ego Po, the kung-fu master panda, but don’t have the attention spans to sit through either of the films. He said: “They don’t really have the attention span for a full-length feature, but they love the characters. “They’re back in Los Angeles today though - they can’t deal with the jet-lag. To be honest, neither can I - the boys know daddy needs his beauty sleep!” Other stars to attend the premiere included director Jennifer Yuh Nelson and former S Club 7 singer Rachel Stevens. — Bang Showbiz

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ennifer Lopez is still “confused” by love. The ‘On The Floor’ hitmaker - who has three-year-old twins Max and Emme with husband Marc Anthony - admitted she went through phases where she didn’t think she would ever find her “Prince Charming”. She said: “I think a lot of people go through life wondering if it’ll happen for them. I definitely went through stages of thinking, ‘Am I ever going to find Prince Charming?’ “I admit it, I still find love the most confusing, fascinating thing in the world.” However, the 41-year-old star - who formerly dated the likes of Ben Affleck and P Diddy - explained she hadn’t experienced such a “profound” feeling of love until she became a mother for the first time. Jennifer added to You magazine: “I’m in a really happy, good place now, and when you have babies, you feel a different kind of love to anything you’ve experienced - deeper, more profound.

“No matter how much experience you have in love, you’re always learning new things about it; you’re always going to have questions you can never fully answer. I’m probably the happiest I’ve ever been in my life and my husband and my babies have everything to do with that.”

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lifestyle Music & Movies New York’s Metropolitan Opera cast member Diana Damrau lies on the stage as Lucia while others perform during a dress rehearsal of Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor” in Tokyo yesterday.—AP

Smurf this! Scholar sees Stalin in comic-book realm J

ust in time for Global Smurfs Day and a Smurfs movie in 3-D comes a little blue book from a French academic that has some fans of the sock-topped comic book characters seeing red. Antoine Bueno, who lectures at the high-brow Paris Institute of Political Studies, thought he was just having fun when he penned his 177-page analysis of the politics of Smurfland that’s just been published in France.

“Smurfs society,” writes Bueno by way of hypothesis in his work of spoof scholarship, “is an archetype of a totalitarian utopia” bearing the hallmarks of Stalinism and Nazism. It’s an orderly, harmonious and male-dominated world in which Smurfs eat together, work together, apparently do not own their own homes, and never bicker over money because there is none.

Not only is Papa Smurf “all-powerful and omniscient,” writes Bueno, but his

white beard gives him a curious resemblance to Josef Stalin or Karl Marx, with the bespectacled Brainy Smurf standing in for Leon Trotsky. As the Smurfs’ sworn enemy, scheming sorcerer Gargamel-a hunch-backed misanthropic loner with a cat called Azrael-represents a perennial capitalist threat, in Bueno’s opinion.

“I am myself a child of the Smurfs, and I did not take it seriously when I compared Papa Smurf to Stalin,” Bueno told AFP. “I imagined that this analysis of the little world of Smurfs as a totalitarian utopia might amuse readers-but I never expected the strong reactions that it provoked.” But it did. “Idiot... fraud... dream-wrecker... opportunist,” are some of the oneword broadsides hurled at Bueno on the Internet.

“It’s typical of political correctness that sees racism everywhere,” groaned one disgruntled Smurf fan,

while another said: “How shameful to so gratuitously destroy the stories of our childhood.” “These are sad times when ill is seen everywhere,” sighed a third blogger. Bueno’s “The Little Blue Book: A Critical and Political Analysis of Smurf Society” comes as Smurf fans look forward to this summer’s 3-D release of “The Smurfs” directed by Raja Gosnell, who notably did the “Scooby Doo” movies. To promote the film, Sony Pictures is declaring June 25 to be Global Smurfs Day and inviting families to dress up accordingly in hopes of setting a Guinness record for “the greatest number of people dressed as Smurfs”.

In April, the 29th Smurf album in French-”Les Schtroumpfs et l’arbre d’or” (The Smurfs and the Golden Tree) — was published by Brussels comic book house Le Lombard.

Bueno takes pains to say that his book is by no means a personal critique of

Pierre Culliford, who under the pen name Peyo created the Smurfs in the late 1950s in his native Belgium.

Culliford died in 1992 at the age of 64, and his son Thierry Culliford remembers him as apolitical. “At election time, he’d ask my mother: ‘Who must I vote for?’” he told the French news magazine L’Express.

Bueno “can peel apart the albums, even if I do not support his interpretation ... so long as he does not attack my father,” added Culliford, who oversees the Smurfs brand worldwide. But as the Parisian scholar points out, the elder Culliford, as a teenager, did personally experience Nazi Germany’s harsh occupation of Belgium during World War II. “A work can channel imagery that an author, in good faith, does not support,” Bueno said. “Thus the Smurfs could be more a reflection of the spirit of the times than the mind of their creator.”—AFP

Abrams, Spielberg go back to future in ‘Super 8’

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Latest ‘X-Men’ flick tops weekend box office

“X

-Men: First Class,” a prequel that drops the franchise’s mutants into the Cuban Missile Crisis, deputed atop the North American box office with $56 million, estimates showed Sunday. The well-received fifth installment, starring James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender, shines light on the beginning of the X-Men saga and a “secret history” of the Cold War. The Marvel Comics team proved a headache for “The Hangover: Part II,” which was bumped from the top spot. It earned $32.4 million, bringing

its two-week total to nearly $187 million, according to industry tracker Exhibitor Relations. Critics panned the raunchy comedy for lacking originality, as Bradley Cooper and company retrace their bachelor party missteps-just like the first time-but in Bangkok instead of Las Vegas.

Another sequel follows in the third spot, as “Kung Fu Panda 2” picked up $24.3 million, giving it a two-week total of $100 million. Jack Black and Angelina Jolie voice the lead roles.

“Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” the fourth installment

starring Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, earned $18 million in the fourth spot, for $190 million in three weeks. The surprise hit “Bridesmaids,” a comedy about a group of women preparing for their wedding day supporting roles, dropped one spot to fifth, grossing $12 million in its fourth week. Also down one spot was “Thor” starring Chris Hemsworth as the mythical hero banished to Earth from the mystical world of Asgard. It pulled in $4.2 million, giving it a fiveweek total of $169 million. “Fast Five” sped across the $200 million mark in

its sixth week, earning $3.2 million in the seventh spot. It’s the fifth volume in the high-speed car chase series.

Woody Allen’s whimsical “Midnight in Paris,” dropped to eighth place earning $2.9 million from just 147 theaters. Rounding out the top 10 were “Jumping the Broom,” about two African-American families gathering for a wedding celebration and romantic comedy “Something Borrowed.” Both earned slightly less than $1 million. — AFP

Fox confirms Cole out of US ‘X Factor’ show B ritish singer Cheryl Cole has been dropped as a judge on the upcoming US version of Simon Cowell’s talent contest “The X Factor”, broadcaster Fox and Cowell’s production company said yesterday. The official announcement ended almost two weeks of rumor and speculation about problems with the line-up of the muchanticipated TV show, due to debut in the fall of 2011. Cole, who had been Cowell’s personal choice for the panel, will be replaced by PussyCat Dolls singer Nicole Scherzinger, who was previously announced as the co-host of the show. Yesterday’s brief statement

by Fox and Syco, was the first official comment on reports that Cole had been replaced following the filming of two audition episodes of

“The X Factor” last month.

The statement gave no reasons for the change and did not address how producers would handle the sessions already shot with Cole on the judge’s panel. Cole, a singer with the group Girls Aloud, is a household name in Britain but unknown in the United States.

Media reports have said she was dropped because of fears that US viewers would have difficulty understanding her strong Northern English accent. Reports from Britain over the weekend had said that Cowell was fighting to keep Cole on the show. “The X Factor” is the highlight of Fox television’s upcoming fall television schedule.—Reuters

Simon Cowell and Cheryl Cole

ike an old airplane (or spacecraft) jerryrigged from scrap pieces and made airworthy again, “Super 8” has been patched together with 30-year-old spare parts to provide an enjoyable ride of its own.

With writer-director JJ Abrams capably manning the controls but with producer Steven Spielberg on board as navigator to provide sage advice, this science fiction adventure centered on film geek kids in smalltown 1979 America is something Spielberg can easily be imagined having made himself around the same time and is, indeed, unthinkable without him. Engaging on its own terms and sharply tuned in to the wavelength of pubescent boys and girls, this Paramount release looks set for a profitable flight as a widely appealing general audience summer attraction. It opens Friday in North America. No one can say there’s anything new here. The specific setting may be Rustbelt, USA instead of a blandly anonymous western state community, but the ingredients are pure Spielberg from the first 10-15 years of his career: Fractured average American households, often with one parent missing, where kids must fend for themselves and are more aware of something big happening around them than are the distracted, small-minded adults; a threatening alien interloper whose presence, once made public, will throw authorities and the populace into a panic and entire communities into flight; kids who can save the day by being open to their imaginations; nerds, not brawny macho types, as heroes; a monster whose fearsome power is made clear but whose physical characteristics are only gradually revealed; flawed parents whose eyes are finally opened to the virtues of their children; swooping crane shots and dollies-in for close-ups; nighttime scenes punctuated by bright lights shining at the camera and, over-archingly, an abiding love of sci-fi and monster lore as absorbed and, in this case, replicated by movie-crazy kids.

This latter element adds one new element to the formula, injecting into the mix a layer of “Blow-Up” and “Blow Out,” that of an explosive incident accidentally caught on film that provides the key to a huge cover-up. The little band of Lillian, Ohio, middle school filmmakers is led by the chubby, intensely driven Charles (Riley Griffiths), with Joe (Joel Courtney) as his makeup and special effects expert, a crucial position given that they’re making a zombie movie to submit to a teen film festival. To their mutual delight and surprise, the school blond beauty, Alice (Elle Fanning), has agreed to co-star in their opus, and her pale skin indisputably provides a receptive canvas for undead facial adornments.

The pushy Charles comes from a large,

boisterous family but Joe and Alice have troubled homes; as a prologue informs, Joe’s mother was recently killed in a factory accident, a tragedy to which Joe’s cop father Jackson (Kyle Chandler) for some reason connects Alice’s drunken, derelict father Louis (Ron Eldard). Slipping out at midnight for a clandestine shoot, the trio and their filmmaking cohorts head for an outlying old train station to create a key scene with Alice and leading man Preston (Zach Mills). When he notices a train unexpectedly approaching, the excitable Charles yells “Production value!” and sets the camera to include it, little knowing that a pickup truck will pull onto the tracks and be deliberately positioned to create a collision that will far exceed the spectacle of the train wreck in Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Greatest Show on Earth,” Abrams’ and Spielberg’s acknowledged inspiration for the sequence.

Unconvincingly, the driver who caused the crash, school science teacher Dr. Woodward (Glynn Turman), survives to warn the kids not to say anything to anyone about what they saw, but they do pick up one odd little white cube from among crates of them being transported on the train. In a quaint touch that will be especially amusing to those old enough to remember the pre-video days of delayed gratification, the kids must wait three days for their film to be developed. But when they finally see their footage, they realize the camera remained running through the wreck and there’s something vaguely visible moving around in the darkness that looks very creepy. —Reuters

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Robert Pattinson sinks teeth into MTV Movie Awards T

he MTV Movie Awards was more like “The Team Edward Show.” “Twilight” star Robert Pattinson sucked up the spotlight — and some popcorn-shaped trophies — at Sunday ’s shenanigan-packed ceremony.

Among the goofy actor’s moments: winning three different awards, unexpectedly kissing co-star Taylor Lautner, and slipping the F-word past censors when presenting Reese Witherspoon with the special MTV Generation Award.

“It’s not always a bad thing to have sexual chemistry with your mother,” joked Pattinson, who played the son of Witherspoon’s character in “Vanity Fair” and her love interest in “Water for Elephants.” For his role as vampire Edward Cullen in “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,” Pattinson won best male performance, best fight with Bryce Dallas Howard and Xavier Samuel, and best kiss with Kristen Stewart. Instead of smooching each other, Pattinson declared he didn’t “feel like kissing” Stewart before he Robert Pattinson accepts the award for best male performance. descended back into the audience and planted his lips on Lautner.

Team Jacob also earned some love from “Saturday Night Live” star Jason Sudeikis, the show’s host, who kicked off the silly ceremony at the Gibson Amphitheater by starring in his own version of “The Hangover” in which he went in search of a lost Lautner. The other “ Twilight” winners were Stewart for best female performance and “Eclipse” for best movie.

“Natalie, sorry, but the popcorn is mine,” Stewart said mockingly, referencing fellow nominee Natalie Portman, who won the best actress Oscar earlier this year for “Black Swan.”

It was the third straight year that “Twilight” eclipsed the competition with the most wins at the fan-favorite ceremony. Last year, “New Moon,” the second installment of the “Twilight” Robert Pattinson, left, and Kristen Stewart accept the award for film franchise, also earned awards for best movie, best kiss, best female performance and best kiss. best male performance.

Taylor Lautner, center, accepts the award for best movie for ‘The Twilight Saga: Eclipse’ as Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and other cast members look on at the MTV Movie Awards on Sunday. — AP/AFP photos

Patrick Dempsey, Robert Pattinson, and Chelsea Handler present the MTV generation award.

The cast of “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” is seen backstage with the award for best movie at the MTV Movie Awards.

Robert Pattinson, Xavier Samuel, and Bryce Dallas Howard accept the award for best fight.

Reese Witherspoon accepts the MTV generation award alongside Patrick Dempsey, Robert Pattinson, and Chelsea Handler.

Alexys Nycole Sanchez poses backstage with her award for best line in a movie.

Emma Stone accepts the award Kristen Stewart accepts the award for best for best comedic performance. female performance.

Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis present the award for best male performance.

Justin Bieber accepts the award for best jaw dropping moment.

A general view of atmosphere is seen at the end of the MTV Movie Awards.

Tom Felton is seen backstage with the award for best villain for “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1”.

Alexys Nycole Sanchez accepts the best line from a movie award as Cameron Diaz, left, and Jason Segel look on.

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Trey Songz and Lupe Fiasco perform.

“The fact that we’re standing up here is a testament to all the hard work that went into ‘Eclipse,”‘ Lautner said. The non-vampire winners who picked up awards Sunday included Emma Stone for best comedic performance for “Easy A,” Justin Bieber for best jaw dropping moment for “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never,” Alexys Nycole Sanchez for best line for “Grown Ups,” and Tom Felton for best villain for “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.”

“This will look very nice in my downstairs toilet,” Felton said of his trophy. “Thank you.”

The ceremony was filled with several awkward moments. Sudeikis spent most of his opening monologue cracking jokes about the revelations that Arnold Schwarzenegger fathered a child with a housekeeper. He also poked fun at singer-actress Selena Gomez, who embarrassingly hid her face from the cameras as he scolded her for kissing fellow teen sensation Bieber and swallowing “three of his baby teeth.” Later, Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake cupped each other’s genitals while presenting Pattinson with the best male performance trophy.

“I really didn’t think I was going to win,” Pattinson said during his acceptance speech. “Zac Efron was crying and stuff in that little clip.”The show also served as a promotional platform for Hollywood studios’ upcoming films as much as it did as an awards ceremony. Emma Watson, JJ Abrams, Steven Spielberg and Elle Fanning were among the celebrities on hand to present sneak peeks at “Super 8,” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” and “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part One.”

Jason Sudeikis and Emma Stone are seen on stage.

(From left) Katie Cassidy, Leighton Meester, and Selena Gomez are seen onstage.

Jason Sudeikis is seen on stage at the MTV Movie Awards.

“The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,” which led the field with eight nominations, ended up with five awards.

Best movie: “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” Best male performance: Robert Pattinson, “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” Best female performance: Kristen Stewart, “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” Best kiss: Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” Best fight: Robert Pattinson vs Bryce Dallas Howard and Xavier Samuel, “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” Best breakout star: Chloe Grace Moretz, “Kick-Ass” Biggest badass star: Chloe Grace Moretz, “Kick-Ass” Best comedic performance: Emma Stone, “Easy A” Best line from a movie: Alexys Nycole Sanchez, “I want to get chocolate wasted” (from “Grown Ups”) Best scared as s-t performance: Ellen Page, “Inception” Best villain: Tom Felton, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1” Best jaw dropping moment: Justin Bieber, “Never Say Never”— Reuters The Foo Fighters perform at the MTV Movie Awards.

Tyler Posey, second right, and fellow cast members from the TV show Teen Wolf are seen on stage at the MTV Movie Awards on Sunday.

Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds presents the award for best kiss.

Emma Watson arrives at the MTV Movie Awards.

Brooklyn Decker arrives at the MTV Movie Awards.

Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel present the best line from a movie award.

Actress Gabriella Wilde arrives at the MTV Movie Awards.

Jim Carrey introduces a performance.

Robert Pattinson sinks teeth into MTV Movie Awards

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Visitors look at an installation by UAE artist Lateefa Bint Maktoum during the 54th Venice International Art Exhibition. The Biennale entitled Illuminations will open to the public in Venice’s Giardini and Arsenale exhibition venues, as well as in various other locations around the city.—AFP

Middleton’s wedding dress to be displayed

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rince William and Kate Middleton are getting a London apartment and palace. The new royal bride is putting her famous wedding gown on public display. Palace officials said the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as the newlyweds are formally known now would use a small refurbished apartment at Kensington Palace as their official London home for the next year or so.

The move is considered a temporary measure as their primary house will remain in Anglesey, Wales, where William serves as a Royal Air Force search-andrescue helicopter pilot. That is expected to be their main residence until 2013.

They are expected to move into larger London quarters later. Kensington Palace, which is being extensively renovated, was once home to William’s mother, the late Princess Diana. William also lived there as a child before his parents divorced.

Royal Collection officials also announced yesterday that Middleton’s

Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ jacket up for auction

memorable wedding gown will be on display at Buckingham Palace from July 23 until Oct 3. The dress was designed by Sarah Burton of the Alexander McQueen fashion house.

Royal collection officials said the special exhibit will also display the veil, tiara, shoes and diamond earrings Middleton wore for her April 29 wedding. The wedding display will be part of a popular tour of some of the palace’s state rooms offered to visitors during the summer.

The tour includes a chance to see some of the queen’s formidable art collection, including works by Rembrandt and Rubens. The state room tour typically costs 17.50 pounds ($29). A date for the couple’s move into Kensington Palace has not been set, but is expected before they travel to Canada and the United States later in June. —AP

Humble cabbage becomes art at hands of Chinese woman Ju

Duoqi stocks up on cabbages in the Beijing vegetable market and then transforms the humble vegetables into works of art depicting beautiful women-that sometimes leave very little to the imagination. The 38-year-old said she started using cabbages in her work five years ago when she was looking for a way to bring her art together with everyday life.

“Cabbages come in different sizes and colors. Under different light and in different contexts, I

can make cabbages into various forms and take photos of them that produce different moods,” Ju said. She often spends hours in the market picking out cabbages that reflect the curves of a woman’s body, or that can be cut to make limbs or other accessories, using a combination of round cabbage and longer, slim “celery” cabbage.

Back in her studio on Beijing’s outskirts, Ju uses toothpicks and knives to reshape the cabbage leaves to represent different parts

In this photo taken yesterday, Tenzin Yangkyi, a 17-year-old Tibetan from Zurich, Switzerland, waves to the crowd after winning the Miss Tibet 2011 beauty pageant in Dharmsala, India.

Yangkyi was adjudged winner among six participants in a latenight finale attended by more than a thousand Tibetan exiles.—AP

of the body-carving tiny hands, say, or using individual leaves for effect. She then uses a combination of whole cabbages and leaves to form sculptures.

Different stages of decomposition-fresh, rotten or dry-create different effects.

Once done, Ju photographs the cabbage woman as she reclines on her worktable, then reconstructs her, piece by piece, using editing software.

Sometimes a piece takes weeks, other times only days. Ju’s cab-

bage beauties series has been shown in Beijing, London, Paris, Los Angeles and Miami. The limited edition prints sell for 2,000 to 3,000 Euros. In a high-end Beijing gallery where Ju’s work was displayed, tourist Zhang Yong said he had become an instant fan.

“The cabbage lady looks very graceful,” he said. “The artist makes full used of the cabbages to shape the different parts of (a) woman. It is both very vivid and delicate.” —Reuters

File: Auction items that belonged to Michael Jackson are displayed at Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills.—AP photos

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he jacket Michael Jackson wore in his “Thriller” video is hitting the auction block. Auction administrator Darren Julien says the red and black leather jacket is “the most recognized and significant piece of pop culture” to come up for sale, and he expects it to fetch at least $200,000 at the Music Icons auction on June 25 and 26 at Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills.

Other Jackson items on the block include the wig he wore when he announced his ill-fated “This Is It” concert series, his shirt from the ‘Scream’ video and the battered mailbox from the Carolwood Drive estate where Jackson died at age 50 in 2009. he Music Icons sale also includes memorabilia from Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley, among others. — AP

Ohio animal shelter puts fattest cats on discount

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central Ohio animal shelter with an abundance of chubby cats is having a sale on its fattest felines, hoping a discount entices potential owners to take one home. The Capital Area Humane Society says the fat cats are on sale this summer for $15 each or two for $20, instead of the usual $70 adoption price.

Development manager Mary Hiser says

the cats packed on the pounds before arriving at the shelter, and the extra weight can cause them health problems. The Columbus Dispatch reports that nine of the shelter’s 55 cats are overweight. Volunteers keep them in an area that offers extra room to run and burn off calories. The largest cat is a 6-year-old black-and brown shorthair named Zebe, who weighs 23 pounds (10.4 kilograms).—AP