22 Jun

ON IP TI SC R SU B

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 2011

Twin car bomb attacks on Iraqi gov kill 26

www.kuwaittimes.net

RAJAB 20, 1432 AH

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7Liberals 28 20 8 to support PM as new grilling looms Oppn vows to oust premier • Assembly passes several budgets

Max 45º Min 33º Low Tide 10:12 & 22:44 High Tide 04:38 & 15:40

By B Izzak

Clinton backs ‘brave’ Saudi women drivers WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday publicly threw her support behind a campaign by Saudi women to lift a ban on female driving in the ultra conservative, oil-rich kingdom. “What these women are doing is brave, and what they are seeking is right,” Clinton said, ending what officials here had called quiet US diplomacy toward a campaign by Saudi women to defy the ban. “I’m moved by it (the campaign) and I support them,” the chief US diplomat told reporters after Saudi women had urged her to publicly back their right-to-drive demands.

However, Clinton sought to make clear the United States was not interfering in the internal affairs of Saudi Arabia, a key US Middle East ally. “I want to underscore the fact that this is not coming from outside of their country. This is the women themselves seeking to be recognized,” said Clinton, who has been a champion of women’s rights worldwide. We have raised this issue at the highest level of the Saudi government,” Clinton said.

Clinton’s spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Monday the secretary had used “quiet diplomacy” to raise the issue in the last few days with Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister. “We have made clear our views that women everywhere, including women in the kingdom, have the right to make decisions about their lives, and their futures,” Clinton said. “They have the right to contribute to society, and provide for their children and their families,” she said. “And mobility, such as provided by the freedom to drive, provides access to economic opportunity, including jobs, which does fuel growth and stability,” Clinton said. “And it’s also important for just day to day life, to say nothing of the necessity from time to time to transport children for various needs and sometimes even emergencies,” she said.

Since a Saudi woman was arrested in May for defying the ban and posting her deed on YouTube, activists calling themselves Saudi Women For Driving have repeatedly called on Clinton to publicly press Saudi Arabia to let women drive. A number of Saudi women drove cars on Friday in response to calls for nationwide action to break what amounts to a traditional ban, unique to the ultra-conservative kingdom, according to reports on social networks.

The call to defy the ban that spread through Facebook and Twitter is the largest en masse action since November 1990, when a group of 47 Saudi Continued on Page 13

PETROZAVODSK, Russia: Rescuers of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations carry a plastic bag with remains of a plane crash victim found in the debris of a RusAir Tupolev 134 passenger jet at a crash site on a highway near the capital of Russia’s northern Karelia region yesterday. — AFP

Russia plane crash kills 44 BESOVETS, Russia: A Russian plane exploded into flames after crashing on a highway just short of its airport, killing 44 and leaving eight survivors fighting for their lives, officials said yesterday. The RusAir Tupolev 134 was trying to land at its destination of Petrozavodsk in the Karelia region of northwestern Russia in bad weather but failed to make the runway and instead hurtled onto a road two kilometres away. Investigators said it was too early to jump to conclusions but Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said the crash appeared the result of an error by the pilot who tried to spot the runway visually in bad weather, and failed.

Rescuers in respirators removed unrecognisably charred bodies in black sacks from the scene of the crash, where sections of the burnt-out plane were strewn across the highway, an AFP correspondent witnessed. “The plane sustained a hard landing two kilometres from Petrozavodsk,” the emergencies ministry

said in a statement on its website. “Forty-four people were killed and eight people injured.” The plane was flying from Moscow’s Domodedovo airport, carrying 43 passengers and nine crew members.

A column of ambulances carried survivors to Petrozavodsk’s Besovets airport where the emergencies ministry later transported five of the wounded to Moscow, an AFP correspondent saw. Among the survivors were a 10-year-old boy called Anton Terekhin and his 14-year-old sister Anastasia Terekhina, whose mother died in the crash, the emergencies ministry said. Medics decided not to evacuate the young boy due to his extremely poor state, Health Minister Tatyana Golikova told journalists. “The boy’s state is extremely serious, critical. He had a large loss of blood,” Golikova told journalists in comments reported on the ministry’s website.

Continued on Page 13

KUWAIT: Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad AlAhmad Al-Sabah got solid assurance yesterday that he will survive a crucial non-cooperation vote tomorrow after the two main liberal groups said they will not support the motion. In a joint statement, the Democratic Forum and the National Democratic Alliance said that last week’s grilling of the prime minister over ties with Iran does not qualify for a vote of no-confidence.

The two groups said that although the prime minister and his seven governments have failed to provide the proper environment to complete the building of the state, the grilling contains material detrimental to national unity and carries sectarian sentiment. The statement said that there has been a general retreat in most indicators like development and freedom besides widespread corruption and undermining of constitutional principles.

The liberals have about six MPs in the National Assembly. One MP, Abdulrahman Al-Anjari, has already supported the non-cooperation motion, which means that the remaining five will not support the vote. The votes of the five MPs are very crucial to the survival of the prime minister because 18 MPs have almost confirmed they will vote against the prime minister and to pass, the motion requires 25 votes among the 49 elected MPs. Also, Shiite MP Hassan Jowhar said he will not support the motion, which almost effectively kills it. In the previous non-cooperation vote in January, five of the six liberal MPs and Jowhar voted in favour of the motion.

The grilling of the prime minister focused on allegations that he boosted ties with Iran at the expense of Gulf Arab states, which raised reservations from the Kuwaiti Shiite minority. But Islamist MP Waleed AlTabtabaei, one of the three MPs who grilled the prime minister, strongly criticized the position of the liberal MPs, charging that their position was taken purely for electoral purposes to win Shiite voters. He also challenged them to produce any evidence that the grilling is sectarian.

Meanwhile, opposition MPs warned that if the noncooperation motion will not pass, they will file a new grilling against the prime minister immediately after the vote. According to MP Ahmad Al-Saadoun, the new grilling will focus on allegations of corruption and squandering of public funds. Opposition MPs Khaled AlTahous, Musallam Al-Barrak and Faisal Al-Mislem will file the new grilling. Its debate is not yet certain as the Assembly plans to close the term on June 29.

“Yes, we have an agenda to rescue Kuwait from Nasser Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah who has destroyed the country,” veteran opposition MP Ahmad Continued on Page 13

US drone copter downed in Libya

PEKA PEKA BEACH, New Zealand: An Emperor penguin walks along Peka Peka Beach after it got lost while hunting for food. — AP

Penguin takes wrong turn to New Zealand WELLINGTON, New Zealand: A young Emperor penguin took a rare wrong turn from the Antarctic and ended up stranded on a New Zealand beach - the first time in 44 years the aquatic bird has been sighted in the wild in the South Pacific country. The penguin was likely born during the last Antarctic winter and may have been searching for squid and krill when it arrived on a New Zealand beach, said Colin Miskelly, a curator at Te Papa, the Museum of New Zealand. The beach on North Island’s western coast is about 3,200 km from the Antarctic coast.

Local resident Christine Wilton was taking her miniature Schnauzer dog Millie for a walk on Peka Peka Beach when she discovered the bird Monday evening.

“It was out-of-this-world to see it ... like someone just dropped it from the

sky,” Wilton said. “It looked like ‘Happy Feet’ - it was totally in the wrong place,” she said, referring to the 2006 animated musical featuring a young penguin who finds himself far from home.

Conservation experts say the penguin is about 10 months old and stands about 80 cm high. Emperors are the tallest and largest species of penguin and can grow up to 122 cm high and weigh more than 34 kg.

Their amazing journey to breeding grounds deep in the Antarctic was chronicled in the 2005 documentary “March of the Penguins”, which highlighted their ability to survive the brutal winter. Miskelly said Emperor penguins can spend months at a time in the ocean, coming ashore only to molt or rest.

Continued on Page 13

BRUSSELS: NATO lost radar contact yesterday with a new type of US drone helicopter on a surveillance mission over Libya, while denying Libyan television claims that an attack helicopter was shot down. The United States revealed the use of the new robotic aircraft in the war after NATO officials said an MQ-8B Fire Scout drone lost contact with its command centre while operating in the central coast area of Libya. “This drone helicopter was performing intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance over Libya to monitor pro(Muammar) Gaddafi forces threatening the civilian population,” said Wing Commander Mike Bracken, the NATO mission’s military spokesman.

The military alliance is looking into the reason behind the incident. “NATO confirms it has not lost any attack helicopters during Operation Unified Protector and will provide more information on the incident as it becomes available,” Bracken added. It was the first loss of a NATO aircraft since the alliance took command of operations March 31, Bracken told a news conference via videolink from the mission’s headquarters in Naples, Italy. A US F-15 crashed in Libya on March 21, when the mission was conducted by a coalition led by the United States, France and Britain.

Continued on Page 13

This undated US Navy file image shows the MQ8B Fire Scout drone helicopter. — AFP

DAMASCUS: A Syrian protester waves a national flag in support of Syrian President Bashar Assad as tens of thousands of people waving flags and pictures of Assad converged on Syriaís main squares yesterday. — AP

Seven dead as Assad orders new amnesty BEIRUT: Syrian President Bashar Assad’s effort to drown out pro-democracy protests exploded into clashes between government supporters and opponents yesterday, and security forces opened fire and killed seven people, including a teenager, activists said. It was the latest deadly turn in a 3-month-old uprising that appears unbowed by a relentless government crackdown. The violence flared a day after a speech in which Assad, trying to contain the situation, offered a vague promise of reform, one brushed off as too little, too late, by the opposition, which wants an end to the Assad family’s 40-year authoritarian rule.

In the hours after Monday’s speech,

the state-run news agency SANA said Assad was offering a “general amnesty” for crimes committed before June 20. But there were few details, and it appeared the decree applied only to prisoners with a fatal illness or who were convicted of minor smuggling or drug charges.

In an attempt to blunt the uprising’s momentum, tens of thousands of regime supporters converged on squares in several major cities yesterday, shouting, “The people want Bashar Assad!” and releasing black, white and red balloons - colors of the Syrian flag. They soon clashed with opposition supporters, drawing in security forces.

Continued on Page 13

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 2011

LOCAL

MEW signs KD60,000 daily water testing contracts KUWAIT: The Ministry of Electricity and Water (MEW) has signed contracts with a number of specialist providers of water testing equipment to install a number of devices in the ministry’s Water Resources Development Center at a total cost of KD 60,000.

The ministry is introducing the special-

ist equipment in a bid to accurately and precisely analyze the content of the country’s drinking water supplies in order to ensure that they are safe for human consumption, particularly following recent controversy over their safety after an increase was detected in the levels of potentially toxic bromide. —Al-Jarida

MoC orders ISPs to reduce prices KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah met at Seif Palace yesterday Chairman of Kuwait Teachers Society Metaib Al-Eteibi and members of the society.

Kuwaiti students to receive grant increase Unions express gratitude for NA support

By Hussain Al-Qatari KUWAIT: The Cabinet does not plan to reject legislation proposing an increase in grants for university students, according to government insiders quoted in yesterday’s press. After the National Assembly last week voted in favor of the bill, which would see Kuwaiti students’ monthly grants raised from KD100 to KD200, rumors quickly spread suggesting that the Cabinet would reject the proposal. Cabinet insiders have reportedly asserted, however, that the Cabinet has no intention of stalling the passage of this legislation, but added that it does intend to open negotiations on another bill raising Kuwaiti public sector teachers’ pay and bonuses.

According to the bill, which won the votes of parliament members, unmarried students will henceforth receive a monthly grant of KD 200 while each married student’s grant would be increased to KD 350.

University student unions have expressed their gratitude for parliamentarians’ support, noting that the beneficiaries of the increase are the country’s young people, who form the backbone of society. Khalid Al-Mutairi, the Secretary General of the Student Blocs Union, said: “University students will remember who stood by their side in this situa-

tion and who stood against them, and they will know who to choose in the next elections based on where the MPs decide to stand.”

In a press release issued yesterday, Al-Mutairi added that education minister Ahmed AlMulaifi should take this opportunity to prove how progressive he is by approving the increase: “Increasing the allowance not only helps students financially, but also helps as a motivational push for them to excel in their studies,” he said.

Lawmaker Jamaan Al-Harbish, one of the bill’s supporters, not-

ed that increasing students’ grants is a very fair move, especially since living expenses continue to rise. “Some parliamentarians and Cabinet members argue that increasing the allowance to KD 200 is too much. We don’t think it is,” he asserted, adding, “In fact, it is barely enough, especially when we bring into consideration the fact that many students who work are not allowed to receive the government allowance. We will always be supportive of any decisions that can improve the quality of educations for the young. We have strong faith in

their capabilities, and we see increasing the grant as being just a humble effort.”

In 2009, the Cabinet issued legislation forbidding students who work in the private sector from receiving the monthly government allowance, which is approximately KD 350.

Parliamentarians, student union members and ac tivists expressed their dissatisfaction at this legislation at the time, noting that many students take a light load of classes while working full-time. Despite this, however, the legislation remains unchanged.

KUWAIT: In response to subscribers’ complaints about the high cost of Internet services, a senior Ministry of Communications (MoC) official has urged all local Internet Services Providers (ISPs) to reduce the prices of their services.

M oC Undersecretar y Abdulmohsen Al-M aziedi also warned the ISP companies against increasing the prices for DSL services, adding that unless the firms reduce their prices to earlier rates the ministry will take the necessary legal measures against them.

According to a ministry insider, Al-Maziedi is set to meet with representatives of the local ISP firms in a

few days in order to hear their viewpoints on the issues. According to the insider, the firms believe that the current prices are fair and blame the MoC for what they believe is an ill-considered decision to increase international network prices in 2007 from KD4,500 to KD7,000, a move which they suggest has adversely affected all consumers.

MP Aseel Al-Awadhi has urged the communications ministr y to strengthen its supervisory role in overseeing these services, as well as in monitoring the ISP firms’ performance in order to hold those responsible for contractual violations responsible for their actions. —Al-Jarida

Recommendation for employment of stateless residents KUWAIT: Stateless residents in Kuwait are to be employed in the public sector through the electronic employment system of the Civil Service Commission.

This is one of the recommendations provided by the CSC to the Central System for the Remedy of Status of Illegal Residents (CSRSIR) regarding mechanisms to allow bedoons to seek employment in state department a part of procedures for them to be granted with full rights.

Sources within the CSC, said there are subjects given priority by CSRSIR which need to be resolved before any procedures to implement the employ-

ment recommendations are made.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the source explained that the recommendation allows the CSC to receive applications from bedoon job hopefuls, which will use the term ‘non-Kuwaiti’ in the nationality column to solve an obstacle between stateless residents and employment.

The CSC would be required to update their e-employment system if the recommendation was adopted, as the source indicated that the update process might take up to three months before receiving bedoon job applications later this year. —Al Qabas

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Local Spotlight

Counterfeiting: How much do we know?

Muna Al-Fuzai

muna@kuwaittimes.net

I

s there any move to observe and monitor counterfeiting activities in Kuwait in order to protect and serve the public’s interests? This is not a small or minor issue and I believe that it requires greater focus and concern and even regular reviews in order to quickly observe and crack down on any illegal or suspicious activities that could be connected with counterfeiting.

If we ask ourselves why some people would commit this crime, even though they knew that they may end up in jail for years if they’re caught, the only reason I can think of is their desire to make fast money for nothing.

Of course, this is the common goal for all financially-motivated crimes, but we in Kuwait should never be easygoing in our attitude to any of them. Kuwait is a small country and it’s enough that we already have many complaints about rising levels of corruption; the last thing we need is to fail to keep an eye on the activities of counterfeiters.

Local banks have already introduced a large number of regulations to quickly catch any attempts at money laundering; these measures only work, however, in relation to catching those who make sizeable cash deposits. I believe that attempts to counterfeit civil ID cards or driving licenses should also be a matter of concern.

The bottom line here is that if we’re complaining about corruption, we should oppose any acceptance of the ubiquity of bribes - which are not only illegal but forbidden in Islam, and exist under many different guises, including ‘commission.’ And our dedication to combating corruption should be no less strong.

In Kuwait we use our civil IDs to carry out everyday transactions at official bodies, so when we read or hear about people trying to counterfeit these items we are concerned because often the official behind the desk doesn’t even bother to touch your civil ID to check whether it’s real or fake. The same applies to your driving license and similar documents.

According to the Central Bank of Kuwait, counterfeiting activities in Kuwait are extremely limited, being restricted to a countable number of individuals and highly unlikely, if not wholly impossible, to trouble most people.

Despite this assurance, however, a counterfeiter of 100 fils coins was recently discovered and whilst I wonder why anyone would take the time and trouble to counterfeit 100 fils coins, I think a few of us might possibly find one if we bothered to look closely at the coins that we exchange all the time, especially in parking meters or whenever we want to get rid of our change. I guess the only person who can explain the rationale of the 100-fils-forger is now behind bars thinking about the sheer stupidity of his crime.

I think the issue of counterfeiting is important not only to a country like Kuwait but to many nations worldwide; the public should be made aware of how to detect this ‘funny money,’ both coins and notes, just in case any of us come across any.

For me, this is part of how to protect the whole of society.

Letter to Muna Al-Fuzai Dear Ms. Muna It was good to read your article in yesterday’s KT on Saudi women’s right to drive. It was very vocal and I appreciate it.

I must suggest here that we in Kuwait are no less subject to harsh rules or regulations than those in Saudi.

My wife (Indian) who had been driving in far more advanced countries, such as Oman and UAE (Dubai), for the last 12 years has been denied a driving license in Kuwait since she is not WORKING or since she does not have children of school age any more.

The question here is also very simple: do women in Kuwait require driving licenses only in these two circumstances? You could ask yourself this question and I am sure you will find a reply as well which should prompt you to write an article first on such subjects in Kuwait and later to start writing about other countries like Saudi.

Ramesh

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 2011

local

Amir urges MPs to give Cabinet a chance KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad AlSabah has expressed his gratitude to lawmakers for their cooperation on the points raised in his recent speech, urging other parliamentarians to give the cabinet a six-month period to carry out its work without further aggravation before launching further interpellation motions.

HH the Amir made his remarks during a meeting at Seif Palace with members of a parliamentary delegation last week.

The delegation was led by National Assembly Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi, and MPs Dr Hassan Jowhar, Dr Rola Dashti, Mohammed Al-Mutair, Dr Maasouma Al-Mubarak and Dr Walid Al-Tabtabaie.

According to an insider, HH the Amir told the MPs that the recently appointed Minister of Information and of

Communications Sami Al-Nisf was tendering his resignation due to health reasons. Al-Nisf apparently suggested during the meeting that poor relations between cabinet and parliament are normal, likening them to marital spats, the insider claimed, with Dr Al-Tabtabaie responding that such troubled marriages sometimes end in divorce.

The insider also indicated that when Al-Mubarak apparently suggested that the Amir should have made greater use of “tough language” in his recent speech.

The meeting was overwhelmingly positive, the insider added, and also included a very productive discussion on the need for the establishment of more state universities.

Despite HH the Amir’s calls for calm, however, MP Ahmad AlSaadoun, the leader of the anti-government Popular Action Bloc

1,500 Pakistanis use amnesty to return home

By Ben Garcia KUWAIT: The Pakistani Embassy has rejected local media claims that high numbers of Pakistani nationals are living in Kuwait illegally. After local press suggested that 10,000 Pakistani expatriates are in the country illegally, Rabnawaz Khan, the Second Secretary (Labor Community Welfare) at the Pakistani Embassy, said that the number is wildly exaggerated.

“We have a population of around 150,000 Pakistanis in Kuwait and, unlike most other [expatriate] nationalities, most of us hold Article 18 visas; not even one percent are Article 20,” he told the Kuwait Times.

“So how could the number of Pakistani illegals climb to 10,000?”

Khan asserted that the number quoted in local media had evidently come from unreliable sources. “We rely on records and we only have facts and statistics, but when it comes to illegals - since we don’t have any records because they’re illegal - I’m sure it won’t exceed three thousand,” said the official.

Recent unsubstantiated reports in local media suggested that around 184,000 expatriates, including 10,000 Pakistanis, are currently living in Kuwait illegally and could face deportation if they fail to legalize their status by June 30, the date when the current Amiri amnesty ends. The fourmonth amnesty, introduced by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Sabah in February to mark the fiftieth and twentieth anniversaries of the country’s independence and the fifth anniversary of his own investiture, allows illegal residents to either leave the country without facing the usual penalties or bars on their return, or to legalize their status by paying all outstanding fines and obtaining a residential visa.

Rabnawaz Khan

As of yesterday, said Khan, only 1,500 Pakistani nationals have come to the embassy to avail themselves of the Amiri amnesty since it began. He admitted, however, that embassy staff are unsure as to the exact number of Pakistanis with valid passports who chose to simply fly out of the country without visiting the embassy beforehand, adding, “We’ll know the exact figure from the interior ministry once the amnesty’s over.”

Khan said that the low numbers of Pakistani expatriates seeking assistance on the amnesty shows that the real number of Pakistanis in the country illegally is low.

“There’s no influx of people coming to seek assistance for the amnesty,” he reiterated. “This is an indication that we [Pakistan] don’t have a high number of illegals in Kuwait. In fact, we’ve only delivered about 500 ‘emergency departures’ these are people without valid passports or visas. The rest are people who legalized their stay.”

There are only around 600

Kuwaiti to head judges panel at Asilah Children’s Theatre Fest KUWAIT: Kuwait is set to partake in Morocco’s Asilah Children’s Theatre Festival from 24-30 June with a judge from its Higher Institute for Theatrical Arts.

Dr. Narmin Al-Houti, a lecturer at the Kuwaiti institute’s Theatre Critic and Literature Department will head the judges panel at the festival, she told KUNA yesterday.

The festival will include Arab as well as international children’s plays, educational and social forums and workshops. The festival began in 2004 and it’s regarded as one of the most important of its kind in the Arab region, showcasing several theatrical displays related to children’s affairs. Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Oman, France, Spain and Indonesia are some of the countries set to participate in the festival, Al-Houti added. — KUNA

Pakistanis working as domestic helpers and in other servants’ posts, the embassy official revealed.

He stressed that the Pakistani Embassy makes every effort to assist and help allay the concerns of the country’s expatriate citizens, focusing in recent months on helping those who wished to take advantage of the amnesty.

“We’re tasked with looking after the welfare of our compatriots and we help in fulfilling every Pakistani’s request for assistance,” he said. “This amnesty that we have now is really a gift and I hope that our illegal residents from Pakistan will come and seize the opportunity. We only have a few days before the end of the amnesty period, so I hope they’ll take advantage of this rare opportunity.”

On reports citing a warning from Ministry of Interior Assistant Undersecretary Lieutenant General Abdul Hamid Al-Awadhi’s warning of raids to catch illegal residents in the aftermath of the amnesty period, Khan said, “We regularly visit the deportation center to give assistance to our people there; almost every day we visit prisons to see if we have people there needing help.

For those who can’t afford anything we provide free tickets. Even dead Pakistani nationals are also assisted and their bodies are repatriated free of charge.”

On the current ban on the entrance on any new Pakistani nationals coming to Kuwait, the Pakistani Embassy’s Press Attache, Kashif Zaman, told the Kuwait Times, “It’s a temporary ban and we hope that it will be reconsidered soon. The problems over some Pakistanis being denied renewal of their residency have already been resolved through diplomatic channels. For new applications, though, yes they have to wait until the ban is lifted.”

KOC rejects spill claims KUWAIT: The Environment Public Authority (EPA) is considering legal action against the Green Line environmental organization for what it claims are false allegations against it of providing inaccurate figures of pollution-related incidents and involvement in wasting public funds. At a press conference held on Monday, EPA Deputy Director Ali Haidar rejected the environmental group’s allegations that the government body lied about a recent oil spill and attempted to cover up the true magnitude of the event by claiming that it involved only 50 barrels when 5,000 were actually spilt. The oil spill was part of an emergency drill carried out by the Kuwait Oil Company to test its emergency workers’ reactions, he claimed. Haidar also rejected charges that the EPA Director Saleh Al-Moudhi had held a lavish birthday party at the authority’s building, saying that employees had simply brought a cake to the office for a casual breakfast meeting as they do every Wednesday, and it happened to coincide with the director’s birthday that day. — Al-Rai

(PAB), said that parliamentarians will continue to submit interpellation motions against the premier until the cabinet falls, insisting at a recent seminar that the cabinet’s chances of lasting grow more slender with every grilling.

“Our agenda is to save Kuwait from [HH the Prime Minister Sheikh] Nasser Al-Mohammad,” said the veteran lawmaker during the ‘Non-Cooperation for Kuwait’ seminar held at activist and former MP Fahad Al-Khanna’s diwaniya on Monday. “[The premier’s] responsibilities exceeded political accountability and went into criminal accountability,” Al-Saadoun asserted, adding that his bloc’s upcoming grilling against the premier will include questions about the 1.135 million tons of rotten food that allegedly entered Kuwait last year, 8.3 percent of which made its way onto the local market. — Agencies

News

in brief

Noumas accepts housing portfolio KUWAIT: The vacancies created by the resignation of former deputy PM, Sheikh Ahmed AlFahad continue to create future problems for the future holders of these posts, according to insiders. According to insiders, the current Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Mohammed AlNoumas has agreed to assume the position of housing minister. Meanwhile, a well-known local economic figure has reportedly turned down the position of Minister of State for Development in order to avoid creating political tension, meaning that the foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed AlSabah, will continue to serve in the position until further notice.

Suspended jail sentence KUWAIT: The Criminal Court on Monday sentenced the Editor-in-Chief of local daily Al-Shaab to three years in prison before suspending the sentence and ordering the defendant to pay a KD1,000 fine instead. First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah brought charges against the senior newspaperman, Hamid Bu Yabes, over the publication of a confidential military report on the government’s reported intention to purchase French Rafale aircraft.

Top meeting discusses local events KUWAIT: State authorities are brainstorming the idea of creating a crisis team to handle security events that could happen locally. According to security sources, this subject was discussed during a recent meeting between Deputy Chairman of the National Guard Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak AlSabah, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Ahmad Al-Hmoud Al-Sabah.

Sources indicated that the meeting addressed demands made by retirees of these three departments regarding pay raises that they haven’t received since 1991. In light of this issue, a recommendation was made to form a committee that will look into the possibility of enforcing a KD50 to KD100 increase, said the sources.

Cleaning contracts to be extended KUWAIT: The Kuwait Municipality is set to extend current urban cleaning contracts for at least six months in order to give more time for the Central Tenders Committee and State Audit Bureau to study bids made for the new tenders. This comes after a deadline in which the municipality is supposed to sign new contracts after the former contracts expired on Monday. According to sources, municipality director Ahmad Al-Subaih contacted both the CTC and SAB before the deadline in an attempt to speed up procedures for the studying process to be finished, however he was notified that more research is still needed.

New contracts for KG daily meals KUWAIT: The Ministry of Education signed contracts with three companies which provided the winning bids for a tender to supply kindergartens with catering for the next school year. Sources said the three companies already started preparations to supply fifty thousand lunch meals on a daily basis during the 2011/2012 school year, as each company will supply schools within two of the country’s six educational directorates. In addition to kindergartens, the companies will also supply schools of students with special needs.

Last year, the ministry signed a 3-year contracts with catering companies to supply public elementary schools with daily lunch meals.

MEW tender canceled for manipulation

KUWAIT: Acting Undersecretary Gen Sulaiman Al-Fahad has honored 15 officers from private protection administration. The ceremony was held in presence of the director of special security forces Brig Ali Madhi, Adel Al-Saadoun and Col Nasser Boursely.

KUWAIT: Procedures to sign a contract between the Ministry of Electricity and Water and a company that would register readings of counters in Farwaniya, Jahra and Ahmadi governorates, was cancelled citing illegal activities as the reason.

Minister Salem Al-Othaina explained in a statement to the press that he made the decision after verifying notifications from the State Audit Bureau which talked about manipulations carried out to award a company that failed to meet the necessary conditions for signing the KD4.7 million contract. The minister indicated that investigations are currently ongoing to reveal the personnel involved in the case and concluded that they “will be held accountable for their actions”. — Al-Rai

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 2011

Years

LOCAL

Stand up for your rights: Consumer protection in Kuwait

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: You go to the supermarket then find out later that you’ve been sold expired food. You visit the hairdresser and they burn your hair. You buy a new AC system and it stops working on the second day. Guess what? You can file a complaint at various government organizations and demand that your rights be upheld. All customers who feel cheated by a trader or a company have the right to complain and demand compensation. One can register an official grievance against all types of establishments and organizations.

For instance, medical errors can be reported to the Ministry of Health, complaints about instances of banking malpractice should be reported to the Central Bank and any reports of spoiled or expired food

should be submitted to the Municipality.

Customers who feel they’ve been cheated can call the municipality’s Customer Protection Department hotline on 135 to seek advice. Callers using the hotline will receive information on where to take the receipt or other document proving their claims about faulty goods. The hotline is available from Sunday to Thursday between 8am and 2pm and from 4pm to 8pm.

So, how does Kuwait’s complaints system work? There is one Costumer Protection Center in each governorate.

“People complain about different goods or services,” explained Fatma, an employee at the Customer Protection hotline. “The Undersecretary’s office receives the complaints, with the complainant providing his or her name and address and the subject of the complaint. From there the complaint is

directed to the main center. Here on the hotline, we try to provide the complainant with the information needed about his complaint to simplify the procedure.”

Regarding food-related grievances, fedup customers can complain about prices to the Customer Protection Department, Fatma told the Kuwait Times. She added, however, “There’s no fixed price for restaurants and cafes, so they can set the price they see as suitable. Also, on the service charge it’s up to them to decide the rate for that or just not to charge customers for that.

Only a few items have one set charge, which are falafel, mushakal and grilled sandwiches. The rest of the price list is open though.”

As yet, there are no statistics on the precise number of complaints registered with the hotline, Fatma revealed. “Every day we receive complaints. Sometimes it’s only two

complaints; other days we receive more than ten in one day.”

Customers call to complain about a wide range of things, she went on. “If I had to rank the complaints [in order of the most frequently-received ones] I’d say first it’s electronics - with a well-known company having the highest number. Then in second place it’s cars, including either agents selling new cars or the service at various garages.”

Shopping malls and a wide variety of shops also prompt a lot of complaints, said Fatma. “Many customers complain at being cheated, saying that they were sold various items like bags, outfits and accessories under the belief they’re genuine [designer label goods] then later discovering that they’re fakes.”

Other customers feel cheated by builders

Kuwaitis not stranded in Australia KUALA LUMPUR: Kuwaiti Ambassador to Australia Khaled Al-Shaibani affirmed yesterday that Kuwaitis are not affected by the cancellation of flights from Australia due to the Chilean cloud of volcanic ash covering its skies.

Al-Shaibani said that he is on frequent contact with the Director of the Kuwaiti Cultural

Bureau Dr Ahmad Al-Athari, and confirmed that all students are in their cities and have not traveled.

Volcanic ash once again covered the skies of Australia after a less-than a week of halting flights, especially in cities near New Zealand such as Hobart, Melbourne and Adelaide.

According to the Bureau of

Kuwait Digest

Meteorology, clouds are reaching out towards east and southeast Australia, as well as southern coast of New South Wales, which will result in delaying and canceling local and international flights in Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth Airports. Media confirmed the delay and cancellation of many yesterday flights until further notice. — KUNA

Problems with teachers’ pay

By Dr Wael Al-Hasawi

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Kuwait first Arab nation to host Bosnian Islamic manuscripts

Yassin Rawashdeh

KUWAIT: Kuwait is the first Arab nation to host an exhibition of Bosnian Islamic manuscripts, a step that would bolster relations between Kuwait and Bosnia and Herzegovina, said Bosnian Ambassador to Kuwait Yassin Rawashdeh.

The diplomat told KUNA that at the opening of the exhibition late Monday that the National Council for Culture, Arts, and Letters’ (NCCAL) hosted event showcased many books and manuscripts collected by Bosnian Dr. Safvet beg Basagic, (May 6, 1870 - April 9, 1934).

Basagic’s collection gathered around 365 books and 700 manuscripts that survived the conflict, said the Ambassador, adding that the collection was particularly a national treasure for Bosnians.

The writer managed to translate a bulk of these documents into several languages including Arabic, said Rawashded, adding that Bosnia was eager to hold another exhibition in Kuwait by 2012 to showcase the Basagic collection of manuscripts and books. —KUNA

KUWAIT: Firefighters from four local stations worked together to put out a massive blaze that broke out in a furniture showroom in the Shuwaikh Industrial Zone yesterday morning. Firemen, from Shuhada, Medina and the support center worked closely with their colleagues from Shuwaikh Industrial Zone in putting out the blaze, which took until the late afternoon to fully extinguish. No injuries were reported. — Photos by Hanan Al-Saadoun

Ministries coordinate to counter drugs KUWAIT: Several state departments are holding talks this month to outline mechanisms needed to curb the spread of drug abuse and smoking within youths in Kuwait. This has come in the aftermath of recent statistics showed that drug-related cases are on the rise.

Sources said officials from the ministries of justice, Awqaf and Islamic affairs, interior, education, health and information will be meeting with e x p e r t s to co m e u p w i t h re co m m e n d a t i o n s regarding ways to help keep youths away from drugs. The mechanisms are to focus on improving drug education, awareness and the dangers of drug abuse.

Sources explained that media outlets are to be instructed against giving exposure to drug abuse either directly or indirectly, while efforts will be intensified to find and close places where drugs and alcohol have reported to be found.

Family problems, self confidence and psychological issues have said to be the main reasons for youths to abuse drugs and alcohol. State departments have said they will focus on providing social and psychological services for youths to a cce s s i n o rd e r to co m b a t d r u g a n d a l co h o l abuse. — Al-Qabas

EQUATE proceeds with ‘Stay Normal’ campaign KUWAIT: Within its integrated campaign in Kuwait malls and diwaniyas throughout the governorates of Kuwait, EQUATE Petrochemical Company performed last Friday its 5th open day at Sulayel Al Jahra mall during its awareness campaign of diabetes “Stay Normal” in cooperation with The Ministry of Health.

The EQUATERs and the medical crew had welcomed the visitors of the location and presented free measurements for blood sugar and blood pressure for them.

EQUATE’s Vice President for Technical Services and head of its Corporate Social Responsibility Team Mohammed Al Benali said: ”Based on its responsibility towards society; every year “EQUATE” launches a group of awareness events about many issues related to community and family. “Stay Normal” campaign will be deemed as an extension of the efforts of “EQUATE” to participate the success with Kuwaiti community through adoption and launching many initiatives related to community.”

Al-Ben Ali added that “Stay Normal” is considered as the fourth campaign organized by “EQUATE” incorporation of its CSR program (Corporate Social Responsibility Program) that was launched in 2005, which contributed in many awareness educational and professional events.”

or contractors.

“The contractor will delay the work or not carry it out, or even refuse to return the customer’s payment,” she explained. “Also sometimes the final work isn’t the same as what was agreed in the deal at the beginning, like the furnishing or shutters.”

When visiting a Customer Protection Center, complainants need to provide receipts for payments and any official documents related to the subject they’re complaining about, Fatma stressed. “The inspector from the center will then accompany the complaining customer to the location to try to solve the problem,” she explained. “If they don’t reach a solution, then the complaint will be transferred to the police station. All the inspectors are well-trained and have passed many courses, so they can’t be hoodwinked.”

“I would like to express my appreciation to the supporting efforts of The Ministry of Health to ensure success of such campaign and other initiatives within the framework of integrated partnership.” Al-Benali concluded.

From his part, Consultant in Public Health The Ministry of Health and member of national project of combating diabetes, Dr. Ahmed AlShatti stated during visiting the location:” More than 300 persons have been checked up at Sulayel Al Jahra Mall, as 3 cases of diabetes and 24 cases of hypertension have been detected for the first time, 4 cases of regular diabetes and 12 case of irregular diabetes were found, and 7 cases were referred to the hospitals.”

“A detection of one case may rescue a life of a person, is deemed efficient to announce the success of the campaign, but the campaign was able to detect tens of silent cases, which we consider a source of pride for this campaign.” Dr Al Shatti added.

“Stay Normal” is another model of the partnership of governmental sector with private sector represented in EQUATE Petrochemical company, which requires appreciation and acknowledgement of “ EQUATE” as an example to be followed .

“Stay Normal” campaign will perform its 6th day next Friday at Al Bairaq Mall from 10am to 8pm to present free medical tests and necessary advices to avoid diabetes and to live a well and healthy life.

was asked about the reason behind my strong support for the proposed allowances for teachers despite my strong stance against overspending on pay rises due to their negative effect on the state’s budget. While I still believe that rationalizing spending on salaries is the only way to avoid an inevitable crisis, I still can’t help but to notice that the rights of teachers, who have the immensely important duty of educating young generations to be productive figures in the development process, are ignored for the most part.

The parliament and Cabinet are usually keen to reward military personnel, judges, engineers and doctors for their significant roles in serving the country. In the meantime, professionals whose duty is to prepare these qualifications and guide their way in their studying process, don’t receive similar treatment. In advanced countries, governments take care of teachers as they acknowledge their essential role in these nations’ development, basing employment on high-quality training and an ethical education policy.

In Kuwait, the government has proposed a performance-based pay system according to which teachers would be rewarded in accordance with their productivity level. I wouldn’t have a problem in seeing such a system implemented in Kuwait, provided that the government ensured that the assessment process and pay decisions were kept wholly free of nepotism and favoritism - in other words, wasta. We should also bear in mind the fact that we don’t have clear methods by which teachers’ performance can be precisely assessed, not to mention the probability that such system would open the door to struggles between individual educators. Given that these flaws still exist, however, I believe that a reasonable wage increase for all teachers is the best way, so long as it’s combined with a recruitment process through which only the best qualified teachers are hired. — Al-Rai

KUWAIT: A baby estimated to be around five months old was rushed to Farwaniya Hospital after being found abandoned in a cardboard box near a health center in Khaitan. Medical staff had to administer emergency treatment to the infant, who almost died due to being left in the harsh summer heat.

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KSGD head represents Kuwait in International Visitor Leadership Program

DUBAI: Chairperson of the Kuwait Disabled Club Sheikha Shaikha Al-Abdullah Al-Khalifa Al-Sabah inaugurated the Kuwaiti-Emirati Forum at the Dubai World Trade Center yesterday. The two-day event is organized by the Sky Expo Group to exchange experiences between the two countries in various fields including issues of disabled citizens.

Husbands of expat teachers not allowed to work here Ministry issues new warning KUWAIT: The M inistr y of Education (MoE) has warned female expatriate teachers who wish to sponsor their husbands in order to bring them to Kuwait on dependent visas that their spouses will not be allowed to work in the countr y during their stay and those who violate this rule will be immediately deported. In a press release issued on Monday and circulated to all education zone offices, MoE Undersecretary for Public Education Muna Al-Lughani announced that female teachers should be notified of the new regulations in writing.

The education ministry official warned that any female expatriate teachers whose husbands are found to be working would not only see their husbands being deported but would be denied any chance of future work visas once their contracts run out. The senior education ministry official urged female expat teachers to comply with the new regulation.

Meanwhile, in a bid to ease the

annual exam burden on school pupils, the MoE is considering cancelling periodic evaluation tests for pupils at all levels during the 2011-12 academic year.

To this end, MoE Undersecretary for State Education Muna AlLughani is reportedly set to meet with the department heads for various subjects to discuss the idea and possible alternative student evaluation methods.

According to an education ministr y insider, the ministr y may choose to focus on pupils’ attendance record rather than their academic work as a means of assessing their progress, a break away from the traditional evaluation methods used. During the meeting, the senior educational officials will also discuss the possibility of allowing primary school heads to design their own midterm and year-end exams rather than these coming under the jurisdiction of each school’s education zone.

In other news, education minister Ahmad Al-Mulaifi said on

Monday that the ministr y is already studying bids from various firms to record all school curricula on CDs and flash memory devices in cooperation with the Software Regional Center.

Speaking after a meeting with MoE Undersecretaries, the minister said that the automation of the ministry’s system in cooperation with the Software Regional Center is the principal project on its agenda at present.

Al-Mulaifi explained that the MoE intends to create an electronic ‘folder’ for each school pupil in order to help parents to easily monitor their children’s academic progress and performance online.

Asked about a request submitted by the body representing private school owners to allow them to build fur ther floors for their schools, the minister said that the Assistant Undersecretar y for Private Education Fahad Al-Ghais has been assigned to present a report on the issue at their next meeting. —Annahar

Social aid to rise to KD130m KUWAIT: The assistant undersecretary of the ministry of social affairs and labor for legal affairs, Jamal Al-Doussari stressed that social aid given to Kuwaiti individuals and families was estimated by KD 130 million, according to the aid law recently passed by the parliament, including KD 20 million for the handicapped.

Al-Doussari added that the old social aid law issued in 1978 had conditioned that social aid be given to Kuwaiti individuals and families provided they lived in Kuwait whereas the new law allows beneficiaries get the aid even if they lived abroad.

He added that according to the old law, Kuwaiti women married to disabled expatriates had to be recommended by the Public Aid Committee to get aid for herself and for only two of her kids whereas the new law allows Kuwaiti widows or divorcees of expatriates or those married to disabled men and their children to receive the aid. —Al-Jarida

KUWAIT: The chairperson of the Kuwaiti Society for Guardians of the Disabled (KSGD), Rehab Boresli, has been selected by the United States Embassy in Kuwait through support of the US Department of State, to take part in the 2011 International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). The event, which takes place in the US between September and October, discusses the problems faced by disabled people, as well as their rights.

The IVLP is the US Department of State’s premier professional exchange program. Launched in 1940, the IVLP is a professional exchange program that seeks to build mutual understanding between the US and other nations through carefully designed short-term visits to the US for current and emerging foreign leaders. These visits reflect the International Visitors’ professional interests and support the foreign policy goals of the United States.

International visitors are current or emerging leaders in government, politics, the media, education, the arts, business and other key fields. Over 4,000 International Visitors come to the United States from all over the world each year.

Since its inception in 1940, thousands of distinguished individuals have participated in the IVLP, including more than 326 current and former Chiefs of State and Heads of Government, thousands of cabinet-level ministers, and many other distinguished leaders from the public and private sectors.

Boresli was chosen to participate in the program due to her long experience in the professional and voluntary fields, including periods as an economic researcher with Kuwait Municipality, as well as a part-time instructor at the faculty of commercial studies in the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training. She co-founded the KSGD with a group of volunteers following extensive experience of membership of committees dealing with providing education and employment to disabled

people. She has represented Kuwait in the Gulf Cooperation Council’s disability society for two straight terms from 2007 to 2011.

All participants in the IVLP travel to the US to take part in carefully designed programs that reflect both their professional interests and US foreign policy goals. They participate in a variety of thematic programs, either individually or in groups, for up to three weeks.

While in the US, International Visitors typically visit Washington, DC and three additional towns or cities that highlight the tremendous diversity of the United States. They attend professional appointments with their American counterparts, learn about the US system of government at the national, state and local levels, visit American schools, and experience American culture and social life. International Visitors also share information about their own cultures and offer insights into best practices and perspectives with their American hosts.

Most International Visitors are accompanied during their trip to the US by either foreign language interpreters or English language officers, contracted though the State Department’s Office of Language Services. Not only does the State Department provide language interpretation for the International Visitors, it also help to explain American society, history, and culture.

The IVLP is funded and administrated by the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs., which by doing so enters cooperative agreements with National Program Agencies, a group of private, not-for-profit organizations based in Washington, DC, that design and implement the IVLPs. In addition to the national program agencies, the International Visitor Leadership Program also relies on the commitment and skills of volunteer-based community organizations across the US, known as Councils for International Visitors (CIVs).

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More support needed to boost Arab natural world heritage

Arab-British Chamber of Commerce should boost economic ties with UK LONDON: The Arab-British Chamber of Commerce should improve its role in enhancing and strengthening economic and commercial ties with the United Kingdom, said the Chairman of Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industr y (KCCI) Ali Thunayyan Al-Ghanim yesterday. Al-Ghanim called on the UK government to pay more attention to its economic and commercial relations with the Arab world, especially Kuwait.

Speaking on the sidelines of a symposium on opportunities for Kuwaiti-British economic and commercial cooperation, which concluded here yesterday, the KCCI head said that despite a large number of British companies are doing remarkably well in a number of Gulf countries, many are unwilling to invest in Kuwait due to restrictions in the Kuwaiti tendering system law.

Al-Ghanim expressed his dissatisfaction at the current volume of trade between Kuwait and the UK, especially given that the latter was a pioneer in establishing outstanding commercial ties with Kuwait some 200 years ago.

He hailed the strong political relations between the two countries, especially lauding the UK’s courageous military and political positions during the Iraqi invasion and occupation of Kuwait in 1990-

91. “The Kuwaiti private sector is continuously seeking to contribute in improving the economic and commercial ties with the UK to become a prominent commercial partner of Kuwait as it always has been,” he said, adding, “The UK used to be the top and most important economic partner of Kuwait in the 1960s, although it has fallen to eighth place now behind countries like Germany, Japan and the United States.”

The symposium took place under the patronage of His Highness Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, in the presence of 300 British economic figures.

On his part, Sheikh Ali Al-Khalid AlSabah, the Direc tor of the Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Economic Department, said that the symposium would bring positive and fruitful results that would contribute to strengthening the economic ties between Kuwait and the UK. British companies have a great opportunity to invest in Kuwait through the implementation of projects of the country’s development plan he said.

The volume of trade between Kuwait and the UK reach GBP 1.85 billion in 2009, with the value of British exports to Kuwait reaching GBP 1.1 billion, putting Kuwait in third place among GCC courtiers in this field. — KUNA

NEW YORK: Kuwaiti inventor Sadiq Qassim with other officials.

Kuwaiti inventor wishes to turn Kuwait into industrial country NEW YORK: Kuwaiti inventor Sadiq Qassim, who won four gold medals at the INPEX International Invention Awards Program, dedicated his win to His Highness the Amir of Kuwait and expressed wishes to turn the country into an industrial state.

Sadiq, who also won the best invention award and the grand prize at the INPEX, Invention and New Product Exposition, said that he went in this competition with five inventions; three of which won gold medals, adding all inventions were his own ideas and implementation.

Meanwhile, the other two inventions were the ideas of his partner, Abdullah Abu Al-Qassim, and Sadiq’s execution.

Abu Al-Qassim’s inventions also won a gold medal.

Sadiq went on saying that the Kuwaiti delegation at INPEX event, which was held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, obtained a gold medal in the field of medicine.

The Kuwaiti inventor, who has 15 years of experience in the fields of engi-

neering and physics, noted that the Kuwaiti team won those medals despite logistics difficulties.

Most of the inventions, showcased at the event, dealt with medical care, child care and safety, house supplies and sports, he explained.

Meanwhile, Abu Al-Qassim’s two inventions were about a diving machine, which won the gold medal, and a fishing apparatus, known as ‘Qarqoor’ in Kuwait dialect.

“All of my inventions got patent rights,” he said, adding that he had established an industrial company, with a partner, in Kuwait to produce and market his inventions.

“My goal is to market a 100-percent Kuwaiti product to affirm that Kuwait is capable of being an industrial country,” he said.

“I want to create an invention that would benefit the whole world; an invention that can be credited to my country since all inventors are referred to by where they come from,” Qassim concluded. — KUNA

Lebanese artist displays mosaic portrait of Amir BEIRUT: A Lebanese artist is set to launch an exhibition of his work at the UNESCO Palace in Beirut tomorrow, with the works on display including a mosaic portrait of His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah in recognition of HH the Amir’s support for Lebanon.

Abdulkarim Imamah said that the works included in the exhibition also include a portrait of the Kuwaiti flag,

stressing that Kuwait has always been of great support to Lebanon in its darkest times.

“His Highness the Amir is one of the most prominent Arab personalities who has always worked to support the legitimate Arab causes of Lebanon and Palestine,” Imamah said. The works on show also include portraits of Arab artists and figures, as well as flags and symbols of international organizations, he added. — KUNA

GENEVA: A new International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) report suggests that, with only two regional sites added to the World Heritage List in the last 15 years, there is a need to review the process of nominating natural World Heritage Sites in Arab states. The regional study builds on the findings of last year’s Periodic Report coordinated by UNESCO and concentrates on getting nature specialists more involved in the process.

IUCN examined the current state of conser vation for the existing natural and mixed World Heritage sites in the Arab region and analyzed its tentative lists — lists that include areas that each country considers suitable for inscription.

“The Arab States are home to an exceptional natural wealth and diversity, with strik ing desert landscapes and marine areas,” said Haifaa Abdulhalim, IUCN’s World Heritage Officer in the Arab States, in a press release.

“But the number of natural sites currently on the World Heritage List is by far the smallest of any region. The process of nominating natural sites in the Arab region needs a major overhaul if we want to see more of them on the World Heritage List”, she added.

There are currently four natu-

ral and one mixed sites from the Arab States on the World Heritage List. Only two sites have been added to the list in the last 15 years, while the region’s tentative lists have grown and currently included 35 sites.

According to the report, Arab states should revise their World Heritage plans to give priority to natural sites that are most likely to meet World Heritage requirements and provide rigorous justification for this potential.

The repor t also reviewed management of natural sites that are already on the World Heritage List in the Arab States.

Although significant progress has been made in the way these sites are managed, some are facing serious challenges.

In Banc d’Arguin (Mauritania), for example, more effective measures are needed to control the risk of accidental oil spills, which may threaten the park’s wintering water birds and mammals, including the critically endangered Monk Seal.

In Socotra ( Yemen), often referred to as the ‘Galapagos of the East’, the unique vegetation and ecosystems have been under increasing pressure due to the development of infrastructure and tourism.

“By continuing to improve the management of these sites and by increasing cooperation

between countries to support them, World Heritage Sites in Arab States can greatly contributes to conservation and sustainable development in the region,” said Mariam Kenza Ali, IUCN World Heritage Conservation Officer.

Each year, IUCN, the independent advisor y body on nature to UNESCO, reports to the World Heritage Centre on the

conservation status of certain natural and mixed World Heritage sites under threat.

IUCN’s assessments on what is happening in World Heritage sites are derived from a variety of sources; IUCN members, indigenous peoples groups, the scientific community, experts from IUCN commissions and concerned individuals and organizations. — KUNA

KUWAIT: The Medical Emergency Department received the Assistant Undersecretary for Technical Affairs Dr Khalid at Sahlawi and his accompanying delegation this week. Officials from both departments discussed matters of mutual concern. — Photo by Hanan Al-Saadoun

‘Jleeb Monster’ admits to raping over 30 kids Hunt on for Khaitan rapists KUWAIT: Prosecutors in Farwaniya have begun questioning the Pakistani man accused of abducting and raping 11 children in the Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh area. Police involved in the case said that the suspect’s confession, in which he stated that he had not only raped the 11 victims known to police but had sexually assaulted a further 20 children in Jleeb AlShuyoukh and Farwaniya, shocked even hardened officers. Four of the man’s traumatized child victims have already given their testimony to police, and efforts are underway to trace as many of the victims as possible.

The suspect, nicknamed the ‘Jleeb Monster’ by local media, apparently told officers that he had usually selected his victims amongst groups of children playing in open areas away from main roads. He explained that he had lured the victims away from their friends by offering them money or mobile phones and, if they became uneasy or refused to go along with him, threatened them with a knife before taking them up to the nearby rooftops of empty buildings to rape them.

The suspect repor tedly confessed to wearing plastic gloves and using a condom during his attacks in order to attempt to thwart the efforts of police to trace him via DNA tests. He explained that he had changed the locations of his assaults after each one, later taking police to the scene of each of his brutal assaults.

The man apparently fell to his knees and began crying during questioning, telling officers that having been raped himself as a child had driven him to take his anger at this out against all children.

Despite his efforts to hide the traces of his attacks, the man’s DNA was matched to samples taken from the clothes of one of his victims.

Teenage rapists Police are hunting for two teenage boys who sexually assaulted a friend at knifepoint in Khaitan. The 15-year-old victim was playing outside his family’s home in the area when two of his friends appeared, with one of them pulling out a knife and forcing him to accompany them to a remote spot where they took turns to rape him before fleeing. The traumatized victim then returned home, with his father reporting the attack at the area police station when he learnt what had taken place.

In a separate case, police are hunting for a man who raped a 16-year-old girl at a house in Al-Thahar. The victim told police that she had agreed to meet the man for a date in Salmiya, after which he persuaded her to go with him to his home, where he raped her before dropping her at her parents’ house in Rumaithiya. On arriving, the distraught victim told her mother what had happened, with her mother immediately taking her to the local police station to report the attack.

Fatal crash One man was killed and four others injured in a two-car collision on Salmi Road on Monday.

Although paramedics rushed to the accident location, they pronounced the deceased dead at the scene, rushing the other four to hospital.

The body was removed for autopsy and an investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the accident.

Teen stabbed A 16-year-old boy was rushed to Farwaniya Hospital in a serious condition following a fight with a group of other teenagers.

Emergency workers rushed to the scene after receiving reports that the boy had been set upon and stabbed by his cowardly peers.

Paramedics found him lying on the ground and bleeding heavily after sustaining multiple stab wounds, but his attackers had fled. Police are hunting for the assailants.

Hunt on for gunman Police have launched an investigation after an unidentified gunman targeted the home of a military official in Salwa. The Ministry of Defense serviceman went to the area police station after discovering bullet shells near a window at his home and in other areas around the house.

Cell phone cellmates Police have arrested two Arab men involved in stealing cell phones and smuggling them out of the country. The arrests followed an investigation launched following a tip-off about one of the duo’s activities from an informer whose suspicions were aroused by the man’s regular trips abroad with consignments of cell phones. On his return from his latest sales trip, the man was taken into custody and questioned, admitting that he had smuggled the phones on behalf of his friend who was responsible for stealing them from cars, with the two sharing the profits from their venture. The other man was quickly arrested and the two are in custody awaiting trial.

Fishermen seized Three Asian fishermen employed by a Kuwaiti citizen are reportedly being held by Iranian authorities after their boat accidentally strayed into Iran’s territorial waters. The employer told police at Sharq police station that he had contacted the Iranian authorities to plead for the men’s release, but that despite arranging to pay the requested fine the Iranian authorities had refused to let them go.

— Al-Jarida, Al-Rai, Al-Qabas

KFAED signs $2.4m development project in Lebanon

Al Tijari customers enjoy Sea Rex screening KUWAIT: The Commercial Bank of Kuwait provided a special treat for its My First Account and @Tijari account-holders on June 15, with a special screening of the exciting IMAX film Sea Rex 3D at the Scientific Center, with the whole theater being reserved especially by the bank for the occasion.

Sea Rex 3D tells the thrilling story of the different kinds of under water dinosaurs who lived 200 million years ago.

CBK was the exclusive sponsor of the

premiere of Sea Rex 3D at the Scientific Center on Feb 15, 2011 and of its last showing on June 15.

This is one of many events that AlTijari organizes for its My First Account customers and @Tijari customers throughout the year, with the film providing not just wonderful entertainment, but a genuine educational experience.

The bank consistently strives to please its young customers and put a smile on their faces.

BEIRUT: The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) yesterday signed a contract for the construction of a $2.4 million socioeconomic developmental center in Al-Minia city in northern Lebanon.

Nawaf Al-Daboos, the KFAED’s representative in Lebanon, said that the project would be spread across a 30,000 square meter area. It will offer essential services such as economic, social, sporting and recreational facilities suitable for all social groups. He also noted that this developmental project aims to offer economic support, as well as strengthening social ties in the city.

“Kuwait has always been supportive of these kinds of projects that lead to pushing forward the economic and social cycle in Lebanon,” he said.

Mustafa Aqil, the head of Al-Minia Municipality, expressed his appreciation of the Kuwaiti leadership and people, lauding the KFAED’s efforts in backing and funding these developmental projects in various parts of Lebanon.

This project costs over $3 million, of which KFAED contributes up to $2.4 million.

KFAED has given Lebanon 17 loans worth a total of $500 million since 1966. This financial aid includes funding for many projects in the health, agriculture, transportation and reconstruction sectors. — KUNA

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 2011

Pakistan arrests brigadier over Islamist ties Page 9

Huntsman enters 2012 US race, vows ‘hard decisions’ Page 10

Bomb blasts kill 25 in Iraq Insurgents testing local forces before US withdrawal

NAJAF: Relatives and friends of Muhsin Ali, 22, who was killed in a double car bomb attack, load his coffin onto a vehicle during his funeral in the Shiite holy city of Najaf yesterday. — AP

BAGHDAD: Two bombings killed at least 25 people at a checkpoint outside a provincial Iraqi governor’s house yesterday in the latest attack targeting local government and security forces. The suicide bomber blew himself up and a car bomb exploded outside the Diwaniya governor’s house, 150 km south of Baghdad, just as guards changed shifts.

Most of the victims were security staff, officials said. “I heard a loud blast and then another one. I opened the door and I saw white smoke and smelled the blood...I looked to the side and I saw three guards dead on the ground,” said Maha Al-Sagban, a resident whose house was damaged.

Television footage showed the crumpled and burnt out wreckage of a white truck lying by the remains of a guard post.

Bloodied and wounded security guards filled the beds of a hospital. Muayad AlAnsary, a spokesman for the provincial council in Diwaniya, said the death toll had risen to 25 k illed and 35 more were wounded.

Bombings and killings in Iraq have fallen sharply since the height of sectarian violence in 2006-2007, but a stubborn Sunni Islamist insurgency linked to Al-Qaeda, other Sunni groups and rival Shiite militias still carry out daily attacks.

Violence has increasingly targeted security forces and provincial government officials as US troops prepare to withdraw from Iraq, an OPEC member, by a year-end deadline more than eight years after the US-led invasion to oust Saddam Hussein. Five more people were killed and nine wounded in a separate attack yesterday when a

bomb exploded in a restaurant in Mussayab, 60 km south of Baghdad, police said. In the city of Ramadi, about 100 km west of Baghdad in mainly Sunni Anbar province, a police bomb squad was called to defuse two car bombs placed a few hundred meters from government buildings.

The first was deactivated, but the second exploded, wounding one officer, police said.

Diwaniya is a poor, mainly Shiite region and several of Iraq’s armed groups are active in the area. Bombings and attacks have hit local government buildings in the last four months and security officials have said they expect increased attacks on provincial offices. The Diwaniya attack followed a similar pattern to an attack on a checkpoint in Tikrit earlier this month when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives as army guards were handing over security duty to police.

Gunmen and suicide bombers a week ago stormed a provincial council building in Baquba in the central province of Diyala, killing at least eight people before Iraqi forces retook the building with the help of US troops. In March, gunmen stormed a provincial council headquarters in Tikrit, taking hostages before security forces ended the siege. At least 58 people were killed in the assault, claimed by a local Al-Qaeda affiliate. The remaining 47,000 US troops are scheduled to leave at the end of the year but Iraqi leaders are discussing the sensitive question of whether to ask at least some of them to stay on in a training and advising role. — Reuters

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Indonesian MPs demand protection for Gulf workers JAKARTA: Indonesian lawmakers yesterday urged the government to stop sending migrant workers to the Middle East, and especially Saudi Arabia, after the beheading of a maid who murdered her Saudi employer. Parliamentarians said the oil-rich kingdom and other Gulf States should not benefit from cheap Indonesian labor until they agreed to protect workers’ basic rights. “We have asked the government to temporarily suspend sending Indonesian workers overseas, especially countries which refuse to sign an agreement which protects our workers’ rights,” deputy speaker Priyo Budi Santoso said.

Several lawmakers called on Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa and other key members of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s cabinet to resign over the treatment of migrant workers abroad. The uproar came after Riyadh beheaded an Indonesian maid on

Saturday for murdering her Saudi employer. Ruyati binti Sapubi had been convicted of murdering Khairiya bint Hamid Mijlid with a meat cleaver after being denied permission to leave the kingdom, according to Indonesian officials. Indonesia recalled its ambassador to Saudi Arabia for consultations on Monday and lodged a strong protest with the government in Riyadh, saying the Saudi authorities had ignored normal consular protocols.

Another 23 Indonesian migrant workers are on death row in Saudi Arabia, according to parliamentary labour commission member Rieke Dyah Pitaloka. “The suspension (of migrant labor to the Middle East) must be applied soon, especially to Saudi Arabia,” she said. Dozens of protesters including Sapubi’s daughter protested outside the Saudi embassy in Jakarta to condemn the execution, carrying ban-

ners reading “Saudi is cruel and murderous”. Around 70 percent of the 1.2 million Indonesians working in Saudi Arabia are domestic helpers, according to officials.

Sapubi’s case is the latest in a string of incidents involving Indonesian menial labourers in the Middle East.

Indonesians were outraged in April when a Saudi court overturned the conviction of a Saudi woman who had been jailed for three years for allegedly torturing her Indonesian maid with scissors and a hot iron. London-based Amnesty International said the maid’s treatment, which Yudhoyono described as “extraordinary torture,” was all too characteristic of the plight of foreign workers in the region. It said workers from countries like Indonesia, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka underpin the Gulf states’ economies but face extreme forms of exploitation.— AFP

JAKARTA: An activist holds a banner reading “Saudi Arabia, is a criminal of humanity” during a protest against the execution of Indonesian migrant worker Ruyati outside the Saudi Arabian embassy in Jakarta yesterday. — AP

Iran lawmakers reject government nominee Move indicates deepening rift among rulers

TAIZ: Female anti-government protestors, display their hands painted with the colors of their national flag and during a demonstration demanding the resignation of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in Taiz yesterday. — AP

100 Yemen troops killed in the battle for Zinjibar ADEN: Battles raged yesterday between Yemen’s army and suspected Al-Qaeda militants for control of the southern city of Zinjibar, a military official said, as the number of soldiers killed passed the 100 mark.

“We are engaged in fierce battles with terrorist elements from Al-Qaeda, leading to heavy losses on their part during the past three days,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. At least 100 soldiers have been killed since the violence in Zinjibar erupted more than three weeks ago, and 260 have been wounded, according to the official, updating an earlier toll.

Alleged Al-Qaeda militants, who have named themselves Ansar Al-Sharia (Supporters of Islamic Sharia law), have been controlling most of Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan province, since late last month. The official said by telephone that government air raids had destroyed “selected targets” around Zinjibar which he said were being used by the militants to launch attacks. The official added that some troops had been pulled back in a “tactical move.” “We were forced to withdraw our 119th and 201st Artillery Brigades around three kilometers in a tactical move, as part of a strategy which we hope will work,” the official said. “We are facing heavy resistance from the network’s militants as they are well-trained in gang fighting, and have foreign fighters within their ranks, including Arabs.”

Meanwhile, senior local official Ghassan Sheikh complained that the air strikes also

destroyed homes, killing and wounding many civilians. Two civilians were killed and a third was wounded when a shell hit their bus during an air raid yesterday that targeted a mosque in the town of Jaar, near Zinjibar, a medical official said. Naser Al-Mansuri, a senior official at the Jaar local council, confirmed the deaths, saying two shells hit the mosque, where suspected AlQaeda militants are allegedly hiding, and another fell outside the mosque.

The attack resulted in casualties among the militants, said Mansuri. Another two civilians were killed in similar shelling at Zinjibar’s entrance on Monday, according to Sheikh. Mahfuz Abdullah, a member of the city council, said Zinjibar is being controlled by gunmen. “Hundreds of masked armed men have taken over the city and nearby villages,” he said. “We cannot leave our homes because of the fighting.”

Abdullah said the fighters have also suffered many losses, with numerous cars seen carrying bodies to a nearby cemetery.

Officials say the militants are connected to Al-Qaeda, but opponents of the country’s embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh accuse his government of exaggerating a jihadist threat to head off Western pressure on his 33-year rule. Yemen is the home of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, an affiliate of the slain Osama bin Laden’s militant network. The group is accused of anti-US plots including an attempt to blow up a US-bound aircraft on Christmas Day 2009.— AFP

Obama warns of new tactical spats with Israel WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama warned yesterday that new “tactical” disagreements loomed between Israel and Washington, but vowed to leverage his administration’s “creative powers” in the cause of peace. Obama, who has had a testy relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, spoke at length on the stalled peace process at a fundraiser for his 2012 reelection campaign grouping Democratic friends of Israel.

He said that as a difficult, challenging time loomed in the Middle East over the next few years, one inviolable principle was that the bond between the United States and Israel “isn’t breakable.” “What is also going to be true is that both the United States and Israel are going to have to look at this new landscape with fresh eyes,” Obama said, arguing the Arab Spring had changed the context of regional diplomacy.

“It’s not going to be sufficient for us just to keep on doing the same things we’ve been doing and expect somehow that things are going to work themselves out. “We’re going to have to be creative and we’re going to have to be engaged.

We’re going to have to look for opportunities where the best impulses in the Middle East come to the fore and the worst impulses are weakened.” “There are going to be moments over the course of

the next six months or the next 12 months or the next 24 months in which there may be tactical disagreements in terms of how we approach these difficult problems,” Obama said, vowing to bring to bear his administration’s “creative powers” for peace.

The president said that Israel and the United States were united on a broader vision for a secure Jewish state able to live in peace with its neighbors “where kids can get on the bus or go to bed at night and not have to worry about missiles landing on them.” Obama ignited the latest US row with Netanyahu last month when he said in public what had been private US policy, that 1967 territorial lines, with agreed land swaps should be used to demarcate Israel from a future Palestinian state. His statement provoked a public scolding from Netanyahu during a subsequent White House visit. The Israeli leader also stressed the “indefensible” nature of the 1967 lines. Israel and the Palestinians have been at loggerheads over negotiations, which halted shortly after they were relaunched in Washington in September 2010 when a partial freeze on Israeli settlement construction expired. Israel refused to renew the freeze, and the Palestinians insist they will not hold talks while settlements are being built on land they want for their future state.— AFP

TEHRAN: Iran’s parliament rejected a ministerial nominee yesterday who had been proposed by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, state radio said. It was the latest sign of a rift between Ahmadinejad and his hardline critics, though few analysts believe it threatens Ahmadinejad’s chances of serving out his term until 2013. State radio said 137 lawmakers out of 247 who voted rejected the president’s nominee to run the newly formed Youth and Sport Ministry. It said those opposed had argued that Hamid Sajjadi lacked the experience needed to manage such an institution.

“You are not qualified to carry out the responsibilities of running such a big ministry,” said lawmaker Javad Jahangirzadeh.

The new ministry has been the subject of a dispute between the president and parliament for some time. In January, parliament ordered its creation, bringing together separate administrative organizations for sport and for youth affairs. Ahmadinejad then angered lawmakers by refusing to nominate a candidate for the new ministerial post, missing a three-month deadline and then provoking outrage last week with a letter to explain the delay which some lawmakers described as “demagogic”.

Some members have suggested Ahmadinejad should be summoned to answer questions over his policies. Some have gone as far as to speak of impeaching him. During the debate on Sajjadi, the president urged the chamber: “If anyone has any hard feelings

towards Ahmadinejad, they should distinguish it from their decision today.” After the vote, his outspoken rival, speaker Ali Larijani, told the assembly: “We make our decisions based on Iran’s national interests and nothing else.”

Parliament, often at odds with

TEHRAN: Nominee for Iranian minister of sport and youth, Hamid Sajjadi, listens to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (unseen) in an open session of parliament in Tehran yesterday. — AP

Children in Libya rebel’s East await end of war BENGHAZI: Ruwid Omar, a Libyan boy with a mop of sun-kissed hair, spends his days roaming the streets of Benghazi singing rebel songs, waving opposition flags and chatting to foreign visitors in fluent English.

“I lived in Manchester for eight years with my parents before. But I like Benghazi better actually,” he said, squinting in the bright sun outside Benghazi’s courthouse building-a symbol of Libya’s revolt against Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

“I like the revolution. We are here (in the square) all day or at home watching TV,” added the 14-year-old. Schools have been closed in Libya’s rebel-held east since the start of the uprising in February, and children like Ruwid have been largely left to their own devices. Keen to distract students from a deadlocked war, the rebel leadership based in the sprawling coastal city wants to reopen schools and universities as soon as possible.

But that is proving hard. Security remains a concern in a city awash with firearms, and rebel leaders have given no firm timeline as to when education might resume. Before, the curriculum was packed with classes praising “our dear Brother Leader”. Pupils spent hours studying the Green Book, a collection of Gaddafi’s ramblings on life and politics. Schools were designed in a way that discouraged children and teachers from asking questions and challenging authority.

Rebels want to change that, even though weeding out Gaddafi sayings from textbooks and reshaping the curriculum will take time.

Retraining teachers, long used to following orders rather than their professional instincts, is also tough.

“We hope to reopen them soon,” rebel education minister Suleiman Al-Sahli said.

“We are still discussing this.” Restarting schools and universities will highlight the rebel authority’s resolve to bring back normality to a city scarred by fighting. But teachers said they did not expect that to happen any time soon as the war drags on listlessly into a fifth month. “We cannot start our studies until the (Gaddafi) regime collapses completely,” said Dr Bubaker F. Shareia, executive general director of Benghazi’s Garyounis University. “No one knows when this will happen.”

Some Benghazi schools have opened unofficially-part of a broader grassroots movement that has seen volunteers set up civilian committees to tackle issues from security to education in a city prey to lawlessness and sporadic violence. At the Fatma

az-Zahra school, volunteers gather pupils several times a week to explain to them what is happening in their home city, and teach some basic lessons.

Sitting in the shade of the school’s patio festooned with rebel flags, children chanted “We are Libyans, raise your heads, be proud” and “Muammar, you will see what we can do to you”. Their voices echoed around the school’s empty corridors. In one classroom, an English language textbook was left lying open on the side of a desk by an open window, its pages flapping in the wind blowing in from the Mediterranean. “People in Tripoli are not as friendly as people in Benghazi,” was scribbled on one page under an exercise called “Compare places in Libya”.

“There is no school now so we just come here to draw and make songs against Muammar,” said Nur Alhuda Ali, a 13-yearold girl. “Before I didn’t know about Gaddafi but after the revolution I can see that everyone hates him. So Gaddafi must be a very bad person. Otherwise why would everyone hate him?” Some said their parents made them study at home to compensate for the lack of official schooling. History was distorted under Gaddafi’s rule, creating a peculiar universe in which Libya was juxtaposed against a hostile world trying to destroy its post-colonial achievements.

Many textbooks on social studies will now have to be rewritten completely, rebels say. To achieve this, university professors have set up a research centre to tackle issues such as the overhaul of textbooks. But the process is not easy. “We’re trying to figure out what we need to fix and how to do it,” said Omar Salabi, a senior figure there.

“There was no civil society before. We have to change the way people think.” Many students are away, having taken up arms to fight Gaddafi troops on the front line. At least 100 students from Garyounis University have been killed and many more are missing. Money is another problem in a sector which relies on state salaries. With oil output at a standstill, the rebel authority is broke, and no wages were paid at Gar younis University in May. Pointing at the walls of his office dotted with nail holes where Gaddafi portraits used to hang, Dr Shareia said people were determined to make it work despite all the difficulties. “When I look at my students I can see they are different. In the past they were nervous,” he said. “Now they are happy to discuss things. They are helpful. It’s nice to see how people can change. I think it’s because they have hope.”— Reuters

Ahmadinejad on policy issues, referred the president to the judiciary last month, saying his bid to take personal charge of the Oil Ministry was illegal. Three such referrals give parliament the right to impeach him. In another setback for Ahmadinejad yesterday, parliament also decided to reverse an agreement to merge the Oil Ministry with the Industry Ministry. He will now need to nominate a new oil minister to parliament for approval.

Announcing parliament’s decision, legislator Hossein Sobhaninia told state television: “As the oil ministry is a key ministry, we have decided to keep this ministry independent.”

Many analysts believe the disputes are leaving Ahmadinejad a lame duck as he enters the final two years of his presidency. But few think Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, given a troubled economy and the risk of popular unrest spreading from Arab neighbors, would allow parliament to unseat the president and so jeopardize the stability of the political establishment. Khamenei swiftly endorsed Ahmadinejad’s controversial re-election in 2009 but publicly sided with his critics in April this year, when he publicly reinstated the intelligence minister after Ahmadinejad had fired him. Hardliners also forced the swift resignation of Mohammad Sharif Malekzadeh, shortly after the president had appointed him a deputy foreign minister. Critics said Ahmadinejad was promoting his allies to the detriment of clerical rule.— Reuters

Tehran invites UN atom chief to see nuke sites VIENNA: Iran’s nuclear energy chief said yesterday he had held “very good” and “transparent” talks with the head of the UN atomic agency and had invited him to visit the Islamic state’s nuclear facilities. The rare meeting in Vienna between Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani and Director General Yukiya Amano of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) follows increasingly strained ties between Tehran and the UN body over the last year. Iran has rebuffed IAEA appeals for information and access to help clarify allegations of military-linked nuclear work.

Western powers suspect Iran is seeking to develop a nuclear weapons capability, a charge it rejects. AbbasiDavani, head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, said the two sides pledged to resolve their problems through more dialogue in future. “We don’t have differences of view,” he told reporters. But he did not give any details on what was discussed and there was no sign that he had made any major concessions in the long-running row over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. Iran’s refusal to halt enrichment has led to four rounds of UN sanctions on the major oil producer, as well tighter US and European Union restrictions.

An IAEA official confirmed the meeting took place but declined to elaborate. The two men met on the sidelines of a major international nuclear safety meeting in Vienna.

Despite his positive comments about the talks, Fereydoun-Abbasi also made clear his irritation at the agency, accusing it of preventing some of the country’s nuclear experts from attending scientific meetings. “We have objected and protested,” Abbasi-Davani said. “We consider this kind of act as an ugly and inhuman act.”

Amano has taken a blunter approach towards Iran than his predecessor, Mohamed ElBaradei, saying in his first report on the country’s nuclear activities last year he feared it may be working to develop a nuclear-armed missile. Western diplomats say he may firm up those suspicions in upcoming reports, which could add weight to any renewed drive to impose more sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

Abbasi-Davani said he had invited Amano “and his colleagues to come to visit anywhere they like in all our nuclear installations”. He spoke in Farsi and his comments were translated into English by Iran’s IAEA envoy.

It was unclear whether any such visit would include the kind of access to officials, documents and sites the IAEA wants. Iran has invited IAEA-accredited diplomats to tour its nuclear facilities, but Western envoys have dismissed such offers.

A nuclear scientist, Abbasi-Davani was appointed head of Iran’s atomic agency earlier this year, a few months after he was slightly wounded in a 2010 bomb attack which Tehran blamed on Israel. He has been personally subjected to UN sanctions because of what Western officials said was his involvement in suspected nuclear weapons research. —Reuters

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Bangladesh to retain Islam as state religion DHAKA: Bangladesh will retain Islam as the state religion in amendments the government is proposing to its constitution, a government minister said yesterday. A former military ruler declared Islam the state religion in 1988 by amending the charter, but it barely affected Bangladesh’s secular legal system mainly based on British common law. The government says the proposed changes won’t affect the legal system.

Inheritance and other family laws already are based on religion.

The decision was made late Monday at a Cabinet meeting, the minister told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity

because of the sensitivity of the issue. A special government committee prepared proposals for the amendment, and the government will send those proposals to the parliament for passing as a law. Bangladesh won independence from Pakistan in 1971 with help from India through a bloody ninemonth war. The original constitution was installed by independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. After Rahman’s assasination in a military coup in 1975, military rulers made a series of amendments to the charter.

Some see the government’s latest action

as a compromise by Hasina, who during her election campaign before December 2008 polls said she would restore the 1972 constitution if voted to power. The original charter did not recognize any faith as a state religion, promised elimination of communalism and disfavored discrimination or persecution because of a person’s faith. The new proposals want to restore those provisions of secularism but keep Islam as state religion. Monday’s Cabinet meeting chaired by Hasina also endorsed equal status and equal rights for practicing other religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity, the minister said.

The Cabinet decided to keep the provision of state religion considering the national reality, the minister said. The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has campaigned that Hasina’s Awami League party is anti-Islamic. The country’s main Islamic party Jamaat-e-Islami and its hardline allies also brand Hasina’s party as anti-Islamic.

Bangladesh has thousands of Islamic schools that advocate installation of Sharia laws, and a violent hardline group years ago bombed government buildings and courts demanding Sharia law. The government claims the group, Jumatul Mujahedin

Bangladesh, was broken after its top leaders were hanged.

The government also proposed an amendment to cancel a constitutional provision that requires the government to hand over power at the end of its term to a nonpartisan administration. A former chief justice is usually chosen to head the threemonth caretaker administration that conducts new elections. The Supreme Court has ruled the provision in the 1996 constitution is undemocratic. The next general elections is due in 2014, and opponents of Hasina say amending the constitution to remove that provision could lead to vote-rigging. — AP

US moves closer to leaving Afghanistan With troop cuts, Obama juggles war team

NEW DELHI: West Bengal state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee (right) confers with Indian Junior Minister for Health Dinesh Trivedi during a press conference in New Delhi yesterday. — AP

Crisis-hit Indian government defers reopening parliament NEW DELHI: India’s parliament will reopen two weeks later than usual, giving the embattled government more time to reach an agreement with civil society over drafting tough anti-graft legislation and head off any more national protests. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s popularity is at its lowest since he first came to power in 2004.

Policymaking has been paralyzed by a series of high-profile corruption scandals and Asia’s third-largest economy is slowing down on high inflation and interest rates.

The government is trying to avoid a repeat of April’s anti-graft protests by talking to a team of civil society activists who had forced it to fast-track a decadesold proposal for an independent ombudsman to investigate corruption in high places. But the negotiations have seen differences emerge over the contents of the legislation, most importantly whether the prime minister should be investigated by the ombudsman.

A popular yoga guru’s hunger strike against corruption had to be broken up by force this month. Anna Hazare, a popular Gandhian activist who had fasted in April to demand the bill, has vowed a repeat if the new law is not tough. The monsoon session of parliament will begin on Aug 1 and run till Sept 8, Parliament Affairs Minister Pawan Bansal told reporters, two weeks later than it usually convenes. “They would like to get things in order. It’s been a very rocky period for the government,” said political

analyst Mahesh Rangarajan. “Otherwise legislative business will not be possible.

I’m not sure it’ll work, it’ll be a stormy session.”

Apart from the anti-corruption bill, the government may also propose laws to make it easier for industries to acquire land, a step seen key to take the edge off protests that have delayed projects like POSCO’s $12 billion steel mill. The last two sessions of parliament saw almost no legislative business conducted, with the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party forcing shutdowns over a telecoms scandal that may have cost the government $39 billion in lost revenue.

Economists, industrialists and bankers have warned the policy paralysis could make India unattractive for foreign investors and lead India into an economic slump that will be difficult to recover from.

The deferral may also give Singh a chance to reshuffle his cabinet, following up on his earlier comments for bringing in young and efficient administrators into the government where many of the ministers are above 70-years-old. The cabinet has long been criticized for being out of touch with public sentiment, mired in accusations of corruption against ministers and lacking teeth to take decisions. The Congress-led coalition is not expected to fall as it still has a slim majority in parliament. Some of its allies are also mired in corruption scandals and would not want to face the wrath of the electorate. — Reuters

Pakistan arrests brigadier on suspected militant ties ISLAMABAD: A Pakistan army brigadier assigned to military headquarters in the garrison town of Rawalpindi has been arrested for suspected ties to a banned group, a military spokesman said yesterday. Spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said Brigadier Ali Khan, who was in charge of drafting army regulations, was linked to Hizb-ul-Tahrir, a banned group in Pakistan. “We follow zero tolerance policy of such activities within the military therefore prompt action was taken on detection,” Abbas said.

Hizb-ul-Tahrir, or “Party of Liberation”, is a radical political group dedicated to reestablishing an Islamic Caliphate

across the Muslim world. Active in Britain, it is banned in many Muslim countries for its calls to overthrow the sitting governments.

The group says it does not advocate violence, but many critics say it has ties to militant organizations and encourages young men to radicalism. Abbas said efforts were also being made to arrest members of the group who were in contact with Khan. Khan would be the highest-ranking serving army officer arrested in a decade. A senior military official, who declined to be identified, told Reuters that the detention was made 20 days ago. — Reuters

PESHAWAR: A man who is injured in a bomb blast is admitted at a local hospital in Peshawar. — AP

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama’s longawaited decision on how many troops to bring home from Afghanistan this summer overshadows a major change: the departure from Washington and Kabul of senior US leaders with years of experience in managing the war.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates is retiring next week. The top two American generals in Kabul - David Petraeus and David Rodriguez - are due to leave for new assignments as early as July. Also departing in July is retired Army Lt Gen Karl Eikenberry, the US ambassador in Kabul. They will be replaced by men with militar y and national security resumes but less direct experience in Afghanistan. A fresh set of eyes could lead to new advice to the White House on how to wind down 10 years of war.

Obama will move US a step closer to ending the war in Afghanistan today when he announces plans to bring thousands of American troops home beginning next month.

Administration officials said the president was still in the final phase of a decision-making process that has focused not only on how many troops will come home in July, but also on a broader withdrawal blueprint designed to put the US on a path toward giving Afghans control of their security by 2014.

Obama was given a range of options for the withdrawal last week by Gen David Petraeus, the top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan.

The military favors a gradual reduction in troops but other advisers are advocating a significant decrease in the coming months. While the president has said he favors a significant withdrawal, his advisers have not quantified that statement.

Obama is expected to make today’s announcement in Washington. On Thursday, he will visit troops at Fort Drum, the upstate New York military base that is home to the 10th Mountain Division, one of the most frequently deployed divisions to Afghanistan and Iraq.

While much of the attention is focused on how many troops will leave Afghanistan next month, the more telling aspects of Obama’s decision center on what happens after July, particularly how long the president plans to keep the 30,000 surge forces he sent to the country in 2009. There is a growing belief that the president must at least map out the initial withdrawal of the surge troops when he addresses the public. But whether those forces should come out over the next eight to 12 months or slowly trickle out over a longer time is hotly debated.

Military commanders want to keep as many of

those forces in Afghanistan for as long as possible, arguing that too fast a withdrawal could undermine the fragile security gains in the fight against the Taleban insurgency in Afghanistan, the Al-Qaeda training ground for the Sept 11, 2001, attacks. There are also concerns about pulling out a substantial number of US forces as the heightened summer fighting season gets under way.

Retiring Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said he believes the initial drawdown should be “modest.” But other advisers are backing a more significant withdrawal that starts in July and proceeds steadily through the following months. That camp believes the slow, yet steady, security gains in Afghanistan, combined with the death of Osama bin Laden and US success in dismantling much of the Al-Qaeda network in

the country give the president an opportunity to make larger reductions this year.

There is also growing political pressure on Capitol Hill for a more significant withdrawal.

Twenty-seven senators, Democrats as well as Republicans, sent Obama a letter last week pressing for a shift in Afghanistan strategy and major troop cuts. “Given our successes, it is the right moment to initiate a sizable and sustained reduction in forces, with the goal of steadily redeploying all regular combat troops,” the senators wrote. “The costs of prolonging the war far outweigh the benefits.”

There is broad public support for starting to withdraw US troops.

According to an Associated Press-GfK poll last month, 80 percent of Americans say they approve of Obama’s decision to begin withdrawal of combat troops in July

and end US combat operations in Afghanistan by 2014. Just 15 percent disapprove. Obama has tripled the number of US forces in Afghanistan since taking office, bringing the total there to about 100,000. The 30,000 troop surge he announced at the end of 2009 came with the condition that he would start bringing forces home in July 2011.

The president took months to settle on the surge strategy. This time around, aides say the process is far less formal and Obama is far more knowledgeable about the situation in Afghanistan than he was in 2009, his first year in office. Aides say Obama won’t be overhauling the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan as he starts the drawdown. Instead, they say he sees it as a critical part of the process to end the US combat mission in Afghanistan by the end of 2014 and turning security responsibility over

to the Afghans.

On a trip to Afghanistan earlier this month, Gates advocated for a comprehensive decision from the president. “I think to make a decision on July in complete isolation from anything else has no strategic meaning,” Gates said.

“And so part of that has to be kind of, what’s the book end? Where are we headed? What’s the ramp look like?” Gates is retiring from the Pentagon on June 30.

There are also indications that the administration, having learned from the US experience in Iraq, will set deadline dates for the drawdown as it progresses, in order to keep pressure on the Afghans and give Congress mileposts. With Iraq as a blueprint, commanders will need time to figure out what they call “battlefield geometr y ” - what types of troops are needed where. — Agencies

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Libya war redrawing US political allegiances WASHINGTON: The complexity of the Libya conflict is drawing some strange alliances in Washington’s corridors of power, blurring traditional party lines and dividing both Democrats and Republicans. While President Barack Obama has drawn support from some hawkish Republicans, including from his erstwhile-rival for the White House Senator John McCain, some of his Democratic allies on the left are now up in arms. From within his own camp, Obama on Monday was accused of being “an extremist” who is failing to comply with the law by not winning congressional approval for the involvement of US forces in Libyan conflict.

“The extremist position is that any president can commit our forces for any duration with any amount of force for any purpose.

And Congress is merely a source of optional advice,” Democratic congressman Brad

Sherman said. “Keep in mind that when (President Thomas) Jefferson sent American forces to Libya in 1802 he got congressional approval first.” At issue is the legality of the war, which the US administration has insisted is to help protect Libyan civilians as rebels seek to oust long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi. The dispute touches on the separation of powers between the legislative and executive branches of the US government, a bedrock principle of US democracy.

“Keep in mind there are lawyers who are a permanent part of the executive branch who have been advising presidents to take the absolute extremist position and then to hide the fact that they’re taking it,” Sherman said. This week the Democratic Representative is due to put forward an amendment to a defense bill calling for a

ban on using the funds to finance US operations in Libya. Sherman is among a growing chorus of US lawmakers, from both sides of the political spectrum, who have accused the Obama administration of ignoring the 1973 War Powers Act, a law intended to check a president’s ability to go to war without seeking congressional approval.

The amendment if passed would “apply to 98 percent of the funds that go to the Pentagon, Sherman said. “It simply says that none of the money provided in the bill can be used in contravention of the War Powers Act.” Sherman last week got the same amendment adopted with another bill on funds for military installations by 258 votes to 163. “I expect my amendment to do exactly as well as it did last time, that is to say 60 percent of the democrats, 60 percent of the Republicans and zero percent of the

congressional leadership of either party.

“But the idea that Congress would provide money intending that it be spent in violation of the law, strikes me as a violation of our oath of office,” he added.

A similar resolution to cut off funding for the Libya conflict-said to be costing $10 million a week-has also been proposed by another Democratic Representative Dennis Kucinich. House Republican Speaker John Boehner has also issued veiled threats about Congress holding the purse strings, much to the chagrin of elder Republican statesman Senator McCain who has said there is no question that Obama made the right choice in lending US military support to the NATO mission in Libya. Sherman is hoping that all the pressure will sway Obama “to start complying with the law” although he acknowledged the issue could

take months to be resolved. “Obviously if Gaddafi-we all pray for it-is toppled in the next few weeks this issue will go away,” he added.

He is also planning a second amendment which would designate US operations in the north African nation as “hostilities.” The White House last week said in a letter to Congress that the War Powers Act-which has been largely ignored by past presidents-does not apply to events in Libya because there are no US troops on the ground there. Further adding to the mix, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham qualified the War Powers Act as “unconstitutional, not worth the paper it’s written on.” “I think it’s an infringement on the power of the commander-in-chief,” he told NBC on Sunday, adding he would not back efforts to defund the operations. — AFP

5 bodies found bound and shot Mexico reporter, son, wife shot dead

MANZANILLO: A family prepares to leave Miramar beach after having a picnic before the arrival of Tropical Storm Beatriz in the Pacific resort city of Manzanillo, Mexico. — AP

Hurricane Beatriz hits Mexico’s Pacific coast MANZANILLO: Hurricane Beatriz bore down on Mexico’s Pacific coast yesterday, putting tourist areas and major ports on alert for heavy rainfall and flash floods, the US National Hurricane Center said.

The eye of the hurricane was about 15 miles south of Manzanillo, with sustained winds near 90 miles per hour, and was expected to pass over the port city within a few hours, the center said in its 2 am PDT update. The storm sparked hurricane warnings along the Mexican coast from Lazaro Cardenas northwestward to Cabo Corrientes, the Miami-based center said.

The storm could strengthen if it remains over water for the next day or so, it said, and it could become a Category 2 storm on the Saffir-Simpson intensity scale

before weakening over land.

Mexico has no major oil installations in the Pacific but its coast is dotted with beaches popular with US tourists. The Mexican government said the coastal states of Guerrero, Michoacan, Colima and Jalisco should prepare for 10-to-13 foot waves and 6-to-12 inches of rain. A storm surge was expected to cause coastal flooding in the hurricane warning area. Hurricane Adrian, which formed earlier this month and caused no damage, was the first hurricane of the 2011 Pacific season.

Forecasters are expecting a rash of storms the Atlantic this year, with some predicting at least five major hurricanes of Category 3 or stronger. — Reuters

Chavez prolonged silence gets Venezuelans talking CARACAS: Venezuela is abuzz these days over the condition of its normally omnipresent president, Hugo Chavezwhose prolonged, uncharacteristic silence and convalescence in Cuba has generated all manner of rumor. The firebrand leader, who is usually given to verbose speeches across all media, has not been seen or heard from since he was hospitalized June 10 in Havana for what officials said was an operation for a pelvic abscess. No interviews, no broadcast tirades, and no Twitter postings for two weeks have fueled speculation across online social networks and in bars and cafes.

Officials have tried to be reassuring, saying 56-year-old Chavez was recovering well and was continuing to give orders from Cuba and keep abreast of developments in Venezuela. But many citizens remain unconvinced. All the more so that a riot last week in a prison that left 25 people dead, and an electricity crisis-both events that would normally elicit a quick response, and perhaps hours of chatter, from the president-have prompted no media appearance at all from Chavez.

“It’s all very dark, opaque and mysterious,” Ignacio Avalos, a sociology professor at the Central University of Venezuela said. “It’s very unclear. As a Venezuelan, I would have bet my two kidneys that

Chavez would have at least said something about what happened in El Rodeo prison.” Chavez left Venezuela on June 5 for a tour taking in Brazil, Ecuador and Cuba. Since the official news about his operation, no more details have been given by doctors in Havana, and Venezuelan authorities have been tightlipped.

“The president is in the process of recovering. Soon, Hugo Chavez will be here in Venezuela,” said Vice President Elias Jaua, a figure loyal to Chavez who has rejected any suggestion of him taking over presidential duties temporarily.

Luis Vicente Leon, the head of the Datanalisis polling firm, said he believed the secrecy surrounding Chavez’s illness was an attempt to preserve the president’s image as an “invulnerable man.”

“They are trying to pass off the problem as minor, that it hit him by chance while he was in Havana and that he can rule from Cuba for a while... This could be a way to set up a triumphal return. But Chavez has to reappear soon, because otherwise it could prove dangerous to his image,” he said. So far, authorities have not invoked a constitutional passage that would decree Jaua taking over temporarily because of a presidential absence. But in the legislature, a fierce debate is raging over whether Chavez has the right to rule from abroad. — AFP

GUATIRE: A relative of an inmate gestures while waiting for information outside of the El Rodeo I prison in Guatire. Thousands of National Guard troops stormed the Venezuelan prison seeking to disarm prisoners days after a bloody riot, setting off gunfights with resisting inmates that have left at least one inmate and two soldiers dead, and more than 18 wounded. — AP

MORELIA: The bodies of five people whose hands and feet were bound before they were shot dead have been found along a road in Mexico affixed with warnings against a notorious drug cartel, authorities said.

Police on Monday were alerted to two bodies of individuals who had been “shackled, tortured and shot in the head,” an official in the prosecutor’s office in the southwestern Michoacan state said on condition of anonymity. Police found a warning message with the bodies addressed to Jose de Jesus Mendez, nicknamed “The Monkey,” reading: “This is what will happen to those who collaborate with The Monkey Mendez...

Come collect your garbage.”

The other three bodies were found along the same road, the official said. Mendez is the head of the La Familia drug cartel, one of several powerful gangs who have battled each other and security forces across the country in recent years, racking up thousands of bodies. La Familia has been gripped by internal divisions, with many of its members splitting to create a new cartel known as the Knights Templar. An estimated 36,000 people have died in drug-related violence since Mexican President Felipe Calderon launched an all-out, military-led crackdown on drug cartels shortly after taking office in December 2006.

In another development, a journalist, his wife, and their 21year-old son were shot to death inside their home in this Gulf coast city Monday, authorities said. Journalist Miguel Angel Lopez Velasco and his family were

VERACRUZ: This screen grab taken from the Notiver daily newspaper’s website on June 20, 2011, shows an image of journalist Miguel Angel Lopez Velasco with a black mourning ribbon. Lopez Velasco, the editorial director for Notiver who wrote a column about politics and crime, was gunned down with his wife and their 21-year-old son inside their home in the Gulf Coast city of Veracruz. — AP shot with a 9 mm handgun, said Veracruz state prosecutor Jorge Yunis. Lopez Velasco, 55, wrote a column about politics and crime and was editorial director for the

US and Japan to delay base plan WASHINGTON: Japan and the United States will delay plans to move a military base in Okinawa during top-level talks, officials said yesterday, as pressure builds for a new solution to the long-running rift. President Barack Obama’s administration had hoped that Japan’s massive March earthquake would help turn the page on a years-old dispute over US troop levels. But US senators have pressed for a rethink, calling plans unfeasible.

Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa, one of two Japanese officials in the talks with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, said it would be difficult to complete the base plan by the 2014 goal. “There is no point in dragging out something that cannot be done just because we agreed to do it before. What we are saying is let’s deal with this realistically,” Kitazawa told The New York Times before departing from Tokyo. A US official, speaking to reporters in Washington on condition of anonymity, said the meeting would result in “a readjustment of the timeline” to one that is “more realistic.”

“It does not take a math prodigy to look at the calendar, look at the original timelines that were laid out, look at the progress that has been made and make a determination about what can and can’t be completed between now and 2014,” the official said. Sealed in 2006 after exhaustive negotiations, the realignment plan calls for the closing of the Futenma air base, which lies in a crowded urban area of subtropical Okinawa Island and has long been a source of grievance. The plan, signed under the right-leaning administrations of George W Bush and Junichiro Koizumi, would have a new base built on an isolated part of Okinawa with some 8,000 Marines leaving by 2014 for the US territory of Guam. Some Okinawan activists demanded that the base be removed entirely from Okinawa, which bears half of the 47,000-strong US military presence in Japan. One Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama, resigned last year after failing to fulfill campaign promises to renegotiate Futenma, with the Obama administration insisting that the crux of the deal was not open to debate. — AFP

daily newspaper Notiver. His son, Misael Lopez, had been working as a photographer for the same newspaper. Yunis said investigators haven’t determined a motive

in the killings and no one has been arrested. Earlier this month, state police in Veracruz found the body of reporter Noel Lopez in a clandestine grave. He had been missing since March. The two reporters are not related. Police said Noel Lopez died of a blow to the head and that soldiers found his body after a man they arrested in the killings of several police officers confessed to killing him and led them to the body. Noel Lopez worked for the weeklies Horizonte and Noticias de Acayucan and for the daily newspaper La Verdad. The office of Mexico’s Interior Minister said Monday that federal prosecutors will help the state attorney general with the case.

Press freedom groups say Mexico is the most dangerous country in the Americas for journalists. “The Mexican government must put an end to this endless wave of violence that is eroding the democratic system,” said Carlos Lauria, senior program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists in the Americas. Mexico’s National Commission on Human Rights said on Monday that 70 journalists have been killed since 2000.

In addition, it said 13 have disappeared. Other press freedom groups consider the numbers high and differ on the definition of who constitutes a journalist in Mexico’s homicide figures. For example, the Committee to Protect Journalists says since 2000 there have 48 journalists killed and disappeared in Mexico, including three newspaper carriers who were killed for distributing newspapers. — Agencies

Ex China envoy Huntsman launches White House bid WASHINGTON: Former ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, launching his 2012 White House bid yesterday, urged voters to help him rewrite a grim narrative of US decline and sharply assailed President Barack Obama. “We’re not just choosing new leaders. We’re choosing whether we are to become yesterday ’s story or tomorrow’s. Everything is at stake. This is the hour when we choose our future,” he said in remarks prepared for delivery.

Emulating conservative icon Ronald Reagan, Huntsman was due to officially launch his campaign in a New Jersey state park in sight of the Statue of Liberty and the New York skyline scarred by the September 11, 2001 attacks. The former Utah governor, 51, expressed “respect” for Obama as well as his fellow Republican presidential hopefuls, insisting the voters will decide “who will be the better president, not who’s the better American.” But he savaged Obama’s handling of the economy during the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s, saying “we need more than hope” in a reference to “hope and change” mantra of Obama’s historic 2008 campaign.

“For the first time in our history, we are about to pass down to the next generation a country that is less powerful, less compassionate, less competitive and less confident,” Huntsman said in excerpts from his speech. “This is totally unacceptable and totally un-American,” he added, assuring voters at a time of painfully high unemployment that he knew that “for the average American family there is nothing more important than a job.” Huntsman painted himself as the right candidate to “make hard decisions that are necessary to avert disaster,” warning that the swelling US debt risked smothering the economy and weighing

Jon Huntsman down Washington’s global leadership.

“Our influence in the world will wane.

Our security will be more precarious. The 21st Century then will be known as the end of the American Century. We can’t accept this, and we won’t,” he said.

Huntsman did not directly allude to his recently completed 20-month stretch in Beijing handling arguably the most crucial US diplomatic relationship, a job that has proven a double -edged sword among his fellow Republicans.

The former diplomat, who served in Reagan’s White House, possesses what are widely considered to be the best foreign policy credentials of a crowded Republican field that has left cold many of the party’s core voters. Huntsman supporters say he is the best suited to get China to abandon what US politicians charge are unfair trade practices that stifle US job growth, notably charges of intellectual property theft and currency manipulation. — AFP

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China hosts Libyan rebel leader BEIJING: Senior Libyan rebel leader Mahmud Jibril arrived in China yesterday as Beijing intensifies its involvement in efforts to resolve the crisis in the wartorn country, calling on the two sides to talk. Jibril, the top foreign affairs official in the Libyan opposition’s National Transitional Council (NTC), will meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi during his two-day visit, ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters. “China’s immediate task is to promote peace and encourage talks,” Hong said, adding the situation in the north African state, where

unrest broke out in midFebruary, “should not be left as it is anymore”.

“The Libyan crisis has lasted for four months-during this period of time, the people of Libya have suffered to the fullest extent the chaos caused by war, and infrastructure was greatly damaged,” Hong said.

“China expresses great concern in this regard,” he added, reiterating Beijing’s calls for a ceasefire and negotiations “as soon as possible” with an eye to a political resolution to the crisis.

Earlier this month, China-which has significant economic interests in Libya-said it would wel-

come visits by the rebels who are seeking an end to strongman Muammar Gaddafi’s more than four decades in power.

Chinese diplomats have so far held two confirmed meetings with NTC head Mustapha Abdul-Jalil-one in Doha and one in the eastern Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi. Libyan Foreign Minister Abdelati alObeidi also spent three days in Beijing earlier this month discussing ways to resolve the crisis, with China insisting a ceasefire should be the “top priority” of both sides. China’s commercial interests in Libya include oil, telecoms and rail

projects. It was forced to evacuate more than 35,000 workers from the north African state when unrest broke out four months ago.

Only 5.68 percent of the losses suffered by 13 Chinese state - owned companies in Libya were covered by insurance, the Global Times reported, citing other state media.

The newspaper said total losses could amount to $20 billion.

Observers said the protection of Chinese interests in Libya was likely to be on the agenda for discussion, the Global Times said. Until recently, Beijing had maintained its

long-standing policy of noninterference and public neutrality on the conflict in Libya, calling multiple times for a peaceful end to the popular uprising. Although it allowed the UN Security Council to green-light international military action against Gaddafi’s regime by abstaining from the vote on the resolution, rather than using its veto, it has criticized NATO-led air strikes.

The West has thrown its diplomatic and financial support behind the NTC, which has been recognized by about a dozen countries including Britain, France and the United

States. Jibril could also ask senior Chinese officials for financial help, as the council has set a budget of around $3.5 billion for the next six months. At a conference in Abu Dhabi earlier this month, donors vowed to help the rebels with cash and supplies.

Italy promised loans and aid worth 300 to 400 million euros ($438-584 million). France meanwhile said it would release 290 million euros of frozen Libyan funds for the NTC. Diplomats said $180 million had been pledged by Kuwait and $100 million by Qatar. —AFP

660 reservoirs at risk of overflowing in China Weather catastrophes in China soar BEIJING: Heavy rains in eastern China have put more than 660 reservoirs at risk of overflowing, an official said yesterday.

Rain-triggered floods have swept parts of eastern and southern China this month, leaving at least 175 dead and 86 missing and causing 35 billion yuan ($5 billion) in direct economic losses, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs. An official at the media department of the Anhui Water Resource Department said water levels at more than 660 reservoirs in the province were above the warning level. Like most Chinese officials, she would give only her surname, Zhao.

The official Xinhua News Agency also said in a Chinese-language report that the reservoirs were in danger of overflowing.

The Anhui flood control headquarters said most of the reservoirs - more than 620 - were small, and that only three were

Xinhua said the water levels of the Shuiyang and Qingyi rivers, both tributaries of the Yangtze River running through Anhui, had risen above the warning safety mark. It said many of the reservoirs in Anhui had started discharging water on orders

Reservoir has been forced to discharge water since 1999, Zhejiang’s flood control headquarters said. Xinhua quoted officials as saying the release of water into the Lanjiang River wouldn’t cause havoc downstream because water there had

ZHEJIANG: A Chinese man wades through a flooded street with his tricycle in Lanxi city in east China’s Zhejiang province. —AP large. Such flooding is common every year during China’s rainy season, with reservoirs and rivers overflowing. Zhao referred further queries to the provincial Communist Party Propaganda Department, but calls were not answered there.

from the state flood- control headquarters. In neighboring Zhejiang province, the operator of eastern China’s largest reservoir opened three of its nine floodgates Tuesday because of the risk of overflowing. It was the first time the Xin’anjiang

receded below the danger level.

Meanwhile, the world’s biggest reinsurance company, Munich Re, said yesterday that deadly weather catastrophes in China had soared around fourfold in the last 30 years, costing its economy billions. Munich Re

Activist urges civilians to challenge Pakistani army ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s civilian leaders should capitalize on public anger with the military and try to ease its grip on power, a leading human rights activist and lawyer said yesterday. The army’s image has been dented by a number of setbacks starting with the killing of Osama bin Laden last month by US Special Forces on Pakistani soil. Traditionally seen as untouchable, Pakistan’s generals now face strong public criticism. Asma Jahangir, a leading human rights campaigner and head of the Supreme Court Bar Association, said the mood in the country provided an opportunity to start correcting a lopsided balance of power between the army and the civilian government.

“I am hopeful that public opinion will finally embolden civil society, including politicians. But it’s not going to happen tomorrow morning,” she told Reuters in a telephone interview. “It’s going to be a perpetual struggle. They are not just going to hand over and say ‘thank you very much we are now under civilian control’. But at least they know that’s what people want now.” The military has ruled nuclear-armed Pakistan for more than half of its history. Generals set security and foreign policy, even when civilian governments are in power, as is the case now.

The 600,000-strong army also runs a vast business empire that includes oil and gas interests, cereals and real estate. “Our parliament has to strengthen itself for anyone to change because nobody hands over power just voluntarily,” said Jahangir. “The parliament will have to be more forceful and also begin to realize that they (the army) can’t hold the economy of this country hostage, foreign policy hostage.” Pakistan’s civilian leaders don’t seem willing to stand up to the military in a country prone to army coups.

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani boy wearing a mask walks in an alley of a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad yesterday. —AP Generals often orchestrate Pakistani politics from behind the scenes. “They have selfishly overlooked the interests of the people of Pakistan. We think that it’s time to change,” said Jahangir.

The army says it does not interfere in politics and reiterated its commitment to democracy in a statement issued this month.

Jahangir said she is hopeful of change because the military has been on the defensive. The United States kept Pakistan in the dark over the raid that killed bin Laden, humiliating the army and then piling pressure on it to crack down harder on militancy.

Then a handful of militants besieged a naval base in the city of Karachi last month, further embarrassing the military, which eats up a large chunk of state spending.

About 25 percent of government expenditure flows to the defense budget, according to some estimates, in a country with widespread poverty and social inequalities. “The government needs to make legislation on intelligence agencies. They need to debate the defense budget. —Reuters

said in a report that the number of annual disasters including violent storms, floods, extreme temperatures, droughts and forest fires had risen to about 48 by 2010 from around 11 in the early 1980s. A company spokesman noted however that official reporting of such catastrophes would have been less transparent in China in the 1980s than today.

Munich Re said the weather events had claimed the lives of 148,000 people and cost $422 billion dollars over the same period.

The head of Munich Re’s Georisk Research, Peter Hoeppe, said China’s current flooding woes were only the latest in an escalating long-term trend. “The devastating floods in China are of a dramatic dimension-a phenomenon that has unfortunately occurred in China with increasing frequency over the last few decades,” Hoeppe said in an e-mailed message.

“Every year, millions of Chinese are victims of weather-related natural catastrophes. And the risk is steadily growing, for climate change harbors the potential for torrential downpours while the risk of drought in certain regions is also on the rise.” Persistent rains since early June have swamped many areas across a wide swathe of China and the state weather bureau has forecasted continued downpours with the summer typhoon season approaching.

Torrential downpours across large parts of the country last year triggered the nation’s worst flooding in a decade, leaving more than 4,300 people dead or missing in floods, landslides and other rainrelated disasters. —Agencies

News

in brief

Inspectors to test cars for radiation SYDNEY: Australian nuclear inspectors yesterday said they were to examine a shipment of cars arriving from tsunamihit Japan following fears a number of the vehicles might be contaminated with radiation. ARPANSA, Australia’s nuclear safety agency, said it would board the cargo ship Trans Future 7 when it docked south of Sydney on Thursday after a request from port workers. “This inspection is being made to reassure stevedores after concerns from the Maritime Union of Australia that as 30 of the cars are used vehicles they may possibly have originated from the tsunami and nuclear affected areas,” an ARPANSA spokesman said. “These concerns have arisen after the discovery of low levels of radioactivity in cars recently shipped from Yokohama (to Chile).” The 800-car shipment was being tested “simply as a precaution,” the spokesman added. “ARPANSA advises that the risk to health of people handling mail, containers or cargo arriving from the affected areas in Japan is assessed as very low,” he said. Australian new car sales slumped 14.5 percent year-on-year last month due to “delays in delivery of Japanese manufactured vehicles” associated with the March quake and tsunami in Japan, according to the statistics bureau. Japan is Australia’s major automotive supplier, accounting for some 33 percent of car and parts imports.

China detains 52 in fake drug, Viagra crackdown BEIJING: Police in China have detained 52 people in a crackdown on fake drugs, including the anti-impotence pill Viagra, seizing pills for other illicit aphrodisiacs and pornographic pictures in the process, state media said yesterday.

The police operation centered on the teeming southern metropolis of Guangzhou also netted thousands of fake pills and packaging, busting a ring that sold to both the domestic and overseas market, the official Xinhua news agency said. It named another fake drug seized as “man coffee”, without giving details. Police also confiscated almost one million pornographic pictures used for packaging and shut down the printing press, Xinhua added.

SINGAPORE: The Haixun 31 maritime patrol vessel, China’s largest maritime patrol ship on a first-ever visit to the Southeast Asian city-state of Singapore, is docked at the Singapore Cruise Center yesterday.

Singapore’s Foreign Ministry says China should make clear its territorial claims in the South China Sea amid mounting regional tension over the key sea trade route. —AP

Vietnam, China hold joint naval patrol amid sea spat HANOI: Vietnam and China have concluded two days of joint naval patrols, including a port call in China, despite a heated dispute over claims in the South China Sea, state media said yesterday. Two boats from each country participated in the patrols Sunday and Monday, sailing more than 300 nautical miles in the Gulf of Tonkin bordering Vietnam and China, Vietnam’s People’s Army Newspaper said. A demarcation treaty for the area was signed in 2000.

“Respecting the signed agreements is one of the factors that will promote the friendly and neighborly relations between two countries and ensure sustainable stability and security at sea,” it quoted Col Nguyen Van Kiem, deputy chief of staff of Vietnam’s navy, as saying. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei did not comment on the joint patrol at a regular news conference yesterday. He reiterated Beijing’s sovereignty over the South China Sea, but said it would work toward a peaceful resolution to the territorial dispute.

The joint patrol was the 11th since 2005 between the neighboring Communist countries, but it was unclear how long it had been planned or whether it signaled any cooling of tempers. Relations between the two have plummeted in recent weeks as they have traded diplomatic punches over run-ins involving territory in the South China Sea claimed by both. “The South China Sea has led to a souring of political relations but has not yet spilled over to affect the broad and deep nature of Sino-Vietnam relations,” Carlyle Thayer, a Vietnam expert at the Australian Defense Force Academy in Canberra, said in an email.

“The holding of the exercises is a good sign.” Last week, Vietnam held live-fire naval drills off its central coast and issued an order outlining who would be exempt from a military draft during wartime. China

announced a few days later that it also recently held similar maneuvers in the South China Sea without providing exact dates. Yesterday, a newspaper published

by China’s ruling Communist Party ran a scathing editorial, warning Vietnam to back off.

“If Vietnam wishes to create a war in the South China Sea, China will resolutely keep them company,” the Global Times said.

“China has the absolute might to crush the naval fleets sent from Vietnam. China will show no mercy to its rival due to ‘global impact’ concerns.” China has been upset with Vietnam’s welcoming of US involvement in helping resolve disputes in the South China Sea that Beijing believes should be settled bilaterally. The editorial said any attack on Vietnam would likely not lead to a direct conflict with the US, but that “even if some friction occurs, that is no reason for China to put up with Vietnam’s unlimited vice in the South China Sea.” The US has said that keeping key shipping lanes open in the South China Sea is in its national interest. On Monday, US Republican Sen John McCain, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam, told a conference held by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, that Chinese aggressive behavior and unsubstantiated territorial claims are “exacerbating tensions in the South China Sea.” He urged the US to help Southeast Asian nations resolve territorial disputes with China, while also assisting them in developing and deploying maritime defense systems, including early warning radar and coastal security vessels.

Hundreds of Vietnamese protested Sunday for the third straight week, yelling “Down with China!” as they marched through the streets of the capital, Hanoi. Many also carried signs demanding that China stop entering Vietnamese-claimed territory in the Spratly and Paracel islands. —AP

Fukushima raises questions about new Finnish reactor OLKILUOTO: More than 5,000 hard-hat workers swarm over a sprawling nuclear facility in western Finland to build OL3 touted as the safest nuclear reactor in the world-a claim which has come under scrutiny following Japan’s nuclear disaster. “Fukushima raised questions. The first one of course is whether such extreme natural phenomena have been taken into account here,” says Jorma Sandberg, the head of risk analysis at Finland’s Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK). Japan’s deadly earthquake and tsunami and subsequent nuclear disaster have sparked a world-wide re-assessment of reactor safety measures, prompting for instance Germany’s decision to phase out all its nuclear reactors within the next decade.

In Finland, scrutiny falls especially on the construction of OL3, which raises questions because it will be the first socalled third generation reactor. “It’s true it has all the newest systems, but we don’t know much about them in the sense that

they haven’t been used before, especially all the automation there,” Sandberg says.

Critics like Greenpeace are calling for immediate structural changes, which they say can be made easily while the plant is still being built. Most of the construction is done however, and the domed reactor core building is rising slowly over Olkiluoto Island.

Thousands labor in its labyrinth of corridors and scaffolding, turning 320,000 cubic meters of concrete and five times the Eiffel Tower’s steel into what, according to power company TVO, will be the most advanced nuclear reactor the world has ever seen. “OL3 has taken safety planning further than any other nuclear reactor. There are the parallel systems, separate systems, duplicated systems, so that even if something happens that we hadn’t thought of ... we can catch up to the problem and manage it,” says Esa Mannola, the head of nuclear safety at TVO. —AFP

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WADI RUM, Jordan: In this Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2007 file photo, a foreign tourist carries an umbrella as he walks in the desert. — AP

US drone copter downed in Libya Continued from Page 1 Bracken refused to say what country the unmanned drone was from but US defence officials in Washington identified it as a Fire Scout, an aircraft the size of a small passenger helicopter equipped with sensors and cameras.

Libyan state television yesterday showed footage of a burntout helicopter it identified as an Apache, reportedly

downed near Zliten, 160 km east of the capital. The caption on the television, which quoted military sources, read: “Images of the Apache helicopter shot down by the people’s army.” NATO has been using combat helicopters over Libya in an attempt to break the stalemate in the conflict. The alliance relies heavily on drones and surveillance aircraft to identify and strike targets because it is operating under a UN mandate that bars the use of ground troops in Libya. — AFP

Seven dead as Assad orders new amnesty Continued from Page 1 In a main square in the central city of Hama, security personnel opened fire on anti-regime protesters, killing a 13-year-old boy, said the Local Coordinating Committees, which track the Syrian protest movement.

Three other people were reported killed in Homs, in central Syria, and three in the Mayadin district in the eastern city of Deir Al-Zour during pro- and anti-regime demonstrations. The pro- and anti-Assad sides have fought each other in the past, but yesterday’s bloodshed appeared to be the worst such violence. “We are seeing an escalation by authorities today,” said Omar Idilbi, spokesman for the committees.

“They are sending pro-government thugs along with security forces to attack protesters.” The opposition estimates more than 1,400 Syrians have been killed and 10,000 detained as Assad unleashed his military and security forces to crush the protest movement, which sprang to life in March inspired by the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt.

The unending government repression and bloodshed appeared to be driving even Russia, a longtime Syria backer, to distance itself from Assad, as international pressure mounts for him to accept major political change. “We need to apply pressure on the leadership of any country where massive unrest, and especially bloodshed, is happening,” Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said in Paris. “In the modern world it is impossible to use political instruments of 40 years ago,” Putin

said of the Syrians’ tactics. It remained to be seen, however, whether this signaled a change in Moscow’s opposition to tough UN action on Syria.

Assad, who belongs to the minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiism, still enjoys support in Syria, although it is dwindling. His main base is among the business elite and middle classes who have benefited from his economic policies, and among minority groups that fear being targeted if the country’s Sunni Muslim majority takes over. Activists claimed, however, that the government mobilized pro-regime demonstrators yesterday, forcing students to participate and busing in people from villages in the Mediterranean coastal heartland of the ruling elite.

An eyewitness in Homs told AP a pro-Assad protest with some 10,000 participants “descended” on the city.

“Nobody knows them, they are strangers to the city, they were asking for directions,” he said. “The security forces arrested the wounded.

They stepped on them on the ground and arrested them,” said the witness, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.

In the restive northern province of Idlib, where the army has conducted operations for days, activists said soldiers had reached Hamboushieh, a village a mile 2 km from where thousands of displaced Syrians were camped out on the Syrian side of the Turkish border.

Heavy shooting was reported in the area, but its source was not immediately clear. Thousands more had already fled into Turkey. The UN refugee agency’s spokesman, Adrian

Edwards, said yesterday that 500 to 1,000 people a day have been crossing from northern Syria into Turkey since June 7, and more than 10,000 were being sheltered by Turkish authorities in four border camps.

Assad’s speech at Damascus University on Monday was only his third public appearance since the uprising began in March. He said a national dialogue would start soon and he was forming a committee to study constitutional amendments, including one that would open the way to forming political parties other than the ruling Baath Party. He acknowledged demands for reform were legitimate, but he rehashed allegations that “saboteurs” were exploiting the movement. Like earlier efforts, this Assad bid to appease the opposition fell flat. Prominent dissident Hassan Abdul-Azim, echoing the sentiments of others, said the Syrian president failed to detail a vision of moving “from a dictatorship into a national democratic regime with political pluralism”.

The International Committee of the Red Cross announced in Geneva yesterday the Syrian government has promised to give it and the Syrian Red Crescent more access to Syrians wounded and detained in the crackdown. The announcement came after ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger met with Prime Minister Adel Safar and Foreign Minister Walid Moallem in Damascus. Kellenberger had urged Syria to allow the humanitarian organizations to operate unhindered to assess the needs of those affected in the unrest and military operations. — AP

Conservation body urges more Arab natural sites DUBAI: The Arab world should propose more natural sites for the UN’s World Heritage list after having only two new ones listed in the past 15 years, a conservation group said yesterday. The International Union for Conservation of Nature said in a report released yesterday that the Middle East and nearby region has the fewest natural World Heritage sites. Only four are listed, including Banc d’Arguin National Park in Mauritania, Ichkeul National Park in Tunisia, the Socotra Archipelago in Yemen and the Wadi Al-Hitan in Egypt. Jordan has proposed the Wadi Rum protected area for designation as a cultural and natural site at the meeting of the World Heritage committee in Paris, which runs until June 29. It is one of 37 sites up for designation.

“The Arab states are home to an exceptional natural wealth and diversity, with striking desert land-

scapes and marine areas,” said Haifaa Abdulhalim, IUCN’s World Heritage officer in the Arab states. “ The process of nominating natural sites in the Arab region needs a major overhaul if we want to see more of them on the World Heritage list.” The report also found the 18-state region does far less to monitor and promote natural sites like marine reserves and desert landscapes than for cultural sites like pyramids and ancient fortifications. It found that 12 states had 35 sites which have potential to be listed but so far haven’t been nominated.

It found that 91 percent of states had inventories of cultural sites but nothing similar for natural sites. Also, cultural institutions in these countries “were not well equipped” to manage natural sites, and environmental ministries have often been locked out of the nomination process. The report also reviewed

management of natural sites that are already on the World Heritage List and found many face serious challenges.

In Banc d’Arguin, for example, more effective measures are needed to control the risk of accidental oil spills which may threaten the park’s wintering water birds and mammals, including the critically endangered Monk Seal. In Socotra, often referred to as the ‘Galapagos of the East’, the unique vegetation and ecosystems have been under increasing threat due to the development of infrastructure and tourism. “By continuing to improve the management of these sites and by increasing cooperation between countries to support them, World Heritage Sites in Arab States can greatly contribute to conservation and sustainable development in the region,” said Mariam Kenza Ali, an IUCN World Heritage conservation officer. — AP

Penguin takes wrong turn to New Zealand Continued from Page 1 He doesn’t know what might have caused this particular one to become disoriented. Miskelly said the penguin appeared healthy and well-fed, with plenty of body fat, and probably came ashore for a rest.

However, Miskelly said the penguin would need to find its way back south soon if it were to survive.

Despite the onset of the New Zealand winter, the bird was probably hot and thirsty, he said, and it

had been eating wet sand. “It doesn’t realize that the sand isn’t going to melt inside it,” Miskelly said. “They typically eat snow, because it’s their only liquid.” However, he said the bird was in no immediate danger from dehydration because Emperor penguins can also drink salt water in the summer.

Peter Simpson, a program manager for New Zealand’s Department of Conservation, said officials are asking people to stand back about 10 m from the creature and to avoid letting

dogs near it. Other than that, he said, officials plan to let nature take its course. Simpson said the bird could live several weeks before needing another meal. The last confirmed sighting of a wild Emperor in New Zealand was in 1967 at the southern Oreti Beach, Simpson said. Miskelly, the curator, said the bird appears to weigh about 10 kg - healthy for its age, but only about one-third of the weight the penguin would need to reach before it could survive a breeding cycle on the Antarctic ice. — AP

Clinton backs ‘brave’ Saudi women drivers Continued from Page 1 women were arrested and severely punished after demonstrating in cars. “I know there is an active debate in Saudi Arabia on a range of social issues,” Clinton said at a press conference with Japan’s Foreign

Minister Takeaki Matsumoto and Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa as well as US Defense Secretary Robert Gates. “For our part, we will continue in private and in public to urge all governments to address issues of discrimination and to ensure that women have equal

opportunity to fulfill their own godgiven potential,” she said. The protests are the climax of a twomonth online campaign riding the winds of the so-called Arab spring which has spread mass revolts across the region and toppled two regimes. — AFP

Russia plane crash kills 44 Continued from Page 1 A Swedish national, a Dutch citizen and two Ukrainians were among the dead, as well as a family of four with dual Russian and US citizenship, the emergencies ministry said on its website. The Russians who died included a well-known football referee, Vladimir Pettai, and six nuclear energy experts. As the plane crashed, it splintered off the tops of trees and snapped power lines, before landing perilously close to houses in the nearby village of Besovets. The force of the crash scattered wreckage over a distance of 300 m, investigators said.

Local resident Mikhail Osipov told Channel One television how he “heard a bang and thought at first it was some incredibly loud thunder”. He saw the plane crash in a “ball of fire” and ran out to attempt to rescue passengers. “I managed to take a woman or a girl out of there, she was light,” news website www.lifenews.ru quoted a witness as saying. He said he and his father had removed several more people before the plane blew up. “I didn’t have time to do anything else, it all started to explode,” he said. “Everything caught fire, there was no way to get close.” The plane hit a car on the road, dragging it under the fuselage, Itar-Tass reported. It was unclear how many people were in the car.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin expressed their condolences to the victims’ families and the regional authorities announced three days of

mourning. The head of the Karelia region, Andrei Nelidov, travelled to the scene of the crash and promised the relatives of the dead compensation of 1 million rubles ($35,711).

Deputy Prime Minister Ivanov said that the crash appeared to be the result of “pilot error in bad weather” and the crew tried to spot the runway visually and simply landed in the wrong place. “The pilot did not land on the runway, but to the right,” he said. Controversially, Ivanov said the crash “recalls the recent Polish plane disaster at Smolensk” in western Russia that killed Polish president Lech Kaczynski and 95 others in April 2010. Russia has blamed pilot error for the crash in which the Polish Tupolev 154 presidential jet attempted to land amid thick fog, a finding that Poland has angrily disputed.

The Moscow-based inter-state air commission (MAK), which investigates all air accidents in the ex-USSR, stressed it was premature to draw conclusions on the Karelia crash. The plane’s black boxes have been located. RusAir officials told Russian news agencies that the plane, made in 1981, had been completely checked before take-off and there had been no technical problems. Russia’s aviation industry remains blighted by repeated accidents involving its ageing fleet of planes, with the Soviet-era Tupolev jets having a particularly poor safety record. In September, a Tu-154 made a miraculous emergency landing on a derelict airstrip in Russia’s remote Komi region after its electrical systems failed midflight. — Agencies

Liberals to support PM as new grilling looms Continued from Page 1 Al-Saadoun told a gathering on Monday night. “We will not let go because this concerns (safeguarding) Kuwaiti interests ... If the no-confidence motion does not pass, we will submit a new quiz on Thursday,” said Saadoun, a former three-time parliament speaker. “We will continue to grill the prime minister until this government falls,” Saadoun told the gathering organised by the opposition to garner support for tomorrow’s vote.

Islamist MP Khaled Al-Sultan warned that the future of the state, bordered by regional powers Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia, was at stake because of policies adopted by the government. “If this government continues in power, Kuwait, its peo-

ple and the regime will be wiped off the map,” Sultan told the gathering.

Sultan however said the opposition’s dispute with the prime minister was not personal but because of his failure to lead the wealthy state.

“Between 2006 and 2011, Kuwait’s budget increased from 10 billion dinars ($36 billion) to around 20 billion dinars ($72 billion) ... but no progress was achieved in development,” Sultan said. He said the country’s corruption indicators had increased under Sheikh Nasser to unprecedented levels and public freedom curtailed, while spending was increased “just to keep his post.”

Tabtabaei said Kuwait was in danger of “falling into the arms of Iran.”

The Assembly also approved the 2011/2012 budgets of Kuwait Airways, the Credit and Savings Bank,

Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development and Public Institution for Social Security. The Assembly also debated the budgets of Central Bank of Kuwait, state news agency KUNA and others and is expected to vote on the budget today.

In another development, the Assembly office issued an order banning Abbas Ghloum, known as Abbas Al-Shaabi, the secretary of MP Musallam Al-Barrak and a staunch supporter of the opposition Popular Action Bloc. Abbas was banned from entry into the Assembly for three months and was referred to investigation for allegedly making offensive remarks during the grilling session last week. The Popular Bloc has protested against the action and vowed it will file a lawsuit against the Assembly speaker.

14

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 2011

opinion

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Issues

Malema fires warning shot at investors

By Deepak Adhikari ulius Malema, the youth leader of South Africa’s ruling ANC, has fired a warning shot at investors, saying his organisation would push hard to make nationalisation of mines a state policy. During a twohour speech to supporters, Malema also chided senior members of the African National Congress for failing to deliver radical change for the millions of poor still caught in grinding poverty nearly two decades after the end of apartheid. As ANC Youth League leader, Malema, 30, has no direct policy-writing power. But the League has long been a training ground for the leadership, and plays the role of a power broker.

In his speech at the end of league’s four-day conference on Sunday, Malema proved he intends to use his considerable support to press for radical change. “The ANC must lead our people. We are asking for radical policy shifts,” he said. “Sitting here are members of the ANC, economic freedom fighters. They are not scared of capital, white monopoly capital. “They are ready to confront white monopoly capital.” Independent political analyst Nic Borain said the conference was a “triumphant march” for Malema. “He very explicitly warned the leadership and warned the ANC that the Youth League was going to fight to get these policies implemented in the mother party,” he said.

Malema said youth league members - open to people aged 14 to 35 - should occupy at least 50 percent of the party’s positions. He called for nationalisation of the country’s mines and banks and expropriation of land without compensation. South Africa is home to some of the world’s largest gold miners, such as AngloGold Ashanti and Gold Fields, and sits on 80 percent of known platinum reserves. It also home to major lenders such as Standard Bank, Africa’s largest bank by assets. The ANC retorted on Monday that Malema’s push for nationalisation was “unequivocally” not policy. “Pronouncements by the Youth League on such matters as the nationalisation of mines and land redistribution - among others - form part of ongoing discussions within the movement,” the ANC said in a statement.

While Malema’s attempt to change policy is unlikely to be a negative for Africa’s biggest economy in the immediate future, it could dent investor confidence over the long term, analysts said. “The fact that the nationalisation debate is not going away, the fact that he is making it broader, including other industries, all of this is marginally bad,” said Nazmeera Moola, a director at Macquarie First South Securities.

“Nationalisation is not a policy of the ANC. What Malema is aiming to do is make it a policy of the ANC. There’s a lot of hurdles in place for him to overcome before this becomes a significant threat.”

Malema’s rising strength also underscores the relative weakness of President Jacob Zuma, South Africa’s Business Day newspaper said in an editorial on Monday. “Mr. Malema is undoubtedly strengthened politically by the way he has retained his grip on the league and exposed Mr Zuma’s vulnerability as a leader,” the paper said. Zuma will now have to chose between the party’s African nationalist wing, represented by Malema, and its unionist partner, labour group COSATU, the paper said.

Zuma could very well find himself sidelined, even before the party’s crucial leadership conference next year, the paper said. It may be rash to read too much into Malema’s potential influence on policy, said Peter Attard Montalto, emerging market economist, Nomura International in London. Investors “understand that the ANC is a broad church”, he said, adding that the “median” of the party remained reasonable.

Still, Malema has struck a chord with the millions of young South Africans who grew up after the end of apartheid but are still economically marginalised. “It’s not reasonable to ask of African people to just let it go,” said Mabhoko Mahlangu, a 22-year-old entrepreneur who was shopping at a high-end mall in Johannesburg’s financial district Sandton. “When we talk about the injustices of apartheid it’s seen as (something) we should just let go and get over it. I’m glad Julius is bringing up the issues, it needs to get done properly and quickly.” — Reuters

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Little change in Moroccan air

By Sofia Bouderbala oroccan King Mohammed VI’s proposed new constitution would do little to change the status quo, falling short of expectations raised during the heady early days of the Arab Spring, analysts say. “In terms of the distribution and architecture of power, this constitution is still far from democratic,” said political scientist Mohamed Madani of Mohammed V University in Rabat. The touted new constitutional monarchy is “drowned” amid a raft of qualifiers and not backed up by the text, Madani said.

Under the draft constitution unveiled by the king on Friday, he would remain head of state and the military and still appoint ambassadors and diplomats, while retaining the right to name top officials of unspecified “strategic ” administrations. In the highly anticipated national address promised back in March, Mohammed VI offered a text that he said would “consolidate the pillars of a constitutional, democratic, parliamentary and social monarchy.”

Under the new basic law, to be put to

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a referendum on July 1, the king would no longer designate the prime minister, who would henceforth be named by the winning party in elections. The 47-yearold monarch, who took over the Arab world’s longest-serving dynasty in 1999, currently holds virtually all power in the Muslim north African country, and he is also its top religious authority as the Commander of the Faithful. “The king keeps all his prerogatives,” said Khadija Mohsen-Finan, a researcher at the University of Paris who specialises in the Maghreb. “He is the guarantor of all of this new equilibrium. That is how we are not in a parliamentary monarchy.”

Madani too argued that the king’s proposals were mainly cosmetic, noting that the text had grown from 108 to 180 articles, and from a legal text to a “program constitution” - but one that remains “royal”. “The king still smothers the political scene with his power,” agreed historian Pierre Vermeren, author of “Mohammed VI’s Morocco: The Unfinished Transition.” Measures such as the recognition of the minority Berber language Tamazight as an official language have “a very strong symbolic

import (but) don’t change much in practice,” he said. And deleting the article on the king’s religious power is no more than a “ruse,” he added. “You remove the symbol of this article, but keep the essence: the title of Commander of the Faithful, which makes the king the sole religious authority of the countr y,” Vermeren said. “By the yardstick of the expectations raised by the Arab revolutions, the advances are very weak,” said Mohsen-Finan. But, she noted: “In Morocco, the expectation is of change, not a rejection of the monarchy. People reproach the k ing for par t of his entourage. There’s a problem of corruption, but not a problem of general governance like in Tunisia or Egypt.”

When the king addressed the nation in March, it was his first speech since the uprisings that toppled the autocratic rulers of Tunisia and Egypt and came less than a month after the protests erupted in Morocco for more social justice and limits on royal powers. The youth-based February 20 Movement, rejecting the king’s proposals, called for nationwide demonstrations on Sunday.

While some 10,000 turned out in the

economic capital Casablanca, protests were far smaller in other cities.

The analysts said events in the Arab world have altered the context in the king’s favour since his speech in March.

“There is no more urgency for the king.

(Libyan leader Muammar) Gaddafi is still there, war is taking hold in Syria and Yemen,” Vermeren said, adding: “After the attack of Marrakesh (in April), the king is a bulwark of stability against the chaos that is stalking some Arab countries.” The Marrakesh bombing, blamed on Islamic extremists, claimed 17 lives.

But Vermeren said Mohammed “could have gone farther,” by speaking about social issues and the immediate expectations of young people. The announcement of a referendum on July 1 “means that there will be practically no campaign” for the draft - which is “not an encouraging sign,” he said.

Since Mohammed VI took the throne in 1999 at the age of 35, he has sought to pursue the open politics initiated at the end of his father Hassan II’s reign, which was tainted by a legacy of repression. But corruption still permeates all levels of government. — AFP

Assad speech offers little to protesters

By Dominic Evans yrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s promise on Monday to prepare a range of political reforms offers no prospect of appeasing the three-monthold uprising against his autocratic rule.

Speaking in public for only the third time since the unrest erupted in March, he pledged new laws covering parliamentary elections, political parties other than his Baath Party and the media, and held out the possibility of a new constitution.

But like his two earlier speeches, there was little immediate or concrete concession to protesters, many of whom are demanding Assad step down and say dialogue is impossible while he pursues a violent military crackdown on dissent.

Assad said the proposed new laws would be discussed in a national dialogue, but dismissed any prospect of a political solution with what he said were armed groups behind the turmoil. “What he is offering is too little too late - for the Syrian opposition, he has lost legitimacy with all the deaths,” said Lebanese analyst Ousama Safa. Syrian rights groups say more than 1,300 civilians have been killed by security forces since the unrest broke out in March. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also says 340 Syrian soldiers and police have also been killed. Around 10,000 people have been arrested and are still detained, while a similar number fled to neigbouring Turkey.

“He should have taken drastic measures, like putting some people on trial, introduce an immediate change to provide a major concession, shut down few intelligence agencies, fire some people, issue presidential decrees,” Safa said. “But now to offer dialogue...this does not work. It is too late.” Shortly after Assad finished speaking, fresh demonstrations broke out in Damascus suburbs and the coastal city of Latakia, underlining protesters’ dissatisfaction with the speech.

“The regime has no realisation that this is a mass street movement demanding freedom and dignity,” opposition figure Walid Al-Bunni said. “Assad has not said

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anything to satisfy the families of the 1,400 martyrs or the national aspiration of the Syrian people for the country to become a democracy.”

Activists say the ruthless military crackdown on demonstrators has only helped fuel the protests, and Assad’s

praise for the army suggested there would be no stepping back from confrontation. “Until the army returns to its barracks, we have to support the army and help the army and ask it to help us,” he said.

Assad’s proposed timeline, pledging

Syria’s President, Bashar Assad waves to the audience after delivering a speech in Damascus Monday. — AP

changes within months, contrasted with a warning from neighbouring Turkey that he had just a days to deliver reforms. “The demands in this field will be for a positive response to these issues within a short period that does not exceed a week,” Ersat Hurmuzlu, an adviser to Turkish President Abdullah Gul, told Al-Arabiya Television.

Without swift action, Hurmuzlu said there would be a danger of “foreign intervention”, and said Turkey would be following his speech carefully.

Analysts say there is little chance of foreign military action against Syria, such as the NATO bombing in Libya, but European countries have submitted a draft resolution to the U.N. Security Council to condemn Assad’s crackdown on protesters. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan had grown close to Assad in recent years but has been increasingly critical of the “savagery” of his repression of the protests. The European Union and United States have also imposed sanctions on the president and his closest allies in Damascus.

Hilal Khashan, a political scientist at the American University in Beirut, said Assad’s speech was addressed as much to the outside world as to the protesters. “He was trying to placate his Turkish neighbours by giving a timetable, (but) he did not spell out the reforms,” Khashan said.

“He doesn’t seem much concerned about his people. He is concerned about Turkey and the West.” Khashan said that despite facing Western sanctions and growing international condemnation, Assad knew that Western leaders would be unwilling to intervene directly in his country, whose alliance with Iran, influence in Lebanon and tensions with Israel put it at the heart of Middle East politics and conflict.

There are widespread fears of volatile instability in the region if Assad and his system were toppled precipitously. “...No one (outside Syria) is interested in seeing Assad go. The US says Assad lost most of his legitimacy. But that little remaining bit (of legitimacy) doesn’t seem to end. “He knows the international environment is conducive to his survival and he is trying to placate that.” — Reuters

15

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 2011

analysis

Thaksin’s ‘clone’ electrifies rural Thais

By Todd Pitman he woman who could become Thailand’s first female prime minister kicks off every campaign stop asking electrified crowds if they miss her brother - a billionaire ex-premier overthrown by the military five years ago. “If you love my brother,” Yingluck Shinawatra asks in a carefully choreographed routine, “will you give his youngest sister a chance?” As this fractious Asian nation edges closer to July 3 elections and what many fear could be another era of unrest, the answer, at least in this rural opposition heartland northeast of Bangkok, is a roaring “YES!” every time.

The 44-year-old Yingluck is a neophyte who has never held office. But in the space of just a few weeks she has catapulted to near rock star status on Thailand’s political stage, becoming the opposition’s main contender in the vote. Yingluck and her party make no secret of the reason why: Her bid rests almost entirely on the legacy of fugitive former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the brother-in-exile who calls her his “clone”. Before he was toppled in a 2006 coup - allegedly for corruption, abuse of power and insulting the nation’s revered king - the super-rich Thaksin won over Thailand’s rural underclass by introducing social welfare policies to benefit the poor.

But his opponents, including members of the urban middle class and elite, saw him as a threat to democracy and their own privileges.

The campaign to resurrect Thaksin’s legacy is seen as part of a societal struggle between the powerful and the powerless, between an entrenched armybacked elite establishment that backs the monarchy and an impoverished swath of rural Thailand that feels left out.

Bouyed by formidable charisma and an easy, photogenic smile, Yingluck is trying to galvanize poor rural voters - as her brother did - with pledges to raise pensions, boost the minimum wage and enact universal health care.

Local polls have consistently put

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her Pheu Thai party in the lead, but the contest “could simply accelerate Thailand’s political meltdown,” Joshua Kurlantzick, a fellow at the US Council on Foreign Relations think-tank, wrote in a recent analysis.

The vote to win a majority of 500 parliamentary seats is largely seen as a race between Pheu Thai and Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s Democrat party.

Kurlantzich said that “any of the plausible poll scenarios - an opposition victory nullified by another coup, or a Democrat win put together through back-

has staged 18 successful or attempted coups since the 1930s, the last of which toppled her brother, Yingluck knows to tread carefully. Last week, powerful army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha issued an ominous but vague warning urging voters not to repeat the outcome of past elections - the last several of which were won by proThaksin parties. Asked if she feared that the military would step in to block her from power if she wins, Yingluck told AP in an interview: “I don’t think it will happen again.” Prayuth’s warn-

called Red Shirt protesters, tens of thousands of whom poured into Bangkok from the provinces and shut down parts of it by camping out downtown for two months. One of them, civil ser vant Nutwara Autehaloek, said during one of Yingluck’s speeches in Trakarn Pheutphon that “if history repeats itself” - if the opposition legally wins but is prevented from governing - “we will return to Bangkok in greater numbers than before.” Although she has never said so, many believe Yingluck plans to introduce a

In this picture taken on June 15, 2011, Yingluck Shinawatra, opposition Pheu Thai Party’s candidate for prime minister and sister of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, poses during an election campaign for her party in Ubonratchathani province, northeast of Bangkok. — AP room coalition building - is likely to inflame segments of Thailand, causing more unrest in what was once one of the most stable countries in Asia”.

Haunting the ballot are last year’s massive street protests against Abhisit’s government, which killed at least 90 people, injured nearly 2,000 and paralyzed the city before leaving it in flames.

In a country where the army

ing, she said, was merely a call to “make sure the country is peaceful”. Yingluck has pointedly said she would not avenge her brother’s ouster and would not prosecute the 2006 coup plotters, including Prayuth.

Most of her public appearances - succinct, simplistic and careful - are clearly designed to avert controversy.

Holding the election was a key demand last year of the so-

general amnesty to pardon Thaksin, who lives in Dubai to escape serving a prison term at home on corruption convictions he says were politically motivated. Abhisit has condemned that possibility as a way to whitewash the former prime minister ’s criminal record.

Yingluck said there was no fixed plan for an amnesty, and it could only happen “if a majority of people accept it”. There “can-

not be any special treatment for someone, not even my brother,” she said, adding that the country ’s interests would come before those of her family. “If we have amnesty, everyone will get the same treatment.” Yingluck insists she is not her brother’s puppet, but one of her party’s primary slogans is startlingly clear about who pulls the strings in the organization: “Thaksin Thinks, Pheu Thai Acts.”

Thaksin has referred to his sister as “my clone”. But that only means they are the same “in terms of logical thinking, management style, and the way I act,” Yingluck said. “In terms of my opinion, my position, and my leadership, these are my own.” The two speak several times a week, Yingluck said. “He just wants to give me support.”

Yingluck has steered clear of debating Abhisit, a substantive forum the veteran politician would likely use to exploit her political naivety and inexperience. In speeches and interviews, she rarely goes off-message. On a recent trip to northern Thailand, Yingluck, draped in garlands and red roses her campaign staff had earlier handed out to supporters in the front row, froze to pose for pictures.

Yet she still appeared natural, at ease among the rural voters who surged forward to hug her and shake her hand - something Abhisit has had much more difficulty pulling off.

Born June 21, 1967, Yingluck obtained a master’s degree in political science from Kentucky State University in 1990. She spent most of her career working for her family’s companies, notably as director of the AIS mobile phone provider. In May, she quit her job as director of a family real estate business to run for office. Asked how she could govern a nation of 66 million people with no political experience, Yingluck said she had grown up learning from a family of politicians and trumpeted her business career. “In terms of the principles of politics, I think I understand well,” Yingluck said. Thailand “needs someone who has leadership, who has the management skills to help the country”. — AP

Economy, independents key to race

By Patricia Zengerle hile it is still very early, indications are that the most likely match up in the 2012 presidential election will be between President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who leads polls among Republicans. Romney, the only holdover from the 2008 Republican presidential field who has reached doubledigits in recent opinion polls, performed well in a debate last week and has shown he can mount a multimillion-dollar fundraising push. “Romney is the best opportunity for the Republicans to have a well-funded campaign,” said Jonathan Collegio, communications director at the conservative group American Crossroads.

“He’s basically been

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running for six years and he has a network of local leaders and fundraisers across the country.”

The winner of the Republican nomination will not be known for many months and Romney would first need to defeat rivals like Michele Bachmann, who is shaping up as the conser vative Republican champion, before he can take on Obama. There also is the chance a relative unknown could enter the race and over-

take Romney, whose campaigning style is seen as awkward. Some conservatives also view Romney with suspicion because he was a moderate governor and some evangelical Christians are uncomfortable with his Mormon religion.

But if Romney does come out on top in the primaries, the battle lines in a fight between him and the Democratic president are clear. With the election 17 months away, most polls show Obama with a lead of 6 percent to 7 percent over Romney and a Reuters poll this month had Obama leading Romney by 13 percent. The key to the general election for both men will be to win over independent voters not strongly allied with either party.

Romney is one of the most moderate Republican candidates and could appeal to independents, although he has moved away from more centrist policies like the healthcare overhaul he put into place in Massachusetts and which conservatives find too similar to Obama’s healthcare plan. “The other Romney, the old Romney, would make a really interesting campaign against Obama,” said Clyde Wilcox, a government professor at G e o r g e t o w n University in Washington, citing Romney ’s record on healthcare, cleaning up the Olympics when he organized the Winter Games in Salt Lake City in 2002 and working with a Democratic legislature while governor.

“The problem is, to get the Republican nomination he’s running away from that,” Wilcox said.

An Obama versus Romney contest would hinge as well on the economy and the contrast between the two men’s personalities.

Barring an unexpectedly quick recovery, Romney will hammer Obama on his failure to create enough jobs and tout his own real-world experience as a multimillionaire businessman. “Obama’s prospects are largely tied up with economic conditions. Economic growth and disposable income - those are the key factors,” said Richard Eichenberg, a political science professor at Tufts University, outside Boston. “If they don’t turn around and start to look up, then Romney’s prospects look better.”

The Obama team, in turn, will try to poke holes in Romney’s business record, charge him with “flip-flopping on issues and contrast his somewhat stilted style with Obama’s more natural talent for connecting with voters. “He’s been on a reinvention tour since the 1990s,” said a Democratic strategist familiar with the campaign.

Romney was considered by many to be the winner of the first major Republican debate, partly by avoiding arguments with his party rivals and keeping his focus on knocking Obama on the economy.

“This race will be about the economy and people know that President Obama has done a terrible job,” said Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul.

“No one in the race can come close to matching Mitt Romney’s 25-year experience in the real world economy.”

Democrats contend that Romney overstates his accomplishments in Massachusetts, which ranked 47th out of the 50 states in job creation while he was governor. They plan to stress that Romney’s firm, Bain Capital, made money for rich investors by slashing the jobs of regular Americans. Obama has remained reasonably popular even when his policy ratings have flagged and unemployment has hit 9.1 percent, while Romney has committed gaffes such as joking to unemployed workers in Florida last week that he is also out of work.

“You take a candidate whom the press will constantly refer to as someone with an authenticity problem and a certain plasticity to his reputation ... versus a guy whom the voters seem to think is

a pretty good guy, Barack Obama,” Eichenberg said, asked if Obama could be the first president in decades to be reelected with unemployment over 7.2 percent. “Maybe he will break the mold, we’ll see. Many people have lost money betting against Barack Obama.”

Foreign policy is expected to take a backseat to economic concerns in 2012 but the inexperienced Romney raised eyebrows among some Republicans last week by saying US troops should come home from Afghanistan as quickly as possible and that only the Afghans themselves could win freedom from the Taleban. — Reuters

Focus

Nepal risks chaos over constitution

By David Dolan and Ed Stoddard

This file photo taken on May 23, 2009 shows Nepalese lawmakers attending parliament in Kathmandu. — AFP aving won an extension to do in three months what it failed to manage in three years, Nepal’s parliament has only deferred a crisis that threatens the Himalayan nations’s fragile peace process. Elected in 2008 after a decade of civil war between the government and Maoist insurgents, the 601-member parliament, or Constituent Assembly, was given a two-year mandate to write a new constitution. But even after a one-year extension granted in 2010, the country’s bickering political parties were unable to reach a consensus on the new charter meant to pave the way for fresh elections and usher in a new social and political order after centuries of inequality.

Facing a constitutional crisis, political leaders agreed late last month to a further three-month extension and downgraded the task to just hammering out a first draft for the public to see. But analysts believe the chances of producing a working document are slim, and warn that Nepal is teetering on the brink of political chaos that could permanently derail the peace process begun when the war ended in 2006.

Krishna Khanal, a political science professor at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan University, believes parliament’s failure to meet the new August 31 deadline could result in its collapse and a return to authoritarian rule. “A power vacuum and a struggle for power will ensue,” he told AFP. Khanal envisaged a scenario where President Ram Baran Yadav, whose current role is largely ceremonial, could make a play for power. “But I don’t think his party (Nepali Congress) would back him, and in that case, the Maoists are likely to take over,” he said.

At the heart of the rift between the largest party in parliament, the Maoists, and the opposition Nepali Congress is the integration of around 19,000 Maoist combatants into the national security forces - a key part of the peace process. In a policy paper published this month, the Martin Chautari organisation, a Kathmandu-based thinktank, said resolving the integration issue and a host of other constitutional roadblocks remained “politically challenging”.

In the absence of any agreement on such fundamental aspects of the peace process, “it is difficult to gauge the exact gains of the extension other than averting an immediate political crisis”, the paper said. The first extension of the Constituent Assembly in 2010 was followed by a crippling, eight-month leadership vacuum, during which lawmakers held 16 failed attempts to elect a new prime minister.

Over the entire one-year extension period, the full Constituent Assembly met just eight times for a total period of 95 minutes. The paralysis has fuelled public anger in what is one of the world’s poorest nations - all a far cry from the euphoria and optimism that followed the end of the civil war and the abolition of the unpopular monarchy. Stunted economic growth has forced many to seek work overseas, and thousands of Nepalese have taken to the streets in recent days to protest against the lack of progress in delivering the constitution. “There’s a lot of frustration. People expect to see significant improvement. Not only the common people but the young leaders are also frustrated,” said Anagha Neelakantan, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group. Opinion over the strategy of the powerful Maoists is divided, with some such as Neelakantan still hopeful that the former rebels remain committed to the constitutional process. “The Maoist party is not opting out of the democratic process, it is in the middle of a transformation,” she said. While stressing that “compromise was possible,” Neelakantan said the new threemonth deadline would be hard to meet. “There are too many moving pieces at this point, and not enough time to assemble them,” she said.

Tilak Pathak, a political writer for Nagarik newspaper, argued that the Maoist participation in parliament is largely cosmetic and aimed at consolidating an urban power base. “The Maoists may seem accommodating but they haven’t given up the communist model. They might propose a parliamentary election with their combatants intact,” Pathak said. “The differences between these parties have become sharper. The Nepalese people may never get a secular and inclusive constitution because the politicians think they will gain by prolonging the transition,” he warned. — AFP

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sp orts Saudi Arabia dump Ricardo KUALA LUMPUR: Frustrated Saudi Arabia soccer bosses have terminated the contract of Ricardo Gomes before the Brazilian had even started work as coach of the national side. The abrupt U-turn comes after a falling out over the starting date for the 46-year-old Vasco da Gama coach, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said yesterday.

Last week, Saudi soccer officials said Ricardo would be unveiled as the country’s new coach, but problems arose when he requested a delay on his arrival in the Middle East to honour the terms of his deal with Vasco.

The Saudis tore up Ricardo’s contract, reportedly a three-year deal worth $9 million and handed the job to his compatriot Morris Lorinzo, coach of the country’s under-20 side, the AFC said on their website (www.the-afc.com).

The national side have been rudderless since their humiliating firstround exit at the Asian Cup in January and are anxious to recruit an experienced manager with the 2014 World Cup qualifiers beginning in September. Ricardo has coached at club level in Saudi Arabia and had spells in France with Bordeaux, Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco, as well as Brazil’s Sao Paulo and Vasco.—Reuters

Sri Lanka officials head to India for T20 league talks COLOMBO: Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) officials are hopeful that hastily arranged talks with their Indian counterparts will succeed in releasing players from that country to participate in the inaugural Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) Twenty20 tournament.

On Sunday, the Indian cricket board (BCCI) advised its cricketers to steer clear of the tournament on the grounds that the SLPL was being organised by a private party based in Singapore.

“Our secretary Nishantha Ranatunga and our chairman D.S. de Silva will be visiting India shortly

today or tomorrow to have discussions with the Indian board,” SLC media manager Brian Thomas told Reuters yesterday. Singapore-based Somerset Entertainment Ventures owns the commercial rights of the tournament.

Internationals Praveen Kumar, Munaf Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin and Irfan Pathan were among 12 Indian players seeking to participate in the July 19-Aug. 4 tournament but the BCCI refused to grant them its approval.

“The Board’s policy is not to allow players to take part in private partyorganised tournaments. —Reuters

Pedrosa unfit for Dutch GP MADRID: Dani Pedrosa is unlikely to have recovered from surgery on a fractured collarbone in time for the Dutch Grand Prix at Assen on June 25, his Repsol Honda team said on Monday.

The 25-year-old Spaniard had a titanium plate inserted after a fall at the French Grand Prix at Le Mans last month and needed further surgery last week after a fragment of bone came loose. “Dani Pedrosa keeps improving every day but most probably he will not be able to take part in this next round,” Repsol Honda said in a statement.

If Pedrosa were unable to race, Gresini Honda rider Hiroshi Aoyama would replace him, the team added.

Pedrosa said he was feeling much better, the pain he felt before the operation had gone and he hoped to be back for the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello at the start of next month. —Reuters

Yankees win, Rays advance CINCINNATI: New York’s Alex Rodriguez keyed a four-run first inning that set up the Yankees’ 5-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds in Monday’s interleague play in Major League Baseball.

New York rookie pitcher Ivan Nova (74) won his third straight start, allowing just one run and no walks over eight innings, taming the National League’s most prolific offense.

The Reds got a couple of runs in the ninth before Mariano Rivera closed it out for his 18th save in 21 chances, and the Yankees moved a season-best 13 games above .500. New York started fast against Reds left-hander Travis Wood (5-5), who made an unexpected start. Originally scheduled to pitch on late yesterday, he was moved up a day when Johnny Cueto showed up with a stiff neck.

LOS ANGELES: Detroit Tigers second baseman Ryan Raburn (left) tags out Los Angeles Dodgers’ Dee Gordon trying to steal second base during the seventh inning of an interleague baseball game.—AP

Americans ponder major title drought after McIlroy victory BETHESDA: While the European Tour celebrated its fifth successive major champion after Rory McIlroy’s astonishing eight-shot vic tor y at the US Open, American golf grappled with an unprecedented title drought.

For the first time since the Masters was launched in 1934, US players have failed to triumph in five consecutive majors.

Not since 1994 has a year gone by without an American holding at least one of the four grand slam crowns.

Nor thern Irishman McIlroy coasted to vic tor y in recordbreaking style at Congressional Country Club on Sunday to follow in the footsteps of his compatriot Graeme McDowell, who clinched last year’s US Open at Pebble Beach.

Following McDowell’s major breakthrough, S outh African Louis Oosthuizen won the 2010 British Open, Germany’s Martin Kaymer landed the 2010 PGA Championship and S outh African Charl Schwartzel claimed his first major at the Masters in April.

European players also rule the roost at the top of the world

rankings where they occupy the leading four spots for the first time in nearly 20 years.

With former world number one Tiger Woods a shadow of the dominant player he once was due to assorted injuries, loss of form and the break-up of his marriage, things appear to look bleak for Americans at the pinnacle of the game.

However, as 1997 PGA champion and next year’s U.S. Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III pointed out after tying for 11th at Congressional, success in golf often comes and goes in cycles.

“Everything goes in streaks,” the 47-year-old American said after posting successive scores of one -under-par 70 over the weekend at the U.S. Open. “We might be talking about how four Americans win the nex t four (majors).”

Love also felt that the recent increase in European players competing on the U.S. circuit had to be taken into account.

“They’re half of our (PGA) Tour now,” he said. “I think you can give Seve (Ballesteros) a lot of credit, S eve and Bernhard Langer, for letting the Europeans

MASHPEE: McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, responds to questions during an event at the Willowbend Country Club.—AP

realise that they can work hard, come over here and compete with the Americans.

Spaniard Ballesteros and German Langer were part of the heav y weight major-winning European quintet which emerged in the late 1970s and also included Sandy Lyle, Nick Faldo and Ian Woosnam.

“The world is a smaller place, so I think we’re going to have to get used to it,” added Love. “Look at the leaderboard every week on Tour. It’s a third U.S. and a third European and a third Asian or South African or Australian guys.”

Kaymer, who won his maiden major title in last year ’s PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, felt the slide of Woods since the end of 2009 had been a significant factor.

“I think that the Americans struggle a little bit, since Tiger has been-how do you say? — a little down,” the 26-year- old German said. “Since then nothing has really happened.

“We (European golfers) have just become so much stronger. I think it star ted with Padraig Harrington at the British Open and the PGA. He gave us at least the belief that we can win here in America as well.”

Irishman Harrington clinched the British Open in 2007 and 2008, plus the 2008 PGA Championship at Oakland Hills.

McDowell, who tied for 14th at the U.S. Open on Sunday, agreed with Kaymer.

“It’s just watching your colleagues and friends and guys you play with week-in and weekout doing things like that which gives people the belief,” the 31year-old Northern Irishman said.

“There’s no doubt my win last year has given Rory the belief to do it, and Charl and Louis and all of the above.” Woods won the most recent of his 14 major titles at the 2008 U.S. Open, although fellow Americans Lucas Glover (2009 US Open), Stewart Cink (2009 British Open) and Phil Mickelson (2010 Masters) have since enjoyed success. —Reuters

Rays 8, Brewers 4 In Milwaukee, Jeff Niemann tossed six scoreless innings in his return from an injury, steering Tampa Bay to victory over Milwaukee in their first visit to Miller Park. Niemann (2-4) had spent the last 45 days on the disabled list with a lower back strain, but looked comfortable while using his big curveball to neutralize the Brewers.

Tampa Bay gave Niemann an early run against Chris Narveson (4-5) and tacked on seven more late, including four in the seventh and Evan Longoria’s threerun shot in the eighth. The Brewers fell a half-game out of first place in the NL Central, trailing the idle Cardinals, while the Rays have won four straight.

Orioles 8, Pirates 3 In Pittsburgh, Nick Markakis had three hits to help Baltimore down Pittsburgh. Orioles starter Jake Arrieta (9-4) moved into a tie for the American League lead in wins, giving up three runs over five innings and even adding his first major league hit. He is the first Orioles pitcher in 18 years to reach nine wins by June 20.

The Orioles average 6.5 runs per game when Arrieta starts. They needed just two innings to top that mark against struggling Pirates starter Charlie Morton (7-4) while handing Pittsburgh its fourth straight loss. Morton gave up seven runs in two innings. His ERA in June is 8.50.

Rangers 8, Astros 3 In Arlington, Texas, Adrian Beltre had a pair of RBI singles among his three hits which helped Texas defeat state rival Houston.

Josh Hamilton hit a two-run triple off the wall as the AL West leaders scored in each of the first three innings, quickly settling back in at home after a stretch of playing 17 of 20 games on the road.

Texas starter Derek Holland (6-2) pitched into the eighth to win at Rangers Ballpark for the first time in nearly two months. He allowed six hits over 7 1-3 innings. Houston starter J.A. Happ (3-9) lost his fifth straight decision. He gave up seven runs over 2 2-3 innings _ his shortest outing of the season.

Angels 2, Marlins 1 In Miami, Florida went down to its 11th straight loss, beaten by Los Angeles despite the appointment of 80year-old former championship manager Jack McKeon as interim boss.

The change in leadership failed to inspire a reversal by the Marlins, who are 1-19 in June. The losing streak is their longest since 1998, when they lost 108 games. Florida also matched another franchise record by losing an 11th straight one-run game.

Angels starter Jered Weaver (9-4) equaled the lead for wins in the majors and pitched seven innings, allowing one run to lower his ERA to 2.01. Marlins reliever Steve Cishek (0-1) took the loss in a game whose start was delayed almost two hours by rain.

Cubs 6, White Sox 3 In Chicago, Carlos Zambrano kept his cool this time after a tough first inning and steered the Cubs to victory in the allChicago clash.

Zambrano (6-4), who had a meltdown nearly a year ago at the home of the White Sox, recovered from a shaky threerun first and went eight innings. Carlos Pena hit a three-run homer and Starlin Castro drove in three runs for the Cubs.

The first matchup of six this season between the crosstown rivals with losing records drew a crowd of 36,005 to U.S. Cellular Field. White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen was ejected in the sixth inning after apparently arguing that a ball hit near the plate should have been ruled foul. White Sox starter Gavin Floyd (6-7) gave up six runs in five-plus innings.—AP

Braves 2, Blue Jays 0 In Atlanta, Tim Hudson pitched scoreless ball into the ninth inning and hit his second career home run, leading Atlanta over Toronto.

Hudson (6-6) allowed one walk and struck out a season-high eight, including the 1,600th of his career. He connected off Ricky Romero (6-7) for a two-run homer with two outs in the seventh.

Hudson retired 20 straight batters before a walk and single in the ninth.

Craig Kimbrel relieved and struck out three to earn his 20th save in 25 chances.

Rockies 8, Indians 7 In Cleveland, Jason Giambi’s gigantic three-run homer in Colorado’s six-run fifth inning inflicted Cleveland’s first defeat in seven interleague games this season. Giambi’s 440-foot shot — his 422nd career homer — off Fausto Carmona (4-9) helped the Rockies win for the fifth time in six games and get back to .500 for the first time in two months.

The 40-year-old Giambi will get more atbats with the Rockies on the road in AL ballparks for the next five games.

Matt Lindstrom (2-1), the second of five Rockies relievers, got the win. Huston Street worked the ninth for his NL-leading 21st save in 23 chances. The Indians collected 12 hits in their first game with new batting coach Bruce Fields, who replaced Jon Nunnally, who was fired on Saturday.

Red Sox 14, Padres 5 In Boston, Adrian Gonzalez drove in three runs in a 10-run seventh inning against his former team as hot-hitting Boston rolled past struggling San Diego.

Gonzalez boosted his major league-leading RBI total to 67 since the Padres, unable to give him a lucrative contract, traded him to the Red Sox in the offseason for three top prospects.

He went 3 for 5 to increase his batting average to .353, also the best in the majors. Tied 3-3 going into the seventh, Gonzalez drove in the go-ahead run with a double. After the second out, the Red Sox scored nine more runs.

San Diego, which began the day with a major league-low .232 average, has dropped a season-high six straight games. Cory Luebke (1-2) got the loss.

Matt Albers (2-3) pitched 1 1-3 scoreless innings for the AL East-leading Red Sox, who won for the 14th time in 16 games to remain 11/2 ahead of the New York Yankees.

Dodgers 4, Tigers 0 In Los Angeles, Clayton Kershaw threw his third career shutout and complete game to direct Los Angeles past Detroit.

Juan Uribe homered for the Dodgers, who recorded their second straight shutout. Kershaw (7-3) tied a season high with 11 strikeouts, allowed only two hits and one walk. Tigers starter Brad Penny (5-6) gave up seven hits over six innings.

PITTSBURGH: Pirates second baseman Neil Walker (top) leaps over Baltimore Orioles’ Adam Jones (10) to turn an inning-ending double play on Derrek Lee in the eighth inning.—AP

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

Colorado 8, Cleveland 7; Baltimore 8, Pittsburgh 3; Boston 14, San Diego 5; Atlanta 2, Toronto 0; LA Angels 2, Florida 1; NY Yankees 5, Cincinnati 3; Texas 8, Houston 3; Chicago Cubs 6, Chicago White Sox 3; Tampa Bay 8, Milwaukee 4; LA Dodgers 4, Detroit 0.

American League Eastern Division W Boston 44 NY Yankees 42 Tampa Bay 40 Toronto 36 Baltimore 33

L 28 29 33 37 37

PCT .611 .592 .548 .493 .471

Central Division Cleveland 39 32 .549 Detroit 39 34 .534 Chicago Sox 35 39 .473 Minnesota 31 39 .443 Kansas City 31 41 .431 Texas Seattle LA Angels Oakland

Western Division 39 35 .527 37 35 .514 36 38 .486 33 40 .452

GB 1.5 4.5 8.5 10 1 5.5 7.5 8.5 1 3 5.5

National League Eastern Division Philadelphia 45 28 .616 Atlanta 41 33 .554 Washington 35 37 .486 NY Mets 35 37 .486 Florida 32 41 .438 St. Louis Milwaukee Cincinnati Pittsburgh Chicago Houston

Central Division 40 33 .548 40 34 .541 38 36 .514 35 37 .486 30 42 .417 27 47 .365

Western Division San Francisco 39 33 .542 Arizona 39 34 .534 Colorado 36 36 .500 LA Dodgers 33 41 .446 San Diego 30 44 .405

4.5 9.5 9.5 13 .5 2.5 4.5 9.5 13.5 .5 3 7 10

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 2011

S P ORT S

India makes rocky start to first Test against Windies

SOUTHAMPTON: Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara reaches his 100 during the final day of the third Test match against England on Monday. —AP

Stylish Sangakkara finally comes good in England SOUTHAMPTON: Kumar Sangakkara’s stylish century at the Rose Bowl spared Sri Lanka from possible defeat and also provided a fitting send-off to a Test career in England that strangely never hit the heights.

The English summer and Sangakkara have been uncomfortable bedfellows ever since the 33-year-old lefthander first toured the country with Sri Lanka in 2002. In 17 test innings in England before his second knock in Southampton, he averaged 27.81 — a poor return for one of the world’s great batsmen in recent years.

But a near-flawless 119 in the third and final Test was easily his best score in England, in probably his last five-day match in the country, and secured a draw. “When I first came to England I was a bit at sea,” said Sangakkara, who also toured in 2006. “I tried to make some adjustments but was not getting anywhere.

“The second time around I had two opportunities, one at Lord’s when I got out to Monty Panesar. So coming here again from the IPL, it was a case of adjusting again. Not just technically but also mentally. It took me a bit too long to do that.”

The 249-ball innings, which he started in defiant fashion before eventually becoming more bold with his shot making, was even more impressive given the situation Sri Lanka found itself in, with the hosts utterly dominant and keen to wrap up a win that would have lifted them to joint-second place in the rankings. Added to that was the fact he had the added pressure of the interim captaincy on his shoulders, a role he was initially reluctant to take having given it up just 10 weeks ago.

“It’s very satisfying to score a hundred,” he said. “It would have been nice to have done it at Lord’s (in the drawn second test). That’s something I’ll have to get over but it’s nice to finally get there.”

Considering he averages 56.18 in 97 tests, his lack of runs in England is mystifying.

He only made 105 runs in six tests in 2002, improved to an average of 38.5 four years later. This series, his top score was 26 before his superb second innings in Southampton, made with his team’s back firmly against the wall.

It was a captain’s innings from someone who is more than happy to be relinquishing the position when Tillakaratne Dilshan returns from a broken thumb.

“It’s been interesting. I have always enjoyed the captaincy and it was nice to be back for one last time,” he said.

Despite the draw, these are worrying times for Sri Lanka, as it adjusts to life without spin great Muttiah Muralitharan.

Without the retired Murali and pacemen Lasith Malinga and Chaminda Vaas, the deficiencies in their bowling unit are glaring.

Sri Lanka hasn’t won any of its eight test matches since Murali quit last year and the team didn’t come close to taking 20 wickets this series, with Dilhara Fernando a disappointment and the rest of their pace attack failing to seriously threaten.

“Our ambition now has to be to consolidate with the players we have, the ability we have and find new ways of winning test matches,” Sangakkara said.

“We don’t have Muralitharan any more, we don’t have Vaas. For us to win, we have to find different avenues. That the thing for us. Those are the questions we need to answer in the months ahead.

“Our bowlers try their hearts out, put in a lot of effort but the key is to be patient. To find out ways of getting wickets. To win a test match, you need to take 20 wickets. That’s going to be the key to us going forward.” With no Murali, the rest of Sri Lanka’s attack has nowhere to hide.

They should have more joy in the upcoming limited-overs matches, however, which begin on Saturday with a Twenty20 match in Bristol. Three onedayers follow, just a couple of months after Sri Lanka embarrassed England in a World Cup quarterfinal before going on to lose to India in the final. —AP

Pakistan to ‘host’ Lanka, England in UAE KARACHI: Pakistan will play their next “home” series against Sri Lanka and England in the neutral United Arab Emirates, an official said yesterday, as security concerns continue to scare off foreign teams.

The announcement comes after Sri Lanka turned down an invitation to return to Pakistan, just two years after a deadly militant ambush in Lahore wounded seven of their players and an assistant coach.

“We have finalised both the series against Sri Lanka and England and both will be played in Abu Dhabi and Dubai,” Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) director operations Zakir Khan told AFP. Pakistan will face Sri Lanka in October and November, and England in January and February in the Middle Eastern country, he said.

Pakistan have not hosted a top foreign team since the Lahore attack, which left eight people dead and forced the International Cricket Council to ditch the country as co-hosts of this year’s World Cup. Khan also rejected comments from England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Giles Clarke that Sri Lanka could host Pakistan’s Tests against England.

“We did consider a number of options for both the series but it is the right of the home board to decide the venue and finally we have confirmed UAE for all the matches in both the series,” said Khan.

Pakistan will play three Tests, five oneday matches and a Twenty20 against Sri Lanka. The England schedule will be “finalised soon” but it will feature three Tests, up to five one-day matches and one or two Twenty20 games.

Even before the 2009 attack, Pakistan had been forced to play home series at neutral venues as it became increasingly unstable during the “war on terror” and US-led campaign in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Pakistan have played the West Indies, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in UAE in the last nine years. They were also forced to play their home series against New Zealand-who were caught up in a bomb blast in 2002 — in New Zealand, and last year “hosted” Australia in England.

Australia have not toured Pakistan since 1998 over security fears, while England last toured Pakistan in 2005 — a visit which passed off without incident. —AFP

KINGSTON: Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh struck flamboyant half-centuries, yet India endured a rocky star t to the first Test against West Indies on Monday.

Raina hit the top score of 82, and Harbhajan supported with 70, as the Indians, electing to bat, were dismissed for 246 in their first innings about 45 minutes af ter tea on an ac tionpacked first day at Sabina Park.

Ishant Sharma then set West Indies back with the scalp of Lendl Simmons for three, as the home team reached 34 for one at stumps.

Sharma had Simmons caught at for ward sh or t leg off th e in side edge, as West I n die s faced a diffic ult 1 1 /2 h ours before the close.

Raina pummelled 15 fours from 115 balls in just over 23/4 hours, and Harbhajan smote 10 fours and one six from 74 balls in just over two hours.

They propped up the innings with a seventh wicket stand of 146, after the visitors ran into trouble on 85 for six in the first 15 minutes after lunch.

The World No. 1 however, then lost their last four wickets cheaply. Fidel Edwards, making a return to the international game after a two-year injur y layoff, was the pick of the West Indies bowlers, finishing with four for 56 from 16 overs, justifying his selec tion ahead of Kemar Roach.

R avi R ampaul ended with three for 59 from 18.2 overs, an d leg-spin n er Deven dra Bishoo captured three for 75 from 11 overs. Before lunch, India failed to justify their decision to bat, limping to 69 for four.

The Indians were rocked early on, when Murali Vijay was caught at backward point for eigh t slicin g a dr ive of f R ampaul, wh o also bowle d debutant left-hander Abhinav Mukund off the inside edge for 11.

V VS L axman j oin ed R ah u l Dravid, and stemmed the fall of wickets for close to an hour, but he was caught at slip for 12 off the first delivery from Bishoo, edging a loose drive, and leaving the visitors on 64 for three.

The rot continued when Virat Kohli, another Test newcomer,

was caught behind for four, playing defensively forward to Edwards in the final over before the interval.

After the interval, India suffered t wo quick setbacks — both to Bishoo — in successive overs, and seemed to put West Indies in charge.

Dravid made 40 before he edged a loose drive to Sammy at slip off the spinner, who also ha d t he I nd i a n c a p t a i n Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who l i ke D rav i d a nd La xm m m a n were rested for the one - day series, caught at second slip for a two-ball duck.

E nte r H a r b ha j a n, a nd he quickly got into his stride, lofting Bishoo straight for his first boundary, and taking apart the West Indies bowling. He loosened the home team’s grip on t he m a tc h, a nd s e e m e d to inspire Raina in a bold counterattack for the visitors.

They took them to 219 for six at tea, after Harbhajan reached his 50 from 45 balls, patting a Bishoo delivery into the covers for a single, and Raina got to the landmark from 76 deliveries, straight-driving West Indies c a p t a i n D a r re n S a m my for b ound a r i e s f rom s ucce s s i ve deliveries.

After tea, the runs looked set to cont i nue to f l ow for H a r b ha j a n a nd R a i na , b ut Edwards gave firm proof that he could still be a force to reckon with, when he blew away India’s lower-order.

Harbhajan tried hook at a short, rising delivery from the f a s t b ow l e r, a nd B i s hoo ra n from deep backward square leg to deep mid-wicket to hold a spectacular flying catch.

Praveen Kumar, another Test debutant, was lbw to Edwards for four, p l ayi ng b a c k a nd across, and Amit Mishra was caught at slip for six, gloving a snorter.

The innings came to a close, w he n R a i na p ul l e d a s hor t delivery from Rampaul to deep mid-wicket, and Bishoo held another fine catch.

The match is the first in a three-Test series, with the second match, starting on June 28 at Kensington Oval in Barbados, and the final match, beginning on July 6 at Windsor Park in Dominica. —AFP

KINGSTON: India’s batsman Suresh Raina reacts with frustration after being caught out by West Indies’ Devendra Bishoo for 82 runs on the opening day of their first cricket Test match. —AP

Scoreboard Scoreboard at the close of play on the opening day of the first test between West Indies and India at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica yesterday: India first innings A. Mukund b Rampaul 11 M. Vijay c Bishoo b Rampaul 8 R. Dravid c Sammy b Bishoo 40 VVS Laxman c Sammy b Bishoo 12 V. Kohli c Baugh b Edwards 4 SK Raina c Bishoo b Rampaul 82 MS Dhoni c Simmons b Bishoo 0 Harbhajan Singh c Bishoo b Edwards 70 P. Kumar lbw b Edwards 4 A. Mishra c Sarwan b Edwards 6 I. Sharma not out 0 Extras (b-1 lb-2 nb-6) 9 Total (all out, 61.2 overs) 246 Fall of wickets: 1-15 2-30 3-64 4-69 5-83 6-85 7-231 8-236 9-246 10-246 Bowling: F. Edwards 16-1-56-4 (nb-4), R. Rampaul 18.2-2-59-3 (nb-2), D.Sammy 13-342-0, L. Simmons 2-0-8-0, B. Nash 1-0-3-0.

West Indies first innings A. Barath not out 26 L. Simmons c Vijay b Sharma 3 R. Sarwan not out 2 Extras (b-1 lb-1 nb-1) 3 Total (for one wicket, 20 overs) 34 To bat: D. Bravo, S. Chanderpaul, B. Nash, C. Baugh, D. Sammy, R. Rampaul, D. Bishoo, F. Edwards Fall of wicket: 1-18 Bowling: P. Kumar 8-2-12-0, I. Sharma 6-1-8-1, A. Mishra 4-0-8-0 (nb-1), Harbhajan Singh 2-1-4-0.

Strauss upbeat ahead of Test series in India SOUTHAMPTON: England captain Andrew Strauss believes five straight series win has his team in ideal shape to take on India in their four-test series beginning next month.

England was forced to settle for a draw in the third and final test against Sri Lank a at the Rose Bowl, but still emerged from a rain- disrupted series with a 1-0 vic tor y.

With momentum firmly behind the team and both its batting and bowling departments in good nick, Strauss said there was no reason to fear I ndia — the world’s top-ranked side.

“We’re a confident team, and we’re used to winning and putting opposition teams under pressure, which we did against Sri Lanka,” Strauss said. “We’re look ing for ward to the challenge of taking on India, the No. 1 side in the world, and hope we can be a difficult proposition for them.

“We’re in good shape. A lot of the batsmen got a lot of runs in this series (against Sri Lanka) and are in good form; our bowling attack in this game was exceptional and was very good as well at times at Cardiff.”

Strauss felt the series against India will hinge on which side grabs the initiative in those “impor tant sessions and moments.” “We know India are a very confident side in their own right and are used to winning themselves,” Strauss said.

“But we’ve got our home conditions and we back ourselves to beat anyone in them.

SOUTHAMPTON: England’s Andrew Strauss points during the final day of the third Test match against Sri Lanka in this file photo. —AP It’s going to be a tough series.”

Kumar Sangakk ara’s resolute 119 helped deny England a shot at victory in Southampton, with Sri Lanka losing just two wickets on the final day before play was abandoned with a session to spare because of heavy rain.

While the hosts were able to squeeze in a dramatic victory between the rain breaks in the first test in Cardiff, the inclement weather led to draws at Lord’s and then at the Rose Bowl. “ We would have loved to have won the series in an emphatic manner; if we’d had

longer in this game we would have been able to do that,” Strauss said. “It’s been a frustrating series full stop, in terms of the number of stops for rain.

It’s been very hard for any team to gain any real momentum.

It’s one of those series that never really got going, but we’re very happy to have won it and move on still in a jubilant mood.” Strauss’ own batting has been disappointing — he has scored just 27 runs in four innings — but the rest of the top order is firing on all cylinders, especially Ian Bell and Alastair Cook.

As for his bowlers, Strauss said Chris Tremlett — who took 6-48 in the first innings at the Rose Bowl to claim the man-ofthe-match award — was at the “peak of his powers at the moment.” “He made good batsmen look under pressure, and that’s a great testament to his aggression and bounce and awkward lift and swing,” Strauss said.

“He’s certainly added a different dimension to our bowling lineup since he came into the team. I’m sure batsmen later on in the summer will struggle against him as well.”—AP

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Rubio arrives in Minnesota to big fanfare MINNEAPOLIS: From dance team members waving pompoms to signs reading “We Love You Ricky!” and a full-page ad in the local newspaper, the Minnesota Timberwolves pulled out all the stops to make Ricky Rubio feel welcome on the day of his long anticipated arrival from Spain.

About 200 people — many of them Timberwolves employees — gathered at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport Monday to cheer the 20-year-old point guard as he emerged from customs for his first extended stay in Minnesota.

The Timber wolves, and their downtrodden fans, have waited two years for the flashy passer to come over from Spain. Rubio was drafted fifth overall in 2009, but stayed in Europe for another two seasons until he could afford to buy out his professional contract with FC Barcelona. Rubio made his official announcement on Friday, a few days after his Spanish team defeated Bilbao in the ACB League finals.

The news has energized fans who have watched the Wolves lose 132 games the last two years, and dozens showed up at the airport to roll out the welcome mat for a player they believe will help turn things around. The group at the international entrance to baggage claim waited almost an hour for Rubio to arrive. What’s a few extra minutes when you’ve been waiting for two years?

Rubio got a loud ovation as he and president of basketball operations David Kahn arrived. Even for a player who has been receiving attention since he turned pro as a 14-year-old, the scene seemed to take him aback. He smiled sheepishly and signed some autographs as he was swarmed by news cameras, flash bulbs popping as he made his way to the exit.

One fan asked Rubio to sign his hand. “Your hand?” Rubio asked with a quizzical look on his face. “All right.” Another waved a Spanish flag and gave him a fruit basket as a gift.

MINNEAPOLIS: Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio smiles from a bus after landing at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport. —AP “I’ve been waiting two years for it,” said Jason Strand, a pastor who wore a white Timberwolves No. 9 jersey with Rubio’s name on the back. “When he got drafted a cou-

ple years ago I was super excited, but knew that he may not come over.

My wife makes fun of me because I watch grainy YouTube

videos of Ricky Rubio in some obscure Spanish league.” After a few minutes _ and with fans and team employees showering him with chants of “Ricky! Ricky!” — he was whisked away with his family in a small bus, headed for downtown Minneapolis.

“I (just) arrive to the hotel here in MN,” Rubio wrote on Twitter. “I(t) was so impresive in da airpor t.

Thanks a lot of u guys. I feel comfortable here. Time to rest!!!” Rubio, who did not speak with reporters, is scheduled to hold an introductory press conference late yesterday to kick off what is expected to be a busy week of promotional appearances, charity events and orientation in a city that ideally will be his new home for years to come.

Rubio will meet with team executives, corporate sponsors and at least one of the local endorsers who will help pay his $1.4 million buyout. He’ll also attend the team’s draft party on Thursday night.

He visited Minnesota once very

briefly after he was drafted in 2009, but this is his first real chance to get to know the area.

“Last time was such a whirlwind. ... He’ll be able to come now and say this is my team, this is my new family, this is my state where I’m going to live,” assistant GM Tony Ronzone said. “I think he’ll have his eyes wide open and be more appreciative to what he sees and his surroundings.”

The Timberwolves took out a full-page ad in the Star Tribune with a modified picture of Rubio in a Wolves jersey and “useful Spanish phrases” including: — De nada — You’re welcome.

—Caramba! Has visto que pasan? — Good gracious! Did you see that pass? — Kevin Love es una maquina loca rebotes — Kevin Love is an insane rebounding machine.

Maybe Love should check that ad closely, too. Right after Rubio’s arrival, Love tweeted: “Does anyone have Rosetta Stone entr y level Spanish I can use?” —AP

Allyson to run 400m at US meet, mulls world double EUGENE: Three -times 200 metres world champion Allyson Felix will run the 400 metres at this weekend ’s US championships and her performance will help determine whether she attempts a 200m/400m double at August ’s world championships, her manager said on Monday.

“This is the next step toward deciding if she is going to do the double,” Wes Felix told Reuters in a telephone interview. “It doesn’t mean she will do it for sure ... but she would have to make the US team in the 400 to be able to double.”

Felix has a bye for the 200 at the Daegu, South Korea, worlds as the defending champion but would need to finish among the top three in the 400 at the US nationals to gain a spot on the American world team.

Her coach, Bob Kersee, told Reuters last month he was leaning toward Felix just running the 200 at the world championships. But Wes Felix said Kersee eventually left the decision to Allyson.

“She feels confident to be able to run at 400 metres, but running rounds (in the event) are a whole new thing for her,” Wes Felix said. “So she is going to use the US championships to see what three rounds of the 400 feels like.”

Felix has the fastest 400 metres time in the world this season at 49.81 seconds, but the

Allyson Felix in action in this file photo race will not be an easy one as 2009 world outdoor champion Sanya Richards-Ross and 2010 world indoor gold medalist Debbie Dunn will be in the race.

Americans Francena McCorory and Natasha Hastings also could be contenders.

Should Felix make the team, she likely will not decide until

late July or early August whether to double or just defend her 200 title and run on the US relay teams at Daegu.

“She is going to run a 200 metres race in Monaco on July 22 and that will be a great way to judge and see where she is at,” Wes Felix said.

Meanwhile, China’s former Olympic 110-metres hurdles champion Liu Xiang will run at nex t month’s Asian athletics championships in Kobe, Japanese organisers told Reuters yesterday.

Liu is still searching for the form that won him gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics after the Achilles injury that wrecked his Beijing hopes in 2008.

He snapped rival David Oliver’s 18-meet winning streak in his hometown of Shanghai last month but the tables were turned when the American beat Liu on home soil on June 4.

Liu is set to skip European meetings ahead of this year’s world championships in Daegu, South Korea, in August because of recurring foot pain.

His decision is part of a cautious build-up to next year ’s London Olympics for the former world record holder, mindful of the Achilles surgery he underwent in 2008.

Liu will headline athletes from 40 countries taking part in the July 7-10 Asian championships in the southwest port city of Kobe. —Reuters

F1 engine clampdown to take effect in Valencia LONDON: A clampdown on engine mapping systems from this weekend’s European Grand Prix in Valencia will affect all Formula One teams, Renault technical director James Allison said yesterday.

Formula One race director Charlie Whiting wrote to the teams earlier to notify them that with immediate effect they could no longer change settings between Saturday qualifying and the race.

Fur ther changes will be enforced from nex t month’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone to prevent teams gaining aerodynamic performance by keeping exhaust gases flowing constantly through the rear diffuser even when drivers are not on the throttle.

The immediate move could hit champions Red Bull, who have qualified on pole position in all seven races so far this season and won five of them, but Allison said all would be affected.

“The FIA’s note will cause all teams (whether or not they use a blown floor) to change their operation,” he said in a blog on the Lotus-backed team’s website (www.lotusrenaultgp.com).

By changing settings after qualifying, some teams may have been able to gain performance on the Saturday by running a more extreme system before readjusting it for the race.

“The headline changes for the Silverstone GP are as follows: when the driver lifts his foot fully off the throttle pedal, then the ECU (electronic control unit) maps must be set up so that the engine ... closes the throttle,” noted Allison.

“Previously it was possible to configure the engine maps to leave the throttle open and reduce the engine power by other means.

“Finally, with immediate effect, it will no longer be possible to reprogram the ECU configuration between qualifying and the race in the expectation that this will discourage extreme ECU setups for qualifying.”

Allison said Renault, who have pioneered a forward-exiting exhaust system that has helped them to two podium finishes so far this year, would have preferred not to have make changes until the end of the season. —Reuters

OMAHA: A lightning bolt strikes in the distance as spectators wait for the storm to blow over at TD Ameritrade Park in downtown Omaha, where Vanderbilt and Florida were playing in the NCAA baseball College World Series. —AP

HOMESTEAD: This Nov. 19, 2010, file photo shows NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne checking speeds during qualifying for the NASCAR Ford 400 auto race. The owner of energy drink Red Bull plans to leave NASCAR at the end of this season. —AP

Red Bull to leave NASCAR CHARLOTTE: The owner of energy drink Red Bull plans to leave NASCAR at the end of this season, The Associated Press has learned.

Multiple people familiar with the decision say a team official traveled to Michigan Speedway and told industry leaders Sunday of the impending move. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because an official announcement has not been made to team employees. Red Bull is both the owner and sponsor of the two-car NASCAR team.

While the company has had much success in Formula One, winning the drivers and constructors’ world championship last season, it has struggled since its 2007 entry into NASCAR and consistently has been plagued by rumors and speculation that the Austrian ownership group will leave the auto racing series.

No reason for Red Bull’s leaving has been given, but the energy drink markets to the 18-to-34 age group _ the demographic NASCAR has consistently lost in its current ratings slide.

Kasey Kahne posted on his Twitter page Monday that he had just heard the news and vowed his No. 4 Toyota team would finish out the season strong. He’s on a 1-year contract with Red Bull until he moves to Hendrick Motorsports at the end of the season.

“All I can say is the (No.) 4 RED BULL team is still going to do all we can to win this year.

We know we can!!” Kahne tweeted.

The team had a horrendous debut season in 2007, when Brian Vickers failed to qualify for 13 of 36 races. He finished 38th in the final Sprint Cup standings. A.J.

Allmendinger missed 19 races that year and was 43rd in the final points.

Jay Frye, a respected team manager in NASCAR, was brought on the next season as general manager, and the team slowly improved. But Allmendinger was let go late in 2008 for Scott Speed, who had been released from the Red Bull-sponsored Toro Rosso Formula One team.

Like Allmendinger, Speed was not ready for NASCAR’s top level, and the lack of experience in Red Bull’s second driver hindered Vickers’ development. Speed was let go at the end of last year and is currently suing Red Bull. Vickers won a race in 2009 and made the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, only to be sidelined most of last year with blood clots.

He’s back this season, and the team has Kahne on loan from Hendrick Motorsports, but still isn’t among the top NASCAR organizations. Kahne has five top-10 finishes and is 19th in points; Vickers has five top-10 finishes and is 24th in points. Kahne moves to Hendrick Motorsports at the end of this year, and Vickers is in the final year of his contract. It’s not clear what will happen to development driver Cole Whitt, who is ranked second in the Trucks Series standings, or to the Red Bull employees.

It’s possible Frye could line up investors to buy the race team from Red Bull. He’s twice before run race teams that way with varying success. Frye put together the parttime deal that convinced Mark Martin to hold off on retirement, and his teams were successful until they succumbed to sponsorship issues. —AP

New Zealand in great shape to win World Cup — Fitzpatrick SINGAPORE: New Zealand’s All Blacks are in great shape to win the Rugby World Cup on home soil this year — and shouldn’t crumble under pressure this time round, former skipper Sean Fitzpatrick told Reuters.

With a history of failing to live up to expectation since winning the inaugural World Cup in 1987, New Zealand have a great opportunity to set the record straight in September and October.

Fitzpatrick , a member of that triumphant 1987 team, is

backing them to succeed.

“I think they’re as good as they have been in (coach) Graham Henr y ’s tenure, they’ve got a good blend of youth, they’ve got unbelievable experience, so all in all, they ’re in a good space,” Fitzpatrick told Reuters in Singapore, where he had been conducting a rugby clinic for children.

“The position we’re in now, I think the All Blacks can win the World Cup.” Key will be handling the pressure from an expectant nation, and using it

to roll over opponents.

“Playing for the All Blacks my biggest fear was that I was going to fail, that I was going to let down the nation, so harnessing that fear of failure is key and I think that this team is mature enough to be able to handle that pressure,” Fitzpatrick said.

“But it ’s great. All New Zealanders expec t the All Blacks to win. In terms of pressure it’s never been any greater or any less really. So playing in NZ is wonderful.

“I played there in ‘87 when

we had the World Cup and the momentum, the wave of support we got from the four million shareholders was phenomenal.

“I can remember we played I taly at Eden Park and then once that game was out of the way and NZ sort of realised the World Cup was under way, the momentum, that surge of suppor t was phenomenal, this time will be no different.”

The hosts’ will come under pressure from their southern hemisphere rivals Australia and from the northern hemisphere’s

England, Ireland and bogeyteam France, Fitzpatrick said.

But the biggest threat will come from South Africa.

“Probably the number one for us are the South Africans, I think they ’ve got a huge amount of depth and experience and they ’ve won two World Cups. And we play them, with everything going to plan, semi-final time in Auckland.

“They’re just starting to perform well, the Super 15 has shown that a number of their key springboks are now starting to find some form.” —Reuters

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Penarol coach delighted with unexpected success MONTEVIDEO: Penarol were once a major force in the Libertadores Cup, winning South America’s biggest club competition five times from 1960 to 1987, but this year’s run to the final has come as a surprise to coach Diego Aguirre.

“I don’t know how to explain it rationally,” Aguirre told Reuters at the Uruguayan club’s training ground after the team he put together in less than six months drew 0-0 with Brazil’s Santos in the first leg last Wednesday.

“It’s very difficult to build a team so quickly and be successful when you play against (national) champions, who bank on winning the Cup. “It’s rational that they should do so, (but) not us, who just because we’re Penarol have to fight for everything. “But because we believe in ourselves, we overcome inexpli-

cable things,” said the 45-year-old former striker, who scored the winning goal in the 1987 triumph.

“Seven years had gone by since Penarol last reached the group phase of the Cup, a team with so much history, it’s our 10th Cup final, a record, that magnifies this,” Aguirre added.

Penarol’s fans laid on a huge party at the Centenario, scene of Uruguay’s victory in the inaugural World Cup in 1930, with fireworks and smoke bombs unthinkable at a European Champions League final where controls are much stricter.

“The fans were always impressive but now we’re experiencing an incredible show (of support),” Aguirre said. “It’s a great motivation but it also fills you with a huge responsibility and things don’t always work out the way you figured but it’s also

because you’re facing a great team,” he said of Penarol’s inability to score against Santos.

Santos, twice winners during Pele’s heyday in the 1960s and the team that snatched the trophy from Penarol in the third final in 1962, remain favourites to claim a third title in Wednesday’s second leg in Sao Paulo.

The Brazilian side’s cause was aided by a lacklustre performance from Penarol that fell well short of the displays that had swept the Uruguayans to the final.

Penarol upset holders Internacional of Brazil in the first knockout round, then beat a very good Universidad Catolica of Chile in the quarter-final before overcoming 1994 champions Velez Sarsfield of Argentina on away goals in the semi-finals.

“It’s hard to remember finals for their good football, at least with regard to

Penarol. Historically, we always gave 100 percent, all heart to get through,” Aguirre said.

However, not even the most fervent Santos fans believe victory is a foregone conclusion given Penarol’s away performances and the mystique that surrounds Uruguayan achievements on foreign soil.

“It’s incredible, you’re part of something important related to more than half the country and with our traditions. We grew up with stories of Penarol, it’s a cultural thing,” he added.

“I talk (to the players) a lot about history, the (black and yellow striped) shirt and the achievements, things that are true and have made this club great.

“I think that gives confidence and helps us get out of very tough situations and overcome obstacles that look impossible.”

This Penarol side were hastily put together by Aguirre, who was discarded after steering the club to the Uruguayan title a year ago, before being re -hired in December following a poor start to the Apertura championship under his successor.

“Five of the players have been at Penarol only four months... I knew the team would go from little to a lot, but sometimes you’re knocked out in the first round and you can’t develop all your potential,” Aguirre said.

“We got through and managed to consolidate.” Of his six months out of work, Aguirre added: “There were some good opportunities from abroad... I had expectations and imagined something new but along came Penarol (again) with the chance of this Cup which we had qualified for with last year’s championship and I liked the challenge.” —Reuters

Argentina defeat Albania

WASHINGTON: Panama’s Luis Henriquez (left) and Adolfo Machado argue with referee Walter Quesada over a penalty in this file photo. —AP

Preview

US plan to avenge Panama loss in Gold Cup semi clash HOUSTON: Defending champions Mexico and United States are each one victor y away from another Concacaf Gold Cup title showdown, but the Americans must avenge a 2-1 group-round loss to Panama to get there.

The US team will face Panama and Mexico will meet Honduras in today’s semi-finals of the biennial North American regional football tournament, with the winners advancing to Saturday’s championship match at Pasadena, California.

“As we’ve gone on, we have progressed as a team and we’re on this momentum,” US playmaker Landon Donovan said. “We’re getting better. I think we’re going to peak at the right time.”

Luis Tejada scored in the 19th minute and Gabriel Gomez added a penalty kick in the 36th to put Panama on top in their earlier match.

Clarence Goodson answered for the Gold Cup hosts in the 68th minute but it was not enough to deny Panama a first victory over the US team after six losses and two draws.

“Give Panama a lot of credit. They started the game well, took the initiative to be aggressive and made some early plays,” Donovan said.

“Some nights you come out flat and you don’t get punished and other nights you do. We learned a valuable lesson.” It was the first groupround Gold Cup loss in American history after 24 wins and two draws and sent a message about the improvement in US rivals from Central America and the Caribbean.

“Concacaf teams are getting better and better. That’s a pretty good team,” Donovan said.

The Mexicans, who did not face Honduras in the group stage, received a boost Sunday when they were told by Concacaf that they can replace the five players withdrawn from the team after testing positive for banned substances in training camp doping tests last month.

Goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, who plays for the Mexican side America, defenders Francisco Javier Rodriguez of Dutch side PSV and Edgar Duenas of Mexico’s Toluca and midfielders Antonio Naelson of Toluca and Christian Bermudez of Atlante were pulled from the squad by the Mexican federation.

The Mexicans had asked organizers to replace the players because national federation officials believe they inadvertently ingested banned clenbuterol in tainted meat.

“Based on the specific facts of this case, and on FIFA’s advice on the matter, the situation at hand is a case of force majeure as contemplated in the competition regulations,” Concacaf’s statement said.

“Therefore the Mexican National Team shall be permitted to replace the five separated players with up to five other players for the remainder of the competition.”

In the tournament’s 20-year history, Mexico has taken five titles with the host United States winning three times, Canada capturing the crown in 2000 and Honduras winning the inaugural crown over the US team on penalty kicks in 1991. Mexico routed the Americans 5-0 in the 2009 final, spoiling the US bid for a third consecutive Gold Cup title. The Gold Cup champions earn a berth in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup. —AFP

Brazil see Copa test as springboard to 2014 RIO DE JANEIRO: Reigning champions Brazil will be looking beyond next month’s Copa America to the World Cup they will host in 2014, coach Mano Menezes admitted Monday.

The ‘auriverde’ will use the Copa as a springboard to what they hope will be a sixth world crown but the latter tournament will be the clear priority — even though they hope to put one over rivals Argentina, who host the continental showpiece from July 1. “We are going to use all the opportunities (afforded by their Copa schedule) to prepare ourselves well for the World Cup,” Menezes told reporters in Rio as the squad prepared to set off to Argentina yetserday in advance of their first pool meeting with Venezuela on July 3.

Recent friendlies have not shown the flair in abundance which Brazil fans crave - their last outing was a 1-0 win over Romania in Ronaldo’s final goodbye to the fans and that came somewhat limply on the heels of a goalless draw with 2010 World Cup finalists Holland.

But Menezes, who replaced Dunga after Brazil lost to the Dutch in the World Cup quarter-finals, insists he is building a

strong side. “We have the basis (of a side) which has been used in most (recent) matches and that will form the backbone for Venezuela,” prior to further pool games against Paraguay and Ecuador. “ Theoretically, Paraguay are the strongest of the three teams (in Brazil’s pool) but that doesn’t mean the others won’t pose problems,” said Menezes. “ We can say Argentina are the favorites as they are playing at home - by the same token Brazil will be favourites for the World Cup in 2014 - well that’s the theory,” said Menezes.

Earlier, AC Milan’s Brazilian defender Thiago Silva made Argentina and Brazil joint favourites to lift the Copa. “Between Brazil and Argentina, it’ll be 50/50 Argentina can be seen as favorites as they’ll be at home but we are also seen as the team to beat as we won the last two editions,” Silva told a media conference in Rio. But he also forecast that World Cup semi-finalists Uruguay would pose a threat. Santos stars Elano, Neymar and Paulo Henrique Ganso will join the squad after they have first played their Copa Libertadores final return against Uruguay’s Penarol today. — AFP

BUENOS AIRES: Lionel Messi and Carlos Tevez both scored as Argentina defeated Albania 4-0 in a friendly on Monday in its last warm-up before the Copa America — the continental championship.

Ezequiel Lavezzi and Sergio Aguero also added goals as Argentina played with most of its top stars, though coach Sergio Batista left three of his best forwards on the bench to start the match — Tevez (Manchester City), Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid) and Aguero (Atletico Madrid).

Batista said he had not settled on his starting 11 for the opening Copa match against Bolivia. Of course, there is no doubt about Messi. “It makes me feel good the way (Messi) played,” Batista said. “I think he played a great game, controlling the ball like you would expect him to. He looked comfortable on the field. He had a great game, and I’m happy for him.” The question seems to be if Tevez will start, or will it be Angel Di Maria, who started against Albania but came off after the first half.

“We still haven’t decided,” Batista said. “We have not made a decision and everyone knows they have to work hard to show themselves.” Albania, no match for Argentina at full strength, played with a weakened team that was missing several top players including Galatasaray midfielder Lorik Cana and forward Erjon

BUENOS AIRES: Argentina’s Lionel Messi (left) fights for the ball with Albania’s Jahmir Hyka at a friendly soccer match ahead of the upcoming 2011 Copa America. —AP

Bogdani of Italy’s Cesena.

Argentina and Brazil are the favorites in the Copa America, which starts July 1. Brazil has won four of the last five South American titles.

Lavezzi gave Argentina the lead in the 6th minute in an opportunity created by Messi.

Messi drew several defenders to him and threaded a pass through to Lavezzi, who finished from close range.

Messi had three of Argentina’s better chances in the first half but goalkeeper Arjan Beqaj stopped him from scoring with scrambling saves. The Barcelona star finally broke through in the 43rd, receiving a pass in the area and slotting in a left-foot shot from 12 yards.

He then set up goals for Aguero and Tevez. Aguero, who entered early in the second half, chipped in from close range in the 75th after taking a 15-meter pass from Messi.

Tevez, who has not played for the national team since last year, scored in the 90th minute, with Messi again delivering the final pass. Tevez was left off the national team following a friendly in November against Brazil in Doha, Qatar. He missed the match with a questionable injury, which angered Batista and his coaching staff. Tevez was also a strong supporter of former coach Diego Maradona, who was replaced by Batista. —AP

Former AFC official calls on Bin Hammam to go

Russian tycoon and owner of English soccer club Chelsea, Roman Abramovich

Porto’s Villas Boas quits amid Chelsea reports LISBON: Porto coach Andre Villas Boas moved a step closer to an expected move to Premier League Chelsea after resigning his post with the Portuguese and Europa League champions yesterday.

“Porto has been notified of the intention of coach Andre Villas Boas to terminate, without just cause, his contract with the club, immediately activating his release clause,” Porto said in a statement.

Porto added that the 33-year-old contract will be deemed terminated once the deposit for his 15 million euros ($21.52 million) release clause has been paid.

The coach, contracted to Porto until 2013, has been strongly linked with Chelsea who are seeking a new manager after sacking Carlo Ancelotti on the last day of the season last month.

Villas Boas, who worked as assistant and coach at Chelsea under Jose Mourinho from 2004 to 2007, joined Porto as head coach in June last year and led the club to a treble of Portuguese Premier League, Portugal Cup and Europa League.

He also worked under Mourinho at Porto and Inter Milan, before helping Academica Coimbra avoid relegation from the Portuguese Premier League after starting his career as head coach at the club in October 2009.

Villas Boas had said last month that his future was tied with Porto. He became the youngest coach ever to win a European club competition when Porto beat compatriots Braga to lift the Europa League last month.

His rampant Porto team also became the first side since 1978 to complete the Portuguese league undefeated, clinching the title with a win at their rivals Benfica’s Luz Stadium. —Reuters

DUBAI: Mohamed bin Hammam should step down from the Asian Football Confederation over vote-buying allegations and FIFA’s entire executive committee must be replaced in the wake of former vice president Jack Warner’s decision to quit, a former Asian football executive said yesterday.

AFC President bin Hammam and Warner were suspended by FIFA last month after bribery allegations during bin Hammam’s campaign to become FIFA president. Warner resigned from FIFA on Monday, putting an end to his investigation by its ethics committee.

Peter Velappan, the AFC’s general secretary from 1978-2007 and a critic of the 62-year-old Qatari, said Tuesday that bin Hammam should leave the AFC for the sake of the organization.

“He should just resign because of the allegations,” Velappan said. “It would be good for football. This has been going on for so many years. He should follow Warner, strike a deal with FIFA and say goodbye.”

But Velappan said bin Hammam was just “the tip of the iceberg” and he said FIFA needed to be cleaned up from top to bottom starting with the 24-member executive committee.

He said they all should go, including bin Hammam allies Vernon Manilal Fernando of Sri Lanka and Thailand’s Worawi Makudi, who has been accused of engaging in “improper and unethical” conduct in the 2018 bidding for the

World Cup which was won by Russia.

“The whole of the FIFA development structure is rampant with corruption both at the FIFA level and at the confederation level,” Velappan said in a phone interview from Singapore. “It’s best to give football a break.”

Bin Hammam and two Caribbean Football Union employees are still provisionally barred from duty while facing accusations of paying bribes to up to 25 Caribbean voters during the Qatari’s failed campaign to unseat FIFA President Sepp Blatter. All four have denied any wrongdoing.

In the wake of the vote buying allegations, bin Hammam withdrew from the FIFA presidential race last month leaving Blatter to run unopposed. He was elected to a final, four-year term.

Bin Hammam and Warner have denied arranging bribes, and the Qatari challenger alleged that supporters of Blatter conspired to remove him from the election contest.

Bin Hammam has not commented since he was suspended and a spokesman for the AFC could not be immediately reached for comment.

David Triesman, the head of England’s 2018 World Cup bid until last May last year, told British lawmakers last month that Makudi, Warner, Nicolas Leoz and Ricardo Teixeira and engaged in “improper and unethical” conduct during the World Cup bidding process. All four denied the allegations. —AP

Mohamed bin Hammam

Argentina defeat Albania in friendly

Allyson to run 400m at US meet

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WIMBLEDON: Australian player Lleyton Hewitt plays against Japan’s Kei Nishikori during a Men’s Singles match at the 2011 Wimbledon Tennis Championships at the All England Tennis Club. — AP

A win, then tears for Serena WIMBLEDON: Returning to Grand Slam tennis after a year out with health problems, Serena Williams opened her Wimbledon title defense yesterday by beating Aravane Rezai in three sets — then burst into tears on Centre Court.

After serving her 13th ace to close a 6-3, 3-6, 61 victory, Williams buried her face in her towel and sobbed from her courtside chair. She was still crying as she left the court, overcome with emotion after enduring a long layoff that included two foot operations and treatment for blood clots in her lungs. “I usually don’t cry ... but it’s just been so hard,” the four-time Wimbledon champion said. “I never dreamt I would be here right now. And then to win. I just wanted to win at least one match here.” Following Williams on Centre Court was Roger Federer, who began his chase for a recordequaling seventh Wimbledon championship by beating Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan 7-6 (2), 64, 6-2 in the wind.

A revitalised Lleyton Hewitt saw off a gritty performance from Japan’s Kei Nishikori in the Wimbledon first round. Hewitt had to dig deep for a 6-1, 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (7/9), 6-3 win in the London evening sunshine on the Court 12 show court.

Second-seeded Novak Djokovic, playing for the

first time since his 43-match winning streak was snapped by Federer at the French Open, sailed into the second round with a 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 Centre Court victory over Jeremy Chardy of France. Djokovic dropped only 11 points on serve.

Other winners included three-time Wimbledon runner-up Andy Roddick and Juan Martin del Potro. Among the women, top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki made a strong start in her latest bid for her Grand Slam title, while former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic lost in the first round.

No. 10 Samantha Stosur became the highest seeded player eliminated so far, falling 6-3, 6-4 to Hungary’s Melinda Czink — the lowest-ranked woman in the draw at No. 262. Williams fought through a midmatch slump, then reasserted command over her French opponent in the third set with a big serve and powerful groundstrokes. She showed why she is still considered a title favorite despite her long absence and her No. 7 seeding.

“It’s been a disaster year, but I’ve been praying,” Williams said. “To be able to come back at Wimbledon is pretty awesome. I didn’t expect to play. And I didn’t expect to even do anything. So I’m just excited. I’ve never cried with joy for anything.” After losing the second set, Williams took

charge in the final set, winning the last five games.

“I kept thinking, ‘This is Wimbledon,”‘ she said. The point of the match came at 3-1, when Williams stretched for a backhand at the baseline and fell over as she hit a winning lob over Rezai at the net.

Rezai said she saw the tears in Williams’ eyes when they shook hands after the match.

“It definitely was so emotional for me because throughout the last 12 months, I’ve been through a lot of things that’s not normal, things you guys don’t even know about,” Williams said. “It’s just been a long, arduous road. To stand up still is pretty awesome.” Rezai said he was impressed by Williams’ level of play and touched by her emotional outpouring.

“It shows she’s not a machine, she’s a human being,” Rezai said. “We all have a heart, we all have emotions. ... If she wins the next two or three matches, I think she can win the tournament.” In keeping with Wimbledon tradition, Williams opened play on Day 2 on Centre Court as the women’s defending champion.

She strode onto court wearing a cardigan, and played in a classic dress with blue trim. Her fingernails were painted in the Wimbledon colors of purple and green. The 61st-ranked Rezai came out

hitting hard, breaking Williams in the first game that lasted nine minutes and going up 2-0.

But Williams then won five games in a row and took the set with only four unforced errors.

Williams lost the momentum in the second set, and Rezai broke in the sixth game to force a third set. Williams said it was the most emotional she’s ever felt after a victory _ and this was only a firstround match. “For me it wasn’t about winning the match,” she said. “It was about being out there. ... It just really goes to show if you don’t give up, you still have a chance. I guess I proved that I could, that I could. I think that sums it up: I could.”

Federer never lost serve, saving all three break points, and won 29 of 31 of his points on serve in the first set. The third-seeded Swiss piled up 53 winners — 37 more than Kukushkin, who was making his Wimbledon debut. Federer, a 16-time Grand Slam winner who lost in the Wimbledon quarterfinals last year, is looking to equal Pete Sampras’ seven titles at the All England Club.

“The first match at Wimbledon is never easy really because we don’t get any practice time on Centre Court,” Federer said. “I thought I struggled putting enough returns into play in the first set but I thought he played well. For a set and a half he

UEFA yet to get tax break for 2013 Wembley final

Sharapova powers into Wimbledon second round LONDON: Former champion Maria Sharapova powered into the second round at Wimbledon with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over fellow Russian Anna Chakvetadze yesterday. Sharapova, who won the All England Club title in 2004, will play either British wildcard Laura Robson or Germany’s Angelique Kerber in the last 64.

In a match moved to Centre Court late in the day, fifth seed Sharapova gave a command performance for the fans who stayed to watch the glamour girl begin her bid for a second triumph in south-west London.

Sharapova has been a firm favorite of crowds here since, aged just 17-years-old, she shocked defending champion Serena Williams to become the third youngest woman to win Wimbledon.

The 24-year-old has finally got back to that kind of form of late after a series of recurring injuries and arrived at Wimbledon up to sixth in the rankings after reaching the French Open semi-finals.

Sharapova still dreams of landing another Wimbledon title and Chakvetadze, who had lost six of their seven meetings, never threatened to derail that ambition.

It only took Sharapova three games to secure the first break of the match and she pushed home the lead with another break to take the first set in the blink of an eye.

Chakvetadze, ranked 52nd and who has suffered a series of worrying health scares this season, surrendered another break at the start of the second set before Sharapova briefly wobbled as she double-faulted to gift the break back.

Sharapova quickly regained her composure to

break twice more before serving out the match.

Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic returned to winning ways as the second seed crushed France’s Jeremy Chardy 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 in the first round at Wimbledon.

Djokovic was playing for the first time since his remarkable 43-match winning run was brought to an end by Roger Federer in the French Open semi-finals.

But the 24-year-old showed no signs of a Paris hangover and gave an imperious display on Centre Court to set up a second round clash against Kevin Anderson or Illya Marchenko.

“When this streak ended in Paris, it was kind of a relief because it’s been a very successful five or six months for me, but very long as well and exhausting,” Djokovic said.

“I’ve played so many matches. So I needed some time to relax and I’m happy to see that I’m playing well again and that I’m mentally really fresh to have more success.

“I’m very satisfied with the way I started the tournament. This performance was great. My serve was very accurate in quite difficult conditions for both of us because we had to face the strong wind.”

During that majestic winning sequence, Djokovic clinched the Australian Open title and beat world number one Rafael Nadal in four Masters finals.

However, questions marks remain over his ability to win Wimbledon, where he has twice lost in the semi-finals. The Serb readily concedes he finds it tricky to deal with unique demands of grasscourt play. — AFP

made it hard for me. I also served really well so I was very pleased with the match.”

Roddick served 30 aces — including four in a row in one game — and beat German qualifier Andreas Beck 6-4, 7-6 (6), 6-3 to reach the second round.

“I feel healthy,” Roddick said. “I know what it takes to go deep at this tennis tournament.” Del Potro, the 2009 US Open champion, downed Flavio Cipolla of Italy 6-1, 6-4, 6-3. The 24th-seeded Argentine led Cipolla 6-1, 1-3 when rain suspended play Monday, then won 11 of the 15 games played yesterday.

On Court 1, Wozniacki defeated Arantxa Parra Santonja of Spain 6-2, 6-1. The 20-year-old Dane had fewer winners than her opponent, but made only five unforced errors. Jankovic was beaten by Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.

The 15th-seeded Serb reached the fourth round at the All England Club last year.

Also advancing among the women were No. 4 Victoria Azarenka, No. 8 Petra Kvitova, No. 11 Andrea Petkovic and No. 14 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Men’s winners included No. 7 David Ferrer, No. 13 Viktor Troicki, No. 15 Gilles Simon and No. 21 Fernando Verdasco. — AP

WIMBLEDON: Russia’s Maria Sharapova reacts during the first round match against Russia’s Anna Chakvetadze at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships. — AP

LONDON: UEFA has yet to ask the British government for a tax break for overseas teams in the 2013 Champions League final at Wembley, risking a repeat of an issue that forced the 2010 game to be moved to Spain.

UEFA moved the 2010 final to Madrid instead of London after foreign teams balked at the prospect of paying British tax on earnings from bonuses and endorsements from the event. To ensure that Wembley eventually gained the hosting rights for last month’s final, Britain granted an exemption from its tax laws to relax the rules for foreign teams.

But that exemption was a oneoff, and the government said that UEFA never asked for a similar break before deciding last week to award the 2013 final to Wembley as a way of marking the 150th anniversary of the English Football Association.

“The government has not been approached about tax breaks for the 2013 Champions League final,” the British government said in statement to The Associated Press. “If such an approach is made, we will consider it.” UEFA confirmed that it had not made the tax exemption a prerequisite to giving Wembley the match, a decision that took many by surprise since no venue has held the

Champions League final in such quick succession. “It was more important to first give the signal that we want to celebrate in an appropriate way the 150th anniversary of The Football Association,” UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino told the AP. “This is more important than the rest of the issues. “We are confident that the same (tax) conditions will apply (in 2013).” The fact that overseas sports stars are taxed while competing in England led to Jamaican Olympic champion Usain Bolt pulling out of an event last year over fears his earnings here would greatly diminish.

The rules were implemented after Britain’s tax authority won a landmark case five years ago against American tennis star Andre Agassi, and also affects musicians and actors appearing here.

Agassi was ordered in 2006 to pay tax on a portion of the money paid to him by Nike and Head because he endorsed their products at Wimbledon and other events in Britain. In the wake of that case, the British tax authority can now claim tax on a proportion of an athlete’s worldwide endorsements earnings.

So if 50 percent of an athlete’s events are in Britain, 50 percent of their global endorsement earnings can be taxed. — AP

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LE BOURGET: A French Rafale-2 jet fighter performs during its demonstration flight at the 49th Paris Air Show at le Bourget airport yesterday. —AP

Ryanair steals spotlight, Airbus pressures Boeing Rolls-Royce wins $360m contract with Etihad PARIS: Low-cost pioneer Ryanair stole the limelight at the world’s biggest air show yesterday with an unprecedented Chinese tie-up, while Airbus upped the pressure on rival Boeing with a slew of sales. It was business as usual on the second day of the Paris International Air Show but the buzz was dampened by news of a Russian air crash with more than 40 dead and massive disruption to travel in Australia due to a volcanic ash cloud. While Airbus and Boeing vied for the headlines with orders worth billions, Ryanair threatened to go round them by signing up to help Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (COMAC) develop a version of its medium-range C919 jet.

Ryanair said it would “share its experience and expertise to assist COMAC to develop the new C919 commercial aircraft, with up to 200 seats, which would enable Ryanair to lower costs and continue to lower fares.” Ryanair, which currently only operates only Boeing planes, made clear the potential significance of the accord in providing other options.

“We are pleased that there is now a real alternative to Boeing and Airbus,” chief Michael O’Leary said in a statement.

O’Leary noted that Ryanair will have a fleet of over 300 Boeing aircraft by 2013, “and we remain in continuing discussions with both Boeing and now COMAC for a replacement aircraft order of at least 200 aircraft.” He said the tieup with COMAC would not affect Ryanair’s relationship with Boeing, whose commercial aircraft head Jim Albaugh said at the weekend that China’s first competitive sale would “probably be sooner than anyone thinks.” The 190-seat C919 targets the main industry battleground, the market for medium-haul planes dominated by Boeing’s 737 and the Airbus A320, which is being upgraded to the more fuel efficient A320neo.

After sales of some $20 billion (13.9 billion euros) Monday, Airbus retained the lead yesterday with a slew of orders for its new generation A320neo fuel efficient medium-haul airliner, heaping the pressure on Boeing’s 737. US leasing firm CIT Aerospace signed a memorandum of understanding for 50 A320neo aircraft, while key US low-cost carrier JetBlue opted for 50 of the aircraft in an order worth some $3.6 billion at list

prices. A smaller order but one which may have hurt Boeing even more came from Garuda Indonesia for 25 A320 jets, including 10 A320neos, as the Indonesian flag carrier replaces 737 aircraft operated by its low-cost unit Citilink.

“This aircraft will be very comptetitive because (it) is fuel efficient,” Garuda head Emirsyah Satar said of the A320neo order. The head of Malaysia Airlines, Tengku Azmil Zahruddin Raja Abdul Aziz, said: “It will be interesting to see how Boeing responds as well ... then there will be a very interesting discussion we can have.” Analysts, who have been waiting to see if any company would make a switch, say the success of the A320neo demands a response from Boeing which insists it will make a decision on the 737’s future this year.

Boeing, which said before the show that it fully expected Airbus to announce just such a blitz of orders, also had news to tell-US aircraft leasing group GECAS would order two Boeing 747-8 cargo and eight long-distance 777-300ER planes. Meanwhile, low-cost carrier Norwegian, which claims to be

the third largest airline in Europe, ordered 15 737-800 planes and Russia’s Aeroflot signed up for eight 777-300ER, listed at $2.2 billion.

Aeroflot ordered eight 777 planes in March in a deal which included an option for eight more as it gears up for the Winter Olympics in 2014 and the soccer World Cup hosted by Russia in 2018. The smaller aircraft makers were led by Canada’s Bombardier which said South Korea’s Korean Air agreed to buy up to 30 of its CS300 regional planes, an important order to help raise its profile.

Bombardier also sold 10 of its Global 8000 business jets to VistaJet of Switzerland for $650 million. Alongside Airbus and Boeing, more than 2,000 smaller aerospace companies are looking for business at the 49th Paris International Airshow where a second day of bad weather dampened spirits.

Boeing estimates that 33,500 planes worth $4.0 trillion (2.8 trillion euros) will be needed over the next 20 years.

Meanwhile, Britain’s Rolls-Royce said yesterday it had reached an agreement with United Arab Emirates flag carrier Etihad Airways on a $360-million-dollar

LE BOURGET: The Beriev-Be-200 multipurpose amphibious aircraft performs its demonstration flight, dropping his freight of water, at the Paris Air Show. —AP (250-million-euro) long-term service contract. The agreement extends service on the Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines on 20 of Etihad Airways’ Airbus A330 aircraft and adds another four planes.The contract also includes performance enhancements to 30 of the engines to

Italian brands energetic as Asia calls MILAN: Style-king Giorgio Armani’s label sashays down the catwalk at Milan men’s fashion week yesterday, as Italian brands shake off the economic crisis thanks to Asia’s insatiable appetite for luxury goods.

International powerhouse Prada will begin trading in Hong Kong on Friday in a highly anticipated climax to their initial public offering, launched after a jump in profit last year thanks to a boom in sales in its main market in Asia. It is not the only fashion group marking a turn-around in the sector with an IPO to raise funds and boost its presence in the highgrowth Far East market.

The Florentine label Salvatore Ferragamo said this week it will list up to 25 percent in an IPO on the Milan stock exchange later in June on the back of a push to expand into Greater China, where it already has over 90 points of sale. Though the Prada group-which encompasses Prada, Miu Miu, Church’s and Car Shoe companies-raised less than expected in its Hong Kong share sale this week, investors’ disappointment was nowhere to be seen on the catwalk in Milan.

Founder Mario Prada’s granddaughter, Miuccia, who took over the company at the end of the 1970s, presented an eccentric summer collection this weekend which reflected the new sense of optimism and energy in the sector. The show playfully mixed golf and 70s flower power: models in golf shoes and hats sporting golf bags decorated with psychedelic flower patterns sauntered down a runway laid with artificial turf for the occasion.

Dashes of bright orange, pink and blue

BEIJING: A Chinese man walks past a Prada advertisement poster display outside its store. —AP jazzed up beige and pastel-coloured caddiestyle outfits, which were matched with sparkling bronze-coloured, vibrant green or yellow shoes. The Ferragamo show was equally as self-assured, with a collection evoking a laidback artistic chic from the 1930s.

Seductive dandies wearing vintage sunglasses and raffia panama hats posed in close-fitting linens and cottons. Beige, cream and

ivory trousers and shirts were lifted with pastel greys and greens and the occasional marine-style dark blue double-breasted jacket, and worn with a cream and brown satchel and brown, buckled loafers.

Fashion giant Gucci also looked to artists and dandies for inspiration, with a gentleman’s spring and summer collection that designer Frida Giannini said evoked a man

who was “flamboyant, sure of himself and eccentric.” Drain pipe trousers and close-fitting silver, black and checkered jackets were worn by glowering dark-haired models in bow ties sporting sleek black leather bags and patent shoes, also available in cream. “I imagined a gentleman’s club, filled with aristocrats, dandies and singers, noblemen and rock stars” Giannini said, showing off an eclectic range of jackets, from suit coats and biker jackets to hoodies and nylon raincoats.

Prince of Wales check dominated the daywear, with sharp tuxedo jackets worn with sensual silk evening pants. Eye-catching black and white graphics harking back to the 1980s were upstaged only by a fabulous platinummesh jacket. Calvin Klein also went for a retro trend with a collection featuring boxy silhouettes with a sporty vibe. Billowing shorts in blocks of yellow and green were worn with crisp white tank tops and over-sized pasteltinted sunglasses.

British designer Vivienne Westwood appeared to pay tribute to an Italian fashion industry fighting off the crisis with a nod to modern-day gladiators in her confident collection, which was run through with an air of rebellion. Models with slicked back hair strutted down the catwalk in knee-length white socks or Romanesque sandels.

Flaming Greek torches and Roman warriors with rippling muscles were captured on tshirts tucked into pink, white or blue shorts with a-symmetric fly buttons that were worn with belts that buckled off-centre and blue or red shoes. —AFP

increase fuel efficiency and reduce pollution, said Rolls-Royce. “This is an extension of a long term partnership between Etihad and Rolls-Royce, which will result in greater fuel efficiency and cost savings,” Etihad chief executive James Hogan said in a statement. —AFP

Yemen losses at $1bn after pipeline blast SANAA: Yemen has lost nearly $1 billion in revenues since a blast blamed on tribesmen supporting efforts to oust the president cut off the country ’s main oil pipeline, a senior official said yesterday. The impoverished country has witnessed months of violent clashes which have killed dozens. Protesters are demanding President Ali Abdullah Saleh end his more than three decades in power. “Yemen loses around $10 million a day due to the production and export stoppage since mid-March,” the official told Reuters. The country of some 23 million people relies on oil exports for up to 70 percent of its budget, the official said.

The blast cut off the supply of oil from the central Maarib province to the main export terminal at Ras Isa on the Red Sea. It also stopped work at the main refinery in Aden, where officials this week began using oil donated from neighbouring Saudi Arabia to begin a restart. No date has been set to repair the pipeline, which carries nearly half of the country’s 260,000 bpd oil production. “No date has been fixed,” the official said.

“It depends on reaching an agreement between the government and the opposition.”

Tribesmen, who have repeatedly damaged the pipeline in the past, have prevented technicians from repairing it. The Maarib oil fields, where international oil companies operate, produce high quality light oil which is in demand following the stoppage of similar exports from war-torn Libya. The government has blamed the pipeline blast on tribesmen supporting opposition groups demanding Saleh’s ouster.

But tribal sources have said that relatives of a Yemeni mediator killed by mistake last year in an air strike targeting Al-Qaeda were to blame. They said that Jaber alShabwani, who had been trying to persuade members of Al-Qaeda to surrender, died when his car was destroyed in a strike blamed on a US drone. —Reuters

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Emirates signs GE for $120m repair facility Growth of fleet necessitated repair facility: Emirates DUBAI: Emirates, Dubai’s flagship carrier, said it has signed a letter of intent with General Electric to oversee design and construction of an estimated $120 million engine repair facility in the emirate. The facility will be constructed over a 90,000 square meter land and will complement an existing engine overhaul facility in Dubai, the airline said in a statement that was released from the Paris Air Show yesterday.

The fast-growing Dubai-based airline said

KUWAIT: The winners of the iPad 2 pose for a picture.

CBK hands out iPad 2 to winners KUWAIT: The Commercial Bank of Kuwait welcomed at their office the three winners in the first round of its Twitter competition, who won the first three of six iPad 2 devices allocated for the contest.

Executive director of the public relations and advertising department Amani Al-Wara’a congratulated Assem Al-Ba’eini, Fayez Rasoul and

Catherine Benzlan who stopped by her office and expressed appreciation for being selected as winners in the campaign. The second draw on the three remaining iPads takes place tomorrow. Participation is automatically submitted by following the CBK’s page on Twitter and posting the tweet that makes them eligible for the draw.

Burgan Bank introduces services, accounts to PIC the account, KUWAIT: Burgan the account Bank announced h o l d e r yesterday that it receives an has visited additional Petroleum entry into the Industrial draw.

Company’s head The team at office to introBurgan Bank duce its also menaccounts as well tioned that as its services to the Value their employees. account is a The bank’s team convenient “all showcased a Muneera Al-Mukhaizeem in one“ global wide range of access account, added benefits and services across its accounts that responsive to the specific financial include Yawmi, Thuraya, Premier as needs, with multiple benefits and valuable prizes too. well as the Value account.

Some unique features of the valBurgan Bank ’s Chief Retail Banking Officer - General Manager, ue account include life insurance Muneera Al-Mukhaizeem said, “Our benefits as well as attractive recent visit to Petroleum Industrial exchange rates while remitting Company reflects the bank’s ongo- money back home. Also the quaring commitment to providing value terly draw entitles a lucky customer added services to both the private to win cash prize equivalent to as well as the public sectors to KD4,000.

The bank’s representatives also showcase the bank’s innovative mentioned that the Premier services.”

Explaining the features of Al- Banking Service offers a number of Thuraya account, Burgan Bank’s personalized services and products team highlighted that when the that have been delicately tailored to account is opened, the account match the unique and prestigious holder will automatically enter a bi- lifestyle of its customers.

Customers can enjoy priority annual draw, where the lucky winner will take home a cash prize banking service through a dedicated Personal Bank ing Executive, KD60,000.

Burgan Bank’s officials also intro- access to exclusive premier lounges duced the daily winning account in branches, as well as entitlement Yawmi to the employees at the to the very best in life-style related company. The Bank’s Yawmi account offers, discounts and promotions. was the first in the country to have a Burgan Bank has been regularly visdaily draw, entitling account hold- iting different government and priers who deposit KD500 for a period vate institutions in an effort to assist of 30 days a chance to win every employees by offering the best day. For every KD50 deposited in banking solutions.

the growth of its fleet and subsequent number of operating engines has necessitated the need for an in-house engine facility. “Emirates has signed a Letter of Intent with General Electric to oversee the design and construction of the Shop using the most advanced technology, equipment and best practices in the industry,” said the statement.

The facility will have the capability of performing 300 engine repairs each year for the GE90 and GP7000 engines fitted to the

Boeing B777 and Airbus A380 aircraft.

Emirates, the biggest customer for the A380 superjumbo, surprised its peers by boosting its orders to 90 planes last June and said they were looking at ordering more. Emirates’ Chairman Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed AlMaktoum said in the statement that the facility would create over 500 new job opportunities. Earlier in the month, the airline launched a five-year $1 billion bond which was six times oversubscribed. — Reuters

IHOP announces partnership with Alshaya KUWAIT: DineEquity, Inc the world’s largest full-service restaurant company, announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, IHOP Franchise Company, LLC, has signed a multi-restaurant franchise agreement with Alshaya for the development of 40 new IHOP Restaurants in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain and Egypt. The agreement marks the first major expansion of the IHOP chain outside of North America and represents the largest international development deal in the brand’s history.

DineEquity is the parent company of IHOP and Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill and Bar Restaurants, which comprise over 3,500 restaurants combined.

“This agreement illustrates our commitment to grow our business by leveraging DineEquity’s valuable brands and expanding beyond the markets we have traditionally ser ved,” said Julia Stewart, DineEquity’s Chairman & CEO. “We look forward to working with Alshaya to make IHOP, with its unmistakable offerings and excellent service, a destination of

choice for guests throughout the Middle East.”

Jean Birch, IHOP President, added: “The Alshaya agreement marks a major milestone in IHOP’s international development strategy and reflects our commitment to make the brand accessible to more guests. IHOP is an icon in the industry, and we are proud to partner with one of the premier franchisees of international brands in the Middle East to deliver our delicious food and warm service to an entirely new

set of guests and their families.”

IHOP will be one of the best known American family dining brands to enter the Middle East when its restaurants begin to open over the next 12 months.

Alshaya has a successful history of operating leading international brands in the region and plans to open the 40 IHOP restaurants in the Middle East during the next five years.

“Consumers in the Middle East consistently tell us that they want the great quality and great value

Three Asian nations eye KOGAS stake

ABK’s call center helps credit card payments KUWAIT: Ahlan Ahli, ABK’s round-the -clock call center breaks new ground vis-a-vis credit card payments.

Already a preferred service, ABK’s telephone banking service, amongst its numerous benefits provides statements, balance enquiries, and the assurance to stop your ABK cards in the event of an emergency.

Added to its many services, now customers can instantaneously make their credit card payments through the call centre IVR. Othman Al-Tawfiqi, Head of Alternate Deliver y Channels explained that this is a great service as “Chances of an incorrect payment are eliminated as the customer can only

pay the credit cards on his portfolio. Besides, there is no need to enter the whole account number as the system will read the card number to him and the customer just has to select the one he would like to pay.

Moreover, the customer will have access to the amount paid immediately.”

In summary, he added that “We feel this service will offer great convenience to our customers who may need instant access to payments on their credit cards locally or while travelling abroad.

These and other services are offered to you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week throughout the year, even as we strive to always

that IHOP represents and we are pleased to introduce this leading American dining brand to the region,” said Mohammed Alshaya, Executive Chairman, Alshaya.

“The popularity and international appeal of the IHOP brand, combined with our proven track record of operating and delivering exceptional service customized to the local market promises to create a powerful partnership.”

The opening of traditional IHOPs both domestically and abroad is one of the key tactics in fulfilling IHOP’s ongoing strategy to expand the brand’s accessibility to new and current guests.

IHOP opened its milestone 1,500th restaurant late last year, and currently has a franchise development pipeline of more than 300 restaurants. In addition to traditional restaurant development, IHOP has also embarked on other growth opportunities, including the development of express concepts for non-traditional venues such as college and university campuses, as well as licensing its name for select retail products.

SEONGNAM: Three Asian nations have asked state -run Korea Gas Corp (KOGAS) to sell them a stake in Iraq’s Akkas gas field project, the company’s chief executive said yesterday.

KOGAS last month said it had raised its stake in the project, Iraq’s largest gas field with estimated reserves of 5.6 trillion cubic feet, to 100 percent from 50 percent after partner KazMunaiGas Exploration Production withdrew from the deal.

Any sale would take place after 2011, and KOGAS plans to keep at least 60 percent of the project, Choo Kangsoo, who is also president of KOGAS, told Reuters in an interview.

“So far three nations-some in central Asia and the other in Asia-have officially asked us to sell some stake... They are the ones who bid in the past but failed to get it,” he said. — Reuers

Othman Al-Tawfiqi answer our customers within 10 seconds of receiving the call.

Ahlan Ahli 1899 899 is always there for you.”

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 .2870000 .0040000 .0020000 .0741590 .7224080 .3810000 .0700000 .7073930 .0040000 .0430000 CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES .2737000 .4440100 .3927870 .3246160 .2797570 .0526570 .0428420 .2893560 .0351300 .2216370 .0034130 .0000000 .0000000 .0000000 .0000000 .0745470 .7261870 .0000000 .0730060 .7110940 .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 3.449 6.117 3.204 2.506 3.833 223.350 35.323

.2760000 .4530000 .4000000 .3330000 .2870000 .2960000 .0072500 .0035000 .0755890 .7363350 .4010000 .0770000 .7210310 .0072000 .0530000 .2758000 .4474170 .3958010 .3271070 .2819030 .0530610 .0431700 .2915760 .0353990 .2233380 .0034390 .0061840 .0025240 .0032260 .0037520 .0751190 .7317590 .3900990 .0735660 .7165500 .0063700

Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht Irani Riyal - Transfer Irani Riyal - Cash

3.693 6.304 8.998 0.271 0.273 GCC COUNTRIES 73.389 75.618 714.820 730.770 74.923

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 48.350 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 46.266 Yemen Riyal 1.259 Tunisian Dinar 201.320 Jordanian Dinar 388.640 Lebanese Lira 182.500 Syrian Lier 5.941 Morocco Dirham 35.681 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 275.100 Euro 396.420 Sterling Pound 448.000 Canadian dollar 282.560 Turkish lire 172.260 Swiss Franc 327.890 Australian dollar 290.920 US Dollar Buying 273.900 GOLD 283.500 143.500 74.000

20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

SELL CASH 293.400 731.250 3.960 284.200 540.100 36.600 53.800 167.800 48.360 398.600 35.990 6.300

0.034 0.232 0.241 3.530 389.950 0.186 93.470 47.000 4.310 225.900 1.864 50.900 714.190 3.300 6.530 76.070 73.410 223.780 43.150 2.644 450.000 44.000 329.400 5.700 9.380 198.263 74.970 275.300 1.230

10 Tola

GOLD 1,592.710

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

SELL DRAFT 291.900 731.250 3.695 282.700

223.800 46.332 397.100 35.840 6.120

0.033

388.620 0.185 93.470 3.840 224.400

327.900 5.700 9.190 74.870 274.900

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 448.000 274.900

Selling Rate 274.850 284.045 447.320 396.695 326.139 728.013 74.808 75.444 73.256 386.883 46.265 2.504 6.127

3.210 3.712 6.296 674.181 3.525 9.101 5.779 3.916 91.295

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co. 714.010 3.205 6.320 75.640 73.410 223.780 43.150 2.506 448.000

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd Rate for Transfer US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupees Indian Rupees

Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit

Currency US Dollar Pak Rupees Indian Rupees Sri Lankan Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso UAE Dirhams Saudi Riyals Bahraini Dinars Egyptian Pounds Pound Sterling Indonesian Rupiah Nepali rupee Yemeni Riyal Jordanian Dinars Syrian Pounds Euro Canadian Dollars

Rate per 1000 (Tran) 274.900 3.215 6.130 2.520 3.705 6.345 74.950 73.510 730.800 46.260 451.500 0.00003280 3.910 1.550 390.600 5.750 400.100 286.700

Al Mulla Exchange Currency Transfer Rate (Per 1000) US Dollar 274.750 Euro 395.800 Pound Sterling 447.800 Canadian Dollar 282.500 Japanese Yen 3.450 Indian Rupee 6.122 Egyptian Pound 46.250 Sri Lankan Rupee 2.504 Bangladesh Taka 3.680 Philippines Peso 6.300 Pakistan Rupee 3.205 Bahraini Dinar 731.200 UAE Dirham 74.750 Saudi Riyal 73.375 *Rates are subject to change

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Biggest banks could face stiffer capital surcharge Regulators lean towards pure equity surcharges

KUWAIT: Chairperson and Chief Operating Officer of ACICO Construction Ghaida AlKhalid accepts “Businesswoman Award of 2011” during Arabian Business Awards.

ACICO chairperson credits team effort KUWAIT: Chairperson and Chief Operating O fficer of ACICO Construction Ghaida Al-Khalid described her winning of the ‘Businesswoman Award of 2011’ during Arabian Business Awards as a testimony to the hard work of her fellow co-workers which enabled her company to attain its position as one of the best construction companies locally and worldwide. “Without your efforts, the

company wouldn’t have reached the position that it has”, Al-Khalid said in a statement addressing her workmates.

Furthermore, Al-Khalid said that her company has the resources to provide raw material for projects of the state’s development plan, revealing plans for ACICO Co to increase the production capacity of its cement factory to 4,000 tons a day, as well as expand their business to Saudi Arabia.

FRANKFURT/LONDON: The world’s biggest banks face a capital surcharge of up to three percent in a bid to keep taxpayers off the hook next time a lender gets into difficulty, Bundesbank and industry officials said. But a surcharge of between 3 percent and around 3.5 percent will be imposed if a bank grew significantly and as a result posed larger systemic risks, banking sources told Reuters. The Financial Stability Board, tasked by the world’s top 20 economies (G20) to toughen up financial rules, meets on July 18 to finalise its blueprint. Before then regulators will hold a series of preparatory meetings to iron out elements of the capital surcharge plan that are still being contested even though many top banks already hold capital in line with the top end of the planned surcharge.

“No final decision has been made,” a source familiar with the talks said. “It’s still very fluid,” a second source added. The basic structure, however, is set be in line with what regulators and bankers have been saying over the past year.

Bundesbank board member Andreas Dombret said on Friday that 25 to 30 of globally systemically important financial institutions (G-SIFIs) “will in all likelihood” have to hold 2 to 3 percentage points more capital than others.

“Such capital add-ons do more than merely improve the resilience of a SIFI, in other words reduce its probability of failure,” Dombret said in a speech. “They surely are also a suitable instrument with which to put a price tag on the implicit guarantee that SIFIs are deemed to enjoy,” Dombret added. The blueprint is about a year behind schedule due to bickering among G20 countries over whose banks will be deemed G-SIFIs, and whether other measures, also in the blueprint, such as effective wind-up mechanisms could be a substitute for surcharges at some banks.

International Monetary Fund researchers said this month the surcharge should be significantly

more than the 1-3 percent being worked on but banks say regulators should look at the cumulative impact of all the new rules on banks. A top British regulator has signalled that total core capital of around 15 percent is best in an ideal world, some five percent above where UK banks are now. Switzerland wants its two biggest banks UBS and Credit Suisse to hold core equity capital of 10 percent and a further 9 percent in hybrid debt known as contingent capital.

Big banks first Initially the surcharge will apply only to the biggest banks such as Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley. Other big institutions whose collapse could destabilise the wider financial system, as did the demise of Lehman Brothers in 2008, would be brought under the net later on in the teeth of fierce lobbying from big insurers. The surcharge will depend on criteria regulators have already outlined, such as how interconnected the bank is to the rest of the financial system and how easily its operations could be substituted by another lender.

“I think it will be 1 to 3 percent of capital in six steps, depending on the degree of GSIFIness,” one banking source said. “It’s still under discussion if pure investment banks are see as less important for the stability of the system than diversified banks,” a second European banking source said. The Financial Times reported that Citigroup, JPMorgan, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, BNP Paribas, Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays would face a surcharge of 2.5 percent, while Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, UBS and Credit Suisse would be hit with a smaller, 2 percent capital add on.

But a banking supervisory source disputed this breakdown, adding there was disagreement over how many “buckets” there should be, which would determine which banks were grouped

together. European bank shares appeared little affected by the well aired prospect of a capital surcharge, with the sector up 1.2 percent, outperforming the broader market which was up 0.5 percent. It remains unclear when the capital surcharges would kick in, but many of the biggest banks already hold capital at these levels due to pressure from local supervisors in countries like Switzerland, Britain and the United States.

“I think the British banks are already there.

The bigger issue is going to be liquidity as banks are even more concerned about this,” said Simon Hills, a director at the British Bankers’ Association. Basel III introduces the first global liquidity standards which will force banks to top up with large chunks of government bonds to comply.

Pure equity The capital surcharge will be on top of the new global Basel III minimum capital of 7 percent set for all banks from 2013. The blueprint will be published by the FSB in late July for public consultation before G20 leaders endorse them in November. The biggest of the G-SIFIs would hold around 10 percent in Core Tier 1 capital, the main benchmark of a bank’s stability.

Some banks may need to change the mix of capital. Much will hinge on whether the surcharge has to be in the purest form of capitalcommon equity-or whether banks will be allowed to include some hybrid debt known as contingent capital or CoCos which convert to equity under stress.

Bundesbank’s Dombret said CoCos should be included among the instruments acceptable as a surcharge but banking sources said hard line countries like Britain appear to be winning the argument for common equity. “We would like to be able to meet the SIFI buffer with CoCos but they are leaning more to the purest form of equity,” they said. — Reuters

UAE launches Investment Map

KUWAIT: The officials of Injaz pose for a picture during the company’s official launch in Missoni Hotel on Monday night.

— Photos by Joseph Shagra

KUWAIT: Khaled Al-Badr, General Manager of Injaz speaks during the launch ceremony.

New construction management company launched

By Nisreen Zahreddine KUWAIT: Injaz, a project management company announced launching its business in Kuwait on Monday night in Missoni Hotel during a celebration which included plenty of Kuwaiti figures who are interested in construction projects management sector.

Khaled Al-Badr, General Manager of Injaz spoke on the occasion and said that the project of establishing a company named ‘Injaz ’ was just an idea that is totally

dependable on creation and uniqueness. He pointed out that the company has been established through the contribution of three Kuwaiti engineers: Hanan AlMarshoud, Mounira Al-Amir, and Hanadi AlShitian.

Al-Badr added that the three engineers have verbalized their will to participate effectively and support the development program prepared in Kuwait, especially that they are among the first women Kuwaiti engineers to earn the certificate of project

Moody’s assigns NBK ‘stable’ outlook KUWAIT: Moody’s Investors Service yesterday affirmed National Bank of Kuwait’s (NBK) “Stable” outlook. Moody’s also assigned NBK a standalone Bank Financial Strength Rating (BFSR) of “C” and a long-term global local currency (GLC) and longterm foreign currency deposit ratings of “Aa3”.

The rating action was mainly driven by the agency’s concerns over the operating environment in Kuwait and the geopolitical unrest in the Middle East.

Moody’s highlighted in its rating rationale that the rating action has been prompted by the weakening credit conditions in the Kuwaiti banking system arising from problems in Kuwaiti investment companies, the Kuwaiti real estate sector (particularly commercial real estate) and the weak per formance of the Kuwait Stock Exchange. Moody’s expressed further concerns on the implementation of the Government’s 5year plan. The rating agency expected the Government to continue to miss spending targets and the current spending levels are unlikely to be of scale to resolutely revive credit growth in the system.

Moody’s noted that despite the deteriorating operating conditions in Kuwait, NBK’s financial performance remains robust. NBK’s reported asset quality has exhibited strong resilience amidst adverse operating conditions in 2009 and 2010, outclassing its domestic competitors. The rating agency also highlighted the sustainability of NBK’s good revenue base and comfortable margins during 2010, which together with high efficiencies support its capacity to generate strong profits going forward. Moody’s further stressed on NBK’s robust capitalization underpinning its loss absorption capacity and placing the bank in a preferential position for growth by utilising opportunities that may arise once increased government spending materialises.

management in Kuwait. Al-Badr pointed out as well that the three engineers are willing to make a transitional step in technology in Kuwait to resembe the steps made in the developed countries in this regard.

Al-Badr pointed out that the company is based on the work in the private sector especially in the time of the population growth which Kuwait is witnessing these days. “The company also is based on participation in development plans projects”, continued Al- Badr.

Al-Badr pointed out as well that the company will implement the skills of the construction projects management along with its local and international allies. It will also use the latest updated technology in a scientific and professional methods. These new methods, Al-Badr explained, will also take into consideration guaranteeing the quality of the performance without any pitfalls of not meeting the standards or the quality specifications of engineering which are used and implemented in Kuwait.

New Mowasat Hospital earns platinum level accreditation KUWAIT: In a grand ceremony, New Mowasat Hospital received the Accreditation Canada Qmentum International “Platinum”. New Mowasat Hospital is the first healthcare facility in Kuwait to be accredited by Accreditation Canada International (2008 -2011 / 2011 - 2014) and Joint Commission International JCI (United States) (November 2010-2013). Today, New Mowasat adds a new certificate to its quality detection as it harvests the seeds of hard work, dedication, and endless care by being the first and only hospital in the Middle East to be accredited by Accreditation Canada Qmentum Platinum.

New Mowasat Hospital raised the bar to meet the Canada International’s most recent set of best practice standards: “Qmentum International”. The hospital achieved an overall of 98 percent Quality Index with most of the teams scored 99-100 percent in the accreditation Canada International survey, entitling the hospital to be accredited with

the Platinum Level of excellence in quality care & services.

Being a worldwide leader in raising the bar for quality health care, New Mowasat earned accreditation by complying with International care quality standards including achieving the highest level of performance possible, improving patient outcomes, and creating an environment for continuous patient safety and quality enhancement.

A grand ceremony was held by New Mowasat in which Accreditation Canada International CEO, Sebastien Audette, handed the certificate to New Mowasat’s Hospital Director, Nadeem Nazir. On this occasion Nadeem Nazir, New Mowasat’s Hospital Director, said that “achieving the Platinum level of the Accreditation reflects the dedication and hard work of each and every employee in our hospital for continuous Quality Improvement, and our eagerness to provide an excellent quality services to both our patients and their

KUWAIT: New Mowasat Hospital officials pose for pictures with the accreditation certificate. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

families.”

Nazir noted “There is no doubt that by achieving the quality standards and especially through this Platinum Reaccreditation, New Mowasat Hospital became a pride to the entire private health sector in Kuwait and it is a confident step towards upgrading the health services provided in Kuwait.”

Furthermore, Nadeem stated that accreditation is attainable only through collaboration among all staff members and providing high quality care is a team effort. He also mentioned his appreciation to all the hospital’s staff for their efforts in achieving this high level of quality recognition.

It is also worth revealing is that the New Mowasat hospital provides a complete range of the highest quality diagnostic services by recently adding new machines to the Radiology Department that includes Mammography, CT scan, MRI, Bone Densitometer, 64 Multi Slice CT Scanner, and the latest generation of 1.5 tesla MRI Scanner which adds to precise and fast diagnosis.

Since Accreditation Canada is a notfor-profit, independent organization that provides national and international health and social service organizations with a voluntary, external peer review to assess the quality of their services based on standards of excellence; Accreditation Canada’s programs and guidance have been helping organizations strive for excellence for over 50 years. Thus, by earning this certificate, New Mowasat Hospital confirms that, while one of the oldest private hospitals in the country, it continues to renew equipments and services proving itself to be the most efficient healthcare facility in Kuwait.

KUWAIT: Mohammed Ahmed Bin Abdul Aziz AlShehhi, Undersecretar y of the UAE Ministr y of Economy, yesterday, announced the launch of the UAE Investment Map, at a special ceremony in Dubai in the presence of the Ministry’s strategic partners from both public and private sectors.

Al-Shehhi said the initiative will promote the sustainable and balanced development of the UAE, and contribute to the GDP growth by stimulating the investment environment and attracting investment and technology that drive the knowledge economy in addition to reducing the dependence on oil by diversifying revenue streams.

Al-Shehhi said the UAE Investment Map comes in line with the strategic directions of the Ministry for 2011-2013 to enhance the investment environment and the competitiveness of the national economy by targeting international markets and attracting large investment projects to the UAE. He said the initiative will serve as an indicator to guide global investors and introduce them to the various investment opportunities across all sectors of the UAE economy through a systematic and scientific approach.

The initiative is also part of the UAE Vision 2021 to drive the development of a knowledge-based economy. To achieve the Vision, the Federal Government Strategy 2011-2013 has set strategic directions, including the participation of UAE nationals and developing their capabilities; increasing efficiency, flexibility and productivity in the labor market; supporting small and medium enterprises; developing and promoting entrepreneurship; strengthening the regulatory framework of key sectors; encouraging and supporting existing and new sectors; promoting export development and promotion of the country’s position in international trade; and encouraging innovation and R&D. Al-Shehhi said the UAE Investment Map will provide an overview of the investment opportunities in each Emirate in health, agriculture, real estate, alternative energy, SMEs, services, industry, education, and finance, among others sectors. In the first phase, the initiative aims to target markets such as Argentina, Brazil, Turkey, Germany, India, China and South Korea.

The areas that fall within the investment map also include: aluminum industry, automotive, aviation, information technology, telecommunications, financial services, electronics, engineering and industrial technology, healthcare, petrochemical industry, education and knowledge industry, and the pharmaceutical industry. “In November, the UAE Investment Map will be officially launched during the UAE’s Investment Map conference, alongside a specialised exhibition to introduce government services to key international investors,” Al-Shehhi concluded.

Mohammed Ahmed Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Shehhi

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BUSINESS

Bourse gains on banking sector profits GLOBAL DAILY MARKET REPORT KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) recovered from earlier day’s loss to end yesterday on a positive note. The gains were bolstered by a surge in the bank ing sec tor.

Global Investment Index and Global Non Kuwaiti Index were the only decliners for the day, while and Insurance Index ended flat. All other major indices posted gains at the end of the session. KSE these days needs Announcement Effect that give the investors a reason to enter the market.

Market indices Global General Index (GGI), market weighted, ended the day up by 0.51 percent, at 193.77 point. Market capitalization was up for the day at KD31.66 billion.

On the other hand, KSE Price Index closed at 6,276 point, adding 25.50 points (0.41 percent) to its previous close.

Market breadth During the session, 100 companies were traded. Market breadth was skewed towards advancers as 42 equities advanced versus 18 that retreated.

Daily trading activity Trading activity was up this session. The trades conducted in the services sector. Total volume traded was up by 40.30 percent with 93.68 million shares changing hands at a total value of KD17.07 million (29.45 percent higher compared to the day before). The real estate sector was the volume leader yesterday, accounting for 34.72 percent of total shares. The same sector was the value leader, with 27.51 percent of total traded value. Kuwait Remal Real Estate Company was the most active in terms of values traded during yesterday’s

Saudi bounces, ADCB weighs on Abu Dhabi MIDEAST STOCKS

session, with 9.42 million shares exchanged at an aggregate value of KD3.01 million.

Top gainers and biggest decliners In terms of top gainers, Ekttitab Holding Company took the top spot for the day, adding 8.62 percent and closed at KD0.032. On the other hand, Gulf Finance House shed 6.25 percent and closed at KD0.075, making it the biggest decliner in the market.

Sectors wise Global Food Index shouldered the advance with two of sector’s constituents ending in positive territor y. The index gained 1.34 percent and closed at 378.83 points on the back of 1.28 percent gain in the share price of Kuwait Foodstuff Company (Americana). Livestock

Transport & Trading Company also gained 3.64 percent to close at KD0.285. In sector news, the board of Danah Al-Safat Foodstuff Company approved as per a decision by collecting signatures dated April 15, 2011, liquidating a fund in a third-party managed portfolio in favor of the company. The liquidation will take place through taking over Lebanon-based F&B Venture Holding in return for KD12.5 million worth of in-kind stake in the fund. F&B will be considered as a subsidiary of Danah and its figures will be consolidated in the company’s financial statements start from April 01, 2011. The scrip closed unchanged at KWD0.079.

Global Banking Index came in second place. The index added 0.97 percent to close at 343.02

points. National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) gained 1.72 percent to close at KD1.180 and Gulf Bank gained 1.89 percent to close at KD0.540. On the other side of the spec trum, Global NonKuwaiti Index lost 0.54 percent, on the back of 0.99 percent drop in the stock price of Ahli United Bank.

Oil news The price of OPEC basket of twelve crudes stood at $107.41 a barrel on Monday, compared with $107.51 the previous Friday, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.

Corporate news The board of Kuwait National Airways Company ( Wataniya) announced that the company has failed to reach an amicable settlement with Aviation Lease & Finance Co (ALAFCO).

DUBAI/CAIRO: The Saudi bourse bounced back yesterday, tracking oil and gains in global shares, while Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank fell after a report warned the lender’s earnings could be diluted this year. The Saudi index gained 1.4 percent, snapping a five -session losing streak, while most regional markets fell. World stocks rose yesterday as expectations that the euro zone will avoid a messy default of Greek sovereign debt attracted investors back into risky assets.

“People were looking for any reason to buy back in - crude is up significantly which is helping and people are relatively optimist on Q2 numbers,” said a Riyadh-based fundmanager who asked not to be identified.

Only six Saudi stocks fell, as bellwether Saudi Basic Industries Corp gained 2 percent, Al-Rajhi Bank climbed 1.4 percent and Saudi Kayan Petrochemicals rose 1.9 percent. Oil rose yesterday from a dive to a fourmonth low in the previous session. Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank fell 4.1 percent, dragging the index 0.9 percent lower after researcher AlembicHC said the lender’s sale of its 25 percent stake in Malaysia’s RHB Capital would hit its profit.

“Without RHB, ADCB would have made a loss in 2010. We estimate a forfeiture of 39 percent of earnings in 2011, 34 percent in 2012, 24 percent in 2013, and 19 percent in 2014,” AlembicHC said in a note. Egypt’s index ended down 0.9 percent, a day after it reached a post-revolution high, with traders saying foreigners have been selling and a new trigger is required to push the market into higher territory. “We just need a catalyst, whether it’s global, regional or local” said Mohamed Radwan, head of equities at Pharos Securities.

Among those possible catalysts, he said, were a parliamentary confidence vote on Greece’s government, the possible inclusion of the United Arab Emirates in an MSCI index and, news on foreign financial aid inflows to Egypt. Wael Enaba, managing director at portfolio manager al-Awael, agreed, saying: “Breaking 5,600 points needs incentives- whether mergers and acquisitions or economic news... I expect we will not go below 5,500 points”.

Middle East investors and other foreigners were net sellers yesterday, traders said.

All but three stocks on the index fell. Ezz Steel slipped 3.1 percent and Citadel Capital lost 2.8 percent. Dubai’s index ended 0.4 percent higher as bluechips recovered.

Traders said the market was oversold on Monday after Goldman Sachs downgraded UAE banks. Emaar Properties gained 1.9 percent and Dubai Financial Market rose 3.2 percent.

Arabtec climbed 1.5 percent after saying it would not reverse provisions in 2011 and had no immediate plans to issue a shelved $150 million convertible bond. UAE and Qatar’s markets will open today for their first trading session after index compiler MSCI announced its decision later yesterday on whether it will upgrade the two countries to emerging market status.

Yesterday’s highlights Saudi Arabia The benchmark climbed 1.3 percent to 6,462 points.

Abu Dhabi The index fell 0.9 percent to 2,732 points.

Egypt The measure slipped 0.9 percent to 5,529 points.

Dubai The index gained 0.4 percent to 1,578 points.

Kuwait The measure rose 0.4 percent to 6,276 points.

Qatar The benchmark eased 0.03 percent to 8,215 points.

Oman The index eased 0.08 percent to 6,003 points.

Bahrain The measure slipped 0.2 percent to 1,340 points. —Reuters

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business

Qantas cancels all Sydney, Melbourne flights over ash Flight chaos in Australia as ash cloud returns

NEW YORK: In this file photo, traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. — AP

Fed set to gingerly lift foot off stimulus pedal WASHINGTON: The Federal Reser ve appears ready to ease off the stimulus pedal that is pumping life into the US economy at a key meeting that opened yesterday, despite signs of slowing growth. Most economists expect the Federal Open Market Committee will signal the Fed’s $600 billion asset purchase program will end as scheduled by June 30.

And few expect the quantitative easing, dubbed QE2, will be followed by additional stimulus. The aim of the FOMC program to buy Treasur y bonds announced in November was to lower as much as possible medium- and long-term interest rates at a time when the Fed has run out of firepower. The central bank slashed its key target to between zero and 0.25 percent two and a half years ago, helping to keep short-term rates low. The Treasury bond purchases, or quantitative easing, dubbed QE2, are set to end on June 30. FOMC watchers are anxiously awaiting to see if the Fed’s language in its directive changes at all knowing that QE2 is set to expire, Patrick O’Hare at Briefing.com said.

“There is a burgeoning belief that the Fed will find a new way to communicate that interest rates will stay down longer than is already expected,” he said. “Either way, this FOMC meeting has added importance given its timing in relation to the Greek situation, the unsettled debate in the US on raising the debt ceiling, and the soft economic data of late,” he added.

Nearly two years after the recession ended, economic growth, as Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said recently, is “desperately slow.” In the first quarter, soaring oil prices squeezed economic output to a weak 1.8 percent annual rate. In the ongoing second quarter, high commodity prices and the negative impact on production supplies from Japan’s March earthquake and tsunami, particularly in the auto and electronics sectors, have hit growth.

The FOMC is expected to confirm, at the conclusion of its meeting today, that the central bank will continue to reinvest principal payments from mortgage holdings into longer-term Treasury securities.

That would allow the Fed to extend its drip feed of support to the ailing economy. Bernanke, in a speech to Atlanta bankers on June 7, signaled the constant infusion would not be cut off any time soon.

The FOMC is to release its policy statement at 1630 GMT today, and will update key economic indicators. “Since the FOMC last met on 26-27 April, the unemployment rate has bumped up from 8.8 percent in March to 9.1 percent in May, the S&P 500 index has declined more than 5.0 percent, and consensus growth forecasts for Q2 (second quarter) have been revised down,” said Nomura economists.

“The policy statement and the committee’s updated economic projections should reflect these developments.” In total, the Fed will have pumped more than $2.3 trillion into the economy between late 2008 and June 30 by buying securities on the markets. Eventually it will have to withdraw the record stimulus that could unleash a spiral of inflation that would violate the Fed’s mandate of maintaining price stability.

For the moment, the central bank appears poised to let its stimulus run its course. Bernanke has made it clear that monetary policy has reached its limits. The Fed chief is to give the second post-FOMC meeting news conference in history, part of an effort to provide greater transparency about policy decisions. “Bernanke will be questioned on energy prices, the federal deficit, the labor market, and Europe,” said Ryan Sweet at Moody’s Analytics. “We expect no major announcements. A relatively uneventful press conference will be counted a success by the Fed.” — AFP

Japan pledges to support eurozone TOKYO: Japan will continue to support Europe in its battle to contain a debt crisis, finance minister Yoshihiko Noda said yesterday, as eurozone officials try to avoid a potentially damaging Greek default. Japan has previously pledged to help boost confidence in the bonds issued by the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), amid concerns earlier this year for eurozone nations such as Portugal and Ireland. But market fears are now centred on Greece, which received a multi-billion-dollar bailout last year but is struggling to meet a deadline to pay a loan installment and avoid a sovereign default.

“Japan has been making its own contributions to bring stability to European financial conditions, such as by buying debt (issued by the rescue fund) during efforts to support Portugal,” Noda said at a news conference following a cabinet meeting yesterday. “We’d like to continue those efforts,” he said. The world’s second-largest holder of foreign currency after China, Japan bought about two billion euros ($2.9 billion) of bonds in programmes launched to date by the eurozone-backed EFSF in January and in midJune.

Japan’s efforts to assist Europe may be driven by concerns that the continent’s sovereign debt turmoil poses a threat to European demand for Japanese goods or send the yen higher against the euro, say analysts. Greece was on Monday given a two-week deadline to drive through drastic new cuts before it can receive a 12-billion-euro payment to ensure it does not default. Regarding assistance for Greece, Noda said: “We will cooperate if there is something that Japan can do.”

The International Monetary Fund, which is funding a third of Greece’s first 110-billion-euro bailout, warned decisive action was needed to prevent the crisis

from spreading throughout the 17nation eurozone and beyond. Markets worry a default on Greek debt could trigger a cascade of problems in Europe’s bigger economies, including Spain. Such a domino effect could again hobble the global financial system, much like the massive crisis of 2008.

Showing the extent of international fears over renewed financial contagion, G7 finance ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States held a late Sundaynight telephone conference to discuss the Greek debt crisis. Prime Minister George Papandreou’s government faces a confidence vote yesterday as it looks to eventually steer 28.4 billion euros of austerity cuts into legislation in order to get its latest lifeline.

European Union leaders also stage a summit in Brussels tomorrow and Fridaywith a second bailout for Greece, whose debts currently top 350 billion euros, near the top of a packed agenda.

Noda, meanwhile, said the Japanese government should continue efforts to persuade ruling-coalition lawmakers to accept a plan to double the nation’s five percent consumption tax over five years to improve its finances and rein in a huge debt. The government on Monday was forced to delay announcing plans for tax and social security reform due to objections to the planned hike, as Prime Minister Naoto Kan faces pressure to resign. Japan’s debt is the industrialised world’s biggest at around 200 percent of GDP after years of pump-priming measures by governments trying in vain to arrest the economy’s long decline.

Organisations such as credit-rating agencies and the International Monetary Fund are scrutinising Japan’s efforts to prevent its fiscal problems from hurting its debt holders or the global economy. — AFP

SYDNEY: Hundreds of flights were grounded yesterday in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Canberra as the Chilean ash cloud returned to Australia with a vengeance, with the chaos due to worsen over coming days. The cloud, created by the eruption of the Puyehue volcano high in the Andes more than two weeks ago, has looped the globe and made its way back Down Under to wreak fresh havoc. State broadcaster ABC said the travel plans of more than 120,000 people had been thrown into disarray-with an industry group saying it was Australia’s worst air travel disruption for more than 20 years.

“The ash cloud is denser and larger than that which caused widespread disruption to flights last week,” said Airservices Australia, adding that the plume was hovering between 20,000 and 40,000 feet (6-13 kilometres).

“It is also predicted to linger longer over southeast Australia. It is spread in a large band below the Australian continent and is predicted to continue to move to the northeast and east in coming days.” National flag carrier Qantas suspended services to and from the South Australian capital Adelaide as well as Canberra and SydneyAustralia’s busiest airportalthough several overseas airlines continued to operate. Qantas later announced that all its flights into and out of Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra would also be grounded for much of today, including international routes. New Zealand flights were stopped “until further notice.”

Virgin followed suit, promising to review its services throughout the afternoon.

“We estimate that we will be cancelling in excess of 200 flights today,” Qantas spokeswoman

Olivia Wirth told reporters, adding that international arrivals and departures would be delayed until Thursday. “The experts say we simply won’t be able to operate in this situation. This has had a significant impact in the Qantas Group, but we will always put safety before schedule.” Qantas’ discount airline Jetstar also called off Adelaide and Sydney flights

sucked into engines it can be transformed into molten glass by the high temperatures and potentially cause an engine to fail. John Lee, chief executive of Tourism and Transport Forum, an industry body, said it was the largest disruption to Australia’s aviation industry since a 1989 pilots’ strike.

“We anticipate the total impact to

ing at an altitude where aircraft generally cruise. “It is the same cloud that has gone right around the world. It is still dense and it is still hazardous to aviation,” said a spokesman at the Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre. The cloud first entered Australian and New Zealand airspace just over a week ago, causing some airlines to ground all flights to affected

SYDNEY: The flight departure’s screen showing “cancelled” flights is displayed inside the Qantas domestic airport terminal yesterday. — AP yesterday while Tiger Airways grounded its entire fleet, with no services anywhere.

Virgin suspended flights to Adelaide, Canberra and major hubs Sydney and Melbourne, as well as Tasmania. Aviation Minister Anthony Albanese said airports could be shut for up to 48 hours. Ash poses a significant threat to aircraft because once

the tourism industr y will be something over Aus$10 million. It could be as high as Aus$13 or Aus$14 million but it’s probably around Aus$11.5 million per day,” Lee told AFP. “It is a very substantial business disruption.” Though the ash had circled the globe meteorologists said it was still clearly visible on satellite images and was mov-

S Korea must boost welfare spending SEOUL: South Korea should push more family-friendly policies in the workplace to boost the birthrate and narrow the education gap between rich and poor to ensure long-term growth, the OECD said yesterday. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, in a report entitled “A framework for growth and social cohesion”, also called for a big rise in welfare spending and labour market reforms to lessen income disparities.

Its chief Angel Gurria urged Seoul to “double or perhaps more” its welfare spending, which at the present 7.5 percent of gross domestic product is far below the OECD average of 20 percent.

“Growth is important but growth alone cannot solve all the problems,” said Gurria, calling the task of achieving more inclusive growth a “go-social challenge” faced by Seoul policymakers.”Tackling these challenges requires public spending, thus room has to be made to meet this demand... you need high social spending without weakening Korea’s very sound fiscal position,” he told a news conference. The report, requested by President Lee Myung-Bak, calls on Seoul to increase its current 10 percent valueadded tax as well as environmental and property holdings taxes to finance better social protection.

It says the state pension age should rise to 65 from 60 to maintain fiscal health, and poor families should be able to claim assistance more easily. Gurria urged Seoul to offer more high-quality child care services and promote familyfriendly policies at workplaces to “recon-

cile work and family life” in the country with the highest working hours among OECD member states.

The report said South Korea has one of the world’s lowest fertility of 1.2 children per mother, because women find it difficult to resume work after giving birth and parents face a massive financial burden for children’s education.”Increasing the birthrate requires lowering the financial burden on parents... and investing much more in family-friendly policies at workplaces like paid parental leave,” said Gurria.

He said labour market “dualism... is an important factor driving inequality” with “non-regular” workers making up a third of the entire workforce, the highest in the OECD. These have lower wages and fewer benefits than the regular workforce.

Gurria also urged a narrowing of the gender wage gap of 38 percent, the highest among OECD members whose average is around 20 percent. The growing gap in education should also be tackled by offering more state-sponsored opportunities for children from poor families. The report showed 77 percent of students attend hagwon-private cram schools after normal school hours-for 10 hours a week, putting heavy financial pressure on parents.

But children whose parents cannot afford them lag behind others in education. Gurria said hagwon have assumed an important role in education but they reinforced social differences. “Policymakers can help by offering high-quality early childhood education... to minimise dependence on hagwon,” he said. — AFP

KOLKATA: Activists of the Socialist Unity Center of India (Communist) burn an effigy of Orissa state Chief Minister Navin Patnaik. The activists were protesting against the eviction of villagers in eastern Orissa state for the proposed $12 billion steel plant of South Korean conglomerate Posco, one of the largest foreign investments ever in India. — AP

areas while others chose to divert their planes under and around the plume. Flights were also affected across Argentina and Uruguay. The Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre’s director Andrew Tupper said the plume was a rare occurrence and a third loop back to Australia was not likely.”A third time round would be unprecedented,” he said. — AFP

Oil above $94 as euro gains on dollar NEW YORK: Oil prices rose above $94 a barrel yesterday as the euro strengthened against the dollar on hopes that Greece will be able to avoid defaulting on its debts. By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark oil for July delivery was up $1.17 to $94.43 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained 25 cents to settle at $93.26 on Monday.

In London, Brent crude for August delivery was up 78 cents to $112.47 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange. Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou faces a parliamentary vote of confidence late yesterday, and then needs to get a new austerity package voted through parliament even as European officials discuss a second bailout for the country. While Greece’s problems were not seen as directly affecting oil consumption, they influenced prices through exchange rate volatility.

“The oil market will only see a major impact if the crisis spreads to larger countries in Europe,” JP Morgan said in a report. “The main path through which Greece impacts oil in the short-term is via the euro/US dollar exchange rate.” Oil tends to rise when the dollar drops as a cheaper US currency makes commodities such as crude cheaper for investors with other currencies. When the dollar gains, oil tends to fall. The euro rose to $1.4353 yesterday from $1.4309 late Monday. Less than two weeks ago, the Nymex contract was trading above $100, but concerns about deteriorating global demand for crude helped push prices lower. “Some market players clearly regard the lower price level after the sharp slump since mid last week as a buying opportunity,” said analysts at Commerzbank in Frankfurt. A top energy industry expert warned higher fuel costs could undermine global economic growth. High crude prices could send the global economy back into recession, said Fatih Birol, chief economist at the International Energy Agency.

“My worry is that current oil prices are a major risk of the global economic recovery,” Birol said in a speech yesterday in Singapore. “I’m very worried that we could see the same movie that we saw in 2008.”

Oil surged to $147 in July 2008, pinching consumer spending just as the global financial crisis undermined investor confidence. Crude traded at $33 by December of that year. On Monday, a second day of talks in Luxembourg between Greek and eurozone officials did not produce a final agreement on the next installment of rescue loans for Greece or on a broader, second bailout expected in cooperation with the International Monetary Fund. Markets are also awaiting the release of the latest figures for US stockpiles of crude and refined products. Data for the week ending Oct. 1 is expected to show a draw of 2 million barrels in crude oil stocks and a rise of 1 million barrels in gasoline stocks, according to a survey of analysts by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos. The American Petroleum Institute will release its report on oil stocks later yesterday, while the report from the Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration - the market benchmark - will be out today. In other Nymex trading in July contracts, heating oil rose 0.48 cent to $2.9368 a gallon while gasoline gained 1.9 cents to $2.9305 a gallon. Natural gas futures added 2.5 cents to $4.342 per 1,000 cubic feet. — AP

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States considering Internet taxes to close budget gaps AUSTIN: State governments across the US are laying off teachers, closing public libraries and parks, and reducing health care services, but there is one place they could get $23 billion a year if they could only agree how to do it: Internet retailers such as Amazon.com. That’s enough to pay for the salaries of more than 460,000 teachers, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. In California, the amount of uncollected taxes from Amazon sales alone is roughly the same amount cut from child welfare services in the current state budget.

But collecting those taxes from major online retailers is difficult.

Internet retailers are required to collect sales tax only when they sell to customers living in a state where they have a physical presence, such as a store or office. When consumers order from out-of-state retailers, they are required under state law to pay the tax. But it’s difficult to enforce and rarely happens. That means under the current system the seller is absolved of responsibility, buyers save 3 percent to 9 percent because they rarely volunteer to pay the sales tax, and the state loses revenue.

With sales tax revenue slumping more than 30 percent in most states between 2007 and 2010, lawmakers across America are grasping for ways to collect those

unpaid taxes. Retailers and lawmakers in several states have proposed ways to solve the problem, some with more support than others. “The problem is that some out-ofstate e-retailers openly flaunt the law, arguing that it doesn’t apply to them,” said Texas state Democratic Rep. Elliot Naishtat, who has offered a bill to require more Internet sellers to collect Texas sales tax. “It’s about potentially generating hundreds of millions of dollars for our state.”

Texas cut $24 billion in state services to cover its revenue shortfall. That included decisions not to fund the expected growth in the number of public school students and the expected growth in the caseload for Medicaid, the health care program for the poor and disabled. Internet retailers cite a 1992 US Supreme Court decision involving catalog sales, Quill Corp v. North Dakota, which ruled that states could require only companies that had a physical presence within the state to act as tax collector. To get around the ruling, some states are expanding what it means to be physically present. For example, an online retailer hiring a marketing firm or owning a subsidiary inside the state would qualify under definitions adopted in some states.

In Februar y, the Texas comptroller demanded that Amazon.com pay $269 mil-

lion in back sales taxes because a subsidiary operated a warehouse near Dallas. Amazon is appealing the order. Last year, New York enacted a law that said Internet retailers’ practice of paying commissions to marketing agents based within the state constituted a presence. Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Rhode Island and North Carolina quickly followed with similar laws. Bills are pending in Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Pennsylvania. Texas lawmakers passed such a measure, but Gov. Rick Perry vetoed it.

Now legislators are trying to resurrect the bill by attaching it to a larger budget measure. The matter is now before a conference committee.

California estimates it loses at least $200 million a year in uncollected tax from online sales, $83 million from Amazon.com alone.

A bill that has passed the state Legislature would force Seattle-based Amazon and others to collect that tax from California residents. Amazon, Overstock.com and other big Internet retailers cite the Quill decision as their primary defense against collecting sales taxes, but they also argue that collecting tax in the District of Columbia and the 45 states where a sales tax exists would be extremely complex and expensive. “There are over 8,000 taxing jurisdictions in the

United States,” said Jonathan Johnson, president of Overstock.com, which has offices only in Utah. “We think it’s wrong that states are trying to cause out-of-state retailers to be their tax collectors.” After all, Johnson said, these retailers do not use any state services where they don’t have offices. To avoid having to collect sales tax, Amazon threatened to close its warehouse in Texas, cut off marketing affiliates in Illinois and North Carolina and sued New York claiming the law there is unconstitutional.

Earlier this month, Amazon severed ties with website affiliates in Connecticut after the governor signed into law a state tax on online purchases that is expected to raise $9.4 million. The movement by states to force online retailers to collect sales taxes is more than just an attempt by government to get more money. It also highlights a rift in the business community. Traditional retailers are complaining loudly to their elected officials, saying the current structure creates an unfair playing field.

Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy, JC Penney, Sears and other traditional retailers have formed The Alliance for Main Street Fairness to push for more stringent tax laws on Internet retailers. Brick-and-mortar stores saw sales plunge 9.1 percent between 20072009, while online merchants saw sales rise

4.8 percent, according to the latest data available from the US Census Bureau. WalMart’s comparable store sales were down nearly 1 percent in 2010.

The alliance is pushing to expand the definition of physical presence, state-bystate, to force big online retailers to collect state sales tax. While the US Supreme Court sided with online retailers in its Quill decision, the ruling also said Congress should pass a law standardizing sales tax collection under the Interstate Commerce Clause.

Perry, the pro-business and states-rights Texas governor, said in his veto message that a national solution is the only way to settle the issue. A component of the proposed federal law is a requirement for states to adopt the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement, which would standardize sales tax laws and filing requirements for Internet retailers. To sweeten the pot, states would reimburse companies for any additional costs involved in collecting it. Already, 24 states have adopted the streamlined sales tax, while 1,500 companies have voluntarily collected $700 million in sales tax revenue since 2005 using the system, said Scott Peterson, executive director of the Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board. The volunteer retailers represent only a fraction of online sales. — AP

Greece faces critical vote for debt and for eurozone Power cuts hit Greece as protests grow

MADRID: Demonstrators stage a theatrical protest outside the Stock Exchange yesterday. Protests began May 15 and spread to cities across the country, striking a chord with hundreds of thousands fed-up with the wage cuts and tax hikes needed to resolve a financial crisis they see as created by banks and wealthy developers. Poster reads ‘Feel the power of the bank’ — AP

Swiss expect UK tax deals ZURICH: Switzerland said yesterday it still expects to clinch deals in coming months with Britain and Germany that would regularise untaxed wealth in Alpine accounts, after earlier predictions for a deal before the summer. Mario Tuor, spokesman for the State Secretariat for International Financial Matters (SIF), said negotiators were still clearing up technical details and that the final announcements would come either in early July, before the government’s summer holidays, or after the holidays. Earlier this year, Swiss officials had said they expected to clinch the agreements before the summer.

“They’re not yet quite finalised,” Tuor said of the deals with Germany and Britain. “But we’re in the final phase.” Strict banking secrecy, which helped Switzerland build a multi-trillion dollar offshore banking industry, has come under heavy fire and strained relations between Switzerland and other countries seeking to hunt tax cheats.

But the expected deals with Britain and Germany, outlines of which were agreed

late last year, would largely preserve bank secrecy by regularising untaxed accounts without forcing Switzerland to exchange bank information automatically. Tuor confirmed the deals are set to include provisions on market access for Swiss banks, a withholding tax on future earnings in the relevant accounts, a retroactive solution for legacy wealth, and legal action against bank employees who leak client data.

The level of the withholding tax is seen as key. In the case of Germany, media reports have suggested a withholding tax could be set as high as 35 percent though others see the figure of 25 percent as more likely, since that is Germany’s tax level for capital gains and profits from share sales.

Bank UBS had to promise in 2009 to hand over 4,450 account names to settle a US tax probe. Julius Baer paid to settle with German authorities, who have also raided the offices of Credit Suisse.

Germans hold an estimated 200 billion Swiss francs ($202 billion) in untaxed assets in Swiss accounts. — Reuters

ATHENS: Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou faced a vote of confidence in his new government yesterday in a fight vital to avert bankruptcy and stave off chaos across the eurozone and global markets. The prime minister was widely expected to squeak through in a vote due to take place around midnight, and a victory would almost certainly mean he would then get backing for vital austerity cuts and privatisations in a separate vote next week.

“The alternative is unthinkable at this juncture,” ING bank analysts warned. A Greek default would hit European banks hard, but would also likely damage investor sentiment towards Ireland and Portugal, already being rescued, and Spain and even Italy and Belgium which have high debt loads. The eurozone issued an ultimatum to Greece on Monday, when it held back the latest slice of a rescue loan from last year.

It told Greek lawmakers, in effect, to support the government and approve new, deep crisis action on the budget, even while recognising that this further delay and uncertainty could raise pressure throughout the eurozone. Greece needs the 12-billion-euro ($17billion-dollar) loan instalment to pay bills next month, but a much bigger issue for the whole eurozone is a new huge loan needed by Greece to avoid default on its debt in the months and years ahead.

Germany insists this must involve losses for private lenders such as banks and insurance companies. But rating agencies have warned that this could spell default even if supposedly voluntary, and the European Central Bank has said that in that event it might be forced to cut lifeline financing to Greek banks.

Analysts say that all these factors raise a serious threat of mayhem in the eurozone with repercussions on global markets, but the parliament in Athens to approve the austerity measures, and the EU and IMF then to approve further bailout funding.

Despite deep public discontent and distress, Papandreou vowed on the eve of the vote there would be no backsliding on the 28billion-euro ($40 billion) programme of cuts needed to unlock further aid needed to keep

ATHENS: Employees of the State owned company Hellenic Defence Systems, protest outside the Greek parliament against the privatization of the company yesterday. — AP the country from going broke next month.

“We are determined as a country, as a government to be on track with the programme, to move forward to do what is necessary in order to get our country into a fiscally much better and viable position,” Papandreou said after talks in Brussels on Monday with Herman Van Rompuy, president of the EU Council. Under rising pressure from the EU and International Monetary Fund, and also on the streets of Greek cities, Papandreou shook up his government last week in the hope of gaining wider political support, but is likely to squeak through on just his razor-thin majority of a handful of votes.

“The most likely scenario is that the government will win the confidence vote and then get approval for its austerity plan” before the end of the month, Platon Monokroussos, an analyst at Eurobank told AFP. Thomas Gerakas, of the Marc polling institute, said that a successful vote would enable Papandreou to send a message to the eurozone and Greece’s creditors that he will win

Americans look towards gardening to save money MONTPELIER: Many of the millions of Americans who turned to gardening to save money during the recession appear to be sticking with it during the recovery as food prices remain high and interest in safe, fresh and local food grows nationwide. Forty-three million US households planned to grow at least some of their own food in 2009, a 19 percent increase from the estimated 36 million who did the year before, said the National Gardening Association, citing the most recent figures available. Spending on food gardening - including growing vegetables, fruit trees, berries and herbs - jumped 20 percent in one year to $3 billion in 2009 and stayed at that level last year, said Bruce Butterfield, research director for the nonprofit association.

“It’s a perfect storm for food gardening,” Butterfield said, noting the downturn coincided with growing interest nationwide in eating locally produced food. While the recession started in December 2007, he said the economy really “tanked” at the end of 2008, fueling the gardening boom the following year. And, Butterfield said he expects the trend to continue with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s switch from a food pyramid representing its nutritional guidelines to a plate encouraging people to eat more fruits and vegetables, and people spending more time at home, either because they’re unemployed or avoiding expensive vacations.

“A lot of folks, I think they kind of look at the evening news or read the paper or read something online, saying ‘Jesus, this world is out of control and I can’t have any influence on what happens out there but, by God, I can control what happens in my backyard,”‘ he said. Seed supplier W Atlee Burpee & Co. said its sales of vegetables seeds and starter plants have jumped substantially in the past several years, with 30 percent growth in 2009, 15 percent to 20 percent growth last year and another bump in March. The company based in Warminster, Pennsylvania, speculated recent rises in gas and pro-

duce prices have prompted more people to try to save money by growing their own food.

Ann Janda, 43, of Hinesburg, Vermont, estimated gardening saves her and her husband $75 a month on groceries about eight months out of the year. They rarely buy any vegetables from June to August, relying on their 16-by-50-foot (5-by-16-meter) garden to feed them. In the fall, they use tomato preserves for a lot of what they cook, and they freeze and can vegetables to use in the winter - everything from pickles to tomato sauce, frozen peas, pesto and kale.

Janda, who planted her first garden when she moved out of the city four years ago, said it’s easy to “overspend” on supplies and equipment, but she and her husband try to do it as cheaply as possible. They use dead elm saplings from nearby woods as stakes, start most of their plants from seeds in reusable pots and trade seedlings with other gardeners. Their tools are a spade, shovel and hoe, and their landlord tills the garden for them in exchange for vegetables later on.

“We are very economical gardeners and you can do that. You don’t have to buy all kinds of expensive equipment to have a nice garden,” said Janda, who learned a lot about gardening on the Internet and just completed a 13-week intensive master gardening course through the University of Vermont extension service. This year, the couple’s main expense was $180 in compost.

But, Janda said savings isn’t the only reason she and her husband garden. “It’s just so fun harvesting your own food,” she said, adding that one reason they haven’t bought a home yet is that they want one with suitable garden space with full sun. “It’s a real issue because it’s a big part of my life now,” she said. “I couldn’t live without it.” With more novice gardeners nationwide, teachers report classes are filling up. Food gardening classes in Chatham County, North Carolina, for example, have doubled in size in the past five years. — AP

HINESBURG: In this photo, Ann Janda works in her vegetable garden. When the economy tanked in 2008, more Americans took up vegetable gardening to raise their own food. — AP

approval for his austerity cuts.”It is hard to imagine that any lawmaker could give his backing in the vote of confidence and then vote against the new economic programme,” said Gerakas.

At stake for Greece is the 12-billion-euro instalment of a first 110-billion-euro EU-IMF rescue loan last year that is needed to ensure Athens pays its bills next month. A second bailout of over 100 billion euros is also in the works as Greece won’t be able to return to the debt markets in the next few years as was originally foreseen.

Analysts at Citi bank see the IMF, which funds a third of the bailout packages, toughening up its position as behind the latest brinkmanship.”The IMF wants to keep pressure to find a solution as high as possible both on the Greek government as well as on Europe in order to avoid a short-term Greek default,” said the bank. Citi said the IMF is apparently seeking more formal commitments from the EU on the financing of the second bailout package. — AFP

EU Commission under fire over food aid cut LUXEMBOURG: The European Union executive yesterday came under stinging criticism from France for drastically scaling back food aid for Europe’s poor.

The European Commission announced Monday it was reducing a food distribution programme for the 27-nation bloc’s deprived from 500 million euros to 113 million euros in 2012.

Charities say the reduction could deprive at least two million Europeans of needed food aid.

“At a time of crises across Europe, noone would understand the commission being unable to fund a programme destined to the most fragile of our compatriots,” said France’s European Affairs minister Laurent Wauquiez at talks with EU counterparts.

The commission said it had been forced to slash the programme following a decision by the European Court of Justice in April that food covered by the scheme must come from available EU public stocks. In 2012, this would amount to 162,000 tonnes of cereals and 54,000 tonnes of skimmed milk powder, the commission said. An estimated 43 million people in the EU are threatened by food poverty, meaning that they cannot afford a proper meal every second day, according to commission figures.

Germany, backed by Sweden, had challenged the legality of the scheme before Europe’s top court, arguing that the half-billion-euro aid was not in line with the common agricultural policy and the principles of the World Trade Organization. — AFP

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TECHNOLOGY

Beloved ‘Talking Tom’ signs lucrative Hollywood deal SAN FRANCISCO: Smartphone character “ Talking Tom” has signed with a top Hollywood talent agency in a sign that “apps” are out to break the bonds of mobile gadgets and hit films and television.

“Talking Tom” has become a global sensation since it was launched by startup Outfit7 in Slovenia in July of 2010. “Outfit7 has quickly established itself as a leader in the mobile entertainment space,” said William Morris Endeavor ( WME) co-chief Ari Emanuel.

“We see a tremendous opportunity for the company and its characters across multiple entertainment platforms,” he continued. The digital feline was quickly joined by more “Talking Friends” characters that have

been downloaded a combined total of more than 135 million times, soaring to mobile gadget popularity. On Monday, Outfit7 announced that characters “Tom” and “Ben the Dog” are being represented by WME, which has a dazzling client list that includes actress Keira Knightley and pop queen Lady Gaga.

“It’s a great validation, not only for our business but more so that apps are becoming a legitimate form of entertainment up there with films, T V, and videogames,” Outfit7 chief marketing officer Paul Baldwin told AFP. “And in some ways they have become more powerful because you can’t carry those other ones around in our pocket, touch them and poke them.” Baldwin’s

track record includes representing the first digital character to get signed with a talent agency some 20 years ago. That character was videogame action heroine Lara Croft, who was played by hot star Angelina Jolie in a pair of films.

Baldwin maintained that Hollywood is turning to smartphone or tablet application themes or characters for movies in the same way it has to comic books and videogames.

Outfit7 pictured Tom and Ben fitting in with a studio such as Pixar, which “took animated films to another level” with blockbuster hits such as “Toy Story” and “Up.” Outfit7 was built around the idea of combining touch and voice-recognizing capabilities of mobile gadgets with casts of characters, the appeal

of which has been proven by the blockbuster Harry Potter franchise.

Talking Tom was launched as an animated cat that could be stroked, poked, knocked over, and more using touchscreens. The character also appears to listen to people speak for about a minute, and then repeats it all back.

“People of all ages have this love for cats, and talking is instantaneous,” Outfit7 cofounder Andrej Nabergoj told AFP at a recent AppNation conference in San Francisco.”You put your emotions, voice and story into the character and become a storyteller,” he continued. “We had huge success; we never expected that.”Talking Friends echo the language they hear, enchanting

people with “instant localization,” according to Baldwin, who said the applications have been a hit in China. The Outfit7 engineering team remains in Slovenia, but the startup has established its headquarters in the Silicon Valley city of Palo Alto. Versions of “Talking Tom” and his friends have been tailored for Android-powered mobile devices as well as for Apple iPhones and iPad tablet computers. The program allows people to easily share “Talking Friends” video clips at online YouTube or Facebook, and 400,000 such snippets are posted monthly, according to Baldwin. Five versions of the application are available free, supported by advertising or “micro-transactions” such as buying virtual ice cream for a character. — AFP

Nokia to launch Microsoft platform phones this year

LONDON: Google’s Head of External Relations Peter Barron, right, speaks across from the British Library’s Chief Executive Dame Lynne Brindley during a news conference. — AP

British Library, Google in deal to digitize books LONDON: A treatise on a stuffed hippopotamus, an 18th-century English primer for Danish sailors and a description of the first engine-driven submarine are among 250,000 books to be made available online in a deal between Google and the British Library.

The agreement, announced Monday, will let Internet users read, search, download and copy thousands of texts published between 1700 and 1870. It is a small step toward the library’s goal of making the bulk of its 14 million books and 1 million periodicals available in digital form by 2020. “So far we have only been able to digitize quite a small fraction of the global collection,” said the library’s chief executive, Lynne Brindley.

“There is a long way to go.” The deal marks another step in Google’s effort to make digital copies of the world’s estimated 130 million books. The company, based in Mountain View, California, touts the ambitious project as a way to enable anyone with an Internet connection to tap in a vast reservoir of knowledge.

Google, though, stands to make more money if it can build the world’s biggest digital library. By stockpiling millions of books that can’t be easily found elsewhere, Google gives people another reason to use its search engine, which already processes about two out of every three queries on the Web. Generating more search requests gives Google more opportunities to show ads that bring in revenue each they are clicked upon.

“Having richer content means people around the world are searching more for it, and that is good for our business,” said Peter Barron, Google’s European spokesman. He declined to say how much the project would cost, beyond describing it as “a substantial sum.” The books will be available on the websites

of the British Library and Google Books.

Google has scanned more than 15 million books into its search index during the past seven years, but has only been able to show snippets of many of them because of copyright restrictions. The company tried to remove the US copyright obstacles in a settlement of a class action lawsuit with authors and publishers only to have the agreement rejected by a federal judge three months ago.

The books that Google will be scanning from the British library are no longer protected by copyrights. The deal with Google, which will see 40 million pages digitized over the next three years, will offer online researchers a selection of rarely seen works from an era of social, political, scientific and technological change that took in the Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution and the American war of independence.

The books range from Georges Louis Leclerc’s “Natural Histor y of the Hippopotamus, or River-Horse” _ which includes a description of a stuffed animal owned by the Prince of Orange _ to the 1858 work “A Scheme for Underwater Seafaring,” describing the first combustion engine-driven submarine. The books are more than scholarly curiosities.

British Library curator Kristian Jensen said an 18th-century guide to English for Danish mariners shows “how English began to emerge from being the language spoken by people over there on that island” to become the world’s dominant tongue. Last year, the British Library announced plans to digitize up to 40 million pages of newspapers dating back three-and-a-half centuries, and it recently made thousands of 19th-centur y books digitized in a deal with Microsoft available as an app for iPhone and iPad devices. — AP

WARSAW: Cube expert and partner Pawel Urbanski (L), 29, and company founder Marcin Gic talk on June 15, 2011 at firm headquarters. The call center employs some 15 people, including 12 who are blind and who are aided in their work by technical solutions adapted to the needs of the visuallyimpaired. —AFP

SINGAPORE: Finnish handset maker Nokia Corp. plans to introduce its first mobile phones using the Microsoft Windows operating system this year, the company’s chief executive said yesterday. Nokia is facing steep competition from competitors in several products. At the top end of the market it is struggling against smartphones such as Apple’s iPhone, Research in Motion’s Blackberry as well as Android, and on the lower end against emerging market phone makers who are dropping their prices.

Nokia will start to deliver the Windowsbased mobile phones in bulk next year, CEO Stephen Elop said in a speech at a technology trade show in Singapore. “Our primary smar tphone strategy is to focus on the Windows phone,” Elop said. “I have increased confidence that we will launch our first device based on the Windows platform later this year and we will ship our product in volume in 2012.” Elop has acknowledged Nokia has been too slow to meet the challenge from competitors and has hinted that the company would drop its cellphone prices.

Last month, the company warned both sales and profit margins in the second quarter would be substantially below previous forecasts.

Nok ia also unveiled yesterday its N9 smartphone, which is based on the MeeGo platform. The company said it plans to launch up to 10 new Symbian-based smartphones over the next 12 months. Elop said the N9 would go on sale later this year, but declined to specify the date or price. Nokia developed MeeGo last year in a partnership with U.S. chipmaker Intel Corp. In February, Nokia turned to Microsoft’s Windows Phone software as its main smartphone operating system. — AP

SINGAPORE: A Nokia staff member shows off the new Nokia N9 phone on the sidelines of CommunicAsia 2011, an international communications and information technology exhibition and conference. — AP

Police halt Google ‘Street View’ project in India NEW DELHI: Police in the Indian city of Bangalore have ordered Google to stop taking images of the city for its “Street View” project pending talks with authorities, a company spokesperson said yesterday. Google launched the project in India last month aiming to collect panoramic images of the vast country ranging from its palaces to its slums. “ We received a letter from

Bangalore’s commissioner of police and are reviewing it. We will not be collecting any more images for Street View until we speak to the police,” a Google spokeswoman told AFP. “ We expect to have any issues sorted out soon,” she added. The internet giant launched its 360-degree photographic mapping service amid much fanfare in the technology hub of Bangalore, mount-

ing special cameras on cars and tricycles to collect images. Street View, which operates in more than 25 countries, has proved hugely popular with users since its launch in the United States in 2007, but it has also run into trouble with several governments concerned about privacy.

In March, France’s data privacy regulator imposed a record fine of $143,000 on Google for collect-

ing private information while compiling photographs for the project. Last month the company said it would appeal against a Swiss ruling ordering it to ensure that all people and cars pictured on Street View were unrecognizable. Google has also agreed to delete private emails and passwords mistakenly picked up from wireless networks in Britain by its Street View cars. — AFP

White House solar panels are no-shows WASHINGTON: Last October, the Obama administration announced plans to install solar panels on the roof of the White House by the spring of this year, returning the power of the sun to the pinnacle of prominence a quar ter-centur y after Jimmy Carter’s pioneering system was taken down.

Spring has come and gone, and the promised panels have yet to see the light of day. Administration officials blame the complexities of the contracting process, and say the solar project is still an active one. But they can’t say when it’ll be completed. Environmental groups say the symbolism is telling - and disappointing.

“On we’ll go,” sighed Bill McKibben, founder of the climate activist group 350.org. “One more summer of beautiful, strong sunlight going to waste, just bouncing off the White House roof.”

McKibben and other environmentalists say the failure to meet its own deadline reflects an administration that’s been long on green rhetoric but sometimes disappointingly short on practical accomplishments. In last fall’s announcement, at a conference of government officials and environmental groups, Energy Secretary Steven Chu was specific.

“I’m pleased to announce that, by the end of this spring, there will be solar panels and a solar hot water heater on the roof of the White House,” he wrote that day on his departmental website. Nancy Sutley, chairwoman of the Council on Environmental Quality, added that by installing the system on the most famous roof in America, President Barack Obama was “underscoring (his) commitment to lead and the promise and importance of renewable energy in the United States.”

McKibben, who along with other environmentalists had met with White House officials to urge such an installation, was surprised and gratified by the announce-

ment a mere two weeks later. But the missed deadline has left him downcast.

“Nine months is a pretty long time. You can have a baby in that time,” he said. “On the list of things that get done, this isn’t all that hard.

It doesn’t require SEAL Team 6. It just requires a good-faith effort. You can just open the Yellow Pages and get page after page of solar installers.” Solar power advocates note that rooftop arrays are no longer the expensive oddity they were in Carter’s day. Depending on their locations, homeowners can install systems that will pay for themselves over time.

Administration officials counter that the White House isn’t just any old home.

“The Energy Department remains on the path to complete the White House solar demonstration project,” Ramamoor thy Ramesh, head of the Energy Department’s Solar Technology Program, wrote in a blog post late Monday, adding that further details and timing will be shared “after the competitive procurement process is completed.”

Despite the missed deadline, officials maintain climate issues and energy conservation have been a top priority under Obama.

They point to higher gas-mileage standards, green-tech incentives in the stimulus plan and presidential visits to wind turbine and electric-vehicle batter y plants. Ramesh heads what’s called the “SunShot Initiative,” a competition that aims to slash the cost of solar power and make it “quicker, easier and cheaper to install.”

But environmentalists look at Obama’s plans to boost offshore oil drilling and the collapse of climate change legislation and say the administration’s record is mixed.

Especially for someone whose convention acceptance speech promised future generations would see his tenure as “the

moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal.” The record on solar power at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. began in June 1979, when Carter had 32 panels installed at a cost of $30,000 to provide hot water to West Wing offices. At the time, the Iranian revolution had thrown world oil markets into turmoil and a US energy crisis was in full bloom.

Carter knew his solar panels were an experiment. “A generation from now, this solar heater can either be a curiosity, a museum piece, an example of a road not taken, or it can be just a small part of one of the greatest and most exciting adventures undertaken by the American people,” he said. His successor, Ronald Reagan, was unimpressed. Aides had the panels removed and shipped to Unity College in Maine, where some of them remain. Carter wasn’t the only president to tap the sun’s energy. In early 2003, without a big announcement, George W. Bush’s administration had a modest system installed on the roofs of several maintenance buildings to generate small amounts of power for the White House complex and heated water for the mansion’s outdoor pool.

Obama, in his public pronouncements, has aggressively promoted solar power along with wind and biofuels as ways of combating global warming and weaning America off its expensive imported oil habit. He’s also declared the federal government should “lead by example” on solar.

However, the administration has long known there might be federal contracting hurdles. To accompany the White House project announcement in October, the Energy Department published a handbook titled “Procuring Solar Energy: A Guide for Federal Facility Decision Makers.” It ran to 104 pages. — AP

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health & science

Population growth spurs migration to Asia’s cities World’s population has doubled since 60s HONG KONG: Somewhere in the world—Asia would be a good bet—a pregnant woman is carrying a baby destined to be the planet’s seven billionth human being. The historic baby is due to be born on October 31, the United Nations Population Division predicts. Bookmakers have made Asia the hot favorite for the symbolic arrival, possibly for no better reason than that the sun rises in the east, giving Asian mothers a head start.

If they are right, another reasonable bet would be that the baby will grow up to be part of another historic demographic shift and live in a city. By mid2022 there will for the first time be more people living in Asia’s urban areas than in the countryside as “a tidal wave of humanity” surges towards the cities in search of jobs and a better life, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) says. The statistics are startling: About 1.1 billion people will migrate from the countryside into Asia’s cities in less than 20 years, according to the ADB. That’s

why the explosion in urban populations is so great: There are now twice as many people alive on earth as there were as recently as the 1960s.

And the six billionth child-welcomed by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in Sarajevo, Bosnia on October 12, 1999 — is only 11 years old. On the question of whether the millions heading for the cities are indeed likely to have the better life they seek, many experts are surprisingly upbeat despite the fact that humanity has never before faced such rapid urban growth. The problems thrown up by this pop-

environment.”

Har vard professor Edward Glaeser sums up his opinion in the title of his book published this year: “Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smar ter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier.”

“In the world’s poorer places, cities are expanding enormously because urban density provides the clearest path from poverty to prosperity,” he writes. But an upheaval of such magnitude will not be without its casualties. “ The transition from rural to urban does not automatically lead to middle-class prosperity,

HONG KONG: People cross a street in Hong Kong. By mid-2022 there will for the first time be more people living in Asia’s urban areas than in the countryside as “a tidal wave of humanity” surges towards the cities. —AFP about 137,000 every day.

India needs to build the equivalent of a city of Chicago every year to provide enough commercial and residential space for its migrants, according to McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) research.

One hundred new cities from China will join the list of the top 600 urban centers-which generate about 60 percent of global GDP-in the next 15 years, says MGI. The UN’s choice of which baby to dub the world’s seven billionth person will be purely symbolic, given that thousands of babies are born every hour and it would be impossible to work out exactly which deserves the title. But it is a demographic marker showing

ulation explosion are huge-from wretched slums, disease and crime to noxious pollution, overwhelmed infrastructure and crippling congestion.

But great cities have driven human development since the days of classical Athens and ancient Rome and are potent engines of social and economic development, the experts say.

“The most powerful places on the planet are cities, where knowledge and information is stored, where there is political administration, where ideas are disseminated from,” Australian demographer and author Bernard Salt told AFP. “It all comes from the frisson of having the best and the brightest coagulated together in a city

there are many that fall along the wayside,” says Salt. “This is exactly the same process that occurred in Britain during the Industrial Revolution from 1780 to 1840 — there was tremendous human misery.”

Already in Asia “cities and towns are places where poverty and disparities are most concentrated and visible”, says the UN’s Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. “Over 40 percent of Asia-Pacific’s urban residents live in slums, without access to adequate shelter and basic services, income opportunities and decision-making.” The ADB points out that visitors to many Asian cities are shocked by the uncollected garbage, the traf-

fic congestion, the beggars and the squalid living conditions of vast squatter areas. But “the leaps made by European and American cities will likely be repeated in the developing cities of the 21st Century,” Glaeser predicts. “ The urban victories over crime and disease made it possible for cities to thrive as places of pleasure as well as productivity.

Urban scale makes it possible to support the fixed costs of theatres, museums and restaurants.”

While city-slickers in the West may weary of the conspicuous consumption and stress of city life and, ironically, seek a less materialistic lifestyle in the countryside or on the coast, that in itself is a luxury, says Salt.”It is an element in Western society where people say all the material goods, worldly success, it doesn’t mean anything. I’m not sure people in Guangzhou or Shanghai would be pontificating about the shallowness of consumption.”

Clean, efficient cities in countries such as Canada, Switzerland and Australia regularly make the top ranks of the most livable in the world-but critics say that does not necessarily make them the most loveable. “I think what makes a city a desirable, exciting place to be is where there is complexity where there is richness, where there is unexpectednessthe opposite of the calm village life,” says Professor Ricky Burdett, founder of the London School of Economics’ Cities Program. “In Asia on the whole, in China, Hong Kong, Singapore and other wealthy or more balanced states, the growth and urbanization has come with increased quality of life,” Burdett told AFP. “I am incredibly optimistic about cities, anywhere in the world,” he said, with people in cities more likely to have access to education than those in the countryside. “If you are educated, it is the first step to everything-it is the first step to economic and social well-being and also health.”

But the seven billionth person will have a lot of people hard on his or her heels competing for that education and that job in the city-the world’s eighth billionth person is due to arrive on June 15, 2025. —AFP

SERBIA: A worker at Galenika, a major Serbian pharmaceutical company, stacks packages of Bensedin anti-depressant pills. After decades of widespread use of tranquillizers and antidepressants, readily prescribed by doctors, Serbians have discovered the wonders of couch therapy. —AFP

Ocean life on brink Of extinction: Study OSLO: Life in the oceans is at imminent risk of the worst spate of extinctions in millions of years due to threats such as climate change and over-fishing, a study showed yesterday.

Time was running short to counter hazards such as a collapse of coral reefs or a spread of low-oxygen “dead zones”, according to the study led by the International Program on the State of the Ocean (IPSO). “We now face losing marine species and entire marine ecosystems, such as coral reefs, within a single generation,” according to the study by 27 experts to be presented to the United Nations.

“Unless action is taken now, the consequences of our activities are at a high risk of causing, through the combined effec ts of climate change, overexploitation, pollution and habitat loss, the next globally significant extinction event in the ocean,” it said. Scientists list five mass extinctions over 600 million years most recently when the dinosaurs vanished 65 million years ago, apparently af ter an asteroid struck. Among others, the Permian period abruptly ended 250 million years ago. “ The findings are shocking,” Alex Rogers, scientific direc tor of IPSO, wrote of the conclusions from a 2011 workshop of ocean experts staged by IPSO and the International Union for Conser vation of Nature (IUCN) at Oxford University. Fish are the main source of protein for a fif th of the world’s population and the seas cycle oxygen and help absorb carbon diox-

US unveils new, graphic tobacco warning labels

Portable pools a serious summer risk for children NEW YORK: In-ground pools are often seen as the biggest drowning danger for children, but a US study warned that portable pools, including inflatable and wading pools, are just as dangerous-especially for younger children.

In fact, between 2001 and 2009, a child drowned in a portable backyard pool once every five days during the summer months, according to the study in Pediatrics. “Parents need to be aware that these pools can present the same risks for drowning, especially for young children, as in-ground pools,” which are typically thought of as a bigger danger, said study author Gary Smith.

Smith, who is head of the center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, and his team looked at data compiled by the US Consumer Produc t Safety Commission for cases of drowning or near-drowning in these types of pool that were reported to the commission. Over the nine years from 2001 to 2009, they found records of 209 deaths from submersion and 35 non-fatal cases in children aged 11 and younger. The number of drowning cases increased between 2001 and 2005, but has leveled off in recent years.

Almost all of those happened in children under 5 years old, and most were in the child’s own yard in the summer months. “That’s a child every five days that is drowning in a backyard portable pool during the summer months,” Smith said. While this doesn’t suggest that families shouldn’t use inflatable or wading pools, he added that parents “need to put some thought into the safety issues when they go to the store, pick one of these up, and put them

up in their backyard.”

The authors found cases of drowning where children opened the doors of their houses and climbed into the pool using a ladder or other nearby object, as well as examples of children playing in the pool when parents were nearby but were distracted by chores or a phone call. Parents “can’t say they’re supervising (if they’re) having a couple drinks at a pool and chatting with their friends or talking on a cell phone,” said Linda Quan, a drowning expert at Seattle Children’s Hospital, who was not involved in the study.

“Supervision has to be constant... and for a very young child, even within arm’s reach.” She recommended that parents take steps such as having children wear a life jacket near the pool, making sure the children have no access to the pool when the parents aren’t around, and perhaps even empty the pool, especially smaller pools.

Fences and restricting access to ladders into the pool were also good steps. But covering inflatable pools is only of limited protection-and the researchers said that in at least one case, t wo children in the study drowned together when they got tangled in a pool cover.

Smith said the most important message is that parents need to take the risks of these pools very seriously, even if the pool is small and only has a few feet of water. “If you are on the playground equipment and you fall, you generally get another chance,” he said. “The problem with submersion underwater is it’s very quick... and once a kid’s heart and breathing stops it’s very difficult to revive them. You don’t get a second chance.” —Reuters

ide, the main greenhouse gas from human activities.

OXYGEN Jelle Bijma, of the Alfred Wegener Institute, said the seas faced a “deadly trio” of threats of higher temperatures, acidification and lack of oxygen, known as anoxia, that had featured in several past mass extinctions. A build-up of carbon dioxide, blamed by the UN. panel of climate scientists on human use of fossil fuels, is heating the planet.

Absorbed into the oceans, it causes acidification, while run-off of fertilizers and pollution stokes anoxia.

“From a geological point of view, mass extinctions happen overnight, but on human timescales we may not realize that we are in the middle of such an event,” Bijma wrote. The study said that over-fishing is the easiest for governments to reverse-countering global warming means a shift from fossil fuels, for instance, towards cleaner energies such as wind and solar power.

“Unlike climate change, it can be directly, immediately and effectively tackled by policy change,” said William C h e u n g o f t h e U n i ve r s i t y o f E a s t Anglia. “Over-fishing is now estimated to account for over 60 percent of the known local and global extinction of m a r i n e f i s h e s,” h e w ro te. A m o n g e x a m p l e s o f ove r - f i s h i n g a re t h e C h i n e s e b a h a b a t h a t c a n grow 2 meters long. Prices per kilo (2.2 lbs) for its swim bladder-meant to have medicinal properties-have risen from a few dollars in the 1930s to $20,000$70,000. —Reuters

TOKYO: A man walks past a restored skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex dinosaur ahead of the Dinosaur Expo 2011 at the National Museum of Nature and Science. The exhibition will be held from July 2 to October 2. —AFP

WASHINGTON: US health officials unveiled yesterday nine graphic warning labels showing harmful effects of smoking that must be on cigarette packages and in advertisements starting in October 2012. Dead bodies, diseased lungs and a man on a ventilator were among the images for revamped tobacco labels proposed in November under a law that put the multibillion-dollar tobacco industry under the control of the Food and Drug Administration.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg were to announce the new warnings at the White House, administration officials said. The 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act called for cigarette packages to include warning statements in large type covering half of the front and back of each package and graphic images showing adverse health effects from smoking.

The warnings are also to occupy the top 20 percent of every tobacco advertisement of companies such as Altria Group Inc’s Philip Morris unit, Reynolds American Inc’s R.J. Reynolds Tobacco unit and Lorillard Inc’s Lorillard Tobacco Co. The anti-smoking group Campaign for Tobacco Free-Kids said the images represent a dramatic change from current health warnings. “The current warnings are more than 25 years old, go unnoticed on the side of cigarette packs and fail to effectively communicate the serious health risks of smoking,” the group said.

R.J. Reynolds has challenged the legality of mandated larger and graphic warnings in a federal lawsuit. A 1964 surgeon general’s report that linked smoking to lung cancer and other diseases spurred a broad antismoking campaign and health warnings on cigarette packages. —Reuters

Japanese parents issuing nuclear ‘emergency petition’ for children TOKYO: Japanese parents living near the tsunami-hit Fukushima nuclear plant issued an “emergency petition” yesterday, demanding the government do more to protect their children from radiation exposure. A coalition of six citizens’ and environmental groups called for the evacuation of children and pregnant women from radiation hotspots, stricter monitoring and the early closure of schools for summer holidays. They voiced concern that authorities had focused on testing for radiation in the environment and not on peo-

ple’s internal exposure through inhaling or ingesting radioactive isotopes through dust, food or drinks. “Since atmospheric radiation levels show no sign of abating, the inhabitants of heavily contaminated areas will continue to endure high radiation doses, both externally and internally,” they said in the petition.

“To minimize such exposure, residents should be evacuated promptly to areas where radiation is less severe. Top priority must be given to infants, children and expectant

mothers-all highly susceptible to radiation effects.” Japan has struggled to bring the Fukushima plant under control since it was hit by the March 11 tsunami that knocked out cooling systems, leading to three reactor meltdowns, explosions and radiation leaks into the air, soil and sea. Following the disaster, Japan has raised the exposure limit for adults and children from one to 20 millisieverts per year, matching the maximum exposure level for nuclear industry workers in many countries. —AFP

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 2011

health & science

Serbians ditch pills for couch therapy BELGRADE: After decades of widespread use of tranquillizers and antidepressants, readily prescribed by doctors, Serbians have discovered the wonders of couch therapy. “A Benjo a day takes your troubles away,” said a tongue-in-cheek Belgrade graffiti featuring the slang name of a popular antidepressant in the 1990s. It became a mantra for many trying to escape the gloomy everyday life under the repressive rule of the late communist strongman Slobodan Milosevic.

The wars that led to the bloody dissolution of the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, the failing economy with dozens of people losing jobs every day, deteriorating living standards and international isolation pushed many to seek help in the form of a “magic pill”. “I simply could not force myself to get out of bed. Just a glance at the news and everything was falling apart. But with tranquillizers a couple of times a day, everything became bearable,” said Darja Tosic, a 52-year mother of two.

It was easy to get the pills legally: they were cheap and a regular family doctor could write a prescription, she said. Health controls were also more lenient with loose

regulations on many drugs imported from China, India and Russia that were sold freely, so popping pills was easy. But a regime change a decade ago brought new methods into what has traditionally been a conservative, macho society where discussing emotions was not encouraged.

Tosic is one of many who has since opted for help to a trained psychotherapist, a process she called a “revelation”. “I have other problems now and I still need help, but I have realized that uncontrolled absorption of pills is not a solution,” said Tosic, who recently launched her own catering service after a year of therapy sessions.”I’ve learnt to deal with the things that bother me, not to close my eyes and enjoy a mindless daze,” she said. While psychotherapy is not new in Serbia-the first psychologists set up shop in the 1950s-it is only recently that the stigma attached to it has lifted.

“It has become more common to talk about psychological issues, anxieties, depressions and stress-related disorders.

People seek help more often,” said therapist Kaja Damnjanovic. It is not known how many trained therapists work in Serbia as

Make your teeth a piece of art

the current legislation does not require them to register and the title is not protected. However therapists interviewed by AFP said their business is now booming with some saying they have doubled the number of their patients in the last six months.

“If I could find the time, I would have been able to see six to eight clients a day, but it would be unprofessional,” said Jelena Miric. A study published by Serbia’s Public Health Institute in 2009 demonstrated the trend. It was conducted to assess the effects of the 78-day NATO bombing campaign on Serbia in 1999, which ended Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic’s repression on ethnic Albanian separatists in Kosovo. The raids were punishing for many ordinary Serbs, who were forced to spend days in underground shelters, daring only to go out when sirens sounded the end of the attacks-sometimes several a day.

Findings showed that in the 10-year period to 2009, the number of Serbs seeking psychological or psychiatric help had increased by 13 percent, meaning that by 2009 nearly a quarter of the country’s 7.5 million population had turned to consult-

ing professionals. “Years of crisis in our country with numerous acute and chronic stressors have adversely affected the mental health of the population,” the 2009 study said. “The absolute number of persons with depressive, stress related and psychosomatic disorders is on the rise.”Like many therapists, Miric charges around 20 to 30 Euros for an hour-long session, a considerable amount in a country where the average salary is around 350 Euros a month.

Damnjanovic, a psychologist by training, said her clients are mostly “ordinary people, students and those who might belong to a middle class.” Many of those turning to therapy are still trying to adapt to the switch from socialism to a tough free market economy that demands assertiveness and competitiveness Damnjanovic also pointed to the increased number of people believed to be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder following the brutal 1990s wars in the region. A taboo subject just a decade ago, post-traumatic stress disorder has gotten attention as the country increasingly questions its role in the Balkan wars, where ethnic cleansing campaigns

gave rise to atrocities unseen in Europe since World War II. Some of this examination might have been prompted by the high-profile arrests of ex-Bosnian Serb army chief Ratko Mladic, last mounth, and former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic in 2008, both after years on the run-and widespread speculation EU-hopeful Belgrade knew their whereabouts all along. The two men are charged with genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague. After years of trying to fight insomnia with sleeping pills, Marko, a former soldier who has fought in one of the conflicts, switched to therapy.

“I had nightmares, bad dreams, I feared crowds, I couldn’t relax enough to fall asleep,” said this 42-year-old who did not give his last name. “Only when I realized I was at a dosage where I was one pill away from unintentional suicide, I decided to open up to a therapist,” he told AFP.”I finally can close my eyes without seeing the horrors I’ve seen,” he said, adding that a full recovery is still far away. — AFP

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Wee A W Accept ccept All All Major Ma ajjor IInsuramce nsuramce C Cards ards FARWANIYA FA ARWANIYYA - OPP OPP. P. POLICE POL LICE ST STATION TATION T Behind Behind Magadheer Magadheer Commercial Comm mercial Complex Complex

s - 65561619 TEL: 24734000 6

shifakuwait@gmail.com shifak uwait@g gmail.com w www.shifakuwait.com ww.shifakuwait.com Workiing Hours: 8.00 am m to to 12:00am Working

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 2011

W H AT ’ S O N Notice to Filipino citizens

Galleries in Kuwait:

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otice is hereby given that under Republic Act No. 9189, otherwise known as “The Overseas Absentee Voting Act of 2003”, all citizens of the Philippines abroad, not otherwise disqualified by law, at least eighteen (18) years of age on the day of the election, and who are registered overseas absentee voters with approved applications to vote in absentia, may vote for Senators and Party-list Representatives.

For this purpose, all qualified Filipino citizens not registered as voters under Republic Act No. 8189, otherwise known as “The Voters Registration Act of 1996”, (the system of continuing registration) shall file an application for registration while those who are already registered under the said Act shall file an application for certification. For purposes of the May 13, 2013 elections, the filing of applications for registration/certification and transfer of registration records shall be filed at the Post or other designated registration areas from October 31, 2011 to October 31, 2012.

The 30-day voting period is from April 13, 2013 until 3:00 o’ clock in the afternoon (Philippine time) of May 13, 2013 at any Philippine Embassies or Consulates.

(The time for voting to be announced later). For details, please contact telephone number: 65184433 (Kuwait)

FGP Convention 2011

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he prayer partner of United Prayer Warriors and Tamil Pentecostal Church cordially invite you and your family and friends to participate in our 2011 convention. We are also pleased to inform you that Pastor I. Vinil Sathish, President of Full Gospel Pentecostal Churches, Tamil Nadu will be our Guest Speaker during the fourth Anniversary, 2011 Convention.

Date: 23, 24 & 25 June 2011 (Thursday, Friday & Saturday) Place: Ruchi Auditoruium, Abbasiya Time: 06.00 Pm to 9.00 Pm 5th YEAR - FIRST FASTING PRAYER Date: 24 June 2011(Friday) Place: Ruchi Auditoruium, Abbasiya Time: 09:30 Am to 01.00 Pm Prayer Request and more Details Contact # Bro. S.Suresh Kumar - 97927436, 60931099

K’S PATH organizes fundraiser Quiz Night

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S PATH (Kuwait Society for Protection of Animals and Their Habitat) - a non-profit animal welfare organization - will hold a Quiz Night on June 23, 2011 at the Movenpick Hotel & Resort Al Bida’a ballroom starting 7 pm. The funfilled evening will have participants compete in teams of 8 to win great prizes including a special prize for the best team name. “Our Quiz Nights are a great way for families and friends to get together to have fun and support a worthy cause,” says K’S PATH Chairman Ayeshah Al Humaidhi. “Our past fundraiser quiz nights were very well received and we’re back by popular demand this year with exciting quiz rounds.

All proceeds from the fundraiser go towards the upkeep of K’S PATH shelter and animals.” Entry to the Quiz Night is KD 12 per head, inclusive of great prizes and dinner. As seats are limited, please RSVP by June 19th and email your team details to events@kspath.org

Infunity presents summer ‘Blank Camp’

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re you looking to keep your kids busy this summer? The family entertainment center “Infunity” presents its first summer “Blank Camp”, which offers a great experience, fun and adventures for young campers ages 5 to 12 years old. The “Blank Camp” which is managed by Blank Hunts, offers a variety of activities including arts, crafts, reading, theater, sports and treasure hunt.

The camp will be running from June 19 to July 14 at “Infunity”, 360 Mall, Level 3 and will be conducted from 9 am to 1:30 pm. In this camp, kids will have the opportunity to learn new skills, gain knowledge, enhance self-confidence and build character and self-esteem. In addition, build up new friendships and unforgettable experiences that last a lifetime. “Infunity” aims through this camp to offer kids the opportunity to express their capabilities, try new things, stimulate challenge, work in teams and improve their skills. Moreover, all activities are chosen and designed carefully to entrain young campers in a healthy and safe environment. It is worthy to mention that the family entertainment center “Infunity” is one of the latest entertainment centers in Kuwait and it is the right place for the families who are seeking to spend enjoyable and pleasant times since its games are the most recent in Kuwait and combines education and entertainment. Invest your kid’s time and call on 99091277 to register.

Write to us Send to What’s On upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20

Sultan gallery established 1969 to promote Arab contemporary art. Sabhan, Sadeer company. Block 8, street 105, building 168. 24714325 ext. 110 Dar Al-Funoon, Behbehani Compound, House 28- near the Christian Church off of Gulf Road.

Tel: 22431338 Dar Al-Athar Al-Islamiyyah, Shaab, next to Shaab Leisure Park. Tel: 22400963

Launching of Hindi Album “Dil Deewane” Mohd Rafiq, Aamna Ahmed and Arif Kazi.

Fankaar Arts launches new album

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ankaar Arts director Arif Kazi recently launched a new Hindi Album: Dil Deewane of the old song ‘Hum toh tere Aashiq hai’ on 16th June 2011, in Wildfire Restaurant attended by media and some special guests.

AWARE Surra Street, Block 3, Villa 84. Tel: 25335260/80 or www.aware.com.kw The Strip, across Al-Seif Palace Jibla Tel: 99666533 www.the-exhibition.com.kw Located on ‘The Strip’ Across from Al-seif Palace Jibla, Kuwait Tel: + (965) 9-406-6226 Fax: + (965) 2-534-4061 Email Address: info@the-exhibition.com.kw Mailing Address: P.O. Box 17919, Khaldiya, Kuwait

Indian Right to Information Act expounded at ICAI gathering

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he Kuwait Chapter of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) organized a talk on the “Right to Information Act 2005 for Chartered Accountants’ at the Holiday Inn Downtown Kuwait on Monday, 13th June, 2011, as part of their Continuing Professional Education (CPE) program.

The well-attended evening was opened by Gaurav Dokania, Chairman of the Kuwait Chapter of ICAI, who welcomed the members and introduced Sajjan K. Agrawala, Financial Controller IKEA Kuwait, the presenter of the evening’s talk. Mr. Dokania said, “With his experience of working in governmental organizations in India, Mr. Agrawala has the knowledge and expertise to speak authoritatively on the evening’s topic.” The Chairman hoped that the relevance of the evening’s discussion would come in good stead to the Chapter members not only in

their professional capacity but also as citizens of India.

Thanking the chairman and members of ICAI for inviting him, Mr. Agrawala began his speech by saying that the Right to Information (RTI) Act of 2005 was one of the most significant

officials accountable to the citizenry,” noted Mr. Agrawala The RTI Act, which was enacted on 15th June, 2005 and came into force on 12th October, 2005, empowers any citizen of India to file an application with the Public Information Officer

pieces of legislation to come into force in India. “RTI empowers the common man to seek information from various public authorities and make all public

affiliated to a public authority to seek, inspect and obtain certified copies of information from the government, said Mr. Agrawala. He elaborated by say-

ing that for citizens, Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) and Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) who are staying out of India, the RTI application can be filed directly with the Public Information Officer, or with local authorities endorsed to transfer it to the concerned public authority in India.

He added, that the RTI Act has, “Promoted transparency and accountability in government functioning, encouraged awareness amongst citizens, increased efficiency of government officials and contained, though not eliminated, corruption in public life.”

The talk also emphasized the important role that chartered accountants can play in both the private and public sectors, as well as in the community, as promoters of sustainable business developments, advocates of ethical business practices and champions of professional governance standards. While high-

lighting the salient points to be kept in mind while drafting an application, or filing an appeal, with the concerned authorities, Mr. Agrawala exhorted the Chapter members to exercise their right as Indian citizens to seek information under the RTI Act and to participate in enriching the democratic process in India.

Following the talk and energetic discussions with the audience, the evening drew to a close with a memento and certificate of appreciation presented to the speaker by Prashantha Shetty, Vice Chairman of the Kuwait Chapter of ICAI, and a vote of thanks delivered by Noel Cherian, the Chapter’s Secretary, in which he thanked, the speaker for his highly informative presentation, the audience for their participatory attendance, and the sponsors along with others associated in making the evening a resounding success.

Summer Activities KAYAKING Kuwait Surf-Ski Kayak Club 99706742 Sea kayaking is one of the fastest growing water sports in the world today. Call if you are interested in purchasing a kayak, getting involved in the sport.

MOTOR SPORTS Kuwait Motor Bike League / The Amateur Car & Motorbike Association Motorbike track (for trail/dirt bikes) and rally car-racing centre located behind the Science Club on the northern side of the 6th Ring Road (between roads 401 and 50). Car and bike races held on Fridays. Use of facilities and participation in competitions limited to members only. office on 3td Ring Road, near Road 50.

NETBALL Kuwait Netball Meet Monday for mixed games 6:30 -7:30 and Tuesday for Woman only check the website for more info. www.kuwaitnetball.com RUGBY Kuwait Nomads The rugby season in Kuwait runs from September to May. Mens, ladies and minis rugby are played and the teams frequently travel to participate in AGRFU tournaments. Any interested child between the ages of 5-17 can participate in the Minis rugby. Training is held every Friday between 9am-llam on the grassed pitch at the Yarmouk stadium.

The men’s and ladies teams have the pleasure of training and playing on the KOC sand pitch in Ahmadi, the home of the Kuwait Nomads. Training nights are Sundays and Tuesdays from 7pm-9pm.

Inter-Gulf matches are played on Thursdays or Fridays. www.p8nompds.com RUNNING For anyone who likes walking, jogging or cycling in Kuwait there is a very good track around the area of Mishref. The track is 4.9km long and is marked out in distances of 100m. There are also a number of outdoor exercise machines located near the start and the end of the track.

Please note, however, that the track is more of a horseshoe shape rather than a complete circuit as there is a gap of at least a mile between the start and finish.

Decide how far you want to walk, walk half the distance and then turn back.

There are roads to cross so take care if you have young children with you.

Despite all of this, it’s still very worthwhile going along and trying it out.

HASH HARRIERS 23982219 Social jogging on Thursday and Saturday evenings. Hash Harriers has been operating around the world since 1938. Hash is for a mixture of abilities from walkers to experienced runners. It is social rather than athletic. Length of course depends on time of year.

Contact Gerry Burton on the above number or on 99764028. www.hasher.net SAILING The Arabian Gulf waters are an ideal environment in which to learn to sail.

Offshore the seas are seldom rough and there is often a moderate breeze. Many of the sea clubs organize sailing activities.

CATAMARAN SAILING 66587737 Dive Caroline Beach Fafaheel The Kuwait Catamaran Club is a group of enthusiasts who love sailing on fast cats in the Arabian Gulf’s waters around

Kuwait. Usually an informal group sail on Friday afternoons. Boats are privately owned but visitors are very welcome and can be taken out as crew. Boats for hire, a Dart 18 and Hobie 16.

Contact John Morley johnmorley@hotmail.com Fahaheel Sailing Club (see Dive Caroline) 2371 9289 www.horn3.com KOSA 23983365 99745383 The Kuwait Offshore Sailing Association (KOSA) meets on the first Tuesday of each month (except July and August) at the Dive Caroline clubhouse, which is located at the Fahaheel Sea Club. Fortnightly racing

plus International events in Bahrain and Dubai. Boats often require crew and will take you if you turn up! Catamaran racing is arranged after KOSA morning races, followed by a sunset barbecue on the beach. An Annual Regatta, usually during April, is also organised. www.kospg8.com SCUBA DIVING The Arabian Gulf is the perfect place in which to learn to scuba dive. Although dive sites are not as spectacular as those in the Red Sea and Thailand, the local environment is conducive to teaching youngsters who wish to do fairly shallow dives and build up their confidence. A parent/guardian is required to accompany all children between the ages of 10-12. Thereafter the child may be accompanied by a diving instructor. It is a good idea for adults to attend the theory classes with their children.

DIVE CAROLINE 2371 9289 Fahaheel Sea Club, Fahaheel Dive Caroline is a friendly sailing and diving club with pool, beach, sauna, steam room, fitness and social areas.

Scuba diving training and equipment sales; skippered sailing yacht charter for up to 8 passengers; fishing charters (up to 6 passengers with a max. of 2 trawling lines); skippered power boat hire for 6, 8 or 14 passengers. Birthday parties are hosted at the DC pool for children 8 years old and over (maximum of 16 children).

Swimming lessons for children as well as private lessons for adults. Banana boat rides, water skiing, kayaking. 10% dIscount for BLS Members (and friends) on stock purchases and on training courses for groups of 6 or more participants, Medic First Aid courses and Paedlatrlc First Aid courses. www.divecaroline.com Dive Centre 99649482 The Palms Hotel, Salwa A full service PADI 5 Star Dive Centre catering for all of your diving requirements. www.thepalmsdivecenter.com

KIM Dive Centre 23716002 Villa 365, Hilton Kuwait Resort Kuwait International Marine (KIM) Centre is a full service PADI 5 Star Dive Centre catering for all of your diving requirements. 10% discount for all BLS Members on courses, boat trips and Dive Shop. www.kimcenter.selmpb.com Kuwait Mantas Non profit scuba diving group See ‘Interest Groups’. info@kuwaitmantas.com www.kuwaitmantas.com SHOOTING Hunting & Equestrian Club 24739199 Shooters can sharpen their skills at the range. Members aren’t charged any fee but have to bear the costs of the cartridges while guns are provided by the club.

Shooting Range Complex 2475 9999 Off the 6th Ring road and drive past the Hunting and Equestrian Club. www.nrckuwait.com SOFTBALL Ahmadi Softball Located at the softball grounds situated behind the Governorate Building in Ahmadi SQUASH Squash courts are available at a few of the 5-star hotels as well as at the Salmiya Club. There are a number of squash leagues and tournaments are held throughout the year.

Duffers League 99701720 The League comprises about 25 players of all standards. Players are placed in groups of 4 which means you play three games per month. The rules of standard squash apply with all matches being best of five. Games are arranged by mutual agreement between the players. Contact Philip Anderson at andersoninkuwait@mac.com Kuwait Squash Federation 2263 4618 Salmiya Club 2575 5052 Salmiya Sheikha Squash www.sheikhasguash.com Health Club 2474 2000 Crowne Plaza Hotel, Farwaniya

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 2011

W H AT ’ S O N

Embassy Information EMBASSY OF ARGENTINA In order to inform that 23rd of October 2011, will be Argentine national election where all Argentinean citizen residents permanently in Kuwait can vote only if they are registered at the Electoral Register of the Argentine Embassy. The procedure of inscription ended on 25 of April 2011. To register it is necessary that Argentinean citizens should come personally at the Argentinean Embassy (Block 6, street 42, villa 57, Mishref) and present the DNI and four personal photos (size 4x4, face should be front on white background). For further information, contact us on 25379211. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF 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

It was a rosy moment at the Life Abundant International Fountain Church (LAIF) on Sunday as family, friends and well-wishers celebrated with the Carsons as they dedicate their new baby girl to the Lord. The event attracted lots of dignitaries and featured hosts of activities including praise worship.

Scientific Center launches summer camp

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he Scientific Center kicks off its summer camp for 2011 on Sunday, July 3, 2011, which will feature many activities held in weekly camps from Sunday to Thursday between 9:30 am and 2:30 pm.

Kids between the ages of eight and twelve are allowed to participate in the camp, as they will engage in educational and artistic workshops, in addition to visits to the aquarium and the Discovery Hall, as well as behind the scene trips and iMAX movie shows.

Aware Arabic courses “ The AWARE Management is glad to announce that Ramadan Arabic language courses will begin on August 7th till September 15th, 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 & those working in the private business sector.

AWARE Arabic courses highlight: l Introductory to Level 4 Arabic language basics lBetter prepare you for speaking, reading and writing Arabic l Combine language learning with cultural insights lTaught in multi-nationality group settings l Provide opportunities to interact with Western expatriates and native Kuwaitis/Arabs.

For more information, call 25335260 or log onto: www.aware.com.kw

Venalthanima summer camp on July 7

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hanima, Kuwait in cooperation with Jeevan TV, Kuwait is conducting a summer camp on July 7.

Renowned Indian film critic and director Vijayakrishnan will lead the 3-day camp that will have theater workshop, dance, music and personality development programs for children aged between 8 to 18.

The camp will accommodate the first 40 kids who will register for the camp which will be at United Indian School, Abbassiya on July 7, 8 and 9. Please contact: 66791096, 9441895, 99703872.

The English School Fahaheel, English department writing competition

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hroughout the month of May, The English School Fahaheel’s Upper S chool, English Department held a writing competition for years 7, 8 and 9. I t was offered to promote creative writing and give pupils the opportunity to demonstrate their skills in English outside of the classroom.

The competition was set initially by an English school in Malaysia who offered to publish winning pieces of work in a book . The English School Fahaheel chose to host the competition internally so that work could be considered across the age range.

Work was judged by M iss Connerton and credited for coherence, spelling, punctuation, grammar, capital letters, paragraphs and vocabulary. Pupils who submitted work for the competition were divided into first language and second language categories and the intention was for both a first language and a second language speaker to receive a prize in each year group in order to create equal oppor tunities for non-native English speakers.

Pupils could select one of several categories to write in, which included Identit y, Deception, Stormy Weather, and The Future. The most popular category was Deception.

The winners were granted Virgin Megastore vouchers.

The winning pupils in year 7 are Sara Shuhaiber and Nevalli Banerjee. Under the theme of Deception, Sara wrote a charming horror stor y about a psychotic clown; Nevalli wrote a piece of nonfiction and then a piece of fiction on the theme of Stormy Weather.

These entries were particularly well written and showed considerable effor t. The English Depar tment would also like to praise the effort of Abdullah Al Otaibi for his competition entr y. We were pleased to receive the work.

The year 9 prize went to secondlanguage speaker Farhan Pratma for his work on Identit y. This work showed some thought on the set theme and was a good effort written in English that was easy to follow.

Well done to the winners!

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EMBASSY OF GERMANY The Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Kuwait wishes to announce that as of 1 May 2011, the external service provider Al Qabas Assurex is operating a Visa Application Centre in support of the German Embassy. Short-term visa applications for travels to Germany (e.g. for tourism, visits, business) are to be submitted to the service provider Al Qabas who for your convenience will ensure that all relevant documents are included in your application. Your personal appearance at the Application Centre is not required. Address of the Visa Application Centre: Al Qabas Assurex Sanabel Tower (Al-Babtain) Mezzanine (M3) opposite Sharq Mall Kuwait 22924444 Fax: 22924442 Further information are available on the following websites: www.kuwait.diplo.de www.qavisa.com nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF KENYA The Embassy of the Republic of Kenya wishes to request all Kenyans resident in or training through Kuwait to register with the Embassy. We are updating our database. This information is necessary in order to facilitate quick assistance and advise in times of emergency. Kindly visit in person or register through our website www.kenyaembkuwait.com. The Embassy is located in: Surra Area - Block 6 - Street 9 Villa 3 Tel: 25353362 - 25353314; Fax: 25353316. 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

Salmiya region Malayalam Classes

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ala, Kuwait free Malayalam classes will begin on June 25th in the Salmiya zone as informed by Salmiya regional Bhashasamithi.

A bhashasamithi was formed which was inaugurated by General Convenor P.K.Janardhanan. Kala

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.

Central Committee members Shinoj Mathew and J.Saji also attended the meeting.

Rajesh P.R was selected as the Salmiya regional Convenor followed by Reji.K.Jacob and Madhusoodhanan as Joint Convenors and Sailesh Kannoth,

Suresh Babu, Kunjumon, Manoj Mathew Thomas, Rajan C.Kulakkada, Shinoj Mathew, J.Saji and P.R.Kiron as other Samithi members.

For registrations and other information kindly contact: 66767297, 66081623 or 97496171.

EMBASSY OF SOUTH AFRICA The Embassy of the Republic of South Africa will be closing at 01:00pm on Thursday, 23 June 2011 due to a training session. The Embassy will resume its normal working hours on Sunday, 26 June 2011, from Sunday to Thursday. Please note that the working hours will be from 8h00 to 16h00 & the Consular Section operation hours will from 8h30 to 12h30, for emergency please contact mobile No. 99794483.

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TV PROGRAMS

00:45 Dogs 101 01:40 Untamed And Uncut 02:35 Life Of Mammals 03:30 Last Chance Highway 04:25 Into The Lion’s Den 05:20 Animal Cops Phoenix 06:10 Dogs vs. Cats 07:00 Meerkat Manor 07:25 The Really Wild Show 07:50 Jeff Corwin Unleashed 08:15 Natural Born Hunters 08:40 Breed All About It 09:10 America’s Cutest...

10:05 Dogs 101 11:00 Animal Cops Miami 11:55 SSPCA: On The Wildside 12:20 Wildlife SOS 12:50 Last Chance Highway 13:45 Animal Cops Phoenix 14:40 Surviving The Drought 15:30 Echo And The Elephants Of Amboseli 16:00 The Really Wild Show 16:30 The Planet’s Funniest Animals 17:25 Extraordinary Dogs 17:50 Project Puppy 18:20 Breed All About It 18:45 Planet Wild 19:15 The Real Lost World 20:10 Dogs 101 21:05 Austin Stevens Adventures 22:00 Speed Of Life 22:55 Buggin’ With Ruud 23:50 The Real Lost World

00:00 00:30 01:15 02:10 03:00 03:30 04:00 04:35 04:55 05:15 05:40 05:55 06:15 06:35 07:00 07:20 07:40 08:05 08:20 08:40 09:00 09:25 09:40 10:40 11:25 12:15 12:45 13:15 14:10 14:40 15:40 16:30 17:15 17:45 18:15 19:10 20:00 20:45 21:15 21:45 22:35 23:35

Green Green Grass The Weakest Link Holby City Moses Jones Eastenders Doctors Last Of The Summer Wine Fimbles Balamory Teletubbies Gigglebiz Fimbles Balamory Teletubbies Fimbles Balamory Teletubbies Gigglebiz Fimbles Balamory Teletubbies Gigglebiz Last Of The Summer Wine The Weakest Link Sahara Doctors Eastenders Holby City Last Of The Summer Wine Keeping Up Appearances Sahara The Weakest Link Doctors Eastenders Holby City Sahara The Weakest Link Doctors Eastenders Casualty Bleak House Keeping Up Appearances

00:05 Cash In The Attic USA 00:25 Cash In The Attic USA 00:45 Come Dine With Me 01:35 The Home Show 02:25 Cash In The Attic USA 04:15 New Scandinavian Cooking 04:40 New Scandinavian Cooking 05:05 Daily Cooks Challenge 09:05 Antiques Roadshow 09:55 Cash In The Attic USA 11:45 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 12:10 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad

12:35 Antiques Roadshow 13:25 Cash In The Attic 14:10 Bargain Hunt 14:55 Come Dine With Me 15:40 Cash In The Attic USA 17:35 Indian Food Made Easy 18:00 New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad 18:30 New Scandinavian Cooking 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 Design Star

00:00 BBC World News 00:30 World Business Report 00:45 Sport Today 01:00 BBC World News America 01:30 Asia Business Report 01:45 Asia Today 02:00 BBC World News 02:30 Asia Business Report 02:45 Asia Today 03:00 BBC World News 03:30 Asia Business Report 03:45 Asia Today 04:00 BBC World News 04:30 Asia Business Report 04:45 Asia Today 05:00 BBC World News 05:30 Asia Business Report 05:45 Asia Today 06:00 BBC World News 06:30 Hardtalk 07:00 BBC World News 07:30 World Business Report 07:45 BBC World News 08:00 BBC World News 08:30 World Business Report 08:45 BBC World News 09:00 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 14:30 GMT With George Alagiah 15:00 BBC World News 15:30 World Business Report 15:45 Sport Today 16:00 Impact With Mishal Husain 17:30 World Business Report 17:45 Sport Today 18:00 BBC World News 18:30 Hardtalk 19:00 The Hub With Nik Gowing 20:30 World Business Report 20:45 Sport Today 21:00 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 22:30 World Business Report 22:45 Sport Today 23:00 BBC World News America 23:30 Hardtalk

00:05 Cow And Chicken 00:30 Cramp Twins 00:55 George Of The Jungle 01:20 Courage The Cowardly Dog 01:45 Eliot Kid 02:10 Ed, Edd N Eddy 02:35 Ben 10: Alien Force 03:00 The Powerpuff Girls 03:15 Chowder 03:40 The Secret Saturdays 04:05 My Gym Partner’s A Monkey 04:30 Ben 10: Alien Force 04:55 Best Ed 05:20 Skunk Fu! 05:45 Cramp Twins 06:10 Eliot Kid 06:35 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 07:00 Codename: Kids Next Door

07:25 Cow And Chicken 07:50 Angelo Rules 08:05 Cartoon Network Dance Club 08:15 Adventure Time 08:40 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 09:05 The Secret Saturdays 09:30 Batman: The Brave And The Bold 09:55 The Powerpuff Girls 10:20 Robotboy 10:30 Hero 108 10:55 Ben 10 11:20 Chowder 11:45 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 12:10 Camp Lazlo 12:35 George Of The Jungle 13:00 Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends 13:25 Codename: Kids Next Door 13:50 Ben 10 14:15 My Gym Partner’s A Monkey 14:40 Squirrel Boy 15:05 Eliot Kid 15:35 Ed, Edd N Eddy 16:00 Cow And Chicken 16:25 Chop Socky Chooks 16:50 Skunk Fu! 17:15 Chowder 17:40 Best Ed 18:05 Hero 108 18:30 Cartoon Network Dance Club 18:45 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 18:55 Star Wars: The Clone Wars 19:20 Ben 10: Alien Force 19:45 The Secret Saturdays 20:10 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 20:35 Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes 21:00 The Powerpuff Girls 21:25 Ed, Edd N Eddy 21:50 Robotboy 22:00 Adventure Time 22:25 Hero 108 22:50 Ben 10 23:15 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 23:40 Chowder

00:00 00:30 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 06:30 07:00 07:30 08:00 09:00 10:00 10:30 11:00 12:00 13:00 13:30 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00 20:30 21:00 22:00 23:00

Backstory World Sport World Report World Report World Business Today Piers Morgan Tonight Anderson Cooper 360 World Sport Inside Africa World Report Backstory World Report World Report World Sport Earth’s Frontiers World Business Today World One World Sport Talk Asia Piers Morgan Tonight News Stream World Business Today International Desk The Brief World Sport Prism International Desk Earth’s Frontiers Quest Means Business Piers Morgan Tonight Connect The World

00:40 Dirty Jobs 01:35 The Next Great Baker 02:30 Ultimate Survival 03:25 Ultimate Car Build-Off 04:20 Mythbusters 05:15 How It’s Made 05:40 How It’s Made 06:05 Dirty Jobs 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

GOOD HAIR ON OSN CINEMA

11:25 12:20 13:15 14:10 15:05 16:00 16:55 17:50 18:45 19:10 19:40 20:05 20:35 21:00 21:55 22:50 23:45

The Next Great Baker LA Ink Ultimate Survival LA Ink Dirty Jobs Ultimate Car Build-Off Mythbusters Extreme Fishing Cake Boss Border Security Time Warp How It’s Made How It’s Made Science Of The Movies Mythbusters The Future Of...

Extreme Fishing

00:30 The Gadget Show 00:55 Mega World 01:45 Zero Hour 02:35 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 03:25 Cool Stuff And How It Works 03:50 Scrapheap Challenge 04:45 Science Of The Movies 05:40 Patent Bending 06:10 Superships 07:00 Catch It Keep It 07:55 Head Rush 07:58 Sci-Fi Science 08:25 Weird Connections 08:55 Cosmic Collisions 09:45 The Gadget Show 10:10 The Gadget Show 10:35 Engineered 11:25 Mean Green Machines 11:50 Catch It Keep It 12:40 Patent Bending 13:05 Sci-Fi Science 13:30 Sci-Fi Science 13:55 Space Pioneer 14:45 Mega World 15:35 The Gadget Show 16:00 Head Rush 16:03 Sci-Fi Science 16:30 Weird Connections 17:00 Brainiac 17:50 Sci-Fi Saved My Life 18:40 How It’s Made 19:30 How Stuff Works 20:20 Sci-Fi Science 20:45 How Does That Work?

21:10 The Gadget Show 22:00 How It’s Made 22:50 How Stuff Works 23:40 The Colony

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 10:50 11:15 11:35 12:00 12:10 12:35 13:00 13:25 13:40 14:05 14:15 14:25 14:50 15:15 16:05 16:30 16:40 16:55 17:20 17:45 17:55 18:15 18:35 19:00 19:20 19:45 20:05 20:15 20:25 20:50 21:10 21:20 21:30 21:55 22:20 22:35 22:45 23:00 23:20 23:30 23:55

Jungle Junction Special Agent Oso Little Einsteins Higglytown Heroes Jo Jo’s Circus Jungle Junction Special Agent Oso Little Einsteins Higglytown Heroes Jo Jo’s Circus Jungle Junction Special Agent Oso Little Einsteins Higglytown Heroes Jo Jo’s Circus Jungle Junction Special Agent Oso Little Einsteins Higglytown Heroes Special Agent Oso Jungle Junction Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Timmy Time Handy Manny Jake & The Neverland Pirates The Hive Handy Manny Jake & The Neverland Pirates Handy Manny The Little Mermaid Handy Manny The Hive Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Handy Manny Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates Jungle Junction Timmy Time The Hive Little Einsteins The Little Mermaid Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Handy Manny The Hive Jake & The Neverland Pirates Imagination Movers Handy Manny The Hive Handy Manny Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Handy Manny Jake & The Neverland Pirates Handy Manny The Little Mermaid Handy Manny Handy Manny Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates The Hive Handy Manny The Little Mermaid Little Einsteins Handy Manny The Hive Jungle Junction The Little Mermaid Timmy Time Jo Jo’s Circus Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

06:00 Kid vs Kat 06:20 Kick Buttowski 06:40 Pokemon Dp: Sinnoh League Victors 07:05 Phineas And Ferb 08:05 American Dragon 08:30 Kick Buttowski 08:50 Kid vs Kat 09:50 I’m In The Band 10:15 The Super Hero Squad Show 10:40 Suite Life On Deck 11:05 Suite Life On Deck 11:30 Pair Of Kings 11:55 Phineas And Ferb 12:45 Kid vs Kat 13:50 The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody 14:40 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

17:15 17:40 18:30 18:55 19:20 19:45 20:10 20:15 20:40 21:05 21:30 21:50 22:00 Cody 22:20 23:00 KSA

Zeke And Luther Phineas And Ferb Escape From Scorpion Island Kick Buttowski American Dragon Aaron Stone Phineas And Ferb Kid vs Kat Phineas And Ferb I’m In The Band Zeke And Luther Phineas And Ferb The Suite Life Of Zack And The Super Hero Squad Show Programmes Start At 6:00am

00:55 Style Star 01:25 15 Unforgettable Hollywood Tragedies 03:15 25 Most Stylish 04:10 Sexiest 05:05 Extreme Hollywood 06:00 THS 07:50 Behind The Scenes 08:20 E! News 09:15 Kourtney And Kim Take New York 09:45 Kourtney And Kim Take New York 10:15 15 Remarkable Celebrity Body Bouncebacks 12:05 E! News 13:05 Holly’s World 13:35 Holly’s World 14:05 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 14:35 20 Acts Of Love Gone Wrong 16:25 Behind The Scenes 16:55 Chelsea’s Big Interview Special 17:55 E! News 18:55 Khloe And Lamar 19:25 Khloe And Lamar 19:55 E!es 20:25 E!es 20:55 Chelsea Lately 21:25 Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane 22:25 E! News 23:25 Chelsea Lately 23:55 Kourtney And Kim Take New York

00:15 00:40 01:30 02:20 03:10 04:00 04:50 05:40 06:30 2008 08:00 08:25 09:15 10:05 10:55 2009 11:20 2009 11:45 12:35 13:25 14:15 15:05 2009 15:30 2009 15:55 16:45 17:10 18:00 19:40 20:30 21:20 22:10 23:00 23:50

Untracked Mantracker World Combat League Untracked Aiya TV Final Fu Mantracker World Combat League FIA European Drag Racing

00:30 01:20 02:10 03:00 03:50 04:45 05:15 06:10 07:00 07:50 08:40 09:30 10:20 11:10 12:00 12:50 13:40 14:30 15:20 16:10 17:00 17:50 18:40 19:30 19:55 20:20 21:10 22:00 23:40

Ghost Lab Psychic Witness Deadly Women The Prosecutors Dr G: Medical Examiner Crime Scene Psychics Ghost Lab Mystery Diagnosis Forensic Detectives Murder Shift Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Fugitive Strike Force FBI Files On The Case With Paula Zahn Solved Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Fugitive Strike Force Forensic Detectives Murder Shift FBI Files Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Real Emergency Calls On The Case With Paula Zahn Solved I Almost Got Away With It Dr G: Medical Examiner

01:05 01:20 03:10 04:45 06:55 08:25 10:30 12:05 13:35 15:00 16:25 17:55 18:10 19:55 22:00

Big Screen - 4 Cop Staying Together Eureka Love Crimes Asteroid The Blue Lightning Sheba, Baby The Medgar Evers Story Johnny Be Good A Perfect Body Big Screen - 4 Wuthering Heights (1970) The 60’s Witness To The Mob

Quattro Events 2009 X Games Heroes Lucas Oil Ama Motocross...

Lucas Oil Ama Motocross...

Ride Guide Mountainbike Ride Guide Mountainbike Fantasy Factory Untracked Mantracker World Combat League Ride Guide Mountainbike Ride Guide Mountainbike Fantasy Factory Quattro Events 2009 X Games Heroes Lucas Oil Ama Motocross...

Mantracker Untracked I’ll Do Anything World Combat League Fight Girls Untracked

00:30 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 01:30 Don’t Tell My Mother 02:30 Banged Up Abroad 03:30 Destination Extreme 04:00 Bondi Rescue 04:30 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 05:00 Exploring The Vine 05:30 Long Way Down 06:30 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled

BLINDNESS ON OSN MOVIES ACTION 07:30 08:30 09:30 10:00 10:30 11:00 11:30 12:30 13:30 14:00 14:30 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:00 17:30 18:30 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:30 22:00 22:30 23:00 23:30

Don’t Tell My Mother Banged Up Abroad Destination Extreme Bondi Rescue David Rocco’s Dolce Vita Exploring The Vine Cruise Ship Diaries Banged Up Abroad Madventures Madventures Banged Up Abroad Destination Extreme Bondi Rescue David Rocco’s Dolce Vita Exploring The Vine Cruise Ship Diaries Banged Up Abroad Madventures Madventures Banged Up Abroad Destination Extreme Bondi Rescue David Rocco’s Dolce Vita Exploring The Vine Cruise Ship Diaries

00:00 01:30 04:00 06:00 08:00 09:45 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 18 22:00

The Evil Dead-R Bad Boys II-PG15 Bad Guys-18 Annihilation Earth-PG15 Darkness Falls-PG15 Enemy Of The State-PG15 Blue Crush-PG15 Darkness Falls-PG15 Star Runners-PG15 Blue Crush-PG15 Smokin’ Aces 2: Assassin’s Ball-

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 PG15 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

A Way With Murder-18 Fly Me To The Moon-PG Primo-PG15 The Cake Eaters-PG15 The Wronged Man-PG15 The Cake Eaters-PG15 It’s A Wonderful Afterlife-

Let Me In-R

Bandslam-PG15 Good Hair-PG15 The Last Song-PG15 The Burning Plain-PG15 Notorious-18

00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 01:30 Boondocks 02:00 The Cleveland Show 02:30 Party Down 03:00 Rita Rocks 03:30 Party Down 03:30 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 04:00 Boondocks 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 Raising Hope 15:00 Seinfeld 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 Parks And Recreation 19:30 The Simpsons 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report

22:00 22:30 23:00 23:30

The Big C Party Down Boondocks Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Body Of Proof House The Ellen DeGeneres Show Hawthorne The View Good Morning America Detroit 1-8-7 Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Martha Stewart Show The View Body Of Proof Hawthorne Live Good Morning America Grey’s Anatomy The Ellen DeGeneres Show Emmerdale Coronation Street Terriers Supernatural Game Of Thrones Grey’s Anatomy Detroit 1-8-7

00:00 Criminal Minds 01:00 The Unit 02:00 House 03:00 Body Of Proof 04:00 Hawthorne 05:00 Law And Order: Criminal Intent 06:00 Criminal Minds 07:00 30 Rock 08:00 The Event 09:00 Law And Order: Criminal Intent 10:00 Body Of Proof 11:00 House 12:00 30 Rock 14:00 The Event 15:00 Criminal Minds 16:00 30 Rock 18:00 The Event 19:00 Terriers 20:00 Supernatural 21:00 Game Of Thrones 22:00 The Unit 23:00 Law And Order: Criminal Intent

01:00 Phone Booth-PG15 03:00 Bad Guys-18 05:00 The Grudge 3-18 07:00 The Blackout-PG15 09:00 Fast And Furious-PG15 11:00 The Sum Of All Fears-PG15 13:00 Pearl Harbor-PG15 16:00 Fast And Furious-PG15 18:00 12 Rounds-PG15 20:00 Universal Soldier: Regeneration-PG15 21:45 Killshot-18 23:30 Blindness-18

00:00 PG15 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 PG15 18:00 20:00 22:00

The Fighting Temptations-

00:00 02:00 04:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 14:45 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

The Informers-18 Cat People-18 Forrest Gump-PG15 Eva-PG15 Skellig-PG15 Ice Castles-PG15 Little Nicholas-PG Capitalism: A Love Story-PG15 Creation-PG15 Everybody’s Fine-PG15 Simon Birch-PG The Reckoning-18

Mumford-18 Mean Girls-PG15 The Longshots-PG15 Ed-PG I Spy-PG Can’t Buy Me Love-PG15 My One And Only-PG15 The Fighting TemptationsThe Last Supper-PG15 Nine Months-PG15 Finding Bliss-18

01:15 03:30 05:30 07:15 09:30 11:15 13:00 15:00 PG15 17:00 18:45 21:00 23:00

Keeping The Faith-PG15 Preacher’s Kid-PG Astro Boy-FAM Glorious 39-PG15 Monsters vs. Aliens-PG America’s Sweethearts-PG15 Gifted Hands-PG15 Revenge Of The BridesmaidsMonsters vs. Aliens-PG The Blind Side-PG15 Nine Months-PG15 The Burning Plain-PG15

00:00 The Archies In Jugman-FAM 02:00 Globehunters-FAM 04:00 Scooby-Doo Meets The Boo Brothers-FAM 06:00 Sabrina The Teenage Witch: Friends Forever-PG 08:00 My Fair Madeline-FAM 10:00 The Archies In Jugman-FAM 12:00 Gladiators: The Conspiracy-PG 14:00 Aliens In The Attic-FAM 16:00 Ice Age 3: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs-FAM 18:00 Ponyo On The Cliff By The Sea-FAM 20:00 Pete’s Dragon-PG 22:15 Gladiators: The Conspiracy-PG

00:00 Golfing World 01:00 Super 15 03:00 Futbol Mundial 03:30 NRL Full Time 04:00 European PGA Tour Highlights 05:00 Trans World Sport 06:00 Weber Cup Bowling 07:00 AFL Highlights 08:00 Ironman 09:00 Super Rugby Highlights 10:00 ICC Cricket World 10:30 World Hockey 11:00 Trans World Sport 12:00 NRL Full Time 12:30 AFL Highlights 13:30 Mobil 1 The Grid 14:00 ICC Cricket World 14:30 Super Rugby Highlights 15:30 Super League 17:30 Trans World Sport 18:30 NRL Full Time 19:00 Live Rugby Junior World Championship 21:00 Live Rugby Junior World Championship 23:00 Super Rugby Highlights

00:00 ICC Cricket World 00:30 Masters Football 03:30 Super Rugby Highlights 04:30 Futbol Mundial 05:00 Super 15 07:00 Golfing World 08:00 NRL Full Time 08:30 Masters Football 11:30 Mobil 1 The Grid 12:00 European Senior Tour Highlights 13:00 Golfing World 14:00 Weber Cup Bowling 15:00 NRL Full Time 15:30 Ironman 16:30 European Senior Tour Highlights 17:30 Golfing World 18:30 Weber Cup Bowling 19:30 Futbol Mundial 20:00 European Tour Weekly 20:30 Ladies European Tour Highlights 21:30 IronMan China 22:30 Trans World Sport 23:30 Mobil 1 The Grid

00:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 09:30 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 14:30 15:00 16:00 18:00 19:00 21:00 22:00

UAE National Race Day Series V8 Supercars Championship UFC Unleashed WWE Vintage Collection City Centre Races Full Throttle Aquabike World UAE National Race Day Series Le Mans Series WWE NXT WWE Vintage Collection Le Mans Series Full Throttle Intercontinental Le Mans Cup V8 Supercars Championship WWE NXT WWE SmackDown UFC Wired UFC Unleashed

Classifieds WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 2011

ACCOMMODATION Furnished sharing accommodation available in 2 bed & 2 bathroom + big kitchen & hall, flat at Abbassiya, near United Indian School for couple/executive bachelor.

Contact: 97552140/ 99952794. (C 3468) 22-6-2011 Room for rent with separate

bathroom including drawing and kitchen facilities for decent ladies or couple in Salmiya, C-A/C flat, new building in very good location. Contact: 99678634. (C 3463) Sharing accommodation available in old Reggai behind Al-Zallah Supermarket, 2 BR flat C-A/C for executive bachelor or couple family from July.

Contact: 24802641/

66022437. (C 3467) 21-6-2011 Sharing accommodation available for decent Christian couple / executive bachelor or working lady, separate room and toilet in Mahboula.

Contact: 66216713. (C 3457) One big independent master bedroom with attached bathroom available for 2 or 3 decent bachelors in 2 BR flat C-A/C, kitchen and SAT facility W&E free, near Shaara Amman Salmiya, opp.

Appolo Hospital, Naser AlBadher Street, new building.

Contact: 99761807. (C 3458) Sharing available for family (bath attached) in a double bed room + hall fat Abbasiya near Asianet building opp. Garden and Variety Store. Contact: 97213877/ 50202206.

(C 3459)

Spacious bedroom with separate bathroom (two bedroom two bathroom flat) available for only Keralite couples in Abbassiya near United Indian School from 18th June onwards. Contact: 66846299.

(C 3455) 19-6-2011 SITUATION VACANT Required English speaking maid/nanny.

Contact: 99824597. (C 3461) 20-6-2011 Required housemaid in Farwaniya, Block 5, who knows cooking and cleaning for an Indian family.

Contact: 97220933.

(C 3454) 18-6-2011

FOR SALE

Expat family selling household items + electronics (washing machine, dishwasher, microwave oven, deep freezer, projection TV). Contact: 66042205 also check tiny.cc/lpa36 (C 3456) 19-6-2011

SITUATION WANTED Educated Iranian man looking for suitable vacancy, 7 years experience in trading field (Import and Export) well familiar with Microsoft office and English language, residency article 18 transferable.

Contact: 66346118.

(C 3452) 18-6-2011

TRANSPORT Urgently need transport for 3 persons from Salmiya, Sharah Amman to Ministry of Health (H.O) near Sabah Hospital, timings 7:30 am back 1:45 pm. Please call: 97525187. (C 3464) 21-6-2011

No: 15127

CHANGE OF NAME

Decent Muslim couples/ small family to share in two BRH flat in Abbasiya with family of 3 from July 1. Rent KD 70 including water/electricity. Contact: 66895049.

(C 3460)

Toyota Corolla model 2010, color white, good maintenance, price KD 3,550 only.

Contact: 99419677.

(C 3465)

Sharing accommodation available in Shaara Amman, Salmiya, opposite Al-Rashid Hospital, for bachelor.

Contact: 65515717.

(C 3462) 20-6-2011

Toyota Corolla model 2007 1.8, color golden, good condition, price KD 2,650 only. Contact: 66974049.

(C 3466) 21-6-2011

I, Rania, holder of Indian Passport No: E1093683 issued from Kuwait on 02/05/2002 D/o Mohamed Hussain Pallath residing at Pallaath house, Mookkuthala Po, Malappuram Dt, Kerala have changed by name as Rania Mohamed Hussain Pallath.

(C 3450) 18-6-2011

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION In case you are not travelling, your proper cancellation of bookings will help other passengers to use seats Arrival Flights on Wednesday 22/6/2011 Route

Airlines

Flt

RJA JZR THY ETH UAE DHX MSR FDB GFA QTR JZR THY JZR FCX JZR KAC BAW BBC JZR KAC KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC UAE QTR ABY IRA ETD GFA FCX MEA JZR JZR IRM JZR RBG KAC MSR IRC UAL RJA MSR FDB KAC KAC

642 267 772 620 853 370 614 67 211 138 529 770 503 201 555 412 157 45 1541 206 382 302 53 352 284 362 344 855 132 125 603 301 213 203 404 165 121 5066 561 3557 672 610 6791 982 640 621 57 802 790

AMMAN BEIRUT ISTANBUL ADDIS ABABA DUBAI BAHRAIN CAIRO DUBAI BAHRAIN DOHA ASSIUT ISTANBUL LUXOR DUBAI ALEXANDRIA MANILA / BANGKOK LONDON DHAKA CAIRO ISLAMABAD DELHI MUMBAI DUBAI COCHIN DHAKA COLOMBO CHENNAI DUBAI DOHA SHARJAH SHIRAZ ABU DHABI BAHRAIN DUBAI BEIRUT DUBAI BAHRAIN MASHAD SOHAG ALEXANDRIA DUBAI CAIRO MASHAD WASHINGTON DC DULLES AMMAN ASSIUT DUBAI CAIRO MEDINAH

Time 0:05 0:35 1:15 1:45 2:25 2:55 3:05 3:10 3:15 3:20 3:35 4:10 5:15 5:25 6:10 6:15 6:30 6:45 7:10 7:15 7:20 7:50 7:55 8:05 8:10 8:20 8:20 8:25 9:00 9:10 9:25 9:30 9:35 10:30 10:55 11:10 11:15 11:50 12:30 12:55 13:15 13:20 13:25 13:30 13:35 13:40 13:50 14:00 14:05

SVA KNE CLX QTR KAC JZR JZR KNE SYR ETD UAE GFA SVA JZR JZR ABY KAC MEA JZR FDB ALK JZR KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC AIC JAI FDB JZR OMA VOS MEA MSR DHX UAE GFA QTR UAL JZR JZR MSR DLH SAI AXB JZR KLM PIA

500 745 792 134 546 201 535 701 341 303 857 215 510 777 239 127 550 408 481 63 227 177 166 502 542 618 786 674 102 774 575 572 61 787 647 81 402 618 372 859 217 136 981 135 185 612 636 441 393 539 447 215

JEDDAH JEDDAH LUXEMBOURG DOHA ALEXANDRIA DAMASCUS CAIRO RIYADH DAMASCUS ABU DHABI DUBAI BAHRAIN RIYADH JEDDAH AMMAN SHARJAH SHARM EL SHEIKH / SOHAG BEIRUT SABIHA DUBAI COLOMBO / DUBAI DUBAI PARIS / ROME BEIRUT CAIRO DOHA JEDDAH DUBAI NEW YORK / LONDON RIYADH CHENNAI / GOA MUMBAI DUBAI RIYADH MUSCAT BAGHDAD BEIRUT ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN DUBAI BAHRAIN DOHA BAHRAIN BAHRAIN DUBAI CAIRO FRANKFURT LAHORE / KARACHI KOZHIKODE / COCHIN CAIRO AMSTERDAM / BAHRAIN KARACHI

14:30 14:45 14:50 15:15 15:30 15:45 15:50 16:00 16:30 16:50 16:55 17:15 17:20 17:25 17:35 17:40 17:45 17:45 17:50 17:55 18:00 18:00 18:40 18:45 18:50 18:55 19:00 19:25 19:25 19:25 19:30 19:35 20:00 20:00 20:10 20:15 20:15 20:55 21:00 21:15 21:25 21:35 22:00 22:10 22:35 22:50 23:00 23:05 23:15 23:30 23:35 23:55

Airlines JZR AXB DLH AIC PIA THY ETH UAE FDB DHX MSR QTR THY JZR JZR RJA GFA KAC BBC JZR BAW KAC FDB JZR KAC KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY KAC QTR JZR ETD GFA JZR IRA FCX MEA KAC JZR JZR KAC KAC IRM KAC RBG JZR MSR

Depurture Flights on Wednesday 22/6/2011 Flt Route 1540 CAIRO 390 KOZHIKODE 637 FRANKFURT 982 AHMEDABAD / CHENNAI 206 LAHORE 773 ISTANBUL 620 ADDIS ABABA 854 DUBAI 68 DUBAI 371 BAHRAIN 615 CAIRO 139 DOHA 771 ISTANBUL 560 SOHAG 164 DUBAI 643 AMMAN 212 BAHRAIN 801 CAIRO 46 DHAKA 120 BAHRAIN 156 LONDON 545 ALEXANDRIA 54 DUBAI 534 CAIRO 177 FRANKFURT / GENEVA 671 DUBAI 117 NEW YORK 789 MEDINAH 856 DUBAI 126 SHARJAH 549 SHARM EL SHEIKH / SOHAG 133 DOHA 480 SABIHA 302 ABU DHABI 214 BAHRAIN 200 DAMASCUS 602 SHIRAZ 204 DUBAI 405 BEIRUT 541 CAIRO 776 JEDDAH 238 AMMAN 103 LONDON 501 BEIRUT 5065 MASHAD 785 JEDDAH 3558 SOHAG / ALEXANDRIA 176 DUBAI 611 CAIRO

Time 0:20 0:25 0:40 1:05 1:10 2:15 2:30 3:45 3:50 3:55 4:05 5:00 5:10 5:55 6:55 7:00 7:10 7:20 8:00 8:20 8:25 8:35 8:40 8:50 8:55 9:00 9:05 9:25 9:40 9:50 9:55 10:00 10:05 10:15 10:20 10:20 10:25 11:45 11:55 12:00 12:00 12:10 12:30 13:00 13:20 13:30 13:35 13:40 14:20

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

IRC RJA FDB MSR UAL KAC KNE KAC SVA KAC QTR CLX JZR JZR KNE SYR ETD UAE GFA ABY JZR JZR SVA FDB MEA JZR JZR ALK KAC KAC JAI FDB KAC KAC OMA MEA MSR DHX UAE GFA KAC FCX QTR KAC KAC JZR JZR UAL MSR KAC SAI

6792 641 58 622 982 673 746 617 503 773 135 792 786 538 704 342 304 858 216 128 184 266 511 64 409 204 134 228 283 361 571 62 331 351 648 403 619 373 860 218 381 102 137 301 205 502 554 981 613 415 442

MASHAD AMMAN DUBAI ASSIUT BAHRAIN DUBAI JEDDAH DOHA MEDINAH / JEDDAH RIYADH DOHA HONG KONG RIYADH CAIRO MEDINAH DAMASCUS ABU DHABI DUBAI BAHRAIN SHARJAH DUBAI BEIRUT RIYADH DUBAI BEIRUT DAMASCUS BAHRAIN DUBAI / COLOMBO DHAKA COLOMBO MUMBAI DUBAI TRIVANDRUM COCHIN MUSCAT BEIRUT ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN DUBAI BAHRAIN DELHI BAHRAIN DOHA MUMBAI ISLAMABAD LUXOR ALEXANDRIA WASHINGTON DC DULLES CAIRO KUALA LUMPUR / JAKARTA LAHORE

14:25 14:30 14:35 14:40 14:45 15:10 15:30 15:35 15:45 16:05 16:15 16:20 16:35 16:40 16:45 17:30 17:35 18:05 18:15 18:20 18:25 18:30 18:35 18:40 18:45 18:55 19:10 19:10 20:00 20:20 20:35 20:40 21:00 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:55 22:00 22:25 22:30 22:30 22:30 22:35 22:45 22:55 23:05 23:10 23:40 23:50 23:50 23:59

34

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 2011

stars CROSSWORD 356

STAR TRACK

CALVIN & HOBBES

Aries (March 21-April 19) You are able to act quickly and get things accomplished fast.

You may find people coming to you for those odd jobs that nobody wants and that need to be completed and out of the way. You may like to be depended on in this way but it could cause some stressful moments in getting your own work accomplished. So that others will respect your time, you must learn to politely say no, occasionally. Your organizational abilities and sense of responsibility will be what guides you and proves successful. Your career could assume a much more determined and solid form. You naturally are a giving person, sacrificing your own interests for the sake of what you feel is right. A born psychologist, you may find yourself counseling a friend this evening.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) You may find yourself very appreciative of your own career and practical skills. You might enjoy solving puzzles and problems, finding solutions, etc. There is a renewed appreciation for your work that may be apparent to your superiors—in fact, to everybody. Put your back into whatever it is that needs accomplishing today. You will be pleased at the outcome of your efforts.

Circumstances may stimulate and encourage an appreciation and enjoyment of your life situation. Your system of values may deepen, providing you with a better sense of discrimination and good taste. Purchasing, selecting colors, etc., are easy for you. Plans to redecorate or perhaps, add a room or new entry to your existing home is looking like a done deal.

POOCH CAFE ACROSS 1. (informal) Exceptionally good.

5. A headlike protuberance on an organ or structure.

10. A decree that prohibits something.

13. River in eastern Asia.

14. Small terrestrial lizard of warm regions of the Old World.

15. How long something has existed.

16. A heading that names a statute or legislative bill.

18. Mild yellow Dutch cheese made in balls.

19. A constellation in the southern hemisphere near Telescopium and Norma.

20. Angular distance above the horizon (especially of a celestial object).

21. (of complexion) Blemished by imperfections of the skin.

23. Enthusiastic approval.

26. An officer who acts as military assistant to a more senior officer.

28. A doctor's degree in dental medicine.

30. A Russian river.

31. Leaf or strip from a leaf of the talipot palm used in India for writing paper.

35. A state in midwestern United States.

37. One of the two main branches of orthodox Islam.

40. A resource.

41. An oily colorless liquid obtained by the condensation of two molecules of acetaldehyde.

44. 1 species.

46. The capital of Croatia.

48. Oblong cream puff.

49. An accidental hole that allows something (fluid or light etc.) to enter or escape.

51. An adult male person (as opposed to a woman).

52. Any of a number of fishes of the family Carangidae.

55. The ball-shaped capsule containing the vertebrate eye.

57. Type genus of the family Arcidae.

61. An implement used to propel or steer a boat.

65. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

66. The law enforcement agency in the Justice Department.

67. Any of several tropical and subtropical treelike herbs of the genus Musa having a terminal crown of large entire leaves and usually bearing hanging clusters of elongated fruits.

68. An agency of the United Nations affiliated with the World Bank.

69. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

70. A port city in southwestern Iran.

71. A young woman making her debut into society.

DOWN 1. A sequence of 8 bits (enough to represent one character of alphanumeric data) processed as a single unit of information.

2. A barrier consisting of a horizontal bar and supports.

3. Angular distance above the horizon (especially of a celestial object).

4. A Russian prison camp for political prisoners.

5. A white metallic element that burns with a brilliant light.

6. American novelist (1909-1955).

7. A genus of Ploceidae.

8. A benevolent aspect of Devi.

9. Brought from wildness into a domesticated state.

10. Any of numerous local fertility and nature deities worshipped by ancient Semitic peoples.

11. A city in northern India.

12. Clean or orderly.

17. The persistence of a sound after its source has stopped.

22. Tag the base runner to get him out.

24. The corporate executive responsible for the operations of the firm.

25. A public promotion of some product or service.

27. In the same place (used when citing a reference).

29. The arch of bone beneath the eye that forms the prominence of the cheek.

32. A Tibetan or Mongolian priest of Lamaism.

33. Being three more than fifty.

34. The sixth month of the civil year.

36. Involving the entire earth.

38. (astronomy) The angular distance of a celestial point measured westward along the celestial equator from the zenith crossing.

39. Type genus of the Alcidae comprising solely the razorbill.

42. 1/10 gram.

43. Towards the side away from the wind.

45. The inner and longer of the two bones of the human forearm.

47. African tree having an exceedingly thick trunk and fruit that resembles a gourd and has an edible pulp called monkey bread.

48. A unit of force equal to the force exerted by gravity.

50. The basic unit of money in Sweden.

53. Open-heart surgery in which the rib cage is opened and a section of a blood vessel is grafted from the aorta to the coronary artery to bypass the blocked section of the coronary artery and improve the blood supply to the heart.

54. An elaborate song for solo voice.

55. A soft white precious univalent metallic element having the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal.

56. A small nail.

58. A sudden short attack.

59. (of a young animal) Abandoned by its mother and raised by hand.

60. An Arabic speaking person who lives in Arabia or North Africa.

62. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

63. (Irish) Mother of the ancient Irish gods.

64. A local computer network for communication between computers.

Yesterday’s Solution

Gemini (May 21-June 20) It may be hard to organize or persevere today. Everything may seem to be falling apart and coming unglued. Do not force things. A little note-taking can bring the plans for the day back into focus. Be patient and let the chaos of others dissolve. It is time to dive into your work now—you seem to shine when it comes to practical matters or those involving work and career. You have an easy way with superiors or those in authority and can always manage to get the most out of any skill or ability you have. You may tend to fear that others find you too senseoriented from time-to-time. You radiate energy and have to just accept the fact that people like to feel your warmth. Enjoy the attention you receive from your loved ones this evening.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

NON SEQUITUR

You enjoy working hard and being organized and you exercise skill and discipline in anything that affects your career and reputation. Today you will enjoy working in the environment where higher-ups show off their independence and originality. You could find yourself engaged in nonconformist causes, always ready to promote what is independent and innovative. You like radical approaches and may find yourself in support of whatever new-wave product or breakthrough advance is next in line. Communication, computers, electronics and everything new excites you and these are the areas in which you excel now. You may discover new ways of working with traditional materials. This is a great time to reflect.

Enjoy a walk this evening.

Leo (July 23-August 22) Someone could challenge you on a very sensitive issue today.

This could result in a very intense discussion. You may find yourself analyzing a situation. Too much time spent in serious thought could undermine your progress. Lighten up! Tell some jokes and enjoy the company of others. Soon, you will find the most sensitive issues can be put to rest. You may become very interested in research surrounding life survival, scientific research or what-have-you. There is a passion for searching, finding out and communicating your discoveries. This may turn out to be a very interesting day with perhaps a renewed appreciation for all that is beautiful and fine. There is a time of meditation when that first sip of wine or a little evening refreshment is quite relaxing.

ZITS

Virgo (August 23-September 22) Things are happening, and your career or path depends upon your own ambition and drive, which can be quite strong now. There could be some discussions over business affairs but a compromise can be reached. Learn better time management by briefly monitoring your use of time.

Schedule tasks so that they serve your larger goals and are achievable in time and circumstances. Build some time for breaks and rewards into your schedule. Leave some space for regular and periodic review. Last, but not least, provide time for exercise and relaxation as well as sleep and nourishment. Strength, perseverance and an attitude that emphasizes common sense will also enable you to help make proper decisions in family matters.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM

Your ability to work more efficiently with others eventually enables you to achieve even bigger and more encompassing goals.

As a good detective or research person, you will find yourself having a passion for answers. Questioning and searching finds you in pursuit of some piece of useful information. It could only be that an accounting problem is solved. You enjoy a game of team sports this afternoon. When you are not involved in sports, create for yourself a regular period of vigorous exercise—and then use exercise to drain off tension. This evening you may want to dive into some interesting philosophical ideas with a love partner. Cultivate methods that enable you to get enough good sleep—wind down first, perhaps with a bit of relaxing music.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) You have a relentless drive to get at the heart of things today, whatever is under the surface or behind the scenes. Your relentless pursuit of anything hidden or secret makes you a researcher or investigator bar none. Emotionally, you are also hot stuff, rushing into areas and handling subject matters that others would never come near. You may not like displays of emotion and pushy people, or at least find them challenging and thought-provoking. There is not much to slow your progress, however, and by this afternoon you are moving forward with your professional activities at full speed ahead. This evening is a good time to have a long talk with your partner about your future plans. You may decide on a new budget at this time.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) The word for today is accomplishment. If there is a job, you can do it. As a prodigious worker, you pour yourself into any task with absolute determination. You are responsible to the extreme and take on obligations as though you just cannot get enough. You enjoy discipline and limitations are seen as opportunities rather than as handicaps. Home and family matters can play a big part in your life. Relatives take on greater importance than ever before. A feeling of being at peace and stable on the emotional level comes into prominence at this time. Music plays an important role and you enjoy photography, especially to capture the moments of family time. This is a good time to bond with those who are important to you. Consider a family excursion.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

To

Take a little trip, or get outside today. You may want to break that routine and try something new or different right now. You may discover insights into day-to-day problems that will be of great value later. You are very much the creature of habit and habitat. Your encircling networks of friends and relationships are crucial to your success or lack thereof. You are nourished in great measure by the atmosphere and conditions you are able to set up for yourself. You are happiest today as you accomplish your chores and improve your surroundings, perhaps by cleaning or working with plants. All that is fine and luxurious may be what you enjoy most. You will make your own way and find solutions to whatever problems you have. Tonight is for romance.

Yesterday’s Solution Yester

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) You are concerned with living up to your standards and are stable and methodical in your ways of moving forward. You resist change and may have trouble getting started with initiating changes, but once on the move you can be unyielding. You may mistrust that which is new or untried. Given time, you will become more confident and trusting as well as forgiving and understanding. This is what makes up a mature adult and you are well on your way; just be a little more patient with yourself. Listen to your intuition—it is strong and can guide you accurately in making forecasts or decisions. You know and understand more than you realize; others may experience growth by simply answering your penetrating questions. Your affections are returned tonight.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Word Sleuth Solution

Decisions made now may have to be rethought later; take your time with how you think you want to proceed on some project. You are a heavy-duty thinker and serious student, always ready to work an idea through, reducing it to what is essential. You enjoy mental efforts and discipline and will often work long and hard toward any project’s end result. Teaching opportunities and ideas repeatedly present opportunities for you. You enjoy working with other people and may pour a lot of energy into helping those around you. Your home and surroundings reflect this as well. When it comes to teaching or coaching young people, you are a natural and may be asked to help motivate and inspire young people. Tonight could be a socially active evening.

A

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 2011

Years

i n f o r m at i o n FIRE BRIGADE

STATE ST TAT TE OF KUW K KUWAIT WA AIT

112

Tel.: T el.: e 161

DIRECTORA DIRECTORATE AT TE GENE GENERAL ERAL OF CIVIL A AVIATION V VIA AT TION METEOROLOGICAL DEP D PA ARTMENT DEPARTMENT DA AY: Y T DAY: Tuesday uesday

WWW .MET.GOV V..KW W WWW.MET.GOV.KW

21/06/2011 21/06/201 1

Ministry of Interior

Ext.: 2627 262 27 - 2630

Fax: 24348714

07:00

Issue T ime Time

Expected Weather Weather for the Next 24 4 Hours Hot wi with ith moderate to fresh north westerly w wind, with speed off 25 - 50 km/h causing raising g dust

BY Y DA DAY: AY:

website: www.moi.gov.kw Dust will westerly w subside gradually with moderate m to fresh north weste erly wind, with speed of 20 - 40 km/h

NIGHT:: BY Y NIGHT

For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128

No Current W Warnings aarnings

WARNING W A ARNING STATION ST TAT TION

Hospitals Sabah Hospital

24812000

MAX. EXP EXP. P.

MIN.. REC.

KUW WA AIT CITY KUWAIT

44 °C

33 °C

KUWAIT KUW WA AIT AIRPORT AIRPOR RT

45 °C

33 °C

47 °C C

31 °C C

Amiri Hospital

22450005

NUWAISEEB NUW WA AISEEB

Maternity Hospital

24843100

WAFRA WA AFRA

45 °C

32 °C

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

SALMI

44 °C

30 °C

Chest Hospital

24849400

ABDAL LY ABDALY

46 °C

28 °C

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

ALIY YA AH JAL ALIYAH

44 °C

29 °C

Adan Hospital

23940620

FA AILAKA FAILAKA

44 °C

29 °C

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

POR RT AHMADI PORT

44 °C

35 °C

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

M UMM AL-MARADEM

37 °C

32 °C

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

WA ARBA A - BUBYAN BUBY YA AN WARBA

47 °C

30 °C

Clinics Rabiya

4732263

Roudha

22517733

Adhaliya

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

Keifan

SFC. CHAR CHART T

21/06/201 1 0000 UTC 21/06/2011

T emperratures Temperatures DATE DA AT TE

WEA WEATHER AT THER

Weednesday Wednesday

22/06

Thursday

23/06

24849807

Friday

Shamiya

24848913

Saturday

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salim

22549134

Al-Nuzha

MAX.

MIN.

Wind Wind Direction Direction

Wind Wind Speed

du ust hot + raising dust

45 °C

33 °C

NW

25 - 45 km/h

very hot

47 °C

34 °C

NW

15 - 35 km/h

24/06

very hot

48 °C

34 °C

NW

15 - 35 km/h

25/06

very hot

47 °C

34 °C

NW

15 - 35 km/h

PRAYER PR RA AY YER TIMES

RECORDED D YESTERDAY YESTERDA AY A AT T KUW KUWAIT WA AIT T AIRPOR AIRPORT T

Fajr

03:13

MAX. MA AX. Temp.

Temp.

47 °C

22526804

Sunrise S i

04 48 04:48

MIN. Temp.

MI IN T IN. emp.

33 °C

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Zuhr

1 1:50 11:50

MAX. RH M

13 %

Al-Khadissiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

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 DAY DA AY

Al-Madena

22434064 22435865 22544200 22547133 22515277 22616662 25714406 22530801

THE PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR CIVIL INFORMATION Automated enquiry about the Civil ID card is 1889988

Asr

15:23

MIN. RH M

05 %

Sunset

18:50

MAX. Wind MA AX. W ind

N 64 km/h

Isha

20:23

TOTAL RAINFALL T OT TA AL L RAI INF FA ALL L IN 24 HR.

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

00 mm

21/06/1 1 02:54 UTC 21/06/11

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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Years

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 2011

lifest yle Gossip

Tattoo artist settles over design in

‘Hangover II’ he tattoo artist who sued over Ed Helms’ tattoo in “The Hangover Part II” has settled his lawsuit over the design, which resembles the facial ink the artist created for Mike Tyson. Warner Bros spokesman Paul McGuire said Monday that the movie studio and S Victor Whitmill amicably resolved their dispute. McGuire declined to discuss the case further. In the movie, Helms’ character, Stu, wakes up in a Bangkok bathtub with a facial tattoo. Whitmill claimed the filmmakers ripped off the design that he tattooed on Tyson in 2003 in Las Vegas. Whitmill now lives near Waynesville in south-central Missouri.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in St Louis tried to block the film’s release, but a judge ruled just two days before the film’s May 26 debut that it could open as scheduled. Tyson, the former world heavyweight boxing champion, had a small role in the first “Hangover” film in 2009 and also appears in the sequel.

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ritish singer Amy Winehouse, whose career has been blighted by alcohol and drug abuse, has cancelled all her scheduled concerts after she was jeered by fans in Serbia recently for a shambolic performance. Winehouse, 27, sporting her trademark bouffant hairdo and figure-hugging dress, struggled to perform her songs and keep her balance at the gig in the Serbian capital Belgrade, and on some tunes the audience did most of the singing. “Amy Winehouse is withdrawing from all scheduled performances,” a spokesman said yesterday.

“Everyone involved wishes to do everything they can to help her return to her best and she will be given as long as it takes for this to happen.” The Grammy-winning, chart-topping singer of hits including “Rehab” and “Love is a Losing Game” had been due to perform a series of European dates including Athens today and Bilbao on July 8. The tour had been scheduled to wind up on Aug. 4 in

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Peter Fonda marries in Hawaii Portugal. The news is a major setback for the artist and her entourage. Only three weeks ago she checked out of a rehab clinic and confidently looked forward to her upcoming tour. Winehouse, who has struggled with addiction throughout her career, rose to fame in 2006 with hit single “Rehab” and won four Grammys awards in 2008 including best new artist and album of the year. She was unable to attend the ceremony in Los Angeles because of legal problems, and she is yet to release a follow-up recording.

asy Rider” actor Peter Fonda was married to Margaret “Parky” DeVogelaere over the weekend in Hawaii, his representative said on Monday. DeVogelaere is the actor’s third wife. His previous marriage, to Portia Rebecca Crockett, lasted 36 years but ended in divorce earlier this year. The 71 year-old actor and son of the late Henry Fonda is best known for playing free-wheeling biker Wyatt in the classic 1969 film “Easy Rider.” He also was nominated for an Oscar for his role in the 1997 movie “Ulee’s Gold” and recently appeared in TV drama “CSI: NY.”

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Badgley to play Buckley in movie ossip Girl” star Penn Badgley will play Jeff Buckley in a movie about the late singer/songwriter’s relationship with his equally noted father, folk singer Tim Buckley, its producers said Monday. His casting in “Greetings From Tim Buckley” ends a search that took more than a year and marks the first film ever made about either musician. The fact-based film is set in the days leading up to the younger Buckley’s breakthrough performance at a 1991 tribute concert to his father, who abandoned him as a baby and died of a drug overdose in 1975 aged 28. He falls for a young woman working at the concert, and comes to understand his father. Meanwhile, the concert sets the singer on the road to stardom. Buckley drowned in 1997, aged30. He released one studio album during his lifetime, “Grace,” which featured a cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” “To play a man who was singularly gifted as an artist, greatly misunderstood & mythologized as a human being ... It’s something very special and sacred.

I’m going to give all I can to this project,” Badgley, 24, said in a statement. The film will start shooting in August in New York City. Dan Algrant (“People I Know”) will direct the independent project from a script that he co-wrote.

The roles of Tim Buckley and the girlfriend have

“G ock guitarist Leslie West, who rose to fame in the ‘70s power trio Mountain, has had his lower right leg amputated in a life-saving operation related to his diabetes, his wife said on Monday. West, 65, underwent the emergency surgery after being admitted to a hospital in Biloxi, Mississippi, on Saturday when his leg started to swell and his foot went septic. “The doctors tried for two days to save it to no avail. The decision to amputate was one that was necessary to save his life as the infection was spreading throughout his body,” his wife, Jenni West, said in an email.

“The nursing staff and doctors have taken excellent care of him and should be called angels for their efforts and tenderness they showed us in this time of crisis.” West is expected to recover but faces extensive rehabilitation, a spokesman said. Mountain is probably best known for its debut 1970 single “Mississippi Queen,” a staple of classic rock radio. West has long struggled with his weight and type 2 diabetes. He named one of his solo albums “The Great Fatsby.” His next album, “The Unusual Suspects,” featur-

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ing such guitarists as Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, Slash of Guns N’ Roses and Joe Bonamassa, does not yet have a release date. “Leslie will, no doubt, bounce back with his unusually bionic blitz of guitarosciousness,” Gibbons said in an email.

“Leslie will always be playing and standing on higher ground.”

egendary rocker Bob Dylan has played a muchawaited concert in Tel Aviv, reprising his famous hits but disappointing thousands of fans by not addressing them. The concert was Dylan’s third in Israel, following previous gigs in 1987 and 1993. Dylan, who is Jewish, enjoys a loyal following in Israel. Among the hits he performed Monday were “Like a Rolling Stone,” “ Tangled Up in Blue,” and “All Along the

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Watchtower.” Twenty-one-year-old Daniel Levy said she came to hear the Dylan classics. She called his music “more real, more authentic, more powerful than what we have today.” But Yosef Speizer, 28, said Dylan’s apparent detachment was bizarre. “The whole thing was strange,” he said. — Agencies

not been cast yet. “Greetings From Tim Buckley” is being produced with the authorization of Tim Buckley’s estate. A rival project, a biopic about Jeff Buckley’s life, is being developed with the help of his mother and executor, Mary Guibert.

Badgley, who plays Blake Lively’s love interest on the teen soap “Gossip Girl,” has appeared in such features as “Easy A” and the remake of “The Stepfather.”

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Richard Gere listens to monk Sung Jin.

US actor Richard Gere waves as he arrives at the Jogye (Chogye) Buddhist temple in Seoul yesterday. — AFP photos

Richard Gere receives a kiss from a South Korean girl as he visits the Jogye (Chogye).

or once, the trio joke, something concrete came out of one of the marathon tea-drinking sessions the Senegalese use to while away the time during the regular 20-hour power blackouts-a rap-led protest movement. It is quickly gaining traction in the West African former French colony and observers say it has the potential to become an obstacle to Senegal President Abdoulaye Wade’s re-election bid in 2012 by mobilizing young and disgruntled voters.

“We couldn’t keep talking without getting involved,” said Fadel Barro, the journalist who founded the anti-Wade group “Y’en a marre”, French slang for “Enough is enough”, with two of Senegal’s most popular rappers during that power cut in January.

“Politicians failed. They did not put people first. So we are trying to get them back involved. It is a citizens’ movement (but) not one that sits in offices and produces tracts.”

Using a mix of concerts, demonstrations and stomping the streets in black T-shirts emblazoned with their name, the group has been hard at work raising youth awareness of what it say is government corruption and mismanagement-and urging Senegalese to act instead of just complain.

With nearly 40 local chapters formed across the country since January, “Y’en a marre” is focusing on encouraging youths who have turned 18 since the last election in 2007 to register for the February 2012 voteand to vote against Wade. “I am watching with fascination how they are going to use their star power,” said a senior Dakar-based diplomat. “There is a gap between the rhetoric and the reality here and they are focused on the average citizens in a way that none of the political parties are. They could be a kingmaker.”

Barro said the group would analyse potential candidates for the poll and perhaps endorse one-so long as it is not octogenarian Wade whom they say must not be allowed a third term in power. “Y’en a marre” has a number of groups on Facebook, but followers number for now in the hundreds, not the thousands seen in Arab protests. Its message is more likely to be put across through the music of the rapping pair, Keur Gui. The group, since joined in the movement by other rappers, hails from Kaolack, in Senegal’s rural heart, but their songs attack corruption, urban flooding and rolling power cuts, and are ringing home in Dakar’s sprawling suburbs.

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‘Logic of intimidation’ Senegal has long been held up as a model of democracy in the region. Having never experienced a coup, frequently held elections and seen Wade come into power in 2000 on the back of years in opposition, it

appears to have the credentials.

International investors trade several of its bonds and it is a regional partner for the France and the United States.

But there are concerns about power being concentrated around Wade and the possibility he might be grooming his son, a current minister with numerous portfolios, to succeed him. Corruption is a donor concern while the state is struggling with services such as power and water. Analysts say real democratic progress has also been stifled by the ability of politicians to use religious leaders to control discontent. Senegal has never looked like replicating North Africa’s revolutions. But “Y’en a marre” has attracted enough attention for some demonstrations and concerts to be banned. Their members are also increasingly harassed by the police.

“It is the logic of intimidation ... trying to stop them from mobilizing the youth. If people are arresting them it is because they are seeing the impact they are having,” said Djiby Diakhate, an independent political analyst. “It is a movement that has emerged from the heart of the people, the real people, using the language of the people, which intellectuals can’t,” Diakhate added.

The gripe over the voter lists is that a large chunk of Senegal’s youth are not on them, and the group believes the government is actively seeking to discourage them.

One of their slogans is “My card is my weapon”. A US, EU and German-backed audit found late last year that just 12 percent of 18-22 year-olds had a voter card, leaving 1.13 million off a register of some 5.5 million people. “Where did they find these people?

— This figure is not real,” Interior Minister Ousmane Ngom said on state television last week, when questioned about the lists.

Richard Gere prays during a visit to the Chogye Buddhist temple.

ollywood star Richard Gere-a Buddhist and a longtime campaigner for the rights of Tibetans-yesterday visited a Buddhist temple during a visit to South Korea. Gere will later this week also attend an opening ceremony for an exhibition of photographs entitled “Pilgrim” which he took in Tibet and at other sites devoted to the religion. With his wife and son he toured the Jogye temple in central Seoul, the headquarters of the religion’s biggest sect in South Korea. “I was able to encounter Buddhism

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through Zen Buddhism and I think it is not a coincidence that I am here at the Jogye Order, which is also Zen Buddhist,” Yonhap news agency quoted him as saying. “I heard Korean Buddhism has a long legacy and I think it is important to maintain the traditions.”

The 61-year-old actor, star of “Pretty Woman” and “Chicago”, was greeted by the head of the Jogye Order and then went inside the main temple to bow low before a statue of the Buddha.

He will hold a press conference in the city today

and attend the opening ceremony for the photo exhibition the same day. Tomorrow, he will visit other Buddhist temples in the south and experience a temple stay. Earlier reports said he plans to tour Bulguksa temple in the ancient capital of Gyeongju, 370 km southeast of Seoul, and take part in an overnight stay program at the UNESCO World Heritage site. — AFP

ars” is widely regarded as among the less dazzling of Pixar’s dozen sterling titles, so it’s fair to imagine that the animation studio’s pit crew used a little extra elbow grease in order to deliver an improved new model five years later. On the whole, they have in “Cars 2,” as Lightning McQueen and the loyal pick-up truck Mater quickly vamoose from sleepy Radiator Springs to join the Grand Prix circuit in a succession of world capitals, where they become entangled in some related international spy intrigue.

Featuring cooler cars and more action than “Fast Five,” the sequel is notably less refined and more rambunctious than Pixar’s recent run of artistic gems. But commercially, it’ll be off to the races after it opens on Friday, with even bigger international prospects assured on this lap than on the first spin.

No special knowledge or memory of the original is required to get one’s bearings, as this beautifully designed sequel stands easily on its own four tires. A self-professed car nut from his youth, director John Lasseter takes advantage of the global locations to jam the cast with an auto show’s worth of vintage international motorcars, from an amply armed Bond-style Aston Martin to the humble East German Trabant; in the bargain, he even further adorns the Big Ben clock tower, the Eiffel Tower and, in the end credits, Pixar’s own campus to charming effect. Perhaps as much as in any animated film one could cite, there’s always something beautiful or clever or funny to look at and, as often as not, to listen to as the anthropomorphized automobiles zip about in high and determined spirits.

The story, cooked up by Lasseter, co-director Brad Lewis and Dan Fogelman and scripted by Ben Queen, is both simple and not always entirely discernible on a moment-to-moment basis. At the outset, in fact, the coordinates are geographically and dramatically inscrutable; physically, the action begins literally at sea,

amidst an ocean of sinister oil rigs infiltrated by British spies Finn McMissile (an Aston Martin voiced by Michael Caine) and Miata-like Holley Shiftwell (Emily Mortimer), who make use of all their special extra-automotive endowments-wings, heavy weaponry, underwater capability-to make a nocturnal escape with their dignity and paint jobs intact.

A world away in the American desert, the spiffy red Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) is hot-rodding around with tow-truck buddy Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) when he’s persuaded to enter an upcoming series of races in which big shot Land Rover Sir Miles Axlerod (Eddie Izzard) hopes to prove the viability of his revolutionary clean fuel Allinol as a substitute for gasoline.

Here, as elsewhere, the visual, verbal and musical jokes practically exceed the speed limit; one blink-and-youmiss-it gag shows the marquee of the local drive-in promoting “The Incredimobiles.”

First stop is Tokyo, where cars engage in sumo wrestling and the lights of the Ginza district look so bright you’re glad for the slight dimming effect of the 3D glasses (Pixar typically amps up the brightness of its images to compensate for the darkening).

During a pass through Paris, the old Les Halles is wondrously reconstituted as a spare parts bazaar, Gusteau’s from “Ratatouille” is part of the cityscape, the tops of the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe are automotively reimagined and Mater, who went home after Tokyo, makes a too-soon return. Inoffensive in small doses, Mater’s “Hee-Haw” routine gets old pretty quickly and comes to dominate the film with his saddlesore witticisms.

Next stop is fictional Porto Corsa, an Italian seaside jewel that resembles a theme park version of Monaco.

The Italian champion, Francesco (John Turturro), intends to assert his dominance over Lightning McQueen here, while a disguised Mater tries to infil-

trate a gang of low-end Euro cars working on behalf of unknown bosses out to discredit the Allinol vehicles so as to maintain the demand for oil. The message is clear.

The in-fighting becomes downright vicious during the final race in London in front of the Queen, while the picture itself becomes rather more antic and frantic than it needs to as the ultimate villain is exposed, the British spies are vindicated and the Americans, while happy in their achievements, typically decide that there’s no place like home.

Even as recent Pixar films have benefited from increased simplicity and modulation of mood and effect, Lasseter keeps “Cars 2” running at close to the red line from start to finish with nary a pit stop to refuel.

On balance, it’s more exhilarating than exhausting, but there are moments when sensory overload threatens to set in. More is better seems to be the by-word, but a bit less aw-shucks humor and Looney Tunes-like madness over the long haul would have made for a more agreeable balance.

The vocal talent assembled for the voices is impressively varied and deep; even for small roles one finds enlisted such estimable actors as Vanessa Redgrave, Jason Isaacs, Jenifer Lewis, Franco Nero, Katherine Helmond and Paul Dooley, not to mention Cheech Marin, Brent Musburger, “Deadliest Catch” star Sig Hansen and race car drivers such as Darrell Waltrip, David Hobbs and Jeff Gordon. Michael Giacchino’s score has the effect of a super-charger on the film, as if it needed one.—Reuters

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Trouble ahead?

Donors have offered to help pay for mobile registration kits to register more voters but the government has refused, questioning the need and saying people were not obliged to vote. Ngom said the government had launched a campaign to encourage more people to register and last week extended the deadline for closing the lists from June 10 to Aug 31. The extra time may allow more of the newly eligible voters take part in the vote and official opposition parties remain divided, despite pledges to unite around one candidate.—Reuters

In this film publicity image animated characters Lightning McQueen, voiced by Owen Wilson, foreground left, Mater, voiced by Larry the Cable Guy, center, and Finn McMissile, voiced by Michael Caine, right, are shown in a scene from ‘Cars 2.’—AP

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ith a tip of the hat-raffia that is-Milan designers salute old-style summer elegance, as they preview next year’s warm weather styles. The breezy brimmed straw hat has dominated the current menswear fashion week, making it the symbol for the romantic refined look designers propose from beach resort to pool side. The latest in the series of those who have reinvented the vintage head cover, including Dolce and Gabbana and Ferragamo, is Kean Etro, who previewed his collection Monday. Into the third day of Milan preview shows, the looks have been tried-and-true traditional, with occasional outbursts of bold color and eccentric styles by such mavens as Donatella Versace and Alexander McQueen’s Sarah Burton.

GUCCI The latest Gucci collection is all about aristocrats, dandies and artists gathered in the haven of a posh gentlemen’s club, playing bridge and exchanging eccentric views. The wardrobe of a member of the Gucci club has its sporty moment by day, and refined edge by night. The overall mood of the latest Gucci collection presented Monday is of innate elegance.

By day, the Gucci gentleman is into top drawer sportswear from the Equestrian theme with suede padding on trousers and shirts, jockey jackets, crimson linings and saddle stitching, to the micro-quilted fencing jackets and the wide golf trousers complete with elegant pleats. At night, he is at his most attractive-and he knows it. Dressed in a black tuxedo jacket paired with Prince of Wales plaid trousers and wearing a cocky bow tie and signature Gucci loafers, he needs no I.D. to get in wherever the party is.

At Gucci, knitwear, which makes a big comeback during the current week of preview showings for next year’s spring and summer, is either oversized and woven in special hand-crafted fibers, or super slim in ribbed silk, as sexy as underwear.

VERSACE Donatella Versace started out softly with soothing blue and beige summer suits with wide trousers and doublebreasted jackets, worn with matching two-tone loafers. But

Models display creations as part of Gucci Spring-Summer 2012 Menswear collection during the Men’s fashion week in Milan.

— AFP photos

the cool look was only a summer mirage. As soon as the beat of the disco music got going at the menswear show, Versace was back to her old favorites: black leather, gold studs, buckles and straps all part of her trademark tight-fitting sexy styles.

To heat things up for next year’s spring and summer Versace adds flashes of bright color, combining such unlikely palette mates as fuchsia pink for a jacket with tangerine orange for the “matching” trousers. To boot, the accompanying sandals were in apple green leather. The tighter the look, the more buckles Versace used to hold the outfit together culminating in a cobalt blue trouser with buckle straps replacing seams on a hip hugging pair of pants. These pants were paired with a leather jacket closed with buckles not buttons. Studs decorated anything from shirts to shoes to leather jackets. One black bomber jacket featured a swirling pattern of golden studs across the front and back. But Versace crossed all conventional boundaries

Models display creations as part of Alexander McQueen.

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in a series of silk outfits with Baroque patterns gleaned from the Versace archives, where among other items, a black and blue silk shirt is combined with the same print trousers to look like a jumpsuit. The Versace patterns were also used for over-the-top poolside outfits with an extra large terry cloth robe and matching swim trunks.

ALEXANDER MCQUEEN She may have shot to global fame as the designer of the much-admired royal wedding dress, but Sarah Burton hasn’t forgotten the bread-and-butter of the fashion business.

In her first major fashion show since being unveiled as the designer behind Kate Middleton’s nuptial gown, Burton showed her wilder side during the presentation of Alexander McQueen’s menswear collection for next spring and summer. The line paid tribute to the English rock star, not a small market niche.

He’s larger-than-life, going for bold and even clashing patterns. But he also has an elegant side, with well-tailored suits in more subdued shades. Plaid pants were paired with a checked baseball jacket, the patterns clashing but the black-and-white color schemes in harmony. Horizontal striped sweater went along with pinstriped pants, as though they were always meant to. For the stage, there were golden thread pinstriped pants. For photo shoots, rockers could don a chest-baring deep V-neck sweater with silky trouser, or a floral tapestry jacket with matching peacock blue pants.

ETRO Etro’s Mediterranean inspired collection, which revisits the elegant shores of the French Riviera in its 1950s heyday, is full of references to the years when the bikini was born, but men still dressed up for a walk along the promenade. Above all the colors capture the moment, from the pale sea blue to citrus orange and lemon, to blackberry purple and a demure strawberry red.

Prints underline the theme with fancy paisley, dandy tartans and beach umbrella stripes as well as a series of motif prints ranging from dolphins and sea horses to anchors and tennis rackets.

The volumes of jackets and trousers are loose and generous, easy but never casual. When the jacket is doublebreasted it is paired with a skinny tie or a carefree silk scarf.

The paisley bomber works by day or night. Bermuda shorts are worn with loafers and black socks, a yesteryear look which regrettably makes a comeback on the current Milan runway.

MISSONI Missoni is coming full circle. Ottavio Missoni made his first foray into knitwear for the 1948 London Olympics, producing tracksuits worn by the Italian team. Missoni, who turned 90 this year, also competed in the games as a

Models display creations as part of Versace Spring-Summer 2012 Menswear collection during the Men’s fashion week in Milan.

hurdler. The label’s menswear collection for next summerwhen London will again host the event-is a tribute to the Olympic spirit as a source of Missoni’s heritage.

“We want to make people understand where it all started and why we have this comfort idea,” Angela Missoni, Ottavio’s daughter and the brand’s chief designer, said at the Sunday evening preview show.

The collection features a special collaboration with Converse, knit-top Auckland Racer sneakers in Missoni’s classic alternating blue and white. Knit suits-perhaps more appropriate for casual outings than the track-formed a core of next year’s warm weather collection. Intricate knitting work gave depth to monochromatic navy suits, a single button fastened over a cotton T-shirt in shades of blue.

Shorts appeared in an array of fabrics, from jacquard linen to gabardine, nylon to cotton jersey-the latter in long shorts that perhaps best evoked Olympic memories. They were paired with pullover, cardigan and blazer-style sweaters in classic Missoni zigzags and swirls. — AP

Etro Spring-Summer 2012 Menswear collection on June 20, 2011 during the Men’s fashion week in Milan.

Models display creations as part of Missoni.

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Ramallah art museum has become the first in the West Bank to take delivery of an artwork

by Picasso, which will go on view to the public for a month, beginning on Friday. The 1943 canvas, “Buste de Femme,” was loaned by the Van Abbe museum in Eindhoven, Netherlands, as the centrepiece of the “Picasso in Palestine” project in which local artists will lecture on the late Spanish painter’s work.

Khaled Horani, director of the International Art Academy in the Palestinian city of Ramallah, said delivering the masterpiece safely to the Israeli-occupied West Bank had posed a logistical challenge. “A Dutch group visited the Palestinian territories more than once to make sure the security situation was OK and that the museum where the painting is to be kept has suitable temperature and humidity,” he told AFP. The work had to pass through an Israeli military checkpoint on its journey. “ This is a historical moment for us,” he said. “Even though we will have it for one month only.” “It says we are worthy to be like other countries that exhibit paintings by a famous artist like Picasso.”

The academy quoted Charles Esche, director of the Van Abbe Museum, as saying it was a historic event not only for the Palestinians. “Our Picasso will be changed by its journey to Ramallah, it will take on extra meaning and the story will remain a part of the history of the painting from this moment on,” it said.

“It feels like we are constructing new histories with such a project as well as preserving old ones,” it added. — AFP

This image provided by Marvel Comics shows a panel from ‘Ultimate Comics Spider-Man’ No160. — AP

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he lights are going out for Peter Parker, the high school student bitten by a radioactive spider whose wall-crawling and web-slinging antics have made him a touchstone of Marvel Comics’ universe of heroes and villains. The publisher said yesterday that Parker’s alter ego, Spider-Man, will die, finally succumbing to one of his most pernicious foes in the final issue of “Ultimate Comics Spider-Man” due out today.

Fans of Spider-Man need not worry much, though, because the Ultimates imprint is separate from Marvel’s bigger universe. Whatever fate may befall Ultimate Spider-Man won’t count in the pages of the other series, including Amazing Spider-Man. The death, while dramatic, is not entirely unexpected. In November, Marvel said that the Ultimate Spider-Man was going to face an uncertain fate in the latest storyline by writer Brian Michael Bendis fittingly titled “The Death of Spider-Man,” an eight-issue arc that saw the return of original series artist Mark Bagley.

Bendis and Bagley had worked together on the series for 111 issues. Bendis told The Associated Press that in issue No 160 Parker fights valiantly but will pass on, heroically, in a pitched fight. To whom? “He will pass heroically, but he will

die at the hands of the Green Goblin,” Bendis said, recalling his nearly 11 years writing the title, which debuted in October 2000. The death is real and in Marvel’s Ultimate Comics imprint, death is not something taken lightly. Characters in that universe are dead and gone, never to return. The roll of the deceased already includes Magneto, Wasp and Wolverine, among others.

“Ten years ago, Brian Bendis and Mark Millar changed the way people saw super heroes with the birth of the Ultimate Universe. With ‘Death of Spider-Man’ the two have done it again, creating a story just as big, and something that would really resonate with fans,” said Mark Paniccia, Marvel senior editor. “But Peter’s death doesn’t signal the end of their larger plan - it’s the start of one of the most ambitious stories you’ve ever read in comics.”

Bendis said that Parker’s death won’t be in vain and hinted that the Ultimate Spider-Man may not be gone forever. But what exactly is to come, that’s something he’s not willing to share, at least not yet. He likened the death to that of Parker’s Uncle Ben, whose demise catapulted Peter into being a superhero and crime fighter, and called it an emotionally ripping decision to end Parker’s life. “I won’t lie to you, it’s embarrass-

ing to say this out loud. Tears were rolling down my face, I was very emotional in writing it,” Bendis said. “This is a character that I have stayed with the entire time, that I have been almost solely responsible for.

It represents such a great deal of my life.” Axel Alonso, Marvel’s editor-in-chief, said there’s never been a Marvel Universe without a Spider-Man, so killing the character is a big step. “We’ve never seen a world without Spider-Man, a world without Peter Parker, so his death is a significant event for the Ultimate Comics universe and we’re going to see how quickly it changes everything,” he said, adding that the fallout from Parker’s death will play out in the upcoming “Ultimate Comics Fallout” as the company retools its Ultimate universe. — AP

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‘subway dress’ breaks auction record

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n auction of actress Debbie Reynolds’ Hollywood memorabilia earned $22.8 million over the weekend and included the record-breaking sale of Marilyn Monroe’s iconic “subway dress” from 1955 movie “The Seven Year Itch,” organizers said on Monday.

The $4.6 million winning bid for Monroe’s dress, which billows up with a gust of air as a train rolls by, rose to $5.52 million after taxes and fees were included, and the sum far surpassed pre-sale estimates of $1 million to $2 million.

The dress was among nearly 600 costumes and other memorabilia collected by Reynolds, a singer, dancer and actress who rose to fame during the 1950s and was married to singer Eddie Fisher “I’m thrilled beyond words. This first auction shows that our great stars were loved by the world,” said Reynolds. A second sale of Reynolds’ items will take place on Dec 3.

Auctioneer Profiles in History said the previous costume sales record was held by Audrey Hepburn’s iconic little black dress from the 1961 film “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” which sold for $923,187. The auction resulted in several major sales that surpassed that figure. Hepburn’s ascot dress from “My Fair Lady” fetched $4.4 million, and Judy Garland’s blue cotton dress from “Wizard of Oz” drew $1.09 million.— Reuters Czech artist Lukas Rittstein poses in his art installation ‘Tour’ in front of the Kunsthalle im Lipsiusbau, a museum of the Dresden State Art Collection (SKD), on Bruehl’s Terrace (Bruehlsche Terrasse) in Dresden, eastern Germany, yesterday.

The installation is on loan to the Sculpture Collection. The idea for ‘Tour’ arose from expeditions to the island of New Guinea by the sculptor Lukas Rittstein. — AFP

Stradivarius fetches record $16 million in charity sale

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rare Stradivarius violin that once belonged to the granddaughter of English poet Lord Byron sold for a record 9.8 million pounds ($15.9 million) at auction on Monday in a charity sale for Japanese disaster relief. The 1721 violin was bought by an anonymous bidder for around four times the previous auction record for a Stradivari violin, according to Tarisio, the online auction house for fine instruments. Proceeds from the sale will go to aid Japan after the recent natural disasters through the Nippon Foundation’s Northeastern Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund. The “Lady Blunt” was offered for sale by The Nippon Music Foundation, owners of some of the world’s finest Stradivari and Guarneri instruments.

“While this violin was very important to our collection, the needs of our fellow Japanese people after the March 11 tragedy have proven that we all need to help, in any way we can,” the foundation’s president Kazuko Shiomi said in a statement. “The donation will be put to immediate use on the ground in Japan.” Tarisio said interest among bidders was “massive.” The instrument was owned for 30 years by Lady Anne Blunt, Byron’s granddaughter. It is one of around 600 violins, violas and cellos by the famed Italian maker Antonio Stradivari still in existence, and among the finest examples.

The last time it was sold publicly was in 1971, when it fetched a then-record 84,000 pounds at Sotheby’s. — Reuters