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Pakistani Taleban deny twin blasts that killed 39

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Erdogan triumphs but must seek consensus

US lawmaker releases first post-shooting photos

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Home favorite Wozniacki triumphs in Copenhagen

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clashes as Syrian troops storm Jisr Al-Shughour Army regains control of restive town, thousands flee conspiracy theories

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On the edge between madness and surrealism

NAIROBI: Somali pirates have released the Kuwaiti crude oil tanker Zirku, held since late March, after a “massive” ransom was paid, a piracy watchdog said yesterday. “Sources close to the owners, diplomatic sources and local observers confirmed that the Somali pirates had let the UAEflagged, Kuwaiti-owned oil tanker sail free after the ransom was paid,” Ecoterra International said in a statement. Ecoterra, which monitors piracy off the coast of Somalia, said the “massive” ransom could set “a new record for a vessel of that class” but did not cite the amount. The tanker’s 29 crew members, including 17 Pakistanis, are “apparently all right” after their relatively short time in captivity, Ecoterra said. The Zirku was seized on March 28 southeast of Oman by pirates firing rocket-propelled grenades and small arms from skiffs.

badrya_d@kuwaittimes.net

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Death upheld in Jahra case KUWAIT: Kuwait’s supreme court yesterday upheld a woman’s death sentence for setting ablaze her husband’s wedding tent, killing 57 women and children. Nasra Yussef Mohammed AlEnezi, 24, was condemned to death by a lower and appeals courts for the apparent act of revenge against her husband for taking a second wife. The ruling against Enezi is final unless HH the Amir Continued on Page 13

news

Tanker freed for ‘massive’ ransom

By Badrya Darwish

uys, it looks it’s the revolutionary age in the Arabian Peninsula. Unfortunately, I do not mean revolutionary in a scientific way and the way you understand it. It is revolutionary in a mad way.

Only a couple of days ago, former candidate for parliament, Salwa Al-Mutairi, came up with the most ridiculous and crazy suggestion to trade in jawary (concubines) in Kuwait in order to please the gentlemen as if they don’t have enough already. Today, I was shocked to read another revolutionary thinker from the Arabian Peninsula, the heart of Saudi Arabia. The guy is not a previous candidate for parliament. He does not belong to the political arena or to the artists’ and singers’ societies. He belongs to the religious group. This somebody has the title of sheikh.

Meet Ali Baqna Al-Shahrani and his imaginative ideas. Our dear sheikh claims that the design of King Abdulaziz Airport in Jeddah is abusive to Islam. The design of the airport building reminds our revolutionary sheikh of some intimate female parts. In which way I have no idea. He goes in more details explaining that the Air Traffic Control tower resembles a man’s intimate parts. He goes to extreme details, saying that the aircraft landing and taking off move in a way similar to the way spermatozoa move.

What an imaginative religious figure! Should this guy have a beard and carry the title sheikh? I looked at the design of the airport and showed it to everybody in the editorial room. I asked them what would they see the picture portrays. They all answered they see the Air Traffic Control building, runways etc. None of them came even one mile close to the imagination of sheikh Ali. It is simply a design of a modern airport - no more, no less.

What is his surrealistic viewpoint? I think the whole idea is simply on his mind. So if he sees an airport in this way, I am sure he sees everything around him similarly. God help us what he sees in animals, trees, apples, or women walking on the streets although they are wrapped in their abayas. I wonder what he sees in men and children walking on the street.

I think it is up to the Saudi authorities to take care of that guy and his title and to question his credentials. My advice to the sheikh is to quit religious work and to join the ranks of surrealistic artists. I am sure he will do brilliantly there. My advice to the designers and architects is to be careful from now onwards when they design a building or an airport in case they meet a sick surrealistic thinker who can turn their work into a hundred other unmentionables.

We have a proverb in Arabic - eish Rajab, tara’a ajab. So when Arabs see something strange or crazy, they use this expression - live in Rajab and you will see crazy things. (Rajab is the seventh month in the Arabic calendar).

God help us for the rest of Rajab!

Max 43º Min 28º Low Tide 02:44 & 16:14 High Tide 08:48 & 22:46

Saudi slaps quotas to boost local jobs

ALTINOZU, Turkey: Syrian refugee children flash victory signs at the Boynuyogun Turkish Red Crescent camp in this district of Hatay near the Syrian border yesterday. — AFP BEIRUT: Under the rattle of heavy gunfire and loud explosions, Syrian troops yesterday regained control of a restive northwestern town, clashing with mutinous soldiers whose decision to side with armed protesters posed a potent threat to the authoritarian regime.

Backed by helicopters and tanks, army units moved in after dismantling explosives planted on roads and bridges leading to Jisr Al-Shughour, Syria’s state-run news agency SANA said, reporting “heavy” clashes.

Residents who fled to Turkey said thousands of young men, including soldiers and police who switched sides and joined the revolt against President Bashar Assad, had armed themselves and planted dynamite at the town entrances.

Assad has made some concessions, but thousands of people demonstrating against his rule - inspired by protests in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere - say they will not stop until he leaves power. The mutiny in Idlib province, and the apparent willingness of some outgunned residents to stay behind and fight, was a major departure from what had been a largely peaceful protest movement. More than 1,400 Syrians have died and some 10,000 have been detained in the government crackdown since mid-March, activists say.

Jisr Al-Shughour’s streets were deserted at midday -

residents said nearly everyone had fled in recent days and there were piles of debris. Turkey has given sanctuary to more than 5,000 Syrians since the uprising began in mid-March, nearly all of them in the past week from the area around Jisr Al-Shughour. A resident who fled yesterday said the army shelled Jisr Al-Shughour, then tanks and other heavy armor rolled in from two directions. As the troops advanced, he said, they fought about 60 army defectors, whose fate was unknown. He said about 200 unarmed men who were guarding the town are believed to have been either killed or detained. The witness, who fled to an area near the Turkish border, did not give his name for fear of government reprisals.

After gaining control of the town, Syrian troops showed reporters four bodies, some still in uniform, that were beheaded or struck on the head with an axe. The city’s Military Police building was burned and there were bloodstains in some rooms, which bolstered the reports of a mutiny. State television said the forces uncovered mass graves of security men killed and buried by armed groups in Jisr Al-Shughour and said their bodies bore marks of “atrocities”. It did not give details. The government said last week that “armed Continued on Page 13

Bahraini woman jailed over poems Two Shiite ex-MPs on trial MANAMA: A 20-year-old woman who recited poems critical of Bahrain’s rulers was sentenced yesterday to a year in prison by a special security court set up during the kingdom’s crackdown on Shiite protesters calling for greater rights.

The tribunal’s decision sent a message that the Sunni monarchy is not easing off on punishments linked to the unrest despite appeals for talks with Shiite groups in the strategic Gulf island kingdom, which is home to the US Navy ’s 5th Fleet.

Shiites account for about 70 percent of Bahrain’s population but claim they face widespread discrimination such as being blocked from holding top military or government posts. Shiite leaders have called on authorities to end security crackdowns and trials before considering talks with the Sunni ruling family. The official Bahrain News Agency (BNA) said Ayat AlQarmazi was convicted of anti-

state charges, including inciting hatred. She can appeal. Qarmazi read the poems critical of Bahrain’s king and prime minister after demonstrations inspired by the revolts in Tunisia and Egypt broke out in February.

“By locking up a female poet merely for expressing her views in public, Bahrain’s authorities are demonstrating how free speech and assembly are brutally denied to ordinary Bahrainis,” said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa director said in a statement. Amnesty said Qarmazi was held incommunicado for the first 15 days of her detention in March, and since then has only been permitted to see her family twice. She also alleged that she was beaten in detention and tortured with electric shocks, the Londonbased rights group said. The court also sentenced Ali Yusof Yaaqub to seven years in prison Continued on Page 13

JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia has imposed new quotas on companies in the kingdom to employ local staff, with cuts in permits for foreign workers if they fail to comply. The labour ministry on Saturday launched the latest stage of its “Nitaqat” (Ranges) program aimed at prodding local firms to employ Saudis as the oil-rich kingdom battles unemployment among its largely young population. From Sept 10, the new program will determine whether companies - according to their sector of activity and size - are entitled to employ foreign workers depending on their performance in abiding by the quotas. Banks with a workforce of up to 500, for example, would need a Saudi workforce of at least 49 percent. Those in the wholesale trade with the same number of staff have to employ a minimum of 19 percent of Saudis, with the same quota applied to media, insurance and government schools.

Egypt authorities detain Israeli spy CAIRO: Egypt has arrested an Israeli man on suspicion of spying and of trying to recruit Egyptian youths to act against the authorities after President Hosni Mubarak’s overthrow, sources and the state news agency said yesterday. Judge Hesham Badawi of the supreme state security prosecution ordered the man to be detained for 15 days on suspicion of “spying on Egypt with the aim of harming its economic and political interests,” MENA news agency reported. A judiciary source said the man was arrested yesterday. MENA said the man worked for Israel’s Mossad intelligence service. Detention orders of 15 days are often renewed in Egypt if further questioning is deemed necessary. One judiciary source said the man had been active in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the epicentre of the revolt against Mubarak, after the former president stepped down.

Filipino shortest man in the world SINDANGAN, Philippines: A Filipino blacksmith’s son who stopped growing when he was a toddler was declared the world’s shortest man yesterday as he celebrated his 18th birthday. Measuring just 59.93 cm, or 23.5 inches, Junrey Balawing is the oldest of four siblings - the rest all of normal stature - born in the rural town of Sindangan on the Philippines’ southern island of Mindanao. “Officially he is the world’s shortest man,” said Craig Glenday, editor-in-chief of the Guinness Book of World Records who measured Balawing in front of cheering relatives and villagers. The previous record holder was Khagendra Thapa Magar of Nepal, who was measured in 2010 at just over 26 inches.

“Thank you to all of you for supporting my son, the world’s shortest man,” Junrey’s father, Reynaldo, told a crush of reporters and photographers.

Junrey then blew out a candle on a cake specially made for him, before telling the crowd in a tiny voice in the local dialect: “Kapoy (I’m tired).” A throng of well-wishers, including politicians, witnessed the official Continued on Page 13

SINDANGAN, Philippines: Eighteen-year-old Junrey Balawing receives a certificate proclaiming him as the world’s shortest man from the Guinness Book of World Records in this rural southern Philippine township yesterday. — AFP (See Page 40)

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MONDAY, JUNE 13, 2011

LOCAL

Govt agency falsified oil spill info: GLEG Group calls for state security investigation

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has been accused of knowingly attempting to cover up the actual size of a massive 5,000-barrel oil spill off Kuwait’s North Pier in August 2010 in order to downplay the seriousness of the incident.

At a press conference held at the Green Line Environmental Group’s (GLEG) headquarters in Salmiya yesterday, GLEG chairman Khalid Al-Hajri said that the environmental campaign group had warned at the time of the immense damage that such a massive spill could do to the environment.

Revealing a document purportedly sent by a senior Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) official to colleagues which acknowledged that 5,000 barrels of oil had indeed spilt into the Gulf during last year’s incident, Al-Hajri said that at the time, “we [the GLEG] noted that [the spill] presented a great danger to the country’s marine environment, fish resources and water supply. The EPA denied that fact at that time and tried to falsify the information and the facts in order to

mislead the community. This document unveiled today, which was issued by the KOC last year, proves that the EPA lied.”

Calling on higher state authorities to intervene in order to investigate what he called the “serious environmental crimes” committed by those responsible for the pollution of Kuwait’s waters, including the oil spill, AlHajri said, “the biggest problem is that the oil spill...disappeared after six months of treatment.

This proves that the oil spill was threatening the nearby water supplies from the Shuaiba water desalination plant and also endangering residents of southern areas.”

He continued, “Our sea and fish are polluted. The water desalination plants are at risk because of the sea pollution.

The EPA is violating the law and the rights of children. Our sea is polluted with chemical and oil materials.”

The GLEG has repeatedly warned in various media of the dangers of entrusting the EPA with oversight of environmental issues due to the deep-rooted corruption which it insists is endemic in the government

body’s financial, environmental and administrative departments.

“Due to the negligence of the government, the parliament, the EPA and every other public authority in recent years and to the environmental crimes, we

Department to form a specialist unit to investigate environmental crimes, after these dangerous crimes destroyed our country and the authorities remain silent. We don’t understand why the EPA is covering up for the

KUWAIT: Khalid Al-Hajri, Chairman of the Green Line Environment Group - Kuwait, showing the document during the press conference yesterday. —Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat call upon the State Security Department to intervene and investigate the serious environmental crimes which we have documentary evidence of,” AlHajri said, adding “I also call upon the State Security

environmental crimes taking place in Kuwait, [but this] proves that its officers are working against the country’s good.”

The prominent environmentalist called the KOC document obtained by the GLEG “a docu-

ment that proves that a crime was committed against the national security of Kuwait and proves that the EPA has been covering up such crimes, which indicates that it’s part of them.”

Al-Hajri further claimed that EPA officials are not acknowledging questions over the constructions of its massive and lavish environmental emergency building in Shuaiba, which was intended to play a key role in preventing or minimizing the damage done by disasters such as last August’s oil spill.

He added that these concerns are particularly strong “since one EPA official was allocated a budget for [furnishing] this building and finally we discovered that the building’s completely empty.”

He also accused the government agency of sacking a whistleblower who exposed the massive waste of funds in the new building, saying, “ The employer who unveiled this corruption was dismissed. The main purpose of establishing the Shuaiba building was to monitor and control the environmental situation in Kuwait’s waters, along the south coast, as well as its refineries and air pollution.”

kuwait digest

Hats off to Al-Barrak!

By Abdullatif Al-Duaij here are far too many subjects to discuss - I am unable to decide on any one in particular. First, we have MP Salwa Al-Jassar ’s intentions to question. Perhaps the interior minister should be interpellated for failing to confront citizens who exercised their constitutional right of expression when they tore apart pictures of state officials out of frustration.

There is also the hot topic of a citizen who was arrested for expressing his opinion online, although the police have no legitimate reason to apprehend and prosecute online offenders.

Meanwhile, an issue which also deserves to be talked about is the appearance of Sheikh Fahad S a l e m A l - A l i A l - S a b a h a m o n g p ro te s to r s demanding the resignation of his cousin; not that his position is questionable, but the timing is.

Should I write about Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah’s attempt to blame Sheikh Nasser AlMohammad for the recent lack of cooperation, despite the fact that the Cabinet unanimously voted in favor of Al-Fahad’s request to refer his grilling motion to the Parliament’s legislative committee? I cannot decide because there are also statements made by MP Faisal Al-Mislem in which he called His Highness the Amir to dismiss the prime minister.

Eventually, what caught my attention was the recent statements made by MP Musallam AlBarrak, claiming to live up to his promise to defend people’s freedom of expression. Yes, AlBarrak has made many promises on Popular Action Bloc’s decision to give priority to public freedoms, which were not seen in the past year and a half.

They continuously criticized people with different opinions. It all changed, recently when AlBarrak made a statement in which he defended citizen Nasser Abul’s right to express his opinion online, despite disagreeing with the opinion expressed.

Better late than never. I do not wear an egal (head gear), but I’ll put one on only so that I can raise it to Al-Barrak. —Al-Qabas

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News

in brief

Shaikha Al-Bahar in a group photo with the interns.

NBK launches summer internship program KUWAIT: In light of the tremendous success of the Summer Internship Program conducted for the last years, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) launched yesterday the first in a series of the 2011 Summer Internship Program two-week courses custom-made for high school and college students aged between 15 and 20 years.

NBK Chief Executive Officer, Shaikha

Al-Bahar said that NBK views the Summer Internship Program as an extension of NBK’s education outreach services and a demonstration of the bank’s long-standing social involvement as well as its national commitment towards providing the young generations with the appropriate opportunities to experience firsthand how the actual professional bank-

ing issues and transactions are handled and processed.

Al-Bahar added that the five-hour daily sessions of two-week internship featured a mixture of theoretical and practical training dedicated to providing the interns with invaluable knowledge on a variety of subjects such as; the team work, creative thinking, means of self

expression and modern banking work procedure, in addition to helping interns to have greater exposure to daily banking work procedures.

NBK regularly organizes and designs events and packages for the youth of the country to familiarize them with the world of banking and make them responsible citizens.

No contact with overseas citizens KUWAIT: A Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MSAL) committee assigned to monitor Kuwaiti citizens born and raised outside Kuwait has f a i l e d to hol d a m e e t i ng for ne a r l y a ye a r, according to an MSAL insider. The committee was established to enable the ministry to maintain contact with citizens born to Kuwaiti fathers and non-Kuwaiti mothers who are raised outside Kuwait in order to help them resolve any problems they might face, such as difficulties in obtaining official documents or any allowances which they are entitled to. Another reason behind the creation of the committee was that it woul d he l p i n m a i nt a i ni ng a conne c t i on between these citizens and their homeland whilst also helping protecting them from falling into delinquency, which could negatively affect the image of Kuwait and its citizens overseas.

Govt to standardize audiovisual laws KUWAIT: Minister of Information Sami Al-Nisf indicated on Saturday that the cabinet’s legal committee has been holding a number of meetings in order to study proposed amendments to Kuwait’s audiovisual and press laws. Al-Nisf, who is also Minister of Communications, revealed in a press release that the government is planning to standardize the legislation covering all forms of media, including print and audiovisual media in order to update and regulate the existing laws.

KUWAIT: Escorted by top ministry officials, the Minister of Education and Higher Education Ahmed Al-Mulaifi yesterday toured secondary schools on the first day of the school certificate examinations. —Photo by Fouad Al-Shaikh

Domestic workers urged to benefit from amnesty KUWAIT: Domestic workers facing explained that domestic workers who absconding charges can avail of the face absconding charges will be Amiri amnesty and exit the country allowed to leave the country.

Brig Gen Al-Ali further explained before the June 30 deadline. The announcement was made by Brig Gen that the worker should approach the Identification Division of Abdullah Al-Ali, Director the Criminal Evidence of the M inistr y of General Depar tment to I nterior ’s Domestic undergo fingerprint idenWorkers’ Division. Illegal tification, following which residents have been they can obtain new passasked to cooperate to ports from their countries’ avoid legal measures. embassies as long as they The Amiri amnest y can establish a clear crimiperiod which was put into nal record. effect on March 1, allows Furthermore, Brig Gen expatriates who have vioAl-Ali urged sponsors to lated residence permit cooperate with police by regulations to leave the assisting domestic workcountry without paying ers to make use of the fines or facing legal proBrig Gen Abdullah amnesty to avoid being cedures. Otherwise, they Al-Ali prosecuted for sheltering can choose to remain in Kuwait by legalizing their stay. In both illegal residents.

Violators who are arrested after June cases, the resident must not have a criminal record. In a recent statement 30, will be deported immediately after made to the press, Brig Gen Al-Ali paying a fine.

‘Deducted salaries to be deposited’ KUWAIT: Companies that deduct employees’ salaries are now required to deposit the cash collec ted in a fund that will be created for employees’ benefit. This measure will be adopted as per a recent decision enforced by Dr Mohammad Al-Afasi Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Justice and Minister of Social Affairs and Labor. As per the stipulation, deductions made from the salaries of employees in both the private and oil sectors, concerning working hour irregularities or other punitive reasons, will be deposited in a certain fund. It will later be utilized to advance the cause of workers, reported Al-Qabas. A company that amasses money will violate the regulation.

MONDAY, JUNE 13, 2011

LOCAL SPECIAL REPORT

Torn between two worlds

Philippines celebrates 113th year of independence

(Part 4) ‘I really hate the sense of superiority some people have here. It’s not cool. If you don’t fall on the right side of things or you’re from the wrong family or there’s a scandal or whatever, suddenly it’s as if everyone is looking down on you. And not just you alone, but your family too. So it’s like a double hit. The lifestyle is great, yes, if you’re on the right side of things. I can’t imagine how it would be if you’re not, though.’

By Lisa Conrad

“I

wish I could live in the US. I’d leave and never come back!”, reports our resident US enthusiast, Maryam. Despite having spent a limited amount of time in the US, this 25year-old Kuwaiti teacher is certain that life would be better if only she lived in the US. “I want freedom, I want to be able to do whatever I want without worrying about gossip.”

Maryam craves the alluring freedom associated with the West, but is it really as sweet as it seems? “I like the honesty in the West; everything is clear, it’s a lot more transparent,” says 21-year-old student Abdul. Having studied in the US for the past two years, Abdul has had some time to reflect on both Kuwaiti and Western society. He adds: “But the problem here is that you’re less accountable.

You’re responsible alone for your actions, whereas in the Middle East you know you have your family to answer to for pretty much everything. It keeps a limit on how far you go, which I think is good.”

21-year-old Moh, who was born and raised in the US, agreed with Abdul’s view on the issue of limitations: “I follow the rules here in Kuwait because I think they’re right — from the smaller rules to serious issues like stealing. Petty theft is more common in the US, but here it’s so different. I used to take stuff from small stores, like chips or chocolate, just because it was a thing that teenagers did. But now I feel bad about it. I think it’s a cultural thing. I can’t even imagine what people would think if they knew that about me. There it’s like you rebelled for a bit, nothing major. Here it’s a disgrace.”

Assistant Professor of Sociology at GUST, Mark Olson, comments on the inconsistency between behavior within and outside Kuwait: “Speaking of behavior, to use an accounting analogy, it’s like there are two ledgers: one for inside Kuwait and another one for abroad. The behavior exhibited depends on which ledger the young person is following.”

Pros and cons Despite the freer lifestyle of the US, Abdul craves the comforts of Kuwait whenever he’s away from the country, and is always eager to return home: “I miss my house, the people, the places. I miss the heat even, surprisingly! I never thought I’d miss that, but I do. The whole lifestyle in Kuwait is relaxing, so laid back. I don’t know if anywhere is as relaxed as here in terms of lifestyle. In the US I can do what I want, but once you’ve had that freedom you realize that it’s not as alluring as you once thought.

Other things are more important, I think.”

Is it just the lifestyle that draws Kuwaitis back home? Not necessarily, says Abdul, who misses the close-knit, family-oriented nature of Kuwaiti society: “I wouldn’t stay here to work.

Studying is one thing, but I don’t think I’d be able to give my most to my career if I was away from my family. It’s fun travelling, studying or working abroad for a few years, but I’d always come home.”

Maryam agrees with this viewpoint to an extent, saying: “Some students do become patriots for Kuwait.” She added, however: “Others leave for the States and never come back. Some end up hat-

ing everything about Kuwait. There’s so much pressure and so many headaches living here.”

Possibly linked to the pressure and headaches Maryam referred to, both Abdul and Moh dislike certain elements of Kuwait. Abdul said: “I hate that everyone is late here, all the time. It’s ridiculous. I really imagine sometimes how much more efficient we’d be as a country if people were punctual.”

Moh also has some more serious qualms, adding: “I really hate the sense of superiority some people have here.

It’s not cool. If you don’t fall on the right side of things or you’re from the wrong family or there’s a scandal or whatever, suddenly it’s as if everyone is looking down on you. And not just you alone, but your family too. So it’s like a double hit. The lifestyle is great, yes, if you’re on the right side of things. I can’t imagine how it would be if you’re not, though.”

Staying home The social limitations that Moh touched upon have helped shape part of Maryam’s ever-intensifying desire to flee: “You should be able to have the choice of how much you embrace your culture. It shouldn’t be forced upon you by social pressures,” she asserts.

Despite pining for the freedom she associates with the West, Maryam wants to be able to take certain elements with her, such as the gender roles common in Kuwait between men and women, especially regarding marriage. As discussed in part three, Maryam wants to maintain the family-oriented aspect of Kuwaiti life, especially with regard to having a husband who assumes all the financial responsibility and pays her a dowry. She worries, however, that the balance between East and West that she desires so badly may never come to fruition: “I hope we end up with as much freedom to choose how we live as they have in the West. But I really don’t know how or when that can happen, realistically.” In attempting to achieve the ever-alluring balance she desires, Maryam has found herself situated, uncomfortably, in a grey area: “You can end up lost. Between the two extremes of East and West. Your own personality can end up clashing with itself.”

Where is the balance between East and West found, exactly? According to Maryam, it’s just two hours away: “I think Lebanon is a good middle ground between East and West. You get the best of both there.”

Even Abdul, who by far prefers Middle Eastern culture, said: “It’s nice to be Westernized somewhat in terms of lifestyle, clothing, and freedom, but only to a certain extent. I think it’s okay how Kuwait is now, as long as the core of the culture and the language is maintained I think it’s fine.”

Moh, who has experienced both cultures over extended periods of time, said: “You want what you don’t have. If you crave the West sometimes it’s because you feel it has elements that your home country lacks. I love the originality and freedom people have in the West, but I’m far more attached to Kuwait. For me, the closeness and hospitality here outweigh the negative elements. You can always go on vacation if you’re craving some freedom, but where your home is, where you raise your family, that’s what really counts.”

Court orders ministry to approve degrees KUWAIT: The Administrative Court has issued a ruling directing the Ministry of Higher Education to accredit degree certificates of students that graduated from the Arab Open University(AOU) - Cairo Branch.

A number of students filed a lawsuit against the ministry after the degree certificates that were presented for a routine accreditation process were rejected, with-

out any rational explanation being given.

Attorney Fawziya Al-Sabah who represented students provided evidence that supported students’ claims, including the fact that the Cairo Branch follows the same regulations as the Kuwaiti Branch.

The defense team also argued that the AOU - Cairo Branch is a certified university in the North African nation.

GCC health council signs awareness program contract RIYADH: The Executive Office of the Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC ) Health Ministers Council yesterday signed a contract with the GCC Joint Programming Production Corporation and Al-Dar Public Relations and Media firm to carry out the fifth stage of a Gulf radio and TV awareness program called “Salamatak” or ‘Your Safety.’

Speaking to the press following the ceremony, Dr. Tawfiq Khoja, the Director General of the Health Ministers’ Council, said that the primary strategic objective of this program is to reduce the percentage of disease-related deaths and to boost

Kuwait praised for steadfast support

public awareness of health risks.

The program also aims to increase the awareness of preventive measures in society, especially when using public services, explained Dr. Khoja.

The senior official added that the program will be closely monitored for a twoyear period before being rolled out for use by all GCC media outlets.

The media productions created for the program include 53 TV shows and 10 radio shows as well as 50 recorded radio messages, and will focus on chronic and infectious diseases, motherhood, childhood and family relations, he added. — KUNA

By Ben Garcia KUWAIT: The Philippines celebrated its 113th year of independence yesterday with several activities organized by the country’s embassy in Kuwait to mark the occasion here, from a flaghoisting ceremony in the morning and a traditional breakfast for embassy officials and community leaders, to diplomatic and community gatherings in the evening. The flag-hoisting ceremony took place at 7am at the embassy in Jabriya followed by a traditional reading of messages from the country’s president to ministers of foreign affairs, labor and employment departments.

The Philippine Ambassador to Kuwait Shulan Primavera read out a message from President Benigno Aquino III, who expressed immense gratitude for the sacrifices of many Filipinos working aboard and thus “contributing to the noble task of nation-building.”

On his own part, Ambassador Primavera congratulated the estimated 170,000 Filipinos in Kuwait on the country’s 113th year of independence and for rallying behind their nation to pursue the straight path inspired by the present administration. He said that, although the Philippines gained its freedom 113 years ago, non-traditional challenges to independence continue to delay the country from reaching its full

KUWAIT: The Philippine Ambassador Shulan Primavera and Vice Consul Rea Oreta hoist their country’s national flag at its embassy in Jabriya yesterday. — Photos by Joseph Shagra

KUWAIT: Some Filipino community leaders and embassy officials pose for a photo after yesterday’s flag-hoisting ceremony. potential as a nation. He admitted that poverty, corruption and unemployment are amongst the new challenges the country is facing at this time.

On the Philippines’ bilateral relations with Kuwait, the ambassador lauded these as excellent at all levels, thanking the Kuwaiti government for its steadfast support for the expatriate Filipino community here, adding that this support also assists the embassy in carrying out its mandate to protect the rights and uphold the welfare of overseas foreign workers.

He also lauded the amnesty program provided for residency violators in Kuwait, revealing that a total of 4,103 Filipinos have benefited from the program to date. The amnesty program, which offers all expatriates without current residency visas the chance to either obtain the cor-

rect documents or leave the country without being banned from returning or facing the customary penalties, was put in place by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad AlSabah, beginning on March 1 this year and ending on June 30.

Ambassador Primavera also expressed his pleasure at the improved relationship between the Filipino community and the embassy, who he said are partners in fulfilling their mission. The embassy also hosted a reception for diplomatic staff and community leaders last night at the Marina Hotel in Salmiya. Meanwhile, the postIndependence Day event for all Filipinos is set to take place on Friday, June 17, at Fahad Al-Ahmad Handball Complex, with free entry for all those wishing to attend.

KUWAIT: Ambassador Primavera reads President Aquino’s message.

MONDAY, JUNE 13, 2011

LOCAL Kuwait Digest

Changing the premier

By Dr Yaqoub Al-Sharrah

I

n our sad political and social reality, there are people who make vigorous demands to change the prime minister. This seems too aggressive — to the point that they indicate that MPs who make these demands work for certain groups that harbor political agendas.

These people view the prime minister’s continuation as the main obstacle that hinders the realization of their objectives.

What is stopping MPs from demanding the premier’s resignation through constitutional means, instead of making them public in seminars and public demonstrations? In developed countries, change of ministers or the prime minister is done through the regulations of the Constitution; not by following the beliefs of political groups.

Those who believe that they are above the law usually resort to means outside the Parliament when they realize that their illegitimate demands cannot be achieved through regulations.

The anti-government lawmakers claim that changing the prime minister has become a form of public demand. On the other hand, they fail to provide proof to support their claim. This is despite the fact that a majority in the Parliament support the prime minister to remain in office.

Parliament members have the authority to force a change on the prime minister as long as they are able to pass a non-cooperation motion. Pushing for this cause through seminars and public demonstrations only indicates that the prime minister is being attacked personally. That is because these activities are not considered a part of the rights granted by the Constitution to MPs. The manner in which lawmakers deal with the Cabinet and the prime minister have made people grow concerned over their country’s safety and stability amid ongoing political tensions and social divisions. People hope that the chaotic demands for the premier’s ouster be stopped. This will facilitate change only through illegal means, and by MPs in the Parliament. — Al-Rai

Grilling motion against Deputy PM constitutional, says NA panel Premier confident of fending off allegations KUWAIT: The parliamentary legislative committee has ruled that a grilling motion filed against the justresigned Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah was constitutional.

Five committee members voted for its constitutionality, while two members regarded the articles concerning sports-related issues, including the Olympic Council of Asia headquarters, as being unconstitutional in nature.

Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad, whose unconfirmed resignation was expected to be approved during the next cabinet session according to news repor ts, had requested that the grilling filed by National Action Bloc members Marzouq Al-Ghanim and Adel Al-Saraawi, be assessed for constitutionality, arguing that the topics it addresses per tained to events which occurred during the previous cabinets’ terms.

The committee members who verified the grilling motion’s constitutionality were named as MPs Abdullah Al-Roumi, Hussein AlHuraiti, Dr. Walid Al-Tabtabaie, Mikhled Al-Azmi, and Khalid Al-Adwa, while members Dr. Maasouma Al-

Mubarak and Faisal Al-Duwaisan voted against the panel’s findings.

Even if Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad’s resignation is accepted, the committee will refer its report to the parliament, confirmed Al-Tabtabaie, who also revealed that a recommendation has been put forward to refer the grilling’s articles to the State Audit Bureau or have them addressed by a special fact-finding committees.

Parliamentary insiders also reiterated earlier reports suggesting that His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad AlSabah is set to stand on the podium tomorrow to debate the grilling motion filed by MPs Mohammad Hayef, Mubarak Al-Waalan and Dr. Walid Al-Tabtabaie.

The insiders said that the debate, which was previously postponed for two weeks, will be held in a closed session. Cabinet insiders reportedly believe that the premier is confident of fending off the allegations contained in the grilling motion, “which he believes is weak.”

Another parliamentar y insider said, meanwhile, that after realizing that ousting the premier from his position “isn’t going to happen,” MPs

are preparing to submit a series of interpellation motions against numerous ministers before the end of the current parliamentary term on July 5th, with the goal of targeting ministers.

The insider indicated that grilling motions against First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr. Mohammad Al-Sabah, and Finance Minister Faisal Al-Shamali, as well as Health Minister Helal Al-Sayer have already been prepared, with the would-be grillers awaiting the best moment to present them.

On a separate issue, the chairman of the parliamentary interior and defense committee, Shuwaib AlMuwaizri, announced that Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Ahmad Al-Humoud Al-Sabah has been asked to attend a meeting of the committee today, which will discuss draft laws to merge the five electoral constituencies into a single constituency. Also, the parliament’s environmental affairs committee has demanded that it be assigned to investigate the recent reports of tap water pollution. — Agencies

KSC hosts interactive speed expo

Kuwait University places cap on student intake

KUWAIT: Education Minister Ahmad Al-Mulaifi and other officials at the Scientific Center exhibition.

—Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

A young ‘customer’ enjoys her ice cream.

Customers enjoy an ice cream while waiting in the branch.

KUWAIT: Education minister Ahmad Al-Mulaifi inaugurated a touring ‘interactive speed exhibition’ yesterday at the Kuwait Scientific Center’s Discovery Hall.

KSC Chairman and Managing Director Mijbal Suleiman said that the event is the fourth touring educational exhibition to be hosted by the center, explaining that the facility stages two major exhibitions in the Discovery Hall annually which are greatly appreciated by school pupils and teachers, as well as by members of the general public of all ages. The equipment on show in the new exhibition, which has already visited a number of other countries, helps to explain physics theories and mechanical and movement-related science in an accessible, understandable and enjoyable way, he added, revealing that the exhibition will run at the Discovery Hall until midJanuar y 2012. R iham Al-Habib, the Direc tor of Educational Operations at the Discovery Hall, said that the exhibition had already been enjoyed in a number of other nations worldwide by 400,000 visitors, adding that it contains 17 exhibits related to Formula One car-racing.

The center’s management also expressed gratitude to Kuwaiti car-racing champion Mishal Al-Najadi for attending the event and participating in science workshops for kids.

Kuwaiti military attache meets Saudi army chief The Baskin Robbins team, with Jabriya Branch Manager Qadriya Al-Marshoud

Ice cream treats for all the branch staff members

Gulf Bank offers free ice cream to customers KUWAIT: Gulf Bank has once again partnered with the world-famous American ice cream store Baskin Robbins as part of its summer campaign. Starting on Sunday 5th June, Baskin Robbins representatives began a road show at the bank’s Jabriya branch, treating staff and customers to free ice cream to help them cool down during one of the hottest months of the year.

Baskin Robbins personnel will be visiting all 54 Gulf Bank branches daily for a one-month period, offering customers and staff the chance to choose between a choice of 7 flavors - Pralines and Cream, Chocolate Mousse Royal, Cotton Candy, Strawberry Cheese Cake, Rainbow, Strawberry and “Flavor of the month.”

KUWAIT: The Society Development Center Hall in AlJahra hosted a lecture that was delivered by Dr Naji AlMulla who discussed the concept of development and the qualities necessary to achieve success. The lecture was held as part of youth seminars organized by the youth division of the Public Authority for Youth and Sports It was entitled ‘Exploring the Future by Assessing Facts.’

RIYADH: Col Mubarak Al-Rahji, the military attache with the Kuwaiti Embassy in Riyadh, yesterday met with Gen Hussein Al-Qubail, the Chief-of-Staff of the Saudi Armed Forces.

The Kuwaiti official explained after the meeting that during the high-level talks he had conveyed congratulations to Al-Qubail on his new post on behalf of Kuwait’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak AlSabah and the Kuwaiti Army’s Chief of Staff, Gen Sheikh Ahmad Al-Khalid Al-Sabah.

He also congratulated the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Saudi Armed Forces, Gen Abdulrahman AlMurshid, on his new post, wishing both high-ranking military officers the very best of luck. —KUNA

E-fingerprinting detects dual citizens KUWAIT: Several dual citizens were referred to higher authorities af ter being caught by the new e-fingerprinting system that was installed at all land, sea and air checkpoints recently.

“Nearly 400,000 travelers have undergone fingerprint tests since it was put into effec t,” said Direc tor of Identification Division of the Ministry of Interior’s Criminal

Evidence General Department, Colonel Hamid Al-Khaldi. In a press statement, he said that the system caught approximately 337 deportees who tried to make their way back into the country, reported Al-Rai. Fur thermore, Al-Khaldi noted that 6.6 million fingerprint data for people who entered Kuwait is stored in the division’s database, in

addition to 600,000 criminal records for deportees and fugitives.

While he indicated that similar e-fingerprinting systems will be installed at Kuwaiti embassies to verify the criminal status of people hoping to come to Kuwait, Al-Khaldi revealed plans to utilize iris recognition technology at the countries’ checkpoints.

KUWAIT: The decision to limit the number of students that will be accepted to Kuwait University has stirred controversy at the university’s media.

The university found no other alternative but to place a cap on students that are allowed to attend. This decision deprives a large number of students from their right to receive an education.

The Dean of Admission and Registration at Kuwait University Dr Muthanna Al-Rifai said that his “administration executed decisions issued by the university council.” He pointed out that the council has issued a decision on May 7, asking the admission board to prepare a study about numbers and the percentage of students admitted to prepare this report for the new academic year 2011/2012. The study was made in coordination with the Scientific Affairs Division and the university’s Planning Department. The study included the percentage of graduations and the occupancy capacity of the university and the number of high school students expected to apply to the university. The study outlined the capacity of the university based on manpower, resources and the space available. As these parameters have remained unchanged during the past few years, it was found that only a certain number of students can be admitted depending on the availability of seats. This practice follows international educational standards. Priority will be given to those who have scored a higher average than average rank, reported Al-Anba.

However, a permanent solution is to construct new government universities that can accommodate all high school graduates, but to carry on with the current temporary solution of limiting number of students admitted.”

UNCC approves $16 m for Kuwait environment projects KUWAIT: Independent auditors yesterday approved the plans and regulations for a number of environmental rehabilitation projects in Kuwait.

Khalid Al-Khamis, the chairman designate of the Kuwait National Point of Contact’s General Secretariat’s Central Committee, the body supervising the projects, explained that the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) approved a budget of $16.3 million for the projects during a recent meeting in Kuwait.

“This achievement is unprecedented,” stated AlKhamis, adding that it was the result of unified cooperation between the governmental bodies involved in the various projects. “These bodies are Kuwait Oil Company, the Public Authority for Agriculture and Fisheries, the Environment Public Authority, the Ministry of Water and Electricity and the Ministry of Defense” he revealed.

The official added that all the projects have gained governmental backing from the Minister of Oil and the Kuwaiti Parliament.

He expressed hope that this backing would continue until these projects are implemented, according to the requirements of the UNCC’s Resolution 258, which is concerned with monitoring the financial and technical implementation of remediation and restoration projects. — KUNA

Kuwait provides privileges to bedoons KUWAIT: Kuwait has provided a number of privileges to Kuwait’s bedoon (stateless) population in a bid to improve the lives of members of this section of society, said an official here yesterday. Speaking during a meeting with a delegation of officials from Human Rights Watch (HRW) who are studying the issue, Saleh Al-Fadhala, the head of the Central System for Remedying the Status of Illegal Residents (CSRSIR), the government

body established to resolve the longstanding problems facing Kuwait’s bedoon population, said that Kuwait would offer citizenship to those bedoon people named in the 1965 census, so long as they have no criminal record. Al-Fadhala added, however, that those bedoon people found to have citizenship of other nations would not be eligible for Kuwaiti citizenship, adding that the CSRSIR has a number of official papers documenting such cases.

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LOCAL Kuwait Digest

Petitions that we really need

By Dr. Mubarak Al-Therwa

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petition is currently being circulated demanding the resignation of the prime minister and his deputy [editor’s note: the latter resigned on Thursday] with the expectation that their doing so would put an end to corruption and set the country on the right path towards reform.

Of course it is wrong to believe that corruption will be ended merely by the ousting of senior cabinet officials, as well as downplaying the seriousness of the problems our country is facing. In order to gain a better understanding of the root causes of corruption, let’s ask ourselves a few questions.

For starters, we could ask, isn’t society responsible for producing corruption and finding ways to achieve reform?

If it is, this means that we need a petition to plead for major social reform which addresses all the institutions in our society.

Then we might well ask, would the political approach change by replacing senior figures, and does the true road to reform not begin with addressing the fundamental flaws in society and state institutions that have been growing for decades? If the latter is indeed the case, we need petitions to demand reform and to enforce our existing laws rather than looking to create new ones, themselves created by the longstanding lack of law enforcement.

For example, we need a petition to ensure the enforcement of the current audiovisual law instead of devising new national unity regulations that are basically revived forms of old laws which were never implemented. Bad media outlets today make use of people’s trust to distract their attention from the violations of public funds taking place through focusing their attention on petty political power struggles. The sick kind of media is the type which promotes nominal achievements for cabinet and parliament members, diverting the public’s attention from the priorities that our society needs to focus on.

Don’t you think we need a petition to demand that our media to become stronger and more active in detecting wrongdoing and seeking out those responsible? Don’t we need a petition to demand that they take a firm stand against suppliers of foodstuffs unfit for human consumption, instead of mutual finger-pointing and attempts to shift the blame between the municipality and the health and commerce ministries? Don’t we need a petition to demand consideration for the rights of more than 13,000 citizens subjected to injustice by unjust appointments and promotions at state departments? What about education?

Isn’t it necessary to find out why, while salaries consume 80% of state resources, Kuwait ranks so low in the TIMSS and PIRLS international tests? Statistics show that only 13 percent of the citizens who comprise 83 percent of all public sector employees are scientifically and technically qualified professionals. Don’t we need a petition to demand research into the reason behind the contrast between this situation and the human resources requirements to achieve the development plan’s objectives?

The petition circulated by anti-government MPs reflects the frustration of people attempting to evade responsibility for the negative things they’ve created. For them, the best way of achieving this is to take to the streets and demand that senior figures in the government resign. In my opinion, the ousting of the premier and his deputy won’t change a thing, because true change can only be achieved through social reform that emerges from the people themselves. — Al-Qabas

Three-member gang of muggers in police net Police officer robbed at knifepoint KUWAIT: Police have arrested three teenagers who mugged a police officer at knifepoint in Sulaibiya over a week ago, stealing KD190 in cash which he had just withdrawn from an ATM. Detectives were able to identify one of the suspects who matched the description of a juvenile offender with an existing criminal record on the police database.

The suspect was arrested and led police to his two accomplices.

Domestic shooting Police are hunting for a Kuwaiti man who fired a gun at his wife’s car in Al-Na’eem using an unlicensed weapon before fleeing the scene.

Officers headed to the crime scene after the man’s wife, also Kuwaiti, reported the incident at the area’s police station. Meanwhile, Taima police have filed an attempted murder charge against a man who fired rounds from a semi-automatic weapon at his neighbor’s home. The suspect, who reportedly used an AK47 assault rifle, threatened to kill the man. Investigations were carried out at the crime scene and an arrest warrant was issued.

Dangerous dispute An Asian man was hospitalized with stab wounds following a fruitrelated dispute in Farwaniya. The victim had reportedly agreed to buy a large amount of watermelons

from a young trader, who later asked for more money than the price they initially agreed upon. The dispute soon escalated into a scuffle, at which point the trader grabbed a knife which he used to attack the customer, before fleeing the scene. The victim was rushed to Jahra Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and a hunt is underway for his attacker.

Hunt for thieves Investigations are continuing to locate three unidentified men who tried to rob a Kuwaiti family’s house in Abdullah Al-Salem before fleeing. The three suspects broke into the home in the early hours of the morning, but fled when the homeowner awoke and pursued them.

Drug bust A police officer was injured during a violent altercation in the arrest of two men found in possession of drugs. The incident took place after police carrying out a routine stopand-search operation in Ghernata pulled the suspects’ vehicle over.

During their search of the vehicle, the officers found two kilograms of hashish. Whilst attempting to arrest the men to take them into custody, one of the two grabbed one officer’s gun, shooting the officer in the leg during the ensuing fracas. Both men were taken into custody.

Kuwaitis support Palestinian issue KUWAIT: Prominent Kuwaiti figures participating in a regional conference on Jerusalem that ended yesterday affirmed suppor t for the question of Jerusalem and struggle of Palestinian people to establish an independent state.

A total of eight Kuwaiti figures participated in the conference, representing four organizations and associations. Support for Jerusalem is the most significant cause for Kuwait and its people as a principle of Islamic faith, said the former chairman of the International Islamic Charitable Organization, Yussif Al-Hajji.

For his part, the head of the Jerusalem executive committee of the organization, Sami Al-Adwani, said the conference highlights the struggle for Jerusalem and Kuwait’s responsibility toward the holy city.

The participation of Kuwait in the conference comes as part of its support for the Palestinian people to put an end to the Israeli occupation of Jerusalem, said Mujab Al-Ajmi, Chairman of Kuwait Society of Engineers. However, a member of this association, Nasser Al-Mutairi, underlined necessity of exer ting more effor ts and suppor t to free Palestine. — KUNA

IKEA World Environment Day celebration a success KUWAIT: IKEA Kuwait recently concluded its World Environment Day celebrations. The event, which was held at IKEA Kuwait, was attended by the IKEA store manager and marketing manager as well as students from various schools around Kuwait.

The event featured a number of themed activities that include photo shoots for children, face painting and several educational initiatives that promote a healthy and clean environment. IKEA managers presented certificates of appreciation to all participating students, who worked on innovative environment related projects.

IKEA worldwide follows the four-step approach towards its sustainability efforts, and these include Plan, Do, Check, and Act. Through ‘Planning,’ IKEA establishes routines on how to approach and deal with the different aspects of sustainability both with products and when working with suppliers. IKEA ‘Does’ actively cooperate and communicate with all the suppliers that are involved in their production process.

IKEA then ‘Checks’ by performing audits to suppliers on their compliance with their sustainability requirements, and provides feedback in an effort to create a

dialogue to help them promote a better sustainability profile.

Finally, IKEA ‘Acts’ by regularly improving its routines and methods of implementing sustainability in the value chain.

IKEA stores offer a wide range of environment-friendly products that include solar lights, recycled bags and much more. Being environmentally conscious should not be an expensive daily process, it can be saving money too.

World Environment Day is a day

for people from all walks of life to come together to ensure a cleaner, greener and brighter outlook for themselves and future generations. IKEA Kuwait strongly believes in the importance of supporting environmental initiatives that have a direct impact on the community, and continuously encourages organizations as well as individuals to participate in such eco-friendly causes, helping to raise the level of awareness among the society.

Fugitive found A Kuwaiti man wanted in connection with 28 felonies was arrested in a raid by Taima police at an address in the Oyoun district of Jahra. The raid was launched after police received an anonymous tipoff about the fugitive’s location, with the man being quickly restrained and taken into custody.

Bootleggers busted Two Asian men were arrested at a pool hall in Jahra in possession of 20 bottles of liquor which they were planning to sell there. A team of security officers was sent to the pool hall after a Kuwaiti man reported spotting the two suspects selling alcohol there.

On spotting police officers approaching, the bootleggers attempted to flee but were detained following a short pursuit inside the mall where the club is located, and they admitted during interrogation that they sold homemade liquor.

Brothel raided Farwaniya police arrested a 50year-old woman who had been running a brothel in an apartment in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh. After receiving a tip-off from an informant, police headed to the apartment, arresting the madam and a prostitute working there, along with a client. - AlWatan, Al-Rai, Al-Qabas, Al-Anba

Dr Hind Al-Shoumer

Kuwait govt applauded for AIDS response UNITED NATIONS: A Kuwaiti health official highly appreciated the Kuwaiti government’s efforts to combat HIV-AIDS on local, regional and international arenas.

Speaking on the sidelines of a high-level UN General Assembly meeting on June 8-11, Dr Hind Abdelaziz AlShoumer, the Head of the Office on AIDS, statistics and information at the Kuwaiti Health Ministry, said Kuwait was in the forefront of countries that fought HIV-AIDS by enacting Law No 62/1992, which ensures the rights and duties of patients.

Kuwait has already hosted four world conferences over the last couple of decades to keep abreast of the latest advancement in the medical treatment of HIVAIDS, she said. The Kuwaiti government provides HIVAIDS patients with necessary treatment free of charge as per WHO-set criteria, Al-Shoumer boasted.

Kuwait annually extends aid worth $500,000 to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the Kuwaiti health official pointed out.

Kuwait was keen to combat the scourge since the first case was reported by the country in 1984, she said, adding that her country is committed to fighting the virus internationally. The three-day high-level UN General Assembly meeting opened Wednesday with the participation of 3,000 figures, including 30 heads of State and government, along with senior officials, representatives of international organizations, civil society and people living with HIV, to chart a path for the future of the AIDS response. — KUNA

Special offers for outstanding students

Mohammad Al-Tawash

KUWAIT: The Kuwait Towers will offer special discounts to outstanding students, including waivers on restaurant bills and a free celebratory cake. This initiative is part of the Touristic Enterprises Company’s (TEC’s) annual tradition of celebrating high-achievers.

Kuwait Towers’ Sales Manager Mohammad Al-Tawash explained in a press statement that all students are eligible to receive a 20 percent discount on

lunch or dinner bills at the Horizon Restaurant, provided they submit graduation certificates and make reservations for a minimum of four persons. He added that the offer is valid between June 15 and July 31. The TEC has organized a slew of programs for the Kuwait Towers this summer, including seafood, ice cream, and fruits festivals. Special programs and offers for the holy month of Ramadan will be made in August.

MONDAY, JUNE 13, 2011

Guru breaks 8-day fast

Turkey votes in parliamentary elections Page 8

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MISRATA: A Libyan rebel fighter reads the holy Quran, as incoming rockets and mortars from pro-Gaddafi forces are fired towards rebels yesterday. —AP

Libya conflict spreads to key oasis city Rebels reject any talks with the regime unless Gaddafi steps down BENGHAZI: Tribal fighters opposed to Muammar Gaddafi have clashed with the strongman’s forces in the oasis city of Sabha, rebels said, as regime troops went on the offensive in key Libyan flashpoints. The fresh wave of fighting comes as Turkey said it has offered Gaddafi guarantees to leave Libya and Russian envoy Mikhail Margelov said he would soon visit Tripoli to try to find a solution to the conflict. Fighters of the Awlad Suleiman tribe, a rival to the Gaddafis, “liberated several streets” in Sabha, 800 kilometers (500 miles) south of Tripoli and a bastion of suppor t for Gaddafi, the rebel National Transitional Council said on Saturday.

Gaddafi’s forces opened fire, killing one

man, the NTC said in a statement. Sabha, with a population of some 100,000 people and home to an important military base, had until now been untouched by the unrest which has swept much of the north African oil-rich nation since a popular uprising against Gaddafi’s four-decade authoritarian rule erupted mid-February. Fighting in the important agricultural city famed for its Fort Elena castle followed two days of anti- Gaddafi protests there, the statement said, issued in the rebels’ eastern capital Benghazi. “Major protests began on Friday in the Mansheya district (of Sabha) ... with young people acclaiming the revolution of February 17, raising the flag of independence and demanding

Hunger striking Iran prisoner dies TEHRAN: An Iranian prisoner who had been on hunger strike to protest at the death of an opposition figure died yesterday, local news reports said.

The death of Reza Hoda Saber, a journalist and political activist, coincided with the second anniversar y of the disputed re -election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, an event that sparked months of huge protest rallies in 2009.

Opposition website Kaleme said Hoda Saber had begun a hunger strike after opposition activist and women’s rights campaigner Haleh Sahabi died at the funeral of her father on June 1 after scuffles broke out with security forces. Sahabi was on release from prison herself when she died, having been arrested during the post-election unrest.

Opposition websites reported that she was pushed or punched by plainclothes forces at the funeral for her father, a prominent opposition figure and head of a group called the NationalistReligious Coalition. Iranian authorities deny there was any brutality at the funeral and say Haleh Sahabi died of a cardiac arrest due to natural causes.

Kaleme said Hoda Saber, a member of the Nationalist-Religious Coalition, was on hunger strike aiming to prevent the “repetition of such atrocities against defenceless people.” He died in hospital of a heart complication which doctors said “originated both from the hunger strike as well as his late transfer to hospital,” from Tehran’s Evin jail, Kaleme said.

Hoda Saber was serving a 10-year sentence, Kaleme said, with one of his crimes being “complicity in setting up an illegal civil organisation”, Kaleme said. He was initially arrested in 2000, then released, but picked up again last year and jailed, it said. Kaleme reported a heavy presence of security forces in Tehran in preparation for possible protests in connection with the second anniversary of Ahmadinejad’s re-election. — Reuters

Gaddafi’s departure,” the statement said.

“Gaddafi loyalists, some in plain clothes, opened fire with live ammunition and two protesters were hit. They were taken to hospital where they were detained by Gaddafi’s men,” it added. The rebels said pro- Gaddafi forces were on Saturday shelling the western city of Ghadames some 600 kilometers (370 miles) southwest of Tripoli, close to the borders with Tunisia and Algeria. Known as the “pearl of the deser t,” the oasis boasts a UNESCO World Heritage site and is famous for its Roman-era ruins. “The people of Ghadames appeal to UNESCO and international organizations to protect the ancient city,” the rebels said in statement. They also reported clashes

on Friday and Saturday at Kekla and Bir alGhanem in the mountainous Jebel Nafussa region west of Tripoli where there has been weeks of fighting.

Pro-Gaddafi forces had tried to enter the town of Yafran in the same area, and that there had been “fierce clashes.” The rebels, who control vast swaths of eastern Libya as well as the city of Misrata and a sprinkling of towns in the west, also reported fighting at Dafnia near Misrata on Saturday. A rebel said that on Friday, 20 people were killed as Gaddafi’s forces had bombarded the Dafnia area with Grad rockets, heavy artillery and tank shells.

Turk ish Prime M inister Recep Tay yip

Erdogan said his government had offered exit “guarantees” to the embattled Libyan leader, whom rebels have been trying to oust since Februar y following a bloody crackdown on pro-reform protests. Gaddafi “has no other option than to leave Libyawith a guarantee to be given to him,” Erdogan said on NTV television. “We have given him this guarantee. We have told him we will help him to be sent wherever he wants to go,” he added, without elaborating.

“We have received no reply so far.”

Tripoli has this week seen the most intense NATO air raids since the international military campaign began on March 19 under a UN mandate to protect Libyan civilians.—AFP

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

Iran shipping line fights EU sanctions in court TEHRAN: Iran’s state shipping line will challenge the latest round of sanctions at the European Union’s highest court, saying there is no evidence showing that it has been involved in arms trafficking as EU and US officials say. In written answers to questions from Reuters received yesterday, the managing director of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines also said the IRISL planned to counter financial sanctions that have hampered its access to insurance by the creation of an Iranian P&I (protection and indemnity) fund.

Last month the EU targeted over 30 IRISL holding companies as part of a wider sanctions campaign led by Western states aimed mostly at forcing Tehran to curb its

nuclear energy drive, which they suspect is meant to develop atomic bombs. Iran denies this, saying it wants nuclear energy only for electricity or medical treatments.

Sanctions have caused several IRISL vessels to be temporarily seized in foreign ports.

The latest clampdown, on its affiliates overseas, pushed a major British shipping agenc y that used to represent IRISL, Johnson Stevens Agencies Ltd, into administration.

“Since the cancellation of P&I insurance coverage on the company’s vessels by European and British insurers with the intention of grounding the company’s fleet nationally and internationally failed, the European Union, in an unjust move, put on

Fatah wants Fayyad to remain Palestinian PM RAMALLAH: Fatah will seek to keep on prime minister Salam Fayyad to head a Palestinian unity government, an official said yesterday, in a nomination immediately rejected by Hamas. The central committee of Fatah, headed by president Mahmud Abbas, agreed at a Saturday night meeting to throw their support behind Fayyad, a committee member told AFP on condition of anonymity. The decision ends weeks of speculation about whether the movement would push for Fayyad to head the transitional government of independents mandated by a unity deal which Hamas and Fatah signed last month.

“During a meeting last night at the presidential headquarters, we decided to nominate Salam Fayyad to head the Palestinian government,” the central committee member said. Hamas had already hinted it would not support a Fayyad candidacy, saying early on that it wanted a prime minister from the Gaza Strip, whereas Fayyad was born in the West Bank. Also yesterday, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri downplayed the nomination, warning that his movement had made its opposition clear.

“Hamas informed Fatah during the last meeting of its rejection of the choice of Salam Fayyad to head the new government,” Zuhri told AFP. “The Fatah central committee’s nomination of Salam Fayyad to head the government is a Fatah nomination and any head of the new government must be chosen by consensus and not, of course, by one of the parties.” In a statement released by Hamas, senior official Salah Bardawil reiterated that position. “It is certain that we will not accept Fayyad either as the head of the government or as a minister in that government because of the four years of siege, arrests and torture of Hamas leaders and members linked to the name of Salam Fayyad,” he said.

“Reconciliation for us in Hamas is a strategic goal we will seek to achieve by all means possible, but there are red lines that we cannot agree to cross.” Fatah’s decision comes ahead of a Tuesday meeting in Cairo between officials from the rival Palestinian factions, as the two sides try to nail down a deal on the make-up of the new government under the unity deal. The surprise agreement, intended to end years of bitter feuding, calls for a government of independents to lay the groundwork for presidential and legislative elections within a year.

On Saturday night, after the central committee meeting, Fatah representative Azzam alAhmed, who helped broker the unity deal, said the next round of talks should yield a final government line-up. The central committee “decided to continue communications with Hamas and the other factions in order to form the Palestinian government as soon as possible.” “The two sides will meet this Tuesday to form a government, and we hope that this will be the last round (of talks) needed to finish the make-up of the government,” he told AFP. Fatah and Hamas have each been drawing up shortlists of their candidates for the prime minister’s post. Hamas has not announced its candidates but reports suggest two or three figures from Gaza are being considered. The Palestinian leadership is also facing international pressure to keep Fayyad on, in a bid to reassure donors and maintain the flow of funds to the aiddependant Palestinian government. The international communit y has roundly praised Fayyad, a former World Bank official, for his efforts to build Palestinian institutions and prepare for statehood even in the absence of peace talks with Israel. — AFP

Two Sudan army planes shot down, say fighters KHARTOUM: Embattled fighters in Sudan’s flashpoint northern state of Southern Kordofan said yesterday that they had shot down two northern army planes, claims denied by Khartoum. “On Friday, our troops shot down two SAF (Sudanese Armed Forces) planes. One was an Antonov bomber in Kalkul and the other was a MiG Joint-3, in Kauda,” said Gamar Delman, media advisor to former deputy governor Abdelaziz al-Hilu , a key member of the northern branch of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), the ruling party in the south. “The air strikes (this week) have caused the displacement of 75,000 civilians. They took place in nine areas of Southern Kordofan and continued up to yesterday,” he told AFP. The northern army strongly denied the claims. “The allegations that SAF planes crashed in South Kordofan are completely wrong,” army spokesman Sawarmi Haled Saad told reporters in Khartoum. “ The army deeply regrets unbalanced accounts by UNMIS (the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Sudan) of heavy bombardments while it remains silent about the attacks on civilians and their displacement,” he added. — AFP

its sanctions list some of the companies that had commercial cooperation with the IRISL,” Mohammad Hossein Dajmar, IRISL’s managing director, told Reuters in his written response.

‘POLITICAL NATURE OF SANCTIONS’ “This is in the face of the fact that the EU has not presented any proof or document signifying any wrongdoing by the IRISL for intensification of the sanctions. This goes to indicate the sheer political nature of the recent sanctions.

“We are currently pursuing the EU sanctions issue through the European Court of Justice and if the case follows a normal course, the outcome may very well surprise the sanctioning parties,” Dajmar said. Five

IRISL cargo ships were impounded in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malta last year when European banks demanded early repayment of loans. They were released after several months when the line repaid the loans.

Dajmar said in January the loans had been called in early due to the banks’ understanding that the vessels no longer had valid insurance, amid tightened financial sanctions on Iran. He told Reuters that insurance was no longer a problem as Iranian insurers and the central bank had stepped in.

“The establishment of an Iranian P&I through a consor tium made up of all Iranian insurers through a $1 billion guar-

antee fund provided by the Central Bank of Iran is one of the measures to overcome that (problem),” Dajmar said.

“Consequently, the company’s fleet does not have any problem in that respect.”

Dajmar rejected accusations by EU and US authorities that IRISL might be involved in illegal arms shipments. “As the country’s and the region’s biggest marine carrier, IRISL is involved in the transportation of legal cargoes in compliance with the provisions of relevant international conventions,” he said. “So far, despite various rounds of sanctions by the United States, Europe and some of their allies, there has been as yet no proof or document submitted to indicate any illegal activity.” — Reuters

Turkey votes in parliamentary elections Justice and Development party expected to take third term in a row ANKARA: Turkey voted yesterday in parliamentary polls, with the Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party set to win a third straight term in office as it seeks a mandate to rewrite the constitution. Credited with Turkey’s thriving economy, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AKP party was expected to cruise to victory with a minor loss of votes compared to its 47-percent showing in the 2007 elections, according to pollsters.

Some opinion polls have predicted the AKP may hit the 50-percent mark. The lingering question however was whether the party, in power since 2002, can secure an overwhelming parliamentary majority to press ahead with pledges to rewrite Turkey’s constitution, the legacy of a 1980 coup. Voting ended at 5:00 pm (1400 GMT) across the country, where more than 50 million people were eligible to vote, out of a population of some 73 million. Initial results were expected after a broadcast ban expires at 1800 GMT. The electoral authorities often lift the ban earlier. An ecstatic crowd burst into cheers and applause as Erdogan arrived to vote in a school in Istanbul’s Uskudar district, an AKP stronghold. “Turkey is proud of you,” the crowd chanted, as the prime minister shook hands with supporters. The AKP owes its enduring popularity mostly to economic success and improved public services following years of financial instability that haunted Turkey under shaky coalition governments in the past.

Under the AKP, the economy grew by 8.9 percent in 2010, outpacing global recovery, and per capita income has doubled to $10,079. Violence marred voting at a polling station in Ankara, where opposition supporters attacked AKP members over an alleged attempt to sneak fake ballots papers into the building, Anatolia news agency reported. Police fired shots in the air to

ISTANBUL: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan reacts with his supporters. — AP end the melee and put the AKP members on a bus as enraged opposition supporters pelted the vehicle with stones, Anatolia said, adding that 14 people were detained. In the mainly Kurdish city of Batman, police detained another 34 people on charges they threatened voters to support nationalist Kurdish candidates.

His economic credits aside, Erdogan-once the driving force of EU-sought reforms-has come under fire for autocratic tendencies and growing intolerance of criticism. With dozens of journalists in jail, the opposition is alarmed also over creeping restrictions on the Internet and an unprecedented outbreak of compromising wiretaps and videos of opposition figures circulating online.

Sex tapes forced 10 top members of the Nationalist Action Party (MHP) to quit the election race, following a similar scandal last year that saw the head of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) resign.

Led by a popular new chairman, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the secularist centre-left CHP has built its election campaign on pledges of democratic reform, arguing the AKP is turning Turkey into a “police state”. “Enough is enough. We are fed up with intimidation. I want a country where I can live without fear,” Meryem, a teacher in her 40s, said in Ankara’s upscale district of Cankaya after casting a vote for the CHP. The CHP, pollsters say, stands a chance to increase its vote from 20 to nearly 30 percent, and help deny the AKP the strong majority it craves. Erdogan has refused to say what the constitutional overhaul would entail and fanned speculation with his advocacy of a presidential system for Turkeypresumably with himself at the helm.

The AKP needs at least 330 of the 550 seats to amend the constitution without support from other parties and put it to a referendum. A two-thirds majority of 367 seats would enable the party to pass the amendments unilaterally. Despite the sex tapes scandal, the MHP is expected to remain above the 10 percent threshold and enter parliament. Kurdish-backed candidates running as independents to circumvent the threshold are expected to win up to 30 seats. — AFP

Yemen transition deal talks have failed, opposition says

MOGADISHU: This photo shows the gun and hand luggage which was retrieved from the body of Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, displayed by the Somali government forces. — AP

Somalis, Kenyans rejoice Qaeda mastermind’s death MOGADISHU: Kenyans and Somalis yesterday celebrated the death of an AlQaeda mastermind who planned East Africa’s worst terror attack in recent history and had eluded capture for 13 years, and Somalia’s president congratulated the troops who killed him. The death of Fazul Abdullah Mohammed - a man who topped the FBI’s most wanted list for planning the Aug. 7, 1998, US Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania - was the third major strike in six weeks against the worldwide terror group that was headed by Osama bin Laden until his death last month.

Somali President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed congratulated government soldiers for killing Mohammed on Tuesday at a Mogadishu security checkpoint. “His aim was to commit violence in and outside the country,” Ahmed said, showing reporters documents, pictures and videos he said government troops recovered from Mohammed. US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton also honored the victims of the bombings during a visit to the American compound in Tanzania. She put flowers on a large rock just inside the main gate of the embassy, said a silent prayer and spoke with three Tanzanian employees who were at the embassy when it was bombed.

Clinton told embassy workers that the US has not forgotten its pledge “to seek justice against those who would commit such atrocities.” The attacks in Tanzania and Kenya killed 224 people. Most of the dead were Kenyans. Twelve Americans died. One of the survivors, Douglas Sidialo, was blinded by the bombing in Kenya’s capital of Nairobi. “God the cre-

ator has delivered Fazul Abdullah Mohammed to his destiny the same way he delivered bin Laden to his destiny,” he said. “When you kill by the sword, bullets and bombs you die through a similar tragedy.” Sidialo, who said he once wanted to skin bin Laden alive, said yesterday he has “moved on” and now would have preferred to see Mohammed captured alive and asked to account for his decisions.

“Any death is not a cause of celebration,” he said. Thousands were wounded when a pickup truck rigged as a bomb exploded outside the four-story US Embassy building. Within minutes, another bomb shattered the US mission in Tanzania’s commercial capital, Dar es Salaam. “Killing terrorists only breeds more terrorists. We must find a lasting solution to this menace,” said Sidialo.

Another Nairobi resident, Philip Nyakundi, said he welcomed the news.

“Let these people be wiped out on the face of the earth, innocent kids were killed here ... in 1998 on August 7th. Let these people be wiped!” he said.

Mohammed, a native of the Comoros Islands, had been on the run for more than a decade with a $5 million bounty on his head. He was thought to be hiding in Somalia, whose ineffective government has been unable to stop terror groups from operating.

Mogadishu residents said yesterday they hoped Mohammed’s death would also bring peace after decades of conflict. “I am undoubtedly happy with his death because he was a killer, a plotter and a violence organizer,” said Ali Abdi, 27, a trader. — Reuters

SANAA: Talks to resolve Yemen’s political crisis have failed after the deputy to wounded President Ali Abdullah Saleh refused to speak with groups demanding he cede power immediately, opposition figures said. Saleh, forced to seek medical treatment in Saudi Arabia for wounds suffered in an attack on his palace nine days ago, has refused to leave office despite nearly six months of street protests and many diplomatic attempts to remove him.

The ensuing political paralysis and long-standing conflicts with Islamist insurgents, separatists and rebel tribesmen, has fanned Western and regional fears of Yemen collapsing into chaos and giving Al-Qaeda a stronghold alongside oil shipping routes. A member of the group of opposition parties demanding Saleh transfer power now said international efforts to broker an agreement to that end had collapsed because the acting leader, Vice President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, would not talk to them.

“The American and European efforts for a dialogue between opposition parties and the ruling party has failed. The vicepresident has refused to deal with or meet oppositionparties,” Mohammed AlMutawakkil said.

“He justifies that by saying he is preoccupied with dealing with the fuel crisis and the ceasefire, as well as the security situation in the provinces.” A ceasefire has held in Sanaa since Saleh left a week ago, after more than 200 people were killed and thousands fled during two weeks of clashes between his loyalists and the forces of tribal leader Sheikh Sadeq Al-Ahmar, who backs the protesters. The capital, however, is all but paralysed by shortages of fuel and electricity, and violence in a southern province — whose capital Islamist gunmen seized last month-has worsened.

Population flees city amid fighting Yemen’s army killed 21 Al-Qaeda members in the southern province of Abyan on Saturday, 18 of them in Zinjibar, the provincial capital that fell.

Ten soldiers were killed in fighting there and another city, Lawdar, state media said. Residents of Zinjibar said fighting continued early yesterday, leaving at least four soldiers and several gunmen dead. Yemen’s health ministry said it would send 10,000 tonnes of medical supplies to people who have fled Zinjibar, including some 10,000 in the southern port of Aden. A Yemeni NGO, Seyaj, called for help evacuating some 500 people trapped in the town due to continued fighting. Opposition parties have said they will form their own transitional assembly in a week if Saleh does not cede power. It is not clear whether those parties have any significant influence over many of the protesters. Saleh has three times backed out of plans crafted by oil-rich Gulf neighbours to quit after a transitional period. His opponents have accused him of handing over Zinjibar to Islamists to reinforce his threat that the end of his three-decade rule, as demanded by protesters, would amount to ceding the region to Al-Qaeda. Saleh has not been seen in public since the palace attack, which left him with burns and shrapnel wounds. Yemen’s ambassador in London said on Saturday that he was recovering and in a “stable condition”. Saudi medical sources and Yemeni officials said Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Megawar and another cabinet member injured in the palace attack had been taken for more surgery, and described their condition as “serious”. Interfax news agency reported two planes had been dispatched to evacuate Russian nationals who want to leave the country. About 1,000 Russians citizens are in Yemen. — Reuters

SANAA: Yemeni anti-government protesters shout slogans against President Ali Abdullah Saleh. —AFP

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Berlusconi tested as referendums begin They are a trick: berlusconi-owned newspaper

HARARE: Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe addresses mourners at a state funeral in Harare. According to Harrison Nkomo of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, Zimbabwe is too violent and undemocratic to hold elections this year. — AP

Summit on Zimbabwe to set course toward elections JOHANNESBURG: Southern African leaders attempted to thrash out a plan yesterday to guide Zimbabwe toward elections, after a day of talks failed to settle the issue, a spokesman said. Mugabe, 87, has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, but inconclusive elections three years ago forced him into a unity government with Morgan Tsvangirai, his main rival, who is now prime minister. Their uneasy alliance had been intended as a transitional government to oversee the drafting of a more democratic constitution.

That was intended to pave the way to new elections that regional leaders hope would avoid a repeat of the violent 2008 vote. But the process is running a year late, which has prompted a faction within Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party to push for quick elections this year. The 15-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC), which wants the country to adopt a new constitution before holding polls, opened a summit on Zimbabwe on Saturday.

But there was no word on progress at the end of the day. Tomaz Salomao told journalists: “We don’t have yet the communiquÈ because the summit has not been concluded.”

The leaders are due to review a progress report by South African President Jacob Zuma, assigned by the SADC to deal with the problem. Zuma reportedly met Mugabe for three hours on the eve of the summit. The leaders will also review a recent SADC mission to Britain, the United States and the European Union headquarters in Brussels aimed at persuading Western leaders to lift sanctions on Mugabe and his inner circle.

Mugabe bristles at any outside pressure, and any decision the SADC reaches may not in

any case sway hardliners within his party, especially military leaders who have publicly called for quicker polls. The elections debate has cast light on the battle within ZANU-PF over Mugabe’s eventual succession. Part of the urgency comes from mounting concern in his party over Mugabe’s age and health, said Takavafira Zhou, political scientist at Masvingo State University.

“The rallying point in ZANU-PF is Mugabe, who is old, and there is a fear that if the elections are delayed and he dies or for some reason the elections are held without him, ZANUPF is gone,” said Zhou. “With those who want elections, we are talking of a minority of a minority, but it appears that minority is a powerful one,” said Eldred Masunungure, an analyst from the University of Zimbabwe. South African mediators last month publicly raised concerns about Mugabe’s health and the succession debate, following reports that he had had surgery for prostate cancer in Singapore early this year. Mugabe has denied the reports, and no one within the party is willing to publicly consider a future without him.

But two top Mugabe allies, Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa and central bank governor Gideon Gono, have both cast doubt on the wisdom of quick polls. Election officials say a new version of the wildly outdated voters rollan estimated one-third of the people on it are dead-will never be ready this year. The finance ministry says it has no money for elections.

Tsvangirai wants the SADC to support elections no earlier than 2012 and is calling for reform of the security forces, accused by Amnesty International of complicity in a new wave of violence against his supporters this year. — AFP

ROME: Italians began voting yesterday in referendums on nuclear power, water privatization and a law granting Silvio Berlusconi immunity in what is seen as a vital test for the embattled premier. The nuclear vote will be an important marker of popular opinion on atomic energy in Europe in the wake of the Fukushima disaster in Japan and after Germany this month passed a bill phasing out nuclear power by 2022.

If turnout is higher than 50 percent, a vote against nuclear power will definitively scrap the government’s plans to re-start Italy’s atomic energy program by 2014, which have already been put on a temporary moratorium.

Voters could also strip Berlusconi of his legal immunity under a law that was approved by his government soon after his reelection victor y in 2008. The prime minister is a defendant in three ongoing trials, involving allegations of having paid for sex with a 17-year-old girl, bribery and fraud.

A Constitutional Court ruling this year curbed part of the legal protection linked to his duties but the 74-year- old can still invoke some immunity. A strong vote against Berlusconi would add to signs of the growing discontent in Italy seen in local elections earlier this month, in which his ruling People of Freedom party lost key mayoral contests in Milan and Naples.

Eugenio Scalfari, founder of the leftist La Repubblica newspaper, said there would be “unpre dictable effects” if the referendums are approved.

“I exclude Berlusconi’s resignation but I do not exclude the implosion of the People of Freedom and of the Northern

oppn challenges Kagame in US CHICAGO: Rwandan opposition leaders called President Paul Kagame a corrupt dictator and war criminal Saturday at a protest outside a Chicago hotel where Kagame addressed the Rwandan diaspora. “Kagame is the worst dictator you can even think about because the entire political space has been closed,” said Theogene Rudasingwa, Kagame’s former cabinet chief and a leader of the opposition in exile. “If you tried to write this story in Rwanda you’d be dead,” he told AFP. “Opposition leaders have been killed. Journalists have been killed.”

The human rights violations resulting from Kagame’s stranglehold on Rwanda and proxy war in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been well documented, Rudasingwa said. “We are here to say can the world help us bring accountability for these crimes and also for these crimes to stop because they are still going on,” he said.

“On a positive note, the message of hope we are telling Rwandans and the international community is we Hutus and Tustis and Twa want truth, reconciliation, and healing.”

Rudasingwa said he has been inspired by the democratic movements sweeping the Middle East and is hopeful that Rwanda can find a peaceful path to democracy, even though he does not believe Kagame will “easily relinquish power.” “We want freedom and of course the basics of democracy, that is something we aspire for,” he said. “It’s possible. We only need to work towards it.”

Paul Rusesabagina, the man who inspired the film Hotel Rwanda by saving 1,268 people during the 1994 genocide, helped organize the protest. “What happened in Rwanda in 1994 is not yet over,” he said in an interview. “It has been going on in the Congo led by these men who have been looting blood minerals and killing Congolese.”

Rusesabagina cited human rights reports which show that approximately

CHIGAGO: Protestors join Rwandan opposition leaders in calling Rwandan President Paul Kagame a corrupt dictator and war criminal.—AFP 4,500 people are killed every month in don’t know how they’ve been killed,” he the Congo, where rape is used as a said of his father and other relatives. “It weapon of war. Kagame’s war crimes will trouble me for the rest of my life, and dictatorship must end, he said, so and this is the guy who did it,” he said of that Rwanda can achieve reconciliation Kagame. But Kagame got an extremely through open political dialogue and warm welcome inside the hotel, where thousands of Rwandan emigrants true democracy.

“What happened in Arab countries in cheered his arrival and applauded his North Africa might also be the next step work in transforming their homeland. in sub-Saharan Africa and if it is, it will US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson start in Rwanda,” Rusesabagina said. introduced Kagame as a “leader of “Dialogue-not guns-will solve our con- extraordinary proportions” who raised his nation “from the grave so that it flicts.

Guns have failed. Let us silence guns might live again.”

“Your president has vision. He sees and give hope.” Nathan Ndajeh was among the dozens of protesters who it,” Jackson told the crowd. “He has chanted “Kagame! War criminal!” outside empires in his brain and compassion in the Rwanda Day conference. “If you say his heart.” Kagame dismissed the prosomething against the government you testers and his critics and said he was are signing your death,” he said as he focused on a “new politics” that is clutched a photograph of two jailed focused on economic and social develfemale journalists. Ndajeh was out of opment. “We have been in pain and our the country when the genocide ravaged hearts refused to die,” Kagame said.

Rwanda and has been too afraid to go “That is the very reason why our politics is one that gives Rwandans welfare, back.

“I know they have been killed, but I well-being to every Rwandan.” — AFP

Miss Belgium urges end to crisis BRUSSELS: As the country marks a year of political mess today, a whole 12 months without an official government, even Miss Belgium is joining exasperated calls to politicians to break the impasse. “Belgium is beautiful! We have so much, the sea in Flanders, the forest in Wallonia,” said 19-year-old beauty queen Justine de Jonckheere. “But I must admit the country has problems.

“Ministers hold endless meetings to reach an understanding, but never do,” she told the daily Le Soir. “They need to put a little water in their wine!” The country of 11 million people that hosts

global powerhouses, the EU and NATO, today becomes the first nation in recent history to remain without a government for an entire year-a feat due to a festering language divide splitting the Dutchspeaking north and French-speaking south. While a caretaker government that lost last year’s June 13 elections has reduced the deficit and even sent warplanes to join the NATO-led campaign in Libya, the impasse is feeding fears of a looming carve-up of the country. An opinion survey Friday showed twothirds of Belgians continue to believe the country can survive its fiercest crisis to

date-though the proportion was highest in French-speaking Wallonia, at 79 percent, followed by 74 percent in bilingual Brussels and 62 percent in Dutch-speaking Flanders. But as feuding politicians repeatedly fail to bridge the divide by forming a workable coalition, the flak in Belgium’s language battle continues to fly. Linguistic tension marred the muchhyped crowning of northerner de Jonckheere as Miss Belgium earlier this year, amid shrill allegations of Flemish favoritism from French-speaking contestants-and despite the fact she speaks both languages. — AFP

FLORENCE: A Greenpeace banner reading “Italy stop the nuclear. Vote Yes”, hangs from the Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge).— AP

League,” a junior but highly influential par tner in Berlusconi’s governing coalition, Scalfari said.

Il Giornale, a newspaper owned by the Berlusconi family, said of the referendums in an editorial: “They are a trick. That is why we are not voting.” Polling stations closed at 10:00 pm (2000 GMT) yesterday and are open again between 7:00 am and 3:00 pm on today. The result is expected later today.

Opinion polls conducted by political parties in recent weeks show turnout could be around 50 percent but a quorum has never been reached since 1995.

The nuclear referendum has received the most attention in

the run-up to the vote but the issue of privatizing Italy’s water supplies is also a highly contentious one and there is also controversy over Berlusconi’s legal woes.

Italy abandoned atomic energy with a referendum in 1987 after the Chernobyl crisis but Berlusconi had made its re-introduction a major policy goal. The government argues that nuclear power would slash electricity bills, reduce I taly ’s energy dependency and be better for the environment.

Opinion polls show however that nuclear power remains deeply unpopular. The leader of the Greens in the European

Parliament, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, has called on Italians to vote against nuclear power, saying that a successful outcome of the referendum would be “an important signal” to the rest of Europe.

Referendum supporters have stepped up a “get out and vote” campaign in recent weeks with a series of rallies as well as some more unusual initiatives. Beach resorts in the region around the southern city of Naples are offering rental of two deck-chairs for the price of one for people who have voted. Voters are also being offered discounts in bars and restaurants across Italy, as well as free massages, yoga classes and even concert tickets. —AFP

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Obama set for official visit to Puerto Rico SAN JUAN: Cheering crowds in the steamy tropical heat are expected tomorrow when President Barack Obama makes a rare presidential visit to Puerto Rico. But the nearly 4 million US citizens who live on the island and can’t vote in the general election aren’t really the point. Organizers are hoping this trip, the first in decades by a president to the US Caribbean territory, will generate good will on the mainland, particularly in Florida, where the fast-growing Hispanic population will be essential to Obama’s re-election effort in 2012.

“The past decade has witnessed a staggering growth in the Puerto Rican community,” said Andres W. Lopez, a member of the Democratic Central Committee who helped organize the visit. “They have become the quintessential battleground community in the nation’s battleground state.” There are almost a million more Puerto Ricans on the mainland than on the island. They long had been concentrated in the Northeast, but the 2010 census shows that Florida is in second place, with about 841,000, mostly in the Orlando area. These transplants tend to be younger and more educated than their counterparts in established communities in places such as Hartford, Connecticut; and New York. As more recent arrivals they also

tend to have closer ties to family back home.

Democrats see the Puerto Ricans in Florida as a potential counterbalance to the larger, traditionally Republican CubanAmerican community in a state Obama needs badly to win a second term. That’s where this trip comes in. “I am sure they will be happy about this,” said Pedro Pierluisi, the island’s nonvoting representative in Congress, who has been working to generate support for Obama on the mainland. “We have lots of Puerto Ricans in central Florida and I know they keep close eyes on Puerto Rico.” Reaching out to Puerto Ricans is part of a broader effort to court Hispanics, who accounted for more than half the US population increase over the past decade and now number about 50 million.

It’s hardly a uniform community, but there are shared issues of concern that include support for education, and social services, said Louis DeSipio, a professor at the University of California, Irvine. The number of people of Puerto Rican descent, the second-largest Hispanic group in the US after Mexicans, grew by 36 percent over the past decade to 4.6 million, according to the census. The island’s population fell by 2 percent during that time as people fled a dismal economy. Puerto Ricans tend to be less

First photos of shot US congresswoman released PHOENIX: The first photos of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords since she was shot in the head in a mass shooting in Tucson about five months ago were released yesterday. The photos appeared on her Facebook page.

Both pictures show the congresswoman outside. In one she is alone and smiling at the camera, her hair trimmed short with the skin on the side of her head slightly discolored but with no clear sign of any scarring.

In the other, she is sitting with a woman.

Giffords has been in a Houston rehab facility since two weeks after the Jan. 8 shooting. Six people were killed and 13 were injured, including Giffords. Since the shooting, the only time the public was able to glimpse Giffords was April 27 as she boarded a plane to Florida to watch astronaut husband Mark Kelly launch into space.

The grainy footage showed Giffords slowly but purposefully walking up the airplane’s stairs. Since the shooting, the only time the public has gotten a glimpse of Giffords was April 27 as she boarded a plane to Florida to watch astronaut husband Mark Kelly launch into space. The grainy footage, taken from afar, showed Giffords slowly but purposefully walk up the airplane’s stairs. The newly released photos provide a much clearer image.

Last month as Kelly was orbiting Earth, doctors repaired Giffords’ skull, finally freeing her from wearing a cumbersome protective helmet that her staff members say she hated.

Since the shooting, Giffords has made remarkable strides, requesting her favorite foods, singing her favorite songs, and relearning how to walk and talk, although she struggles to string sentences together. In an interview with The Arizona Republic published Thursday, Giffords’ Chief of Staff Pia Carusone said Giffords’ limited speaking ability has led her to rely primarily on facial expressions and hand gestures to communicate.

“She is borrowing upon other ways

said. “That a sitting US president decides to come is a show of the importance that our island is generating in the American political system.” Obama plans to spend only a few hours on the island. He is expected to commemorate the last official presidential visit,

by John F. Kennedy in December 1961.

Obama plans to meet with Gov. Luis Fortuno, a pro-statehood Republican, and attend a fundraiser.

Fortuno said in an interview that he didn’t expect the president to weigh in on Puerto Rico’s status. That’s a question that Fortuno said will be put to the island’s voters before his term ends in December of next year. “Any smart political leader in America nowadays understands the importance of courting the Hispanic vote, regardless of whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat,” he said. Obama is also expected to draw attention to the $7 billion in stimulus money that went to Puerto Rico, perhaps visiting one of the schools or government buildings renovated under the program.

Pierluisi noted this aid came at a crucial time, with the local economy in recession since 2006 and the government slashing its budget and laying off thousands of public sector workers. “The people might not know all these details but they see a president

who has been supporting us,” Pierluisi said.

Obama is neutral on the status issue, which has been stalled for decades by conflicting sentiment on the island. The president supports a plebiscite in which Puerto Ricans would choose between statehood, independence, the current semiautonomous commonwealth status, or free association in which the island would be a sovereign nation that could define its future relationship with the US through treaties.

The trip is a big deal on the island, where the government has begun a flurry of road and public works projects in recent days and the legislature has created a model of an Obama statue they intended to erect in the Capitol, to go with the ones of five other presidents who have visited.

The pro-independence movement has announced plans to protest, but they represent a sliver of public opinion. The majority of Puerto Ricans have voted consistently to maintain ties to the US, and enthusiasm for the visit is widespread. Juan Carlos, a 28-year-old bank teller from the San Juan suburb of Carolina, said he asked his boss for tomorrow off so he could see the president. “This is a moment that I will tell my children about when they are old enough,” he said. — AP

Weiner seeks leave of absence from House ‘I’m working hard to get back to normal.’: Weiner

HOUSTON: US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords at TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital, released on her Facebook page. — AFP of communicating. Her words are back more and more now, but she’s still using facial expressions as a way to express. Pointing.

Gesturing,” Carusone said. “Add it all together and she’s able to express the basics of what she wants or needs. But, when it comes to a bigger and more complex thought that requires words, that’s where she’s had the trouble.” Carusone also said that if Giffords’ recovery were to plateau now, “it would not be nearly the quality of life she had before.”

“All that we can hope for is that she won’t plateau today and that she’ll keep going and that when she does plateau, it will be at a place far away from here,” she said.

Jared Lee Loughner, 22, has pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from the shooting and is being held at a Missouri facility. A judge declared him incompetent to stand trial, but prosecutors hope his competency can be restored so he can answer for the charges. — AP

Palin emails show she sought VP nomination JUNEAU: There are no bombshells, no “gotcha” moments. The emails of Sarah Palin - more than 24,000 pages of them released Friday by the state of Alaska from her first two years as governor paint a picture of an image-conscious, driven leader, closely involved with the day-to-day duties of running the state and riding herd on the signature issues of her administration.

She angled for the vice presidential nomination months before John McCain picked her - and hinted at presidential aspirations. The messages give a behindthe-scenes look at a politician who burst onto the national stage after serving as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, less than two years as Alaska governor. They show a woman striving to balance work and home, fiercely protective of her family and highly sensitive to media coverage.

She expressed a sometimes mothering side with aides but also was quick to demand answers or accountability.

They seem to depict a more moderate Palin who worked to find a state response to global warming - she has since dismissed studies supporting climate change - and gave props to thenSen. Barack Obama for his support of a natural gas pipeline in Alaska. The records, comprising more than 13,400 emails, shed new light on Palin’s rise from little-known governor to national political sensation. The emails end in September 2008, shortly after her selection to be McCain’s running mate. It was

interested in immigration overhaul because they are US citizens and can move freely back and forth between the island and the mainland, but as migrants who often need to learn to speak English and face other challenges they have similar experiences, said DeSipio, chairman of Chicano-Latino Studies at the California school.

“To the extent that the president talks about issues of bringing Puerto Ricans into the US mainstream that will certainly resonate with other Latino communities and immigrant communities generally,” he said.

George Colon, who moved to the Orlando area a month ago after losing his job managing memberships at a country club in Puerto Rico, said he’s undecided on the presidential election and won’t be persuaded by Obama’s visit.

He said he will vote for the candidate best able to secure statehood for the island or “resolve its status,” as most people refer to the issue. “If he’s not interested in resolving Puerto Rico’s status, than it doesn’t mean much,” Colon said about the trip.

The political aspect of the trip is a point of pride to Belmaris Santos, a marketing executive from Guaynabo, a San Juan suburb, who plans to show up at the airport to catch Obama’s arrival. “It’s historic,” the 33-year-old

then that citizens and news organizations first requested the records.

Three years later, Palin is a best-selling author, reality T V star, sought-after speaker and kingmaker, successfully supporting dozens of candidates in last year’s elections. Her recent bus tour of the Northeast as well as an authorized documentary about her time as governor, have fueled speculation that Palin will run for president, but the Republican says she hasn’t yet decided. In Anchorage, people watched the release of the emails with interest, some blaming the media for paying too much attention to the out-dated records.

“I personally think they’re afraid of her,” said Richard Giese, who sold flowers at the Anchorage Farmer’s Market on Saturday. “They’re digging up a lot of stuff, some of it true. I won’t deny that.

But I think they are afraid of her for the election.” Gail Sieberts, who was shopping at the market, called it a distraction.

“We’re glad she’s not here anymore,” she said. “Our state is running better and we don’t need all the drama.”

While much of the country was taken by surprise when Palin became the Republican vice presidential candidate, her emails suggest she was angling for the slot for months, and that she may have been courted even earlier. Palin’s scheduler sent her a note June 21, 2007, saying Gov. Mitt Romney - who was running for president - wanted to schedule a call to “catch up on things.” — AFP

WASHINGTON: A married New York congressman who sent sexually explicit photographs of himself to women he met through social networks said he was entering professional treatment and requested a leave of absence from Congress. An aide for Rep. Anthony Weiner made the disclosure in a statement Saturday shortly after several Democratic party leaders demanded he resign for exchanging messages and photos ranging from sexually suggestive to explicit with several women online.

“This sordid affair has become an unacceptable distraction for Representative Weiner, his family, his constituents and the House,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, said in a written statement calling for the 46-year-old married lawmaker to step down. The House Democratic leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi said Weiner “has the love of his family, the confidence of his constituents and the recognition that he needs help. I urge Congressman Weiner to seek that help without the pressures of being a member of Congress.”

Aides said later that Pelosi had been aware of Weiner’s plan to enter treatment when she issued her statement, and her call for a resignation had not changed because of it. The scandal has dominated the news and distracted attention from efforts by President Barack Obama’s Democrats to slam Republicans for proposing deep cuts to Medicare, a popular health care program for the elderly. Weiner’s spokeswoman, Risa Heller, said in the statement that the congressman departed during the morning “to seek professional treatment to focus on becoming a better husband and healthier person. In light of that, he will request a short leave of absence from the House of Representatives so that he can get evaluated and map out a course of treatment to make himself well.” The statement did not say where he would receive treatment, or what type was involved. Others familiar with his plans said he had left New York by air.

Also joining in calls for Weiner to quit was New York Democratic Rep. Steve Israel, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and a member of the party’s leadership. In an interview, Israel said he had told Weiner in a phone call during the day “that I was going to call on him to resign

NEW YORK: Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., carries his laundry to a laundromat near his home. — AP and he absorbed that. Obviously he had much more personal and pressing issues that he was addressing. “He didn’t give me any indication of whether he was going to resign or not,” Israel said.

Pelosi, the former House Speaker, also spoke with Weiner during the day to let him know that she, too, would be joining the calls for his resignation. The developments occurred one day after Weiner acknowledged he had exchanged online messages with a 17year-old girl in the state of Delaware. He said nothing improper had passed between the two of them. Nor was there even an allegation that Weiner had a physical relationship with any of the women with whom he maintained virtual relationships. That made his case a departure from the norm, a sex scandal without sex, a phenomenon of the age of Facebook, Twitter and other social media.

Democrats said the concerted call for Weiner’s resignation had been brewing for days, as senior party officials concluded the scandal was interfering with their attempts to gain political momentum in advance of the 2012 elections. Democrats hope to rebound from a devastating election defeat last

November in which the Republicans gained control of the House. “We had decided we were not going to have one more week of Anthony Weinergate,” said one official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. This official added that Pelosi and Israel had spoken numerous times in the past several days with Weiner, hoping to persuade him to step down for the good of the party, telling him that because of the media focus on his predicament, their attacks on a Republican Medicare proposal were largely unnoticed.

The Republicans have proposed major cuts in the government-run Medicare program providing health care coverage to the elderly.

Publicly, Pelosi, Wasserman Schultz and others had been notably reticent in the days since Weiner held a news conference on Monday to announce he had exchanged lewd photos, and more, with a handful of women. On Thursday, an X-rated photo surfaced on a website, and in response, Weiner’s office issued a statement that did not deny it had been taken of him.

The statement by Weiner’s aide did not specify how long a leave of absence the congressman would seek. According to one Democratic aide, leaves are granted automatically once a lawmaker requests one, and no vote or other type of acquiescence by the House is required. It is not known whether any other lawmakers are currently on leave. Until disclosing he was seeking treatment, Weiner had given no indication he was considering anything other than returning to the Capitol today when the House returns from a weeklong break, raising the prospect of a circus-like atmosphere when the news media attempted to track his whereabouts.

He ran some personal errands near his home in the New York City borough of Queens during the morning, and said he was looking forward to getting back to work quickly. “I’ve made some mistakes. I’ve acknowledged it. I’m trying to make it up to my wife and my family,” he said. “I’m working hard to get back to normal.” As he walked to a neighborhood dry cleaner with a load of shirts over one arm he wore an anguished look on his face, but fielded questions politely and paused several times to accept well wishes from neighbors and constituents. — AP

US wildfire spreads, health conditions worsen SPRINGERVILLE: An eye-stinging, throat-burning haze of smoke from a gigantic wildfire was beginning to stretch as far east as central New Mexico, prompting Arizona health officials to warn residents about potential respiratory hazards.

The 672-square-mile blaze was no longer just an Arizona problem on Saturday as firefighters moved to counter spot fires sprouting up across the state line and lighting their own fires to beat it back. The forest fire remained largely uncontained and officials worried that the return of gusty southwesterly winds during the afternoon could once again threaten small mountain communities that had been largely saved just a few days ago.

Levels of tiny, sooty particles from the smoke in eastern Arizona were nearly 20 times the federal health standard on Saturday. The good news was that was down from roughly 40 times higher a day earlier, but it was all at the mercy of the everchanging winds. Predictions for following days were bleak, said Mark Shaffer of the Arizona Department of Environmental

Quality. “Things got better but they ’re still bad,” Shaffer said Saturday.

The microscopic particles, about 1/28th the width of a human hair, can get lodged in the lungs and cause serious health problems, both immediate and long-term, Shaffer said. “Larger particles, you breathe in and you cough and it tends to get rid of it,” he said, adding that the tiny particles get “very, very deep into your system and are very difficult to expel.” Shaffer said the forecast for yesterday was “pretty scary.”

“It’s looking very unsettled, and they’re predicting winds out of the southeast to the northeast and heavy impact along Interstate 40 ... It’s very problematic for both states.”

New Mexico officials were continuously monitoring air quality in their state and are advising residents from the Arizona border to Albuquerque to pay close attention to conditions. “The people we’re most concerned about are obviously those with chronic health conditions but when air quality gets this bad it can actual-

ly have negative effects on everybody,” said Chris Minnick, a spokesman for the New Mexico Department of Health. He said the state planned to issue an alert to residents Saturday to take precautions if the smoke gets worse, such as avoiding strenuous outdoor activities, not using their swamp coolers to cool their homes because it will suck the smoke indoors and stocking supplies of needed medications.

Guarding the picturesque mountain town of Greer, where 22 homes and cabins were destroyed earlier in the week, firefighter Matt Howell, 28, described the difficulty of working in such smoky, choking conditions. “You get in there and it’s hard to breathe,” he said. “You start coughing, can’t get that good nice breath of air.” More than 30 homes have been destroyed since the fire began May 29, thousands of residents have fled communities and the blaze posed a potential danger to two major power lines that bring electricity from Arizona to West Texas, although officials said Saturday they had so far been able to protect the routes. — AP

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Pakistan’s Taleban deny twin blasts that killed 39 ‘We do not target innocent people’: Taleban PESHAWAR: Pakistan’s Taleban denied responsibility yesterday for twin bomb blasts that ripped through a crowded market in the northwestern city of Peshawar, killing 39 people and injuring dozens. The attack, one of the deadliest in a series to hit Pakistan since US Navy SEALs killed Osama bin Laden last month, devastated the Khyber Super Market district which includes a hotel, shops and student accommodation.

DEHRADUN: Indian yoga guru Swami Ramdev receives a glass of juice from supporters including spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravishankar as he breaks his fast. —AFP

India’s yoga guru persuaded to end 8-day anti-graft fast NEW DELHI: Popular yoga guru Swami Ramdev called off his eight-day-old hunger strike yesterday to denounce corruption after a prominent spiritual figure persuaded him to end his action, local media said.

Ramdev had pressed on with the fast at his ashram, or spiritual centre, after police last week used batons and tear gas to disperse a hunger strike by him and his followers in New Delhi. The crackdown was condemned by opposition par ties on the lef t and right.

Ramdev, who travels by private jet and boasts a daily television audience of 30 million, was admitted to hospital on Friday suffering from a low pulse rate and dehydration. H is condition prompted concern from both his followers and government officials.

Swami Ramdev won backing from followers for his initiative to act against corruption, but criticism had grown over some of his recent statements in which he asked supporters to take up arms. Ramdev’s aide, Balakrishna, told local media the yoga guru had called off the fast but would carry on with his

campaign. Media reports said Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, a spiritual guru with an even greater following than Ramdev, had persuaded the fasting guru to call off the protest on behalf of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government.

Law Minister M Veerappa Moily, also quoted by media, denied the government had taken part in any behindthe-scenes talks with Ramdev. The ruling Congress Party welcomed the decision to end the fast. National anger over corruption has spiralled as the government has become embroiled in a series of scandals, including a telecom licensing kickback scam that may have cost the exchequer up to $39 billion. Ramdev had called on the government to pursue billions of dollars in illegal funds abroad and introduce tough anti-corruption legislation. The protest, and the government’s handling of it, has distracted from authorities’ efforts to proceed with reforms to modernise the economy, which analysts say is growing at around 8 percent. —Reuters

A small initial blast at around 11:30 pm local time Saturday drew onlookers and emergency services before a second more powerful blast, believed to be from a suicide strike, detonated and was heard for miles around.

“Death toll has risen to 39 in the blasts as four wounded people died in hospital,” senior local police official Ijaz Khan told AFP, adding that the explosions were just four minutes apart.

“The first blast was quite small but as people gathered close to the site of the explosion, the second one, which was real big one, went off.” Those killed included two journalists working for English-language newspapers Pakistan Today and The News.

Many journalists working in Peshawar live in the rooms above the shops and eat at the marketplace’s restaurants. “The target of the militants was to kill a large number of innocent people in the busy market and journalists became the victims by chance,” provincial information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain told AFP. The bombing badly damaged six shops and the hotel. Pieces of human flesh, along with debris including smashed crockery and broken furniture from the hotel, were scattered outside. “The first blast was triggered by a timed device planted in the bathroom of the hotel while a suicide bomber riding a motorbike blew himself up near the hotel,” bomb disposal chief Shafqat Malik told AFP. “We have found a head and some other body parts of the bomber from the attack site,” he said.

Abdul Hameed Afridi, chief doctor at Peshawar’s main Lady Readings hospital, confirmed the death toll and said 108 wounded were brought to the hospital overnight, with 47 of them admit-

PESHAWAR: Local residents gather at the overnight twin bomb blast site. —AFP ted for treatment. The Pakistani Taleban, who have vowed to carry out attacks to avenge the killing of bin Laden, denied any role in the bombing and said they only aim their strikes at the government and military. “We did not carry out this attack in Peshawar.

It is an attempt by foreign secret agencies who are doing it to malign us,” Tehreek-e- Taleban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told AFP on phone. “We do not target innocent people. Our targets are very clear, we attack security forces, government and people who are siding with it,” Ehsan said.

Nearly 4,500 people have been killed across Pakistan in attacks blamed on Taleban and other Islamist extremist networks based in the nearby tribal belt since government troops stormed a radical mosque in Islamabad in

2007. Television footage showed ambulances rushing to the scene and taking away the injured, as well as the bodies of the dead.

“I was parking my car near the hotel when the first blast took place. I rushed to the hotel to see nature of the explosion when the second bomb went off with a big bang,” local journalist Safiullah Mehsud told AFP. Mehsud, who was injured in the head and legs, said he recalled being thrown into the air by the power of the blast, before being knocked unconscious.

Muhammad Hashim, a cameraman working for a local TV channel, said he was taking tea after dinner when the blasts occurred. “I ran towards the hotel after the first blast and it was about that time when I saw a big fireball followed by another explosion,” said Hashim, who was

wounded in his head and chest.

The latest violence came shortly after visiting Afghan President Hamid Karzai called on Pakistan to eradicate militant sanctuaries, in talks on a peace process with the Taleban. Bin Laden’s death has heightened calls within the United States for a peaceful settlement in Afghanistan. The twin attacks also came a week after Pakistan’s AlQaeda commander Ilyas Kashmiri, one of the network’s most feared operational leaders, was believed to have been killed in a US drone strike in South Waziristan near the Afghan border. Nearby Peshawar is the gateway to Pakistan’s rugged northwest tribal region, the stronghold of Taleban and Al-Qaeda linked militants, and bomb attacks there are common. —AFP

Dilemmas rise as Obama’s Afghan drawdown nears

KABUL: Afghan children cycle past the ruins of Darulaman palace yesterday. Obama faces wrenching political and even moral dilemmas as he plots a troop drawdown in Afghanistan. —AFP

Investigation assured after Indian crime reporter killed MUMBAI: Authorities in the Indian city of Mumbai have promised a full investigation after a prominent newspaper crime reporter was killed in a drive-by shooting near his home. Jyotirmoy Dey, who wrote extensively about gangland activities in the country’s financial and entertainment capital for the daily tabloid Mid-day, was gunned down in broad daylight in a northern suburb on Saturday afternoon. Four gunmen on two motorbikes shot him four times at point-blank range and sped off, police said. Dey, 56, was taken to hospital but was declared dead on arrival.

Mumbai Police chief Arup Patnaik said the shooting, which has shocked the city’s media fraternity, was a professional hit by organized crime gangs. The domestic Press Trust of India news agency quoted an unnamed senior police officer as saying that the so-called “oil mafia” may have been behind the killing. “The journalist had extensively written a number of news reports on the oil mafia, which may have triggered them to eliminate him,” he added. The “oil mafia” are racketeers who steal subsidized kerosene from tankers to dilute higher-priced petrol with it and undercut the market with the resulting blend.

In January, a senior civil official in Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital, was burnt to death after uncovering evidence of the practice. Mid-day said that the reporter, who wrote under the byline “J Dey”, had covered crime in Mumbai for the last 22 years and was the publication’s investigations editor. He had previously worked for titles including the Indian Express and the Hindustan Times-both English-language dailies-and was the author of two books on Mumbai’s underworld. Mid-day editor Sachin Kalbag wrote in the newspaper on yesterday that Dey was an honest reporter of great integrity. “It is evident that Dey was a victim of his fearless journalism,” he said. But he warned against speculation about the motive of the attack. Journalists in Mumbai are planning a protest march in the city today, calling on the state government for greater protection. —AFP

WASHINGTON: From a position of lonely authority, President Barack Obama faces wrenching political and even moral dilemmas as he plots a troop drawdown in Afghanistan due to begin next month. The White House insists Obama’s decision will be driven solely by battlefield dynamics, despite growing angst in Washington about the heavy human and economic sacrifice demanded by the nearly decade-long war.

Obama promised 18 months ago-when he announced a troop surge to push back the Taliban and buy time for Afghan political and security development- that in July 2011: “our troops will begin to come home.” Now that deadline is due, after months of fragile progress, and a Washington turf war is raging over the size of the withdrawal. Critics viewed Obama’s decision to name a draw-

down date as a error sure to embolden Afghan fighters who follow a simple strategy tested over generations: waiting out foreign invaders.

But Obama was under pressure to heed a war-weary US public and wanted to signal to the chaotic Afghan government that the United States needed to “transition” out of the country. The official line now is that “conditions on the ground” will frame the decision, prompting expectations of only a token drawdown of the 100,000-strong US force.

But with America’s economic recovery struggling, Obama faces rising questions over both the cost of the nation-building effort and assumptions of eventual success built into US strategy. And the killing of Osama bin Laden in a daring special forces raid in Pakistan raises the question of whether a

full-scale counterinsurgency in Afghanistan is the best way to keep the US boot on AlQaeda’s neck.The Pentagon, led by outgoing Defense Secretary Robert Gates, seeks only a cautious drawdown from a war that has killed around 1,500 US troops. Gates predicted in a farewell trip to Afghanistan that a “decisive blow” was imminent against the Taliban. US commanders claim progress against the militia in the south of the country and now want to take it on the east.

Pentagon warnings have been accompanied by sympathetic pieces on the op-ed pages of influential US newspapers, arguing that anything more than a token drawdown of perhaps 3,000 to 5,000 troops would be disastrous.

“If Mr Obama announces the withdrawal of all surge forces from Afghanistan in 2012,

the war will likely be lost,” wrote scholars Kimberly and Frederick Kagan in a Wall Street Journal editorial this week. But politicians responsive to public opinion have doubts.

“Our current commitment in troops and in dollars is neither proportional to our interests nor sustainable,” said John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Veteran Republican Senator Richard Lugar added: “despite 10 years of investment and attempts to better understand the culture and the region’s actors, we remain in a cycle that produces relative progress but fails to deliver a secure political or military resolution.” In the face of hawkish calls for a negligible drawdown, influential US Senator Carl Levin has suggested a significant withdrawal of 15,000 American troops this year. —AFP

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China downpours unleash floods Destruction leaves over 100 dead BEIJING: Torrential rains battering central and southern China unleashed floods and landslides that killed more than 100 people, turning areas enduring drought just over a week ago into scenes of muddy destruction, local news reports said yesterday. Forecasters warned that intense rain was likely to keep striking some areas through Monday and beyond. In Yueyang in Hunan province in the south, weather stations recorded more than 200 millimetres (eight inches) of rain in six hours, the kind of downpour that hits once every 300 years, the China News Service reported, citing local officials. In Maojiazu Village in Yueyang, the pelting downpours triggered a mudslide that crushed 24 homes and killed at least 20 residents, with another seven missing under boulders and dense mud, most likely dead, the Xinhua news agency reported.

SYDNEY: Qantas planes are shown on the tarmac at Sydney International Airport yesterday. —AFP

Chile volcanic ash grounds Australia and NZ flights SYDNEY: Ash from Chile’s volcanic eruptions prompted Australian airlines to ground some domestic services and flights to New Zealand yesterday, stranding thousands of people after plumes drifted across the Pacific. Strong winds have carried the ash clouds some 9,400 kilometers (5,800 miles) across the Pacific Ocean to New Zealand since Chile’s Puyehue volcano erupted more than a week ago, and they are now entering Australian airspace. National carrier Qantas cancelled all flights to and from the southeastern island of Tasmania and all flights to and from Christchurch, Queenstown and Wellington in neighbouring New Zealand.

It later extended the groundings to all flights to and from the southern Australian city of Melbourne and those to and from New Zealand’s Auckland, affecting around 8,000 passengers in total. No intercontinental flights were immediately hit as none were scheduled to land in Melbourne last night. “We believe that it’s absolutely the right thing to ground these services. We will put them back up in the air as soon as possible but it’s a safety first approach for our customers,” Qantas spokeswoman Olivia Wirth told ABC radio.

Qantas said it had taken the precautionary measure until it knew more about the density of the cloud and its possible impact on aircraft.

The airline’s offshoot Jetstar has also grounded flights for Tasmania and New Zealand, as well as some flights within New Zealand. Regional rival Virgin Australia said it was suspending all domestic and international flights to and from Melbourne, starting yesterday, after cancelling five flights between Australia and New Zealand earlier in the day. Air New Zealand has said it will adjust flight routes and altitudes to avoid the plumes,

which New Zealand’s Civil Aviation Authority has warned will be at 20,00030,000 feet, the cruising altitude for both jet and turboprop aircraft.

The authority said Saturday New Zealand airspace might be affected for at least a week, given that the volcano was still erupting. With thousands of passengers stranded on both sides of the Tasman, Air Services Australia said the cloud had already reached Australian airspace and could affect air traffic for the next few days. “While the main ash cloud is expected to pass to the south of the Australian mainland it has reached airspace in southern Tasmania and the south island of New Zealand,” the authority said in a statement. “The northern edge of the cloud is expected to reach Victoria, southern New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory (Canberra), but it is also diffusing. “ This part of the ash cloud is not expected impact south-east Australia beyond a day, but other parts of the ash cloud are being closely watched in case they move over Australia.” Andrew Tupper, head of Australia’s Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre, said he expected the ash cloud to move towards Australia’s east coast over the next day, although the plumes were breaking apart. “It’s got a very strong satellite signal and it’s right up there with the big, big eruption clouds,” he said. “It will keep going. I would suspect it will do a loop of the globe.”

Flights to and from Australia are from time to time disrupted by volcanic eruptions in the Pacific, but Tupper said this was the first time in about two decades that an ash cloud was expected to cross the continent itself.”It’s pretty major,” he said. The volcanic eruptions have already prompted the cancellation of several flights across South America. —AFP

China lead pollution outbreak poisons kids BEIJING: Lead pollution from workshops in eastern China seriously poisoned 103 children and has affected hundreds of other residents in the country’s latest case of unfettered industrial toxins, the official Xinhua news agency reported yesterday.

The pollution from tinfoil-making workshops in Yangxunqiao town in Zhejiang province left the children, aged 14 or younger, with 250 micrograms or more of lead for every liter of blood. Another 26 adults were found to have “severe lead poisoning, or with more than 600 micrograms of lead per liter of blood”, the report said, citing local health officials. “ Workers and their family members, including children, are constantly exposed to lead materials in the family-run workshops,” said the report, adding that a dozen of the children were receiving hospital treatment for the lead.

Nearly 500 other residents of the township were found to have “moderate” lead poisoning, with 400 to 600 micrograms of lead per liter of blood. This is the latest reported case of a pollution problem that has stricken many towns and villages across China, where residents often live within meters of laxly regulated factories and workshops competing to produce cheaply. That industrial growth has run up against residents increasingly worried about their health. Most of the workers in the tinfoil plants are migrants from other, poorer parts of China, said the Xinhua report.

Lead poisoning can build up through regular exposure to small amounts of lead, damaging the nervous and reproductive systems and kidneys, as well as causing high blood pressure and anemia. Lead is especially harmful for children and can lead to learning difficulties and behavioral problems. China’s environment ministr y has called for

urgent measures to tackle heavy metal poisoning as cases of mass poisoning have created widespread public anger. “ The prevention of heavy metal pollution concerns the health of the people, especially children’s health, and concerns social harmony and stability,” the Minister of Environmental Protection, Zhou Shengxian, said in May. But Beijing has often failed to match vows to clean up polluters with the resources and political will to enforce such demands, as local officials put growth, revenue and jobs ahead of environmental protection. China is the world’s biggest consumer of refined lead, and battery making accounts for 70 percent of that consumption, which is likely to grow to 4.1 million tons in 2011.

Dozens of people living near a big battery factory in Zhejiang were found to have dangerously high levels of lead poisoning, local news reports said in March.

In 2009, protesters broke into one smelting plant they blamed for the lead poisoning of more than 600 children, and smashed trucks and tore down fences before police stopped them. Faced with rising public concern, the government has said it will crack down on lead pollution, especially in Zhejiang province, which is home to many small manufacturers of batteries and other products that use the metal. About three - quar ters of lead-acid battery manufacturing plants in China could be phased out in the next 2 to 3 years after Beijing launched a crackdown, an industry body said last month. I n Yangxunqiao, the site of the latest pollution outbreak, 25 workshops suspended production, said Xinhua.

The township has nearly 200 tinfoilmak ing workshops that in total employ more than 2,500 people, said the report. —Reuters

“ The concentrated scope, intensity and short duration of these recent rains have caused grave casualties and damage to property in some areas,” said Chen Lei, the Minister of Water.

Resources who also oversees the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, according to a repor t on its website. The office warned that heavy rains along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River basin could trigger floods in an area gripped by drought less than two weeks ago.

By late Saturday, the floods across parts of 13 provinces had killed 94 people with 78 missing, damaged 465,000 hectares (1,800 square miles) of crops, and toppled 27,100 houses and other buildings, the flood and drought office said. By later yesterday, Hunan province lifted the number of people killed by floods and mudslides there to 36, up from an estimate of 19 given on Saturday, meaning the updated nationwide death toll could have reached at least 111.

S ome 23 of those deaths happened in Xianning in Hubei province of central China, where rains triggered mudslides that also injured more than 100 residents and left 10 missing. The

LINXIANG: A Chinese woman grieves during a mass funeral for victims of the floods in Linxiang, central China’s Hunan province. Floods triggered by torrential rain in southern and central China have killed 52 people and forced more than 100,000 to flee their homes, state media reported. —AFP recent drought had “dried up the region’s soil, which has increased the risk of landslides during recent heavy rainfalls”, said Xinhua, citing a province government adviser. But Maojiazu residents in Hunan

also said unfettered mining had weakened hills that collapsed under the weight of the rain.

“If it wasn’t for the quarrying above the village, Maojiazu would not have suffered such a disaster,” said Yao Shifu, 71, according to

the Beijing News. There will be no let up in the flood risks yet. The Chinese weather service said parts of Hunan province, and swathes of eastern China were likely to be hit by torrential rains today. —Reuters

Arsenic scare prompts evacuation in Australia

HANOI: A protester shouts anti-China slogans in front of the Chinese embassy during a protest against the alleged invasion of Vietnamese territory by Chinese ships in disputed waters. —AFP

Fresh anti-China demos in Vietnam as tensions rise HANOI: Dozens of Vietnamese protested outside the Chinese embassy in Hanoi for the second weekend in a row yesterday, as a maritime dispute raised tensions between the two communist neighbors. About 50 people with Vietnamese flags sang patriotic songs and held signs proclaiming Vietnamese sovereignty over two South China Sea archipelagos which are at the centre of a long-running dispute with Beijing.

In southern Ho Chi Minh City about 250 people held a similar rally but police sealed off the Chinese consulate area with barbed wire barricades to prevent protesters from approaching, a witness said. Although authoritarian Vietnam tolerates small land rights rallies, advocates of other political causes risk arrestmaking demonstrations unusual.

Security officers detained at least one person in Ho Chi Minh City, the witness said, while in Hanoi there were no apparent arrests but police ordered one foreign newspaper reporter to leave the area. Demonstrators in the capital, who dispersed after just 30 minutes, were vastly outnumbered by riot police and other uniformed and plain-clothed security officers.

Vietnam and China are at loggerheads over sovereignty of the potentially oil-rich Paracel and Spratly archipelagos and surrounding waters. Tensions are now at their highest level in years after Hanoi late last month accused Chinese marine surveillance vessels of cutting the exploration cables of an oil survey ship inside its exclusive economic zone. Some protesters said they had returned to demonstrate again after Vietnam on Thursday alleged a Chinese fishing boat rammed the cables of another ship in the 200-nautical-mile zone.

Beijing countered by warning Vietnam to halt all activities that it says violate Chinese sovereignty in the disputed South China Sea waters. “ We

protest for peace,” said Quoc Dat, 30, wearing a T-shirt in the red and yellow colors of the Vietnamese flag. But he warned that if the Chinese “get into my country, they will lose”.

In Ho Chi Minh City, where most demonstrators dispersed after about 90 minutes, one sign protested China’s “invasion” while another called for a boycott of Chinese products, a witness said.

On Friday the United States said it is “troubled” by the tensions between the Asian countries and called for a “peaceful” resolution to the crisis. Temperatures have also risen this year between China and the Philippines, another claimant to the Spratly islands, where Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also say they have a stake. “If China is successful in invading the East Sea they invade the world,” said Pham Gia Minh, 55, a foreign business consultant watching the Hanoi demonstration. He was using the Vietnamese term for the South China Sea. The protests came ahead of live-fire naval drills by Vietnam planned for tonight, off the country’s central coast, which Hanoi says are part of routine annual training. Carl Thayer, a veteran analyst of Vietnam and the South China Sea, said last week that the anti-China protest serves the government’s interest “up to a point”.

But the demonstrations could escalate into a bilateral issue, possibly sparking Chinese protests against Vietnam and aggravating relations with Vietnam’s giant neighbor, he said. In December 2007, up to 300 protesters rallied outside the Chinese embassy on two consecutive weekends until Beijing said bilateral ties were at risk and Hanoi asked its people to stop demonstrating.

Vietnamese bitterly recall 1,000 years of Chinese occupation and, more recently, a 1979 border war. More than 70 Vietnamese sailors were killed in 1988 when the two sides had a battle off the Spratlys. —AFP

SYDNEY: Australian officials urged residents and visitors of a remote outback cattle station to evacuate yesterday after a number were found to have high levels of arsenic in their blood. The Northern Territory coroner has declared Mount Bundy Station, 130 kilometers (80 miles) south of Darwin, a restricted area and called for the 140 residents to be evacuated. “The evacuation was a precautionary measure to ensure people’s safety and limit any further people from being potentially exposed to the arsenic source,” Darwin Police Commander Kym Davies said.

A 17-year-old boy from Mount Bundy Station died in May, and while no official cause of death has been identified, arsenic poisoning is thought to have contributed to the death. Eight other long-term residents of the station have been found to have elevated levels of arsenic in their system, police said, adding that the cattle station would remain closed until the arsenic source was found. “Prolonged exposure is usually needed to record elevated levels of arsenic,” said Northern Territory Chief Health Officer Doctor Barbara Paterson. “All of the eight people who have recorded elevated arsenic levels have received medical attention and will be offered follow-up attention.”

Arsenic is naturally occurring and chronic exposure to the element is linked with cancers of the liver, kidney, bladders and skin, as well as heart disease. Fatal arsenic poisoning is rare in Australia, with a Royal Darwin Hospital spokeswoman saying there were only two such deaths between 1964 and 2007. —AFP

Taiwan plans deployment of missile boats and tanks TAIPEI: Taiwan is planning to deploy missile boats in the South China Sea and tanks on disputed islands as regional tensions mount over territorial differences, a military spokesman said yesterday. Taiwan’s defense ministry said it feared coastguards now stationed in the Spratlys, claimed by several nations, and the Pratas islands, claimed by China, may not be sufficiently heavily-equipped to handle potential conflicts. “Currently the coastguards in the Nansha (Spratlys) and Tungsha (Pratas) are only armed with light weapons,” Taiwan’s defense ministry spokesman David Lo told AFP. “The missile boats and tanks is an option we’ve offered to the coastguards,” he said, without specifying numbers and adding that the coastguard had yet to make a final decision.

Local media said the missile boats’ presence would serve as a deterrent. Each of Taiwan’s 47tonne S e a gul l c l a s s b oa t s i s a r m e d w i t h t wo Hsiungfeng I missiles, a ship-to-ship weapon with a range of 40 kilometers (24 miles). The remarks come as China becomes increasingly asser tive in the potentially resource-rich South China Sea, following several years of relative quiet. Taiwan on Saturday reiterated its claims to the Spratlys, along with three other island groups in the South China Sea, amid a flare -up in regional tensions over rival claims.

Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei, China, Malaysia, and the Philippines claim all or part of the Spratlys, which could lie on top of large oil reserves.

The Taiwanese coastguard currently has a 130strong garrison on Taiping, the biggest island in the Spratlys archipelago, which has a runway to smooth logistical support. The Philippine military in April said it planned to use a new US-made vessel to boost patrols in the disputed waters, after a complaint about Chinese patrol boats harassing a Philippine oil exploration vessel in the area. —AFP

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MUMBAI: Indian bystanders gather at the water’s edge to get a glimpse of the merchant ship-MV Wisdom which ran aground overnight at Chowpatty Beach yesterday. The 175-m-long cargo ship was being tugged by a sea bulk plover when the ropes holding the ships together snapped due to rough weather. The unmanned vessel which does not have any fuel on board, was being towed from Colombo to the ship breaking yard Alang in Gujarat where it was to be broken as scrap. — AFP

Filipino shortest man in the world Continued from Page 1 measurement then handed him wads of cash which his parents said would go towards the family’s meagre savings. Junrey’s father said he had always believed his son to be special. He said he had been sickly as a toddler and stopped growing when he was two years old, but local doctors who examined him could not diagnose the problem. His mother, Concepcion, said Junrey has difficulty standing for long periods and has to be assisted when walking. The couple at first enrolled Junrey at a regular school, but eventually had to pull him out because of his safety - children would crowd around him and on one occasion nearly crushed him in their curiosity, his relatives said.

His uncle, Paulino Empag, who is the local village chief, said friends and relatives were very protective of Junrey and some considered his special condition a lucky charm for the rural, superstitious community. “He is a very special boy. He has trouble speaking and standing up, but he is God’s blessing to his family and to

the community,” he said. After the official announcement, Empag said the family was expected to return to their modest home in the village and celebrate Junrey’s birthday. “Noodles and meat have been prepared. We’re just happy for him,” Empag said. Empag said he hoped Junrey would learn from his predecessor, Khagendra, and turn his new-found fame into something financially tangible for his impoverished parents.

“We would like to congratulate Junrey Balawing of the Philippines for being the world’s shortest man. This is the way the nature works,” Min Bahadur Rana Magar, chairman of Khagendra’s foundation, said. “Khagendra’s record was a blessing for him and his family. He entertained everyone he met with his dances and quirks.”

Khagendra’s stint as world’s shortest man saw him travel to more than a dozen countries and make special television appearances in Europe and the United States. He had also become the official face of Nepal’s tourism campaign, which featured him as he smallest man in a country that is home to Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak. - AFP

Bahraini woman jailed over poems Continued from Page 1 after convicting him of trying to murder a policeman, while a group of six were given between six months and six years over attempted murder of “civilians,” BNA said.

Two former parliament members, Jawad Fayrouz and Matar Matar, also went on trial as part of wide-ranging arrests and trials of perceived enemies of the ruling system. Both are members of the main Shiite political group, Wefaq, whose 18 lawmakers resigned to protest the harsh measures against protesters. Fayrouz and Matar, who were arrested at gunpoint in early May, appeared in court in two separate cases but facing the same charges, according to BNA. They were both accused of “public incitement for

regime change and deliberately spreading biased rumours, in addition to taking part in public gatherings,” BNA said, adding that they pleaded not guilty. The military prosecutor argued that their alleged confessions and “technical evidence” were enough to convict them. The hearing in the case of Fayrouz was adjourned until June 19, while Matar’s trial will reconvene on June 21.

At least 31 people have been killed in the unrest in Bahrain. The US has condemned the violence, but has stopped short of any tangible punishments against the rulers in one of Washington’s military hubs in the Gulf.

Amnesty said that at least 500 people were been detained in the crackdown, while four have died in custody in suspicious circumstances. Some 2,000 people have also been dismissed or suspended from their jobs. —Agencies

Death upheld in Jahra case Continued from Page 1 commutes the sentence to a life term. Death sentences in Kuwait are carried out by hanging. Enezi, who has two mentally-ill children from her husband, denied the charges throughout the trial and her defence lawyers argued there was no material evidence to convict her.

The Aug 15, 2009 inferno engulfed the women-and-children-only tent in minutes and triggered a stampede. The

final death toll was 57, including Saudis and stateless Arabs. If Enezi is hanged, she would be the first Kuwaiti woman to be executed in the state’s history. Three foreign women have been hanged. Kuwait has executed a total of 72 people since it introduced the death penalty some four decades ago. Most of those condemned have been convicted murderers or drug traffickers. The last execution in the emirate dates back to mid-2007 although dozens of convicts are on death row. — AFP

clashes as Syrian troops storm...

Continued from Page 1 gangs” had killed more than 120 security personnel in the town after large demonstrations there. Refugees and rights groups said the dead were mutinous soldiers, shot for refusing to fire on civilians.

“When the massacre happened in Jisr Al-Shughour the army split, or they started fighting each other and blamed it on us,” a woman refugee, who refused to give her name, told Turkish news channel NTV. A senior Western diplomat in Damascus told Reuters: “The official version is improbable. Most people had left Jisr Al-Shughour after seeing the regime’s scorched earth policy, shelling and the heavy use of armour in the valley.” “The refugee exodus into Turkey is continuing and the numbers are higher than those officially counted so far.”

Asked if there were clashes in the town Mustapha, a 39year-old mason who fled early on Sunday, told Reuters “What clashes? The army is shelling the town from tanks.

Everyone has been fleeing. “Even if we did have guns, what are they going to do in front of artillery? Syria is a tightly controlled dictatorship and all of a sudden the regime says Jisr Al-Shughour is armed to the teeth. They are lying. They

are punishing us for wanting freedom.” Residents said the army unit was commanded by President Bashar Al-Assad’s brother Maher and was copying the tactics used in other centres to crush protesters demanding an end to Assad’s autocratic rule. - Agencies Bassam, a tiler who fled to Turkey as troops approached the town, showed mobile phone camera footage of a dead man, between 18 and 25 years old, with a bullet wound in his leg, and a large exit wound in his stomach. He lay on a bloodied cloth. Another picture showed a young man who had been shot in the head. He said the two were killed just outside Jisr Al-Shughour by troops under the command of Maher.

“There are only a few people left. I escaped on my motorcycle through dirt tracks in the hills,” he told Reuters.

He said troops burned wheat crops in three villages near Jisr Al-Shughour in a scorched-earth policy aimed at crushing the resistance of protesters in the area. Other refugees said troops killed or burned cows and sheep and burned crops on farmland around the village of Sarmaniya, south of Jisr Al-Shughour. The state news agency said “armed terrorist groups” had burned land in Idlib province as part of a sabotage scheme. —Agencies

Jordan king agrees to elected Cabinets AMMAN: Bowing to popular demands for reform, Jordan’s king says future Cabinets will be formed according to an elected parliamentary majority.

Jordanians have been demanding that King Abdullah II loosen his absolute grip on power, which includes appointing prime ministers and Cabinets. In a speech yesterday marking his 12th year as Jordan’s ruler,

Abdullah also promised further constitutional changes, but did not elaborate. In six months of pro-democracy protests, Jordanians have also demanded a new parliamentary election. They claim November’s election was marred by fraud. Abdullah promised more reforms but warned that sudden change could lead to “chaos and unrest” like in other Arab countries. —AP

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OPINION

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issues

SE Asia wary of China as disputes rise

By John Mair buoy, posts and building materials on an inhabited outcrop sound unremarkable, but they mark an escalation of a dispute over one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, resource wealth, and how Southeast Asia manages China’s rise as a regional power. Harsh rhetoric and an occasional stand-off have long been part of the jousting over the contested South China Sea, but recently the incidents are more frequent and the complaints from Southeast Asian capitals about China’s actions are louder. The region cannot take on Beijing militarily, but nor do they want to roll over and lose territories near their coastlines. Internationalising the dispute, including encouraging a US presence in the sea, is one way to protect their interests.

“I am increasingly favouring the word aggressive over assertive in describing China’s behaviour in the South China Sea. And that is a fairly important distinction,” said Ian Storey, a fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore. In recent weeks China and Vietnam have traded accusations of violating each other’s sovereignty at sea, prompting a second rare demonstration against China in Hanoi on Sunday.

But it is the Philippines’ claims that China erected poles, placed a buoy and left building materials near the Amy Douglas Bank that is most serious of recent incidents, amounting to an accusation that Beijing has breached the 2002 Declaration of the Code of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC).

The DOC is a non-binding agreement between China and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). It calls for restraint and avoiding activities that might escalate tensions, including the occupation of uninhabited land - a provision that Manila says has been “aggressively violated”. China, which says Manila is violating its sovereignty, says the materials were for scientific purposes on its territory and there was no intention to occupy or seize the reef. “Whether it is military or not... I think if there is new building on a previously unoccupied feature, that would be a fairly clear breach of the DOC,” said Euan Graham, senior fellow in the Military Studies Programme at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.

The Philippines and Vietnam have both said they will increase their naval capabilities to protect their interests in the South China Sea, and Hanoi has announced live fire naval exercises to take place today. The South China Sea covers more than 1.7 million sq km, including more than 200 mostly uninhabitable islands, rocks and reefs, the ownership of which confer rights to the surrounding waters - and the oil and gas they are thought to contain, as well as fishing rights.

Although there are six claimants to some or all of the sea - China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei - and many claims overlap, the dispute is often seen as China, which has the largest claim, against the rest. The problem is how to determine ownership. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) gives a country sovereignty over seas up to 12 nautical miles (22.2 km) from its coast, including of islands.

There is also a 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone that gives jurisdiction over natural resources, scientific research and building structures. Recent incidents have been inside the EEZ’s of Vietnam and the Philippines. China says its historical sovereignty dates back to the 7th century and supersedes any modern claims to the sea, but says it is ready to cooperate with others on joint exploration. “We are firm on our territorial claims and at the same time we are firm on our formula and proposal of shelving the differences and having cooperation,” Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Liu Jianchao said last week.

Even how to negotiate is an issue. China wants bilateral talks, but the Southeast Asian states favour going through the 10-member ASEAN, which also opens a door to a role for the United States. “The South China Sea has caused most Southeast Asian states to press for the US to remain engaged in Southeast Asia,” said Carlyle Thayer, a professor at the Australian Defence Force Academy.

The risk is that too great a US role antagonises China, which reacted angrily when the United States was among the parties to raise the issue at an ASEAN forum last year, and so Washington is not expected to be directly involved in any talks. —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.

US nation-building in the wrong place?

By Bernd Debusmann merica’s costly efforts at nation-building in Afghanistan and Iraq came under intense scrutiny this month in critical reports and a gloomy Senate hearing that prompted a memorable assertion. “If there is any nation in the world that really needs nation-building right now, it is the United States.” That came from a Democratic Senator, Jim Webb, who continued: “When we are putting hundreds of billions of dollars into infrastructure in another country, it should only be done if we can articulate a vital national interest because we quite frankly need to be doing a lot more of that here.”

Webb spoke at the confirmation hearing of the veteran diplomat President Barack Obama nominated to be his next ambassador to Afghanistan, Ryan Crocker, who faced questions from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that left no doubt over the growing impatience of US lawmakers with a military and financial commitment that is producing limited progress.

Webb’s juxtaposition of spending on Afghanistan and the state of things in the United States - a stalled economy, stubborn unemployment, an aging infrastructure - is made more often in online debates and private conversations than in official hearings.

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But it is a subtext for a debate likely to grow in the campaign for the 2012 elections and feature both Afghanistan and Iraq as money pits, object lessons for ill-conceived development projects, and lack of foresighted planning.

A report by the bi-partisan Commission on Wartime Contracting issued early in June set the tone. “US troop withdrawals from Afghanistan are scheduled to begin in July 2011, and the US military presence in Iraq is scheduled to end by December 31, 2011. But America will leave many legacies in both countries carrying large sustainment costs long into the future.”

The commission, the report said, saw no sign that the Pentagon, the State Department and the US Agency for International Development were making plans to make sure that the governments of Iraq and Afghanistan could operate and maintain, on their own, the vast array of projects built under US government contracts, from schools and clinics to hospitals and power plants.

An examination of a decade’s wartime contracting in the two countries, says the report, had identified tens of billions of dollars of waste. Unless the US paid prompt attention to the “how to” of maintaining, operating and paying for the projects it will leave behind, “the United States faces new

waves of waste in Iraq and Afghanistan.” One example of money already wasted, and beginning to waste even more: the Kabul Power Plant, built with $300 million in American taxpayer money. “It is little used and the cost to operate and maintain it is too great for the Afghan government to sustain from its own resources.”

That raises a question: what resources?

According to a World Bank estimate, 97 percent of Afghanistan’s gross domestic product (GDP) comes from “spending related to the international military and donor community presence”. Annual government revenues run to around $2.5 billion, funding the Afghan security forces costs more than twice as much. The word “sustainability” sounds very much out of place in this context though it is sprinkled liberally through the Contracting Commission’s report as well as a report issued a week later by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. It focused solely on Afghanistan and questioned the long-held theory that development projects in conflict zones helps to stabilize them.

That report pointed out that Afghanistan now receives more US civilian assistance ($320 million a month) than any other country and it addressed a problem which looks more difficult to solve than any other: “Foreign aid, when misspent, can fuel corruption ...” No doubt about that. Both in

Afghanistan and Iraq corruption is the stuff of legend, featuring tales of government officials becoming multi-millionaires, warlords getting kickbacks for allowing development projects to go forward, contractors for the US government over-billing to the tune of tens of millions of dollars, suitcases stuffed with $100 notes being shipped out of Kabul airport, newly-rich Iraqis and Afghans buying extravagant mansions in Dubai. In Kabul, the word for this is “Afghaniscam”.

Things are not getting better, notwithstanding dire warnings about the corrosive effect of badly-spent aid. In 2008, the year the Commission on Wartime Contracting was set up in response to reports on vast misappropriations in Afghanistan and Iraq, the two countries ranked 176th and 178th out of 180 on a widely-respected corruption index. It is put out annually by the Berlinbased watchdog group Transparency International. On the 2010 list (of 178 countries), Iraq ranks 175th and Afghanistan 176th. Myanmar and Somalia occupy the bottom slots. Which helps explain the frustration about nation-building priorities Senator Webb expressed at the Senate hearing. He was one of the two senators who introduced a bill, in 2007, that led to the establishment of the Commission on Wartime Contracting. Its members need not fear running out of work. —Reuters

Qaeda takes new hit with loss of plotter

By William Maclean he killing in Somalia of a top Al-Qaeda militant deepens the group’s woes a month after Osama bin Laden’s death, but Fazul Mohammed’s recent role as a trainer of aspiring operatives may have left a menacing legacy. Somali police said on Saturday that Mohammed, one of the world’s most wanted men and a master of attack planning, disguise, evasion and languages, had been killed in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Tuesday.

Washington says Mohammed, also known as Harun, is a key suspect in the 1998 embassy attacks on the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, which killed 240 people. The elusive Comoran, believed to be in his late 30s, also masterminded an attack on an Israeli-owned hotel in Kenya in November 2002 that killed 15 people, Western officials say. But in recent years he is believed by some academics and security experts to have spent as much time training militants as directly plotting against the West, sharing his expertise with young Somalis and with Muslims who travelled to Somalia to gain paramilitary experience.

“He was probably ‘la creme de la creme’ of Al-Qaeda in operational terms,” Nelly Lahoud, an Associate Professor at the Combating Terrorism Center at the US West Point military academy, told Reuters. “His death is a loss for Al-Qaeda, but I think his more recent role as a trainer must have given it a great investment,” said Lahoud, who has studied Mohammed’s 2009 autobiography “War on Islam: The story of Fazul Harun”. “He’s one of those

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success stories of Al-Qaeda. He felt he had a duty to teach everything he knew...He was the gift that kept on giving.”

The Somali government says hundreds of foreign fighters have joined the insurgency from countries including Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Gulf region and Western nations such as the United States and Britain. Some of the foreign jihadists have taken

Asia. Western security officials say they suspect Mohammed also coordinated with militants in AlQaeda’s Arabian Peninsula branch based in Yemen - the Al-Qaeda branch responsible for the network’s boldest attacks on Western targets in recent years.

Security specialists who have studied Mohammed says he emerges as highly pragmatic, cool-headed and calculating. His

deep links, he will not be easily replaced. “However, in terms of Al-Qaeda’s relationship with Al Shabaab, this relationship is multi-faceted. “There are other figures within Al Shabaab who have links to Al-Qaeda-central and its Arabian Peninsula branch, and there are other Al-Qaeda emissaries present in the region. In this respect, communications and facilitation will continue.”

The alleged body of the presumed head of Al-Qaeda in east Africa, Comoros-born Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, lies on the ground after he was reportedly killed in Mogadishu on June 8, 2011. —AFP up leadership positions in militant groups including Al Shabaab.

In the past five years, Mohammed forged ties with the Al Shabaab Somali armed group fighting to topple the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia, and he is said by Western security officials to have acted as one of the Somali rebels’ links to AlQaeda’s core leadership in south

languages include Arabic, Comorian, Swahili and English.

Australian scholar Leah Farrell, a leading authority on Al-Qaeda, said Mohammed’s death would impact on Al-Qaeda’s “presence and external operations capacity in the region”. “As a longstanding and senior Al-Qaeda member who had a lengthy presence in the region and had cultivated

Some security experts suspect Mohammed’s training may have lent expertise to a 2010 bomb attack by al Shabaab on the Ugandan capital Kampala that killed 79 people while they were watching the soccer World Cup final. The strike, the group’s first on foreign soil, was in revenge for Uganda’s contribution to the 6,300-strong African Union

peacekeeping force in Somalia, AMISOM. In another such attack in Sept 2009, Al Shabaab insurgents struck the main AU military base in Mogadishu with twin suicide car bombs and killed 17 peacekeepers.

One of Fazul’s most evident skills is evasion: He escaped from Kenyan police custody at least once, and has remained at large for most of the past decade in Somalia, a gossipy society given to discussing the presence of foreigners in its midst. According to his autobiography, Mohammed himself was trained by Saif AlAdel, an Egyptian veteran of the network who remains at large and is believed to be in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area. Security experts say Adel is now in interim command of AlQaeda.

In the 1990s, Mohammed’s roles in Al-Qaeda core included Adel’s personal secretary and, according to his book, confidential secretary to the network’s central leadership, with access to many of its operational secrets. According to his book, while he respected bin Laden greatly, he had little time for hero worship. In one passage, according to an essay by Lahoud in the West Point CTC Sentinel publication, Mohammed speculates on what reaction there would be in the event that bin Laden were to die. “(The Zionists and Americans) should understand that the death of Osama bin Ladin does not mean that Islam and jihad come to an end.

No, a thousand times no.

Muslims superior to Osama bin Ladin died ... all are heroes who departed (this transient world), but Islam is eternal.” —Reuters

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ANALYSIS

Where’s the next nuke weak link?

Lack of regulatory independence, democracy a concern

By Nick Carey, Margarita Antidze and John Ruwitch magine a countr y where corruption is rampant, infrastructure is very poor, or the quality of security is in question. Now what if that country built a nuclear power plant? It may sound alarming but that is what could happen in many developing countries which are either building nuclear power plants or considering doing so - a prospect that raises serious questions after Japan’s experience handling a nuclear crisis. A trove of US diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks and provided to Reuters by a third par ty provide color ful and sometimes scary commentary on the conditions in developing nations with nuclear power aspirations.

I n a cable from the US embassy in Hanoi in Feb 2007, concerns are raised about storing radioactive waste in Vietnam, which has ver y ambitious plans to build nuclear power plants. Le Dinh Tien, the vice minister of science and technology, is quoted as saying the countr y ’s track record of handling such waste was “not so good” and its inventory of radioactive materials “not adequate”.

In Azerbaijan, a cable written in Nov 2008 describes the man who would have the responsibility for regulation of a proposed nuclear program, K amaladdin Heydarov, as “ubiquitous, with his hands in everything from construction to customs”. “He is rumored to have made his fortune while heading up the State Customs Service, and is now heavily invested in Baku’s rampant construction boom,” says the cable, which followed a meeting in Baku bet ween Heydarov, the minister of emergenc y situations, and then US Special Envoy Frank Mermoud.

Even in I ndia, which already has a well developed nuclear industry and plans to build 58 more reactors, eyebrows can be raised. The security at one nuclear facility visited by a US delegation in November 2008 is described in one cable as only “moderate” with security officers performing bag and vehicle checks that weren’t thorough, a lack of cameras in key areas, and some parts having very little security at all.

In response to the disclosures, a Vietnam government official said that the quotes attributed to Tien were “completely ungrounded” and that the country manages radioactive waste in compliance with local laws and recommendations from the International Atomic Energy Agenc y. An Azeri official said the government had not taken a decision to construct a nuclear reactor but instead had a plan to conduct a feasibility study into the construction of a nuclear research reactor, which was the subject of talks with the IAEA and had been put off until 2012 from this year.

Heydarov could not be reached for comment. A senior official at India’s atomic energy department, A P Joshi, said it hadn’t previously heard of the security doubts and therefore couldn’t comment on them.

The anecdotes illustrate risks ranging from corruption to poor oversight and bad infrastructure. The dangers have been thrown into stark relief by two shattering events half a world apar t - the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan and the popular unrest that has brought unprecedented political turmoil to the M iddle East. This helps to explain why leaders of the Group of Eight nations late last month sought more stringent international rules on nuclear safety.

The speed with which the operator of the Japanese nuclear plant lost control, and the subsequent meltdowns of three reactors, ensuing explo-

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sions and overheating of fuel rod storage pools, were a wake-up call for nuclear regulators. If in a modern, stable democrac y, there could be apparently lax regulator y oversight, failure of infrastructure, and a slow response to a crisis from authorities, then it begs the question of how others would handle a similar situation. “If Japan can’t cope with the implications of a disaster like this,” said Andrew Neff, a senior energy analyst at economic analysis and market intelligence group IHS Global Insight, “then in some ways I think it’s a legitimate exercise to question whether other less-developed countries could cope.”

Regulation And Corruption For many, rule No.1 for a safe nuclear program is a regulator with at least some semblance of independence from government or corporate influence. Critics worry that authoritarian governments will not tolerate an authority with even pretensions to partial independence or transparency of decision-making.

While nuclear authorities in the West have also faced criticism for being too close to the industry they regulate, they are at least open to media and lawmaker scrutiny.

R ampant corruption in some developing countries could also lead to corners

being cut in everything from plant construction to security, critics say. For Najmedin Meshkati, a professor at the Universit y of S outhern California, the dilemma for regulators in authoritarian countries can be summed up by a saying in his native Persian: “the knife blade doesn’t cut its handle.” “If you have a government regulator overseeing the building of a plant by a government utility,” said the nuclear exper t, “then there is no way the knife will ever cut its handle.”

Samuel Ciszuk , a senior analyst at IHS Energy, cited the example of Saudi Arabia, which was repor ted this month to be planning to build 16 nuclear power reactors by 2020 at a cost of more than $100 billion. “I n countries where you have an authoritarian, personalized power system in place, the very idea of a completely independent oversight body is anathema,” he said. A spokesman for King Abdullah City for Atomic and Reusable Energy, the Saudi center for nuclear research and policy, did not respond to phone and email requests seeking comment.

Led by the increasingly hardline President I lham Aliyev, Azerbaijan is an interesting case where poor regulation and corruption meet. It

ranked joint 134th out of 178 countries in Transparenc y I nternational ’s 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index.

I n the meeting with Mermoud, Heydarov said his ministry had been given the task of researching the regulations needed for possible future nuclear energy plants in A zerbaijan and that the government was considering a move to nuclear power in the next 20-30 years, according to the cable.

When asked about its nuclear plans, an Azeri official sought to play down its nuclear ambitions, saying that the nation does not need additional energy resources.

“There is a plan to conduct a feasibility study on construction of a nuclear research reactor in Azerbaijan,” said Siyavush Azakov, the head of the state agency on nuclear and radiological activity regulation. “Initial plan was to conduc t a feasibilit y study together with IAEA experts by the end of this year, but then it was extended till next year,” he said.

ducks, children going to and from school and the occasional horse - drawn car t - and that’s on a normal day. In an emergency it could, of course, be more chaotic. There is a nor th-south train, but it ’s slow, old and narrow gauge.

“Do you plan on bringing an emergency generator by truck?” asked Jordi RoglansR ibas, deput y head of the nuclear engineering division at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois. “Or do you need to account for damage to infrastruc ture? And what is the condition of your infrastructure to begin with?”

“If the roads are not very well developed to begin with, then I would presume that the emergenc y response plan would have to account for that,” he added.

Infrastructure And Power While there is general agreement that modern reactors are far safer than the older ones like those at the Fukushima plant, there are always going to be dangers.

The critical problem in Japan, for example, was the loss of

Knowledge Gap Storage of radioac tive materials, whether from hospital medical waste, industrial processes, or from spent fuel rods at nuclear plants remains a problem around the world.

The Vietnamese vice minister Tien was quoted in the US diplomatic cable saying the country must create a nuclear waste storage site and “improve controls over the impor ts and expor ts of radioactive materials.” Nathan Sage, the Pacific Disaster Center’s Southeast Asia program adviser, says he is con-

the main power at the plant and then the failure, probably because of the tsunami, of back-up generators. With brown-outs still a problem in many developing countries, power could be a ver y big issue.

Vietnam would rely on a 500 kv transmission line that transmits electricity from the southern to the nor thern parts of the country as an offsite -power source, Vietnam Atomic Energy Commission Vice Chairman Le Van Hong said in response to a query from then US Nuclear Regulator y Commissioner Jeffrey Merrifield, according to the 2007 cable.

However, Hong acknowledged that “power redundancy issues were important” to address with nuclear power plant designers. Poor roads would be a problem if a nuclear plant was crippled and urgently needed emergenc y suppor t. Vietnam, which has one small research reactor in operation currently but plans to bring eight nuclear power plants online between 2020 and 2030, has one main north-south highway and a decent network of provincial roads. But the scene on the roads consists of a mixed procession of trucks, buses, cars, motorbikes, bicycles, water buffalo, stray dogs,

cerned about how Vietnam will handle its spent nuclear fuel. “Where are they going to store the used fuel?” he asked.

“M ore advanced countries can’t even get that right, so how’s Vietnam going to?”

However, the Vietnamese official, Tan Hau Ngoc, told Reuters that nuclear fuel at its current research facility at Dalat is being used in accordance with a safeguards agreement the country has with the IAEA. Ngoc, who is deputy head of the department of international cooperation at the M inistr y of Science and Technology, said the country has a radioactive waste storage plan for the years to 2030 and a vision until 2050, including locations for the storage and burial of the waste in a way that “must ensure the safety of people and the environment.”

Ngoc also said that the feasibility study for the first of the nuclear power plants has yet to be completed. “Vietnam is presently in the process of putting together the report with the criteria that maximum safety requirements for a nuclear power plant with modern technology and controls must be met.”

A lack of knowledge and nuclear engineering sk ills presents its own risks in many parts of the world. “Many peo-

ple now believe that so-called third generation of nuclear power will be more safe. It’s wrong,” said Pham Duy Hien, one of Vietnam’s leading nuclear scientists and a former direc tor of the Dalat Nuclear Institute. “The safety of a nuclear power plant does not depend on the equipment, the technical aspects or the design, but mostly on the people who are running the plant.” When asked about Vietnam’s plans for eight reactors in a decade, Hien said: “This is mad.” “We don’t have the manpower, we don’t have the knowledge, we don’t have the experience,” he said.

‘The Fear Is Real’ After decades of inertia following the accidents at Three M ile Island in 1979 and Chernobyl in 1986, industry representatives say the needs of an energy-hungr y world have made a massive expansion of nuclear power inevitable. According to World Nuclear Association data from just before Fukushima, there were 62 reactors under construction, mainly in Russia, India and China, with 158 more on order or planned and another 324 proposed. To put those numbers into contex t, in 2008 there were only 438 reactors in operation globally, unchanged from 1996.

The main tool to ensure safe adoption of nuclear power by new countries is the IAEA, whose mission is to “promote safe, secure and peaceful nuclear technologies.” But the IAEA’s main drawback is it is not a regulator and can only provide advice and guidance to aspiring nuclear powers, not halt projects or enforce sanctions.

I ts apparent impotence at Fukushima underlined the weakness. Officials at the IAEA declined to comment for this story, but in a June 1 report the agenc y said Japan had underestimated the risk of tsunamis, adding that “nuclear regulator y systems should address extreme events adequately... and should ensure that regulatory independence and clarity of roles are preserved.”

Those in the business of nuclear power insist that Fukushima changes nothing.

At the World Nuclear Fuel Cycle conference in Chicago in April, industry representatives spent time acknowledging the public concerns raised

by Fukushima, but also blaming the media for blowing the disaster out of propor tion.

“We must acknowledge the fear is real and deal with it,” said R ichard M yers of the Nuclear Energy I nstitute, before going on to attack the “toxic misinformation that we’ve been exposed to by some of the media.”

Ian Hore-Lacy, director of public communications at the World Nuclear Association, rejec ted suggestions of improper behavior by the regulator in Japan and said he did not see any new questions being raised as a result of the disaster, for developing countries or those that already have nuclear power. “I don’t think Fukushima raises any new issues,” he said. “It just highlights what’s already happening.”

While technical issues are a challenge in many countries, for some the black swan could be geopolitical. Turmoil of the kind sweeping north Africa and the M iddle East could affect the security of power plants and nuclear fuel which some fear could be turned into weapons in case of a coup or if they fell into the hands of terrorists. “It’s fair to say that political risk will likely be scrutinized much more harshly in the future,” said Ian M aciulis, a Parisbased nuclear risk management consultant for the JLT Global Nuclear Prac tice Group. “To be honest, it’s not the technological issue that scares me.” —Reuters

focus

Factory floor, not software park, crucial to India growth

By Tony Munroe and Abhijit Neogy f India is to become a manufacturing powerhouse it will need to make things easier for people like Nikhil Nanda, joint managing director of Escorts Ltd, a Delhi-based tractor maker. The company self-generates up to 40 percent of its power, scrambles to find and retain staff to operate increasingly sophisticated machinery, and must ride herd over a stretched supply chain struggling to keep up with demand - all typical of challenges faced by the country’s manufacturers. “It’s very difficult to find skilled labour,” Nanda said. “In terms of forgings, in terms of castings, you have tyre shortages ... we are working very, very closely with the supply chain in requesting them to enhance their capacity and then you have so many players who are going after one supplier or four suppliers for the same issue,” he said.

Heavily reliant on services, India must shift economic gears towards manufacturing if it is to maintain near-double digit growth and, more importantly, absorb the more than ten million people set to join the workforce annually in the coming years.

While New Delhi is aware of the challenge and aims to lift manufacturing’s share of the economy to 25 percent over the next decade from about 16 percent now, getting there looks daunting.

Infrastructure is improving but remains poor, the country suffers from a costly talent shortage despite its 1.3 billion people, labour laws are restrictive, land acquisition is difficult and red tape and corruption are rampant. Supply chains are underdeveloped, capital tends to be expensive, and conditions vary dramatically between states. Those constraints mean most manufacturing operations in India are small and unable to exploit economies of scale. “If you look at the growth of manufacturing in the NIEs (newly industrialised economies), if you look at it in China - it all came from one very strong source, which was mass-manufacturing. You’re still lacking that in India,” said Sanjay Mathur, economist at Royal Bank of Scotland in Singapore.

In its favour, India boasts a vibrant corporate sector, a huge domestic market, and a favourable demographic outlook that, with better training, education and government policies, could turn it into a global force in manufacturing. “There has to be a fast tracking on all these fronts - on labour, on policymaking, on clearances,” said Nomura economist Sonal Varma. “At this stage it does not look like we have done all that groundwork,” she said.

India’s software sector is world class, leveraging lower costs to export services from high-tech hubs such as Bangalore and Hyderabad to the United States and Europe. That success has fuelled the notion that India might make the jump straight from an agricultural economy to one based on services, bypassing the manufacturing stage. That’s a leap that no major economy has pulled off.

Manufacturing in India accounts for roughly the same share of its economy as peers Brazil and Russia, which unlike India are also big exporters of natural resources. By comparison, Thailand generates 40 percent of its output from manufacturing, while in China the figure is 34 percent.

Services can’t be the sole locomotive for the Indian economy in large part because the sector does not create enough jobs. Services account for about 55 percent of GDP in Asia’s third-largest economy but just 25 percent of employment. Agriculture accounts for about 15 percent of the economy, a share that is shrinking, but employs 58 percent of workers. “India is going to add something like 150 million odd workers over the next 10 years. The employment elasticity in the services sector is not that much, which means the manufacturing sector has to absorb that,” said Nomura’s Varma.

A shortage of labor is often cited by manufacturers as the most troublesome bottleneck. India, which spends just 3 percent of GDP on education, must ratchet up the skill levels of its workers if it is to take full advantage of the “demographic dividend” of a surge in its working age population. Most Indians who work do so in the informal sector and have little or no training. Literacy has risen sharply but among the 74 percent who can read, just 2.2 percent have technical or vocational training, according to a Standard Char tered repor t.

Employers often spend months or more bringing new hires up to speed, which adds to costs.

“There is, for example, a huge scarcity in availability of civil constructors,” said Armin Bruck, managing director of Siemens Ltd , the Indian unit of German conglomerate Siemens AG, which employs 19,000 people in India and can spend as long as two years training a single employee. Less than 20 percent of working age women are in the workforce. By comparison, the factories of southern China are often staffed almost entirely by women. Restrictive labor laws make it difficult to shed staff, which in turn discourages hiring. Any workplace with more than 100 people must notify the government if it wants to cut jobs.

Beyond bolstering its workforce, India needs to streamline land acquisition and speed building of infrastructure, meeting its target of $1 trillion in investment in the next five years and improving a poor track record of finishing projects on time.

Special economic zones (SEZs) of the type that China used to help kick-start its export-focused manufacturing sector are a partial solution but not a cure-all. While some $45 billion has been invested in India’s SEZs, which directly employ nearly 680,000, the zones have been dogged by allegations of land grabbing by real estate sharks taking advantage of relaxed regulations.

To reach its target, India needs more forceful policymaking than has been seen from a government that has often been mired in the sort of gridlock that took it six years to approve a $12 billion steel plant by South Korea’s Posco. The cost of failure will be slower growth. “In the absence of the manufacturing sector in India taking off, it’s hard to see India maintaining a growth rate of 9 or 10 percent for a sustained period,” said Jahangir Aziz, chief India economist at JP Morgan. —Reuters

I

MONDAY, JUNE 13, 2011

sp orts Contador confirms Tour plans BARCELONA: A spokesman for Alberto Contador confirmed to The Associated Press yesterday that the three-time Tour de France winner will take part in this summer’s race. Jacinto Vidarte said reports that Contador has decided to compete in cycling’s most prestigious event despite an upcoming hearing that could result in a ban for the rider are correct.

“Yes, I will go to the Tour de France,” Contador told Spanish newspaper Deia. “It is the best race, where the best riders are.” The Spanish cyclist comes off a victory in the Giro d’Italia and has a chance to become the first rider to win the Tour-Giro double since Marco Pantani in 1998.

Contador said he had decided to alter his training regime.

“From now until the beginning of the race I am going to base everything on rest,” Contador said. “I prefer to even lose my form if it means I arrive rested.” A week after the Tour ends on July 24, Contador will appear before the Court of Arbitration for Sport where the International Cycling Union and World Anti-Doping Agency will challenge the Spanish cycling federation’s decision to clear him of doping after he tested positive for the banned anabolic agent clenbuterol last July. —AP

Zimbabwe to tour NZ WELLINGTON: The New Zealand government will waive sanctions and allow visas to be issued to players in the Zimbabwe cricket team, which is due to tour New Zealand next year for the first time in 11 years. New Zealand will tour Zimbabwe in October — its first visit there since 2005 — and a reciprocal tour by Zimbabwe is planned for early 2012.

Foreign minister Murray McCully yesterday said that sanctions applied by New Zealand against Zimbabwe, to express opposition to human rights abuses by the regime of Robert Mugabe, would be waived to allow Zimbabwe’s tour to proceed. McCully said he had informed

New Zealand Cricket that the decision was conditional “on the situation in Zimbabwe not deteriorating in a significant way.” Zimbabwe has not played a test match since it met India in Harare in 2005 but has made a recent return to international play at Twenty20 and limited-overs international World Cups.

Matches are scheduled in coming weeks between a Zimbabwe XI and ‘A’ — or second-string — teams from Australia and South Africa. New Zealand has twice been scheduled to tour Zimbabwe since 2005 but postponed both tours because of concerns around security, human rights and the state of local medical facilities. —Reuters

Reds injury woes continue SYDNEY: Queensland Reds coach Ewen McKenzie will be forced to look to local club rugby to bolster his playoffs-bound squad after they suffered more injuries to their backs in their 24-21 win over the Western Force in Perth on Saturday.

The victory ensured the Reds will finish in the top-two of the southern hemisphere competition and be granted a bye in the first week of the playoffs, which begin after next week’s final round of matches.

McKenzie, who was forced to draft in a number of players from the Reds’ academy, lost Luke Morahan (hamstring) and Rod Davies (shoulder) in their clash with the Force with the pair likely to join fellow backs Ben Lucas (knee) Digby Ioane (concussion) and Anthony Faingaa (hamstring) on the sidelines. “We’re into finding replacements again so that will give us something to do next week,” McKenzie told Australian Associated Press in Perth. “We’ll wait and see what the story is with Digby.

That will be a complete medical process there. “He might or might not be available (for Saturday’s match against the Waikato Chiefs). “Otherwise, we’ll just go to the well again and we’ll find a solution locally.” —Reuters

Red Sox rout Blue Jays

PHILADELPHIA: Chicago Cubs’ Starlin Castro fields a hit by Philadelphia Phillies’ Placido Polanco in the sixth inning of a baseball game. — AP

Phillies tame Cubs PHILADELPHIA: Chase Utley homered and drove in four runs to back Cliff Lee’s eight strong innings and lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a 7-1 win over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday.

Lee (6-5) passed teammate Roy Halladay for the league lead in strikeouts, recording seven to up his season total to 107. He allowed four hits and one run while walk ing two.

Utley gave Philadelphia the early lead with a two-run double in the first and provided some insurance with a two-run homer in the eighth.

Shane Victorino had three hits, scored three runs and drove in one. Lee improved to 4-0 in five career star ts against the Cubs, who have dropped 10 of 12 overall. Matt Garza (2-6) made his second start since returning Monday from a bruised right elbow. He pitched well, allowing two runs — one earned — and five hits in six innings.

Reds 10, Giants 2 At San Francisco, Mike Leake pitched eight scoreless innings and also got two hits off Tim Lincecum as Cincinnati gave the San Francisco ace one of his worst beatings ever.

Brandon Phillips hit a two-run double and scored twice and Joey Votto knocked the two-time Cy Young Award winner out with an RBI double in the fifth to give the Reds their second win in three games in San Francisco. Lincecum (5-5) matched his career worst by allowing seven runs in four-plus innings, marking the first time since his rookie year in 2007 that he had allowed seven earned runs in a game.

Leake (6-2) improved to 3-0 with a 1.93 ERA in four starts since a brief stint back in the minors. Leake allowed four hits and struck out a career-high eight.

Brewers 5, Cardinals 3 At Milwaukee, Rickie Weeks hit a goahead, two-run homer and Zack Greinke outpitched fellow Cy Young Award winner Chris Carpenter to lift Milwaukee over St. Louis. The surging Brewers (37-28) pulled within a half-game of St. Louis for the NL Central lead.

Prince Fielder hit his seventh homer in the last eight games and Corey Har t added a two-run double for the Brewers, who keep improving on their major

league-best home record.

Lance Berkman homered off Greinke (6-1) to give St. Louis a 2-1 lead in the sixth, but Milwaukee scored four times in the bottom half off Carpenter (1-6) on Weeks’ shot and Har t ’s double. John Axford earned his 17th save, converting his 14th straight opportunity.

Pirates 3, Mets 2 At Pittsburgh, James McDonald allowed two runs in six innings, Andrew McCutchen hit a two -run double as Pittsburgh beat New York.

Garrett Jones had an RBI double off k nuck leballer RA Dickey (3-7), who tossed a complete game for the Mets.

Jose Reyes, Ruben Tejada and Carlos Beltran each had two hits for New York, which lost for the second time in seven games.

Drawn partly by a postgame fireworks show and Huey Lewis concert, the Pirates drew 39,273, their fourth sellout of the season and the third-largest crowd in PNC Park’s 11-year history.

McDonald (4-4) allowed eight hits and three walks. Joel Hanrahan worked a perfect ninth for his 16th save in 16 opportunities.

Braves 6, Astros 3 At Houston, Brian McCann hit a threerun homer in the 10th inning, lifting Atlanta over Houston for its fifth straight victory.

McCann’s shot to right field off Brandon Lyon (3-3) scored Jordan Schafer and Dan Uggla to give him 501 career RBIs and put the Braves on top 5-2. The Astros have lost seven of eight.

Houston’s Hunter Pence had two hits, including an RBI double, to extend his hitting streak to a career-best 22 games, the longest current streak in the majors.

Scott Linebrink (2-1) earned the win.

D’backs 9, Marlins 5 At Miami, Kelly Johnson’s three-run double highlighted a six-run four th inning and Arizona sent Florida to its ninth loss in 10 games.

Ryan Roberts and Stephen Drew each hit a solo homer in suppor t of Ian Kennedy (7-2), who gave up five runs and eight hits in eight innings. Chris Coghlan, Gaby Sanchez and Mike Stanton homered for the Marlins. —AP

TORONTO: No. 9 hitter Jason Varitek homered and drove in four runs to lead the Boston Red Sox’s 16-4 rout of the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League on Saturday.

John Lackey (4-5) delivered six strong innings in his second start since going on the disabled list, striking out a season-high eight.

David Oritz hit a three-run homer and Dustin Pedroia drove in three runs as Boston amassed 18 hits. The Red Sox batted around twice and every starter drove in at least one run in piling up the most runs allowed by the Blue Jays this season.

Yankees 4, Indians 0 At New York, Alex Rodriguez was hit by a pitch after he homered and Bartolo Colon pitched twohit ball into the seventh inning before he hurt himself in New York’s win. Curtis Granderson hit his 20th homer of the season and Rodriguez got plunked by Cleveland starter Mitch Talbot a day after the teams’ benches cleared, adding another chapter to what has been a testy homestand for the Yankees. It was the sixth time a Yankees batter has been hit this homestand. Talbot was ejected.

The Yankees said Colon (5-3) strained his left hamstring. He struck out six over 6 2-3 innings to win for the third straight start.

Twins 8, Rangers 1 At Minneapolis, Scott Baker pitched a five-hitter for his fourth career complete game and Alexi Casilla had three hits and scored two runs, leading Minnesota over Texas. Delmon Young had three hits and two RBIs for the Twins, who have won eight of 11.

Baker (4-4) struck out seven in his first complete game since August 2009. Minnesota scored five times in the first inning against Colby Lewis (5-7), who allowed six runs and seven hits in 1 1-3 innings. Brian Dinkelman hit a two-run single for his first career RBIs. Tigers 8, Mariners 1 At Detroit, Max Scherzer found his form after three rocky starts, Austin Jackson tripled twice and Detroit beat Seattle to move within one percentage point of first-place Cleveland in the AL Central.

Victor Martinez had three hits and two RBIs for the Tigers, and Jhonny Peralta smacked a two-run homer. Scherzer (8-2) had struggled in his last three starts, but was back in charge against Seattle’s struggling offense. The right-hander allowed one run and four hits in seven innings to draw level for the AL lead in wins. Mariners rookie Michael Pineda (6-4) had the worst start of his brief career, giving up a career-high six runs _ five earned _ and eight hits in 5 1-3 innings.

Rays 7, Orioles 5 At Baltimore, Ben Zobrist scored four runs, including the tiebreaker in the 11th inning on a single by Tampa Bay’s Evan Longoria.

Longoria had three RBIs and Casey Kotchman went 4 for 6 with two RBIs for the Rays, who forced extra innings with a run in the ninth off Baltimore closer Kevin Gregg. Mark Reynolds homered twice and drove in three runs for the Orioles, whose fourgame winning streak ended.

Zobrist had three doubles and a triple. He started the 11th with a double off Jeremy Accardo (3-2) and took third on a groundout. After Longoria hit a soft liner to center, Kotchman followed with an RBI double. Juan Cruz (4-0) got two outs in the 10th and Kyle Farnsworth worked the 11th for his 14th save.

TORONTO: Boston Red Sox’s Jason Varitek watches his RBI-single in the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays. — AP White Sox 3, Athletics 2 At Chicago, Brent Lillibridge helped make John Danks a winner with a homer-saving catch in the eighth inning to help the White Sox beat Oakland.

Lillibridge robbed Oakland’s Coco Crisp with a leaping catch above the wall. Danks (2-8) allowed just four hits, struck out four and walked two in 7 2-3 innings. Athletics star ter Gio Gonzalez (5-5) is winless in his last five starts.

Oakland has lost 11 of 12 games. Gonzalez allowed three runs in 5 1-3 innings, five hits, a career-high seven walks, hit a batter, committed a balk and threw two wild pitches.

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

NY Yankees 4, Cleveland 0; Boston 16, Toronto 4; Cincinnati 10, San Francisco 2; Minnesota 8, Texas 1; Philadelphia 7, Chicago Cubs 1; Atlanta 6, Houston 3 (10 innings); Tampa Bay 7, Baltimore 5 (11 innings); Detroit 8, Seattle 1; Pittsburgh 3, NY Mets 2; Arizona 9, Florida 5; Chicago White Sox 3, Oakland 2; Milwaukee 5, St. Louis 3; LA Dodgers 11, Colorado 7; Washington 2, San Diego 1; American League Eastern Division W L PCT Boston 38 26 .594 NY Yankees 35 27 .565 Tampa Bay 34 30 .531 Toronto 32 33 .492 Baltimore 30 32 .484 Central Division Cleveland 34 28 .548 Detroit 35 29 .547 Chicago White Sox 32 35 .478 Kansas City 28 37 .431 Minnesota 25 39 .391 Western Division Texas 36 30 .545 Seattle 33 32 .508 LA Angels 31 35 .470 Oakland 28 38 .424

even though I miss a putt on 18. I tried my best.” Kim struggled with her ballstrik ing. “My ball wasn’t going so straight,” she said, “but my round turned into a good round.”

She had six birdies on the day, including three in a row to start the back nine, but she also had three bogeys. Still, she’s playing in the final group with a chance to win her first LPGA Tour title.

“I’m excited,” she said. “I’m playing with the No. 1 player in the world. I’m very excited to be playing with her.

Hopefully it will be a good day.”

Brittany Lincicome, coming off a victory late yesterday in New Jersey, shot a 66 to join Shanshan Feng (69) at 14 under. Defending champion Cristie Kerr (66) was another stroke back at 13 under.

Lincicome birdied five of the first eight holes. “I was happy to be 3 under though four holes. I wanted to stop then,” she said. “I’d have taken 69.” Kerr missed a 3-foot putt on No. 9, then birdied four of the next five holes en route to a back-nine 31. —AP

GB 2 4 6.5 7 4.5 7.5 10 2.5 5 8

National League Eastern Division Philadelphia 39 26 .600 Atlanta 37 28 .569 Florida 32 31 .508 NY Mets 31 33 .484 Washington 29 36 .446 Central Division St Louis 38 28 .576 Milwaukee 37 28 .569 Cincinnati 34 32 .515 Pittsburgh 31 32 .492 Chicago Cubs 25 38 .397 Houston 24 41 .369 Western Division San Francisco 36 29 .554 Arizona 35 30 .538 Colorado 31 33 .484 LA Dodgers 30 36 .455 San Diego 29 37 .439

2 6 7.5 10 .5 4 5.5 11.5 13.5 1 4.5 6.5 7.5

Karlsson has 1-shot lead after 54 holes in Memphis

Yani takes LPGA Tour lead SPRINGFIELD: Top-ranked Yani Tseng shot her second straight 6-under 66 on Saturday to take a one-stroke lead over Mindy Kim in the LPGA State Farm Classic.

Tseng reached 17 under, birdieing all four of Panther Creek’s par 5s in her bogey-free round. She won the seasonopening LPGA Thailand for her sixth tour title in four years. Kim, the leader after the first two rounds, bogeyed the final hole for a 69.

Playing a group apar t, Kim and Tseng battled through most of the day, with Kim maintaining at least a share of the lead until her final hole.

“My goal is to have fun and make birdies,” Tseng said. “You’re not going to shoot even and then wait for another player to miss. You need to be aggressive. I can’t wait to go out there tomorrow and make a lot of birdies.” In addition to dominating the par 5s, she added birdies on the par-4 12th and par-3 17th in tough afternoon wind.

“I just tried to be patient and hit the fairway and green and make two putt,” she said. “I feel really good. It was great

Angels 7, Royals 5 At Anaheim, California, Bobby Abreu came home with the winning run on reliever Aaron Crow’s second wild pitch of the seventh inning, and Los Angeles beat Kansas City to end a seasonworst six-game losing streak. Howie Kendrick had three hits, including a pair of RBI singles, and slumping Vernon Wells singled at his first three at bats.

Scott Downs (4-2) retired all four batters he faced and rookie Jordan Walden pitched a scoreless ninth for his 14th save in 17 chances. Tim Collins (3-3) took the loss. —AP

MEMPHIS: Robert Karlsson, of Sweden, hits out of a bunker on the 17th hole during the third round of the St. Jude Classic golf tournament. —AP

MEMPHIS: Sweden’s Robert Karlsson bogeyed the last two holes on Saturday to shrink his lead to one stroke heading into the final round of the St. Jude Classic.

Karlsson, who lost in a threeway playoff here last year, carded a two-under-par 68 for 11-underpar 199 through 54 holes, just good enough to hold off the charge of American Harrison Frazar, who fired a 64 for 200.

Frazar birdied three of the last four holes and had seven birdies against a lone bogey in the third round. Two strokes farther back was American John Merrick, who posted 67 for 202, one stroke better than two-times US Open champion Retief Goosen of South Africa.

Goosen also registered 64, vaulting up the leaderboard with four birdies in a row from the 14th. Another Swede, Fredrik Jacobson, was tied for fifth with American Keegan Bradley on 204.

Karlsson, who has 11 international victories, was unfazed by the finish to his round.

“You’re going to make a mistake here and there,” Karlsson said. “I’m very, very happy with the way I’m playing.” The Swede said he was not scoreboard

watching as his lead slipped from five strokes to one.

“We sum up the golf tournament tomorrow evening,” he said.

“If I shoot 80 tomorrow, I might be 50th. If I shoot 60, I’ll probably win. It’s not even interesting where you are now.

“I’m in the last group and have a great chance of getting out there tomorrow and play golf. I’m looking forward to that.”

The 39-year-old Frazar, looking for his first PGA Tour win, said Karlsson looked so far out in front that the other players relaxed a bit and started playing better.

“About halfway through the round today, we kind of looked up and Robert was taking off again,” said Frazar. “Most of us out there probably...kind of forgot about trying to win the golf tournament.”

Frazar finished by rolling in a 42-footer to birdie the last. “Went right in the centre. Jumped in there like a rabbit.”

Goosen said it would probably take more good golf Sunday to overtake Karlsson. “On the backnine, I don’t know what happened to me. Made four birdies in a row,” Goosen said. “Need to get another round like this in tomorrow.” —Reuters

A

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Years

MONDAY, JUNE 13, 2011

sp orts

Heat need to hold serve twice to claim title MIAMI: The Miami Heat seem to thrive on adversity and they have no bigger challenge than Sunday’s do-or-die game against the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals.

Miami trails the best-of-seven series 3-2 and needs to win the next two games on its home court to avoid handing the Mavericks the first title in their 31-season existence.

“This series is a long way from over,” said Heat guard Dwayne Wade. “There’s a lot of basketball left. And we’re back home. We would rather have it here than anywhere else.”

The Mavericks won two of three games in Dallas and now play for the title late yesterday at the American Airlines Arena, where they split the opening two games of the series. If the Heat win late yesterday, it will be a winner-takes-all affair Tomorrow in Miami.

Despite being on the brink, Heat forward LeBron James said he likes his team’s chances of winning two in Miami to claim the championship.

“We worked all year to get home court,” he told reporters on Saturday. “And even though we’re in an elimination game, we feel

like we still have a great opportunity with this series coming back to Miami. Two games on our home floor.”

Winning the title would be a measure of revenge for Mavericks for ward Dirk Nowitzki, who reached the finals in 2006 but lost in six games to the Heat. Nowitzki said he “never went back and watched the film” of the 2006 series finale in Dallas.

“I never watched the celebration,” said Nowitzki, who is averaging 27 points in this year ’s finals. “It is tough to always see another team win on your home court. It doesn’t matter if it’s a

Silver Stars remain unbeaten SAN ANTONIO: Rookie Danielle Adams scored 32 points and the San Antonio Silver Stars remained the WNBA’s only unbeaten team, beating the Atlanta Dream 86-74 on

Saturday night.

Adams, led the Silver Stars back from a 10-point deficit in the third quarter, making three consecutive 3pointers in a span of 44 seconds. San

ROSEMONT: Chicago Sky’s Michelle Snow (left) goes up for a shot against Connecticut Sun’s DeMya Walker during the third quarter of a WNBA basketball game.—AP

Antonio (3-0) is off to the best start in franchise history.

Angel McCoughtry led the Dream (0-3) with 19 points. The defending Eastern Conference champions have blown second-half leads in every game so far this season. Adams finished 11 of 19 from the floor and had seven rebounds. She was 5 of 11 from behind the 3-point line.

Sky 84, Mystics 77 At Washington, Sylvia Fowles scored 23 points and Cathrine Kraayeveld added 19 points with a career-high six 3-pointers as Chicago held on for a victory. Epiphanny Prince scored 20 points for the Sky (2-1), who shot 60 percent from the field.

Chicago never trailed, led 51-33 at halftime and 66-57 after three quarters. In their home opener, the Mystics (1-2) pulled within 75-72 on a Marissa Coleman jumper with 3:18 remaining, but would get no closer.

Matee Ajavon led the Mystics with 24 points. Coleman scored all 13 of her points in the second half.

Fever 86, Liberty 80 At Newark, New Jersey, Tamika Catchings scored 18 points, Katie Douglas had 17 and the Indiana Fever scored the last nine points to beat New York.

Rookie Jeanette Pohlen scored 14 points, including a key 3-pointer in the final minute, and Briann January added 13 as the Fever (2-1) spoiled New York’s opener at Prudential Center _ the Liberty’s home for the next three seasons. Essence Carson scored 23 points to lead New York (2-1).

Plenette Pierson had 16 points.

The Liberty squandered a double-digit lead in the third quarter for the second straight night against Indiana but couldn’t come back this time.—AP

Wiggins wins Dauphine race FRANCE: Bradley Wiggins underlined his Tour de France credentials by winning the Criterium du Dauphine yesterday to claim the biggest road race victor y of his career.

The Team Sky leader became the first Briton to win the Tour warm-up race since Robert Millar in 1990, and the first Englishman since Brian Robinson in 1961.

Wiggins, who finished four th overall in the 2009 Tour de France but crumbled in the mountains last year, snatched the yellow jersey after Wednesday’s time trial and hung on to his lead thanks to a solid display in the final two mountain stages.

“We have a plan for the Tour de France and the Dauphine was part of the plan,” Wiggins told reporters.

“I’m not 100 percent yet.”

Asked about his Tour ambitions, where he will struggle to keep up with top favourites Alber to Contador and Andy Schleck in the mountains, Wiggins said he would

have to play to his strengths.

“I can’t follow Schleck and Contador in the mountains, but the time trial is my thing,” he said, referring to the final time trial in Grenoble.

“I will have to ride my race.

Anything is possible. A podium finish is possible but others like (Belgian) Juergen van den Broeck can also get there.”

Australian Cadel Evans of the BMC team, who like the other top guns used the Dauphine to finetune his Tour preparation, was second overall, one minute 26 seconds behind.

Kazakh Alexandre Vinokourov was third, 23 seconds further adrift for the Astana team.

The day ’s stage win went to Spain’s Joaquim Rodriguez after the Katusha rider, still riding on his Giro d’Italia form, attacked with less than one kilometre to go in the demanding 117.5-km mountain trek from Pontcharra.

French hot prospect Thibaut Pinot was second in the seventh and

final stage, with Dutchman Robert Gesink taking third as Wiggins finished safe in the favourites’ group 10 seconds behind Rodriguez, who had also won Saturday’s mountain stage.

Wiggins, who lost 11 kg since winning the individual and team pursuit on the Beijing Olympics track in 2008, resisted his rivals’ attacks on Saturday and Sunday to snatch a prestigious win.

He looked barely troubled as the peloton tackled the intimidating Col de la Croix de Fer-a 22-km climb at an average gradient of 7 percent via the punishing Col du Glandon, and the final, 14.8-km ascent at 5.8 percent to La Toussuire.

He will be hoping he can repeat his performances from this race in July ’s Tour de France, where he believes he will benefit from the help of a strong team.

“They worked for me every day a n d e ve n to d ay a g u y l i k e Rigoberto Uran, who had been a bit sick all week, was super,” said Wiggins.—Reuters

FRANCE: Cyclists pedal during the last stage of the 63rd Criterium du Dauphine cycling race between Pontcharra and La Toussuire.—AP

regular season or playoffs or championship. “ That’s always tough in front of your home fans.

Ultimately, that’s what we got to do now.”

The Mavericks have won five road games during the playoffs and no one would like to make it six more than Nowitzki, who is 32 years old and still searching for his first title.

“We’ve got to steal one more game on the road, hopefully the next one,” he said. “We’ve been good on the road all playoffs long. We have a bunch of veterans that are road tested, and hopefully we can get a big game

tomorrow.” James, also searching for his first crown, vows to be more aggressive in the fourth quarter than he has been during the first five games of the series.

He is averaging 17 points a game but has scored only 11 points during the five fourth quarters. In a series as hotly contested as this, that can be the difference.

James said sometimes he is passing to the hot player down the stretch. Other times, he said the ball is just not dropping.

The two-time NBA most valuable player said “tomorrow is another opportunity for me to

make an imprint on this series in the fourth quarter and help our team win.”

“It’s a huge stage,” he said. “I want to play well, of course. I want to help this team win a championship. That’s all it’s about.

“The things that you can’t control, the ball going in for you, or you playing extremely well every single game, the game doesn’t happen like that.

“I have to do what’s best for our team to help put our team in a position to win ball games.

That’s the only thing I can control.”—Reuters

Ruler On Ice reigns in Belmont Stakes

NEW YORK: Ruler On Ice (left) with jockey Jose Valdivia Jr., sprints ahead of jockey Javier Castellano on Stay Thirsty to win the Belmont Stakes horse race.—AP

NEW YORK: Ruler On Ice ploughed his way through the mud to score an upset win in the 143rd running of the $1 million Belmont Stakes Saturday after the Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom almost threw his rider at the start.

Perfectly ridden by Peru-born jockey Jose Valdivia, Ruler On Ice defied his generous odds of 24-1 to outstay his more favoured rivals to win the one and a half mile classic and claim the third jewel of American racing’s Triple Crown after missing the first two legs.

“With a half-mile remaining, I still felt like I had a lot of horse beneath me,” Valdivia said. “ Turning for home, everything started going in slow motion. At the sixteenth pole, I thought ‘this is the true test of a champion.’”

Stay Thirsty, another long shot, finished second by three quarters of a length after hugging the rail down the stretch while Brilliant Speed grabbed third, one and a half lengths behind the runner-up, after a late charge down the centre of a sloppy Belmont Park track.

Animal Kingdom, which started favorite after winning last month’s Kentucky Derby and finishing a

close second in the Preakness Stakes, finished sixth after the colt blew his chances when he was bumped as the 12 runners charged out of the gates.

John Velazquez was left clinging desperately to the reins after his foot was knocked out of the irons.

He was a distant last for most of the journey until he managed to get his foot back in and set off on a wide run but was unable to catch the leaders.

“It was unbelievable. They came over on me and clipped heels and I almost came off. I had a horrible trip,” Velazquez said.

“I was just hoping to get a piece of it and that’s why I rode him that way after the start. No way he was going to make up that much ground. He’s still a great horse.”

As with the two previous legs, the Preakness winner Shackleford jumped to the front and tried to lead all the way. He was still in front when they turned for home but faded to finish fifth.

“He did everything he was supposed to do and didn’t hang on,” Shackleford’s trainer Dale Romans said. Despite recording two wins and three minor placings from his

six previous career starts, Ruler On Ice, who paid $51.50 for a $2 win bet, was still regarded as an outsider after failing to get a start in last month’s Kentucky Derby and opting to skip the Preakness.

His trainer Kelly Breen said the horse had a habit of losing concentration during his races so they put blinkers on him for the first time, confident that if his manners improved he would run the distance because of his breeding.

He made a good start from an inside post position and was second behind Shackleford for most of the way before surging to the front in the final straight and hanging on to collect the first prize of $600,000 and the traditional winner’s garland of white carnations.

“He didn’t mature as fast as we wanted to. He’s already a gelding so we can’t castrate him again, so we put blinkers on,” said Breen, who claimed his first Triple Crown success.

“He was still goofing off and didn’t break great. Last week, he broke right and it’s like sometimes, the bulb just goes on. It was a perfect storm of things going right, and that’s how we got here.”—Reuters

Bruins hope home crowd heat will keep them alive VANCOUVER: The Stanley Cup finals has been all about home wins and the Boston Bruins will be looking for an extra boost from their raucous fans to avoid elimin a t i on f rom t he N H L c ha m p i onship.

The Vancouver Canucks lead in the best-of-seven series 3-2, but to take the cup in six games they will have to win today in Boston where they were blown out of the water in Games 3 and 4 by a total score of 12 to 1. Vancouver’s wins all came at home.

The c rowd a t B os ton’s T D G a rd e n a p p e a re d to ke e p t he Canucks off-edge mentally, while the Bruins players won the physical battles on the ice as contests that were tight in the first period ended up as lopsided wins.

“Yeah, you know in the first two

home games they (the crowd) were unbelievable, and for sure they gave us an ex tra boost,” B os ton’s b a c kup goa l te nd e r Tuuk k a R ask told repor ters on Saturday as the team returned home from Friday’s 0-1 loss.

“I can’t see any reason they won’t be the same way in a Game six,” Rask said. Vancouver defensem a n K e v i n B i e ks a s a i d t he Canucks just have to stay focused to keep the crowd distractions at bay and win the cup for the first time in the team’s 40 years in the National Hockey League. “ I t ’s goi ng to b e a hos t i l e crowd. They’re loud there. They’re violent. They’re everything,” Bieksa said. Today’s game in Boston will be an especially tough test for Va ncouve r goa l i e R ob e r to Luongo, who was pulled before

the end of Game 4 but came back in Game 5 at home to notch his second hometown shutout of the finals.

Luongo s a i d t he ke y i s for Vancouver to show patience even if they fall behind early in the game, which is something they were able to do on the road in the regular season and early rounds of the playoffs.

“We’ve been a good team on the road, and the fact that it is in Boston shouldn’t make a difference,” Luongo said.

Boston players said they did not do a good job in Friday’s loss putting pressure on Luongo, and they need to get more traffic in front of his net. If Boston wins today, the series will return to Vancouver for the final tilt on Wednesday.—Reuters

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Panama stun US TAMPA: The United States suffered a shock 2-1 defeat by Panama on Saturday in the biggest surprise of the Concacaf Gold Cup so far.

Panama, who reach the quarter-finals with the victory, had been winless against the United States, while the Americans had never lost in a group game at the

Dely Valdes told reporters as Latin music blasted out of his team’s locker-room. “We worked very hard for that win and we made history today”.

Panama have never qualified for a World Cup finals nor won a Gold Cup but the nation of 3.4 million, once considered mainly a baseball countr y, has been

long ball into the box and Luis Tejada scrambled to put a loose ball home after U.S. keeper Tim Howard parried out an Armando Cooper header.

The Americans responded positively with Clint Dempsey’s header forcing a good save from Jaime Penedo before Clarence Goodson flashed a header just

TAMPA: United States’ Juan Agudelo (9) eludes Panama’s Felipe Baloy (23) during the first half of a Concacaf Gold Cup soccer match. —AP 12-nation Gold Cup. But while the result was against the odds, it was fully deserved.

“Panamanians don’t need much of an excuse to celebrate but they will certainly be partying back home tonight,” coach Julio

emerging as a force within Central American soccer and won the region’s UNCAF tournament in 2009.

In the Floridian heat, Panama took the lead in the 19th minute when Gabriel Gomez floated a

wide from a Landon Donovan free-kick.

But the decisive moment came when defender Tim Ream lost his cool in the 36th minute, making an unnecessarily rash challenge on Blas Perez and Gomez con-

verted the penalty to stun the home crowd of 28,000.

The influential Gomez saw a free-kick flash just over the bar after the break and there were signs that the US were losing their cool with some wild challenges and rushed passing.

But the determined efforts of Michael Bradley and Dempsey in particular started to grind down Panama’s midfield and a goal seemed inevitable.

It finally came in the 67th minute when Steve Cherundolo won a rather generously awarded free -kick on the right flank.

Donovan curled in the cross which Bradley met with a firm header and Goodson dived in to nod home.

The crowd sensed a comeback was on the cards and the U.S. piled the pressure on but the chances went begging.

Substitute Chris Wondolowski missed a great chance to equalise, blasting over the bar from three yards out, and then Dempsey headed wide.

Bradley burst into the box but fired his shot off target and Landon Donovan made a mess of his chance near the end, albeit from a tight angle.

“On the night we were not good enough, we were not sharp enough in the areas that matter,” said a clearly dejected US coach Bob Bradley.

The US must now win against Guadeloupe in Kansas City on Tuesday to be certain to make the last eight while Panama can enjoy their final group game against Canada, knowing they are already in the quarter-finals. —Reuters

Forest sack Davies

ASUNCION: Romania’s Dan Alexa (right) fights for the ball with Paraguay’s Cristian Riveros at a friendly soccer game. —AP

Paraguay defeat Romania ASUNCION: Strikers Nelson Haedo and Roque Santa Cruz scored in the opening half hour to give Paraguay a 2-0 home win over Romania at the Defensores del Chaco national stadium on Saturday.

The match, a warm-up for Gerardo Martino’s team ahead of next month’s Copa America in Argentina, doubled as a farewell for former Paraguay captain Roberto “Bull” Acuna.

Haedo put Paraguay ahead after only two minutes with a low shot across the

face of goal and inside the bottom far corner and Santa Cruz headed the second from Miguel Samudio’s cross in the 28th.

The 39-year-old Acuna, a veteran of three World Cups and still active playing for first division club Rubio Nu, won a symbolic 100th Paraguay cap playing the opening eight minutes. Romania were also part of striker Ronaldo’s Brazil farewell on Tuesday, a 1-0 win for the Brazilians in Sao Paulo. —Reuters

LONDON: Nottingham Forest sacked manager Billy Davies yesterday, the English Championship club announced, with former England boss Steve McClaren being considered as a replacement.

Former Preston Nor th End and Derby County manager Davies, who had his contract “terminated with immediate effec t ”, was unable to secure promotion to the Premier League in last season’s play-offs.

Forest lost 3-1 on aggregate to eventual winners Swansea City in the semi-finals. The M idlands club, who won back-to -back European Cups in 1979 and 1980, also said on their website that they were talk ing to M cClaren about the vacanc y at the Cit y Ground.

Davies joined Forest on January 1 2009, just over a year after his sacking by arch Midlands rivals Derby. The Scot spent £4 million on new players during his first season in charge and led the club in an 18-game unbeaten league run that took them into the 2009/10 playoffs, where they were beaten 6-4 on aggregate by eventually promoted Blackpool.

His second full season saw the club finish sixth but a second successive playoff exit proved too much for the Forest board to stomach and led to Davies’s dismissal.

McClaren, much ridiculed during his brief and unsuccessful stint as England manager, culminating in the team’s failure to qualify for Euro 2008, rebuilt his reputation with FC Twente whom he guided to a first Dutch title last year.

He then joined Bundesliga side Wolfsburg but, after a run of poor results, was sacked by the German club in February.

McClaren, formerly assistant to Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, has also been linked with the vacancy at Aston Villa following the resignation through ill-health of Gerard Houllier.

But, after a day of managerial upheaval in the Midlands, there has been speculation Alex M cLeish, who stepped down as boss of Birmingham City yesterday, could take over at Villa with Davies joining Birmingham. —AFP

Usmanov slams Arsenal board LONDON: Uzbek billionaire Alisher Usmanov has slammed the Arsenal board for the Premier League club’s failure to win a major trophy in any of the past six seasons.

Usmanov, 57, who is not a Gunners director despite owning 30 percent of the club’s parent company, said too many board members were blinded by their own self-interest and said he did not wish to serve on such a board.

“If the role of a board member is to oversee a trophyless period, while making significant personal profits and asking fans to pay inflation-busting ticket price increases then, no, I would not want to be on the board,” Usmanov told the News of the World.

“If instead it is to try to deliver sustained success, to increase your personal investment in the club, to help develop the commercial position and to ensure the fans have a say in

the running of the club then, yes, I think I certainly have something to contribute.

“In terms of doing things differently, let me give you a very clear example. Arsenal has all of its major commercial contracts coming up for renewal in the next couple of years.

“It’s no secret that to maximise the value of those you want to have success on the field and be winning trophies. “To do that you need to invest now in building a winning team. This is simple commercial logic.

Whether it comes to pass, we shall see.”

Arsenal suffered a dramatic slump following their English League Cup final defeat by Birmingham in February, with their bids for the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League all declining after that defeat.

Usmanov urged Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger be given the funds to bring in experienced players in key positions to bolser the

Gunners’ crop of promising young talents.

“There is a widely-held view among most commentators-and one that I agree with-that the club needs to stiffen the defensive spine of the team, with a dominant keeper, strong centre-halves and a powerful defensive midfielder in the mould of Claude Makelele,” he said.

“The Premier League is one of the most competitive in the world and whilst we have consistently challenged for honors, the club needs to develop talent and buy top-class players to win the trophies we all crave. “This requires greater investment which, I believe, has been lacking thus far.

“What, however, is not clear is whether the board shares this view. For too long they have seemed happy to sanction second, third and fourth as being acceptable, whilst at the same time they are planning to sell their shares.” —AFP

TAMPA: Guadeloupe’s Stephane Auvray (19) sends Canada’s Will Johnson (8) flying after a second half tackle during a Concacaf Gold Cup soccer match. —AP

Canada scrape win over Guadeloupe TAMPA: Canada kept their hopes of reaching the quarter-finals of the Gold Cup alive, scraping a 1-0 win against 10man Guadeloupe at the Raymond James stadium on Saturday.

Guadeloupe were forced to play almost the entire match a man down after Jean-Luc Lambourde was sent off with a straight red card for a wild challenge on Canada midfielder Will Johnson in the third minute.

Canada striker Ali Gerba had an effort disallowed for offside but despite the numerical disadvantage, Guadeloupe competed well and went close in the 29th minute when the lively Brice Jovial went on a winding run and set up Thery Racon whose shot was well saved by Canada keeper Milan Borjan.

The sides were scoreless at the break but Guadeloupe’s intent was felt within a minute of the restart when Racon forced Borjan into action again with a sweetly struck effort from the edge of the area.

Canada finally got their breakthrough in the 51st minute when Stephane Zubar was judged, perhaps harshly, to have pulled down Gerba in the area and Dwayne De Rosario converted from the spot.

Simeon Jackson went close to a second with a superb effort from 30 metres which Franck Grandel did well to push wide.

There were some ugly scenes at the end of an occasionally bad-tempered game with players confronting each other at the final whistle.

The three points were vital for Canada af ter their opening game defeat to the United States and coach Stephen Hart said his team had been rewarded for their patience and praised Guadeloupe’s resilience.

“They remained very, very organised for a team down to 10 men, they proved themselves hard to break down and the longer the game went on, they were still in the game. We didn’t take our chances but then we got the penalty,” he said.

“We didn’t want to change what we had set out to do-we just had to be patient, it was very, very hot, we wanted to make them run, keep the ball moving and let them do the bulk of the work-wait for a goal and see what happens.

Guadeloupe head coach Roger Salnot said the red card had changed the game for his team. “It was always going to be difficult when we were down to 10 men so early and obviously that made us change our strategy for the game,” he said. Canada face Panama in their final game while Guadeloupe, bottom of Group C with two defeats are up against the United States. —Reuters

Germany coach Joachim Loew

Loew to experiment before Euro 2012 BERLIN: Germany coach Joachim Loew said yesterday he will experiment with his firstchoice team to build on his side’s World Cup performance as the Germans look to win the European crown for the fourth time.

With Euro 2012, to be hosted by the Ukraine and Poland, set to start in Warsaw on June 8 next year, Germany are ten-points clear at the top of their qualifying group and virtually assured a place.

Having finished third at last year’s World Cup in South Africa, Loew, who took charge in 2006, says he will use next season to find the perfect combinations in the build up to next year’s European championships.

“I will use the next six months to try and experiment,” he told Bild yesterday. “Of course, there is a proven core of players, but I do think there will be a lot of movement in the national side over the next year.”

Germany can complete their Euro 2012 qualification if they beat Austria in Gelsenkirchen on September 9. The Germans also plan to play friendlies against the Ukraine, in Kiev on November 11, and Holland, in Hamburg on November 15, which Loew says he will use to test different combinations.

“I am not of the opinion that I need to know my strongest side a full six months before the European championships. “On the contrary, I will probably use a totally different team against Holland than the one which will start Euro 2012.

“I only know that I need to have decided on my starting side four weeks before the tournament begins.” Loew has an embarrassment of riches up front in with Mario Gomez scoring at will after 28 goals in 32 league games for Bayern

last season, while Miroslav Klose is closing in on Gerd Mueller’s all-time record of 68 goals for Germany.

Having spent much of last season on the bench at Bayern, Klose signed for Italian side Lazio last week and Loew praised the 33-yearold’s decision to move, having said he wants all his players to have regular football next season.

“It would not have been easy for Miro to sit on the bench for another season,” said Loew.

“Mario had a strong season at Bayern and with an eye on Euro 2012, it is important that Miroslav plays.

“It is a positive that he faces a new challenge with a new club and gets regular competitive games.” With Germany currently playing with a lone striker, Loew has not ruled out the possibility of using both forwards in tandem.

“They are the best strikers Germany has, behind them I see no real alternatives,” said Loew. “It is in my thoughts that they could even play together in the future and to play in another system.

“They are both prepared to play like that.”

Loew also said he is willing to look at where new Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes plays Germany captain Philipp Lahm next season before deciding whether his skipper plays on the left or right side of defence in the national side. “”I will be talking with Jupp Heynckes to see in position he plans on using Philipp,” said Loew. “It is possible that I may base my decision on that.” Loew said he had no news on when he will meet with former captain Michael Ballack to discuss whether the Bayer Leverkusen midfielder still has a role to play in the national side. —AFP

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Death of marathon champion turns into tabloid fodder NAIROBI: The death of a Kenyan marathon champion, first thought accidental, has been tarred by suspicions of suicide, accusations of murder, and reports that the star became a hard-drinking adulterer after winning gold in Beijing.

The only thing known for sure is that Sammy Wanjiru was found dead on May 16 aged 24 after a fall from the balcony of his home in Nyahururu, 150 kilometres (90 miles) north of Nairobi in Kenya’s Rift Valley.

He was finally laid to rest at the family farm close to his home almost one month after his death and after much bickering between relatives.

The night before Wanjiru’s death his wife Trizah Njeri returned home to find her husband in the marital bedroom with a young barmaid, according to local police chief Jasper Ombati. Furious, she locked the couple in and stormed out.

According to a preliminary reconstruction of events, Wanjiru, who had been drink-

ing, forgot he was on the upper floor, headed onto the balcony and, thinking he would stop his wife, jumped into thin air and fell to the ground, dying a few hours later in hospital.

Police toyed briefly with the idea of a suicide. An autopsy was finally carried out at the request of Wanjiru’s mother Hannah more than two weeks after the runner’s death.

The results partly contradicted the police findings, with two of the three pathologists involved concluding that Wanjiru’s death was caused by a violent blow to the back of the head.

And since wounds sustained to the knees and the hands indicated he fell face down, the injury to the back of the head could not have been caused by the fall.

The local police chief however appeared unfazed by the new findings. “Our investigation is continuing, but as we said, the preliminary inquiry showed he fell accidental-

ly,” Ombati said. Wanjiru’s outstanding sporting achievements made him very rich at a young age. His fortune might explain the procession of family members-real and imagined-who emerged after his death.

Mary Wacera, one of the athlete’s colleagues said Wanjiru is the father of her seven-month-old daughter, while Judy Wambui, 25 and five months pregnant, claimed the marathon runner is the father of her baby. DNA samples have been taken from the body at Wambui’s request.

Wambui, in a newspaper interview, said that she would no longer have the means to give birth in a top-end maternity hospital and lamented that he had died before buying her the house he had promised.

The list of characters would be incomplete without three middle-aged men all claiming to be Wanjiru’s biological father.

But it is Wanjiru’s mother Hannah, locked in a public feud with her daughter-in-law, who has upstaged the other players in the

drama. Hannah on several occasions filed suits to have the burial postponed, with the result that her son’s body spent almost a month between the hospital morgue and a funeral home.

Convinced that her son was murdered, she has insisted he should not be buried until the investigation is completed. She was arrested on June 4 after she attacked with a machete family members taking part in a traditional Kikuyu pre-burial ceremony organised by the athlete’s grandfather.

Even before Wanjiru’s death, he and his family were not strangers to scandal. The marathon champion had been scheduled to appear in court on May 23 on charges of illegal possession of a firearm.

Earlier assault charges were dropped when his wife withdrew them after a Valentine’s night out during which Wanjiru presented her with a red rose and kissed her as the cameras rolled.

Former coach Robert Kioni said the ath-

lete, who was previously very disciplined, had accomplished too much too young and had started to associate with “the wrong kind of people.” “He became a totally different man after winning the gold medal in Beijing,” he told AFP, citing Wanjiru’s “selfdestructive problems, ranging from the excessive drinking to having affairs.”

Wanjiru was laid to rest after a requiem mass in the stadium in Nyahururu town where he trained as a boy.An honorary police corporal, he was given a 21 gun salute at a burial attended by Kenyan athletes, including former women’s marathon champion Catherine Ndereba, long distance runners Daniel Komen, Benjamin Limo and Charles Kamathi and former Olympic champion Kipchoge Keino.

“We have lost a great man. We expected him to successfully defend his title at the London Olympics,” Keino, who heads Kenya’s Olympic committee, told mourners. —AFP

Mullings edges Gay in NY

ST JOHN: India’s Rohit Sharma plays a rear shot during the third one-day international cricket match against West Indies. —AP

India secure series win ANTIGUA: A superb unbeaten 86 from Rohit Sharma led India to a three wicket victory over West Indies Saturday to secure the five-match one day series for the tourists who now have an unassailable 3-0 lead. Sharma led India’s recovery from 92 for six as they chased down 226 at the Sir Vivian Richards stadium. An 88run partnership with Harbhajan Singh (41) put India back in contention and then Praveen Kumar (25 not out) saw the tourists through to a comfortable victory with 22 balls to spare.

It was a day for lower order contributions with West Indies only managing to set a decent target thanks to an outstanding 92 not out from 84 balls by Jamaican Andre Russell.

Russell’s score is the highest made by a number nine batsman in one-day internationals and included a 78-run partnership with wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh as

the Caribbean side recovered from 85-6.

The big hitting innings included eight fours and five sixes as the successstarved home crowd were finally treated to some entertainment.

Once again West Indies struggled against spin with leg-spinner Amit Mishra taking 3-28 from his ten allotted overs. Opener Lendl Simmons again was the pick of the West Indies batsmen with 45 before Mishra had him caught by Virat Kohli at slip but the middle order again failed. India’s innings had a similar structure with opener Parthiv Patel hitting 46 but no-one else making a major contribution until Sharma’s big knock turned the game. “That was a game that got away from us,” said West Indies captain Darren Sammy. “Russell and Baugh got us back into it and the guys were confident but we lacked the killer instinct after taking early wickets. — Reuters

NEW YORK: Jamaica’s Steve Mullings edged American Tyson Gay in a photo-finish in the men’s 100 meters at the New York Diamond League meeting on Saturday.

Both were timed in 10.26sec, but the review gave the victory to Mullings over the experienced American. “Sure, I thought he might have caught me-another step and he would have,” Mullings said. “I know he’s got that strong finish.”

The duel between Mullings and Gay, who train together, came a week after Gay posted the fastest 100m of the season with a 9.79sec at a low-key meeting in Florida.

That was the same day that Mullings clocked 9.80 to win the 100m at the Diamond League meeting on the opposite US coast at Eugene, Oregon.

Chilly, rainy, breezy weather meant those times were unlikely to be challenged at the sixth meeting in the elite Diamond League series.

But the meeting produced plenty of nail-biting finishes, and the men’s 100m, run in a headwind of -3.4m/sec, was a prime example.

Tensions rose from the start of the men’s 100m as three runners were disqualified by false startsfirst Richard Thompson of Trinidad and Tobago, followed by Americans Travis Paddgett and Rae Edwards. “They are part of the game. You deal with it,” Gay said of the starts.

“Keep your own focus. You can’t play those games anymore.”

Mullings, the rising Jamaican

NEW YORK: Jamaica’s Steve Mullings (right) won the 100-meter race over Tyson Gay of the US, despite both finishing with an identical time of 10.26 seconds at the Adidas Grand Prix. —AP sprint star who hopes to challenge compatriot Usain Bolt this World Championships season, burst out of the blocks.

Gay admitted his own start was “a little sluggish” but he reeled in Mullings in the closing 50m. “I knew it was going to be close,” Gay said. “I thought I might have got him, but never sure, either.”

Mullings certainly wasn’t sure

Audi clinches 24 Hours of Le Mans

FRANCE: The Audi R18 TDI No2 drivers, with Benoit Treluyer of France (left) and Audi Motorsport Chief Dr Wolfgang Ullrich react with the trophy on the podium. —AP

LE MANS: Audi overcame two crashes to hold off pressure from a charging Peugeot and win the 24 Hours of Le Mans yesterday.

Andre Lotterer, Marcel Fassler and Benoit Treluyer drove the Audi No. 2 to victory, giving the German manufacturer a 10th title at Le Mans.

Audi moved into sole possession of second place for most victories at the world’s most famous endurance race.

Porsche holds the record with 16 titles. Ferrari dropped to third with nine.

Audi No. 2 completed 355 laps in 24 hours, leading the Peugeot No. 9 driven by Simon Pagenaud, Pedro Lamy and Sebastien Bourdais by 13.854 seconds. Stephane Sarrazin, Franck Montagny and Nicolas Minassian finished third in their Peugeot No. 8, two laps back.

Peugeot No. 7 driven by Marc Gene, Anthony Davidson and Alexander Wurz came in fourth, four laps off the pace.

The Peugeots No. 7 and No. 9 had overtaken the Audi No. 2 overnight but crashes of the Lola-Toyota No. 13 and Ferrari No. 59 brought out the safety car in the 15th and 16th hours and helped the Audi make up ground. In the 19th hour, Lotterer clocked the fastest lap in 3 minutes, 25.289 seconds on the 13.6-kilometer circuit to build a significant lead.

Audi No. 2 managed to adapt to changing conditions when rain started in the 21st hour, forcing drivers to switch tires.

Peugeot No. 9 was slower than Audi No. 2, but the French manufacturer had a strategy based around the lower fuel consumption of its cars.

Although Peugeot No. 9 made only 28 pit stops compared to 31 for the Audi No. 2,

the speed differential was significant enough to give victory to the German manufacturer.

Lotterer and Pagenaud made their last pit stops at the same time, but Audi No. 2 came out of the pits ahead of Peugeot No. 9 to keep the lead.

Audi No. 2 was under heavy pressure from three Peugeots throughout Sunday as Audi’s chances of defending its title came to rest on just one car after two crashed out Saturday.

Defending champion Mike Rockenfeller was in second place in the eighth hour when he tried to pass the slower Ferrari No. 71 driven by Robert Kauffman.

Rockenfeller’s Audi No. 1 was bumped by the Ferrari and slid off the track in darkness to smash into a guardrail, forcing the deployment of the safety car for the second time in the race.

The German driver was able to get out of the cockpit on his own before the wrecked car caught fire. He picked up cuts and grazes in the incident but was otherwise unhurt. Audi also lost a car when Allan McNish’s Audi No. 3 collided with a Ferrari barely 50 minutes after the start.

McNish, in second place, was attempting to overtake the slower Ferrari No. 58 driven by Anthony Beltoise — who was trailing by two laps — when the cars came together resulting in the Audi crashing against a tire wall and disintegrating. The spectacular crash brought out the safety car to allow crews to clear the debris.

McNish was unhurt and walked away from the crash.

The Scottish driver was taken to a medical center as a precaution and then to a hospital for more checks. —AP

when he crossed the line. “When they gave me the flowers (presented to each winner), I guess that made it official,” he said.

American Danielle Carruthers won a narrow victory in the women’s 100m hurdles, holding on for the victory in 13.04sec with fellow American Kellie Wells second in 13.06. Britain’s Tiffany OfiliPorter was third in 13.11, while Jamaica’s Brigitte Foster-Hylton

failed to finish.

Three-time world champion Allyson Felix of the United States won the women’s 200m in 22.92, with Bianca Knight second in 22.96 and Shalonda Solomon third in 23.03.

Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann FraserPryce, the reigning Olympic and World champion at 100m, was seventh and last in 23.52.

Diamond League leader Jeremy Wariner edged Jamaica’s Jermaine Gonzales at the line to capture the 400 meters in 45.13, .03 in front of his Caribbean rival with Grenada’s Rondell Bartholomew third in 45.17.

“Felt great around the turn.

Tough race at the end,” Wariner said. “I ran against a great field.

For me to go out there and win is great.”

South African Oscar Pistorius, running on metal prosthetics after having his lower legs amputated when he was 11 months old, finished fifth in 45.69.

Although he was still off the 45.25-second World Championships standard he expects he must meet to reach next year’s London Olympics, he was pleased to improve on his disappointing last-place finish at the Prefontaine Classic Diamond League meeting a week earlier.

“I’m unbelievably happy,” Pistorius said. “It’s raining down.

It’s not the best conditions to run today. It’s my second quickest time this year (and) in the wet.

“It’s about .4 of a second to get down but I’m very confident. I think my time is going to come down this year.” —AFP

Power still IndyCar leader over Dario, both triumph FORT WORTH: IndyCar Series points leader Will Power narrowly avoided disaster just before his final pit stop Saturday night at Texas and held on for his first victory on an oval track.

Power raced to his third win of the season, and 12th career for the Team Penske driver, to wrap up the first doubleheader in major open-wheel racing in 30 years. He kept his points lead over Dario Franchitti, the winner in the opener.

Franchitti led 110 of 114 laps in the first race, when Power finished third.

The starting spots for the second race were determined by a blind draw.

Power started third and Franchitti was 28th in the 30-car field, working his way to a seventh-place finish.

Scott Dixon, Franchitti’s teammate with Target Chip Ganassi Racing, was second in both races. As Power was charging down the backstretch inside the final 10 laps of the finale for his last stop, he suddenly had to swerve toward the inside wall to avoid contact with Graham Rahal, who had apparently run out of fuel. Power got in with no problem, then got a splash of fuel and new left tires.

Power got the lead on the 39th lap after going side-by-side with Tony Kanaan, who drew the pole position for the race. The two stayed nearby for a couple of laps before Power finally cleared him and went on to win by 0.09466 seconds over Dixon.

Power entered the weekend with a 16-point lead over Franchitti, who cut it to seven points after winning the opener for his 28th career victory. The margin stretched back to 21 after Power won the nightcap 171-mile (275 kilometer) race at the 11/2-mile (2.4 kilometer), high-banked Texas track.

The first race was on a blistering pace of more than 207 mph (333 kph), which would have been the fastest in IndyCar Series history, before the Indianapolis 500-winning car driven by rookie Wade Cunningham, not Dan Wheldon, was involved in a crash for the only caution to set up the final sprint. “I saw Dixie. That’s a guy you

TEXAS: IndyCar driver Will Power (front) drives in front of Tony Kanaan (center) and Helio Catroneves during the second race of the Texas Firestone Twin 275s at Texas Motor Speedway. —AP don’t want to see, especially with a side-by-side restart,” Franchitti said. “I managed to get a good restart, was able to stay ahead of him, and at the same time he was able to stay ahead of Will. That was 1-2 for the team.

Worked out pretty good.”

Franchitti, who edged Dixon by 0.0527 seconds, wasn’t as happy after the second race, despite an incredible run through the field. With his starting spot determined by the luck — or bad luck — of the draw, the seventh-place finish could still cost him valuable points by the end of the season.

There was an abbreviated celebration between races for Franchitti’s 28th victory, which moved him into 10th place overall on the career list past Fort Worth native and three-time Indy 500 champion Johnny Rutherford.

Franchitti shot the customary sixshooters in Victory Lane for his first victory at Texas, where he was twice a runner-up. The race-tightening crash in the opener came with 22 laps remaining when rookie drivers Charlie Kimball and Cunningham made contact in the fourth turn. — AP

Ruler On Ice reigns in Belmont Stakes

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Torrential rain halts Canadian Grand Prix MONTREAL: Torrential rain brought a red-flag suspension to the Canadian Grand Prix yesterday after 25 of the scheduled 70 laps.

World champion Sebastian Vettel, who had started from pole in his Red Bull, was in the lead when the action was halted.

“It’s the right decision to stop the race,” said Red Bull boss Christian Horner. “The drivers are just passengers, the water lifts the cars up and there is no drive.”

The race had started behind the safety car because of the wet conditions. Former world champion Lewis Hamilton had crashed out after colliding with McLaren teammate Jenson Button after just eight laps.

Hamilton came off worst when he tried-and failed-to go up the inside of his fellow Briton.

“What’s he doing?” complained Button over the team radio as the safety car was summoned onto the track.

It was a second successive controversial race for the 26-year-old Hamilton. At the Monaco Grand Prix two weeks ago, the Englishman was penalised for collisions with Felipe Massa of Ferrari and Pastor Maldonado of Williams.

Afterwards he criticised the stewards in an outburst during a television interview, in which he jokingly suggested, with a reference to the comic character Ali G, that he was being victimised because he was black. He apologised to the stewards in Monte Carlo and wrote a letter of apology to the FIA.—AFP

MONTREAL: Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel (right) of Germany, leads the opening lap under caution during the Formula One Canadian Grand Prix auto race.—AP

Caroline triumphs in Copenhagen Kohlschreiber wins Halle title

DENMARK: Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki (right) and Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic (left) lift their trophies after the women’s single e-Boks Sony Ericsson Open WTA tennis final match.—AP COPENHAGEN: World number one Caroline Wozniacki won her fifth title of 2011 yesterday with a comfortable 6-1, 6-4 defeat of Czech fourth seed Lucie Safarova in the final of her home tournament in Copenhagen.

Wozniacki, the top seed, did not drop a set en route to the final and she kept the momentum going against Safarova, storming through the first set in 23 minutes then fending off a far more solid Safarova in a 45-minute second set.

“Congratulations to Lucie for a good week and reaching the finals,” Wozniacki said at the trophy ceremony. “I wish her good luck in Eastbourne and in the grass court season-hopefully we can both make it far at Wimbledon.”

Safarova’s previous matches this week caught up with her. She had to come back from a set down to win all four of her other matches, including a semi-miraculous comeback from 6-1, 4-0 down against Petra Martic in the semi-finals.

“I’m disappointed, but it was a great week for me and I will be back next year,” Safarova said.

“Congratulations to Caroline, she played really well today. It must be great for her to win at home-I can only imagine. I wish her all the best.”

Wozniacki’s other titles in 2011 came at Dubai, Indian Wells, Charleston and Brussels.

Meanwhile, for more than a decade the Williams sisters viewed Wimbledon warm-up tournaments as surplus to requirements and they were right as they lifted the Rosewater Dish nine

times in 11 years between them.

But health problems, freak accidents and lengthy injury layoffs forced Venus and Serena to cook up a new gameplan this year and they have flown to Britain a week early to make their long-awaited return to tennis at the Eastbourne International. “...Serena hasn’t played in a year and I have played three or four tournaments in a 12 month period so it’s crucial for us to play these key matches at this tournament and do this leading to Wimbledon,” Venus, who has been out of action with an abdominal strain since January, told reporters on Saturday.

“Normally after the French Open we go home to rest and train and that’s been the best for us. But this year the best preparation is to be here.

As soon as I missed the French Open, I set my sights on being here,” she added. While injuries have restricted Venus to playing only the majors for over a year, Serena has been sidelined since winning Wimbledon almost 12 months ago after she badly cut her foot on some broken glass in a restaurant. A life-threatening blood clot in one of her lungs further delayed her comeback. With both sisters now fighting fit, Venus is delighted she can again terrorise opponents with her silky grasscourt game.

On Saturday, she arrived fashionably late for a news conference with a large green handbag slung over her shoulder and then declared how exciting it was to be back in the idyllic settings of Devonshire Park in the seaside town of Eastbourne. “I can’t believe I

finally made it back. It has been a very long road. I can’t tell you how excited I am to be playing any first round match, anywhere,” she said.

Coincidentally, Venus faces Andrea Petkovic of Germany in the first roundher opponent when she retired injured at the Australian Open.

The women’s game has clearly suffered without the razzle-dazzle of the Williams sister act but Venus is at last ready to make up for lost time.

“I missed tennis, tennis has been so kind to me. I love this sport, I love my job, it’s good to me and it’s an honour to be a professional athlete,” she said.

“I do hope I’ve given enough to my sport that it means something when I’m not here and hopefully it means more when I am here.”

Venus said she had to keep reassessing her comeback plans over the past few months because even though her mind was willing, her body was not. “Initially my goal was to return in Miami (in March) but I was not even close. It took me a good 21/2 months to build up and get here now. “It was a slow process and I wasn’t sure I was going to be here till two weeks ago and that was very stressful because I really wanted to be here. “I did my best to stay fit even when I couldn’t be on court. I was doing some arm exercises and listened to doctors’ advice, for the most part.

“It’s hard as an athlete to accept limits and for me it was definitely about accepting limits. I don’t want to be in the situation I was in Australia as that was very painful and it limited me.”—Agencies

HALLE: Germany ’s Philipp Kohlschreiber won the Halle grasscourt tournament yesterday for his third singles title of his career after countr yman Philipp Petzschner retired with a back problem.

In the first all-German Halle final since the Wimbledon warm-up event started 19 years ago, the pair slugged it out in an exciting first set before the 27-year-old Petzschner retired, trailing 7-6 2-0.

World number 49 Kohlschreiber, who beat holder Lleyton Hewitt in the last eight and world number eight Gael Monfils in the semi-finals, landed his first singles title since Auckland in 2008.

‘It does not really feel like a title win,’ Kohlschreiber told reporters. ìIt is a bit of a shame given that we had a really good fight in the first set.

Now it kind of feels strange.’

Kohlschreiber, who has slipped down the rankings after a mediocre start to the season, clinched the opening set when world number 71 Petzschner sank a slice backhand into the net.

Petzschner, who won the Wimbledon doubles title last year, had medical treatment after the first set but started feeling more pain in

HALLE: Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany kisses the trophy after winning the final match against compatriot Philipp Petzschner at the Gerry Weber Open.—AP his back early in the second set, pulling out after just two games to hand the title to his rival.

“At 5-5 in the first set I hurt something in my lower back. Then it start-

ed hurting more and more,”said Petzschner. ‘But me retiring should not take anything away from Philipp’s victory. He played a great tournament.’—Reuters

Stoner wins at wet Silverstone SILVERSTONE: Australian Casey Stoner splashed to victory for Honda in a wet British Grand Prix yesterday to oust world champion Jorge Lorenzo from the top of the MotoGP standings.

Yamaha’s Lorenzo, who led into the first corner, was one of several big name fallers as riders battled through

standing water and spray.

Italy’s Andrea Dovizioso was second for Honda, 15.159 seconds behind Stoner, with American veteran Colin Edwards taking an astonishing third place on the Tech3 Yamaha little more than a week after he shattered his right collarbone.

Stoner, on pole position for the

LONDON: Australia’s Casey Stoner riding a Repsol Honda Team MotoGP bike takes Club Corner at the Silverstone circuit.—AP

fourth time this season in his 150th grand prix start in all categories, was the first Honda rider to win three races in succession since Italian Valentino Rossi in 2003. The Australian now has 116 points to Lorenzo’s 98 and Dovizioso’s 83.

Stoner was third after the first lap, with Lorenzo and then Dovizioso leading, but swiftly moved back into the lead on lap two and powered away.

“It was very, very hard,” said Stoner of the conditions. “Andrea was really confident at the start of the race but I wanted to wait for the tyres to come up to temperature.

“When I was behind them I pretty much got drenched, all the water that they were throwing up I was copping in the face,” he added.

“Unfortunately I got a bit of water on the inside of the visor and when I got into first place I thought it would all clear away and I’d have good vision but for the next five laps I basically had no vision. “I couldn’t see where the wet patches were, I couldn’t understand anywhere on the track where I needed to be.”—Reuters

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A combo of three files pictures shows (left to right) Mexican Central Bank Governor Agustin Guillermo Carstens, French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde and Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer, the main candidates for IMF head. —AFP

Egypt backs Lagarde for IMF top job Indonesia also backs Lagarde as IMF candidates seek support JAKARTA: G20 member Indonesia threw its backing behind France’s Christine Lagarde for the head of the IMF yesterday, marking her first public endorsement from a major emerging market and padding her lead in a three-way race. Indonesia has previously been non-committal on the race for the International Monetary Fund’s top job, as Southeast Asian and other emerging market nations discussed the possibility of putting forward a candidate themselves for a post traditionally held by a European.

But with the deadline for the job ending on Friday, only Bank of Israel Governor and former IMF deputy chief Stanley Fischer has emerged as a candidate to challenge frontrunner Lagarde and Mexico’s central bank chief Agustin Carstens.

“Personally I support France,” said

Indonesian Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo on the sidelines of a World Economic Forum event in Jakarta. “She is a very professional person.

She is smar t in interacting between institutions, and has high integrity and skills,” he added, having met Lagarde during her visit to Indonesia in Februar y. Lagarde, France’s finance minister, is backed by the European Union and a handful of smaller countries from Georgia to Mauritius. Paris is hopeful that Washington and Beijing will also stand behind her. Fischer said on Saturday he would compete for the IMF job, vacated when Frenchman Dominique Strauss-Kahn quit in May over charges he tried to rape a New York hotel maid. Strauss-Kahn has denied the charges.

Memories of Asian crisis Fischer is popular in the United States, but may not go down so well in Asia, where he remains associated with some of the harsh IMF-backed free -market policies to fight the region’s financial crisis in the late 1990s. Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, needed a $43 billion bailout from the IMF then to help it cope, but has more than doubled its foreign reserves since 2008 up to a record $118 billion to give itself a cushion against future crises.

Lagarde was in Saudi Arabia on Saturday as part of a world tour to drum up support among emerging market economies, while Carsten visited New Delhi on Friday but appeared to fail to win their commitment to his candidacy. India and other emerging economies China, Brazil,

South Africa and Russia have called for an end to Europe’s grip on the top job at the international lender.

However none of those countries put up a candidate or explicitly backed Carstens. “There is not the capacity to build consensus among the emerging market nations behind one candidate, irrespective of who that person is, and besides that the Europeans feel very strongly,” said Ian Bremmer, president of political risk consultancy Eurasia Group. “I think it’s virtually impossible to unseat Lagarde at this point.”

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Nabil Al-Arabi yesterday announced Egypt’s support for French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde’s bid to head the International Monetary Fund. “The Egyptian government supports the candidacy of French Finance Minister

Christine Lagarde for the post of managing director of the IMF,” Arabi told reporters after talks with Lagarde in Cairo. The French minister said earlier that she was “confident” of her chances of heading the IMF, while declining to comment on her Israeli rival for the post.

“I am very confident, particularly after several meetings here in Egypt,” Lagarde told reporters after talks with her Egyptian counterpar t Samir Radwan. “We have had excellent meetings.”

Egypt is on the 24-member executive board which is due to reach a consensus on naming a new IMF chief at the end of this month. On Saturday, Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer-an American economist who took Israeli citizenship and previously held the number two post

at the IMF-announced that he was in the race. Lagarde, who on Saturday was in Saudi Arabia where she also voiced confidence, declined to comment on Fischer’s candidacy, saying only: “He has past experience as the number two at the IMF ... Everybody is free to file a candidacy.”

The IMF’s top post opened unexpectedly after Frenchman Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned on May 18 to fight sexual assault charges in New York. Despite a whirlwind world tour that has taken her from Brasilia to Beijing via New Delhi, Lagarde has failed to lock official backing from emerging powers in the race to become managing director of the world’s crisis lender. Her main rival before Fischer entered the race has been Mexico’s central bank chief Agustin Carstens.—Agencies

Kuwait’s ABC aims to boost production

African leaders launch talks on trade bloc

KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Arabian Beverage Co (ABC), plans to double its water production capacity to 240 million units per year to feed demand in the Gulf Arab market, and aims to penetrate the Iraqi market this year. The company, which distributes water, juice and dairy products in the Gulf Arab region wants to increase its fleet to about 800 trucks in three years, Elie Abdo, ABC’s deputy general manager for business development told Reuters yesterday.

ABC, owned by Kuwaiti conglomerate Bukhamseen Holding, founders of Kuwait International Bank and Abu Dhabi listed First Gulf Bank PJSC, is seeking a strong base in the region as it competes with rivals such as Kuwaiti Danish Dairy Co and Saudi’s Al-Marai Co. “Currently we have around 420 distribution trucks in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar... and for the next three years we will stay focused on this region,” Abdo said.

ABC entered the Iraqi market shortly after the US led invasion in 2003, but through a different brand name and distributors based there. “Now we plan to penetrate the Iraqi market in October this year through the ABC brand...and that operation alone could need up to 500 trucks for distribution,” he said. The Saudi market, Abdo said, consumes most of the firm’s production capacity of up to 40 percent. ABC currently produces 1 billion units of juice and dairy products, and 120 million units of bottled water per year, he said.

“We want to double and even triple the production of water at our facility, but we are facing some obstacles with the licensing of industrial land here in Kuwait.”

ABC had to review its plans after neighbouring Qatar won the bid to host the 2022 soccer world cup, especially that the rich Gulf Arab state does not have any local beverages producer, Abdo said. “For sure we have to plan for it, and revise our distribution there... we want to lead the Qatari market five years from now.

There is no local producer until now, so we have to take this chance.” — Reuters

JOHANNESBURG: African leaders launched talks yesterday to create the continent’s biggest free-trade bloc, a $875 billion (597 billion euros) market that would boost the region’s economic profile. The so-called “Grand” Free Trade Area would cross 26 countries, stretching from Cape Town to Cairo, with a combined population of 700 million people. “We meet fully conscious of the collective responsibility we bear towards Africa’s founding fathers to create a single continental market of real economic value,” said South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma during the opening.

The proposed free trade area (FTA) would join three existing, and sometimes overlapping, blocs. But each has different rules, with some countries belonging to more than one grouping, further complicating efforts to streamline trade. The idea to unite these blocs was endorsed at a 2008 summit. It would bring together the continent’s most developed economies of South Africa and Egypt and some of its most energetic, such as Angola and Ethiopia.

“Programmes are being developed involving all three regional economic communities, together with member states, taking us a step further towards the establishment of the envisaged tripartite free trade area,” said Zuma. But the pact faces immense hurdles: tariff barriers, poor infrastructure, weak supply chains, and economies often largely reliant on natural resources rather than manufactured products.

The three existing free trade areas-of which the EAC is the most advanced-have failed to meet intra-trade targets despite removing the bulk of trade tariffs. And the bloc includes countries hit by conflicts, coups and political turmoil, such as Libya, Madagascar, Sudan and Zimbabwe. New World Bank research says trade within southern African accounts for just 10 percent of the total in the region-compared to 60 percent in Europe and 40 percent in North America.

Southern African Development Community (SADC) exports increased from 20 to more than 30 percent of combined GDP over the past decade, but regional trade made up a mere three percent of the increase. Stumbling blocks include border crossings and non-tariff barriers such as import bans and permits that cut into competitiveness. South African grocery chain giant Shoprite for example suffers losses of $500 a day for each truck delayed at border posts. —AFP

KABUL: A man uses his motorcycle to power his photocopy machines in front of a government building yesterday.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) put average inflation in Afghanistan in 2008 at almost 27 percent, compared to 13 percent the year before. In a dollarised economy built on aid and corruption, in a country that imports almost all it consumes, Afghanistan — and especially Kabul — is a sellers’ market, for everything from fresh fruit to armoured cars. — AFP

Dubai budget deficit at $1.6bn for 2010 DUBAI: Dubai, which is planning a benchmark sovereign dollar issue in coming days as it seeks to bridge a budget deficit, has set up a new $5 billion Euro Medium Term Note (EMTN) programme. The emirates, known for man-made palm-shaped islands and the world’s tallest tower, has been scrambling to put finances in its stateowned conglomerates back in shape since its 2009 debt crisis.

The unrated emirate, whose overall debt load is estimated at $115 billion or 140 percent of its economic output, has hired Mitsubishi UFJ Securities, Standard Chartered Bank and UBS AG

as arrangers and dealers for the new programme, the prospectus showed.

Emirates NBD and National Bank of Abu Dhabi will be the dealing banks for the bond programme.

Last week Dubai’s department of finance announced it planned to come back to the debt market with a potential dollar bond issue, buoyed by tightening spreads and an oversubscribed bond from its flagship airline recently. Appetite for Dubai debt has been rising in recent months, with the emirate seen as a safe haven as social unrest spread to nearby Bahrain, Oman and Yemen.

The United Arab Emirates and Qatar are the only two states in the Gulf, the world’s top oil exporting region, which have not seen any protests inspired by uprisings that toppled Egypt’s and Tunisia’s leaders.

Dubai’s budget deficit more than halved to 6.02 billion dirhams ($1.64 billion) or 2 percent of gross domestic product last year from 2009, coming slightly above the original plan, the prospectus showed.

Its direct debt as of May 20 was 115.4 billion dirhams ($31.42 billion), or 38 percent of 2010 GDP, according to the document. — Reuters

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ADCB plans to sell RHB stake to Abu Dhabi fund ADCB has Malaysia central bank approval for Aabar talks ABU DHABI: Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) will start talks to sell its RHB stake to Abu Dhabi investment fund Aabar and has won Malaysian central bank approval for the move, it said yesterday.

ADCB’s plans to sell its 25 percent stake in RHB-valued at around $1.6 billion-appeared to hit a hurdle after two local peers, Maybank and CIMB got regulatory approval to bid for RHB last month. Sources told Reuters last

KUWAIT: The Air Arabia team pose with the A320 Family Operational Excellence Award by Airbus for the year 2009-2010.

Air Arabia earns top award for operational excellence KUWAIT: Air Arabia, the first and largest low-cost carrier (LCC) in the Middle East and North Africa, announced yesterday that it had won the A320 Family Operational Excellence Award by Airbus for the year 2009-2010. The Sharjahbased LCC received the award for achieving the highest level of A320 family aircraft utilisation in the world for a fleet of less than 30 aircraft, with 99.8 percent operational reliability.

Air Arabia received the prestigious award in Toronto, Canada, during Airbus’s biannual symposium of all operators of the A320 Family worldwide. Held earlier last week from May 23 through 26, this year’s symposium marks the fifth consecutive occasion Air Arabia has won the award. This symposium reaffirmed the company’s lead among all global airlines operating the Airbus A320 family aircraft. Airbus Family symposiums are held every two years and seek to facilitate two-way dialog amongst the aviation industry, ultimately leading to ever safer and more efficient fleets.

“All of us here at Air Arabia are proud to accept this prestigious award. We have always sought to lead the industry not only with our innovative value for money product, but also in providing opera-

tional excellence for our customers,” said Adel Ali, Group Chief Executive Officer of Air Arabia.

“Taking this award for the fifth consecutive time has been the result of the fantastic effort put forth by the entire Air Arabia team. We extend a deep thanks to our employees and are confident that Air Arabia will continue to offer superior value and service for travellers across this vibrant region,” Ali concluded.

The selection process for assessing which airline provided the highest operational excellence included a detailed technical analysis of all the carriers in the A320 segment conducted by Airbus.

During this ranking process, Air Arabia recorded the highest indicators for its operational excellence over the two-year period from 2009-2010, reflecting the carrier’s unparalleled maintenance and technical standards.

The A320 family, which includes the A318, A319, A320 and A321, is recognized as the benchmark single-aisle aircraft family. Around 6,700 Airbus A320 Family aircraft have been sold to some 300 customers and operators worldwide, and over 4,400 A320 delivered, making it the world’s best selling commercial jetliner ever.

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KUWAIT: The Hellenic Imperial Airways will now operate weekly direct flights from Kuwait to Athens. Passengers can enjoy a truly comfortable, relaxed travel experience to their preferred destinations.

The official launching ceremony was held at Costa Del Sol Hotel on June 7 under the patronage of Ambassador of Greece to Kuwait Constantine Darakakis and the Deputy Head of Misson and Consul. The airways boasts of an A340 aircraft and offers Economy Class, First and Business Class comfort to passengers, in addition to high standard of services.

It will also launch weekly flights Kuwait (KWI) Athens (ATH)- New York(JFK) on June 24, 2011. It will also fly the Kuwait (KWI) Athens(ATH)-London route starting July 1.

Ticket fares are priced at KD365 (Kuwait Athens- New York- Athens- Kuwait) in Economy Class and KD1,345 in Business Class.

Fares for (Kuwait- Athens- London- AthensKuwait) start from KD228.950 in Economy Class and KD854.300 in Business Class.

Domestic flight tickets to Athens will be issued through the Hellenic Imperial Office in Kuwait at a service charge of KD1. Since most tour operators are unauthorized to issue

The Commercial Bank of Kuwait announces the biggest daily draw in Kuwait with the launch of the new Najma account. Customers of the bank can now enjoy a KD7,000 daily prize which is the highest in the country and another 4 mega prizes during the year worth KD100,000 each on different occasions: The National Day, Eid Al-Fitr, Eid Al-Adha and on June 19 which is the date of the bank’s establishment.

With a minimum balance of KD500,

KUWAIT: The Hellenic Imperial Airways officials pose for a photo at the launching ceremony. — Photo by Joseph Shagra vouchers with the Middle East Company, the Ritz Travel Company can facilitate its issuance without much trouble.

It also provides assistance to clients seeking Schengen visa during the shortest possible time. Economy class passengers are allowed to carry baggage weighing 30 kilo-

grams while Business Class passengers can carry up to 40 kilograms of baggage.

The Hellenic Imperial Always places passenger safety at the forefront, focuses on our goal of quality, and looks forward to carrying passengers across varied international destinations.

GE appoints leadership for Europe, and MENA KUWAIT: GE Lighting has appointed Diederik de Stoppelaar as Director of the company’s new commercial organization Luminaire Solutions. Diederik will lead a team of industry experts to provide effective lighting design and specification assistance to end users across a number of key market segments. Diederik will be leading a new team, which will focus on the best in class solutions for the core market segments: Indoor Commercial LED Luminaires, Indoor Core Luminaires and Outdoor Lighting.

Simon Fisher will lead Indoor Commercial LED Luminaires as General Manager for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. He will head both project and indoor product and lighting design teams working across EMEA to drive innovation in LED solutions across industrial and commercial interiors. As Channel Manager Luminaires Solutions for the Middle East and Africa region, Selcuk Mert will drive all the sales for luminaires working closely with the local teams in the region.

customers will be eligible for the daily draw provided that the money is in the account one week prior to the daily draw or two months prior to the mega draw. In addition, for each KD25 a customer can get one chance for winning instead of KD50. All existing customers

Names Kasima Soraibet Al-Jaser Sheikha Shouq Mohammed AbdulAziz Al-Sabah Leroy Dylon Pinto John Gerald Momtaz Subhi Abdulshaheed Ibrahim Abul Mohammed Al-Awadhi

government investment vehicle International Petroleum Investment Corp (IPIC).

Shares in ADCB, which is 55-percent owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, were down 0.32 percent on the Abu Dhabi bourse yesterday. ADCB had hired Goldman Sachs and BOA-Merrill Lynch as advisors on the transaction to sell its position in Malaysia’s fifth-largest bank with a $7.3 billion market value. — Reuters

Hellenic Airways announces flights to new routes

Al-Tijari announces biggest draw winners KUWAIT: Commercial Bank of Kuwait held the Al-Najma Account draw yesterday. The draw was held under the supervision of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry represented by Abdulaziz Ashkanani. The winners of the Al-Najma draw are:

week that the Abu Dhabi lender’s planned auction would proceed.

“In connection with the bank’s strategic review of its stake in RHB Capital ... the bank received approval from Bank Negra (the Malaysian central bank) to enter into negotiations with Aabar Investments regarding a potential sale transaction,” ADCB said in a statement yesterday.

Aabar is majority owned by Abu Dhabi

KD 7,000 7,000 7,000 7,000 7,000

will be given a grace period till June 27 to increase their balance and until that date they will be eligible to enter the weekly draw even with amounts less than KD500.

Commercial Bank of Kuwait takes this opportunity to congratulate all lucky winners and also extends appreciation to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for their effective supervision of the draws which were conducted in an orderly and organized manner.

Simon Fisher Diederik de Stoppelaar brings with him a wealth of experience of more than 25 years in a variety of strategic roles in lighting including general management positions for Philips Lighting in the Netherlands, France, Germany and the US. In addition, Diederik has held the positions of Chief Marketing Officer for Thorn Lighting, Regional Commercial Director for Zumtobel and Vice President for Sales, Europe and Africa, for lighting controls company Lutron.

A well-established product designer, Simon Fisher has previously worked for companies including Concord Lighting and ERCO Lighting, before co-founding his own lighting consultants LAPD in 1999. At GE Lighting, he will manage the lighting design and engineering disciplines to develop products and prove lighting principles.

Phil Marshall, President & CEO, GE Lighting EMEA, said: “With the current focus on infrastructure development, the Middle East region is a perfect fit for strengthening our LED business. This new commercial organization led by these exceptionally experienced leaders will allow us to leverage the wonderful technology heritage and LED capabilities that exist within GE to further develop and expand our Luminaire footprint.”

GE Lighting had announced the enhancement of its commercial organization with the new organization unit, Luminaire Solutions, last year. The move was part of its on-going efforts to adjust the Lighting business to

changing market dynamics and to better serve the growing LED markets. GE Lighting has a rich history in the Middle East having established long-standing business association with over 70 key partners over the past several decades. The company established its full-fledged team in the region 15 years ago, and today has over 20 professionals driving the operations.

At the forefront of lighting innovation and bringing industry-altering technologies and products, GE Lighting upholds the legacy of Thomas Alva Edison, who flagged off the lighting industry with the invention of the first practical affordable light bulb in 1878. Noted for lighting efficiency, GE Lighting is also credited with the invention of the first LED in 1962.

The company offers the full breadth of indoor and outdoor lighting solutions. Headquartered in Budapest, GE Lighting’s EMEA operations have over 7,600 employees. The company has over 8,000 lamp types and eight plants in seven cities.

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 .4420000 .3900000 .3220000 .2770000 .2860000 .0040000 .0020000 .0742000 .7228030 .3810000 .0700000 .7077790 .0040000 .0430000 CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES .2738500 .4446090 .3929200 .3248320 .2794530 .0526750 .0432830 .2885150 .0351800 .2212750 .0034090 .0000000 .0000000 .0000000 .0000000 .0745880 .7265850 .0000000 .0730460 .7114840 .0000000

US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian dollars Danish Kroner Swedish Kroner Australian dlr Hong Kong dlr Singapore dlr Japanese yen Indian Rs/KD Sri Lanka rupee Pakistan rupee Bangladesh taka UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi Riyal/KD Omani riyals Philippine Peso

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co.

Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar

ASIAN COUNTRIES 3.439 6.132 3.200 2.502 3.845 221.870 35.270

.2760000 .4540000 .4000000 .3330000 .2870000 .2960000 .0072500 .0035000 .0756300 .7367380 .4010000 .0770000 .7214240 .0072000 .0530000 .2759500 .4480190 .3959330 .3273230 .2815960 .0530790 .0436150 .2907270 .0354500 .2229720 .0034350 .0062010 .0025270 .0032350 .0037540 .0751600 .7321570 .3903110 .0736060 .7169390 .0064170

Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht Irani Riyal - Transfer Irani Riyal - Cash

3.692 6.346 9.027 0.271 0.273 GCC COUNTRIES 73.216 75.440 713.130 729.050 74.746

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 48.600 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 46.137 Yemen Riyal 1.256 Tunisian Dinar 203.600 Jordanian Dinar 387.720 Lebanese Lira 182.100 Syrian Lier 5.927 Morocco Dirham 36.112 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 274.450 Euro 397.950 Sterling Pound 450.100 Canadian dollar 284.400 Turkish lire 174.700 Swiss Franc 331.460 Australian dollar 290.920 US Dollar Buying 273.250 GOLD 282.500 143.000 74.000

20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

SELL CASH 293.800 731.650 3.970 284.800 540.400 14.100 54.000 167.800 48.380 399.100 36.050 6.330

SELL DRAFT 292.300 731.850 3.707 283.300

224.000 46.358 397.600 35.900 6.150

0.034 0.238 0.241 3.530 390.160 0.186 93.820 47.800 4.320 229.700 1.865 51.300 714.570 3.290 6.560 76.110 73.450 223.990 43.170 2.646 450.700 44.400 330.300 5.800 9.480 198.263 75.010 275.500 1.230

0.033

388.830 0.185 93.820 3.870 228.200

328.800 5.800 9.250 74.910 275.100

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 448.700 275.100

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd Rate for Transfer US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupees Indian Rupees

Selling Rate 275.000 284.490 447.975 396.910 326.395 728.413 74.848 75.485 73.293 387.092 46.291 2.506 6.155

Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit

3.216 3.714 6.340 674.549 3.522 9.112 5.782 3.931 91.345

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co. 714.390 3.215 6.360 75.780 73.450 223.990 43.170 2.510 448.700

GOLD 1,583.290

10 Tola

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

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

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) 275.000 3.220 6.160 2.530 3.715 6.390 74.975 73.535 731.100 46.270 455.400 0.00003280 3.910 1.550 390.700 5.750 399.100 287.500

Al Mulla Exchange Currency Transfer Rate (Per 1000) US Dollar 274.650 Euro 397.400 Pound Sterling 448.500 Canadian Dollar 283.100 Japanese Yen 3.450 Indian Rupee 6.147 Egyptian Pound 46.265 Sri Lankan Rupee 2.509 Bangladesh Taka 3.683 Philippines Peso 6.350 Pakistan Rupee 3.207 Bahraini Dinar 731.600 UAE Dirham 74.850 Saudi Riyal 73.400 *Rates are subject to change

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BUSINESS

Concerns over US economy mounting Markets turn to safe-haven currencies NBK WEEKLY MONEY MARKET REPORT

KUWAIT: The Adel Alghanim Automotive officials are pictured at the showroom.

— Photos by Joseph Shagra

Adel Alghanim Automotive launches MG6 in Kuwait KUWAIT: Adel Alghanim Automotive launched MG6 in Kuwait at a formal ceremony. The MG6 comes in 2 categories: MG6 (KD5,900) standard and MG6E (KD6,350). MG6 standard includes many features such as a sunroof, rear parking sensors, Luxury leather, an AUX input for iPod, and a USB input. MG 6E has additional options, which include: Reversing camera, On board screen with GPS Navigation, XBM premium German sound system, DVD player, rain sensors, Xenon lights, extra safety features, and more. The car also includes paddle shifts behind the steering wheel for changing gears.

This is a sporty model which the UK’s Autocar magazine hails as one the best cars in its category in years. The car has a 1.8L 4-cylinder engine which is equipped with a Turbo for driving pleasure. MG is a brand with a prestigious 85-year-old his-

tory. All cars come with a 10-year unlimited mileage warranty. This warranty is valid no matter how many times the ownership of the vehicle is changed.

All cars come with free 24 roadside assist service (even if the cause is as simple as running out of fuel). MG cars will be backed by a strong after sales system.

The after sales center will stay open till 8 pm and not the traditional 5 pm closing time. This is to cater to customers who’s jobs end at 5 pm and 6 pm. A loyalty program is being introduced to all customers.

Customers would gain points for every KD spent in the after sales department. These points can be redeemed for after sales services, LG mobile phones, or LG 3D tablets. The MG showroom is located at the Portland Cement Company building opposite Abyat in the Shuwaikh area.

ABK introduces new summer promotion KUWAIT: The summer travel season is here and with it Al-Ahli Bank of Kuwait brings its customers a brand new offer for them to “Enjoy this summer with ABK.” From June 15 through to September 15, 2011, when ABK customers use either their ABK Emirates Credit Cards, or Prestige and Al Raed debit cards for purchases overseas, they will automatically be entered into a draw for some amazing gifts. Stewart Lockie, GM, Retail Banking, further explained, “ABK is always looking for better and more innovative opportunities to meet customer needs, and with the approaching travel season, it gives me great pleasure to detail the summer offer and the prizes attached to it!”

Lockie continued, “This year all our customers who spend using their credit cards outside Kuwait, will enter draws for three luxurious speed boats and 10 cash prizes each worth up to KD2,500.

Winning these exciting prizes is easy; our customers have to spend a minimum of KD100 on their credit cards, or Prestige and Al-Raed debit cards to automatically enter the draws. The more the card is used the higher the chances of winning and with the holiday and travel season round the corner, it gives our customers an excellent opportunity to spend abroad and win. There are 3 draws (in July, August, and September), where entries earned to qualify for the first and second draws will be carried forward, so

In the absence of major financial news and economic releases, FX markets were relatively quiet last week with the dollar timidly strengthening against its major counterparts at the end of the week. The euro started the week well bid, and was able to reach a high of 1.4695 on Tuesday. However, the single currency erased its gains and weakened further against the dollar following the ECB decision not to change its interest rate target and Trichet’s comments that were not as comforting as investors were expecting. The euro touched a low of 1.4323 on Friday, and ended the week at 1.4350. The performance of the sterling pound was more or less the same as the euro’s. The pound range traded for the first four days between 1.6325 and 1.6470, before weakening on Friday to a low of 1.6218. The pound closed sessions at 1.6227.

The Swiss franc eased off its historical highs against the dollar last week: after opening on Monday at 0.8335 and a relatively quiet trading for half of the week, the Swiss franc weakened on Thursday and reached a level of 0.8445 against the dollar, before closing the week at 0.8430. The yen traded in a narrow range last week, between a low of 79.70 and a high of 80.45, before ending at 80.32 on Friday. The dollar index rose from a low of 73.50 to a high of 74.92, and finished the week at 74.83.

Bernanke’s speech not so comforting Concerns over the health of the US economy are still mounting due to a round of disappointing economic indicators, which culminated in the weaker-than-expected labor figures. During his speech last week, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke reiterated that the quantitative easing program QE2 will end as scheduled in June, and stated “until we see a sustained period of stronger job creation, we cannot consider the recovery to be truly established”. Moreover, he admitted that the US economic growth was “somewhat slower than expected”, but the central bank head gave no hint of future stimulus.

Investors are worried that the stock market and the economy as a whole will run into trouble once the Fed’s support plan ends this month. The question remains whether the US will finalize the debt ceiling issue on time, because with no additional borrowing the government cannot keep sustaining the fragile economy.

Trade balance gap narrows Record exports and lower oil purchases unexpectedly helped narrow the trade deficit in the United States last month, giving a shy boost to a faltering US economy. The trade gap, which represents the difference between the exports and the imports in a given month, shrank from an earlier $48.2 billion to $43.7 billion in April. The figure beat the consensus estimate of a gap of $48.8 billion. The improvement comes as exports increased 1.3 percent and imports dropped 0.4 percent in April. The drop in the value of the dollar against the currencies of the biggest US trading partners may be one reason for the improvement in the official figures, and projects continued optimism on sales overseas if the currency remains at its current level.

Jobless claims still rising Initial jobless claims unexpectedly rose last week, adding to evidence that the labor market is still struggling to gain traction. Jobless claims increased from 422,000 to 427,000 in the week ended June 4. Some employers are cutting staff as demand slows because of elevated energy prices, falling house prices and tight credit. It is the ninth month that the claims are above 400,000, after the 2-year low of 375,000 reached in February.

Europe During the European Central Bank’s (ECB) meeting last week, no change in the monetary policy was announced and the focus turned to the ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet’s press conference. Trichet followed a hawkish language and used phrases such as “strong vigilance” and price stability, with both statements signaling that the central bank will most likely hike their key lending rate by 25 bps at their July meeting, unless the economy is hit by an unexpected negative event. Despite the hawkish stance, the euro failed to find support and fell against the dollar showing that expectations for a rate hike were already priced in. It appears that investors’ fears about Greece’s escalating debt problems continue to put the single currency under pressure and overshadow the increasing interest rate differential between the euro and other low-yielding currencies.

Economy expanding as expected The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the Eurozone rose by 0.8 percent from the fourth quarter, in line with the estimated figure. The numbers showed that European companies boosted spending in the first quarter of 2011, construction rebounded from a slump and export growth accelerated, giving a boost to the Euro region’s expansion. Going further, Europe’s economy may struggle to gather strength as fragile governments from Spain to Greece toughen spending cuts to reduce deficits, while rising energy costs squeeze household incomes. Therefore, the GDP is expected to witness a drop in the next quarter.

Some economic figures European retail sales increased more than economists had forecasted in April, rebounding from a March slump, after the economy gathered strength and companies stepped up hiring. Sales in the 17-nation Euro region jumped 0.9 percent from March, when they dropped 0.9 percent. This is the biggest gain since March 2010. Reviving consumer spending may help the European economy gather strength as unemployment declines and inflation weakens. European producer-price inflation slowed for the first time in eight months in April. The Producer Price Index (PPI) gained 6.7 percent from a year earlier, almost in line with the previous 6.8 percent increase in March.

United Kingdom BOE keeps key Rate unchanged The Bank of England (BOE) kept its benchmark rate at a record low as data pointing to a loss of momentum in the recovery kept policy makers focused on aiding economic growth.

The nine-member monetary policy committee led by governor Mervyn King, held the key

rate at 0.50 percent as widely expected. The central bank also left its bond-pucrhase program at GBP 200 billion. King’s push to keep interest rates unchanged to bolster this recovery won the backing of the International Monetary Fund this week, which said it is appropriate to maintain the current scale of monetary stimulus. The meeting minutes which will be released on June 22, will provide a color on whether there was a shift in the voting. The BOE is trying to find a healthy balance between rising prices and a sluggish economic growth.

House prices falling UK house prices fell the most in seven months in April, as signs of a fading economic recovery and tighter lending conditions dented property demand. The Halifax House Price fell by 4.2 percent, down from an earlier drop of 3.7 percent. Britain’s housing data has been mixed this year as weakening consumer confidence curbs demand for homes, while a lack of supply and record-low interest rates help support property values.

Manufacturing drops UK manufacturing fell more than expected in April as the extra public holiday for the royal wedding hurt orders and the impact of the Japanese earthquake hit supplies.

Manufacturing Production fell by 1.5 percent from the previous month, the most since January 2009, much lower than the estimate of a 0.1 percent drop.

Around the world Japan’s economy contracting Japan’s economy contracted more than economists estimated in the first quarter, underscoring the damage the March 11 earthquake and tsunami inflicted on capital spending and factory production. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) shrank at an annualized 3.5 percent rate in the three months ended March 31, compared with the 3.0 percent estimate. Large companies like Toyota and Nissan, which posted sales declines in May, are working to restore operations after the disaster caused a shortage of parts and power, pushing the economy into a recession.

Bank of Japan governor said that supply constraints are easing faster than expected as companies rush to repair their facilities, and economists predict the economy will expand in the second half of 2011 as reconstruction work kicks in.

Data from Australia The Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) decision to extend a pause in interest-rate increases signals concerns that a rising currency and the developed world’s highest borrowing costs are restraining growth. Governor Glenn Stevens held the overnight cash rate target at 4.75 percent and acknowledged the subdued outlook for industries other than mining and energy. In a separate report, official figures showed that the unemployment rate held steady at 4.9 percent in April, with no major changes noticeable in the Australian labor market.

Kuwait Dinar at 0.27440 The USDKD opened at 0.27440 yesterday morning.

Euromoney names NBK ‘Best Bank in ME’

Stewart Lockie one has more than one chance at winning.

Moreover, at ABK, everyone is still a winner, as for every Kuwaiti dinar spent using the ABK Emirates Credit Card, the user is awarded up to 7 Skywards Miles!”

The first draw for one of the speed boats and for three of the cash prizes will be held on Thursday, July 21, 2011. Call Ahlan Ahli on 1 899 899 or visit our website at www.eahli.com for more details on how to make your summer more fun.

KUWAIT: Euromoney, the renowned international finance magazine, has named National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) the “Best Bank in the Middle East” and the “Best Bank in Kuwait” for 2011 for the second consecutive year, as part of the Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2011. The awards were presented to NBK Group Deputy CEO, Isam J Al-Sager, and NBK Capital CEO Salah Y Al-Fulaij at an award ceremony held recently in Dubai.

Commenting on the occasion, Al-Sager said that the prestigious awards of “Best Bank in the Middle East” and “Best Bank in Kuwait” for 2011 are a source of immense gratification and pride.

“These awards mark a new recognition of NBK’s unique and leading position regionally as well as its impressive achievements and management expertise.”

Euromoney said that NBK enjoys a leading position locally and regionally. NBK is recognized as the “Best Bank in the Middle East” and the “Best Bank in Kuwait” for 2011 in view of its remarkable per formance and ability to maintain its leading position in spite of current difficulties for regional and international financial markets”.

In addition to boasting Kuwait’s largest local branch network comprising more than 70 branches in Kuwait, NBK currently has the largest and widest overseas banking network encompassing 175 branches, representative offices and subsidiaries strategically located in 17 countries spread over four continents, including 10 countries in the Middle East. NBK has consistently been awarded the highest credit ratings of all banks in the region

KUWAIT: Isam Al-Sager receives the ‘Best Bank in the Middle East 2011’ award. by the major international rating agencies: Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s, and Fitch Ratings. NBK was

also maintained its position as the Safest Bank in the Arab world in 2010.

Extreme testing authenticates Camaro convertibles’ quality DUBAI: Chevrolet Camaro Convertible in its aims to exhibit top build quality and maintain all the strengths of its coupe sibling, has undergone a vigorous testing regime to ensure lifetime stability.

Chevrolet Camaro Convertible showcases a top built to last a lifetime, operates worry-free and maintains the appearance of its Coupe sibling.

To assure long-term durability, the convertible top underwent extensive testing during development, being opened and closed more than 22,500 times - three times more than would be expected in a typical 10 years of use. Some of those cycles were performed in extreme conditions; temperatures ranging from minus 30 degrees C to 77 degrees C and humidity of up to 95 percent. “ The engineers in Detroit had the Camaro Convertible undergo a rigorous testing regime.” said Luay Al-Shurafa, Regional Brand Manager for Chevrolet at General Motors Middle East Operations.

“They had to drive 80 Camaro Convertibles back and forth from the testing centre and had to operate the Convertible rooftop five times a day no matter what the weather was like. It is this rigorous attention to detail that reflects on the Convertible’s performance in all markets including the Middle East.”

Every Convertible undergoes a water test as it completes assembly in Oshawa, Ontario. In addition, vehicles are randomly chosen to undergo an eight-minute water test at the assembly facility in Oshawa and at an identical facility at the GM Proving Ground in Milford, Michigan. More than 27,255 liters of water are hurled at the car in a hurricane-like downpour at a pace of 3407 liters per minute.

Addressing another aspect of interior comfort, Camaro Convertible’s three-layer top includes an acoustical liner made of rubber sandwiched between an acrylic square weave outer fabric and an inner reinforcing cotton layer. Engineers use a

sophisticated human-ear mimicking device called the Aachen Head to measure noise levels.

“For many buyers, a Camaro Convertible can be a collector car, something they might keep for generations. So we made sure the tops would retain their quality for a long, long time,” added Al-Shurafa. “There is great value in a Convertible with the original top.” Consistent with its coupe-like performance dynamics, the Camaro Convertible offers the looks of the Camaro Coupe when the top is up. The five bow roof design provides a smooth, taut and carefully tailored appearance that retains the sleek roofline of the coupe. Unlike other convertible models in the segment, the Camaro top latches with a single, convenient handle located at the center of the windshield header. Once the latch is turned to the open position, the push of a single button lowers the windows and activates the top, which completes its cycle in about 20 seconds.

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business

Bourse closes on mixed note GLOBAL DAILY MARKET REPORT KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) ended yesterday’s session on a mixed note with heavy weight Zain being up helping Global weighted General index to post gains. The scrip saw intense trading and topped the value leading stocks with KD3.14 million traded on its share, accounting for almost 20 percent of the total traded value in the market. Other than that, overall trading activity remained light as political tension grabs all the attention these days.

Saudi rebounds on valuation

Market indices Global General Index (GGI), market weighted, ended the day up by 0.08 percent, at 194.72 point. Market capitalization was up for the day at KD31.93 billion. On the other hand, KSE Price Index closed at 6,306 point, shedding 0.70 points (0.01 percent) to its previous close.

Market breadth During the session, 94 companies were traded. Market breadth was skewed towards decliners as 39 equities retreated versus 21 that advanced.

Daily trading activity Trading activity was down this session. The trades conducted in the services sector. Total volume traded was down by 11.02 percent with 96.76 million shares changing hands at a total value of KD15.84 million (11.89 percent lower compared to the day before). The services sector was the volume leader yesterday, accounting for 38.12 percent of total shares.

The same sector was the value leader, with 35.53 percent of total traded value. Zain Company was the most active in terms of values of shares traded during yesterday’s session, with 3.05 million shares exchanged at an aggregate value of KD3.14 million.

Top gainers and biggest decliners In terms of top gainers, Kuwait Remal Real Estate Company took the top spot for the day, adding 8 percent and closed at KD0.270.

On the other hand, Pearl of First Dubai For Real Estate Development Company shed 8.33 percent and closed at KD0.028, making it the biggest decliner in the market.

Sectors wise Five out of the eight sector indices wit-

Fall in global shares weighs heavy on UAE

nessed positive performance during the day.

Global Industrial Index showed the highest increase, with daily gains of 0.90 percent on the back of heavy weight National Industries Group (NIG). NIG’s stock witnessed daily gains of 2 percent and ended the day at KD0.255.

Gulf Cables & Electrical Industries Company was also up by 2.63 percent, bringing its share price to KD1.560.

Within the same sector, Gulf Rocks Company’s announcement was the most significant news during the day for investors. The company will be officially delisted from the market, as per the decision of the ordinary shareholder meeting dated December 14, 2010 and Article No 26 of Capital Market Authority (CMA) law No 3/2011 of listing regulations. Accordingly, trading will be suspended on the stock as of yesterday. It is worth mentioning that, the stock did not trade since April 18, 2011.

Most of services stocks witnessed poor performance during yesterday’s session but Zain closed up by 1.92 percent, helping Global Services Index to add 0.85 percent to its value. Gulf Petroleum Investment Company was the biggest gainer in the sector,

adding 5.71 percent to its share price and closed at KD0.037.

Banking sector registered the biggest loss this month so far, with Global Banking Index registering a drop of 2.29 percent since the beginning of June. The index lost 0.45 percent during the last session. Out of the losers in this sector, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) lost 1.69 percent while Commercial Bank of Kuwait declined by 1.10 percent.

Corporate news Kuwait was ranked the 14th richest country in the world for the year of 2010, with a per capita (GDP) of $38,984, a report released yesterday said. Qatar ranked first on the list, with a per capita of $90,149. Luxembourg came second, Norway third, Singapore fourth, Brunei fifth, United States sixth, Hong Kong seventh, Switzerland eight, Netherlands ninth, Australia tenth on the list.

Oil news The price of OPEC basket of twelve crudes stood at $113.43 a barrel on Thursday, compared with $111.93 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.

DUBAI: Bargain hunting helped lift Saudi Arabia’s index yesterday from an 11 week low touched a day earlier, while the rest of the Gulf markets closed mixed, weighed down by Friday’s drop in global shares. Riyadh’s benchmark ended 0.6 percent higher.

The banking sector gained 0.5 percent and petrochemical stocks rose 0.7 percent.

Most large-cap stocks were up, with Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) climbing 0.2 percent and AlRajhi Bank up 0.3 percent. Analysts said recent declines should attract buyers at lower prices. “If you look at valuations of SABIC, it indicates a P-E (price to earnings) of 10 — at its historic low,” said Haissam Arabi, chief executive and fund manager at Gulfmena Alternative Investments. “So it doesn’t make sense to continue downwards.”

Saudi Electricity advanced 1.8 percent and Samba Financial Group gained 1.5 percent. “Smart money started to come in and pick up cheap valuations. You will see some good support at these levels, but that doesn’t mean we won’t see pressure from oil,” Arabi added. Oil prices fell on Friday on news Saudi Arabia was offering more oil to Asian customers, with additional pressure from a stronger dollar. Brent crude for July delivery fell 79 cents to settle at $118.78 per barrel. Weakness in global shares weighed on Dubai’s index falling 0.3 percent to a June low. Volumes slumped to an 18-week low. Major stock markets have fallen in five of the past six weeks on growing worries about the global economy after data showed China’s export growth slowed in May. Bellwether Emaar Properties eased 1.3 percent and Arabtec slipped 0.8 percent. Losers outnumbered gainers 11 to seven.

“In the medium- to long-term, I’m still positive, but in the short term I don’t see any triggers to take (Gulf ) markets up unless Q2 results are bet-

ter than expected,” said Shakeel Sarwar, head of asset management at Securities & Investment Co (SICO) in Bahrain. Elsewhere, Oman’s index ended 0.3 percent higher to be up 0.4 percent in June. It fell 5.2 percent in the May. Telecoms operator Nawras climbed 1.4 percent. Qatar’s index added 0.1 percent, trimming its June losses to 1.1 percent but country fundamentals are still strong.

Some mid-cap stocks supported, with Barwa Real Estate up 0.7 percent and Qatar Gas Transport gaining 2 percent. “Qatar has corrected quite substantially recently, but there is no clear current trend,” said Sachin Mohindra, senior vice-president, portfolio manager at Invest AD. “Qatar is a market people love on long-term fundamentals. Eventually, if funds return to any country, it will be Qatar.” Qatar’s economy is forecast to grow 15.8 percent in 2011, according to a Reuters poll in March. Kuwait’s index ended lower for a third straight session, down 0.2 percent.

Yesterday’s highlights Saudi Arabia The benchmark climbed 0.6 percent to 6,549 points.

Qatar The benchmark climbed 0.1 percent to 8,286 points.

Dubai The index slipped 0.3 percent to 1,552 points.

Egypt The measure gained 0.1 percent to 5,511 points.

Abu Dhabi The index eased 0.09 percent to 2,701 points.

Oman The index added 0.3 percent to 6,033 points.

Kuwait The measure eased 0.01 percent to 6,306 points.

Bahrain The measure added 0.08 percent to 1,349 points. — Reuters

MONDAY, JUNE 13, 2011

business

Kuwait’s M2 records 0.3% rise in April KUWAIT: Kuwait’s broad measure of money supply (M2) grew for the third consecutive month, to record a marginal increase of 0.3 percent or KD69.6 million to stand at KD27.1 billion at the end of April. This increase in M2 was mainly driven by an increase of KD308 million in KD sight deposits, or 2.3 percent to stand at KD5.8 billion; however, this increase was in big part offset by a drop of KD265 million in quasi money. Net Foreign Assets (NFA) saw an increase of KD297 million; while on the other hand, Net Domestic Assets (NDA) decreased by KD227 million on the back of the drop in claims on private sector, government deposits and other accounts by around KD64 million, KD54 million and KD195 million, respectively.

For the year-to-date period ending April 2011, M2 rose by around 6.3 percent or KD1.59 billion, driven by the Amiri grant of KD1.1 billion distributed to Kuwaiti citizens in Feb-2011, compared to a marginal growth of 2.4 percent or KD590 million during FY-10. On the other hand, M2 growth during 2010 was much lower than the 13.9 percent increase witnessed during 2009 where stock market instability and low investors’ risk appetite played a key role in building up deposits with banks. Moreover, since the intensification of the financial turmoil in Sep-08, M2 surged by 26.5 percent or KD5.7 billion, with the bulk or 50 percent added during February 2009 & 2011. Nevertheless, given the strict lending policies adopted by banks to limit their exposure to default and credit risk, particularly to investment and real estate companies, the growth in money supply was not successful in triggering an upward stimulus in

credit facilities as the bulk of the additional money found its way to bank deposits.

Deposits with local banks Total residents’ deposits reversed last two moths’ upward trend to drop by 0.6 percent or KD167 million, to end the month at KD29.7 billion. Private sector KD time deposits and Government time deposits fell

by KD139 million and KD209 million, respectively, while on the other hand, private sector deposits in foreign currencies dropped by 9.1 percent or KD206 million. The solid deposit base with banks has not been able to trigger a wave of new credit to the public sector since banks are in the balance sheet repair phase and implementing stricter lending policies.

Private sector deposits, which represent a significant portion of local banks’ deposit base with a percentage contribution of 88 percent, grew by a marginal KD42.4 million or 0.2 percent to stand at KD26.1 billion, therefore adding around 5.8 percent or KD1.43 billion since the beginning of the year, while registering an increase of KD523 million or 2.17 percent during 2010.

Moreover, private sector deposits denominated in Kuwaiti Dinar represented the majority of private sector deposits with a percentage contribution of 92 percent or around KD24 billion, whereas private sector deposits in foreign currencies constituted the remaining 7.9 percent or KD2.05 billion.

Credit facilities extended

by Kuwaiti banks During April-11, credit facilities extended by local banks remained stagnant, increasing by a marginal

KAMCO MARKET RESEARCH KD6.6 million, to reach KD25.3 billionand therefore adding a marginal KD72 million or 0.3 percent since the beginning of the year. Given the mixed movements seen during 2010, credit facilities recorded a yearly growth of 0.4 percent, or KD100 million, compared to a growth of 17 percent and 7 percent during 2008 and 2009, respectively.

The slowdown in credit facilities growth during 2010 and the first four months of 2011 is estimated to continue until the end of the year due to tight credit conditions, insolvency problems suffered by local

growth driver of credit and its major component, dropped by 0.05 percent or KD3.8 million during April to KD8.41 billion, hence comprising around 33 percent of banks’ loan portfolios. Since the beginning of the year personal facilities dropped 0.5 percent on the back of regulations issued by the CBK in April2010 that prohibit banks from extending loans to households for the purpose of settling outstanding loans owed to other banks. The CBK also issued instructions to local banks to ensure that the proceeds from personal loans are used to

firms, scarce investment opportunities in the local market along with rise in default risk by distressed and highly indebted firms. Deterioration in asset prices, which are mainly held as collateral for bank loans, pushed local banks to implement stricter lending policies despite the latest decisions by the Central Bank of Kuwait to stimulate credit growth by raising the loan-to-deposit ratio above the 85 percent level.

Personal facilities, the key

purchase durable goods or to cover the education and healthcare expense. The rationale behind the circular was to contain the expansion in personal loans especially facilities granted to high levered profile households seeing that this class of debtors has a high rate of default.

Credit facilities for the purchase of securities represented around 30.7 percent of personal facilities and recorded around KD2.58 bil-

lion, down by 1.3 percent or KD33.9 million from March-2011 level. The structure of credit facilities with the highest percentage being in the stock market has exposed banks to a high default risk by individual investors who are heavily invested in the local and regional bourses, thus resulting in massive provisioning by Kuwaiti banks since the onset of the financial crisis in 2008 on the back of the surge in non-performing loans which reached an unprecedented level or around KD2.99 billion and KD2.5 billion at the end of 2009 and 2010, respectively.

Loans to the real estate and construction sectors, which have together comprised an average of 33 percent of local banks’ loan portfolios since Dec-08, lost momentum during April and dropped by 0.2 percent or KD14.4 million to KD8.39 billion. Given the slowdown in the local property market and unfavourable operating environment faced by real estate companies and contractors in Kuwait, local banks’ exposure to this sector indicates that further weakness in the property market might expose local banks to credit risk.

Banks are still reluctant to extended additional loans to investment companies (ICs-Nonbank financial institutions) given the unclear outlook over the sector’s performance and to avoid further provisioning; accordingly, credit facilities to distressed ICs for the second month in a row to stand at KD2.7 billion and represent around 11 percent of banks’ loan portfolios. The following chart, which depicts the change in outstanding loans across the major economic sectors during the com-

parable last 12-month period ending April 2010 and 2011, reflects the stagnant growth in credit to real estate sector and households (personal facilities) due to the strict lending policies followed by local banks on the back of the tight credit condition and erosion of individuals’ wealth along with new regulations introduced by the CBK to monitor personal loans and avoid further provisioning.

Growth in credit extended to the real estate sector during the last 12-month period ending April-11 slowed down to KD71 million, from KD320 million witnessed during the comparable period ended Apr10. As well, growth in personal facilities lost momentum, while credit to construction sector added around KD69 million versus a growth of KD19 million during the 12-month period ended Apr-10; this growth is mainly driven by the rise in government’s spending on infrastructure projects that encouraged banks to extend additional funds to contractors. Growth in personal facilities was minimal compared to an increase of KD420 million in the 12 month period ended Apr-10 due to the restrictions issued by the CBK to prevent the settlement of existing loans by new loans. The Industrial sector has gained the lion’s share of additional credit with total new credit of KD159 million versus an increase of KD98 million in the comparable period ended Apr-10. This revive in credit to the industrial sector is mainly driven by the banks’ new strategies that became more directed towards lending to the real economic sectors that have low default risk and backed by generating real cash flows.

Opposition strike hits Bangladesh, many hurt Business, transport comes to a standstill

JAKARTA: Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien-Loong (right) and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (center) deliver their opening remarks during the opening ceremony of the World Economic Forum (WEF) on East Asia yesterday. —AFP

Indonesia’s Yudhoyono hails Asia’s bright future JAKARTA: Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said yesterday Asia could be “the continent of the future” but must first confront the challenges of rising demand for food, energy and water. Speaking at the start of a two-day World Economic Forum on East Asia, an event drawing political leaders and industry chiefs from across the region, Yudhoyono said Asia’s growth will put it at the heart of the global economy. “Asia, more than any other region, can help achieve a strong, sustainable and balanced world economy,” Yudhoyono said.

“Asia certainly has the resources, opportunity and most importantly, confidence to shape the international system.” The forumwhich is meeting under the banner of “Responding to New Globalism”-aims to tackle critical issues facing the region including rising demand for resources and responding to natural disasters. Yudhoyono cautioned that continued growth could be compromised by competition for natural resources.

“Of the seven billion people that now inhabit our planet, 60 percent live in Asia. As their economies grow, they will seek and compete for finite natural resources, a pattern that in previous centuries led to wars, conquest, exploitation and untold suffering,” Yudhoyono added. One key issue up for discussion at the forum, which is being held for the first time in Indonesia, is food security.

“Every six seconds a child dies because of a lack of food. We need to find sustainable food security system,” WEF co-chairman Paul Polman, also the CEO of Unilever, told reporters.

WEF head of Asia director Sushant Palakurthi Rao said participants, including those from the Association of Southeast Asian

Nations (ASEAN) regional bloc, will share their expertise on the issue. A food security initiative which will be launched at the forum aligning the food industry and regional policy makers. “The conversation taking place in Indonesia is similar to the ones we’ve done before in Tanzania and Vietnam, combine the expertise the countries which have successful agriculture policies with expertise in supply chain management and agriculture efficiency,” Rao told AFP at the sidelines of the meeting.

Among the heads of government attending the forum are Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and his counterpart from Thailand, Abhisit Vejjajiva. Singaporean Premier Lee Hsien-Loong said that members of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Countries) would need to continue collaborate with the US and China as global economic powerhouses. WEF on Wednesday released its first-ever Indonesia Competitiveness Report saying the archipelago of 240 million people had showed the strongest progress among the Group of 20 countries.

Ranked 44th of 139 economies in the Global Competitiveness Index, Indonesia “has done remarkably well in the past decade and has proven very resilient during the global economic crisis,” WEF economist and the report’s author, Thierry Geiger, said. Poor infrastructure was however among its “most glaring shortcomings”, he added. According to its website the World Economic Forum is an independent organisation bringing together top business leaders, governments and academics to discuss responses to challenges facing the world. Its highly publicised annual meeting is held in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos. — AFP

China to start individual tourism to Taiwan BEIJING: China said yesterday it will start allowing its citizens to visit Taiwan as individual tourists from late this month, relaxing rules that tether mainland tourists to tightly-run groups and wooing the island with an economic boost. The trial start of the new rules was announced by Wang Yi, the director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of China’s State Council, or cabinet, and the shift could benefit airlines, hotels and Taiwanese businesses hoping to attract more free -moving and free -spending Chinese tourists. Wang told a meeting in Fujian, the mainland province facing

Taiwan, that “the two sides of the (Taiwan) strait will formally launch the first trial batch of mainland residents visiting Taiwan as individual tourists from June 28”, the China News Service reported. The individual travel could “bring in 2 billion yuan ($307 million) in tourism revenues for Taiwan within half a year,” China’s Xinhua news agency reported, citing unnamed industry sources. At the meeting in Fujian, Taiwan and China also agreed to increase passenger flights between them by 50 percent to up to 558 flights ever y week, Xinhua also reported. — Reuters

DHAKA: A general strike called by opposition parties yesterday over election procedures disrupted transport and businesses across Bangladesh and sparked clashes with security forces. Opposition leaders said over 100 of their followers were injured in clashes with law enforcers, and around 150 others, including two former ministers, were detained.

Most businesses in the capital Dhaka were shuttered at the beginning of the 36-hour stoppage and public transport was virtually at a standstill, though trains continued to run.

Armed police and members of the elite Rapid Action Battalion fanned out in Dhaka and in the port city of Chittagong, guarding key government buildings.

Clashes broke out between police and activists at nearly a dozen places including Dhaka and Chittagong. In coastal Bhola district, strike attacked several buses operating in defiance of the strike.

The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia said police broke up attempts to stage demonstrations and many of its leaders were rounded up and detained.”It seems like we are in a forbidden city,” BNP secretary-general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told party workers.

Politics in impoverished Bangladesh has been dominated for decades by often violent rivalry between Khaleda Zia and current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Sheikh Hasina took office in early 2009 and

DHAKA: Bangladeshi riot police detain an activist of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) during a nationwide strike yesterday. — AFP general elections are due in 2013 as the government grapples with discontent over high prices, high unemployment and inadequate public services. The BNP called yesterday’s strike, the second in a week, to denounce a government proposal to rescind constitutional provisions under which government is temporarily handed to a non-party administration before an election.

Under the system, in place since 1996, the ruling party hands power to a non-party caretaker authority

which must oversee an election within three months. Power is then handed back to the newly-elected government. But in 2007, an army-backed interim government held on to power for two years before holding an election. Sheikh Hasina has called for the abolition of the system since the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional last month.

But the court also said the system could remain in place for two more elections to avoid the political turmoil and violence associated with

campaigns that prompted its introduction in the first place. The BNP and allies want the caretaker system to stay unchanged to guard against what it says would be an attempt by the prime minister’s Awami League par ty to steal the election. The Awami League dismisses the opposition charges. Analysts said the conflicting stance of Hasina and Khaleda over the issue could lead the country back to turmoil and disrupt an uneasy political lull existing for years. —Reuters

Al-Mazaya Holding appoints CEO KUWAIT: The Al-Mazaya Holding Board of Directors has appointed Naif Al-Awadi as CEO of the company, after he gained the confidence of the board’s members following a successful career as CEO of Al-Mazaya’s Dubai Operations, where he led business growth in line with the company’s current situation, strategy and future ambitions.

Al-Awadi expressed his thanks and appreciation to the Chairman of the Board and its members for the trust they placed in him, and pledged to fulfil the responsibility placed on him for the coming period. He affirmed that Al-Mazaya Holding is one of the region’s largest and most prominent real estate developers, with the proven ability to develop a large number of real estate projects for the commercial, residential and investment sectors in a number of the GCC countries. He added that anyone would wish to be a part of such a successful company.

Project completion and delivery Al-Awadi spoke of his plan for AlMazaya, as manager of the company’s operations, saying: “Al-Mazaya’s plans for the current period can be summarised in five key points, the first of which is the execution and delivery of projects under construc-

tion according to the predetermined budget and schedule, amended as per the company’s budget for this year. This includes projects in Dubai, such as Q-Point in Liwan, Dubailand, which targets middle-income groups, and provides for Al-Mazaya to complete and deliver its other projects in Dubai by the end of this year. The company has completed all its projects in Kuwait.”

Project operation and management The second key point in the plan presented by Al-Awadi is the operation of revenue-generating projects, such as the Clover Medical Centre, Kuwait Business City, the residential Sky Gardens project in DIFC, and the Avenues Office Towers in Jumeirah Lakes. Al-Mazaya’s property investment portfolio is full of completed revenue-generating projects, which are expected to start generating good revenues over the next few years, and support assets on a longterm basis.

Default follow-up plan The third key point in the strategy is Al-Mazaya’s plan to follow up with defaulters who have invested in the company’s projects in Dubai. The company will negotiate repayment options with defaulters and try to

solve the problems resulting from defaults during the period of the global financial crisis, in cooperation with the relevant government parties in Dubai and in accordance with the applicable laws.

Benefit from development plans Al-Awadi added, “Al-Mazaya Holding is particularly focused on benefiting from the GCC governments’ development plans and being awarded B.O.T. (build, operate and transfer) projects, especially in Kuwait, Qatar and KSA, as these countries have investment philosophies in place that cope with the current reality of the markets and guarantee to drive growth, attract labour and produce high-quality products. This can be achieved through selecting the best companies - on the basis of ability, quality, efficiency, competitiveness, experience and reputation in the investment world - to realise the country’s economic development goals”.

Management services According to Al-Awadi, in addition to the above, his plan will include benefiting from Al-Mazaya’s track record and its skilled and experienced team in offering various management services, such as project development and management serv-

Naif Al-Awadi ices, facility management services, property services, real estate marketing services and financial services, which include founding real estate funds, entering investment alliances and conducting feasibility studies.

Al-Awadi has a bachelor degree in mechanical engineering from Kuwait University, and has over 17 years experience in feasibility studies, contracting, real estate development and project management, and engineering consultancies. He is currently chairman of Areej Real Estate Development Company in Kuwait and a Board Member of Bahrain Company, Warba and Atheer Real Estate Development.

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MONDAY, JUNE 13, 2011

business

Gold rush another blight to ailing Amazon jungle Informal production is unrecorded, untaxed, illegal DELTA 1: A gold rush that accelerated with the onset of the 2008 global recession is compounding the woes of the Amazon basin, laying waste to Peruvian rain forest and spilling tons of toxic mercury into the air and water.

With gold’s price soaring globally as the metal became a hedge against financial uncertainty, the army of small-scale miners in the state of Madre de Dios has swelled to some 40,000.

The result: Diesel exhaust sullies the air, trees are toppled to get at the sandy, gold-flecked earth and the scars inflicted on the land are visible on satellite photos.

The work is dangerous and produces a fifth of Peru’s overall annual yield of roughly 175 metric tons of gold that make this country the world’s No 5 producer. The mining also is almost entirely illegal. “Extracting an ounce of gold costs from $400 to $500 and the profit is $1,000 per ounce,” notes Peru’s environment minister, Antonio Brack. In just a decade, gold has more than tripled in value.

The situation in the southeastern state of Madre de Dios, which borders Brazil and Bolivia, is mirrored in dozens of the countries where gold is similarly mined, and where the desperately poor often end up working for the most unsavory of opportunists. Government controls are mostly futile. Neighboring Colombia and Ecuador have mounted crackdowns in the past year - Ecuador’s military last month dynamited 67 pieces of heavy equipment - but when authorities depart, the diggers troop back and work resumes. In Madre de Dios, the informal production is unrecorded, untaxed and carried out on public lands where claims are awarded by regional officials, many of them grown rich in the process. As the industry has grown, heavy machinery has moved in bearing Caterpillar, Volvo and other international trademarks into a state the size of Maine or Portugal, whose remotest reaches are believed inhabited by uncontacted Indian tribes.

In February the Peruvian navy dynamited 13 dredges which, working in violation of a government ban, were choking the Madre de Dios river with silt, killing plants and destroying habitats. Protesting laborers blockaded Madre de Dios’ only highway, and at least three people were shot and killed by police sent from Lima. “One of the big hydraulic dredges we destroyed could easily harvest a kilogram (worth about $45,000) of gold a day,” said Brack. Rather than try to evict the thousands of protesting informal miners, the government decided to work to “formalize” their operations, which have denuded well over 180 square kilometers (70 square miles ) of jungle in Madre de Dios.

“In practice, nothing happened. They moved against a small percentage of dredges that are not necessarily what hurts the environment most,” said Pavel Cartagena, an environmental activist who recently returned to Puerto Maldonado, the state capital, after death threats drove him away for a year. Brack said the crackdown served notice to local politicians profiting from the industry. “We found that nearly all the public officials in Puerto Maldonado were involved,” the minister said. “In 2010, the regional mining director had a mining company. His No 2 had one. His wife had one. His sister had one (as did) the sister of the No 2. They were all in it. And you think anyone is going to regulate anything?” The state prides itself on its biodiversity and attracts eco-tourists for its monkeys, macaws and anacondas. Yet its forest is pocked with craters gouged by grime-coated men who tear the earth away with high-pressure water hoses.

MADRE DE DIOS: In this photo, an employee shows gold nuggets at a gold-buying store in Puerto Maldonado. — AP And that is only the beginning. To capture the gold flecks, mostly the size of a grain of sand, mercury is used because it is the cheapest, easiest method. It then seeps into the air and rivers, an estimated 35 tons (32 metric tons) a year in Madre de Dios alone, slowly poisoning people, plants, animals and fish, scientific studies show. Most of the migrant diggers, who have doubled the state’s population since the early 1990s, arrive nearly penniless. Some are criminals. Some are preteens sold by their parents into servitude, says Feliciano Coila, a lawyer with state child protection services.

The goal of the most ambitious newcomers is to gather enough gold to graduate from peon to subcontractor, put together a crew of a dozen or so miners, provide equipment and buy access to a claim. “You need a minimum of 50 grams ($2,200 worth of gold) to be invited into a camp” to work a claim, said Miguel Herrera, a mining organizer. Unskilled new arrivals generally can amass about a gram a day, currently worth more than $40. It is a princely sum for Peruvian highlanders accustomed to $3-a-day wages. Most prospectors live in a string of jungle boomtowns. One of the more established is Delta 1, located on the Puquiri River flood plain. It is reached after a precarious canoe crossing of the Inambiri river, then a wide dirt toll road across a white-sand river basin exhausted by mining and looking hit by a tsunami. Delta 1’s roughly 6,500 residents lack running water, electricity, sewers and police but have ample machine shops, groceries and brothels.

An older town, Huepetuhe, is flanked by mountains of gravel mine tailings towering over washes that further disfigure a mining wasteland 1.2 miles wide (2 kilometers) and nearly 20 kilometers (more than 10 miles) long. Huepetuhe, established in the 1980s, just this year got running water but has long had two entire streets of brothels on stilts.

They front a brown sea of silt, the accumulated runoff of adjacent mines that is slowly engulfing the red-light district.

Other boomtowns, mostly lawless, gunslinging places that do not even have names, have sprouted alongside the Interoceanic Highway that connects Puerto Maldonado, the capital, to the rest of Peru. When finished this year, it will link the Pacific coast with neighboring Brazil, and attract even more fortune hunters. Social worker Oscar Guadelupe, whose organization, Huarayo, runs shelters for child miners and teen prostitutes, counts some 2,000 females working in “prostibars” in

the mining corridor, a third of them adolescents.

Day and night, the towns are bathed in the eerie glow of blowtorches as welders fix miners’ overworked pumps. Many prospectors say they would be happy to pay taxes and get services. “It’s better to pay the state than to keep suffering abuse and insecurity,” said Leoncio Jordan Paiba, a 39-year-old miner and father of four. He says he gathers 12 grams of gold a day but, in addition to paying for workers, equipment and fuel, he must pay the claim’s titleholder a weekly 20-gram levy and also keep the area’s Amaraukiri Indians happy.

“They say this land is theirs. They come pointing guns,” said Jordan. “If you don’t pay them they damage your equipment. They’ve thrown motors into the mud.” As he speaks, three men are hosing a crater’s walls with water when one side collapses, nearly burying them alive. They wait a few seconds and resume work. Such a collapse killed a young digger known only as Martin.

His employers dumped his body in Delta 1, so friends cobbled together a plywood casket, painted it black and set it in the town’s dusty central plaza. They lit candles and held a wake, getting drunk on cheap liquor. DREMH, the regional mining agency, has allowed wildcat prospectors to invade buffer zones adjacent to nature preserves and Indian land, and hands out mining permits without first gaining environmental approval. Meanwhile, Madre de Dios state received less than $20,000 last year in revenue-sharing from taxes on mining. A DREMH inspector, Manuel Campo, said he is often denied entry into mining camps, although they are on public land. “The mob arrives and you can’t do a thing,” he said. At one mining camp, Ronny Calcina was on break from one of the 24-hour shifts he shares with three other men.

After 18 months of backbreaking work, the 34-year-old native of the poor, neighboring highlands province of Puno said he is ready to go back to the family’s potato fields. He thought he would be earning a lot more, he said. Besides, his wife and 3-year-old son, who live in Delta 1, keep getting sick. All have had malaria. Calcina is worried about being poisoned by mercury, which he is exposed to constantly as it is burned out of the puttylike amalgam it forms when it clings to gold dust.

Additional mercury is burned off in open-air storefronts that buy the gold, including a half dozen opposite the main market of Puerto Maldonado. —AP

Scottish independence debate focuses on market EDINBURGH: In Edinburgh’s historic centre stands a statue of renowned Scots economist Adam Smith, a symbol of pride and Scotland’s growing confidence that it can look after its own affairs. The 10-foot (threemetre) bronze figure was erected in 2008 on the Royal Mile, the historic cobbled street leading from Edinburgh Castle down to Holyrood Palace, Queen Elizabeth II’s Scottish residence.

But the statue is also a reminder of a key battleground in Scotland’s independence debate. The economy looms large over discussions about an indepdendent Scotland, which have stepped up a gear after the resounding victory of the Scottish National Party (SNP) in May ’s election to the devolved Edinburgh parliament. The triumph of the pro-independence SNP, which won the first overall majority in the legislature since it opened in 1999, has paved the way for a referendum on a split from Britain which had previously seemed unlikely. The vote is expected in the second half of the parliament’s five-year term.

But with polls showing only a third of Scots backing partition, the SNP has a tough job on its hand to persuade their countrymen to support an end to Scotland’s 300-year-old union with England.The nationalists, led by First Minister Alex Salmond, view the economy as one of their strong cards. They argue that Scotland can only flourish with independent control over

its main industries, notably North Sea oil and gas but also other sectors such as whisky and fine foods.

“Independence would give Scotland full responsibility for its own economic performance, and for all the policy mechanisms to encourage the optimum level of development,” according to official Scottish government literature. A long-standing complaint is that the tax revenues from the North Sea industr y go directly to the finance ministry in London. The revenues were £8.8 billion ($14.4 billion, 9.9 billion euros) in the past year, official figures show.

The SNP accuses London of mismanaging the industry, and a row blew up in March this year when British finance minister George Osborne slapped a £2-billion (£3.2-billion, 2.2-billion-euro) extra annual levy on the sector. “North Sea oil has to be properly managed and there is not much sign that Westminster is capable of doing that,” Salmond, a former Royal Bank of Scotland economist, told AFP. But North Sea oil is running out, and the SNP has started to focus on green energy as a key driver of a future independent Scotland.

Scotland, with 10,000 kilometres (6,200 miles) of coastline and around 800 islands, is well placed to become a European leader in wind, wave and tidal power, Salmond argues. The SNP aims for Scotland to produce enough electricity through renewable means to power the whole country by 2020.

They believe they will also be able to export electricity to other countries. But their opponents, mainly the nationwide British political parties who suffered heavy defeats in the Edinburgh parliament elections, argue an independent Scotland would be not just isolated but also poorer.”Being part of that bigger economic unit gives us an enormous economic opportunity, in terms of being part of a bigger market of 60 million people instead of five million people,” said Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray. He also argues that the financial crisis that led to two major Scottish banks, Royal Bank of Scotland and Halifax Bank of Scotland, being rescued by the British government is further proof that Scotland would struggle alone. Economists have waded into the row, with a high-profile intervention last year from two Scottish academics, Professor Andrew Hughes Hallett and Professor Drew Scott.

They gave the SNP a boost by claiming that financial autonomy would lift growth rates. But others argue many of the SNP’s policies are not yet clearly defined, making it hard to judge at this early stage what impact independence would have. “There is a reason why independence could be a good thing, there’s a reason why independence could be a bad thing. We can’t really it predict it meaningfully at the moment,” said Professor Stuart Sayer, an economist from Edinburgh University.— AFP

OPEC spooks oil markets he main story last week was the OPEC meeting and the failure of its members to reach an agreement on how to deal with high oil prices that now carry the risk of destabilising the economic recovery.

Broad based gains on the week The Reuters Jefferies CRB index rose again in the process retracing 50 percent of the May sell-off. Gains as shown below were broad-based with different sectors represented at the top while the losers were primarily grains, apart from corn - more about that later.

OPEC split down the middle Returning to oil, what separated the two blocs was, apart from political differences, the near-term outlook for demand with Saudi Arabia forecasting a third-quarter deficit of nearly 2 million barrels per day. The other bloc led

by Iran, which needs high prices and is already operating at full capacity, argued that demand for oil is set to soften due to weaknesses in the US and other economies.

Hearing a Saudi minister saying this was “one of the worst meetings we ever had” clearly rattled the market with the price of crude jumping as a result. OPEC, which produces 40 percent of global oil and holds most of the spare capacity, seems to have lost some of its unified ability to control prices. The power seems to have moved to countries with available spare capacity such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates and this split could actually keep a lid on prices short term as Saudi Arabia has shown a willingness to act if it feels the price is hurting economic activity. Compliance to quotas has

Arabia will be able to raise output high enough to meet peak summer demand and the focus is now on how much of an impact the recent economic downturn will have on this peak demand over the coming months.

Natural gas showing signs of life The price of US natural gas has begun to show some signs of life after having been trading sideways for the best part of three years. The chronic short position by hedge funds due to the positive carry on holding short positions, also called Contango, has begun to dwindle in recent weeks.

Recent hot weather, following the extremely cold winter, combined with increased nuclear power outages and increased industrial demand has all helped trigger a reduction in storage levels below seasonal averages. For now though the market is stuck in a $4 to $5 range with the upcoming hurricane season adding an additional factor to the equation.

Corn outperforming on the back of dwindling stockpiles Grain markets are caught in a similar problematic situation like that experienced in 2010 as dry weather has hampered planting prospects of wheat from China and Europe to the US The main sufferer however is corn where flooding in key areas of the US corn belt has disrupted plantings. The United States Department of Agriculture released its most recent estimates which showed that lower acreage and higher Chinese demand would bring global inventories for 2011/12 down to lower levels than previous forecast.

As a consequence we have seen the price of corn rise to the costliest level relative to wheat for more than 50 years as production is struggling to satisfy demand from both feed users and ethanol producers. Recently we have seen an additional pick-up in ethanol production due to high gaso-

been thrown out of the window for now and a unilateral decision by the Saudis to increase production is now likely should we see further rises in crude oil prices.

The next meeting is now scheduled for December but an emergency meeting could be called at any time before then, should it be required. The above mentioned estimates of 2 million barrels per day deficit in Q3 have led to some nervousness at the International Energy Agency and it has raised the prospect of governments releasing strategic reserves. Such a move would be viewed by the market as a desperate measure and could potentially be counterproductive and not have the desired effect, given the forward looking nature of the market.

Attention turns to summer peak demand What is clear now is that despite ongoing supply uncertainties, especially with Libya, traders’ attention will turn to the demand side over the coming months in order to ascertain what kind of impact the current downtrend in economic activity will have on demand. The price of Brent crude has moved up to the lower end of the previous $120 to $125 range. The spread over WTI crude has moved above 18 dollars with W TI crude still stuck around 100 as expected increased supplies into Cushing (the delivery hub for oil traded in New York) keeps the price under relative pressure.

It also highlights the pressure on demand for high quality crude. The removal of 1.4 million barrels per day of light and sweet crudes from Libya has triggered extra demand for limited quantities of Brent crude. Refineries therefore compete for limited supplies as Middle East oil is of a lower quality and therefore costlier to refine into sought after products like gasoline.

The near-term worry is whether Saudi

line prices. The outlook for wheat supplies has improved, especially for low qualities that can be used to feed livestock. The USDA estimates that US stockpiles of corn will equal just 5.2 percent of consumption in 2011/12 while wheat stocks will be somewhat healthier at 30 percent.

Precious metals consolidating Gold and silver spent last week consolidating with energy and grain markets receiving most of the attention.

The summer months historically tend to be a weak period due to seasonal slowing demand and this year we have the added spice of QE2 finishing at the end of June. These factors could have an impact on investor behaviour but whether this will remove new found support after the May correction remains to be seen. The overall factors like strong central bank and investor demand, negative USreal yields and general uncertainties continues to put a floor under the market.

The ratio between gold and silver, which shows how many ounces of silver it takes to buy one ounce of gold, has stabilised since the May correction settling into a 40 to 45 range. At the peak of silver’s rally it reached a low of 30 compared to 65 a year ago but still below the five year average at 57. A break out of this range could give a hint about the next move with silver tending to outperform in either directions. In other words a move below 40 signals overall strength while a move above 45 could signal additional consolidation.

Sugar higher but for how long?

The price of sugar has managed to retrace back up to 24 cents per pound which corresponds to 50 percent of the dramatic sell-off from February to May. Stronger demand combined with lower than expected supply from Brazil and Thailand has triggered the move.

By Ole S Hansen

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TECHNOLOGY

At E3 game giants search for salvation LOS ANGELES: It was meant to be the week when the world video game industry wows its biggest market by announcing the latest and greatest inventions at the E3 video game exhibition in Los Angeles.

But in the cavernous Staples Centre in the capital of the world’s entertainment industry, the cacophony of explosions, fields of flat screen monitors and excited talk of company pitchmen could not mask the central problem facing the video game business.

A Deutsche Bank study predicts that the US video game sector will expand 11 per cent a year until 2014, from the current level of 17.8 billion dollars to 29.8 billion dollars.

But the extra 12 billion dollars will come not from the brand-spanking new consoles we can expect to see from industry leaders like Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft. Spending on their consoles

will actually drop 6 per cent a year, while social gaming receipts grow by 46 per cent annually, online games grow 23 per cent and mobile games grow 19 per cent, the study predicted.

That reflects what many analysts believe is the most severe crisis facing the console game business since it first rose to prominence in the 1970s with the Atari 2600 system and its legendary Pong game.

“It used to be that if you wanted to play an interactive game, you could only do it with a console made by one of the big three manufacturers,” JT Taylor, an analyst and managing partner with Arcadia Investment Corp told the Los Angeles Times. “The traditional video game guys have lost market share, wallet share, eyeball share and coolness share.”

Nintendo tried to regain some of that cachet share with its announcement of

the Wii U, a new console that will hit stores next year as a replacement for the original Wii that launched in 2006.

That game system was massively successful in its first three years on the market when it appealed to casual gamers with its innovative motion-sensing controller. But sales have fallen 50 per cent in the last two years as both Microsoft and Sony introduced their motion-sensing technologies, and the casual gaming scene exploded on mobile phones and Facebook.

“In the past few years a whole new area of gaming has opened up in which the power of consoles really doesn’t matter,” said Feargus Urquhart, chief executive of Irvine, California-based game developer Obsidian Entertainment Inc. Nintendo hopes to change that by adding a second screen to the controller, turning it into a tablet computer

and giving players two possible views of a game that the company says will change the way video games are perceived.

Nintendo will release more details closer to the launch a year from now.

But the most exciting application it demonstrated at E3 was in the game Shield Pose, in which players have to use the controller to block suction-capped arrows fired at them from pirate Ships. It sounds hokey, but test users and analysts have described the game as brilliantly innovative.

Nintendo’s genius at putting fun back into games for all ages more or less guarantees the Wii U will be a huge hit.

So where does that leave Sony and Microsoft?

Microsoft is hoping that the popularity of its Xbox 360 will continue to grow, as more users take to the Kinect motion tracking controller. The Kinect is already

the fastest-selling consumer electronics device of all time, having already sold more than 10 million units since its November launch.

The US software company is betting that the next phase of its growth will come from the hardcore gamers that have hesitated so far to give up on their traditional controllers in favour of the Kinect.

Sony could be the big loser however.

It introduced a new handheld console called Vita at E3, but such devices are the most threatened by the fast spread of smartphones.

The company’s Playstation 3 is also fading fast due to the debacle of the security breaches of Sony’s online game networks, which exposed personal details of more 70 million customers. The sorry state of the company was aptly summed up by a comment on the blog Gaming Blend: “Poor, poor Sony.” —dpa

Becoming a blogger is easy, staying one is the hard part Basics of blogging BERLIN: You don’t have to be a technogeek to keep your own blog. All that’s really required is a love of writing, a message and a bit of PR work to make sure your postings get noticed on social networking websites. Indeed, it’s never been easier to take your thoughts online and display them to a larger public. Of course, being a true blogger, putting up nearly daily messages, is a lot tougher. The many online blogs whose latest posting is months old are proof of that.

SEOUL: Ha-Won South Korean animator Choi Jong-Il poses with a doll of cartoon character Pororo the little Penguin at his office in Seoul on June 2. In South Korea Pororo has been dubbed the “children’s president” and his image appears on everything from cellphones to chopsticks. —AFP

Beyond iCloud: The best cloud services today WASHINGTON: Apple turned heads this week with the announcement of its new iCloud service, which is slated to provide online storage and allow you to sync your files and data across many of Apple’s popular gadgets and computers.

But iCloud isn’t a reality yet. Other cloud-based services are. While iCloud will no doubt appeal to die-hard Apple fans, much of what it is set to offer is already available from a number of cloud-based offerings. Get acquainted with the best of these now, and you’ll know whether iCloud is worth waiting for - or whether you can jump on another cloud now and let Apple take its time in rolling out its latest headline grabber.

Amazon Cloud Drive Amazon.com has been in the cloud business for a long time now. Its Simple Storage Service (S3) offering, in fact, has been available since 2006. The catch: it was primarily targeted at businesses or power users.

Now, though, with Cloud Drive (https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive), Amazon has a full-fledged consumer-oriented offering that’s both easy to use and free. The “free” part includes 5 gigabytes (GB) of online storage, which you can use for backing up or synchronising your existing files. The “easy” part means that, for anyone who has ever purchased anything at Amazon, signing up is a two-click process.

Once your Cloud Drive is activated, another click allows you to start uploading files.

As you might expect, Amazon has also worked to integrate Cloud Drive with the Amazon store to provide additional features to Cloud Drive users. For instance, if you purchase MP3 files from Amazon, you can save those purchases to your Cloud Drive so that they’re available where you are. You can also set up Cloud Drive to back up your purchased files automatically. A free Cloud Player app will search for an allow you to upload your excising MP3 files as well.

Also, if you shop regularly at Amazon anyway, additional Cloud Drive incentives await you. The purchase of an MP3 album from Amazon, for example, automatically nets you an increase in storage space to 20 GB for one year - and you won’t be automatically charged in the next year if you don’t purchase another thing. Your storage

limit simply goes back to 5 GB. Dropbox What Amazon’s Cloud Drive lacks, Dropbox (http://www.dropbox.com) has in spades. For starters, Dropbox, like Apple’s iCloud, is designed as much with synchronisation in mind as it is with storage. Upload music, files, and videos to your Dropbox space, and you can set up the service to make those files available to your notebook, computer, or phone - wherever you are.

Dropbox sets up a special Dropbox folder on any device that it’s installed on, and then it works in the background to make sure that any files uploaded to your Dropbox account are available on all of your devices. A “public folder” option allows you to share files with others who may not use Dropbox.

Dropbox offers a free account option that comes with 2 GB of online storage, while a 9.99 dollar Pro option increases storage space to 50 GB, and a Pro 100 plan provides 100 GB. Dropbox is compatible with both PCs and Macs, and it works with most smartphones, including iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android. There’s even an iPad version available.

Windows Live SkyDrive Microsoft’s Live SkyDrive (http://explore.live.com/windows-live-skydrive) cloud offering is compelling for anyone who uses Windows or another Microsoft product, which amounts to a lot of people. Like other cloud services, SkyDrive offers storage - and lots of it. The basic free account provides a generous 25 GB of space, and 5 GB of that can be used, in conjunction with the free Windows Live Mesh application, for synchronisation of files across devices. A compelling benefit of using SkyDrive is that it comes with free access to Microsoft’s Office web apps, which include online versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Getting started with SkyDrive could hardly be easier. Those who already have a Hotmail or other Windows Live account merely need to log on to the SkyDrive site and provide their user ID and password.

Uploading of files takes place via the web browser, although on the internet there are easy-to-find instructions for mapping your SkyDrive to Windows Explorer for easier file operations. —dpa

So, what are the basics of blogging?

“You should have an opinion, have something to say, and be of the opinion that commentary on politics, everyday life, culture and life shouldn’t just be left to the media,” says Oliver Gassner, a German blog expert.

A quick review of blog sites shows few surprises in the topics covered: the internet, news, music, web 2.0, other blogs, politics, photography and media.

There are also plenty of blogs devoted to sports, lifestyle, design, fashion and every facet of cooking and eating.

Technology, science, everyday experiences and politics are some of the topics covered by Joerg Kantel, who has blogged from Berlin for 11 years at Schockwellenreiter.de. Recently, he looked back to his start.

“Naturally, back then, I never thought that I would change my life with this. Certainly not that I could keep doing this for so long and go down in history as kind of a weblog grandpa.”

He says there are five require-

ments for blogging. “Enjoying writing, enjoying research, having a message, a thick skin and an unquenchable desire to be published.”

The technical hurdles for blogging are low. It’s easiest to make the jump in with one of the multiple free internet services: there are classics like wordpress.com, blogger.com (Google), Xanga.com or LiveJournal, all of which let you start right away after registration.

These all come with prepared layouts for your own texts and pictures. New bloggers get an internet address and visitors can leave comments.

Newer web services merge blogging with the functions of social networks. Posterous doesn’t just allow entries to be sent to the blog site via email, but also automatically puts them on Facebook or Twitter.

Tumblr has a different approach. It allows users to follow individual members and their entries which people can then copy (reblog) on their own Tumblr site. Storify bundles contents from social networks into entries.

If you want to build up your blog from scratch, it means setting up your web presence with an internet address you’ve chosen yourself on server storage space rented from a hosting service.

Fees are based on the scope and appearance of the website. It’s important to ask if the blog system you plan to use is supported.

WordPress remains the most popular service. Its software manages blogs and other websites with the help of an attached databank (MySQL). The layout can be individualized easily and there are more than 1,300 themes and 14,000 plug-ins, or expansions for specific functions.

However, customising a standard WordPress site still requires some web know-how in HTML, CSS and, sometimes, the PHP scripting language.

Anyone who doesn’t want to commit to WordPress should take a look at Serendipity. Its Smarty tool makes it simple to design layouts. “I like Serendipity because it’s kind of garage software, developed out of the hobby room,” says Peter Schmitt, who operates a fan

blog for the Mainz 05 football team in Germany.

“You have close contact to the developers and can ask for changes, bringing them straight to the right address in the forum.”

Of course, blogging really gets fun if you make a connection with someone. But it’s much harder than it used to be to build up a loyal following, says Christiane Schulzki-Haddouti, who blogs about net cooperation at KoopTech. “The blog needs to have a clear content direction and a reliable take on topics relevant to the target group.”

“Discussions in blogs only take place, in my experience, with explosive, controversial topics - or when you direct the blog yourself and enjoy commenting upon yourself,” she says.

It’s a good idea, especially at the start, to constantly promote your blog on Twitter and Facebook and to participate in as many conversations as possible.

“If you don’t do that, then you’re not allowed to wonder why the number of readers is declining,” she adds. —dpa

Kaspersky Lab releases Internet Security and Anti-Virus 2012 Kaspersky Lab, a leading developer of secure content and threat management solutions, announces the release of the 2012 versions of its home user products. The new versions of Kaspersky Anti-Virus and Kaspersky Internet Security are designed to provide Internet users with maximum protection and convenience.

The Internet has become an integral part of life for today’s computer users, but it is awash with dangers and threats. A tool which many people depend on during business trips and vacations, the Internet harbors a multitude of threats that lie in wait for unsuspecting users, including data theft, phishing, cyberblackmail and mass spam mailings to name but a few.

As a result, users need comprehensive protection whenever they go online because computer threats could be lurking anywhere: in online services and emails, on removable media, or even on public networks in airports and hotels.

Kaspersky Lab’s home user products are distinguished by the comprehensive protection that they provide. Your computer and the data you store on it will be secure, regardless of the types of files you are working with, how often you use the Internet, or where you connect from - at home, or via a public access point.

The all-new Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 and Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2012 incorporate the most advanced and effective protection technologies: a sandbox for launching suspicious applications, a program activity monitoring module, a script emulator, a cloud-based reputation database, a virtual keyboard plus many other features.

Kaspersky Lab strives to continually improve the technologies we use in order to successfully counter the ever more complex computer threats that appear daily. That is why Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 and Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2012 feature a whole host of new and improved features.

First-rate protection against unknown threats New malware appears at an extremely rapid rate these days - roughly 70 thousand new malicious programs each day. There are no signatures for these new threats, meaning innovative methods are required to detect them. Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 and Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2012 effectively neutralize new threats using non-signature-based behavioral analysis of suspicious programs. Kaspersky Lab’s latest products are capable of tracking program activity during present and previous work sessions.

Monitoring program activity uses data from other components, such as the proactive protection module, email, web and IM antivirus components, the firewall, etc. The monitoring module tracks complete

chains of events that could impact security, and literally pieces together an entire picture of program operations or even groups of operations affected by malware. If there have been a number of related incidents on your computer, all the monitoring module needs is to detect one of them in order to find all of the others. Importantly, it is now possible to cancel and roll back all of the actions executed by a program not only in the current working session, as was the case with Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 and Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2012, but in previous working sessions too. Furthermore, the list of actions that can be cancelled has been expanded to include the creation, renaming and modification of files, as well as changes to or new entries in the system registry, etc.

Malicious activity detection has also taken a step forward with the use of behavioral templates.

Kaspersky Lab data about malicious programs is incorporated into these behavioral templates, and a centralized template database helps to quickly locate unknown malicious code with complex behavioral patterns.

Improved protection from the cloud In the 2012 versions of Kaspersky Lab’s home user products, cloud-based technologies, the cuttingedge of antivirus development, have been improved.

By regularly exchanging information between products installed on users’ machines and the centralized databases in the cloud, the most up-to-date threat information is made available for the protection of users. Now, in addition to superior protection from the cloud, the new product versions also demonstrate how they do it. The main program window provides users with in-depth information about which cloud components are active and how they are protecting users’ computers and personal data.

With just one click, users of Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 and Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2012 can find out about the reputation of any file on a local computer and make an informed decision as to whether or not to use it. All users need to do is right-click on the file’s icon and select the ‘View file reputation in KSN’ menu option. Users will then be shown the file’s threat rating as determined by the Kaspersky Security Network cloud service, which has been greatly improved since its inception and development three years ago. In addition to a file’s rating, users can also find out about the geographical distribution of the file, the level of trust attributed to it by other users and other similar information stored by Kaspersky Lab’s cloud tracking and rapid response systems.

The 2012 versions of Kaspersky Internet Security and Kaspersky Anti-Virus warn Internet users of links

that pose a threat and which will redirect users to fraudulent, malicious and spammer websites.

Kaspersky Lab’s latest products receive the most upto-date information available about undesirable Internet resources directly from the cloud, including websites with adult, violent and other similarly unsavory content. Users can rest assured that they will not find themselves entering websites designed to steal their personal information or infect their computers.

Cloud technologies have even improved protection against spam. Databases located in the cloud provide templates for new spam emails in real time.

This helps Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 and Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2012 to quickly adapt to everchanging spammer tactics and be able to provide proper protective measures. Users do not have to fine-tune the new, user-friendly Anti-Spam module before getting down to work - the cloud already has all of the latest available data on spam mailings.

Furthermore, Kaspersky Lab believes that the combination of cloud protection and security software running on users’ computers is an ideal way of ensuring multilayered protection. At present, this hybrid approach is the best option in terms of combating the wide range of threats out there in the wild. That is why both of the new product versions feature improved cloud technologies and enhanced program capabilities.

Convenience and speed Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 and Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2012 are both high-performance products designed for minimal impact on your computer’s running speed and program operations. Kaspersky Lab’s products have been streamlined for optimal day-to-day use when surfing the Internet, searching for and viewing web pages, making VoIP calls, watching HD videos and playing online games, etc.

The intelligent update system downloads updates for active product components only and launches them immediately after they have been plugged in. That means that antivirus database components are kept right up-to-date and download traffic is minimized. The update launch mode has been adapted to suit typical laptop and desktop work modes and will not slow down performance when operating system activity is resumed or a user launches programs.

The Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 and Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2012 interfaces have been improved and now feature 3D and animated graphics, yet remain straightforward and user-friendly. The animated area of the main window contains intuitive icons for key actions, including disk scans, database updates, etc.

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Human evolution slower than thought: Scientists PARIS: Humans may be evolving a third as slowly as commonly thought, according to an investigation into genetic changes in two generations of families.

The genetic code comprises six billion nucleotides, or building blocks of DNA, half of which come from each parent.

Until now, the conventional theory among scientists was that parents each contribute between 100 and 200 changes in these nucleotides.

But the new study says that far fewer

changes occur. Each parent hands on 30 on average. “In principle, evolution is happening a third as slowly as previous thought,” said Philip Awadalla of the University of Montreal, who led the study by the CARTaGENE group.

The discovery came from a painstaking look at the genomes of two families, each comprising a mother, a father and their child.

The study breaks new ground although its sample size is very small.

If confirmed on a wider scale, it will have a bearing on the chronology of evolution. It would change the way we calculate the number of generations that separate Homo sapiens from a primate forebear who is also the ancestor of the apes.

The study also challenged thinking about whether DNA changes are more likely to be handed on by the father or by the mother.

The mainstream notion is that DNA changes-known in scientific terms as muta-

tions-are likelier to be transmitted by the man.

This is because mutations occur during cell division and DNA replication, and thus are much likelier to happen in sperm, for which many millions are made, than in eggs.

In one of the families, 92 percent of the changes were derived from the father.

But in the other family, only 36 percent of the mutations came from the paternal side.

“The mutation rate is extremely variable

from individual to individual or (...) some people have mechanisms that reduce the likelihood of mutations,” concluded Awadalla.

This variability could prompt a rethink on predicting the risk of inherited disease, caused by flawed genes bequeathed by one or both parents.

Some individuals might be at risk of misdiagnosis of a genetic disease if they have a higher natural mutation rate than the benchmark rate, he suggested. — AFP

Scientists probe DNA of E. coli for outbreak clues Outbreak caused by contaminated sprouts

BEIJING: Microsoft founder Bill Gates (R) shakes hands with China’s Baidu CEO Robin Li prior to a press conference in Beijing yesterday, to launch a campaign to combat smoking in China. — AFP

Scientists find genes linked to migraines PARIS: Scientists have uncovered a trio of genes tied to migraine headaches, including one in which the link is exclusive to women, according to a study published yesterday.

Migraines are acutely debilitating headaches-sometimes with an “aura”, in which patients have the impression of seeing through frosted glass-that strike up to 20 percent of the population.

Scientists describe the condition, which is three to four times more common in women, as a brain disorder in which neurons, or brain cells, respond abnormally to stimuli.

The precise cause it unknown, but inheritance is thought to play a significant role. To assess the genetic component, Markus Schuerks of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston coordinated an international sweep of genomes in 23,230 women, 5,122 of whom suffered from migraines. So-called genome-wide association studies compare differences between individuals across the approximately three billion pairs of basic molecular building blocks found in the human genetic code.

The study, published yesterday in the British journal Nature Genetics, is the largest to date of its kind. It found variations in three genes that showed up more frequently in migraine patients.

Two of them, known as PRDM16 and TRPM8, were specific to migraines, as opposed to other kinds of headaches.

TRPM8, in addition, was linked to migraines only in women. Earlier studies have shown that the same gene contains the genetic “blueprint” for a pain sensor, in both men and women.

The third suspect gene, LRP1, is involved in sensing the external world and in chemical pathways inside the brain. “ The brain of a person with migraine responds differently to certain stimuli, their nerve cells ‘talk’ differently to each other,” explained Shuerks in an email. “Many neurotransmitters are involved in this cross-talk and some seem to have a special role in migraines.

LRP1 interacts with some of these neurotransmitter pathways and may thus modulate nerve responses that promote or suppress migraine attacks.”

None of the genetic variants appeared to be connected specifically to migraines with or without auras.

The findings, published in Nature Genetics, were replicated in two smaller population-based studies, one in the Netherlands and the other in Germany, and in a clinical group followed by the International Headache Genetics Consortium. “Inheritance of any of the genetic variants alters migraine risk by about 10 to 15 percent,” said Schuerks.

The influence of these genes is probably not large enough to be immediately used as a diagnostic tool. But the result “is an advancement of the understanding of migraine biology,” he said. — AFP

LONDON: Scientists are quickly combing the DNA of the killer bacteria behind the world’s worst E. coli outbreak to find clues about how to treat patients and prevent future epidemics.

So far, one strain from a German patient has been sequenced by Chinese and German scientists. While the genetic information is preliminary, experts say there are a few hints about where the bacteria came from and why it might be so lethal.

The E. coli causing Europe’s massive outbreak is likely the product of another strain first detected a decade ago in Germany, but with some dangerous mutations, experts say.

German investigators have declared the outbreak was caused by contaminated sprouts from an organic farm in northern Germany. So far, the bug has killed 33 people and sickened nearly 3,100, including several hundred who have developed life-threatening kidney failure.

Flemming Scheutz, head of the World Health Organization’s Collaborating Centre laboratory in Denmark, said the strain is particularly good at picking up new genes. Because E. coli is constantly evolving, it is riddled with genes swapped from other strains found in animals and humans, giving it countless opportunities to acquire something lethal.

“It’s just very unfortunate that in this case, it recombined and took on these (dangerous) genes and that it happened to do it in the food chain,” he said.

Scheutz said some previously seen related strains were also quite toxic but that scientists needed more samples to have a better understanding of how the new strain behaves. “It’s like looking at a family photo with three people and the 50 others are missing,” he said.

HAMBURG: A vegetable seller disinfects his hands and the money at a market in the northern German city of Hamburg on June 10.

Germany identified contaminated sprouts as the source of the enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) bacteria outbreak that has claimed the lives of at least 30 people, the head of the national public health institute said on June 10. — AFP Others say the DNA sequences they’ve seen so far appear worrying enough.

Stephen Smith, a microbiologist at Trinity College in Dublin, said the new E. coli appears to stick to human intestines in a different way and that the bacteria might reproduce faster than other E. coli strains. More bacteria in the intestines could explain why the disease is so deadly, he said. Smith was not involved in the sequencing

work. “It could be the bacteria’s genes are causing it to produce more toxin, which may affect patients differently,” he said. The toxin usually targets the kidney, triggering a severe E. coli complication.

But in the European outbreak, many of those patients have also suffered from neurological problems including paralysis. Frederick Blattner of the University of Wisconsin, who has analyzed the new

sequence information, said the toxin released by the German E. coli seemed extremely potent.

“With other strains, it can take a million of them in your stomach to make you sick,” he said. “But with this bacteria, it might be possible to be infected with much lower numbers.”

Researchers have also found the E. coli bacteria has at least eight genes that make it resistant to many antibiotics.

“That could give suggestions to doctors about what treatments to select for patients,” said Bicheng Yang, a spokeswoman for BGI, the Chinese laboratory that sequenced the bacteria. In Germany, many patients with the most severe form of the disease, which involves kidney failure, have been treated with dialysis and blood transfusions. “The next step is to do further tests at the molecular level to see what drugs might work,” she said.

Yang added that knowing more about the bacteria’s origins could help stop future outbreaks and avoid things that could speed up the mutation process.

Gad Frankel, a microbiologist at Imperial College in London, said DNA information might help scientists figure out how the bacteria sticks to certain vegetables — and then stop it before it happens. “It’s possible we could develop inhibitors to prevent the interaction between E. coli and vegetables,” he said, explaining a biodegradeable spray could theoretically be made to do the job.

Experts agreed that narrowing down where the new E. coli came from was key to averting future epidemics. “The evolution of E. coli just happens when bugs get together,” Smith said. “We can’t stop evolution, but if we can learn today how and where it happens, we might be able to save lives in the future.” — AP

Stalking the AIDS vaccine: Patience required WAHINGTON: In the hunt for an HIV/AIDS vaccine, there is hope and disappointment around every corner.

The dreaded immune deficiency disease turns 30 this month as the pandemic’s death toll also reached a ghoulishly round number: 30 million gone in 30 years.

“Yet the story of HIV is not one of loss alone,” researchers at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), which raises money and works with a world network of investigators, insisted earlier this month.

The promise seems mighty thin indeed: In 15 years, the New York-based IAVI and its partners have developed 17 vaccine candidates, nine of which entered human trials in 11 countries. None has yet panned out.

The US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in Bethesda, Maryland, which administers the lion’s share of the world’s estimated 850 million dollars spent on vaccine research every year, has repeatedly raised hopes with vaccine candidates only to have them dashed, as happened with one called PAVE in 2008.

A broad battery of medicines has been developed to hold HIV/AIDS in check and extend lifetimes for people who can afford them, but the drugs will “never beat the pandemic,” wrote IAVI’s Seth Berkley and Phill Wilson of the Black AIDS Institute.

Only a vaccine can do that - one which can head off the tricky Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) as it enters the body and before it starts playing a shape-shifting game of hide and seek with the immune system.

In the past three years, however, since NIAD’s director Anthony Fauci gave a sobering reality check in 2008 and called for a return to basic research, vaccine researchers have gotten new impetus.

The biggest step came in Thailand in 2009, where US military and Thai researchers found that an AIDS vaccine candidate, RV144, reduced the risk of infection by 31 per cent. A total of 16,000 volunteers participated in the controversial trial, which

combined two vaccines that had previously proved ineffective - Alvac-HIV and Aidsvax.

While modest in its results, it was the first demonstration that a vaccine can protect people from HIV, experts said. Two repeat RV144 clinical trials are planned, one for Thailand and another for southern Africa, using segments of the respective regional varieties of HIV virus in the vaccine.

“People are now saying, ‘It’s not a question of if, but a question of when,’” IAVI’s Chief Operating Officer David Cook told the German Press Agency, dpa.

The traditional approach to vaccines using live virus to induce antibodies and thus immunity without causing illness - has not worked with HIV because the virus has an astonishing ability to change and disguise itself from the body’s defenses.

The virus constantly changes its surface proteins to evade detection, resulting in a very large number of HIV variants worldwide.

That’s why some of the focus of recent research has also been on isolating the antibodies themselves that can neutralize a broad spectrum of HIV variants. Two such proteins - called VRC01 and VRC02 - were isolated just last year, with the ability to neutralize more than 90 per cent of known global HIV strains.

A crucial step is figuring out how best to deliver the HIV vaccine into the human body. The 2009 Thai vaccine for example used a canary pox virus that normally causes disease in birds but not humans.

But many of these transport vehicles, or vectors, soon lose their effect, or provoke the body’s defences too late, by which time it’s “basically game over,” said Louis Picker, a physician researcher at Oregon Health & Science University.

Picker and his team, which included IAVI, set out to find a vector that would stay in the body for a long time, and came up with a form of the herpes virus (not herpes simplex) called cytomegalovirus (CMV).

In a 10-year project, they tested their

idea on rhesus macaque monkeys using monkey forms of HIV, called SIV, and of CMV. After exposure to a “highly pathogenic and aggressive” SIV, especially concentrated for the test, 13 of 24 monkeys - or more than 50 per cent - managed to keep the virus from multiplying. Although they were initially infected, twelve of the 13 were even virusfree for more than a year, researchers reported in May. IAVI’s Cook called the development “the most profound protection we’ve seen in an experimental vaccine.”

The key was the herpes vector. The human form of this herpes virus is found in about 98 per cent of people in the developing world and about 60 per cent of people in the developed world, Picker said.

In its natural form, it causes few discernible effects, but paradoxically serves to provoke its own immune reaction to keep itself in check and also fights off many other illnesses, keeping much of the human population healthy.

By adding the virulent SIV to the herpes virus, it was like picking a fight with “the toughest team on the block ... and seeing what their vulnerabilities were.”

The herpes virus “fools the body into thinking it’s always under threat, and keeps the soldiers ready at the point where ... the (HIV/SIV) virus comes into the body,” Picker said.

“The idea is, you can stop it at the beaches,” Picker said.

The next step will be adapting the vaccine for human use.

Picker compares the challenge of finding a vaccine to a “very high, seemingly unscalable cliff and so far efforts to climb it have not reached the top.”

“What this work does is basically show a path to the top. We still have to put on our climbing gear and climb the path,” he said. dpa pr aw Author: Pat Reber 2008 and called for a return to basic research, vaccine researchers have gotten new impetus.

The biggest step came in Thailand in 2009, where US military and Thai researchers found that an AIDS vaccine candidate, RV144, reduced the risk of infection by 31 per cent.

A total of 16,000 volunteers participated in the controversial trial, which combined two vaccines that had previously proved ineffective - Alvac-HIV and Aidsvax.

While modest in its results, it was the first demonstration that a vaccine can protect people from HIV, experts said. Two repeat RV144 clinical trials are planned, one for Thailand and another for southern Africa, using segments of the respective regional varieties of HIV virus in the vaccine.

“People are now saying, ‘It’s not a question of if, but a question of when,’” IAVI’s Chief Operating Officer David Cook told the

German Press Agency, dpa.

The traditional approach to vaccines using live virus to induce antibodies and thus immunity without causing illness - has not worked with HIV because the virus has an astonishing ability to change and disguise itself from the body’s defenses.

The virus constantly changes its surface proteins to evade detection, resulting in a very large number of HIV variants worldwide.

That’s why some of the focus of recent research has also been on isolating the antibodies themselves that can neutralize a broad spectrum of HIV variants. Two such proteins - called VRC01 and VRC02 - were isolated just last year, with the ability to neutralize more than 90 per cent of known global HIV strains. — dpa

CIUDAD JUAREZ: This March 28, 2011 file photo shows a boy vaccinated during a day of the vaccination campaign against Influenza A H1N1 Virus (swine flu) in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Boosting vaccination programs for children in 72 poor and middle income countries would save the lives of 6.4 million children in 10 years, and save over $151 billion in treatment and lost productivity, two studies said on June 9, 2011. — AFP

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Satellite study helps thirsty Sahel PARIS: Embattled farmers in the Sahel countries of West Africa can take heart from a new study that should boost the accuracy of rainfall prediction in one of the world’s most fragile regions.

Sharp differences in moisture in small patches of land can trigger precious rain, says the paper, published online on Sunday in the journal Nature Geoscience.

Researchers from Britain, France and Australia looked at satellite data that located nearly 4,000 rainstorms which occurred in the Sahel between 2006-2010.

Between 80 and 90 percent of rainfall in the Sahel comes from this kind of storm, which can brew suddenly when moisture-laden air lifts from heated earth.

The scientists then overlaid this data with satellite information on soil moisture.

They found that an area where there are large differences in soil

moisture plays a big role in making rain. A moist area just 10 to 40 kilometres (six to 25 miles) across can trigger rain provided it is next to a far drier patch.

This small-is-beautiful finding contrasts with conventional weather models. These tend to calculate the probability of rainfall on the basis of huge swathes of moist land and on the presence of rain-making features like mountain ranges.

“Rainfall is difficult to predict, particularly in regions such as the Sahel where huge storms can grow from nothing in a matter of hours,” said lead author Chris Taylor of Britain’s Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.

“We found that areas with contrasting soil moisture can play an important role in the creation of new storms, a factor not accounted for in current climate models. “(...) This effect is important for typically one in eight storms, in a region particularly prone to

droughts and associated crop failures.”

In areas where there are these sharp differences in soil moisture, rainstorms are twice as likely compared to regions where the moisture level is uniform.

The rain often falls around 10 kilometres (six miles) upwind of the moist patch, not downwind, Taylor explained to AFP. This occurs when the moist air is driven against weak prevailing winds by a strong local breeze coming from the opposite direction.

The study could help fine-tune knowledge about how climate change could affect the Sahel, he said.

Semi-arid, tropical west Africa is one of the most demanding regions in the world for agriculture, given its fragile soils and a short growing season that is crucially dependent on when and where rain will land. — AFP

Why you’ll never see a bat in the rain LONDON: Wet weather puts bats off flying as they don’t like getting wet, according to the findings of a study published in the scientific journal Biology Letters.

A wet bat needs more energy to fly because damp fur provides less protection than when dry. Wet fur also affects the bat’s aerodynamics, which in turn also costs energy.

Until now scientists thought bats avoided rain because there was less prey to catch and because raindrops affected the bat’s echo-finding capability.

The study observed 10 Sowell’s short tailed fruit bats (Carollia sowelli) in Costa Rica. The bats weigh

just 18 grams, live from eating fruit rather than hunting insects and frequently encounter rainfall in their natural environment.

The researchers exposed the bats to three treatments in outdoor enclosures including dry conditions, moist fur without rain and moist fur with rain. Energy usage was calculated by measuring the content of the non-radioactive isotope C13 in the air exhaled by the bats.

The findings indicate that rain as such does not force the bats to use extra energy. However, wet fur led to the bats using twice as much energy compared to dry conditions.

The researchers conclude the reason is probably because wet fur provides less protection from cooling. “Bats with moist fur lose so much heat that they need to burn more energy to maintain a steady body temperature,” says Christian Voigt, one of the study’s authors.

Wet bats are also less aerodynamic and must use more energy to compensate. In dry conditions a bat’s smooth fur covers the animal, making it aerodynamically efficient.

That changes when the fur becomes damp. Taking flight in the rain is only worthwhile for a bat when the energy it can ingest replaces that expended by flight. — dpa

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Announcements BAIA Summer Camp now open for registrations 2011 ON STAGE summer camp from 19 June to 06 July. Last year High School Musical, this year Camp Rock, Tangled, Cars...many more! From Page to Stage in just 3 weeks, through costume design, technicals, acting, singing, dance, music, make-up, film and lighting. Create a fabulous performance ON STAGE. Discounts available if registered before 01 June. Call 60052087 or mail administrator@baia.com.kw. Full details of all events and courses are available on www.baia.com.kw 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.

BSK music students pass another milestone

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he British School of Kuwait community extends warm congratulations to students who recently passed their Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) instrumental examinations. The British School of Kuwait has been the examination centre for these esteemed music examinations, operated by the British Council, for all the students in Kuwait.

A total of 53 BSK students took examinations which were held in the new BSK Instrumental Suite. It was a delight to see 8 of our youngest students entering for the preparatory level test - a less formal exam designed to introduce young students to the examination process. 45 students took examinations ranging from Grade 1 through to Grade 8 and achieved excellent results with 34%

gaining Distinctions and 33% gaining Merits.

Notable mentions go to Marti Vernis, (Grade 8 Cello with Merit) Sumati Butterworth (Grade 5 Violin with Merit) Wenxuan Zhang (Grade 4 Violin with Distinction and Grade 4 Piano with Merit) and Dana Moukhaiber (Grade 4 Violin with Distinction).

The ABRSM Examinations provide an

internationally recognized benchmark of student performance and, at the higher grades, can be converted into UCAS points in support of entry to prestigious UK and international universities. They are an integral part of the instrumental programme at BSK. For further information about music at the school and the opportunity for music scholarships, please email jot@bsk.edu.kw

30th anniversary of late Ziaur Rahaman observed

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angladesh Jatiyatabadi Dal Kuwait chapter observed the 30th anniversary of martyrdom of founding President of Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Dal (B.N.P.), martyr President Ziaur Rahaman. The observation comprised of prayer mahfil and discussion meeting and it was held at Gulshan hotel’s hall room. The senior vice president of B.N.P. Kuwait chapter and the President of J.S.S. Kuwait chapter Ekram Ali Babul presided over the program. It commenced with the recitation of

verses from the Holy Quran, recited by Hafez Azizul Islam religious affairs secretary of the party. Senior Joint Secretary Shahjahan Sabuj conducted the program.

At the very beginning of the program, the religious affairs secretary conducted a special prayer seeking divine bliss for the declarer of independence, martyr president Ziaur Rahaman’s departed soul, also the prayer extended for the martyr soldiers who had sacrificed their lives for his protection, as well as for the better health of

the pride of the youth Tarek Rahaman the senior vice president of the party, and the betterment of the nation in general.

In the discussion meeting, speakers in their brief speeches focused on various programs of martyr president Ziaur Rahaman.

Kamrul Hasan Bablu the general secretary of Kuwait branch and the International Secretary of Seschsasebak dal also spoke who was the chief speaker.

Prominent members of different organizations were present at this function.

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

Hoppin’ John String Band

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he Hoppin’ John String Band, a Bluegrass group, will be in Kuwait as part of a US Embassy sponsored visit and they’ll be conducting public performances in several locations. All public performances will open to the public and free of charge. No tickets or seat reservations will be required. Here are the details: The US Embassy Kuwait In cooperation with the National Council for Culture, Arts & Letters presents: The Hoppin’ John String Band Date: June 15, 2011 Time: 7:15pm to 8:30pm Location: National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters’ International Music Festival; Al-Dasma Theatre Date: June 16, 2011 Time: 9:00am to 10:00am Location: Live on Sabah Al-Watan (Al-Watan Television) Date: June 16, 2011 Time: 8:30pm to 9:30pm Location: The Higher Institute for Musical Arts Date: June 18, 2011 Time: 6:00pm to 7:00pm Location: Live on Raykum Shabab (Al-Rai Television) Date: June 19, 2011 Time: 7:15pm to 8:30pm Location: The Al-Babtain Central Library for Arabic Poetry.

Summer music festival

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he National Council of Culture, Arts and Letters in Kuwait proudly presents the Summer Music Festival 2011. The weeklong festival will feature live performances by artists, groups and bands from across the world as well as special workshops. All of the events are free of charge and will be held at the Abdulaziz Hussein Center in M ishref, Kuwait.

Today June 13 - Paco Heredia Flamenco Ensemble - 8:30 pm Tuesday June 14 - Hussain Al-Athamy Band of Iraqi maqam - 8:30 pm Wednesday June 15 - The Hoppin John Stringband - 8:30 pm The Hoppin’ John String Band performs and teaches music deeply rooted in the ballads, fiddle tunes, and traditions of the Appalachian Mountains of the United States. Comprised of two fiddles, guitar, banjo and bass, this band is sure to bring you to your feet and inspire you to sing along.

Thursday June 16 - Iraqi Maqam workshop 10:00 am, Traditional Music Night by Ma’youf Traditional Band - 8:30 pm The maqam workshop will take place in the auditorium of the National Museum. The traditional music night will feature the Ma’youf band, the popular traditional Kuwaiti group and will be held in the space in front of the Kuwaiti Maritime Museum.

Friday June 17 - Closing ceremony: Wa’ad Al Bahry band - 8:30 pm

World environment day celebrated at Jack & Jill This is the world we live in These are the hands we are given Use them and let’s start trying To make it a place worth living So c’mon let’s make it right!!

Being a living part of the earth we cannot harm any part of her without also harming ourselves.

Much has been said about deforestation , pollution , global warming, animal migration... but is enough

being done to save the world from these assaults.

Yes the problem is big but the group we have assembled to work on it is big too..... And guess what? You are a part of that group. -You, your family, even your friends and teachers at school. So do your part. Learn ... spread the word. Share your ideas and concerns. One step at a time.

The children at Jack and Jill - Bhavan’s - Mangaf took their first step on this memorable day. “Plant a

Sapling” was the theme. Encouraged by their teachers , the children understood their importance of ‘going green’. Interesting Power point presentations and a demonstration on ‘Water Cycle’ by the teachers made a huge impact on the children. The kids were delighted with a colourful badge given as a takeaway.

So let’s make everyday an Earth Day. Together we can make it happen.

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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MONDAY, JUNE 13, 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 ended on 25 of April 2011. To register it is necessary that Argentinean citizens should come personally at the Argentinean Embassy (Block 6, street 42, villa 57, Mishref) and present the DNI and four personal photos (size 4x4, face should be front on white background). For further information, contact us on 25379211. nnnnnnn

An evening of fun at Hope School for special needs

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ope School held its first “Carnival of Hope” on Thursday June 9, in celebration of the end of their academic year. Students, parents, family, and friends were all invited to enjoy an evening filled with games, activities, face

painting, cartoon characters, and much more. Al Sanafir Group participated in this event with various shows on stage as well as conducting the many competitions and raffle draws that were held throughout the evening.

“Carnival of Hope” provided an opportunity for Hope School to show its gratitude to all the families, staff, and community organizations that support special needs students in Kuwait.

This event could not have been a suc-

cess without the help and contributions provided by all our sponsors. Because of our sponsors dedication to helping, Hope School was able to fulfill the dream of creating an evening of fun and excitement for their students and families.

Greetings

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. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF BRITAIN The Visa Application Centre (VAC) will be closed on the same dates above. The opening hours of the Visa Application Centre are 0930 - 1630 Application forms remain available online from the UKBAs’ website: www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk or from the Visa Application Centre’s website: www.vfs-ukkw.com. And also, from the UK Visa Application Centre located at: 4B, First Floor, Al Banwan Building (Burgan Bank Branch Office Building), Al Qibla area, opposite Central Bank of Kuwait, Kuwait City. For any further inquiries, please contact the Visa Application Centre: Website: www.vfs-uk-kw.com E-mail:info@vfs-uk-kw.com Telephone:22971170. The Consular Section will also be closed on the same dates.

For information on the British Embassy services, visit the British Embassy website: www.ukinkuwait.fco.gov.uk nnnnnnn

Professional business women holds election

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usiness and Professional Women Club Kuwait branch, held its board of directors election in the presence of MP Dr Rola Dashti Chairperson of the Kuwaiti Economic Society. Many of the club members were present including Nada Al-Mutawa, Maali Al-Asousi Milica Qual, Suha Al-Awadhi, Laila Agha and Badour Al-Sumait.

Happy birthday to Murugan Yuvaraj who celebrates his birthday today.

Best wishes from friends.

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. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF GERMANY The Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Kuwait wishes to announce that as of 1 May 2011, the external service provider Al Qabas Assurex is operating a Visa Application Centre in support of the German Embassy. Short-term visa applications for travels to Germany (e.g. for tourism, visits, business) are to be submitted to the service provider Al Qabas who for your convenience will ensure that all relevant documents are included in your application. Your personal appearance at the Application Centre is not required. Address of the Visa Application Centre: Al Qabas Assurex Sanabel Tower (Al-Babtain) Mezzanine (M3) opposite Sharq Mall Kuwait 22924444 Fax: 22924442 Further information are available on the following websites: www.kuwait.diplo.de www.qavisa.com nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF KENYA

Bhavans acquire Benji Benson ever rolling trophy

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harathya Vidya Bhavan bagged the champions again for the 3rd time in the yearly event “Balakalamela” conducted by Kerala Art Lovers Association (Kala-Kuwait) for the students of all Indian Schools in Kuwait for attaining the Benji Benson EverRolling Trophy, Indian Embassy Charge d’affaires Vidhu P Nair handed over the ever rolling trophy to the school representative Mukundan during the mega event “Swaralayam, 2011” held by Kala.

Bhavans achieved a top score of 109 points followed by 71 and 70 points by Fahaheel Al-Watniya Indian School and United Indian School respectively acquiring the 2nd and 3rd places. Kala had setforth Balakalamela in the year 1995 with the motto of providing an opportunity to discover the inborn talents in children. More than 1000 students participated in a total of a variety of 20 items.

The prizes were distributed to the winners by the chief guest Padmashree Shaji N. Karun and other dignitaries such as Vidhu P.Nair, M.Mathews, T.A.Ramesh (Gulf Mart), Vijayan Karayil, Dr. Narayanan Nampoori, M.K.Pothan, N.Manikantan, Sajitha Skaria, R.Naganathan, K.Vinod, Shilpa Putheri and Sam Pynummood.

The mega event which took place at Indian Central School Abbasiya was led by V.Anil Kumar, Binu Rani Albert, Joji Iype, Saji Thomas Mathew, C.Krishnan, Sudheer T.M, Shinoj Mathew, Sunny Saijesh, Johnson George, T.V.Hikmath and Sanal Kumar.

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. nnnnnnn

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 nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF PERU With the growing interest shown by Kuwaiti citizens and/or foreign residents in Kuwait for going for vacation and tourism to Peru and/or with the purpose of doing business over there, The Embassy of Peru in Kuwait did the effort and obtained as a temporary and immediate solution - till the opening of the consular section of Diplomatic Mission of Peru in Kuwait City - that the consular section of the Embassy of Peru in Qatar will attend those requests of granting such visas. Working hours: 9 am till 2 pm or call +974-4491-5944, Fax: +974-4491-5940 E-mail: info@peruembassy.com.qa

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00:45 Cats 101 01:40 Untamed And Uncut 02:35 Life Of Mammals 04:25 I Was Bitten 05:20 Animal Cops South Africa 06:10 Dogs vs. Cats 07:00 Meerkat Manor 07:25 The Really Wild Show 07:50 Farm Life 08:40 Breed All About It 09:10 America’s Cutest...

10:05 Dogs 101 11:00 Animal Cops Houston 11:55 SSPCA: On The Wildside 12:20 Wildlife SOS 12:50 Animal Park: Wild On The West Coast 13:45 Animal Cops Phoenix 14:40 Great Savannah Race 15:30 Animal Battlegrounds 16:00 The Really Wild Show 16:30 Jeff Corwin Unleashed 17:00 Natural Born Hunters 17:25 Dogs 101 18:20 Karina: Wild On Safari 19:15 Great Savannah Race 20:10 Dogs 101 21:05 Into The Pride 22:00 Mutant Planet 22:55 Your Worst Animal Nightmares

00:15 One Foot In The Grave 00:45 The Weakest Link 01:30 Ray Mears’ Northern Wilderness 02:20 The Weakest Link 03:10 New Tricks 04:00 Last Of The Summer Wine 04:35 Fimbles 04:55 Tweenies 05:15 Teletubbies 05:40 Bobinogs 05:55 Fimbles 06:15 Tweenies 06:35 Teletubbies 07:00 Fimbles 07:20 Balamory 07:40 Teletubbies 08:05 Gigglebiz 08:20 Fimbles 08:40 Balamory 09:00 Teletubbies 09:25 Gigglebiz 09:40 Last Of The Summer Wine 10:40 The Weakest Link 11:25 Monarch Of The Glen 12:20 Doctors 12:50 One Foot In The Grave 13:20 Ray Mears’ Northern Wilderness 14:10 Last Of The Summer Wine 15:40 Monarch Of The Glen 16:30 The Weakest Link 17:15 Doctors 17:45 One Foot In The Grave 18:15 Ray Mears’ Northern Wilderness 19:10 Monarch Of The Glen 20:00 The Weakest Link 20:45 Doctors 21:15 Eastenders 21:45 Holby City 22:40 New Tricks 23:30 Live At The Apollo

00:10 Perfect Day 01:10 Come Dine With Me 04:25 The Naked Chef 05:15 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 06:30 The Naked Chef 07:05 Daily Cooks Challenge 09:05 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 09:55 Antiques Roadshow 10:45 Masterchef: The Professionals 12:15 Antiques Roadshow 13:55 Cash In The Attic 14:45 Bargain Hunt 15:25 Come Dine With Me 16:15 Masterchef: The Professionals 17:45 Indian Food Made Easy 18:10 New Scandinavian Cooking

With Andreas Viestad 18:35 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 19:00 Antiques Roadshow 19:50 Cash In The Attic 20:35 Bargain Hunt 21:20 Come Dine With Me 22:10 The Home Show 23:00 Come Dine With Me

00:00 BBC World News 00:10 World Features 00:30 Horizons 01:00 BBC World News 01:30 Asia Business Report 01:45 Asia Today 02:00 BBC World News 02:10 World Features 02:30 Our World 03:00 BBC World News 03:10 World Features 03:30 India Business Report 04:00 BBC World News 04:30 Asia Business Report 04:45 Asia Today 05:00 BBC World News 05:30 Asia Business Report 05:45 Asia Today 06:00 BBC World News 06:30 Hardtalk 07:00 BBC World News 07:30 World Business Report 07:45 BBC World News 08:30 World Business Report 08:45 BBC World News 09:30 World Business Report 09:45 Sport Today 10:00 BBC World News 10:30 World Business Report 10:45 Sport Today 11:00 BBC World News 11:30 Hardtalk 12:00 BBC World News 12:30 World Business Report 12:45 Sport Today 13:00 BBC World News 13:30 World Business Report 13:45 Sport Today 14:00 GMT With George Alagiah 15:00 BBC World News 15:30 World Business Report 15:45 Sport Today 16:00 Impact With Mishal Husain 17:30 World Business Report 17:45 Sport Today 18:00 BBC World News 18:30 Hardtalk 19:00 The Hub With Nik Gowing 20:30 World Business Report 20:45 Sport Today 21:00 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 22:30 World Business Report 22:45 Sport Today

00:00 00:30 01:00 03:00 03:45 04:00 05:00 05:30 05:45 06:00 06:30 07:00 07:30 08:00 10:00 10:30 11:00 12:00 13:00 13:30 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00 20:30 21:00 22:00 23:00

African Voices World Sport World Report World Business Today CNN Marketplace Middle East Piers Morgan Tonight Talk Asia Cnngo Future Cities World Sport News Special World Report The Best Of Backstory World Report World Sport World View World Business Today World One World Sport African Voices Fareed Zakaria Gps News Stream World Business Today International Desk The Brief World Sport Prism International Desk African Voices Quest Means Business Piers Morgan Tonight Connect The World

MONDAY, JUNE 13, 2011

TV PROGRAMS

00:00 Angry Planet 00:30 Glutton For Punishment 01:00 Essential Specials 02:00 Distant Shores 02:30 Glutton For Punishment 03:00 Cruising to the Northern Lights 04:00 Globe Trekker 05:00 Angry Planet 05:30 Glutton For Punishment 06:00 Globe Trekker 07:00 Globe Trekker Special 08:00 Travel 360 09:00 Cruising to the Northern Lights 10:00 Four Men and a Lady 10:30 Tall Ship Explorers 11:30 Riding Route 66 12:00 Globe Trekker 13:00 Distant Shores 13:30 Sophie Grigson In The Orient 14:00 Destination Art 14:30 Megalopolis 15:30 Essential 16:00 Globe Trekker

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 Codename: Kids Next Door 07:25 Cow And Chicken 07:50 Angelo Rules 08:05 Cartoon Network Dance Club 08:15 Adventure Time 08:40 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 09:05 The Secret Saturdays 09:30 Batman: The Brave And The Bold 09:55 The Powerpuff Girls 10:20 Robotboy 10:30 Hero 108 10:55 Ben 10 11:20 Chowder 11:45 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 12:10 Camp Lazlo 12:35 George Of The Jungle 13:00 Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends 13:25 Codename: Kids Next Door 13:50 Ben 10 14:15 My Gym Partner’s A Monkey 14:40 Squirrel Boy 15:05 Eliot Kid 15:35 Ed, Edd N Eddy 16:00 Cow And Chicken 16:25 Chop Socky Chooks 16:50 Skunk Fu! 17:15 Chowder 17:40 Best Ed 18:05 Hero 108 18:30 Cartoon Network Dance Club 18:45 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 18:55 Batman: The Brave And The Bold 19:20 Ben 10: Alien Force 19:45 The Secret Saturdays 20:10 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 20:35 Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes 21:00 The Powerpuff Girls 21:25 Ed, Edd N Eddy 21:50 Robotboy 22:00 Adventure Time 22:25 Hero 108 22:50 Ben 10 23:15 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 23:40 Chowder

MINDHUNTERS ON OSN ACTION HD

00:15 Worst-Case Scenario 00:40 Mayday! Bering Sea 01:35 Surviving Disaster 02:30 American Chopper: Senior vs Junior 03:25 Motor City Motors 05:15 Huge Moves 06:05 Mighty Ships 07:00 Ultimate Car Build-Off 07:50 American Chopper: Senior vs Junior 08:45 How It’s Made 09:10 Mythbusters 10:05 Cake Boss 10:30 Border Security 10:55 Time Warp 11:25 Huge Moves 12:20 Mighty Ships 13:15 Ultimate Survival 14:10 LA Ink 15:05 Dirty Jobs 16:00 Ultimate Car Build-Off 16:55 Mythbusters 17:50 Extreme Fishing 18:45 Cake Boss 19:10 Border Security 19:40 Time Warp 20:05 How Machines Work 20:35 How It’s Made 21:00 Gold Rush: Full Disclosure 21:55 Danger Coast 22:50 Swords: Life On The Line 23:45 Extreme Fishing

00:30 Sci-Trek 01:20 The Gadget Show 02:10 What’s That About?

03:00 Colony 04:45 Weird Or What?

05:40 How Stuff’s Made 06:10 The Future Of...

07:00 Catch It Keep It 07:55 Head Rush 07:58 Sci-Fi Science 08:25 Weird Connections 08:55 The Sun 09:45 The Gadget Show 10:35 How Stuff Works 11:25 Green Wheels 11:50 Catch It Keep It 12:40 One Step Beyond 13:05 Engineered 13:55 Nextworld 14:45 Kings Of Construction 15:35 The Gadget Show 16:00 Head Rush 16:03 Sci-Fi Science 16:30 Weird Connections 17:00 Brainiac 17:50 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 18:40 Mighty Ships 19:30 Ultimate Power Builders 20:20 Sci-Fi Science 20:45 Cool Stuff And How It Works 21:10 The Gadget Show 22:00 Mighty Ships 22:50 Ultimate Power Builders 23:40 Building The Future

00:05 Unwrapped 00:30 Diners, Drive-Ins And Dives 00:55 Unwrapped 01:45 George Foreman Campus Grill Off 02:35 Barefoot Contessa 03:25 Guy’s Big Bite 04:15 Good Eats - Special 04:40 Unwrapped 05:05 Ten Dollar Dinners 05:30 Paula’s Best Dishes 05:50 Paula’s Party 06:35 Barefoot Contessa 07:00 Chopped 07:50 Guy’s Big Bite 08:15 Boy Meets Grill 08:40 Good Deal With Dave Lieberman 09:05 Ten Dollar Dinners 09:30 Paula’s Best Dishes 09:55 Barefoot Contessa 10:20 Diners, Drive-Ins And Dives 10:45 Boy Meets Grill 11:10 Unwrapped 11:35 Paula’s Party 12:25 Good Eats - Special 12:50 Paula’s Best Dishes 13:15 Good Deal With Dave Lieberman 13:40 Ultimate Recipe Showdown 14:30 Diners, Drive-Ins And Dives 14:55 Unwrapped 15:20 Boy Meets Grill 15:45 Chopped 16:35 Guy’s Big Bite 17:00 Barefoot Contessa 17:25 Good Deal With Dave Lieberman 17:50 Ten Dollar Dinners

00:20 00:45 01:10 01:30 01:55 02:20 02:45 03:10 03:30 03:55 04:20 04:45 05:10 05:35 06:00 06:25 06:50 07:15 07:40 08:00 08:20 08:45 09:10 09:20 09:30 09:55 10:05 10:25 11:15 11:35 12:00 12:10 12:35 13:00 13:25 13:40 14:05 14:15 14:25 14:50

Jungle Junction Special Agent Oso Little Einsteins Higglytown Heroes Jo Jo’s Circus Jungle Junction Special Agent Oso Little Einsteins Higglytown Heroes Jo Jo’s Circus Jungle Junction Special Agent Oso Little Einsteins Higglytown Heroes Jo Jo’s Circus Jungle Junction Special Agent Oso Little Einsteins Higglytown Heroes Special Agent Oso Jungle Junction Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Timmy Time Handy Manny Jake & The Neverland Pirates The Hive Handy Manny Mickey Mouse Clubhouse The Little Mermaid Little Einsteins Jungle Junction Lazytown Imagination Movers Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates Jungle Junction Timmy Time The Hive Little Einsteins The Little Mermaid

15:15 16:05 16:30 16:40 16:55 17:20 17:45 17:55 18:05 18:15 18:35 19:00 19:20 19:45 19:55 20:05 20:50 21:10 21:20 21:30 21:55 22:20 22:35 22:45 23:00

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Handy Manny The Hive Jake & The Neverland Pirates Imagination Movers Lazytown Jungle Junction Special Agent Oso The Hive Little Einsteins Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates The Little Mermaid Handy Manny Timmy Time Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates The Hive Handy Manny The Little Mermaid Little Einsteins Handy Manny The Hive Jungle Junction The Little Mermaid

06:00 Kid vs Kat 06:20 Kick Buttowski 06:40 Pokemon Dp: Sinnoh League Victors 07:05 Phineas And Ferb 08:05 American Dragon 08:30 Kick Buttowski 08:50 Kid vs Kat 09:00 Zeke And Luther 09:50 I’m In The Band 10:15 The Super Hero Squad Show 10:40 Suite Life On Deck 11:30 Pair Of Kings 11:55 Phineas And Ferb 12:45 Kid vs Kat 13:50 The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody 14:40 Zeke And Luther 15:05 Kick Buttowski 15:25 Kid vs Kat 15:35 Pokemon Dp: Sinnoh League Victors 16:00 I’m In The Band 16:25 Suite Life On Deck 16:50 Zeke And Luther 17:40 Phineas And Ferb 18:30 Escape From Scorpion Island 18:55 Kick Buttowski 19:20 American Dragon 19:45 Aaron Stone 20:10 Phineas And Ferb 20:15 Kid vs Kat 20:40 Phineas And Ferb 21:05 I’m In The Band 21:30 Zeke And Luther 21:50 Phineas And Ferb 22:00 The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody 22:20 The Super Hero Squad Show 23:00 Programmes Start At 6:00am KSA

UNBREAKABLE ON OSN MOVIES ACTION 19:30 20:20 Jones 21:10 22:00 22:50 23:40

00:30 01:30 02:30 03:30 04:00 04:30 05:30 Style Star 06:30 E!es 07:30 E! Investigates 08:30 Sexiest 09:30 Reality Hell 10:30 Wildest TV Show Moments 11:00 THS 11:30 Behind The Scenes 12:30 E! News 13:30 Holly’s World 14:30 THS 15:30 Extreme Close-Up 16:00 Fashion Police 16:30 Khloe And Lamar Kourtney And Kim Take New 17:00 17:30 THS 18:30 Behind The Scenes 19:30 Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane 20:30 Holly’s World Kendra E!es Chelsea Lately Kourtney And Kim Take New 00:15

00:25 01:25 02:20 04:10 05:05 05:30 06:00 07:50 08:20 09:15 10:15 12:05 12:35 13:05 14:05 York 14:35 16:25 16:55 17:55 18:55 19:55 20:55 21:25 York 22:25 Style Star 22:55 Fashion Police 23:25 Keeping Up Kardashians

With

Real Emergency Calls True Crime With Aphrodite Disappeared Nightmare Next Door I Was Murdered Dr G: Medical Examiner

Don’t Tell My Mother The Frankincense Trail Banged Up Abroad Bondi Rescue Market Values Bondi Rescue Banged Up Abroad Don’t Tell My Mother The Frankincense Trail Banged Up Abroad Bondi Rescue David Rocco’s Dolce Vita Exploring The Vine Meet The Natives The Frankincense Trail Departures Banged Up Abroad The Best Job In The World Bondi Rescue David Rocco’s Dolce Vita Exploring The Vine Meet The Natives The Frankincense Trail Departures Banged Up Abroad

The Ruins-R 02:00 Universal Soldier: Regeneration-PG15 03:45 Dark Moon Rising-PG15 The 06:00 Star Runners-PG15 07:45 Lost In Space-PG15 10:00 Inkheart-PG 11:45 The Day After Tomorrow-PG 14:00 Lost In Space-PG15 16:15 Stonehenge Apocalypse-PG15 18:00 The Day After Tomorrow-PG 20:15 Mindhunters-18 22:00 Zombieland-18

00:15 Aiya TV 01:30 Fantasy Factory 02:20 Eds Up 02:45 Fantasy Factory 04:50 Lucas Oil Ama Motocross Championships...

06:30 FIA European Drag Racing 2008 08:00 Quattro Events 2009 08:25 Winter Dew Tour 09/10 10:55 X-Traordinary 11:45 Fantasy Factory 12:35 Untracked 13:25 BMX Megatour 14:15 World Combat League 15:05 X-Traordinary 15:55 Fantasy Factory 16:45 Quattro Events 2009 17:10 Winter Dew Tour 09/10 19:40 BMX Megatour 20:30 Untracked 21:20 Final Fu 22:10 World Combat League 23:00 Aiya TV 23:50 Untracked

00:30 The Will: Family Secrets Revealed 01:20 Nightmare Next Door 02:10 Deadly Women 03:00 Autopsy: Most Shocking Cases 03:50 The Will: Family Secrets Revealed 04:45 Amsterdam Vice 05:15 On The Case With Paula Zahn 06:10 Mystery Diagnosis 07:00 Forensic Detectives 07:50 Murder Shift 08:40 Mystery Diagnosis 09:30 Real Emergency Calls 10:20 The Will: Family Secrets Revealed 11:10 FBI Files 12:00 True Crime With Aphrodite Jones 12:50 Disappeared 13:40 Mystery Diagnosis 14:30 Real Emergency Calls 15:20 The Will: Family Secrets Revealed 16:10 Forensic Detectives 17:00 Murder Shift 17:50 FBI Files 18:40 Mystery Diagnosis

00:00 Cougar Town 00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 01:30 South Park 02:00 Neighbors From Hell 02:30 That Mitchell And Webb Look 03:00 Neighbors From Hell 03:00 Rita Rocks 03:30 That Mitchell And Webb Look 03:30 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 04:00 South Park 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 Will And Grace 06:00 According To Jim 06:30 Family Biz 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 Seinfeld 08:30 The New Adventures Of Old Christine 09:00 Rita Rocks 09:30 Will And Grace 10:00 According To Jim 10:30 Seinfeld 11:00 Family Biz 11:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:30 The New Adventures Of Old Christine 13:00 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 13:30 Will And Grace 14:00 According To Jim 14:30 Sons Of Tucson 15:00 Two And A Half Men 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 16:30 Family Biz 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 Rita Rocks 18:30 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 19:00 Seinfeld 19:30 Sons Of Tucson 20:00 The League 20:30 It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia 21:00 The Daily Show Global Edition 21:30 The Colbert Report Global Edition

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:15 17:15 19:45 21:45 23:30

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 PG15 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 18:45 21:00 23:00

Unbreakable-PG15 Dark Moon Rising-PG15 Lake Placid 3-18 The Three Musketeers-PG15 Timeline-PG15 The Fast And The FuriousEnemy Of The State-PG15 Timeline-PG15 Armageddon-PG15 Speed-PG15 Blood And Bone-18 Dead Presidents-18

01:00 03:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 11:00 11:30 Suburban Girl-PG15 12:00 Head Over Heels-PG15 13:00 Green Card-PG15 15:00 17 Again-PG15 15:30 Saved!-PG15 16:30 Return To Me-PG15 17:00 National Security-PG15 18:00 A Low Down Dirty Shame- 21:00 23:00 Suburban Girl-PG15 Moon Over Parador-PG15 Stan Helsing-PG15 Miss March-18

Soul Food-18 Cape Fear-PG Moon-PG15 Under The Mountain-PG Sugar-PG15 Nurse.Fighter.Boy-PG15 A Far Off Place-PG15 Mama I Want To Sing-PG Coraline-PG Blues Brothers 2000-PG15 Gilles’ Wife-PG15 I Dreamed Of Africa-18

00:00 Free Willy: Escape From Pirate’s Cove-FAM 02:00 Nanny Mcphee And The Big Bang-PG 04:00 Daddy Day Care-PG 06:00 Scooby-Doo Meets The Boo Brothers-FAM 08:00 Christmas In New York-PG 10:00 Delgo-FAM 12:00 Pollyworld-FAM 14:00 Nanny Mcphee And The Big Bang-PG 16:15 Treasure Island-PG 18:00 A Christmas Carol-PG 20:00 A Simple Wish-FAM 22:00 Pollyworld-FAM 23:45 Treasure Island-PG

00:00 Man On Wire-PG15 02:00 Paper Man-PG15 04:00 Oceans - Into The Deep-PG 06:00 Coco Before Chanel-PG15 08:00 My Bollywood Bride-PG15 10:00 Winning Time-PG15 12:00 Tooth Fairy-PG 14:00 Flicka 2-PG15 16:00 My Bollywood Bride-PG15 18:00 Celine: Through The Eyes Of The World-PG15 20:00 When In Rome-PG15 22:00 Jake’s Closet-PG15

01:30 NRL Premiership 05:30 Trans World Sport 06:30 Total Rugby 07:00 ATP Tennis 09:00 Masters Football 12:00 Live NRL Premiership 14:00 ATP Tennis 16:00 Super League 18:00 AFL Highlights 19:00 European PGA Tour Highlights 20:00 Super Rugby Highlights 21:00 Masters Football

01:00 03:00 05:00 05:30 06:00 06:30

07:00 08:00 12:30 13:30 14:00 15:00 18:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

Super League Super 15 ICC Cricket World Mobil 1 The Grid Futbol Mundial FEI Equestrain World

Golfing World European PGA Tour Golfing World ICC Cricket World Weber Cup Bowling Masters Football Golfing World NRL Premiership ATP Tennis AFL Highlights

WWE SmackDown UFC 131 UFC Unleashed WWE Bottom Line Le Mans 24 Hour Race City Centre Races City Centre Races WWE Vintage Collection Le Mans 24 Hour Race Aquabike World City Centre Races Le Mans Series UFC 131 Prelims UFC 131 Le Mans 24 Hour Race UFC Unleashed

00:00 01:00 01:55 02:25 03:20 05:10 05:35 06:05 07:00 08:00 09:00 09:55 10:50 11:50 13:45 14:15 14:45 15:40 16:35 18:25 19:25 19:50 20:20 21:15 22:10 23:05

Top 10 Fashion Avenue Big Boutique How Do I Look?

Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?

Homes With Style Area Clean House Big Boutique Homes With Style Fashion Avenue How Do I Look?

Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?

Clean House Top 10 Mel B: It’s A Scary World Jerseylicious Ruby Giuliana & Bill Ruby Big Boutique Fashion Avenue Clean House Top 10 Clean House Comes Clean Bridalplasty

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Mummy Forensics Dead Men’s Secrets IRT: Deadliest Roads Ancient Wonders Egyptian Book Of The Dead Mummy Forensics Dead Men’s Secrets IRT: Deadliest Roads Ancient Wonders Egyptian Book Of The Dead Mummy Forensics Dead Men’s Secrets IRT: Deadliest Roads Ancient Wonders Egyptian Book Of The Dead Mummy Forensics Dead Men’s Secrets IRT: Deadliest Roads IRT: Deadliest Roads Warriors The Nazi Officer’s Wife

00:15 The Honeymoon Machine 01:40 The Wheeler Dealers 03:25 The Journey 05:30 These Wilder Years 07:00 The Fastest Gun Alive 08:30 3 Godfathers 10:15 Seven Women 11:40 The Champ 13:45 Somebody Up There Likes Me 15:35 Beau Brummell 17:25 The Adventures Of Quentin Durward 19:05 Grand Prix 22:00 Mutiny On The Bounty

Classifieds MONDAY, JUNE 13, 2011

Personal Trainer Trrainerr

ACCOMMODATION

TTypes ypes ooff basketball basketball injuries injuries

Eveen a casual Even asual sual uall game gamee of o basketball bbaske ketba etb ll puts puts heavy hheeaavyy pressure pressur p sure re onn feet fee fe eet e and a an ankles, ank ankl ankle nkle kle lees, and anndd careless careles care ccarreless eless ess players pl pla laayye yers or those thhose with poor poor shoes shoees are arre often offten ofte enn injured. in inju j red red. edd

Acute injury

Chronic, or overuse, injury

Develops slowly; damage worsens over months, years

Sudden, accidental blow; difficult to prevent

Sharing accommodation available for a Keralite bachelor near Downtown Holiday Inn, Sharq.

Contact: 99387111/ 97929183.

Typical al causes c

Landing improperly after jump

Inadequate warmup Poor conditioning

Twisting fall Midair collision

Scrambling for loose ball t Ankle sprains t Torn ligament t Muscle pull t Tendon rupture t Broken bone

One fully furnished room with attached bathroom available for decent bachelor or small family. Two bedroom C-A/C flat in Fintas, near London Hospital close to Fahaheel highway.

Contact: 60020168. (C 3433) 11-6-2011

Improper, ill-fitting or worn-out shoes High arches, flat feet, bow legs or tight calf muscles

Lunging for rebound

Most common co

t Stress fracture t Plantar fasciitis* t Shin splints t Achilles heel t Tendinitis t Blisters

Sharing accommodation available for Indian decent Hindu or Catholic bachelors or small family with Mangalorean family two bedrooms, window A/C, opp. Rashid Hospital, Shara Amman, Salmiya. Contact: 55995437. (C 3431) 9-6-2011

*Injury on sole of foot

Courtt surface su

Risk of both types highest est on o paved outdoor courts, especially concrete; lowest est on wood indoor courts

How too respond r

After a bad fall or twist, stop playing at once; apply ice and compression bandage, elevate leg and see physician if necessary

Sharing accommodation available in Salimya opposite Eddie Store for Indian bachelors.

Contact: 97947562. (C 3437) 13-6-2011

Furnished 1 bed, 1 hall, flat near German Clinic Abbasiya. From end of June, Indian or Sri Lankan family.

Contact: 99430379.

(C 3427)

Reduce activity according to seriousness of injury

Grap Paul Trap © 2011 MCT Graphic: Source:: American Sports Source American Academy Academy of Podiatric Podiatric Spo r ts Medicine ((U.S.) U.S.)

Sharing accommodation available in Khaitan behind petrol pump and opp.

Jamiya in a Studio flat with a Mangalorean R.C bachelor.

Rent KD 25. Contact: 66036893. (C 3428) 8-6-2011 Sharing accommodation available in Shara Amman opposite Al-Rashid Hospital for bachelors. Contact: 65515717. (C 3424) 7-6-2011 Accommodation available in Salmiya near Ceaser’s for a working lady in a 2 bedroom C-A/C flat. Call after 3 pm. Tel: 25643718. (C 3419) Sharing accommodation available in New Reggai with fully furnished flat up to 4 months June - September.

Contact: 99729608. (C 3422) 6-6-2011

live -in maid / nanny.

Contact: 99824597.

(C 3436) 13-6-2011 Urgently required an experienced cook for a Kuwaiti family. Attractive salary + food & accommodation will be provided. Candidates with transferable Iqama.

Contact: 94064401.

(C 3434) 11-6-2011

FOR SALE MATRIMONIAL Toyota Corolla 2002, silver color, 100,000km, excellent condition, KD 1500.

Contact: 66729295.

(C 3435) 13-6-2011 SITUATION VACANT Required English speaking

Keralite Christian Anglo Indian boy B.E, 27 yrs, 175cms, working with MNC Bangalore invites suitable proposals (caste no bar).

Contact Email: shinestoncorreya@gmail.com (C 3432) 11-6-2011

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION In case you are not travelling, your proper cancellation of bookings will help other passengers to use seats Airlines JZR THY ETH UAE DHX ETD FDB GFA QTR KAC JZR FCX JZR KAC JZR BAW KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC BBC KAC KAC KAC UAE QTR ABY ETD GFA MEA JZR IRC MSR RBG KAC KAC MSR UAL RJA FDB OMA SVA

Flt 205 772 620 853 370 305 67 211 138 544 503 201 555 412 531 157 206 302 53 352 284 39 362 344 302D 855 132 125 301 213 404 165 6521 623 3557 618 672 610 982 640 57 645 500

Arrival Flights on Monday 13/6/2011 Route DAMASCUS ISTANBUL ADDIS ABABA DUBAI BAHRAIN ABU DHABI DUBAI BAHRAIN DOHA CAIRO LUXOR DUBAI ALEXANDRIA MANILA / BANGKOK ASSIUT LONDON ISLAMABAD MUMBAI DUBAI COCHIN DHAKA DHAKA / RIYADH COLOMBO CHENNAI MUMBAI DUBAI DOHA SHARJAH ABU DHABI BAHRAIN BEIRUT DUBAI LAMERD SOHAG ALEXANDRIA DOHA DUBAI CAIRO WASHINGTON DC DULLES AMMAN DUBAI MUSCAT JEDDAH

Time 0:25 1:15 1:45 2:25 2:55 2:55 3:10 3:15 3:20 4:40 5:15 5:25 6:10 6:15 6:20 6:30 7:15 7:50 7:55 8:05 8:10 8:15 8:20 8:20 8:20 8:25 9:00 9:10 9:30 9:35 10:55 11:10 11:20 12:10 12:55 12:55 13:15 13:20 13:30 13:35 13:50 14:00 14:30

KAC JZR QTR KAC KAC KNE KAC MLR ETD UAE GFA SVA JZR JZR ABY JZR ALK KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC AIC JAI FDB OMA JZR VOS MEA KAC DHX KLM UAE GFA QTR UAL JZR TAR JZR MSR DLH JZR BBC PIA

788 257 134 546 550 745 118 403 303 857 215 510 777 239 127 213 227 104 542 786 744 774 674 575 572 61 647 179 81 402 552 372 445 859 217 136 981 135 327 185 612 636 539 43 239

JEDDAH BEIRUT DOHA ALEXANDRIA SOHAG JEDDAH NEW YORK COLOMBO / DUBAI ABU DHABI DUBAI BAHRAIN RIYADH JEDDAH AMMAN SHARJAH DEIREZZOR COLOMBO / DUBAI LONDON CAIRO JEDDAH DAMMAM RIYADH DUBAI CHENNAI / GOA MUMBAI DUBAI MUSCAT DUBAI BAGHDAD BEIRUT DAMASCUS BAHRAIN AMSTERDAM DUBAI BAHRAIN DOHA BAHRAIN BAHRAIN TUNIS DUBAI CAIRO FRANKFURT CAIRO DHAKA SIALKOT

15:00 15:10 15:15 15:30 15:35 15:35 16:15 16:40 16:50 16:55 17:15 17:20 17:25 17:35 17:40 17:50 18:00 18:35 18:50 19:00 19:15 19:25 19:25 19:30 19:35 20:00 20:10 20:10 20:15 20:15 20:45 21:00 21:05 21:15 21:25 21:35 22:00 22:10 22:15 22:35 22:50 23:00 23:30 23:45 23:55

Departur AXB DLH KLM BBC AIC PIA AFG THY ETH UAE FDB DHX ETD QTR JZR GFA BAW KAC FDB KAC JZR KAC BBC KAC KAC UAE ABY QTR ETD GFA KAC MEA KAC JZR JZR JZR IRC KAC MSR KAC RBG MSR RJA FDB UAL

Depurture Flights on Monday 13/6/2011 Flt Route 390 KOZHIKODE 637 FRANKFURT 447 AMSTERDAM 46 DHAKA 982 AHMEDABAD / CHENNAI 206 PESHAWER / LAHORE 406 DUBAI / KABUL 773 ISTANBUL 620 BAHRAIN / ADDIS ABABA 854 DUBAI 68 DUBAI 371 BAHRAIN 306 ABU DHABI 139 DOHA 164 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 156 LONDON 545 ALEXANDRIA 54 DUBAI 671 DUBAI 256 BEIRUT 787 JEDDAH 40 DHAKA 549 SOHAG 617 DOHA 856 DUBAI 126 SHARJAH 133 DOHA 302 ABU DHABI 214 BAHRAIN 165 ROME / PARIS 405 BEIRUT 541 CAIRO 776 JEDDAH 212 DEIREZZOR 238 AMMAN 6522 LAMERD 103 LONDON 624 SOHAG 785 JEDDAH 3558 SOHAG / ALEXANDRIA 611 CAIRO 641 AMMAN 58 DUBAI 982 BAHRAIN

Time 0:25 0:40 0:55 1:00 1:05 1:10 2:00 2:15 2:30 3:45 3:50 3:55 4:05 5:00 6:55 7:10 8:25 8:35 8:40 9:00 9:10 9:15 9:15 9:20 9:35 9:40 9:50 10:00 10:15 10:20 11:45 11:55 12:00 12:00 12:05 12:10 12:20 12:30 13:10 13:30 13:35 14:20 14:30 14:35 14:45

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

OMA KAC KAC SVA JZR KAC QTR KNE KAC JZR VOS ETD MLR UAE GFA ABY JZR JZR SVA ALK JZR KAC JAI FDB JZR KAC KAC OMA MEA KAC DHX KLM JZR UAE GFA FCX QTR KAC KAC TAR JZR JZR UAL KAC MSR

646 673 551 501 178 773 135 746 743 538 82 304 404 858 216 128 184 266 511 228 134 283 571 62 528 331 351 648 403 543 373 445 206 860 218 102 137 301 205 327 554 504 981 411 613

MUSCAT DUBAI DAMASCUS JEDDAH DUBAI RIYADH DOHA JEDDAH DAMMAM CAIRO BAGHDAD ABU DHABI DUBAI / COLOMBO DUBAI BAHRAIN SHARJAH DUBAI BEIRUT RIYADH DUBAI / COLOMBO BAHRAIN DHAKA MUMBAI DUBAI ASSIUT TRIVANDRUM COCHIN MUSCAT BEIRUT CAIRO BAHRAIN BAHRAIN / AMSTERDAM DAMASCUS DUBAI BAHRAIN BAHRAIN DOHA MUMBAI ISLAMABAD DUBAI / TUNIS ALEXANDRIA LUXOR WASHINGTON DC DULLES BANGKOK / MANILA CAIRO

15:00 15:10 15:25 15:45 16:00 16:05 16:15 16:20 16:25 16:40 17:00 17:35 17:40 18:05 18:15 18:20 18:25 18:30 18:35 19:10 19:10 20:00 20:35 20:40 20:50 21:00 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:55 22:00 22:05 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:30 22:35 22:45 22:55 23:05 23:10 23:35 23:40 23:40 23:50

34

s ta rs CROSSWORD 347

CALVIN & HOBBES

MONDAY, JUNE 13, 2011

STAR TRACK Aries (March 21-April 19) You seem turned on and tuned in to other people’s emotions today—not super-sensitive, but intuitive. You can demonstrate a great deal of understanding and sensitivity to the needs of others and are in a good position to communicate and promote a healing. A very young relative might not want to wait on the next vacation to enjoy those children’s books that you have accumulated over the years. Consider mailing a few fun books so they can be getting something special in the mail. They will love whatever you send because you thought of them. Breakthrough thinking is available today and may come through your immediate surroundings, home and environment—your support system. You will receive monetary rewards today.

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

POOCH CAFE ACROSS 1. Any of several small ungulate mammals of Africa and Asia with rodent-like incisors and feet with hooflike toes.

4. French novelist.

10. A unit of absorbed ionizing radiation equal to 100 ergs per gram of irradiated material.

13. Hormones (estrogen and progestin) are given to postmenopausal women.

14. A steep artificial slope in front of a fortification.

15. Any of various systems of units for measuring electricity and magnetism.

16. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

17. Sturdy carnivorous burrowing mammal with strong claws widely distributed in the northern hemisphere v 1.

18. An emotional response that has been acquired by conditioning.

19. Any of various kinds of wheeled vehicles drawn by a horse or tractor.

21. An intensely radioactive metallic element that occurs in minute amounts in uranium ores.

23. A silvery ductile metallic element found primarily in bauxite.

24. An accountant certified by the state.

27. A Chadic language spoken in northern Nigeria.

29. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

33. Of or relating to or near the coccyx.

37. Type genus of the Danaidae.

39. A ductile gray metallic element of the lanthanide series.

40. An overwhelming feeling of wonder or admiration.

41. A bag used for carrying money and small personal items or accessories (especially by women).

45. The second largest of the Hawaiian Islands.

46. The longer of the two telegraphic signals used in Morse code.

47. Enter a computer.

50. Hungarian choreographer who developed Labanotation (1879-1958).

54. South American armadillo with three bands of bony plates.

57. Lower in esteem.

58. The compass point that is one point east of southeast.

59. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables.

61. Water frozen in the solid state.

62. Any of a number of fishes of the family Carangidae.

63. A city in central New York.

64. A doctor's degree in theology.

65. Being one hundred more than three hundred.

DOWN 1. An Indian tree of the family Combretaceae that is a source of timber and gum.

2. Wild sheep of semidesert regions in central Asia.

3. Male red deer.

4. An early form of modern jazz (originating around 1940).

5. (Hindu) A manner of sitting (as in the practice of Yoga).

6. A digital display that uses liquid crystal cells that change reflectivity in an applied electric field.

7. The capital of Croatia.

8. A particular geographical region of indefinite boundary (usually serving some special purpose or distinguished by its people or culture or geography).

9. An emergency procedure consisting of external cardiac massage and artificial respiration.

10. A summary that repeats the substance of a longer discussion.

11. Naked freshwater or marine or parasitic protozoa that form temporary pseudopods for feeding and locomotion.

12. Of or relating to the dura mater.

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

22. A detailed description of design criteria for a piece of work.

25. A rapid bustling commotion.

26. United States educator who introduced reforms that significantly altered the system of public education (1796-1859).

28. (informal) Of the highest quality.

30. The cry made by sheep.

31. Of or relating to or characteristic of Cuba or the people of Cuba.

32. (Old Testament) The eldest son of Isaac who would have inherited the Covenant that God made with Abraham and that Abraham passed on to Isaac.

34. A compartment in front of a motor vehicle where driver sits.

35. A pointed tool for marking surfaces or for punching small holes.

36. Towards the side away from the wind.

38. Regarded with admiration.

39. An early form of modern jazz (originating around 1940).

42. Instrument of execution consisting of a wooden frame from which condemned persons are executed by hanging.

43. West Indian tree having racemes of fragrant white flowers and yielding a durable timber and resinous juice.

44. According to the Old Testament he was a pagan king of Israel and husband of Jezebel (9th century BC).

48. An organization of countries formed in 1961 to agree on a common policy for the sale of petroleum.

49. An amino acid that is found in the central nervous system.

51. Anything that serves as an enticement.

52. United States writer (born in Poland) who wrote in Yiddish (1880-1957).

53. A condition requiring relief.

55. A Kwa language spoken by the Yoruba people in southwestern Nigeria.

56. A religious belief of African origin involving witchcraft and sorcery.

60. A radioactive element of the actinide series.

Yesterday’s Solution

In a word, it is your emotions and gusto that hold your innermost self together. Your feelings are not just important—they are central to knowing more about you. A strong devotional nature becomes apparent to anyone who takes time to know the real you. Everything else is centered upon this inner drive and energy. The search for a mate and marriage in particular are crucial for you.

Communication with those in a place of worship is possible, enjoyable and uplifting today. You are driven to unite and find out what togetherness means. Cleaning, health-awareness, shopping and cooperation from each member of the family or from friends make your day move along easily. Someone will join you today in your fitness program or they will help you.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) There will be less of an impulse now for recognition. There is a growing need to enjoy some quality time by you this day. Perhaps you like to listen to teaching tapes or a hobby has taken up space in your creative sector. This time will be less outward and may call for a change of approach. This is not a time of outreach and not necessarily the best point to start any great projects.

There is introspection and you may find yourself letting go of plans and projects started in a more outward phase. You may take an interest in your own psyche, religion and spiritual ideas. You take in new impressions. With all of this desire for productive time alone, you will still find time to enjoy your friends from time to time, especially today.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

NON SEQUITUR

You could find that you are appreciated and valued for your feelings and your ability to get things done. You can always find the resources you require, plus the necessary instruction in how to use them. You have an inner vision, coupled with the ability to see the whole picture. This often finds you working as a go-between with others. You could even have a special gift for spanning the generation gap, bringing older and younger people together. Your wisdom can be shared today as you may find yourself involved in settling disputes. You have a love of animals, children, older people and the needy. You may be interested in a home animal or sports show this evening. You are interested in inventions for living as well.

Leo (July 23-August 22)

ZITS

Interaction with others is the focus of this day. Neighbors, friends and family members may take on more importance. Outdoor activity through, perhaps, a tour of a nearby park, zoo or group garage or yard sale can be enjoyed by many. You have a lot of energy and tend to be impatient with those who slow your pace—careful. You soak up what you need to see quickly and are ready to go forward with new experiences. You could be awed when you find yourself unexpectedly involved with some influential individuals. This may be a great time to suggest a future meeting that will give you time to communicate some of your ideas.

Keep your composure and you will do fine. Many of your friends wish they had thought of your comments; you are spontaneous.

Virgo (August 23-September 22) You will often find yourself choosing between comfort and progress. Progress is occasionally comfortable but only when you are looking at where you have been. Today you choose to improve or enhance your surroundings with trees, flowers and perhaps a vegetable garden. Designate a little area for the younger member(s) of the family and you could help teach the importance of helping things grow. Perhaps radishes and onions will be on your table this summer. This afternoon you may decide to watch a car race, participate in team sports or enjoy some trendy past time with a friend. Your sense of mission makes for impulsive, sometimes rash, but always brave actions. A restful evening will help you be prepared for the busy week ahead.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM

Increasing inner confidence helps you emerge from a long period of doubt. Finances are better and you can now pay more attention to the needs you have been pushing aside. There is much to accomplish today.

Perhaps some repair work or catch-up work needs your attention. You push hard and much energy can be wasted if you do not stop to plan for the end result you want to achieve. You seem to choose friends that plan well and today would be a good time to toss around a few ideas with them. This afternoon you can balance all this hard work with some fun activity. You will be pleased to discover that somebody who opposed you in the past is now more understanding of your viewpoint. It is most important to set aside time for family tonight.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) Immediate needs are where your attention is today. Shopping and tending to chores are high on your list of things to mark off your todo list. You have learned to prioritize and this is good. You have the patience that is necessary for helping friends this afternoon. This could mean a move or perhaps watching the kids while the parents tend to some difficult project. You are good at communicating and conveying yourself to others. You have a lot of energy and come across as assertive and in control of whatever is set before you now. You pursue your obligations with much emotion and obvious enthusiasm. You are conventional when it comes to your needs and surroundings. Small and less are okay with you. Take it easy and be good to yourself tonight.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) A lazy morning may consist of updating a scrapbook or photograph album. A cycle of nostalgia and domesticity begins now emphasizing a need for security and a sense of roots. Family, home and relatives play a bigger part in your life. This mood may promote a frenzy of phone calls to out-oftouch loved ones or friends. You want to belong on a private, intimate and personal level. A hobby is most fun when it is shared and that is where a friend might find you this afternoon, playing with a hobby. You may enjoy some time in a park with a friend later today. Helping others is what you do best; you attract more people to you than you believe possible. Others learn from your diplomatic ways. You are wise to listen first and ask questions later.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) You always can say just what you mean. You will be right-on when it comes to questions of feelings—you may be more interested in matters of psychology, different cultures and history. You can find support from all sides when it comes to any sort of mental activity. A new game or an interesting movie may be the goal for the afternoon. You communicate with accomplished skill and it is stimulating just being with you. Your high degree of mental concentration makes you an excellent student, able to excel in speaking, writing and all types of communication skills. Your ambitions go hand-in-hand with communication and using the mind and the two should never be far apart. The evening has romantic possibilities—a time you may look back on fondly.

Yesterday’s Solution Aquarius (January 20- February 18) Family members may want to talk to you about family business matters. It would be wise to listen and take notes. This is nothing serious—just preventative measure for future safety and a good feeling of completion and belonging. Break up the sober moment and open up the discussion to praise and encouragement for others. Others may think you are older than you are, for you can step in and offer wonderful advice and insight. You may even enjoy the thought of being older and probably treat authority, the elderly and your teachers with great respect. Life seems to be working with rather than against you so do not hold back. This may include anything from repairs on the house to some serious hobby involvement. Whistle!

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Word Sleuth Solution

This day may be the beginning of a long dreamy time when you find it easy to lose yourself in one flight of fancy or another.

Normally clear in your thinking, ideas temporarily become fuzzy, and it is hard to be logical or consistent. Let yourself dream today. Work will go well but it is the quiet moments that are difficult to have clear thoughts. Busy yourself in new projects that are in the form of beautification type of vent, perhaps a vegetable garden or putting in a fish tank. This would be a great time to treat your kids or the neighbor’s kids to a visit to the zoo. Perhaps you will enjoy a good book or movie this afternoon. Consider the stars tonight. Being more closely involved with another person may well become your highest priority now.

A

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FIRE BRIGADE

STATE ST TATE T OF KUW K KUWAIT WA AIT

Tel.: T el.: 161 e

DIRECTORA DIRECTORATE AT TE GENE GENERAL ERAL OF CIVIL A AVIATION V VIA AT TION METEOROLOGICAL DEP D DEPARTMENT PA ARTMENT

112

DA AY: Y Sunday DAY:

Ext.: 2627 262 27 - 2630

Fax: 24348714 WWW .MET.GOV V..KW W WWW.MET.GOV.KW

12/06/2011 12/06/201 1

Ministry of Interior

07:00

Time Issue Time

Expected Weather Weather for the Next 24 4 Hours Hot wi with ith moderate to fresh north westerly w wind, with speed off 20 - 45 km/h causing raising g dust over open areas

BY Y DA DAY: AY:

website: www.moi.gov.kw

Dusty with moderate to fresh north h westerly wind, with speed of 25 - 45 km/h

NIGHT:: BY Y NIGHT

For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128

No Current Warnings Warnin a gs

WARNING W A ARNING STATION ST TATION T

Hospitals Sabah Hospital

MONDAY, JUNE 13, 2011

24812000

MAX. EXP EXP. P.

MIN.. REC.

KUW WA AIT CITY KUWAIT

43 °C

31 °C

KUW WA AIT AIRPORT AIRPOR RT KUWAIT

44 °C

27 °C

43 °C C

29 °C C

Amiri Hospital

22450005

NUW WA AISEEB NUWAISEEB

Maternity Hospital

24843100

WAFRA A WAFRA

45 °C

29 °C

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

SALMI

42 °C

27 °C

Chest Hospital

24849400

ABDAL LY ABDALY

45 °C

26 °C

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

ALIY YA AH JAL ALIYAH

43 °C

27 °C

Adan Hospital

23940620

FAILAKA A FAILAKA

43 °C

27 °C

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

POR RT AHMADI PORT

42 °C

33 °C

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

M UMM AL-MARADEM

40 °C

32 °C

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

WARBA A A - BUBYAN BUBY YA AN WARBA

44 °C

28 °C

Clinics

SFC. CHAR CHART T

12/06/201 1 0000 UTC 12/06/2011

4732263

Roudha

22517733

DAY DA AY

DATE DA AT TE

Adhaliya

22517144

Monday

13/06

Khaldiya

24848075

Tuesday Tuesday

14/06

Keifan

24849807

Weednesday Wednesday

15/06

Shamiya

24848913

Thursday

16/06

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salim

22549134

Al-Nuzha

Temperatures Temperratures WEA WEATHER AT THER

MAX.

MIN.

Wind Wind Direction Direction

Wind Wind Speed

dusty

43 °C

30 °C

NW

25 - 45 km/h

dusty

42 °C

31 °C

NW

25 - 45 km/h

dusty

41 °C

29 °C

NW

25 - 50 km/h

dusty

42 °C

32 °C

NW

50 - 60 km/h

PRAYER PR RA AY YER TIMES

RECORDED D YESTERDAY YESTERDA AY AT AT KUW KUWAIT WA AIT T AIRPORT AIRPORT

Fajr

03:13

MAX. MA AX. Temp.

Temp.

44 °C

22526804

Sunrise S i

04 48 04:48

MIN. Temp.

MI IN T IN. emp.

29 °C

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Zuhr

1 1:48 11:48

MAX. RH M

15 %

Al-Khadissiya

22515088

Asr

15:22

MIN. RH M

05 %

Dasmah

22532265

Sunset

18:48

MAX. Wind MA AX. W ind

Isha

20:20

TOTAL RAINFALL T OT TA AL L RAI INF FA ALL L IN 24 HR.

Bneid Al-Ghar

22531908

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

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

Al-Jahra

25610011

Al-Salmiya

25616368

POLICE STATION

4 DA DAYS AY YS FORECAST

Rabiya

Al-Madena

un nless otherwise stated.

All times are local time unless

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

NW W 57 km/h

about the Civil ID card is 1889988

00 mm

12/06/11 02:11 02:11 UTC 12/06/11

V1.00

T1.06

PHARMACIES

AIRLINES

ON 24 HRS DUTY GOVERNORATE

PHARMACY

ADDRESS

PHONE

Ahmadi

Sama Safwan Abu Halaifa Danat Al-Sultan

Fahaeel Makka St Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd

23915883 23715414 23726558

Jahra

Modern Jahra Madina Munawara

Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 Jahra-Block 92

24575518 24566622

Capital

Ahlam Khaldiya Coop

Fahad Al-Salem St Khaldiya Coop

22436184 24833967

Farwaniya

New Shifa Ferdous Coop Modern Safwan

Farwaniya Block 40 Ferdous Coop Old Kheitan Block 11

24734000 24881201 24726638

Hawally

Tariq Hana Ikhlas Hawally & Rawdha Ghadeer Kindy Ibn Al-Nafis Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Salmiya-Amman St Hawally-Beirut St Hawally & Rawdha Coop Jabriya-Block 1A Jabriya-Block 3B Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

25726265 25647075 22625999 22564549 25340559 25326554 25721264 25380581 25628241

Kuwait Airways Jazeera Airways Jet Airways FlyDubai Qatar Airways KLM Air Slovakia Olympic Airways Royal Jordanian Reservation British Airways Air France Emirates Air India Sri Lanka Airlines Egypt Air Swiss Air Saudia Middle East Airlines Lufthansa PIA Alitalia Balkan Airlines Bangladesh Airlines Czech Airlines Indian Airlines Oman Air Turkish Airlines Aeroflot

22433377 177 22924455 22414400 22423888 22425747 22434940 22420002/9 22418064/5/6 22433388 22425635 22430224 22425566 22438184 22424444 22421578 22421516 22426306 22423073 22422493 22421044 22414427 22416474 22452977/8 22417901/ 2433141 22456700 22958787 22453820/1 22404838/9

PRIVATE CLINICS Ophthalmologists Dr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 25622444 Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 25752222 Dr. Masoma Habeeb 25321171 Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 25739999 Dr. Mohsen Abel 25757700 Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 25732223 Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 25732223 Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510 Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660 Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478 Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996 Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988 Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166 Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426 General Practitioners Dr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123 Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312 Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920 Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465 Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528 Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781 Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501 Urologists Dr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534 Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955 Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 22616660 Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120 Dr. Leons Joseph 66703427 Psychologists /Psychotherapists

Paediatricians

Plastic Surgeons Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf

22547272

Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed

Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari

22617700

Dr. Zahra Qabazard

Dr. Abdel Quttainah

25625030/60

Family Doctor Dr Divya Damodar

23729596/23729581

Psychiatrists Dr. Esam Al-Ansari

22635047

Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan

INTERNATIONAL CALLS

22613623/0

Gynaecologists & Obstetricians DrAdrian arbe

23729596/23729581

Dr. Verginia s.Marin

2572-6666 ext 8321

Endocrinologist 25340300

25710444

Dr. Sohail Qamar

22621099

Dr. Snaa Maaroof

25713514

Dr. Pradip Gujare

23713100

Dr. Zacharias Mathew

24334282

(1) Ear, Nose and Throat (2) Plastic Surgeon Dr. Abdul Mohsin Jafar, FRCS (Canada)

Dr Anil Thomas

3729596/3729581 22641071/2

22655539

Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami

25343406

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed

22562226

Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly

25739272

Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer

22561444

Dr. Salem soso

22618787

Dr. Faysal Al-Fozan

22619557

Dr. Abdallateef Al-Katrash

22525888

Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer

22610044

Dr. Abidallah Al-Duweisan

25653755

Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher

25327148

Dr. Bader Al-Ansari

25620111

Neurologists

Dr. Adnan Ebil

22639939

Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri

25633324

Dr. Mousa Khadada

22666300

Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan

25345875

Gastrologists

25728004

Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra

25355515

Dr. Sami Aman

22636464

Dr. Mobarak Aldoub

24726446

Dr. Mohammad Al-Shamaly

25322030

Dr Nasser Behbehani

25654300/3

Dr. Foad Abidallah Al-Ali

22633135

Soor Center Tel: 2290-1677 Fax: 2290 1688

info@soorcenter.com www.soorcenter.com

Dr. Kamal Al-Shomr 25329924 Physiotherapists & VD Dr. Deyaa Shehab

25722291 22666288

Rheumatologists:

Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan

Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan

Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari 25658888

Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees

Dentists

Internists, Chest & Heart

25339330

25655535

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar

General Surgeons

Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman

Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa, Ph.D. 2290-1677 Susannah-Joy Schuilenberg, M.A. 2290-1677

Dr. Adel Al-Awadi

25330060

Dr. Khaled Al-Jarallah

25722290

Internist, Chest & Heart DR.Mohammes Akkad

24555050 Ext 210

Dr. Mohammad Zubaid MB, ChB, FRCPC, PACC Assistant Professor Of Medicine Head, Division of Cardiology Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital Consultant Cardiologist Dr. Farida Al-Habib MD, PH.D, FACC Inaya German Medical Center Te: 2575077 Fax: 25723123

2611555-2622555

William Schuilenberg, RPC 2290-1677 Zaina Al Zabin, M.Sc. 2290-1677

Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Anguilla Antiga Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands

0093 00355 00213 00376 00244 001264 001268 0054 00374 0061 0043 001242 00973 00880 001246 00375 0032 00501 00229 001441 00975 00591 00387 00267 0055 00673 00359 00226 00257 00855 00237 001 00238 001345

Central African Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Congo Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Cyprus Cyprus (Northern) Czech Republic Denmark Diego Garcia Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador England (UK) Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia

00236 00235 0056 0086 0057 00269 00242 00682 00506 00385 0053 00357 0090392 00420 0045 00246 00253 001767 001809 00593 0020 00503 0044 00240 00291 00372 00251 00500 00298 00679 00358 0033 00594 00689

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lifestyle G O S S I P

Biel dating Farrell? essica Biel and Colin Farrell are reportedly dating. The pair have become close while shooting the ‘ Total Recall’ remake and the American actress - who split from Justin Timberlake in March is believed to be smitten with the hunky actor. A source told MailOnline: “Jessica loves Colin’s accent and personality. “She’s completely over Justin, she’s having fun being single and thinks Colin is a blast.

They’ve been hanging out between takes and Colin’s suggested they go out after work.” Jessica and singer-and-actor Justin split because there was no longer any “romance” in their relationship according

J

to pals. A source said: “Justin truly thought he’d found the one in Jessica and she felt the same. But the relationship just didn’t seem to go anywhere.

“They’ve both been working incredibly hard and will remain friendly - but there’s no more romance.” Colin is not the first co-star Jessica, 29, has been linked with. She was recently spotted on a romantic bike ride with Gerard Butler and enjoying a romantic dinner with him at a Japanese restaurant in Louisiana, during which they sat side-by-side. Jessica was previously linked to Edward Norton after they starred in ‘The Illusionist’.

Chiefs proud of new album

Alice Cooper T

Adele helps others with cash

dele gives her money away to friends. The 23-year-old singer had a tough upbringing so since finding success, she likes to help as many people as possible with her wealth. She said: “The cash has started trickling in, but I don’t come from any money so I help people. I give money to charity and to friends and family.” However, the ‘Rolling In The Deep’ hitmaker is looking forward to boosting her wealth so she can take a break - though she insists she will no longer employ people to do her chores once she has the time to do so herself. She told Britain’s Glamour magazine: “I have an assistant but I do my own washing.

My auntie cleans for me, but I love a good clean as well. “And when all these squillion pounds come in, I’m having a break so I won’t need any help. “I don’t need assistance getting myself to the pub.”

A

K

aiser Chiefs felt like they were “really sticking it to the man” with their new album. The ‘Little Shocks’ group have released ‘The Future is Mediaeval’ on a basis where fans can choose 10 out of the 20 tracks they have recorded to make their own album, and felt it was a revolutionar y idea at the time. Songwriter and drummer Nick Hodges said singer Ricky Wilson came up with the concept, and that it “felt really punk rock when he explained it to me. It felt like we were really sticking it to the man.” Surprisingly, however, the idea was a hit with the record company, who described the move as “daring” and “innovative”, and the only problem they ran into was trying to keep their idea secret before the release.

Nick added to NME magazine: “It’s been a bit stressful, because we’ve been keeping this secret for so long. There have been times when you get a bit drunk and you feel like blurting it out. I think Ricky’s had a couple of close calls.”

Cole crush

he legendary ‘School’s Out’ rocker - real name Vincent Furnier - is famed for his skills with a driver and a nine iron in his leisure time, but his onstage alter ego can’t stand the sport. He told BANG Showbiz: “Alice hates golf. Alice the character hates golf. I love golf but he hates it. That’s why I’ll never do a golf DVD - nobody wants to see me play golf, they want to see Alice play golf, but he hates it.” The singer believes by separating his on stage and off stage personas he has been able to extend his career, as many of his friends who have tried to live the rock star life to the fullest have tragically died along the way. He added: “It’s hard to live your image off stage. Jim Morrison tried to be Jim Morrison all the time, Keith Moon tried to be Keith Moon all the time and you can’t possibly live that character off stage or it will kill you. “I love playing Alice, there’s nothing more fun than playing Alice, but when the audience isn’t there there’s really no need for him to be.” Earlier this week, Alice was presented with the Kerrang! Icon prize at The Kerrang! Awards 2011 - sponsored by Relentless energy drink - and said his wife is sick of him getting so many accolades.

Doolittle’s

hates golf

liza Doolittle has a crush on Cheryl Cole. The ‘Pack Up’ singer - who has been in a relationship with a rapper named Ollie for four years - loves reading celebrity magazines to “perve on all the pretty girls”, and as well as the ‘Parachute’ hitmaker, she also admires ‘Mad Men’ star January Jones. Eliza said: “Cheryl Cole is delicious. I’d also like to see January Jones in a bikini! I really love reading gossip magazines on the train, just to perve on all the pretty girls.” Eliza - who famously insured her legs for £5million after modeling for a Nike running game - claims to be “oblivious” to her male fans, but is not afraid to tell men how she feels about them. She added to more! magazine: “My friends will be like, ‘That bloke was chatting you up’, and I’ll go, ‘What?’ I’m so oblivious - I don’t notice things like that. I don’t really go out partying but I’m definitely a social butterfly. But I don’t hold back - if I think someone’s good-looking I’ll tell them straight away.”

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Lively delighted with doll double

Lily Allen has got married he singer-turned-fashion entrepreneur tied the knot with Sam Cooper in an intimate ceremony at the St James the Great church in Cranham, near Stroud, Gloucestershire, South West England, on Saturday afternoon. The 26-year-old pop star was accompanied into the small church by her father, comedian-and-actor Keith Allen, and her huge smile was clear to see for all the cheering well-wishers who had gathered outside to catch a glimpse of the bride. Lily looked beautiful in her wedding dress, which was designed by Delphine Manivet and had a fishtail skirt, lace overlay and lace sleeves similar to the gown Duchess Catherine wore when she tied the knot with Prince William in April. The ‘Not Fair’ hitmaker completed her

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outfit with an elaborate and lengthy lace headdress with a flower detail on the side of her veil and she was carrying a rose bouquet created from peach, cream and pink flowers.

Among the bridesmaids was ‘T4’ presenter Miquita Oliver, Lily’s friend since childhood, who wore a peach gown. Less than 100 guests attended the wedding, including comedian Harry Enfield - who previously dated Lily’s mother, film producer Alison Owen - TV star Angus Deayton, the singer’s actor brother Alfie and her half-sister Sarah Owen, who she runs vintage fashion boutique Lucy In Disguise with. Lily and Sam - who runs a building firm - paid for extra policing to be present on their big day and security around the venue was tight with two roads and several footpaths closed off to the public.

lake Lively can’t wait to play with her replica doll. The 23year-old actress is delighted to have been given a miniature replica of herself as her ‘Green Lantern’ character Carol Ferris and even plans to purchase a home for the action figure. She said: “It’s so wild. I feel like I need to go and buy Barbie’s Magical Dream House and play with myself. Wait, that doesn’t sound right.” While Blake - who stars in the film with Ryan Reynolds - can’t wait to play with her doll, Sienna Miller previously admitted she found it strange having a replica version of herself as the Baroness in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. She said: “I’m not sure if I’m going to be playing with my own doll - but I’m going to have happy nieces and nephews, I’m sure.”

However, Jake Gyllenhaal loved the idea of an action figure of himself and couldn’t wait to go out and buy some miniature versions of himself in ‘Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time’. He said: “A lot of people find it weird to have little action figures of themselves, but I think it’s great. In fact it’s awesome!

I can’t wait. I’m going to buy loads.”

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MONDAY, JUNE 13, 2011

lifestyle Music & Movies

Student Academy Awards have foreign flavor T here was a decidedly international flavor to Saturday night ’s Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 38th Annual Student Academy Awards, with top medalists hailing from homelands spanning the globe — from Norway to South Korea to Israel to Brazil. “For the first time Foreign Film is not just an honorary category, as it has been for the past 31 years,” said event copresenter, “Alias” actress Jennifer Garner. “ The Student Award executive committee felt with all the quality work they were seei ng ea c h ye a r f rom t he scho o l s o u t side America, it was about time to make to make Foreign Film a regular category.”

Garner noted that foreign students submitted 52 films from 32 different countries this year, and the winner of the new foreign prize was Norway’s Hallvar Witzo, director of “ Tu b a At la n t i c.” Even o ne o f t he to p Hollywood-produced winners, narrative-category gold medalist “ Thief,” had a foreign f l a i r. I t s p u n a rou n d a yo ung Saddam Hussein, was set in Iraq and in Iraqi-Arabic with subtitles. “This is just an incredible ride, a thrill ride,” “Thief ” director Julian Higgins said in a pre-ceremony interview Saturday af tern oon . H i ggi n s, a graduate o f t he American Film Institute, added, “We do have a mantel, for once in my apartment. So, that might be the choice. But, you’ll never know.

I mean, I hear these are people that win the Oscars and they put it in their closet or in

‘Super 8’ defies skeptics with big box office debut

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their office or something, I’ve never thought about it before. So, I guess I should start thinking.” Other gold medal winners included New Yor k direc tor Z ac h H yer ’s “Correspondence” in the animation category and Chicago-based Wonjung Bae’s “ Vera Klement: Blunt Edge” in the documentary category. While all winners knew they would each receive an award, their placement — Gold, Silver or Bronze — was not revealed until the ceremony. Gold medalists received cash gran ts of $ 5 ,0 0 0 . S ilver medalists received $ 3 ,0 0 0 . An d Bron ze medalists received $2,000.

The Academy established the Student Academy Awards in 1972 to support and encourage excellence in filmmaking at the co l l egiate level. Past S tuden t Academy Award winners have gone on to receive 43 Oscar nominations and have won or shared eight awards. —AP

Narrative film winner Julian Higgins prior to the 38th Annual Student Academy Awards on Saturday, June 11, in Beverly Hills. — AP

New York’s Central Park gives musicians the boot F

ew instruments can be gentler than the harp, but authorities in New York’s Central Park have branded street musicians like harpist Meta Epstein a public disturbance and want them driven out. A new campaign to enforce eight “quiet zones,” including in some of the city’s most hallowed spots for street performers, is turning virtuosos like Epstein into outlaws. After years of being left in peace to perform her baroque repertoire on the beautiful, golden instrument, Epstein, 59, says she’s suddenly being treated as a menace.

Park police, she said, accused her of destroying the grass where she sat and ordered her to move on.

“They say we’re responsible for the bare patch but then you see people everywhere playing soccer with boots and cleats,” she said in bewilderment. “They were actually pretty nasty and I’m not used to police intimidation. It’s basically putting us out of work.”Nearby in the mosaiclined colonnades next to Bethesda Fountain, a few brave souls performed Mozart and Gospel songs in defiance of the ban.The columned arcade is not just a prime tourist spot, but enjoys some of the best acoustics in New York outside of a concert hall, leaving the last note of each song hanging in the air. But the musicians, including a Japanese singer, a Ukrainian double bass player and singer John Boyd, said playing timeless music hadn’t saved them from the crackdown.

Boyd, a 48-year-old with a powerful, deep voice, pulled eight pink

sheets from his pocket-park police summonses handed out over the last two weeks for fines ranging from $50 to $350.”I’ve been ticketed and arrested because I wouldn’t stop singing,” he said. “My life has been devastated by this.”Central Park representatives say they have nothing against musicians. They just want don’t want them in “quiet zones,” which have been marked with new, shiny green and white signs. Park spokeswoman Vickie Karp said the zones include the Bethesda Fountain area, Shakespeare Garden, Sheep Meadow and Strawberry Fields, the living memorial to the Beatles’ John Lennon, who was murdered nearby.

“For every protester supporting music or loud noise without limits, there are thousands of park visitors who come to parks looking for peace and quiet,” Karp said in an email.”Parks are one of the few places you can come and hear the soothing sounds of nature: bird songs, falling water, the wind in the leaves, human conversation.”Karp pointed out that musical performances at Bethesda Fountain can attract crowds of as many as hundreds of people. Some weekends, the sound reverberates across the boating pond and into the carefully preserved, dense woodland of The Ramble. “It is not that we are against music. It is that we are for quiet,” Karp said.

Musicians say that logic doesn’t justify the expulsion of classical singers and string instrument players, whose melodies, if anything, are

more soothing than the noise of tourist crowds. Arlen Oleson, 56, who plays the hammer dulcimer, noted that huge concerts for rock bands are organized in Central Park, bringing tens of thousands of people to trample the grass and mammoth speakers to pump out megadecibel music. “It’s a galling hypocrisy,” he said. The street musicians have gotten some high-profile help in the last week. Norman Siegel, a prominent civil rights lawyer, has taken up their cause and Boyd said the attorney was helping him try to escape punishment.

Geoffrey Croft, the founder of NYC Park Advocates, which supports city parks, has also jumped in, calling the issue “absurd.” “As long as there’s been a park system people have been playing music in parks,” he told AFP. “They’re claiming people are complaining, but who’s complaining?” The clampdown appeared to mystify tourists, some of whom come specifically to Bethesda Fountain to hear the free, impromptu concerts. Tourist Zita Misley, a mother of three, said she’d noticed the “quiet zone” sign nearby, but hadn’t quite got the point. “Oh, I thought they put ‘quiet zone’ so that we could listen to the music!” she said when told of the park’s campaign.—AFP

uper 8” easily claimed the top spot at the weekend box office in North America, despite concerns about the secretive marketing campaign for the sci-fi mystery with a no-name cast. According to studio estimates issued yesterday, the Paramount Pictures release earned about $37 million during its first three days of release, exceeding the studio’s low-ball forecast in the $25 million to $30 million range.

The film earned an additional $1 million through a Twitter-related round of sneak previews on Thursday.

In a summer of sequels and superheroes, “Super 8” is the first original, live-action non-sequel to take the No 1 slot in almost three months. The thriller “Limitless” led the field during the weekend of March 18-20. Last weekend’s champion, “X-Men: First Class,” the fifth entry in the Marvel comic book series, slipped to No 2 with $25.0 million. It was followed by “The Hangover, Part II” with $18.5 million in its third weekend.

The only other new entry in the top 10 bombed.

The kids movie “Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer” opened at No. 7 with just $6.3 million, coming in at the low end of expectations in the $6 million to $10 million range. The advance buzz for “Super 8” was hardly deafening, even with the A-list imprimatur of JJ Abrams as writer/director and Steven Spielberg as a producer. Abrams convinced skeptical Paramount executives to run a campaign that retained a sense of old-fashioned mystery, earning scorn from industry pundits as surveys showed little enthusiasm among prospective moviegoers.

The plot centers on a group of kids in a small Ohio town who spend the summer of 1979 making a home movie using the 8mm film format that was popular back then and from which the film gets its title. They witness a train crash, which triggers a series of inexplicable events and disappearances. The trailer deliberately did not show the alien creature around which the film revolves. As industry pundits began to secondguess the strategy, Paramount last week announced the film would open a day ahead of schedule on Thursday in a sneak-preview promotion with Twitter. A glimpse of the creature was also sent online.

The last-minute fix, along with overwhelmingly positive reviews, seemed to do the trick. The film cost a relatively modest $50 million to make, according to Paramount. Elsewhere, “Judy Moody” is the latest in a string of underperforming literary adaptations aimed at young girls, including last summer’s Beverly Cleary adaptation “Ramona and Beezus” and a 2007 adaptation of the Nancy Drew books. It was financed for nearly $20 million by Sarah Siegel-Magness and her husband Gary Magness, the couple who previously backed the Oscar-winning movie “Precious.”

Paramount Pictures is a unit of Viacom Inc.”X-Men: First Class” was distributed by 20th Century Fox, a unit of News Corp. “The Hangover: Part II” wasdistributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a unit of Time Warner Inc “Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer” was distributed by privately held Relativity Media.—Reuters

Latin American films scoop prizes at Romanian festival

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Harpist Meta Epstein plays her harp in one of Central Park’s eight “quiet zones” on June 9, 2011 in New York.—AFP

wo Latin American movies scooped the biggest prizes of the Transylvania International Film Festival (TIFF) which ended Saturday in the northwestern Romanian city of Cluj. “Sin Retorno” (No Return), by Argentine filmmaker Miguel Cohan, won the Transylvania award as well as the best screenplay prize, while “La Vida Util” (A Useful Life), by Uruguayan Federico Veiroj, picked up the jury’s special prize.

British actress Jaqueline Bisset, who handed the prize to Cohan, was in her turn honored for her contribution to world cinematography. Michael York, who won a lifetime achievement award, was unable to attend for health reasons but sent a videotaped message from Los Angeles to thank the jury. The audience gave a standing ovation to Romanian filmmaker Lucian Pintilie, author among others of “Reconstituirea” (The Reenactment) and “Balanta” (The Oak), who was awarded the prize for excellence.

The 10th edition of the festival, one of the most important in the Balkans, screened some 220 movies, including 3D productions by German Wim Wenders and Werner Herzog.—AFP

Beirut Music and Art Festival

Lebanese musician Marcel khalife and his two sons Rami, a pianist, and Bashir, a percussionist, (unseen) perform during the Beirut Music and Art Festival on June 11, 2011.—AFP

Marcel khalife’s son Bashir, a percussionist, performs.

Marcel khalife’s son Rami, a pianist, performs.

MONDAY, JUNE 13, 2011

lifestyle F E A T U R E S

The

secret

is out in Oak Ridge

Oak Ridge, Tennessee, historian, Bill Wilcox, 88, was a chemist on the secret World War II project to make ingredients for an atomic bomb. In the ‘40s, this ‘cemesto’ home and others like it seemed to spring up overnight. —MCT he poster’s hush-hush tone said it all: “What you see here, what you do here, what you hear here, when you leave here, let it stay here.” Here in the rolling hills of eastern Tennessee, America built one of three secret cities that developed the atomic bombs dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, bringing an end to World War II. The city, now called Oak Ridge, once was home to 75,000 people, yet it did not appear on any map. Visitors could get into the town only through gated entrances.

The vast majority of residents were unwitting participants in the drive to harvest enriched uranium for the “Little Boy” bomb that devastated Hiroshima on Aug 6, 1945.

They learned exactly what they were doing only when they read the big, black headlines that proclaimed the war’s end. Nearly 66 years later, Oak Ridge is getting ready to celebrate its heritage-and to party a little too.

On June 17 and 18, the city of more than 27,600 people will hold its ninth annual Secret City Festival, two days of family entertainment featuring headliners the Village People and

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Ricky Skaggs. Year round, the town presents an array of museums, historic sites and buildings that convey what happened behind a curtain of secrecy that is hard to fathom in the age of Google Earth, Facebook and Twitter.

“These days you could never do that,” said Bill Wilcox, 88, the city historian, who experienced Oak Ridge’s deception from the moment he arrived here as a chemist fresh out of college. After telling Wilcox he would be working with uranium, his superiors ordered that he never utter the word-at least until the war was over.

As visitors learn from the signature exhibit at the American Museum of Science & Energy here, Oak Ridge was born in 1942 as America raced to build an atomic bomb before Hitler’s Germany. The effort, code -named the Manhattan Project, built two other secret cities: one in Hanford, Wash., where plutonium was made for the bomb dropped on Nagasaki; the other, in Los Alamos, NM, where the bombs were assembled.

The US Army Corps of Engineers snapped up 59,000 acres of eastern Tennessee farm-

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Poway Park. Though the train is owned by the city, volunteers operate it.

“I enjoy what I do and I get paid a million dollars when I see a smile from a child,” said Douglas Williams, a volunteer who is qualified to work as a conductor, fireman and engineer. Because the railroad runs in a city-owned park, watching it operate is free. Most weekends, many people can

f you’re into steam trains, and want to ride aboard one without going to a theme park, then the Poway Midland Railroad might be just the ticket. The railroad has been running its 1907 Baldwin locomotive steam engine in the town of Poway in San Diego County, east of Del Mar, since 1997. It runs on a half-mile of narrow-gauge (42inches-wide) track around the perimeter of Old

land. A thousand rural families were given as little as two weeks to leave. They would make way for an instant city and four atomic plants, including a U-shaped, 44-acre behemoth called K-25 that measured half a mile by 1,000 feet.

The army picked Oak Ridge for several reasons: Its temperate climate would allow for yearround construction. Nearby dams would provide the needed electricity. The area’s landscape-long valleys framed by parallel ridgeswould shelter the plants from spies. If one of the plants blew up, the ridges would prevent an explosion from spreading like a string of firecrackers.

The town grew like kudzu, zooming past the initial projected population of 13,000 because so many workers were needed. In less than four years, by Wilcox’s count, the Army engineers had built nearly 10,000 homes for families, 90 two-story dormitories, 5,000 trailers, barracks and huts for 16,000 people, a dozen shopping centers, nine neighborhood schools, two chapels and the nation’s ninthlargest bus system.

It was called the “Clinton EngineerWorks,” a bland name that would not attract attention.

Nosy people from nearby Knoxville still asked what was going on inside the gates. “Oh, we’re just building a bunch of homes for all the officers to come retire in after the war,” residents would say. Today, especially along its franchise-lined commercial strip, Oak Ridge looks more like any city than Atom City. But visitors can still glimpse vestiges of the town’s storied past.

An outdoor exhibit at the American Museum of Science & Energy features one of Oak Ridge’s prefab “flat-top” houses: a 567square-foot two-bedroom, complete with two sinks (one for washing clothes, the other for dishes). The homes were trucked into town in two halves, completely furnished.

Nearby is Jackson Square, the historic arcaded shopping area that once hummed 24/7 as townspeople frequented its movie theater, bowling alley, dance hall and stores.

You also can see the shuttered, classically dressed Guest House, which once hosted renowned nuclear physicists who signed in

under assumed names, and the white, spiretopped Chapel on the Hill, which hosted multiple religious denominations during the war.

Elsewhere, you will encounter winding streets and the town’s “alphabet homes,” single-family houses whose different models were known as “A,” “B” and so on. The outside walls of the cheap, quickly built alphabet homes were made from a mix of asbestos and cement called “cemesto.” Today they’ve been personalized, with a variety of colors and facade styles.

History and science buffs should visit the New Hope Center, which offers an exhibit devoted to the massive Y-12 atomic plant that separated the crucial uranium material, known as U-235, from ordinary uranium.

After the “pretty blue-green powder” of the U-235 was carefully packaged, Wilcox recalled, it was slipped into a briefcase that was chained to the wrist of a lieutenant in civilian clothes. Accompanied by armed escorts, the lieutenant took a train to New Mexico. There, scientists used the enriched uranium to make one of the bombs. — MCT

A 1907 Baldwin steam locomotive travels the Poway-Midland Railroad in Poway.—MCT

If you go Getting there: From the Los Angeles area, take the 91 freeway east to Interstate 15 south.

Take the Camino Del Norte (exit 22) off ramp. Turn left (east) for approximately 3.4 miles.

(Note, the street changes its name to Twin Peaks Road after 1.8 miles.) Turn right (south) on Midland Road. Old Poway Park will be on the right-hand side in about a half mile. The address is: 14134 Midland Road, Poway, CA 92064 Hours: The steam train runs on the first and third weekends of each month, except for January and February when it is closed for maintenance. It hours are from 10 am to 4 pm on Saturdays and 11 am to 2 pm on Sundays. The trolley runs on the second Saturday of each month and the speeder runs on the fourth weekend of each month.

PRICES: Tickets for the steam train are $2.50 for adults; for the trolley the price is $2 for adults, and for the speeder, $1.50 for adults. The price is 50 cents for all children. —MCT

be found taking pictures of their family with the train running behind them, or enjoying a picnic while the train runs its circuit.

The route takes the train through trees, up a small grade and over a trestle, keeping the volunteers busy. “I think the fireman’s job is the hardest,” said Kim Keeline, who works at all three positions alongside her husband James. She got interested

in trains because of her husband’s interest. She said it took her two years to qualify at all three positions and likes doing things that woman weren’t allowed to do years ago.

“As a fireman you have to do a lot more fiddling with the train. You have to keep track of the fire and the water and during the light-up there’s a lot of stuff to do,” she said. For a nominal fee, vis-

itors can ride in a passenger car built to simulate a 1870s style car by Charles Pollard, a former owner of the locomotive who ran it on the grounds of his machine shop in Vista. John Porter, who ran it on his property in Poway, purchased the rolling equipment in 1966. Porter also built a mock station and train barn on his property, part of which comprised the future Old Poway Park.

The city built a new depot a few years ago where passengers can purchase tickets, and souvenirs of the railroad. The train barn houses all the equipment when it is not running on the main line. “The locomotive requires a lot of maintenance,” said James Keeline. Every year the steam locomotive has to undergo an inspection by a state agency to ensure the boiler is in proper condition.

“We’ll take it apart and put it back together again,” he said. The city bought the train, rolling stock and the area of the park the track was on in 1987. After 10 years, the train was fully restored by volunteers and began operations in 1997.

Besides running the steam train, volunteers also operate a 1894 trolley car that once belonged to the Los Angeles Yellow Line and a 1950 Fairmont Speeder that also pulls passenger cars like the steam engine. Some of the volunteers strictly work on restoring equipment.

—MCT

MONDAY, JUNE 13, 2011

lifestyle F E A T U R E S

D

ocumentary filmmaker Ken Burns isn’t one to easily lend his name to colognes, designer jeans, spaghetti sauce, or any of the other entrapments that sometimes come with fame. But when Tauck, a leading tour company for guided land journeys and small ship cruises, approached Burns and his partner, Dayton Duncan, about teaming up on a series of events and tours surrounding American culture and history, he happily said yes. That’s when Ken Burns American Journeys came to being.

“We’re in the business of history,” says Burns matterof-factly, whose documentaries include “The Civil War,” “Baseball,” “Jazz” and “The National Parks: American’s Best Idea.” “And a lot of people have paid attention to those films we made.” Film, whether movies or documentaries, inspires travel. Think “Out of Africa” for Kenya, “Mamma Mia!” for Greece, or “Under the Tuscan Sun” for Italy. Burns just takes the marriage of film and travel a step farther down the aisle.

He says that his and Duncan’s goals in filmmaking pair extremely well with Tauck’s mission of sharing America’s story in a memorable and compelling way, adding, “We both try to engage our audiences, increase their knowledge, and make strong emotional connections with the people and stories from America’s past that help define who we are today.”

Burns, a born storyteller who also produced a number of biographical documentaries on personalities like Mark Twain, Huey Long and Thomas Jefferson, states, “Tauck looks for the little thing that is greater than the sum of the whole” And, adds Duncan, “Tauck approaches tours the same way we do film making: with care and passion and a lot of fun.” Burns and Duncan have been friends for a very long time and share a great love for what they do. So, then, when they collaborated-Burns says they “gloriously collaborated”-with Tauck on the projects, they came up with three components for travelers.

The first is a set of itineraries called “Crafted by Tauck & Ken Burns,” the second is a series of filmed narratives entitled “Stories by Ken Burns,” and the last is “Ken Burns Events.” The Crafted itineraries, one focusing on the Civil War and the other on national parks,

while not escorted by either Burns or Duncan, have been carefully selected, and to use their word, “choreographed” by them.

Putting together such an extensive itinerary on your own isn’t for the fainthearted. “It’s very difficult for people to do these things on their own,” says Duncan. “And guests can expect a deeper experience than they would have had if they had gone on their own.” At present there are two journeys from which to choose. “Spirit of the Desert: The National Parks of the Southwest” takes you on a 10-day journey from Grand Junction, Colorado, to Las Vegas, Nevada, and through six national parks along what Burns terms “the most interesting, unbelievable landscapes in America,” including the Grand Canyon, Arches National Park, and Zion National Park. The tours operate from May until October.

“If you really want to witness the landscape of the national parks when they’re most beautiful, at their best, you want to see them at sunrise and sunset,” says Duncan, emphasizing those were the times when they typically shot most of their footage for “The National Parks.” The next is “Most Hallowed Ground,” an 11-day tour that focuses on places covered in

an Americ Native nd a history among is culture s ic p o t e th the sed on addres f the o “Spirti tour. ” Desert

If you go

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or reservations and additional information visit www.Tauck.com or call toll-free (800) 788-7885. For more information on Ken Burns, visit www.PBS.org/KenBurns. For more information on the National Parks Service, visit www.NPS.org.—MCT

(From left) Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns and his partner Dayton Duncan have teamed up with Tauck tour company to develop historical heritage travel itineraries.

n Ca nyo e and h r t G g n o ( L e f t ) l Park is am o f t h e a Nation n t h e “ S p ir it o s t o p s tour.

Gen ” t r e s of Brig r e n De statue r a A ) W w K (Belo untop rneur G o u v e o n L i t t l e R o le fi e d t s t a d stan the b o k in g lo r e v o . ysburg in Gett

Burns’ “The Civil War” documentary. Beginning in Washington, DC, and ending in Richmond, Va, and running only in September and October, you’ll visit historic places like Antietam, Gettysburg, Harper’s Ferry and Appomattox. There are extras, like being privy to guided visits, living history reenactments, and exclusive presentations and talks by Civil War experts.

Travel aboard the motor coaches of select Tauck tours in the US, and you’ll be treated to “Ken Burns Stories,” the next component of Ken Burns American Journeys that is a production of more than 30 unique behind-the-scenes documentary films.

Burns and Duncan give their personal perspectives, experiences, stories, and in-depth commentary on national parks, the Civil War, and jazz through destinations including Charleston and Savannah, New Orleans, Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, the canyon lands of Arizona and Utah, and California’s “gold coast” from Sonoma to Los Angeles.

The last of the collaborations is “Ken Burns Events,” single-time and shorter-length journeys in which Burns makes a personal appearance. A five-day Civil War event was held in Washington in May to a sold-out group, but in October comes the Tauck Jazz Event that takes its guests through New Orleans’ French Quarter with live jazz throughout. Included are a special performance by Ellis Marsalis, a private steamboat cruise, and a keynote address by the man himself, Burns.

Plans are in the works for an additional “Ken Burns Events” in 2012 that is named the Tauck Winter in Yellowstone Event.—MCT

A five-day tour explores the evolution of jazz in New Orleans and its French Quarter. —MCT

New York’s Central Park gives musicians the boot

MONDAY, JUNE 13, 2011

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Junrey Balawing blows out the candles on his cake to mark his 18th birthday with his family during a ceremony that proclaimed him as the world’s shortest man from the Guinness Book of World Records.

Craig Glendar measures 18-year-old Junrey Balawing.

(From left) Craig Glendar, editor-in-chief of the Guinness Book of World Records, measures 18-year-old Junrey Balawing in the rural southern Philippine township of Sindangan, Zamboanga Del Norte yesterday.—AFP

South African art world gives ‘kitsch’ Tretchikoff the nod

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he blue-green tinged portrait is a lurid splash of colour outside the South African National Gallery, in a nod to painter Vladimir Tretchikoff who was blackballed by the art world in his lifetime. The poster of his most famous work-the mass-printed “Chinese Girl”-is for the first major retrospective of the eyepopping works that earned him the labels “king of kitsch” and a “painterly

Barbara Cartland”. “He was definitely somebody who was above everybody’s mantlepiece,” said curator Andrew Lamprecht who spent three years putting the show together.

Adored by the public but scorned by critics, 92 original paintings by the Russian-born artist who arrived in Cape Town after World War II were tracked down across four continents for loan until the end of September.

They range from a moody glimpse of the French singer Francoise Hardy to a pair of rearing zebras, and evocative women from the perky breasted and beautifully exotic to a humble, mixedrace street seller. “Chinese Girl,” often called Tretchikoff’s Mona Lisa, is on public show for the first time in over 50 years with her bright red painted lips, glossy hair and downward gaze.

But nearby are a bizarre later series

of the biblical commandments with photo-real body parts and symbolism that baffle as much as others invoke retro nostalgia with their brashly sentimental flair and garish colors. “We were full for the opening before we sent the invites out. So there’s definitely a buzz-it’s definitely a historic moment,” said Riason Naidoo, art collections director at the gallery which has never bought a Tretchikoff. “I have

no doubt that some people will be quite critical. I think a lot of people believe that he doesn’t have a place in an institution like this. But for me it’s about opening it up and finally addressing Tretchikoff.”

The controversy is fitting: the selftaught painter was forced to hold his first solo exhibition in Cape Town in a book publisher’s gallery in 1948 after a pending show was shut down fol-

lowing a visit by the painter Irma Stern. “To his surprise and everyone’s surprise, by word of mouth, literally thousands of people started queuing outside,” said Lamprecht. “And that was the beginning of a long and acrimonious relationship between the critics and Tretchikoff. The critics did not like Tretchikoff. But Tretchikoff just basically carried on.”—AFP

Rare wood sparks buying frenzy in China I

n a packed Beijing auction room, an anonymous buyer shelled out a staggering 32.3 million yuan ($5 million) for a simple wooden bed made of huanghuali, the rarest of exotic woods. A pair of yoke-back armchairs, also part of an 80 piece collection which once was displayed at the Forbidden City, raked in 23 million yuan. The sale, organized by auctioneers China Guardian last month, set a world record, highlighting how the material akin to rosewood has become one of the most desirable on the Chinese art market. “The price of huanghuali furniture has increased 25 times in the past 20 years,” Qiao Hao, who appraised the collection, told AFP. There are fewer than 10,000 pieces of huanghuali furniture worldwide, according to Qiao, and the supply of the rare material is dwindling fast.

Huanghuali-which literally means “yellow pear tree flower”-is mainly produced on China’s southern Hainan island, where most of the trees made of the coveted tropical wood have been chopped down.”It’s a high-density wood, with an elevated oil content that protects it from humidity.

The grain of the wood is very beautiful. It’s soft to the touch, like a baby’s skin,” Zhong Pingyuan, a specialist on the furniture, told AFP. “The price of huanghuali started to skyrocket about 10 years ago. In 2006

Huanghuali wood furniture is displayed ahead of the China Guardian Spring Auction in Beijing on May 19, 2011. —AFP

alone, it tripled from the previous year. Since spring festival (in early February), prices have gone up 30 percent,” Zhong said. For Jean-Paul Desroches, chief curator at the Guimet museum of Asian art in Paris, the buying frenzy shows an “improvement in the taste” of Chinese collectors who in the past snapped up more showy imperial pieces, but now favor a more “cultured universe” of scholars and civilized living.

The most beautiful huanghuali works, done by cabinet-makers in China’s lower Yangtze river basin during the golden age of Ming Dynasty furniture in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, symbolize an ultrarefined lifestyle.”Historically, huanghuali has been considered a high-value and prized wood reserved for furniture constructed for the court and for the wealthy and elite scholarly class,” Christopher Engle, specialist cohead of Chinese works of art at Christie’s New York, told AFP. “This adds cachet to this already highly desirable material.” Wei Xiwang, vice-secretary of the Huanghuali Collectors’ Association, confirms that supply is fading fast, describing most of the remaining trees on Hainan island as having “the diameter of a bottle of beer”. The explosion of huanghuali prices-fuelled by the everincreasing number of millionaires in China eager to put their newfound

wealth on display and acquire anything that is deemed rare-does not stop at imperial antiques.

A plank of huanghuali measuring more than three meters (10 feet) in length and 30 centimeters in width, with a thickness of five centimeters, is sold today for more than 40,000 yuan a kilo, according to Wei. Even tree roots are used to make cups, beads and other small objects. Outside the hallowed halls of museums and auction houses, huanghuali is also in demand-Chinese media reported that thieves were operating on Hainan to steal the wooden altars built in honor of dead ancestors.

Several traditional houses on the island have been demolished for their huanghuali beams. Other family homes have been stripped of wooden structural elements by thieves eager to get their hands on the prized material. Huanghuali is also getting more attention due to the judicial travails of one of its more famous users-artistactivist Ai Weiwei, who has been in police custody since early April, awaiting formal charges on alleged economic crimes. His huanghuali sculptures are soaring on global art markets. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art bought a 2006 spherical work from a New York gallery for $400,000 in April, two weeks after he was detained.—AFP