22 May

ON IP TI SC R SU B

SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2011

Strauss-Kahn hidden inside New York safe house

Ouattara inaugurated president of Ivory Coast

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JAMADI ALTHANI 19, 1432 AH

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Popular film at Cannes reflects ‘Arab Spring’ spirit

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Wozniacki warms up for Paris with Brussels crown

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Yemen opposition inks power transition deal Saleh says he’ll leave, warns of Al-Qaeda

Iran breaks US ‘spy ring’ 30 arrested TEHRAN: The Iranian intelligence ministry said yesterday that it had made 30 arrests as it dismantled a network suspected of spying for the United States on its basic infrastructure as well as its nuclear and defence research. “Due to the massive intelligence and counter-intelligence work by Iranian intelligence agents, a complex espionage and sabotage network linked to America’s spy organisation was uncovered and dismantled,” a ministry statement read out on state television said. “Elite agents of the intelligence ministry in their confrontation with the CIA elements were able to arrest 30 America-linked spies through numerous intelligence and counter-intelligence operations.”

The statement said that the “network” operated in “a number of nations” under the command of “prominent intelligence officers” of the US Central Intelligence Agency. “Under the guise of issuing student and work visas or permanent residency ... they tried to trick citizens into spying for them,” the statement said. The agents sought information from “universities and scientific research centres and in the fields of nuclear energy, aerospace, defence, biotechnology ... detailed data on gas and oil pipelines, telecommunication networks, airport and customs, and the security of the nation’s banking systems,” it added.

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SANAA: Anti-government protestors reach up to catch a youth after throwing him into the air during a demonstration demanding the resignation of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh yesterday. (Inset) Saleh attends a military parade on the national day of Yemen’s unity yesterday. — AP/AFP

Palestinians set on UN bid RAMALLAH: Senior Palestinian officials say that negotiations with Israel have become pointless after Israel’s prime minister rejected President Barack Obama’s call to base Mideast border talks on the pre-1967 war lines. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s stance only strengthened the Palestinian resolve to bypass such talks, largely deadlocked since 2008, and seek recognition of a state at the UN instead, said Nabil Shaath, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

However, Abbas himself has not given his official response to parameters for a Mideast peace deal that Obama laid out in a speech on Thursday, and it remains unclear whether the Palestinian leader would now consider abandoning the UN bid. Since the speech, Abbas has been consulting by phone with Arab leaders. He planned to meet with Jordan’s King Abdullah II yesterday and then convene the leaders of the PLO and his Fatah movement later in the week before

giving a response, Abbas aide Saeb Erekat said.

In his speech, Obama said that border talks must be held on the basis of Israel’s frontier in 1967, before it captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem. The Palestinians want to establish their state in the territories Israel has occupied since that war. Recognition of the 1967 line as the starting point, while allowing for mutually agreed land swaps, has been a long-standing Palestinian demand. A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, has said endorsing the pre-1967 ceasefire line was done in the hopes of dissuading the Palestinians from going ahead with their UN plan.

Obama warned the Palestinians in his speech that their UN bid would be pointless and said he expected more explanations from Abbas about his reconciliation with the Islamic militant Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel. Netanyahu laid out hardline

‘Rapture’ fails to enrapture WASHINGTON: Warnings of Judgment Day by a US preacher appeared premature yesterday despite sending some people into hiding or rushing to repent, as others partied to wave off good Christians. Televangelist Harold Camping’s prophecy insists the so-called “Rapture” will begin with powerful earthquakes at 6:00 pm local time in each of the world’s regions, after which the good will be taken into heaven. According to the 89-year-old and his religious broadcasting network Family Radio, the not-soHarold Camping good will suffer hell on earth until Oct 21, when God will pull the plug on the planet once and for all.

One of the first places to be hit, according to Camping, who first wrongly predicted the end of the world in 1994, would be New Zealand - but 6:00 pm came and went with no earthquakes and little local media attention.

Internet users, meanwhile, joked about creating a fake Rapture if Camping’s prediction did not pan out. On Twitter, non-believers suggested laying out old clothing and shoes on pavements and lawns to Continued on Page 14

positions after his meeting with Obama at the White House on Friday. He said the 1967 borders were “indefensible”, that the Palestinians could forget about resettling Palestinian refugees in Israel and that Abbas would have to choose between peace with Israel and reconciliation with Hamas.

Israel’s deputy foreign minister, Danny Ayalon, tried to put a positive spin on Obama’s speech. “The issue of the 1967 borders, which Obama raised, is an issue that did not influence in the past, and will not influence now, the deep friendship and the natural partnership between Israel and the United States,” Israeli news site Nana quoted Ayalon as saying yesterday.

Erekat said late Friday that Netanyahu’s statements make it clear the Israeli leader is not a partner for peace, suggesting there is no point in returning to negotiations. “I don’t think we can talk about a peace process with a man who says the 1967 lines Continued on Page 14

Faithful pray for imprisoned imam MIAMI: Supporters of a detained Muslim cleric who leads Miami’s oldest mosque are expressing shock at accusations from US authorities of collecting and sending funds to radical Taleban activists based in Pakistan. The elderly imam, 76-year-old Hafiz Muhammed Sher Ali Khan, pleaded not guilty in US federal court to charges of supporting the Pakistani Taleban and was ordered held without bail. About a hundred supporters who filled the mosque for Friday prayers dismissed the charges as falsehoods. The US government accuses him, four of his relatives and another person of funneling money and providing support to the group branded by Washington as a foreign terror group.

Samad Nassirnia, an Iranian-born math teacher and a regular at the mosque, said he knew the imam well and refused to believe the charges. “Sheikh Khan has nothing to do with politics,” Nassirnia told AFP. “He is not a political person at all. He is a spiritual leader.” He said Khan has operated a school in Pakistan since the 1970s attended by 200 girls, 34 boys and many children orphaned as a result of the war in Afghanistan. “So he has been sending them money, legal money,” Nassirnia said. “It is legal to send money overseas... This situation is very, very bad. Our community has lost this great person and our spiritual leader.”

The FBI claims claim the imam and his five co-accusers sent about $50,000 over the past three years to the school in Pakistan, which US investigators say is a madrassa religious school that espouses extremist views and teaches children to kill American soldiers. “It is not too much money,” said Nassirnia. “If you think just about teachers’ salaries and the need to feed the children for three years, this is very, very little money.”

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Max 41 Min 29 Low Tide 06:52 & 19:52 High Tide 01:33 & 12:08

SANAA: Yemen’s opposition signed a Gulf-brokered transition deal yesterday that will ease President Ali Abdullah Saleh out of power within a month, provided he ratifies the agreement as promised today. Saleh earlier slammed it as a “coup” that will aid Al-Qaeda but said he reluctantly accepted it for the sake of the nation. Saleh, a shrewd political survivor who has outlasted previous challenges to his nearly 33-year rule, also faces mounting diplomatic pressure to sign after backing out twice before over technical details at the last minute.

“We signed the initiative in the presence of envoys from the US, Britain, the European Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council secretary-general Abdullatif AlZayani,” the opposition leader, who declined to be named, told Reuters. A Yemeni official earlier said Zayani, who heads the GCC bloc grouping Yemen’s wealthy Gulf Arab neighbours which have headed mediation efforts, was in Yemen to see the opposition sign, and that Saleh and the ruling party would sign today. The United States and Saudi Arabia, both targets of foiled attacks by AlQaeda’s Yemen wing, are keen to end the Yemeni stalemate to avert deeper chaos that could give one of the militant network’s most potent arms more room to thrive.

Washington has stepped up pressure on Saleh to sign and implement the deal, and President Barack Obama said in a speech on US policy in the Arab world on Thursday that Saleh needed to “follow through on his commitment to transfer power”. Saleh also appeared to be under pressure to sign ahead of a meeting of GCC foreign ministers expected tomorrow in Riyadh to discuss prospects for Yemen after Saleh failed to sign the deal last week in a last-minute reversal.

Protesters, frustrated that three months of daily rallies have failed to dislodge Saleh, want him out immediately in the Arabian Peninsula state, which is also facing revolts from northern Shiite rebels and southern separatists.

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More killed as Syrians bury slain protesters DAMASCUS: Syrian security forces killed at least five people and wounded dozens more yesterday as they fired at a crowd in the central city of Homs after funerals of anti-regime protesters, an activist said.

“Tens of thousands had accompanied the funeral procession from the city’s main mosque to Tal Al-Nasr cemetery,” the activist told AFP, contacted by telephone. “The shooting began as people were coming out of the cemetery.” He said thousands of people were demonstrating yesterday in the town of Saqba near Damascus.

Security forces on Friday killed 44 people, including 13 in Homs, as antiregime protests swept the country following weekly Muslim prayers, according to activists. The international community has piled the pressure on Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad to stop the brutal crackdown on nine weeks of protests roiling the country, with Turkey yesterday urging him to act before it is too late.

“There is still a chance for a stable and peaceful transition in Syria (if ) comprehensive, shock reforms (are initiated) at a pace and within a scope that will satisfy the people,” said Turkish Foreign Minister

Ahmet Davutoglu. “Time is running out,” he warned. “If they stick to the method of using the security forces to suppress the protests without introducing concrete reforms... there could be really negative consequences that would sadden us all,” he added.

Despite mounting international pressure, Assad’s regime has remained defiant and blamed the unrest gripping his country since March 15 on “armed terrorist gangs” backed by Islamists and foreign agitators. In a keynote speech earlier this week on US Middle East policy, US President Barack Obama bluntly told Assad to lead a transition to democracy or to leave the scene. “President Assad now has a choice ... He can lead that transition or get out of the way,” Obama said. “ The Syrian government must stop shooting demonstrators and allow peaceful protests.”

However, Ammar Qurabi, head of the National Organisation for Human Rights, told AFP yesterday that it was clear the regime was bent on the use of force to crush the protests. “Syrian authorities are continuing to use excessive force and live ammunition in the face of popular Continued on Page 14

HOMS, Syria: In this image made on a mobile phone, Syrian anti-government supporters carry the coffin of a man killed in the government crackdown during a funeral procession in this central city yesterday. — AP

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SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2011

Years

LOCAL KUWAIT DIGEST

The culture of hardheadedness

By Dr Abdullatif Al-Suraikh

C

lose interaction with others usually exposes many aspects of the other person, including their different opinions, as well as personal characteristics that they might have been trying to keep covered as hard as possible.

Each person has his own desires, ambitions and dreams that others may or may not agree with. If two parties agreed on their ambitions, their relationship will go on smoothly. On the other hand, people usually act in numerous ways when they have different goals or points of view than the others.

For example, some people might choose to sacrifice by disregarding a certain goal to maintain a strong relationship with the other person.

However, there are others who seek to overpower their opinions.

Understanding the differences between people based on their individual personalities helps us understand human thought and behavior. Not everyone is willing to make sacrifices in order for the common relationships to remain intact.

Some people’s personalities are characterized by hardheadedness. They would usually be more eager than others in achieving what their eyes would be set on; even if they lost their relationships with other people in the process.

A good example for that can be seen in marital relationships. When a spouse is uncompromising and lacks tolerance towards the other’s needs, their relationship becomes damaged to the point that separation would become the only way out of the unhealthy atmosphere.

Another example would be seen in the workplace, where problems between co-workers are mainly created when an employee would try to impose their point of view in disregard to other opinions.

The political scene is where intolerance towards different views have been thriving. A lot of incidents that are taking place today have been spurred by hardheadedness, while they could be easily avoided if the conflicting parties adopted a more win-win situation that focuses on public interests. — Al-Rai

News

in brief

Special devices for oil facilities KUWAIT: The Kuwait government is planning to use advanced monitoring systems at the country’s oil facilities to detect any security threat. According to a source within the cabinet, the new system will include night vision equipment that will monitor the oil pipelines- covering wide areas. He noted that a similar system is being used by most other Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

Drinking water fit for human consumption Media claims baseless: Ministry KUWAIT: The drinking water pumped by the Ministry of Electricity and Water is clean, fit for human consumption, and goes in line with the international specifications, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Electricity and Water Ahmad Al-Jassar said yesterday. Al-Jassar also noted that the ministry’s responsibility for water ends with its reaching to the consumers’ meter, then starts the responsibility of the landowner.

Further, Al-Jassar said, in a press conference yesterday, in response to claims in media outlets on the unfitness of drinking water in Kuwait that, “the ministry produces its water from distillation plants, then it pumps it to the consumers, and the ministry’s meters are operated in accordance with required world specifications.”

He added that the ministry con-

ducts accurate daily and monthly tests on the samples which are gathered from various areas, distillation plants, and mixture plants, storage tanks, and pumping plants as well as points at the end of network including schools, mosques, and state public utilities.

Moreover, he said that the ministry is conducting chemical and bacteriological tests in what includes the analysis of water samples from 115 sites within the public network along with conducting water quality test, noting that last month saw 3,024 chemical analysis, and 2,074 bacteriological examinations of water.

He also pointed out the ministry’s responsibility is for producing a safe water, and pumping it in such sound quality through the network, namely that its responsibility stops before the

consumers’ meters which are entrusted with the facility’s or tenement’s owner, advising consumers to monitor the validity of their internal water grid.

Such consumer follow-up includes the existence of suitable filters, clean storage tanks, alongside conducting necessary maintenance for all abovementioned equipment, he explained.

Finally, he said that the ministry held this conference out of its keenness on elucidating facts, and the combating of rumors among people, noting that the ministry has a specialized center for developing water which is in charge of monitoring and following up the quality and safety of drinking water, adding that this center issues monthly reports on the kind and quality of water which the ministry produces. —KUNA

Expectations high of new Iranian ambassador KUWAIT: The new Iranian Ambassador to Kuwait Rouhallah Qahramani is set to assume his duties soon, following a long political career as the Governor of the northern Gilan province that lies on the Caspian Sea. An engineer who earned his degree in transportation, housing and traffic engineering from the Infrastructure Technology Institute in the United States and post graduation in administration sciences from an Iranian university, Qahramani is known for his open-minded approach that is away from extremism despite being part of a political party known for its fundamentalist approach.

Qahramani’s tenure as Governor is marked by distinguished achievements that are seen by residents as unprecedented, which explains the general disappointment over the news of him leaving his post. Thousands of people attended a special farewell ceremony held before he left for Kuwait to assume his new duties. —Al-Rai

Blood sugar levels on the rise KUWAIT: Equate Petrochemical Company started a campaign in its first open day at the Avenues to educate the public about blood sugar.

The company’s team and medical cadre from the ministry of health led the activities of the campaign “Stay Natural” and

have examined more than 700 persons from the Avenue visitors centre.

The team welcomed participants to take part in the testing where blood pressure and sugar levels were monitored via an initial and repeat test. Males and females were sampled and were provided with free

medical advice to improve their health.

The advice was given by a number of specialized doctors and nurses from the region.

Deputy Chairman of Equate Mohammad Al-Ben Ali said that “Equate adopts social responsibility and the cam-

paign concentrates on the dangers of high levels of blood sugar. There are no immediate symptoms for it and it can result in impaired vision, damage to kidneys and heart function and has dangerous consequences on human health that cannot be neglected.”

Visas ban for 5 countries KUWAIT: The Migration General Department has suspended issuing visitor’s visas to citizens of Syria, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan until further notice over the political situation in the countries. The source who spoke on the condition of anonymity confirmed that the ban covers touristic and commercial visas.

Free laptops for students, teachers KUWAIT: The Ministry of Education is set to distribute laptops to high school students at public schools, starting from January, instead of September as previously scheduled. Undersecretary Assistant for Planning and Information Dr Khalid Al-Rasheed explained that the decision was taken due to the delay in the awarding process for the project’s tender at the Central Tenders Committee. Contracts had been signed with three companies to distribute 80,000 computers with a total budget estimated at KD28 million. The first phase of the project will include distributing laptops to nearly 14,000 teachers before they are distributed to the students.

New port to serve Kuwait, Iraq Director of Consultation Administration in Ministry of Public Works Soroor Al-Otaiby said that Mubarak AlKabeer port will serve Iraq and the whole area, emphasizing that Iraqi protests against construction does not affect work. Al-Otaiby said that a number of companies will be invited to participate in the tenders of digging the port and the channel leading to the port. The tender will be out by the end of the year.

‘Customize Me’ event at BSK

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: The British School of Kuwait (BSK) recently held the ‘Customize Me’ event in cooperation with Injaz. The one day event was held at the BSK’s premises in Salwa. 21 students participated in the event. “In the Injaz Customize Me project, each participating student sets up a company. The student will customize his or her products to attract customers,” Nasrin Ejner, a volunteer of Injaz and the advisor of students said. The products are from different fields. “The students created prod-

ucts such as T-shirts, jewelry and notebooks. In addition, there are also other activities to make students happy,” she added.

There are various events held at the school during the year.

Meanwhile, the President of this project Ankita said that it took the students 12 weeks to prepare for the event. “This is my first time to participate in this activity and I think it’s challenging. This project gives them the chance to create and own their companies. I enjoyed my role in organizing people with the advice of three teachers and one volunteer from Injaz,” she said.

KUWAIT: Ankita and Fena talking to the Kuwait Times.

KUWAIT: Painting activity for kids was a part of the project.

Activist condemns parliament fistfight KUWAIT: Kuwait political activist Nabila Al-Anjari has condemned the events that took place during the parliament’s session last Wednesday- a day which she said will ever be known as “one of the worst days in the history of Kuwait’s democracy”.

“What is sad is the fact that the inci-

dent happened inside the Kuwait parliament which we proudly regard as the home of our democrac y, freedom of speech and expression of the nation’s opinion”, Al-Anjari said in a statement commenting on the violent clash between a number of MPs.

SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2011

LOCAL

Grilling to address unity, Bahrain, GCC relations Al-Walan challenges Cabinet Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah

Sheikh Nasser announces weekly receptions times KUWAIT: Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Minister of Amiri Diwan Affairs, welcomes his guests starting from tomorrow, Monday May 23, 2011, at the former diwan of his father, His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, in Al-Bed’a near the Sheikha Badriya Al-Ahmad mosque, and that weekly between the Asr (afternoon) and Maghreb (sunset) prayers.

‘Kuwait obliged to improve its human rights record’ KUWAIT: Following Syria’s withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council, a General Assembly vote named Kuwait as one of 15 new nations to secure seats on the Geneva-based council, and Sheikh Fahd Al Salem Al Ali Al Sabah issued the following statement: “Kuwait is now obliged to improve its human rights record. Today, we have democracy on paper, but not democracy in action. This must change. And I believe it can. Democracy and freedom are hard work. But they are worth the effort. We have to undertake the effort.”

Sheikh Fahd is President of the Center for Dialogue among Civilizations and Defense of Liberty.

Beginning tomorrow, the Center will convene world leaders such as former Polish President Lech Walesa and former Prime Minister of the Netherland and current Club de Madrid President Wim Kok. A number of former heads of state, intellectual leaders and experts will also participate in this first of its kind forum, titled, “Renewing Dialogue for Peace and Advancing Freedom and Human Rights in Today’s World.”

At the forum, attendants will discuss the roots of global conflict, the ways dialogue can help in overcoming conflict and the role media can play in this effort. For more information about the Center and the Forum, please visit www.fahadcenter.org.

KUWAIT: A grilling motion that the Development and Reform Bloc will file against His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah will address three main topics: shortcomings in protecting national unity, damaging Kuwait’s relations with other Gulf Cooperation Council countries, and Kuwait’s reaction to the Bahraini crisis.

This was stated by MP Mubarak Al-Walan, who will be presenting the grilling along with MPs Waleed Al-Tabtabaei and Mohammad Hayef, challenging the Cabinet to address the motion and fend

off its accusations.

Al-Wa’lan made these statements during an interview with Al-Rai TV, during which he criticized the Cabinet’s request to put on hold the interpellation filed against the premier by the Popular Action Bloc, saying that the delay which can go for up to a year is “political and constitutional misconduct”. He also accused lawmakers who voted in favor of the request of being an “accomplice in marginalizing the constitution”.

The lawmaker commented on the events that took place during last

Wednesday’s session, placing some of the blame regarding the fistfight on MP Husain Al-Qallaf, while expressing optimism for the scheduled reconciliation meeting with His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.

Meanwhile, MP and chairman of the parliament’s legislative committee Husain Al-Huraiti also expressed faith that the meeting with HH the Amir will put things “back on the right track”, while being optimistic that MPs will put their differences aside and seek the public good.

And while referring to the fistfight

that took place at the meeting as “disgraceful” and “unprecedented”, AlHuraiti said that he had requested Parliament Speaker Jassem Al-Kharafi to activate Article 89 of the parliament’s internal regulations by which lawmakers would be held accountable for any shortcomings or violations during the meeting. Meanwhile, Al-Huraiti disagreed with the notion expressed by the planned grilling against the premier, regarding Kuwait’s alleged incompetent approach towards the unrest in the Kingdom of Bahrain. — Al-Rai

Kuwait lauds Russia security equipment MOSCOW: A senior Kuwaiti Interior official lauded here yesterday the topnotch quality of Russian security equipment used during states of emergency and disasters. Assistant Undersecretary for Operations at the Ministry of Interior Dr Mustafa Al-Za’abi said that his participation in the security and safety exhibition here reflected the Russian keenness on developing tools that would help deal with emergency situations.

He noted that his meetings with Russian officials had focused on developing relations within the security domain, adding that Kuwait and Russia have had strong historical relations especially with the fact that Kuwait was the first GCC country to extend diplomatic relations with Moscow.

On his par t, Assistant Undersecretar y for General Directorate of Civil Defense Kuwait Brigadier Bader Al-Najjar said the current event focused on means to handle crisis caused by natural disasters.

Kuwait’s delegation to the exhibition had participated in a joint special exercise with Russian Civil Defense troops as a measure to boost security cooperation between the two nations. — KUNA

KUWAIT: Ahmadi Governor Sheikh Dr Ibrahim Al-Duaij Al-Sabah yesterday welcomed the mayor of Ali Sabah Al-Salem Salman bin Jamea, the head of the area’s environmental voluntary committee Ahmad AlShuraia, and poet Musa’ed bin Jabran. The governor awarded the guests for their efforts in the environmental awareness campaign.

MP inquires about London bound flight KUWAIT: A lawmaker questioned the Minister of Communication and Information Sami Al-Nisf and demanded a detailed report regarding a Kuwait Airways flight on which was supposed to head to London, then New York and back to London on Jan 29, 2011.

Flight Number 101 was reportedly canceled due to problems which news reports said started after the pilot

refused to take off until his suitcase could be found and loaded on to the plane.

MP Musallam Al-Barrak inquired whether the flight was canceled and whether an investigation was opened. Furthermore, Al-Barrak asked for the regulations followed locally and internationally regarding the suitcases’ loading and unloading process, and the pro-

cedures taken by the Kuwait Airways Corporation and Directorate General for Civil Aviation in case of violation of those regulations.

The lawmaker further inquired about reports which suggested that a KAC official was suspended after he insisted on ensuring that those regulations were enforced properly. — Al-Qabas

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SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2011

Years

local In my view

Dare, think and build upon it

MoE cancels two written exams

KUWAIT DIGEST

Who protects democracy?

No exams for physical education, computer studies

By Hussain Al-Qatari

Fouad Al-Obaid

fouad@kuwaittimes.net Twitter: @Fouadalobaid

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e are at a junction as some would have their flock believe, that yesterday was the day our world was to come to an end! One day later we are still here. We are still dealing with our issues and problems, and the world today is not much different from that of yesterday, but is it a good thing?

Belief is great, action is better, and it is the clash between the two ideologies that has shaped the way we live and interact in this world of ours. Many men have come and brought different rules that are ascribed to the divine and have informed us of an impending doom should we fail to heed the call. Wise men and shams have brought through time, messages of peace and destruction interlinked in the way they inspire hope and spread fear. The latter, fear, is what motivates a good majority of our fellow peers into submitting to the arrogance of bearded men who claim to know what we commoners know not!

The wise amongst us should not fear questioning everything, for by allowing the inquiry of the mind do we get to understand the role of our soul, or at least we attempt. We are by definition of our species exotic Latin name ‘homo sapiens’ which in Latin translates into ‘wise man’, wise we believe we are when we spread our ignorance some would observe. Nevertheless, we are as a species gifted with a power tool - our brain which allows us all to compete equally should we give ourselves the time and tools needed to pursue scientific inquiry into everything and anything. Those that do engage in such a venture come to be humbled by the acquisition of knowledge, which confirms our deepest fears and anxiety as humans; we know less as we grow about many things, and we learn to doubt everything unless we become sure of its authenticity and validity.

When we look at the clash of civilizations that was first brought up by Samuel Huntington, we look at a clash between different societies not based on facts but rather on belief. People as species are the same; we are all human compatible to interbreed with one another regardless of our passports. What differentiates us is our belief on what happens not today on earth, rather on a mythical supposed thereafter which causes us to clash for we each try to pursue our project of heaven at the expense of that of other believers who might have a differing opinion.

Should we learn to muster the courage to understand that though the thereafter is important, our temporal abode is also crucial for it is more imminent and more present in our physical lives and that should give it precedence in our considerations. We ought to work out our differences, and should encourage inquiries into everything and anything for knowledge is what ultimately sets us free as a species, and it is what gives nations the upper hand in our global game of commerce and trade.

Each country should adopt as a motto, one book, one day, one person, for reading is the ultimate leveling game allowing for humans to compete intellectually, offering new ground for innovation and discoveries and renders our existence today on earth useful and pleasant.

KUWAIT: The Ministry of Education (MoE) has cancelled the written exams for all physical education and computer studies courses in public schools. The decision came after a meeting between the undersecretaries of the ministry. The undersecretary of the Ministry of Education Mona Al-Loughani said that the decision came after the Minister of Education Ahmed Al-Mulaifi brought this to the attention of ministry officials in a meeting. She cited easing the burden on students as the main reason behind this decision.

To some teachers, this came as a shock, especially after they have worked for many weeks on forming committees to compile the exam papers. A teacher who requested to remain anonymous said that the decision was a little hasty.

“To many students this may come as a relief, but

we’re afraid that it won’t reap good results for their overall academic performance,” she said.

Another source in the ministry told the press that the schedules have already been prepared, and two days were designated for each course. “It would have been better if the decision was made effective in the next school term, not this year,” he said. Other teachers found this to be good news. A physical education teacher noted that his students think of the physical education class to be a stress-relief period away from textbooks and writing. “Giving them written exams only makes the experience more off-putting,” he said.

Many parents expressed their frustration towards this decision. Abdulrahman, a parent said “The schools have already distributed schedules weeks ago, and the modification came a few days before they start the exams period. The update was unexpected, and we were suspicious until we verified the news with some teachers.”

Envoy meets Kuwait students in Malta

A doctor at the Sebamed stand during the conference

First symposium on IVF, genetics

By Abdellatif Sharaa KUWAIT: Medical experts are now getting more interested in In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) techniques. The IVF is giving married couples who are not able to have children an alternative. Under the patronage of Minister of Health Dr Hilal Al-Sayer, Taiba Hospital recently organized the first symposium on IVF and genetics. The event saw many dignitaries and medical experts including the Director of health licenses department Dr Marzouq Al-Bader, and the First Secretary at the French embassy in Kuwait.

In his opening speech, the CEO of Taiba Hospital Dr Sanad AlFadhala held the event as a “cornerstone in the health sector ”. He

thanked the guests from Paris University for participating. “AlFadhala said “Taiba Hospital will do its best to maintain the highest standards”. “This event provides an opportunity to learn from other experts in order to promote the gynecology and obstetrics medicine,” he added.

In his remark, Dr Al-Bader commended the cooperation between the public and private sectors. The first secretar y at the French Embassy in Kuwait lauded the role of Taiba Hospital in the development of the health sector in Kuwait. There were two sessions the first part covered the Optimizing Ovulation Induction and IVF Procedures, while the other session tackled male infertility.

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ho bears the responsibility of protecting and developing democracy? Is it the ruling families, governments, parliaments or political blocs? The truth is that most ruling families are skeptical and pessimistic about democracy for no reason except that democracy would restrict their political practices and spending.

Governments, on the other hand, view democracy as a punishment with intolerable justice which comes at an unaffordable price; parliaments have been using democracy for bargaining more than controlling governments’ performance.

They have been trading in it while political blocs and activists have been seizing certain opportunities to be more active. They would sacrifice whenever needed and hide when the lack enough power and stamina to achieve goals.

Therefore, I believe the responsibility of protecting democracy primarily depends on individuals themselves.

Individuals can only benefit from democracy once they realize its importance and use. Only individuals who realize that democracy is their protection against tyranny and brutality of other individuals; that democracy is the means to win social justice and achieve equality of opportunities; that it protects their freedom of expression, and thoughts; that democracy is a decision that respects their minds, differences, their future, and meets their needs and aspirations.

Also, it’s important to note that a democracy which doesn’t help an individual ask the right questions does not serve his interests.

— Al-Jarida

liquor dealers arrested

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: The anti-drug squad are investigating to arrest an American manager who has hired two expats, Egyptian and Pakistani, to work for his account in liquor trading.

The two expats were arrested after sources said that they received information about an American trading in imported liquor. He was approached by an undercover agent to buy four bottles from him. The American sent the Pakistani who works with him as a driver to deliver the four bottles agreed upon.

The Pakistani was arrested and when police went to the American’s house in Salwa, they found 260 bottles of liquor of different brands. The American managed to escape after he discovered that the police had laid a trap for him.

The Pakistani driver confessed about the involvement of another Egyptian who works with them as well. The police arrested the Egyptian also and are on the lookout for the American manager.

Egyptian suicide A 42-year-old Egyptian expat committed suicide by hanging himself in his room in Khaitan. His roommates said that he was depressed after losing his job which might have led him to take the extreme step.

On the other hand, a Kuwaiti woman died in a car accident, after the car she was traveling in turned upside down on Fahaheel Road.

A similar car accident occurred on Arabian Gulf road, which resulted in the death of a man in his thirties.

KUWAIT: The liquor traders pictured after their arrest yesterday.

Dr Sanad Al-Fadhala speaking

Construction of Kuwait-China refinery to begin next year

MoH focuses on infectious diseases KUWAIT: The Ministry of Health (MoH) is currently making a study on termination of expats and GCC citizens working in government ministries and deporting them if they have any infectious diseases. Health sources said that this study was the result of several GCC citizen testing positive for infectious diseases that could affect public health. — Al-Anba

VALLETTA: Kuwaiti ambassador to Malta Faisal Sulaiman Al-Musaileem yesterday met Kuwaiti students there to discuss issues affecting their residency and study. The Kuwaiti envoy met with the students at the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery at the University of Malta where he welcomed them and wished them success. He urged the students to exert efforts in getting their degrees and come back home to help in the development of their country. However, he stressed that they should comply with rules and laws followed in Malta so that their studies would not get affected. Al-Musaileem encouraged the students to seek the Kuwaiti embassy for help if they faced any personal or academic problems, stressing that the embassy would do its best to facilitate and eliminate any obstacles by going through proper channels. — KUNA

Sultan Al-Ossaidan

Some of the doctors who were present at the meeting

GUANGZHOU: The mayor of Zhanjiang city Ruan Risheng yesterday said that the construction of Kuwait’s $9 billion refinery and petrochemical complex in the southern Chinese city will begin in the first quarter of next year. Ruan made remarks in a statement after the visit to Zhanjiang by Kuwaiti Consul General in Guangzhou Abdulwahab Al-Sager. Ruan expressed gratitude to Al-Sager for his support to the project and the Kuwaiti Consulate’s contribution towards its success.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s top economic planner, granted final approval in March for Kuwait to build a long-awaited

refinery and petrochemical complex on Donghai Island of Zhanjiang in Guangdong Province.

The joint venture between Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) and Sinopec entails a 15 million-tona-year (300,000 barrels per day) refinery, a 1 million-tona-year ethylene plant and related utilities, as well as support facilities. The mayor also spoke highly of the efforts exerted by Al-sager and his deep understanding of the nature of the southern region in China through his number of visits to various cities, in addition to seeking to establish a relationship and cooperation between Zhanjiang and Ahmadi city.—KUNA

Three-member gang kidnaps, rapes woman in Salmiya KUWAIT: Police are on the lookout for three young men who kidnapped a woman in Sulaibiya and raped her inside a Salmiya apartment. The 29-year-old victim was waiting for a cab to see a friend in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh, when she eventually agreed to go with a driver who offered to take her. Instead of going to her desired destination, the driver headed to a building in Salmiya, where he forced the victim into an apartment in which two others were waiting. Following the repeated sexual assault, the victim was taken to her destination in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh, after which she reported the incident to police. Investigators are trying to identify the rapists through their car’s license plate number, as well as their first names which the victim had provided.

Highway accident An Asian man died on the highway when he was hit by a car while attempting to cross the

street. Criminal investigators sent the body to the coroner after paramedics pronounced the 69year-old man dead. Meanwhile, police reported the driver who hit him to the nearest police station.

Suicide threat A military major general managed to talk a serviceman in the army out of suicide plans, after he climbed a building and threatened to throw himself. It was later revealed during interrogation that the serviceman was having problems with his family, which led him to stay at the military camp even after work hours.

Child molester Hawally police arrested a teacher who molested an 11-year-old girl inside a facility where she was taking computer skills classes. Investigations in search for the suspect started after the incident

Cop held A police officer is being held with a number of suspects pending legal procedures following a fight that took place in Taima. The officer was reportedly on duty when he received a phone call from his brother telling him that he’s been in a fight. The officer then headed to the location to help his brother out, as he was seen attacking his foes with a sharp object. Moreover, the officer’s patrol vehicle was damaged in the melee. The fight ended after Jahra security officers reported to the scene and put the brawlers under arrest.

during a brawl that broke between 17 Kuwaiti and bedoon nationals inside the medical facility over previous disputes. The fight was in fact a continuation of an initial brawl that started at a shopping mall between two of the brawlers who used sharp objects to attack each other. Eight of the suspects who engaged in the melee were put under arrest.

Meanwhile, four citizens were arrested after engaging in a brawl inside a Salmiya coffee shop while being under the influence of alcohol. It was later revealed that one of the brawlers is a member of the Kuwaiti national football team, while one of three others is his brother. The four are held at the Rumaithiya police station pending further action.

Two fights Seven people were admitted to the ICU of Jahra hospital with stab wounds they sustained

Crackdown Fifteen cars were impounded while 250 tickets were issued for vehicles that lacked the

was reported by the victim’s father. The suspect was eventually located in Al-Farwaniya, and was successfully put under arrest.

required safety standards during a crackdown carried out by Farwaniya officials at usual gathering locations of reckless drivers in Sabah AlNasser and Firdous.

Scam A Kuwaiti businessman filed a case with Lebanese authorities, accusing a Lebanese attorney of stealing $860,000. The citizen had reportedly hired the Lebanese attorney to handle legal procedures regarding a clearance operation for a bank he owns shares in. As part of the procedure, the citizen had to sign a check with the $860,000 value of the shares he owns, and deposit it at a local bank until the clearance operation was finalized. According to the citizen’s statements to officials, the attorney had used the authorization he was provided with to put a hold on the citizen’s shares as well as the checks. —- Al-Watan, Al-Rai, Al-Anba, Al-Qabas

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Cabinet, parliament get ready for heated week New moves to avoid sectarianism

Arab official commends Amir’s role BEIRUT: An Arab official lauded here yesterday the role and initiatives of His Highness the Kuwaiti Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in supporting all Arab issues.

Speaking on the occasion of choosing the Lebanese city of Tripoli to be the permanent headquarters of the Arab Sea Ports Federation, Secretary General of the Council of Arab Economic Unity Mohamed Al-Rabea said HH the Kuwaiti Amir had adopted several great initiatives aiming to solidify Arab common action.

HH the Amir’s initiatives are mainly

meant to bankroll small and mediumsized enterprises and to fight unemployment and poverty, he said.

On the new facility of the council, he hoped that it would help in the development of Arab seaports and harbors and provision of job opportunities as well pushing of Arab economic development.Founded in 1976, the Arab Sea Ports Federation is an affiliate of the Arab League and tasked with providing support and help to its members with a view to creating integration among them. — KUNA

MANAMA: Kuwaiti ambassador Sheikh Azam Mubarak Al-Sabah pictured with the Kuwaiti naval forces yesterday.

Kuwait forces in Bahrain ‘to protect its borders’ MANAMA: Kuwaiti ambassador to Bahrain Sheikh Azam Mubarak Al-Sabah said yesterday that Kuwait send the naval forces to Bahrain to protect its borders.

Sheikh Azam added “the Kuwaiti naval forces were spread out to protect areas which were not covered by the Peninsula Shield Forces.” “The Kuwaiti participation in protecting the Bahraini borders comes as a part of a national duty toward a brotherly country and as an implementa-

Kuwait International Fair KUWAIT: Under the patronage of the Minister of Public Works and State Minister for Municipal Affairs Dr Fadhel Safar, the building and construction materials exhibition will kick off today at the Fair Ground in Mishreef. The event is organized by Kuwait International Fair Co. The exhibition will last until 28th of May. A number of Ambassadors and other personalities are expected to grace the event. More than 50 specialized companies will be participating in the exhibition. The exhibition includes all construction materials, sanitary ware, doors and windows and floors of different kinds.

Also water storage tanks and insulation material, water filters, water heaters, A/C systems, safety equipments forklifts, scaffoldings, pressure measuring systems, glass work, painting, swimming pools and jacuzzis will be on display.

Participants promised to give visitors special offers and discounts.

tion of the GCC defense pact to preserve stability and security in the region,” the Kuwaiti envoy noted.

The Kuwaiti militar y attachÈ in Bahrain Col Ali Al-Asaker said that Kuwaiti naval officers are highly qualified and well-trained in using the latest militar y equipment and weapons.

“Protecting Bahrain from any outside aggression is an honor to the Kuwait Army,” Al-Asaker remarked. — KUNA

ARCO addresses relief aid plans KUWAIT: The Secretary General of the Arab Crescent and Red Cross Organization (ARCO) Abdullah Al-Hazz’a affirmed yesterday the importance of the current 38th meeting for ARCO’s General Authority which would be held in Kuwait May 23-24 in reinforcing partnership within the humanitarian aid level. Al-Hazz’a, who just arrived in Kuwait said that the event would focus on recent happenings in Libya, Yemen, Somalia, and the Palestinian territories, adding that the meeting would also focus on implementing a relief aid plan to help people suffering from the recent turmoil in the region. The meeting would also address measures to reinforce cooperation amongst humanitarian organizations in the Arab world, Al-Hazz’a said. A sideline exhibition showcasing humanitarian efforts would be held during the conference, stated the official who thanked the Kuwaiti leadership and people for reinforcing the message of humanitarian efforts. —KUNA

KUWAIT: Twelve lawmakers reportedly met the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Minister of Development and Housing Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahd Al-Sabah last week, and urged him to face the grilling motion filed against him by the National Ac tion Bloc. According to sources, Al-Fahd had expressed his desire to ask the Constitutional Court or the parliament’s legislative committee to look into the constitutionality of the inclusion of the Olympic Council of Asia headquarters building and sports issue in the grilling.

The 12 MPs explained that the reac tion towards such action will be “costly”, advising the deputy premier to express objection to topics he sees unconstitutional during the debate session.

Al-Fahd’s grilling is set to be debated on

Tuesday, M ay 31. I n the meantime, the Development and Reform Bloc is set to present a grilling motion against His Highness the Prime Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah today, less than a week after the parliament voted in favor of a cabinet’s request to put on hold a grilling filed by the Popular Action Bloc against the premier, for up to a year until the Constitutional Court verifies its constitutionality.

The grilling’s delay has been met with high criticisms from opposition MPs, which further sparked a public demonstration last Friday.

Nearly 700 people gathered in front of the Safat Square in protest. The protesters were forced to leave the square.

Some of the protesters were addressed by MP Musallam Al-Barrak. Al-Barrak said the constitution has been “slain” by the premier and

MPs referring to the grilling delay.

Meanwhile, His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah is scheduled today to meet with lawmakers who engaged in the fistfight that broke out inside the parliament last Wednesday. HH Amir has called for reconciliation on both parties.

On that regard, MP Falah Al-Sawagh; one of the Sunni MPs who clashed with Shiite lawmakers following disagreements regarding Kuwaiti Guantanamo detainees, said that any reconciliation must be based on “instructing [MP Husain] Al-Qallaf to avoid enticing sectarianism and making false accusations against fellow lawmakers”.

The fight broke out after Shiite MP Al-Qallaf quarreled with some Sunni lawmakers when he questioned the actions of citizens who were detained at the Guantanamo Bay prison.

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LOCAL

KUWAIT: Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Khalid Jarallah, and Ambassador of the Republic of South Africa Delarey Van Tonder jointly cut the ceremonial cake at a reception at Salwa Sabah Al-Ahmad hall on Wednesday evening on the occasion of South African Freedom Day. Diplomats, senior officials and media personnel attended the reception. — Photos by Joseph Shagra

Transportation structure ready KUWAIT: The Kuwait Municipality has finished the structural design for the public transportation project, and has referred it to the Municipal Council for voting. This was revealed by the assistant manager of the structural planning department Nizar Al-Sayegh.

He said the project which

includes a metro railway project aims to encourage citizens and residents to use the public transport systems.

Al-Sayegh revealed that the plan calls for a water cooling system to be installed instead of the regular cooling methods in order to save nearly 40 to 50 percent of power

needed for the public transportation project. The engineer further indicated that the system - which uses a pipeline network to send cool water to buildings as an alternative to traditional air conditioning systems - will be used for the public transpiration project, as well as in new residential areas.

Cooperate in countering life-threatening diseases Kuwait urges WHO GENEVA: Kuwait urged members of the World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday to work together in countering life-threatening diseases such as Flu pandemics, Cholera, Malaria and Polio. Head of Public Health Services at the Kuwaiti Health Ministry Dr Sami Al-Nasser said, in his speech at the 64th annual World Health Assembly, that “it is important to exchange information and aid as well as providing initial diagnoses and vaccines to all countries in order to put any flu pandemics under control before they spread out.”

He also stressed on the necessity of promoting international cooperation in detecting Acute Flaccid Paralysis in children and exchanging the latest researches on this disease.

Al-Nasser also said that there should be an international monitoring system that would determine areas of severe exposure to Cholera. He also

added that there should be an international collaboration in training health staff on the latest techniques of vaccination and vaccine-manufacturing.

“Kuwait succeeded in protecting the country from the last Flu pandemic through a six-point special program,” Al-Nasser noted on his speech before the WHO assembly.

The most effective producer done in Kuwait to overcome the H1N1 virus was reporting infected cases to the Disease Control and Prevention Centers, which made it easier to detect and control this pandemic, he pointed out. “Providing enough supply for seasonal flu vaccination in addition to vaccinating citizens and residents going to Hajj (Islamic pilgrimage) were also another producer followed to maintain good health in Kuwait,” Al-Nasser continued.

He remarked that the state of

NBK sponsors NUKS-USA website RIYADH: Kuwaiti Ambassador Sheikh Hamad Jaber Al-Ali Al-Sabah and other officials with Saudi Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs Prince Dr Mansour Bin Meteb Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud.

Kuwaiti ambassador praises Saudi official for support RIYADH: Kuwaiti Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Sheikh Hamad Jaber Al-Ali Al-Sabah has praised the limitless support granted to the Kuwaiti entrepreneurs by the Kingdom’s Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs Prince Dr Mansour Bin Meteb Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud.

The diplomat expressed admiration for Prince Mansour during a visit to the minister, along with Dr Ali Al-Shemali, the Board Chairman and Managing Director of the Kuwaiti Madina for Finance and Investment

Company, and members of the board.

Emerging from the meeting, Sheikh Hamad expressed anew his appreciation for the role of Prince Mansour in encouraging the Kuwaiti investors who have businesses in the kingdom. The kingdom hosts a large number of Kuwaiti business and real-estate firms.

Prince Mansour and his staff have offered various necessary facilities for the investors, and that approach has resulted in luring plenty of for-

eign and Gulf investments, the ambassador said. He also indicated that Dr Al-Shemali, during the meeting, voiced gratitude to Prince Mansour for his backing for the company.

Moreover, Al-Shemali and the accompanying executives also praised the investment and economic atmosphere in the kingdom that has turned into a safe haven for enterprises in the financial, investment, real-estate and commercial sectors. — KUNA

KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK ), the best bank in the Middle East, is sponsoring the website of National Union of Kuwaiti StudentsU S A ( w w w. n u k s . o r g ) .

NBK’s sponsorship and support comes Abdulmohsen Al-Rushaid in line with the bank’s customary and ongoing spirit of corporate citizenship as well as the vital role it plays in supporting all students and youths.

NBK Public Relations Manager, Abdulmohsen AlRushaid said: “Our students and Kuwaiti youths living and studying abroad deserve from us utmost attention, care and support. We are keen to contribute to the furthering of the Union’s performance and syndicate, cultural activities as well as its patriotic and national awareness-raising efforts.

KUWAIT: Acting Director of the Public Authority for Youth and Sports Sheikh Talal Al-Fahad Al-Sabah recently awarded some PAYS officials for their efforts during a sports awarding ceremony which the authority held under the patronage of His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.

Dusty winds in kuwait warning KUWAIT: Winds are expected to pickup and transform into northern and northwestern dust-spewing gales in the coming hours, an authority warned yesterday.

Meteorologist Issa Ramdhan said in a statement that the winds speed would increase to 20-60 km/h shortly

and peak to 70 km/h in the evening. Simultaneously, the horizontal visibility will ebb to less than 100 meters, and, probably, less than that level in the desert and farming areas, including Abdali. He warned the goers to the desert and the sea to be cautious, also cautioning

that waves at the sea may reach 4-8 feet. As for today’s weather, he predicted turbulent conditions. Peak temperature forecast at 45-46 degrees in the coming days and humidity at 20 percent. He urged citizens to follow up on weather bulletins. — KUNA

Kuwait has not registered a single case of Cholera since 1989, except for a few cases among new comers to the county which they were dealt with immediately.

“Kuwait follows a monitoring system that detects Cholera through observing new comers from Cholera-inflected countries and through regular checkups of drinking water as well as sea water to ensure they are Cholera-free,” he clarified.

Meanwhile, the last polio case registered in the country was in 1985, Al-Nasser said, adding that “ever since then, all newborns are vaccinated.” In conclusion, he explained that Kuwaitis Health authorities make sure to put its staff under periodic training programs to elevate their competency and update their knowledge on the latest researches on these terminal diseases. — KUNA Kuwait Digest

Public funds’ thieves

By Ghassan Al-Otaibi

S

tealing of public funds is one of the most hideous crimes because of its effects on the society. Apart from theft, there are other related crimes like bribery and embezzlements. Public funds’ theft is becoming a more serious crime as it moves from individual cases to becoming a social trend. For example, a state employee who receives a salary without being productive should be considered a thief. Whoever obtains money illegally (a bribe) should be considered a thief. Unfortunately, this is becoming a way of life in the Arab societies, and it has taken its toll on the economies of the states.

People who receive salaries without really working for it are unproductive and always careless. Those kind of people are becoming a burden to the society. A lot of Arab societies have factors that help create this kind of unproductive labor force. For example, there are countries suffering from rapid population growth met with little job opportunities due to lack of industries.

This means that three workers will be hired to perform a task which is normally carried out by one person.

More so, there are countries with huge oil reserves, which are becoming more dependent on foreign labor forces - with citizens taking up supervisory duties.

Societies in both examples need radical reforms that includes creating intellectuals who can adopt the process of building a productive society. Stealing public funds isn’t only by taking a loan and fleeing out of the country. Being unproductive from the workplace is also a similar crime. — Al-Qabas

Call to promote national heritage KUWAIT: Minister of Information Sami Al-Nesef has affirmed his support for protection and revival of the national popular heritage, as a distinctive feature of the identity of Kuwait. The Ministry of Information said in a statement, released yesterday, that the minister received, at his office, a delegation of a number of Kuwaiti singers, including Ibrahim Al-Sola, Dr Bandar Obeid and Yousef Al-Muhanna, along with the music conductor at the State of Kuwait Radio Station, Ahmad Hamdan. — KUNA

SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2011

DNA experts granted time in Knox hearing

Iran bans Ahmadinejad ally from office: Fars Page 8

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Libya airstrikes cripple Gaddafi’s forces: NATO BENGHAZI: In this photo taken, May 10, 2011, street vendors wait for customers in front of a graffiti depicting Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in Benghazi, Libya. —AP

TRIPOLI/BRUSSELS: NATO’s bombing campaign in Libya has crippled the government’s ability to attack rebels fighting to topple Muammar Gaddafi and effectively forced the leader into hiding, the alliance said.

NATO took command of a UN-authorised mission nearly two months ago to stop Gaddafi’s forces attacking civilians, and Western governments including the United States, Britain and France are under pressure to show results.

Ambassadors of the 28 NATO states who met this week are confident the mission is making “steady and tangible progress”, said NATO spokeswoman Carmen Romero, adding that the campaign had relieved pressure on rebel-held towns.

“NATO nations and partners agree we have taken the initiative. We have the momentum,” she told a briefing in Brussels.

“Our mission remains unchanged-we will prevent attacks and threats against civilians until the threat is removed. The evidence shows we are doing just that,” she said, adding that NATO had helped relieve the siege on the port city of Misrata.

Three months into an uprising against Gaddafi’s fourdecade rule, rebels control the east and pockets in the west including Misrata. The conflict has reached a stalemate as rebel attempts to advance on Tripoli have stalled.

Tripoli calls the rebels criminals and al Qaeda militants and says NATO’s bombing is armed aggression by Western nations bent on grabbing Libya’s oil.

Libyan state television showed footage on Thursday of Gaddafi. But NATO military spokesman Wing Commander Mike Bracken said in Brussels that strikes on command-andcontrol centres Tripoli had limited Gaddafi’s ability control his forces.

“It has also constrained his freedom of movement.” Bracken said. “Effectively he has gone into hiding.”

In a sign of international discord over the campaign, Russia stepped up its criticism of NATO. A foreign ministry statement accused NATO of killing civilians and destroying infrastructure.

Rebels and government forces battled in an area called Ryna around 10 km (6 miles) east of Zintan, a town in the contested Western Mountains region.

A Reuters reporter in the centre of Zintan heard artillery rounds and anti-aircraft gunfire. A rebel spokesman in the town, Juma Ibrahim, said it appeared pro-government forces were trying to advance and were firing tank rounds and heavy guns. — Reuters

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Iran acid victim says may spare attacker from blinding TEHRAN: An Iranian woman who was blinded in an acid attack said she would spare her assailant from having the same done to him if he raised 2 million euros in compensation, a newspaper reported yesterday.

Ameneh Bahrami was blinded in 2004 when Majid Mohavedi poured acid in her face after she spurned his offers of marriage.

Mohavedi was convicted in 2008 and sentenced to be blinded by the same method.

The punishment, scheduled for last week, was

postponed without explanation.

The case made headlines around the world, with Amnesty International urging Iran not to go through with inflicting the retributive form of justice allowed under its Islamic law.

In an interview with Sharq daily, Bahrami said she was not responsible for last week’s postponement but said she now wanted the punishment delayed further while she underwent facial surgery.

Bahrami, 24 at the time of the attack, said

she was also prepared to change her mind about the punishment in exchange for compensation.

“Many people came to ask me either to pardon Majid or postpone the execution of the sentence to find the money that I asked for, but I did not accept because in all these years no one has apologised to me and not even Majid’s family took any steps to finance my treatment costs,” she was quoted as saying.

“He has taken away everything from me

and now I am thinking about his punishment ... I have to bear it to the end of my life, so he should get blinded to understand what I am saying,” she added.

Bahrami said she was about to return to Spain to continue facial surgery. “During this time there is time for Majid’s family to raise the money that I requested, which is 2 million euros. Then I will change my mind about the retribution,” she said in the interview.

A lawyer for Mohavedi thanked Bahrami for

her offer but said the family would have huge difficulties finding that amount of money as their only asset was a house in Tehran. Some people had made donations towards the payment he said.

“It is true that Majid’s act was catastrophic,” Mahdi Rabbani told Sharq.

“It is Ameneh’s right to demand much more than 2 million euros to make her life financially secure. Unfortunately Majid’s family cannot afford that amount.” — Reuters

Iran bans Ahmadinejad ally from office: Fars Vice-president to appeal ban

CAIRO: Egyptian policemen line the street as an armored army vehicle guards a convoy carrying former Egyptian interior minister Habib al-Adli and his aides, as they arrive at the court in Cairo, Egypt, yesterday. el-Adly and four of his top aides face charges linked to the deadly shooting of 846 protesters and the injury of thousands of others during the uprising that forced ex-president Hosni Mubarak to step down from office on Feb 11. — AP

Egypt court adjourns minister trial after scuffle CAIRO: Scuffles broke out between lawyers and security officers in a Cairo court yesterday, disrupting the trial of Egypt’s reviled former interior minister and six other ministry officials on charges of killing protesters.

A witness told Reuters police lined up in front the defendants’ cage to block the seven officials from view, provoking an outcry from human rights lawyers, who then skirmished with army and police officers guarding the courtroom.

Habib al-Adli, one of the most hated members of the administration of deposed President Hosni Mubarak because of the brutality of his police force, and the other defendants are accused of killing protesters during Egypt’s uprising.

The trial was adjourned until June 26 after the scuffles.

Other cases that involved former Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, former Finance Minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali and former Trade Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid, as well as Adli, were also adjourned, to June 25.

Adli is one of the most senior Mubarakera ministers to go on trial, as the generals who now rule Egypt seek to show their commitment to cracking down on abuse of power and corruption.

He was sentenced earlier this month to 12 years in prison on separate charges of

profiteering and money laundering.

Several police stations were torched during the uprising which erupted on Jan. 25, partly because Egyptians were frustrated with a security apparatus that many say was corrupt and acted as if it was above the law.

More than 800 people died in the uprising and thousands were injured, when police fired rubber bullets, live ammunition, water cannon and teargas at peaceful protesters.

During the hearing, which lasted about five minutes, human rights lawyers demanded that Mubarak be added to the list of defendants in his capacity as the head of the supreme police council.

Nazif, Adli and Boutros-Ghali are charged in a separate case with squandering 92 million Egyptian pounds ($16 million) in public funds in a case involving alleged irregularities in the procurement of vehicle licence plates.

Yet another criminal court decided on Saturday to refer a profiteering case involving former Tourism Minister Zoheir Garranah back to the court of appeal.

The court said it took the decision after a prosecutor refused its request to add 14 new defendants to the case, including Mubarak’s son Gamal and the former speaker in the lower house of parliament Fathi Sorour. — Reuters

Saudi Arabia delays municipal elections RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has delayed municipal elections in the kingdom by a week to allow for National Day celebrations, the head of the election committee said yesterday.

The world’s biggest oil exporter announced in March it would hold the vote, in the first political concession since protests sweeping the region reached the kingdom. The elections for half the seats in the country’s municipal councils will be postponed to Sept. 29 from Sept. 22, Abdul Rahman al-Dahmash told Reuters.

“Because of the celebrations people won’t be around for voting,” he said.

Officials did not say why they had originally scheduled the vote so close to National Day, celebrated on Sept. 23 to mark the kingdom’s unification by founder King Abdul-Aziz and an army of ultra-con-

servative followers.

Women will not be allowed to vote.

Saudi Arabia held elections for half of the seats on municipal councils in 2005 for the first time in more than 40 years.

Another round was due in 2009 but the government announced a delay of two years.

Political parties are banned in the conservative Muslim kingdom and there is no elected parliament. The municipal councils, which have little power, are half-filled by appointees of Saudi princes serving as provincial governors.

Minority Shi’ites have staged demonstrations in the Eastern Province, where most of Saudi Arabia’s oilfields are located, but few Sunnis in major cities answered a Facebook call for protests on March 11. — Reuters

TEHRAN: An Iranian court has barred a vice president and ally of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from holding office for “violations” in a previous job, the semi-official Fars news agency said yesterday, in a blow to the president.

Hamid Baqaie, one of eight vice presidents and seen as particularly close to Ahmadinejad, was banned from public office for four years by an administrative court, Fars reported. It said Baqaie intended to appeal.

“In a news conference today (Baqaie) was asked about the sentence handed down by the court and he confirmed it,” Fars said.

The ruling, to deprive Baqaie of “any civil service responsibility”, was “due to numerous violations” he had committed while head of Iran’s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organisation, it added, giving no details of the violations.

Reuters was unable to contact Baqaie for comment.

The news comes amid mounting criticism of the president from various parts of the conservative elite, which backed his re-election in June 2009 in the face of a popular reform movement.

Reformist demonstrators said the vote was rigged, which the government denies.

Last month, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei overruled Ahmadinejad’s decision to sack Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi-a rare public interference interpreted by analysts as an attempt to clip the president’s wings.

On Friday, Fars reported that the state constitutional watchdog had overturned a move by Ahmedinejad to take over as caretaker oil minister a few days earlier.

The government has denied any suggestion of a growing rift between Iran’s two most powerful figures.

TEHRAN: Iranian Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi, speaks to the media, after unveiling an encyclopedia of the victims of terrorism in Iran, in Tehran, yesterday. Moslehi was forced to resign last month after apparent disputes with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. — AP Conser vatives have criticised some of Ahmadinejad’s aides for embracing an “Iranian” school of Islam-an ideology which some see as inappropriately mixing religion and nationalism.

Baqaie, along with another senior aide, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaie, was instrumental in persuading the British Museum to lend Iran the Cyrus Cylinder, a 2,500-year-old clay artefact from ancient Persia inscribed with what some have described as the world’s first charter of

N Iraq violence kills 5 KIRKUK: Violence in the disputed northern Iraqi province of Kirkuk left five people dead yesterday, police said, just two days after a string of anti-police attacks in the region killed 29.

The latest violence further raises tension in Kirkuk and its eponymous capital, which are claimed by both the central government in Baghdad and Kurdish regional authorities in Arbil.

US officials have persistently said that the unresolved row is one of the biggest threats to Iraq’s future stability.

Yesterday, gunmen killed Salim and Samah Abdulwahab, two Kurdish brothers aged 23 and 21 respectively, inside their home in north Kirkuk city, police First Lieutenant Laith Mahmud said.

Salim was a policeman while Samah worked in an auto repair shop.

“Police found their bodies covered in blood inside their home,” Mahmud said.

In the east of the city, meanwhile, insurgents gunned down a handicapped man who was responsible for operating a neighbourhood electricity generator, Mahmud added. Kirkuk, like the rest of Iraq, suffers chronic power shortages, so districts often join together to pay for a communal generator. And in Al-Rashad, 65 kilometres (40

miles) south of the provincial capital, a roadside bomb targeting an Iraqi army patrol killed two soldiers and wounded two others, according to police Brigadier General Sarhad Qader.

A separate roadside bomb against a police patrol in Al-Riyadh, east of Kirkuk city, also wounded two civilians, Qader said.

Yesterday’s violence comes two days after three bombings against police in the provincial capital killed 29 people, 26 of them policemen, and wounded 90 others, Iraq’s deadliest day since March 29.

Kirkuk lies at the centre of a tract of disputed territory claimed by both Iraq’s central government and by Kurdish regional authorities.

Currently, US forces participate in confidence -building tripartite patrols and checkpoints with central government forces and Kurdish security officers in Kirkuk and across northern Iraq.

But the withdrawal of some 45,000 US troops still in Iraq must be completed by the end of the year.

Violence is down dramatically in Iraq from its peak, but attacks remain common.

A total of 211 Iraqis were killed in violence in April, according to official figures. — AFP

Gunmen kill suspected spy for Israel in W Bank NABLUS: Masked gunmen shot dead a West Bank man previously jailed as a suspected spy for Israel, the second apparent vigilante killing of a suspected spy this month, Palestinian security sources said yesterday.

The sources identified the victim as Omar Helwan, 32, of Beit Dajan village near Nablus and said he had previously been held in a Palestinian prison on charges of working as an Israeli agent.

Palestinian police were investigating, they added.

On May 6, a 30-year-old Palestinian man that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbasís security services had sought to arrest on suspicion of being an Israeli informant was killed by gunmen outside the hub city of Ramallah.

Palestinian militants have a tradition of inflicting vigilante punishments on people accused of collaboration with the Jewish state. During a Palestinian uprising which began in 2000, militants publicly executed people accused of tipping off Israeli security forces about the whereabouts of wanted men. Such killings have become rare in the West

Bank since a bolstered police force, supervised by Abbasís Western-backed government, has largely restored law and order in recent years.

Under Western scrutiny, Abbas has withheld the presidential approval required by law for carrying out death sentences against Palestinians convicted of treason.

Ignoring him, rival Hamas Islamists who control the Gaza Strip executed an accused spy on May 4, underscoring their differences with Abbasís Fatah movement on the same day the two groups signed a power-sharing deal in Cairo.

Separately yesterday, Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian spotted approaching its boundary fence with Gaza. The army said he was suspected of trying to plant a bomb against Israeli patrols.

Gaza hospital officials retrieved the body of a 19-year-old man who was not claimed as a member by any Palestinian militant groups, leaving the possibility that he had been planning to cross from impoverished Gaza into Israel to search for work. — Reuters

BAGHDAD: Students of Baghdad University’s pharmacy college wear costumes and dance to music at a party held before their graduation in Baghdad, Iraq, yesterday.

Some 150 students gathered for the annual costume celebration that is a rite of passage for many Iraqi university students. — AP

human rights.

Some conservative clerics expressed unease with the fanfare with which the object-a potent symbol of Iran’s pre-Islamic civilisation-was greeted in Tehran.

Many analysts see a struggle for position among conservative factions ahead of parliamentary elections next year-in which leading reformists are unlikely to be permitted to standand the 2013 presidential race. - Reuters

US revises visa policy in gesture to Iranians WASHINGTON: Some Iranian students may seek two-year, multiple - entr y US visas, the State Department said on Friday, giving them greater freedom to travel to the United States in a gesture to improve people-to-people ties.

The step is the latest in a series by US President Barack Obama’s administration to reach out to the Iranian people and, in particular, to young Iranians despite the long enmity between the two countries.

Students from Iran, which the United States accuses of seeking nuclear weapons, sponsoring terrorism and brutally repressing its people, previously were eligible only for three month, single-entry visas.

The new guidelines apply to Iranians and their dependents applying to study in “nonsensitive, nontechnical fields”- those that would not contribute to Iran’s nuclear, missile or other weapons-related activities, a US official said.

Under the revised policy, the visas could be valid for two years and allow Iranian students to come and go as often as they wished in that period without applying for a new visa.

Whether they may actually enter the United States and exactly how long they may stay is decided by immigration officers at their port of entry, US officials said.

In a video address, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made clear the US gesture aimed to reach out to young Iranians, many of whom turned out in mass protests against the dispute d 2 0 0 9 re e l e c t i o n o f I r a n i a n Pre s i d e n t Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Those protests, the biggest challenge to the Islamic state since the 1979 revolution that ended the authoritarian rule of the Shah of Iran, were crushed by Iranian security forces who jailed scores of demonstrators. “ We w a n t m o re d i a l o g u e a n d m o re exchange with those of you who are shaping I ran’s future,” Clinton said in the message, which the State Department said was posted on Youtube in both English and Farsi.

“Because as long as the Iranian government continues to stifle your potential, we will stand with you,” she added. “We will continue to look for new ways to fuel more opportunities for real change in Iran.”

One U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the visa change aimed to make good on the administration’s pledge of seeking to engage ordinary Iranians.

Obama’s efforts to persuade Iran to cease its suspected pursuit of nuclear arms have so far failed and he has led a push to tighten U.S. and international sanctions on Tehran.

Iran says its nuclear program is to generate electricity, not produce weapons.

In the latest of his annual “Nowruz ” messages to mark the Persian new year, Obama on March 20 accused Iran of a two-year “campaign of intimidation and abuse” against its own people. “ These choices do not demonstrate strength; they show fear,” he said, aiming his message at young Iranians. “Though times may seem dark, I want you to know that I am with you.” — Reuters

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Police seek to prevent clashes at Swedish mosque GOTHENBURG: Protestors for and against a new mosque in Gothenburg in southwest Sweden flocked to the building yesterday, prompting the city ’s biggest police deployment in a decade to avoid clashes.

Around 100 people, many waving Swedish flags and wearing T-shirts with a red line drawn through a picture of the mosque, joined the right-wing demonstration against the building, which is set to be inaugurated next month, police said.

“Warning! Sweden is occupied by a

foreign power!” one of the fliers they handed out read, blaming Islam for among other things “terror with suicide bombers,” “gang rapes,” “child brides” and the “robbing of pensioners.”

At the same time, two separate leftwing marches in favour of the Islamic place of worship drew around 700 people, according to police, although organisers insisted the counter demonstrations attracted some 2,000-2,500 people.

Police, who had expected several thousand protestors to show up for the

demonstrations, would not say exactly how many officers had been deployed, but added it was the most since Gothenburg was hit by riots in 2001.

“We have a lot of officers on site and are following developments closely,” police spokesman Jan Strannegaard told AFP, adding police were using dogs, horses and helicopters in their bid to keep the peace.

“We have blocked off a large area around the mosque so they can’t get at each other or damage the mosque,” he explained.

Strannegaard said 13 of the left-wing protestors had been taken into custody Saturday morning “for disturbing the peace,” while an AFP photographer saw 27 other left-wingers being detained after they tried to get closer to the mosque and the right-wing demonstrators.

Left-wing organiser Tomas Traegaardh, the head of the Gothenburg Network Against Racism, criticised the police decision to keep the protestors far away from the mosque and each other.

“We want to show that Nazis are not welcome in Gothenburg,” he told AFP, adding that the “massive” showing on the left “must have crushed their self esteem.”

Around 2:00 pm (1200 GMT), police suddenly bussed away the right-wing protestors, who had been scheduled to remain until evening, “because they wanted to leave and we were concerned about their safety,” Strannegaard explained.

The left-wing protestors quickly disbursed after that, he said. —AFP

Ouattara inaugurated as Ivory Coast president Sarkozy, Ban attend inauguration

PERUGIA: Amanda Knox(R) waits at the Perugia court, Italy, yesterday. A tearful Amanda Knox said yesterday that being in prison is “very frustrating and mentally exhausting” as the American student convicted of murdering her roommate insisted she is innocent and does not want to spend the rest of her life behind bars. — AP

DNA experts granted time in Knox hearing PERUGIA: DNA experts reviewing the evidence in the appeal of Amanda Knox, the American woman convicted for the murder of a British student in Italy, were given extra time at a hearing yesterday.

“I’m innocent but have been in prison for more than three and a half years. It’s very frustrating and exhausting,” Knox said on learning that the extension meant the appeal outcome would likely be delayed, ANSA news agency said. Knox was sentenced in December 2009 to 26 years in prison for the grisly murder of Meredith Kercher with whom she shared a house in Perugia, in a drugfuelled sex game that turned violent.

Raffaele Sollecito, Knox’s boyfriend at the time, was sentenced to 25 years for his part in the murder. Both are now appealing their

convictions. The Seattle native arrived in court looking elegant in an ivory satin shirt and black trousers. Her hair pinned back into a ponytail, she smiled at her father Curt, who had flown over from the United States to support her. “There’s nothing more important than finding out the truth. There have been many prejudices and mistakes made. I remember the first days, I was young and I didn’t understand all of this,” Knox said.

“I don’t want to stay in prison unjustly for my whole life,” she added, her voice trembling. As part of the appeal, fresh DNA tests were ordered on the presumed murder weapon and a bra clip found at the scene.

Two independent experts from Rome’s Sapienza University were originally given 90 days to review the evidence. —AFP

YAMOUSSOUKRO: Alassane Ouattara was inaugurated yesterday as president of Ivory Coast, which he hopes to reunite following a bloody crisis caused by his predecessor’s refusal to concede election defeat.

“The time has come to renew the founding values of our beautiful Ivory Coast, and to reunite Ivorians,” he said at a ceremony attended by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, President Nicolas Sarkozy of former colonial power France and African leaders.

“Let us celebrate peace, without which there can be no development,” said Ouattara, 69, who took the oath of office on May 6 — about four weeks after Laurent Gbagbo was captured for refusing to cede power following November elections.

The new president launched an appeal for the emergence of “a new Ivorian”, as the country “reconciles and reunites.”

A months-long conflict had pitted Ouattara against Gbagbo, who refused to leave office after his rival was declared the winner of November’s presidential poll.

Nearly 3,000 people died in the violence that followed the vote, according to the new government, and tens of thousands fled into neighbouring countries.

Gbagbo was captured in an underground bunker in Abidjan on April 11 by forces loyal to Ouattara, backed by France and the United Nations.

Protesters defy ban in Spain MADRID: Tens of thousands of protesters filled squares throughout Spain late Friday and said they would stay in defiance of a ban going into effect at midnight. The government avoided saying that it would order police to break up the crowds.

Many people are angry over Spain’s high unemployment rate and what they see as the national political parties’ ineptitude in dealing with a deep economic crisis. Protesters built a camp in Madrid’s central Puerta del Sol square Sunday, a week ahead of nationwide elections. The camp has grown every day since, with other

cities joining in. Friday was the last day for candidates to campaign for the election for municipal and regional government positions nationwide.

Citing the mandatory end of campaigning, the national election commission banned protests Saturday or on election day.

But with midnight looming, there were large gatherings of mainly young people in central Madrid and dozens of other Spanish cities.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero did not say whether he would order police to break up demonstrations. “Let’s see what hap-

MADRID: People with their mouths taped up participate in a protest against Spain’s crisis at the Puerta del Sol square in Madrid yesterday.

Young people camped in main squares across Spain in the largest wave of spontaneous protests. — AFP

pens tomorrow. In any case, I should not get ahead of events,” he told Cadena Ser radio network. “What I can say is that the government and Interior Ministry will behave well, will behave correctly and will behave with intelligence.” Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba was also cagey about how the government would deal with the protesters, although he said the police would not act to make things worse. Initially he said the government will “enforce the law,” but he then toned down this stance, saying “The police are not going to resolve one problem by creating another.” The ruling Socialist party is widely expected to suffer big losses at the polls, perhaps even in traditional strongholds.

The government is presiding over an economy struggling to overcome recession and create jobs to chip away at a 21.3 percent jobless rate, the highest in the eurozone.

In Spain, rallies called to urge people to vote one way or another are typically banned the day before an election, called “days of reflection.” The election commission was deeply divided this time, and upheld the ban by just a one-vote margin. The panel was convened to give a blanket ruling for all of Spain because provincial election bodies had issued contradictor y rulings, with some allowing protests this week and some banning them, as was the case in Madrid.

Organizers of the protests say that they have no party affiliation, are not trying to affect the election outcome in any way, and are not even urging people to abstain from voting.— AP

US military forges ahead with European force cuts BERLIN: The US 1st Armored Division lowered its flag this month in a ceremony that signaled the quiet return home of a unit whose tanks first rumbled onto the continent through Italy during World War II. The Wiesbaden casing of colors ceremony also marked a milestone in the ongoing transformation of the American military. The sending off of the last division deployed in Europe at the height of the Cold War symbolizes the shift in favor of smaller, lighter units that planners say are better poised to meet today’s threats. But the question now being raised is whether the Army’s plan to keep some 37,000 soldiers in Europe will survive growing budgetary pressures in Washington. There are increasing concerns in the US Congress that the United States is

footing too much of the bill for European defense at a time when some European countries have reduced defense spending.

“An alliance that is so dependent on one ceases to function properly,” said Heather Connelly, director of the Europe program for the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “You are probably going to see more questions from Congress about getting that balance right.” US troop strength in Europe peaked in 1962 at nearly 277,000 soldiers and was still at around 213,000 in 1989.

Current plans call for reducing troops from about 42,000 today to the 37,000 by 2015.

The remaining troop numbers are greater than recommended by Donald Rumsfeld when he was secre-

tary of defense, but smaller than top military commanders had been suggesting. With Washington’s decision now to scale down operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan, however, the target number now seems about right said Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, who took command of US Army Europe in March. “Given what we’re now being asked to do as an army — with a drawdown in the total number f army soldiers that we’re going to have overall — I think US Army Europe can get the job done ... with three brigades,” Hertling told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Heidelberg.

The plan is based around brigade combat teams — smaller integrated units that include infantry, armor, artillery and engineers among other troops.— AP

YAMOUSSOUKRO: Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara (L) waves next to French president Nicolas Sarkozy (R) yesterday at the airport in Yamoussoukro. Ouattara is due to be sworn in today as the president of long-troubled Ivory Coast, which he hopes to reunite after a bloody crisis when his predecessor refused to step down. — AFP “This day is an historic moment dination and sustained commitment ment”, and promised parliamentary for us,” said Ouattara, hailing what he in the stabilisation and consolidation elections before the end of the year.

Thousands of people sang and of peace”. In handing out thanks, called “the victory of democracy”.

“It is a success for the Ivory Coast Ouattara singled out France, “with danced in a festive atmosphere whom the Ivory Coast shares historic around the site of the ceremony at and for Africa as a whole,” he said.

African Union and UN Security ties and a common vision of the the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Council envoys, meeting in Addis future”. “Mister President Sarkozy, the Foundation, named for the Ivory Ababa, hailed Ouattara’s inaugura- Ivorian people thank you,” Ouattara Coast’s founding president in whose tion. “Security Council members and said to loud applause, also thanking cabinet Ouattara had been prime minister. The festivities were closely members of the AU Peace and the United Nations.

Sarkozy later in Abidjan speaking guarded by members of Ouattara’s Security Council praised the inauguration of President Ouattara,” a state- to French troops said Ouattara said Republican Forces and UN peacement said, calling for “vigilance, coor- he intended forming a “unity govern- keepers.— AFP

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US state to use different execution drug ATLANTA: Executions in the state of Georgia could soon resume after prison officials decided to swap out a lethal injection drug that was surrendered to federal regulators, the corrections department said Friday. The Georgia Department of Corrections will substitute pentobarbital for sodium thiopental, a drug that was in scarce supply nationwide even before Georgia’s stash was taken by the Drug Enforcement Administration in March, said Robert Jones, the department’s general counsel. “We’re confident it will be effective,” Jones said of the pentobarbital, which would be used in combination with pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride. Jones said pentobarbital was picked because it’s readily available throughout the US and because several other capital punishment states have already adopted it. “We await guidance and instruction from courts in Georgia,” he said. “We stand ready to carry

out those orders now.” Many of America’s 34 death penalty states have scrambled to find a new supplier of sodium thiopental after Hospira Inc., its sole manufacturer in the US, said in January it would no longer make the drug. Several states postponed executions amid the shortage, and records reviewed by the Associated Press found that Georgia and at least six other states obtained sodium thiopental overseas. Georgia’s stockpile of the drug came under more scrutiny when corrections officials released documents in court that showed the state bought the drug from Dream Pharma in London.

Defense attorneys call Dream Pharma a flyby-night supplier that operates from the back of a driving school. The firm hasn’t responded to repeated emails and phone calls seeking comment.

Georgia was forced to surrender its supply of sodium thiopental to the DEA amid questions about whether the prison officials

circumvented the law to obtain the supply.

The Georgia Attorney General’s office said the move effectively halted executions in Georgia because corrections officials didn’t have the necessary supplies to carry one out.

Switching to pentobarbital should allow the state to move ahead with the execution of Troy Anthony Davis, whose high-profile case has become a rallying point for opponents of the death penalty.

Prosecutors have spent more than two decades trying to execute Davis, who was sentenced to die for the 1989 slaying of a Savannah police officer, and the state won a key legal battle in March when the U.S. Supreme Court rejected what could be his final appeal. But prosecutors couldn’t schedule his execution because Georgia didn’t have the lethal injection drug.

Chatham County District Attorney spokeswoman Alicia Johnson said the office

was “not immediately” filing paperwork to seek an execution order for Davis, but his supporters were already readying for a legal fight. John Bentivoglio, who represents a condemned Georgia inmate, said in a letter that Georgia may have also failed to properly register with the DEA before importing a controlled substance. He said the violation means “adulterated, counterfeit or otherwise ineffective” sodium thiopental could be used in executions, violating the ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Jones said the corrections department is cooperating with the investigation, and that he had no concerns about the quality of the state’s supply of sodium thiopental, which was used to execute two inmates.

The Justice Department declined to comment on the probe. Georgia officials have laid the groundwork for a switch for weeks.

Corrections officials met with counterparts in Ohio and Oklahoma, which have already

used pentobarbital to execute inmates.

They have also collected hundreds of pages of legal filings and other documents about the drugs, and drafted several proposals for the switch, according to more than 1,000 pages of files reviewed by The Associated Press. Georgia is one of at least 10 states that have switched or are considering a switch to pentobarbital, a surgical sedative that’s also commonly used to euthanize animals. Several Georgia death row inmates, including Davis, have exhausted or nearly exhausted their appeals. State authorities have set three previous execution dates for Davis since 2007 only to have each postponed so judges could review the case.

Laura Moye of Amnesty International USA, which has helped stage dozens of rallies in support of Davis, said capital punishment is an “error-prone system that has sent far too many innocent people to death row.” — AP

Israeli rebuke of Obama exposes divide on Mideast Obama made US commitment to pre-1967 borders

MANCHESTER: In this April 30, 2011, file photo possible 2012 presidential hopeful, former Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, speaks at a candidates’ forum in Manchester. — AP

Pawlenty running for president ST. PAUL: Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is running for president, an adviser told The Associated Press, joining a wide-ranging field of Republican candidates who hope to oust President Barack Obama at the polls next year.

The adviser, who disclosed the plans on the condition of anonymity in advance of next week’s announcement, said Pawlenty will formally enter the race with his announcement Monday during a town hall-style event in Des Moines, Iowa.

Pawlenty is not well-known nationally and may struggle to stand out in a crowded Republican field in which no hopeful has yet taken a certain lead. Though the economy is still sluggish, the Democratic president is seen as hard to beat in November 2012.

The 50-year-old Pawlenty lacks the name recognition of candidates such as former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney or former House speaker Newt Gingrich.

But he also lacks much of the political baggage that could hurt more opponents with a higher profile. Romney faces criticism for championing a state health care plan similar to Obama’s and the thricemarried Gingrich may fail to win over social conservatives.

Pawlenty is choosing to make his longexpected bid official in a critical state in his path to the Republican nomination.

Iowa holds statewide January caucuses — similar to a primary election — that are the first contest for party nominations in the November 2012 presidential election.

Advisers acknowledge that Pawlenty must win or turn in a strong showing in Iowa, which borders his state of Minnesota, to have any chance of becoming the Republican nominee.

He is also fighting an impression at least within the Republican establishment that he’s too bland to excite voters. He

isn’t uniquely aligned with any one Republican faction — like social conservatives or fiscal Republicans — as are other candidates.

Pawlenty hopes that he can cobble together a winning coalition of voters by attracting a wide array of Republicans, from religious conservatives to adherents of the ultraconservative tea party movement to establishment figures. As he travels the country, he boasts of reining in state spending and blocking tax hikes during two terms as Minnesota’s governor, as well as stressing his working-class roots and evangelical Christian faith. “I’m the only candidate in the field who can unite the whole Republican Party, not just one part of it, in a genuine and authentic way, and then go out an appeal to the whole country,” Pawlenty said this week before a fundraiser in Minnesota.

In a Republican presidential field peppered with millionaires like Romney, Pawlenty is trying to portray himself as the closest thing in sight to a regular guy — even though his career as a lawyer and politician has made him comfortable.

Pawlenty often tells his “American story:” a life that began in the meatpacking town of South St. Paul and continued through his dad’s on-and-off work as a truck driver, the death of his mother to cancer when he was a teenager, and his bootstrapping through college and law school — the first in his family to go so far. All of it is essential to Pawlenty’s bid to be seen as the Republican best able to relate to the economic anxieties of Americans, perhaps the key issue in the 2012 race. “I know that feeling, I lived it,” Pawlenty intones in an introductory video that includes blackand-white shots of young Tim, stockyards in their heyday and a small-town Main Street. — AP

WASHINGTON: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bluntly told President Barack Obama on Friday his vision of how to achieve Middle East peace was unrealistic, exposing a deep divide that could doom any US bid to revive peace talks.

In an unusually sharp rebuke to Israel’s closest ally, Netanyahu insisted Israel would never pull back to its 1967 borders-which would mean big concessions of occupied land- that Obama had said should be the basis for negotiations on creating a Palestinian state.

“Peace based on illusions will crash eventually on the rocks of Middle East reality,” an unsmiling Netanyahu said as Obama listened intently beside him in the Oval Office after they met for talks.

Netanyahu insisted that Israel was willing to make compromises for peace, but made clear he had major differences with Washington over how to advance the longstalled peace process.

Netanyahu’s resistance raises the question of how hard Obama will push for concessions he is unlikely to get, and whether the vision the US leader laid out on Thursday to resolve the decades-old conflict will ever get off the ground.

Despite assurances of friendship by both leaders, this week’s events also appeared to herald tense months ahead for US-Israeli relations, even as the Arab world goes through political tumult and Palestinians prepare a unilateral bid this fall to seek UN General Assembly recognition for statehood.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Obama said he reiterated to Netanyahu the peace “principles” he offered on Thursday in a policy speech on the Middle East upheaval.

The goal, he said, “has to be a secure Israeli state, a Jewish state, living side by side in peace and security with a contiguous, functioning and effective Palestinian state.

Obama on Thursday embraced a longsought goal by the Palestinians: that the state they seek in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip should largely be drawn along lines that existed before the 1967 war in which Israel captured those territories and East Jerusalem.

Netanyahu, who heads a right-leaning coalition, responded with what amounted to a history lecture about the vulnerability to attack that Israel faced with the old borders.

“We can’t go back to those indefensible lines,” he said.

Picking a fight with Israel could be politically risky for Obama at home as he seeks reelection in 2012.

The brewing crisis in US-Israeli relations dimmed even further the prospect for resuming peace talks that collapsed late last year when Palestinians walked away in a dispute over Israeli settlement building in the West Bank.

Obama and Netanyahu, meanwhile, appear to have reached an impasse after two

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama (R) meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, Friday. — AFP and a half years of rocky relations. The Obama White House was angered when Netanyahu refused a US demand to halt building Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

Some Israelis have never felt entirely comfortable with Obama, unnerved by his early attempts to reach out to Iran and his support for popular Arab revolutions that have unsettled Israel.

In a pointed comment clearly aimed at Obama’s new approach to the long-running conflict, Netanyahu said: “The only peace that will endure is one that is based on reality, on unshakable facts.”

Netanyahu, Israeli officials said, was determined to push back hard because the reference to 1967 borders was a red flag that would attract more international pressure on Israel for concessions. A senior Israeli official said Netanyahu felt he had to speak bluntly so he would be “heard around the world.”

“There is a feeling that Washington does not understand the reality, doesn’t understand what we face,” an official on board the plane taking Netanyahu to Washington told reporters.

Despite that, Obama’s first declaration of his stance on the contested issue of borders could help ease doubts in the Arab world about his commitment to acting as an evenhanded broker and boost his outreach to the region. Another failed peace effort, however, could fuel further frustration.

In line with Netanyahu’s stance, Obama voiced opposition to the Palestinian plan to seek UN recognition of statehood in September in the absence of renewed peace talks.

The Democratic president has quickly come under fire from Republican critics, who accuse him of betraying Israel, the closest US ally in the region. Pushing Netanyahu could

alienate US supporters of Israel as Obama seeks re-election.

Obama may get a chilly reception in a speech to an influential pro-Israel lobbying group on Sunday. Netanyahu is expected to be feted when he addresses the same audience on Monday and then the US Congress on Tuesday.

Obama, in his speech on Thursday, laid down his clearest markers yet on the compromises he believes Israel and the Palestinians must make to resolve a conflict that has long been seen as a source of Middle East tension.

But he did not present a formal U.S. peace plan or any timetable for a deal he once promised to clinch by September.

In Thursday’s speech, Obama said: “We believe the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps” of land. While this has long been the private view in Washington, Obama went further than US officials have in the recent past.

Agreed swaps would allow Israel to keep settlements in the West Bank in return for giving the Palestinians other land.

Going into the talks, Netanyahu said he wanted to hear Obama reaffirming commitments made to Israel in 2004 by thenPresident George W. Bush suggesting that it may keep some large settlement blocs as part of any peace pact.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Friday that Obama had said nothing that “contradicts those letters.”

Obama on Thursday also delivered a message to the Palestinians that they would have to answer “some very difficult questions” about a reconciliation deal with Hamas, the Islamist group that runs Gaza and which the United States regards as a terrorist group. — Reuters

Shadow of disgraced president looms in Peru LIMA: When she launched her run for the presidency two years ago, Keiko Fujimori’s stated aim was to free her father Alber to, who is imprisoned for killings and corruption during his decade-long rule.

Now the congresswoman has a strong chance to become Peru’s first female leader and she is trying to establish her independence from her presidential father even as she adopts many of his key advisers and policies as her own. While some Peruvians honor her father for crushing a bloody leftist guerrilla movement, many recall him as the man who led the most corrupt government in their country’s modern history.

Her chances in the June 5 runoff may depend on which alternative Peruvians fear more: the daughter of a man serving a 25-year sentence for authorizing death squad killings and looting the treasury, or leftist militar y man Ollanta Humala, whom critics liken to Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez. Polls show voters almost evenly spit, though several

surveys have put Fujimori slightly ahead. Her biggest challenge has been trying to cope with the shadow of her father’s legacy.

Since Alberto Fujimori fled Peru and faxed his resignation from his ancestral Japan in 2000, about 1,500 people connected to his government have been prosecuted on corruption and other charges.

“In the history of South America, at least, nowhere have so many people have been tried for corruption beginning with the president, his ministers and generals,” said Pedro Gamarra, an anti-corruption prosecutor handling cases from Fujimori’s presidency.

Those convicted and sentenced to prison include eight former Cabinet ministers, three former military commanders, an attorney general and a former chief of the Supreme Court, as well as soldiers who belonged to a secret death squad that killed at least 50 people.

Two brothers and two sisters of the former president are on a list of 55 government-linked fugitives.

Experts believe no other Peruvian government has looted the nation’s treasury on the scale of Alberto Fujimori’s.

Transparency International deemed Fujimori the seventh most corrupt leader in modern times on a list topped by Suharto, the former Indonesian leader. It estimated members of Alberto Fujimori’s administration stole $600 million. Estimates by others reach into the billions.

About $184 million has been recovered from bank accounts in Switzerland, the United States, Luxembourg and Panama, said Avelino Guillen, the prosecutor who eventually won Fujimori’s 2009 conviction.

The Peruvians who back Keiko Fujimori are primarily from the middle and upper classes who fear Humala could at least partially dismantle the free market. She is also backed by Peruvians who credit her father with defeating Shining Path rebels and putting the economy on solid footing. She argues she should not be blamed for any

crimes committed under her father.

“I’m not Alber to Fujimori.

Children don’t carry the responsibilities of their parents,” the 35-yearold congresswoman said in an April radio interview. “I’m a different person.” But she has not clearly drawn a line between his policies and hers, and has focused on the same campaign promises that worked for her father: fighting crime, working for the poor and providing school lunches and uniforms.

Detractors say her father’s fingerprints are all over her campaign and he can be expected to exert substantial influence over a Keiko Fujimori presidency. Photographs recently published by the newspaper La Republica feed such concerns. They show two of Keiko Fujimori’s campaign trucks appearing to enter and leave the police compound where Alberto Fujimori lives in relative comfort as the sole inmate.

Keiko Fujimori told reporters the trucks had been coming and going from a nearby party office, not the

LIMA: In this July 28, 2000 file photo, Peru’s President Alberto Fuijimori waves as he arrives at the cathedral accompanied by his daughter, Keiko, before his inauguration for a third five-year term, in Lima, Peru. — AP lockup. But that did little to satisfy doubters who recalled that the government acknowledged last year that Alberto Fujimori was receiving as many as 180 visits a day.

Keiko Fujimori denies her father is in any way running her campaign.

“I always had different opinions from my father,” she said when

asked by The Associated Press. “I haven’t had to wait until this far along in the elections to demonstrate that I’m independent.” When her father was convicted two years ago, she insisted she would pardon him if elected president. In recent months she has reversed that stand, swearing publicly she will not pardon him. — AP

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China, S Korea leaders tour devastated Japan region Trilateral summit to focus on nuclear crisis

SELANGOR: Emergency teams carry out an injured boy at the site of a landslide that hit an orphanage in Hulu Langat, Selangor yesterday. A landslide caused by heavy rains hit an orphanage in Malaysia, killing three children and burying at least 21 others. — AFP

Three dead as landslide hits Malaysia orphanage KUALA LUMPUR: A landslide caused by heavy rains hit an orphanage in Malaysia yesterday, killing three children and burying at least 15 other people, a local lawmaker and police said.

The incident took place at around 2:30 pm (0630 GMT) at the Children’s Hidayah Madrasah Al-Taqwa orphanage in Hulu Langat, just south of the capital Kuala Lumpur.

Morni Mamat, fire department deputy director said 24 people — 20 children and four adult caretakers were buried in the landslide.

Six of them-one adult and five children-had been pulled from the debris alive, he added.

“We have pulled out six victims safely.

We have also recovered three bodies,” he said, adding that rescuers will continue their search for the remaining 15 victims.

Police said the dead children were aged between 11 to 14 years, adding that one of those pulled out safely from the muddy soil with injuries was a caretaker of the children’s home.

Che Rosli Che Mat, an opposition lawmaker with the conservative Islamic party (PAS) expressed shock over the tragedy and said efforts to rescue the victims have been hampered by heavy rain.

Two diggers backed by powerful spotlights are being used in the search and rescue mission, he said, as rescuers frantically dug for survivors with spades.

“But the heavy rain is washing down more red earth. I fear they will probably

find more bodies,” he said. “I fear for the safety of the rescuers.”

Ismail Omar, inspector-general of police said the operation involved 200 personnel including a specialist search and rescue team.

“The search and rescue operation will continue until all victims have been found despite the darkness and rain,” he said, adding that police will investigate if the orphanage had been run in line with safety standards.

Earlier, Che Rosli said the orphanage was located on a hill slope in his constituency, and it had been raining heavily in the semi-rural area for the past two days.

The tragedy struck when the children were practicing the traditional Malay drums, “kompang” under a tent near a steep slope, he said.

“The landslide happened very fast.

Only a few children managed to escape. I am surprised an orphanage has been built on a side of hill,” he said.

Meanwhile, Minister of Women, Family and Community development Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said she was saddened by the deadly landslide.

“I was just informed by the incident of children being buried in a landslide. It is a sad news,” she said.

Sharizat said she will work with the police to establish the cause of the tragedy, adding that “I hope the children’s home was not build without the approval of local authorities.” — AFP

TOKYO: The leaders of Japan, China and South Korea gathered yesterday to demonstrate their shared desire for Japan’s earthquake and tsunami recovery and to smooth out differences over Japan’s handling of its nuclear crisis. Ahead of a trilateral summit, the leaders met in the city of Fukushima, just 40 miles (60 kilometers) from the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, which suffered severe damage from the March 11 disaster. The earthquake and tsunami left more than 24,000 people dead or missing and sparked an ongoing crisis at Fukushima Dai-ichi. China and South Korea have been critical of Japan’s response to the nuclear crisis, particularly about the release of radiation into the ocean and the monitoring of food exports for contamination.

Japan hopes the visit by the two leaders will help ease concerns and import restrictions on Japanese produce. The summit was expected to focus on the nuclear crisis and ways for each country to help Japan’s recovery. In a nod to local farmers, the three leaders sampled cherries, tomatoes, strawberries and cucumbers grown in Fukushima.

“It was my decision to come to Fukushima,” China’s Premier Wen Jiabao said. “I come here on behalf of all the Chinese people.” He suggested that import restrictions may be loosened if safety is ensured, Japanese media reported. Tokyo had reportedly wanted to formally open the summit in Fukushima, but that plan had to be scrapped because of logistical issues. Instead, the leaders visited an evacuation center in Fukushima and then headed to Tokyo for a welcoming banquet.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak arrived in Sendai city late yesterday morning and immediately headed to devastated nearby areas, offering a wreath of flowers and a silent prayer. Wen arrived later and followed a

BINH DUONG: Pham Thi Hoang, second from left, cries while waiting for her missing son Pham Xuan Khanh, 9, who was aboard a tourism boat which sank in Saigon River, Binh Duong province, Vietnam, yesterday. — AP

BEIJING: A Chinese general’s call for land attacks on Somali pirate strongholds is being seen by analysts as another sign of the armed forces’ growing assertiveness, even if the proposal is unlikely to result in action. Speaking at a news conference Wednesday in Washington, Gen. Chen Bingde said he believes land bases must be assaulted in order to eradicate piracy. “I think that for our counter-piracy campaigns to be effective, we should probably move beyond the ocean and

lage in Binh Duong province, 19 miles (30 kilometers) northwest of Ho Chi Minh City. “It’s horrible to see the birthday party for that 3-year-old boy turn into a tragedy,” he said. The boat was about 100 yards (meters) away from the terminal when it went down around 7 p.m, he said. According to state-run media, a Vietnamese businessman was throwing the birthday celebration. The reports said the father managed to survive, but that nine family members — including his wife, son and 6-year-old daughter — did not make it to shore.

One survivor was quoted as saying he was having a beer with friends when the boat started to sink. He said it flooded with water so fast that he wasn’t able to reach his wife and son on the other side of the deck. Others reported that all of the windows had been closed to keep the rain out, which may have hindered passengers’ escape. Hundreds of soldiers and police were mobilized for a search and rescue operation. They located the sunken boat and were expected to hoist it from the water using a crane, Hieu said, adding that strong currents initially prevented divers from reaching the vessel.

The boat, which can carry up to 75 people, is a popular choice for parties. It is owned by the Din Ky Green Tourist Company in Binh Duong province.

The bodies of the two Chinese victims, a man and a woman, have been transferred to Cho Ray hospital in Ho Chi Minh City where they will be handed over to the Chinese Embassy. In February, Vietnam experienced its worst foreign tour boat accident when 11 vacationers from nine countries, along with their Vietnamese tour guide, drowned when the overnight boat they were sleeping on sank in northern Ha Long Bay, one of the country’s must-see sites. Earlier this month, another tour junk went down in the bay while serving 28 French tourists. No one was injured. — AP

N Korean leader heads to China SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il headed yesterday to southern China on day two of a trip which experts said was aimed at showing he was still in charge of the impoverished and starving communist state. Kim inspected a car factory in the northeastern city of Changchun before heading southwest, news reports said. Previous trips by Kim Jong-Il to China have been shrouded in secrecy, with state-controlled media in both countries reporting them only after they end. Kim’s special train left Changchun toward Shenyang, sparking speculation that his summit with Chinese President Hu Jintao may take place there or in Beijing, Yonhap news agency and YTN TV said.

Kim and his entourage earlier toured a factor y of FAW Group, China’s second-largest automaker by sales, but would not be staying overnight at Changchun where he met Hu in his last visit in August last year. Experts said the visit, the third

by Kim in 12 months, reflects the North’s dire need for help from its main benefactor to ease economic difficulties and food shortages amid ongoing international sanctions over its nuclear ambitions. They also say it shows he is firmly in charge despite health concerns.

Kim, 69, suffered a stroke in August 2008 and has since been putting in place a succession plan involving his youngest son and heir apparent Kim Jong-Un. News reports in Seoul said Kim was apparently not accompanied by Kim Jong-Un. A hotel list of Kim’s 70-member entourage did not show the son’s name. Kim JongUn, believed aged 27, was made a four-star general last September and given major posts in the ruling communist party to confirm his status as leader-in-waiting.

Professor Kim Yong-Hyun of Dongguk University said the trip, along with Kim’s schedule of inspection visits at home, corroborated the belief that the North Korean

similar schedule. Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan joined them in Fukushima City yesterday afternoon.

The summit talks, along with bilateral meetings, were to be held in Tokyo today.

After placing the flowers in a rubble-covered neighborhood near Sendai, Lee said South Korea would do all it could to help Japan. “The world is impressed as it watches the attitude and courage that the Japanese people have shown in their effort to recover from the disaster,” he said. “I believe and hope that Japan will rebuild soon.” Wen spent about

a half hour at the Tatekoshi Elementary School in Natori. The school gym is serving as a shelter for 123 people.

He sat down with four families and spoke through an interpreter. He gave out gifts, including stuffed pandas, wind-up flashlights and radios. Hiroyasu Kudo, 45, said Wen asked him what the earthquake felt like.

“I told him I’m thinking about what I can do, especially for those that died,” said Kudo, who is at the shelter with his family. “He said the best thing I could do is to make a strong family.” — AP

China calls for attacking Somali pirate bases

Birthday boat sinks 15 in Vietnam BINH NHAM: A little boy’s birthday party went tragically wrong when a double-decker tour boat capsized during a storm in southern Vietnam, killing 15 people — including the 3-year-old being honored and four other children, officials said yesterday. Divers recovered the bodies, including two Chinese adults, from the Saigon River yesterday afternoon, but one passenger remained missing, said Trieu Van Giau, head of Binh Duong provincial waterway police. The incident remains under investigation, but bad weather is being blamed. Several people managed to swim to safety following Friday evening’s incident, which occurred while the restaurantstyle boat was cruising the river during heavy rains and violent winds, said Le Van Hieu, chief of Binh Nham vil-

TOKYO: Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan (C) shakes hands with South Korea’s President Lee Myung-Bak (R) and China’s Premier Wen Jiabao during a photo session at the state guest house in Tokyo yesterday. The leaders of Japan, China and South Korea travelled to Fukushima in a show of solidarity over the ongoing nuclear crisis. — AFP

leader’s health had improved.

Through this visit, he is showing off his health and tight grip on power,” Kim told the Hankyoreh Daily.

Professor Yang Moo-Jin of the University of North Korean Studies told the daily that Kim senior will take care of national security and diplomacy, while his son will continue accumulating experience, focusing on domestic affairs. The communist regime in North Korea is desperate to improve living standards and revive the economy before the 100th anniversary next year of the birth of founding president Kim Il-Sung, the current leader’s father. UN agencies said six million people-a quarter of the population-need urgent aid in the North, where a famine in the 1990s killed hundreds of thousands. The trips to China by the reclusive leader “underscore the North’s desperate need” for aid from China, Professor Cho Young-Ki of Korea University told the Chosun daily. — AFP

crush their bases on the land,” Chen said, adding that those funding and organizing piracy must be targeted along with rank-andfile brigands. Chen’s call was interpreted among analysts more as a statement of desire than intent, with the People’s Liberation Army ill-equipped to carry out such missions and little appetite among other nations for dispatching troops to the African mainland.

His remarks, however, fit a pattern of greater outspokenness among PLA leaders

that sometimes diverges from the official government line, especially in areas outside China’s core interests of Taiwan, Tibet and its South China Sea territorial claims.

Senior officers have raised eyebrows with strong assertions of the need for bigger budgets, more advanced capabilities and a more combative posture toward the United States, the pre-eminent military force in the AsiaPacific region that Beijing regards as its chief rival. — AP

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

India says Sino-Pakistan ties a ‘serious concern’ NEW DELHIL: India views with “serious concern” growing defence ties between China and Pakistan and says it will have to bolster its own military capabilities to meet the challenge.

“It is a matter of serious concern for us. The main thing is we have to increase our capability-that is the only answer,” Defence Minister A.K. Antony told reporters in New Delhi late on Friday.

The comments followed reports China plans to accelerate supply of 50 new JF-17 Thunder multi-role combat jets to Pakistan under a co-production pact.

Antony added safe havens for militants in Pakistan is another “main concern” for New Delhi and told Islamabad to “disband and destroy” all guerrilla outfits if it “sincerely” wants to improve relations with India.

The killing by US commandos of Osama bin Laden who was hiding out near the Pakistani capital Islamabad has “internationally stamped the nation’s position as the core of terrorist activities in the South Asian region,” he said.

India has long accused Pakistan of providing shelter and support to militant groups planning attacks on

Indian soil and has pushed the global community-the United States in particular-to censure Pakistan.

Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan have fought three wars since attaining independence in 1947, two of them over the disputed territory of Kashmir.

Antony declined to comment on remarks by senior Indian military leaders that India has the capability to launch a strike like the one the US carried out in Pakistan to kill bin Laden.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said India would not undertake such a strike.

But a leaked diplomatic cable pub-

lished earlier in the week quoted India’s home minister as saying in 2009 that India would have to respond to another attack on its soil

by Pakistan-based militants.

Discussing the prospect of another raid after the Mumbai 2008 assault which killed 166 people, home minister P. Chidambaram said, “The people of India will expect us to respond,” according to the WikiLeaks whistleblowing website.

Antony added that India may sign a contract to buy 126 fighter jets for its air force by the end of March 2012.

“This fiscal (year) ends on March 31,

2012. The deal can happen before that,” Antony said.

Last month, India shortlisted France’s Dassault Aviation SA and European consortium Eurofighter GmbH for the contract. The deal, estimated at $10 billion, is considered the biggest of its kind globally in the past 15 years.

India has allocated 1.64 trillion rupees ($3.6 trillion) for the defence sector in the fiscal year through March 2012, up from 1.47 trillion last year. The budget is nearly double the 890 billion rupees in the 2006-07 year. —AFP

Suicide bomber kills 6 at Kabul military hospital ‘Dead and wounded were civilians, university students’ KABUL: A Taleban suicide bomber targeting NATO medical trainers infiltrated Kabul’s main military hospital yesterday and blew himself up in a tent full of Afghan medical students eating lunch, killing six and wounding 23. No foreign medical doctors or nurses were among the dead or wounded, Afghan and NATO officials said. The blast, which thundered across the capital, came as the Taleban have stepped up attacks as part of a spring offensive against NATO, Afghan government installations and officials.

Insurgents also have promised revenge attacks after the US killing of Osama bin Laden.

Taleban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was targeting foreign trainers and Afghan doctors who work with

stepped up patrols throughout the capital for fear of more attacks.

Azimi said all the dead and wounded were civilians and university students.

He added that “tents are used because there is not enough

about possible infiltration of Afghan security forces. The facilit y is in one of K abul ’s most secure neighborhoods and close to NATO headquarters, the US Embassy and other diplomatic facilities. Security checks are stringent and all visitors are

KABUL: Afghan National Army soldiers arrive at Kabul’s main military hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, yesterday. The Afghan Defense Ministry says a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a tent filled with medical students eating lunch at a military hospital in Kabul yesterday, killing at least six people and wounding 23. —AP them. He claimed two bombers took part, but Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammed Zaher Azimi spokesman said only one attacker was involved and only one blast was heard at the Mohammad Daud Khan military hospital.

The hospital is the largest in Kabul with 400 beds, and its grounds contain numerous buildings and small parks.

Afghan army and police

space in the hospital. This area is used by university students for training and eating meals.”

There have been many reports in recent weeks that insurgents were planning suicide attacks and other acts of violence inside the capital. Such attacks have been relatively rare and usually number a couple a month. The ability of the attacker to get inside the heavily guarded hospital raised fresh concerns

searched. Mujahid said that was par t of the Taleban strategy against the government. “The mujaheddin are able to infiltrate into the ranks of the enemy and using opportunities are able to attack,” he said.

It was unclear if the bomber was in fac t a member of the staff, but there have been a number of incidents where Afghan securit y forces have turned on their trainers and

killed them. On April 27, a veteran Afghan military pilot said to be distressed over his personal finances opened fire at Kabul airport, killing eight US troops and an American civilian contractor.

I n the most embarrassing infiltration of a government facilit y, a Ta leban militant opened fire inside the Afghan Defense Ministry on April 18, killing two Afghan soldiers. At the time, the Taleban said one of their agents who was also an army officer planned the attack to coincide with a visit of the French defense minister, who was not in the ministry at the time.

NATO has been expecting the Taleban to stage a series of spectacular and complex attacks, and the group has already carried out a number of them around the country. Afghanistan’s war usually follows an annual cycle, with fighting increasing in the spring and summer as insurgents pour over the mountainous border from Pakistan. The ferocity of the Taleban’s spring offensive will help determine whether the surge of more than 30,000 additional US troops that President Barack Obama announced in December 2009 succeeded in arresting the insurgency. It could also affect the size of Obama’s planned drawdown of US troops in July. Gen. David Petraeus, the top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, has said the size of the withdrawal will depend on conditions on the ground. The alliance has committed itself to handing over control of security in the countr y to Afghans by 2014. -—AP

Diplomatic cables show joint US-Pakistan intelligence missions ISL AMABAD: US special forces were embedded with Pakistani troops on intelligence-gathering missions by the summer of 2009, confidential American diplomatic cables showed, a revelation that could hurt the Pakistani military’s public image.

The disclosure comes a day after another set of cables showed that Pakistan’s powerful army chief not only tacitly agreed to the covert US drone campaign against militants, but asked for “continuous Predator coverage” of the tribal areas by these aircraft. The army denied the contents.

The local Dawn newspaper, which said it obtained the secret dispatches from WikiLeaks, said they reveal that US special forces were deployed with Pakistani troops in joint operations in Pak istan by September of 2009.

“Through these embeds, we are assisting the Pakistanis collect and coordinate existing intelligence assets, the cables quoted then American ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson as saying.

Pakistan’s powerful military faced rare criticism after a secret US special forces raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden not far from the capital Islamabad this month.

The infuriated army said the assault, which has severely strained ties between the t wo countries, was a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty. But Pakistanis lashed out at the country’s generals because they did not know about the raid.

Several cables showed the United States

was eager to embed American troops with Pakistani soldiers, Dawn reported.

Patterson wrote in November of 2009 of the possibilit y that “operations in the nor thern FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) may provide additional opportunities to embed US Special Operations Forces ... “.

FATA is seen as a global hub for militants, including al Qaeda and Afghan militant factions who cross the border and attack USled NATO forces and Afghan troops.

By September 2009, plans for the joint intelligence activities had been expanded to include army headquarters, according to the cables.

“Pakistan has begun to accept intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance suppor t from the US militar y for COIN (counterinsurgency) operations,” Patterson wrote.

“In addition . intelligence fusion centers” had been established “at the headquarters of Frontier Corps and the 11th Corps and we expect at additional sites, including GHQ and the 12th Corps in Balochistan.”

Pak istani militar y officials were not immediately available for comment on the cables.

The presence of US trainers in Pakistan has been publicly acknowledged, but such joint operations have not.

Anti-American sentiment runs high in Pakistan, partly because of the drone strikes on militants, which are seen as a violation of sovereignty and have killed civilians.

According to cables published by Dawn on Friday, Pakistan’s chief of army staff General Ashfaq K ayani asked Admiral William J. Fallon, then commander of US Central Command, for increased surveillance and round-the-clock Predator coverage over Nor th and S outh Waziristan, strongholds for Taleban militants.

The Pakistan Army denied the contents of those cables.

Pakistanis are frustrated by their government’s inability to subdue al Qaeda-linked homegrown Taleban militants, who seem to stage suicide bombings at will despite a series of military offensives on their strongholds.

Pakistan has come under further US pressure to crack down harder on militancy since it was discovered bin Laden was living in a garrison town not far from intelligence headquarters.

Cooperation between Islamabad and Washington is needed to stabilise neighbouring Afghanistan.

“Previously, the Pakistani military leadership adamantly opposed letting us embed our special operations personnel with their military forces. The recent approval by GHQ . appears to represent a sea change in Pakistani thinking, said a 2009 US cable carried by Dawn.

“These deployments are highly politically sensitive . Should [they] receive any coverage in the Pak istani or US media, the Pakistani military will likely stop making requests for such assistance.” — Reuters

LANDI KOTAL: A local resident walks past wreckage of a NATO supplies oil tanker following a bomb attack by militants in Landi Kotal town in the northwestern tribal region of Khyber yesterday. A bomb attack yesterday on a NATO fuel tanker headed to Afghanistan sparked a huge fire that killed 15 people who had been scrambling to collect petrol leaking out from the bombed-out vehicle. —AFP

15 dead in NATO tanker fire in Pakistan: Officials PESHAWAR: At least 15 people were killed in an oil tanker blaze after a bomb exploded on the Afghanistan-bound NATO vehicle near a Pakistani border town yesterday, officials said.

The victims had gathered to collect oil leaking from the tanker near Landi Kotal town in the northwestern tribal region of Khyber, local administration official Shafeerullah Wazir said.

“The oil tanker caught fire after a blast caused by a small bomb before dawn,” he said. “Villagers from nearby houses rushed and started collecting oil coming out of the destroyed tanker after the fire had been extinguished,” he said.

“Suddenly the fire erupted again and at least 15 people including five young boys who had been collecting oil in their buckets were burnt to death,” he said.

Earlier, 11 other NATO supply vehicles, “most of them oil tankers” were destroyed in nearby Torkham town, another administration official, Iqbal Khattak, said.

“The vehicles caught fire after a blast in one of the tankers around midnight last night,” he said, adding that the blast was apparently caused by a remote-controlled device planted under one of the vehicles.

“There were no casualties,” Khattak told AFP. Wazir confirmed the overnight attack, saying that a total of 12 NATO vehicles had been destroyed in the two incidents.

No group has claimed responsibility but the Taleban have claimed such attacks in the past. The attacks on NATO supply vehicles came after the Taleban bombed a US consulate convoy in Peshawar on Friday, killing one person and wounding 11 others in the first attack

on Americans in Pakistan since Osama bin Laden’s death.

A US embassy spokesman said two US government employees were lightly wounded in the rush-hour attack in the volatile northwestern city, which runs into the tribal belt that Washington has branded a global headquarters of Al-Qaeda.

The Pakistani Taliban swiftly claimed responsibility, threatening further attacks against Western targets in telephone calls to AFP and indicating that the blast was to avenge the May 2 killing of bin Laden by US Navy SEALs. “Our first enemy is Pakistan, then the United States and after that, other NATO countries,” said spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan on Friday. The United States leads a NATO force of around 130,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan that is trying to put down a 10-year Taleban insurgency.

Pakistani logistical and military support is considered vital to the war effort.

Most supplies and equipment required by foreign troops in Afghanistan are shipped through Pakistan.

Taleban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants frequently launch attacks across northwestern Pakistan and the lawless tribal belt on the Afghan border.

Under US pressure to crack down on Islamist havens on the border, Pakistan has in the past two years stepped up military operations against largely homegrown militants in the tribal regions.

Washington says wiping out the militant threat in Pakistan’s semi-autonomous tribal belt is vital to winning the war against the Taleban in Afghanistan and defeating Al-Qaeda. —AFP

KARACHI: Pakistani policemen escort suspected Taliban militants to a press conference in Karachi yesterday. The city police arrested a would-be suicide bomber and two of his handlers belonging to Tehrik-e-Taleban Pakistan (TTP) who were allegedly planning a suicide attack in the city. —AFP

Gang blinds Indian woman RAIPUR: Eleven people stormed into a house in a central Indian village and assaulted a woman whom they accused of witchcraft, blinding her and her husband by stabbing them in the eyes with scissors, police said yesterday.

The incident took place on Friday in the Raipur district of Chhattisgarh state.

Police later arrested 10 suspects.

A family in Khaira village had been having money troubles and health

problems, which they blamed on a 45year- old woman, according to S.S. Baghel, a local police officer. “ The accused blamed the alleged witchcraft power of the lady for their problems and raided her house on Friday morning,” Baghel told Reuters by phone. “First they beat her up and then a few of them held her hands and legs and then inserted scissors into both her eyes.” —Reuters

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OPINION

washington watch

Disconnected and dysfunctional

THE LEADING INDEPENDENT DAILY IN THE ARABIAN GULF

By Dr James J Zogby

ESTABLISHED 1961

Founder and Publisher

eactions to President Obama’s speech on developments in the Arab World were a striking reminder of just how deep and troubling the disconnect in the US-Israel-Arab relationship, and how dysfunctional politics in the US have become. Given the historical setting: dramatic changes taking place across the Arab World; the killing of bin Laden; the floundering Arab-Israeli peace process coming up against the September deadline the President once suggested for the establishment of a Palestinian State; and the Republican Congressional leadership’s invitation to Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress - the White House calculated that this was the appropriate time for the President to deliver a speech that framed a comprehensive vision of his Administration’s Middle East policy.

It was an impressive effort, but the questions that gnawed at me as I sat in the State Department’s Benjamin Franklin room listening to the President were “who was the intended audience” and “how would this speech be received by the many audiences who would hear it”? If directed at an American audience, it was a useful speech. The President’s analysis of the Arab Spring was thoughtful and challenging, as was his resolve to “reset” relations with the broader Middle East in the wake of profound changes occurring in that region. By embracing and reframing a “democracy agenda” and focusing on the need for economic development and empowerment, Obama shoved aside the neoconservative clap-trap and Islamophobic nonsense that has seized much of the right and infected some of the left.

R

YOUSUF S. AL-ALYAN Editor-in-Chief

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issues

Obama struggles to be heard in Arab ferment

By Alistair Lyon n an Arab world engulfed in political tumult and, in many cases, economic distress, US President Barack Obama’s words can seem lofty, but limp. “By the time we found (Osama) bin Laden, Al-Qaeda’s agenda had come to be seen by the vast majority of the region as a dead end, and the people of the Middle East and North Africa had taken their future into their own hands,” Obama declared. Many Arabs might feel a US agenda that for decades took little account of their own aspirations was also a cul de sac. The United States, as Obama acknowledged in his speech on the Middle East and North Africa, did not initiate the popular unrest sweeping the region, and its response has wavered.

The fall of entrenched leaders in Egypt and Tunisia this year, and challenges to others in Syria, Yemen, Libya and Bahrain, have upset a status quo in which perceived US national interests often outweighed declared democratic ideals. Obama delivered a ringing pro-democracy speech in Cairo two years ago, but then lost credibility with many Arabs by continuing to back their autocratic rulers, while pursuing longstanding US efforts to protect Israel, thwart Iran’s nuclear drive, combat terrorism and secure oil supplies.

Now he wants to get ahead of the curve - but perhaps not too far, Thursday’s carefully calibrated address suggests. The United States, he promised, would uphold its familiar policies, “with the firm belief that America’s interests are not hostile to people’s hopes”, but would also change tack by speaking to “the broader aspirations of ordinary people”. Such words should be music to the ears of many Arabs desperate to get rid of rulers who have denied them freedom and dignity, while enriching themselves and their cronies.

Yet past experience of US policy in the Middle East, along with Obama’s difficulties in wrenching it into new directions, has nurtured scepticism that things will change now. “Obama says US core interests align with Arab hopes. Well, why didn’t they align for five decades?” tweeted Shadi Hamid, director of the Brookings Doha Center in Qatar. The turmoil of the “Arab spring”, which threatens to unseat America’s friends and foes alike, has exposed inconsistencies not just in the policies of the United States and its European allies, but also those of Iran and any number of Arab countries.

Obama, while berating Iran’s intolerance of dissent at home, sought to stifle charges of hypocrisy by acknowledging that US allies such as Yemen and Bahrain had also repressed protesters. He called on Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, once viewed as an important ally against Al-Qaeda, to transfer power, but urged the rulers of Bahrain, home to the US Fifth Fleet, only to free jailed opposition leaders and hold a dialogue. And he skipped any mention of oil giant Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarchy which outlaws all public dissent and which sent troops to help crush the pro-democracy movement in Bahrain.

On Syria, Obama suggested that President Bashar AlAssad, who has used tanks, gunfire and mass arrests to smash opponents of his 11-year rule, could yet lead a “transition to democracy”. This looks implausible.

Obama may further harden his line on Assad after imposing sanctions on him and his aides this week. His hesitancy to demand the Syrian leader’s exit may reflect the worries of US allies nearby about chaos if Assad goes.

Jon Alterman, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said Syria’s neighbours - which include Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Turkey - wanted to see “evolution rather than revolution” there, unlike in Libya, scene of a NATO military intervention. “The neighbours of Libya would very much like to see Muammar Gaddafi gone,” he said.

Arabs, always quick to pounce on double standards, at least the Western variety, will also question Obama’s stated sympathy for Arabs who seek freedom, recalling decades of US acquiescence in Israel’s grip on Palestinians under occupation. Obama’s failure to make Israel comply with his earlier demand for a halt to West Bank settlement building perhaps inflicted the worst damage to his credibility in Arab eyes. Few believe Obama has the power to broker peace, even if he has now stated openly the principle underpinning years of US diplomacy -that an Israeli-Palestinian deal must be based on the borders prior to the 1967 war, with agreed land swaps. —Reuters

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All articles appearing on these pages are the personal opinion of the writers. Kuwait Times takes no responsibility for views expressed therein. Kuwait Times invites readers to voice their opinions. Please send submissions via email to: opinion@kuwaittimes.net or via snail mail to PO Box 1301 Safat, Kuwait.

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

Our current “slash and burn” Congress may not be inclined to act in support of the President’s initiatives, dooming them before they get off the ground, but it was important for Obama to challenge them to “put their money where their mouths are”. Politicians may pay lip service to democracy, but when it comes to supporting the capacity building and job creation necessary to advance societies in transition, they turn their backs.

It was also a humble speech in which the President, at times implicitly and at other times, explicitly acknowledged the limits faced by US diplomacy in the region. He noted that the US did not make the Arab Spring, nor can the US direct its course. All we can do is help emerging democracies with resources and support. As direct as the President was in addressing this democracy agenda, he was more oblique in his handling of the issue that drew the most postspeech attention - the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

It was a valiant effort in which he tried to both lay down markers for Netanyahu while not creating a major confrontation with the pro-Israel lobby that is meeting in Washington this week (and before which both he and the Israeli PM are scheduled to speak).

Obama carefully parsed his words giving something to both sides. For example, he accepted the Palestinian argument that borders and territorial issues should come first, recognizing the ‘67 borders as the starting point, but then adding the need for “mutually agreed upon landswaps” in deference to Israel’s concern. He rejected the Palestinians’ efforts to seek a United Nations’ endorsement of their state, but added that the future Palestinian State should have borders with Israel, Jordan and Egypt and be “con-

tiguous” - a slap at Netanyahu’s efforts to severe Gaza from Palestine and maintain Israeli control in the Jordan Valley.

He had, of course, much more to say, but most of it had been said before and should not have surprised or shocked anyone. But it did. The mainstream press made much ado about the President’s speech, with front page headlines and commentaries galore either heralding or denouncing the President’s referencing of the “pre-67 borders”. They did this despite the fact that President George W Bush had spoken of the 1949 Armistice lines as the starting point for negotiations - those lines being exactly what is meant by the pre-67 borders.

For their part, hardline pro-Israel groups became hysterical denouncing the President for ambushing Netanyahu, embracing a Hamas agenda, and condemning Israel to live within “Auschwitz” borders”! The 2012 Republican aspirants chimed in accusing Obama of being “irresponsible”, “throwing Israel under the bus”, and “betraying” or “disrespecting” our “only ally”.

Meanwhile, in the Arab World, the speech fell flat. Not interested in nuance or the careful parsing of terms, the speech the Arabs heard was too tired and too careful, in no significant way advancing the discussion beyond the Cairo speech of 2009. Arabs wanted the President to do something. What they hoped for, two years after Cairo, were firm markers, a timetable for implementation and concrete steps the US would take to end the now 44 year long occupation of Palestinian lands.

And herein lies the problem. What the Administration saw as a necessary, though risky, step at home, ended up outraging hardline Israelis, becoming partisan fodder at home, and

being seen as “too little, too late” by many Arabs.

And this is only the beginning of what will no doubt be a most troubling week for U.S Middle East diplomacy. After their Friday White House meeting, Obama and Netanyahu each delivered remarks to the press. The President acknowledged differences between the two sides, which the Israeli Prime Minister then elaborated upon issuing his “No’s”: “No” to ‘67 borders because “they don’t take into account ...demographic changes that have taken place over the past 44 years” (A remarkably antiseptic way of describing Israel’s illegal settlement expansion!); “No” to Palestinian reconciliation; and “No” to the Palestinian “right to return”.

All eyes will now be on Obama as he speaks before the AIPAC (the major pro-Israel lobby) meeting on Sunday to see whether he backs away from or fine tunes the positions he outlined in his State Department address. While AIPAC’s leaders have cautioned their members not to boo the President, it will not be a receptive audience - unless he walks back from his earlier positions, in which case the AIPAC crowd might cheer while an already disenchanted Arab audience will become enraged.

Then comes Netanyahu’s turn. He will speak before AIPAC on Monday and Congress on Tuesday - both audiences ready for whatever “red meat” he will throw their way. There is a disconnect, to be sure, and a dysfunctional situation as well.

All of this reminds me of Jesse Jackson’s description of a complicated political bind in which anything you say “excites one side, but incites the other side”.

NOTE: Dr James J Zogby is the President of the Arab American Institute.

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Case shows dangers faced by hotel maids NEW YORK: Hotel housekeepers say they often feel a twinge of fear when they slide the keycard, turn the door handle and step into a room to clean it.

What will they find? For Argelia Rico, it was a naked man who touched himself as he ogled her. For Kimberly Phillips, it was a pair of dogs that tore into her leg. This week the former head of the powerful International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, was charged with chasing a housekeeper around his $3,000 a night penthouse suite and forcing her to perform oral sex on him at the Sofitel New York Hotel.

But labor groups and hotel housekeepers have reported at least 10 other attacks in the U.S. in recent years, from the Washington, DC suburb of Gaithersburg, Maryland, to remote Grand Island, Nebraska. Labor groups say many more are hushed up because the victims are illegal immigrants or because hotels are wary of scaring off guests. Many hotels laid off security staff during the recession, leaving workers even more vulnerable, they said.

“It’s dangerous work,” said Yazmin Vazquez, who works at a hotel in downtown Chicago. “These customers think they can use us for anything they want because we don’t have the power that they have or the money that they have.” Anthony Roman, a consultant based on New York’s Long Island who spent 30 years working security for hotels, said he saw dozens of incidents involving female room attendants, from drunken propositions to rape. “They’re not an infrequent occurrence,” he said. Roman said that while hotels try to make sure that housekeepers aren’t alone for their whole shift, “if you have a sexual predator by nature, all bets are off”.

At the luxury hotel in Toronto where Andria Babbington worked for 17 years, housekeepers especially hated doing “turn-down” service, which involves preparing beds for the night.

Some men would put money on the pillow, ask for sexual favors and tell the women they could take the money when they left, Babbington said.

Others took a more circuitous route to the same end: they would inquire

about a housekeeper’s home country and how many family members they were supporting. Then came some sympathetic-sounding questions about much the hotel paid them - followed by an offer of money for sex.

One guest bugged Babbington for days about having a threesome with his wife. She hid her nametag whenever she cleaned his room. If a housekeeper reacted angrily, the guest would find some reason to raise a stink, she said. “When they complained the management would send a fruit basket up to their room and offer them a discount on their next stay,” Babbington said. “It became the norm, and we couldn’t do anything about it.” Now a union organizer, the 45-year-old Babbington said she now hears similar stories from workers at other hotels.

Rico, a 38-year-old housekeeper at a hotel in Irvine, California, said she was cleaning a bathroom in 2009 when a guest entered and asked her to change his sheets. She did, then went to get her cleaning supplies out of the bathroom. When she came out he was lying naked on the bed, watching her and touching himself, she said. “When I told my supervisors, they didn’t do anything,” Rico said. “From then on I had to ask a co-worker from the floor upstairs to accompany me so I could clean his room, because that really scared me.”

Phillips was cleaning rooms at a Hampton Inn in Lebanon, Kentucky, last year when she opened the door of Room 118 to find two dogs. The animals attacked her left leg, biting through to the bone, until a hotel guest fought them off with Phillips’ broom. The dogs belonged to a contractor who was staying at the hotel while doing work there.

The 40-year-old Phillips now uses a cane and walks with a limp. She has nerve damage in her leg and suffers from panic attacks. “It’s completely changed my whole life,” she said. “Even to sit outside, I can’t do that: I’m afraid a dog is going to approach me.” The Hampton Inn’s manager, Becky Edlin, said the hotel had tightened its security measures after the attack but declined to elaborate.

Many hotels have adopted policies aimed at protecting housekeepers, such as barring them from cleaning rooms while they are occupied. One standard practice is to prop the open door with a supply cart. Vazquez, 40, says she started wearing extra clothes under her uniform as an added layer of protection after a VIP guest barged into a bathroom she was cleaning and pulled out his privates in August. She also wears a jacket that comes down to her thighs.

“Anything to hide your figure,” she said.

Some hotels will send only male employees to a room late at night if their computers show a guest is watching porn, said Carl Boger, dean of academics at the University of Houston’s college of hotel management. They can also monitor who opens a door and when by looking at the electronic lock system, he said. In the New York case, those records should help investigators determine the timeline of the alleged attack and if the housekeeper had propped the door open, he said.

The open-door policy is a security procedure that’s been in place at the Sofitel before Strauss-Kahn was charged in the alleged May 14 attack.

Sofitel officials say they’re not aware of any other incident of a sexual attack on a maid at any of their worldwide hotels. The 32-year-old maid, an immigrant from the West African nation of Guinea who worked for the Sofitel for three years, told police that a naked Strauss-Kahn accosted her after she came into the room, attacking her in the bedroom and bathroom before she got away.

Strauss-Kahn was indicted on multiple charges including attempted rape and sexual abuse; he posted $1 million cash bail and a $5 million insurance bond and is under house arrest in Manhattan. Labor groups worry that the recession has created more danger by forcing hotels to cut back on both security guards and housekeepers.

“You’re on a floor by yourself, with those long hallways and nobody around, cleaning 30 rooms a day alone,” said Tho Do, a vice president of UNITE HERE, a union representing hotel workers. “You don’t have a lot of protection.” — AP

Faithful pray for imprisoned imam Continued from Page 1 The Pakistani Taleban, which is engaged in a violent resistance against the Pakistani and US governments, operates a network of religious schools in the country. It also has links to Al-Qaeda and the Taleban in Afghanistan. One of Khan’s sons, 24-year-old Izhar Khan, also appeared in court for the first time since their indictment was unsealed. He is an imam at another Florida mosque. The six defendants are all Pakistanis, although some have US citizenship.

The indictment unveiled last week names the older Khan, two sons (Irfan and Izhar Khan), daughter Amina Khan, grandson Alam Zeb and another individual, Ali Rehman. The arrests and charges against the Pakistanis come amid heightened tensions between Washington and Islamabad following a US commando raid that killed Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden at his hideout deep in Pakistan.

Mohammed Doseri, born in Miami to Saudi parents, said he was shocked by the news of the imam’s arrest but

agreed he should be punished if guilty. “I don’t think he is a bad person and I hope he will be freed,” said Doseri. “If he is guilty, he will have to pay for what he did. The Taleban are terrorists, they brainwash people.” A substitute preacher who conducted Friday prayers said the charges were false. “Today we pray for our sheikh and for all those who, having not committed any crime, are in jail,” he told the faithful, urging them to help raise $10,000 for their imprisoned leader’s legal defense. “We pray for his prompt release.”

A Jordanian vendor who sells socks and women’s perfume from a stall outside the mosque and only gave his first name Mahmud, compared Khan’s situation to that of US civil rights leaders in the 1960s. “Some time ago, in the United States, black people were discriminated against,” he said. “Now the Muslims are. People are afraid when they come here, everybody feels persecuted.” He insisted the Holy Quran was not just for the Muslims, but for all people. “If you could read the Quran in your language and understand it, you would cry for what you would feel,” added Mahmud. — AFP

More killed as Syrians bury slain protesters Continued from Page 1 protests in various regions,” he said. Among the 44 killed on Friday were a 12-year-old boy and four others between the ages of 15 and 18, according to Qurabi.

One victims was identified as a soldier.

The official news agency SANA for its part put the death toll at 17 - among them police and security troops - and blamed the violence on “armed groups”.

Quoting an interior ministry official, SANA said these groups had taken advantage of specific instructions by authorities not to open fire on public gatherings. “These armed groups opened fire on several gatherings ... and on the police,” SANA said. “They also vandalised public and private property.” Foreign media are not allowed to travel in the country to report on the unrest, making it difficult to verify information.

Fridays, the Muslim day of rest, have become a rallying point in the nine-week revolt that has left at least 850 people dead and thousands more arrested, according to rights groups. Rami Abdel Rahman of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told AFP that apart from those killed in Friday’s protests, several people have been reported missing amid a wave of arrests in the flashpoint region of Daraa.

The protests have posed the greatest challenge to Assad’s 11-year regime, dominated by members of his minority Alawite community, an offshoot of Shiism. The majority of Syria’s 23-million population are Sunni Muslims. About 250 people fleeing the unrest crossed into Turkey last month, while at least 5,000 more have sought refuge in neighbouring Lebanon. Turkey said yesterday it has admitted another 11 Syrian refugees, including seven wounded. — AFP

LEIPZIG: An unidentified model of body painter Johannes Stoetter of Italy smiles during the Body-painting Trophy competition at the BEAUTY FORUM and trade fair in eastern Germany yesterday. Stoetter placed second with this creation. BEAUTY FORUM 2011 is widely considered the most important cosmetic trade fair in Germany. — AP

‘Rapture’ fails to enrapture Continued from Page 1 give the impression that someone had indeed been beamed up, or releasing inflatable dolls into the sky.

Others joked about a whole lot of paperwork facing authorities as pranksters threatened to file thousands of missing person reports, just for fun. Internet users also discussed their favorite “rapture music playlists” for when the time arrives, and the perfect pick-up lines for that final romance before the end, such as: “I promise it won’t be awkward in the morning.”

Suicide prevention hotlines meanwhile had been set up, according to the Washington Post, amid fears despondent Family Radio followers would be depressed if the apocalypse fails to materialize. In the United States, where Camping’s evangelising group is based, some people have quit their jobs and hit the road to urge others to repent before it’s too late. Gregory LeCorps stopped working weeks ago to take his wife and five young children on the road and warn others that the end really was nigh, according to New York state’s The Journal News.

“We’re in the final days,” LeCorps, who hoped to be on a beach in

South Carolina by Judgment Day, was quoted as saying.

In Australia, another early target of Camping’s doomsday predictions, Christians greeted news of the end of the world with scepticism and humor before the fateful hour passed without incident. “It’s not being taken seriously at all,” theologian Ian Packer from the Australian Evangelical Alliance told AFP, saying the May 21 deadline was being greeted with “openly humorous talk”.

“Aside from hearing about Harold Camping in the media, we would not have known about his existence,” he added.

In Vietnam, thousands of ethnic Hmong converged on northwestern Dien Bien province a few weeks ago after hearing broadcasts on Camping’s global religious broadcasting network that Jesus was coming on May 21. Hundreds are believed to be hiding in forests after security forces dispersed those who were awaiting the supposed return of Jesus Christ, a resident said. In Ciudad Juarez, one of the cities worst affected by Mexico’s drug wars, huge billboards proclaimed that “Christ is coming back on May 21”. Authorities say the apocalyptic message has not provoked panic or hoarding, but resi-

dent Rosy Alderete said she was “worried by the coincidence” that big earthquakes have rocked Japan and New Zealand this year.

Britain’s Guardian newspaper described the looming Rapture as “the fundamentalist Christian equivalent of the last helicopter out of Saigon,” referring to the US pull-out after the Vietnam war in 1975. The fact that Camping’s predictions have been wrong before has left even high-profile people willing to make fun of him. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg - who is Jewish and therefore, according to Camping’s prophecy, unlikely to be beamed up to sit in heaven - said on his weekly radio show that he would suspend alternate side parking if the world ends on Saturday. The muchreviled parking rule requires New Yorkers to move their cars from one side of the street to the other to allow street cleaning to take place.

And some are cashing in on money-making opportunities. The Craigslist website ran tens of thousands of ads from non-believers offering to buy the worldly goods of those who think they’re going to heaven, while a group of US atheists has sold hundreds of contracts to rescue people’s pets. — AFP

Palestinians set on UN bid Continued from Page 1 are an illusion, that Jerusalem will be the capital of Israel, undivided, and he does not want a single (Palestinian) refugee to go back,” Erekat said. “What is left to negotiate about?” Erekat said it was too soon to say whether the Palestinians would continue with their quest for UN recognition in September.

A bid to become a UN member requires approval not just from the General Assembly, where the Palestinians might win the needed majority, but also from the UN Security Council, where the US might veto such a step.

However, Shaath said after the Netanyahu-Obama meeting that “we will escalate our diplomatic efforts to get the recognition of the Palestinian state”. Shaath noted that Obama didn’t threaten a veto. “We still hope that he will not do so, and that he will not stand in our way to freedom and independence, which he called for for all the Arab nations,” Shaath said.

Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the PLO Executive Committee, said she believes Abbas will be under public pressure to proceed with the bid for UN recognition, especially after Netanyahu’s latest comments. The committee is one of the groups Abbas is to consult with. “I personally predict public opinion is bent on going to

the UN,” Ashrawi said. “Netanyahu managed to undermine every single attempt at launching serious negotiations.” Abbas has refused in the past to negotiate with Netanyahu unless the Israeli leader freezes settlement construction in the territories occupied in 1967.

Netanyahu has declined to do so, at most slowing construction in some areas for 10 months last year.

Obama, meanwhile, demanded answers from Abbas about his reconciliation deal with Hamas, which has not softened its hardline stance as part of the reconciliation.

Shaath said reconciliation is an internal Palestinian issue and that the efforts by Hamas and Abbas’ Fatah movement to form a joint transition government would continue. “We will form a technocrat government which we said will not include either Fatah or Hamas, and will have specific duties, which are preparing for elections and rebuilding Gaza,” Shaath said. Abbas has argued that he, not Hamas, would represent Palestinians in negotiations.

Also yesterday, the Israeli military said troops fired on a Gaza man who crawled suspiciously toward the territory’s fence with Israel. The military said it was not clear if the man was killed. Gaza officials said they were waiting for Israeli clearance to approach the border area to search for a body. — AP

Iran breaks US ‘spy ring’ Yemen opposition inks power transition deal Continued from Page 1 They have threatened to step up their campaign by marching on government buildings, a move that brought new bloodshed last week as security forces fired to stop them.

Strikes have brought commerce to a halt in many cities. Yesterday, 35 protesters were wounded as security forces confronted protesters at a university in the Red Sea port city of Hudaida, witnesses said. Dozens were suffering from the effects of teargas.

Saleh, who appeared willing to finally agree to hand over power despite months of resistance, nevertheless warned Yemen’s allies that AlQaeda could take over in a political and security vacuum after he steps down. “If the system falls ... Al-Qaeda will capture Maarib, Hadramout, Shabwa, Abyan and Al-Jouf (and) it

will control the situation,” Saleh said, listing provinces where Al-Qaeda’s Yemen-based wing has been active.

“This is the message that I send to our friends and brothers in the United States and the European Union ... The successor will be worse that what we have currently,” he said.

Saleh is a clever operator who has survived many tussles with rivals in the fractious Arabian Peninsula state, and has skilfully used patronage and favours to keep tribal and political backers loyal. He called on Friday for early presidential elections, which he said was aimed at preventing bloodshed as protests raged on. Saleh has seen a wave of desertions, including from within Yemen’s military and political elite, since protests began.

“We welcome the Gulf initiative and we say that we will work with it in a positive way for the sake of our

homeland (although) in reality it is a mere coup operation...” Saleh said.

The mass protests in Yemen since January were part of “an agenda of the major powers to export their problems and impose their tutelage on the poor because of their own economic and political problems,” he charged. He spoke at a military parade organised at a Sanaa police station for the 21st anniversary of Yemen’s north-south unification, which is to be celebrated today.

Saleh charged that funding for the anti-regime protests had come from the oil-rich Arab states of the Gulf, in a rare criticism of Yemen’s neighbours. “Money flows in from abroad, including through some official channels,” and also from the Muslim Brotherhood, “especially in GCC countries”, according to the president. — Agencies

Continued from Page 1 The statement said that the CIA officers handling the network operated out of “US embassies and consulates in a number of nations namely, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Malaysia”. In the course of the operation, “not only has the heavy offensive by the Central Intelligence Agency been neutralised but 42 CIA officers in different nations have been accurately identified by our intelligence,” the statement added.

Washington has had no diplomatic presence in Iran since the 1979 revolution which deposed the US-backed shah and was followed by the lengthy occupation of the US embassy. Diplomatic cables published by the WikiLeaks website showed the United States operated information-gathering desks on

Iran in neighbouring countries where diplomats would seek to glean intelligence from travelling Iranians.

Iran has claimed several times in the past to have dismantled spy networks working for the United States or Israel. In January, the intelligence ministry said it had arrested “spies and terrorists” linked to Israel’s Mossad overseas intelligence agency whom it accused of being behind the killing last year of Iranian nuclear scientist Masoud Ali Mohammadi. Iran has also accused the United States and Israel of carrying out cyber-attacks against its infrastructure, including its nuclear facilities. It was hit by a computer worm dubbed Stuxnet last year which was reportedly designed to target its nuclear program and then mutated and infected at least 30,000 pieces of computerised

industrial equipment in the following months.

In December, Iran implicitly admitted its uranium enrichment plant in the central city of Natanz, which is regularly inspected by the UN nuclear watchdog, had been a victim of the worm. Last month, civil defence chief Gholam Reza Jalali revealed that Iran had been hit by a new virus dubbed Stars although he did not say what kind of equipment it was targeting. Computer security firm Symantec said in November that Stuxnet might have been designed to disrupt the motors that power gas centrifuges used to enrich uranium the most controversial aspect of Iran’s nuclear program. Western governments suspect that Iran is seeking to develop an atomic weapons capability under cover of its civil nuclear program, an ambition it strongly denies. — Agencies

SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2011

sp orts Hopkins-Pascal rematch TREAL: American Bernard Hopkins will attempt to become the oldest boxer to win a world title when he faces WBC and IBO light-heavyweight champion Jean Pascal in a rematch in Montreal late yesterday.

The 46-year-old Hopkins is 192 days older than current record holder George Foreman was when he knocked out Michael Moorer in 1994 to reclaim the heavyweight crown. “For me, personally, it’s a great achievement to be still doing what I do at a high level and to be able to do it and make history at the same time,” Hopkins said this week on a conference call. “This is a game where if you get 10 years out of this sport, you’re considered lucky.” Hopkins, 51-5-2 (32 KOs), made his professional debut in 1988 and his 23-year career includes a record 20 successful defenses over 10 years of the middleweight title he won in 1995 and a victory over Antonio Tarver in 2006 to annex the IBO light-heavyweight crown. —Reuters

Hull axe Australia’s Mason LONDON: Australia international Willie Mason has been released by Hull Kingston Rovers just months into a three-year contract, the Super League side announced yesterday.

The controversial Mason, who made just six appearances for Rovers, has been in dispute with the club since it emerged he travelled to France to meet officials at big spending French rugby union club Toulon last month.

A brief statement on Hull K R’s website said yesterday: “Willie Mason has left Hull Kingston Rovers with immediate effect. “The club will be making no further comment at this time.” Toulon have become known as one of European rugby union’s biggestspending clubs and currently have the

likes of England great Jonny Wilkinson and controversial Wales international Gavin Henson in their squad. They have been reported to have offered Mason, a 31-year-old forward, the chance to potentially quadruple his wages to £395,000 per year. Mason travelled to France after making just five appearances for Hull KR and Rovers recently stopped Mason’s pay, citing a breach of contract by discussing a potential move.

He arrived at Craven Park in March and was named man-of-the-match in Rovers’ 40-22 win against Crusaders but failed to maintain that standard.

Should Mason move to Toulon, Rovers will hope to receive compensation from the Top 14 side. —AFP

‘Macho Man’ dies in car wreck ATLANTA: Randy “Macho Man” Savage, the professional wrestler known for his raspy voice, the sunglasses and bandanas he wore in the ring and the young woman named Miss Elizabeth who often accompanied him, died in a car crash Friday in Florida. He was 58.

A Florida Highway Patrol crash report said the former wrestler — whose legal name was Randy Mario Poffo — was driving a Jeep Wrangler when he lost control in Pinellas County around 9:25 a.m.

The Jeep veered over the raised concrete median divider, crossed over the eastbound lanes and crashed head-on into a tree.

Police said he may have suffered a “medical event” before the accident, but the report did not elaborate, and it said officials would need to perform an autopsy to know for sure.

The report said a woman in the vehicle, identified as Barbara L. Poffo, 56, suffered minor injuries. A statement from Stamford, Connecticut-based World Wrestling Entertainment said the passenger was the wrestler’s current wife. —AP

Carrera lifts Indians over Reds

SAN FRANCISCO: Giants’ Aubrey Huff hits a game-ending single off Oakland Athletics relief pitcher Brian Fuentes during the 10th inning of their baseball game. —AP

Sharks down Canucks SAN JOSE: The San Jose Sharks hung on for a desperately needed win, beating the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 on Friday to reduce the deficit in their NHL Western Conference finals series to 2-1.

Patrick Marleau scored twice in the first period, while Antti Niemi made 27 saves, and the Sharks capitalized on 10 power-play chances.

“We realize how important tonight was,” captain Joe Thornton said. “We realize what’s at stake. The guys showed up and the fans were into it. They gave us an extra boost.”

Ryane Clowe and Dan Boyle also scored and Joe Thornton had three assists for the Sharks, who won a conference final game on home ice for the first time in franchise history. San Jose looked like a completely different team than the one that was outscored 10-5 in losing the first two games of the series in Vancouver.

The Sharks scored three times in the first period and had 15 of the first 16 shots on goal to snap an eight-game losing streak in the conference final, including a sweep last year to Chicago.

“The last two have not been anywhere near par for our group,” coach Todd McLellan said. “So it was nice to see us return to the way we can play.” Game 4 is today in San Jose.

Vancouver nearly rallied from a three-goal deficit, thanks to a fiveminute boarding call that led to powerplay goals from Dan Hamhuis and Kevin Bieksa to cut San Jose’s lead to 4-3 with 3:56 remaining. Alexandre Burrows had also scored in the period.

But the Canucks couldn’t get the equalizer as they were hurt by a late penalty by Bieksa _ his third of the game. That gave the Sharks their 10th power play, something that upset Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault. “We were pretty disciplined,” Vigneault said.

“So if I were to comment on what I think of the penalties, I’d get a pretty big fine. So I’m going to save my money.”

Vigneault has bigger concerns with the

status of two of his defensemen in doubt. Both Rome and Christian Ehrhoff could miss Game 4 because of injuries after taking hits from McGinn.

McGinn also could be suspended after getting his second game misconduct of the playoffs. Urged on by their boisterous fans, the Sharks responded from the two losses in Vancouver with a dominant first period led by a dangerous power-play unit and strong play from Thornton’s line against the Sedin twins.

After being done in by committing too many penalties in Game 2, the Sharks took advantage of a couple of early calls against the Canucks to seize control early. With Maxim Lapierre in the penalty box for roughing, Thornton threaded a perfect pass from behind the net to Marleau, who poked the puck through Roberto Luongo’s pads less than 4 minutes in to score in his fourth straight game.

Then with Ehrhoff serving a doubleminor for high-sticking, Clowe knocked a rebound of Boyle’s point shot past Luongo to make it 2-0 before the midpoint of the period.

Vancouver managed to kill off the second minor but fell even further behind when Marleau blocked Alexander Edler’s point shot and then took a feed from Thornton to go in alone to make it 3-0.

Marleau has five goals in four games after failing to post a point in the first six games against Detroit. The turnaround came shortly after former teammate Jeremy Roenick called him “gutless” on national television.

“Things are just starting to go in,” Marleau said. “I’m playing with some pretty good players. Just getting into some good areas. The puck is starting to go in.” The Sharks maintained the threegoal lead even when the Canucks applied some late pressure, with Niemi making two tough stops against Jannik Hansen in the closing minute of the first period. —AP

SAN JOSE: Vancouver Canucks left wing Tanner Glass (15) and San Jose Sharks goalie Antti Niemi (31) look for the loose puck during the second period of Game 3 of the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs Western Conference final hockey series. —AP

CLEVELAND: Rookie Ezequiel Carrera laid a bunt with the first pitch he faced in the majors, bringing home Shin-Soo Choo in the eighth inning and lifting the Cleveland Indians to a 5-4 win over the Cincinnati Reds in Friday’s clash of Ohio rivals in Major League Baseball’s interleague play.

With two outs in the eighth, Carrera — called up from the minors earlier in the day when Travis Hafner went on the disabled list — dropped his first pitch down the first-base line, scoring Choo, who had tripled off Bill Bray (1-1).

Indians reliever Vinnie Pestano (1-0) got two outs in the eighth for his first career win. Chris Perez worked the ninth for his 11th save in 12 tries. The Indians’ last six wins at home have come in their final at-bat.

Phillies 3, Rangers 2 In Philadelphia, Ben Francisco and Raul Ibanez homered to lead Philadelphia over Texas.

Francisco hit a two-run shot in the second inning and Ibanez hit a solo homer in the fourth.

Phillies starter Roy Halladay (6-3) threw eight strong innings, striking out seven and walking one. CJ Wilson (4-3) had an otherwise strong outing for Texas, striking out 10 in seven innings.

Marlins 5, Rays 3 In Miami, Logan Morrison hit a game-tying homer in the fourth inning and doubled in the eighth to help Florida beat state rival Tampa Bay. Morrison scored Florida’s final run from third on a sacrifice fly to the first baseman.

The Marlins fell behind 2-0 but rallied for their 14th come-from-behind win, which tied them with Colorado for the most in the majors.

Mike Stanton hit his 10th homer for Florida.

Chris Coghlan, who had been in a 3-for-33 slump, had two hits and scored a run.

Mike Dunn (4-2) picked up the win, and Leo Nunez needed only seven pitches in a perfect ninth for his 16th save, most in the majors. Joel Peralta (1-3) took the loss.

Royals 3, Cardinals 0 In Kansas City, Jeff Francis outdueled Chris Carpenter to lead Kansas City to victory over St. Louis. Francis (1-5), who had pitched well several times while failing to get his first win since signing with the Royals, struck out six over 7 2-3 innings to improve his career record against the Cardinals to 5-1.

For most of the game, Francis and Carpenter (1-4) were locked in a scoreless duel. But that changed in the seventh, when the Royals scored all three of their runs.

Angels 9, Braves 0 In Anaheim, Ervin Santana pitched his sixth career shutout as Los Angeles routed Atlanta. In the first interleague game of the season for both teams, Santana (2-4) went the distance for the 10th time in 180 career starts. He struck out seven, and walked none. Mark Trumbo hit a threerun homer and Alberto Callaspo had three RBIs. Atlanta starter Tim Hudson (4-4) — a former nemesis for the Giants when he was with Oakland _ gave up six runs in the third inning and was out before the end of the fourth.

Giants 2, Athletics 1 In San Francisco, Aubrey Huff hit a gameending single in the bottom of the 10th inning lifting San Francisco over cross-bay rival Oakland.

Emmanuel Burriss led off the inning with a single and Andres Torres’ sacrifice bunt moved him to second. After an intentional walk, Huff hit a line drive off Brian Fuentes (1-5) for the winner and San Francisco’s third straight victory. The A’s have lost three straight. Javier Lopez (2-0) pitched a perfect 10th for the win.

Mets 2, Yankees 1 In New York, RA Dickey (2-5) regained command of his knuckleball and confounded the Yankees for six innings, guiding the Mets to victor y in New York’s Subway Series. Daniel Murphy homered, while Justin Turner had three hits, including a tying double off Freddy Garcia (2-4) to give him an RBI in six straight games.

Jose Reyes made a run-saving play at shortstop and Francisco Rodriguez converted his 15th save in a row for the resurgent Mets. The Yankees have lost six straight at home for the first time since 2003.

Brewers 7, Rockies 6 In Milwaukee, Prince Fielder hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the 14th inning, rallying travel-weary Milwaukee past Colorado.

After Ryan Braun was walked by Felipe Paulino (0-4) with one out, Fielder drove a pitch deep to right field for the winner after Milwaukee had previously erased deficits of 2-1, 4-2, 5-4 and finally 6-5.

The Rockies had looked like taking the road win when Dexter Fowler’s bloop single was enough to put the visitors ahead in the top of the 14th.

Red Sox 15, Cubs 5 In Boston, the hosts put on an emphatic performance in their first game the Chicago Cubs have played at Fenway Park since the 1918 World Series.

Adrian Gonzalez had four of Boston’s 19 hits, adding four RBIs. Kevin Youkilis had two doubles and a two-run homer, Jacoby Ellsbury had three hits and Jarrod Saltalamacchia also homered for Boston, which won its seventh consecutive game. The Red Sox passed the Yankees for the

MIAMI: Tampa Bay Rays relief pitcher JP Howell delivers to the Florida Malrins during the sixth inning of a baseball game. —AP first time this season, and now trail the AL Eastleading Tampa Bay Rays by just half a game.

Jon Lester (6-1) won his sixth straight decision despite giving up a career-worst 12 hits.

Chicago starter Doug Davis (0-2) gave up seven runs in 3 2-3 innings.

Pirates 10, Tigers 1 In Pittsburgh, Neil Walker homered and drove in a career-high five runs to lead Pittsburgh past Detroit. Walker’s two-run double in the sixth helped break open a tight game. Walker later added a three-run homer in the ninth as the Pirates won their third straight, matching their longest winning streak of the season. Pittsburgh starter Jeff Karstens (3-2) retired the first 14 he faced and gave up just one run in six innings, without issuing a walk.

Brad Penny (4-4) took the loss after suffering a rare bout with wildness. He surrendered five runs in 5 2-3 innings, including a season-worst five walks, as the Tigers lost their fourth in a row.

Dodgers 6, White Sox 4 In Chicago, Russell Mitchell tied the game with a two-out homer in the ninth inning, and Juan Castro had the go-ahead single in a threerun 10th as Los Angeles rallied to beat Chicago Jamey Carroll started the 10th with a single off Sergio Santos (2-1) for his fourth hit, and Matt Kemp singled one out later.

Castro, a seventh-inning replacement, then dumped an RBI single over first base. James Loney followed with an RBI double, and Jay Gibbons added a run-scoring single. Kenley Jansen (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings for the win.

Nationals 17, Orioles 5 In Baltimore, Washington recorded its highest score since the franchise moved to the national capital in 2005, crushing near neighbor

Baltimore.

Danny Espinosa homered and drove in five runs and Jayson Werth hit two homers and had four RBIs. Roger Bernadina, Wilson Ramos and Laynce Nix also homered for the Nationals, who recorded a season-high 19 hits after being shut out in consecutive games. The six homers also set a Nationals record.

Henry Rodriguez (1-0) worked three scoreless innings for the victory. Orioles starter Jake Arrieta (5-2) took the loss after giving up six runs in 3 2-3 innings.

Mariners 4, Padres 1 In San Diego, Erik Bedard struck out nine batters to guide Seattle to victory over punchless San Diego. Bedard (2-4) issued only three singles, while Miguel Olivo homered for the Mariners. The Padres only avoided their ninth shutout due to a dropped catch. San Diego ace Mat Latos (1-6) continued to struggle, losing for the 11th time in 13 starts.

Astros 5, Blue Jays 2 In Toronto, Chris Johnson hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the eighth inning to lift Houston over Toronto. The Astros, owners of the worst record in baseball, looked set to lose their sixth straight when they trailed 2-0 after seven, while Toronto pitcher Jo-Jo Reyes also looked poised to end a 26-start winless streak. But his misery was extended when Hunter Pence tied it with a two-run, two-out double in the eighth.

Reyes’ last victory came in 2008. He’s 0-12 with a 6.41 ERA since. Matt Keough holds the major league record, making 28 consecutive winless starts for Oakland across 1978 and 1979.

Wilton Lopez (1-1) struck out all three batters he faced to get the win. Frank Francisco (1-1) took the loss. —AP

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

Washington 17, Baltimore 5; NY Mets 2, NY Yankees 1; Cleveland 5, Cincinnati 4; Philadelphia 3, Texas 2; Pittsburgh 10, Detroit 1; Houston 5, Toronto 2; Boston 15, Chicago Cubs 5; Florida 5, Tampa Bay 3; Milwaukee 7, Colorado 6 (14 Innings); LA Dodgers 6, Chicago White Sox 4 (10 Innings); Kansas City 3, St. Louis 0; Arizona 8, Minnesota 7; Seattle 4, San Diego 1; LA Angels 9, Atlanta 0;San Francisco 2, Oakland 1 (10 innings).

American League Eastern Division W L PCT Tampa Bay 25 20 .556 Boston 24 20 .545 NY Yankees 23 20 .535 Toronto 22 22 .500 Baltimore 19 24 .442 Central Division Cleveland 27 15 .643 Kansas City 22 22 .500 Detroit 22 22 .500 Chicago White Sox20 26 .435 Minnesota 15 28 .349 Western Division Texas 23 22 .511 LA Angels 23 23 .500 Oakland 22 23 .489 Seattle 20 24 .455

GB .5 1 2.5 5 6 6 9 12.5 .5 1 2.5

National League Eastern Division Philadelphia 27 17 .614 Florida 25 18 .581 Atlanta 25 22 .532 NY Mets 22 22 .500 Washington 21 23 .477 Central Division St. Louis 26 20 .565 Cincinnati 25 20 .556 Milwaukee 22 23 .489 Pittsburgh 21 23 .477 Chicago Cubs 19 24 .442 Houston 16 29 .356 Western Division San Francisco 25 19 .568 Colorado 23 20 .535 Arizona 21 23 .477 LA Dodgers 21 25 .457 San Diego 19 26 .422

1.5 3.5 5 6 .5 3.5 4 5.5 9.5 1.5 4 5 6.5

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Kilimanjaro Bowl brings gridiron to Africa TORONTO: As NFL owners and players squabble, two college teams paying their own way have gone to Tanzania to spread the gridiron gospel for what organisers say is the first American football game played in Africa.

Half a world away from an NFL lockout, Drake University and a Mexican All-Star squad will play the Kilimanjaro Bowl under the shadow of the mighty mountain immortalised by an Ernest Hemingway short story, providing a little goodwill for a game tarnished by what many fans see as greedy bickering.

“I went to the NFL for help with this and just never got anywhere,” Patrick Steenberge, a former Notre Dame quarterback and head of Global Football, who organised the event, told Reuters. “I think that was just partly because they are totally focused on how they are going to play this fall.

“My sales pitch was, why don’t you do something positive. You’ve got millionaires fighting over billions and I’m just trying to do a little thing in Africa.”

When the Drake University Bulldogs take to the

field at Sheik Amri Abeid Memorial Stadium in Arusha on Saturday, the sight of young men in pads and helmets is sure to be a foreign one for most in the expected capacity crowd of 20,000 who will pay a top price of $2 for a ticket.

While efforts to expand the NFL’s global brand do not yet include Africa, Drake’s presence there serves as a reminder that, at its heart, sport is about the game and not money.

The players from both teams paid $4,000 each to be part of an experience that includes charity and volunteer work along with conducting football clinics, where 1,000 footballs will be distributed to children, planting the seeds for a generation of fans that the NFL might one day harvest.

“I go to Tanzania and I give a kid a football and he doesn’t have a clue what to do with it,” laughed Steenberge, who backed up Super Bowl winning quarterback Joe Theismann at Notre Dame. “They put it on the ground and kick it and wonder why it doesn’t roll ... but they seem to have a wonderful ability to catch the ball.”

Following the game, the players will tackle

climbing Kilimanjaro in an ultimate team-building exercise to help prepare Drake for the upcoming US college season.

Coming from Des Moines, Iowa where the highest elevation is Hawkeye Point at 1,670-feet (509m), scaling Africa’s highest peak at 19,341-ft is sure to be a challenge for the Bulldogs.

But aside from the valuable life lessons and thrill of climbing Kilimanjaro, Drake coach Chris Creighton explained that the trip to Africa was still all about a game.

“There are going to be all kinds of good things happening from the trip,” Creighton told Reuters.

“One, as a coach I hope we are bound together in a special, intense way that wouldn’t ordinarily happen but it is not the sole purpose of the trip. “To go do what we are going to do, I hope, will be a life changing experience.

“But if I had said ‘hey guys we are going to go to Africa to do some charity projects and climb a mountain,’ I wouldn’t have had 65 guys without the game.”

Finding an opponent for Drake was one of the

biggest hurdles to setting up the game with no other US-based colleges expressing interest.

As a result, Steenberge turned to his contacts in Mexico and convinced them to field an all-star team made up of eight private Mexican universities. Steenberge rejects any suggestion that he is a football missionary, but for 14 years his company Global Football has been arranging games between US colleges and high schools against local competition around the world.

Counting late yesterday’s contest, he will have organised games in 19 countries, including trips to North and Central America, Europe, Asia and Oceania.

“My goal in this whole thing is taking amateur student athletes and give them a chance to travel and experience other cultures using football as a means to do it,” said Steenberge. “Normally what I do is take an American team and we will play a local team in Germany, Austria, Italy wherever.

“I really don’t have the resources to be a missionary, that’s up to the NFL and different federations.” — Reuters

Toms surges clear at Colonial

LOS ANGELES: Cam Newton attends the NFL Players Premiere League Flag Football Game at UCLA. — AFP

Players’ unions want NFL lockout lifted MINNEAPOLIS: The unions for hockey, baseball and basketball are siding with the players in the NFL lockout court battle, saying the league’s lockout should be lifted.

The players associations for MLB, the NHL and the NBA filed a brief Friday with the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals, saying the case presents “vitally important issues” for the unions and their members.

The players’ associations say professional athletes’ careers are short, and the loss of even part of a season causes personal and professional injures that can’t be compensated.

That reiterates the NFL players’ argument that the lockout is causing them irreparable harm — the players can’t work out, or sign contracts with any of the 32 clubs while the lockout persists. A federal judge in Minnesota agreed and lifted the lockout April 25, but the league appealed.

The appeals court reversed US District Judge Susan Richard Nelson’s decision just four days later.

And on Monday, the appellate court ruled the lockout can stay in place until a full appeal is heard on whether it is legal. Attorneys for the players were expected to file briefs later Friday, in advance of an appeals court hearing June 3 in St. Louis.

In keeping the lockout, the appellate court said it believes the NFL has proven it “likely will suffer some degree of irreparable harm without a stay.” In their brief Friday, the players’ associations said “there is no off-season in professional sports — only the portion of the work year during which no games are played.” The unions said that part of the year brings opportunities — such as the option to change cities, teams or the trajectory of one’s career.

Also Friday, a nonprofit group that has been fighting sport work stoppages filed a brief saying the lockout should be lifted. The Sports Fans Coalition, which says it gives fans a voice on public policy issues and fights for fan access to games, said the lockout is not in the best interest of fans, who pay billions of dollars to see their teams perform.

The NFL players also have a federal antitrust lawsuit against the league pending before Nelson. The main issues in the antitrust case need to be resolved, but the legality of the lockout is the fight for now.

The NFL has argued in its appeal that lifting the labor lockout without a new contract in place would allow better-off teams to sign the best players, tipping the NFL’s competitive balance and damaging the league.

The league says the union’s

move to decertify after the initial bargaining talks broke down is a sham; that Nelson does not have the jurisdiction to lift the lockout; and, that she should have waited for a decision from the National Labor Relations Board before issuing that ruling.

The league also said that lifting the lockout with no labor deal in place would cause chaos, with teams trying to make decisions on signing free agents and making trades under a set of rules that could change drastically under a new agreement.

“It would be difficult, if not impossible, to unscramble the eggs and return those players to clubs that otherwise may have had contract arrangements with (or, at least, a greater ability to enter into contracts with) such players in the absence of an injunction,” the league has said in court filings.

The group of players suing the league, including star quarterbacks Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees, have said the lockout is inflicting irreparable harm on their brief playing careers by preventing them from working out at team headquarters, holding full practices with teammates and coaches and jeopardizing games.

The longer the fight over how to divvy up $9 billion in annual revenue drags on, the closer the league and players get to missing games. The first preseason game is Aug. 7, with the regular season opener between the Saints and Packers set for Sept. 8 in Green Bay, Wis. When it comes to the overall antitrust lawsuit, attorneys for the players filed documents in US District Court on Friday, opposing a league request for more time to respond to the claim. The league has argued it shouldn’t have to respond to the lawsuit until the appeal over the lockout is resolved.

But the players say the lawsuit will go forward whether or not the lockout is lifted and that the NFL’s request for an extension is “yet another deliberate step in their campaign to crush the players by extending the lockout for as long as they can.”

Also this week, the NFL owners and players finished their latest round of court-ordered mediation behind closed doors, without any signs of a new agreement. Officials and attorneys for both sides said they will return for more closeddoor talks with US Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan on June 7.

The two sides met for 16 days before talks fell apart March 11.

Boylan presided over four days of mediation last month and two more days this week. —AP

DALLAS: American veteran David Toms made the most of ideal scoring conditions after a lengthy weather delay to burst seven shots ahead of the field in record-equalling style at the Colonial Invitational on Friday.

Co-leader overnight with compatriot Chez Reavie, the red-hot Toms birdied four of the last eight holes for a second successive eight-under-par 62 at Colonial Country Club.

The 44-year-old, who was beaten in a playoff for the Players Championship last week, matched the PGA Tour record for the lowest 36-hole start with a 16-under total of 124.

Fellow American Pat Perez set the same mark after the first two rounds of the 2009 Bob Hope Classic. Australians Steve Bowditch (64) and John Senden (66) were tied for second at nine under with South Korean Charlie Wi (67) and American Mark Wilson (66).

Toms, however, spreadeagled the field with another bogey-free display at Colonial where he reached 17 of 18 greens in regulation and needed only 27 putts.

He birdied the first, fourth, seventh and ninth to stretch his lead to three but, after hitting his tee shot at the 11th, had to wait two-and-a-half hours to resume when play was suspended due to the threat of lightning.

“I guess it was a chance to lose some momentum,” Toms, a 12-times PGA Tour

FORT WORTH: Steven Bowditch of Australia blasts the ball out of the sand bunker on the 16th hole during the second round of play at the Colonial golf tournament. — AP champion, told reporters. “But I came out and the conditions were perfect for scoring.

“My mindset was to just keep making birdies, try to separate myself a little bit. I just went out and played great the last eight holes or so, some of the best golf I have played in a long time.”

Toms, whose most recent PGA Tour victory came at the 2006 Sony Open, said conditions following the weather delay were typical of late afternoon

golf after a rain shower.

“I’ve done it a hundreds of times at home in Louisiana and that’s what it felt like,” he said. “It was hot, humid, greens were receptive, fairways were receptive. It was all about hitting a shot.

“I had multiple times where I could hit a perfect eight-iron or perfect nine.

When it’s still, without the wind being a factor, you’d like to have those yardages where you can just attack and

that’s what I had the last eight holes or so.”

Toms has often held sizeable leads in PGA Tour events and he felt the recipe for success was simply to maintain a blinkered approach and keep moving forward.

“The secret is to somehow block it out and get past the people (fans) that are saying stuff to you from tee to green or green to tee,” he said. “I’ve just got to go out and play well.

“I got to keep going. That’s the real mindset, to keep going when I have the opportunity to do that. And back off and play smart when maybe I should.”

Former US Open champion Jim Furyk carded a 69 to lie a distant 12 strokes off the pace, level with Australian Adam Scott who returned a 70.

Scott is bidding to become the first player to complete a career sweep of victories in the four PGA Tour events held in Texas, having already won the Houston Open (2007), Byron Nelson Championship (2008) and Texas Open (2010).

American Zach Johnson, who won last year’s Colonial title by three shots, was a further stroke back after a 69. The cut fell at one-under 139 with former major winners Trevor Immelman, Angel Cabrera, Vijay Singh, David Duval, Ben Curtis and John Daly among those failing to advance. — Reuters

US perform strongly at LPGA Match Play

Nasser Al-Miqlid

ASC release shooters rankings By: Abdellatif Sharaa KUWAIT: The Asian Shooting Confederation (ASC) released its shooters rankings in clay target, pistol and rifle shooting following the results of the 16th Asian Games that took place in China last year. Kuwait shooters made outstanding results during these Games and topped the rankings of the Asian shooters in Skeet, trap, and double trap.

The current ranking places Kuwait’s Abdallah Al-Rasheedi first in the skeet event with 762 points, Qatar’s Hamad Masoud second with 504 points, UAE’s Saif bin Futais third with 394, Kazakhistan’s Vladsliv Mihmidov fourth with 392, China’s Chia Tang fifth with 386, Qatar’s Nasser Al-Ateyah sixth with 370. Meanwhile Kuwait’s Zaid Al-Mutairi placed seventh slipping from first place, Contrar y to Abdallah Al-Rasheedi who topped the list after being in 11th place.

Rankings in trap placed Kuwait’s Nasser Al-Miqlid first with 793 points and Khalid Al-Mudhaf second with 658, India’s Sandai Manvijet third with 470, Lebanon’s Joe Salem fourth with 372 and Abdo Al-Yaziji fifth with 218 while in sixth place was Kuwait’s Abdelrahman Al-Faihan with 216 points.

In the double trap Kuwait’s Fuhaid Al-Daihani placed sixth following the shooters from India, China, and Qatar.

Secretar y General of Kuwait

Shooting Sport Club (KSSC) Obeid Munahi Al-Osaimi said the new rankings confirm that Kuwait shooters are always looking for top places and those rankings are a strong evidence that the shooting organization is adopting a sound method and the upcoming period will see more advancements when Kuwait shooters reach the 2012 London Olympics.

Abdallah Al-Rasheedi

GLADSTONE: Cristie Kerr, Paula Creamer, Michelle Wie and three other Americans advanced to the final 16 of the LPGA’s Match Play Championship in a strong showing by the home players on Friday.

Angela Stanford, Stacy Lewis and Brittany Lang were the others Americans to advance at Hamilton Farm on Friday, and they will face a difficult task in a field where favorites are leading the way.

The prominent American performance came after a practice round early this week for the top 16 US players in preparation for the Solheim Cup. “It’s awesome,” said Wie, who came from two holes down with five to play to beat Anna Nordqvist of Sweden in 20 holes. “We had our ‘sweet 16’ practice session and we all played matches against each other, so it’s pretty interesting.”

Top-seeded Na Yeon Choi of South Korea, world No. 1 Yani Tseng of Taiwan, No. 3 Suzann Pettersen of Norway and No. 6 seed Ai Miyazato of Japan also won as seven of the top 10 seeds earned spots in Saturday’s round of 16.

Creamer will play Lang in the only all-American match. Kerr will face Kyeong Bae of South Korea, Wie will play Sophie Gustafson of Sweden, Lewis is paired with Pettersen, and Stanford will play Meena Lee, who knocked off No. 2 Jiyai Shin in the first round.

Kerr was the most impressive player Friday in a round that was played mostly in heavy rain and ended in brilliant sunshine.

The No. 3 seed won the third through eighth holes against Belen Mozo of Spain en route to a 7-and-6 rout, her second straight dominant performance.

“You never know what’s going to happen so you just try and keep your foot on the gas,” Kerr said. “I never heard anybody apologize for winning by a big margin. They’re happy about it.” While there were other one-sided matches, the afternoon had some great drama, particularly Creamer’s match with Hall of Famer Karrie Webb, and Wie’s 20-hole win over Nordqvist, a past US Women’s Open champion.

Creamer posted a 1-up victory, making a downhill, 5-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th to put away the Australian she calls “Webbie.” “Those

are the moments where I told myself on the green, this is why you play the game, for moments like this,” Creamer said after beating the No. 8 player in the world but the No. 23 seed in this event.

“Having that five footer, you have to make it to win, and that was kind of fun having that feeling again.” The winning putt by the US Women’s Open champion came seconds after Webb just missed a downhill 10-footer. The length could have been shorter, but Webb’s short wedge never moved after hitting above the hole.

The former world No. 1 also hurt herself by missing short birdie putts at No. 13 and 17 with the match all square. Wie, the No. 9 seed, tied the match against Nordqvist with consecutive birdies at Nos. 13 and 14. She had a chance to win the match at 18th but her downhill 5-foot birdie putt never touched the hole. “I thought that putt went in for sure,” said Wie, who will face Sophie Gustafson, another Swede on Saturday. “I would have been nice to not have gone the extra two holes, but it was a good experience.” —AP

GLADSTONE: Michelle Wie chips on the 20th hole during a second round match against Anna Nordqvist, of Sweden, in the LPGA Sybase Match Play Championship. — AP

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Sharapova, Clijsters among French Open favorites PARIS: Maria Sharapova and Kim Clijsters will start the French Open as favorites while world number one Caroline Wozniacki will be desperate to translate her undoubted talents into a Grand Slam title run.

The 24-year-old Sharapova last won a major at the 2008 Australian Open after which she was wracked by a succession of injuries that left her wondering if her career would come to an abrupt end.

But she has stuck with it and has been gradually climbing back up the rankings with her first claycourt title win in Rome last week lifting her up to seventh, her best placing since she stood at sixth in November 2008.

The Russian, however, believes that Clijsters, the reigning US and Australian Open champion, is the woman to beat despite the Belgian not having played in Paris since 2006.

“You can never count her out. She’s a great champion, has won the last couple of Grand Slams and is number two in the world. She’s certainly the one to beat here.”

Clay has never been a major problem for Clijsters, who was brought up playing on the surface and who has twice reached the final in Paris.

But her participation in Paris was in doubt when she damaged her right ankle while dancing at a friend’s wedding. “I was dancing barefoot, not in high heels, and I landed on another girl’s foot and twisted my ankle,” said the 27-year-old.

“I limped off the floor and then someone else stood on my small toe. I was having a good time until then.” Despite the injury, the Belgian insists that her fitness and movement should not be affected when the French Open starts today.

“I still have the heavy strapping on the ankle,” she said. “I will keep it on until after Wimbledon and then see if I am able to play without it.”

The women’s event could be one of the most open in years with both Williams sisters out injured and four-times winner Justine Henin now definitively retired.

Last year’s surprise winner Francesca

Schiavone of Italy and the woman she beat in the final, Samantha Stosur of Australia, will be amongst the contenders again.

Stosur, too, sees Clijsters as a major threat.

“I think even though she has been out for a little while, you can’t discount anything that she might be able to do,” said the Australian.

“Obviously she was able to win the US Open without too much preparation, so you have to think of her as a threat. She’s a great player and a great champion. People like that don’t play the tournament unless they’re feeling ready.”

Also worth a look will be power ful Belarussian Victoria Azarenka who is up to a career-best fourth in the world after tournament wins at Miami and Marbella.

Wozniacki, meanwhile, will once again be assailed with questions over how she can accept being the number one ranked player in the world despite having never won a Grand Slam title.

The 20-year-old Dane has consolidated her top ranking this year with tournament

Maria Sharapova

wins at Dubai, Indian Wells and Charleston but she has still to prove she has the big game to win a Grand Slam title.

Latest indications are that Wozniacki might be considering taking on as coach the legendary Martina Navratilova in a bid to harness her mastery of attacking skills to go with her own defensive prowess.

That partnership could work well according to tennis analyst Mary Carillo, a former US Tour player and a mixed doubles champion in Paris in 1977 with John McEnroe.

“Caroline’s a lover of the long point, and she doesn’t have to be,” she said. “There are many times when you’re thinking, ‘Just pull the trigger, already.’

“She’s heard from any number of people that she needs to add aggression to her game — maybe it would take somebody like Martina to have it kick in.”

It will be an emotional tournament for French fans with Virginie Razzano opting to play on despite the death on Monday of her fiance and former coach Stephane Vidal after a long battle with a brain tumor. —AFP

Wozniacki bags Brussels Open

CONRAD: Kyle Busch (18) spins as Shane Sieg (93) drives past during the NASCAR truck series North Carolina Education Lottery 200 auto race. —AP

Kyle Busch on pole for NASCAR All-Star race CONCORD: A nearly flawless qualifying performance on Friday put Kyle Busch in a good position of collecting the $1 million payday at NASCAR’s All-Star race for the first time.

Busch, who was fastest in practice earlier in the day, completed the unique three-lap qualifying that included a mandatory four-tire pit stop in 1 minute, 59.19 seconds to earn the pole for Saturday’s race.

Busch has won 96 races in NASCAR’s top three divisions, but has had little success in the non-points All-Star event at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He’s failed to finish in four of his five starts with one top-10 finish. “You either bring back the steering wheel or the check,” Busch said.

“Unfortunately, I’ve been very successful in bringing back the steering wheel.”

But the No. 18 Toyota was the fastest all day Friday. Add a friendly qualifying draw in which he went last as the track cooled and Busch knocked Clint Bowyer (1:59.67) to the outside of the front row for the 100-lap shootout.

“That Kyle Busch is a pain in everybody’s butt, isn’t he?” Bowyer said, smiling. “He’s pretty good.” Greg Biffle qualified third, followed by Carl Edwards and Mark Martin. “That’s a fun, fun qualifying effort,” Bowyer said. “It’s nerve-racking on everybody’s part.”

After being the fastest on the track, Busch had to lock his brakes to get under the speed limit entering pit road. His crew then changed four tires without getting any time penalties for his second pole in this event. It was a bit of vindication from the crew, which was the top seed for Thursday’s Pit Crew Challenge before being knocked out in the second

round.

“It’s a huge morale booster for the team. They know they’re No. 1,” Busch said of his crew. “I know they’re No. 1.”

Tony Stewart, who was celebrating his 40th birthday, qualified sixth, followed

by Kasey Kahne, Juan Pablo Montoya, Jamie McMurray, Ryan Newman, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon.

Denny Hamlin, whose team won the pit crew competition to secure the No. 1 pit stall for the race, had a slow pit stop after he appeared to stop short in his pit box and will start 15th.

Qualifying consisted of 18 drivers who got into the All-Star field thanks to victories in the past year or by being an AllStar race winner or series champion in the past 10 years.

Those left out — and there are some big names such as Dale Earnhardt Jr., Bobby Labonte, Jeff Burton and Joey Logano — will race in the preliminary 40lap Sprint Showdown. The top two finishers will earn spots in the All-Star race, along with a third driver voted by fans.

David Ragan earned the pole for the Sprint Showdown in normal 2-lap qualifying. Ragan, who has finished outside the top 20 the past two races, called getting into the All-Star race the “No. 1 thing on our to-do list.”

“Besides the Daytona 500, which we’ve already run, this is the next most important race,” Ragan said. “It sets the tone for the Coke 600 next week.” AJ Allmendinger made it an all-Ford front row for the preliminary race. Paul Menard qualified third, followed by Brad Keselowski and Burton. Earnhardt, who is far ahead in the fan voting, qualified 13th of 27 cars. —AP

Waratahs first half blitz defeat Lions SYDNEY: The New South Wales Waratahs responded to a lambasting at a fans forum this week with a rampaging five-try first half performance on their way to a 29-12 win over South Africa’s Lions in Super rugby yesterday. Torn apart by fans critical of their lack of adventure on Thursday, the Waratahs largely eschewed the tactical kick as Berrick Barnes orchestrated some fluent back play to secure the four-try bonus point inside half an hour.

They added a fifth try before the break and, despite failing to add to their halftime tally in front of just 14,000 fans at the Sydney Football Stadium, remain comfortably in the playoff positions with four rounds remaining. “The first half was very pleasing ... in the second half, the only difference was we didn’t execute as well, but we did try to run with the ball,” Waratahs skipper Dean Mumm said in a televised interview.

“Thanks to all the fans for coming out, they certainly had their say during the week, but for the guys to

come out is good for us.”

The Lions, who upset the twice champion ACT Brumbies last week, were hammered 73-12 in Sydney last year and would have been delighted to keep the score down after the Waratahs’ blistering start.

Wallabies fullback Kurtley Beale opened the scoring after three minutes and although a Butch James grubber kick put flying fullback Jaco Taute in for a try to tie the score up five minutes later, the rest of the half was all Waratahs.

Quick hands down the backline put winger Sosene Anesi over the line in the corner for the first of his tries after 22 minutes, and a delicate chip from Barnes found Beale who looped a pass for centre Ryan Cross to grab a third try. After the Lions lost Deon van Rensburg to the sinbin, New Zealander Anesi crossed for his second before another superb Barnes k ick allowed 19-year- old replacement winger Tom Kingston to put the home side 29-5 up after 36 minutes. — Reuters

BRUSSELS: Top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki overcame a thigh injury to beat China’s Peng Shuai 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 and win the inaugural Brussels Open.

It was Wozniacki’s fourth tournament victory this year, unmatched on the WTA Tour, and a welcome boost ahead of the French Open.

Starting sluggish following a tough threeset win over Francesca Schiavone late Friday, the Dane found her touch and fighting spirit in the second set against the 31st-ranked Chinese.

The only drawback was that Wozniacki needed medical treatment on her left thigh in the third set before clinching victory.

“If there is a possibility to call it a tie, we should have called it a tie,” Wozniacki told the sellout crowd of 4,500. Despite victory, the cream-colored bandage round her left leg left a question mark over Wozniacki’s first round match at Roland Garros against a player twice her age, 40-year-old Kimiko DateKrumm of Japan. With two tense three-setters in as many days, Wozniacki played over five hours of top tennis in just over 24 hours before heading for Paris.

Wozniacki looked tentative throughout the first set and committing five double faults was only part of her problem. She found it tough to focus and get the length on her groundstrokes right as the wind rustled through the plane trees lining center court.

In contrast, Peng played with abandon, looking for the inside of the lines with her doublefisted forehand and backhand. She was constantly looking for winners while Wozniacki was mostly waiting for the Chinese to make errors. Peng, 25, was looking for her first WTA tour win but is 0-for-4 so far.

Wozniacki was coming off a 2 1/2 hour thriller late Friday against defending French

BRUSSELS: Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki kisses the trophy after winning the final of the Brussels Open tennis tournament against China’s Shuai Peng. —AP Open champion Schiavone which she won 6- world’s top-ranked player. She won the set 4, 4-6, 6-3, and often looked sluggish under on an ace.

But nothing was going to be easy. After sunny conditions and 25ºC (77ºF) on the Primerose center court. Peng already had the forcing a break early in the third set, momentum with her, coming off a convinc- Wozniacki looked in pain and asked for docing 6-3, 6-3 win against third-ranked Vera tor’s treatment.

She came back with a huge tape high up Zvonareva on Friday.

Yet in the second set, with her first title round her left thigh. Soon Peng broke back beckoning, Peng started to falter. In the third for 3-3 as Wozniacki no longer moved around game she failed to convert seven break court with ease. But it was Peng’s time to points and the momentum of the match show weakness, making the wrong decisions and putting easy balls wide. Despite her turned.

Wozniacki immediately broke, shook off medical problems, Wozniacki came through the fatigue and finally started playing like the for her 16th title. —AP

Nadal, Djokovic braced for epic Paris struggle PARIS: World number one Rafael Nadal has a record-equalling sixth French Open in his sights, but the Spaniard believes undefeated Novak Djokovic will start Roland Garros as title favorite.

Something has got to give over the next two weeks. Nadal, one triumph away from matching Bjorn Borg’s six trophies in Paris has a French Open record of 38 wins and just one loss-his sensational early 2009 exit to Robin Soderling.

Djokovic, the world number two, has won all 37 matches he has played this year and is just five away from matching John McEnroe’s 1984 record for successive wins at the start of a year. It’s a streak which has garnered seven titles, including the Australian Open and all four Masters.

“I think Djokovic is the great favorite. He hasn’t lost a match since the start of the year and he’s playing in an incredible way,” said Nadal, who has lost to the Serb in all the four Masters finals.

Crucially, the last two were on the clay of Madrid and Rome

where Nadal was defending champion. But the Spaniard is wary of over-confidence, either by him or his main rival.

“When you arrive at the tournament, every round is difficult.

Every match, every time when you go on court you can win and you can lose. So thinking about winning the tournament before the start is, for me, too arrogant.”

Djokovic can also snatch Nadal’s world number one spot if he reaches the final in two weeks’ time.

The Serb is a two-time semifinalist in Paris, but he is desperate to play down the hype of an event which could see a shift in the sport’s balance of power.

“Let us be clear-he is the king of clay, the best ever to play on this surface,” Djokovic said about Nadal after his Rome triumph.

The Serb added on Friday: “I don’t feel unbeatable; nobody is unbeatable. “I’m really not trying to think about the run that I have and I’m not trying to think about when this run will end, because that will mean that I’m thinking

about losing.” “I say Rafa is the favorite here.”

Ever since Djokovic inspired Serbia to their first Davis Cup final triumph in Belgrade in December, he has been unstoppable with his total win streak now standing at 39. But Nadal has history on his side having defeated Djokovic three times in Paris, all in straight sets. His 2008 and 2010 surges to the title were achieved without dropping a set and Nadal believes all the pressure will be on Djokovic.

“He beat me in the last four Masters but I beat him in lots of important things in the past-the semi-finals of the Olympics, the final of the US Open, two semifinals at Roland Garros,” said Nadal. “We will see what happens.

For me it doesn’t matter if people think I am more beatable than before.”

The fascination with the Nadal-Djokovic duel has left 16time Grand Slam title -winner Roger Federer in the unusual position of supporting role.

Federer, the 2009 champion,

will be 30 in August and is desperate to prove that he is still a threat at the majors. He is also driven by a desire to recapture the number one spot, where his 285 weeks on top of the rankings is just one week short of Pete Sampras’s record.

Federer’s three claycourt outings this year have ended prematurely, with a quarter-final loss to Juergen Melzer in Monte-Carlo, a semi-final exit against Nadal in Madrid followed by a third-round defeat to Richard Gasquet in Rome.

Federer has not reached a Grand Slam final since winning the Australian Open in 2010. “It’s not like I’m struggling in the first or second round. It’s a new situation with Novak not losing,” said Federer. Andy Murray, too, will be happy to be under the radar in Paris. The world number four was two points away from defeating a weary-looking Djokovic in the Rome semi-finals and is hopeful of improving on his best Paris performance, a quarter-final run in 2009. —AFP

Crusaders halt Chiefs in Super 15

All Black’s Dan Carter in action

NAPIER: All Blacks flyhalf Dan Carter kicked 20 points, missing only two of eight shots at goals, as the Canterbury Crusaders beat the Waikato Chiefs 25-19 in Super 15 rugby yesterday.

Carter showed why the New Zealand Rugby Union attached such priority to winning his signature on a new four-year contract this week, exerting a subtle influence on all aspects of the Crusaders’ game and kicking five penalties, a conversion and a dropped goal. The 29-year-old flyhalf, having only recently overcome a hamstring injury, carried the ball confidently to the defensive line, picking at its fabric and then finding runners with well-timed passes to direct the Canterbury attack.

Carter provided one such pass in the 43rd minute to lay on the first try of the match to lock Luke Romano. All of the rest of Canterbury’s points came from his boot.

Stephen Donald, who was Carter’s All Blacks understudy at times last season, kicked four penalties for the Chiefs and added a conver-

sion of Liam Messam’s last-minute try to earn the Chiefs a bonus point for a loss by seven or fewer points.

Donald and Carter exchanged penalties in a scrappy first half which left the teams locked 6-6 at halftime. Romano’s try immediately after the restart was crucial, giving the Crusaders a seven-point lead and the base to play with more authority.

Carter’s accurate tactical kicking kept the Chiefs pinned in their half for long periods of the second half and he was able to take advantage as Waikato gave him six secondhalf shots at goal, of which he landed four.

The Crusaders overcame a number of notable disadvantages yesterday to claim their ninth win from 13 matches this season and to move within two points of the Auckland Blues at the top of the New Zealand conference. They had just returned from South Africa where they lost last Saturday to the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein, had a short turnaround and were particularly hard-hit by injuries. — AP

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United to collect trophy as five fight relegation LONDON: Before collecting the Premier League trophy today, Manchester United can end Blackpool’s brief stay in the top flight. United is set to field a weakened team to keep its top players fresh for the Champions League final on Saturday against Barcelona.

But even inflicting United’s first home defeat of the campaign might not be enough to save Blackpool, which only rejoined the elite last August after having been relegated from the top division in May 1971.

Blackpool and Wigan, which goes to Stoke, are both in the drop zone on 39 points. Birmingham is only out of danger on goal difference going into its match at Tottenham.

Just a point above Blackpool, Wigan and Birmingham are Wolverhampton Wanderers and Blackburn, who face each other today, while West Ham has already been relegated.

“One of my analysts was looking at the table the other day. I said, ‘Good God. What are you doing?

You are going to go mental,”‘ Blackpool manager Ian Holloway said. “My dad was an amateur player. He would say, ‘Our name is on the cup.’ Sometimes it is.

“This weekend, we have to do something no one else has managed this season: beat the champions on their own ground.” Having wrapped up the title with a 1-1 draw at Blackburn last weekend, United is set to rest stars including Wayne Rooney.

“Obviously everybody expects me to leave players out and that will be the case. I have to think about next week,” United manager Ferguson said. “I have to juggle the balls and make sure I get the right mix and keep the right energies for Barcelona.

“There are players who need a game anyway. Darren Fletcher, Paul Scholes and Anderson will all play.

So will (Dimitar) Berbatov, (Patrice) Evra and (Edwin) van der Sar.” Van der Sar will captain the side in his last Premier League match.

The 40-year-old Dutch goalkeeper said he will retire after the Champions League final. Berbatov will get a chance to secure the Golden Boot prize, having been joined on 20 goals in midweek by Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez.

Berbatov has started just four of United’s last 16 games and scored just twice since his double in a win at Blackpool in January. “ The emergence of Javier Hernandez has made it difficult for me to put Dimitar above him,” Ferguson said. “His (Hernandez) performance levels, goals, freshness and pace are fantastic.

“Dimitar understands that. He never complains. He will play on Sunday and hopefully he will be the top goalscorer.” City, though, will be hoping Tevez scores the goals today that secure a victory at Bolton, third place and automatic qualification for the Champions League group stage.

Whether the Argentina forward

will still be with the FA Cup winners next season remains shrouded in uncertainty. But manager Roberto Mancini maintained: “Carlos said he wants to stay. Finished. This is history.” If City draws or loses at Bolton, Arsenal would return to third place with a victory at Fulham and avoid an August playoff to reach the Champions League group stage.

The Gunners have won just two of their last 10 league matches, ending their hopes of winning the title for the first time since 2004.

Arsene Wenger’s side has struggled since a shock loss to relegation-threatened Birmingham in the League Cup final in February.

“The loss of the Carling Cup had a huge impact on the team and we did not handle it well,” Wenger said.

“We have enough quality to beat anyone in the world, even with the current squad.

“You have a Champions League final and only one team has beaten both of them — Arsenal.” Another issue to be resolved today is fifth place and Europa League qualification.

Tottenham goes into its home match against Birmingham with a one point advantage over sixthplace Liverpool, which is at Aston Villa.Second-place Chelsea ends the season at Everton, bottomplace West Ham hosts Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion plays Newcastle in a clash of two teams who have survived their first seas o n b a c k i n t h e Pre m i e r League.—AFP

Celtic win Scottish Cup GLASGOW: Neil Lennon collected his first piece of silverware since becoming Celtic manager as his side romped to a 3-0 win over Motherwell in the Scottish Cup final at a rain-soaked Hampden here yesterday.

It was a record-extending 35th win in the competition for the Hoops-their first since 2007 — and ensured Celtic finished the season with a trophy after finishing runners-up in the League Cup and Scottish Premier League to Old Firm rivals Rangers.

And it meant Lennon, who has endured a torrid time off the pitch this term including death threats, parcel bombs and an attack from a fan-could celebrate as Motherwell’s 20-year wait for a Scottish Cup win continued.

South Korean international Ki Sung-Yeung gave Celtic the lead shortly after the half-hour mark with a superb shot. Gavin Gunning’s 35 yard-shot, which hit the bar, nearly provided an equaliser for Motherwell, who kept things tight until Stephen Craigan’s 76th minute own-goal.

Charlie Mulgrew’s angled free-kick sealed Celtic’s victory two minutes from full-time. Lennon, delighted by Celtic’s success, said he was still uncertain if he would be in charge at Parkhead next season.

“I will sit down with the board hopefully this week or next and discuss if I’m the man to take the club forward or not,” he said on Sky Sports Two. Lennon added: “This is the first trophy, I’m so proud of them today. “(But) I want the big one (the SPL title) on the CV, the sooner the better.” Motherwell manager Stuart McCall had no complaints about the result.

“We’re deeply disappointed,” he said. “We knew we had to be at our best today and we weren’t...You can’t take anything away from Celtic-they were the better side.”

Celtic nearly got off to the perfect start just after the minute mark when Gary Hooper stretched to turn Kris Commons’s chipped pass off the bar, but the flag was up for offside in any event.

Mulgrew’s curling cross from the left was then cut out by Shaun Hutchinson before Hooper could get on the end of it. Some hefty challenges were made on a slippy pitch with Daniel Majstorovic, Keith Lasley, Scott Brown and Ki all booked.

But just a minute after being yellow-carded, Ki was celebrating after giving Celtic the lead with a fine longrange effort.

He collected the ball 30 yards out and let fly with a low drive that flew past Darren Randolph and into the

SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2011

bottom right-hand corner of the net in the 32nd minute.

Gunning was then inches away from claiming a spectacular equaliser for Motherwell when his fierce strike from 35 yards crashed off the underside of the bar and bounced out.

Referee Calum Murray was at the centre of two controversial handball decisions just before the break.

Firstly, Majstorovic evaded a second booking for electing to control a high ball with his arm.

And then Murray bizarrely let play continue after Motherwell captain Craigan punched the ball away as he slid the ground just outside the Well box.

Randolph had to be alert to stop Hooper’s effort on the line just after the break before Chris Humphrey had Well’s first effort on target when he volleyed Gunning’s cross straight at Fraser Forster.

Commons missed a great chance to give Celtic some breathing space as he knocked a shot past Randolph after racing into the box only for Hutchinson to clear his effort inches from the line.

The Hoops though got the second goal their pressure merited in the 76th minute when Mark Wilson’s strike in the box took a wicked deflection off Craigan and trickled in despite the desperate efforts of Hutchison.

Mulgrew sealed the win in the 88th minute when Celtic won a free-kick on the edge of the box and he struck a fierce diagonal drive past Randolph. —AFP

Matches on TV (Local Timings) English Premier League Fulham v Arsenal 18:00 Abu Dhabi Sport +7 Bolton v Man City 18:00 Abu Dhabi Sport +4 Man United v Blackpool 18:00 Abu Dhabi Sport +3 Abu Dhabi Sport +5 Everton v Chelsea 18:00 Abu Dhabi Sport +8

Barca ready for Utd after Malaga victory MADRID: Champions Barcelona ended their stellar league campaign with a 3-1 win at Malaga yesterday in a timely warm-up for next week’s Champions League final against Manchester United.

With the league already wrapped up, Barcelona have their eyes firmly on the double and the Wembley final against Manchester United, and coach Pep Guardiola rested his array of Spanish World Cup stars and Ballon

on a fine season that has yielded their third successive league title and there is still the Champions League final to come.

Guardiola blooded homegrown talents in a second-string side completed

by French international Eric Abidal and Brazilians Maxwell and Adriano who returned following injury lay-offs.

Malaga had won five out of their last six league outings and Uruguayan midfielder Seba Fernandez shot them into

SPAIN: Barcelona’s Bojan Krkic reacts after scoring his team’s first goal against Malaga during their Spanish La Liga soccer match at the Rosaleda stadium. —AP D’Or winner Lionel Messi.

Malaga took a 31st-minute lead but Barcelona’s collection of youngsters and fringe players came back with a 43rd minute Bojan Krkic penalty equalising before Dutchman Ibrahim Afellay (75) and 20-year-old Marc Bartra (84) scored their first league goals for the club.

The win brought the curtain down

the lead. Barcelona’s crop of youngsters quickly responded with Bojan winning and then converting a penalty two minutes before the interval.

Bojan, 20, has made over a century of league appearances for Barcelona but still can’t find a way into the starting line-up most weeks.

Barcelona grew in confidence in the second half and Afellay drilled home on

75 minutes for his first ever Barca league goal and Bartra followed suit with his first league goal thumping in a bullet header six minutes from time.

Barcelona finish the season with 96 points, three less than last season, having won 30 out of their 38 games.

Runners-up Real Madrid host alreadyrelegated Almeria later on Saturday with Cristiano Ronaldo looking to beat the all-time La Liga goals record of 38.

Ronaldo scored his 38th league goal last weekend to equal the benchmark, set by Athletic Bilbao’s Telmo Zarra in 1951 and equalled by Real Madrid’s Mexican legend Hugo Sanchez in 1990, and now has the chance to better the mark at the Santiago Bernabeu.

At the wrong end of the table six teams battle for survival on the final day of the season. Hercules and Almeria are already relegated and as it stands, Real Zaragoza will join them, lying third from bottom and needing to win at promoted Levante late yesterday to beat the drop.

Getafe are just one point above Zaragoza and travel to Real Sociedad yesterday in a relegation nail-biter.

Promoted Sociedad need a point to avoid a swift return to the second division.

Osasuna and Real Mallorca, who are both two points above the relegation zone, are in danger along with fallen giants Deportivo La Coruna with the 2000 league champions one point above the bottom three.

Elsewhere Sevilla, Athletic Bilbao and Atletico Madrid jostle for the right to avoid a place in the Europa League qualifying rounds. The trio are locked on 55 points and have all qualified for the Europa League as one extra place is assigned to the league due to Barcelona and Madrid contesting the Kings Cup final. —AFP

Kings XI out of IPL DHARAMSALA: Deccan Chargers dashed Kings XI Punjab’s hopes of qualifying for the Indian Premier League playoffs with a thumping 82run victory yesterday.

Kings XI had to win their final league match to stay in contention for a place among the top four but collapsed during their chase when Amit Mishra claimed a hat-trick. The Indian leg-spinner dismissed Ryan McLaren (9), Mandeep Singh (7) and Ryan Harris for nought and finished with four for nine.

Kings XI finished fifth in the 10team competition with 14 points.

Defending champions Chennai Super Kings (18 points), Royal Challengers Bangalore (17), Kolkata Knight Riders (16) and Mumbai Indians (16) secured the four playoff sports with a round to spare.

Chargers were put in to bat, reaching 198-2 from 20 overs after an opening-wicket stand of 131 between Man of the Match Shikhar Dhawan (95 not out) and Ravi Teja (60). Kings XI were all out for 116 in 19 overs.

“My toss decision was wrong. I got caught up in the run rate, rain forecast and stuff. That combined with the worst fielding performance on the field didn’t help on the bad day,” Kings XI captain Adam Gilchrist said.

In New Delhi, the match between Delhi Daredevils and Pune Warriors the bottom two teams - was called off after rain stopped play with the hosts struggling at 56-3 in 10.1 overs after choosing to bat.

Kings XI had won their previous four matches to emerge as a strong contender for a spot in the play offs. “I don’t think it was pressure; it just went all wrong. I didn’t sense any tension in the group in the build-up. We can sit back and be pleased about the way we came back. But it was frustrating

DHARMSALA: Preity Zinta (right), owner of Kings XI Punjab, celebrates after hitting a four during an exhibition match between the management teams of Kings XI Punjab and Deccan Chargers in Dharmsala. —AP today,” Gilchrist added.

Left-hander Dhawan hit 14 fours and a six in his 57-ball knock to provide the visitors with a strong start as they took full advantage of a poor fielding display by Kings XI. Teja hit successive sixes off Indian leg-spinner Piyush Chawla to reach his fifty before being caught at deep mid-wicket off pacer Paul Valthaty.

Kings XI began shakily as they lost opener Paul Valthaty to South African quick Dale Steyn for five and in-form Australian Shaun Marsh to South African JP Duminy for 13. Gilchrist lifted the side with a quick-fire 51 but his dismissal — caught by Cameron White off Australian pacer Daniel Christian — triggered a collapse.

Christian dismissed Dinesh Karthik

for 13 in the same over before Mishra took his second hat trick in the competition to shut the door on Kings XI. Chargers finished seventh with 12 points. Both Daredevils and Pune Warriors completed their league program with nine points. Warriors finished ninth owing to better net run rate, condemning Daredevils to a lastplace finish.

Today, Royal Challengers Bangalore play Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders take on Mumbai Indians in the last round of league matches that will decide the final positions.

Score: Deccan Chargers 198-2 in 20 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 95 not out, Ravi Teja 60) def. Kings XI Punjab 116 in 19 overs (Adam Gilchrist 51, Amit Mishra 4-9, Daniel Christian 2-21). —AP

Bad light halts Pakistan recovery BASSETERRE: Half-centuries from Azhar Ali and Umar Akmal helped Pakistan recover from a shaky start in the second Test against West Indies on Friday before poor weather prompted an early close.

Azhar hit the top score of 67 and Akmal made 56, as the Pakistanis, electing to bat, reached 180 for six in their

first innings before rain then bad light stopped play 16.4 overs early on the opening day at Warner Park.

Azhar added 93 for the fifth wicket with Akmal, following a stand of exactly 50 with Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq that resurrected the visitors from 24 for three in the first hour.

Azhar and Akmal, however, both

Scoreboard BASSETERRE: Scoreboard at stumps on the opening day of the second Test between West Indies and Pakistan yesterday at Warner Park.

Pakistan 1st Innings Taufeeq Umar c Baugh b Rampaul 11 Mohammad Hafeez c Simmons b Rampaul 8 Azhar Ali run out (Sarwan/Baugh) 67 Asad Shafiq c Bishoo b Rampaul 0 Misbah-ul-Haq c Samuels b Bishoo 25 Umar Akmal c Rampaul b Sammy 56 Mohammad Salman not out 8 Abdur Rehman not out 1 Extras (lb2, w2) 4 Total (6 wkts) 180 To bat: Wahab Riaz, Tanvir Ahmed, Saeed Ajmal

Fall of wickets: 1-17 (Taufeeq Umar), 2-22 (Mohammad Hafeez), 3-24 (Asad Shafiq), 474 (Misbah-ul-Haq), 5-167 (Umar Akmal), 6176 (Azhar Ali) Bowling: Roach 16-7-33-0 (w1); Rampaul 18.2-3-40-3; Sammy 20-4-50-1; Bishoo 196-55-1 Overs: 73.2 West Indies: L. Simmons, K. Brathwaite, D.M. Bravo, R. Sarwan, M. Samuels, B. Nash, C. Baugh, D. Sammy (capt), R. Rampaul, K. Roach, D. Bishoo

succeeded in gifting their wickets when it appeared they were well set. Akmal was caught at third man off West Indies captain Darren Sammy, chasing a wide delivery, and Azhar was run out, when Mohammad Salman failed to respond to his call for a single to extra cover off Sammy, and they both ended up at the same end.

Ravi Rampaul was the pick of the West Indies bowlers with three for 40 from 18.2 overs. Gaining early assistance from the hard, true Warner Park pitch, Pakistan were set back early, when Taufeeq Umar was caught behind for 11, too late in lifting his gloves out of the way of a rising delivery in Rampaul’s fourth over.

The Pakistanis were under further pressure when Mohammad Hafeez edged a forward defensive shot, and was caught at third slip for eight in the West Indies fast-medium bowler’s fifth over.

Asad Shafiq then cut a short, wide delivery, and was caught at gully for a duck in Rampaul’s seventh over to leave Pakistan wobbling.

After lunch, runs started to flow for

Pakistan, but the dismissal of Misbah set them back, as they reached 106 for four before rain forced an early tea.

Misbah had got things going after lunch when he carved Kemar Roach to the third man boundary for his second four, and Azhar drove leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo fluently through extra cover for his second four in the next over.

In the following over, Misbah took a pair of boundaries off Roach, steering a delivery to third man, and cutting a short, wide delivery through backward point. But Misbah was caught low down at mid-on for 25 off Bishoo, essaying an ill-advised on-drive, leaving Pakistan 74 for four.

Akmal came to the crease, and immediately got into the thick of things with a flick through backward square leg for his first boundary, then drove Rampaul sweetly through cover off the back-foot for his second four.

He and Azhar however, were interrupted, when rain stopped play about 40 minutes before the scheduled tea break, and continued to wreak havoc after the break.

ST KITTS: Pakistan’s fielder Taufeeq Umar (third from left) celebrates with teammates after taking the catch to dismiss West Indies’ opener Kraigg Brathwaite for 15 runs on the second day of their second cricket Test match. —AP The Pakistanis made one change to their team replacing Umar Gul with leftarm fast bowler Tanvir Ahmed. West Indies suffered a setback with veteran Shivnarine Chanderpaul sidelined with a sore shoulder to be replaced by Marlon Samuels as one of two changes.

The other saw Kraigg Brathwaite making his debut at the expense of left-

hander Devon Smith, and is the fifth youngest West Indies Test player ever.

Pakistan trail 1-0 in the two-Test series, following a 40-run defeat inside four days in the first Test, which ended last Sunday at the Guyana National Stadium, crushing the visitors’ dreams of a maiden Test series victory in the Caribbean. —AFP

Barca ready for Utd after Malaga win

Wozniacki bags Brussels Open

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Sharapova, Clijsters among French Open favorites Page 18

SPAIN: Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany steers his car during the qualifying at the Montmelo racetrack in Montmelo. (Inset) Red Bull driver Mark Webber of Australia reacts after he captured the pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix. —AP

Webber delighted with Spanish pole BARCELONA: Australian Mark Webber grabbed his first pole position of the season and seventh of his career yesterday after clocking the fastest time during qualifying for today’s Spanish Grand Prix.

The 34-year-old Red Bull driver, winner of last year’s race, clocked a time of one minute 20.981 at the Circuit de Catalunya, just 0.2 seconds faster than his team-mate German Sebastian Vettel.

Webber admitted that he didn’t feel challeneged by rival teams McLaren and Ferrari, but was delighted to have beaten his 23-year-old team-mate who has been on pole position at every other race this season.

“It was clear that there might have been a bit of a margin between us and them” said Webber, who is fourth in the world championship with 37 points, 31 behind Vettel.

“It was a good battle with Seb, I thought we were going to be battling

for pole so I just had to make sure I did a good lap and then pray that my time went above Seb’s.”

Vettel congratulated Webber on ending his run of pole placings which had seen him become the first driver since Mika Hakkinen in 1999 to take the first four poles of the season.

“I didn’t use KERS in Q2 and Q3, but it’s not right to say I didn’t have KERS and Mark got pole - he deserved pole,” said Vettel.

Despite being almost a second off Webber’s time, just 0.03 seconds separated third-placed Briton Lewis Hamilton from his McLaren team-mate and fellow Englishman Jenson Button, who was fifth.

Spaniard Fernando Alonso of Ferrari split the two McLarens pipping Button to fourth place in his final lap of the session. German Nico Rosberg of Mercedes was sixth fastest followed by Brazilian Felipe Massa in the second Ferrari.

Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado managed eighth for Williams while seven times champion Michael Schumacher was ninth fastest in the second Mercedes.

Schumacher was fastest in the Q1 opening mini-session, but his former Ferrari team-mate Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, now of Williams, was the shock exit after a gearbox problem prevented him from posting a decent lap time. An unhappy Barrichello admitted his frustration. “ We had a gearbox problem and the car wasn’t running well” he said, “It’s very frustrating and it’s a bit of a mess right now.”

Lotus driver Italian Jarno Trulli qualified in 18th place ahead of Barrichello, followed by German Timo Glock of Virgin, Hispania drivers Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi and Indian Narain Kar thikeyan, and Belgian Jerome D’Ambrosio in the second Virgin.

Renault driver German Nick Heidfeld did not manage to post a lap

time because his team failed to fix his car after it went on fire during the final practice session in the morning, he will start in 24th place.

Eyebrows were raised in Q2 when Lotus opted to send out Finn Hekki Kovalainen on the soft tyres.

Kovalainen backed his team in having made the right call.

“We were going for the qualifying time to maximise on our performance.

“We still have tyres for tomorrow, they might not be as fresh as other people’s, but it was great qualifying for us and I think it was absolutely the right decision.” That meant he out-qualified Force India drivers German Adrian Sutil and Scot Paul Di Resta for the first time this season, but will could struggle to stay ahead of them in the race.

Both Toro Rosso drivers Swiss Sebastien Buemi and Spaniard Jaime Alguesuari were also eliminated along with Mexican Sergio Perez and Japanese Kamui Kobayashi of Sauber

Meanwhile, An exuberant Fernando Alonso said he could not put into words how satisfied he was after qualifying in fourth position in his Ferrari for today’s Spanish Grand prix.

The 30-year-old two-time former world champion said his lap of the Circuit de Catalunya, which landed him a place on the second row of the grid for the first time this season, was ‘perfect’ and claimed that he could not have gone any quicker. “I did a perfect lap!” exclaimed the Spaniard.

“I reckon that if I tried to repeat it twenty times, I could not do better!”

“When you do a lap like that it’s hard to put into words what one feels - always being on the limit, in every corner, is a really special feeling for a driver. “I am very happy with this result, because we have never made it to the second row this year.”

Alonso now has his sights set on celebrating on the podium in front of his home crowd on Sunday, but

Indian GP could be season-ender if Bahrain returns BARCELONA: The Indian Formula One Grand Prix could be moved from October to a seasonending December slot if Bahrain is reinstated on this year’s calendar, commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone said on Friday.

“Yes, we are having a look at it,” the 80-yearold Briton told Reuters at the Spanish Grand Prix when asked about a possible date change, with Bahrain taking India’s current Oct. 30 place.

“Everything’s possible. We could do (move the Delhi race to the end of the season), yeah,” he added. “I’m not sure at the moment what I’m going to do. Everything’s up in the air.

“I haven’t decided about it. We’ll see if we have to go to Bahrain.” India’s first grand prix is due to be held at a circuit near New Delhi, with Abu Dhabi and Brazil the last two races.

Bahrain had been due to open the season on March 13 but the race was postponed because of civil unrest that has killed at least 29 people since protests started in February.

The Gulf kingdom’s ruler said this month that a state of emergency, imposed in March after Saudi-led troops arrived to help clamp down on protests, would be lifted on June 1 — two days before a decision is due on rescheduling the race. While Bahrain authorities have indicated they want to hold the race, many in Formula One doubt it can go ahead in the current climate.

“If, security is guaranteed; if the foreign ministries in England allow us to travel there; if my guys are happy and if there is a race happening there, we will be happy to race there,” said Renault team boss Eric Boullier.

“But the next question would be in the political context: Do we have to race there? That is

another subject. I don’t really want to enter into that debate. But the question has to be raised.

Does F1 have to go there? It is maybe too early to go there after the dramas.”

Vicky Chandhok, president of the Federation of Motorsports Clubs of India, told Reuters in the Barcelona paddock that any date change had pros and cons.

He said the final layer of asphalt was currently being laid and the 5.14-km circuit some 35km from New Delhi and would be ready for the Oct. 30 race. “They don’t really need the (extra) time as far as circuit preparation is concerned,” he said. “If it is pushed to Dec. 4...we will have the race and then the sixth of December is the FIA world council meeting in Delhi and on the seventh is the annual awards and the eighth is the general assembly.

“So we would have a week of Formula One and FIA in Delhi. From that perspective it makes sense,” added Chandhok, father of racer Karun.

The logistics would be challenging however, with the freight and cars unlikely to arrive in Delhi from the Nov. 27 Brazil Grand Prix until the Tuesday before the race with teams then facing unfamiliar customs formalities.

Although up to speed with paddock speculation, Chandhok stressed he was unaware of any serious consideration of a change at this point.

“I think what they were asked perhaps was that in case Bahrain does happen, could they accommodate a change in date,” he said.

“They are OK, they understand the situation but I think they are not participating in any active discussion on it because it’s a call that Bernie and the FIA have to make, whether Bahrain is going to go ahead or not.”—Reuters

expects tough competition from McLaren drivers and fellow Britons Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button who start third and fifth respectively.

“I think we can be in the fight for the podium,” he said, “It will be tough at the star t because the McLarens always get off the line well and then they have one more new set of soft tyres than we do.”

Despite his enthusiasm, Alonso’s fastest time was still a second slower than pole -sitter Australian Mark Webber of Red Bull and the Spaniard admitted that they was a lot of ground to make up.

“Sure, pole position is still a long way off,” he said, “Red Bull was once again out of reach and we must work hard to try and get closer.”

Ferrari were forced to revert back to their original rear wing on Saturday, after their latest design that they tested during the Friday practice sessions, was deemed illegal by the FIA.—AFP

Anton wins Giro stage

ITALY: Spanish Igor Anton (Euskatel-Euskadi) celebrates as he crosses the finish line in Monte Zoncolan during the 14th stage of the 94th Tour of Italy. —AFP

ITALY: Spaniard Igor Anton of the Euskaltel team won the 14th stage of the Tour of Italy yesterday, with compatriot Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank) retaining the overall leader’s pink jersey.

Contador finished just 33 seconds off Anton after negotiating the final gruelling 10.1km climb, with Italian Vincenzo Nibali in third on the day’s racing that ended in driving rain.

Anton jumped from seventh to third in the overall standings, 1sec off Nibali and 3min 21sec behind Contador, and was left elated by what he called his “most beautiful victory”.

“I remember having seen Zoncolan on the television, the victories of (Gilberto) Simoni, (Ivan) Basso,” he said. “There was a risk in attacking, and I bet against myself. You had to remain very focused, work out the distances while looking behind me.

“It was a very tough climb and 5km from the finish I didn’t know too much about where my rivals were. I suffered a lot and the satisfaction of having won is even more sweet.”

Contador added: “I’m very, very tired. Igor did well, and me, well I was thinking about the overall standings. “Vincenzo (Nibali) had a great ascent. When I kicked before the 1km mark, I, above all, sought to gain a few seconds which could be very useful at the finish in Milan.

“Nibali showed that he’s a very strong rival, to watch in the Giro’s last week.” Nibali said his team had been instrumental in setting up his third place finish.

“I felt great. I know the ascent well and I asked my teammates to work at the foot of the Zoncolan,” the Italian said.

“During the climb, I asked Contador to take it in turns, to have a bit of a breather, but he didn’t want to and accelerated.

“I wouldn’t have done as he did but everyone’s free to race their own race. He’s very strong. It’ll be tough to claw back the three minutes he’s up. But the Giro’s not over.”

The stage, which started in the Austrian city of Lienz, was altered by safety officials. They deemed the Monte Crostis section, which includes a vertiginous — nine percent average gradient over 15km — and ultra narrow descent, too dangerous and tough a challenge prior to the finish on Monte Zoncolan.—AFP

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VIVA enhances network with fiber optic cables Page 23 SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2011

Islamic investment meet kicks off in Amman

Selling pressure mounts at Kuwait bourse Page 24

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NEW YORK: A television reporter prepares for a live report outside the building where former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Khan is being held under house arrest after posting bail, in New York, yesterday.—AFP

Strauss-Kahn hidden inside NY safe house IMF battle heats up, Lagarde front-runner NEW YORK: Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn spent his first night out of jail since his arrest on attempted rape charges, inside a Manhattan safe house yesterday, well-hidden from the media gathered outside.

Held under round-the-clock armed guard after being freed on bail on Friday, Strauss-Kahn, 62, was expected to stay in the apartment in New York’s financial district for a few days until a more permanent home can be found for him during what are likely to be lengthy legal proceedings.

Strauss-Kahn, charged with trying to rape a hotel maid on May 14, ran into trouble finding housing when an apartment on the city’s Upper East Side leased by his wife was besieged by the media, and the deal fell through.

His temporary housing was arranged by a private security company that is keeping him under armed guard and electronic monitoring as conditions of his bail. Prosecutors estimated the cost at $200,000 a month,

which he is responsible for paying.

Television satellite trucks lined the block outside the apartment, with more than a dozen television cameras in position. Scores of reporters and photographers waited for a glimpse of the man who was just days ago one of the most powerful economic figures in the world.

He is allowed to leave the apartment only to travel within Manhattan for cour t appearances, meetings with his lawyers, medical appointments and a weekly religious observance.

Once a strong contender to be the next president of France, Strauss-Kahn resigned as head of the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday. He denies the sexual assault charges and has vowed to prove his innocence.

His legal team has informally sought public relations advice from a Washington consulting firm, TD International, run by former CIA officers and US diplo-

mats. A source said if the firm becomes formally involved, its role will be in helping the Strauss-Kahn team engage in crisis management.

French Finance M inister Christine Lagarde was seen as the leading contender to succeed Strauss-Kahn in the top job in global finance. Supported in many of Europe’s capitals, she has been praised for her role in tackling the European debt crisis, with France this year chairing the Group of 20, in handling the demands of advanced and developing economies.

But developing countries, with growing clout in the world economy, were keeping pressure on Europe and the United States to avoid a backroom deal over the appointment.

The IMF has been run by a European ever since it was created at the end of World War Two. Lagarde, who headed US law firm Baker & McKenzie in Chicago before joining the French government in 2005, would be the first woman to head the IMF. Asian, M iddle

Eastern and African diplomats at the IMF headquar ters in Washington said emerging nations were seeking a consensus candidate. That task was made harder when former Turkish economy minister Kemal Dervis, seen as the front-runner among potential non-European contenders, ruled himself out.

The IMF board said on Friday the process for finding its new chief would be completed by June 30. With the euro -zone debt crisis still far from under control, European and US officials want to move quick ly.

Strauss-K ahn’s arraignment hearing is set for June 6, when he will formally answer the charges. A trial may be six months or more away. If convicted, he could face 25 years in prison.

Defense law yer Benjamin Brafman has said the evidence “will not be consistent with a forcible encounter.” Prosecutor John McConnell has said the maid, a 32-year-old from Guinea, told a “compelling and unwavering story.” —Reuters

EBRD shareholders aim for Arab expansion ASTANA: The European Bank of Reconstruction and Development, which funds projects in eastern Europe and the former Soviet states, yesterday launched the process to expand to North Africa and the Middle East. “EBRD shareholders have made significant progress towards a decision on extending the bank’s investment to countries in the Middle East and North Africa,” the bank said in a statement.

Political decisions about the major expansion of the bank’s role after the uprisings that swept through Arab North Africa in the past months will come in “the weeks and months ahead”, it said.

The bank aims to start investing in the region next year, EBRD chief Thomas Mirow told reporters at the end of the 20year-old bank’s annual meeting in the Kazakh capital, Astana.

“We are quite confident that it should be indeed possible to

start with initial liquidities as of spring 2012,” Mirow said. It would mean that the lender may begin investing in Egypt and possibly Morocco before it completes the 18-month ratification process of the bank’s new status.

In the statement released earlier on Saturday, Mirow said the bank would eventually be able to invest 2.5 billion euros ($3.54 billion dollars) in the region per year.

“The move would be a major part in the international community ’s response to the Arab spring,” the bank said. It is already considering Egypt as a potential country of operations after the country’s interim government submitted a request to start lending to small- and medium-size businesses following the ousting the former president Hosni Mubarak.

Morocco similarly expressed interest, the bank said.

The exact geographical extent

of the bank’s new responsibilities remains to be defined, however.

The board’s recommendations for the final decision on expanding the geographic scope of the bank are expected by July 31, the statement said. However the bank’s board of directors will “consider further steps that could allow initial investments to begin as quickly as possible,” it said.

Several EBRD shareholders, including France, Germany and the United States, have already spoken in favor of the expansion over the past weeks.

Russia’s position is to support a “gradual countr y-by-countr y expansion,” rather than a “quick approach”, deputy finance minister Sergei Storchak told journalists on the sidelines of the EBRD meeting, RIA Novosti agency reported. The expansion would not require additional contributions from shareholders and “not compromise the scope and impact” of EBRD’s activity in its

current area of operations, the bank’s statement said.

The London-based EBRD was formed in 1991 to help former communist nations in their transition to market economies. It tends to invest in private enterprises together with commercial partners. Its meeting in Kazakhstan is the latest major event to be hosted by the Central Asian state as it seeks to showcase its own development since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The Kazakh authorities have sought to turn Astana, once a sleepy Soviet town notorious for its freezing winter temperatures and ferocious steppe winds, into a metropolis boasting world class architecture.

After Kazakhstan’s frosty reaction to the 2006 comedy hit film “Borat” about a fictional politically incorrect Kazakh journalist, the summit represents the latest chance for the country to project a shiny modern image. —AFP

Strauss-Kahn’s sleuths scour for secrets NEW YORK: Soon after Dominique StraussKahn, the former IMF head, was arrested in New York on sex assault charges, hardnosed detectives went straight to work-his detectives, that is.

The embattled French politician has employed one of America’s most canny and media savvy trial lawyers, attorney to the stars Benjamin Brafman. Less visible, experts say, is a force of ex-prosecutors, former detectives and FBI veterans checking gaps in the government’s case and, above all, hoping to discredit the maid who says Strauss-Kahn tried to rape her in his luxury Manhattan hotel room.

Although hiring a private investigator is not unusual for wealthy clients, the high stakes of this trial and the defendant’s extra deep pockets mean Strauss-Kahn, who stepped down from his powerful post in the wake of the bombshell allegations, will likely assemble a team of enormous capabilities. A company called Guidepost Solutions, whose chairman is a former chief of the federal prosecutor’s criminal division in Manhattan, is working with Brafman, according to The New York Times.

A lawyer for the disgraced International Monetary Fund ex-chief did not respond to a request for comment, but experts in criminal investigations said private eyes would essentially be trying to mirror their prosecution opponents at the district attorney’s office. First, the sleuths-for-hire will investigate the alleged crime and secondly more importantly, in all likelihood-they will probe the accuser, an unidentified, 32-yearold West African immigrant.

“You try to figure out who is the com-

plainant. Who is she? She’s an unknown quantity at this point,” said Todd Henry, whose Philadelphia-based law firm uses an in-house investigator. “ They will sort through her stuff: what she is, where she is.

You probably want to know what days she was working, what times, how much contact they’d had in the past-sexual and non sexual. You may want to build up that they had a bit of a relationship there.”

Prior arrests, drug addiction, alcohol abuse, a history of suing people: “anything that could undermine her,” as Henry put it.

Frank Bress, a professor at New York Law School, said Strauss-Kahn’s investigators could go as far as the maid’s home country of Guinea. “Absolutely. The notion is that they want to know as much as they can about her background. You never know when something will turn up. If he has the resources-and he does-they’re going to do as broad an investigation as they can and turn over every stone.”

The credibility of the complainant will make all the difference if Strauss-Kahn tries to argue that any sex was consensual, just about the only argument available apart from flat-out denial.

Brafman will be limited by New York’s rape shield law on protecting alleged rape victims in court. For example, he will not be allowed to bring up her sexual history.

However, investigators can give him vital ammunition both for the trial and before the trial when he could negotiate a possible plea deal, or, if he uncovers really damaging information about the maid, even persuade prosecutors to dismiss the case. —AFP

LE HAVRE: Anti-G8 activists take part in a demonstration yesterday in Le Havre, northwestern France, to denounce the next G8 summit slated for May 26 and 27 in the French northwestern city of Deauville. — AFP

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BUSINESS

Five years ISP now standard on Mercedes-Benz S-Class, GL-Class KUWAIT: Daimler Middle East and Levant together with Abdul Rahman Albisher & Zaid Alkazemi Company is offering customers of all new Mercedes-Benz S-Class and GL-Class, a five year or 105000 km ISP - Integrated Service Package completely free, as part of the standard offering on these two Mercedes-Benz vehicles.

“We are pleased to offer added value and peace of mind to our S-Class and GL-Class customers via the comprehensive Integrated Service Package which is a segment leading

offering amongst luxury brands. The ISP not only offers convenience but also helps in maintaining the residual value of the vehicle,” said Michael Ruehle, General Manager of Abdul Rahman Albisher & Zaid Alkazemi Company, the sole Authorized MercedesBenz General Distributor in Kuwait.

What is the ISP The ISP (Integrated Service Package) is the exclusive, hassle free vehicle service and maintenance package of Mercedes-Benz,

which provides for the basic maintenance service of the customers’ Mercedes-Benz vehicle according to the manufacturer’s recommendation for a period of 5 years or 105,000 KM (whichever comes first) free of charge.

The Mercedes-Benz ISP (Integrated Service Package) is designed to help maintain our customers’ new Mercedes-Benz vehicle at the optimum operating condition for the best performance. All you have to do is simply book a service appointment and

visit our authorized Mercedes-Benz workshop at the designated maintenance intervals. Our certified Mercedes-Benz After-Sales Technicians will take care of your vehicle by ensuring that it is maintained according to the manufacturer’s recommendation, and also ensure that only the Mercedes-Benz Genuine spare parts and approved care products are used during the service of your vehicle.

The ISP (Integrated Service Package) is currently available on all variants of S-Class which includes, S 300, S 350, S 500, S 63 AMG & S 65 AMG and also on the full size luxury SUV from Mercedes-Benz - The GLClass, available in Kuwait as the GL 450 Grand Edition which comes with a host of features as standard. For example: • 21” AMG Light Alloy Wheels • LED Lights Technology • Keyless - GO • Reversing Camera • COMMAND System with Navigation • 7 Luxurious & Spacious Seats with Rear Seat entertainment To take a test drive or for more information on the ISP, please visit us at Abdul Rahman Albisher & Zaid Alkazemi showroom in Shuwaikh or log on to www.mercedes-benz.com.kw or find us at www.facebook.com/MercedesBenzKuwait

Burgan Bank discounts to premier banking customers

ASUS unveils new 1015B Netbook KUWAIT: Asus has introduced the latest in its Eee PC series of netbooks, the 1015B, loaded with thin and light AMD Brazos platform with Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) that combines high performance with low power consumption.

The latest AMD Brazos C50 processor provides users an unprecedented experience of the all new APU that combines a high performance CPU and discrete GPU giving users the best in multimedia enjoyment. With the ASUS exclusive Super Hybrid Engine technology, power consumption can be saved up to 15%, providing up to 8.5 hours of battery life. Users can enjoy all day computing without worrying about the need to recharge in a few hours.

The embedded ATI Radeon HD 6250 graphics provides the best portable multimedia enjoyment

KUWAIT: Burgan Bank broadcast yesterday their intentions to continue their exclusive discounts across Kuwait Sahara Resort’s facilities as part of their valuable offerings to its premier banking customers as well as Platinum Credit Card holders’. The continuing offer is part of Burgan Bank’s endeavor to provide its customers with an even wider range of unique and fine services. The offer is now extended until the 31st of January 2012.

Burgan Bank is now pleased to inform their premier banking customers that they are entitled to a 20% discount on all of Kuwait Sahara Resort’s luxurious facilities; while Platinum Credit Card holders receive the same 20 % markdown on all facilities available at the resort in addition to an alluring 15% discount on the lavish villa rentals.

Muneera Al Mukhaizeem, Burgan Bank’s Chief Retail Banking OfficerGeneral Manager said: “Our partnership with Kuwait Sahara Resort reflects our continued commitment to offer our Premier Banking customers an array of benefits and value added luxury services that are catered to meet their demands.”

The Bank’s Premier Banking Service was introduced in 2007 as

for its size. DirectX 11 support ensures exceptional 3D performance to play games and videos smoother than ever before. The Eee PC 1015B can play smooth, Full HD 1080p content through the HDMI port to an HD display without any latency. It can also connect to a home theater system to enjoy true 7.1 Surround sound playback alongside the Full HD content for the ultimate viewing experience.

The Eee PC 1015B comes with built in 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 3.0 so staying online while on the go has never been easier.

Photos and more content can be transferred up to 10 times faster than USB 2.0 with the latest USB 3.0 ports built-in to the Eee PC 1015B. The new netbook is available in an elegant seashell design and comes in a variety of colors and finishes.

part of its retail banking strategy; targeted and tailored to suit the needs of Burgan Banks elite clientele. All Premier Banking clients are exclusively serviced by highlyskilled Personal Banking Executives who regularly and personally update customers about offers and products that are of value to their financial needs.

Abdolaziz Al-Balool

Winners of May SMS contest take away iPads, cash prizes KUWAIT: Keeping with its promise to introduce exciting campaigns and competitions, Wataniya Telecom has recently initiated an SMS competition for the month of May. Through this contest customers get a chance to win iPad 2 daily and weekly cash prize of $ 1,000.

This interactive contest is a test of general knowledge where participants are awarded points for correct answers. By answering more questions and collecting more points, a customer would improve his/her chances to win.

Regarding the competition, Abdolaziz Al-Balool, Public Relations Director at Wataniya said: “We take great pride in keeping our customers entertained by introducing new contests, innovative services and exciting events. We aim to fill people’s lives with surprises and memorable experiences.”

Al Balool congratulated all the winners of the last two weeks and said “Wataniya is looking forward to rewarding more customers until end of this month.”

Below are the names of the winning customers: Winner name Ateya Ateya Ahmed Deyab Ghanem Saad Al-Mutairi Amir Mustafa Jamal al-Deen Badreya Jamaan Al- Huraiti Fouad Fayez Al-Rasheedi Musallam Al-Barrak Tareq Saleh Al-Hulaili Bander Saleh Al-Mutairi Saad Jubarah Al-Merri Souad Hamad Al-Azmi Essa AbdulRedha Bulooshi Batoro Super Amatyam Reedi Homoud Abdullah Eid Al-Deehani Essa AbdulRedha Bulooshi Hussa Abdulmalek Al-Awadhi Wala’a Ali KhalafAllah Bahan AbdelBaseer Saleem

Muneera Al Mukhaizeem

Prize iPad 2 iPad 2 iPad 2 iPad 2 iPad 2 $1000 iPad 2 iPad 2 iPad 2 iPad 2 iPad 2 iPad 2 iPad 2 $1000 iPad 2 iPad 2 iPad 2

To participate and win daily prizes customers need to send “WIN” via SMS to 1111 and start answering the questions. At the end of each day a winner is picked and he or she will be informed.

The SMS contest will run till May 31 and Wataniya would like to wish all participants best of luck in winning daily prizes and the weekly cash prizes.

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 .4430000 .3890000 .3090000 .2800000 .2890000 .0040000 .0020000 .0745640 .7264560 .3810000 .0700000 .7121570 .0040000 .0430000

.2765000 .4540000 .3980000 .3200000 .2900000 .2990000 .0072500 .0035000 .0753130 .7337570 .4010000 .0770000 .7193150 .0072000 .0530000

CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES .2746500 .2990000 .4450570 .4484600 .3914590 .3944520 .3118370 .3142210 .2825470 .2847080 .0524980 .0528990 .0436170 .0439510 .2914040 .2936320 .0353260 .0355960 .2210110 .2227010 .0033870 .0034130 .0000000 .0061840 .0000000 .0025270 .0000000 .0032440 .0000000 .0038040 .0748060 .0753780 .7287080 .7342800 .0000000 .3914430 .0732600 .0738200 .7135620 .7190180 .0000000 .0064360

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 Bangladesh Taka

ASIAN COUNTRIES 3.443 6.143 3.211 2.510 3.853 223.330 35.531 3.740

Philippine Peso Thai Baht Irani Riyal - Transfer Irani Riyal - Cash

6.393 9.125 0.271 0.273 GCC COUNTRIES 73.669 75.907 717.550 733.560 75.209

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Egyptian Pound - Cash Egyptian Pound - Transfer Yemen Riyal Tunisian Dinar Jordanian Dinar Lebanese Lira Syrian Lier Morocco Dirham

ARAB COUNTRIES 48.750 46.345 1.264 200.110 390.130 183.200 5.964 35.359

EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 276.150 Euro 395.170 Sterling Pound 452.470 Canadian dollar 287.990 Turkish lire 174.230 Swiss Franc 320.360 Australian dollar 294.270 US Dollar Buying 274.950

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 298.200 734.040 3.990 287.500 542.100 14.100 54.000 167.800 47.580 395.500 36.200 6.370

SELL DRAFT 296.700 734.040 3.748 286.000

224.700 46.470 394.000 36.050 6.140

0.033 0.239 0.242 3.480 391.440 0.187 94.120 47.500 4.330 223.700 1.871 51.500 716.910 3.300 6.610 76.350 73.690 224.720 42.710 2.654 453.000 45.200 318.700 5.900 9.510 198.263 75.250 276.400 1.240

0.033

390.100 0.186 94.120 3.860 222.200

716.730 3.240 6.400 75.920 73.690 224.720 42.540 2.510 451.000 317.200 5.900 9.320 75.150 276.000

GOLD 1,552.350

10 Tola

GOLD 280.000 140.000 71.000

20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

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

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 451.000 276.000

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

Selling Rate 276.200 287.845 450.205 393.945 312.458 731.016 75.176 75.843 73.623 390.159 46.552 2.512

Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit

6.142 3.242 3.756 6.364 677.498 3.492 9.175 6.025 3.916 90.836

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co. Currency US Dollar Pak Rupees Indian Rupees Sri Lankan Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso UAE Dirhams Saudi Riyals Bahraini Dinars Egyptian Pounds Pound Sterling Indonesian Rupiah Nepali rupee Yemeni Riyal Jordanian Dinars Syrian Pounds Euro Canadian Dollars

Rate per 1000 (Tran) 27.00 3.265 6.215 2.515 3.785 6.420 75.110 73.670 732.400 46.345 462.400 0.00003280 3.910 1.550 392.400 5.750 410.400 298.300

Al Mulla Exchange Currency US Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar Japanese Yen Indian Rupee Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupee Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso Pakistan Rupee Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal *Rates are subject to change

Transfer Rate (Per 1000) 275.150 407.300 456.800 291.800 3.375 6.202 46.315 2.496 3.755 6.374 3.254 732.900 75.000 73.550

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SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2011

BUSINESS VIVA enhances network with fiber optic cables Towards 4G technology in Kuwait KUWAIT: In a step towards the provision of cutting-edge solutions to subscribers, Kuwait Telecommunications Company, VIVA, announced the launch of the initial phase of its optical infrastructure development project, which involves deploying multifiber optical cables.

Salman Al-Badran, VIVA’s CEO, confirmed that key VIVA locations and communication towers have already been interconnected, allowing the company to deliver fast internet connectivity and high quality voice services. These high speeds, he added, paved the way for 4G deployment in the future.

As part of its overall development strategy, Al Badran added, VIVA has already began preparations for the project’s second phase, which includes further deployment of optical fiber network. This will further enhance the company’s ability to provide high-speed connectivity services and quality internet products to all of its subscribers.

Al Badran concluded by thanking the Ministry of Communications for the support it continues to show towards the development of Kuwait’s telecommunication infrastructure, which has meant a rapid development of the industry and improved services to end users.

VIVA is the newest, most advanced mobile telecommunications service provider in Kuwait. Launched in December 2008, VIVA makes things Possible for our customers by transforming communication, information and entertainment experiences. The company has rapidly established an unrivalled position in the market through our customer and employee centric approach.

VIVA’s quest is to be the mobile brand of choice for Kuwait by being transparent, engaging, energetic and fulfilling.

Kuwait 5-year plan envisions new health insurance firm New company for expats to come under PPP NBK GCC ECONOMIC BRIEF KUWAIT: In a new privatization initiative, the government will be launching a public private partnership (PPP) company in the coming months. The Kuwait Health Assurance Company (KHAC), already envisioned in Kuwait’s 5-year development plan, aims at privatizing expatriate health insurance and the associated medical care. The company will be the first of several such PPPs to be formed under the current 5-year plan. The government is currently seeking a strategic investor for a 26% share of the company. The government will retain a 24% share and offer the remaining 50% stake to Kuwaiti nationals in a public offering.

When fully operational, KHAC’s core activity will be to provide health care coverage to most expatriates employed in the private sector, an activity currently undertaken by the government through its public hospitals and clinics.

KHAC is expected to provide primary and secondary health care through three hospitals and 15 private clinics (PHCs) that should all be operational by 2015. KHAC will deliver health care services at predefined prices, similar to health maintenance organizations (HMOs in the US, these deliver both insurance policies and medical services). The company could be the largest of its kind in the Middle East, with an expected capital base of KD 318 million - 60% or KD 192 million will be initially paid-in - and almost 8,400 full time employees.

The company will be sole provider of insurance to around 60% of expatriates.

Kuwait’s expatriate population has been growing at a fast pace and constitutes around 68% of the total population. Growth in the expatriate population going forward is expected to remain moderate, though slightly off recent highs.

In order to receive a residence permit, expatriates currently pay a fee to obtain health coverage from the Ministry of Health (MOH). By 2015, KHAC will take over this activity for most expatriates working in the private sector. In essence, the government will be privatizing this process in line with the objective of Kuwait’s development plan to increase the private sector’s involvement in the economy.

KHAC will have a guaranteed client base from its first day of operation comprising around 62% of the expatriate population, according to estimates provided by the official auction document issued by the Kuwait Investment Authority, and that amounts to almost 1.6 million expatriates. This core customer base will exclude expats who work in the public sector, the stateless, dependents of Kuwaiti nationals, domestic workers, and those employed in agriculture and fisheries. These groups will continue to be covered by the MOH. However, the company has the option to extend its market beyond the core group, providing services to all

residents and nationals who would choose KHAC over other insurers.

Healthcare services KHAC will directly provide primary and secondary health care services to its clients. For tertiary care, which is specialized care following referral from primary or secondary health care personnel, KHAC will direct its customers to the MOH, for which MOH receives a flat percentage of the yearly collected premium (5%) to be paid

by KHAC. According to the auction document, KHAC will establish a network of 15 primary care centers and three secondary care hospitals in three regions as follows: ● Jahra HMO: Covers Jahra governorate and select areas of the Capital where a hospital of 240 bed and 3 PHCs will be built.

provider of government mandated insurance for the core group and, as a consequence, the number of subscriptions is likely to be higher.

Moreover, if the company can offer a better service than currently offered by other insurers and health care providers, KHAC can even attract customers from beyond its core target population.

The scenarios also assume expatriate population growth between 2.5% and 3% per annum in the first 10 years of the project. This is conservative compared to the 6% growth of the past 10 years. MOH has preapproved the annual premiums and visit copayments that KHAC can charge for the first 10 years of operations. This will replace the KD50 annual fee that the MOH currently charges expatriates when obtaining a residence permit, implying a notable increase in

● Farwania HMO: Covers Farwania, Hawalli, and remainder of Capital governorates where a hospital of 712 beds and 9 PHCs will be built. ● Ahmadi HMO: Covers Ahmadi and Mubarak Al Kabeer governorates where a hospital of 340 beds and 3 PHCs will be built.

Despite conservative assumptions, project promises strong returns.

According to its official auction document, the company promises to generate an equity IRR ranging between 16% and 25% under various scenarios and a project IRR of 15% to 23%.

A key model assumption is that 70% to 80% of the target population will subscribe to KHAC’s insurance schemes. This is a conservative assumption given that KHAC will be the sole

the cost of health coverage for the targeted segment. KHAC will be able to increase premiums and copayments if officially released inflation rates exceed 6%.

Timeline In seeking a strategic investor, the government has launched the bidding process, but has yet to finalize a date for the winning bid or the initial public offering. The building phase is estimated to start in 2012 and the company hopes to be operational by 2015.

The project promises to offer a good return on investment, and is expected to attract great interest from the private sector. Successful implementation of this project should help speed up other projects under the development

plan. The project also intends to provide better health care services to its target population. If the company can attract customers outside its core population and away from current providers, it would, through increased competition, help improve the quality of the health care sector.

The project should also have a positive effect on the economy. The project promises to create around 8,400 new jobs once completed. This includes jobs for health care providers as well as administrative workers. Moreover, the participation of the private sector in the heath care sector would rise. According to the company’s auction documents, participation is expected to rise from 5% to 50% within the coming 20 years, largely due to KHAC. Challenges There are some concerns and challenges that should be taken into consideration, some of which could be specific to KHAC’s case. The company will have a fixed schedule of premiums that it cannot deviate from. However, costs in the future are not certain and may come well above estimates. For one, if KHAC indeed does succeed in providing better health care services than currently available, this will undoubtedly lead to greater demand, and in some cases, excessive demand for medical services. If it leads to utilization above current estimates, then the predefined premiums may not cover the cost that the company has to bear. This would lead to either operating losses, or a decline in service quality.

Another concern could be the disregard for market forces in the proposed scheme.

Although privatizing this area of health care services is a step in the right direction, services offered would still be limited largely to a single provider. This prevents competition in both pricing and service quality. While company investors might find this to their benefit, it could prevent clients from obtaining lowest prices or best service. There is also a risk that KHAC will have an unfair competitive advantage over current private health insurers and hospitals. An alternative solution would have been to allow a number of companies to operate in this field, thus promoting greater competition and efficiency.

Finally, the company is required to operate according to Islamic Shari’a law, which limits its funding sources by locking out conventional banks and institutions from doing business with KHAC. As a result, KHAC might not always have access to the cheapest funds available, thus perhaps increasing its funding costs.

Nonetheless, at this juncture, the company will be looked at as a key first attempt at a large PPP in Kuwait. The degree of business interest will be carefully scrutinized, as will the degree of success, once operations and delivery of service begin.

Bridgestone teaching Kuwaitis how to be safer on the road Tyre Safety and Eco Station campaign roadshow in Kuwait KUWAIT: The Bridgestone ‘ Tyre Safety and Eco Station’ roadshow stopped off in Kuwait City at the Marina Bridge of the Marina Mall, and will be running its education and awareness campaign on Tyre Safety until tomorrow.

In addition to pointing out the safety benefits of regular tyre checks and maintenance, the campaign emphasizes the positive environmental impact of maintaining correct tyre air pressure. Driving at the correct tyre air pressure reduces fuel consumption, which in turn minimizes the environmental impact of a journey, and saves motorists’ money.

Daisuke Hotta, Deputy General Manager for Consumer Tyre Marketing of Bridgestone Middle East & Africa, who visited the booth today, said: “The ‘Tyre Safety & Eco Station’ is a fun and educational campaign that Bridgestone developed to help reduce the number of road accidents in the region. By implementing a few simple and easy steps around the station, a proper and regular tyre check can be quickly learned which will really improve safety for everyone on the road.”

Many children also came along to the mall and enjoyed the drawing and entertainment activities at the Kids Area of the booth, while their parents learnt how to properly check and maintain tyres with the help of Bridgestone assistants. All stand visitors will now be able to regularly and quickly check their tyres’ status thanks to the Tyre Safety booklet and the Bridgestone Tyre Safety compact gauge they received as a gift at the station.

The 2011 Bridgestone “Tyre Safety & Eco Station” campaign has already visited Oman, Qatar and KSA and will finish its GCC-tour in the UAE by June, making final stops in Abu Dhabi and in Dubai respectively.

Al-Sultan and Khalaf crowns its 32 years of success New headquarter opened at Shuwaikh industrial area Fadi Khalaf: We have a plan to expand in region KUWAIT: In the presence of VIPs from the Royal Family, their excellencies, businessmen, bankers and media representatives, Al-Sultan & Khalaf Trading Company launched its new headquarters in Shuwaikh Industrial Area.

Fadi K halaf, Deput y Managing Director, Al-Sultan and Khalaf Trading Company stated that this success comes after 32 years of development and investing efforts where the company could successfully position itself as a leader in the Kuwaiti Market after its establishment as importer of pumps from Italy, USA, Japan

and generators from United Kingdom and Japan. In addition, the company witnessed continuous expansion and rapid growth to become spe-

cialized and unique in the field of heavy and light construction equipment such as Excavators, Cranes, Concrete Pumps and spare par ts.

Fur thermore, the company added new brands from China, South Korea, USA and South East Asia into Kuwait Market.

Al-Sultan & Khalaf Trading Company also developed a new sec tion for “ Workshop and Generators Rental.”

During the inauguration, Khalaf welcomed the attendees and thanked them for the their trust stating “God has bestowed upon us the blessing of our newly opened headquarter to communicate and offer our customers the best and latest global products and we will endeavor to provide optimum customer service.”

2011 Ford F-150 earns IIHS top safety pick KUWAIT: The 2011 Ford F-150 SuperCrew is building on Ford’s safety leadership by earning a Top Safety Pick rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).

Ford now has 11 vehicles on the road in the US that have earned Top Safety Picks, which adds to its leading number of top US safety ratings. To earn a Top Safety Pick, a vehicle must receive a rating of “good” in offset frontal-, side- and rear-impact tests and the new roof strength evaluation, as well as offer electronic stability control.

“Safety ratings are important markers customers can use to evaluate vehi-

cles, so we are proud Ford has the most top US safety ratings of any automaker ever,” said Sue Cischke, Ford group vice president of Sustainabilit y, Environment and Safety Engineering. “ The F-150’s innovative safety technologies and this new Top Safety Pick award further demonstrate Ford’s commitment to safety.”

Crash protection New safety features for the 2011 Ford F-150 include a seat-integrated shoulder belt for the front middle seat and a head restraint for the second-row middle seat. The F-150’s standard safety features include an advanced safety

structure with high-strength steel and six standard airbags.

Other standard Ford F-150 safety features include: Dual-stage airbags for driver and front passenger, Safet y Canopy side curtain airbags, Front seatmounted side airbags, AdvanceTrac with RSC (Roll Stability Control), Fourwheel ABS brakes, SOS Post Crash Alert System, MyKey and Trailer sway control.

Other Ford Motor Company vehicles that have earned a Top Safety Pick rating include: 2011 Ford Edge, 2011 Ford Explorer, 2011 Ford Taurus, 2011 Ford Fusion,

2011 Ford Fiesta, 2011 Ford Flex, 2011 Lincoln MKS, 2011 Lincoln MKT, 2011 Lincoln MKX and 2011 Lincoln MKZ. Sales momentum The F-Series was the best-selling truck in America for the 34th year in a row and the best-selling vehicle - car or truck - for the 29th year in a row.

This year, in the GCC, F-Series trucks sold 150 per cent more than they did in the period between Januar y 1 and April 30, 2010, as customers and businesses realize the unbeatable combination of fuel economy, capability, power and value that make the F-Series the undisputed leader.

He added, “Our strategy for the coming years is to expand through establishing new branches in the Region.”

Mar zouk Al-Sultan, Par tner and Board M ember at AlSultan and Khalaf Trading Co welcomed the attendees and foreign delegates that participated in the company’s success. It is worthwhile to mention that the company accommodates at its headquarters, a huge showroom, two dedicated workshops and 60 well trained, dedicated staff members. The showroom is equipped with high, modern specifications.

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BUSINESS

SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2011

Selling pressure mounts at Kuwait bourse KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) ended last week in the red zone, as both its main indices recorded losses. The price index ended last week with a decrease amounted to 0.42%, while the weighted index raised 1.52% compared to the closings of the week before. Furthermore, last week’s average daily turnover increased by 1.73% compared to the preceding week, reaching KD 32.17 million whereas trading volume average was 206.40 million shares, recording raise of 4.33%.

In addition, selling trend was prevailing on KSE during last week, especially on Sunday, as the market weighted index retreated nearly by 2% back then, while the price index recorded 0.95% losses.

Banks sector was one of the leading selling stocks; nevertheless, small stocks had its share from speculations.

On the other hand, the legal period of financial results announcement for the first quarter 2011 has ended, as 173 company, out of 217 listed company, announced its results, recording KD 629.76 million with 61.87% growth rate compared to the same period of 2010, which was KD 389.06 Million.

By the end of the week, the price index closed

BAYAN WEEKLY MARKET REPORT at 6,475.5 points, down by 0.42% from the week before closing, whereas the weighted index registered a 1.52% weekly loss after closing at 450.87 points.

Sectors’ indices Six of KSE’s sectors ended last week in the red zone, while the other two recorded increases. The banks sector headed the losers list as its index declined by 1.23% to end the week’s activity at 12,255.9 points. The Industry sector was second on the losers’ list, which index declined by 1.05%, closing at 4,554.3 points, followed by the Investment sector, as its index closed at 4,315.1 points at a loss of 0.78%. The Insurance sector was the least declining as its index closed at 2,547.5 points with a 0.22% decrease. On the other hand, last week’s highest gainer was the Real Estate sector, achieving 0.85% growth rate as its index closed at 2,258.9 points. Whereas, in the second place, the Non Kuwaiti Companies sector’s index

closed at 6,414.6 points recording 0.65% increase.

Sectors’ activity The services sector dominated total trade volume during last week with 325.13 million shares changing hands, representing 31.51% of the total market trading volume. The real estate sector was second in terms trading volume as the sector’s traded shares were 27.18% of last week’s total trading volume, with a total of 280.54 million shares. On the other hand, the banks sector’s stocks where the highest traded in terms of value; with a turnover of KD 53.74 million or 32.40% of last week’s total market trading value. The Services sector took the second place as the sector’s last week turnover of KD 53.45 million represented 32.23% of the total market trading value.

Market capitalization KSE total market capitalization declined by 1.51% during last week to reach KD31.90 billion, as

six of KSE’s sectors recorded a decrease in their respective market capitalization, whereas the other two recorded increases. The banks sector headed the decliners list as its total market capitalization reached KD 13.99 billion, decreasing by 1.94%. The Investment sector was the second in terms of recorded decline with 1.93% decrease after the total value of its listed companies reached KD2.67 billion. The third place was for the Services sector, which total market capitalization reached KD 7.93 billion by the end of the week, recording a decline of 1.66%. The Insurance sector was the least declining with 0.17% recorded decrease after its market capitalization amounted to KD292.96 million.

On the other hand, the Food sector headed the growing sectors as its total market capitalization reached KD 743.17 million, increasing by 0.59%.

The Real Estate sector was the second in terms of recorded growth with 0.48% increase after the total value of its listed companies reached KD 1.84 billion.

For further details, please visit our web site: www.bayaninvest.com

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SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2011

business

Performance appraisals: Make yourself glow Bayt.com report It’s that dreaded time of year again.

The rumor mill has it that those muchmaligned annual per formance reviews are already in the process of being churned by the HR departments and that this year they are even more rigorous and detailed than last year. The sudden silence from the HR quarters would seem to confirm this.

No wonder the whole organization is suddenly in a flurry of obsequious activity as each employee attempts to put some last-minute boss brownnosing under their belt. So how do you minimize of the performance appraisal jitters and substitute them for a performance review that glows and glitters? Below are a few tips from Bayt.com the Middle East’s #1 jobsite 1. Make sure you are very clear about your job description and the goals and targets expected of you: Your performance appraisal will be directly based on these parameters, so if you have any lingering doubts about them or feel there is any ambiguity, seek a written description of your roles and responsibilities and clarify your targets immediately.

2. Don’t let the feedback at the annual performance appraisal take you by surprise: Make it a point to solicit feedback from your direct manager regularly throughout the course of the year. Invite him/her for a cup of coffee or a lunch at frequent intervals and tell him/her you would like to take this as an opportunity to enquire as to how you’re doing at the firm, whether your boss is happy with your per formance and how you can improve your performance even further.

3. Come to the appraisal prepared with a list of all your accomplishments and achievements over the year: Try to be as factual as possible expressing achievements in terms of money, time and resources you’ve saved, targets you’ve met or exceeded, deadlines you’ve met ahead of time, new skills you have acquired, products/processes/procedures you’ve introduced, innovations you have been responsible for, clients you have won for the firm, colleagues you have trained and mentored etc. That way if your employer has missed any or if his appraisal is not in sync with your actual contributions to the firm you can interject with factual evidence of your contributions.

4. Remember, annual performance appraisals are often as uncomfortable for your manager as they are for you: This is especially true if your boss has a large number of direct reports and has to complete the paperwork and rigorous analysis and suffer the difficult confrontation for each and every one of them. Be prepared to take the lead and spare your boss the burden by offering to give your own objective appraisal of your performance for the period, making sure to support your

Reserve found at Khayyam field off Gulf shore TEHRAN: Iran has discovered a deposit of light oil offshore of an estimated in-place reserve of 756 million barrels valued at $13.6 billion, the state TV website reported yesterday quoting a senior oil official.

The oil reserve was found at Khayyam field off the Gulf shore in Hormuzgan province. It was originally discovered in 2010 but was classified only with natural gas reserves.

“The volume of in-place oil at Lama Ataya, Chief Marketing Officer every category appraisal with clear quantifiable evidence.

5. Think ahead of your goals, objectives and targets for the next year: Now is the time to mention what you wish to achieve at the firm in terms of career progression as well as any resources you need to better meet your objectives.

6. Plan for the training and development needs that will help you achieve your career goals: Be proactive in designing a training/ skills development program for the next 12 months complete with details on how/where you can best receive this training whether it be through a job rotation, in-house offered workshops, external conferences and seminars, enrollment in a part-time university program etc. When you present this, make sure to be very specific about where/how you intend to source the necessary training, the costs of these courses, how you will manage your workload during your training modules and how this training will positively impact the company’s bottom line. Sell the importance of your personal development to the company and be prepared with solutions for any obstacles your supervisor may think of including how to manage your workload while away on training, and the wisdom, price-efficiency and time-efficiency of choosing certain courses/training programs over others.

7. Remember, your performance appraisal is intended to be an open forum for honest communication between you and your direct manager where thoughts, ideas, feedback and plans can be shared with candor and professionalism. Seek to participate actively and keep in mind that the end goal is to develop you as a professional and to ensure that your strengths are being rewarded and optimally channeled, your goals and aspirations are understood and aligned with the organization’s, and your weaknesses addressed and solutions found for them.

Islamic investment meet kicks off in Amman AMMAN: A conference on investment in Islamic countries kickstarted here yesterday, targeting fresh vistas for economic, trade and investment cooperation.

The conference, co-organized by Islamic Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) and Jordan’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, is being organized on the sidelines of the ongoing ICCI meeting. Walid Al-Dabbous and Mahmoud Hamza of the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) are representing the State of Kuwait in the gathering.

Speaking to KUNA, Al-Dabbous said the conference is chiefly intended to open new horizons for economic, trade and investment cooperation among Muslim nations.

He stressed the importance of the conference for providing opportunities for trade and partnerships among the

Iran finds light oil in offshore gas field

business society, government, civil society, banks and financial institutions in the Muslim world. The one-day gathering will mainly reflect on challenges facing investment and investors in Muslim countries, he said, adding that it would offer an opportunity for the conferees to seek Islamic investment resettlement in their countries.

The ICCI is an organization representing fifty-six Islamic member states, with the key objective of ‘promoting the role of the private sector in economic activities.’ It is a body affiliated with the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC).

The organization is committed to strengthening collaboration between member states in the fields of trade and commerce to encourage businesses to discuss and share new ventures. It also promotes joint projects in member countries. — KUNA

this field is 758 million barrels of which around 22 percent, or some 170 million barrels, are recoverable,” said Ahmad Qalebani, managing director of the state National Iranian Oil Co. He said the existence of oil at this layer is “an exception” and the field has the potential for the production of 35,000 barrels a day of oil with a gravity measure of 35 degree API. “Assuming a price of $80 for every barrel of crude produced,

the economic value of the recoverable oil at this field will amount to around $13.6 billion,” Qalebani said. Earlier this week Iran announced the discovery of new onshore oil and gas fields in its south and west of the country estimated at half a billion barrels and five trillion cubic feet respectively.

Iran, the world fifth largest oil producer, has given the estimates of its oil and gas reserves as 150 billion barrels and 33 tril-

lion cubic meters successively.

The Islamic state is hoping to discover 2.5 billion barrels of recoverable oil and 23 trillion cubic feet of gas in the course of its fifth five-year development program (2010-2015). Although Iran is the world’s second-largest natural gas reserves after Russia, US and UN sanctions, which deter investment by Western firms with expertise and technology, have slowed its development as a major exporter. — Reuters

Lufthansa standardizes baggage rules; Simpler rules provide greater clarity KUWAIT: Lufthansa is simplifying its free baggage allowance policy and adopting the piece concept on all its flights. The new rules apply to all tickets purchased on or after 1 June 2011. This concept has been successfully implemented a while ago on many of the airline’s long-haul flights on North Atlantic routes, particularly.

Under the piece concept, passengers are entitled to check in a specified number of baggage items free of charge, depending on their travel class. Weight restrictions also apply and are graduated according to Economy, Business and First Class.

Depending on their status, miles and more members can check in additional items free of charge.

In some cases, passengers will have a significantly higher weight allowance than under the previous weight concept. The free baggage allowance for passengers travelling in Economy Class to Europe, for example, has been increased from 20 kg to 23 kg. In Business Class, passengers may check in two items of baggage in First Class three - each weighing up to 32 kg. In future, under the new baggage rules, the free baggage allowances per passenger (in comparison to the former weight concept) will be as follows: * Economy Class: 1 item of baggage weighing up to 23 kg (previously: any number of baggage items weighing a total of 20 kg). * Business Class: 2 items of baggage weighing up to 32 kg each, ie a maximum of 64 kg (previously: any number of baggage items weighing a total of 30 kg).

* First Class: 3 items of baggage weighing up to 32 kg each, ie a maximum of 96 kg (previously: any number of baggage items weighing a total of 40 kg).

For infants under two years of age without their own seat, the free baggage allowance remains unchanged: one collapsible pushchair plus one item of baggage weighing a maximum of 23 kg.

Customers who would like to check-in additional baggage items in future benefit from a transparent and simplified pricing concept with attractive prices for excess luggage. There will only be two flight categories: European and intercontinental.

Depending on its dimensions and its weight, each item of excess baggage will be charged at a flat rate, and not per kilo as in the past. In Economy Class, a worldwide flat rate of 50 euros will be charged for a second item of up to 23kg and a maximum of 158cm in overall dimensions. Any further extra bag with the above maximum weight and dimensions will incur a charge of 50 Euros on European routes and of 150 Euros on intercontinental routes.

The former weight concept at times resulted in much higher excess baggage charges.

In addition to their checked-in baggage, Lufthansa passengers travelling in First or Business Class can take two items of hand baggage on board; in Economy Class the free baggage allowance is one item of hand baggage, as before. Each piece must not weigh more than eight kg, and the linear dimensions may not

exceed 55 x 40 x 20 cm. The maximum size of a folding garment bag is 57 x 54 x 15 cm.

Customers can find out more information about baggage regulations from the Lufthansa Service Centre on +96522422493.

A full overview of the new, simplified rules is posted on the Lufthansa website at www.lufthansa.com/baggage.

Issued on behalf of Lufthansa German Airlines by ASDAA Burson-Marsteller, Dubai.

China says WTO talks must succeed BIG SKY, Montana: China is committed to the success of global trade liberalization negotiations and wants to prioritize the interests of the least developed countries, a senior official said.

During talks among Pacific Rim officials on the World Trade Organization’s troubled Doha round, Assistant Commerce Minister Yu Jianhua noted that China was increasingly dependent on foreign trade. “Opening up is our basic national policy and we will never change that,” Yu told reporters at the AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation meeting at the ski resort of Big Sky, Montana.

“We cannot go without the world economy. So we need Doha. The conclusion of the Doha round serves the best interest and longterm interest of China,” he said. WTO chief Pascal Lamy, who joined the talks in Montana, last month warned that the decade-old Doha round was on the verge of collapse due to persistent disputes over industrial tariffs.

US Trade Representative Ron Kirk said Thursday there was a need for new ideas on how to move forward in WTO talks, acknowledging that statements of commitment to the Doha round increasingly sounded hollow.

Named for the Qatari capital where the talks were launched, the Doha round had the stated purpose of addressing interests of developing countries that felt they had lost out from globalization spurred by previous accords. “The next step should be consistent with the Doha mandate-that is the development dimension,” Yu said.

“The priority should be given to the developing countries, especially the least developed countries,” he said. Least developed countries as classified by the United Nations are largely in Africa and South Asia and do not include China. — AFP

BIG SKY: Yoshikatsu Nakayama (left), Japan’s vice minister for economy, trade and industry, greets Yu Jinhua, China’s vice minister of commerce after a news conference at the APEC 2011 senior officials meeting on Friday in Big Sky, Mont. —AP

Zambia 2011 GDP likely to grow above 7%

AMMAN: Jordan’s King Abdullah delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the Jordan-US Business Forum at the King Hussein Business Park in Amman inviting US business to invest in his country. —AFP

LUSAKA: Zambia’s economy is likely to grow beyond 7.0 percent in 2011 largely driven by investments in mining and infrastructure, Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane said yesterday.

“We are set to have very good growth in 2011. The numbers will be revised around July-August and I expect a very good number,

even above 7 percent,” Musokotwane said at a media briefing.

He added: “Infrastructure development is going to be part of the growth process for Zambia.”

Zambia planned to invest 1 trillion kwacha ($216.7 million) in the rehabilitation of urban roads

and the money would come from a $500 million international bond and additional tax revenue from the mines, Musokotwane said.

The International Monetary Fund in March projected Zambia 2011 growth at 6.8 percent.

Zambia’s economy grew 7.1 percent in 2010.

Musokotwane also said that

inflation was not likely to exceed the 8 percent end-year target following Zambia’s bumper maize harvest of over 3 million tons.

Zambia’s headline consumer inflation slowed to 8.8 percent year-on-year in April, a rare example of easing price pressures in Africa caused in part by a drop in the cost of basic food. — Reuters

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SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2011

BUSINESS

Rising dollar threatens stocks’ gains WALL STREET WEEKLY OUTLOOK NEW YORK: Signs of a Wall Street sell-off are all over the place, but US stocks might well survive another week relatively unscathed if investors keep betting on sectors less vulnerable to an economic downturn.

Pressure for a correction in the stock market has been building up in the past few weeks as the euro and oil prices fell in tandem, knocking down shares of energy companies and dollar-sensitive multinationals.

Still, investors have averted a broad sell-off by diving into shares of companies that are less vulnerable to the economic cycle, including wellknown defensive sectors such as utilities and household products, but also large-cap companies with steady earnings performance.

That strategy may hold the market afloat for a little longer. But with the end of the Federal Reserve’s easy money policies just around the corner, investors are becoming more sensitive to risk in general. “There is good reason for a pause, there is good reason to be conservative in here, and there is good reason to raise some cash ahead of a summer

correction and a better buying opportunity,” said Richard Ross, global technical strategist with Auerbach Grayson in New York.

The sharp sell-off in commodities markets earlier this month was seen by many as the first warning sign of a coming market correction. The US dollar has been strengthening since then, in another sign that appetite for risk is dwindling. Next month’s end of the Fed’s massive bond-buying program, also known as quantitative easing, is expected to knock down the value of stocks, commodities and the euro, a recent Reuters poll of 64 analysts and fund managers found.

Ross, who believes that a correction could come at any moment, warned that Wall Street remains close to multi-year highs as investors head into a traditional period of weak seasonality that stretches from May to November. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index has kept its year-to-date gain of 6 percent for the past two weeks, as defensive sectors such as utilities advanced while more volatile technology shares posted losses.

Despite the rotation between sec-

tors, the S&P 500 has been trading in a narrow range between 1,330 and 1,340, indicating Wall Street’s lack of direction. Most technical analysts agree that the market is poised to break out of that range soon- either with a sell-off or a rally.

Robert Sluymer, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets, said there is no technical evidence that the current market cycle has peaked. He recommended investors keep building exposure to defensive themes, while getting out of cyclical stocks.

Among the defensive sectors favored in the current environment, Standard & Poor’s Equity Strategy recommended the stocks in the S&P 500 Consumer Staples Index. For the week, this index was up 0.6 percent.

With the earnings season coming to a close, Wall Street will have just a sprinkling of marquee names set to release quarterly results in the coming week. On tap are earnings from Campbell Soup, Costco Wholesale Corp and HJ Heinz Co, whose stocks are in the S&P 500 Consumer Staples Index. Preppies, take note: Polo Ralph Lauren Corp and Tiffany & Co

are also set to release their results.

These companies’ outlooks could shed light on the consumer’s mindset and headwinds facing the retail sector.

As far as economic indicators are concerned, there’s no data with overwhelming star power. The calendar includes new home sales for April, a second look at first-quarter gross domestic product, personal income and consumption for April and the final reading for May on consumer sentiment from the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers.

So investors could very well be at the mercy of the headlines from Europe, where fears about a possible debt restructuring by Greece are on the rise.

With the euro, commodities and stocks trading with extraordinary correlation, investors should look at the euro-dollar trade for direction, said Ross of Auerbach Grayson.

“If you continue to see the dollar strengthening,” he said, “it should provide a headwind for commodities and for the S&P.” —Reuters

S&P cuts credit outlook for Italy to ‘negative’ Agency cites weak growth outlook, debt risks MILAN/ROME: Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s cut its outlook for Italy to “negative” from “stable”, citing weak outlook for growth and reduced prospects for slashing its debt mountain.

The downward revision, which raises the risk of a downgrade of Italy’s sovereign rating, may heighten fears that contagion from Greece’s and other European countries’ debt crisis could be spreading to the euro zone’s thirdlargest economy. “In our view Italy’s current growth prospects are weak, and the political commitment for productivity-enhancing reforms appears to be faltering,” Standard & Poor’s said in a statement early yesterday.

“Potential political gridlock could contribute to fiscal slippage. As a result, we believe Italy’s prospects for reducing its general government debt have diminished.”

Standard & Poor’s affirmed its ‘A+’ long-term and ‘A-1+’ shortterm sovereign credit ratings on Italy, which is slowly recovering from its worst economic downturn since World War Two and has one of the world’s largest public debts. In recent years, the ratings agency has often taken a bleaker view of the state of Italy’s econo-

my, compared to its counterparts Moody’s and Fitch.

Moody’s currently has an Aa2 rating for Italy, while Fitch rates it at AA-, which means S&P has Italy two notches below Moody’s and one below Fitch.

Italy has weathered the financial crisis better than some of its euro zone’s peers but its growth has lagged behind the bloc’s average for over a decade. Many analysts say unless it adopts reforms needed to sharply improve its growth potential, it has little chance of meeting its medium term target to cut the debt.

Italy hardly grew in the first quarter, with gross domestic product (GDP) edging up only 0.1 percent, compared with rises of 1.5 percent in Germany and 1.0 percent in France. Crisis-hit Greece grew 0.8 percent. The Italian Treasury criticised the move by S&P, saying data on its economic growth and public accounts had “constantly been better than expected”.

However, Italy last month cut its economic growth forecasts for 2011, 2012 and 2013 and raised its projections for the public debt.

It kept the deficit outlook unchanged.

The economy is now expected

to expand by 1.1 percent this year, down from a previous forecast of 1.3 percent. In 2012, GDP growth is seen at 1.3 percent, compared to 2.0 percent previously.

Public debt is expected to reach 120 percent of GDP this year, before falling slightly to 119.4 percent in 2012. In a statement after the S&P outlook revision, the Treasur y said major international organizations such as the OECD, the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission had recently given “very different” assessments on Italy from that of S&P. Analysts from the IMF and the OECD said this month that Italy’s economy was recovering slowly, but added that it would require major structural reform to boost its growth potential.

A weak economy weighs heavily on the debt and deficit ratios, and both organizations urged efforts to stimulate productivity growth and labor supply.

The Treasury ruled out the risk of political gridlock, which S&P cited as a factor that could contribute to fiscal slippage together with weaker-than-expected economic growth.

It also said measures aimed at

meeting its target of balancing the budget in 2014 were “at an advanced stage of preparation” and will get parliamentary approval by July.

S&P’s revision is another blow for centre-right Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who is embroiled in sex and corruption trials. The media tycoon’s People of Freedom party also suffered a setback this week in local elections seen as a test of his coalition government’s popularity and is facing a risky run-off on May 2930 for the city government of Milan, Italy’s business capital.

The Standard & Poor’s outlook change implies a one-in-three chance that the credit ratings could be lowered within 24 months. Standard & Poor’s forecast net government debt at 116 percent of GDP this year, up from 100 percent in 2007.

“Under our analysis, the economic contraction between 2008 and 2009 has negated all of Italy’s fiscal-consolidation efforts over the last decade,” it said.

The Italian banking sector has been strengthened by moves to strengthen capital “and is in a stronger financial position than it was six months ago”, the agency said. —Reuters

Richemont plans new hiring to meet demand ZURICH: Swiss luxury products group Richemont, which reported a 79 percent rise in profits this week, plans to hire 2,000 more people to meet soaring demand, an executive said in an interview published yesterday.

Co-director Richard Lepeu told Swiss daily Le Temps he had 2.58 billion euros ($3.62 billion) to invest in production and distribution as delays in delivery of a multitude of products were building up .

“After recalculating, it seems we need between 850 and 900 more people this year” and a similar number in 2012, he said, “or about 1,900 over two years.” Richemont, which owns brands including Cartier, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Montblanc and Piaget, said Thursday that its full-year net profit soared 79 percent to 1.1 billion euros.

Overall sales were up 33 percent, with AsiaPacific leading growth, the group said in a statement detailing earnings for the year ending March 31. Revenues in Asia-Pacific were up 48 percent at 2.57 billion euros, fast catching up with Europe, the region which traditionally posts the biggest revenues in absolute numbers.

In Europe, sales reached 2.59 billion euros, up 23 percent from a year ago. The group issued a positive outlook for the rest of 2011, saying that sales in April were 32 percent up from the same month last year.

“In an environment currently marked by geopolitical unrest and currency instability, we hope that this positive trend will be confirmed in the coming months,” Richemont said.

Lepeu said the firm was “relatively confident” after the financial crisis but that it had left scars and he could not rule out further problems.

Concerning future acquisitions, Lepeu said Richemont was always ready to seize an opportunity, referring to its purchase of website net-aporter.com last year. —AFP

BETHEL PARK: A ‘Now Hiring’ sign is posted near a display of Craftsman wrenches at a Sears store in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. The unemployment rate fell last month in more than three-quarters of nation’s states, evidence that companies are feeling more confident in the US economy.—AP

Bond prices edges up on worries over Greece’s debt NEW YORK: Treasury prices rose on Friday as Greece’s deepening debt crisis led investors to seek out safer assets.

Growing concerns that the economic recovery is slowing in the US also helped lift Treasurys. The price of the 10-year Treasury note rose 18.75 cents per $100 invested in late trading. Its yield, which moves in the opposite direction, fell to 3.15 percent from 3.17 percent late Thursday.

Fitch Ratings cut Greece’s credit by three notches further into junk status .

The country’s borrowing rates spiked to new highs on the news. Rates on the nation’s 10-year bonds hovered around

17 percent, a sign that investors believe Greece might not repay its debt.

Greece has stayed afloat for the past year because of a 110 billion euro rescue package provided the International Monetary Fund and other countries that use the euro. As part of the bailout deal, Greece has implemented strict austerity measures.

Closer to home, traders worried that lagging sales at Gap Inc. could indicate that consumers’ appetite for spending is waning. The retailer, along with clothing chain Aeropostale, cut its earnings forecast for the year, partly due to higher raw materials costs. —AP

LE HAVRE: Anti-G8 activists hold globes reading “Hello G20? This is the rest of the world” as they take part in a demonstration, yesterday in Le Havre, northwestern France, to denounce the next G8 summit, slated for May 26 and 27 in the French northwestern city of Deauville. —AFP

Laos swamped by foreign investment BOTEN, Laos: The language is Chinese, change is given in yuan and the time is set for Beijing-but the Boten casino is in Laos, not China.

This impoverished country is overrun by investments from the more powerful neighbors that surround it, and is struggling to impose a development strategy.

The casino and garishly-coloured hotels have been developed in Boten over the past five years, against a backdrop of mountains a stone’s throw from the Chinese border.

Laotians are not welcome in this Chinese-controlled new town, which is far from the only example of China’s widespread presence in this landlocked communist country of about six million people.

The Chinese projects are on a large scale-mines, dams, a high-speed rail project, agricultural concessions — and have led to concerns in the small nation.

“The Chinese presence is on everyone’s lips. It’s a subject which Laotians have started to talk about increasingly overtly and more critically,” said a Laos-based foreign expert.

China, and also Vietnam and Thailand, “use Laos as an extension of their territory”, agreed Dominique Van der Borght, of Oxfam Belgium in the Laotian capital Vientiane.

Long reliant on foreign aid, Laos is now the subject of massive foreign investment. According to official figures, the inflows rose from $51 million in 2001 to $13.6 billion last year, led by the three neighbouring countries with more than $8 billion in 2010.

Those figures can only rise further with the announcement of new projects including the country’s first full-length railway, from Boten to Vientiane.

Construction of the $7 billion line, largely financed by Chinese firms, has not yet begun but plans call for completion by 2015. At first glance Laos, one of the world’s poorest nations, should welcome this investment. But Rio Pals, coordinator of INGO Network which groups more than 70 humanitarian organisations in Laos, expressed concern about the government’s ability to properly manage the huge influx of money.

“They don’t have the capacity at this moment to check at the door whether it is quality investment,” she said. Laos officially grew at 7.9 percent between 2006 and 2010, an expansion largely founded on exploitation of natural resources in

the country, which has no industrial output.

“Forests, agricultural land, water and hydropower potential, and mineral resources comprise more than half the country’s total wealth,” says a World Bank report.

Care must be taken “not to saw off the branch on which Laos sits,” says the foreign expert. Laos is a rural-based society and some experts fear that its people, who depend on the country’s forests and waters for sustenance, are paying for their country’s growth model.

Pals says the countr y ’s goal of advancing from least-developed nation status by 2020 might be affected unless there is a system to ensure good-quality investments that benefit the entire population. Some analysts, though, say the 2020 target seems reachable. At its fiveyearly congress in March the ruling communist par ty confirmed this aim of escaping the ranks of the world’s 48 poorest countries.

“The bet is not impossible to win” given recent economic growth rates, said Vatthana Pholsena, of Irasec (Research Institute on Contemporary Southeast Asia), in Singapore. “But the question is not only a matter of accumulating wealth. It has to be equitably distributed.”

The World Bank encourages Laos to rely on its resources, but prudently.

“With appropriate macroeconomic and governance priorities, Laos’ natural resource wealth can contribute to rapid, sustainable growth and poverty reduction,” the bank said in its latest report on the country.

The authorities need to find a way to control investments without closing doors to them. They also need to accept that rapid growth will bring unavoidable changes to society.

While some foreign aid workers romanticise traditional mountain village life in northern Laos, rural people themselves want to see change, says Adrian Schuhbeck, of the German development agency.

“Preservation of traditions should be promoted but not at the cost of a reasonable access to modern goods for communities in cold mountain areas,” he said.

“Polyester blankets coming from China can really improve their life although these are not part of their traditional lifestyle.” —AFP

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SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2011

TECHNOLOGY

Apple probes blast at Chinese plant linked to iPad Production suspended, Foxconn says SAN FRANCISCO: Apple Inc is investigating an explosion that killed two people, injured 16 and forced a production halt at a Foxconn International Holdings Ltd factory in China said to produce the popular iPad2. Foxconn, part of Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industries group and Apple’s main manufacturing partner, said in a statement the explosion happened at about 7 pm local time (1100 GMT) on May 20.“Production has been suspended at the site of the explosion until the completion of the investigation,” Foxconn said in a statement. “ The safety of our employees is our highest priority and we will do whatever is required to determine and address the cause of this tragic accident.” It did not name the affected plant or say what it made, but China’s official Xinhua News Agency said it was the Hongfujin Precision Electronics plant in a high-tech industrial zone west of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province. Hon Hai spokesman Edmund Ding said the company is still

evaluating losses. He could not say whether group founder and chairman Terry Gou had gone to the site.

CHENGDU: An injured man from a Foxconn factory, on a stretcher, arrives at a hospital in China’s Sichuan province on Friday. —AP

LinkedIn strikes gold as shares surge on debut SAN FRANCISCO: The social networking craze struck big Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange when shares of business networking site LinkedIn more than doubled on their debut. The surge came even though bankers had raised the launch price by more than ten dollars to 45 dollars on the eve of the eagerly awaited initial public offering.

Hours after the shares went on sale to the public, the price had surged to over 100 dollars, boosting the company’s worth to almost 10 billion dollars.

This turned the company’s founders into overnight multi-billionaires and primed the market for even bigger share debuts from the likes of Facebook and Twitter.

The biggest winner was founder and CEO Reed Hoffman, whose personal stake in the company is now worth over 2.3 billion dollars, according to Bloomberg News.

Prior to the IPO, the company’s high valuation had stoked warnings among financial analysts of a tech stock bubble, given that it was the largest tech IPO since Google went public in 2004. The company’s 2010 sales were just 210 million dollars, with a profit of only 15.4 million dollars. But those modest figures and cautious warnings did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of investors eager to own a piece of the first major US social networking company to hit the market, and one tipped by many to wield an unassailable position on creating the personal links that grease the US and international economies.

Still, the dizzying valuation left most commentators scratching their heads and looking back over a decade

to the heights of the dot com boom when almost any company with a website and a pie-in-the-sky business plan could attract a billion-dollar valuation.

True, LinkedIn is the first major social networking company to be publicly traded, and is considered one of the big five of US social networking companies along with Facebook, Twitter, Groupon and games company Zynga, all of which are privately held.

But the Wall Street Journal’s Rolfe Winkler insisted that investors “threw fundamentals out the window” in Thursday’s share trading. “LinkedIn is no Facebook. It is a jobs board ... and the market opportunity is cloudy to say the least,” he said. “If LinkedIn is valued at 10 billion dollars, what will investors pay for Groupon? Its sales are much larger and it is expanding far faster. Welcome to dot-com mania, part two.”

Other commentators noted that investors were seduced by the company’s high growth rate and the relatively limited availability of LinkedIn shares with only 10 per cent of the company’s stock put up for sale. But whatever the reason for the surge, noone is predicting it to end any time soon. Financial news channel CNBC predicted an IPO boom lasting twelve months with dozens of internet companies on track to list their shares after sitting out the doldrums of the recession years.

“There is a lot in the pipeline,” internet fund manager Ryan Jacob told the Financial Times. “We can see a continuation of this for the next six to 12 months, with the grand finale being Facebook going public.” —dpa

Google unveils big plans for Android SAN FRANCISCO: Google unveiled new music and movie services Tuesday and said that its upcoming version of its Android mobile operating system would be optimized for both smartphones and tablet computers. The internet software giant also revealed plans to extend the reach of Android to power a whole range of connected household devices from televisions to exercise bikes and fridges.

In the keynote address at the start of the company’s developer conference Tuesday, Google said that over 100 million Android devices have so far been activated, with more than 400,000 new activations taking place every single day.

Over 4.5 billion Android apps have been installed with the Android Market now

offering over 200,000 separate apps.

“The Android ecosystem has been moving really fast over the last two and a half years and rapid iteration on new and highly-requested features has been a driving force behind Android’s success,” Android product management director Hugh Barra said. Music Beta by Google will allow users - in the US initially - to copy their digital music collections to the cloud and access them from myriad devices. But the launch took place without the support of major record labels, who fear that the service will quickly become a piracy tool that will cannibalize music sales. Google executive Jamie Rosenberg said the company was close to agreement with two of the four major labels. —dpa

Hong Kong among world’s cheapest cities for phone, Internet HONG KONG: Hong Kong is one of the world’s cheapest cities for phone and internet ser vices while Tokyo and Singapore are among the most expensive, according to a survey released Monday. The study commissioned by Hong Kong’s telecommunications watchdog found the price of telephone landlines are about one-tenth of their price in Tokyo while mobile services are seven times cheaper than in Singapore.

Hong Kong was the cheapest of the seven surveyed cities - which also included Shanghai, New York, London and Copenhagen - for residential landline ser vices, mobile phones and broadband. The survey found the average monthly price of a landline in Hong Kong was the equivalent of 7.70 US dollars, compared with 17 dollars in Singapore, 29 dollars in New York, 51 dollars in Copenhagen, 51 dollars in

London, 60 dollars in Shanghai and 97 dollars in Tokyo.

For mobile phone services, Hong Kong people pay the equivalent of 7.70 US dollars a month, compared with 16.20 dollars in London, 28 dollars in Copenhagen, 52.50 dollars in Shanghai, 54 dollars in New York, 57 dollars in Singapore and 75 dollars in Tokyo. Fixed broadband services in Hong Kong cost an average 10.30 US dollars a month, compared with 11.70 dollars in Tokyo, 13 dollars in London, 21 dollars in Copenhagen, 25 dollars in New York, 40 dollars in Shanghai and 26 dollars in Singapore.

The repor t, conducted by the research company Strategy Analytics, concluded that the low prices were attributable to the fact that Hong Kong hosts one of the most competitive telecommunications markets in the world. —dpa

ipad affected Apple shares closed down 1.56 percent at $335.22 on the Nasdaq, which saw a broad sell-off on euro-zone debt worries.

The explosion could affect the supply of iPads and investors were watching closely.

Apple spokesman Steve Dowling said the company was assessing the situation. “We are deeply saddened by the tragedy at the Foxconn plant in Chengdu and our hearts go out to the victims and their families,” he said. “We are working closely with Foxconn to understand what caused this terrible event.”

Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White said the factory makes a lot of iPads because some production had been shifted to the facility from factories in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.

Apple’s iPad 2 commands 80 percent of the burgeoning tablet market in which

Motorola Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd also compete.

Apple sold 4.69 million iPads last quarter and is scrambling to meet staggering demand for the mobile device, but is heavily backlogged. Executives had expected production to ramp up during the present quarter to meet demand. The plant explosion is the latest setback for Foxconn, the world’s largest contract manufacturer.

The company made headlines last year after reports emerged about poor working conditions at factories in southern China, which critics say may have helped drive several employees to suicide.

The company pledged to improve employee welfare. Facing higher wages in the southern China manufacturing belt, the scene of labor disputes last year, some Taiwanese manufacturers have opted to shift some operations to the country’s interior, where costs are lower. Foxconn also has plants in North America and Mexico, as well as in European countries, including Slovakia and Poland. —Reuters

Effort to help a disabled student inspires a hot, new Xbox accessory MIAMI: A disabled student’s frustration with the limitations of his misshapen hands fueled an inventive teacher’s imagination, and from that inspiration a device was born that thousands of video gamers are using to play faster than ever before. When Danny Lamarca, now 16, confided in David Kotkin that he longed to play video games as well as his peers, the Holmes Braddock Senior High art teacher thought he could do something about it.

The solution he devised gave rise to The Avenger.

Looking like it belongs in the Bat Cave rather than the family room, the black, snap-on shell turns a mild-mannered Xbox 380 controller into a monster: Flexible tentacles extend from the side and rubber straps pull taught against a claw-like stand, giving players hair-trigger control and decreasing finger fatigue.

This new weapon in the global gaming arena has garnered praise from reviewers for being comfortable to use and enhancing player reaction time-vital when a split second can mean the difference between victory and game over.

“With a few more adjustments to fit my style, I was suddenly reloading faster, switching weapons with my left index finger, and never taking my hand off either analog stick,” one early tester wrote at GadgetReview.com: “The Avenger works.” Since the gaming accessory made its public debut at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January, about 7,000 have been sold; of those, about 5,500 have been shipped. (The $39.99 introductory price will soon jump to $49.99.)

The Avenger’s West Kendall, Fla, origins had little to do with claiming market share, however, and everything to do with helping a student. Danny Lamarca used to struggle to hold his PlayStation 3 controller. That’s because he was born with Epidermolysis Bullosa Dystrophica, a hereditary condition that affected the size of his hands. His palms are a little bigger than a half-dollar coin, and his fingers are short, looking more like toes. His skin is also sensitive and can blister easily.

Danny ’s mom, Veronica Lamarca, knew it might be difficult for him to play, but she didn’t want to deny him the video gam-

MIAMI: David Kotkin holds his Avenger controller, an external adapter for the XBox 360 controller that helps gamers hit buttons faster and more fluidly. —MCT photos ing his peers enjoyed. “ There were kids in school asking, ‘Don’t you have this? Don’t you want it?’

And since he has good grades, and with his condition he cannot do sports and go outside, what else could we do?” his mother said in Spanish. “We wanted to give him a young person’s distraction.”

Danny became Kotkin’s student in the fall of 2009. As they built a rapport, he vented to his teacher about the difficulty he had using the gaming system he had begged his parents to buy for Christmas. “It wasn’t so much as frustrating,” the teen says. “It was more like I wished I could play better, to my fullest potential.”

What he didn’t know is that his

teacher had begun tinkering with an idea several months earlier: Is there a way to make a game controller easier to hold and play for long periods of time? Danny’s gaming aspirations spurred him on. “I knew I had to do my best work because I thought I could help him,” Kotkin said.

With Scotch tape and Popsicle sticks, super glue and strings, he crafted levers for buttons, attached strings to triggers, and connected a weighted stand to prop the controller against the body. Two weeks later, he handed the test model to Danny. That night, the teenager won his first online match playing Call of Duty and ranked fourth out of 15 players.

“It took a couple of games to really get acquainted,” Danny says. “I used to have to play with my chin or play with my foot sometimes. With the strings, it worked.” And so began Kotkin’s two-year journey and $300,000 investment to create an accessory that would improve any player’s game. The Avenger turns a controller into an extension of the player’s hand.

You never need to lift your thumb from the joystick-a key factor in beating an opponent in a blink. Flexible rubber arms extend from the buttons, resting on your fingers, and a slight lift or twitch of a finger pushes a button. Rubber bands turn the backside trigger buttons into hair triggers that fire with a fraction of the pressure normally needed.

Convincing engineers to believe in the design was Kotkin’s biggest challenge. “I probably wouldn’t have done it if I knew how hard it was going to be,” he said. “This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

An Avenger for Sony ’s PlayStation 3 is expected to be released in late summer. The device is manufactured in China, but there are plans to switch to a Pompano Beach, Fla., manufacturer in the next three to six months. This is the second Kotkin invention to become a globalselling success. The first was the Go Duster, a battery-powered, spinning duster. Telebrands has sold about 2 million of the $20 gadgets through infomercials and in retail stores. Kotkin funded development of The Avenger with Go Duster profits, personal savings and help from his family.

He credits his creativity and drive to invent to a disability of his own. “Dyslexia has made me see things where other people don’t,” Kotkin said.”

The curse became a blessing in a way.” The learning experience from the Go Duster helped him and his wife, Melissa, handle the stress involved in the process. “It’s not easy,” says Melissa, who is not a gamer. “But when I saw the interest that others had in it, it definitely helps you keep the faith.”

As for Danny, he’s in Kotkin’s class again this year. He wore out the Avenger prototype, and the teacher made him an upgraded version that he shares with his younger brother, who has the same condition. — MCT

Work smarter with your smartphone WASHINGTON: Out of the box, smartphones come with a lot of nifty features. But, being the tiny computers that they are, they also come with tremendous untapped potential. To get the most out of your smartphone - whether it’s a BlackBerry, iPhone, Android, or some other model - you have to add a little know-how and a few tools. The payoff, though, is greater productivity and more fun.

Find apps for internet services No matter how good the internet browser is on your smartphone, surfing the net on a tiny screen is tough to do. That’s why it makes sense to search out smartphone apps to access your most commonly used internet sites. Google, for instance, makes smartphone apps for its Gmail, Maps, and Search features. Skype makes a smartphone app.

For iPhone and Android, there’s Craigsphone for Craigslist, as well.

Also, if you’re a lover of web forums, check out Tapatalk, which puts a phone-

friendly face on many of the most popular web forums. And if instant messaging is a staple on your desktop PC, there’s no reason to leave it behind on your smartphone. Look at Beejive, which can aggregate your instant messaging accounts - including those on Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! AIM, and Google Talk - and permit you to carry on multiple instant messaging chats at once.

Security If your smartphone were lost or stolen, what personal information would be at some stranger’s fingertips? If you’re like many smartphone users, you probably carry your device around with no password protection whatsoever. If so, you’re courting disaster. Personal e-mail, bank account information, web search history, contacts, and more are typically stored on a smartphone.

Protect that information at multiple levels. First, take the time to learn how to password protect your smartphone itself. Most can be set up to require some type of pass-

word to log on to the device or to enter it after it is in a low-power state. Any applications that contain personal information of any type - including e-mail programs should be protected by a password as well.

Don’t leave home without one.

Battery life It’s almost guaranteed that your smartphone will start running out of battery power just when you need it the most. You can do a lot to extend the life of your smartphone’s battery, though, by deactivating features that you don’t need or use on a regular basis. Use your phone’s setup feature to disable Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, for example, if you don’t need them. Both services engage power-consuming internal electronics. Also, get in the habit of putting your phone into a low-power standby mode when you’re not using it rather than just locking the keyboard. By using the low-power mode, you can almost double the amount of time you get from one battery charge. — dpa

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health & science

In-car device monitors blood sugar for diabetic drivers MINNEAPOLIS: People with diabetes and their caregivers know that careful and constant monitoring of their blood sugar levels is critical to managing the disease. But even while driving?

In an unusual marriage of medical technology, consumer electronics and automotive engineering, Fridley, Minn.-based Medtronic Inc. and Ford Motor Co. on Wednesday unveiled a prototype device that uses the automaker’s in-car communications system to help drivers track their blood glucose activity while on the go.

“It’s a real high-tech approach to the old saying, ‘I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!’ “ said Phil Nalbone, an analyst with Wedbush Securities. “This makes good use of widely available communications technology to safeguard patients and improve quality of care.” Using Bluetooth connectivity, the system links the automaker’s popular in-car infotainment system, called Sync, to a Medtronic continuous glucose monitor. If a driver’s glucose levels are too low, an alert sounds or a signal appears on a dashboard screen.

Low blood sugar, in particular, can cause lightheadedness, blurry vision and other potentially dangerous symptoms that could cause a traffic

accident. The American Diabetes Association estimates nearly 26 million adults and children in the United States have diabetes, but of that amount, only a portion use glucose monitors and insulin pumps. The Ford-Medtronic prototype is still being researched, so it’s unclear when — and if — the technology will ever be marketed. “Today it’s all about possibilities,” said Medtronic senior vice president James Dallas, who attended an unveiling at Ford headquarters in Dearborn, Mich., on Wednesday. “There’s nothing formal yet, but the technology has reached a point where possibilities can become probabilities.” The idea has won some preliminary fans in the diabetes community. “I know when I’m driving, if the ‘check engine’ light comes on, I’m going to pay attention,” said Dr. Richard Bergenstal, executive director of Park Nicollet’s International Diabetes Center. “It’s kind of the same principle.”

For Medtronic, the partnership signals a growing movement toward managing health remotely through smartphones, tablets, laptops and, possibly, cars. Dallas said the company is in talks with other tech leaders, such as IBM, Cisco, Apple, Verizon and Qualcomm, for other partnerships. “It

helps us extend our reach in new ways,” Dallas said.

Medtronic’s $1.2 billion diabetes business has led the way in continuous glucose monitoring, which records blood sugar levels throughout the day and night. The readings permit patients to make adjustments to insulin levels, often using a Medtronic insulin pump, or by ingesting sugar to coax levels back into normal territory.

“Ideally, we will get to a place where the sensor and pump communicate and when you get a reading, the pump automatically adjusts,” Medtronic spokesman Brian Henry said.

Pairing the Medtronic technology with automotive engineering may seem far-fetched at first blush, but Ford maintains that 78 percent of US consumers are deeply interested in “mobile health solutions.” According to a study by MobileStorm cited by the company, medical and health care applications are the third-fastest growing category of smartphone apps.

Ford also announced a project on Wednesday to provide drivers with allergy alerts and pollen levels on the Sync device for those suffering from asthma and severe allergies.

“Ford’s approach to health and wellness in the

vehicle is not about trying to take on the role of a health care or medical provider,” said Gar y Strumolo, the company’s global manager of interiors, infotainment, and health and wellness research. “We’re a car company.”

By partnering with “experts,” Strumolo said, the Sync system can be used as a kind of “secondary alert system and alternate outlet for real-time patient coaching services.”

Ford released Sync in 2008 to mostly positive reviews. Developed with Microsoft, the system enables voice control of phones and audio systems and is available in most models of Ford vehicles.

(It’s an extra $395 when optional.)

However, as safety concerns mount over potentially distracted drivers using cell phones for texting, talking and other activities, US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood expressed concern last fall about systems like Sync and General Motors’ OnStar, even if they are “hands free.” There are also questions about whether there’s significant money to be made. “It remains to be seen how Medtronic will monetize this and whether it will contribute to a meaningful revenue stream,” Nalbone said. “But it’s an intriguing idea.” — MCT

Obesity in childhood may lead to psoriasis Psoriasis may lead to heart disease

Quashaunda Royster, 18, works out with her grandfather, Clinton McIntosh Jr, at Lenox Baker Children’s Hospital in Durham, North Carolina. She’s part of the Active TEENS program. — MCT

Don’t call them couch potatoes

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new study conducted in Spokane shows overweight people are exercising and trying to get healthy.

“Our research showed a group of people who are trying,” said Deborah Walton Smith, a senior lecturer at Gonzaga University and a family nurse practitioner at a clinic in north Spokane. Her work, published in the Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, was conducted while she was earning a doctorate through Case Western Reserve University.

The study relied on questionnaires answered by 175 people from Spokane who were patients of family nurse practitioners at two local clinics. All were overweight — including more than half who would be considered obese.

Walton Smith called the exercise efforts a surprise offering glimmers of hope. Not much is known, she said, about the exercise habits of overweight Americans who see family nurse practitioners for primary care.

She said the study should help dispel the notion that overweight people are lazy.

She recounted patients considered obese who work jobs where they are on their feet much of the day.

“I just have a tremendous respect for my patients and this research confirms that these are people who care and want to improve their health,” she said.

The survey found that 39 percent of the study participants reported that they exercise regularly. Another 25 percent reported that they were preparing to begin an exercise program — not just thinking about how to do it. Another 21 percent were contemplating an exercise regimen. About 12 percent had no intention of starting to exercise.

These were encouraging numbers, Walton Smith said. It’s important for doctors and nurses to nudge their overweight but willing-to-exercise patients toward a regular physical activity schedule, and then formulate plans for follow-up visits.

About 73 percent of the patients said

that despite being overweight or obese, they had no medical reason that would prevent them from exercises. Walton Smith said this showed a group that, for the most part, was amenable to some kind of exercise, even if it was light lifting or short walks.

The study’s importance can be measured against this backdrop: Obesity rates in the United States have soared to 34 percent of the population. It’s a medical condition that causes 300,000 premature deaths each year from diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and hypertension, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

And the costs are enormous. Treating obesity-related diseases costs more than $100 billion a year.

As the obesity epidemic hits full stride as one of the nation’s most serious health threats, study after study shows how diet and exercise can reverse the trends.

In one study cited in the research, exercise and diet can reduce the likelihood of developing diabetes in the obese population by 58 percent — even without weight loss. It’s a fit-but-fat scenario that can lessen at least some of the grave consequence of being obese.

Walton Smith’s research was overseen

by Mary Quinn Griffin and Joyce Fitzpatrick, academic advisers from Case Western.

Half of the study group had a body mass index above 31. The rest had a BMI of between 25 and 31. A BMI score of 30 and higher is considered obese.

All of the study participants were older than 40. About 72 percent were women.

They tended to be less affluent yet better educated than the average person in Spokane. The research, which was peer reviewed before publication, noted that Spokane and the Pacific Northwest have a culture of fitness-related events and that about half of households have a dog — two things credited with helping people to exercise. The participants received a $5 gift card to a coffee shop.—MCT

LOS ANGELES: Obesity in childhood significantly increases the risk of developing psoriasis, and psoriasis may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease later in life by increasing cholesterol levels, researchers reported Wednesday.

Patients with psoriasis early in life should be monitored for early signs of cardiovascular disease and given therapy to reduce the risk of later heart attacks and stroke, a team from Kaiser Permanente reported in the Journal of Pediatrics.

Psoriasis is a common autoimmune condition characterized by skin redness and irritation. Most patients have thick red skin with flaky, silver-white patches called scales.

The disorder is genetic in origin, but can be exacerbated by a number of environmental factors, including excessive exposure to sunlight, excess alcohol consumption, stress, dry air or skin, certain drugs and many infections. Most subjects develop their first symptoms between age 15 and 35. An estimated 7 million Americans suffer from the disorder.

Previous studies have shown that adults with psoriasis have a higher risk of developing metabolic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, heart attack and stroke.

Conversely, obesity in adults also has been linked with a higher risk of developing psoriasis. The new study suggests that the same factors that increase risk in adults may be operating in children as well.

Epidemiologist Corinna

Pediatrician Dr Gary Bean (right) examines one of two one-week-old twins, Emanuel Newell III, as mom Dawn Hinkle holds the other twin Samarah Newell and watches with daughter Saniyah Newell, 2, during the twins’ checkup in Oakland. —MCT Koebnick of Kaiser Permanente Southern California’s Department of Research & Evaluation in Pasadena and her colleagues studied electronic health records of 710,949 ethnically diverse children.

The team found that obese children were 40 percent more likely to have psoriasis than normal-weight children and severely obese children

were almost 80 percent more likely.

Moreover, those with psoriasis had 4 percent to 16 percent higher cholesterol levels than other children of the same weight, suggesting one path by which the disorder increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.

“As we follow these patients over 30 to 40 years, we will be able

NASA sting nets woman offering moon rock for $1.7m

Rehabilitation director Candi Seville walks with stroke survivor Hildred White down the hall of the Muscogee Manor Rehabilitation Center as a therapy assistant follows with his wheelchair. White is recovering from weakness to the left side of his body.—MCT

Stroke survivor will walk waterfront to recovery

US approves new HIV drug H WASHINGTON: The US Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved a new drug, Edurant, to fight HIV in combination with other antiretrovirals already on the market.

Made by the New Jersey based Tibotec Therapeutics, Edurant helps block the virus from replicating and is part of a class of drugs known as nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor.

The pill is to be taken once daily with food, the FDA said. “Patients may respond differently to various HIV drugs or experience varied side

effects,” said Edward Cox, director of the office of antimicrobial products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

“FDA’s approval of Edurant provides an additional treatment option for patients who are starting HIV therapy.” The approval followed phase II and II trials that showed that patients who had not received previous therapy saw an 83 percent lower viral load after they took Edurant along with other antiretroviral drugs.

Side effects included depression, insomnia, headache and rash.— AFP

to determine if these increased cardiovascular risk factors in turn increase the risk for major adverse cardiac events,” said study coauthor Dr. Jashin J. Wu. Meanwhile, Koebnick added, children with psoriasis should be closely monitored for the development of cardiovascular risk factors and treatment initiated when appropriate. —MCT

olly Carson was 32 years old and 8 1/2 months’ pregnant when bleeding in her brain caused a stroke nearly two years ago. Initially, Carson was unaware she had suffered a stroke that night.

She awoke in the middle of the night and reached for a glass of water. As she sipped, water ran down the left side of her face.

Confused, she got out of bed and looked in the mirror. The left side of her face was sagging.

“Being young and healthy, I didn’t think much about major medical emergencies,” Carson said. “It was only my training and education as a flight attendant that made me think, ‘Stroke.’” She woke up her husband, Donovan, and explained, through slurred speech, that she needed to go to the hospital.

As she waited for the ambulance, she lost function on the left side of her body and had a severe headache. A CAT scan showed a large bleed in the right side of Carson’s brain.

Carson, who lived in Albuquerque, N.M., at the time, was admitted to the hospital, where she stayed until she delivered her daughter, Chloe, on July 19, 2009. She spent two days in the hospital with her healthy newborn. Then she was put in an ambulance and sent to a rehabilitation facility. “I just sort of surrendered to the process of rehab and recovery,” she said. “I did want to go home but not under the condition I was in, because what good would I be to my family?”

Carson spent three weeks at the facility before finally returning home. But her recovery didn’t end there. Her days were taken over by doctor and occupational therapy appointments.

Nearly two years later, Carson is still working on her recovery. She has limited use of her left arm and hand and walks with a slight limp. But she sets goals, such as walking without a cane, and works until she achieves them. —MCT

LOS ANGELES: A woman who tried to sell a rare hunk of moon rock for $1.7 million was detained when her prospective customer turned out to be an undercover NASA investigator, officials said on Friday. It is illegal to sell moon rocks, which are considered national treasures. The gray rocks, which were gifted to each US state and 136 countries by then-President Richard Nixon, can sell for millions of dollars on the black market.

NASA agents and Riverside County sheriff’s deputies detained the woman, who was not immediately identified, after she met Thursday with an undercover NASA investigator at a restaurant in Lake Elsinore, southeast of Los Angeles, the sheriff’s office said. The investigation was conducted over several months. Authorities swooped after the two agreed on a price and the woman pulled out the rock.

NASA planned to conduct tests to determine whether the rock came from the moon as the woman claimed. “We don’t know if it’s lunar material,” said Gail Robinson, deputy inspector general at the space agency. Joseph Gutheinz, a University of Arizona instructor and former NASA investigator who has spent years tracking down missing moon rocks, said a lunar curator at a special lab at Johnson Space Center would carry out the testing. Among the substances the rock could contain is armalcolite, a mineral first discovered on the moon and named for Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, who was on the Apollo 11 lunar mission crew.

The woman has not been arrested or charged. It was unknown how she obtained the rock or came to the attention of NASA. Gutheinz said the woman could face theft charges if the rock is genuine, or fraud charges if it is not.

About 2,200 samples of lunar rocks, core samples, pebbles, sand and dust - weighing about 840 pounds (380 kilograms) — were brought to Earth by NASA’s Apollo lunar landing missions from 1969 to 1972. A recent count showed 10 states and more than 90 countries could not account for their shares of the gray rocks.

Gutheinz said most purported moon rocks offered for sale on the Internet are bogus, though authentic moon rocks can be purchased if they came to Earth in a meteorite. NASA houses 70 percent of its lunar rock and soil samples at Johnson Space Center, and another 14 percent are in New Mexico. The rest are either on loan for study or display — or are unaccounted for.

In 2009, the Rijksmuseum in the Netherlands confirmed that one of its rocks was a fake and not an artifact collected by the Apollo 11 crew. A rock presented to Honduras was recovered in a 1998 NASA sting after a Miami collector offered $5 million for it. —AP

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Pope makes first video call to astronauts in space VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict XVI chatted with astronauts yesterday as the Vatican linked up with the International Space Station for the firstever papal video call to space. “Welcome aboard the Space Station your Holiness,” said Dmitry Kondratyev, Russian commander of the 26th long-duration mission to the International Space Station.

The crews of the ISS and the linked space shuttle Endeavour waved to the pope, who smiled and waved back. Speaking from the Vatican library, Benedict said he admired the astronauts’ courage and commitment and described their mission as “an adventure to discover the origins of humanity.”

“Humanity is experiencing a period of extremely rapid progress in the fields of scientific knowledge and technical applications. In a sense, you are our representatives,” he said.

The pontiff said the teams were “spearheading humanity’s exploration of new spaces and possibilities for our future, going beyond the limitations of our everyday existence.”

He then eagerly asked five questions about life in space and the perception of the world from so far away, before personally addressing

the two Italian astronauts on board, Roberto Vittori and Paolo Nespoli. The pope also said his thoughts and prayers went to US shuttle commander Mark Kelly, whose wife-Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords-is recovering from a head wound suffered during a shooting at a political rally in Arizona in January.

Benedict also sent his condolences to Nespoli, whose mother died at the beginning of the month while he was on this mission, telling him he had prayed for her and asking the bereaved Italian how he had coped. “Do you feel isolated and alone? Or do you feel united in a community which follows you with attention and affection?” he asked Nespoli, who said the group was united and had helped him through his grief.

At the end of the 20-minute call, the astronauts waved cheerfully to the pope, one of them floating up above the others’ heads in a gravitydefying prank which made the pope chuckle.

As the live broadcast from orbit came to an end, Vittori floated a silver medal the pope gave him across to Nespoli-who ends his five-month mission on Monday and will carry the medallion back with him to return it to the pontiff. — AFP

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In this photo released by Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano Pope Benedict XVI talks with astronauts, at the Vatican, yesterday. — AP

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SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2011

W H AT ’ S O N

Announcements BAIA presents the delightful new children’s musical BUZZ the STORY of GLORY BEE! From the pens of Dream Dealer Duo Harriet Petherick Bushman and Marita Phillips and the A TEAM , the Creative Team of The Lion King comes BUZZ! The Story of Glory Bee. Glory (Isabella Wellinkar) is a newbee who doesn’t want to be just a Gatherer Bee and has adventures involving Humungus the Beekeeper (played by Augustin ‘Mufasa’ Tchantcho) and the villainous Hornet (Aidan Scott). Performed by the wonderful talent of the Kool Kidz Children’s Theatre BUZZ runs from 26 to 28 May at the Shakespeare Theatre, The British School of Kuwait. Box office open now. Mobile number 60052087 and box office@baia.com.kw or visit our office Salwa 1 Street 1 villa 32. Full details of all events and courses are available on www.baia.com.kw 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

JIS holds investiture ceremony

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he investiture Ceremony of Jabriya Indian School was held on May 12, 2011. It was a solemn occasion, as the school council members took the oath of office to uphold the honour of the school. The chief guest of the occasion was Ibrahim Al-Ghareir, director, Al Fajer Al Jadeed School. The other distinguished guests included M Mathews, the Chairman of the school, D K Sharma, Manager of the school, vice principals and parents.

The program started with the Islamic prayer and the national anthems. This was

followed by the brave march of the newly elected student council members, to the rhythmic beat of the drums. The welcome address was delivered by Head Boy Abdul Ghani in his captivating voice. The Principal Usha Varkey administered the oath of office. The council members took the oath promising to fulfill their duties and responsibilities towards their school.

The school choir chanted a befitting dedication song ‘The JIS Flag’, which was indeed an inspiration to the young leaders. Then began the formal induction of

the school council wherein they were entrusted with the mantle of responsibility and badges with designation. The chief guest Al-Ghareir touched the hearts of the staff and students by his inspiring speech.

He congratulated the office bearers and exhorted them to lead the school to greater heights and hoped that the newly elected council members would fulfill their duties and work in harmony to accomplish the path of discipline and success. It was a proud moment for all those who were present there, when they saw

the newly elected leaders, inducted with their responsibilities, ready to embark on a new journey, with a desire to excel and to lead.

The gold medalists in the IAS examination, Rayan Ali Halal and Mustafa Abedin were acknowledged and presented with their awards. Rayan Ali was the Country and Regional topper in English and Mustafa was the Country Topper in Maths.

The ceremony ended successfully with the vote of thanks by the school captain Hannah Mathew..

McDonald’s Kuwait Goes Underwater

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cDonald’s Kuwait has launched “UnderWater”, a newly launched Happy Meal program in Kuwait.

The one month program reiterates McDonald’s ongoing commitment to children helps educate them in a fun environment across all 62 restaurants around Kuwait.

The newly launched underwater program kick starts with an arts and crafts competition where children will get a chance to create their own portrayal of life in the ocean using materials such as corals, colored papers and paint provided at McDonald’s restaurants. The entries will be judged by a panel of dedicated McDonald’s artists and a winner will be chosen from 18 selected McDonald’s restaurant across Kuwait.

Each winner and their guardian will be invited to attend a special trip to the Scientific Center on May 26th. Winners of the competition will be treated to a

ACK offers world class Australian education

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CK provides post high school education that takes fresh graduates from high school into its English foundation or direct entry to its 2 year diploma programs (in Business or Engineering) followed by a 2 years program for any of its degree programs within ACK or at its Australian partner institutions in Australia. All ACK students are registered at ACK and the relative auspice institution.

Upon graduation, ACK graduates hold both ACK diploma/degree and the Australian diploma/degree which qualifies them for entry into a university degree program at ACK or abroad.

ACK caters for a range of students including self funding students, students funded through the government scholarships or through special agreements. It also offers various specific courses to industry and corporate institutions. The advantage in doing these courses is that knowledge learned at the classroom level can be put to real use. Initial qualifications gained then become stepping stone to either train further in a chosen field or take up a job. The training can be utilized to open up other venues of higher education.

The qualification will help Australian universities to decide on credit towards the degree. This training gives theoretical skills and practical skills from a university degree which results in acquiring two qualifications as against the one. Both are recognized world over. Both qualifications give a distinct advantage over other regular graduates.

AT ACK the emphasis is placed on “Project Based learning” that combines

understanding concepts via hands-on applications of theories.Professor Vishy Karri, President of ACK, said that “Project Based Learning is a teaching and learning model that emphasizes student-centered instruction by assigning projects. This involves innovative curriculum development and instructional approach that allows students to engage learning experiences in real-world projects through which they develop and apply knowledge”. Karri also emphasized that “the ability to critically appraise viewpointsand designs, to collect and analyse 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.

During a visit to ACK, the Australian Ambassador Glenn Miles, said that “Australian universities and educational institutions are of the highest standard, with over 12000 courses recognized internationally. Our education system has a strong commitment to equity, high academic standards and continuous improvement while the Australian government’s oversight of the educational sector ensures the quality of courses and services is world class. I am proud that the courses at ACK are provided through partnerships with Australian vocational institutions, training colleges, and, of course, Australian universities, all of which are registered and accredited with the Australian government to ensure they meet stringent educational registration conditions.”

tour around the aquarium and will be invited to attend a movie screening at the IMAX Theater. Winners’ artwork will also be displayed in the stores for the duration of a week.

George Khawam, Marketing Director at McDonald’s - Kuwait said “At McDonalds, we strive to give back to the communities at which we operate. We seize every opportunity to engage with the children and educate them. At the same time, we aim to establish a fun and educational atmosphere that they want to be a part of.”

A booklet on ‘underwater life’ will be handed to all kids for which will allow them to read up on fun facts about their favorite sea creatures and play educational games. Other fun activities for children also include “Sand Art”, where children will design their own bottles filling them with different colors of sand in unique designs.

Hairspray at KLT Hairspray is the latest musical performed by the Kuwait Little Theater. It’s directed by Kirsty McDonagh with an all singing, all dancing KLT cast of talented actors. Most of the performances are already sold out but they still have some openings available so if you’re interested you need to book right away. Location: Kuwait Little Theater. Dates still available: May 24th and 25th. Time: 7:30pm.

Al Taalib Scholarship 2011 Al- Taalib Scholarship is a financial aid scheme for the under privileged school students in Kuwait, sponsored by the Ministry of Awqaf in association with Islam Presentation Committee (IPC), Friday Forum and Pakistan Kuwait Welfare Association. These scholarships were given to the needy students irrespective of their religion or nationality. The process of Al Taalib Scholarship for the current academic year, 2011-12, has begun for all Indian and Pakistani Schools in Kuwait. In order to avail this scholarship, applicants are requested to collect the Application Form from Al Taalib Office located in CAMS, Ahmed Al Jaber Street, Darwaza, Near Warba Insurance Co., Int’l Islamic Charity Organization Building, 2nd Floor, Al Sharq. The duly filled application form shall be submitted to Al Taalib office on or before 10th May 2011 along with all supporting documents specified in the Application Form.

Ahmadi Music Group The Ahmadi Music Group, directed by Richard Bushman, is delighted to announce the forthcoming production of The Desert Song by Siegmund Romberg and Oscar Hammerstein.

Fully-staged, with costumes, dancing, professional soloists, a cast of around fifty people and a full symphony orchestra, this will be a wonderful opportunity to experience an evening of musical theatre in the stunning new Performing Arts Centre at The English School Salmiya. Tuesday 31 May, Preview Performance for students. Wednesday 1 June, Black-tie Gala Opening Performance followed by Buffet Supper. Thursday 2 June, Performance. Friday 3 June, Performance. All performances start at 7pm at The English School, Salmiya. Emailing invitations@ahmadimusicgroup.com AWARE Arabic course The AWARE management is glad to inform you that Summer 2 Arabic language courses will begin on June 12 until July 21, 2011. AWARE Arabic language courses are designed with the expat in mind. The environment is relaxed & courses are designed for those wanting to learn Arabic for travel, cultural understanding, and conducting business or simply to become more involved in the community. We cater to teachers, travelers and those working in the private business sector.

AWARE Arabic courses highlights: Introductory to Level 4 Arabic language basics; Ccmbine language learning with cultural insights; taught in multi-nationality group settings ; and provides opportunities to interact with Western expatriates and native Kuwaitis/Arabs. For more information and/or registration, call 25335260/80 ext 105 or 0 or log onto: www.aware.com.kw

Write to us Send to What’s On upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20

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SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2011

W H AT ’ S O N

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 is for free and will be end 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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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.vfsuk-kw.com. And also, from the UK Visa Application Centre located at: 4B, First Floor, Al Banwan Building (Burgan Bank Branch Office Building), Al Qibla area, opposite Central Bank of Kuwait, Kuwait City. For any further inquiries, please contact the Visa Application Centre: Website: www.vfs-uk-kw.com E-mail:info@vfs-uk-kw.com Telephone:22971170. The Consular Section will also be closed on the same dates.

For information on the British Embassy services, visit the British Embassy website: www.ukinkuwait.fco.gov.uk ■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF 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

KES students present ‘Hook’

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ast week, Hook a “work-in-progress” was presented by the Kuwait English School Green Theatre. The Green Theatre is an inclusive performing arts group for students from both mainstream and special needs departments. This showcase was a chance for the students to perform what they had been working on throughout the year and to encourage their peers to believe that drama is for

everyone.

Hook, an adaptation of Peter Pan, had many memorable moments such as the marvelous dance with sticks in the Red Indian scene. The masterful choreography was arranged by Jennifer Dunne.

The actors were all notably confident with their characters. Muhannad Shihabi captured Pan superbly as the mischievous protagonist, Loura Al-Ateeqi excelled as

the adventurous Wendy, Deema Al-Ateeqi played a feisty Tinkerbell that drew the audience’s attention, Raed Zein was a spectacular Hook, exuding the character’s wickedness with his strong voice and demeanor, Mohammed Bahar was the ideal choice to play Smee, his comic timing was absolutely remarkable and hilarious.

Al Mohanned Al Mashaani was John, and Yiazen Zayyat played Michael.

Members of the Crew included Sam El Qunni, Vas Toner, Sima Rabiee, Marina Mokbel, Theresa Adams, Mohammed Toghien, and Joshua Gray. Directed by Wafa’a Al Abdulrazzaq and Mishari Al Sahli (both teaching assistants in Green Unit), Hook was a delightful play that left smiles on the audience’s faces. Assistant Director was Maryam Al Madi (a student in Kuwait English School).

T’azur Launches Facebook, Twitter Pages

T Hajee S M Momtazuddin, President of Jatyo Party and Sr Vice-president of Prabashi Shahityo Parishad in Kuwait is departing from Kuwait forever. A farewell party was arranged and Rafiqul Islam Bhulu President of Bangladesh Awami Foundation and poet and writer presented a crest to the outgoing guest.

‘Mahakte Lamhe’ with Udit Narayan

Notice to Filipino citizens

N

otice is hereby given that under Republic Act No. 9189, otherwise known as “The Overseas Absentee Voting Act of 2003”, all citizens of the Philippines abroad, not otherwise disqualified by law, at least eighteen (18) years of age on the day of the election, and who are registered overseas absentee voters with approved applications to vote in absentia, may vote for Senators and Party-list Representatives. For this purpose, all qualified Filipino citizens not registered as voters under Republic Act No. 8189, otherwise known as “The Voters Registration Act of 1996”, (the system of continuing registration) shall file an application for registration while those who are already registered under the said Act shall file an application for certification. For purposes of the May 13, 2013 elections, the filing of applications for registration/certification and transfer of registration records shall be filed at the Post or other designated registration areas from October 31, 2011 to October 31, 2012.

The 30-day voting period is from April 13, 2013 until 3:00’o clock in the afternoon (Philippine time) of May 13, 2013 at any Philippine Embassies or Consulates. (The time for voting to be announced later). For details, please contact telephone number: 65184433 (Kuwait)

he T’azur Takaful Insurance Company has opened official accounts on Facebook and Twitter as part of their strategies to provide more means of communications with its costumers base.

In a statement to the press, assistant marketing and public relations manager Abdullah AlDukhail said that the Bahrainbased company aims to utilize social networking websites in order to spread awareness in the Kuwaiti society regarding the insurance system as a whole and the services that they provide.

I

ndian 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.

■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF CANADA The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24, Al-Mutawakel St., Block 4 in Da’aiyah. Please visit our website at www.Kuwait.gc.ca.

Canada offers a registration service for all Canadians travelling or living abroad. This service is provided so that Consular Officials can contact and assist Canadians in an emergency in a foreign country, such as a natural disaster or civil unrest, or inform Canadians of a family emergency at home. The Embassy of Canada encourages all Canadian Citizens to register online through the Government of Canada Travel Website at www.voyage.gc.ca. The Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi provides visa and immigration services to residents of Kuwait.

Individuals who are interested in visiting, working or immigrating to Canada are invited to visit the website of the Canadian Embassy to the UAE at www.UAE.gc.ca.

Effective January 15, 2011, the only Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) application form that will be accepted by CIC is the Application for Temporary Resident Visa Made Outside of Canada [IMM 5257] form. All previous Temporary Resident Visa application forms will no longer be accepted by CIC and instead will be returned to applicants. Should old applications be submitted prior to January 15, 2011 they will continue to be processed. To ensure that the most recent version of the Temporary Resident Visa application form is being utilized, applicants should refer to the CIC website. As of January 15, 2011, forms are to be filled in electronically. The Embassy of Canada is open from 07:30 to 15:30 Sunday through Thursday. Consular Services for Canadian Citizens are provided from 09:00 until 12:00 on Sunday through Wednesday.

The forms are available on the internet at: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/forms/IMM52 57E.PDF. A guide explaining the process can be found here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/guides/5256E .PDF. ■■■■■■■

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.

■■■■■■■

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

A

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e niv rsar n

Years

00:45 Untamed And Uncut 01:40 Dogs 101 02:35 Bull Shark: World’s Deadliest Shark...

03:30 Deadly Waters 04:25 The Animals’ Guide To Survival 05:20 Animal Cops South Africa 06:10 Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 07:00 Meerkat Manor 07:25 Growing Up...

08:15 The Really Wild Show 08:40 Natural Born Hunters 09:10 Michaela’s Animal Road Trip 10:05 Must Love Cats 11:00 Animal Precinct 11:55 Wildlife SOS 12:20 Vet On The Loose 12:50 Life In The Undergrowth 13:45 Planet Earth 14:40 Extraordinary Dogs 15:05 Project Puppy 15:35 Natural Born Hunters 16:30 Karina: Wild On Safari 17:25 Cheetah Kingdom 18:20 Natural World 19:15 Wildest Africa 20:10 Dogs 101 21:05 Queens Of The Savannah 22:00 Great Savannah Race 22:55 Into The Pride 23:50 Swarm Chasers

00:15 01:05 02:35 03:15 03:30 04:00 04:30 04:50 05:10 05:35 05:45 06:05 06:25 06:50 07:05 07:25 07:45 08:10 08:20 08:40 09:00 09:25 09:40 10:10 10:40 11:25 11:35 12:20 13:10 14:05 14:50 15:35 18:05 18:50 19:20 19:50 20:50 21:40 22:35 23:25

Robin Hood Strictly Come Dancing Strictly Come Dancing Doctor Who Confidential Beautiful People Green Green Grass Me Too Tweenies Teletubbies Charlie And Lola Me Too Tweenies Teletubbies Charlie And Lola Me Too Tweenies Teletubbies Charlie And Lola Me Too Tweenies Teletubbies Charlie And Lola One Foot In The Grave Green Green Grass Robin Hood Doctor Who Confidential The Weakest Link Casualty Casualty The Weakest Link The Weakest Link Doctors Robin Hood One Foot In The Grave Green Green Grass Coast Monarch Of The Glen New Tricks Conviction Desperate Romantics

00:20 Saturday Kitchen 00:45 Holmes On Homes 01:35 Holmes On Homes 02:25 Come Dine With Me 06:35 New Scandinavian Cooking 07:15 Come Dine With Me 12:15 New Scandinavian Cooking 12:40 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 14:40 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 15:05 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 15:30 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 15:55 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 16:20 New Scandinavian Cooking

With Andreas Viestad 16:45 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 17:10 New Scandinavian Cooking 18:25 Cooked 18:55 Come Dine With Me 20:30 Perfect Day 21:00 Perfect Day 21:30 New Scandinavian Cooking 22:20 Come Dine With Me 23:10 Come Dine With Me

00:00 01:30 02:00 02:10 02:30 03:00 03:10 03:30 04:00 04:30 05:00 06:30 07:00 07:30 08:00 08:30 09:00 09:30 10:00 10:10 10:30 11:00 11:10 11:30 12:00 12:10 12:30 13:00 13:10 13:30 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:10 15:30 16:00 16:15 16:30 17:00 17:30 18:00 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:15 21:30 22:00 22:30 23:00 23:10 23:30

BBC World News Middle East Business Report BBC World News World Features Newsnight BBC World News World Features Talking Movies BBC World News Dateline London BBC World News Click BBC World News Newsnight BBC World News India Business Report BBC World News Fast Track BBC World News World Features Talking Movies BBC World News World Features Dateline London BBC World News World Features Horizons BBC World News World Features Africa Business Report BBC World News Newsnight BBC World News World Features Women On War BBC World News Sport Today Click BBC World News Earth Reporters BBC World News India Business Report BBC World News Final Score BBC World News Sport Today Africa Business Report BBC World News Talking Movies BBC World News World Features Earth Reporters

00:05 Cow And Chicken 00:30 Cramp Twins 00:55 George Of The Jungle 01:20 Adventure Time 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 Ed, Edd N Eddy 07:25 Chop Socky Chooks 07:50 Chowder 08:15 Ben 10: Alien Force 08:40 Bakugan: Gundalian Invaders 09:05 Batman: The Brave And The Bold 09:30 The Secret Saturdays 09:55 My Gym Partner’s A Monkey 10:20 George Of The Jungle 10:30 Angelo Rules

SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2011

TV PROGRAMS 10:55 Best Ed 11:20 Eliot Kid 11:45 Skunk Fu! 12:10 Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes 12:35 Bakugan: New Vestroia 13:00 Ben 10 13:25 Codename: Kids Next Door 13:50 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 14:15 The Life And Times Of Juniper Lee 14:40 George Of The Jungle 15:05 Cartoon Network Dance Club 15:15 Ed, Edd N Eddy 15:35 Chop Socky Chooks 16:00 Robotboy 16:25 Squirrel Boy 16:50 Chowder 17:15 The Secret Saturdays 17:40 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 18:05 Bakugan: New Vestroia 18:30 Angelo Rules 18:55 Best Ed 19:20 Adventure Time 19:45 Cow And Chicken 20:10 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 20:35 Courage The Cowardly Dog 21:00 The Powerpuff Girls 21:25 Ed, Edd N Eddy 21:50 Robotboy 22:00 Batman: The Brave And The Bold 22:25 Skunk Fu! 22:50 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 23:15 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 23:40 Chowder

00:40 Manhunt: Search For A Killer 01:35 Mythbusters 02:30 Surviving Disaster 03:25 Worst-Case Scenario 03:55 Worst-Case Scenario 04:20 How Do They Do It? 04:50 How Stuff’s Made 05:15 Airplane Repo 06:05 Mythbusters 07:00 Extreme Engineering 07:50 Mighty Ships 08:45 Huge Moves 09:40 Mythbusters 10:30 Gold Rush: Alaska 11:25 Sarah Palin’s Alaska 12:20 Brew Masters 17:50 How Do They Do It? 18:15 Gold Rush: Alaska 19:10 Is It Possible?

20:05 Ipod Revolution 21:00 Mythbusters 21:55 Get Out Alive 22:50 Surviving Disaster 23:45 Police Women Of Maricopa County

00:30 01:20 01:45 02:10 03:00 03:25 03:50 04:45 05:40 06:10 07:00 07:55 08:45 08:48 09:15 09:45 10:35 14:45 15:10 15:35 16:00 16:03 16:30 17:00 17:25 17:50 18:40 19:30 20:20 20:45 21:10

Nextworld The Gadget Show The Gadget Show What’s That About?

Sci-Fi Science Sci-Fi Science How Stuff Works Engineered How Stuff’s Made Superships How The Universe Works Brainiac Head Rush Sci-Fi Science Weird Connections Catch It Keep It Green Wheels The Gadget Show The Gadget Show Patent Bending Head Rush How Stuff’s Made How Does That Work?

Bang Goes The Theory Bang Goes The Theory Sci-Trek The Future Of...

Mighty Ships The Gadget Show The Gadget Show Through The Wormhole With

PHONE BOOTH ON OSN ACTION HD

Morgan Freeman 22:00 The Future Of...

22:50 Bang Goes The Theory 23:15 Bang Goes The Theory 23:40 Mega World

00:20 00:45 01:10 01:35 02:00 02:20 02:45 03:10 03:35 04:00 04:25 04:50 05:15 05:35 06:00 06:25 06:45 07:10 07:35 08:00 08:25 08:50 09:15 09:40 10:00 10:30 10:55 11:15 11:40 12:00 12:25 12:50 13:15 13:40 14:00 14:25 14:50 15:15 15:35 16:00 17:30 17:57 18:00 18:20 18:45 19:10 20:40 20:57 21:00 21:25 21:50 22:15 22:40 23:05 23:30 23:55

Replacements Replacements Fairly Odd Parents Fairly Odd Parents A Kind Of Magic A Kind Of Magic Stitch Stitch Kim Possible Kim Possible Emperors New School Emperors New School Stitch Stitch Special Agent Oso Jungle Junction Handy Manny Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Fish Hooks Shake It Up Phineas And Ferb Suite Life On Deck Hannah Montana Wizards Of Waverly Place Good Luck Charlie Shake It Up Fish Hooks Shake It Up Suite Life On Deck Fish Hooks Wizards Of Waverly Place Sonny With A Chance Hannah Montana Forever Stitch Shake It Up Fish Hooks Phineas And Ferb Good Luck Charlie Good Luck Charlie Lemonade Mouth Fish Hooks Have A Laugh Hannah Montana Forever Good Luck Charlie Good Luck Charlie Starstruck Hannah Montana Forever Have A Laugh Wizards Of Waverly Place Jonas LA Good Luck Charlie Sonny With A Chance Wizards Of Waverly Place Jonas Hannah Montana Kim Possible

06:00 Kid Vs Kat 06:20 Kick Buttowski 06:40 Pokemon 07:05 American Dragon 07:30 Phineas & Ferb 07:55 Phineas & Ferb 08:20 Suite Life On Deck S3 08:45 Pair Of Kings 09:05 Cars Toons 09:10 Kid Vs Kat 09:25 The Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes 09:50 New Spiderman 10:15 Zeke & Luther 10:40 Kid Vs Kat 11:05 Kid Vs Kat 11:30 Kid Vs Kat 12:00 Skyrunners 13:30 Phineas And Ferb 13:40 Pokemon 14:05 The Super Hero Squad Show 14:30 Kick Buttowski 14:55 Pair Of Kings 15:15 Cars Toons 15:20 Phineas And Ferb 15:30 The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody 15:50 I’m In The Band 16:15 Zeke & Luther 16:40 Zeke & Luther 17:05 Kid Vs Kat 18:20 Skyrunners 19:45 Phineas And Ferb 20:00 Kick Buttowski 20:25 Zeke & Luther 20:50 I’m In The Band 21:15 Aaron Stone 21:40 American Dragon 22:00 Pokemon 22:20 Pokemon

00:25 00:55 01:25 02:20 04:10 05:05 05:30 06:00 07:50 08:20 09:15 10:15 11:10 12:05 13:05 York 13:35 York 14:05 15:00 15:55 York 16:25 York 16:55 17:55 18:55 19:55 20:55 21:25 York 21:55 York 22:25 23:25 23:55

Extreme Close-Up Chelsea Lately E!es E! Investigates Sexiest Reality Hell Wildest TV Show Moments THS Behind The Scenes E! News Extreme Close-Up Style Star Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane E! News Kourtney And Kim Take New

00:15 00:40 01:05 01:30 02:20 02:45 2008 03:10

Kick Ass Miracles Kick Ass Miracles Kick Ass Miracles M1 Selection 2010 Breitling Airsports 2009 FIA European Drag Racing

Kourtney And Kim Take New THS Married To Rock Kourtney And Kim Take New Kourtney And Kim Take New Behind The Scenes E! News Holly’s World Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane Kendra Kourtney And Kim Take New Kourtney And Kim Take New E! News The Soup Chelsea Lately

FIA European Drag Racing

2008 03:35 FIA European Drag Racing 2008 04:00 Carpocalypse 04:50 Lucas Oil Motocross Championships 2009 06:30 Ride Guide Mountainbike 2007 07:00 Ride Guide Mountainbike 2007 07:30 Ride Guide Mountainbike 2007 08:00 Cape Epic 08:25 Kenny Belaey’s Big Time 09:40 LG Action Sports World...

10:30 LG Action Sports World...

11:20 Lucas Oil Motocross Championships 2009 12:10 Lucas Oil Motocross Championships 2009 13:00 Winter X Games Europe 2010 13:50 Ride Guide Mountainbike 2009 14:15 Ride Guide Mountainbike 2009 14:40 Eds Up 17:10 Fight Girls 18:00 Ride Guide Mountainbike 2009 18:25 Ride Guide Mountainbike 2009 18:50 Lucas Oil Motocross Championships 2009 19:40 Lucas Oil Motocross Championships 2009 20:30 Winter X Games Europe 2010 21:20 Fantasy Factory 21:45 Fantasy Factory 22:10 Ride Guide Mountainbike 2009 22:35 Ride Guide Mountainbike 2009 23:00 Fight Girls 23:50 The Millionaire’s Club

00:30 01:20 02:10 03:00 03:50 04:45 05:15 Jones 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 19:55 20:20 Jones 21:10 22:00 22:50 23:40

A Haunting The Haunted Ghost Lab Mysterious Journeys A Haunting Ghosthunters True Crime With Aphrodite Mystery Diagnosis Forensic Detectives CSU Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Fugitive Strike Force FBI Files True Crime With Aphrodite Solved Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Fugitive Strike Force Forensic Detectives CSU FBI Files Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Real Emergency Calls True Crime With Aphrodite Disappeared Ripped From The Headlines Deadly Women I Almost Got Away With It

00:00 Banged Up Abroad 04:00 Exploring The Vine 04:30 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 05:00 Banged Up Abroad 10:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 10:30 Amazing Adventure of A Nobody 11:00 Meet The Amish 12:00 Long Way Down 13:00 Cruise Ship Diaries 14:00 Banged Up Abroad 15:00 Departures 16:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 16:30 Amazing Adventure of A Nobody 17:00 Meet The Amish 18:00 Long Way Down 19:00 Cruise Ship Diaries 20:00 Banged Up Abroad 21:00 Departures 22:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 22:30 Amazing Adventure of A Nobody 23:00 Meet The Amish

00:00 01:45 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:15 12:15 14:15 16:30 18:30 20:30 22:30 PG15

Knife Edge-18 The Rock-PG15 Phone Booth-PG15 The Italian Job (2003)-PG15 A Knight’s Tale-PG15 Phone Booth-PG15 S.W.A.T.-PG15 A Knight’s Tale-PG15 Star Trek 10: Nemesis-PG15 S.W.A.T.-PG15 From Hell-18 Stonehenge Apocalypse-

01:15 Desperate Hours: An Amber Alert-PG15 03:00 An Education-PG15 05:00 On Broadway-PG15 07:00 A Christmas Carol-PG 09:00 The Sorcerer’s ApprenticePG15 11:00 Jump Tomorrow-PG15 13:00 Messengers-PG15 15:00 The People Speak-PG15 17:00 Adam-PG15 18:45 The Lovely Bones-PG15 21:00 Mother And Child-18 23:15 Crazy On The Outside-PG15

00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 01:30 South Park 02:00 Saturday Night Live 03:00 Friends 03:30 How I Met Your Mother 04:00 South Park 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 Will And Grace 06:00 Yes Dear 06:30 The Drew Carey Show 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 8 Simple Rules ...

08:30 Dharma And Greg

MOTHER AND CHILD ON OSN CINEMA 09:00 Friends 09:30 Will And Grace 10:00 Yes Dear 10:30 My Boys 11:00 The Drew Carey Show 11:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:30 Dharma And Greg 13:00 8 Simple Rules ...

13:30 Will And Grace 14:00 Yes Dear 14:30 How I Met Your Mother 15:00 My Boys 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 16:30 The Drew Carey Show 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 Just Shoot Me 18:30 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 19:00 Seinfeld 19:30 30 Rock 20:00 Two And A Half Men 20:30 Cougar Town 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 Saturday Night Live 23:00 South Park 23:30 Two And A Half Men

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 09:50 11:05 12:00 12:50 13:45 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 19:30 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:10

The Event Sons Of Anarchy The Ellen DeGeneres Show Persons Unknown The View Karen Sisco Good Morning America C.S.I. New York Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Downton Abbey The View The Event Persons Unknown Downton Abbey Live Good Morning America C.S.I. New York The Ellen DeGeneres Show Emmerdale Coronation Street What’s Good For You What’s Good For You Law And Order Criminal Minds Treme C.S.I. New York

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 16:30 17:00 18:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Cold Case C.S.I. Sons Of Anarchy The Event Persons Unknown The Closer Cold Case The Office Coronation Street The Unit The Closer The Event Persons Unknown The Office Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Unit Cold Case The Office Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show American Idol Law And Order Criminal Minds C.S.I. Psych

01:00 Tears Of The Sun-18 03:00 Phone Booth-PG15 05:00 Lake Placid 3-18 07:00 Obsessed-PG15 09:00 Along Came A Spider-PG15 11:00 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon-PG15 13:00 The Fan-PG15 15:00 Along Came A Spider-PG15 17:00 Con Air-PG15 19:00 Menace II Society-18 21:00 Stonehenge ApocalypsePG15 23:00 Fear Island-PG15

00:00 Beauty And The BriefcasePG15 02:00 Marci X-PG15 04:00 How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days-PG 06:00 Swing Vote-PG15 08:00 Man Of The House-PG15 10:00 Chatterbox-PG 12:00 Mr. Magoo-PG 14:00 Before You Say I Do-PG15 16:00 Beauty And The BriefcasePG15 18:00 The Immaculate Conception Of Little Dizzle-PG15 20:00 The Making Of Plus One-PG15 22:00 The Sweetest Thing-18

01:00 Run-PG15 03:00 My Sister’s Keeper-PG15 05:00 Smart People-PG15 07:00 Phoebe In Wonderland-PG 09:00 Witness: The Kidnapping Of Patty Hearst-PG15 11:00 Georgia O’Keeffe-PG15 13:00 Eva-PG15 15:00 Beneath The Blue-PG15 17:00 One Week-PG 19:00 In The Electric Mist-PG15 21:00 Mr. Jones-PG15 23:00 The Stoning Of Soraya M.-18

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 FAM 11:00 13:00 14:45 PG15 17:00 FAM 19:00 21:00 23:00

Triage-18 Chasing Papi-PG Surrogates-PG15 Old Dogs-PG The Princess And The FrogAppaloosa-PG15 I Spy-PG He’s Just Not That Into YouThe Princess And The FrogJack Goes Boating-PG15 The Making Of Plus One-PG15 Tetro-PG15

00:00 Scooby-Doo And The Ghoul School-FAM 02:00 The Adventures Of Rocky And Bullwinkle-FAM 04:00 Sabrina The Teenage Witch: Friends Forever-PG 06:00 G-Force-PG 08:00 Rolie, Polie, Olie: The MovieFAM 10:00 The Adventures Of Rocky And Bullwinkle-FAM 12:00 Kung Fu Magoo-FAM 14:00 Sabrina The Teenage Witch: Friends Forever-PG 16:00 Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home-FAM 18:00 Ulysses-PG 20:00 My Fair Madeline-FAM 22:00 Kung Fu Magoo-FAM

00:00 The Dry Land-18 02:00 Passing Strange-PG 04:30 Hachiko: A Dog’s Story-PG15 06:00 StreetDance-PG15 08:00 Dean Spanley-PG 10:00 Saved!-PG15 12:00 Percy Jackson And The Lightning Thief-PG15 14:00 Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel-FAM 16:00 Dean Spanley-PG 18:00 My Bollywood Bride-PG15 20:00 Tetro-PG15 22:15 New York I Love You-18

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 06:30 07:00 09:00 11:00 11:30 14:00 15:00 17:00

Super 15 Scottish FA Cup Super 15 Total Rugby NRL Full Time Live NRL Premiership Scottish FA Cup Futbol Mundial AFL Premiership Trans World Sport Scottish FA Cup Live Rugby League Challenge

Cup 19:00 Trans World Sport 20:00 European PGA Tour

01:30 07:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 19:00 19:30 21:30 23:30

European PGA Tour Trans World Sport Live NRL Premiership NRL Premiership ICC Cricket World European Tour Weekly Live European PGA Tour Futbol Mundial NRL Premiership NRL Premiership Rugby League Challenge Cup

01:00 WWE Bottom Line 02:00 WWE NXT 03:00 WWE Vintage Collection 04:00 Full Throttle 04:30 V8 Supercars Championship 06:00 Live V8 Supercars Championship 08:00 WWE Bottom Line 09:00 WWE NXT 10:00 WWE SmackDown 12:00 Total Rugby 12:30 Live IRB Sevens World Series 21:00 V8 Supercars Championship 23:00 WWE Bottom Line

00:30 The Search For Sherlock Holmes 01:20 America: The Story Of The Us 02:10 Clash Of The Gods 03:00 Deep Sea Detectives 03:55 True Caribbean Pirates 05:40 Investigating History 06:30 The Search For Sherlock Holmes 07:20 America: The Story Of The Us 08:10 Clash Of The Gods 09:00 Deep Sea Detectives 09:55 True Caribbean Pirates 11:40 Investigating History 12:30 The Search For Sherlock Holmes 13:20 America: The Story Of The Us 14:10 Clash Of The Gods 15:00 Deep Sea Detectives 15:55 True Caribbean Pirates 17:40 Investigating History 18:30 The Search For Sherlock Holmes 19:20 America: The Story Of The Us 20:10 Clash Of The Gods 21:00 Ancient Wonders 21:55 Rome’s Lost Legion 22:50 Egypt: Land Of The Gods 23:40 Modern Marvels

00:00 Travel Notebook 01:00 Working Holiday 02:00 Think Green 03:00 Julian and Camilla’s World Odyssey 04:00 Globe Trekker Special 05:00 Travel Notebook 06:00 American Civil War Trail 07:00 Globe Trekker 08:00 Working Holiday 09:00 Glutton For Punishment 09:30 Angry Planet 10:00 Nomad’s Land 11:00 Great Scenic Railways - 175 Years 11:30 The Big Fish 12:00 Globe Trekker 13:00 Indian Times 14:00 Working Holiday 15:00 Travel Notebook 16:00 Globe Trekker 17:00 Megalopolis 18:00 Culinary Asia 19:00 Globe Trekker Special 20:00 That Crazy French Woman 21:00 Distant Shores 21:30 Glutton For Punishment 22:00 World’s Greatest Motorcycle Rides 23:00 Globe Trekker

Classifieds SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2011

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1 big room with attached bathroom available for 1 or 2 decent executive bachelor near Shara Amman Street, opposite Appolo Hospital. C-A/C eat & kitchen facility, W&E free.

Call: 99761807. (C 3365) Sharing accommodation available for Goan / Manglorian bachelor near Khaitan Co-op in a ďŹ&#x201A;at.

Contact: 99453500.

(C 3366) 22-5-2011 Opposite Salwa Co-op. big ďŹ&#x201A;at available consisting of one big hall, big bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and balcony. For more details call: 99156068. Asian family only. (C 3364)

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Sharing accommodation available for a decent Keralite bachelor in a fully furnished C-A/C building in Farwaniya with all facilities, between Continental Suit and International Clinic.

Contact: 99716630.

(C 3356) Room available in C-A/C ďŹ&#x201A;at with separate bath room in Sharq near Mughal Mahal Restaurant for working ladies or small family from July 1st. Pls contact: 99567689 or 55197093.

(C 3357)

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Source Source: S Sourc So urce e: J Jane a F ane Foos oos off R Red d Cedar Ceda ar Spo Sp Sports por ts s Medicine, Medicine edicin edic ne, Wisconsin Association W Wiscons Wisco Wis consin nsin n Interscholastic Intersch In erscholastic Athletic Athle c Assoc A Ass ssociat ociati atiion on Š 201 2011 1 MCT

Sharing accommodation available from June 1st for a Keralite bachelor in Sharq near Holiday Inn downtown. Contact: 99397531/99387111.

21-5-2011

Graphic:: Paul Graphic Paul Trap Trap

FOR SALE Engineer leaving Kuwait selling all household appliances and furniture very cheap. Contact: 66271658/ 97686139/ 24728413.

(C 3367) 22-5-2011 PC Compaq Pentium 4, HD 20 GB, RAM 128 (Expandable), Windows XP Pro with 15â&#x20AC;? LCD Neovo, excellent condition. Price KD 35. Contact: 99322585.

(C 3360) 19-5-2011 Toyota Corolla, model 2007, golden color, 1.8 engine, 89,000 km done, original paint, excellent condition, price KD 2,750, negotiable.

Contact: 99105286. (C 3355)

CHANGE OF NAME I have changed my name from Khalil Ahmed Abdul Qadeer to Shaikh Khalil Ahmed Abdul Qadeer as per aďŹ&#x192;davit dated: 05-042011.

(C 3362)

I, Kutbuddin, holder of Indian Passport No. G1348678, hereby change my name to Kutbuddin Hakimuddin Bhatia.

(C 3363) 21-5-2011

No: 15096

MATRIMONIAL Marriage proposal invited for 26/162 B.Tech Engr, Christian, Marthomite Girl, Employed and residing with parents in Kuwait, seeking alliance from professionally qualiďŹ ed, Christian boys, 28-30yrs, preferably Marthomite.

Contact E-mail ID: hisgrace52@gmail.com (C 3359) 19-5-2011

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION In case you are not travelling, your proper cancellation of bookings will help other passengers to use seats Airlines RJA KAC JZR THY ETH UAE DHX ETD FDB GFA QTR FCX JZR KAC BAW KAC KAC IRA KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC UAE QTR ABY IRA ETD GFA IRC FCX MEA JZR JZR JZR RBG KAC MSR UAL RJA KAC FDB KAC SVA

Flt 642 544 267 772 620 853 370 305 67 211 138 201 555 412 157 206 382 615 302 332 53 678 352 284 855 132 125 603 301 213 6801 203 404 165 121 561 3553 672 610 982 640 774 57 562 500

Arrival Flights on Sunday 22/5/2011 Route AMMAN CAIRO BEIRUT ISTANBUL ADDIS ABABA DUBAI BAHRAIN ABU DHABI DUBAI BAHRAIN DOHA DUBAI ALEXANDRIA MANILA / BANGKOK LONDON ISLAMABAD DELHI SHAHRE KORD MUMBAI TRIVANDRUM DUBAI MUSCAT / DUBAI COCHIN DHAKA DUBAI DOHA SHARJAH SHIRAZ ABU DHABI BAHRAIN AHWAZ DUBAI BEIRUT DUBAI BAHRAIN SOHAG ALEXANDRIA / SOHAG DUBAI CAIRO WASHINGTON DC DULLES AMMAN RIYADH DUBAI AMMAN JEDDAH

Time 0:05 0:30 0:35 1:15 1:45 2:25 2:55 2:55 3:10 3:15 3:20 5:25 6:10 6:15 6:30 7:15 7:20 7:35 7:50 7:55 7:55 8:00 8:05 8:10 8:25 9:00 9:10 9:25 9:30 9:35 10:15 10:30 10:55 11:10 11:15 12:30 12:55 13:15 13:20 13:30 13:35 13:40 13:50 14:20 14:30

SYR KAC KAC JZR QTR ETD UAE GFA SVA JZR JZR ABY JZR JZR KAC KAC KAC ALK KAC KAC KAC KAC JAI FDB OMA VOS MEA KAC DHX UAE KAC GFA QTR AFG UAL AIC JZR JZR JZR MSR DLH AXB JZR KLM JZR PIA

341 788 746 257 134 303 857 215 510 777 239 127 213 177 166 542 618 227 786 614 674 102 572 61 647 81 402 512 372 859 172 217 136 405 981 981 135 787 185 612 636 389 539 447 481 205

DAMASCUS JEDDAH ABU DHABI / DAMMAM BEIRUT DOHA ABU DHABI DUBAI BAHRAIN RIYADH JEDDAH AMMAN SHARJAH DEIREZZOR DUBAI PARIS / ROME CAIRO DOHA COLOMBO JEDDAH BAHRAIN DUBAI NEW YORK / LONDON MUMBAI DUBAI MUSCAT BAGHDAD BEIRUT TEHRAN BAHRAIN DUBAI FRANKFURT BAHRAIN DOHA KABUL / DUBAI BAHRAIN CHENNAI / AHMEDABAD BAHRAIN RIYADH DUBAI CAIRO FRANKFURT KOZHIKODE / MANGALORE CAIRO AMSTERDAM / BAHRAIN SABIHA LAHORE

14:55 15:00 15:05 15:10 15:15 16:50 16:55 17:15 17:20 17:25 17:35 17:40 17:50 18:00 18:40 18:50 18:55 19:00 19:00 19:20 19:25 19:25 19:35 20:00 20:10 20:15 20:15 21:00 21:00 21:15 21:20 21:25 21:35 22:00 22:00 22:05 22:10 22:20 22:35 22:50 23:00 23:10 23:30 23:35 23:50 23:55

Departur SVA AXB DLH AIC BBC THY ETH UAE FDB DHX ETD QTR JZR JZR RJA GFA VOS JZR BAW IRA FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC JZR KAC KAC UAE ABY QTR ETD GFA KAC IRA IRC FCX MEA KAC JZR JZR JZR KAC KAC RBG

Flt 9371 394 637 976 46 773 620 854 68 371 306 139 560 164 643 212 94 120 156 614 54 171 671 745 117 256 561 787 856 126 133 302 214 773 602 6802 204 405 541 776 212 238 103 785 3554

Depurture Flights on Sunday 22/5/2011 Route JEDDAH COCHIN / KOZHIKODE FRANKFURT GOA / CHENNAI DHAKA ISTANBUL BAHRAIN / ADDIS ABABA DUBAI DUBAI BAHRAIN ABU DHABI DOHA SOHAG DUBAI AMMAN BAHRAIN DUBAI / KANDAHAR BAHRAIN LONDON SHAHRE KORD DUBAI FRANKFURT DUBAI DAMMAM / ABU DHABI NEW YORK BEIRUT AMMAN JEDDAH DUBAI SHARJAH DOHA ABU DHABI BAHRAIN RIYADH SHIRAZ AHWAZ DUBAI BEIRUT CAIRO JEDDAH DEIREZZOR AMMAN LONDON JEDDAH ALEXANDRIA

Time 0:10 0:15 0:40 0:50 1:00 2:15 2:30 3:45 3:50 3:55 4:05 5:00 5:55 6:55 7:00 7:10 8:00 8:20 8:25 8:35 8:40 8:55 9:00 9:05 9:05 9:10 9:15 9:25 9:40 9:50 10:00 10:15 10:20 10:20 10:25 11:15 11:45 11:55 12:00 12:00 12:05 12:10 12:30 13:30 13:35

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

JZR MSR RJA FDB UAL KAC KAC SVA SYR JZR QTR KAC KAC JZR ETD UAE GFA ABY JZR SVA JZR JZR JZR KAC ALK KAC JAI FDB KAC KAC OMA MEA DHX UAE GFA FCX QTR KAC KAC JZR JZR JZR KAC UAL KAC MSR

176 611 641 58 982 673 617 503 342 480 135 613 511 538 304 858 216 128 184 511 786 204 134 283 228 361 571 62 343 351 648 403 373 860 218 102 137 301 205 502 554 530 411 981 415 613

DUBAI CAIRO AMMAN DUBAI BAHRAIN DUBAI DOHA MEDINAH / JEDDAH DAMASCUS SABIHA DOHA BAHRAIN TEHRAN CAIRO ABU DHABI DUBAI BAHRAIN SHARJAH DUBAI RIYADH RIYADH DAMASCUS BAHRAIN DHAKA DUBAI / COLOMBO COLOMBO MUMBAI DUBAI CHENNAI COCHIN MUSCAT BEIRUT BAHRAIN DUBAI BAHRAIN BAHRAIN DOHA MUMBAI ISLAMABAD LUXOR ALEXANDRIA ASSIUT BANGKOK / MANILA WASHINGTON DC DULLES KUALA LUMPUR / JAKARTA CAIRO

13:40 14:20 14:30 14:35 14:45 15:10 15:35 15:45 15:55 16:00 16:15 16:20 16:30 16:40 17:35 18:05 18:15 18:20 18:25 18:35 18:40 18:55 19:10 20:00 20:10 20:20 20:35 20:40 21:00 21:05 21:10 21:15 22:00 22:25 22:30 22:30 22:35 22:45 22:55 23:05 23:10 23:35 23:40 23:40 23:50 23:55

34

s ta rs CALVIN

CROSSWORD 325

SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2011

STAR TRACK Aries (March 21-April 19) You may enjoy eccentric or unconventional friends today. Groups with some kind of humanitarian flavor will appeal to you as well.

There is a love of communication and connections of all kinds are available—letters, wires, telephones, voice, thoughts, writing and mental processes in general. You are very communicative today, the communicator and the watcher of the neighborhood. Searching conversations, scientific inquiry, research and so on belong here.

Your energy is unattached now, independent and inquisitive. Tonight you focus more on issues of security, home, family and such. Your thoughts have great substance and feeling. There is an interest in history—the past and nostalgia may be the topic of conversation.

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

POOCH CAFE ACROSS 1. An audiotape recording of sound.

4. A port city in southwestern Iran.

10. A white linen liturgical vestment with sleeves.

13. A federal agency established to coordinate programs aimed at reducing pollution and protecting the environment.

14. A fancy dock for small yachts and cabin cruisers.

15. An ancient Hebrew unit of capacity equal to 10 baths or 10 ephahs.

16. An emergency procedure consisting of external cardiac massage and artificial respiration.

17. Reverent petition to a deity.

18. Large brownish-green New Zealand parrot.

19. An annual publication including weather forecasts and other miscellaneous information arranged according to the calendar of a given year.

22. Not only so, but.

23. A member of a Muslim Turkic people of western Asia (especially in Kazakstan).

25. A white metallic element that burns with a brilliant light.

26. Any of various strong liquors distilled from the fermented sap of toddy palms or from fermented molasses.

27. (Old Testament) In Judeo-Christian mythology.

31. A soft silvery metallic element of the alkali earth group.

33. A soft white precious univalent metallic element having the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal.

35. An intensely radioactive metallic element that occurs in minute amounts in uranium ores.

38. Type genus of the Rhamnaceae.

39. A large fleet.

42. A constellation in the southern hemisphere near Telescopium and Norma.

43. A woman hired to suckle a child of someone else.

44. South African term for `boss'.

47. God of fire.

49. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.

51. Atlantic coast round clams with hard shells.

55. Submerged aquatic plant having narrow leaves and small flowers.

57. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

59. Plant with an elongated head of broad stalked leaves resembling celery.

60. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

61. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables.

63. On or toward the lee.

64. An enclosed space.

65. Genus of western United States annuals with showy yellow or white flowers.

66. Type genus of the Alcidae comprising solely the razorbill.

DOWN 1. The process of gradually becoming inferior.

2. Fruit with red or yellow or green skin and sweet to tart crisp whitish flesh.

3. Covered with paving material.

4. A primeval personification of air and breath.

5. United States writer of poems and plays about racial conflict (born in 1934).

6. A member of the Caddo people who formerly lived in the Dakotas west of the Missouri river.

7. God of the underworld.

8. A kind of heavy jacket (`windcheater' is a British term).

9. (British) Your grandmother.

10. A town and port in northwestern Israel in the eastern Mediterranean.

11. United States physiologist (born in Germany) who did research on parthenogenesis (1859-1924).

12. (informal) Exceptionally good.

20. According to the Old Testament he was a pagan king of Israel and husband of Jezebel (9th century BC).

21. A deep opening in the earth's surface.

24. The capital of Croatia.

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

29. An ancient Assyrian city on the River Tigris and traditional capital of Assyria.

30. An independent group of closely related Chadic languages spoken in the area between the Biu-Mandara and East Chadic languages.

32. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

34. A Portuguese province on the south coast of China and two islands in the South China Sea. 36. A federal agency established to regulate the release of new foods and health-related products.

37. A member of the Siouan people formerly living in the Missouri river valley in NE Nebraska.

40. Wildly disordered.

41. Type genus of the Amiidae.

45. Jordan's port.

46. The capital and largest city of Yemen.

47. Unknown god.

48. Mentally or physically infirm with age.

49. (British) A waterproof raincoat made of rubberized fabric.

50. Being or befitting or characteristic of an infant.

52. An interior passage or corridor onto which rooms open.

53. An organization of countries formed in 1961 to agree on a common policy for the sale of petroleum.

54. (Greek mythology) Goddess of the earth and mother of Cronus and the Titans in ancient mythology.

56. A metric unit of volume or capacity equal to 10 liters.

57. Unknown god.

58. The Tibeto-Burman language spoken in the Dali region of Yunnan.

59. A state in northwestern North America.

62. (Akkadian) God of wisdom.

Yesterday’s Solution

Perhaps some yard or gardening work is in order this morning.

There is a golden opportunity to make some changes around the house as well—perhaps some repairs. This is not a good time to put off till tomorrow what you can do today. You will enjoy good relations with family members. You may also find that financial problems are eased because of your association with a family member. If there are problems between you and a loved one, now is the time to find a better understanding. Hidden matters and bottled feelings are not healthy. Be open-minded and diplomatic now. Reflect on past achievements and the positive friends you have rather than any negatives. Unexpected communication may occur during this time through a letter or a visit.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) Some changes around your house or in the work place may have you feeling like you could let out a yelp or two but you are not the only one feeling that way. Listen to the questions others have and hear the answers.

You will be reassured that you can handle these changes and more positives than negatives will gain your attention. You could come up with some wonderful ideas for bringing more jobs to your community. Consider submitting these ideas to a news service that would appreciate your ideas. This is a good day and you should receive some good insights. Your family and friends support you, wherever you have your attention. Make it a point to enjoy friends or family members this evening. Perhaps a movie or play could be enjoyed.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

NON SEQUITUR

A picnic or a trip to the zoo or an art show might be enjoyed today.

You tend to be out front and personable. It is easy for you to express yourself with others . . . you are a real smoothie. There is some talk this evening about all work and no play, so you might decide to learn a new hobby or perhaps, complete something you started long ago. Your personal appearance is important to you, and you put a lot of thought and effort into how you appear or come across to others. You may decide a shopping trip is in order—but before you go, consider sorting through your clothes closet in order to get rid of the things that no longer serve you. Encourage others to do the same and you will have a bag full of clothes for a needy family.

Leo (July 23-August 22)

ZITS

You may find a shift in your routine today. You should be extremely careful if this shift requires travel. Tend to your vehicle first and you will have what you or a loved one needs to navigate traffic safely. A volunteer service or caring for the needs of a family member brings you much pleasure. It is good to be needed and to be able to render aid to those that ask. Occasionally, you will find opportunities to serve others when they do not ask; which puts a smile on everyone’s face. While visiting with friends this afternoon consider bartering for what you want. You may glean some spiritual insight or self-discovery today. This may also come from a book, a lesson or a lecture you may be attending this afternoon, a growing day.

Virgo (August 23-September 22) Your friends, partners and relationships mean a lot to you. They are a primary source of strength and you often look to them for encouragement. You are indeed a social being and will no doubt weave this fact into your lifestyle. You seem to assert your independence in relationships.

Unconventional, to say the least, you may well enjoy a different kind of marriage or friendship. You have insight into marriage or yoga—the ties that bind. You never forsake your principles when it comes to relationships of any kind. Today is all about relating to others and counting your blessings. You are in a good place and look for many ways to keep everyone together. There is a pleasant environment at home and you are filled with the desire to enjoy your family.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIM

Your inner resources and emotions are accented. Expect a sense of good will from those around you. This is a great day for surrounding yourself with friends and young people and for having a good time. You appreciate your particular situation and enjoy the interaction of all ages and they enjoy you.

Circumstances could dictate your guidance. You feel healthy and natural. Others value you for your ability to take control, organize and rationalize and create a positive atmosphere for all. People in positions of responsibility are quite impressed by your intelligence and your abilities. You may reach out to a loved one and be pleasantly surprised at the response. Avoid being extravagant. If there is a need, you know how to secure domestic tranquility.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) You are motivated to work around the house today—getting things in order. Moving yourself out-of-doors for a bit of relaxation in the sun and perhaps, to visit with neighbors or friends. Not feeling much like getting into emotional discussions, you may find yourself working in the garden, writing letters or going for a drive in the country. Perhaps a nearby vegetable stand will have fresh vegetables and fruits or plantings for your yard, patio or kitchen. You could find yourself in a museum or art show later today. Marriage and other close relationships give rise to great expectations now. This is a time to enjoy and appreciate your ties to others and to seek and promote harmony in the interaction between people.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) Social and group affairs could be fun, but you will probably find yourself off to the company of nature and enjoying creative arts most of this day. You find yourself appreciating what is quite normal or ordinary today, such as little baby ducks, etc. Everyone in your family could be going in different directions today. This is a great opportunity to enjoy the hobby you never have time to have fun with, or to be with a friend and learn about each other’s hobbies.

You and a friend may want to learn how to do some engraving in order to mark your possessions. This is a great time to reflect and understand each other. You may be giving your will power a good workout later today as you have an opportunity to be with a friend at a new store opening.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) You draw strength and a sense of wellbeing from ideals, friends and a social involvement now. You may feel a need for change, a desire to break with outmoded patterns from the past and a longing for the new, the different and the unique. The cycle that begins for you now will be marked by a more intense focus on mental and communicative activity than you may ever have experienced before. It’s a time of more involvement with other people, a time for gathering information. You are apt to be most active at this time and want to join several activities. There is an emphasis on reading, writing, studying and all forms of exchanging information with others in the years ahead. This will all serve as a path for self-discovery and personal development.

Yesterday’s Solution Aquarius (January 20- February 18) You may enjoy probing into your inner workings or some good solid gossip today. You do not mind working through some sensitive problems. This may even include a self-help lecture by a known psychiatrist or similar type of lecture. Your life takes on a kind of mystical quality at the emotional and instinctive levels. Dreams and illusions, forgiveness and understanding human frailties arouse deep feelings. You will find that you understand your friends and family members better at this time; perhaps you are just more patient. There is an intense focus on mental and communicative activity and a time of involvement with others.

You will enjoy being with your friends and family more often this summer and fall.

There is a bit of self-discovery.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Word Sleuth Solution

Living in the past may be tempting today, but it is unproductive.

Come on now—moving onward and upward. Love, spontaneous socializing and young people’s problems will keep you on the go and in the know.

You can demonstrate great understanding and sensitivity to the needs of others just now and are in a good position to lend a helping hand—emotionally or otherwise.

You can really communicate and convey yourself to others very well. You have a lot of energy and come across as assertive and strong. Your powers of creativity are strong and you may enjoy activities that show off your talents. You may find yourself leading children in a fun activity that will show off everyone’s creativeness. A clown or magic show might be fun. A new relationship begins.

A

y

e niv rsar n

Years

SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2011

i n f o r m at i o n

FIRE BRIGADE STATE ST TAT TE OF KUW KUWAIT K WA AIT

112

Tel.: T e el.: 161

DIRECTORA DIRECTORATE AT TE GENE GENERAL ERAL OF CIVIL AVIATION AVIA V AT TION DEPARTMENT METEOROLOGICAL DEP D PA ARTMENT

Ministry of Interior

Ext.: 2627 262 27 - 2630

Fax: 24348714 WWW.MET.GOV.KW WWW .MET.GOV V..KW W

Expected Weather Weather for the Next 24 4 Hours Dusty with moderate to fresh north northerly herly to north westerly wind,, with speed of 25 - 50 km/h and some scat scat-tered clouds c will appear

BY Y DAY: DA AY:

website: www.moi.gov.kw

Dusty with moderate to fresh north h westerly wind, with speed of 20 - 40 km/h and some sc cattered clouds w scattered appearr

BY Y NIGHT: NIGHT:

For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128

strong wind

WARNING W A ARNING STATION ST TAT TION

Al-Madena

22418714

Al-Shohada’a

22545171

Al-Shuwaikh

24810598

Al-Nuzha

22545171

Sabhan

24742838

Al-Helaly

22434853

Al-Fayhaa

22545051

Al-Farwaniya

24711433

Al-Sulaibikhat

24316983

Al-Fahaheel

23927002

Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh

24316983

Ahmadi

23980088

Al-Mangaf

23711183

Al-Shuaiba

23262845

MAX. EXP. EXP P.

MIN.. REC.

KUWAIT KUW WA AIT CITY

42 °C

31 °C

24812000

KUWAIT AIRPORT KUW WA AIT AIRPOR RT

42 °C

32 °C

Al-Jahra

25610011

Amiri Hospital

22450005

NUWAISEEB NUW WA AISEEB

40 °C C

32 °C C

Al-Salmiya

25616368

Maternity Hospital

24843100

WAFRA WAFRA A

43 °C

31 °C

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

SALMI

40 °C

29 °C

Chest Hospital

24849400

ABDALY ABDAL LY

43 °C

30 °C

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

JAL ALIY ALIYAH YA AH

42 °C

29 °C

Adan Hospital

23940620

FAILAKA A FAILAKA

41 °C

30 °C

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

AHMADI PORT POR RT

37 °C

32 °C

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

M UMM AL-MARADEM

35 °C

30 °C

WARBA A A - BUBYAN BUBY YA AN WARBA

43 °C

29 °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 T

21/05/2011 21/05/201 1 0000 UTC

POLICE STATION

4 DA DAYS AY YS FORECAST T Temperatures emperratures DAY DA AY

DA DATE AT TE

WEA WEATHER AT THER

MAX.

MIN.

Wind Direction W ind Dir ection

W Wind ind Speed

Sunday

22/05

hot + raising dust du ust

41 °C

31 °C

NW

25 - 45 km/h

Monday

23/05

dusty + scattered cl clouds louds

41 °C

29 °C

NW

25 - 45 km/h

Tuesday Tuesday

24/05

hot + raising du dust ust

43 °C

32 °C

NW

20 - 45 km/h

Wednesday Wednesday e

25/05

dusty

43 °C

32 °C

NW

25 - 50 km/h

PRAYER PR RA AY YER TIMES

RECORDED D YESTERDA YESTERDAY AY A AT T KUW KUWAIT WA AIT T AIRPOR AIRPORT T

Fajr

03:22

MAX. Temp.

MA AX. T emp.

44 °C

Sunrise S i

04:53 04 53

MIN. Temp.

MI IN T IN. emp.

29 °C

Zuhr

11:44 11:44

MAX. RH M

45 %

Al-Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Al-Khadissiya

22515088

Asr

15:20

MIN. RH M

11 11 %

Dasmah

22532265

Sunset

18:36

MA AX. W ind i MAX. Wind

N 46 km/h

Bneid Al-Ghar

22531908

Isha

20:05

TOTAL RAINFALL T OT TA AL L RAI INF 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

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

nless otherwise stated.

All times are local time un unless

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

36

SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2011

lifestyle

Hudson didn’t plan pregnancy

G O S S I P

Theron

K

hates watching own movies harlize Theron hates watching her own films.

The 35-year-old actress admits she finds it difficult to watch herself on the big screen - but she did enjoy seeing her Oscar-winning performance in 2003’s ‘Monster’. She told German TV station TELE 5: “I hate to see myself on screen. When I did ‘Monster’ it wasn’t too bad, because I didn’t look like Charlize Theron.” The South African-born beauty had to re-

C

ate Hudson didn’t plan on having another child before she was 33. The actress - who reaches the age on April 19 next year - is expecting a baby with her fiancee, Muse rocker Matt Bellamy, but she didn’t intend on getting pregnant before she found out the happy news. Kate - who already has a seven-year-old son Ryder with her exhusband Chris Robinson - told Germany’s InStyle magazine: “We just let destiny take its course. I actually didn’t want a second child before my 33rd birthday.” Kate has enjoyed being pregnant again, but admits there have been some changes in her body which she hasn’t enjoyed.

She said: “Normally I’ve got cup size A, now I’m almost a D. In some situations big boobs are funny, but in most they aren’t.” The ‘Nine’ star has also revealed what she loves most about 32-year-old Matt - his honesty. She explained: “I’m actually with someone who knows how to have fun. The only thing I’ve been looking for my whole life was honesty, and that’s hard to find.”

watch many of her scenes in the film - in which she portrayed real life serial killer Aileen Wuornos because she acted as a producer on the project. She added: “During the rough cut I had to watch a lot of my scenes over and over again. I would slit my wrists if I had to watch my other films that often.” Charlize also thinks the fact that ‘Monster’ didn’t have a big budget turned out to be an advantage. She

explained: “The fact that we didn’t have a lot of money saved us, this way everything seemed a lot more authentic. With a bigger budget we automatically would have used prosthetics, but fortunately we weren’t able to afford more than false teeth.”

Morrison reveals hair secret atthew Morrison uses body lotion in his hair. The 32-year-old actor- best known for playing teacher Will Schuester in musical TV drama ‘Glee’ - claims his biggest beauty secret is his unusual choice of product for his locks, which he says makes them smooth and soft. He said: “My hair is very soft, right? It’s because I put Lubriderm in it. It’s just body lotion. “I used to use gel and products, but my hair got kind of hard. Then, one day I ran out of whatever I was using and that was the only thing there, this lotion. It ended up

M

being the best my hair ever looked.”

Matthew’s hair is often the subject of jokes in ‘Glee’ but he insists he doesn’t mind because everyone is mocked on the show. He told heat magazine: “Everyone kind of gets made fun of in the show and that’s the whole point. “There’s a bit in the episode we’re just shooting about my ‘butt-chin’.”

Goodwin calls off engagement

Dogg imparted wedding advice to Prince William noop Dogg gave Britain’s Prince William pre-wedding advice. The 39-year-old rap mogul explained he imparted onto the royal - who tied the knot with Princess Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, at London’s Westminster Abbey on April 29 - a few words of wisdom about married life, and told William to take his pep talk seriously. Snoop said: “Look, I’ve been married for 15 years so I know what I’m doing.” The ‘Drop It Like It’s Hot’ hitmaker - who married his high school sweetheart Shante Taylor in 1997 - also admitted Prince Harry asked him to perform at William’s stag party earlier this year, but he had already agreed to attend a barbecue. Speaking on ‘The Graham Norton Show’, he explained: “I had a barbecue to attend so I couldn’t make it.” After being asked to perform at the royal bash, Snoop recently revealed he had written the “perfect anthem” for Prince William. He said: “When I heard that the royal family wanted to have me perform in celebration of Prince William’s marriage, I knew I had to give them a little something. “‘Wet’ is the perfect anthem for Prince William or any playa to get the club smokin’.”

S

Kardashian never wanted to date a sportsman hloe Kardashian never thought she would date a basketball player. The reality TV personality is married to LA Lakers star Lamar Odom and she admits she always expected sportsmen to be cheaters, but has now realised her perception is wrong. She said: “Before Lamar, I would have said, ‘Ew, there’s no way I’d date a basketball player.’ “I stereotyped them - I thought basketball players have ample opportunities with girls, are always travelling and don’t have time for a girlfriend. “But their bad reputation is silly, Lamar and I spend loads of time together. I think it depends on the man. You could be a secretary

K

and a cheater - it’s not the career, it’s the person.”

Khloe and Lamar currently star in their own selftitled TV series and she says her husband is now as comfortable in front of the cameras as she always has been. She said: “Having cameras follow me around is like second nature and I’m really used to it now. “Lamar didn’t know what to expect when we first started but now he’s a pro. “I met Lamar’s dad for the first time on camera, which wasn’t planned. I was kind of uncomfortable about it because it was such a personal thing, but that’s just reality TV for you.”

Mendes doesn’t need movie make-up va Mendes is happy to go makeup free in films. The 37-year-old actress - who is the face of Revlon and is a spokeswoman for Thierry Mugler’s Angel fragrance - was keen to strip down her look in ‘Last Night’ and let her acting do the talking. She said: “In the opening scene I might have a little powder on my face and that was it. “That may not sound like a big deal, but these are things that really help create a sexuality in my characters. My hair, which as you can see today is naturally really big, we straightened it, tucked it behind and took away all the sex.” Eva starred alongside Sam Worthington, Keira Knightley and Guillaume Canet in ‘Last Night’ and was thrilled to be part of such a talented cast, although she did have concerns about the description

E

of her character in the original script.

She added to The Independent newspaper: “My only trepidation with my character was that on paper she read as a seductress. “When I got together with the writer-director we spoke about how to approach that character, and that it would be very boring and one note for me to simply play her as the other woman. “She completely agreed and we stripped this character down and we did some different things, such as I don’t have any makeup on in a couple of scenes in the film.” The movie tells the story of a happy couple Joanne (Keira) and Michael (Sam), whose lives are interrupted when Michael goes on a business trip with colleague Laura (Eva) and Joanne meets old love Alex (Guillaume).

innifer Goodwin has called off her engagement. The ‘Something Borrowed’ actress - who got engaged to ‘Super Troopers’ star Joey Kern in December after almost two years of dating - and her fiance reportedly “broke up a few weeks ago”, but plan to remain friends. A source told People.com: “They broke up a few weeks ago but they intend to remain friends.” While no further details are yet available, the love split could prove to be bad news for Ginnifer - who previously dated ‘American Pie’ actor Chris Klein - as she recently admitted she is a “happier person” and more productive in her career when she is in a relationship. She said: “I’m a better person in a relationship, and I’m a happier person. I need to come home at the end of the day and have it not be about me and my hair and make-up. “And I think my work is more inspired when home is safe and sound and solid because what I do for a living is so bananas and so insecure.”-Bang Showbiz

G

A

y

e niv rsar n

SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2011

Years

lifestyle M U S I C

&

M O V I E S

‘Born This Way’

Lady Gaga finally hatches

S

(From left) Actress Hiam Abbas, French actresses Hafsia Herzi, Leila Bekhti, French director Radu Mihaileanu, French actress Sabrina Ouazani and Algerian actress Biyouna pose during the photocall of “La Source des Femmes” (The Source). — AFP

Popular Cannes film reflects

‘Arab Spring’ A

film about a woman taking a stand against men in a North African village won cheers in Cannes yesterday, with some viewers moved by its expression of the spirit of the “Arab Spring” uprisings. A small handful of critics also booed during the packed screening of “The Source”, directed by Radu Mihaileanu, later telling journalists they found its depiction of Arab life over simplistic. But the overwhelming majority of critics in the audience praised its resonance with real-life events, saying they would not be surprised to see it scoop a big prize at the annual film festival.

The Source was the last of 20 films shown in the festival’s main competition ahead of the closing ceremony today

where the awards will be announced including the Palme d’Or for best picture.

Also premiered yesterday was “Once Upon a Time in Anatolia”, a slow-paced, subtle examination of cruelty and betrayal by Nuri Bilge Ceylan.

The Source opens by declaring itself a fairytale in which Leila, the beautiful and feisty wife of teacher Sami, declares a “love strike”, or ban on all sex, until the men in her village agree to carry the water from a spring high in the mountains. In a time of economic hardship and unemployment, men sit and sip tea all day while women lug heavy loads up steep paths. Leila decides to take a stand when her friend falls and loses her baby. Men and women fall out, with violent consequences. Women bicker

about the value of tradition over change while conservative clerics try to exploit the village’s divisions.

‘Need for more revolutions’ Mihaileanu, a Romanian-born French director, told a news conference in Cannes that the film was partly a reflection of the recent uprisings in Tunisia and across the Arab world. “There has been tremendous hope since last December. There is hope for freedom and a strong desire to get rid of those in power and there is the idea of people deciding their own destiny,” he said.

He added that revolution on the streets of Egypt, Tunisia, Syria and Bahrain had yet to be matched by a change in people’s homes. “There is a second revolution which

spirit

is essential, which is the revolution in the home, and the place of women in the family. Women should be made equals at home as well.” The director, who is Jewish, said the idea for the film came from a true story in Turkey. Leila leads the battle in the village, confronting the village imam and quoting from the Koran in defence of her case.

She is defended by one of the film’s most colourful characters-Mother Rifle, whose words are “like bullets”, played by Algerian actress Biyouna.

Turkish entr y One Upon a Time in Anatolia follows a group of police officers and a doctor as they look for the corpse of a murder victim buried in the countryside.

Light on plot, it has nonetheless won over critics with its craftsmanship. —Reuters

T Enrique Iglesias, Pitbull, Prince Royce team on tour

he once performed in New York’s small bars searching for followers, but pop’s reigning queen Lady Gaga will likely score a huge audience when her second full-length studio album is officially released next week.

Early reviews for “Born This Way,” which has already leaked onto the Internet ahead of the official May 23 release, have been modest. But a publicity blitz and Gaga’s social media power should produce strong sales regardless of whether it is any better than her first studio album “The Fame”, say music experts.

“The first-week sales figures are going to be pretty massive; after that, it will be up to the people to decide whether it really has legs,” Leah Greenblatt, music critic for Entertainment Weekly told Reuters. “But doesn’t she win either way? Clearly, we can’t stop talking about her, and we won’t any time soon.” Ensuring the 25year-old New York singer’s chances, Greenblatt noted that Interscope Records, part of Universal Music Group , was “blanketing the album at every retail outlet short of Baskin Robbins.”

Billboard said Gaga would likely oust British singer Adele’s “21”-the biggest selling album of the year with 1.7 million copies and countingfrom her eight week reign at the top of the Hot 200 album charts. “Born This Way,” could be set for first week US sales in the range of 450,000 to 750,000 copies, according to Billboard. One fan website is devoted to getting the album to sell one million copies in its first week.

Country singer Taylor Swift sold 1,047 million first week copies of “Speak Now” in the United States last November, in what was the fastest selling new album in five years. Although the first four singles from “Born This Way” were already released, all fourteen tracks were streamed in Europe this week.

Early reviews have been positive, if not glowing. Rolling Stone magazine said she still threw in some surprises. The single, “Born This Way,” which moved one million iTunes downloads in just five days in February, “sounds different in the context of the album that shares its name: like an experiment in the audacious plus-sizing of Eighties dance-pop,” Rolling Stone said.

The Los Angeles Times review was less enthusiastic, noting with every style on the album from flamenco to blues, the “overriding influences are 70s disco and glam-rock”. But although there were interesting moments, the album wasn’t groundbreaking. “If Gaga had only spent as much time on pushing musical boundaries as she has social ones, ‘Born This Way’ would have been a lot more successful.”

Image master Such is Gaga’s influence that she ousted Oprah Winfrey to claim No 1 in Forbes’ annual “The Celebrity 100” list that measures power by entertainment-related earnings, media visibility and social media popularity. “ To make this record successful, all she needed to do was produce something-almost anything-bold enough for people to react to. And ‘Born This Way’ is, from the cover on in, a fire hose of such things,” New York Magazine said Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, is a master of managing her quirky image with flamboyant fashion choices and uniting a range of fans with messages of selfexpression, feminism, sexual freedom and inclusiveness. Greenblatt said Gaga, who has 32 million Facebook fans and 10 million Twitter followers, had “relentlessly hyped” the album for months.

“She first came at us three years ago in this very sneaky way; her debut album sort of crept in the side-door of pop culture and just built this incredible, organic momentum. So in a lot of ways ‘Born This Way’ is the opposite of that.” And she hasn’t shied away from again encouraging the eccentric image she promotes.

Asked what she does with all her costumes, she told entertainment news show EXTRA: “They go to that planet G.O.A.T. The place I was in the ‘Born this Way’ video-the Government Owned Alien Territory in space. I just send it all there. It’s in a giant archive just in sort of a centrifugal gravity situation.” Then again, she sometimes sounds more homely. She has received “a bunch of emails about how much the fans loved,” her album, she told EXTRA. “I was so happy. You know what I did? I went into the kitchen and I made spaghetti with mussels and shrimp and a white wine sauce.” — Reuters

he year was 1999, and Enrique Iglesias kept hearing two words that made him cringe: “Latin explosion.” “It always used to be mind-boggling to me, because it almost always sounded like we were a fad and that we were going to disappear, and I never saw it that way,” the crooner said. “Latin music and Latin artists are here to stay-whether they’re singing in English, Spanish or changing styles.”

Iglesias’ comments came after he’d announced a major fall tour, also featuring radio favorites Pitbull and Prince Royce.

The tour will visit about 17 US cities and is positioned to be one of the year’s biggest, straddling the English and Spanishlanguage markets. For the trio, the trek also represents a generational shift that places them in a different playing field: as artists with Latin roots who were raised in the United States and who have mainstream appeal while simultaneously catering to their base in the Latin market.

“I don’t think this type of tour has ever been done,” said Rebeca Leon, VP of Latin talent at AEG Live/Goldenvoice, which is promoting the tour. “For those of us born and raised in this country who feel just as much Latino as American, it’s exciting.” The brainchild behind the tour is Iglesias himself, who approached Pitbull.

After the pair collaborated on the single “I Like It,” they met Prince Royce at the Billboard Latin Music Awards, and a tour was born.

“I give Enrique credit for stepping up,” AEG Live president/CEO Randy Phillips said. “It takes a sophisticated businessman and artist to agree to a tour with a package so strong.” That the three artists had already established strong bonds with each other, Phillips says, makes all the difference. “There is a new generation of Latinos and Latinas who listen to pop and crossover radio,” he says. “I don’t think that the genre wall really exists anymore. These stars have cross-generational appeal.” Fernando Giaccardi, Iglesias’ manager for nearly a dozen years, has seen music evolve in ways that increase opportunities for Latin artists.

“Latinos are not segmented anymore,” he said. “There are a lot of girls in Kansas who love [Iglesias, Pitbull and Prince Royce], English or Spanish. They don’t care where the artists are from. They are mainstream now, even though these artists have a big Latin flag in their hands. And there’s no reason to deny it.” “There are no rules to music anymore,” Iglesias added.

“You can turn on top 40 radio and listen to Latin artists, and you can turn on a Latin radio station and listen to American artists, too. It goes both ways now.” — Reuters

(From left) Mexican director Everardo Gout, Spanish actor Carlos Bardem, Mexican actor Tenoch Huerta, actor Kristian Ferrer, Mexican actress Dolores Heredia, Mexican actor Leopoldo Gout and Ethiopian actor Vikram Chatwal pose during the photocall of ‘Dias De Gracias’. —AFP Cannes review

‘Days of Grace’

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breathlessly paced adrenaline rush, “Days of Grace” is the second violent film in Cannes this year (after “Miss Bala,” which is mild in comparison) depicting Mexico as a lawless land of drug lords, kidnappers, and corruption so endemic it goes “all the way up to the top.” This Out of Competition entry written, directed and produced by Everardo Gout is a first feature full of cruelty and only conventional character development. The hero, a handsome young cop, is as ruthlessly macho as the snarling, tattooed killers he battles, yet the film’s pace is so furious, there’s little time to worry about the ethics of sympathizing with him as he goes about breaking arms and cracking skulls.

Heavy testosterone content earmarks it as a genre film for the male teen demographic, for whom it has the energy, if not the stars, to break out of Latino markets.

The action takes place in 2002, 2006 and 2010, cleverly denoted by the World Cup

soccer matches on everybody’s TV. During the games, we are told, both cops and criminals let down their guard. But not Lupo Esparza (Tenoch Huerta), a champion of justice who will stop at nothing to catch his man. This tall, muscular young cop exudes intensity and honesty, a family man with a big smile and an innate aversion to lawbreakers. He’s characterized in a dynamic opener in which he mistreats two small kids for pushing marijuana. For their own good. Unfortunately the lesson doesn’t take hold because one of the frightened boys, Doroteo, gets involved in a fearsome kidnapping eight years later. A rich businessman is abducted by professionals, beaten and mutilated while his wife and brother dither over the ransom money.

The victim’s agony is shown with hair-raising realism, as is his tense relationship to Doroteo. By constantly cross-cutting between the years, Gout is able to keep the action rolling non-stop. —Reuters

‘Kung Fu Panda 2’ teams with CityVille Po, voiced by Jack Black, center, Tigress, voiced by Angelina Jolie, right, and Monkey, voiced by Jackie Chan are shown in a scene from “Kung Fu Panda 2.” —AP

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reamWorks Animation, Paramount Pictures and social gaming giant Zynga on Friday unveiled the first-ever advertising integration within Zynga’s CityVille to promote the theatrical release of “Kung Fu Panda 2.” It is Zynga’s latest collaboration with Hollywood and DWA whose CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg recently joined the gaming firm’s board.

Starting Friday until the end of the month, CityVille’s more than 88 million monthly active players can go on a Kung Fu Panda 2-themed quest and receive an exclusive in-game item - a Po the Panda statue - for completing it.

The film opens on May 26. Zynga said CityVille is the largest and most popular application on Facebook.

“Nearly a third of all ‘Kung Fu Panda’ fans on Facebook have also played CityVille, so the integration is a natural fit and something we think our players will love,” said Manny Anekal, global director of brand advertising at Zynga. “It’s important that we collaborate with innovative brands like DreamWorks Animation that resonate with and are meaningful to our players and enhance their game play.”

“Our exclusive integration of ‘Kung Fu Panda 2’ in Zynga’s CityVille gives millions of players a fun and deeply interactive way of connecting with Po and the Furious Five,” said Jason Alex, head of online marketing at DWA. —Reuters

SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2011

lifestyle T R A V E L

Hanging, and hang gliding, in and around

By Mary Ann Anderson

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A true slice of Americana, Chattanooga’s Ruby Falls, deep inside Lookout Mountain Caverns, is a thundering 145-foot waterfall.

(Below) The Tennessee Aquarium and Hunter Museum of American Art worked together to bring “Jellies: Living Art” to Chattanooga.

The Tennessee Aquarium’s River Gorge Explorer is the first high-speed vessel of its kind to operate on an inland waterway in the United States.

trapped into a harness and lying only a couple of inches from the soft, dew-wet grass airstrip at Lookout Mountain Flight Park in Georgia, I close my eyes, swallow hard, and then say a little prayer. Okay. Scratch that. A big prayer. I was about to hang-glide for the first time in my life, and I had changed my mind about going, oh, say, a hundred times in the last minute. Petrified yet excited, I made the final decision to take the flight only at the very last moment. When the plane powered up, I knew there was no turning back. As the one-seater tow-plane roared down the airstrip, I finally snapped open my eyes as our kite-like contraption reached lift-off speed. As the ground grew farther and farther away, my tandem pilot, Eric Graper, and I swept skyward, my arms wrapped around him in a death grip that I wouldn’t release for all the mint juleps in Georgia.

“The tow-plane is going to let go now,” Eric said after we had been aloft for a few minutes.

“Then we’re going to drop. Are you ready?”

Ready or not, the rope snapped away, the hangglider did indeed drop a few tummy-churning feet as the plane sped away. Next I heard a loud screeching and then thumpity-thumpitythumpity, which turned out to be my screaming like a schoolgirl and my heart pounding wildly with exhilaration mixed with numbing fear.

Soaring into the wind underneath a canopy of gray clouds on that blustery day, I peered 2,000 feet down at the honeycomb of ancient mountains and forests at the intersection where Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama meld together.

My fear melted away at the incredible view. “Do Wonder Woman!” Eric shouted above the wind.

“Let go of that death grip you have on me and do a Wonder Woman!” More thumpity-thumpthumps as I nervously let go. Tentatively raising my arms into the wind, for a few magical, incredible seconds I felt more like Nike, the winged goddess of victory, than Wonder Woman.

Back down on the grass airstrip, my knees still shaky and my head still light, I was surprised that I immediately wanted to go again. I had conquered my fear of hang gliding, but even better is that I’m now convinced I know how angels fly.

My husband and I were on a quick getaway to Chattanooga, Tenn., which is just a few miles from Lookout Mountain. While Chattanooga may have a funny name, it is a fantastic place to visit-and if you’re plucky enough, to hang glide.

The name Chattanooga emerged from a Creek Indian word meaning “rock coming to a point.” That, of course, would be Lookout Mountain, which meanders from Chattanooga to northwest Georgia and northeast Alabama.

Back in the early 1980s, I had first visited there to see Rock City (Yes, really! See Rock City!).

At the time, Chattanooga was a dirty, smoky industrial city filled with pollution-so much so that drivers had to use their headlights during the daylight-and was going nowhere fast. Even the Environmental Protection Agency got into the act and proclaimed it “America’s Dirtiest City,” a fact that Walter Cronkite reported to the world.

Long stor y short, an incensed

The Tropical Cove in the Tennessee Aquarium’s Ocean Journey is home to this pair of hyacinth macaws, a species known for their striking blue plumage. They can reach heights of more than three feet and have a wingspan of more than four feet.

—MCT photos Chattanooga cleaned up its act, and in the past couple of decades has scrubbed itself so shiny that it’s now a centerpiece city of the South filled with culture, history, arts, entertainment, shopping, and antiquing. And did I mention hang gliding? “Chattanooga is one of the most transformed cities in America,” says Thom Benson, Communications Manager at the Tennessee Aquarium & IMAX Theater. “And now we have so many natural and man-made attractions that draw people from all over.”

This trip was our third return trip in 10 years’ time, and every visit brings something new in this ever-changing, ever-evolving city. First, though, there are plenty of noteworthy attractions that have been around for a while. At Lookout Mountain, you’ll want to visit these true slices of Americana: Rock City Gardens, Ruby Falls, and the Incline Railway where you ride along “America’s Most Amazing Mile” from the top of Lookout Mountain to the valley

below.

We really enjoyed seeing the Tennessee Aquarium again. The aquarium was the first I had ever been to, and I’ve been to plenty of them since, but this one really is a sight to “sea” with its thousands of animals, three living forests, and spectacular jellyfish exhibit. So, what’s new in Chattanooga since our last visit three years ago? The Aquarium has added its “River Gorge Explorer,” a state-of-the-art high speed catamaran that takes guests on a twohour journey into the Tennessee River Gorge to see the wildlife, wildflowers, and wilderness of Tennessee’s own version of a “grand canyon.”

I couldn’t help but marvel at the way the catamaran zips upriver at speeds of up to 55 miles per hour and then can stop on a dime, sending spray every which-away. For a bit of tame nightlife, we went to the Jukebox Junction Family Theater, Chattanooga’s newest live entertainment venue that started only two years ago and features hits from the 1950s and ‘60s and the cornball “Elwood Smooch’s Choo-Choo Boogie Variety Show.” Remember, this is Tennessee, so there has to be a little bit of nostalgic hillbilly tossed in with the glitz.

You’ll want to stay downtown so that you’re within walking distance of the Aquarium, museums, restaurants, the Bluff View Arts District, and the 10-mile-long scenic Tennessee River Walk. We stayed at the wonderfully renovated Doubletree Hotel. On our first trip to Chattanooga, we stayed at the same property when another chain owned it and was in desperate need of renovations. We were happy to see that it, like Chattanooga, had transformed itself and is now a four-star hotel.If you prefer quirky, try one of the train car rooms at the world-renowned Chattanooga Choo-Choo, a member of the Historic Hotels of America, or for something more intimate, the Stone Fort Inn or Bluff View Inn, both small boutique hotels.

And Marriott has several properties downtown to fit every budget, including the Chattanooga Marriott, a Courtyard and Residence Inn. In the South, it’s all about the food, so you’ll like these recommendations. The original Sticky Fingers barbecue house is in Chattanooga, but also try the Chattanooga Choo-Choo Station House where “singing servers” provide live entertainment. We were serenaded by Elvis as he served our dinner. Yeah, it’s hokey, but fun. —MCT

rson nn Ande s Mary A of Lookout a e it k d eys rsize . e the vall e an ove Mountain much lik r soar high abov s k o lo r e e d p li ra g G g The han d instructor Eric an

SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2011

lifestyle F A S H I O N

Mongolians develop a taste for luxury

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A not-so-mellow yellow

n the 13th century, Mongol emperor Kublai Khan and his harem sported silk gowns, fur cloaks and jewel-encrusted head ornaments at their home-the legendary pleasure palace in Xanadu. Today, latter-day khans are again stepping out in some of the world’s finest luxury fashions as Mongolia’s minerals-fuelled economy boosts disposable income for the country’s nouveaux riches.

Louis Vuitton, Emporio Armani, Burberry and Hugo Boss have led the charge of high-end shops opening in Mongolia’s sprawling capital Ulan Bator, the flashy stores jarring with the city’s Soviet-era apartment blocks and shantytowns.

“The domestic fashion industry is growing with the Mongolian economy and people have more money to spend,” Hugo Boss shop manager Siizhuugiin Nasantulga told AFP. “They would rather spend it here than go on overseas shopping trips.” Landlocked Mongolia, one of Asia’s poorest countries, has seen its per capita GDP rise to $3,300 as foreign mining giants have come calling to tap into its vast deposits of everything from gold to coal. The economy is expected to grow at a healthy eight percent this year and the country’s currency advanced 10 percent against the dollar in 2010, making imports cheaper.

With an influx of new money and the number of millionaires growing, members of the upperincome set have sought to outdo each other with name-brand fashion and fancy cars. “Mongolians have great fashion sense and they are always looking for the highest quality products,” says Nasantulga, a strapping 28-year-old with fluent English he learned while studying business overseas. “People love to show off their cars and they

Tory Burch Contrast Elastic Wedge Espadrille in Green and Yellow. Bold color gives the classic espadrille a fresh update.

Pedestrians walk past a Louis Vuitton outlet in Mongolia’s sprawling capital Ulan Bator on April 7, 2011. —AFP take pride in dressing as well as they possibly can.” ed in the Central Tower, a new office building adjaLuxury lifestyles have been a foreign concept for cent to Sukhbaatar Square, where the modern most of Mongolia’s modern history. It was a com- Mongolian state was established in 1921. In the VIP munist country for nearly seven decades until a room of the Louis Vuitton store, big spenders can 1990 democratic revolution led to multiparty poli- lounge on white leather couches as they check out $1,100 shoes or $800 sunglasses. Outside, luxury tics and a market economy.

Most of the luxury shops in Ulan Bator are locat- cars ply potholed streets. Flashy SUVs-Toyota Land

Cruisers, Hummers and Land Rovers-stand snarled in traffic jams with models from Mercedes-Benz, Lexus and BMW. Beyond the capital, a few Mongolians are taking to the roads in custom-built Mercedes-Benz Zetros trucks, packed with ultra-modern features like flatscreen TVs, bidets and even kitchens. While the upper crust flaunts its wealth, most working class Mongolians barely make ends meet by toiling in mines, herding livestock, driving taxis or selling imported goods from China. The average officeworker salary in the capital is around $250 a month and the minimum wage just $115 per month.

Foot traffic in luxury shops is therefore understandably low-but ready to spend. “We have relatively few customers but those that shop buy a lot,” explains Armani manager Batbekhiin Batkhuu.

“For now the most important part of our business plan is establishing brand awareness. We need to educate people on fashion and which labels are the best.” The sizzling real estate market in Ulan Bator is helping to make these increasingly luxurious lifestyles possible.

When property markets were privatized in the late 1990s, flats were readily available for around $5,000, says Belgian real estate investor Chris De Gruben. Those same apartments now sell for around $90,000. “These apartments form an important part of the economy. Locals can sell their apartment and use the cash to start a business and get a kick-start in life. It allows people to move forward,” De Gruben said. New apartments and penthouses are beginning to appear. In the prestigious Zaisan area in the south of the city, modern units start at around $2,000 per square meter. —AFP

Tory Burch Roslyn Tote. The Roslyn Tote in coated canvas combines a modern square shape with chic elements including zipper details and luggage tags.

—MCT photos

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ran into my very cool and always fashionable friend Ali last week at (not surprisingly) the nail salon, and she was toting a season-old, but very current-looking, neon-yellow Celine chain-strap bag that brought incredible life to her simple ensemble of a charcoal gray blazer, black skinny trousers and white T-shirt. It was the pop of yellow that tied her sleek basics together so well and worked perfectly to update a classic look.

A burst of the sunny shade is a great tool in this transitional weather-you can wear layered pieces from fall or winter and just update them with a hit of summery, sunshine-y color. Another plus: Pairing the yellow bag with a tailored charcoal blazer made for a fresh and interesting combination.

Designers are churning out accessories in shocking versions of yellow, and they ’re also doing some variations on the yellow and gray combo. Check out Tory Burch’s contrasting elastic espadrille wedges ($175), which are primarily yellow, with a gray-green border on the straps.

Newbark Tote. A bright-yellow The neutral color panel along the base adds a helps temper the striking color-block twist to brightness and adds NewbarK’s taupe brushed- a modern richness that’s more appealleather tote. ing than solid yellow straps.

Jil Sander also has a two-toned wedge ($450) in the cool color combo, this time in a silvery gray. The asymmetrical straps on the Sander sandals are lemon yellow and shimmery silver, providing an interesting contrast that would look great paired with cropped white jeans and a black T-shirt. The shoe also fits the season’s colorblocking trend, but in a subtle and chic way.

Of course, there are also a slew of fun and sunny yellow handbags out there right now that will revive your neutral basics and go-to items for summer. Go for something unapologetically yellow, not some soft buttery shade that teeters on tan or beige. Those colors are fine, but won’t have the same effect as more shocking versions of the shade.

A smaller cross-body bag or a clutch is a good option to give your look an unexpected boost. For the more daring dresser, a larger tote or satchel in yellow looks great too-it’s just much more of a commitment.

Don’t be intimidated by the color. By tempering it with white or gray, you’ll achieve a clean and modern look.

You can even pair a yellow bag with a floral dress that has little hits of yellow in it. The yellow accessory will work to bring out the color in the dress and tie your whole look together.

Yellow is definitely the color of summer, and this time around, it’s anything but mellow. —MCT

Giordano

ushers in new era of e-tail

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iordano, one of the region’s leading apparel retailers, is reinventing itself with plans to enter e-tailing as it continues to build its regional business assets by implementing strategic store expansion and refurbishment plans. As part of the company’s venture into the world of digital media, Giordano is introducing e-shopping via its website www.giordano-me.com this year, strengthening its card less customer loyalty program World Without Strangers (WWS), and, reaching out to thousands of customers through various digital and social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, Blogs and YouTube.

With a dual strategy to also invest in its physical presence in the region, Giordano has intensified upgrades of current stores and plan to open at least six more stores in 2011. Ishwar Chugani, Executive Director, Giordano Fashions LLC, said: “Giordano is a strong international brand and to maintain our market leading position, we constantly need to evolve and assess our relationships and interfaces

with customer, and get our products closer to them. We recognize the importance and the depth of the digital world as well as the phenomenal influence on consumer decision-making and that is why we want to ensure that Giordano maximizes the potential of both the social media and digital world here in the Middle East.

“It is also heartwarming to know that Giordano has the power to generate substantial numbers of supporters on social media platforms. Through YouTube, Twitter, our Giordano Blog and our Middle East Facebook page which currently has 29,000 fans and expected to grow to 50,000 by the end of this year, we now have direct and personal interactions with our customers on a daily basis. For us, it is very important to know and understand what their thoughts are to enable us to provide the products and services they really want,” added Chugani.

Digital marketing is not new to Giordano as evidenced by its global card less customer loyalty program, WWS introduced in 2007. The program,

which allows members to earn points and receive discounts, has more than 4,000,000 members worldwide with over 200,000 coming from the Middle East region. WWS members in the region now contribute to 20 per cent of Giordano sales in the Middle East.

Giordano is also making the move to e-shopping via its website www.giordano-me.com, later this year, allowing customers the convenience of purchasing their favorite Giordano items from the comfort of their own homes or offices. While there will be a strong focus on both the digital media, Giordano will continue to upgrade existing stores and open new stores in both current and new markets. This year, Giordano has already completed the renovation of six stores in the region, opened five new stores in the UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and has also opened its first stores in Morocco and Iraq.

Giordano will also be entering the Sri Lankan market with the opening of its first store in Colombo this year.

Sis’s own flair

Line & Dot ruffle-sleeve tie top from Urban Outfitters. —MCT

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he royal wedding of Catherine Middleton, now the Duchess of Cambridge, and Britain’s Prince William was full of fashion surprises. There was Catherine’s dress, designed by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen; her 1936 Cartier tiara; Queen Elizabeth II in the brightest of yellows; the glorious hats in shapes and colors that would rival those on any “Star Wars” movie set. And then there was Catherine’s sister, Pippa. The beautiful brunet may have stolen the show from her

Casual linen jacket from Forever. big sis-at least a little-in her stunning ivory satin cowl-neck dress, also designed by Burton.

If you didn’t know who Pippa Middleton was before the wedding, you definitely should now. She’s

always been quite stylish, but postroyal wedding, the world is taking notice. We can’t wait to see what she’ll wear next. The day after the wedding, Pippa was spotted leaving the Goring Hotel in London, where the Middleton family stayed the night before the big day. Looking chic as could be, Pippa left in a pair of white jeans, a cream-colored top, a royal blue tailored blazer from Zara and neutral flats.

Part of the Middleton sisters’ allure is that ever ything about them, including their clothing, seems modest, accessible and down to earth. Pippa’s blazer retails for $100, a pretty frugal find already.

But if you’re looking for something even more affordable, we’ve got you covered with a double-breasted Boonie blazer from J. Crew in dark navy for $79.99, a Gibson one-button blazer from Nordstrom for $88, a Ponte knit jacket in deep blue from J. Jill for $34.99, a Casual linen jacket from Forever 21 for $24.80 or the Thatch palm blazer from Anthropologie for $88.

You can achieve this look with any light-colored, lightweight top, but Urban Outfitters has some great finds such as the Pins and Needles lace inset blouse for $59 or the Line & Dot ruffle -sleeve tie top for $19.99. Pippa’s white jeans are ideal for summer and a nod to the nautical when paired with her royal blue blazer. For a “wear anywhere” pair, get jegging ankle jeans from American Eagle for $19.99 or Always Skinny jeans from the Gap in white wash for $59.50.

Pippa’s flats are sensible, and the neutral color is elegant and versatile, two frugal fashion musts. For a similar look, try the City flat in gold from the Gap for $39.95. Or for a little extra flair, go with embellished Round flats in pewter from Forever 21 for $17.80; they feature a faceted jewel accent on the toe. Pippa is sporting a gray bag, but any color tote or clutch will work with the colors of your new summer outfit. Have an outfit you’re dying to buy but need a frugal alternative? Email us a picture. We’re up for the challenge. — MCT

Lady Gaga finally hatches ‘Born This Way’

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SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2011

emotions With

Fanning Leads

2011 Young Hollywood Awards Elle Fanning wipes away a tear as she accepts the Actress of the Year Film award.

Actress Camilla Belle accepts the Young Hollywood Style Icon award.

“T (From left) Ashley Benson, Lucy Hale, Troian Bellisario and Shay Mitchell, cast members in the television series “Pretty Little Liars,” accept the Cast to Watch award.

Actress Hailee Steinfeld accepts the Breakthrough of the Year award as presenter Jeff Bridges looks on.

hat was really nice!” exclaimed 13-year-old Elle Fanning at Friday night’s Young Hollywood Awards, where the actress picked up Actress of the Year honors. Presented the award by film legend Francis Ford Coppola (he cast her in his next film, Twixt Now and Sunrise, after seeing her in daughter Sofia’s Somewhere), Fanning brought the house down at LA Live by doing what more seasoned actors might have held back. She cried.

“There are so many great young actresses out there, and I’m just so happy that you guys gave this to me tonight and chose me, that was really nice! Thank you to Sofia [Coppola] and J.J. [Abrams] for giving me the opportunity to do all these really exciting and cool movies.

I’ll never forget the feelings that I had when I was asked to even go meet them, not to mention that I actually got to be in their films. Just thank you guys so much, Young Hollywood, and of course to Francis again for coming and doing this for me... it was really nice.” Fanning said.

Overcome with emotion at the honor of having one of America’s greatest living directors introduce her with fatherly affection at her first major awards acceptance, Fanning was grateful, graceful, and adorably childlike. These are the Young Hollywood Awards, yes, but it’s easy to forget the “youth” part of it all when teenagers are trotting the red carpet like seasoned couture hounds.

Moments like this, with Fanning genuinely verklemt at the podium bring the spectacle back to its essence - the celebration of young talent on the rise among Hollywood’s under-30 set.

Among the youngest of the young on hand: Fanning, 13; Hailee Steinfeld, 14; Super 8’s Riley Griffiths and Ryan Lee, both 13. Given 2010’s crop of roles for young people, this year’s honorees represented a deep field of talent. Garrett Hedlund received the Actor of the Year award (Film), receiving his award from Tron: Legacy castmate Michael Sheen; Oscar-nominee Hailee Steinfeld got a surprise when Jeff Bridges, her True Grit co-star, showed up to fete her. —Movie line

Aimee Teegarden accepts the TV Actress of the Year award as presenter Erika Christensen looks on.

Elle Fanning accepts the Actress of the Year Film award from director Francis Ford Coppola. —AP photos

Jesse Williams accepts the TV Actor of the Year award.

Actor Armie Hammer accepts the Star of Tomorrow Male award from Aaron Sorkin.

Australian actress Isabel Lucas accepts the Star of Tomorrow Female award.

Garrett Hedlund accepts the Actor of the Year Film award as presenter Michael Sheen looks on.